As Akio began loading Alstroemeria to make the return trip, Hayato remarked, "I assume it would be pointless to try and convince you to join our side?"

"Nope," he replied "The only reason I didn't attack you is that you guys have me outnumbered."

"And the fact that we saved your ass," Mayu added.

"Hey, your name is Hotaru, right?" Akio asked, "You don't happen to know anything about a white-haired klaxo sapien would you?"

Hotaru had to think for a minute as she was boarding Syriacus. "Not really. No. All I know is I was Subject 2 and there was a Subject 1."

"She doesn't even know where the name 'Hotaru' came from," Mayu added.

"Odd."

"Well then," Hayato said, "The next time we meet, it will be as enemies."

Hotaru had just activated Syriacus when she announced. "Hayato! We've got company!"

"What is it? PAL?" Mayu inquired.

"I'm detecting nonhuman signatures," Hotaru replied.

"VIRM!" exclaimed Hayato.

All of a sudden, several bright purple beasts erupted out of the forest. Hotaru was quick on the attack and eliminated several of them in one stroke.

Hayato, Mayu, and, begrudgingly, Akio quickly got ready to join her.

Yuji and Ruth didn't have much luck either, as a similar group of monsters tried to gang up on Strelizia.

"Okay, let's see what happens if we floor it now with the upgraded heat shielding." Yuji exclaimed.

He brought Strelizia's lance to the front and went full throttle.

"This speed! Definitely an improvement," commented Ruth.

Without hesitation Strelizia plowed through a group of VIRM grunts, causing the majority of them to explode into pieces.

One straggler managed to escape. It tried in vain to make a move on Strelizia but it was stopped by Satvium's railgun.

Then, all of a sudden. One of the larger creatures from before came out of the forest, uprooting the native flora and trees around it.

This would be a tough one, but definitely not one Strelizia hadn't faced before. But this time, Yuji and Ruth didn't have the element of surprise. So they would to think outside the box.

Or they would have if Satvium didn't decimate it in one well-placed railgun shot through a crack in its armor.

"You're welcome…" Satomi said.

One of the same breed came out to attack Paragon minus Takeshi plus Akio.

"Oh great, now we just have to wait for Strelizia to burst out of the ground again and save us," Akio said in the face of danger.

"Anybody got a plan besides Mr. Wet-the-Bed here?" Mayu inquired.

"No. I got a serious one. Satomi, our team's sniper did a bit of research on the types of VIRM," Akio replied. "The common Zeta class' armor is straightforward. Our weapons can penetrate their armor no problem. But the Gamma class is immune to most weapons except in the gaps in its armor."

"And you're giving us your intel because…" Hotaru asked.

"Cut the chatter. Let's just get this done," Hayato interjected. "Hotaru, Akio – go for the legs and stop it."

Hotaru immediately charged at the left side of the Gamma class. Akio didn't nearly have the same reaction time but went for the right shortly afterward.

As they approached the Gamma, several appendages came out of its side and started to glow purple.

"Oh shit. It has lasers, too."

Hotaru commented, "We're gonna have to leap for that small gap between its leg armor."

She gave a signal and they each used their thrusters to leap at the Gamma's front legs. She aimed Syriacus' sword right at the gap and sliced right through, cutting its leg clean off.

Akio missed. While it lost its balance for a second it was still upright.

A hatch began to open, dropping several Zeta classes to attack.

Mayu's Plumerius and Hayato's Centrifolia joined them underneath. "We've got you covered, Akio. Take out the other leg!" said Hayato.

While they were fighting the Zeta classes, Akio took another crack at the other leg, making more effort to focus on the gap. The effort paid off as he sliced through the leg.

After the confirmed hit, they quickly got out from under the Gamma class as it fell over with a massive thud, crushing all the Zeta classes under it.

"Did we get it?" asked Akio.

"Not quite, but almost," Hayato said.

Then, a large hatch on the Gamma began to open where its "eye" used to be, and began to charge power. If it fired, it meant certain death for them.

"and yet so far," Hotaru commented.

"'Scuse me," Mayu said as Plumerius shoved its way in front of the, firing a laser of its own arm cannon straight through the new opening the Gamma made, creating a massive explosion and blowing the Gamma into violet paste.

Thankfully the gang was far away enough from the blast.

"Remind me never to piss her off…" Hayato remarked.

From her perch, Satomi noticed the giant explosion, "Someone did a number on another Gamma east of your position,"

"I could feel it," Ruth commented. "We'll check it out."

