«This is Crossbow 2! I have eyes on the enemy Ace! Sending coords!»

«Coordinates confirmed, Crossbow 2. Flare 1 to all forces: the Ace is located deep within a hole in the upper part of the mountain, 18 kilometers east of the outpost.»

“Alright…” Colonel Saito spoke, “mech pilots, this next part of the mission is all up to you. Flare 1, I’m sending you two coordinates. On my command, I need you to beam Crossbow squadron and Dagger 7 to coordinate Alpha, and beam Longbow 2 and Dagger 8 to coordinate Bravo. Crossbow, this will put you within a kilometer of the Ace; Longbow, you’ll be in position to counter snipe. All of you, remain with Dagger 7 and 8 as much as you can. Any questions?”

«None, sir. Crossbow squadron is ready on your mark.»

«As is Longbow 2, sir!»

“Good. Flare 1, beam them on my mark. Three… two… one… mark!”

Saito glanced off to the side as two bright flashes of light enveloped the two Halberd mechs standing within the Black Suns outpost. A split second later, they disappeared, along with the Aegis MSUs — leaving only the tanks of Dagger squadron and the infantry of Shield squadron to continue securing the outpost.

“All that’s left now is to hope they can take care of that Ace…” Saito muttered to himself, idly looking off into the distance. After the destruction of his mech, he had no means of materially contributing to the mission; all that was left was to give commands. The Black Suns Ace mech was the only threat remaining outside of the caves, anyways — the outpost was now as good as SERRCom’s.

Saito looked around at his battle-scarred surroundings. The dead bodies of the Black Suns soldiers had already been beamed up by the Frigates in orbit, leaving behind the massive pockmarks in the ground from stray weapons fire, the black char marks from Chaotic lightning strikes, and a handful of gashes in the walls of the buildings. Kneeling just outside of the outpost were the four Black Suns mechs that had once stood in its defense; since their pilots had been beamed out, the mechs themselves were free for SERRCom to claim. Before any of the infantry could reach the mechs to inspect them, however, some kind of dead man’s switch activated within their cockpits, destroying much of their internal machinery and wiping their databanks. The Colonel sighed in resignation — SERRCom wasn’t going to be able to get any useful information out of the mechs, in regards to whether the outpost was rogue or not. At least the mechs were still somewhat intact, such that something could be gleaned from studying them.

“Colonel!”

Saito dispelled the idle thoughts from his mind and looked eastward, spotting Captain Travis as he ran up with his sniper rifle in hand. “Captain,” Saito acknowledged.

“Man… the surface op is pretty much over, huh?” Travis questioned, coming to a stop just in front of the Colonel.

“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, but… it does seem that way.”

“Figured. I’d still be up on my perch, otherwise. One thing’s bothering me, though…”

Saito glanced at Travis, and then in the direction he was looking: at the cave entrance in the back of the outpost. “Worried about the rest of the team?” Saito questioned.

“Aren’t you, sir? Have you heard from any of them?”

“MacTavish is hacking into some of the wires the Black Suns have run through the caves. Hackett and Danielle are guarding her. As for the other three, they pursued the Suns Chaotics deeper into the caves — deep enough that we can’t contact them.”

“Is that wise…?”

“Wise? Probably not, but we don’t have time to establish comms contact through the entirety of the caves — the Black Suns Chaotics need to be dealt with. I trust Mote, Kate, and Mark to handle them.”

Captain Travis adopted a doubtful frown, biting his lip in unease as he continued to stare at the cave. “…You know, sir, the SR02 has night-vision and infrared sights. Not to mention the short range motion/RADAR hybrid sensor.”

Saito passed the Captain an unamused look. He then sighed and shook his head. “Leave it to you to want to join a fight between Chaotics with that thing. And underground, no less. But… fine.” He turned to face Travis directly and offered a firm nod. “Captain, go backup the Eximius Vir.”

“Heh.” Travis returned the nod before turning toward the cave entrance and sprinting off. “Got it, sir!” he shouted over his shoulder, “I’ll take care of the Suns in no time!”

