Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Triad 2177 ❯ Head'in Out ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Miryhn's rebirth and Vera's near defeat end up drawing the two together as elsewhere Leo and Celvice are about to be split apart forever.

The young warrior hurries to his love while Dingo confronts the cold truth: why the Space Force kept him around for so long...and what they plan to do with him.

Non Anime: Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Romance / Mecha / Comedy / Adventure / Action / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.28.2004 | Pages: 10 | Words: 14.2K | Visits: 202 | Status: Completed

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<CENTER>"Now I'm thinking about sneaking out
 With nowhere to go
 I'm considering dropping out
 Stepping out of the flow
 Off all these radar scopes
 To a place far below"
 - The Presidents of The United States of American, from "Head'in Out"</CENTER>

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Elena Weinberg sighed, looking out the window of her office within the U.N.S.F. naval branch in Hellsponte County. Somewhere out there, the people of Mars were slaughtering one another and the only one to stop them was the one person who would probably kill all of them if given the chance. Of course, it had to be Paul De Franz, the man who currently had her and East Wind under a microscope. It was him who re-commissioned the Behemoth LEV class in order to excercise his policy of "vulgar displays of power" over Martians, and just then, one marched out of the base she was situated at with a convoy of soldiers close behind. She sighed, thinking back to the events of 2173 where a handful of Earth soldiers committed heinous acts against Martians and even decided to hike up the tax on imported commodities; if she didn't know any better, she would have thought that history was repeating itself, here on Mars, only four years later and on a scale of violence that only De Franz himself could go through with.

There was a knock at her door, causing Elena to turn around. "Go ahead."

The door opened and in stepped a man of gigantic build. Standing well over six and a half feet with firm muscles, he had a long face and was clad in the uniform of someone from the army division. He was obviously bald under his hat, but judging by how well he kept himself clean-shaven, it was hard to tell if he did it voluntarily. However, the most interesting part about the man was a pair of small red goggles that covered the sockets of his eyes and were obviously kept strapped across his head. He lowered his head, the lenses of his goggles glaring in the flourescent light, and smirked.

"Major General De Franz, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Elena asked, returning a smile despite her slightly sarcastic tone.

De Franz shut the door behind him and slowly walked to the back of the chair in front of Elena's desk. "Oh, nothing, just dropped by to pay a small visit to our local naval office representative." He spoke in a fairly deep voice, a soft grunt sounding one in a while in his speech.

"Is there something on your mind?" Elena asked innocently.

"Aren' you even going to ask me if I want to have a seat? Offer me a drink? Come on, Elena, let's be friends," De Franz said, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Elena rolled her eyes and sat in her own chair at the desk. "My apologies, have a seat."

"That's more like it. Thank you," De Franz said, slowly sitting in the chair.

"So what can I do for you, Major General?" Elena asked, picking up a pen and twirling it on her fingers.

"Oh, nothing...but you can start by telling me...how's Egret and his team, huh? I've been 'out of the loop' for a while, I'm curious, that's all," De Franz said, folding his hands across his stomach.

"Well, the U.N.S.F. has been concentrating on the chaos in Hellsponte lately, so I haven't recieved any orders on what to do with them," Elena explained.

"From what I hear, they've been a naught little group of troublemakers lately," De Franz said, turning his head to the side.

"I thought you just said you were 'out of the loop'," Elena pointed out.

"That's my point. What's the basis of these accusations? What exactly have they been doing?" De Franz said, looking back to Elena.

Elena gulped; something wasn't right, he obviously knew something. Here she was, face-to-face with the most homocidal maniac in the entire Space Force; anything could happen. "To be honest, I don't know. I haven't contacted them in a few days."

"You don't know?" De Franz said in shock, then laughing. "Well, I heard from a little bird a few minutes ago that they payed a visit to Bill Browning just recently. Not long after that, two captured BAHRAM Orbital Frames and one from BIS went missing," he said, shrugging. "But that's just the rumor mill around here, I guess."

"Or the big mouth of Majetsu," Elena quipped.

De Franz arched his brow. "I see, so Browning already told you? Seems I was a bit too late, huh?"

"Dingo Egret would never do anything unless he was acting in the better good," Elena said, stern-faced.

"Wrong, Elena," De Franz shouted as he stood up in a flash. "Dingo Egret would do anything to bite back at the hand that's fed him for the past three years! If not for this military, he would have been eaten alive by his fan base, let alone he might have committed suicide unless behind the controls of an LEV."

"You're shooting in the dark, De Franz, you've never even met him," Elena replied, slamming her pen on to the desk in anger.

"All Martians are the same," De Franz said, smiling. "And that's exactly why I'm waiting for 'Operation Humble' to pass High Council approval."

Elena blinked. "What? I never heard about that."

"That's because Martian sympathizers like you and your good buddy Browning weren't told. Only the most trusted and elite of High Council's choosing will be involved in this," De Franz said, folding his arms.

"You aren't trustworthy or elite at all, you're a maniac, De Franz," Elena said with a cold look.

De Franz stood back in fake shock. "Elena! Your words wound me! Whatever do you mean?"

"I seem to recall three years ago a middle-rank commander of your same name in the Terran Crusade. This particular commander didn't want to waste time arresting a rebellion group, so he simply nerve-gassed the farming sphere they were hiding in!" Elena accused with steel in her voice. "And before that, he executed each member of another rebellion group one at a time with his own sidearm until one spoke of the location of another group. After that, this particular commander took the final member and pushed them under foot of a passing Phantoma."

De Franz began laughing as hard as he could. "Oh, good times, good times. But Elena, they were all scum who wanted nothing more than to go to war. The world is better off without them."

"I saw the tape, Paul, it was a woman you crushed. She was bawling her eyes out and wasn't even confirmed on the list of known combatants. You didn't kill a rebellion member, you killed someone's wife!" Elena said in the same tone as before.

"Rebels are rebels, even if you actually fight or not," De Franz said, chuckling and shrugging.

"So what, pray tell, is 'Operation Humble'? Going to drop Deimos on Hellsponte County?" Elena asked, adding sarcasm to her voice.

"Oh, it's just a simple string of 'problem solving' ideas I had for some of the more problematic spheres and sections of spheres. It spans all across Hellsponte and the other UCM Counties that show a bit too much aggression," De Franz said, acting humble.

"I can only imagine how much fun genocide must be for you," Elena said, spitting with anger.

"You shouldn't worry about me, Elena, you should be worrying about yourself. With the arrest of Martian sympathizer and known supporter of terrorism Elena Weinberg by myself, no doubt High Command will accept 'Operation Humble'," De Franz said, smiling sinisterly.

"What grounds do you have for that?" Elena asked. She slowly lowered her hand towards her top desk shelf, going for her handgun.

"What don't I have?" De Franz said, laughing. "Video taped accounts of you and Browning meeting, security footage of your team aquiring three VANGUARD Orbital Frames, tapped phone conversations of you and Browning preparing to disband with Shale's assistance...I can tell you right now that you and your two bedfellow sympathizers are going right up the creek, baby. No longer with the Earth military stand for this insolence from Mars and it's own people who see the worthless cur as something to save."

