Could he Still be Alive?

*Third Person POV*

In a remote military base surrounded by a rocky, mountainous, and green landscape, a man is walking towards a meeting room. As he is walking, some people give him looks of respect, others of admiration, all offering a military salute to the man. He just ignores them and continues walking towards the meeting room at the end of the hallway.

Once there, he knocks on the door in an alternating pattern for 10 seconds before his body is scanned. After the scan, a cold and feminine robotic voice was heard: "Welcome Commander Ajax Al Defon, callsign JUDAS. Everyone on the list of this meeting is already inside, they are just waiting for you."

"Oh for fucks sake, callsign "Judas"? This definitely has Valina written all over it," said Ajax under his breath as the opaque glass door slid sideways into the wall, allowing him entry to the room.

"Ajax!"

"If it isn't the man of the hour!"

"Look who finally decided to show up."

Multiple voices called out all at the same time as Ajax walked in and made his way to a chair at the head of the table.

"So, lets cut straight to the chase, why are you summoning us all at, what time is it?" asked a girl with pink hair and Asian features.

"Its 3 a fucking m," called out a man with a mullet in an Australian accent.

"They've got a good point. Why is my beauty sleep being ruined?" A grumpy woman called out.

"Well, Elara, Valina, and Renzo, since you are all so insistent unlike our lovely Kai and Mateo who are just silently awaiting what I have to say since they know I'm the one in charg-" Ajax was cut off by Mateo.

"Hijo de tu maldita madre, just get to the fucking point, Judas, we all know Valina is the one in charge and you're just her puppy," Mateo said, clearly over Ajax's antics.

"Mateo," Valina said softly.

Mateo felt a chill run down his spine as he straightened himself in his seat, "I'm sorry, ma'am. Ajax, just cut to the chase, will you?"

Ajax waved his hands as he began to speak, "Ok, so as I was saying, the drones we had monitoring the surrounding area of the battle reported back massive spikes in energy, the most recent one being about 20 minutes ago." In the middle of the desk a hologram appeared with readings that were pretty much flat with 2 massive spikes, the more recent one almost triple the size of the first one.

"Well, that just seems to me like a couple of mech reactors going bye bye to me," said Renzo to which Kai and Mateo nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well, it may be so, but we have a recording of the first one and it seems to have been from Aspen's mech," Ajax said as a recording started playing of it exploding.

"So what? Valina skewered the fucker just when he was about to chop your balls off right after taking down, what, 7 mechs with a single swing of his sword? Granted, they were idiots, but that doesn't change anything." Elara said as the recording kept on playing.

"She's right, your recklessness cost us some mechs," Kai who had been quiet the entire time finally spoke up. "But returning to the matter at hand, what is this recording going to show us? It's just his mech going kaboom…" he trailed off as he watched the recording.

"I'm guessing you caught that too?" Ajax asked, a mixture of anger and a smirk playing on his face.

This seemed to raise Valina's interest levels as she perked up and got closer to the table. "Is… is the cockpit hatch open?"

"Bingo," said Ajax. "It seems like my dear dead friend is not so dead after all.

"B- but that's impossible. Our scans showed no life signs coming from his mech, not to mention my spear should've ripped him in half after entering his cockpit." Valina said, disbelief in her words.

"Well, everything is pointing to his survival. Someway, somehow, that fucker just won't stay dead, and knowing him, knowing what I did to his wife and kids, he's going to be coming for me as soon as he can." Ajax said, pausing for a second. "Start sending men to look through the files of all clinics and hospitals within a 1000-kilometer radius of the fight. He definitely went to get fixed up, so we have a couple of weeks, a month at most before any trail he could have left completely disappears."

"Why are you so scared of this walking corpse anyway?" Asked Renzo, an eyebrow raised.

"Who says I'm scared of hi-"

Valina interrupted Ajax as she flicked her finger towards the table. As she did, information regarding Aspen was displayed. "Aspen Del Santo, this is the information that wasn't divulged to you all. Aspen's performance in the military academy was nothing short of legendary, quickly becoming the benchmark for what was considered "possible" in mech pilot training."

"His Omega-level potential was apparent from the moment he first stepped into a simulator. Cadets and instructors alike were left in awe as he displayed a near-superhuman level of adaptability, reacting to unpredictable combat scenarios with a precision and instinct that seemed almost beyond comprehension." 

"In mock battles, he wasn't just executing strategies—he was rewriting them in real-time, effortlessly commanding his squad while reading the battlefield as if he were seeing several moves ahead. His commanding skills were unparalleled, often turning hopeless situations into crushing victories. Time and again, he demonstrated the ability to analyze complex combat situations with lightning speed, deploying his attacks with uncanny accuracy and timing."

"His battle IQ was already rumored to be higher than any recorded cadet in the academy's history, but it was his intelligence IQ— his strategic foresight and decision-making— that left military officials dumbfounded. His ability to process battlefield data in real-time, predict enemy maneuvers, and adjust on the fly was as if he were a step ahead of reality itself. Instructors often commented that Aspen didn't fight "in" battles, rather he "controlled" them. Every engagement seemed like a game of chess, with Aspen already knowing the outcome several moves before anyone else.

