The Last Stand
Final Battle of the Raven's Ark
"Gates of Hell!" cursed Coheed, as he aimed his AC's PIXIE2 at a suicide MT and let loose a burst of fire, blowing several holes in its body. The MT emitted a brief shower of sparks and fell to the ground, gouging a good-sized crater in front of Coheed.
"Looks like that's where we'll be heading after these locusts are done with us," remarked Zero as he fired his KRSW at another MT, the energized laser bolt melting clean through it's body before it exploded. Coheed, Zero and eight other Ravens were on top of the Raven's Ark headquarters, trying to stem the tide of merciless unmanned suicide weapons that were swarming all around them.
Something had gone horribly wrong at the Old Weapons Facility. A Raven had been sent in to take care of the activation controls. The mission was supposed to be difficult but the assignment had been handed to a Raven who was supposed to be extremely skilled. If any Raven had even a ghost of a chance of accomplishing that mission, it would have been him.
But now the sky was thick with swarms of unmanned suicide weapons. These were small MTs that rammed into everything before exploding, seemingly with the intent of eradicating all traces of life on the planet. Coheed had no idea what was happening around the rest of the world but he was certain the situation looked bleak. For now, he would defend the Ark, for as long as he could.
Of the thirty ACs inside the Ark before the attack started, only ten remained. A scream followed by an explosion off to his left told Coheed that there were only nine pilots remaining. The machines were merciless, as wave after wave of them slammed into the Ark. Coheed felt sick. It must be the weight of numbers. One hundred to one odds were the types that made history. They also made you history.
The USWs faltered for a moment, allowing the Ravens a little time to take stock of the situation. The situation was, to say the least, hopeless. Even more so, some of the Ravens weren't ready to sell their lives, after all: they were mercenaries. As Coheed watched, he saw Horus, one of the Ravens, turn around and boost away from the rooftop. Tough luck, for even as the Raven dropped down to the ground, he was followed by a suicide MT. Screaming, Horus tried to bring his SHADE2 to bear before the MT slammed into him and exploded, both machines disappearing in a flash of light.
"Keep'em off me. I'm bringing out the heavy artillery!" Coheed radioed to the other ACs. Doubletapping his left footpedal, he ordered his AC to kneel down.
"Roger that" came a chorus of replies as the defenders stepped up their firepower. Barrage after barrage of rifle shells, laser bolts, machine gun fire and missiles screamed skywards. MTs fell from the sky in the dozens, contributing their metallic bodies to the hundreds already lying in heaps around the Ark. Scattered among the debris were the remains of ACs who had succumbed to the MT's cold determination. Zero could have sworn that he saw the wreckage of Foxeye, Jack-O's AC but he couldn't tell unless he moved closer, which he wasn't prepared to do.
Coheed knew, deep down, that the next few minutes might be his last. He fortified himself with a prayer and activated his grenade launcher. He aimed the weapon at the closest, most densely packed group of USWs and fired, the golden projectile detonating in the midst of the group and taking out most of the MTs. To his horror, Zero saw the hole in the MT ranks fill in by the time the next shell reloaded in Coheed's grenade launcher.
"It's hopeless!" screamed Vega, the only remaining female Raven in the group, as a quad-legged AC was taken out by an MT that had made it through the vicious hail of fire put up by the defenders. Cursing whatever madmen had created these monsters; she raised her twin M2 machine guns and blasted both weapons into the MT swarm. When one of the machine guns clicked dry, Vega switched to her NYMPHE2 missiles and began sending volley after volley into the MT swarm.
Coheed fired his grenade launcher once more, reducing at least ten MTs to scrap metal. Getting back up to a standing position, he dropped the GL and activated his HYDRA missile launcher along with the RM2 extensions. "For the Ark!" he shouted, as he let loose a full barrage of missiles. A nearby tank-legged AC lowered its bazooka and raised its massive LX laser cannon. Contributing its devastating firepower to Coheed's salvos; the superheated laser beams melted entire lines of MTs from the swarm. Coheed kept launching missiles until he heard the launch tubes emit a beep: he had exhausted his missiles.
