September 3rd, 2026. 14:02

In a long hallway in the base, Logan walks as he carries two ice creams, one with strawberry and one with vanilla, both with cake cones. Not many people come by except for some off-duty soldiers chit-chatting with each other, or some watching their phones. It's almost like a normal day in the base when there is nothing to report yet. What Logan could do, it may be something worth enjoying with an Ice cream.

As he continues through the hallway, a hand taps his back for a bit. Logan peek from behind, only to see Berat himself, looking firm aside from some bandage in the left arm. Some time to recover was needed after all.

"Hello there," Berat greets him "How are you doing?"

Logan takes out the ice cream and hands it to Berat. He takes it but shakes his head.

"Thanks, but I can't eat that."

"Oh, but why? Allergies?"

"That's what most would tell you, but not in my case. Simply put, my head needs a bit more heat, can't risk the unfortunate brain freeze at any moment." Berat sighs "I didn't know if that's satisfactory enough for you, but that's the best I can explain it to you."

Berat gives him the cone back, Logan still smiles at his nod.

"Also, sorry I'm lacking manners today, but I'm kinda in a hurry to meet up with someone. But first, you feeling better now?" Logan asks.

"Yeah, I'm almost back to my old self now." Berat nods "Some might cheer for my return now, but my body still needs more rest of course. and for my darling as well. But don't worry, I'll be fine, my dear." 

"You're right about that, though I hope he's doing well too," Logan says, making Berat chuckle for a bit.

"He's fine, just having a hard time dealing with his own emotions, that's all."

"I hope it's not just because of what led to the rescue, I'm not sure he's one to take some humble pie." 

Berat lets out a brief laugh from this, as some soldiers glance at him from this sudden moment interrupting their routine.

"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure to remind him of the manners true soldiers should have in times like this. Anyway, who are you going to meet up with? That beloved Amira of yours?" That question makes Logan lean away from him as he glances away from him.

"We're...not an item...yet. Just some guy who needs comfort from the latest battle."

"Ah, that's something nice to do. Now, I have a meeting to attend to, so I'll be on my way. You do me a favor and keep me updated on your progress, alright?"

"Sure thing."

Logan nods, as Berat offers his hand. Logan takes it with a firm shake, Berat gives a nod and walks away. He then goes back to his original route.

"Amira, I hope these two can find their happiness in the end," Berat whispers to himself as he walks away.

After some time walking, he sees the waiting room on the floor, which has four couches, some tables and cigarette dust bins, with an elevator door in front of them. In the one near the telephone station from behind is Rian himself.  Compared to last time, he wears an olive-drab sleeveless military jacket, with the name "Aguila" imprinted on the left side. The back has an imprinted name that says "Amaya", and his right arm has a zig-zagged tattoo with blue, white and red colors with a star on the left side, colors of the flag of the Philippines. He looks clean, aside from a bandage near the ribs. Must be something he got as he left the city.

Logan sits down on one of the couches and leans back, as he observes him smoking a cigarette. He puffs a bit before he exhales the smoke. He glances at the clock on the wall, it reads 14:20.

As he exhales again, Logan leans closer to him.

"Hey Rian, I brought you some ice cream."  Rian doesn't look at him, or even pay attention to any word from him, still staring at the clock on the wall.

"Rian, Ice cream!" After that nagging, he takes the vanilla one from his right hand, only to dump it near the cigarette dust bin. He gives him a stare, as Logan gives him a slight smile on his face.

"It's a bit cold for ice cream for a hot summer anyways," Logan quips as he sits down and licks some of the strawberry ice cream.

"I could care less of what you offer. You know it well."

"C'mon Rian, it's already dangerous to go all alone, back then during that night, you even got stabbed while wandering off. You're lucky some soldiers found you on time." Rian groans at this statement.

"More like unlucky. At least, that's what I wish it should be."

"Tell me...what brought you here, man?" Rian contemplates silently for a moment from this question. He is still rumbling with emotions in his head, but some explanation may satisfy him enough.

