Laura lays quietly on her back on the soft sheets of Jake's bed, staring up at the ceiling and her mind awash with thoughts about Jake.

"I hope he's okay?" She questioned as she couldn't get thought of him out of her head.

It had been a few hours since he left the academy to infiltrate the facility that he and Mimi had suspected was the place that Houki's kidnappers where intending to have taken her to. Not only that she had learned that a nemesis and hated rival of Jackson had been at the facility as well and although she knew very little about who this (Vixen) character was, nor did she know exactly what it was that she had done that had caused Jackson to have gained such a level of hatred and vengeance against her.

She could see it in Jake's eye, from the moment he laid sight on her she could see the anger and discomfort in his stare. However that wasn't what was bothering her the most... no it was the feeling of worry and fear in her that Jake could get hurt whilst out of the academy. She remembers what Tohka had said before she left with Jake, that (Vixen) was the only person ever to have beaten Jake in a fight, and after a first hand demonstration her as to what kind of destructive and ferocious nature Jake's demonic alter ego was capable of. She was unable to imagine what kind of strength or skills that this nemesis of Jake's was capable of herself... or the thought of what could happen if she was still being at that facility and Jake running into her again.

The thought of this weighs down heavily upon her and she tries not to think about it, but it was proving harder than she anticipated, the thought of potentially losing the one that cared about her the most right after realising how much of an important part of his life she was, was a scary thought for her to have clouding her mind. Then she reached into her pocket to pull out the Codec communicator that Jake had given to her right before he departed, she holds the small device in her hands as she stares at it, contemplating the thought of using it to make sure Jake was okay.

However she was fighting that urge at the same time, not knowing where exactly Jake was and was afraid that if she tried to contact him right now she could blow his cover and cause him to abort the mission... or worse.

"Please, Jake... please let me know you're okay." She murmurs at the device, pleading that Jake gets in touch and lets her know that he is okay.

(Knock Knock)

Laura's train of thought was suddenly shattered as she hears the door of Jake and Ichika's room being chapped on, indicating that someone was outside

However before she could say anything the sound of the door opening could be heard and Laura instinctively puts her Codec back in her pocket and sits up before she sees both Chifuyu Tatenashi walk into the room.

"Laura?" Miss. Orimura said as she raises a brow to her and folds her arms at the young German. "What are you doing in here?"

Laura quickly rakes through her mind for an expectable cover story, although she didn't exactly feel comfortable with lying to her mentor she knew that she couldn't reveal that she was aware of where Jackson was, knowing that he was probably the reason Miss. Orimura was here and wanted to see him.

"I was waiting for Jackson, I was wanting to talk to him." Laura said calmly, masking her nerves as she hopes that Chifuyu does not pick up that she was lying.

"Oh, you're looking for him as well." Tatenashi asked out of curiosity with her hands behind her back.

Laura tilts her head at the blue haired girl, wondering why both her and Miss. Orimura were wanting him for as well.

"We got suspicious, it had been too quiet around here and hadn't heard anything about Jake." Chifuyu said, then lets out a faint huff as she holds her hands on her hips. "And if I know Jake like I have done... when things go this quiet that usually means that he's up to something that he's wanting kept off the record."

"What? You mean like some kind of trouble." Laura asked, pretending to sound confused to hide what she knew.

"I'm afraid that may be the case." Chifuyu nodded.

"Yeah, and seeing that we found out that Jake's bike isn't in the hanger, we have reason to believe that he's taken off without telling us." Tatenashi added in, sounding rather concerned herself.

"Taken off... But why would he do that?" Laura questions through a worried expression.

"That's what we were hoping you could help us with Miss. Bodewig." Chifuyu said, catching Laura off guard.

"Huh?"

"Listen, I know that Jake and you have some sort of connection due to your past encounters... He promised to protect you and that would mean if he was up to something he would make sure you were safe before that." Miss. Orimura explains, folding her arms at Laura as she askes her. "So you were likely to be the last person he saw before vanishing... did he say anything odd to you or do anything that seemed like he was preparing to leave?"

Laura stares blankly at Chifuyu for a moment, scratching the back of her head as she pretends to think about the last time she saw Jake and make up a cover story again.

"The last time I saw him in the class earlier today, after that I hadn't seen him, that's why I came here because I was sure he was bound to come back here eventually... but there's been no sign of him." She said as she shrugs her shoulders, acting as if she was completely clueless to Jake's whereabouts.

Upon hearing this, Chifuyu sighs heavily as she pinches the bridge of her nose, knowing that if Laura had no information for them about Jake then it wasn't likely that she was going to find out what Jake was up to until he returns, and by then it would be too late and he'd likely come up with some cover story to hide where he really was.

"Great... the best chance to find out where he is was a dead end... and without any other way to track him we're never gonna find out what he's really up to." She said in frustration.

Tatenashi nods in agreement with her. However she glances over at Jake's monitor system sitting on his desk... and suddenly a small smirk creeps onto her face as she gets an idea.

"Maybe not, Ma'am... I think I know just how to find him." She said, causing both Laura and Chifuyu to look at her with the same confused expression as they were both unsure of what she was up to.

"And how are you planning on doing that?" Miss. Orimura askes as she watched Tatenashi walk over to the computer system.

"If Jake is gone then Tohka will be with him, and Tohka is connected to every piece of tech that Jackson possess." Tatenashi said as she sits down in front of Jake's computer. "Meaning... If I try to log into his computer, Tohka will pick this up and warn him, meaning he might contact the computer screens to see who it is then BAM! we catch him and find out where he is."

Miss. Orimura takes a second to ponder the idea that Tatenashi was suggesting, and figuring that it was the only thing left to try she agrees and gives her permission to hack Jake's computer. However Laura swallows dryly as a pang of fear shoots through her. She knew that if she succeeds then Jake would be found out and had to try and think of a way to thwart this attempt... then she gets an idea.

"Are you sure that's a safe idea?" She asks... her worried expression gaining both Chifuyu and Tatenashi's attention as they both look at her.

"Why do you think that, Laura?" Chifuyu asked with suspicion in her tone as she folds her arms at her. "Is there something you haven't told us yet?"

Laura shakes her head at her mentor. "No... Its just if you think about it. There is a lot of classified and sensitive information on that computer that belongs to Jackson. His I.S Data, his squadrons data and other files that he won't want anyone to find... what if when he has some kind of self destruct program on that thing and Tatenashi blows up this whole room if she hacks the computer... I mean, if that was my files on that system I would have had something like that to protect my data from hackers."

She watches as Chifuyu thinks about that possibility and a smiles internally as she begins to look like she was having second thoughts about their plan... However that smile is wiped from her as she hears Tatenashi crack her knuckles, clearly not afraid of the possibility that the computer she was about to hack could explode.

"Welp I guess that's the risk we'll have to take." She said as she starts typing on the keyboard.

Laura swallows dryly as she steps, praying that this plan to track Jake would fail... however a feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her that this was not likely to happen.

(Meanwhile at that moment in the facility bellow the city)

"Hmm... There has to be one here somewhere." Jake said under his breath as he searches through a part of one of the (C-S-S-U) maintenance hangers for an inactive drone of some sorts to use to access the main data terminal within the facility.

Tohka hovers next to him in drone form as she scans the hanger for something as well... when suddenly the two of them are startled as a sudden loud alarm tone ringing in their ears.

"Gwagh, What the hell is that." Jake said as he covers his ears.

"It's my unauthorised login alarm... Someone's attempting to hack into your desktop at the academy." Tohka informs Jackson as she shuts off the alarm before the two of them go deaf from the sound. However as soon as Jake hears that he turns to his drone floating next to him.

"What?! Hack my system? who?" He asked frantically, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hold on, I'll access the computers webcam and microphone to find out." Said Tohka as she access the computer from Jake's room to find out what was going on. For a few moments there was silence as Jake watches his drone hover quietly as he wait for Tohka to return to him with an answer. Then he sees the light on the top of Tohka's drone flicker as it indicates that was had returned.

"It's Tatenashi." Tohka said, causing Jake to sigh as he plants a palm in his face.

"Of course it would be her." He muttered to himself as he shakes his head. "Ask her what she's doing messing with my desktop please."

Tohka silently contacts Tatenashi again to ask the question Jake wanted answered then returns to him.

"She purposely attempted hack the desktop to find you, it seems she has been looking for you." Tohka said to Jake, who sighs at this.

"Tell her you can't pass that information on, she will see me when I return." Jake replied, clearly more focused on his objective than on what Tatenashi wanted.

He continues to look around the hanger like he was earlier as he left Tohka to speak to Tatenashi. However as she returns she flies over to Jake with a worried sounding tone in her voice.

"Er, Jake... we have a problem." She said, gaining his attention yet again.

"Huh? what do you mean by that?" Jake asked, folding his arms at the drone.

