'Thinking'

"Speaking"

"[Intercomms/Radio Transmission]"

*noises*

======

Forsaken Forward Operating Base
Commander (Y/n) "Ranger" Schmitt - Gray Raven
0919 Hours

"Identify." (Y/n) demanded.

"Wait, wait! I know him!" Kamui got in front of the Gray Ravens and waves his hands in the air, recognizing who the individual is. He then turns around and smiled, like someone who just saw his long lost friend in a high school reunion. "Watanabe! Long time no see!"

Lucia looks at the grayish-white haired Construct with confusion. "Wata... nabe?"

"We trained together for a while in the beginning and Watanabe was in our group." Kamui explained. "Did you forget that, too?"

'Okay, what the hell is going on here?' (Y/n) asked in his thoughts as his eyes darts over to Kamui, getting more and more suspicious of Lucia's origins. First, the crimson blade doesn't remember Kamui even though they trained together before entering the battlefield, and the discovery of the Construct in front of them being with the two only deepened the mystery.

"You look way better than then, that's for sure!" Kamui's words before had echoed in (Y/n)'s mind once again.

"..." Lucia stayed silent, her face still showing visible confusion.

'This shit just got even better...' (Y/n) thought sarcastically.

The Construct, now identified as Watanabe, puts his blades back to their sheaths. Seeing the action, the Gray Ravens lowered their guard, but didn't drop it completely. At this point, the wind had stopped completely, which only intensified the mixed atmosphere looming over them.

"It doesn't matter. I'm glad to cut all ties with Babylonia people." Watanabe said. "You guys should be glad that it's just me here. If it were my comrades, they would've cut you into pieces by now."

Liv's face turns to that of surprise.

"No need to be so surprised, missy." Watanabe sighed. "If you only knew what those people up in Babylonia did to us soldiers of the past..."

"According to historical records..." Liv chimes in. "During the big evacuation, the World Government at the time did abandon some ground forces. These troops cut their ties with Babylonia, and only recently resurfaced as the 'Forsaken'. And you, Mr. Watanabe, chose to join their forces, and was listed as a defected Construct."

"You sure know your history, missy." Watanabe complimented. "You're probably their most advanced Support-type Construct. Glad I get to see it in return of letting you guys go."

"It's quite a surprise the Purifying Force hasn't taken you down yet." (Y/n) cuts in.

"You..." Watanabe looks at (Y/n), scanning him from top to bottom.

Lee aims his pistol as Watanabe began approaching the Ranger. (Y/n) gestures Lee to lower his weapon, to which the former reluctantly followed.

Watanabe hummed. Because of their height difference, Watanabe has to look up a litte to meet (Y/n)'s gaze. "You're a human. But you did look like a Construct. What kind of armor is that?"

"Classified." (Y/n) replied.

"Doesn't matter." Watanabe replied blankly. "Guessing from the way you speak... You're their new Commandant. May I know your name?"

(Y/n) took a few seconds to contemplate, then decides to tell his name. "(Y/n) Schmitt."

'He's not like the other Commandants I've encountered before. He's dangerous...' Watanabe thought as he continues to stare at the Ranger. "Lucia helped me with something before. Although it's not important, I don't like owing people favors, so consider us even now. Here, something to commemorate our first meeting."

Watanabe takes out a small white box, which contained mints of some sorts. Lee took a scan of the box to see if there were anything suspicious mixed with it, but found none.

"No, thank you." (Y/n) refused the offer.

Watanabe just shrugs and puts the box inside his coat.

======

Forsaken Forward Operating Base
Commander (Y/n) "Ranger" Schmitt - Gray Raven
0935 Hours

Following close after Watanabe, Kamui and the Gray Ravens found themselves in an area within the Forsaken Forward Operating Base that is littered with metal junks, either from the Corrupted, vehicle parts and scraps, or wrecked Construct bodies.

After passing by the scrapyard, they stopped on a clearing similar to the front area in terms of appearance.

"The sandstorm's weakening, but it's going to return in thirty minutes." Watanabe spoke.

