"Weapons ready," Luka ordered. "We're going to take this base, and we're doing this now."

"Yes, ma'am," Gumi acknowledged. "Targets identified. Weapons trained and ready. Make sure you know who you're aiming at."

"Normal breach pattern," Luka added. "Behind this door are five drones. They might take advantage and use their hostages as shields."

"Nothing else to it," I said. "I'll point it at the right people."

Gumi sent David the signal to unlock the door. Once the lights switched to green, Gumi signaled a three-signaled countdown on her left hand. Once she clenched her hand into a fist, Luka pressed the button to open the door, and we rushed inside.

We burst in, two in the back, two at the front, our weapons pointing in different directions, keeping our sights set on the enemy drones waiting for us. There wasn't much cover from the observation deck. Just like last time, it was only the main computer terminal, a console, and a pair of monitors that read off data, as well as the window that observed the energy beam in the center of the room.

Two drones immediately started firing, and Gumi and Luka, who were at the front, suffered a couple hits from them. Neither of them seemed phased, and fired back with deadly precision. Gumi's shot shattered her target's head casing, and Luka obliterated the drone at its neck.

The civilians that were inside took cover as the bullets started flying, screaming and ducking down as low as they could. Debris and spent ammo casings flew everywhere. Two other drones tried firing back, but Miku took the shot against one immediately, firing a bullet right through the eye of her target. I heard the sound of glass cracking as the bullet ripped through it.

I took on the other one, keeping my aim right and firing at the middle of the drone's body. Unlike the others who could get a good clean shot to the head, I didn't have the luxury and needed a bigger target to hit. I fired single shots, penetrating the armor casing the drone's core, and watched it flop to the ground.

"We get 'em!?" I yelled.

"Not quite," Gumi answered. "That was only four! Last one should be in here!"

We scanned the room, seeing only the understandably cowering civilians in the room. If there was another one in here, it had to still be hiding. We checked around the room as fast as we could, knowing that we didn't have time to see if there were any more enemies here.

"Looks clear," Gumi said. "Scans must have been wrong."

"No," one of the civilian researchers said, pointing at the body. "There's another. It was… different from the rest. Wasn't colored the same way as these ones."

Gumi, along with the rest of us, looked at the hostage that stood up.

"Anything more you can tell us about that?" I asked, approaching him. "We need to know what we're up against."

"It was tall, like, about the size of you," he said, pointing at Luka. "It had white armor, red eyes, and these gauntlets it would use to send shocks to anyone that fought back. It cloaked and took for another room."

"Cloaked?" Luka asked. "How long ago?"

"Right before you entered. It took off."

Had to be an elite then. I worried something might have happened to Meiko fighting it, but the description on this one sounded different. Did he say shock gauntlets? It could have been another one.

"Any chance it'll come back?" Miku asked.

"I couldn't really understand what it was saying," he said. "It was communicating to someone, but not us."

Gumi approached the control console, rapidly tapping away on the keys, her eyes fixed to the screen. She got right to work, running through command windows and inputting commands. If there was one person I could trust to shut this down fast, it was Gumi.

"Alright," Gumi said, bringing a window to the control panel. "That looks like what they're trying to send."

It was a blueprint for another elite drone. This one looked the same as the one Meiko went back to fight. It was ready to be sent here once the teleport was warmed up and ready to bring it here.

"That can't be good," Luka said.

"It isn't," Gumi said, "because they're sending five more of these drones here to stop us. We have to get this shut off and fast."

"Can you do it?" Miku asked.

"I'm going to try to," Gumi scrambled through the windows quickly. "If I had direct access like last time, I could do this easily, but we don't have the same set of variables as last time, so I'm working with what I can."

The hostage stood up. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Gumi looked back at him, and nodded. "You were priming this thing. How do we shut it off?"

"We were using the information that they supplied us with. Somehow they got their hands on some of our research from the Evenlink Weapons Research Facility."

"Right," I said. "Kallen was siphoning info from that facility. I remember I took out one, but the other drone must have taken this back."

"What were you working on, exactly?" Gumi asked.

"My department was looking into artifacts. The Dome was still something we had plenty to comb through to still understand."

"And your name?" I asked.

"Julian Dorman. I lost a lot of friends, so anything I can do to even the odds a little for you, I'll help."

"Help all you can, then, Dorman," Gumi invited him over to the console. "We need to shut this down and fast."

The other researchers moved closer to us, keeping some distance, but looked on with curiosity and tense looks on their faces. Something told me they wanted to see this play out.

The data reflected off Gumi's helmet visor. She kept her eyes glued to that screen, not looking away for even a second. Her voice was silent, but her hands were doing all of the talking.

"The beam won't be able to have enough power without those pylons that deploy out of the ground," Dorman explained, "The system will shut down if there's a problem with even one of them. This triggers a maintenance mode that will need someone to go in there and get it back up and running. It should be enough to prevent those- drones, as you called them- from coming here."

"I noticed this process was taking a bit of time," Gumi finally turned away from the screen to look at the researcher. "Were you doing something like this earlier, perhaps?"

"I was trying to delay this as long as I could," he said, a smirk on gray face. "But once they started getting impatient, I knew time was short. If you hadn't come here, I'd have wondered if there was any hope we'd be able to stop them at all."

"We'll put an end to this," I assured him, "If we don't, they'll have this place in no time. One elite is deadly enough. Five? We might as well put the handcuffs on now."

"Won't let that happen," Miku said, determined. "Even if Kallen isn't here to see it, I want to put a stop to everything he put in motion."

"Right," I said. "Let's shut this down."

Within a few minutes, Gumi managed to shut down the pylons in the teleport chamber. A loud beep blared across the announcement system, indicating a serious error. The four pylons that sat across one another had lowered back into their resting places.

