Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Resurrection ❯ Worst Case Scenario ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

“Since the dawn of history, human beings have realized various forms of energy; civilizations have progressed with them, so where does such energy like Metatron lead our civilization?”
-Ridley Hardimaan

Chapter 4: Worst Case Scenario

It was the middle of the evening now. The notes of an old 20th century song called "The Real Slim Shady" on the radio added some music to the atmosphere; and Raijin was on autopilot, allowing Esteraund free access to the extra-large Vanilla Pepsi cup in his right hand and the half-pounder without cheese in his lap. Life would be almost perfect if Esteraund didn't have to get his hands dirty. A short rumble from the frame's deceleration almost sent the soda into Esteraund's lap, but he kept a firm enough hold on it to keep it from slipping. "Dammit, I wish they installed cup-holders into this thing" he complained. He satiated his momentary anger with a large gulp of the sugary stuff.

He was somewhere in Margaritifer now, just beyond the border dividing it and Nereidum territory. Raijin's sensors were on full alert; but so far, an old meteor crater was the only object of interest he'd come across. The blue frame slowly descended to the red iron-rich soil, its leg stabilizers folding out to allow it to skid across the dirt. Even though there were no real targets out yet, Esteraund had Raijin's Defensor active, which surrounded the frame with eight circling discs of electric energy. "Let's see...a meteor crater... a couple thousand miles of red landscape, with maybe an ocean beyond that..." Esteraund muttered to himself as his professional eyes ran over Raijin's sensor readings, "…oh yeah, an abandoned BAHRAM supply depot, most likely picked clean." He leaned back. "'Strong Metatron readings, Esteraund! We're too afraid to do anything, Esteraund! Oh, Esty, I want you in bed now!'" he griped, mockingly impersonating Nadia's voice. "God dammit, I HATE WILD GOOSE CHASES!" he roared, slamming his fist into the cockpit's right console, eyes flaring with barely-suppressed rage. A second passed, and he realized what he had done, making him sigh. "Sorry, Rai. I'm just having a real uneventful day, that's all..." The half-pounder went to his mouth for another bite.

"...And every single person is a Slim Shady lurkin. He could be workin at Burger King, spittin on your onion rings HACHOr in the parkin lot, circling, Screaming 'I don't give a fuck!'" the radio blared.

Esteraund stopped when those particular lyrics came up, slowly take the hamburger away from his mouth. You'd think they'd have a radio station for dinner music. He grumbled inaudibly and changed the station to something more 'suitable'.

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"What do you mean the Metatron disappeared?" Nadia roared at the sensor officer. "We had a signal strong enough to be a Zakat-class Orbital Frame for five minutes, and you're saying it vanished entirely?"

The sensor operator quivered at the sheer rage being displayed by the aqua-haired, loud-mouthed Colonel, as did everyone else in Aegis HQ's control room, even though she was talking to him over a vidphone. In fact, the walls seemed to shake just from the sound of Nadia coming through the elevator entrance. "I don't understand it myself, ma'am. Our satellites pinpointed the source just above the Margaritifer/Nereidum border, right on this point marker." He traced his finger on the display screen, over a blue indicator dot breaking up an otherwise empty rust-colored landscape. A second dot, a green one, indicated Raijin, which was just next to the blue icon. "Mr. Legato should've made contact with the source by now."

"Hmmm..." Taggart murmured, interrupting Nadia. Moving much like an old 1920's Film Noir detective, he took a cigar from his coat pocket and stuck it in his mouth, lighting it with a quick flicking motion with a lighter in his right hand. “That's rather interesting; usually, a Metatron source that large would be impossible to lose, unless they had high-grade stealth equipment.”

"Is there any electromagnetic interference in that area, anything that would jam the signal?" Nadia questioned, angry disbelief subsiding.

The sensor operator typed commands into his console, which switched the geographic display over to climate conditions. "No, all seems normal, but it's 20 degrees hotter in that area. Must be the Summer heat coming in, ma'am." The sensor man shrugged.

"Alright, just keep monitoring that area." Nadia hung up; moments later, she walked in, and wandered over to Taggart's command chair. She stood next to him, arms folded, as Taggart leaned forward at the main monitor. "I don't understand. All the equipment seems to be working" Nadia incredulously reported.

Taggart turned his head over to her, "One of the many rules of combat, Colonel: never rely on your equipment. We know it's there, but we can't send any of our own resources out there, not without announcing our presence to every undesirable element on Mars. All we can do is rely on Esteraund to find it."

Nadia didn't seem convinced. "I understand that sir, but we can't keep relying on mercenaries to do this type of work."

"No, but remember, we're still not officially involved in this; at least, not yet. If Esteraund were to be discovered, we can just disregard any 'contact' with him and that will be the end of it." Taggart gave a small smile.

"Using Legato as a scapegoat, eh?" Nadia let out a soft chuckle. "That's something Bolozof would've done. Maybe there's hope for you yet, General."

Taggart look turned grim at that comparison. "I prefer you not compare me to that man again, Colonel."

Nadia rolled her eyes. She'd forgotten how her previous commander was viewed by stalwalt UNSF officers like Taggart. "Still, if Murphy's Law comes through, sir, we will end up getting 'officially involved' whether the pen-pushing brass like it or not."

"We're more than ready for when that time comes" Taggart quipped, confident.

"Sensor room to Colonel Velasgo" the sensorman called out, drawing the attention of the entire room. When Nadia looked over to his direction, he continued. "Satellite Four's detected a large cluster of Metatron, heading toward Nereidum County. Too fast to be in a convoy or supply ship, ETA 7 minutes."

"Orbital frames?" Nadia asked.

The sensorman typed in another command. "Anti-Proton Reactor confirmations. Definitely Orbital Frames, eleven in total. The computer can't identify the IFF codes." He then started getting new readings, “Holy shit, Tharsis station is picking up similar readings, as are postings in Alba, Hellesponte, Aerian… They're all over the planet.”

"Damn Murphy and his law..." Taggart muttered silently. Nadia stared at him for a moment, as if gloating through her expression. He gave a half smirk to her and then looked around as his crew. "Alert the local authorities and begin evacuation of the counties being attacked. Activate all the defense mechanisms around and inside the dome. I want each county secure for battle in the next few minutes before people die." Taggart gave the orders, and his men set to work. He addressed Nadia. "Can we get Esteraund back to Nereidum in time?"

Nadia hung the phone up, turning back to reply to Taggart. "No, his Frame isn't fast enough. My best guess is that Mr. Legato would get there four minutes into the fight, before he can engage. That'd be too late."

"And our own orbital frames are on standby here..." Taggart grumbled. "Looks like all we have is Lieutenant Ishikawa. Have Grafficane and Guardian Squadron loaded onto the elevators and transported to Nereidum, on the double."

Nadia looked up at the General with a slight amount of amazement. "I thought we weren't allowed to use the AlterNeiths unless it's a dire emergency."

"At this point, I don't give a damn. I can stomach the High Council more than I can random people dying." Taggart grimaced, then thought up something, “And get Lieutenant Faroh out there too. I want to see how Scarmiglione fairs in real combat.”

”What about Idolo?” Nadia asked.

”Leave it here. Idolo will attract too much attention.” Taggart explained.

”And the other counties?”

