Back at the base, Gadget was staring out the window of the Rookiez bunkhouse, still trying to process everything that had happened during Operation Big Wave.

Other Rookiez agents were trying to keep his spirits up, but news that wounded soldiers were dying left and right wasn't making the matter any better.

"Hey, rookie." Commander Knuckles appeared.

Gadget sighed.

"I know this is kinda rude to say, but this is exactly why I told you not to fall in love." Knuckles said.

Gadget slightly glared at him.

"It's not like I can control falling in love," the wolf snarled.

"I know, I know." The commander paused for a short while. "Can we talk?"

Gadget whimpered, a few tears ran down his thick vermilion fur. He knew what Knuckles wanted to talk about, and the more that he spoke or even thought about that topic, the worse he felt and the larger his emotional wounds became. His voice sounded unstable, changing pitches and volume with every word as he finally spoke. "I guess..."

Knuckles sat down, knowing it wasn't fair to hide this information from Gadget. "As you might know, many of the soldiers wounded during Big Wave died either on the way back here, or during surgery... in fact, most of the wounded soldiers have died already..." Knuckles paused to collect his breath. Operation Big Wave had been his idea, and there was a still growing casualty report of hundreds if not thousands of child soldiers, eighty percent of the entire rebellion, from its failure.

Gadget tensed and looked away, his body beginning to shake as he began losing control of his emotions. "You're here to tell me..." he shook more and, after taking a gasp-like breath, a sharp, small wail burst from his mouth. "That Nadia's dead?"

Knuckles reached out for the wolf's shoulder, feeling the instant urge to comfort him. It was partially the commander's fault that they had fallen in love. "You didn't let me finish."

Gadget slightly turned his head towards him, rampant tears streaming down his fur, soaked in his own grief.

"I said 'most', not 'all'."

"What do you mean?" Gadget's voice continued to crackle.

"Nadia.... survived surgery. She's still alive."

Gadget couldn't believe his ears, he felt the tears stop rolling down his face and his ears raise.

"But, I have to tell you the tougher-to-hear details..."

Gadget's ears flattened back down on his head. "What?"

"She's the only severely wounded soldier still alive... The chances that she'll wake up are pretty slim, the chance of a full recovery is even slimmer.... What I'm saying is... don't get your hopes up, Gadget, there's no guarantee that she's going to recover...." He paused once he heard Gadget whimper. "But you're welcome to see her whenever you'd like."

Gadget perked up a bit, his ears stood up and he instinctively began sniffing the air, and Knuckles.

"Soldier!" he snapped.

Gadget backed up, lowering his head.

"She's not here in the bunkhouse. But do you want to know where she is?"