Genesis Crisis IC

Bunker

James muttered something about Kokonoe being all sunshine under his breath as he sat down. It was mainly curiosity that kept him from eating now. Her briefcase was filled with inventions, some in a more and some in a less advanced stage.

"You took all the prototypes?" he asked and couldn't keep his voice from expression a little bit of astonishment. This woman was certainly bold. Something only confirmed by her story. James raised his eyebrows while listening. Punching an army Commander. Maybe she had more guts that he'd given her credit for. He grabbed the laptop and unscrewed the lower part carefully. With practiced moves, he took out a small motherboard that was tucked in a corner.

Apparently satisfied with the rest, he closed the laptop up again and carefully put it back. "Just in case you want to work with your laptop while here. The rest appears to be clean," he said and finally turned his full attention to the food in front of him.

While eating he observed the others, especially the newcomers at the table. At least a few people were acting weird and he wondered how much some of them knew about each other before they met here today.

___________________________________________

Police HQ

Apparently resisting didn't go over well with the man who dragged her into the interrogation room and Arya began to regret that she closed her shirt completely. Now it was almost choking her and when she could finally breathe again freely, she looked around.

Lisa was there of course and it hurt Arya on the inside to see her strapped down like this. Then here eyes fell on Raidon and she held his gaze for a few seconds. Her eyes were not accusing, actually they looked rather calm, certainly calmer than she felt on the inside.

Suddenly she could feel her leg give out and a second later the pain and the burning started. Clutching it, she tried to keep her balance and she gritted her teeth to keep the scream that wanted to escape her lips inside of her.

Just as the pain began to lessen, she caught the sight of the electroshocker and her eyes widened. Clearly she remembered it from last time and when it touched her spine she lost control of her movement and she curled up…or at least tried to. Strong hands pinned her to the wall by her neck and she could feel the pain coursing through the body while she struggled to breathe.

Through the fog of pain, she could hear Lisa's voice, but she was too dazed to make out many of the words. Instead she hoped that whatever she was saying would make the pain go away. Arya closed her eyes in the hopes of blocking everything out. It would not take many more of these shocks before the first scream escaped her lips and then when she lost all control, she would start begging...for mercy, for anything, however she wanted to be strong at all costs. And that she kept repeating in her mind over and over again to keep herself from breaking down.

___________________________________________


Snow's Garage

As Lizzy's steps sounded through his garage, Snow came downstairs. He looked rather dirty, oil stains and motor grease covering his shirt and hands, even though he was trying to clean them with a cloth.

"No, I'm here," he grumbled and reached for the pack of cigarettes when he reached the end of the stairs. After he lit one, he took a few more steps towards Lizzy. "What's the rush?" he added with his husky voice and took another pull on his cigarette.

Walking past Lizzy, he grabbed the bike and pulled it down from the rack. Then Snow retrieved a wrench from his back pocket and began to tighten the screws on the wheel. "Just changed it last night," he commented, "don't want it to blow off when I'm going over 150." He paused. "Go on, I can multitask."

Taurus Barracks

The squad headed to the captain's office, saluting promptly upon entry.

"You requested us, Captain Colt," Lancar said, stepping forward. Colt nodded, looking strained.

"Yes, another mission for you," he replied, handing them the mission details. "It seems that one of Legion's scientists has broken off on his own. In doing so, however, he's left himself vulnerable. We need you to go in and apprehend him so we can discover Legion's experiments."

The lieutenant nodded slowly, though he felt there was something else unsaid.

"Of course," the captain continued on, "Legion is not pleased at this. They'll be attempting to silence him before we can get to him. Use great haste and caution."

Lancar, who had handed off the mission statement to the others, turned and addressed them.

"All right, Squad 34. Let's get to the airship."

He ushered them out of the room, but stopped short at the sound of Colt clearing his throat.

"Stay a moment, lieutenant. There's something I need to tell you."

--------------------

Bunker

Jax gave a brief smile up at Alina as she snatched food from his plate before turning his attention back to Kokonoe, who was taking back her case from James.

"I took what was mine," she said firmly, obviously possessive about her inventions. "And of course I plan to work. I didn't come here just to pal around with the rest of you."

"I still don't think we can trust her," Rise said abruptly, staring coldly at the researcher before turning her gaze on Alina. "Or her for that matter."

Kokonoe gave a very cutting smile as she leaned back in her chair to regard Rise.

"Tell me, kid, what did you give up to be here?" she asked, causing Rise to stare uncomprehendingly toward her. "No family, and your friends are all here. So what's your big sacrifice to this cause? A year or two at university?"

Rise still said nothing, biting her lip.

"Huh? How about the rest of you?" she demanded, glaring around at the rest of them. "Yeah, you little brats talk big, but none of you have had to give up what the Commander and I have - our entire life's work. So don't talk to me about trustworthiness. I've got nothing left but what I'm holding in this briefcase."

Kokonoe clunked it down beside her, challenging any of them to speak, but suddenly turned her attention to one particular person in the room that had been particularly silent.

"Not only that, you have a High Agent of Kaddath in your midst, and you're worried about me? What a joke!" the researcher barked out. Jane didn't react, but continued to smile placidly at the other woman.

"Well, my trustworthiness aside," the high agent said, apparently determined not to go down that road again. "I found something you all might want to watch. The High General is making a public statement about the incident at Palemare."

--------------------

Police HQ

Raidon considered Lisa as she spewed out her accusations, apparently unmoved.

"You see, I'm not such a fool to believe you'd actually give up your comrades unless you have some motivation to do so. If you give us what we want, she'll be released. It's as simple as that. You don't need to trust me, of course. I've tracked your friends down before and I can do it again. I'd simple prefer to get this cleaned up as quickly and easily as possible."

The torturer released Arya from his grip and stashed away the electroshocker as he eyed the woman beneath him.

"Trying to be tough, eh?" he sneered quietly in her ear, his dirty mouth brushing against it. "I know how to break women like you."

He stood up and wrenched Arya by the collar again, dragging her to the center of the room.

“Don’t let her fool you, little bird,” he said, grinning at Lisa. “She’s been enjoying herself here rather a lot. I hear she’s everyone’s favorite around the prison. See, she’s at home there on the ground.”

Raidon’s jaw tightened at this, but he made no other reaction as he continued to fix his gaze on Lisa, waiting for her response. It was, of course, a lie. He would never allow his men to debase themselves, and regardless of a criminal’s past he did not feel that violating them was ever justified. Still, Lisa didn’t need to know that. And if it helped her break down faster, he wouldn’t object.

“What? Don’t believe me?” the man said, cackling. “Here, let me show you.”

He snatched at the back of Arya’s collar and yanked hard, shredding the piece of clothing so that it hung limp around her, exposing part of her back and shoulder.

“See? She wants it, don’t you?” he sneered, grabbing Arya’s hair and yanking her head back before tugging at the remainder of her shirt, all the while the eyes of the many policemen in the room were fixed silently on her.

