The year is 59 I.W. or in war. That's just what it said. The entire human universe was in war with each other. The war has been going on for 59 years. Not many people remember how it started or why. The earth was and still in ruin from the third World War. A nuclear winter sent the entire population into space. Only before the war did humankind venture back. The actual year is something like 2239 AD, as goes by the old calendar. The only Technology that had advanced was War machines. The latest is the Gundam Suits. Basically it was a 50-ft. high fighting machine armed with laser guns and energy swords. Earth was now inhabitable once again, and this is where the Legend of the Fighter begins.
She looked out her window on her 16th birthday, a nice sunny day. At least that's what the window showed. She knew that beyond the window, there was steel then rock. She was surrounded by it. You see she lived underground, about a mile or so with her father. Her father happened to be the scientist Dustin Darkstar. He and his daughter Rayne vanished after Rayne's Mother died about 10 years ago. Truth is, they went underground where Dustin worked on his project. The Angel Gundam. It looked just like a regular mobile suit, but it had angel wings and a powerful twin light cannon. In theory it was supposed to be even more powerful than the Elite class of Gundams, and it was finally complete.
Dustin burst into the kitchen where Rayne was sitting. "Rayne it's finally completed, Angel is done"
Rayne stood up and ran over and hugged her father. "Mom would be proud."
A tear formed in his eye. "Its all ready for you to pilot. You just need to adjust the settings to the environment your in."
"I understand father." Rayne said walking over to the table and grabbed a bag "I'll be back sometime"
With that she walked out the door and down a hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a door. She walked up to it and put her hand on the knob. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder at her father, standing there in the kitchen doorway. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned and opened the door. It led to a hanger where Angel was 'sitting'. The ground was about 30 feet below her as she stepped onto a platform. The platform then extended to the mobile suit.
She threw the bag into the cockpit and grabbed a suit that was resting on the platform rail. She put it on over her clothes, making everything about her look masculine. Her chest didn't show through the suit. The reason that it was designed like that was to make her look like a guy. Women weren't taken to in the war. Fact was, there were no women fighting, only cooking, cleaning, etc. Some were treated better than others were, but not as equals as men were.
She put on her helmet; just like her suit it was jet black. You couldn't see through her visor, for the same reason, "testing, testing, and can you hear me?"
She spoke into the microphone inside her helmet. She could hear herself normally, but when she spoke it was a different voice to everyone else. Her voice was masculine, again for the same reasons.
Dustin's voice came out over her earpiece. "Testing looks good. Go ahead and check the controls"
Rayne stepped into the Angels' cockpit. She opened a compartment and stuffed the book bag into it. She sat down into the seat. It was made for her, so she was nice and snug inside it. Rayne put on the straps and tightened them.
Dustin's voice came over the headset again. "Rayne there is something I must tell you before you leave. You are a Geno, A result of an experiment that altered your genes. Thus making you smarter, stronger and your reflexes faster."
Rayne moved a screen so that it was in front of her. "I know father. I stumbled onto your reach a year ago. I understand your reason though. You want this war to end, and so do I. It's pointless to continue it."
Her father showed up on the screen after she pressed a few buttons. She smiled, even though Dustin couldn't see it, He smiled back "goodbye Rayne"
"Bye Father" A tear welled in her eye as she hit a few more buttons and the screen went blank. She moved it to the side and hit a few more buttons. The cockpit door closed as she heard a voice in the hanger echo "Please Evacuate the launch pad."
Dustin had brought with him 50 of his best pupils to help him. They had helped him through out the entire process, including Rayne's training, helping in the gene splicing, etc.
The cockpit went dark as the door closed with a thunk. It was dark only for a second before the system was activated. She could see 360 degrees all around her. Up and below as well, as though the metal was clear. Nothing obstructed her view around her.
She heard the "all clear" come over her headset and she started up the engines. The wings were merely for intimidation. The part that allowed Angel to flu was the Twin Ion boosters located at the base of the wings.
