[b][i]Andrew Rivers[/i][/b]

[b]THREE DAYS AGO[/B]

Why can't he get over it?! Why can't he recover from this damned emotional state quickly? Andrew Rivers was not like ordinary teenagers; he was smarter and wiser and was precocious and he was supposed to prove himself early! But instead, he was scared and afraid and sad and depressed! His friends and mother were dead or imprisoned but he can't save them! His [i]father[/i] was probably worried about him and probably suffering from night terrors as well! And worst of all, he was still crying and shaking every few hours even when awake!

The door to the room he was confined in opened, and a voice said, "You okay, Merc Kid?" 

Another boy, just like him, carrying a breakfast bowl of gruel and a spoon. Nothing much to look at, even if Andrew had the time to even think of other peoples' apperances.

Andrew clawed back his composure, sitting in front of his tear-stained pillow, before giving his response some thought and saying, "No. But you'll probably say that you've lost someone important to you and I should suck up my troubles because you've suffered worse and I've had a cushy life before ending up here, yes?" 

The other boy put the bowl and spoon on a small nearby desk before scowling and saying, "Yes, suck it up, Merc Kid; I lost family when the Espian Guards killed them six months ago. You did [i]nothing[/i], though," the emphasis on the word 'nothing' was intended to mock. He then closed the door and continued, "You drove your motorcycle to the city instead of joining your father in running to the mountains. You could have drawn the enemy's eyes to us. And for what? Getting our help when you did nothing [i]for[/i] us in the first place?"

Andrew tensed, trying to keep his mind clear, trying to prevent himself from lashing out or breaking down, before breathing in, out, and saying, "And yet they're alive; as you said, they're in the mountains. And most importantly, they still have Mechs; you never said they lost them."

He looked the other boy in the eye and said, "I'm still the best chance you guys have of an alliance between your partisans and the Green Knights. My father - Who is an old friend of The Captain - will give everything to have me back. With Mom either dead or in the enemy's prison, he shouldn't have to worry about me."

"So you say your family won't sell you out," the other boy said. "You say that your family [i]of mercs[/i] are going to help us just for you." He then looked straight at Andrew and said, "I don't believe a word of it."

He then opened the door, locked it from the outside, and stormed out, but strangely enough, the revelation that the Green Knights were still alive gave Andrew new hope. The Rebels' trust needed to be gained, an alliance between them and the Green Knights needed to be forged. Then he can rescue his mother and the other civlians held by the enemy and begin the long process of taking this planet away from them and whoever provided their allies, the Crimson Fists, their own Mechs.

All he needed to do was to wait even longer...