Chapter VI

Hello everyone, the next chapter of Final Reign's here. I'm trying to get these out as fast as I can now, within reason of course, I don't want to churn out subpar product of course. Anyway, with this, I should be at about the story's halfway point. Maybe farther, not certain. At any rate, here's the next chapter and thanks as always to my coauthor Bakuto Masaki. Well, guess it's time for reviewer responses. Not very many of them anymore though I'm starting to notice. :(

Bakuto Masaki: I thought it was pretty cool. Yes he does. It only gets better from here on with that front. Yup, the Unicorn Gundam Banshee. They know where it is now. Wonder how they'll get it. Well...you and I know how obviously. Yeah, chaos did seem to just randomly start choking when Earth was mentioned, didn't he? That's the idea I was going for, Final Reign's Immortal Duo. Although I feel bad for Homura if she decides to actually test that.

YumishinChan: Thanks for finding the time. Even the simplest of reviews mean a lot. I do what I can. She is my absolute favorite Xenosaga girl, so I would hope to get her personality right. I tried to do them justice.

Well, that's about it. So time for the actual chapter now I suppose.

Alister wandered the halls of the Durandal's residential sector.

He looked around and then saw who he was looking for. "Shion!"

Shion, who was about to enter one of the rooms, heard Alister call her and turned. "Oh, Alister. Need something?"

Alister nodded as he walked up to her. "Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you're okay. And…I wanted to ask you about something."

Shion frowned concerned but nodded and opened the door to her room.

Both of them then walked in as the door closed behind them.

Shion sat down after getting a cup of tea for both her and Alister. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Thanks," Alister said as he accepted the tea. "Well…two things actually. The first is…back on the Cathedral ship. Did you…get some weird vision of Cherenkov…his life flashing through your mind and seeing him on this weird…beach?"

Shion gasped. "H-how?! How do you know that?!" She stood up in surprise.

Alister sighed heavily. "Thought so."

"How did you see that vision? He…addressed me by name."

Alister ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "I saw the whole thing. I don't know how, but I think it might be because I had my hand on your shoulder when it happened." He narrowed his eyes sadly as he pulsed a little electricity on his hand as he spoke. "I…don't know anything anymore."

"What do you mean?" Shion asked warmly as she sat down next to him.

Alister chuckled weakly. "My whole damn world's been turned on its head. In just the past week, I've found out that there's an entire civilization of humans I knew nothing about, a whole race of aliens that can pass through walls like ghosts and can be as big as whole friggin' planets. I watched a man turn into one of those monsters and then somehow get his thoughts spammed into my head. I woke up these weird-ass powers that juts came out of fuckin' nowhere and then…and then to top it all off…" he bit his lip as he trailed off, "I find out that this unknown civilization has a damned combat android that looks just like my sister."

Shion gasped. "Your…sister?"

Alister nodded and looked at the tea in his hands. "About three years ago, my squadron, which was led by my older sister Elizabeth Manase at the time, was sent on a scouting run in our mobile suits on a supposedly deserted planet. We were sent down there to investigate strange energy signatures on the ground. Turned out the place wasn't as deserted as we thought. The Covenant had a whole damn army's worth of soldiers and suits down there, they were…digging something up. Something big. I don't know what it was…but it looked like…a giant…robotic dinosaur. Anyway, we were originally supposed to head back to base and report it to the CO. But…we were spotted by a Covenant scout on the way back. It was only a few minutes before we had the whole damn army bearing down on us. We fought like hell, eventually luring them into an old residential sector so we could get some cover. Unfortunately the guys up top had their heads up their asses so it was going to be a while before we got any back up. So our little four man team was supposed to take on an entire Covenant army's worth of mobile suits. I did horribly. Within the first twenty minutes of fighting I got my Hizack's arm chopped off. But Liz…" he chuckled amusedly as a sad but proud smile formed on his face. "She was awesome. She was slicing those bastards apart like they were just flies on the wall. She was using the UNSC's then new Gelgoog, and it was in her custom silver colors. Those colors are what earned her the title of Silver Star, she shone like a star on the battlefield. Thanks to her the rest of our team and I managed to stay alive long enough to receive back up and evac."

Shion frowned at his story but then raised an eyebrow. "But…what happened to her?"

Alister tightened his grip on his drink to the point it started trembling. "Those…bastards," he forced through grit teeth. "It was just our luck that day to encounter the Covenant's newest mobile suit. A massive behemoth, bigger than anything I've ever seen, the Psyco Gundam. That damn thing tore us apart. I'm amazed that only one other person was killed by that thing. At one point, one of its head-mounted cannons fired and hit my suit head on. I was incapacitated and stuck on the ground. That thing was about to kill me when Liz came in and distracted it. She never let up. Even if she just firing in random directions, she never let that thing get its attention off her and onto me for a second. Unfortunately…that's also how she died."

"What?" Shion tilted her head and put a hand on one of Alister's worriedly.

Alister flinched at the sudden contact but then calmed down and continued. "She was…she was so focused on fighting that monster…so it wouldn't shoot me…" he spoke slowly as tears started falling from his eyes, "that she never saw the Banshee that came up behind her. I tried to warn her but my comm was out. It fired a missile at her pack and blew it up, sending her crashing to the ground. Her mobile suit's movements were cut off and…and…"

"It's okay."

Alister looked at Shion puzzled. "What…?"

"If you don't want to say anything else, don't," she said with a warm smile.

Alister was surprised at that but then shook his head. "No…it's alright. I was just getting a little heated…I'm fine."

Shion nodded to him and sat back down.

"But…when that thing cut off her movements…the Psyco Gundam it…it stepped on her suit and crushed it. I don't know how long it took…but I hope she died quickly."

Shion frowned after he finished his story. She then lightly wrapped her arms around him.

"Ah…Sh-Shion…what're you…?"

Shion pulled away and smiled. "Feel better?" she chirped.

Alister tilted his head some. He then smiled lightly. "Yeah…actually I do a little."

"Good. One of the things Kevin taught me while we worked together was that if someone's feeling bad, a hug will almost always make them feel better. And I have yet to see that prove false."

Alister just chuckled. "Well glad to see I'm not the first." His expression then soured. "But…that's also something I wanted to talk to you about."

"About my idea about hugs?" Shion asked dumbly.

"No you idiot!" Alister shouted back. "It's…about Kevin. I heard you mention him earlier when KOS-MOS used that…thing to kill all those Gnosis. I was wondering…who is that exactly?"

Shion's own expression soured as well. "Oh boy…alright, guess I'll start at the beginning then."

"Please do…unless you'd rather not talk about it."

Shion waved a hand. "No, no it's fine. You shared that story about your sister so it's only fair that-"

"No!" Alister snapped.

"Uhm, pardon?" Shion asked puzzled.

Alister sighed heavily and then looked at her seriously. "I don't want you telling me this because you feel obligated to. I didn't tell you that as some incentive for you to tell me. I told you…because I wanted to."

Shion remained silent for a moment and then nodded. "Well…okay. Anyway, like I said, I'll start at the beginning. His full name was Kevin Winnicot. He was the old head of Vector's First R&D Division. He was also the original head of the KOS-MOS Project and KOS-MOS' original designer."

Alister nodded as he listened.

"I worked under him, the Second Chief, the same position Allen holds now, back when Kevin was Chief. We met when I was assigned to the project, which he had started. KOS-MOS was requested by the Federation to be the next generation in anti-Gnosis weaponry. So Kevin and I were selected to be among the team of researchers and designers. And during the project we became…close. However, all the work we had done fell apart one night two years ago when KOS-MOS was prematurely activated. I…don't know what happened. She just woke up and then started going crazy. She attacked everyone, she killed all of the other researchers…she even killed Kevin right in front of me. I finally had to stop it when I used a special gun that was specifically designed to take her down, were that to ever happen, and killed her. After that the project was put on hold for a while…and then we just suddenly got assigned to the crew of the Woglinde before we were about to restart testing." She then looked at Alister with a weak smile. "Well…that's my story. Not quite as impressive as yours I know but-"

Alister put up a hand. He looked at her with a smirk and then shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say it's beyond mine."

