The teams can see a few silhouettes in the desert, both on the ground and in the air, just a couple of kilometers from the base. Some have the distinct shapes of bipedal mechas that most Zlocans pilot for dominating the ground, as well as some hover tanks, with their sleek, boxy design, and long-range barrels that are more powerful and larger than the ones from the Second World War.  Others look like aircraft, flying over the desert, or hovering above it, while others look like smaller mechs, much like the first one. Machines befitting the Zlocan efforts in their conquests across the galaxy, and even in such a state of slowing down progress, their sight can provide a handful of unease for many.

They already lost a big team from an ambush, no way they would let themselves to lose to another one.

"Of all the times to start an ambush... I thought we were done being ambushed out of nowhere," Seiner grumbles, checking his long-range radar as it spots the many tens of blips it appears in their direction.  

"We don't even have that many goodie good troops either!" Tany replies, holding her staff as she anticipates the incoming barrage of Zlocan machinery.  Rian only scoffs as he walks near their spot while unsheathing his light blade.

"You can say for sure that the higher-ups really want some extra for this," he quips.

Sylvester sighs, taking out his comm while plugging it into his ear. "Coruja, looks like we need a little defensive maneuvering if it means we're getting out of here alive."

"Roger that, Sylvester. We'll send our flyboys to deal with the birds of prey. I'm the angel by your side after all," Luana replies with a smirky tone.

"Hope you can save some for me, cause this is way out of line," Rian says as he ignites his red light blade, with the stance he used during his practice with Logan.

Eddie takes out his pistol, aiming at the nearest troops. "I hope you fellas know what you're doing."

"We always know, Ed. It's our specialty," Malak says as she unsheathes her sword. The four Crusaders also fly overhead in the direction of the spaceships heading in their direction. Even with so little, they can still try as much to hold the line from the base. Isaak and his soldiers head near the Chrome chopper as they watch for any potential threats in the most unexpected way.

But before they enter the chopper, they notice that some objects in the sky are seen, dropping fast as Seiner observes from afar. 

"Son of a..." Isaak mutters while Seiner deploys some shields from his chrome cubes, as they activate showing energy-style shields that surround the perimeter in a circle. The objects turn out to be the dropships, all impacting the ground below without mercy, as the cracks and debris flying show.

Seiner turns back to his teammates. "We need to get ready, mates. This might take a while."

Everyone nods, readying their weapons and forming a perimeter as they see the doors of the dropship being kicked open, showing many Knights with all sorts of weaponry like light blades, axes, and even some heavy rifles, pointing in their direction. Seiner smirks as he prepares something else for them.

"This is it, lads! Get set for the big one!" Seiner shouts, raising up his shield while deploying the turrets as well, with Logan, Amira leaping forward to the ones with heavy weapons. 

The battle begins, as the Zlocan forces open fire with their weapons, and the heroes retaliate with their own weapons. Seiner takes out his pistol, as he shoots at some of the Zlocans, aiming for the limbs while standing side by side with Jack and Andrei. He hits them all directly, inflicting burns or some explosive damage with the nitro canisters, but others return the favor by aiming for him.

"Damn it man, going overkill much?" Jackson asks as he covers some fire for the team and dodging some of the blaster fire. 

"Hey, it's fair game in war!" Andrei interjects as he launches some of the blaster spheres towards the Zlocans, knocking some down while his body is covered in the chrome material from the chopper. 

Eddie is able to dodge them, but even with his speed, there is one bullet which grazes his arm.he grips it and retreats back, trying to find more cover, but not before Tany yells her her Curatio spell, the wounds all closing off and such.

"It's just a flesh wound, Tany,"

"Hey,  you meanie Seiney should know to be grateful to his friendly friends!" Tany protests back as she conjures an ice shield behind her back.

"Just pay attention and let's save this for later!" Seiner yells as his gun transforms into a rifle. The Zlocan forces continue their advance, while he tries to find another side of the chopper to regain his composure and health while Tany holds her shield.