She saw the platform retreat back then lower, as she took off. The ceiling parted above her, showing a very long tunnel, the end was blocked off. Heat radiated from the ion boosters as they revved up even more.
Angel started to gain speed. It was rocketing through the tunnel. The end opened up showing light. First a little sliver, then gradually more showed. She and the suit rocketed out of the opening.
She flew up a little then hovered. Looking down she saw the entranceway close and disappear. She marked the coordinates into the suit's mainframe. "I will come back father"
No sooner had she said that than a warning went off. To her right there were two red triangles on the screen. It enlarged the picture showing two alpha class suits.
A voice crackled over her headset. "Unknown suit, identify yourself or be destroyed
She responded with the voice modifier. "Angel Here"
She heard another voice, presumably the other pilot. "Engage enemy units heading this way."
Sure enough, to her left 4 red triangles appeared, after a few seconds they enlarged. A reading showed its statistics "omega class huh?"
The classes from lowest too highest were Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Omega, Alturai (pronounced al-tur-i), then and the Elite class. Angel's class was beyond that. At least in theory, it never has actually been tested in combat yet.
Rayne pushed the control for the thrusters' foreword sending her upward. The two sides started firing at each other. Rayne pulled the thrusters back so now she was hovering over them as shots were being fired below her. She aimed her twin light cannon down below her at the units. They had dropped their guns and went to the energy swords. They were close together "perfect" she said as she locked on.
She squeezed the trigger, nothing happened at first, but then something started to move in front of the barrels. It looked as though white fireflies were flying into the barrel.
This is what the gun needed to do before firing. It needed to charge up. This part of the firing stage only lasted for a few seconds.
It fired. The recoil from the blast sent her even higher. The beam was a swirling mass of light. It hit only one suit destroying every piece of it. Nothing remained of that one. One from the first ground and 2 of the second one were nearby, they were blown back. Ultimately taking severe damage. The remaining ones from either side stopped their battle as the explosion was seen.
"What the hell was that?" she heard
Rayne turned the gun toward them. "Go back and tell your commanders what you say out here. Angel is operational, working for neither side and has the ability to destroy both armies."
They didn't move. Apparently too appalled to do or say anything. "Go now if you value your lives"
With that they took off in the directions they came from. As they left Rayne whispered softly to her "amazing"
Angel was now out in the open. She fought everyday. Hot shots that thought they were better than she was. No one could even damage Angel. Even when it was hit with a direct shot from a missile, but all things must come to an end.
It was exactly one year from when angel showed up. It was Rayne's birthday. She had kept her identification a secret. To everyone else, she was a 17-year-old boy named Dustin. Rayne's battles took her across the solar system and back. Both armies had gathered on earth now. Their entire forces were there. Every last artillery piece as well. This was to determine the end of the war. At least they hoped so.
Rayne was in the middle of the two forces. She was in a sinkhole with another soldier named Mike. Mike was on the dragon faction. Each side had two factions. The allied side had the dragon and the lion factions. The Axis had the tiger and bull factions. The entire earth and outer space was divided between the two forces, or didn't ally with either side at all, nor helped either side.
Rayne and Mike had become good friends, only Mike knew Rayne as Dusting. Mike piloted an elite class of Gundam. It was called leviathan.
A few months earlier, Mike challenged Angel. They fought and Rayne won. Rayne had took pity on him and spared his life. Ever since then, they have become friends, but Rayne had to keep her feeling secret. Truth was, she like Mike on a more personal level. Then again, pretending to be a guy, she couldn't show how she really felt.
"So you think this is it huh?" Mike asked as he stared up at the sky.
"There is only one way to find out." Rayne could hear the voice that belonged to Dustin come out. She still wasn't used to it. "I suggest getting back before you get killed for being AWOL."
Mike nodded and climbed up Leviathan. "We will survive this, and I will see you after this."
Rayne gave thumbs up as she got into Angel. The cockpit closed behind her and a whirring noise was heard as the suit powered up. The monitors flashed as they came online "Do me a favor will ya, stay on the ground."
