Episode 25: Shutdown

Night fell as the thunderstorms started off. It began raining and didn't seem to want to stop. I was inside of my quarters for most of the day, only coming out to get food and say hi to everyone. Being given the opportunity to relax, I took advantage of it.

I wondered if everyone did, because the base felt so barren and empty. Like everyone else was sleeping off the adventure we had just undergone. Not even Miku came out of her quarters for a while. Though, that was understandable considering Miku was probably dealing with a lot right now, and that wasn't unusual. Everyone needed space. And Miku probably needed it more than anyone else.

It wasn't until it was later in the night when David called for us to head back to the Operating Room for a debriefing to discuss our next plans going forward.

"Time to face the music," I said, changing back into my regular clothes. "No escaping the inevitable. Hopefully everything is taken care of for us."

I took the elevator back down, walking sluggishly towards the Operating Room, and not really thinking about what was going to be talked about in there. It was just a debriefing, wasn't it? Nothing more.

Boy, was I wrong.

"Everyone here?" Gumi asked as I walked into the Operating looked over at me briefly before turning her attention back to the computer. . David and Lisa stood next to her, taking a look at Gumi's data tables as she switched windows rapidly. Just how much ran through Gumi's head? And how fast was she reading it?

"Alright," Gumi said, "I hope you've all gotten plenty of rest, because come tomorrow, we've got more work to do."

A pair of monitors that sat above Gumi's head turned on, displaying a map.

"Look familiar?" Gumi asked.

"That's the Atraxis Dome," Meiko observed. "The Rangers had taken it the last time we heard about it. Any updates?"

"Yeah, and none of them good," Gumi said. "The Rangers lost the base a few days ago from Duodecim. Kallen, specifically. If you're wondering how he got into Interspace, there's your answer. He took the base back from the inside, and managed to call down reinforcements from the 'Beehive.'"

"Beehive?" I asked.

"It's the Duodecim base that Antrikanas gave us information on. It's not far away from Other-Earth, but it's concealed heavily by a makeshift asteroid belt. Lucky for us, the data itself was useful, and it's becoming more and more apparent just how much Duodecim has sunk itself into Interspace. From what I can tell, the A.I., or as I've come to call it, the "Queen Bee," is sending orders from that base. Something worries me that if they took the Dome, they'll start trying to take other parts of Other-Earth as well."

"They already hit Connection," Miku said. "So that means you want to kick them off before they go further?"

"Connection would be a heavy loss, even if Antrikanas is scum," Luka said. "So what about the Rangers?"

"The Rangers want that base back, and some revenge for the troops they lost. Strafford contacted me saying he wants us along for the assault he's planning. We'll be going back to their base and heading up a mission to bring the Dome back into their hands."

"And just as well, after looking over the mission report that Gumi gave me," David said "We're in a tight spot, so we'll be working with you on this one."

"Wait, you're coming along?" My head perked up. "I get to finally see you in action?"

David shook his head. "I'm filling in Gumi's old role as support alongside Lisa."

Gumi spun around in her chair. "If we help the Rangers, they promise to supply us with information, and heck, maybe even a little more. We don't have any formal association with them, but right now, it would be a very good idea to have friends out here."

"More to the point," David continued, getting everyone back on track, "if we manage to get the Dome back, we can see about infiltrating the Beehive. We might run into Kallen again, though, and I worry what he might do if he catches any of you."

"But we don't have a whole lot of time to plan out a concrete infiltration. We're going in hard and fast, and hopefully before Duodecim has time to resupply their base," Gumi said. "Scanners are pointed at the Rangers Base. Once you get there, saddle up, get your gear, and we'll be flying with them."

It had been a little while since we had worked with the Rangers. Almost felt like a year ago since they had helped us recover Miku and we moved on to work our way into Connection, but it wasn't a year ago, it was only about a month. A lot has happened since then.

And to say I wasn't a little excited to see them again, well, I'd be lying. The Rangers seemed like the good guys here, trying to keep the peace and all. So if I wanted anyone to be helping us, it was them. And I don't think Miku really had much time to get acquainted with them the last time.

"Any questions?" David asked the room. After no response, David dismissed us. "We'll be meeting here early in the morning tomorrow. Get your rest, and be ready."

We all left, Miku and I walking out.

"Didn't see you most of the day," I said. "You doing alright?"

Miku shrugged. "I feel better if that's what you're asking about. Don't worry. I sat in my room trying to distract myself from what happened."

"Can't blame you," I said. "I thought about it for a while, too. Surprised I'm not dead after everything." I looked over at her and said, "Thanks."

"For what?" Miku asked.

"I'd probably have been dead if I was alone with Kallen any longer last night. You saved me."

"I guess I did," she said, sounding somewhat unconvinced, "Once I saw him, I just wanted to stop him. Nothing else mattered; I just wanted to finally get back at him for everything he'd done to me."

We stepped into the elevator and headed back down to the sleeping quarters in the facility.

"And we stopped him," I said, "if only we knew what he was doing sooner."

Miku shook her head. "You can't know everything, or how anything will play out. We're lucky we managed to do what we have at this point."

I nodded. "We do make a pretty good team. Glad you have my back."

"I'll do what I can to keep you safe, Griff."

I smiled at her softly. She was the same Miku, no matter the circumstances it seemed. Even if things were rough earlier, her spirits seemed to have lifted.

"Speaking of making a good team," Miku added, "I'm thinking I might get a bit more flight training in. I may be decent at flying, but I should try learning a little more. Do you want to join me?"

"Would love to," I said, "but I just feel really drained still, and we've got our next operation tomorrow morning. Are you sure you don't want to sleep?"

"Yep," Miku said. "I don't really need to sleep as much as you do. But if you change your mind, you can join mid-simulation, I think."

"I think I'll turn in for the night," I said. "It's been such a busy day."

"Sure you don't want to go flying?" She asked, giving me puppy dog eyes.

"I'm sure of it. I hate to send you off on your own, but if you want to do it, I can catch up with you later after I've rested. Well, if I've rested."

"Alright," Miku said, sounding a little disappointed.

"Something wrong?"

"Nothing," Miku said, looking at her sneakers. "I guess I'm still hung up on what we talked about earlier today."

"I get why," I said, "it's not something that'll go away, even if it felt good to talk about. It takes time."

"I know," Miku said. "It's just a lot to think about."

"All of this is," I said. "We're fighting a massive security company alongside my uncle and a bunch of digital militia forces. It would overwhelm anyone."

"Yeah, and it's a lot of hard work to keep up with."

