Silent Requiem

Chapter 14: The End Draws Nigh

30 December UC 0079

"So, this is it?" Nimbus asked as he walked the catwalk before the giant mobile suit.

"Uh-huh," the mechanic said. "This is the MS-19C2, Xero."

"It's magnificent," Nimbus said.

"Damn right. It was designed using the latest in cybernetics interface technology. It makes the EXAM seem obsolete." He said as he whipped the sweat from his brow.

"How is that?"

"Because rather than merely simulate Newtype abilities, you actually interface directly with the suit's computers," a familiar voice spoke up.

"Dr. Akagi? What a surprise to see you again," Nimbus said dryly. "I didn't think this was your job."

"Ha, it's nice to see you too Colonel Schatzen. I see you're finally up and around."

He nodded stiffly, giving a salute, though he didn't really have much respect for her. "I can feel a difference, but it's only minor."

"I take it you've noticed the added benefits of the enhancements?"

"Doctor, with all do respect, I did not come to have this conversation with you." Nimbus said, finally showing a trace of the hostility he felt towards her. "I came to get the specs on my new MS."

"I think I'll be leaving now," the mechanic said as he slipped away.

"I'll let your hostility slide Major, because I assume you didn't know I was the one who helped design this weapon, and know just as much about its specifications as any of these engineers."

"So how does it work then?" he asked.

"Well, i-" an explosion rocked the outer wall of the factory, cutting her off in mid sentence. "What the hell was that?"

"That, I believe, was the sound of the Feds finding your little fortress out here." Nimbus said, smiling inwardly at her fright.

"Well, what are we going to do?" fear was rising in her voice. "If they made it this far, it means they've probably already got past the anti-MS defense matrix. There's nothing to stop them now!"

"Let me pilot it," he said simply.

"Are you mad? This thing is still untested, and you haven't any idea how to run it!" Ritsuko accused.

Nimbus ignored her complaints and pushed her aside as he ran towards the cockpit of the Xero.

"Nimbus!" Dr. Akagi called after him.

It was already far too late. "Get those doors open!" he shouted to the crew of technicians, "and get that ammo loaded fast!"

Outside, three squads of GMs we walking steadily towards the base. It had been difficult getting past the magella attack tanks, but they had still made it through relatively unscathed. The units fanned out as they surrounded the complex. As the sun sank lower in the sky, each of the nine units raised its respective rifle and prepared to open fire.

Suddenly, the doors in the side of the main building opened and a navy and black mobile suit that looked like a hybrid of a Dom and a Gelgoog with the shoulder armour of a Gouf, stepped forth out of the building bearing a bayoneted-gattling rifle on each arm and a bazooka on each shoulder.

The suit kneeled and unleashed a shell from one of the bazookas. Seconds later there was an incredibly powerful shockwave as a mushroom cloud erupted from the spot where three suits once were.

`A Nuke?' Nimbus thought.

"No, major, not a nuke, but an Massive Ordinance Air Burst. A MOAB" Dr. Akagi's voice filled his conscious.

"Doctor? How did you hear me?" Nimbus paused a few moments to contemplate.

"Don't worry about it, colonel, just destroy the opposition!" she shouted at him, making it sound as if it was so easy.

"As you command."

Seconds later, the Xero was tearing across the barren wasteland towards the second squad of GMs. In an instant, it had stabbed two of the three suits with the bayonets on the rifles right through their cockpits. It then spun around and neatly sliced the heads off all three.

`Six down, three to go,'

"Very impressive, Nimbus. You're already an ace plus one." Dr, Akagi commented.

`For the second time…'

In the fraction of a second that he let his mind stray, a Fed suit opened fire behind him with its beam spray gun.

Enraged at the blind-side assault, Nimbus turned the Xero and sprinted towards the offending suit, dodging both blasts. The suit was moving so fast, that the GM had no time to react and was sliced to ribbons by the onslaught of blows from the bayonets. As the shards of metal clanged to the dusty earth, Nimbus the opened fire on the final two suits, the bullet impacts causing them to shake violently.

As a coup d'grace the Xero then leapt into the sky and unleashed a second MOAB upon the remains of the six Federation suits, incinerating them in the same way as the first three to feel the wrath of such a weapon.

As the dust settled and the light from the blast faded, Nimbus cut his thrusters and allowed the suit to slam back to the ground.

