Of Dragons and Destiny

by The Narrator

To whom is allegiance owed? The Empire or the Lady? Colin must choose his path as the War of Destiny begins in earnest...

7. The Coming of Mars

Of Dragons and Destiny: Chapter VI

The Coming of Mars

"Men at some time are masters of their fates:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,

But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

~ Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar"

"Secondary strike team, stand down." The dispassionate mechanical voice reverberated through the hangar, halting all activity. Anxious eyes turned automatically toward the box the voice was coming from. "Secondary strike team, stand down," the voice repeated. It was immediately followed by a loud click, signaling another message. "Maintenance crews, report to your docking bays. Maintenance crews report to your docking bays." There was a humming noise and the voice went dead.

Colin let out the breath he had been holding and began going through the shut-down sequence for his guymelef, his mind preoccupied. Were they successful? They wouldn't tell us to stand down unless…yes, that must be it. Calling for the maintenance crews is standard procedure in any situation, you know that. But suppose something else…

"Colin, what do you think?" Raul asked him, the strain in his voice clear even over the com-link.

"They must have been successful. They had the stealth cloaks after all and we've all trained hard for this type of stuff. Gatti's the best man Lord Dilandau could have chosen to lead them and Chesta's the best pilot out of all of us…" Colin knew that he was babbling, but everyone had been on edge ever since the launch order came down earlier that day. The last of the fluid drained away and the hatch opened with a hiss of steam. Colin jumped down and waited for Raul to get out of his guymelef.

"Of course they completed the mission," Raul said calmly, letting himself drop from Nemesis's control chamber. Colin resisted the urge to shake his head; Raul's temperament was sometimes as changeable as Lord Dilandau's, though it seemed to have gotten worse ever since they had begun this series of raids, or "exercises" as Command euphemistically called them. Fanelia would be the last, the one all the other raids had built up to.

"It's just that since we're not down there with them, I can't help but be worried," Colin admitted. A crew of mechanics rushed by, rudely pushing Colin into his guymelef in their haste.

"Hey you jerks!" Raul called after them, "Watch where you're going!"

"It's all right," Colin said, "We'd better get out of their way before the primary strike team gets in." He pulled Raul over to the nearest stairwell, which led up to one of the catwalks overlooking the hangar. "I want to watch for Gatti and Chesta."

"Those guys need to have some manners taught to them," Raul grumbled as they climbed the steps, "We're the ones out there putting our lives on the line and they don't treat us with any respect. One them even had the nerve to call Gatti, "boy"!"

"Well to them, we are just boys," Colin pointed out as he reached the last step. But Raul continued muttering darkly as if he had not heard him. Colin sighed. Let him get it out of his system before you try reasoning with him. Better yet, just keep your mouth shut and let him vent. If this how he deals with stress, that's fine, even if it happens to give you a headache. He leaned on the guardrail of the catwalk. Staring out towards the mouth of the hangar, Colin could see the flame-colored sky, trailed here and there with cinnabar clouds. "Good luck with sunset red, but at sunrise, Luck's abed." We need good omens. I can't shake this feeling…it's like my skin's too tight. And this isn't the first time it's happened…intuition, perhaps…either that or Fate isn't through with me just yet. I would have thought I would have stopped being so nervous by now, but it just seems to get worse every time.

"…you would have been on the same team," Raul was saying. He noticed that Colin was staring out at the sky as if he had not heard a word Raul was saying. "Hey, Colin!" Raul barked, punching his friend in the arm.

"Ow!" Colin yelped, jerked out of his trance. He glared at Raul. "What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing his injured limb.

"You spaced out on me there," Raul said, "I hate it when people do that!"

"Think you'd be used to it by now," Colin muttered.

"What did you say?" Raul asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Forget it," Colin said, not wanting to start an argument with an already edgy Raul. "What were you saying?"

Raul snorted and rolled his eyes, but answered, "I was saying that you really should have been on the primary strike team too, if you hadn't insisted on showing yourself to those Basramian pigs during that raid on Garing. Boy, Lord Dilandau was pissed with you about that one!"

"I remember," Colin said, his jaw aching at the memory.

"Never endanger your teammates in such a manner again! Is that understood, Slayer?"

"Yes, Lord Dilandau."

"You are dismissed."