“Hopefully, your help won’t be necessary…” Saito muttered under his breath as he watched the Captain run off. He then turned his attention back to the east. “Now, let’s see about that Ace…”

---

*

Bright streaks of pale blue shot through the air as Mote blasted the approaching massive metal hand with a fierce lightning strike. The force from the blow repelled the metallic dragon standing before him, but it merely staggered back a few meters before opening its maw and spitting out dozens of metal shards like bullets from a gun. Mote immediately forced a massive current through the gold beneath his feet, generating an incredible and spontaneous magnetic charge that he used to launch himself into the air — and out of the path of the bullet-like shards.

An irate scowl formed on Mote’s face as he sailed through the air over the large metal dragon in the middle of the cavern. His eyes briefly darted to the side, noting Mark as he leaped and punched his way around the perimeter of the cavern in search of the Black Suns Chaotics. The enemy Electrotechnic still lived, and they were using their powers to mess with the electromagnetic fields within the cavern — thereby preventing Mote from using them to detect the locations of the enemy Chaotics. And the Metallitechnic seemed to be adept at controlling large masses of metal from afar; their true body was hiding somewhere in the cavern, unseen, while they controlled the metal dragon. Ultimately, the puppeted dragon was just a distraction, a side show… but it was an unexpectedly dangerous side show that had to be dealt with.

As long as Mark can find the Electrotechnic and neutralize them, then I can find the Metallitechnic on my own and deal with him… Mote thought as he landed on the ground, his attention now focused on the dragon that was turning to face him. Until then, I need to keep this damn metal statue off his back!

No sooner had Mote finished his thought than the gold under his feet suddenly erupted upward, pelting him with all manner of sharp debris. He grimaced as the razor-sharp pieces sliced through his uniform and ran across his skin; while Mote’s durability was no where near the level of Mark’s, his body was still much hardier than a normal person’s, allowing him to escape the debris shower with little more than superficial grazes. Still, the fact that they had managed to damage him at all was concern enough for him to leap to the right — only to immediately blast the ground with lightning to launch himself backwards just in time to escape being squashed by one of the metal dragon’s hands. If only I had my armor! he thought irately. Unfortunately, against both an Electrotechnic and a Metallitechnic, armor would do more harm than help… but without it, I can only take so much punishment. Damn Black Suns…!

Across the cavern, Mark leaped through the air, using the strength in his legs to bound over large swaths of ground while looking down from above. The gold that covered the cavern floor appeared in massive lumps, almost like small hills, and were accompanied by a number of small nooks and crannies that could only be investigated up close. After pulverizing one mound of gold with his fist and searching his immediate surroundings, Mark released an impatient sigh; he didn’t have much time left before his Overdrive expired. I haven’t taken quite as much damage as I thought I would… he mused as he leaped through the air again, careful to keep his distance from Mote and the metallic dragon. But the forces from that virtual railgun were definitely enough to trigger my Overdrive’s coma side-effect. I shouldn’t be out for long, but before that happens…! As Mark landed on the ground once more, he threw his fist into it, obliterating the mound of gold and sending metallic shards flying through the air. The enemy Chaotics were no where to be seen, however; annoyed, Mark began to move on, only for the shards of gold to suddenly freeze mid-air. Immediately, Mark braced himself for an incoming attack — which manifested a second later as a fierce lighting strike, channeled through the metal shards in the air. …Well, now I know that they can see me, Mark thought to himself as he lowered his arms, his body unscathed. Looks like I’m close…!

As Mark leaped into the air again to get a better look at his surroundings, a bright flash of light, followed swiftly by deafening thunder, filled the cavern. The metal dragon was sent reeling by the incredible lightning strike Mote had just hit it with; Mote immediately followed by summoning his hammer and lunging forward to bring its head down on the dragon’s foot, only to miss as the dragon drew back. It then slammed its two forelegs down on top of Mote, who saw the attack coming and managed to dodge out of the way just in time, allowing the dragon’s arm to rocket past within an inch of his face. Mote then slapped the dragon with his hand, imparting a massive electrical charge to repel its arm and knock it off-balance, which the Electrotechnic then took advantage of to grasp his hammer and swing upwards at the dragon’s undercarriage. Right as the weapon connected, he released another electric blast, this time forcing such a fierce current into the metal beast that sparks wreathed its entire body, and stray blasts of lightning jumped from its tail and head to the surrounding cavern walls.

