Fanfiction by Laufingboy

By Laufingboy, Laufingboy@aol.com
The Nisan Sanctuary http://www.zenogias.com

"Pillar of Wind"

The past of the Element Tolone is unclear. Yet, in her memory, lingers the remembrance of home.

Tolone watched the soldiers on Entrenak. She wished, someday, that she could be like them. Elite, proud, and very much invincible. She shook her head as her mother called for her.

"Tolone! Tolone!"

Tolone pricked up her ears and turned toward the familiar voice. "Yes mother?"

"Come in. It's almost past curfew. We don't want to make the guards angry by violating curfew. Come on."

Tolone grumbled. Being a surface dwelling -Lamb- had no advantages, especially on Solaris. There, the people poked, prodded, stared, and looked at you in a way that almost made you mad. She glanced one more time at the soldiers, then picked herself up and walked toward her block.

In their honeycomb shaped living quarters, Tolone and her family sat down to eat. Her brother, Gred, was already stuffing his face full of potatoes. Pig, she thought. Her parents were eating normally, but even Tolone could sense some disturbance around them.

Gred bounced up and down. "Guess what!?" he spoke with his mouth full, spraying crumbs everywhere. Tolone disgustingly wiped off the damp particles of food.

Gred continued. "I met someone new in our block, and his dad said we might get promoted this week! Ain't that exciting?"

Tolone rolled her eyes. To Gred, everything was exciting. A guard passing by was exciting. Eating food was exciting. Getting in trouble was exciting. She looked boringly at her parents.

To her surprise, her parents were not annoyed with Gred. They usually yelled at him, and told him to wipe up his mess. Now, though, things were different.

"Mother? Father? Something disturbing you other than Gred?"

Gred stuck out his tongue covered with potato paste and went back to stuffing himself fat and talked to himself, babbling about this and that.

Tolone's mother looked at her father, and Tolone's father looked at Tolone. Gred looked at his food. Tolone looked at everyone.

"Well, Tolone, what's happening now, is that the Gazel want us to go to the factory. The Gazel want you to go to the factory, as well but I don't know why. You're going tomorrow."

So that was why. When her parents spoke of factory, they spoke of with pain and sadness. Tolone remembered many an occasion where she overheard her parent talking quietly in their beds, of the factory, and their friends that had gone there as well…and never came back.

For once, Gred was silent. Not for long, though. He bounced up and down and started to get excited. "SO can I go too? Please! Please!"

The parents looked at each other. "Are you sure, Gred? You might want to stay with your friend. This trip isn't going to be very pleasant."

Gred shrugged. "So?"

Tolone wondered what to wear for the factory. When she had told her friends she was going to the factory, many had turned away and even stopped speaking to her. Only one friend, Harris had spoken to her.

Tolone had looked at Harris oddly, wondering what he was going to say. Harris frowned, and said one word. "Sorry."

Tolone wondered what he meant by that. Everyone went to the factory, right? Everybody did, so why was he sorry? She had shrugged then ran to her living quarters to change for the factory.

She picked out her favorite suit, a green one with yellow shoulderpads. She put it on and tied her hair into two ponytails, one on each side. She looked at the mirror and made a face at herself.

Her father came in. "Are you dressed already?"

"So? What's the matter with looking nice for the factory?"

Her father shook his head. "I don't believe it. Well, I suppose this is the day." He gripped her by the shoulders. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

She looked into his eyes. "Yeah. I have to grow up, Father. Anyway, I'm fully prepared for what I'm going to witness. Got it?"

Her father laughed, then hugged her.

Tolone felt a bit odd. Her father never felt this affectionate. But she shook it off, thinking that it was the big day, and he was making sure she wasn't nervous. She grinned, then walked toward to door to join her mother and brother.

Tolone's father joined them. "All right. Remember that this is going to be a bit frightening, so hold hands if you need to. Okay, let's go."

They opened the door and took the elevator down. Tolone tapped a guard on his shoulder. "Excuse me?"

The guard turned around with a look of surprise. "What? What is it, Lamb?"

Tolone winced. "Er, which way is the factory? My family and I need to get there. The Gazel told us to go there." She tried hard not to get mad at him.