"Colin, why did you do that? Did you forget how your stealth cloak worked or something?"

"Colin's not incompetent, Chesta, he's just an idiot! Colin, I know you don't like those cloaks of ours in combat, but you have to use it or else you endanger everyone else."

"Raul's right, Colin. This was our first real combat experience, which is probably why you got off so easily, but you can't do that again, and not just because it reveals who we are, but because you will be the only target. You almost got killed out there and that was a simple raid next to the training we've gone through together."

"Why did you do it?"

"I felt like a coward, striking down an enemy that could not see me. I know that we're supposed to be a secret weapon, but I just can't stand…"

"Colin, get your head out of la-la land! You're not a knight and this is not a battle you can win with your outdated views of honor and courage! Our objective is to secure the future of Zaibach, period, end of story. You might not like it, but you swore an oath and to break that oath by putting your personal honor above your duty to Lord Dilandau and to us is an even more shameful, more…more…more…I don't want to talk about this anymore. If any of you want me, I'll be in my room."

"Raul, wait…!"

"Let him go, Ches. He needs to cool down a little bit, that's all."

"Gatti, do you agree with what he said? Do you think I'm living a fantasy?"

"Well…"

"I understand. I'm sorry. I won't do anything so stupid again…"

"Eh, at least you wound up the sub commander of the secondary team. Could have been worse, you could've ended up in the reserve," Raul remarked.

"That means nothing and you know it," Colin said bitterly.

"What ever you say," Raul answered in an off-handed manner, but he peered anxiously at his friend. "Colin…"

"What is it?"

"Uh…nothing," Raul said, averting his eyes. He was not very good with talking about a person's, even a friend's, feelings; that was Chesta's expertise. "So, if they were successful, do you think that means the war is over for us?"

"Maybe. Probably not though," Colin answered, "Even though we've taken care of our primary mission, we'd still be useful as a Special Forces unit for…what ever they do with Special Forces."

"Yeah, that's right," Raul said, grinning. His eyes glinted gold in the light of the setting sun. "Some of the guys were saying that since the Dragon was the objective, we'd be deactivated because there would be no need for a war. But any way I look at it, fighting's inevitable and the army always has use for good soldiers. I don't want this to end before I get some kills of my own."

"What?" Colin blurted, aghast at Raul's careless manner. Did he…does he think of this as some sort of game? Gaea, he's become cold ever since Garing. It's like he doesn't care that the guymelefs we go up against have men inside of them. They are our enemies and we are the side fighting for right, but we must have some respect for them or this becomes a dishonorable slaughter of animals, not an honorable war! Maybe I misunderstood him…

"Look, I know you guys think you're fighting only for the glory of Zaibach and all that," Raul said, "But I happen to know that war is a dirty business that no one should have to take care of but the soldiers who are willing to fight for their comrades and their own survival. The only glory in war comes from defeating an enemy who will kill you if you don't kill him; the more you kill, the more you're looked on as a hero. If you survive, you've only proved that you're better at killing others than being killed. It's as simple a matter as that."

He sounds like Sergeant Berenger. "So you don't believe what we're fighting for?" Colin asked.

"I try not to make this too personal," Raul said, "If you do that, you'd probably go insane because you'll eventually realize you're a murderer. Ideals are fine for idealists, but you're looking at the most realistic son-of-bitch in Zaibach." Raul pointed his thumb at his chest, a half-mocking smirk quirking the corners of his mouth. "I'm gonna survive this war and I'm gonna be a hero because I'm gonna kill anyone who stands in my way."

Colin could only stare at him in disbelief. Tact was never Raul's strong point, but Colin found that he was shocked by his friend's bluntness. At least he's not afraid to admit what he believes, even though he knows not many people would approve. I have to admire him for that. "You'll understand if this idealist continues to believe that we're serving a higher purpose here," Colin said, mirroring Raul's grin. The two of them burst out laughing.

"I wonder who the joke's going to be on when this is all over," Raul said.

"I suppose we'll just have to see," Colin replied. The familiar whine of Alseides engines reached his ear. "Here they come!"

"There's Guimel's guymelef," said Raul, "Viole's…holy shit! What happened to Dalet?!"

