Amina wakes up in her hospital bed thinking, "How long was I out?" as she stretches her arm out to get her bearings.
She feels someone grab her hand and recoils in shock to see Dele sitting beside her bed.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Amina covers her eyes with her hands to shield her crying as she asks, "You're here to laugh right?".
Dele replies, "You shouldn't be talking right now" so in response Amina angrily rubs a circle on her chest then points her thumb upward.
Not wanting to argue, Dele solemny makes his way towards the door to leave but not before saying, "There's someone who wants to see you".
Immediately he opens the door, Segun rushes in and falls on his knees begging, "Ms Amina I'm sooo sorry for crushing your ribs".
"We.., I mean he, bought this to say sorry" Michael says as he drags Segun up and places a get well soon card on the table.
Overwhelmed with emotion Amina wipes her eyes and whispers "Thank you" before drawing them both for a slightly painful hug.
Outside, Dele meets with Celecia who walks up to him and asks, "How is she?" and he responds, "She'll live, not that you care anyway".
"Come on Dele, I'm not that heartless, besides who's going to repair all the things you keep breaking in search of our mysterious monster?".
"We'll talk about that later..."
"Unfortunately, we don't have much time, there's been murmurs of another attack coming soon".
"What's your source?"
"An agent embedded with some militants in Bonny, said they're being paid a huge sum for an attack offshore oil rig, but this is likely a diversiij to draw the Navy away from another rig 30 kilometres west of that one".
"That's a lot of assuming".
"Trust me my source has never been wrong".
"So how do we proceed?"
"The rig the militants are going for isn't our concern, and we can't make it too obvious that we're on to them. So I propose we move in quietly, the Phalanx will be integral to this mission's success".
"Ah the old undercover missions, just like old times".
"Just like old times".
Sequence 2
On a navy patrol boat several miles out at sea, a tired sailor struggles to keep his eyes open as he listens to radio updates and scans the water for signs of activity.
He looks down at his watch thinking, "Thank God, only three minutes left until my shift is done".
Thirty seconds later he gets this distress call "Mayday Mayday, we are under attack by pirates, three boats have surrounded our platform we need urgent assistance!".
Immediately he picks up the radio and replies, "This is NNS Danjuma, distress signal confirmed, we are en route to your location. Please take shelter and wait for further instructions".
After dropping the radio and forwarding the information up the chain of command the sailor reclines moaning, "And I thought this was going to be a peaceful patrol".
At the rig, the workers barricade themselves inside their offices and pray that help comes soon. One of the workers contacts the nearby rig and informs them of the situation and they respond "Understood, we are proceeding accordingly".
100 feet under the sea, Segun listens in to the chatter via undersea antenna thinking "This plan better work".
Not too long after, a single boat carrying only two people approaches the second oil rig and the occupants make their way up the facility.
One of the attackers, a woman, looks around suspiciously and says, "Ikenna, doesn't something seem amiss?".
Rubbing his fingers against the floor Ikenna concurs, "Yes, it's too clean, should we go back Ada? and she replies, "Yes, it seems this place has already been infested with VERMIN" before stretching out her tail to grab a marine hiding in a gap nearby.
This forces Micheal to leave his perched up hiding spot and thrust his sword directly into her chest, giving the marine a chance to escape into the water.
To his surprise she doesn't die but knocks him into a wall before drawing out the sword and swinging it at Michael.
He dodges and parries several strikes until he finds an opportunity to slip through a small gap before he's cut in half.
Foolishly, Ikenna transforms and tries to pursue but Ada holds him back saying, "They obviously layed traps all over the platform, if your pieces get scattered at sea I can't guarantee bringing you back".
They try to run back to the boat only see it suddenly get smashed in half and dragged down the depths.
From beneath the wreckage, two black metallic arms emerge and grab the platform railings pulling up Segun who says, "Let me introduce you to the Phalanx MK VI".
Ada shouts, "Get behind me!" and swings Micheal's sword to deflect the phalanx' oncoming arms.
She blocks strike after strike in search of an opening, helped by Ikenna firing liquid projectiles that solidify and slow down the phalanx's arms.
Eventually, Ada finds a small gap leading directly to Segun's neck and leaps for it but before she can make contact, she is impaled by the phalanx's tail, slammed against the wall and flung down to the setback area.
