The Golden Age: Chaotic Cosmos

by Maderfole

Book 1 of The Golden Age trilogy. Peace is attained, but even worse chaos lurks just below the surface, waiting to consume the entire Seed cosmos in a war to dwarf all previous wars. The beginning of the epic story. FINISHED. Continued in Eden Disaster.

67. Ashino's Day Out

It was just after dusk, on the day of the funeral. The sun was more than ninety percent below the horizon and was only visible as a small sliver of red light that bathed the entire world in pink light. The ocean flared orange in the reflected glow, like it was made from molten metal rather than water. The huge banks of storm clouds closing in from the east were tinted dark purple and grey and seemed to coil and writhe with menace. Heat lightning flickered high off up in the atmosphere, even though the storm itself was still several minutes away from them. The Archangel and Kusanagi were drawn up in the lee of a small hunk of rock barely deserving of the nae of island... it was barely a half kilometer square and couldn't have been more than ten meters above sea level at its highest point, all barren rock caked with bird guano and fish skeletons. But the idea wasn't to take shelter from the wind and rain behind the island... the great warships could weather those easily. It was the crashing waves that were the problem... unlikely as it was that the storm surge would be enough to damage the ships, neither was strictly designed for ocean travel and even the largest ships had been known to be swamped by taking a big wave the wrong way. The island would serve to break the back of any such freak wave, robbing it of its power before it could endager the ships even slightly.

Kira and Lacus made their way along the corridors leading towards the outdoor observation deck, noting with slight apprehension that all the crewmen that they were passing were kitted out with heavy raincoats and other foul weather gear. Katie could have chosen a better time to call this little meeting... but given all that had happened to her, Kira and Lacus had decided that even if they got soaked to the bone, they'd still show up to hear what she had to say. After the funeral in the morning everyone had split up and gone their seperate ways... the day had unofficially become something of a light duty day, for one out of respect to not only Chanel but all the dead they had lost... but also because of how Lacus's song had affected everyone. Her powers didn't communicate so well over video or phone... and didn't work at all from recordings... but even the small bits of emotion that had seeped through the video and audio links that had been tapped into the hanger had been sufficient to put everyone who saw or heard them into gloomy, introspective moods. Very little work of any consequence was getting done as each person reflected on all that they had lost... and all that they stood to gain from their sacrifice, which kept the gloom to a minimum. Death was a sad and terrible and serious thing... but it wasn't the end... your friends and family always carried you on with them. Kira and Lacus had spent the day just walking around both ships, doing their best to boost morale and cheer people up. Lacus apologized at every workstation for causing any inadvertant distress... uniformly the reply was that even though her song had shaken them a bit, they loved it anyway. Several wanted to know when she was going to put out her next CD and said they hoped that song was featured on it, which got a few blushes out of Lacus, who had mostly forgotten her music career after her father died... it was a little disconcerting suddenly finding more than a few diehard fans, some of them as old or older than her father would be. About two hours before dusk, they had gotten a message from Katie asking them to meet her on the observation deck of the Archangel in two hours for a private talk about something of importance. They made the turn to get into the final corridor that led to the door outside and almost ran into Ysak, headed the other way.

"So what does Katie want to talk to us about?" Kira asked, after everyone had recovered their poise. Ysak stared at him for a few seconds and then stared at Lacus for a few seconds.

"You'll have to ask her that." Ysak at last replied. "I personally have no certain knowledge of what she wants to talk to you about." he started to move past them as he finished talking.

"Aren't you going to be there too?" Lacus asked. "I would have thought she'd want you there too, as it's obviously something important."

"If Katie ever wants to tell me something important, I don't have to be around for her to do it." Ysak said sourly, tapping the side of his head with a finger meaningfully. "In any case, I'll be around in a bit. I just have one last little item to take care of and I'll be back. Hopefully it won't take that long." Ysak continued walking and rapidly disappeared around the corner, headed into the main areas of the ship. Lacus and Kira looked at each other in shared surprise and a little suspicion.

"That was more than a little weird." Kira commented. Lacus nodded.

"He was being intentionally obtuse and obscure. I couldn't get any sort of clear impression on what he was feeling... a lot of dedication and more rage than I wish he had... but he was deliberately hiding something from us. I'm sure of it."

"Maybe it's just a really sensitive issue or something. Something only Katie can tell us and that Ysak finds intensely embarrassing or something." Kira said, not even believing himself. Lacus looked at him and he shrugged. "Okay, so something's up. I admit it. But just about the only person who's going to be able to tell us is Katie. So lets go ask her."

"Lets." Lacus acknowledged and took him by the hand again. Less than a minute later they emerged onto the observation deck, to find more than just Katie waiting for them. Athrun and Cagalli were already there, taking in the last of the sunset together on the railing, while Dearka and Miriallia were sitting just to the left of the door, her head on his shoulder as they tilted their heads back to try and see just how tall the storm clouds towering over them were. Katie stood off slightly to herself, at the right hand railing... staring not at the sunset but lower down, at the starboard hanger and the ocean around it... probably thinking about the funeral earlier in the day, when the casket containing the momentos of her sister was launched into the sea via the catapult. As Lacus and Kira walked onto the observation deck, she turned and smiled briefly, acknowledging their presence before turning once more to stare down at the near distance. Nobody said anything as the sun continued to set, until no part of the sun was visible except for a tiny sliver of reflection on the ocean. The wind and thunder from the closing storm could be heard, like the sounds of a heavenly battle in the near distance, drawing closer with every breath. The waves were getting choppier by the second and the air temperature was starting to drop.

Ysak saw and felt none of this... he was clad in his red ZAFT elite flight suit, with his helmet clenched tightly in one fist. He'd just finished changing and was about to head out into the starboard hanger, where the Duelist awaited him. A cough from behind him made him spin in alarm, eyes narrowed dangerously, he hadn't heard anyone else enter, and Katie was keeping his friends distracted up on the observation deck. Ysak didn't like employing trickery on his own allies like this... but Kira and Athrun would never understand what he had to do... they'd try to stop him. Katie had agreed with him on that. Which was why, even though it pained her to allow him to put himself in danger, she was still helping him, because she knew as well as he did that unless he found some closure he was going to go crazy in some way, perhaps a very bad way. And he'd never find closure in confiding his feelings to his friends or attending heartfelt ceremonies and funerals... his closure could only be found in one medium... the life's blood of Chanel's murderers... Cray Thresher and Asmodeus Sark. But it wasn't one of his friends standing behind him, it was Vladimir.

"Closure is never found in revenge. Cagalli has that part right enough." Vlad said calmly, his arms crossed in a nonthreatening manner as he leaned casually against the door to the hanger. "Take it from someone who knows... you won't feel any happier or more relieved when you stand over their cold corpses... no... you'll still feel hollow and empty and cheated. Because even though they'll have died... Chanel won't come back. Your memories of her won't have been improved... nothing will have changed for the better."

"Are you going to try and stop me?" Ysak asked, his voice soft and dangerous. Vlad's eyes went colder than space and his features settled into a completely unamused mask of stone and pain.

"I could." Vlad replied. "Don't you doubt it... Coordinator." Ysak's heart quailed just a little, he was staring death in the face and he knew it, Vlad could very probably kill him just like that and they both knew it. "But..." Vlad's face returned to his normal, slightly gloomy expression. "... I am not going to stop you. You're a man, your choices are your own. For good or ill. I'm just offering advice... like Kira did for you... and you did for Kira. If I stopped you now, you'd only try again later and, much as the peacable folk don't like to admit it, your hate and love combined are most potent tools, for both offense and defense. It drives you to slay the enemy with the utmost dedication and drives you to survive to return home stronger still. Just like it did for me... with my children and my work in the PLANTS. People will do the craziest of things for love and hate, just make sure you don't end up regretting the results... like I do."

"There will be nothing for me to regret. I'm going to kill Cray and Asmodeus... anyone else is of secondary concern. I'm not going to Panama to destroy the base... I'm not a soldier right now, I'm..."

"An assassin." Vlad finished with more than a touch of sadness. "Yes, you're sort of like I used to be. I never went to the PLANTS with the intent to destroy them... I went there to kill people... certain people I was told to kill. But remember... just as my killings did, yours will have reprecussions far beyond just the deaths themselves."

"I'm prepared to deal with that... that's what soldiers do. They deal with it." Ysak retorted. "Katie's prepared to help me deal with it too... you know that."

"I do. Which is one of the primary reasons I haven't broken your legs tonight." Vlad stepped to the side. "Good luck... show them hell for me." As Ysak moved past him, Vlad reached out a hand and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. In a blindingly fast series of movements Ysak could barely even see, much less counteract, Vlad reached his other hand into a pocket on his vest, whipped something out and looped it around Ysak's neck loosely. Before Ysak could pull away, Vlad had reached over with both hands and twisted the two metallic handles together in a certain fashion that made them click and snap with the sound of locks engaging. The thin steel wire cord extruding from one end of each garrotte handle was cold against Ysak's neck. The strangling tool hung from his neck like a grotesque necklace... not tight enough to restrict his breathing or cause more than minor discomfort, but not loose enough to slip over his head either. "You'll want to come back and see me if you ever want to get that off without bringing an industrial saw closer to your neck than most people would find comfortable. You're an assassin tonight... I find it fitting that you carry the weapon of an assassin with you to remind you of that." Vlad stepped around behind Ysak and gently pushed him into the hanger. Ysak walked mechanically forward, eyes peering downward at the twin metal handles... each with a single letter scratched in bright silver into the dark metal. "A... F..." Ysak muttered, shocked and disoriented... he was wearing the primary strangling weapon of Andre Forkav, one of the most murderous men in recent history, around his neck. It was ghoulish... he couldn't help but think of the scores, if not hundreds of innocent lives that had choked their last breath while wound in this wire. "Stop dawdling... you've got some killing to do tonight and it's not going to take your friends long to figure out that you're doing something they consider stupid." Vlad prodded him.