Police HQ

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Arya tried to keep herself from hyperventilating when the electroshocks finally stopped. It helped, even though her heart rate was still going through the roof. She was scared, especially by the next words that reached her mind.

This was not true. Her panicked eyes looked around and just now she saw the Policemen lined up at the wall. More fear coursed through her when the interrogator pulled her up again and began to rip her shirt in pieces.

"No," it was a weak objection, but then her voice grew stronger. "No!" There was a line and he just crossed it when he tried to rip off the last piece of her shirt. Hot anger flooded through her, erasing the pain and the fear for a moment. Quickly, probably more quickly than anyone expected her to, Arya grabbed his wrist, dove under his arm and spun around so she was behind him. Then she shoved him forward into the wall and backed off as quickly as she could until she reached the opposite wall. Leaning on it, she tried to take weight off her injured leg, that now began to burn again with pain.

Arya was still a Lieutenant of the Grand Army and she did not get there by smiling prettily. There was only so much degradation she was able to take and this was too much. She gasped for air and pulled the remainder of her shirt close, making her appear more like a cornered deer than a Lieutenant.

Police HQ

Lisa ignored Raidon's response to her question. She'd expected something along those lines from him, some baseless justification of his own actions. It was all she could do not to be sick from how completely arrogant he was.

Only a moment later, she was feeling sick for a different reason though. Arya's tormentor had opted to exchange pain for violation, and if Lisa had struggled against her bonds before, now her ferocity was doubled. "I'll kill you!" Her voice was darker than usual, ugly even, and the table actually jolted from the violence of her struggling.

She had to do something, anything! But what was there to be done strapped to the table like this?

...

The table...

Gritting her teeth, Lisa rotated her hand in place, feeling the trickle of blood start to run as the bonds dug into her wrist. It didn't matter though. All that was on her mind right now was pure, unadulterated violence. Her fingers finally gripped the side of the table that was holding her, and a magic circle surrounded it.

Never had she used her magic to move something of this size, and it was hard... So very hard... But the force of her ferocity was greater than the weight of any table, and with a groan, it flew through the air, carrying her with it as it slammed into her sister's tormentor with a sickening crash and then continued into the wall.

Lisa felt the arm of it break as it pinned the man against the wall, and to her utter satisfaction, she could see blood trickling down from the gash over his temple as his eyes rolled back into his head.

Still thirsty for more, Lisa moved her now freed arm across the table to unstrap her other hand. Several of the soldiers standing around seemed to have gotten over being dumbfounded now, and they ran to try and stop her, and effort she ceased with a single word.

Margaru!"

In the enclosed space of the interrogation room, the wind blasted outward, violently throwing all of the soldiers that had been stupid enough to close on her position into the wall, and knocking several of them unconscious. So, this was what a caged animal felt like when it turned on its captors.

It felt... good...

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Snow's Garage

Elizabeth frowned at Snow's comment about her being in a hurry, and she picked up a wrench, idly spinning it between her fingers, as if considering whether or not to throw it at him. "The world doesn't revolve around you. Maybe I have better things to do than spend my afternoons with an indebted washout."

Giving the wrench a final spin, she dropped it back onto the table. "And it's forbidden to go over 75 within the city limits. Don't tell me things I could report you for." Not that she was planning to report anything that transpired here today...

With a sigh, she moved over to the couch and sat down. "Now, can we get on with this debriefing so I can get on with my life?"

Bunker
-Alexander Dranos

"You are not the only one who lost something and you don't even know what we lost!" Alex palm slammed the table hard as the new comer mentioned about the what they lost.

"Everyone gave up something here, don't you dare talk like you and the commander here are the only people who lost something big!" Alex eyes stared coldly at Kokonoe, "Can you really say your lifework really saved many? The Army was preparing to kill innocent lives just to make their point! Your life work was not going to save people, not even a innocent child's soul, your life work was going to destroy them." Hot blooded young man stared at Kokonoe. Alex could have taken what she was implying, but Alex couldn't take it anymore as the adults around them didn't take his friends and others seriously. "And hell, we even have a friend we cannot save even if we want to!"

Then Alex got up, "I am not interested. I got no respect for the man who agreed to kill his own people." Alex took his katana, and started walk towards the training area.

Taurus Barracks (Aera)

The sound of a door opening in the distance caught in Aera's ear and weight behind what was behind that door. It was captain colt's office for sure, and quickly following Lancar in the office Aera gave a solemn salute with her listening to the frightening mission that was being told.

A rouge scientist? This shouldn't be as hard of a mission then since they won't have as much support from the soldiers, but from the experiments they've seen so far like in the mines.... it's not a good idea to underestimate them. But before any questions could be asked, Lancar was already telling them to leave the room.

Aera quickly obliged, as she began to walk out of the room in a calm manner with the door shutting behind her. With her turning around to look in the direction of the door for a second... It seems like the lieutenant was still talking amongst the mumbles going on and it would be possible for overhear it at this distance... hm.

Usually Aera would obey without question, but something inside of her gave into the curiosity. She simply took a few steps towards the door and leaned on the wall that was to the right of the door in a formal manner. No normal human could hear them at this distance, but with her hearing aids this was a simple task.

Taurus Barracks (Daemond)

"It seems like scientists are a big thing for our squad." Daemond said with a smile. Though, it seems that Lancar was still talking in the room for some reason but he might as well head to the airship.

A quick glance at the others, and surprisingly the only person who caught his notice was Area. She was waiting near the door to the office supposedly waiting for Lancar to show up, but he knew her well. She didn't like to waste time especially after the comment from earlier today, so he thought he should remind her.

"Hey Area, we should head to the ship and get everything ready." Daemond called out, as he gestured towards the direction of the ship with a confused stare.

"It's fine, I wanted to ask Lancar something." Aera replied in quiet voice, as she turned towards Daemond with an emotionless expression on her face.

At that point Daemond simply shrugged in acceptance, as he quickly turned around and began walking towards the airship to get ready.

Bunker

"Jane is solid." Alina practically snapped back at the researcher before taking another bite of her biscuit. "I may not always agree with her methods, but she doesn't develop contacts for the same reasons as most of the agents."

"Your vote of confidence is noted." Keynes said over the edge of his coffee cup, although he'd poured it full of whiskey a few moments before. "But seeing as your position isn't much better, you'll forgive us for making up our own minds about that."

Alina's cheeks flushed, although it wasn't apparent if it was because of anger or suddenly realizing how stupid it was to try and make a point when no one was listening. No one really had time to dwell on it though, as Alex's outburst quickly became the center of attention at the table.

Will let out a long sigh as the other boy got up and headed towards the training room. Looking down at his half-eaten breakfast for a second, he pushed the plate away and stood up to follow him. "You may have lost your present." He called over his shoulder to Kokonoe. "But some of us lost our future."

"Oh boy..." Keynes muttered before turning back to Jane.

"Can you patch the statement through the monitor on the wall over there?" He nodded towards a screen that had clearly been set up to discuss missions over a meal, probably for when there wasn't enough time to do a normal briefing.