”I'll have De Franz defend them. I know which button to push.”

Nadia nodded at this, picking the phone back up. "Get Lieutenant Ishikawa on the line."

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"...I REPEAT, THIS IS A CODE RED EMERGENCY! ALL CIVILIANS ARE TO EVACUATE TO THE UNDERGROUND SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY! FOOD WILL BE GIVEN AT THE SHELTER, BRING ONLY THINGS YOU CAN CARRY!..."

Alarms blared. People ran about randomly. Enforcement LEVs patrolled the streets, brandishing beam guns, their mono-eyes twitching in every direction as if they were as panicked as the crowd. Defense cannons, missile launchers and shielding plates rose out of the tops of buildings and streets, turning the dome into a battle arena between metal gladiators. Despite the warnings, Raven didn't add to the chaos and neither did he run to seek shelter. He just stood in front of the factory complex, watching, waiting for the orbital frames to arrive. He was dressed in a black, red and gray flight suit, and there was a large duffel bag packed with clothing and money over his left shoulder.

After the little encounter with Yuriko earlier this afternoon, he had decided his life in Nereidum was over. There was no going back to the streets. Too much had been done, and his path had been set before him. Even if the UNSF and Mars were to forget about Aumaan, the scar that Anubis had left upon the Red Planet, Raven would still remember it. He would also remember the face of that Vic Viper pilot that showed pure terror as Raven fired the shots that claimed his life. Raven looked down at his right hand, which was reddened underneath his glove with bruises from punching and holding his staff too tightly. For some reason, he felt a sense of pride when he looked at those bruises. He had fought hard, sometimes for his survival or just what he wanted, and had come through alive. That's all that mattered to him, wasn't it?

"If you don't like Anubis, or the life that you're following now, than why not abandon it? Your life will return to normal as soon as that frame is destroyed. Surely, you know this."

"If it were that easy..." he grinned, closing his eyes. It wouldn't be as fun anyway, where I'm going. He slipped away from the area and entered the facility. Inside was Anubis, kneeling down as if it were waiting for its runner to come. Despite its eyes being dormant, it still seemed to emit anticipation.

”Let's go.” Raven said, walking over to Anubis' cockpit, jumping in and closing it.

Taking the helmet to his flight suit, Raven placed it over his head with the mouthpiece stretching down his right side, the receiver over his mouth, and then grasped the two control orbs. Immediately, red energy lines began to flow up and down Anubis, signified with the eyes flaring active. Just as fast, data streamed directly into his cockpit monitor. From its location, Anubis had long since identified orbital frames on approach, eleven of them, with no recognizable tags or markers. Their formation was quite complex, too complex to be regular bandits. According, Raven assumed they were ex-BAHRAM runners or something along that line. Another second and Anubis recognized the orbital frame models among the group. Again, this data went directly to the Runner.

”Let's see... Six unmanned Raptors with four Nebula frames serving as command units; that makes three Raptors and two Nebulas per Party. I assume the last one is the leader of the pack. Mind identifying that Anubis?” The verbal command went from Raven back to his frame though the mouthpiece, it being received by Anubis' metatron computer.

The next second, he received the mystery frame's data. Raven felt his skin crawl at the realization of its type: a Tyrant. His mind instinctively fielded a question: how could a mere terrorist organization, even if they were ex-BAHRAM, possess a special limited-production frame such as the Tyrant? Very few of those frames were manufactured, and the only notable operation it had been fielded in was the Antilia Raid, where a single unit served as the AI command system for an invading Raptor force. What's more, the frame was far too big for urban warfare; barely large enough to enter the dome, even. As if responding to that thought, Anubis offered to head out on combat alert, bypassing the rest of the pre-flight checks. “No, not yet.” Raven answered, “They'll probably bring Grafficane, that's good enough for this situation. I don't want to get our hands dirty, Anubis.”

The response that entered Raven's head was remarkable reminiscent of 'Ahh, but it's not as fun to just sit here, especially when I could have killed them all by now.'

Raven was a little taken back by this revelation; how could a machine's AI be advanced enough to simulate boredom? It was true what he had heard; the AI was modeled like a ravenous beast or demon: it thoroughly enjoyed eliminated targets, to the point where it would be an obsession if it were human. But the response he got leaned more toward something like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland than a beast that only knew to destroy. "Don't debate this with me, Anubis, you'll see action." Raven announced. "I just want to see how good Aegis' forces are. We'll go out, but I say when and how." A helicopter flew past, apparently searching the area out for those who hadn't made it to the shelter. Raven knew he didn't have time to stay there, and just like before, he could have felt a victorious grin form on Anubis if it were physically possible. He activated the wing binder thrusters.

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Yuriko rushed as fast as she could through the crowd, batting her way through lunatics racing for the shelter. It was bad enough that Nereidum, one of the most heavily populated counties on Mars, was being invaded, but Grafficane was being sent to her through the opposite end of the shelters. The shelter in question was only a few feet away from her, but the crowd of people formed a human barrier she couldn't penetrate. A LEV moved about, in an attempt to direct and organize the panicked mob. "ALL RIGHT, NOBODY PANIC, WE NEED YOU TO KEEP THIS AS ORDERLY AS YOU CAN! MOVE INTO A STRAIGHT LINE AND PROCEED CALMLY TO THE SHELTER!" The booming voice of the pilot, magnified over the LEV's external speakers, seemed to have some effect; the crowd did what the LEV pilot ordered, forming into a single line. Still jittery but not rushing, they were now filing as fast as they could to the haven. Yuriko took her opportunity to slip away from the herd and onto a nearby sidewalk, running as fast as she could towards the warehouse where her machine was waiting.

As expected, Grafficane stood in the middle of the cavernous repository, awaiting the arrival of its master. "I never seem to catch a break, eh, Grafficane?" Yuriko shot to the OF. It couldn't answer her, but she knew 'he' would've agreed. She ascended the ladder placed beside the Harness elevator, and upon reaching her destination, jumping into the cockpit and sealing it with an orange screen. Grafficane's AI activated, followed by its main generator. Energy ley-lines pulsed orange around her chamber, and its formerly retracted 'Gilius' clamps flipped down over each wrist, preparing for combat. Outside, Grafficane's `antennae' eyes activated, glowing a bright yellow hue. Yuriko's first act was to establish contact with Aegis HQ. "I'm ready for combat, just give me the combat estimates."

"Roger" the operator acknowledged. "We've identified eleven frames. Six Raptors, Four Nebula production types and a Tyrant." A secondary window opened on the right side of the cockpit, displaying the frames and their formation over a map grid of Nereidum. “Guardian Squadron has been deployed for your command."

"Roger that. " Yuriko switched open channels to the AlterNeith force. "This is Lieutenant Ishikawa to Guardian Squadron members. You're to remain on combat-standby until further orders."

A vidscreen window connection to Guardian Squadron's commander opened on her display, the face of Mirielle Faroh, who was now dressed in a scarlet red flight suit that matched her frame. "That was fast, Yuriko. Trying to impress the Colonel with your command skills and efficiency?"

Yuriko's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Faroh?" She demanded.

"I was called out along with Guardian Squadron. Sorry Xander and Cameron couldn't make it, but at least we can have fun together." Mirielle snidely replied, “Scarmiglione and Grafficane were made to support each other you know…”

”I don't have time to deal with you, Guardian Leader. Just get here as soon as you can and standby. Orders will come.” Yuriko commanded.

