Hey guys. How goes it?

Sorry for the wait. I have a particularly inflexible semester full of classes, so I haven't been able to do as much writing as I please. But, all of that extra time has given me the chance to thicken my plot and widen my story a little with more developments for future chapters. It also gave me a chance to refine a few parts of the chapter to make it better in certain aspects.

Speaking of improving the story, I do read your reviews you know, and consider them when writing my chapters. So if you have some constructive criticism, or even just praise, I'll gladly accept it and use it to make the story better for you all to read.

Also, thanks to this new chapter, I have removed the former age setting (T) and have replaced it with (M). You have been warned.

So yeah, here's the chapter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Date: June 7. 11:36 pm.

Location: Chifuyu's room, IS Academy.

Perspective: Chifuyu.

"... So, that is your report?"

"""Yes ma'am!"""

"Excellent. I will look more into this symbol you three have brought me. You are dismissed. Return to your rooms."

And with that short debriefing, I send the three of them back to their bedrooms. Once they leave and close the door, I relax my body through a deep *sigh...*, and hold the armor plate up to my face to check it more closely.

Aside from the fancy calligraphy, there is nothing special about it. It is the standard Greek letter symbol for 'omega' in bold black against a pure white metal background.

"What do you think it stands for, Orimura-sensei?"

"..."

Maya asks me the question, but in truth I cannot say for certain what this letter is supposed to represent. It is an alphabetical Greek letter, and although it is not commonly used, it can represent any number of things.

"... I don't know... But we have a more important questions to worry about..."

I sit the metal piece on the computer panel and stare blankly at the computer monitors.

"Firstly, what is Phantom Task really up to, sneaking around the islands near the mainland? And secondly..."

My gaze drifts back to the metal plate and I stroke my fingers over its smooth surface.

"Who... was that pilot..?"

Date: June 14. 3:45 pm.

Location: Class 2-B, IS Academy.

Perspective: Ling

From what I had heard, the day after the encounter with Phantom Task and the mysterious pilot, the Japanese military was sent in to investigate the island where everything took place.

As it had turned out, beneath the surface of the island was a secret research facility of some kind that had been under development. When the military arrived on the scene, there was no sign of anyone left there, but there was a lot of craters from explosives and energy scars left all over the place. From what I have heard, some of the computers were left relatively intact, so they are trying to decode the firewalls and safeguards to gain access to whatever information they can.

While the military has no clue about what happened to the facility, only a select few of the academy students, myself included, know the truth. We were only included in because of the possibility of being sent out on further missions and encountering this new potential "threat." So as of now, all the personal IS pilots and school higher-ups know about the mystery pilot, but plan to keep it concealed for fear of a panic between the students or even worse, the country. If people knew that there was another group out there that possessed IS like Phantom Task...

Regardless of the situation, we are on permanent standby until further notice. The main plan is to engage and quell any Phantom Task activities that should arise. However, there is underlying second plan now because of this new pilot.

The plan is to try to find this pilot again and talk to her, and if necessary capture her for questioning. However, it is a dangerous mission. That pilot singlehandedly eliminated three IS pilots, and one she even killed, despite the victim being inside of an IS. That alone is enough reason to be wary.

But, it has been a week since that incident, and nothing out of the ordinary has occurred around the world, so things are starting to settle back down again. It is almost as if nothing ever happened.

"Hey Ling, are you even listening?"

"Gyah! Sorry, I spaced out.."

I was so caught up in my own musings that I did not even notice that the bell had already rung and Cecilia was trying to talk to me.

"Hurry now, we must go. Orimura-sensei will not tolerate tardiness."

"Eh?"

Her statement catches me completely off guard, and I see her eyebrow begin to twitch in irritation.

"Weren't you listening!? We were ordered to come to Orimura-sensei's office here at the school building directly after class. Now hurry before we are late!"

With a huff, she begins walking toward the door entrance to the classroom.