"Me, Bill, and Leon simply have different ideas, that's all," Elena said surprisingly calmly. She looked down at the crack below the door and saw two shadows growing under it.

"Nonsense! I've had enough!" De Franz roared. He reached forward and grabbed Elena by the shoulder, spilling her across the desk. With a beast-like roar, he cleared her desk and held her down. "Before I send you off to the hands of a full court-marshall with tons of evidence proving your guilt as the bane of this military, I'm just going to do both of us a little favor," he said, smirking as he reached to undo her uniform.

Elena smirked and De Franz froze.

"Please tell me that's a pen you're jamming into my hoodey-hoo right now," De Franz squeaked.

"No, that's a .45 caliber pistol I have jammed into your 'hoodey-hoo' right now and if you don't want to bleed to death from the wound it'll put in your testicles, you'll get off of me," Elena said, pulling down the hammer on her pistol.

De Franz raised his hands and stepped back towards the door, Elena slipping off the desk and to her feet on the floor. "You won't get away with any of this. Kill me and they'll pin you with even more reason to send you to capital punishment," De Franz said, backing against the wall.

"Since the shit has officially hit the fan, De Franz, I'm afraid to tell you that I'm out of here. Bill told me you'd be coming the moment your lapdog Majetsu left his office, it was only a matter of time before you actually went through with it. I'm not a fool, Paul, but I'm not so bold as to fight back against the Earth military unless they push it as far as you have. Now I can go through with the new VANGUARD that Leon is forming without a speck of conscience," Elena said, maintaining her aim at De Franz.

"So you are a traitor, huh? I thought so, Elena, but the sad truth is that you're too late to do anything about it. My men have lined the hallway outside your office and a small 'goodbye' party are heading to Egret's ship parked in Tharsis. It's hopeless, Elena, just give up. Both you, Egret, and his farce 'East Wind' are going to see the final curtain drop," De Franz said, smiling again. "And so is every single person that ever meant anything to you people."

Elena's eyes widened at his last statement. "You sick, twisted...you leave that poor girl out of this!"

Suddenly, a fire-fight broke out in the hallway. Screams and rifle fire sounded and suddenly two VANGUARD soldiers kicked open the door.

"Vice Admiral, we came to get you as per the plan," one of the soldiers said, waving for Elena to follow.

"Well, here's where I leave the stage of this crazy little play. Ta-ta, Paul," Elena said, waving goodbye to De Franz as she hurried out the door with the soldiers.

De Franz snarled as Elena slipped between his fingers. He staggered around the corner and saw one of his men hurrying over some dead soldiers to him. "Sir, they got away. But we couldn't do much, they took us by surprise and-"

"I don't give a flying shit!" De Franz roared. "Order Roberts' group to hurry up and destroy Egret's ship and keep on Weinberg. She'll lead us straight to Browning and Shale and we can get rid of every last trace of these rotten Martian sympathizers."

"Sir, VANGUARD was attacked only a few minutes ago, I don't understand how the three commanders could slip away that easily," the soldier commented.

"They had this planned out to begin with in case I ever made a move! They knew we were on to them! I don't care, just do it!" De Franz commanded angrily.

"Sir!" the soldier said, saluting and then hurrying off down the hall.

"Leon Shale, William Browning, and Elena Weinberg. Those three and VANGUARD...tch, what a joke. It'll be like flies around a horses ass, just pests in the way," De Franz commented, crossing his legs at the thought of Elena actually shooting him in the "hoody-hoo".

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

The only sound in the waiting room was Miryhn shoving potato chips down his throat like a rabid beast tearing into it's first bite of food in weeks. Dingo and Ken sat on one couch and Miryhn and Judas on the other, each on opposite sides of the room from one another. It was a small clinic not too far from the Ryan Corporation that Ricdeau claimed he "knew people there" and that "it would be faster to go to than the hospital". Although Vera was fairly well bandaged for the trip thanks to Ricdeau's medical supplies under the seat of his car, she still needed some professional care; so with the task at hand complete and, thanks to Ken, not a trace of them ever being there existing, they fled as soon as possible.

Ricdeau and Vera went into the back room as soon as they got there, but he insisted that the others remain in the waiting area. Of course, it wouldn't take too long to clean and dress a few wounds, but Ricdeau seemed to be taking too long. He stepped out to say that she had lost a bit too much blood and that he was going to do a transfusion, so the others simply waited. However, Miryhn's sudden urge to snack was uncharacteristic of him, as thought by Judas, so he just had to ask.

"Miryhn, are you okay?" Judas spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, why?" Miryhn replied with a wad of chips in his cheek.

"You should slow down, you'll get sick eating that fast," Ken chimed in, looking around her magazine that was three years old. "Man, did they ever get BAHRAM wrong. We weren't anything like this."

"Say what?" Dingo said, peeking over her shoulder.

"Look at this, they claim we took all of Vascillia County. That's just not true. We had most of it and the rest simply obeyed us, but we never officially 'owned' all of it," Ken explained.

Dingo gave her an odd stare and sat back up.

"What?" Ken begged.

"I can't help it, I'm starving over here for some reason," Miryhn said, shrugging.

"Might it have something to do with your recent transcending?" Judas said curiously.

Miryhn furrowed his brow and stopped chewing to swallow. "You think just because I had a near-death experience, went into a rather personal string of thought, and ended up seizing control of Manna, that when I used it I end up starving to death afterwards?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. You're still part human no matter angelic you're endowed," Judas said, biting his bottom lip.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Dingo just had to ask.

"Nothing, don't worry abou-" Miryhn began to say.

"Miryhn here has finally woken up to his true self, that's all," Judas interrupted, then smiling coyly.

Miryhn groaned. "Hey, I'm still myself no matter what kind of leet 'powers' I get dosed up with, got it?"

"I never meant that, it's just you really are Thanatos now, and that makes me so happy!" Judas said, smiling brightly.

Miryhn sneered and shoved more chips in his mouth.

Dingo cocked an eyebrow at them. "Wait, what? 'Powers'? 'Thanatos'?"

"Miryhn's the Angel Thana-" Judas began to cry out before Miryhn pushed him off the couch.

"Would you quit calling me that?" Miryhn snarled. "Look, I'll be frank with you. I got this...thing about me that I never entirely understood up until this point. Fact is, it's a psychosomatic combat enhancer in my blood that just so happens to change my eye color, make me move and think like I'm watching a slow-mo movie, and as we've just found out, makes me eat like a rabid dog afterward."

"So that's the deal with your yellow-eyed thing," Dingo said, slowly nodding.

"What? You believe me?" Miryhn said, dumbfounded.

"Of course. TEMPEST was famous for it's experiments in soldier behavior modification," Dingo said, shrugging. "Plus that'd be the reason why you were holding out on helping me with the Seraphs, right? You wanted to get the hang of your 'angelic powers', right?"

"How do you know that?" Judas asked as he climbed back on the couch.

Dingo snickered. "I know a lot more than you might take me for, the rest was just simple logic. I have one of the best informants ever working on my ship. Not to mention I read all about TEMPEST while in BAHRAM, they knew everything about everyone. Then I read even more prior to the Terran Crusade when they went and rubbed all of you out," he explained.

