Shay dreamt a lot of things. He was having such a nice dream. Him and Lily were getting married, and he felt like he was on Cloud 9. The bells were ringing, and the organs played, with the crowd cheering and sobbing at the same time. Standing at the altar, he watched as his soon to be father-in-law walked Lily down the aisle. His heart began to race as they neared.

“Take care of my daughter.”

General Hawthorne whispered, leaving Lily and Shay together. The priest began to read aloud, the entire hall having gone silent. He could feel the sensation of everyone’s eyes on him, but he knew they also looked at Lily as well. As the Priest neared the end, Shay looked forward. He could hardly look at Lily without averting his eyes.

“Speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

“…….”

“Then, I now pronounce you both, Husband and Wife. You may now, kiss the bride.”

Lily’s face flushed red as Shay and her leaned in. Closing their eyes, they closed in. Shay could feel his heart skip a beat, then-

#

The Earth Federation had contingency plans in the event of an enemy attack. The usual responses were to fight back, call for reinforcement, the usual tactics employed since generations long past. St. Clara had a top-secret project going on since the Earth had sent off its excess population to the Space Colonies.

Underneath it, deep in the bowels of the earth, an underground facility was under construction. It was meant to provide as a sure-fire way to escape enemy detection and had enough supplies for several months when rescue would arrive. The entry points would be large scale elevators that could easily be locked down and defended, creating an impenetrable fortress. However, when the war had started, funding trickled to a stop and all ongoing construction had stopped, with areas being cordoned off with a sign that said construction would resume shortly.

However, the attack had happened so suddenly that no one topside could prepare for it.

Shay Kisaragi stared at the burning sky, his body shaking as if he had come down with the flu. He had woken up about twenty minutes since the attack, and he could still hear fighting from the other side of the base. Mase Hall was done for, completely collapsing from the fire and broken foundations as it was consumed.

It was like a scene from a war movie he had watched. The heroes were trapped inside a burning building as the enemy advanced onto their position. The screen would fade to black as the Commander gave the order to never surrender. Scenes like that were common in the movies, but here, there was nothing heroic about this. No heroes to give their lives, no happy ending to be found.

With unsteady legs, he began to make his way down the steps. He felt strangely apathetic, as if he was just simply sickened by everything. There was no trace of Lily, nothing to show that she had somehow made it out. If he was to stop and think about it, he would have concluded that she had been crushed underneath some of the fallen debris. For his sake, and hers, Shay had to keep thinking positive.

At the base of the steps, a blue jeep was idling. Its keys still in the ignition, its owner was nowhere to be found. They must have gone into Mase Hall to try and find survivors. But, they never came back out. Looking at the sky, he felt slightly bitter.