"When the Zlocans came in as they ravaged the city, I was one of the few lucky ones to make it out alive alongside my sister. She's the only one I can give a damn about compared to my parents or even cousins. I landed in San Francisco, where they build those "Eden setllements" made for us, when in reality, they're just glorified camps with things you can barely call ceilings." He looks at Logan as he licks some of the ice cream. "At least, that's what it felt like. Then a few weeks later, they came out and they took a bunch of people with them, most of them were my neighbors. Then a few hours after that, they came and took me. As they took me, they explained why; an offer to fight."

"Ah right, a conscription you say."

"Yes. They said that if I join their ranks, I'd get a place to stay and food to eat. And for that, I need to kill the Zlocu. Every last of one of them."

"That is why you're here."

"Of course. What else would I do? Stay here in this cell of a camp? Watching them deport them, or even get those shitty food rations? They didn't give a damn about us, but they do give a damn about what we can do for them. Which in turn, I would do for my sister as well, anything I can do to support her." He takes another drag. "So, I joined their ranks, took the basic training, and told us about being near ready. But you see how well that turned out."

"I know...but still, there's another chance for that." Logan tries to pat him only to slap his arm away from him.

"Why do you care anyway?"

"Because I understand what it's like to lose a home. Ever since my community in L.A got destroyed, I've been wandering here and there, until I met my friends, the Earth Warriors. Then the UEF and then people like you. You at least have someone who cares about you."

"You know damn well that they would leave you out if you don't have any use for them. I've seen how well the soldiers of this unit treat everyone else who's not them."

"We're not the same. You see us as the same, but we're not."

"You don't get it. If you're counting on them to accept you in every situation, then you're in for a big surprise."

"Look, I know you're pissed, but I'm here to help you. I won't abandon you."

"I don't need your help, I'm not helpless. I've been in worse situations than this, if only because I think of my sister and only for her sake." Logan breathes deeply as he still holds the ice cream cone, he smiles if a bit quivery while blinking a bit.

"You know, I just fear that your type of people may be the likeliest who could die first. We all have our own regrets and grudges, but if there's anything-" But before he can continue, the left pocket of his pants vibrates, he takes out and sees a new text message coming from Sylvester himself. It has "Come to my office, new briefings for ya. P.S: bring Rian if you can."

"Guess the duty calls now. Let's get going then," Logan says as he stands up and walks up the left side of the well-lit corridor. After some moment of contemplation from his conversation, he stands up a bit abruptly while Logan glances at him, he smiles at him but Rian remains with his frown as ever.

"I know it calls us, but rest assured that I would be another one to screw us over."

Back to Sylvester's office, Logan and Rian enter the room alongside the other Warriors, while Sylvester uses his remote control to display a map depicting a huge railway track in a desert. Aside from some chattering with Jack and Luce, most of them are glancing towards Sylvester's direction as he enlarges the photo of the map for the rest to see.

"While I tend to go full in details, I'll make this short and simple. This is a train that comes through this area, and it's a supply line for the Zlocans in the Nevada state. Their main base is located somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountains, so they need this train to transport their supplies, weapons and even personnel. But there are also reports of the kidnapped governor, Joseph Seung, being held captive in one of them. Your mission comes in three sections. Team A will take care of disrupting the carts carrying the weapons and personnel to further deny them the supplies they need in the region. Team B will ensure that the communications network concentrated in the other cart is disrupted so that our forces pushing near Las Vegas would take the city handily without the threat of reinforcements. Finally, Team C will head to the cart carrying the governor and escort him to safety."

"What about the train's security?" Jack asks.

"Footage captured by drones suggests that it's a mix of Zlocan Knights and a handful of Human collaborators, the usual suspects you may say. As per usual, the best method of infiltration has through the dusk, since Zlocan activity tends to be more active at night, that'll make it easier to reduce their numbers."

"Why not just bomb it to little crisps?" Andrei asks. Sylvester groans in response.

"My boy, I told you about the governor, so I won't repeat myself, or else I'll hand your ass to the warden."

