And by the time the Arondight was upright, the ambient light cast by the moon and the surrounding city structures highlighted its features that showed a vast departure from its A-series LTAC brethren. Seemingly clasped between two full-length shields mounted over each shoulder and held up between two pairs of primary and secondary jump-booster units, the heftier frame supported a beefier rifle that reached the ground from its equipped status and housed two melee weapons that blended into the rear armor panels. And as the power was confirmed stable at each point of the frame, Sam took her time to shift into a steadier stance, silently awaiting any sign of motion from the Galatine.

And the Galatine was as menacing as it was that very first night she cast eyes upon it. While Sam felt confidence from her massively upgraded defensive capabilities, she already knew how fast the Galatine could move; The only thing remaining a true unknown was Kaylen's raw piloting abilities, and if she too had her LTAC equipped with some form of Antares.

"Where were you all this time?" Kaylen stiffly interrogated seconds later.

Sam knew not to budge just yet. "I told you. Something seemed wrong, so I went to go check behind and around us, just to be sure."

"You said to leave you behind if anything suspicious pops up."

Speaking of… Come on, Kerry, tell me you made it alright. "I know, but I'm here now, and you're still here, too, so…"

Sam then caught the notification of a nearby Hexa communication system coming active across the holding yard, drawing tension from her grips on the controls and a deep breath in advance.

"Something suspicious like… like that over there," Kaylen huffed. [Unwanted guest alert!] She then shouted angrily as she spun to point the Galatine's signature micro rail slug thrower in the direction of the new LTAC marker and made the flick of her thumb switch to place the crosshair directly over it despite the tracking assist's refusal to comply in targeting a friendly. But the second she hit the trigger was the same second a screech and a jolt spun her back the other direction, followed by a deafening echo and a loud crashing thud. Leaving no time to think, her quick reaction jetted her upward to safety that instant.

Instincts told Kaylen the shot came from the Arondight, confirming her suspicions as she once again yelled out through the ringing alarms: [Ella is the mole!] But as she pulled around to face off with Sam, she realized her LTAC's right forearm was missing, and so was her rail gun.

"Bullshit! You shot first- you're the mole!" Sam heard Kerry shout back in equal rage, assuming Kaylen must have been confused by the reaction that on the contrary left Sam feeling relieved.

"Whoever you are, my people don't respond to commands in English, dumbass!" Kaylen scoffed as she zipped backward to first distance herself while she switched to her swing-mounted turrets, recalculating her approach without her primary offensive power. "I don't know who you two are in cahoots with, but you!" She then aimed towards Sam as she began to take aim. "This whole thing makes you the fakest motherfucker I've ever dealt with!"

Sam bit her tongue, taking a firm grip of her left shoulder-mounted shield and swung it in front, revealing a large bladed end that showed its offensive potential given the right situation.

Not yet, not yet. Let her dig her own grave if she's really about this.

"I knew you should've followed your boyfriend out of town, and now you're about to wish you had!" Kaylen continued in anger, pulling around to start her attack sweep, careful to watch the other unknown Ap-50's movement. [HQ! Did you catch all this?!]

The Arondight shifted its position as if to study the Galatine's sweeping motion, ignoring the blaring alarms howling from the container yard security towers. Sam knew she had little time to play, but if she was to die here, it was a grave she dug knowing the risk.

If I was able to hit her right square on the spot just then with her unable to react in time, that means she either has no access to Antares or it's set too low.

But as the high-speed extended-flight system bolted the Galatine toward her at a frightening rate, Sam felt the strongest mental kick she'd ever received from her operating system, but something was different about it this time. It almost felt comforting.

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A volley of fire ripped forth from both of the Galatine's turrets, reminding Sam of the same sounds that rattled her concussed brain the night it was her savior and not her aggressor, but the usual pulling of her muscles in tune with Antares came with a sense of dizzying, maniacal yet methodical rhythm accompanying it. As the wave of rounds began scattering off her shield with a series of shrieks, the arc from which she pulled her shield downward to match the incoming trajectories was matched with the pull of her right arm and wrist in tandem.

Kaylen knew a hard turn upward would leave her backside exposed in the event of a miss, and anything to her right would put her over the unknown LTAC's location, leaving the left the only direction to pull after she released her trigger. And upon doing so, alarms were already ringing as her eyes widened and a sharp breath drew in.

**T-T-TAH!!! T-T-TAH!!!**

Rang the volleys of fire right in front of her path of flight as if Sam read her mind. With a quick push of her controls, she leaned further into her exit angle than she would have ever wanted to, narrowly missing the security tower while hearing the series of crunching sounds left by the three rounds that tore into her right leg unit.

