Aaron and Kyle saw Minmei come in and felt somewhat sorry for her. The day kept getting more serious as it went by. UPon being asked about their perspective of what happened, Kyle was unsure of what to say since he did not see much. Aaron, however, had a pretty good idea of how Adira got into the ship.

The Falcon of Fury spoke first. "Before, I was having a duel with Tactical Commander Giro. The Benjlakki woman that broke in must have used one of the unguarded doors to the hangar to enter while there was a crowd watching the spectacle. After the duel, Jin-Giro and I received word that there was an intruder, so I lent one of my swords to the Commander while we sprinted in the direction of where the intruder would be. I told Kyle to come and meet us along the way. We saw the prisoner and the woman breaking her out and noted how fast they were going. Thus, we charged, leapt forward, then prepared to impale the two by having our blades in front of us."


Kyle nodded while adding to it. "We thought they would not be able to counter in time. Boy, were we wrong. The woman escaping with the prisoner slid under us with uncanny reflexes before slicing our hands off. It is odd: both Benjlakki soldiers' speed and reflexes were beyond that of any known person in humanity's history. That kind of makes you wonder if they were genetically modified." Looking towards Aaron, he asked, "Doesn't that sound suspicious?"

Aaron nodded, then turned towards Scoar. "Now that Kyle mentioned it, the records shown did say the prisoner was captured by Cain when he fought and defeated both of them at the same time. There is no way a man could have stood a chance against them by himself, not unless he, too, was genetically modified, at some point in his life."

Kyle nodded while saying to Scoar, "The question is, who conducted such operations on each side, who sponsored them, and why? Was one project reactionary to another? It all seems too convenient to be a coincidence."

Just then, a female soldier came in with a file to give to Aaron. Aaron looked at the file while holding a glass of water that was beside him, only to freeze in shock once he saw the name. He actually dropped the glass he was holding as his eyes widened and he held his breath.

Kyle knew it was not everyday that Aaron loosened his grip so much, meaning there had to be a reason. "Uh... Aaron? What's the matter, Sergeant?"

Aaron held still as he explained with the query, "Do you recall me mentioning a gal I met at a military academy?"

Kyle's eyes widened. "Wait a minute! You mean, that's her? Seriously?"

Aaron simply nodded. "Her name is Cecilia Lumine." Next, he looked up at Cecilia and told her with a blush, "Well, uh... It's great to see you, again. Currently, until I recover from the loss and replacement of my hand, I have placed Specialist Numi in charge of Lion Team." Looking around, he spotted the person he mentioned. "That's him with the clipboard, talking to Corporal Belvedere. It may be a good idea to acquaint yourself with the two."

Kyle introduced himself. "I'm Kyle Scipio. My rank is Private, currently. I never really moved up in the ranks. Anyway, I am also part of Lion Team."

---

Bibi nodded towards Amelia before turning to Emesto. He no doubt experienced enough for the day and needed his rest. She showed him to where his other personality had a bunk and told him to try to not act suspiciously until more could be found out. Emesto simply nodded before sleeping on top of the bunk.

---

Benjamin was about to get on the transport when he heard Oriana shouting at him after she punched him in the shoulder. Uh-oh... that can only mean one thing... What he heard next gave him a little relieve while leaving him intimidated, at the same time. "Y-Yes, ma'am!"

Zechariah rolled his eyes before saying to Ben, "Are you going to stand there, or are you going to get in the transport?"

Both brothers entered the transport prior to heading back to the Seraphim, where the mechs were being prepped. Benjamin took his own Eagle while Zechariah got in an undamaged one. All mechs for Brown Wing Team were being repaired and given weapons. Laurence Vance's new Eagle was being customized to suit his fighting style.

As everything was being prepared in the hangar, Zechariah told the participating Brown Wings via radio, "Brown Wings, here is the strategy: Once we take off, we will enter Fighter Jet Mode to catch up to the rogues. Once they are spotted, we shall launch Sonic Missiles to disrupt their nuclear weaponry while grabbing their attention. From there, we will use Formation Legion 354, With Benjamin's group and I up front at the lowest altitude, Laurence Vance's group in a row between the first and last, everyone else at the back with the highest altitude. The angle for setting up the rows will be 45 degrees. In that formation, some of the power to the weapons will be switch to the shields so we can stop projectiles headed to the ground when necessary. That will decrease firepower, so make each shot count."

---

As Saul enjoyed the concert with Karen, he could not shake the feeling Romano Lopez had something to do with the conspiracy. The man always did seem shady, for some reason. He would not discuss it, at the moment, so he kept quiet.

---

Romano enjoyed a cup of wine while listening to the news. He always got a kick out of the fact nobody knew his plans but him. He wanted to keep it that way in order for them to follow through.

It came a sudden shock to the rookie member of the team. So soon after he was transferred and getting used to the Seraphim, he was being called out to sortie. What the-!? Sortie!? And just when I'm starting to settle in! Vance thought as he quickly rose from his cot. Sheesh! Now I have to hurry and dress in uniform! After an intense struggle with a wayward pant leg, Vance was geared and headed for the hangar. There the mechs were prepped. He nearly drooled on the deck looking at those shiny Eagles. "Magnificent birds they are!" He said aloud, amazed. Then came a buzz on his radio. "Huh?" Vance uttered as he took it out of his pocket. Coming in clear where orders from Zechariah Malachi, the leader of the team.

Vance listened to the electronic device as he recieved his orders. Hm, seems straightforward enough...wait!? My own group!? Sheesh, they lay the responsibilities on thick around here. Vance then shook his head, Never had my own group before, but...uh just follow the formation and it should be good. Wait, after a long pause, Wait! This is the second time I will enter battle! Crap! Last time..., Vance remembers his conflict on the beach, ..,yeah that was a pretty embarrassing display...still it landed me this sweet position, so take the good with the bad I guess. Vance placed he radio back into his chest pocket and headed for his Eagle. Let's just hope the bogeys are off their game today. Vance thought with an awkward smile across his face.

Barnett Belvedere

Cain nodded as he heard the girls conditions on asking her questions. "Well you're right," he said folding one of the papers into a ball and throwing it into the trash. "It's very unlike me to do this. Scoar keeps making me do things different than what I want.”

It made sense that Scoar would have been the one to put Cain up to prying into another’s business. Barnett thought highly of the prince. However she was well aware that Scoar had a tendency to be nosey. It was sometimes amusing to see him behave that way but other times it could be a bit too much. ‘Poor Cain..’ Barnette thought to herself, however she couldn’t help but smile.

Cain continued, “Anyway, since I became acting command, he saw this as a good idea to..... Well I don't know really. Get to know you and allot of other people I guess. Which is true considering that I rarely have conversations with anyone else besides him and now you and most of the time those conversations go in a direction I didn't foresee. You know how it is right? You have the right skills to talk to people and get on their good side, even get along with them, but you don't do it because acting like yourself is better than some fake way you've learned. Nah, never mind, you probably don't get what I'm saying."

“I think I get what you mean.” Barnett replied, still smiling. It was nice to see Cain trying to openly express himself in front of her, especially in comparison to how nervous he was in front of her earlier.

"Hehe. Look at me. Giving you a whole bunch of answers to questions you didn't even ask. Man it's been a long day." Cain said leaning back in his chair. "So basically the questions are meant to check to see are you alright since the recent ship attack, what you saw, and how does that experience effect your mind and body. Also personal information to update the person on your emergency contacts list. I don't need the paper I threw into the trash because that can be found in the infirmary records. It'd be too embarrassing to ask about that stuff. But, I will ask, how are you doing after that experience. You acted pretty fast too. It was.... kind of cool. I hope you're not hurt or anything. Also, before we go any further I need to know your age, so I can determine whether to cross out this speech by Scoar.... I mean Prince Metargo. Apparently we also have to do a debrief on the matter so we should probably go with the whole scenario from your perspective bit." Cain leaned forward on his chair and smiled.

Barnett let out a light sigh, ”Well that’s quite a loaded question. I am doing alright since the attack. I wasn’t hurt thankfully. As for my mind, I did talk to the Titan’s shrienk about the ordeal and he said I seemed to have dealt with the event alright. So I suppose my psyche is still in good shape.” Barnett gave a cute wink.