Bunker

Jax felt a surge of pity as the group once more took a stab at Alina's status, and he gently caught her arm by the elbow and guided her into the chair next to him. He intended to make an apology for everyone's behavior - owing to the tension and circumstances - but Alex's sudden outburst diverted his attention.

"Alex, you need to stay and listen," he said firmly. "Whether or not you like it, you need to be aware what the Army is saying."

"Knowledge is power," Jane said with a knowing smile. Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking glass as Kokonoe shattered the cup she was holding. Slowly, she stood from the table, staring coldly at Alex.

"Let me tell you something, you damn naive fool," the researcher sneered. "You can drop the little self-righteous attitude. The world doesn't exist in the black and white you think it does. There are people in the Army who have done more good for people than you ever could, who have loved ones they care about. Hell, there are even people in Legion who have families they care about and are just trying to improve their lives. What gives you the right to judge anyone's actions? You don't know a damn thing about what I've lost."

She stood up from the table and marched to the door, standing in front of Alex. And despite being shorter, she was a great deal more intimidating than him.

"You know what the Army and Legion have that you punks don't? The ability to reach people. You might as well give up now, cause no one's going to follow a sanctimonious little s*** like you."

With that, she left the room. There was a very tense silence in the room. Jax had to admit that Kokonoe had a point. It was one thing to be cautious, but he was seeing a rather ugly side of Aegis that he wouldn't have believed before. For a group that was supposed to be helping the people, they sure were good at alienating them.

Rise stood up and grabbed Alex's hand to drag him to the table, not sure whether to feel angry or ashamed of herself.

"Yes, I'll patch it through," Jane said in response to Keynes' earlier question, as though nothing had happened. The screen flickered to life, and they were greeted with the image of High General Adalia, standing on the steps of the Imperial Palace in Caltha.

"People of Kaddath, a great misfortune has fallen upon us. The Grand Army, which has been pledged to uphold this empire, has failed to honor its vows. It pains and grieves me to see how the state of our nation has degraded, particularly in the wake of the events yesterday."

He paused for a moment, his eyes strong with emotion.

"Yesterday, the airship foundary at Palemare was assaulted by Legion forces, given access from the inside by our very own Commander Alina Grey."

Clips that had been edited together showed scenes of Aegis debilitating the airships, the Pale Rider bombing the facility with one of the airships, and Alina escaping with the group.

"I know that it must shock many of you that the Commander who had always spoken of protecting the people and the peace and the daughter of one of Kaddath's greatest heroes could be capable of this. I cannot entirely blame her; it was our own blindness that facilitated this. Again and again she countered the Praetorate councils, sympathizing with the Legion supporters and counteracting our efforts to bring order."

Jax turned to look at Alina, placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. This must be a lot to take in for her.

"In addition to damaging countless military defense utilities, Legion abducted one of the airships to spread false propganda against the Army to bring about total anarchy. Already riots and protests have begun, threatening the peace and stability of countless cities."

The High General leaned forward, gripping the podium hard as his eyes shined with fervent determination.

"Please, people of Kaddath, I appeal to you. Don't give ground for these villains to sow the seeds of discord. Only through your cooperation can we once more achieve peace. It is for this purpose that we will be instituting martial law throughout all of Kaddath. We ask that you strictly adhere to these policies so that we may swiftly deal with Legion and return this great empire into the great land it once was. We stand upon the edge of a precipice; for the sake of your friends, your lovers, your children, your families - do not take that last step that will undo all we have worked so hard to achieve. Together we stand tall; divided we will surely fall."

The transmission ended, and the group sat in silence. If they didn't know any better, they surely would have believed everything Adalia had said. It was little wonder he'd managed to get to the position of High General. His charisma and power to reach the people was absolute.

--------------------

Police HQ

There was hardly any time to react to the sudden pandemonium that had errupted in the interrogation room. Raidon didn't pay Arya much notice; at this point, she wasn't much of an issue. Lisa, on the other hand, needed to be dealt with immediately. Fortunately, she was entirely absorbed in trying to crush the life out of the interrogator to notice him approach from behind and jab a stunner again her neck. From the neck below, her body suddenly became limp and responseless, and the table collapsed as her magic gave out. The interrogator fell to the ground, coughing blood and growling in pain.

"It seems any attempts at civility I make prove useless," the chief said, sounding vaguely annoyed as he grabbed Lisa by the hair on the top of her head. "I'll make it plain to you, girl. I don't need your limbs to get the information I need. If you keep yourself under control, I may allow you to keep them."

While he was preoccupied with Lisa, the interrogator had lifted himself from the ground and stalked over to Arya, wrenching her to the ground with a growl.

"You worthless b****," he spat, "I'm going to take you like the filthy dog you are. And your little whore sister can watch before I take her too."

He pressed her to the ground, his knee planted painfully against her back as he roughly tore at her clothes, biting at the skin he could reach.

“That’s enough,” said Raidon firmly, turning to stare with deadly finality at the interrogator. The man ignored him and yanked Arya's head back so he could lick the tears running down her cheek.

"Don't cry, you little filth. It only makes me want to break you more," he laughed.

“I said that’s enough!” Raidon snapped, backhanding the torturer with his fist. The man fell back again the wall in a daze, spitting blood. Though Raidon's face kept its usual stoic expression, his eyes were blazing quite disgustedly at the torturer. When he regained his senses after a moment, the man stood and bared his teeth at the police chief, ready to fight. He seemed to reconsider, however, and spat another lump of blood at Raidon's feet before storming out. The police chief gazed down at Arya for a moment, a momentary twitch in his arm as though he were about to reach out to help her out. Then, he turned and snapped his fingers at the policemen standing nearby, having recollected themselves.

“Get her to the medical wing to treat her injuries. I don’t want them festering,” he said, avoiding look at Arya. “And get something to make her decent.”

The men nodded and reached forward to pull Arya up by an arm each and escorted her from the room.

--------------------

Taurus Barracks

"Is there something wrong, sir?" Lancar asked, looking concerned. Captain Colt sighed and turned his back on the lieutenant to gaze out the window.

"Commander Grey has defected from the Army. If the official reports are to be believed.."

"Sir?" Lancar asked, puzzled. Colt shook his head.

"In any case, they're nominating me to assume her position. That means the office of captain will need to be reassigned. I can't make the decision myself, but I will be nominating you for the role."

Lancar stared in astonishment. This was just so sudden that it was hard to know how to react.

"I.. Sir, I don't know what to say," he responded quietly. Colt turned away from the window to pat him on the shoulder.

"That's why I'm sure you'll be fit for the task," he said with a smile before assuming a grave expression. "Just be careful, Lancar. I feel there's a lot going on that we're not fully aware of."

Lancar nodded gravefully as the captain dismissed him. Feeling dazed, he departed from the office, heading toward the hangar.

Bunker

He zoned most of the discussion out. They were all frustrated, possibly scared and didn't really trust each other yet, but if they kept arguing, what was to become of this group.

