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Chapter 20 Escape and Conflict

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Crisis’ group makes their way through the thick brush of the forest, their audio and visual systems constantly scanning the area around them for any signs of hostiles. They drop to the ground as they use the green landscape as camouflage as yet another one of Croc’s robotic scout drones flies overhead.

“We should keep moving, if they find us or the helicopter before we get to the extraction point it’s going to be a tough and long journey back home,” states Francis.

“Yes we know, though if one of those buggers catches wind of us, I’ll take it down before it has time to report back to its HQ,” comments Sasha with a smug grin on her face as she taps her rifle.

“You’d like to think that but no, and even if you managed to, one of their drones going down will alert the others, so either way it’s best not to be seen by them,” remarks Francis.

“I know how this works, this isn’t the first time I’ve been deep behind enemy lines,” retorts Sasha as they continue to move.

Crisis moves tests her right arm and how well it functions by having her finger tips on her hands touch each other, which she manages to do with some difficulty, “You shouldn’t have taken such risks,” remarks Francis as he looks over at Crisis.

“I know what risks I can take.”

“Do you now? Judging from your record you’ve taken a lot of big risks with infiltrating into a Croc controlled city, letting him dissect you so he can put more of his own technology into you, as a ‘back up’ body. Our grasp on his technology is minimal compared to his and yet you act like you invented it.”

“Any risk I take is calculated, I take all options, possible outcomes, and consequences into consideration, before I make a decision.”

“I don’t think you do,” remarks Francis.

“What?”

“We’ll discuss it in depth later, first things first, we have more pressing matters,” replies Francis as he, Crisis and the others get low to the ground as another drone flies overhead, “At this rate, they’ll find our extraction site, we better hurry.”

“Agreed,” responds Crisis with a soft nod as the group picks up the pace, moving through the brush, dodging between the dead fallen trees, many of which were caused by the war years earlier as moss and other plant life having overgrown these dead patches of trees, all except the most recent bombings now that front lines are moving back in this direction.

“This forest has seen a lot,” comments Ruby.

“The forest will grow back, it always does. This is far from the first war this forest has seen,” comments Francis as the group breaks through the brush to a small clearing.

“Finally, here we are here, now we have to remain in cover and not get seen till the chopper arrives to pick us up, its good no one slowed us down to miss our extraction time,” comments Francis as Sasha gives him a silent glare.

“No need to complain, we’re here and early. We haven’t seen another drone in some time, it looks like we’re okay. See Francis you worry too much,” comments Crisis with a smirk on her face.

“I am worried and concern because of my years of experience. That is why you roboticized me, so my much needed skills could be of service to our nation once more. So you better use what I have to offer before it’s too late,” he growls.

“I am, I brought you along for this mission didn’t I? It’s also why I brought Ruby along; her knowledge of the train was extremely helpful.”

“Helpful in only what didn’t matter.”

“What was that?” remarks Ruby as she glares at Francis.

“You provided little insight to the Empress’ train defenses.”

“How dare you, I provided you all the information I could. You should have expected she’d make adjustments to her plans when I didn’t return from my mission.”

“Regardless of that, it doesn’t change the facts that your information was less than helpful.”

“When we’re out of here we’re going to have some words.”

“Whatever words you have will have just as much validity as the Intel you gave us.”

“Why you...” growls Ruby as he grips her whip with her right hand.”

“Quite the chopper is coming,” orders Francis as a sleek black angular helicopter flies into the clearing just inches above the tree line. As the helicopter hovers over the clearing, the brush and grasses are blown all over the place, birds and insects flying away as the group runs to the center. Ropes with a loop tied at the very end come sliding down, each member of the group quickly grabbing their own respective ropes, slipping a foot into the loop before quickly being winched up onto the chopper, where two raptors dressed in flak jackets help each person into the chopper.

“Everyone in?” asks the pilot as he glances back at everyone.

“Yes now get us out of here,” orders Francis.

“Roger, everyone buckle up,” responds the pilot as he turns the helicopter around, the steady hum of the blades constantly heard as we speak while buckling up.

“How did the mission go?” asks the Co-pilot.

“Well enough,” answers Francis.

“Good,” he responds as he turns his attention back in front of him. The helicopter skimming the tree tops as it moves at full speed.

“Now that we have a moment to relax...” comments Crisis.

“I wouldn’t relax just yet, this is just dangerous as any other part of the mission,” warns Francis.