The guard smirked. "The factory is to the right after that door there, see? Now go onto the factory. Wouldn't want to be late, would you?"

Tolone shook her head and rejoined her family. "He said the factory was after that door. We better go."

Gred shrugged and went on babbling about this and that.

The present Tolone smiled. "Ah, but memories are so sweet."

Seraphita bounced up. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. What are you doing here? Didn't Dominia send you to do something?"

Seraphita nodded. "I was supposed to repair the Gears, but I got too tired and I told the mechanic boys to finish what I started. I think they got mad because I heard them grumbling."

Tolone opened one eye. "'But I got too tired'? That just means you're lazy, Ser."

"So?"

Tolone cast a confused look. "You know either Ramsus or Dominia is gonna chew you out for that. Everybody has to do their own work."

"I know. That's what mechanics are for, right?"

Tolone groaned. "Forget it. We better head back to Entrenank, don't want to make the commander mad."

Seraphita nodded. "I guess so. Let's stop by the Gear hangar first and check out the Gears, to see if the mechanics did the right job."

Tolone's family went through the door. It was an amazing sight, with fascinating smells and lights, and electronics too! Gred touched a button on a keyboard; instantly lights went off and an alarm sounded. Tons of people rushed out and tried to find the emergency. When they could find none, they looked for the cause. Gred tried to look innocent.

A steady long line was heading into a pair of large, heavy doors. Tolone and her family were at the very end of it. Tolone turned to her father. "How long will this line take?"

Her father shrugged. "I've never been here before, but I'd say about two hours, or so. Who knows with the factory?"

Her mother nodded. "My friends told me it took some time to get in there. Sometimes they shut down the factory, but other times the line went fast, and normal times it went at this rate."

"I'm hungry!" whined Gred.

Tolone rolled her eyes. "You're always hungry, fatso! You eat us out of a home, and now you're hungry?"

"Don't say fat. I'm not fat, right mother?"

"No, just big-boned."

"See?"

Tolone shrugged. "I don't care. All I care about is seeing what's on the other side of this door. Something interesting must be on there that the Gazel want us to see, I bet."

Gred made a face. "Ooh! Something interesting! I really don't want to know, because my friend said it was something bad when I saw him today."

Tolone's parents exchanged looks. Tolone noticed it but said nothing. They'll tell me when they want to tell me. No use making them have to tell us, the suspense is simply wonderful.

Tolone and Seraphita stopped by the Hangar. When the mechanics saw them, they dropped their tools and walked toward them.

Tolone looked fearfully at Seraphita. "Uh-oh. I think they're mad."

One of the mechanics stepped up. "Your Gears were acting up, and we found out why." He dropped a thing that looked like a piece of candy. "We found this in the engines. It dropped in there from the pilot's chair, rolled down into the engine, clogging up the fuel passageways and oil transmitters. The Gear's Ether wouldn't work properly, and basically everything screwed up."

Tolone looked at Seraphita. "Were you eating candy?"

"Well…er…So what if I was?" Seraphita fingered a hole in her clothes.

"Oh my…" Tolone groaned. "That's probably why we lost to Fei and his party when we fought them. Great job, Seraphita."

"Thanks…hey!"

One of the mechanics smiled. "It was pretty hard to find. And we all know that Seraphita here couldn't find her way out of a paper bag without a map."

"You take that back! I could, just not very well."

Tolone pulled her away impatiently. "We can't bother with that right now. We got to get to Commander Ramsus and tell him and Dominia why we lost today. You sure got guts, eating candy during a battle."

"Hey, I was hungry. Can I help it if I'm on a diet?"

The line to the factory gradually got shorter and shorter. Tolone and her family were in the somewhat middle, waiting for about one hour. Strangely, many of the people who came in never got back out.

They just let them out the back way, Tolone reassured herself. She noticed a handsome, well built man with whitish hair standing near the door, talking with some of the techs.

She asked her mother who the man was. "Who is he?"

"That is Commander Ramsus of the Gebler Forces. He must be looking for someone, because he rarely comes to the factory, or so I heard."

She saw him pull a girl out of the line and waved it on. About three minutes later, he yanked another one out and once again waved on the line.

"What the heck is he doing? Getting concubines or something?"