"Listen to this then." Tohka said as she brings up a voice recording from the last time she contacted the desktop and as Jake leans forward to hear what she got. He's soon shooting back as a loud shouting female voice blasts out of the drones speakers.

(You tell that boy if he does not contact me immediately then he can consider himself expelled from the academy)

Jake goes wide eyed after he recognises that voice and runs his hands through his hair in frustration as he paces the hanger floor.

"You have to be joking..." He cursed.

This was the last thing he needed, of all the things he didn't need right now was for Chifuyu to have found out that he left academy and to be contacting him... but worst yet she was threatening his position in the academy if he did not comply with her and contact her himself. Jake places an arm against the wall to lean on it as he pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. Just then Tohka's drone floats over next to him.

"I know it's not what you would like to do... but you should get in touch, its the only way to avoid making this situation any more hostile." She recommended.

Jackson could only stare blankly at her, he knew that she was right but that was what was frustrating him... he knew Chifuyu was going to let loose on him for leaving, but he was fully aware of the consequences that he'd face if he didn't do so. And with that thought in mind and with a frustrated sigh he raised his arm and patches his Codec into the microphone on his desktop.

"Jackson speaking." He sighs into the mic.

"Where the hell are you?" Chifuyu shouted from her side of the Codec, demanding Jake answered her question.

"Somewhere under the city... That's about all I can say on that." Jake said bluntly, keeping his answer as brief as basic as he could.

"And what would you be doing under the city?" Chifuyu asked again, her tone still firm as she demanded an answer.

"I'm afraid I can't explain that right now... besides, this is FEISAR's business, not yours so you shouldn't be questioning this." Jake retorts as he tries to thwart Miss. Orimura's attempts to gain information on his intentions.

"Oh really." Chifuyu scoffed, clearly not believing the legitimacy of Jake's statement. "So if it's FEISAR's business then I take it you have informed them of your location and briefed them on your task and your intentions regarding it?"

Jake paused for a moment as he looks at Tohka that was floating next to him and could only let out a deep breath through his nose. He knew that he had not done what Miss. Orimura had asked for obvious reasons, for if any of his higher ups in FEISAR learned about what he was up to right now they would be telling him to stand by and wait them to assess the situation and come up with a plan of action for him rather than just let him take point and undergo this task himself. But he knew there was just no time for that and by then it would have been too late and countless more innocent lives would have been lost to this gruesome place that he stood in right now.

So with a heavy sigh he turns back to his Codec and answered Miss. Orimura's question.

"They're partially aware of the situation."

"I'm going to take that as a, No they are not informed of what exactly you're up to right now." Chifuyu said, sounding very unamussed by this.

"And why should that concern you anyway." Jake retorts as he himself was begining to become unamused with this trivial argument he was now locked in.

"Don't get funny with me Jackson, you have no idea how much trouble you are in right now. Abandoning the academy, taking an I.S into the public without permision, tresspassing and probably a whole list of other laws and regulations that you've broken up until now." Chifuyu shouts over the mic, infuriated with Jake's lack of behaviour towards her right now. "You forget Jake... you may be one of FEISAR's top pilots, but over here you're my student and my responsibility... you can't just do what you want without my permission because it could reflect on the academy... so as of now I'm putting a stop to these fun and games of yours Jake. I'm ordering you to drop whatever the hell it is you're doing over there and return to the academy this instant."

From where she was standing in front of the computer with Tatenashi and Laura behind her, Miss. Orimura could hear Jake sigh from his end of the Codec before he answered.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that now, Miss. Orimura."

Feeling her anger boil over at Jake's disobedience Chifuyu slams her fist onto the desk, startling Laura and Tatenashi as she begins shouting at the screen again.

"Don't you dare disobey me again, Jackson... You're lucky I have not expelled you already, but if you don't return here right away then I'll send you right back to the states where you came fro-."

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY!."

Chifuyu is silenced and even Laura and Tatenashi go wide eyed in shock, unable to believe someone would have the nerve to stand up to Miss. Orimura and speak back to her like that.

"Come again." Chifuyu said, asking for Jake to repeat what he just said to her.

"You heard me Ma'am." Jake snapped at her, as he had finally had enough of the argument himself. "I'm sick of this petty argument."

Chifuyu is taken back for a moment as she listens to now angered boy on the Codec, she couldn't remember how long it had been since the last time Jake lost his temper with her like that... but as it began to sink in, she remembers that last time he did it was because of one thing... something Jake trusted more than anyone or anything around him.

His instincts.

She takes a second to think about it an realised that if Jackson is indeed acting off instinct again then whatever he could be up to may be more serious than she may know, and with that thought in mind she turns to speak to him again.

"What's going on Jake... you can't expect me to just sit over here and let you act freely without knowing what dangers or consequences your actions may bring to the academy if something goes wrong." She asked, her tone still firm but this time sounding less angered than before.

"Look I can't be wasting any more time trying to explain this to you Ma'am." Jake said through a frustrated sigh. "What I'm doing right now and what I have discovered is not only far beyond anything you could comprehend... but it is something far worse than FEISAR was expecting. If you really want to know what's happened then you will have to wait for me to return. Until then... do not distract me by calling out of nowhere to start arguments with me about my actions when innocent lives could be at stake."

"Innocent lives? What are you talking about Jackson? What's going on?" Miss. Orimura asked as she had now become ever more confused by what Jackson getting at, or what he meant by there being innocent lives at stake. However she was met by the same frustrated sigh from Jake.

"As I said, it's too much to explain and I can't waste anymore time. If you really want to find out then you will have to wait until I return... until then, Chifuyu... please... just stay out of my way." Jake said, and with what he needed said and done he logs off of the Coded call to leave Miss. Orimura out of his business.

Jake placed a palm in his head as he sighs heavily as he tries to regain his focus on the task at hand before getting into that frustrating and unneeded argument.

"Just let it go by for now Jake." Tohka said as he looks at her drone hovering next his head. "What we have to do over here is far more important and Miss. Orimura can wait... right now there's kids down here that need your help."

"Agreed." Jake said as they get back to the matter at hand, which was to find a C-S-S-U that they could hack in order to gain access to on of the main terminals.

And it was at that moment when Jake turns around and spots something.

"Jackpot!" He said as he dashes over to a container marked (Spares).

Tohka floats over as she watches Jake rummage through the container and pull out a MK 1 Trypod drone that had been tossed in there, most likely to be used for spare parts for other C-S-S-U's. Jake plants the drone on the ground and turns to Tohka.

"Okay Tohka, time to find out if this thing is gonna work." He said, and without needing asked, Tohka's drone lands on the Trypod and Jake watches as a cable from the drone is produced and connects to the C-S-S-U. There was a bright flash as the Trypod powers up, however instead of the normal deep red glow that the C-S-S-U's usually give off this one glowed a dark purple, indicating that Tohka had successfully taken control of it.

"Alright Jake, I got control." Tohka said as her drone disconnects from the Trypod and hovers off as it gets up and stands in front of Jake.

"Perfect." Lola said as she comes in again over the Codec. "Now lets see if we use this thing to find a Data-input terminal."

Then Jake hears Mimi join the call again.

"You two better be careful, the guards in the next hanger may be pretty jumpy. Any funny business and they might just open fire right away." She said to warn them of what to expect in the next part of their task.

"No worries." Lola added. "Trypods are equipped with high voltage taser systems as a primary weapon, if you can latch onto a guard from behind, Tohka may be able to catch them off guard and knock them out with an electric shock."

"Good idea." Jake said as he looks at the Trypod Tohka had control of. "Alright Tohka, time to go to work."

The Trypod nods at Jake and enters the next hanger by using a service vent to avoid gaining any of the guards attention while Jake stays put in the previous hanger and monitors what the C-S-S-U was doing via Tohka's optical feed. From what they saw the next hanger was a C-S-S-U storage facility where inactive units were kept until needed. Blending in with the security of the hanger Jake and Tohka scan the room for where to head next. From what they saw, the only way out was through another service vent that was located next to a catwalk attached to the outer wall of the hanger. However they notice that it was in the path of one of the MK-1 Cyber Strykers that were guarding the hanger, as well as one patrolling the stairwell onto the catwalk and one more patrolling the ground floor of the hanger.

"I'm not really seeing a way that we can knock all three of them out with raising any alarms Jake." Tohka said, struggling to think of a way to get through without alerting the guards.

Then Jake thinks of an idea.

"Tohka, knock out the ground floor guard then take cover behind those crates." Jake orders.

Unaware of what he was up to just yet, Tohka does as she's asked and manoeuvres the Trypod to sneak up behind the first guard. Before he even notices the drone behind him the Trypod jumps up and wraps all three arms around the guard to restrain him as it activates its taser and electrocutes the guard. The shock rattles the guard and he cries out uncontrollably before he is knocked out and passes out. The instant that happens, Tohka moves the drone away and hides behind a set of steel crates just like Jake instructed her to.

