Chapter 2;

Sabban did as Ennya had suggested and spun his Nemo around to observe what had panicked the boy so thoroughly, (Not that it traditionally took much) he also flicked the switch on his radio unit to an open setting in the hopes of hearing what was happening;

"..S-Someone help, we need reinforcement, Mi-Mili's gonna die!" came the shrill voice of Zori over the intercom.

Looking ahead and making use of his camera's magnification process, Sabban spotted the problem.

The second of the enemy's groups of three mecha - consisting of a Mleue and two Ogres - Had chosen to attack the ship from the rear while Sabban and Ennya had been busy.

Not only outnumbered by one, the Mleue had proven a far more powerful machine then the feeble Nemo could hope to match, from his viewpoint Sabban could see the results of the battle so far:

Zori's mech had literally lost an arm and a leg, with substantial damage to the head and booster pack as-well, floating around it lay the wrecking of another Ogre which clearly the duo had managed to take out before Zori's machine got so badly damaged.

Below him on the flight deck Sabban could also see Ennya, who's Vijaik had now landed below with its cockpit-hatch open to allow Ennya to observe the on-going battle in spite of his broken camera equipment.

Across from all this however was the real issue.

Placed a few yards in-front of Zori's disabled machine was Nemo-No.30 - Mili - Currently clashing blades with a second Ogre, her mech too had taken heavy damage but nonetheless held its place.

Behind all this the Mleue, which had seemingly backed off due to covering fire from the Tradech, was now closing the distance fast.

"Hold on Mili, I'll be there soon" Sabban called out over the radio receiver, while activating his machine's backpack to move himself forward.

Despite his claim it was becoming painfully clear he wouldn't make it in time.

Another voice lit up the comms - "Nemo 30, Hold The Line, Reinforcements Are On Their Way!" 'Bull' communicated sullenly, as though Mili had much choice in the matter.

Possibly to everyone's surprise Mili's suit suddenly sprang to live as the women managed to maneuver it's leg upwards to strike the Hizack she was engaging.

Pushed off balance, it drifted back just far enough for Mili to use the newfound space to surge forward and slash the enemy cockpit with her now freed weapon.

"Way to go!" Sabban and Ennya cheered near simultaneously as the mech she had been fighting exploded in defeat - But there was no time to relax, as the destroyed Ogre floated aside the blue winged-form of the Mleue took its place, swooping in with the grace of a predatory bird.

Mili was too slow this time and before anyone knew what had happened, the Mleue slashed upwards with it's intimidating clawed fist, tearing open the machine's torso to reveal the exposed pilot-cabin beneath.

Not even stopping to finish the job the blue enemy mech simply continued its pursuit towards the Tradech.

"Mili!" Zori screamed over the radio link, "Damn machine, why won't you move? I have to help her!"

Her voice straining, Zori continued to shout out for her friend as the sound of her disabled machine's levers 'clicking' helplessly echoed.

Sabban was forced to watch, still too far to reach out at the crippled Nemo, but just as all seemed lost Mili's Nemo turned to face them (Still being spun by the sheer force of the previous attack).

Zori let out a cry of relief, as did the two young men when they realised that although the front of the mech had been completely stripped back, it was clear the pilot, in her space-suit was still alive, if unconscious.

"Right then, time to stop that bast-" Sabban begun, his resolved renewed at the sight of his friend still breathing, however before he could finish off the sentence his sensor picked up another mech moving remarkably fast.

First behind him, then briefly straight above and then right ahead.

The G-Type Casnel .

Even flashing by at such remarkable speeds, it's imposing canon glistened as it let loose a powerful energy blast.

Said attack collided straight into the Mleue which had no time to even attempt an evade, it's own intense speed becoming a self-inflicted burden.

The blast causing it to recoil backwards, it's thrusters clearly damaged by the impact it drifted carelessly back towards where Mili's still stricken machine still lay.

"That's the way Mr.Davrim, now finish him-... wait, wait! No wait! Don't shoot, for Sun's sake, don't--".

Sabban's words fell onto deaf ears.

Davrim - The boy wonder, said to have physic 'Magi' powers of perception and incredibly innate piloting talent despite his young age - Effortlessly fired a second blast which expectantly finished off the hapless Mleue.

And it in turn exploded in an impressive engulf of flames, the force of which collided mightily against the openly exposed cockpit of Nemo Unit 30.

Spewing a typhoon of visceral flames into the unprotected pilot's cabin.

Sabban's last look before the whole thing was obscured by flame, being the image of his friend's pure white space-suit catching a sickening black-blaze.

****

Shasha recoiled slightly as what was left of her mech, number 26, strapped into one of the holding containers on the lower deck.

With her cockpit now open she took the chance to properly observe the damage, her Nemo's arm from a little above the elbow and down - Had been blown clean off, a part of the chest sections armour and her riffle lost along with it.

