Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Resurrection ❯ Rapier and Cutlass ( Chapter 7 )

"Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God."
- Apostles Peter and John, Book of Acts

Chapter 7: Rapier and Cutlass

"This is freighter Oriental Express, registry code 39696 X-ray, on approach to Deimos Spaceport. Request permission to engage landing procedures." the Oriental Express' communications officer said on the radio channel to the Tharsis control.

"39696 X-ray, you are clear to engage landing procedures. Turn fifteen degrees and begin descent to landing pad 07." the tower operator replied.

"Roger control." the communications officer signed off. The Captain nodded a 'good work' to his direction. The Oriental Express began its approach to Mars' atmosphere, turning as the tower ordered it to. Not too far 'below' the freighter was Deimos, the largest space station constructed over Mars, though it barely rivaled the size of the Taurus-class space colonies over Jupiter and Saturn. Around it were a combonation of freighters leaving or entering the space port like the Express and a bunch of Phantomas, Vic Vipers, Rebellion-class heavy cruisers and Vendetta-class destroyers orbiting the station, serving as its garrison. Deimos was the primary base for the UNSF's occupation on Mars, since it was, to some racist in UNSF High Command's liking, well above the Martian surface. It was so big, it was the perfect place to stash the Express' cargo without fear of a UNSF inspection team checking them out.

"Captain sir, I'm reading two Anti-Proton Reactors at our 9 o'clock, ten kilometers from our position and closing fast." the sensor officer warned, "They're definitely an orbital frame sir."

"What?" the captain exclaimed, jaw dropping. They were so damn close, "What's are two orbital frames doing here?" the sensor operator placed a picture of the frame on the bridge's view screen, displaying a single, extremely intimidating orange and grey mantis-like frame with large razor clamps and an angled head. It appeared to be dashing right at them, clamps deployed, until it stopped in mid-flight, remaining ready for battle.

"Captain, the runner is hailing us." the communications officer said. The rest of the bridge crew turned to the captain to see how he'd respond to that.

"Put him on screen." the captain ordered. To his surprise, the male runner he was expecting turned out to be a young, oriental woman with dark blue hair and an intimidating grin on her face. "Freighter Oriental Express, under the jurisdiction of Special Taskforce Aegis, you are to turn away from Deimos station and land at Margaritifer space port. I will escort you. Fail to comply and you will be shot down." The woman backed up her threat by making a burst. Orange energy formed around the frame, as it readied to attack.

"Shit." the Captain said. "Looks like we'll have to take the alternate route. Mr. Connor, plot an escape velocity and go to full speed. I also want our 'cargo' deployed at once."

The XO's jaw dropped at that order, "But if we deploy the Raptors now, our deal with VANGUARD..."

"I don't give a damn about VANGUARD right now, I only care about our survival." Captain stated, "If we follow her, we will be interrogated and executed for conspiracy against the Earth." he pointed his index finger at the mantis, "That's only one orbital frame out there anyway, nothing to worry about."

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Yuriko shook her head when the Oriental Express' twin bays opened up, a mixture of Raptor close combat frames and Mummyhead long distance support frames flying out in streams. There were twenty three frames total, twenty-five Raptors and seven Mummyheads, all of which had targeted Grafficane. "Why am I not surprised?" she asked to no one in particular.

Grafficane continued to stand there in mid space, but it let out a 'flame gale' burst at one of the Mummyheads, obliterating it. The other twenty two frames registered the destruction of a party member, ignoring it and continuing on their mission. The Mummyheads hung back and began to charge their halbards as the Raptors all activated their energy swords. The first jetted up to Grafficane, ready to slice it in half, when a burst of energy sliced the frame's spinal cord in half. Both sections of the frame detonated. It then seemed to fly through the incoming Raptors, hacking them all apart as it went.

To the shock of the Express' crew, two more orbital frames materialized before the freighter around the first frame. What shocked them even more was that these frames didn't appear on sensors at all, even though they could be seen by the naked eye. The three frames then went on the attack, fighting off the Raptors and Mummyheads with amazing speed and finesse. While the mantis frame was picking off the Mummyheads one by one at close range with its superior speed, the two others were jetting back and forth, either slicing the Raptors apart with their twin swords or firing green ripple beams into the Raptors from their hands. Because the two frames didn't register on sensors, the Raptor's computer AI didn't identify their presence, and therefore didn't fight back. They only jetted around, trying to compute where and who was attacking them before a green shot, web of homing lasers or comet shot vaporized the frames. After a few minutes the entire attack force had been diminished to nothing. The three frames once again, turned their attention to the lone freighter that was running as fast as it could from Mars and its attackers.

Only to be stopped again. Further shocking the crew, another OF materialized, right in front of the bridge. This one looking far more familiar to everyone. The jackal like form of Anubis. Giving the bridge a crimson glare, the frame began charging energy for a burst attack. It fired the homing round, striking the freighter's port engine nacelle, obliterating it. "The next shot will be at the bridge." the cold, stern voice of Anubis' runner warned, "Follow the orders given to you or die. I don't care which."

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"I must admit, Kapricon came through." Nadia said, watching in awe as the two Wraiths ripped apart the oncoming force of Raptors, right from Aegis HQ's cathedral-like control room. Taggart nodded indefinately, while Esteraund gave an impressive whistle. "They're definately alot better than the Templar, though I'm not going to trade Raijin in just yet." he concluded with a sharp grin. The rest of Aegis' control room operators all thought the same about the Wraith's overall performance in battle. The sight of the Oriental Express being escorted down to the surface by the four frames seemed to conclude the operation as a success. Taggart, being satisfied, signaled Nadia, Taine and Esteraund to meet with him in the ready room. The General got up and the Colonel and mercenary followed him into the small room. Immediatly as he walked in and sat down, he keyed commands into the control pad on the table. A holo display appeared shortly in front of where Esteraund, Taine, Taggart and Nadia were sitting, displaying the Aegis shield as usual.

"Thanks to the captured officers and the Nereidum convoy leader's cooperation, we've managed to obtain some information on VANGUARD's operations." The screen changed from the Aegis shield to a map of Mar's landscape, specifically the area west of the ruins of Vascilia county, "One of the better details is this. VANGUARD has occupied an abandoned BAHRAM underground base, due west of Vascilian territory." A red marker formed, pointing out the base's location. Taggart continued, "This is the base where they launched those one hundred and twenty one orbital frames at Margaritifer, right under the UNSF's noses. At the moment, High Command is still undecided about the situation. I, however, want to raid that base."

"Even without permission from High Command?" Taine asked.

Taggart gave a sly grin to Esteraund, "In matters like these, Aegis has the ability to ignore High Command altogether. They will support us either way." Taggart explained, then turning back to the base, "This base seems to be an OF control facility, left over from the previous war. It's unknown whether its current occupants are using it for the same reason. If we capture it, we may find more about VANGUARD."

"I like the idea." Nadia came in, "It's in a clear area, so that gives the enemy less places to hide their attack units. My only concern is it will definately be well defended by Raptor-type orbital frames. It won't present much of a problem to our orbital frames, but it's still a problem."

"Maybe, maybe..." Taggart said, leaning his head onto his right upright fist "Anyway, this will definitely be a hit and run operation for the Wraiths and their stealth capabilities. Nemesis Squadron and Raijin should be able to distract the Raptors while they sneak in and gut the base from inside of any resistance. If it's possible, I'd like to get De Franz into the deal..."

All three were about to object, but the General continued, "De Franz may be an incompetent racist bastard whose only talent is to kill people in grotesque ways, but I don't want to waste our resources on this one base. Even when the General does screw up, he will be the one to take the fall, not us. Besides, there may be a chance that his LEVs will draw fire away from our OFs. That will definately make our jobs easier, ladies and gentlemen."

Taine chuckled, "That's rather heartless, willingly using LEVs as cannon fodder."

"Not really. The terrain is that of a desert, nothing but dunes of sand for miles. We can bury the LEVs into the sand and give them long-range weapons for fire support, while our orbital frames fight off theirs at melee combat." Taggart concluded.

"Still, we'd need to convince De Franz to help us out." Esteraund asked.

Nadia just grinned, "Really?"

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The sound of the cell door sliding open awoke the VANGUARD assassin, identified as Fen Kobay, and made him sit upright on the bed. Raven Vostrikov and Yuriko Ishikawa both walked into his cell. Interestingly, they were both still clothed in their OF runner jump suits, so Fen assumed they just returned from a run. "Lets make this quick." Raven said, crossing his arms over his chest. He now wore a black, grey and red jumpsuit, the exact same colorscheme of his OF and the opposite of Yuriko's orange, blue and grey one. He didn't feel like talking at first, after what these creeps did to Virgil, until he saw that Raven was holding a seethed katana in his left hand. Raven hung back against the wall while Yuriko came forward and sat in front of Fen on a metal chair. "Had a good night's sleep?" Yuriko asked as if curious.

"Can't say I enjoy the accomodations." Fen replied gruffly.

"That's the whole point." Yuriko said, "Now, before we begin, you have two choices. One, we can follow standard procedure of interrogation, in which I ask a question, you answer, and nobody gets hurt. Or, we can go at it like your first interrogation here." she gestured at Raven. He nodded and drew his katana.

Fen gulped a little bit, but retained his calm composure, "Not much of a choice." he shrugged his right shoulder, "What do you want to ask?"

"Today's subject is on VANGUARD in general. You already told us you were one of their chief officers and assassins, but I want to know about the organization in general." Yuriko said.

"Why are you so curious? It's just another terrorist organization."

"If it were, then Vice Admiral Weinburg wouldn't be funding it. Tell me everything about VANGUARD, how it began, why it's getting so much support, and other details. Right now, we know next to nothing about them, but they obviously have something to do with the UNSF. What is it?" Yuriko shot questions at Fen. Raven observed curiously toward the one armed man's reply.

"Of course VANGUARD has something to do with the UNSF, they were originally working under the Earth." Fen explained, gaining a slightly shocked expression from both Yuriko and Raven.

"We already know that." Raven said.

"VANGUARD was a separate, top secret organization from the UN military much like Aegis is. However, their main purpose, besides being a special operations organization, was to create or adopt new weapons for the Space Forces. They had a budget that was twice as much as the Space Force gets, and they're made up of the elite officers and scientists that the Earth can provide. Including myself, of course." Fen spoke arrogantly.

"Why did they turn into the 'Martian Vanguard'?" Yuriko asked, "...if they're the most respected Earth organization on Mars?"

