Dr. D and some Republican officers are waiting for two people to arrive. They see a truck in the distance, and wait for it to arrive. They then let the two people, a man and a woman, get into two Storm Sworders. The Storm Sworders are launched into the sky, and then they fly off. Meanwhile, Van and the others are traveling towards Guygalos City. Van and Irvine have a fight about which route to take, which ends up with Irvine strangling Van. After a long discussion, they decide to split up, with Irvine, Moonbay, and Rudolf taking the long but safe route, and Van, Fiona, and Zeke taking the shorter route that has one Imperial base along the way. They split up, and shortly after that, it turns out that Rudolf snuck into the Blade Liger so he could go with Van. At the Imperial base along Van's path, Major Karl Schubaltz is training with three black Redlers. He does some impressive maneuvering and shooting in his modified Saber Fang. Later, he and some other Imperial officer are talking abo