Act 4: The Eve of Odessa Part II

"You know. . This might actually work." Cutting to around a half an hour or so later, Satoru Hakiteki's dorm was even more vacant than before. All of Satoru's possessions were know cramped into a black suitcase that he usually kept under his bed, considering it consisted of clothing given to him and possessions that he bought when the war began on the cheap. The suitcase was stuffed to near-maximum capacity, as the only thing remaining in the dorm were the sheets, the shelves, and a lamp that laid on the edge of the bottom mattress of the bunk bed. Hidden under the lamp if anybody wanted to brownnose around, was a note, hand written by Satoru. It read. .

Dear Sergeant Major Stone, I am sorry, but because of personal reasons, I simply cannot cope with your decision on letting me stay on the base. You see, I've worked so long for this, and so hard. The Zeon took my home, and I want to fight, to make sure they don't take anybody else's home or family away from them like they have from me. It may seem odd to rush out to get myself killed, but. . I feel like, this is what I was meant to do. And if possible, I'll go by force. I want to stay with my friends, and not get cooped up here were there's already a bandwagon against me for getting Flocker out. You may disagree, but I believe some decisions simply must be broken from authority, because in these situations, I'd never know if I was right, or if I was wrong. Besides, Senra is leaving, and Alice was already transferred out of here a week ago, so there isn't much left for me here. I've already completed my training, so why should I stay for re-training? You may say it's for discipline, and it probably is. . But, something's drawing me out to the battlefield. A feeling, a sense I cannot put to words. . Anyway, why are you caring? For you, it's just one less student out of your hair. Also, I never thought I say it, but I think your methods were right in the long run. .

Except this one. . . I'll show you that the treatment worked out in the long run. .

Sincerely,

Ensign Satoru Hakiteki

P.S. If you do read this, there's a picture of one cute commander who came by in March who I managed to get a picture out of. I think her name was. . Matilda. Give it to the other guys if you want as a parting gift.

Boys, will be boys I suppose. It feels like I'm back in high school. . . The boy with new found reverence to his once hated superior and identified confidence, shuffled his bag over his left shoulder, and took a good look at the dorm he spent so much time it. He was so accustomed to it, he could call this his personal room, despite the company usually occupied in it. Like guys or girls that Senra brings over. When the electronic door slid open, he peeked his head out, to make sure that nobody important sighted him.

I really hope this base doesn't get hit if an attack was issued. .With one deep breath, he was off. He wasn't running, but he was walking fast. Not fast enough to make people notice him. His movement was a bit sluggish, considering his injuries just days back, however they didn't hurt nearly as much. All he was going to do is get to the heliport on the top of the base, and hide in a cargo hold for the Medea that he knew Commander Amelia and Senra would be on. Number 2. Free Bird . He could ask people where it was, but it would be better if he didn't. Besides, it was supposed to be a pure stealth mission. The boy peered around corners, to not get into sight of those cursed drill instructors or any jocks looking for some heads to roll. This place gets so much bigger when I'm actually trying to get somewhere. .

For what seemed like continental drifts, the boy wandered around the base, attempting any movement to get to the heliport. Even though it was only 5 minutes, it seemed like the longest 5 minutes ever. At last, he found an elevator. One that he's never been to before. He found several supply corp. Federal soldiers going into the elevator heading upward, so he took a chance, and boarded the elevator, surrounded by all sorts of people he has never even seen in his life. In one, claustrophobic space.

"Hey. ." One of the soldiers called out. Satoru didn't reply, because he was automatically trailing the assumption that the soldier wasn't talking to him, as there was no reason to. "Hey kid?" The second questioned was asked, and Satoru looked towards the source of the cry, but then neglected it altogether. The soldier nudged Satoru with his elbow, awakening the boy from any sort of drought of worries he was mentally drowning himself in.

"Uh. . Huh?" Satoru looked behind him, ripped apart from his mental cove to see the sight of a soldier, or worker, he couldn't identify the foreign outfit. All he could see was the soldier's currently growing beard.

"Are you one of the pilots getting shipped out of here?" The soldier asked. Satoru's answer came upon instinct, not even taking a moment to consider the answer.

"Uh huh." The answer was weak, and barely audible.

"Well, you're wearing the wrong uniform. Did your commander have to drag you out of bed?" The soldier asked. A new found rush filled Satoru's sub consciousness. He recalled that Senra was wearing a different uniform than the ones trainees were given, but now, people could pick out that he wasn't supposed to be on a Medea in the first place. The plan started to shatter upon itself, but Satoru picked up the remaining hope of it, and grudged onward.