'I better get going too! Orimura-sensei is scary when she's irritated..' I think, and shiver from past memories of her coming over to my family's restaurant to pick up Ichika, and then I accidentally spilling soup on her. Honestly, an angry Chifuyu is probably the single scariest thing I have ever had the misfortune of seeing firsthand.

I hastily get all of my school things together and rush out the door to catch up with Cecilia.

"... So, why did she call us out?"

"I do not know. There was an announcement that you, Houki, Tatenashi, Kanzashi, and I come to her office immediately following class. My guess is that it has something to do with what the Japanese government found inside the Phantom Task headquarters on the island."

"Really? If it is that, I wonder if they found something important..."

"Who knows. It may have something to do with that unknown pilot also."

"That's true. Any extra information on her would definitely be useful."

"Indeed. We know so little about her except for that symbol."

"Yeah..."

The 'OMEGA' symbol on a white armor plate that she gave us. I heard that Orimura-sensei and some of the best scientists she could get her hands on tried to inspect the plate to try to find out where it might have been originally made. However, there were no encryptions, names, watermarks, or symbols other than the black 'OMEGA.' They even attempted to inspect the elemental properties of the metal to see if it matched up with any known company's manufacturing qualities. That led to a dead-end as well.

"Let's see, her office should be around here somewhere.."

I walk a little further ahead of Cecilia, scanning the names of the doors as I briskly walk past them.

"Aha! Found it!" I yell triumphantly.

I wait a few seconds for Cecilia to rejoin me, we knock on the door, and then enter after hearing a muffled "Come in!" through the door.

Inside of her room, Orimura-sensei waits behind her desk with a stern expression as always, and Houki and the Sarashiki sisters are already standing in front of her. It appears they were waiting for us.

"Good. You are all here now. I have some news for you five."

"As you know, the government of Japan was sent to investigate the hidden facility on the island that belonged to Phantom Task. I just received some information that they decoded today."

"Most of it was irrelevant data that was already known to us, but we have found the name and location of another possible facility like the one that was being constructed."

"""!"""

This was huge for us. Despite the small amount of data actually recovered and processed as new information, it is a rare opportunity to find the location of another one of Phantom Tasks hideouts.

"Question, Orimura-sensei!"

"Yes, Sarashiki?"

"You said that the new Phantom Task base may be like the one that was being constructed. Did they find any information on what the facility would have been used for?"

Tatenashi inquires our sensei, and Orimura shakes her head.

"Not yet. From what Intel has gathered as of yet, it seems that the one being constructed was receiving funds and equipment from the other laboratory. They are still trying to find out exactly what that place was to be used for, but chances are slim that they will actually find it because of the extensive damage to the networks and computer systems."

"Which brings me to why I brought you five here..."

She stands from her desk chair and walks leisurely over to the window to gaze out over the courtyard below the school upper levels.

"The place is Ferson Research Facility, in the jungles below Mount Kinabalu in Eastern Malaysia. I want to send you five as a team to cooperate with the Malay special forces and launch a surprise attack on the facility."

"A surprise attack?" I ask her, not hiding the surprise and curiosity in my voice.

"Yes. Our hope is to capture the base and gain valuable information about our enemy, as well as discover what they are researching. This will give us a large advantage over Phantom Task."

"Now, as this will be a life-threatening and highly dangerous undertaking, you have the option of refusing to go through with it. Are there any that wish to not participate?"

"""..."""

For a brief moment, we all make eye contact with each other. There is no need for words as our eyes display our determination. We all look her straight in the face, silently telling her we accept the mission.

"... Excellent. You leave tomorrow, and the operation will begin four days from now."

"And also..." she says, leavening a stern glare at us, "this classified information. The only people that know about the information from the island and this operation are the people in this room, the principle, and the higher-ups within UNAPT and the Malaysian government. It would be wise of you all to be tight-lipped about anything said in this room today. Do I make myself clear?"

"""Y-YES MA'AM!"""

"... Good. You are dismissed."

Outside of her office, and with this new secret mission in mind, the five of us begin walking back to the dormitory together.

"... Hey, what do you think we'll find in Malaysia?"

