It has begun. Our long awaited retaliation has finally been put into full gear! Yellow Heart helps us push forward on the front lines, she inspires the people and attracts newcomers from all across Gamindustri due to her happy and energetic personality. I don't know if it's true but I've heard rumors that the other CPU's sometimes experience temporary losses of consciousness due to rapid share depletion. Our souls burn hotter than the sun and we have never stood closer to victory! Ruby still doesn't really like her ever since the incident in the field hospital happened. She nearly crushed my rib cage, but I'm not mad. I don't tend to hold grudges for anything. Ruby however...did not take so well to that. Anytime we're around her, she seems to be constantly scanning her. Seeing if she's gonna do anything else to hurt me. I always tell her to take it easy since she's on our side but she keeps doing it anyway. I was told to report to General Anonydeath's quarters for something. I knocked on his office and I heard his voice shortly after.

-"Come in Nanuk." he said.

     I entered to see him sitting behind his desk and with monitors on in the background of security footage.

-"Take a seat lad." he said.

     I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. To be honest, I was a bit worried. He usually only called personnel to his office if it was to punish someone for something they've done. Maybe he finally found out that I've been taking some of his pictures of Noire. I sell them to the highest bidder on the market for some quick cash. If he found out about that, I'd be pretty screwed. Personally, I don't have some sort of secret crush on any of the CPU's but Anonydeath seems to like Noire a little too much. I quickly came back to my senses and listened.

-"So do you understand?" he asked.

-"Ummm...understand what exactly sir?" I asked, having not listened the whole time.

-"*sigh*...You never were the type to listen to orders exactly. Listen up this time, I'm gonna explain it again." he said.

-"Yes sir!" I said, being sure to listen closely this time.

-"Orbital scanners have picked up a very suspicious cloaked area just outside Planeptune borders and I want you and Ruby to check it out. Take the Titan with you." 

-"You got it sir. I'll radio back to you once I discover what it is."

-"Wait Nanuk!"

-"Yes sir?"

-"This assignment is extremely critical, let no one know of your mission."

-"You can count on me sir."

     I nodded as I left the room. I went down the elevator to the Titan bay. We had recently started mass producing newer Titan models to advance our combat capabilities even further. I got into mine and Ruby connected. The hanger doors opened and we both ran out of the bay. We walked out of Eden borders and starting walking towards the coordinates. 

2 HOURS LATER

     One and a half hours of walking and 30 minutes of climbing up a mountain and we finally have the anomaly in our sights. The top of this mountain gave us a good view of the complex in the distance.

-"Ruby, scan the complex. What is that place?" I asked.

-"Scanning...data suggests that this is either a power plant powering something important or another research facility of some kind. I advise that we proceed with caution." Ruby said.

-"Got it, let's go." I said as we started making our way down the mountain and towards the facility.

     The journey down was steep and rocky but we finally made it down the dangerous slope. We improvised and made an entrance big enough for me to fit through by using a laser cutter on the outer walls.

-"Pilot, you should investigate the facility and find any intel you can about its purpose. I would accompany you, but unfortunately my chassis is too large to fit through the opening. I will wait here and make sure this exit is safe." Ruby said.

-"Got it Ruby, sit tight." I said as I entered.

     I found a door to get inside and entered. Inside was a bit safer than outside. I made my way through a couple rooms, trying to find something of use until I saw something through the safety glass. Eden prisoners! From what I could see, there was at least 50 cells in this block, each one containing 2 people! I'd come back for them later. For now, I have a job to do. I kept going through rooms, I kept finding the same thing: prison blocks. I eventually found a documentation room and looked around. I found multiple records of prisoner profiles and medical history. Was this whole place just a prison?

-"Ruby, scan the facility again, Eden citizen lifeforms only." I said.

-"Scanning...there are currently 2 800 Eden citizens at this establishment." Ruby said.

-"I knew it, this place is a prison!"

-"We should return to Eden and find a way to free them."

-"Yeah, good idea."

     Just as I was about to start making my way to the exit, Ruby radioed again.

-"Pilot, my scanners are detecting that the count of Eden citizens is decreasing. I believe that Planeptune forces are executing prisoners as we speak. We may not have time to return and give this information to Anonydeath. We must free them ourselves." Ruby said.

-"Alright then, get ready to cover our escape Ruby." I said.

-"Understood."

     I got into the facility's TV systems and speaker systems. Thankfully, the prisoners had TV's in their cells. I was about to activate my connection when I started thinking to myself.

     Will be able to get out of here? What will I do if I'm given the circumstance where I must defend the prisoners? Do I favor myself over others or others over myself? I guess we'll find out. I patched into the system and hijacked the TV's and speakers.

-"Attention all Eden prisoners! My name in Nanuk and I'm getting you out of here. In a few moments I will open all cells, fight to escape and meet me at the barrier at the south-west of this facility." I opened every cell and heard the chaos outside. "Rise up above this oppression! Take back your freedom!" I yelled into the microphone before leaving.

     I ran outside to see prisoners already running towards the broken barrier. I started running there myself, using the walls to my advantage. People started to notice that I was the guy that was saving them.

-"Hey, look! That's the Pilot! He's getting us out of here!" A citizen said.

     I kept running until I saw Ruby holding off Planeptune forces at the barrier. I didn't embark but I helped hold off attackers as the citizens ran through the opening. After a while, I noticed that no one else was running towards us.

-"Ruby! Is that all of them?" I asked while firing.