”Acknowledged, Nemesis Two.” Mirielle snapped a short salute, snideness still remaining, “Sayonara for now.” She signed off.

Yuriko could have continued to vent over being paired with `that bitch' Faroh, but she had better things to do. Grafficane whined as it slowly lifted into motion; Yuriko at the same time linked one of the data windows to the feed from one of the County Defense cannons. "Come, little mice..." she muttered impatiently, tense, body ready for combat. "Look to the cheese beyond you."

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The Phantoma pilots shook with fear, seeing all the defense ports risen. Turrets swung upwards, fixing their barrels on the dome's roof. Those LEVs followed their lead, bringing their machine guns and missile launchers to bear at the artificial sky. Faint collisions rang out, the sounds of eleven Orbital Frames trying to break through the reinforced dome. Some of the more rookie pilots sweated heavily, but the veterans stood their ground, accepting their fate no matter how pathetic and worthless to their cause it may be. The dome's roof eventually exploded inward, followed by the rush of air being sucked out into Mars' atmosphere.

"OPEN FIRE!" came the order from their squad leader, and the Phantomas let the ammo fly. Raptors poured through; one was caught in the hail and exploded, volatile innards punctured. The other five activated their energy shields, deflecting the bullet fire. A few Phantomas saw that their primer rounds were useless, so they let off bursts of missiles and grenades at the OFs. Another Raptor fell to the assault; the rest scattered to attack the units individually. The Raptors swoop, ignoring the LEVs, they hacked and slashed at the gun turrets and missile launcher installations, silencing them permanently.

The LEVs all turned their attention to the Raptors, some continuing to fire at a distance while others pulled out laser blades and prepared for close range combat. None of them, however, expected worse than the Raptors to show up. From above, a flurry of blue laser bursts rained down from the hole, each targeting a different LEV.

"SHIT!” was one pilot's final word before a laser blast pierced through his LEV's reactor, blowing him to oblivion. That reflected the thoughts of the rest of them for the most part. From the collapsed ceiling, four more frames shot down into the city. Whereas Raptors were considered human skeletons, these frames would be more along the lines of absurd fighter jets. They were sharp-angled, five-pointed like stars; nose, two wings and two back-facing weapon pods. Their cockpits were nestled in-between the two pods. One of the frames jetted down and came upon a cowering LEV unit. It flipped itself up so its underbelly was facing the LEV, revealing a single beam cannon located in the middle of the nosecone. The Phantoma took aim, pilot thinking it meant to blast him at point-blank range. He was wrong; the OF's two pods opened up and two tentacle-like arms extended, with 'fingers' opening at each end. One of the tentacles reached out and grabbed the LEV's protruding cockpit, crushing it with its fingers. The machine gun rounds kept firing, even with the pilot dead, but they merely bounced off the frame. A few seconds after the constant 'bang bang bang', the runner only then finished with a shot from the cannon.

“That's the last one” said a sadistic voice said from the Nebula. “You can come out now.” The frame turned upwards to the former dome, expectant.

A final frame slipped into the ruined city, but just barely. It's massive bulk brushed against the sides, dislodging more rubble to fall onto the buildings below, as it almost fluttered it's way to the ground. In a class quite separate from that of the Raptors and Nebulas, this frame had no visible sleek or aerodynamic qualities whatsoever. Its main body was a large mechanical pod with thrusters fitted at the underside, looking something more like a giant clay pot than a weapon of mass destruction. A clay pot, with long slender 'arm' pods branching off its sides like gun barrels, pointing upward, and a cockpit mounted at the top of the frame rather than at the waist like most OF models. The cockpit swung around, taking in the blasted urban landscape around it. "That didn't take too long" commented the Tyrant runner, VANGUARD Major Matthew Brel, in a gruff tone that was like a signpost to his old age and military background. So this is what a member of VANGUARD's Talon Unit can do. Quite the sadistic bunch…

"'…that doesn't know anymore than to rip targets to pieces.'" laughed the officer in question at his commander's expression. It was a man in a black flight suit with dark blonde hair and shades covering over his eyes. "'I don't know what's stranger, that General Wilhelm commissioned them or the fact this Yan guy is a Talon.' Was that what you were going to think?"

Matthew snorted uncaringly. "I don't care, as long as you did your job." He opened a broadband channel. "Attention, citizens of Nereidum County. This is Major Matthew Brel representing the liberation group VANGUARD. We mean no harm to you, our only target is the UNSF forces that occupy this county. You're free to come out of the shelters and evacuate the dome or you may remain where you are and be liberated with the rest of the county from Earth's control. However, as of now, the UNSF will undoubtedly send reinforcements, so you only have a short time to make your choice."

He cleared his throat and continued. "I repeat, you only have a short time, UNSF reinforcements can be here any moment, and we are not responsible for whatever happens to the people of Nereidum."

"Major...!" a call came up from one of the Nebulas, one that was parked next to a decrepit-looking warehouse. All attention turned to the Nebula runner. The other three runners looked on in horror, while Black Vulture grinned eerily. The Frame's torso had been impaled, and a claw stuck like a needle though the orifice just recently containing a Beam cannon. The Nebulas all launched homing lasers in its general direction, assuming their comrade had already suffered the worst.

Yuriko grinned, and removed the clamp imbedded in the Nebula, then using Grafficane's other hand, threw it into the incoming fire. The homing lasers ripped through Nebula's frame, blowing it to pieces; more fire had an unobstructed path to Grafficane. Yuriko's smirk disappeared from her face as she went into action. Grafficane's arms crossed and formed an energy shield, absorbing the lasers. Quickly Yuriko's OF dashed to the right and ascended, tracked by the four Raptors. One Raptor came right up to her and made a burst slash, breaking Grafficane's shield and throwing it back. Yuriko recovered from the shot and smashed Grafficane's left clamp into the Raptor's sword, throwing it back, then repeating the process a second time. At the third clash of the weapons, Yuriko made her own burst slash: charging energy into Grafficane's clamps and spinning the frame around a similar fashion to the Raptor. The attack was too much for the Raptor to deflect; its arm tore away from the force. Yuriko didn't waste any time in snapping its spinal column. Grafficane then flipped away and descended from the exploding Raptor, the other three still charging in. That's when she dashed forward and impaled one of the Raptors, tearing the clamp out and jumping away as it exploded. Grafficane somersaulted over a third Raptor, catching its head in mid-flip and decapitating it. It moved to deflect the attack, but it was too late. It hadn't detonated, so she grabbed the body and tossed it at the fourth and final frame. The last Raptor in turn slashed the torso in half with its beam sword, letting the metallic corpse fall to the streets. Yuriko, never missing an opportunity, performed a quick burst-charge maneuver and let off a 'Flame Gale' shot from her right clamp. The fiery blast flew through the air and vaporized the Raptor before it could take appropriate measures. Its attention had been focused on deflecting an oncoming projectile, and Yuriko had taken advantage of the time gap with Grafficane's high mobility.

"Mary, mother of God..." Matthew let out. He knew it was theoretically possible, but actually seeing a single OF obliterate a squad unsupported was another matter entirely; it terrified him.

