Disclaimer: For the forty-fourth damn time, I don't own Vandread. All song lyrics copyright to their original owners.

Author's Note: There is some intense violence in this one, and prepare for a long read.

Vandread: The Unknown Soldier (Revised)

Chapter Thirteen: Memories, Part One

Location: Corridor leading to Infirmary, Nirvana.

"Multiple lacerations due to shrapnel, and at least three cracked ribs. And he's lost a lot of blood as well," Duero said in a rushed voice as he pushed the gurney which contained Aidan Mercer.

Meia ran along with him, replaying those final moments in her head. He had intercepted the enemy fighter that was bearing down on her. He sliced through it with his sword, but was slammed by the careening fighter. The whole bottom half of his machine had been torn off. Any higher and it would've torn through the cockpit. His injuries were pretty severe, and she noticed a good amount of blood in the cockpit as she had helped pull him out of his wrecked machine.

"Clear the emergency room!" Duero shouted as they entered the infirmary. "We need to stabilize his condition immediately."

She backed off to let Duero do his work. She seriously hoped he would be alright. Why did he do something stupid like that? Someone like him would have known better, but he did it anyway. He did it to protect her, even though he did not know her all that well, well, not as much as the woman named Sakura, anyway…

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Drifting on the edge of unconsciousness, Aidan still felt the extreme pain throughout his body. It didn't feel like the painkillers were doing all that well. He tried to fight it off, but the pull of the drugs he'd been given, as well as the fact that he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, begged to differ. It wasn't long before he was completely unconscious, and old and painful memories began to resurface…

Age: 10

Gripping his mother tighter as the vibrations reverberated throughout the ship, Aidan wished he wasn't even on this vessel. As they had been on the Space Station Gloria at the time of the attack, they were being evacuated with the rest of the civilians and noncombatants. Before long the frontline had been broken through, and the Earth attackers had penetrated to the rear. They were now in the middle of that very attack.

His mother tried to comfort him, but it hardly helped as Aidan saw a warship collapse in on itself after receiving heavy fire. His father was currently helping treat some of the wounded in the room, as he was a doctor. Another hit to the hull sent a violent tremor throughout the ship. He could hear a wounded man's screams on the other side of the room.

Then, almost without warning, an ear-splitting screech sounded throughout the room. Almost a second later, a whole section of the wall just exploded out and away from the ship. The vacuum began to rapidly suck anything out that wasn't bolted down. Aidan's ears popped from the sudden decrease in air pressure. He saw his father hit an exposed support bar of the ship, breaking his back, and throwing his limp body out into space like a rag doll

A few seconds later he was torn from his mother's grip as the vacuum consumed her too. He was about to receive that same fate, but a strong pair of arms wrapped around him and pulled him away seconds before the airlock shut, sealing off the room from the rest of the ship. He looked up, his eyes full of tears, to see that a soldier was the one who saved him from the same fate as his parents.

"Hey, kid," the soldier said. "Get a hold of yourself!"

He immediately sobered up from the blunt remark by the man.

"There was nothing you could have done," the soldier told him. He would remember those words for the rest of his life.

Age: 12

Located on the predominantly uninhabited continent on Solaris, was Training Facility # 35. This facility consisted of several slab-sided structures, a tarmac for aerospace craft and vehicles. There was the officer's quarters, then there was the barracks, which housed the trainees. There was also a vehicle hangar, which housed the various military vehicles. The final structure was the most important one, for it housed all of the requirements and necessities for training soldiers. There was also an expansive area around the facility, which consisted of a parade ground, for marching and ceremonies, several obstacle courses, and a firing range. The entire facility was cordoned off by a seven meter tall laser fence.

Aidan had just walked out of the briefing room, going over in his head what the commanding officer of the facility had said. They had been welcomed, for they were the newest batch of recruits. There was no say in it for most of them, for most of them were orphans around the same age as Aidan. They would be spending all of their remaining childhood years at this facility, and most of their teenage years. That was just fine for Aidan, for he had no where else to go. He had no desire to live in some rundown orphanage, and besides, serving in the military was far more productive.

He still remembered his parents' deaths, but had mostly gotten over it. He would have to be strong, and he need not be remembering the past. It was somewhat of an enigma, for the Earth forces left the system, even though it looked as though they would win. No one knew why they had left, but they were all relieved. Part of the reason for joining the military was so he could get revenge for the death of his parents on the Earthers, when, not if, they came back. He was knocked back to reality as he collided with someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," a young girl said.

