Well... here we are...
For one, I will say that, to the bottom of my heart, I am sorry.
I am so sorry that its taken near enough six months for this to be out- especially when its not even that long and something I easily could have written in a day if I had the right motivation and time ( no joke, I really could have).
For those wondering why its taken this long, the reason- the initial one anyway- comes from one word: Exams. Yes, back in May my exams were likely two weeks away and I had no time to be writing anything whatsoever.
However, that only concerns the months of May and half-way through June; they couldn't be helped at all.
Everywhere else from then on to now... I have no excuse. A lack of motivation doesn't begin to some up what I've felt since then; that and actually failing the exams didn't help either.
I guess, I got the motivation back when me and my folks spent the half-term in Cornwall, St Ives. I managed to get the motivation to type again and... well, here we are.
...Lets get on with things.
Chapter 9: Why is my rival so OP!?
In no time at all I reached the hanger. As expected the damage around the area itself was minimal, there were no fires or signs of significant problems running over the place minus, of course, the arms that place the trick master, happy trigger and harvesters frames into position to head out into the battlefield.
Oddly enough there seemed to be some damage on one of the walls but it was nothing but a black smudge on the white material that it was made of so I immediately threw it out of my mind.
Back to the arms, at just a quick glance it was obvious that the mechanism that held the frames themselves had been hit with the might of the missile that had been fired which had twisted them ever so slightly; truly not by much but with a machine even the slightest of changes can cause a malfunction.
As was the case here.
"Will!" Taking my gaze away from the damage I turned my gaze over to the frames themselves where the rest of the girls had already arrived. Not wasting any time I ran over to them.
"What's the situation?"
"You can tell just from looking right? The arms for all but yours, Milfies and Ranpha's frames are damaged." Forte explained while giving the damaged arms a small glare... its not the machines fault you know. "With that being the case only you three can take off... and with the enemy force unknown at the moment..."
"It could potentially be too big for the three of us to handle; especially considering it'll be my first real battle with the girl over there."
"Exactly." With that the conversation ended and Forte entered the happy trigger. Taking a quick look around to see everyone else had already done the same with their own frames I decided to do the same and walked over to... I still hadn't given the girl a name yet, damn.
...Hang on, why was I calling it a girl? I'd said it without thinking when I was speaking with Forte and now I'd thought it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Maybe it was because the voice of the A.I used Hikari's voice? Was that why or was it that thing people that were attached to their favourite vehicles did where they called them a she as if it were alive (which with the chrono string engine and that it chose me as its rider it kind of was)?
...Either way I guess; it didn't matter in the end.
Placing my hand onto the chassis of the silver frame once more since that time with the object Sora had set up the cockpit opened up automatically and welcomed me into the seat.
And as I sat down into the chair...
'Welcome back Master, I trust things have been well for you since our last encounter with the enemy?' The A.I spoke in my head like it was greeting an old friend. Despite coming from a computer the voice held emotions such as happiness in its tone.
A bizarre concept when you consider it seeing as it had probably only been built to assist with targeting and to give combat advice to the pilot... though why it was here at all was the biggest question.
In the end, why was an A.I setup on an emblem frame that used the HALO system? While I hadn't been able to play the second trilogy of galaxy angel games due to it never being localised outside Japan- as it had only been put on the PlayStation 2 instead of PC like the original there hadn't been a translation made so it couldn't be played that way either- I know that in the second trilogy Noa had created an artificial emblem frame that had an A.I replace the HALO system so Kazuya- the protagonist of the second trilogy- didn't need to keep the mental morale of its pilot high himself.
With that being taken into mind, again, why did the frame still have a HALO system equipped if the A.I was here?
...Just another question to think about I guess.
'I'm well, all things considered... how is the frame?' I asked the A.I through the mental link that was connected between us.
'Everything has been replaced and all systems are fully operational master.'
'Good, get ready, we're gonna have a bit of a problematic fight coming up in a few minutes; prep all available weapons to fire when I give the word... you can do that right?' I ended up asking hesitantly.
I actually wasn't sure as to what the A.I was here for yet so the question had to be asked.
'Of course, master; why would I not?' It actually asked the question in such a way I could imagine an anime styled girl tilting her head to a forty five degree angle with a confused look on her face. 'I am in control of all the weapon systems and targeting; to put it simply master I was designed to act as an assistant to compensate for a lack in compatibility between the pilot and the frame itself... much like yourself who at the moment only has a 30% compatibility rate.'
'I was told, by you might I add, that that was enough.'