"This power," Nimbus mumbled, his voice rising, "with this power, I will be able to destroy any opponent. Any opponent at all! Yu Kajima, your turn is coming!" He shouted laughing hysterically…

"Man, this is so fuckin' bad-ass!" Duo had rebounded quickly from yesterday's spate. The news he and Alex had received moments ago was enough to bring almost anyone around.

"I guess so," Alex said, glumly. Unfortunately for him, his current depression was too deep even for this to bring him out.

"You guess so? Shit, man, it's not every day a unit gets custom painted MS; do you know how expensive these are?"

As commendation for their help at Solomon and defeating the nefarious Zeonic Blood Drakes, the members of the 107th Space GM had been awarded a quartet of blue and gold GMs. The upgrade was not only aesthetic, either; the new GMs boasted enhanced propulsion systems, hi-def visual scanners, and extra armour. The weapons systems had been upgraded too: instead of the standard issue, beam-spray gun, two of their new suits had ultra high-velocity assault rifles, while the other two had an larger and improved beam gun.

Duo was nearly ecstatic about his new toy, but Alex remained in his funk.

His friend put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Dude, Alex, what the hell is wrong with you? You've been acting like this for too long and it's starting to fuck with our team dynamics. Kiyone is worried sick, and Karen…As your former commander, I want some answers. It's because of that doctor, ain't that right?"

"Why is everybody getting in my business?" Alex shook off his friend's hand. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Because I'm your friend, dammit, and I'm trying to lend you a fucking hand! Now you sure as hell better straighten up and fly right if you want to stay on this team!" Duo gave him a hurt look.

"I'm trying!" Alex shouted. "It's easy for you to just shrug it off, but this is my life we're talking about here! I can't just turn off emotions like switches on a Mobile Suit! But I guess that because you've got Hilde, that makes everything okay for you. You don't understand what it's like to have to struggle with a relationship!"

"The fuck do you know about that?" Duo asked hostilely. "The grass only seems greener on the other side, pal."

Alex crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Don't give me that load of tripe," he said defiantly. "I know everything's going well for you. Your life is perfect, not a twisted wreck like mine. Because of that, you think you can always look down on me like you're superior in your perfection. You don't know how hard it is to be average!"

Duo's hand clenched into a tight fist at his side. "Look, Alex," he said through gritted teeth, "I'm trying to be nice to you and give you a friendly warning, but if your going to start getting insubordinate on me, I'll have your ass thrown off this team so fast, it'll make your head spin."

"What do you mean?"

"You've always been a little on the quiet side, and I've put up with that because you're a damn good pilot; but if your performance in the cockpit takes a hit because of some goofy broad…I'm not sure I can in good conscience continue to advocate your part in this unit."

"You'd have me discharged?" he asked in disbelief.

"God knows I don't want to, but if your actions are putting mine and Kiyone's lives at risk, what else would you have me do? You're my friend and friendships ain't supposed to get wrecked this way, but damn man. It's not like your leaving me a lot of alternatives."

Alex averted his eyes from his friend's demanding glare. He stood silently.

Duo's expression softened after a moment, and he tried to smile. He gave Alex a playful shove, "But I know it won't come to that, right? 'Sides, you've still got fuckin' Rachel Sawyer waitin for you when this shit is all over. That oughta cheer any guy up, right?"

"That's just it…I'm not so sure if I do still have her."

"The hell are you talkin'?" Duo asked, surprised. "That was her at the bar, wasn't it? Karen even let you hang out extra to go and, ahem, 'talk' to her!"

"Yeah, but she hasn't called me yet. Come on Duo, let's be serious, what would a superstar like her want with a regular guy like me anyway? I was just deluding myself, thinking that she cared. And now I've gone and screwed my chances with Michelle too?"

"So that's what's been eating you, huh?" his friend nodded, understanding at last.

"Yeah, basically."

"Aw, man, you can't let shit like that get you down either! Females…well, you and I sure as hell are never going to understand them, and that's for damn sure. Can't live with 'em and can't procreate the species without 'em, you know? That's true no matter what side you fight on."

"Wait a second. Are you trying to tell me that you've been having some trouble with Hilde, too?" Alex asked unbelieving.

Duo faltered for a moment. "I, ah, well, something like that," he mumbled, jamming his hands into his pockets. The box with the ring in it was still in them. "But like I said, the grass only seems greener on the other side."

