Heroes Final part.
	Lt. Cmdr. B. Hobbes wandered around the camp. It consisted mostly of
members of the Australian resistance, as well as the supreme resistance
commander, Sean Napier. Able Squad was also there. They had just spent the
last few days fighting off what appeared to be a new, "warrior brood" of
Neosapiens. Neos that weren't like normal Neos. They were a cross between
Neosapiens and different animals, insects and everything else the Neos could
think up.
	They had been there in Australia for about three days. They found
that the Australian resistance tried to take back the continent, but were
soon overwhelmed by the new brood of neos. The resistance was able to fight
them off, but not before the Neos took back the continent.
	Cmdr. Hobbes walked around for a few minutes more, until he saw the
person he was looking for. The commander of Able Squad, Lt. JT Marsh.
	"Lt. Marsh. May I have a word with you?" Hobbes said.
	"Certainly commander. I must admit, I was a little surprised to learn
you were here. When the pirate ship didn't return, we got worried," Marsh
said. "When we leave in a few hours, I am sure we can find some extra
e-frames to get you to the pirate ship in orbit, and then back to the
Normandy."
	Hobbes merely shook his head. "There is still three of my squad
unaccounted for. When we achieved orbit, the cloak around the pirate ship
failed and we were swarmed by about a hundred neo e-frames. We tried to fight
them off, but in the end, the other two and I were captured, while the pirate
ship and the three missing members of my squad were shot down. We need to try
and find my missing squad members. We also still have a mission to carry out.
I will write out a report for you to give to Adm. Winfield when you get back.
Make sure the Normandy knows our status as well. We will need to borrow three
frames so we can get back to Europe."
	"I will. And I will talk to Napier about getting you those frames,"
Marsh said.
	"Thank you, Lt. Hope to see you again, in a couple weeks," Hobbes
said with a slight smile.
	"Same here, Commander. Good luck!" Marsh said.
******************
	Med tech Alain Vouriot dropped himself onto his bed. He was
exhausted. Nearly a month of training exercises at planet Chaos with himself,
one other member of his squad, and several others from various squads. He
didn't think he could get up to answer his door when the chime rang, nor even
yell at them to come in, but he tried anyway.
	"Come on in," he yelled, rather softly. He wasn't sure if he had been
heard until his other squadmate come into his quarters. Sergeant Kathy Mclean
was the field sergeant of the squad. A very competent person, in his opinion.
Pretty, too.
	"What do you need?" he asked, not bothering to lift his head off of
his pillow.
	"Did you know we are the only people in Gamma squad on the Normandy
right now?" Kathy said. Alain lifted his head to look at her.
	"What are you talking about?" he asked.
	"The others are on a mission on earth," Kathy said. "We are to wait
for them to return, or are declared missing and have to get replacements."
	"So we are just stuck here, then, huh?" he asked. She just nodded her
head. She wasn't entirely pleased. "Well, nothing to do but wait. Want to go
down to the mess hall and get something to eat?" he asked. She only grinned
for her answer.
*********************
	"Wow! Do I feel better or what?" Elan exclaimed, waking up. Him and
his lady friend, Aria, arrived in the base camp the night before last. He
spent most of yesterday in his bed, resting while his injuries were healing.
	Having received medical attention on a par with Dr. Rhodes, his arm
was no longer in a sling, and his side was only a little sore. Although he
still had to remain careful, he was doing a lot better than he was before.
And he felt very, very good.
	Elan looked over to find Aria sleeping next to him. Elan got a grin
on his face. Quietly, he got out of bed, and walked out the room. He looked
around for a moment, then walked over to the water pump. Elan grabbed a
bucket and filled it up. The whole time with a very evil looking grin spread
across his face.
	After the bucket was full, Elan walked back to his room. Aria was
still sleeping quietly. Elan figured she must have been having a funny dream,
because she had a smile on her face. *She won't be smiling in a second,* Elan
thought to himself.
	As Elan raised the bucket over her head, he heard the sound of a
latch coming undone from over head. He looked up in time to see ground pepper
fall onto him.
	Achoo! Achoo!
	Elan looked down and saw Aria roll out of the bed, to avoid the
pepper as much as she could. Still sneezing, Elan went around the bed to find
her laughing, hard enough for tears to trickle down her cheeks. "Oh, I
am......(achoo!)........so glad, that......(achoo!)......you find this funny.
(Achoo!)" Elan said, sneezing out his words.
	"Oh, I knew you were going to try something like that, so I made
appropriate plans," she said with a big grin.
	Elan recovered after a few more minutes of sneezing. Aria was wiping
the tears from her face.
	"I won't forget this," Elan said. "Even now, I am thinking up a
suitable revenge."
	"Oh really?" She said with a smile.
	"Yup. So what are we doing today? I really need to find my
squadmates, if they are still alive. I have a general direction to start
looking in, but nothing more."
	Aria stopped cleaning up the pepper and thought for a brief second.
"We could check with our intelligence group, see if they have heard
anything."
	"Sounds like a plan. Where do we find them?" Elan asked.
	"We find them when this pepper is cleaned up. Something that would
go a lot quicker if you helped," she said playfully.
	"Hey, you're the one who dumped it on me, so you can clean it up,"
Elan replied, just as playfully. "I am going to get cleaned up. Where are the
showers?" Elan asked.
	"Remember the lake I took you by yesterday?"
	"Yeah, what about it?"
	"Do you remember the small waterfall it had?"
	"Yeah...........wait, are you saying that the -waterfall- is the
showers around here?" Elan asked, incredulously.
	"Yup," Aria said with a slight grin. "We have to, we can't tap into
any plumbing without letting the neos know we are here. We are all mature
about it, although there was some memorable stories from when we first
started," she said, then laughed.
	Elan merely groaned, as he started turning red in the face.
******************
	Lt. Kristin O'Connor looked around. After a few minutes, she spotted
the person she was looking for. She walked over to him. "So have you proposed
the plan to the captain yet?" She asked the pirate.