"The Orbital Frame." Fen grinned, "One of the 'weapons' they were charged for adapting to the Earth's control was Metatron. Despite the Anti-Metatron Body Act, Space Force High Command was uncertain whether they should allow their forces to field OFs or not, so they gave Metatron and blueprints from NUT to VANGUARD and ordered them to develop an orbital frame for the UNSF. At that point, High Command still looked upon the orbital frame as nothing more than a modified LEV, but they were still curious about it. The scientists at VANGUARD really had a ball making new OF designs, each one for a various purpose and all designed for Space Force operation. Their first attempt at arming the Earth forces with orbital frames was vetoed by General De Franz and High Command, for their own personal reasons. They made a second attempt on 2176, but it was again rejected. Or atleast it appeared that way."

"What do you mean?" Yuriko asked.

"You sure you want to know?" Fen replied. Yuriko nodded. "Truth is, officials in the Space Force didn't want orbital frames in the UNSF, as they feared it would lead to another uprising, but this time within your military. High Command saw the potential threat, and gave up their plans for the OF. But it wasn't just OF they disavowed, your 'masters' wanted everyone involved with it 'silenced'. They erased all information on VANGUARD and wiped out all personnel, executing them inside their own base on charges of 'treason' and 'conspiracy' and wiping all records of VANGUARD." Fen slowly nodded with an understanding look, "I can't say I blame your 'home world' for wanting to get rid of the orbital frame, but they carried it out with the blood of its own people."

"Surprising." Raven said, skeptically. Yuriko had the same conclusion. With idiots like Nungesser and De Franz running the Space Force, as well as all the weird conspiracies she had dealt with for the past two weeks, anything was possible. It was a little hard to believe that, with all the restrictions placed on Metatron, the UNSF would willingly experiment with the Orbital Frame concept of weaponry. Only the UNSF's Orbital Frame Corps., which was really a collection of former BAHRAM orbital frames captured and operated by the UNSF, and Special Taskforce Aegis were permitted to use OFs. "So this isn't the actual VANGUARD, just a bunch an organization using it's name to scare the shit out of the UNSF."

"Hardly." Fen replied, "Despite official records showed him dead, General Wilhelm was put in charge of the executions. He saw an opportunity, falsified reports stating everybody involved with OF was killed, and that's when he disappeared from the face of the Earth in front of High Command. Since then, he's built the VANGUARD back up and made it another anti-Earth faction poised to liberating Mars. Only a few officers in the Space Force knew about this, but they chose to ignore it, since it presented little of a problem."

"You're saying this could've been prevented?" Raven asked.

"Yes, but your 'masters' didn't seem to think it was needed." Fen said.

"So that's it then." Yuriko said, a little astonished, "You're saying we're going up against former Space Force personnel bent on revenge?"

"For the most part. Wilhelm has other reason, but I don't know the man that well." Fen said.

Yuriko nodded and got up, signaling toward Raven, "I think that's enough." Yuriko smirked, "You've been rather cooperative."

"In the presence of a beautiful, intelligent woman, how could I not?" Fen winked.

"Too bad not everyone thinks that way." Yuriko said, glaring at Raven and at the same time, soaking in the praise. Raven just rolled his eyes and followed his partner out the cell door.

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Taggart suppressed the urge to sigh. I wonder why he doesn't spend his time investigating more into VANGUARD rather than screaming at us... he thought to himself, as an enraged General Paul De Franz's goggled face appeared on his desk computer screen. Taggart figured Mason would be infuriated, seeing as he had 'stolen' one of Margaritifer's LEV battalions and a land battleship. He saw no reason for Mason not to 'aid them', after all.

"Taggart, you bastard!" De Franz roared, his face almost filling the entire computer monitor, "Kaiser Battalion is still under my command, and unless I decide it..."

"General, this is Special Taskforce Aegis. When it comes to matters of national security or terrorism, the homeworld has given us full jurisdiction over the rest of the Space Force." Taggart replied in his calm, even tone, despite his annoyance to De Franz and his incompetence, "Feel free to complain, but Kaiser Battalion and the Belfastwill remain in our control for the time being, whether you like it or not."

"You idiot, our intelligence has already deemed Margaritifer as the next target for these rebels. Without that battalion..." De Franz tried to explain through his rage, though Taggart was unconvinced.

"Margaritifer is still defended by seven LEV Battalions, plus a portion of the Orbital Frame Corps and support from the defense fleet." Taggart said, "The rebels, on the other hand, have an unknown number of orbital frames. Our strategy plan calls for a support team to aid our own OFs in storming the enemy base. If you really need more men to defend this county, then you can requisition battalions from other counties. Of course, being a General myself, I think you can keep Margaritifer defended with your current numbers."

Mason's fist tightened at that challenge, "I don't give a damn about defending Margaritifer! I can do that with just one LEV battalion, but that still doesn't give you the right..."

"General, to be quite frank, I don't give a damn. Aegis has its own job to do, and I'm not going to let a naïve berserker like yourself keep us from doing that job." Taggart shot back, while remaining calm, Mason was a little taken back. He hadn't expected Taggart to be this serious. "We're keeping Kaiser Battalion and the Belfast, without your approval if need be. Taggart out."

Mason was about to say something else, but before he kid, his face faded out, being replaced by Taggart's computer desktop. Applause came from the door way just after. "General, I'm impressed." Nadia said, entering the office, "I knew you had backbone, but I never thought you had that much backbone."

Taggart shrugged, "I can only be pushed so far." he said, "Is everything set up for the operation?"

"Kaiser Battalion and the Belfast arrived this afternoon. That gives us fifteen Phantoma IIs, ten Vic Vipers and a Thiazi land battleship to our ten Wraiths and those three specialty frames." Nadia explained, "Kaiser Battalion's morale is down, however, since we are going up against orbital frames."

"I'm sure after we explain the battleplan, they'll expect a chance for survival." Taggart said, getting up from his desk, "We'll inform everybody of the plan in the evening. Since this is a hit and run mission, I think its best we do this in the cover of night."

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Evening came, and everyone gathered into the briefing room. Yuriko, Raven and Esteraund were the first, followed by Aegis' Wraith runners like Colonel Saijin Ishikawa, and finally the LEV pilots of Kaiser Battalion. Seeing that everyone was assembled, Nadia explained the plan. "Alright, the base we're going against is definitely one owned by VANGUARD." the screen behind her flickered and changed to a map of the outskirts of Vascilia county. A red indicator showed the base, or at least where it was located underground. "As far as we can tell, the facility is protected by a large number of defense installations here and here..." about eight more indicators appeared, surrounding the base in an uneven pattern, "...as well as a garrison of Raptor-class orbital frames. Fortunately, most of the OFs stationed there were destroyed in the Battle for Nereidum. That gives us the advantage."

Several lines appeared on the map, colored in blue, red and green, with operation points coming at several locations. As shown by the map key, the blue lines represented the course of the Kaiser Battalion squadrons, five lines for each squadron. Two of the red lines were assigned to Aegis' two Wraith squadrons, Avenger Squadron and Guardian Squadron. And finally, the green represented the flight path of Nemesis Squadron, which consisted of Anubis, Grafficane and Idolo. Raijin was also included in Nemesis Squadron, but it wasn't a permanent position. "Kaiser One, Two and Three Squadrons will surround the base at Op point Charlie, and set up for sniper attack. Four and Five, since they're comprised of Vic Vipers, are to aid Nemesis in distracting the bases' defending garrison, here." a new indicator came up, showing the attack point to be a great distance away from the base, "During this, Guardian and Avenger will infiltrate and gut out any enemy force still inside the base. Those that do make it out will be gunned down by the three Kaiser squadrons. After all resistance is cleared, the Belfast will deliver the personell to capture the facility. Any questions?"

Raven rose his hand, "This attack plan is assuming they don't have any more Nebulas or Tyrants as part of their garrison."

Nadia nodded, "Intelligence has deemed the base too small to house Type A orbital frames on the scale of Tyrants and Tempests, but there is the possibility for a few Nebulas. Compared to the capabilities of Nemesis Squadron, they will not prove much of a threat."

One of the Vic Viper jocks followed, "How will the One, Two and Three approach the base, if it's that heavily defended?"

"The Phantoma IIs have been modified with a stealth system like that on the Wraith. It won't make the LEVs 'invisible' to the naked eye, but it will make detection highly difficult. Even night vision will have trouble picking them up." Nadia said, "Anything else?"

No one else rose a hand. Nadia noticed that the LEV pilots were extremely nervous, some of them muttering about 'death' and 'blaze of glory'. She couldn't blame them, Kaiser, especially the Phantoma groups, were going to perform a rather impossible task. However, they still remained determined, obviously wanting revenge for Nereidum. Her main concern was with Raven, however. He seemed to grin at the battle plans, as if he was taking it all to heart. This made him an effective soldier, but on a humane level, it made him almost insane. "Alright, then I guess you all know what to do." Nadia concluded, "Everyone suit up. Lets hope this ends quickly."

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Major General William 'Bill' Browning, the architect and leader of the VANGUARD weapons administration, strolled down his office overlooking the factory complex, silently running his hand across the slanted, one-way plexiglass window that was on the right side of his office. The one that allowed him to watch the weapons factory, like a cigar chomping CEO would. The factory was as lively as ever, as engineers and workers were constructing Metatron components to form Raptor orbital frames from the mechanical jungle that was below him. Blue sparks flew off the various pieces of equipment, several Raptor bodies being held up as mechanics swarmed over them. In his personal opinion, it was a beautiful sight. Bill Browning came from a long running family of engineers and inventors, most famous of all being John Browning, who revolutionized the gun industry with the legendary Colt M1911A1 handgun. Following the family line, John became the chief of the United Nations Space Force's Weapons and Development Division, or as it was classified, VANGUARD. That is, until two years ago, when High Command sent a death order out for all VANGUARD personnel on charges of treason and conspiracy.

But, he had escaped with the rest of his loyal employees, with the help of General Leon Shale, and here he was now, watching as his people worked hard to exact revenge on the organization that had betrayed them. Interrupting his thoughts was a knock on the metallic door to his office. He turned to the door, "Enter." In came a blonde haired woman in her mid-thirties, dressed in a UNSF Fleet Command uniform rather than the standard 'army' attire. The ranking pins on her left breast and neck, plus the bars on her shoulders, showed her as a Vice Admiral of the United Nations Space Force. Or atleast, formerly a Vice Admiral. "You wish to speak to me about something, Vice Admiral Weinburg?" Browning asked.

"I told you before, Bill, call me Elena. I'm not a Vice Admiral any more." Elena said firmly.

"And neither am I a Major General anymore, but we must still recognize rank and protocol." Browning grinned, moving toward his booze cabinet, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing. Just came to report some interesting findings from Gustav Base." she said, placing a file folder on Browning's desk, "Aside from the usual Raptors, they've uncovered a special frame to go with the Crusader Taskforce."