Ysak straightened himself out with a quick shake and nodded, walking into the hanger with the stride of a man who knows he's going to walk into hell... and who also knows he's got what it takes to walk back out the other side, having punched the devil's own ticket on the way through. The mechanics on watch mostly ignored him... he was a qualified pilot, doing some maintenance on his machine... it was none of their business. Hell, since it was Ysak it was ESPECIALLY none of their business... no one wanted to chance provoking him, not today. Ysak pushed the garrotte handles down inside the collar of his flight suit as he walked... they weren't comfortable there, but it was better than bouncing around under his jaw... at least now they wouldn't hit him if he got shaken up during the fight... and despite his confidence in his skills, he knew that was more than likely. He took the winch lift to the Duelist's cockpit and strapped himself in, removing a neatly folded picture from a pocket as he did so. With careful deliberation he pinned the photo, which depicted him, Chanel and Katie in the shopping mall in Orb, just before they returned to the hotel the night Orb joined the Alliance, between his primary instrument panel and his main viewscreen. In the photo, Ysak stood in the middle... where the fold crease was... with Katie to his left and Chanel to his right... one of his arms over each of their shoulders, both of them with their arms around him and them each just leaning in to give him a kiss on each cheek... it was one of the few photos he had of him where he was actually smiling... barring those taken back when he was like ten. It was a poignant reminder of a time when he'd be truly, completely happy... and a razor sharp hook that would not let him forget his purpose tonight. He punched the power up buttons and quickly brought the Duelist up to full combat readiness, disengaging it from the hanger systems and stepping forward, much to the dismay of the mechanics on watch.

"What in all the names of hell do ya think you're doing in there!?" Chief Murdoch yelled into the hanger comm system. "You don't have authorization to launch! There's a fucking small hurricane coming in right now... there's no way you can launch into that anyway!" He took an involuntary step back when the Duelist's head rotated around to look directly at him... people said mobile suits were lacking in character... just inert conglomerations of parts. Such people had never stared eye to eye with a Gundam, Murdoch decided. He sensed plenty of character... and he was never the type to go in for all that sort of thing anyway.

"Open the hanger." Vlad suggested from behind him. Murdoch jumped and swore... he'd never even heard the guy come in the control center behind him... those TEMPEST guys and gal were always so damned sneaky and Vlad was the worst of them by far.

"Yeah... once the captain say's its okay, sure." Murdoch grimaced and reached for the bridge intercomm. His hand stopped short of the controls... Vlad had glided forward and grabbed him by the elbow with one gloved hand. Murdoch was far from a weakling, but he couldn't even budge his arm... Vlad was a lot stronger than he looked.

"There's no need to ask the captain. She'll say no, we both know that. And when she does, Ysak will just leave anyway."

"Like hell he will... the hanger doors are... ...shut." Murdoch realized what Vlad was saying. "He's fucking gone crazy!"

"Some might see it that way." Vlad acknowledged. "Other's might see it as him departing on a necessary journey of self discovery." Vlad reached up to his face with his free hand and slowly tugged the glove off with his teeth, revealing to Murdoch for the first time his entirely metallic hand and lower arm.

"Motherfucker!" Murdoch gasped. Vlad bowed his head slightly... he knew well how startling his prosthetics could be... looking like skeletal bones as they did.

"Just trust me... I know a lot more about Ysak's state of mind right now than just about anyone else... if you don't let him launch he will turn on the people obstructing him from his goals with no mercy whatsoever. For fuck's sake, man, his girlfriend... a person who was like a daughter to me... was just brutally murdered less than a couple weeks ago. You and I are older... we've lost people... parents... children... friends... we can deal with the loss. Ysak has never lost anyone before like he did Chanel... the first time is always the worst. He'll get over it but right now you're riding a raging tiger and unless you open the doors right the fuck now, you're going to get bitten!"

"Hey... I'm as sorry as the next guy for his loss... we all liked her too, ya know. But despite my personal feelings I can't just let him go off on his own... for one, because it's against all regulations... for two, theres a hurricane coming in and it might endanger the ship to open the hanger bay."

"Endanger it as much as having a furiously raging seventeen year old sick to the heart with anger and grief in a five story tall mobile war zone flipping out inside?" Vlad countered grimly. Murdoch considered that.

"Fine... what the fuck ever... but this is on your head and his head... I'm going to say you forced me to do it." Murdoch said with ill grace, mashing down the hanger open button.

"You can tell them I threatened to strangle you with your own entrails if you want... but thank you." Vlad released his grip on Murdoch's arm and stepped back to the far side of the room, crossing his arms across his chest and tapping his metal fingers against the bulkhead in a steady rythym that made Murdoch think of nails being hammered into the top of a coffin.

Up on the observation deck Athrun had gotten tired of the silence after about five minutes of respectfully waiting for Katie to speak. The storm was almost upon them and none of them were attired for staying outdoors... and even if they had been, he didn't really have the inclination to endure gale force winds, driving rain and blasts of thunder. He turned away from the railing where he and Cagalli had been watching the sunset together, making a few plans for after the war... he needed to go back to Aprilus and put his family affairs in order... deal with his inheritance from his father and other things of that nature. Cagalli needed to do similar things for herself... in addition, assuming she ever cleared her name and regained her position... or any position... in the Orb Government, there were the other four major political families of Orb that would need dealing with. "So... I don't mean to be rude or hasty, but you've invited us here for more reason than to enjoy the sunset, I assume?" he asked Katie. Kira and Lacus perked up and looked over with keen interest as did Dearka and Miriallia, who stood up and came over to stand just behind and to the side of Athrun and Cagalli. Katie did not turn from where she watched the starboard hanger bay door.

"Yes. I have a reason for asking you all to come here." She said, her voice almost too quiet to hear, whipped away by the approaching storm winds. She could feel that Ysak was just about ready, he'd encountered a few trip ups on his way into the hanger but had gotten past them with his customary ease, though she sensed she might have to mediate a bit of an argument between him and Vlad sometime in the future. But now he had reached his mobile suit and was powering it up, if everything went as they planned she'd only need to keep up the distraction for a few more minutes. It rankled that she had to deceive their friends like this... but if she didn't let Ysak go this once... and she could have stopped him, just by asking, she knew... but if she didn't let him go this time, she'd lose him eventually, she was certain. Ysak hid his emotions well, but that did not mean he didn't feel them... he felt them just as keenly and wretchedly as Kira or Athrun or any other SEED Coordinator of her acquaintance... there was something about the SEED factor which seemed to make it's bearer's emotionally more fragile than normal... at least, that was Katie's experience and theory. And unless she kept Athrun and Kira and Dearka tied up talking to her, they'd get together to stop Ysak from leaving, they both had been certain. There was no way Ysak could beat all of them together... he'd privately confided to her that he wasn't completely sure he could take even Kira or Athrun by themselves... so in order to prevent them from banding together against him, Katie was keeping them away while he built up a good lead.

"And that is?" Dearka asked leadingly, when she didn't elaborate. He paused a few seconds. "Oh come on... if you don't say something soon I'm getting out of here... I don't need to get soaked for no reason."

"Did you and Ysak have a fight or something? We passed him on the way here... he seemed like he was hiding something?" Lacus asked gently. Katie smirked.

A fight? That's actually pretty funny, Lacus. Tell me... when you and Kira fight, do you commonly storm away from each other angry or calm? Katie's question slipped into Lacus's mind more easily than the quickening breeze slipped past her skin.

In those few cases where we have a strong disagreement, we're both usually calm about it. I've never seen Kira get angry with me enough to walk away. Lacus replied, somewhat hesitant to use the telepathy she was now learning was just another innate part of her talents.

"I suppose I asked the wrong couple." Katie said out loud. Don't you ever get bored with peace? she asked silently. "If Ysak and I had had a fight, he would have been crying... because I would have broken his arm or something like that. So no... we didn't fight. Quite the opposite in fact. We came to an agreement."

"What sort of agreement?" Cagalli asked, eyeing the approaching rainclouds warily. They had a minute or two tops before they'd all need to change clothes.

I'm not sure what you mean. I don't see peace as boring... especially since we've yet to actually attain it. And if you meant do I grow bored with getting along just fine with Kira nearly all the time... no... I don't. Both of us have suffered enough heartbreak to not want to voluntarily add to it by arguing about transient things like where to go for dinner or who said what to whom. Maybe we're not your common couple... but we work for us and thats that. Lacus sent back. Katie smiled and nodded, though she personally found the concept of always getting along with someone who was intimate with you just a little disturbing... what was life without friction? Se turned to Cagalli. "Not the sort most of you are probably thinking. Though as soon as things calm down a bit I'm sure he'll find a ring somewhere." Katie grinned again. "No... we came to an agreement between us about you six."

"What about us?" Kira asked.

"And could you stop being so damned mysterious? It's about to rain ten sorts of hell in about a minute!" Dearka added, inching himself and Miriallia toward the door.

"Fine... I suppose I've been indirect long enough." Katie said, spinning on her heels to watch the hanger doors levering outward. "Ysak and I agreed that if you six learned what he was planning to do tonight... he did mention a little errand he had to take care of, right?... you'd try to stop him. So while he went down to the hanger to do what he needed to do, I've kept you up here, safely away from your mobile suits."

