"The General will see you now." An attractive blonde haired woman said from behind a desk.

Richard nodded, rising to his feet and approaching the wide double doors. As he neared they slid open slowly, revealing a dimply lit room filled with various hologram tables and displays. 

"Private Bromwell." A stern voice called from somewhere in the room.

Richard turned, scanning the room until he saw the General standing behind one of the computers, "Sir." He said, standing at attention.

"At ease." The General said walking away from the computer towards Richard, "You say you wished to speak with me?"

"Yes sir. I have a request sir."

"A request? Bringing you back to earth in one piece is not enough for you?" He asked with an arched brow.

"I am thankful for the effort sir. But..." Richard took a deep breath, "I would like to accompany the U.N.S.S. back into the fight, sir."

The General folded his arms, eyeing Richard for a few long seconds before speaking, "And why would you think that there are any forces returning to this conflict?"

"A hunch, sir." Richard said, not wanting to cause any troubles for the men by revealing that they told him information.

"A hunch over a drink, I imagine?" Marcus chuckled, rubbing his wrinkled chin thoughtfully, "And if our forces were returning to the conflict against the New Order, why would you want to go?"

Richard hesitated a moment, "Sir, I don't feel that it is right for me to return home. I feel that it should be my duty to stay until the job is done."

Marcus nodded slowly, "Though you know we are under strict orders to bring you home?"

Richard winced, "If it's any consolation, I believe that I am still on the Nova Guard payment roll."

Marcus laughed, "We handled that this morning marine."

Richard had to struggle to keep himself composed, "Please, sir. I could not live with myself if I went back now."

"So. You are willing to get yourself into a world of shit, accompanying the most highly trained servicemen in our military into a warzone that has not been entered before by our kind, in order to...uh...finish the job?"

"Yes, sir. I feel that I have the experience I need to handle myself in this conflict."

Marcus leaned back on one of the illuminated tables, "And what do I tell the U.N when the ship returns to earth and their missing solider is not on board?" 

"You can tell them I died, for all I care...sir."

Marcus laughed again, "No plans to return to earth any time soon then?" Marcus shook his head, "Alright then Richard. If you feel that you need this, and you are prepared, welcome aboard." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

A few hours had passed and for some reason Prila decided she wanted even more exercise, so she dragged Kikata and Fisc along with her to the gym. She insisted that the exercise would help clear her head anyway, so Kikata agreed. 

A thin layer of sweat formed on her forehead as she jogged lightly on the resistance running machine, as hard as she tried her mind kept returning to the same old places. She sighed, wiping the back of her hand across her brow, she could only hope that she didn't have another break down in public.

She watched as Prila pulled Fisc over towards the mat, a playful grin across her lips. She laughed slightly, trying to imagine what excuses Fisc was trying to use to get himself out of another probable beat down by his own girlfriend. 

"Is this station taken?" A soft voice asked. 

Kikata heard the machine turn on before she even answered, "No." She said, glancing over her shoulder to see a familiar woman stepping onto the machine. She had to fight the urge not to grimace as she watched Kina smile towards her.

"Oh hey! Kikata." Kina said with a bright smile.

"Hi." Kikata responded, returning her vision back towards Prila and Fisc, who were just getting into their ready positions. She could feel Kina looking at her so she turned back with a weak smile, wondering what she wanted.

"You feeling good?"

Kikata shrugged, "Fine."

"You look a little tired, is all."

"It's been a long couple days."

"Hasn't it?" Kina asked, a sweet smile always across her lips. Though it only served to annoy Kikata even more. 

Kikata turned back towards Prila and Fisc, Prila had already pinned him, "You weren't even trying!" He heard Prila complain from across the gym. 

Kina cleared her throat, "So um. On your own now huh?"

"That's right." Kikata said with a slight sigh.

There was a short pause, "I'm annoying you...aren't I?" Kina asked, her voice softened slightly. 

"Of course not." Kikata insisted, still watching her friends roll around on the mat. 

