September 27, C.E. 71… Battle of Jachin Due…
The Dominion was taken down by its sister-ship a one-on-one duel that warships weren't supposed to do. The Archangel could've been hit by its Lohengrinn Positron cannon, but a heavily damaged Strike and its pilot did the impossible, blocking its beam and saving the Archangel. The Archangel Captain's response came in the form of another beam from a Lohengrinn, but without someone who could make the impossible possible on their side to block the beams, the bridge took a direct hit, causing the demise of the Dominion, taking with it Muruta Azrael and Natarle Badgiruel, the Archangel's former Deputy Captain. Except for them, the rest of the crew managed to escape via shuttles towards the Archangel. One of them, however, got caught up in the battle that was being fought by the ZGMF-X13A Providence and the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. The shuttle was shot by one of the DRAGOONs from the Providence, but the Freedom blocked the beam with its shield, saving Fllay from an untimely death. Unfortunately for the Ultimate Coordinator, another beam from a different direction was fired, hitting the shuttle at dead center and destroying it. Immediately after that, Kira Yamato proceeded and resumed his battle with Rau Le Creuset. The rest of the shuttles were almost at the Archangel, but one of them immediately turned around and headed for the destroyed shuttle.
"What on Earth are you doing? We have to go to the Archangel!" one of the passengers complained.
"I suggest that you sit down! We are going to that shuttle and find any survivors!" the pilot shouted as he steered the shuttle towards the destroyed shuttle.
"Are you insane? No one could survive that explosion! If anyone did, they'll die immediately from lack of air!" another passenger shouted.
"But by going there immediately after it exploded, we may find someone who's still in the process of dying! If we get there soon enough, we may have the chance to treat them!" the pilot shouted again.
"We don't have equipment here! Survivors will just end up dead!"
"At least we tried! This is the only way to pay those we could save!" the pilot stopped the craft and immediately put on a space suit.
Outside the shuttle, the pilot and a few other people searched through the debris. The ill-fated shuttle's pilots were blown into pieces, therefore there was no chance that they were alive. Then the members of the rescue shuttle found someone with a faint signs of life. Although heavily wounded, suffered from third degree burns and possibly massive internal bleeding, the person was still twitching a bit. Deciding that it may be better if they tried to save that particular person, they carried her to the shuttle. Inside, they gave her oxygen, treated her wounds and covered her burns. After being dead for two minutes, a very weak pulse was detected. Not enough to ensure that she'll be fine, but proof enough that she was alive. Just as they were rejoicing and the pilot was preparing to head for the Archangel, a stray beam from the battling mobile suits almost hit them when a white mobile suit, GAT-X104 Blitz, which can considerably be the older brother of the GAT-X207 Blitz, appeared out of nowhere and dragged the shuttle towards a nearby medical ship
A few minutes later at the medical ship, the passengers and crew of the escape shuttle were in the dining area while Fllay was still being treated. A few minutes later, a nurse entered the Emergency Room and one went out.
"Hey! Where are you going? Isn't there still an operation going in there?"
"Yes, but the doctor ordered me to rest, I will be needed in another as soon as this one finished." The nurse leaned on the wall.
"But… how is it possible to conduct an operation with no gravity? Won't be there too many floating matter?"
"Don't worry. There's a constantly working vacuum inside the operating room. In the event that the patient loses too much blood, we have a lot in stock, all blood types."
"What about the patient? Will she survive?" the pilot stood up and asked.
"You're early rescue contributed to her surviving until now, but exposure to space can do more than physical damages. There are always those unseen problems that the doctors are looking out for. Right now, she's at critical condition. There's a 95 percent chance that she'll die… but the doctor said that if she'll end up dead anyway, we might as well try to save her."
"Thanks…" the pilot sighed and smiled.
"No problem. After all, we're Equatorial Union's Elite Medical Wing! Even if there's only a slight chance of survival, we'll take that chance!" the nurse looked at his watch, "Damn! That EAF pilot needs to take his medicine! It's the second time that we rescued him!"
"Second time?" the pilot looked at the nurse with curiosity.
"Yeah… the first time we found him, he was at the Endymion Crater where the Hawk of Endymion got his name. And now, he just took on the Providence with a Strike Dagger… I don't know if he's stupid or brave."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Approximately 2 years later, Red Cross Clinic, Palawan…
"Ouch…" Silve grunted as he struggled to get up, but was forcefully pushed down after he reached halfway.
"Patients should stay in bed!" the nurse, a.k.a. Scarlet, scolded him.
"Fine. I'll do it." Silve relaxed on the bed, then stared at Scarlet's face "That's odd… I'm pretty sure I met this person somewhere before…"
"Umm…" Scarlet blushed after she noticed that Silve was staring at her, "Why are you staring?"
"Oh…" Silve blinked, "Aren't you a crew member of the Dominion?"
"Dominion?" Scarlet stared back at the crimson-haired pilot.
"Yeah… I just regained my consciousness on the Equatorial Union's Gabriel when I heard that a shuttle from the Dominion just came in."