"Well," I said, "at least David's group is mostly on the other side for now taking care of logistical work for us. At least they'll make things easier for expeditions."

"It's the little things," Miku said jokingly. "Just so long as they let us do what we want, I won't mind it."

"Seems to be the agreement so far," I said. "I doubt David will violate it. He trusts me enough."

"I guess I just don't want to put someone like Akira in danger," Miku said.

"Problem is, Duodecim is keeping an eye on her. Can't do much about that," I shrugged.

The elevator door opened, and I stepped out.

"Plus," I said, looking back at Miku, "I kinda miss her."

Miku let out an "aww" and playfully pushed me. "You seem to miss a lot of girls when they're gone."

I rolled my eyes.

"Anyways," I said, "I'm gonna head back to my quarters. Thanks for escorting me."

Miku winked at me, "I know my princess needs to be taken back to his home and it's just too scary to go by himself."

"Uuuugh," I groaned. "You're never going to let that one go, are you?"

"Nope!" She said, clinging to my arm, "especially when it gets a reaction like that."

"Goodnight, Miku," I said, half-smiling, before going our separate ways.

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Although Griff wouldn't be following along, Miku decided that she would still run a couple of simulations in the V.R. pod by herself. It wasn't that she needed Griff around to run it, but she did like the company around. Especially because Griff seemed impressed by her abilities, and she would be lying if she didn't like the attention and praise from him at least a little.

Miku traveled down the elevator towards the V.R. pods. The lights came to life as she stepped in and walked towards the computer to initiate the simulation pod. Miku browsed through the list of various simulations on display. She was looking for a more relaxed simulation that didn't require wanted something a little less professional, more geared towards a casual flight session. There was one that caught her eye that displayed an aircraft sitting on a beach. Without thinking much, she clicked the "confirm" button and prepped the sim pod for activation.

Miku crawled inside of the pod as the automated system performed its checks. The door closed as she adjusted her seat and the breathing mask deployed in front of her mouth. The automated system booted up, and Miku was taken away from the Operating Base and was transported to a beautiful, blue sea, and bright white sand beneath her feet. The waves crashed against the shore and swept against the rocky coves. She looked up at the blue sky above, where the occasional cloud would drift by. Off in the distance, Miku saw the airstrip that the simulation had prepared for her, but instead of going over to it, she sat down on the sand and leaned back, planting her arms behind her on the sand, and looking off in the distance.

"It's a simulation, sure," she said, "but it's a really nice one."

As the wind blew, Miku hummed to herself a little. Then she wondered if, instead of flying, maybe she could explore the simulation on foot. Miku activated the simulation's menu, and started looking into a way to modify its parameters, changing it from a flight simulation to a "free-roam" simulation where she could take a stroll on the beach.

The simulation loaded itself again, and Miku found herself on the same beach, except now there was a city behind her. Large apartment buildings and beach front property lined along the coast, with people walking from all over. Cyclists rode along a bicycle path, and cars stopped at a nearby parking lot. Families, friends, and people all took off towards the water to relax and have fun. None of their features were easy to distinguish, and Miku wondered if that was due to the simulation trying to save memory in some way.

Miku looked over the other way, and saw a boardwalk with a large ferris. A large ferris wheel spun and crowds gathered around. Even from far away, Miku saw just how much fun the simulated persons were having, and walked over to see it closer.

Miku entered the boardwalk, watching as the crowds scurried about. Though most of them were no more than silhouettes from a distance, she still watched them, imagining what each of them looked like.

For some reason, Miku envied them. It seemed ridiculous; they weren't even real, nothing but phantoms that would disappear when the simulation ended. Perhaps that was part of why she envied them. To them, all of this was real, but Miku knew it was artificial. As pleasant as it was, it would soon be nothing more than a fleeting memory.

Miku walked along the boardwalk lost in thought, when a particular couple, close enough to be in focus, caught her attention. A girl with black hair and a ponytail in a swimsuit walked by with who Miku assumed was the girl's boyfriend; who was a taller figure, with a muscular build and short black hair. They were both eating ice cream, laughing with one another and talking.

The couple fell silent as they looked out towards the ocean, holding hands. Miku finally figured out why she was watching the couple so closely: she wanted this too. She wanted that girl to be her, and she wanted to see the ocean, the real ocean, alongside the person she cared about.

Miku walked over to the boardwalk and stared off into the ocean's horizon for a while, and felt water drip off of her face. Running her hands across it, she realized they were tears. She couldn't stop the longing that made her heart feel so heavy, but at the same time, she didn't want to let her dream go. Miku took a deep breath to calm herself. The couple she had been watching had moved on, or the simulation had just removed those particular models. Miku saw that the simulation had changed the time of day; now the sun had started setting. Miku sat down on a bench, closing her eyes and listening to the sounds of the simulation. Real or not, it was peaceful, something she hadn't felt in a while.

"And one day," Miku said to herself, "I'll see it for myself."

Her meditative state was eventually interrupted as an alarm sounded, and a base-wide alert carried itself over the system. "Everyone to the Operating Room!" Gumi announced. "I repeat, all Interspace Operators are to report immediately to the Operating Room! We're about to get busy!"

"Guess I have to go back to the real world," Miku said to herself as she deactivated the simulation.

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I sat inside of the back of a dropship loaded up by the Rangers. It was one of thirty that would fly out and lead the assault on the Atraxis Dome. Back here working with the Rangers again, and this time we were helping lead an assault on the same base we had been at to save Miku. And this time they would be throwing everything they had to Duodecim from keeping control of the Dome, while also getting a little bit of revenge for losing their own people.

If Gumi's theory was correct, Kallen had collected the science teams from the Connection research facility and brought them to the Dome. There had to be a reason behind his motive. He wouldn't have just grabbed up research team members for something, unless he intended to do something with them. The fact we didn't know what that was is why we were worried. These people were doing weapon's research. The possibilities were endless, and with Duodecim building weapons in Interspace, that couldn't be good.

Strafford's plan was a full frontal assault, and so that's what we went with. No time to deliberate on the best strategy. Duodecim had the Dome, and they had a way to send agents to Insterspace. Or something worse.

We stayed silent waiting for the go ahead for the ships to take off. I fidgeted a little waiting for the order to be given, but I kept calm. Then Strafford's voice broke the silence on everyone's radios through a transmission that echoed throughout the entire base. "This is Captain Strafford. All hands are on deck for the push back. We've managed to keep this base running so far, but if we keep running, the enemy will find us eventually. We're going to take the Atraxis Dome back today, and we'll take out whoever took it from us in the process."