As focused his vision, he noticed the girl appeared to be around his age, and she had raven black hair that came to about mid-back.

"No," he replied. "It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention."

"My name is Sakura," she said. "What's yours?"

"A-Aidan," he replied. "My name's Aidan."

"Nice to meet you Aidan," she said with a smile.

Age: 16

"Hey, Aidan!" yelled over the sound of gunfire as she jogged over to him. Her hair had been cut to just above shoulder-length, to adhere more to regulations. They had become very good friends in the four years since they met.

In the middle of target practice, Aidan had just finished emptying the handgun's magazine into the target. He ejected the empty clip and set the gun down as he turned to face her. "Hey, Sakura, what are you up to?"

"Guess what?" she asked expecting him to guess.

"What?" was his only reply.

"Come on, guess," she said, this time a little more adamantly.

"I give up," he said, not even attempting. "What?"

"You're no fun," she grumbled. "Well, I got accepted into the Striker Training Program!"

"Good for you," he said, genuinely impressed. It wasn't easy to become a pilot of one of those combat mecha. "I couldn't bring myself to pilot one of those things."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Too complicated," he replied as he picked up the handgun. "I'll stick with the infantry."

"Well, I have other duties to perform," she said after a moment. She patted Aidan on the shoulder. "I'll see ya later."

"Yeah, later," he said as he resumed target practice.

Age: 17

"What the hell is this?" the Drill Sergeant said in his usual commanding voice. "What a pitiful excuse of sad sacks we have here!"

Aidan stood at rigid attention in line as the drill sergeant went down the line, examining his charges. From what Aidan knew, drill sergeants were always like that. They were supposed to be like that to help effectively train them into efficient soldiers. He had just started boot camp three days before his birthday, and he was beginning to dislike it. But something about this one seemed to strike Aidan as something odd. That would be proven when after the sergeant had stopped just in front of him in the line.

"I don't like you," the drill sergeant growled, looking him up and down. "Name, maggot!"

"Aidan Mercer. Sir!" he replied.

"Well then, Mercer, hit me," the sergeant barked.

"Sir?" Aidan replied, slightly confused.

"Are you deaf! I said hit me!" he ordered, this time even louder.

Before Aidan could do what the sergeant ordered, he saw a blur from the corner of his eye. A second later Aidan felt the solid connection of a punch on his jaw and then fell heavily to the ground. He felt the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, as he started to get up. He spit out some blood on his way back up. Then the sergeant made an object lesson of him.

"See this," the sergeant said in a booming voice. "When I give you an order, I expect it to be carried out immediately. You do not hesitate or question my orders. Do I make myself clear? I can't hear you!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Aidan replied loudly as he took his place in line. He felt blood running down from the corner of his mouth, but he wouldn't wipe it away. He didn't want to show this man any weakness.

"That applies to all of you worthless maggots, as well," the sergeant bellowed turning to face the rest of them.

"Sir, yes sir!" the rest of them replied loudly.

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Aidan ducked under the round kick that was aiming for his head, and grabbed hold of his opponent's leg. He twisted it, forcing his opponent to move along with it or end up with a broken leg. His opponent hit the mat then got back to his feet, ready to defend against attack. Aidan then went on the offensive, delivering a couple of punches that were meant to decoy his opponent. And it worked, for his opponent blocked the punches easily but did not account for his legs. His right leg scythed out and hit his opponent in the ribs.

Momentarily stunned, his opponent couldn't counter Aidan's backfist, which connected with the side of his padded helmet. Aidan's opponent backed off, trying to put some distance between them. Focusing himself, the man charged at Aidan, intending to end the match. Aidan dropped down and used his opponent's momentum to hurl him off the mat with one leg and his arms. That signaled an end to the match, and Aidan walked over and helped his opponent to his feet.

"Good, Mercer," the hand-to-hand combat instructor said. "You've improved."

"Thank you, sir," he said, stoically accepting the compliment. He then turned to face his opponent. "Good match, Damon."

"Yeah, good match," Damon Hunter replied.

Age: 18

"I am Colonel Karl Vandenburg, and I'd like to be the first to welcome you to the Seventy-First Solaris Dragoons, to the Black Tigers."