“As for my age, I’m 21. I graduated from the academy early. As for the event, it was all a somewhat of a blur. I remember what happened but it was so quick it’s hard to describe. One minute we were talking with the captive girl, who seemed pretty nice, the next her twin launches down from the vents and points a sword at me and dares me not to move lest I want my throat slit. She grabbed her sister after saying something in Benjlakki and dashed toward the door. I immediately pulled my gun from beneath my pillow and fired at her. The strange thing is, I had a direct shot on her but in some unnatural maneuver she dodged my shots. It was quite strange. That’s basically how it was from my perspective. I wasn’t really afraid but I felt sad for the girl was taken. She seemed so innocent and somewhat unaware of why she was involved in the war altogether. I hope that was helpful cain.”

(OOC: Sorry for the short response guys. I shall aim to type more for my other characters shortly. Please bare with me.)

Minmei Midori

"Oh no wait." Scoar called out to Minmei while putting his arm on her shoulder. "You should hear this too. It's important information that I personally want as many people in the Lion Team to know. Please sit and before you say it, please, call me Scoar. I will not take any honorifics from those who are with me on the battlefield, because out here, it doesn't matter who you are, or where you're from..... Well for the most part at least. At the end of the day it comes down to us combining our skills as individuals to fight for a greater cause." After saying, that the boy checked another thing off of his list.

Minmei looked down at the prince’s arm placed casually around her shoulder and she felt a shiver of nervousness. She never thought that she’d ever actually speak too directly to the prince yet alone be touched by him. She also received a quick flash of the time her former boss tried to hit on her. Minmei still hadn’t quite gotten over that incident yet. She quickly focused on pulling her nerves together and replied sheepishly. “Um… Alright Pri-um… Scoar.”
"Which brings us to another thing. I know how it must be for you guys to be so young, yet have to act so much as adults. You guys have to sacrifice your greater years and possibly the best part of your life on a battlefield." Scoar sighed as he sat at the end of Kyle's bed. The room was beggining to get full. "However, you guys are the heroes at the end of the day. There aren't allot of people who can call themselves that. If you ever have any doubts in that, just talk to me and I'll explain why. Not now of course. Only when you really need it." After checking another thing off his list, he put his pen to his mouth deciding whether or not to skip debrief. He let go of a huge sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now it's time for debriefing. No it wasn't a mission, but it was still contact with an enemy. So, I'll let you all answer in turn, you can choose. Minmei, was it? You can answer too, if the answers relate. Okay. First part of this debrief is the recap of events. Two girls from Benjlakk assaulted this ship. One who was brought on this vessel to be imprisoned and another whom I assumed tried to save her. Now, from your point of view, what happened during that time. I need to know what happened a little bit before and the right after and also during if you didn't know that already."

Minmei didn’t witness the attack. She had only heard of what had happened from Popaco, one of the system’s analysts. She heard about the prisoner and was not trilled at all that an enemy Benjlakk woman was being held in the medical bay with Metargo citizens. “Unfortunately I hadn’t seen the hostage or the event so I don’t really have anything of importance to report on the matter.” Menmei replied. She listened to the others’ recap on events regarding the escape of the captive Benjlakk girl. Then another young woman entered the room and gave Aaron a file. He seemed startled by her presence. Minmei didn’t know her. ‘Who is she and why is her being here gotten Aaron so flustered?’ Minmei thought.


Viki Lunaria Metargo and Sir Eric Hansel

Viki smiled brightly as Zechariah disposed of a large group of the attackers. She could see that Zech was a good fighter as well as a fighter pilot. Watching him made her want to try harder. Viki teleported a few enemies away and Sir Hansel knocked a few more out.

"This way! To the docks!" Zechariah shouted.

Viki and Hansel followed. Soon a familiar face from earlier appeared to Viki. Zechariah called out, “Ben! Perfect timing!"

Once all was clear, it would only be a matter of getting to the docks. The part of town Zechariah, Benjamin, Viki, and Sir Hansel entered possessed more surveillance, thus with Naval Security around, it would be suicide for the rogues to pursue further. The docks were not far. Once there, Zechariah relayed the incident and the struggle to get to the docks, Naval Security sending some of their own squads to go retrieve the unconscious and other suspects. The Naval Security, of course, questioned the other witnesses, as well.

Once all questions were answered and Naval Security let the group go, Zechariah walked up to Viki and gave her a big, long hug. "I'll keep in touch, okay, Viki?"

Viki was a tiny bit surprised by Zechariah’s comfortableness with being able to hug her. She wasn’t used to people being so informal with her due to her being a princess. Viki rather enjoyed and cherished Zech’s embrace. She hugged him tightly and honestly didn’t want to let him go just yet. But with a light tap from Sir Hansel’s hand to Viki’s shoulder she knew they had to be going. “I look forward to it Zech. Message me anytime. I may be available at the moment, I may not. However I’ll always get back to you, I promise.” Viki replied.

With that, he held T7-B as a communications disk and began to connect to the devices of all Brown Wing Team after he left a message for Admiral Lionel, reading: Admiral, some war criminals are headed towards a town in Metargo to destroy it. I am taking Brown Wing Team with me to stop and capture them.

The message he gave to Brown Wing Team was as follows:

Brown Wing Team, this is Zechariah Malachi! War criminals are attempting to destroy an entire town across enemy borders! All available Brown Wings, prepare your mechs to sortie!

Hansel addressed Zechariah before he and Viki left. “Young Sir I greatly appreciate all of the assistance and hospitality you have given our Princess. Please extend my thanks to the Brown Wing Team for looking after Viki. I greatly regret that our nations are at war. Despite Metargo’s disposition toward Benjlakk, I call you and the Brown Wing Team friends for the kindness you have displayed. Please keep contact with the Princess’ comm device a secret. It would be easy for others to exploit such a thing, however I am placing my trust in you Zechariah.” Hansel thought of the transmission Zech sent to the Brown Wing Team and added, “I must return the favor for you and your team. You are in pursuit of those headed to attack a Metargo town correct? If your team should get too close to the town Metargo will respond with defensive fire. I shall call ahead and grant you some perimeter clearance to stop the targets. However please try your best to stop them before they reach that city. Metargo defensive lines will only grant leniency for so long before they fire on you. I wish I could grant you more assistance but there is only so much I can do. The princess or I shall contact you if I have any updates.” Sir Hansel then sent Zechariah his communicator’s link. “There, call me if you need to young sir. Now we must bid you adieu.”

“Bye Ben, bye Zech, it was very nice meeting you both.” Viki said after bowing formally and followed up with an energetic wave. With that, Viki and Hansel vanished in a flash of yellow light after a wave of her Wow Wand.

Sir Hansel called ahead to Percival to give him an update on the retrieval of the Princess. He also told Percival about Zechariah the kindness of the Brown Wing Team. With the Assistant Prime Minister on their side, they could form a unit of to investigate things of the war that fall between the alliances of both sides. Percival granted the Brown Wing Team over the shorelines of the targeted Metargo town. Percival would definitely have come up with an explanation for this trusting of the Brown Wing Team to handle the fugitives.

Axl sneered at the sound coming from the bases speakers. He was hoping to get from under all of this and transferring the data as he planned to. Luckily he didn't really mind. After all, they were going to a place that he thought was in need of a visit. In fact, it might even push him forward in his plan. The only thing left to due was to make sure no one knew what his target was. It was an easy thought of course. In his past line of work no one would know the target or of his presence. Though the Beta Shadow was a little too big to hide from people, he could still make special maneuvers to him. "I guess we should go.," he said to Vika.

Once he got to the Beta Shadow, Axl turned on the comm and tracking device. There was a small buzz out of white noise before he opened the Brown Wing Team's channel. He heard further messages on the device and chuckled slightly to himself.

Why should the Benjlakki's help Metargo? It just doesn't make sense. No matter. I'll still do what I was meant to do.
........................................................................................................................................................................................

