-Chapter 8: Petals Wither-
-One Day Earlier-
Razenack CEO Ridley Abbott visits the mansion of the leader of the Allegiance, A group of religious fanatics. Ridley saw these people as nuisances and intended on getting rid of them in order to access the BETA facilities and further his agenda. They held a small meeting inside the computer room, where a huge step will be taken towards the start of a world war.
"I see this plan of yours is finally coming into fruition. What else do you plan on doing? How far do you plan on taking this?" asked the Master in his calm tone.
All of a sudden, Ridley pointed a gun at the Master.
"W-what are you doing, Abbott?!" asked the Master with horror in his tone.
"Hmhmhm...Your organization is nothing but an obstacle to me. I will be the one to destroy this world and rebuild it in my own image...A perfect utopia free from parasites like yourself. And sadly, you won't be around to witness this glorious transformation." said Ridley with a sinister grin on his face.
"I gave you the manpower you have! I gave you supplies!" yelled the Master.
"And that's supposed to give you power over me?" asked Ridley in a calm tone.
"..What is this?.." said the Master with fear in his tone.
"..The money, the supplies. I used you in order to get what I wanted. And these things have been important in making my plan possible...until now. Your men are under my command now. They will follow my commands and do exactly as I say. Kill BETA, make technology out of them and become a powerful army. To destroy the Yukon Base to pave way for my new world."
"Wha..What are you?!" yelled the Master.
"I am the idea this world needs to survive. To put the rich and the corrupt and trial...And face execution. Justice will be done...And I'll make sure of it."
"You're..just...pure evil.." said the Master as his trembled in fear.
"I'm necessary evil!" said Ridley as he grinned.
After that, a gunshot was heard. Ridley shot and killed the leader of the Allegiance. His body fell onto the ground in a puddle of blood.
"Sir!" said a guard.
Ridley shoots and kills the guards as well. He takes a keycard from the Master's dead body and walks out of the house. After he does so, he calls an airstrike on the mansion. A squad of bombers appear above the mansion and bombs are dropped onto the structure.
An explosion is seen as Ridley walks towards his company's helicopter. He laughed as he looked at the structure as it falls down.
The next day, Akihiro spent some time with the Scarlet Twins due to Cryska wanting to discuss something urgent with Akihiro. She questioned him about Inia's interest in him, which was beginning to feel more like her previous attachment to Yuuya Bridges two years earlier.
"...What does Inia see in you?" Cryska asked.
"Huh?" Akihiro wondered.
"...All she does is talk about you all the time. I'm starting to worry that she'll wonder off before a mission. What is it that she sees in you?!" Cryska asked angrily.
"I don't know, okay?! She just kept going up to me and started talking!" said a startled Akihiro.
"Cryska, Akihiro? Are you two fighting?" asked Inia with a sad expression.
"No, Inia. We're not. We're just having a discussion." said Akihiro with reassurance.
Inia cheerfully giggled after hearing him say that.
After that was over, the three of them spent some time together. Cryska also wanted to know why the development project recruited him in the first place. The reason being is that she wanted to find out about Yuuya's dismissal from the project.
"Why was Yuuya Bridges kicked off the development project? This sounds suspicious.." asked Cryska.
"I don't know. The higher ups never tell me or anyone else anything. They just expect us to get on with the tasks we're supposed to complete. This is almost like ABNIA all over again.." said Akihiro.
"The Anti BETA Nations Imperial Army? You were said to be an excellent eishi." said Cryska.
"I'm not as good as you, though." said Akihiro.
"No. You've shown me what you were capable of yesterday. And I will admit, I was impressed." said Cryska.
"Heh. I guess it pays growing up in a family who served in the military. I was called the backbone in Australia's military. I seriously doubted that, though. I just tried to push to be the best to make my family proud. And because I wanted to protect them and my country. Sounds cliche, I know...But it's all I got." said Akihiro.
"...You remind me so much of him." said Cryska with a smile.
"You mean Yuuya?" asked Akihiro.
Cryska replied with a nod before speaking again.
"What exactly happened six years ago? I keep hearing about this from people in my flight." questioned Cryska.
"...My last mission. Me and my comrades from ABNIA were escorting some supplies from America to the African frontline. After we succeeded on our mission, we were heading back to where we set up camp. But when we arrived, we saw a huge swarm of BETA. They covered the horizon. In those days, most of the TSFs that are used now were still in their development phases. They were only tested, not used in actual combat. There was a huge strength and number difference between us and the BETA. I asked for immediate reinforcements, but do you know how Abbott replied?..."Give up", he said. I could hear him laughing at the time. He was the one who let the BETA know that we were there. He had to tell the board members in ABNIA that the mission was a failure. In reality, he used this as an excuse. He let the BETA ambush us. He had my comrades killed!" said Akihiro, finding it hard to tell the story without getting emotional.