"What…why?"

"Because…I'm a soldier. I'm trained to handle, to deal with, death on a regular basis. But you…you're just a civilian. You've never been trained and conditioned to expect the people around to just up and die. The fact that you handled it as well as you did, being able to neutralize the threat like that without getting yourself killed, I'd say that's pretty damn impressive."

Shion smiled slightly with a small blush. "Well…thanks, Alister."

"No problem. Thank you too."

"Hm? What for?"

"For answering my questions, and listening to my story."

Shion shook her head with a serious expression. "No, it's alright. Actually, you've made me curious. How is it possible that KOS-MOS looks like your sister? That just doesn't seem reasonable. Especially considering Kevin designed her, and I'm fairly certain he's never met her before. Honestly, I didn't even know there was anything beyond the Federation Rim but uninhabited planets and solar winds."

Alister stood up and nodded. "You and me both. Although, it might help us both if we went over our joint histories. Maybe we can piece together how these two civilizations have existed in tandem for so long without either having any idea that the other existed."

Shion nodded and motioned him over to her console nearby.

"Okay, so where do we start on this?" Alister asked.

Shion nodded and brought up a historical timeline. "Right. Well, about four thousand years ago, humanity abandoned its original home world. Unfortunately that planet's name is no longer known, it's only called Lost Jerusalem."

"Ho-hold on…"

"Is…something wrong?"

"You bet it is. This thing says that humanity left its home world four thousand years ago?"

"Uhm…yes…?"

"That's absurd. I've been to humanity's home world, it's called Earth. And we've only had space travel for about five hundred years."

Shion's eyes widened. "W-w-what?! But the historical records clearly state that-!"

"They might, but humans have inhabited the same world for the past four thousand years, and I can guarantee you nothing has ever been discovered on Earth to suggest humans had space flight four thousand years ago. Hell, at that time humans were lucky if they didn't beat each other's brains in with a rock. Although…I suppose there's another option…"

"There…is?"

Alister nodded. "Yeah. Earth actually isn't the only planet in UNSC space that has somehow had humans evolve on it naturally. I only know of one other planet though. It's called Nirn. But, humans weren't the only sentient, two-legged animals on the planet. There were a lot more. But when the whole war with Covenant started our relations with them became…heated. Whatever. Point is, while it's probably not Earth or Nirn that your Federation claims to have left four thousand years ago, it is possible it might be a different planet."

Shion giggled some at him.

"Geez, what's so funny?"

"Nothing, you just don't sound like a soldier when you talk like that."

"Well…that's because military service doesn't exactly run through my blood. It's pretty much just me and my father that are military men. My grandfather though, he was more of the…adventurous type. Oh he sure knew how to fight. He knew over a hundred different embarrassing ways to kick a guy's ass but he was mostly an adventurer. It's been about forty years or so since he stopped doing that sort of thing, but that was only because my dad was born. I never actually took up the mantle of space adventurer like him. Never really got the chance."

"Why's that?"

"Because, about a year or two before I was born the war with the Covenant started, so not only was being a random space traveler prohibitively dangerous, the UNSC's draft pretty much had everyone who was over the age of sixteen and that had four working limbs enlisted into the military. So once I turned sixteen I was pulled out of school and dropped into the military. But that doesn't mean I wasn't raised on my grandfather's incessant tales of different adventures he'd been on. Of course they weren't quite as exciting as you'd imagine since his days of adventuring were several decades prior to when we ever encountered nonhumans."

Shion nodded. "I'm sure it was still quite exciting. What was his name by the way?"

Alister leaned back and sighed. "Nate. Honestly I don't know what his last name was, he had so many over the course of his life it's hard to tell what's real and what's not."

"I see."

Alister then leaned forward and stood up. "Well…I think we should probably get some sleep."

Shion nodded as he left. "Yes. Oh…and Alister…"

"Erm…yes?"

"Thank you for trusting me with this."

Alister turned away swiftly and sputtered before nodding and running out the door.

Shion tilted her head puzzled.

The next day, Jr. confused everyone by suddenly calling the whole group down to a certain area of the ship to show them something.

The group stood in the large room that held the Zohar Emulators.

As they looked around, MOMO asked, "What is this place? The environmental controls here seem extremely strict."

"They're so big…" Shion said breathlessly.

Alister twitched away a chuckle.

"Six to each side, with one directly across."

"Thirteen total," Alister observed.

John then pointed up to them. "Each one of those has a name on it."

"You've got great eyesight," Shion complimented.

"My eyes have been cybernetically enhanced to be as keen as possible."

Shion frowned curiously at his answer. She then looked around at the different blocks with her glasses enhancing her vision. "Hmm, let's see…Peter, Andrew, Boanerges, Thomas, John…uhmm…"

KOS-MOS then finished for her, "Philip, Matthew, Bartholomew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, Judas."

"And the last one?"

"It appears to say, Marienkind."

"Marienkind…I think I've heard that somewhere…"

"It means 'the child of Mary,'" Shelley explained.

Jr. nodded and then explained further. "This is where we store all the really dangerous items." He then turned and pressed a button on the console next to him, "Stuff like this."

The large boxes had panels on the bottom and sides open up, before they lifted up, exposing what was inside.

"Zohars?!" Shion shouted.

"Actually they're all Emulators," Jr. clarified. "And they've all been sealed, including the one we just retrieved."

"Why are these Zohars here…?"

"Well, our corporation does dabble a little in everything. Besides, these days, you can't get by without something to deal with the Gnosis. And we definitely can't wait around for the Federation to get off its lazy butt."

"Damn, kid. That's impressive. But I noticed there's two missing," Alister remarked as he looked around the room.

"Yeah. What you see here are the eleven Emulators we've managed to gather to date. We're still missing one Emulator and the original Zohar. But I doubt we'll be getting it for a long time."

Alister looked at him confused. "Why's that?"

Jr. looked at him like he was an idiot before realizing why he didn't know. "Oh yeah, that's right. You guys are from the other side of the Rim. Well, about fourteen years ago a big accident happened on a planet called Miltia, now called Old Miltia, which was caused by the Zohar on Miltia. And since then the place has been completely inaccessible. The space around the planet is sealed because of two massive black holes, making travel to it impossible without getting all the right conditions."

Alister whistled in response. "That's one hell of a guard dog."

"Heh, heh, you could say that."

MOMO then looked across Jr.'s shoulder and asked, "Uhm, what's in the room across from here?"

Jr. turned to the door beside him and answered, "Nothing pleasant, I'll tell you that much."

Shion then persisted, "You're not going to show us?"

"Trust me, it ain't something you'd want to see."

"Even if we were to consider the diversity of your businesses, you're still a foundation, right? I mean, the weaponry on this ship far outclass those on any warship. Who are you people, anyway…?"

Jr. sighed and walked over to the console and answered her. "We were more or less a government organization, previously. Well…I guess if you want to see it that badly."

The large door then began to open slowly.

Alister lightly elbowed Shion to get her attention. "If there's anything that causes me nightmares I'm blaming you."

Shion frowned in annoyance at him.

Jr. then led everyone inside the room and they saw the contents.

Alister sighed as they entered. "And here's my nightmare fuel for the next few weeks. On top of clowns and giant lizard people."

What was interred within the room were multiple large tanks with fluid inside, suspending creatures within. Gnosis. Multiple Gnosis, horribly misshapen Gnosis with almost humanoid features randomly dispersed on their bodies.

However, it's what was at the back of the room that got everyone's attention.

A single, large tank holding what appeared to be the body of a young woman with almost the entire right side of her body mangled and transformed grotesquely.

