Tim whistled softly, the much anticipated room finally opening before him and his pair of companions. Though only momentarily aboard the main flagship of the operations network they were all part on, they were informed that the mission was going to start soon.

"Nice armoury…" Des commented, the trio heading to the armoury after a suggestion to stock up before heading out, which the three planned to do. Lined up and down the walls were racks upon racks of weapons, explosives, magazines, the works.

"Make is snappy, boys, were leaving ASAP," each of the new headsets of Des and Tim spoke, acquired for part of the mission.

"Acknowledge," Tim responded, heading towards one of the racks. "If we're not at the dock in five minutes, go ahead and leave without us."

"Leaving without you people is not an option, we need a certain person's expert hacking ability," responded the voice, getting a soft chuckled from Des.

"We'll be up as soon as possible," the sniper and hacked answered, taking a few Flash Bangs and Smoke Grenades from the explosives rack. He was feeling much better since his hospitalization on the boat, somewhat of a mini-miracle considering how short the trip really was. He loaded up a duffel bag full of High Explosive grenades and C4 explosives while at it. "Hey, Tim, catch!" Des shouted out, through the explosive to his companion. The demo man half caught it, though he tried not to show any embarrassment. "Explosive presents for you."

"Heh, thanks," Tim answered, shouldering the bag and taking a few more magazines for each of his pistols from the rack, as well as a few extra shotgun shells as well. Glancing about, Tim found something that would help: a vest to assist in carrying all his gear. He donned it, prepping up his storage.

"How goes your equipment choosing?" Des asked Carter, seeing as Tim was a little busy reorganizing his gear. Carter only nodded for a bit, as Des finally figured out what section of the armoury they were in. "You're a pyro now? Geeze…" Des remarked, placing a hand Cintec FT Alpha 'Dragon' Flamethrower, running a hand over the item and then its backpack fuel tanks. "Why not the Dragon over here?"

"Too bulky, besides, I prefer these," Carter answered, removing a pair of Cintec HFLM Quatre 'Whelp' Hand Flamers from the rack. Des glanced at Carter, seeing the Cintec 'Whelp' holster designed for that weapon. It was a belt with a holster against each thigh, a strap running down from each holster to just above the knee, where it wraps around and secures. Des noted the four canisters per leg Carter carried, perpendicular to the leg for easy reload. The Whelp, after all, did come with a quick eject button. Eject the empty canister, slam the weapon into the next canister in line. You're good to go.

"Like I said, pyro…" Des remarked, Carter holstering the pair. They headed to the rifle's section next, Des stealing a few rounds for his Zombie sniper rifle, while Carter took some rifle grenades for his Assassin assault rifle, mostly Flash Bangs and Fragmentation. He hook them to his belt, specially altered for such. A few assault rifle clips lay hanging down the backside of Carter's belt.

"Ready," Carter shouted out, heading towards the door with the slung assault rifle and his pair of flamethrowers.

"I'm good," Des spoke next, not as loud as his companion. He had his Zombie sniper rifle over his shoulder, as well as a pouch full of explosives he needs, and a backpack carrying his trusty laptop for the mission.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," Tim replied, silently praying to see Ryna by the end of this mission. He had a shoulder holster with a Heartbeat pistol on front, and the pouch for the shotgun on the back of it. His belt had four holsters, a pair by his thighs for the Striker's and a pair around his back for the Silencer's. His vest was loaded down with multiple explosives. "And don't go igniting that flamethrower near me, unless you all want to die," Tim shouted up towards his exiting companions. It got a small laugh from all of them.

The trio approached the dock at the last floor of the cruise ship that made the flagship for the operations. On board one of the two small transport boats they were to be shipped on were all their Pokémon, waiting patiently, among others part of the mission. Without much more ado, they boarded the boat, not wanting to delay the mission any longer, Tim especially. However, because of the mode of transportation, they would have to wait…

"Carter, what is this…ship…?" Des questioned, pointing to the large cruise ship they were just under, now leaving as the engines of the pair of boats took them away from it. Carter followed the finger, though it was quite clear where it was pointed towards.

"That my friends, is the S.C. Aleathra," Carter introduced, leaning back against the railing, watching the ship get smaller. "It's the command ship for the Cinnabar Special Forces group assigned out here."

"W-W-Wait…we had a Cinnabar Special Forces group assigned out HERE?!" Des questioned, unknowing of such. He heard of a 'rebel' group out in the Trilands that opposed Rocket control, though he didn't suspect the group would come from his former kind.