Ikenna then pulls a feint attack at Segun and jumps to grab Ada and hide underneath the platform.
In a panic she tells him, "I'm not healing...Ikenna I'm not healing".
He tries to keep her quiet and staunch the wound while saying, "You're going to be okay, just get to the lifeboats and use the radio, I'll distract them".
Flying in search of the two enemies Micheal sarcastically congratulates Segun saying, "Eight months eyes on your suit and you still hit the wrong target" and he replies, "Hey she almost cut my head off, with your sword!".
"Will both of you shut the hell up and focus on finding the target!" Cecelia screams and Micheal replies "We're trying, it's dark and thermal is basically useless on them".
After a few moments, an SDF marine draws everyone's attention shouting, "Hey I saw something moving on this side".
Quickly Micheal and Segun make their way to the other side of the oil platform, while Marines on the rig shine their searchlights in search of Ikenna and Ada.
On the other side, Ada manages to sneak into a lifeboat undetected. There she sees the tank has been emptied and controls have been smashed but the radio is still working. In a desperate attempt, she tunes into 112.2 and sends the message "19-5-1968".
After two minutes of searching, DIVA issues a general alert, "INCOMING PROJECTILE" before a marine is shot an falls into the ocean.
2 seconds later another marine is hit, forcing them to they turn off their lights and take cover shouting, "Where's the attack coming from!?".
"023 Degrees" DIVA says as a rumbling noise echoes throughout the facility followed by the crash of three lifeboats into the water.
Micheal flies over to stop any potential escape and notices the marine beside Segun isn't showing up on the thermal camera so he shouts, "Scorpion, bandit behind you".
Quickly Segun whips the phalanx's tail to attack the marine who smiles and turns into a pool of black liquid before the strike can connect.
The liquid slithers down to a lower level of the oil rig, morphing Ikenna back into his human form who then jumps into the dark depths and out of sight.
Realising he's going for the lifeboats, Micheal flies over to destroy the three of them with all the missiles in his arsenal.
Peering down at the orange wreckage, Segun asks Micheal, "Did you get it?" and Overwatch tells them, "If you don't see a body then it's not dead. Just hold your position and standby for pickup, we will discuss your performance later".
Landing on the helipad with Segun hanging from the side of a railing nearby Micheal says to himself, "I fucking hate shape shifters".
Sequence 3
"So Cecelia, what's our next move?" Dele asks and she tells him, "Honestly I'm not so sure, my source is hesitant to continue giving us Intel".
"Does your source not understand the urgency of this situation!?" Dele shouts and she she replies, "You don't need to shout, he knows better than anyone".
Cosying up behind Dele, Cecelia rubs the stress off his shoulders saying, "I know you're tired, why don't you rest for a bit, you'll get your answer by tomorrow".
"You're right, I will" he replies while brushing her aside.
"And where do you think you're going?" Cecelia asks, and Dele looks back dismissively saying, "I'm going to check up on Amina, you should get some rest too".
"Don't worry you'll still come back"
Inside the clinic, Dele walks in to find Amina in deep sleep while on respiratory support.
Not wanting to wake her he takes a seat by her bedside and watches over her until he too eventually falls asleep.
He's woken up a few hours later by a text from Cecelia saying, "The next location is Kwa falls, Calabar, prepare your team".
Sequence 4
On the exit deck of the Onne underground facility, the entire SRRG except Amina is prepped for a meeting arranged by Cecelia before they set out on their next mission.
Stepping in front of the crowd, she addresses them saying;
"Agents, operatives and servicemen of the Nigerian Self Defence Forces Eastern Sector along with the Special Reconnaissance Research and Recovery Group, we ask only this from you, end this menace that has been plaguing our sector since the last year.
This final push for peace will not bring back what we lost, but it will provide a space for what is to come.
On the way to the service door, Amina ambushes Micheal by grabbing his arm saying, "There's my little angel!".
After a brief moment of shock, he asks her "Aren't you supposed to be in bed!?" and she tells him "Hey it's my ribs that hurt, my hip has healed already, in any case I couldn't let you go without giving you this".
An SDF guard that accompanied Amina pulls out an exact copy of the sword Micheal lost from a cloth sac and gives it to her.Taking the sword from Amina Micheal says, "Wow, it's just like the last one..."