"Oh. . They didn't send my uniform yet." Satoru said nervously. By the soldier's satisfied expression, he must have bought the excuse.

"Oh. Well, the delivery service is really sloppy. Take it from me kid." The elevator stopped to an immediate halt. All of the supply corp. members emptied out of the elevator in a pack, so Satoru just kind of, followed behind them, hoping they would lead him to where he needed to go. After a bit of walking, he saw a cargo conveyor belt, just like they had at the old civilian airports. He looked upwards, and he saw a few golden wings shielding the sunlight. That must have been where the Medea's were. So the boy took a hasted scout around the surrounding area, surveying each area with great detail so he could find out where he needed to go. There were 10 lifts, that said 1 through 10 on them in big, white numbers. That must have been where he needed to go. Satoru was about to step onto lift number 2, until some, ominous hand greeted him upon his shoulder. The hand seemed pretty manlike. He turned around, and there, symbolized everything he tried to get away from. .

"Sergeant. . Stone. ." Fear seemed to cover his entire body. He was slow at reacting to hide his bag, but Stone had already seen it. Instead of another physical treatment, Stone smirked. Seemingly mocking the boy.

"Ha! It seems like the little girl has to turn into a little woman at some point." Stone's attitude remained the same, even with the apparent physical fatigue weighing the man down. "What are you doing with that bag? Are you keeping your panties in that one?"

"Er. . Sergeant. . I was. ." Satoru couldn't deliver a straight answer to the Drill Sergeant, considering that the Sergeant wasn't even factored into the equation, and the boy needed to find some way around him.

"I'm no fool. I know exactly what you were attempting to do. But the question is, do you have the guts to do it."

"Why do you always have to talk down on me?"

"Because you clearly deserved it. You needed discipline, so I didn't let you go. You try to undermine my authority, and you are already acting like a wuss, about to piss your pants."

"I'm not going to take your **** any more, Stone. ." Pure serenity was absolutely absent from Satoru's speech. As the Sergeant could see the boy's already frail and miniscule muscles tensing up, he just had to laugh at the sight of the weakling attempting to stand up for himself.

"Ha. You think you can make it in the military like that? You certainly can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?" As Stone said this, Satoru dropped no additional comment. "I knew that would have you silent. I mean, you simply laid down to Flocker like you were his *****, it's going to be no different in the military. Except you might actually get somewhere there." The anger seemed to swell in the boy. Exactly what Stone wanted. "That's right. If you can't stand up to me, you certainly will die to the Zeon on your first run."

That comment however, struck Satoru's soul.

"Oh yeah. You'll die, you'll just be another number to them. Is that really what you want? Come on. Walk the Walk like you claim you can do. Lets see if you can back up your smart ass mouth." That was exactly what Stone has been trying to do for the longest. To get the people he fathered to face their fears head on. If they had fears on the battlefield, they would die just like that, and forgotten almost as fast as they would die. The anger was rushing through Satoru's blood, as this was something he wanted to do for the longest. Sure, he probably didn't stand a chance against Flocker, but he didn't show Stone in some way that he meant to be a pilot, he could never live this down. And he'd just see visions of Stone for all his life. Laughing at him for being such a coward. .

"No. . I. . I won't have it!! " The words slipped out of Satoru's mouth as he slid his right foot forward, providing it as a ground. The suitcase he carried was heavy, but would be enough. He lifted the suitcase by the handle, and swung it in one, graceful, fluid motion. The blunt end of the suitcase impacted on Stone's face in a very harsh manner. The momentum was so overwhelming, Satoru nearly lost his footing. Some people looked, but a majority of the others didn't care. He wasn't going to exchange any words against Stone, but instead, he ran from the fallen lumbering giant to the lift. He pressed the up button, and the lift forced it's way up. The last thing that Satoru saw of Stone was him lying on the ground with blood slightly coming out of where one of the metal junctions that held one of the wheels of the suitcase scarred across his face. However, the weirdest thing he saw was Stone, smiling at him. In a proud sort of way.

