Chapter 10: Vanguard

Jonas was edgy sitting in the cockpit of Silent Howl. He was eyeing up his new 'MARVE' rifle with glee. This had been a really good find, the gun was notorious, it fired faster without sacrificing killing power, Jonas liked this.
His new rifle was all it took to distract from the fact that Omer Science engineers were busy strapping a huge rocket to his back, it was almost the size of Silent Howl itself. The Vanguard Overed-booster was a new invention by the League of Ruling Companies that allowed Nexts to get to battle zones with insane speed. They used up fuel quickly though and were only good for about five minutes of flight time which, at that point it would break apart and fall off the back, leaving the Next with only it's momentum to glide them into action. It was however highly experimental, but Jonas was getting highly compensated for this. He didn't have a choice in the matter, Ellysia picked this mission so he had to tag along. It was only four days ago that she said for Jonas to be ready at any notice. The mission had popped up a few hours after that.

There were two launch pads which were two miles apart. Ellysia was at 'Launch Pad Alpha' and Jonas was at 'Launch pad Beta'. There was something else bothering Jonas though. There was another aspect to this mission, the two Arms Forts. Omer Science had decided for this to be the perfect time to test their new toys out as going to the Arms Forts in drop ships would be suicide, they'd be shot down with ease by the intense fire-power the Forts carried. Ellysia and Jonas would meet up half way to the objective and then proceed along an already devised course to the Forts.

"Aww man, Jessie this is insane. They're strapping to my back a giant Booster. Untested in the field, extremely volatile and unstable, it could blow up at any second. Man I am so screwed." Jonas sighed heavily.

"Ellysia's getting one to remember." Her voice being clear to the point.

"Yeah, your point being? I'm cursed, I know it. My oversized jet-pack will be the one to go up in flames. Ellysia's will be fine, I know it." Usually Jonas didn't whine so much, but the circumstances were different. He actually hadn't fought any Arms Forts before. He usually always took the smaller jobs to keep the risk to a minimum because back then, over a month ago, he had a colony to feed so he had to come back from the mission alive and with the money. That and having a highly experimental Vanguard Overed-booster placed on his back scared him a lot. The thought of his giant back mounted rocket blowing up at anytime was difficult for him to fathom. Sure Jonas realised that life wasn't without risk but having two thrown at him, both of which could result in his death wasn't appealing to him even the slightest.

"Don't worry, Jonas you'll be fine. I promise you, you'll come back to us alive." Jessie placed all of her support into that last statement because she meant ever word of it. Jonas wouldn't die here, she could feel it.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Jessie. You've always been a great friend, don't know what I'd do without you." Jonas gave a smile which no-one would ever know about.

For some reason... That one sentence upset her slightly. She didn't understand why and now wasn't the time to search deep down inside herself and find out why. She had a job to do.

Jonas sat there while the engineers worked below him. Doing checks and making sure everything was fine. Jonas opened the comms line to Ellysia.

"How you doing Ellysia?" Jonas was, at this point, killing time.

"I'm looking forward to this. I hardly ever get the Arms Forts jobs and the fact that we're testing out equipment that's going to revolutionise the way we enter battles is really cool." Ellysia's enthusiasm surprised Jonas. She was usually in a bad mood and never really had anything to say to him. But she was surprisingly upbeat at this point.

"You sound cheerful. We're fighting the Bernard and Felix Foundation right?"

"Yeah, but the Global Armaments Corporation seemed to have loaned them some Giga Bases. They're all chummy like that."

"So B.F.F ground troops with G.A Arms Forts then."

"Yeah. Should be a piece of cake for me. Oh wait, hold on. I'm getting a call from Alpha camp control." After that the comms went dead so Jonas sat there. It occurred to him that he seemed to be working with Omer Science a lot lately. Jessie wasn't happy to hear that he was going to be working with them again after the fiasco at the research centre. Jonas got a call over the comms.

"This is Launch Pad Beta. The preparations are complete. The Vanguard Overed-booster has been put into place and secured. Where seeing green on all its systems. We'll be taking extensive data collecting during the flight. The flight path has been uploaded to your computer. Make sure you follow it." The voice sounded very emotionless and professional.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. The Giga Bases will likely fire at you with their long range artillery cannons. Even with your Primal Armour, the cannons will decimate you. Be sure to avoid their fire. When you get to them, destroy the Arm's Forts, it's up to you whether or not you want to destroy the Normals."

"How long until launch?"

"Five more minutes." Jonas let a huge gulp emanate over the comms.

"Al... Alright."

"We're sending you a map of the area with the location of the rendezvous point with Embrace." Flashing lights showed on Jonas' screen, the data was being uploaded to Silent Howl. A progress bar raced along the screen, once it reached the end it disappeared, being replaced with a birds-eye view map of the area. Two arrows raced along the map both converging on one point. Then one bigger arrow marched on to the symbols indicating the Arms Forts.

Ellysia spoke over an open channel to both Jonas and the Omer Science tower.

"This is Embrace. Ready for launch... Just say the word." Jonas let out one final sigh.

"This is Silent Howl. I'm ready too." There was a silence that lasted a lifetime. Then finally, Beta Tower spoke.

"Ok... Silent Howl. You are ready for launch. Boost along the runway at three hundred kilometres a hour, we'll activate the Vanguard Booster from here. Begin Phase one of the mission." Jonas boosted Silent Howl forward at the speed asked of him, his Next was only travelling at one third of his maximum speed but what they said went.