She heard static for a second before Mike's face came up on a monitor, and his voice came through the headset. "Roger"
The screen shut off and she sighed. Rayne sat there for a second before muttering to her "here we go" and she grabbed the control. She pushed the control on her right up and the sound of a jet engine was heard. Slowly at first, she rose off the ground before gaining speed and altitude.
She cleared the trees and looked around. "Crap!" Gundams surrounded her on all sides.
She pushed the control as far up as it would go, and she rocketed upward. Warnings flashed all around her as she did. A warning of shots being fired at her.
Rayne didn't have enough time to react and put up the shields. Each rocket and bullet hit and exploded. Hiding Angel in a cloud of smoke and debris.
Mike saw the whole thing happen. Immediately he took off, only to see Angel Fall from the cloud. Pieces were following it downward, as well as trails of smoke "NO!"
Rayne plummeted toward the ground. She had lost all control and let out a scream. She didn't know the voice modifier broke, and it came out as her regular voice.
Mike heard a scream, but had no idea. "No Dustin" He pushed the thrusters to the limit as he tried to save her.
Mike was too late as Angel hit the ground. It sent dirt and more Debris everywhere. A cloud of smoke and dust hampered vision as Rayne scrambled out. The suit she was wearing was ruined, all torn up, as well as Angel "damn it, well it was fun". She said that as she wrote on a card and placed it in her pocket.
Rayne was wearing civilian clothes underneath. She took what looked like a remote control and pushed a button. A hole appeared in the air in front of her. She stepped through, and the hole closed behind her.
Mike was over the smoke, and his jets blew away the smoke. As the smoke cleared, it showed what was left. All that was left was rubble, with the exception of the cockpit and the gun, which was left intact. He landed and got out of leviathan and started searching "Dustin, you cant be gone" He kept searching.
The only thing he found was the suit Dustin wore, in pieces, but nothing else. The other suits that shot Angel down landed around the impact site. A loud speaker was heard. "Well did you find the pilot?"
Mike wasn't in the plan at all. They were from the same unit though. "No not even any remains" Mike was puzzled, as with everyone else.

Two days later, a hunting group came across a young girl lying up against a tree. "What the hell should we do?" Said one man in a hushed voice.
The girl heard it and her eyes started fluttering "Shhhh, she is waking up" Another guy quickly said in a hushed voice as well.
The girls' eyes opened up and stared at the three hunters. They were all quiet for a minute before the girl stood up. "Who are you three, and where am I?"
One of the hunters stepped forward. He had a scar across his left cheek. "My name is Paul, and this is Henry, and the one over there is Patrick." The girl looked at each of them as Paul pointed to them. Henry had the flannel shirt, and Patrick had the tennis shoes, other than that, they looked exactly alike. "Your in neutral territory, north of the pacific, Or old Alaska if you would like to call it that."
Paul continued speaking after Henry's addition. "What is your name?"
She went to say something but stopped and thought a second. Coming up with nothing she responded "I . . . I don't know." As she spoke she looked at the ground while sticking her hands into her pant pockets.
She felt the crumbling of paper when she did "huh?"
"What's the matter?" Patrick was curious about the piece of paper the girl had pulled out of her pocket.
"I . . . don't know. It's a piece of paper . . .. It says, Name Rayne Darkstar. Age: 17 . . . . . Then it says 4 years, wait till then" She stared at it then turned it over "It also says Birthday: March 29th"
"I'm gonna guess that, that's what your name and age is. About the 4 years stuff, I am clueless. March 29th though was just a couple of days ago" Henry took the paper and looked at it carefully.
"You could stay at the village till you get your memory back, I'm sure they will try to help you in anyway possible." He was right; Rayne went back with them to the village. Where she was 'taken in' and cared for. She didn't need to pay for anything till she got a job. A house was given to her as well as food and supplies for the first few weeks.

Mike's faction, the Dragons, picked up the remains of Angel and took it to their central earth base, The City of New New York. It was built on the ruins of the old city. Mike was called in for questioning there. The questioning was from the commander of the Dragons himself. He paced as Mike sat there patiently in the chair next to the commander's desk.