"And Chesta!" Colin exclaimed as the Diana almost crashed into one of the docking bays. Both Chesta's and Dalet's guymelefs were missing a limb, although Chesta's looked the worse for the battle. It was a miracle that he had been able to pilot it at all with the damage it had sustained. Astrea arrived, last into the hangar as Gatti made sure that each boy on his team made in safely.

"Come on!" Raul shouted, running over to the stairwell. Colin was right behind him as they galloped down the steps and sprinted over to Chesta's docking bay, weaving in and out of the personnel already on the floor of the hangar.

"What happened?!" Colin called out to Gatti, who was just emerging from his guymelef. The sub commander clambered down the ladder his crew had just put in place and dropped the last five rungs to the floor. His face was grim as he met his friends' anxious stares.

"The Dragon got away," he said.

"What?!"

"Fanelia's in ashes, as Lord Dilandau ordered, but the Dragon escaped," Gatti elaborated.

"How?" demanded Raul. Colin was looking up with worried eyes to Diana's control chamber, which had yet to open. Something had slashed a deep gash into the top part of the canopy, above the eye slit. Chesta couldn't be wounded if he had managed to pilot his guymelef back to the Vione as well as he did, could he?

"I don't know what happened," Gatti answered, shaking his head, "One moment, it looked like the Dragon was about to surrender, next thing we know, poof!" Gatti snapped his fingers and shrugged.

"Did he fight his way through you or something?" Colin asked. Gatti shook his head again.

"No. What our esteemed colleague is trying to avoid admitting is that the Dragon has vanished," Chesta said as he pried himself out of the damaged control chamber.

"Chesta, are you all right?!"

"Yeah," replied Chesta, climbing down his ladder. There was a small cut on his forehead, but he did not appear to be injured anywhere else. However, he was pale and visibly shaken.

"This is the last time I'm going to say this," Raul said impatiently, "What the hell happened down there?"

"We got through the outer wall no problem," Gatti said, "I assigned everyone a section of the city, with a vector toward the palace. It was textbook; we got through their infantry and first guymelefs no problem."

"No surprise there," Raul said.

"But the closer we got to the palace, the better their resistance. You know how hard street fighting is, especially if the defenders have the home ground advantage. So we got kind of hung up about a block from the palace."

"Dalet and I were the first to penetrate to the inner courtyard, where the building housing the Dragon was supposed to be," Chesta inserted.

"I gave them the order to seek out and destroy the target," said Gatti, "I figured that if the Dragon somehow managed to get past them, the rest of us would have fought our way through by that time and we could have surrounded him."

"And that didn't happen," Colin prodded. Gatti and Chesta exchanged looks.

"The Dragon got through us. Dalet missed him somehow with his Crima claw and he attacked so quickly that Dalet's guymelef lost an arm. I tried to help out, but this old man with a huge sword blocked my blow and then attacked me!"

"I told him to fall back to the courtyard so we could help him. I managed to kill his attacker," said Gatti, "We had the Dragon surrounded."

"And then what happened?"

"All of a sudden," Chesta said, "A column of light appeared and…the Dragon was gone."

Colin and Raul blinked and stared at their friends in disbelief. "That's what happened!" Chesta insisted, "Don't look at me like I'm insane! Ask Gatti or the others, they were there, they saw it too!"

Colin and Raul looked to Gatti, who looked almost angry as he nodded in confirmation. "I just can't believe it happened!" Gatti sputtered, "It's impossible!"

"It happened, you were right there, the Dragon's gone, we failed our mission!" Chesta retorted, "Why do you keep insisting that something like that isn't possible?"

"I…" Gatti began. He was interrupted by the crackle of static and Lord Dilandau's voice over the intercom.

"Dragon Slayers, report to the debriefing room, on the double. All Dragon Slayers report to the debriefing room."

"Ow," Chesta commented once they were a safe enough distance away from the debriefing room, or, as Raul liked to call it, "Lord Dilandau's Smackdown Parlor." He raised a hand to touch the bruise on his cheek, thought the better of it, and dropped it to his side with a sigh. The four boys turned down the corridor that led to their quarters.

"I should have been the one to get the beating," Gatti said, clenching his fist and frowning, "I was the one I charge, I was the one who gave you the order to attack before we had all gotten there. It's my fault that yours and Dalet's guymelefs were damaged!"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," said Chesta, "You saw an opportunity and took it! We might not have even gotten a crack at the Dragon if you hadn't sent us in. You're a good leader, Gatti. Besides, everyone makes mistakes some time in their life."