"I don't know. If it's a research facility, they could be researching any number of things from IS development to military weapons testing." Tatenashi responds to my question.

"Was there anything in the government report about what kind of supplies the island was receiving from this laboratory? We may be able to determine it by that."

"I highly doubt it... since it appeared as if Orimura-sensei... was in the dark about it as well."

"Good point Kanzashi-san..."

With Houki's question and Kanzashi's response, we all contemplate on what might be in store for us in Malaysia.

'Well, there's no use in worrying too much about it now. We just gotta go out and kick ass!'

Thinking this to myself, our conversation digresses from total seriousness to idle chatter as we return to our rooms for the day.

Date: June 14. 6:21 pm.

Location: Unknown.

Perspective: Narrator.

The room is completely dark, lit only by the light of a screen projection. In the dim light of the room are two people, presumably women. They are both sitting down in business chairs, watching and listening to a video taken of Chifuyu's conversation to the girls about the mission.

One has silvery-white hair pulled up into a ponytail, appearing to flow like a stream of silver. Her skin is dark, but fair, her face colored by scarlet eyeliner and a brick red lip stud, and her body slender and slightly shorter than the person sitting next to her. Her eyes, a cold, icy blue, express a genuine warmth within them. She wears a black white full body combat suit, with the imprint of the Greek capital letter for 'SIGMA' on the chest.

The other is the notorious mystery pilot known among the higher-ups in the Academy. She is slightly taller than the silver-haired woman, and wears a similar body suit. She is distinguishable by her white helmet that encompasses her entire head. Across her non-existent chest is the capital symbol for 'OMEGA.'

The screen they are watching is divided into four different looks from slightly different angles. The video appears to have been taken from the top left corner of Chifuyu's office, and is inconspicuous enough to not be noticed.

"The place is Ferson Research Facility , in southeastern Malaysia. I want to send you five as a team to cooperate with the Malay special forces and launch a surprise attack on the facility."

"Oh? It seems that they found out where that place you destroyed was getting its resources from." the woman says in a happy-go-lucky fashion.

"..."

The mystery pilot does not speak, only nods her head in response to the other's statement.

"It seems that our spy camera hidden as a spider was a good investment. This is pretty important information, don't you think?"

"..." *nod*

"This could prove helpful in the coming operation, don't you agree?"

"..." *nod*

"Do you think we should join forces with them? After all, our goals are the same in this mission."

"..."

"Ah, I see. You have a plan already, don't you? Then we won't approach them for any assistance. If they get in the way of the mission, should we use lethal force to deal with them?"

"..."

"Ah right, right. We're trying to make as little contact as possible. I'll avoid them unless I become unable to. But didn't you already encounter some of them yourself?"

"..." *nod*

"Well, since it was you, I doubt they found out anything important other than your symbol that you gave them."

"..."

"... Excellent. You depart tomorrow, and the operation will begin four days from now."

"..."

The helmet woman looks to her side, appearing to give a side glance at her associate.

"Ah, so this is the information I should report. Alright then! I shall see you in time for the mission, Omega-san!~"

"..."

She exits the room just as the replay freezes at the moment where the five girls leave Chifuyu's room.

Left alone to his himself, Omega leans forward with his arms to support himself on his knees, brings his hands up to his helmet and clasps them together just below his "eyes." He lifts his head to look at one of the video frames, one showing Chifuyu standing at her window looking outside.

"... Forgive me for what I am about to do..." he whispers to himself, so as not to be heard by anyone who might be listening.

After that, he says no more words, makes no more sounds, and does not even move. He just sits alone in that room looking at the video image of Chifuyu.

Date: June 18. 9:36 pm.

Location: The forest floor of Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia.

Perspective: Tatenashi.

The five of us girls were flown into the Eastern part of Malaysia the day following our little chat with Orimura-sensei. From then on, we were acquainted with a few of the Malay high officials and given special treatment as honored guests of the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

We were each given a luxurious and spacious room to stay in, and catered to at all times during the day. Everyone was very nice, and everything provided for was much appreciated. But...