While the beast seemed momentarily stunned by Mote’s attack, he eventually noticed its movements beginning to overcome his high-voltage currents. Slowly, but surely, its wings began to beat, generating incredible gusts of wind that knocked Mote off of his feet. Immediately, the dragon made to grab him, only to miss by a hair as he managed to roll out of the way at the last second. By the time he was able to jump back to his feet, however, the dragon had ascended into the air, no longer bound to the rocky golden cavern flooring. This damn creature… Mote scowled as he glared up at it. It’s a purely metal construct that’s being controlled by a Metallitechnic… the only way to make it stop moving for good is to utterly obliterate it. As an Electrotechnic, though, there’s no way I’m obliterating THIS much metal… gah, what a horrendous match-up! Where the hell is Kate when you need her?!

Mote then snapped himself out of his thoughts as the dragon’s maw opened, spewing forth a rapid-fire stream of metal shards. He quickly altered his body’s magnetic charge to repel himself from the ground and launch across the cavern, narrowly evading the dragon’s attack. It slowly turned toward him, firing metal shards like a machine gun the entire time as Mote continued to magnetically leap out of harm’s way, all while occasionally firing off a lightning strike to try and stun the giant metal puppet — even if only for a moment.

As repeated flashes of light and the sounds of high-speed metal hitting metal filled the cavern, Mark took advantage of the distracting cacophony to further his search for the enemy Chaotics. With powerful swings of his massive green and silver halberd, he was able to rapidly and effortlessly cleave a path through all of the gold mounds surrounding him — and the sounds he made from doing so were masked by the loud and flashy exchanges between Mote and the dragon. Only a minute or so left, at this point…! Mark thought, his face scrounging up in frustration as he continued flattening the terrain in a large area around him. Given that he had just been attacked, he knew that his opponents had to be nearby; all that remained was to reveal them.

As he swung his halberd once more, cleaving through a mound of metal and sending debris flying in every direction, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. Quickly, Mark darted his eyes to and fro, taking stock of his immediate surroundings as the metal debris around him froze in the air — just as they had barely a minute earlier. Here it comes! From where?!… Mark braced for the incoming lightning strike, and at the moment that it hit him, he spun around, taking advantage of his incredible durability to simply ignore the blast and search the cavern behind him — and right as he did, he caught sight of movement in the corner of his eye.

Without wasting a beat, he leaped in the direction of the movement, halberd in hand and swinging down overhead without any thought as to what he might have seen. In one, clean motion, he hacked through a particularly large column of gold, sending it flying off to the side — and revealing the Black Suns Electrotechnic, hiding in a small hole that had clearly been created recently and on the spot. The Electrotechnic quickly attempted to flee, blasting Mark with lightning while at the same moment diving to the side. Against any other opponent, the tactic would have worked; the blast was bright and powerful enough to stun any normal Chaotic. But in his current state of heightened durability, the electric blast was little more than an annoyance to Mark, who remained focused on the Electrotechnic as he intercepted their dive with the blade edge his halberd. Just as he did, he noticed that they weren’t currently wearing their powered armor — which allowed his halberd to slice cleanly through them, with no more effort than swinging a blade through empty air.

No armor? …They must have dropped it, so that Mote couldn’t use it to detect them… Mark mused, eying the now-deceased Chaotic as the two halves of their body collapsed to the ground. With a grimace, he quickly leaped away from the scene, only to feel his head throb mid-leap. “Ah… damn…!” he muttered, clutching at his head as his vision began to blur. Without wasting energy to turn toward the main fight in the cavern, he shouted out, “Mote! I got… one! The rest is… up to you…!”

“What—? Ah!” Mote shifted his attention from the metal dragon just in time to spot Mark collapse to the ground off to the side of the cavern. Damn. Mark’s down for the count. But if he got one of them, then—! His thoughts were interrupted as the dragon lunged forward through the air, attempting again to grab him off of the ground. Mote dodged, as he had the last time — but the dragon’s hand anticipated his dodge and snatched him up into the air. As its metallic fingers pressed down on him, Mote retaliated by generating a massive blast of lightning, blowing off two of the fingers and knocking away the remaining ones to give him enough room to drop back to the ground. He immediately magnetically launched himself across the cavern again, keeping an eye on the metal beast the entire time. The dragon is still moving, so the Metallitechnic must still be alive. That means Mark got the Electrotechnic. Which also means that there shouldn’t be any further interference in the electric fields!

