Maple made her way towards the hangar where the Red Wing was stored. She could hear the sporadic gunfire across the city, plumes of smoke beginning to rise upwards, clouding under the dome. Despite the short notice, the W.R.A. seemed to be well prepared, seeing that they hadn't been able to push any farther.

Within a few minutes, she had arrived at the doors to the hangar. She quickly pushed through and looked for Dr. Sukomoto. The doctor was rounding up some of the soldiers, shuttling them onboard the ship. It was obvious she was preparing for a worst case scenario. Looking past the chaos, she waved to Maple.

Jogging her way over, Maple called out, "Dr. Sukomoto. What do you need me to do here?"

The doctor stared at her for a moment, as if she wasn't expecting Maple to ask anything, just stand by patiently.

"Um, just get inside and wait. If they make it here we need to be ready to take off."

Maple felt her anger fluster. She wasn't feeling keen on simply standing around. If it was too dangerous for her to be on the frontlines she at least wanted to be of some help at the hangar. She hated feeling like she was an object more than a person. Just because Helix was after her didn't mean that she needed looking after.

"Sorry, but sitting around isn't my thing. What can I do?"

"FIne, um, see if the troops need help with fortifications."

It was good enough for Maple. It kept her hands busy and her mind off the battle that was raging outside. As she scurried over to a group of soldiers setting up some barricades near the airfield entrance, she heard a voice crackle over their radios.

"This is Lyria requesting assistance in the residential area. Any available reinforcements proceed to assist Generation in repelling strike squads."

Maple hesistated, knowing she had to ignore the command. Her father and comrades could take care of themselves. It was most likely a call just in case they got in a tight situation. Before she could give it any thought, multiple voices rang in unison over the radio, "Affirmative." They sounded like a chorus consisting of the same voice. It was almost eerie.

She continued setting up the barricades, passing each piece down in a line, forming a wall. It wouldn't stop anybody from getting to them, but it would definitely slow them down. It could mean the difference between casualties and a smooth getaway.

Maple felt the ground underneath her shake as another explosion rocked the city. This time it was much closer, just a ways from the command center. Had a line already been breached that quickly?

"This is Lyria. We have a code red. I repeat, code red. Multiple W.O.L.F. units have breached our frontline and are traveling in a direct interception course with the airfield. All backup units deploy to the airfield now."

That answered her question. Either Helix had a trump card, or they were just that vastly outnumbered in the first place. Maple braced herself, knowing that a fight was coming to her whether she wanted it or not. She felt eager to test out her new capabilities.

Briggs whipped the vehicle hard around the side of a building, bringing a group of soldiers into view. Marcus, Akatsuya and Amanda opened fire, raining down an inescapable amount of gunfire upon the soldiers. The shots ripped and tore their way through the armor and flesh, stripping the meat from the bone. The group crumpled in a heaved mess, their blood washing over the pavement.

Briggs charged on, shoving the bodies aside in the machines wake. As they headed further up one of the streets, they emerged in a section of the residential area that was home to a large park. On their left, W.R.A. soldiers were bolstered down, returning fire at the entrenched Helix soldiers in the park.

Briggs brought the machine to a halt, realizing they would be unable to fire effectively thanks to all the brush in the park. One by one, they exited the vehicle, weapons in hand and took up defensive postions. As they brought up formation, the W.R.A. soldiers spotted them, signaling that they acknowledged their presence. At least they wouldn't have to worry about friendly fire.

Marcus took point with Briggs while Germaine brought up the rear, Amanda and Akatsuya in the middle. They moved up on the right side of the park, looking to flank the soldiers that were set up within. Making their way past the gates, they charged through the east entry side, breaching the steel gates that served as a door.

Gunfire erupted down on them as they scrambled to find cover. Helix soldiers were scattered behind benches and other various park decorations while they reinforced themselves with a destroyer tank in the middle. The machine was mounted wtih a high explosive cannon and an infrantry turret, dangerous even to Alphas like Generation.

Marcus signaled for Amanda to take up a sniping position along a row of trees. It would offer the most protection for her at a distance while the rest could move. Germaine moved to the front with Marcus while Briggs took a defensive position near a kiosk. While the three proceed forward, Akatsuya circled around to provide a distraction.

Akatsuya stayed out of the lines of sight, snaking his way closer and closer to the enemy ilne. Briggs' short bursts of suppressing fire were perfect to keep the attention away from him while Marcus and the others acted as a clear threat. As he drew close, he saw the nearest group of soldiers. Three of them, all unsuspecting.