We all knew that this was not a vacation. We came here to sack a prominent Phantom Task research facility. This is the first real opportunity for the world to get some actual ideas about what Phantom Task has been planning. Should this chance go to waste, we may never get another chance. Therefore, we knew that we didn't have the time to indulge ourselves in luxury and pampering.

'Although that sounds so good right now...'

At the moment, I am deployed in my IS Mysterious Lady, along with Kanzashi. The other three girls are at a parallel position, awaiting orders from the Malay government to begin the assault.

The plan is to use the cover of night to sneak close to the entrance into the base, and then eliminate any obstacles that might stand in the way of the special forces group that will infiltrate the facility along with the five of us. We divided up our forces evenly so that one side could attack first, and the other side could flank them.

'We still do not know the enemy's true defenses, but we'll have to stake this chance if we want to succeed!'

"Onee-san..."

"Hm?"

"Don't you find it weird... that there hasn't been any guards... guarding the entrance?"

What Kanzashi says is true. From my own observations, the entrance into the facility is carved into the side of the mountain, disguised as a rock formation that slides down to open.

Prior to today, I did some scouting on my own and found this place and saw firsthand how the entrance is supposed to work and the expected times of arrival and departure for various vehicles or people. We have been waiting here for over an hour, and there has literally been no sign of any movement at all.

"... Could they have figured out our plan?"

I ask this to myself, standing up from my hiding place in the brush and moving out into the open area before the entrance.

"... ! O-Onee-san!"

Kanzashi calls out to me in a whisper, but I ignore her and place my hands upon the door. Nothing happens.

"Onee-san, get back here! It's dangerous to be... out in the open!" she cries in a whisper again.

"... Something isn't right here."

I have this uneasy feeling that something is going to happen. I do not know what it is, but I can feel it pulling at me inside of my chest.

'We have to start the operation now!'

With that in mind, I rear my fist back and slam it into the doorway, destroying it instantly.

The moment I do, something jumps out at me from the other side of the door and pins me to the ground.

"Wha-?"

On top of me is a girl piloting a second generation IS of some kind, holding a giant army knife in her hands.

"We've been waiting for you~." she says with a sinister smile.

'Crap! They knew about the assault!'

"Where are the others? There are more of you, yes?"

She asks me this, lowering her face to mine, as if she's trying to search my soul with her black eyes.

"Where are they?"

'If they know that we're here, then this is all a huge ambush! More importantly, I can't let them know where the others are.'

"Onee-san!"

The woman on top of me looks up and jumps off just as a missile passes by where she was moments before. Standing to me feet, I jump back and rejoin Kanzashi.

"Thank you, onee-chan."

"Oh? How lovely, there's two of you now! Where are the rest?"

The woman asks casually, smirking at us from the facility entrance. Behind her are four more girls piloting stolen Uchigane Nigatas, ready to fight.

"Kanzashi, warn the others that we've fallen into a trap. initiate plan B!"

"Yes onee-san!"

Kanzashi points her launcher at the sky and fires a special missile that begins shining yellow as it ascends into the night air.

".. A signal flare, hmm? Calling for your friends, it seems."

The moment she says it, an energy wave strikes the ground right in front of her, forcing her to move back out of the way.

"Tatenashi-senpai! Kanzashi-san! Are you both alright?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you Houki-san."

Coming from the opposite side of Kanzashi and I are Houki, Ling, and Cecilia geared up and ready to fight.

"What's the problem?"

"Ah Cecilia-san, it seems that our plan was compromised. They were waiting for us."

"They knew!?"

"Ling-san, please calm down... It is possible that someone... has sold us out."

"But who!? Weren't we the only ones who knew?"

"Perhaps Phantom Task had connections within the Malay special forces." Houki speculates.

"That could be true... There also could have been some at the island... where the data was first retrieved."

"Argh! There's just too many possibilities!"

"Calm down, Ling-san! We have to contact the Malay special forces. They may be able to help out."

"Ahahahaaa, I don't think they will be a problem any longer. A few of my friends should be meeting them right about now."

