The only option she felt in that moment was to fire first, wasting no time trying to identify the clear assailant. As her descent arc began, the Arondight's right hand snapped over to its hip-mounted rifle, and with one fell swoop it brought it up to shoulder level, exposing the tethered power supply built into its return line system.

***TA-TA-TAH!!! TA-TA-TAH!!!***

The bursts of hybridized rifle fire shattered the relative silence, including the nearby windows just below. But contrary to that, the oversized shield it met suffered not even a dent as its unexpectedly swift approach became an immediate collision threat.

What the hell is that!?

Prior practice had her exercise this maneuver countless times up until she found herself in her predicament: Dropping her rifle caused the return-line to kick in, yanking it back and snapping it into place on its mount, freeing her hand to make a quick grab for her shield. And as she pulled both in over her exposed front to prepare for impact, an overwhelming desire to pull back into a rapid descent rushed over her subconscious, painfully and loudly tugging at her brain.

With no resistance, she pulled herself into a dangerous downward spiral as the LTAC that had tried to slam into her only grazed her shields and bounced off of her, loudly and terrifyingly, yet manageably. Spinning back right-side-up as quickly as she could, a slamming down of both feet on her jump pedals spared her frame from unnecessary damage as the Arondight landed with a ground-shaking thud.

She quickly rearmed her rifle, expecting to see an exposed back-side to her assailant, only to see it had completely vanished.

She gasped for air from not having breathed during that entire maneuver, and her eyes darted across her screen in futility. Even with a quick activation of her L-Tracker, nothing showed up in front. Her next breath came to a sudden stop as she felt herself grow pale.

That was him! There's no other explanation!

Another alarm went off, but this time from her L-tracker, showing increasing intensities from behind.

No, that's not him.

She stood still, keeping her eyes trained on the only two options she felt possible for her brother to make his return if he was to. Instead, two motion alarms pinged a pair of incoming LTAC's from her eight o'clock, coming from the same street as Isaiah from moments ago. One sailed overhead while the other changed course, prompting Sam to make an undesired but necessary pivot, taking her rifle back in hand and sent a burst through its underbelly before it could begin its attack.

"Sam! I'm picking up over a dozen incoming targets on my tracker!" Kerry shouted from what had to have been not far behind her as her LOS connection remained intact. "You okay over there!? Your vitals alert is flashing!"

Sam quickly but carefully looked over the frame she downed spiral overhead and toward the ground just beyond her. "These aren't marked like the ones Rex used to send! Must be Bishop!" But her eyes quickly darted back the other way as if expecting the mysterious intruder to show itself. Wait, Did I…

The realization kicked in that she just survived such a high-speed ambush that ended so quickly she couldn't even make any sense of it. I really just survived that without hardly a scratch!

She now afforded the thoughts to Kerry's cautions. "What else do you see?!"

Kerry quickly replied: "More incoming! And most are one signal, but a smaller portion is completely different! Rex has to be moving in on this together!"

Sam turned to watch Kerry hop off of her building-top to a safer location below, realizing she of course had the best readouts on her L-tracker. "Any trace of a third source?"

"No, just two, and we'd better hurry and get to Casa Rosada, quick! That's where a lot of them are headed for, both groups mixed in!"

Sam's eyes lit up with surprise. Wait! Does that mean they're chasing him, too!? "What about the other half?"

"Headed south-west, away from our target! Leave them alone, right?!"

"NO!" Sam bellowed, not realizing her tension had built up that rapidly just to be released all at once. "That's Reaper they're after!"

"Then you take that chance to chase him down! I'll get Casa Rosada taken care of!"

Sam didn't expect Kerry to be the one to suggest splitting up, immediately pulling guilt out of her on the spot. And hearing Kerry's jump boosters light up further deepened that guilt. "Wait! We can't afford to split up!"

"We can't afford to blow this chance to fight with their numbers weakened and with your chance to hit Reaper while he's being chased by everyone at once!" Kerry barked back with equal intensity, leaving Sam taken aback. "Now, move it, Sam!"