"Yeah," agreed Raul, "Don't think that one mistake is an excuse to hang up your commander's scabbard. I mean, who on the primary strike team would replace you? Guimel?" Raul laughed, then noticed that his friends were not joining him. "Eh heh…yeesh, I'm just trying to help you feel better!" he grumped.

"You're right," Gatti sighed, "But it's still my responsibility as a leader to deal with the consequences."

"Yeah, yeah," said Raul, rolling his eyes, "I'm beginning to think you hang around with Colin too much; you're starting to become all duty-conscious and honor-bound." He waggled his fingers at Colin and Gatti as if he were casting a spell over them.

"And that's a bad thing?" Colin asked in a half-jesting, half-dangerous tone as he raised an eyebrow. He got in front of Raul and halted, causing his other friends to stop short.

"When it makes Gatti act like you, it is," Raul shot back with smirk.

"So you're suggesting that he take this matter like you would," Colin replied.

"I'm sure that was supposed to be an insult," said Raul, "but yes, I do think Gatti should take it like I would. Better to go on living than stewing I one's failures, I say."

"Not everyone has your carefree outlook on life," Colin snorted, "Some of us have to be adults, you know."

"Last time I got a look at your file, Delios, you were three days younger than me!" Raul growled.

"Guys, hey!" exclaimed Chesta, putting himself between them, "Don't be fighting each other! You're on the same team!"

Raul and Colin glared daggers at each other for several tense moments; Chesta was prepared to intervene if either of them threw a punch. Gatti chose not to open his mouth, but his face showed his concern.

"TTTTTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHBBBBBBBBBBBBBPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

"Ah, geez, Raul, you raspberried all over me!" Colin shouted. Actually, he was laughing so hard that no one really understood him.

"I win, I win!" Raul crowed, doing a victory dance. Chesta and Gatti stared at him as if he were insane. Colin took one look at their faces and began howling with laughter again. He was laughing so hard that he fell over and lay on the floor, giggling.

"What's the matter with Delios?" Migel asked, arriving on the scene. Behind him Damon and Myr were looking down at Colin with astonished expressions.

"Yeah, what's with him?" Myr queried, "Sir Colin never laughs."

"He's cracked," Damon concluded, tapping the side of his head with a finger, "Always knew it would happen, sooner or later."

"Hee hee…hey I take offense to that," Colin protested weakly, sitting up.

"Which one?" asked Raul, reaching down to help him up, "The name or the fact that everyone here thinks you're nuts?"

"I have a sense of humor," Colin said, as he brushed the dust off of his clothes, "Anyone would have to, if they were your friend."

"Why? Because they would eventually benefit from being in the presence of the one true Master of Comedic Timing?"

"Nope, because only someone with a sense of humor could put up with your crap for more than five minutes," answered Colin.

"He does have a point," Chesta remarked as Raul sputtered, trying to find a venomous enough come back. Gatti was laughing almost as hard as Colin had been.

Myr, Damon, and Migel exchanged glances before edging down the hall. "Since when did they start letting maniacs into the army?" Myr wondered.

That touched off another round of laughter. "You guys had me worried," Chesta said after a while, "I really thought you were serious." The four friends began walking again.

"Yeah, we didn't really plan on it," Raul admitted, "but for some reason, it was just such a stupid argument and such a great opportunity, we couldn't pass it up."

"Besides, you guys could've used a good laugh," Colin mused, "We all needed it. There's been so little to laugh about lately." He frowned.

"Looks like Sir Colin's back to ops normal," observed Gatti.

Colin grunted. "Since when have people been calling me that?"

"Since we left Fort Prolieato," Chesta answered, "It just seemed to fit, the way you always took things like honor so seriously."

"And yet no one was brave enough to say it to my face until just now," Colin remarked ironically. His friends shrugged. "I guess there are worse names."

"Hey, does anyone want to go to the mess hall?" Raul blurted, "I'm hungry and it is practically dinner time."

"You and your stomach," Gatti said, "I surprised you haven't eaten your way through all the supplies on this fortress."