Tolone's father laughed. "My friends tell me he's searching for new Elements to replace the old ones. He specifically wanted all girls, opposed to the old traditions where women were usually just Ether backup. They said he made specially made Gears for them, just made for the Elements."

"Wow. Wonder if I could get in?"

Tolone's father shook his head. "Chances are that they are almost finished, and you need special Ether abilities. They won't take any girl."

"Oh. Why can't they have five elements?"

"They have to have one Element for each element nature. For instance, the Hyuga Uzuki a couple years back was a Fire Element. Ramsus used to be an Element and he was Wind. Sigurd Harcourt was a Earth Element. Miang Hawwa, the aide to Ramsus, was a Water Element."

"Oh…well, that's too bad."

The line moved up again. Ramsus spotted Tolone, but he seemed to ignore her. He spoke to the man next to him, and the man motioned 200. 200? What could that mean?

Ramsus motioned her out of the line. Fearfully Tolone glanced back to her family. They were waving her on, even Gred. She boldly stepped toward him. Ramsus once again motioned on the line.

Ramsus stared straight at her when he talked. A strange trait, was it not?"

"Introduce yourself," ordered the man next to Ramsus.

"I am Tolone...I am a -Lamb- here on Solaris, H block. My family and I were in line for the factory."

Ramsus introduced himself. "I am Commander Kahran Ramsus, leader of the Gebler Unit on the earth. I pulled you out because…do you know why?"

"Because you need new Elements?"

"Very intelligent. Good. Yes, you are correct, that is right. I have found three Elements, counting you, so we need one more. Did you see the man motion me 200?"

"Yes, but…"

"That is your Ether rating. This man is a analyst, and he has a scanning device capable of measuring your Ether."

"Oh..."

"We need one more person to complete the Elements, one in these lines. Hmm…"

The man next to Commander Ramsus whispered in his ear. Ramsus listened, then nodded. "I understand. I'll go get her." He turned to Tolone. "Stay here, all right?"

Tolone nodded, and watched Commander Ramsus go into the line of the surface dwellers. He grabbed a girl by the arm and rushed over. "All done. Sir," he spoke to the analyst, "You may report to your commander. Thank you."

The man walked off, and Tolone saw Ramsus face the girls. "All right, girls, I am Commander Kahran Ramsus as you all know. I was searching for Element candidates in this line, because to my knowledge Lambs are a bit superior in fighting and Ether. Introduce yourselves as I stop by each of you."

The first girl, with pinkish hair and a mean look, spoke first. "I am Dominia. I am from K Block, and we were on our way to the factory when Ramsus stopped us."

The second girl, with bluish hair and closed eyes, spoke next. "I am Kelvena. I am from D Block. I am not blind, indeed, the complete opposite. I concentrate better when I close my eyes, and I still manage to see amid the darkness."

Tolone was next. "Well, I'm Tolone. I'm from G Block, and I was also stopped. I have one brother."

The last girl looked a bit wild. She had fluffy pink hair with white streaks through them, and she was almost optimistic. "Well, um, yeah, I uh, well, that is, I…"

Ramsus looked exasperated. "Your name and block please."

"My name's Seraphita, hehe, and my Block was G block too. Weird I never saw Tolone there."

Tolone decided she didn't like Dominia or Seraphita. Dominia seemed a bit bossy, always expecting her own way, and Seraphita was too wild and out of control. Kelvena seemed okay, but she was too quiet.

Ramsus nodded. "All right. From this point on you are all Elements. You will train at Jugend, the military academy at Solaris. You will also have your own Gears, but you will have to train rigorously for them and the title of Elements. First, though, I think you might have to see something first."

He led them behind the door. Tolone gazed at the gadgets in the room. "Wow! Look at all this great stuff!"

Ramsus shook his head. "Stop it. Keep on following me."

He led them to a view spot, where the line ended. "Watch this, and don't get sick."

The line was going into a machine…the people stepped in it. About five seconds later a machine to the right of the people spit out a bloody corpse, similar to one that stepped in the machine.

Tolone felt her knees buckle, and she sank to the floor, moaning. Kelvena had opened her eyes wide, not relishing the sight, but eager to see what happened. Seraphita was unusually quiet, and Dominia, well, Dominia took it. It was like she saw it every day.

