ENEMY SIDE:

The three Lions and the lone, armless Amparos were flying towards the dipping sunset of the badlands. The boys and the Minuano Squad Leader were all sunken in the silence of the mission results. The casualties were considerable, and the morale was abhorrently low among them. It was until Sentou began to wake up and take back control of his Lion.

• Sentou - Uhn... what happened?

• Eledore - Mission was a success. We got what we came for, but ran into some new and heavy opposition. We should have pulled out earlier, but the casualties were too great.

• Casval - Yeah... plus a Grungust showed up, too. A Mass Production type no less. From the look of it though, it was heavily modified down to the frame, but it certainly held some of the known qualities of one.

• Sentou - A Grungust!?

• Eledore - In any case, our primary objective has been fulfilled.

• Minuano Squad Leader - How can you be so nonchalant about this? My soldiers died because of them. You expect me to just sit around and take that peacefully? Fuck that!

• Casval - I'm on the same boat as you, but we have to consider the reality of the situation. If you wanna avenge them, we do it by the book.

• MSL - To hell with your book! I'm gonna go back there and get back at them.

• Sentou - With a pyrrhic victory? Don't be ridiculous. There's only so much you can do in the face of that kind of opposition.

Casval's Armorlion approached the Amparos slowly from behind. A quick flicker of the arm saber blasted the backpack thrusters, causing it to catch fire.​

• Eledore - I can see the Millipede from here.

• MSL - What the hell!? My engine caught fire. I was able to make a good distance, too. Unless...

• Sentou - And the only thing you can do is fall here.

• Casval - Sorry, Batista. You gotta go.

• Batista (MSL) - Ahh... I see how it is. Puppets to the bitter end. I shoulda known this would be the case. I'll see you all in hell when you get there.

The slow descent of the MSL's Amparos was becoming a descending ball of fire and metal. Resigned to his fate, he crashed into the depths of the chasms, leaving a billowing tower of smoke and blue fire after the explosion.​

• Eledore - Sending a message to the Millipede. They should be receiving us soon.

• Sentou - Gotcha. 

A communications line was opened to all three of the Lions and Sabine.​

• Sabine (Camdus) - Hello gentlemen. I see you have made it out fine?

• Sentou - Yes, sir. The mission was a success. We are now en-route to return to base for repair and recovery.

• Camdus - Excellent. Brief me on the details of the mission once you are situated in the Pennyroyal, our Millipede.

• Sentou - Understood. Embarking.

Sentou and the other Lions entered the Millipede, a large scale, heavy armor assault carrier​. Once they got inside, they immediately went to the navigation deck to meet with Sabine and salute.

• Sentou, Casval, Eledore - Reporting for duty, Sir!

• Camdus - At ease. Give me a report.

• Sentou - We completed our survey of the area that we once surveilled as instructed. Ran into some unknowns that managed to repel us, but nothing on the white PT that we encountered before.

• Eledore - Those guys were tough. Almost as if they were hiding something. Needless to say, we're gonna need some serious backup the next time we decide to head there. Add onto the fact that the Minuano Squadron got wiped, our second objective was achieved on the way here in its entirety.

• Casval - There were also some strange harmonic readings that my instruments picked up. One that matched a profile of what you were hypothesizing.

• Camdus - A dimensional gate. I know that Shadow Mirror laid claim to some areas that contained them, but lost foothold after the Einst invasions, and the later uprisings that followed. Good to know there are some musings there after all this time.

• Sentou - Do we make another attempt? With a larger force we could-

Sentou was shushed by Camdus. The others were confused by the gesture.​

• Camdus - Storming them now would be a waste. Even if we capture the facilities, we'd be stuck with a cold turkey to let thaw for who knows how long. And I have a good feeling we'll be seeing our mysterious friends much more often the more we travel around in our campaign.

• Eledore - I dunno about you, but leaving those guys could spell disaster if they successfully stop our efforts.

• Camdus - I am not the least bit concerned about that. If anything, they could bolster our progress significantly the more they interfere.

Casval had a lightbulb flash in his head.

• Casval - It's all planned to fail. Our battles may be interrupted, but as long as the true objective is achieved, it's not a failure.

• Camdus - I see someone has their head on a swivel! Excellent deduction, Casval. The basis of our operations are merely shells; a smokescreen for something far grander. There is something I am aiming for and obtaining it at all costs takes higher priority. It will benefit the nation as a whole, and ultimately dispel the dark veil above Palopanera.

• Camdus [internally] - And gaining access to tremendous power...

• Camdus - Rest assured, R&D will not be left unaware of our progress. Especially for their ultimate project we are acquiring the resources for for their Aleph Project.

• Sentou - A-Aleph? Wasn't that project scrapped? Jegan tried to get that off the ground, but kept running into roadblocks left and right.

• Camdus - It was recently reinstated after the old military regime was removed. The Aleph Project has something that aligns with our goals. And the unit in question has a special case that would assure greater success the further we go in our progress. It is imperative that we accomplish our objectives at all cost. Is that understood?

• All three - Yes sir!

• Camdus - Good. You are hereby dismissed until next briefing. Our dimension-dwelling friends have a formal raincheck put onto them until the near final stages of the Aleph Project. I'll be briefing the Wildcards on this matter as well, so focus on resting up for the next missions.

As the Black Lions pilots exit the navigation deck, Madbull was casually waiting on the wall. A smirk was on his face, but Sentou paid no mind to him until he spoke.​

• Madbull - Seems like you got some work cut out for you. Promise me you won't bite it until you get that revenge of yours proper.

• Sentou [dismissive] - Worry about yourself. I have no time or reason to think about something petty as revenge.

• Madbull - Really now? Don't underestimate pettiness, pretty face. That could be your fuel in keeping you alive and well before your target does. It would also certainly suck if they died before you could get your licks in. Hehehehe.

• Sentou - Then allow me to give whoever takes down Scarecrow the proper respect they deserve. I surely won't miss them.

Sentou casually strode off, while Madbull was waiting for Windace and Terra to arrive. He lightly shrugs off the conversation and heads inside, ready for the briefing that was about to begin.​