Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction ❯ Zone of the Enders: Resurrection ❯ Operation Crusader ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Wing Zero Alpha
"We killed every last infidel, to the point where our horses were knee deep in blood. After this great battle, we returned to camp and fasted, praising God for his divine mercy."
-Unknown Crusader

Non Anime: Zone Of The Enders Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Mecha / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.13.2004 | Updated On: 10.31.2005 | Pages: 5 | Words: 17.1K | Visits: 268 | Status: Completed

"Once you get past all the personal feelings, it becomes clear that the things that are useful to the general populace as a whole survive... And those that aren't, don't. If that is not how nature works, how is it that humans have survived until now? Why is it that evil happens? Because it is God's will."
- UNSF Inspector Chief Dezeele Zephrys, 2173 AD
Chapter 12: Operation Crusader
"Here they come!" Xander announced as the second wave of Raptors came about, firing lasers at the Aegis forces. Idolo was fast enough to dodge, but the initial burst caught two AlterNeiths from Guardian Squadron, destroying both and having their remains rain down on the red soil. Xander didn't have time to reply to it, he targeted one of the manned Cyclops and fired a burst attack that made sure his comrades weren't alone on their journey to the afterlife. The Cyclops dodged, but in that moment, he had flown up to it and sliced off its arms and head, while the lightwave burst circled around and shot through its back. Idolo pushed away just as the enemy frame detonated cockpit and all.
On the other side of the battle, Xander's sensors caught track of a Raptor team pressing towards the defense line. He sped over, grabbing one of the Raptors and increased the velocity of the dash. Xander then proceeded to dissect the Raptor with his opposite clamp, before letting the remains drop to the ground below like shards of a clay jar. He didn't wait to see what happened to the remains, instead he had Idolo dash and fly behind a Cyclops. The Cyclops managed to, surprisingly, spin around and deflect the initial blade attack, but the sheer power generated from Idolo's charged arm blade left the Cyclops disoriented, allowing Xander to slice it in half with little effort. After which, he dashed away as one of the Clods had come up behind him and was beginning to suck Idolo into its reach. The dash turned into a midair flip over the bulky orbital frame, allowing Xander to slice across the top armor pod that covered the frame's head with a burst slash. With its armor heavily damaged, the enemy frame ejected it and returned to its Raptor configuration, igniting its twin beam sabers for close combat. Problem was, in that split second, Xander had dashed again, but instead of just flying past, he went into a dash and charged Idolo's arm blade, making a slicing dash through the Raptor. The Raptor's spinal cord severed, and the two halves exploded soon after.
Before Xander could track another opponent, he saw a flash of light at the corner of his eye, instinctively side stepping the shot. He couldn't get a clear shot at was attacking him, but it had a smooth, magenta colored silhouette that he could at least identify. He put Idolo into a dash and ascended over the enemy frame, ready to slice at its exposed back. But, unlike the enemies he fought thus far, it managed to react just as Idolo appeOared behind it, swing its arm blade at the white frame's chest. Xander blocked with the left arm shield, then firing shots at point blank into the frame. Hmmm- he managed to think, as the frame 'danced' to the side, then moving out at long range and firing three energy shots. Xander managed to move Idolo back, but one of the shots brushed against his hip, causing damage. He tried to retarget his opponent, but the enemy frame had dropped from his visual site. Xander's eyes narrowed as Idolo continued to hover amidst the chaos around him, searching for this phantom frame.
Then a warning came up from his computer. What the-? The ground? He instinctively dodged the shot and countered by firing three shots toward a crevasse below him. He tried to move close, but his adversary kept up a constant barrage. However, he managed to get a good look at his opponent this time. A single Type B orbital frame, similar in profile to the to a Valkyrie warrior from Norse mythology, but more conventional. It had a rather slender build to it, with its main body covered over in light pink armor, its head possessing a helmet shaped head piece that curved and ended toward the back, making two wing like points at either side. As well, Xander saw an energy launcher of some kind on its right arm, while its left had a regular hand manipulator. Although he himself couldn't identify the frame, Idolo itself seemed to resonate with it, with its jade eyes glowing behind its head visor, and its metatron lines picking up in speed. What are you? Xander thought, as the pink frame fired at him again.
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Dance for me, White Boy… Before her, was perhaps the most powerful frame runner Aegis could have, minus the Anubis runner. She had heard much about this one. Red Falcon couldn't have been anymore happier. It had been a long time since he had gotten a challenging opponent from the Earth forces. Course, she wouldn't have expected anything less than what `old man' Wilhelm had told her and the other Talons. Red Falcon was one of VANGUARD's special elite elemental force, otherwise known as the Talons for their usage of bird codenames. Out of the entire organization, they were the one's that did jobs for Wilhelm himself, the one's that answered to him directly. It wasn't really a satisfying job title, but Falcon saw it had benefits, just like now. "Of course you'd still have fight in you." Falcon grinned, seeing Grafficane prop itself up for another attack, "The old man wasn't kidding when he was told us about you, Lieutenant Xander Roanoke, Domineus of Idolo."
She could see his opponent had been damaged, but he faired pretty well. Aside from the cut into the white frame's chest armor, there was really nothing holding Xander back. As expected from his opponent, Idolo's wing thrusters ignited into another dash, but instead of flying directly at him, the white frame flew to the left, firing blue homing laser shots. Falcon, curious to see what his opponent would do, put her energy shield up again to deflect the shots. What he hadn't anticipated, however, was that Idolo would follow the assault up with a burst attack that traveled at such a high velocity, that it broke through her magenta frame's energy field. That's when the Idolo charged at her, arm blade drawn. "Predictable." Falcon said, as she recovered, putting her frame into a dash as well.
When the two frames came at the point where their blades would clash, though, the magenta frame's beam bow/blade flew right through Idolo's blade. Falcon's eyes lit up in realization. “A Decoy…?” Before she could react, Idolo appeared behind him, bringing its arm blade down in an attempt to slash her arms and back thrusters off. By pure reflex, Falcon managed to side step the attack, but a large chunk of his left arm and shoulder armor had been cut from her frame, all but disabling the arm. Falcon growled, both angry that her frame had been damaged greatly and glad that her opponent was just as creative as the boss had told her. In an effort to calm her anger, she slashed at Idolo's legs in a wide slash, to which her rather `unique' opponent managed to back from, but still leaving a scar across her right leg.
I haven't had this much fun since BIS in `73… Falcon could've done a lot more damage, attacking Idolo's right arm or leg to inflict even more damage, but she still wanted to see just what his opponent was capable of. She was having way too much fun with this runner to disorient him early on, and besides, it would be unsporting and somewhat boring not to give the Idolo runner a chance to defend himself. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't remain on the offensive. Predatory birds never allowed their prey to have too much of an advantage, even when playing with them.
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This runner… Something familiar about it… Xander's mind wondered, seeing the damage done to his right leg. It was bad enough that someone could keep up with him, even barely, but the way the enemy runner maneuvered, the way he was challenged by one of the VANGUARD's minions, it all showed the skill of the enemy runner, and that he or she was obviously a Talon. Xander wasn't sure if his enemy could defeat him, but if the enemy chose to be more serious, he had no doubt he would take critical damage. Idolo was a balanced orbital frame, since it was the first combat capable OF created, it was designed to be efficient in all capabilities. But if his opponent were creative, Xander wasn't sure if Idolo would be able to flow with the punches.
