OVERWATCH

(Sniper position)

"WHAT THE HELL?!" exclaimed Louis in shock, witnessing the shooting of Aya and her team by Richard through his binoculars. 

Sean and Frederica looked at each other, stunned and speechless. 

The 3 of them landed on Jeju island shortly after Aya's team arrived. Their mission is to provide overwatch for Aya's mission and discreetly assist them in the event of trouble. 

Upon arriving, the 3 got into ghillie suits, following after Aya's team and helping them to take out hostiles. Seeing from afar that they have rendezvoused with UNSSD personnel, the 3 let down their guard for a brief moment, which unfortunately was all it took for disaster to strike. 

Louis quickly grabbed his rifle, only to be stopped by Sean. 

"We are outnumbered, if we engage now we will be wiped out," he analysed. 

"Then what? We need to help big sis," said Frederica, clearly panicked. 

Sean patted her on the shoulder reassuringly. "We have the element of surprise, we will use that." 

"Louis, notify Xiao Tian and Nanami, asked them to get the back-up team ready and standby for medical aid," he said. 

"We will move over to wh ere Aya and the rest fell, be as quick as you all can while maintaining stealth," said Sean. 

The 3 quickly crawled backwards out of their sniper position. Frederica swapped her CS/LR35 sniper rifle into her Exo-suit weapon bay, readying her SIG MCX. 

With Louis scouting the way, the 3 carefully walked forward, keeping their profiles low and ensuring that they do not make any noise. 

Gunfire exploded around them, which got louder, and then softer. 

"Wait, this does not make any sense," quipped Louis. "If Richard is the traitor why is he and his buddies opening fire on Vanguard together with the Korean Army? Aren't they in cahoots?" 

"Our enemy isn't a firmly united group, this is good news," replied Sean. "Clearly different factions exist, and they hate each other just as much as they hate us and humanity." 

(Foot of the hill) 

Aya blinked, climbing up, only for blood to quickly flood her face as she goes dizzy again, quickly slamming her hand into a rock to keep herself upright. 

In an extreme case of good luck, her helmet, which was not rated for rifle rounds managed to stop the bullet slightly, meaning it only broke into her skull shallowly, making her very badly injured, but still alive. 

She turned around weakly, noticing Clara, Albert and Vera all lying unconscious around her, bleeding out from multiple gunshots sustained, as well as injuries opened on them when they rolled off the hill. 

Liu Zhong waved painfully, the bullet that shot him in the head missed, instead blasting off his jaws, rendering him mute, only able to whimper in pain, to make things worse, he is pinned down by a boulder that was loosened, trapping him. 

Liu Zhong grunted, painfully levitating off the boulder with telekinesis, putting it down slowly, careful not to make any noise. 

He got up, walking over to tend to check Aya and the rest, relieved to find all of them still alive, but in critical condition, especially the 3 non-Squad Artemis members. 

If he does not get them medical attention soon, they will all die. 

Just as he tried to stop their bleeding, a twig snapped behind him. 

He quickly turned around, readying a cluster of ice daggers and threw it behind him. 

The figure behind dodged the daggers effortlessly, then raising his hands up. 

"I come in peace, comrade," said the figure in a robotic and bland voice. 

Liu Zhong frowned, looking at the figure alertly. He is ready to fight to protect his comrades, even if it means throwing his life away. 

The figure is masked and covered up in a jungle camouflage ghillie suit, making Liu Zhong unable to discern any unique traits about him, other than the fact that he is an Inari subspecies as shown by his cat ears and cat tail. 

The Inari put down a box, revealing it to be filled with emergency medical supplies. He then approached Aya, only to be stopped by Liu Zhong. 

"I mean no harm," said the Inari. "Please trust me, I am the only one here who can help you." 

Liu Zhong hesitated briefly and relented, after all, the Inari is right. 

The Inari then gave the 4 a quick treatment to stabilise their condition, hooking Albert, Vera and Clara to blood bags to prevent them from losing too much blood. 

Once he is done, he gestured to Liu Zhong, deploying a big extendable stretcher. 

"I will help you carry them to safety, your comrades are nearby, they will bring you all out," he said. 