Browning reached over to his desk and picked up the file folder, opening it. He nodded. "Zakat. The frame that single-handedly devestated the Space Force. I'm sure Wilhelm and the Talons will enjoy this." he said, as he read down the report. "My, my, my. BAHRAM should've learned to pick up its toys." he chuckled, opening the cabinet and grabbing a bottle of four hundred year old scotch.

"I still think it's a waste of time though, Bill." Elena said, with a little irritation toward the subject, "Kapricon has undoubtedly leaked this to UNSF intelligence, and they will definitely react to this one, seeing what happened at Nereidum and the other spheres."

Browning nodded, sighing, "I know, Elena, I know. I don't like the way Wilhelm is handling things either, but I don't have any choices. I owe the guy a favor."

Elena's eyes narrowed, "Just because he saved your life doesn't mean you should follow his will unquestionably. Thanks to him and his stupid attempt to take Nereidum, he's revealed our presence to the deepest parts of the UNSF." she grumbled.

"The man believes in 'divine justice'. He made those attacks on Mars so he could so the Space Force that VANGUARD is still around and we're very much pissed off. He made that attack not to take back the county, but to display our stregnth and willingness to rebel." Browning said, pouring Elena a glass of scotch, "It's an age old tactic, but effective, even in nature."

"Possibly, but it's very risky at the same time." Elena said.

"That's the reason the Atlantis' squadron didn't participate in the invasion itself." Browning said, "Either way, I'm not asking you to believe in him because I do, but I still need you Elena." he said in a softer tone, holding out the glass, "I don't care about this crusade, I only care for the survival of my men and woman. If Wilhelm does fail, their hopes for life will lie in you, your fleet and your men."

Elena nodded solumnly, "That is the only reason I agreed to help you, Bill. Just... Don't get yourself killed because of someone else's beliefs. Alan and Rock were both killed because of that." she took the glass.

"I know." Bill said, but he smiled a bit, "They were good men, but I don't intend to follow them." they both took a drink from their glasses.

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Raven leaned back in Anubis' cockpit, letting the autopilot take hold of the orbital frame, guiding it to the nearest op point. Right now, he was nestled to the left flank of Grafficane or Nemesis Three for its call sign. Besides her, there was Idolo cruising on the right flank, under the callsign Nemesis Two, further from it was Esteraund's frame Raijin as Nemesis Four. He still felt uneasy about leading this force, and almost wished Yuriko or Xander had taken command. Behind them were Guardian and Avenger Squadrons in active stealth mode, Colonel Velasgo in charge of both, and far back, flying in a support formation, were the Kaiser's Vic Viper Squadrons in fighter mode. Somewhere on the surface, in between the various spheres and nests, were the Phantoma teams, also in stealth mode.

This was probably the most boring part of the operation ever. While most people would be contemplating whether they'd live through this or not, Raven was restless. From the way Colonel Velasgo made it sound, this operation was going to take roughly a few minutes, if everything went according to plan. Out of boredom, he decided to look around the formation a bit more. Anubis' lock-on indicator targeted Grafficane at first, but Raven saw nothing wrong with Yuriko. For once. So he moved onto Raijin. Before he switched the lock-on to a Vic Viper, he noticed something strange about Raijin. Twelve of its defensor discs were mounted upon its triple binders, four per binder. Curious, he opened a private comlink to Esteraund. "Can I help you?" Esteraund asked, turning down the volume level on Raijin's CD player.

"Just curious, about the Qubeley setup on your back." Raven asked.

"Eh, those numb NUTs placed some recharge racks on the binders. Usually, once a defensor is used up of energy, it cannot be used again until I find some Metatron Ore lying around, but the recharge racks allow twelve discs to be recharged, right from Raijin's Anti-Proton Reactor." Esteraund explained, "It's a nifty little modification, and it looks pretty damn cool when they launch off my back."

"I'm sure." Raven rolled his eyes, "If those NUT jobs were being so generous, then why didn't they do anything to the others? Grafficane and Idolo still look the same." he had Anubis' head nudge slightly toward the rest of his squad.

Esteraund shook his head, "They didn't need to. Grafficane's old, but its actually one of the most advanced frames made by BAHRAM. In fact, I doubt we'll be seeing that kind of cutting edge again."

"How do you know that?" Raven asked.

"I studied that frame while I was in...the WIRED." Esteraund said, "Anyway, it's a little like Yuriko, it's not what it appears on the surface." typing in a few commands, he transmitted the data of Grafficane to Anubis' cockpit. "The things fully loaded. Two 'gilius' clamps, two extremely powerful wing binders on the hips for added speed and agility, a built-in decoy subweapon and something called a Self Binder." he read the list of inventory to Raven, "I don't know what the Self Binder does, but it has something to do with the AI. Probably an auto-control mechanism."

"You're making it sound like a suped up sports car." Raven said.

"As far as OFs are concerned, this thing's like the Mach 5. You know, from that old Earth show 'Speed Racer'?" Esteraund replied.

"If it's really that powerful and rare, how did Yuriko get a hold of it?" Raven asked, then remembering how that crazed bitch slaughtered an entire unit of Raptors and Nebulas, "Better yet, how the hell is she that good? She's barely my age and she's like the Red Baron of the UNSF."

"I asked her that once. All she said was, 'Sore wa himitsu desu'." he said, waving his index finger, closing his eyes and grinning as he quoted.

If this were an animation, Raven would've face faulted or bonked Esteraund over the head with a hammer. "The Trickster Priestess, eh?" Raven exclaimed, shaking his head, "It's not like she has a deep dark past that she wants to keep hidden from the world, does she?"

”How would I know?” Esteraund replied, “As for Idolo, I don't have much data on it. Idolo seems to be a general purpose model, just like the original, but thanks to Xander, the frame performs almost 50 better.”

Before Esteraund could continue, Raven disengaged the comlink and the combat lock on Raijin, seeing as they had now approached the operation point. Anubis' staff appeared in one hand, and he also saw Grafficane and Raijin begin to power up. Raven appeared on a broadband channel, "Nemesis One to all squadrons, I'm picking up several bogeys heading our way. All of them are Metatron reactions, definitely hostile. Nemesis Squadron, follow me forward and engage. Vic Vipers, remain in fighter mode and provide support fire." Raven ordered, Grafficane jetting out of formation.

"As ordered, One." Yuriko said, "Nemesis Three, engaging." In a show offish manner, Grafficane dashed well ahead of the group, flying at full speed toward the line of Raptors.

"Nemesis Four, engaging." Esteraund said, Raijin also flying forward in a dash, but staying in formation with Grafficane.

”Nemesis Two, engaging.” Xander reported seldomly, with Idolo also flying into the fray.

Guess the fun begins. There were about fifty orbital frames overall, a standard of two Battalions in UNSF classification. And only thirteen opposing frames, ten of which being Vic Vipers. Raven paid no heed, though. Anubis' multi-lock activated, targeting a group of twenty-one Raptor-class frames. Raven's eyes and turned back and forth in between each lock. He changed directions and dodged to the right, letting off a web of scarlet homing lasers. A few of the Raptors were caught in the blast, while the rest put their shields up just in time to deflect it. A second later, he stopped, charged and launched a burst shot at another Raptor, destroying it as well. Those were six frame destroyed in the first past. Three Cyclops came at Anubis with the arm blades, but Raven acted faster, bring his staff up and blocking each attack, then zero shifting behind the last one and slicing it apart. He continued the process until the last two were destroyed. That was nine. Three more frames, this time two Raptors and a Clod, were his next opponents. The Raptors lunged at him with their swords while the Clod remained back and fired missiles. Anubis' shield came up, keeping the beam swords out of reach from Anubis, and just as fast, Anubis disengaged the shield and zero shifted away from the trio. Again, it zero shifted, this time behind the Clod. Anubis' staff disappeared for a moment, as Raven reached out and grabbed the Clod with Anubis' right hand. Grinning that the Raptors were still flying at him, he tossed the Clod at the one on the left and with a mighty throw, destroying both frames. The last Raptor came at him and attempted a sword combo, but Raven effortlessly deflected each strike with his staff. Feeling he had better things to do, he performed a burst slash, bringing the staff back and then in one large, energy trailed ninety degree swipe, obliterated the Raptor, which flew back for a minute before exploding. Anubis twirled its staff and then targetted another OF, this time a Mummyhead.

Raven took the moment to check on his personal squad. Yuriko was currently fighting a group of Clods, or more like playing with them. Grafficane was flying around the much slower clods, making little swipes with its clamps that 'provoked' them to attack with their energy whips, before Yuriko let off a burst slash that obliterated it. A few more came at her as she flew away, but they were gunned down by missile fire from the much more maneuverable Vic Vipers. He heard Yuriko sigh over the comm, "I liked it better in Nereidum, where it was actually a challenge. You agree, One?" Grafficane looked toward Anubis. Anubis returned it with a side glance, as it decapitated another Raptor. Raven merely shook his head as Yuriko chuckled. He didn't have time to respond. As soon as most of the Raptors were destroyed by the Vics and five frames, a new battalion appeared on sensors. Instead of Raptors, Anubis displayed them as a group of fighter like OFs, identified as Narita. "All units, I'm picking up a group of Naritas, heading our way. Two more possible contacts hanging at the edge of the battlefield. No other sign of enemy activity."

"Roger, Naritas en route." Yuriko said, "I also got confirmation from Avenger and Guardian." also added, not giving away the Wraiths' position.

"The rest of Kaiser Battalion is also in position." Xander said, in the midst of decapping another Raptor with Idolo's arm blade.

”Looks like everythings going to plan.” Esteraund observed, as three of his defensors zipped back and re-attached to Raijin's recharge racks.

"All craft, engage the Naritas at long-range. Do not let them get close to you." Yuriko ordered, seeing the black wave of delta shaped frames flying at them, golden energy surging from the tips.

Suddenly, Raven's thinking halted with the effect of a train crash. Anubis' energy lines began to pulsate faster as a sudden shock of pain ran into his skull. "AH! Help me!" he yelled out on broadband. He writhed in pain, grabbing his head. The cockpit began resonating around him.

"Raven!" Esteraund called. Raijin fended off the attacking Naritas with its defensors while dashing to Anubis' side. Anubis stopped its attack, its staff disappearing and hands coming over its face. "What's wrong?"

"I...can't tell..." Raven breathed, eyes clenched shut, "My cockpits resonating around me. The pressure..." That's when Raven's eyes flared open in realization. And deep terror. He could feel Anubis surge with energy, its staff appearing again and assuming a defensive posture like a cornered beast. Resonation. It can't be... he thought. Sure enough, the two contacts burst into action, flying at the battlefield with unthinkable speed. It's impossible... he wasted no time in opening a comlink to Yuriko, "Nemesis Three, I relinquish command to you. Draw everyone over to Op point Charlie."