Mote spent a split second to probe the electrical fields around him before focusing on dodging the dragon’s attacks again. Upon doing so, he realized that the electromagnetic fields in the cavern were incredibly complicated, due to the massive amounts of conductive material in the form of gold — as well as the dragon itself. Finding the Metallitechnic would require a heavy amount of focus, which was difficult to achieve under the metal dragon’s constant attacks. “Shit…” Mote muttered under his breath as he launched himself through the air and out of grabbing range of the dragon, only for it to beat its massive wings and bear down on him once more. Maybe I should retreat to the cave at the cavern entrance. The dragon won’t be able to follow me there. But then, I’d be leaving Mark behind… even comatose, he SHOULD be durable enough that it doesn’t matter, but… damn it—!

“Overdrive: CRITICAL OVERLOAD!!”

As soon as the words reached his ears, Mote shifted focus. Instead of simply dodging the dragon’s attacks, he immediately altered the magnetic charge of both himself and the dragon to launch himself clear across the cavern, where he slammed painfully into the far wall — just as a truly massive explosion detonated against the dragon’s side, obliterating a wing and an arm, and tearing off the leg on the same side. The thunderous roar of the explosion eclipsed any of the thunder Mote had incidentally generated thoughout the day, and he grimaced as the pressure wave swept across his body and made his head throb. Nevertheless, he forced the pain out of mind and braced himself for another blow, just as a second explosion lit up the cavern and utterly destroyed what remained of the large metal creature.

“Al-fucking-RIGHT!!” Kate whooped, her voice echoing across the entire cavern from her position right at its entrance. She then glanced down to the side, eying Mote as she put down her rocket launcher and grinned. “Damn good thing you couldn’t handle this on your own, huh? Or I wouldn’t’ve had a chance to really let fucking loose!”

“It isn’t over,” Mote snapped, cautiously watching the metal pieces that had once formed the dragon as they began lifting into the air again. “That dragon wasn’t the main threat. We still need to find the Metallitechnic—!”

“Damn… you all really are powerful, huh?”

Mote and Kate’s attention both snapped to the back of the cavern, where the voice of a man originated. As they looked, all of the metal debris from the dragon zipped over to the back of the cavern and began to chaotically swirl through the air, forming a virtual mutli-layered ball of sharp metal. And in the center of the ball, standing atop a levitating shard of metal, appeared a man dressed in the same black, silver, and navy blue uniform that all of the other enemy Chaotics had been wearing.

Without sparing a single word, Kate snapped her rocket launcher to the ready and fired once more. Before the rocket had passed even halfway across the cavern, however, a small piece of metal debris zipped out of the whirling ball and intercepted it, causing the rocket to detonate early.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to resort to this…” the man in the middle of the metal whirlwind commented, “but if I want to get out of here alive, it looks like I’m going to have to risk my life after all.”

“Tch…!” Mote stiffened as he glared up at the levitating Metallitechnic. The makeshift metal shield that the Chaotic had formed around himself was far from solid, but the metal pieces moved quickly enough that they were exceptionally difficult to individually target. They were numerous and layered enough that they could inevitably intercept any explosive that Kate lobbed their way, and their inherently conductive nature meant that it would be difficult for Mote to guide a lightning strike to the center of the whirlwind. And while he’s still conscious, Kate and I can’t risk donning armor… Mote mused, quickly going over all of his options in his head. Without armor, we can’t get too close — those metal shards are moving fast enough that they might be able to injure even us. Shit… these damn Black Suns…!

“…No words, huh?” the Metallictechnic commented after a prolonged moment of silence. “Well, whatever. I was always told I talk too much on the battlefield, so let’s just get this over with. Overdrive:—!”

Mote quickly moved to launch himself back toward the cavern entrance. He had no idea what the Metallitechnic’s Overdrive was, and many Overdrives had explosive effects on activation — effects that Mote had no desire to stand around for. But just before his feet left the ground, just as the Black Suns Chaotic extended his right hand forward… a massive hole suddenly appeared in his chest, his body thrown backwards with violent force. The metal whirlwind collapsed immediately, the constituent debris flying every which way and dinging off of the cavern’s rocky walls, all while the Chaotic’s body fell to the ground like a lifeless doll.