"That did it," Gumi said. "Now if I can just shut down the beam."

Gumi ran her fingers across the console with the help of Dorman. She managed to find the shutoff command, and went to shut it off, but the system bounced back with a negative response. Stating she lacked "sufficient permissions."

"Oh no," Dorman said. "What are they doing?"

I took a look out of the observation window and noticed a figure navigating the area. I pointed at it, and saw it move to one of the four areas where the pylons had reverted back into, grabbing at the casing, and using its

"It's forcing it open," Luka said. "They're going to do whatever it takes to stop us, aren't they?"

"Not if I can help it," I said. "We gotta get in there to stop that thing."

"Hmm," Gumi grunted. "I'll need to force an override against it, and that's going to take time."

"How much time?" Miku said. "We might be able to delay it from bringing the rest online."

"Forced shutdown could be dangerous," Dorman warned, "and could cause this entire place to become unstable."

"Only choice we have, I'm afraid," Gumi said, "And with the options in front of us, I'll take bringing this place down over letting them have it."

"As for you," Luka said to Julian, "I think we should work on getting you out of here. We could use everything you know about this."

Julian shook his head. "I know how to use this equipment. It would be better if I stayed behind to help."

Gumi nodded to Julian, and gave the thumbs up to Luka. "We can handle this. If we're lucky, I can pull some of Duodecim's data while I work on shutting this down."

Gumi worked the control panel, and managed to still force the door next to her to unlock. Julian stood next to Gumi, and started helping her.

"Griff, Miku, you don't have any time to waste," Gumi said. "We gotta stop this thing."

I looked at Miku, nodding at her, and psyched myself up for what it was we were about to do. This was an elite drone that posed a serious threat, and if it managed to get this working again, then we were in a bad way. But I knew that already, I just wondered if I really was ready for something like this.

If Duodecim wanted a fight, I guess it was up to us to bring it, and I wasn't going to stand here and let them win. It was time to shut this down.

Deep breaths, control your movements, keep your distance, and remember your training, I recalled.

We took off into the chamber, ready to fight this thing. If it was anything like the other one, it would be dangerous, agile, and wouldn't leave any room for error. A machine, carrying out its role against whoever would stop it from doing its job.

The doors locked behind us, and we jumped down onto the circular floor of the chamber. The beam gave off a loud hum, and the floor vibrated with the intense energy that circulated through the facility. I remembered this place. It was here I was reunited with Miku, and now, it was here I'd be fighting alongside her. It didn't feel all that long ago.

We both split off, our weapons aiming forward, circling around each side to catch the elite in an ambush. We moved quickly, hoping it didn't know we were here yet. We were wrong.

The elite had vanished, quickly. It must have deployed its cloaking because it wasn't going anywhere. The pylon was still inside of its resting place.

Miku and I checked around our surroundings, looking for any discrepancies in our vision. However that cloak worked, I couldn't see anything.

Then I heard Miku shout something at me, and pointed her gun in my direction. I turned around, and saw the elite in front of me. It was too late however, because the elite shoulder charged into me, and forced me to the ground, and dropped my rifle.

A couple of shots were fired by Miku, and I rolled over to see the drone had cloaked again. Miku ran over as my suit displayed warnings that I had suffered some bruises.

"You hurt?" She asked me.

"Swell," I said, groaning. "If only I had seen it sooner."

"No sense fretting about it. It's toying with us."

I stood up, and grabbed my rifle, aiming down its sights again.

"Not gonna get me again," I said, "I'll be ready for it."

"I'm switching to thermal imaging," Miku said, tapping her two left fingers against her helmet, "should even the odds."

"Switching to thermal," I repeated, following her lead. Once my thermal vision switched, I immediately saw an outline of the drone. I drew my weapon, and the fight was on again. Miku and I immediately fired at the drone, but it dodged, running behind the energy beam.

I yelled out, furiously signing for Miku to follow me. We sprinted to where the drone had run off to, and kept our weapons drawn.

With the odds in our favor, we were going to take this thing down. Just one clean shot to the cranium would kill the elite, but that meant I needed to be patient. In a situation like this, it was hard to do that.

Without warning, Miku started firing at the thermal image. Two bullets ripped through the air, and the cloaked elite drone took off running again.

"Not this time!" Miku said, taking after it. I crouched down, tracking its position while Miku pushed on after it.

"It'll try to circumvent us," I said, "let's see if it comes over in my direction."

The drone did exactly as I wanted, and ran right for me.

"Gotcha now," I said, and fired a few rounds out of my rifle. They both missed, and the drone tackled me. I felt its weight crash against my suit as I rolled across the floor.

"Thought I had you that time," I said weakly, letting out a defeated laugh.

"Griff!" Miku yelled as she fired at the drone. I tried my best to get back up, but instead of running, the elite picked me up, letting itself risk getting shot by Miku.

"Pacifying target," the drone said in a cold, robotic voice. And suddenly I felt my body tense up as something ran through my body. Tears welled up in my eyes, and a stinging pain shot through me.

My suit's heads-up display started flashing red with warnings about my status. I was dropped to the floor, with all of the feeling in my body leaving me. I couldn't move, and even if I was moving, I couldn't feel it.

I could barely see anything, my vision started blurring, and things were getting darker. The only thing I could make out was "Warning: user heart rate has decreased." Something else popped up underneath it, but I couldn't see anymore.

I felt myself drifting off to sleep, with everything drifting away.

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

Griff's body dropped to the floor, still convulsing from the electrical shocks. Miku watched in horror, seeing as Griff's body lay limp on the floor. Miku just stared at Griff's body while the drone stood over it. His vitals changing from a healthy green to a critical red on her suit's visor.

