Chase reappeared by the Holon capsules as Yazamin walked through the door. They both looked at each other and blushed again, still smiling warmly as Valentina chuckled softly. Yaz got into her pod and waved to Chase before closing her eyes and entering the cyberbrain. Chase smiled to her as his overlay vanished from the room.
Chase opened his Holons eyes and looked around, he saw Cammie teaching Kazu a dance with their mechs as Valentina was doing some stretches. Chase felt something grab his hand and looked down to see a familiar yellow arm and hand. Julian looked up to see Yaz staring him, causing Chase to grab her hand and stare back sweetly. They bothed stared at each other, Julian's thumb rubbing over the back of Yaz's hand softly as he whispered "Maybe we should wait till after the maintenance is done before we tell the others.
Yaz nodded and whispered back "Good idea, Fly-boy" she said joking, earning a quite chuckles from Chase. They reluctantly separated their hands from each other and walked over to the others "Alright team, Migas will be waiting for us on he floor, lets get going" Chase said, earning nods from the others. They all began to make their way to the maintenance floor.
As they walked, Cammie and Kazu started to talk about the dance Cammie was teaching him "What was that dance called again?" Kazu asked. "Its called the robot," Cammie answered "It was a dance from an old console game my gramps used to pay back in 2019 called Anthem" she finished, earning a nod from Kazu. "Funny thing is, the game had the player piloting a mech suit as they fight monsters. Bit of irony since I'm the one now in a mech suit" she said, making Kazu laugh.
Yaz and Chase were quiet as they followed their teammates, every few seconds taking a moment to stare at each other sweety, but it was hard when Valentina kept glancing at them at random joking, causing them to get embarrassed. Val chuckled as they turned away from each other after being caught and decided to stop and let them be.
Soon they arrived at the maintenance room, Migas was talking to Dr Jha as the five Holons walked in. Migas and Dr Jha turned to them and smiled as they walked over. Cammie lowered her hand to Migas and he carefully low-fived her hand. Cammie stood back up and Dr Jha joined Migas "We're about to start running the diagnostics on your Holons, if you five could station yourselves over by the hanger door, we can begin" said Dr Jha, the GL team nodded to her and made there way over to the door.
As they got to the door, Migas showed a holo-vid of what he wanted them to do "Kazu, Cammie, Henry will be running your motor functions, he'll want you two to preform some movements to assess your Holons" he instructed, Cammie's ears perking up "Hey Kazu, maybe we can do the robot whilst Henry looks us over" she said excitedly, earning a chuckle from Kazu "Maybe" he responded with.
"Valentina, Yaz, Dr Jha wants you two for frame management, seeing if your Holon's exos are functioning at 100%" he told the two female Holons, earning nods from them both. Migas then turned to Chase "As for you, Amigo, ill be running your Holon's systems check, making sure your internals are up to date" he said, making Julian nod "You got it".
The GL team split up to do their respected instructions, Yaz looked over to Chase who turned to face her, giving him his signature salute, she waved back to him as they went their separate ways. Chase and Migas walked over to the scanner, Julian sitting down so Migas could use the scanner over him "This wont take long, migo" he said, beginning the scanner.
Kazu and Cammie walked over to Henry, the scientist turning around to face them "Alright you two, lets get started" he said to the Holons. Kazu nodded as Cammie kneeled in front of Henry "Hey Henry? for our motor functions, would it be alright if me and Kazu do a dance move I've been teaching him?" she asked. Henry nodded "Of course, it will definitely help with the research" he told her, Cammie standing up straight and high-fiving Kazu.
Dr Jha, Yaz and Valentina walked over to the modification station, Dr Jha pulling up a chart showing the two exos from their last inspection "Alright then, Yaz we'll start with you, if you could stand over in the assembly bay, we can remove a few pieces to check your internals" she instructed, Yaz giving a nod "Of course, doctor" she said, walking over to the wall mounted frame.