Aidan stood two rows back in the large group of soldiers that had just been assigned to this particular unit. The Seventy-First Solaris Dragoons, or more commonly known as the Black Tigers, were a combined-arms regiment. Such a unit had a mix of troops and hardware, and were trained to support each section. This unit had a mix of ground armor, infantry, artillery, mecha, and even aircraft, primarily gunships and dropships.

Now that he was assigned to an active combat unit, and out of training, he could enter actual combat. Recent news reports stated that a group labeling itself, 'Earth's Divine Army' was starting to become very militant. They were made up of people who had believed that the Earthers were in the right. It appalled Aidan that people would actually support Earth's efforts. He saw such people as misguided fanatics. He knew that they would probably be going into action in a month or so. But first they had to undergo integration exercises, to make them into an effective combat unit.

He also found out that he, Sakura, and Damon, were all being assigned to this unit. He was glad to have Sakura in the same unit, because recently they had become close, even though he knew it was frowned upon by the military. He didn't care what the military thought on that. She was a Striker pilot, one of several assigned to this unit, and he was in the infantry. He didn't know what she saw in those things, but that was her decision, and he'd supported it. Little did he know that in the course of the next few months, the events that would take place would test his resolve, as well as his emotions…

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"So, you must be one of the new guys," Aidan heard someone behind him say. Setting his duffel bag down on his bunk, Aidan turned to see who said that.

He saw a man that was most likely in his mid-twenties, with dirty blond hair. He offered his hand to Aidan.

"Yeah, and you are?" Aidan replied, shaking the man's hand.

"Name's Dirk," the man said.

"Aidan," he replied.

"Quit harassing the newbies," someone said from the doorway.

"Yeah right, Steiner," Dirk said, turning to face the man. "You're one to talk."

"Who's that?" Aidan asked Dirk.

"His name is Heinrich Steiner," Dirk replied. "But he prefers to be called Steiner."

From what Aidan saw of him, he was tall and big. Not in any obese way either. This guy looked to be pure muscle. His eyes were blue in color, and his hair was blond, and was styled in what was called a brush-cut. He was impressive, to say the least, the exact opposite of Dirk, who was lanky compared to him. He had no desire to get on that man's bad side.

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"Are you ready?" Aidan asked, already in a defensive stance. He wore a black tank top and a pair of blue baggy sweatpants. Padded gloves and boots made up his sparring gear.

"As I'll ever be," Sakura replied, mimicking Aidan's stance. She was dressed similarly. She also had her hair tied back, out of the way, with a few bangs still trailing in front of her brow.

They stood an equal distance apart on the mat. They had the gym to themselves at the moment, and they were brushing up on their hand-to-hand skills.

"Your move," Aidan said after a moment.

"How kind of you," she said with a smirk.

With quickness and fluidity, Sakura lunged forward, putting Aidan immediately on the defensive. Aidan had learned that she'd like to use her legs a lot, so he had to watch out of for those. She threw several quick punches that he mostly blocked, then threw a side kick that was intended to hit him in the side, but instead hit him in the arm. Not wanting to stay on the defensive, Aidan immediately threw a quick right-handed punch, but hit nothing but air.

Damn! She's quicker than I thought. He had to pin her now before she shifted him off-balance. When she threw another kick, he grabbed her outstretched leg, then hooked his foot around her other leg and pulled it toward him. Then he pushed forward, letting her fall onto her back. He pinned her to the mat and used his weight to keep her from moving her legs.

"Do you give in?" he asked her as he held her to the mat. She managed to get one leg free and kneed him in the stomach. He reflexively loosened his grip on her and she took advantage of it. She used his slight movement to push him off of her and onto his back.

"The real question is, do you give in, love?" Sakura said playfully as she pinned him to the mat.

He could feel her body heat as her chest pressed against his. He grinned as he put his arms around her waist. She responded by brushing his lips with a light kiss. "Alright, I accept defeat."

"Are you two lovebirds finished over there?" someone said from the other side of the gym.

Sakura immediately got off of Aidan, allowing him to get up as well. Aidan looked over to see Dirk leaning against the wall.

"How long have you been there?" Aidan asked, letting a hint of irritation seep into his voice.

"Long enough," he replied.

"I have a duty shift in an hour, and I need to go freshen up," Sakura said, taking off her gloves and boots. "I'll see you later, Aidan."

"Later," he replied as he watched her head for the showers. She let her hair down, allowing it to fall to her shoulders. He then turned his gaze back to Dirk, who by now had walked up to him.