Sam hesitated to respond given her conflicted feelings as she took in a deep breath. She's right. If anything, me dragging her into a fight with Isaiah would be treacherous, and leaving her open to an ambush later if I don't chase after him would be no better.

"Don't just sit there! Here they come!" Kerry added as she jumped high over the buildings as she aimed her trajectory for Casa Rosada. "Meet me there when you're finished! I'll do what I did back in Dhaka- Don't worry about me!"

But as she thought to reply, Kerry had already disappeared as the connection severed. An eerie silence throughout the intensifying air raid sirens continued. She let out that deep breath quickly, gripping the controls and sped off toward the last direction she saw provided by her latest L-tracker reading, taking her southwest of her position. No turning back now, huh. Hang in there, Kerry. I'll be back right behind you, I promise.

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From a view far above those streets, Kaylen and her crew were able to get a good glimpse of the scattered waves of LTAC's on the move. She followed one set with her viewfinder as it sped towards seemingly nothing towards the south. [That must be Bishop's and Rex's pilots on the move, right in key with Rhodos' drop op. But who are they chasing?] She backed up a few blocks to see the Arondight's purple and white armor glimmering every time it passed beneath street lights. She at least knows to follow the trail to Reaper, she thought to herself admittedly but discontentedly.

[But what I don't get is the mixed force headed for the Casa Rosada… Isn't that for Bishop's big ones?] A man roughly dressed in similar fashion to Kaylen commented as he watched from his viewfinder more toward the east coast of Monserrat. [Hexa's pulled back all their forces, and the little one's can't stage for a coup as is, can they?]

Kaylen let out a sigh labored with puzzlement. [They must expect something we haven't, because a direct assault like this won't achieve anything. Keep our ground troops there hidden until we absolutely have to reveal our hand.]

[And that one little AP moving in on them? Code name was Chalmette.]

[Nothing to do with us. Whatever she does is on her,] she bluntly commented, knowing the others wouldn't pick up on her lingering, one-sided disdain for the one pilot who, in her mind, ruined her future.

Sudden popping and crackling in the far distance above them caught their sudden attention as each looked directly upward. It was like they were seeing the clouds explode from within, or as if a barrage of fragmentation shells were in the midst of stopping an orbital drop invasion. [It's started,] Kaylen remarked with a sense of calm that the others felt unexpected.

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●　● Hexa HQ, Akkadia One, Eden Territories

Rafael Lucian heavily stomped into Vincent Vrey's office with a rare glint of rage coming from his glare as he now stood there with his mobile held up. "Explain to me why we are to call off Knight and Melancon from their interception operation! Our ONLY chance at catching Reaper while he's on the run?!"

"We aren't," Vrey scoffed, still staring at his multitude of data and monitor feeds on display. "You are. That's your children after the unilateral directives you chose all this time, are they not? You call them off."

"That's beside the point, damn it!" He seethed, shoving his mobile back in his jacket pocket. "We've lost all our entire drop crew from earlier, we had to retreat all Casa Rosada and Berazategui forces, and now we are down to our last two! Who have you dealt with under the table to just sit back and expect everything to fall into place, huh?!" He now added with emphatic finger pointing toward the map showing the hope-destroying lack of reporting units across the capital district.

"You can calm down and follow orders, or you can see yourself out as your friend Knight did before you."

Lucian took more offense to the fact Vrey never looked him in the eye while saying that more so than what he said. "That's your precious project, isn't it? Knight's Arondight. Is that the only reason you want her called off, to protect your little project?"

"You don't need your job, then, clearly," Vincent coldly replied, never giving him a single glance since walking in as he continued running through his task at hand. After a stiff, brief silence, he waved his hand at Lucian, dismissing him. "You heard me. I can take care of what's left by myself if I need to. Every one of you is replaceable."