And sue enough, just like he predicted, Jackson and Tohka watch as the other two guards heard the third guard when he cried out and were now slowly closing in on his position, their weapons drawn and prepared to engage whatever it was they suspected had gotten into the hanger. However as the two of them find the other guard they were just met with his unconscious body lying on the hanger floor with nothing else around... A scenario that only seemed to add to the nervous feelings the two soldiers were having.

"Where the hell is the contact?" One of the guards said, checking his sensors for any movement and his rifle aimed to engage anything on sight.

"I don't know." The other one said as he to keeps his head on a swivel to locate the threat that they suspected was in the hanger. "But this guy wasn't knocked out for no reason so keep an eye ou-."

"GWAGH!"

The two guards cry out as a sudden electrical surge jolts through their bodies. In the confusion of trying to figure out where the threat was neither of them had notice Tohka sneak up on them and used the chance while they were close enough to one another to jump up and knock the two of them out at once, clearing the hanger of any hostile forces.

"Nice one, Tohka." Jake said, feeling pleased with her performance. "Now lets find that terminal."

"Right away." Tohka complied as she wastes no time.

Leaving the three now unconscious guards on the floor Tohka uses the Trypod drone to climb up the catwalk and work her way around to the far side of the hanger where the service vent was. Using the drones impressive climbing ability she makes it up into the vent and climbs out into a separate room that was filled with terminals and computer modules.

"Which one do we use, Jake?" Tohka asked.

"Hmm." Jake ponders as he looks at all the Modules on the screen he was using to see what the drone saw, but he was having some difficulties himself trying to locate what he thought would have been the right one for them.

"There." Lola suddenly said as sees the camera from the Trypod pan over a large terminal in the corner of the room. "That terminal is most likely designed to download mission data and such to the C-S-S-U's. Lets try using it to access the lab's server."

With that now being their best lead Tohka quickly orders the Trypod to pull out a small USB connection cable located on its back and plugs it into the terminal and allowing her access to the data within the terminal. Without wasting time Mimi begins typing rapidly on her keyboard as she uses the connection Tohka had granted her to hack into the server and see what she could find out about this place and what was really going on down there.

And sure enough without having to wait very long Jake sees her face pop up on his screen again as she connects with him via Codec again.

"Jackson, I found something... In one of the sentry Cyber Stryker's visual logs... You might want to see who shows up." She said, however she was sounding rather concerned … more than likely by who she saw in that log.

"Patch it through." Jake requested, wanting to see for himself.

"Right away." Mimi said.

With a quick bit of work from her keyboard, Mini downloads the video log to Jake's suit. Folding his face armour over Jake uses his internal visor as a larger screen which lights up as he begins to see the played back footage of what the sentry Stryker had seen at that moment.

(From the Sentry's perspective)

The sentry follows one of its colleagues down a large hall until they meet up with two more that were standing guard at a T junction in the facility hall. Holding his hand out with the guard a small loading screen appears between the sentry and the guard witch identifies them by their rank and orders which allows the two of them to hand over guard duties. The guard nods at the sentry before stepping out of the way to allowing the sentry to takes his place in guarding the hall... and while this exchange was happening, the sound of voices in the near distance could be heard as the sentry stands in place... giving a clear sight of the source of these voices.

"Then send what you do have." Said a tall, dark red haired woman as she walked in the direction of the sentry, clearly speaking to one of the research lab directors about something. The woman's build was being shrouded by a black and red leather trench coat that bared a red and black emblem of a Raven's head on the left shoulder... yet despite the coat, the height and size of her was a clear indication that she was likely to posses a very muscly form, either that or a Stryker suit of some sort under it. The sentry doesn't pay much attention as the woman continues to show her lack of impressment with the lab director's progress.

"We've already had to begin VR training on the next batch." The woman said.

"The Ripper Regiment?" The lab director said, his voice revealing that he was from a Latino background of some sorts.

The woman looks down at the director and just chuckles.

"Yep... The same one we used on those kids back in Kenema during that civil war in Sierra Leone... It was also the same Regiment that we tested our more promising (ahem) Project-Nova subjects." She said, sounding rather pleased with her remark.

"Project-Nova? I thought that was shut down years ago?" The lab director said as he looks up at the woman, sounding rather surprised.

"It was and has been since then." The woman sighs with frustration. sounding disappointed in that. "Despite the immense benefits that Project-Nova could provide for us the number of subjects dying from over exposure and side effects vastly outweighed the successful subjects that at least survived the saturation phase to the point where it was considered too great a financial loss... and like that, even the successful subjects showed to have far too many faults that hindered them from becoming effective soldiers."

"However... that doesn't matter now. Even though Project-Nova was a disappointing failure... The Cyber Initiative will make up for that loss by the tenfold. And now that its all wired straight to the brain, it feels as real as anything else." The woman said.

"Your work is astonishing." The Lab director said, giving her a small applaud at the accomplishment.

However he is soon taken back as the woman looks back at him with a glare and steps towards him.

"And your work is late." She snaps at the director. "We need to ship out before our cover is blown. We got some assholes from he legal department snooping around and you're just wasting our time getting these new units ready for deployment... I still don't understand how you can use more brains that we can reform and fail to meet the number of C-S-S-U's that we request."

The woman folds her arms at the Lab director, expecting him to have an answer for her.

"I'm afraid the process just isn't as completely fault proof as we had hoped it to be unfortunately. Even though we do get the necessary amount of reformed subjects ready for transplantation, each brain has its own (Unique) requirements that unfortunately renders a lot of them incapable of dealing with the level of stress that they are put under when transplanted into... Say... A MK-3 or even a MK-2 C-S-S-U. So unfortunately we either lose some of our subjects because they can't survive within the unit... Or from metabolism because we simply just don't have the necessary storage to preserve them until we can produce more MK-1 Cyber Strykers to transplant them into instead... Its not like we can just pop them out of a unit as soon as we think it won't survive in it. Once the brain is transplanted... That's it."

As the director explains the situation, the woman looks at him with an unamused expression on her face after hearing the reason as to why things weren't on the schedule she was wanting it to be on.

"Alright... you've made your point."

The two of them including the sentry on guard turn to the sound of another voice.

The brunette haired woman that spoke still had her back to them, clearly she seemed to be the one that was in charge of everything, given her stern tone... or the fact that not only was she wearing a black suit leading the three of them in the hall, it also seemed that whatever she said seemed to be the final decision in any conversation.

Upon hearing what she'd said, the Lab director walks over to her smiling in gratitude.

"Thank you for understanding." He said to the Lady in he suit... who then looks at him directly, her face still hidden from the sentry's view.

"Send what you have now, and destroy any unharvest inventory." The woman in the suit said.

Her request causing the director to go wide eye in disbelief of what he was hearing.

"Que?!" He said in shock. "But... Have you any idea of what they cost?"

The woman in charge didn't seem to be concerned about whatever financial loss the unharvested inventory would be, and just looks at the director again.

"Last I checked, vagrant children weren't exactly rare in most parts of the world... millions of them, in fact. You can get more once we've set up a new lab... They lead lives of hunger and pain, so there's no need to let them continue suffering like that just because we've had to make a few changes to our operations... We're basically performing a service here- For them, and the cities they burden." The suited lady said, making her request sound as humane as it could be.

The Lab director however was still more concerned of the cost that such a request could cost for future progress.

"I can understand your point there. But just gathering the donors alone required a significant investment." He said, checking to make sure the woman was aware of the cost of her request.

"Yes, yes you'll get the money. Accounting will be in touch." The woman said. Her words suddenly seeming to stop the director and make him smile faintly as he is assured that financially this request he was tasked to do would be covered.

"Gracias. I assure you we will dispose of our inventory the instant we can confirm payment." The director quickly said, confirming that he would now carry out the ladies request as soon as he and his associates were paid to do so.

"Are we done here." The woman said as she turn her head back to the one in the trench coat... revealing her face to the sentry's camera for the first time. "We have a full slate today."

With that said the three of them walk down the hall and leave the two sentry stryker's to guard the hallway junction... however before the video log cuts out... There was one last thing that the lady in the suit said.

"Wildfire is a demanding Mistress... And America has suffered long enough."

(The Visual log cuts out and the screen goes black)

After watching that Visual log, Jake's facial armour unfolds to reveal the frustrated, yet discomforted expression on his face as he calls, Mimi and Lola again on the Codec.

"You saw that as well right, Girls?" He said.

"Yeah... we saw." Lola said as her screen pops up, her face showing the same expression as Jake's.

"There's no second guessing who the bitch in the trench coat was." Jake said in frustration... he knew exactly who that woman was, and the fact that she was here as well sent a worrying through his body.

"Raven Heads Chief of Operation... Mileena Zao. A.k.a... The Red Sun." Mimi said, confirming the identity of the woman in question. "I guess our assumption was right, Jake... This is without a doubt one of Raven Heads facilities we've stumbled across."

"And set up this close to the I.S. Academy... that can't be a coincidence." Jake said, starting to get assumptions of his own.

