As the sun attempts to show its face, Lux lazily climbs from the bed. Dragging his feet two steps forward, he cocks his head back in confusion when he finds Sakuro wide awake. She's kneeled down in a polite position on the surface of the mat, a smile spread across her face as she glances over at Lux. "Good morning, Brother."

"Yo."

Not even wanting to know why she's up at the crack of dawn, he simply stretches his arms out at the same time he opens his mouth to yawn. Before putting his clothes on, Lux glances back at his messy bed. After reminding himself of the progress he's made, he makes his way over to Sakuro. Before he looks down at her, he gazes out the window towards the gray morning skies, as well as the light rain intruding the comfort of the dome.

"What are you doin' up so early?"

"I have decided to get up early so that I may greet you when you awaken."

"Uh-huh...you do you then."

"I appreciate your patience with me. I have also decided to sleep in here. I hope I am not overstepping my bounds."

"I told you before you do what you want. Ain't no bounds. Except doing something stupid and eating food I get for myself. You touch my food and you're losing your jaw."

"I understand. I will not touch your food. If I may?"

"Go ahead."

"Your room could use a bit more...personality."

"Hell is wrong with it now?"

"It does not scream or look like your room. There is only...mess."

"'Ight, you got a better idea?"

"Buying accessories and furniture for your room may help. I will come with you if you'd like."

"Shoppin' is a headache, so you're for sure coming with me."

"I will be happy to accompany you," she contentedly repeats again.

"Ain't sayin' I'm going today. I'll tell you when, though."

"I understand, Brother."

Done speaking about it, he made his way downstairs. The only person he sees as he enters the main area is Jade, who seems like she's making herself breakfast in the kitchen. "Yo," Lux greets her, yawning once again.

"Morning."

The counter has fruits and a few vegetables scattered in front of her. She picks up a banana, unpeels it, and cuts it into small pieces before tossing them into a smoothie machine. Lux walks up to the counter and glances across it before switching his sights to Jade.

"Hell is all this?"

"Tora showed me what she puts in her smoothies before she works. Thought I'd try some myself. I'm giving Sakuro some too."

The thought instantly brings out his amusement in the form of a chuckle. Two years he's known Jade, and although seeing her in the kitchen is somewhat attractive to him, he never thought he'd see this day. A day where Jade is making her own breakfast with her own resources, rather than slaving in the Silver Cloud kitchen. "What are you laughing about?" She asks, tossing a sliced banana into the premade smoothie.

"Nothin', nothin'. You enjoy your delicious smoothie," he responds, deciding to express sarcasm as a substitute for his initial feelings.

"And you can go fuck yourself."

"I've got you for that."

"You irritate the hell out of me," Jade states the obvious, rolling her eyes in annoyance as the reason for her annoyance stalks off towards the front door. Once Lux outside, he notices that the light drizzle from before is now an unrelenting downpour from the bleak skies above.

To Lux's confusion, the dome's glass roof appeared to be lower, which seemed to be the reason why there's even rain inside Atlacall once he puts two and two together.

Not at all bothered by the weather however, he still aimlessly travels around, helping a few Abnormals with their troubles along the way. Entering the north district, Lux makes his way towards the Ethereal HQ entrance squeezing on their crowded elevator to the map room. After stepping out, he walks to its center and approaches Dawson, who gives him a greeting. "Halcyon."

"Sup, Dawson."

"We've still got work to do so come to me if you have any questions about anything in terms of the organization of our forces."

"I won't."

"Figured you'd say that," Dawson shrugged as Lux's attitude was now well-known amongst those he routinely encountered.

"Let me see that mission list," he stretched his hand out towards the pile in Dawson's hand.

"Alright," Dawson says with a nod, handing Lux a stack of clipped paper.

"...What's this shit about?" Lux quizzed when he set his sights onto one of the detailed paragraphs at the bottom of the list. Although it's subtle, he can see the instant annoyance plastered all over Dawson's face.