Still, that didn't mean he was afraid, just intrigued by this runner. The only real opponents he had encountered lately were on his side, namely Raven and Yuriko, but those were only sparring battles. This was a true duel, and the way his opponent operated, he or she was probably thinking the same thing. Still keeping his communications open to the Cerberus and the rest of Nemesis Squadron, Xander continued with the fight, bringing all of his special maneuvers and strategies to bear. The only other thing that kept him from concentrating entirely on this battle was those four large Type B orbital frames heading toward the battleground.
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Anubis danced around another beam sword slash from a nearby Raptor, then cutting its head off with the scimitar. Raven was now farther out from the rest of the Aegis and the UNSF forces that had joined the battle, as he decided he was better off further out in case Taggart ordered another barrage from the Behemoths. More Raptors had joined in the battle, followed by a few AlterNeiths who were acting as group commanders. It was at this point Raven contemplated just disappearing from the battle out of sheer bordom rather than stay and waste any more energy. Even if he had a chance to decide, though he figured he wouldn't have done that since he had grown attached to Aegis, a sense of dread came over him as he watched the four Zakats descend from the upper atmosphere like falling moons and begin their attack run. "Zakats!" one of the AlterNeith runners cried in warning.
"We have some party crashers, One. What are your orders?" Sage asked, as he let off a burst attack from Regulus' chest cannon.
Raven could sense the hesitation in his own voice, even over a comlink, which made him be a little weary. Despite the hard on personality he had, he didn't want his own team thinking he was spineless, not now. "All squadrons concentrate fire on the Zakats. They're our primary targets now."
"Are you crazy? There are still Raptors flying around! If we ignore them, they'll make a break for the sphere!" a V2 pilot called out.
It took a moment for Raven to acknowledge, just having decapitated another Raptor himself. He then had went into a Zero Shift when the complain rang out, coming behind another Raptor party and squeezing off red homing laser shots, which cut into the Raptors like razor blades. "The Artemis defense forces will have less trouble with a handful of Raptors than they will with four Zakats. I want those four kept away from the sphere, any risks taken." There weren't any responses after that. Instead, the rest of the Earth forces carried out Raven's orders, swarming at the four Zakats in what he himself could best describe as bees around spider webs.
The Zakats were in the first configuration mode, appearing as white globes split down the bottom upward to the 'torso' portion. Their halbards were ignited, sweeping at any UNSF frame that came across the attack path. One of the beams had swept at Anubis itself, but Raven was able to dodge the blast and counter with a homing laser attack. None of the lasers managed to pierce the opposing Zakat's shield though, and the enemy frame went on the attack, now ignoring Anubis. The runner must've decided Anubis wasn't worth the effort, or he/she wanted to go after the weaker frames first, since it was now attacking two Vic Vipers. The first V2 was vaporized by the initial sweep, while the second managed to maneuver around a little before one of the golden beams claimed it. Raven was close enough that he heard the pilot scream out just before incinerating.
The audio feed cut into static, leaving Raven a little uneasy. He didn't care much about the pilot that just died; it was more or less finding a way past the Zakat's shield. This was the same frame from five years ago that wiped out the entire UNSF assault on Vascilia. Over a thousand Phantomas had pumped machine gun rounds, high explosives and beam weapons into this one frame and none had so much as wavered the energy shield. Although he had heard Dingo Egret had taken that model down with Jehuty's power, that was only due to Zakat's weak point. In order to keep its shield up, several pieces of its armor seperated from the main body and surrounded the frame to act as power distribution units. Zakat channeled its energy into these armor plates, and in return, the plates generated the energy over a three hundred and sixty degree angle around Zakat, forming the shield. Problem here was, there weren't any plates, no weak points in the shield. Raven snarled at that. VANGUARD must've found a more efficient way to keep the shield formed without any real weaknesses.
Raven had to admit, despite being on the opposite end of the spectrum; he was growing a certain admiration for his opponents. Despite what many tacticians would think, he saw no real strategic value in Artemis aside from it being the planetside headquarters for the UNSF. It was located in the middle of the counties, too far isolated from the rest of the cities to deploy its forces effectively, but enemy forces would have to go through the other UNSF controlled counties to reach it, on foot anyway. Seeing what the Zakats were doing, he realized what the commander of this force was intending. This battle wasn't for strategy at all, it was for psychological impact. With Margaritifer fallen, VANGUARD would show Mars how weak the Space Force truly was, and possibly re-inspire the dorment revolution that had usurped Mars well before even Raven was born. Personally, Raven doubted anyone but Taggart, Nadia and anyone else serious about defending Mars would see this. By attacking a vital point, High Command would have just dismissed it as a large-scale terrorist attack to liberate Artemis rather than something of a much grander horizon.
"Incoming artillery fire! All units evade!" Yuriko ordered over broadband. In the distance toward Artemis, the familiar white contrails of long-range missiles streaked toward the four Zakats at full speed. Raven broke out of his thoughts and pushed Anubis up into a climb, ascending over the "north" axis of the targeted Zakat. The missile swarm slammed into the four globes, causing the shields to ripple a little, but not breaking them down. "For some reason, I knew that was going to happen." Raven muttered with extreme bitterness. Not really for the fact the missiles didn't work, but for how unpractical the Zakat was proving to be. If it weren't for those shields, those four frames would've been extremely large targets to shoot down. He chuckled a little, the second most feared orbital frame on Mars had its flaw after all.
Trick now was to find that flaw. This time, he charged for a burst shot, but instead of focusing energy in on area, there were now seven points, six around each wingtip and the seventh being the original gathering point. It took what felt like a long moment, but after that moment was up, Raven launched seven burst shots at the Zakat. This was the Supernova, another attack Raven had developed for Anubis. Nothing special really, just throwing the burst shot into a broader area, originally to attack multiple targets with. Though Raven's better sense knew better, the shots only made the shield ripple, making him snarl in disappointment. He zero shifted at the shield, appearing and slashing his scimitar at it, but no effect was made.
By now, the Zakat had noticed him and swatted at Anubis with one of its halbards. The blast caught Raven off guard, naturally, sending Anubis flying to the side. Zakat followed up with deploying a barrage of homing mines. Fucking Hell! Raven thought, fighting hard for Anubis to regain its composure and fire off its homing lasers to intercept. The mines struck before he could, causing more damage.
Alarms were now going off in the cockpit, with tactical displays showing the damage done to Anubis' external frame. Nothing critical, but it had still suffered some major damage. Raven was far from out of the game though. Before he could counterattack, however, his communications system was picking up multiple SOS signals from Artemis. The voices of wounded and dying soldiers seemed to grow louder and louder in those few seconds...
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In the observation deck of the Cerberus, Mirielle Faroh watched the flickering lights in the distance, watching as orbital frames clashed with each other on the field of battle. It was too far out for her to see anything, although she knew that there were Type B orbital frames out there, and she didn't know how her side was fairing. There wasn't much reason to be up there, in fact, the observation deck was more or less a standout target for any orbital frames that flew through that net, but she was still there. As if she were expecting something to happen.
It was there again. That same thought she felt when she confronted Raven as he left to join the battle. The same feeling that crept around her like the ice of tundra, that something that shouldn't happen would by this event. Her body felt numb now, and the sound of her own heartbeat began to grow louder, even over the sound of the main cannons firing and missiles launching from those giant LEVs. The world around her grew darker, until she was left standing in an abyss of sorts.
Then a white face with a satanic grin and a phantom shriek pierced through the darkness, forcing her eyes open. What she saw, she could not describe, for it was in the briefest of moments. But despite the bright image, she could feel a vicious aura around the face she saw. The evil nature that would soon come about.
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"We have incoming!" Lieutenant Sage Arthur almost cried out, "Raptors closing in from the west and upper atmosphere!"