So James kept his mouth shut and focused on his breakfast, until Jane announced that the High General was making a public statement. He looked up.

"This makes everything more difficult. It's like we played right into their hands. And now they instituted Martial Law. That means no one is safe anymore," he said and pushed his plate away. He didn't feel hungry anymore. "It's like having a wild card for anything you want to do outside the law."

He ran his hand through his blonde hair and sighed. What will we do? he asked himself.

___________________________________________

Snow's Garage

"You really think anyone is gonna care how fast I go?" he asked back with a grin.

Snow tightened the last screw and threw the wrench back on the table where it skidded across the surface and landed on the ground with a loud 'clank'. Muttering a curse under his breath, he walked over there to pick it up and then he grabbed another cigarette.

It seemed Lizzy was really insistent to do this seriously and correctly so he finally gave in and moved over to the couch. He sat down on the table across from her and stretched his legs.

Snow took another pull on his cigarette and looked at her expectantly with a bored look on his face.

"You really need to lighten up," he said. "But I'm all ears now."

___________________________________________

Police HQ

There was a sudden commotion and then the table moved seemingly on its own. Arya was shocked, more about the fact that Lisa reacted so violently rather than the fact she used magic. For the moment she could do nothing and just stood there and watched in surprise.

Then it was over when Raidon appeared and stunned her. Arya wanted to hurry over there to make sure she was okay, but before she could take even one step, the interrogator from earlier suddenly appeared.

Arya hit the ground hard, easily unbalanced because of her injury. She tried to fight him and struggled, but he was too strong, his weight pressing her to the ground. "Please…no," she cried, but he was in such a frenzy that nothing would get through to him. Arya tried turning her head away, but it was painfully yanked back and she could feel him close, his disgusting mouth close to her, licking at her skin.

As sudden as it started it was over. Arya felt sick and disgusted. All she could bring her body to do, was to sit up and lean against the wall. She was sill shaking, but managed to look up at Raidon. His expression was still unmoved, but she was grateful he stepped in even if he did not show why. "Thank you," she mouthed.

When the policemen approached her, it took all her willpower to not back away from them. Gratefully she accepted the jacket one of them gave her and pulled it closely around her. Escorted by two of the policemen, she limped from the room, throwing one worried look back at Lisa before they turned the corner and headed towards the medical wing.

While they treated her injuries, Arya withdrew into herself, complying with what they asked her to do. She was given a new set of clothes and they even allowed her to wash off the blood from the face where the interrogator had touched her.

However, the vacant expression on her face stayed and she was still slightly shaking. Even when they escorted her back to her cell, she just sat down on the bed and wrapped a blanket around herself, staring off into the distance.

Bunker
-Alexander Dranos

Alex stared at the screen coldly, and what Kokonoe said didn't make Alex flinch. Alex knew that the world was not black and white; he learned that throughout his life for crying out loud. The problem was, it was the situation he was in and the situation was asking him to act like righteous person; he had to belief that he was doing the right thing for the people of Kaddath or else he would lose to those two party's belief, and he was not going to let them win Kaddath with their ideology of what is right for the people.

In fact, Alex didn't believe what they are doing is really right for the people. Like Army and Legion, Aegis was also acting with its own selfish reason. Alex tightened his jaws, then finally he let out deep sigh. "We have to tell the people it was us who destroyed the airship, not Legion. We have to tell the people of Kaddath that who brought that misfortune. And they also need to know why we did it." Alex started to move his feet where Kokonoe went. "And I will talk to that woman. We need all the help we can get..." Unless somebody stopped Alex and went after her, Alex will try to reach Kokonoe before she disappears. If Kokonoe already went inside her room, Alex will knock on the door.

"Look, Miss. What you said there, you are right. I am naive incompetent college kid, but you know, this college kid is ready to put his worthless life on the line. To do whatever it takes to end this conflict. You are right about the world is not black and white, I even agree that some of the inventions from the army really helped people of kaddath." Alex let out deep breath, "But don't you see? Something is really off here. Something big is happening and many people of Kaddath are kept in the dark. And that darkness is killing them slowly. Some body got to stand up, I am not talking about renewing the system we have or fight for freedom or whatever that is grandeur. I want to end this conflict, this pain that is caused by the selfish reasons of the two party, Army and Legion.... I am not trying to be righteous, no, I am not righteous person. The incidents in Palemare, I bet I cause several families to lose their jobs, their family....everything.... But if we didn't do anything.... who knows what would happen next... " Alex paused for a moment, then keeled in front of the door, "We need your help... I mean, I need your help... Please, help me. "

Police HQ

Lisa screamed in frustration as all of her limbs went numb and she fell back onto the broken table. Even though she couldn't feel them, her fingers still twitched when the interrogator made another pass at Arya though. Paralyzed or not, it was clear that she intended to move by sheer force of will if necessary.

"The man who just stood by and watched someone rape my sister has no right to lecture me on civility!" She growled, glaring up at Raidon. "In fact, not a single thing about this entire escapade has been civil! You want me to give you some information? Maybe you should start keeping your word!" Her eyes reflected the anger that was still coursing though her veins as Lisa spat at him.

"She walks out of here, and neither you nor your men go near her again. Until that's a reality and I have proof of it, you get nothing! For every minute she's tormented, it's an hour longer before I'll tell you anything."

There was a short silence where Lisa allowed him to process her demands before she spoke again.

"And one more thing... When this is over, you'd better kill me. Because if you don't, I'll find you, and I won't show you the same sort of mercy."

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Bunker

Keynes let out a low whistle as the speech ended, and then he tipped back the remainder of his (not) coffee cup. "Martial law... That makes this more complicated."

On the other side of the table, Alina, who had been pulled into the seat beside Jax, visibly withered. Her face went pale, and she kept swallowing, like she was trying to keep what little food she had consumed down.

"Father... How I have shamed you..." The words were barely a whisper, but the tear that ran down her cheek was all-too-evident. "Why couldn't you have just let me die?" She choked out before burying her face in her hands.

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Snow's Garage

"No, I don't suppose anyone does care..." Elizabeth commented offhandedly. "Honestly, if you were a greasy smear on the pavement, I'd just say good riddance."

She waited for him to take a seat before frowning slightly. "Today isn't a day for things to be taken lightly, but I suppose you're familiar with the usual debriefing shenanigans. You promise not to tell anyone about this operation or anyone involved in it, who consented to your use as a resource, etcetera..."

Elizabeth waved her hand in what looked like an act of boredom. Inside, she was quivering with anticipation though. "So, any final thoughts?"

Taurus Barracks/hangar(Aera)

Carefully listening to the conversation Aera figured out the grave news, one of the higher ups had defected from the army. On the bright side Lancar was being promoted, but... someone who had proved themselves that much left the army? It's so wrong, strange, or maybe just impossible.

But soon audible footsteps were in Aera's earshot, as she quickly but silently dashed towards the hangar and making the quick bend so Lancar couldn't see her sprinting. She didn't want to talk to him after hearing that, and being nosy wasn't something she was too proud of either.