"Hm. Zelterra will help you understand more. Let's go and talk to her."

"I'll call the others and tell 'em about this."

Pulling his blackcell out, he dials Jade, Klaus and Sakuro. They meet up in the map room, then take the elevator to Tora's workstation along with Dawson. As they step out, they hear a loud resonation of music. They see and hear Tora singing and dancing wildly to the upbeat music that's playing.

Jade snickers to herself while Klaus shakes his head with the beat, joined by Sakuro who quietly follows along with the song in Japanese. Dawson quietly creeps up on Tora, clearing his throat loudly so that she knows she's not alone in the room.

"Ahem!"

"WAAAAAAAH...!" Tora screams, instantly turning around to slap Dawson with sheets of paper in her startled state.

"Gooooddamm!" Klaus shouts.

"Ah, shit," Lux adds with a chuckle. Jade does the same, putting in her own two cents.

"Here we go."

"How much are funerals here?" Sakuro asks, keeping a straight face.

"Holy ham...! I am so sorry, Commander!" Tora leaked out an apologetically, reaching her hands toward her speaker to lower the volume. "Uh, um...are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it," he offers, shaking it off.

The group then steps up to surround Tora, now standing beside Dawson. Lux glances over at the Ethereal Commander as he chuckles, hoping he gets to see him when he's angered over a certain matter. "I wanna see what happens when Dawson is pissed off. We've been sparring and I still haven't gotten him to try and kill me."

"Think he'll actually get to that point to do that to one of us? I don't see it. ...Got twenty saying he'll lose his shit to bad music," Jade exclaims, raising her left hand to indicate the beginning of a bet.

"Put another twenty down on that," Lux replies, his smile glued to his lips due to his anticipation. Content with looking straight forward, Sakuro shakes her head as she adds in her opinion.

"I am more surprised none of you are annoyed by most of the things we hear and see."

"You heard it here first, folks!" Klaus drives the tone of the conversation left for just a moment, changing the pitch of his voice to mimic an older man. "Lux Halcyon supports extreme violence! What are the odds of that, Johnny?! And here we thought he was supposed to be our president!"

"Can't be me without it."

"I'd like us all to focus here," Dawson finally cuts in. After fixing his collar, he sets his sights on his specialist. "Zelterra, Halcyon and I read your report. It claims you've intercepted an important message? This had better not be a joke."

"A joke? Huh? Um, ahem! Right." Tora places the papers in her hand on her desk. She excitedly slumps into her chair before beginning to type on her laptop. As she does, she giggles enthusiastically, excited to tell the others what she's found.

"Two weeks ago, I intercepted an encrypted message. It had a bunch of symbols and numerical sequences I've never seen before. Well, today, I finally decrypted it! And get this. It was in a completely different language! There were no records of this language anywhere in Einian history. And yes, before anyone asks, I triple checked. I spent some more time on this, creating a program to help translate the language. It's a distress call or signal, whatever you wanna call it. Ladies and gents, I think I have found us an extraterrestrial!"

"I knew it. I knew it, I knew it!" Klaus places his right hand over his mouth as if something deadly has invaded the air. "They're gonna take our bodies, then I won't know friend from foe!"

"Oh, be quiet," Jade comments, her words directly targeting Klaus. "Nothing is going to take our bodies."

"That's what they want you to think...until, BAZING!!! You're dead! Now they got your body."

"No one is taking my body. They're dyin' first," Lux pronounces, unconsciously puffing his chest up. With her left hand, Sakuro tenderly pets Ichigo. She lifts her head, glancing at the ceiling while she's momentarily swimming in her thoughts.

"You speak of the green or gray creatures from space? I wonder what color their blood is..."

"Hm. Did you get a location on the signal?" Dawson asks, consciously ignoring the talk of aliens.

"Sure did! Southwest coast of Alimoor. I could give you the coordinates."

"...Alright, look. I don't believe in this...alien mess. But if this signal caught your attention, then there's most likely something of use we can find. So let's get to it before anyone else does. And if someone is already there, you all know what to do. You'll be well compensated like always."