"So what your telling me is, you became friends with Dustin?" Mike had just finished telling him all about what had happened.
"Yes sir, but it always felt like he wanted to tell me something, but he couldn't. Like he was hiding a secret"
The commander stopped pacing and scratched his chin. "You think he knew this was going to happen the whole time?"
Mike thought for a second "maybe, that's probably why nothing was found of him"
The commander mumbled something under his breath, and then spoke out. "I want a search for him. He is still alive and I want him found. No matter how long it takes . . . . . and Mike you're in charge of it."
With that, the search started. Mike was in charge. They searched the entire planet, and all the allied territories in space. Going into a non-allied territory in space would directly result in your death. One of the more modern perks of modern technology; they could tell what side you were on just by scanning you.
While Rayne lived her new life, Mike searched for Dustin, with no luck at all. 3 and ½ years passed in this manner. Neither finding what they were looking for. Rayne looking for her past, occasionally seeing things that she didn't understand.
While searching around what used to be Australia, a call arrived. An unfamiliar face showed up. Mike looked at it for a second "Mike in Leviathan, head of search, go ahead."
The man acknowledged with a salute "sir we have an incoming patch from the commander" Mike sighed. "Put him through."
The commander's face appeared on the screen "Mike we got some news about Dustin, you can stop searching for him."
Mike was confused "but why sir?" The commander stared at him for a second "Because there was no Dustin."
Mike was still confused "wha?" The commander now smiled. It was kinda weird looking "we got a message from an anonymous caller, Dustin was a cover up for the real person inside the suit. We are now searching for a young girl named Rayne. She is approximately 21 years old, that's all we know about her."
Mikes heart skipped a beat, he knew Dustin was hiding something from him, and now he knew what it was, "Are you serious?"
"No doubt about it. You wonder why you never found him right? Well that is why he never existed really. The thing that worries me is that a female was kicking both our armies asses across the galaxy at the same time. Should we let women fight?"
Mike stared blankly at the screen for a second "Why ask me? Isn't this a question you should be asking your advisors?"
"Because Mike, they don't know shit. You have been out there. You know more about fighting than they do.
True, Mike thought. He had been a Gundam fighter for about 10 years now. He had worked his way up to his Gundam suit, Leviathan. Since Rayne showed up, the Elite population plummeted. The elite's challenged her and lost. The few smart ones didn't fight and survived, and the only one to fight and survive was Mike. "Were you informed of a location?"
"Negative, all we have is the name and all the other stuff I told you"
"Roger" Then he added his remaining thought, "maybe woman should be able to enlist, it would help our forces grow" And with that he severed the connection with the commander.
So I'm off to find someone else. For all I know she could be anywhere in the galaxy, he thought. He sat there dumbfounded for a second before hitting a few buttons in front of him. He heard static "attention all Angel Members. Regroup and meet at coordinate 28, 159"

Rayne on the other hand, was living a civilian's life. She always felt out of place for some reason. Though she never voiced her opinions, people seemed to know. That's the thing about small communities; they seem to know everything that is going on in it. She felt as if she belonged somewhere else, with someone else.
Rayne was sitting in the local café doing the usual. She was drinking her coffee and reading the newspaper. She always skipped the section about the war. She didn't care about it as long as she wasn't involved. She finished her coffee and picked up her newspaper. When it cleared the table, a section fell out. She reached over to pick it up when her eyes fell onto the main picture. It was a Gundam suit.
She felt a pain radiate through her head as pictures, presumably from her own memories, flashed in her head. A few seconds of pain and it passed. Her vision cleared as she shook her head. "Well, that was weird." She walked over to the counter and paid and went home, never giving it another thought.
5 months passed, Mike searching for Rayne, Rayne searching for her past while living a different life. It was getting close to Rayne's birthday. Mike was getting desperate to find her. He had gotten a notice a week before saying he had till April 13th to find Rayne, or he would be discharged from the army.