"Ah, okay. Thanks a lot Duo, I'll keep what you said in mind."

"No problem. I'll see ya later, Alex. I'm going down to the hangar to check out these new suits." His comrade still didn't sound totally better, but at this point, Duo was happy with what he could get. Honestly, he really didn't want to have Karen cut Alex, but, still…

He started off down the corridor, but stopped when he saw Kiyone rushing towards him. She looked as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"What's wrong with you, Kiyo-chan?" he asked.

"Oh God, Duo, you haven't heard? Is that Alex over there? Alex! Come here! This is so fucking bad, God, it's bad,"

"What the hell're you babbling about?" Duo demanded. It could be important, but with Kiyone, you never could be sure.

She sure sounded convincing when she began to relate what she'd just heard on the news. "The Admiral was meeting with the leading officials of the Zeon High Command. The Admiral. I guess they were trying to discuss peace terms or something, but then out of nowhere, the monitors on the fleet vanguard start picking up a powerful disturbance. The only other one that matched it in magnitude was the Solar Ray from five days ago, but it's coming from the Zeon side!"

"Holy shit!" Duo whistled. "Did they get out of there in time?"

"No," she glanced downward and clenched her fists. "Those bastards killed everyone, everyone! Admiral Revil, our entire Chiefs of Staff…"

"Wait a minute," Alex broke in, "You said Revil was meeting with the head of the opposition, right? That would be the Zeon sovereign, wouldn't it?"

Kiyone paused and thought about it. "I guess so. But the newscast said that casualties were total. Why would they kill their own leader?"

"Maybe some power-hungry son of a bitch on the other side thought he'd get rid of two birds with one stone?" Duo offered.

"Whoa, that's crazy!" Kiyone was shaking her head, trying to digest it all.

"So does this mean that the war is over?" Alex asked.

Duo shrugged. "Maybe, but I think we'd better go let Karen know about this PDQ so that we can start planning our next move."

"I think that's a good idea," Kiyone replied and Alex nodded

The three of them raced off to find their commander.

Cima Garahau sat fuming on the command chair of the Lily Marlene. She usually was angry, but today, she was furious.

"Damn those foolish bastards of Ghiren's Faction!" she raged. "What the hell are they thinking?"

The news of the attack on the Federation's fleet using the Zeonic Solar Ray had just been released. Among the dead, was the Zeon sovereign, Degin Zabi, and the Federation Commander in Chief, Admiral Revil.

"Ghirin, you bastard…" she raged through clenched teeth.

"Ms. Cima?" her second-in-command, Detroit Kosar asked of her, hearing her mutterings.

"It's nothing. Steady as she goes. Remember we have to be at A Baoa Qu in twelve hours or less."

"Ma'am." Kosar saluted smartly.

"How are the mobile suit repairs going?" she asked of another of her subordinates.

"By the time we reach the fortress, they should all have been restocked and repaired."

"Good." She approved, but had to qualify, "Make sure you rearm them first. We need to be ready to fight at a moment's notice and a damaged suit with bullets is better than a fixed one without."

"Ma'am," replied and relayed the orders to engineering.

Cima began slapping her Asiatic paper fan against her palm anxiously. She was still thinking about the battle she'd engaged in with the 'Nightmare of Solomon'. Gato, that arrogant son of a bitch. How dare he presume to lecture her on the concept of patriotism? How could she have patriotism after what her country had done to her? Forcing her to lead the crew of the Lily Marlene in the G3 gas attacks and then washing their hands of them entirely. They'd made her into a murderer and then had the unmitigated gall to condemn her for it. Everywhere in Zeon space, she and her troops were hated and despised.

Now, to add injury to insult, the fools in the high command had turned their home colony into the focal point of this new Solar Ray of theirs.

As much as she hated the oppressive Federation, how was it possible for her not to hate her own side all the more?

She'd show them, though. She'd show them all.

Naomi Sterling sat at the desk in her quarters talking on the phone to an old friend of hers, with whom she had not spoken in over three years. "Wow, it's so amazing to hear from you again, Shelly! The last time you called me was right before you went off to Med School on Luna."

"I know!" Michelle Bannock replied, excitedly. "I've been so busy since then that I haven't really had much time to stay in touch with anybody very well."

"That sounds like you!" Naomi laughed. "You never had time for anything but your studies."

