Chapter 1
Solomon Surface, December 24th, UC 0079
Ensign Rick Evans

You'll be making it back, kid. I know your type. The ones that don't have anything left back home are the ones that survive.

I couldn't move my hand. I couldn't depress the trigger. The only thing that I could think about were the words from my newly deceased commander. They didn't seem to ring as true, now.

"Rick! Take that shot!"

I couldn't even hear my remaining wing mate, over the sound of my breathing. Everything was turning into hell, I could see the cascades of fire opening from the center of the asteroid, the thousands of beams of light to my back, everything flashing...fading. All around me was nothing but death, destruction...a Zaku detonating in the distance, a GM exploding right in front of me, repeating every second...flashes of light passing by, fading out of existence.

"Rick! Take it! Take the shot! Please!"

I looked down to my left panel, a video feed of my wounded wing mate yelling at me, blood running down from her face, her visor broken open, tears in her eyes...my GM holding hers propped up as we stood in place on the surface, it's torso badly melted, it's right arm gone. I couldn't even focus on the Zaku in front of me, only being able to stare at her as she teared up, screaming at me to take action, to move my suit...my shield in front of her suit's torso, leaving mine open right in his line of fire. If I had to...I'd be that next flash of light. She had suffered enough.

"Rick! Kill him! He'll kill you!"

I barely managed to take my focus away from her and at it. Pointing it's machine gun at me while the monoeye glowed dark red as it fired, the status monitor starting to scream in pain as the 120mm rounds starting making impact on the left shoulder armor, starting to trace itself down towards my cockpit as the monitor could barely continue to track the damage. She kept screaming on the left panel, tears flying from her eyes as she threw herself against her controls...blood seeping through her flight suit under her left arm, and it continued to stream down her face from the large gash on the top of her head. She tried to continue looking at me at me with her right eye, the only one she could keep open, under the portion of her visor that wasn't shattered open.

Something inside me was broken, I could sense it but I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't even force the trigger finger down, not even that tiny bit of energy to pull the trigger, to fire at this pilot who was now threatening to kill not only her, but me as well. I was starting to think I would prefer that, then this. At least she'd be safe, she was under my shield. She wouldn't be hurt anymore, not if I could just get it to waste the rest of its ammo on me...the only sound I could hear was my own breathing, in a deep repeating round...preparing for the final cockpit breach, waiting for that one bullet to the head...

"Rick! Rick!"

And then it broke again, upon realizing my stupidity. My wing mate was dying, screaming at me to take action, starting to slump over in her seat, the sounds of her sobbing sounding nothing like I had ever heard before in my life...and I was doing nothing. But no. I had to do something. Every second I wasted now would mean her being that much closer to death once our reinforcements arrive, and she already near spent...I couldn't even hear her yells over the sound of mine, all the rage in my entire body suddenly threw itself forward...letting her suit go and advancing towards the Zaku, bouncing off of the asteroid as the thrusters kicked in, throwing me back into my restraints. Its rounds continued impacting against my GM's torso, the right panel blowing out as I charged straight towards it, jarring me and shaking me violently as hard as the g's were but it was of no concern. Not now. There was nothing left for me to do but this. She'd be safe...

It just sat there, firing away at me, the rounds still impacting on my suit every second I flew towards him, until this giant white flash appeared above us. It had appeared from behind this gigantic green suit with two legs, but no arms; the one that had just launched in front of us just a minute or two ago. After that flash appeared, the Zaku just threw its gun away, turning around and suddenly boosting away. Running away...I couldn't let him, I couldn't...the thought of this man having a life just like mine passed through my head for the slightest of seconds until I realized no, he couldn't...not after British, not the gassings, not the slaughter of billions of innocents...my friends...now her, the most innocent woman I had ever met, bleeding to death in a god damned mobile coffin, by his hands, their hands...I found the strength to depress the trigger, just once.

The shot flew true, right into the suit's back, instantly making the reactor go nova on him, the Zaku expanding on itself until it disintegrated, parts flying backwards against my suit as it and its pilot faded out of existence. I found myself lacking the voice to yell anymore...wondering for the slightest second what he was doing, trying to run away from me, obviously a defeated opponent...until I saw that the entire force was starting to leave, far ahead of me the Zakus were flying away, trailing behind them cables for the rest of their troops to grab onto, running away...running...