	"Not yet, we are going to in about an hour. I suspect that he will
accept it though. He has been wanting to raid the Neos base for a while. Get
together whatever you want to take with you and have it ready soon."
	"There isn't very much, so that's not a problem. A question though;
what if the captain questions our taking our belongings?"
	"We tell him it is to strengthen the idea that you are captives. It
is stuff that was found on you."
	"OK."
	The big pirate walked away as Nicole walked up.
	"So what's the story?" She asked Kristin.
	"The plan hasn't been suggested to the captain yet, they are going to
in about an hour though, so get together what ever you need and have it
ready," Kristin informed her.
	"Right!" Nicole said with a smile.
**********************
	*At least they have towels, despite the lack of plumbing,* Elan
thought to himself as he quickly looked around nervously for spying eyes that
might be peering into this thick copse of trees he managed to find near the
lake.
	Elan dried himself off in a matter of seconds, and then put on a
clean uniform. Elan picked up the towels, and turned around, then froze.
	Turning red in the face, Elan said to the woman standing there, "You
just aren't happy unless you are embarrassing me, are you?"
	Aria merely stood there, camera in hand, grin plastered across her
face. "You got it," she said. "You know, I wouldn't have to come search for
you if you didn't take so long doing things. If you are ready, we can go find
intelligence and see if they know anything."
	"Yeah, I'm ready, let's go," Elan said. "And give me that camera."
	"No."
	"Yes"
	"No."
	"Yes."
	"No."
	"Yes."
	"No."
	"Yes."
	"No."
	"Yes."
	"No."
	"Yes."
	"No."
	"Yes."
	"No."
	About fifteen minutes later, they got to base camp.
	"Yes."
	"I said no, and don't think that you will be able to wrestle it away
from me, either," She said.
	"These just better not be shown to anyone then," Elan said.
	"I'll think about it," Aria said with a grin, but then sighed, "You
should know me better than that, Elan. Of course I won't. Anyhow,
Intelligence is right over there," she said, pointing to a cave. The two
walked over to it, and entered.
	A man came up to them. "Hello Aria, what can I do for ye today,
lass?"
	"Hi, Duncan. Elan here is an ExoFleet officer. He crashed here on
earth about a week ago. Some of his squad also went down. We were wanting to
know if you had gotten any word of anything involving ExoTroopers in Europe."
	Duncan looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can't immediately recall
anything, but then, my memory isn't what it used ta be either, so let me
check the records real quick."
	"Ok, we can wait," Elan said.
	A few minutes later.........
	"Sorry. We haven't gotten anything like that yet. Best thing I can
say is wait a few days, see if something comes up."
	"Ok, thanks for your help," Elan said. He turned to the lady at his
side. "So what is there to do around here?"
	"Well.........I can get these photos developed," she said, grinning,
and holding up the camera.
	"Uh, no," Elan said, eyeing the camera.
	"Well, we can do a little scouting. Make sure neos aren't getting
close to finding us."
	Elan thought for a moment. "Sounds good to me. When do we start? And
where? And is it just the two of us?" he said with a smile.
	Aria just laughed.
***********************
	Lt. Kristin O'Connor stood patiently outside the captain's office.
Nicole Montgomery was also waiting there as well. They were waiting to hear
the captain's decision on the plan to use them as prisoners to infiltrate a
Neosapien base in the Carpathian Mountains.
	"Do you think he will come to a decision soon?" Nicole asked.
	"Hope so," Kristin replied.
	"Do you think we'll find them?" Nicole asked.
	"I don't know. I hope so," Kristin said, looking straight ahead, as
if she was thinking about something else other than the conversation. Nicole
noticed.
	"Something wrong?" Nicole asked.
	"I was just thinking about the others," Kristin said.
	"Anyone in particular?" Nicole asked teasingly. Kristin arched an
eyebrow at her.
	Kristin opened her mouth to say something, but before she had a
chance, the door to the captain's office opened, and the pirate from the Red
Dragon stepped out.
	"He gave it approval. Get your things together and we'll leave as
soon as we can get everyone together," he said.
	"Great! We will be ready within an hour!" Kristin said.
	"Good. Meet your `captors` near the mouth of the cave. The means of
transport will be waiting," he explained.
	"We will be there," Nicole said.
*****************
	Elan stood outside of the cabin, facing away from it, waiting for his
friend Aria to get ready for their scouting mission. He has been waiting a
while. Although he doesn't know for sure how long, it was long enough for him
to see a noticeable difference in the placement of his shadow.
	*Women,* he thought, with a slight smile and shake of his head.
*Always keeping us men waiting.* His smile got bigger.
	"And just what is so amusing?" He heard Aria say. He turned quickly
and saw her standing behind him, with a questioning look on her face. For
some reason, he didn't think he could keep from saying just what it was he
was thinking about.
	"Uhhhh.........uhmmmmm......nothing?" Elan said. She just looked at
him.
	"Uh huh," was her only reply. "Well, I am all ready, lets get going."
	"Sure. I am ready," Elan said, then added in a very low voice, "and
have been."
	"What was that?" Aria asked.
	"Oh, nothing," he said, hoping he masked his slight surprise at her
hearing well enough.
	"Ok, now, we have a few extra e-frames for emergencies, or in case
one is lost or destroyed or such. I am sure we can let someone as clumsy as
you use one, just don't ruin it," she explained.
	"I'm not the clumsy one, you are," Elan retorted.
	"Sure, whatever you say, dear. Now, which type of frame are you most
comfortable with?" She asked.
	"That would be the intelligence and communications e-frame," Elan
answered.
	"Ok. I believe we have an extra one of those. The hangar is
underground a little ways from the intelligence center. We have to take a
tunnel off of it to get to the hangar," Aria said.
	"Ok, let's go then."
	A few minutes later, as they entered the intelligence center, Duncan
greeted them again.
	"Hello. Sorry, Aria, but we haven't heard anything yet," Duncan said.