"You're a lucky man," Dirk said as he faced Aidan.

"How so?" he asked, spearing him with a glare, still slightly irritated.

"Hey, don't look at me like that," Dirk replied. "I'm not interested in her, and besides, my wife would kill me."

The irritation left Aidan as quickly as it came. "You mean Sakura?"

"Who else?" Dirk replied. "You two have something, and don't you ever let it go."

Aidan was left with those words as Dirk walked past him and out of the gym.

Age: 19

Strapped into his restraining harness, Aidan could feel the vibrations of the dropship's engine as it propelled him and several other soldiers into the city of Augusta. He had on his combat gear, which consisted of urban camouflage fatigues, flak vest, armored boots, combat harness, and his helmet, which had a protective mask that had short-range comm gear, and protected him against chemical weapons. His weapons consisted of his SA23 Automatic Rifle, his combat knife, a couple of hand grenades as well as extra ammo.

Recently, the city had been occupied by the E.D.A., and they were using it as a base of operations to strike at the S.D.F. units nearest to it. The Seventy-First was called in to remove the presence of E.D.A. forces from the city. If they could not drive them from the city, they were to render the city unusable to them, but only as a last resort.

"Nervous?" Dirk asked him.

"No," he partially lied. He actually did feel a little nervous, as this was his first time in actual combat.

Suddenly, the dropship started to shudder slightly. The sounds of explosions could be heard even through the reinforced armor and interior of the ship. The explosions seemed to get closer with passing second. Then, the ship rocked violently and fire erupted from the pilots' compartment. It took Aidan a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

"Shit! They just got the pilot!" his sergeant yelled over the explosion. "Everyone, brace yourselves! We're going down!"

The whole world seemed to fall, and to Aidan it felt like his stomach had been turned inside out and thrown into a washing machine. His knuckles were white as he gripped the metal restraints that held him in place. Over his head as the dropship began its plummet. Then, as quickly as it came, it went, immediately followed by the hammering force of several tons of metal slamming into the ground at high speeds.

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"Hey! Mercer!" someone yelled, but to Aidan, the words seemed to jumble together in his half-unconscious, dazed state. Then, when the person repeated it, the words came in a little more clearly.

He opened his eyes, and it took him a moment to focus to the dark interior of the dropship, which for some reason, was backlit with an orange glow. It took him a second to realize that it was fire, another strong smell seemed to get through the burnt, acrid scent of heated metal. It had a coppery scent to it. He finally realized it was the smell of blood, and that snapped him awake. He glanced down and saw that it was pooled at his feet.

"Good, you're not dead," the person said, and Aidan looked up to see it was Steiner.

Aidan let out a short laugh in spite of how he felt. "How long was I out?" he said, biting back an aching pain that seemed to wrack his body. It seems he would be feeling that for a while, after the rough handling the crash gave him.

"About five minutes," Steiner replied as he helped Aidan out of the harness. "Can you move?"

"Yeah, but I'm sore just about everywhere," Aidan said as he attempted to get to his feet. He nearly slipped in the blood at his feet, but caught himself. "Where's Dirk?"

"He's already outside the ship, and that's where we need to be," Steiner replied.

Aidan grabbed his rifle, which miraculously hadn't moved very far from him, and followed Steiner out of the wrecked ship.

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Aidan ducked reflexively as another laser bolt cored into the wall he was using for cover. All day long, the Federation forces were being harassed by sniper fire. The unit he was part of was sent to hunt down and neutralize the sniper. So far, this had been an aggravating search for the sniper. He would fire from one room of a large building, then move to another room after every shot, making it difficult to pinpoint where he exactly was. The ruins they had to navigate through added to the problem.

"Black Five, can you locate his firing position?" he heard his Sergeant ask through the receiver built into his helmet.

"No, sir," he replied into his mask's chin mike. "Every time I stick my head out, the bastard tries to blast it off. Lucky for me he's not a good a shot as he probably thinks he is."

"Well, see if you can locate him, and I'll call in fire support," his Sergeant replied.

"Copy that, Black Lead," he replied. What he was about to say next was interrupted by a short, gurgled scream, then a curse.

"Shit! He just got Daniels!" Black Six shouted over the line. Daniels was the medic of their team, and losing him was not good.

Okay, where's that bastard hiding? There! Aidan saw a flicker of movement up on seventh floor of the building, third window. "Black Lead, I have located target. Location: building to my north, seventh floor, third window."

