Riah

 Rain on Side 6 wasn’t too common. Having to rely on external water deliveries from earth meant that wasting it on simulating weather conditions was seen as wasteful. However, the new government of Riah felt that having rain storms here and there could be seen as a sort of symbolical act, to keep the memory of the recent civil war alive for generations to come.
    Plus, it helps to wash the blood off the streets.

Life for civilians following the revolution wasn’t the easiest, as martial law brought along with it strict curfews and armed patrols to many of its streets. Even some of the mobile suits brought by the Principality were left behind to not only provide large-scale riot control, but also to remind the people of their “saviors”.
    The children didn’t care about these curfews all too much, and a week wouldn’t pass without some rebel getting arrested for wandering the streets at a point of time they weren’t supposed to. Unfortunately, these arrests wouldn’t go as planned every now and then…

“Hilde, whatcha waitin’ for? We gotta get goin’!” A voice called over to the peppy girl from outside her window. She peeked out, only to see that she was being called for by her closest friend, Ruby. Hilde quickly lit up and waved at her.
    “Sozzie! I’ll be down there in just a sec!” She turned around and grabbed her things, namely a backpack and a music player. Today was something she had been waiting for a good week or two now - Ruby had asked if she could accompany her for a secret mission, one that would need the help of someone new. Hilde wasn’t quite sure what this “mission” was supposed to be, other than it was something given to Ruby by her other friends. She didn’t talk about them very often. 

    Hilde ran down the stairs, waving at her mother on the way to the front door.
    “Ruby got here, I’m heading off for a bit with her, Mama!” Before her mother had a chance to respond, she had already sprinted out into the soft afternoon rain. The cool droplets fell on her hair and shoulders, and the small puddles on the ground splashed as she stepped over them. Ruby herself was standing close by, looking at her watch somewhat impatiently, which let her guard down just enough for Hilde to tackle her onto the ground.

    “H-hey, we gotta get goin’, Hil! We don’t got time to mess ‘round right now!” She giggled, giving the excited girl a noogie.
    “Awawawa~! But it’s been so long since I saw ya, Ruby. I couldn’t help giving ya a welcome!”
    The two got up and brushed off the dirt and fake grass on their clothes, and began walking. Not that many people were up and about, with most people either staying inside in case they ran into a particularly disgruntled patrol. The two had no such worries - they knew pathways and little shortcuts that let them avoid them altogether.

    “Ruby?” Hilde asked, inquisitively. “When do ya think they’re gonna lift martial law here? I miss being able to walk around carefree here…”
    At first, she didn’t answer, looking a little perturbed by the question. After a bit, however, she shook off her own worries and flashed a smile at the girl.
    “I got’s a feelin’ they’re liftin’ it real soon. It’s been nearly five months already, an’ there hasn’t been a lotta trouble in ‘ere for like a month now. Any day now we can head out and enjoy the outside again.”
    Satisfied with the answer, Hilde kept walking with happy steps, playing some music through her player. In darker times like this, having a way to distract one’s self is important toward keeping a happy outlook on things.

    Time passed, and the two eventually made their way to the center of town. Waiting there was one of Ruby’s friends, carrying a backpack and a pair of walkie-talkies on him. The three met up, with Hilde getting a big hug before he turned toward Ruby to discuss something out of Hilde’s ears.
    The town center looked sad. The once lively park was quiet and empty, and many stores and little coffee shops that Hilde could see were closed down, either to be opened another day, or left permanently as a reminder of what over half a year of conflict and unrest does to a place.
    “I had ice cream there last summer,” Hilde thought to herself. “Hopefully somebody else opens a new one for next year…”

    Hilde’s reminiscing was cut short by Ruby giving her a soft bonk on the head.
    “Come on, ya lil’ daydreamer! We still gots some walkin’ to do.”
    She nodded and got up, giving one more look at the town center as the two continued toward their destination. A little along the way, she handed the younger girl one of the walkie-talkies.

    “You’re gon’ need this once we get to where we’re goin’. Ya know how to use a talkie, right?”
    Hilde looked at the device, pressing on the button that turned on the transceiver. Ruby smiled and ruffled her hair as a reward.
    “Man, we’re heading out real far and I get to use a walkie-talkie? This is cool as heck! It’s like we’re some kinda secret agents, headin’ to our mission to beat up bad guys and grab some documents or save a friendo in need!”
    Ruby looked at Hilde, quiet concern on her face.

    The two kept walking, passing by the dead streets of the town. Apartments were boarded up, carcasses of what once were civilian cars were strewn around, and every once and a while they would walk across pavement slightly tinted red. Distractions were quite necessary.
    “..Hil, have ya had ideas on whatcha gonna do once all o’ this is cleared up?”
    Hilde wasn’t expecting the question, and had to think a minute to come up with an answer.
    “Uhm… I think I’m gonna head to Zeon. I heard they opened up a really cool school there, one that lets people study communications and things. Plus it’d just be nice to see another Side for once. Mama and Papa have been saving money for me to travel there and everything! What about you?”
    Ruby didn’t respond.

    Not long after, they reached their destination - a governmental building. Compared to the surrounding buildings, this one was in good condition, and people could be seen working and moving about if one looked closely at the windows. It also happened to be one of the few buildings that still had Federation jurisdiction.
    Ruby sighed, turning to Hilde and placing a hand on her shoulder. Her grip was a little shaky.
    “Okay, Hil. Time to start our lil’ mission. See a buncha those broken cars over there? Slip under one of ‘em, an’ start lookin’ out for patrols. I gotta set somethin’ up real quick, an’ this place can have a lotta guys waltzin’ ‘round, so ya need to keep your eyes wide open, gotcha?”