"Did you hear that creepy lab rat as well." Lola added in. "So even if these kids survive the VR training... there's still the likelihood that they'll still die during transplantation if they can't become compatible with the Unit they're organs are put into."

"Jesus... they're just kids, what kinda fucked up freaks are these people." Mimi said as the grim realisation of the extent of this ordeal that they had uncovered was revealed.

"You think we're too late to save the rest of them?" Lola asked, wondering how long it had been since that visual log they had watched had actually been recorded.

It was no secret to what those remaining kids that hadn't been sent to VR training were now facing when the woman asked the lab director to destroy the remaining (Inventory). They were planning to kill off the remaining kids, to make sure that there operation was to be kept secret. And the thought of what those kids would suffer at the hands of these people was a nerve chilling thought for the three of them as what started off as an infiltration task... had suddenly become a rescue mission against time.

"Only one way to find out." Jake said, gaining the attention of the two girls. "Sabrina was still alive... so maybe the payment has gone through just yet, there still may be a chance."

The two girls nod in agreement, thinking that there may be a slither of hope as well. However they also were aware that time wasn't on their sides with this.

"Okay, but you better hurry up, Jake... you heard it yourself. They have already started VR training on another batch of kids." Lola said, sounding worried about this. "You have to try and save these ones, then we have to locate where this training is happening and shut it down before those kids are sent off to the next lab."

"There has to be more to this than what I found... What about that V.I.P in the suit?" Jake asked, referring his attention to the woman in charge of the group.

"I'll try to find out... She definitely seemed familiar." Mimi said, finding the face of that woman to be recognising to her somewhere. "But for now, you focus on saving those kids... I'll try to find out more while you're at it."

"Copy... Jackson out." Jake said as he gets back to business and disconnects from the Codec call.

"We're going to have to move quickly from here on Tohka." He said as he picks up Tohka's drone. "So I'm carrying you for the rest of this operation."

"Got it Jake." Tohka said as she dissipates into light particles and leaves the drone to reconnect to Jake's Stryker Suit.

Jakes places the drone back on his back and it folds back into its standby state and he wastes no time getting on with his mission. Opening the door to the next hanger he dashes through the C-S-S-U Storage and maintenance hanger, ignoring the three guards that lay on the ground... still unconscious from Tohka knocking them out earlier. Jake reaches the other side of the hanger and gains access to the next door thanks to Tohka. The next part of the facility leads him into a narrow concrete hall that takes a sharp left turn... However just then... Tohka speaks up on his com's as she is alerted of something.

"Jake... Bad news... Sabrina's tracker just drooped offline." She said in a worrying tone, her words instantly stopping Jake in his tracks.

"What?!" He said in shock, checking his radar again and seeing that the red blip that pin pointed where he last left her had indeed disappeared from sight.

"You think the tracker maybe is suffering from interference or possibly ran out of power?" Lola asked as she overheads from her Codec, trying to list off any reasonable explanation to why the tracker went off.

But Jake was less convinced by this.

"Impossible... Those trackers are designed to be immune to all forms of interference. Not only that, it was fully charged so it could be go for days before powering off." Jake said in a worried tone. He was all too familiar with how reliable Tohka's tracking beacon's were and knew that the only way it could have gone offline was if it was shut down on purpose... or destroyed.

"This isn't good." Lola said, starting to sound as concerned as Jackson.

"You think a C-S-S-U found her?" Jake said, starting to assume the worst.

"I don't know... but it's too far back for you to check now Jake. Focus on the other kids first, then we'll backtrack for Sabrina." Lola said, reminding Jake that he had to focus on the task at hand... however she could sense that it wasn't settling right with Jake to leave her like that not knowing if she was okay.

"She'll be fine Jake." Tohka said reassuringly to him to help him remain focused. "We'll get her back when we're done here."

"Then I better pick up the pace." Jake said, now spurred to hurry up even more to find the remaining kids.

Running round the corner of the hall he enters a large shipping container garage. Looking around for a moment Jake could assume this was where the containers that held the kids in whilst being transported were stored and heads for a channel between two large towering piles of metal containers that he believed was were the door on the other side of the garage was.

But as he rounds the corner of the container... Jake's proximity-hyper-sensors go crazy as a volley of micro missiles, grenades, rockets and bullets rain down towards him from the other side of the channel.

"OH SHIT!" Jake said in shock as he dive forward into a gap between two containers with a second to spare before the hail of fire lands where he was standing a few mere moments ago. The explosions that rocked the garage force Jake to fold over his facial shield plating to block chucks of rubble from the ground and shrapnel from hitting his face as he's clouded by dust.

"What the heck was that?!" Tohka said in shock, the sudden attack catching her off guard as she didn't see the attacker before Jake had to duck into cover.

"I don't know... But I'm about to find out." Jake said as he plans to figure out what it was that was blocking his advance.

Bringing up his forearm, Jackson presses a button on his armour and manually activates his (Phantom Cloak) and vanishes into thin air with his camouflage. Taking caution and using the dust cloud as cover to, Jake peers round the cover of the container to see what shot at him.

And he didn't like what he saw.

Wedged at the far end of the channel and acting as a large barricade to prevent any intruders was a massive autonomous machine of some sorts. The front of the machine was a thick steel shield riddled with spikes to stop anything passing it, and behind that shield, Jake could see that it also was armed with a micro missile pod, a dual rocket silo, high calibre machine gun on the top of the unit as well as a belt fed grenade launcher mounted on top of the shield.

"Shit." Jake said as he hides back round the container and comes out of (Phantom Cloak) mode. He knew exactly what that machine that was blocking his way was. "It's a fucking G.R.A.D. Class-S.S.U."

"What?!" He hears Mimi and Lola say as they overhear on their Codec, unable to believe what they just heard Jake say.

"A Super Stryker Unit?! what the heck is one of those things doing down there?" Said Mimi, unable to process why such a machine that was built specifically to take on an I.S. was doing at this lab instead.

"It has to be a last line of defence for that facility." Lola then says. "Meaning that the kids must be being held somewhere just behind it... and they really don't want anyone unwanted to get by."

"No shit, girl." Tohka said, still sounding shook up from when it fired at her and Jake earlier. "It almost blew me and Jake to the moon in an instant... and it's blocking our way to the other end on the hanger."

"We gotta push that bastard back before we take it out." Jake said, trying to come up with a plan to deal with the threat at hand.

"But there's no more cover up the channel between us and that thing, Jake. And even if you do get close enough to force it back, there's not enough power in your suit to run (Phantom Cloak) for longer enough for you to get back into cover." Tohka said frantically, remembering that when Jake glanced at that unit she saw that the containers making the rest of the channel had to gaps between them, meaning that if he charges at the G.R.A.D he would have nowhere to hide from its infrared tracking system... and due to the amount of power he'd expended so far and the lack of I.S. shield energy he had come across to absorb, meant that his Stryker suits power cell wasn't able to run his (Phantom Cloak) for long enough for him to run back to cover if he fails to push the Super Stryker far enough back to get past it.

"How long can the suit hold (Phantom Cloak) for?" Jake asked. Tohka checks the amount of energy left in his suits power cell and quickly calculates how long he could go unseen for.

"5.3 Seconds and that's all." Tohka said, not sounding very confident in that being long enough for Jake.

However when she sees him crack his knuckles she begins to wonder what he's planning.

"Then I better make this work the first time round." He said as he gets up and edges to the side of the container.

"Make what work?" Tohka said, unsure of what he was up to.

"Just trust me, Tohka... When I give you the order, Activate (Phantom Cloak)." Jake said as he gives, Tohka her instructions.

Still unaware of his plan, Tohka was still not sure if this was going to be a good idea. But by this point she knew that whatever idea Jake had was the only plan they had right now to get past this thing and with that in mind she puts her trust in her pilot like she always had done and complies with him.

"Attagirl, Tohka... Now, ready." Jake said as he gets ready himself to make a move.

"Ready." Tohka said, prepared to do her part when ordered.

However without saying anything and without warning. Jake dashes out from behind the container and charges as fast as he could towards the G.R.A.D... Tohka watches from Jake's optical visor and sees the Super Stryker pick him back up again on its targeting system and prepares to fire.

"Jackson?" Tohka asked.

"Not yet." Jake quickly replied, telling her to wait for his order.

As Jake closes the distance, a red laser is pointed at his chest as the Super Stryker attempts to lock onto him with its micro missiles and releases a volley of projectiles into the air... all homing in on the laser dot marking his suit.

"NOW Tohka!" Jake shouts.

Wasting no time in avoiding being blown to pieces, Tohka activates Jake's (Phantom Cloak) and causes him to disappear and he drops to the ground. Using the momentum of his dash, Jake glides across the floor, causing the missiles fired at him to pass overhead as they lose lock on him... hitting the containers behind him and engulfing rear of the channel in flames. The intense heat of the explosion messes with the Super Styrker's infrared targeting radar and prevents it from seeing anything. In response, the Unit uses its shield to push itself backwards away from the fireball to try and pick up a target again.

