Dawn light smiled on the base as the sun slowly approached over the horizon. Its beams warming the land beneath it as the morning dew slipped from blades of grass. The halls of the 501st base were filled with movement as the witches prepared for their day. It had been a few days since John was check into the Infirmary and with some help from Yoshika he was up and walking once again. Although he was still weak John pushed himself to work. After he had left the hospital he immediately began his work on a weapon to fight the general. With the help of Shirley he was able to get a big head start on this project. The two spent a large amount of their time in the hanger hard at work. This is where they spent their morning today.

John sat by his creation. although it is only a fragment of his vision it is coming along exactly as he had hoped. Picking up a wrench he continued to fiddle with the engine. The large black piece of machinery had a strange look to it. John and Shirley had essentially created a hybrid of land and air with their new machine. John was looking for something that he could not only fly but also fight with. A mix of the land striker and jet was a perfect weapon. The only problem with the design was its shield capabilities. To power this machine in theory one would have to sacrifice such a large portion of their magic that shields would not be an option if one wanted to use it for a long period of time.

"I found those parts we needed." John heard from behind him as he raised himself from the machine to see his friend. Shirley had entered the hanger with a large box in her hands. She placed it on a table and opened it to pull the parts out. Shirley had been spending as much time as John was on this weapon. She was doing her best to help him with what he wanted to accomplish.

"Thanks. Can you give me a hand with this." John asked pointing to the part he was working on. She nodded and the two began to move it next to the other. They stood them up on a launch platform and clamped them in place.

"So I have been thinking about the whole shield failure theory" John started.

"yeah. this doesn't seem safe to use without shields. It may be fast but one hit and your going down." She said giving him a worried look.

"I think I have that covered. Check it out." John said opening some crudely drawn plans on the table next to them. Shirley begins to study them over and think of what he could possibly have come up with this time.

"Sooooooo... what is this?" Lucchini asked as the two turned around surprised to see her.

"Well, Luchinni, this is what will hopefully make this deathtrap sky worthy." John said proud of what he had created. Lucchini looked over the paper with confusion.

"I can't really see what you're talking about. The drawings are very sloppy" She said to him.

"Yeah. she's right John. Are you feeling alright." Shirley asked looking him over. she notices he does appear very tired even if the others had just woken up.

"I'm fine. I just... can't find a good pen... that's all" He said rubbing his eyes. He walked back over to the machine and began to put the parts Shirley had brought to him into it. The two follow him and continue their worried questioning.

"Uhm... How long have you been working on this? i mean today" Luchinni asked.

"Yeah. when's the last time you took a break?" Shirley asked.

"Its been a while..." John finally admitted.

"Seriously John! You should take a break" Luchinni said angry at him.

"I will... I promis. Just let me test the engine. Then I will take a break." He said standing up and walking around the platform. The Striker was still not ready for flight. The engines and wires were still hanging out. John just wanted to see how it handled the magic output.

"*sigh* i guess he will just tucker himself out. let him start it up Luchinni. Its not going anywhere" Shirley said as John got into the Striker and a huge roar heated up the hanger as the engines began to spin. The Magic energy began to burst out faster and faster. The Girls hair was blown back as the Striker started to move the air around it. They covered thier eyes in as dust began to kick up from the ground.

"Alright John! That's good! Its working! Now lets Go!" Shirley shouted at the boy as she hid behind her jackets sleeves.

"I think I can make it go farther! Just give me more time!" He shouted back at her. Clenching his eyes he began to strain himself as his chest began to glow a bright blue. The engine became louder as it began to push harder.

"What! John get down from there!" Luchinni shouted at him before a burst of energy came from the machine. It threw them to the ground as John continued to push the engine harder. At that moment Sanya walked into the Hanger. She had come to bring John some coffee but dropped the cup when she saw what was going on.

"John! STOP!" Shirley shouted at him but her words fell on deft ears. John had fainted from exhaustion as the striker continued to drain him of his power. Fighting the wind, Sanya moved towards the striker to help John. She was able to grab the ejection switch on the unit. The roar of the engine began to die as Johns glow began to fade to normal.

"wow... Thanks Sanya. is he alright?" Luchinni asked. John began to get up and walked back over to the table. he staggered and almost fell but was able to balance himself on the table. Slaming both hands down he tried to stay awake to write down some notes.