Glancing across she saw unit 3 similarly come to a-halt and out emerged Petty Officer Kolme Nilas. Clenching her fists Shasha kicked off from her machine and floated over to the man, grabbing onto the tip of his open hatch she began her assault;

"What the hell was that? You left me for dead out there, I signalled you and you just ignored me! If Commander.Ceathair's Casnel hadn't been passing I would be dead for sure!"

She proclaimed swinging an arm to her side empathetically.

Kolme looked over to her, his face showing little surprise at the insult;

"Sorry lass, the radio interference were too high, I couldn't hear you properly over the regular comms, should of used you laser connection instead, those are more reliable".

Shasha bristled at this insinuation of the fault being on her for 'using the wrong' form of radio link,

"Couldn't you see me? My right arm got blown off, is that not enough of a damn signal for you?!"

Before the 'conflict of interests' could go any further, a voice called out to them from below - "Hey knock it off you two, now isn't the time."

Sabban said in a half-hearted shout.

Shasha looked over towards him, more than a little used to butting heads with her long standing oldest friend, ready to retaliate, when finally she saw it.

While she had been yelling at Kolme, the other mechs had finished returning, well most of them anyway.

Leaving an apparent gap in-between units 3 and 26, Sabban's 27 with its battered shield and Ennya's frontally blackened Nemo 29 had redocked with their respective holding units nearest the lift.

More conspicuous then the gap between the suits was what Sabban's machine held in its hands, the upper torso of a Nemo missing most of its head and backpack, alongside only having one remaining leg and arm - It made the significant damage to Shasha's machine look minimal.

More pressingly then what was there, was what wasn't. On the floor next to Sabban was the figure of a small woman - Zori on her knees clutching hands to a crying face.

Crouching behind her was Ennya who had embraced her in something of an ad-hoc hug.

Sabban for his part just stood idly to the side.

"Wh- What happened..." Shasha said her mouth suddenly dry as she floated her way down to the group, a smouldering smell seemed now to fill the room as the wrecked mecha settled around them.

Sabban opened his own mouth to answer but Zori got there first;

"W- we, we got the first enemy just fine.. but then th- the Mleue was just too fast-.. Mili was protecting me- a-.. and, an- and then she.."

Zori uttered incoherently through her tear stained face that seemed to stare desperately up at Shasha, as though looking for the answer to an unspoken question.

"-And then that bastard Davrim killed her..." Sabban interrupted quietly.

The others, even Kolme - Who had been hanging back from the group shuffling his feet and looking awkwardly towards the ground - All glanced over to the young pilot with shook on their faces.

Ennya quickly explained for Shasha's sake that what Sabban had meant was that the Davrim's Casnel had hit Mili's damaged suit as collateral damage, but Sabban wasn't finished;

"Like Hell it was an accident! I told him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Shouldn't his Magi-Esper bullcrap of warned him!? Mili'd be fine if he had--"

Before he could go any further Sabban found himself grabbed by the scruff of his collar.

"That's quite enough kid" Snarled the voice of Kolme Nilas, the one responsible for the collar grabbing.

"Look around you, you're makin' a scene. I'm sorry 'bout your friend but I told you 'lot to be ready, this is how things are. Best thing you guys can do now is get some rest, then get back here and see what 'an be done about these machine repairs."

The rapidly greying man said sternly.

Finally paying heed to his surroundings Sabban realised they were far from alone on the deck, a number of mechanics had already filed down to begin damage assessment and make sure none of the damaged Nemo's still ran the risk of catching fire or worse yet exploding, in fact the commotion had attracted enough attention that a good dozen heads were now looking in their general direction, though none of them showed any signs of trying to actually interrupt the argument.

Sabban scoffed and swiped away the hands holding his onto his uniform - "Fine then, you don't want me to make a scene, then I'll do things by the book."

He called back, turning away from the group of mourning pilots and heading in the lift's general direction.

"That's a crap idea kid, no one on this ship needs dissent between us pilots. Let it go, ain't no one's fault your friend died!"

Kolme responded back, calling after the youth but Sabban had already set course for the bridge.

During his short lived time aboard the Tradech these last few days, Sabban had already started to get a feel for the Battleship. It's living quarters, break room and other non-combat areas were all relatively small compared to the large hangar bays, with its residential blocks housing individual cabins for higher ranking pilots and officers, as-well as the pilots and engineer's barracks.

The aforementioned barracks was nothing to write home about, a long narrow room, lined with 12 bolted down sleeping bags for use in the zero G environment, with each space divided by a thin curtain.

To the far end of the room stood the valuables lockers and to the end nearest the door a whiteboard lined with pilot stand-by rotas and other remedial duty lists - Said board had been somewhat mysteriously filled with a series of names Sabban and the others hadn't recognised on arrival but when asked, Kolme had simply told them to ignore those names and had later wiped them off when he thought no one was looking.

Aside from this the only difference to their old academy home was that the beds and the Chester-draws at the ends of each space were of an expectantly much higher quality.