But before any of Yaz's armour could be removed, an alarm started to go off. Chase sat up as Cammie and Kazu stopped dancing to turn their attention to the alarm. Chase rushed over to the main floor as Col. Marin appeared on the holo-screen "Colonel, what's the emergency?" he asked. "Not good, Chase. The Union are making a move in Louisiana. We need your team air-born now" she ordered.
"Copy that, we'll be there faster then you can say 'Let the good times roll'" said Chase, earning a nod from the Colonel. Chase turned to his team "Aright, we're moving out! Get your Holons loaded, we're heading to Louisiana" he ordered, his team nodding as the hanger doors opened. The GL team rushed outside, running over to their ship. Kazu was the first to board, kneeling down so the inside crane could store his Holon.
Cammie, Val and Yazamin followed after him, with Chase standing beside their ship. On the ground, Caliban and several workers were loading the capsules inside the ship, with Caliban hooking their bodies up to the inbuilt console inside the ship. The team opened their eyes and exited their pods, walking over to the cockpit as Yaz started up the engine. She looked out to Chase who nodded to her before kneeling down, spreading his wings and soaring off into the sky.
Yaz pulled back the joystick and the ship started to lift off the ground. As soon as she was high enough, she rotated the thrusters and the ship rocketed off. Chase flew beside the ship as Cammie, Kazu and Valentina joined Yaz in the cockpit, a holo-screen of Colonel Marin appeared "Whats the situation, Ma'am?" asked Yazamin as she changed the vector to head to their destination.
"The Union are on the move in Alexandria, they're after something, but we're unsure of what" she told them, Able appearing behind her then vanishing again only to reappear talking to two others in Anvil Command. "Roger that, our E.T.A; 15 minutes, out" Yaz explained, Col. Marin nodding "Good luck, gen:LOCK" she said, switching the screen off.
Kazu chuckled to a thought and turned to Cammie "Looks like you'll get that shot at the Union after all" he said to her, causing her to snort once "True that" she said. Kazu picked up his guitar and started to strum a tune and Cammie sat with her legs crossed, swaying to the music as Valentina tapped her finger to the beat. Yaz smiled to them as she checked how far out they were, every now and then looking over to Chase, who would in-turn look back to her, waving.
==========(12 minutes later)==========
Yaz switched open the coms to Anvil command "gen:LOCK 1 to Anvil command, arrived at safe point, orders, ma'am?" she Yaz asked the Colonel. Marin turned to her "gen:LOCK 1, mission is as follows;" she began "Once touched down, Union spider tanks are south/south-west of your position, as well as some ground soldiers as well" she explained as a second holo-screen appeared, showing the targets "there is also civilians trapped on the other side of the bridge, Union troops blocked the bridge from being crossed, and finally, Union drones and nano-tech are in the area, so be careful" she finished.
"Copy that, gen:LOCK 1 out" Yaz said, carefully touching down as the holo-screens turned off and Chase landed beside the ship. "Alright, Valentina, Cammie, you two head to the bridge, get those people to rescue ships, Kazu, Yaz, you're with me, we're going after those tanks" Chase instructed. The others rushed over to their pods, climbing inside as Caliban opened the rear door to the ship, the crane bringing the Holons out one by one.
The team regrouped by the front of the ship "Alright, lets waste them!" Kazu said, crunching his knuckles. "Right with yah', Kazu!" said Cammie. The others nodded and split up, Cammie and Val headed to the bridge as Julian, Yazamin and Kazu headed for the city. "Keep your eyes open for nano-tech" said Valentina "Copy that" replayed Chase.
Cammie and Valentina made it to the bridge, three spider tanks blocked their way to the civilians. "Alright, little bunny, lets show them what we can do" said Valentina as she pulled up her cloak. "You bet, Val, we'll make sure these blighters are put six feet under and their tanks in the junk yard" said Cammie as she pulled out her pistols "see yah on the other side of the bridge".
Valentina activated her cloaking ability as Cammie skated over to hide a semi-truck. One of Cammie's drones flew from her back to the top of the bridge, looking down to the three tanks and the troops around them "Alright, I've got three big bogies and about 15 ground troops" she said, radioing to Val. "Good work, Ditya, anything else?" asked Valentina as she climbed on top of the bridge. "No, apart from them, no other targets" Cammie finished with.