"Eh, whatever." Andrei merely shrugs as the other teammates look away from this quote of his.

"Now, Seiner, I'd take it you'll provide some of the transport needed for the mission, maybe it's best to use a quick vehicle that's also armed and light enough to go through."

"Heh, you're in for luck. I can get us all in the chopper on each cart anytime. Now the real question is, who is gonna be paired in each team? Hoping it's a fine one, too."

"Well, given what I've observed of you, it may sound unusual, but it will go like this: Team A will consist of Logan, Amira, Jack and Luce who have the best skills to handle such big numbers. And no, not to brag to Jack's finest skills." 

"Ye sure of that?" Luce asks suspiciously.

"Yes, I am. Now, Team B will consist of Malak, Eddie and Andrei, plus some bodyguards to disrupt the communications, you kinda provide the best distraction after all."

"Sounds like a lot of work, and you know how I feel about work," Andrei remarks.

"But hey, ya get to shoot Zlocans with ya body and stuff, and that's always fun for ya," Ed adds.

"And finally, Team C will consist of Seiner, Tany, and the special guest, Rian to guard the governor and make sure he makes it back in one piece."

"Wait, I have to work with this arrogant prick?!" Rian asks with a grunting tone. Meanwhile, Seiner looks at him and nods slowly and wholeheartedly at this notion.

"This is for your second chance, since I'm in command here. Oh, and Rian? Mind it that this is not to make a bunch of troubles for us, alright?"

"Alright, Mr. Sylvester. I wouldn't want to cause trouble for anyone here, not that I can be bothered with anyway."

"Alright, that's settled. Now, you'll deploy in 5 hours. You'll get time to prepare before it starts. Dismissed."

"Well, I should be heading back to the airfield. The chopper's almost done with the preparations. By the way, if you don't mind, Tany...," Seiner says as he turns around to face the brown-haired girl, who looks up at him with a big and wide smile after hearing his request.

"Sounds like a goodie plan then, just give me a minute with my friendly friends here!" Tany says.

"Sure, alright," Seiner responds as he glances at two of his teammates, namely Rian himself who is still unamused at this.

"Hey, are you sure-"

"She's a goofball, but trust me, maybe you'll bear her better than me."

"Don't count on it."

"Well, you'll have to get used to it. Now, off we go before the storm comes." The team leaves the room, some filled with confidence over this, but some like Amira and Logan, concern over what could happen to them, especially with Rian after what happened last night. As they close the door, Sylvester sits back and sighs for a bit while glancing at it.

Hope it's right this time...

6 hours later

On the railway in the dark desert, the train travels at a moderate speed as it heads eastwards. The passengers are all sleeping inside their respective carts, while the guards are on watch at the top level, patrolling around the cart while observing their surroundings. As for the cart holding the governor, it's fully enclosed, giving them no view outside. There's a single window in the front, but it's sealed tight. The only thing visible from the outside is the cart's headlights, which are constantly shining brightly.

Inside the sixth cart, lots of antennas and arrays are present in the room, while they display the map of the region nearby, some using commands to display the signals while other Knights guard the entrance of the room. Among the few individuals, it's none other than the twins standing near the door. While Mora observes with attention, Rioso only scans the room around him. All these sort of things are like foreign to him, it can't be helped as he even slightly slides to the left side to tap one of the machines. 

"Hey, don't touch that!"

"Eh, what are these things for?"

"It's for sending signals to the other side, so it can be used for communication purposes."

"Communications? With those primitive things? Wow."

"It's something complicated when it comes to Humans really."

"How come?" Rioso asks as he leans near her.

"They're not exactly open about sharing their technology. They tend to keep it a secret."

"Then I guess that's why they're called 'Humans' in the first place."

"Oh, you still need so much to learn," Mora says. Glancing at the other side, he observes an empty bottle of Jack Daniels hanging around.

"And they drink with those?" he asks as he points at it. Mora merely sighs.

"Just ignore..." she says as her attention moves from the signals to the train's front.