"So you knew all along?" Miryhn said, resuming eating his chips.

"Kind of. I remember you mentioning you were in TEMPEST back when we had our little tiff at Arsia Mons. I didn't take it to heart until that big shit with Wahrsager and Contraus where you first did the eye thing around me. But is what the blonde said true? Did you really kill all those men and kick Norris's ass?" Dingo asked, thinning his eyes.

"You better believe it! He was incredible! I don't even think Trent could do what he did, I mean, damn!" Judas cheered.

"Would you just-" Miryhn began to say to Judas in anger, but sighed and looked back across the room. "Yeah, it was me. I have two witnesses, so you know it has to be true."

Dingo smirked. "Not bad, but I could have done it without any kind of combat enhancement," he boasted.

Miryhn half-shut his gold and red eyes and decided to glaze over that comment. "In any case, we can only hope Ricdeau was right and getting rid of Norris will keep Deus off Mars."

"Scratch one more crazed maniac for Dingo Egret. And with that, Mars is safe once again," Dingo said with a coy smile, licking his finger and making a mark in the air.

Ken rolled her eyes and turned a page in her magazine.

"Alright, she's finished up," Ricdeau said as he appeared in the doorway from the back room. In stepped a slightly groggy-looking Vera, who immediately sat down in a chair and began to nod off. She was mostly bandages and flecks of blood were still on her clothes and hair.

"Will she be okay?" Ken asked, putting down her magazine.

"Yes, she'll be fine as soon as the transfusion catches up with the rest of her body. She just needs to go home and rest a while," Ricdeau said, patting Vera on the shoulder, causing her to shoot awake and then instantly nod off.

Miryhn's expression softened at the sight of her; after all, he felt almost at fault for not doing something sooner to either stop her or save her. She had had a rather disturbing panic attack at the moment back in the building, which was what caused her to get injured in the first place. He never said anything or lifted a finger until it was too late and she barely lived. Pitching his empty bag into a trash can, he stepped up in front of her chair and squatted down eye-to-eye.

"Hey, Vera?" Miryhn said softly, poking her knee.

Vera's head slowly raised and she glared at him like he was the strangest thing she had ever seen. She mumbled something incoherently and then raised an eyebrow. "Miryhn? That you?" she asked like he was twenty feet away.

"Yeah, it's me," Miryhn said, then sighed and looked down. "Hey, sorry for not doing anything sooner, I know you wouldn't be here unless someone had done something and-"

Miryhn was interrupted by Vera laughing loudly. "Look at you! You're finally one soul now! Woo, yeah! Good for you, Miryhn! I'm so happy!" she blabbered at the top of her lungs with a bright smile on her face, then suddenly bent forward and hugged him around the neck.

The others stared at them.

"Um..." Miryhn said, slowly putting his arms around her backside and hugging back. She snored loudly in his ear. "Well, she's all tuckered out, let's get going, eh?" he suggested with a nervous laugh.

"I'm all for it, I'm worn out," Dingo said, stretching before standing up.

"Yeah, that was a real hoot," Ken said, standing up as well and yawning.

"Well, Vera will probably we awake enough to fly her Frame by the time we get back to the boat. It's a long enough drive for that," Ricdeau said, removing his car keys from his pocket. "Miryhn, why don't you carry her seeing as you're currently more than capable of handling a mass such as herself," he said with a laugh.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Miryhn protested, propping Vera back in her chair and standing up.

"I think he means since you're now in possession of 'leet powers', you can carry a girl to the car," Dingo said, smirking as he stepped towards the door with Ken in tow.

"Exactly what he said," Judas commented, exiting the building.

"Good call, get the guy who's having the most radical emotional spectrum swing to do all the work," Miryhn said with a sigh. He looked back down at Vera and cracked his knuckles. He carefully picked her up under her knees and upper back, holding her like an infant. She somehow manged to throw her arms around his neck, despite seeming like she was completely knocked out. Ricdeau was right to some extent; somehow she seemed lighter, more than likely due to his current physical enhancement.

"Oh, Inuyasha, be careful. I know I can't help, but don't do anything stupid," Vera mumbled out in a breathless voice.

"Great, now she's delusional," Miryhn said, rolling his eyes as he carried her out the door. "I'm not suppose to be half demon, at least not anymore."

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Leo leaned to one side, holding the controller tightly as he prayed with all his might that his jetski make it around the corner. It went out of bounds entirely and thus cost him the race; causing him to shout curse words loudly and grab a few kernels of pop-corn out of his bowl.

"You'd think since I raised the grip and cornering attributes the damn thing would turn better, but all it does it bob down in the water and run slow as hell," Leo said to himself, watching as his character slumped lifelessly on his jetski in shame.

"Why don't you just balance the attributes and just slow down in the turn?" Angie asked, curled up on the couch in the middle of one of her power-snoozes.

"Because the hairpins on this course are rediculous!" Leo complained.

"Tut, tut, Leo, there's shortcuts all over the place. On the third jump, don't take the turn, jump over the wall and you'll land in a backyard pool. Take the slide at the end of the pool as a jump and you'll cut the corner off entirely," Angie explained.

"How'd you figure that out?" Leo asked, restarting the race.

"When I'm not poking around for info I'm not suppose to be looking at, I read online strategy guides just for occasions like this. And when I manage to get the PS3K from you guys," Angie replied, smiling.

Leo laughed and tried the trick she just pointed out. It worked like a charm and he was a good stretch ahead of the pack. "Hey, thanks!"

Angie softly agreed and closed her eyes, ready to go back to sleep.

Just then, a call sounded and a small notification box appeared on the TV screen.

"Hey!" Leo exclaimed, pausing. "What gives?"

"I got sick of answering calls from anywhere but the comfortable couches, so I hooked up a comlink reception to the TV," Angie answered.

"Well, how do I answer it?" Leo asked.

"Use the TV remote, second button from the top, far right side," Angie replied.

Leo did as she said and the TV switched to a screen full of Elena.

"Dingo, you have to-...oh, Leo, thank God at least someone is there," Elena said, desperate.

Leo looked dumbstruck. "Um, what's the problem?"

"Alright, Leo, I'm going to explain exactly what's going on and as soon as I'm done, I want you to follow my instructions to a T, alright?" Elena said firmly.

"Right, right, I will, as always. What's up?" Leo asked, half annoyed at having his game interrupted.

"Paul De Franz isn't going to stand for us acting up much longer. He found out about the 'borrowing' of Jehuty and the other Orbital Frames and he's using it as a base to eliminate all of us," Elena explained calmly. "He already came after me and VANGUARD, but I made it away just fine thanks to Browning's men. Me, him, and our comrade Leon Shale are currently on our way off Mars for the time being along with the remnants of VANGUARD and we're going to lay low for a little while. But in the meantime, I want you to tell Dingo that you guys are in just as much trouble and he's sent a small squad to eliminate the ship and all four of you."

"What?" Leo and Angie shouted in unison.

"And he's probably going after Celvice too," Elena added with a note of anger.

