The brig of the USM Athena, with its pristine curved white walls and humming, almost therapeutic, sounds, contrasted greatly from its representation.

Most of the cells, all closely compacted together, remained empty, and as Jason walked past them, he looked inside intently, examining its confined space, its single bed and its covered toilet carefully considering what it meant to be within one of them.

Staring at two occupied cells, its red transparent energy door hummed calmly as its occupants paced restlessly inside. Jason examined their exasperated moods before eyeing their bruised and cut faces. As he glanced down at their cracked bloody hands and intoxicated demeanour, he could easily guess the various faze they endured during their overzealous celebrations.

Continuing down the scores of cells, he felt self-conscious knowing that his every move was being scrutinised by the invisible cameras and drones that were littered around the room and as he stepped up to a red humming wall, he knew that he needed to keep a level head when speaking to the man on the opposite side of it. Captain Kagasawa.

What Jason had expected to see was not what appeared behind the wall. The normally astute, confident special forces operative, sat dejected and alone on the floor of his cell, not even noticing that Jason had appeared as he was saturated in his thoughts. He looked pitiful, yet despite this, Jason could not bring it in himself to feel any sort of remorse for him.

Jason watched as Kagasawa looked up, expecting to see arrogance and depravity written all over his face, yet even when looking at his eyes, he saw someone that was a shell of himself, someone who appeared to look bleak and lost.

'Perhaps it's the cell door that's causing it?' Jason thought to himself.

"Scharn?" Kagasawa commented, refusing to stand as his guest stood, watching his movements. "I had not expected for you to come here."

Jason could feel a rage building up inside of him, as a red mist descended upon him. He imagined himself tearing into the cell door before entering and causing a level of pain to his former comrade that would make what he did to Donnelly feel like mercy, yet this was not the reason why he was here. He needed to remain calm for what was to come.

"So why did you do it?" Jason asked, his voice far more course than what he was used to.

Kagasawa sighed before looking to the floor once more, as the silence became more frustrating and tiresome, Jason could feel his anger building up once more.

"For years you had not just been comrades, but brother and sister in arms. There is an unwritten code between all of us, a sacred pact that we watch each other's backs, that we live for each other, we die for each other. What made you turn your back on all of that." Jason asked.

Kagasawa, once again, remained silent. Turning his head away, and mumbling to himself, he refused to acknowledge the question that was being proposed to him.

Jason wanted to; no, needed to understand why a member of his unit would kill a team member so callously. He needed to know why Kagasawa would forsake all that mattered to them within the unit to sacrifice Donnelly so easily.

"Jacqueline Siobhan Donnelly O'Hara," Jason commented, his voice rising with each name, "twenty-eight years old, taken well before her time, did she mean nothing to you?"

"Of cause she did!" Kagasawa reacted angrily, his darkened eyes focusing on Jason.

For the first time, Jason could see what Kagasawa's actions meant to him. He had known his Captain for a couple of years now. They had eaten, drank, laughed, bled and cried together. He had seen every emotion Kagasawa had within his focused and energetic repertoire, except the one that painted itself wildly on his face right now. Hopelessness.

"Then why?" Jason asked.

Once again, Kagasawa looked away, eager not to continue to engage in the conversation.

Jason had to change his tactic drastically to get the information he so desperately needed.

"Operation Rebirth, is that why you killed her?"

In a flash, Kagasawa was on his feet and almost sprinting towards his cell entrance, "Shut up! Don't say those words, are you insane?" he reacted angrily as he rapidly closed the space between them.

Jason was almost taken aback by the speed and ferocity of Kagasawa's change in demeanour. It was at that moment that he realised that perhaps he had misinterpreted Kagasawa's intentions all along.

"I know about Operation Rebirth," Jason said calmly, "I know how high it goes up the chain of command."

Kagasawa's face was full of fear and anxiety, "Scharn, shut it, that's an order!" Kagasawa responded, forgetting briefly where he was, "they are everywhere, they hear everything!"

It was at that moment that Jason realised the truth, Kagasawa was not an accomplice of the corruption that stained the military, he was coerced into it, forced into ending the life of the woman Jason loved.