"Don't lose it!" Amina tells with a stern look and Micheal laughs, "I will hold on to this one tight, don't worry about it".
"Well good luck out there, now take me back to the clinic!" she says while jumping into the guard's arms.
Turning to Dele who saw the whole thing with arms folded, Micheal remarks, "Amina's looking lively these days".
"That's because I told her if we killed this snake thing we'd leave" Dele replies and Micheal says, "Honestly I can't wait to get out too, this place is kind of depressing. So where to next?".
"That depends on Headquarters, they are really impressed with the combat data we are getting them. We might even go international if we get a good word in".
"What about the Dark Wizard?".
Sitting down against the truck wheel, Dele tells him, "The trail's gone cold I'm afraid, no major activity since we left".
Heaving a deep Micheal says, "It's alright, let's just do what we need to do then" before checking his equipment and settling in for the long journey.
Sequence 5
Deep in the Obudu mountains, a monkey quickly surveys the area with rapt curiosity.
The monkey observes a disturbance in the river below and lets out an excited shriek before running off in the opposite direction.
From behind a bush, an SDF scout wearing a ghillie suit hears the monkey's cries and relays the following message via a small radio on his chest.
-.... .-.-.- ..... ..--- ..--- ----. ....- --... --..-- ----. .-.-.- ..--- ----. ----- ----. --... .....
Twelve seconds later, a rocket hits that exact location sending a rumble throughout the entire mountain range.
After the bombardment settles, Micheal drops into the location while Overwatch gives the following instructions, "They heard our knock, now it's time to move in, Beta team is advancing on the other side, just hold them there for now".
Micheal replies, "Understood" as he lands on a tree branch and retracts his wings while scanning the area.
DIVA alerts him to the presence of several large snakes in the area and he says to himself, "Right on cue".
He follows their path from the forest canopy, leaping from tree to tree to avoid being spotted.
Suddenly, a giant snake leaps from underneath a small pond with fangs bared to attack Micheal. Quickly, though, he draws his sword and beheads the snake with without pausing in pursuit of his target.
Two other giant snakes emerge from the water and attempt to block Micheal's path so he unleashes a concentrated blast of fire in their direction. This however isn't enough and their relentless attacks force Micheal into a defensive position.
He flies above and drops a mighty blast incinerating the two as well as a decent chunk of forest below.
"Hey keep the damage to a minimum, we're trying to kill one target not the entire forest" Overwatch warns and Micheal replies, "Sorry, boss, it won't happen again" as he continues ahead towards a small cave at the mountain side.
"That boy is getting stronger" Celecia tells Dele while bringing him a drink in the control room and Dele replies "It's amazing what results we got in under a year, we might finally be able to take him down".
"I believe I deserve some credit here, after all our program is quite challenging....".
Just as they are talking DIVA issues a warning saying, "Incoming heatsource of unknown origin approaching at 073 degrees".
On the ground, Micheal's eyes begin to grow red and he stops his pursuit to gaze at a streak of blue light flying across the night sky.
This throws him into a fit of uncontrollabe rage and he flies up with his sword drawn to attack this new enemy.
Despite Dele's warnings to stand back Micheal keeps advancing so Cecelia grabs the microphone saying "Red Eagle stand down that is an order".
Still he surges on, the blue light slowly taking the shape of a flaming angel in a familiar looking exoskeleton as he draws closer. With a mighty swing of his sword, Micheal attacks the Angel but sees only a blue streak move against his visor as he makes contact with only a cloud.
In a split second he turns to block a sword strike from the angel while preparing to blast this new enemy but is hit by a burst of blue plasma which tears off small pieces of the AVES from Micheal's body.
Now on the defensive, Micheal shoots wild plumes of fire and missiles while falling out of the sky but none are able to connect with the enemy's dazzling speed. He's struck in the chest, wings legs and stabbed in the back repeatedly while being too slow to respond to any of them.
He forms a shield to protect himself from an incoming attack but it gets smashed to pieces by a blast sending him crashing deep into the side of a mountain.
With error messages flashing over Micheal's field of view, Micheal removes his visor to see the masked angel standing over him, sword pointed, to deliver what seemed to be the killing blow.
Instead it tells him, "Stay out of our way" before sheating it's sword and flying off to the east as quickly as it came.
The End?