Leo's eyes instantly widened, his mouth pulling back an furious sneer.

"Look, it's all part of some big scheme De Franz has to kiss High Command's ass, smear our names and kill all of us, and then go and slaughter a couple thousand Martians. It's something called 'Operation Humble'," Elena explained. "And just because he's a cruel little shit, he's definately going to target everyone related to us first, including Celvice."

"But that's insane! We have to stop him!" Angie chimed in.

"We can't do that now, Angie. All of the U.N.S.F. is up in arms ready to eliminate all Martian sympathizers, including highly suspected terrorists such as ourselves. I'd hate to say it, but war is coming back to Mars, but this time Mars doesn't have a leg to stand on. We all have to get off the planet until we see what happens," Elena explained calmly.

"Elena, this is madness! Why target innocent civilians? Why made an example out of people who have nothing to do with it?" Leo demanded to know.

"That's something I've been trying to figure out since the moment I found out just how low this military can go," Elena said, biting her lip.

"Well, I'm going to save Celvice!" Leo announced with steel in his voice. "I have a friend at Deimos who can lend me the Urenbech Catapult and I'm going to go to Antillia full-throttle!"

"You can't make it all the way to Jupiter. There isn't enough time," Elena pointed out.

There were tears in Leo's eyes. "If Celvice dies, then what point was there in me ever saving her? To go this far only to have her be a victim of Martian and Earth politics? No, I'm not going to let her go like that, never!" he shouted, then charged off for the hangar.

"I was about to say that he needs to stay and protect the ship. Where's Dingo anyway?" Elena asked, looking at Angie.

"Off with Ken and their oddballs mercenary friends. I have no idea when they'll be back," Angie replied.

"Angie, you have to start moving the ship now. It's only a matter of time before De Franz's men show up. Get Dingo and Ken and get off Mars, right now!" Elena commanded, almost desperate.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Angie said, then steadied herself as Jehuty rocketed off the ship. She stood up and grabbed the TV remote,"Is there anything else?"

"No, just that you have to hurry. This may be the last time we ever speak for a long time, I at least wanted to tell Leo goodbye," Elena said, sighing. "But if he thinks he can make it in time, then all the more reason to hurry and not worry about me."

"But I'm sure Leo would want to go help you instead of us, why can't you tell us where you're going to hide?" Angie inquired.

"Because we're not even sure ourselves. Look, just get going and when we're in the clear, we'll make contact. Now hurry!" Elena commanded.

Angie sighed and looked at Elena sadly. "Well, as you command, ma'am. East Wind will now be head'in out. Goodbye for now," she said, then saluted.

"Goodbye, and good luck," Elena replied, saluting back before Angie cut off the TV and scrambled to the bridge.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Miryhn carried Vera on his back across the platform of the oxygen plant. She was a little more awake, but still a bit weak and couldn't walk straight. It wasn't so much that she was a bit of a burden to carry, but that she was drooling in his hair whenever she nodded off again.

"Good to see you back," Lloyd said, sitting in a plastic folding chair in the middle of the parked Orbital Frames. "How'd it go?"

"It was quite successful, I must say," Ricdeau replied, smiling brightly with the motley crew following behind.

"Good, good," Lloyd replied, nodding.

"So, what are you doing out here?" Dingo asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I was just admiring these Orbital Frames. It's been so long since I could see a piece of Metatron," Lloyd said, smiling.

"Oh, really? How do they look?" Ricdeau asked, smiling brightly.

"Very, very nice. I must compliment that blue one with the sword and the reddish-female one," Lloyd said, folding his hands in his lap.

"Lloyd, I never got to ask you about my Frame. There's something up with it," Miryhn said, getting a better grip on Vera.

"It's perfectly fine. I can tell just by looking at it," Lloyd said, pointing to Masamune.

"What?" Miryhn said, raising an eyebrow.

Lloyd let out a long sigh and stood up, taking his cane from the side of the chair. "I'm afraid it's time for this old man to go turn in for the afternoon," he said as he folded up the chair and began walking for the stairs.

"But wait a minute, I didn't even tell you what's wrong with it!" Miryhn shouted at the departing Lloyd.

"Let him have his rest. He can't think straight if he's cranky," Ricdeau pointed out.

"Let me down," Vera mumbled.

"You sure?" Miryhn said over his shoulder.

"Mm-hmm," Vera agreed.

Miryhn slowly let her down to her feet and she fumbled backwards. She regained her balance and stood up like nothing was wrong. Vera shook off her moment of diziness and then looked up at Miryhn as he turned around to her.

"Thanks for the lift," Vera said, smiling brightly. She stepped forward and hugged Miryhn's wait.

"No problem," Miryhn replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Well, don't just stand there, hug me back, damn it," Vera mumbled.

Miryhn laughed to himself and hugged Vera across the shoulders.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" Ken said, nudging Dingo in the gut.

"Yeah, yeah, real cute," Dingo replied, indifferent.

Judas just stood there, smiling. After all, he was the third wheel here with no one that he was really that close to. He folded his arms and kept to himself.

"I had one of those and a few smooches lined up, but then I remembered a certain someone who kept antagonizing me all the way up here," Ken said, then began strolling toward Ardjet. "So he can go without."

"Hey! Forgive and forget, right? Come on!" Dingo begged, hurrying after her. "Oh, yeah, bye, thanks for the help and all that!" he added in one breath behind him to the others.

Miryhn and Vera let off their hug and Vera smiling up at Miryhn again. "Well, let's go home, alright? I need to have about two days of sleep after all this!"

"Maybe," Miryhn answered, scratching his head.

"Now hurry up and let's go. Come on!" Vera commanded, then trotted off for Freya.

Miryhn turned and watched her go, sighing.

"You've got yourself one hell of a woman there. Thinking about her any?" Ricdeau asked, watching Vera along with Miryhn.

"We consider ourselves siblings. I'm not sure if she'd ever und-...wait a minute," Miryhn began to rattle off the old line. Something didn't seem right about what he was about to say; and most likely it was the fact that at the moment, he really didn't think he was ever that complicated to begin with. It all seemed like a crazy misunderstand that he was having with himself from the very beginning; the fact that at present he felt more enriched and excited about life than he had ever been was proof enough.

"Something the matter?" Ricdeau asked.

"I think I just caught on to something," Miryhn said, suddenly very confused. He wasn't sure what just occurred to him, but it was starting to get annoying bouncing around in his mind at that moment.

"Hmm, you like her? I bet she likes you, she was mumbling your name a lot," Ricdeau said, nudging Miryhn with his elbow.

"Hey, wait, what are you getting at? Why are you suddenly so interested in my love affairs?" Miryhn demanded to know. Just then, Durandal and Ardjet took off from the platform, disappearing in the distance after a moment.

"Nothing, I was just curious as to if you two had something going on, considering what she was saying about you while she was half konked out," Ricdeau said, shrugging.

"What? Why?" Miryhn asked, curious.

"Ask her yourself," Ricdeau said, patting Miryhn's shoulder. "It's rude to talk about people behind their backs, after all."

Miryhn gave Ricdeau the strangest glare he had ever given anyone. "Look, I won't ask, alright? But before I go, I do have one question."