"Hard to believe, but true," the 'leader' responded, nodding his head. "It was classified information, hence our ignorance. I only found out about it from a group of travellers I ran into before, who hinted me on this group. That's why I started looking, and well…here I am…"

"Wait, then where is the crew of the Aleathra getting their orders from?" Tim inquired, distinctly remembering blowing the whole Cinnabar Island SF HQ to pieces. He glanced back towards the boat, wondering.

"From what I can tell, it's working independent now," Carter replied, gazing among the crew members who will be joining them on the boat. He recognized a few, but made no attempt to contact them. "Anyone, about the ship: below deck is mainly comprised of training halls of different environments, of course, the bottom where the sea meets the boat is the docking facility. There's also the armoury, as you saw, almost on deck level, but not quiet. A few recreation centres as well as personal training facilities are available on that same level."

"The deck is rather large, considering the rest of ship. Since you didn't get to see the deck, there are a pair of helicopters on deck, one bow, another aft. In between are the upper levels of the ship, holding crew quarters, cafeteria, research facility, bridge, observation deck, war room, briefing room, the usual."

"Basically, the ship was designed for long term deployment into the Trilands," Des reiterated, packaging everything Carter said into a simple sentence that Carter nodded to.

"The original goal was to prevent a Team Rocket foothold into the land, though that objective has changed to uprooting them now, since they seem to be well fortified in," Carter replied, as though restating a mission objective he heard from so long ago. Tim nodded slowly, glancing back at the ship, then forward as they approached one of trio of islands that made the continent.

"That's the east island, the closest island from HQ's current location," Carter told Tim, noticing his companion's gaze. Tim returned his attention back to Carter. "Most of the team will be infiltrating through the top, using a compliment of Flying Pokémon to transport them there, where they will be making a lot of havoc on the roof."

"A few minutes later, us, and a few other team members will enter through the front, amidst all the chaos and make some of our own. From there, the other's who went with us will cover the entrance, while we hack our way into the central mainframe and figure out who's where," Carter spoke, glancing towards Tim. "In the meantime, we can look for Ryna, figure out which location she's in, and rescue her if she is within that complex." Tim nodded, satisfied, but also anxious as well. "Extraction will take place on the roof, where the pair of helicopters will escort us out and back to HQ. We'll plan our next move from there."

"You seem awfully well informed…" Des mused, not making much of it, glancing towards the approaching shore. He yawned lightly. "I'm going to get some rest for now, wake me up when we get there…"

The van came to a halt, though no one moved yet. It was dark, yet clear, a crystal darkness, so to say. Des sat in the corner, slumped over a bit, rifle over his shoulder. He was flanked by his Fire type companion, curled up into a ball and laying close by. Ripper and Rocky were near the entrance, waiting patiently for the go ahead, while Psy and Slasher were discussing something on the opposite end. Void lay alone, waiting. Carter and Tim were facing each other, on opposite sides while having their back against the side plating of the van.

"D…D-Do you think we'll find Ryna?" Tim asked, breaking the normal silence he had throughout the rest of the trip until now. The ex-special force soldier was obviously anxious and curious about the thoughts for his companion. Carter only shrugged.

"If not, we'll keep busting down facilities until we find her, it's as simple as that…" Carter responded plainly, yet softly. Tim sighed, not the response he wanted to hear, but also sort of glad for his companion's loyalty for a mission that was surely his solo responsibility. Tim glanced over towards Des, who didn't seem to hear anything, but Tim felt the same aura of companionship from the sniper/hacker.

"We're …-oving i-…-ow! -ver!" the com blared to life, partially static by interference. However, it was enough of a signal for the ground party to prepare to go in. Des looked up at the door, eyes open, showing no signs of drowsiness at all. He nodded to the others. A round of affirmatives from the group of Pokémon within the van stated complete combat readiness. Carter pressed his headset closer to his ear and lips.

"Ground team moving out," he spoke, getting acknowledgement from the other members of the ground force. With that, he nodded to the pair at the entrance, signalling for them to open the door. The move brought sunlight into the darkened van, though it didn't faze them much. Ripper and Rocky leaped out, glancing about. They remainder followed. Their target: a tall and large white building they parked in front of, a research facilities of sorts, though they knew it was a front for something larger then that.

