Chapter 20: Recovering Black Dragon and Savage Beast

Disclaimer: I don't own the Armored Core series, Software does. My OCs and their NEXTs belong to me.

Armored Core: Demons of Hell

The Demons of Hell are now in their early teens with Keith at age 13 and Katrina and Canis at 14. As the years went by, they did wonders for the three.

Keith was taller at 5'4 and his physique had improved greatly, it was more muscular and defined including his biceps. He kept his hair length above his ears.

Like Keith, Canis was taller at 5'6.5 and improved build.

Katrina turned into a beautiful teen with a nice body that had womanly curves, a toned stomach, blue hair that now reached the middle of her back with a pair of bangs framing the sides of her pretty face, stood at 5'4 and a chest that was filling out nicely. Keith even called her a goddess one time and that earned him a blush from Katrina and her thanking him for the compliment with a smile.

Keith and his close friend are busy overseeing the construction of a nuclear power plant that's planning on using fusion as a source of energy. Unlike fission which results from the splitting of atoms, nuclear fusion is where two elements come together and fuse to create a heavier element and release huge amounts of energy. This type of nuclear reactions is what powers stars like the Sun and the destructive power of an H-bomb but just like fission, nuclear fusion has certain requirements to be met. For fusion to happen, it requires extreme temperatures and pressures for the nuclear reactions to take place.

Keith said, "It's amazing how fast time flies when you're doing something."

Katrina nodded, "Indeed. I still can't believe that it's February 13, 2011 and 3 years since the Economic War started. Once this power plant is completed, it will be the first one to harness nuclear fusion for electrical purposes. What element are they using as fuel?"

Keith answered, "Hydrogen, the lightest and most common element in the universe. Our job is pretty much to guard the plant as it is being built according to our client GA America." Then Keith remembers something.

Flashback

Keith was busy applying a new coat of paint to Black Dragon when Canis told him that Collared was planning on having a party.

Keith looked at his friend, "What? Collared's having a party tonight?"

Canis nodded, "Yeah, it's to celebrate Collared's 16 years of service." He handed Keith an invitation, "Here, this is for the party make sure not to lose it. Oh yeah, make sure to bring someone."

End of flashback

As time passes by, no enemy activity is detected and the nuclear plant was finally completed and it would begin operations next month so until then, staff and plant operators can be hired and trained to control the fusion reactor. With their mission complete, Keith and Katrina return to Collared and receive the Credit reward before Keith heads over to the shooting gallery for target practice. He picks up a pistol and loads a clip into it then sets the number of targets to 40. He pulls the trigger but no bullet comes out so he tries again but again nothing happens and Keith checks the weapon for any lack of lubrication or if something had jammed the pistol but everything seems to be alright. Keith fires once more and this time something happens but not in a good way. The gun experiences a fire mishap and sparks erupt from the weapon and Keith drops the weapon. The boy smells something burning and quickly realizes that his hair was on fire. Apparently sparks from the mishap got onto his hair and ignited. The flames rapidly burn the strands and soon come into contact with the skin on the back of his neck. Keith looks left and right for something to put the flames and soon found a bucket of cold water. He swiftly picks the bucket up and flips it over, dumping the water over his head. They doused the flames and now Keith only felt a painful stinging sensation along with the horrible smell of his charred skin. He sees a doctor who immediately examines the burn and grimly informs him that the hair follicles on the back of his neck have been severely burnt and as a result hair would most likely no longer be growing there. Keith would be lucky if a few strands grow back.

The doctor treats the burn with disinfectant alcohol then some ointment and finished the treatment with a rectangular-shaped bandage that covers the entire wound. Keith thanks him and left the infirmary.

Katrina returns to their assigned room and picks out what to wear for the party tonight. She can't decide on what to wear and it makes her yell in frustration, the yell did not go unheard. Wynne D. Fanchon was walking down the hallway when she heard Katrina yell.

She knocked on the door, "Katrina? It's me, Wynne D. Fanchon." The door slid open, "Are you okay because I heard you screaming from outside."

Katrina blushed in embarrassment, "You heard that? I'm so embarrassed!"

Fanchon asked, "So what were you doing?"

Katrina answered, "I'm trying to pick what to wear for the party to celebrate Collared's 16th anniversary but I am stuck."