"And what would that be?"

"Is there a way to...well, 'switch' this power on and off? All the other Seraphs can do it and I'm sure there would be some people who aren't that quick to believe my story about new contacts," Miryhn said, shrugging.

"Oh, that's simple. How did you summon your 'power' to begin with?" Ricdeau asked.

"I just kind of told myself I wanted it after all, badly, and poof, it came," Miryhn replied, feeling stupid trying to explain such a downright weird situation he was in.

"Well, tell yourself to look like you normally do. Of course, the effects will have to diminish a little, but they won't leave entirely. This is what you were meant to be, after all, and it's best you start learning as much about what you can and can't do as soon as possible," Ricdeau explained. "I'm afraid you'll just have to learn to fly on your own, Miryhn. Nobody can teach an angel something they should already know," he added with a coy smile.

It seemed "stupid easy" to Miryhn now, for with one blink the gold shade upon the world went away and the euphoric feeling of warm comfort all across his body faded to a dull twinge; he couldn't see himself, but he knew his eyes converted back to brown with black pupils. He found himself momentarily frightened at the thought of it going away, but he could tell it was still there; it must have been true now, this is what he was and he really did want it all along. Because of that, the thought of it ever ceasing seemed like a living hell for him.

"There you go. See what I mean?" Ricdeau said, nodding and smiling.

"That's it? All I have to do is will it and it'll happen?" Miryhn inquired.

"As easily as all you have to do is will your toe to wiggle or your nostrils to flare," Ricdeau said, chuckling a little. "The Manna is now a part of you, mentally, physically, and spiritually. You are, in one metaphorical sense, the embodiment of a being of a higher sense of reality."

Miryhn's brow arched. "Now that is pretty damn cool," he said, nodding.

Ricdeau sighed and layed his hands on Miryhn's shoulders. "Miryhn, you have to understand, I'm very proud of you. The only reason I ever gave you the gift of angelic blood was because I believed you could be much happier with it. I also believed you were a perfect person to have it, if nothing else, due to the way you live your life," he explained, then dropped his hands down to Miryhn's shoulders. "Back then, you belittled yourself and had many bad habits that you regretted. Perhaps if you had a reason to try and better yourself, you'd be much better off. Or perhaps that the essence of an angel really did dwell in the Manna and that it could find a way to help you."

"So you put a substance in me that made me go into a berserk rage and kill a couple of scientists?" Miryhn said sarcastically.

"That was the first step, you had to see just how angry you really were. If I didn't know any better, the next person you would have killed was yourself," Ricdeau said, sighing and dropping his hands.

Miryhn fell silent.

"Hey, cheer up, that's all over with now, right? I'm happy for you, I really am. Miryhn, you're like a son to me, but there are just some things you have to learn for yourself. I can only hope you'll stay this way from now on. Don't ever think that there isn't any other way but to die," Ricdeau said, smiling brightly.

"Don't worry, I've realized that now. I still have people I need to live for, after all, yourself being one of them," Miryhn said, giving a thumbs-up. "Plus a few others that would hate me forever if I just gave up," Miryhn said, glancing at Freya.

"Good to hear. Now hurry along and get her to bed," Ricdeau said, nodding to Freya. "Me and Lloyd will remain here for the time being, so come back if there's any concerns."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. If we can think of anything or if something comes up, we'll drop by," Miryhn said, then turned to leave. "Jude, you ready?"

Judas snapped out of his blank stare at the sky. "Huh? Yeah, I'm ready."

"We're head'in out, man, come on," Miryhn said, nodding to the Frames.

"Right, right," Judas said, nodding and beginning his walk to Michael.

"Farewell for now, Miryhn," Ricdeau said, waving.

Miryhn smiled and in the blink of an eye, spread his newfound wings once again, his view of the world switching back to the gold tint due to gold irises and red pupils. "Later, doc!" he bidded, then jogged off for Masamune.

Ricdeau sighed as the three Frames took to the sky and flew off back to the west, back to Tharsis County. He folded his hands behind his back and went inside the plant, back to the living space up the stairs.

"Did they leave?" Lloyd asked, staring at the chessboard.

"Yes. Did you do what I thought you did while we were gone?" Ricdeau said, taking his seat at the other side of the chessboard.

"Probably. All I did was give them a few new toys to play with. We're getting closer all the time, Kaguya," Lloyd said, moving a rook sideways.

"The boy did it. He's finally been 'promoted', as per a strategy RPG as I previously put it. He was the right level, didn't need a promotion item, all he needed was the right plot point to pass in the game," Ricdeau said, chuckling.

Lloyd smirked and stared at the chessboard again. "That blue one, Masamune, it has a Halo."

Ricdeau's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. It's probably the smartest or stupidest thing Deus could have possibly done," Lloyd said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we'll just have take advantage of this, won't we? I took a step in the plan too today, you know," Ricdeau said, moving a pawn up to the end of the chessboard. "Make that one a Queen, would you please?"

Lloyd smirked. "You sly bastard. I never saw that coming."

"Neither did I. I just saw an oppurtunity and took full advantage of it," Ricdeau said, smiling and shrugging.

"That's how we'll stay ahead, right?"

"Yep. Always planning far enough ahead, my friend. It's the only way we'll win this game," Ricdeau said, smiling and nodding.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Leo clenched each of Jehuty's control spheres at tightly as possible, biting his bottom lip.

"You sure about this, dude? I mean, if I turn it up to full, you'll go shooting out of here faster than the dudes at my last frat party when the cops showed up," a voice asked over the comlink.

"Is that a problem?" Leo asked impatiently.

"Dude, it could kill you! Of course, that Frame would survive, but you'd be a pancake...a vertical pancake!" the voice replied.

"Yes, that is true. While normally Urenbech Catapults are fired at a fraction of their power to compliment passenger comfort while maintaining a faster E.T.A., going to a higher level of launching power endangers the physical well-being of normal human passengers and Runners," ADA explained.

Leo sighed at ADA and the voice's constant reminder of the danger. The voice speaking to him was that a college-bound pothead who did janitorial service for the military in the civil service. How he managed to keep clean for the "pee-test" was beyond Leo, but it didn't matter since the moron had the lowest IQ of anyone in the entire Space Force and would easily believe any reason to shoot Jehuty and himself to Antillia at break-neck speed with the Deimos Urenbech Catapult; literally.

"Dude, if it's that important, I'll set it to something a little lower. You'll be cool and you can save loads of time. How's that sound?" the janitor requested.

"That would be the more advisable alternative," ADA agreed.

"Fine by me. Just do it already," Leo said, impatient.

"Alright, well, godspeed, dude. 'K, thanks, bye!" he janitor said, then the Urenbech Catapult began to "warm up" with several rings rotating around the center chamber with Jehuty inside it. Gold energy collected and a moment later, the Frame was fired out of the station at an incalculatable speed. Of course, Leo was scared half to death of having to go this fast, but nothing was scarier than seeing Celvice dead.

"Just a bit longer, Celvice, just a bit longer," Leo said, cringing under the awesome G-force as the Frame hurtled through space.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

"Is it just me, or does this thing feel different?" Dingo said, adjusting himself in the seat.

