"Where the hell are those ****ing reserves?! We need them now!" the Captain bellowed into the base communications net as his now one armed and headless Marasai fired at one of the approaching Type 82s, just as a trio of AEUG GM IIs opened up on him. His shot missed. The shots meant for him however, did not.

 

"Pu... pull out!" Gina ordered as she quickly rolled her own damaged Marasai out of the now being enveloped trench and signaled the rest of the pilots to follow her. Only one other Marasai and three other GM IIs were left, and Gina realized to her utter despair that she was now the ranking officer.

 

"What the hell do we do now?!" a panicking GM pilot screamed as he opened fire on one of the Type 82s, who had gotten close enough to the base to begin deploying their infantry. His shot managed to hit the vehicle's fuel tank and set the Type 82 A ablaze, but the tank's defiant gunner fired one last shot at his GM II, blowing a hole through the cockpit. Both gunner and pilot didn't survive.

 

I can't do this... Gina thought. Everybody's going to... Not unless...

 

"Mam! What the ****ing hell do we do now?!" the other surviving Marasai pilot screamed as he tired to aim at an orange Mobile Suit in the rear area of the base. The enemy pilot was faster on the draw however, and managed to fire a bazooka shell and ripped off the weapon arm and part of the Mobile Suit's shoulder, "Mam!"

 

"Start pulling back to the underground areas..." Gina ordered shakily as she tried to remember where the entrance to the underground docks were. The docks were still probably safe from the bombings, though she couldn't fathom why the reserve Mobile Suits stationed there still hadn't appeared, but then again...

 

Before she could think any further, something hard struck her Mobile Suit, and she felt herself being thrown into something cold, hard and painful in the cockpit. Darkness descended soon afterwards.

---------------

"We're even now," Sylvie said coldly as she threw the pistol back to the now badly shaken Yoko. Behind her, a dead Titans guard lay on the ground, victim of a bullet that Sylvie had placed right between his eyes. Sylvie then bent down and quickly took the dead guard's assault rifle.

 

"Damn it... couldn't you have told me about this you cr..." Yoko started before stopping herself from saying three rude words that would have followed her initial remark. She had to control herself. Orders were to...

 

"You crazy, psychotic *****?" Sylvie asked as she glared at Yoko, "Please go on ahead. I've been called worse. Just don't leave your back unguarded, unless you no longer wish to live. If that is the case I'd be happy to take your life for you."

 

"Fine, you psychotic *****," Yoko growled as she decided to cock her pistol, just in case. This wasn't really a rescue mission, she reminded herself. This was an _evaluation_ of Captain Gressiere... "Come on, we have to leave now..."

 

"No," Sylvie replied as she headed off in her own direction, "There are Mobile Suits in the underground floors. We can't let them join the fight above."

 

"Already taken care of," Yoko replied, to which Sylvie quickly responded with a raised eyebrow, "Trust me."

 

"That is no comfort," Sylvie replied dryly, "I've always found trust to be a very temporary thing."

----------------

"Here!" Ming reported as he pointed to a large metal metallic hatch set in the middle of the base. This was the only way a Mobile Suit could get in or out of the underground docks below, and from the looks of it, Yoko had managed to do her job. The hatch remained tightly sealed, courtesy of a computer virus Yoko had unleashed upon the base's computer systems while enroute to Subject V, whoever he or she was. He suddenly noticed a flare as a beam sabre suddenly cut through the hatch doors.

 

"They're trying to get out..." Yun realized as he saw the sabre slowly melt away the edges of the hatch, "We'd better shoot it before..."

 

"Not yet," Ming ordered, "If we shoot blind we might hit a reactor, and we can't let it cook off underground while Yoko is still down there. Erich! Bring in your Crackers and Sturmfaust!"

 

"He... here sir!" Erich quickly responded as he produced a pair of the multi-warhead grenades and the last Sturmfaust, "Sir, shouldn't we also be calling the Major to..."

 

"They're still busy with the remaining GM IIs," Ming replied as he took one of the Crackers and readied his Mobile Suit, "We'll have to handle them on our own. Get ready."

 

Erich merely nodded as he resisted the urge to swallow. He hadn't done too badly as of yet, and had managed to kill at least two of the enemy Mobile Suits, but he just had a bad feeling about this...

---------------

"Remember, when I open the hatch, we go out there shooting," the commander of the reserve Titans Mobile Suit as he finished cutting through the offending hatch that had trapped them underground. All he needed now was to give it one hard punch to...