Michelle smiled on the other end of the line. "I trust that you've been well? You joined the army right after we graduated, that much I know, but, you haven't been too badly injured yet, right?"

"Me? Nah, just a few scratches here, a broken arm there; all things considered, I'm not doing too bad. You won't believe my luck, though. Get this, about four days ago, after the Battle of Solomon, the Brass looked at my record and assigned me to an elite unit! I'm working with the legendary Nightmare of Solomon himself, and he is so hot!"

When Michelle smiled this time, it looked as though she was visibly putting effort into it. Naomi started to ask her what was wrong, but before she had the chance, Michelle began talking very rapidly: "Naomi, I want you to listen to me very carefully, and I can't repeat anything after I've said it once because the line may be tapped. In approximately twenty-three hours, the Earth Federation is intending to launch an all-out offensive against the asteroid fortress, A Baoa Qu. During the attack, if you spot any GMs with a special blue-and-gold colour-scheme, you must take them out immediately. They are a special covert ops unit with several archaic nuclear devices that they plan to set inside the fortress and detonate. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Naomi sounded puzzled. "Why are you telling me this? And, more importantly, how do you know it?"

"I…I have my sources…that's all that I can say." Her voice had gone from bubbly and excited to dark and ominous within the space of two minutes.

"I-"

"Don't' worry about it, Naomi, just do your best. If you want your side to win, though, you'll listen to what I've said. Take care, my friend."

"You, too, Shelly." Naomi said, still not sure what to make of the news her old friend had passed on to her.

'Did I do the right thing?' Michelle asked herself as she disconnected the line. Sure she'd wanted to get even, but maybe this was pushing things a little too far.

'No!' she shook her head and reached for the flask of Bourbon which had become a veritable lifeline for her these past few days. 'They pushed me to this point! I had no choice! I-'

She threw the bottle away after taking a long pull on it.

'Oh, God!' she put her hands up to cover her face. 'What have I done?'

On the opposite end of the call, aboard the carrier Doroai, Naomi Sterling turned off her phone, though and began floating down the corridor to the Mess Hall. 'Damn Zero-G,' she swore. Even though she'd spent most of her life in the colonies, at least there, she'd had simulated gravity and didn't have to fly around everywhere. It was fun at first, but after about a month, it started getting old. After two months…well…

When she entered the cafeteria, she saw her commander sitting at one of the tables, talking with a huge, muscular guy, whom Naomi had never met before. After grabbing her food, she floated over and sat down with them.

"Ah, Naomi!" Gato said when she arrived, "just the person we were looking for. This is the new member of our team, Kelley Layzner. Kelley, this is Naomi Sterling; she runs heavy munitions for our unit."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Naomi said, nodding.

"Likewise," Kelley nodded back.

"You and I will be running escort for Kelley, in our next big operation." Gato said, after the formalities were exchanged.

"Running escort? I don't understand, sir," Naomi asked.

"Well, it's like this--" Gato started.

Kelley cut him off. "I'm going to be piloting a new Mobile Armour into battle. It's very fast, but not specifically designed for fighting close range."

"Few MA are." Naomi was quick on the uptake. "I understand, though. I can't wait to see it in action! What is this Armour called?"

"The Val Varo." Kelley said, simply.

"Ooh, that sounds formidable," she said, excitedly. "Ah, commander?" she said, turning to face Gato, "I just got a very important phone call, that I think you--both of you--should know about…"

Her commander held up a hand, shaking his head. "Before you begin, Naomi, I have something to inform you about."

"What? Can it hold for just one second commander? My piece of Intelligence is really, really important."

Kelley shook his head, agreeing with Gato, "Whatever it is, I doubt it can top this."

"Who asked you?" Naomi bristled.

"Naomi, our sovereign has been killed in action." Gato said in subdued tones.

"You're shitting me, right?" she asked in desbelief. "I thought the Duke always oversaw the conflict from the safety of the capitol; how could he possibly have been killed in action, unless…did the Feddies break through already?"

"Thank God, no. But that weakling was going out to negotiate a cease-fire with them. He, along with the Federation's Commander-in-Chief, were both evaporated in the purifying fires of our own Solar Ray."

"You call Duke Degin a weakling? It was because of him that we're fighting this stupid war in the first place!" A wave of emotions had washed over Naomi and she was feeling totally overwhelmed, what should she feel? How should she react to all she'd been told within the last twenty minutes?