“You’re always so uptight, we can’t do anything right now, we might as relax,” replies Crisis as she turns her attention to Sasha, “Now can you tell me anything more on the pieces of Chaos Croc that you were able to obtain from the mission you spoke of earlier?”

“Nothing much to tell to be honest.”

“Who was in charge of the mission?”

“General Raszer was the one in charge of the operation. He’s probably been the one in charge of the entire Crisis project, but that information is above my pay grade and purely speculation.”

“When I see him I’ll bring it up. Much information on my own creation has been difficult to obtain, and the more I know about myself, the better I can be at taking out Croc,” comments Crisis as she leans back and thinks, “ __Even with AI_ ’ s help, it ’ s been difficult to get information about myself. Karrie is still missing and she, according to Joshua, was a major part in my creation... Then what about what the Empress said to me? ”_ Crisis then spends a moment looking outside at the passing forest below, “ __Yes I do want to destroy Croc, he_ ’ s caused the people of my nation so much anguish and trouble. I ’ m nothing like that, I give them the choice to become a machine like myself. Being a machine is great, but I don ’ t force the decision onto others, ”_ thinks Crisis as she looks at Ruby.

“ __I did transform her against her will, and now I think about it, Arissa and Shasi and the others when I first activated, I enslaved that entire base, granted it needed to be done, but... am I just like Croc then? How close did they base me off of him, and what will I do after I destroy him?_ ”_

“Anything wrong Crisis?” asks Ruby as she gently tilts her head to one side.

“Hmm? Nothing wrong, just thinking about everything that has happened. Not to mention the load of work I’m going to need to do to fix myself, the nanites will only do so much.”

“You did sustain a bit of damage in the fight, if only I did better, it could have been avoided.”

“You did great, you helped the others and you said you knew some of the guards protecting the Empress that gave you an advantage to their skills and abilities, making it easier for you to move through.”

“Having better intelligence on what we’re were up against would of been loads better. We could have easily done our mission with less damage,” interjects Francis as he motions towards the other machine that was on the train, his body completely banged up and shot with at least a half a dozen or more holes, his movements are slow and stuttering.

“I gave what I could alright?” growls Ruby as her eyes narrow down on Francis

“Enough, I don’t want to hear any more fighting between the two of you during this flight,” shouts Crisis.

“Sorry Mistress Crisis,” replies Ruby.

“Fine with me,” remarks Francis as he looks out on the other side of the helicopter.

“So you’re the head machine that we built to fight Croc?” asks one of the two organic raptors that helped them on board earlier.

“I am,” replies Crisis with a nod.

“I will admit I find it rather ironic that we’re using a machine to defeat a machine, and frankly I wish we didn’t have to come down to relying on such things to win this war, but at this point I am not complaining about the results. Goes to show what our technology can do eh?”

“Yes it does. I don’t get a chance to talk to many other military personnel, I tend to be rather busy with my endless duties, but the results of my efforts and that of everyone under my command is paying off in spades.”

“For now at least,” comments Francis.

“Always the optimist,” remarks Crisis with a soft sigh.

“Life has told me to be anything but optimistic.”

“What about now? How do you feel about what I’ve done for you?” inquires Crisis.

“Am I grateful for a second lease on life, to be able to live longer, stronger than I could have ever dreamed of before? Yes, I can do so much more now than I even did in my youth, but would I prefer to be what I was before? Yes. I’m like this more out of duty for our country than for myself,” replies Francis.

“In the end it was your choice to make.”

“It wasn’t much of a choice.”

“How so?” asks Crisis.

“I was dying as an old man, watching those younger than me perish against a monstrous foe. What would anyone do? Would they just sit there, lie and wait for their own timely demise, or do something to make a difference for those they love and for our country?”

“In the end no one made you.”

“No one physically made me; circumstances forced me to make one decision over the other.”

“I see...” replies Crisis as she leans back into her seat, “ __I wonder if that_ ’ s true. That they ’ d all prefer to be organic again.... but I made it so they ’ d enjoy it, to be grateful and loyal to me... like how Croc makes it so others are grateful and loyal to him when he turns them into machines. I need to learn more about the Crisis project, I need to— ”_ thinks Crisis as an alarm goes off.

“Hang on tight seems we have company,” yells the pilot as the helicopter fires off a set of flares, two missiles aimed at the chopper explode in a giant ball of fire just behind the helicopter, setting ablaze a section of the forest as the chopper takes a sharp right turn, as the chopper rattles and shakes. The people’s bodies inside are jerked around as the chopper makes its maneuver.

