I own nothing. Enjoy!
Area-01: Assault of the Sky
Flying through the cloud layer at mach speeds was a massive whale-like airship. Its engines hummed as it turned the direction of its destination. The airship's wings shifted as the ship straightened itself.
In the cargo hold stood two men dressed in yellow and green combat gear. One of the two stalked around as his hands gripped his buster tighter.
"Lazarus would you please calm down."
"No, Red, you know how jumpy this is making me. We get no information, and we get assigned a new captain. Yeah, let me just sit and wait."
The door leading to the rest of the ship slid open and another man walked in with a data pad.
"Everyone calm down. We are almost to the location of the drop."
"Nicol, what is our mission?"
The man tapped the data pad and started reading what scrolled into view.
"Our client is Legion. Huh? Never expected a governmental body to ask for assistance from a group of hunters."
"What is our mission?"
"To board the Raider ship 'Slipstream' and retrieve one 'Livemetal' that was apparently taken from a Guardian research facility."
The two men looked to each other as fear registered in Red's eyes.
"Livemetal? You mean that thing that eats human souls?"
"That's nonsense! There is no such thing."
'Incorrect. Signs show that the incident at Serpent Headquarters was caused by a rouge Livemetal.'
Lazarus groaned as a small ball of green light circled him. The ball changed its shape into one of a small bird with a halo circling its wings.
"Birleaf I though I told you not to come out until after the mission."
'I apologize Lazarus, I will shutdown and await further orders.'
The bird vanished, Lazarus then turned and slapped Red on the back of his head.
"Ow, what was that for!?"
"Lazarus, quit harassing your fellow Hunters."
"Sorry, still quite a bit jumpy. I just want to get to this before the Captain does. Need to get her back for what she did to me at the Wastes."
"Speaking about the Captain, where is she?"
The two looked to Nicol, who returned their stares with a shrug. Lazarus was about to ask another question before each flinched at the sudden whine of static over their radios.
'Everyone, this is the Captain speaking. You all need to calm down!"
"What?! Where are you?"
Standing on the nose of the airship stood a girl looking over the railing. The wind rushed past her as she tried to stay standing. She enjoyed standing out here, but it could dangerous.
'Where are you?'
"I'm outside, was just getting ready to start our mission."
"Captain, it is not advisable to jump from the front of the ship!"
The girl chuckled as she clicked the side of her headset, a black visor slid out and clicked into place. Heat signatures flared up as she spotted several ships below them. She drew her plasma pistol and checked to see if the battery was charged.
Nodding when she saw that it was in operable levels she slid it back into her holster and started walking to the edge of the ship.
"Don't worry Nicol, Totten has told me that it shold be fine."
A flash of blue light shone as a small witch girl appeared besides her. Opening a book that floated around her, she pulled up several different percentages.
'Yes, she should survive. I have calculated it at a 91% chance that she will land on the convoy.'
'Well if you say so Totten, just be careful Captain. When we complete our preparations we will follow.'
There was the sounds of Lazarus shouting before the line was cut. The girl sighed and deactivated her visor, the parts slid back as Totten floated into view.
'Just so you know Ashe, I hate rewriting data.'
"Well, how else was I going to get Nicol to let me do what I want."
The little witch sighed as she dematerialized Ashe looked down and smiled. Taking one step forward, she began falling.
This was going to be fun.
"Mr. Prometheus, a new heat signature has appeared above the cloud layer. Readings indicate that it is a Mutos-class airship."
"Gyeh, must be more Raiders. Keep tabs on them. I do not want any surprises."
The Operator nodded as she continued to type commands into her console. Prometheus sat in a chair behind her, looking at the mission clock that sat on the wall. It counted down so slow that it was agonizing to the Repliroid.
"Three minutes until we reach drop zone Mr. Prometheus."
"Okay Launch, begin drop preperations."
Launch nodded as she opened a new menu, quickly typing in more commands as Prometheus undid his restraints. Standing he moved to the cargo door, his armor appearing in a flash of purple.
He punched the door controls, the door slowly opened as he activated his beam scythe. He looked out and saw that his ship was now above the lead ship in the Raider's formation. He cackled as he turned to Launch.
"Keep the ship at this distance until I contact you."
With that, Prometheus jumped out of the ship. Launch looked to the mission clock, it sat at one minute. The Operator sighed as she pressed the button to close the hatch.
"Why can he never wait?"
Falling through the air in a free fall was one of the best things Ashe ever experienced. The air rushed around her like a shell. It was cold, but it didn't bother her, for her attention was on the ship she was falling towards.
The ship was lagging slightly behind the others, and she could just make out the shapes of its Anti Aircraft guns. This ship was used mainly as support and defense, so it was a perfect place to start an infiltration.
It was a good thing that her ship had stayed above the clouds after all.
Pulling her arms and legs together she sped downward. She shifted her weight and avoided a small mechaniloid that flew past.
"That's new, since when did the Raiders get mechaniloids?"
'They didn't. I would advise extreme caution when we land.'
Inching ever closer to the ship Ashe threw her legs out as her boots became magnitized. She landed with a dull thud. She stuck to the surface and slid as the magnets gripped. She stood and activated her visor once more.
Several red targets popped up as the layout became hilighted with green lines.
"This will be a piece of cake, if I manage to avoid the bulk of the mechaniloids.."
A route overlapped over the area. Ashe blinked, it did avoid almost the entirety of the mechaniloid forces.
'This is the most direct route to the Livemetal's location.'
"Thanks Totten, well time to start this."
A 'Mission Start' alert popped up as she began running towards the front of the ship.
"This truly will be fun."
Prometheus landed with a thud, the metal under him denting from the force. Standing he inhaled and turned towards the massive shutter that was branded by the Raider's emblem.
"Just can't help but yell to the world about who they are can they?"
A sound came to him and he turned. Several clicks of plasma rifles was heard as he turned. Facing him were several Galleons and Raiders. Each and every one of them had their busters and rifles aimed at him.
A smile slid across his face as he twirled his scythe. Some of the Raiders flinched when he slammed the end of the pole into the floor. He waited as the enemies inched closer. He motioned to the closest one.
"Come on, I am on a tight schedule, and I want to have a little fun before I have to leave."
I hope you enjoyed!
Several things I wanted to do for this story, I think I pulled it off. The Cyber-Elves act like the A.I.s in Halo. That is what I get for reading so much stuff about Halo recently.
Ashe is the captain of the airship you see in the beginning of Ashe's story. I don't have a name for it, but that should change.
I also wanted to delve into how Prometheus got there.
Again I hope you enjoyed.
Have a nice day!