Chapter 14; Memories

-France, 1 year before Maylin is sent back-

Standing on the pier, Maylin looked out at the three cruise ships she was responsible for. Well, her and her mother, but this would be her first real mission as an IS pilot. She had busted her ass for two years training under Chifuyu and Tabane to earn her IS, but she considered it worth every drop of blood and sweat. Looking at the ring she now wore, she admired the light reflecting off the emerald. Like father's eyes she thought as she brought out the locket she kept with her. Inside was a picture taken on their wedding night. Cecilia had worn a plain white dress and a blue blouse, while Simon had on a pair of slacks, a plain white shirt and a simple overcoat. They both had the most radiant smiles, and Maylin could only imagine how happy they had been. She had another picture like it in her room of them and all of their friends together, laughing and enjoying life. Even the usually stone-faced Laura had a smile.

They had been sweethearts since he had asked her out at the end of their first semester, though from what she had been told they had started off as enemies. Apparently, there were several matches held between them, and more than a few pieces of furniture were destroyed. Smiling, she tucked the pendant back under her shirt and looked back out over the bay. They had been sent to oversee the evacuation of the French city of Marseille. Cecilia had gone to make sure that the defenses sent to buy them time would hold against a possible assault, leaving Maylin in charge of the three warships in the bay and the handful of troops that were directing people aboard the ships.

The battles across mainland Europe had been growing steadily worse as the enemy gained more ground. Turkey had fallen within the first month of the attacks, and they had been pressing steadily outward ever sense. Germany, Poland, the Ukraine and France had become the front line of the war about a month ago, and while they had been able to hold out fairly well, the countries south of Turkey had been falling like dominoes since it fell. They had advanced as far south as Uganda and Kenya, while to the east they had smashed into China's borders, causing Rin to be recalled for national defense.

What was most puzzling was the apparent lack of activity in the heart of their territory. Satellites were able to grab images of people out working on various projects under guard, but that was only for the large population centers. The smaller towns and villages that fell to their advance simply had their populations disappear. Hence the reason the French government was evacuating as many people as it could out of the immediate combat zone. This city would become a battlefield in another few weeks, despite the French military and their IS' best efforts.

While Tabane had been working around the clock to replace their losses, and had finally relented and taken on a staff to assist her, she couldn't keep pace with the rate at which IS cores were being destroyed or captured. It had become a rather sore point with her that there was something out there that was beating her. And to add insult to injury, it was using her technology to do it. Maylin had made the mistake of asking her about it once, and she had gone off on a rant that lasted for a few hours before she had run out of steam. It also didn't help her mood that Japan had been attacked a few months back, and they still couldn't reestablish contact with them. The fate of her sister, who had remained with the Sarashiki sisters to defend the country, was probably eating away at her.

Her radio beeped to get her attention, shaking her from these thoughts. Pressing down on the ear-piece's button, she said, "Maylin here." "Ma'am, we're almost done here. The last ship will be ready to sail soon," a soldier reported. Smiling, she thanked him and switched channels to tell Cecilia. "Mother, we are almost done here at the docks." "That's good news, sweat heart. One of the outposts thinks they may have a contact, so do ask them to hurry, please," she responded, causing Maylin to blush.

No matter how many times she asked her to, Cecilia refused to act formal with her, no matter where they were. "You're still my daughter. Nothing will change that," she had told her once, leaving little hope that she would stop acting like a doting parent. Informing the soldiers of the possible contact, Maylin summoned her IS and took flight over the bay to make sure there wasn't anything coming at them. 20 minutes later and the final ship moved clear of the docks and went to meet with the rest of the convoy. Looking up, she saw a flare go up, signaling that the ground forces were withdrawing from the city. Not too long after that, Cecilia joined Maylin as they coasted after the ships, deciding that they were better off as over watch then on the deck.

Cecilia's IS had undergone several upgrades since her days in the Academy; her wings now stored an extra pair of laser bits, there was more armor plating to guard against attacks, and her rifle could collapse down into a SMG for close-quarters. She also carried a pistol on one hip and a combat knife at the base of her spine. Despite her best efforts at keeping it in good condition, her Blue Tears still had several dents and cuts in its armor from the several battles she had had with this enemy. "So, no contact, then?" Maylin asked. "Probably a false contact," she responded, "You know, these soldiers do start to get jumpy after a while."

