There was some part within Kaijosh that missed fighting on the battlefield. Yet, he knew that being a senator was as important as being a soldier for the New Republic. Even if the last few weeks have proven to be a waste. His political group, which took months of planning and organizing, had won a battle with the approval to strike Utrost; however, it wasn't Coruscant. That would depend on how successful Vice-Admiral was against the Imperial forces. For now, the senators continued debating about ending the war.

Kaijosh called a meeting with several senators to plan after the assault on Utrost. He was standing beside a briefing hologram of the planet. Once everyone was in the room, the senator began talking. "I know that it's too early to discuss Utrost, but we should talk about the chance that we don't take the planet."

"You really think the Grand Imperium will be able to defend it?"

"Of course, I do. It's the only clear way to their capital, opening it up for a costly blockade. We need to prepare with significant places to the Imperium. I have made a list of several key planets and facilities that would cripple our enemy." Kaijosh sent the list to the senators while the hologram showcased one of them: Jakku. There were rumors that the Imperium was using the planet to rebuild and prepare to strike nearby New Republic systems.

"Does the Chancellor know about it?" asked Sody Raffar, the senator from Chandrila.

"...I will tell her when the time's right, Senator Raffar." Kaijosh tried to calm the senator's fears of retaliation but he knew that it didn't work. "Jakku is our way of making sure that Mon Mothma doesn't end the war prematurely. So, I am trusting you guys to safeguard this secret until we know about Utrost. Now, any concerns?"

"How do you know that the Imperium is ever on the planet?"

"I have contacts keeping a close eye on it and reporting any Imperial activities directly to me." Kaijosh clapped his together and smiled. "Now, I am totally positive that we will win. There are just a few obstacles in our way."

General Razref Treselang still had no idea why he was here, waiting to board the Relentless Endeavour. The only clue that he had was urgent orders for transfer from command. There was barely enough time to scramble the 51st Assault Division into proper transports (and borrowing some starfighters for protection). Fortunately, it seemed that his second-in-command, Idiv Meffaa, had the missing piece. And it didn't look ensuring.

"It seems like we've been assigned to assist with the assault on Utrost." Meffaa said and then handed Treselang the datapad containing the orders. The general was frustrated at command for not telling him sooner about the sudden decision. He wanted answers.

"And why wasn't I informed of this until now?"

Meffaa rubbed the back of his neck and explained, "Well, there was unscheduled maintenance on the communications at headquarters."

Treselang shook his head at the news and realized that it probably meant everyone else on board the vessel didn't know of his arrival. Hopefully, he was wrong. "Please tell me that I am the only one in the dark."

There was silence followed by Meffaa's attempt at answering the question without upsetting the general. Then, knowing that command didn't bother to inform anyone else, Treselang loudly groaned and dropped the datapad to the ground. "Remind me to speak with command after this."

After a minute of processing everything, the shuttle had landed on the hanger as soldiers were sent to investigate it. General Treselang managed to calm down and greeted them with his rank and orders from command. One of the soldiers double-checked the cracked datapad to sure it was genuine. Then, he handed the datapad back and sighed. "The Vice-Admiral is in the comm room discussing the plan of attack. And a word of caution, he will not be happy about this."

Treselang nodded his head and began heading for the comm room while Meffaa was explaining who the Vice-Admiral was. Based on Trask's service history, the general was at least grateful that he wasn't inexperienced at waging battle. Once he arrived at the door to the room, the general quickly got ready for the shitstorm that was about to hit him and entered. Trask was still talking about the battleplan before everyone turned their attention towards Treselang.

"Vice-Admiral Trask?" Treselang asked before explaining himself.

Bates paused for a moment to reflect what Badger said and sighed. There was a point to be made given the current situation. With everything that happened only a few minutes ago, he had nearly forgotten about the post office. But, the sight of police officers gunning down citizens was wrong, and he had to do something. He turned towards his partner and whispered back, "I know what has to be done. I... wasn't exactly expecting rogue police officers right away."