Ramsus shrugged. "I know this is sick, but you need to know this when you become Elements. You are different from the Lambs, and yes, even the Gazel people living on Entranenk."

Tolone looked back through the viewpoint. She saw her family stepping near the machine…

"NO!!" She screamed at Ramsus, trying to attack him. "Not my family! No no no! Why?"

Ramsus quietly kept watching. "Looks like your brother is going through Tolone." The plump boy looked excited as he stepped over the threshold, and seconds later the corpse was spit onto the bloody grinder. Tolone's father and mother looked horrified. A Gebler guard pushed them through, again, seconds later their bloody corpses were spit from the machine.

Tolone groaned. "Why…" She tried to gather her energy, but she was too tired, and she drifted onto a peaceful sleep.

Tolone woke up, five hours and two concussions later, in a hospital. There, a nurse was reading a magazine. The nurse put down the magazine and smiled when she saw Tolone awaken.

"Hello, how are we today?"

"Great, thanks." Tolone hated those kinds of nurses who always said 'we'.

The nurse smiled. "Commander Ramsus said you should go over to Jugend later, when you feel good. For now, I think you better sleep."

Tolone shook her head. "Can't, I don't know why. I feel really bad."

"All right. By the way, you have a visitor."

"Me? But my family died…"

"No no no, claims to be one of your confederates as an Element. Says her name is Kelvena."

"Oh. Okay, could you send her in then? I need to talk to her."

The nurse nodded, and a minute later Kelvena peeked her head in and smiled. "Hi, How are you feeling, considering everything?"

"Wonderful…Well, what brings you here?"

Kelvena excused the nurse, and she sat down. "Commander Ramsus wanted me to inform you on Jugend. One more Element candidate has been added, her name is Elhaym Van Houten, also known as Elly. She is a Gazel. Also, we have been training in combat simulators for some time now. He said we also have to build up our Ether power, and we got a view of our Gears!"

Tolone brightened. "Really? What do they look like?"

Kelvena grinned. "My is really cool. Well, they decided our elements so we of course have to have Gears to match them. I'm a Water Element, so my Gear is Marinebasher. It looks like a giant, blue shark. Dominia is the leader of the group…"

Tolone winced. "All right. Go on."

"Well, she's the leader, and an Earth Element, except she can be any Element she wants. So she's Earth Element, and her Gear is Bladegash. It looks like a pink and white ninja with a huge sword. Seraphita is Fire Element, and she gets the Gear Grandgrowl. It looks just like a huge cat with wings!"

"What about that Gazel girl, the new one?"

"Oh, Elly. She's a Fire Element too, except she has her different squad. Her Gear is Vierge, the Gear given to ranking officers. It looks just like a humanoid figure with a huge club."

"What about mine?"

"Well, your Gear is Skyghene. Since all the others were taken, you were left with Wind Element."

"Wind…? Oh no."

"Trust me, it's not that bad. The Gear is fantastic. It looks like a giant bird, and it amplifies enormous amounts of Ether, making you strong even when your Gear can't fight."

"What about Jugend?"

"Huge. We Elements have our own dorms, but we also have to share. I bunked with Dominia, and you bunk with Seraphita."

Tolone made a face. "Oh no. Well, what about the food, training, schedules…"

"Food is pretty good. You know what we saw at the factory, it was food. So Commander Ramsus said we didn't have to eat that, since we already knew everything. The new girl, though, still has to eat it." Kelvena made a face. "Poor thing.

"The training isn't that hard, really. We just concentrated on Ether and fighting skills. You don't have to take a weapon, but Dominia did. She took a long sword, and you should see her duel! She is a whirling tornado of blades. The commander could barely keep up with her.

"We get a lot of time, too. After training, we're free to go on Entranenk, and go shopping. We get as much money as we want, and we get to eat a lot too! Wel, the trainers don't like us eating a lot, because we get out of shape. And…"

The door opened and the nurse stuck her head in. "Sorry Kelvena. You'll have to talk to the patient later. It's way past visiting hours, even for Elements."

Kelvena nodded. She turned toward Tolone. "See you later, at Jugend."

Tolone healed quickly, and she soon came to Jugend.

Commander Ramsus was waiting for her at the Gear Docks. "Ah! Tolone, what a pleasant surprise."

