Chapter 9 - Stinger
Wrapped in the gentle darkness of sleep, Kain grumbles slightly when something in the distance tries to wake him. His slumbering mind ignores it, trying to once more dredge up the peaceful dream that it had been living before the minor interruption. Unable to find the dream, Kain's mind drifts back into a slumber, when suddenly a shock alerts it to danger. Surprised, Kain jumps, leaping up into a sitting position, only to get hit by a white, yet soft, projectile. "What the fuck?" He shouts sleepily, his words garbled by the projectile.
Now awake, Kain reaches up, and pulls the pillow off his face. "About time." Valkyrie says, kneeling on the bed at it's foot, wearing the over-sized t-shirt she usually dons after a night of great sex. "What the hell?" Kain demands, tossing the pillow back at her. "I tried calling you." She says, ducking to avoid the projectile. "But you wouldn't wake up."
"After getting run ragged." Kain mutters. "A guy needs his beauty sleep." Laughing, Valkyrie gets off the bed, and goes around it, tossing a data pad onto his lap. "What's this?" Kain asks, picking up the pad. "News clip from your match yesterday." Valkyrie explains. "You're punch made the highlight of the week. But what I'm more curious about though, is the report on your Raven statistics." Curious, Kain activates the pad and starts to look through the contents. "That's about right." He says, shrugging as he tosses the pad aside. "Oh really?" Valkyrie asks, putting her fists on her hips. "I did some checking." She says tightly. "And those stats don't match with what you've been bragging about, and what you've been putting in our records."
"What?" Kain asks, frowning. "What's wrong with the records?"
"You've claimed ten confirmed bounties, but here it says only six." Picking up the pad again, Kain looks over the data. "Oh, right." He says, the answer dawning on him. "These are my Soldier stats."
"You're what?" Valkyrie asks. "My soldier stats." Kain replies. "I've been a registered Raven twice." Valkyrie gives him a suspicious look. "Now I know that's not possible." She tells him. "Oh, you'd be surprised." Kain chuckles. "See, I've been an AC pilot for seven years now: Four as Soldier, and three as the substitute for a pilot named Harmony." Kain shakes his head. "Weird call sign for a guy if you ask me." Still giving him that look, Valkyrie takes a seat back on the bed. "I didn't take my AC training at Concord." Kain begins. "Hell, my dad, before he died, didn't want me to have anything to do with the Ravens, Concord, or the Alliance. That was something I didn't believe in though, so around say, sixteen? Yeah, I was sixteen when I made my way to the local Concord office. Before I got there though, I ran into Harmony. He was a cocky sob, but he was a decent pilot."
"Where have I heard that one before?" Valkyrie asks, a hint of teasing sarcasm in her voice. "Learned from the not so best." Kain chuckles. "Anyways, long story short, we had it out, and in the end, he decided to take me on as an apprentice mechanic at first. A few months later, I was piloting his AC on a training exercise to check out some repairs and modifications we had done. I did pretty good for my first time, and I began training as a pilot. About a year later, Harmony had gone down with a bad bug the night before a mission. They couldn't pull him out cause of his rep or something."
"So you took his AC out instead." Valkyrie finishes. "Right." Kain nods. "Did pretty good too all things considered. After that, Harmony decided I was going to be his protégé, and began training me full time. I even took some of his, easier missions." Kain says the last part sarcastically. "Of course, when I say easy, I mean the ones with the good chance of running into other Ravens. In the end, I took down four of the bounties he got credit for. Course I got paid pretty well too."
"So that explains that." Valkyrie says. "Yeah, you can check it out." Kain chuckles. "I'll give you the number for his chief garage mechanic if you want. Or you can look it up in the Concord database."
"If that was such a good deal." Valkyrie asks. "Then why did you leave?" Kain shrugs. "Harmony got offered a position in Alliance tactical. I think he eventually went over to their academy as a teacher. Either way, after he got taken off the active list, I was kind of screwed. So, I put in for the Raven test. Harmony even vouched for my training, on the condition I didn't mention the whole substitute piloting thing to anyone who might give a damn." Valkyrie smirks, laying down on the bed on her stomach. "Go figure." She says. "So, am I out of the dog house?" Kain asks. "For now." Valkyrie replies. "It's a good thing you were so good last night." She chuckles. "It's a gift." Kain replies non-chalantly. Chuckling, Valkyrie rolls onto her back and stretches luxuriously.
"So, you're up against Blackout today?" Kain nods, getting out of bed. "Yup." He replies. "What about you? When's your match scheduled?"
"Right after yours." She replies as he starts to get dressed. "Should be interesting then. What arena are you going to be in?"
"Same one as you." She replies, watching him dress. "Where are you going?"
"Jouster wanted to talk to me about something." Kain explains. "Left me a message last night while we were eating. He's supposed to meet me in the garage after my match, but I want to see if I can track him down before that." Valkyrie sighs. "You're choosing looking for him over staying here with me?"