Fanchon informed, "I can help you with that. Let's go clothes shopping on the main floor and see what they have available and take some dancing lessons since you're going to need them tonight." They first put the picked out clothes back in the drawers then head for the elevator that will to the first floor.

Keith enters the hanger to discover that Black Dragon and Savage Beast are not there, he looks over to the control room and saw Canis interrogating the operator. He enters the room just in time as the operator crashes into the wall with a bruise on his cheek courtesy from a punch by Canis.

Canis grabbed the man's shirt collar and demanded, "You better start talking about why my NEXT and Black Dragon disappeared while you still have teeth in your mouth and you better not lie to me otherwise I'll whip your ass so bad that not even your own mother will recognize you." Canis holds out his free fist inches away from the operator's face to intimidate him, which worked flawlessly.

The operator said, "I was covering a fellow worker since he called in sick today but I didn't get much sleep last night and nothing out of the ordinary was happening up to now. With that, I decided to rest my eyes. While I slept, the camera caught a couple of masked men sneaking into the hanger and hijack Black Dragon and Savage Beast. These guys looked like they were in a hurry since they hauled ass on out of here."

Canis asked, "Where are they now?"

The man replied, "They left a note stating that if we want the NEXTs back then you would have to come to their base in Siberia, Russia."

Canis looks at Keith then released the operator, "Come on, Keith we're going to get our NEXTs back." The two gear up for the recovery mission.

Keith puts on Dragon Skin body armor underneath a snow camouflage uniform, a pair of thermal goggles in case of a heavy snow storm and a vest for ammunition storage. For primary weaponry he chooses an M-4 carbine assault rifle with an Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight scope, M203 grenade launcher, suppressor and a laser pointer. His secondary weapons include a 9mm, .45 caliber M9A1 pistol, a hunting knife and fragment grenades. Keith places the suppressor onto the M-4's barrel and loads it with a full cartridge of bullets and puts the safety button on.

Canis dons the same gear as Keith but his primary and secondary weapons are different. His main weapon is a suppressed M-16 with the ACOG, suppressor, M320 grenade cannon, and laser pointer. For secondary armament, he chooses a katana and white phosphorus grenades.

Keith asked, "You ready, Canis?"

Canis nodded, "Yeah. Let's get our NEXTs and make it quick so we can get to the party in time." With that, the two move out.

Katrina and Wynne D. Fanchon look around at the clothing store to see what it had for sale. The manager said that this store makes custom dresses for the wearer as well, this catches Wynne's attention. She asked him for more information and is now really interested; looks like Wynne D. and Katrina have picked the right place for clothes shopping. An assistant takes them takes them to the back where the dressing rooms are.

She ordered, "Can you please take off your clothes so I can take your measurements, please?"

Katrina gasped, "But what about…"

Wynne D. assured her, "No need to fear, Katrina because it's just us three back here." The blue-haired teen begins to undress starting with her Adidas shoes followed by her pants and shirt, leaving her in under garments.

Katrina wondered, "Will this be enough?"

The assistant replied, "Almost. Now, can you please take off bra?" Katrina blushes bright red from that request but she does so anyway, she undid the clasps and removes the bra.

'This is so embarrassing, I'm being ordered to undress in front of others. I hope I don't have to do this again!' Katrina thought as she covered herself with her arms. The assistant removes her arms to take the measurements.

The assistant teased, "You're filling out nicely, Katrina a few more years and you will have guys all over you."

Fanchon chuckled, "Really?" The employee then measures Katrina's height next before determining the size of the dress.

Keith and Canis arrive just outside of the base's perimeter in Siberia, Russia as a blizzard passes through forcing them to use their thermal goggles, the devices detect enemy heat signatures ahead of them but fortunately for Keith and Canis, the guards were having a cigarette and had their backs to them. The two NEXT pilots sneak up behind him and Keith slits his target's throat while Canis snaps the other's neck then the bodies fall to the ground. Keith wipes the blood off his knife but keeps it out as he and Canis move onward, the blizzard concealing them as they are about to pass the perimeter's front gate and press against the walls. Keith pokes his head out to gaze at the hanger that's ahead of them Keith zooms in to see the interior.

