"Suspended until further notice"

Those words just kept running through his head over and over as if there was nothing left in the world for him to think about.

"Suspended until further notice"

He whispered to himself quietly, watching his hands tremble out in front of him, whether they were trembling from anger, pain, or sadness he did not know. All he knew was that he desperately wanted them to stop, and to be able think about anything other than the four words that had both his heart and his mind in such an iron grip he thought he might go insane! He desperately needed an outlet for the emotions that were flooding his body.

"If only I could see her" he thought to himself. All these emotions could be banished away with one quick smile…that perfect smile that seemed to make all things right in the world. He slowly turned his gaze to the mirror that hung on his small closet door. His hands still shaking he stood up straight and looked himself over. He was slightly taller and had a stronger build than the average child his age. It was easy to look at him and forget just how young he actually was. With dark brown hair cut shorter on the sides than on top, he possessed a very clean cut military look. He preferred it this way, just looking at it made him feel disciplined in its own strange way. And discipline was something he felt he desperately needed in order to stay sane, especially with everything that had been going on lately. The only abnormal things in this scene were the few stray tears fighting to get loose from his deep blue eyes. This site alone was enough to snap him from his daze.

Slapping himself lightly, he took a few deep breaths to regain his composure. As his chest expanded and compressed with each breath, he could feel himself regaining control over his emotions once more. He knew if he allowed his current emotions to control his actions he would do something he might regret in the future. "The best course of action can sometimes be inaction" he thought to himself trying to raise his spirits.

He slowly made his way across the small room that had been his "home" for the last few years to open the door to the closet and change clothes. As he began to remove his parasite suit he could feel the pain rush through his muscles like hot iron. It was obvious the last few missions had taken quite a toll on his body; but admitting that fact felt like defeat so he did his best to push that thought…and the pain aside.

Since his room didn't have a shower he decided against taking one that night, though his chances of seeing someone were slim he didn't want to take that risk. He didn't want to talk to anyone…about anything. So instead he put on a small white T-shirt and some soft grey training pants. After closing the small closet door he turned to face his "home."

It was a small simple grey room containing a closet just large enough for the few sets of clothes he owned with a mirror hanging on the front of the door. On one side of the room sat a metal desk and chair with a few books on military strategy he was supposed to be studying, and on the other side was his bed with its simple grey bedspread and pillow. "Yep home sweet home" he said out loud with as much sarcasm to his voice as he could muster. Although, if he was honest with himself the only thing he used this room for was to study and sleep, he spent the rest of time training…and being tested on, so he knew it was more than adequate for his needs.

After flipping off the light he laid down in bed staring into the darkness trying to calm his mind. The faint orange glow of his wrist band filled a small area of the room with its soft light. Breathing a quick sigh he lifted his arm to get a good look at what was displayed on the screen. The black numbers stared back at him almost mockingly.

X007

That was him, his unique code number. The X meant he was different from the other parasites it was supposed to represent that he was special. He used to take great pride in that big black X, but right now he felt anything but special. Looking at it he was reminded how he once thought it would make him a hero, a great symbol of hope to all the plantations! Unfortunately those were nothing but distant and empty memories. Even when his childish fantasies of being a hero had left him, that X still gave him a sense of purpose, it pushed him to train harder and challenge his limits during training every single day.

He and his squad were going to defend the plantations from the newest threat of Klaxosaur, something no other squad could do. Or at least that's what the scientists and Papa kept telling them. Laying there in the dark room he couldn't help but think about the events that had transpired over the last few years. Some might even argue that the catastrophe of these events were second only to the Klaxosaurs initial arrival on the scene of human history. But all he knew was those events were the reason for the X in his code.

Everyone in his squad had read the reports about how the new Stratos class Klaxosaur had single handedly wiped out the parasite squad of Plantation 115, leaving it defenseless as it began to tear through the planation as if it were nothing more than a child's play thing. And then again one year later at plantation 96 a Stratos type slaughtered the squad of ace Franxx pilots handpicked by Papa himself to handle this new threat. In both instances Papa had to make the ultimate decision to blow up the planation under attack in order to stop the Klaxosaur before it could do further damage to another plantation.

Compared to larger classes the Stratos class was not much to look at, they barely stood taller than the current Franxx. However its size was extremely deceiving. Its raw strength unmatched by any Klaxosaur class they had seen before. That strength matched with an armored outer shell that kept the weapons from the current Franxx from piercing its core, meant the Stratos class was a force to be reckoned with. The only good news was the fact they seemed to be rare, the last sighting being the incident at plantation 96 a few years ago, thankfully giving humanity time to come up with a plan to fight back. The codename for this plan was…Project X.

X007 sat himself up in his bed, fear gripping his mind. He was confident that not seeing a Stratos in so long only meant one thing. They were due to see another soon. As he glanced back down at his wristband X007 could feel his stomach begin to churn. He slowly laid his aching body back down in bed and stared straight into the darkness trying to calm his nerves. "I have to go find her tomorrow" he thought to himself. He wasn't for sure what he would say or do; all he knew was that he had to find her.