Cheers came from all around as Strafford continued talking.

"We might have lost our home, but we won't lose it again. For everyone we've lost so far, we'll do what we have to in order to make it right. Today, we're fighting back." The engines on each of the ships started spinning, readying for takeoff. "All ships commence takeoff," Strafford said, and clicked off.

"This is Jester-2," said our pilot. "Once again you're flying with me. My ship doesn't carry much firepower but it'll get us near the Dome fast and easy. Hang on tight, this ride might get messy."

I gripped my rifle against my chest and felt my heart rate quicken as we took off. A crowd of ships emerged from the Rangers' base and headed towards the Dome. No infiltrations this time: it was going to be a full-on assault in order to stop Duodecim at the source.

The air felt a little heavy in the dropship as we quickly headed for the base. No delays were happening, just speed and a lot of anticipation building up. And everyone looked plenty ready to take it on.

"It's gonna be rough," David said over the radio, "trust me. But you've proven you know how to handle something like this."

"Weird to think you'll be seeing me in action."

"I have already," David said. "Just this time I'll be the one actually speaking to you. Don't worry, you've got this. "

"And I'd say he's done a good job holding himself together," Meiko said. "Don't worry, we've taken good care of him."

"Keep him safe," David requested. "I promise when this is all over, I'll take all of you out for dinner to celebrate."

"I'm holding you to that," Luka said. "I like fancy."

"Preferably something with variety, too!" Gumi chimed in. "I bet you could take us to the fanciest place in the city with the kind of connections you have, David. I even bet you could-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Meiko said. "We'll talk about it after we're done here."

Even if things were about to get hairy, it was pretty nice to see everyone still keeping their spirits about them.

"Right," I said. "Let's kick them off Other-Earth and teach 'em a lesson. Not just for the Rangers, but all of us as well." Everyone nodded, raising their fists.

Before long, Jester-2 radioed to us. "We're about to get hot, I'd say keep yourselves in your seats, but you probably aren't too keen on walking around. It's gonna be rough-"

An explosion shook the ship. I looked out the window as one craft started losing altitude, and pieces started flying off.

"Guess it's already started," Gumi said, and switched her radio on.

"To all Rangers forces, I'm getting signals from multiple points indicating air defense points. We need to target those and take them out or our chances of getting in are going to be zero."

Gumi started pinging points on the map, indicating where the anti-air fire was coming from.

"They've got missile batteries and energy cannons," Gumi advised. "Bob and weave, and hit them hard!"

"Way ahead of you, ma'am! Ranger Ground Team Gamma is moving in as fast as we can. Just hang tight, we'll shut them off."

"How long will that take!?" I yelled. "We'll get hit before we can land!"

"Calm down!" Meiko shot back. "Can't do much from up here. Just leave it to the pilot!"

"I'll get you all through this, don't worry!" Jester-2 assured. "Come on, come on!"

A ripple formed in the air outside of my window, and blasted through a ship next to us. The explosion rocked our craft, and my heart wanted to eject itself out of my chest.

"Just a little longer, the moment we get up to the forest, I'll land!"

"Just be sure to keep your eyes on the sky!" Gumi yelled.

"Don't worry, we'll-"

A screeching sound like that of a hawk sounded, and crashed right against us. Our craft started shaking wildly.

"Pile out!" Jester-2 yelled, and opened the rear exit. "Pile out! I'll try to land it, but you need to get off the ship!"

"What about you!?" Miku yelled back at Jester-2.

"I'll be fine! Just jump! You've got wingsuits for a reason!"

The craft had opened, and Jester-2 managed to restabilize the craft just long enough for us to jump out. Flames billowed out the rear of the ship. The craft was going down, and we would go down with it if we weren't careful.

"Go! Get out of here! I know you can make it!"

Everyone took off for the rear of the ship and jumped out. I noticed Miku looking at the cockpit entrance, and then jumped out. We deployed our wingsuits, and were close enough to glide to solid ground. Explosions rang out in the air and energy beams zipped past us. Duodecim wasn't messing around, and we were going in with nothing but brute force.

Jester-2's craft flew closer into the forest, and landed inside of the trees. A mass of blue matter spit from them as he collided with it.

"Wish you all could have seen that," he radioed, and laughed hysterically.

"Jester-2, are you okay!?" David asked.

"Ah, support callin' for me? Yeah. I'm fine. Craft is damaged though. And so are my legs. Can barely move."

"Hang tight," I said, "we'll be there as soon as we can!"

"Wouldn't worry about it," Jester-2 said, his voice starting to trail. "I'm pretty sure this is it for me. I see I got some friends coming my way."

"We're on our way," I said. "Hang tight!"

"Ha, alright you three, you wanna talk? Let's talk."

Gunfire sounded over Jester-2's radio, and then his connection cut.

"Damn it!" Miku shouted. "We gotta help him!"

"We'll get there as fast as we can," Meiko said.

We landed on the ground in a group of trees. All of us were close enough that we managed to regroup quickly. Gumi pinpointed exactly where Jester-2's craft had landed. We moved as quickly as we could to get to him. More missiles filled the sky, but I saw a good deal of the Rangers ships were still able to evade them and make emergency landings further than we did. It looked like they would actually manage to get into the base.

"But we better hurry," Gumi said, "if Duodecim manages to send something through that scanner, we might have bigger things to worry about."

"We'll get there," Meiko said. "Now come on!"

We ran through the forest, and made our way towards the downed craft. It was smoldering, with blue glowing liquid around it. The trees seemed to have been… bleeding. We went over to check the cockpit and noticed it was already opened. Around it were three downed Duodecim drones who had been shot. Jester-2 wasn't anywhere to be found. We took a second to see if he had crawled out of his craft, and then we noticed a figure sitting under one of the trees. His gun was trained on us, and one of his legs was missing.

"Jester," I said, running up to him. "You okay?"

"I've had better days," he said, trying to sound jovial. "As you can probably guess, I can't walk."

This wasn't good.

"Strange how the shock hasn't gotten you," Gumi said.

"Shock?" Jester-2 asked.

"Normally when humans lose a limb they fall into 'shock.' Usually causing them to fall unconscious as a result of intense pain. But you don't seem to be suffering from those effects."

His helmet covered his gray-skinned face, but I pulled it off, and his veins were starting to glow a deeper blue.

"We're gonna get you outta here," Miku said.

"Don't worry about me. You have a mission to finish. I'm sure they'll come find me eventually. If not, well, I guess that's it for me."

"Don't say that," Miku said. "Please. You're going to be okay."