"What are you saying!?" Cagalli demanded. Katie did not look back at her.

Why don't you help me, Lacus... stretch out your mind and find Ysak and tell us what he's up to, why don't you? He's in the starboard hanger bay... you should be able to detect that far. Katie thought, her voice ringing in Lacus's head. Lacus squinted her eyes and concentrated... she couldn't just throw her talents around like second nature, like Katie did. Not yet anyway... right now she really had to concentrate on thinking in certain patterns in order to consciously utilize her Newtype power in a way other than song. Katie was right... she could sense Ysak. He appeared a bit like Athrun... though instead of a knight in shining armor, his armor was battared, beaten and bloody, with silver light blazing undiminished from the joints and eye slits. He carried a glowing red sword in either hand and there was a bleeding slash wound on his chest to match the one on the real Ysak's face... this wound was pulsing pain and hurt and anger and love like an artery spurting blood. It didn't take her long at all to decipher his emotions this time, when he was wide open and not guarding his mind at all.

"Too late, Lacus Clyne." Ysak whispered, jamming his helmet down on his head as he felt the unfamiliar brush of Lacus's mind on his thoughts. He kicked the Duelist into an approximation of a sprint and dived out of the hanger, igniting his thrusters barely in time to avoid going for a swim. Photon cloak snapping behind him like giant wings, Ysak aimed the Duelist right into the heart of the storm and took off with all the speed he could muster.

"Oh no... he's going out for revenge!" Lacus cried, just as the Duelist lit its thrusters and roared away from the hanger, thrusters louder for a moment than the storm. "He's headed for Panama... to kill Cray and Asmodeus!"

"But that's crazy! Ysak's damned good... and damned pissed off... but he can't take a whole base by himself!" Dearka shouted angrily at Katie. "He's gone off to his death and you helped send him there!"

"Gone off to his death... for his best friend you have little faith in Ysak." Katie said with a mighty frown. "He's not going there to foolishly waste his life attacking all of Panama base... he's going to sneak in and kill those two... and then he's going to come right back. To me. And to all of you."

"Sneak into Panama with a MOBILE SUIT!? Do you have any idea what you're saying?" Dearka retorted, furious. The storm broke just then, sending sheets of rain lashing down, instantly soaking them all to the skin. The winds built up with howling force and the waves grew from choppy to fifteen to twenty foot storm swells in a heartbeat.

"It sounds about as crazy as me returning to the PLANTS to see my father after Orb." Athrun shouted back. "Albeit I asked permission first... but Ysak is Ysak. He obviously feels strongly about this, more strongly than I've ever seen him feel something before. I'm not saying he did the right thing and neither did you, tricking us up here. But you did what you thought was necessary and I can't entirely blame you for that... in a similar situation I could see myself doing something of the same sort... god forbid I should ever have to. And none of the rest of you can tell me you wouldn't do something similar either, if the person next to you was brutally murdered."

"No... I can't say I'd do anything different." Dearka muttured, only loud enough for Mir to hear him in the whipping winds. Cagalli was blinking rainwater out of her eyes and chewing her lip as well... it was at odds with her professed philosophy, to take a life for a life... but if Athrun were murdered in front of her eyes while she was helpless to save him... well, she couldn't find it in herself to ostracize Ysak's choice. Even Lacus and Kira couldn't quite refute that... especially Kira, given how he'd reacted to Flay's death. It was almost identical to how Ysak was reacting, though Ysak had maintained better control than Kira himself had, actually.

"Be as that may... we can't let Ysak go off by himself... intentions notwithstanding, if he goes into Panama looking for a fight or even just to kill them... he's going to end up fighting all of them... Frost included. And he won't come back from that." Kira shouted. "I'm going after him." Kira turned and touched Lacus briefly on the arm. Love you... I Know. The thoughts passed almost simultaneously in both directions. Dearka and Miriallia turned, hand in hand, ad headed out right behind Kira. Athrun and Cagalli also turned to follow, but Katie stopped them with a hand on each's shoulder.

"What?" Cagalli asked testily, spitting rainwater that tasted of ash out of her mouth... she tried not to think about where the ash taste might have come from... they weren't currently downwind of Australia, but who knew how high the smoke clouds from the burning cities went.

"Thank you. All of you. Bring Ysak back to me. Please." Katie asked, her words a jumble. There was more than rainwater flowing down her face. Athrun smiled gently.

"Of course. I promise, we all do. We'll bring him back... I may punch his lights out when we get him back here... but he'll be back, alive and well. That's written in stone, you can be sure."

It wasn't until eight o'clock the next morning that the long range radar scopes at Panama picked up what might have been a mobile suit contact approaching from a direction no mobile suit should have been coming from. A combat air patrol of four interception fighters was rerouted from their sentry course to investigate. At roughly the same time the flight leader reported a possible contact, the patrol's radar signatures disappeared from the radar array, as did the possible enemy contact. All attempts to raise the patrol met with failure... the failure was logged and reported, but Panama was still a chaotic mess dealing with the EA forces that had been routed there after the Australian Maneuver and there were bigger problems to attend to than the loss of contact with a single patrol... all too likely from a resurgence of N-Jammer interference or a radiation storm in orbit. And even if it was an enemy... nobody would be insane enough to attack all of Panama base with a single mobile suit. Sentry's and patrols were told to remain highly alert... nothing new there... they'd been on high alert ever since the start of the war. Asmodeus certainly wasn't bothered with the news and nobody told the BCPU's anything if they could avoid it. Most of the base went on with business as usual... which today meant preparing for a MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) charity concert being held that morning at around ten. It was more than just a concert, actually... ten of the most popular bands in the Atlantic Federation were being flown in to perform in a sort of all day festival designed to help restore the spirits of the soldiers who'd lost friends and family in the Australian Maneuever. There was going to be plenty of free food and drink...even some alcohol, a rarity for a command sponsered event... the bands, which ranged in genre from country to pop to rock to electronica to the newly popular Excavation genre, in which songs from centuries ago were dug out of old records and resung by talented mimics, dances, games and dozens of other events and attractions to take the soldier's minds off the losses for a while.

Ashino was off duty for the first few hours of the charity concert and he had no specific orders not to attend... he had to make himself always available to Asmodeus if he needed to be called into action, but a belt and wrist pager took care of that. He decided that taking a bit of a look around wouldn't hurt him... it might even be... what was it called again?... fun? He took one of his small notebooks... this one had a grey cover and was brand new, along with several pens. He was walking out the door of his room/cell when he realized that he had no idea what he was supposed to wear... the concert was an informal affair and he'd stick out like an alien if he wore his uniform... even his, which was of course unadorned by any unit or rank markings. And the whole reason he wanted to go to the concert was to blend in with normal people for a while, so he could study them in their natural habitat... a world he could barely understand and only rarely got the opportunity to see. He considered the problem as he made his way out of the high security areas of the base, where he and the other two were kept well isolated from the rest of the base. Ashino nodded to a few guards, who stopped their conversation to warily watch him pass, hands straying near their pistol grips... he was getting known as an okay guy, but the rumors about what Cray and Frost could do were already getting around and now any BCPU tended to make people nervous... and too many of the guards didn't take the time to learn to differentiate him from Frost... after all they were both short and well muscled. Ashino put that out of his head so he could focus on the real problem... he needed a disguise... what normal people might refer to as casual wear or in military terminology, civilian clothing. But he had no money... BCPU's didn't exactly serve by choice or for a paycheck. He pondered this problem as he reached the street outside the high security area... it didn't look like he had much choice, much as he didn't like it.

He strolled around aimlessly for a while until he found a likely target... a willowy looking young man, dressed in clothing that looked about a half size too big, with pasty skin, glasses and a slightly receding hairline... almost exactly like a good portion of the lab assistants he'd seen in JIHAD. In Ashino's experience... or at least what he'd heard from the mutters of the guards at JIHAD... people like this always had lots of money, because they lacked something called a social life in which to spend it. Ashino was still fuzzy on some of that stuff... he knew what socializing was... but a social life? Was it possible to have more than one type of life? If it was, he wanted to find out how. He tailed the young man... well man, since he was probably at least Ashino's age if not a few years older... for about a block, selecting his ambush point. The sidewalk was clear for more than forty meters in both directions... perfect... Ashino quickened his stride and brushed past the soldier, muttering a sort of greeting as he passed. The other barely even looked at him, his mind clearly on other things. Ashino passed an alley between two buildings and slipped into it, reaching out as the soldier passed and dragged him in behind him, practically lifting the thin young man off the ground as he did so. He pushed him up against the side of the building, grabbed the soldier by the lapels of his shirt and pulled his head down nice and personal like. As it turned out, extorting money wasn't nearly as difficult as Ashino had thought it would be... though it was still distasteful. At first the soldier had resisted, threatening to turn Ashino over to the military police. Then Ashino had taken a rusty metal pole from the ground nearby and snapped it in half with only a few grunts of effort... the pole was only a few inches in diamater and rusted halfway through, but apparently this questionable feat of strength made a strong impression on the soldier, because he immediately dropped eighty dollars in cash and change on the ground, along with a bank card.

