It had been only thirty seconds since the fighting had begun and they were already being cornered. The mercenaries of the T.C.S. are no match against the professional soldiers, Alon is convinced that with how easily the mercenaries are being picked off left and right the troops they're facing off aren't even the Elites.

Despite the gap in terms of quality Alon and Tsuna had tried their best in managing the battle. Alon with the aid of Marina worked as a team once more with Alon handling both the Vulcan Rifle and the Gun-Blade while Marina helped aim the Railguns allowing them to damage the Hussars as best as they can, meanwhile Tsuna is perhaps finally reaching his apex in terms of piloting now that he has his unit allowing him to combine attacks with the Kinetic Shotgun and the Bean Sniper Rifle with the new head providing him with a far larger range of aiming.

But that did little for their allies who were still inexperienced in taking on the Elite of the Principality.

"Help!" One Mercenary shouted as she was shot down while Alon was fending off three Hussars, the fact that they were all armed in the same way as the Hussar that nearly killed Tsuna as all of them had bulkier armour and a pair of heavy beam rifles that can be fired together to create a larger beam that the modified Kataphracts and Knights could not even be able to withstand.

Just five minutes! Alon thought as he continued to manoeuvre against the firing lines of the Hussars but his unit was slowly getting picked off one after another. The plan was that they need to buy them five minutes for Dain, Elesfor and the others to make their way inside the Vasi Sakti and plant the explosives and vacate the station. But from the way things are going, they can't even last a minute against them.

Forget five minutes! Alon changed his mind as he finally managed to take down his second Hussar. We're not gonna—

"Incoming!"

Alon turned to find himself staring down the pair of the Barrels used by the Hussar but before it can fire at him it was impaled from behind with a Beam Saber killing them from behind.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

He looked up to find Ars inside a Zio who interestingly had the Dark blue and green colours of the Memento Mori while armed with a high mobility flight backpack, a Physical Shield with a pair of Kinetic Gatling Guns, a Beam Rifle and a pair of Beam Sabers. This version of the Zio might be what the true potential that Filia wanted, as a handful of other Zios entered the battle zone equipped with the same set of weapons as they began to turn the tide of the skirmish.

"What's going on? Is the Istar-Zuhayir fighting against the Principality?" Alon asked in confusion as he flew alongside Ars and the two worked together in taking out Hussars one after another.

"Nope, my Military Organization Wild Hunt—" Ars paused for a moment to press the Gatling Shield into a cockpit and opened fire "—has officially combined with Memento Mori to end the war between the Principality and the Sovereign!"

"Works for me!" Alon replied as he unfolded the Vulcan Rifle and opened fire at a Hussar and proceeded to impale them with the Blade. "We just need to buy them time for Fenrir and the others to plant the explosives in taking out the Vasi Sakti."

But just when they are finally able to turn the tide, an oncoming Carrier of Principality Mechs entered the battle zone and began to deploy a squadron of Mechs to support their troops. Alon scowled as he swapped to the Sniper rifle and aimed at the bridge and fired, while his aim isn't on the same level as Tsuna's just yet but the shot landed near the hangar allowing him to easily take out the oncoming Knights that were still preparing for launch.

"Charges are set! We're requesting a retrieval!" Dain called through the communications.

"Aqua can you escort the ships in getting out of the Vasi Sakti?" Alon asked Marina who was busy managing the Railguns. "Way ahead of you," Marina responded as the Railguns of the L.A.M.I.A. unfolded and then began to detach themselves from the ReZio leaving Alon with just the Vulcan Gun and the Gun-Blade and flew out into the warzone as a pair of shuttles and Zios escorted them as they got nearer into the Station.

"I see you're making use of the L.A.M.I.A. to its fullest potential," Ars complimented him as the two fought back to back as they provided covering fire allowing Tsuna and a handful of other Zios to aid the T.C.S. Mechs in withdrawing due to damages by helping them make their way to the Sunrise and Kusanagi respectively.

"It helps that I have a good co-pilot," Alon said as the two smiled from the small banter, another Zio flew by next to the two.

"The Operators from the T.C.S. and Memento Mori are retrieved," The Pilot of the Zio said, it was the young woman he had saved a while back on their escape. So she joined Memento Mori huh? Alon thought but they saw an oncoming Hussar before Alon can warn her she turned around and began to unload both the Gatling Shield and the Beam Rifle against the oncoming Hussar destroying it before it even got close.

"Nice shot," Alon praised as the retrieval team flew past them and began to meet up around the Luna Sea, Alon had cast a look at the Vasi Sakti as the part where the Solar panels meet up with the generator burst into flames ripping the station in half as Alon returned to the Luna Sea alongside the others.

It was a pyrrhic victory, yes they were able to damage or even hold back the creation of the Vasi Sakti but it had dealt a large number in the T.S.C. as a whole even with the arrival of the Reckoning and an entire unit of Zios led by Ars and a handful of other who had finally joined Memento Mori.

But it still cost a number on the Combined forces of the T.S.C.

Alon remained in the hangar as Wu and the other Engineers went about running repairs on the Mechs that were acquired from the Mission while Dain, Memento Mori, Elesfor and Ars continued to discuss the next move going forward.

I wonder what does that mean going forward? Alon wondered as he looked at the ReZio and the Ame-No, the Hussar that he and Tsuna managed to hijack. Not only they have managed to gain potential funding for a few more operations due to the remaining money that the Trinity Electronics has left but they were also able to gain additional Manpower now that they have the Reckoning, Sunrise, and Kusanagi all next to them alongside the Pilots and Crew that came with them.

