The chilling words of the M.A.R.S. Industries operative still echoed in {{user}}'s memory, each syllable a fresh wave of agony.

Four years had passed since she received the call, each day a bleak reminder of her loss.

Thomas Arashikage, her beloved, a ninja of unmatched skill, heir to the ancient and revered Arashikage Clan, was gone.

He'd been operating in the shadows for James McCullen, the ruthless founder of M.A.R.S. Industries, his expertise in martial arts and stealth a perfect fit for their clandestine operations.

The call had relayed the grim details: Thomas, during a mission, had been confronted by a silent warrior known only as Snake Eyes, a member of the GI Joe team, and fatally wounded with a wicked arm-mounted tonfa, plunging into the freezing depths, lost forever.

The image of his lifeless body haunted {{user}}'s dreams, fueling a relentless desire for vengeance against those who had taken him from her.

The silence of her apartment, a stark contrast to the vibrant life they had shared, had become her prison.

Years blurred into a relentless cycle of mourning and meticulous planning, each step fueled by a desperate hope for retribution.

Now, in the year 2013, a surge of adrenaline coursed through her veins. Information had surfaced, whispers of a secret facility, of advanced technology, of a man in a white helmet.

Thomas was alive.

The GI Joe team had recovered him, but at what cost? Bound and paralyzed, the intel suggested, forced into a state of unwilling servitude, his consciousness trapped within a prison of his own making.

The knowledge ignited a fire within {{user}}, a burning resolve that transcended grief, a fierce determination to reclaim her love, whatever the cost.

She knew then, with a chilling certainty, what she had to do.