Sam's first glance, however, was cast in the direction of the distant grain silos towering in the vicinity of her shots fired, having narrowly missed. Her eyes then shifted Kerry's direction, seeing her Ap-50 now fired up and ready to launch. Rather than chase a firing path before Kaylen could swing back around into view, she leaped backwards in Kerry's direction, putting herself fully exposed into the sky above.

I can't let this last more than it already has! No telling how the hell they're going to react and WHO will be reacting!

She then saw Kerry's Ap-50 take off in the opposite direction in her retreat, which she took as the signal she had been waiting for.

"Pegueru! Pegueru ko'ágãite!"

She shouted out to the best of her abilities in Guarani, the dead language Sam had recently determined was the code language of Enrai's Underground.

"-The… the fuck!?" Kaylen fussed hysterically as she changed course in response to the jump the Arondight just took. [Ignore that command! HQ! Do you copy!?] She belted out even louder in the same tongue.

Sam spent the next two attack runs solely focused on defense, knowing the Galatine should be fairly unable to continue a fight on the ground given the damage taken. But the same goes for her! She can't keep up a fight at that velocity for long, even with those extended flight drives!

Kaylen bit down, fighting the G's from her maneuver that threw her against her seat as she scattered fire from what she thought to be the best angle. But even with the Arondight's underside exposed, it still managed to twist and roll mid-descent, hearing nothing more than the screeching deflections off of that same shield. [HQ!] She barked, growing beyond the limits of her patience, pulling away from the Arondight's ideal range of fire. [I need backup, now! Security forces are bound to be here soon!] She then took a breath after realizing there was no return fire. "Damn it, did they jack up the jamming intensity?!" she fussed to herself under her breath, upset at the absolute lack of response.

.

.

●　● Akkadia One, Eden Space Territories

Vincent impatiently tapped his desk, tensing his other hand while awaiting a response from one of the many screens he had open on holographic display in front of him. And with a jolt in his seat at the sound of someone barging in the room, he shot an offended glare toward his door. "You'd better have good news!"

"Apologies, but," Lucian exasperatedly replied but with no hesitation to show him the tablet he brought in, pushing it across his desk. "The Arondight and the Galatine are engaged in battle with each other!"

"I can see that!" Vincent replied with utmost disgust, rarely seen by even Lucian, which now had him even more unsettled. "Acting like we don't have our insider still within Enrai- but what is this mole I just got reports of?!"

"Mole?" He asked, slowly pulling his tablet back in confusion, pausing in thought but only for a second. "But there can't be! There's only Knight and Rodgers out there!"

"No, there is one of our missing A-P units spotted out there! It was even activated and reported mobile!" He then stood up, giving Lucian an interrogating stare. "We put too much together to get at least two of our three pieces of Project Excalibur going and now it seems Knight is out there protecting someone?! Who did you send!"

"I have no idea what you are speaking of!" Lucian growled back, having lost his desire to hold his punches lately with both the stress and Vincent's apparent loss of control over the events in Argentina. "All I am worried about is the loss of yet another Project Excalibur piece! Aren't you?!"

"Then how in the hell did an A-P get in the mix?! If it wasn't someone as deep in security clearance as us, you could at least give me a hint of who so you could save your position!"

Lucian knew Vincent was referring to his connections with Alexander, but he had no intentions of prolonging that particular argument. "Myself and those at the table in the room right behind you are this close," he seethed, using his pinched fingers expressively, "to getting our top negotiator at the Capitol Building to seal the deal! We can NOT afford to pull off any kind of stunts in the process, don't we agree?"

Vincent took in a sharp breath, ready to strike back, but ultimately conceded to better judgment.

"I don't know WHAT is going on out there, but if anything, you need to call your hot-headed loose-cannon pilot of yours off before we lose something we can't get back!"

"And what of Knight?! How do we know she's not the cause?!" Vincent snapped back with a return of his suspicion of something going on between Lucian and Alexander.

"Sir!" Another barged in behind them with a hand up. "It's Greely on the line! He's with the Vice President!"

Both Vincent and Lucian were quick to drop the furor once that single line set in. "This had better be the news we've been waiting for," he more calmly spoke as he took back his seat and pulled up closer.

Two men showed up on the newly opened video conference screen, one dressed in Hexa official attire, and one in a decorated SAU business suit. "Mr. Vrey, sir," the Hexa official spoke up first. "He's ready to sign."

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