"Affirmative, I'm calling in fire support," his Sergeant said as he switched frequencies.

"They better hurry up, or I'm going to be next," he muttered, careful not let it be heard over the commline. Suddenly, there was another crack, and Aidan felt a searing pain hit him in the side. He fell to the ground, dropping his rifle in the process.

"Black Five is down!" he heard Dirk say over the line. "I'm going to pull him outta there."

"Black Three, cover Four as he retrieves Mercer," the Sergeant said over the commline. "Where's my damn support!"

Not long after, he heard the sound of heavy machine gun fire as Steiner fired his support machine gun into the building, covering Dirk as he moved in. Dirk got to him in less than a minute.

"Yeah," he replied through clenched teeth. "I think he just grazed me."

Dirk helped lift Aidan to his feet, and Aidan put his arm around Dirk's shoulder to help him stay up. Just then, a loud, staccato roar sounded through the air as the target window was shattered by several heavy slugs. Glass and concrete rained down from the building a second later. Aidan looked back over to see a gray Striker, with it's rifle barrel still smoking. 'Bout damn time.

"This is Tigress, target has been neutralized," he heard a familiar voice report from the machine. Sakura…

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Letting a hiss of pain escape his lips as Sakura treated his wound, Aidan was grateful she knew something about first aid. After their medic had taken a shot through the throat, any serious wounds probably would've been fatal. As it stood, the laser had only grazed his right side, but still left a burn that hurt every time he moved. He didn't look forward to wearing his combat fatigues, which he knew would rub against his wound, making it even more uncomfortable.

Aidan's squad, along with Sakura, had taken shelter in a restaurant abandoned less than three weeks ago, the owner and employees leaving the city. He sat on a bench at the bar, watching Sakura as she finished applying the pressure bandage over his wound.

"There," she said as she finished. "Is that better?"

"A little, but you know how burns are," he replied with dry humor. "Thanks."

"Be careful," she said, changing to a serious tone.

"Don't worry, Sakura, I will," he replied.

"Feeling better?" Dirk asked as he walked up to them.

"Yeah, and you apparently have perfect timing," Aidan replied sarcastically.

"Did I interrupt something?" Dirk asked.

"No, not at all," Sakura answered as she closed the first-aid kit.

"Well, what do you want?" Aidan asked with an edge to his voice, for he wasn't in all that good of a mood after he got shot.

"Well, I thought you guys might be hungry, so I brought you something," Dirk said as he handed Sakura what appeared to be a can of food. He then tossed another can to Aidan, who caught it one handed.

"What is this?" he asked, looking at the can. "And where'd you get it?"

"We found it in the storage room of this place," Dirk replied. "And it's a hell of a lot better than what we usually get."

That last comment got a light laugh out of Sakura, and a grin out of Aidan. "Just about anything is better than military rations."

"Thanks," Sakura said to Dirk. "I need to go check up on my Striker."

"Before you go, there's something I'd like to show you," Dirk said as he took something out of the pocket of his field jacket.

"Here we go again," Aidan muttered under his breath. He knew what it was, for Dirk had shown countless times in the past two months. It was a picture of his wife and little girl, who had just turned three a month ago. He and Sakura had discussed the possibility of having a child, but had decided against it, at least for now. Because if that happened, Sakura would be discharged from the military. One day, she hoped to have a child, but she was content to wait. He wondered what it would be like to actually have a child…

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Ragged, with blood staining the front of his flak vest and dragging his rifle along the ground, Aidan stumbled into the checkpoint. The rest of his team awaited his and Dirk's return, for they had went scouting ahead of the main advance. Only he had come back…

Damon and Steiner came up to him as he leaned against a wall for support, then Steiner spoke. "Where's Dirk?"

"He's…" Aidan trailed off as he looked at Steiner, unable to finish, but both of them got the meaning.

"Well, what did you find out?" the sergeant asked as he walked up to the small group.

"A tank… overran our position, Dirk pushed me out of the way," Aidan said, glancing back down.

"What about the tank?" the sergeant asked.

"It's… no longer a threat, sir," Aidan replied. He would never forget the grim-like face of the charred corpse that used to be his friend Dirk.

"It's okay, son," the sergeant said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "He was a good man."