Rayne was walking home from working at the grocery store, when Paul pulled her aside. " You know what happens in a week don't ya?"
Rayne looked puzzled. "My birthday?"
Paul figured Rayne had forgotten about the card. "Remember when we first found you? There was a note saying" "4 years" Rayne finished the sentence " yes I remember, but I don't think anything is going to happen."
Paul sighed and let go of Rayne's shoulder. Rayne looked rather disgusted as she left. Yet she had been worrying about the same exact thing for the last few months. She had been expecting it, and fearing it. What if it was good? What if it was bad?
Rayne went to her house and went to bed. Outside she was the same person she had been for the last 4 years, sweet and innocent. Inside, she was changing. Inside she was confused, lost, and not knowing who to turn to.
A week earlier, one of the villagers to moved away to one of the cities in allied territory. She had lived there a week before she saw an advertisement in the paper. Mike was getting desperate and had placed a reward for information on Rayne. The advertisement was asking if anyone had seen Rayne, disappeared approximately 4 years ago. Reward is 15,000,000.
The woman called up and told them everything. The exact coordinates, when and how she got there, as well as her daily routine. But she forgot to tell one big detail, that Rayne had no idea about her past at all.
Mike got the information and set out immediately toward it. A few days later he landed about a half a mile north from the village. He got out and walked the rest of the way into town. As Mike walked around, Paul knew he was looking for something, Paul walked up to him. "Excuse me sir, may I help you?"
Mike looked at him for a second "Yes, I am looking for someone. You wouldn't know a Rayne would you?"
Paul nodded his head. "As a matter of fact I do. She lives on the north side of town, but she ain't there right now"
Mike looked around "Do you know what she looks like?"
Paul pointed to a small café behind Mike "ask the cashier, she will point Rayne out fer ya"
Mike turned and walked toward the café. He opened the door and looked around. There were 2 couples talking near the window and a single girl in the far corner reading a newspaper while drinking her drink. He walked over to the cashier "can you tell me which one Rayne is?"
The cashier pointed to the woman in the corner. "That's her over there."
"Thanks" Mike said to the cashier as he walked over to the table. Rayne had her face behind the newspaper. Mike was slowly making his way toward her. There were tables in the way, so he was weaving back and forth.
Mike made it about halfway there when Rayne folded her newspaper up and got up. She walked along the wall, not glancing at Mike and over to the cashier. Mike tried to catch up to her, but he had to weave through the tables again. By the time he reached the cashier, Rayne had paid and left.
Mike ran out the door after her. Must be she is heading home cause she is heading north, Mike thought as he followed behind Rayne. He followed her all the way to her house. She was fumbling around inside her purse for her house key. Mike jogged up to her and tapped her on a shoulder. "Excuse me"
Rayne turned around and faced Mike. Her eyes locked on to his when a searing pain shot through her head. She clutched her head and shook it back and forth. Mike was puzzled at this occurrence until Rayne passed out. Luckily Mike caught her before she hit the ground.
Mike picked her up and walked north into the surrounding woods. Night slowly crept in as he carried Rayne toward where Leviathan was laying in shrouds. Rayne was still passed out when he reached the encampment. He set her down on the ground and got into his suit. Mike scooped Rayne up into the suit's hands and lifted her up to the cockpit. He took Rayne and put her in the secondary seat. The seat was made for a co-pilot, but he never needed one.
After Mike strapped Rayne into the seat before strapping himself into his seat and closing the cockpit. He wondered what was wrong with her. What could have made her do that? His head was swirling as he started up Leviathan and took off.
He was heading to New, New York to where the Reconstructed Angel was being held. He headed south at first, heading out over the Pacific Ocean. He then flew east. As they came close to land, he could see the tops of what used to be Seattle. "Remnants of the doomed civilization."
After the nuclear winter ended, the earth got warmer. Than what it was in the beginning of the 22ND century. Old New York was actually under water. The new city was then built on top of it.
