The assassination of Sinclair did not prevent a new war from breaking out, in fact it accelerated it. Yet Echo felt inclined to feel like a hero for avenging her friend. Footage of the half-breed was obtained and other high ranking ISA officials used it as leverage to attack the already crippled New Helghan. Echo has gone into hiding and Hera Visari is having trouble maintaining her position as the voice of her people, but this was all part of Anton Saric's plan. By pushing Hera out of office, Saric would take over. Everything was falling into place and now Saric plans to gather Helghan's finest to defend an escape route for newly manufactured cruisers that only a select few know about.

Orphanages were corrupt due to the lack of funding and morality of the workers, so those children were placed under the direct care of the Helghan Army. Many of them victims of Half breed terrorists, who turned against Helghan while others had incompetent parents who ran off to the other side of the wall.

Waking up in a large bed, a little girl with pure white skin and long silver hair sits up to see a semi dark room surrounded by metal walls, including a large window facing the grim skies of New Helghan. The seven year-old finally gets out of bed after her eyes adjust to the dark and walks to the living room of the small apartment. She heads towards the couch that had legs hanging over the edge and quietly tip-toes around to the front. She finds herself face to face with a sleeping twenty-seven year-old man who had pale grey skin, black hair and scars all over his face.

Staring at him for a minute or two, he finally opens his eyes to see a pair of deep red irises. Unlike his dull shade of red, she had eyes that can be described as rubies.

"Go back to sleep, Liza" He tells her, still half asleep since he just returned a few hours ago from work.

Liza doesn't say a word and simply brings her hands to her stomach to tell him that she was hungry. The Helghan infantryman sighs and gets out off the couch.

"Get dressed, we're going out for breakfast." He tells her.

Thanks to the Black Hand, hoodies and the like were banned for Helghast soldiers so the only attire he had was his combat armor. So from boxer briefs and a t-shirt to full body armor, it was quite the hassle. After setting up his breathing apparatus and locking in his helmet, he arms himself with a StA-18 pistol and combat knife. Liza finally comes out of his bedroom with winter clothing: a fluffy jacket serving as a dress, winter stockings, boots, mittens and ear muffs, all of which were white. After a portion of New Helghan was destroyed, materials were salvaged including clothes and given to orphans; it was pure luck that such a set of clothes were found in the package sent to him.

"Are you ready?" He asks her with a mechanized voice.

After nodding in compliance, the soldier gets on one knee to wrap a scarf around her neck. His tendency to baby her had made her cheeks flush red, much like the cold weather waiting outside. They walk outside and onto on a catwalk that hung over a steep drop where city dwellers looked like ants from above. Holding her small hand, they make their way towards their destination.

Walking into a large mess hall for Helghast soldiers, they see many others in the same position. Commandos, Scouts, Supports and Assaults Troopers were all accompanied by one or two youths. After getting in line, he held a metal tray with a loaf of bread, soup, shredded meat and two large cups of water while Liza had a small plastic tray that had rice, a hamburger, fresh salad, pudding and a milk box. (Food from worlds apart)

Touring around to find a sit, he is suddenly called out by his squad that were there by coincidence. Taking the two empty sits at the long table, he sat next to the commando of the squad and Liza next to another girl her age.

"Hey Liza. Are you ready for the festival?" The girl named Vanessa asks, who was finishing her macaroni.

Liza nods while holding a shy expression.

"She's still not talking, Bone Sprout?" The commando asks. The mess hall had enough noise to cover his voice from the Liza and her friend.

"Yes, Colonel. And I don't expect her to start any time soon. Recovering from what she experienced would take years." He tells him while unfastening his mask.

"At least she's eating. These past few months were tough, but I never felt so satisfied taking out ISA scum, especially those traitors. One of these days, the new generation will be far away from this Hell hole where a walk in the park isn't a bloody test of survival." The scout hisses his grief while a pair of twins, a brother and sister, sleep on his lap.

"Well a festival for the children will take place in the shopping district and we are to provide security." The support says before moving his mask to eat some grub.

"Do we have time for such a thing?" Liza's guardian asks.

"Saric's orders. We won't be carrying out anymore assaults and the Wall's defense grid will be set to maximum. Right now, we're just playing the waiting game until those cruisers are installed with artificial farms and other life support systems for the long haul." The Commando reminds everyone.

As the children carry on with their banter, the squad members of Death Cap continue their business concerning the mission at hand.

"Grrrr... I need to go to the Wall for guard duty." The Scout grunts his frustration then stands up holding the four-year old twins who had sliver-blondish hair.

"I'll go too. Lady Vasari is having another conference with the chain of command hoping to convince them to stay by her side." The Commando says then takes his leave.

"Aye, I'll be going as well. The little one needs to get a checkup since she just recovered from the flu." The Support dismisses himself soon after.

"Bye, Liza." Vanessa waves goodbye and dashes after the Support to grab his hand.

"Finish what you can and we'll save the rest for later." The one nicknamed Bone Sprout, tells her after finishing off his water.

With a mouth full of food, she nods again with a smile. The two exit the mess hall with a tin foil package and head towards the water front.