In the end, she caught up with Daemond, as she gave a simple wave to him with her boarding the hangar in a causal manner, as she walked up the metallic ramp in the normal solemn and expression face she had.

"She must of been someone who stole work from someone, there's no way someone so privileged could leave us like that..." Area mumbled, as she looked down towards where her lap would be... her hands on her cheeks with a clearly troubled expression.

Daemond (hangar)

Daemond was already on the ramp when he noticed Aera wave towards him, as he simply waved back and didn't pay too much attention to it. He was more curious about preparing himself for the upcoming mission, so he thought it would be a good idea to ask around the squad to see what they knew.

"Hey Xennox, you got an idea what's going on with the mission? I'm trying to prepare myself for this supposed mad scientist." Daemond joked a bit, as he sat down on one of the chairs in the airship looking at the ensign.

Overall, Daemond might seem rather pushy, but he wasn't doing it just to spite the kid. In fact, he was rather interested in his answer since he had been doing missions in a different squad with its own uniqueness after all.

At the mention of own squad, Daemond couldn't help but turn his gaze towards Cash and Carrie, as he pondered for a second with a troubled expression on his face. But he quickly turned his attention back to Xennox before some pup comment was mentioned on the fact that he was looking at them.

Xennox Xylon
-Hanger

Xennox followed Captain's order without second thought and it was an easy one; take a ride in an airship and took down one of the rogue mad scientists.

To his surprise, Xennox was the first one to reach the airship and rest of them followed in. Daemond asked interesting question. What to prepare for such mission. Xennox emotionless face stared at him blankly, "Ensign Daemond, as long as you don't become their experimental subjects, it should be fine." Xennox's eyes slowly drifted to the small window, "What I am worried about is, just like us, they should know the value of their own research team. I just hope it is not a trap." Then Xennox shrugged gently, "But of course, I doubt trap would stop us from retrieving the target."

There was confidence in his voice, however, he had his worries else where. Xennox eyes quickly drifted to Aera, then once again drifted back to the small window. 'Did my past life really abandoned her?' Xennox thought to himself, emotions of anger and sadness twisted his belly. But then he stopped dwelling on them, 'Focus, Xennox. Focus...'

Bunker

"All right, all right, pipe down," Kokonoe said, opening the door to glare at Alex. "I was just trying to unpack my things. Of course I'm staying. How else am I supposed to plot my revenge on the Army."

From the open door, Alex could see that Kokonoe had already started establishing a lab for herself once more, with test tubes and apparatuses set up all over.

"Well, let's see how bad the damage is," she sighed, brushing past him to head back toward the kitchen.

--------------------

Jax gritted his teeth at Alina's words, and he grabbed both of her hands and pulled them away so she would have to look at him.

"Hey, I told you to stop talking like that. As long as you're alive, you can keep making a difference. Besides, that's just a copout. Would your dad be proud of that?"

"The Walking Shirtless Scene is right," said Kokonoe, coming back into the room. "The Army screwed you over, so you should be thinking about how to get back at them."

The Red Rider flushed at being addressed as such, but tried to move past it to the point.

"It's not about revenge. It's trying to make things right," he tried to say, but she waved it off.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's not argue semantics. So, what's the plan? Who's the idea guy around here?"

--------------------

Police HQ

Darcy stood up as Arya was brought back into the prison block. She showed no outward signs of damage, but she most certainly did not look well.

"Hey, Arya.. you all right?" he asked softly.

--------------------

For all the notice Raidon took of Lisa, she might not have existed. As it was, he simply signaled to one of his men to haul her up off the ground.

"Take her back to her cell, and keep her tranquilized to make sure she behaves herself."

The man nodded and dragged Lisa back down to her cell, roughly tossing her to the ground before slamming the doors. With her whole body numbed, she could do nothing but lay there.

"Hey, she's back," Darcy told Arya, craning his neck to see through the bars. "You okay, kid?"

--------------------

"I thought you could handle this," Chastenay said as Raidon entered the viewing room on the other side of the interrogation room wall. Raidon didn't refute this comment; it was hard to say otherwise even as Chastenay watched his men cleaning up the wreckage from Lisa's stunt.

"If we release the sister, the girl will tell us what we need to know," he said. If they really wanted to get this accomplished as quickly as possible, it seemed the best method.

"Absolutely not," Chastenay snapped, turning to glower at the police chief. "We do not negotiation with criminals and scum. If the girl refuses to be cooperate, then she's of no further use to us."

Raidon's brows furrowed ever so slightly in confusion.

"But if we want to find the renegades-" he began before the commander cut him off with an impatient hand.

"So, the mighty Kaiser Raidon needs little girls to help him track down criminals now?" the elder man said scathingly. "In any case, I already have other measures in place in the eventuality that your incompetence failed to bring me results."

Raidon stared frigidly at his superior, though he dared not offer a rebuttal. This seemed to please the commander somewhat, as he smoothed away his earlier temper.

"Well, it seems you're still smart enough to know when to hold your tongue," he mused. "The lieutenant will be sent with the rest of the prisoners to Caltha for public execution on crimes of treason and sedition. The girl will come with us for when we leave to meet my contact. Have them notified."

Raidon nodded stifly and made to press the comm for one of his men when Chastenay held up a hand.

"No.. I want you to deliver the message yourself," he said silkily, eyes holding the chief in a snake-like stare. Raidon made no reply, but simply turned on his heels and left the room.

--------------------

Airship

Cash and Carrie had been talking between themselves when they suddenly stopped at Xennox's words.

"Did Mr. Stiff-as-a-Board just make a joke?" Carrie asked, raising an eyebrow. Cash, however, scoffed and leaned back in his chair.

"Please, as if he has the capacity for humor," he said with a roll of his eyes.

Lancar seemed to be too preoccupied with his thoughts to heed the others much, and stared out the window as the airship took off into the sky, sailing past the clouds. After a few moments, he roused himself from his thoughts long enough to look at the others and hold up the mission log.

"Xennox, according to this, you're to lead the operation. Taurus wants to determine what your capacities are."

Turning back, the lieutenant continued to brood over the scene in Colt's office. The sudden circumstances were too strange. Colt's attitude had been growing particularly strange. Although neither were the type to breach etiquette, both saw the other as something of one half of a father-son relationship. Naturally, this unusual behavior brought concern to Lancar.

"He'll be Commander of Terra Firma.." he thought. "I hope he's prepared for it."

[OOC: Nex, since it's your mission, I'll let you direct most of the action here.]

Bunker

The Commander took it hard, she was much more affected than James expected. He looked at her, feeling sympathetic, but didn't say anything. That was Jax's job, since he cared for her the most.

"I agree, this is not about revenge. Not for either of you," he said and let his eyes wander from Kokonoe to Commander Grey.