"No. No!" Miku shouted, and aimed her gun at it again, firing round after round at the drone.

Shot after shot would miss until Miku was out of ammo and needed to swap magazines, but Miku didn't have time to load a new one in. The drone had already closed the gap, and rushed at her. The drone grabbed Miku, giving her the same treatment Griff had been given. A sharp pain shot through her body, as her arms were restrained by the drone's grip. She couldn't move, and felt her energy sap from her. She tried to fight it the best she could, but the drone upped the voltage to make sure she was unable to fight back.

The drone pulled its grip from her, and Miku dropped to her knees. The drone disengaged its cloak, and stared down at her.

"Target acquisition confirmed," the drone said aloud, "priority change, retrieval initiated."

Miku, trying her best to hold herself up, watched as the drone entered a command on one of its arm-mounted computers, and realized what "retrieval" meant. The beam grew louder and the four pylons from the floor deployed. Miku looked over at the observation window, noticing Gumi frantically tapping away at the keyboard she was working at. Hoping Gumi had a plan to turn things around.

So that's it, Miku thought, you're taking me back.

Then Miku looked over at Griff, and saw his status again: Red. No life signs. Griff was gone, and she was going to be taken back to her creators. Probably to meet the same fate for her disobedience. She would most likely be scrapped, and have her memories wiped.

The drone grabbed her, and started dragging her, its strength was greater than she could fight against. This was it, Miku was getting tossed into the portal, and would be back where she belonged.

Suddenly, the floor shook, and a loud boom shook the chamber. The drone that was dragging Miku no longer was, and was knocked backwards. Miku looked up, and saw as the beam had reduced in size. She peeked over at where Gumi was, and realized what had happened.

Gumi had managed to initiate the emergency shutdown. The facility didn't start falling apart, so it must have meant Gumi found a workaround. But there was a cost to it, it felt like. And Miku wanted to get back at her adversary.

Miku approached the drone that was downed. A massive hole had ripped open its chest, exposing its energy core. She looked back over at Gumi, and Gumi nodded to her. Then Miku looked over at Griff's body. He hadn't moved a muscle since the drone had attacked him. Miku feared the worst, feeling something well up in her.

She looked back down at the dead drone, and balled her right hand into a fist. Placing her left hand on the drone's body. Just as she was about to rip its core out, the drone woke up, and grabbed Miku by her throat.

It picked her up, and stood up, still having more strength than Miku could muster to fight back. It tossed Miku away, towards the beam, and started inputting another command. Suddenly, the energy beam started charging again. The portal was opening again, and this drone wasn't going to return empty-handed.

Miku, still weak, tried to fight back. The drone grabbed Miku, but didn't shock her again.. It didn't cloak either. Miku figured the blast must have disabled something in it, because it was struggling to walk just as much as she was.

Miku jammed her elbow into the drone's abdomen, but the drone knocked her back with a kick, and forced her to the ground. Before Miku could get back up, the drone stepped on her right leg, and pressed down on it. The hydraulics in the drone's leg started applying pressure, sounds of metal giving way as it penetrated her armor, and Miku let out a loud scream in agony.

Miku couldn't move her right leg anymore, and with no way to escape, the drone would push her into the beam, sending her back for good. There was no way out, and no way back. She hoped that Gumi would come to her rescue, but instead something else happened.

A pistol slid across the floor and stopped right against Miku's shoulder. She looked over and saw it was the pistol Jester-2 had given Meiko. She forgot that Griff had taken it from her. She looked over at Griff, who was moving again, but barely.

"Do it," Griff said weakly to her. Miku pulled the pistol into her grip, and aimed it at the drone's core. Before the drone could react, Miku started firing into it. The core split open, and hot liquid started pouring from it all over the floor. Miku kicked the drone back with her good leg, and sent it right into the beam. An adverse effect, however, was that the moment the drone's core made contact with the beam, a reaction triggered.

The energy beam in the room went haywire and the facility rumbled. The drone exploded into pieces, and the contacts that kept the beam stable disconnected and crashed against the floor. Miku may have destroyed the drone, but the facility went with it.

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

Miku limped over to me, the pistol I slid to her in hand. The first thing she did when she got over to me was hug me, and let out a relieved laugh. Even if the facility was flying apart, it was still good to see her.

"How- How did you-?"

"Suit woke me back up," I said, getting back on my feet. My suit's medical system had activated and got my heart started again, and just to help give me a boost, it gave me an adrenaline shot to make sure I would actually get back up. Guess it was nice to have something work for a change. I just wished this place was going the same route.

The window to the observation room was cracked open, and Gumi yelled and waved for us to hurry up. I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to. Standing up as fast as I could, I offered Miku my shoulder and moved as fast as I could to get us towards our exit.

"Come on!" Gumi yelled, holding her hand out. Miku grabbed it and Gumi pulled her up. I latched to the wall with my MAG-gloves and climbed up alongside the two of them. Once I was inside, we took no time to catch up on the situation.

"We don't have a lot of time," Gumi said, "that drone's core created an adverse reaction in the energy field. I tried my best to prevent it, but it looks like the Atraxis Dome is going down. We need a way out of here."

"Does anyone know how to pilot?" Julian asked as he opened the door.

Miku raised her hand, and Gumi nodded. "I think you have your answer. Now, Griff, grab Miku and let's get out of here!"

I did what Gumi said, and hiked Miku over my shoulder. If the circumstances were different, I'd be reminiscing about the last time I did this. At least then, nothing was falling apart.

Rocks started falling from inside the caves, and I felt as if the walkway would collapse at any moment. Julian led us through the caves as the shaking facility grew worse by the second.