"Don't just stand there." Black Vulture called out to the other two Nebulas, "Entertain it." His wingmen complied and launched at Grafficane, their tentacle arms extended. One of them lashed while firing its beam cannon at close range, as the other leapt into high-altitude and fired off missile salvos. Before any of them struck though, a second flash, this one of crimson, entered the fray, slashing the missiles apart. The resulting explosions followed, and the smoke cleared to reveal a Scarmiglione armed with its Beatrice claws. Grafficane re-entered the attack, its hip thrusters ignited at full velocity, dodging the follow-up of rockets and swiping tentacles, as it and Scarmiglione closed in on the two Nebulas. They both fired off a swarm of orange and red homing lasers from their clamps at the two Nebulas, but they immediately activated their shields and deflected the shots. That's when the Nebulas switched, the one from above going into a steep dive and jetting at Scarmiglione, while the other moved into the air and fired its own missiles at Grafficane. While the Nebula model wasn't as fast as a Grafficane or Scarmiglione, its tentacles were more than quick enough to do the job. Mirielle barely countered each tentacle strike with Scarmiglione's Beatrice claws, and above her, Yuriko was jetting backwards to avoid the shower of explosives. Grafficane's back hit a building, which she back flipped over and used as a springboard to gain some altitude. The Nebula pursuing Yuriko rammed straight into it, crumbling the building to rubble; but it did no damage to the frame, and after a second, it started to gain altitude as well.

The one fighting Mirielle Faroh slashed at Scarmiglione's torso, but Mirielle spun to the side and evaded the attack. Rather than counter, she flew right up to the Nebula's 'face' cannon, her antennae sensors face-to-face with the barrel. As she expected, the cannon started to charge, but before it fired, she drove Scarmiglione's head to the right. The blast singed the insectoid frame's armor, but did no real damage. Moving to finish him before the Runner responded, Mirielle, impaled the frame with her right claw at the tip, then slashed downward through the cockpit. The attack divided the frame into three separate parts, like a filleted fish, and caused its Anti-Proton Reactor to grow critical. Scarmiglione backflipped from the cut up frame before it exploded, engulfing the entire area it floated over.

Yuriko, on the other hand, decided she needed some fun. In an instant, she appeared before her pursuer and plunged Grafficane's right clamp into the Nebula's cockpit, shattering its black canopy into pieces. She then pulled it out, with the Nebula runner caught in-between the Gilius' blades, unharmed for the most part. The Nebula dropped like a corpse, joining the bodies littered across the streets below. The runner didn't care to see his frame drop; he was too busy struggling for his life. Yuriko took one glance at him, a crazed expression of entertainment at the runner's helpless struggle. As if by instinct, she spun to the left, thrusters fully ignited, and she went into a short spin. While she spun, Yuriko opened the clamp, releasing the pilot into the sky. The pilot let out a scream for a second, knowing he was done for, but a second was all he had. Yuriko quickly lowered her clamp and launched a flame gale shot that vaporized the Nebula runner. Overkill, but still amusing nonetheless.

That's when the final Nebula came at Yuriko. "Can't I have a fucking break?" she roared, accelerating Grafficane at full speed towards the Nebula for an impale shot. This one was skilled enough to counter, bringing its right tentacle arm around and swatting Grafficane to the left. Yuriko recovered quickly enough to dodge another swipe and a blast from the beam cannon. Her claws blocked another tentacle swipe, then she attempted to move in to slash at the cockpit; but the Nebula brought the other one up just in time to grab Grafficane around the waist. Mirielle flew to her would-be comrade's rescue, charging both of her claws and slashing them both upward, ready to slice the hand right off; so the Nebula whipped its tentacle and threw Grafficane into a building below while swatting Scarmiglione away. Bastard's got better reflexes than the others... Mirielle thought, when her sensors alerted her of incoming fire. Both Scarmiglione and Grafficane jetted upwards, avoiding a blast from the Tyrant. Grafficane then averted into a dive, avoiding energy shots from the immobile and lumbering frame; but she unfortunately wasn't quick enough to avoid a 'punch' from the Nebula's clenched hand. Yuriko shot across the air, then halted, and right next to her, Scarmiglione leveled out, the twin frames taking combat poses. The Tyrant floated upwards to meet the same level as Yuriko, Mirielle and the Nebula. It let off a round of homing missiles at the two enemy frames, forcing her back and away from the Nebula, which in turn gave the Tyrant runner a chance to fire its cannons again. Both Mirielle and Yuriko danced around each of the missiles, spinning, flipping, performing different types of acrobatics and letting the missile fly past or shooting them down with their individual shots.

Yuriko flipped back, then spun to the side, hitting Grafficane's accelerator, focusing power on her right clamp and then pulling a mad dash to the Tyrant. Even the Nebula runner had no way of reacting in time, as Grafficane tore through the space around it at speeds that would penetrate many layers of metal. The only twist that saved the Tyrant was a strafe to the left. Instead of hitting the cockpit, Grafficane tore through the frame's bullet cannon, with the velocity of a blade thrown by a tornado, the bullet arm falling off the Tyrant entirely. She turned around to finish it off. That's when the Nebula, who had transited right behind her without Yuriko realizing it, fired its beam cannon square into Grafficane's back, blowing out parts of her own frame's spine. She turned 90 degrees and backed away, firing a couple of shots to keep the Nebula from coming at her again. Not that she needed to, as Mirielle repaid the favor for her, tackling Scarmiglione in the Nebula and slashing across its surface with her claws. She was swatted away, but the Nebula still suffered damage.

"I knew the UNSF would have reinforcements, but I never expected two orbital frames." the Tyrant runner radioed into Yuriko and Mirielle's individual cockpist, "But, you've both proven your skills, even if you are lowly Terrans. Maybe either of you'd like to work under our flag?"

"It will cost you." Mirielle responded.

"Name your price." Matthew replied, questioningly.

Yuriko's sadistic tone returned. "Just you and your friend's heads, decapitated."

Following the signal, four AlterNeiths revealed themselves; flying out from behind cover and entering into formation around Grafficane and Scarmiglione. Two began to charge for burst attacks while the two others deployed their arm blades.

Yuriko continued, "You two are now under arrest, under the jurisdiction of Special Taskforce Aegis and the UNSF. Land your frames and abandon them. Otherwise..." Grafficane's clamps glowed yellow with energy. "…You know the rest."

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"Looks like I hit pay dirt..." Esteraund said to himself at the sight of the convoy. Raijin had ducked behind a ridge and had activated its stealth mode to avoid detection. Electric-blue eye-cameras narrowed on the seven trucks that were on the road. They were full-laden, and escorted by a group of cautious Phantomas. He couldn't make out any symbols or logos on the vehicles or LEVs, other than patches where the 'United Nations Space Force' had been scraped away, and what looked like custom decals up and down the armor. The only notable detail was the picture of a naked blonde holding a beam cannon to cover her chest, which had been painted on the side of one of the LEVs; but he doubted Nadia or Aegis altogether would give a flying damn about that. He tried scanning the convoy, but they were broadcasting jamming-waves, rendering his sensors useless.

The next moment, one the frame's defensor discs, still cloaked by the stealth field, flew away from Raijin and gained altitude. It hovered over the convoy, while a camera installed in the central part of the disc narrowed. Back in the cockpit, a monitor screen opened up, showing the aerial view over the convoy.

