Chapter III

Hello everybody. The newest chapter's finally here. I know it's been a while but this one was a little monotonous to write. Salcito and Alister really can't have that much impact, at least not until KOS-MOS makes her official debut later, then things start to get interesting. Anyway, I don't have that much to say here, aside from thanking my coauthor Bakuto Masaki. So with that out of the way, here comes the reviewer responses.

Yumishinachan: Thanks. It was collaboration on ideas for Masaki and me but getting the actual writing done was my end, and making everything fit together was a little difficult. Though how it all works will be revealed over time.

Bakuto Masaki: Doesn't everyone?

Jose19: Huh? Uhm...the only male leads of Xenosaga are Jr., Ziggy, and Chaos, Allen kind of counts. So I have no idea who you're talking about. Sorry, but those have little bearing here.

Well, that's about it for now so let's get onto the actual story.

Shion walked toward the hanger next to her bed to hang her jacket as she spoke to someone over a comm. "Come on Jin, you know I can't leave until the project's finished."

"Do you even realize how long you've been telling me that? I haven't seen you at all in two years. The least you could do is come home for our parents' annual memorial."

"Memorial? Come on, are you seriously sticking to old traditions like that?"

"Of course I am! What about a sense of familial duty?"

Shion then turned abruptly. "Wait a minute!" She ran over to the comm that displayed the image of a man slightly older than her with long black hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a black kimono. "You've been reading those weird old books again, haven't you?!"

Jin huffed in response. "That is none of your business, thank you very much."

Shion sighed as she put a hand to her forehead. "I swear, you're so obsessed with those weird hobbies yours."

"Ohh…how many times do I need to remind you not to quibble about my way of life?"

Shion turned in a huff as she hung her jacket. "What do you mean 'way of life'? All that stuff's just a stupid old hobby for you anyway. Just remember, don't expect me to take you in when you're old, senile and all alone."

"That's a low blow Shion. Anyway, you needn't worry about me. Just promise me that you'll be home sometime this year."

Shion interrupted him in a hurry. "Alright, alright, when I get some time off I'll make my way to Second Miltia, okay?"

Jin sighed in resignation. "You know, you're going to give this brother of yours a heart attack."

"I'm sure I will." Without another word she turned off the display and flopped down onto her bed.

Shion then sighed heavily as she looked out the window into the stars. "Honestly…I wish he'd consider how I feel once in a while." She then pulled the necklace from around her neck, a small blue jewel on a chain with a tiny object inside and smiled nostalgically at it. "Good night…" She then set it down on her night stand, turned off her lights, and laid over to sleep.

Alister sat in his room still despondently staring at the photo in his hands. He narrowed his eyes in pain as an image popped into his head of a massive mobile suit-like machine stepping on another mobile suit. He sighed and set the picture down. "Damn…why'd you have to go and play hero Sis?"

Alister finished slicing through a white and black mobile suit as it fell to the ground and exploded. "Hah! Take that Covie scum!"

"Alister! Don't get overconfident! If you do you'll likely get your head lopped off!"

Alister turned to look at another suit, a silver Gelgoog, as it flew through the air slicing four Covenant mobile suits to shreds. "Hm! That's three Guarlions and one Nemo down."

Alister just smirked. "Look who's overconfident now Liz!"

"Oh cram it!"

Alister chuckled to himself as the thought came into his mind. He then sighed and turned to sleep for the night.

Salcito sat in the cockpit of his Sinanju typing away at its onboard computer.

"Hey, Salcito."

Salcito glanced lazily as John approached. "Need something?"

"I know that the Spartan-IIs are able to function just fine with little sleep, but what about your generation?"

Salcito just frowned and then turned back to his computer. "I'll be fine."

John nodded and went off to make his way to the guest quarters.

Shion found herself yet again in the strange place filled with tombstones and tall mountains.

She looked around in confusion before hearing that familiar ring of a bell. She turned and saw the same little girl standing in front of her. She attempted to speak to her but the girl looked off to the side instead.

Shion raised an eyebrow and turned to see what she was looking at as a shadowy figure walked through the fog towards her.

Shion tossed and turned in her sleep as she dreamt, unbeknownst to her, the little girl stood behind her, her body enveloped in a pulsing golden light. She watched over Shion for a moment before turning to look out the window.

At that same time, almost the entire ship was asleep and quiet.

Only the Vector research room was buzzing with life as the technicians, being led by Allen at the time, walked around the room.

However, none of them noticed a quiet humming sound coming from KOS-MOS' pod.

Allen walked into the room with a cup of coffee in hand and looked around in surprise. "What the…? You're all still working?"

One of the techs nodded to Allen as he walked in. "Yup. We're trying to find out what caused today's…problem. Among other things. What about you?"

Allen sighed heavily. "Oh, not much. Commander Cherenkov gave me a piece of his mind earlier."

Togashi chuckled lightly. "Ouch, glad to see you survived."

Allen then proceeded to go through a comical interpretation of Cherenkov. "'You all act like a bunch of college kids!' and 'What, is Vector run by a Girl Scout?' He just kept going and going, on and on."

The blonde technician sighed in frustration. "Man, that's just not right. He shouldn't be able to just insult our work like that without some form of punishment."

"Seriously!" Allen agreed, then added, "But it isn't right to have the Chief taking all the heat either." He then switched on his console and leaned back, mumbling in thought, "Although…he seemed really nervous.

At that moment, behind the workers, the exhaust panels on KOS-MOS' pod began emitting a blue light.

On the bridge, the bridge crew were busily typing away on their different consoles, keeping aware of their surroundings.

One of the crewmembers looked at a map and then announced, "Exiting the asteroid field."

Moriyama nodded in acknowledgment. "That's perfect. Now prepare to gate-jump."

"Aye-aye captain! All ships entering approach."

"Nineteen minutes, thirty seconds to column area."

"U.M.N. pulse received."

"Current coordinates locked. Transfer vector correction to one zero three. Target: Athens column."

Their preparations suddenly stopped when a warning alarm began to blare.

"Captain! A warning signal!"

Moriyama's eyes widened before he turned to one of the crew. "It can't be…! Is it them?!"

The crewman returned his gaze to the console. "No, sir. The detection system is silent. How's it look on your side?"

Another crewman responded, "Nothing over here either. You sure it isn't an error?"

He turned back to his screen and shook his head. "No…no it's not. What…is this…?"

Moriyama walked over to his panel in curiosity. "What's going on?"

"Sir, I don't think an external source is causing this alarm."

"Then what is?"

"I'll run a search." He typed on his console, trying to find the source of the warning signal. "Alright…I've pinpointed the anomaly. It's inside the ship! Sector three!"

Suddenly, multiple screens appeared on the bridge blaring a loud warning buzzer.

"It's…KOS-MOS!"

The situation was tense in the Vector research lab as a loud set of warning signals were sounding.

Allen rushed over to KOS-MOS' pod in confusion. "That's not possible! Just what the hell's going on?!"

"I don't know! It all happened so suddenly! We're checking it now!"

Togashi then added, "KOS-MOS warning status, level 1! The bindings are off!" He slammed a fist onto his console in frustration. "Dammit! It's booting up on its own!"

"That countdown's already started too!"

Allen looked around in shock and confusion. "What the hell…?! Why all of a sudden?!"

Inside Shion's room, a panel on her window lit up with a warning and a list of information. The lights also switched on coupled with a warning near her bedside. She woke up instantly and sat up swiftly.

She grabbed her comm next to her head and looked at the information it was displaying. Suddenly a countdown timer appeared on her screen. "Countdown?! How can that be!?"

Wasting no time she jumped out of bed, threw on her jacket and ran over her table to contact Allen. However, when she tried she got a warning alert. "Currently we are emergency level three. This circuit is reserved for Class A and B users only. Class C users, please try your call again later."