After two hours of flying over the convoy, they decided to land on one of the battleships and take a rest. The crew, used to the sight of IS at a distance, were startled when the two girls landed and destructed their IS. More than a few of them leered at the two, since Cecilia was still a sight to behold, and her daughter was, well, her daughter. Attractiveness ran in the Alcott bloodline. Their pilot suits didn't help matters sense the design hadn't changed much since when Cecilia was in school. After picking a relatively clear spot on the deck, and glaring at the crew until they left them alone, Cecilia and Maylin stretched out and enjoyed the pleasant weather. "So, where will we go after this?" Maylin asked, eager to see some action. "Home, probably. They want us to be held in reserve," Cecilia answered.

"Not the front lines? Why?" she asked, sitting up and looking at her mother, "I am more than ready to take these things on." "Maylin, it's not that simple," Cecilia responded, looking at her and letting some steel creep into her voice, "This is nothing like you're training. You're not ready, yet." "And I will never be if you keep giving me these kid jobs!" They had had this debate before, many times. Maylin wanted to fight, to strike back at the enemy that had caused her mother so much pain, the enemy that had taken her father from her. Cecilia could understand how she felt, but she knew that this was the ignorance of youth, and she wasn't about to risk her only child just to please her.

Before it could escalate any further, an alarm sounded across the ship. Scrambling up, Cecilia stopped the nearest crewmen and asked, "What's happening?" "The rear guard has a contact. Three assault ships and their escort, closing fast," he said before rushing off to his duty station. "Three ships?" Maylin said, excited, "They will not last long on their own. We need to help them." Sighing in frustration, she said, "Fine, but you will follow my lead, young lady." Nodding, Maylin summoned her IS and took off, following Cecilia as they made their way to the rear of the convoy. The rear guard ship, a destroyer, had already broken off and was turning to engage the three ships, probably trying to buy time. But Maylin knew that their odds of success were remote, since their pursuers had weapons based off IS technology.

As they got closer, she saw what looked like large birds circling the ship. Harpies, perfect she thought as her helmet closed and she prepared to charge them. "Maylin, go in low and pull them away from the destroyer," Cecilia said, breaking Maylin's concentration. Before she could argue her mother's orders, Cecilia opened fire and blew one of the Harpies out of the sky. With a slight huff, she obeyed, moving under them and firing several blasts upwards to get their attention. And boy, did it work. Suddenly, she was dodging beams left and right as the Harpies focused on her, forgetting about the ship. For some reason the enemy always fixated on IS when they appeared in a fight, regardless of whatever else was present.

Caught between Cecilia's sniper fire, the destroyer's AA and Maylin's rifles, they quickly cut the remaining Harpies to pieces. Before they could enjoy that victory, however, another wave of them appeared and began a new assault. Activating her fold-out armor, Maylin ducked and weaved around the attacks, blasting them to pieces as soon as she saw them. This is too easy she thought as she watched another one explode, and these things are beating us? Before she could ponder it more, she heard a massive cannon shot. Turning, she saw a beam pass under her and strike the destroyer mid-ship, effectively cutting it in half. Stunned, she watched as the ammo stores exploded and crew scrambled to get off their dying ship.

Those bastards were distracting us she thought as she turned and prepared to take out the three ships. Suddenly, three Harpies surrounded her and fired, lowering her shields by 25% and blinding her with the smoke. Firing blindly, she backed out of the cloud and rounded on the one behind her. Switching her right rifle to its sword, she sliced through its chest and let the dead machine fall towards the waves. Turning back around, she caught another blast to the chest from one Harpy while the other closed on her with its sword. Backing away, she cut through the sword, as well as one of its arms, before shifting her aim and putting two holes through the chest of the other Harpy. Turning back to finish the first one, she saw too late that it had deployed a dagger mounted on its wrist. Maylin attempted to avoid the hit, but it still caught her, slashing through the armor on her left arm and shoulder.

She felt the pain, and knew that she would need to attend to it soon, but these thoughts were pushed back by the adrenaline and anger as she brought her right hand up and cut the Harpy in half, hip to shoulder. Looking at the wound, she saw blood beginning to seep from the gash in her armor, but it still didn't hurt badly. It was more of a dull ache then crippling agony, though that was likely to change soon. Working with her mother, and taking care to keep the wound concealed, they managed to fight off the remaining Harpies. Boats had been launched by one of the other ships to collect the surviving crew, and soon Maylin and Cecilia were once again on rear guard duty. The enemy ships had yet to come closer, though they could tell that they were working themselves up to it.