 

"Sir!" an engineer suddenly reported over the intercom, "We've just lost track of Subject V! We think she's managed to escape."

 

"We can't worry about that freak for a moment!" the commander growled as he got ready to give the signal to break out, "What about the Barzam and the demolition charges for the ships?!"

 

"We're getting them ready sir but we can't just..." the engineer started.

 

"Get it ready!" the commander ordered before a Mobile Suit from above suddenly kicked the hatch open and revealed the horrid sight of the burning Titans base above. A small, dark object then fell down the hatch, and all the commander saw next was a flash.

---------------

"That was underground..." Sylvie remarked as she felt several tremors go through the floor, "Your Mobile Suits seem to have reached the lower levels."

 

"They probably have," Yoko replied as she felt another massive tremor as Erich sent a Sturmfaust down the tunnel behind them. She'd made it just in time... "Which means we'd better get out of here."

 

"Where do you plan to exit?" Sylvie asked as she looked around the darkened tunnels.

 

"Here," Yoko replied as she reached a spot in the tunnels with an electronically locked hatch above. She quickly connected a palm-sized computer to the lock and concentrated on hacking through its systems, "Now Sylvie, we'll be boarding MY Mobile Suit soon, so make sure you don't get in the way when I start piloting, alright?" Sylvie did not respond.

 

"Sylvie you did hear me right?" Yoko repeated as she tapped the keypad in frustration as her first attempt to open the lock failed. She tried again, this time succeeding, but Sylvie had still not responded, "Hey Valkyrie..."

 

Yoko turned around expecting to see the erstwhile pilot looking at her with her cold, dark eyes once again. Instead, all she saw was an empty corridor, with Subject V nowhere in sight...

---------------

"Careful..." Ming ordered as he saw several beams come out of the offending hatch. Obviously, a Cracker and a Sturmfaust still wasn't enough, "Erich! Give'm the second Cracker!"

 

"Yes sir..." Erich responded as he careful moved around the hatch's edges, keeping discreetly out of the beams' way. He then quickly chucked in a second Cracker down the hatch. More explosions followed.

 

"Clear?" Ming asked as he kept his eyes on the hatch. No further beams came out, but he wasn't so sure if it was safe. Some of those newer Hizack-like models had been able to take an incredible amount of damage and survive, and he wasn't sure if he was facing some of them now.

 

"Clear!" Yun declared as he carefully inspected the edges around the hatch, "But these tunnels look like they go deep Captain. They might be just waiting for us to jump in..."

 

"I know..." Ming replied, "Where's Yoko and her Zugock E2? We're going to be needing some more explosives to..."

 

"Yoko here," a familiar voice declared over the radio as the Zugock E2 appeared from the dense jungle, "Hold fire Ming. Hold fire. Subject V is still down there."

 

"My job is to blow the **** out of this place Yoko, not to rescue some freak," Ming replied testily, "And why the hell didn't you get him or her out in the first place?!"

 

"Not now Ming, I'm in no mood and remember you're currently under my command," Yoko growled back, "Besides, you might damage some of the ships and launch facilities."

 

"If I don't go in now those Titans might demolish them for us," Ming reminded, "My primary mission is still the preservation of those warships. I'm going in without you if necessary."

 

"Fine..." Yoko replied as she bit her lip, "But wait until I make one quick call to John..."

---------------

There... Sylvie thought as she reached the base's underground docks. Stored here were several Titans warships under construction, to be launched into space via its mass drivers upon its completion. And it also contained several still unmanned Mobile Suits...

 

Sylvie quickly began heading for the nearest empty Mobile Suit, one she assumed to be the prototype Barzam she'd been hearing about due to its unfamiliar head shape, hiding in the shadows at every opportunity as she did so. As she closed however, she spotted a squad of Titans guards on the floor, bunched together and apparently receiving orders from their commander. They were blocking her way, and she didn't hesitate. She fired a long, controlled burst that mowed everyone of them down.

 

And engineer suddenly shouted a warning to her left, aghast at what had happened, but she fired off a burst and wounded the engineer. Sylvie cursed as she began to run towards the still empty Barzam. Her head was still not functioning at 100% thanks to those drugs, and that was hurting her accuracy. She only hoped that it wouldn't hurt her ability to kill badly if she was in a Mobile Suit...