Shion moaned in frustration. "Oh come on! Why now of all times? Did someone actually activate KOS-MOS?" She then stood up in confusion. "Wait…that's impossible. KOS-MOS isn't supposed to wake up unless I use the activation code for this terminal. That's the failsafe we integrated." Shion looked at her screen with a despondent and scared expression. 'This…this can't be happening…not again!'

Wasting not another moment she rushed out of her room and into the hallway.

Looking from side to side she tried to judge the best way to the lab, opting for the direct hallway, but she looked in horror as the bulkheads closed down tightly.

She ran over and tried fruitlessly to open the doors. She turned and activated her comm, seeing the information on KOS-MOS popping up. "This…it's really happening. It's…it's just like the last time…"

Shion's thoughts fell back to the event that had occurred two years prior.

Shion lay in the same dark room as before, the bodies of her fellow team members and several soldiers lay strewn across the floor in pools of blood. She held Kevin's lifeless body in her arms, a massive hole having been punched through his chest. Shion wept as she lay down his body.

On a short walkway above her, a figure resembling KOS-MOS with white hair, beige armor and a set of tan goggles over her face, stood stoically over the carnage, covered in blood.

Shion was brought back to the present by the sounds of loud warning sirens. "Oh no, what is it now?!"

Alister stirred from his rest with the sound of the alarms. "Uuu…what the hell?" He sat up groggily and looked around as the alarms were blaring. "What in blazes is going on?" Standing up, he went over to a communicator he had on his desk and contacted John. "Hey, what the hell's goin' on around here?"

"Don't know. The alarms suddenly started going off. Now it seems there's a wide-range alert going on. It might be best if you get combat ready."

Alister hissed and shut off the communicator, opening a trunk he had brought with him.

After a few minutes, he walked out of the room with his ODST armor on an assault rifle on his back. "This is going downhill fast."

On the bridge, Moriyama noticed the wide-range alarm and demanded an explanation.

"Detecting a large-scale spatial distortion ahead of us. An enormous mass is gating out!"

"Impossible! We're still outside the column area! That's-"

The technician interrupted him. "The U.M.N. geodesic structure is being breached!"

Another crewman added, "The target, it appears to be interacting with the U.M.N. somehow!"

Moriyama's jaw nearly hit the floor. "It's being hacked!? That's possible?!"

"Massive gravity fluctuations! Surface anomalies forming in space-time!"

"Impossible! That defies all laws of physics!"

"Computing mass – the numbers are completely inconsistent! I can't get a clear reading! Whatever it is, it's huge!"

A crewman turned to Moriyama in shock. "The amplitude…the hell!? It's like a tidal wave!"

"The readings are increasing! It's entering normal space!"

They all shouted at once, "Captain!"

Moriyama grit his teeth, maintaining his outward stoicism for his crew.

"Straight ahead! There it is!"

Moriyama's eyes widened as he shouted, "Gnosis!"

Outside, ahead of the fleet, the space in front them began to shimmer before more slipspace jumps occurred, massive portals, some many times the size of the Woglinde, ruptured open, firs a hundred, then five hundred, then over one thousand portals.

Massive, transparent, shimmering beasts appeared out of the portals. Some resembling gigantic whales, others looking like massive insects.

The incredible fleet of monsters multiplied as more and more appeared.

The insect-like monsters shooting bright orange energy blasts from their undersides at the Vector fleet.

As several of these energy waves neared the Woglinde, partitions opened up on one side and beam cannons folded out, firing blasts of energy to intercept the incoming projectiles.

Inside the bridge, Moriyama waved a hand across the bridge. "Launch the A.M.W.S.! Tell the pilots of the Huckebein and Soulgain to prepare for combat!"

"Yes sir!"

Alister ran down one of the hallways towards the hangar when he ran into Murasaki and Homura. "Where are you two going?"

"To the hangar," Homura answered. "The captain wants us to launch."

"In test suits? That's suicide."

Homura smirked. "Oh don't worry, we're a lot stronger and more skilled than you think."

Murasaki gave a nod of agreement.

Alister shrugged his shoulders. "Lead the way."

As they ran, the ship shook violently, and Alister turned to see that 100-series Realian from before slip as a loose section of ceiling fell. "Look out!"

Acting instantly he dove after her and knocked her out of the way.

Lifting himself up with a groan he looked at the young girl. "Ohhh, you okay?"

The girl nodded in confusion. "Why?"

Alister raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"

"Why'd you help me?"

"Because you needed it, what kind of man would I be if I let a young girl die right in front of me without even trying?"

Her eyes shot wide as Alister reached out a hand.

"Now, c'mon. I'll get you to somewhere safe, then I've gotta go out there and play hero."

She nodded with an almost imperceptible smile and took his hand.

Outside the ship, as multiple different A.M.W.S. did battle with the Gnosis, including smaller ones that were A.M.W.S. sized, a shimmer of blue light occurred on the edge of the battlefield as a large white A.M.W.S. with massive wings and the head of a bird appeared.

"Kukuku…where are you…my little Kirschwasser?"

Alister ran with the girl holding on to his arm when he ran across a group of soldiers. He flagged one down.

"What is it?"

"Take this girl somewhere safe."

The soldier looked at her puzzled but then nodded and took the girl with him.

However, after a few seconds she stopped and gained a horrified look in her eyes.

The soldier stopped and turned to her. "Hey, come on, we have to go."

The girl broke free from his grip and ran in the direction Alister went. "No! Don't go! He'll kill you!"

Alister turned the corner to the hangar sharply.

"You're here!" one of the technicians sad in relief. "That A.M.W.S., er, mobile something or other of yours is ready."

"Good." Alister wasted no time hopping up the lift into the Gelgoog's cockpit, closing the hatch as its single pink eye lit up.

Next to him, the Sinanju also came to life as did the Gundam.

The Soulgain and Huckebein Mk-III T also activated.

Alister flipped several switches inside the cockpit before turning to Salcito. "We need to get going. Apparently the red shirts out there are getting slaughtered."

Salcito sighed as he activated the Sinanju's overbooster. "How many times must I tell you not to call them that?" He turned to the catapult as his boosters activated and shot him out like a cannonball.

Murasaki and Homura then launched as well, Alister and John following immediately after.

A Huckebein Mk-II fired a barrage of shots at a large, blue, armadillo-like Gnosis with a wide jaw the slammed down, biting the machine in half.

"Shit!" the pilot of a nearby VRA-3500 cursed as he fired his minigun into the rotund creature, it exploding after a long volley. His eyes widened when a Gnosis resembling a dragon with a long blade circling its body dive-bombed towards him.

However, a large, spinning weapon sliced through it and killed it, returning to Murasaki's Huckebein.

Homura, in her Soulgain, had its arm-mounted blades powered up, covering them and extending them with blades of energy, as she cleaved through several Gnosis. Two more dragon-like gnosis charged her way. "Damn things!"

Murasaki turned and watched as two more charged her from behind. "Homura! Two more behind you!"

"What?!" Homura turned swiftly and spun the Soulgain's torso, cleaving all four in half.

Alister smirked as he fired a barrage of bullets into a cloud of smaller Gnosis moving for the ship. "Nice moves."

"Oh, you should see what I can do outside of the A.M.W.S."

Alister just blinked in confusion before laughing to himself and firing at the Gnosis again.

Salcito screamed through the ranks of the Gnosis, a two, long, beam swords sticking out of the end of his shield. "It's rather handy that this machine has beam weaponry."

Another large blue Gnosis dove at him.

Without even flinching he sliced it in half effortlessly.

John stood atop the Woglinde with the RX-78's beam rifle equipped, firing many shots at the Gnosis horde as they attempted to get close. "Hm?"

Another dragon-like Gnosis snuck up behind him and attempted to use its wing to slice through him. He raised his shield to block the strike and used his free arm to grab a beam saber off of his backpack, slashing at the monster and killing it. He then immediately went back to firing at the rest around him.

Alister slashed through two more dragon Gnosis before shooting a round Gnosis. He sighed as he looked around but then noticed something strange.

A bizarre white light streaking through the skies, obliterating massive numbers of Gnosis and even taking out one of the giant whales.