Cain listened to Barnett talk about the event that took place just a few hours ago. He really didn't need her to tell him. Even though he was there for the most part, he enjoyed hearing her side. He wondered if she knew of his age or not. The boy even wondered if that was a problem for her. Or would it be a problem for her? He knew he looked older than most boys his age, but he didn't know exactly how old people though he was. He was so close to being eighteen, maybe they didn't care about his age anymore. He snapped out of his wandering thought process when Barnett stopped talking. "Yes, you were very helpful. All I need to do now is check all of these things off. I'm not really great with people, so I was wondering if you could come along while I talk to everyone else in the Lion Team. I'm kind of nervous to talk to them alone. It sometimes feels like they don't even have the slightest respect for me. Hehe." Cain gave a forced chuckle. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I understand that you might be tired so you don't really have to come. Unless you want to of course."
........................................................................................................................................................................................
After Scoar heard out everyone's story he left once Cecilia entered the room and started talking to Aaron. The information he pulled led him to believe that so far, it's only a theory that there are super soldiers running around. Though, if one of them were to see Cain or even worse, Axl, then a proven theory could start up and no one would be able to stop it. People might riot. Worse case scenario the information starts up a bunch of conspiracy shouts. He needed to find the blame for all of this before hand and he had one idea where to start. For only Axl had a clue.

Jin laid motionless in his bed listening only to the sound of his heart beat. The events of the day quickly flashed through his mind, the death, the destruction all of it was starting to sink in. "Is this really what I signed up for, a game of Kill or be killed?" He asked himself starting at the ceiling of his private quarters. Moments passed when suddenly almost like a severe headache attack Jin grasped his temples with both hands and began screaming in agony. "Go away!" he said as the images of his mentor's decapitation shrouded his mental sight, he yelled out hopping to stop the pain of his previous tortures which always followed this memory like a mental domino affect. The feeling of clubs and nightsticks all felt to be bludgeoning his body at once along with the fists, elbows, knees, and feet of his previous combatants in the arena. All the pain came back at once and it was becoming to much to bare.

After struggling with the pain for about three minutes Jin-Giro lost consciousness, although no one was hitting him, the images of death reminded him of the only meaningful death he'd ever experienced which for him was synonymous with pain which activated his brain's pain receptors and kicked them into overdrive. This unfortunate series of events was not uncommon for Jin it was an on and off affliction which he hadn't quite figured out how to stop or control.

Now in his unconscious state things took a turn for the worst. Jin now found him self in the arena of his past victories against all his opponents twenty one men stood between him and the only exit. Some of the men were outlaws with weapons and tattoos that proved their gang affiliation, the rest of the men were cage fighters from Jin's past. After taking in the full sight the mob of people rushed Jin with full force. Jin countered the first few blows sending the men falling behind him due to their momentum, then he followed up with a three punch combo that connected right in the jaws of three of his assailants. Spinning around to avoid a bone crushing right hook from one of the fighters Jin used his rotational force to deliver a knee shattering leg kick followed by a flying knee strike to one of the club wielding bandits. Next came a combo of elbow and knee strikes that floored five of his attackers.

With eight men now incapable of fighting Jin now found himself being over whelmed by the twelve plus fighters that blocked his path. Several body shots struck Jin at once leaving him with a broken rib and multiple bruises but this was not going to stop him from exiting this nightmare. Catching the fist of one of the fighters Jin quickly pulled himself closer and delivered a knee to the man's kidney, rupturing it instantly. Next were the other men that had left their mark on Jin and, they weren't so lucky. Grabbing the head of the closest attacker Jin jumped and delivered another flying knee strike crushing both the man's teeth and nose.

"Im just getting warmed up." he said to the remaining ten. The zombie like men weren't affected by Jin's useless taunt and instead of backing away like Jin would've liked, they charged forward with even more aggression. Jin delivered a solid push kick to the chest of the closest attacker crushing his sternum and sending his body into the man immediately behind him, this allowed Jin to focus of the other fighters that were forming around him, a double jab hook combo rendered the man to his right unconscious while two men from the left tried attacking simultaneously. Jin ducked under both the attackers initial strikes and continued to dodge the following strike until an opening arose. After dodging three more strikes Jin delivered four punches (two to the first attackers ribs and jaw and two to the second attackers ribs and jaw) the rib shots contained enough force to break at least two ribs while the jaw shots only contained enough force to fracture. With those two out the way Jin refocused on the remaining six fighters.

Jin desperately tried to convince himself that this was just a dream but the pain felt real and that was enough to keep him trapped inside his own nightmare. "Who's next!" he roared attempting to fire himself up. Again his zombie like attackers payed him no mind and continued to fight. Jin's movements were impaired now due to overwhelming pain resonating from his broken rib and multiple stomach bruises, so he was forced to block the next few shots that came his way which didn't help the pain any. The blocked blows were all mostly aimed toward his stomach region when out of nowhere a head kick connected to Jin's temple sending him back a few steps. The arena flashed in a bright light as Jin struggled to regain composure from his rocked state. This however did not stop his assailants as they continued to send blow after blow. Jin tucked in his head and covered his ribs the best he could but some of the shots still broke through and left there mark. With the swarm of men now trying to deliver the final strike a small window of opportunity arose in the form of a kick that came flying in toward Jin's torso, he decided to absorb the the force of the kick catching it under his arm and swing the man's leg in a circle causing him to crash into the men that surrounding the injured Jin-Giro. Finishing the swing with a elbow strike to the man's knee Jin continued his push forward toward the exit. The men that had fallen all received a swift soccer kick to the head rendering all five of them unconscious. Now only one person stood in Jin's way but unlike all the people who lay unconscious or in agony behind him, this person was a girl...... it was Adira

Zechariah checked on his computers in his Eagle to be sure everybody was ready before the hanger to the Seraphim opened and it was clear for Brown Wing team to launch. Based on what Sir Hansel said, the town of Disclesca is along the shore, where a defensive line of anti-air guns have been placed. They had to hurry in their capture of the war criminals before anyone in the fight was fired upon from the shoreline.

"Brown Wing Team, launching!"

As swiftly as they launched, Brown Wing Team switched to Jet Fighter mode and entered a V formation. There was little time, thus they went to full speed to give chase. While they did so, Adira thought of Jin, realizing it was not the time to. She was conflicted over whether Jin was merely an enemy or if he meant something to her. The conflicting feelings boiled in her head, screaming to unleash themselves. Finally, Adira managed to block those thoughts out in time to stay in formation.

Chemda was the first to notice. "Adira, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry."

There was nothing but open water for a relatively short period of time, due to their mechs' powerful engines going full throttle, until the bogeys were finally spotted on the radar and scopes. Based on what was provided, the rogues had yet to reach the shoreline, which could work to Brown Wing Team's advantage. The further from the shore, the less likely to be hit by oncoming fire when the temporary perimeter clearance halts.

Zechariah took full advantage of this moment while having Brown Wing Team decelerate to targeting speed. "Launch Sonic Missiles!" The missiles were launched right on time. They blasted a radius wide enough to engulf the target squadron while disrupting their nuclear weapons to complete uselessness. Any attempt to fire even one nuclear projectile would cause the weapons to detonate on the rogues instead of on the intended target.

Infuriated by the thwarting of their initial plans, the bogeys turned their attention toward Brown Wing Team as they closed in on them. One of the rogues did not join in the charge, instead dropping the now-fruitless nuke cannon and pulled out a regular rocket cannon to attempt to use it on one of the buildings belonging to the Metargo Southern Military Academy. Chemda, however, would not let him. She broke formation, switched to humanoid mode in her mech, then immediately fired at the Cherubim's head section to make it impossible for the pilot to use the cameras inside. Then, she fired to sever the arm that was connected to the hand holding the weapon.

Brown Wing Team went into formation Legion 384, Chemda joining up, prior to increasing power to shields while deducting it from the weapons. This enabled the squadron to deflect the numerous blasts coming from the bogeys. It was now a game of chicken, so to speak. If Brown Wing Team kept the formation up while charging, there was the risk of ramming the shields into the opponents, thus killing them. Were that to be the case, then Zechariah would have considered the mission a failure in his venture to seize the criminals.

It was not the case, however. The targets broke formation before any collision could take place. "Switch to humanoid mode! Pursue the criminals!"

With everyone switched to humanoid mode and prepared for mech combat, the formation broke so each Brown Wing could take on one or more rogue mechs that had scattered. Here was where the Bejlakki-on-Benjakki Mech Dogfight of Disclesca began. Brown Wing Team could tell friend from foe by the damaged state of the opponents' mechs from the sonic cannons. While the fighting occurred at sea, Metargo soldiers and military academy students wait by their anti-air weapons for the perimeter clearance to end, looking on as the battle above the sea unfolded.

