Seigyoku City... the City of Sapphires. Andy stared in wonder at its beauty as the APC rolled down the streets of the city that was the cultural capital of the Yellow Comet nation. Ornate fountains and majestic cherry trees lined the streets that had already been well-worn five hundred years before, when the other three Alliance nations had only begun to recover from the medieval fighting and dark ages. The sun was shining warmly through the azure colored sky. Andy watched a cloud that looked like Olaf with a cowboy hat on, then watched a beautiful pair of blue-feathered birds fly along near the APC. He wondered what species of bird they were, but his musings were interrupted by the heated discussion being held between two of the other commanders who rode with him in the crowded vehicle.

"I don't see why we have to fly all the way out to Nukigawa City and then drive for two hours to Seigyoku just to see the graduation of a bunch of cadets!"

"Oh, Max, quit being so selfish! Kanbei made just as long a journey to be the official Cometary representative at Orange Star Military academy graduation last May."

"And he ate every last one of those creme-filled desserty thingies! I didn't even get a single cookie during the entire reception!"

Andy smiled as Max and Nell both sighed and looked out the windows, doing their best to pretend to ignore each other. He turned to the fourth and final passenger and asked, "So Sami, are you looking forward to the ceremony tomorrow?"

"Hmm?" Orange Star's commando specialist turned away from the window to look at him. Her clear green eyes searched him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Andy with a mischievous smile, "I thought you might want to spend some time with a certain Green Earth pilot who I heard would be here for the weekend."

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," stated Sami in a disdainful voice, though her lightly blushing cheeks gave her away.

Andy knew that when you push Sami too far, it wouldn't be playing with fire, it would be like lighting a dynamite stick and seeing what would happen. Max on the other hand, was either too brave or too playful for his own good.

"Don't worry, Sami. We'll cover for you if you and Eagle are making out in a side corridor during the ceremony!"

Max's grin faded when the fire erupted in Sami's eyes. Nell laughed nervously at the tension and announced, "We're here!"

Emperor Kanbei and his personal honor guard stood in precise military formation before the orange-painted APC, waiting to welcome their honored guests and accompany them to the Great Hall of the Yellow Comet Military Academy. They weren't exactly expecting to see a three-hundred pound man fly headfirst, screaming, from the just-opened door of the transport, but there was little that could truly surprise the great warrior and his elite troops. As Sami emerged from the transport second, she stepped on and over her fallen comrade, ignoring his grunts of pain and smiling sweetly.

"Commander Sami, it is a pleasure, as always, to see you again." Kanbei had a hint of confusion in his voice, but he attempted to get around the prostrate tank-driver to formally bow and shake Sami's hand. "Ah, shall I assist Commander Max in..."

"Oh no, he'll be fine."

Andy and Nell emerged from the transport, helped Max to his feet, and followed Kanbei and Sami into the building that housed and educated the men and women that would be the future commanders and military scientists of Yellow Comet. The halls were remarkably clean and white, and Andy was surprised to see computer terminals at regular intervals along the corridors, with advanced holographic battle simulators sitting in the common rooms where cadets would normally be relaxing and chatting at this time of day. Nell apparently noticed the same thing and asked Kanbei about it.

"You know I don't rely on technology in war," he responded, "but even I realize that our soldiers today must combine the skills of both the past and the future to win battles. When my little Sonja suggested to me that we should modernize the academy, I allowed her to install a 'network', 'internet access', and some more advanced battle simulators to help prepare the cadets for battle in today's world."

The group reached the doorway into the Great Hall and entered into a scene of chaos. All four of the Orange Star COs gasped at the spectacle of cadets dancing wildly in any available space between tables, some of them even on top of the tables. Gigantic speaker systems sent wild rock music blaring across the cavernous room, and it looked like two burly students were having a boxing match in one corner. Nell looked blankly at Kanbei for some sort of explanation.