The light stopped right in front of Alister and turned into the white, winged machine from before.

Alister looked at it suspiciously.

"Kuku, don't look at me like that, you'll make me blush," an insane male voice said over the speaker.

Alister gave the machine a look of disbelief, "W-what the hell was that? And just who the hell are you?"

"Kuku, I thought it was proper to tell someone else your name first. But, if you're so curious then I'll talk. You can call me…Albedo. I came here to get something of mine that your Vector so coldly took from me. I wept for hours, maybe even centuries, upon its seizure. I am just so heartbroken…I must have it back!"

"T-this guy's…crazy. Che, whatever. Are you a friend or an enemy?"

"Hmmm…I'm both. A friend to some and an enemy to others."

"Okay, you're an enemy, just because you piss me off so much!" Alister charged in with his dual beam sword, swinging at the unknown enemy.

Although he lazily dodged to the side with an amused hum.

Alister sneered and continued his assault, swinging wildly at his opponent.

"Kukuku…you'll never catch the Simeon like that. Here, how's about my turn?" The Simeon's single, visor like eye lit up before a long beam shot out.

"Tch!" Alister raised his shield and narrowly blocked the strike.

"Ooh! You've got good reflexes!" The Simeon then pulled a beam saber from its knee and charged at Alister. However, right when it would have swung it backed off, causing Alister to overextend himself.

'Shit!'

The Simeon turned its hand around and stabbed the Gelgoog through the midsection before kicking it away like trash.

The saber heavily damaged the torso but missed hitting Alister.

"Damn!" Salcito witnessed this and charged in with his Sinanju. "Oi! You two, test pilots, take him back to the ship!"

Murasaki and Homura grumbled at being ordered around but did as he requested anyway, taking Alister back to the relative safety of the Woglinde.

Salcito, meanwhile, engaged the Simeon in one on one combat. Salcito assumed he'd do better with the Sinanju's fully enhanced capabilities and weaponry over the Gelgoog. This was proven to be folly as he charged at the Simeon, much faster than anything the Gelgoog could do, and still missed the Simeon as it lazily dodged again.

The Simeon swung its beam saber at Salcito, but he brought up his shield and blocked it, though he winced when the force of the hit pushed him back. He activated one of his wrist-mounted beam sabers and attempted to pierce the Simeon's head, but it merely bent to the side before spinning, its large wings swatting Salcito away like a fly.

Salcito glared at the Simeon as he charged in again for another round.

The Huckebein and Soulgain re-entered the hangar with Alister's damaged Gelgoog and set it down.

The workers quickly opened the hatch and found Alister unconscious inside.

A few of the technicians pulled him out of the suit and proceeded to do their best to repair the machine.

Alister woke up midway through his transportation and began to wrestle before tipping the stretcher over. He sat up with a groan. "Damn…that hurt."

"Well, considering you've been injured and just fell onto the floor, I'm not surprised."

Alister looked up at the doctor with an annoyed expression. "Shut…up." He then stood up and pulled the rifle off of his back. "I'm fine anyway, my wounds heal quickly, always have. What we need to worry about now is if those things begin to-"

Alister stopped when a shriek was heard. He turned to the side and watched as several Gnosis resembling deformed beasts with large, clawed arms walked through the walls, crushing a man between its fists.

"W-what the…that thing just…"

"R-run!" the doctor shouted as the Gnosis turned and began to walk towards the group, Alister being part of it. More Gnosis, some just like the first and others resembling flying leeches with tentacles.

Alister turned when he met up with several soldiers and began to fire off shots at the approaching monsters.

However, to the horror of them all, the rounds merely passed right through the beings.

"Shit."

In a loading dock area, soldiers and work crew ran through the doorways collecting weapons of all sorts.

Virgil walked over and hopped into his A.G.W.S. unit. The A.G.W.S. were essentially smaller versions of the A.M.W.S. used for indoor combat. Most of the A.G.W.S. were blue and beige, with four large protrusions from the back, Virgil's was instead purple and white.

Which pissed him off. "Hey! Who's the asshole that painted my A.G.W.S. pink!?" The others merely stood silently. He got up to the cockpit and found a note on top that looked like a child's drawing of Homura. It read, "Hah! You've been pranked by the Oppai Serpent!" He clenched it in his fist and threw it down. "I'll get her…" And sighing when they're wasn't enough time to fix the paint job he jumped inside the cockpit, and threatened anyone who made snide remarks with death. He grabbed a rifle from the weapon rack and then turned to see several combat Realians readying weapons. "Heh, going into battle without an A.G.W.S. unit, what brave little soldiers they are…brings tears to my eyes… Well, let's see how they do as shields."

All over the ship the Gnosis started appearing, moving through the walls and along the ceilings, they had seemingly overtaken the Woglinde.

Soldiers fired endlessly into the rampaging monsters as civilians and non-combat crew attempted to find places to hide.

One soldier made his way down a corridor and could only watch as a large, yellow Gnosis grabbed a man by his head and hoisted him into the air. The man's body then turned solid white, and his body seemed to solidify, before shattering into thousands of shards.

The soldier that witnessed this attempted to turn and run but was cornered by one of the large, brown Gnosis and crushed.

Salcito and Simeon clashed beam sabers before Simeon pushed Salcito back.

"Damn!" Salcito cursed as Simeon fired more of its eye beams at him.

"Hahahah!" the Simeon's pilot cackled. "Whoop!" He dodged to the side lightly as John attempted to slice him in half with his beam saber. Simeon instantly spun and slammed one of its large feet into the RX-78-2's torso sending it crashing into the Woglinde.

Salcito charged and attempted to hit the Simeon with his dual beam axe but missed wildly.

In return, Simeon slammed its knee into the Sinanju's torso, buckling it like a cheap lawn chair before tossing it away at the Woglinde.

"Crap…" Salcito groaned as he stood up. "This guy is not going down easily."

"Seems that way," John remarked. "Does that suit of yours have any performance enhancers?"

Salcito took a short look around the cockpit. "Damn, no. Nothing. And what's annoying me more is that this guy doesn't even seem to be trying." Salcito equipped his dual beam axe into the other hand and flew after the Simeon, John following close behind.

The pilot smirked and then his machine began to glow. "Sorry boys, but I've got a date to keep, I'll leave them to play with you instead." The Simeon then vanished as it turned into that white streak again.

Salcito and John looked on in frustration as more Gnosis swarmed them.

Salcito sighed. "Well…this sucks."

Alister ran down more hallways and then turned a corner. He looked and saw that the ceiling had collapsed. "Huh…guess this one's closed for repairs." He then turned to go back the other and saw that he'd been followed. "Ahh crap. Why are you following me?"

The 100-Series Realian looked at him with a face full of worry. "B-because…he'll kill you."

"He? He who?"

"Al…Albedo."

"Albedo?" Alister questioned before the ship began to shake violently. He then looked up and saw the ceiling begin to buckle. "Shit! Get down!" He threw himself atop the girl as the ceiling caved in, the Simeon bursting through the top.

"Al…Alister?" she asked.

Alister sat up weakly as pieces of rubble fell off his back. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Ahhh, there you are my little Kirschwasser."

Alister and the girl turned to see a tall man with bright white hair, dark skin and purple eyes who wore a black outfit with gold and white markings along with white sleeves complete with gloves that covered his hands and a cape that resembled folded wings attached to his sleeves. He grinned madly at Alister and the girl as he jumped down.

"Look at this, you insolent brat. You've been going around pretending to be a 100-Series Observational Realian, how sickening!"

Alister turned and pulled out his magnum, aiming it at Albedo. "Stand down asshole! Otherwise you'll have more in common with Swiss cheese than just color."

Albedo sneered at him. "Oh please! Shoot me! Shoot me! I'm just sooo tortured in this life!"

