Chapter Twenty-One: Angel
Tyler tightened his grip on the LFOs controls, everything's going according to plan, he smiled, he had made up his mind a long time ago, he had strived for almost a year to make this day possible, it seemed unrealistic that, was he to falter here, it would all be for not. "Angel," he whispered, still his grin fading, "It's time." He pulled back on the two steering levers and pressed down on one of the pedals in the floor, and the typeANGEL skyrocketed to just below the first cloud layer, silhouetted by the full moon through a small gap in the clouds, before six red bars extended from it's back, three in each direction, the end of each topped with cruel looking spines. Once all six bars had extended, thinner white folding 'sheets' of metal extended from the bottom and top bars towards the middle bars where they entered small slits and were locked in place, forming two gigantic wings, each of which were almost as large as the LFO itself.
Tyler messed with the controls a bit, testing the joints and flexibility of the wings,
"I don't think so," grunted Holland, back in the cockpit of the destroyed 909, as he aimed the main cannons towards the Angel and fired.
Tyler started and looked down at the purple beam hurtling his way, Pest, he thought as he strained to pull the machine around, he pulled a third lever back then down, and the LFO reached out towards the projectile just in time, he pressed a button on the third lever just as the projectile reached him, it bounced off a previously invisible, spherical object and was reflected to the right, skinning the LFOs left arm,
Damn it! thought Holland, How the hell can he pilot such a complex LFO?
Tyler exhaled sharply but quietly and clutched his left arm with his right hand, I was to slow, the field didn't have time to fully form… he thought, looking down at the source of the attack, He's persistent, isn't he? He aimed the heat cannon mounted on the Angel's right arm towards the 909 again and fired, Crap! Thought Holland, jumping out and running from the 909, but it was pointless, the laser missed the cockpit completely, cleaving off the 909s main cannon, its last weapon.
Holland paused and looked up noticing the Angel's hesitation, it hadn't moved for a few seconds, he blinked, I see, synchronization, he thought, a small smile crossing his face, The synchronization of the pilot and the LFO, will allow for a dramatic increase in performance, but since he's practically one with the LFO, if you injure the LFO, you injure him… If I'm not mistaken, that's the kind of system the Super Nirvash ran on… his smile widened, "Did it hurt… Tyler?" he whispered.
Tyler tore his gaze from the 909 as he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, he looked up and spotted Renton closing in fast, his eyes thinned, No breaks today… he pointed the Angel's arm towards him and fired the cannon three times in rapid succession, forcing Renton to swerve to the left, he strained to reach the LFO with his right hand, but the Angel withdrew backwards with a thrust of its wings and jetted upward, performing a quick spiral and speeding away, Damn, swore Renton, making a sharp turn to the right and following the Angel.
Renton sped past and sometimes through clouds, trailing behind the Angel, though no matter how well he rode the waves, no matter how much he strained, he never seemed any closer, he was sure that Tyler was either teasing him or leading him into a trap, all the same he had no choice other than to follow him so follow him he did. We should be reaching the wide patrol soon. thought Tyler, looking over his shoulder to make sure Renton hadn't fallen behind, when he had made sure Renton was still there he looked back ahead, It's almost time…
For another minute or two they flew through the clouds before descending down below them into the open to be greeted by three heavy blue military KLFs, all three pointing their weapons straight at the Angel, a screen appeared in the left part of the cockpit, "Unit 936? My apologies sir! We weren't expecting you back so early." came a deep crackling voice from the leader of the patrol,
Tyler pointed one arm at each of the two outside KLFs and fired the cannons, melting holes clean through the KLFs and sending yellow sparks and drops of glowing orange molten metal fanning out behind them.
The face in the screen changed completely, "What the hell are-"
Tyler pressed a button and razors extended from the tops of the upper bars of the wings, he sped past the last KLF, slicing it in two, then pressed the button again and the razors contracted. A second later the remains of the three KLFs lost their momentum and began to fall towards the earth,
Tyler watched the three KLFs fall to the ground, then looked back ahead, where a towering structure could be seen in the distance, It's begun.