She shook her head as if to clear it. "No, I won't believe I've been fighting all this time for a weakling. I've sacrificed far too much for that."

"Are you saying that it's right for a ruler to abandon his own people, and undercut all that they've accomplished just because things have taken a turn for the worse?"

Naomi wished with all her heart that she could argue with her commander at this point, but she knew deep down that he was right.

Gato continued in his same cold and logical tone, "You yourself were just speaking of how much you've sacrificed; would you have all of that cast aside in a peace treaty you didn't support?"

She sighed. "No, sir. I apologise for letting my emotions get the better of me. Do we know the successor yet? Or are we going to surrender?"

Kelley laughed at that. "Surrender? We orchastrated the attack! Why would we shoot ourselves in the foot like that?"

"Don't forget, the Feddies lost their leader in the attack too." Gato nodded in assent. "Hopefully, they'll be thrown into chaos by the event, since they foolishly rely on democracy to select their governing officials. The rule of the Duchy naturally passes on to the eldest hereditary heir, Admiral Ghirin, whom, I might add, is a much stronger commander. Under his leadership the True Duchy of Zeon will undoubtedly win this war."

"You sound awful sure of that," Naomi muttered dubiously. Aloud, she asked, "But what about his rivalry with his sister? The Rear Admiral? You don't think that will have any impact on the battle ahead?"

Gato shrugged. "It's doubtful, but just so long as it doesn't result in a civil war, why worry about it?"

"But, she has control of the Newtype Corps! I don't think our Admira- excuse me, Duke, is all that fond of the Newtypes. What if he decides to liquidate all of them?"

He was ready to counter the point, but stopped before the sentence even left his throat. Cirrus was-had been-a Newtype. Could he really support a leader who wished for the purging of all members of Zeon society that were like Lt. Col. O'Rielly?

No, he wouldn't mind such theoreticals. There was no place for them in a war. All he had to do was what he was told. Besides, Newtype though she was, Cirrus was an individual. There was no guarantee that all Newtypes were good people like her; perhaps many of them deserved to be purged.

'Nevermind that for now,' he thought with a dismissive wave. "You had something to tell us about, Naomi?"

"What's that?" Leon called over the radio, as his Blue Destiny Gundam ducked for cover behind a small mesa. "Three whole squads wiped out? Where?"

There was a pause as the information was relayed. The three members of the BD mk II test corps had been out doing performance checks on the new models when the received word of an intense battle going on in the vicinity.

"Holy shit! That's incredible! And you're sure they weren't nukes?"

"What's going on, Squall?" Gene asked as he flung a grenade over at the approaching Zakus.

"Control reports a Zeek prototype engaged in combat three clicks south from here! They say it's…"

"Shut up guys!" Yu shouted at them. "We don't have time to be dawdling here. Lets go out and take the mother fucker!" His GM leapt forward in flight and headed straight towards the battlefield.

"Come on, Gene!" Leon urged him. "I don't want our commander going off to fight that thing by himself."

"One second," Gene was compiling the known data about the enemy as he monitored the radio frequencies exchanging between it and its control base. A few seconds later, he yelped in surprise. "My God! Squall, get after Yu, quick! That thing trying to kill him!"

"No shit, Sherlock," Leon answered, deadpan as ever, while the two of them took off. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"No, it's not like that." Gene replied. "I mean the pilot of that thing is out to kill Yu, specifically!"

"Huh? What do you--"

"Listen for yourself!" Gene switched his radio feed to that of the intercepted signals.

There was a lot of static, due to Minovsky interference but Leon could barely make out some words: "So you've finally come, eh Kajima?" a voice, presumably from the pilot of the enemy unit, growled.

"Nimbus?" Yu asked, shocked. "But…but I…"

"You did what, you cocky little bastard? Killed me? You? Hah! I won't die until I've buried you first! Marion should have told you that!"

The feed ended abruptly, presumably, while the two of them entered combat.

"Shit, man." Leon called back warily. "That fucker sounds serious. Anybody that crazy armed with ballistic missiles is not a cool person."

"I see them!" Gene shouted, and his Gundam pointed down towards the massive duel, taking place below them.

The two units landed on a mesa, not far from the battlefield and both tried for a lock on the enemy unit.