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The Striker's right knee suddenly exploded outward, sending parts of it's actuator flying in multiple directions. As a result, the mecha leaned, then collapsed to it's right, partly crushing it's arm in the process. The weapon in it's hand was likewise damaged, rendering it unusable. The machine rolled over onto it's back with a crash, sending dust and dirt flying.

Aidan watched as the machine hit the ground, and he rushed to help it's pilot. He heard shouts over the comm unit in his helmet, including an order to hold position, directed at him. Damn the order! I'm going to help her. A few seconds later, he noticed a pair of soldiers scrambling onto the downed Striker, intent on getting to the pilot.

"No way in hell…" he muttered as raised his rifle and took aim at the closest one to the cockpit. He squeezed the trigger, sending a burst of fire tracking from the armor of the Striker up to the man's leg. Two 7.65mm bullets hit the enemy soldier's leg, causing him to fall. His scream of pain was ended when he fell from the machine and onto his head, which broke his neck.

The other soldier paused only for second, then continued his climbed up the machine. Aidan fired again, but the man managed to make it over the side. Damn! He ran up to the Striker, slung his rifle, and started to climb up onto it as well. He ignored the pain that went through as he touched a piece of hot metal. He continued his climb until he got onto the top of it, and noticed the soldier shouting for the pilot to open the hatch.

The soldier noticed him, and turned to fire his laser rifle. Having no time to use his rifle, which was still slung over his shoulder, he drew his knife instead. He charged the man, who was just about to fire. Aidan knocked the rifle away, causing the shot to melt into the cockpit hatch. The blast left a scorch mark on the armor, nowhere near powerful enough to penetrate. The man tried to use his rifle again, but with Aidan tackling him, it fell from his hands, clattering off the Striker and onto the concrete below. After a brief but violent struggle, Aidan, managed to dispatch the man, then pushed the corpse off the machine.

Wiping the blood off his knife on his fatigues, he sheathed it, and dropped onto the hatch. He shouted to Sakura, telling her it was him, and then telling her to open the hatch. After a few seconds, the hatch started to open, and he moved out of the way. After it opened, he saw Sakura, minus her helmet, clutching the sub-machine gun that was stored in the under the control seat.

"You alright?" he called to her as held his hand out to her.

"I'm fine," she replied as she took his hand, and pulled her out of the cockpit. "Though my machine is wrecked."

"Looks like you'll be a foot-slogger for a while," he replied jokingly, then quickly getting serious. "Let's go."

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Aidan leaned up against the wall to the left of the door, weapon at the ready, and Damon to the right. They were assigned to clear this building of any potential threats. They were currently on the third floor, and this was the last room on it. Aidan heard noises coming from this room, and he was certain Damon did too. With one quick, powerful kick, Aidan forced the door open and almost off it's hinges as it swung open. Swiftly, he and Damon entered the room, ready to gun down any opposition. What he saw in there surprised him, as well as Damon, his partner in this little operation.

In the far corner of the room, a small group of children sat, huddled together, away from the soldiers. Sensing that the children were of no immediate threat, Aidan lowered his weapon, followed a few seconds later by Damon lowering his. What surprised him was the fact that there still were civilians in the city. Aidan raised his right hand to his helmet and activated his comm mic.

"This is Black Five," he said into it.

"This is Black Lead. Go," he heard the sergeant say.

"Sir, we have a situation here," Aidan reported. "There is a group of children in one of the rooms we searched."

"Children?" the sergeant replied through the somewhat static-filled commline.

"Yes, sir, they appear to be orphans," he said into the receiver.

"Say again?" the reply came back through.

He repeated it a second time, and then glanced over at the children. His team's communications gear normally wasn't this static-laden. He had a gut feeling that something was wrong.

"The rest… team… will be there… minute, hold… position…" the reply came back, partially distorted.

"What did he say?" Damon asked as soon as Aidan finished up.

"From what I can tell, he told to us to hold position until the rest of the team arrived here," Aidan replied, glancing back at him. "What's bugging me is that my comm system seems to be jammed."

"Maybe yours is just acting up," Damon said. "I'll check mine."

His gut feeling became more evident when Damon told him that static was all he was getting as well. While they waiting for their team, Aidan took a better look at the children. From his count, there were about seven of them, and not one looked a day older than ten. They all appeared scared, and not one of them spoke, probably afraid of angering the soldiers in front of them. He was slightly surprised, because what reason had they to fear him? What surprised him more was the fact they looked dirty and also like they hadn't eaten in a week or two. Why weren't they evacuated when rest of the civilians left the city?

