<span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%]A woman born in fire
Loose rays of sunlight erupting from the Honshu star broke the blue composition of the Hiyo cloud, a nebula giving shelter not only to the infamous Kansai Research Station, but at that time a crippled battlegroup of the Rheinland Kriegsmarine as well. The shattered constellation of otherwise majestic and proud vessels baring the flag of the Chancellor now stood encircled and hiding from an entire division of Kusari Naval fighters combing the nebula. Spearheading the group of survivors was the RNC-Hellstrom, a gunboat now engulfed in smoke and its own shattered hull parts.
The year was 802. Rheinland's attack on Kusari was just recalled, the troopers left behind were now hunted down by the vengeful remnants of the Emperor's Navy. The Hellstrom and the handful of fighters guarding it were originally the part of Kreuzer-Abteilung 14, tasked with seizing control over Kansai Research Station. The Rheinländers were overwhelmed by the experienced guardians of the installation and their precise defense systems weeks ago, the remnants have been hiding in the nebula ever since. Abandoned by the rest of the Rheinwehr now on retreat to their homeland and beyond, the Kusari forces now got closer to apprehending the Hellstrom than ever.
One could literally smell the desperate frustration on the gunboat's bridge. The surviving few officers were running around in an awkward manner, fulfilling the tasks of two or three personnel at the same time. The captain of the vessel, Oberleutnant Martin Bittorf, stared into the blue nebula of Hiyo, gripping the railing around the observation port.
[color=#33FF33]"Herr Oberleutnant, sensors indicate two dozen Kusari fighters combing the area in a 20 square-kilometer radius. We're detecting an additional two wings to the ships we picked up an hour ago... they're getting close."
"Shut down all non-essential systems.... again."
"Jawohl!"
The officers kept rushing around the deck, flipping random switches and pressing buttons.
A loud bang was heard. The lights went out, all motion ceased. Total silence dominated the entire deck.
Suddenly the whole room lit up red, the alarm claxon broke the sheer silence.
"Herr Oberleutnant, fire erupted in the engineering deck. We're unable to contain it without switching electricity back online."
The commander's grip on the railing tightened, his brows narrowed.
"Detach it."
"Herr Oberleutnant, I must advise against that, Gefreite Melahn and her daughter are still in there."
"I said... detach it."
"Verstanden."
The rushing continued under the crimson flashes of the fire alarm, the officers clicked a few buttons and pulled a lever, the sound of a hiss followed...
Gefreite Melahn was not exactly what they consider the ideal soldier material; she was shy, absent-minded and clumsy for her age, it was exactly her lack of forethought that got her conscripted while being one month pregnant. Almost immediately, she was shipped to the fleet of Von Schenk, serving as a radio operator on several gunboats, her final mile and tombstone being as obvious, the RNC-Hellstrom. Seeing how back in that time little attention was given to individual opinions, needs or even health, she was given no special regard until her pregnancy in its third trimester made her more or less unable to fulfill her duties as a soldier. At that point, the Rheinwehr main fleet was already storming the borders of Kusari. By the time they even considered sending her back home, the supply lines of the Kriegsmarine were cut off, the main fleet was isolated.
When the Hellstrom and Abteilung 14 hit the vicinity of Kansai, the baby was born, the circumstances of her birth were less than ideal. A woman born into a war, fire and death... her path was selected ever since she saw the light. Her mother on the other hand, never was meant for combat, she got severely wounded by a Kusari sortie a few days after the birth of her child.
The engineering deck was one of the few areas left on the Hellstrom which was still operational, regardless of the damage it received. Occasional fires sparked up, though they could be handled with ease, that is when time was less of a luxury. Since the sickbay burned out and was flushed by a hull breach over a week ago, the engineering deck was where the injured were treated, or more accurately due to the absence of a living doctor, were placed.
Though the dead were jettisoned through the airlock, nothing could take away the smell of rotten blood that was covering the deck, in which Gefreite Melahn and her newborn daughter were placed on an improvised bed.
Most of the remaining crew was occupied with either manning the guns or keeping the ship together up on the bridge. The wounded soldier only received two visits a day, they checked if she was dead yet, when found otherwise, she was simply administered painkillers.
When the silence was broken and the baby cried up, Melahn found an old march song to calm her daughter with:
[font=Comic Sans Ms][color=#33FF33]"On the heath a little flower blooms and it's called: Erika.
Hot from a hundred thousand little bees that swarm over Erika
because her heart is full of sweetness,
her flowery dress gives off a delicate scent.
On the heath a little flower blooms and it's called: Erika."