"Can't run me ragged before a match." Kain chuckles. "Not all of us are triathlon-" Valkyrie whips the pillow at him suddenly. "Get out of here." She tells him fondly as he avoids the projectile. "Make sure you make it back before lunch." Kain nods, giving her a mock salute before leaving the room.
Several hours later, Kain is sitting in Double-Duo. Deployed in the arena, he's waiting for Blackout to show himself, now almost three minutes late. "What the fuck is taking so long?" He mutters, starting to feel impatient. "Everything okay in there?" Diana calls him from the garage. "Getting bored waiting for this guy to get his ass out here." Kain mutters. "They were having problems with his elevator." Diana explains. "He's on his way up now."
"About freaking time." Kain mutters. Looking around the arena, Kain sees the elevator hatch open, and the AC slowly come out of the ground. Laying eyes on it though, Kain gasps, his blood going cold. Walking on reverse-jointed legs, the AC is a dull white, it's MANTIS head staring straight at Kain as it comes up. In it's hand, it holds a DRAGON laser rifle, a TAUROS blade on the left. Though he cannot see them, Kain is certain that the AC's back sports a missile launcher and a cannon of some sort behind the LORIS arms. "Fuck me." Kain mutters, completely caught off guard by the turn of events. Keeping his eyes on the AC, Kain reaches over to his radio controls, but gets only static when he tries to contact anyone outside of the arena.
"You." A deep, contemptuous male voice suddenly says over his radio. "Long time no see, Stinger." Kain says warily. "What brings you here?" Raising his DRAGON, Stinger aims it at Kain. "I don't like it when my prey escapes me." Stinger says. "Somehow, I don't think you came all the way here for little old me." Kain mutters, getting ready to move, but not wanting to make the first move. "No." Stinger agrees as the Match start signal goes off. "But when I found you here, I decided to come and finish you off."
"Not going to happen." Kain says as the video links to the outside are jammed. Keeping his AC still, Kain watches the rogue carefully. "Help won't be coming." Stinger tells him. "It's just you and me this time."
"Fine by me." Kain says, hitting his over boost.
Sitting in Swiftwind's core, Valkyrie waits anxiously on the elevator. "Can't you get this thing moving?" She shouts. "They're locking us out of the systems." Gunner replies. "Whoever's working with him is good."
"Forget it." Valkyrie tells him, getting off the elevator. "Open the doors; I'll make my way outside and come in through the top." Turning her AC, Valkyrie boosts towards the other exit. Off to the side, she watches as Kain and Stinger start going at it. Stinger. The name sends shivers down her spine. Where the hell did he come from? How did he get into the arena of all places? Who was helping him? These questions and many more race through Valkyrie's mind as she boosts her AC up the ramp, moving her AC as fast as she can make it towards the surface. "This is Jouster." A new voice calls out onto her radio. "Is anyone from Soldier's group there? Respond!"
"This is Valkyrie." She replies to his call. "What the hell is going on? How did Stinger get in here?"
"We don't know." Jouster replies. "But he's not the only one. We have three other un-identified ACs attacking the arena's above ground assests." Valkyrie curses. "We have to stop him. I don't know if Kain can handle Stinger on his own." Coming out onto the surface, Valkyrie quickly boosts to the side to avoid the blast from a grenade launcher. Spinning around, she finds herself face to face with a black AC.
At first, Valkyrie thinks it is Double-Duo, but seeing the WASP2 head and the GAEA core, she quickly realizes that it must be one of the enemy ACs. Sporting a laser rifle she had never seen before, the AC also has a laser blade on the left arm, HARPYs and a small grenade cannon on right shoulder. "who are you?" Valkyrie shouts at the AC. Hearing her communication, the AC raises its Laser Rifle, and fires at her.
Boosting back, Kain grins when he sees his last attack stagger Stinger's AC. His good mood is short-lived though, when he sees a warning that his right arm just went off line. Seeing his SPIRIT drop to the ground, Kain grimaces, but keeps his attention focused on Stinger. "Interesting." Stinger says, standing at the other end of the arena from him. Checking his AC, Kain sees that he has lost almost three quarters of his AP, his legs damaged, his right arm gone, his missiles empty, and only three shots left in his grenade rifle. Looking across at Stinger, Kain guesses that he is in about the same shape, but cannot be certain.
Raising his laser rifle, Stinger suddenly stops halfway, and lowers it. "Until next time, Soldier." Turning, Stinger boosts towards a nearby gate that starts to open. "Hey!" Kain exclaims in surprise. "I'm not done with you yet!" Boosting, Kain gives chase, shooting towards the gate as it starts to close again. Watching Stinger duck through, kain curses, and hits his OB. Though he tries, the over boost is not fast enough to get him to the gate before it is halfway closed. Stopping before it, Kain curses when he sees that the gate does not react to his proximity, continuing to close. "That son of a bitch." Kain mutters. Backing away from the door, Kain looks around, debating what to do next, when a blast of static from his radio startles him. "in!" A garbled voice shouts. "Th- CM is . . . ting to drop! Are you –right?"
