Chapter 10: Purpose
The fire from the camp light illuminated the darkness of the area where Alan, Melissa, Sandra, and Jim. Everyone was sound asleep with the fire warming them, as Alan, wide awake, stared blankly into the fire. His face was expressionless, yet his mind was racing with the constant thoughts of what he had just lost. His hometown, and his mother were what defined him. Without these things supporting him, he didn't know what he has left.
He raised his arm and shifted his view to the bracelet.
"It's all because of you, isn't it?" he said quietly enraged."If you were never created, this wouldn't be happening!"
Jim awoke to the angry whispers, "Drake, it's not your fault or the bracelet's fault."
"What do you know?" he said without thinking.
Jim got up from his sleeping area and walked over to Alan, slapping him in the face with his back hand, knocking alan down to his side.
"What do I know!" he said, waking the others. "I know enough to know that I lost the exact same amount of people that you did in that massacre, Drake! And I fought them with everything I had! Do you know what it's like to fight someone with the greatest gift a person could get, and fight for the one thing you feel is worth fighting for, and LOSING? Becaused that's what I feel Every Single Day!"
Alan just looked at Jim, realizing that his pain is miniscule compared to what Jim suffered. Seeing the dead bodies was one thing, but watching them die must have been even worse, Alan thought.
"I-I'm sorry, Jim." Alan said.
"Me too," Jim responded, "But now's not the time to be mourning. We need to find those murderers, and at the same time, get the Archangel.
"The what?" Alan said.
"The Archangel. That's the battleship that is going to come out of these fragments." Jim said.
Alan got up from his fallen position, and sat by the fire again. "How do you know about it?"
Jim sat back down, as the girls finally sat in looking to hear the same, "I was told about it when I got the bracelet. I received a phone call from someone claiming to be a government scientist. He told me how to activate the Bracelet, and told me about the fragment. He said it was an excellent battleship, which he said I should use to bring Justice to this world. I scanned my database, and found that The Archangel is one badass ship. Whoever controls it, could tip the scale of this war tremendously."
Alan used his Civilian scanners to scan the data He had on the Archangel, and nodded in agreement.
"But we should also assume that there are other battleships out there." Melissa said.
"True," Jim said, "But I was given the fragment of the Archangel because I was 'The one who could bring Justice to the world'".
Alan thought for a moment. "Wait a second," He said, "I was told the same thing, only about bringing Freedom to the world."
"You got a phone call from that guy too?" Jim asked.
"No, someone hacked into my computer, and told me." Alan responded.
"It's funny," Sandra said. "I got an email from someone also claiming to be a government agent. He told me because of my hard times, I should use the bracelet to Strike back at my troubles."
"Same with me," Melissa said, "But I met this guy while I was still homeless on the street. He gave me the bracelet and said to use the Blitz to use the shadows as my ally and hunt down the rest of the world."
"This makes no sense," Alan said. "We were all told different reasons to use our bracelets, and all from the same group of people. Why?"
Everyone thought of an answer, but could not come up with one.
"It's one more mystery to figure out on this journey." Jim said, "But let's focus on what's at hand right now, like getting the rest of the Archangel fragments."
"He's right." Melissa said. "If we can get our hands on the Archangel, we may be able to track down the Deathscythe and the Moronic trio a lot easier."
"Then it's settled." Alan said as he activated his Civi scanners to look for the closest fragment. "Wow! There are three fragments on the move heading south towards the last piece...wait.." his scanners detected the location of the last fragment, and then looked at Melissa.
"What is it?" She asked.
"The island! The last fragment is on the Island and that mobile suit is headed right for it!"
"What? No!" Melissa said. "Alan, we can't let anyone attack the island. We've worked so hard to make it a good home, and the people there can't defent themselves anymore."
"I know, If we leave now, we can make it before he gets there, but only Jim and I will have power. You two will have to be damage control."
"Agreed." Jim said, "Protect the innocent."
"Right!" Sandra and Melissa said in unison.
"Well, sleeping time is over, Lets move!"
The got up and activated their mobile suits, setting off for Melissa's newly developed home.