"To the Dawson Mobile!" Klaus thoughtlessly shouts, raising his finger over his head as if it were a banner.

"Oh, my god..." Jade's attitude is mixed with the base of irritation and the acid of amusement.

"Don't ever say that shit again, Klaus," Lux says, shaking his head from second hand embarrassment. One by one, Sakuro sends her companions a puzzled look.

"What is this Dawson Mobile?"

"You sure know how to pick them, sir..." Dawson mutters, his mind in complete exhaustion as he walks off to leave the workstation. After he takes his leave, the group ride the elevator down to the submarine port before one by one entering their designated sub to travel towards the coordinates Tora gave them.

After an hour's ride, the submarine stop's directly in front of an extensive, uninhabited beach. Though the rain seems to have ceased, the sky is still riddled with dark gray clouds. "Hello? Can you guys hear me?"

"Unfortunately," Lux answers. "She asks that question every time."

"Yeah. We can hear you, Tora," Jade says, replacing Lux's aggravated tone.

"Great! So, the signal is coming from somewhere past the forest in front of you."

The group look in front of them, and see a dense palm tree forest. In the distance, is a trail of smoke running into the air from the center of the forest. Jade glances to her left and sees AAF tanks and armored cars.

"We aren't the only ones looking for whatever is in there."

"Best find whatever it is before they do and kill 'em while we're at it," Lux asserts, with Klaus nodding his head twice in agreement.

"It's a win-win for everyone! Well, except them."

"Alrighty! Good luck in there, guys! I'll tell ya when you're gettin' closer to the signal! Now go find us an alien! I also don't want Dawson to think I'm a whack job..."

"I feel it's too late for that," Sakuro declares, stepping into the conversation. Lux lets out a laugh, striking his friend's left arm with the back of his hand.

"Was about to say the same shit."

"I never had a thought in my life that somebody was gonna say 'find us a potential alien'," Jade expresses out loud.

"That's because they've already been probed," Klaus responds. "They all tryna lead us into a probing machine."

"Why did I even say anything?" She responds with an exasperated sigh, instantly regretting making a comment about aliens. "Let's move."

With Jade first striding forward, the others follow behind entering the palm tree forest. This in and of itself forest itself is spacious, there's a wide gap between all of the palm trees. The ground is a mixture between sand and grass.

One can still see the sky above as the only thing that would be covering their sight is large leaves attached to the long branches. The ground glance around to investigate the area. After a moment, Jade spots tire tracks going north. "Here. Tire tracks," she points at what she's discovered.

"Think they already found whatever's out here?" Lux asks, stepping into view.

"D'oh, I hope not. I'm probably gonna be fired if I come up with nothing."

"Wow, that would really suck, huh?"

"Hey! I'm being serious!"

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon. I'm sick of standing around."

The group explores the grove in search for the source of the signal. They find thick, wooden scraps of items, and sand faced cash. As they continue on, they walk into an open area, and Ichi hears something approaching, causing his ears to twitch.

"What is it, Ichigo?" Sakuro wants to know.

It's not long before the group hears the roaring sound of vehicles towards their right. Suddenly, multiple black jeeps rapidly appear from the same direction crashing to a halt causing sand to fly everywhere. Federation soldiers hop out, aiming their firearms at the group as they assume their fighting stances.

"Abnormals!" One soldier shouts to alert his comrades. Two more speak their mind, not hesitating to combat their enemies.

"We knew they'd be here!"

"Open fire!"

Lux dashes forward, ignoring the searing pain of the bullets as he rams any soldier in his way upward. Jade ascends into the air protecting Sakuro and Klaus from the hail of thick layered shells by conjuring a purple energy barrier around them. Afterwards, she flings her chains downward.

