Streets of Rosetta
Whoosh!!!
Sora zoomed through the streets of the Imperial City with his Gear at maximum output, making him but a passing blur to the few Union soldiers left in the city. After a few minutes of relentless flight, he reached the entrance to the train station.
Due to his earlier stunt with the princess, the guards had been tripled and were all on alert, which made them even more surprised when he suddenly zoomed past them without so much as a warning.
“Open fire!” the captain of the squad ordered and they immediately turned around, weapons raised, but Sora had already left their field of vision.
Enraged by the disgrace of letting an intruder past him without a fight, the captain sent an order to all the squads inside the station to fire on sight.
Ignoring the shots of the soldiers, Sora burst his way through the train station, smashed the protective glass that separated the rails from the platform, and flew above the rails to the hangar, leaving many enraged soldiers behind.
Once outside, he could see the hue of the battle far off in the distance and he increased his speed, crossing the distance to the hangar Stinger was parked in, in a few seconds. He unequipped the Gear and jumped into his jet, ignoring the apparent relief his body had shown once the Gear came off.
With his thoughts fixated on saving Rosaline, he taxied onto the runway and took off without waiting for confirmation from the control tower.
******
Aboard the Warmonger,
The door to the bridge slid open, and Rosaline was escorted into the room by the captain who’d saved Crow earlier. Contrary to what she’d expected, there was a relaxed mood in the bridge, totally belying the war going on around them.
“Damage Report,” O’Reilly ordered. If he had noticed Rosaline, he did not show it and she felt infuriated by the look of indifference he had while slaughtering her people.
“Gladiator has suffered damages to her engine, resulting in drastic loss to her speed, but she can still fly. All other ships have suffered no damage…” Peters started but O’Reilly cut in.
“I meant the enemy ships. Remind me to reprimand the captain of Gladiator later. For one of ours to be damaged during such a low-level battle is a disgrace to my fleet,” he scoffed, and Rosaline almost screamed out in anger but the captain clasped his hand and muffled her voice.
“Enemy mobile suits have suffered heavy casualties. Less than half their original forces are left and two of their forward ships have also suffered heavy damage. Their flagship remains unharmed at this point but it’s only a matter of time before they are wiped out” Peters reported with a smirk in her voice as she glanced over at Rosaline whose eyes were filled with rage.
“Did you hear that Princess?” O’Reilly asked without turning back to look at her. “I might consider sparing their lives if you tell me what I want to know,” he threatened and Rosaline felt the sudden urge to strangle him on the spot, but she controlled herself.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Rosaline refuted heatedly, but O’Reilly merely chuckled at her defiance.
“Hundred and thirty seven,” he announced with a vile snicker with a smile.
“What?”
“Number of your noble men who have died in their mobile suits,” he informed her, and laughed inwardly when he saw the fear in her eyes. “...Two thousand,” he added after a short pause.