For their efforts, Coheed saw that the swarms were beginning to thin out a bit. "We have them on the run, give it all you've got!" he yelled to the other Ravens, firing his PIXIE2 at the MTs.
Seeing a chance for salvation, the remaining Ravens renewed their efforts, cutting loose with all available weapons as they blew MT after MT out of the air. Just when the Ravens thought they were finally in the clear, more USWs appeared on the horizon.
"I've got multiple contacts on radar," radioed Arcade, whose AC was geared for electronic warfare," More MTs, they've sent in reinforcements!" Zero and Vega groaned in disappointment.
"Here they come!" shouted Bane, pilot of the tank AC, shortly before one suicide MT, flying low to the ground, rammed his AC and blew him to perdition.
Coheed roared his defiance and boosted forward, firing his machine gun. The 150mm shells tore into another of the cursed weapons and Vega destroyed two others with her missiles. If I'm going to die, then I might as well take more of them with me, he thought.
Inspired by his example, the surviving Ravens howled a battlecry and furiously opened up with all remaining weapons. Vega, Arcade and Zero simultaneously launched a barrage of missiles that blossomed into a series of explosions among the MT swarm. One MT, its flight engines disabled veered erratically toward them. Vega and Zero jumped aside at the last moment but Arcade, his attention concentrated on shooting down the wayward machine, didn't. Both MT and AC vanished within a ball of fire. Arcade was still screaming as the flames devoured him.
With no ammo remaining on all his weapons, Zero ignited his laser blade. Boosting forward, he lashed out at any MT within range, destroying several. Zero slashed his MOONLIGHT into an MT that had gotten close, only to have that MT explode, taking his left arm along with it and knocking Zero's AC to the ground facedown.
"Dammit," he muttered, as he fought with the controls to raise his AC. Before he could rise, a suicide MT weaved through the Ravens and slammed into him, making sure that he would never again get up.
"Zero!" Coheed screamed as his friend's AC was destroyed. In the next instant, a suicide MT slammed into his AC's shoulder and detonated, destroying the HYDRA pack. The subsequent explosion damaged several systems, including his radio and left arm motivator, and sent the giant machine crashing to its knees. Giving into his anger, Coheed emptied his PIXIE2 at any target in his lock box. Shell after shell sailed through the air, burying themselves into the bodies of the MTs.
The remaining ACs savagely poured fire into their enemies, using up all remaining ammo until one by one; the guns of the Ark fell silent.
As if sensing their impending victory, the suicide MTs dove into the Ark in droves. Coheed watched helplessly as his remaining comrades fell to the steady onslaught of the unmanned suicide weapons.
He watched helplessly as the AC known as Widowmaker tried to boost away. Just as its Overboost engines opened up, an MT slammed into its legs. With no control, the AC shot skywards straight into the cloud of USWs where it disappeared.
He watched helplessly as dozens of MTs overwhelmed the heavily-armored AC called Goliath, the detonation of the plasma cannons on its back building into a single massive explosion that destroyed a section of the Ark's rooftop,
He watched helplessly as Vega tried to run toward him, only to be caught by two MTs coming in from different directions. The MTs detonated simultaneously, the destructive energies consuming Vega and her AC.
It is over, he thought. The locusts will consume the Ark and its Ravens. Coheed thought bitterly as he reached for the AC's camera controls, shutting his monitors down one by one so that he wouldn't have to see the MTs as they swarmed towards him. Finally, he shut down all of the ACs major systems, throwing his cockpit into gloom and cutting off the droning sound of the MTs.
In Coheed's last few seconds of life, he was surrounded by peace and silence. He savored the serenity, something he had never experienced as a Raven.
Then the darkness closed over him for all eternity.
FIN