After a few minutes in which Ashino received a quick and somewhat incredulous training by his mugging victim in how to use a bank card and learned the five digit code that would access the funds, he chopped the poor guy across the neck, putting him in a deep state of unconsciousness. He dumped him behind some bags of trash and covered him with a few more... he felt almost guilty... like he'd done something wrong. Maybe he had... he was supposed to be protecting people like this, not robbing them. But robbing them was better than killing them... the guy would wake up with a sore head and a lighter bank account balance... but he'd live on. That made Ashino feel a little better. Until he got out on the street again and realized another problem... sure he had money, but he'd been in uniform of some sort or another his whole life... he had no idea what to wear. He still hadn't found an answer to this problem when he reached the base shopping district... guided by helpful signs it hadn't been that hard for him to locate, nor had been an ATM from which to withdraw an extra three hundred dollars... the max the machine would let him take. But he could hardly mug someone and ask for fashion tips... he didn't think he'd feel so good if he had to keep neck chopping hapless bystanders. His problem turned out to be big on the bark and not so bad on the bite. He wandered aimless through the store for about five minutes before a pair of overly friendly staff workers bustled up and asked him if he needed any help. Ashino was amazed... people had never walked up to him before and just asked if they could help out... it was a new experience. It took thirty minutes of bewilderment and confusion, but they eventually helped him find what they told him was a highly fashionable outfit. They told him the ensemble cost two hundred and seventy dollars because it was on sale. He didn't question that... he didn't know what they meant by sale and two hundred seventy dollars didn't sound all that high... he knew he himself had cost tens of millions of dollars. He left with just over a hundred dollars in the pockets of his brand new black jeans, which were tucked into shiny black steel toed boots much like infantry soldiers wore. His shirt was short sleeved and dark green, a few shades darker than his eyes, with a button up front. The undershirt was dark red, darker than his hair. A pair of mirror reflective wraparound sunglasses were placed carefully in the breast pocket of the outer shirt... he didn't need them, but the staff had assured him they were very fashionable.

Ashino walked back onto the street running a nervous hand through his short and curly hair... if anyone who knew that he was a BCPU saw him now, to say he'd be in deep shit would be a wonderful euphanism... BCPU's were things, not people... they didn't get to wear civilian clothes. And if they found out he mugged someone... well... in all actuality, that was probably a lesser crime in the eyes of his superiors than the wearing of casual clothing... after all, he was supposed to be aggressive and merciless... he wasn't supposed to want to blend in like a normal Natural. He fell in with a crowd of other soldiers and assorted base personnel leaving the shopping district. None of them spared him a second glance... maybe because most of them, even the females, were several inches taller than him. However, that probably wasn't it... he noticed they all gave him a little extra room on the shuttle bus that arrived to take them to the concert, he noted that while he may have been the shortest one present, he was also the most muscular... he jotted down a note to himself in his book. Physical size and dimensions apparently sent strong nonverbal cues to the people around you... not exactly new information... he'd been taught how to be physically threatening in training, but he was trying to blend in and they were still shying away, just because he bulked more muscle than them. A sudden thought occured to him... it might also be because he was a stranger, trust was something that was in short supply wherever he went, Natural, Coordinator or BCPU no matter what. The bus deposited them outside the park area where the concert was set up, Ashino could not help but stare in awe. He'd never seen anywhere close to this many people in one place at one time... more than he could quickly count in just one five degree arc of vision. And then there were the stages, the tents, the gaming booths, the rides... a medly of sights and sounds and smells and even tactile sensations... that many people moving around at once actually made tremors in the earth he could feel as slight shifts in his near perfect balance.

Ashino wandered through the main gates to the festival area, showing his military ID at a checkpoint so that he did not have to buy a twenty dollar ticket. He breathed a sigh of relief in that the military ID provided to him still looked more or less normal... in the event of his death on the battlefield, if the enemy recovered his corpse they'd glean nothing special from the card. Once inside he was sort of stuck on which way to go first... eventually he found himself just drifting along with the crowds, gawking like a country yokel without even realizing it. His expression of childish wonder was noticed by more than a few people... many chuckled or made whispered asides to friends, but many more smiled and nodded in his direction in a friendly and understanding manner. "Hey! Hey, you there... the red head in the green shirt. The short guy! Hey you!" a man's voice suddenly called. Ashino tensed up... had someone from the Panama branch of the BCPU project spotted him? "Over here!" Ashino looked around, quickly locating the source of the voice... a man dressed in brightly colored clothing who stood behind the counter of a gaming stall. There was a large sign on the top of the booth that proudly proclaimed in large block letters that you could pay two dollars to throw five knives at a target... hit the bullseye once to win a prize... the more times you hit the bigger the prize was. The prizes ranged from hand sized plush toys to almost life sized stuffed animals almost as big as Ashino himself. "C'mon, buddy. Pay two bucks, win your sweetie a prize, eh? All you gotta do is hit the bullseye once and make it stick... a guy with your muscle shouldn't have it all that hard."

"Um... okay." Ashino walked over to the booth and carefully counted out two dollars to give to the man. The man made the twin bills disappear with a theatrical flick of his hand that was ludicrously slow to Ashino's eyes and plopped five battered and well used throwing knives onto the counter, which was at mid chest height for Ashino. The bullseye on the target was a red star about three inches across and the board was about twelve feet away. Ashino picked up the top knife and tested the edge, tsking at how dull it was... the knives he was usually given were sharp enough to cut thin steel wire... this would barely pierce bone if thrown hard. He forced himself to remember that these were not combat knives... this was a game. Like training, except just for the hell of it. Or just for the prize in this case.

"C'mon, sonny... either throw the knife or get out of the way for the next guy." the handler prodded him. Ashino turned his eyes onto the man, setting him back a step at the emptiness within the green eyes of the short buff kid. Without looking back at the target Ashino flipped the knife once in his hand to confirm the balance and tossed it overhand in a blur of whirling steel, impacting dead center in the middle of the star. Without pausing or looking away from the vendor Ashino picked up the next knife and threw that too, and then the next... and the next. In less than fifteen seconds he'd put all five knives into the red star, so close they actually touched each other and so deeply embedded into the wood that the handler had to hit them with a hammer a few times to loosen them enough to pull out. "Goddamn... you some kinda trick thrower or somethin? You weren't even looking." the handler said, shaking his head in admiration. Ashino shrugged... he could have probably thrown the knives two in one hand and three in the other and gotten similar results at twice the distance... at least four out of five. Looking had nothing to do with it... once he'd seen the target he remembered exactly where it was in relation to himself... he didn't need to keep his eyes on it... a pilot who couldn't keep track of a target without the use of his eyes wouldn't be a pilot long. "Well, pick out whatever you want... you earned it. Just... don't come back for a while, okay? I only got a few of the big prizes and I'm not supposed to lose all of them today."

Ashino ended up picking out one of the 4 of 5 prizes... the 5 of 5 prizes being far too unwieldy to carry around for long. As it was, the felt covered stuffed black bear was as big as his chest and thighs put together and was a bit awkward to tote around, even if it didn't weigh much at all. After about twenty minutes of lugging it around, bumping it into things and people, he ditched it next to a delighted bunch of young kids... they looked barely older than the new recruits in the program were. Ashino considered bringing something back for the other BCPU's and BCPU hopefuls, but discarded the idea as a wasted notion... the scientists in charge would never let them have anything like personal possessions, much less a big stuffed toy. He bought himself a carbonated drink of some sort... the different flavors didn't really have much meaning to him, he just chose one at random... it was citrusy and sour, but cool and best of all... different from the electrolytes and other specially mixed fluids he drank on the job. He ambled around aimlessly for the next hour, taking notes on the people he saw. The groups of soldiers out with their buddies for a good time... the soldiers with their families... the civilian families... the couples... the loners... everyone acted differently and yet so alike. They'd all go and do different things in different ways, yet they were all here just to unwind and have a good time. Whether it was losing money at the game stalls, dancing, listening to the band music, riding the rides or stuffing themselves sick with unhealthy food, everyone seemed to have a different way of making themself feel better. Ashino tried each method himself, to see if he'd feel better too... ever since JIHAD and the death of the Doc he'd been even more gloomy and introverted than usual. Ashino never really lost money at the game stalls... they were all tests of strength or hand eye coordination... things at which he was far and above human levels. He used his foot to ring the strongman bell, not the hammer that was provided for him. He built up a steady stream of prizes that he ditched sooner or later into the hands of some child or couple, who always thanked him profusely enough to make him uncomfortable. He did keep one thing... a combination animatronic/plushy black cat about the size of both his hands together that clung firmly to the back of his head and made "mew mew" noises every few minutes and turned its head around to look at things. He found the animal hilarious for some reason and strangely comforting... he couldn't ever remember owning a pet, much less a black cat, but for some reason it felt normal, even if it wasn't a real animal.