"That's a nice sentiment, little lady. But I'm just a weight for you to carry."

"Good idea," Meiko said. "We'll haul you over to the nearest medic."

Meiko didn't hesitate, and slung Jester-2 over her shoulder. He grunted and protested as she pulled him.

"No one gets left behind," Meiko said. "Now come on. I'm sure you guys can cover me as we move further in."

"Sounds good to me," I said, and checked the weapon I was holding.

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"I'm a little impressed," David said, running his hand over his chin, and watching over as Griff and the others navigated through the forest. "They managed to work together pretty fast to save their pilot."

"They've been… very cooperative with one another," Lisa agreed. "A real bond is at work between all of them, isn't there?"

"It is. Good to know Griff is in good hands with them."

"How come you didn't go along?" asked Lisa.

"Not sure," David said. "I know I'm supposed to be evaluating their performance, and I could have done it while working next to them, but I guess I'm a little worried."

"Worried about what, exactly?"

David kept his eyes trained on the screen, his support role still at the front of his mind.

"I just don't want Griff to see it, I guess. My tactics and the things I have to do. I worry it'll change how he sees me."

"Don't you think he already sees you differently?" Lisa countered. "The fact you know about this base and that you were there to retrieve Miku initially probably influenced his view on you plenty."

"That's a little different," David said. "I let him get into this world, and I worry he'll see the things I've done."

Lisa adjusted her glasses and ran her hands through her long, blonde hair. "I understand. He's still your responsibility after all."

"I have to do what I can," David said, watching as everyone exited from the forest on his monitor, "or I'll be disappointing his father, and I'd rather not let that happen."

David turned on the microphone and sent a message to everyone as they got closer to the Dome amidst the conflict.

But for all it's worth, David thought, Alan would be proud of what his son is doing.

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"Ranger Ground Team Gamma," the squadron leader, Beck, greeted us. "Looks like you caught up with us. Managed to take out some of the missile batteries. Found out they have a central hub we can hit and knock it all out."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Central hub…" Gumi repeated, "I see. That makes it easier for us."

"Was strange coming across their tech," Beck noted, wiping dirt from his visor. "Felt like they repurposed some of our own. Hate to think they stole 'em."

"Might have," Gumi said. "Which means you probably know how to break it, right?"

"Sure do," Beck said. "We have a few bombs that should wipe the whole thing out."

Gumi reached out to grab it. The explosive was a small, hexagonal box with a blinking red and green light on it.

"Enough of a payload that it'll be hard to put back together," Beck added. "We don't have a whole lotta time."

"We'll follow behind you," Meiko said.

Beck looked over and saw Jester slumped over on Meiko's shoulder.

"We'll have to patch up your pilot," Beck said. "Don't worry, he'll get care. I have a few who can stay behind for him."

"Got it," Meiko said, and placed Jester down by a tree.

"Hey, hang on," Jester said weakly. "Before ya leave me, I wanna give you something."

Jester pulled out his handgun, and flipped it to hand to Meiko. "Figured I'd give you a little memento to remember me by. Use it to take out some of those drones, will ya? For me?"

Meiko nodded, and racked the slide back. Steam billowed out the top of it, releasing heat. "With pleasure."

Meiko stood up, and left Jester alone as a couple of Rangers sat down next to him.

Gumi had us crouch down as the conflict raged on in the skies. Occasionally, the ground would shake as missiles made contact with one of the missile batteries, and the radio chatter between the Rangers would come in, coordinating between each other. The sky was filled with ships trying to break through the air defense. But Duodecim wasn't making it easy. They started sending ships of their own to fight back.

"Central hub is nearby," Gumi said, and started pinpointing potential targets on our visors. "We need to be careful. The chatter I was hearing mentioned something about a 'fast moving' target."

"'Fast moving?'" I asked. "You don't suppose that's a new unit they have?"

"For all we know," Meiko said, "it's probably a whole squad of them."

Another blast shook the ground. That one was nearby.

"How come they don't try to blast the central hub from the sky?" Miku asked.

"They don't have infinite missiles, and it's deep inside the forest, and Duodecim probably has a jammer to prevent it from showing up," Meiko answered.

Miku shook her head. "I should have known that."

"Look," Luka said. "We have a way to shut it off, we just need to find it."

"And we'll be taking this one," Gumi said, and my visor focused on one waypoint that flashed a green color.

"The explosives we got should be enough. Once we take out the air defense, the Rangers should be able to land a little easier." Gumi paused for a second. "But I wonder if we won't need those explosives."

"What do you mean?" Luka tilted her head.

"I mean, I could maybe reset the targeting system, give it a needed advantage to take out the enemy ships."

"Hmm," I said. "You think we could do that?"

"If you keep the drones off me I can."

"Then let's do it. No time to sit around," Meiko said, standing up. "Let's get to it."

We moved out, setting further into the dense jungle, not sure what was lying ahead.

Once we ended up near one of the spots indicated by Gumi, we came across a team of four standard infantry drones guarding a computer. Unless Duodecim made modifications to these in particular that weren't immediately noticeable, or we were hitting a diversion set up to delay everything so that we wouldn't be able to take the air defense down in time. It was a gamble, but the tech they were guarding looked to be what we were looking for. The drones made regular routine communications between one another, indicating the area was clear around them. We hid behind trees and watched as they regrouped, and dispersed.

"Definitely a pattern," Meiko said. "Should be easy. Only four of them."

Meiko took her rifle out, and aimed it. We all followed suit.

"Marked," Meiko whispered. "Everyone good?"

I gave my thumbs up, training my sights on another.

"Nice n' easy," Meiko said. "Fire."

All of us took the shot. Before I could actually shoot my target, one of the others had already hit it. Pained me to say it, but it was hard to compete with any of the androids I was partnered up with: they would beat me to the punch every time. At least they still kept me around. I had to have some uses after all.

"Got 'em," Meiko said, coolly. Work your magic, Gumi."

Gumi rushed over to the central computer console and got right to work.

"Cover me," Gumi ordered, and immediately started tapping away. "More than likely they'll send reinforcements here to shut down our little scheme. Now let's see…"

Gumi tapped on the keys while all of us formed a small circle around her, crouched down, and had our guns ready.

"Yep," Gumi said, "we're in the right spot. I should be able to rewrite the targeting system… And…"

Meiko perked her head up, and looked around, putting her palm up to her ear.

"I hear something," she said, turning her head around. "Something nearby… Gumi! Get down!" Meiko yelled.

Gumi, not hesitating, ducked as something slammed right into the computer console she was working on. The screen was cracked and sparks flew out.