'For that particular scenario yes, a 30% compatibility was enough... but in a battle parametres can easily change which then may require a higher compatibility in order for the pilot to gain the maximum advantage; as you do not possess such compatibility at the present time master I will be here to control and direct the weapons while you focus on piloting and manoeuvring the Lightbringer around the battlefield.'
'...the Lightbringer?'
'Yes master, it was added to the database approximately twelve hours ago to use as this units designated name... does the name displease you in any way?'
'Not at all, just curious.' Indeed, what a curious name to give to the unit that was essentially a ship of sabotage but whatever, if this mysterious person wanted the frame to be called Lightbringer then I'm wasn't going to complain about it.
"Angel Wings, are you okay?" Tact's voice suddenly came through the comm connected to the bridge and a moment later a screen turned on to reveal his worried face. "Are the emblem frames okay?"
"The frames themselves are fine, Tact." Forte explained. "The issue is that the arms that set them have been damaged... only units 1, 2 and 8 are capable of being launched off." The sound of a 'che!' came through the speaker connected to the Happy trigger. "What's the enemies size and formation Tact?"
"Three unknown enemy fighters, though we can't get a clear lock on their position or system specs we know they're hiding behind a nearby asteroid." The next second an image of the nearby area came up on a new screen. It wasn't expertly detailed but that may have been due to that there really wasn't much out there to take not of. The key thing to note though was the large shape in the middle of the map that represented the asteroid and the three orange arrows that represented the enemy fighters that were currently behind it.
Three arrows... three fighters...
What a happy coincidence huh?
Disregarding that, the three arrows were slowly moving around the asteroid on its- from our perspective- left side down to where we were.
"...Orders, Tact?" The words slipped from my mouth in a firm voice.
"Units lucky star, kung-fu fighter and... Lightbringer? When was unit 8 given a name? Anyway, you three are to hold off the fighters while the Elsior moves around the right side of the asteroid. We don't know what these ships are like so be extremely cautious when you engage. Understood?"
"Sir!"
'Hey... have you got a lock on the fighters yet?' I asked the A.I after a minute or so after taking off from the hanger. The Elsior had already crossed over half the distance towards the asteroid but the three of us hadn't engaged the Hellhounds yet. So far we've just been drifting around the area in a defensive formation with Ranpha and I slightly in-front of Milfie as the two of us possessed similar speed capabilities.
The idea of the formation was that when the enemy finally appeared the two of us would move on wither side of them in a flanking manoeuvrer while Milfie attacking from the front. The eventual movement would lead to a triangle shaped barrier around the enemy that would lead to them being attacked from three different angles.
It was a sound strategy and one that would hopefully take hold...
As long as the opponent was automated like it had been thus far- Minus Rezom but he didn't really count. A human opponent could pick it apart by have their squad disperse into three different directions to force a one on one battle between each ship.
This was likely how it was going to go as the Hellhounds were experienced mercenaries, meaning they'd likely have seen the tactic employed before and would know how to counter it.
'Negative, Master.' Came the response after a few moments. 'It is possible that they are using a stealth system similar to the one used by that machine you called the baby magnum; likely upgraded as even though they revealed themselves when they launched the missiles there is no sign of them on the scanners now.'
This was true, while during the debriefing the orange arrows that represented the Hellhounds were visible. Now though they were nowhere to be seen. The only reason we were still defending this position was because before they'd vanished they were shown heading in our direction.
'What if it was a trick though? What if they only headed our way because they knew that their movements were visible to us and then they rounded up back to the other side when the signal vanished?'
'It is unlikely they are aware that we could track their movements.' The A.I replied. 'Their most likely strategy was that they expected us to move towards the right side so that they could follow and attack us from behind.'
'Maybe, but I would have liked to have left one of us guarding the Elsior just to be safe.'
'...I concur, but we have our orders master.'
'True enough.'
With that the conversation stopped. Her- it, it was an it!- voice faded from my mind and I felt h- it focus on the systems of the frame... don't ask how I felt that; I could just feel it through the connection between us.
With that in mind, I turned my attention back to what was happening outside. Ranpha seemed to be a bit restless judging from the way her frame was moving side to side while Milfie seemed content to just wait, as the lucky star was just drifting calmly.
I felt the tension in the air- an odd statement considering air didn't exist in space but I digress- as the wait began extending into the double digits; something that was clearly getting to Ranpha as she'd already broken formation and was flying around in a crazed spiral of random movements through the three dimensional capabilities of the frames.
It was starting to get to me too just watching. I could hearing my teeth clenching in my mouth and my breathing had become shallow as the adrenaline began piling up. Was this their tactic, to drive us to recklessness through the anxiety of making us wait for them to make their move?
If so... it was clearly working.