Despite being heavily damaged by the sonic missiles, the rogue mechs were operational, the pilots flying them putting up a fight. The main obstacle was beating them for the purpose of arresting them, which added to the difficulty. It became a deadly dance of attack and evade. Some of the stray shots hit the wall between the shore and the town, the invisible force field up in case any blasts were to head toward town. Fortunately, because of the sonic missiles, the rogues were completely unable to do anything about the force field. That is not to say it would not be lifted to make it possible to shoot once the perimeter clearance was over, thus it was a race against time.

Benjamin had to aim carefully so not to hit the cockpit of the 34A-7 REM he faced. Needless to say, his opponent took advantage of his hesitation to kill by landing four shots on his Eagle's torso, where the cockpit was. The cockpit itself remained intact, for the most part. The primary engines sustained damage, so he detached them before he switched to secondary engines. At last, his SMG shots hit the Blaster's head, blowing that part up with the cameras inside. Ben next took advantage of the opponent's loss of ability to examine the area by descending underneath with a beam knife prior to ascending with an upwards slash that severed the engines from the rest of the 34A-7. One rogue disabled for capture, several more to go.

Zechariah had a bit of an easier time of it, using the shield projectors in his Eagle's arms to protect from most blasts that he could not dodge. He spun, "sidestepped" (if one could step in midair), and ducked frequently, waiting for the opportune moment to shoot at the Blasters after him. Finally, it came. Zechariah spun while "sidestepping" to the left in evasion, prior to descending closer to the water with the engines to it so he could aim. He did not even need the computer all that much, just the crosshairs. Zechariah steadied the beam rifles, then pulled the triggers to let loose plasma beams. Each blast hit one of both rogue mechs in the head section to render the opposing pilots incapable of aiming at him.

The Shapiro twins had the easiest time of all Brown Wing Team, except, maybe, Axl and Viola. Their enhanced abilities allowed them to take only one hit each, merely in minor areas of their respective Eagles. Adira sliced off the limbs and head of two bogey mechs while Chemda shot off the engines of three.

---

Aaron gulped in anxiety over what to do. This was the first time in years he has seen Cecilia. That alone left him awkward."It's great to see you again, too," he said with a shy smile. "Hey, there is a bar and restaurant located onboard this ship, which is rare to see on a military craft. Whenever I fully recover, and we have time, you think we can go there for drinks and catch up on some things?"

Kyle turned his attention to Minmei. "Cecilia and Aaron met at a military academy. They had a rivalry of sorts that turned into a romantic relationship, before they broke up."

Barnett Belvedere

"Yes, you were very helpful. All I need to do now is check all of these things off. I'm not really great with people, so I was wondering if you could come along while I talk to everyone else in the Lion Team. I'm kind of nervous to talk to them alone. It sometimes feels like they don't even have the slightest respect for me. Hehe." Cain gave a forced chuckle. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I understand that you might be tired so you don't really have to come. Unless you want to of course."

When Cain asked Barnett if she could help him out it was music to her ears. She was sick of being stuck in bed. She never liked to remain idle for long. Barnett’s smile brightened further. “I feel like I’ve been proposed to! Yes, yes, I’ll tag along! You don’t know how through I am with laying in that bed!” Barnett knew her response would probably jar Cain a bit but she liked to see him react to her bluntness. Cain’s shyness was very cute to her.

“Just give me a moment to get changed. Thankfully the doctor cleared me for basic activities. I’ll be about ten minutes.” She said and gave a cute wink.


Percival Cross

Percival received Sir Hansel’s update and knew he needed to see to it personally that things went smoothly in the town of Disclesca. In the private shuttle that was enroute to the Titan, Percival asked for the pilot to make a detour. Within a few moments he arrived in Disclesca. Percival gained an audience with the coastline defense captain.

“Good afternoon Captain, I am grateful for your cooperation on this matter.” Percival greeted the captain.

“Good afternoon Prime Minister. I am having my men keep a close watch on the brown wing team’s movements. They won’t fire but the moment the enemy gets too close to Disclesca I will have to take action. Honestly Minister Percival, I do not understand why you trust this enemy unit. It could be an elaborate plot to catch us off guard.” The Defense Captain responded with a concerned look about him.

Percival remained composed. “I assure you Captain that my source is quite reliable. I trust that the leaders of the Brown Wing team will adhere to their word. The may be presently our enemy, but they are honorable. I take full responsibility if I am incorrect.” Percival looked out into horizon and could see some of the fighting taking place. He really wished that the Metargo Military would assist the Brown Wing team.

Percival slipped away and called Zane Preston. “Zane my good buddy. I need a quick favor from you. How fast can you be in Disclesca?”


Zane Preston and Azaka Oikawa

Azaka’s concert had come to a close and Zane sat with him in his room. The two flirted with one another, simply enjoying a moment of time alone with one another. Zane received Percival’s phone call. “I’m on my way. Gosh Percival, it seems I’ll never have fully repaid you for that whole Scandal incident.” Zane said to Percival via the call.

Percival replied, “Of course you won’t be let off the hook so easily Zane. You had all of Metargo thinking I was your lover. Yeah you’ll owe me big for a very long time.” Percival said with a chuckle.

“Once again you’ve well proven your point. I’ll lend the Brown Wing team hand with the Hyaku shiki. Azaka is shooting daggers at me with his eyes so I assume he’s going to follow me whether I lik it or not so count him in as well.” Zane replied. Shortly the two headed for Disclesca.

Brown Wing Team had some difficulties. So far, however, the fighting was kept a significant distance away from the shorelines. He desired to keep it that way. No casualties on Brown Wing Team's side of it occurred, yet, and whether they would remained to be seen.

Once Zechariah blew up the two Blasters' heads, he proceeded to remove the limbs with his blasts, while slashing off the engines with his beam sword. He next contacted his brother. "Ben! Cover me!"

"On it!" Benjamin shot, slice, and flew his way to Zechariah (in a nonlethal fashion, of course) prior to going back to back with Zechariah. In the positions they were, neither brother could be snuck up on. At least, it was less likely they would be taken by surprise. This relief gave Zechariah enough time to set up the Ion System Prototype previously installed into one of the beam rifles. "There! It's set!"

Benjamin, while shooting at more rogues, posed the query, "What is?"

"Watch!" Zechariah intercepted an incoming Sabre Bleu below him with the rifle that had the Ion System installed, followed by blasting off the head so the hostile pilot in the mech could not aim anything at anyone. The ion blast, as the system was currently installed, would only temporarily render the opposing mech immobile, thus it was prudent to remove the engines from the Sabre Bleu immediately, ensuring it remained away from the shores of Disclesca."Quick! Get the engines!

Benjamin flew right under the falling Sabre Bleu to slice off the engines with one slash of his beam knife. "He's not going anywhere!" Just then, an enemy signal sounded in Brown Wing Team's mechs, which only meant a Metargo mech unit or other vehicle was on the way. Ben looked at the screens while moving his Eagle's head and noticed a familiar unit. "It's that gold-covered mech! Why now, of all times?"

Zechariah responded to his older brother's reaction via telling him, "Never mind that mech! Worry about these!" As he said that, the sergeant transferred signal data to Zane so he could differentiate between Brown Wings and rogues.

Vance kept up in formation with the rest of the team. The Eagle flew like a dream as he soared above the sea. Magnificent craftsmanship! I almost nearly forgotten I am piloting a war machine. Vance thought. Soon they came upon the shoreline and immediately he switched to jet fighter mode and entered attack formation. Looks like the show is about to begin. He thought as fired his sonic missiles. Malachi's plan worked as they disabled the enemy's nuclear arms. He entered the next formation, and at first it looked like they were about to ram the enemy. Thankfully the bogeys broke formation, giving Vance a sigh of relief. He switched to Humanoid mode as with the others and pursued the criminals.

Vance engaged a bogey who was about to flank one of his teammates. Able to spare, what could have been a casualty the mech fired on Vance instead. "CRAP!" "No, no, no, no!" Vance huffed as he tried to dodge the mech's blaster fire. Vance danced about in midair like drunken monkey, as his mech's arms flailed in the air as his feet stepped to and fro. The fighter landed hits on Vance but the plasma field took the brunt of the damage. The bogey the flew over head and whipped around for a second assault. Using his laser cannons Vance returned fire. The pilot came head on with laser fire but managed to barrel roll away from the hailing. Vance kept up attack but the pilot was skilled at evasion as he flew overhead again. Vance had to reposition to have the target in his sights again. The enemy fired and more hits where landed but the field would not yield.