Canis asked, "What do you see?"

Keith answered, "There is a lot of well-armed soldiers in there looks like we have found the right hanger where our NEXTs are being housed in. The question now is how we are going to get inside without being spotted."

Canis suggested, "We can cut the power to the hanger so the guards won't know that we are here."

Keith nodded, "I like the idea so now all we have to do is find the power box and sever the wires." The roaring winds make the search hard but Keith and Canis eventually find it and Canis pulls the wires free from their connection, the power inside the hanger fails as the result. The soldiers are taken by surprise from the sudden power failure and one of them hears the hanger doors being opened.

He readied his AK-74, "Who's there?" A fragmentation grenade is thrown into the interior and rolls over to the center of the group before exploding. From outside Keith and Canis can hear screams of agony and that's their signal to move in with their guns blazing. They set their carbine assault rifles to fully automatic mode. The surviving soldiers return fire and then one pulls out his radio.

He said, "We're under attack! Put the whole base on alert!" Almost immediately after his request warning alarms sound throughout the complex and the hanger's emergency lighting kicks in exposing their attackers. Keith and Canis take shelter behind a bunch of separate steel crates.

Canis grunted, "Great, they now know we're here so much for our cover."

Keith fired a burst then ducked again, "It doesn't change our objective, Canis. We'll just have to fight our way through." A grenade lands in front of Canis and he automatically throws it back at the enemy.

He said, "Eat shit and die!" The steel crates protect them from the explosion and debris. The two press on and fight any resistance that came their way when the initial floor is clear, they take look around for their NEXTs but Black Dragon and Canis aren't here so Keith believes that the stealers have taken them to one of the base's lower floors, the elevator was locked down so they had to take the stairs.

Down and down they went until the pilots come across a door leading to a room, the moment the door slides open Keith and Canis are greeted with gunfire. When the firing stops they fire back.

Katrina and Fanchon prepare to head for a nearby dance practice building, Katrina notices that her two former apprentices are not present so the first logical reason that comes to her mind is that they must be out on a mission but she doesn't know remember them going to the briefing room to look at the list. She decides to contact Keith since he gave her his radio frequency number. Katrina places the portable radio into her ear and it immediately dials Keith's radio number.

Keith answered it, "Keith here."

Katrina wondered, "Keith, where are you?" She then heard gunfire in the background, "What's that noise?"

Her friend informed, "That's enemy fire. A group of masked men have stolen Black Dragon and Canis so we are on a mission to get them back. Katrina, can you come to the party with me?"

Katrina nodded, "I would love to, Keith." The transmission ends after that. Lately, Katrina has been reflecting on what she thinks of Keith they have known each other since childhood and she knew that Keith respects her and considers her a close friend but was that about it? Of course she was perfectly aware that Keith cared about her but just as a close friend and nothing else than that? She shakes her head to remove any negative thoughts, she shouldn't be thinking about it like that. She will find out what Keith really considers of her tonight at the party. For the time being, she needs to focus on the dancing lessons.

Keith and Canis enter the computer room as the smell of blood flooded their noses, Canis types on a keyboard and a monitor shows them the layout of the base. Keith watches as his dirty blonde-haired friend's fingers rapidly type away to locate Black Dragon and Savage Beast, soon they appear as a solid dot on the building's layout.

Canis informed, "It appears that the enemy has moved our NEXTs down to the basement floor." He then saw a great number of hostiles guarding them, "Not surprised. They must have really important plans for Black Dragon and Savage Beast if they have this many men protecting them. We have no choice but to keep fighting our way through, Keith."

Keith closed his eyes, "There's no use crying over spilled milk, Canis if we don't retrieve our NEXTs who knows what the thieves will do with them." They continue their journey and enter a hallway that separates into two different directions with one leading to another flight of stairs and the other to a possible dead end so Keith and Canis have to choose carefully. They ultimately choose the left and it turns out to be the correct one since it leads to the stairwell. A soldier jumps on Keith from out of nowhere pinning him the ground and prepares to kill him but Keith drives his knife into his attacker's neck, severing a major artery there. Keith tosses the now dead assailant aside and stands up. They eventually reach the basement level and Canis peeks through the door window to see dozens of guards. He discovers that this door requires a voice recognition code. Luckily, Canis brought a voice changing device. He activates the gadget on his wrist and it alters his voice to a female scientist assigned to this base. The control panel confirms the ID signature.