"I'm trying my best," Raul rejoined with a sniff, "It's a hard job for just one man to do, without any help from you slackers."

"Slackers, huh?" Gatti demanded, "How about whoever's the last person to the mess hall has to play waiter?" He slapped Raul on the back, almost unbalancing him, then started running back the way they had come, toward the mess hall. "Move, slackers!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Son-of-a…!" gasped Raul. Colin and Chesta were already at the corner. "Hey, no fair! Grr…get back here!" he shouted, racing after them.

Lord Dilandau walked into Colin's quarters without knocking, which was to be expected. What was unexpected was that the first words out of his mouth were in the form of a question, not to mention the question itself.

"What do you know about Allen Schezar?"

Colin thanked the higher powers that his father had drilled into him the ability to keep up an emotionless façade under any circumstance. He remained at attention, keeping his eyes riveted on a spot on the wall in front of him. Besides the fact that he's your brother, there is nothing much I could tell you. "Allen Schezar is a Knight Caeli, one of the Company of Twelve, the highest order in the Knights. He…" Colin's speech was interrupted by a vicious backhand.

"Do not tell me things I already know!" Lord Dilandau snapped. He narrowed his eyes. "And look at me when you are talking. I don't like people who can't look me in the eye; it makes me think they're hiding something."

I'm not hiding anything…except for the truth about your identity. Colin shifted his gaze and met Lord Dilandau's glare without flinching. "Sir, what would you like to know about Sir Allen?"

Lord Dilandau smiled a small, secret smile. "You were practically a Heavenly Knight yourself once and I seem to remember you had the opportunity of meeting him. Tell me about him. What kind of man is he?" Lord Dilandau drifted over to Colin's desk and looked down at the papers scattered across it, as if Colin's answer mattered very little to him.

"He is an honorable man," Colin answered carefully, "He believes in the code of chivalry and would uphold its tenets at the cost of his own life." Colin paused, wondering what Lord Dilandau was getting at. I'll play your game, Lord Dilandau, but I don't intend to come out of it the loser. If you are interested in finding out where my loyalties lie through this round about way, I'm sure you'll find that I am as true to my oath to you as I am true to the code of the Knights, though I share no allegiance with them any longer.

"I have heard rumors about him," Lord Dilandau said, picking up the report Colin had been working on, "I have heard that he is a swordsman of impressive skill and a better-than-average guymelef pilot. But mostly I have heard about the attention he pays to women."

"I have heard of such rumors," said Colin, mastering the instinctive anger that flared up at a slur directed at one of the Knights, "I cannot say if they are true or false."

Lord Dilandau chuckled and threw the report aside. It fell to the floor with the crackling rustle of a flame devouring wood. "Diplomatic, I see," he said, folding his arms across his chest, "Did your father teach you that?"

Colin did not answer.

"I suppose you're wondering why I'm asking you these questions," Lord Dilandau drawled. He held his chin in one hand and stared at Colin, as if weighing whether or not continue. "I have just received word from Emperor Dornkirk himself that the Dragon has fled to an outpost on the Asturian/Fanelian border. Apparently, this outpost is important enough that the Knights Caeli have seen fit to install one of their own as commander there."

Colin saw the bait but asked the question anyway. "Sir, what does Sir Allen's character have to do with the fact that the Dragon happens to be at the outpost he is commanding?" And why would the Knights send Allen Schezar to such a remote, backwater location? The Company of Twelve are meant only for the highest duties in the Knighthood…unless those rumors about Sir Allen and the princess were…no, no Knight would so dishonor his oath. Or would he?

"There is a section in the Caeli code of chivalry that says, 'For my sword is Justice and with it I will defend the weak. I will spare those who beg mercy and give protection to those who ask of it.' Doubtless the Dragon will request such protection. I simply want to know whether or not Allen Schezar would violate his code to hand over a dangerous enemy to an ally." Lord Dilandau leaned against Colin's desk and waited for his answer.