"I. . I actually beat Stone. ." That was the last thing Satoru ever wanted to see from the base. He made a sprint towards the Free Bird Medea. Thankfully, Senra or Commander Amelia weren't around to witness this, as his suitcase made a lot of racket wheeling on the jagged surface of the heliport. He ran up the large ramp of the loading bay of the Medea past workers, past carts, and past crates. He took cover behind a crate, and scouted around. He didn't see Senra or Amelia anywhere, as they must have been inside of the plane itself. He heard an overhead announcement, which triggered the crew workers to work even faster.

"This is a vital announcement. Medea crafts 1 through 4 will launch in 4 minutes to their designated rendezvous areas. All pilots who are not on their crafts by then, will be left behind." The PA Announced. Running out of time, Satoru opened a crate full of luggage. He pulled some of the luggage out and sat it behind the crate. After throwing his own suitcase into it, he too got into it. And with a bit of work, he managed to close the crate from the inside. He could see just only little parts with the air holes that were manually made. For what seemed like ages, the main cargo bay door started to close as crew members scattered off of it.

"I'm going to have to find a way to get closer to them. ." Satoru peaked out of the air hole to the surroundings outside of the crate. From what he sighted, there were a few workers. . However, something caught his eye. He saw a normal worker get through a door in the far end of the hangar, and an idea came to his mind. .

"Maybe. . If I can just draw one of them closer. ." Then the game that tested patience began. Satoru needed a worker to be alone for his plan to take effect. . Satoru Hakiteki couldn't get into places beyond the hangars, but maybe a normal worker could. .

****

"You know. . It's unfortunate that you had to leave without your friend." This line emitted from Amelia, whom was looking out of the window in the surrounding room.

"I suppose so, but he will surely take care of himself pretty well. Better than I would think." Senra replied. Senra and Amelia were sitting somewhere in the Medea that was separate from the rest of the plane. It had a single bed just incase somebody wanted to sleep, a table in the center that was set up in a real sophisticated fashion, and a couch on the other end; complete with a view of the skies. Sleeping would seem nauseating at such altitude, so Senra and Amelia sat across from each other at the table, eating their lunch that was pretty well prepared.

"And this stuff tastes pretty disgusting. ." Senra said, confirming that the quality of the food was still on Coach status: Some refrigerated chicken and strawberries. The two ate their food, considering they had no other choice but to do so. Also, Senra did not seem as nervous as he was when he boarded the ship along with Amelia. She too, wasn't shaken up about this. She told Senra that she is accustomed to moving around so much, and it doesn't bother her. It bothers Senra because he's been in the base for so long. However, Senra was praising the fact that there was no Sergeant Stone leaping behind his back, punishing him for everything he did or did not do.

"It's all we have to eat, so we better take it as it's given." Instead, he was alone with a beautiful woman who he could not get with. Amelia was probably to head strong about that, but all of Senra's flirting attempts failed in flying colors, so he took that as a hint to resign from the neighborhood flirt. Amelia's eyes just darted around the room, looking at some paintings of historical landmarks posted up around the room, and then back to her food, taking a bite every 2 minutes.

"Will there be a third pilot to join us?" Senra asked, retiring from his food for the conversation.

"Yes, there is. He's not from your base though." Amelia said, and then took another bite from a random strawberry in the pile.

Senra looked up to the woman in a curious manner. "Really? Who is it?"

"His name is Avery. I met him a couple weeks ago, and he seems to be a nice guy. You'll like him," Amelia said. "But the thing is. . I haven't seen him yet, and he's supposed to be on this Medea."

"After we land, what sort of battleship will we be stationed on?"

"It's called the Bulldog, a Earth-bound cruiser of the Big Tray class. I hear the people there are pretty nice, and it's one of the units that will carry out mobile suit operations instead of tank duty." Amelia said. Senra seemed curious on the methods of using mobile suits for combat. Senra was fairly able to remember mention of the Big Tray, that was deployed as early in the year as the second Zeon drop operation in March. Big Tray is an older model, but highly effective. It was supposed to be a massive carrier used for Earth-based trials, as it's fire power rivals that of a airborne battleship.

"Aw. . Man." Senra said this with a tone of disappointment. . He raised his hands in the air, and then let them drop in his lap, as a loud slap ensued. Amelia looked up, and raised an eyebrow up.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Before Senra responded, he let out a deep sigh.

"Well, I was expecting something special. . Like White Base." Now it was Amelia's turn to sigh.

"We're just grunts, Ensign R-, Senra. We're not heroes."