However as it stops at the edge of the channel it suddenly spots Jake as his (Phantom Cloak) runs out of power and he reappears in front of the G.R.A.D. But he was already right on top of the Unit after using his cloak to close the distance and jumps into the air.

Twisting and spinning his body to avoid a spray of bullets fired at him from the Super Strykers top mounted machinegun, Jake lets out a loud war cry as he draws his fist back and uses the momentum of his spin to drive his steel wrapped fist into the G.R.A.D's frontal shield. With his Stryker Suit dramatically amplifying his already superhuman strength... the loud clang of steel on steel echo's throughout the hanger as Jake send's the thirty tonne machine sliding backwards across the floor and slams into the wall on the far side of the hanger, fortunately missing one of the fuel storage tanks that were in the hanger as Jake runs out of the side of the channel the Super Stryker was guarding from him.

But Jackson draws his H.F. Blade and takes a defensive stance... because he knew that this fight wasn't over yet.

The Super Stryker lets off a mechanised growl and lifts its shield up, rotating it around so that grenade launcher was now underneath the shield. Then the outer edges of the shield fold out into two angled plates on each side to protect its flanks... finally, Jake watches as two large hydraulic armour plated legs extend out from beneath the G.R.A.D and lift its main body into the air as it glares down at Jake with murderous intent.

"It has switched to Bipod mode." Tohka said, assessing the status of the hostile. "Careful Jake, it's a whole different battle now."

Igniting its left side thrusters the G.R.A.D glides to the right as it circles round Jake as it open fires with its machinegun. Jake dashes right as well, making himself a hard target to track as the bullets land behind him while keeping his distance from the Super Stryker. Suddenly the Unit ignites its rear thruster and thunders straight towards him in an attempt to run him over. Jake turns towards the Super Stryker and dives forward, darting between its legs as he rolls under it, lashing out with his sword he hits the armoured plating of the Units left leg... but the amour deflected his blade as he didn't have enough energy in his power cell to go all out with his H.F. Mode.

And while he'd been doing that, the G.R.A.D had performed a counter of its own. As Jake was passing underneath it, the Unit ignites its right thruster and rotated its turret around like a spinning top. As Jake looks over his shoulder he had almost no time to react as he saw one of the angles plates of the Super Stryker's frontal shield extend out and was heading right for him. Using his blade at the last moment, Jackson shields himself from the attack as the G.R.A.D swats him across the hanger... sparks fly as Jake's armoured feet dig into the ground and grind him to a halt just before he could crash into a fuel storage tank behind him.

"Phew... That was close." Jake mutters as he glances behind him at the tank he almost ruptured.

"INCOMING!" Tohka suddenly shouts out.

Jake quickly looks back in the direction of the Super Stryker just as it fires a rocket, intending to blow the fuel tank with him.

"Shit!" Jake said.

Knowing he couldn't let that rocket hit the tank, Jake sheaf's his blades and side steps to avoid the rocket, but as it was about to pass him and hit the tank... Jake grabs the projectile with both hands and jerks his body back, using himself as an anchor to divert the rockets course and swing it back round as he lets and sends it flying back towards the Super Stryker. The Unit is caught off guard by this counter attack and is unable to move out of the way in time as the rocket slams into its leg, kicking it out from under it and throwing the G.R.A.D off balance and down to one knee.

Jake see the opportunity and dashes towards the unit, which fires at him using its machinegun again, but grabbing his sword and frantically swinging the blade in front of him, Jackson deflects the rounds before they could hit him. The Super Stryker tries to use its thrusters to dart out of the way, but it was too late as Jake takes advantage of the unit being down by jumping over it. Swinging his Blade as he front flips over the it he slices into the weaker mechanisms behind the left side shield plating and severs it clean off... exposing one of its flanks.

The Super Stryker rocket dashes away from Jake and retaliates by launching a massive salvo of micro missiles at him. Jackson quickly kicks the shield plating he'd severed from the unit and holds it in front of him to shield himself from the incoming fire, masking him behind a wall of fire as the missiles impact the steel shield piece. With the flames hiding him from the Units targeting system, Jake grips the shield plating tightly in his hand as he spins his body as hard as he could before letting it go and launching it right back at the Super Stryker. The G.R.A.D is caught off guard as it sees the large chunk of steel plating come flying out from the fire wall and was unable to get out of the way as the shield piece hits its micro missile launcher, causing a large explosion as it detonates and is rendered unusable.

"Try using that now." Jake said as he taunts the machine, seeing sparks spew from its destroyed weapon system.

With a metallic growl the Super Stryker ignites its thrusters and charges right for Jake. Expecting it to be trying the same trick on him again, Jake smirks as he ducks and rolls to his left to avoid the machine... Which seemed to be exactly what it expected him to do as the side thruster of the G.R.A.D fires up and sends the Unit into a 360 degree spin as it swings one leg out. Jake was only able to cross his arms to shield himself as he realises this too late and feels the full force of the Super Stryker's kick as it launches him back into the air. Jake is slammed into the side of an empty shipping container and the force of the impact smashes him through the thin metal side of the container and he drops down inside the dark container after being stunned by the attack.

"Ow... That one's gonna leave a mark." He grunted as he rubs the back of his head, feeling a little dazed.

"JAKE!" He hears Tohka shout to get his attention and sees there was no time for him to waste, as he looks out the hole in the container he'd just been kicked into and saw the G.R.A.D was about to fire into the container he was in with its rockets and grenades.

"No you don't." Jake said as he gets up and runs for the door of the container, using his strength he kicks the locked door open and dives out of the container just as the rockets and grenades fired by the Super Stryker fly into the hole in the side and blow the metal container to pieces.

As soon as he left the container, Jake's armoured suit is gazed by bullets whizzing past him as the G.R.A.D keeps firing at him.

"That thing is starting to annoy me now." Jake mutters as he keeps moving to avoid the incoming fire.

Then he spots the Super Stryker chase after him as it sees him running in the direction of the corner of the hanger and was trying to cut him off.

"Let's see you try and counter this." Jake said as he waits for the Unit to get close enough to him and without warning he times his move and jumps up at the wall of the hanger.

With his suits claw like feet digging into the concrete, Jake begins to run across the side of the hanger wall, still heading for the corner. The G.R.A.D tries to keep track of him, firing its machinegun at him, leaving a trail of bullet holes in the wall behind Jake. Then Jake springs his trap and jumps to the other wall in the corner of the hanger... and as he lands on the wall he springs his legs out and launches himself towards the Super Stryker.

As Jake passes over the top of the Unit he grasps the barrel of its machinegun in one hand and with a well aimed swing of his blade, he slices into its turret mounting and rips the entire gun off the top of the unit.

The G.R.A.D screeches to a halt before hitting the hanger wall, and without its gun now, it quickly turns around and resorts to its rocket launcher to... However that as the unit takes aim, Jackson uses the machinegun to fire back at the unit and aims for its rocket launcher.

The launcher bursts into flames as Jake hits it and watches as the Super Stryker shudders and sparks as it struggles to stay standing, clearly being weakened by the damage done to it. The G.R.A.D takes a shot at Jake with its grenade launcher... but Jackson effortlessly swings his blade and slices the grenade in half and causes it to pass either side of him.

"You're gonna have to do better than that." Jake said through smirk, resting his blade on his shoulder to taunt the unit.

With one last attempt to take out its target the G.R.A.D uses the last of its power to rocket towards Jake and lowers its shield to prevent him from ducking under it, intending to flatten him. However Jake smirks at the rapidly closing machine and returns his sword its sheaf... in the last second before impact, Jake jumps up and plants a foot on the Super Stryker's shield, jumping high into the air Jackson twists his body as he flies over the top of the unit and draws his two revolvers, taking aim he pulls the triggers and fired two bullets... but not at the unit.

Instead he had aimed at the fuel storage tank that the G.R.A.D was about to smash into after being baited into charging at Jake so blindly. The two bullets strike the tank, followed swiftly by a huge explosion that engulfed the Super Stryker and rattles the entire hanger. As Jake lands back on the ground, he looks at the massive fireball that the unit had been enveloped in, smirking at it.

"alright then." He said as he returns his revolvers to their holsters and turns around to leave the hanger.

Then out of nowhere, Tohka shouts out to him.

"JAKE, BEHIND YOU!"

She thought Jake hadn't noticed that although the Super Stryker was heavily damaged, it was still alive... And was now charging straight for him, its body coated in flames and its shield sparking as its dragged across the floor, intending to crush Jackson against the wall. Jake didn't seem to look like he'd noticed yet and Tohka was about to scream at him again... when suddenly, Jake grasps the handle of his sword and backflips into the air right before being hit by the unit. As he passes over, Jake drives his blade down and skewers it into the top of the G.R.A.D's armoured roof.