As they floated there, Maylin started to have the feeling in her left side return. Trying to keep her face passive, she hoped that she could just ride out the pain, after all, how bad could it be? When Cecilia noticed something dripping from her suit, she came up behind her and spun Maylin around, stunning her and revealing the wound. "Maylin, what happened?!" she demanded, coming closer to examine it. "It is nothing, mother. Just a scratch," she said, trying to play it off. "No, absolutely not. You're going to one of those ships for treatment, no argument," Cecilia said as she grabbed her other arm. Grumbling that she was fine, Maylin let Cecilia take her to the nearest ship to get looked at. When they landed, she destructed her IS and immediately regretted it. Without the armor present to restrict some of her movement, the pain was much more intense, as was the blood flow.

"I wish we could get you to the ship's doctor," the corpsmen said as he bandaged her arm, "But he's a little overwhelmed at the moment with the patients he already has." "Just do what you can, please," Cecilia asked, looking at Maylin in concern, "You should have said something the moment you were hurt. This isn't a game." "I know, and I am sorry," Maylin said, more embarrassed by the fact she had been wounded than the scolding she was receiving. Before she could press the matter further, Cecilia was interrupted as the rear cannons opened fire. "What in the blazes are they shooting at?" she asked, turning around. The corpsman had switched on his radio and listened to it for a moment before saying, "The bastards are moving towards us at top speed."

Cecilia turned pale at that, though Maylin was a little confused. Surely they could outrun them with the lead they had already. When she said as much, the look Cecilia gave her was part pity, and part dread. "Honey, they use technology based off the IS, remember? Their top speed far outstrips anything we have here." As realization hit her, she stood up and walked over to the rail, preparing to summon her IS again. She was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder as her mother walked up beside her. "No. You're wounded, and will only be a hindrance now. Leave this to me," she said, and before Maylin could argue the point she had reached down and removed the ring. Handing it to the corpsman, she said, "Do not give this to her until you get clear. Am I understood?" Her tone was one of authority, and even Maylin hesitated to speak out against it. When he took the ring, she turned back around and summoned her IS before lifting off from the deck. Turning, she said, "I'll be back soon," before she rocketed off to engage the closing vessels.

As she got closer to the ships, Cecilia took a moment to evaluate them. They were two standard battleships and a re-purposed amphibious assault ship, likely their makeshift carrier. Toggling the controls on her rifle, she selected the new fire mode she had installed specifically for moments like this. As the first AA tracers started swarming around her, she charged her rifle and sited up on the center of the first battleship just as that ship's guns aimed at her. She fired an overcharged bolt, piercing the hull and punching a hole clean through to below the water line. After a few seconds, in which she was forced to dodge several close shots, her rifle had recharged and she fired another bolt through the ship. Two more blasts ensured that that particular ship would sink in short order. As she shifted her aim to the other ship, the assault ship launched a half dozen Harpies to stop her.

Cursing, she shifted her rifle back to its normal mode and deployed her laser bits. The Harpies were in no way a challenge for her, at least when they were at range. One of them, however, managed to get close enough to take a swipe at her with its sword. Dodging it, she grabbed her pistol and shot it twice in the head. As she worked her way through the others, she saw that the ships were attempting to speed past her. Not going to happen she thought as she brought up the over-charge mode and put a hole into the front of the other battleship. Two more blasts and she decided it was time to turn her attention to the assault ship. As she sited up on it, a Harpy she hadn't noticed crashed into her from behind.

Too stunned from the attack, she didn't resist as it plunged towards the deck of the assault ship. They hit the metal and punched clean through into a hold below the deck. Once they landed, she used her laser bits to blast the pesky machine before standing up and taking a look around. "Oh no…" she said, feeling the pit of her stomach drop away. The hold was full of their land and air units, all of which had turned their attention to her. Switching her rifle to its SMG mode and grabbing her pistol in her other hand, she lashed out with her laser bits as they charged her. Explosions and energy weapon fire filled the room as she fought off what felt like the entire crew. After blasting two of the cats into pieces she heard a pair of explosions behind her. She turned just in time to watch another one of her bits get destroyed before she could pull them closer to her.

Setting the rest to guard her back, she continued to cut a path of destruction through them as she fought to get clear. But there seemed to be no end to them, and they were all throwing themselves at her, willing to pay whatever price she required. After shooting one Harpy through the head, another came in under its corpse and shoved its sword towards her chest. Dodging to the right, she felt it catch on the metal around her waist as she brought her pistol up and shot it. Feeling something warm, she looked down and was momentarily stunned by the sight of her own blood. This hesitation was long enough for one of the cats to leap onto her and sink its fangs into her right shoulder. With a cry of pain, she brought up one of her remaining bits and shot it off her before stumbling back into a wall. Taking advantage of this lapse, two Harpies destroyed her remaining bits.