He thought about trying to dance... but he really had no idea how and he didn't want to make a fool out of himself doing something a normal human couldn't. He listened to the bands as he walked... the songs had been carefully chosen, he guessed, to be pro war and energetic, to help the soldiers forget about their losses. Most of the bands were singing about love and mischevious pranks or other nonsensical things... a few were more direct, usually the rock groups, singing about beating people up and/or winning some unnamed fight. Ashino was no stranger to propaganda... he ended up tuning out most of the music. Riding the rides was... interesting. Used as he was to flying the Bane in combat, the spinning and twirling and whirling rides really didn't affect him much... compared to some battlefield maneuvers he used on a regular basis, the stresses he endured on the rides were nothing. Everyone else sure seemed to be getting a kick out of them though. He did like the ferris wheel, just because of how stately and slow it was. It wasn't a ride that tried to thrill you with speed... it didn't need to. It just went up and around and seemed to give you the greatest view of the whole damned world that you'd ever see. He rode it four times in a row until the guy who did admittance recognized him and made him go away, to let other people have a turn. After that, he went and bought himself cotton candy, popcorn and several plates of chili dogs slathered in sauce and cheese. Which he promptly downed in about ten minutes, much to the admiration of a group of soldiers nearby. Ashino shrugged... his body was designed to run efficiently and utterly digest everything he put into it at an accelerated rate. He hadn't been precisely hungry, but now he certainly wouldn't need to eat for at least a day and a half, maybe more. And the food had been good... far better than the nutrient oatmeal and rations he was normally given. The group of soldiers were a little rowdy... obviously having a better than usual time due to the cans of beer each clutched. One of them came over and clapped Ashino jovially on the back and complimented him for how well he could "scoff" to use the soldier's words. He paid for a pitcher of beer for Ashino and then left to go party elsewhere with his friends. Ashino sniffed the amber liquid that was brought to him... it smelled of grain and chemicals and a bit like some of the lubricants used on the small mechanical parts of the Bane. He shrugged and downed the pitcher in two gulps... he licked his lips afterwards and thought about the taste... he knew what alcohol was and its effects on the human body... but his body was designed to resist poison and most drug effects... he didn't feel any different and his balance seemed unaffected. He shrugged again... whatever.

It was as he was leaving the dining area of the food court type area that he looked up in alarm. A pair of Strike Crusaders had just flown by overhead... he forced himself to relax... just because mobile suits were flying around didn't mean anything... this was a military base. They weren't looking for him or anything... he still had one and a half hours before he'd have to leave to return in time to be ready for his next patrol. He didn't realize how distracted he was until he actually physically walked into someone... something he'd never done before by accident in his entire life. The other person was taller than him... like most people were... but much thinner and much lighter... she was knocked back and to the ground almost instantly, while Ashino barely even felt the impact.

"Hey...! Watch where you're walking you damned..." the girl's voice trailed off as she got a good look at the guy who'd knocked her over. He was short and buff like a movie star... muscles bulging along his arms and chest, a trim waist, slightly pale but unblemished skin, fresh new clothes of reasonable pricing, a slightly confused and concerned expression on his face, pretty green eyes and short curly red hair. In short, he was hot. Damned hot. The most handsome man to ever run her over. "... hunk..." she finished, amazed. People as good looking as him didn't really exist outside of movies, did they? I mean, his skin was practically perfect as far as she could see... and that build... he looked like he crushed rocks barehanded for fun. But he didn't look at all like an arrogant jock... he was almost tenative, as if lost in a place he didn't quite understand. And the plushy cat that clung to the back of his head was something no jock she knew of would be caught dead wearing.

"Mew... mew." the plushy cat commented. Ashino was at a loss as to what to do... here he'd just bowled this girl over and she was plainly not happy with him, judging by the fierce look in her eyes... he'd gone and made a scene... just the opposite of what he wanted to do. "Umm... I'm sorry." Ashino mumbled... trying to decide what to do. He needed to end this fast, before more people started paying attention and perhaps recognized him. "Let me help you up." he held out one hand.

"Uhmm... thanks." the girl, whos name was Jean, replied. She found it hard to get coherent words out... ever since her last boyfriend had dumped her for that bitch on the swim team she'd despaired of finding another good guy friend... she wouldn't call them boyfriends any more... not until she found a faithful one. And here was this enormously attractive male, just about her own age by her estimation, politely offering her a hand to help her to her feet. Of course, he had knocked her over, but politeness was less common than most people thought. "Chivalry isn't dead, it's good to see." she took his hand and started to use it to help herself get to her feet. A wasted effort on her part... he just tugged lightly and almost pulled her into his arms, not just onto her feet. Ashino frowned slightly... he'd have to watch it... she was a lot lighter than he'd thought... certainly not more than a hundred pounds. The girl was about an inch and a half, maybe two inches taller than him, with light brown straight hair done in a short braid to her shoulders. Her skin was about the same color as his, showing a little bit of tan and a little more sunburn. She had freckles on her face and wore round glasses over her hazel eyes. She was wearing blue jeans, sandals and a white shirt with a stylized blue dragon on the front with the caption "Go 72nd Autonomous Core" and looked to be about sixteen or seventeen.

"You should watch where you're going." Jean said, trying to sound stern and angry. It was hard holding back a laugh, actually... the plushy cat on his head was an image that was almost irresistably hilarious, especially coupled with the lost and confused expression on his face.

"Yes, I should. Thats the first time I've ever walked into someone by accident." Ashino replied sheepishly. He felt the need to offer some explanation. "The mobile suits flying overhead distracted me."

"Yeah... they're from my older brother's unit, the 72nd AC. He's on sentry duty right now and his unit has security duty for the festival... they pissed off some high up bastard and he had their watch schedule rotated around." Jean replied, mentally shaking her fist at the nameless son of a bitch who'd prevented her from going to the festival with her brother, whom she hadn't seen in months.

"He's a survivor of Australia?" Ashino asked... he wasn't sure why he cared or if he did, but from the few personal conversations he'd overheard between normal people, it was apparent to him that you were supposed to pretend to care about the other person's life, even if you did not.

"No... he was stationed in Europe until recently, thank god. Australia was such a mess... I mean, sure we didn't lose, but I find it hard to believe we won either. And I don't care if someone around here doesn't like me being negative... I support this war because my brother's fighting in it... not cause I like it or believe in our leaders." Jean said proudly. She looked around at all the military people around her. "No offense."

"None taken." Ashino replied. He found himself starting to get interested... here was a person who, in a way like him, both supported and disliked the war. He decided to talk with her some more, to try and get a read on how she felt and see if it was at all like he did. Or how he should be feeling. "I feel like I should make it up to you somehow... for running into you I mean. Should I buy you some food or drink or win you a prize or something?"

Jean brushed herself off again and studied the short guy... he seemed completely without guile, but then again her judgement on the male psyche was somewhat suspect... she'd fallen for the other bastard too. "Are you hitting on me? I don't even know your name."

"I'm not quite sure what you mean." Ashino responded. "I ran into you, but I haven't struck you or hit you. And my name is..." Ashino trailed off... he didn't want anyone to connect his real name to this appearance... never could tell who might hear. "...Ash." he finished. Best keep it simple, easier to keep straight.

"You... wait?... what?... no... ugh... nevermind." Jean replied, wrongfooted by his innocuous reply. "I guess you weren't then. My name is Jean. Nice to meet you, Ash." she held out her hand. Ashino looked at it and finally divined that he was supposed to grasp it with his own after a second or two. He very tenatively took her hand in his and tried not to squeeze to hard... he knew he could shatter every bone in her soft hand if he clenched his fist. "You got a strong, firm grip there, Ash. And you know what they say about guy's with strong grips..." Jean said. Ashino looked at her and waited for more.

"No, what do they say?" Ashino replied after a few seconds.

"That you're supposed to let go of my hand after shaking it, for one." Jean commented. Though in truth she didn't find she minded holding hands with this guy... strange, since she barely knew him, but maybe she was just unbalanced from her last relationship. Ashino released her hand as if burned by it.

"Sorry... I... uh... don't get out much. Still kinda... new, here." Ashino told her contritely.

"Yeah, I'm just here for a week or so, to see my brother." Jean said, smiling at his awkwardness... usually it was her that was all nervous and jumpy during social situations... she'd never been a party girl with a big social scene... it was refreshing to be the sure minded one in a conversation. And buff, polite, vulnerable guys like Ash were damned cute in her estimation. "So why are you here then? You work here or something?" Jean asked. "You look kinda like a soldier if you don't my saying... standing all stiff like that."

Ashino frowned slightly... he'd been trying to mimic the people around him and here this civilian girl had spotted him as a military type within seconds... he'd need to work on blending in better. Of course, given that ninety percent of the crowd was military, perhaps being thought to be a soldier was an indication of success. "I transferred here right after Australia. I'm a... uhh... a..." Ashino trailed off... some people might connect a short red head, recently transferred, who was also a pilot, with a certain special unit that wasn't technically supposed to be at the festival, if he knew the scientists at all. He reconsidered... there were thousands of soldiers and pilots in Panama right now... there were bound to be other short red heads. "A pilot. A mobile suit pilot."

"You don't look like a mobile suit pilot, if you don't mind me saying." Jean commented, slowly walking around to view him from all sides... she noticed with a grin that he continued to look straight ahead... he was military, thats for sure... so stuck on proper bearing. But it probably also meant he was the responsible type, especially if he was a pilot. And he was probably well off too... her brother was paid quite well. "The mobile suit pilots I know are all thinner and wimpier looking... even my brother isn't as buff as you. You look more like a tank driver or artilleryman. What unit do you fly with? And what's your rank?"

"Err..." Ashino paused, thinking on how to answer. Why was it that whenever he encountered girls his age that he always ended up answering all the questions, not vice versa? "I'm a Lieutenant. And yes, I do fly mobile suits, though I can also drive tanks and fire artillery. My unit is... well... my unit is...ah... top secret. Not really supposed to talk about it." Ashino replied... it was nothing but the truth, if phrased such that he didn't actually give anything away. He was techincally a lieutenant... he was listed as such in some military roster that didn't officially exist. He could drive or fly any vehicle the Alliance had in its inventory and most of the PLANT vehicles too... and his unit was the very definition of top secret.

"Oh really...?" Jean leaned in from behind him, hoping in vain to make him jump. "Tell me then, Mr. Secret Agent Man... how can I know if you're telling me the truth or just blowing smoke up my skirt to try and impress me?"