"You asked for it!" Alister fired three shots at Albedo, hitting him in the head and twice in the torso. Albedo then fell over dramatically. Alister watched for a moment before standing up and going over to check his body. To be certain he double-tapped the trigger, putting two more holes in Albedo's head. "Well, glad that's done." He holstered his magnum and then began walking over to the girl. "Alright, I think we're…" he trailed off as the girl's eyes widened and a shadow stood behind him. He turned just in time for Albedo to pin him against the wall with an arm.

Albedo grinned psychotically at him as purple light emanated from his wounds before they healed completely, even his clothing.

Alister scowled at Albedo. "What the…fuck are you?"

Albedo just grinned. "The name's Albedo Piazzolla. But you can just call me the reaper!" Albedo reared back one of his seemingly clawed hands and was ready to strike Alister in the heart.

However, the girl jumped up and hung off his arm. "Stop!"

Albedo turned menacingly to her.

She looked at him pleadingly. "Please…don't hurt him. I'll go with you…just don't kill him."

Albedo smiled at the girl, sickeningly, and waved a hand over her head, causing her body and clothing to change. Rather than short, light blue hair in pigtails, the girl now had long silver hair that reached her waist and was untied as well as dark skin. She also wore what appeared to be a maid outfit with white, blue and green accents along with a unique hat. She looked down at Alister with a sad smile. "I'm sorry I lied to you."

Alister just smirked, disregarding the small trickle of blood down his chin. "Hey, you do have a name."

Albedo looked at the man puzzled while the Kirschwasser looked at him in surprise.

"Kirschwasser. That makes you…Kirsch."

Albedo hacked before laughing loudly. "Haahaahaa! You've actually formed an emotional connection to this doll?" He emphasized doll by slamming a foot into her back to kick her against the wall.

Alister's eyes widened. "Stop that you bastard!"

Albedo raised a hand as a small ball of purple energy condensed in it before blasting at Alister knocking him back against a wall and knocking him unconscious. Albedo looked at Kirsch as he walked into the Simeon's cockpit. "Now Kirsch," Albedo said mockingly, "let's go back home. The Song is waiting."

Kirsch nodded weakly as she too stepped into the Simeon's cockpit as it left the Woglinde, leaving a large hole that was soon sealed off by a bulkhead.

Inside the Vector lab, the alarms kept going of as KOS-MOS awakened.

Allen slammed a hand onto his console in frustration. "Can't we stop it?!"

One of the techs pointed to the screen in equal annoyance. "It's no use! It's not responding!"

Togashi then added, "KOS-MOS is starting up in Auto-Mode!"

"Huh?!" Allen squawked in confusion. "Wait a sec! We disabled that mode after incident!"

Togashi just shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"Only the Chief's terminal can enable it! Damn it! Why now…?" Allen then turned in realization. "Unless…it's reacting to…Gnosis! Where's the Chief?"

"She should be heading this way, but the regular UNP channels are congested and I can't reach her!"

"And the emergency line?!"

"I'm trying it now!"

Everyone turned in disbelief when they heard Shion's phone start ringing, seeing it sitting on her chair.

Allen face-palmed. "Oh, great!"

The lights in the room then went out. The blue emergency lights came on as everyone looked around in confusion.

"What happened?"

Togashi answered, "I don't know! The power just suddenly…"

Everyone stopped when a light began to flicker in the room.

They watched in surprise and horror as KOS-MOS' pod began to open, a bright blue light emanating from it. The main panel flipped open with several others, revealing KOS-MOS lying within.

Slowly, she activated and reached for the edge of her container, and pulled herself out onto the ground. After a moment's pause she looked around the room at each of the Vector employees, seemingly looking for something. After apparently not finding what she looking for, a virtual map of the Woglinde opened inside her mind and she scanned the ship, using a combination of its security cameras and onboard sensors to find what she was looking for. First she searched Shion's room, then found her hiding out in a small corner room. She then performed another search, this time finding the Zohar Emulator.

After successfully finding what she was looking for, the large visor on her helmet opened up to reveal her entire face, including her dark red eyes, her pupils changing size as her optics adjusted to the dim light. She walked slowly towards Allen, who had one of the other techs cowering behind him.

Shion stood in a small corner office as the Gnosis wandered around her outside.

"Oh no…how am I going to get out of this one?"

She then noticed several of the Gnosis divert their attention away from her and begin walking in the other direction, back towards the large, sealed bulkheads nearby.

"What? Ah!" she screamed when she heard tapping on the glass. She turned and saw someone she didn't recognize in what seemed to be military armor on the other side.

Alister managed to get away from the area where Albedo had taken Kirsch, still majorly pissed. He wandered around until he found himself at a corridor filled with Gnosis. "Oh crap." He then noticed something strange when a light fell, the movement and sound seemed to attract their attention. Smirking he reached for one of his flash grenades and juggled it in one hand before pulling the pin and throwing it, ducking behind a wall before it went off.

The Gnosis seemed to be thoroughly entranced by the display and ran past them with the time he was afforded, before going down another hallway, sliding under several other Gnosis, and turning a corner to see the large bulkhead was locked. "Seriously?!" He turned in annoyance as several more Gnosis came his way. He pulled out another flash grenade and tossed it, quickly ducking past several Gnosis as it went off, attracting their attention. He sighed in relief and then noticed a woman inside the room next to him. She seemed scared and so he tried to get her attention by tapping on the glass. He sighed when that just seemed to give her a heart attack.

The door opened and she quickly ducked out past the Gnosis and to where Alister stood. She lightly shoved his shoulders annoyed. "What's wrong with you?! I could've had a heart attack!"

Alister shrugged in response. "I could have just left you there to become alien food."

Shion huffed in frustration. "Ugh! Let's just go!" She then stormed off ahead of Alister.

Alister saluted comically. "Yes, ma'am Madame commander."

"Are you coming or not!?"

In another area of the ship, multiple combat realians stood, using an overturned car as cover, with multiple A.G.W.S. units behind them.

Inside his A.G.W.S. unit, Virgil examined a map of the surrounding area. "Huh…walkin' around like they own the place." His A.G.W.S. then stood up as he signaled his team to get into firing positions, both he and them doing so. "They're moving around randomly. Looks like they're the only ones. Ah, this is insulting." Virgil took a few steps forward and readied his rifle.

Shion and Alister made their way through a doorway and down a corridor that would lead to a wide hallway towards the hangar and Vector lab.

However, the moment they rounded the corner they ran into Virgil's squad, who all, including the Realians, opened fire on the two of them with a heavy volley of shots.

"Damn it!" Virgil swore as he gave the signal to stop. "You! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Alister and Shion turned to look behind them, the wall riddled with holes.

Alister looked around, patted himself, and then turned around at the walls behind him. "Huh…you guys really suck at this don't you?"

"Why you…do you wanna die?!"

"Gotta hit me first."

Virgil growled but then everyone shut up as Shion shouted, "What do you think you're doing?! Those bullets could've killed me!"

Alister just sighed.

"What are we doing?!" Virgil retorted. As the A.G.W.S. squad stepped out of their cover and towards the two, Virgil added, "What the hell do you two think you're doing running around like a couple of idiots?! We thought you were Gnosis."

Shion stopped his tirade in frustration, "Look, I've got my own problems to deal with! Here I, I mean we, are getting attacked by the Gnosis, I'm getting lost at every turn, and, and…don't give me a hard time right now!"

"What the hell?! Lost?! You're the idiots who built this ship!"

Alister shrugged at her. "You know…he's got a point."

"You be quiet. And you, I'm not with the fleet design department! I wouldn't know a thing about ships!" She said this as she casually moved Virgil's gun, which was nearly the size of her head, out of the way and walked past.

Alister whistled in surprise. "She's got stones."

"Oh shut the hell up outsider!" Virgil snarled. He then turned to Shion. "We're on DefCon1 Alert! What the hell are a couple of civilians like you wandering around the ship for?!"

Alister ran over in frustration, pointing at Shion. "Hey, hey! Don't lump me in with her, I'm a master sergeant in the United Nations Space Command armored division, commander of a whole damn squad."