 

More guards suddenly appeared in front of her, but she managed to fire two quick bursts that sent them all down. They might have drugged her, she thought as she began climbing up to the Mobile Suit's cockpit, but she was proving lethal enough...

----------------

"Captain Recto sir?" a Type 82 vehicle commander asked as an officer stepped off the recently docked U-606, "Captain Recto, sir, Captain Yoko..."

 

"I know, Yoko summoned me along with Jean," John replied as he pointed to a black officer behind him, "But cut out that Captain crap. I'm still a civilian."

 

"But Captain Yoko said..."

 

"Look, she can say all she want," John replied quickly as he got on the Type 82 "But I'm not going to be staying with you too long..."

---------------

"Clear so far..." Yun whispered as he inspected the first underground tunnel. Several wrecked Mobile Suits littered the floor, but the place seemed empty.

 

"The doors to the docks are sealed..." Yoko observed as she pointed to a massive steel door barring their paths, "*******s must have sealed themselves up to keep us out..."

 

"Charges?" Ming asked as he kept his rifle aimed at the door, not wanting to be surprised by any Titans trick.

 

"Ready..." Yoko replied as she quickly attached a box shaped container on the door, "But Ming, Subject V..."

 

"He shouldn't have run away from you Yoko," Ming reminded, "What happens to him now is his fault."

 

"Subject V is a she Ming," Yoko replied dryly.

 

"And what difference does that make?" Ming replied impatiently, "Just blow the doors already."

 

Yoko sighed, but decided not to respond. Because if you new who was that particular female, Yoko thought, it would make all the difference in this mission...

---------------

"Damn, she's a slippery one..." one of the Titans Mobile Suit pilots observed as Subject V quickly worked her way up some ladders and into the Barzam's cockpit, evading bullets from several Titans guards all the way, "Sir, permission to..."

 

"Take down the Barzam and Subject V," the commander ordered, "We can't let AEUG capture them."

 

"Yes sir..." the pilot responded as he took aim at the Barzam. He was just about to pull the trigger when he felt an overwhelming heat coming from behind him, just before the world seemed to turn into nothing but pain...

---------------

"Go!" Ming ordered as he rushed into the dock area through the now ruined door. He was quickly met a by a torso-less GM II on the ground upon entering the docks, an unintended victim of Yoko's demolition charges, before rolling to his left to avoid some of incoming fire. He fired back blindly, just as Erich went through the door and tried to find some cover of his own, but Erich was less fortunate and was hit by some of the incoming beams, ripping off an arm and a leg from his GM II. Erich began to scream out in panic, knowing that if the fire continued he'd soon be...

 

But before the finishing blow could come, it stopped. Instead, the remaining two Titans Mobile Suits suddenly turned into an entirely different direction, but before they could do anything two quick beams blasted through both GM IIs and punched neat holes in their cockpits. Erich stared dumbfounded, wondering who the hell had just saved his *** from certain death...

 

"What the hell... Identify yourself!" Ming ordered as he spotted the blue Mobile Suit that had just saved Erich, "Who are you?!"

 

"Well... I guess I shouldn't have worried about you at all, Subject V," Yoko remarked as she entered the dock area, slightly disappointed she didn't get a chance to get any of those Titans pilots today, but was getting worried about another little technicality... "Maybe you should now..."

 

"You didn't say that HE was with you..." Sylvie replied as she suddenly pointed her beam rifle straight at Ming's Rick Dias, "Have you anything to say before death?"

 

That voice... Ming thought as he instantly recognized who it was. Oh great. That ****ing ***** again! She's Subject V?! "You! What the hell are you doing here you murdering *****?!" Ming shot back as he aimed his rifle back at Sylvie, followed by Yun. Erich, however, wasn't so sure...

 

"Sir, maybe..." Erich started.

 

"Shut up Erich, I know this murderer, and I'm not..." Ming started.

 

"So I'm the murderer now, eh Captain Ming Chow?" Sylvie shot back as she tapped her finger on the trigger, wanting to enjoy tormenting this ******* one last time and making him beg for mercy for his crimes... "You're a fine one to talk, Captain Ming Chow, soldier of a country that has murdered billions. Murderer of a Federal Sergeant who saved several kids in Bunch 7 during the Delaz Fleet incident. War criminal and fugitive from justice. What have you to say in your defense before I carry out your sentence of death?"

 

"Sir..." Erich started again, not knowing what the hell was going on now...