Grabbing at least four soldiers with shock batons, she then tosses them a sufficient distance away after cutting them with her sickle to keep them from being a nuisance in combat. Klaus hastily zips around a small crowd of armed soldiers, shocking each of them in place with a tap of his left hand. When he's a short distance away, he spins from the momentum, snapping his fingers when he comes to a halt.

The electricity from Klaus' love taps all congregate to a center space, pulling the soldiers along with it. Sakuro shuts her eyes in concentration as she runs forward and in swift succession unleashes multiple lacerating cuts onto the small crowd of shocked soldiers, ending with a lunging horizontal slash.

Lux deals with the soldiers remaining. Each leaping punch is followed up by an erupting flash of scorching energy, after he takes yet another soldier out, he pivots around kicking a tree down. He grips the widened length of the tree, and begins to viscously spin, creating a brutal force of wind that harms whatever is around it.

He tosses the tree upwards before hopping above it. He flips while stalling in air, then with a descending fist strike, sends the tree crashing into the ground, creating a widespread wave of fire and charred wood. The area seems clear from Jade's point of view. After descending to the ground, she looks back towards the others to see if there are any injuries amongst them.

"Is everyone okay?"

"I think my leg is broken! Help meeeeee!" Klaus yells loudly in pain, he flops to the ground, beginning to shake back and forth as he grips his leg.

"He looks ridiculous," Sakuro states, keeping her usual deadpan look.

"Yeah, we're good," Lux begins, answering Jade's concerns. "What I want to know is how the hell they knew we were here."

"I'm not exactly sure. They're probably after whatever's here too. Most likely going on patrols and attacking whoever is on site."

"Makes sense," Jade replies, crossing her arms. Lux simply chuckles as he tosses a rifle a fair distance where he's standing.

"Heh, if that's the case, then I want them to come to us. Gonna make it easier."

"Will we keep going, then?" Sakuro asks.

"Yeah, let's hurry this shit up."

The group continues to explore Linden in search of this mysterious source. They encounter and kill Federation soldiers who are patrolling through hard fought battles, as well as finding rare materials. After a while, Tora suddenly gasps, quickly informing the group of their status.

"The signal is getting stronger! Eeee! You're getting closer!"

"'Ey, stop yelling up there," Lux says with a near growl. "We can hear you, remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

The closer the group gets to the signal, the more they start to hear the sound of gunfire, explosions, and Federation soldiers yelling orders amongst each other.

"The hell is happenin' here?" Lux asks. He can tell there's more going on than one would assume. Jade reinforces his suspicions by bringing up another question.

"Who else is here?"

"Other Abnormals, maybe?" Sakuro says, propping up a third piece into the inquiry.

"There's no way, I'm not getting any other energy readings other than the five of yours."

"Five? There's four of us and Ichigo, Tora," Jade clarifies. When everyone hears a gasp echo in their heads, followed by a one word wonder, both Sakuro and Lux shake their heads in disappointment.

"Wha?!"

"Is she always this slow?"

"Yeah. Especially in the morning."

"They're here among us...I knew Jade was an imposter," Klaus begins. He points his fingers towards Jade's crotch, his eyes widened at the thought of what could go on under her clothes. "Too much going on down there!"

"First of all, shut up," Jade retorts, waving her friend's finger away. "Second, I'm not an imposter."

"That's always a betrayer's first reaction! Count Gerald, arrest this vile woman!"

"Bet that other readin' is what's fuckin' up those blue skins," Lux mentions, rerouting the conversation back to its original point.

"This could be it! Hurry up and move your behinds!"

The group continues to move forward, following the sounds of the fighting. They finally get to the source of all the noise. It's an extensive clearing mostly consistent with sand with bits of grass. The Federation soldiers seem to be attacking a strange looking structure attempting to get inside. Enormous mechanical robots with black and yellow lining are protecting the structure, slowing down any advance from their invaders.

"Alright. I'm gonna ask again. What the hell is going on here?" Lux leads the way into the clearing, wasting no time to ask what's on everyone's mind.

"Sweet apples in a picnic basket, what are those things?!"