Walking at a slow pace for Liza to keep up, the Lieutenant (Bone Sprout) begins to recall his first encounter with Liza. It was during an assault after Half Breed radicals bombed a civilian district and his squad was instructed to exterminate every last one of them. During a firefight, he fell into a hole covered by loose debris and finds Liza curled up into a ball in a torn downed room. She was covered in bruises and cuts, so he walks closer with a first-aid kit, but stops when something caught his eye. An arm stuck out from rubble with a pool of blood seeping out. He assumes the worst as the arm appeared to be female with silver band around the ring finger, however without delay, continues to make his way towards Liza. After her rescue, she had lifeless eyes and no apatite for weeks.

Back to the present, he still doesn't know what caused her to open up, but either way she is still the future of the Helghast. Wandering for a bit, they find themselves near a factory manufacturing spare gas filters as well as fish vendors. The ocean was meek, but the sunset was nice. Buying more things from nearby stores, they finally head home. Wearing the intimidating armor was indeed a plus, since crowded walk ways would open up. The civilians would glare at him while pitying Liza, but it's not like they would take care of a war orphan so screw them.

Reaching their apartment, the day goes by and Liza's curfew hits. She gets clean in a standing shower then dries off with the help of her guardian because her hair was so long that an extra towel was needed. She puts on some underwear and a tank top, brushes her teeth, then takes her vitamins. Finally, she gets into her pajamas and crawls under her bed sheets. Before he could leave the room to turn off the light, Liza groans gaining his attention and holds out her hand. He sighs and walks back after dimming the room. Grabbing her hand, he sits on the floor next to her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Liza." He told her after receiving a perturbed look.

She eventually closes her eyes, but her grip around his fingers were still strong. Thirty minutes pass and he could see that she was in a deep slumber. He carefully slips out of her grip while freezing his movements whenever she stirred. Slowly walking out, he closes the door and begins to gear up for his covert duties in hunting down ISA operatives including Echo. As her sole guardian, he made sure the security cameras were working as they should. There was a time when he had to rush home during a mission after seeing a bed with no Liza only to find out that she simply went to the bathroom.

Days later, Liza's guardian is helping her put on clothes as it was the day of the festival in the shopping district for the sake of boosting morale for the people, but mainly the children. The vendors were mostly selling snacks, but the most exciting portion turned out to be the mini games: a shooting gallery, ring toss, painting, etc. Liza was put into a group of other orphans including Vanessa. They all held onto a rope as a Helghast officer escorted them around. The officer was a young woman in causal clothing since a heavily armed Assault Trooper would scare the vendors, but that didn't stop Scouts from using their cloaking ability to form a perimeter around them.

As they enjoy the festivities, the rooftops were covered with squadrons of troopers keeping a close eye on everything. There were some suspicious figures moving around, but with a quick take down and bio-scan, everything was going smoothly. Occasionally, some caretakers were called to join them due to some anxiety problems some orphans had, including Liza, so the moment he would appear, she calms down and returns to the games after receiving a few words of assurance. The festival ends without a hitch and Liza returns with lots of goodies to show to her guardian.

"Did you have fun?" He asks, while cleaning his StA-409 Keyzer which he had use a couple of times during the festival.

She nods with jubilation before placing her treats on a table and taking a sit next to him. Watching him work was one of the few things that puts her at ease, but she still can't find her voice to say "thank you."

Many times in the past, Liza would cry in the middle of the night and he was always there to tell her to be tough as he wiped her tears away. Fire fights were always in earshot, but he promised her nothing bad will happen as long as he had a breath in his body. His mask is sinister to most yet tranquil in the eyes of the youth as it was the face of a monster, a soldier, her best friend with an ambition to kill for the sake of protecting.

The time for everyone to leave New Heghan soon came and she never imagined having to part from him when he received orders to destroy the ISA's air defense systems located deep in enemy territory.

Liza runs away from her escort as civilians board the cruisers and chases the Assault Trooper who looked after her with utmost care. Watching him walk towards a Warlord dropship, tears start to roll down her face and lips tremble relentlessly. Though all the troops wore masks, his squad emblem and tag number were burned into her memory; A symbol she adores that combined a mushroom and a skull, and his serial number that was etched on all his equipment, 1124. The doors of the Warlord open causing her to run faster, but her legs start to shake as he gets further and further away...

Stopped by a fence, she utters her first words after so long, "Don't Go."

I couldn't say a word,
and shut my mouth.
The truth is I kind of
want to stop my legs-
Even then, since you go straight
ahead of me at a quick pace,
I'm staring
at that.

You get on the last flight.
You're leaving me,
And I start to run. The ground
is slowly going out of place.
I shouldn't cry.
I shouldn't cry.
But the truth is I wanna say it.

"Don't go."

You're vanishing toward the distance.
You're leaving me,
And I can't see you at all anymore.
The night is crumbling.
I shouldn't cry.
I shouldn't cry.
But the truth is I wanna say it.

"Don't go."

If the festival ends,
it'll be the same as always.
I knew that an unchanging
night would come.
Even then, you look far more
cool than you usually do,
and I'm staring
at that.

Only time is passing.
It's taking me with it
Although the way home is dark,
I wonder if I'll be alright alone.
I'm shined on by the streetlights
and shadows are coming out.
I'm all alone, see.

You're vanishing toward the distance.
You're leaving me,
And the night is perfectly
blurring this time around too.
I shouldn't cry.
I shouldn't cry.
But the truth is I wanna say it.

"Don't go."

I shouldn't cry.
I shouldn't cry.
But the truth is I wanna say it.

"Don't go."

-Kaai Yuki-