Chapter 8 - Old Wounds
Wearing his flight suit, Kain is sitting in the break room, taking a last look over the schematics for the Fledgling pilot he's about to face. "Ready to go?" Valkyrie asks him as she walks into the room. Looking over at her, Kain sees that she has showered and changed, wearing her favourite track pants and tank top, her hair hanging loose behind her in a cascade of black. "Yeah." Kain agrees. "I just can't place this damn AC. I know I've seen it somewhere before." Shaking his head, Kain puts the pad down. "You sure you don't want to change your setup?" Valkyrie asks him. "I can take this one with what I've got." Kain says dismissively. "If it wasn't a fledgling, I'd switch out my 95G for a laser blade, but I'm not seeing too much of a problem. Looks like this one's going to try hit and run tactics."
"You should be covered then." Valkyrie tells him. "That's what I'm hoping." He agrees. Getting up, Kain stretches, cracking his neck. "I just wish I knew where I've seen that damned AC before." He mutters. "Maybe it's one you've taken out before you signed on with us." Valkyrie suggests as the two leave the break room. "No." Kain says, shaking his head. "I've fought only three hovers in my lifetime, and one of them was Blackout. This one I haven't seen on the field before, but I know I've seen it somewhere." Coming out into the hangar, the two step onto the lift. As the lift starts its descent, Kain notices something. "What's the kid doing over there?" Kain asks, pointing out Greenhorn.
On the AC's tank legs, Greenhorn appears to be on his hands and knees doing something. "Cleaning." Valkyrie replies. "Say what?" Kain asks. "After he came in, Greenhorn went straight to cleaning off his AC once it cooled down enough."
"Go figure." Kain says. "Maybe there's hope for him yet."
"Maybe you just aren't giving him enough credit." Valkyrie counters. "Maybe." Kain admits. "But he'll have to do better in his next two matches before I reconsider." Shaking her head, Valkyrie steps out of the lift as it comes to a stop. Following her out, Kain takes another look at the data pad before shutting it off. "Hey!" Diana shouts as she comes running towards them. "You'll never believe what just came in!"
"What?" Kain asks. "Guess." Diana tells him, putting her hands behind her back. "I'm about to go top side." Kain mutters. "Quit trying to screw with my head."
"Spoil my fun don't you." Diana tells him sourly. "Spill." Kain tells her. "012-COAL." Diana says. "COAL?" Valkyrie asks. "What the hell is that?"
"It's the new part you wanted." Diana explains to Kain. "You know, the one that improves booster and OB efficiency." Blinking, Kain thinks for a second. "That was supposed to be a Kisaragi model." Kain says. "How'd it end up with a Mirage name?" Diana shrugs. "According to the papers that came with, the COAL was created as a joint effort between Mirage and Kisaragi labs. I guess Mirage was the one who got to put it out."
"Damn money-grubbing suits." Kain mutters. "Does it at least work?"
"Does it ever!" Diana says excitedly. "I tried a few test fires, and energy consumption when down by fifteen percent. It should give you a good extra twenty seconds of combat boosting if you don't go all out." Kain nods in approval. "Great, so what did you take out so you could make it fit?"
"Nothing." Diana replies. "The COAL only took about three slots worth. Since you never replaced that 79L+ that you broke, I had enough room to squeeze it in."
"I didn't break it." Kain reminds her. "Oh, right." Diana says after some thought. "Deakon lost it that time when he-"
"Where is Deakon anyways?" Valkyrie asks, changing the subject before Kain has a chance to rant. "I don't know." Diana admits, her face growing dark. "He had his core moved to a different garage yesterday. He said we wouldn't have time to work on his AC, so he made a deal with one of the other teams to service his AC. The guy's got some nerve." Valkyrie frowns when she hears the explanation. "I want you to track him down and get some answers later." She tells Diana. "Or get Gunner to do it. Either way, I want to know what the hell Deakon's up to. He's in enough trouble as it is right now." Diana nods. "Will do." Nodding, Valkyrie turns her attention to Kain. "Careful out there." She tells him. "This pilot may be a Fledgling, but even rookies can do well in high-end ACs."