Bringing both guns up, she cut loose with her remaining weapons. They returned fire, several of the shots getting very close to her before three finally hit. The first one hit and dissipated on her shields, as did the second, though enough force bled through that she felt like she had been shoved. The third broke through, hitting her thigh and hurting like hell. Another two followed it, destroying her SMG and hitting her in the stomach. Kneeling down and clutching the wound, she struggled to breathe as she felt her adrenaline starting to wear off. Wait, why aren't they firing? She wondered as she looked up. The remaining Harpies stood or floated in place, while the cats paced back and forth while watching her. They want to take me alive she realized as she struggled back onto her feet. Raising her pistol, she shot two dead and forced the rest to back off. I have to get back she thought as she stumbled forward, trying to make it back to the hole she had made in the ceiling. But, she was forced back as the remaining units fired at and around her.

Looking around, Cecilia weighed her options and came to her only real choice. They will not get her she swore. Holding the pistol out to keep the machines at bay, she keyed up one of her fail-safe commands and started hitting the overrides. Triggering her communications, she opened a link to Maylin. "Maylin, sweat heart, are you there?" she asked, trying to hide the pain in her voice. "Mother? What is wrong, are you hurt?" Well, she saw through that one fast she thought as she shot at one cat that got too close. "I'm fine, dear, just got the wind knocked out of me," she lied, "Listen, I need you to do something for me when you get home." "You mean when we get home, right?" "Maylin, please, just listen," she begged, feeling her strength starting to ebb away. It was getting hard to stand, let alone aim at these things. "In my jewelry box upstairs is the ring that I got from your father. Could you please take it to his grave for me? Can you do that, honey?" "Mother, what is it? What happened?" Maylin asked, panic creeping into her voice.

As she spoke, the finally confirmation screen came up in front of her. Taking a moment to read the text, Cecilia felt her lip begin to tremble as she hit the 'confirm' key. Immediately, she noticed the temperature of her IS jumping a few degrees. "Maylin, listen to me," Cecilia said as her arm dropped to her side, "I love you. Do you hear me? I love you, now and always." Cutting the connection, she felt her legs give way as her suit's core grew hotter. Sensing her weakness, her enemies closed in on her. Closing her eyes, she thought I'm coming, dear.

Standing on the deck and almost falling off the railing, Maylin looked out at the assault ship while she continued to try and raise Cecilia. "Mother, can you hear me? Mother?! Answer me!" she kept saying. Not too long after the connection was cut, she noticed small arcs of electricity running across the front of the ship. Before she could wonder what they were, a massive explosion ripped through the front of the assault ship, tearing the nose off and trashing the command tower. For a moment, she was too stunned by what she saw to say anything. As the assault ship began to sink, her mind started working again. "No, oh no… nonono," she said, shaking her head and feeling tears welling up. "Mother! No, mother! No!" Before she could fall from the railing, the corpsman came up behind her and pulled her back. Rather than fight back, she just collapsed onto the deck, sobbing. She's gone she repeated over and over, she's gone.

-Present Day-

Sitting beside Cecilia, Maylin felt those tears returning. Fighting through them, she said, "It was all my fault. If I had not fixated on the ship, if I had not been wounded, then you would have…" Cecilia just sat there, her head reeling from what she had just learned. Parts of it made her feel giddy, that she and Simon would marry later. But, hearing about all of the death caused her to feel sad, and scared. She was finally realizing the scale of what they were facing, and it terrified her. And Simon is stuck in the middle of it. What could they be doing to him now? "Maylin, I won't pretend to understand what you're going through," Cecilia said, "But there was nothing you could have done."

"And how would you know?" "I know because if you had gone to save her, to save me, you wouldn't be here now to help us," she said, trying to comfort her, "You said yourself that things were different from what they were supposed to be. Maybe that means that what did happen won't be what will happen." Maylin sat there as she thought about that. Why did I not realize that before? she wondered. The answer had been staring her in the face, and it had been for a while; this wasn't the same time-line as hers, it hadn't been for a while. "Y-you are right," she said, starting to feel a flicker of hope, "This is not the same as my time. And I will not let it become such." "That's the spirit."