"Whatever. Shit happens. Let's just keep our eyes on the job from now on." and - as far as Agent Hayes was concerned - that was that.

Both of them made their way farther away from the scene, hoping that nobody spotted them fleeing. The trash and waste helped somewhat disguised their presence. And once they were in the clear, Bates pulled out the map to see their current location. The attack on 40th Street brought a lot of attention, meaning they had to find another way to the post office. After a minute of figuring out a way, Bates had a plan to avoid getting noticed. "Okay, we are going to keep taking the alleyways until 38th Street. That's when we follow it until we get near the luxury apartments and then taking every possible shortcut. And once we get to 34th, we should be in the clear to the objective. Understand?"

"Right." Badger replied once Bates announced his plan, again flicking the select-fire of his rifle. "I'd just be on the lookout for more little friends along the way. I doubt those boys in blue were the only local outfits looking for trouble; got to be ready to change course right away."

"Sounds good." Firefly nodded. Then, both agents began moving to the objective location, hoping for no more trouble.

For now.

Ever since leaving the tunnel, Bates was immediately uneased with the quiet streets and empty sidewalks. New York City was supposed to be the city that never sleeps, but it seemed that it finally took an eternal slumber. Yet, there were hints of life struggling to survive. A young couple was playing some cards on the balcony of the luxury apartments. One of them watched Bates and his partner passing below before telling the other to rush inside. It was brief, but the sight of citizens gave him hope for the first time in a while.

Of course, that moment was shortlived by sudden loud bursts of gunshots. Firefly got the rifle ready for a fight and started moving faster. Then, he heard police sirens and instantly hid behind a delivery truck. He questioned if it was the officers from earlier, hoping it wasn't them. Instead, he watched as three police cars and an armored vehicle drove past them, heading in the direction of the post office. It was when Firefly had an idea of what was happening. And it was terrible.

"We need to move now." Firefly turned his partner and started sprinting towards the objective. While making his way, he managed to patch into the local JTF radio channels. And when he was in view, he saw NYPD officers setting siege to the post office while its occupants fought back defensively. With the arrival of additional officers, the JTF soldiers were outnumbered and surrounded. Even with the odds against them, they kept on fighting for as long as possible.

"Additional officers have arrived along with... an ESU team!? Shit!"

"We have to retreat! Get any citizens to safety while we hold the ground inside. Hopefully, we can at least take a f-argh fuck!"

"Romero has been hit!"

"I-I am fine! Get inside and prepare to fight!" Nearly the entire JTF force retreated inside while a few stayed behind to stall the threat. Firefly, without hesitation, opened fire upon the officers and dropped a seeker mine. The mine detected a nearby squad of hostiles that spotted the agent and rolled towards them. When it was close enough, the mine detonated and released chaff into the air. Before the officers had time to respond, the chaffs caught on fire and began burning them alive.

Firefly rushed towards one of the police cars and used it as cover. He hoped that stunt provided relief to the JTF soldiers and attracted attention. But to make sure, he pressed his earpiece to get in contact with Badger. "We have to make sure that the officers don't have a chance of entering the post office. Do whatever to get their attention!"

Banished. That word was burned into the mind when it was first spoken by the commander who taught them from childhood. Everything changed when that word was said. His former comrades didn't bid farewell instead gave looks of disgust and anger. The wildlife of Sychan Desert watched with sadness as the ex-Warden was lead to the border of his homeland. And then, former Warden Gil Totoun was unleashed to the strange new world of Vasilium. Yet, there was one thing that they took and it was their identity. They will always be Khemrini-no matter how much the Wardens tried to bury it.

"Nice to meet you, Hayes." Romero looked at the agent a bit longer than expected before making her way to the soldier. Bates knew that she was planning something. "Gather a squad and advance towards the Garden. Wait until the agents arrive."