As Mike continued flying toward New, New York City, he noticed a red triangle appear on the screen. Followed by three more. Then three more appeared after that. Red meant an enemy, so he lowered himself closer to the ground. A reading scrolled across his screen, it was a squad of elite's.
The red triangles started to flash. They had locked onto him. He saw the trails of seven missiles leave the enemy. He stopped flying and took the gun out from its spot. He shot at the missiles. All seven of them blew up almost simultaneously.
Mike quickly put his gun back and pushed the thrusters to full. He shot toward the enemy like a bullet. He took out his two energy swords and rushed past the group. His swords hit two of them on his pass, incapacitating both of them.
Before Mike could react, shots from the others hit him in the back. It jostled him around inside the cockpit; he could only imagine what it was doing to someone unconscious.
Mike didn't know that those shots woke Rayne up. She now remembered everything. She had given herself amnesia to escape the war. A setback in her plan was Mike finding her. Rayne seeing Mike brought the memories back prematurely, so that was why she passed out.
Mike was still trying not to get killed. He was fighting 5 against 1, but he couldn't land a hit. He saw them shoot at him, and punched the thruster's forward. He went for about a second till all of a sudden, it stopped and went backwards. Mike was confused as his controls shut down, and the bullets whizzed by right in front of him. "What the HELL?"
He frantically tried to move with the controls, but couldn't. He forgot all about Rayne in the backseat. The suit turned and faced the oncoming suits. Mike watched as a program came up. It was a list of weapons that Leviathan had. It scrolled through it really fast and selected something before Mike could read it.
All the panels on leviathan's armor popped open revealing missiles of all sorts. The other pilots saw that and knew they couldn't escape it. About 100 rockets/missiles shot out of the armor at once and headed toward the enemy suits. The sky lit up with explosions as leviathan powered down. It had over heated. Again Mike repeated, "What in the name of hell is going on?"
Rayne quickly acted as though she was still passed out as Mike undid his restraints and looked back at her. Leviathan landed with a thump. Mike watched Rayne's head roll around limp, and her hair fall across her face. He muttered to himself "beautiful".
Now it was Mike's turn to fall in love with Rayne. He undid Rayne's restraints and lifter her out to his seat where he wrapped her in a harness and lowered her down to the ground. He opened a few compartments and pulled out a few bags. He tossed them out clear of where Rayne was laying. He then climbed down himself. In the middle of the night, he almost slipped and fell.
Rayne watched him do all of this, but didn't move. She wanted Mike to believe she was still unconscious, and didn't help him in that battle. Mike untied Rayne from the harness and placed her aside. He found one of the bags he dropped and pulled out a tent, which set up automatically. He took another bang and unrolled a sleeping bag and placed it in the tent. Mike looked around then picked Rayne up and placed her on top of the sleeping bag. He walked away for a few minutes. From where Rayne was, it sounded like he was searching for something.
Mike came back holding another bag. He got into the tent and opened the bag. Inside was food. Rayne admitted to herself that she was starving, but didn't dare wake up just yet. She heard Mike eat for a little while then nothing. Everything was dark, so she risked it. Rayne opened her eyes and looked over at Mike. To make it look real, she sat up suddenly, hitting Mike in the process. Rayne held her head in her hands as she heard Mike say "Huh . . .. Wha?"
Rayne could see Mike's figure sit up and stare at her. She knew Mike could see that she was awake. After a minute of silence Mike broke it. "So your finally awake huh?"
"Who are you?" Rayne asked, still putting on a show. He heard him looking for something. Then with a snap a light lit up the entire tent. "What you don't recognize me Dustin, or should I say Rayne?"
Rayne stared at him wide eyed. "Michael?"
Mike let out a small chuckle "of course, who else would it be? But may I ask you a question?"
Rayne looked at how much he had changed since 4 years ago. "Ya, go ahead"
"Well two questions actually. One, why did you faint when I tapped your shoulder? And two, when you were in angel, why did you disguise yourself as Dustin?"
