Chapter Twenty-Five: Burning Heat

Outside in outer space, the white A.G.W.S Simeon emitted a burst of yellow flames which shook the Kukai Foundation, making everyone on the Durandal cry out in surprise. "W…What's going on?!" Mary cried as she struggled to get back onto her feet. Shane--who had fallen back on her backside--gritted her teeth. ''That. Hurt.'' Everyone watched on the monitors as a large area began to appear outside.

''What is that…?!"

"Proto…Merkabah,'' MOMO said softly seeing a circular ship appear from the large area. Shion looked at the pink-haired girl. "Proto Merkabah?" She nodded slowly. "The place where…I was born…"

Outside in outer space, a purple A.G.W.S appeared with the hooded man standing on the outside of the machine. "That bastard!" He said angrily. "Summoning needless toys… You forgotten you duties, haven't you…"

"Never mind that. Come back, Virgil,'' an unknown voice said in the back of the man's mind. He took off his hood to reveal himself of the slain soldier Luis Virgil. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, looking to the side. "What's your problem? I don't take orders from you. And stop talking inside my head like that! I'm not used to it yet!"

"I'm afraid you'll need to get used to it."

"That's…" The images of KOS-MOS, Shion, and Shane appeared around Virgil. Even though he had just met the 17-year-old today, he knew she was otherworldly. "So that's quite what this is all about… You're quite the cunning little bastard… All right, then… But next time, I'm doing things…my way,'' he told the voice.

"…That's what's intended." That said, the purple ship and Virgil vanished.

"Did you say...this is where you were born?'' Jr. asked MOMO as everyone watched from the Durandal the Song of Nephilim being inserted to Proto Merkabah. Yes. Daddy gathered together the data he needed to create me on Miltia, and then he sent it to Proto Merkabah.'' The red-head looked at her. "Are you saying that thing was built for the purpose of creating you?"

On Fifth Jerusalem, the Subcommittee watched the spectacle on a large IMAX-like screen. "That wasn't its original purpose,'' Juli Mizrahi said. "It was created to discover the true form of the universe… …the form we ourselves were meant to have. But then he took it, and…" She had trailed off. "Exactly. Just think for a moment about all the phenomena brought about by that lunatic. If that thing, the Song, and the Zohar all link together…"

"That's exactly why we dropped it into the Abyss after we recovered the 100-Series!'' A man said. "How is it that it has returned again?"

Juli shook her head slowly. "I don't know. But the Original is still on Miltia. With only Proto Merkabah, he can't…"

Back in Miltia star space, everyone on the Durandal watched Proto Merkabah tilting sideways and fired a red beam at the Federation fleet. Instantly, all of them were destroyed. MOMO covered her face with her hand. "The Federation fleet…"

"Just like that…" Shane felt herself tense up from the power that the large station had. All those people... Albedo let out another manical laugh. "Well, Rubedo? Kirschwasser Shane? What do you think of my new toy? And that was using the minute amount of energy remaining in this thing! Just a mere fraction of what it's capable of. Icing on the cake, if you will,'' he told them. The station fired grappling lasers which grabbed ahold of the remaining Gnosis, pulling them inside.

"That light… It's just like when KOS-MOS…" Shion remembered when the Elsa was being chased by gnosis and KOS-MOS had fired a blue beam from her abdomen, which vaporized and sucked in the remains of the monsters. "Originally, this thing, the Song of Nephilim, and the Zohar were a single apparatus,'' the white-haired psycho explained. "The Gnosis which seek the Zohar are responding to the faint waves that emanate from the sealed off Miltia. This thing uses the Gnosis as a medium to collect the waves from the Zohar, and store the energy it needs in order to operate."

Jr. stepped forward, a confused look on his face. "How the hell do you know all that?!" He chuckled softly then pointed at MOMO who had walked over and held Shane's hand. "It was ma pêche. When I linked with her consciousness, I learned how to use this thing." chaos placed both hands on the pink-haired girl's shoulders. She narrowed her eyes, unhappy of what Albedo had said. The silver-haired girl felt her grip tighten on her hand.

"I'm really quite grateful."

At the end of Proto Merkabah, an open area could be seen as it charged its beam. "Let's see then…I wonder how long it'll take to charge? Five minutes? Or perhaps ten?" The white-haired psycho looked at everyone on the Durandal and laughed. "You look a little pale there… Scared, are you? Perhaps I should just turn you all to pillars of salt…that's not a bad idea…red will become white…" He let out an maniacal laugh. "Don't mock us, you bastard!" The red-head yellled.

"Hmm…so, what to do… All right. I know! My next target will be…" Proto Merkabah moved slowly as it aims at Second Miltia. One of the 100-Series gasped then looked back everyone on the upper platform. "The weapon is retargeting! It's aiming straight for the capital of Second Miltia!"

Shion's face became pale. "What did you say…?!" Albedo chuckled. "Exactly. Those 100-Series are sharp, aren't they?"