"What is this?" Shion asked as she looked at the tank, horror filling her eyes at the mutated face of the woman. Shion put her hands over her mouth as she gasped at the creature.

"I warned you, you weren't gonna like it, didn't I?" Jr. asked.

Alister groaned. "Ohhh…that stubbornness of yours strikes again Uzuki."

KOS-MOS then observed, "All of these specimens appear to be humans whose bodies turned into Gnosis."

Ziggy looked around and then remarked, "Transformed bodies. I've only heard of them before."

Jr. pointed to the tank with the woman and expounded, "Most people just turn white and shatter to pieces, but there are a few exceptions…and they end up like this. We've named this one Betty, for now." Jr. turned away after a moment and said, "It's hard to look straight at them. But I don't want to refer to them by some code name or number. It's just not right to treat the dead like mere objects."

MOMO looked at "Betty" apprehensively and asked, "Is that a lady?"

"She was a little girl…the last time we saw her."

Everyone frowned despondently as he said that.

Alister ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "People changin' into Gnosis."

"Have you learned anything about them?" Allen asked.

Jr. shook his head. "Not much. Plenty of Gnosis remains have been recovered to date, but nobody's learned a thing from them. You know what they're composed of?"

"No…"

"Sodium chloride…plain old salt. Even their translucent bodies, they're mostly made up of water and sodium hydroxide. How can ordinary compounds like that form creatures like them? No one really knows why those who survive Gnosis encounters always turn into one of them. Some people think they're a new type of virus; others say they're beings from another dimension who take on temporary forms in this one."

Shion frowned as she listened to what he said. She then remembered when that Golem almost completely crystallized her. "Always…?" she asked. "No exceptions?"

Jr. shook his head. "Nope. Not as far as I know."

She then remembered watching Cherenkov turn into the Gargoyle. As the others continued discussing the Gnosis Alister put a hand on Shion's shoulder.

"You alright?"

She looked at him worried. "Guess I was pretty stupid for wanting to come in here so bad, huh?"

Alister shrugged. "Probably."

She frowned at him.

"But that's not that important, humans are naturally curious, and I assume that's further enhanced with being someone in your position."

Shion smiled at him slightly. "Thanks."

Alister just shrugged. "Hey, I was hit by one of those things too. I'm not interested in going feral either."

Shion nodded and then looked at Jr. "So when did this all begin?"

Jr. turned to her and answered, "Unofficially, phenomena like this have been occurring periodically for the past few centuries. But…after a certain incident, the Gnosis leapt into the forefront of history."

Shion frowned knowingly as MOMO asked, "A certain incident?"

"The Miltian Conflict, which I mentioned earlier. Joachim Mizrahi. It was he who opened Pandora's Box and unleashed the Gnosis upon the galaxy. And we're all paying for his ambition."

Shion put a hand up to her chin in thought. "Joachim Mizrahi. The brilliant scientist who founded the U-TIC Organization."

"Brilliant?" Jr. asked derisively. "He was a lunatic."

MOMO narrowed her eyes pained as he spoke.

"Unable to bear his curiosity, he invited the Gnosis into our world."

"A lunatic…?" MOMO asked somberly before walking out of the room.

"The Foundation was established after the war by the newly formed Second Miltian government, to clean up and investigate the facts behind the incident. Technically, that's our real job. Problem is, the funding's tight in peacetime. On top of that, running the Foundation takes a staggering amount of money, and the management of these Zohars ain't cheap, either."

As he continued to speak, MOMO merely walked out of the room sadly.

"So, we ended up privatizing part of our operations and becoming a Foundation. We never imagined that some of our side businesses would hit it so big, though."

MOMO exited the room as the door closed behind her, mumbling, "Daddy…Daddy wasn't like that."

As Jr. continued speaking, Alister looked around the area. He then nudged Shion's shoulder.

"What is it?" she asked.

Alister pointed behind him. "She's gone."

"MOMO? Where could she have gone?"

Alister shook his head and then sighed in resignation. "Dunno. But something tells me we better go find her."

Jr. stopped and realized this as well. "Oh boy…well I guess introduction's done for today."

Everyone nodded and split up to go find the young Realian girl.

Sometime later, MOMO was sitting by herself in one of the Durandal's observation parks, sitting on a bench that looked out a large window the vast expanse outside.

She watched as small flickering lights flew around the room, outstretching her hand for one to land on it. Looking at it sadly she asked, "What do you all think…? Joachim Mizrahi the lunatic. Was Daddy really like that? Since Daddy built us," she released the light into the room, "does that mean Realians are bad people, too?"

"MOMO. We were looking all over for you."

MOMO turned to see Shion and KOS-MOS entering the room, Alister walking directly behind them. "Hello, Shion."

"What's wrong? You look kinda down."

KOS-MOS walked up and merely stood behind Shion but Alister walked beside her and nodded to MOMO. "Yeah, I just don't think the gloom and doom expression suits you. Leave that boring stuff to that big green oaf the cyborg pompadour."

MOMO looked at him puzzled before giggling. She then frowned some and said slowly, "Well…I…I was created by Joachim Mizrahi. He designed the 100-Series Realians back when the Federation funded him."

"I know…" Shion answered slowly.

"Well I didn't," Alister added.

MOMO frowned some.

"But," he paused with a smirk, "if he created something like you and the others, he couldn't have been all bad."

Shion nodded subtly to Alister with a smile as MOMO's frown disappeared some.

MOMO nodded and then turned to Shion. "But…Daddy wasn't a lunatic…I don't even know what I am."

"Identity diffusion," Shion mumbled.

Alister just gave a stupefied look.

"The eternal dilemma." Shion stuck out her hand as one of the small lights landed in her palm.

Alister raised an eyebrow and did the same, one of the lights landing on his hand momentarily before flying off quickly. He twitched an eyebrow.

"Do you know about the environmental bugs onboard this ship? They're actually nanomachines, you know, used to keep enclosed spaces like this clean. I'd say that…of all the things Professor Mizrahi – or anyone else – created, they rank up there pretty high. These bugs may be man-made, but they function as if they've existed all along. Almost as if they were meant to be. I think Realians are the same. The only difference between us, is the length of our histories. But regardless of our origins, each one of us has an important role to fulfill in this world." As she finished she released the light, the environmental bug, and it flew off into the ship. "Besides, I really doubt Dr. Mizrahi was a dangerous person like everyone makes him out to be. And it's not just because of the environmental bugs. The work he did on Realians was incredibly insightful."

Alister nodded in agreement. "Yup, and like I said, anyone that can make somethin' like you can't be all bad. To create beauty somebody has to have beauty. Or something like that."

Shion nodded but laughed some at his comment.

"'Eyy, what's with that?"

"Oh nothing, it's just funny to hear you say such insightful things, but you're right."

Alister nodded assuredly with folded arms.

KOS-MOS then remarked, "The fundamental Gnosis research Professor Mizrahi left behind played a critical role in the development of modern anti-Gnosis technology."

"Thanks for the backup KOS-MOS!"

Alister pointed to himself hurt. "What about me!?"

Shion chuckled and then added, "I'm really glad to see you react like that. Empathizing with the feelings of others is a major factor in human relationships."

KOS-MOS simply replied, "Although I do not believe the current situation called for me to act in an empathetic manner, I am pleased to be of service to you."

MOMO giggled at the android's answer. "…I think KOS-MOS is really funny."

Shion nodded and added, "Too bad she doesn't take instruction very well."

MOMO then looked out the window at the stars and said, "I never got to meet Daddy, but he used to talk to me all the time before I was born."

Alister looked at her puzzled. "You actually remember that far back?"

MOMO nodded and then Shion added, "Realians aren't born the same way humans are. They're born from tanks where their genetic material is assembled."

Alister folded his arms in thought. "Really? Genetic modification before birth is a federal crime in the UNSC. It was outlawed after the Spartans were exposed."

Shion put a hand on her chin and then pursued her curiosity. "What do you mean, exposed?"