A large, gray metal figure appeared right before her. Its eyes glowing red, stared down at Gumi. Meiko opened fire on it immediately, but it managed to make nimble dodges before turning its cloaking system back on.

Gumi laid on the ground and laughed nervously. "Thanks, Meiko," she said, her voice jittery, "if it weren't for you, I probably would have been given a nasty haircut."

"We have no time for that," Meiko said. "Did you manage to reprogram the targeting system?"

"Doesn't look like I did," Gumi said. "Looks like we're resorting to those explosives after all."

"Got it," Luka said. "Then we better regroup back towards the Dome."

Gumi pulled out the explosive charge and set the timer for thirty seconds. "I'd say we start moving before our friend shows up again!"

We ran back into the forest as the seconds ticked down.

"Guess that's what they meant by 'fast movers,' huh?" Miku quipped.

"Duodecim elite," Gumi said. "Looks newer than the models I've seen. How is it cloaking, though? Duodecim shouldn't have that kind of technology."

"It might not be Duodecim tech," Luka said. "That base predates them being here. For all we know, Kallen found a way to install it at some point. It would be the only explanation."

Once we were far enough away, we waited for the blast to detonate, but it never came.

"Did it shut it off?" Gumi asked.

"Looks like it," Meiko said. "Must be trying to bait us."

"Then we go back," I said. "We gotta shut that down."

"No, you have to get inside of the base," Meiko said. "For all we know, Duodecim could be sending something through to the Dome as we speak."

"You're making it sound like you're going there alone," Luka said.

Meiko pulled a magazine from her carrying case and popped the old one out. "Because I am. Someone has to shut that down, and that elite is going to track all of us down. Figured I'll take it on and keep it off your backs."

"But what if it kills you?" Miku objected. "We can't risk losing one of our own."

"Nah," Meiko shook her head, "if you think this thing could kill me, you haven't seen what I can do."

"Alright," I said, "just be sure to come back in one piece."

Meiko nodded her head, turned over to me, and pulled the gun Jester had given her. "You hold on to it. There's going to be more for you to hit it with."

I nodded, and accepted the handgun from her. "Second time you've given me one of these," I said. "I'll hold on to it for you, but you

better come back for it."

Meiko just took off sprinting back towards the central command hub without saying anything, leaving the rest of us to get our job done.

"To all Rangers," Gumi radioed. "There's been a snag with our plan to take out the air defense. If you're hearing this and you've managed to land, converge on the Dome's entrance."

A set of affirmative pings lit up from each squadron. We were going to take this back one way or another."

----------------------------------------

Meiko sprinted back towards the central command hub. Even if the bomb was disarmed, Meiko would just smash the thing to pieces to shut it off if she had to. She felt like she should have done it before, but with a bomb already in place, it didn't seem necessary.

The elite was no doubt trying to bait everyone into coming back, or in the least, was looking for a way to claim some more heads for it, but if it wasn't already following behind the others, it would be following Meiko to stop her from disabling the missile hub.

Either way, it was a coin toss as to what the elite drone would decide to do, but Meiko was confident it would track after her. Seeing as she was a high-value target that was flying solo, she would be easier to capture, at least that's how Meiko saw it.

But Meiko wouldn't go down without a fight. She had spent plenty of time giving the security staff inside of Duodecim plenty of headaches with them trying to restrain her. If they were going to capture her, they'd have to do it with her arms and legs removed, and even then, Meiko would probably try biting her way through opposition.

Meiko ran back towards the central hub, and saw the bomb they had planted was no longer there. The terminal still had a massive hole in it, and was still powering the air defense system.

Meiko approached the terminal, and without thinking, rammed her fist right into the control unit, ripping out pieces of the system components, grabbing whatever might have looked important.

Nothing seemed to have shown up behind her, but as Meiko ripped the guts of the computer out, the missiles from the surface had ceased firing, and the energy cannons shortly after.

"This is Meiko," she radioed. "Central Missile Hub is down. No sign of the elite. I'm heading back."

Meiko turned around, and saw a familiar figure appear in front of her. It deployed a retractable blade from both arms, and stared at her, trying its best to intimidate her.

Meiko didn't flinch, but took a fighting stance against her adversary.

"I was hoping you'd show up," she grinned. "Leaving a girl hanging is something you never do on your first date."

The drone didn't answer, but instead lunged at her with its long, razor-sharp blade arms.

Meiko backflipped as the drone sliced through the already damaged computer hub. If it wasn't already broken, this at least prevented repairs from being put into place.

The blade seemed to slice through anything. Meiko couldn't go at this thing carelessly, if it hit her, it would slice through her like a blade through a watermelon.

The mechanized war machine lunged at Meiko, and Meiko ducked under it, sweeping the leg and trying her hardest to knock it off its feet. The drone doubled back, and cartwheeled away from her, followed by a quick jump back towards Meiko.

Meiko rolled, bobbed, and weaved along the ground as the blade tried to pin her.

Not here, sorry, Meiko thought, and threw a punch as she rolled to the left, slamming her fist into the drone's ocular sensor. With its blade still firmly in the ground, Meiko took the chance to stand back up quickly, and threw another punch at it in the head.

The metallic frame of the elite was tough, and Meiko noted that Duodecim wasn't skimping on the budget for these models. They could take abuse about as much as she could. It was almost like she was fighting a copy of herself, almost matching her move-for-move. Meiko could dodge a good deal of its attacks, but that was because of Meiko's advanced processing allowing her to detect certain patterns. This enabled her quick reflexes, but the drone she was fighting had the same abilities, and made it a difficult match.

But Meiko didn't stray away from the challenge. She knew this wasn't going to be easy, and that's why she took it on.

Meiko shoved her knee into the drone's face, and tried her best to pin it, but the drone recovered, and swung its blade at her, grazing against her armor. She felt her suit's shielding sap away immediately, and a hole formed at her breastplate. The blade tore off a great deal with a single swing.

"Didn't need it anyways," Meiko taunted, dodging another swing by the drone. The long blades made it hard for Meiko to get in close to the elite without it making a close shave to her body. She had to find a way to close the gap between her and the drone. If not, she'd be playing defense the entire time and would wear out before she could actually get a hit in. And with how fast it was moving, matching her move-for-move, there was no way she'd be able to pull her gun in time to hit it. If she could hit it.

Meiko kept moving backwards and the drone kept moving forwards, slashing at her like a wild animal trying to get at its prey.

Meiko dodged and grabbed a tree branch, and the elite made another swing, cutting through the bark as small blue pieces of data flew off of it.