"I remember the hangar they brought us in from," Julian said, his eyes trained on the cave's ceiling, likely trying to make sure a rock didn't land on him. "If we're lucky, there should be a few left."

"And if we don't?" I asked, worried what it was he was saying.

"Hopefully there's one there," was all he said in response.

We didn't hesitate to stay and watch the sights. We had to get out of here.

Once we crossed the bridge and entered back into the Dome's hallways, voices started pouring through our radios, with shouts and orders and updates to the situation. I guess it was just as bad out there as it was in here. Pieces of the ceiling were crumbling, and blocks of data fell along with it. Pieces of the wall sparked, and connecting cables exploded. It was getting harder and harder to navigate.

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"All hands, get clear, the facility has gone red, I repeat, the facility has gone red! Get clear and maintain a safe distance! Get as far away as you can and ensure safety!"

"Pick it up!" Gumi shouted at me, "if we don't get out of this, we can kiss our hide's goodbye!"

I started moving as fast as I could with Miku on my back. I guess that adrenaline boost had helped, though, because I was able to keep up with Gumi and Julian without much of a struggle. I was starting to feel like we'd make it if I kept pace with them.

"Come on, come on! This way!" Julian shouted encouragingly. "We're going to make it!"

Dorman led us into the hangar, and we saw as a dropship was preparing to take off. Two drones looked at us, and aimed their weapons. But Gumi took the lead, and with seemingly no effort, managed to get two precise shots off and landed into their craniums. Their heads burst into pieces. It was like watching someone use an aim cheat in a video game. The accuracy was dead-on.

"How the Hell did you pull that off?!" I shouted.

"I did the math. Now come on, we don't have a lot of time left," Gumi said, holstering her gun.

We moved towards the ship as gantry cranes holding crafts started failing, and multiple vehicles dropped and crashed to the floor. This was our best option out of here, and the fastest. I took off running as the ship's rear door was still open, and the engines flared up. It was going to take off any second, and we needed to keep it running until everyone was onboard.

I jumped into the rear of the ship, and pulled out my pistol. It looked like the only ones who were getting on board were the two drones that Gumi took out. Why it hadn't taken off I would chalk up to that its passengers never got aboard, so it never got word to take off.

"Sorry to do this," I said, running up to the pilot drone, its bulbous shape with multiple camera lenses for eyes still staring out towards the exit. It probably never saw me coming as I put my gun to its head, and fired. Pieces of glasses and metal flew throughout the ship's cockpit. I pulled the drone out of its seat and helped Miku into the pilot seat as Gumi and Julian ran aboard.

"Still able to fly this thing?" I asked.

"Yeah," Miku said, her voice exhausted. "Just hoping I can actually do this."

I took off my helmet, and in an act of desperation I pressed my lips against Miku's visor. Looking at her I said, "if you actually pull this off I'll give you the real thing."

Miku let out a chuckle as she closed the rear door to the dropship. "Guess I can't screw up now, can I?"

Miku revved up the engine, and the aircraft pushed forward towards the hangar's exit. As the ship took off, pieces of the debris from the Dome fell and splashed below into the lake. Miku bobbed and weaved through it. The entire ship felt tight as we flew around. I kept my hands on Miku's chair, realizing I should probably take a seat, but I could barely move from how fast things were going.

"Hang on!" Miku warned, and gunned the engine as the facility crumbled. She pushed the ship as far as she could, and flew downwards towards the body of water, and glided. My stomach felt like it was in a washing machine, and my heart wanted to hit the eject button to get out of my body.

Then, suddenly, a huge shadow cast itself over us, and Miku looked up. It was a massive piece of the Dome coming down with it. Miku pressed on the throttle, and the engine roared as we sailed underneath the huge piece of debris. It was so close to us, but Miku managed to get us out in time.

As we flew away from the falling facility, I looked out one of the side windows to get a better view of the damage. The entire Dome was being pulled apart, and almost looked as if it was collapsing inwards.

"Looks like we got away," I said.

"All in one piece, too" Miku said, "let's find a place to land. I think we'll need-"

Suddenly, a loud rumble was heard behind us. Gumi perked her head up, and looked at us.

"Land!" Was all Gumi shouted.

Miku looked at me, and didn't hesitate to gun the engine further. She flew as fast as she could away from the water, and shot up towards the forest. The ship flew as fast as it could, but before Miku could land, a loud blast ruptured everything.

I took a seat, and buckled up next to Gumi as Miku did her best to keep in control of the ship. Something had knocked out our power, and we were falling fast.

"I've lost control!" Miku screamed as the craft roared towards the ground. "Brace for impact!"

The dropship slammed into the forest, taking out trees and the ground beneath it. Everything was shaking but Miku managed to keep the craft from flipping over, and steered sideways to stop our movement.

Once everything had stopped moving, I pulled myself out of the seat and landed on the ground, letting out a loud sigh of relief.

"Everyone land okay!?" Miku yelled to rest of the ship.

"I think so," Gumi said, "I need a minute to figure out if I'm in one piece."

I nodded at Gumi and gave her the thumbs up.

"Functional," Dorman said. "Everything is still working as intended, at least I am."

"Still here," I said, standing up, "you won't get rid of me that easily."

Miku was looking out of her cockpit, and said, "you guys might want to see this for yourself!"

I ran over to Miku's seat, with Julian and Gumi right behind me. I looked up at what Miku was seeing, and noticed that the sky was dark all of a sudden. The blue sky was gone, and instead replaced by a much darker shade. A red glow could be seen off on one side of the horizon, while a dark blue glow sat opposite. Clusters of gigantic cubes sat close to Other-Earth, almost as if neighboring the entire colony.

"It was daytime earlier," I spoke in disbelief, "did we just turn off the sky?"