"Damn, this is starting to be annoying." Vance spoke almost in a whine. The AI spoke to him and suggest he use homing missile since his enemy has thus far been avoiding his fire. Vance took the advice and then prepared to launch his missiles. He had to lock on to the bogey who is still firing at him. The lock hadn't finish as the mech flew over him again. When it came back to finish it's attacks Vance had the signal to lock on. It was then he remembered that they had to be taken alive. He was caught up in the heat of battle he nearly was prepared to destroy this bogey. He had to disengage the lock. He then evaded the mech's assault. "Damn! I need to take these guys in alive AI!" Vance shouted at his mech. The AI then devised an new strategy. It suggested Vance charge at the bogey, taking it off guard by closing the gap and then fire at it's wings to disable it. Vance then engaged his opponent as he charged. The bogey whipped around to attack him but was scrambling to avoid Vance. Vance fired his lasers again and hit the mech's wings dead on. The enemy then struggled to regain control of his machine.

The Vance swooped in and fired his laser again. This time damaging the enemy's engines. It's mech began to fail as it sought to land it on the nearby shore.

Without further warning, Scoar left the infirmary, waving to Cecilia on his way out. He still had to wait for Cain to finish his rounds before anything was else was done for the day. Deciding that talking to someone of a higher echelon would help, the man walked towards the elevators to head for Commanders room. He had read a lot of good things about the new commander in his personal logs, but never had the chance to introduce himself properly. Seeing as Scoar had to look after everyone's welfare he knew that he had to check up on the man. He had been told that he left the base to chase after the intruders, but he caught no word of how it went upon his return. At this point any and all information would help him a lot, since he was currently puzzled.

Exiting the transporter at the sleeping quarters, Scoar waved and nodded to some of the people in the hall before knocking on the mans door. "Jin? Jin-Giro? Are you in there. It's Prince Scoar. I'd like to talk to you to discuss the events that went down earlier. Do you have a minute?"
..................................................................................................................................................................

Cain felt his stomach drop at the first sentence the beautiful woman in front of him said. He didn't expect a reaction like from what he had said, but he calmed himself down. Giving a blush accompanied by an awkward chuckle. "Well, I guess I'd feel the same if I was in a bed for as long as you were," He grinned. It wasn't everyday that Cain had felt the need to smile, but he had to admit, he was happy for two things. One, not having to talk to everyone in the Lion team by himself, and two, he was accompanied by a woman that he had wanted to spend more time with. This was truly his lucky day. Well, besides from having to fight a hard battle earlier and the intruder situation. It was at least a good end to his day. When she winked at him, the young man felt his stomach dance once more and he slowly stood up, trying to make it look like he wasn't nervous. "Well, I'll just wait outside then, Just let me know when you're ready," he stated before leaving the room. As soon as the door shut behind him, he sighed a breath of relief and looked up at the ceiling staring at nothing in particular. It was true what he was told. If he just acted himself, then he could have a new life. One without murder. One without too much bloodshed. He could live like any other person and still be happy. However, the feelings deep inside couldn't help but to ask, "What about him?" He had always wondered, if Axl would fine peace himself.
..................................................................................................................................................................

The sounds of tank busters and bullets, including some sound of screams were all coming from the battlefield. Axl was in his heaven, drilling deep into the heart of the academy, striking down any mech that wasn't a brown wing mech without mercy. He had good reason to be excited too. For he was about to complete a part of his mission that he'd always hoped he'd a get a chance to complete. However, this happiness started hours before the current time.

Earlier, once he was done talking to Benjamin, a conversation that would have soured anyone's day, Axl had thought, He got the messaging code of the Benjlakki science department from Vika and sent them data on the Near Shadow project. It was only his Beta data, but he was sure they could make a good mech out of it. Though he knew not to put all of his eggs in one basket. He had decided to leave Vika alone for a while, so he could work on the Beta Shadow's reactions. It was a basic checkup and didn't really need to be performed everyday, but he felt as if he needed to be a hundred percent at all times. Around that time is when he recived some really good news. His thoughts raced in needing to help out Metargo, but he left those thoughts behind, knowing that the man who he hated more than anything in the worlds son was there. Axl couldn't help but to grin all the way to the target destination. He'd done his part inside of Benjlakk, and now it was time to move on to stage two. If everything went as planned, he'd be able to have his vengeance, which would have only been sweeter if he had Cain on his side. It was no matter to him though. Cain was always but a pawn type of person anyway. There was no way he could do for Axl, what Axle couldn't do for himself.

Upon the start of the battle, Axl made sure to follow Zechariahs orders, only for his own goal of course. He didn't want to be fighting in the open eyes of the shore anyway. That wasn't in his objective placement. He wanted to be in the heart of the main area. A place that would allow him to see his true target. Turning the Beta Shadow around, he managed to dodge an attack from an oncoming melee attack. The Beta's blade was drawn and it struck the shoulder of its target. Axl changed the signaling on the comm to talk to the pilot of the mech in front of him. "Listen to me and listen to me clearly. Or die. You have two choices. I suggest you pick the former." Axl's voice was calm, but the man inside of the cockpit felt it threatening and menacing. He had no idea what was truly in store for him. No one, had any idea what Axl had in store.

Jin awoke from his nightmare gasping for air with the stabbing pain of Adira's blade piercing the center his chest.

"Jin? Jin-Giro? Are you in there? " An unfamiliar voice called out to Jin temporarily distracting him from is nightmarish death. Checking the door monitor Jin-Giro saw that It was Prince Scoar's voice calling to him. "I'd like to talk to you to discuss the events that went down earlier. Do you have a minute?"

Shaking off the some of the sweat and taking the time to get properly dressed Jin answered back with "Come on in, what would you like to discuss?" As Jin enquired about the Prince's business with him he gave a slight head bow and continued to speak. "I pursued the two female intruders with a small squadron of fighters to a desolate beach with a hidden laboratory. Once we arrived the lab was already set ablaze and we engaged the targets to prevent their escape. After I noticed we were losing skirmish against the two highly trained enemies I allowed myself to be taken in order for the squadron to not be obliterated and return to base. While captive I was able to uncover some information..." Jin hesitated wondering if he should disclose the information he learned about the twins from Adira's journal but instead choose against it. the information is regarding the destroyed lab and its purpose, then I escaped.... to put it simply."

[font=]The garrison Captain became irritated at having to do nothing and had one of his transmission interception teams hack into the communication systems of Brown Wing Team. "Forgive me, Left of the State Minister Cross, but I wish to find out once and for all what this Brown Wing Team is up to. I've got hackers working on retrieving their communications signals."

After a while, one of the hackers gave the thumbs up. To that, the Captain said, "Good, now, we can stop guessing and get to the bottom of all this." He next had an interpreter translate what all was being said, since some of it would be in the Benjlakki language. The Captain turned to Percival with "Sir, since you also know the Benjlakki language, we would like your input, as well."

---

As the war criminals were fought, something appeared awfully wrong. The rogues' signals were being lost and the cameras showed signs of some of the mechs being trashed to the point of destroyed, meaning the hostile pilots inside were killed. Benjamin was the first to spot this. "Wh-what the hell happened!? Some of the rogues are dead, Zech!"

This agitated Zechariah as he responded with, "What!? I specifically told Brown Wing Team that we were capturing them for a court martial! Who's responsible for this insubordination and outrage, Ben!? What's going on!?"

"I don't know, but I can't seem to find out where Axl is!? Neither the cameras nor radar are picking anything up!"

Zechariah could not believe what he just heard. He was suddenly reminded in his head of what occurred with the Titan. "No trace of him!? That sounds similar to what happened with that Metargo Capital Ship back at the Battle of Gatwashii! It was after that mech which fired the nuclear weapon at us went down!" He reflected on the matter some more. "Now that I think about it, that mech was similar in design to the one Axl pilots. How does that make sense? If that one mech could use stealth technology to camouflage an entire ship, then... wait. That must be it!"

Benjamin became just as irritated as Zechariah. "What is it, little brother!?"

"Axl's using that same technology on his own mech!" Zechariah was now piecing it all together. "Remember when we could not find him anywhere at the Battle of Gatwashii?"