The guards inside the hanger stand ready for battle then they hear the door suddenly open up and a white phosphorus grenade being thrown in, the weapon rolls over to their location then explodes creating a small burst of hot flames and they scream in agony as they are burned alive. Canis almost vomits because of the overwhelming stinch of charred skin emerging from inside it takes a great deal of effort to keep himself from vomiting. Keith was also having the same difficulty as his friend.

Keith gagged, "Let's hurry up and retrieve our Armored Core then blow this joint." They enter the body littered hanger and walk toward Black Dragon and Savage Beast but another platoon of enemy infantry blocks their path. The foes run forward only to be gunned down by the NEXT pilots just when they thought they are in the clear, two more men appeared.

The first one named Setsuna, had short red hair, gray eyes and appeared to be 25 years old or so and stood at 5'11. His body was nicely toned and athletic in build. In his right hand was a flamberge sword.

His partner Adrian had medium-length black hair that was dyed blonde, had green eyes, looked to be about 24 years of age and was 6'2 and had an athletic body. His weapon of choice was his fists.

'Great, just when we are close on retrieving our NEXTs someone else stops us. This is really starting to piss me!' Canis thought in annoyance. Keith's face was calm and collected and this makes Canis wonder how the hell Keith can be this calm when the odds are stacked against them then Canis realizes that it was Keith's near death experience from battling Gray Wolf changed him psychologically.

Keith asked, "So who faces who?"

Canis answered, "The dude with the red hair is mine his partner is all yours." He draws his katana while Keith removes his vest before cracking his knuckles. Keith and Adrian run toward each other and their fists collide with a powerful gust of wind. Adrian launches a right hook but Keith blocks it and delivers a roundhouse kick, putting all of his weight behind it and sends Adrian into a pile of wooden crates. Keith has his battle face on as he watches his opponent get up. Adrian throws a spinning kick but sees it coming and ducks.

Canis and Setsuna lock blades and try to dominate the other before it ends in draw and they both jump back.

Canis demanded, "Tell me, what do you intend to do with our NEXTs? Sell them on the black market?"

Setsuna chuckled, "Heh, you're pretty smart for a 14 year old. That's one idea I have in mind or I can build an army by mass producing them. Just to let you know, people call me the Lightning Swordsman because of my swift strikes. What do you specialize in?"

The dirty blonde-haired pilot replied, "Kicking your ass."

Keith avoids each of Adrian's punches and did counter attacks with punches of his own. He suddenly grabs Adrian by the throat and lands strikes to his stomach followed by Keith throwing him over the black-haired Lynx, Adrian hops back to his feet and with an incredible display of athleticism he executes the head scissors before throwing Keith down to the ground using his feet alone. Not wasting a minute, the adversary straddles Keith and starts doing lefts and right forcing Keith to cover up. As the final punch was about to hit, Keith grabs Adrian's throat and tosses him off this allows Keith to stand up again. They both throw a kick and they find their mark simultaneously.

Canis blocks a series of lightning quick strikes from Setsuna's blade and manages to score a hit diagonally across his chest as Setsuna backs up touching the wound, he notices that Canis' gray eyes hold a predatory look and it unnerves him a little bit.

All of a sudden a new alarm sounds throughout the base as an announcement warned, "Red alert! This base's self-destruct system has been activated, 10 minutes until detonation. All personnel please evacuate."

Setsuna frowned, "What? I don't remember activating the self-destruct system. Adrian, did you do it?"

Adrian shook his head, "No way, boss. I would never do such a thing unless ordered to." To Keith and Canis, things have now taken a turn for the worst. They have 10 minutes before this place blows sky high!

Katrina lets out a big sigh after completing the dance lessons, Wynne D. Fanchon offers a bottle of cold water which Katrina accepts graciously and began gulping down the liquid.

Wynne D. advised, "Careful not too fast, Katrina or you will choke." Too late, Katrina coughed, "I told you so." Katrina hits her chest to help her stop coughing and she soon ceases.