"Roger that." The lines dotted along the runway were ticking down. One by one they disappeared behind him until...

There were no more...

Jonas took off, he could feel a deep rumble behind him.

"Activating Beta Vanguard Overed-booster... Now." A huge blast emanated from behind Silent Howl, dragging Jonas back into his seat. His chest felt like it was being crushed. The speedometer on the screen raced higher and higher, he was flying at one thousand, eight hundred kilometres an hour. The momentum evened out allowing Jonas to sit forward and actually pilot his Next. Not that he could do much travelling at super-sonic speed. Jonas heard Jessie over the comms.

"Jonas... Are you okay? Your heart rate shot up."

"I'm fine, really. Just the shock of the Vanguard Booster going off." Jonas shouted louder than he actually had to over the sound of the roaring jet engine behind him.

"Ok then. Don't push yourself." Jessie sounded worried about him. Considering the circumstances, he wasn't surprised.

"Don't worry, I'll try not to. Dying isn't on list of things to do today." There was a small silence. This was quickly broken by a scream of pure excitement.

"Oh my God... What a rush! This is so much fun!" Jonas heard this clearly, probably because it was twice as loud as Jessie speaking before her.

"You kidding me, Ellysia?!" Jonas was well and truly shocked. Was this Ellysia's true colours? Jonas had no idea, he'd never seen this side of her before.

"Oh hell no! Meet you up ahead." Jonas looked at the map Omer Science sent him. It was keeping track of how far he travelled. He couldn't fathom how far he flown in two minutes. He was already two thirds of the way to the rendezvous point.
He could see it up ahead. The point where he'd meet up with Ellysia. The terrain was completely flat below and ahead of him offering no cover for the alleged fire that the Giga Bases would throw at him. He would have to keep watch straight ahead for any sign of incoming fire. He made Silent Howl look to his right. There she was, travelling not so far away moving closer to him, he had made it to the rendezvous point, now they would travel side by side to the final objective. The Beta tower gave an announcement to him.

"Rendezvous point reached. No problems so far, begin Phase two of the mission." Jonas simply nodded at his screen.

He was starting to warm to the situation. It isn't often that you get to travel at super-sonic speeds. With the adrenaline pumping he started to feel the rush. A grin stretched across his face, he was actually starting to enjoy himself.

"Mwahaha. This is so awesome." He'd cried out over the comms to Ellysia.

"See, told you so. Careful though, we'll be reaching the combat zone soon."

"I know, I know." Jonas was caught in the moment however this was shattered when two huge balls of fiery light shone in the distance. They were getting bigger at an astonishing rate. Ellysia shouted at Jonas over the comms.

"Incoming Arms Fort ordinance! Evade for God's sake! Evade!" Jonas said nothing but brought himself back to reality as fast as he could. This wasn't a game, it was real life combat. Any sense of euphoria he had disappeared quickly and was replaced by a determination and an analytical concentration.

Jonas quick-boosted to his left, surprised to find he still had some degree of manoeuvrability when quick-boosting. He quick-boosted again to the left to add more distance between him and the incoming fiery balls of death. The ordinance passed harmlessly between Ellysia and Jonas. They had evaded the first blast. But now the attacks would get more frequent and more intense as they were now known to the two Giga Bases that sat waiting for them. Five seconds passed since the shot had travelled past him.

Both Arms Forts fired this time, sending four artillery blasts at them, it seems that the two Giga bases were co-ordinating their attacks as they were both aiming for different targets. Jonas decided to get higher as height always meant advantage. He boosted upwards, allowing the ordinance to travel beneath himself. Ellysia had quick-boosted to her right to evade her incoming blast. Another five seconds past.

Jonas heard it, the initial firing of the cannons up ahead, he was getting close. Four minutes had passed since he had taken off. Once again another four huge balls of flame headed towards them. Two were coming towards Jonas, the other two for Ellysia. The time between the initial firing and the blasts reaching him were getting shorter. He quick-boosted to his right to evade them again, however one of the blasts just grazed him, slicing off a large portion of his Primal armour. The reading indicating its strength decreased sharply to half. Jessie almost screamed down the comms.

"Jonas, watch it! That one almost hit you! You got to be more careful." Jonas was getting frustrated, not because of Jessie, she was just looking out for him, but of the constant attacks. Nevertheless, he snapped back at her in anger.

"I know! I know! Quit bothering me." Another volley fired, the initial blast was louder now. He had to be almost on top of them. He dodged the barrage easily this time by quick-boosting to his right twice. Jonas could see them in the not so far off distance, the Giga Bases. To Jonas they looked like two tankers with tank tracks that travelled along side each other. They were joined in the middle by a large platform with the massive artillery cannon on top of it. They had to be five times the size of Silent Howl. What worried Jonas was that, aside from the artillery cannon, its two decks were bristling with weaponry. Anti-aircraft guns, missile launchers and a couple of smaller artillery guns. Another ten seconds would put him directly above the Bases. He got a call from the Beta launch pad.

"Destination reached no damage to the Vanguard unit. Good luck. Purging in three, two, one, now."

With that said, the huge rocket strapped to Silent Howl's back broke off and began to disintegrate into numerous smaller parts behind him. All that was left sending Silent Howl forwards was its momentum. Jonas gulped. He had made it this far with no big problems. All that was sitting between him and a successful mission was two Arms Forts. Even with Ellysia, this wasn't going to be easy. He would have to put all of his faith in his instincts and skills as a Lynx to make it though in one piece.

"This is Jonas. I'm engaging the Arms Forts."