Getting up, Maylin turned to her and said, "Come on, we have somewhere we need to be." "And where is that?" Cecilia asked, confused. Summoning the right arm of her IS, Maylin brought up a map of a rather remote island. "We identified this as one of their early bases in my time," she explained, "It is the closest known base to Japan, and the most likely spot they would be." "Are you sure?" Cecilia asked, getting caught up in Maylin's excitement. "I cannot be one hundred percent sure, but I believe it is our best chance to get Simon back."

Sitting beside Houki's hospital bed, Ichika felt his eyelids starting to droop. He had been at her bedside as often as he could manage, only leaving to eat or use the restroom. He had even spent last night there. He couldn't shake these feelings of guilt, that he was the reason she had been hurt. If I had been better, fought harder he thought, feeling himself drifting to a rather dark place he had visited plenty of times the last two days. Several of the others had tried to cheer him up, but their efforts just made him feel worse. He didn't deserve it, Houki did. She deserved much better than what she had gotten.

"I'm sorry, Houki," he said for what was probably the millionth time, "I'm so sorry, this is my fault. If I had been stronger, than maybe you wouldn't have been…" "How long are you going to do that to yourself?" Charlotte asked from behind him, startling Ichika. Turning around to face her, he tried to force a smile, but she knew him better than that. Before he could say anything, she continued, "You didn't do anything wrong, Ichika. None of us could have known how strong they were." "But I still let this happen. I still let them put her in the hospital. I still…" he broke off, feeling the gloom returning. Steeling herself, Charlotte walked up to him and slapped him, hard.

"Stop that, right now," she said, putting as much authority into it that she could, "You are not at fault here, Ichika. The ones you fought, they are to blame. And sitting here doubting yourself will do you as much good as it did her." Looking at her, Ichika strangely felt better. He couldn't explain it, but it was like those dark thoughts had just drained away with that slap. Grabbing her shoulders to steady himself, he hung his head and said, "Thank you, Charls. Thank you." He felt tears starting to fall, but did nothing to stop them. Smiling, she stepped forward and hugged him, quietly saying, "You two really are so alike."

When she heard someone opening the door, she quickly stepped back and tried to appear normal, but still was blushing slightly as Maylin and Cecilia walked into the room. "I hope we weren't interrupting anything," Cecilia said, sounding a little smug. She knew exactly how the French girl felt about Ichika, and was trying to lighten the mood at least a little. Ignoring the comment, Maylin walked up and said, "We require your help." "For what?" Charlotte asked. "We believe we know where the enemy is holding Simon. But, it is not a place that we can attack with just two people," Maylin explained, looking between the two pilots. She knew that Rin and Laura would be ready to go at a moment's notice, but these two wouldn't be so eager. Not after the battle they had just been through.

"You want us to up and leave, just like that?" Ichika asked, sounding shocked, "What if she wakes up while we're gone?" "Then Chifuyu will have to tell her what happened," Maylin responded, "We have an opportunity to strike back at them here. And, we have a real chance at getting Simon back. But I cannot guarantee that they will keep him there forever. The longer we wait, the more likely it is they will move him." She made a real effort to avoid mentioning that they might kill him. Despite whatever connection he had to the Gospel, she had seen them commit too many acts of slaughter to consider them acting in mercy. After thinking about it for a few moments, Charlotte spoke up. "You know, Ms. Orimura will be furious with us if we took off again." "If we come back to a scolding, I will consider myself lucky," Maylin said, smiling. "B-but, we might get more people hurt!" Ichika said, still opposed to the idea, "Maybe even killed."

Turning to him, Cecilia said, "Ichika, if you want to stay here with Houki, that's fine. In fact, if you all wish to remain here, I won't blame you. However, I'm going. I love Simon, and I won't let them harm him. Not as long as I'm still breathing." While she felt a little embarrassed about admitting it so openly, she stood by her words. Nodding, Charlotte said, "I'm in. He helped me, after all. It would be rude not to return the favor." "As am I," Maylin said, stepping forward. Looking between the girls, Ichika felt caught up in their eagerness. Also, he would have a chance at pay-back for Houki. "This is probably the worse decision I've made, ever, but I'm in too."

The tempo starts to ramp up as the IS pilots go on the offensive. Will they make it in time? Will Simon still be in one piece if they do? Will I ever pair Ichika with someone? (Wait, I think I asked that already) Till the next chapter, readers.

I will admit, I felt bad about writing the flash-back in this one. Despite the fact that it's not what will happen, I still felt bad. Also, before anyone asks, yes that is a real city in France.