"I see…then you can understand how you two morons are really…really pissing me off! You are infringing on my ability to lead my team and you, little miss civilian, are distracting my men!" Virgil accentuated his points by aiming his rifle at each of them.

Alister shrugged nonchalantly as he rebutted, "Don't blame me if you're incompetent."

"Alright that's it! I'm blowing you away you snotty little-!"

"Hold it!" Shion argued. "He's my guard right now! I can't have you killing him. Besides, I've got an emergency. I'm worried about KOS-MOS…"

Virgil stepped forward and asked shortly, "What the hell is KOS-MOS?! Ah, nevermind! Deal with it later! Just get to a shelter and stay put!"

Shion turned dramatically as she left. "Believe me, if I could, I would!"

"Then why don't you?!"

"I just told you, KOS-MOS is-!"

"Gaahh, shaddap!"

"H-hey!" one of the other pilots shouted.

One of the Realians signaled the soldiers along with Shion and Alister. "They're coming! Get back!"

The Realians readopted their covered firing positions.

Another soldier turned to Virgil frantic. "Lieutenant!"

"What?! You think I'm deaf or something?! You-!" He then looked at his onboard map and saw alert signs. "W-what the…!" He turned swiftly and pointed to one of his men. "H-hey…you! Get away from the wall!"

The pilot didn't react quick enough as a large yellow Gnosis phased through the wall, turned solid momentarily and then slammed a fist into the cockpit, killing the pilot and knocking the machine down.

One of the beige Gnosis phased through the wall behind another A.G.W.S. and landed on top of it, turning solid as it began to pound the machine like a drum.

After finishing those two the Gnosis turned to the rest of Virgil's team.

"Damn iiitt!" Virgil shouted as began unloading his rifle on the Gnosis as they approached. The other A.G.W.S. and Realians also began firing on the Gnosis.

Although it had no effect as the bullets merely phased through them.

Alister then raised an eyebrow. "Hey!"

"Not now outsider!"

"This is important dammit!"

Virgil stopped firing and turned to him in a huff. "Agh, what?!"

"Those things turned solid for a bit there!"

"Yeah, to kill my troops! So, what?! Are we supposed to send our men in to die while we fire on them?"

"Well it's something isn't it!?"

Virgil turned in frustration and kept firing fruitlessly. "You're fuckin' useless!"

The yellow Gnosis turned solid as it picked up a rifle and threw it at the others.

Virgil's eyes tensed the moment it turned solid and he unloaded on it.

The rifle still hit and killed a teammate, but he also killed the Gnosis as it bent over and exploded.

"I don't fucking believe it!" He then saw his downed comrade and shouted angrily, "Stand your ground!"

Alister was also firing on the Gnosis when his motion sensor picked up movement behind him. "What? Shion! Move!" He dove to the side and knocked her out of the leech-like Gnosis' path.

It then made its way to another A.G.W.S. as the pilot pointlessly fired on it and slashed with his sword, getting nowhere fast.

"Are you alright?" Alister asked.

Shion looked at him dazed and nodded. "Yeah, thanks…"

"Listen," a Realian said to them, "you need to get out of here. Just go down this corridor past Section E to the hangar. You know about the escape pods there, don't you?"

Shion shook her head as Alister continued firing on the Gnosis.

"Well that's where they are. Please use one and abandon ship immediately."

"And you and the others?" Shion asked worried.

"We'll hold them off here. You've got to hurry, both of you!"

Alister grabbed his shoulder. "Hey! Can we reach the mobil-er, A.M.W.S. hangar from here?"

"Yes. Just go down the hallways past the main hangar and the dock is there. Why?"

"Not important."

Multiple Realians were gutted as more of the yellow Gnosis appeared and speared them, tossing them around like pillows.

More of the A.G.W.S. had fallen as one of the Realians ordered, "Fall back! Fall back!"

As this happened, one of the leech Gnosis draped itself over a fallen A.G.W.S. and began to fuse with it. It soon stood up as a malformed, mutated, monster of a Gnosis with two robotic limbs and a mostly fleshy body, including a large, single eye on the middle of its head.

"No!" another pilot shouted.

"It can't be!" Virgil shouted in shock.

The new monstrosity then began unloading the SMG it had on one of the other pilots.

He shouted, "Lieutenant!" in horror as his A.G.W.S. was riddled with holes before falling over and exploding.

"Please! You have to come with us!" Shion pleaded to the Realian next to her.

He bent down and took one of her hands in his. "Please, remember what we were made for."

"But you'll…"

"You!" Virgil shouted exasperated. "What do you think you're doing?! Get back here and engage the enemy!"

"Take care."

Alister grabbed Shion's arm and began to run off.

"No!" she protested before just falling to her knees.

"Dammit!" he shouted and turned to continue firing.

Another A.M.W.S. exploded as a Gnosis destroyed it.

"Damn," Salcito huffed as he turned to fire at more Gnosis. He heard a loud beeping and looked at his energy reserves. "The Sinanju's almost out of power."

"I'm not faring much better," John added as a large pink tipped lance, the Gundam Hammer, stabbed through a large blue Gnosis. "The Gundam is almost out."

Both turned when they heard a loud boom from near the ship. One of the flying, spore-like bombs had hit the Woglinde's side, ripping a hole and causing fires within.

More and more of the bombs slammed into the Woglinde, causing more and more damage.

Inside the bridge, Moriyama watched this occur.

One of the crew began giving a very poor status report. "Delta sector has gone silent! Fire control net functionality down to twenty percent!"

Moriyama then spoke into an intercom, "Fire control, what's going on down there?! Take out the mother ship!"

Another crewman answered, "We can't! We're too close to fire the cannons!"

Another woman shouted, "There's a breach in the reactor room!"

"Emergency core shutdown! Switch to reserves!"

The first crewman then stated, "A.G.W.S. and A.M.W.S. losses have exceeded seventy percent!"

Outside, several of the ships remaining in the crippled fleet split their front sections horizontally, opening to reveal large cannons that charged and then fired giant bolts of energy at one of the large, whale-like Gnosis.

However, to the horror of the crew, the beams merely dissipated upon striking the large creature, the Gnosis still moving as though nothing happened. Large yellow spots formed before launching more bombs at the ships.

The bombs slammed into the smaller vessels, annihilating them.

On the bridge, Moriyama listened as the ships that had been destroyed were listed off. "Where are our reinforcements?!"

"I'm trying! This is the cruiser Woglinde with the 117th Marine Division! We're engaged with the Gnosis! Coordinates KX417, Y009, Z735! Requesting immediate reinforcements!" He then began repeating the information to all channels.

Another crewman shouted, "Captain, it must be…"

Moriyama nodded. "No question about it! They're after that…thing!"

"Logic drive down! Fire in Section F!"

"Damn! Where's our first officer!? What happened to Cherenkov?!"

Cherenkov was currently running through the ship with a spacesuit on, towards some unknown destination.

"LPS overload!" a crewman shouted, "I can't locate him!"

Salcito and John continued fighting outside when Salcito watched several dragon Gnosis barrel towards him. He turned to fire but was shoved out of the way but a Guarlion, the machine taking the Gnosis' attacks and getting destroyed in the process. "Fool. What?!" Salcito watched as a yellow Gnosis was carried by two leech Gnosis towards the Woglinde. He fired a barrage of shots but was unable to hit such a small, swift-moving target.

On the bridge, warning lights blared as a crewman shouted, "Defensive perimeter breached! They're headed straight for the ship!"

Moriyama stood up frantic as he and the rest watched the yellow Gnosis slammed into the bridge at full force.

"CAPTAIN!"

"No!" Salcito shouted as the bridge blew up from the collision.

All controlled movement of the Woglinde stopped, it merely floated aimlessly.

Inside the hangar, everyone stopped as the ship shook violently.

The man with the X mark on his face turned as Cherenkov entered the hangar, removing his helmet as he walked in.

"What's the status?" Cherenkov demanded.

One of the deckhands answered, "We've connected the main field generator and this block's sub-reactor. It'll only hold for three minutes, but we can move this ship under power."