"You're not wearing a skirt and believe me, even if you were I'd never do something so crass as to blow smoke up it." Ashino assured her, blushing slightly and irritated that she would think so little of him.

"No, no I meant... oh, nevermind. It was a figure of speech. Prove to me that you really are a pilot in some special forces unit." Jean said, clapping a hand to her face in exasperation... and to hide the smile at his blush.

"Why?" Ashino asked warily.

Jean glared at him, hands on hips and then gave him a mischevious smile. "Because if you do I'll give you a reward you wouldn't want to miss out on. And if you don't I'm going to walk away and not talk to you ever again." Jean said, playing on a hunch... he seemed desperate for social contact... not just with a girl but with anyone... he must be one of those real introverts... the kind of guy who almost never got out by themselves. Course, he didn't look like that, but an introvert body builder wasn't too much of a stretch, was it?

"How then?" Ashino asked. He didn't want her to leave... confusing as it was, this conversation was enjoyable.

"Ash, for an officer in the special forces like you claim to be, you're awfully dependent on me for ideas and motivation." Jean commented with a sly smile. "Just do something impressive... I don't know..." Jean looked around and her voice trailed off as her eyes met an unwelcome sight. That rat bastard Brian... her old boyfriend... had just walked around the corner, arms around the waist of that bitch Marlene, captain of the swim team. Jean didn't know what Marlene and Brian were doing in Panama for a moment... then realized that both of them had siblings in the military too. Behind them lumbered Sam, Brian's best friend and star of the school wrestling team. Jean had never liked Sam... he was a brute and he knew it and enjoyed it. "... Hold on a moment... I need to go give someone else a piece of my mind."

Ashino watched Jean stamp over towards the group of two guys and one girl who had rounded a corner a few seconds ago. None of them were familiar to him, but that was standard. Ashino watched with interest which slowly phased into concern as Jean confronted the group and began telling the slimmer male how she felt about being abandoned for something called a "hussy", which seemed to be some sort of insulting label applied to the limber blond girl closely attached to the slim man's arm. Ashino slowly made his way over to them, pondering all the while just what he could do that would prove to Jean that he was indeed a special forces soldier without completely blowing his secret. Jean's argument was growing quite heated and Ashino was forced to divert some of his attention to tuning it out. It was while he was doing this that the big hulking teenager... the guy who looked like he arm wrestled with Jug the BCPU for kicks, suddenly reached out and shoved Jean hard enough to make her tumble to the ground.

"I thought I told you I was done with you, Jean." Brian said coldly. "I warned you about what would happen if you kept bugging me and Marlene, didn't I? I can see that word's just aren't getting through to you." Brain paused for a moment and smiled, a frosty smile that was mirrored on Marlene's face and echoed by a hungry look on Sam's. "Sam... teach her a lesson for me, buddy."

"You got it, hoss." Sam stepped forward and reached down to grab Jean by the shoulder. He got no further than the reaching down part before Ashino had slid forward and grabbed him by the wrist. "Who the hell are you?" Sam rumbled, surprised. Usually people moved away from him when he was frowning, like he was, not towards him. And here this runt... a well muscled runt... but a runt nonetheless, had just walked up and stopped him. Now, Sam wasn't the sharpest knife in the set, but he could still figure out that there was likely more to this guy than met the eye, 'cause he'd never been grabbed by someone a good two or three weight classes below him before.

"No one you need to know." Ashino informed the big hulking young man coolly. He slowly released his grip, guiding the big meaty hand past Jean's shoulder and down to the side. "I would strongly suggest that you not attempt to lay hands on Jean again."

"What... are you her boyfriend?" Marlene cackled nastily. "Jean, dear... my your tastes have changed... this guy has more in common with a tree stump than he does with the guys you usually hang out with... oh wait... that's right.. you don't generally hang out with guys, do you, introvert?" Jean flushed... it was one thing to acknowledge that you were introverted... it was another to have that fact thrown into your face in public by a social peer... especially one that had stolen your last boyfriend from you just cause she had better tits and was more willing to put out.

"He's not my boyfriend! I barely know him!" Jean protested.

"I'm not her boyfriend... I hardly know her." Ashino repeated, almost in synch. He winced... what he had meant to come out as a strong refutation had become an almost pathetic denial when spoken in concert.

"Oh really!?" Brian smirked. He looked over at Sam, who had backed off for the moment. "Change of plans, Sam my pal. Trash her boyfriend for me, would you? She's the kind of girl that gets off when men get beaten up over her... trust me, I know... I used to have to beat up guys all the time just to get her to second base."

"That's not true, you son of a bitch!" Jean cried, tears of anger and shame in her eyes... so she liked being fought over and protected... what was so wrong about that? Lot's of women liked that... just cause she had a bit of a bodily reaction to being saved by her boyfriend didn't make her a bad person. Did it?

"I told you once... I'm not her boyfriend. You will gain nothing by attacking me." Ashino warned. Sadly, as is to often the case with Naturals, the logic of his statements did not seem to be getting through. Sam grinned toothily and stepped forward, reaching out with both hands in the manner of a trained grappler.

"Don't worry, short stack... this'll only hurt for a little while. A few weeks in the hospital and you'll prolly be able to walk again and you might even be able to take a piss without outside help." Sam said with a chuckle... he was well known back home in wrestling circles and on the street for being one merciless son of a bitch once he got his hands on someone... his threat wasn't an off the cuff estimate.

"No... don't! He's just a guy I bumped into! There's no reason to bring Ash into this!" Jean protested, starting to push herself to her feet.

"Ash eh? Already on a first name basis with a guy you just bumped into... and people call me a slut... I usually require at least a nights worth of food and drinks before I deign to learn a guy's name, much less do anything else. You work fast, Jean. Desperate much?" Marlene taunted.

"I'm sorry, I'm following very little of what you are saying." Ashino said, turning away from the almost menacing figure of Sam to regard Marlene and Brian. "But while your words are unfamiliar to me, your tone is not. I'll thank you not to continue speaking to Jean that way. It isn't nice."

"It... isn't... nice." Brian repeated, incredulous. He looked at Marlene and then over at Sam, who had a frown on his face... he'd never been ignored in mid threat before. "Well why didn't you just say so before, Ash? I woulda backed off right away. Imagine that... not being nice. Oh my god! Oh whatever shall I do now that I'm not being nice?" Brian turned to face Jean. "Christ on his cross where the fuck did you find this simpleton? People like him can't be common... he's a freaking retard!" Brian turned back to Ashino and Sam. "Sam, do this poor bastard a favor and choke some sense into him."

"You had this coming, little guy." Sam said heavily, putting his hands on Ashino's shoulders from behind and beginning to squeeze. "Ain't nobody walk away from a fight with me but me." Ashino waited for a few seconds, until he could actually start to feel the pressure of Sam's fingers. He then spun around on his heels, twisting his shoulders out of Sam's grip in the process. Sam grunted in shock... no one had ever pulled out of his grip so easily before... the short guy had done it without even trying. Sam brought both his hands inward for a neck grip... he'd like to see the runt twist out of THAT! His hands were inches from Ashino's neck when Ashino brought up his hands and gripped Sam's wrists, stopping him cold.

"I believe it is you who might have had something coming to you." Ashino told Sam in exasperation... why must it always come down to physical force when dealing with males his age? He just did not do well with people his own age... females had him stumbling around dazed and confused, males always wanted to fight him. "I'm sorry." Ashino apologized and then rotated his hands downwards while applying nearly the full force of his grip... dislocating both of Sam's wrists while simultaneously crushing the lower forearm bones into several bony chunks, the ragged edges of which quickly perforated Sam's skin in bright smears of blood. Sam's eyes went wide as saucers while his pupils dilated almost to the point where the color could no longer be discerned as the unbelievable agony raced up Sam's arms from the multiple compound fractures in his wrists, not to mention the dislocated hands themselves, which flopped obcenely about as he waved his arms in a futile effort to assuage the pain. A terrible scream was starting to rip its way past his lips when Ashino stepped forward and planted a solid uppercut into his jaw, mashing his teeth together so hard Sam bit off the tip of his own tongue and cracked seven teeth in the process. Ashino finished off the attack by kicking Sam's left knee hard enough to force the joint completely backwards and then with a tremendous short jab into the sternum which actually sent the larger boy physically tumbling backwards to land sprawled limply in the dirt. Ashino studied his handiwork as the people around cried out and either found somewhere else to be or started to form a gawking circle of bystanders. "He'll live. Though it will be several weeks before he walks on his own... he'll be using a bedpan till then, I suppose. Amazing places, hospitals."

Jean was one of the gaping bystanders... her heart was hammering so fiercely in her chest that it felt like she was about to suffer a heart attack or something of the sort... of course maybe it was just struggling to pump the suddenly red hot blood out of her lower bodily regions into the rest of her in a vain attempt to cool her down before she melted... but she doubted the overworked muscle had that kind of capacity. Okay, so maybe there was something a little wrong in her head... but in that case it wasn't her fault she got really horny when guys fought over her and inevitably got hurt. And Brian's words had some truth in them... the more he had beaten people up the more receptive to his advances she had become... but it had never been anything like this. She didn't even know Ash's last name and here she was, practically salivitating over him, just cause he had practically torn Sam... a deserving individual if there ever was one in her estimation... to pieces right in front of her eyes. And not only that, but he'd made it look so easy... like it was nothing to him. She suddenly didn't doubt at all that he was a mobile suit pilot in a top secret special forces unit... they didn't teach normal pilots to fight like that, that was for sure. A distant part of her felt guilty that she was reveling in the pain of a fellow human being, especially one known to her... but Sam definitely had some payback coming from all the wrestling matches that had resulted in ambulance rides for his opponents... not to mention the poor bastards out on the streets. Jean got to her knees and was just starting to get up when she noticed the danger... Brian hadn't taken the mauling of his best friend and crony lying down... Sam had barely hit the ground when Brian had jumped forward, his hand darting into a pocket and rerturning to whip out a switchblade pocket knife, with which he slashed at Ash, who seemed distracted.