Yuriko would've let off a quip, had she not seen Raven's face on her video feed. Even she wasn't insane enough to question a face like the one Raven displayed. However, she remained serious, "One, what's wrong?"

"Those two contacts, they both register as Type B Orbital Frames." Raven explained, "One of them answers to the name Jehuty."

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

Inside Gustav Base, Nadia and her two teams slipped in through open launch ports, stealth mode on full, keeping them from being detected by the base's inner sensors. She brought the base's schematics up on her Wraith's monitor. It was a deep running facility, the size of a small town and well below the surface of Vascilia. Her current position was at the western launch port, while Avenger Squadron was slipping below the northern port. Or at least they should've been, as not even Nadia could detect the other squadron, with their stealth modes activated and being separated by a thick layer of rock. After flying through several levels of base defense, her team made it to the primary hangar bay, where several Raptor and Narita frames were lined up. Her team was obviously undetected, since there were still engineers and technicians surrounding the Raptors. Nadia turned to the frames behind her and flashed her Wraith's green optic sensors for a moment, telling them to proceed. In front of the unaware engineers, Guardian Squadron decloaked and began firing a flurry of laser bursts at the motionless orbital frames around them. Raptors exploded and people ran from the hangars, screaming wildly. It was the type of thing you'd see in a Godzilla movie, from Nadia's point of view anyway. Without locking, she jetted at the right side of the hangar, and activated her frame's twin spiegel blades. Dashing, she slashed across the row of orbital frames, slicing them all in halves until she reached the end.

"Avenger Lead to Guardian Lead." The leader of Avenger Squadron, Major Travis Dean said over a comlink to Nadia's Wraith, "Have reached Op point Delta, and have begun search-and-destroy operation."

"Understood." Nadia said. While the others outside didn't know it, the two Wraith Squadrons had a separate agenda to the rest of the taskforce. It was Guardian Squadron's mission to destroy Gustav Base's orbital frame force and any other defense inside the base, but Avenger was different. Dean's squad was to fly to the lowest portion of the base and begin a recon sweep for the Belfast's infiltration team. Thanks to Lenard Kapricon, Aegis had learned before the operation that there was left over pieces of BAHRAM hardware well below the surface. Though NUT itself had no idea what was stored there, and up to this point, WIRED had no idea there was a facility here, Nadia's sense of logic dictated it was some special type of OF. Otherwise, why would Shale give a damn about this place?

"Heh, heh." a rather eerie voice laughed over broadband, "Such a beautiful little web I've spun. You flies have no idea what you're in for."

"What the-?" Travis Dean said out loud, an explosion was overheard. Nadia could sense her face draining of color, "Holy..." she barely gasped. Then came a group of explosions and a scream.

The voice laughed again, making Nadia's blood run cold. "To the rest of you lambskin shields, my name is Black Vulture, the Dark Elemental of Special Forces VANGUARD Talons Unit. I have destroyed four of your little black frames and have captured their leader. If you want to save him, or just get out of here alive, you'll have to get through me." Vulture laughed. The echoing of the base's launch ports closing echoed down the tunnel, "You have no means of escape to the surface, so you can only go down deeper into my web. Defeat me, and I'll spare this pawn's life and let you leave in piece." he grinned, "It doesn't matter. I have what I've come for. How about you?" the comlink cut after.

"Avenger One, what's going on?" Nadia ordered over the comm. No answer. "Shit." she turned to the rest of her squad, "Change of mission plan, boys. We're going to support what's left of Avenger group. Re-engage stealth camoflauge and proceed." she ordered. The other four complied, turning transparent along with Nadia's frame. Nadia jetted to the entry way that was at the bottom of the hangar, which led deeper down into the enemy base. Little did she know, that she had gotten more than she had intended. That she would be the first the experience the enigma of Black Vulture.

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

Raven, for one of the fewest times in his life, was terrified. Yuriko, Xander and the group had moved away as soon as they heard Jehuty was flying toward them, while Esteraund flew out to engage the second contact. The sky seemed to get darker, and Anubis' resonation became stronger, matching Raven's heart beat by beat. Somewhere around him, in the darkened sky, Jehuty was lurking, probably observing its brother from afar. It had been a long time since Raven felt such terror...

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

The sound of explosions could be heard all around him, as a ten year old Raven Vostrikov ran down the streets of Antilia. Tears were streaming down his eyes, as he jogged, seeking the refuge of the nearby Church. Above him, he could hear those strange skeleton-like orbital frames flying around in all directions, patrolling or hunting. He didn't know which. Despite the fact he was in good shape for a ten year old, he breathed heavily as the tears continued to run. His nose had become congested with nasal fluids, limiting his breathing only through his mouth, and his legs were becoming exhausted by the minute. Then there was the scar on his shoulder. Raven ignored all of it, concentrating only on the church beyond him. He had made it. Now, the explosions and battles seem to be far off in the distance, well beyond him. God himself seem to understand Raven, as a layer of comfort wrapped around him like a blanket, warming him. Raven caught his breath and walked into the church, still panting from the long run.

The attack had come so suddenly. He was still in shock from hearing the first explosion, that being an Earth LEV, being shot apart by a strange scarlet orbital frame with golden eyes. He knew at that point to run, run as fast as he could and not look back. He could hear the cries of people around him, all running for their lives, but being claimed by the strange force. Raven didn't know what was going on. He wanted to know, but he didn't. All he could do was flee for his life while everyone died. The stench of human flesh burning in street was too nauseating for him, and the puddle of blood that had leaked from under a dead LEV, that had also been destroyed by the scarlet frame. It was too much. He fled from the streets, not looking back, and now he crept into the church.

Slowly, he caught his breath. The blood on his clothing had long since dried, which had come from an adult that he had ran past being shot apart by a random laser shot. It didn't bother him now, compared to the stench and the corpses. Raven crept down the aisle way of the church, running his fingers through his greasy, messed up hair, trying to do what his mother did when he was a baby, the thing that made him feel calm. If this place wouldn't make him feel better, the House of the Lord, then nothing would. That's when the sound of those skeletons flying around became closer, until he could hear the walls of the church shake from the zombies' flight. Raven immediately ran to the stage and jumped into the Priest's confession booth, in a hope that the skeletons would fly over him and leave him alone. They didn't, and the roars increased. The sound of a battle could be heard, even from the booth. Raven looked up at that thought. Battle...? against all instinct, he jumped out of his cover and ran to the entrance. Where his eyes widened in astonishment.

God again seemed to intervene, what Raven could best describe as a blue angel was fighting a group of those demons. With a few slashes with its sword, the skeletons were cut apart, their ashes fell to the ground below. Raven covered his eyes as a cloud of dust and heat kicked up from a skeleton landing close to him. The dust cloud cleared and he looked up. The angel seemed to be staring at him, as if it cared about Raven. Then it turned and flew away. Raven, for the first time that night, smiled and waved at the frame a thank you. He would've yelled it, but he was too exhausted to speak. He was safe now, thanks to his guardian angel.

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

At that moment, Raven remembered that if God was renowned for anything, it was irony. The same frame that had saved his life at Antilia was the same frame that was stalking him now. It was pitch black now, the stars were still coming out into the sky to shed some light. Anubis' light amplification allowed him to see his surroundings, but he still couldn't see Jehuty, or even detect it with his sensors. The pulsing was getting even stronger, until it felt like Raven's head was about to explode from the pressure he felt. Left. a voice told Raven. He turned, and there it was. "Jehuty." he muttered with detest.

Beyond him, barely a few meters away, a pair of blue eyes gazed at Anubis, flaring off and on from resonation. Blue eyes, that looked exactly like Anubis'. The light amplification allowed Raven to see Jehuty's form in full view. It was definitely the same from seven years ago, except with plenty of changes. Its streamlined armor plating remained, as well as the familiar bird-liked head piece, but it had been upgraded. The frame now had larger, fighter-like wing binders in place of the original wing stubs. They were large wings, larger than even Anubis'. So large that a set of energy lines ran down them to the lower edge, where the thrust was coming from. As well, another set of sensor blocks were added to the head's side areas. Whereas the top blocks appeared as two feathers stick up, these two new blocks appeared as actual 'ears', slanted back and angled somewhat so they pointed to the side of the head somewhat. Much more important, Jehuty now had a second sword on its left arm, which originally held its shield projector. The swords were also longer, just about half the length of Anubis' staff.

"So, you're the one." Raven's eyes widened even more, as he recognized the voice of Jehuty's runner. Leo Stenbuck. Older, colder and deadlier. Without another word, both swords folded down and Jehuty became enveloped in a blue field of energy. It made a mad dash at Anubis...

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

Esteraund grinned eerily as he saw Anubis had engaged Jehuty from his sensor module. It had finally begun. He knew he had an obligation to protect Raven, but this was his first step on two paths. His becoming Anubis' true master. Or his ultimate death. Either way, he couldn't let anyone interfere with this fight. Yuriko, Nemesis Squad and the Vics had herded the remaining Raptors and Naritas over Gustav Base, where they were getting picked apart by the flying frames in the air and the sniper Phantoma IIs below. But there was still that last contact he saw. The one that Raijin's computer identified as Ifrit. Esteraund figured it would go help Jehuty fight Anubis. He couldn't allow that. Putting Raijin into a burst, Esteraund flew on course to the opposing orbital frame.

From the display on Raijin's computer, Esteraund could've sworn he had targeted a LEV rather than an OF, had it not been for the red colors. Ifrit's body design was smooth and human-like compared to most frame's jagged and cutting edge structure. It had a relatively medium sized body with red armor enveloping its chest, torso, legs and arms. Its legs were standard of that to an OF, but each had a pair of running fins on either side, most likely vernier thrusters. Its shoulders were covered with a round, shield-shaped armor, fitting the smooth form that the rest of the frame had. The wings were LEV like, rectangular and conventional looking. Its right arm was equipped with a permanently mounted blade weapon of some kind, which looked similar to a medieval long sword, but the blade ended with a flat tip in the middle, and the two edge blades continued past, narrowing into a 'double fork'. The left arm had a standard hand. Finally, the headpiece was human like, sporting a human face with a roman-like helmet fitted over it. A long fin completed the head piece.

Esteraund jetted up to the frame, cutting off its flight course. "Hey man..." he grinned, "What's the hurry?"

The runner didn't send him a video communication, just a sound only reply. "I don't have time for mercenaries like yourself, Esteraund Legato. Get out of my way." the runner seethed, Ifrit's eyes flashing gold, as it tried to moved past Raijin. The samurai frame held out its left hand, with its fingers pointed out in a karate chop fashion. Electrical energy surged down the frame's arm to the tips of the fingers, forming a blue electrical frame around the hand that stretched long. An energy sword. "Oops sorry, it slipped out." Esteraund said innocently, grinning.