When the lights went out and the fire alarm lit up, the newborn started crying. Melahn sighed, knowing the end of them both has arrived. She was nowhere important enough to be saved, let alone her defenseless, innocent daughter.
[color=#33FF33]"On the heath a little flower blooms and it's called: Erika..."
Then the hiss came. A loud, metallic crumbling noise followed. The ship shook as the engineering section with the infant and her mother was spit out by the gunboat, descending into the clouds of Hiyo in a coat of flames...
A bulky, yet artisan and elegant vessel burst through the nebula, its cruise engine leaving a trail as it passed. The ship was apparently of Kusari design, however the unusual overuse of flowers and curved shapes placed this secessionist piece of art among the ranks of the Golden Chrysanthemums.
[font=Comic Sans Ms][color=#FFCC00]"Koharu-sama, Matsuo-san is picking up something ahead... looks like a scrap field."
[color=#FF6600]"What do you see, Sister? Are they fallen warriors of Hideyoshi?"
"No, Koharu-sama. They appear to be foreigners."
The feminine-looking vessel drifted close to the leftovers of a battle, the disintegrated remains of a Rheinland gunboat could be clearly made out. The wreckage was still fresh; flames were erupting from the vessel's side as its oxygen reserves were sucked into space, dead bodies of soldiers in green uniforms were scattered around their former shelter. The inscription on the vessel's side could still be made out;
RNC-Hellstrom.
Judging by the remnants of the albeit one-sided skirmish, the Kusari Navy found and massacred the intruders.
"Scan for survivors, Miho-san."
A green beam erupted from the front of the Chrysanthemum ship, an aging method of detecting vital signs among the charred remains of a battlefield. It lit up the chunks of the gunboat and its escort, then tickled the dead pilots and crewmen. Finally, it came upon a burnt-out sub-section. The beam turned red.
"Koharu-sama, we have some live ones in the engineering module... it appears it was detached long before the gunboat's core went critical."
"How many survivors are there, Miho-san?"
"I'm seeing two... one of them seems to be an infant."
The presence of a newborn child on a military vessel served as a shock to Koharu, an otherwise calm and dispassionate woman. She turned to her advisors, keeping her apparently unemotional look.
"Asuka, prepare your space suit. Yuki, get us close to the wreckage. We're going in."
The barely recognizable engineering deck shook as the Chrysanthemum ship rammed its side, two women in flamboyant space suits jumped over to its airlock. The door slid open, giving room for the visitors making their way into the depths of the wreckage.
The sound of the iron seal closing behind them as they stepped in revealed a dark corridor, though lights were out, life support was still online.
[font=Comic Sans Ms][color=#FFCC00]"Koharu-sama, oxygen levels are still acceptable, we may as well preserve our own."
Koharu nodded and pressed a button on her wrist, her helmet slid open. The smell of rotten blood and burnt flesh, mixed with the scent of ash filled her nose. Asuka, the companion of the matriarch stepped forward, only to be followed by Koharu blocking her way with her hand.
[color=#FF6600]"Wait..."
An infant cried up, sobbing in a healthy, yet heartbreaking manner.
Koharu raised her wrist, on it a flashlight illuminated the hallway.
The originally dark-green wall was now gray and black, the paint burned off and loose circuits were spitting sparks into the room. On the floor, broken engineering and medical tools were littered, most of them covered by blood.
In the middle of the deck stood an iron table, on it lay a soldier of the Rheinwehr, embracing a newborn baby engulfed by pieces of the green uniform. The soldier was severely burned, patches covering previous injuries were now decorated by ash.
As the baby cried up, she started singing in a crude, weak, dying tone.
"On the heath a little flower blooms and it's called... Erika.
Hot from a hundred thousand little bees that swarm over... Erika
because her heart is full of sweetness,
her flowery dress gives off a delicate scent.
On the heath a little flower blooms and it's called.... Erika."
The newborn stopped crying.
The soldier looked into the flashlight of the Chrysanthemum warrior, revealing her face to be severely deformed by heat, most of her hair was missing.
Koharu stepped forward, the Rheinländer forced a smile on her face. She whispered:
"....eeeerika."
With that her eyebrows slid shut and she leaned forth. She was dead.
The Chrysanthemum matriarch removed the infant from the soldier's embrace and held her into her own. The baby was unharmed, virtually unaffected by the horrendous events surrounding her ever since she was given birth. As Asuka came close, Koharu looked into her eye, this time showing sorrow and sympathy.
"Her name shall be Erika. Erika Hellstrom, after the warship she was found in. She will become one of Matsuda's apprentices and will be taught the way of a warrior."
She now looked back at the deceased mother, followed by an eye blink of silence.
"A woman born in fire will live her life in fire."
