Porter gripped his controls tightly in the cockpit of the White Storm. It had taken sometime for them to get to the coast, ferrying the Goliaths over one at a time with a stolen boat. The warmachines were too large for the shuttles to carry them, but the aircraft needed to ship them would be so big it would be suspicious for them to hijack it. Grabbing a boat out at sea wasn't too strange, and there were always rumours of rogue pirates out in the oceans, so nobody would come looking.

The snow swirled around the group, their battlesuits working to keep the occupants warm inside. They were on the fringes of the city, able to view it from their perch in the mountains, and were making final preparations before they would begin their invasion. What they were about to do and who they were about to impact was going to be an entirely new venture for them, and something none of them had ever conceived of just a few months ago. Razul was not an enemy city or a foreign one; Razul was an Enian-controlled town, plain and simple, and always had been.

"We're ready Porter." Ardwen checked in through the viewscreens, speaking on behalf of the group as he took over a second-in-command role. Porter slowly sucked in a deep breath, mulling over the strategy in his head. There was a lot of responsibility settling down onto his shoulders, but he knew he had to carry this burden with pride. Each time he had met a new obstacle of late, he had crumbled and folded, stumbling under the weight. This time he would be ready, and he would meet it head on, but it was difficult to take that first step. The words and feelings he had shared with Shotuku and the rest of the group were just that at this moment: words. It would take something entirely different for him to do something tangible and physical.

"Alright, let's move out."

* * * * *

"We need to be prepared." The hum of the shuttle mixed with Ardwen's words as he spoke to the group. They were travelling from the island, their ship controlled by Sigma as they headed for their Goliaths. From there, it would be a trek to the north, a relatively easy one from where their battlesuits had been placed.

Chandana had given the group an intelligence package, a large set of files digitally stored in a small cube. Sigma already had access to them and had begun to ship out the Goliaths almost immediately after Porter had agreed. But the group had not gone over the files together until this moment. A small light shot up from the cube, generating a screen for them to read the documents. Ardwen had been in charge of formulating the best strategy of assault, his abilities still far superior to Porter's in that field.

"Who are we even going after?" Nami's feet swung just off the ground, her body still tiny, even while sitting. She was the only one who had such a problem on the vessel, legs moving back and forth while the rest of them were firmly strapped in. Only Raul appeared a bit overstuffed, just barely fitting into his chair with his larger frame.

The screen flickered a bit as Ardwen frantically searched for the correct file. Finally, he pulled up a profile for what appeared to be a prisoner. "This is a former Enian General, known as Ice Queen Irina." Ardwen changed the image over to a video. Shaky footage began to play, revealing the battlefield where the Jahari had first arrived. Ballistics flew past the camera as the chaos of combat played out. Suddenly, a tower of ice shot up through the air, and the lens on the camera froze, then cracked and shattered, ending everything. "Her abilities with her chi are astonishing, but they came from a very emotional place at one point. It seemed during that skirmish, she lost her husband to Syn, and subsequently went on a bit of a rampage."

Ardwen shifted through more images and files again as he continued: "Due to her outburst of dangerous chi, she was eventually brought down by the military and subdued. She was stripped of her Goliath and contained within a prison unit. From there, they moved her up north to the city of Razul, where she comes from. She's been locked up there since, and has had numerous attempts at therapy administered to her." Psychological reports appeared, detailing the condition Irina was in and her progress. Each paper was written in a fairly negative tone, dismissing most hope that the general's mind could be restored to something normal.

"She's not a lost cause though," Porter cut in. Chandana had already explained her intentions with Irina and the reason why she was sending them out to retrieve her. "She is extremely powerful as a soldier, and as a scholar. But she also has an intense hatred for everything that took her husband away, and in her mind, that seems to be Syn. If we can redirect that fury, reveal to her the truth behind the origin of Syn and the Jahari, perhaps we can draw her onto our side. With a former general on our team, we'll not only secure the services of the Red Scarf Gang, but our strength as a group will easily double."

"Provided she even listens to us." Raul folded his arms across his chest, as best he could in his cramped space. He didn't hide the doubt on his face as he watched the files going by. "She's not in a stable state of mind, and her record doesn't show she's heading towards recovery after months."

"True," Ardwen responded, a bit dejected by his plan not being bulletproof. "But she was fairly reasonable before, and before that she had been known as a bit of a maniac. So the evidence would suggest she can be brought back from insanity; it's just a matter of channelling her energies into the right outlet."

"Assuming we get past the defenses right?" Nami tapped her fingers together sheepishly as she threw the question out. There had been unease in the air as Ardwen and Raul had had their discussion, as it made a lot of assumptions about their success. "I mean, why are we bringing our Goliaths if it's just breaking out a prisoner? Didn't Rick just do that?"

Porter and Ardwen exchanged a glance, then Ardwen changed the screen a final time. "Irina was not sent to Razul alone. She was given a convoy to protect her and make sure that she is kept contained at all times. It's also an excuse to plant more troops in the north, in the event of a Jahari attack."

"So we clean up some bodyguards, bust out the general, and hightail it back to the island right? Simple." Raul practically spat the last word out, his confidence in himself risen since he had been embarrassed by Allyson. He wanted to maintain a bit of a tough exterior to himself, the same as he had had before.