He drew his submachine guns level, and squeezed the trigger down. They ripped through the first one, splattering his blood through the air. Before the other two could react, Akatsuya drew up behind one of them and swung his blade. It sliced through the soldiers neck, spraying a shower of blood into the face of the other. Blinded by his comrades blood, the soldier never saw blade coming at him. It skewered him through the chin and penetrated into his skull cavity, making his brain a shishkibab.

Seeing the break in cover, Marcus and the others charged forward, using their superior muscle builds to move at a pace faster than a human could. They began squeezing off rounds at the rest of the enemy force, making a dash for an embankment behind the destroyer tank.

Amanda squinted through her scope. A group of soldiers, formed up in a diamond shape, had turned their attention towards Marcus and company. They were too far out of range for Briggs so it was left up to her. She zoomed in her scope and held her breath still.

The first shot ripped through the eye socket of one of the soldiers, sending glass from his mask flying. The other four men scattered for cover, surprised by the sudden attack. The had already lost focus on Marcus and the others and were now scouting the distance for Amanda. Too late.

The second shot slammed into the chest of the second man, sending him reeling to the ground. He squirmed around on the ground, blood gushing from his chest. Within moments, he lay still. Amanda took aim at her next target, but the soldier was covering himself. Well, for the most part.

The third shot tore into the soldier's foot, splintering bone across the ground. He cried out as he stumbled into the open, a fourth shot carving a path through the back of his head. Only the one soldier remained of the squad.

Amanda considered letting Marcus and the others deal with him, but where was the fun in that? She peered through her scope, eyeballing the belt that the soldier wore. On it, two grenades dangled loosely. Perfect. She squeezed a round off and smiled as she was answered with an explosion, scattering the parts of the soldier across the ground.

With that squad out of the way, the rear of the destroyer tank was now clear. Briggs and Amanda also began to move up, aiming to suppress the units in front of the tank. It was going to become risky trying to attack from behind and front with both the W.R.A and Generation.

The W.R.A. soldiers began to rally against the Helix units in the park. They began to push forward, bearing down upon the front gate. The destroyer tank greeted their enthusiasm with destruction. It blasted a shot from its cannon, the explosive slamming down in the middle of the group.

Marcus watched as the black and yellow clad soldiers were flung in multiple directions, loose limbs following in their wake. Yet, the others refused to falter. It was disturbing to see them in such a calm state after their comrades had been decimated in front of them. Despite having formely been mindless clones, they seemed to have transcended some aspects of humanity in their freedom. Fear must have been one of them.

The soldiers stormed the field of the park, laying down heavy fire upon the Helix units. Their offensive caused the attackers to falter, and slowly, they began to push Helix back. As they tried to retreat, they were greeted by the gunfire of Generation. Germaine's shotgun easily split the soldiers apart, each blast dropping them instantly.

Marcus kept firing off short bursts of fire from his rifle, each burst aimed at taking off as many heads of the Helix soldiers as possible. Within a few moments, they had already begun to thin the herd of Helix units that had taken up refuge. The only target still proving to be a large threat was the tank that kept firing off rounds from its cannon and machine gun, ripping and breaking the surrounding with every consecutive blast.

They weren't sure how they were going to deal with the tank, considering they didn't have any heavy arms and it was impossible to get a clear shot with the transport. They needed to bring it down quickly though. The longer they had to deal with it, the more likely they would be overrun in the other sectors.

As Marcus was glancing around for a means to dispose of the tank, he heard his radio come to live. It was Lyria's voice that greeted them, a frantic call being sent out. "This is Lyria. We have a code red. I repeat, code red. Multiple W.O.L.F. units have breached our frontline and are traveling in a direct interception course with the airfield. All backup units deploy to the airfield now."

Marcus keyed his comm in, trying to flag Lyria down. He couldn't just leave Maple there knowing that it was heading her way.

"Lyria, Marcus here. We're trying to dispose of a destroyer tank. Can you get some extra units over here so we can withdraw to the airfield."

Marcus waited several moments, trying to keep his ears open over the loud gunfire and explosions. He was stuck. He couldn't just up and retreat, they were already too close to the tank to get away unnoticed, but he also couldn't just leave Maple alone. They were most likely after her anyways.