"Despite his almost supernatural abilities and Omega-level potential, his rise through the ranks came to an unexpected halt after his wife became pregnant with their first daughter, and soon after with their second. His priorities simply shifted. The raw ambition and drive that once defined him softened as he embraced fatherhood, choosing to hold back significantly on the battlefield. He no longer pursued success with the same relentless intensity, and as a result, his once-rapid progression slowed to a crawl."

"Despite possessing skills and intelligence that could have placed him among the greats, he voluntarily capped his potential, remaining at the Epsilon level of the ranking system. His decision to be present for his family, rather than risk everything for personal glory, held him back from reaching the Omega status that seemed his birthright. The galaxy might have seen Aspen as a legend in the making, but to him, being a husband and father came first—even at the cost of his own potential greatness. He was eventually kicked out of the academy for getting into an altercation with a commanding officer over a comment about his wife and daughters. The CO had to have extensive surgery and spent a few weeks in a regeneration pod after Aspen left him barely clinging to life." Valina finished speaking and looked around the room, only to see the slack jawed reactions of the other 4 pilots in the room.

"Ajax, just who the fuck did you have us piss off?" said Elara.

"Now I know why that name seemed so familiar, people wouldn't shut up about him a decade or so ago," said Renzo.

"Now I know why he's scared, he just removed all the restraints from the one pilot everyone dreams to become and gave him all the reasons to grow and come hunting for us," Mateo said as he ran his hand down his face.

"Well, good news is that he's at the very least heavily injured and we'll find him before any of that comes to pass." Ajax said chirpily.

"I guess you're right, it shouldn't be too hard to track him down," Renzo nodded his head. "Now, what about the second spike in energy from the readings, that shit is off the hook."

"Ah, well, the second reading knocked both of our drones offline, but we did manage to get this split frame before they went offline," Ajax said as he motioned for an image to show on the hologram.

The image depicted a bright light that reassembled a giant glowing cross with what appeared to be the figure of a man standing in front of it. The image was blurry and the light shone on what appeared to be graves behind it near a big boulder. The image left Ajax shocked for a second, he hadn't seen it until now, he had only seen the first video and immediately called for a meeting.

"What is that light?" Asked Kai, his confusion palpable through his words.

"It… It seems like a… cross." Mateo said, his voice a little shaky and just above a whisper.

"A cross?" Questioned Renzo.

Mateo continued, "It's old stuff y'all, the thing of legends. Back before humanity ventured out into space, in our cradle world, there was once a man who claimed to be the son of God-"

"Which god? You know, everything's a god for your religious bunch, gotta be more specific." Renzo interrupted Mateo.

"Um, Yatvet, Yaleh, Yahweh, or something. I think it's spelled Y H W H," Mateo said before giving up. "Helix, do you have anything in your database about this? I don't remember much."

"Certainly, Mateo, callsign Specter, The cross is the central symbol of faith for believers in the god Yahweh, representing the most significant moment in history—the point where divine justice and mercy met. To followers of Yahweh, the cross is far more than a historical execution device. It's the site of atonement, where the broken relationship between humanity and God was restored.

According to their belief, all of creation is subject to sin—rebellion against Yahweh's will. This rebellion comes with consequences: separation from God, suffering, and ultimately death. These are not merely physical realities but spiritual conditions that affect all sentient beings. No amount of effort or goodness could bridge that gap between a sinful creation and a perfectly holy Creator.

The cross changes everything. Yahweh sent His Son, Jesus, to take on this separation and punishment. Jesus's crucifixion was a sacrifice—He absorbed the penalty for all sins, past, present, and future. Believers see this as the ultimate act of love, where God Himself, in the form of His Son, took on the consequences of sin so that humanity wouldn't have to."

"Yup, that just seems like R and R to me, religious retardation." Quipped Elara with a chuckle.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure there's an explanation for it. That man is probably some local or scavenger that heard the battle and was just giving the poor bastards a burial according to their delusions," said Renzo.

"Maybe, but we'll have to check into it," replied Valina. "Mateo, unlike the rest of us, you seem to have some idea of what's going on. You'll go check that out tomorrow morning at 0800. Kai, Elera, you two will go to Kloln and search for him there. Renzo and Ajax, you two will go to Peim, I'll go to Amdon. Dress casually, although it wouldn't matter, we don't want him to find out we are searching for him. Lets get some rest before we head out."

"Yes, ma'am," replied all 4 pilots with the exception of Ajax.

"Dismissed," ordered Valina, to which they all filed out of their rooms and went to their dormitories.

"Ajax," Valina said as she put her hand on Ajax's shoulder once the others had left. "I hope you're ready for what's coming if we can't find him."

"I am," replied Ajax.

"No, I don't think you understand what's at stake. A man with nothing to lose and only anger and vengeance fueling him is very dangerous, let alone a pilot with such terrifying potential. That's no longer a man, that's a dangerous loose cannon who will stop at nothing until he does what he has set himself forth to do."

Ajax nervously played with his thumbs, acknowledging what Valina had said. He knew better than everyone just how dangerous Aspen was.

Word Count: 2112 Words 🙂