"John... you should go get some rest..." Shirly said.

"i'm fine" he said bluntly.

"John... come with me" Sanya said taking his hand.

"i'm fine" he said again pulling his hand away. Sanya had had enough of this and pulled him out of the room with her.

"Whats wrong with you! are you trying to get yourself killed!" she shouted at him.

"I don't have time for this." he said trying to walk away but she pulled him back.

"Pease John... I don't want to have to worry about you trying to kill yourself. You're working yourself to death ... I'm worried." She said

"Well you can stop. I'm trying to protect people." He said angrily.

"John! I'm worried about you. Your going to kill yourself like-" She said as she touched his shoulder. she was cut off when John snapped on her.

"I DON'T CARE!" he shouted at her. Sanya pulled away quickly as tears began to form in her eyes.

"... Sanya. I didn't... I do" he started to say trying to make her feel better but she continued to cry.

"If you don't care then neither do I! Find someone else to share a room with you because I don't want to see you again!" She shouted at him and ran away.

"*sigh* I messed up... I need to rest..." he said taking a seat in the hall. He put his face into his palms as he began to think to himself.

"I'm all alone again... I guess its for the best." he said.

"John? Are you alright?" He heard above him as he looked up from his hands. He saw the black haired Lucchini standing by him.

"oh. hey... It's nothing. Sanya just left me..." He said sadly.

"Oh... I'm so sorry... I don't know what to say." Lucchini said taking a seat next to him and rubbing his back to make him feel better.

"It's alright. People come and go... I just hope we can still be friends. I just need to give her some time before I go to talk to her." He said trying to force a smile to show the girl he was feeling better.

"There are plenty of fish in the sea" lucchini smiled

"Yeah. Thanks" John said as he began to feel better. he sat up rubbed the girls head.

"No problem. besides. there are so many girls around here you will find someone in no time" she said as the two began to laugh. When she said that the first thing to pop into Johns mind was Shirley. He tried to shake it off but it stayed in his mind. He had been thinking of her a lot lately from all the work they had been doing together. He couldn't stop thinking of the kiss she gave him.

"Who would you choose?" Lucchini said snapping John back to reality.

"what?" He asked

"I said who would you choose out of all of us? Now that your single?" she asked him happily.

"I think its a bit early to start thinking of that... But i guess i could try" he said as he could see she was trying to make him feel better.

"is it me? its definitely me. that's why you don't want to tell me! your shy!" she joked

"Ha ha. Its not you squirt." He said as they began to laugh.

"So who? You must have someone who you want to go to for help right now. Someone else who makes you feel safe. Someone you want to spend your time with." She asked.

"*sigh* I guess if I had to choose another it would have to be Shirley." he admitted.

"Aw. you two would look cute together." She said

"Thanks" John said

"Speaking of Shirley. I actually came to tell you she just left." Lucchini remembered.

"Really?" he asked

"yeah. some guy came and took her away in a truck. It was random. They didn't check in with the wing comander but i guess they did before hand." She said not thinking much of it.

"Wait! what! they just came and left?" he asked

"Yeah. Shirley didn't say she had to leave but i guess it was a last minuite thing." She said

"We gotta go!" He shouted running towards the hanger.

"whats wrong!" She asked.

"Shirley must be in trouble! They must know she was helping me build the new weapon. They are trying to slow me down by getting rid of her. we need to save her. do you know where they are going?" he asked

"No... But I can help you find the truck. I know what it looks like." She said

"You can remember it?" he asked.

"yeah. I can spot it from the air. I know it was light green with dark camo. It also had a white star on its door. it will be easy to find a Liberion truck in Brittania." She said to him as John tossed her her Breda-SAFAT machine gun.

"Alright. If you can help then get in the air." he said.

"I will do my best." she said jumping into her unit. "I feel so stupid for letting them get away. I should have known better." She said sadly.

"Don't worry. We'll get her back." He said patting her on the back.

"alright" she nodded confidently. "We need you on the ground though. Grab something fast." She said as he walked over to the corner of the hanger. The other vehicals were gone. All that was left was Shirley's Motercycle.

"I dont think she will mind." he said to himself as he got on the Indian Scout 500. He grabbed the handle bars and kicked the egnition on. The motercycle began to roar as it started up. Close by Lucchini started her engine. John pulled Shirleys Goggles over his eyes and the two darted out of the hanger side by side.