Alister nodded. "Yeah, John's one of the Spartans. It produced insanely skilled and powerful soldiers, but it was an unsavory program. I don't know the full details, I know as little as I do since I know one of the newer Spartans. But what I do know is that Spartans, the Spartan-IIs to be exact, weren't soldiers that were turned into supersoldiers, they were 'conscripted' as children and raised and trained to be emotionless, warfighting monsters."

Shion covered her mouth in shock. "That's…horrible."

Alister nodded in return and then continued, "Yeah, from what I know the children that were basically kidnapped were replaced with clones and then had their bodies genetically and cybernetically modified, and were then raised from young ages to undergo training that would normally kill a person."

Shion frowned as she listened and then looked at him confused. "But…how do you know all this?"

Alister sighed and then turned to her. "Because Salcito is a Spartan-IV."

Shion widened her eyes. "I see…but you said that's it the Spartan-IIs that were modified."

Alister nodded. "Yeah. Salcito's a Spartan-IV now but he was originally supposed to be a Spartan-II. His body wouldn't take the cybernetics, it healed to quickly to perform the operations, so they gave him the prototype Spartan-IV armor. He still underwent the same training and everything though. That's why he's so…colorful."

Shion put a hand on her chin in thought. "I think I understand now. I guess things like that would put processes like Realian growth in a negative light for your people."

Alister nodded again. "Yeah. The Spartan program wasn't exposed to the whole world but most people in the military know about it. Of course most don't know nearly as much as I do."

Shion nodded back. "Right." She then giggled amusedly. "Guess that means I should keep it a secret, huh?"

Alister nodded with a smirk. "Yeah, probably."

Shion then looked over his shoulder at their enigmatic comrade. "That means you too KOS-MOS."

KOS-MOS nodded in understand. "Acknowledged. I will hide all knowledge on this subject." She then turned to Alister and inquired, "Is that satisfactory, Alister?"

Alister looked at her for a second and then nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Unless Shion or I ask you about or say you can nobody else should know you even have that information."

"Understood."

Shion tilted her head. "Huh. I thought she would only listen to me. And she doesn't even do that very well."

Alister shrugged. "Just luck maybe."

Shion nodded in amusement. "Maybe." She then turned to MOMO and said, "Sorry about that MOMO, why don't you tell us more about Jo-…about your daddy?"

MOMO nodded and resumed speaking. "It's all a little hazy, but I remember him telling me that…I could become a real person if I did good deeds."

"Really? That's a wonderful memory to have."

MOMO nodded happily. "Uh-huh."

"Chief!"

Everyone turned as Allen suddenly came running into the park.

"Great news!" he shouted. "After this ship arrives at the Kukai Foundation, they're gonna take us to Second Miltia!"

"Second Miltia? Really?" Shion asked as he walked up to the group breathing heavily.

"'Bout damn time," Alister moaned.

Allen nodded as he stood panting heavily. "Apparently, they have some work to take care of out there. The captain's still whining about repairing the Elsa, but…"

"Some work…?" Shion wondered aloud, "I wonder…"

"Huh?"

"Well…I'm sure they've got their own reasons, but don't you think it's a little strange that everyone's heading for Second Miltia?"

Allen tilted his head and then answered lamely, "Not really…it's probably just a coincidence."

Alister smirked and jabbed, "And that's why she's the head chief and you're the assistant chief ahhh…Alomar?"

"IT'S ALLEN!"

"Whatever Aloe Vera."

"You did that on purpose!"

Alister shrugged.

Allen sighed heavily and then said, "Whatever…I'm just glad we saved some money. Not to mention that this ship's a million times better equipped than the Elsa."

Alister nodded with a light shrug. "I guess. At the very least this dreadnought means we'll have no worries if we run into those damned Gnosis again."

Allen nodded and then flinched. "Hey, speaking of which, did you check out your room?"

Shion nodded. "Yeah. Alister came over to speak for a little bit last night."

"Yeah it's great isn't-WHAT!?"

Alister smirked. "What's wrong Alec?"

"YOU WENT INTO THE CHIEF'S ROOM! Why?!"

Alister's smirked widened. "Oh? Why do you care? We spent some time together, shared some tea, got to know each other better."

"WHAAAT!? N-n-n-n-nnnooo!"

Alister chuckled loudly but then noticed Shion shaking her head. "What's wrong Shion?"

Shion shook her head slowly and then said lightly, "Nothing, nothing. I'm just jealous at how easily swayed Allen is."

Alister smirked and then stretched his neck. "Alright, guess I'll go up to the bridge and ask Jr. how long before we can get off this thing."

Shion stood up alongside MOMO and nodded. "Yes, that would be a good idea."

KOS-MOS nodded as well. "Affirmative. I wish to receive proper maintenance at Vector's Second Miltian headquarters."

Shion huffed. "Well sor-ry, I didn't realize my maintenance was so subpar."

"It is not your fault."

Shion suddenly felt an arrow pierce her back.

Alister, Shion, MOMO, KOS-MOS, and some of the others arrived on the bridge and approached Jr.

"So little man, how long before we arrive at this Second Miltia place?" Alister asked.

"Hm, what?" Jr. responded distracted. "Oh, a few hours still. Besides, we've got something right now."

"Like what?" Shion wondered.

Shelley pointed to the screen and explained, "A distress signal."

Everyone looked up at the screen and saw the signal being displayed.

Alister tilted his head and looked at it. "Any idea who it is?"

Jr. shook his head. "Nope. Shelley, have we managed to isolate the signal?"

Shelley examined the console and then nodded. "Yes. We have the signal's audio."

After a moment a screen popped up with a sound pattern as a voice came over the speakers.

"…llo…ne…lp…nder…ures…rmu…I…ve…stol…achin…Vysaga…"

Alister raised an eyebrow. "What the hell was that garbled mess of words?"

Shelley typed on the console again. "I'll try to clean it up."

After a moment the signal came through clearly. "Hello, I need help. I am running on low power, my A.M.W.S. has very little energy left. My name is Erza Scarlet and I have stolen a machine from Ormus and am being followed."

Alister narrowed his eyes.

"Ormus…" Salcito mentioned. "Those are the guys that attacked Reach."

Alister turned to Jr., the redhead shook his head.

Jr. shrugged. "Guess it's time to go. Think we should help her?"

Alister nodded. "An enemy of Ormus is a friend of ours."

Jr. nodded in return.

Outside the ship, quite a distance away, a blue and black machine with spikes on it, a sword strapped to its side, a long red cape, and a wide crown-like forehead was flying at high speeds in one direction. Inside, a young woman with long, wasit-length, red hair, brown eyes, gray armor on her torso, shoulders, and arms with a blue skirt, sat in the cockpit panting. "Damn…they're relentless."

"This was a foolish move fleshling."

Erza turned and looked behind her as a blue A.M.W.S. with heavy armor on it, a yellow missile pod on one shoulder, a beam rifle on the other, and large boosters on the back trailed behind her with several Ormus A.M.W.S. in tow. Inside Malos smirked at Erza's retreating mech. "It was not smart to seal the Vysaga from us. And for that, I'll crush you with my Duel Gundam."

Erza snarled and turned around to point the Vysaga's arm at Malos' Duel and fired three kunai that soared at his machine.

Malos sneered and pointed his rifle at them. "Please, give me an actual challenge." The rifle fired on the kunai and they exploded. Malos narrowed his eyes. "Crafty flesh creature, exploding projectiles." He then smirked. "I have those too." The Duel's left shoulder opened and fired a barrage of missiles at Erza.

She snarled and dodged to side, swiftly drawing the Vysaga's sword and then slicing through the air, sending a blade of dark-colored energy soaring at the remaining missiles, destroying them.

"Hmph, how annoying." Malos fired another barrage and then equipped his beam saber, rushing Erza.

"Damn!" she cursed as she couldn't dodge or deflect both attacks.

"Take this!"

