Author's note: Back with another chapter (TL: edited; I was not happy with the chapter so I added something extra at the bottom )


Katelyn was dragged and propped beside a tree. The medics had been able to pull her out and were beginning to administer first aid. However, this allowed her see the carnage unfolding. With the advent of the 'pod' slamming onto the Type S and subsequent medical treatment, she kept her consciousness.

She witnessed her fellow pandora mount several attempts to destroy it, including the last one which included the pod's occupant. Unable to tell who or what was inside, She kept her eyes on the new entity, and observed it's actions. Ducking and weaving, the occupant's movements seemed like a preNova era soldier. Using a rifle and not volt weapons or high end skills, ultimately realizing it was useless, yet charged the Nova anyway.

When she saw that 'it' had seemingly ran for the woods, only one word came to mind: Coward.

Yet 10 seconds later she heard a voice...

"Hey, all of you get out the way!"... and suddenly a blast echoed as the chest of the nova rippled and exploded,bearing a hole straight through the core and out the other side.

Seconds later, the pressure from the freezing field was deactivated as the Nova gave the equivalent of it's dying breath.

'Impossible! Nova can't be damaged by conventional weapons!' She tried to get up but, wincing, silently cursed he loss of legs.

"Hey, don't move so much or your wounds will open up again." Said the medic.

Katelyn relented and relaxed her muscles. There would be more time to deal with the situation when they had returned to base. As if on cue, the alarm sounded once more

"All units return to base. The nova have been repulsed. All hostile Pandora have been defeated. West Genetics all clear. I repeat. All units stand down."


As soon as the Nova, now with a hole through it's core, lost power. Thomas exhaled a breath of relief. A mere 10 seconds had passed since he pulled the trigger and the Nova was announced defeated. Thomas pulled the shell release and ejected the empty casing. The shell popped out steaming, briefly spinning in the air just before landing on the ground with a thud.

"Hey, is that a new generation weapon?" asked one of the girls coming over.

"Sort of." He answers. "By the way miss, I take it that this is a military facility? If so I need to speak with your commanding officer."

"I'm afraid I can't do that without proper clearance." She answers. A boy runs up to her, whispers something and her answer changes completely.

"Looks like it's your lucky day. The Sister Margaret wants to see you. Follow me to the transport. Your things will be transported there after the rest are evacuated."

'Sister? She must be the CO.' thought Thomas, whatever doubts he had at the moment were kept to himself. He followed the girl onto the vehicle. It was an APC class and was probably designed purely for troop transport. The compartment a seating complement of 22- just below that of a transport pelican. All but 3 of the seats were fully occupied, with the floor holding four people on stretchers, along with a paramedic tending to them. Two of them had a member of the opposite gender sitting beside them. Thomas, looking around, saw the same situation with several boy girl pairs seated around. He sat down beside the pair who escorted him here and removed his helmet.

"Male huh? guess well be able to double our numbers." said the girl

"Why is there a problem with me being male?" He answers the woman

"Not really. Oh right I completely forgot. My name is Aileen Barnet. The first platoon leader... or what's left of it."

The soldier snickered, "heh, The name's Thomas Shubaltz. pleased to make your aquaintance"

.

Another group of medics came in with a stretcher carrying a girl who lost her legs. She like a few, she did not have a partner with her. However, she had a different air about- not one of sorrow. She took one look at him, frowned and turned her line of sight away from him.

The compartments closed but not before Thomas caught a glimpse of the aftermath. Those injured were carried onto other transports while those not so lucky were placed into body bags.. or if they were unluckier, a bag labelled 'Assorted parts'. The trip to the facility was uneventful, only stopping to let the injured out first. Aileen escorted Thomas to the 'headmaster's office' before taking her leave. Thomas knocked twice, heard a faint "enter" and did just that.

Only one male and female were inside the room-both well aged and stern looking. Thomas assumed the woman was Sister Margaret but unfortunately did not know who the old man was.