“This is why I said it’s no time to relax,” yells Francis as two green, red and black drone attack jet helicopters appear in the distance.

“Damn it!” growls the pilot as he jumps the chopper up to full speed, gaining some altitude as the enemy attack helicopters quickly approach.

“Those are drone attack ships, you won’t be able to out maneuver them,” yells Francis.

“I don’t have to out maneuver them, just their missiles till we get into friendly territory, we’re not too far off now,” shouts the pilot as he takes another high G turn, flares shoot out behind the aircraft quickly followed by two mid air explosions as the missiles hit the flares, the shock wave causing the helicopter to rock back and forth, tumbling, the ship regaining control just as the bottom of the scraps along the tops of some trees snapping them off, causing them to tumble to the forest floor below.

“Those were our last flares,” yells the Co-pilot.

“Not many flares for this boat,” growls Francis.

“We’re a covert ops, we’re not designed to be able to be targeted by the enemy at all,” remarks the Co-pilot as the chopper does a twisting corkscrew loop as red laser fire moves past the ship, sound of helicopter’s Gatling gun rumbling off as two enemy helicopters fly underneath, smoke and fire coming from the second ship as it twists and turns before crashing into the forest below, as a small ball of fire rushing up into the air.

“Got one!” exclaims the pilot as he pulls another tight turn, the crackling sound of laser fire through the air as an alarm sounds as the chopper rattles from the hit of enemy fire.

“And now they got us,” retorts Francis as the chopper rattles, smoke quickly filling the cockpit and cabin. Crisis’ sensors barely able to see through the smoke as more laser fire rattles the ship. Crisis feels the ship start to tumble down to the ground. Trees snap and the ships tarts to roll through the trees, propeller blades snapping and flying off as Crisis’s systems turn on and off, the blunt trauma of the force causing her systems to scramble up, her vision becoming like it was in that ECM cloud on the train. Crisis watches helplessly as she rolls around with the helicopter as more pieces of metal twist and fly off, and as Crisis see’s a large tree flying towards her as the chopper slides against the ground her system goes black.

“ __Warning... warning...._ ”_ flash off in red in her internal systems as her vision steadily begins to clear. Crisis’ internal systems inform her that her primary systems were offline for about five minutes. Crisis looks around to feel the heat of the burning wreckage nearby, her body hanging upside down. Crisis struggled with the straps that held her to the helicopter as the fire steadily spreads as fuel leaks from the fuselage. .

“Damn straps...” growls Crisis as she tries to activate her right electro-blade, after a few sparks it fails to turn on, Crisis attempting to activate her left, and after a second it turns on, allowing her to easily cut herself free from the seat, she falls down with a thud.

“Crisis you there? Get out of there it’s going to explode any minute,” exclaims Ruby from a distance, as the roaring flames separate the two.

Crisis systems inform her of the quickly growing heat of the flames, Crisis is about to turn to face the flames that roar outside when she hears a groan. Her attention quickly turns back to find Sasha laying on the ground her sniper rifle clasped tightly in one hand while the other she has on her side, a piece of jagged metal shoved into her side.

“Sasha! Hang in there,” says Crisis as she moves over to her.

“Crisis... get out of here, I won’t be able to do anything like this, just go,” she groans.

“No, I won’t.”

“You’ll endanger yourself, just go.”

“No,” exclaims Crisis as she picks up Sasha, who groans deeply.

“Stop this, I’m going to bleed out regardless, just go now, before you risk yourself any further.”

“You’ve done so much for me, I won’t leave you like this,” replies Crisis as she pulls Sasha onto her back, Sasha’s arms wrapped around Crisis’s body as her sniper rifle is placed in front of Crisis, used as a handle to hold on better. Sasha groaning deeply as Crisis can feel the piece of metal rubbing against her back. “Hold on tight, we have to go fast,” cautions Crisis as she looks up at weakened Sasha.

“Hurry, your skin is starting to burn,” she moans as Crisis runs through the flames, her systems indicating damage to her legs as she moves. The flames surrounding them as Sasha groans about the heat, Crisis’ systems telling her that her external shell is quickly warming up, to a dangerous level not only for herself but also to Sasha.