"I won't let you do this! Listen to me, Albedo! You stay right where you are! It's time for you and me to settle this!" The white-haired psycho laughed. "Oh please, that's not like you at all. You don't really give a damn about others, do you?"

"Whaaat?!" Jr. yelled. "Well, fine… Stop me if you can…" He let out a final maniacal laugh. "I'll be waiting!" The screen went blank as he broke contact. "Damn it…"

"The target is a giant experimental facility that was long abandoned before its completion. A network of tunnels runs through the facility, and the reactor core is located at the nexus where they all meet,'' Juli Mizrahi explained on the communication monitor of the Durandal.

"All we have to do is take out that reactor, right?" Jr. asked. The brown-haired woman nodded. "Correct. That'll shut down Proto Merkabah completely. The data I sent to you earlier includes a map of the most direct route to the core. Right now, you are our only hope. I ask on behalf of the Federation government, and as a member of the human race, to destroy that abominable machine. Once and for all…" MOMO looked up at the screen longingly.

"Mommy…" She looked away as her mother broke contact. Shane placed a hand on her shoulder gently. ''It'll be okay. Your mom's gotta notice you exist sooner or later, yeah?'' MOMO nodded slightly as the rest of the group walked to the elevator.

''Hey, MOMO! Shane! We gotta get to the Elsa!'' Jr. yelled to the two. Shane nodded and took MOMO's hand into hers. ''I won't let go. I'm your onee-chan, okay?'' MOMO smiled, nodding. ''Okay, big sister.''

At the Elsa, everyone readied themselves--stocking up on first aid items, weapon upgrades, and reloaded some of their weapons. ''...Oi, Little Master.'' Jr. flinched, looking at Shane. ''Gimme two loads of your .9MM bullets, yeah?'' He looked at her then rubbed his eyes some. Shane blinked her eyes as she looked at him.

''Something wrong?''

''Uh, no...it's nothing.'' The red-head handed her two of his reloads then watched her reload her two pistols. Shane...why is it you look so damn familiar...? Captain Matthews looked back at Shion. "We're ready to go anytime. I could take you to the Proto Merkabah right now if you want,'' he told her. She nodded at him then looked to everyone else. ''Everyone ready?'' The group raised their heads and nodded.

''Shane, shouldn't you be resting?'' The silver-haired girl shook her head. ''Hells no,'' she told Shion. ''I need to get my lick back after what Albedo did to me and MOMO-chan.'' The brown-haired woman nodded some then turned to the captain. "Go to Proto Merkabah." He nodded. "Tony! We're launching the Elsa. Hurry up!"

The group all gathered at the bridge, looking at their destination. Jr. turned to Shion with a embarassed but worried look on his face. "Sorry. I didn't mean for you to get pulled into my personal issues…" She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. After all, my homeland is in peril. And we've received company approval. So it's okay, right Allen?"

"…Oh, sure, why would I want to miss out on the fun? Besides, it's not like you ever listen to me…"

''...Bad move, Romeo..''

"What was that? If you've got something to say, say it,'' she said sounding a little mad. He jumped then shook his head and held his hands up in front of him. "Ah, no! Nothing! I'd accompany you to the very depths of hell!" Captain Matthews turned his head to look at him. "Hey, what are you trying to do, jinx us?!" Allen lowered his head in defeat as Shane patted his shoulder. He then looked to MOMO "…So, getting in won't be difficult, right?"

"Right,'' the pink-haired Realian told him. "There should be no external anti-air defenses, since it was originally constructed as a manufacturing facility. However, security on the inside is most likely still functional. We should be prepared to deal with many active guard machines." Jr. turned to Mary on the communication monitor. "Mary! What about the reinforcements from Second Miltia?"

"The space bound units were destroyed in the first blast,'' she said. The red-head sighed, folding his arms. "In other words, it's up to us."

"Looks like it." Jr. looked at Gaignun on the communication monitor. "Gaignun… I'm counting on you to cover us…until we get inside." He nodded slowly then narrowed his green eyes. "I have a request of my own as well. Don't let his provocations get to you again. All right?" the dark-haired man asked. "Yeah, I'll be careful. You don't have to worry."

"I'll take that as a promise." Mary waved at him from the monitor. "Now, don't do anything foolish, Little Master,'' she said cheerfully. The red-head blushed then looked away. ''Yeah, fine...''

"ECM levels at maximum. Elsa, you have clearance,'' Shelley told the Elsa crew. "Got it. Tony!"

"Aye, sir! We're getting hazard pay for this, right?" Tony asked. ''We better!''

In the first area of Proto Merkabah, the group noticed consoles with words and holograms of different timelines. ''Hey, what is this?'' Shane asked as she walked over to a console. "It looks like some kind of data." Shion looked at the data then noticed it looked familiar. "A Realian? But it's pretty old. The year T.C. 4474 made by Tyrrell, Lamech Model 3,'' she said.