Benjamin nodded. "That bastard was little to no help until that similar mech on the opposing side was about to fire that nuclear weapon on us!"

Zechariah replied with, "Exactly! Which means, he must have worked with the pilot of it, before! Why would he defect to Benjlakk, though, and hate the nationality he was born with? Something's not right! He even threatened Viki! Well, whatever he's planning, I won't let him! If he's going to endanger that girl's life! She may be Metargo's Princess, but she's not the kind of girl who'd approve of war or anything else volatile! I just know that from the time spent at Gatourshai before we found out about the rogues' plans!" His body began to glow a silvery blue from the cockpit as his rage began to build up. He then stopped fighting the war criminals when able to and finally his Eagle glowed the same silvery blue, followed by this shout of rage: "I won't let him lay a finger on her!"

((Here's some G Gundam music as you imagine Zech's transformation. XD Shinging Finger Theme))

The Eagle was now covered in silvery-blue light as Zechariah used his temporarily-enhanced abilities to swiftly type in adjustments to his mech's computers, allowing him to vaguely see where Axl was. The AI was struggling with the adjustments, but the radar barely picked up Axl's signal, which was coming from near the academy. "There's that bastard!" Knowing where Axl was, and judging correctly it was in front of the mech floating without moving anywhere, the enraged Malachi pulled out his beam saber and activated it. When he did, the blade turned from neon red to a glowing blue and enlarged in length.

Zechariah accelerated his Eagle with his beam sword pointed in the general spot Axl was, hoping to hit the cockpit. He would maneuver to avoid hitting the other mech, if possible. The radios in every channel that could hear Zechariah picked up his roar of intense anger.

---

All the messages between Zechariah and Benjamin were picked up by the garrison, with Percival there to listen to all of it. The garrison Captain was left dumbfounded as everything in Benjlakki was deciphered. "Gatourshai? That's a town within the Gatwashiim Peninsula! If this Zechariah was there with Princess Viki.... No, how does that make sense?" The Captain turned to Percival. "Left of the State Minister, what do you make of this?"

It was not long before one of the cadets, Karl Lopez (picture shown below) gave a secret message to Percival via communications device. It contained his observations of things he was not supposed to see, including papers on a Ghost Team and a man in Benjlakki uniform that was in cold sleep, with signs of the brain being altered by nanoidrons. Karl told Percival that he was merely a little boy at the time, yet figured the disappearance of Axl Jai Numi had something to do with what he saw. After that, Karl hung up, waiting for whatever would happen.

---

Kyle shrugged at what Cecilia said. "I was merely repeating to Minmei what Aaron told me, earlier today. Anyway, the blue-haired girl there is Minmei Midori. She's very hard-working, and can be pretty nationalistic."

Barnett Belvedere

Barnett had finished changing and stepped out of the room having opened the door. “Sorry if I took too long Cain. I’m ready to go now.” Barnett said as she stood in her operators uniform.



She was quite excited to be up and about again. “So, who shall we see first? I hope I can be of help at all.” She said with a cute smile to Cain.


Zane Preston and Azaka Oikawa

Zane, in the Hyaku-shiki, blasted off into the zone of battle. He had noticed that a Brown Wing pilot was dangerously close to being shot down. If he didn’t act fast the cockpit of the mech would have been shot out, killing the pilot. Zane made it just in time to place the hyaku-shiki in front of the blast, thus taking the hit and sparing the life of the brown wing pilot. With the Hyaku-shiki’s special coating, the blast did far less damage to it than it would have done to most other mechs. “I hope you’re alright there soldier.” Zane said to the pilot by being patched into the brown wing team’s com channel, given special permission this time around.


Zane gave the enemy unit a swift counter punch using the Hyaku-shiki and pulled out its beam cannon. The enemy knew that recieveing fire from that cannon would be extremely bad for the unit so it launched high evasion tactics in an effort to escape. After firing a few neutralizing shots the enemy lost its high evasion capabilities and was subdued. Zane realized that chasing down the enemy was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated. ‘What are these guys after?’ Zane pondered.

Azaka quickly found a unmanned plasma cannon on the defensive line and hacked into the operation terminal. He was very good with all sorts of technology and could operate most military weaponry. Zane taught him things of that nature. Azaka’s grandfather was also a Metargo military veteran and insisted on teaching Azaka everything he knew since Azaka was a child. Having hacked the terminal and gained access to the plasma cannon Azaka began to lock onto some of the rogue units. “These buggers are really swift… but lucky for me I’ve got a high perssision targeting system here.” Azaka said to himself. He fired on a few units and a couple of units were disabled. “Hopefully the Brown Wing Team realizes that I’m not firing on them. I don’t want to cause Zane any trouble.” He said with a worried disposition.


Percival Cross

The garrison Captain became irritated at having to do nothing and had one of his transmission interception teams hack into the communication systems of Brown Wing Team. "Forgive me, Left of the State Minister Cross, but I wish to find out once and for all what this Brown Wing Team is up to. I've got hackers working on retrieving their communications signals."

Percival kept a calm exterior disposition but inside he was pissed. He had figured that the garrison captain could resist meddling in Percival’s plan. Percival figure that he had used up all the leeway that he could in this situation without interference, things were simply going too smoothly. “Is that so Captain?” Percival replied with a single raised eyebrow. He continued, ”Very well. Keep me informed.”

After a while, one of the hackers gave the thumbs up. To that, the Captain said, "Good, now, we can stop guessing and get to the bottom of all this." He next had an interpreter translate what all was being said, since some of it would be in the Benjlakki language. The Captain turned to Percival with "Sir, since you also know the Benjlakki language, we would like your input, as well."

Percival grew a bit nervous. He had no way of damage controlling this situation. If any of the brown wing team mentioned Viki or Sir Hansel, he would have a heap of explaining to do. Not a moment passed before he replied. “But of course. I insist. You have my help.”

All the messages between Zechariah and Benjamin were picked up by the garrison, with Percival there to listen to all of it. The garrison Captain was left dumbfounded as everything in Benjlakki was deciphered. "Gatourshai? That's a town within the Gatwashiim Peninsula! If this Zechariah was there with Princess Viki.... No, how does that make sense?" The Captain turned to Percival. "Left of the State Minister, what do you make of this?"

Percival let out a heavy sigh. The worst happened. ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep this quiet Sir Hansel, Princess…’ he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and with a tired expression clamped his brow with his index finger and thumb. “I have some explaining to do. However, before I proceed I will have you know that this is highly classified information and I am holding everyone within earshot of that transmission accountable for remaining quiet about this. Do you understand? I want a list of names of everyone within this garrison, I am quite serious.” Percival looked sharply about the room. He needed to be authoritative and seemingly in control else things would only get worse.

“Through a magical mishaps the princess was teleported into the cockpit of a Brown Wing Unit. She had left the capital in an effort to aide a stranded medical transport vehicle. Sir Hansel informed me of the situation and through our efforts he was able to locate the princess within Benjlakk, specifically in Gatourshai. The Princess was looked after by a member of the brown wing team by the name of Zechariah Malachi. The brown wing team safeguarded the princess and returned her to the custody of Sir Hansel. It was then that they encountered this rogue unit tha we are trying to stop now. This is why I trust the brown wing team, because they were taken by surprise by this situation just as much as we were. However, as you can see now, there seems to be an even bigger situation at hand here. One that I am currently on my way to the Titan to investigate.” Percival concluded. He hoped that would clear things up for now. He’d deal with whatever consequences he had to for keeping this quiet from the king.

It was not long before one of the cadets, Karl Lopez gave a secret message to Percival via communications device. It contained his observations of things he was not supposed to see, including papers on a Ghost Team and a man in Benjlakki uniform that was in cold sleep, with signs of the brain being altered by nanoidrons. Karl told Percival that he was merely a little boy at the time, yet figured the disappearance of Axl Jai Numi had something to do with what he saw. After that, Karl hung up, waiting for whatever would happen.


Percival thanked Karl and asked for the testimony to be documented so it could be compiled as evidence. He was glad that things seemed to be coming together. This was seemingly becoming less of a wild goose chase that it initially appeared to be. “It seems that our issues with Benjlakk are becoming less important as we may be fighting a common enemy here. I am maintaining open communication with the Brown Wing team on this matter. I will report and serious findings with the Metargo military as well. I want to do this by the book. However it is clear that there may be compromised parties on either side of the line. So ultimately, I will divulge information at my or his majesties’ discresstion, as this was assigned to me by his royal highness King Saul himself. You do understand, don’t you captain?” Percival explained hoping he had covered all tracks created. He needed to be as careful as possible.