A large pale man with long black hair wearing unique dark blue armor is barking orders at the men while he's fighting the robots with an odd looking gunblade. "Fight them back! They're just some goddamn robots!"

"Sir, we can't get in! He's holding our forces back!" One of his soldiers returns, running back up to the target to get a better shot.

"Stop giving me excuses! It's just one man. What am I training you all for?"

The man glances back, quickly devising a plan when he sees the group a fair distance away from him. By the man's command, all the Federation units in the area cease their engagements, and follow him into the density of the forest. "All units! Tactical retreat! We'll let these new guests do the work for us."

"Bastards are runnin' away," Lux says in a frustrated growl as the group rush forward to follow after the AAF forces. Before they can close in on them, they're immediately stopped when the strange black and yellow robots jump in front of them. "The hell?!"

"ENERGY LEVELS AT MAXIMUM! NEW THREAT DETECTED! ACTIVATING ALL ADVANCED COMBAT PROTOCOLS!"

"They've set their sights on us," Sakuro exclaims, readying Ichigo for this inescapable conflict.

"Oh, boy..."

"They're gonna take us with their homing beams!!" Klaus lets his words out in a hysterical scream. Before he can continue on, Jade immediately interjects, tossing a small pebble at the back of his head. "Ow!"

"Can we stop with the alien talk already?!"

The strange robots suddenly change form. They achieve a more humanoid manner before they pull out wide beam blades from their backs. The group then assume their fighting stances as the robots surround them. To the group's confusion, there are only four robots that are surrounding them, so one would only assume the Federation would have no problem tearing them down. Everyone enters into their own individual battles with each of the robots. Lux carelessly leaps forward at one of them.

Once he has a good grip, he begins to violently pound and punch at its armor. Jade bursts backwards into the air to avoid the rapid fire of missiles toward her. As she's flying backwards, she flings spheres of energy at the artillery, forcing them to explode just before they meet their destination. She then grabs the last two missiles with her chains, and directs them back toward their source.

The robot Sakuro is currently engaged with strikes it's blade downward, aggressively plunging into the ground. She uses this chance to hop onto its arm, beginning to run up along it. She swiftly dodges the defensive artillery that's fired at her, slicing through the last one. Using her momentum, she lunges forward in an attempt to cut the robot's head clean off.

The robot's head suddenly ducks into its own mechanical body, catching Sakuro by surprise as she glides straight past it. While Sakuro is still in the air, the robot turns its entire body around swinging its own blade at her. Sakuro luckily dodges the attack, instantly counter striking with precise cuts before landing on the ground.

Klaus doesn't waste any time destroying the robot in front of him. There's no way the aliens are going to probe him for information. After dodging three of the beam induced strikes, he begins running in a circle with sonic speed. The momentum of his running creates four large, electrical rings that entrap his foe. To finish it off, Klaus leaps directly above it, and with the kinetic energy he has stored inside, zips straight through its body causing it to tear in half before exploding into pieces.

Lux is fueled with anger, jealous that Klaus was able to destroy one of the robots before he did. He lets out a riveting shout, with his hands completely covered in fiery energy, he rips his opponent completely apart. Immediately afterwards, he takes its beam sword, and tosses it with overwhelming strength at the robot Jade is currently fighting, piercing it straight into its head. Lux then leaps into the air, and completely squashes the robot Sakuro was engaged with. Releasing a satisfied roar, Lux stomps the dented pieces into the ground to ensure the robots defeat.

It's not but a few moments later until a similar colored robot with an unique design differing from the rest lands on the ground in front of the group pulling out an enormous, double-bladed beam sword. With Lux's anger nearly reaching new heights, he growls, the sounds reminiscent of an ancient dragon. "Are you kidding me?!"

Luckily for the group, they can already tell that this specific robot has been severely damaged. One good hit will take it down with ease. Jade extends her arms outward, creating a huge black hole that begins pulling the unique robot into a singular area. Now unable to move, it swings at the group with all the power it can muster.