"I think it's just you," Ken replied, rolling her eyes as Durandal and Ardjet maintained a constant flight high above Mars.

"Look, just because that Frame was built with you in mind doesn't mean you know anything about hand-me-down mechs," Dingo said, scratching his head.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ken asked, completely puzzled.

"This was once someone else's Frame and it grew accustomed to them, now I feel like I'm breaking in a wild bronco here," Dingo said, jerking to one side, then the other.

"Are you trying to tell me that Orbital Frames conform to their Runners?" Ken asked, glaring forward.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Either that, or the Frame is trying to make me conform to it," Dingo said, shrugging.

Ken then began laughing. "All this just because your ass doesn't fit right in the seat? Come on, Dingo, stop being weird."

"You want weird? Tell me why our ship is moving, and heading for us," Dingo said, looking at the radar.

Ken looked down at her radar, momentarily stumped.

Just then, the comlink sounded from Ochre Roc. Dingo and Ken both answered it.

"Hi," Angie said solemnly.

"Angie, why's the ship moving? Did something come up? Another job?" Dingo asked plainly.

"No, much worst," Angie answered. "Elena called and....we're now the top targets of the U.N.S.F."

Dingo and Ken's eyes both widened.

"Wait, you don't mean....? De Franz went through with it? On what grounds?" Ken demanded to know.

"I've been browsing military intel for the past few minutes and it appears they were setting up for this all along. There was never any investigation, they were planning on nailing Dingo and us the moment we stepped out of line, they were just stacking evidence," Angie replied.

Dingo sneered, clutching Durandal's control spheres hard enough that his knuckles turned white.

"Several case files were either confiscated or deleted entirely. The only hard evidence left was right here on my own personal PC, but since I'm a member, who would believe me? Elena's records were all destroyed too, it seems," Angie continued. "But I picked up a thread of what they were planning to use here. Seems it was a massive conspiracy to take down any and all Martian sympathizing organizations within the military. East Wind and VANGUARD being their two biggest targets."

Ken felt short of breath and had to lean back, anger and paranoia strangling her inwardly.

"Cases such as Dingo's mysterious outside contacts to people with Metatron technology that were never officially recorded, the disappearance of Victoria Melphan and her re-appearance with Metatron technology with intent to attack, your own 'borrowing' of Jehuty, Durandal, and Ardjet...that and a whole lot more was all planned to be used against us and summarize it all as terrorist activity. And worst of all, with the Metatron Body Act in place, thus automatically putting us in the hotseat for court-marshall and more than likely execution," Angie explained, then sighed. "All in all, we're officially enemies of the U.N.S.F. and the entire Earth military forces as well as U.C.M. Peacekeeping. Ever since this whole shi-bang started, they've had us condemned, patting us on the back whenever we did the impossible or simply wasted our own time."

Dingo's jaw was clenched tight enough to crack walnuts, his eyes ablaze staring straight forward as Angie listed off the situation. The entire time he was just a scapegoat; all he, Elena, and the others had done up until that point was just pandering. All along he was just setting himself and his friends up? It just couldn't be happening; had he been used again? First by Nohman, now by the entire Earth military?

"So what's happening now? What are they doing about it?" Ken asked.

"Well, Major General Paul De Franz went ahead with a major operation to wipe out VANGUARD. According to what I could find out, a good eighty percent of VANGUARD survived and left the planet. Ten percent were killed in the initial attack, but ten percent surrendered and are currently being questioned and will possibly be incorporated into De Franz's forces for 'Operation Humble'. It's a hot topic with every single commanding official because De Franz's list of demands includes several LEV technologies that haven't been used in nearly four years, like Bizacs, Harut Martus, and Behemoths, as well as the Orbital Frames captured from the VANGUARD betrayers," Angie explained. "It doesn't sit well with our friends in Taskforce Aegis because they're the only ones that were slated to acquire VANGUARD's technologies."

"And what about us?" Ken inquired.

"I think I managed to get away in time from the squad sent to attack the ship, but I followed Elena's suggestion and decided to pick you guys up and get off Mars for the time being. Everywhere the military has been mobilized in a massive manhunt for us and VANGUARD," Angie explained.

"Perfect," Ken said, sighing.

Dingo roared and slammed his fist against the side of the cockpit. "And while we're at it, what's 'Operation Humble'?"

"Oh, that? Just De Franz's way of settling down the residents of Mars by killing most all of them. I can't crack into his plans exactly, but it's pretty obvious that a mass murder professional like himself would go through with something like that. The plan will take a little while to prepare for, but when it goes off, most of the more violent spheres and nests are prime targets after such things as those crimelords getting capped by one another," Angie continued to explain.

Dingo was boiling over with anger. All along he was being set-up, all along he was just going to be the military's fall-guy. After all, with the coveted Hero of Aumaan's death, what would the Martian people have to look up to?

"Dingo, calm d-....nevermind," Angie began to say, fully sympathetic. She had just now caught on to why he was so infuriated.

"Angie, what are we going to do?" Ken begged, halfway to tears.

"I don't know, I just don't know what way to take out of this mess. There's no trying to debate this with anyone, nor can we prove any form of innocence. We've been degraded to a prize catch. I'm sure a honorable discharge is lined up for the people who can claim our heads," Angie said, seething a little at the end of her sentence.

"Angie, if you want to leave, go ahead. I'm sure if you just run, no one will catch you if you just go hide around Jupiter. There's no sense getting involved anymore when-" Dingo began to say, now a bit calmer.

"Hey! I'm not going anywhere!" Angie interrupted. "Dingo, I mean no offense, but without me around you'd never get anything done right. Just like back on the Callisto mines."

Dingo sighed, then smiled a little. "Thanks, Angie, I'd rather not have any other intel expert around."

Angie giggled and smiled. "Well, I'll rendezvous in a few minutes. From there we can decide what to do next. Oh, by the way, Leo left."

"What?" Dingo and Ken asked in unison.

"De Franz even targetted Celvice. Leo's on his way to Antillia right now. I can't get in communication with him, so I assume he took the Catapult on Deimos," Angie replied.

"That kid, damn it," Dingo said, shaking his head.

"Come on, that's no surprise. She's a very important person to him. You'd do the same for me, right Dingo?" Ken said, smiling some.

"Of course," Dingo said, smirking.

Ken smiled happily in reply.

"For a pair of C-cups like yours, I'd do anything," Dingo said, laughing.

"I am going to kick your ass for that," Ken said, snarling.

Angie burst out laughing.

"Stop laughing! Don't egg him on!" Ken snapped.

Just then, there was an explosion and the ship rocked over the comlink.

"Son of a bitch! I thought I lost them!" Angie exclaimed.

"What is it? What's going on?" Dingo shouted.

"Eh, just a sec," Angie said, then turned away from the screen to check the radar. "Couple of Phantoma 2's and a Behemoth on the ground laying support fire. The ship is defenseless, you gotta get over here!"

Dingo began to let out the longest string of curse words Ken or Angie had ever heard him speak. Suddenly, Durandal let out a Burst and the Frame began to streak off at top speed.

