"Auntie's instructions? What is it?" Jan glanced at the document.
"Twenty years ago, the pregnant mother brought her servant to her grandfather's house in Dosas for a vacation.
One day she realized she was showing signs of preterm labor and, accompanied by her grandfather, was admitted to the hospital and gave birth to two sons.
At this time war broke out, and in the panic of evacuation the maid was lost, and with her my poor twin brother Edward.
My mother has lived in self-loathing and worry for the past twenty years, and she hoped that I would stop by this time to look for my brother."
Alphonse said, folding the papers and stuffing them back into his pocket.
"I can't believe you have a twin brother!" Jan drove the shuttle out of the fortified area of the city and sped north along the highway that loomed in and out of the desert.
Jan continued, "I think you should get some sleep to calm down, I'll wake you if something comes up or if I'm tired."
The disturbed man thought Jan had a point, it was a fifteen hour drive to the starport and the solo driver was very tired, so he listened to Jan and closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
I don't know how long it was before Alphonse was awakened by Jan's call.
"Alphonse! Quickly look over there."
Alphonse rubbed his glasses and looked towards the direction of Yang's finger, only to see several pillars of smoke rushing into the sky appear in that direction.
"What's that?" He asked as he rummaged through his binoculars.
Inside the binoculars, the markings of the Imperial Army were clearly visible on the wreckage, and these Imperial troop carriers were invariably wrecked and smoking.
"The Aces are finished! Turn to the left! Quickly go around the west side of the Rift!"
Alphonse picked up his binoculars and turned them in the direction of the small fort on the east side marked on the map, turning the magnification to the maximum, he saw a scene that sent chills down his spine, the small-caliber energy cannon on that fort was rotating, shaking twice to aim its muzzle at them.
"They've spotted us, get to the back of the dune and follow the course of the dune." Alphonse said to Jan.
"Why aren't any shells flying over?" Jan asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, let's avoid the energy cannon's shooting boundary first." Alphonse said anxiously.
The flying shuttle deftly drove forward sharply along the reverse slope of the dune, suddenly there was a crunching sound, the engine cover was pierced through a small hole, after a burst of mechanical friction sound the front end of the shuttle lost its ability to levitate and plunged headlong into the sand.
The powerful inertia of the shuttle began to roll over in the sand, Yang's screams made Alphonse feel dizzy, as the rolling stopped, so did Yang's screams, slumped over the console and didn't move a muscle.
Alphonse rubbed his groggy head and reached out to try Jan's nostrils, faint but steady.
"Fortunately, just passed out."
He didn't have time to give Jan a more detailed examination, and began to rummage for the electromagnetic pistol he had put in his traveling bag beforehand.
Taking the electromagnetic pistol in his hand, he kicked open the door and wobbled out of the car, the intense discomfort forcing him to slump to the ground and dry-heave, when a long shadow was cast on the sand in front of him.
Lifting his head, a resistance fighter appeared in front of him, the fighter had an electromagnetic rifle in his hand, a full wrap-around combat helmet, and a long cloak trailing behind him, and was pointing his gun at him, signaling him to drop it.
He dropped the gun and the resistance fighter dropped the muzzle, then opened his helmet and took it off and said, "Hello, Alphonse Alec."
Edward plopped down on the dune and ate jerky as Elina's song came over the comm.
"Why don't you get some sleep if you have the time to sing here, who knows if they'll send anyone else." He said as he chewed on the jerky.
"Where's the sleep in that, I thought I was dead when I first realized they were rushing over in black, now I'm filled with the excitement of life after surviving a disaster." Elina said.
"If you can't sleep, go count sand."
Edward said as a small bright spot appeared on the scope.
"What's that?" He set up his EM rifle and pointed it in that direction, cranking up the magnification to look closely.
"Let me give him a shot." Elina was completely over the top with excitement.
"Wait a minute! Don't fire!" Edward looked at the image in his sights, the Imperial officer was looking through his binoculars in the direction of the small fortress, his features clear and his chestnut colored hair swaying with the wind.