"No worries." Kain tells her. "I'm not going to squelch on our bet if that's what your worried about." Sighing, Valkyrie shakes her head. "One of these days you're going to get it you cocky bastard." Kain grids. "Keep dreaming." He tells her. Smiling slightly. Valkyrie steps forward. Reaching up, she grabs his head, and yanks it down, kissing him on the lips. "For good luck." She tells him, stepping back. "Never hurts to have a little bit of that." Kain chuckles. Glaring at her, Diana steps up to Kain, and throws her arms around his neck, pulling herself up to kiss him deeply. Caught by surprise, Kain does nothing to stop her tongue and it probes briefly into his mouth. "Good luck." She tells him huskily, breaking the kiss to stare at him.
Letting him go, Diana turns and quickly walks back towards Greenhorn's AC. "I wish I could have gotten a picture of your face." Valkyrie says, trying not to laugh. "Kid's got spunk." Kain mutters, giving his head a shake. Laughing, valkyrie follows him to Double-Duo's repair bay. "I'll see you when you get back." She tells him. Nodding, Kain steps onto the lift, and starts it. "She's a good kisser." Kain mutters to himself once he's out of earshot. "Wonder who she's been practicing with?" Stepping out of the lift as it comes to a stop, Kain pushes the thought aside for later as he climbs into his core, picking his helmet up off his seat. As the hatch closes, the core's systems start coming to life. "Okay, time to kick some ass." He mutters, putting his helmet on.
Grabbing the AC's controls, Kain waits for the all clear from the repair bay before walking his AC forward. Off to the side, he sees Valkyrie and Diana watching him as he pilots his AC onto the main elevator that will take him up to the arena. Coming to a stop in the designated area, Kain goes through the start up sequence, when he gets a beep on his comm. "This is Soldier." Kain answers the transmission. "This is Concord Evaluator EC349." A deep, serious voice says. "I will be evaluating the performance of the pilot of AC Halo3 during your match."
"So who am I going up against anyways?" Kain asks as the elevator starts to rise. "The Fledgling that has challenged you has not been designated a call sign at this time." The evaluator replies. "Wait, I was challenged?" Kain asks. "That is correct." The evaluator replies. "Who is this pilot?" Kain demands. "That information is currently confidential." The evaluator replies. "I wish you luck in your upcoming match." With the, the evaluator ends his transmission. "What the hell?" Kain mutters, when he gets another call. "What?" He growls, answering.
"I just talked to Midas." Valkyrie tells him. "He's been watching the betting on the bottom league matches."
"Probably trying to make a few credits in the process." Kain chuckles. "That's not the point." Valkyrie says worriedly. "Kain, they're putting down six to one odds you're going to lose."
"What?" Kain exclaims. "Against a Fledgling? What the hell? Did Midas say why?"
"He couldn't get any details." Valkyrie replies. "But right now, the odds are ten to one on you winning, eighteen to one for a win under one two minutes." Muttering under his breath, Kain watches as he comes out into the arena. "I'm so not fucking impressed." Kain mutters. "How's a Fledgling supposed to be an A rank Raven? Did Midas find anything out?"
"No, but I did some checking of my own. Apparently, there's a rumour of a AC prodigy going around. Whoever this guy is, he's supposed to have taken out a few rankers."
"That's it?" Kain asks. "there was talk about the pilot having recently graduated from the Alliance academy, but that's all I could find." Frowning, Kain sees that his opponent has yet to enter the arena. "A hover leg AC I know I've seen before, a prodigy academy brat, ten to one odds I'm getting my butt kicked." Thinking about it, Kain jumps when the answer hits him like a bolt of lightning. "Oh shit." He curses. "What?" Valkyrie asks. "I'll call you back." Kain tells her as his opponent's AC comes out into the arena.