"Not exactly." Ardwen pointed to the latest sheets that were being displayed. "The convoy is made up of a bit of an elite team. Three of the Goliaths are owned by majors, all of them custom and unique. The other two belong to lower-ranking generals, who are in charge of the city's defences right now. If we're to get to Irina, we have to get through them."

"A general is not as easy to defeat in practice compared to words," Riya whispered in her soft voice. She smiled afterwards though, reassuring everyone that she was only reflecting on the difficulty, not being pessimistic. Porter placed his hand on hers, comforting her for a moment, before he turned to address the group.

"We're going to divide the enemy. We are five, and so are they."

"Those are five varying strengths, Porter." Nami had started to nibble on her fingernail a little, her nerves starting to show through. "The only time we ever fought a general, it was a draw that nearly killed you. To beat one, it would take all of us wouldn't it?"

"And the plan assumes they will be willing to fight us one on one," Raul interjected, trying to finish Nami's thought. "If they stick together, it's a pretty even fight."

"But they won't do that." Porter motioned towards Riya, leaving everyone else to stare at her in confusion, including Ardwen, who was supposed to be on top of planning. "Riya's black chi is not a mystery anymore. Everyone in the Enian Federation and the Artisan Confederate would know about it, and they know it is still at large. Nothing is stopping us from unleashing it again."

"But I don't know how to-"

"Not a concern," Porter said, ending Riya's sentence. "They don't know that, and that's what is important. With the advantage of fear, we impose our will upon them, forcing them into a negative confrontation with us. Not to mention, our assault is a complete shock, and so I doubt they will have a chance to organize themselves properly."

"We're going to spread out." Ardwen had picked up where Porter left off, pulling up a map on the holographic projection. "If we can catch them while they are separated, we can push fights in our favour. Riya will provide heavy fire, taking on one of the majors, while generally attracting the most attention. Nami is going to have to fight another, and I will deal with the third."

Raul seemed to do the math in his head, eliminating combatants until he ended up at himself. "So then Porter and I are fighting generals?"

"Yes." Ardwen gave the response quite simply, leaving Raul a bit stupefied. While the young man wanted to project an aura of confidence, he had never fought with a general before, and he certainly wasn't known for having the ability to kill anyone with ease. While their skills had certainly improved over time, particularly with the training against Sigma, could any of them really claim to be equal or better than a general?

"I have to fight one too, Raul." Porter held up his hand to his comrade in support. His fingers were trembling slightly, and Porter grabbed his own wrist, pulling his arm back into his chest. He smirked to himself as he stared down at his hand twitching. "It's funny really. You think you're amazing, invincible. You feel like, after so much training, you can just take on anyone. When I fought for my brother, when I fought to save all of you, when I battled the Jahari, I never felt like this. I lost myself completely and couldn't understand what I was doing. And what was the result of that? Chase is dead. We're no longer at the school, outcasts from our own country. This time it is so different. I have to sit here and think about it, and figure out just exactly how I'm going to win. What if I'm not as good as I think? What if I can't draw out my chi like before when I don't know what I'm fighting for? All I have to drive me forwards now is my beliefs, and I just don't know if they're a strong enough reason for me to overcome my enemy."

Porter clenched his fist, squeezing tightly into his own skin. He grimaced a bit, closing his eyes as he tried to hold in his emotions and fears. "But," he continued, "I will not back down this time. We are going to press forward, and we are going to win. This is a just a single step on a long road, and if it means risking everything in each of those steps, that is what I must do." He paused for a moment, reflecting on his words. "What we must do."

Raul only smiled in response, and the rest of the group followed suit. The ship rumbled a bit as it flew through some turbulence. He sunk in the air, beginning its descent towards Razul.

* * * * *

Porter felt each step as the White Storm chugged through the snow, its legs churning to keep it in motion. He was the point on this assault, the lead man. The last time that had happened, he had failed and let his team down. This time would be different. This time he would hold his head high and win.

The group took a turn before the city, aiming instead for the small military base located just outside the town. A long tunnel connected the two locations, protecting the soldiers and civilians who wanted to cross between from the harsh conditions outside. It was rumoured that Razul itself had a dome that could be raised over the entire city in the event of severe weather, but it was open at this time, an indication of the people having adapted to the conditions of living in the north until they no longer felt the cold to the same degree as normal people.

"Brace yourselves and remember the plan." Porter barked out the orders with authority, and the rest responded in unison. They understood the risks now involved with going into combat, the potential for defeat looming over them, and so it was time for them to take these engages seriously, and to secure victory. "We need them separated so Raul and I can get through to the generals. The faster we can take them out, the sooner we can regroup and finish off the rest."

"Aim to delay if you have to," Ardwen repeated, reinforcing the concept. Everything hinged around Porter and Raul's abilities now as pilots. As the group burst over a final ridge, heading down into the open valley where the city and base resided, the first alarms began to go off...

A/N A return to combat for the group, their first time since their training. How much have they improved and how much have they changed? Will it be enough, though, to defeat two generals, or will the rebellion fail before it can start?