	"That's ok, we are going to do a little scouting with the e-frames.
Call us on Theta frequency to let us know if you find anything while we're
out," she told him.
	"I will. See ye two around," Duncan said as he waved good bye.
	"He is a very cheery man," Aria told Elan as they left earshot. "He
has kept up the morale of this resistance group, and without him, we all
would be neo prisoners, or dead. Even with everything, he manages to keep a
smile on his face. He is a real asset to us."
	Elan smiled. After a few more doors, they reached the hangar.
	"Ok. See that one over there?" Aria pointed to a frame. Elan nodded.
"That one is the one you will use. Mine is this one right here," she said as
she climbed in. Elan walked over to the one she pointed at, and climbed in.
	*Not as comfortable as my old one, but it will do,* Elan thought to
himself.
	Aria's voice broke in on the comm system, "Can you hear me, Elan?"
	"I sure can," Elan replied.
	"Alright, lets go!" she exclaimed. A moment later, the hangar doors,
which was the ceiling, opened, and the two flew out. Elan looked down, and
saw that the topside of the doors were camouflaged with trees, and bushes and
other flora. Unless you knew where it was, you could walk right over it and
not even know it was there.
	"Where do we go from here?" Elan asked.
	"We fly low, and head in the direction of London. If neos are heading
towards the base, they will be coming from there," she explained.
	"Right," Elan said, and then they flew off.
*************************
	Kristin O'Connor stood by the door of the transport that her and
Nicole were to be traveling in to a neo base as "prisoners." She had
everything she had when the pirates caught her, Nicole and Archamedes.
	Archamedes was also there, he had decided to stay with the pirates
instead of coming with Kristin and Nicole to look for the others. "I talked
to the other Neosapiens accompanying us. They have agreed to let you go your
own way when we finish the infiltration mission. We will say you two escaped
from us if we are asked why we have returned without you," Archamedes
explained.
	"But won't you be questioned because you were with us when they
found us?" Nicole asked.
	"The other Neosapiens told me that it should not be a problem. The
captain apparently has a short attention span. After a week, you will
probably be forgotten," he said.
	"Sure makes a girl feel like she's something, wouldn't you say,
Nikki?" Kristin said, the sarcasm dripping off of her voice.
	"Yup," Nicole said, grinning. It was then that the last of the neos
arrived at the transport.
	"Ok, everyone here? All aboard. We don't have time to waste," he
said. Everyone scrambled onto the transport.
	Inside, the pilot neo went into the cockpit, and started up the
transport, while the mission leader, a neo named Humbolt explained the
mission in detail. "It will take us about a day and a half to reach the
neosapien base. Lt. O'Connor, Archamedes explained the situation to me. Since
the base we are going to is the same one in which some unnamed ExoFleet
officers escaped from, you might want to hang around, so we can see if we
found any info regarding where they might have went. The rest of us, we
collect the data from their computers that could be useful in attacking them,
or finding out what their future plans are. Everything clear? Any questions?"
	"I have one," Nicole said. "Where do Kristin and I hide while waiting
to get info from you guys?"
	"Hmmmmm.........that is a good question. I am afraid I don't have any
ideas right now, but I am sure someone will think of something by the time we
reach the base."
	"I think I have an idea of what Nicole and I can do. Since we don't
immediately know of a place we can hide out, and since we don't' even know if
you guys will get us any info at all that would help us, I think Nicole and I
should just get going on our search," Kristin said.
	"If you really want to, Lt. O'Connor, we won't stop you. If that is
what your decision is going to be, then let me know if there is anything we
can do to assist you."
	Kristin thought for a moment, then said, "It would be helpful if you
knew of a good place to start, or direction we could go, or if there is
anyone you know of that we can get some information from."
	"Actually, Lt., I do know of something that can be of help. On the
island of England, there is a resistance group in Sherwood Forest. They call
themselves the Merry Men. They have a very extensive intelligence network.
You might want to try them. They are far, but they have agents all over
Europe. Find one of them, and I am sure they could help you. I wish I could
do more, or tell you of a faster way than your feet, but I know of none. Find
an agent, and they can help you with getting to their base quicker. Or they
might be able to get you the information you need without going to their
base," Humbolt said.
	"Thanks. You have been a great help to us." Kristin said.
	"You are welcome. If there is no further questions, then do what you
want for the next day and a half. We won't be making any stops or anything
until we get to the neo base," Humbolt said.
	Kristin and Nicole sat in one of the vacant cells and talked for a
while.
********************
	"So how long are we going to be scouting the area?" Elan asked. They
had been scouting the area for three hours now, and nothing significant had
happened.
	"My, you are the impatient one, aren't' you?" Aria said.
	"You should know that by now," Elan said.
	"Well, I suppose we can break for lunch," Aria said.
	"Yes! I am famished!" Elan exclaimed.
	"Still have a big appetite, eh?" she asked. "That's a good spot for
us to land and eat," she said, pointing with an arm of her e-frame.
	"Yup," Elan said, grinning, as he flew down after Aria to the spot
she indicated.
	A few minutes later, everything was ready to go, and they were
chowing down. Elan sat down on the blanket Aria had put down.
	"Hmmmm.........so this is why you took so long. Getting all this food
prepared and stuff. For a picnic lunch," Elan said.
	"Yeah, I thought it might be something you would enjoy. Something we
used to do all the time at the academy," she said, taking a bite of her food.
	"We had some fun times, didn't we?" Elan said. Aria smiled.
	"Yes, we did. I wish we could go back to those times," she sighed,
finishing up her current food item. She lied down on her back and looked at
the sky. Elan finished up his and lied down next to her.
	"Why cant we?" Elan asked, turning his head to look at her. She
turned hers as well.
	"Are you serious?" she asked, when he nodded (as much as one -can-
nod lying down) she continued, "well, I have work to do here, for one, you
are an ExoFleet officer with duties of your own."
	"The war isn't going to last forever, you know. The ExoFleet has
retaken Venus, which leaves Mars and Earth. And if we can take Venus, we can
take the others," Elan explained.