Meiko noticed something, though, as the elite had sliced through the bark. It retracted its blade. And she wasn't sure why that was. For the entire time she'd been fighting it, it had been keeping them unsheathed, but now it had to pull it back.

It was a long shot, but Meiko had to find some way to gain the advantage, and this might be it.

Just need to get it to hit something that isn't me, she thought, and grabbed a loose rock.

As the drone sprinted towards her, Meiko chucked the rock with as much force as she could muster into her throw, and aimed at the drone. The drone would either dodge or try to break the rock in midair.

"Try this, big boy!" Meiko yelled as the rock rushed towards the drone.

The drone met the rock with a slice against it, cutting it in half. Meiko paid attention to the blades, seeing if they would retract.

They did, and once the blade retracted, she had an opening, but for how long, she didn't know.

Meiko smiled deviously for a brief moment, uttering, "Got you now."

The drone charged at her, pulling its left blade back out again to attack. All Meiko had to do was find a way to keep the drone at bay until she could stop its blades from deploying.

Even then, she thought to herself again, he could still pull a blade out on me if I get too close.

Meiko kept letting the drone close the gap on her, and she dodged each strike, letting it slice into trees and rocks and landing its attacks into dirt. Once both blades had retracted back into its holster, Meiko started attacking it, taking advantage of the opening she had created.

Meiko struck at it, slamming her fists into its chassis, trying to put a dent into it. Eventually, a few seconds later, the drone would fight back, taking swings at her when it saw an opening, and managed to get a few hits on Meiko's armor. Thanks to her quick reflexes, Meiko managed to sustain little damage, but it still managed to hit her.

Meiko took an uppercut towards the elite's faceplate, slamming her fist into its ocular sensor, and very nearly broke it, but the elite dodged out of the way, and pulled back, followed by deploying its blade arms again.

Meiko went back on the defensive again, this time taking the opportunity to run away from the drone instead of trying to weaken it again. She figured she might as well find another way to hurt it, maybe even trap it if she could.

The drone saw her run, and took off after her.

"Catch me if you can!" Meiko taunted it, knowing the invitation would go unheard, but it felt good to make fun of the tin cans that were the Duodecim drones.

Meiko kept running further into the forest and found herself at a cliffside with a running body of water about twenty meters below her. Meiko stopped in her tracks and turned around to notice how close the drone was on her.

No turning back here, guess we're fighting.

Meiko got ready to fight, but the drone swung its blade and grazed her right arm, ripping her shoulder pad off in the process. The sting seared her as it tore some of her false skin off in the process.

Caught by the surprise, Meiko did her best to regain her balance, either that, or she'd fall off the cliff and into the water below. She thought she might be able to escape, but her objective was to slow down or stop this drone entirely, and she wouldn't be happy to leave this job half-finished.

"Come on," she said, "come on, that the best you got!?"

The drone swung another blade at her, this time Meiko dodged it, but she felt her energy starting to wane.

If I don't do something soon, I'm done for.

The drone went for a downward slash, aiming to cut Meiko in half almost with its strike, but Meiko grabbed at its forearms as it raised them. She felt intense pressure as the drone tried its best to free itself from her grip.

"If you think… I'm going to let you stop me… then you're wrong!" Meiko struggled as the drone pushed against her.

"I've come too far, and you're not stopping me from finding him!"

Meiko crushed hard with her grip into the drone's arms, feeling as the metal chassis started to dent. She felt her fingers' internal mechanisms were being pushed to their limits, and her wrist was on the verge of snapping, but Meiko was only concerned with stopping this thing.

Meiko felt herself starting to overheat, and her body was giving into the intense energy loss she was suffering from. She was doing too much in such a short amount of time.

Meiko took what energy she had left and pulled on the drones arms, seeing if she could use its force against it, and pulled herself backwards to use extra force to kick it away from her.

The kick must have done something right, because she heard a loud crack as she forced it away from her.

The drone reeled back as Meiko saw how damaged its arms were. Its faceplate was cracking, and its body started limping. Meiko's kick must have shattered something inside.

Both of them struggled now. Meiko felt like her body was going to start falling apart, but at least she managed to hurt the drone enough now that she could maybe get a shot off.

She pulled out her rifle, and aimed at it, seeing if she could get one shot off.

But the drone was too close, and managed to scrounge up enough energy to tackle her. It flew right into her, not accounting for the cliff edge down below.

And so Meiko and the drone dived off the cliff into the water below.

----------------------------------------

Here we were, the front entrance of the Atraxis Dome. Once Meiko shut the missile control hub off, the Rangers felt a lot more confident to take on the enemy. A new wave of dropships landed, leaving supplies of weapons and ammo, and forming a ring around the base. They intended to surround it, shutting off all escape routes from the drones.

With the anti-air batteries out of commission thanks to Meiko, the drone fighters didn't seem to stand a chance against the pilots fighting against them. Miku looked a little envious, wishing she could have been up there downing drones instead of being down here.

"You'll get your chance," I told her, and she nodded, not saying much.

Meiko hadn't checked in with us, but her status was still displaying as "green," so maybe she was too focused on something else to check in with us. Which was still worrying, frankly, but I didn't want to think the worst had happened to her.

We had to focus on our mission after all.

"We've built a ring around the base," Strafford said once he caught up with us. "Managed to install a forward operating base. All wounded are being brought back. The rest are following us to take the Dome back!"

"We're reading you," David radioed, "all current Interspace Operators are moving into the base. There's a worrying amount of energy building up inside of the Dome. I recommend we move on it before it has a chance to do anything else."

"I'm noticing that, too," Gumi said. "It's the same energy signature from when we pulled Miku from it."

"You don't mean-" Miku said.

"Yep, they're sending something this way. Though it still needs time to warm up, but if we don't shut it down, who knows what Duodecim is going to do."

"David," I called, "David, do you have a fix on Meiko? Where is she, and how far away is she?"

"Can't get a good fix on her," David said. "I'll keep trying, but we can't focus on going back for her, not until we've taken care of this."

I looked back over at the forest as more of the Rangers dropships pulled into view. Meiko had to be in there somewhere, fighting against opposition. Or so I hoped.

"Hey," Miku said, putting her hand on my shoulder, "she'll be alright. She's tough."

I nodded, looking back at Miku through my helmet visor. "You're right. She'll be safe."

"Now come on," Luka commanded us, "we have to get in there. No more dawdling."

"That's right!" Gumi exclaimed, moving across the bridge towards the Dome's entrance.

