A New Flame

"I'm sure you know why we are having this meeting, Athena."

Athena was in the meeting room in Eternal. She was standing before 5 holograms of Separatist higher-ups. From one of the generals' words, it was clear to her that they were pissed, just like her CO said they would. But he had no power above her. He needed her more than she needed the Separatist.

"We heard you let Ares go on the siege of Helsinki. Any reason you did so?" the general asked her.

"Are you doubting my judgment, general?" Athena snarked back. She was not going to let them intimidate her.

The general shifted uncomfortably in his seat before speaking again.

"Whatever your judgment is, letting an enemy go is never an acceptable decision," said another officer.

"I do what I want. That's the deal. Now if you are only here to berate me, I would rather stop wasting my time and take my leave."

Before the other three commanders could say their piece of mind, she cut off the communication.

"They are really pissed at you," her CO commented. He was with her in the meeting room, but since he was standing outside of the camera range, none of the higher-ups saw him.

"Let them be. They know the risk when they made the deal with me. Not to mention they used holograms instead of coming here themselves. What a bunch of lazy *** cowards," Athena said angrily as she walked out of the meeting room, followed closely by him.

"Why do you hate them so much? I mean, they saved your life, right?" he asked. Not too long ago, he heard from a couple of other pilots that Athena was saved by the separatist from some sort of incident. But in the end, it was nothing but a baseless rumor.

"Saved me? Physically, yes. But mentally? No," Athena answered.

She was starting to get irritated by him questioning her about her past life, but she held herself back for the time being. It would be a huge pain in the *** for her to get someone else to replace her CO, and besides, most of the time he didn't question her decision too much. She appreciated it, even if she never showed it to him.

"W-What does that mean?" he asked. Even though he was her CO, he knew nothing about her background. Just one day, he was assigned to be her CO without any information beforehand. All he knew was her nickname, Athena, and the rumors about her that were floating around among the other pilots.

"Forget it," Athena said before letting out a sigh. She fastened her walk with the full intention of leaving him behind.

"W-Wait, Athena!" he grabbed her hand. His sudden touch made her surprised and agitate her. She grabbed his hand and slammed him to the ground. The other people around them turned to look at the commotion she caused.

"Don't. Touch. Me," she said with a shaky voice before rushing off, leaving him behind.

"Ow... T-That hurts..." he said as he stood back up while rubbing his back. He was glad he didn't hit his head on the floor.

"Y-Yuri! Are you okay?" a woman nearby asked as she ran toward him.

"Yea... She is pretty damn strong..."

The woman asking about Yuri's condition was Julia, a close friend of Yuri and also a CO of another ace pilot. She couldn't help but compare her ace pilot with Athena. Her pilot was much nicer and even treated Julia like a friend. Athena, on the other hand, treated her CO like crap.

"Maybe you should quit being her CO," she suggested.

"I-I will be fine, don't worry," Yuri said with a smile.

"Are you sure? I mean, a pilot shouldn't be slamming her own CO to the ground like that."

"I think this is my fault. I did something without thinking about her feelings. At least this way I finally learn something more about her other than her nickname."

Julia let out a sigh before helping him stood back up. "If you insist..."

Yuri found his ace pilot sitting in her mecha, meddling with something inside of her cockpit.

"Athena!" he called her out, but she didn't respond.

"I didn't mean to offend you!" he shouted. Still no response.

"Look, I'm just worried about you. I'm sorry if I did something that offended you. I just wanted to know about you better. You are my ace pilot, after all," he tried to talk to Athena for the third time, but like before, she ignored him.

Yuri let out a sigh, he gave up. He already said what he wanted to say, he thought it was enough for the time being.

"Alright then... I will talk to you later, I guess..." he shouted before walking away.

Athena, after she was sure her CO was away, let out a sigh of relief. She didn't mean to slam him to the floor like that, but his sudden touch just made her... uncomfortable. He maybe was the closest person to her among everyone aboard the Eternal, but she was still not comfortable enough for any sort of physical contact.

Wanting to forget everything that just happened, she decided to take a nap and had the luck of reliving an old memory...

Ever since Ares jumped back into action, he rarely returned to his room, preferring to sitting inside of his mecha cockpit waiting for his target's next appearance. Wherever she appeared, he would be there to fight her.

"Are you not tired of staying on your mecha? Sitting in your mecha for that long must have at least hurt your butt," his CO said. She was bringing him a can of cold drink, which he gladly accepted.

"Thanks, Janna. I need to be ready for when she appears, that's why I'm staying here" he said simply as he opened the can.

Of course, it was not the whole truth.

"Athena? Do you have a personal vendetta against her?" Janna asked as she opened her can.

"... She killed someone dear to me. And she will die by my hand even if it's the last thing I do," Ares replied. He was so angry that if he didn't have the self-control, the can on his hand would have been squished.

"... I see. Look, this is not my place to tell you what to do. And I don't know who the person you lost is. But I don't think it's good for you to have revenge as your main motivation. It's going to be unhealthy in the long run," Janna said.

"This doesn't concern you," Ares said before drinking his drink until it's dry.

"It does. Not as your Commanding Officer, but as a friend. I just don't want you to... lose your way."

"... Leave me alone," he squashed the empty can and threw it down. He secretly made sure the can do not hit her. She had a point, and he knew it. But he just couldn't accept it.

"If you need to talk, just call me, alright?"

Ares stayed silent as Janna left.

Feeling his eyes getting heavier, he decided to take a nap.

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