Tolone hid a smile. "Hello, Commander Ramsus. I am here as you instructed me earlier this day. Am I correct, Commander?"

"Yes, yes. First, before you trained I wanted you to see your Gear. This Gear is one of a kind, the only one produced of it's kind. Skyghene here is one of the best, even rivaling my Wyvern."

She gazed up at the birdlike Gear. Although a bit small in size compared to Wyvern, it seemed to be quick and agile for a Gear for a Gear that size. She turned to Ramsus.

"By the way, Tolone, I wish to speak to you about the factory scene."

Tolone's blood ran ice cold. "Yes?"

"I did not wish for you to see that. My apologies. The Gazel Elders wished that the new Elements see this, and I am below them in rank. Personally, I wished for you to know later…but the food provided from the factory are for the civlians, and the new Element, Elhaym, still does not know, even though her father used to work there…"

"I understand…At least I won't look at my food wondering 'Was this Gred?' 'Was this Father?' 'Was this mother?' I'll be safe knowing that I don't eat the flesh of Lambs." Tolone was starting to use the term Lambs, now, even though a few days ago she was one.

"Very good, Tolone. Now, we're heading to the Ether Gym, to work up on your Ether skills. Pretty soon I'll bet you'll be a master of the wind Element."

After the meeting with Ramsus, Tolone started training herself harder than almost anyone in Jugend. The only people there at Jugend were Gear pilots under Solaris, anyway, so they weren't too proud of their Ether achievement.

The four Elements soon became close friends, sometimes allowing Elly, as she was commonly called, to join them. They went to the cafeteria together, they went to the Gear docks together, and they went to the dorms together. Everyone knew them as the Elements, and when you called one, you got all four.

Pretty soon they had missions lined up in squads. Kelvena and Dominia went together, and Seraphita went with Tolone. Sometimes their missions were to subdue angry Shevatans, other times they simply had to destroy bases of underground rebels.

One day, though, a group of Shevat-made Gears appeared outside the training school. Alarms went off in the middle of the night, calling the Gear pilots.

Ramsus appeared at their dorms. "Get dressed, we have to fight. Meet me at the Gear docks, and take your Gears. Remember all your training, and don't be afraid to use Ether."

Five Shevatan Gears stood in front of the new Elements. Tolone tried to hold down her fear, and tentatively pressed the button that connected her to the unofficial leader, Dominia.

"Dominia, this is Tolone. What do you think we should do?"

Dominia snorted. "It's obvious. Kelvena and I will engage the enemy, while you use Ether on them. Be careful not to use too much, you could kill us."

Tolone gritted her teeth. Ether. She growled as she piloted Skyghene into position. "Seraphita, get in position."

Grangrowl pulled up next to her, and began charging for an Ether blast. Tolone decided this was wise, and also started concentrating on her Ether skill.

Bladegash and Marinebasher had smashed the majority of the rebels, and only two were left. Kelvena radioed in with their next moves of assault.

"When Dominia and I attack, we're going to pull back after ten seconds. Remember, and attack them with your best Ether skills, being sure to target their Gears and not ours. If the Ether doesn't finish them, I will."

Tolone nodded. "Right."

The two Gears attacked the enemies until the designated ten seconds.

"Nine…eight…seven…six…"

The Gears showed no intention of slowing down.

"Five…four…three…two…"

At the last moment, Bladegash and Marinebasher retreated, leaving the enemy Gear vulnerable for a powerful Ether blast, straight from Tolone and Seraphita.

"One…Mark!"

A huge pillar of wind and fire stormed down on the two Gears, mercilessly pounding the Gears until they were cool, melted pieces of slag.

Ramsus smiled proudly at his group of elite fighters. "Well done, everyone. Simply wonderful. We've driven off Shevat for a sufficient amount of time to regroup and regain our strength."

He nodded to Dominia. "Earth Element and group leader, wonderful planning and strategy on your part. Also risking your life to take down the Gears."

Dominia glowed.

"Kelvena, Water Element, reserve leader, good following of orders and exact timing. Well done."

Kelvena simply nodded.

"Seraphita, Fire Element. Generous Ether attacking, timing and perfection."

Seraphita bounced.