    Something heavy began to form inside Hilde’s stomach all of a sudden. Although she was rather young at only fifteen, she could recognize when something bad was about to happen. Something really bad. She hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded and started walking toward one of the abandoned cars.
    This wasn’t normal. She knew it, but something in her forced her not to voice it. Maybe it was the rain? It has been raining considerably more than usual, maybe it’s making both of them act strange. Ruby wouldn’t be doing something like this normally.
    The ground beneath the cars was cold and dry, although a few drops of water have managed to leak out from the holes in the chassis. Crawling in the asphalt felt uncomfortable, and the small pebbles scratched up the skin on her hands, while the dust and rain water dirtied her clothing. Oh well, that could be washed off, and scratches heal in no time.

    Right?

    While the silence before wasn’t exactly comfortable, it now began to feel downright threatening, and the position she was in made Hilde begin to feel somewhat claustrophobic. But she couldn’t get up. Not before Ruby was done, she had to keep a lookout for her. She wouldn’t be letting her best friend down.
    Still nothing. Hilde’s leg began to cramp. This wasn’t fun anymore. It really hadn’t been fun for quite some time now. But she couldn’t let Ruby down, so she waited.
    And waited.

    And waited-

    Hilde could feel the rumbling of vehicles approaching, but she didn’t see where they were coming from. All she knew was that there was a lot of rumbling, much more than what a single car could make. She reached for her walkie-talkie.
    “R-Ruby, someone’s coming! I-I can’t see where they’re coming from, but I can feel the ground shaking a lot! G-get outta there!”
    She didn’t respond. Hilde called for her again.
    “Ruby! A-are you there? C-C’mon, you gotta move! Why aren’t you s-saying anyth-“

    "Sorry, Hil. Bit late for that."

    An APC drove in front of the car Hilde was lying under, blocking her vision from that side. She could hear at least three… no, four vehicles parking in front of her, along with a lot of commotion. Her hands were trembling, and she nearly dropped her transceiver. She had to move, she had to see what was going on. Quickly but quietly, she crawled her way under the car, and as she made her way out of there…

    “Put your hands up! You are under arrest for terrorism against the Riah Republic! Put your hands up and come quietly, or we will be authorized to use force!”

    Ruby was standing quietly, staring coldly at the military police surrounding her. Hilde kept herself hidden behind the car husk, tears filling her eyes at the sight she was witnessing. She had kept her eyes and ears open. How could she have let this happen?
    “R-Ruby! W-wh… what are we going to d-do?! There’s n-no way out! Mmaybe you can f-follow what they’re saying and-“

    “Nah. Too late for that, Hil.” The walkie-talkie spoke back to Hilde. Seems Ruby had rigged hers so it would keep sending audio
    “I’m… I’m sorry I got ya into this whole mess. Ya shouldn’t be a part o’ this in the first place. Are ya in a safe place right now?”
    “U-uh huh…”
    “Good. I suggest ya look away, and keep to the ground. Put your hands over your head too, jus’ in case. Oh, an’ one more thing…”
    Hilde followed the instructions to a tee. She didn’t know why she was given instructions like that, but there was a feeling. A feeling that kept growing larger and larger, especially as the murmurs of the officers began turning to panicked yelling. She wasn’t going to..?

    “Keep that smile up, Hil.”

    …

    Hilde stood in front of the airport mirror. Her ship would be leaving soon, but she had to make sure everything was just right. Hair pin, properly placed. Glasses, clean and not crooked. Bandages, tight and clean. She was ready to go.
    As she walked toward the entrance, she saw her parents waiting for her there. Like any good parent would be, they were looking quite concerned over their little baby girl heading out into the open world.
    “You took quite a bit there, young lady. Didn’t we tell you to use the bathroom before leaving?”
    “Sorry, Mom. I just had to make sure the bandages weren’t too loose. Wouldn’t want the other passengers to suddenly freak out in case I started bleeding again, y’know?”

    The three walked to the gate where Hilde’s ship was waiting. Boarding had started just a few moments ago, so they had time to get a few more words in.
    “You sure you’ll be okay, Hilde? You’re going to be alone in a big place for a while, and with what happened last month..
    “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll be fine. I said I wanted to head to Zeon after martial law got lifted, and I’m keepin’ my word.”
    She smiled widely, giving her parents one more hug.
    "Smiles all the way!"

    As she went through boarding procedures and was about to enter the ship, she looked back, seeing her parents standing by and waving at her. She smiled and waved back at them. It wasn’t quite as wide this time.
    Hilde made her way to her seat, and a few minutes later found herself sailing across the stars. She looked out her window, marveling at the beauty she was witnessing. However… something heavy began to feel in her. She got up and made her way to the bathroom. After locking the door behind her, she pulled out an old and worn photograph, back when she was even younger. She wasn’t alone in it. One final message had been written on it in red:
    "Keep that smile up, Hil. -Ruby"

    “Don’t worry. I’ll… I-I’ll keep on smiling, no matter what.”
    Blood ran down her forehead, and she fell to her knees. Teardrops fell on the photo.

    “N-no… no matter w-what…”