 

"Ke... keep quiet Erich," Yun suggested, but felt his aim waver. He'd been there when Ming had murdered that Federal Sergeant, and being reminded of it was making him feel uncertain...

 

"I've got nothing to say in my defense," Ming replied angrily, "But at least I didn't shoot a kind hearted doctor dead and enjoy torturing and killing people, you black-hearted freak! I should've put you out of your misery back in Bunch 7! And what are you doing here now, being a pet killing machine for those Titans?!"

 

"As a matter of fact, they HAVE turned me into soulless killing machine..." Sylvie replied with a touch of malice in her voice, "But one they couldn't control. But if I had known you were in AEUG, I would have gladly sold all of what's left of my soul to them, so I can finally savor the feeling of seeing you die."

 

Oh great, now she's just as crazy, if not worse... Ming thought to himself and wondered once again why this psychopath had chosen him to be the target of her hatred, "You damn, evil..."

 

"Alright, stop it!" Yoko shouted at both of them, and quickly found herself being stared at by two very angry pairs of eyes. Wonderful, you'd think four years was enough to make them stop their little vendetta... "Ming, Sylvie, both of you stand down now! I won't have us shooting each other."

 

"Our alliance is void," Sylvie replied as she focused her sights on Ming once again, "Shoot me if you wish, but Ming shall die by my hands..."

 

"Fine, let's end it now, and don't think you can stop me Yoko..." Ming replied as he also focused his attention back to Sylvie. She was a tough opponent, but he'd beaten her before, and he had no doubts about himself now.

 

"Look Sylvie," Yoko ordered as she also aimed her beam gun at Sylvie, and hoping she still had some semblance of sanity within her, "Be reasonable. You KNOW that there's a greater enemy out there, and you can't..."

 

"Don't try to appeal to my better side, Captain Nagato, there is none," Sylvie interrupted coldly, "I KNOW that the true purpose of your rescue was so that you could use and manipulate me as a tool that could help turn your losing war. And I also know that if I was to refuse, I was to be eliminated. I shall not help you, so go ahead and try to kill me now."

 

"Don't flatter yourself, Subject V," Ming interjected vehemently, "We aren't so low as to use somebody as twisted and malevolent as you in our ranks, even if..."

 

"No Ming..." Yoko interrupted as she quickly put down her beam weapon, "She's right. We are just here to see whether she could be trusted or not, and to take care of her permanently if we couldn't. But think before you act Sylvie. If you die here, you'll die a senseless death while those who have tortured and warped you remain free to enslave those of us who live in space. You've fought with them Captain Gressiere, you KNOW what sort of atrocities they are capable of..."

 

"And I was there helping them do those atrocities, Captain Nagato," Sylvie suddenly responded as she glared at Yoko, "And I did so WILLINGLY. I have killed many members of your pitiful little resistance group as well, and feel no remorse in doing so. In fact, had they not betrayed me first, I would simply be shooting everyone of you dead here right now."

 

"Alright, enough!" Ming shouted back angrily as Sylvie finished declaring the extent of her crimes, "I knew you were as low as this Sylvie, so low as even to betray your own people, and now is the time for you to pay for your crimes..."

 

"Just as you are about to pay for yours..." Sylvie replied as she readied herself, wanting to take the first shot... "And if you two children want to stay alive, keep out of this fight and just watch as I kill your Captain. And that also goes for you too, Captain Nagato..."

 

"And does that also apply to me Sylvie?!" a new voice suddenly shouted angrily into the radio, just as a Type 82 pulled up in the dock area, "Well Sylvie? Are you going to kill me too for your quest for revenge?"

 

"John, stay out of this..." Sylvie declared as she kept Ming's Mobile suit in her eyes, not wanting to be distracted by the sudden arrival of her old... acquaintance, and the uncomfortable possibility that he had heard everything that she had just said now, "This is the man who caused the death of your father-in-law John. He's the one who killed Max. He's the one who killed so many people we held dear. He got away from me before, but now..."

 

"Sylvie... it was a war..." John replied as he lowered the volume of his voice, not wanting to remember how Cynthia's father had sacrificed himself and what was left of his ship to save him during that dark battle in the last days of the war, "You also killed people on the other side, Sylvie. You can't... you can't blame him for it and waste your life away for revenge..."

 

"I have no life left John..." Sylvie replied as she resisted the urge within her to stop, "I've been dead for seven long years John. I've been dead ever since I lost him and my heart refused to go on living. Can't you understand that?"