Another man added, "Bypass connection to the Logic Drive secured. You can take control from this terminal."

Cherenkov nodded and walked over to the console. "That's fine. Good work."

"Commander, I object," the X marked man remarked. "Purging this entire block and executing a gate jump is suicide! You know as well as I do when a human body enters hyperspace unprotected."

"All that matters is that we get this to the Commander. We'll be at the next column area in a matter of minutes. There's no time. Get in the pod evacuate with the others."

"But commander, the Gnosis are swarming all over the place! We won't stand a chance even if we do evacuate! We should accompany you-!" his words stopped when the Woglinde shook from several more hits.

"Listen! The Gnosis are insignificant! They are nothing compared to what'll happen if IT awakes! As soon as you launch the escape pod, inject yourself with eight milligrams of DIG-Beta. You'll fall into a temporary near-death state, but that'll keep them from noticing you. Reinforcements from central command will arrive in a few hours. You must survive until then! Or my death will be for nothing."

"Commander!" they all protested.

"Go now!" he ordered as the catwalk towards the Emulator lowered.

The men finally acquiesced and saluted to him.

Virgil continued firing a barrage of shots into the Gnosis attacking his team.

Shion huddled in a corner with her hands over her ears from the loudness of the gunfire.

However, the monsters merely moved forward as the bullets passed right through them with no effect.

Virgil growled in his A.G.W.S. "Damn it! Our weapons are useless! They're not like those other bastards!"

A blue Gnosis resembling a centipede with a bulb and a stinger at its tail began to collect energy in the stinger.

"An FAE!? No!"

It whipped its stinger forward, launching a glowing, yellow ball of energy forward like a bomb.

It hit one of the cars being used as cover and filled the area with a bright, blinding white light as the other A.G.W.S., the cars, the Realians and the bridge were destroyed; Virgil, Shion and Alister being knocked back from the blast.

Alister put a hand over Shion's head as the smoke cleared and both turned around to see the devastation.

All three turned to see a massive crater in the bridge with blood sprayed everywhere, including the Realians who had been heavily damaged.

The three of them turned as they observed the destruction, Virgil standing back up.

Alister looked around and saw all of the pilots who had been killed by the Gnosis and clenched his fists.

Virgil began breathing heavily as he saw this in front of him. "Hornst?! Lester!"

The Gnosis stomped forward over the damaged bridge as Virgil's anger rose.

Virgil growled in anger and frustration. "W-what…what do I do…? I gotta stop them…there's gotta be a way…but how?!" He then looked around and saw the few remaining Realians twitching on the floor, he then looked at Shion, who was clutching close to Alister. "Hey you…"

Behind them, a mechanical set of eyes observed them through the door.

Virgil bent down and picked up Shion's communicator, which had fallen out of her pocket when she fell, and then opened his cockpit hatch to take it.

Shion reached up to his A.G.W.S. frustrated. "What are you doing?! Give that back!"

"What the hell are you doing!?" Alister shouted. "Get back in your AC and help us shoot those things!"

Virgil ignored him and grabbed Shion's communicator. "Quit your whining." He then muttered with a near demonic glee, "I'll give it right back." He then opened the onboard console and began messing with some of the settings.

Shion backed up, both in anger and to get a better look at what he was doing, Alister was just about ready to clock him.

Virgil then began to speak dementedly, as though possessed. "Hey…they're based on the 508 series, right?"

"So what if they are?!" Shion retorted in frustration.

"It's been almost fourteen years now. Since I returned from Miltia, that is."

"Miltia…" Alister muttered puzzled. He'd heard that name somewhere before.

"Out in the fields, I took apart so many of them to get what I was looking for. It was a lot of work, you know? What with that dual-stage protection they got and all…"

"Dual-stage…" Shion said worried and confused. "Lieutenant…you consumed their…neuro-?"

Virgil interrupted with a mocking salute, "But of course. They were quite delicious."

Alister's eyes widened. "What the fuck's wrong with you?! You ate their brains you psychopath!?"

"How could you…" Shion mumbled weakly, in disbelief at what she had just discovered.

"That's when I found about the control code. It's quite a convenient function you put in there!"

Shion and Alister's eyes widened, both suddenly realizing what Virgil was planning.

"That's right. I'm going to have these marionettes hold off the Gnosis for us. Just…like…this!"

Shion turned to the Realians in horror as they began to stand mechanically and move towards the encroaching Gnosis.

Alister turned to Virgil in rage. "Virgil! Stop it! Stop this!"

"Stop it! What do you think they are?! This is a clear violation of-!"

"Of their rights?" Virgil asked mockingly. "That's for peacetime, lady. You think I don't know the Miltian Charter? Miltian Charter, Article Four, Paragraph thirteen," Shion gasped, "'Weapons-Grade Realians are required to be equipped with a remotely accessible behavioral limit and self-destruct system in case of emergency or malfunction. Use of these functions will be determined by the senior officer in charge of the situation.' …Am I right?"

Shion turned in horror as the Realians, too injured and damaged to even walk, pulled themselves along the floor to drape over the encroaching monsters in what was most certainly a hopeless attempt at diversion.

"Well, that time is now. And I am the conductor…I intend to make full use of my orchestra!"

The Realians were dragged along by the feet of the Gnosis as they no longer possessed the strength to even hold themselves up, let alone stop the monsters.

"Stop it!" Shion pleaded. "You have no right to play god with their lives! Using them as bombs…I won't let you do this!"

"She's right you bastard! You're not a god and you have no right to play one!"

Virgil cackled darkly. "So whaddya gonna do about it? Tell me, why haven't you disabled that function?"

Shion gasped, realizing the hypocrisy in his statement, along with the truth.

Alister clenched his fist to the point of white knuckles, seeing what he was doing for the evil it was, but also not seeing another way out.

"Sure, it's factory-loaded, but you of all people shouldn't have any trouble removing it." Virgil shook Shion's communicator at her crudely. "Since you care about them so much, all it would take is a little tweak, and they'd be free as birds…and yet you don't. Why not?"

"Because…company protocol dictates…" she answered weakly and unsurely.

"Exactly! It's protocol! In other words, you're just like me, bound by that protocol. We're the ones that give them a reason to live. Am I wrong?!"

"But I…"

"That's the difference between us and them! Am I wrong?! So, why not give it to them? A meaning to their pitiful existence!" He then pressed a button on the console, causing the Realians to explode in a massive conflagration. The bridge shattering and crumbling under them as the Gnosis fell, still uninjured. "Heheheh…hahahah!" Virgil began laughing before narrowing his eyes as he looked across the smoke, one Gnosis still standing there, completely unfettered.

It's jagged eyes lit up as the creature levitated over the smashed bridge, landing on the other side with a loud thud.

"Son of a bitch!"

The other Gnosis that had been knocked down by the explosion also flew back up to the bridge alongside the others.

Virgil hopped back inside his A.G.W.S. "Out of the way! Move!"

Again, the mechanical eyes watched as Virgil hopelessly fired on the Gnosis.

Virgil's A.G.W.S. was knocked through the door behind them and into the Realian workroom, the hatch opening as he slumped out onto the ground.

Alister and Shion ran into the room as well, attempting to escape the monsters.

Virgil stood up from his slumped position, his body covered in a strange, pulsating light. He stumbled around weakly before dropping to his knees, disoriented and weak, his A.G.W.S. too damaged to use.

The yellow Gnosis walked towards Shion and Alister. Alister fired his gun at the monster. "Back off you bast-agh!" The beast back-handed him, sending him slamming into the far wall as it continued its approach to Shion.

Shion backed against the wall, having nowhere else to go as she could only stare at the monster in fear as it neared her ominously.

It opened its clawed hand, fully materialized and grabbed her, holding her up in front of its face.

Shion attempted to get free, but the creature had too strong a hold on her.

It raised its other hand to crush her as her body began freezing from the feet up.