"On my mark" began Valentina as she aimed her rifle. Cammie nodded and set out another drone to join the other "one," "two," "three!" said shouted, firing three shots. Two of the shots hit one of the tanks, causing it to explode, knocking four troops down and causing the other tanks to turn around. Cammie jumped over the truck and began opening fire, skating between cars as cover, using her drones to help her aim and knock down some of the ground units.
Valentina pulled down her cloak and back flipped of the bridge, grabbing her sword and thrusting it into one the tanks, causing it to implode. Cammie jumped up and used her legs to kick of a support on the bridge, bringing one of her feet down onto two more Union troops, crushing them. They both looked up to the last tank which opened fire on them. Cammie and Val dodged and ducked from the bullets "Ready?" Val asked Cammie. "You bet" she replied with.
Inside the mind-frame, Cammie and Valentina appeared, Cammie ran over to val and jumped over her, their bodies fazing together into one as Cammie landed.
Cammie and Val both looked up, Val having access to Cammies drones as she passed the scott-girl her sword. Cammie slid right as Val jumped over her, combat rolling and opened fire with her rifle, using the drones to aim at the weak points in the tank. Cammie skated to the tank and sliced off two of is legs, making buckle. Val and Cammie both jumped up, Cammie holding the sword between them and Valentina grabbed onto the handle "Vernites' tuda, otkuda vy prishli!" they both yelled, bringing the sword down into the mech, causing it to explode.
Val and Cammie both looked to each other, Cammie offering a high-five, causing Valentina to laugh and they high-fived. They looked over from the bridge to see the civilians come out of hiding. They looked to see the Union soldiers dead or badly wounded and cheered to the two Holons. Valentina waved them over "No time to celebrate yet, we still need to get you all out of here" she instructed. The civilians began to exit their homes, rushing over to the bridge.
Cammie opened a coms link "Julian, bridge secured" she told him.
==========(with Julian, Yazamin and Kazu)==========
Julian, Yaz and Kazu found the spider tanks near the centre of the city, gunning down any armed forces or civilians in their way. They hid behind two buildings as Chase peeked around. Kazu was about to pounce but Chase lifted a hand, shaking his head. He looked around the area and noticed two roof tops they could use. Chase signalled Kazu to go around them and ambush them at the front, which he nodded to. Chase turned to Yaz signalled to the two roof tops, Yaz nodded in return. Chase looked to both of them and nodded.
Kazu charged down a side road, causing stomping sounds, causing some ground troops to looked around, some catching glimpses of Kazu as he rushed between buildings. Chase and Yazmain silently landed on top of the roofs, Julian grabbed his gun as Yazamin charged her gauntlets and eyes "Kazu, NOW!" Chase yelled. Kazu yelled as he dropped down in front of the Union tanks, unsheathing his sword and swinging it, slashing a tank in half, causing it to explode.
Chase and Yaz jumped off the roofs, Julian opening fire as Yaz blasted them with her gauntlets. Chase's shots exploded by some troops, knocking them down as Yaz's laser beems hit another tank, causing some of its legs to explode off. Chase and Yaz joined Kazu in the fight, Julian shooting tanks and troops as Yaz flew above them, using her 'Heat vision' to scorch some of the tanks, causing some of them to explode. Kazu grabbed his second short sword and swung the two blades, slicing two more tanks down.
After Yaz finished the last tanks, the three looked up to see a swam of drones coming straight towards them. "Kazu, head back to Val and Cammie, we'll handle the drones" Chase ordered. "I'll be fine! they're just drones" Kazu retorted. "Kazu, thats an order! you'll be torn apart by them" Chase yelled at him. Kazu grunted but nodded "Ryokai!" he said, rushing back. Chase and Yaz looked to each other "you ready?" he asked her. Yaz nodded and grabbed his Holon's hand with hers "Yes".