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Lucian didn't even stop by his office on his way out, stepping out into the dry, stale wind under the programmed night sky. With mixed feelings of release from suffocation of his morals and the destitution from having a solution he spent countless, sleepless nights striving for pried from his hands, he purposefully took the scenic route toward where he normally parked his car rather than taking the inside passageway to the garage. Thinking of now reaching out to Alexander once more now that he was no longer on official watch, a call came through that took him aback. Pausing mid-stride, he noted the caller was listed as Marian Channing. But he knew that couldn't be. He thought "why her of all people?" half-panicked as he hesitated answering. "Knight, was this your doing?" He mumbled before clearing his throat, tapping his wrist nervously before finally picking up.

"Rhodos is wiping the clouds over Buenos Aires," Marian's unmistakable, thickly accented voice came through as he turned to see if there were any bystanders. "Pull Knight from this operation before unnecessary deaths arise."

He immediately sensed something horribly wrong about the situation, having just been told to cancel Sam and Kerry's deployment. "Don't tell me you're working with Vrey?!"

"-The bloody fuck gave you that idea? Are you mental? Listen to me!"

Lucian bit his tongue, thinking maybe there was another layer to this after all. Also, he had hope Marian might drag this call out long enough to be traceable. "I'm listening."

"Not just Knight! All of Infinity has the evacuees in danger! That is no place for the war that is about to start once the skies clear up. Where is Vrey, by the way?"

"Inside."

"Watch him."

Lucian let out a disappointed sigh, yet never felt as nervous as he did now. She hung up on him too soon, but the last words had him stoutly on edge. Standing there in rushed thought, he finally decided to keep his headings toward the parking area as he began tapping away at his watch once more.

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●　● Monserrat District, Buenos Aires, Argentina, SAU

A group of security staff led Sebastian and Rodrigo out the other end of the Casa Rosada, and above them was a sky filled with flashes and shockwaves ripping throughout the clouds. Loud thuds and echoes thundered like a large-scale fireworks display gone mad, but the two only let it distract them for a moment. They could hear the screaming in the distance, knowing that no one one evacuating on foot would be able to bare the spectacle calmly. And as they continued their fast pace outside, they noticed what the staff pointed to against the outer fence of the park's open field.

[He's inside that mobile command station!] One staff member spoke to him before he gave the two a nudge, insisting they walk even faster. [Hurry, before they leave!]

And by the time the two got there, several of the packing Hexa officers noticed them and sent for their commanding officer. And a minute later, the familiar figure who emerged had Sebastian feeling like a prayer had been answered as his eyes lit up with hope. "Director Braun! You have to help us!"

"Navarre?! Why are you here?!" The distraught Director spoke as he rushed out to meet the two. "It's too dangerous to be out here! You two have to evacuate!"

"Sir, we need anything you have to join the fight! I must find someone who is going to be in big trouble!" He added in reference to Sam, afraid to mention her by name to avoid as much hesitation as possible from the Director.

The Director "Against A-7's?! Are you insane?! It looks like it's about to be a full-scale invasion up there- do you not see the sky?!" And as he pointed up, Sebastian realized more than half of the clouds were already vanishing as the lights show continued. "If you need a ride, we have room for you!"

Sebastian swung his arms out furiously in a rejecting manner, frustration building up rapidly by the second. "Sir! Me! My partner here! We are the original… original A-7 killers! We KNOW how to fight them! No one else here does! Do you understand me?!"

The Director paused surprisingly despite how emphatic his warning had just been. It didn't take long to realize that was in fact one of the leading members of the Colombian Dozen he had been detailed on months back. "Hey, listen, I have a few men stranded out there… blocks away… who got cut off by the swarms of evacuees with no way out! I also have a few Ai20's that got abandoned… deserted by recent hires! You think you can use those?"

Sebastian was almost there, he felt. "Ai20?! We need Am30 weapons! Do you have those!?"

The Director turned to open the door once more but with a motion to hurry inside. "We can send them! We need to move now, though! Come on!"

But before the two could gladly step inside, they couldn't help but look up once more to see a tremendous, gaping hole right above the city center. And right then, Sebastian remembered one critical detail that he learned from Sam back in Bogota that saved their skins. ["Eye in the Sky"… It must be back…]

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