Logan and Amira, however, are not going to sit back and let the Zlocans shoot at them. She leaps upon the nearest mech, a black one with a red aura, and lands right in front of the cockpit, the pilot is startled enough to try to shake her off to no avail, holding off with her wings and telekinetic powers.

A tank aims its cannon towards Amira, but before it can fire, Logan leaps forward and slices off the cannon in the process with the Katana form of combat. His blade ignites once more with his head not even turning, slashing the hull in process, revealing the cockpit. The pilot attempts to pull up, only for Amira to hurl him away with her powers as she cuts parts of the turrets from the mecha she's engaging with. Amira jumps off the mech, and Logan lands beside her. 

"Even despite what happened yesterday, you still got it," Amira says. Logan only chuckles in response.

"As long as I have it." He then sees a pair of mechas aiming in their direction, Amira steps in to hold the blaster fire as Logan dashes to the one on the left. He slices off the torso, and parts of the pilots inside as well. Amira then hurls the one next to him to the distance, ensuring they will not get up. They both run to the next ones as they try to get as many of these as they can while they have the chance.

Near the chopper, Isaak is engaging in close quarters with a Zlocan Knight, fighting with a light knife as he parries the blade of the Zlocan.

He kicks him in the gut to knock him back a bit, then attacks with the knife in hand, but the Zlocan is able to block the knife with his shield. Isaak then kicks him back again.

"Guess we should make this quick," Isaak says as he unsheathes both his daggers. The Zlocan gets up, only to be met with the blades, attacking him multiple times and slashing him with precision, forcing him to block with his shield. Isaak then leaps over him, and starts slashing him from the back, forcing him to take defensive maneuvers. Isaak then pushes him back to the wall, as he then kicks him backwards, slamming the wall. He then lands another kick to the gut, knocking him down.

"Is that all you have?" Isaak says as the Zlocan struggles to get up. Isaak slices his blade right through his head, but before he can do something, the Zlocan takes out a dagger near his boot and uses it to stab Isaak in the leg. This makes wince, and then met with a fist to the face, knocking him back.

"I should ask the same to you," The Zlocan says as he readies his gun. But before he can pull the trigger, a red light-blade slashes his hand, causing him to scream and let go of the gun. Then gets beheaded.

Isaak turns around, seeing Rian himself with the sword at hand. Isaak only grumbles while Rian doesn't change his expression for one bit as he reaches for Isaak's hand, only for him to turn it away as he slowly gets up.

"I didn't need someone like you to rescue me."

"Look, I had no choice, OK? I need to look respectable to the higher brass like you."

"Kill first, talk later." Isaak then pulls some guns as he shoots at some Zlocans in the distance, both dodging every trace of blaster fire they can find while Rian deflects some with his light-blade.

"Keep them pinned down! Don't let them get away!" Eddie shouts, firing several rounds at the closest Zlocans. 

Jackson and Andrei are fighting with a mecha that has a blade attached to it, while Andrei keeps blocking the attacks while Jackson focuses on distracting the mecha himself itself. Andrei manages to land a blow to the mecha's knee with his transforming arm with a Chrome-style blade, making it limp and fall to the ground.

Jackson then grabs a nearby rifle, and aims directly at the cockpit while Andrei rips the blade off the mecha and throws it.

It impales the cockpit, and then Andrei blasts the mecha in the cockpit, destroying the mecha and its pilot as the Zlocan screams before it's silenced by the smoke of the wreckage.

"Great work, comrades, keep it going in no time!" Andrei says as he throws a blast wave at another mecha, blowing it up to pieces. Jack then takes a moment to fire some rounds.

"It's a damn good thing we're equipped with this stuff. We'll be ready to take them out in no time," Jack replies while shifting his glance at the sky, many of the spacecraft dropping into pieces or in one piece as the four crusader planes fly through the air in many directions, their missiles impacting each spacecraft they can encounter in sight. Jackson chuckles before he returns back to the main battle.