 

"Nobody can possibly understand a..." Ming started.

 

"Sir, maybe... maybe we should take a step back," Yun suddenly suggested, "You... you've been through this before, haven't you?"

 

"Yun!" Ming shot back angrily, before what Yun had told him suddenly sunk in. He.. he had been like that before. A monster whose only purpose had been revenge. But he'd gone past that... Gone past it despite all the nightmares..

 

"Take that step, and I'll shoot you dead Ming," Sylvie warned as she refocused her attention at the Rick Dias pilot, whose will seemed to waver for a moment, "And even if John is here..."

 

"Sylvie... what about what you told me before we parted ways?" John continued, ignoring Ming's little side comment, "You promised me that you'd stay alive. That you wouldn't let Max's sacrifice go in vain. What about..."

 

"Those were the dying words of my old self John..." Sylvie replied sadly and fought her hands as they began to shake, "I... I wanted to... But I never could... And all that's left is the darkness within me. The ghost of the woman that I was still weeps that she was never able to keep that promise, neither to you nor to the only man I ever loved..."

 

You took away the only man I could ever love... a voice reminded Ming, which he fought to keep from cropping up his head. But it kept repeating itself, over and over, sapping away at his will to fight. And in front of him, even Sylvie seemed to be afraid... Afraid to go forward or back away... Not knowing if this was really right or wrong...

 

"Ming... let's try to resolve this peaceably alright?" Yoko suggested as she noticed his aim began to waver badly, before putting down her weapon, "Put down your weapons, all of you. Let's try to... talk this out before we go at each other's throats. We don't have time for this unless you'd prefer killing each other in the middle of a Titans counterattack."

 

"No... this ends now..." Sylvie repeated, but an annoying voice in her head was now telling her to stop. It was the sole trapping of humanity that she'd allowed herself. Her conscience. And it was asking her whether or not someone whose hands had been soaked with so much innocent blood like hers was worthy to...

 

"Fi... Fine Yoko," Ming suddenly declared, before cautiously putting down his rifle, "But knowing this killer, the next time we'll meet we'll be meeting in Hell..."

 

"Stop it..." Sylvie ordered, still not wanting to put down her weapon, "Raise your weapon and fight me Ming. I..."

 

"Go ahead, *****," Ming replied defiantly, "But know that you won't be enjoying my death for long, because my comrades will be making sure you go to Hell after me."

 

"Sylvie, the ball is in your court," Yoko reminded, "We might be able to do something despite what you said you did..."

 

"I don't want anything," Sylvie replied coldly, "Do with me whatever you want after I kill Ming..."

 

"Sylvie, you're not going to do that," John declared, "You wouldn't shoot somebody in cold blood, would you?"

 

"I told you I've changed John," Sylvie repeated, "I've bathed myself in the blood of the righteous and the innocent these past four years, and letting those inhuman monsters turn me into an instrument of death. I'm no longer the Valkyrie you all think I still am..."

 

"Then why haven't you fired yet?" John questioned as he stepped off the Type 82 and began walking towards Sylvie's Mobile Suit, letting her see him again after what had been a long, long time, "Shouldn't Ming be dead right now?"

 

"Sto... stop it..." Sylvie demanded as she felt her sights dim. She had to... she had to kill him. She just had to... Or...

 

"Well? What are you waiting for?!" Ming growled back, "Shoot me already and let’s get it over with. I'll be glad to go as long as I know you're following!"

 

*******... Sylvie thought after Ming's attempts to provoke. But she couldn't. Not while John was around. John had a full life to live, unlike her, and she couldn't risk killing him in a vain attempt to satisfy her hollow self. She glared one last time at Ming, before snarling back in defiance. She still didn't want to...

 

... but finally, Sylvie lowered her weapon, before opening the door to her cockpit, "Very well, John. For all your favors I will... agree to stop this. Just make sure one of you puts me out of my misery as soon as possible. Because I won't be able to resist the urge to kill your ******* Captain soon..."

 

"Sylvie..." John started again.

 

"John ju.. just..." Sylvie started before she suddenly felt her eye lids grow heavy. She tried to fight it, until she realized that Ming and cohorts were probably granting her last wish, and she finally welcomed the coming darkness. She only hoped that there would be no more pain when she got to the other side...

---------------

Notice: This fic and all its contents are copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting. No part of this work may be taken by any other person without permission from the author. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by Bandai and their respective companies.

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