Klaus and Sakuro easily avoid the aimless strikes. Gaining a stable footing, both lunge forward, amputating its arm and legs. Lux rushes in to finish it off. He leaps into the air, putting forth a devastating drop kick that causes a shockwave to pulse in a wide circle. When the unique robot lands onto the ground a fair distance away from the group, completely destroyed, Tora is quick to congratulate them.

"Woo! Nice job, g- uhhhh...Wha?!"

"The hell are you whaing 'bout? We just fucked them up," Lux says, wiping dirt off his shoulders. Tora is quick to respond, feeling both scared and excited at the same time.

"Um, the energy reading from before? It's comin' from that big one over there."

"'Ight, so we found the source. Now we gotta deal with the blue skins."

"No, no, no! That's what I'm tryna say! It's coming from inside it!"

"What?"

"Babe, what the hell are you-"

The unique robot's head starts to move, opening up as if it were a hatch. Steam bursts from its interior, and a tall silhouette ejects from the head. When the silhouette lands on the ground, it stretches its arms and cracks its neck. "Ah! Fucking hell. It sure is stuffy in there..."

When the smoke clears, the group sees a tan skinned man standing in front of them. He has brown spiky hair of medium length, wearing a long, tawny and unbuttoned trench coat that's exposing his thin, saffron under armor. There's two individual tool belts on each side of his waist. He's also wearing thick, granola pants with small black straps on each leg that's holding a small blade, and brownish, high boots.

Lastly, he has a large pair of goggles wrapped around his head, with a long ammo strap with what looks like bullets that's going in a diagonal direction across his chest. The man quickly turns around to look towards the group, locking into their irises with his autumn piercing eyes. He forms a serious look on his face, immediately drawing two otherworldly pistols.

"So, I guess they retreated to send in the big guns. Doesn't matter. I can take you mates on."

"Who the fuck-" The man fires one of his pistols at Lux before he can finish his sentence. The ray shoots out a powerful force that blows even someone as heavy as Lux away. Surprised, Klaus whistles as he leans his head back to follow Lux in the air.

"Fore!"

"Focus, Klaus," Jade commands with a tone to match.

She, Klaus and Sakuro assume their fighting stances and so does the man in response. Even with a squadmate already excluded from the battle, Jade, Sakuro, and Klaus rush forward to confront the man. At first he doesn't seem like much, it's as though you're fighting a human with powerful firearms. That is until he starts moving faster, attacking with more concentrated shots. He tosses odd looking nets onto the ground that stun Klaus as soon he runs over them.

He continuously throws flash bangs at Sakuro, blinding her for a second, then immediately moving to a different location so that Klaus can chase him down only to be stunned again. While on the run, the man loads his pistols with a strange black bullet, then points into the air and fires. The black bullets explode into dense black clouds of smoke, blocking Jade's vision.

"Who is this guy?!" Jade exclaims, watching in shock and horror.

"This ain't good at all..."

The combatant quickly reacts to what he's forced upon everyone, he sneaks up to Sakuro and shocks her with a powerful taser, causing her to lose consciousness. He does the same to Klaus, who once again is stunned. The man tackles him, then shocks him with the taser as well, forcing his target to lose consciousness.

As soon as Jade escapes the smoke, she's immediately grabbed by a sort of grappling hook then pulled straight to the ground. When Jade hits the ground landing on her back, the young man shocks her neck with the same taser, causing her body to shut down. When he glances around, making sure he's done, he nods in affirmation.

"Still got it, Joel. Alright, now let's-"

The man suddenly hears an angry and frustrated yell from a distance. He looks in the same direction and sees a tall, bright orange beam of destructive energy. Seemingly from nowhere, he sees a blinding silhouette jump up from that direction and immediately realizes that the silhouette is rapidly approaching him at high speed like a meteor.

"Wuh-oh!"