	"And what about-," Aria was cut off as a message came through on the
comm system.
	"Aria? This is Duncan, I have some news for you and your friend." The
two got up and walked towards the e-frames. Aria hit a button in hers. "This
is Aria. What is it, Duncan?"
	"I have received some information that ye might be interested in. It
is about your friend's colleagues."
	"Alright. Thanks a lot, Duncan, you've done a great job!" Aria told
him through the comm link.
	"Why can't he just say what it is over the comm link? Aren't your
comm frequencies secure?" Elan asked.
	"No," Aria said, walking over to the spread and starting to clean up.
"They are secure, he just doesn't trust that. He is afraid that maybe the
neos have broken it, and so he doesn't say things he deems as important over
the comm system. Are you going to help me, or just stand there looking dumb?"
Elan gave a start.
	"Oops," Elan said as he walked over there and started helping her. "I
wonder what it's about. It will be good to see my friends again," he said
with a big smile. Aria smiled back.
	"I can't wait to meet these friends of yours. Especially this Kristin
O'Connor," she replied, smile still on her face. It only took the two a few
minutes to clean up.
	After they finished, the two climbed back into the e-frames. Elan
noticed a little blip on his instruments, indicating another e-frame coming
their way. "Hey, Aria, do you notice this, too?"
	"Yes, I do. It is definitely an e-frame, but I cant tell if it is a
Neosapien or resistance member," she said. as she took off. Elan followed.
	"Should we check it out?" Elan asked.
	"We better. Since we don't know who exactly it is. We can't have neos
discovering the location of the resistance base," she said.
	"Alright, let's go," Elan said, flying off in the direction of the
unknown e-frame. Aria followed. Within seconds, they were able to make an
identification on the e-frame.
	"It isn't a neo, and I don't recognize this signature," Aria said.
	Elan, however, did recognize it. "I do recognize it, Aria. This man
is named Samuel Booth." Elan heard her gasp. "I take it, that you remember
him? Well, he has been up to much since our academy days. Worse than anything
he ever did at the academy. I don't know about you, but I am going after him.
He needs to be brought to justice. And I intend to be the one to do it. Do
you have a prison of some sorts back there?" Elan asked.
	"Yeah," she said. Elan noted something in her voice that said there
was more to it.
	"But?"
	"But it isn't very well made, or secure. we haven't had need for one.
We don't take neo prisoners, don't worry, we don't kill them, we drop off any
captures where they can be picked up. And we do this because we don't want
them finding out where we are, and no one of the resistance will betray us."
Aria explained, now able to see Booth's e-frame get close enough for her to
be able to see it with her eyes, "and there is still the problem of him
finding out where we are at. What do we do about that?"
	"We can talk about that later. He is definitely close enough to know
we are here, but not know who we are. I think he will be -very- surprised.
But for now, get ready for a fight, because I have no doubt that that is what
is going to happen. And be sure to not kill him, or hurt him badly. Just
disable his e-frame," Elan said.
	"Alright," was Aria's only reply.
	As soon as Booth was in range, Aria announced, "Samuel Booth you are
hereby ordered to stand down, and allow yourself to be placed into custody."
	"Whoever you are, you sound familiar, but you obviously don't know me
too well, cause I don't let anyone place me into custody unless I want them
to," he said, firing at Aria at the same time. Aria, with her quick reflexes,
managed to just barely dodge the blast, as Elan quickly counter attacked.
	"You know her alright, and me, as well, Booth!" Elan said. "You won't
get away from me this time."
	"Elan! Why, this is an unexpected surprise. And here I was, thinking
to cause just minor trouble, and now I get to rid myself of you. You who has
interfered too many times. And unless I miss my guess, that is Aria in that
other frame. This is going to be nice. The woman who rejected me, and the man
I lost her to are both conveniently in the same place for me to get my
revenge," Booth said. It wasn't the only noise that was sounding. The sound
of weapons firing was also in the air.
	"You don't have a chance, Booth! Give yourself up!" Elan said, firing
back at him and dodging Booth's shots. Aria, however, managed to get behind
Booth, and struck at him from behind. Booth fell to the ground. Elan and Aria
followed.
	When they landed, Aria aimed her weapons at him. "Don't move," she
said. Elan got out of his e-frame and walked over to Booth. The man was about
6 feet tall, physically fit, and had dark blond hair, and was considered
handsome among the ladies. He appeared to be unconscious. After a moment of
searching, Elan found the fusion pack and removed it.
	"He won't be able to get out of it, now, not without power. Even if
he does wake up. Aria, I can't thank you enough. Throughout the war, he has
been a big pain to my squad and me. Call your people, and tell them we have
a prisoner," Elan said.
	"Right," she said, as she contacted their base and told them what
happened. When she finished, she said, "I have some cable, we can use the to
attach his frame to the back of one of ours. Yours is stronger, so I would
suggest yours."
	"Works for me," Elan said.
	Nearly twenty minutes later saw them ready to go. Booth still
appeared unconscious. They headed back towards the base camp.
	After three hours, they got back, where some men were waiting to take
Booth away. He still appeared to be unconscious. "Take him to his cell. Have
the doctor go see him in his cell," Aria ordered the men.
	"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison. She turned to Elan. "Shall we go
see Duncan now?" She asked.
	"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Yes, let's go see him," Elan
exclaimed. The two headed to the intelligence center where Duncan was
waiting.
	"Ahhhh......Aria, Elan. I have some information that might be of
interest to ye. According to our sources, some ExoFleet troopers escaped from
a neo base in the Carpathian Mountains. According to our sources, the three
were captured in a battle above earth," he said. Elan thought for a moment.
	"Well, it is a place to start, at least. A general direction. I thank
you for your help, Duncan. You have been invaluable," Elan told the cheery
man. Duncan just smiled widely. Elan turned to Aria. "Well, it's been fun,
these last few days, but it looks like I have to get going again. I hate
asking this, but can your group spare me some supplies?"
