Night Raid watches as the Aliens disappear among the trees at the north end of the Colony, leaving the valley into the quiet desolate ruin that it was.
Tatsumi deactivates Incursio, then suddenly grabs his leg in pain. He rolls up his pants, and sees that his shin has a set of bleeding cuts at where the Alien had slashed him.
"Damn!" he hissed through clenched teeth "These guys are strong enough to be able to get through Incursio's armor like that! And you say the Queen is stronger? Boss, maybe we should listen to Ripley and focus on getting rid of these Aliens. There's no telling how much destruction they can cause, if left running loose."
"It's not my call to make. We can't ignore the Jaegers and the Empire, either." Najenda looks over at Ripley
"Again, I'm sorry. We've underestimated the Aliens, which is why I'm taking you to Headquarters to have our leaders decide our next course of action. Believe me, none of us wants those monsters to spread out and take over the world."
Ripley nods her head in understanding "Fine. We've underestimated you all too. You're much stronger than what I could've imagined. Now I know you guys are our best hope in wiping out this species for good."
Akame places her hand on Ripley's shoulder "Don't worry Ripley. If all it takes is for us to kill the Queen, you can count on me to Eliminate her."
She holds up Murasame with resolve. Ripley looks at her Imperial Arm with skepticism "You're gonna need more than that sword of yours."
"It's deadlier than you think." Akame insisted.
"Relax, Akame." said Najenda "You'll get your chance soon enough. We just have to wait and see which problem needs our attention first, The Aliens or the Empire"
She steers the Air Manta towards the South, after taking one last look Northward
"Besides, we're not the only group capable of fighting the Aliens…"
"Stay still Tatsumi. Let's have a look at your wound." Mine takes some bandages and a rag out of a sack, and kneels down beside Tatsumi's injured leg
"The cuts aren't that deep. I guess Incursio was strong enough to protect you this much. Otherwise you would have lost a foot."
Ripley sits Newt down next to Chelsea and tells her to stay, while she goes over to the crate that held the Colonial Marine medical supplies.
"Here, take these."
She hands Mine a couple of bottles of medicine "This one will disinfect the cuts and this one will stop the bleeding."
Mine wipes up the blood with the rag and sprays the first bottle on Tatsumi's shin.
"It feels cold. And the pain is gone!" exclaimed Tatsumi.
Mine sprayed the other bottle, and the blood stopped flowing.
"Amazing!" she gasped.
"Our pharmaceuticals are far more advanced than yours in this world" Ripley explained "And you can get these medicines for cheap at any retail market back where I'm from."
Mine gives back the bottles of medicine and starts to wrap Tatsumi's leg with the bandages. Once finished, she stands up looking accomplished
"There! Treatment successful!" Tatsumi looks up at her gratuitously "Thanks Mine. You've been a great help."
Mine blushes and replies "It's nothing! You watched my back earlier down there, so I thought I'd return the favor."
"I should thank you too, Mine." Ripley states with genuine appreciation "You've fought your hardest to ensure we all escaped safely. And me and Newt wouldn't be sitting here with you all if you haven't found us."
Newt looks over at them and says "Thank you Mine. And you too Tatsumi. You both were amazing down there, fighting the monsters."
Overwhelmed by the compliments, a still blushing Mine quietly sits down with her back against Tatsumi who throws Newt a thumbs up."And thanks Harrigan. You really knew where to set us up for an assault. We couldn't have made it far if not for your quick thinking"
"Well, I can't have you both play cowboy against a bunch of creatures like that. That's why I had to make sure both of you aren't handling too much of them. After all, the team comes first." Harrigan simply answered, showing modesty to everyone.
Lubbock stares at the three equipment boxes in amazement "Wow. Your world has so many incredible things Ripley. Miraculous medicines, extremely advanced technology…"
"Don't forget, space travel," added Akame, as she looked up at the evening sky "I thought it was already fascinating to just sail the ocean and see new places. But to think that you make your living flying beyond the stars. It must look beautiful from up there."
"It is," said Ripley, while putting away the medicine bottles "Space can show you just how beautiful and terrible our universe can be. Even more so considering what's lurking up there, among the stars."
Akame looks at Ripley again "Do you think it's possible to visit your world? I mean if you were able to come to this place, then perhaps there's a way for you to return?"
Ripley smiles and brings out the transmitter from its box again "Only a certain Artificial Person can answer that. And if he's out there somewhere, this is the only way for him to find us."
She powers up the transmitter and began speaking into the microphone
"Bishop. Hicks. This is Ripley. Over."
The transmitter's speaker lets out a sound of whining static.
Everyone aboard the Air Manta gathered around Ripley. Najenda hands the reigns over to Susanoo and joins as well.
After a minute of listening to static, Ripley speaks into the microphone again
"Bishop! Hicks! This is Ripley! Do you read me!? Over!"
More static.
Another minute passed by, then two before Ripley began to lose hope.
Then finally, a faded voice began to sound off through the speaker. Ripley began pressing buttons on the transmitter in an attempt to get a clear signal.
When she finished, the voice from the speaker rang out loud and clear
Ripley? This is Bishop. We read you loud and clear. Over.
All of Night Raid cheered loudly and Newt went to hug Ripley with silent tears of joy.
Are you there, Ripley? This is Bishop. We read you loud and clear. Over.