Alister watched weakly, disoriented from the blow. 'No…dammit. Not again.' Images of his sister's suit being crushed filled his mind again.

Shion felt her body weaken as more of it was crystallized by the Gnosis. 'I guess…this is it…I'm…going…to die…' Images filled her mind of all the times people had warned her to be careful, of all the things she'd seen since arriving on the ship. She then looked down and saw the same girl she'd seen three times before standing under the Gnosis. 'What's…this girl…doing here…? Seen her…before…? …Not safe there…run…run away…it's…no use…my…voice… Oh…well…' Shion's eyes began to close as all feeling left her body. 'I'm…going…to die…any…way…'

The girl merely watched her as the Gnosis dropped its fist and looked to the wall next to her.

The sound also woke Shion lightly as she saw a spot on the wall begin to burn. A blue beam of energy then shot through the burned hole, hitting the currently solidified Gnosis in the arm, causing it to drop Shion.

She fell to the ground gasping for breath as she felt a sudden rush of pain fill her body. It hurt, but it meant she was still alive.

The wall then cracked and burst open, revealing KOS-MOS on the other side as she walked in and looked at the Gnosis, as well as the other Gnosis in the room, all now transparent.

Shion watched puzzled as KOS-MOS walked by her.

KOS-MOS knelt down and rushed the Gnosis, first jumping in the air and spin-kicking its head, having no affect. She then spun, transformed her right arm into a cannon and fired several shots at the beast. Still having no effect.

"Chief!" Allen shouted as he walked into the room. "Are you alright?!"

"A-Allen…?! What are you doing here?!"

"KOS-MOS helped everyone escape. They're all on the training ship. Now we need to get you out of here."

"KOS-MOS?!" Shion asked in shock.

KOS-MOS watched as the Gnosis neared her, dropping a visor to cover her eyes with a large camera in the center.

Shion was held back by Allen as KOS-MOS did this, causing Shion to remark in surprise, "What?! The Hilbert Effect?!"

KOS-MOS splayed her arms out to the side as a massive, multi-colored wave of energy burst out from her body, expanding throughout not only the entire room, but the entire battle area.

"What the hell?! These things just became solid!" Homura shouted in surprise as her blades sliced through several Gnosis. "And they're not going back!"

Salcito nodded and continued firing, able to hit the Gnosis at all times now, not needing to wait for them to rematerialize.

The yellow Gnosis rushed at KOS-MOS as she raised her visor, only to get blown away by three shots from her arm cannon before exploding as it died.

She charged at one of the beige Gnosis, dodged to the side as its fist slammed into the floor, and then sent a charged punch at its torso, causing it to explode.

Allen and Shion watched in awe as KOS-MOS proceeded to tear the other Gnosis apart, jumping, running and blasting them to pieces.

Virgil was in shock and bellowed, "What the hell!? What is that?!"

"KOS-MOS!" Shion shouted as she ran over to her. She stopped when one of the beige Gnosis dropped down on top of her, only to get a blade shoved through its torso as KOS-MOS sliced it in half.

The flames from the exploded Gnosis died down enough to see her as Alister awoke. In his groggy state, he saw her illuminated by the flames and his eyes widened greatly. ' I-impossible! E-…Elizabeth!' Acting on instinct, he jumped up and did something unexpected, he wrapped his arms around the battle android, thinking it was his dead sister.

Shion and Allen tilted their heads in confusion, Virgil just face-palmed.

KOS-MOS looked at Alister puzzled, sensing his saddened state and reacted accordingly, wrapping her own arms around him in a reciprocal hug.

Alister pulled away and then froze as he got a look at KOS-MOS, realizing who she was and pulled away.

KOS-MOS then mentioned plainly, "I understand that a human hugs another when happy, sad or confused. I assumed you were feeling the same and did as expected."

Alister put a hand over his mouth in shock and embarrassment. "S-…sorry. I…thought you were…someone else." 'She…looks just like Liz.'

KOS-MOS looked at him puzzled before Shion slapped the back of his head with a frustrated expression. "What's with you?! How could she look like anyone?! She's a battle android!"

"Don't blame me because she looks just like my sister!" he shouted without thinking. He calmed down mildly and then sighed.

Shion looked at him confused.

KOS-MOS then looked to the side as more Gnosis piled in through the door. She pushed Alister to the side, and her chainguns appeared in her hands again, one in each hand this time. All six barrels spun swiftly and then unleashed a hailstorm on the monsters, killing the entire group. She fired for several seconds as she eliminated multiple Gnosis.

Alister looked at her shocked. 'She may not look just like her…but she has that same deadly accuracy.' He then looked at KOS-MOS with a bewildered expression, determined to figure out why she looked like Elizabeth, his sister that had died six years ago.

"Shion," KOS-MOS said plainly.

"Uh…yes?"

KOS-MOS pointed to another door with her gun. "We will now proceed to hanger one. There is a 99.998% probability that the Gnosis' target is the object stored in that hangar."

Alister looked to the door puzzled. "The Emulator?"

"My assigned duties to verify and preserve the integrity of that object and to protect Vector staff members."

Shion answered puzzled, "Uh, but…I…"

"Life pods are located on the second level of the hangar. Please use one to escape."

"KOS-MOS…"

Allen then shouted, "Ch-Chief!"

A hole then burst through the ceiling as the Gnosis-A.G.W.S. hybrid monstrosity burst through.

"W-w-what is that?!" Allen shouted.

Alister readied his rifle, cursing at how low on ammo he was, and then answered, "Some damned Gnosis fused with an A.G.W.S. and made that thing."

"What?!"

It raised its rifle arm and fired at the group.

Alister and the others dove to the side to dodge.

"Guess we either beat that thing or die!" Virgil shouted as he grabbed an assault rifle.

"Right!" Alister added.

"Yo outsider, take cover behind my A.G.W.S.!"

Alister, not allowing personal beliefs to get in the way, nodded and dove behind the machine, firing from under its leg to get the monster's attention.

It turned and fired at him, the A.G.W.S. moderately protecting him from damage.

KOS-MOS charged in, firing her weapons at it.

The creature swiped its clawed hand at her, KOS-MOS jumping over as she activated her gun arm and fired several shots into its head.

"Great, that just pissed it off!" Virgil growled as he continued to fire. He rolled to the side to dodge its counterattack.

It turned and swiped at KOS-MOS again.

She ducked under the strike and rolled out of the way, firing again, driving it back some.

Alister nodded and pulled out his grenade launcher, firing a shot at its mechanical foot, not destroying it but knocking the beast off-balance.

It howled as it fell.

KOS-MOS charged with her blade, ready to jab its eye, only to get grabbed by the monster as it stood up.

It opened a wide, multi-toothed maw as it attempted to devour her.

Flashes of his sister's death involuntarily filled his mind as Alister jumped over the leg and ran for the creature. "Let her go you bastard!"

It turned its single-eyed head towards him as he charged.

He didn't know why, but he acted on instinct. He dropped his gun, opened his palms, pulled his arms back and then thrust them forward. Somehow energy collected in his hand and then burst forward in a massive shockwave, sending the creature flying into a wall and freeing KOS-MOS from its grasp.

She stood up and nodded to him, then said, "I did not need your assistance. I merely needed-"

Alister interrupted her with a hand. "Save it. What's done is done." He then looked at his hand as electricity sparked in it. He smirked deviously. "Groovy." He also noticed that his body felt inexplicably lighter than before. It didn't matter why. He just knew he was going to pound that thing into the dirt. He raised a hand and more electricity collected in his hand. He then aimed it at the creature. "Let's see how you like this." A burst of electricity shot from his hand and hit the Cyclops like monster. He continued to shoot it, burst after burst. Bolt after bolt. Eventually, the monster fell to its knees as its body smoked from the attacks. Alister reeled back a clenched fist, almost glowing with electricity, and then slammed it into the Cyclops' face, bursting its head and then causing the monster to explode. The explosion sent him sliding back, right up to KOS-MOS as he pumped a fist excitedly. "Whoo! That was awesome!" He then looked up to speak to KOS-MOS but then turned his head to the side with a red tint as she walked away. He raised a puzzled eyebrow. 'She didn't notice? I guess she really is a robot.'