"Rick..."

I could barely even look at her now as her feed continued on the left panel, just staring at the shards of the Zaku in front of me floating around, killed by a shot to the back by a near lifeless GM, while it was trying to retreat, to survive...posing no threat anymore...as I looked down to her feed on the left panel again she pressed herself against her cockpit camera...bleeding, crying...slumping over to the left as her head went back so I was unable to see her expression anymore...god, she didn't just...no...

EFSF Transport Humble, January 31st, UC0080
Ensign Rick Evans
"Rick...Rick?" I felt a jarring motion, someone's arm resting behind my shoulders. I saw pitch black for a moment before I opened my eyes, seeing the seats in front of me, the heads of the people in front of us...turning to my right, Tasha...

"Are you alright? You started murmuring..." I looked to her, putting my hand to her face, pushing her hair back as I ran it down her scar, that gash...retracting it, sinking back into my seat. Jesus christ, I was doing it again.

"I'm...I'm fine. I'm sorry." She looked at me with a concerned look, rubbing my left arm back and forth with the one she had around me.

"...another nightmare?" I nodded, feeling embarrassed, trying to sink back as far as I could into the seat, trying to make myself feel as less of an idiot as I possibly could. Goddamnit, acting like some damn kid...she nodded, forcing me closer to her.

"We're alive, Rick...it's all that matters. We're still alive." I found her starting to lose that motherly stance as she started to fade in my shoulder, trying to take stock in her own words, knowing as well as I did that it was a hollow statement. I started to wrap my arm around her as we just stared forward, at the three or four rows of seats in front of us, one man looking back at us as if we were insane, some lowly tech or something. I just shook my head, trying to take it all in, letting out a sigh. It seemed like we just stared at him for hours, trying to get those memories to lose their effect on me, not knowing if it was working or not. It continued on and on, her image on the video feed of my GM, the Zaku firing at me...

I turned to look at her again, her time to take a rest, which she had decided to do with little hesitation, resting her head on my shoulder as she started to fall asleep. Lieutenant JG Natasha Rivers, my MS team commander. I'd follow the lady into hell if she so commanded it. At this point, there'd be little else to do, and nowhere else really that the Federation could send us to, and no one else to turn to. We were the same way, me and her. Both twenty one, no family, nothing left in our lives but to continue this one. Flying the RGM-79 straight into the mouth of hell, flanked by hundreds of others like us, but unlike them, for whatever reason, we managed to survive. Solomon, A Baoa Qu, Perzun...we survived all three. We survived Operation British, we lived through the Battle of Loum, survived during the occupation...we lived through the One Year War.

And neither of us had anything to show for it, not now. The only thing I had was her, but god...if it was the only thing keeping my sanity, it was her. My dearest friend, my only friend still alive...I rubbed her arm as she started sleeping on my shoulder, lightly breathing. It was comforting.

My thoughts skimmed back to my dream, I suppose. That Zaku...I still wondered if that pilot was like me. Nothing left to give, but his life...and for what reason? Just to die and decrease the surplus population? I suppose that was the most reasonable answer. It was the only answer I allowed myself to justify, he had to die. However, I still had that regret, the fact I pulled the trigger on him while he was trying to get away...

But I turned back and looked at her again, still sleeping soundly on my shoulder. She would have died if I hadn't. That was the only reason. I wouldn't have done it had her life not been in danger, I would have been perfectly fine with taking that bullet, I could only wonder why I hadn't died in that charge...

Then again, she felt the same way in regards to me. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for her. I suppose that's why I was still alive, after it all. If I wasn't looking after her, no one would. And other then her, I'm sure as hell that no one is looking after me...and when you're flying in the GM, flying alone is the last thing you want to do.

I found a small smile form on my face, turning back to look at her one more time before I turned to look out the window, rubbing her arm, that asteroid growing ever so closer once again. I let out a sigh, letting it turn into a full on smile.

I guess, for the first time in this life, I was almost content.