A pair of guards exited from the building, not noticing the approaching mass of Humans and Pokémon. They were probably on a mission to prevent the public from entering considering the current situation. However, in their ignorance came a quick dispatch when Rocky and Ripper gave each guard a Mega Punch to the get, knocking both out. Carter and Tim each took a guard, as Ripper and Rocky continued on, pushing the door in.

"GA1, GA2, guard the entrance, act natural," Carter ordered through his headset, getting a pair of confirmations before they entered, more guards awaiting, though unrepentant of a two pronged attack. Guards and guard Pokémon scrambled as Void leaped into the fray, using Agility to his advantage while Head Butt-ing and Faint Attack-ing random targets. It didn't take long as Ripper, Rocky, and Slasher leaped into the fray, starting a massive brawl of close combat nature. Klik and Psy sighed softly, partially amused.

"Kids," both remarked, chuckling as they said it at the same time. Tim and Carter had no time to comment, dragging the unconscious bodies in. Des took rear, holding his rifle like a conventional rifle and not a sniper rifle. Being the current circumstances, it would be difficult to use the sniper at close quarters, she he opted instead for the assault rifle look, glad that he preferred semi-automatic rifles against others.

"Think we should help?" Tim questioned to no one in particular, setting down his guard and watching the brawl unfold. Silence over came the group as Pokémon and guards were getting beaten up by…other Pokémon. Void was particularly making a mess, the combined Agility with Faint Attack knocking out anything that seemed even remotely threatening. The other soldiers began to file in securing the already secured area.

"Are you guys done yet? We need to move!" Des shouted into the brawl, stopping the combat as the group of their Pokémon in the fray halted there attacks. They all shrugged, before rejoining their group.

"Finish mopping up the area," Carter told the other soldiers coming in. "And do as you will, get to the research area and find what you need, we'll head for the main network," he ordered, getting affirmatives before Carter and his party broke from the main team.

Des stationed himself at the work station of the main computer room, plugging his laptop in and beginning a hacking spree through the main network, trying to bypass as much of the security as possible in as little time possible.

"This may take a bit longer, they aren't using my algorithms…" Des commented softly, as Carter and Tim watched the door nervously. They were deep in, and, aside from the entrance, had yet to meet a single ounce of resistance just yet. The Pokémon also felt the chill in the air, the chill of something…

"I got the layout for the complex," Des told his companions, getting their attention for a moment and breaking the grasp of that chill.

"Give me directions for the power room, I got some holes to blow," Tim requested, rather moving around then staying in one location, waiting for something. He'd rather go and do something then that. Silence for a moment.

"Down the hallway, second right, keep going down, third left, first door on right," Des replied, finding the most direct route for his companion. Tim nodded, glancing at Carter, then his Pokémon.

"Watch them, I'll go alone," he ordered, leaving before anyone could protest, though he wouldn't even listen to the protests in the first place.

"What…was that about?" Slasher asked, confused with his companions request. He felt concerned all of sudden, uncomfortable letting Tim go by himself for that goal.

"He…he…" Psy spoke aloud, wondering, trying to focus her psychic power, though finding it difficult to as such. Concentrating deeper, she gasped, collapsing.

"Psy!" more then one voice raised in concern, though Carter didn't move from his position at the door. On the other hand, Void and Slasher were upon Psy as she moaned in pain.

"Psyc-…Psychic da-dampener…can't…" Psy muttered out, breathless, collapsing into Slasher's arms now, cringing. Void concentrated as well, trying to focus his own psychic powers, but falling onto the same barrier that the Bulbasaur did.

"I…I don't know how to describe it…i-it's like a psychic dampening field…" Void stammered, eyes snapping back open. The Eevee turned his gaze towards Carter, shaking his head. "I…I'm sorry, but I can't sense anything outside this room…"

"Great…we're blind now…" Carter muttered, readying a Fragmentation grenade into his rifle. "Des, if there is a dampening field, see if you can disable it, we're in the dark without our psychics." Des nodded, raising a hand in acknowledgement before returning to his job that just seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

Tim turned the corner, raising his Heartbeat pistol, scanning the generator room, though finding nothing threatening. He wished he could believe that it had something to do with the distraction group upstairs, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it was something else, something that he wasn't going to enjoy when it came.

Silently, he stepped into the room, shifting left and right, keeping an eye and ear for any sentries or guards or employees in the area. Hearing nothing only made him more suspicious then hearing something. Eventually, he halted by one of the generators, slowly dropping to a knee and holstering his pistol, taking the duffel bag full of explosives and setting a few pieces of C4 onto the generator. Setting the remote detonator, he slowly got up, still in 'stealth mode', silently heading for the next target.