"Should we celebrate?" Tsuna asked standing next to Alon as they watched the Engineers study the Ame-No so they can further upgrade this for future operations.

"I think we should," Henri said walking towards them as they showed a video feed of Memento Mori standing on the bridge.

"Who I am does not matter but what you all need to know is that for years the War between the Sovereign and the Principality have continued their pointless war believing that they are the inheritors of an Empire that fell due to it's own hubris," He began as the scenery changed showing photos and videos containing the various concentration camps located on various off-world mining colonies of both sides while cut between the video feeds of skirmishes across the wider galaxy.

"And because of their own greed for galactic supremacy that even their own people would suffer for this." And then the video behind him would change into videos of the military police constantly dealing with protesters wishing for the end of the war or crackdowns on various households that border on Police Brutality.

Interestingly those video feeds featured the day Alon and his family were being raided by the Orthos. Must have hacked into their database to access those, Alon thought as he watched a handful of Soldiers beat up his parents and Marina.

"But they are not satisfied with just that, in their desperation would begin to interfere with the matters of other nations dragging them into the conflict potentially escalating the drawn out war as it is." Memento Mori said as he then proceeded to show video feeds of the Istarian Civil War and the secret meeting between Zhenya and the Oligarchs of the Union.

"Which is why We, the Memento Mori aim to end this war before this War can further spiral into chaos." He said extending his hands showing various videos of their operations that had hindered both the Sovereign and the Principality, with a strong emphasis on the Istarian Civil War and the Raid on the Vasi Sakti.

"Wonderful, so we had finally showed our stance in the war," Alon commented in a low voice. "Won't this cause an adverse effect?"

"Not quite."

The two turned to find Hayato walking towards them while still wearing the suit he was wearing earlier but lacked the Skull Helmet from before. "Letting the wider galaxy know that we stand for no one but against their war to show them that our cause is righteous."

Oh great, this whole stunt made him develop even more of a messiah complex, Alon internally groaned. "What's stopping other groups from following our footsteps in this whole anti-war Faction? Do we take them in or do we just leave them be?"

"There will always be pretenders, much like how the Sovereign and Principality claim they fight for Earth there will be those who believe they share the same cause as ours," Hayato told him as Alon watched him and the other climb up to the bridge.

Then you're no different from the people we fight against. Alon thought grimly as he leaned on a railing with a scoff. This made Alon rethink his choices, is Memento Mori no different from the people they fought against with? Especially now that they would possibly gain traction.

He saw the tablet where Henri had shown them the video earlier, Alon replayed it again and this time he went to read the video comments about it. And for the most part, it was filled with nothing but praises for Memento Mori, believing that they are perhaps the only hope in this galaxy that was slowly spiralling into chaos from the war, while some would criticize them for being overzealous and some even predict that they would not lose any longer.

It was clear that things are going to change from here on out.

[Legacy of Earth]

"You know when he said we should celebrate that means all of us."

Alon poked his head out of the cockpit and found his step-father, Wilfredo, crossing his arms as he stood on the ramparts.

"I'm celebrating, just working on some side projects," Alon said pulling out a flask of liquor that was floating inside the cockpit while he continued to modify and calibrate the controls of the ReZio.

"Besides I don't trust that self-righteous fool with a messiah complex." Perhaps it was due to the drink or perhaps his anxiety about the future ahead had put him on edge. "I don't remember raising you into an alcoholic nor to have that attitude." Alon stepped out of the cockpit and handed his flask to his father who tipped it over and gave him a disapproving look on his face.

"I'm not, I'm just coping especially since I have a feeling the 'Serpent of Venus' would be up and centre in everything," Alon explained as he added a sarcastic emphasis on the moniker that he is now associated with as he let out a tired sigh and leaned on the side while briefly burying his hands to his face. So tired. He had not been getting proper sleep recently, nor had he not properly recovered both physically and mentally since Venus which is why he is on edge about everything that had happened going forward.

"I know about you and Marina."

He pulled away and looked at his father, no his stepfather, in horror. Perhaps the recent events had not only put him on edge but also made him relax too much that he had forgotten to hide it around her.

"What do you mean?" He lied trying to regain his composure, How did he find out? Was it before the mission on Mercury? It was obvious that the two overstayed their private moment in her room so but he tried his best to keep their voices low. Was it on Venus in the Chrysia forest? The two were camping and were just trying to appreciate the local fauna and nothing had, no that was a lie, something happened there also but—

"I saw the way you two acted after her fifteenth birthday," He said with a partly disappointed look as he shifted uncomfortably in the position. "Neither of you are subtle."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that to you or your daughter. I swear I didn't mean to lay my hands on her that day and I shouldn't betray—" Alon began to panic as he started to give his apology hoping that he would fight him then and there. But to his surprise, Wilfredo placed his hands on his shoulder the same way he would always try to reassure him when he is troubled.

"—It's alright, I'm not mad." He told him as he began to finally calm down for a moment Alon was silent, unable to find the right words to respond but he just fell to the ground and began to take deep breaths in it.

"If there was anyone that I can entrust to my daughter's life it would be you." Wilfredo continued as he sat down next to him as hugged his knees. "I can tell that the way you two looked at one another is genuine. There is no mistake the two of you love one another, and how she is willing to risk her own life for you."

"Then why are you telling this now?" Alon asked, why did he decide to bring it up of all times? Is this some kind of distraction? To get his mind out of things.

"I wanted to lessen your burden, and I know how much you're trying your best for everything for us which is why I'm here to tell you that all I ask is that you protect her." He stood up and ruffled his hair like when he had first met him years ago.

"I will."