	Aria's face took on a sad, yet understanding look. "Yes, we can. We
can also help you get close to your destination as well. We can talk details
while we get you ready for your trip."
	The two went to Aria's cabin. That was where Elan was staying while
with this branch of the resistance. "You will need food, undoubtedly, a
medical kit, in case you get hurt, or one of your friends needs attention. As
for getting you there, you have two options. One, we can loan you an e-frame.
This way is faster, but is more susceptible to a neo attack, or you can take
our underground train. This way is a little slower, and can take you as far
as the Black Forest in Germany. From there on, you will have to walk. The
decision is entirely up to you, Elan," Aria said. Elan thought for a moment.
And then another moment, and then another, then said, "Hmmm.... this isn't an
easy decision to make." Elan continued to pack for his journey.
	A few minutes later, he finally made a decision. "I think I will take
the train. It wouldn't do to have myself captured, or attacked, or the like
when I am going to find my friends. Ok, I think that's it," Elan said.
	Aria picked up Elan's stuffed pet lion. "Aren't you going to take
Zeus?" she asked.
	"Nope," Elan said. "I am going to keep him here for the time being.
Think of him as a guarantee of my return." Aria smiled.
	"Right. Well, I will be waiting for you then. And I can't wait to
meet this friend Kristin of yours. Be sure to bring her back," she told him.
Elan smiled back at her.
	"I will," was all he said.
	"Anyhow, since it has been a while since I have taken this particular
route, I am not certain how long exactly it will take you to get to the Black
Forest. Anywhere from five to seven days. The train will have enough food
stocked for you and your trip," she explained. Elan tossed his bag full of
supplies over his shoulder.
	"Thanks for your all your help. I don't think I could have been more
fortunate in my misfortune," Elan said.
	"I am glad you had some misfortune, then. And I mean that in the
nicest possible way. Oh, and one more thing, be sure to take it easy. Don't
forget what out doctors told you. They may have healed you quite far, but you
are still injured. Rough treatment can cause you to break your arm all over
again, or open up that wound on your side," she told him in a voice that said
"You better listen to what I am saying, or else."
	"Sure. Anything you say, dear," he told her.
	A few minutes later saw them at the departure point. "I will be
waiting for you to return," Aria told him before giving him a big hug and
kiss. Elan returned the kiss, and then boarded his train.
**********************
	Kristin walked over to where Nicole was laying. "Nicole, wake up. We
are almost there," Kristin said as she shook Nicole gently. Nicole sat up and
rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
	"Wha? Oh, Kristin, ok, thanks," Nicole said sleepily as she sat up.
	"We will be let off in about an hour. From there we'll be traveling
in a west-northwest direction towards Great Britain. The resistance there
should be able to help us, according to Humbolt. They are also providing us
with necessary supplies to make it to Great Britain, in case we don't meet up
with any agents of theirs. We also have a decision to make. The Black Forest
is in the smack middle of our path. We must decide if we go around, or pass
though. Either way, we lose time, cause going around will eat up time, and
going through will eat up time, but not as much as going around, and it is
easier to hide from neo patrols if we have to, thanks to the denseness of the
forest. I suggest going through. We don't have time to deal with neos,"
Kristin said.
	"Sounds good to me," Nicole said. "Lets do it." The two got their
things together and went out into the main transport area. A few minutes
later, they felt the transport stop. Humbolt and Archamedes came out to see
them.
	"This is where we let you off," Humbolt said. "Just head in a
westerly direction, and I am sure you will find help of some sort."
	"It has been interesting," Archamedes said. "I hope we can meet up
again sometime."
	"I hope so too," Nicole said. Kristin said, "Yeah, me too. Well, I
guess we should be heading on our way. We have everything we need, and it is
going to be a long walk. We might as well get started now."
	The two stepped out of the transport, and without a word, started
their journey.
***********************
	Four days later................
	"Just start heading in that direction, and eventually, you will come
out of the forest, and well on your way towards the neo base you are needing
to get to," the man said.
	"How did you know where I was headed?" Elan asked the man. The man
gave Elan a very sly grin.
	"It's my job," he said, grin still on his face. Elan merely eyed the
man wearily as the door to the steps leading outside opened. Elan went
through the door and it shut behind him.
	A few minutes later, Elan was outside in the midst of a very thick
part of the forest. *If all of this forest is like this, then no one could
find someone if they hid in this place,* Elan thought to himself.
	After traveling for about five hours in the direction the man
indicated, Elan noticed that night was beginning to set in. He looked at the
tree he was standing next to. *Yeah, I think I will. It has been so long,*
Elan thought to himself. After hiding his bags in a nearby shrub, Elan
climbed the tree and settled on a low strong, sturdy, and well-hidden branch.
After taking a moment to balance himself, Elan settled into a nice deep
dreamful sleep while there was still a little light out.
*******************
	"I am starting to get very tired," Kristin said to her traveling
companion.
	Nicole smiled. "Me too. When can we stop for the night?"
	"Night? What do you mean?" Kristin said as she looked up. Seeing the
sky was near impossible because of the thickness of the trees, but it did
appear to start getting darker. "Oh," she said. "Well, lets find us a good
place to rest then." After a while the two found a spot next to a tree. It
was near completely dark out by this time. Kristin lied down nest to the
trunk and Nicole lied down next to her, head pointing towards a shrub.
	"What's that?" Nicole said.
	"What's what?" Kristin asked, already sounding half-asleep.
	"Oh, its nothing. I am probably just seeing things. I thought I saw a
bag or something in this shrub over here. Oh well. Like I said, I am probably
just seeing things," Nicole said.
	"Uhhhhh......" Kristin replied. *She must be really tired,*
Nicole thought. *I am too, so going to sleep sounds like a plan.* She then
closed her eyes and went to sleep.
************************
	The next morning............