"Well. . I just thought-"

"Don't go trying to be a hero out there either. . I've lost too many soldiers in the war who tried to be heroes. That's probably why Satoru was left behind. Don't make me regret you being here too because you're just overconfident." Amelia said this firmly, as if she had the actual experience to lecture Senra on the matter.

"Oh ho! I won't. I can't let you distrust me when we just met a few days ago." Even then, Senra tried to take the reply in a jesting manner. Amelia exhaled, and leaned back in her seat, attempting to relax on the ride.

"Thanks. Just don't get killed in the battlefield."

****

"Hey. . Did you know that the Federation plans to use mobile suits in this operation?" Two soldiers were conversing, trying to waste their only savored moment of relief.

"Oh yeah. . Isn't Free bird 2 transporting a new Gundam module?" The second soldier said. He took off his helmet, that was completely filled with sweat. Both of the soldiers put their armaments down on the floor, working out their arm muscles that are now free from the weight.

"I never heard of that one. . Where's it going?" The first soldier asked.

"They say Africa. After Odessa, countermeasures in Africa, North America, and Australia [1] are planned to begin." The second soldier answered.

"Is it going to White Base?"

"Strangely no. I'm pretty sure another suit is ready for it. The G-4 [2] if I'm not mistaken."

"How do you know all of this stuff?" The first soldier asked curiously. The second just started to laugh.

"You'd be surprised what the superiors say around us nameless grunts." Both of the soldiers started to laugh out loud. Behind them, another presence entered the verbal fray. From the garb he was wearing, it signifies that it was another mobile suit pilot. In the crate that Satoru concealed himself within, the boy peered out. He first thought it was Senra. . But taking a closer look, the man's physical features were fairly different. The pilot had short black hair, and a wizened mustache. His main look appeared to be some style out of the Wild West, given the holstered Revolver at his waist, that was much outdated by the normal weapons today.

"Good afternoon, Avery." Both of the soldiers found themselves saying simultaneously. Avery just put a hand up in a jesting manner.

"Good afternoon to ya' both." Avery said, smirking. "What were you two talking about?"

"Just the rumors about the new Gundam ." The first soldier said.

"Oh. You mean the ENET." Avery said.

"That's what it's called. . Ahem. . What are you doing down here?" The second soldier asked.

"Just to see where those new pilots are. ." Avery asked.

"They're down at C Block." The first soldier said.

"I'm really not used to this craft. . So can one of you show me to the location?"

"Very well," one of the soldiers replied. He had nothing but gossip to bring about to end his break, so he thought it would be proper to do something more constructive. With that request filled, Avery and the soldier went through the electronic door. It slid open automatically, both of the humans went into the corridor, and the door sealed. The remaining soldier was left on his one, since it seemed that the others were elsewhere in the ship.

"A flyer like this and it's already empty," the soldier said to himself, speaking his thoughts aloud for some reason. "Oh well. I guess it's good to have the place to myself." With those words said, the soldier leaned up against the wall, concealing his face within the hard-shelled helmet all soldiers of his kind were required to wear. Looming from another direction, the soldier heard a crash. He peered out what limited viewing space he had to the source. "Eh. Must be a crate shifting," and dismissed it as such. Moments later, the soldier heard footsteps. They weren't heavy boots, so it couldn't have been his companion, and by the voice that spoke out, it certainly wasn't anybody he knew.

"Sorry, but I'm going to need your clothes for a little bit," The voice said. By it's non-hardened tone, it had to have been Satoru. The soldier looked up, unable to comprehend any sense of that statement. Before the soldier could get a good glimpse on the intruder, a fist forced it's way right into the soldier's stomach. When the boy tried to move his form, he was hindered by his injuries. This is too much just to see my friend, Hakiteki thought to himself. He took it upon himself to take the guard's helmet, completely revealing his wizened face. The blunt end of the helmet graced the guard's cheek, and he nearly went airborne by the force. Giving away any source of stealth that the boy was trying to convince, the guard collided into the crate, triggering a quick, but loud uproar for all to hear.

The boy's vigor acted through haste, as he took the guard by the arm, and began to disarm the guard to his bare-undergarments. Satoru threw his training clothing into the massive crate he was hiding himself within, and the guard's unconsciousness body accompanied. By the time the boy was attempting to present his new appearance in a somewhat convincing and fashionable manner, the pilot Avery and the other guard hurried back to the scene. By instinct, Satoru threw the helmet back on, and tried to make his way to the door. Trying not to attract attention at that.