I eventually couldn't take it anymore, after a little over fifteen minutes of waiting, and and sent a comm link to the Elsior's bridge. "Tact, is there anything going on on your side? We've been left in the lurch over here."
"Nothing over here, we haven't seen any signs of the fighters either." Tact was clearly on edge too. His hands were balled into fists and a look of various emotions shone on his face. "Could they be waiting for reinforcements before attacking us?"
"For fifteen whole minutes? I doubt it, if they'd set this ambush only to wait for backup there clearly doing something wrong."
"Then what's going on?"
"...I don't know."
"...Well, just keeping monitoring the situation; I'm having Ranpha come back to the Elsior on the off chance they come from the other side so we at least have some defence."
"Wouldn't Milfie be a better choice for that? Both Ranpha's frame and mine are built primarily for speed at the cost of armour while Milfie is more well-rounded. With the Elsior limited in firepower it'd be better if she was there."
"The Elsior is also lacking in speed and manoeuvrability." Tact argued. "Ranpha's frame the kung-fu fighter, even though it lacks defence, is made for close quarters fighting while Milfie is better at all round combat. Yours,on the other hand, is aimed towards hit and run attacks so having you guard would be pointless and just put you in harms way. Ranpha is already moving anyway so..."
A laugh escaped my throat despite the situation. "Okay, I'm convinced; Milfie and I will keep monitoring things over here then."
"Alright then, let's-"
"Wow, I can't believe you guys are still here." Tact was cut off by a rather familiar feminine voice.
The next second a new screen opened up to reveal the face a girl probably the same age as me dressed in a full black jumpsuit that was connected to various ports and plugs in the cockpit she was in. Despite this bizarre look the natural beauty of her raven locks that fell below her neck along with a pair of heterochromia eyes; one being sky blue while the other was ocean green was still very much noticeable.
This person couldn't possibly be anyone but the mysterious girl that had spoken to me during that bizarre imaginary White moon audience hall.
But that wasn't what caught my attention the most about the situation- since I'd already suspected that the third enemy would be her. No, what caught my-no, all of our attention the most was what was on the other screen that had popped up alongside the shot of the mysterious girl.
Wrapped in a colour of black that had it almost disappear within the vastness of space the obvious picture of an emblem frame drifted alone with a backdrop of an ocean of stars behind it.
It was the end of all things.
It was what awaited at the final destination.
It was...
"Do you like it, members of the Transbaal empire? Meet oblivion, GA unit 008 mkII." Throughout her little speech the girl gave off a bolster of confidence as her declaration shook us into complete, utter silence.
GA unit... 008... mkII...? How- why, did such a thing exist?
'Master...' Within the confines of my head the A.I spoke with... fear in her voice. 'We can't win, master. We could try a thousand times in our current state but we would still fall; 100% guaranteed.'
'Do you... know anything about that frame?'
'We are... siblings-twins, in a way; master. We were created at the same time when...'
'When?'
'Data unavailable,' A cold, computerised voice came out from the normally emotive program. 'subject possesses inadequate compatibility rating to obtain level 4 class information. Please attempt at such a time as to when compatibility reaches: 80%.'
…What. The. Fuck. I was fortunate nobody was focussing on me at that moment because I was sure the expression could have made a comedian proud.
Level 4 class information? What did that even mean?
...What exactly was locked inside this A.I's data-banks?
...No, I didn't have time to worry about that now. With what was currently on the screen I couldn't do anything but focus on the mysterious girl that was also from Earth.
But before I could do anything...
"We're hit!" Almo spoke up from the connection to the bridge. "D-deck has been breached- I repeat, D-deck has been breached- by anti-hull projectiles! Chrono engines power reduced to 60%! Entering emergency manoeuvres for escape and interception!"
WHAT!?
"Oh, looks like my comrades have already started their job at disabling the ship." From the screen the blacked-clad girl spoke up in a voice that sounded as if it was talking about the weather. "I predict you have two-three minutes until your engines are completely disabled and you are left to drift- leaving us in position to liberate the prince from your custody."
….Dammit. Things have been thrown out of proportion in comparison to the games again. First their was the make-shift object and now this!
"What will you do now, Commander Mayers?" Oblivious to my inner rant the girl continued. "Why not just surrender yourself and your crew? It will certainly prevent any needless loss of life onboard the Elsior when the damage reaches critical conditions."
Tact said nothing, his eyes were moving towards the various monitors that were placed throughout the bridge, likely inspecting the damage with his own eyes, as well as to the observation screen that was set to his side- likely to see how Ranpha- who was already at the Elsior- was doing.
Likely, she was being forced to fight against Camus and Guinness who were in their high-speed fighters on her own at the moment.
In that case...