"Sorry Marcus, we're doing what we can. That red W.O.L.F. we fought before was spotted heading towards our airbase. I can't risk taking soldiers away from there. Do what you can there and then retreat back."

As he heard Lyria's words, Marcus suddenly noticed that the gunfire from the tank had stopped. What had happened? Did something go wrong with the tank and it suddenly malfunctioned? What a blessing that would be.

Marcus raised himself over the embankment and peered out, looking over the tank. It had indeed ceased its fire, the W.R.A. soldiers gathered around it. In the blink of an eye, he watched as a massive figure jumped out from the machine and slammed into the ground, knocking the WRA soldiers to their feet.

Everyone stood in awe at the size of the figure, its hulking mass highlighted by the protrusion of metal shards from underneath its uniform. From behind a large black helmet, the figure glanced around at its opponents, their reflections staring at them from the glass in its mask.

Before anyone could react, the figure launched forward, smashing one of its large fists into a soldier. A loud and sickeneing crack filled the air, the soldier rolling backwards in a crumpled heap. Blood oozed out from his chest, his sternum split wide open from the force of the impact.

The other soldiers began to open fire, but they were met with a grim sound. As the bullets struck the body of the figure, they made a loud metal clang, ricocheting off of it. A deep grunt came from the figure as it sprung forward once again. This time, it was much more gruesome.

Marcus and team watched in horror as the soldiers were ripped apart limb by limb, their bodies used as clubs to crush one another. The large man crushed them under his feet, splitting their bodies open, their insides spilling out. It was a pure bloodbath. This foe was much more dangerous than the tank had been.

Marcus braced himself as the figure turned to them, pointed a blood covered steely finger at them. The man had made it clear that they were next, and Marcus knew they were in for a fight. This wasn't going to one they could simply run from, nor one that they had a clear chance of winning.

Maple watched as soldiers came rolling into the airfield in droves, transports with fortified weapons taking up positions at each entryway. Four black W.O.L.F. mechs situated themselves in front of the hangar. It was obvious that they were preparing for something dangerous. Maple also knew that this was all just to protect her. She hated it.

She glanced down at her gloves, still stained from Alyssa's blood from before. She hadn't had a chance to wash them, and the stain had become permanent. She let out a sigh. At least it was a reminder of why she had to fight. No matter what it cost her, she was going to avenge everything she had lost.

Almost as if that opportunity was eager to greet her, Maple heard the distinct sound of W.O.L.F. mechs traveling in high speed. The thrusters let off a high pitched whine when they were pushed to their limits, signaling that they were at maximum output. She braced herself, recognizing that it had to be the attackers that Lyria had signaled about.

Despite being ready for the attack, the blitzkrieg tactic was effective. A large assembly of mechs smashed through the front gates, led by the red one Maple recognized from before. The soldiers opened fire on the machines, acting only as insects to the heavily armored machines.

The WRA mechs proved to be the most effective tool, as they clashed with the machines. Two of the enemy mechs came crashing down in a fiery blaze, toppling some of the transports in their wake. Maple shielded her eyes as the flames spat out, threatening to burn anything nearby. She became frustrated, realizing that wouldn't be able to do anything as she was.

While the other mechs continued to fight, Maple looked around for anything that could let her take part. Mounted to the top of one of the transports was a heavy gauge turret. Recognizing its capability, she darted over to it. As she leapt up to situate herself, she saw why the gun remained still.

Inside the seat of the turret, one of the soldiers had been decaptiated by a piece of debris that had flew off from one of the destroyed mechs. Pushing aside the gruesome sight, Maple threw the body from the seat and slid down inside, flicking blood from her shoulder.

She began to fire on the enemy mechs, but they were proving elusive. Much like the red mech before, these units darted in and out of lines of fire, making it nearly impossible to track them. Maple watched as the WRA was quickly losing control of the situation.

The battlefield had become pure pandemonium. Corpses were scattered everywhere, a barrage of yellow and black mixed with red littering the airfield. Maple ignored the scene, focusing on trying to bring down the mechs. Still, it was hopeless.

The red mech suddenly turned to face her, sidestepping her barrage of fire and slamming itself into the transport she was in. The vechile rocked back and forth before falling over onto its side, tossing Maple from the gunner seat. She landed with a thud on the hard ground, her head slightly fuzzy from the sudden impact.