"Did you hear that?" Avery said forward. It took a moment for Satoru to finally realize that the pilot was addressing him.

"I- Oh. Oh.. That. It was.. Just a crate shifting. That's all." Satoru left the conversation ending on that note, and tried to make his way through the electronic door. His objective was close in his grasp, but Avery physically intervened. The pilot held his arm out, blocking the soldier. His expression was a perplexed one, like the situation was more complex than it really was.

"Are you the same soldier I was talking to?" Avery asked. The other soldier shook his head in negative reply before Satoru could answer.

"No. That isn't Bill. He sounds pretty different, but," the soldier looked at Satoru's torso. There, clipped on was the owner's physical bio, rank, and complete with an aged portrait of himself. Obviously something that Satoru did not take in mind when committing the theft. Something that the soldier noticed that the thief didn't, was that the clothing seemed to be rather.. Small for the boy's size. Both of the observers could see that Satoru's palms were barley visible by the sleeve, and the more weighted clothing even hung down. "it says everything right here.."

"Well you see.." Satoru attempted to explain. Both were waiting for a reply, but Satoru couldn't think of one. During his trek to cycle through good excuses, Avery forced his knee cap straight into Satoru's gut. Satoru jolted back, taken completely by surprise. In one, quick, fluid motion, Avery grasped tightly onto the helmet, and even ripped it off of the boy. There, both saw a young man with black hair and blue eyes. The man known as Bill didn't fit any of the description. Bill was aged, had short brown hair, and brown eyes. Bill was even much taller than Satoru.

"It's a pity, that Zeon will use children to play their games for them," Avery said. Something about that statement was utterly ironic, but that was besides the point. Avery was truly a quick shot, and in the blink of an eye, his Revolver was out, and ready to confirm a kill. The soldier pointed his rifle at Satoru as well as a precaution.

"No! You misunderstand, I'm not Zeon!" Satoru was quick to point his hands up in surrender, while trying to lift himself up from the ground after Avery's swift attacks. The soldier could see the true picture, that Satoru bared no hostility. Just by the look of his eyes, and the tone of his voice, the soldier could tell. After all, the soldier was used to live combat, but Avery's gun slinging was just a hobby he liked to perform out of the Wild West and Spaghetti flicks.

"That's a pretty lame excuse. We caught you here red handed. If you weren't with Zeon, why would you need to steal somebody's clothes?" Avery approached Satoru, and forced the barrel of the Revolver into his head. Even through the thick hair the boy had, he could still feel the chill of the cold steel touch his skin. However, the soldier could also see that no sort of fear ate away at Satoru's stomach.

"Wait," the soldier interrupted, obviously giving Satoru a chance. "Hear him out. If he tries something, then we shoot him." Satoru sighed as a sign of relief, and tried to get up. Avery increasing the pressure of the Revolver on gunpoint proved otherwise.

"I'm need to speak to Commander Amelia Keen.. Tell her it's urgent."

****

Back to Amelia and Senra's cabin, Amelia was enjoying sweet slumber on the bed, as her slender form was slightly curled into a ball. She shivered from time to time and then resulting in her turning over. She was still dressed in her Federation uniform, except her shoes were off and discarded near the door. Senra was just laying on the couch, providing motions with his hand straight up to provide any sort of entertainment. His eyes occasionally wondered from the view outside, a view he was already sick of, and Amelia. He just couldn't help but wonder when a murmur escaped her lips and she tossed around in the bed. Senra just discarded it as she was restless, and was probably more nervous about how things on the Bulldog will turn out than she hinted.

"Mmh. . ." She mumbled. .

Into a dream. . In the depths of Amelia's mind, one could see just a myriad of crosses, hanging up in an abandoned area. The sky was gray, as the thunderous noise of lightning was about to stretch itself across the land. Several crosses were in the area, either shattered, or broken due to physical abuse. Closer in this valley, there were multiple tanks, battle scarred, littered around various edges of the field. Along that, several Federation officers laid dead, with bullet holes riddled into their corpses. There was a church, where a Zaku I laid flat up against it, lifeless in it's technological terror. A tank's massive cannon was rammed into the cockpit of the Zaku, practically impaling it along side the ruined walls of the church.