I looked up and saw the beam from the center of the Atraxis Dome, noticing that it was pointing towards the sky. Duodecim was aware of us, and they were sending something our way. That much was clear. What wasn't clear is what they would be sending our way. Was it another elite sent to make our lives worse? Or possibly a whole squadron of them? After having narrowly escaped from one of them, I shuddered to think what it would be like to fight maybe four of them. They were terrifying looking and seemed to be dead-set on stopping us. But that was why we needed to stop Duodecim before they could send anything our way at all. Even if all they could muster was another standard drone, that still posed a risk of stopping us.

We ran across the bridge, making our way towards the entrance of the facility.

"David," Gumi said over the radio, "I programmed a command that I need you to execute. It'll do all of the work for you."

"All of the work, huh?" David asked. "Alright. Just point me to it and I'll get it open for you."

"You left a program to open doors on the base's computer?" Luka asked.

"I have a lot of shortcuts for everyone else if they're using the supercomputer. I could do it myself, but I want David to have a little bit of fun while he's watching all of this."

"You're so thoughtful, Gumi," Miku mused. "I bet you left some games for him to play while he waits to actually do something."

"I don't play games," Gumi quipped in return. "Too distracting. Hacking is a lot more fun especially when you can see your work happen in real time. Have you ever seen a power box explode because you managed to figure out how to overload it from an auxiliary power station? That was exciting. Honestly-"

"Gumi," Luka said, snapping her fingers, "focus."

"Right, right, sorry."

We all got into position right by the door, and Gumi gave the signal for David to open the door.

A couple of seconds passed, and the red lights that indicated the door was locked blinked a couple of times, and then an affirmative beep, followed by the doors changing to green.

"Doors open," Gumi said.

"Glad I could help," David said. "Be careful, behind the doors are a team of drones inside waiting for you."

"Way ahead of you," Gumi said, pulling a grenade out from her pouch. "I came prepared."

"Alright," David said, "weapons free. Get to the center, and get there fast."

Gumi didn't hesitate, and opened the doors. The drones started firing immediately at us. Beams of energy streaked from within.

"Primed," Gumi said, and threw the grenade in after waiting a few seconds. A loud blast shook the ground, and the shooting stopped.

"Go! Move!" Luka ordered. We all took position running inside, our weapons trained on any potential survivors.

"Nothing," Gumi said. "They're starting to thin out. I wonder if they spent too much energy trying to fight the Rangers."

"Possibly," Miku said. "They might also be falling back towards the center of the facility. They might be making a last stand there."

"Miku's right," David said. "It looks like a sizable force is holed up near the entrance to the center, and there's a decent amount inside as well, but they aren't giving off the same signature as the drones."

"Survivors?" Luka asked. "Possibly from when Duodecim took the base over?"

"Not exactly," David replied, "more like civilians? They seem to have a different signature than the Rangers, too."

"Is Kallen there?" Miku asked. "He has to be, right? He's behind all of this to begin with. There's no doubt in my mind he would be here."

"Not seeing anything that looks like a human."

I looked at Miku. Though I couldn't see under her helmet, I figured she came to the same conclusion I had.

"He never came back," Miku said. "Does that mean he was-"

"If he was, good riddance," I said.

Miku looked over at me for a quick second, and then turned her attention back to Gumi.

"There's a chance he might be cloaking his signature," Gumi said. "We'll have to get to the center in order to see for ourselves."

"Right," Luka said. "So arm up, we're going in there."

So we were. I grabbed the pistol Meiko handed off to me, which had originally belonged to Jester-2. "I gotta pick some off with this. Can't wait to put it to good use."

We all loaded fresh magazines into the rifles we were using and grabbed spare weapons from the dead drones that were blasted. Only a couple still worked, but it was better than nothing.

Luka waved her hand, signaling for us to move forward. Up ahead was our opposition: Duodecim. They were going to throw everything they had at us to stop us from getting in there.

We moved, heading towards the door that led to the bridge accessway into the central core of the facility. Contrary to our expectations, everything was empty.

"They're scared," Gumi said. "Have to be. It's the only reason why they started retreating further in. This isn't the Beehive directing them. This is a direct order from someone in Duodecim."

"What makes you say that?" Luka asked.

"The decision to retreat back further, I don't know, it just doesn't seem like a decision to make unless… they're desperately trying to keep us out."

"I see what you mean, Gumi," David said. "They're trying to consolidate. Possibly trying to keep us away for as long as they can."

"So do we go it alone or push forward by ourselves?" I said, looking back towards the way we came. "I mean, we have the Rangers."

"We do," Luka said, "but they're behind us. We'll start the first assault, and hopefully they'll catch up to us before the drones can manage to rearrange our heads."

I shook my head, realizing we were short on time, and also trying to psych myself up.

"Alright, fine," I said. "We've managed against them before, we'll be able to do this."

"Stick behind us, Griff," Luka pointed behind her and Miku. "We may be down someone, but if you get hit, Miku and David would never forgive us."

I rolled my eyes. "I can handle myself, but you're the one giving orders here. Right behind you, ma'am."

Luka let out a slight chuckle, and approached the door to the inner bridge. "I see why

Meiko likes taking the lead."

Gumi took the other side of the door, with Miku standing behind her. We were standing in a breaching position, about to take on an army that sat between us and the only way for Duodecim to enter this facility. Without Meiko, we were missing the closest thing we had to a tank, but we had to make due with what we had.

"How many are on the bridge, David?" I asked.

"Counting about twenty. They're staged at the end of it, and you have plenty of points of cover between you and them."

"Then let's get this show on the road," Miku said.

"You heard the lady," Gumi said. "Hit it, David."

David didn't reply, but he did oblige Gumi's command. The door's color changed to green and opened.

We were greeted by a dark room, and my night vision switched on.

At the end of the hall, the drones were set up. They started showing up as red highlights on my display.

We immediately took cover behind a wall, and sat there waiting for them to come to us. But they instead stood still, waiting for us to come to them.

"Why aren't they advancing?" I asked. "Are they waiting for us?"

"No need to wait for us if they can just let the timer run down," Luka said, looking over the wall.

"Hmm," Gumi looked over the side of the bridge. "I have an idea."

Gumi didn't say anything after that, and instead, leapt over the bridge railing, and deployed her wingsuit.

"Follow me," she whispered to us. "They might be waiting for our attack, but they might not be expecting this."

I looked at Luka, and Miku looked at us. We didn't hesitate, and followed suit to Gumi's location.

Gumi attached herself to the cavern's walls, and started climbing along the side to navigate it.