Jason took a breath before continuing his interrogation. "I know that Donnelly knew too much, and she had a target on her back, she knew it too, yet why did they choose you to complete the task."

Kagasawa's fear seemed to be overwhelming him, a man who had seen terrible things during his time in the military, and endured great trials, was now at a stage of almost breaking down into tears. "Jason, they will kill you for what you say, do you not realise it?"

Jason smiled, a smile he had not felt himself do since before he got himself involved in the war. The arrogance and immaturity that he had often displayed while fighting men twice his size and gang members that vastly outnumbered him while in the underground of Europa had returned. He had been at war for two years, but now he was ready to fight it on his terms.

"I know what they are capable of, I have seen and been involved with some of their actions, yet they are unaware of what I am truly capable of. Today is the beginning, the day that I take the fight to them."

"Are you insane?" Kagasawa reacted, "They will tear you apart, I don't know all who are involved, but I am aware that it descends into several areas of the military and the government. You are out of your depth. You fall in line with them, or they will have you incarcerated or killed."

"Did Colonel El-Hadji give you the order to have Donnelly killed?" Jason asked, cutting directly across Kagasawa's comments.

Kagasawa remained dumbfounded and silent, yet in his silence, Jason could see the truth. El-Hadji ordered Donnelly's death and corrupted Kagasawa to commit the deed. Kagasawa would take the blame for his actions, but the true instigator, the true menace, would remain at large, unimpeded by his actions.

"Farewell Kagasawa, our conversation has been enlightening."

As Jason stepped away from the cell, Kagasawa called for him to return, and the further he stepped away, the more desperate Kagasawa's calls became, but as the shrills of "SCHARN!" could be heard throughout the room, Jason had only one thought on his mind, to visit the good Colonel.

Striding past the Colonel's personal assistant, Jason was so focused that he did not hear the objections from the Corporal that tried to intervene in his determined walk. As Jason pushed through the doors, cracking them off their hinges into the Colonel's makeshift office, he briefly took a glimpse of the holographic body of Major General Richard von Striken.

As soon as Jason entered, the Colonel's angry gaze flicked around towards him. "Sorry General, I'll call you back." with a flick of the wrist, the holographic image of the stern determined General disappeared leaving the two men facing off with each and the Corporal a few steps behind.

Jason wondered what the conversation had been about, and wished he had been a fly on the wall during their conversation. Perhaps news of his encounter with Kagasawa had already reached them, and now they were putting plans in motion to rid themselves of Jason.

They had not planned for Jason's abrasive and reckless encounter.

"Gilbert, call the MP's," El-Hadji ordered as Jason stood just a few steps from him.

Instantly the Corporal turned on his heels and rushed to contact security, leaving Jason alone with El-Hadji.

Jason knew his time was short, the military police (MP) were normally extremely quick responders, and the man in front of him was also a close-quarter combat expert. El-Hadji was always eager to get other people's hands dirty, but he was certainly capable of defending himself.

"Why did you order Donnelly's death? Why did you instruct Kagasawa to kill her?" Jason asked in a surprisingly calm demeanour.

El-Hadji had expected Jason to come in guns blazing and had braced himself for an assault, he quickly shifted from defence to offence as Jason's voice appeared soothed and calm. "Lieutenant, what is the meaning of this? You can not barge your way into my office without consequence."

Striking like a viper, Jason's left fist planted itself in El-Hadji's nose, causing a crack in the process. As El-Hadji stumbled back to the floor, he held his nose, feeling the blood trickling from his nostrils effortlessly.

"What the... How dare you? Your career is over, you realise that Scharn?" El-Hadji barked as he stood to his feet.

Jason watched him stagger to his feet. As Jason's mind struggled to contain the rage swirling around his mind, he knew that he had to remain controlled in this situation. Remembering Vladimir Proviski's analogies of chess, and how Jason was his knight, he was about to remove himself from the board, that until now, had restricted his ability to get anywhere near the opponent's key pieces.

As he launched his fist into El-Hadji for a second time, the furious Colonel was this time prepared, raising his arm in defence, before counter-attacking with his other.