The far side of the ship, including the bridge, captains quarters, etc was all fairly condensed compared to the hangar and somewhat to Sabban's surprise he found not a single guard posted anywhere with-in the ship - Indeed he easily entered the bridge without anyone so much as asking for his name and rank.

Having reached the bridge so easily Sabban had thought the bulk of the operation to be complete. He confronted the Captain with his most professional of army-cadet salutes and explained that he believed Davrim's blatant disregard for his allies, had been highly inappropriate and that if the Casnel had been put to better use - The outcome of the battle could of been entirely averted.

'Captain Legro' for his part acknowledged the young man's complaints and told Sabban he would put 'due-thought' into said disagreement over the pilot of Nemo 30.

"Disagreement? Sir with all due respect, he might as well of shot her himself and for your information she had a name ya know, Sir."

Sabban exclaimed indignantly.

"Watch your tone Nemo 27, such remarks towards a fellow pilot doing their utmost to protect this ship could be seen as highly inflammatory. We all have to stick together in these hard times, it's my job as Captain to see the bigger picture, you understand?" Legro responded calmly.

Sabban, tired from the battle, thoughts of his own morality after scoring his first kill still fresh, and with a feeling of exuberate grief at the death of one of his closest friends - Finally lost his composure.

He lurched forward laying his hand on Captain Legro's forearm, gripping tightly he drew the taller man close;

"My name isn't 27 Sir! And that Davrim child is a damn murderer, what sort of 'Captain' doesn't take immediate action against something like that - Heck what sort of leader keeps sending out a small child like him into battle in our best machines for that matter?

I thought you were meant to be one of the heroes of The First Wa--"

Before Sabban could continue with his rage addled rant he found himself interrupted once more, this time struck across the face.

He stumbled backwards as the mighty force of the legendary 'Legro-backhander' left him dazed and confused.

****

It was in this way Sabban found himself confined to a 72 hour sentence in the brig for 'insubordination and deformation' - Along with a hefty field demotion back to the rank of Crewman for his 'immaturity', not exactly the result he had initially hoped for.

Around 42 hours into this cost free stay in the small blank walled box room with its odd small of damp, that served as the Tradech's 'time out quarters' - Sabban sat staring intently at mould on the roof, when he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door.

It was by his estimation too early for a food delivery which meant he had a guest.

As predicted the familiar face of Ennya appeared behind the barred door with a friendly accompanying "Yo."

The two conversed for a time, with Ennya inquiring as to whether Sabban had now 'cooled off';

"Tch, I guess it was a bit much on my part, still though that guy can really throw a slap and what's up with his uniform?"

Sabban said coyly.

"Those are some strange complaints ya got there bud, then again you have always had quite the temper on you. Watch'a mean about his uniform anyway, looks find to me?" Ennya replied with a small, slightly awkward laugh.

"It's a TSU uniform, that's what! The guy's like second in command of this whole 'outfit' bar Vice-Admiral Louise, yet he goes around in an enemy uniform aboard the damn flagship. And that's another thing, what's the deal with him not knowing my damn name?".

Ennya laughed politely from his place outside the cell, "Well seems you're back to your normal self, good to see you keeping your spirits up and be fair you can't really expect him to know every person onboards names right? Still though getting detention on just our third day! That's gotta' be a record right? Shasha says it took you at-least 4 days back at the academy."

Ennya said.

"Ha! They would of long expelled me from that place if I didn't have the highest scores in the mock battles... Tch, maybe it would of been better not to of joined up at all...Arghh screw this mopping bollocks, what about you guys? How's Shasha and Zori holding up after... Well you know."

Ennya moved about uncomfortably outside the cell, "Well Shasha's doin' what she always does when she's upset..."

"I should of guessed, that poor Nemo of hers must of been more thoroughly cleaned and inspected these last few days then any other mech in history, she'll of torn the shiny new paint off by the time she's done scrubbing. And Zori?"

"She's doing better than you would think, the chief mechanic says they can use the recovered wrecking of unit 30, along with what's left of 28 to make 'a good as new Nemo'. Zoe says it'll be like... like Mili's flying alongside her once it's done..."

Ennya finished, choking slightly on the last few words.

Sabban stood up from where he had been sitting and made his way across to his side of the doorway;

"Hey and what about you eh, slacking off on your machine maintenance as usual I suppose? You know Shasha will chew you out for that right?"

He asked kindly in a less boisterous tone then before.

Ennya cast his eyes to the floor as he spoke, "It's just - Well, if only I hadn't been such an idiot and blinded myself like that, maybe I could of helped..." He half muttered.

Sabban was about to correct his friend, remind him that if his own unit 27 couldn't get there in time, then there would of been no way for Ennya's 29 to go any faster - That it was all that Davrim boys fault, but realising the selfish nature of those words - He held his tongue.

The pain was clear on the 17 year old's face and Sabban was well aware nothing he could say would make that go away for his young friend.