The voice continued to sound off through the speaker.
Everybody grew quiet when Najenda raises a finger to her lips to settle them down, then Ripley answers
"Bishop!? Thank God! It's good to hear from you. Where are you? Are you with Hicks? Are you both alright? Over."
Another minute went by, and Bishop replies
It's good to hear you too, Ripley. Yes, I'm with Hicks. We're both safe inside the dropship. Hicks is unconscious right now. I had to give him another dose of medicine for his wounds, so he'll be out for a while. As for where we are, I can't say for sure. My memory bank is somewhat corrupted. My last memory was attempting to rescue you and Newt at the Atmosphere Processor's landing platform. Then we woke up to find ourselves landed on a grass field in the middle of some forest. That was yesterday morning. Afterwards, I powered up the ship and took flight. We've been searching for you and Newt ever since.
Ripley breathed a sigh of relief. From what Bishop described, their situation doesn't seem dire. And it sounds like the dropship remains functional. Now they just need to find each other.
Bishop continues speaking
Ok, Ripley. Same questions as you asked me. What's your location and situation? Over.
Ripley looks at everyone around her and carefully answers "I have Newt here with me. We're both fine and safe among friends. But, listen Bishop. Wherever we ended up, the Aliens came with us along with the Hadley Colony. We barely managed to get away. I need you to come and find us, so we can try to find Sulaco."
Najenda whispers into her ear. Ripley continues talking into the microphone
"We're currently heading south of the Colony through wilderness to meet with allies. Can you meet us there? Over."
A few seconds go by, and Bishop answers
I'm sorry Ripley. The ship's navigational computer is still malfunctioning. We can't get our bearings or determine our position on this planet since the computer was calibrated for LV-426's cartography and new mapping data has to be supplied by docking with the Sulaco and downloading the data from its sensors. Our best chance is to give me a day or two to manually calibrate the computer using visual reference of the sun's, stars' and the moon's relative rotation. Do you see the small button in back of the transmitter? Press it. It's a homing beacon that I can lock on to. Once I have the computer working properly, I can triangulate the signal and pinpoint your exact location. Until then, keep the transmitter activated and broadcasting close to you. Understand? Over.
Ripley follows the instructions and presses the button for the homing beacon
"Alright Bishop. Beacon is activated. Once you have our position, come find us right away. And another thing, don't try to land or contact the indigenous population. There's a group of people out there who would try to attack or capture you, and we can't risk you or the ship being destroyed. Or worse, falling into the wrong hands. You have to be careful, trust me, Bishop. Also, the Aliens. We've last spotted them heading north, away from the Colony. If you spot them on your way towards us, use the ship's weaponry and kill as many as you can. Do you copy? Over."
Bishop verbally confirms her orders
Roger. Avoid the indigenous, destroy any Xenomorphs I come across, and come find you. Correct? Over.
Ripley nods to herself "That's right. I'll contact you if something happens. See you soon. Over."
Bishop replies with a final transmission
Stay safe. Over and Out.
The speaker resumes giving off the sound of static, then Ripley flips a switch and shuts it off. The only sound remaining was the homing beacon generating a steady beeping sound.
"Well? How did it go? Are your friends coming?" Najenda asked.
Ripley shakes her head "No, not yet. It's gonna take them a while to find us. Maybe about a day or two."
Tired from today's events and the promise of battle in later days, all of Night Raid began to rest aboard the Air Manta.
Leone was already lying down, snoring and making hiccups from having drunk the last bottle of alcohol left to her.
Chelsea laid down nearby, clutching a sleeping Newt for warmth.
Mine was still sitting with her back against Tatumi's, while drifting into sleep.
Tatsumi lays her down properly and covers her with his jacket. He lies down nearby and sees Akame next to him, laying on her back and staring up at the night's sky and its many stars.
"Can't sleep Akame?" he asks.
The crimson-eyed assassin answers without taking her eyes off the stars
"No, not really. I'm still just so excited about space travel. To think, Ripley's friends have a ship that can take them up there. Perhaps I can ask to go with them? Just a quick trip up there and back would be more than enough for me. I hope Kurome can be there with me to share that experience."
Tatsumi turns to look up at the stars as well, just in time to see a shooting star race across the sky.
He smiles and says "Don't give up Akame. After meeting Ripley and Newt, and with everything we've seen today, I just know this world is full of possibilities. We'll get your sister back, even if we have to beat her up and drag her with us kicking and screaming."
Akame smiles "Thank you, Tatsumi. That's really nice of you. I think."
She turns her head and closes her eyes to sleep. Still smiling, the green-eyed fighter took one last look at the stars and went to sleep.
Ripley was at the storage crates, putting away her weapon and Newt's newly acquired Imperial Arm. Najenda approaches her with Lubbock at her side
"Are your friends going to be alright? If they don't know where they are and they find themselves within the Empire, there's no guarantee they won't be spotted or attacked."
Lubbock concurs "Yeah! And if they run into the Jaegers, they'll be worse off!"
Ripley sighs, then shrugged "There's nothing we can do right now to help them. At this time, they're on their own."
She places the transmitter in an empty sack and ties it to her back
"Don't worry, they're both tough and smart. And the dropship is extremely powerful. Nothing's gonna trouble them, anytime soon."