Crisis bursts from the flames, Sasha’s clothing singed from the heat. Crisis continues to move as Ruby follows, as they get behind several set of trees. Crisis lays Sasha behind the tree, Crisis’ body between Sasha and the plan. The fire quickly spreads to the rest of the helicopter, the fuel tanks soon catching flame as they explode, causing shrapnel to fly in all directions like bullet. Crisis feels a clank as at least one piece of metal ricochets off of her left shoulder, causing minor damage, as the tree and other fauna block not only block most of the explosion from view but most of the deadly shrapnel.

“You okay Mistress Crisis?” asks Ruby as she rushes over to Crisis’ side.

“I’ll survive, Sasha is badly injured though,” replies Crisis.

“Just leave me, I’ll slow you down,” pleads Sasha.

“No, I won’t do that, we just have to stop the bleeding, then I’ll carry you back.”

“She’s right; you should leave her so we can go. End her suffering here or Croc’s forces will find her, and torture her for precious information,” explains Francis as he and the raptor that helped Sasha at the bridge is here, but the other isn’t.

“No, I won’t do that. I can’t do that, we will save her,” exclaims Crisis as looks and glares at Francis.

“Francis is right, you’ll have to leave without me, I am too much of a risk.”

“No, first we’ll pull this out and—,”

“And I’ll bleed to death, there’s no way to stop the bleeding,” explains Sasha as Crisis looks at the metal shrapnel the sound of the firing growing louder.

“We should move before the fire spreads over to here,” comments Francis.

“Wait a second... I have an idea, Ruby; you’ll pull out that piece of shrapnel but only when I tell you.”

“As you wish, Crisis,” replies Ruby as she moves over beside Sasha as Crisis stands up.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” asks Francis.

“I’m going to stop the bleeding,” replies Crisis as she runs off towards the burning helicopter, Crisis returning a few minutes later, her left hand is bright glowing red, “Ready?”

“Yes,” replies Ruby with a nod as her metallic fingers wrap around the shrapnel, Sasha groans as Ruby grabs it.

“On three...”

“Wait!” yells Sasha.

“What is it?”

“Give me a stick to bite on, a big one,” pleads Sasha.

“Ruby get a stick, and hurry this hand won’t stay hot for long,” replies Crisis as her internal systems are informing her of the danger and frying of some of her internal circuitry from the heat. Ruby returns a moment later with a thick stick, she places it into Sasha’s mouth as she starts to bite down on it.

“Okay on three, one...two...three!” yells Crisis as Ruby pulls out the shrapnel, Crisis quickly placing her hand onto the wound, the sound of sizzling flesh heard as Sasha gives muffled screams as she bites so hard onto the stick it soon snaps into three pieces. Crisis then pulls her hand away and sticks it into some nearby grasses and ferns, the small amount of water condensation on them evaporating as Crisis’ hand steadily cools.

“That... wasn’t so bad...” pants Sasha as she groans.

“I’ll carry you.”

“Wait let me” interjects Ruby as she reaches and grabs Crisis’ right hand as she reaches down to pick up Sasha.

“No, I will,” replies Crisis as she jerks her hand away from Ruby’s grip.

“But you’re damaged far more than I am, it will be more difficult for you.”

“Yes, and that is why I have to, I’m a close ranged fighter, you’re able to fight close up and at a distance and since you’re more operational than I am, you can fight far better than me. It’s better if I carry and you defend us.”

“She’s right, even damaged she should be able to carry me with little problem,” pants Sasha as she tenses and groans from the pain.

“I understand,” replies Ruby with a nod as Crisis reaches down and gently picks up Sasha and pulls her onto her back, Crisis curves her tail to let Sasha rest herself on top of that and against her back, Sasha’s arms resting around Crisis’s neck as she holds her sniper rifle in the same fashion as she did when they escaped the burning helicopter.

“This is a bad idea, but at this point we’ve wasted too much time to make a difference, we need to move now,” commands Francis as Crisis and Ruby nod and start to move. Crisis stumbles after the first step or two before she quickly regains her balance.

“You alright Crisis?” asks Ruby as she attempts to help Crisis who waves her off.

“I’m okay, just adjusting to the change in center of gravity,” she replies as her internal systems warn of the damage to her leg systems and this extra weight for an extended period of time isn’t advised, “Did anyone else make it from the crash?” asks Crisis.

“No, us three were thrown from the ship before the helicopter stopped. My friend was destroyed on impact, along with the helicopter’s crew.”

“I’m sorry for your loss and those of the crew,” Crisis replies as she lowers her head and looks towards the ground.

“Nothing we can do now but move forward.”