His train of thought was interrupted when the rest of the team arrived and entered the room, including ad hoc member Sakura. After her Striker's destruction, she had basically been added to the team, as there were no replacements in the current area. Upon seeing his commander, Aidan walked over to him.

"What are we going to do about them, sir?" Aidan asked, gesturing to the children.

"Well, probably the best thing to do would be to take them back to MASH unit set up three kilometers from here," he replied, looking at the children.

"Oh, and another things buggin' me, sir," Aidan said after a moment's silence. "Does your comm gear sound like it's jammed?"

"Now that you mention it, it appears to have been filled with more static than usual," the sergeant replied. "Are you saying that we possibly being jammed?"

"It's possible sir, but I'm not sure," Aidan replied, shrugging slightly.

"Well, you, Hunter, and Nakayama help get the children down to the first floor, and I'll call a transport," the sergeant ordered. "Myself and the rest of the team will continue to check the structure for hostiles."

"Yessir," Aidan replied, then turned back and walked over and gave Damon and Sakura the information.

"So, we're left babysitting," Damon replied, for he was not all that thrilled at the prospect.

"It won't be that bad," Sakura countered. "We got the easy job."

"But how do we get the kids to come with us?" Aidan asked. "They don't seem all that thrilled by our presence, either."

"I've got an idea," Sakura said. "Aidan, give me your chocolate bar."

"Alright," he said, catching on quickly to her line of thinking. He pulled it out of a pocket and handed it to her.

"Great, now we're gonna bribe them," Damon commented offhandedly.

"What are you complaining about? We have our orders," Aidan replied to his comment.

As Aidan turned back, he saw that Sakura's attempts to help the children were failing. He did not know why they apparently hated him and anybody who was a soldier. Might have something to do with the fact that this was an E.D.A. controlled city. What was that! As soon as he saw it out of the corner of his eye, he knew what it was. The flash from a rocket launching. There was only a few seconds to act.

"Everyone, get down!" he yelled, as pulled Sakura to the ground, and then covered her, shielding her from the incoming explosion. Damon was on the floor a second later.

The explosion shattered the outer wall of the room, sending concrete, metal, and glass flying like shrapnel throughout the room. Aidan felt a sharp sting across the right side of his cheek, and the force of concrete pieces as they rained down from the ruined wall. The explosion quickly died, leaving in it's place debris, smoke, and a few small fires. Coughing, he got up and tried to identify the attacker, but was unable to do so, due to the smoke.

Muttering a curse, he turned to see Sakura starting to get to her feet. Immediately she froze with a horrified look on her face, and he saw why. Over where the children were, was now a bloody mess of bodies. Sakura immediately started to gag from the horrible sight. Resisting the urge to do the same, Aidan averted his eyes.

"You going to be alright?" he asked Sakura as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she managed to reply after a long moment of silence. "Wait here a moment, I need to see if Damon's still alive."

"How nice of you to care," Damon replied sarcastically as he tried to get to his feet. Unsuccessful, he fell face first back onto the floor. From what Aidan could tell, he had taken some shrapnel in his right leg and side. He walked over and helped Damon to his feet, using himself to support his friend.

"Come on, Sakura, we need to get down to the transport," he said as he adjusted his wait so he could support Damon better.

It took them a few minutes, but they got to the transport, Damon was loaded onto it and sent to the MASH unit. Sakura went with him, while Aidan stayed with the rest of his unit.

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Finally, after about a month of hard fighting, the battered forces of the Seventy-First were withdrawn from the city. Aidan leaned against the side of an armored personnel carrier, looking into the war-torn city that was now the grave of one of his best friends. Several others he knew had died there as well, and he was glad to be out of that hellhole. At least he, Sakura and Damon survived, along with Steiner and about half his unit. His vision went from the ravaged city over to Sakura, who was sitting on top of the carrier.

"Those children…" she spoke out of the blue, trailing off at the end.

"There was nothing you could have done," he replied before he could think better of it. Those words tore at him, reminding him of the death of his parents, so long ago.

"I know but-"

The rest of Sakura's reply was cut off as the sky appeared to turn crimson red. The ominous glow emanated over the city, in which several spears of red light struck down into the city. It looked as though some god was angry at the city, and he had unleashed his wrath. What a ridiculous thought, for he knew it was the S.D.S Vindicator, an Intrepid Class destroyer that had just laid waste to two-thirds of the city in less than five seconds.