"Lamech Model 3… That's the model that was manufactured up until a year before the Miltian Conflict."

"The production year and manufacturer all differ, but they are all older than 4752,'' Ziggy said as he took notice of the other data. "It seems all of these Realians were transferred to the Miltia maintenance facility due to some kind of abnormality."

''Like a virus, yeah?'' chaos nodded. ''Mmhm.'' "But why is that data here? What is all of this data for?" Shion looked to MOMO. "MOMO, did Dr. Mizrahi ever tell you anything?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head 'no.' "No, Mommy…never…"

"I see…" The group moved onward to the second area, seeing more data. chaos looked at the data console. "This one's a list a sick and wounded soldiers. Looks like it's from during the Miltian Conflict." "They were transferred to Miltia for treatment, just like those Realians we saw earlier. An odd coincidence,'' Ziggy said.

"Those don't look like ordinary wounds. They're only fragments of the data left, but it looks like something more serious, like mental illness,'' Shion said looking through the data. "You can tell all that from these fragments?"

She nodded. "Yes. The list of medications here are all ones used to treat psychological disorders."

"I see. I guess there's no reason why you're a chief engineer at Vector,'' Jr. said.

"…" He looked at her questionably. ''What? Did I say something weird?''

"What?'' She shook her head some. ''No, it's nothing...'' Shane smacked the back of Jr.'s head as he held his head, looking at her like she was insane.

''Bitch,'' he called her.

''Brat,'' she said standing over him.

In the third area of Proto Merkabah, the group saw more data. ''Geez, there's more?'' Shane said as she leaned against the wall. ''No, it's a monitoring room for all of Proto Merkabah.'' Ziggy walked over to one of the consoles and looked to Shion. "It seems all the controls are centralized here. Can you locate the reactor core?" She nodded, looking into the console. "It seems to be far below where we are. It looks like we'll have to take several elevator shafts down to get there,'' she told everyone.

"Looks like we still have ways to go. Let's hurry, Shion."

"Yes." The group moved onward to the next area, fighting against Proto Dora and 2 Schutz, defeating them in the process. In the next area, the group saw even more data. Images of the outside could be seen on the console screens. "What an amazing hologram,'' MOMO said as she looked at the image. "All observable space appears to be projected here.''

"All observable space…" Shion looked at an area of the hologram, noticing something out of place. "I wonder what that black area is? It doesn't look like a black hole." "Guess it's not quite all observable space,'' Jr. said folding his arms. chaos looked at the black area, his eyes dimming slightly. "Lost Jerusalem…"

"What?"

"Lost Jerusalem was once our homeland in the distant past, but no one can go near it now,'' the white-haired boy explained. "Actually, nobody knows its location anymore. It could be that pitch black part there." "I've heard that the government has been working on a project to find Lost Jerusalem for quite some time. …It looks like the radius of that black region is at least several hundred million light years,'' Jr. said.

The brown-haired woman and Shane looked at the black area identified as Lost Jerusalem. "Our homeland is somewhere in there…" Home...

In the next area, the group made their way into a room that had a computer on the far end of the room, capsules filled with what looked like blue water, and a large capsule in the center with wires coming out of the bottom. MOMO looked up at the capsule as she held her hands together. "This…is the room where I was born,'' she said softly. Shion looked at her surprised. "What? This is where you were…?" The pink-haired Realian hurriedly walked out of the room, her face in her small hands. ''MOMO-chan!'' Shane followed after her with Shion following behind her. ''MOMO...'' The Realian sat down on the floor as she looked at the wall, a saddened look on her face. "Mommy never told me what this facility actually was responsible for during the Miltian Conflict…" She thought back when she was inside the Encephalon and saw her father jump from the tower covered in flames. "But…I think I know. When I was born, Daddy died… If that vision was true, then what happened afterwards was…" MOMO winced at the memory as she began to cry some. "It's just like Mommy said. This is an abominable machine. If a lot of people died because of my birth, does that mean I'm an abomination as well, just like Daddy?

Jr. had followed the girls outside and looked at the pink-haired girl. "MOMO…"

"No! No parent could ever say that,'' Shion exclaimed. "Shion…?" "Even though you're a Realian, you're still their child, right? No parent would ever think of their own child as abominations. Surely… There can't be any…" Shane looked at her then nodded, holding MOMO's hands in her gloved ones. ''Shion has a point. Hell, my parents think I'm weird enough; just think what they'd say if I was saving an entire planet from a crazed lunatic!'' MOMO smiled softly and stood up with the silver-haired girl. Shion looked at the smiling young woman then looked down to see her hands shaking. Shane...?

After the emotional yet warm display Shane and MOMO had, the group moved onward to the cargo elevator. The group went down the elevator and fought enemies along the way, making it to the bottom floor. Shane glanced at the reactor room door as she reloaded her guns hurriedly. She nodded to the group, telling them that she was ready. The group walked through the reactor room doors and into the claws of Albedo.

Chapter 25: End