Shion then walked up to Alister and held out a hand. As she helped him up she asked, "What was that?"

Alister shrugged with a smile. "I dunno, but it was friggin' cool!"

"Shion," KOS-MOS began monotonously, "It is best we vacate this area. Please leave through the far door."

They all turned as more Gnosis entered the room.

Alister stepped back. "Ohh crap. Let's go now!" He grabbed Shion's hand unconsciously and began to run.

Allen turned to do the same and saw Shion with Alister. He dropped his jaw frustrated and then sighed and took off after them, Virgil right behind.

KOS-MOS turned as more Gnosis entered the room and pulled out her pistol, aimed it at the large window at one side of the room, and then fired, blowing out the window and sucking the Gnosis out into space.

Salcito panted as he was beginning to lose energy in the Sinanju. "Shit. I've only got a few more shots left. This is not good."

"Connect your suit's main generator to your power armor's core, it will give you some more ammo," John recommended as he fired more shots at the Gnosis. The Gundam had already been damaged heavily. The right side of its V-fin had been sliced off and the machine itself was covered in slashes, burns and dents.

The Sinanju was not in much better shape. Its horn was almost completely gone and one of its back boosters had been blown off.

The Soulgain and Huckebein were also heavily damaged. Murasaki had used up her shuriken and was now using just her head-mounted Vulcans for combat.

Cherenkov stood in the hangar in front of the Emulator typing on the console. "Damn it! Not now!" He slammed a hand down on the console in frustration. "Will my death be for nothing?!"

Shion and the others ran towards the room, Virgil and Allen using assault rifles while Alister blasted them with his newly gained electrical powers.

Shion ran through the door and then stopped and turned, seeing one last escape pod in the dock. She then turned in surprise to see Andrew at the console. "Commander Cherenkov?"

Cherenkov was just as surprised to see her. "What the…?! What are you people doing here?!"

More Gnosis piled in, some getting driven back by Allen, Virgil and Alister's combined assault but they all died when KOS-MOS walked through holding her chain guns.

"Gnosis!" Cherenkov shouted in surprise and shock that they had arrived at that section of the ship already. His eyes widened as he saw KOS-MOS walk into the room. "So…it's functional…"

KOS-MOS turned around and fired more shots at the incoming Gnosis, Alister standing beside her, blasting them with his lightning. She then turned fully around and began firing both weapons at the horde.

Virgil then began laughing maniacally. "Ahahahah! You want some of this!? Then come and get it, you bastards!"

Shion stood behind them and picked up a rifle of her own and fired several shots at the Gnosis. She froze as the horde entered the room, two of the beige Gnosis dropping down behind her. She turned slowly and fell to the ground in fear.

Virgil turned and saw her being encroached and ran in front of her to take down the monsters.

Alister turned in frustration. "Dammit! Virgil!" He turned and also saw Shion getting attacked. "Shit!" He turned as well and began lobbing lightning bolts at the Gnosis, killing one of them in an explosion.

KOS-MOS turned as she saw this happening, Virgil's rifle doing almost nothing to the beasts aside from annoying them, but taking their attention from Shion.

Allen also turned and saw the monsters nearing Shion.

KOS-MOS brought up her right chain gun to fire on the Gnosis, having to readjust as Virgil hopped around madly.

"Dammit you moron! Move!" Alister shouted as he pushed Virgil to the side.

KOS-MOS then locked onto the two of them, opening fire.

Alister and Virgil buckled as they were pelted by the hailstorm of bullets.

Virgil saw one last image before falling, a beautiful woman with white hair and an elegant dress. 'Feb…'

Alister and he then fell to the ground, both dead.

KOS-MOS continued to fire over the two after they fell. However, when she stopped she noticed Alister lying on the ground, her fist tightening around her gun.

Shion dropped her rifle in shock as she saw them both lying there. "Alister!"

They all then stopped in shock when Alister's body was covered in electricity. His hand then clenched as he took in a gasping breath.

KOS-MOS loosened her grip and then examined her hand curiously.

Shion ran over to him. "H-how!?"

Alister coughed and stood up weakly. "Got me…" he groaned. He then turned and saw Virgil lying on the ground, and remembered that he had been shot. He turned to KOS-MOS and shouted. "What the hell's wrong with you!?"

KOS-MOS looked at him plainly. "At that time, Lieutenant Virgil and Alister were in my direct line of fire. Any changes to my firing position to avoid them while protecting Shion would have resulted in a 30% depreciation in my offensive capabilities. On the other hand-"

"Shut up!" Alister shouted with clenched fists. He then scowled at KOS-MOS. "I don't give a damn! You hit me to save Shion, that's fine! But Virgil?! He may have been an asshole but he was a human and a soldier! He spent his life doing what he thought was best for his government! And you threw it away like it was trash! You…you bitch!"

Shion gasped in surprise, KOS-MOS' lips curled down minutely. "I apologize for my actions. However, it is clear that you are still functional. So I would suggest you make haste to escape this ship, as it is about to capsize."

Alister sighed in resignation then helped Shion up by the arm. "C'mon. Let's go."

"There is one issue. The escape pod has a maximum capacity of two occupants."

Alister sighed. He then lightly shoved Shion over to Allen. "You guys go. I've got another way out in the A.M.W.S. hangar."

"Alister. Alister, do you copy?"

Alister heard Salcito speak over the comm. He pressed two fingers against the microphone. "I copy. What's going on out there?"

"It's bad. These bastards are overwhelming us and both John and I are almost out of energy. Where are you relative to your Gelgoog?"

"I'm in hangar one. I've got a little further to go before I can get to it though."

KOS-MOS then interjected. "You have no time left. This ship will capsize in exactly three minutes, forty-five seconds."

Alister huffed. "I'll handle it. You deal with that thing and I'll worry about me."

KOS-MOS nodded. "Very well." She then made her way over to the Emulator, Cherenkov moving against the wall in fear as she walked by.

Shion moved over to speak to her when a massive, whale-like beast appeared.

Alister gasped. "What the hell is that thing?!"

KOS-MOS scanned it. "Identification: Minotaur."

Alister snarled as he thought of how to destroy the monster, he then had an idea. "KOS-MOS! Do you have missiles!?"

KOS-MOS nodded. "I have arm-mounted, mini-missiles. They would be ineffective against this enemy."

"No, fire them at the wall!"

KOS-MOS looked at him curiously before the pods on her shoulders flipped open and a series of small missiles launched out and struck the wall, blowing a hole in it.

The Minotaur turned as Alister ran, propelled off with an electrical boost, and then landed in the hole, disappearing into the darkness.

Allen raised an eyebrow. "Is he even human?"

"Unknown," KOS-MOS answered.

The Minotaur then raised its disc-like hands and prepared to fire a blast of energy but was hit from behind by an explosion. It turned and watched as Alister's Gelgoog burst out from the wall with its dual-bladed sword reared back. It dodged to the side as he slashed, then turned and jabbed, running it through. The beast then exploded as it died.

Alister smirked inside his suit. "I've got extra room if anyone needs a ride." He lowered himself and opened his cockpit.

Shion and Allen had made their way into the nearby escape pod.

The holders for the Emulator were then covered by giant, fish-like Gnosis with bladed arms as they lifted up and out of the ship through a slip-space hole.

As the hole closed Alister turned to KOS-MOS. "Looks like your prime directive just got away. You comin' or not?"

She turned to him and then answered, "The object is still within normal space, it is imperative that I locate it."

"Whatever." Alister then closed his cockpit hatch as he turned and fired at the ceiling, blowing a hole in it and leaving, the escape pod doing the same as the Woglinde split in half and then proceeded to explode completely, leaving a massive debris field behind.

And that's the end of the chapter. Tell me what you guys think in reviews if would. Hearing what you guys think helps me like to keep going.