Axl noticed Zechariah's mech coming his way and realized from the signal it was him. How's his mech glowing!? he wasted no time in pulling his sword from its impaled position and engaging. What's he mad about, anyway!? Axl believed himself more than a match for the sergeant, only to notice Zech's abilities have been enhanced, possibly from the glowing blue light. How does he do that!? Such an upgrade is impossible for any country to make! Unless... unless this is supernatural... Nah, I'm not superstitious! Zechariah maneuvered so swiftly in his Eagle (faster than possible under regular circumstances), that it would seem he could not be touched, but that was because Axl was not using his full resolve. At this point, the former Ghost became increasingly frustrated. I guess I'm going to have to get serious! Stealth won't help me, now!

With the mech fight escalating further, Axl was now using his full potential, turning the confrontation into a deadly dance in the sky. While Zechariah held his own in melee, Axl's anti-beam blades eventually snapped the one beam sword Zech had in two, forcing him to attempt to distance himself from his opponent for a medium-ranged shot. The beams that burst out of both beam rifles, however, were blocked and deflected by the Near Shadow Beta's blades. This forced the sergeant to use the sonic emitter prototype he requested installed, which was originally made by him to disable mechs. Based on his calculations, he can only use it three times before it needed to be recharged and tended to off the battlefield. He waited for Axl to come dangerously close, then fired the emitter from the left wrist of his Eagle.

The results were extraordinary, to say the least. Not only did it do heavy harm to the Near Shadow Beta's armor, it damaged Axl's ears beyond repair because of the sheer magnitude. Zechariah could hear the explosions and shouts from the radio. It would seem Axl was finished, then laughter and coughing were heard. The sergeant was about to deal the final blast with his beam rifle to the cockpit when he heard Axl speak without an inch of fear.

These words from Axl were as follows: "I see... you're stronger than you first appeared... I don't know how you did it... but I... accept defeat... before I die, though... you should probably see... these schematics... Viola's "dad"... so to speak... is working on... two mechs based on them... Maybe... you and Ben... could pilot those... when they are made... you'll need them... against Lopez..."

Zechariah had calmed down upon hearing Axl's words. He attempted to get a camera feed on him to determine his condition, but all he got was a static screen. The damage from the one sonic blast must have been severe on both the Near Shadow Beta and its pilot. Looking over the schematics they were from the Near Shadow Project, specifically based on the Near Shadow Beta. He knew this was no time to be reading them thoroughly, so he opened the cockpit to Axl's mech while stating, "I'm going to have you court martialed for insubordination once we're through capturing the rogues, here." By the time the Near Shadow Beta's cockpit was open, however, Axl was in a coma.

Zechariah wasted no time in using his med kit to at least stabilize him. Just as Zechariah had the unconscious person in the cockpit and piloted away from the irreparable mech that was the Near Shadow Beta, the now-empty machine exploded. Axl's usefulness to Benjlakk has come to an end, Zechariah could feel it and did not enjoy the thought of what could come next for the unconscious man. The other matter we worried about at the moment was, if the sonic emitter could destroy a powerful mech as the Near Shadow Beta, then it would have to be worked on some more in order to be used for nonlethal combat. Of course, none of it would matter if Brown Wing Team did not first arrest the remaining rogues.

The rest of the battle was relatively easy with the help of Zane Preston and Azaka Oikawa, after the initial panic from the hacked defense gun firing before being assured Brown Wing Team was not being targeted, that is. Between Zane, Zechariah, Benjamin, Viola, Chemda, Adira, Laurence, and Azaka, they disabled the most opposing mechs. Once it was finally over, Karl Lopez was able to rally enough schoolmates from the military academy to mobilize a cooperative search with Brown Wing Team for the surviving rogue pilots. Karl even had time to write a testimony regarding everything he saw that was out of place, sending the resulting document to Percival.

During the gathering of the war criminals into Brown Wing Team's hands, Zechariah noticed a familiar face that tapped him on the shoulder. Upon seeing each other's faces, Zechariah and Karl high-fived each other and shook hands enthusiastically while laughing. Zech spoke first. "Karl! Long time no see!"

"Same with you, bud! Who'd have thought you be a mech pilot?"

Zechariah answered his query solemnly with, "I was drafted. hopefully, this war will end before either country is subjugated."

"Indeed. Well, I wish you all the best."

A salute to each other, and the two friends went their separate ways. Zechariah was no fool. He imagined that hem would be just as much court martialed as Axl for what went on, yet he was not unprepared for such an occurrence. He had his communication bot, T7-B, record everything from the fight on the streets of Gatourshai to the mech fight slightly away from the shores of Disclesca.

---

The Garrison captain confirmed that everything would be confidential, as did everyone else in the room, with a salute and a simultaneous, "Yes, my lord!" The Garrison captain also transferred all data concerning the battle, including the intercepted messages (which meant Axl's final words before going unconscious, as well as everything else), to a small disk that he handed to the Left of the State Minister.

---

Aaron cleared his throat upon hearing Kyle say Minmei was rather nationalistic, which caused Kyle to say, "Sorry, Aaron. I didn't mean that in any offensive way to anyone." Kyle then turned back to Cecilia and Minmei and explained the surgery itself. "Okay, well, in the emergency room, we were being prepared for operation that was critical for us to live. All I could recall before everything faded to black was the injury that occurred earlier, the pain, and the face of a girl that was assisting with the procedure. I swear, she seemed angelic and adorable, and I'm not saying that to be perverted! when I we woke up, we were told by her that her name is Amelia Cross." Suddenly, it clicked and he was left wide-eyed. "Wait! If her last name is Cross, then she must be related to... Oh, shit!" Kyle began to freak out. "Oh, shit! If Lord Cross even suspects I did anything to his sister, I'm dead! So very, very dead!"

Aaron shouted over him with, "Relax, Private Scipio! Your hands are clean, so there's nothing to worry about! You just need to remember to clean up your act a little, so he won't be worried about you deflowering her!"

Kyle nodded silently in anxiety, which was the most he could do from the shock of the realization. There was more to Kyle's reaction than he let on, which Aaron knew the answer to, since he was there. Since Kyle would not say anything, Aaron felt he ought to explain for him.

Aaron gave Minmei and Cecilia this explanation: "Percival Cross and I were there when Kyle was arrested. We saw his potential as a soldier, as well as found out that his attempted murder out on the streets was to save a high school girl from being raped by the same men he fought nearly to death. He was just as berserk than as you see him end up on the battlefield when his anger is at its peak. So, at my recommendation, Percival offered Kyle amnesty in exchange for military service. Since then, Kyle developed a fear of Percival Cross, albeit a bit of an unhealthy one."

---

Barnett had finished changing and stepped out of the room having opened the door. “Sorry if I took too long Cain. I’m ready to go now.” Barnett said as she stood in her operators uniform. She was quite excited to be up and about again. “So, who shall we see first? I hope I can be of help at all.” She said with a cute smile to Cain.

Cain smiled a little bit and was about to say something when he bumped into a familiar face. "Sorry, I... Oh, it's you, Cassius! Mind fi I ask you a few questions? I... was kind of put in charge of Lion Team temporarily by Sergeant Lextu."

"Sure! Fire away!"

Cain used the paper on the clipboard as a guide, which was to his relief since he was not exactly social. During the conversation, however, another Lion pointed a handgun at Cain, whom heard the click and turned around to throw his knife, which only disintegrated when the shot was made from the Lion, which also blew a hole in Cain's chest. The worst part was, he could not evade without the blast hitting Cassius, which meant he was at a fatal disadvantage and the assailant knew it. Cain's last words to Barnett were, "Run..." Then, he gave out his final breath painfully as he collapsed to the floor, deceased.

Cassius was about to ask what went through his "comrade's" head at that moment, but was cut off when the Lion Team member, who went with the alias Marcus Baak, coldly stated, "One Ghost down, one more to go. Once Axl Jai Numi is dead, Romano Lopez's days toying with the whole world are numbered. Even the Royal family will soon have to admit they were fooled by him." Even before Marcus spoke, there was something odd about him that nobody in Metargo noticed until now: his eyes were glowing silver, just as Adira's eyes did when she rescued Chemda.