"I think we turned off the sun," Gumi said. "The moon is gone, too. What we're seeing right now, that's what sits outside: Interspace. Everything that was supposed to be the sky was just… deactivated."

"Can we get a message out to the Rangers?" Miku asked, "or is everything knocked out right now?"

Gumi attempted to get a call out, but no response came back. I decided to step outside of the craft and see everything with a better view. The cockpit was starting to feel a little cramped anyways. Once outside, everything was dark. The trees were dark, the lake, even the skyline of Connection was dark. The only way I could see was through my helmet's visor. It was definitely a little unnerving to see it all go out so quickly.

"It's likely," Gumi said as she stepped out of the craft, "that when the Dome detonated, it acted as an electromagnetic pulse and took out anything in a certain radius. No telling how bad things are right now."

"Geez," I said, sitting down on a log of a downed tree, "so we're on our own for the time being?"

"Until someone finds us, we're stuck here."

"Better get comfy, then," Miku said as I helped her to sit on the log next to me. "I just hope everyone else made it out okay."

I took a look back over at the remains of the Dome. A bright, blue glow emanated from the ground where it once was. It was the brightest thing on the surface of Other-Earth at the moment. I sighed in relief, realizing it was over, and that Duodecim was beaten back.

"Has to be it, right?" I said. "Duodecim's only way into Interspace is gone."

Gumi hesitated to answer, and her helmet visor just stared at both Miku and I. Something about her silence said more than I wanted to hear. All I could think was, you have to be kidding me.

"About that," Gumi finally spoke up, "while you two were fighting that elite drone, Julian here told me everything."

"Lemme guess," Miku said, taking her helmet off, and pulling her hair back, "Duodecim managed to figure out how to get here by another way."

"Essentially," Julian said, "I and the rest of my team helped them set it up the moment we arrived. They already had everything prepared, they just needed our help."

"Damn it," I said, kicking my feet against the log, "so we did all this for nothing, is that what you're telling me?!"

"Not quite," Gumi said, "in fact, Julian helped me get access to quite a bit of data from there. It turns out their first teleporter scan was from this morning, and onboard was a very special unit transferred in. You might want to take a guess who they brought."

I looked over at Miku, and then back at Gumi. "You mean Kaito?"

"Yes. And he's been taken up to the Beehive as of a few hours ago. This means we've got a chance to finally get our last member into our ranks."

That did change things a little bit, but it still felt like a hollow victory for us. All those losses incurred, and even me being added to that list of casualties left a pit in my stomach. I took a look up at the sky, and wondered if any of this was really truly worth it.

"For right now," Gumi continued, "I'd say we managed to pull through and stop a section of Duodecim. They have no way to call for support at the moment, but neither do the Rangers."

I relaxed myself, and stood up. "So does that mean we'll need to wait a while for a rescue?"

"I don't intend to wait that long," Gumi said, starting for the dropship, "I'm going to try getting this back online, and we can gather everyone up for a return trip home."

"Anything I can help with?" I offered.

"Sure, why not? Might get us in the air faster."

I grinned, liking the sound of that. With everything that had happened, I still had plenty of energy to move around. I could rest when I got back to base. For now, finding everyone and getting the group back together was a priority, and I wanted to make sure Meiko and Luka both made it out okay.

Gumi did most of the work, however. I just sat back and watched her as she ran her hands along the external hull trying to reactivate the power system. Everything else seemed to work relatively, there weren't any issues with the engines and the ship hadn't suffered anything major that would prevent it from flying.

"Definitely an E.M.P.," Gumi observed, "if Miku hadn't gotten us away in time, we'd be meeting a watery grave. She's got skills, and it's starting to show."

I looked over at Miku, who stayed on the log to talk with Julian and keep him company. She seemed to be enjoying his company because she looked to be fascinated by whatever it was he was saying. With how things were, a little distraction had to be nice, and Miku did look happy to talk to someone else.

"Hang on," Gumi said, her hands running over a component, "I think I found our solution!"

I cocked my head, and Gumi turned over to me, pointing to the cockpit. I took it that Gumi wanted me there. Without hesitation, I took off for the inside of the dropship, and sat down in the pilot's seat.

"You wanted me in here, Gumi!?" I yelled.

"Yep! Power it up! It'll work!"

I flicked a switch to power up the dropship, and it sprang to life as the engines started whirring.

"That did it!" Gumi yelled excitedly. Julian ran up to see what Gumi had done.

"Looks like we're going home," I said, standing up. "Finally. It's been a long day."

Miku limped with Julian into the ship, and I offered her the chair, But before we'd take off, however, I started hearing something from our radios. Everyone paused as a voice spoke out over the radio.

"...Approaching from the indicated signal range. We have received your signal. All support ships are approaching. Any Rangers, please respond."

I opened the channel, hailing the ones calling us. "Rangers, this is the Interspace Operator team, we've been stranded, can't tell you how nice it is to hear your voice."

"That you, Griff?" A familiar voice said. It was David. "I lost everyone for a few hours. Managed to get back in contact a second ago."

"This is Captain Strafford," the captain interjected, "everything was down on our end as well, but we got clear. Am I hearing you all right?"

"Never better, Captain," I said. "If you have any working ships, we'd love an escort home."

"So long as you'll come pick me up," Luka said, "don't you dare forget about me!"

"Luka!" Gumi excitedly joined in the conversation, "don't worry! We'll come pick you up!"

I leaned back in the chair, and relaxed for a second. Miku let out a sigh of relief.

Then a thought hit me, and I jolted forward. "What about Meiko!? Does anyone have eyes on her?"

"Picked up a faint signal," David replied, "right before the Dome went under, we saw something."

"It could be her," Gumi said. "We'll check it out."

"Gotta be her," I said. "We don't leave anyone behind."