His blade pierces deep into the unit and stabs its C.P.U, causing Jake's body to jolt as he feels his blade drain the Super Stryker's power cell and recharge his own. With its power source drained the G.R.A.D loses all strength and plummets to the ground, finally defeated and shuts down for good.

Pulling his blade free from the unit, Jake returns it his sheaf and hops off the roof of the Super Stryker, chuckling to himself.

"Relax, Tohka... I had it under control." He said, gaining a faint (Hmm) from Tohka, who was still annoyed Jake made her think they were going to be flattened.

Just then a ringing tone gains their attention as Jake sees that it was Mimi calling him over the Codec again.

"Talk to me." Jake said as he opens her screen to see her.

"Jake... That woman in the suit, I knew I'd seen her before." Mimi said as she referred to the woman from that visual log she had seen earlier, sounding very surprised with what she had found out in researching this person while Jake had been busy fighting the Super Stryker.

"Oh." Jake said, eager to hear what she had to share.

"Samantha Swanson- As in Dallas, Texas first female U.S. Senator... Samantha Swanson. They're already talking about her being a shoo-in for the nomination in the next presidential election, as well as make a new chapter in the history books as the first female President of the United States. And get this: Just over two years ago a federal grand jury investigated her ties to a certain private - ."

"Global Enforcement... One of the biggest PMC's out there... I remember." Jake said, finishing off Mimi's sentence.

He hadn't forgotten the investigation about Global Enforcement and any major politic that was tied to them in a business manner. Back when he and his squadron uncovered a weapons cache of high tech equipment being guarded by ultranationalist forces that were planning on starting a major civil war in Algeria a few years back. He remembered that the weapons were property of that PMC and led to an investigation regarding the companies internal affairs and business deals with rebel forces, which lead to the lady Senator being investigated for potentially approving of selling weapons to rebels to create a larger economy for military PMC's... However the charges had been dropped due to a lack of evidence connecting such allegations to Global Enforcement or the lady Senator... and the jury deemed the weapons as stolen by the rebel forces instead of sold to.

But this story never sailed with Jake... He had always been suspicious of that PMC ever since then, and assumed that they had used whatever political ties they had with the Lady Senator to either bribe out most of the jury... or blackmail whatever other members they couldn't buy out. But regardless of his suspicions... he could never find out what really happened back then.

Until now.

"The biggest one out there." Mimi said, continuing to fill Jake in on what she'd found out. "Not to mention the single largest investor in military C-S-S-U, Super Stryker research and development in the world... as well manufacturing most corporate I.S. Units like the training models at the academy or from other major forces... And with Lady Senator and Mileena in the same picture... I guess that answers our question as to who's been financing (Raven Head's) operations, as well backing their I.S development."

"Huh, Global Enforcement and Raven Head in bed together... that oughta make some fun headlines." Jake said as he thinks of what he'd just uncovered... realising that such allegations could cripple this PMC as well as shut down (Raven Head) for good.

However Mimi just looks at him with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Headlines?... Jake this is Global Enforcement and the first Lady U.S Senator we're talking about. There won't be any headlines." She said in a heavy hearted tone, knowing that even with what Jake had discovered at this lab today... it was likely going to end up the same way that it had gone years ago, the last time Global Enforcement was investigated. "Even if we handed this evidence to the media on a silver plater, no major media outlet will investigate allegations like this... it would be suicide both financially and politically... and we can't just go public ourselves with this... otherwise FEISAR is then placed on the chopping board for breaking regulations by conducting a corporate raid... we're legally pinned down from doing anything... just like last time."

Jackson listens to what she had to say, but he could only furrow his brow in frustration at this... he knew that Mimi was just implying the many reasons why going public and exposing Global Enforcement for the multitude of war crimes, killings, blackmail, war mongering and child mutilation that had been going on for longer that he could be think of was a bad idea... but he just couldn't ignore what he'd seen today... not for a second... because it went against every single thing and moral he stood for.

"So what? We just sit back while they keep carving up little kids, stand aside while they build an army of C-S-S-U's and Super Stryker's." Jake said in frustration, refusing to let what he'd seen go and was starting to think of an alternative solution himself. "You heard them, Mimi... We could burn tis place to the ground and they'll build another just as quickly. They're planning something, Mini... Something big and we can't just sit here and let it happen. We have to hit these kid killing bastard first and hit them hard right where it's gonna put them down for good."

At first, Mimi was unsure about what Jake was meaning, taking a moment to think about what he said... but when she did that, her eyes widen as she looks back at Jake as it suddenly clicked in her head. She knew exactly what Jake was implying in wanting to do.

"NO! Jake, no... I know what you're thinking, and... just no." She said, realising just how crazy what Jake was thinking of doing was

He was implying that if he couldn't shut them down legally, then he was thinking about taking Global Enforcement head on.

"Why not?" Jake said, sounding unfazed. "It's high time they realise that legal divisions, corporate laws, blackmail and bribery can't save them this time."

"Because it's completely insane." Mimi snaps, trying to talk him out of his idea.

"Global Enforcement is the biggest PMC in the world with multiple headquarters worldwide and have full backing from the United States regardless of where these headquarters are... Meaning that every headquarter they own, like the one they have in Japan is protected by these things the Americans take very seriously... these things are called LAW's! Remember."

"Mm-Hm - And law enforcement within a twenty block radius of all headquarters were privatised and farmed out to."

"Global Enforcement! yes! So what?!" Mimi said to cut off Jake, knowing where he was going with that.

But he had a point though. Not only was every headquarter owned by Global Enforcement protected by the law and order of the United States, but they had also removed all conventional law enforcement within a certain radius of every building and replaced them with a private policing force of MK-1 C-S-S-U's that were tasked with solely challenging and enforcing the protection of the company property... meaning that law enforcement around the building could sometimes be cruel, harsh and even brutal in some cases, but the problem was that the laws of the U.S prevented any legal action being taken against these harsh behaviours from the corporate police... Something that Jake saw as a reason to treat them as the problem would be treated as well... something that could only result in more bloodshed.

Something Mimi was trying desperately to talk him out of before he did something rash.

"There are still laws Jake, and it's there headquarters for Christ sakes... Maverick's never gonna let us just go guns blazing into the primary headquarters of a major PMC like Global Enforcement after he finds out about this, regardless of what evidence we have against them. And you can't just go there by yourself.. .You'd be diving head first right into the heart of a raging shitstorm... And for god sake man, think of what could happen to FEISAR, if you go charging in there, then Global Enforcement will have all the evidence themselves to shut us down for good... and years of work we poured our bodies into will be gone, forever." Mimi said, as she drops the full weight of the situation onto Jake, hoping that would be enough to convince him to rethink his plan.

But as she looked at him he still remained stern faced and unconvinced... like his decision had already been made up.

"I never said it was going to be easy... We'll figure it out once the kids here ae safe. But I'm not dropping this Mimi, not for one second.

"Jesus Chri- Mimi out." Mimi said, knowing that by that point she realised that Jake was beyond the point of negotiation, and only end the call.

"You're crazy, Jake you know that." Tohka said, after hearing the conversation between Jake and Mimi.

"Don't try and change my mind either, Tohka." Jake said as he heads for the door to exit the hanger.

"I'm not... I'm just stating that you're nuts for thinking of taking on a PMC that size." Tohka retorts.

"Hm." Jake grunts at this as the door open and he enters the next hall.

The hallway was empty and split in two directions at the far side, however Jake refrains from blindly walking round the corner when his radar picks up two hostiles guarding the left hallway.

"Tohka, should I expect a high threat level behind that corner?" Jake askes quietly as he stops just before the corner.

"Negative." Tohka replied as she assess the radar signals that identified the targets. "Just two MK-1's... but they may be heavily armed so I'd recommend stealth."

"Yeah... or I could just do this." Jake said and without warning he dashed around the corner at full speed, catching both sentry's off guard as he charges at them.

"What the?! OPEN FIRE!" One of the sentry's shout out and the two of them aim their rifles and open fire at Jake.

With only a few moments before the bullets hit him, Jake drops to his knees and slides across the ground, sweeping a leg out from under the guards as he passes them, knocking the two of them to the floor. And before the two of them could get back up, Jake had spun round, drawn his revolvers and pulled the trigger. The two soldiers bodies fall to the floor lifelessly as their heads are blasted into a red mist, spraying blood across the wall. Jake get back onto his feet and holsters his guns as he leaves the bodies of the guards behind him to go into the next room.

This room was different from the others that Jake had entered however, it was darker and filled with data terminals on one side of the room and a series of strange glass containers on the other side, like giant test tubes all linked together and were pumping some strange transparent blue liquid around them. From the looks of it, Jake had finally found the lab section of the facility.

"Ah, an artificial-blood cryopreserver." Jake suddenly hears Lola say over the Codec as she notices the device from Jake optical feed on the left side of the room. "They must have begun prepatory freezing."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked, as he was not familiar with what such a machine was designed to do."