The group moves through the brush as a steady sound of the small scout drone spheres pass overhead, the sound of moving troops getting closer and the closer, the distinct mix of organic and robotic soldiers is heard echoing through the forest overpowering the traditional chirp of birds and other various insects. Through the trees, the group can see the sun is already two thirds over the horizon, giving only a couple more hours of sunlight.

“Francis are you able to contact anyone? My communication was damaged in the crash,” asks Crisis.

“As was mine,” remarks Ruby.

“We’re on our own right now, we have to handle this ourselves,” replies Francis. The group getting low into the brush as a squad of six organics dressed in Croc’s green and red uniforms move onto their location, Croc’s group quickly approaching Crisis’. “Get down and don’t engage unless they see us,” orders Francis as they use the brush as much to their advantage, getting behind under a few fallen trees and other plant life. Sasha gritting her teeth to muffle any groans she has.

“Hurry their ship crashed over here, we can’t let any survivors escape,” yells the commander.

“They’ll pay for killing the Empress,” exclaims another soldier as they run right past the group, two of them jump over the log the fallen tree that Sasha and Crisis were hiding under. The troops footsteps slowly fading away as they move towards the crash site.

“I wonder how they knew that we were the ones that managed to kill their Empress?” questions Francis a few minutes later, Francis eyeing Crisis as they continue to move.

“You can’t say this is my fault now.”

“Can’t I? You let that skunk escape, why would he hide the fact of what happened? And the fact that they hit is so hard so fast with troops rushing to the crash site, it all points to the fact that they were told what we did.”

“It’s not possible to know if they know for certain or just assume it could be us based on the fact we were fleeing where the incident occurred.”

“We made sure that the extraction point was far enough away that factor is limited. You and Ruby are the weak links of the mission.”

“How dare you accuse us of being the weak link of this mission!” exclaims Ruby.

“It’s alright Ruby, now isn’t the time to argue, we need to get back to friendly lines,” states Crisis as she adjusts Sasha on her back, who groans from the movement, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” replies Sasha.

“For once we’re in an agreement, we need to keep going,” says Francis as the group moves. The group goes from tree to tree, brush to brush, avoiding drones and patrols along the way. Eventually the group reaches to the end of the forest and the end of the day, darkness has overtaken the land, and Crisis’ night vision is barely considered functional.

“This is going to be difficult, you’re still with us Sasha?” asks Crisis as she turns her head over to look at her.

“Yeah,” replies Sasha her eyes half open, her breathing growing heavier and heavier.

“We have the cover of darkness if we move quickly; we’ll be over our lines before sunrise.”

“I can only hope, Sasha isn’t doing so well,” says Crisis as she looks Sasha.

“I’m fine just keep going,” groans Sasha.

“We’ve been lucky we’ve avoided a fight but don’t relax just yet, we still have a lot to go,” warns Francis as the group continues to move. The swaying long grass helps cover the group’s movement. The lights of the enemy vehicles illuminating the areas as they crouch down low to the ground, the grass smack against their metal bodies as they move as fast as the slowest person, Crisis. Her systems informing her of the increased damage to her leg and right arm systems, her left hand still heavily damaged from being heated.

“Crisis let me carry her for a little while,” suggests Ruby.

“No, I got this; we went over as to why I must do this.”

“It doesn’t matter we’re going slow regardless, now keep going,” orders Francis as the group gets down again as a nearby jeep drives by, a large spot light looking around for any suspicious activity, another two jeeps following right behind with mounted guns, able to neutralize any activity that is found. The group stopping as the long grasses dies down giving way to a barren landscape battered by combat, shell holes, and scorched earth is everywhere, “This will be the difficult part.”

“I know, my forces have tried three times to break this line but thus far we’ve been unsuccessful, the closer we get to Veloci, the stiffer the resistance has gotten,” comments Crisis.

“Regardless we have to cross this open ground while not getting spotted by drones or patrols,” he explains as he looks around, “We’ll move on my mark.”

Crisis and the others nod as Crisis then says, “I’ll let you deal with this, this kind of thing is outside my area of expertise.”

“At least you finally admit your lack of skill,” remarks Francis as Crisis gives him a long glare before he signals them to move. Their heavy bodies sinking into the ground, as the blown ground has become muddy from the recent combat and the rains that hit the area a day before. The thick black earth sticking to their metallic bodies as about halfway between the two lines Crisis slips and slides on some mud into a shell hole about four feet deep and several more feet wide.