'This is bad! They knew about the special forces too!? They won;t stand a chance if the enemy has an IS deployed!'

Deciding on a spur of the moment, I turn to my sister and bark an order.

"Kanzashi! Go back and protect the special forces squad!"

"Yes onee-san!"

Kanzashi flies away from the mountain to where the soldiers of Malaysia are in position.

"Shouldn't you be worried about your friend?"

"Huh?" Ling responds.

"What is she talking about?" Cecilia asks.

"Isn't that why you are here? You came to rescue your comrade?"

"Comrade?" Ling whispers.

"You better hurry up and save her. We've been having so much fun playing with her. The electric chair was probably our favorite activity to do." she says with a cheerful smile.

"Electric chair!? Why are you torturing a woman in there!?" Houki shouts.

"Oh? You don't know? Then allow me to remind you..." she says and her expression darkens.

"For the past year you people have caused all kinds of trouble for us at Phantom Task. Robbing our shipments, eliminating some of our higher-ups, destroying entire facilities; it's time for you to pay, you people from Sotiría!"

"What is a Sotiría?" Ling asks to Cecilia.

"I have no idea. Maybe she's crazy."

"STOP MUMBLING! That woman is your subordinate, yes? She has only been punished for her actions against Phantom Task!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you people aren't any good, so I'll be stopping you and saving that woman!"

"Houki-san is right. We must help that woman, whomever she is." I say with determination.

"Excellent! This is exactly what I wanted!" the woman yells with a sadistic grin plastered on her face only for it to be replaced with a frown of irritation.

"Heh? What is it?"

She presses her hand to her ear and her eyes widen.

"Another attack from the East!?"

She drops her hand and shouts at us with rage flaring in her eyes.

"You assholes! How many teams did you have set up!?"

She turns around and shouts at her friends as well.

"Don't just stand there, attack them! KILL THEM! I must go and deal with this new threat!"

And with that, she dashes past the other four as they each take a fighting stance.

"Hey! Where are you going!? Get back her and fi-!"

"Houki-san, calm down. I will go after her. You three fight off these four. Make your onee-san proud!~"

And just like that, I accelerate to my top speed in an instant, moving past the four "guards" faster than they can keep up with.

'I know you girls can handle them.' I think, smiling as I fly down a long hallway heading into the facility.

The entire facility begins to shake, and land on the ground to avoid being hit by a piece of falling debris.

"... What is going on here?"

The more I think about it, the more none of this makes any sense. First the enemy knows about our plan, then accuses us of being someone else, and now another development going on within the lab.

"... I smell a setup."

With an uneasy feeling in my chest, I press forward, coming to a large open room. Within the room are several canister pods, all empty and bloodstained. The bodies of dead scientists litter the ground. The horrific sight is enough to make a person sick to their stomach.

Hovering just above the ground, I slowly, warily make my way down through the rows of pods, closely examining a few of them as I pass.

"What on Earth is this? What has Phantom Task been doing? ... O-.. Oh my..!"

Lying inside one of the pods I pass by is an infant, a boy, sprawled on the floor of the pod and dripping with blood.

""W-what is this!? My God!"

Unable to bear the sight before me, I fall on the floor and my stomach churns over, causing me to vomit.

'What the hell!? Children in a laboratory!'

And then it dawned on me.

'... No... They can't be using children for some kind of experimentation!?'

Rattled by this new development, I stand shakily to my feet and do not dare to take a glance back at that pod. Unfortunately, the deeper I got into the facility's large room, the more dead bodies... and dead infant boys... I find. The entire seen is enough to scar anyone for life.

After walking the rest of the way, I reach an area most likely to be the center of the room, where an open, circular area is laid out before me. In the middle of this area is a broken metal chair, and lying at the foot of that chair is a woman.