He hated the silence.

Carter gripped his rifle nervously, not one to get nervous so easily, but still nervous about something. He quickly gazed towards Des, who was silently working before returning to guarding the door. Ripper and Rocky stood on alert by the door as well, waiting. Klik stood by his partner's side, waiting, while Slasher tended to the unconscious Psy. Void paced back and fourth in the room, the exact opposite of his nature in such situations.

The silence was only shattered by the clattering of keys that Des hit rapidly, giving slight calm to the room as they waited…silently…

"I hate this…" Void muttered.

Tim sighed softly, barely audible, placing the last C4 explosive in place. He stepped back, silently still, admiring his work for a brief moment.

Tim found himself back first into the wall a split second later, groaning in pain as his body was lifted and then thrown into the wall of the generator room. He slowly slid down from his elevated position, cringing in pain as he tried to focus on the attacker. He failed miserably, slowly placing a hand on one of his pistols.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, unless you want to blow sky high with your little bombs," a familiar voice spoke, not mercilessly, but not without malice either. Obeying slightly, Tim removed his hand from his weapon, still trying to focus. "That's better," the voice continued, with less intent, Tim relaxing a little, not trying to find the person anymore, trying to focus his memory on who it was.

"That's it little man, just try…it'll come back in time…" the voice continued, Tim recognizing it as female, but the pain kept returning and breaking his concentration. That, and a sensation in his head, like a cloud or haze that made it hard to think.

"I see you're enjoy my telekinesis," the voice continued, giggling a little, sort of sadistically while doing such. Tim could faintly hear footsteps echo throughout the room, trying to focus on it. He was still failing miserably at focusing.

"W-What did you do…?" Tim gasped, clutching his head now. Finding it more and more difficult to concentrate was really getting to him, even if it was odd when he couldn't really distinguish that frustration from the other mixed emotions cycling through him.

"Let's just say I'm recycling your emotion," the voice answered, into his mind now. Tim snapped his eyes open, remembering now, barely…

"I-It's you…" he muttered, getting another giggle as a reply, though this time more...compassionate…then before.

"Yes, it is I," was the answer, into his mind again. Tim wanted to lash out angrily, but couldn't really, not in his disabled state. Instead, he just laughed, in a moment of insanity.

"Maybe I should just blow us sky high," he remarked suddenly, closing his eyes again, breathing deeply. "I'm sure you're in the room, and I'm sure you don't want to die." Silence came for a moment.

"Are you going to take that chance?" was the reply, vocally now, not telepathically. "I can sense the doubt in your mind, and your will to live, to rescue…her…" Silence once again, before Tim slowly cocked his head back up. Slowly, he placed a hand flat against the wall he was leaning against.

"Ah well, so you called the bluff," he answered, slamming the palm of his hand into the wall, sending shockwaves throughout the room. With a screech, the hold on his mind was broken temporarily. Drawing his 'Heartbeat' pistol, he fired towards his left, only to have the bullet stopped, once again, by the same person from so long ago.

"A hunch that you'd be worried about my sanity at that point," Tim replied, keeping the pistol pointed in the female's direction. The ebony haired girl smiled meekly, though it was hard to see any other emotion behind that visor. Tim also knew it was useless to try to hold her up, but he had to try anyway. "Where's Ryna?" Her smile faded momentarily.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, lover boy," she replied quickly and girlishly. "Let's just say, she's not in this facility." The comment forced Tim's anger out, firing a round, hitting only wall when the female teleported out. He cursed, holstering the weapon, speaking into the mic on his headset.

"Carter, explosives set, moving to the roof," Tim reported, kneeling down and opening his duffel bag of explosives. He set up one of the C4 bombs inside the bag, also putting it on remote detonation, before heading out.

"Ack-dge, h-ing …-r ro… join u-… -en …u can…" came the static reply, complimented by gun fire in the distance. Tim had no idea what the whole message was, but he decided evacuation was in order. Quickly, he sprinted out, making headway for the closest stairs to the roof.

Carter turned around, dropping a fragmentation grenade from his rifle down the stairs, opening the grenade launcher and jacking in another grenade, his last one, while running backwards. In retrospect, Klik was burning a hole forward with a barrage of Flamethrower attacks, more towards suppression then to actually hit anything. Their passageway to the surface was suddenly littered with guards, Human and Pokémon alike.