Malos backed up as a spinning disc of yellow nearly bisected his machine, a barrage of machine gun fire destroying his missiles. "What now?" he growled before looking up to Alister in his Gelgoog, Jr. in the Asher, and Murasaki in the Huckebein. He looked at Alister's Gelgoog and narrowed his eyes, a moment later smirking. "I see. So this is the machine that overwhelmed Zellex. It will be simple to destroy it."

Jr. aimed his machine guns and fired at the other machine.

Malos frowned and dodged to the side.

Alister collected his spinning dual sword and rushed Malos slicing downward at him.

Malos thrust backward, then axe-kicked Alister down.

"Crap!" he shouted, before spinning around and firing a volley from his assault rifle.

Malos raised his shield, dodged to the side as Murasaki's shuriken came in from the side.

Murasaki moaned in frustration.

Jr. rushed forward and tried to jab Malos.

Malos jumped back barely, kneed Jr. and then flung him away, deftly ducking under a swing from Erza, before spinning sending her flying.

She corrected and rushed at him, swung again, nicking his A.M.W.S.

"Scrap," Malos huffed and punched at Erza.

Erza caught his fist in her own and smirked. "How foolish. Never engage a close-range A.M.W.S. in hand-to-hand with a ranged mech."

"You're the foolish one, getting so overconfident." Suddenly his mech tightened its grip, refusing to release her. Then his shoulder-cannon aimed at her cockpit and began to charge.

Erza snarled and attempted to get away but realized the Duel had disabled her suit.

"Now die human!" Malos shouted.

Alister came in from the side and shouted, "Screw…you!" He came in with both feet slamming into the Duel's head, sending it flying away, shearing its hand from its wrist as it hurled away from the Vysaga.

Erza blinked in curiosity before looking at Alister.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," she answered.

"Good to hear. I'm not sure what side you're on but you obviously did something to piss these guys off," he remarked as he split his dual blade into two individual blades.

Erza raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Alister then continued, "And that's enough for me."

She looked at him confused and then chuckled. "Honestly, you remind me of a friend of mine."

"Really? Go Alister." He then began to charge the Ceras but was stopped by Jr. "'Ey, outta the way Little Man!"

Jr. looked back with a smirk. "Just wait mister impatient." The Asher's right hand weapon disappeared before being replaced by the large cannon.

"Damn…talk about BFG."

Jr. aimed the cannon at the enemy A.M.W.S., which were now charging at them, charged his cannon, and then fired, releasing a massive blast of energy into the group, destroying a majority of the eight A.M.W.S.

"Well…shit."

"Told you to wait. Now what if you had been in there?"

"Well…dah shaddup!"

Erza laughed at them but then turned. "Sorry to break up this moment but out blue friend is coming back."

Malos came back with a lightly damaged A.M.W.S. "You…will pay for that! Father built me this mobile weapon himself! You'll pay with your lives!" He fired more shots at the group.

They scattered and Alister remarked deridingly, "Damn, this guy's got a real thing for his dad. Kinda creepy."

Erza and Jr. face-faulted. "What is wrong with you?!"

Alister shrugged. "I've spent the last few years of my life fighting giant alien salamanders and creepy bug things. I'm a little messed up in the head."

"I'll say," Erza moaned.

"Incoming!"

Malos charged through the group, barely missing them all, before stopping, spinning, and firing a volley of missiles.

"Crap, he's not kidding around!" Alister raised his shield as he felt the missiles impact.

Jr. raised his left hand weapon, raising an energy barrier that managed to block the shots.

Erza dodged to the side, one missile almost striking her, before turning and launching several kunai at Malos.

The silver-haired boy snarled and fired an equal number of shots from his rifle, destroying them, then dodged off to the side, firing shots at each of the others as he flew.

They each dodged the shots.

Jr. stopped to fire a beam cannon shot at Malos but was faced with repeated rifle shots and had to dodge.

Alister stopped, fired his thrusters and charged in with his dual-sword as he fired shots from his assault rifle.

Malos turned to face him, raised his shield, and fired several shots from his own rifle.

"Ah crap." Alister rolled to the side of the shots and attempted to fire more of his own but was stopped as he blocked several of Malos' missiles.

Erza attempted to hit Malos from behind but he flew under swing, came up behind her, and then fired a shot directly at the Vysaga's back, the blast mostly absorbed by its cape but still sending her crashing forward with the force.

Alister caught her before she flew off into space.

He scowled as Malos charged a beam blast to hit them both but thrust back to dodge a shot from Jr., raising his shield after the first few.

Alister flew around Erza and flew at Malos.

Malos turned and fired a missile barrage at Alister.

Alister merely growled and raised his shield.

"Hah! Just die!" Malos fired more missiles and beam blasts.

However, Alister continued flying forward, allowing his now heavily damaged shield take the brunt of the shots. A chunk of the shield was sheared off by one of Malos' blast as it soared past the shield and tore a gash in the side of Alister's suit. Alister then flew right up next to the shocked Malos and bashed him with his shield.

"Ahh!" Malos shouted.

Alister swung his shield again, this time Malos blocked it however, the force of the recoil breaking the joint holding Alister's shield on.

Malos then equipped a beam saber and sliced upward, causing a long gash extending from top to bottom on the Gelgoog's torso, exposing Alister's cockpit.

Malos attempted another swing but Alister blocked it with his dual-blade, then split it into two blades and used the two blades to block Malos' sword and try to hit him, getting only Malos' shield.

Jr. came in from behind with his cannon in an attempt to hit Malos.

However Malos easily saw this and jumped up.

"No!" Jr. shouted as the blast fired and sheared through Alister's Gelgoog's right shoulder, destroying the arm.

Alister didn't let that stop him as he reformed his dual-blade, spun and charged at Malos again.

"Damn you're persistent!" Malos growled.

"That's because I'm a UNSC pilot, we don't quit!" he managed to slam his sword through the Duel's left shoulder, depriving Malos of his only remaining functional arm.

"You bastard!" Malos aimed his rifle at the Gelgoog's head, destroying it with one shot.

"Eat this!" Alister shouted as he swung horizontally, attempting to bisect the Duel, slicing through only a portion of the torso instead.

Malos retaliated by firing another shot from his rifle, this one piercing the Gelgoog's chest.

"No!" Alister shouted in annoyance. He growled, draped his left arm Malos' machine, spun his around some to expose its torso, and then launched his cockpit out as an escape pod.

Malos growled at Alister's perceived cowardice. "Wait, if he's ejecting then…" His eyes widened as the Gelgoog blew up right next to his Duel.

"Alister!" Murasaki shouted worried.

Alister's cockpit flew away unfettered until Erza caught it. She smirked and remarked, "Guess it's my turn to catch you."

Alister shrugged. "Guess so."

The others turned as the Duel flew out of the explosion, its right arm, head, and portion of the right side of its torso destroyed. Malos growled angrily before flying away from the area. "Damn humans…how dare they damage my A.M.W.S."

Jr. and Murasaki led Erza back to the Durandal with Alister's cockpit in the Vysaga's hands.

There she explained that she was a mercenary who had been tasked with stealing a prototype A.M.W.S. that just so happened to belong to Ormus.

She was attempting to return to her mercenary guild when Malos' group encroached upon her.

"I see…" Jr. mentioned in thought. "Want us to take you back there?"

Erza nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, if you could take me there I would be grateful."

Jr. put a hand on his waist in thought and then shrugged. "I suppose we can, but if you don't mind we have business to take care of over at Second Miltia so if you don't mind coming along we'll take you to your guild when we're done."

Erza nodded back. "I am fine with that arrangement." She then frowned. "Tell me…that man that helped me, the one whose A.M.W.S. was destroyed, is he alright?"

"I'm fine," Alister answered as he walked up to them. "It just took the Jolly Green Giant over here longer than normal to pry me out of that cocoon of an escape pod. Anyway, thanks for preventing me from getting spaced erm…Erza was it?"