"Arm anti-aircraft weapons! Order all Phantomas and defense forces to protect the Behemoths at all costs!" the XO ordered, and then turning to the tactical officer, "Have the Behemoths reloaded their railguns?"
"Behemoths 1 and 3 report armed and ready. 4 and 5 haven't reloaded yet, because they were ordered to provide artillery fire for the forward squads and Behemoth 2 has suffered an electrical problem in its railgun. It's being repaired now." the comm. officer replied.
"Have Behemoth 1 fire into the upper atmosphere, high enough to take out the advancing wave." Taggart ordered from his command chair, "I want that wave taken out now."
A few moments later, Taggart watched as the Behemoth's large railgun arched upward forty five degrees. Electricity ran down the barrel of the gun, the magnetic systems generating kinetic energy in order to fire the payload, with the intensity of the magnetics being made according to the velocity and range of payload's destination. After the aim was complete, and faster than Taggart had expected, although he showed no expression of amazement, the black orb shot into the sky. Only seconds later, the echo of the bomb explosion shot down over the bridge like a tidal wave. Some of the crew looked up from their posts, probably in wonder if the bomb was high enough that they wouldn't be sucked in.
Wasn't much time now. Taggart knew sooner or later his defenses would crack, and that Raptors would leak through the defense forces like water from a hole in a dam. They now only had 23 orbital frames left over from the Orbital Frame Corps., comprising of six Raptors, four Mummyheads, five Cyclops, and five Clods. Only a handful AlterNeiths were on the battlefield now, as three more had returned to the Cerberus heavily damaged and the remaining seven were wiped out. The Vic Viper fighter wing had suffered only minor losses, probably because the enemy saw Nemesis Squadron and the AlterNeiths as a larger threat. Either that or the enemy commander dismissed the V2s as a threat altogether, which Taggart was trying to find someway of exploiting. Granted, Taggart still had a large number of forces at his disposal, but he needed the Phantomas and Behemoths to stay put to act as the iron curtain.
"Vector activity has ended, the enemy has been... Holy shit..." Sage exclaimed, "I'm detecting a second wave in the high stratosphere, right above us!"
"How many?" the executive officer demanded, "Lieutenant!"
It took a full moment for the operator to reply past the shock, "Over a thousand, sir. It's like a cloud of locusts up there."
Taggart once again found himself digging through his pocket for a cigar. I know I'm going to regret this. he said, as he dug out an Ikari brand cigar, followed in a moment by a match and a clipper.
"What are you going to do?" Clinton demanded in hysteria at Taggart, both out of sheer fear and annoyance at how calm Taggart was being. Didn't this idiot hear? There were over a thousand Raptors up there!
"Continue as you were ordered, order all units to attack incoming. And order any available squads to move forward against the Zakats." Taggart simply replied as if this were mandatory. He simply clipped the tip of the cigar off like he always did, then placed the cigar and clipper on his lap. He then picked up the match and struck it against the metal arm rest of his command chair, just below the cushion. "General!" Clint wavered again. Taggart, now satisfied at the bright orange flame, he placed the cigar in his mouth and lit it, shaking the match out.
Clinton bent down until she was face-to-face with the 'rebellious' General, in full glare. "Your conduct is annoying me, General. All you're doing is sending men out to die..."
"And you should know a thing or two about that, Harriet." Taggart eyed turning into a glare himself. Everyone was more than just a little shocked to see the usually calm Taggart get annoyed, no, not annoyed. Some of the officers and men knew that there was something more to it than just annoyance, Taine being the first of course.
"You heard your orders, boys. Carry them out." Taine said to the whole bridge crew. Next thing, she nodded at the two security officers that had come on the bridge when she wasn't looking. "Place Vice Admiral Clinton under arrest and confine her to the brig for the rest of the battle."
Clinton's eyes widened as the two men came at her and grabbed her arm. She tried to shrug away, but they held guns to her back. Apparently, they also had a bone to pick with her. "You can't do that!" she yelled at the Martian sell out.
"Vice Admiral, with respect to High Command and the UN, save it." Taggart snapped, "Harassing a fellow officer during battle, conduct unbecoming an officer and abusing rank privileges. That's what the Security Council will read in my report; after this battle is over." he looked at the security guard, "Get her off this bridge!"
The security guard didn't waste any words for a reply; he carried out his duty and escorted the Vice Admiral away from the area. As she walked out, Clinton cast De Franz a glare like no other, to which Taine just smirked. The last thing Clinton saw before leaving the bridge was her own reflection on De Franz's goggles.
"Too early to leave the show now." Taine said under his breath, "It's all going according to plan."
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Esteraund Legato grinned, that same devilish feeling he felt whenever he managed to maintain control of things starting to crawl back up from the darkest depths of his spinal cord, making its way up to his brain. The VANGUARD twin Talons, Gray Owl and Brown Owl, were proving to be quite a nuisance to he and Nadia, so much so that their frames had joined back to back, moving in a spinning motion to keep each other covered. Nebula Gray and Nebula Brown only managed to do minor damage to them, however, and the two Aegis frames were more than a match for whatever tactics they used.
This wasn't quite my idea of a date, but damn, Nadia's better than I thought. Esteraund thought, a cold smile forming on his face.
He kicked Raijin into action, deploying three defensors around Raijin while energizing his right hand into a beam sword. Out of the two mobile suits, he decided to go after Nebula Gray, because for some reason, that one pissed him off the most. With Raijin's speed taking precedence, Esteraund went into a dive and slashed across the Nebula Gray's torso, but Gray Owl snickered and countered the attack with his frame's long sword. Nebula Gray slashed at Raijin in response, but Esteraund blocked the strike with a shield and fired more lightning shots at Nebula Gray. Nebula Brown, seeing this, began to charge at Raijin itself with its heavy scimitar raised to strike. Esteraund dodged the first slash, switched off with Nadia, who had Anouke slice a deep gash into Nebula Brown' armor, followed by a five-strike combo that impaled through the arms and legs, though not doing any real damage to the enemy frame.
An energy shot by Anouke's head the next moment, just after Nadia withdrew the sword. Nebula Gray dove at her in support of its brother, claws ready to clash it the purple frame's blade. That's when three lightning beams intercepted the frame's attack. “Ahhh, come on, share the fun!” Esteraund chimed, putting up his shield to deflect a follow up bolt. Anouke took the opportunity to knock Nebula Gray away, putting both it and Nebula Brown on one end of the battle field and Raijin and Anouke on the other. They continued to fight, attacking each other in a two on two free for all. “Split them up, Nadia!” Esteraund ordered, as he slammed into Nebula Gray and sent it flying some distance away. At the same time, Nadia cut into a dash and grabbed Nebula Brown with Anouke's left hand, then threw it out with a massive force.
Raijin launched another burst attack trying to strike down Nebula Gray, but it zig zagged around the overhead lightning bolts. By the fourth shot though, Raijin nailed a clean burst that actually severed Nebula Gray's left arm. “Shit!” Gray Owl snarled, seeing his machine actually take damage. With only one arm, the orbital frame was suddenly unable to properly keep up a long-range offensive. Nebula Gray could still fight, but he was at a disadvantage, especially with Raijin's power with its Defensor remote weapons. “You've become more of a nuisance than before, Legato.”
“I aim to please.” Esteraund smirked, as Raijin dashed forwards towards the chrome frame. Nebula Gray went into its own dash and readied its longsword. It raised the dark blade in time to block a vertical stroke from Raijin's right arm. Raising itself to its full height, the Nebula Gray launched itself into the air with its backpack verniers, moving to stab downward into Esteraund's frame. Raijin dodged backward from the blade and raised its own to strike, but Nebula Gray was quicker: hitting Raijin first with the hilt of its longsword, then slashing diagonally across it. Raijin moved to dodge, and instead of the chest the blue suit hit Raijin's shoulder armor. Esteraund tried to stab Nebula Gray, but it countered the blade and drove forwards. Only a quick twist saved Esteraund, as the thrust intended for his suit's cockpit instead penetrated just to the side of Raijin's thigh.