	Elan was still up in the tree, still mostly asleep. It was pretty
light out by this time. During the night, some leaves and stuff had fallen on
him. A small squirrel was in a playful mood and started playing with the
leaves that had fallen on Elan. Half asleep, Elan waved his hand a couple
times to try and shoo off the squirrel. He didn't know what it was, since he
never opened his eyes.
************************
	"I sure rested well," Nicole said. Kristin was still lying down next
to the tree trunk. (She wasn't much of a morning person.) Nicole, still
thinking she saw something last night, went over to the shrub and looked in
it.
	"Kristin! There -is- a bag in here!" Nicole exclaimed, removing the
bag from the shrub, and standing up, she looked in it. She saw some clothes.
She removed an article. "Kristin! This is Elan's uniform!!"
	"What? Elans?" Kristin said, sitting up, well, not sitting up
exactly. Kristin was propped up on her elbows, leaning back about 45 degrees.
************************
	The squirrel, not discouraged by Elan's hand, went back and started
playing with the leaves that had fallen over his face. Once again Elan tried
to shoo away the squirrel, only this time, he waved his hand harder, eyes
still shut.
	Well, Elan waved his hands a little too hard, because he lost his
balance. Immediately he opened his eyes and windmilled flailed his arms
around to try and grab a branch before falling. After a couple moments of
this and failing to find a branch, he fell.
************************
	"I wonder if he is still around," Kristin said, still sitting on the
ground next to the tree trunk.
	"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the sound came from above, Kristin
looked up in time to see Elan fall right onto her. "Umph!" was the sound that
came out of Elans mouth when he landed. Kristin's arms were flung out to her
sides. "Ow," Elan said as he pushed himself up. That was when he saw where,
he landed, or rather, who he landed on. "Kristin!! I can't tell you how happy
I am to have found you!" Nicole had watched the entire incident, and was
currently laughing her head off.
	"I have heard of falling for someone," she said, "but not falling on
them."
	It was then that Kristin was able to reply to Elan. "Well, I would be
happier to see you, if you would get off me," she said.
	"Oops! Sorry," Elan said, getting off of her, and helping her up. "So
what happened to you two?"
	"It is a long story. Let's sit down and get something to eat, and
we'll tell our story, and you tell yours," Kristin said.
	"Sounds like a plan," Elan said, sitting down, a slight pain in his
side causing him to go say, "ow." Kristin and Nicole looked at him. He saw
their looks and said, "Its nothing. I will tell you about it when I tell my
story."
	The three sat down and prepared their breakfast, all the while,
telling what happened to them.
	A few hours later, they finished telling their stories.
	"That is quite a story. Well, we can get back to Great Britain,
without a problem. What I am wondering about is the other three from our
squad that came with us. Where are they, and are they even still alive?"
	"Elan! Don't talk like that! Of course they're alive. We just have
to find them. Now, we got info that some ExoTroopers were caught and sent to
this base that you were headed to. Since we know it wasn't you, and most
certainly not us, then we assume it was the others. Since we know they
escaped, they are most likely, alive, and probably searching for resistance
members," Kristin said.
	"True," Elan said, and started thinking for a moment. "I have an
idea. Lets head back to the resistance in Britain, and see if Duncan has any
new info we can use. Aria wants to meet you anyway, Kristin."
	"Who's Duncan?" Nicole asked.
	"Oh, he is the resistance's number one intelligence man. he is a
really cheery fellow. You would like him."
	"Who's Aria? Nevermind, tell me later. WE should get going soon."
Kristin said. The three packed up their campsite and Elan lead back the way
he came.
*************************
	Lt. Cmdr. B. Hobbes walked around the headquarters of this resistance
cell, here in Great Britain. After a long travel, and amazingly enough, quiet
travel, Hobbes and the two others of his squad with him made it here.
	He knew that Europe was a good place to start looking for his missing
people, because he managed to track them as they were shot down. As luck
would have it, he ran into a member of the European resistance, who told him
to go here.
	When he got here a few hours ago, the place was a mess. Still is a
mess, actually. After a little investigating, he learned that a prisoner they
held had escaped and kidnapped one of the resistance's highest-ranking
members. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but a lot of injuries.
	"Cmdr. Hobbes," Lt. Ratislav O'Muirdagh said as he walked up to
Hobbes. "I got some more info for you. Some good news and some bad news.
Which do you want first?"
	"Might as well give me the bad news first, that way the good news
will cheer me up after having gotten the bad news," he said.
	"Ok, bad news is the identity of the prisoner who escaped. It was
Samuel Booth," OMuidagh said. Hobbes frowned.
	"You are right, that is bad news. What is the good news?" Hobbes
asked.
	"The good news is that Lt. Tedronai was here. However, he left days
ago, to come looking for us, it seems, and that he will return here before he
heads back to the fleet." O'Muirdagh reported.
	"That is good news. Only him?" Hobbes asked. O'Muirdagh nodded. "Then
that still leaves Kristin and Nicole to be found. Or their bodies. Ok, we
shall stay here until Elan returns. WE can help these people build back up."
	"Yes, sir. Oh, and one more thing, we cant get into the cabin that
was occupied by the member who was kidnapped. It seems she had a coded lock
on the door, and the resistance wont let us try and crack it. They are
prickly about privacy being invaded, it seems. Even in such an event that
someone is kidnapped."
	"Then we won't try. It would be better at this time to just help them
rebuild what they can," Hobbes said.
	"Very well, sir," O'Muirdagh said.
*******************
	Medical tech for Gamma Squad, Alain Vouriot, sat in a pirate ship
heading towards earth. He and another squad mate, Sgt. Kathy Mclean were not
part of the mission that was sent to earth. Now, they are headed there to
find his other squadmates. Another day or two, would see them at earth. Kathy
came tearing into the room.
	"Alain! We just received word from the Resolute! Apparently on their
recent mission at earth, Able Squad ran into some of our squad. According to
Lt. Marsh, or rather, Lt. Cmdr. Marsh, now, the encountered them in
Australia, and he also said that our squad members who were there were headed
towards Europe. That gives us a good place to start looking, wouldn't you
say?"