"That device is filled with synthetic blood plasma. It can slow the metabolism of a harvested organ, circulating this plasma to sustain oxygen levels." Lola explained, sharing her more extensive knowledge on this type of machine with Jake. "You can preserve an arm, a brain - any body part, for several hours."

"So what are they freezing, and why?" Jake asked as he turn to the machine, wondering just what it could be getting prepared for.

"If I had to guess... Perhaps they plan to sell off the organs of the children, they were told to dispose of." Lola said worryingly, assuming that had to be the only reason such a device would still be in use just now when the lab is meant to getting shut down.

"Unbelievable." Was all that Jake could say... the though that these people were going to butcher and sell these kids organs even after having the costs of their lab covered was a gruelling and bone chilling feeling, but for Jake... It just seemed to make his blood boil.

"Indeed." He hears Lola say, snapping his train of thought back to her. "You'd best hurry Jake, there may still some time."

"Right." Said Jake as he leaves the call and quickly heads for the next room, hoping that he wasn't too late as he burst through the next door.

As Jackson enters the next part of the lab he sees that part of the room was quarantined off by a thick glass wall and the room on the other side was padded, like it was some kind of holding cell. Jake rushes over to the wall and feels a faint sense of relief to what he saw. It was children he'd been looking for, all still okay as they turn to see the unknown boy behind the glass, some of them standing up and walking over to look at him in curiosity as to who he was and why he's here.

"Thank god... they're okay." Jake whispered to himself.

Suddenly his relief is washed away as an alarm siren rings out, gaining his attention instantly.

"Shit!" Jake said as he looks into the container room and notices that a white gas was seeping out the vents and into the room the children were in. He frantically looks for a door or hatch of any sorts to free the girls from... but it was sealed tight, and as a next resort he reached for his blade to cut the glass wall.

But as he grasps the handle of his blade, a male voice calls out from behind him.

"Hey, stop right there."

Jake stops in his tracks as he recognises that voice and feels his blood boil... that Latino accent that he heard earlier... He knew that it was that twisted lab director responsible for the murder of he didn't know how many kids. the thought of wrapping fingers around his neck that tossing him through that glass wall filled his mind as he turns around to face the man. But as he did... Jake's anger is overcome with shock as he sees that the lab director had a crafty smirk on his face as he wasn't alone... but in fact holding one of the children at gun point as a hostage against Jake.

And within an instant, Jake recognises the young girl who's life was now in grave danger... It was Sabrina. His fear had been confirmed and they had somehow managed to find her after he left her to wait for him to return.

"Sabrina!" Jake said, fearing for the young girl.

"Jake." She said back, the fear in very voice showing how scared she was.

The lab director looks at Jake with a crooked grin on his face.

"You've heard of chloroform?" He asked, Jake. "A potent anaesthetic when used in smaller dosages... but breathe too much of it... and adios mustacho's"

Suddenly Jake begins to hear coughs and splutters behind him and turns back the children in the containment sell. And goes wide eyed when he sees them start to struggle to breath as he realises the gas seeping into the cell was chloroform. Jake knew they wouldn't last long and their lives depended on him to get them out before they suffocated to death, but as he reached for his gun to blow a hole in the wall the director shouts out to him again.

"You break that glass... and I'll blow her brains out." He said as he presses the gun against the side of Sabrina's head.

Jake hesitates for a second as he looks at the girls in the cell, most of them dropping to the ground choking for air, but he couldn't risk Sabrina like this and against his will, he lets go of the grip of his revolver... making the lab director smirk as he felt he had him at his will.

"Surrender... or decide... the needs of the many, or the needs of the few." He said as he demands that Jake gives up.

Jake felt his hatred for the man growing for putting him in this position, to surrender was not an option for him... but no matter what he did now, somebody's life was at risk of ending because of his actions... to save the kids in the cell and risk Sabrina dying in front of him... or save Sabrina and be too late to save the children he had fought his way through the entire facility to find. His mind awash with emotions on how he was feeling and what he should do.

Suddenly Sabrina said something to Jake.

"Jackson. don't worry 'bout me nah." She said to him, trying to tell him to save the rest of the girls instead of her.

"Quiet, pendejo!" The lab director snaps as he presses the gun harder against her head to silence her as she winced in his grasp.

"Surrender." The lab director said again as he turns to Jake again, grinning at him. "I won't ask again."

Jake looks at him, then at Sabrina, then behind him to the girls in the cell... who by my were gasping for what little air they could get... his mind racing.

(I'm gonna kill this bastard... no I have to save the kids... but then Sabrina would die... Kill the director... save the kids... save Sabrina.. Kill the director. Save them, save her, kill him, save, kill, save, kill, kill, kill.)

At that moment, from within his suit, Tohka gets a warning as a screen pops up in the corner of Jake's visor. reading

(Warning: Nova Levels Rising!)

"Oh no!" Tohka gasps quietly... She knew what that warning meant... Jake was starting to lose his composure... his resolve began to weaken as the desire to murder the director fuelled the demon within him, forcing him to show himself again, just like he did at the arena.

"Jake, please... don't lose control, you can do it... you have to... you can't let Jack out here." She begged to him, praying he could hear her and calm himself.

Jake shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, breathing heavily as he fights the urge to lose control of his darker side... until the lab director spoke again.

"You don't surrender... then consider every child in this room... Dead!"

Suddenly Tohka sees the warning screen flash red.

(Nova level: Critical)

"No!" She said as she prepares for the worst... but then she notices. Jake wasn't bursting into flames, or returning to his darker form like he did last time... instead, he was still, his fists clenched tight and his eyes shut, before he turns to Sabrina.

"Sabrina... Are you sure?" He askes her, gaining the attention of the young girl.

"Huh... hm... I'm ready. Mi life no so precious ting. But if mi can take dis skunt to hell wi mi.." She said as she started to struggle in the directors grasp, telling Jake that she was prepared to die if it meant this man holding her dies with her.

"Callate!" The director snaps, trying to silence her... then looks back at Jake, who's face finally is finally revealed as his facial amour unfolds.

The lab director goes wide eyed in fear as a pair of glowing red and black serpent like eyes glare at him as Jack gives him an evil glare of his own as he lets off a low demonic chuckle.

"That's al I needed to hear." He said as he turns towards the director and a large scythe blade slowly extends from out of his forearm... slowly walking towards him.

"Stop it... Now!" The director shouts as she starts to quiver at the sight of the boy walking towards him with murderous intentions. "I'll kill her, I swear."

But his threats did not stop slow approach of Jack as he stares the man down... Then the man feels a pair of hands grab his gun and pull it away from Sabrina's head. Jack sees the whole thing... while the director had been distracted by him, Sabrina took the initiative and grabbed his gun, giving Jake the chance to strike him down.

"Now!" She yelled as she twisted their bodies to expose the back of the director to Jack.

At that moment... it felt like time itself had slowed down as the event unfolded... Jack take the initiative and dashes towards the man. Knowing that end was coming, and that he was going to doe... the Lab director decided he would end Sabrina before Jack ended him. He raises his gun again as he hears the blade behind him being raised for the killing strike... Sabrina closes her eyes as she prepares for her life to come to an end as well as the director begins to pull the trigger of his gun and-

(SLASH)

The sound of steel cleaving through flesh rings throughout the lab and the director drops his gun. An intense pain that was so unimaginable that he couldn't even cry out sweeps over him as he feels his upper torso slowly slip off the lower half of his body and collapse to the floor in a severed state to die. Standing behind him, with his blade drenched in blood after slicing the man in two... Jake stays motionless breathing heavily as his blade slowly retracts and his demonic right eye bleed back to normal.

"JAKE! THE GIRLS!" He suddenly hears Tohka scream, warning him about the kids in the cell that were seconds from dying themselves.

Wasting no time Jake draws his guns and fires at the glass wall, shattering it and allowing the girls to breathe the fresh air that fill the cell. Causing him to sigh in relief as he sees all of them crawl out of the cell and out of harms way.

"Thank god... just in time." He said quietly... but then he turns back to the lab directors severed body and sees the young girl lay motionless beneath him. "Oh no... SABRINA!"

Jake tosses the dead upper half of the lack director off her and is shocked when he sees her, her breathing faint and blood spewing from a massive gash running across her back. In the event of killing the lab director and letting Jack loose again... he'd clipped her with his blade as well, and now... the guilt weighed down upon him for it.

"Sabrina... no... no, no, no... what have I done." Jake curses himself.

(Two Hours Later)

Jake hangs his head down, his faced masked by his hat as his heel drums against the floor while he sits down on the bench outside the infirmary.

It had been a couple of hours since he had returned to the academy after leaving the facility, and thanks to his I.S's (Phantom Cloak) he was able to fly back quickly without being spotted. Like that, when he returned carrying multiple young girls and demanded immediate medical attention for all of them the students that saw him were worried themselves as to where they had come from and if they were okay.