"Hey! Wait up!" Ken cried out, Ardjet doing the same.

Dingo's sneer curled up into a stern scowl instead and he took out his yellow sunglasses, putting them on; at the same time, Durandal's eyes flared for a second. "Death just doesn't suit us today. I'll see to it," he said in a more composed tone.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

The tunnel of brightly colored energy ended and Jehuty was left drifting forward from it's wing binders. Leo bent over and began panting; he had survived the Catapult's force and now he should have been quite close to Europa and Antillia. He looked up and saw Jupiter, the massive gas planet rotating and churning. Jehuty continued forward until Jupiter grew in view and ADA automatically guided Jehuty to slow itself down. Leo sat up, a determined look on his face as he grabbed the control spheres again and Jehuty began to guide itself towards Europa.

"Please, please don't let me be too late," Leo begged, sucking his teeth.

"Approaching the space colony Antillia. Switching to semi-automatic," ADA said, then Jehuty became less rigid as Leo's control took over.

Leo sighed and activated the Burst, Jehuty rocketing towards the massive Taurus-class space colony. He sent the Frame towards one end and it flew into and "up" the colony's rotating shaft. Immediately, memories from five years ago began to come back to him; the fight with Anubis, the cargo elevator ride, the duel with Neith and Viola, all in reverse order as he retraced his steps from so many years ago. Before he even knew it, he was back in the cargo area that he fought Viola in. Memory served him well enough and he turned into the tunnel leading up the mountain area. He passed over the clearing of the cargo area where he had met Rock and Celvice was shot, causing more pained memories to come back to him; first of Rock, who perished in the defense of Jehuty, and of the thought of loosing Celvice again. Leo couldn't help himself and he began to tear up despite his fierce expression.

Jehuty emerged from the very same reservoir that he fought the Nebula in and flew high above the colony. He breathed a deep sigh and looked for residential block S2*, where Celvice lived.

"Would you like me to upload previously saved data on Antillia from the last recorded time this Frame was here?" ADA asked.

Leo steeled his resolve and pushed back his memories for the time being. "Yeah, she was in 'TOWN.1', right?"

"Affirmative," ADA replied, loading back up the perimeter markings of each of the locations Leo had visited in the past. "If you want, I'll set Jehuty to autopilot to this location."

"Nevermind all that, I've got to hurry!" Leo shouted, then hit the Burst again, Jehuty shooting off in the direction of the location marked "TOWN.1". Just as he arrived, he saw a small group of Phantomas crowded around an apartment building with their guns raised. "Why aren't they destroying it? What's going on?"

"It would appear they're attempting to negotiate. I can see a soldier and the landlord talking," ADA replied.

"Well, I'll make sure nobody bothers that landlord anymore!" Leo roared, then flipped forward Jehuty's right armblade. Like a streak of blue light, Jehuty flew low over the street and sliced cleanly through one of the Phantomas. It turned and stopped, digging it's pointy legs into the concrete for a brake as his victim exploded.

"Just as planned, Jehuty is here! Alright, men, attack!" the soldier talking to the landlord shouted before running up to his Phantoma and boarding it.

"Nobody is going to take Celvice away from me! Nobody! Not ever!" Leo screamed, activating Jehuty's full power. The three Wisps emerged from the Vector Trap and began rotating around Jehuty's "orbital" frame. He sent the Wisps forward, grabbing a Phantoma and yanking it into range. Leo roared and impaled it on his drawn armblade, then grabbing it and tossing it into another Phantoma. The two fell to the street below and Leo charged up a Burst Shot, the Wisps rotating around it to contain it's power; he tossed it at them, vaporizing both LEVs in one shot.

The remaining three Phantomas opened fire, but Jehuty Zero-Shifted to one side and flew straight at the next one, slamming it into the side of a building. Jehuty punched straight into the Phantomas chest and began firing off Shots until it exploded from within, collapsing the building.

"Damage to colony increasing due to battle," ADA said.

"Shut the fuck up!" Leo roared with articulation. "It all doesn't matter as long as I save Celvice!"

"I apologize. I wasn't aware you changed so much, Leo," ADA replied.

ADA's words touched Leo for a moment, but he had to ignore it, he still had two more to go. Jehuty flipped forward both its armblades and Leo slashed at the next Phantoma in an X-shaped pattern, seperating it into four segments before it exploded. For the last, he simply grabbed it and tossed it into the air; then Zero-Shifted high above it and fired off a Gauntlet into it. The Phantoma landed in the middle of the street, leaving a deep crater a second before it exploded in the bottom of it. Leo breathed a sigh of relief and landed Jehuty just outside the apartments, immediately opening the cockpit to go get Celvice.

Leo stood up, leaning on the front of the console. Suddenly, people began to gather around the Frame, staring up in awe. Leo froze, not knowing what all the commotion was about.

"Hey! That's that Frame from five years ago. It destroyed that big, tentacled thing that destroyed my neighborhood!" someone in the crowd shouted.

"And it saved my family over in the city sector when it was being attacked!" someone else cried out.

"I saw it destroy that big thing over in the park across the colony and made all the Raptors stop! It saved the entire colony!" another bystander shouted.

The crowd buzzed in agreement. "Hey, are you the Runner? We never got to thank you for all that you did!" someone spoke out.

Leo's feelings suddenly were set aside in his mind at their words. He smiled and nodded. "Yes, I'm Jehuty's Runner. I'm Leo Stenbuck, I come from this colony."

"Stenbuck? I remember you! Boy, you just shot right up, didn't you?" someone said, laughing. Leo looked over and saw the person, but could barely remember anything about them, making him feel a little guilty.

"Leo? Leo, is that you?" a familiar female voice shouted, pushing through the crowd. What emerged was the familiar figure of an older Celvice; she was in white heels and a one-piece sleeveless seafoam dress. Her hair was neatly ponytailed and she was wearing make-up.

"Celvice?" Leo asked, shocked by her appearance. He hurried off Jehuty's cockpit and ran up to her, immediately grabbing her in a tight hug.

"You didn't hug me like this back then," Celvice said, smiling and hugging back.

"There wasn't any time," Leo said, finally giving in and letting himself cry. Despite how much he had changed, he couldn't deny that he was still sensitive about Celvice; the only part of his past he had left to cry over.

"Oh yeah, silly me. It was kind of in the middle of a battle," Celvice said, propping her head on his shoulder.

"Celvice, I heard that the military was going to kill you, so I hurried over as fast as I could. I'm so glad I made it," Leo said, reaching up and holding the back of her head.

"You've always been so protective of me. I'm lucky, you know that?" Celvice said, sighing happily and beginning to cry as well.

"So am I, and I don't mean in the sense that I made it. Celvice, I love you too much now to let anything happen," Leo said, half bawling.

"Oh, Leo, come here," Celvice said, sniffing and pulling her head back. She moved her head forward and embraced him for a long moment.

The crowd then began to hoot and holler, cheering the pair and clapping.

When they unlocked lips, Leo let off his hug and took her hand. "Come on, we have to get going right now before they show up again," he said, leading her back to Jehuty.