I got out of the chair and let Miku take over. We took the darkened sky and sought a way to both Meiko and Luka's position. Meiko had to still be alive, I refused to think she lost against the elite drone she was up against. She was better than that. She was Meiko, the best fighter I knew.

"Come on," I said, "we'll find her. We gotta."

Miku nodded, and pushed the engine further.

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Antrikanas sat at his desk looking over the reports being sent to him by the C.S.F. regarding the outage. Auxiliary power managed to restore his systems almost immediately, as well as the preventative measures put in place to stop a power outage from occurring long-term. The fact it happened, however, that was what concerned him. He was unable to send any messages to the outside, but luckily still had local communications established through the city of Connection.

Outside of his office's window, the city was still darkened by the power loss. It was unsettling to him, seeing his own creation almost look as if it had disappeared off the face of the colony. No vehicle moved, no building was lit, and no civilians were on the streets. Since a mandatory curfew was in effect as a result of the incident, with the C.S.F. still in full control, Strelok wouldn't lose the city today. As Antrikanas often put it: nothing would be interesting if everything worked out. And this very much proved to be one of those "interesting" times.

Antrikanas took a look outside of his window again, this being the fourth time to do it. He paced around his office, realizing there was nowhere else to go at the moment. He was stuck in here as part of the security measures. With four C.S.F. guards posted nearby him at all times. It was invasive, but at least it kept him safe.

Everything was silent, save for the occasional updates from local channels. C.S.F. agents would send out routine updates between sectors. Everything was locked down in minutes, and all civilian activity had ceased. Everything was quiet, too quiet.

Then, for a brief moment, a signal would blip against the occasional radio chatter. A sound crackled against it. Once at first, then another, and then three more. It sounded like someone was trying to send a communication through every possible channel, and this one was getting it as well.

Then what came through gave Antrikanas pause.

"This is the I.S.C.A. Remnant Fleet, we're moving towards the location of your signal. We are ready to assist in any way we can. All hands aboard have been briefed on the situation and we have been issued commands by Acting Authority Administrator Renas Erran."

"Renas Erran…" Antrikanas echoed softly, "I see. So not all of them are gone."

He approached his control terminal and activated the control console, seeing just what signal it was they were referring to. He got his answer almost immediately when he noticed that the jammer he had been using throughout the colony was "offline."

All Antrikanas could do was smirk at the realization. The signal that the Rangers were trying to send finally went through. With no jammer, communications on the colony would be unfiltered, and there would be no stopping any of what came in or out.

"Finally," Antrikanas grinned, "it looks like we might get to see the show after all."

The Rangers would return from the ashes of their defeat after all, and even brought their own leader to do it. All that mattered now was to wait and see when the Hands of Unity would finally take notice, and who would fire the first shot.

"Let the games begin."

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Miku landed the dropship right where the signal was broadcasting. Lying against the flowing river sat two bodies, both ceased movement. The moment the dropship had opened, I rushed out and ran over to the one that looked like Meiko. I crouched over to her, and waved at everyone to help me get her on board.

Meiko's arms were torn, with her left arm doing worse than her right, but neither was in great condition. One arm was twisted in the wrong direction, while the other had her exposed internal arm structure visible. Pieces of it looked to be chipped and missing. The only thing that looked okay was her face, but her neck was still ripped open. To say she was "in bad shape" was an understatement.

"Get her on board," I ordered, carefully placing my hands on her legs. Gumi and Julian rushed over and picked Meiko up by her torso. "She looks pretty bad, so be gentle with her."

"Gentle?" Gumi looked back over at me. "Gentle is not a word I'd use with Meiko."

I tried not to let out a laugh despite the circumstances, but Gumi sounded like she was actually trying to lighten the mood for once. It was hard to tell with her most of the time, but not here.

"Keep her steady," I said as we loaded Meiko onto the dropship's floor. "She's in bad condition as it is."

Miku looked over from her chair at Meiko with a grim look, and then looked at me. "You think she's going to be okay?"

I nodded. "She's tough. Nothing could stop her."

Gumi looked back outside of the dropship, and signaled for Miku to wait before we would take off.

"I saw another body," Gumi said, "I want to see it."

I cocked my head and followed behind Gumi. She ran up to what looked to be the remains of the adversary that Meiko had been up against. Its head was gone and its armor casing was cracked open. Up close it still looked terrifying, and I steadily approached it with my hands on my pistol. Any chance this thing could come back to life was not one I was willing to take.

"She did a good number on it," Gumi said, running her fingers along the deceased unit's body. "Managed to crack the frame. I'd like to bring it back to base for study."

I shouted, "Study?! What do you mean study? This thing could get back up to try and kill us at any moment."

"Really, Griff?" Gumi said with a neutral look on her face. "This thing is dead. Any chance it could get back up would be through me repairing it."

"Then why do you want to look at it?"

"I want to study their carapace, see if we can't gain an advantage next time we encounter one."

I crouched down. "Sorry, just thinking about how intimidating these things are. Even worse up close. Training doesn't prepare you for it."

"There's plenty of spare parts I could rip off of it, too," Gumi added. "Nanomachine agents and its power core. Never dismiss the trash that your enemy leaves behind."

I hadn't thought of that, but Gumi had made a very good point. If we needed something from this, there had to be something of value to this kind of unit considering it was a rarity we would ever see them. I didn't need much more convincing than that, and agreed with Gumi we should bring it back.

Once we had collected everything, we found out Luka was being taken back to the Ranger's base. She would bring the evacuated research team home with her. We agreed that we'd meet her there instead of having to stop a second time. She didn't seem to mind.

"It'll be nice if we can finally get back home," I said. "Is the power finally returning?"