As expected, the shiny white hover leg AC is as it was described in the data pad he was given. "I don't fucking believe it." Kain mutters. Checking his weapons, Kain frowns, realizing that he will be at a slight disadvantage without a laser blade, or some kind of melee range weapon. "Grenades are going to cause some splash." He mutters, quickly reconfiguring several of his AC's systems, finishing just as the match countdown timer starts. Just as the timer reaches zero, Kain flips onto the general Frequency. "Hold it right there half pint!" Kain shouts.
Though the AC starts to move when the sign is given, it stops suddenly at Kain's shout. "So." A young woman's voice comes across on one of the mission frequencies. "You figured it out. What gave me away?"
"You mean besides the AC I helped you deign?" Kain asks. "Or maybe it was the ten to one odds. What the hell are you doing girl?"
"Forgot my name already?" She asks him coolly. "I'm sure you wish I had Megan." Kain replies. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She asks, her AC suddenly flying forward. "I liked you better when you weren't a pilot." Kain mutters, switching to his MAGORAGA, Kain targets and fires as he boosts to the side. Megan easily evades the missiles, her hover legs giving her exceptional manoeuvrability. "Never did like these damned floaters." Kain mutters, firing his SPIRIT as she starts to zigzag towards him. The shot lands on the lightweight AC, staggering it slightly, but not enough to stop it's momentum. "Predictable." Megan says as she fires her KINNARA missile launcher. Seeing them, Kain activates his over boosts, shooting out of the way just as the missiles come flying towards him. Unfortunately, the evasion sends him flying right into a pair of rockets and several pulse blasts.
"Not bad." Kain admits. "Did you get this one as a lucky draw, or did you ask for me personally?" He asks her. Cutting his over boost at the last second before his condenser goes into recharge, Kain faces off with Megan's AC, activating his ORTHOS rocket pod. "I wanted payback." She replies. "I thought it was fitting I used the AC you helped me design to beat you with."
"Pay back for what?" Kain shouts. "You dumped me you stuck up little-" Kain does not have a chance to finish the sentence as Megan fires several vertical missiles at him. Letting lose with his ORTHOS, Kain starts to boost, letting loose a trio of rockets. Seeing them coming, Megan easily evades, firing her KINNARA again. "You still don't get it do you?" She shouts. "Get what?" Kain demands. Managing to avoid all of the missiles. Dashing towards him, Megan fires her hand weapons. Though he manages to avoid the rockets, Kain gets hit by several pulse blasts. Bringing his SPIRIT up to bear, Kain fires from both arms, but curses when she avoids the shots. "Too slow!" She shouts.
Gritting his teeth, Kain tries to put some more distance between the two ACs, but Megan continues pressing the assault. Firing his grenade rifle again, Kain lets loose a salvo of micro missiles, hitting the AC twice. "You realize I have no freaking idea what bug crawled up your ass right?" Kain asks. Backing away from him, Megan activates her vertical launcher. "Why did you do it?" She asks him. "Do what?" Kain asks, a little exasperated. "I don't have a freaking clue what you're talking about!"
"Of course not." She replies. "The guilty always deny their crimes." Gritting his teeth, Kain debates what to do. "Hey, you left me hanging last year, miss, I don't want to take out a friend in the field."
"You didn't hesitate." Megan retorts. "What?" Kain asks, caught by surprise. "You killed Alderman! He was your friend!"
"Alderman?" Kain asks. "That name sounds familiar." As soon as the words leave his mouth, Kain regrets saying them. Hearing him, Megan goes back on the attack, growling under her breath as she sends a swarm of missiles his way. "Who the hell is Alderman?" Kain grunts under his breath, Trying to think as he avoids her salvos. Avoiding another one of her hand rockets, Kain suddenly remembers. "Bomberman!" He shouts. "That son of a bitch? He couldn't stop lying through his teeth to save his life!"
"Liar!" Megan shouts. "He was your friend! He told me all about you!" Kain grunts, firing a pair of rockets to keep her back. "That sob was on my shit list long before I ran into you." Kain growls. "The ass was trying to get into your pants! Christ, you saw his file! The guy couldn't tell the truth to save his life!"