Ramsus finally turned to Tolone. "Tolone, Wind Element. For myself, I must say that you did especially well on your assignment. Following orders, timing, and perfect Ether amplification to take out the rest of the Gears."

Tolone grinned, ignoring the glowering of Dominia and eating up the compliments given by Ramsus, Kelvena, and Seraphita.

Tolone smiled sadly. "Those were the days, yes, that was the golden age."

"What was the golden age?" Seraphita regarded Tolone a bit suspiciously.

"Back at Jugend, when we were forced to attack the Shevat Gears. I remember when you and I attacked the last forces, and Ramsus gave me a lot of compliments on that one."

"Yeah…Dominia was awful mad that Ramsus admired you more than her, but she didn't really care since she was the group leader. Pretty good day that was, huh?"

"Yeah…especially since we got to go on land missions from then on. We didn't have to stay at the Academy learning, because we mastered all the basics."

Seraphita nodded. "Yeah, anyway, we should get back to the dorms at Aveh. Kinda tired today, after all that fighting with then old Shevatan Gears again."

It was later that year, after her third land mission, that she learned her terrible secret.

"What?"

Krelian shrugged. "I'm sorry, but it seems to be true. Your molecular structure is breaking down quickly. I believe that the living quarters of the Lambs created a disease that breaks down and kills the patient very quickly…

"Hyuga Ricdeau, a former Element, discovered this same disease when his own family was wiped out by it. However, even with all the research, there is no vaccine and no immunity against it."

Ramsus blinked. "Is there any way to prevent the disease from spreading?"

"Yes…nanomachines might work, although I have never tested them. The other one is cybernetic transplants, which might work but are also very dangerous."

"I don't care!"

Both men looked at her surprisingly.

"Look, I don't know what nanomachines are and what they do. I don't care. I heard about cybernetic transplants, but they also work in our brain, enhancing cells tremendously. I want it."

"With all due respect," Krelian shrugged again, "I am not one to do these kinds of things. I only study nanomachines and biology. I do not work in surgery on them."

Ramsus regarded Krelian wisely. "What about our Water Element, Kelvena? I understand she's been taking some studies in surgical experiments, and she's seems rather gifted in that area."

Tolone nodded. "Yes, her. I want the operation soon. Soon enough before our next land mission…the Excavation site."

"Yes, it will work. Be warned though, it might not work…"

"I know. I've considered the risks and I believe that it will work. Physically and mentally, I'm behind the rest of the Elements. I have to do this."

Ramsus nodded. "All right."

Kelvena nervously snapped on her operating gloves. She was unusually nervous, a trait almost never seen in her since the beginning and certainly not when she became an Element.

She looked at Tolone. Tolone gave her thumbs up, and sat back on the operating table, waiting expectantly. Kelvena sighed, then nodded.

Tolone was quickly given anesthetic, and she drifted off to sleep. Kelvena opened her eyes, and began to work.

Tolone woke up in the hospital room of Jugend…once again. She shrugged, then pressed the button that called the nurse.

The door opened and surprisingly, the nurse wasn't there. Instead, it was Seraphita. "Hiya."

"Hi…Where's the nurse?"

Seraphita looked glum. "Past her shift, I suppose. Doesn't matter, anyway, the operation went great!"

"It did?"

"Yeah, Krel was saying how Kelvena did so well on your brain and central nervous system, she might even consider being a professor at Jugend. Of course, she said no."

"What exactly am I…now?"

"You're now ninety-five percent cyborg, and the other 5% is supremely enhanced. Your mechanisms are running at 100% more efficiency, and the docs say your brain capacity went up too…your intel is about 200 now."

"Wow…I never expected this much to happen."

"Believe it. Anyway, Ramsus also had your Gear upgraded to meet your brain capacity, so now you and I are ready to tackle those ugly Lambs with weird names at the Excavation Site. Ready?"

"Ready…partner."

Tolone smiled. She had come a long way from the blocks of Lower Class Solaris. She was an Element. She picked herself up and walked home, to Solaris.

Author's note: This is among the first of my Xenogears fan fiction. I rather thought this was pretty good, for an Element I don't like, but then again, people like detail. I'm not too big on detail, and by the way. If I missed something or did something stupid, email me so I can revise it. Thanks