Amelia, was inside the center of the church. The church itself, was ruined, with rafters hanging off by a few thin strips of wood. The oddly designed mirror behind the altar that most churches adored, was ruined. Several fragments of the glass were littered across the floor where a majority of the church's activities where held. The box, where communion was held was shattered, and burnt. In fact, everything in the ruin church was burnt. The pews were disorganized, and a majority of them were sticking up in awkward positions either engorged deep into the ground, or lying in pieces. The windows around the church were shattered due to abuse, and decorations such as a large banner that clearly read "Hallelujah!" was burnt, and had several bullet holes engraved into it.

Amelia just had a blank stare at the vision her mind was portraying. She couldn't understand the dream at all, as it was like she had full consciousness within this dream, unlike other dreams where you just know it's fake and you can command yourself to "wake up" and it would be granted so. Not in this case. Amelia looked around her. The floor was wrecked, and showed several signs of soil. The altar was overturned, and right at her foot. She looked forward. . There she saw a child's toy. . A stuffed bear, with it's forehead punctured through by a bullet.

"It's your fault. ." A voice said. Amelia cried out in the distance, attempting to pinpoint the source.

"What do you mean, my fault?" She looked up into the dark sky. .

"It was your idea to attack here. . You caused all of our deaths. ." The voice boomed. Amelia couldn't even think straight enough to identify a gender. "You told him- no. . both of them to attack here. ."

"No. . I remember. The Zeon was here. . The Zeon was hiding here! I didn't have a choice!" Amelia screamed.

"You caused the deaths of us all. . We didn't deserve to die!" The voice yelled.

"The Zeon was here. . It was my duty to attack." Amelia said. As she said it, the hallucination increased, as the stuffed bear rolled over, seemingly by the wind. The bear was tossed like a rag doll, until it collided onto the ground near her feet. "If I didn't, I would have died. ."

"You're blaming it on the Zeon? They didn't start the fight. ." The voice said. Amelia's memory was coming together. . She could remember the battle perfectly. Gunfire noises stained the once halcyon air. War presented itself to civilians in it's ugliest form that day. . The battle was intense. . The Federation had no means of resisting the battle strength of the Zaku, but there was one image that Amelia remembered well. .

"That child. ." A small girl with a gun in her hand. . The memory shifted as the surroundings flashed. Amelia could remember that the little girl held her up a near gunpoint. . Amelia was armed with a pistol, and the little girl couldn't even hold the gun right. . "Protecting. . Her family. ." Amelia said to herself. . The final image came to play. . Two men in Federation uniforms. One of them, was wearing goggles, and very muscular. . "Him. . B-" Amelia was cut off from the last voice of a screaming child.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!" The dream ended abruptly as Amelia came into the living world with a heavy jolt. It appears that she was taken in by a soldier who tapped her on the shoulder. Senra was already up, fully dressed, towering over Amelia.

"Ma'am?" The soldier asked. Amelia was grumbling, but counted her blessings from being ripped violently from the nightmare.

"Uh. .? What is it. .?"

"Are you alright?" Senra asked.

"Uh huh. . Just a nightmare. . That's all. What is it soldier?"

"Well. . We found a stowaway. The third pilot managed to detain him. The stowaway says that he needs to see you, miss. . He might be a Zeon spy."

A stowaway? Hm. . Couldn't have been Satoru. He would know better than that, and Stone would literally kill in on the scene, Senra thought to herself as Amelia prepared herself for public viewing once more.

"Oh. . Okay. We will go."

****

Amelia and Senra departed. Both of them were silent the entire way through the corridor, and to the elevator. Senra was concerned about who the stowaways were, and Amelia was more concerned about the dream she had. It was a good thing that Senra didn't ask her, because she would rather just leave it where it is; forgotten. To her, it was a rather touchy part in her history as a military officer. When they went into the cargo hold, they could identify a shorter soldier, and the other pilot.

"Here he is," the soldier addressed the other pilots. Both Satoru and Avery looked aside to the newcomers. "He doesn't seem to want to cause any harm. He needed to see you." Senra immediately identified Satoru, and on instinct, quickly hugged his best friend.

"Satoru! What in the world are you doing here?" Senra said. Satoru really wasn't accustomed to being hugged ever since the days before the war, but allowed himself to nearly be suffocated.

"I'm a stowaway. Didn't they tell you?" The boy said in a calm manner. Either that, or he was trying not to sound afraid. The truth was that the boy was somewhat afraid, especially with Avery still holding him up at gun point.

"Really," Senra said. He looked up to Avery, and said, "You seem to be going above the call of duty, aren't you?" From that statement, Avery retreated his weapon, and put it back in it's holster.