"Milfie, go and help Ranpha." I spoke calmly. "She'll need your help keeping whatever or whoever is launching those anti-hull armaments at bay. I'll deal with this one in the mean time. That alright with you Tact?"
"...Alright. Milfie, come back to the Elsior. Will, fend off our new friend here."
He hadn't hesitated. In this situation where a wasted second could mean the difference between success or failure he took the first plan that was reasonably work. Whether his own plan that he was likely thinking up at that moment was different or similar in nature didn't matter.
A plan was presented and he had to work with it.
He was certainly learning how fights worked quickly it seems.
And then there was me, who once again broke rank and presented a plan on my own. Was this something that was normally acceptable? Was a soldier allowed to offer plans to his superiors during battle or was it their role to keep their ideas to themselves and just do what their bosses said to do?
...In the end, it didn't matter. The plan had been accepted and so that was what was going to happen.
Milfie didn't say anything. In a manner that was probably common for a soldier she didn't object and moved in position to the Elsior on the other side of the asteroid to assist Ranpha.
Leaving me and the girl to face off alone.
Wordlessly I switched off the connection to the bridge and turned my full attention to the screen that held the face of my... enemy or even opponent wasn't really the right word for this girl. Partner, maybe; was that right?
Were the two of us even partners or just people that were working together- meaning a colleague?
...You know what? Doesn't matter.
"So... Now that its just the two of us, mind tell me who you are? We didn't exchange names back in the dream and just calling you 'girl' would just be rude."
A small laugh. "True, I'm Sora, Hikari Sora- or Sora Hikari to you westerners. Nice to meet you my partner-in-crime."
"Partner-in-crime? Is that what we are? Anyway, I'm William Johnson- Johnson William to you guys and girls in the east. Its a pleasure Sora- Its okay to call you by your first name right?- to meet you in person; especially after that odd introduction."
"Again, true. It was an odd way to talk to someone but I can only guess as to why that was possible to begin with- also sure, Sora's fine Will."
"Good..."
With that silence descended between us.
We both knew what was to happen next. While we were, as Sora put it, partners-in-crime it didn't change the fact that, at the moment, we were officially on opposite sides of the board.
Therefore, a fight between us was inevitable.
Even if neither of us wanted to.
Even if it was pointless in the end.
As people that had been dragged into this conflict against their own wishes, we could only play the parts that had been given to us- altering the script to suit our own agender and to, hopefully, lead things in a better direction non-withstanding.
With that in mind...
With allies and enemies alike watching us...
The pair of us clashed.
Within the confines of the Elsior bridge Tact watched on as the battle between Milfie, Ranpha and the unknown attackers sent by Eonia commenced around the Elsior. Whether due to the orders of Eonia himself or because the pair of angels were performing incredibly well, not a single attack had been shot at the Elsior after the pink-haired pilot had entered the battle.
If anything, the pilots of the unknown black fighters had immediately focussed entirely on the girls after Milfie had appeared.
It was almost as if their targets had been the girls to begin with...
But Tact couldn't focus on that line of thought. As the battle raged on he continued to give orders of positions for which the Elsior would travel around the battleground while being mindful of what was happening around them.
What was happening on the other side of the asteroid however...
"Why did Will cut the connection?" Coco's question sat on everyone's minds as they could only watch this screen that showed the two emblem frames- something that was still a shock and a concern in the operations teams minds.
Where had that frame come from?
What could have made it?
How did Eonia get his hands on it?
They didn't have the means to answer those questions and they doubted the Transbaal navy admirals would take comfort in the revelation either.
Regardless, they had bigger issues to deal with.
Will had, without explanation, cut the connection between him and the bridge- something that, while they could easily re-establish in less than a second, wasn't something that he should have done. As commander, Tact needed to be able to issue orders at a moments notice; something that wouldn't be possible if the connection was gone.
Will knew this... and had cut the connection anyway.
Why?
"...We can only trust he had good reasons." Came Tact's eventual answer.
The reason was simple.
When the two of them had originally met, the pair had shook hands. When that had happened, for whatever reason, Tact developed feelings of trust and confidence for the young man.
He felt that he was a brother that he had never had that he could rely on no matter what.
'His odd power... is likely why I said that.' The young commander concluded in his head. It had come instantly, despite his desire to say otherwise or to indicate an alternate reason to Will's actions.
No matter what he wanted to do or say, he could only answer positively and in confidence.
'I'm starting to understand Forte's mistrust. It really is impossible to argue with this power.'
Despite that though... Tact couldn't say it felt off or that being unable to suspect Will due to it was bad.
Quite the contrary, whether the feeling was due to the power or not, he wanted to put his trust in Will.