"...He..sold out his own unit? How can anyone do something so inhuman?" asked Cryska.
"He called it a sacrifice...for a better world. I knew that was bullshit. So I left ABNIA and I swore never to return. ..But...when I met Lt. Takamura, something compelled me to come back. ..This was my chance to get my revenge." said Akihiro.
For the first time, Cryska was at a loss for words. He had endured so much all those years ago. Why would his own superior sell out his own unit just for a supposed "better world"? It just sounded wrong to her.
"Cryska! Akihiro!" called Inia.
"Did you find something cool?" asked Akihiro with a smile.
Inia nodded and gave some flowers she found to Akihiro and Cryska.
"Thanks." Akihiro said with a smile.
"Let's go, Inia. You have to have your shot." Cryska said with a smile.
"Ok!" said Inia cheerfully as she started running and laughing.
"..Family, huh?" said Akihiro while he watched Inia.
Later that day, the alarm in the Yukon Base suddenly went off. A large machine has been detected underground and is heading towards the base. Akihiro was out doing some exercises with the Argos Flight, who were called back by White Fang-1, who is also Yui.
"White Fang-1 to all units! All units must back to base immediately!" said Yui over everyone's radios.
"I've detected something underground. Argos-1 to Argos Flight. I'm gonna check it out." said Akihiro.
"But Lt. Takamura gave us our orders! We have to head back!" said Fiona over the radio.
"You look pretty sure about this." said Valerio over the radio.
"I wanna make sure that whatever is approaching the base right now doesn't reach it. I want to protect Lt. Takamura and all of the others as well." said Akihiro.
"Ooooh! Sounds like someone has a crush on the princess!" teased Valerio over the radio.
"Shut up! Now's not the time for this, Argos-3!" yelled Akihiro.
"I know, I know. I'm just messin' with ya!" said Valerio over the radio.
"Argos-4 to Argos Flight. Maybe we should let Argos-1 handle whatever is underground." said Stella over the radio.
"...Please, be careful, Ensign Flynn." said Fiona over the radio.
"I will, Ensign Ackerfeldt." said Akihiro with a smile.
After that exchange of words was over, Akihiro headed towards the underground facility that leads to the Yukon Base. He flies towards chamber before landing and using the boost system to ground dash. As he progresses through the facility, the shaking worsens.
"Something is definately down here..There's no doubt about it." said Akihiro.
Suddenly, Akihiro heard a transmission coming through. It was none other than...
"Hello there, Akihiro. I knew you would fall for this." said a very familiar voice.
"Abbott..." said Akihiro with anger under his breath.
"I wanted to show you my newest creation from the BETA blood I harvested. And what better way to test it than on the best pilot in ABNIA?" said Ridley as he chuckled.
Akihiro clenched Shiranui's control bars and clenched his teeth in anger as he heard Abbott's condescending chuckle.
All of a sudden, A giant, unfinished mech crashes though the tunnel and destroys the facility. Akihiro quickly reacts and dashes back. He equips himself with just a machine gun and the sword that Shiranui was equipped with.
"Have fun." said Ridley while laughing before cutting off the transmission.
The giant prototype smashed through the tunnel and Akihiro fights it off while the carnage continues. However, he's finding it pretty tough to break through the prototype's defenses. Could this defense be from the harvested BETAs' blood?
"Damn!.." said Akihiro as he tries to fight off the prototype while they move towards the Yukon Base.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting you reach the base!" said Akihiro as he dashed and jumped from a wall in the tunnel and manages slice off and disable one of the rectifiers that are keeping it's shield active.
Yui realized where Akihiro was and immediately contacted him via transmission.
"I'm a little busy right now!" said Akihiro as he tried to fight the prototype that was heading towards the Yukon Base via the underground tunnel.
"Ensign Flynn! You have been given orders! Why are you recklessly defying them?!" asked Yui in an angry, yet worried tone.
"I'm trying to stop this thing from reaching the base! Look, I need to ask you to concentrate on ensuring the safety of the others! Please!-Guh!" said Akihiro as he took a shot from the prototype.
"...Please, don't die. Promise me you won't die!" said Yui over the radio.
"I promise. Now get going!" said Akihiro before the transmission was cut off.