But that wasn't what was weighing down on Jake... it was Sabrina.

As he sat on that bench outside the room she had been taken into, he could only sigh heavily as he felt a sense of self hatred towards him as he remembers how he hurt her. He remembered how he desired the blood of that lab director and how he wanted to kill him so badly... and had no remorse for Sabrina at that moment... that moment when he let Jack out again... feeling a sense of weakness again as he can't understand how he couldn't keep control of his darker side again. He raised his right arm in front of him and looks at it... knowing that somewhere in there... that gruesome scythe that slashed into that young, innocent girls flesh was under there.

A thought that sickened him right to his core as he lowered his head again.

He was so enveloped in the cloud of guilt shrouding his mind that he didn't hear the faint sound of foot steps in the distance and it wasn't he glanced to his side and saw a pair of black shoe's and tights standing next to him... Jake sighed heavily as he knew who it was.

"You here to finish that argument we had earlier." He huffs from behind his hat... Expecting a verbal barrage from the woman standing before him.

"Actually... I was wondering if you're okay, Jake... you've been sitting here for the last hour and a half." He heard Chifuyu say, causing Jake to lift his head up to her as she sits down next to him.

"hmm." Jake murmured as looks at Miss. Orimura. "How are the other kids?"

"They're gonna be fine." Chifuyu said as she tells Jake what the academy medics had told her regarding the health of the girls that he'd rescued. "No serious damage has been done to them."

Jake lets off a sigh of relief after hearing that, however his relief is short lived as he looks back at the room in front of him, something that Chifuyu noticed.

"You okay Jake?" He heard Miss. Orimura ask, and could only look at her with a guilt ridden expression.

"She's only in that room because of me." Jake said, looking at his hands, the vision of blood soaking them flashes past him. "I lost my composure again... and the next thing I know... I've made a mistake that will haunt me forever."

Chifuyu looks at Jake, seeing the guilt in his eyes made her see just how hurt he was by what he'd done.

"Our medics are doing the best they can, Jake." She said trying to reassure him. "And because of you... a lot of innocent people survived today... You should be proud of that."

"Not if it means I had to kill an innocent life to do it!" Jake retorts as he gets up form the bench and looks at Chifuyu. "She's in critical condition because of me... and right now I can't stand myself for letting my dark side out again and doing that to her."

Chifuyu lets off a heavy sigh as she gets up as well and looks back at Jake.

"And if you'd waited any longer everyone in that lab would have died." She said, her words catching Jake off guard.

"Huh? How do you know about the lab?" He asked, wanting to know how Miss. Orimura knew about this.

However before she could say anything the door to the that Sabrina was in opens and a medic comes holding a briefcase in her hand and sees the two of them standing outside. As he saw the medic, Jake's mindset is drawn off course as he had a question for the lady.

"How is she?" He asked, silently praying in the back of his mind for a positive answer.

"She's resting right now... but she's going to make a full recovery." The nurse said as she looks at her medical file on the girl she'd been treating.

The moment he heard that, Jake lets off a massive sigh of relief... feeling a sense of joy as he hears that Sabrina was going to be okay.

"She is very lucky though." The nurse then said, gaining Jakes attention. "That laceration on her back could have been fatal if left untreated, not to mention the damage he spinal column sustained should have rendered her paralysed... but I guess she should be thanking you, Mr. Jackson... if we hadn't had any of this left she may have never walked again."

The nurse holds the briefcase up to Jake, and that's when he realised it was the case that his healing serum that he used to help Ichika and the others after that incident in the arena. Jake stairs at the case for a moment and the realisation of just how close Sabrina was have actually dying weighed down on him, and with a sudden rush of emotions to his head he turns back to Chifuyu.

"Forgive me Ma'am, but I need to clear my head for a minute." He said and makes his way past her to head to the on place in the academy where he could be at peace... The roof of the dorm building.

"Take care of the rest of the girls, I'll make sure he's fine." Miss. Orimura said to the nurse who nods at her in understanding before she leaves to find Jake.

A short while later, Jackson finds himself leaning against the railing as he gazes out at the city across the bay. By this point the weather had shifted and a heavy thunder storm had swept across the region and the rain pours down on his I.S academy uniform as he continues to stare into open space, trying to forget most part of what happened today. With a heavy sigh Jake reached into his blazer and pulls out his packet of cigarette's that he kept there and puts one in his mouth... but as he reaches for his lihter he hears a voice behind him.

"Breaking academy rules again huh, Jake." He hears as he turns around to see Chifuyu standing behind him under a black umbrella and realised that she had followed him to his spot, and with a frustrated sigh Jake takes his cigarette out his mouth.

"No... It's fine... I think after today I think I should let you off with this one." She said as she leans against the rail next to Jake, causing him to raise a brow to her in confusion as normally she would be hitting him across the head for smoking on the campus.. and was only more surprised when Chifuyu reached over and picks a cigarette out his pack herself.

"Huh... didn't realised you smoke to." Jake said as he lights up his cigarette and then lights Miss. Orimura's as he takes in a puff of smoke.

"A long time ago, but today is definitely one of those days that needs one." She said as she takes a puff of smoke herself, then reached into her coat.

"Here, Jake... you need this." She said as she pulls out a silver flask and holds it next to Jake.

Jake was a little taken back by her hospitality and takes the flask from her, opening the lid and take a swig from it. The smooth burn of Tennessee Rye warms his throat, causing him to feel his stress slowly melt away as he passed the flask back to her.

"Cheers, your right... I did need that." He said, watching as Chifuyu takes a swig herself and puts the flask back in her coat.

"Rough day, huh Jake." She asked, gaining a faint chuckle from Jake.

"You could say... but what I don't get is how you knew about the incident in the Lab?" He asked... taking another puff from his cigarette.

Chifuyu was quietly for a moment, then reached into her pocket and pulls out her phone and passes it to Jake.

"What's this?" He asked as he takes the phone and turns it on.

"After our argument... Your A.I discreetly sent a direct link between my phone and your suit" Miss. Orimura said as she takes another puff of smoke, while Jake watches the phone screen to see that he was watching his visual log from his suit during his mission. "She felt that the only way I'd understand how serious your task was, was If I saw it with my own eyes."

"I see." Jake said as he passes the phone back to her and blows out another cloud of smoke.

The two of them stand quietly against the rail and look out at the city, then Chifuyu notices Jake looking like he was deep in thought about something.

"What are you thinking, Jake." She asked, but Jake just let out a heavy sigh to her.

"It's worse than I thought." Jake sighs as he remembers everything he learned today. "The C-S-S-U's... The Cyber initiative... Raven Head... Global Enforcement. This could spell global disaster if nothing is done... and soon... and I don't know where to start regarding it."

"This something FEISAR has been fighting?" Chifuyu asked and Jake nods at her.

"Raven Head is a mercenary group armed with I.S units that we have been trying to take out for a while due to countless war crimes they've committed but unfortunately we have been unable to due to the corporate protection they have from Global Enforcement... and from what we've found out... things have just gotten far worse." Jake said, sighing heavily as the gravity of the situation presses down on him.

"That Raven Head that mentioned Project Nova... What have they got to do with it?" Chifuyu asked... and that's when Jake gets up from the railing.

"I don't really want to talk about that." Jake said as he takes one last puff from his cigarette. "It's not a happy memory for me."

After saying that, Jake tossed his cigarette over the balcony and looks at Miss. Orimura.

"What's important is I have to find a way to stop this cyber initiative before it gets off the ground... even if it means I have to rip apart an entire company... those kids aren't suffering like that, I won't allow it." He said through a stern tone.

With that, Jake walks off, but Is stopped when Chifuyu calls his name, and he turns back to look at her.

"Jake... I know it's not easy harbouring feelings... but I'm here whenever you need me." She said, gaining a faint smile from the boy.

"I know... the only reason I don't come to you is because I don't want you to carry my Burdon." He said, and with that, Jake leaves the roof to head to his room.

Chifuyu stays there for a bit longer to think about what Jake just said as she finished her cigarette and tosses off the side of the roof before leaving herself... her only thought being that whatever Jake was keeping hidden from her about him, she hoped he wasn't hurting himself by doing so.

However as she leaves the roof... both her and Jake were unaware that they had been watched through a set of binoculars by a set of prying eyes from the far side of the bay. As Miss. Orimura leaves her sight, a woman dressed in a jet black and green leather coat bearing a Raven Head on the left shoulder picks up her Phone and dials a number.

"Hello... Yeah, I saw him... He's here in Japan... mm hm, definitely... now, now that's not needed just yet... I want to have some fun before that happens... I have an idea to make sure it's definitely the target... Send a Ray Class S.S.U to rough up the academy a bit, if he is here... He'll be there to stop it."

The woman hangs up the phone and chuckles playfully as she looks at the Academy from across the bay.

"Enjoy my little gift you, Jake... Should you survive it... then ending you by my blade will be all the more satisfying."