With the new orders, the young soldier dismissed herself, leaving the three of them alone. Even with the introductions, there was some tension left in the room. Bates understood that Romero was still suspicious of their presence. And she wanted to make sure that he and Hayes weren't liars. So, the agent turned towards the captain and tried to move the convention along.

"What's the Garden?"

Romero chuckled at the question. "You know, the massive arena next door. You most likely call it the Madison Square Garden. When the hospitals began filling up with infected, temporary hospitals were set up by the city to ease up pressure. The Garden was one of the largest in the city. That was until City Hall happened." Bates noticed that the captain said the last sentence with a hint of sadness in her voice. It was something worthwhile to note for later.

"We remained in operations since then. But that was until the power went out about a day or two ago. And with everything around me falling apart, I had no choice but to abandon the hospital." Romero was silent for a moment before looking at her wound. It wasn't getting any better. "That's why I need you two to collect any remaining fuel given it hasn't been taken already. We planned on gathering as much as possible, but then... well, you saw what happened."

Bates still wasn't unable to believe that the situation got worse than expected. It was clear that he had to help out. Even if the hospital's already picked clean. "Don't worry. We will come back with plenty of fuel."

"Thanks-" Suddenly, Romero cried out in pain and saw that her wound had reopened. The doctor from earlier busted in and attended to her patient. She seemed to whisper something, but the captain wasn't able to talk. Bates knew that it was time to depart for the Garden. Then, his smartwatch lit up as ISAC alerted him of an urgent call for headquarters. Overload asked if their objective was fruitful, expecting to be disappointed.

"We found JTF forces along with its leader, Romero. But I regret to report that several NYPD officers were setting siege to their base upon our arrival. We had to take them out. Earlier, we were also under attack by two police officers after they opened fire on unarmed civilians. Over." Romero answered. Overload was about to respond until someone interrupted him. He spoke with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"Understood... You will have to explain it to the commander once she arrives. Over."

"Wait, what for?!" Romero tried to ask the reason for her presence, but Overload ended comms before he could've said a word. Did it have something to do with him killing the police? It wasn't like they were given any choice besides getting killed. Or maybe it was something else entirely unrelated? The thoughts were driving him paranoid. For now, though, he had to focus on retrieving the fuel from the arena. But he had to utter a curse word under his breath before heading outside.

Bates agreed with Badger's plan and tried to walk towards the backside of the building. Until the soldier from earlier stopped them in their tracks. "Don't bother trying to look for another way in. We made sure to destroy access to the roof from outside. To prevent any intruders from breaking in. Follow me."

It was a smart plan, Bates noted to himself until the power went out. He kept on walking until he was at the entrance to the arena. There were three more soldiers, making sure that nobody entered and exited the building. Bates had wondered about the layout and asked the soldier about it.

"Just follow the signs, and go up the escalators. You should be able to enter the security room and then the field hospital itself."

"Alright." Bates nodded and thanked the soldier. "We will go in and gather whatever fuel remains."

Upon entering the square, he saw and heard nothing. It was dead quiet besides the sound of the wind. Bates looked around to make sure that nobody was waiting to abuse them or hiding for them. He then walked up the escalator, and nothing was suspicious. But then, he saw a bloody handprint on the door to the security room. It was still fresh. The agent turned to his partner and signaled him to get his weapon ready.

Bates raised his rifle and rushed in the room, seeing two dead police officers on the ground. One of them bled out while the other was shot in the head, killing him instantly. He noticed that the security cameras were still working despite the building having no power. That was when he saw a doctor on one of the feeds, talking to himself while writing notes. The audio wasn't working, so Bates wasn't able to listen in. That was when he realized that the doctor wasn't at the field hospital, but another room. Was Bates kept in the dark?

The agent looked at his partner once more and asked, "What the hell do you think is going on? Two dead officers and a doctor, but nobody else. Do you think we should investigate further?"