	"It sure does. When do we get there?" he asked.
	"About another day," she said. "When we get there, I think we should
start looking in England. I have a good feeling about that place," she said.
	"That's good enough for me," he said.
**********************
	A few days later, Elan, Kristin and Nicole arrived by at the camp by
the same train Elan left in. When they go there, Elan immediately noticed
something was wrong. He found a resistance member. "What happened?!"
	"That guy you brought in escaped and made a mess of the place in the
process. He got to the eframe hangar and stole a frame. There were no
casualties, thanks goodness. And the ExoFleet people have been a great help,"
the man said.
	"Where is Aria? I need to talk to her. And what ExoFleet people?"
Elan asked, echoed by Kristin and Nicole with their own questions about the
ExoFleet people here.
	"Elan," a man's voice said. Elan turned and saw Duncan. He wasn't
smiling now. "We need to talk." Elan turned to Kristin and Nicole.
	"You two stay here and ask him about the ExoFleet people here, while
I talk to Duncan. We will be just over there," Elan said, pointing in a
random direction.
	"Ok," Kristin said.
	Elan walked over to where e pointed with Duncan. "What is it,
Duncan?"
	Duncan hesitated for a moment before speaking. "It's about Aria. This
man you two brought in, he escaped. Made a mess of the place before he left,
too. He didn't leave by himself when he left, Elan, he kidnapped Aria."
	"WHAT?!?!?!?" Elan said, loud enough for everyone around to hear.
Kristin rushed over.
	"What is it Elan?" she asked, a slight touch of concern in her voice.
She had never seen Elan express such emotion as that before, and it worried
her a little.
	"He has taken her!" Elan said, the upset in his voice quite evident.
"Booth has kidnapped Aria! We have to go find her!"
	Kristin turned to Nicole, who just walked up. The man they were
speaking to rushed off. "What did you find out?" Kristin asked.
	"He doesn't know the names of the ExoFleet troopers here. He said he
will go get them, and bring them here." Kristin nodded, then turned back to
Elan. "We can most certainly try to find her," Kristin said. Elan looked up
at her and smiled appreciatively.
	"Will you do something for me?" Elan asked Kristin.
	"Sure. What?"
	"In Aria's cabin is Zeus, will you go get him for when we get going?
Her door is locked, but I will tell you the code," Elan said, then whispered
the code in her ear. Kristin took off to do what Elan asked.
	A minute later, Cmdr. Hobbes walked up to them. "Elan! Nicole! Oh, it
is great to have found you two. Is Kristin with you two?" Nicole nodded
affirmative. "Great! We can get back to the fleet, now, since everyone has
been found. I am afraid we will have to scrap our mission, though."
	Elan got a worried look on his face when Hobbes mentioned leaving.
"We can't leave, not yet anyway. We have to find Aria, and Booth." Elan's
face twisted in sheer rage when he said Booth's name.
	"I am sorry, Elan, but we have to get going. We don't even know where
to start looking for your friend. She was part of this resistance, and they
have people out looking for her now," Hobbes explained.
	"She wasn't just my friend, she was......more than a friend," Elan
said a little reluctantly. A slight redness appearing on his face.
	"Ah. I see," Hobbes said. he thought for a moment. Nicole and the
others in the meantime, were off to the side, talking. "Ok, how about this?
We spend no more than two days looking for her, after that, we have to get
back to the fleet. We can send an ExoFleet representative here when we go
back." Elan looked at him and nodded assent. Hobbes was his CO, after all.
Hobbes continued, "Since it is getting late, we will start tomorrow morning.
The resistance here has given us room and board. Since you were here before,
and had planned to return, I am guessing that there is no need to have
arrangements made for you, so that means we will have to find something for
Kristin and Nicole."
	"I can take care for that. Aria's cabin can hold the three of us,"
Elan said.
	"Ok. I will leave it up to you to tell them, then," Hobbes said.
	"Very well, sir," Elan said, then turned to find the two. Nicole and
the others had wandered off while him and Hobbes was talking.
********************
	Kristin walked up to the cabin in which Elan's friend Aria stayed.
There was a guard at the door. "I can't let you in. I am sorry," he said,
then got a closer look at her. "You aren't Lt. Kristin O'Connor, are you?"
	"I am. Why do you ask?" She asked, surprised that someone here had
known her name. The guard took an envelope out of his coat.
	"This is a letter to you from the owner of this cabin. I was asked to
give it to you, if you ever showed up. And if not, then to give it to Lt.
Tedronai to give it to you. I was also told that you had permission to enter
Miss Aria's cabin. I do not know the code key, you are welcome to try, if you
wish. In the meantime, I am going to go see if I am needed elsewhere," the
man said, and walked away.
	Kristin turned to the keypad next to the door, and entered in the
code Elan had given her. The door opened, and Kristin walked in. Then she
remembered the letter in her hand, and opened it.
	When she finished reading it, she headed into the bedroom where Elan
had said Zeus was. She saw him on the bed, and then went over to the chest at
the foot of the bed. This too was locked. Kristin entered the code the letter
had given her on the chest's little keypad. It opened up. Kristin took a
quick look at the contents, then shut it again. *Why she wanted me to take
care of this stuff, I will never know,* she thought to herself, *But I'll do
it.*
	Kristin walked out of the cabin and went looking for Elan. She found
him a minute later heading in her direction. Elan spoke up quickly.
	"We are going to be staying here for the night. You and Nicole are
going to be staying in Aria's cabin with me," he told her. "I already found
Nicole, she will be here in a bit. I am going to go lie down for awhile.
Maybe go to sleep of the night. Feel free to wander about until you are ready
to turn in for the night."
	"Ok," Kristin replied as Elan turned towards the cabin. She watched
him for moment before heading on her way.
*******************
	The next morning, Kristin awoke from the couch out in the living room
to see Elan sleeping in the chair near the couch. *Nicole must be sleeping in
the room, *Kristin thought to herself. A knock came at the door, waking Elan.