The redheaded woman nodded. "Yes, my name is Erza Scarlet."

Alister nodded and then looked up at the Vysaga. "That's an impressive suit you've got."

Erza tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

Alister raised an eyebrow. "Oh, right. You guys call them A.M.W.S. I was talking about that thing." He pointed to the Vysaga.

Erza nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is an impress machine. It shows that reclusive group knows what they're doing at least."

"Considering they made monsters like the Unicorn Gundam that's no surprise."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "The White Unicorn? You've faced it? I've heard of no one who has faced that machine and lived."

Alister chuckled. "Yeah, I faced it and lived." He rocked his head at Salcito. "Although having Sir Drunken Fist here on my side probably put things in my favor."

"I see. So, will I be given a room here on the ship?" Erza asked.

Alister chuckled amusedly. "Unless you wanna share."

"I don't mind," she said flatly.

Alister face-faulted. "That was a joke!"

"I see. Either way I wouldn't mind a room of my own or not."

Jr. chuckled. "Don't worry. If we did give you a shared room it certainly wouldn't be with him."

"Oy!" Alister growled. "What's that s'posed to mean smallfry!?"

Deftly ignoring him Jr. said, "Shelley here will show you to a good room."

Erza nodded and followed the purple-haired woman.

Alister sighed as the two walked away. "Geez, if we get anymore women like that I might die."

"Why's that?" Shion asked.

Alister looked at her and deadpanned, "She's no better than that KOS-MOS you guys have, she's just as emotionless and creepy."

"Really? I just see it as naivety."

"Seriously? You really need to get out more, your understanding of how normal people act is seriously screwed up."

"Hey! The people on my team are perfectly normal!"

"That's what you're insulted about?!"

After everyone was interred in their rooms for a period of time the ship began to approach a large dome-shaped object with several leaf-like objects sticking off the edges.

As the Durandal circled over the object, everyone looked out the windows on the observation area to see that the area was actually a city within the walls.

Everyone looked out the large windows as they prepared to dock with the structure.

"So that's the Kukai Foundation?" Allen asked. "They sure know how to spend their money."

"I can't wait to see the Durandal turn into a skyscraper, it's so beautiful," MOMO said excitedly.

"What?" Shion asked surprised. "We're…going to dock, just like this?"

Jr. nodded in the affirmative.

Alister folded his arms in thought. "Well, that's like our Anchor stations, the ship becomes part of the station."

"I doubt it will be quite like that," Salcito remarked.

"Oh shut up."

Allen then added, "This ship's supposedly one of the most famous landmarks in the Foundation. I saw it in a travel guide on the Elsa."

"Oh really?" Shion asked again. "I'd never know. I don't check out vacation guides very often."

Alister looked at her with a smirk. "Maybe we should do something about that."

Erza looked at him incredulously. 'Could he be any more obvious?'

"Oh look, we're docking!" MOMO shouted.

The Durandal lined up perfectly perpendicular to the bottom of the Foundation and began to move inside the dock.

On the inside of the Foundation, the calm waters of the Foundation were disturbed when the nose of the Durandal burst through the water.

It continued to rise higher and higher into the sky, becoming a large skyscraper in the center of the Foundation.

Alister stumbled around as the ship continued to dock. "Whoooaaa…this…isn't good."

"What's wrong?" Shion asked.

"It feels like we're moving to the side, but it looks like we're moving up. I don't think I can…blergh!"

"Ahh!" Allen shouted rather girlishly as Alister proceeded to vomit on his shoes.

Jr. looked at him incredulously. "You know, aren't you some kind of Special Forces guy?"

Alister moaned as he continued to watch the ship dock into place. "…Y-…yeahh…but for some reason…I just feel really sick…uugghh"

"Yuck…" Allen moaned. "It's gonna take me a week to wash this out."

"You might just be better off burning them," John remarked coldly.

Alister glared at him. "Ass…hole…"

After a few more moments the ship was fully docked and everyone observed the Foundation from the now still Durandal, even Alister had overcome his odd affliction.

What most hadn't noticed, those without motion trackers at least, were the three coming up behind them.

On the sides were Mary and Shelley. However between them was a young man with short, messy black hair, blue eyes, and a formal black suit with a yellow design on the collar. As they walked up the man said, "New Year's Eve is the best time to visit. The evening metropolis is quite a sight to behold with all her lights."

As he continued to approach them Ziggy observed, "Gaignun Kukai. The managing director of the Kukai Foundation."

Shion looked at him as he approached and raised a confused eyebrow. "Jr…?"

"What was that?" Gaignun asked.

"Ah, nothing…nice to meet you."

Gaignun took her hand in his and said smoothly, "Welcome to the Kukai Foundation."

Alister folded his arms in a huff. "So…this poser is the Foundation's head?"

"I'd watch it if I were you," Jr. ribbed. "He could throw you out an airlock for that," he added with a wink.

Alister shrugged off his veiled threats but narrowed his eyes when he noticed something strange as Gaignun released Shion's hand, a red number printed on his hand. 669. He narrowed his eyes further and remembered seeing a similar number on Jr.'s hand, 666. 'These guys Spartans or something?' He then glanced at Jr. 'Yah-no.'

Gaignun nodded to Shion and then said, "I heard about your situation from Captain Matthews and chaos. Is everything all right?"

Shion answered clumsily, "Oh, uh, yes."

Alister raised a hand between them annoyed. "Yes Hugh Hefner it is."

Gaignun raised an eyebrow. "Hugh…Hefner? I'm not familiar with that name."

Alister twitched in frustration then sputtered, "It's…he's…oh nevermind."

"I see." Gaignun then raised an eyebrow and smiled disarmingly. "If you're worried about me making a move on Shion you needn't be concerned, my schedule is far too full to entertain a relationship."

"Buh, huh, what?! Who-who said that?!" Alister stumbled. He wasn't actually used to being called out like that.

Salcito didn't hide his light tremble from chuckling.

Alister then stomped off to the side.

Shion looked at both Alister and Gaignun puzzled. "Uhm…what was that?"

Gaignun shook his head. "Don't worry. I simply think one of your crewmates is getting defensive."

Shion scrunched her brow in thought, then tilted her head lost. "Huh?"

"Nevermind. Enjoy your stay."

Shion nodded weakly to him as he walked away. "What's wrong with me…? Acting so rudely to someone I just met."

Salcito tapped her shoulder. "You're not the one who was rude, that'd be Mr. Personality."

Alister twitched an eyebrow. "I can hear you."

Gaignun walked over to MOMO and knelt down to her level. "And you must be MOMO. I've received word from Juli Mizrahi of the Contact Subcommittee. We'll make sure you get to Miltia safely."

Alister leaned in tentatively to Shion. "Did he say…Mizrahi?"

Shion nodded. "Yes. Juli Mizrahi, Joachim Mizrahi's widow and I'm assuming the one MOMO considers her mother."

"Really…is she the same bag of hammers that Joachim apparently was?"

Shion frowned at him and elbowed his side.

"Ow…"

MOMO looked at Gaignun surprised and asked shyly, "From…Mommy?"

"Right," Gaignun answered plainly, "She told me to take good care of you."

"Can I…talk to her?"

"Well…she seemed pretty busy."

"Oh…" MOMO responded dejectedly, "…I see…why doesn't Mommy ever want to see me?"

"I'll let you know as soon as I hear from her again."

"All right…" MOMO answered acceptingly. "Thank you very much."

As Gaignun, Mary, and Shelley walked away from the group, Gaignun took a moment to stop and look back at the grouping of Shion, Alister and KOS-MOS, who were huddled around one of the observation panels. He gave them a sharp glance before his irises pulsed with light shortly. "No…it can't be…"

As Gaignun continued walking away, Alister turned around suspiciously, having felt something strange in the back of his thoughts.

After that the group separated and began going about their own motions.