Ashino had just realized what a huge scene he'd caused... someone was sure to report this... and it wouldn't take the scientists at the project long at all to match Sam's injuries to a certain short red headed person, who was really the only BCPU capable of inflicting them... Cray would have torn the guy in half and Frost wouldn't have left more than a blood smear and a few broken parts lying around... and the wounds were beyond what most any Natural could inflict bare handed. Besides just that though, dozens of people had seen a short red head guy with lots of muscles dish out the blows... that right there was the end of the road for him. He was still frowning and turning around when a flash of sunlight on steel in his peripheral vision caused him to look up and flinch to the side... just barely in time to avoid taking Brian's switchblade knife to the neck... instead the knife edge ran up along his jaw and across his left cheek to just barely pass below his left eye and nick his left ear. Ashino cursed himself mightily for letting himself get so distracted... a mere Natural had actually managed to wound him... he felt ashamed. He didn't let the shame stop him from grabbing Brian's arm at the wrist with one hand while the other reached out and grabbed his assailant by the shirt. A twist, a grunt and a heave later and Brian's arm was dislocated at the elbow and shoulder, pinned back behind his back while Ashino pressed him face first into the ground where he'd tossed him. The knife spun through the air to land about four feet away, point first in the ground. Ashino used his knee to apply downward pressure while he slowly rotated Brian's dislocated arm with his hands, causing the boy to shudder and squeal in excrutiation. "That was very foolish of you. I could have killed you, you know. But I won't... killing Natural's is not my job. Let this pain serve as a reminder to... urg!" Ashino was forced to break off as Marlene pounced on his back and clawed at him with her nails, cutting red lines down his chest where her nails tore rents in his undershirt. He stunned her by bringing his elbow back sharply into her stomach, knocking the breath from her in an explosive gasp. She staggered back and started to recover before being leveled by a solid kick to the assbone from Jean, who had finally regained her feet. Ashino acknowledged the unneeded help with a slight nod. He turned back to the writhing Brian underneath his knee.

"As I was saying... let the pain serve as a reminder to you about just what the potential costs for being a bully can be. I don't believe I need to make myself any clearer on how I feel about it when girls get pushed around... do I?" Ashino punctuated the question with a savage twist of Brian's arm, causing bones to grind against each other audibly. The screech of agony was all the answer Ashino needed. He almost struck behind him again when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, but he did an almost instantaneous head count and realized that it was Jean who had touched him.

"Come on, Ash! We have to get out of here before the MP's arrive! If we don't get a move on we're all going to get arrested!" Jean shouted in his ear, pulling at his arm to get him moving. She was right... Ashino's keen ears could hear many pairs of running booted feet headed towards his position... they were close... within a hundred yards. They did not have much time... his mind kicked into full combat mode and his built in systems started pumping combat drugs into his bloodstream as a result. Time seemed to slow down as he considered his situation... he needed an exit for himself and Jean and he needed one fast. They were near the dining court area, which wasn't good... it was too open... too many people would point them out. They needed to clear the area... off to his left were a series of kiddie rides... no good, they'd stand out like beacons there. To his right was the food court. He spun around so fast Jean could barely follow his movements, much less protest as he suddenly gathered her up in his arms like she weighed nothing at all and took off at a dead sprint in the direction of some large tents, which had formerly been directly behind him. Even with his short legs, when enhanced by combat drugs and with pure adrenaline being pumped into his bloodstream, Ashino managed to cover the fifty yard distance in less than six seconds, even carrying Jean in his arms and dodging around people who could barely get a look at him as he brushed by... it wasn't Frost movement or movie super speed but it was as close as Ashino had ever been and it was certainly fast enough to prevent the people he brushed by from getting a good look at his face.

The large tents turned out to be the staging quarters for the bands that were playing and while technically you were supposed to only be back there if you had a pass, ten bands worth of groupies had overrun the area to the point where the MP's were just concentrating on keeping them all contained within one general area more than anything else. The tent area was a demonstartion in organized anarchy, with amangers and stage crews running every which way as they struggled to keep ten different bands with different needs not only supplied with the materials they needed to perform on stage, but also to attend to the various needs and wants of the notoriously whimsical moods of some band members. There were so many people moving about in so many different styles of clothing and dress and appearance that Ashino, carrying a girl in his arms, with dried blood on his face, rips in his shirt and a feral smirk on his face went entirely unnoticed... even those that saw him just assumed he was one of the groupies for one of the hardcore rock bands... who were known to go a little crazy at concerts. Running by instinct Ashino kept moving, ignoring Jean's first attempts to struggle out of his arms, since her shock at being suddenly lifted and carried was wearing off. He had no time to consider her feelings on the matter though as they were still not out of danger... and likely wouldn't be until they managed to get out of the festival entirely. Luckily the band area had its own entrance and exit to the festival grounds... it was guarded but even if there were hundreds of groupies and fans inside the tent area, there were thousands more outside, all pressing forward to get in, tickets and passes or not. It did not take much effort on Ashino's part to shoulder his way through the crowd... many were more than happy to let him out, as if they thought it might increase their chances of getting in.

Jean's struggles were starting to grow much more intense... to the point where he was actually having to expend effort to hang onto her and she was starting to curse most freely, which would only cause a scene if he didn't do something about it. Once clear of the major portion of the fan crowd outside the festival area Ashino slowed his pace and eventually stopped in one of the grassy fields that had been converted into temporary parking for the festival. The only other people around were families with young children or the eldery, who, having spent a few hours at the festival, had become worn out and were headed home for a rest, probably to return later, since the festival was due to run most of the day. He gently lowered Jean onto her feet and let her go and stepped back a pace, still warily scanning the area. He had completely dismissed Jean as a threat and thus he wasn't watching her at all... a mistake as it turned out since then he was completely caught off guard when she slapped him hard on the left cheek, reopening the already scabbed knife wound. In truth he barely felt it, but the sound of flesh on flesh startled him and he stared at her in shock.

"What the hell do you think you were doing!?" Jean demanded. "What's the big idea, just picking me up like that!? Did I ask you to pick me up? I don't think so! What's up with you?" In truth her anger was mostly just a facade for the shock, concern and more than a little fear she was feeling. The fight with Sam, Brian and Marlene had been short, violent and to the point... utterly the opposite of what she'd wanted... she'd just wanted to give Brian and Co. a piece of her mind... now he was going to be hospitalized... she'd have a fuck of a time explaining all this to her parents. Then there was Ash, she'd grabbed his arm and urged him to run... thinking that they were probably caught anyway since she could see the white helmets of the MP's closing in on them already but they might as well run and see if they got lucky. But then events turned into a whirlwind... she was lifted and clasped by unyielding bands of muscle and bone as Ash picked her up like she was nothing at all and took off at a sprint that would have left an olympic 100 meter dasher in the dust. Ash was not only fast but almost peternaturally agile too... he didn't even bump her into anyone until they reached the tight packed fan crowd, while still maintaining his race speed pace. Any remaining doubts in her mind that he was indeed some sort of special forces soldier had been entirely banished by now... just what sort of soldier she wasn't sure though... not a pilot though. Or not just a pilot... he was like some movie hero or something... so strong, fast and sure of himself it was disenheartening... where was the shy, nervous introvert she'd bumped into anyway? And then just now, she'd slapped him with all her might, right on the cheek and he hadn't even turned his head, her hand felt like she'd just slapped a brick wall. Indeed there was blood on her palm, it took her a few seconds to realize it wasn't hers, she'd slapped Ash right on top of the knife cut Brian had given him, reopening the wound and... wait-a-minute.

Jean looked at her hand and the blood on it... it was mostly dark red and dried, not fresh red blood. She thought for a moment... it couldn't have been more than five minutes since Ash had been cut and was probably a lot less than that. And she'd seen the cut... it was no scratch... Brian had gotten Ash pretty good with the knife... four or so inches long, the cut had to be at least a quarter inch deep. How the hell had the wound clotted already... human blood didn't dry so fast, not when it was coming from a wound like that... come to think of it, she'd seen Marlene cut his chest up pretty good with her nails, but Ash's shirt was barely even wet, not even with sweat, much less the blood that should have been staining it from the fingernail punctures. Her eyes fell on Ash's cheek and widened so much she felt like they were about to fall out... she'd slapped him and he'd started bleeding again... fresh, bright red blood. But within seconds it had stopped again, the blood drying out into a crusty, leather like film that covered the wound like a thin coat of armor. "The Hell?" Jean whispered in wonder. Ashino saw whre she was looking and his heart sank... his identity was blown... by his own blood, which of course clotted and sealed his wounds with entirely superhuman speed. He didn't think he was going to be able to explain this one... especially to someone that very likely did not have an advanced biochemistry degree. Ashino started to turn, to look for another path to flee on... his only chance was to get back to the project as quickly as possible... he'd think of some explanation for the wounds on the way. "WAIT!" Jean called out. He froze in mid turn, for what reason he did not know... it wasn't an order from a recognized superior, he did not have to obey her... but all the same, his body locked up and kept him rooted in place.