"We're too far away!" Leon remarked. "I can't get a clear shot off!"

"Then I guess we have to get up close and personal, then." Gene said as his unit leapt down into the fray.

"You dumb-shit!" Leon shouted at him. "Get your ass bac--aw, fuck it." He resigned himself to the task of having to go and rescue his friend again.

"Come on Kajima! You fought better than that last time." Nimbus shouted over the radio at his enemy.

"How can you still be alive Schatzen?" Yu demanded in return, ignoring his adversary's taunt, and sending a torrent of bullets from Blue's machine gun. "I was sure I had killed you!"

Nimbus dodged the blast and quickly came up behind the Blue Destiny GM, hacking of its arm at the shoulder with one of his bayonets. He smirked when he heard Yu's question but chose not to answer.

Blue wheeled to face him and pulled a beam sabre from the holster in its shin. It swung wildly, but missed, and the momentum of the attack sent it sprawling forward.

"Marion, where are you?" Yu pleaded with the soul of the mobile suit.

"Ah, she can't save you now, can she, you bastard?" Nimbus' laughter filled the cockpit to such a horrifying degree that it was all Yu could do to remain sane enough to see the Xero standing over him, its bayonet lodged under the GMs chin.

"And now the crescendo!" he pulled back to slam the blade through the neck and upper chest.

Yet as he was bringing it down, a round from a 180mm exploded on his back, sending him staggering forward a step or two. Enraged, he swivelled his eye-cam to get a view of the impudent fool that had sought to come between himself and his revenge.

He stared at the monitor for a full minute, not believing what he saw. It was another Blue Destiny suit! But this one was a Gundam!

"Hell no," Nimbus said in awed disbelief.

"You didn't think we only had one, did you, you son of a bitch?" Now it was Yu's turn to taunt.

"Shut up!" Nimbus roared. "It doesn't matter if you had one or a hundred and one of those damn things! I'll kill you and then destroy every one!" but as he began towards Yu's crumpled form again, he was stopped by a stream of bullets from a second Gundam.

"Damn it!" Nimbus swung madly, and decapitated the Gundam with the bayonet. As it fell, he blasted its form with a whole clip from the adjoining gattling cannon.

"Colonel!" Dr. Akagi's voice penetrated his consciousness.

"No, doctor, I have to finish this, now!" But even as he said it, he heard her utter something to the effect of "override the controls" in the background, and he felt his entire body lock up. The Xero then turned and took off back towards the base, leaving the victims of its wrath wondering about the purpose of the attack.

Kiyone sat alone in her quarters on-board the Kaiser II, with the lights off save the small lamp over her desk. She had her small photo album open and was flipping through it, seeing all the old pictures of her family.

It wasn't that she had any great use for her family. Hell, they'd been dirt poor and had had to live in the most run-down section of Old Tokyo imaginable. She didn't even know her father, and her mom…well, she could always wish she didn't know her mom. Still, somehow, looking at those old pictures comforted her.

She should have known that the war wouldn't be over so quickly. The committee that had succeeded General Revil had had no interest in ending it without a total victory. Overall morale had been battered after the news had been released that morning, but now, everyone had rallied and Revil had become a sort of martyr. Revenge had to be exacted on those damned, dirty Zeeks.

But, what about all the soldiers who, like Kiyone, were just plain tired of fighting? The ones who wanted simply to go home and try to pick up the pieces of their shattered, shattered lives?

A sudden knock on the door rattled her from her thoughts. "Just a minute!" she called out, stuffing the album under her cot.

Karen walked in even without waiting for her answering the door. "What's going on in here soldier?" she asked.

"Nothing whatsoever, ma'am!" Kiyone came to attention. "I was just, ah, well, you see…"

"Stow the shit, Shinegori. I know you've been smoking again. I can smell it." Karen folded her arms across her chest.

"No! I swear I wasn't commander, not this time." Her eyes said what her mouth could have lied about. They looked dull and far away, very unlike their usual brightness and mirth.

Karen walked around and sat down on the cot. "So what were you--ow!" she jumped up again when she realised she'd sat on something under the bed. "What the hell…?"

"No, commander, please don't!" Kiyone rushed forward to stop her but it was already too late. Karen pulled out the album and started flipping through it.

"This is yours?" she asked the obvious.

Kiyone slumped back into the chair by the desk. "Yes," she replied morosely.