A hail of energy shots tore into the one-armed frame, coming from the side. Nebula Gray quickly disengaged from Raijin and formed an energy shield to deflect the rest of the shots. “Stick with your own partner!” Esteraund shouted to Anouke, “Or they'll coordinate again!”
"What, no `thank you' for saving your life, Legato?" replied Nadia as Anouke kept up its shot attacks on Nebula Gray. Fortunately, she broke off just in time to block a shot from Nebula Brown, who had moved behind Anouke to strike it at the back.
Anouke's wing binders flew open, appearing as six angelic wings as it dashed further into the sky, Nebula Brown following it. She focused power into her arm blade and struck at Nebula Brown, which deflected the attack with its tentacles. She recovered faster than the heavily armored frame did though, and managed to get a piece of armor off of its thigh. Nebula Brown dashed back from that assault, exhaust pouring out of the thigh 'wound', putting a few meters between it and Anouke, then launching a burst of homing lasers. Nadia gripped Anouke's control orbs and forced more power into the binders, putting it into a series of maneuvers to dodge the lasers, and then placed an energy shield to deflect the rest.
That's when Nebula Brown powered a yellow energy orb, which soon hardened into one of its make shift boulders, and tossed it at Anouke. The shield barely survived this one, as evident by the web of cracked glass-like fractures that appeared across its surface, threatening to crack. Nadia powered the shield and lowered altitude, and opened its wings for its own burst attack, but Nebula Brown didn't allow her the chance to strike. Absorbing energy into its armor, Brown Owl then used the kinetic energy to propel Nebula Brown into a tackle attack on Anouke. Nebula Brown' hardened body slammed head on into the purple frame, pulverizing its armor and creating gashes.
”Gahhh!” Nadia snarled.
”Your movements are lagging Colonel Velasgo. I see time out of an orbital frame has made you weak.” Brown Owl said, sounding disappointed in a way, but showing no emotion what so ever.
”Or maybe I just wanted you to get close…” Nadia replied, grabbing Nebula Brown with Anouke's left arm and flipped over its body like a gymnast, putting it behind the armored frame's back, powered up, and then made a burst slash that cut deep. So deep, that it almost cut into Nebula Brown' anti-proton reactor. Brown Owl retaliated by attempting to spin and club Anouke away with its scimitar, but Nadia dashed back and avoided the blast. “I've fought the real Nephtis, so I know that move well.” She explained, as she moved back into a martial arts pose.
”Damn, these mice are very irritating…” Gray Owl came in, as he maneuvered Nebula Gray away from another burst attack from Raijin. He dashed and moved next to Nebula Brown, as Raijin and Anouke began to close the gap between the two. “But I still have one surprise.” He smirked. Typing commands into his cockpit monitor, he caused energy to form around Nebula Gray, which began to take form.
”Enough, Gray Owl!” a new voice called out. “You are not authorized to use that weapon here.”
Gray Owl's sadistic grin turned into a frown. “King Eagle, we could wipe out half the Space Force with this!” Owl justified, as he began to move Nebula Gray again. “These two would make great sacrifices to…”
”That is not your decision to make.” Wilhelm said, “Faulkner Team is ready to attack. You two, return to the Gorgon.”
”What about these two?”
”Leave them be. We need them to survive for this.”
Brown Owl stepped in, before his brother could say something stupid, “Very well, Eagle. We're returning.”
He had Nebula Brown tap Nebula Gray on its shoulder, then nod its head. Hesitantly, Nebula Gray also nodded, and then both turned to their attackers one last time. ”Make no mistake; it's far from over Legato. Owls never forget their prey…” both frames dashed away toward the Margaritifer border.
Knowing that if they let them cross the border they would be out of the battle radius, Anouke and Raijin attempted to dash as well, but they were intercepted by a party of Raptors. “Damn it, is it just me, or are we getting more popular with the fanbase?” Esteraund joked, as he destroyed three Raptors with his Defensors.
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Death. That was the one feeling Raven felt in Anubis' cockpit, ever since he had taken part in this battle. The continuing comm. chatter from the Vic Viper and Phantoma pilots being taken down by the Zakats or the Raptor swarm that had come from the high atmosphere seemed to merge into a symphony to his ears. As symphony of death and destruction. Raven's hands clenched the control spheres of Anubis, feeling as his heartbeat quickened and his nerves seemed to tighten up under his skin. Of all the things in this world, there was nothing he hated more than this feeling. The feeling, that something inside of him, was being stimulated. He wanted to scream, cry out in a call of defiance to that thought, but he couldn't muster up the energy. His body was too warm, too comfortable that it didn't want to move. Why am I so damned relaxed? His mind cried out, even when his body didn't react.
Then a familiar beeping overcame the cries of death from his comm. One of the Zakats had targeted him. The enemy frame flipped up, revealing its south axis to him, and the energy gathering around it to form its most powerful weapon. Raven felt like roaring at his body to move and for Anubis to zero shift away from the burst, but it didn't react. He sighed at that attempt, realizing that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to dodge. He merely turned to look at the golden energy swirling in the Zakat's axis, seemingly getting brighter and brighter in each passing second. The light seemed to be relaxing, as if heaven itself had opened its gates to him, calling for him to come in. After all, he was used to death, right? If he defied it, it would continue to haunt him.
Suddenly, a faint memory came into his mind. The memory of the black thug holding a gun to his forehead, ready to fire. The first sure time that death had caught up with him, that it seemed like there was no escape at all. His eyes widened, and his mind screamed out. I... Raven's mind seemed to call out, feeling the energy return to him. Anubis' energy lines began to quicken, and its eyes appeared to widen, feeling the power of its runner's will. I... his hands tightened around the control spheres, willing more power into Anubis. His eyes now narrowed into a wrathful glare at that false light. The light that appeared to be heaven, but he knew, too well, it would only lead him to Hell. I don't want to die! Not now! Not when I'm so close! His mind cried out. "SOUL ECLIPSE!"
Anubis zero shifted, just as the Zakat fired. It didn't fly away from the blast as one would have suspected though. Oh no, it was far different this time. This time, it flew straight into the blast head on; seemingly fly through the light, like a lone warrior charging into an oncoming army of its enemy. Raven himself didn't care about the energy blast; he was far too concentrated on that light ahead of him. Time slowed around him, and Anubis' scimitar once again appeared in its hand. And with a great cry, one that fully expressed his hatred for the light, he impaled the scimitar's blade through it as Anubis flew through the light.
In real space, the event seemed to happen in less than a split second. Yuriko had just gotten on the comlink to order Raven to dodge, until she saw Anubis' tail whip downward and its eyes flare, like when it was faced by an oncoming Tyrant. In that second before the zero shift, something told her that Raven knew what he was doing, reassuring her enough for that one moment. Then Anubis zero shifted. When it did, it pierced through the Zakat's energy shield and flew right through the south axis all the way through north axis, leaving a red comet-like trail behind it, and leading up to its reversion to real space. The Zakat floated for a moment, but the sheer power used in the attack was enough that it only lasted for that moment. A large red line ran up and around the Zakat, splitting it in half and causing other lines to run around the frame. Before anyone could ask what had happened, the frame's anti-proton reactors detonated, causing the Zakat to shatter in a blinding light.