"You could've just mistaken me from someone else." Scarlet put a hand on her head as a slight headache hit her.
"Believe me… one thing I'm good at is recognizing people." Silve smiled, "and as far as I know, you are that person… the sole survivor of an exploded shuttle."
"That's not me!" Scarlet screamed as her headache became worse. She ran out of the door and bumped into Miriallia who was on her way in.
"Ouch." Mir flinched.
"Sorry!" Scarlet shouted to Mir as she got further away.
Mir just sighed and walked into Silve's room.
"Eh? Who are you?" Silve blinked twice while staring at Mir.
"Oh… Sorry. I'm Miriallia. You're Silve, right?" Mir smiled at Silve
"Miriallia… how did you know my name?"
"Well, I got curious and I looked at your ID. Actually, me and Mia."
"Mia? Who is she?" Silve sat up slowly.
"She said she's 2nd Lt. Mia Halcyone… she's the pilot of that thing attached to your Mobile Suit." Mir walked towards the side of the bed and sat down.
"Oh… so she piloted the Flyer…" Silve said as he looked outside the window, staring at the sunset. Mia also came into the room at that exact moment.
"So, you're awake." Mia greeted Silve.
"Umm… Yeah, guess so." Silve said while keeping his glance at the same direction.
"So, how do you feel, Silve?" Mia sat down on the other side of the bed which was closer to the window.
"Fine, Mia. Just fine." Silve smiled at Mia, who was left speechless at Silve's reply.
"Uhh… How did you know my name?"
"Miriallia told me." Silve grinned, "…and it's no surprise since you already know my name… I guess it's proper for me to do the same for you."
"Alright, but how did you know that I'm Mia?"
"Simple. The only ones that would enter this room would be the doctor, the nurse, the person that brought me here, and the Flyer's pilot. Since I already saw the nurse, that's not you. You're not the doctor either… plus it was Mir that helped bring me here, so I thought that you were the Flyer's pilot."
"Oh really? I guess we don't really need introductions now, do we?"
"Nope, I guess not." Silve shrugged his shoulders, but kept them there for a time, grunting while keeping a grin plastered on his face, "Yeowch."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Sulu Sea, Legacy's bridge
"I thought the search party would be here before us…" Cheska sighed and turned to one of the bridge crew, "Anything on radar?"
"No, ma'am. If I remember correctly, STRIDE Flyers are equipped with Sensor Jammers. They're only visible to another STRIDE Flyer Unit. If we want to find it, all we can do is use visual search. Instrumental search won't work."
"I understand… but why do you know so much about the STRIDE Flyer?" the Captain's curiosity got sparked.
"Before I was assigned to Central, I worked as an Avionics Technician in Sentosa. I was put in charge of developing that Sensor Jammer… so you may say that I practically made that Jammer." He grinned with pride.
"That's good to hear…" Cheska sighed and was about to continue when a communications screen turned on and interrupted her.
"Colonel Cheska Benthal, Captain of the Legacy? This is 1st Lt. Yuan Astur, requesting permission to board your ship." The face on the screen said as the Aether Flyer flew past the bridge and turned around.
"Is that…?" Cheska stood up from her chair seat.
"Yup. Aether Flyer, the STRIDE Flyer equipped with Aether Striker." the CIC operator answered.
"Thanks for the info, Lt. Commander Austere." Cheska replied, making the Jammer-maker shrug his shoulders and return to his work.
"Umm… so, may I come in or what?" the Lieutenant interrupted as he went for another go-around.
"Sorry… Alright! Open Center-Rear gate!" Cheska ordered.
The Center-Rear gate, which was facing forward and directly underneath the bridge, opened upwards.
"Aether Flyer, you are clear for landing." The Legacy's traffic controller signaled.
Immediately after receiving the clearance, the Aether Flyer flew quite a distance ahead of the Legacy, then turned around, aligning itself with the Legacy's 'landing strip' and center-line. A hundred meters ahead of the Legacy, Aether Flyer opened all flaps and deployed the airbrakes. A few meters before the 'landing strip', Yuan shut down all engines and deployed the landing gear. With high enough air resistance, powerful brakes and no thrust, the Aether Flyer stopped dead on its tracks 25 meters away from the gate. Prior to stopping, Yuan reactivated the main engine and used minimal thrust to move into the gate. After entering, the gate closed behind him and he got off the Flyer and headed for the bridge.
A few moments later, at the bridge…
"So you're saying that the STRIDE Flyer's sensors don't have a long range capability? Cheska asked its maker.
"Nope. Losing the range effectivity of the sensors is a price to pay for the Sensor Jammers. Think of it as 'blocking your own transmission'. It's actually a miracle that the guys in Malaysia were able to make the output strong enough to transmit for a 1-kilometer radius."
"So now you're saying that in order for the Flyer to search for the Azure Skies, we need a more powerful sensor to be equipped with the Flyer's Sensor Jammer?" Cheska raised an eyebrow.
"That. I believe, is what he wants to say." Yuan interrupted.