In the silence that suddenly reigned, Mote found himself staring at the now-empty back half of the cavern, dumbfounded. He then shifted his attention back to the cavern entrance, where he noticed Kate was looking behind herself, farther back into the caves.

“Heh… guess I was needed here after all, huh?”

“Captain…!” Mote exclaimed, his tense expression finally relaxing as Captain Travis strolled out into the cavern, holding his sniper rifle casually against his shoulder.

“Oh, piss off, we totally could’ve handled this ourselves…” Kate muttered. “But… I guess I have seen worse shots…”

“Praise enough for me,” Travis remarked, and then gripped his rifle again as he looked down at Mote. “Was that the last one?”

“Let me check…” Mote responded, closing his eyes and taking a moment to properly focus on the electromagnetic fields within the cavern. Now that he was no longer under constant assault, he was able to comprehensively scan the entire area, and soon come to a conclusion. “…We’re the only ones left in here.”

“Alright!” Travis glanced between Kate and Mote, a relieved smile crossing his face. “Well, then… looks like our mission here is finally over! Let’s head back.”

“Aw, man… I just fucking got here, too…” Kate muttered. With an annoyed sigh, she shouldered her rocket launcher and turned to leave the cavern.

While she did, Mote quickly launched himself to Mark’s unconscious body and hefted him up. Damn, he’s heavy… Mote thought bitterly, taking several moments to adjust the weight of Mark’s massive body before looking back at the cavern entrance. As he did so, a wave of unease crashed over him — or rather, he realized that he had been feeling latent unease in the back of his mind ever since he arrived in the cavern; it was only now that the fighting was over that he recognized it. Cautiously, he swept his attention across the large space… only to find little else other than what he already knew to exist. A massive cavern, filled with mounds of gold. …But why does this feel… familiar…?

“Hey, Mote! You dumbass! Let’s get the fuck outta here!”

“Watch your attitude,” Mote snapped in reply. Nonetheless, after taking one final look at the cavern, he launched himself and Mark back to the entrance and began jogging after Kate and Captain Travis. Any further investigations of the caverns and caves of Sunova could wait for later — for now, the planet was once again under SERRCom’s control.

---

*

The Next Day

“Oof… headin’ back already, huh?”

“What’s the matter, Captain?” Major Hackett responded as she passed Captain Travis a cheeky smirk. “Itching for a fight just that much?”

“Hardly,” Travis replied, shaking his head with exasperation. He glanced to his left, and then upward; the Interstellar Gate of Sunova stood before him, mounted on a small platform on the ground outside of Sunova’s Gatefort. All around him were the other members of CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir: Colonel Saito, standing off to the side as he conferred with a nearby soldier; Researcher MacTavish, nervously fidgeting as she held her travel bag with both of her hands in front of her; and Mote, Kate, and Danielle, who were all in the middle of a conversation with Mark, who had awoken from his short coma just last night.

Upon taking all of this in, Travis released a forlorn sigh. “…It’s kind of embarassing to say,” he commented as he turned to face Hackett and MacTavish both, “but I’ve missed all of y’all over the past month or so. It was nice to work together again, even if the mission itself was, uh… less than ideal.”

“Y-yeah…” MacTavish nodded timidly. “It was, um… n-nice to see you, too…”

“Heh.” Travis adopted an amused smile, and reached over to ruffle the Researcher’s hair. She reflexively flinched away as he did, but then allowed him to continue as she tried to suppress a smile. “Too bad we didn’t get to spend some proper time together,” the Captain remarked. “From the moment Mark and I arrived, everything was about the mission. And now, just a day later, we’re already leaving! This pace is nuts!”

“Well, that’s Shepherd for you,” Hackett said. “Moving quickly and forcefully is kind of his thing, for better or for worse.”

“I kind of hate to say it, but it was certainly for the better, this time.”

“Oh, Colonel.” Travis offered Saito a nod as the latter approached the group. “What were you talkin’ about, there? Anything interesting?”