Rayne looked at him, something was in the back of her eyes, and Mike just couldn't figure it out. "Well I passed out from an overload of knowledge. For the last four years, I have had amnesia, seeing you brought back my memories. As for being Dustin, well . . . . .. Who will take a girl seriously in this war?"
"Wait, amnesia? You mean you didn't know who I was when I tapped you on the shoulder?" "Yes, and I caused the amnesia myself with a little design I made. You would be surprised at what I can do."
Mike was slightly confused but didn't pursue the subject. He heard Rayne's stomach growl really loudly. Mike was chuckling to himself as he asked Rayne, "Want something to eat?"
Rayne looked at the bag with the food in it. "Do I ever." Mike tossed the bag at her and she caught it with one hand. She opened it and dug into it. She was starving. While Rayne ate, Mike just sat there watching her.
Rayne finished eating and looked over at Mike. "It takes about 3 days to get to New, New York right?"
Mike thought for a second "sounds about right." He had the look of realization come across his face "how did you know?"
Rayne winked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know? Anyway, I could get you there in two, providing you have the right stuff." She looked at the tent door then back to Mike.
"What do you need?" Mike asked curiously as Rayne grabbed the light stick and opened the flap of the tent. She walked over to the dark Gundam and looked at it for a second. Mike was right behind her.
Rayne climbed up Leviathan's legs about halfway up and stopped. She opened up an access panel and started going through the inside. She pulled out a few wires and put them into her pocket. She fumbled around inside the access panel a little longer before climbing up into the cockpit. Mike stood down at the foot of Leviathan as he waited for her.
Rayne sat there looking through stuff, opening access panels and grabbing things out. After about a half an hour she got back down with a lot of stuff. She looked up at the sky; sunrise wasn't in that much time. "Probably another hour or two"
Rayne got back into the tent, where Mike was sleeping, and got to work. She started connecting wires and assorted items, Attaching things with tape. She continued working even after the sun came up. Mike woke up and went out while she worked. He didn't want to bother her.
Mike came back with something because he dropped something or something's to the ground. They hit and, by the sounds of it, rolled around a little bit. She heard him walk away again as she worked. After a little while he came back. Rayne could tell that he was carrying something, because his footsteps were slower and more labored.
Mike was getting a fire ready, as well as getting together some food to eat. After about 10 minutes of working, he got a nice fire going. He put a pot over the fire and tossed carrots, beef, potatoes, and water into it. He was making stew.
The smell wafted over to Rayne. She was getting hungry again. It was obvious when her stomach let out a gargle. It was loud enough that Mike heard it, so he started laughing. "I'm guessing someone's hungry. The stew will be ready in a little bit."
Rayne put down the half-completed device. It looked just like a child's video game, but half-completed. She stepped out of the tent and stretched. She looked over at Mike, who happened to be absentmindedly staring at her. She casually pointed at the stew, which was overflowing, and Mike snapped out of it. He quickly removed the pot from the fire "guess its ready"
Rayne walked over to the fire and sat next to Mike on a log he had brought over. Mike had already gotten out two bowls and spoons. "Here you go." He poured some stew into each bowl. "Dig in". And with that they ate in silence. Occasionally they cast glances at each other, but they didn't talk through out the whole meal.
After they were done, Rayne got back into the tent. While Mike got into Leviathan and started it up. He was checking Leviathan's system status. Besides using up all of leviathan's missiles, they were good to go. He still couldn't figure out what happened in that battle.
Mike did every system diagnosis he could think of. Nothing showed up at all. He went through every menu and looked to see if anything was out of place. Nothing was. He closed out all the menus and noticed he had half of the fuel capacity. There was a problem in that. He jumped down and walked over to the tent and peered inside. Rayne was sleeping, her hand on the half-finished device. Mike tossed a blanket over her and went back to the fire. He sat there for a few hours. Just watching the fire and tending to it. Rayne slept. She couldn't bring herself to tell Mike she wasn't feeling good, ever since her memories came back.
