There was a time, in the era of great chaos, when the earth and the moon were at war with each other. A daredevil from the moon piloted a bizarre aircraft... it was feared and, because of its shape, called "Einhänder" ***************** Phases of the Moon part 3 Blood Moon ***************** An Einhänder fanfic by Snapdragon Snapdragon@videotron.ca ***************** [Music: Einhänder - 26 - Judgement] They were heroes today... God, James hated today so much... As they paraded throught the filled streets of the capital, with people screaming praises at them and large banners displaying : "Long Live the Heroes who Vanquished the Evil Earth Empire !", They were under assault by the remorse of what they had just did. They had destroyed not a land of greedy men keeping everything to themselves or a world of power-hungry tyrants seeking to crush the moon under their boots, like the lunar propaganda had told them, but a country just like theirs, engaged in meaningless battles whose reasons were long forgotten. At James' side, his compagnons looked as if they were struggling with the same dilemma as I did. Their commander's outfit shone in the multicolored lights of the city, reminding them of the promotion that had preceded their arrival on the planet. They had been promoted two ranks higher on the spot, as proof of their fabulous work, they said. Michael knew better. It was all for show. They only wanted them to look good in front of the media. As a matter of fact, they were scheduled with interviews for the four major newspapers of the planet right after the parade. Michael wanted to scream the injustice of the war to the reporters, but the pilots would be escorted. For their protection against Earth terrorists, the military had said. Right... It was to make sure they didn't say anything wrong to the media... God, he would be happy when it was all over... ***************** [Music: Einhänder - 25 - Moonlight] As James entered his room at the end of the day, he wondered if he wouldn't have been better of dead on earth then a part of this military parody. It still wasn't over. They had things planned for tomorrow as the president would grant each of them medals, then they would have dinner with him and other important figures, then... The list seemed without end. As his mind came back to the present, he realized a light buzzing sound Could be heard in his room. It indicated that he had new messages since he last sat in front of his computer. Probably all fanmail, he thought. He was right, of course, the majority were letters for persons who knew him and wanted to congratulate him, but one stood out from the rest : -----Message----- From:"Blood Witch" To: Sent: Tuesday December 13, 2245 Subject: I Hate it ! If you're as sick as me of this whole military charade, meet me at the Blue Moon Bar tonight at midnight. I'll be there, and Michael will probably be as well. Delete it after you've read it. Blood Witch -----Message End----- James wondered idly while changing out of his military outfit to a more civil suit. And as James stepped out into the night, his computer restarted buzzing, a sign that more mail had flooded his inbox... ***************** [Music: Einhänder - 18 - Afterimage] The Blue Moon Bar was once a little nearly unknown bar on the east side of the Capital City. However, through a lot of luck, it had risen to be one of the most filled during the war. It was mainly because of the fact that most of the competition had been bombed during one or another of the Terran bombing raids. It was now full every night, mostly from the officers of the nearby base that were on leave for a reason or another. That was exactly why Catherine had chosen this bar. Their presence in the military crowd wouldn't surprise anyone. "So, why the meeting ?" asked the nearly-late Michael. The fact that he lived on the western side hadn't helped at all. James didn't add anything, but his eyes spoke for him. He was staring right at her. The witch waited until Michael had taken his chair to respond "What if I told you I was planning a rebellion ?" Michael fell off his chair, but James nodded. He thought it was something like this in her head. "Why ?" "Many reasons..." she answered "First is that I don't want to be remembered for being a hero of this war. Second, I need to get back to Mars, but that doesn't apply to you. Third, and most important... I don't want to die here." "What do you mean ?" That had gotten James' attention. "Think about it. We know what really happened on Earth. We are the only ones who know that it isn't the 'paradise' so told. And they already tried to put us in our graves with the EOS, if you remember well. Why would they stop trying now ? They'd probably blame on some earth