“That? No, not really,” Saito replied, briefly glancing back at the retreating soldier who he had just been speaking with. “Just taking care of some final small things before we left.”

“Well, sir, now that it’s all over,” Hackett spoke up, “how’d you like commanding an entire assault force?”

“Don’t make it sound like more than it was, Major,” Saito countered. “There were only 52 members of the assault force, and 30 of that number were infantry — who weren’t able to materially contribute to the main assault.”

“It’s still a whole operation, though,” Travis pointed out. “C’mon, Colonel, you have to feel at least a little proud. I mean, we beat the Black Suns!”

“Actually, about that…” Saito looked left and right, as if checking to see if anyone was listening in on his conversation. While doing so, his gaze lingered for just a second on the Eximius Vir, who were still chatting amongst themselves a little off to the side; during that brief second, however, the Colonel’s eyes locked with Mote’s.

“Do you need something, sir?” the Electrotechnic questioned, causing the other three Chaotics to look to the Colonel as well.

“Actually… yes.” Saito motioned the four over. “What I’m about to say concerns us all.”

“Well that sounds like a pain in the ass,” Kate remarked, her arms crossed.

“Yeah, just a little ominous…” Travis commented.

“Relax. It’s just what we’ve learned about the force we fought yesterday,” Saito replied.

“’The force’, sir?” Hackett echoed, a wary frown drawing across her face. “…Does that mean what I think it does?”

“Yep.” The Colonel nodded and sighed before continuing, “the group we fought… wasn’t actually Black Suns.”

“Oh, bullshit!” Kate exclaimed.

“They were certainly skilled…” Mark said. “I thought that skill was due to them being with the Suns, but…”

“A-and their computer protocols, um, m-matched the B-Black Suns…” MacTavish muttered.

“Well, hold on, now,” Saito interjected. “All indications suggest that the outpost was, at some point, affiliated with the Black Suns. Not only was all of their equipment Suns-manufactured, but as you mentioned, MacTavish, their computers and data use Black Suns protocols, as well. Not to mention the mech pilots that the Frigates were able to capture.”

“A rogue force, then, huh?” Travis commented.

“And that’s just as bullshit as I said,” Kate insisted. “Are we really gonna believe that?!”

“We don’t have any choice,” Saito countered. “All official channels say that the group on Sunova had gone rogue. We contacted the main Black Suns org, and they denied all involvement; the group themselves are denying ties to the Suns; even all of the data on their computers says that they haven’t been in contact with a Black Suns command for over a year, now. We can think otherwise all we like, but it isn’t an actionable opinion, or even one supported by the facts as we know them at this time.”

“How bothersome…” Mote muttered.

“Isn’t this just standard black ops bullshit? C’mon!” Kate scowled. “There has to be something we can do! What if the Black Suns try this shit again?!”

“Hopefully, we’ve just proved that it would be more trouble than it’s worth,” the Colonel replied. “Think about it this way: regardless of whether or not this rogue group was directly employed by the Black Suns to go to Sunova, the fact is that they still had Black Suns equipment and training — and we beat them. The Black Suns know now that we’re not just willing to call their bluffs, we’re also able to call their bluffs. Assuming that this all is a bluff — which, officially, it isn’t.”

“Soooo…” Danielle passed Saito a confused look. “…We weren’t actually fighting the Black Suns?”

“Officially? No, we weren’t.” The Colonel then swept his gaze over the rest of the group. “And when we talk about Operation New Dawn in the future, you’ll be expected to say that we fought a rogue group, not the actual Black Suns.”

“And now we’re kowtowing to a fucking PMC…” Kate muttered.

“Yes, this all sounds…” Mote frowned as he paused to find the words he wanted to say. “…Did Commander Shepherd tell you all this?”

“Not directly, but yes.”

“Oh— sir!” Mote practically jumped as he whirled around, spotting Commander Shepherd approaching across the grounds. The Electrotechnic offered a hasty salute. “Apologies, sir. I didn’t mean to imply anything when I said—“

“It’s fine, Lieutenant, it’s fine,” Shepherd assured, coming to a stop next to the group. He then looked over at Saito. “I take it you’ve told them the situation, Colonel?”

“Yes, sir,” Saito replied, though his posture had grown somewhat stiff.

