Disclaimer: I only own the plot.
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Thanks to:
Demoness Space Pirate: Well, you know how they say: things have to come short and sweet. But I promise I'll try to write bigger chapters, ok? Enjoy!
Kuroi Kitty: Is this soon enough? Hope so. Good reading.
Datchi: Calm down, more Hiead and Ikhny on this way but it will come slowly. Don't forget it's about Gner and Allecto we're talking about. Happy Reading.
Jupiter's moon Europa: That's ok, don't worry about the time you take to review. Anyway, thank you for your words and I hope you continue enjoying this. Happy Pilot Candidate Reading.
GetHika: Yup, that's right, a bit of action coming up. And I'm happy to see you liked the H&I moment. Enjoy this chapter.
Estelle Stafford: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can't imagine how important your words are to me. Really. Thank you again. Oh, and about the misspellings? Well, English is my second language and I just can't stop them. Sorry. Good reading.
kawaii28: Ohhh, thank you! hehe Hope you continue to think that way. Enjoy!
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Chapter 7: And So It Begins
"What the hell is going on here?" Azuma yelled as all screens showed that the attack had already begin. The attack they weren't expecting so soon…
"The Victims, sir." a man said, as he typed on the keyboard "Hundreds of them."
"How the hell could they come without us noticing?" Azuma questioned, and the man looked at him.
"I don't know, sir."
"Warn the pilots; this is war!" without wasting a second, Azuma grabbed the microphone "EVERYONE TO THE INGRIDS, WE'RE BEING ATTACK!" he yelled "YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO COME HERE, OR I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF! AND I'M NOT KIDDING!"
"What are we going to do, Azuma?" Dr. Rill asked, and the teacher looked her as he shook his head.
"I don't know." he answer sincerely "I really don't."
"Sir, more Victims are coming." other man said.
"WHAT?" Azuma asked 'We're doomed.'
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The group froze at Azuma's words; no one knew what to do or what to say.
"Attack!" Clay asked, his face pale "What did he mean with that?"
"We're under attack!" Yamagi exclaimed, "What are we going to do?"
"Mummy..." Roose whimpered.
"Yeah, finally a bit of action!" Zero exclaimed, and Kizna hit him on the arm.
"Don't be an idiot, since when being in war is a good thing?" she asked.
"We have to do something." Saki said.
"We need the Pro-Ings!" Wrecka exclaimed.
"Hey, I don't want to die you know?" Yamagi asked suddenly, and everyone looked at him. Then it hit all of them: if they went to that fight, they could die.
"I don't want to die either." Roose confessed, breaking the silence.
"Sorry, I'm to young to die." Clay said, shaking his head.
"How can you say that?" Kizna asked, annoyed "We're going to fight because we need to protect G.O.A."
"What about us?" Yamagi asked "What about those who have to go to space and face the Victims? It's easy for you to say, because all you have to do is stare into a computer and tell us what to do. But we're the ones who are going to face death!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Tsukasa asked, angrily "Do you think I want you to go? You're wrong if you think I do, but we don't have any choice. We need to go and try saving this damn spaceship because this has been our home for the past three years! Besides, if you don't want to go to space and fight what the hell are you doing here trying to become a Pilot?"
All the answer Tuskasa got was silence.
"Well, I don't care if you're going or not because I am." Zero said suddenly
"Zero..." Kizna started, but was interrupted by the boy.
"You may not understand it Kizna, but G.O.A is more than my home. G.O.A. is...I don't know, G.O.A. is the place that helped me to know you guys, that helped me to see life in a different way, though I still look at my future in the same way I used to when I was a kid." Zero took a deep breath and, continued, "This is my dream, Kizna. This is what I want to do: fight against Victims, and know that you'll be here, waiting for me, to hit me and tell me I'm a baka. Those are the reasons why I want to become a Pilot, because I want to protect what I love the most."
Kizna rested a hand against Zero's cheek, and smiled:
"And I'm going to help you." she whispered, "Yes, because how do you expect to fight all those Victims without me?"
Zero laughed:
"Hai." he answered with a nod "Lets go?"
Kizna only nodded.
"Wait!" Clay exclaimed, and everyone looked at him "I-I don't know if I can do something right, while I'm in space, but I'll try."