"Do you have a weather system of your own?" Lucia asked, intrigued.

"Since the grand retreat, even Babylonia has not succeeded in deploying a single satellite." Watanabe replied. "Do you think we could have that ourselves?"

Lucia looked at him, a little confused on his statement. "Then-"

"Eyes." Watanabe cuts her off. "Live here long enough and you can tell the patterns."

"..."

"Alright, let's bid our farewells here. The next time we meet, we'll be enemies."

"Watanabe." (Y/n) calls out.

Watanabe turns to him. "If you're gonna ask if we're gonna rejoin Babylonia, then my answer would be a hard no."

(Y/n) lets out a small sigh.

"Like I said earlier, you're all lucky that it was me who greeted you." He added.

"With a blade to my neck." (Y/n) pointed out.

"What? You looked like a Construct. Not my fault." Watanabe said nonchalantly. "We don't harm humans, unless if they are a threat."

"U-Um... Are you saying that you didn't bother scanning all five of us?" Liv queried.

The Forsaken's leader nodded. "Yeah. Your weapons already screams Babylonia right at my face, so I already assumed that it's another Construct squad that was sent to disrupt us."

'That's Watanabe for you...' Kamui thought.

"In addition, we have already survived for quite a long time, even without Babylonia's support." Watanabe continued.

"You're gonna run out of areas to scavenge eventually." Lee commented.

"You Babylonias really do underestimate us greatly, don't you?" Watanabe sighed. "We already have food systems in our stronghold. It's not as great as Babylonia's, but because of that, we got to live and fight another day."

"I'm guessing you have anti-air missiles in your base to keep us away?" (Y/n) asked, placing his rifle onto his back.

"Correct." Watanabe confirms. "That's our way of greeting spacecrafts."

"So you're killing the pilots, too?" Lee snarled, eyeing Watanabe with hostility.

"We haven't done such a thing. We're not so low as to kill pilots. And, we don't aim at spacecrafts that are not a threat to us." Watanabe defends himself, not at all bothered with the aura that Lee is giving off. "However, if you still insist on your little endeavour with us, we have a temporary surveying point nearby. If you're willing to come, that is."

(Y/n) became suspicious of what Watanabe said. The Constructs looked at him, waiting for his decision. "We'll go."

Watanabe nods, but fails to hide the small smile on his lips, which didn't escape (Y/n)'s eyes. Watanabe then guides them to the area he told them about earlier. While on the way, (Y/n) gestures his squadmates to plant tracking devices under the collar of their battle uniforms. They were confused at first, but understood the assignment and did as ordered.

(Y/n) then sends a transmission to Celica to link the beacons on his map. Seconds later, he received a display on his helmet which said the names of the allied Constructs' names with the word LINKED after each name. He's being overly cautious, sure, but given that he's in a territory where the occupants are not happy with their presence and are considered as insurrectionists, he can't take any chances.

Moments later, they have arrived at the surveying point. The place is surrounded with a mix of rocks and metal scraps, providing some protection against ranged attacks. The surveying point is quite silent and empty, save for the few ammo crates, wrecked Corrupted bodies, and armed guard stationed in various areas. There is also a bio-bull in the center of the area, serving as a trophy of some sort.

The guards quickly tensed up the moment they saw the Babylonian squad. Others looked away, but some kept their firm gaze at them.

"We're here." Watanabe spoke.

"But it's chock-full of Corrupted!" Kamui exclaims at the sight.

"We're just here to survey." Watanabe clarified. "And unlike you Babylonians, we don't have that many resources to waste. Pointless sacrifices aren't our motto."

*boom*

An explosion had occurred nearby, throwing off debris in every direction, prompting everyone to prepare for battle. Another came from the side, and this time, an armed guard got wounded. He was quickly rescued by the others and got his wounds treated.

"Motherf..." (Y/n) muttered, looking at the huge red dots on his radar.

Liv's expression quickly turns into worry. "Commandant..."

"I know..." (Y/n) replied. "Musashi IX. Five of 'em."