"Well, we can't definitely use this ship's main sensors, if its range decreases by the slightest bit, it will put us in a disadvantage in the event we enter battle." Austere pulled out a lollipop from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
"There's always scrap." Cheska turned her seat to face the rear portion of the bridge.
"Scrap, Captain?" the pilot, who was eavesdropping decided to cut-in.
"Yes, Lt. Commander Levanter." The Captain sighed, "we have enough spare parts to produce 10 more sensory equipment. We'll build one and equip it with the Flyer's Sensor Jammers."
"That's a sound plan… however, we'll have to put it at a place at least 50 meters away from any sensor." Austere crossed his arms.
"Why is that?" Cheska raised an eyebrow.
"As popularly used, jammers nullify any incoming signals that it's supposed to nullify. This Sensor Jammer has another drawback. It renders all sensors useless within a 25 meter radius. That means we can't put it near any sensor when it's active. The only reason that the Flyers can detect each other is because they use a different wave carrier."
"What do you mean? All equipments use radio waves as carriers." Levanter replied.
"In common situations, yes. But in the Flyers, they use light waves as carriers, so don't be surprised to see a faint reddish glow around a Flyer when they transmit."
"That makes sense. Jamming all other wavelengths except for light waves and using light waves to transmit… no sound, no infrared signature, no radar signature… it sounds ridiculous and impossible, but now that I've seen it, I'll say it's a work of a genius!" Levanter applauded.
"Oh well…" Austere shrugged his shoulders.
- - - - - - - - - -
Red Cross Clinic, Palawan
After a few more minutes, the doctor came in and checked Silve.
"You're quite a fast healer… any normal person would've taken days to recover. I'm surprised you got up after a few hours." The doctor checked his list.
"Let's just say I'm stubborn…" Silve stared hard into the doctor's face, "say… do I know you?"
"What do you mean?" the doctor raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah… I think I've seen you before… weren't you the pilot of that white Blitz?"
"Oh… wait…" the doctor thought hard, "so, you're the pilot that took on the Providence with a Dagger?"
"Umm… embarrassing as it may be, but yes, that was me."
"Now I remember… no wonder I thought you looked familiar. Looks like this is the third time that I had to treat you." The doctor crossed his arms, "I don't know if you're just brave or plain stupid… Maybe you're both."
"Well, I guess so…" Silve sighed.
"Just relax for now…" the doctor patted him and turned, "oh… and be careful next time." And with that, the doctor left.
"I will…" Silve whispered.
Then, Mia entered the room, seeing that the doctor already left.
"So, how are you feeling now?" Mia sat next to Silve.
"Better… but somehow, still woozy every now and then." Silve replied as he fell back to bed, grunting once again, "…ouch."
"At least, you're improving." Mia reassured.
Meanwhile, at the clinic's storage room, Scarlet was searching for Silve's medicine. A few rustles were heard which caught Scarlet's attention. Suddenly, an EAF soldier appeared behind her and pricked her at the neck with a sedative-loaded needle. Scarlet blacked out and fell into the arms of the EAF soldier. He opened the delivery door and ran off with Scarlet. After a few minutes, the doctor entered the storage room, looking for Scarlet, but after calling her name for more than 20 times and getting no response, he went to the rear portion of the room and saw the delivery door was left opened. Fearing the worse, he opened the doors to secret basement located 100 meters away from the clinic. He hit the switch and turned on the lights, revealing the Blitz, without it's Phase Shift Armor. He immediately changed into his dark green flight suit and jumped into the cockpit. Not willing on waiting for the doors to open, he used the Blitz's sword and cut a hole, heading towards an uncertain direction.
Back at the patient's room, Silve looked out the window and noticed the Blitz fly into the horizon, riding a sub-flight lifter.
"Mia, let's go. Where's the Azure Skies?" Silve asked as he stood up, ignoring the pain.
"What do you mean? You have to rest!" Mia insisted.
"No! I just saw the Blitz take off! That means something serious has taken place and he needed to interfere. I need to help him!"
"Just rest!" Mia insisted, rather forcefully.
"Listen, Mia… he helped me three times. This is one of the few chances that I may be able to repay him… please, let's go." Silve pleaded.
"Alright. But take the flight suit. It's at the external compartment of the Skies Striker."
"Sure."
And with that they ran off, and Silve took his stuff, into another underground hangar. They put on their flight suits and got into the cockpits that were technically attached to each other.
"Where are you going?" a voice on the radio asked.
"That's not important now. We have to leave." Mia answered the transmission.
"Here we go. Silve Almana, take me to the skies Azure Skies!" he flew the mobile suit right through the roof, as it was made of aluminum foil. He faced the direction of Blitz's flight and followed it.
- - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: Another chapter uploaded… Pace is quite slow since I'm busy and both of my PCs are totaled. It may take months before I get a new one. For now, I guess I should upload whenever I can… And that happens every month or two. So far, there's nothing new here, but you guys will see it in a few chapters (if I get lucky, you'll see it by next chapter). But 'til then… See ya!