“Right. Well.” A pensive look crossed the Commander’s face before he turned to look at Mote again. “As you’ve heard, the official story is that SERRCom conducted an operation to expel a rogue group of Chaotics from our territory.”

“Are you… really fine with that, sir?” Mote questioned.

“Mote…” Hackett muttered warningly, only for Shepherd to wave her off.

“It’s fine, Major,” he insisted. “I’m the one who gave the Eximius Vir perpetual freedom to speak freely in front of me. And besides…” Shepherd looked back to Mote, a dangerous smile forming on his features. “I did say that was only the ‘official’ story. Don’t underestimate SERRCom, Lieutenant. The ETAA is already looking into the veracity of the Black Suns’ claims, and I’m prepared for the ground forces to conduct another operation like this in the future. Though, I must say…” The Commander swept his gaze across the entire group, his smile softening into one of fatherly pride. “CSF-1, Eximius Vir, you all have done a commendable job here. With how soundly we defeated the ‘rogue Chaotics’, I’m quite sure that similar groups will think twice before trying this again.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Saito replied.

“Your contributions alone were invaluable, Colonel,” Shepherd remarked. “Against such an elite enemy force, the plan you came up with was flawless. Using CENT generators like anti-Chaotic chaff and beaming in as close as possible to negate all of the enemy’s other advantages… it was a bold strategy, Colonel, and one that paid off. Even after that sniper mech revealed itself.”

“Thank you again, Commander, but I’m not sure this level of praise is warranted. We still had losses…”

“Yes… the pilots of the destroyed Halberd and Arbalest mechs…” Shepherd paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing, “it certainly is a tragedy, to have lost lives on a mission. No one is ever pleased to see that. However, considering the force you were up against, the fact that they had Black Suns equipment and training, and that many of them were Chaotics — ultimately, Colonel, the fact that you pulled out a victory with a mere two casualties is nothing short of impressive.”

Saito forced a small smile in response. “If you say so, sir.”

“You should take more pride in your work, Colonel — I think you’d make an excellent conventional commander. The way you managed to locate the outpost’s beam jammer and destroy it so quickly was a linchpin of the whole op, as well. Did you know? Three of the captured mech pilots were Electrotechnics.”

“…I see.” Mote nodded in understanding. “They were constantly reinforcing their mechs’ shields, weren’t they?”

“That they were,” Shepherd remarked. “We never would have won a firefight with them. Unconventional solutions were the only path to victory, and Colonel Saito found one.”

“Maybe we just need to teach mixed tactics, more,” Captain Travis suggested, only to immediately stiffen. “Uh, sorry if that was out of line, sir.”

A bitter chuckle escaped Shepherd’s throat. “No, no… you do have a point, Captain,” the Commander admitted. “There’s a lot of theory behind how our beaming tech can help out in various planetside situations, but…” A forced smile appeared on his face. “Let’s just say that SERRCom hasn’t had many opportunities to test those theories.”

“That just means that we aren’t getting into many fights, right?” Danielle replied innocently. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“Heh… maybe so, Lieutenant. Maybe so…” Shepherd then glanced down at his watch before looking up at the Interstellar Gate. “Well, CSF-1, Eximius Vir, I believe it’s about time for your window back to Earth.” He offered the group a salute. “I must say, it was a pleasure working with you all, and getting to see what you all can do. If a similar… ‘rogue element’ situation pops up again, I’d like nothing more than to enlist your help.”

“Understood, Commander,” Saito replied as he returned the salute.

Mote quickly followed suit. “We’d be more than happy to assist, sir,” he declared. “I, for one, won’t stand for challenges to SERRCom’s sovereignty.”

“And neither will I,” the Commander replied with a smile. “Now, I have a Gatefort to get properly running again. Have fun on Earth, all.”

The group remained silent as Shepherd turned and left, walking confidently across the grounds and then disappearing into one of the large tents setup just outside of the old Gatefort. It was Captain Travis who eventually broke the silence as he glanced at everyone else.

“Well?” he questioned, “we goin’ yet?”

“Yes…” Saito muttered, his gaze lingering on the tent Shepherd had entered. He then turned to approach the Interstellar Gate. “Let’s get out of here… and back to Earth.”