He began to clear the table, for the sake of doing something. He was never the type to sit down and think. The best ideas usually came when he was in the midst of something else. "Now where do we want to go from here. The army will have doubled their security. They'll be on the lookout. So is there some way we can damage the Legion? I don't really believe they'll just sit there and watch while the army hunts them down. Whatever their plan will be, there is guaranteed casualties involved," James was mainly just speaking his thoughts out loud, trying to make sense of their situation, so he wasn't talking to anyone in particular.

____________________________________________

Snow's Garage

Snow couldn't help but laugh at her debriefing. "You've not done this often, have you?" he asked and crushed the cigarette butt under his heel.

"But yeah, I know all about it and I think we're done now," he said and switched from sitting on the table to slouching down on the couch. "No final thoughts. You can go now, so I can go back to work."

He was just as unfriendly and dismissive as when they first met. Impatiently he waited for her to get up and leave and pulled out another cigarette. It was the last one in the pack and he crushed it and threw it in the trash bin. This time his aim was better and it landed perfectly.

___________________________________________

Police HQ

It took Arya a long time to answer. For several minutes she just kept staring off into the distance, almost as if she hadn't heard Darcy's question. The events had shaken her more than she she wanted to admit. 

"I... don't know," she finally said in a weak voice, almost a whisper and turned around to look at Darcy. 

"He tried to... rape me," she added with some difficulty. Saying it out loud made it real. There was no pretending it did not happen. In her eyes was a look of hopelessness that had never been there before. Usually her natural cheerfulness always showed in her movement and expressions, but right now, she just could not find anything to hold on to.

Whatever happened, it clearly affected her. Suddenly she had a flashback, the interrogators tongue on her skin and his ugly face so close to hers. She felt sick and out of nowhere Arya jumped up and emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. 

Walking back to her bed slowly, she just started crying. It was the quiet kind of crying, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks and only quiet sobs escaping her lips. It felt like an eternity, but eventually, she quieted down.

In the meantime the guards brought Lisa back. Arya could hear the cell door close.

Arya stood up and leaned against the iron bars of her cell. It was the closest she could be to Lisa right now. "Did they hurt you, baby girl?" she asked, trying to give her voice some strength. She wiped the remainder of the tears from her eyes.

Bunker

Alina allowed her hands to be taken for only a moment before pulling them back away and retreating as far away from Jax as she could without edging off of the seat. "The way I see it, my father doesn't have much to be proud of in what I've done with myself anyway. Taking up with rebels and allowing our family's name to be tarnished because I was too weak to follow the course..."

When Kokonoe spoke up, Alina only shook her head. "Revenge isn't an honorable pursuit, and what little honor I have left, I intend to keep. Death may not have welcomed me as I welcomed it, but many of the people I once protected haven't been so fortunate, and I will not turn my sword against my comarades. They've already paid for the current administration's faults in spades."

It was clear she had no intention of following them into battle, even if she had given into the reality of still being alive and having lost everything the day before.

Keynes let out a cloud of smoke when Kokonoe asked who was in charge of planning and gave a gruff response. "That would be me." He said, drawing her attention to him for the first time since their brief encounter at the front door.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police HQ

There was a long silence after Arya's question, almost as if Lisa hadn't heard her, before the girl gave any kind of response. "Injected me with... something." The response was weak, and her words were slurred, like she was half-asleep.

"Head is pounding and I don't... don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer." Lisa tried to turn her head towards the cell door, but even that was too much effort for her right now. She had to ask though, had to stay awake long enough to find out.

"Was what they said... was it true? Have they... done things to you?"

She was afraid of what the answer might be, but she had to know, even though it would cause pain either way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Snow's Garage

"I see..." Elizabeth said dismissively. "Then I guess I can get started with the next thing on my agenda for the day." She got up from the couch, but instead of moving to the door, she stepped forward, over the coffee table, and planted a foot on the back of the couch Snow was leaning back on, just beside his shoulder. Leaning forward, she tilted the couch back until it toppled, putting her over him as she pulled the gun from behind her back and pointed it at his chest.

"I'm here to collect on a debt." She said, thumbing the safety so that the weapon was ready to fire. This should have felt wonderful. She should have found incredible pleasure in this moment, but instead, all she wanted to do was be sick. Why? Was it because this man was so repulsive to her? How had she stood his presence until this point then?

"Let me ask again... Any final thoughts?"

Snow's Garage

The moment Lizzy set her foot on the couch, Snow became aware that something in her expression changed and he tensed. It was an involuntary reaction, something that came with lots and lots of practice and that he hadn't forgotten even though he'd been out of active duty for years.

"-- the hell?" he asked when she tilted the couch over and pulled out the gun. The moment she flicked off the safety, Snow had already rolled backwards and landed in a crouch. Slowly he stood up. Despite having a gun pointed at his chest he stayed calm and stepped closer towards Lizzy.

"What the hell are you doing, missy? Care you to explain yourself?" he asked, his husky voice sounding rather upset. He clearly did not appreciate being held at gunpoint. "What debt?"

Snow didn't feel angry or surprised. He had long accepted his mortality. If you lived your life in the world he did, you expected people to have a grudge against you. Sooner or later most of them would snap and give it a try, but this girl? He was more confused and curious than anything else. What was her reason for this stunt.

___________________________________________

Police HQ

Arya was glad to hears Lisa's voice, even though it was just weak and sounded like she was falling asleep. At least now she knew her sister was okay.

"It's okay, honey. Try not to fight it. Just concentrate on breathing and relax," she said softly. "You'll be fine. I guess it is just a tranquilizer, but it should wear off soon."

It took Arya longer to answer the next question, but finally she spoke again. "No…no, nothing …bad happened to me. Raidon stopped it before it could get out of hand," her voice was quiet and she hesitated more than once. "Don't you dare worry about it."

Arya sat down close to the bars and pulled her blanket close. From where she sat, she could just see Lisa in her cell on the ground. She began to hum a song, it was an old song, the kind that was passed on from mother to child as a lullaby. It was something their mother had sung for them just before kissing them good night. Lisa probably did not remember it, but it was still burnt in Arya's memory and whenever she had felt lonely, this song had brought her enough comfort to fall asleep.

When the song ended, Arya could feel her eyes tearing up again, but she fought it. She had to stay strong. She just had to.

Bunker
-Alexander Dranos

Alex followed Kokonoe to where rest of them are; Alex was stunned by how quickly she made a research lab with few equipment, 'Wow she's amazing person...' thought Alex as he followed her to kitchen.

Keynes had drawn attention to himself as he answered Kokonoe's question. Alex scratched his hair and sat on one of the empty sit to see what would unfold. But he couldn't help himself voicing out little bit of what had been disturbing him so far. "Jane, just out of curiosity... Was there any news about the prisoners that had been captured by Raidon?" Alex asked carefully to Jane as he knew he couldn't do anything about the prisoners, but he wanted to know if there was any thing else they should know about.

Bunker

"Too weak to follow the course? I can't believe you're still talking like this!" Jax said, obviously distressed.

