Xandra and I found ourselves alone as made our way through the hallways when we ran into one of the other mercs working with the EPC. According to him, E found him and a bunch from our original group and entered the battlefield during the ambush. They sought cover from the snipers by fighting their way through one of the open human-sized doorways, using weapons from fallen Baggsab. They were doing so well that they began pushing deeper into the outpost, but they ended up getting split up when they encountered a larger group of the enemy. I asked for him to take us to their last location when he then got shot in the back of the head. I looked towards the originating source of the shot. It was Shaun, and he was holding what I recognized to be his uncle’s revolver. He must’ve found a way to sneak it pass the drones.

“No robots to get in the way now, bitches!” he yelled at us in French, as others of the Néo-Napoléonie gathered behind him, some with weapons they looted from the Baggsab.

“My uncle will have his revenge!”

Xandra quickly used her new gun to drive them into cover as we made our way out of the area, until she ran out of ammunition. We booked it with Néo-Napoléonie in tow, calling for our deaths. Hoping Comandanta E was within radio range, I tried contacting her while we ran for our lives. We soon made it out onto a wide and long balcony walkway overlooking what appeared to be a storage room for the Minare. It was here when E got ahold of me, and I tried telling her what was going on and the already difficult task of pinpointing where exactly where we were in an alien setting. A group of Baggsab ended up blocking our way to escape our pursuers, so that we got caught in between the two, who saw each other. Xandra and I ducked into an alcove next to us just when the sides started shooting at each other, clipping me in the process. I was alright, but the radio was fubar, so we were trapped until someone of Néo-Napoléonie rolled a sonic grenade into the alcove. Though it looked as if they forgot to arm it, I grabbed it without hesitation and rolled it at the Baggsab not wanting to risk it. One of them picked it up since it still didn’t go off, armed it, wound up to toss it at Néo-Napoléonie, and shattered along with their group when the grenade prematurely detonated in the hand. Xandra and I used the sudden lull in action to run out of the alcove and continue our escape.

We ran down a couple more hallways and a flight of stairs, evading threats throughout, until we made it out to an open foyer overlooking the storage room again. We were about to descend some more stairs that hugged the walls below us when the giant door to this cavernous room blew open and the debris smashed the stairs. It was right then I heard that familiar childhood sound once again, followed by what sounded like a hard and heavy collision. The Minare champion flew through the smoke of the blown doorway and landed on its back in the middle of the room. Walking in after it, was another giant but this one wore bronzed-type armor and an oversized helmet. It looked like our previous mysterious allies, except this one was more than 50 feet tall. I noted a couple more details I didn’t before, like no visible eyeholes in the helmet, and the armored tail hanging off the ground. The champion was busy trying to stand back up when our gigantic ally rammed into it and they both began throwing flurries of punches and grapples. They did attempt to shoot one another but they were dodging each other’s shots.

During their fight, Shaun and the Néo-Napoléonie had us cornered on the ledge. He taunted us, and I taunted him back about how his homeland’s people exiled them all, which sent Shaun off on the whole tiresome and xenophobic “the-French-are-the-greatest” rant I’ve heard from him before. He then aimed the revolver at my head. Right when he was about to pull the trigger, a loud whistle drew all their attention behind them, where E stood ready with a hatchet and machete. Joining her were Kondo and Djimon, with what was left of the EPC and Free Towns Union Force, some equipped with Baggsab weaponry while the rest had the melee weapons they brought from the beginning. Then E shouted in English, “An army for the people!”

Those standing with her shouted in a callback, “The people for the future!”

When both sides began shooting and rushing one another, I lunged for Shaun’s gun and fought him for it. To make sure it couldn’t be used, I forced his trigger finger to squeeze off the last rounds, which sent one bullet into the skull of a goon coming at me. He pushed me away, discarded the gun after finding it empty, and deployed an expandable baton. I unsheathed my rapier, and we went at it hard with all the swipes, stabs, kicks, strikes, and parries we could muster. I would get hits on him and visa versa, though neither of us would go down. It would take the two tussling titans in the background slamming into the wall, to get me knocked off my balance and drop my sword as a result. Shaun broke my wrist and ankle with well-placed strikes of his baton before I could retrieve my weapon. He raised the baton overhead to deliver a critical blow when E tossed her hatchet and got him right on the fingers, knocking the weapon out of his hand. I don’t know where her machete went but the next thing I knew, she and him went at it hand-to-hand, sending blood, sweat, and spit flying in every direction. He slapped her eye patch off at one point, she knocked out a few of his teeth, both grew angrier. He eventually got a hold of her leg when she tried to kick him. Trying to break her ankle with a twist, he instead pulled off her boot with her prosthetic foot inside, unsheathing her prosthetic leg’s hidden blade, which she plunged into his chest. They moved closer to the ledge as he kept his grip of her by the leg. I got up and helped E in trying to pry him off. I held her from behind as she then jumped up and kicked him off with her other foot, sending Shaun falling to his death.

While we were finishing up the rest of Shaun’s folks, things didn’t look good for our ally fighting the champion after a few blows sent it to the ground and underwent an onslaught of head stomps. Our ally was on the floor in a daze, while the minare looked towards its mace laying on the ground, walked over to it, and bent down to pick it up. At that moment, another giant like our ally entered, stepped on the weapon, and decked the champion in the face. Those two fought, as the one on the ground managed to get back up and join in. It soon became evident that it was all too much for the Minare champion, and it got worn down to the point that both of our giant allies put an end to the fight in a barrage of punches and stomps. Once the champion laid motionless, we knew the war was won.

It was fortunate that E knew where we were since she happened to pass through the same area prior, but it wasn’t without our group taking casualties during the final fight, which included Djimon among them. Turned out he wasn’t taken out by an enemy in the end, but his own heart from all the stress and excitement during the melee. Comandanta E and Djimon were good friends, despite this being the first and last time they would ever meet in-person. After helping to load our allies’ dead and incapacitated onto one of the awaiting dropships, E and Kondo had a somber talk with one another. I didn’t hear what they were saying, but it was between them, so it was none of my business. They finished their conversation, followed by a shake of hands and a hug. Once Kondo and the rest of the Free Towns Union Force boarded the dropship, it departed for camp so they could pack up for the trip home.