Welcome to Gaia! ::

The captain listened to another report. The full detail was something he did not want to repeat to the Cadet. From the report it seemed as though they were in a ZOID accident, but their ZOIDs showed no sign of a crash. Brain swelling? How? There were no bruises to show that their heads had been hit THAT hard.

"We'll have to send them back to the Empire and request information on their autopsy." He sighed. "Are you alright Cadet?" He asked and signaled for one of the Medics to come and perform a check up on Angelina.

Cruse was helped onto a stretcher as soon as one was brought out to him. It was impossible to get him to walk. He was still shaking pretty bad. One of the medics signaled for the hammer head pilot to prepare takeoff. The captain watch for a moment before turning back to Angelina. "

"Solaris, you will ride with Private Cruse in the AMT. Well deliver your ZOID back to base and have it looked at for any possible issues it might still be having." Her reply left him unsure of her condition and held the question if she should still be piloting her ZOID at the moment. Though most ZOIDs could carry themselves, the pilot could still do something rash.

He signaled for the other Pilots. "Contact Carrier 1..." He spoke over the com.

"When you are cleared by the hospital you will be properly debriefed... but until than get some rest." He looked back at Angelina. He would have to remain until the Imperials arrived to claim their soldiers.

The medical officer who came to inspect Angelina shook his head. "Ms. Solaris, can you walk alright?" He offered his arm for support and readied to signal a wheel chair to be brought if needed.

The medic would follow Agelina to make sure she didn't collapse, until the reached the AMT. When the arrived he lead her to the back where they had Cruse strapped to a bed. He looked to be finally sleeping at peace, some of his color had returned even.

The once proud man was a mess still, however. His hair was messed, his skin covered in sweat. The medics had done all they could to clean him up and make sure he was stable...

"Clear for take off." The medic that escorted Angelina called to the pilot.

The Wolf trio moved to over to the Wingblade and carefully prepped it for transport. The Wolf was to be prepped next... they still wanted to have a look in the shattered cockpit.

Cruse stirred a little before his eyes halfway opened. He rolled his head so that he could get a better look at Angelina.

"thank you..." He mumbled. The medics had drugged him quite a bit to get him to calm down. "I think... anyone else would have left me to be killed by that dragon... And all that black fog....."

Even though Angelina had her memory tweaked with to forget Nick's face, The Iron Judge had also altered the illusion so she did not get the terror of seeing the thick black fog that had surrounded them at the last moment, nor the burning glare of the Jury's face. Cruse had seen it, and it will forever haunt him.

Cruse's eyes begun to tear as he thought of what his nightmare brought to him. "they would have left me to die... and I deserve to... I wouldn't have done the same... it knew... it knew I was selfish..."

Cruse shook his head. "There was no woman... only a monster." by the review he got by the medics, it would be a while before he would be allowed to pilot a ZOID for the military again... When they returned he would be scheduled for a phycological analysis.

"it..it...s....." He stuttered before his eyes rolled back in his head and he was out once more.

The hammer head jolted slightly as they neared the base. A group of officers awaited the arrival of the AMT patiently. This mission had proved to turn up more mysteries than it did answers... and they never did figure out the cause of the fire...

- After Angelina was released from the hospital she was immediately debriefed on the mission. From her story they were not able to come to a conclusion about the origin of the fire, nor were they satisfied with the events. What happened was deemed an illusion cause by some odd gas that might have been present during their time on the Field. General Nicodemus, however, was suspicious. He had heard a story similar before... Not to mention what had happened to his family 6 years ago. However he kept his suspicions to himself. for now.

Angelina was promoted to Private for her excellent service. Her liger was found to have no problems and given a small tune up before being released back to its Pilot.

Private Cruse was not so fortunate. The trauma he had experienced had crippled his ability to perform and caused him to have difficulty socializing with even high ranking officers. He was discharged and sent home when found incapable of performing his duties. He rarely is seen any more. He hides in his house and hardly ever leaves.

The Imperial soldiers were returned home and their death was investigated. Like Angelina's story, no useful information was found and their death is still considered a mystery. Their gruesome autopsy was not revealed to the public.

Angelina would revive a letter from Cruse again thanking her for saving his life. At the end of the short letter he added he would be sending her a package, but it would not arrive for a while.

Apparently, The Cruse family was quite wealthy.

Prize:
-Rank up (Private)
-???? (lol Seecret)