He dives out the way in the nick of time as the unknown object crashes into the ground. Scrambling to his feet he glances towards the site of the crash. All he can make out is a gigantic crater. A hand grabs the ledge of the crater as Lux pulls himself out. His shirt and gloves are completely burned away, all that remains are his joggers with his body covered in bright orange aura and blackened lines.

Lux hones in on the man in pure anger as he lifts up a huge boulder that came from the crater with ease, his voice raving through the sandy fields as fractured echoes. The boulder is instantly destroyed, breaking into millions of small pieces. Gulping, the object of Lux's ire lets out a nervous laugh.

"That's what's happening to your head when I get my hands on you, motherfucker." He warns his adversary.

"...Any chance we could talk about this, mate?"

No words need be uttered as he answers by shouting loudly, immediately rushing at his intended target in complete rage. Though Lux is swinging his arms and legs with blazing power, the man is mostly dodging his destructive nature, while subtly placing small traps on the ground to form a circle. He yells in frustration as each unsuccessful strike only heightens his rage. The man knows if he's harmed even by a hair, he'll explode into pieces.

Though, that isn't stopping him from continuously avoiding Lux's attacks. In his anger, he finally catches up to the man, immediately grabbing him by his neck before tightening his grip causing him to choke while slipping in a quiet chuckle.

"You're mad now, mate...You're gonna be fumin' after this..."

Lux ignores the man's comment, raising his free hand into the air to finish him off. Although he struggles to do it, the man manages to retrieve a small remote from his coat pocket, pressing one of buttons on it without hesitation. Lux hears a loud beep and glances back. Before he can react, multiple black ropes wrap around his arms and legs then shock him with black electricity.

The shock causes Lux to loosen his grip opening just the chance needed for the man to extend his arm to shock Lux's neck with his taser. This knocks him unconscious, deactivating his powered form. The man falls to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. He stands up slowly, glances down at Lux, then back towards the field. All he sees in the wide open clearing are humongous, bottomless craters scattered throughout the area.

"Whew...Definitely should've died there. I thought this would be a harmless planet. All this power in one body is- Hm?"

Suddenly, the small Federation army who previously retreated are returning in jeeps, small tanks and armored cars. They stop a fair distance in front of the seeming victor. The same captain from their last attempt hops from one of the jeeps with a smirk on his face. He swings his odd looking gunblade onto his back, laughing with a tint of arrogance. "So you finally came out. Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"...Oh, are you talking to me?"

"Wha- Yes, you! Once we get you know handcuffs, we'll grab whatever you're hiding in that base of yours. Ha! And you fucked up the Abnormals. You've got nowhere to hide now. Your little sentries are destroyed and you're all alone. I want him alive for questioning! After we're done, kill those power freaks that are unconscious," he orders in a booming voice.

"Wait. So they're not with you?" The man asks, his eyes widened in realization. He looks over towards the group, whom he all individually knocked out. "Ah, hell...Gonna have to explain myself on that one." With this new information, he looks forward past the AAF captain, beginning to count all the mechanical bulwark in the background.

"Four, five, six..."

"Hey! What are you mumbling about over there?!"

"Hm? Oh, counting all the mechanical weapons you've got. Just a routine check up, don't worry."

The captain glances over at one of his soldiers with a confused face, who then responds with a shrug having no idea as to what he should say. The captain then waves his hand in command, now tired of any childish games. "Seize him."

An initial wave of soldiers begin to rush forward towards their target by their captain's command. A few moments after they charge, their own tanks commence to fire at them. The blast blows away the first batch of soldiers as the armored cars and jeeps suddenly drive away on their own. "What the hell is going on back there?!" The captain shouts in surprise.

The man instantly reacts to the confusion. He fires his pistols at the remaining soldiers, tossing them into the air before finishing them off with two extending swings of a plasma dagger. In the same motion, the man sheaths his dagger, catches his pistols, and reloads in a swift flick of the hands before assuming a fighting stance.

"You asked who I was, didn't you, mate? Names Joel. Joel Caineman. Try to get that through your thick skulls before you die."