------------

Now, I cannot stop this

Pure emotion

Falling from my eyes

You are vindicating

Liberating

Saviors of my soul

(Rise- Disturbed)

After drying his face and hair, Aidan heard a rap at the door to his quarters. Hooking the towel around his neck, he walked over to the door, his footfalls barely making a sound on the carpet. He was clad pretty much in just a pair of trousers, for he wasn't really expecting company. Once he got to the door, he pressed the stud on the wall, and the door opened with a hiss. He saw Sakura standing outside, still in her uniform.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied as stepped back, allowing her to enter. "What's up?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about," she said after a second, glancing down, then back up.

"Well, what is it that you'd like to talk about?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed. She sat down beside him, glancing down at her hands.

"I wanted to talk about… us," Sakura said, looking up at him.

"I'm listening," Aidan said softly, meeting her gaze.

"After Augusta, I started to think that maybe, we should leave the military, and live the rest of our lives in peace," she said.

He thought on those words for a moment, realizing that she would never consider something like this lightly. He wouldn't mind actually living out the rest of his life with her, but he was not so sure of it all, so quickly.

"Because…" she trailed, tears starting to well up in her eyes, then start running down her cheeks. "Because, if I ever lost you, I don't know… I don't know what I'd do…"

"Sakura…" he said softly, brushing away her tears with his the tip of his finger. "You know that I'll never leave you."

"Aidan…" she said, embracing him tightly.

"Sakura…" he said softly, running a hand through her raven black hair. He cupped her chin in his hand, and lifted her head until her gaze met his. She stared back into his eyes for a long moment, then leaned towards him, and into a deep, passionate kiss.

Gently, he pushed her down onto the bed, and she caressed the side of his face. They continued their passionate embrace for a few more moments, before Sakura spoke up.

"Aidan… let's just forget about everything…" she said, unbuttoning her uniform. "Except each other…"

------------

The next day, Sakura had gone with Aidan on his way back to the military base. Aidan drove the jeep up to the security gate and handed the guard his ID. After checking it, the guard motioned to his companion in the guard shack to lift the barrier. As soon as it was up, Aidan drove through the gate and up to the vehicle hangar. After setting it in park, he got out of the vehicle, followed a second later by Sakura.

As they walked towards the hangar, Aidan noticed someone walk by him. It was a young, dark haired woman wearing the field cap and jumpsuit of a technician. He nodded to her as she passed, noticing a lock of her was red, but gave it no more thought as he walked with Sakura to the hangar, where her new Striker was supposed to be. She would never get to see it, as and incredible wall of force hit both of them, knocking both of them to the ground.

A fiery, searing pain gripped Aidan as his left arm was ripped open by a piece of white-hot metal. He screamed in pain, but it was drowned out by the tremendous roar that filled the air with its sound. Biting back extreme pain, he forced himself to his knees, gripping his arm, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. He recoiled from the pain as he touched his own wound, but held onto it nonetheless. He wasn't concerned for his own safety, but another. Sakura!

He looked around, fighting back nausea and the blackness that threatened to envelop him. He noticed her lying face down on the ground all but three meters from him. Damning the pain, he forced himself to his feet, and stumbled over to the prone Sakura. Once there, he dropped to his knees. Turning her over, holding her in his arms, he looked to see her face covered with dirt, and blood running from the corner of her mouth. He glanced down and saw that she also had a wound on her abdomen, and it was bleeding profusely.

"Sakura…" he said, fighting his own pain. "We need to get you to a medic."

"There's… no need," she said softly, then coughing up blood. "I won't make it…"

"Don't say that," he said, desperation in his voice.

She reached up with her right hand, and stroked his cheek, smearing it with her blood. "Aidan… I…" the rest of what she wanted to say was muted by another explosion, and he watched in horror as the life faded from her once vibrant, green eyes, and her hand fell to the ground. He looked down at his hands, her blood had mixed with his, disbelief in his eyes.

"Sakura… stay with me…" he said urgently, but no reply came from her now lifeless body. He felt tears burn their way down his face smearing the blood, her blood. He looked up into the overcast sky,

"SAKURA!" he screamed, his voice hoarse. He then screamed once again, this time, it was filled with both rage and sorrow. He started to get lightheaded, and the blackness finally overwhelmed him…

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Whew, this one took a while. I hope you like it. Feedback is always appreciated.