"So, what's this mission about? That Marshall guy said something about a governor and supplies-" Rioso asks, but it's cut short as gunfire is heard from outside. The Zlocan Knights stand guard with their guns aiming at the door as they're ready to take on what's intruding in their operations. The twins stand up and look at each other in confusion.

"What's going on outside?" Mora asks as she detaches her blade from her arm.

"I don't know, but it looks like we'll soon find out. Hope they're something worth fighting."

"Then let's go and find out. But remember, attack only when it's needed."

"Will do, sis." The Zlocan knight steps away from them they slide the door open to see what's going on. What they see is nothing short of what counts as a big surprise. 

There, standing in the front of the train in cover of the night Team B, with Eddie holding onto the head of a fallen Zlocan Knight while Malak swipes some of the blood from her blade and Andrei ignites his fists. Protecting the group is one soldier in full armor while another is on the ground with bullet wounds on the chest, the one in the first row has a smoking gun.

"So you're the newest Zlocan scum, huh? Come to steal the governor, huh? Well guess what, that ain't happenin'," Eddie says he cocks his gun.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Mora asks.

"Well, I'm your worst nightmare! I'm Ed, the one who's going to get rid of you scum once and for all!"

"You sure are full of yourself, aren't you?" Mora says as she looks at the Warriors in front of them.

"Yeah, well, I am the strongest here, so I got a right to brag, right?"

"Well, let's see about that, especially if that Jack Daniels bottle makes you that strong!" Rioso says as he unfolds his blade arms. 

"You got a bad mouth on you, but I'll shut it up for you!"

"I want to see you try alright!"

"You got it, boy!" Ed then tries to shoot at him, but Rioso dodges most of the bullets with quick reflexes, with Mora responding in kind too, even slicing some coming near the guards as well. 

"Not bad for a pair of rookies," Ed comments as he shoots again at Rioso. However, this time, Rioso blocks the bullet with his blade arms and punches Eddie on the jaw, knocking him down.

"Ugh... that was such a cheap trick," Ed groans as Malak turns to cover him from Rioso.

"I know, but it's all I got towards you!" Rioso says.

"Well, how bout you try me then? Better not make it boring for my tastes," Malak says as she prepares her stance.

"If you dare to lay a finger on him..." Mora steps beside Rioso as she prepares her stance too, " then I'll give the appropriate response. Understand?"

"Oh you think? I'm not afraid of some Zlocan bitch!" Malak says as she charges at her. Mora and Malak clash their blades together as they clash, their blades constantly clashing in rapid succession. Eddie gets up and looks at the two fighting each other.

"Hey, someone do something about those two, we got more important things to deal with."

"Right, you stay here comrade Ed, I'll take care of business," Andrei says as he charges at the two with a fist ablaze with fire. While he tries to land a punch on both of them, he's briefly hit by a few slashes by Rioso, while he tries to punch him back. Rioso just jumps away from him, doing a flip in the air, landing in front of Mora, who's still clashing with Malak.

"Don't let that man wreck the communications!" Mora says,, seeing Andre rushing towards the room.

"Right, sorry!" Rioso then charges towards Andrei who sees the entire room, ready to tear it apart with his fists.

Andrei, who's busy punching a hole in the wall, gets surprised when he hears footsteps approaching him. He then turns back to see Rioso coming to him with a blade arm, swinging it at full force.

"Oh shit!" Andrei says as he immediately swings a punch at Rioso, who easily dodges it. However, that doesn't stop Andrei as he just punches the console again, this time, breaking it down, "One of the requirements of fighting. Never let your enemy get your back. Got it?"

"No, but I guess I'll learn the hard way," Rioso says as he swings his blade arm, which makes Andrei raise his arms in defense. However, the blade gets caught by Andrei's wrist, and Rioso swings the blade, making Andrei take a few steps back before getting caught by the blade on his shoulder.

"Whoa, you're good..."

"Of course, I am," Rioso says.

"Well, then how about you try this then?" Andrei says as he swings his arm.

"Oh yeah,