"I'm almost certain I am." Kina continued.

"And how can you be so certain?" Kikata asked, now shifting her gaze back towards the Fela. 

Kina shrugged, "I can read people pretty well."

"Yeah? Try me." Kikata challenged with a shrug.

"You've cried in the past hour or so." 

Kikata turned back towards her friends, for once Fisc taking the upper hand with his weight. "Is that so."

"Yes. And also you wince every time you see me. It's subtle but you do it."

"Coincidence maybe?"

"I doubt it." Kina said, "But, still I try to be friendly. Thinking one of these days you might not want to tear my ears off."

"I don't think it's all that bad." Kikata muttered. "But why?" 

Kina shrugged, "I respect you. I think you are a good person."

"Oh yeah?" Kikata said, turning back towards Kina, who seemed to wince herself by her response..."Erm. Thank you."

"I mean I get it. Really I do." Kina continued, "You are a rather...reserved woman. And as you probably know I'm not as much."

"I suppose."

"I also...treaded on your territory a little."

Kikata shot her a glance, "Oh?"

"Well...you know going after Richard."

"I was engaged at the time. So I wasn't jealous."

"But, naturally he was still sort of your turf. It's just how we're wired."

"If you say so." Kikata said. The two walked quietly for a few minutes, Kikata couldn't help but start to feel a little sorry for being so cold towards Kina. After all, most of her feelings towards her were set before she had even spoke to the Fela. "So. What was it like?" 

Kina blinked, "What was what like?" 

"You know." Kikata hushed her voice, "Being with a human."

"Oh!" Kina laughed, "Well uh. It's different."

"I wouldn't know what was normal to begin with." Kikata said quietly.

"Oh that's right. You've never uh...well yeah. Well, how do I explain it." Kina thought for a moment, "Exciting for one. And...oddly intimate. Which is part of the reason I was so hesitant to really approach him again. I mean the sex was fun but I was getting too attached!" She giggled, "I sort of thought about going for it-" Kina noticed Kikata giving her a somewhat distasteful stare, "Oh...wait a minute." She eyed Kikata curiously, "Why do you want to know in the first place?"

Kikata sighed, "Oh, just wondering."

Kina smiled, and continued, "Well...if you really want to know. It's kind of bizarre at first. Like you feel him in there but you don't see him. And admittedly you need to help them out a little more than you would one of our men. But once you get the motion down and he starts to go deeper and deeper-"

"It feels incredible..." Kikata whispered.

"What?" Kina tilted her head, "Did you guys do it?"

Kikata blushed, "No. But I had a dream about it. And it was so vivid...I was just seeing if the real experience added up."

"Oh." Kina said, "You really liked him didn't you? Gosh I feel terrible for intruding..."

"No. Don't feel bad. We knew it couldn't be. Or at least we thought we knew." Kikata sighed, "I should have..."

"But then you might not have been able to let go." Kina offered with a shrug. 

Kikata nodded, "Tell me. Do you know the punishment for someone going off their designated route for personal reasons?"

Kina thought a moment, then smiled, "Well I don't know. How much time are we talking here?"

"Two days maybe." 

"No one has to know." She whispered with a wink.

A smile creased Kikata's lips as she hopped off the machine, "Hey. Richard was right, you're not so bad." Kikata said.

"Oh...thanks!" Kina said, a broad smile spreading across her face.

Kikata nodded towards her one last time before bounding over to where Fisc and Prila still wrestled, "Hey." She called.

Prila and Fisc stopped, turning towards her. "What's up?" Prila asked through heavy breaths.

"I'm heading out."

Prila's brow furrowed, "To where?"

Kikata kneeled down, a smile still creasing her lips, "I'm not letting go."

"Oh...well...go! What are you waiting for!" Prila said rising to her feet.

Kikata laughed, rising to her feet and making her way out of the gym.

"You get him, girl!" Prila called from behind her.

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata hopped into her pilots seat, her hands quickly running over the controls. Within minutes she was in the air, her ship slowly rising out of the docking bay. 