The Ifrit runner growled and lunged at Raijin with its arm blade. Raijin brought its left arm around and deflect the shot. The Ifrit runner retaliated by aiming at the head, but Raijin deflected that too, smacking it away and aiming its own blade toward the Ifrit's shoulder. The Ifrit runner lowered his frame a bit, letting the blade pass. Raijin kept going with a series of thrusts at the frame's head. Ifrit merely moved its head faster than Esteraund could see, dodging all thrusts, then following it up with a burst slash to the torso. Fortunately for Legato, there was one twist to Raijin. Where as most frames have a horizontal swiping attack for a burst, Ifrit's burst slash was a vertical slash that flew upward in a ninety degree arc. Esteraund hit the dash and flew back, the slash barely missing Raijin's AI module.

"Ooh, a challenge I see." Esteraund said happily, seeing the Ifrit jet at him and execute a series of thrusts. Now it was his turn to move faster than the eye could track. No attack touched his frame, no matter where it was shot at. That's when Esteraund activated a second energy sword on his right hand and executed his own burst slash, bringing both blades together in at lightning fast speed, creating a wave of energy that trailed behind the blades. Ifrit was thrown back by the assault, but its runner had activated its shield just before the attack, limiting the damage.

"I tell you what, if you surrender, I'll buy you a beer back at Margaritifer. Hell, I'll even pay for that scratch." Raijin pointed to the gash on Ifrit's chest, "What do you say?"

"As you Terrans like to put it." the runner said simply, "Fuck you."

"Come on man, I don't want to fight you." Esteraund said with mock seriousness, "Well, actually, I do want to have some fun before I leave, but it doesn't have to be with you."

"And I say again, fuck you. If you don't get out of my way now, I'll rip you apart!" the temperamental runner almost screamed.

Esteraund's cheerful expression turned to that of anger, "Yeah? Rip this apart!" he growled back. Raijin brought up its right hand, and folded all fingers down except for its middle one, visually telling Ifrit and its runner to screw off through the energy sword. The Ifrit runner took this as a warning and made another mad dash toward Raijin.

Esteraund dodged the attack and activated a menu for Raijin's five-disc CD player. He selected disc four and track three. "Let the bodies hit the floor... Let the bodies hit the floor..." the track began, before it exploded into loud rock music. 'Let the Bodies Hit the Floor' by Drowning Pool, another Earth classic. One that Esteraund had always saved for such an occasion. "Go, Defensor!" he gave the voice command. Raijin's twelve energy discs shot off its binders in all directions, then turning around and firing lightning bursts at the red orbital frame...

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

"Who are you?" Leo asked out loud, as Jehuty clashed again with Anubis. Anubis was barely holding its own against the strengthened orbital frame. The clash ended with Jehuty backing away and coming back with a combo of quick slashes. Anubis blocked the first few, but the last had gotten past its staff and were too fast for Raven to activate Anubis' shield. Two scars appeared across Anubis' breast plate, while a third was upon its left shoulder and a third landed on the left arm before the Nemesis frame flew away from the bird frame. Jehuty gave chase and let a flurry of homing lasers at Anubis. Unlike Anubis' homing lasers, Jehuty's flew straight and curved in angles, like a sapphire nova had opened up in front of Raven. He activated the energy shield just in time to deflect all shots, and he himself retaliated with a flurry of crimson blasts. Leo also brought its energy shield up. Fortunately, Anubis' lasers flew out in all directions and took a little more time to strike a target than Jehuty's. Raven took the opportunity to zero shift and attack with its staff.

Usually, that would've finished the frame off, but Commander Leo Stenbuck wasn't any regular pilot. He was an ace, with far superior skill than Anubis' runner. He dropped the shield faster than Raven thought possible and deflected the slash, leaving Anubis open. Leo lunged forward and made a dash thrust to the mid torso, forcing Anubis off balance. He followed this up with more quick slashes across the frames surface on every body part he could land a blow on, before finally completing the attack and sending Anubis flying back again. But he wasn't about to let the enemy grab a break. He zero shifted behind Anubis and caught in midair. Spinning around, increasing Jehuty's momentum, he then let go of Anubis and let it fly straight into the ground. It landed with a loud 'boom', forming a great crater through the red sand and dust. "Damage level to Anubis has exceeded 75. Superiority index has dropped 23."

"It was never superior to begin with." Leo explained with a softer, but still cold expression than one would've expected, unless that one knew Leo Stenbuck's personality. "If this were the same Anubis from years ago, I guarantee you; we would've had a harder fight."

"Jehuty's body upgrades, combined with your skills as a runner, the previous Anubis would only be 34 more difficult to defeat. In either situation, you are the victor." ADA explained.

Leo laughed, almost sinisterly, "You're overrating me."

"It's not part of..."

"...'my program to overrate'." Leo corrected her, knowing well before ADA said anything, "Was that what you were going to say?"

"That is correct." ADA simply explained, "Please don't make fun of me." she complained in her monotone voice.

Leo laughed again, then looked down at Anubis. He remembered he had a job to do. "Come on, lets finish this guy before Celvice gets worried." he said, "Though I think she'll miss you more than she will miss me."

"I agree." ADA replied, in one of her rare human responses.

Jehuty landed above the ruined Anubis, eyes narrowing on its apparent 'brother'. The frame was covered cuts and bashes from top to bottom, either from Jehuty's sword or the few gauntlet shots and regular shots that Leo had pulled off from long-range. It would undoubtably begin to repair itself with its SSA (Self-Supporting Armor), so Leo had to be quick. But that still didn't stop his curiousity. "I'll say this once." he warned, bringing both swords up over Jehuty's head for an overhead strike, "Eject the cockpit now or you will be destroyed with your frame."

Unexpectedly, the response he got was soft laughter. The video comlink opened to reveal a seventeen year old boy, with black ruffled hair, dark eyes, pale skin and dressed in the usual skin-tight runner suit. "I always knew you were scum, Stenbuck." the teenager grinned, speaking in a dry voice that spoke well beyond his age "You and your 'I will never fight back' bull shit. It's only luck that you survived Antilia."

"Who are you?" Leo questioned with a firm voice.

"A ghost from your past or an average Terran runner. You decide." he grinned. Yuriko's psychology trick worked well in this situation. Just before Jehuty could bring its sword down, Anubis burst into the air, flying into the sky, staff appearing in one hand, and then flying right at Jehuty, revealing its right inner optic sensor that had been revealed when Jehuty slashed open its faceplate...

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

Kapricon, as all humans did, had his likes and dislikes. Everyone knew he had a liking towards Earth history, especially during the Renaissance, because of all the new inventions that modernized the Earth. When an employee or client walked into his office, the first thing they would notice were the portraits made by Leonardo Di Vinci and various replicas of past inventions lined on the walls and shelves. Though unorthodox for a Martian, it showed Kapricon loved his job as the President of Nereidum Universal Technology Ltd., and that he had such enthusiasm toward new inventions. However, if there was one downside he hated to this job, it was board meetings.

Kapricon reluctantly exitted out of the elevator, entering the top floor of NUT Ltd. As he exitted out of the elevator, his shoes touched down upon a soft mound of grass. And people think I spend too much money on my office... he thought, looking at the area around him. The top floor was actually a domed area, sealed off from the polluted air that surrounded the central sphere of Nereidum. Instead of carpeting, fresh green plants were grown for a natural environment. Around Kapricon were marble pillars and walls, similar to what he had studied in Greek architecture, except they were broken down and cracked, some with vines covering them. For some strange reason, the board members liked this environment, marble ruins sketched out over a field of lush green. All it did for Kapricon was remind him of how various ancient civilizations had fallen to their own power. Something he didn't want to happen to NUT.

He approached the white pantheon building that was in the center of the dome, which was really ten marble pillars holding up a marble roof top over a pedestal. Beyond those pillars was a long table, where all the board members sat. Kapricon approached the end of the table, "Good evening, gentlemen." he said, trying to sound cheerful, "I apologize for my tardiness, but I was on a conference call with General Taggart. It appears Aegis is satisfied with their new Wraith forces."

The old men and woman turned to meet him. "This is good to hear, Mr. Kapricon." the man at the end of the table said, "However, we have not summoned you here to discuss your latest pet project."

"Oh? Then why have you called on me?" Kapricon asked.

The Chairman gave a grim expression, "Lenard, your skills at doing business has gained Nereidum only profits and wealth. However, I'm afraid we, the board of members, are fearful about your business strategy."

"And why would you be?" Kapricon questioned.

"Dealing with two enemies on the same battlefield is a risky strategy, Mr. Kapricon." an old woman chimed in, "It gains more profit, but it it also makes NUT an open target for attack by both sides."

"And how is my strategy any different from eleven years ago?" Kapricon replied ambitiously, "When my forerunner sold the Phantoma to both the United Nations Space Forces and BAHRAM?"

"That strategy worked only for a little while, until Mr. Carthy turned into an anti-Terran buffoon himself and sold the plans of the OF to BAHRAM." another said.

"And then the Terrans won the Earth-Mars War, thanks to the destruction of Aumaan and the splinter in Vascilia's parliament."

"...that only led to resentment on the Terran's part to NUT." Kapricon finished, "I am well aware of this. So, are you telling me to abandon both clients? It would only mean a decrease in profits for us."

"No, we only wish for you to choose one side of the conflict and focus our power there." the chairman said, "We have enough power to ensure that side is victorious."

"I have taken that into account, but I still believe it is too early to choose a side in this conflict, ladies and gentlemen." Kapricon said, "We would be risking our choosing with the losing side and that would finish NUT off for good. Then who will come to replace NUT? Ryan of course. Lamar maybe a coward, but he is intelligent enough to take advantage of our downfall. And then there's Contraus to worry about, wherever he is..."

"We are well aware of our rivals activities, thank you, Mr. Kapricon." the old lady said sharply.

"Of course you are." Kapricon began to pry, "Just as you were aware that the UNSF was keeping strong tabs on NUT in 2177, and yet you still went ahead with the Crusader Project. Just as you were aware of Ridley Hardimaan's true intentions with the Aumaan Plan."

"How dare..." the woman growled.

"Enough, Judith!" the chairman yelled, silencing the old woman. He looked at Kapricon, "Alright, we will grant you more time with your little plan, but I warn you to tread cautiously, Lenard. It has taken almost five years for this company to regain its title and honor. If your plan succeeds, then that would mean it would elevate us higher. If not..." the chairman's eyes narrowed like a Avenger's, "Then your mistake will be mended by another."

Kapricon nodded in agreement, not being intimidated, "That's why I'm executing this plan, it can only succeed. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if excuse me, there is a battle being waged over Gustav Base. I don't want to miss it."