"Peachy." He mutters, waiting for the static to clear up some more. "What's the situation?" Kain asks after a bit. "Oh thank God!" Diana shouts in relief. "We lost the cameras a few minutes ago. I was worried Stinger got you." Kain grunts. "It was close." He mutters. "But the bastard ran away before we reached the end. What's going on out there? Where's blackout?"
"Blackout's dead." Diana replies. "We just got word from his garage. Stinger got in through there, killed him and another AC, then used the elevator to get up to the arena. There was also an attack on the arena grounds from three unknown ACs."
"Where's Val and the kid?" he asks, frowning. "Valkyrie went out to help mop things up. All the enemy ACs have retreated, and systems are returning to normal. Are you okay?"
"Well." Kain sighs. "Let's just say you're going to have a lot of work to do this time."
Several hours later, Kain, Valkyrie, Greenhorn, and Jouster are sitting in the garage break room. After recovering his AC from the field, Diana set about working on fixing his AC. Though Valkyrie's Swiftwind took some damage in her fight with the other ACs, the damage done was light compared to Kain's AC. "Never thought Stinger would have the balls to pull something like this." Jouster mutters, sitting in a chair on the table. Lying on the couch, Kain sighs, Valkyrie sitting at the other end beside him. "Fucker had help." He mutters. "And I don't just mean those other ACs. He must have help on the inside getting his lock down setup."
"The Civil Defence are looking into it." Jouster says. "But I don't think they are going to find anything. Whoever set this up, was an expert. It was brilliantly executed." Kain grunts in agreement. "Still, I wonder why?"
"No one ever knows with Stinger." Jouster sighs. "That's always been the problem. How's your AC?"
"Diana said she'd have it up and running again in a few hours." Valkyrie replies. "Arena's supplying her with the parts she needs to get it fixed fast." Jouster nods. "Good, cause I got a mission for you." Hearing this, Kain sits up, and looks at Jouster in surprise. "For what?" he asks. "Stinger's still in the area." Jouster says. "Civil defence, along with the city leaders, have decided they want him and his posse taken out."
"Sounds dangerous." Deakon says as he and Diana enter the break room. "Where the hell were you?" Valkyrie demands, getting to her field. "Sorry." Deakon apologizes. "I've been taken my matches in Ruglar field. Since I had so many, I needed to hire a team to keep my AC maintained." Going over to Valkyrie, Deakon hands her a data pad. "So you've been busy?" Greenhorn asks. "Very." Deakon agrees. "Congratulations by the way, on your two wins." Greenhorn nods, smiling slightly. "Thanks."
"Forgot about that." Kain mutters. "You had another match this morning. Should keep the boss man happy."
"Is this for real?" Valkyrie assk Deakon, surprise in her voice. "Three to five matches a day, with an 80 win ratio!"
"Shit." Kain utters in surprise. "You've been busy." Deakon nods. "After my, demotion, I decided that I needed to, payback some of my debts. I'm sure the warlord will be happy with my performance." Curious, Kain takes the data pad from Valkyrie, and starts to look over it. Sure enough, Deakon has been busy, taking on a large number of matches, and winning most of them. Not against just rookies either, Kain thinks, noticing two low level rankers in the list. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here to help with the attack." Deakon apologizes.
"We all made it out alive." Kain says dismissively. "So, what were you saying about that mission?" Kain asks Jouster. "Civil Defence is putting together a posse." Jouster explains. "Over a dozen ACs, including some of the top rankers in the arena." Kain whistles. "That's a lot of muscle. They figure out where stinger disappeared to yet?" Jouster shakes his head. "Not since I last called in, but they're on his trail. Once they find him though, their going to hot drop the ACs. Hopefully, we'll take Stinger out once and for all."
"Sounds, challenging." Deakon says. "Are you still looking for pilots?" Jouster grimaces. "There might be a mission contract or two still up at Concord, but you're not an active Raven, so I don't know if you'll be able to get in. Kain though, they asked for you specifically. Not often you find a man who was able to hold off Stinger."
"Barely." Kain snorts. "Hell, if he had stuck around, he might have got me."
"But you lasted." Jouster insists. "And that's more then a lot of people can say." Kain grudgingly nods his head in agreement. "What's the payout?"
"135,000 credits." Jouster replies. "Plus the bounty on Stinger, which, according to the rumours, is in the seven digits." Kain whistles. "They still aren't releasing the actual number?" Jouster shakes his head. "Not until they're sure the bastard's dead I hear." Chuckling, Kain shakes his head. "Tempting mission buddy, but I don't think Double will be ready to go in the-"
"All done." Diana reports, speaking for the first time since she's entered the room. "I pulled some guys out of the other garages since the rest of the matches today have been cancelled. Double-Duo is ready to go." Kain grunts. "Maybe you shouldn't take this one." Valkyrie tells Kain. "Probably not." Kain agrees. "But I'm gonna. You know what they say: Third time's a charm."
"But for who?" Valkyrie asks under her breath as her lover gets up off the sofa, heading over to the table to talk with Jouster.