"Hey, Kikata." A voice called through the radio, it was Kina.

"Uh, Hello?"

"Yeah, um. I went ahead and sent you the coordinates for the Infinity. That is the ship Richard is on now. Good luck."

"Thanks." Kikata said with a smile, she couldn't believe she was about to do this.

She brought up the coordinates, the Infinity wouldn't be making any jumps, meaning Kikata would be able to catch up to it easily. She readied the ship, placing her hand over the jump engager. 

But suddenly a piercing whine echoed through her ship. A warning signal. 

"All ships!" A nervous voice called through the radio, "W-We need help at station 2-2-3-" There was a pause in the transmission, "2-2-3-5-6-9. Please hurry!" 

Kikata looked towards her coordinates, she sighed deeply and re-routed her course. 

"All Guards." A more stern voice called through the radio, "Be ready to engage the enemy. This is not a drill."

Kikata's blood ran cold as she climbed out of her seat. She rushed to climb into her Guard Armor, the last defense in the case she was to be shot down. Once fully equipped she climbed back into the cockpit, her visors hud syncing with her ships to engrain her even further into the holographic combat and defense systems. 

She readied for the jump, taking a deep breath before engaging. The planet that arrived before her was a familiar one. It was the first station that she and Richard had stopped at, an ice planet. More and more Guard ships arrived by her side as they approached the planet.

"Anyone see anything?" A voice called through the radio.

"No." Kikata called back, her eyes falling on the empty seat where Richard once sat. 

They moved towards the atmosphere slowly, more and more friendly ships arriving, including a large calvary of Knight Fighters. 

Then, as if they had melted into existence from no where, a storm of yellow streaks bombarded the Guard ships. Kikata quickly inverted her ship to narrowly dodge a steady stream of burning metal. She fired a volley back blindly. 

"Target the ships!" A voice yelled.

Soon after a sea of green lines, each marking a new enemy vessel, appeared on Kikata's hud. Confident in her skills she pushed forward, emptying a barrage of swarm missiles into the oncoming ships. Behind those she unleashed some more powerful rockets that quickly found their targets in the horde of hostiles. It was hard to tell which hit successfully or which had simply been destroyed by defense systems. 

The quiet space was filled with light, the only sounds emanating from the radio or the clanking of weapons inside of the ship. 

"Watch out below." A voice called calmly into the radio...it didn't rise Kikata's concerns.

She screamed as her ship suddenly jolted, the lights of her HUD flashing bright red. "Shit!" She exclaimed, reading the status report. "They got one of my engines!" She started to panic, her hands feverishly working to steady her ship as it became hard to control. 

"Hang steady there." A voice called to her.

"I'm trying-" She screamed again as her ship jolted once again, "Fuck!" 

"They've got a scrambler on your bottom, I'm trying to get it off with small arms."

"Well hurry, I can't take much more!" Kiakta pleaded, her wrists aching as she tried to steady her ship. A blue streak caught her attention from the corner of her eye.

"I have to pull up! I'm sorry!" The voice called.

"N-No!" Kikata shrieked as the EMP crashed into her final remaining engine. Her ships hud went out, followed by the lights. The joysticks went stiff in her hands. "No. No. No, This can't be happening." Kikata groaned, watching helplessly as the white landscape came into view as her ship slowly spiraled out of control. 

The whirling motion picked up pace, her communications were out, her control was out. She was going to crash! Faster and faster her ship spun, until the stronger gravity of the planet took hold. Her ships systems suddenly flickered back on. "Come on! Come on!" She pleaded, her single working engine sputtering as an orange glow engulfed her ship. She tried desperately to reverse her decent, but she was going to fast! She screamed as she pulled on the joysticks, her only hope was to land on her side or rear, otherwise she would be crushed instantly in the crash.

Her stomach rose in her throat, her vision blurring as the ship was unable to protect her from the powerful force of the fall. Her hands fell from the joysticks as her vision suddenly went black.