"A ghost from your past or an average Terran runner. You decide." he grinned. Yuriko's psychology trick worked well in this situation. Just before Jehuty could bring its sword down, Anubis burst into the air, flying into the sky, staff appearing in one hand, and then flying right at Jehuty, revealing its right inner optic sensor that had been revealed when Jehuty slashed open its faceplate.

While Leo was fast enough to block the impaling strike, there was no way he could've pushed Anubis back, at its current speed. Both Jehuty and Anubis' eyes flashed blue-white and red-white as the frames landed into the ground, causing another crater. The dust cleared, revealing that the two frames were in a standoff, Anubis' staff being caught between Jehuty's crossed blades, aimed directly at the blue frame's faceplate. Leo could see Anubis' cut headpiece and the red, circle eye sensor, reminding him of the image of Zombie Neith. However, unlike that fight, he wasn't afraid. With a kick from Jehuty's right leg, he sent Anubis back and dashed upward, going airborne. Raven, as well, flapped Anubis' binder wings and shot into the air after Jehuty, firing more fiery red homing shots. Leo, instead of deflecting them with the shield, maneuvered around each shot, pulling multiple flips and airborne maneuvers. This gave Anubis enough time to reach equal altitude. Deciding to be intimidating, Raven had Anubis 'stand' upright and fold its arms while circling its brother. Only its wings and its tale were moving while it circled. Just as the original did five years ago.

"I've been waiting for this..." Raven taunted at Jehuty over the intercom, trying to subdue his own fears of the vastly superior orbital frame in front of him, "Waiting to rip you apart, you and that so-called 'angel'." Anubis began to zero shift in all directions at these words, keeping Jehuty confused. At one point, it zero shifted behind Jehuty, to which Leo reacted with a burst slash. He missed, and Anubis appeared behind him, staff armed. Anubis slammed the staff into Jehuty's back, sending it flying away, then zero shifting again in front of it and grabbing it. Raven managed to squeeze off three slashes to the torso before Leo broke free, sending a flurry of homing lasers at Anubis while he zero shifted the opposite. Raven, of course, deflected the shot. That's when Jehuty zero shifted behind Raven, in a similar fashion to Raven's first attack attempt. This time, Leo let off a burst slash, then a combo of quick slashes into Anubis. As a result, Anubis' left arm was severed, and even more cuts were placed over its armor before Raven flew back. Of course, Jehuty didn't allow it to fly far, zero shifting again, right in front of it, its blue eyes flashing as it kicked Anubis across the chest.

"I thought you were going to rip me apart with this 'angel'." Leo taunted back, landing another slash into Anubis. A second flash followed, but Anubis deflected that one and held its ground, "Who are you? I don't recognize your fighting style or your voice."

"Oh, I think you'd recognize my fighting style in a street fight." Raven seethed, feeling even more infuriated about being pushed back, "I know Celvice would recognize me, just by my voice..."

"Celvice..." a faint memory sprung into Leo's head. The memory of a ten year old boy that Celvice was taking care of at the local church. He had just come to say hi to Celvice, but the boy glared at him like he was somehow violating his territory. Then he spoke, his foreign accent memorable, making childish threats not to come near Celvice before she chuckled and explained Leo was a friend. His eyes narrowed and his voice switched to a monotone growl at the annoying ten year old that, seven years later, had become his would-be adversary. He flew back from Anubis, but kept Jehuty in a combat pose. "Raven Vostrikov." he said with a similar distaste, "You're the last person I'd expect to run Anubis."

"Can't say I'm pleased about it either." Raven shot back. Took the bastard long enough to remember him. "Don't worry, this isn't about Celvice. I just don't like you, that's all…” He said, zero shifting again for another fight with his staff. Raven threw a triple combo at Jehuty, to which the frame dodged twice and deflected the third one. Anubis managed to deflect a follow up strike with his staff before zero shifting away again. Anubis charged and launched a homing burst. Leo zero shifted to the right and the burst exploded into a million fragments before it could hit Jehuty. He then switched over to his halbard and fired a stream of energy at Anubis. Fortunately, Raven was able to move to the left, so only his shoulder armor and part of his left torso were vaporized. It didn't damage him that much, but he was still hit. He descended Anubis to ground level in hope of gaining some chance of survival...

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

Nadia slowly maneuvered her Wraith into the deeper sectors of Gustav Base, followed by her four squadron members. It was pitch black around her cockpit, as all the lights that had lined the mining pit were deactivated, probably from a power loss, and the corridor was so deep there was no way light could reach through. Fortunately, the Wraith, as with all orbital frames, had a night vision option, allowing her to see in the darkness. They reached yet another chamber door, this one labeled '010'. Nadia had the Wraith touch down and slowly pull the two levers on either side of the portal. The portal split open and retracted into the walls, revealing an even deeper, darker pit below. She sent a laser signal to the other four to continue, but she would be the first to descend. No reason to send her men into mortal danger.

Surprisingly, her sensors showed that the area below had a floor to it and was about the size of a warehouse. Though the Wraith's sensors were quite advanced, they couldn't detect anything in the darkness. Probably a stealth field. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing... she thought. That's when she detected a faint metatron signature. There was another orbital frame down there. She silently reminded herself that could've been Salle Mako's Wraith. Reluctantly, she continued, keeping energy charged into her Wraith. "You really think your disappearing act will work on me?" the sly, sadistic voice of Black Vulture said, "You Terrans are a real nuisance..." A blue burst of flame shot at one of the Wraiths, striking it. The runner didn't even have time to dodge or scream, the blast seemed to come from right over him. "Rules of Chess, pawns can only move forward and be ever present to a King like myself..."

Nadia clenched her teeth in frustration, knowing what the psycho meant. She reluctantly dropped her cloak, followed by the remaining three Wraiths.

"That's much better." Vulture said. Without a warning, bursts of blue flame shot around the dark room in seemingly all directions. This time, everyone was more alert, so the first shots didn't strike at any of the Wraiths. However, the second and third waves managed to claim two more of Nadia's team. Both Guardian 2 and Guardian 5 screamed in Nadia's ears as their Wraiths burst into flame for a moment and then vaporized by the mysterious blue flame. Nadia, being a much more experienced runner, and much more an ace, reacted faster than her team. The moment she saw a speck of blue flame appear, she dodged and fired at the shots origin, lighting the darkness. Everytime she shot, her target moved so fast she couldn't see it. Then the shots stopped. Nadia halted her Wraith, but kept her defensive, awaiting another shot.

"Now I see you for what you really are." Nadia could've sworn she heard Vulture's lips curl into a cruel smile from his tone, "Snow Queen."

Again, following instinct, she drew her sword and dashed at where she triangulated the voice to be coming from. Her sensors still didn't show anything. Other than that faint metatron signature that had appeared again. Out of the darkness, she felt her shot strike true, her blade piercing through a metatron chassis. When she looked to see if her shot really was true, her eyes widened in shock. Right in front of her was the last Wraith in her team, Guardian 3, with her sword impaled right through the frame's cockpit. She looked up to see the frame had drawn its own two blades in an attempt to attack her. "What-?" she said aloud, "Why-?"

"Oh, how I love ruining pawns like you!" Vulture said happily over the comlink, "So easy to use and dispose of! There's no greater joy to me!" Nadia's computer picked up a new metatron reaction. A massive one. Nadia turned to the direction of the new reaction and saw that her worst fears had come true. Her eyes glared at the sight of her enemy. Barely a few meters from her was a black frame, probably a Type A one, glowing `darkly' if that were possible. It was definitely a Nebula, except black with chunks of `dark, shiny' carapiece-like armor, and two dark purple eyes shining from the back of its visor. As well, the tentacles were armed with three pronged clawed-fingers, which seemed to double as melee weapons, glowing a similar twilight blue to the eyes. Nadia also saw that one of the arms was wrapped around Travis' Wraith, which was made visible by the OF's bright glow.

"So, what will you do now, Snow Queen?" Vulture taunted even more, "You can run back up through that tunnel, but you know I'll hunt you down. You can stand and fight me to save this wretch, but you're no match for this Nebula. Or you could just stand there and let me rip you apart." The other arm came up, its claw whirring like a drill. Then Nebula let go of its captive and let it drop to the floor, with its arms and legs coming off from the main body and shooting to Nadia's Wraith.

Nadia entered a dash and dodged all the shots, countering with her own wave of ripple lasers. Nebula dodged as well and the two frames entered into a cowboy standoff, each frame keeping their distance and firing the lasers while flying around. The separated arms and legs flailed about like snakes as they fired their dark blue flames at the lone Wraith, but Nadia's frame was much faster and dodged each shot while she countered back with either a ripple laser or a burst shot. Surprisingly, Vulture was a step of Nadia each time, having one of his appendages intercept the blast by smacking it away or firing a flame shot that engulfed it. Nadia knew he was only toying with her now, since he didn't seem to retaliate with the powerful laser bursts that made VANGUARD frames infamous among the UNSF. And she doubted this Nebula lacked that capability. She could here Vulture laughing at her every attempt to strike, further intimidating her.

Finally, she lost all sense of logic. Ending her dodges, she activated her Gauntlet subweapon and fired a group of shots right into Nebula. Vulture of course, deflected all the attacks, but the force of all the shots had disoriented his frame's arms. Giving Nadia the opportunity to dash, both blades drawn, and perform a swipe at Nebula's cockpit. However, Daniel was again ahead of her, with yet another trick up his sleeve. When she made a slash at the cockpit, the capsule detached itself from the main body and flew behind her, out of her reach. Not only did the cockpit fly off, but all the tentacles, upper and lower torso flew apart as if the frame had exploded on the inside. The tentacles flew around Nadia, firing charged up flames shot at her, then attacked her at close range, trying to impale her Wraith with the claw tips. Nadia figured this was the attack Vulture used to disorient her team. She of course, skillfully dodged all the flame shots, the ones that made it through doing little to no damage, while countering against the melee tentacles. Then without warning, the appendages retracted into the shadows. That's when several hundred small bursts of energy struck her Wraith, ripping it apart in almost every place.

Nebula's torso piece managed to fly far out of reach and launch a barrage of the meteor lasers, which were originally part of a Tempest's arsenal, but this Nebula seemed to have the same ability. Nadia cursed herself forgetting that little strategy. "I finally got you, Snow Queen!" Vulture laughed overjoyed, his cockpit flying into view. Nadia screamed out, switched over to Comet in a second, and fired a shot right at the module. Before her shot could hit, Nebula's head dropped down from above the ceiling and deflected the shot. It then tilted over, surged with a purple aura and charged at Nadia, to which she dashed to the side and dodged.

"Just what are you?" Nadia called over the comlink.