"Just keeping the ship safe," Avery said. He looked down onto the clip on Senra's uniform. "You must be the other pilot, and Amelia," Avery took a step towards Amelia and bowed as a polite motive. "It's nice to see you again, Commander."

"Nice to see you too. However, I have to say, you really need to lose that Western-attitude," Amelia said. She took into consideration that Avery barley spoke like they did in the movies. He had more sense than that. He really imitated their bodily movements, and the type of weapons (and style) that they formulated. Avery looked to the stowaway, pretty concerned on knowing the story.

"Do you know this guy?" Avery asked.

"Well. He's Senra Rail's, the other pilot's, best friend. He was supposed to be in my unit, but-" Amelia said before she was cut off.

"Yeah, what did happen, and how did you managed to get out of that base alive?" Senra asked, rather absorbed in the situation.

"Well. I thought I could get out of the base and think that there would still be a spot for me, since the order was recently, but now I'm not so sure," Satoru said. "As for getting out of the base itself, I had to get past Stone."

"How did you do that?" Senra asked.

"Well.. I'm not sure how I did it exactly. But, it was almost like he was expecting me to get out. Like he was," Satoru trailed off, trying to find words that match the situation that occurred and said, "Like he was trying to prepare me for something.."

****

Within the evening sky, the sun was hanging low. In the grasslands of Northern Europe, a Federation platoon was forming. Evidently, the masses of battleships and the sort was the Medea's prime directive. Two of the many humans in the vicinity looked up into the sky towards the Medea landing. The taller man, was wise in his old age. He had a grew mustache, and stone-like brown eyes. The woman beside of him had purple hair that was tied back into a pony tail, appearing much younger than any other occupant in the military.

"Those must be the pilots," The Captain said to himself. The woman had a clipboard with her, and without the Captain even asking, she began to read off the names.

"1st Lieutenant Amelia Keen, Ensign Avery Davies, Ensign Senra Rail, and Ensign Satoru Hakiteki." The woman read off. The Captain's eyes continued to dilate upwards to the landing cruiser.

"They sound like a colorful bunch," The Captain said. His voice had some rough edges to it due to his old age, but nothing serious. After awhile, the Free Bird landed itself, and it's engines slowly faded from life. A myriad of workers rushed out, and began to work on the Medea cruiser. The Captain wasn't sure what they were doing, and frankly, he didn't care too much. What caught his attention was the group of pilots approaching, more specifically following the woman.

"That must be them," the woman stated. When the group approached, the Lieutenant was the first to formulate a salute. The ensigns followed sloppily, and disorientated afterward. The Captain could even see that the pilots for the most part were still green, but the woman was a different matter.

"Good afternoon, Captain. I'm sure you must be Captain Tolen," Amelia said. The pilots behind her withdrew their salute, and Tolen just nodded in reply.

"Good evening to yourself, Miss," Tolen said. By good evening, Amelia was completely unaware of the time change. Tolen glanced to the clip board, and read of the names, "Ensign Davies, Ensign Rail, and Ensign Hakiteki. I count three young pilots, so you must all be here." When Tolen read his name off, surprise struck Satoru's heart. "You will be the pilots of the Big Tray class Bulldog. You won't have much to do, but we'll disembark pretty soon, so rest at ease," Tolen addressed, and the female assistant and he walked to the rather large cruiser behind him and in front of the pilot's eyes.

So.. I was supposed to be here after all, Satoru told himself. He was trying to configure his own mind to comprehend the actions that his old Sergeant displayed. Satoru never actually came to a conclusion of the matter, and left things alone. Senra and Amelia didn't even ask, as the three others walked towards the robust Big Tray-class ship, conversing in their own chatter. Satoru was left behind as he just looked up at the rather.. Disfigured battleship. Never had he seen anything uglier, as he was expecting something of White Base fame or at least even a Salamis-class cruiser. But he never expected a ground crawler like this.

Satoru shrugged, and left the matter to itself. "I guess home is really how you make it," Satoru said to himself, and walked the way that his colleagues walked. Things might have been peaceful now, but they all knew that the real trial was yet to come.

To Be Continued

[1] - The counter-offensive in Australia hints to the Dreamcast Gundam game "Rise From the Ashes", starring the White Dingo Federal mobile suit team as they gradually retake Australia from the Zeon. Also, Australia was the victim of the failed colony drop on Jaburo in the beginning of the war called "Operation British".