Sliding back to avoid the blow, Jason's controlled rage was now his asset, combing his actions with a flow and precision that El-Hadji would struggle to contain. Twisting his hips, Jason's leg swept for El-Hadji's knees, before aiming at his torso, but as El-Hadji defended skillfully, Jason knew that he was on the ascendancy.

El-Hadji raised his fists in front of his angered bloodied face, tiptoeing sideways to test Jason's movement in the confined space of the office and as he struck with venom, Jason only just managed to avoid the blows of his adversary.

The MP's were on their way and it wouldn't be long before they apprehended him. He would not be able to kill El-Hadji, or even gain a confession during that time, he just wanted to make sure that he remembered the pain that Jason inflicted on him before the arrest.

Jason struck with his right, only just missing the head of the bloodied El-Hadji, but as the rapid strike hit the air, El-Hadji spun around and grabbed ahold of his body, attempting to grapple him from behind into submission.

With both of his arms pinned, Jason thought quickly, knowing that any hesitation would put the fight very much in El-Hadji's favour. With a sidestep, Jason swung his foot behind El-Hadji before leaning down and releasing the vice-like grip that hindered him. Grabbing both of El-Hadji's legs, Jason lifted him high into the air before crashing him down heavily to the floor.

Crashing headfirst onto the floor left El-Hadji dazed and confused, and as Jason launched himself on top of him, he instinctively raised his arms in defence.

Jason had now let his rage take over, pummeling the confused Colonel into submission. As each blow landed heavily on the left side of El-Hadji's face, Jason could hear the MP's rushing to El-Hadji's aid.

Just as one heavy blow slipped through El-Hadji's defence, the MP's grabbed a hold of Jason yanking him back off the bloodied Colonel. Pushing his face down to the floor he could feel his wrists being brought together. As the shackles clamped their way around his wrists he knew it was over, and he needed to keep his rage, and the adrenaline it fueled, once again in check. The MPs were not at fault for what had transpired, therefore unleashing vengeance on them was unnecessary and irrelevant.

Jason sighed, beads of sweat trickled down his face as he was raised to his feet.

"You're finished Scharn!" El-Hadji mumbled, pushing away all those who tried to assist him. As he attempted to push himself to his feet, he initially stumbled before trying again, this time successfully.

Jason turned to him, glancing at the portrait of pain that he had left on the Colonel. With each moment, Jason watched as the left side of El-Hadji's face started to purple and swell, his eye had clenched shut and his nose still streamed blood. It was a picture which Jason regretted, a regret he felt conflicted about.

"You're finished, you hear me," mumbled El-Hadji, appearing desperate to win the verbal fight after losing the physical one. "Your career is gone, your attempts to smear my name, over, your so-called redemption of Lieutenant Donnelly at an end. You are pathetic and will spend the rest of the war rotting on Io. Finished!" he spat blood in the direction of Jason before wiping away the excess on the back of his hand.

With MP's either side of him, preparing to lead him away towards the same brig he had been just moments before, his face turned to a smile as he glanced up to the angry Colonel.

"No, Colonel, I've only just begun," Jason calmly replied, "and make sure you sleep light because one day I intend to finish what I started. Yet when the time comes, there will be no one to come to your aid."

As Jason was escorted out of the room and towards the brig, he took a deep breath, reevaluating the course of action he had just taken. It was brash, it was chaotic, it appeared foolhardy, yet it was necessary. He had painted a target on his back, just like Donnelly had, yet while under the supervision of the USM's law enforcement system, he would be monitored continuously and any attempt on his life would become a public record. If anything were to happen to him, the actions of all involved would be scrutinised and their actions in the shadows would be brought out into the light.

Io was likely considered a place where conspiracies die for General von Striken, therefore, as far as he was concerned, Jason was no longer on the playing board. Yet if Jason's plan went well, he would not only be removed from the board but would be playing on an entirely new one, one which General von Striken had no control over.

Now he just hoped that the others would complete the next part of the plan flawlessly, otherwise everything that had transpired would have been for nothing.