"I don't see what you were getting so bent out of shape for," Karen said as she perused the album from the latest picture to the oldest ones. "These are all very nice. This is you and your old team?" She asked pointing to a group shot of Trowa, Sam, Squall, and her posing in front of the G-type Gundam.

Kiyone nodded, silently.

Karen continued looking back at older pictures. "Who is this?" She asked, holding up a picture from her Graduation from the Academy.

"Oh, that's my friend Hilde," she answered. She laughed a little remembering that night. "It was an all women's academy and so it was a Dry campus. After four whole years without even so much as a shot of rum, on Graduation Night, we got so smashed, it's a wonder we didn't die from alcohol poisoning!"

Karen laughed a little at that too. Still, though, she continued looking through the older pictures (Kiyone had arranged the album in traditional Japanese style, so that it had to be read from right to left; Karen had realised that more quickly than most gaijin). "Aw, these are of you when you were little!"

"Commander, I'd really appreciate it if you didn't look through those pictures," she said in unusual seriousness.

"Why? You look so cute in these!" That was an unusual comment for damn sure. "Hey this is one of your whole family, right?"

"Commander…"

"Is it? Come on, dammit, Kiyone. I come down here wanting to have a little conversation and you snub me like that? What's the deal?"

"The deal is that those are my damn personal effects and I don't like sharing stories about my family with anyone!" she said, enraged. "you want to know some about me commander? Fine then! I was the youngest of four siblings, two brothers and a sister. My eldest sister, Misato, was born when my mother was only sixteen. Sixteen! Most kids are still in secondary school at that time! My two brothers were born later but they were always distant from her and everyone else in the family. I hardly even knew them. Then Dad bailed on mom and moved to Kyoto with his secretary, but not before one last fling with mom, that got me here. As the youngest, I never had anyone to play with and so, spent most of my time playing 'pretend' in the streets of Old Tokyo. Do you have any idea how many dangerous and disgusting objects there are on the ground in one square metre of Old Tokyo? More than you'd like to know, and that's for damn sure.

"When I turned four, though, Misato went off and made the same mistake mom did. She had a son, named Kou, but because he was unintended, she and her 'husband' left the baby with mom and me. Mom, though, was either too busy drinking or smoking to watch him, so the task generally fell to me. Fortunately, we were close enough in age that we could be pretty good friends. And we were too. Shit, we're better than pretty good friends; he's my best friend.

"When I was in High School, I knew that I wasn't going to turn out like mom and Misato. I was going to make good grades and join the army and get out of that horrible place. And when I had the funds for it, I was going to get Kou out of there too! So I studied my ass off every day, and even got a part time job working at a CD store in New Tokyo. Finally, after I graduated, I got accepted into the Joan of Arc Military Academy for Women, one of the most prestigious Military establishments for women in the entire Earth Sphere! I graduated second in my class.

"Then, once I joined the army proper, genetic old habits started creeping up on me. I took up smoking, I took up drinking, I began slacking off in general. Now…now I'm scared that I'm going to end up like my mom after all. Drunken, wracked with lung cancer…Jesus, it scares the shit out of me. So, every time I start to worry like that, I just pull out my album and remember where I came from. And remember where I don't want to go back to."

Karen sat stupefied on the bed, and slowly closed the album. "Kiyone, I'm sorry. I didn't know--"

"Didn't know? The hell did I have to do, sing it for you? I told you not to look through there, but you did it anyway!" Karen had never seen Kiyone get mad before (the way she joked around all the time, she hadn't thought Kiyone could get mad, and she doubted anyone else thought otherwise). It was not a pretty sight.

She stood up. "That's okay, though. I needed to get all that off my chest. I actually feel a little better now."

"Kiyone, I mean it, I am really sorry. Listen, if you ever need my help or anything, just ask. I think I've got a big enough back salary to be able to loan you some to help get your nephew into a damn good military school, too." She made ready to go.

"Thanks, commander." Kiyone said as they stood at the door. "That really means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it, Kiyo-chan. But remember, I can always help to beat the smoking habit out of you, if you want!"

---

Best Fanfics on the Web, selected by Tim

Tim Seltzer's page www.seltzerbooks.com/timseltzer.html

This site is published by Samizdat Express, Orange, CT info@seltzerbooks.com    privacy statement

	Webseltzerbooks.com