"We're going to go ahead and take care of the base," said Hayato. "It sounded like someone else had a run-in east of here. Might be your folks."

"See ya," said Akio. "Next time, I'm beating you, Hotaru."

"Unlikely," Hotaru replied.

"If someone asks you, we had no involvement," said Hayato

"I'll just say it was VIRM."

Akio began to head east towards where he saw some signals on his radar. Oddly enough, there was one coming towards him.

"Akio! You made it!" said Ruth.

"Was it you who took out that Gamma class?" Yuji asked through the radio.

"…yes…"

"I would call you an idiot, but I think that's pretty obvious," Satomi commented.

"Yeah. It's not like you've called me that enough already…"

"We found where PAL's base is," said Satomi. "I've marked it on our maps."

Takahiro had arrived in Kyoto, which PAL had taken over. "I can't believe we got overrun not only by Paragon, but especially VIRM as well," he said. "And how the hell did Paragon get those weapons? You would need a government insider to get a hold of tech like that."

He arrived at his bunker. "We're gonna have to regroup and figure out a contingency plan. Otherwise we're done. We can't let the weapon we have in Kyoto get into government hands."

Arriving at his office, he immediately poured out some scotch to drink. He slammed the bottle on the table, intending to make plenty of refills, when his phone rang.

"What do you want, Supplier,"

"I see you incurred a significant loss," the supplier said, with a distorted voice

"Well maybe if Paragon didn't have access to goddamn HATM's, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Well, maybe you're not putting two and two together."

"What do you mean?"

As he said that, two of his guards came in. "Can't you see I'm on the phone!?" he exclaimed, putting the phone down for a second.

"Let's just say I have a new customer."

"You hack! Do you know who the hell I am!? You can't double-cross me under the table!"

"Funny… You don't even know who I am. But I know you. You were just the first step."

With that, one of the supposed guards pulled out a pistol and shot him through right the heart, knocking him right out of his chair and on to the floor.

Squad 00 arrived at the location of PAL's base, only to find it in ruins.

"Yup," said Yuji. "Someone's been here…"

"Probably wasn't Paragon," Akio said. "It's not like them to cause this much property damage."

"Since when were you an expert on Paragon?" Satomi asked.

Ruth examined some of the markings on the damaged buildings. "These look like plasma markings. While some units are equipped with plasma weaponry, the damage is too consistent and substantial to be the work of HATM's."

"I think we have a stronger clue than that, Ruth…" said Akio, motioning towards a black-purple obelisk amongst the wreckage.

"Yeah," said Ruth. "I would say that's definitely one."

Director Katsuro was talking with Naomi in the Beach House meeting room when a secretary came in.

"I just got off the phone with the general," she said. "he said that Kyoto is back under our control."

"Thanks, Yuma," Katsuro said, as she left. "With that, PAL will be but a mere memory."

"That was awfully quick," said Naomi, "We just now got word of them losing the base."

"We're on top of things, here," Katsuro replied.

"We sure are…"

After Naomi said that, Squad 00 entered the meeting room.

"Ah, Akio, Could we talk in private for a few moments?" Katsuro requested, "It's about the nature of your escape."

"That won't be necessary," Mitsuru interrupted as he entered the room, "Intelligence is insisting that remain a secret."

"You know how you are about your 'government secrets,' Director," Naomi commented.

"Intelligence? Is one of Paragon undercover?" Akio pondered.

"I sent you those pictures you requested," Ruth said to Naomi.

"Thanks, Ruth," Naomi replied. "Me and Ichigo will definitely take a look at those.

"Well, it has been determined you will stay here in Okinawa for the forseeable future," Mitsuru said to the squad. "They're determining that this may be a hotspot for activity."

"Yes!" Akio blurted out. Everyone was used to that, so they paid him no mind.

Hayato was in his room looking at his laptop. "What are you doing?" Mayu asked.

"Researching about this 'weapon' that I heard about that's apparently in Kyoto," he replied. "Why PAL was so intent on guarding it."

"You thinkin' of having us get it?"

"It's too risky to send a full assault. I'll have to go in alone, and without Centrifolia."

"I'll go with you."

"It's too risky. It's just been reoccupied. The public doesn't know our faces, but the military sure as hell does."

Mayu put her hands on the sides of Hayato's face. "We agreed to do this together. Combat or not, if this turns out to be a suicide mission, then you need all the help you can get."

"You're too hard to convince."