Looking at the flying shuttle that was heading his way Edward said excitedly, "That's my brother!"
"What!" Elina's surprised shout came out of the intercom, "What are you going to do? Kill him? Let him through?"
"Stop and talk, of course."
Said Edward as he pulled the trigger, the bullet striking the car's engine with unerring accuracy.
Sweat broke out on Edward's head as he looked at the car rolling over in the sand in front of him.
"You were going to kill him, weren't you!?" Elina's voice held reproach, "I think your brother needs a doctor."
Standing on the slope, looking at his brother, who was sprawled on the ground dry-heaving by the shuttle a few meters away, Edward's heart was a mix of excitement and soreness.
It was the excitement of the instinct to find his family, mixed with the sourness of the injustice of his fate, the sourness of the hopelessness of having to stand against his handlers, he would not betray the Resistance, and he knew that his brother would not betray the Star River Empire either.
Looking at his brother who had lost his gun, he decided to recognize him anyway, Edward took off his helmet and said, "Hello, Alphonse Alec."
Alphonse's eyes widened with a look of disbelief, "Hello, I'm Alphonse, may I ask you..."
"Seeing this face, you still don't know who I am?" Edward asked.
"Yes, I can guess, but I still can't believe it, or ... accept it." Alphonse murmured.
Edward pulled out the piece of paper and handed it over asking, "How is your colleague doing?"
"He should just pass out," Alphonse took the file and shivered with excitement as he looked at the bright red baby's footprints on it, "This damn fate, this damn fate."
"It's okay Alphonse, we're just on different sides." Edward sat down on the dune and patted the side, signaling his brother to sit down as well.
"I'm not worried about camp, I just feel frustrated that I won't be able to fulfill my mother's mandate." Alphonse walked over to him and sat down next to him.
"I came here to find you in addition to completing the mission the Empire sent me on, and now that I've found you, I can't bring you back to your mother." Alphonse said, pulling a document out of his pocket and handing it over along with his copy.
"Then take this back with you, and I will write another letter later." Said Edward as he handed over his copy of the birth certificate.
Pocketing Alphonse's copy, Edward continued, "Keep this one of yours for me as a souvenir."
Knowing that his family had been thinking of him made him feel content, and he felt some regret that he couldn't go back with his brother.
There was an even burst of sound, Edward put on his helmet and got up to look over to find Elina driving a wrecked flying motorcycle not far from here, arriving in front of the two of them in no time at all.
Elina took off her helmet and looked at the two identical faces in front of her like she had seen something incredible.
"Ah, Elina, this is my brother Alphonse, Alphonse, and this is my...um...sister Elina." Edward introduced the two to each other.
Elina's eyebrow twitched at the word sister, and after greeting Alphonse she walked towards the shuttle to check on Jan.
"Brother, you can't be unaware that she likes you." Alphonse said.
The two of them sat on the ground again.
Edward said, "How could I not know, but you see we are doing a life and death job, and with the war not knowing how long it will take, it's not good to make some irresponsible decisions." Said, he turned the tables and asked: "Hey do you have a girlfriend ah?"
Alphonse pulled out his wallet and drew out a picture, "Her name is Dialina, she's Viscount Larue's youngest daughter."
"Keep this for you, it's a picture of our mother when she was young." Alphonse said pulling out another picture and handing it to Edward.
"Wow, Auntie's long chestnut colored hair is so beautiful." Came Elina's exclamation from behind her.
"When did you get here?" Edward asked Elina behind him.
"Just got here, I wanted to ask you what about that officer, he just passed out, I guess he's about to wake up, isn't he...?" Elina made a killing gesture.
Edward waved his hand and said, "Forget it, you give him a shot of tranquilizer and let him sleep for a little longer, when you're done you hurry back to your little fortress, Apeida's reinforcements could be here any minute."
"Where are the reinforcements, you annihilated their ace mobile unit." Alphonse said, pointing at the smoldering pile of wreckage.
"No wonder it's so well equipped, even the Sandworms are no match." Edward said as he touched the hit mark on his helmet.