Jr. returned to the Foundation's capital building with Gaignun, while the others made their rounds around the city.

Inside the Foundation's capital building, Jr. sat at Gaignun's rather elaborate desk as he spoke to Gaignun. "That android, KOS-MOS. She's got an incredible amount of potential, you know. There's no way she's just a prototype. I'm also concerned about how she resonated with the Emulators."

"The Hilbert Effect…" Gaignun mused, "I heard they lost the archetype, but it looks like there's more to this than it seems. And don't forget about her engineer…what was her name? Shion? I think she might be on to us. And possibly that, outsider as well…Alister was it? As well as our powers."

"No way. She's just an ordinary human. And in all respects he seems to be as well."

Gaignun then turned to Jr. and said, "They might not be as ordinary as you think."

"I doubt it. At least Shion. She seems normal enough to me. Although Alister seems like he's crazy, but not anything we need to worry about. I guess it's possible though. After all, she's involved in the highest classified part of that project…the same one Helmer's involved in. And he's from a government and society that up until a few days ago we didn't even know existed."

"The Zohar Project…" Gaignun remarked darkly.

"Listen…why don't we…lay off the Mizrahi talk for a while?"

"Hmph," Gaignun huffed amusedly. "Concerned about that MOMO girl?"

"Don't look at me like that," Jr. demanded flustered. "You think she likes being called the child of a madman? After all, we were both there when Mizrahi finally met his end. We saw what happened. You know that girl's a Realian. Her memory might be imprinted with something."

After a short paused Gaignun asked accusatory, "So you're saying the image she holds of Mizrahi is a false one?"

"I don't know," Jr. snarled back. "That's why I want you lay off when you're around her. At least, for now anyway."

"If you're that concerned about her, why don't you invite her down to the beach? I'm sure it'll help take her mind off of things."

"Man…I told you, it's not like that!" Jr. stood up in a huff and walked around the desk, moving to leave the room.

As he did, Gaignun walked over to his desk where a small brown box sat on one corner. Picking it up, he signaled to Jr. as he tossed it to him. "Hey."

Jr. caught it confused as he examined it. "…What's this?"

Gaignun just looked at him with an amused smile.

Jr. shook his head befuddled as he set down the box and opened it. After a few seconds he saw what was inside. "Man, it's a stainless-steel finish Makarov! With the original box and everything!"

"I won it at a Lion's Heart auction. It was part of their antique weapons collection."

Jr. examined the weapon for a few seconds before saying suspiciously, "This isn't like you. You're up to something."

"Not at all," Gaignun said with feigned innocence. "I just thought I'd reward you for all the hard work you've done for us recently. Have I gone too far?"

Jr. quickly and adamantly denied the sentiment.

"Don't go shooting that thing all over the place," Gaignun warned as he left the room. "Remember, you're older than I am. Try to act like it once in a while, all right?"

After the door closed Jr. laughed and shouted, "Sweeeeeet!"

Gaignun sighed in resignation as he heard Jr.'s excited shouts from the door.

Inside the Durandal, Shion sat in her room slumped over the table, sighing heavily.

After a moment she heard the doorbell to her room sound. "It's open," she shouted.

The door opened and Allen walked inside, "Chief, we better going soon."

"Yeah…"

"What's wrong?" Allen asked worried. "Maybe it's just me, but…you've been acting gloomy ever since we boarded this ship."

"Hm? No, really, it's nothing…what? You really think I'm acting like that?"

"Yep. No doubt about it."

"Hmm…" Shion hummed in thought.

"See? Just like that."

"Oh, I just have a lot on my mind. I'm sure that's all it is."

"Are you sure? If something's bothering you I'd be more than happy to listen."

"Hey Shion!" Jr. shouted as he barged in. "Let's go out and play!"

"…Hm?" she mumbled in thought.

"I'll wait for you over at the shuttle launch, so hurry, okay? See ya there!"

Shion looked at Allen puzzled and Allen just shrugged.

Elsewhere in the ship, Alister, John, and Salcito stood in front of a large monitor attempting to contact the UNSC.

Alister proceeded to kick the machine. "Damn thing, work!"

"It'll work better if you love it," Salcito mentioned.

"I'll love it when it works dammit!"

John looked from them to the screen. "Look."

They both looked as it finally showed a UNSC comm channel. After a few moments the screen shifted from static to the inside of a dungy command room on a ship.

Then a young man with short blonde hair sat down in front of the screen. "Oh, Master Sergeant Manase, Commander Salcito, Master Chief John, what're you guys doing calling so early in the morning?"

"Wake up buttercup, it's only four where we are," Alister chided. "Look, we've got a real shitstorm where we are, and we need to tell Captain Keyes about it ASAP."

"Uhm…okay…"

"So go get'im, do I need to tell you everything?!"

The man looked around worried. "Uhm, sir…he's sleeping…"

"Then wake'im the fuck up!"

"Uhm, yes sir!"

Inside a UNSC base the blonde man stood up and walked over to one of the other soldiers, a man with short black hair wearing grey ODST armor with the word "BUCK" on his chestplate.

"Excuse me, gunney."

The man looked at him puzzled. "What is it corporal?"

"Sir, it's Alister Manase. He wants me to go and wake Captain Keyes the fuck up to speak to him?"

The man looked around confused. "Alister? Alister Manase?" he asked.

The corporal nodded weakly.

"Then wake'im the fuck up!" the man responded plainly.

The corporal nodded with a salute and ran off, leaving the other man shaking his head annoyed.

After a few moments the trio watched as a tired and disheveled Jacob Keyes sat down in front of the monitor. Shaking the sleep from his eyes he looked at Manase and said, "Master Sergeant, you better have a damn good reason for waking me at," he paused to look at the time, "3:30 in the damn morning."

"I do Captain. It's our mission with the GFG. It's gone FUBAR sir."

"Oh shit…give me the details."

Alister saluted and proceeded to explain to Keyes the events that transpired after the Pillar of Autumn left the area. The Gnosis attack, the theft of the Emulator, their following rescue by the Elsa before being lodged inside the Cathedral Ship and retrieving the Emulator, meeting and boarding the Durandal and witnessing its insane firepower, encountering Erza Scarlet and her Vysaga along with new Ormus pilots, followed lastly by arriving at the Foundation. However, Alister left out a few minor details, like him becoming a superhero and KOS-MOS everything-eating beam of energy.

After finishing listening to Alister's report, Keyes sighed heavily. "You have got to be kidding me. So you spent about five hours on that vessel before everything went tits up? Unbelievable. And just what the hell are these Gnosis things?"

Alister shrugged. "Honestly, sir. Not even the GFG knows. They're a weird, I mean weird, race of alien…somethings, that really, reeaallllyy hate humans. Although…all things considered that's nothing new."

Keyes shook his head and then looked at Alister. "Alright son, listen. I don't know what the hell's going on, but obviously those Gnosis things haven't gone outside the Federation Rim yet."

Alister nodded worriedly. "That's true, sir, but…"

"But what Master Sergeant?"

"But, they react to the Zohar Emulators. So I don't know where you've got that thing, but bury it as far under the nearest Forerunner structure as you can. If the Gnosis get a whiff of that thing Reach is dead."

Keyes nodded slowly. "I would but…Dr. Halsey already had it prepped and shipped off for Earth. She has specialty equipment there to study it. Besides, I doubt those things can sense it in hyperspace."

Alister looked at Keyes unsurely. "If you say so, sir. I just hope to God that's true."

"So do I. I saw some of the images you showed me. If those Gnosis things are really that dangerous then we're in deep trouble. But that aside, how are you three holding up? You look like hammered shit."

"Giant alien slugs will do that to you. But we personally are fine. However my Gelgoog is scrapped and all of us are in need of resupply, repair, and just overall help in just about everything. Think you could send a few spare suits our way? Even Salcito's Sinanju and John's Gundam are looking pretty ratty right now."

