"Sh*t," exclaimed an alarmed Phineas as he rushed to the scene, disengaging the safety on his SIG 516 rifle and Glock 17 pistol. He deployed his extendable police baton and energy riot shield. "Sean, stay back!" he ordered. "This is the Mecha production facility! Rioters have overrun the barricade and have flooded into the factory gate! Evacuate the facility!" he radioed.

A Hokkaido police officer tackled a protester. Suddenly, all the other protestors around him started to back off. He turned to see the man below looking at him with a grin. "What are you doing?" asked the officer, alarmed.

His reply was a huge fireball as the man exploded, detonating a suicide vest he is wearing, the blast killing law enforcement personnel nearby. Phineas is knocked down by the shockwave while Sean immediately ducked down and shielded his face from the inferno.

Phineas groaned, standing up, still dazed by what just happened. Before he can make sense of the situation, Sean quickly pushed him down again as a rocket whizzed past their heads, obliterating the cafeteria of the factory and causing a huge fire to start.

"Oh no…" exclaimed Sean to see the protestors opening fire indiscriminately, hitting UN peacekeepers, Hokkaido police, civilians and fellow protestors alike.

"Get out of here Sean! Get your colleagues to safety! Evacuate!" yelled Phineas.

The protestors took out lethal weapons from the boot of the cars and opened fire on the law enforcement personnel, escalating the brawl into a shootout as the UN and Hokkaido police returned fire.

Phineas pushed Sean off him and rushed to help a colleague who was pinning down a protester.

Just as he helped him secure the protestor, another protestor kicked Phineas in the head, causing him to lose balance. Phineas promptly turned, aiming his SIG 516.

"BACK OFF!" Phineas yelled, and pulled his trigger when the protestor continued trying to harm him and his colleague. He then turned, gunning down 2 more who were holding guns, while Sean ran away from the firefight, hiding behind the Hokkaido police riot van parked in the carpark.

Bullets whizzed past him. Once the shooting stopped, Sean dashed back into the building, rushing to help those pinned underneath the rubble.

"Quick, this way!" he yelled, carrying those immobile to the emergency doors, gesturing at his colleagues to follow him.

He ripped up portions of his and their clothes, turning them into makeshift bandages for his wounded colleagues.

Watching his colleagues entering the underground shelters, Sean stepped in after them, only to stop when he heard the gunfire behind him.

"God damn it…" he cursed, closing the door and turning around, running in the direction of the battlefield. His sense of responsibility and duty, which he had long thought to have been vanquished, is calling out loudly to him again.

(UNIFJ command, Hokkaido, October 2132)

“Order our UNSSD SOC element to prepare for battle,” said the commander, looking at the 3D holographic map of the area surrounding the factory, with friendly units nearby highlighted in green.

“Hokkaido police SAT and the JSDF are enroute, but they won’t be there immediately,” he said to his aide. “The nearest asset we have is the US Marines contingent of UNIFIJ, deploy them there at once, those peacekeepers and Japanese police on the ground need backup now!”

(Factory)

The UN peacekeepers and the Hokkaido police have retreated into the factory entrance, firing back at the rioters that are advancing in, using the factory building itself to cover them as they retreated.

Phineas fired all of the bullets in his magazine, tapped a Hokkaido police officer next to him, and ran to the wall, reloading. This leaves the officer the last friendly combatant to retreat. He moved once he is sure that Phineas had reached a safe place, running towards Phineas’ position while others opened fire, covering him. Yet, he was too slow, and a suicide drone landed by his feet, blowing him into the air. He landed back on the ground, the impact breaking his Exo-suit.

“AHHH!” he screamed, blood pooling around him.

“Covering fire!” yelled Phineas, rushing towards him.

A Rein subspecies peacekeeper threw a fireball at the snow on the ground near them, which quickly formed a smoke screen of sorts, covering them. This subspecies is characterised by their antlers that grow from their heads, similar to deer.

 “Thanks Simo,“ replied Phineas, pulling the Hokkaido police officer to safety.

A Korean peacekeeper fired back at the rioters, retreating back to reload. “I need another mag!” he yelled.

Phineas passed him a loaded magazine, then checked the officer, quickly and expertly bandaging his wounds to stem the bleeding. Just as he was done, Sean slid into their position.

“Wassup?” said Sean, stunning Phineas and the other peacekeepers.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing here?!” exclaimed Phineas. “Aren’t you supposed to have evacuated with the rest?”

Sean did not answer Phineas, instead he reached for the wounded officer’s Howa Type 20 rifle. “Not too different from a SCAR, that’s good,” he commented. “Permission to join the battle?” he asked.

“Permission denied!” retorted Phineas. “You are—”

His sentence was interrupted when Sean pulled the trigger, gunning down several rioters that tried to flank them, killing them with headshots.

“Wow,” exclaimed Simo Korhonen, surprised and impressed by Sean’s skills.

“The Finnish vouches for me,” remarked Sean, referring to Simo’s nationality.

“Fine,” relented Phineas.

Sean grinned, asking the wounded officer to hand him his remaining spare magazine, which he promptly did.

Just then, a few white UH-10E helicopters appeared in the horizon. “Nice, reinforcements are here!” yelled Simo in delight, seeing them flying the UN flag and the American flag. “Venom Ultras, it’s the Marines!” he exclaimed, referring to the nickname of the UH-10E.

His happiness is short lived. An RPG fired by the rioters hit a helicopter in the cabin and it broke into 2, hanging together by a few pieces of metal, and crash landed. The wreckage landed between the UN peacekeepers, Hokkaido police and the rioters, bursting into a ball of flames. The remaining UH-10E helicopters also received hits, and were forced to pull back.