"Greetings Mr. -" started the hooded woman

"Shubaltz ma'am, Thomas Shubaltz" said the officer.

"Ah yes. Mr. Shubaltz. I called you here because we need to discuss a few things."

"I take it's about my appearance, weapon and orgin?"

"Precisely. The man beside me is Dr. Gengo Aoi. He's the leading scientist in Pandora technology and frankly, even he has never seen such weaponry."

The man remained seated merely nodded at me. "To be able to effectively combat the nova, just how much do you know about them?" he asked the 19 year old officer

"Close to zero. My shot was pure luck." answered Thomas "as to the other topics, I will try to give you the gist." he continued

"Yes, Go on then."

"You man not believe this, but there is more than one Earth." Began Thomas. " I come from such. We had technology to cross worlds and meet other Earths. I however had an accident and landed here. The rest is history I believe."

"That explains your arrival. What about your weapon? How is it effective against the nova when they can only be damaged by volt textures?" asked the aged man.

"Volt textures?"

"Ah yes, you see, Nova cannot be damaged by conventional weapons such as bullets or explosives. Only Pandora are capable of damaging them using volt weapons- tools covered or made of volt textures." Explained Dr. Aoi

"Then why not mass produce the weapons?" Asked Thomas.

"The weapons are produced, but only pandoras can wield them using stigmatas- implants made from crystallized Nova cells." answered the doctor

Something in Thomas' gut warned him where this was going. Something sounded very familiar. Something that he hoped should not be here, one that he threw into the deepest corner of his mind.

"Mr. Shubaltz?"

Thomas snapped out of his reverie. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. Anyway is that all? I must return to my pod. With any luck my comrades will be able to trace my homing beacon."

"yes. And how long will that take? " came the reply, the question uttered by the woman

"I honestly do not know Sister." said the 19 year old in reply.

The old man piped in "Mr. Shubaltz, how old are you?"

Taken aback by the question, the young officer took a moment to respond. "I'm nineteen Dr. Aoi, is anything wrong with that?"

The elderly pair looked at each other then nodded. Sister Margaret faced Thomas once more.

"Very well. We'll enroll you here as senior in West Genetics. You are welcome to stay here for now."

"What's the catch?"

"As you probably noticed, humanity is facing extinction. Our organization Chevalier and it's affiliates are doing its best to stem it but we are losing ground. With so few pandoras, I trust you could help us fill the gap with your knowledge. Fill your details here if you would." she produced an enrollment form.

"Very well, I'll see what I can do to help."Thomas filled it in with basic information, leaving some items blank as per security reasons. "Fair warning, I'm not equipped with much since I only came here by unexpectedly." He added as he signed off his name at the bottom.

Sister Margaret received the paper, she said with finality.

"Alright, we've held you long enough. Your things should be in bay 7. Someone will be looking for you later with some basic... 'necessities'. Be sure to follow him."

Thomas nodded and left. As the door closed, The elderly pair faced each other once more and continued their conversation.


The door closed. Thomas took a deep breath to steady himself. His heart beat finally slowed down to normal. Deeming the facility secure, He pressed the release of his Mark VIII armor, reshaping itself into a silver armlet on his left wrist. With the same hand, he reached out and touched a second armlet, this one red and much bulkier than the former. Then he whispered a silent prayer. Not to any god, but merely prayed, hoping that wasn't the case... Hoping that would not happen here.


EXTRA NOTES:

wahhhhhh! an extremely crappy chapter. Sorry to all and I hope you continue to support this fanfic.
To those that do, thanks a lot
- to those that don't, well give it some time.

As usual, comments, suggestions, even violent reactions are accepted, I want (and need) to become a better writer so critism is greatly appreciated.

*TL, I'm hinting something in this chapter, hopefully you will get it. and either way it will be revealed in the next few chapters so hang on. You've boarded the ship, why not stay for the whole ride?

thanks again, Ciao-