It was late in the afternoon when Rayne woke up. She quickly bolted upright and ran out the tent and into the woods. Mike was somewhat startled and watched her run out with a hand over her mouth. Mike got up and ran after her, only to find Rayne throwing up. He quickly looked the other way to avoid puking himself. "Damn it."
Rayne wiped her mouth off. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling too well right now."
She leaned over and vomited again. Her hair falling almost into her vomit. Rayne caught it and pushed it behind her ears as she spit out the remains of the vomit. She leaned against the tree; she was feeling woozy now "if you must know, I have been feeling like this since I woke up in the cockpit."
She realized what she said just a little too lat. "Wait, you were awake in the cockpit . . . . . . . So it was you that overrode my controls."
Rayne held up her palm "Not now, all right"
Mike stood there watching her walk off, leaning heavily onto trees as she walked. He put his hand up to stop her and to say something, but stopped himself from doing so. Instead of saying something to Rayne, he spoke quietly to himself. "Don't got Rayne, I love you. You saved my life." And he went back to the campsite.
Mike put the suit lying down in the woods, since they were in neutral territory, there were bound to be enemies. He covered it with a tarp that was camouflaged so that it wouldn't be seen visibly, but on radar as well.
Rayne continued walking, the more she walked the better she felt. She had gone at least a few miles when she came apon a small clearing, Maybe about 30 feet wide in diameter. In the middle of it, there was a Gundam suit sitting there. Rayne didn't recognize it.
Rayne took one step when she heard a voice behind her. "Take another step and your brains will be all over the ground. Now turn around and identify yourself."
Rayne did as she was told and turned around "Slowly . . .. Slowly" The voice kept saying.
Rayne turned completely around and say a guy in a mobile protection suit. This mans suit was bright red, A member of the tiger faction of the Axis. The man was holding a handgun in his hand, pointed directly at Rayne's head.
She and him stood there for a few seconds, each measuring the other up. That's when Rayne felt wobbly again and passed out. Rayne fell forward, only to be caught by the man before she hit the ground, but she never knew that.
The man carried Rayne into a small cave on the other side of the Gundam suit. He placed Rayne on a pad and touched her forehead. "No wonder you look lost, you're running a fever." He got a damp cloth and placed it on her forehead and waited.
Nightfall came and Mike was getting worried. Rayne still hadn't come back yet. Yet he couldn't search for her. Already there were enemy suits in the area. He could hear them in the distance. Mike decided that Rayne would be ok. After all, she piloted angel, something he couldn't even do. What else could Mike do? So he went to bed.
Rayne still didn't wake up, so the man tossed a couple of logs onto the fire and went to bed. She didn't wake up. The make kept placing cool, we rags on her forehead to try to keep her from burning up.
Morning came and Mike woke up. Rayne was nowhere to be found. He didn't want to risk fighting in Leviathan; He had to search on foot. Mike took off in the direction he last saw Rayne head in. Every now and then he would see a footprint, but that was about it. He searched all morning, but found nothing else.
The man who took care of Rayne sat there watching her, waiting for her to wake up. All Rayne did was toss back and forth. Her beauty captivated him, as well as Mike. He changed the cloth on her head for a cooler one. "What is a girl like you doing out here?" He got up and left the cave after that.
Mike made his way back to the campsite and looked around. Maybe Rayne came back. He had no such luck. "Damn you Rayne, where did you get to?" He pounded his fist into a tree.
The man came back after a little while and he held a canteen in his hand. He held Rayne's mouth open as he poured a small amount of water into her mouth. She swallowed it. He kept pouring small amounts into her mouth, and she swallowed it each time. By now she had stopped tossing and turning
the man sat there patiently, waiting for the mysterious beautiful young woman to wake up. She started tossing again, this time she was saying something. "No. . . .. I don't want to help you . . .. This war needs to end . . .. No, without any winners"
He looked puzzled. What could she have meant by that? Was she some how a big part of the war, or just a neutral person who didn't want either side to win. Knowing full well that the winning side would rule the world. Little did he know that she was both.