Malak, meanwhile, is engaged in close combat with a Zlocan Knight, using her own skills and abilities to fight. She manages to land a few blows, hitting the chest of the Zlocan Knight who winces from the impact. Then, she proceeds to jump onto the back of the knight as he is about to attack her from below when she grabs ahold of the blade of her scimitar and swings it down at the knight, cutting off most of the armor, leaving the Knight without any protection.

"Never mess with the best, you know that!" she says before stabbing the Knight in the back. He roars in anger as he turns around, only to be met with a kick to the face, knocking him down.

She then jumps on top of him, then she slams her fists at his face, knocking him down on the ground.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but I hope you learn your lesson," Malak says as she observes the Zlocans in the area dwindling up, both in the ground and in the sky itself. She lets out a chuckle with a smile as she turns around to see the their area near cleared up too.

"Another job well done!" Malak says.  

"Barely," Isaak says, hobbling over to them with Rian and Jackson on his side, "I'm going to need a few weeks to recover from this, on my knees. I should've stayed in the base."

"Well, at least you're still alive," Jackson says as he helps Isaak to the chopper.

"It's a shame that the same can't be said for them," Rian says as he gestures toward the fallen Zlocans, dead or critically damaged. Jackson chuckles in response.

"Hey, at least they'll back to their mommas in no time." Rian smirks before sheathing his light blade once more. But just as they set foot on the chopper itself, the stones and sand around start rumbling.

"What's going on here?" Rian asks as the ground starts shaking.

"Looks like they got one more trick up their sleeve," Jackson says as he looks out the window. Then, a crack starts to form underneath the hangar, and it starts to sink, its various pieces of metal and all equipment holding together falling into the abyss. This further shakes the ground as the team tries to hold itself for dear life.

"And a really good one!" Jack yells.

"And it's coming our way!" Logan yells as well, as the rest of the floor and hangars start to sink into the abyss as well. "Seiner, turn this thing on, quickly!"

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" Seiner responds as he switches the engines on. The floor continues to shake violently as everything drops. A loud bang is heard when the debris starts shooting towards them from the bottom, and Seiner manages to evade it as they rise high into the skies. Just then, another explosion goes off somewhere, shaking the entire base.

"This really was a trap!" Malak shouts.

"Now, let's get the hell out of here!" Eddie says as he gets on board, taking a seat as Seiner sets the controls to full speed. The chopper raising attitude just as the ground beneath them sinks as well. Everyone in the chopper falls into the seats, looking above them to see a giant hole in the groun with a black empty abyss shadowing the once-secret base.

As the helicopter speeds out of there, everyone looks up to see five ships flying overhead in the back, followed by other starfighters flying near them.

"Hey, they're getting away," Isaak says as he aims his rifle at them.

"No, we don't have the time to do that," Rian says, shaking his head as he looks down at the abyss below them.

"Then what do we have time for?" Isaak asks.

"Just wait, I guess." With that, Isaak slowly holsters his gun back, letting out a sight as he looks at the landscape. What was once a base full of worthy secrets, now turned into a burial ground for something so well guarded yet also guessed.  Such is the irony of fate for places like this.

"It shouldn't have ended like this..." Lucy whispers, diverting her gaze away from the devastating view.

"I'm sure that's not true. They may have buried something so unique to us. So we can bury something back to them. Eye for an eye, you get me?" Andrei replies as he tries to tap her shoulder, only for her to slap his hand.

"Yeah well, even if we're lucky, they will find us again," Lucy then says as she still has her gaze away from the door. Silence continues to dominate the room, the team still contemplating over what happened back then. And just then, Sylvester's monitor shows a pop-up screen, with Brigadier Clemons on sight. His eyes protrude and a shade of red is seen across his face as he breathes in and out.