"For the most part," Gumi said. "The Rangers got their ships back on through the same method I did. Slowly starting to see things powering up, but how long until it actually is, that's the question."

"We've done everything we can," I shrugged. "All I can say for sure is I could really use some rest. Feeling like my body is about to shut down the same way this place did."

"I'd suggest waiting until after the debrief," David said. "I need to know what exactly happened while everything was out."

I groaned, and leaned back. "Can it wait until after I've slept?"

"No."

Gumi laughed a little. "It's alright, I'll override his authority and provide him everything. You can rest up once we're back."

I let out a restful sigh and smiled. Our conversation was cut off by a call from the base we were heading back towards.

"Rangers attack fleet returning from Atraxis Dome operation, follow flight directions to return home."

Miku followed the flight tower's instructions, and I looked out the side window, taking note of the returning aircraft alongside us. There were more ships than when we left, which didn't make sense considering the losses we incurred during this operation, but they were different from the standard ships the Rangers were using: these ones were colored differently, with a gray and orange scheme instead of the black and blue colored ships we were flying. Different insignias, too.

I pointed out the window, "Who are those!?"

"Looks like… The I.S.C.A. Remnant Fleet?" Gumi answered.

"I.S.C.A. Remnant Fleet?" I repeated. "Are they part of the Rangers?"

"From the looks of it, yes, and it looks like they brought more firepower with them. A

bunch of small attack ships, two carriers, and a flagship. How did they get here so fast?"

"We can ask when we get back," I said, "but I think the Rangers might have just scored a victory today."

As the craft landed slowly inside, a crowd of Rangers stood giving applause as they watched the ships land. The mood didn't feel dour, but jovial and celebratory. If there was good news, I assumed it was the fleet that was flying in next to us.

As we stepped out, the cheering became louder, and more ships entered in behind us as our dropship was moved off the platform. More and more entered, and more troops, all wearing different insignias and wielding wildly different weapons and equipment ran out. They were different from the Rangers in that a great deal of them were less militaristic, and more leaning towards civilian attire. Research uniforms and mechanic's jumpsuits alongside military armor. This was serious firepower. I was left wondering how they got here so fast.

A team ran up with a rolling stretcher and helped get Meiko aboard, where they'd take her to the medical wing for repairs. Gumi tagged along, seeing as Meiko probably wasn't capable to make the trip back home in her condition, Gumi opted instead to look over the damage here. Though Miku's leg was still in bad shape, she was starting to walk a little easier. It looked like her nanomachines had been doing a decent job fixing her up while we were flying.

Strafford had approached us, with a well-dressed humanoid woman standing next to him. Her skin was a bright white color, with long dark hair, with a dark blue uniform and her veins were colored a dark purple. She was crowded by multiple escorting troops around her. Their weapons were resting and their uniforms were different from Strafford's.

"These two," Strafford pointed at us, "they're the reason that you were able to find us. This one is Griff, and that there is Miku, and if it weren't for what these two pulled today, we'd still be out trying to find a way to send a message to you."

"I see," the woman said. "Well, we're thankful for your help."

"Just doing the right thing, ma'am," I said. "I didn't catch your name?"

"Acting Administrator Renas Erran. I lead the I.S.C.A., or what's left of it."

"I.S.C.A…" Miku mouthed, sounding as if she was trying to remember what that meant. I had trouble recalling myself.

"It means the Interspace Collective Administration," Strafford said, and turned back to Administrator Renas. "They aren't from around here. We'll get you up to speed as soon as we can."

"Are these the humans we've been hearing about?"

"You know about us?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Word has been traveling quickly. It's why we were so close to this colony through information passed around. We had to make sure that we weren't flying into a trap after we lost our old station. We're the last of our once great fleet, after all."

Erran acted with confidence, I noticed. She must have been a good leader that people stuck behind her even after the Homeland station was destroyed. Her troops seemed to be in good spirits and she walked with respectful eyes watching her. So I felt like we were putting the Rangers back in good hands.

"Just surprised," Strafford said, "how many made it off the station?"

"Four thousand," Renas answered, sorrowfully. "We lost many greats amongst our ranks, but, we've survived as best we can, and with your help, we may actually be able to rebuild."

"With a proper base, we might just pull this off," Strafford said.

"I will have my troops assist," Renas said, and turned to Miku and I. "I would like to ask if you and your group would join us."

"I'd have to think about that proposition," I said. "As it stands, I barely have the experience to serve the group I'm part of."

"From how your service record reads," Strafford said, "you're older than the rest of us."

"I'm sixteen," I argued, "you got years on me."

Strafford cocked his head, and remarked, "I've only been alive for about ten or so cycles."

"I'm four," Miku said, raising her hand. I shot her a dirty look.

"Whatever the case," Renas said, her professional attitude remaining unbroken, "I will be here should you decide you want to join."

She turned around with her escort in tow, and walked away. Miku and I looked at one another, and I wondered if I should ask about our newfound proposal to the rest of the team. Time would tell, but it would have to wait. I was in need of rest, and with what had gone on today, that was all I could focus on.

I turned around again to see Julian being escorted out of the hangar by an I.S.C.A. security team. I was about to ask why he was being treated differently than we were, but then it hit me: he was originally part of the Connection Research Team that Kallen had removed a few days ago. If anyone might know about what was being researched, it would be him. From how it looked, Julian seemed to be cooperating, and followed the escorting security team's orders. Even if it felt odd to see the guy who had just helped us be escorted out with his hands behind his back, I understood why. He was still working for an opposing party before we brought him here.

I sighed, and looked at Miku.

"Ready to get going?" She asked me as we stepped out of the busy hangar. "Been a long day."

"I'll say," I said, "your leg okay?"