The other three Zakats all halted their attacks and turned to face the black frame, and although they didn't show it, one could tell there was both shock and fear in their runners. The V2s continued to pour fire into the Zakats like flies trying to sting a human, but it wasn't enough to phase the Zakats back to attack. Raven couldn't help but smile at that part, in fact, he found it comical. Who would've guessed that they'd fear him?
The satisfaction ended as he felt a response from Anubis' AI enter is mind. It had detected a swarm well over a thousand Raptors plus two really big unidentified OFs engaging the Artemis Defense Line. They probably wouldn't last long. "Nemesis Three, this is One. I've detected several Raptors heading to op point Alpha. Return to Artemis and aid them. You have command of the squadron."
"What?" Yuriko checked her sensors, and sure enough, there was a concentrated force heading due east, all the way back to Artemis. "Lead, how did-?"
"These Zakats are no more than a distraction." Anubis' eyes flared, as if casting a glare at the three remaining Zakats, "You should know how VANGUARD acts by now, Yuriko. They like playing on the Space Force's paranoia. They never intended to use the Zakats to attack Artemis; they just wanted to get Aegis and the Orbital Frame Corps out of the way." Yuriko's ears stung a little as Raven let off a rather sinister chuckle, "Yuriko, I'm giving you command. Turn back to Artemis now while there's still a defense force left, I'll keep things together here."
Yuriko sighed, both annoyed at Raven's apparent humor at the situation and that they fell for an obvious trap. She thought obvious, because VANGUARD was acting under terrorist rules at the moment, never engaging the main forces directly. "All units, disengage and return to Artemis!" she ordered, "Let Anubis handle the Zakats."
This time, no one complained. The V2s all disengaged along with the remaining orbital frames in the Corps and Aegis. Yuriko let Grafficane float there for a moment to make sure every LEV and OF followed her orders, then turned Grafficane around and flew the opposite direction.
Neither Esteraund nor Nadia said anything about Yuriko's orders, other than to carry them out. Esteraund did, however, turn back for one last look at the black frame that Raven Vostrikov, his ex-student, was piloting. It felt natural to be concerned about Raven, but that wasn't the main reason for it. No, it was a tinge of fear at the bottom of Esteraund's heart. Fear, that he didn't acknowledged, but fully knew why it was there. Could it be he's... he shook his head, No, it's way too early for that. At this point, I doubt he'd willingly go through with the transference. From an outside point of view, Raijin seemed to shrug after it turned its head away and flew due East, its defensors trailing around it.
The Zakats, noticing that in their shock, the V2s decided to cut and run, immediately turned back to face them, and started accelerating at the fleeing frames. Anubis zero shifted along their flight paths, targeted another Zakat, and zero shifted again. A second later, the Zakat exploded as Anubis performed the Soul Eclipse, ripping through the anti-proton reactors and out the other end. The last Zakat runners turned their gaze back over to Anubis, taking in the notion they could go no further. This was their opponent now, a single Type B Orbital Frame made in the form of their former leader back in the war. Surely, it was only made in the form of the original, right?
As he watched the Zakats fly at him, Raven slipped on his black reflective glasses, covering his eyes entirely. Raven snickered with amusement, "Who would've guessed, Anubis..." he spoke, "That you were capable of killing thousands with one shot?" Anubis only seeming was to spin its staff and hold it out in a combat pose. As well, though Raven didn't notice the sound of distant voices and music began to play out in Anubis' cockpit.
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Xander was only about 100 meters away from the target when he received warning of incoming fire from the front. It wasn't his proximity alarm; it was a warning that came in the form of a hot spike in his mind. The magenta frame had launched a triple burst attack from its beam bow, with such speed that it wasn't for that hot spike, Xander doubted he would have seen them coming. He instinctively banked to the left, but more shots followed, and the constant banking was making it hard for him to maintain his course. He saw the magenta frame coming at him, and felt a strange presence at the same time, something peculiar. Shaking it off, he angled his sights and fired shot after shot from the machinegun in an attempt to divert the enemy frame away from him. However, instead of banking, the enemy frame accelerated and began to pull a loop, the kind usually seen from a fighter pilot. Even with Idolo's speed, there was no way he could have made it past the magenta frame flying at him. His shell was beginning to break now, and frustration began to grow on him. “Who are you?” he called out, readying his arm blade.

He really is strong, and I thought the old man was high or something. Falcon thought to herself, realizing she needed a new tactic, since her frame wasn't as well geared to close combat as Idolo. Backing up enough to get a clean shot, he brought up the arm on which her beam bow was situated. But before she could even aim, Xander swiped up with the blade in front of him and almost severed the barrel had Falcon not withdrawn it, then swung around with the blade behind him and smashed it onto the left forearm of the enemy frame. Falcon retaliated by kicking Idolo back. “My, how rash. You'll never get a girl with that kind of force…”
Figuring this attacker was taken care of, Xander turned to fly away, and as he did, his computers warned him of an incoming attack. He dodged just in time Falcon's attack of boosting upward and firing another burst shot. Idolo twisted around to establish a beam shield, as Xander thought the attack was a regular shot, but the beam broke through the shield and struck Idolo in the faceplate. It wasn't enough to cut the head off entirely, as the shield had limited the damage somewhat, but it burned into the visor, revealing the Idolo's right eye sensor.
Twisting his orbital frame at the waist so he could see the magenta frame, he tried firing again for its head only to be blocked, and subsequently attacked, with Falcon shooting a halbard from its bow. Xander dodged, and made a dash to catch his enemy off guard, and scored a slash across the magenta frame's chest. Bringing the blade down at the frame's head, Xander hoped to get a shot in finally so he could off this ace, but thought perhaps he was getting too brash with his movements. Falcon blocked again, and Xander, getting more frustrated by this, struck again this time with a side slash at the magenta frame's head, but was again blocked. Amused, Falcon ascended and fired more shots, but Xander dodged them. Idolo ascended and slashed down this time, but Falcon dodged by flying back some.
Eventually, the two clashed weapons, arm blade and beam bow, in what seemed like a standoff from a movie. They circled in the air, trying to break the stand off. Xander tried to overpower the magenta frame, and Falcon tried getting a hit into Idolo by firing off more energy shots. Soon though, the standoff broke.
Red Falcon, for a moment, had felt something in her cockpit with her. Something that could be likened to a ghost, a human ghost. It was brief, but she had left her cockpit for a moment and entered a dark field. She saw a woman with flowing blonde hair standing in the middle of the abyss, with the apparent `floor' rippling like a liquid pool. She was wearing a light magenta gown with a purple skirt that went down to her feet, and purple colored gauntlets covering her hands, all the way up to her forearms. The woman turned to her and simply shook her head at Falcon knowingly, as if telling her not to proceed with this battle. Deep down, Falcon knew the figure was telling her if she continued the fight, she'd die.
That's when she reverted back to reality, and once again saw Idolo fill her cockpit monitor. Falcon was panting heavily, exhausted. “That was quite a fight…” Falcon said. “You're the first man to get me this worked up in a long time…”
”Backing off, are we?” Xander questioned, as his vidscreen appeared in Falcon's cockpit monitor, just on the right corner.
”Oh, just for today…” Falcon smiled, looking over the man's blonde hair and piercing gaze, “May ask you something, Mr. Warrior?”
”What?” Xander asked.
”Your name.” Falcon said, “I want to remember the name of my opponent, for next time.”
Xander was a little confused, but still answered, “Lieutenant Xander Roanoke, Special Taskforce Aegis.”
”Red Falcon of the Talons Unit, VANGUARD.” Her grin increased, “And runner of the orbital frame Amonet.