"Jax.." Rise whispered, eyes full of concern. Jax glanced at her before looking away, knowing this wasn't the time. They had more pressing matters at the moment.

Despite Kokonoe being the one to bring up the discussion, she seemed to immediately go temporarily deaf when Keynes responded, continuing to stare ahead as though she hadn't heard anything.

"Uh.. so what should we do then, Keynes?" Rise asked, feeling the akwardness brewing below the surface for more than a few people. Before Keynes could answer though, Alex had prompted another question. The High Agent gave a small shake of her head, looking sympathetic.

"Nothing, I'm afraid. If anything's happening, they're keeping it quiet," she said softly.

--------------------

Police HQ

"Don't you believe it," Darcy said, shaking his head. "It's psych torture. Plain and simple."

He quite soon felt as though he were intruding on something intimate between the sisters and drew back to his bed, trying to give them privacy.

-------------------

Raidon had stood outside the prison block, preparing to enter. In order to avoid the potential for ambush, the door outside had a panel to access the video cameras in the prison block and ensure safe entry. As soon as he had fed into them, he heard a beautiful voice singing a lullaby. When it had finally finished, he hadn't realized that he'd been standing to listen to it, subconsciously unwilling to interrupt Arya's song. Of course, he gave no voice to this thought and promptly opened the doors to walk into the prison, striding with slow, decisive steps to Lisa's cell.

"Commander Chastenay has considered your terms," he said slowly, eyes boring into her. "He's decided that your sister will be sent with the other prisoners to Caltha for public execution on charges of high treason against the State."

Darcy had been expecting a sentence like this, but it was still disheartening to hear it.

"So that's it then," he sighed quietly, laying back on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Bunker
-Alexander Dranos

Alex tightened his jaws, "Darn it..." Muttered Alex with frustration. "There must be something we could do...." Alex eyes cast downwards, "there must be..." Then Alex eyes shifted to Jane once again, "How about Legion? What are they upto now?" Alex asked with worrisome look. "Hope they are not planning something crazy as they did with water plant..." Then Alex eyes shifted towards Keynes, "Keynes, what do you think we should do? Just lay low? Or are we going to announce the world that we did it?"

Bunker

Alina got up from the table, ignoring Jax's last comment as she slipped down the hall and back into her room. She had no desire to discuss how they were going to assault people she had worked with for years.

Keynes watched her leave before turning back to the table, where Kokonoe seemed to have ignored his statement. To an extent, he was glad for that. Lack of interest was far more encouraging than open animosity, but right now they needed to be on speaking terms, and if that mean him being an ass, that's what he would do. "We need to get some information before we plan our next move missy." He responded to Rise's question before directing his attention back to the scientist. "Oy nerd, I know you'd rather be stuffed down a toilet sideways than in the same room as me, but if you're planning to stay here, you're gonna have converse with me. Now if you don't want the two of us to take a step outside and work out some kinks one on one, tell me what's on your mind."

Will blanched and scooted his chair a little further away from Keynes. Better safe than sorry...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Snow's Garage

A sad smile curved Elizabeth's lips as she continued to hold the gun on level with Snow's chest. "Of course you don't know. I made sure that you wouldn't until now."

She licked her lips, suddenly feeling a nervous anticipation. This was what she'd been waiting for. Today, she would finally get justice.

"Paul LeGrange..." It took more than a little effort for her to speak the name without tears forming in her eyes. "My father..." There was a murderous glow in her eyes as they bore into Snow, watching for his reaction, anticipating the signs of guilt. "Your debt is the weight of his life. I can think of only one way to pay that off."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Police HQ

Don't worry about it? How could she not worry about it? If it had happened before, then Lisa was a fault for getting Arya into this situation, but knowing this had been the first time was little comfort. It only meant they'd waited long enough for Lisa to see the full extent of pain she'd caused her sister in person.

"So... sorry..." The words were faint, but there was a world of emotion in them. "Never meant for you to get... involved... Love you too much... for that..."

Her eyes started to creep down as Arya hummed an old, familiar tune. Lisa didn't know where she'd heard it before, but it was somehow comforting. Sleep had almost taken her completely when she heard Raidon's voice outside her cell, and even the veil of drug induced sleep couldn't keep her from turning to glare at him through the door. "Killing innocents now?" She asked weakly. "Guess you really don't... don't believe in justice."

Lisa's eyes slipped closed, but she forced them open one final time as her lips formed the words. "Remember... remember what I told you shitface... Better kill me while I can't fight back." Her eyes closed again, and this time sleep finally took her, the sweet dreams that Arya's lullaby might have caused glimpses of instantly replaced by horrific nightmares.

Bunker

Everyone was at a loss for what they should do or rather what they could do. James watched as the group fell apart more or less. This wasn't good, but what could he do?

Quietly, he stood up. It wasn't right. Everything seemed upside down and without anything to lead them on, no one seemed to have a plan. He needed to think and he needed fresh air. The more depressing the atmosphere in here, the more the bunker appeared claustrophobic to him.

Taking a different route than Keynes, he walked through the vehicle hangar and stepped outside and climbed higher up on the bunker. Sitting down, he leaned back against he concrete wall. Were they going to find a way?

___________________________________________

Police HQ

"I know, sweetie, I know," Arya said softly.

Then the door to the prison block opened. As soon as Arya heard the sound, she stood up, shaking off her blanket. What in the world could they want now? she wondered and tried to feel not afraid.

To her surprise it was Raidon who entered. He stopped at Lisa's cell.

When he delivered the news, she felt shocked, but not surprised. A small part of her had expected this outcome and honestly during the past few days there had been moments when she would've welcomed it. Now, she just felt a dull edge of sadness.

"Chief Raidon, wait please….Sir," she pleaded when he turned to leave. "If this is the last time I will see my sister, will you grant me some personal time with her?" she asked, her voice soft and hopeful. "Just an hour, please. I have not seen her in over ten years and I cannot bear to part with her like this," Arya's voice almost cracked, but she kept looking in his direction.

___________________________________________

Snow's Garage

Snow looked like someone sucker punched him when she spoke again and he actually staggered a step back. It took him a few seconds to speak.

"You're…you're Paul LeGrange's daughter? Elizabeth…Lizzy?" he asked, his voice actually sounded weak for the first time.

"Oh sh**," he ran his hand through his hair and paced a few steps up and down, completely ignoring the gun held at his chest and apparently at loss for words. He was trying to process it, trying to cope with the memories that he so long suppressed and that now flooded his mind. "It makes so much more sense now…I…," he broke off and turned to look at her. There was sadness on his face as well as guilt.

"You …have every right to hate me. It's my fault that you lost your father and now I understand why you want me dead" he paused, holding his hands up in a pacifying manner. "I can't imagine how hard this must be after eleven years, but please listen to me. Nothing was like it seemed. Please let me explain," there was a pleading tone in his voice. From the murderous glare in her eyes he could tell how this would end, but he was going to try everything he could to keep her from becoming a cold blooded murderer.