"I hope Tim got the message!" Des shouted down the stairs, Klik holding his ground at the exit at the top, waiting, while Carter rushed up the stairs, glancing back at the clearing smoke. Everyone else was already up the stairs, aside from Psy, recalled into a Pokéball.

"He better!" Carter shouted, running past Rocky, who in turn hit the stairway with an Earthquake attack, collapsing it under the magnitude of the shock. Grinding metal screeched as it deformed and collapsed. The screeching satisfied Rocky in his work, as he rushed to join the rest of his party.

"One more floor to go, I hope Tim didn't need those stairs!" Des shouted behind to the rest of the group, keeping a few steps behind from Klik, sniper rifle in arms, ready to fire at a moments notice.

He drew his rifle forward, but was glad the figure that returned was only Void, who used Agility to get ahead of the pack and basically scout up. The Eevee was panting hard though.

"U-Using Agility…a Psychic type manoeuvre in a psychically dampened area…is exhausting…" the Eevee spoke, coughing. "But it's clear up ahead, all the way to the roof stairs…for now…" With those words, he collapsed from exhaustion. Des glanced back, seeing Carter already pulling a Pokéball ball from his belt for the other Psychic in their group, recalling the 'incomplete' Eevee.

"We're clear!" Des shouted behind him, getting a nod from Carter. However, the slight joy of getting away was ripped away by the sudden explosion that rippled through the base, sweeping everyone off their feet. The rumble of the massive complex grumbling in agony kept them all on the ground for at least half a minute, before all the lights inside died, only to be replaced by the faint red glow stating auxiliary power was on.

"Well, I take it Tim just took care of the generators…" Des groaned, collecting his fallen rifle from the ground and glancing back to make sure there was no pursuit, though it dawned on him their pursuit would've been knocked off their feet as well.

"Let's move!" Carter ordered to the rest of the group when they all recovered, rear guard once again, keeping his rifle primed in case of anything to follow…

Tim grimaced, not expecting the resulting explosion to be so intense. He picked himself off the floor, glancing back at the hole he made through the wall of the building. He dumped his duffel bag with an armed C4 to one of the walls, detonating it to throw his pursuit off. However, the massive fissure through the wall and straight to ground level proved that he did more then dissuade his pursuers.

"Well, what works, works," Tim commented aloud, sprinting forward towards his main exit that he hoped would take him to the roof, though without a map or direction, he was lost. He cursed, wishing he asked Des for an escape route as well. He can only hope now.

The demolition man kicked the door down, seeing a trail of stairs going up and down, followed by an echo of foot steps heading up. Cursing once again, Tim rushed upstairs, finding another door at the end of the trail. He kicked that one down as well, only to get a barrel of a few rifles pointed at him.

"Tim!" Carter exclaimed, lowering his assault rifle, as did the other soldiers filing into the extraction vehicle, glad it wasn't another enemy. Tim, on the other hand, didn't greet Carter in such a kind manner, stealing on of the Whelp hand flamers and pointing it towards the door, pressing the trigger on the sight of a Rocket rushing up the stairs. He was incinerated in an instant, while the others behind halted, not wanting the same fate.

"Let's move," Tim remarked, ejecting the now empty fuel canister on the hand flamer with the quick eject button and then throwing the flamer back to Carter, sprinting for the helicopter. Des was already on board, with all their Pokémon, while Carter and Tim clamoured on board. Other soldiers were flying off on their Flying type Pokémon and remainder evacuated through the main entrance, speeding away on the vans for the initial infiltration.

"I saw someone with a Seraphim down there," Des remarked into his headset, gazing out the side of the chopper, seeing smoke pour out of the facility. The siren of police vehicles was drowned out by the power of sound from the rotary blades.

"So?" Carter asked, also gazing out, though hard to see through all the smoke.

"He was using it like a pistol, a really long pistol…" Des commented, shaking his head and leaning his head against the back of his seat, closing his eyes. "Ah well...he better get out of their before he gets caught. He was standing in the middle of the road after all, after all that rubble got blown outwards and onto the street… Just what the hell did you do to the complex?"

"Let's just say I detonated everything in one location," Tim answered softly, closing his eyes. "Ryna…" he whispered, saddened by the failure of his mission thus far, but also satisfied that it was one less location to check for the one who saved him before. "How the roles have changed…Ryna…"