"Just like old times," Celvice said with a giggle, letting Leo guide her back to the Frame. He helped her up into his lap in the seat.

"So why are you so dressed up?" Leo couldn't help but ask.

"I was on my way to a party, actually. Then those goons showed up and the whole building hid in the basement. When I heard that the battle was over, we all piled into the street to see the Frame that saved the building," Celvice explained, reaching up and putting her hands around Leo's neck.

"Hello, Celvice. It's good to see you again," ADA stated.

"Oh, hey, ADA! Nice to see you too!" Celvice said happily.

Leo smiled, having the three things most important to him back with him: Jehuty, ADA, and Celvice, above all else. He felt like shedding tears of joy now, but something caught his eye up near one of the buildings. There was a white object floating away; a round bottom with several poles sticking up from the base with a camera on top. It began to quickly fly away.

"A CYPHER**?" Leo asked himself quietly as he closed the cockpit and Jehuty began to take off.

"Hey, give it up for Leo, everyone!" someone in the crowd shouted and the whole crowd began to cheer wildly at Jehuty as it began to fly away.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

The second Durandal showed up, it punched one of the hovering Phantoma 2's in the face, sending it spiralling away from Ochre Roc. Durandal then hovered for a second while Dingo picked his next target.

"You mind waiting up?" Ken complained.

"No time, we have to deal with this now," Dingo said in a firm tone.

"Huh? Weren't you just pissed as hell a moment ago?" Ken asked, puzzled.

"Nevermind me, just protect the ship. There's five Phantomas and the Behemoth from what I'm picking up," Dingo replied.

"Right, right," Ken said, then took in and out a deep breath. "Alright, Wisps, go!" With that, six Wisp units appeared out of the Vector Trap and began moving around Ardjet in random patterns in a wide sphere. Both arms morphed into swords and she rushed straight at the three Phantomas attacking the bow of the ship. "Feel the fist of Mars and one of its own!" she shouted triumphantly as the Wisps each fired off a powerful laser at one Phantoma, detonating it instantly.

"Where'd you pick up that line?" Dingo just had to ask.

"I heard the Prime Minister say it on TV. It sounded pretty damn cool," Ken replied, flying in close and lopping off a Phantoma's arm and stabbing it in the head. She kicked it off and her Wisps finished it off. The last Phantoma was cake; all Ken had to do was surround it with the Wisps and fire away until was destroyed.

Dingo flew in close and cut one Phantoma across the chest with one of Durandal's armblades. The Phantoma shrugged it off and began firing off rounds from its machine gun. Durandal easily weaved around each shot, but just as Dingo was moving in for another attack, something suddenly shot through his mind like a bolt of lightning. "'Avelcaine'?" he asked himself, arching his brow. "Yeah, that'd do it," he said and suddenly a blaze ignited of energy on both of Durandal's armblades. The Frame got within a few feet of the Phantoma and it suddenly reached back and slashed downward, lopping off the arms at the torso. Then Durandal cut horizontally with both blades, slicing the LEV in half and detonating it immediately. ***

Just then, Dingo spotted the second of the two attacking from the rear of the ship and began to fly towards it next. Just then, something else crossed his mind, Durandal's eyes glowing brighter for a moment. "'Blade Cannon', yeah..." he whispered to himself, bringing both hands of Durandal together. The armblades began to charge and each fired off a powerful, razor-thin blast at the second Phantoma. The first severed a leg the second shot destroyed it. ****

The only thing left was the Behemoth far below, charging across the Martian landscape in pursuit. Dingo dropped altitude, zig-zagging around shots, and loaded the Gauntlet subweapon. Durandal swung back and tossed a Gauntlet shockwave down at the Behemoth; the first crushed in the top half and a second completely crushed the LEV into the ground, causing it to explode.

"Radar is clear. We're safe and sound," Ken said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Not like Saoshyant, not this one. Our ship isn't going down, not here, not ever," Dingo said, low and firmly.

"Did you say something?" Ken asked, a little weirded out.

Dingo shook his head a few times and propped his sunglasses on top of his head. "No, nothing, nothing. But damn, I have a splitting headache," he said, rubbing the sides of his head.

"Well, come on inside. You should lay down for a while," Ken said, Ardjet sending its Wisps back into the Vector Trap and morphing the arms back into normal arms. One of the containers on the front half of the ship opened and she flew the Frame up inside.

Dingo stared off, pale as if he'd seen a ghost. "Who are you? You couldn't be...?" he asked, presumably to the Frame.

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

Jim flipped through the TV channels, getting bored of having to sit around and watch TV all day while half of his crew disappeared for most of the day. Just then, he stumbled across a newsbreak.

"Good evening, this is Cindy Links with a breaking news development, here on HBC," an anchorwoman with short, red hair, glasses, and a female business suit on said. "The U.N.S.F. has just reported that suspected terrorists are now on the move, acting out in more and more violent ways. Among them is reported Dingo Egret, the former benefactor to all of Mars, his ex-BAHRAM accomplice Ken Marinaris, and just now we have recieved word that former Earth military lieutenant Leo Stenbuck has attacked Antillia colony." *****

Just then, it switched to "file footage" of Durandal and Ardjet attacking Phantomas and Jehuty hacking up Phantomas in Antillia.

"What you are seeing is actual footage of these attacks, as executed only minutes ago. Here you will see Dingo and his stolen Orbital Frame attacking a patrolling LEV unit and Leo, who has hijacked Orbital Frame Jehuty, assaulting a squad sent to negotiate terms with him. The military advises all citizens to remain calm, they are doing everything in their power to stop these obviously disgruntled activists before they begin their projected attacks against civilians in an attempt to rebel against Earth's occupation over Mars. More on this at eleven, right after 'LEV Warz'. And stay tuned for our special segment 'Pirates versus A.S.S.H.O.L.E.S.', where we go in-depth to the world of music piracy and the vulgar abuses of power used to stop it-" the anchorwoman continued to say until Jim turned off the TV.

"What's wrong with the world today?" Jim asked, sighing. He then stood up and walked for the hangar. Inside, he raised his piano out of the hold and sighed, staring at it. He opened the keyboard and sat on the bench, staring at the keys for a few moments. "One more try, that's all I'm going to do Catherine. Just one more try, then I'll just give it all up," he said, then layed his fingers on the keys. He played another tune he had to heart, something once known as "Flowing Destiny"...

<CENTER>-----------------------------</CENTE R>

* If I got the residential block that Celvice lives in in ZOE wrong, don't blame me; I haven't played the game in a long time. @_@ Also, for all you who don't know, the all-caps names of locations is as it appears in the game; this is just another little joke in applying the games to this story.

** Yet another thing borrowed from Metal Gear Solid! Yep, same CYPHER as in MSG2: Sons of Liberty. ^_^()

*** "Avelcaine" is one of Durandal's attacks in ZOE: Fist of Mars.

**** "Blade Cannon" is another of Durandal's attacks in ZOE: Fist of Mars.

***** Yep, it's Cindy from ZOE: Dolores,i. Thing is, she got hitched to Leon Links (what a surprise, eh?) in this continuity. Not canon, of course, just this story...