Vulture laughed again. The pieces merged together again into one piece, forming the Vic Viper-like body of Nebula. "Is this all you can do? You're nothing more than a joke!" his tongue rolled upon mentioning the last word, "Are all terrans this boring to fight, Colonel Nadia Candido?"

"It's Velasgo." Nadia snarled.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Vulture mocked, "It's a bad habit of mine, calling a lady by her virgin name, Nadia Velasgo."

"What the hell do you want?" Nadia barked through her monitor.

Vulture's grin increased, "All I want is some fun. Wilhelm and his ravings of 'liberation' and 'independence' bore me to no end. I only joined his side because you Terrans are extremely fun to play with, or atleast I thought..." he said, shaking his head, sighing. "But, at least you were fun, Nadia Velasgo. Here." One of the arms picked up Travis' frame and then detached itself from Nebula's body and flew over to Nadia, throwing the frame into her arms.

"I want to play a new game." Vulture said, the floating arm gesturing, "I'm going close my eyes and count, while you and your little friend run away." the tentacle brought its claw up to the Wraith's face plate and held out five claw tips, "If you can make it to the exit before I finish the count, then you can live. If you don't, then it's checkmate, Snow Queen." The arm reattached itself to Nebula, and the large, dagger-shaped frame backed away into the darkness.

"Colonel..." Travis began.

"It's alright, we're getting out of here." Nadia said, dashing at full speed back up the tunnel. The last thing she heard from the abyss was Vulture beginning the count. "1... 2... 3..." Then she moved out of the comlink's range. But the rumbling sounds were just beginning.
----

Unlike the other two fights, Esteraund was doing surprisingly well. Much to the dismay of Garrett Shatner, the runner of the red and black orbital frame. Raijin had deployed some sort of wisp weapon, twelve discs that zipped around him, firing bursts of electricity at any and all angles possible. Ifrit was a fast orbital frame, up there in the class with Jehuty, but Garrett couldn't find anyway to escape the random lightning shots that Raijin fired at him. Whenever he came close, Raijin would unleash a dash attack, which consisted of three lightning bolts shot from its right hand that homed in on Ifrit. He blocked such attack with his shield and usually retaliated with his own 'Tear Bullet' shots or if he were close enough, a 'Soulshooter' burst attack. Then, as expected, Raijin would fly back and let his defensors take over again. "Ow, that almost scratched the paint job." Esteraund taunted at Garrett' latest attempt to strike, "You know how much it costs to paint an orbital frame?"

Esteraund, of course, knew Garrett wouldn't respond, but he knew his words were irritating his guts. After all, Garrett was one of those types of people that get irritated easily. Stereotypical, but an advantage. He countered another slash with his beam blades, while slipping four defensor discs under and over Ifrit, striking lightning from above and below. The lightning struck Ifrit and wounded it, Garrett drawing himself away from Raijin to fire a shot attack. In truth, Esteraund was really toying with this would-be opponent. The runner had some skill to him, but he seemed to let his emotions get the best of him, whether be it aggravation or some form of hatred like he'd see in Raven. And Esteraund's specialty was to exploit his opponent's weakness and use it to his advantage. In this way, he taunted him and annoyed him like a master would do to an apprentice when they sparred, drawing his anger to cloud his logic and skill. Another weakness was, despite the fact Ifrit was a general purpose frame, and therefore was well rounded in all forms of combat, it didn't seem to have any defense mechanism to use against multiple, fast moving targets. It had fired red homing lasers from its left arm, but his defensors were too close for them to strike, like mosquitoes flying around a bull, they would strike and then pull back before Ifrit could swat them. Esteraund decided to try and have more fun at that thought. Stopping, he let out a blue aura around Raijin and formed a burst attack. Raijin shot an invisible wave of energy just above Ifrit, and then bringing down its fist, called it down in the form of a large, blue lightning bolt. The bolt struck, the defensors moving away and reattaching themselves to Raijin's recharge binders.

"God of Thunder, remember?" Esteraund called out, "Naturally, it can call down lightning from thin air."

Garrett just sneered, "Clever technique. Too bad I know how it works." he grinned and let out a burst attack of his own. This being a charged up 'Ray Disaster' beam, fired from the frame's cutter blade in a wide, focused burst. This reminded Esteraund of the old mecha cartoons he used to watch, the ones where some specialty mecha can fire an endless stream of energy that would wipe out all the 'bad guys' who seemingly stopped moving to be wiped out. He wouldn't let their fate happen to him.

Raijin shot its verniers and leapt into the air, dodging the blast, into it fell behind Ifrit. Garrett reacted by a Soulshooter cut, but Esteraund jetted back, stopped and called another lightning burst down that damaged Ifrit even more. The force hit Ifrit so hard that it stuttered for a moment, completely immobilized.

Esteraund sighed, hearing 'Let the Bodies hit the Floor' end after its three minute and forty-six second run. That was the exact length he had been fighting this red thing. Raijin was barely dented and Ifrit was literally torn apart. One of its legs were gone, cuts and tears from the various lightning strikes were covering its body, the left wing binder seemed to be underpowered and finally, one of the defensors had struck the cockpit canopy, tearing a neat hole on the side and revealing the face of his opponent. A young guy, probably in his early twenties with blue hair and cold blue eyes. Curious, Esteraund focused Raijin's camera on the man and saw his eyes were narrowed, visually asking 'what are you waiting for?'. Quite interesting, as the only other person he had seen such eyes in was Raven. He talked back into the comlink, "Look, I kicked your ass, and you barely touched me. Which I can't blame you for, since I'm Greater Runner Esteraund Legato, age 27 and available to all the red hot chicks out there." he said, popping a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it at 'sub light speed', "Lets head back to Margaritifer, you can buy the drinks and we'll call it even."

Garrett' eyes continued to scowl. How could a total idiot like this guy manage to beat him? He wasn't going to say it was the frame, because he knew that wasn't true.

"By the way, you're probably wondering 'how I beat you'. A word of advice kid: don't let your anger get the better of you in combat. It will only disorient you." Esteraund said.

"Somebody told me a long time ago to fight for your beliefs, no matter what." Garrett countered.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Esteraund asked.

"My beliefs include vengeance. And vengeance is always one with hatred to those who stand in my way." Garrett said empathically. He had Ifrit turn around and jet away the opposite direction from Raijin, seeing as Esteraund was guarding his ownly route to support Leo. And Ifrit was too torn up to do anything.

Esteraund let out a puff of cigarette, a little surprised that the guy had enough brain power to run away, even though he disregarded his anger in the process. "What a bunch of wierdos these VANGUARD recruits are." Esteraund concluded, taking another breath of smoke.

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

Anubis was flying just a few feet above ground level, laying on its back, facing up at Jehuty while flying at near mach speed. The only thing keeping Jehuty from converging on it was the multiple bursts of homing lasers that Raven shot out of Anubis' remaining arm. Jehuty increased velocity and flew over the lasers, firing its own homing laser shots at Anubis. Raven zig zagged and swerved avoiding each laser burst, letting them fall into the dust below him. Another shot from the homing lasers would end his life and destroy Anubis, he knew. There was no way in hell he could compare to Jehuty. He was a seventeen year old rookie in a mere duplication of the original orbital frame that was now heavily damaged against a more powerful version of Jehuty and a much more seasoned runner. However, again, he had to keep it from reaching the Wraiths, Vic Vipers and Phantomas, since the only other people that could fight Jehuty was Yuriko and Xander. He lost track of Esteraund a while back, and Colonel Velasgo was still in the depths of Gustav Base. Anubis' sensors beeped with an annoying pitch, signifying he was coming up on a mountain range. Dodging another set of lasers, Raven flipped Anubis up and zero shifted into the air. By the time he reappeared, Anubis had its staff over its head and was leaning back somewhat, ready for a downward strike. This was Raven's last chance at drawing Jehuty away. He flipped over and jetted downward at Jehuty, staff pointed to impale. Leo brought both blades up and blocked the blade from impaling Jehuty's vulnerable AI unit. Again, however, the force of the blow was strong, now it was Raven's turn to drive Jehuty into the ground. Anubis flipped away just as Jehuty landed into crater that was caused when Anubis zero shifted at ground level, knocking up a large dust cloud.

Raven sighed, breathing heavily. He had done his best, whether Jehuty survived or didn't was a matter of luck now, there was nothing more he could do.

And Raven had learned over the years, luck was something he never really had. Jehuty appeared right in front of him after zero shifting out of the crater, the sheer force knocking him down. As mocking its own brother, Jehuty took its right sword and slashed out Anubis' left optic sensor, creating a large gash on its left cheek that ran parallel with the one on the right. It then with another slash, it carved Anubis' vulnerable right optic sensor in two. Fortunately, Raven had the secondary camera operational, but it didn't change the fact he was stuck. Anubis' remaining life and sub energy was almost completely gone, there was a number of damaged points across the structure and there was no hope of Esteraund or Yuriko coming to save his ass. In a last ditch effort, he brought his right hand over and attempted to fire one last shot into Jehuty's face. Leo saw this and stamped the left foot on the arm. "Still the persistent little bastard." Leo said with an aura of dominance, one that made Raven snarl, "I'll say again, eject the cockpit. Nothing is going to keep me from destroying this frame."

Raven just laughed, "And I say again, you're still the soft-hearted asshole. No matter how many battles you've seen, you still hold that damn philosophy Stenbuck?" Raven cringed. A spark had been a neat little hole into his left arm, and he could feel it bleeding, "If you're going to destroy this frame, then kill me in the process. There's no place for me to go."

"You're going to throw your life away so recklessly?" Leo questioned back, "I said eject the cockpit!"

"Up yours, asshole! 'Nevermore'!" Raven yelled back, giving the finger.

"Fine!" Leo responded with a vengeance. He aimed his shot at the cockpit, knowing what would happen if he let Raven live with his death wish. He had a flashback from Antilia, when he was about to impale Viola's Neith but he stopped before he could deliver the killing blow. That only resulted in the one he loved most getting hurt. He wasn't going to let Raven have the same opportunity.

Raven had his eyes closed even before Jehuty was positioned, ready to accept death whenever it came. Is this...my purpose? was the question that flashed in Raven's head in just a fraction of a second. He didn't dwell on it, because death was coming, and he didn't want to miss it.

Oooooo... Seni cu la...

Death didn't come. Instead, Raven heard a faint voice that sounded like a woman chanting. Raven opened his eyes to see that Anubis was not only still functioning, but it was beginning to power up again. The frame seemed to draw power from out of nowhere. For some reason, he didn't react that strongly to it. Rather, he felt refreshed and relaxed, almost as if this was a natural experience. Anubis right arm soon gained enough strength to push away Jehuty and get up, pushing it back farther with a stab from its whiplash tail. Jehuty deflect the shot and rocketed back farther, the resonance increasing, beginning to overtake it...