She has dark brown curly hair that stops just at her shoulder, and very pale skin. In fact, everything else about her physical appearance is pale. A hole can be seen just above her chest cavity, trickling blood out slowly from the wound and her mouth. Judging by the pool of blood congregated around her body, she's been like this for a while. As for her clothing, she is a wearing a full body combat suit, colored white in the center from the collar down and black on the shoulders and sides under the arms. Across her chest is the Greek uppercase symbol for 'LAMBDA.'

"I rush over to her quickly and look at the damage done. The hole in her chest was a bullet wound, penetrating through one of the lungs and ejecting out from the other side of her body. From the amount of blood, she should have died some time ago, possibly ten or fifteen minutes at the most.

'... Was this the girl whom that woman was talking about?' I think, glancing at the destroyed metal chair hooked up with electrical wires.

"I'm sorry I did not make it in time. Please forgive me..."

I say this to her, although she is no longer with me, and give a silent prayer to honor her. I turn around and begin to search for any more information that may be key to finding out what is going on.

"...ega..."

"Eh?"

After hearing a faint noise, I hastily turn around and see the woman, barely able to lift her head, try her best to look at me. From the amount of light still left in her brown eyes, she doesn't have much longer.

"... Omega... Omega..."

"... Umm what's this about Omega?"

"... Tell Omega... to find the... New Colossus..."

"New Colossus?"

"Tell Omega... That is where the answer is..."

"What answer? What are you trying to say?" I ask, holding her head under my hand.

"..."

I felt her body go completely limp and see the last traces of light fade from her eyes. I solemnly gaze upon her corpse, thinking that she would have been a very beautiful woman in any other circumstance.

Feeling a new presence in the room, my head jerks up and I finally witness the true Mysterious Lady for myself.

Clad in a pure white IS and wearing a white domed helmet with black visor covering her entire face, her tall and slender body is outfitted with the same combat suit as the girl next to me, only hers has the capital letter for 'OMEGA.'

"... Ah, are you Omega-"

She flies at me with incredible speed and slams a ball of energy into the ground where I was not even a full second ago.

"-san!?"

Surprised by her quick attack, I get hit by the next one as she drills a ball of energy straight into my chest, sending me flying and crashing into a group of pods.

'Urk! What the hell!? Such amazing force and power!'

Even with the protection of my shields and IS, I can feel a distinct pain in the middle of my chest where she hit me. It is an aching pain, that increases and drops off at random intervals.

Before I can even get back up, she is on me again, another orb of energy just above my head. She cocks her arm back, ready to slam her attack right in my face.

"WAIT! I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM THAT LADY OVER THERE!" I yell and shut my eyes tight as I see her arm descend.

I do not feel any kind of impact with my body, so I open my eyes slowly. The energy ball is mere centimeters away from touching the shield of my IS. The woman has stopped her attack, but is still on top of me holding me down.

'... I guess she wants me to tell her the message.'

"... That lady... she said to tell Omega-san to find the New Colossus, and that your answer will be there."

"..."

We remain like that for a few more seconds before she balls her fist, dispersing the energy ball. She gets off of me and walks over to the corpse of the woman, and gently lifts her up into her arms.

"Hey..."

She hears my voice and turns around to face me.

"Who are you people?"

"..."

She remains silent, unmoving, not giving any hint as to who she is or who she is.

"Who do you work for?"

"..."

"Are you an enemy of Phantom Task?"

"..." *nod*

'Hmm. This time I got a nod. It seems that she only answers yes or no questions.'

"Would you join up with us in stopping whatever Phantom Task is planning?"

"..."

'Hmm. No response at all this time. I asked a yes or no question, so does that mean no?'

"What is your reason for being here?"

"..."

She responds by looking down at the girl in her arms, and I immediately understand the situation.

"You came to rescue her? You are her friend?"

"..." *nod*

"... I see. So that is why that woman mistook our squad for you and your group. Please, tell me; what is Sotiría?"

"..."

No response at all this time. Maybe I should try asking in yes or no form.'

"Are you a part of Sotiría?"

"..." *nod*

'Okay, good. Now we know who this third party is. Maybe I can get a little more information out of her.'