”Until we meet again, Mr. Hero.” Falcon signed off, and had Amonet move out of the battlefield as a Raptors and Mummyheads covered her escape. Idolo watched it fly away as he fought, wondering just who he had just dealt with. He broke off when he got Yuriko's orders were picked up, ordering all units to regroup around Artemis for one last line of defense to the sphere.
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Fortunately for the UN forces, the remainder of Taskforce Aegis and Orbital Frame Corps had arrived fast enough to break into the battle and lend support. And following them were the recalled land battleships, adding on to the earth forces' firepower. Yuriko charged Grafficane head long into the cloud, slashing apart any unfortunate Raptor that came across her path, while Esteraund supported her from the rear with Raijin's defensors. While their efforts remained effective, there were still far too many Raptors to be contained by a couple hundred LEVs and a handful of orbital frames.
Esteraund, at the moment, was fighting with a little more reluctance than usual. His mind was once again, set among Taskforce Aegis' youngest, but at this point, probably most effective weapon of mass destruction: Lieutenant Raven Vostrikov. His mind told him to concentrate on his own survival, be the mercenary he was and force everything else out in the hope of getting paid. Problem was, deep down, he knew better. Deep down, he felt himself yelling at him to turn back, get Raven out of there before the worst happens. Before he gets engulfed by the power he had fought against so long. His Element. That had to be it, there was no other explanation for his taking down two Zakats with Anubis' capabilities alone. As well as his unnatural battle lust.
No, he couldn't go back, not now. Whatever would happen would happen for a reason, there was no other way. And besides, if he defied orders now, somebody, most likely Yuriko or Nadia, would begin to suspect him. He clenched his teeth at the fact he couldn't do anything. Dammit, he hated being helpless in this kind of situations. Nothing peeved him more than that. In an effort to relieve himself of this anger, without pissing in his jumpsuit, he flew head on into a literal flock of Raptors and what other orbital frame that was unfortunate to be in the thunder god's path. Lightning shot in all directions from his remote weapons, as he tore into a Cyclops with his beam swords.
In the middle of his cutting frenzy, when he felt the situation couldn't get any worse, a communication line cut across Raijin's frequency...
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"I repeat, we are under attack!" the LEV pilot barked into the comm. to the Cerberus, and at the same time, firing his machine gun at the two frames advancing on his position. He let loose his back missiles, forcing the enemy frames to fly for cover as the missiles rained down, surviving long enough to hear the operator confirm reinforcements were on their way. Unfortunately for the pilot, one of the frames had appeared behind him, so fast that he literally didn't see it coming, but at the same time, he never felt it. A downward slash from a charged blade split the LEV into two halves, and after a moment, its arkjet generator detonated.
Through the explosion, Jehuty's image slowly floated over the carnage, seemingly darkened by the bright flames. Only the blue eyes of a wrathful god, eyes that had longed for this day, and the blue energy that pulsated through its veins could be seen in the silhouette. The eyes were the same as the day Jehuty fought against the Antilia Raid, destroying three Type B orbital frames, and the day where it narrowly decimated a squad of Spider tanks in order to save a company of LEVs. Today though, those eyes showed much more ferocity and once concealed hatred. Reflecting the will of its runner.
Leo Stenbuck's grin remained ever present, even as he watched three cowering LEVs step back at Jehuty's, no, his presence. Without hesitation, he fired a full barrage of sapphire homing lasers, all of which pierced into the Phantomas and caused them to explode. One of the pilots had managed to escape, ejecting his pod in time, rocketing at Jehuty, trying to fly past. Years ago, Leo would've let the pod fly beyond him and escape to safety. But not today. Jehuty's left arm reached out and grabbed the pod as it was moving past the left shoulder. Without so much as looking at his victim, he applied pressure and crushed the pod, letting the encompassing metal kill the pilot inside.
Even though his comm. system wasn't tuned to the escape pod's frequency, Leo thought he could here the pilot's screams as the metal caved in, both out of fear of death and shock that Jehuty would actually kill him or her. It didn't matter to Leo anymore, that part of him died in the cold vacuum of space. Viola's words had returned to him there, reminding him that by his saving their lives, they came back to kill him instead. No one in the UNSF or in any Earth organization deserved mercy, after all he, Dingo, Ken and the rest had done for them and what they did in return. And here, this would only be the start in amending the mistakes he made so long ago.
Before he could think further, he zero shifted away from where Jehuty was standing, narrowly avoiding a beam shot from a sniper rifle equipped LEV. After he the shift, ADA locked onto the LEV's position, and Leo shifted again. Jehuty then charged its energy and unleashed a burst slash, effectively destroying the Phantoma...
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Esteraund's eyes widened in pure fear now. Ah shit, the second Aumaan! He totally forgot about VANGUARD's possession of Enhanced Jehuty. Now he knew the shit had hit the fan. If Raven went into that mode now, there was nothing in heaven or hell that could stop him, and his first target would definitely be Anubis. The resonance signature would be too strong for him to resist, and the fact he loathed the runner didn't help matters much either. After cutting across another Raptor, he flew into a clearing and spun around; trying to see what Raven was doing now. Currently, Anubis was at a stalemate with the Zakats, whether because Anubis was drained of power or Raven just felt like playing with them... "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Esteraund yelled in his cockpit. He still couldn't do anything about it. The logical, more calculative portion of his brain told him he was doing the right thing, but the other side, the one that some people considered to be the 'heart' or 'soul', told him he would damn Raven Vostrikov to hell for doing nothing. And the rest of the UNSF, VANGUARD and Aegis for that matter.
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These things are overrated. Raven thought bitterly, as he effortlessly dodged another energy stream from one of the Zakats, then flipping up and gaining altitude just as the other one tried to fly behind him and strike him with a halbard. He wasn't even zero shifting anymore, and these things couldn't keep up with Anubis, no, they couldn't keep up with him and Anubis. He could feel that the AI had reached the same conclusion. Actually, Anubis had gotten bored a long time ago, Raven had just given his opponents the benefit of the doubt, letting them make all their little attacks and efforts to take him down. The runners were actually pretty skilled, the only thing was, Anubis was smaller and much faster, even without zero shift, and Raven knew how to take advantage of that.
The only reason he hadn't killed both of them was because using the Soul Eclipse twice had drained Anubis of its sub energy. Not that it mattered, the only reason used that technique on those first two was because he was in a combat rage. Otherwise, he would've loved to try fighting all four of them at the same time. Alright Anubis, I'll finish them off. he mentally replied to the AI, as the little daydream he had of fighting all four of them was interrupted by the AI. He was still getting used to it being able to become annoyed.
Anubis zigzagged around another halbard beam, ascending toward the 'equator' area of the Zakat. The enemy runner reacted by launching one last floating mine attack at him, the Zakat runner figuring that Anubis was far too close to dodge. That only proved to be a mistake. The scimitar was still in Anubis' hand, and by simply gaining altitude, Raven neatly 'jumped' over the mine, bee-lining toward the Zakat's cockpit. Upon reaching the shield, he slashed a cross scar into the shield, simply forcing Anubis to generate more energy into the scimitar as he slashed. Even with a shield as powerful as Zakat's, a concentrated energy cut was powerful enough to cut through any barrier. The trouble was getting a shot through.
But, Raven had that covered. Cutting at such a velocity that the tear actually expanded from the sheer amount of energy, Raven zero shifted past the field before it closed over. Anubis exited the shift just above the cockpit, and with its eyes glowing brighter for a second, probably from the slight satisfaction of its runner, it brought the scimitar down into the cockpit. The halbard beams that rotated around the shield shorted out at that point, and the shield dissimilated. Before Raven could finish the frame off, the proximity alert sounded. Anubis zero shifted away, just before the last Zakat fired its beam and vaporized its comrade.