"The lights are off, and so long as we don't get close to the location they're designated to protect, they won't start firing here," Gumi explained.

"How do you figure that?" Luka asked as I attached myself to the cavern's walls beneath us.

"They haven't started firing, have they?"

I let out a heavy sigh. One of these days Gumi was going to get us killed with that kind of thinking. But she was right. They didn't start attacking us from where we were hanging.

"So," Miku said, "do we surprise attack?"

"Not much of a choice," Luka said. "Even if we sneak in, they could surround us once they knew we tricked them."

"And we can't risk leaving them for the Rangers. But I have a better idea," Gumi said. "Anyone still have grenades?"

I pulled a grenade out of my pouch, and so did Miku.

Gumi pointed up the cavern.

"Get yourself above them, get those grenades ready to drop, and when they go off, Luka and I will take care of the survivors. That should clear a way for us to get inside."

"Clever," Miku said, "and a little mean, but I like it."

We started climbing up with our MAG-gloves, staying quiet and careful not to draw attention to ourselves.

The decision to shut the lights out was working in our favor after all. I remember the last time I was in here it was dark to begin with, but now, without light, it was being used to our advantage.

"We're up," Miku said, pulling out her grenade. I followed suit, and pulled mine out.

Luka moved to the opposite wall, pulling her handgun out.

"Gumi here, in position."

"Luka here, in position."

Miku looked at me, and nodded that it was go time.

With the grenade in my hand as I hung off the wall of the cavern, I pressed it against my chest and twisted it until it started beeping.

"Drop it," I said, and let go of the small explosive, watching it fall.

The moment it hit the ground, the drones looked up. Unfortunately, that's all they could do. The grenades detonated seconds later, shaking the walls, and causing me to grip on to the wall as best as I could.

There were still survivors but Gumi and Luka dispatched them quickly. The rotary turret cannons were knocked out from the blast. The drones were unable to change tactics, and were taken out quickly by Gumi and Luka's ambush.

"Clear!" Gumi and Luka said in unison.

I looked at Miku and she held out her hand for a high five. I obliged her without hesitation.

We jumped from the cavern's wall and glided down with our wingsuits.

"That was some quick thinking," David said. "I'm impressed."

"Save the praise until after," Luka said. "I'm starting to blush."

"Will do," David said. "You've got about five drones inside of the next room. The civilians are in there. Let's see if we can shut this down."

I looked at everyone, and nodded my head.

"Let's show Duodecim we mean business, yeah?"

Everyone checked their weapons, and we prepared for the next room. I took a deep breath, realizing we were getting closer to the end.

Now or never, I thought, we'll show 'em.

----------------------------------------

Meiko crawled out of the river. Her chassis integrity had diminished considerably from the fall, but she managed to survive.

She did her best to stand up, but could only limp towards a rock. Her left arm was mangled, with pieces of wire and metal protruding from it. She didn't have any motor control over it; it just dangled from her body, barely attached anymore. The only thing keeping it from falling off entirely was her armor and some support wires.

When Meiko collided with the water, she had crashed into a shallow part of the river that held sharp rocks underneath it. The force of the landing shattered everything.

Her bout with the elite seemed to have ended, but Meiko was hurt, and she was hurt badly.

She laid down by the river, resting her back against a rock, and set her Watcher to broadcast an emergency signal. Maybe someone would find her eventually, but for now, Meiko would have to contend with being alone with her thoughts.

All she wanted to do was power herself off and sleep until rescue came, but she couldn't do that. The elite she was fighting was still around, and she didn't see it die. There was a very good chance it was still around, and if Meiko's luck was any indication, it was probably in a better condition to fight than she was.

Listening for signs of trouble, Meiko heard a splashing sound nearby. She stood up, and limped over to see what it was.

The drone she had just fought was struggling to crawl, but it was still functioning. It didn't seem to be in any shape to fight either. Its legs attempted to move, but the rotors inside were no longer functional, with parts of its legs exposed it could only use its arms to crawl.

But Meiko wasn't going to let a job go half-finished. She walked over slowly, sneaking up on the unsuspecting android.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Meiko asked, her voice dark and growling. "We aren't done here."

She stepped on the drone's arm before it could react, and moved to pin its other arm with her only free hand.

Meiko looked down at the machine, seeing into the red eye. She saw the faceplate was cracked, and pieces of it were dripping wet with the water it crawled out from. Meiko knew these things couldn't feel fear, but the way it looked at her, it seemed it was trying to break free from her grip.

"Try deploying them now," she taunted. "Do it!"

The drone didn't deploy its blades. It just squirmed around trying to free itself.

Meiko let go of the drone, clenched her hand into a fist, and slammed its head into the ground. She heard a loud crack as its ocular sensor shattered. The elite drone was little more than a pile of scrap..

"Not so tough now, huh?" she scoffed as she stood up. "Some elite." Despite how badly damaged it was, some of its servos were still functioning, even if they no longer connected to actual limbs. Something about its helpless twitching just infuriated Meiko even further.

"Can't fight back now, can you? You're nothing. A failure." Meiko kicked its chest in, finally shattering its control mechanism, but she didn't seem to notice its movements had stopped. She let out a strained noise halfway between a laugh and a sob, and continued stomping on and hitting its remains.

"Weak, helpless, worthless! You're just a useless pile of- Aaargh!" Meiko's rage so overwhelmed her that her shouting turned into a wordless roar. Her eyes stared blankly at what was left of the drone. As she kept smashing it, all she felt was hate. Hate for the enemy that had so badly injured her - and hate for herself. Finally, her voice gave out and she lost her balance, collapsing. Her roars gave way to desperate sobs, tears of anger falling from her eyes.

And then Meiko felt something, like she had heard someone's voice. A voice she hadn't heard in a long time.

She looked over her shoulder and saw the familiar face of a young man with blue hair, still wearing the white and blue jumpsuit Duodecim had forced him to wear.

"K-Kaito!?" She said to the figure.

But Kaito didn't answer, and instead faded away.

Meiko fell over trying to approach where he was standing. Her body broken, and her energy depleted.

"Come back!" She did her best to call out, holding her hand towards the ghostly apparition. "Come back… Please… I need you…"

But Kaito didn't come back, leaving Meiko alone again. It was a dream, or a hallucination, or a mirage, or whatever word she'd use to describe it. In the end: it was a fake.

Meiko slumped over, exhaustion finally taking hold of her. She laid there alongside the river, left to her thoughts again, and looked up at the sky as the conflict raged on without her.

Meiko felt herself losing consciousness and shutting down. Wondering to herself if she'd ever wake back up again.