"Hmm...nothing there." Esteraund observed. "C'mon guys, I know you're hiding something. Stealth fields, communication jammers, silent motors, you just gotta have something of value."

The disc lowered in altitude until it was at the same level as one of the convoy trucks. It orbited around the truck, scanning for anything of interest. Once again, nothing turned up, so Esteraund moved the defensor over to one of the walking LEVs. Again; nothing. Esteraund sighed, "I didn't want to do this to you guys, but..." he muttered, sending more orders into Raijin. The blue frame dropped its cloak and jetted into the air, eclipsing the sun. The LEVs immediately took notice of the shadow falling across the horizon and brought their machine rifles up to bare. "Go, Defensor!" Esteraund called out. Responding to his voice command, 11 discs shot out of Raijin's triple binders and flew straight into the formation of LEVs and trucks, joining the one Esteraund had already deployed. Once they formed up, they began launching electromagnetic bolts of `lightning' across the LEVs. Bluish beams of light danced around the group, slicing through armor plating and shorting the Phantoma's circuitry. All that remained of them in a matter of seconds were piles of molten titanium. Raijin lowered itself in front of the convoy; it's right fist started to glow, taking in energy. "I'm sorry, but this street is closed." Esteraund mocked over broadband communication, sure they would hear. "If you want to pass, you must pay a toll: whatever it is you're carrying."

"Attention Orbital Frame, we are traders from the Bonaparte Shipping Company en route to Margaritifer county with 300 tons of titanium. We have nothing of value to you" the convoy leader responded, with a definite quiver in his tone. Just as expected.

"Is that so? Then you won't mind if I look under the hood…" Esteraund grinned. With that, he brought Raijin's fist down on the back of the truck, punching a hole right through the bed. He expected the fist to fly clear through, but it stopped midway, hitting something solid and unyielding; something hard enough to deflect his punch. "What the hell?" he muttered, bringing his machine up to peek inside.

"Dammit to hell. The UNSF really needs better law enforcement." he grumbled, seeing the familiar head of an orbital frame inside. Raptors, several of them in fact, one or two per truck. He double-checked it to see if he'd read his sensors right. And the plot thickens… The defensors returned, orbiting around Raijin, Esteraund whispered. "Very particular way of transporting titanium. You guys are busted. Lower the jamming field before you join your escorts.”

-------------------------------

Nadia made her way out of the control room and into Taggart's ready room, closing the door behind her. Taking a seat at the briefing table, she hit a button on the control panel, activating the display screen at the end of the room. In a moment, Esteraund Legato's face was displayed, nuances of Raijin's cockpit behind him. "Alright, repeat what you said." she ordered.

"It's just as you guys feared, Nadia; somebody's transporting Raptors between spheres under the guise of military convoys. The convoy leader claims that they, their trucks and everything else but the frames are associated to NUT." Esteraund smirked over the phone. "These frames here were to be shipped into service areas by the order of a `Wihelm', which the way the leader describes him, is the same guy Raven mentioned. Judging by the Phantomas and the active stealth, he must have something to do with an active Anti-Terran militia."

"Let's not jump to conclusions, Mr. Legato" Nadia snapped at him. Still, it would explain how all these Metatron signatures popped out of nowhere. "How do you know they're NUT?"

"What other corporation would have the connections necessary to find buyers? Ryan Corporation is certainly in no position to do so, and I really doubt Tarsis Fleet Systems could either."

"We don't have much to accuse NUT with for now." Nadia refuted, "Besides, we have more urgent matters to look at."

"Is something the matter?" Esteraund asked, noticing the added hint of irritation in her voice.

"Nereidum County and other counties are under attack by terrorist forces. We've deployed our own forces against the invaders, so don't worry about it."

"I'm not worrying." Esteraund threw up his hands in defense, "But, you may want to take a look at the data I'm sending you." the display flickered, then changed; instead of Legato's face, a blueprint-like 3D scan of an Orbital Frame. They were all Raptors, but the frames seemed to be modified with extra pieces of armor around the bodies, and the standard Raptor types were fitted with beam cannons on the torso. A few of them seemed to look like Cyclops with extra torso armor, but their arms seemed to fit beam cannons instead of gauntlet weapons. Then there was the fact a few of them had cockpit blocks.

Esteraund continued. "These aren't regular Raptors. These particular models were formerly fielded once or twice by BAHRAM Special Ops, until they were deemed too expensive to mass-produce; BAHRAM cancelled their construction after that." Esteraund's face turned grim, "This means two things, besides the obvious. One, whoever's buying or making these frames has quite a bit of money and the resources to use them. And two, since they were made to move undetected, this could be a good reason why you guys didn't detect such a large assault earlier.”

"Great!" Nadia cursed, "There are enough rebel groups with OF capability, but if what you said is true... we may have the beginnings of another BAHRAM to deal with."

"Or a faction modeled after BAHRAM. I couldn't get anything out of the driver besides that detail on Wilhelm. He's just a small-fry doing his job, doesn't know a thing about the packaging. The only thing he did say that's worthwhile is they were under NUT's payroll."

"Then it's out of our hands" Nadia concluded. "Even if High Command would let us pursue NUT Ltd., they have enough capital and resources to pin this on some purchaser, claim the frames were stolen from their storage facilities, and get away clean. In addition, High Command is willing to back them up if they need be."

"But if they keep selling weapons to terrorists, a lot of people will die..." Esteraund pointed out grimly.

"So we'll just have to catch the people using these weapons, then after we have enough evidence, use it to take on NUT. You seem to be concerned again, Mr. Legato. Mind telling me?"

Esteraund made no expression or snide comments at that question. He just gave an explanation. "I used to be part of WIRED, the United Nations intelligence agency. That was a long time ago at any rate, and I quit, but I guess this 'concern' came from that job." He shrugged. "At any rate, I'm willing to do some information-gathering work for Aegis, as long as you pay me my proper wage."

"We can definitely use your skill a bit longer." Nadia pondered for a moment; then took action rather quickly. "For now, escort that convoy to headquarters, Mister Legato. We'll handle their interrogation."

"Yes, ma'am." Esteraund signed off, his face replaced once again by Aegis' insignia.

Nadia sighed. She hated these little conspiracies, especially when it involved terrorist activity and Metatron; easily the two biggest headaches any UNSF group had to deal with. But, she could handle this later; there was still the situation at Nereidum, and she wanted to know what was going on. She got up and made her way to the bridge. "How is the situation?" she demanded upon walking in.

Taggart looked at her as if she had missed something. "Guess who joined the party, Colonel..."

-------------------------------

As fast as the AlterNeiths came in, new arrivals had flown into Nereidum County. A mixture of Phantoma IIs, a Bizac or two and a few different models of LEVs jetted through the hole made by the Raptors and entrances around the dome. One of the Bizacs had a strange weapon with it: a massive spiked drill-club, paired with a beam cannon slung over its back armor and the traditional laser saber still in its storage point.