terrorist or a rebellious movement." The worst was that Catherine's thinking made total sense. The military would probably wait until their usefulness was passed then would execute them. "OK, I'm in" answered both men. They weren't afraid to die, but not like this. "Good." "So how do we escape ?" "Midnight, three days from now. Meet me in the main hangar. We'll break out then. Until that time, no meeting or messages except for official buisness." she said, dropped a few bills on the table, then left. The men imitated her shortly after. ***************** [Music: Einhänder - 29 - Beginning] "This area is off-limits. please turn around and return to your quarters." said the electronic voice of the security computer. "Shut up !" James could believe that their hadn't put any guards to protect the Einhänders from sabotage or theft. he said internally, smilling as he entered his Endymion FRS Mk. II. It took only a minute before the metal gate separating them from the sky exploded from the inside revealing three shining figures... The Einhänders were breaking out. ***************** [Music: Einhänder - 20 - Rebellion] "So what's the escape plan ?" the Endymion Mk. II's speakers said with Michael's voice. "We don't have much time until they realize we are gone with the ships." "I actually have a few ideas. First, Satellite Hyperion. As soon as they realize the ships are gone, they'll use it to find us. So we take it own before that." "That's fine by me." answered Serte. "Second ?" "We take out the EOS main control tower at coordionates 175'056'297. Either that or we'll have to face every one of them to escape." "Not much choice I see..." responded Michael. "Cut the chat you two. We got incoming." Five minutes later, the Hyperion Satellite reported a core system failure. The resulting explosion lit the lunar skies for more than two minutes. The EOS main control tower followed suit five minutes and a half later. ***************** [Music: Einhänder - 23 - Bloody Battle] All was not going according to plan. The tower and the satellite were out, but not before the military had found out that they were responsible for the damage. So right now every EOS on the face of the moon was currently aiming at them. James was currently hard pressed but ok. He had had to drop his Riot gun a long while ago and was currently using a Wasp rocket launcher he had snatched from a defeated EOS a while ago. Catherine was somewhere at his left, his computer indicated. She seemed all right too, but he didn't have much details. As for Michael, he was no longer with them. While dodging a cannon bullet, his right wing came in contact with a rock spire and was torn off. James hoped he survived that, but he wasn't too sure. His concentration returned to the battle has another wing of five EOS were comming from the front, as well as two from the back. he quickly dodged left as a volley of missiles barely missed his side, then dived right to avoid cannon fire from behind him. He then came back up as he opened with his internal machine gun in front and launched a few Wasps in his back. His effort was rewarded with his two followers getting direct hits by the missiles and another EOS exploding before him. However, as the 'Incoming Missiles' warning flashed on his screen, he realized that one following him had thrown these while falling down to the surface. He tried doing a side roll to evade them, but the goddess of luck had turned her back on him and a rocket exploded directly in the back of his right wing, shutting down propulsion. He was currently falling down to the moon. He quickly launched all his remaining Wasps, destroying all ennemies around him in a dozen off explosions. That unfortunately didn't help his situation in any way. Einhänders were supposed to be kamikazes, so there wasn't a parachute on board. James was religious, so a last prayer wouldn't be appropriate. There was really only one thing to do. "Communication open" said the computer's female voice. "I'm busy." the female voice yelled from the other side "Hey Blood Witch... Live for us, will ya ?" came his final words as his ship crashed into the hard rock below. ***************** Time seemed to stop for a moment when Catherine's ship said "Connection lost". Then came a large battlecry saying "THOSE BASTARDS !!!" as the last Einhänder tore through her ennemies... ***************** End of Chapter Three - Blood Moon Is followed by Chapter Four - Epilogue - Black Moon Author's Notes : The next chapter is the last of the serie, explaining through the eyes of another person the events following the escape of the Einhänder pilots. Einhänder belongs to Squaresoft and is not meant any displeasure by this work Snapdragon/Thierry Chartrand-Chamblay July 2001