Inside the mind-frame, Julian and Yazamin appeared. Chase held out his hand to her, Yaz grabbed his hand gently as he pulled her close to him. They stared into each others eyes and kissed each others lips sweetly, their minds melding into one.
Chase and Yaz opened their eyes, seeing the swam nearly on top of them. Julian and Yaz jumped into the air, activating their jet packs and rocketed towards the drones. Julian flew above Yaz upside down and they linked arms together, with Chase using his thrusters to cause them to spiral towards the drones, as Yazamin charged her laser eyes. As they got nearer, Yaz rapidly shot laser blasts from her eyes as they span, many of the shots hitting drones and causing them to explode.
They shot their way through the pack of drones as Chase stopped their spin and separated their arms. They floated in the air to see half the drones gone, but still many remained. They looked to each other and nodded, Chase pulled out his gun again and Yaz charged her laser gauntlets. They flew towards the drones, Julian shooting down any drones in front of him as Yaz used her lasers to slice through some of the drones.
One drone was about to shoot down Chase's flight-pack, he turned around in time to see the drone ready its shot. But before the drone could shoot, Yaz sliced the drone in half and the two halves exploded. Chase looked to Yaz and saluted to her, with Yazamin nodding in retrun. Soon all the drones had been turned into scrap metal, with Chase punching the last one to pieces. They looked to each other and Chase held his hand out to Yaz, who grabbed his hand sweetly.
They stared into each others optics and leaned in, but before their foreheads could touch, Julian's com turned on "Julian, bridge secured" came Cammie's voice. Chase and Yaz snapped out of their trance, Julian pressing a finger to his com piece "Y-yeah, good job, you two" he said as he and Yaz realised they were still close to eahc other. "w-we just finished up here, kazu should be with you soon" he said, trying to stay focus.
Cammie saw Kazu approach them and she nodded "Yeah, Kazu just got 'ere" she said "you alright, boss? you sound funny" she asked. Julian nodded "yeah, I'm fine, Cammie, me and Yaz will be with you soon" he said, ending the call. Julian looked back to Yaz just in time for her to place a hand on his mech's cheek. They stared again and leaned in again, their foreheads touching each others as they held each other close.#
Suddenly, a loud bag could be heard. Next Chase and Yazamin knew, they were knocked out of each others embrace as Yaz feel out of the sky, one of her wings nearly destroyed. She looked up to Julian and yelled "AHHHHHHHH! JULIAN!" as she fell towards the ground. Chase's eyes widened and he rocketed down after her. Chase holstered his gun and reached his hand out to Yazamin "Yaz! Grab my hand!" he said. Yaz tried to steady her fall, reaching for his hand but was a foot away from grabbing his fingers.
Chase kicked open his thrusters trying to reach more. Julian inched closer to Yazamin's hand, he could feel their fingers touch as he got closer. Chase looked down to see the ground coming up fast. Giving it all he had, Chase reached out as the ground came into view, closing his eyes...Nothing. There was no sound, no explosion, no crash. Julian slowly opened his eyes, he looked down to see Yazamin grabbing his hand tightly as they were a few feet from hitting the ground.
Julian slowly lowered Yazamin to the ground, they yellow mech suit was shaking as Chase landed in front of her. Yaz looked up to see Chase standing in front of her, her hands were shaking as she looked to see she was standing on solid ground. Yaz's legs felt week as she was about to collapse, she felt her body fall to the side, Chase quickly moved to catch her. Yazamin felt Julian's arms wrap around her tightly. Yaz started to feel relaxed as she slowly began to wrap her arms around Chase in return, sobbing silently.
Kazu, Valentine and Cammie ran up to them "Is she alright?" asked Val as Cammie had her hands to her mouth. Julian looked up to them "She'll be alright, she took a hit, lost her right wing" he explained, just as the remains of Yaz's wing crashed down behind them, making them all jump, Yaz especially. Julian held her close and slowly grabbed her hand, causing Yazamin to grab his hand back tightly and shakily.