"I'll be fine. Already getting readings that my nanomachines are healing everything back up. This limp should be gone in no time."

Eventually, Luka met up with us. We explained to her that Gumi was going to stay behind to look over Meiko. Luka tagged along with us back to the base. It had appeared the debrief would have to wait until we could actually get everyone in the same room. For now, I was going to sleep things off, and maybe, hopefully, get a long deserved break. I felt like we all needed that. With Meiko out of commission, I doubted we would be continuing anything for a while.

That night, once everything was said and done, I took myself to my room, and laid down. I didn't lie down for very long though. My body told me I should eat something, and that I should not neglect my stomach. Instead of debating with my stomach about it, I got myself up, and took myself to the mess hall.

The living quarters were quiet and dark, and the lights only lit up one by one as I walked through the hallway, only to shut off behind me. Once I got into the mess hall, I saw no one else was here. I figured I'd take a quick look in the fridge and see if there was anything actually inside any of them to have before I'd take myself back to my room. Unfortunately, the only thing that sat inside of the cupboards was a thing of granola bars and some ready-to-eat meals.

However, I didn't expect anyone else to wake up and follow after me. But someone did.

"Yoohoo!" Miku said behind me as I dug through the fridge. "Expecting to see little ol' me tonight?"

I shook my head. "I guess I was thinking you might already be sleeping. How's that leg of yours?"

Miku tousled my hair and giggled. "It's doing much better. I can actually walk on it again, but it's good."

"That's good to hear," I said, smiling. "I was about to head to my quarters but I really needed something to eat if I was going to sleep right."

"Why not go a little bigger, hmm?" Miku said. "I remember Meiko telling me you two ate out together once you rescued me."

Miku pouted and made puppy dog eyes at me. I could tell she wanted something.

"Are you saying you want to go out with me for dinner?"

"Maybe," Miku said. "I was more thinking I wanted to spend time with you, and that would be one way we could."

I closed the door to the cupboard and held the foiled up granola bar in my hand. "You wouldn't happen to have more vegetable juice in stock would you?"

"Fresh out," Miku said, moving her hands through her pockets. "I may need to get a fresh supply. Maybe you should come along with me."

"You want me to?"

"Of course I do. Fact is, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

I nodded, and Miku led me to the outside of the facility once again. This time the moon was out, and the rain had stopped. The ground was still plenty wet and muddy, but neither of us seemed to mind it. The windy air from yesterday was replaced instead by a starry sky and the sounds of cars off in the distance of the city going about their routine.

"It's nice out," I said, enjoying the fresh night air, looking up at the starry covered sky.

"The moon sure is beautiful tonight," Miku said, somewhat cheerfully.

"What?" I said, confused. "Is that…A pickup line?"

"Kinda," Miku blushed, "I read it in one of Luka's romance novels I scoured through. Saying it out loud is kind of embarrassing."

"I was less focused on the moon anyways," I said, looking back at her. Miku blushed harder.

"You stop that," she said, playfully shoving me. "Being too sweet is a thing, you know!"

"So it is, but I guess it's my turn to be on the attack."

"No, that's my job," she said defiantly. "If you think I'm going to forget this, you're sadly mistaken."

"Oh no," I said sarcastically, "the cute girl is going to get back at me for complimenting her. I'm in trouble now."

Miku grabbed my hands, and pulled her face up close to me, kissing me right on the lips. I shut up and she gave me a smug look, but that look changed to a much softer smile shortly after. She looked like she was having a good time, but something else was on her mind, and I could see it in her eyes.

"What is it?" I asked, cocking my head.

"This," Miku said, "all of this is so nice. I wish I could stay out here forever, and we could go see the city for ourselves. But I know we can't. This is as far as we can go."

"I know," I said, sympathetically. "I'd rather see the city with you than do what it is we had to do today."

"No, not just the city," Miku shook her head, "I want to see more of the world with you. The real world. Not a fake virtual one that imitates everything. I want to see the beach, spend time at a fair, and even eat with you in a real restaurant, with real food. I want all of this to be real, and I get the feeling it's all a dream. A dream we'll all be forced to wake up from."

"None of this is a dream, Miku," I said.

"But it feels like it is," she said, grasping my hands, "and if it means I have to go back, I don't want to wake up."

"And if we're dreaming," I said, "I hope I wake up and I'll be next to you."

I looked into Miku's eyes as they started to water, and she brought herself in closer for a hug.

"Just seeing you almost die," she said, her voice wavering, "that scared me. When I saw you fall to the ground and didn't get back up, I only felt fear. Not anger, or rage, but fear. Like I was seeing something I cared about torn away from me. I never thought about it before, but now that I have, it's been on my mind since, and it's scaring me."

I felt her hands dig into my back as she recounted the memory. I felt like she needed to know I wasn't going to let that happen. And I intended not to. She was the reason I was here in the first place.

"I promise," I said. "I promise I'll be okay. And we'll be okay, and when this is over, I'll be there with you. Okay?"

Miku looked down, and then back up at me. The moonlight reflected off her pale white skin, and her glowing aqua eyes. Seeing them glow, the way they did reminded me what she was underneath, but it felt right to see it that way. Miku may not have been human, but she was still Miku, and that's what mattered. The features that made her robotic stood out, but it was part of who she was, and I couldn't deny that.

"Okay," she said. "Just promise me when this is over, you'll be there with me."

"Promise," I said, and looked towards the bustling city. "We'll see that future together."

And Miku and I looked up towards the starry sky, hand in hand, wondering just what the future had in store for us. All I could do was smile. Smile because there would be someone there to keep me going.

And I'd make sure to help her achieve her dream. Miku deserved that much. She deserved the future she wanted to see. And I knew we'd see it. Together.

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-END OF DISC 1-