“Crisis!” exclaims Ruby as she slides down to help her and Sasha back up, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“This is no place to wait around we have to hurry,” growls Francis as a several flares are shot into the air illuminating the battlefield as laser fire from Croc’s side of the battlefield come right at them, Francis and the other raptor dive down into another nearby shell hole and return some fire.

“Looks like they found us,” states Ruby.

“And there’s no way to contact our side for help,” comments Crisis.

“This is my fault, you should have left me,” growls Sasha as she lays beside Crisis her rifle in her hand.

“No it’s not.”

“I can’t just lay here in the mud let me do something, I still have some shots left in my rifle.”

“Okay,” replies Crisis as she attempts to sit up, an alarm going off in her internal systems as her leg cramps up and she stops halfway, “Damn it, Ruby help her up there, and give her some cover fire.”

“Yes Mistress,” replies Ruby as she helps drag Sasha to the edge of the creator, Sasha holding her rifle tightly in her claws as she groans in pain as she is placed into position.

Francis and the other in the other creator give a few simple pot shots but are able to do little against the set of jeeps and trucks coming their way, barreling down towards them, going to arrive and over take them in a matter of minutes. Crisis watches as Ruby gives a few shots from her blaster towards the incoming vehicles, a few nearby laser shots hit the ground kicking up some mud, sizzling and evaporating the water hidden within, Sasha grunts as she looks forward at the first truck in line, her riffle pressed against her chest, the long barrel hanging over the edge as she takes aim down the site. She takes a slow deep breath as she squeezes the trigger, the riffle recoiling making her scream in pain her wound is slide across the ground, the bullet going right into the driver of the first truck, which quickly spirals out of control and crashes into another jeep, causing a nearby truck to turn quickly off course and crash into a rather large creator. With the lead light jeep gone the accuracy of the other vehicles becomes even less accurate, but doesn’t stop the still larger number vehicles heading towards them.

“There’s too many of them,” yells Francis.

“There isn’t much I can do, that was my last bullet,” says Sasha as she slides back down under cover, against Crisis who just managed to hit her leg enough to make it work she can sit back.

“Damn it, it can’t end like this,” remarks Crisis as she attempts to activate her wrist blades, an error message coming up informing her that both are offline. “I guess I should have used my right hand to cauterize your wound, but I had to be delicate...” sighs Crisis as she looks down at her inoperable wrist blades, “ __It just can_ ’ t end like this, there has to be something I can do... ”_ thinks Crisis as an explosion is heard from Croc’s side of the battlefield.

“What was that?” asks Ruby as Crisis moves up to the edge of the crater to see burning wreckage of several of the approaching vehicles. Many of them now veer off as they dismount and take positions as a wave of rockets and hail of gunfire berates the attacking group. A hum of helicopters from the friendly side of the battlefield is then heard as they rush overhead. Enemy aircraft attempt to rush into the battle but are met by an concentrated rocket fire that keeps any uncoordinated attack at bay.

Francis fires a blue flare as minutes later a large armored transport helicopter flying over head. Organic raptors slide down the ropes to take position to help stave off any assaults as they help attach ropes to the machines and place Sasha into a rescue basket.

“How did you find us?” asks Crisis.

“We got your message,” explains one of the raptors as he signals for them to be winched up into the chopper

“What message?”

“The one I sent them,” answers Francis as they are tugged upwards towards the helicopters.

“I thought you said you couldn’t contact them.”

“Not from where we were, we’d be tracked by the enemy, the moment we got to the front lines I sent the message though.”

“You could have told me,” growls Crisis as they reach the top, pulled in by others waiting for them.

“It was best you didn’t know,” he replies as chopper hooves there long enough to extract the others before quickly turning back home.

“You could have easily told us there was no reason to hold back that information!” exclaims Ruby.

“Stop Ruby,” interjects Crisis.

“But he…”

“I know but for now it’s not worth it,” replies Crisis.

“Alright.”

“Good move, it is for the best,” remarks Francis

The sounds of explosions, gun fire and laser fire heard behind them as the other choppers stay just long enough to allow the armored transport chopper to escape. Nearby anti-air defenses sound off as they provide more cover fire as they move deeper into friendly lines.

“Why is it I don’t believe him when he says that,” thinks Crisis as she decides not to bring up as she looks over Sasha who is now being cared by a field medic as he attempts to better stabilize her condition. Crisis watches over it as she thinks, “Don’t die on me Sasha.”