He knows the Code so well he can quote it off the top of his head? Then again, the Dragon Slayers were modeled off of the Knights. I suppose Lord Dilandau should stop being a surprise to me. As for Sir Allen… "He would not violate the code willingly," Colin answered with a bitter taste in his mouth. I have just signed Sir Allen's death warrant…but then, Lord Dilandau might have planned to kill him all along. "Unless the Dragon agreed to surrender willingly, Sir Allen is obligated to protect him with his own life." Not that he would turn over the Dragon anyway, even if he was not so devoted to the code of chivalry, not to Zaibach…

"Very well," said Lord Dilandau, nodding as if he had predicted Colin's answer. He straightened and began walking towards the door. He probably knew what I was going to say without even coming all the way here. But there is one small matter I must know…I cannot go on thinking that I was responsible…

"Lord Dilandau, may I ask a question?" Colin called after him. Lord Dilandau halted but did not turn around. "Sir, will you attack if Sir Allen does not surrender the Dragon?"

"Why, Colin, I do believe there was concern in your voice," Lord Dilandau said, "Surely you know the answer." He looked over his shoulder at Colin, a cold smile on his face.

"Sir, Asturia is an ally…" Lord Dilandau's fist hit him in the solar plexus without warning. Green and purple filled his vision as Colin collapsed on the floor, trying to suck in a lungful of air.

"I am well aware of our current diplomatic standing." Lord Dilandau said, looking down at him dispassionately, "In a very short time, none of it is going to matter." He waited for Colin to get to his feet. "You will take Dalet's place on the primary strike team if we attack."

"Y-yes, sir," Colin gasped, bowing. Lord Dilandau smirked and strode from the room.

The desk chair creaked as Colin collapsed into it in a daze. He stared at the papers on his desk without seeing them. If everything goes the way I know it will, I will take part in the murder of Celena's only living kinsman…does my oath to Lord Dilandau mean more than my oath to her? I cannot do anything to prevent it from happening, aside from telling him the truth…as if that would change anything. Colin held his face in his hands. Something very terrible will come of this…

"Does anyone else think that this is a waste of time?" Raul groused, "I mean, we all know that the Dragon's here and the Schezar's not going to just hand it over. What does Lord Dilandau think we're going to accomplish sitting out here on our asses for hours on end watching this stupid castle? Not like Schezar's dumb enough to parade the Dragon around in front of us."

"Raul, more scouting, less talking," Chesta ordered with an irritated voice.

"Was that a command just now?" Raul shot back, "And this is not scouting. Scouting involves moving around, trying to find something. What we're doing is low-class spying for no other reason but that Lord Dilandau can't think of anything better for us to do."

Colin was listening to this exchange over the com-link as he peered through his periscope at the eastern side of the castle. I'm only glad Sir Allen did not recognize me. He allowed himself a small smile as he reflected over what was no doubt going through Raul's mind. He's probably going crazy with boredom. He's our best recon guy and he knows a job like this is beneath him.

"Raul, this is a stealth mission," Chesta said, "Stealth implies quiet."

"Like anyone's going to be wandering around out here. This is the backwater of backwaters, Ches. Besides, if someone was able to hear me, which would be pretty damned impossible, what could they do? Tell everyone that they're hearing voices?"

"Well then, shut up so I don't have to listen to your whining," Chesta retorted.

"I'm not whining, I'm merely pointing out that this is stupid. Hey Colin, don't you think this is stupid?"

"No comment," Colin answered, "Although, the Vione can only monitor the fortress from the air. If Sir Allen was to try and slip the Dragon out by some sort of tunnel system or whatnot, then only people of the ground would be able to report such activity."

"Oh," said Raul.

"See, I told you this wasn't a waste of time," Chesta said smugly.

"No you didn't," retorted Raul, "You couldn't think of a good reason for us to be out here, either."

"Oh shut up."

"Make me. Hey, do you guys remember that chick Sir Allen kissed?"

"Yeah," said Colin, rolling his eyes at the tone in Raul's voice.

"Uh huh," Chesta answered, "That was really gross, too. She looked about our age and he's what, maybe six or seven years older than her? It was like seeing some older guy kissing my sister." There was a pregnant pause after this statement. "What?" Chesta demanded, "Don't tell me you guy's didn't think that it's gross that a girl our age is that guy's lover!"

"Whatever you say, Ches," Raul said with a chuckle, "Besides, I'm sure you don't mind that Colin kisses Alethea, even if he is about a year older than her."

"Of course, not that totally different…wait, Colin, you've kissed my sister?!"