"He was still my friend." Megan replies. "And you killed him!" Actually, he killed himself, Kain thinks to himself, remembering the incident. The two had been squared off in an arena combat at the time, a Concord sanctioned match. Bomberman, as the name implied, had a thing for high explosives, preferring bazookas and rockets as his weapons of choice. By the end of the match, Kain had won, but rather then go down with grace, Alderman had tried to backstab him. Unfortunately, his inside rocket launcher had malfunctioned, resulting in an ammunition explosion that sent a piece of shrapnel through his chest.
"Nothing to say?" Megan asks, snapping him back to the present. "If you'd bother to check." Kain mutters. "Alderman was listed as an accidental death. The dumb fuck blew himself up when he should have just stayed down. As for you." Hitting the release, Kain drops his SPIRIT. Coming at him, Megan is surprised by the act, and starts to back away as Kain dashes towards her. Boosting back, Megan tries to escape, but is forced to cut her boosters when her AC's heat gauge starts to redline. "Time to throw in the towel!" Kain shouts. Brining his AC's right arm up, Kain punches the other AC, hitting it in the chest. Punching his over boost, Kain continues to boost as it charges, not giving her a change to break free.
"Are you crazy?" Megan shouts. Kain does not reply as his OB activates. Caught at the end of his fist, her hover legs offering no resistance, the two go flying forward until Megan's AC goes crashing into the arena wall. Cutting his OB, Kain boosts back as his AC's fist starts to buckle the core's front. Though he manages to pull back before any serious damage is done to the pilot, the core's front end is smashed in. "Just enough to put you down." Kain replies as he gets the end of match signal. "Before you come gunning for me, get your story straight. Alderman was a lying, cheating bastard. Yeah, he was my friend way back, but that was before he double-crossed me. As for him dying, he blew himself up when he tried to fire those damned rockets at my back, after the match was declared over." With that, Kain turns his AC, and boosts back towards the elevator he took up to the arena, picking up his SPIRIT on the way.
As he elevator starts to go down, he gets a call from Valkyrie. "What the hell was that?" She shouts. "I improvised." Kain replies, shrugging, a useless gesture since she cannot see him. "You punched an AC!" She shouts. "Yup." He replies. "Didn't think I could do it did you?" There is a pause before Valkyrie replies. "I always thought you were joking." She admits. "You just need to know how to handle your right." Kain chuckles. "So, I'm guessing she's the Academy girl Jouster was talking about?"
"You heard that?" Kain asks, surprised. "Transmissions are recorded during arena battles." She reminds him. "Shit, forgot about that." Kain mutters. "Yeah, that was her."
"She's sixteen." Valkyrie says flatly. "It wasn't that kind of relationship!" Kain exclaims. "The girl was going to join the Concord training program. We met up at lunch one day, started talking. I didn't know how old she was until she told me weeks later, and It never got that far!" He adds pointedly. "Before either of us really committed, she dropped out of the program, and went over to Academy. Didn't know why until today." Kain sighs. "That damned bastard Alderman never knew when to shut up."
"I'll take your word for it." Valkyrie says, but listening to her voice, Kain can tell she isn't completely convinced. "Judges ruled on your TKO. They say it isn't against the rules to punch another AC. Hell, I don't think they knew you could even do it. Since you compromised Halo3's core, their giving you the win."
"How's she doing?" Kain asks, referring to megan. "Part of her cockpit collapsed and knocked her on the head." She replies. "Knocked her out, but nothing serious. She woke up briefly when they pulled her out." Kain sighs in relief. "Good to hear. Wasn't trying to hurt her. Well, not too much." Once the elevator reaches their garage, Kain steps his AC off it, and over to his repair bay. "Should be a hell of a highlight reel." Valkyrie laughs. " I still can't believe you pulled that off. I thought for sure she was going to get you when you charged her."
"Oh yea of little faith." Kain chuckles. "Anyways, shutting down. See you when I get on the ground." Valkyrie acknowledges before he signs off, and starts shutting down his AC. "Well, that was a pain." He mutters. "Let's hope tomorrow's a little better."