As she picked herself up, the red mech had leveled its weapon at Maple. It was obvious that it wanted her to surrender, but Maple knew she had the advantage in this situation. If she was so important to them, they wouldn't kill her, only incapacitate her.

Maple suddenly trigger her powers, her anger and sorrow causing the flames to explode around her. The mech quickly jumped back as Maple attempted to go on the offensive. As she struck the machine, her hands and feet stung with pain. She knew she was striking harder than her body could handle, but she couldn't go easy.

As the pain began to increase, it suddenly quit. Was it the ability that had healed her arms from before? Without questioning it any further, she continued her onslaught. Unable to strike her back for fear of killing her, the machine gave way to her attacks. It retracted backwards before landing on the ground, Maple panting from the multitude of strikes she had thrown.

She suddenly felt surprised when the machine lowered its cockpit and a figure dropped from the mech. Landing with a gentle grace, his bright red clothes shone under the light of the dome. The red hue matched the paint on the mech, his white hair standing out against the chaos of the city behind him.

Maple pulled her guard back up as the man approached, his face coming into plain view. For one half of his face, it was rather pleasant. Gentle yet sorrowful in shape, but the other half told a different story. The scarred and burnt appearance told that there was much more to this man than his regal outfit and style.

"Maple Wright, daughter of Helen and Marcus Wright."

His tone was bold, almost as if he was addressing somebody in a formal manner. It was an odd scene amidst the fighting taking place around them. Maple kept her guard up, expecting an attack at any moment.

"I am Char Malkovich, head of Helix. I would politely ask that you stand down and surrender. I don't take kindly to violence, but if you refuse then we will have no choice but to execute those that we capture here today."

It was a bold announcement, giving Maple a feel of arrogance to make such a demand in the current situation. She wouldn't just surrender that easily. Even if she did, she knew she couldn't take the mans word. Not after what happened at Marlow.

"Sorry, but I refuse. Instead, I suggest you surrender."

Maple flared her flames out in response, showing the man that she was nothing to be trifled with. She knew that he wouldn't fall for such a primal intimidation, but it was a sign nonetheless that she wasn't afraid.

The man let out a sigh before continuing on, "I really don't want to have to hurt you. You must understand, I could have killed you while I was in my mech."

"You didn't kill me because you need me."

Maple lunged forward, hoping to catch the man off guard. She threw a strike aimed at his neck, but he quickly sidestepped. She felt him grab her arm, and saw as her vision flipped, slamming into the ground. Before another attack could come, she kicked away and flipped back to her feet.

The man had taken a fighting stance, his legs spread shoulder length, his right foot in lead. His left hand was tucked to his waist while the right was extended, hand firmly held with an outstretched palm. Maple realized that when he had stepped, he was waved her strike with his right hand and tossed her. His outfit defintely didn't speak for his fighting skill.

Maple rebraced herself and charged forward once again. She feinted the same strike, and instead threw a kick to her left. She felt a hard impact as the kick landed directly into the stomach of Char. As she expected to see her opponent reel backwards, she felt herself be launched once again. This time, she felt a hard heel come down on her spine as she hit the ground, knocking the wind from her.

As she struggled to regain her breath, Char stepped over her, "I told you, I don't like to resort to violence. Would you please surrender before you get seriously hurt?"

Amidst her gasping, Maple grasped his leg and channeled her flames. They shot down her arm and circled around his leg, licking at his red pants. He jumped back, yet didn't show any sign of pain. Underneath the singed fabric, Maple saw a terrace of scar tissue, black in color. She definitely couldn't have scarred him that quickly. There was something else happening.

She brought herself to her feet once more, this time building up her flames as much as possible. As they began to peel back her skin, her awakened ability kept it intact, pushing new skin to the surface as quick as it was burned away. It was extremely painful, but she knew she would need it to take Char down.

Maple darted to the left and right, zigzagging in a confusing pattern. Char's eyes darted back and forth, tracking his target as she moved like lightining. Not quick enough. As she burst forth in a barrage of strikes coupled with shots of fire, he parried them, keeping his head moving, bobbing in and out. As she began to slow, he brought a strong knee into her stomach, lifting her from the ground.

Maple felt her insides twist. This was no mere man. He had to be an Alpha, yet he had tissue that had refused to heal. Just what was he? Before she could catch herself midair, a heavy elbow came crashing into the back of her skull. As she landed face first into the pavement, her vision began to grow blurry, and darkness soon overtook her...