"These students have studied nothing but the art of death for four long years. Even the samurai needs to stop and have a little fun now and then, or he will go mad! Tomorrow they will leave here forever, sent off to the navy or army, so let their last full day here be one to remember for the rest of their lives!"

Andy turned to Nell with a surly look. "The Orange Star graduation ceremonies were memorable, all right... memorably boring!"

Max joined in. "Yeah, and there wasn't even any alcohol until afterwards at the party down on 11th Street!"

Sami just walked away. "You two are hopeless!," she called out over her shoulder.

Max grinned at Andy. "C'mon, let's go find some saki!"

Even as Andy had kidded Sami about her anticipation of seeing a special someone at the ceremony, he had secretly had butterflies in his stomach about who he might meet before the day was done. His thoughts drifted back to the last time he had seen her, sitting on top of one of her scout recons, trusty binoculars in hand. Well, now that he thought about it, he had seen her once after that final battle with Sturm, as all the commanders and generals posed together for newspaper pictures and a victory celebration. But she wasn't the same person when she posed for the cameras as she was when she sat in the dawn mist and formulated her plans. The former girl was the darling of the Comet Army, the girl prodigy the papers just had to photo daily. But the latter was something else, a beautiful but powerful commander who had gained a quiet confidence in herself near the end of the Second Invasion. That martial aspect of her personality made her so attractive that Andy was sure she could have any single man that she sought.

And so Andy wandered through the crowds of celebrating cadets, simultaneously hoping to avoid being seen by Sonja and being to bashful to talk to her, and hoping to catch a glimpse of the face he had come to love. As he passed one table with a couple students whose uniforms indicated that they would be entering the artillery division, one cried out:

"You're Commander Andy of Orange Star!"

The cadets at nearby tables were interrupted from their laughing, becoming wide-eyed when they realized one of the war's greatest heroes was standing right there. In seconds, they had surrounded him. They peppered him questions as if he were a god, even though Andy was sure the youngest of them couldn't be a whole year younger than him.

"What was it like to be battling against Sturm?"

"Who taught you to be such a brilliant strategist?"

"Do you favor missile units or anti-airs for dealing with enemy bombers?"

Andy was overwhelmed and slightly embarrassed by the eager young men crowding around him. His embarrassment only increased when the voice that he dreaded and loved spoke out from behind him:

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please! I'm sure Commander Andy is quite exhausted after his journey here!"

Andy whirled around to face her. Sonja was smiling at him as she continued. "Give the Commander a chance to enjoy our hospitality, and maybe he will reward us all by giving a short speech at commencement tomorrow!" Sonja gave Andy a small wink that melted his knees and rushed blood to his cheeks. But as she opened her mouth to say something more, her father's great voice called out for her. "Sonja! Come here please!" Sonja's eyes flashed a sort of apology, it seemed, and Andy was forced to watch her disappear into the crowd with only a short "Goodbye" on her lips.

Andy sighed and went to find Max.

Elsewhere, in a room adorned entirely in black, with chairs and table of deep charcoal grey, and windows tinted so darkly that even the sun could not penetrate them, the darkest man of all stood.

"Lash, are your men ready?," the voice asked imperiously.

"Hee hee! It will be just like Capture the Flag, only much more fun!"

"No more fun and games, Lash. You failed me once already, and if our forces were not so disorganized since I had just taken control, I would have made you stay behind with the force until you succeeded. Remember that you are quite expendable to me if you continue such failure."

Lash's merry demeanor darkened somewhat. "I understand, Hawke."

Hawke turned as if gazing out the windows that hid the secrets of the outside world. "Operation Quarantine must succeed."

Lash took it as her dismissal and walked out of the room to prepare for her mission. Adder remained silent and watched the Lord of Black Hole contemplate the empty air.

"Follow her. Ensure that the mission does not fail."

Adder saluted and left without a single witty, sarcastic, or self-centered remark. Hawke was angry, and Adder knew it.

Hawke continued to gaze out into space long after his second-in-command departed.

"Operation Quarantine must succeed."