When Raven returned to real space, his comm. was filled with laughter. "Anubis!" the voice said, "You may have downed three of my comrades, and destroyed countless Raptors in the Earth's name!" Raven didn't need to trace the signal; it was obvious it was the last Zakat runner. "But, I doubt even you can compare to the one that made Mars burn with the great Zakat's power!"
"I take it you're the enemy commander?" Raven quipped, sounding half interested.
"Former BAHRAM-Lieutenant Mikhail Volkovo." the Zakat said, "Now, I'm known as White Harrier, the Light Elemental of VANGUARD's Talon Unit!"
White Harrier? Raven's mind let out in surprise. A predatory bird with a color designation. That's how the people who were captured from the movie theater incident described VANGUARD Talon codenames, after Raven threatened to break the fingers on his remaining arm. He could feel his blood run cold at that thought, further exciting him. He hadn't expected to fight one of VANGUARD's Talons, much less after Gold Phoenix.
It was all rumors one of the prisoners had told him, but sometime after the Earth-Mars War, VANGUARD had taken in former BAHRAM and UNSF officers that were all deemed unfit for the regular forces. One thing common among these seven was they were all specialists in one form of combat or another, the kind of specialist that almost zoned out everything else around them just to do what they were good at. Based upon their specific roles, either Browning or Shale had given them command of the seven branches of the VANGUARD's military force. And Fen continued to say they were all nutcases, every last one of them deserving to be in a circus freak show or an asylum after the war, but ending up being saved at the hands of one of the two. Typically, a VANGUARD specialist like this one had a bird call sign assigned, and an object or reference to what the role he or she played on the battlefield.
"I have a preposition for you, runner of Anubis. While the Raptors are wiping out the last of the UN forces, let's have a private duel. Winner walks away." Harrier offered. White energy lines began to flow down his jumpsuit as he transmitted more light power into his Zakat's control orbs, pulsing down his orbital frame's energy lines.
"I don't like duels. Just make it easier for yourself and open your cockpit. Let the Martian air claim you." Raven replied. He didn't give Harrier that much time to answer, but judging by his angered reaction, Raven could tell his message was sent across. Anubis now surged with scarlet energy. "I've got better things to do now, so get out of my way!"
"Make another way!"
"What the-?" Raven double-taked at that line. "I'll give you a mercy killing if that's your best come back."
"Enough talk!" Harrier growled, eyes glowing pure white behind his shades. The Zakat's shield broke apart, and its halbard plates flew out of formation, forming into two orbiting rings around the frame. As well, the side portions of Zakat shifted up to either side of the 'head', forming into a pair of make shift wings. And as Raven also saw, the head extended out as well, giving Zakat the appearance of a white heavenly beast of sorts.
Faster than Raven thought was possible for a frame that size, it flanked to the left, its twin 'rings' rotating around it, slashing at Anubis with the halbards they generated. Raven ducked, spun to the side, and finally was forced to dash backwards from the assault. He fired more shots at the cockpit, but a small shield generated around it, deflecting the attacks. Raven was taken back a little by the secondary shield, but it didn't stop him from attacking. Ignoring the halbards and the advancing mass, he zero shifted to Zakat's cockpit and slashed at the shield with his scimitar, trying the same strategy he used on the third. This time though, the shield didn't break, as it was smaller and more concentrated.
Harrier just laughed and swatted Anubis away with Zakat's right arm. The force sent Anubis flying back, but Raven was quick to recover, and fly back at the shield. Before he could reach it, Zakat's rings began forming dark spheres of energy, which it launched at Anubis. Raven was too close to dodge, so he raised a shield to deflect the spheres. The shield didn't last though, since Anubis' sub energy was still drained, it could only hold back a few of the spheres. One of them eventually broke through the shield and slammed Anubis back. Raven could feel the battle was taking a toll on him, even though Anubis' power was at a reasonable 73, he felt exhausted both mentally and physically. He breathed heavily in his cockpit, giving Zakat and White Harrier a defiant glare.
Then Zakat began to focus energy into another energy ball, but instead of throwing it at Anubis like Raven had expected, it remained stationary, and instead began to suck matter into it. Raven could feel the color drain away from his skin, as his mind flashed an image of the three vector bombs impacting. That's exactly what this thing was, a gravity well. He tried to have Anubis zero shift, but the pull was so much that even Anubis didn't make it very far. He then focused all thrust into pushing away, but the best Anubis could do was remain stationary. Harrier took the opportunity to lash at Anubis with Zakat's right arm, knocking it down and further toward its gravity well.
A mental image flashed in Raven's mind. He didn't know if it was from Anubis' AI or something else, but it didn't matter. In the image, he saw Zakat attacking another frame, which he recognized as the original form of Jehuty, using the same pattern it was now. Jehuty was being drawn into the gravity well while Zakat swatted at it with its arms. However, that only lasted for a moment, as Jehuty eventually powered up and fired a burst attack into the gravity well, destroying it. The next image he saw was Jehuty slashing at Zakat's head, leading to the frame's destruction. Raven's eyes widened a little, as he saw the blue frame look toward his direction, its merciless blue eyes focusing on him.
Raven's lips curled into back into his smile, as the pull from the gravity wave became ever stronger. "This is just... like back then..." he said, "To test my power, isn't it?" he muttered to no one in particular.
Zakat had reeled back to strike Anubis again, but Raven dropped below the fist, dodging, and then accelerating toward the gravity well. The scimitar dissimilating from hand, he focused energy into Anubis' right arm blades. When he came up to the well, he slashed with the arm blade, the amount of energy cutting through the gravity well and dissimilating it.
"It's the same strategy, isn't it? The very same attack you used against Jehuty." Raven gloated
"What are you talking about?" Harrier shot back.
"You should know. You thought you could overwhelm Jehuty with Zakat's power, but in the end, it turned out to be beyond your control." Raven grinned, "You rely on the power of your frame rather than your own will. Pathetic human."
"Shut up!" Harrier snarled. He fired more black energy spheres at Anubis. This time, however, Raven had no wish to dodge. He flew back from Zakat and zero shifted, flying through the black spheres and upon Zakat's head. Harrier attempted to strike him with Zakat's right arm, but to his surprise, Anubis reached up and grabbed the arm, holding it down with its two pronged left hand. He tried it with the left arm, only for the same result with Anubis holding the clenched fist.
"Know your place in the world, weakling." Raven muttered with bitterness. With seemingly little effort, he 'pushed' against Zakats arms and sent it flying away out of control. Anubis then began forming energy around its body for a burst attack, but instead of just forming the energy around its torso, more energy formed around its sixs flared out wings. The energy soon formed into multiple individual dark colored burst shots. "SHADOW METEOR!" Raven commanded as his will overcame Anubis with a great power. The bursts launched and rocketed straight into the Zakat. Harrier was smart enough to release Zakat's escape pod before the bursts hit, slamming into his frame, but by then it was too late. With a defiant scream, the explosion overtook him just as his pod was about to separate. Zakat stayed in the air for a moment, just before it erupted into a blinding flash that covered the horizon. A cloud of fire developed from its remains, covering the Martian sky in a bright flame.
Raven was satisfied with the sight of the cloud, to say the least. "Anyone who gets in my way will die at my hands." he said to himself quietly.
You're catching on, Huckebein. An all too familiar voice spoke up in Raven's mind. Anubis spun around, scimitar reappearing in hand, to see a single manned Cyclops and ten Raptors hovering in front of him. "Isaac..." Raven growled, "Another of VANGUARD's lapdogs as well?"