As I am about to ask my next question, her head snaps slightly to the right, and she lifts an arm straight out in front of her, projecting a barrier that blocks an incoming energy bullet that would have hit her right in the head.

While still holding the corpse of the girl, she forms another energy sphere and slams it into the ground around her feet, causing dirt and dust to spread out in a large cloud.

""Tatenashi-senpai!""

"Tatenashi!"

"Onee-san!"

Landing next to me are the other four girls, looking battered and bruised from their fights with the other IS pilots.

"Are you okay, onee-san!?"

"Hehe, your onee-san is tougher than she looks. I'm just fine."

"I see. That is good..."

"Rather, is that pilot still there?"

With the dust beginning to settle again, we are able to get a better understanding of our surroundings. There is no sign of the woman or the corpse she was carrying.

'A smokescreen escape. Very clever indeed.'

"Come on girls, let's get out of this place. We need to speak with Orimura-sensei right away."

"Huh? Why so soon?"

"There's no time to explain Ling. We must hurry."

Unable to argue with my orders, the three of them obediently follow me back outside of the laboratory, tell the Prime Minister of the current situation regarding the facility, and immediately board a plane back to Japan.

Date: June 19. 7:35 am.

Location: Chifuyu's Office, IS Academy Dormitories.

Perspective: Chifuyu.

"Sarashiki. Your report."

"Yes ma'am! The mission to successfully take Ferson Research Facility was a success. The only casualties that occurred were among some members of the Malay Special Forces."

"Excellent. What else do you have to report?"

"I have reason to believe that information about the operation was leaked. The enemy was ready for our attack and even knew how many of us there were."

"I see. I will look into this matter. It is good that none of you were severely injured as a result of this misfortune."

"Also, Ma'am, Ferson Research Facility was also attacked by an unknown third party."

"A third party?"

"Yes. According to intelligence that I gathered while on the mission, they are referred to as Sotiría."

"'Sotiría'... What other information can you provide?"

"Not a lot ma'am. I can confirm that they are enemies of Phantom Task... And that she is also a member."

"... I see. Is that all you have to report?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"... Well, then you all are dismissed enjoy some rest before you return back to your studies."

"""Yes Ma'am!"""

"... Sarashiki."

I call out to Tatenashi and silently tell her to stay. I have more that I want to talk to her about.

Once everyone has left, we sit down at a table in the corner and have an informal, but still serious chat.

"Now, tell me... What exactly did you see at that facility?"

"... I saw death. It was in the form of scientists, women, and even one of the members of Sotiría, I believe. But the worst part was death in the form of infant boys..."

"Infant boys?"

"Barely a year old, yes."

"That... is sick. Why use children for experimentation..."

I can feel my blood boiling, knowing that Ichika was once taken hostage by Phantom Task and would have possibly experimented on had it not been for my intervention.

"It's only speculation. I did not find any hard evidence showing that they were in fact being experimented on. All of the ones I stumbled upon had bullet holes in their bodies, so it's hard to say..."

I can feel the rage building in my chest, but for the sake of the dormitory, I restrain my anger before I can go on a rampage of destruction.

"Also, sensei..."

"Hm?"

"I talked with that girl... the one from Sotiría... before she died. She said for the other pilot, Omega-san, to find the New Colossus and that she would her answer there."

"New Colossus... answer... It seems to be a cryptic message that only the other pilot would understand."

"I agree. What should our next move be?"

"Hmm... For now, remain ready to be deployed at any time. Also, I want you to research anything you can find about that message she gave you. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good. You are dismissed."

Tatenashi leaves the room and I stay sitting down, slumping in my chair slightly.

"... Sotiría, huh? What are you people really after?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, I was unable to show the rest of the phonetic vowels for 'Sotiría'. The 'o' and the 'i' without the accent mark have some special kind of phonetic pronunciation that I do not know, nor can I replicate into this document format. This is the best I could do.

Also, 'Sotiría' is Greek for 'Salvation.' Just wanted to let you all know.

Read and review, and all the good stuff. I'll get back to you guys at some point with another good chapter. I hope.

- SUPERIOR WOLF