With that, the 2 set of. The Inari looked into a pair of binoculars from time to time, checking their location with the 3D hologram map on his smart watch. 

Aya is lying on the stretcher, her vision blurry and going in and out of consciousness. She looked at the stranger helping them, and oddly found him familiar. 

After some time, the Inari stopped, putting the stretcher down. 

"Your comrades will be here shortly," he said. "Everything will be alright." 

Liu Zhong typed out a message on his watch and projected it out since he is now mute. 

"Who are you?" 

"I am a gun yet to be loaded," replied the Inari, leaving. 

A while later, the head of a Lita popped up in the surrounding vegetation. Liu Zhong recognised him, waving. 

"Sean, Freddie!" whispered Louis. "They are here! Quick..." 

(Marina Trench safe house, 4 days later) 

Aya opened her eyes, finding herself in a ward. 

She frowned at the unfamiliar environment, looking around, getting up, finding needle holes on her body, a sign that she was hooked up to life support. 

Medical robots around her checked on her vitals, tending to her gently. 

She looked rightwards, finding Xiao Tian sitting by her bed, with a relieved smile. 

"You have awoken," he said. 

She then realised that he is holding on to her hand. 

Out of the blue, she slapped Xiao Tian's hand away, and before Xiao Tian could react, she pulled him by the collar, pulling him close. 

"HOW DARE YOU RUN ME OVER IN PARIS!" she roared. 

"Ok honey, that was on me," said Xiao Tian sheepishly. "I apologise for that. But I didn't really have a choice back there." 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! WHAT HAPPENED IN JERUSALEM? WHAT HAPPENED IN PARIS? WHAT HAPPENED IN ALASKA?" she asked. "AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO FREYJA?!" 

"We are still figuring out," said Xiao Tian. "But as you have seen, we are innocent, and we will not let the real traitors get away." 

Aya then burst into tears, hugging her beloved tightly, careful to control her strength as not to hurt him. She wrapped her serpent tail around him, not letting him go. 

"I thought I would never see you again..." she wept. "When I heard that Team Zero is disavowed... I was devastated... I didn't believe it...but I didn't know...what to...do..." 

"I am sorry you had to go through all this," said Xiao Tian, hugging her back. 

Xiao Tian kissed her to calm her down, disregarding the salty taste in his mouth from her tears. 

Aya reciprocated, greedily kissing him back. 

"Once we clear our names... I am... turning in the marriage approval form..." she sniffed. 

"Alright," smiled Xiao Tian. For UNSSD personnel to marry, they need to fill up a form with their partner to be vetted by the administrative office. It needs to be permitted before they can register their marriage at the local sovereign nation. 

"You feeling better, Big sis?" asked Nanami as she, Sean, Frederica and Liu Zhong entered. 

"Much better, thank you," said Aya as she released Xiao Tian. "Is your mouth alright?"

Liu Zhong nodded. "I can speak now." 

"Can you tell us who brought you all to where we were?" asked Sean. 

Liu Zhong then repeated the event again. 

"I am a gun yet to be loaded..." muttered Sean, recounting the mysterious Inari that helped him, Frederica and Phineas in Jerusalem, who also spoke in an AI-generated voice. That Inari said the same phrase to him and Phineas. 

Sean then told them that story. 

"He must have been observing us discreetly this whole time when the 3 of us were on Jeju island," analysed Sean. 

"But what does he want?" asked Nanami. 

"He is on our side," analysed Aya. "He is likely with Vanguard, because both of the times Vanguard was involved." 

"Well, its comforting to know that we are not alone when it comes to mole, the enemy also has a turncoat," she mused. 

After exchanging intel, they started planning what to do next. 

Xiao Tian then asked everyone to gather at the ward, including Albert, Vera and Clara, who had all recovered. 

"We are going back to where it all started, UK, the heart of Archangel," he said. "Our answers should be there, and the target is Arundel Castle. We are going to pay Sir Howard himself a visit." 

"Voice your opinions, vote on whether this is the right choice." 

Everyone voted support almost immediately. 

"Let's settle this," said Sean.