"Kill me afterwards for all I care, but know, that your father would not have wanted you to become a murderer for the wrong reasons," he said and stepped closer again right in front of the gun. He had been down this road. Snow remembered it like it was yesterday when he was trying to avenge his brothers death.

His eyes pleaded with her. "So please listen."

Bunker

Jax sighed and ran a hand through his close-cropped silver hair as he watched Alina depart the room, looking like a walking corpse. Rise seemed to have little to contribute as well and followed after James to the roof.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, sitting down beside him. She attempted a cheerful smile, but it fell dismally flat.

--------------------

Kokonoe stared forward, continuing to ignore the presence of Keynes at the table entirely. Evidently, his ultimatum fell on deaf ears. Seeing as how the only people left to come up with any concrete ideas were Keynes, Kokonoe, and Jane - none of whom seemed to be seeing eye to eye - Jax decided he'd best try to keep things moving smoothly by acting as the mediator.

"Uh.. Kokonoe, right? Do you have any ideas then?" he asked. The researcher leaned back in her chair and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before speaking.

"Not a damn thing," she replied flatly. "Of course, if you did want to get some kind of message out, I could hack the Army mainframe to interrupt their signal with one of our own. We'd need to wait until they were transmitting first though."

--------------------

Police HQ

Raidon stared at Lisa with his usual frosty glare, though there seemed to be something else there as well. Could it be regret?

"I gave your sister the chance to free herself," he said quietly. "I gave you that same chance. If you want to curse anyone, curse yourselves."

The chief turned on his heel to leave when Arya's voice stopped him. He shouldn't even acknowledge her, much less acquiesce to her request. He'd done her enough favors, despite the potential risk to his own position, and they'd been thrown back in his face. There was no sense in helping her again.

When had he turned his head to look at her? To see the tears shimmering in her eyes? Pity was useless at best; debilitating at worst. He had no room for such sentiments. He already bore the scar notions like pity.

For several seconds, he simply stared at her, his face unreadable. Then slowly, his hand reached over to the panel in the door and unlocked it. The door slid aside, and the chief held his hand out for her.

Raidon reached his hand out toward the lovely lieutenant as the waltz began for the next dance of the party, the shimmering lights of the chandeliers above reflected off her earings and dazzling dress.

Grasping her by the forearm in a firm but not uncomfortable grip, Raidon led her over to Lisa's cell and unlocked the door, allowing her to step inside. She turned to look at him as he reached for the panel on the cell door.

The beautiful rosette girl gazed up at him as they moved gracefully across the marble floors, turning and swaying in time with the music, the hint of a smile playing across her lips.

The cell door slid close, and Raidon stepped away from it.

"You have till dinner," he said, turning and leaving without a second glance. Darcy watched him leave the cell block before letting out a low whistle.

"The miracles never cease," he muttered, laying back on his pillow.

Bunker

James was staring off into the distance, deep in thought, when suddenly he heard footsteps. "Hm - what?" he asked confused and looked up at Rise. From where she stood, the sun was behind her and shined through her hair, illuminating her face. From his angle it looked rather beautiful and he forced himself to look away, otherwise he was certain his blushing cheeks and expression would betray his thoughts.

"I was just thinking about what we're going to do. Keynes says we need more info, but until he and that researcher figure their personal things out…I don't know. It seems were a bit stuck at the moment…" he trailed off and looked at her. He could tell her smile wasn't real.

"You feelin' better? You seemed pretty affected by what went down earlier," he said and resisted the feeling that told him to put an arm around her to comfort her. "I know you and Jax are really close and now all he's looking at is the Commander. How are you handling that?" James wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer, but he was damn sure he wanted to make sure Rise was okay. Realizing he might've gone too far, he looked a little apologetic when he added, "Sorry, I totally understand if it's none of my business."

___________________________________________

Police HQ

For a moment she thought he would turn away and leave, but then he stopped. Arya's face lit up when Raidon did turn and unlocked her cell door. Carefully she stepped out, for once actually glad he was holding her upright because she did not trust her legs yet.

She looked into his grey eyes and for the first time they did not seem to be so ice cold. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice full of gratefulness. "You have no idea what that means to me." There was a smile on her face when she stepped into Lisa's cell and turned around to watch him leave.

When the main door closed and Raidon was out of sight, Arya turned around and kneeled down next to Lisa. Carefully she picked the unconscious girl up and lifted her onto the bed. Sitting at the head of the bed, she leaned against the wall and pulled Lisa's head in her lap. Semi-consciously, her hands began to stroke Lisa's hair while she listened to her breathing.

"I knew he could not be so bad," she murmured quietly to herself and began humming the same lullaby again while she waited for Lisa to wake up.

Snow's Garage

Elizabeth watched the range of emotions that swept across Snow's face, taking them in one by one. Confusion, surprise, sadness, guilt... She held onto that one. Yes, there was enough guilt there to condemn him for sure, but the one emotion she'd wanted the most, the one she'd anticipated the most, wasn't there. Fear...

As he took a step forward, Elizabeth swiped the gun across the side of his face, knocking him to the floor. She should have grinned at the streak of blood running down his cheek from where the metal had cut his skin, but instead, she was angry with him. Where was the fear?

"Elizabeth. Only one person had the right to call me Lizzy, and you'll never be him." She snapped back at him. "Who are you to say what my father wouldn't have wanted? He's not exactly here to tell me that, now is he?"

Her finger squeezed the trigger ever so slightly, but she slowly released the pressure again without discharging the gun. "I'll give you the chance to explain yourself though." She licked her lips. "Judging you wouldn't have any meaning if you didn't at least try to put up some kind of pathetic defense first."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police HQ

Lisa didn't know how long sleep had held her when she opened her eyes, but she was sure that this was just another dream. There was no way that Arya could be in her cell. The guards wouldn't have ever allowed that. Still, looking up at her sister's concerned face was far better than the previous dream, in which she'd had to watch Arya brutalized by the entire host of officers in the building, right before Raidon put a bullet through her skull.

Imagining the scene again, Lisa felt the urge to empty her stomach, but when she turned to heave over the side of the bed, nothing came up. Of course not. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast the day before...

Feeling even more miserable now, she coughed and tried to curl up into a ball, maybe trying to somehow make herself as small as she felt right now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bunker

"You've not changed at all I see..." Keynes said as he pushed his chair back and got up from the table. "Whenever you're done acting childish, I'll be in the training room."

He stepped out of the kitchen rapidly, leaving the others at the table. Will glanced around at each of the others present and then excused himself as well. Down the hall, he could already hear the sound of weights being pushed onto a rack, and he could guess what Keynes was up to. Normally, he would have followed the old man, but at the moment, being near him was playing with fire. So, instead, he headed for the roof to clear his thoughts, or at least that had been his plan until he opened the door and saw Rise and James there already. Yeah, so walking into that conversation was just more trouble waiting to happen... As silently as possible, he turned back down the stairs, leaving the pair to whatever they were discussing. Maybe his room would be quieter...