-"My scans indicate that we evacuated 2 747 citizens, but I am not detecting any more Eden citizens within the facility. The rest must have been killed." Ruby said.

     I nodded to the Titan and we both ran out of the complex while detonating explosives planted at the exit. That seemed to stop their pursuit since they didn't have any air support. Once we were far enough away, Ruby and I were leading the pack of people back to Eden.

-"That's 53 people dead...but I guess there was nothing more we could do." I said.

-"Indeed, the probability that we escaped with every citizen kept at that facility was very slim. 3.26%, to be exact." Ruby said.

-"Unfortunate...but not our fault."

     As soon as I finished that sentence, I heard a very loud noise behind me. I turned to see a very tall tower creating a massive shockwave that went right by us. It didn't hurt any of us but it seemed to disturb Ruby.

-"Ruby, what just happened?" I asked.

-"Planeptune has just jammed all of our communications. We can't contact Eden for rendezvous." Ruby said.

-"Damn, how are we gonna get the citizens back to Eden?"

-"I detect a large emergency beacon not that far away. It doesn't seem to have been affected by the jammer. If we can activate the beacon we could request rendezvous coordinates for evacuation." 

-"Alright then let's go." 

     I informed the people of our plan and we moved out towards the beacon. It was 2 kilometers away.

1 HOUR LATER

     We moved much slower due to the large and non-trained group but we eventually made it to the long-decommissioned satellite beacon. Vegetation had taken this place for its own. We went inside and tried to find a control panel of some sort. We eventually found one that was still operational, but its power was depleted. 

-"Ruby, this thing's out of power." I said.

-"Let me try to reactivate it." Ruby said.

-"How?"

-"I will transfer some of my core's power to the terminal."

-"Alright, give it a try."

     Ruby got closer to the terminal and I saw the light of the energy flowing into the console. After a bit of trying, the entire building powered up around us. I saw the beacon's giant dish readjusting itself. 

     I went back to the terminal and tried to contact Eden. After a while of trying an Eden tower contacted me instead.

-"Broadcast installation 07, respond. Explain why the dish is reactivating." An operator said.

     After a while of intense negotiating, I finally got Anonydeath on the line.

-"Hello?" he asked.

-"General! The facility you asked me to investigate was a prison complex! I am currently overseeing 2 747 Eden citizens and we need immediate extraction!" I explained.

-"Great work Nanuk, I'm sending Mk III Colossus transports to extract the citizens. However, you and your Titan will have to find a way back here yourself. Sorry, but all Titan transports are currently dispatched elsewhere." 

-"Yes sir. I'll defend this position until the transports get here."

     I turned back to Ruby who was rebooting due to the sudden power loss. After the reboot was complete, I went back to the citizens to tell them the good news. They seemed pretty happy about that. Now I just gotta wait until our reinforcements get here.

15 MINUTES LATER

     I was just about to go back inside until Ruby spoke up.

-"Pilot, detecting friendly evacuation squad 750 meters from our position. The backup has arrived." Ruby said, pointing at the large transports.

     I lit up a flare and waved it around to get their attention. They seemed to spot me and touched down close by. We made sure every civilian was loaded onto the transports before sending them off. A squad of ally soldiers came down to me and started walking towards the beacon control room to shut everything down again. I was about to go with them when Ruby spoke up.

-"Pilot, hostile CPU detected." Ruby said.

     I turned around to see it myself, but no sooner than I did, someone crashed down 2 feet away from me and the other troops, sending me and the others flying back around 20 meters. I slowly regained my strength and looked up to see Ruby fighting someone. I couldn't see who though. I was crawling towards Ruby and pulled out my pistol to try and help. I was using all of my strength until I looked up to see the attacker slash right through Ruby. There was a big hole on the back of her and the Titan just stood there for a second before falling to the ground, shaking the earth beneath me. I looked down, regretting my inability to be stronger. I should've trained harder for this! I looked back up to see something that shouldn't be true.

     Iris Heart, alive...how?! I was the one who shot her out of that cannon! I saw her die in Mike's arms! She's dead! I mustered all the energy I could to speak.

-"H-how? How...are you still...alive?" I asked, whimpering.

-"*devious giggle* You should know by now sweetie, CPU's never die. And I never forget a face like yours. I swear I've seen it somewhere before. But where? Oh, how I wonder~." She said sarcastically.

     I merely stared as my fear kept growing.

-"*giggle* You're the one who shot me out of that cannon aren't you?" she said.

-"What-what are you...*cough*...talking about?" I said, playing dumb.

-"Well then, you're no fun. I guess I'll just make this quick then." 

     My pupils shrunk as I saw her draw her sword.

-"Goodbye...you filthy murderer." she said.

-"I guess...this was supposed to happen...to me at some point anyway. Just...make it quick...please." I said.

     Before she raised her sword I saw a message on my HUD. It read: "Trust me Pilot." Was Ruby still functional? I looked over Iris Heart's shoulder to see Ruby behind her. Just as she was about to slash, Ruby grabbed her and put her at the edge of the Titan's rocket launcher slot.

-"Put me down you rust bucket!!" Iris Heart yelled angrily.

-"*garbled* Protocol 3: Protect the Pilot." Ruby said as Iris Heart got fired out of the rocket launcher.

Ruby was barely functional but, I saw that Iris Heart's slash on the Titan would've gone straight through its power core, had it not been 2 inches to the left. I heard the sounds of an Eden Titan transport in the distance. I just hope I make it home alive.