Fortunately, before Marcus could shoot anyone else, his monologue to Cassius and Barnett gave Emesto, whom was making his way to med bay due to a massive headache, enough time pull out his own handgun and shoot the assailant in the head. Emesto immediately searched the remains of both dead men to find out the motive.

Cassius breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Nice shot, George! You saved our lives!"

Emesto knew enough Metargo to get by, so he replied with, "You're welcome, but I'm not George. He is kind of an alternate personality inserted into my mind thirteen years ago. Long story. My real name is Emesto Andrew."

Cassius went wide-eyed in fright. "Huh!? Wait! You're the Emesto Andrew, the Benjlakki mech ace that shot down more than 40 mercenaries from the skies in the Benjlakki Siege on Mercenaries that took place nearby the Gatwashiim Peninsula thirteen years back!? How did you survive that battle and end up here!?"

"That's what I want to confirm for myself, aside from the motive for that guy attacking you three. I was told by some head mechanic and a lady of nobility that was with her, whom appeared to be a medic, that the mercenaries who supposedly placed me in a cold sleep in secret and implanted nanoidrons into me were affiliated with the Takerdarn Clan, an infamous mercenary clan that I was told had a secret headquarters in the Metargo Capital. Maybe if I find some sort of journal, there can be a clue of some sort." Surely enough, there were journals on their persons which Emesto skimmed through until he found entries of interest. "Project Ghost and Project Exorcist!? What is that about!? Were these two guys genetically altered somewhere!? That would be highly illegal anywhere you go! We got to tell somebody about this! I wonder if anybody else has shown signs of genetic alteration!" Cassius translated for Barnett what Emesto said.

Kyle and Aaron heard the gunshots, first one and a little bit after that the second. If only they were able to carry weapons in their current state, but they were not given any instructions about even pistols from the medics, yet. Of course, Aaron was conflicted between feeling alert and feeling awkward, considering a combination of Cecilia's forwardness and the visible scars on her left him blushing and flustered.

Kyle noticed and instantly shouted, "Sergeant, this is no time to be turned on by her scars! This is serious, not to mention the second incident on board the Titan we had, today!"

Aaron could only answer with the shake of his head and a stammered, "Oh! U-Uh, right!"

---

Emesto heard the footsteps of armed soldiers coming his way, so he stood up with his hands raised so not to provoke anymore unnecessary bloodshed. He could hear the sounds of men and women shouting "Men down!" repeatedly and frantically behind him in the Metargo language. Medics raced to examine the bodies. Once Cecilia said she was part of Lion Team and demanded an explanation, the man turned around and gave his explanation, his Benjlakki accent showing as he spoke in Metargo. "I was on my way to med bay for my headache when I saw one of these pilots shoot the other, mentioning something about him being a Ghost while the other, maybe his brother based on the journals, still being out there. I wasted no time in aiming and shooting that berserk bastard who shot his teammate in cold blood. It was a reaction I had because I feared he was going to shoot this lady and the pilot behind me next."

One of the soldiers that did not meet Lion Team in person responded hostilely with, "You have a Benjlakki accent! Who the hell are you!?"

The soldier next to him shouted, "What do you mean who is he!? That's George Lucius, Metargo ace of the Second Metargo-Mysticaran War and member of the Lion Team!"

"He's a spy!" Yet another soldier interjected.

"Why would a spy save his enemies from certain death!?"

"It's deception! Kill him!"

"No! We have to investigate further!"

"He's a Benjlakki in disguise! That much is clear! Shoot!"

It was the total chaos of words, each soldier having a different opinion about Emesto. Finally, he had enough and shouted, "Hold it! I can clarify!" Once he had their attention, he breathed in before resuming. "You are right. I am a Benjlakki, but I am by no means a spy. I--"

"Liar!"

One of the armed troops was about to shoot when a commanding voice of a woman was heard. "Hold it! There's a reason he's saying that!" It was Bibiana, whom had arrived right on time. She brought out her scanning screen and showed everyone present what was the matter. "See the abnormality in his nervous system? those are nanoidrons implanted into him. They are what apparently made George Lucius thirteen years ago. The guy's real name is Emesto Andrew."

Immediately, the atmosphere of the hallway was different. Instead of hostility, confusion filled the area. Everyone wondered how a Benjlakki ace that supposedly died in the Benjlakki Siege on Mercenaries could have survived and made it to Metargo. When Bibi further explained that Emesto's lack of aging was due to a cold sleep and that the mercenaries that were involved were part of the Takerdarn Clan, the soldiers and sailors within hearing distance wondered what could have been the motive.

Bibiana interrupted the chatter with, "Whatever the case is, we need to figure it out! In the meantime, he is innocent of espionage until proven guilty! Got it?"

The head mechanic seemingly needed not utter another word, since most everyone in the hallway indicated they understood and could do as she said. How Minmei and Cecilia would react, however, was a mystery. Whatever the scenario, Bibiana knew the investigation took priority over the whims of two people.

---

Scoar listened to Jin's explanation as he gave the synopsis on what happened with Chemda and Adira. When Jin hesitated, the Crown Prince wondered if there was something going on or if he was just trying to regain his memory. He decided to give him benefit of the doubt as he told Jin, "I see. Well, if you don't mind, I would like for you to write a detailed report on that and bring it to the my father. He is expecting Left of the State Minister Cross to arrive onboard the Titan to conduct an investigation as to what could have been the motive for the twins having their DNA altered, and who they were initially meant to face, if anyone. Percival Cross should be onboard tomorrow. I would like for you to attend the meeting with the King, the Left of the State Minister, and myself. I expect Lion Team to be present, too. At least, however many of the Lions can come, as well as Barnett Belvedere, Minmei Midori, Admiral Preston, and Azaka Oikawa. Can I count on you?"

---

Saul escorted his wife to their room onboard the Titan, which was a bit more classy than the rest of the ship, but not flamboyant in regards to that. Times with Karen were one of few times where he could have any peace of mind, apart from time with family. He dismissed Julius for the evening when suddenly, Saul's comm disk sounded the emergency alarm which told him something yet again went wrong on the Titan. "To think this was going to be a moment just for the two of us, Karen. This is clearly not our day." Putting back on his military shirt and jacket, along with standing up out of bed so to avoid anyone getting a peek at the Queen, Saul answered with a straight face as Cassius frantically told him of Cain and Marcus's deaths prior to explaining that the journals on each mention something about a Project Ghost and Project Exorcist. Upon hearing that Cain was lethally shot in the chest, the King just stood there in shock, with Cassius not realizing Saul was unable to speak until he said everything he set out to. Cassius still did not hear anything from the King, whom eventually dropped the still-activated comm disk in a contained despair at the loss of a man that was practically a second son to him. That drop of the disk was the only sign he was inwardly mourning Cain Jai Numi.

---

Zechariah and Brown Wing Team were in neutral waters as they slowed down to check on the prisoners they picked up for any injuries. Some of them would be unable to fight again, which after court marshal, they would never again receive the chance to. As for Brown Wing Team, Zechariah knew he would be court marshaled, as well, and he came prepared with T7 having recordings of the incidents that led up to it. Not only that, but T7 was also able to pick up something out of place: apart from the nuclear arms nearly being used, they were of Metargo design. It made the young sergeant curious as to how the rogues could have gotten their hands on them, unless they came from a source within Metargo territory. Something does not fit, but why?

Before Brown Wing Team could reach Benjlakki territorial waters, they received a message from Naval Security Officer Zabat which went as followed: "Sergeant Malachi, this is Naval Security Officer Zabat. I have been authorized to take you into custody for Court Marshal. You are charged with Desertion, Treason, and Assault & Battery. The two former charges would have you executed if found guilty. Do you understand?"

Zechariah calmly responded with, "I do. I'll cooperate, but on one condition: the rogue troops my team captured and the ones I encountered in Gatourshai are to be Court Marshaled, as well." To Benjamin, he said, "Ben, until I return to active duty, if at all, you are in charge of Brown Wing Team."

Zechariah's words left Benjamin stunned. Sure, he wanted so badly to outrank his own brother, but not like this! The older brother could only muster a nod as the incoming naval ship took the rogue prisoners to go along with Zechariah into custody.