	"Yeah? What is it? The door is unlocked," he yelled. The door opened
and Jason Morris stuck his head in.
	"Lt. Tedronai, you better come see this," he said. He tried to hide
the seriousness of his voice, but failed. A seriousness which spoke of bad
news to come. Elan stood up.
	"What is it, Morris?" Elan said tightly. Morris ran a hand through
his hair. He was not liking this at all.
	"A message came last night. From Booth. It is addressed to you, Lt.
We haven't seen it yet. I was asked to come get you immediately," Morris
explained.
	"Alright. Tell them I am coming," he told Jason.
	"Sure thing, sir," he said, somewhat quickly, and left the same way.
Kristin had gone into the room while Elan was talking, and brought out
Nicole.
	"Let's get going Elan," Kristin said, starting towards the door. Elan
followed her.
	A few minutes later, the reached the communications room. The entire
squad was there, as well as Duncan, and the leaders of this resistance group.
	"Play the message," said Hobbes. Duncan pressed some buttons and the
like. Doing something he did well, using equipment he knew well. A moment
later, Booth appeared on the screen. Behind him was Aria tied up in a chair,
mouth gagged. She was struggling against the bonds that held her to the
chair. Two men stood at either side. There was no way to discern the
background to figure out where he was.
	"Elan," came Booth's voice from the speaker, "You have been a thorn
in my side from day one. You and your squad. Today is the day I pay you back.
The grin on Booths face was evil. He walked over to where Aria was sitting.
One of the men turned around, and when he turned back, he had a knife in his
hands. The knife blade was about ten inches long. it glinted in the light of
the room. He handed the knife to Booth.
	Booth took the knife and began slowly moving the blade from Aria's
right ear down to her mouth. She eyed the blade with an absolute stark terror
in her face. Elan made a fist and squeezed hard, as he took a step forward,
towards the screen. Booth's voice continued as he slowly traced the blade
across her neck. "She is a pretty one, isn't she? Remember back in the
academy, before that little bit of unpleasantness that got me kicked out.
Remember when we were both attempting to win the hand of this lady? Remember
how she spurned me? And went with you? Remember what I promised to do when I
was thrown off of the academy grounds? Now is time for me to hold to that
promise," Booth said, that last part turning into a snarl. Booth turned, and
the knife flashed quickly towards Aria gut. Everyone in the room gasped.
	Immediately before they saw the blade plunged in, the message went
blank. There was nothing. No sound, no video, nothing. Elan rushed over to
the console.
	"DUNCAN! WHAT HAPPENED?!?" Elan yelled at the man. Duncan scrambled
around the controls, trying to fix it.
	"It isn't a machine malfunction. This part of the message was damaged
before we got it, I can't retrieve it. I am sorry, Elan," replied Duncan.
Then the screen came back on. The message didn't stop playing while Duncan
tried to figure out what was wrong.
	On the screen was Booth. Behind was Aria's body. There was several
rents in her clothes, where the knife was plunged in. Her clothes were a big
 bloody mess. There was a visible slit across her throat. Booth even left the
blade stuck in her chest, right through her heart. Booth started talking only
a second after the image returned. He cupped a hand to his ear, as if he were
trying to listen for something, as he started talking.
	"Did you hear that Elan? Did you hear her screams of horror? Did you
hear her cries of pain, and her calling out your name?" Booth's face twisted
into a raging snarl. "Remember them, Elan. Remember what you heard, and never
forget that I will always be there to strike you where it hurts the most."
And with that, the message ended.
	All eyes turned to look at Elan. He didn't notice, and probably
wouldn't have cared even if he did notice. He stood there, looking at the
blank screen.
	"Elan?" Kristin said as she came up behind him. He turned, looked at
her for the briefest of moments, then walked away from the communications
room. His face was an extreme calm, hut other than that, it was completely
unreadable. Kristin started to follow, but Duncan put a hand on her shoulder.
	"Best to just leave him be for now, lass," he told her. She very
nearly went after Elan anyway, but saw Nicole shake her head. *He is my
friend," she thought. *He's been there for me, I should be there for him.*
	The people quietly left the communications room, and went about their
morning business. Hobbes and the rest of Gamma squad, except Elan, of course,
continued to prepare for their departure. the resistance leaders decided to
loan them eframes to get themselves in orbit.
	At one point, The other two members of Gamma Squad showed up, led by
a resistance member from afar. Looking for them, McKlean had said when asked
why they were here.
	The day went by slowly, Kristin thought, and by the time evening came
upon them, and the sun reached the horizon, Kristin decided to go look for
Elan, since he had not yet returned.
	She went over to the nearby river, and walked along the bank until
she reached the falls. There she saw Elan, sitting on a large stone.
Occasionally, Elan picked up a rock from the ground next to his feet and
tossed it into the water. Kristin walked up and sat down on the stone next to
him. She just sat there for a bit. Picked up her own rock and tossed it. She
looked at Elan. He looked just fine, but she knew he wasn't. It was because
he looked fine was why she was worried. There was nothing about him that
suggested he just lost someone he cared for greatly. Not even his eyes showed
signs of crying.
	Without looking at her, Elan said, "I suppose they want me to get
back there." He picked up another rock and tossed it.
	"No. They are all worried about you though. They decided that it
would be best to leave you alone for now. I was asked to tell you though,
that we are leaving tomorrow. Sgt. McKlean and Trooper Vouriot showed up.
There is a cloaked pirate ship waiting for us in orbit. they were sent here
to look for us when the pirate ship we came in failed to return," Kristin
said, speaking softly, and staring at the waterfall as she spoke.
	"Ah," Elan replied. They sat there for a while longer, until the sun
sank below the horizon. Then returned to the camp for the last night gamma
squad was to be on earth.
	The next morning, everything was ready, and Gamma Squad got into
their frames, and launched, heading into orbit where the pirate ship was
waiting to take them back to the Normandy.
*********************
End.