The other three Holons looked to them, Val smirking from within her Holon and Cammie and Kazu looked to them in surprise "So, you two are now-?" Kazu asked. Chase looked up to them "We were going to say after the maintenance was done, but then we got called out" he told them as Yaz began to calm down. Chase slowly helped her up, a beeping sound could be heard from their Holons.
"You guys reenter your bodies, I'll give your Holon's a lift" Chase told them. Val, Cammie and Kazu nodded, each shutting down as to not exceed uptime. Chase looked to Yaz "Hey, ill be with you soon, I promise" he told her, Yaz gently nodding and kneeled down, looking up to him "I-ill m-miss you" she said. Julian knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand sweetly "Ill miss you too" he said. Yazamin closed her eyes and her Holon turned off.
Chase was about to lift her up as he heard another bang. He looked up to see more spider tanks and troops begin to close in on him. Chase quickly got on his coms "Guys! more Union tanks! I'm pinned down! how fast until you can upload again?" he asked.
Back at their ship, Yazamin had just stepped out of her tank as soon as Chase's SOS went off. All four of them looked to their Holon's uptime. Cammie had three minutes left, Kazu and Valentina had two minutes thirty and Yazamin had one minute. "Our Holons will need a few minutes for the uptime to reset!" said Cammie frantically as she and Caliban tried to speed up the uptime. Yaz got on the com "Chase! I'm coming back!" she yelled as she was about to get in her pod, but Caliban stopped her "No, Yaz!" said Chase as he fired shot after shot at the Union tanks "I may be stuck in here, but I don't want you to loose your humanity!" he said.
Yazamin balled her fists and fell to the floor "Please, I-i can't let him fight them alone" she said, a tear falling from her eye. Cammie thought for a moment "Alright, if I focus on Ya's uptime, I can get you out there in less then two minutes" she said, as she typed away as fast as she could. Yaz looked up to her and nodded "Thank you" she said to the bunny girl as she turned around "Chase, I'll be with you soon, just hold on!" she said.
Julian shot at a tank, causing it to explode "Understood!" he said, taking a hit aimed at Valentina's Holon. Chase grunted as he opened fire again, taking out a few Union troops as he guarded the other Holons. Yaz paced back and forth as Cammie and Caliban typed away. Kazu and Val watched her as she walked back and forth. A beep was soon heard as Yazamins pod's light turned green "Go!" yelled Cammie. Yaz rushed over and got in, closing her eyes as Caliban activated gen:LOCK.
Yaz woke up in her Holon to see her uptime reset and Chase taking another shot meant for Cammie's Holon. Yaz got up and blasted laser fire at the tanks, taking two of them out. Yaz saw another shot heading for Chase, she jumped in front of him and her wing took the blow, destroying her second wing. Yazamin looked to see Julian's Holon damaged, but he still stood. Yaz helped Chase stand and they looked to the tanks as they began to surround them and the Holons. More tanks started to appear as the two Holons looked to each other, nodding and Chase went to the other side of the inactive Holons.
The tanks began to lay into them, shooting blast after missile at the Holons. Julian and Yazamin held their ground, taking shots at any tank they could whilst also taking shot meant for their team mates. More and more of their armour started to chip and break away with each shot they took, grunting as they did everything they could.
Val and Kazu looked out of the window to see their team mates defending their Holons "Cammie! how much longer?" asked Kazu. Cammie and Caliban typed as fast as they could, the uptimes still remaining the same "Its no good! Focusing on Yaz's uptime screwed with ours!" she told them. Kazu cursed and saw a radio, grabbing it and turned it on "Emergency! Emergency! This is Iida Kazu of gen:LOCK 1! We're in trouble here! Can anyone read us?!" he yelled down the radio.
Silence.
Kazu looked down as the radio crackled to life, a static voice came from the radio "Thi- is inter- scue" said the voice. Val and Kazu looked to the ready, the voice became clearer "This is- tional Rescue" it repeated again. Kazu held the radio again "Please, we need help!" he said. The voice soon became clear as crystal "This is International Rescue, What is your situation?" said the voice.
Val, Cammie and Kazu looked to the radio "International Rescue?"