"Don't run away from me, Ash." Jean told him quietly. Ashino blinked in surprise. "Please... I was just startled, that's all. I don't think I doubt you any more, ash. You really are in the special forces. Emphasis on the special part, I think. That stuff you did back there... I never imagined it could happen outside the movies."

"I haven't seen any movies like that." Ashino replied. "It's just the way I am, the way I was trained to be. The way I was made to be." he continued, unintentionally allowing more than a hint of bitterness into his voice. He wasn't looking at her face but he noticed the crystalline sparkle of liquid as it fell through the air. He looked up and noticed the wetness in her eyes. Tears? Why was she crying... he felt lost again. "Um... are you okay?"

"There was so much pain in your voice just then, Ash. Did you not want to be a soldier or something?" Jean asked, shuffling closer. Now that her shock and fear had faded somewhat, several new emotions had started taking control. She'd been hot and bothered when he'd taken down Sam... seeing him take the knife wound and then mop the floor with Brian and Marlene hadn't helped matters. And now he was back to the almost irresitably cute lost introvert, completely unsure of himself in any sort of social situation... it was almost too precious to bear. Okay... so she'd known him for like ten minutes, so what? She could not deny the overwhelming attraction she felt for him... spur of the moment thing due to her love of being violently protected or not. And then there was the pain in his voice... the sadness and near grief. Plainly something terrible had happened to Ash in the past, something that had forced him to become what he was today. She was a bit of a sucker for a guy with a sob story too... damn it, but he was pushing all her buttons the right way. And he wasn't even trying to, that she could plainly tell.

"Want to? What is want to? In my life, wanting to has no place." Ashino told her. He kept one eye on her this time as he continued to scan about for an exit route... just because she'd stopped him once didn't mean he might not have to run anyway. She kept moving closer and closer... slowly, cautiously, but inexorably. He was not at all sure of what he was supposed to do in this situation and that made him uncomfortable. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Jean smiled slightly... all right was such a relative term. She was mightily confused, enormously worried, more than a little fearful... and so horny that nothing else seemed to matter. Damn her warped mind for having this weakness but she felt so attracted to Ash right now it was driving her crazy. "Y-yeah. I'm great. Why do you ask?"

"You are crying. This is usually a symptom of distress or pain. You have been pushed to the ground several times recently... it is not beyond the pale that you might have suffered an injury not readily visible. And your body temperature has recently increased by about 1.5 percent. Your heart is pumping both more strongly and more rapidly... your breathing is shallow and fast... your eyes are slightly dilated. Your face is flushed and your hands are trembling slightly." Ashino noted. "Your body seems to be reacting to some stimulus... what though I'm not sure... some form of shock mayb..." he got no further. Jean had been leaning towards him the entire time and had just suddenly darted forward and thrown her arms around him, right about the "stimulus" part. He'd been gently trying to disengage her from him, but then, just as he was finishing "maybe", she'd tilted her head down and done something he was completely and utterly unprepared for. She kissed him. Right on the lips. Full on the lips. He'd thought it odd when he'd frozen at her command earlier... now he was beyond shock... his entire body felt numb and disconnected from his mind... she probably could have cut his throat with a butter knife right then and he wouldn't have been able to stop her. For the first time in his life, he was utterly a prisoner of his mind, rather than his body. Even during the most traumatic upgrade operation's he'd always been cognizant of his position... always awake and able to think. But this one kiss... this kiss made his mind blank... he couldn't think of anything to do, anything to say, anything at all. He just stood there, her arms around him, his arms awkwardly out to the side, petrified by the experience. Well mostly petrified... the Doc had done a lot to his mind and his instincts... but there were some instincts that the human psyche didn't just lose because of a few memory wipes and brain chemisty modifications. One such doughty instinct is what a male should do when a female willingly throws herself into his arms... you return the embrace. Cautiously... not trusting his ability to move his body with precision and not wanting to crush her in his grip, Ashino put his arms around Jean. He probably would have remained lost in the moment until the end of time if the real world hadn't felt the need to reassert the balance of things in his life and interrupted.

"Yuck, mommy, what are they doing?" a childish, young girl's voice said from about ten feet behind him.

"Vierna!" an older woman, she sounded about forty five or so, scolded. "Leave them be... it's just a kiss. God knows, you'll be acting like that too soon now." Ashino suddenly regained concious control of his body and he stumbled a half step back, disengaging his lips from Jeans. Their arms remained around each other though, and his balance was completely shot... so much so that he actually fell over, Jean landing on top of him with a small sound of protest.

"Mew... mew." the plushy cat that had somehow managed to remain, half forgotten, on his head, commented wryly. Ashino found himself looking at the young girl and the woman he presumed to be her mother. The girl was short, about ten, with pale green eyes and cherry red hair done up in a ponytail that hung to about the middle of her back... she was playing with it constantly with idle fingers. She had plae skin much the color of his own... indeed, her face was more than a little familiar in many ways to him... he looked at one much like it whenever he was around a mirror. So to for the older woman, though to a lesser extent... there was some resemblance between them, to be sure.

"Look, mommy! It's a Charcoal toy! I want one of those so I can show Charcoal when we get home! Mommy!" the young girl demanded, her disgust at the kiss quite forgotten, in the manner of young children. Her mother was a bit too distracted to reply though. For one, she'd noticed the angry looking cut along the boy's cheek... as a nurse who worked at a military hospital, she was more than familiar with all sorts of injuries, ranging from broken fingers to bullet wounds and she quickly recognized a knife slash when she saw one. The wound was odd... it was still wide and red, signs of a fresh wound, something sustained within the last half hour at most and probably a lot sooner than that... but it was also completely clotted over and almost scabbed... something which usually took more than an hour for a cut that size. But the knife wound was only the start of it... she was just reaching into her purse for the package of bandaides she always kept there... Vierna being a child who skinned her elbows and knees with almost intentional regularity... when she noticed the resemblance between the facial features, hair and eyes of the boy and not only herself and Vierna, but to a man she hadn't thought about for more than two years, ever since he attacked her and Vierna in a drunken stupor and was sent to jail for the next ten years. In fact, this well muscled young man looked a lot like the son she had lost all those years ago... she'd only stepped inside for a moment, just a moment... but the yard was empty when she got back and no one had seen a thing. She'd searched for two years, as had her husband... no trace was ever found of her youngest son. He'd just disappeared... no ransom note, no body, nothing. Just gone. Forever. She'd nearly gone insane... her husband had turned to alcohol to help him forget the pain of the loss. And then of course her two older boys... Vincent and John... had been killed during the ZAFT occupation of Panama the year before. She was still recovering her emotional balance, to be truthful... that was why she'd taken Vierna to the festival... both of them needed more hapiness in their lives.

"Do... I... do I know you?" the woman asked hesitantly. She thought a moment and prayed silently. "Do you know me?"

It didn't take Ashino more than a half second to references the faces he saw now to the ones shown to him down in the Doc's lab back when JIHAD still stood. They were clearly the same people, the faces being almost identical. And hadn't the Doc said his mother was working in Panama as a nurse? He felt strange... because he felt normal. There was no thrill of recognition... no sudden spurt of realization or relief. He knew who these people were... but he did not know them. It was like seeing someone in the paper, and then passing them on the street... there was no real connection in his mind, other than... "Oh, she's that person". Something about that felt terribly wrong to him... but he couldn't figure out why. Maybe he should have had some reaction to being suddenly reunited with his mother and sister... but he did not. "I know who you are." Ashino replied, his voice almost inflectionless. "I've seen a picture of you before."

"Are they related to you, Ash?" Jean asked, having recovered herself from her moment of desire. It hadn't taken her long to notice the familial resemblance either.

"I think so." Ashino replied. He gently removed Jean from on top of him and rolled to his feet. "I don't remember who you are, though I know what you are. You're my mother and my sister."

"That doesn't make any sense." Jean muttered. Ashino glanced down at her.

"My memory starts on June twelth, C.E. 71. Back to that point, I remember everything perfectly. Before that point I know only what I have read in reports and the few books I've been allowed to read." Ashino noted the look of confusion on Jean's face. "Memory wipes are not science fiction." he told her. He turned back to his mother and his rapidly quieting sister, who had sensed that something important was up. "I'm very sorry... I know that I am your son but I do not know you or remember you. Either of you. I'm sure that must be painful for you."

"Where did you go... Markov?" his mother asked, trembling.

Ashino was just about to reply when the air raid siren went off all over the base and rendered communication impractical. Ashino's eyes darted for the sky and found the firefiht almost instantly... a mobile suit combat was happening about a mile out to see and a few thousand feet up... from this distance he could even make out which mobile suit it was. The Duelist... piloted by Ysak Jule. The Gundam was blowing by the mobile suits of the 72nd armored core like they weren't there, utterly ignoring them. Ashino did a quick calcuation... the Duelist was heading for the project all right... probably after Asmodeus and Cray. Or maybe just wanting to neutralize the greatest threat first. Soon aother sound joined the wail of the air raid sirens... the incoherent screams of blind panic from tens of thousands of civilains and off duty soldiers who'd gone to the festival to relax and have a spot of fun... and now found themselves about to be thrust right back into the middle of the war.

Author's Note: I apologize for my lengthy break between chapters... work has been more hellish than hectic lately and my time has been even less of my own than normal. I will endeavor to keep writing, since i'm on a 4 day break, but try and bear with me if I do not post at my usual breakneck pace for the next while, until January at least. Thank you.