"Care to explain to me about this disaster?" Clemons demands at the team, all still trying to articulate what they just went through. 

"We're going to have a lot of explaining to do," Malak says as she tries to step in, only for Sylvester to raise his hand, making her sit down once more.

"Mister...it was a trap, we got this feeling and we still fell for it..." Sylvester says with a throaty tone.

"Of course you did. In fact, what I'm more shocked is that all you people are still alive from this, even what happened there was something that is fitting for ones like you." Rian steps from his seat as he leans closer to the monitor as he stomps his ground.

"Rian, please-

"No. This asshole is not going anywhere," Rian says as he looks at him with a cold gaze, his bre teeth showing up while Clemon still has that indifferent look. "What makes you think you have the right to judge us, huh? Do you simply wish for all that praise of someone sitting on his medal sending men to die yet called a hero for doing absolutely nothing? How fucking great."

"Rian, this is not the time for that," Jackson says as he tries to get a hold of Rian but he pushes him away.

"Oh, the poor rat is telling me that I should be lectured for your incompetence? Oh sure, I would like to be lectured with a glass of dirt water from your country of origin."

"Do you know who you're fucking talking to?! Oh sure, then I can serve it with a sack of your own shit!" Rian shouts.

"Colonel Sylvester, why don't you discipline this unruly boy here? Why not teach him some civilized manners like a good man as he should be," Clemons asks with a sneer on his face. Rian's face only gets redder from there.

"Alright, that's it! You think that by trying to deflect all my woes and issues as a matter of civility while you ignored all precautions needed for this mission that could have saved the poor men and base from the Zlocu will make you righteous?! You did this, you did that to the platoon back then! And if it wasn't for me being in the service of the UEF, then I would make you pay for what you've done!" Rian shouts as he walks and faces Clemons.

"Rian, please-"

"Shut up, Rian," Clemons says calmly, his eyes remain open as he stares into the camera.

"What?!" Rian shouts.

"I said shut up, because there are worse matters to attend to. Because a few minutes ago, a video was leaked about one of our top secret projects in Area 51, as well as some others, now fly around the Internet, freely, and now we're getting hounded by members of the press and the public demanding an explanation for all these years of covering things up."

"You mean-"

"Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. We had to keep the project hidden because we were afraid that the public would react poorly to the fact that we were trying to create a new type of weapon...and the fact that we knew Aliens do exist." With these words, the whole group looks in silence. Not just the base, now all the secrets are out there of what they've worked, what they knew. A fate as hard as it can be for those who fell into such traps. Some like Jackson and Sylvester only tighten their first without uttering a single word, for as they're aware of the consequences. But none compared to Rrian, whose first instinct is to dive his fist towards the monitor as he slams it against the screen. And with that, the transmission ends, the screen displaying only static.

"That son of a bitch!" Rian screams, "I'll kill him!"

"Rian, calm down," Jackson says as he tries to approach him. He breathes slowly as he restrains from this outburst.

"Why...do you even bother having someone like him in your ranks...?" 

"It's just what we have after most were killed...that's all." After that, Rian is let go and sits back down, letting out a sigh as he can only face down from all this.

"It's a long road, alright..." Rian says.

"Yeah, we'll have to deal with this somehow," Logan says as he looks up at the ceiling.

"But how?" Lucy asks as she stands up from her chair.

"Maybe someone other than the Zlocu to show that there's more of life than them," Logan answers as he nods towards Amira. She only nods while the rest look on her, with Tany trying to lean closer.

"Am-chan...I don't want you to-"

"It is fine, my friend Tany. I will do my best to defend myself."

"Not just yourself, you may need a bit more than that," Sylvester says standing up as he taps on her shoulder. She only replies with a slight smile on her face.

"Hope is what we need, remember that people," Logan says as he approaches her too. The other members only nod back at him while heading back to base. More than ever, ther determination should be higher than ever, less they face a despair like no other, nothing see since this outcome of a mission.