"Hey, it was only that last time we visited your house! And she kissed me!" Colin explained hastily. He was very glad that there was a fortress between his and Chesta's position. Note to self: kill Raul when we get back to the Vione. She was only kissing me good bye, after all. Next leave, I'll kiss her…that is, if Chesta ever lets me see her again…

"Heads up guys!" Chesta exclaimed suddenly, "The Dragon's out in the open! It looks like there's going to be a guymelef duel over here!"

"The white guymelef is the Dragon, right?" Raul asked. His position was higher than either Chesta's or Colin's, so he had the best overall view of the fortress.

"Yes," Chesta answered, his voice tense.

"Who's the other one?" Colin wanted to know. He almost thought about changing his position, but discarded this thought immediately; he had been assigned this sector, and he would have to stay with it.

"It's an Asturian model," Chesta answered, "Galahad-class."

"It's the Scheherazade," Colin said with certainty, "That's Sir Allen's guymelef." Sir Allen's dueling against the Dragon? Why…?

"Bet you fifty that the Dragon takes the Knight," Raul piped up, "Any takers?"

"I'll take you up on that," Colin said, "Sir Allen's the best guymelef pilot in Asturia, everyone knows that."

"Yeah, maybe," Raul agreed, "But if our primary mission is the Dragon, whoever's the pilot has got to have some skills to make him worth razing a country for."

"You might be wrong there, Raul," Chesta said, "The Dragon has a lot of guts coming at his opponent like that, but it looks like Schezar…hm, that was over rather quickly."

"Who won?" Colin asked, although Raul's cursing told him all he needed to know.

"Schezar did," Chesta replied, "I'm going to send up a report to Lord Dilandau, confirming the Dragon's presence."

"Joy," Raul grunted, "Maybe we'll finally be able to get out of here. It really stinks that I won't be in on the attack with you guys. Dalet's pretty sore with you about that, Colin."

If I could change places with him, I would. "Try not to envy me too much," Colin answered with feigned lightness.

"I'm sorry but the patient is not allowed to receive visitors at this time, so you'll just have to come back…"

"Look, we're his friends and we want to see him! Lodge a complaint with our commander if you want, but we're going to see him right now!"

"Hey, Raul, calm down! She's just trying to do her job."

"Thank you, young man."

"Please, ma'am, can we see him? I'm his wingman and I really want to see if he's…"

"Ches? That you?"

"Now you've woken him up! Please leave the infirmary this instant so he can rest! He was in a serious accident…"

"We are aware of that, ma'am; we were on the same mission with him."

"Nurse, please, I feel fine."

"Oh, all right. The moment you feel tired, you lay down and get some sleep, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How are ya feelin', Gatti?"

"Remember that time you smuggled that liquor onto the Vione after our last furlough?"

"…yeah…"

"Multiply the hangover by ten and that's what I feel like."

"Ow."

"I'm just so glad you're alive. I'm your wingman, I should have stayed behind to make sure you were all right."

"Don't feel badly, Ches; Lord Dilandau gave you the order to pursue and you didn't really have a choice. So, how did it go?"

"We captured Escaflowne. You'll never guess who the pilot was."

"The King of Fanelia, right? Colin, we all knew that…"

"It was that guy who called us cowards for fighting with stealth cloaks. The one in Sir Allen's fortress."

"That guy was the king of Fanelia?! He didn't look like he could fight with that sword of his, let alone pilot a guymelef! You're joking, right?"

"No, he's not."

"Lord Dilandau has us going out in shifts to look for the Asturian skiff that Schezar used to escape us."

"Really? What for?"

"So Schezar won't be able to inform his superiors about our attack on his post. The Asturians might interpret something like that as an act of war, you know."

"Hey, ease up! I have a mild concussion here!"

"Sorry."

"Any luck so far?"

"Nope. Matter of fact, Colin and I are scheduled to go out on the next shift in a little while. Ches can stay here to keep you company."

"Actually, the best thing you guys could do is to try and convince the nurse over there to release me."

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Gatti?"

'Yeah, I mean, just a second ago you were complaining that you felt like death warmed over. You still look like it, too."

"Har har, Raul. Really, I feel fine. Besides, there's still a mission to finish here. I should be the one organizing the teams and…"

"See, I told you he's been hanging around Colin too much."

"Very funny, Raul."