"Clay?" Saki asked in a whisper, and the boy looked at her.
"I'm going too." he said.
Then, both Wrecka and Tsukasa looked at Yamagi and Roose.
"So?" both girls asked, and the candidates shared a look before sighing.
"Count on us..." they said at the same time.
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Ikhny didn't know what to do; that was the first time she was face-to-face with a Victim and she just didn't dare to move. What could the Victim do if it saw them moving? It could attack them, and for what she had seen, that was a class C.
'Damn, that thing can attack us if we move an inch.' Ikhny thought 'And we need to go Azuma.'
"Don't move." Hiead instructed her, and Ikhny managed to restrain herself from rolling her eyes:
"I know that." she answered back. She couldn't believe they were actually fighting, though both of them were still looking to the Victim. Seconds later, the Victim disappeared and Ikhny breathed in relief.
However, before she could move, she saw Hiead putting his hands on his pockets.
"C'mon, you heard the man." he said, and Ikhny nodded
Slowly the two teenagers started walking towards the door. None of them wanted to admit it, but the kiss they had shared was still very much alive in their minds.
'Why did he kissed me?' Ikhny asked herself 'It doesn't make sense. But...why do I even bother thinking about it? It was just a kiss...my first kiss...'
While that, Hiead kept cursing himself for kissing Allecto when he knew that was an act of weakness.
'What the hell crossed my mind?'Love?
'What love? I don't love anyone, except myself. Besides, this is Allecto we're talking about.'
So? She's the only person who likes you enough, to actually bear your personality.
'She's a weakling!' You're repeating yourself, did you notice?'And I'll keep repeating it, until my whole body understands that I can't feel anything else besides hate towards Allecto. She's a weakling.'
Whatever. But you like to hear her singing, don't you?Hiead stopped his tracks, and Ikhny looked at him.
"What's wrong?" the brunette asked before she could stop herself, and Hiead looked at her for a few seconds before smirking and start walking away.
Ikhny rolled her eyes at his actions: 'Why do I even bother?'
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"I just called you here, to tell you: this is it." Azuma started "This is the battle not only where we'll see who's more than prepare to keep facing challenges but to see who's going to win: if the Victims or us. I ask for you to give all you have, because I know there's more in you all than you show." then, Azuma looked at Ikhny and Erts "I know many of you have gone through things no one else knows, but I ask for all of you to give your best. This is the fight you'll never have to face again if we win." Azuma took a deep breath "And I know you're going to give your best, and I only have one request for you." everything went silence and Dr. Rill took the opportunity to walk to Azuma's side "Don't give up."
"Hai!" everyone exclaimed at the same time, before running out of the room.
"Do you believe in them?" Dr Rill asked, and Azuma looked at her "Do you believe we can defeat hundreds of Victims with four Ingrids and ten Pro-Ings?"
Azuma smiled:
"I believe in them." he replied, referring to the pilots and candidates "I know they'll do their best, and that's what I want them to do."
Dr Rill shook her head.
"Then, I should start believing too." she whispered.
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While the Pilots and repairs ran towards the Ingrids, and made the last adjusts the ten candidates to pilots and respective repairers were still trying to believe what was happening.
"Well, this is it then." Force Wartlliam said, and his repairer looked at him.
"We'll do it, Force." she said
"I know we will, Carres." he replied.
"We can go!" Bellarcha Ehoch exclaimed to Sure La.Card. Then, she looked at the rest of her friends "C'mon guys, we have to put this Pro-Ings at the same time as the Ingrids, then the younger candidates are allowed to go!"
"We're ready!" both Kyoko and Rome exclaimed.
"Lets go!" both Yoshino and Aracd exclaimed.
"Yeah, we have to kick some Victims." Rome said, as he entered inside the Pro-Ing.
On the other side, the younger candidates and repairs were still doing some adjusts.
"Clay, where the hell are you going?" Saki asked as she saw the boy walking towards the exit door
"Hum...I was going to the bathroom." Clay answered and Saki sweatdropped.
"How's everything going, Wrecka?" Roose asked, as he saw his partner tapping quickly on the keyboard.
"Fine." the girl replied, without looking back at him "Go try your left arm, I'm getting strange signals here."
"Hai!" the green haired boy replied, walking towards his Pro-Ing.