Yuriko gazed at the newcomers on her sensor monitor. She knew who it was, and much like Esteraund Legato's presence and Mirielle Faroh's arrival, it displeased her. "What the hell are is he doing here?" she growled, despite having a reasonably good guess in that direction. The marked Bizac `hopped' onto a building, so that it was at equal level to Grafficane. Yuriko responded by turning Grafficane's head to meet the LEV, despite her reluctance. A communications window opened in the middle of her cockpit window, revealing a pale faced man with slicked back white hair, a blob-like tattoo over his left eye, and a UNSF flight suit whose insignia told him to be a Colonel. Sure enough; "This is Colonel Nander of the UNSF Red Battalion. We can take it from here, Lady Ishikawa. You may return to base now." Nander almost sounded joyous at taking over the battle.

"What if I don't want to?" Yuriko answered maliciously. "I don't remember inviting you guys to my party."

"WHAT?" Nander outbursted in a mixture of a cry and a roar at the rebellious Lieutenant. "This authority was given to me by General Paul De Franz! You can't disobey me!"

"I'm of Special Taskforce Aegis. When it comes to anti-Terrestrial matters like these, it is under our jurisdiction, not the UNSF's." Yuriko leered at him with her cocky swerve. "I respectfully suggest, Colonel, that you depart before your frame comes apart." Grafficane's right clamp waved.

"How dare you..." those were the last words that came out of Nander's mouth. A Nebula tentacle did an admirable job of grabbing the Bizac and flinging it off the building and into a gymnasium before Nander or Grafficane noticed the approach.

"What the-? Shit." Yuriko growled, turning Grafficane back around and dashing at the Nebula once more, this time intent on ripping the SOB into no less than four pieces. However, before she could get within a few meters of the Nebula, several bursts of energy streaked toward her. She immediately ascended, avoiding the blasts. Yuriko's blood ran cold when she saw even more Metatron reactions were being detected nearby. Around them, frames began to drop their stealth fields, revealing a large number of previously unseen OFs: Raptors, Cyclops, Mummyheads and Clods, all ready for combat.

"Oh shit, indeed..." Mirielle also swore, as the frames descended upon the helpless LEVs. She contacted her both her team and Red Battalion. "AlterNeiths, attack the Raptors. Red Battalion, attack now!"

Yuriko's combat computer ran a quick count of the units being deployed. 121 frames? What the Hell? She had expected reinforcements, or probably a few more units that would remain in stealth mode, but she never expected this many; not from some low-grade, BAHRAM-wannabe organization. Now she was seriously concerned about getting out alive.

"I didn't want to resort to this..." the Tyrant runner called out over wide-range frequency, "but, all those who rebel against Mars' resurrection and new order must be destroyed."

Another Preacher with a fancy machine... I'll take him out in a moment. Yuriko thought, while cutting down a Raptor who failed to account for her close-range abilities. “Nemesis Three, help me out with the Tyrant. If we take that down, the rest will fall!”

”Roger, Nemesis Two.” Mirielle acknowledged, as both frames charged at the apparent leader.

-------------------------------

The AlterNeiths were now zooming about, taking out Raptors one-by-one. The four black Aegis frames were holding off the massive army in the sky while the other three were defending the LEV units on the ground. One would notice they were performing well; obviously living up to the reputation of the Orbital Frame Neith. One unit drove its sword though a Cyclops, slicing through its chest shield and severing the internal Raptor unit's spine. It exploded into chunks at the carving of its power supply, but not before the unit flew back a safe distance. That's when a squad of three Raptors surprised it, slicing off her frame's left arm; she ran back and fired off a few shots from her right arm blade. Nander, although not being a large fan of Aegis, snarled a battle-cry and launched head long into the Raptors, cutting them all down in one long dash-attack. His custom Bizac LEV, which he himself had personally designed, then whipped around and came over the downed AlterNeith, picking her up and flying away to a different area of the dome. Around the entire dome, LEVs and orbital frames were whizzing around, either attacking or defending against the massive hordes of Raptors, clearly ignoring Mirielle's retreat order.

The chaos started to ensure throughout the ruins of the dome, as fights spread around buildings and inside fresh ruins. Nander himself groaned after he ditched the torn AlterNeith into a corner, where the runner was safe to escape. He hated to admit it, but his old love for Mars was starting to come over him, something he hadn't felt since his days in BAHRAM. In those days, as a LEV ace for Vascilia, he fought long and hard against the Earth's hold over the planet, much opposite compared to what he was doing now. Even after becoming second in command of all the UNSF's army division under General De Franz, Nander felt that he couldn't quench his original desires to safeguard the planet, his `happy place' if one would call it, from those that threatened it. Especially that Blue Frame from two years ago. “Looking for more?” Nander called out to a pair of Raptors. “I'll show you! EAT THIS DRONES!”

The Bizac then wheeled back and threw its drill-club into one of the Raptors, smashing it into a grocery store and destroying, then having the glove return to cover the right hand. He followed this up by firing beam shots from his Bizac's beam cannon at the second Raptor, vaporizing it with a full barrage of firepower. But it wasn't enough. Three more Raptors sprung up to take Nander onto, to which he replied by charging at the Raptors with his silver drill armed. With a battle cry, he swung the drill into one of the Raptors' heads, grinding it into dust, then jetting up and cutting another Raptor down the middle into halves. More Raptors took notice of the red LEV, as different models came out to challenge Nander. “Want more, little drones?” Nander screamed in combat rage, “Come at me!” It was obvious that he had lost all sense at that point, and although he was being overwhelmed, he continued fighting.

Until providence appeared on his behalf. Out of nowhere, a homing laser barrage rained down on the Raptors, destroying them one by one before their AI systems could tell them of a new arrival. Nander himself stopped his attack because of this, his Bizac's mooneye swinging back and forth, looking to find the frame that paid him the favor. What he saw made his jaw drop in shock and awe. “Anubis…” he murmured.

Sure enough, Anubis lowered itself to ground level, just in front of the Bizac, back turned to Nander. Its tail whipped off and on, as it surveyed the battle. Nander clambered to open a communications channel. “Colonel Nohman, is that you?” he called out, overjoyed to see the symbol of BAHRAM's might appear over him, blessing him with its presence and protection.

”Not quite.” Came the reply from the frame's runner. No picture displayed to the Bizac, but Nander could hear from the voice that it wasn't Nohman, much to his dismay. The best it got was Anubis' head turning to the left side, looking over its shoulder and wing binders back at the Bizac, “I'm looking for the Aegis force leader, Lieutenant Yuriko Ishikawa. Can you point her out, Mr. Nander?”

”How did you know my name?” Nander wondered outloud.

”What other Space Force officer would have the skill to use a LEV in an OF fight effectively?” the runner shot back.

”Do not underestimate this Bizac S model, it is my pride and joy!” Nander boasted about his LEV, “You have no idea how much time I put into making this…”

”A full episode of Turn A Gundam, judging by that drill thing.” the runner replied dryly, unimpressed.

”Don't you dare mock me!” Nander screamed out, his Bizac about to run at Anubis with its drill in hand. Before it could, Anubis moved to the side and whipped its tail so it moved behind the Bizac and tripped it from underneath. Nander's LEV fell onto its back, with the LEV looking face up. As it recovered, Anubis' staff blade was presented to the mono-eye, which looked at the blade, then narrowed up at Anubis. “Last time, where is Yuriko Ishikawa?”