The fight continues with Akihiro managing to slice off another rectifier and damaging it's head by shooting it.
All of a sudden, A mysterious force of TSFs arrive and attack the Yukon Base. Explosions left and right as they drop explosives onto the base. Yui manages to escort the other operators and mechanics out of the base as they all ran in fear for their lives.
Among that mysterious force was the leading white and red TSF. It landed on the main runway of the Yukon Base.
"Lt. Bridges. Do your duty and destroy this base. I have given you the RAY-9RZ for this reason. Don't fail me." said Ridley over the radio.
"Yes sir. Moving in to destroy the base." said Yuuya.
Wait, what?! Yuuya Bridges was piloting the leading TSF of the terrorist squad?! The one who stopped the Yukon Base incident two years ago?! How is that possible?! Not too long ago, Akihiro and himself were having a drink and a laugh as well as helping out in testing!
All of a sudden, shots are fired at the RAY-9RZ, which dodges and returns fire.
"You fucking traitor!" yelled Valerio over the radio.
"It's been a while, Valerio. Why don't we fight?" said Yuuya over the radio.
The two pilots engaged in combat. Both TSFs were firing shots at one another and taking damage from one another, but it's Valerio's machine that's coming off the worst for wear.
"Why, Yuuya?! Why?!" said Valerio over the radio.
"For this planet. For our home. It's nothing personal, Macaroni. It's just my job. Nothing more, nothing less. You need to wake up and see the bigger picture." said Yuuya over Valerio's radio.
Valerio's F-15 Active Eagle took more damage after coming under heavy fire from Yuuya's RAY-9RZ.
While the fight went on, The Raptor TSFs of Leon Kuze and Sharon Heim arrive to stop Yuuya's destruction and chaos.
"Yuuya! Why?!" said a tearful Sharon over the radio.
"You bastard! Why would you stab us in the back like this?!" said an enraged Leon over the radio.
Sharon and Leon home in on Yuuya's TSF and engage in combat. However, after a battle, The Raptor's outdated technology was no match for the RAY-9RZ and Leon was killed in combat.
"GUAAHH!-" yelled Leon before being killed in the Raptor's explosion.
It wasn't too long before Sharon suffered the same fate.
"AAAHHH!-" she screamed before dying in her Raptor's explosion.
"Give up, Valerio. There's no point in dragging this out any longer." said Yuuya over the radio.
"Screw that..I CAN STILL FIGHT!" said Valerio as he charged at Yuuya with guns ablazing.
"..It's time to end this." said Yuuya as he opened fire on Valerio's F-15 Active Eagle. The bullet's from Yuuya's weapon was tearing Valerio's machine to shreds. He couldn't hold out any longer, but he chooses to fight until the very end. He manages to cause minor damage to the RAY-9RZ's left leg.
However, Yuuya took one final shot and finished the job.
"...It's over, Macaroni. ..Sorry." said Yuuya as he fired one final shot at Valerio's cockpit.
Valerio was covered in blood, bruises and was worn down from the fight against Yuuya. He knew in his heart of hearts that it was all over. His fate was closing in on him and he knew it.
"..Monica...Sis...I guess I won't be coming home after all, huh?.." said Valerio with his last breath. His F-15 Eagle Active is finally destroyed and Valerio is killed in the explosion.
Fiona, who was fighting the enemy forces could only look on in horror as she knew whose TSF just exploded.
"VALERIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Fiona screamed out at the explosion.
All of a sudden, A yellow and purple TSF arrived on the scene to fight the RAY-9RZ. It was Yui Takamura's Takemikazuchu MKII.
"YUUUYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" said an enraged Yui before she slashed the RAY-9RZ, which manages to block her attack with it's own blade.
Akihiro manages to take down the prototype's final rectifier and destroy the main core. He came to a dreadful realization that it was going to explode, so he manages to dash in the Shiranui and take off to join the fight.
However, A black and red TSF arrives before Akihiro and challenges him to a duel.
"Akihiro! Isn't about time this world changed? It was becoming stagnant, after all." said Ridley over the radio. He's the black and red TSF's operator!
"Abbott! Are you the jerk responsible for this?!" Akihiro yelled angrily.
Ridley chuckled in a sinister way. He WAS responsible for authorizing the attacks.
"I am indeed responsible. Just like your comrades in the past, these pilots are expendable. They are nothing more than worthless scum." said Ridley in a condescending tone.
"KH! YOU BASTARD!" yelled Akihiro before charging at him in the Shiranui.
-To Be Continued-