"How's it going, Kizna?" Zero asked, and the pink haired girl sighed.
"Just a few more minutes." she answered, looking at the screen "I'm scared something goes wrong."
"Oh c'mon Kizna, we can't think that way." Zero started "That's wrong."
"How do you expect me to think?" Kizna asked, angrily "I'm helping my best friend going to war!"
Zero jumped in surprise, when Kizna looked at him completely infuriated:
"I...gomen ne." he said quietly, and Kizna immediately regretted her tone.
"No, I'm the one who should be sorry." she started "I shouldn't have talked with you like that, but... Damn Zero, you're my best friend! I'm scared you'll never come back again!"
Zero smiled, and put an arm around her shoulders:
"Of course I'm going to come back." he started "After all, you need someone to call a baka."
"Baka!" Kizna exclaimed.
"See?" Zero asked, smiling.
"Just...just come back, ok?" Kizna asked, and Zero nodded before kissing her on the cheek.
"I'm coming back." he assured the girl.
Ikhny looked over the screen to Hiead, who was leaned against the wall, arms crossed as always. Sighing, she returned to work:
'Why am I worried for him going to war? Is not that he deserves a single thought. Besides, if he dies, he deserves it.' Suddenly, the brunette froze.
"What?" she hissed, "I didn't say that."
"What's wrong, Allecto?" a cold voice asked, and the brunette turned around to face Hiead.
"Hum...nothing." she lied.
"Yeah, right." Hiead answered back "If you make a single mistake, I'll kill you."
"Back to the threats again?" Ikhny asked "Grow up."
Hiead was about to reply when the brunette turned her back on him, and started typing on the keyboard again.
'C'mon, say something!' Hiead told himself, but no word come out from his mouth.
Cat ate your tongue? a voice asked, and Hiead narrowed his eyes
'Shut up.'
You know, these may be the last moments with the girl, so why don't you say something nice?
'Nice?' Hiead repeated 'I don't say nice things.'
You could try. C'mon, the words won't bite you.
"Allecto..." Hiead whispered loud enough for the girl to hear.
"Yes?" Ikhny asked, without turning around "What is it this time, Gner?"
"I...I just wanted to..."
"Pro-Ings launched!" someone exclaimed, and Hiead blinked.
"Hurry up." he said
"Five seconds for the Ingrids be launched!" someone else exclaimed.
"Five...Four...Three...Two...One..."
Suddenly the hangar shook, and the four Ingrids were launched.
"Now it's our turn guys!" Zero exclaimed to his friends.
"Ready, Yamagi?" Tsukasa asked, and the purple haired boy looked at her.
"Well, I think so." he replied.
"I know you'll be good." Tsukasa replied, before kissing him on the cheek, and Yamagi blushed.
"Are we ready?" Kizna asked to the other four girls.
"Yes!"
"No!" Saki exclaimed suddenly, and everyone looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Wrecka asked.
"Clay decided to go to the bathroom on the last moment." the orange haired girl replied, and everyone sweatdropped.
"I'm here!" Clay exclaimed, running towards his friends.
"Right." Kizna muttered, "Well, lets go!"
When the five boys entered inside the Pro-Ings, everything went silence. Only the sound of the keyboards could be heard, for everything else was lost in thoughts and wishes:
"Are you prepared, Zero?" Kizna asked.
"Hai!" the boy replied.
"Remember, you promise you would come back." Kizna whispered, as her finger found it's way to the 'release' bottom "Don't forget."
"I won't." the boy replied.
"Good luck." Kizna whispered, before pressing the red bottom "#88 released!"
"#85 released!" Wrecka exclaimed, "Be careful, Roose."
"#86 released!" Tsukasa screamed, "Don't do anything stupid, Yamagi."
"#89 released!" Saki yelled, "It's time to show your strong side, Clay."
Ikhny looked to the red bottom, and took a deep breath before pressing it.
"#88 release." she said, 'Please, return to me Hiead.'
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That was another world, shoots were fired everywhere, screams were heard from every side, and Victims simply filled the space. It was time to show of what they were mad of, and everyone was determined to do their best.
"Lets go!" Zero yelled.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Well, another cliffhanger. And I know, I'm evil. But you like them, don't you? «evil laugh» Please, review.