-------------------------------

Grafficane and Scarmiglione were still fighting, but this time they were going after the source of the commands: that Tyrant. Matthew checked around for Black Vulture, but he had apparently disappeared. "Where are you?" he called out. No response. His only choice was to transform into flight mode and take off through the hole, leaving the unmanned frames to rip apart the UNSF forces on their own. Tyrant's abdomen folded back, forming a makeshift thruster assembly, while its head and remaining bullet cannon moved forward and latched together. In `Cruise' mode a Tyrant frame's speed increased over 50, making it faster than even the praying-mantis frames. Matthew took off through the dome's southern side, ripping a nasty hole into the glass and concrete.

Grafficane and Scarmiglione pursued at full acceleration. They both fired shots into the Tyrant's back, but the armor was too thick. The attack did change the course of Tyrant though; instead of continuing its retreat, it turned around and began charging its bullet cannon for ramming. "Die, you damned locust!" Matthew screamed, jetting straight toward the scarlet colored Scarmiglione. He rammed into it...or so he thought. The image flickered for a moment then completely disappeared. Matthew began to sweat when his sensor monitor detected a Metatron reaction just under him. He grimaced, feeling the shock from a slice of the frame's claws across his Tyrant's belly. The frame must've launched a decoy when he had turned around for the charge and dove under. "No matter..." He clenched his teeth together. Tyrant's bullet cannon flipped down and aimed at Scarmiglione faster than Mirielle thought possible. She flipped away as the blue round exited the long cannon while firing more shots at it. Tyrant activated its energy shield, surprising Mirielle for the fact it had a shield that could cover the entire chassis, then it leveled its cannon on Scarmiglione and continued attacking. Mirielle shrieked at each impact; Scarmiglione tumbled backwards, a large gash etched across its breastplate.

Grafficane shot by Scarmiglione as it tumbled, clamps re-armed. Disliking aside, Yuriko was going to payback the Tyrant for what it had done to her comrade. She jetted at the Tyrant again ready to slice off the last bullet-cannon. But this time, the Tyrant was ready for the attack, propelling itself, cannon fully charged, and ramming Grafficane. The smaller frame flipped and tumbled over the larger, the gash on its chest now a full rupture that barely missed her power line. "Damage level has exceeded 75." The OF's combat computer warned. Yuriko panted, the toll of high-speed combat beginning to act on her. Tyrant started circling while launching missiles, much like a Nebula would do, forcing both Yuriko and Mirielle back on the defensive.

They did their best to shoot down the missiles with Homing Lasers and dodge the rest as she did back in the dome, but now she had a larger space to deal with, giving Tyrant the advantage. Yuriko herself was on the verge of being completely spent before her computer identified another Metatron signature, this time that of a Type B Orbital Frame. "What the-?" she muttered hazily. “-hell?” Mirielle finished for her.

A stream of crimson lasers surrounded them, moving jerkily about as they intelligently tracked their targets. They appeared to move slowly, but easily took out most of the missiles, leaving the rest to the two mantis-types' own homing weapons. Matthew hit Tyrant's retros to dodge as the scarlet beams of corrosive light approached. Yuriko's stomach churned, and a fresh bout of cold sweat broke out on her face. She knew what those were.

"Gee, isn't this precious." the very mocking and intentionally-irritating voice of Raven Vostrikov called out to Yuriko's radio comm. "A Harpy playing Matador. And look, you have a friend too." Anubis looked at Scarmiglione.

Anubis launched from below up to the conflict, staff forming in its hand, red eyes glowing with anticipation. Raven stopped the frame right behind the Grafficane, its head peering over the insectoid's shoulder. Raven let out an 'impressed' whistle. "Damn, I had no idea you could do that to a Tyrant with Grafficane and Scarmiglione. Took off its right cannon arm, ripped open its torso armor, burned most of its internal systems... Geez, why didn't you just rip open the cockpit like you did to those Nebulas, Yuriko? Or do you want your partner to cover your ass?"

"Easier said than done, bird." Yuriko seethed. Raven opened his mouth to spout forth another smartass remark, but the Tyrant had circled around the bickering pair again and was about to charge them. Yuriko and Mirielle placed their frames into respective dives while Anubis 'flapped' its six verniers and gained more altitude. The Tyrant passed, and Anubis started charging up energy. Crimson-hued ions gathered around the frame's torso, while its wings, arms and tail extended and its head was thrown back. The energy formed into a single point, completing the charge in a moment. Anubis threw its arms forward and fired the burst attack at Tyrant. It spiraled and homed in on the frame, moving even faster than the gigantic machine, burning a nasty tear into its back. It sputtered and slowed. Raven took his opportunity and flew in, landing on Tyrant and slicing its back with Anubis' staff. Blue fluids bled off Matthew's machine from the lacerations. The Tyrant flipped over and spun desperately, knocking Anubis off and whipping it with its large abdomen. After recovering, it charged once more, the furious syllables of 'DIE!' echoing on Raven's wide-frequency comm. The bullet-cannon transformed, changing from a gun-shape into that of a long, curved blade. If Raven weren't in the middle of combat, he would think it strange for a Tyrant to possess a melee weapon, but he had more important things to worry about at that exact moment. Anubis brought up its staff for defense, catching the Tyrant before it could fly at full speed again, clashing the blade against the larger frame's own weapon. Raven held his ground trying to stop Tyrant with sheer vernier power, but it quickly became too much for him. Steadily began to be forced back. The Tyrant's cockpit-head loomed out and over the smaller frame laughingly.

Inside, Matthew himself didn't care that he didn't know what this Frame was, nor that it reminded him of something from his past that filled him with a strong hint of horror; he just wanted it dead. This was unfortunately not to be; a Chain Flame shot nailed his frame's side, forcing him to slip away from the attack flopping over in the air.

Raven, looked up to see that it was Scarmiglione that did him the favor. "Thanks for the help.” he responded, but the Scarmiglione dove past him, as if ignoring him to slash along the back of the Tyrant. The scarlet frame executed a finishing combo by shooting another Chain Flame shot into the back end, then ascending upward.

”Impressive, you could learn a thing or two from your partner, Yuriko.” Raven said, as Grafficane floated up across from him.

"Yeah, right." Yuriko answered, lacking enthusiasm.

The Tyrant recovered in those few seconds, gained an altitude higher than Anubis, and then dove straight at it. "Shit…" Raven cursed, knowing full well Anubis wasn't fast enough to completely dodge. Yuriko began to charge a flame gale shot, and Mirielle changed course, both Beatrice claws armed this time, but it was too late. Raven instinctively brought up his shield and prepared for the worst.

But then, just before impact, Anubis' eyes flashed, as if it were laughing. In fact, just as the Tyrant was charging at it, the cable-like tail arched upward, and before impact, it whipped to the side, as if timing something. At the last second before impact, it disappeared, letting the Tyrant shoot haplessly past at full speed. The space behind it rippled, and Anubis reappeared again, this time over the cockpit head. With one piercing blow, the cockpit was severed; and Anubis jetted into the sky with the Tyrant runner in his hand, while the Orbital Frame crashed to the ferrous soil below...