Once again, the reason was simple.
He had seen how he and Vanilla had acted towards each other when the green-haired angel had been awake.
Those feelings, that atmosphere, couldn't possibly be fake.
Also, that scream. When Vanilla had been hit by that 'baby magnum' he had yelled for all to hear.
The raw emotion in that scream hadn't been artificial either.
For that alone, even if it was forced on him, he would trust the young man that had joined them through dubious circumstances.
For that young girl that was currently in a coma he would be willing to put his faith in him.
…What. The. Hell.
No, seriously; what the hell!
We had (likely) arrived in this galaxy/universe/dimension/whatever at the same time, had (likely) found our emblem frames at near enough the same time and (definitely) had the same amount of time and learning how to use it.
With that in mind...
WHY WAS SHE SO GOOD!?
Her reflexes, her split-second timing, her accuracy, her power, her overall compatibility; all of it was much, much more greater then mine!
How, how was that even possible!?
'Master! Incoming missile!'
The A.I gave the warning two point three seconds before they appeared in view (don't ask how I managed to get that exact answer, I wouldn't know).
There were six of them. I knew nothing about what kind of missiles they may have been but I didn't need to to know that if they connected they were going to hurt.
Naturally my first instincts were to dodge... but-
'Master, proximity mines have been shot around us in all directions except for the missiles path!'
-she, Sora, had an answer for that.
Because of that I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The battle- if it could be called that- had been like this throughout the five minutes we'd been engaged.
Sora would launch an attack, I would mentally plan to evade it, Sora would then launch a counter to the plan even though I hadn't even enacted it yet and leave me to take damage no matter what.
Every time, no exceptions.
It was really pissing me off.
'Fire missiles.' I commanded the A.I. 'They'll cancel each other out and leave the way clear'.
'Acknowledged.'
Immediately after the exchange a barrage of projectiles shot from the battered, blackened wings of my originally silver frame towards the offending explosives.
Naturally, they connected and simultaneously detonated; leaving the area clear to escape the minefield. Without hesitation I moved forward and followed the trail of the oblivion as it headed further away from the Elsior's location and into empty space.
Or at least what had been believed to be empty space.
'More mines?'
'Yes, master.'
'Fire with the lasers; blow them to smithereens.'
'At once.'
Once more the action was performed instantaneously. On upper side of the now indistinguishably coloured wings the small turret-looking weapons- of which only half were now operable or even attached- unleashed their attack upon the stationary targets.
A brilliant explosion occurred afterwards.
Almost immediately after that I pulled up with the joystick-like controls of the frame and moved in an up ascension; taking full advantage of the 3-dimensional plane that came with flying a space fighter.
Almost on cue an attack that looked remarkably similar to a plasma shot from the baby magnum- just on a smaller scale- flew through the position I had just been in.
"So you guessed that huh? Not bad." In a completely undamaged oblivion that had been, like me, unaffected by the explosion Sora spoke up a slightly mocking tone. "Was it that obvious?"
"Naturally," I answered back. "Leaving something like that out there and then flying into it was just asking me to shoot them... and leave me vulnerable for a sneak attack afterwards. Standard fair; any person that's every played a strategy game could have figured that out from here."
"...I guess it was too obvious." She easily consented. "Oh well, time for the fina-" She was interrupted mid-speech by the familiar sound of a holographic monitor opening to her left. While I couldn't see or hear who was on the line, judging from the increasing look of irritation she was developing it wasn't news she wanted to hear.
"But I was just-... fine; returning to base." She eventually said after around ten seconds of motionlessness. The screen seemed to turn off and she returned her gaze to me. "Guess that's it for today. Shame, I really wanted to show off this guys special... oh well, look forward to next time~"
With that she gave a cheeky wink and, in the next moment, turned oblivion away form me and flew away.
I didn't bother pursuing her.
Well, that's it everyone. A little on the short side this one was but like I said in the last chap- god that was so long ago...- this one was built around the entire 'battle' with the hellhounds- something that was a far less apparent here then in the game as, while in the game the fight could take less then ten seconds (not joking there; you just need to get one of either Camus or Guinness' health down to half and that's that- something easily do-able if the girls both hit the same one), in this the regular fight was ignored entirely and the fight between the partners-in-crime wasn't even a fight.
...Still, this is how it turned out and so that's how its going to be. I probably had some kind of plan for this fight when the last chap came out but- at the time- exams had me side-tracked and motivation just vanished until recently; like I said up-top.
Still, I hope you guys enjoyed the story parts of the chapter and please; do eagerly await the next one whenever it may come out.
Until then, do R&R and I'll be seeing ya :)