Eeeeaaaayy... Eouhe hoooehooea ooha la mo se he ee... aaaahh...

Even as Anubis got up, its self supporting armor began to go into full effect. All the tears and scars created by Jehuty sealed themselves up immediately, its left arm regenerated along with the breast plate and shoulder armor. The open scars of its faceplate had also sealed themselves, the crimson red eyes on the Nemesis headpiece flaring brightly again with energy flowing along the frame's power lines. The headpiece however, didn't seem to fully heal, as the two parallel scars that ran from Anubis' eyes down the sides of its head remained gashed. Two scars, left by its brother, probably as a seal of vengeance. Inside, Raven's eyes closed again, this time he felt even more relaxed. Around him, his view screen flashed from the battlefield around him to a dark screen, multiple symbols and characters of old Egyptian hieroglyphics were running around him, their white insignias piecing the darkness and reflecting onto Raven's face. In the middle of the cockpit, several larger, brighter hieroglyphics formed and ran across. Most of the symbols were unrecognizable, but three could be figured. It started with a human eye, then continued onto a pair of scales and then a feather. The final symbol was the famous Egyptian amulet that symbolized death...

Aaaaaahhh lieee mo seee mo he ee... aaaahh...

"What's going on, ADA?" Leo asked, a little irked by this sudden change, and the sight of Anubis standing up, seemingly breathing with rage.

"I don't know. Radiation levels are starting to increase, however..." ADA replied. A new beeping sound arose, "New metatron reaction detected, flying our way at high speed."

"What?" Leo let out.

The new arrival shot down in between Anubis and Jehuty, kicking up a dust cloud from the impact. Irking Leo almost as much as Anubis getting up, the new frame 'roared' at Jehuty with a high pitched-then deepened cry, similar to that of a kraken, assuming a defensive position through the cloud. Through the cloud, Leo could see the new frame's structure. Another Type-A orbital frame, with a similar size to at least four times that to Jehuty and Anubis. It was jellyfish shaped, with eight tentacle shaped appendages strutting underneath a dome shaped head and torso, four tentacle arms and four tentacle legs. Behind the dome shaped headpiece, a pair of red eyes shot out, gazing at Anubis and Jehuty like lesser beings.

Leo knew it was a Tempest, a type of orbital frame he once faced in Antilia years ago. This one though, didn't seem to be a production model, since it had similar details to the one that Jehuty encounted.

"Commander Stenbuck, pull back now if you want to live..." the opposing runner identified, with the frame's onboard computer shrouding the voice. Leo knew who it was, and at first he was going to shoot a reply back, but the runner beat him to the punch. "I say again, leave now. You don't need to die here today." the runner warned.

Leo sighed. He doubted he could take on a Type-B and a Type A orbital frame at the same time, especially if Anubis could heal itself automatically. And he knew the runner of the Tempest type was more than willing to attack him. "Alright, disengaging General." Leo signed off to the dragon frame's runner. No response came. Not that he cared. Jehuty took off back into the sky at a high velocity.

The chanting and the feeling ended, just as the amulet began to flash. Raven opened his eyes to see what happened, the shock that Anubis had gotten and repaired itself catching up to him. Not only that, but a new frame appeared in front of him. A powerful one at that. "Who are you?" Raven asked.

"Anubis... Target Alpha..." the frame's runner said, and though Raven couldn't see it, he knew the runner's mouth made a smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know, Raven Vostrikov..." the runner spoke out before jetting away.

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

Nadia and Salle were almost at the top of the base, slowing accelerating upward. The rumbling was now so much Nadia could feel it trembling her damaged Wraith. Salle, fortunately, had regained her thrust power and could now fly by herself, but barely. Nadia kept her hand open, just in case she lost power and had to be grabbed. Around them, the whole base was shaking itself apart from the tremor. Metal plates and pipes were falling around them, down into the abyss below them. Nadia figured the rumbling was being caused by Nebula coming after them, though she didn't know why. "We're almost there..." Nadia reassured herself, seeing the entrance above. She fired a gauntlet shot at the hatchway, permanently opening the entry port. They both reached it, but Nadia saw it was still too small for both frames to go through. "You first..." Nadia ordered. Salle nodded and had her frame fly up.

Nadia was about to go up when her comlink seemingly exploded. "Times up, Snow Queen!" Black Vulture roared in laughter. Blue fire shot up at her. Below her, sure enough, was Nebula, coming right at her. Nadia noticed that Vulture wasn't using his thrusters to fly up the corridor, rather, Nebula was crawling up with its tentacles like a Trapdoor Spider, crawling up a narrow tube. She jetted up out of the tube, narrowly dodging blue fire. Yuriko saw it and contacted the Phantoma troops, "All squadrons fire on whatever comes out of that hatchway!" she ordered, turning her attention away from the last Raptor she destroyed and began charging a burst. Esteraund did the same beside her.

Nebula emerged from the hole only to be greeted by large bursts. The Phantomas unloaded with their sniper rifles while Yuriko and Esteraund fired their burst attacks, followed by the Vic Vipers and their Gauntlet bursts. Nebula became totally engrossed with fire, its shield desintigrating. Shots pierced its armor and left marks, but the frame remained in the air, its tentacles wavering. "Five...four...three...two...one..." Vulture counted down, "CHECKMATE!" he yelled on broadband frequency at a deafening level. Around the portal and the entire area Gustav Base took up, the ground cracked open into large crevasses. The LEVs all jumped back, but didn't let up their fire at Nebula, while the OF and V2s moved away. From Yuriko's point of view, she could only stare in true terror. If there was one frame she had grown to fear, even if she had only heard of it in stories by Phantoma pilots, it was looming at her. In fact, the sight of four of them rising from the ground sent a chill down her spine that she would hopefully never feel again. Zakat, the most powerful Type-A orbital frame created by BAHRAM. Only one of these frames had descimated the entire space force, and there were four of them before her.

The Phantomas and Vic Vipers were even more afraid of it than Yuriko was, all turning to run from the sight. All of them were gunned down by wave of wisp lasers shot from Nebula. "Pawns can only move forward, not back." Vulture taunted, as he wiped out the LEVs.

”Hardly…” came a new voice.

”Whose there?” Vulture let out, feeling a sudden strain of tension come over him.

He looked behind him and saw Idolo hovering there, arm blade active, and eyes flaring from the back of its visor. Xander Roanoke himself wore a similar expression, with his eyes narrowed at Nebula. “So you're one of the Talons? And much more, a Yan-type? I thought your kind were supposed to be true magicians…”

”What are you talking about? A lowly pawn like yourself, judging me!” Nebula's arms began to drill again, as they latched out and shot at Idolo.

Xander simply blinked once, his eyes changing to a green color, and his hair seemingly fading into a bright white. In that one moment, Idolo dashed and slashed at each arm, destroying one, but the other remained active, launching more purple flames at Idolo. Xander ascended into the sky, then willed more power into Idolo. “Aura Force.” Xander commanded, with a calm voice but one that still seemed tangible with power. Idolo reached out and launched a concentrated beam that was so bright that it overloaded Nebula's camera and blinded Vulture as it destroyed the other arm.

Then Idolo swept the beam like a sword, slashing it across Nebula's torso diagonally. Being struck at with a concentrated Metatron beam that was probably ten or a hundred times more powerful than a Free Electron Laser (FEL), Nebula was surgically cut into two pieces, upper torso and lower torso. Vulture screamed as he felt his frame break, leaving him vulnerable for a follow up attack. He squinted his blinded eyes to try and see on the outside, but it was too late to evade. He managed to see Idolo's silhouette before the lower torso was cut into four pieces at a speed no eye could track, and with it Black Vulture.

All four pieces exploded, soon after, while Idolo landed on the ground into a kneeling position. Its blade arm had been covered in blood from its cutting up Black Vulture within his own cockpit, conflicting against Idolo's pure white armor. Xander looked at the blood stains in dismay, sighing. “Thus is the fate of all those who abuse the power of magic…”

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

In the high atmosphere, both Leo and Garrett could see the Zakats begin to ascend into the sky to join them. Both of them stared with interest, but showing no emotion toward the scene whatsoever.

The only person that was unaffected by the scene of four Zakats ascending into the sky was Esteraund. He merely laid back and reached to pick another cigarette. Then he found he was out. He grumbled, reminding himself that he had to quit sooner or later.

Yuriko didn't move, she just watched the Zakats fly above them, almost beyond Grafficane's visual range. "Dominus deus, exaudi nos et misrere, exaudi domineus." she chanted, no louder than a whisper. She knew, from that sight alone, the nightmare was beginning for her, Raven and the rest of their comrades.

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

TO BE CONTINUED...

No real point on this one, just wanted to explain my theory behind Orbital Frame classification with the 'Type' system that I'm using to identify OFs:

Type S: These are the ultimate orbital frames. The kind of frames that can recreate a universe if used correctly, because they are omnipotent. Much of their capabilities are unknown, however, since humans are limited in controlling their power. After all, we only think in three dimensional terms. Only three have been classified thus far, Naked Jehuty, Aumaan Anubis and Deus from Swordmaster Silvace's Zone of the Enders: Triad 2177 fic.

Type A: Generally used for destroying bases, these frames are usually really, really big to contain their power. They're the most powerful conventional frames out there, usually given to commanders of squad leaders in the military. Nebula, Tempest, Tyrant and Zakat are four models that are classified as Type As.

Type B: A step above Type C frames in terms of power, they're more or less the middle ground between the mobility seen in Type C and D frames and the power in Type As. Still, they're pretty rare considering how economically minded most military branches are. These frames tend to be used to experiment with new technology and such, since they excel all around. Jehuty, Anubis, Durandal, Testament, Iblis, Idolo, Hathor and Orchrist are a few models that would fit in the Type B category.

Type C: Type Cs are similar to Type Bs, except they're more oriented on speed than power, and slightly more economic for production purposes. These frames are easier to mass produce than Type Bs or As, but because BAHRAM had placed it budget on unmanned orbital frames and the UNSF is still experimenting with metatron, Type C's are about as rare as Type Bs. Only aces in BAHRAM that are more useful on the field than in a command ship like Viola and Rebecca Hunter have gotten themselves Type Cs. Grafficane, Dolores, Vjaya, Neith and its variations are among Type Cs.

Type D: The cheapest of the bunch. Type Ds are mostly unmanned models, lacking in power and durability, but they are very easy to mass produce. Because they aren't designed to be operated by an onboard runner (though several have been modified with cockpits), there is no need for armor covering or support systems, making them little more than flying skeletons. Needless to say, the Raptor and its variants are Type Ds. Raptor types are the only known Type Ds to be produced at this time, possibly because with all the modifications and variation to the Raptor, there is no need to make another Type D design.