-------------------------------

"I must say, I'm not impressed with these results." Kapricon motioned to Wilhelm, watching the battle between Anubis, Grafficane, Scarmiglione and Tyrant unfold on a television screen on his desk. Wilhelm stood next to his chair, watching the battle himself. "121 Orbital Frames, all in prime condition, destroyed, most of which were even before the Tyrant's fall." He sighed, turning the screen off. "Tell me something, Mr. Wilhelm, just what were you trying to accomplish by `liberating' Nereidum County? NUT Ltd. is already giving you weapons. There's no other reason for your `Glorious Crusade' to bother with this shit-hole province.”

"This was just to show the UNSF that there are other factions out there that possess power equal to BAHRAM, that they still have something to fear from Mars. As for liberating Nereidum, your county is just one strike point." Wilhelm insisted. "The plan was and still is to strike at key areas around Mars where the UNSF draws income. These areas include parts of Tarsis, Sirenum, Hellesponte, Aeria, and Alba, plus Margaritifer. As a result, yes, the attacks were unsuccessful, but the UNSF will be confused beyond reason at how so many bases were attacked on different areas of Mars."

"But that's still an unnecessary waste of resources." Kapricon insisted.

"A waste of what? Compared to what we have gathered over the years at Olympus Mons, this is just a single rain drop in the Martian desert. We have a BAHRAM command ship, countless orbital frames and manpower, plus the services of many anti-Earth movements on Mars." Wilhelm replied, amused by Kapricon's assessment. "Don't tell me how to use my equipment, please; I know what I'm doing."

Kapricon shrugged, his interest in the matter past now. "Alright. Do as you wish, I don't care. I'm just warning you to be careful. Orbital Frames aren't as easy to replace as they were in '72, and Raptors can't be produced quite as quickly."

Wilhelm nodded his understanding. "But I think the effect is good enough. At seven o'clock tonight, you will hear about the mysterious, and yet, well coordinated strikes all over the news. The makings of a war to liberate Mars, what you and I want. Just keep a hold on your end of the bargain."

"I will." Kapricon affirmed.

"Good." Wilhelm was quite pleased. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must depart. One of our convoys was captured this afternoon, and it's only a matter of time before my name is put on every wanted poster in the Solar System."

"How do you propose I contact you then? Smoke signals?" asked Kapricorn.

"I'll contact you when I can." Wilhelm said, walking around the desk and then exiting.

Kapricon sighed, picking up his phone. "Cynthia? Get me General Taggart on the phone. Tell him I have a business proposal for him..."

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In the lobby, Wilhelm saw many people rush back and forth, but with each step he took, it felt as if they were slowing. In fact, they were slowing in their footsteps and other activities. The clerk at the desk started to pick up the phone, an intern carrying a large stack of papers was just about to run into a female manager due to the rush and several other things, all slowing until they completely stopped. Wilhelm, on the other hand, didn't slow. He knew who was causing this. “Isaac Mattheris…” he said outloud.

Around the corner stepped a teenager of Egyptian decent, wearing a silver colored frame runner suit over his body, which possessed a silver cape flowing off the back. His hair was white and long, streaming down to his shoulders, and his dark golden eyes gazed at Wilhelm like a hawk, as a smile curled over the teenager's face. He wore a golden scarab amulet around his neck, which hinted at the teen's Egyptian origins, and as well, his flight jacket was covered in dark blue metatron-like lines, like you'd see on an OF flight suit. Underneath the overcoat were a pair of long, gray boots, and his hands were covered over with similar colored gloves. At the moment, he was wearing a hood over his head to hide his face, but Wilhelm's eye sight was good enough that he could see Isaac's face.

Knowing this, Isaac with drew his hood back, as there was no real reason to keep it on. “How nice to see you again, General. And so soon too…” he spoke.

"So, how did you enjoy the show?" Wilhelm asked, interested.

Isaac yawned. "It was good, until the UNSF showed up in their stupid LEVs. That's when the challenge ended." He laughed. "Striking down pawns isn't very entertaining, and it doesn't even level the chess board, King Eagle."

"I told you not to call me that here." Wilhelm snapped. Despite the room being frozen in motion, Wilhelm was uncomfortable with that name in the open. "Back on the main subject, you'd be surprised, Isaac. Anubis and Raven have both developed well over these past years. Your Lord must be proud."

"Eh, for now, he doesn't really give a damn." Isaac informed. "A pawn that masquerades as a bishop or rook is still just a pawn to both me and him."

"It took down the Tyrant by means of Zero Shift." Wilhelm pointed out grievously. "That means the frame is growing more and more powerful. This could be a problem for us in the future."

Isaac laughed at that. "Even if it did grow, it's still worthless to me and him, and so we will both treat it as worthless, until the time comes where I must face Huckebein myself." His lips curled into a sadistic smile.

Wilhelm shrugged. "Alright, I'll let our former Space Force friends handle it then. You just concentrate on the main plan."

"Naturally, I of all people know how to follow things up." Isaac felt this appropriated a short laugh, as he saw discontent on Wilhelm's face, "I love that expression! The knowledge that not all things are controlled by you, it suits you the best, General. Combined with the feelings I will feel soon, it all makes for a very interesting show!" Insane laughter echoed around the room for several minutes, breaking the tranquility. Wilhelm blinked at that point, and although Isaac was no longer in front of him, he could still hear the laughter as it grew fainter, signifying Isaac's growing distance.

A crash could be heard behind, as the intern finally ran into the manager, papers falling over the place as the intern scrambled to pick it up, even as the female manager griped. Wilhelm decided he had stayed long enough, and thus walked out the turn style door. Back at the front desk, the security guard could only wonder how he lost the phone signal, despite having just picked the phone up…

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Raven thought he had died. He closed his eyes for the second before the impact, only to open them again to eerie quiet. When he regained his composure, he was floating in the air, Anubis' right hand still holding its staff while its left held onto the Tyrant's cockpit. "What happened-?" he asked the air. Yuriko was just as dumbstruck and the opposing runner was out cold. "Was that...Zero Shift?" he asked rhetorically. Anubis 'replied' to him, confirming that the program he had activated at the last moment was indeed Zero Shift. The machine's battle computer interface continued to tell Raven that he didn't give a proper course for shifting, so Anubis had altered the course to gain an altitude of 20 meters above Tyrant, before twisting around again and landing on the opponents back. That's when Raven took over again.

"What...?" Yuriko muttered to the air, confused. "What happened?"

"Anubis teleported. Just like the original did in '74." Raven explained. So this is what made Anubis the most feared weapon in BAHRAM.

The staff disappeared from Anubis' hand, and Raven brought his frame to the ground, in view of the smashed wreck that remained of Tyrant's body. There was a special program he had gained an interest in, and he wanted to get it before he left. Anubis' open right hand reached out to the wreckage. Anubis' sensors scanned for the remains for working programs, going through basic combat maneuvers and some weapon subroutines that Anubis already possessed. That's when Raven came across what he was looking for. He gave the command, and red energy began to pour out of the wreckage into Anubis' right hand. The program's specs appeared upon a window inside his cockpit. "Lance, melee enhancement program. Variable velocity version of the Halbard, using the frame's sub weapon energy" he read, intrigued. "I guess this may come in handy later."

"Exactly what the hell is going on here, Vostrikov?" Yuriko demanded, the shattered Grafficane landing next to Anubis with Scarmiglione on the other side. "Just...what is that thing?"

The Jackel turned to face the Mantis. "I don't know myself." he said. "I do, however, have a proposition for you and your superiors.”

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TO BE CONTINUED...