Keyes nodded as he looked over a list in his hand. "Hmm…I'll divert Dawn under Heaven to your current location. It has a few mobile suits on board and was recently used to dispatch Noble Team on a mission, so they should be ready to help you in battle as well."

Alister nodded. "Thank you, sir. Noble Team will be a great help."

Keyes nodded in return. "Unfortunately they're pretty far away so after they refuel at the nearest Anchor station and then head out I'm expecting seventy-two hours travel time before they reach the…Kukai Foundation, was it? Just try to hold it down until then."

Alister and the others saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Keyes nodded once more and reached for the comm panel. "That's all men."

As the screen flickered out, Salcito turned to Alister. "You left out a few details."

Alister sighed. "Yeah…I know. How the hell am I supposed to explain turning into Electro? KOS-MOS being some walking super weapon? There's no good way to put that. After everything's done hitting the fan I'll include all that noise in a report to Keyes. For now it's better left unsaid."

Salcito folded his arms unsurely but then decided to let the matter drop.

After that, Alister decided to head out into the Foundation to see if he could find any supplies or equipment they could make use of before Dawn Under Heaven arrived.

As he made his way out however, he ran into Jr.

"Oh, hey there Little Man," Alister remarked.

Jr. grumbled at the taller man's constant ribbings. "Stop calling me that."

Alister just smirked sneakily.

"Whatever…anyway, we're heading down to the beach. Wanna come?"

Alister put a hand on his chin in thought. "I'm not sure. I've got some things to-"

"I invited Shion, Erza, and the others to go."

"On the other hand I've got some time." As Jr. walked away Alister trembled. "Little…bastard."

The group of Alister, Jr., Shion, MOMO, Allen, and chaos were on the beach around the Durandal with chaos, Jr., and MOMO playing with a yellow and white beach ball, Allen swimming in the water behind them, and Alister and Shion just sitting under an umbrella in a couple of beach chairs.

As the others played, the two of them sat idly by. Shion with her console in her hands examining schematics on KOS-MOS and Alister sitting in the other chair moaning.

"Little brat…he told me the others would be here."

"No…I told you I invited them," Jr. rebutted.

"It had the same implication you little punk!" Alister growled as he sat up in a huff.

Jr. smirked confidently. "You wanna go? I just got some new guns."

Alister stood up swiftly and flexed his arms. "Don't worry you little John Wayne wannabe, I'll zap your ass back to the twenty-first century before you can even draw your gun."

Jr. smirked back and pulled out his guns in a taunting manner.

Of course MOMO stepped in before matters got violent.

While that was happening, Shion was sitting beside them looking at her schematics curiously, before her mind drifted off to her time with Kevin.

Kevin stood next to KOS-MOS' open container, her archetype form, with white hair and tan armor, lying inside. As he stood he then turned to Shion and asked, "Shion…would you laugh at me if I told you that…I think she has a heart?"

Shion turned to him puzzled. "KOS-MOS? Showing emotional behavior?"

Kevin nodded and added, "I've run across some interesting phenomena. It's still pretty weak of course. Almost like a tiny little pulse."

"Really?" Shion asked excited and intrigued. "We should definitely keep an eye on that. KOS-MOS' elemental data structure duplicates that of the human brain, so something like that's certainly not out of the question."

Kevin narrowed his eyes in thought and then glanced back at KOS-MOS.

As Shion continued to look at the data on her console she observed, "She was empathizing with MOMO back there. I wonder what her subconscious waves were like." As data appeared on her screen showing said data she sighed defeated. "Flatline…oh well…nothing here at all."

As Jr. and Alister continued their squabble he noticed Shion's lost expression. He raised an eyebrow and then looked at chaos. "Hey, chaos! Toss me that ball!"

Chaos looked at the ball puzzled and then nodded, tossing it to the man.

Alister smirked darkly as he turned to Shion.

Allen watched this and froze. "Ohh no. That's not a-!"

"Ahh!" Shion shouted as the ball hit her and caused her to tumble out of her chair. She stood up, wiping the sand off her legs, and then glared at Alister. "What is wrong with you?!"

Alister laughed for a few more seconds before looking at her with a grin. "You looked like you were deep in thought. Look around us! Sand, water, artificially manufactured fresh air. Keep all that boring serious stuff in the ship. We came out here to play not…whatever it is you were doing."

MOMO walked up to her and asked curiously, "What were you doing anyway Shion, working on KOS-MOS?"

Shion sighed and picked up her console. "Yes. Or, at least I was," she finished with a pointed glare.

Alister just stared off to the side with an innocent whistle.

Allen walked up and sighed as well. "Yeah…KOS-MOS has a lot of black box areas even we can't analyze. At least explains why the Chief is always so busy with her."

"Black box?" MOMO asked curiously.

Alister nodded as well. "At the risk of sounding like a prepubescent artificial human…what the hell's that?"

"Ohhh…" MOMO moaned, his veiled insult not evading her.

Allen deftly ignored Alister and answered MOMO's question. "Yeah. We're painstakingly analyzing her bit by bit so that we can recreate her original form again. The only person who knew everything about KOS-MOS was Kevin-" Allen caught himself when he said that, knowing how painful a subject it was for Shion.

Shion decided to change the subject as she looked at Alister and asked, "Do you think Gaignun and Jr. are father and son? They look a little too far apart in age to be brothers."

Alister just kind of sputtered. "Ahh…well…I dunno. I mean…it's plausible. His name is Gaignun Kukai Jr. so…what about you Alfonso, anything to add?"

Allen grumbled and then sighed. "I've heard rumors here and there. Some say Gaignun cloned himself, while others say Jr.'s his illegitimate son, or-"

"I don't think he's a clone," MOMO interrupted. "Their genome arrays are a little too different for that."

Alister slumped back. "Whu-wha…?! You can…actually see that?!"

MOMO answered simply, "I'm an Observational Realian. They're more than just siblings, or father and son…but at the same time, they're not identical, either."

"Is that sort of thing possible?" Shion asked puzzled. "Their DNA only has to differ by 0.1% to make them different people, right?"

Alister hung his head in confusion. "You know…most of the time I forget you're some genius scientist. And on the note of Observational whatevers…how much can you see?"

MOMO looked at him confused. "I don't know what you mean. I can look at you and see your entire biological basis with a scan, if that's what you mean."

Alister gulped. "Wow…you're gonna be a real emasculator when you grow up."

"Huh?"

"Hey," Jr. suddenly interrupted, "who's an illegitimate son?"

Everyone turned to see Jr. standing behind Shion slightly annoyed.

"Ahh…no one. That's who…yeahh…" Alister weakly defended.

Allen continued the hapless attempt at distraction. "Uhh…man, this beach is really great! It doesn't feel artificial at all!"

"It's our latest product," Jr. announced proudly. "You can even change the weather." As he pulled out a remote from his pocket he added, "You can't have blue skies all the time, right?" He pressed a switch on the remote and everyone looked up as the sky above began to shift.

Thick black clouds began to form in the sky, blocking the light from the sun as they did.

Shion looked up at the sky with a tense expression as they formed. "I hate…thunder…"

"Shion?" Alister asked as he looked at the increasingly frightened expression she sported.

As a blast of thunder and lightning roared through the sky Shion shrieked, "Stop it! I hate thunder!" She curled down to the ground as the thunder and lightning exploded above them.

Alister immediately ran over to where she was huddled down.

"I'm sorry…" she mumbled tremulously. "I just…really hate thunder…"

Alister knelt down to her and put an arm around her trembling form. "Hey…calm down." Alister turned around to Jr. "Shut it off."

Jr. looked at her puzzled.

"Shut it off!"

Jr. was knocked out of his confusion and nodded swiftly, returning the conditions to normal.

Alister looked back down at her and rubbed her back lightly as she calmed down.

And that does it for this chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it and I'd really like your opinions on it in reviews. Guess there's not a whole lot to say here except keep reading and I'll try to keep it going.