Wouldn't you like to know, mein wenig Huckebein. Isaac laughed.
"Can I send you to hell now?” Raven snarled. Anubis began surging with red energy again. However, when Anubis surged, Raven felt his heart pace quicken, and his body react in some way. He couldn't describe how, but he felt like every portion of his body resonated with an unknown force. The resonance felt like a ripple across his body, perfectly in tune with his quickening heartbeat. What the-? It took him a moment to notice another detail. Along with every heartbeat, he saw red energy lines run down his arms into Anubis' control spheres, and across the orbital frame's veins.
Don't you feel it yet? The power you possess, fellow Domineus? Isaac laughed.
"What... are... you... doing to... me?"
I am merely showing you your true potential. It is you who have awakened your own strength. Your will to destroy has done many marvelous things indeed. By accepting your role, you true power has been released, and now the transformation has begun...
"Trans...formation?" Raven clenched his teeth in defiance as he felt his vision blur. He found it hard to concentrate, even as he focused on Anubis' cockpit monitors. He tried targeting the Cyclops for an attack, but he couldn't give out the command. Something in him was keeping him from doing that. He tried again, this time for a multi-lock so he could use Anubis' homing lasers, but once again, the command wasn't issued. He finally let it all go, in one whole effort to move, he opened his mouth to let out a roar. Nothing came, but his own heavy breathing.
He could feel Anubis struggle around him as well. It reached out with its right arm toward the large white close combat-oriented frame, energy starting to surge to form a shot, but the shot dissimilated before it could be launched. It tried again with its left arm, only for the same result.
Isaac Mattheris' grin vanished into a frown, "So you continue to deny your true potential." he muttered at the sight of Anubis trying to attack him. The Cyclops waved its large left arm, and the Raptors all flew at Anubis, their arms generating energy swords.
Now, Raven couldn't see the Raptors coming; only the proximity alert informed him that they were coming at him. Sweat had now formed on his forehead, and for some reason, his body had gained enough energy to reach both of his arms up and take his helmet and com-set off. A few strands of his black hair were glued to his forehead, through the combination of being held down by the helmet and the sweat forming. He used his right hand to wipe some of the sweat off, and then reach back for the control spheres. His vision blurred further, and the proximity alarm grew louder.
Before his vision blurred entirely, Raven could see Anubis' display grow black, and the golden hieroglyphics running across like computer code. It was the only thing he could see now, through the darkness. In fact, he felt himself being surrounded by the hieroglyphics, the same pattern running in all directions. The human eye, the scales, the feather, the amulet. It was that same pattern over and over again, in golden stigmas so bright, that it seemed the sun itself was shining through them.
Unlike before, Raven wasn't relaxed. No, he was far from it. He twisted in the darkness, realizing now he was in standing. Anubis' cockpit had vanished around him, and the only way he could tell he was in it at some point was his still being clad in a Taskforce Aegis normal suit. He reached his arms out, trying to find one speck of reality, one glimmer that he could escape through. "Let me out..." he murmured, feeling his body pulsate even further, and seeing that the red energy still ran down his veins. “I don't want to be here! Let me out, dammit!” he called into the abyss, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.
Oooooo... Seni cu la...
"No! NO!" he screamed in horror. That same voice, that feminine voice he heard from Gustav, like a siren calling him to destruction. His pulse continued to grow, and the hieroglyphics ran faster. He attempted to close his eyes and clasp his ears, but he could still see the stigmas and he could still here the voice.
Eeeeaaaayy... Eouhe hoooehooea ooha la mo se ha ahhnn...
"It's the little Halfling he heard." He heard, the same sinister tone that black gangster used. This was followed by a string of tones, all from various people, various adversaries that had come against him.
"So this is the Halfling dog that's been making a name for himself? Not exactly what the image I had."
"It's degrading that this kid has Martian blood in with his Brownn guts. I say we take some of it out of him."
"Careful, we want him to 'enjoy' the fun, remember?"
"Halflings ain't worth tormentin'. Just put him out of his misery."
The voices seemed to combine into a great verbal whirlpool, turning and twisting in his ears. He wanted to scream at the voices in an attempt to drown them out, but he couldn't muster himself to do it. He kept clenching his ears, as his eyes thrust open. He saw he was no longer in the darkness, but in the bloody hangar, and as he looked up, he saw the blonde haired man over him once again, gun pointed at him. His attire, the Walther P199K, the stench of blood and dead flesh, the dead eyes, his inhuman grin, it was all there above him and around him. And the great monolith watching him…
"No..." he cried no more than a whisper, trying to back away, eyes widened and his complexion drain. Pure fear. The gangster paid no heed to his cry, taking steps toward him as much as he backed away. Deep inside, his body screamed to lunge at the gangster and kill him, but he denied it. He couldn't. If he did, he knew he'd turn back into that beast, that demon like he did before. But if he didn't, what would happen? His ears stung at the sound of the man pulling back the gun barrel and slide, knowing a shot wouldn't be too far off.
"No... No... No..." Raven kept denying it. The man gave him one last victorious grin, as he pulled the trigger.
Aaaaaahhh lieee mo seee mo he ee... aaaahh...
BANG "NOOOOO!" Raven cried out as he felt the pressure overcome him, and all of his emotions rip through the mental barrier he had constructed. Tears ran down his face, and the alleyway had disappeared before the bullet could strike, returning him to the cyclone of stigmas. The gold light grew brighter, until the darkness was completely overcome and he was engulfed.
Oooooo... Seni cu la...
The Raptors were about midway between Anubis and the Cyclops a curious sound overcame them. Isaac didn't know what this sound was really, but he had a good idea. There was no words in the sound, just a varying tone, like a mystical chant or prayer. The Raptors had all stopped in their flight paths, and as a whole, turned directly around to the Cyclops, their mono eyes flaring red.
"The Soul Binder... Transmitting the SLAVE Code over resonance waves into the other frames…" Isaac said, "A good try, but it's too late now. You fell for it, Huckebein!"
The Raptors ignited their thrusters and flew at Cyclops, but before they could get close enough to strike a blow, a red energy wave slashed through them. Isaac reacted fast enough to throw up a shield to deflect the shockwave from Anubis. He slipped off his shaded glasses and reveled through his golden eyes at what he saw. “The perfect fusion of Metatron…” he said, “Rise for me, Anubis!”
Anubis was now erupting with energy. Its veins were pulsating faster by the minute, and red lightning cackled around its black armor. In fact, the air around it began to turn into a red haze of energy, a crimson torrent of great power. The Cyclops backed away as the tempest grew, and lightning struck in all directions. Anubis' eyes flared as the frame struggled to keep up with its own energy overflow, but it was too much. Its armor cracked in almost every area, purple light shining through each crack as it spread. It struggled even more, barely moving as if it were half paralyzed. Only the constant whipping of its tail showed how much Anubis was putting forth to hold itself back. In one second, the upper portion of Anubis' mouthpiece seemed to flare on its own, as if it had somehow grown a new pair of eyes.
Then it happened. A bright purple flash emitted from its anti-proton reactor, its power source, a swirling black and purple wave of energy flying out in every direction. In that one second, Anubis was overcome and its body shot out. Its armor shattered entirely, revealing a bright aura underneath. More energy picked up around the light, as multi-colored lightning cackled and bolted from every direction, striking at the ground and scorching everything it came across. The sky and landscaped wavered as a black and purple aurora formed above, as if dimensional space itself was being effected by the energy put forth by this one orbital frame. As if the frames' very presence caused both Heaven and Hell to tremble...
I... was created... to destroy... all...
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TO BE CONTINUED...