Katrina breathed, "I guess I was thirstier than I first thought. Keith asked me to come to the party tonight and I accepted Keith has possibly got to be the kindest person I've ever met."

Fanchon said slyly, "Looks like someone has fallen in love with Keith."

Katrina blushed, "What? Don't be ridiculous, Keith and I are just close friends that is all."

Wynne D. laughed, "Keith and Katrina sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

The blush on Katrina's face deepened, "Stop it!"

The minutes to the base's destruction tick by quickly until there is only 4 minutes left Keith and Canis have got to end their battle and get out of there. They both strike a nerve that paralyzes their foes long enough for the two pilots to board their NEXTs. The generators produce a low humming as they power up and Black Dragon and Savage Beast blast their way through the roof as the final countdown begins. The machines touch the ground just before the self-destruct system starts blowing the base apart.

Canis said, "Nobody fucks with my machine." Keith laughs, agreeing with him. Their celebration is cut short when they see a black figure emerging from the burning complex and it soon fully exits the bellowing smoke.

It was a four-legged machine about the same size as a NEXT, colored night black, appeared to have thick armor, a large body frame that resembled a tank and had eerie neon blue eyes. It was equipped with a massive twin-barreled cannon mounted on its back, machine guns occupied the sides of the head and drills rested on the end of its front legs.

Canis gasped, "Holy shit, you gotta be kidding me! They have been building that monster secretly this whole time? Is that a prototype of the next generation of Armored Cores?" The four-legged slowly makes its way forward, the ground shaking with each step it took.

Setsuna cried, "Demons of Hell! It's not over yet! There is no escape from our latest weapon, Juggernaut!" He takes aim with the massive twin-barreled cannon and pulls the trigger. The cannon charges up and fires two massive beams of concentrated energy that speed right toward its targets at Mach 4, Black Dragon and Savage Beast side step to allow the beams to pass by them and disappear in the distance. A bright light materializes where the beams vanished indicating that a mountain must have been obliterated by their destructive power. Canis turned pale from what he is seeing. If he and Keith didn't see that attack coming then that could've been them!

Keith ordered, "Canis, we must destroy that cannon, it's the biggest threat now. One hit from that monstrosity and we're done for!"

Canis replied, "Roger that, commencing my attack now!" Savage Beast unleashes the BM05-LAMIA AS and MP-O601JC PM missile launcher only to have virtually any damage on Juggernaut's body, raising an eyebrow Canis decides to add the AR-O700 assault rifle and LR04-AVIOR laser rifle but even these mid-range weapon couldn't put a dent in the enemy's thick armor.

Keith tries to damage the machine with the OGOTO grenade cannon and he too gets the same thing: no damage on Juggernaut.

'That armor's thick. That thing has got to have a weak point somewhere on that massive body.' Keith thought. Without warning, one of Juggernaut's front legs slams into both Armored Cores with amazing speed for something that huge the fact that all of the behemoth's weight was behind that makes the damage 50 times worse. Black Dragon and Savage Beast are sent crashing against the ground and they manage to evade the next attack as that same front leg hits the place they were at, flattening the earth beneath it. Setsuna gives them no time to catch their breath as he does a strafing run with the head-mounted machine guns.

Canis urged, "Keith, if you have a plan on how to take Juggernaut down now would be the best time to share it!"

Keith replied, "I'm trying to pin-point its weak point so we can defeat him and go home." The two see the drills on both of the enemy machine's front legs beginning to rotate at a fast rate. They take evasive action to avoid being hit. The twin-barreled cannon fired once again and Canis realizes that it must be taken out.

Taking to the air, he aims all of Savage Beast's weapons at it and unloads with everything he's got. The pilot screams as he holds the trigger button and soon spots electrical arcing this encourages Canis to keep firing. An explosion puts the cannon out of commission just when Keith locates the weak point. It was at where the leg joints connect to the body if one of them can manage to inflict enough damage on that joint, they might be able to slow Juggernaut down.

Canis wondered, "Well, Keith did you locate that weak point yet?"

His friend nodded, "Yes, it's the connection joint on its legs aim for that." Following his command, Canis directs Savage Beast's weapons at the weak point, this proved to be very effective as the leg gives out making Juggernaut lose its vertical base.

Black Dragon targets that weak point too with the WHEELING-01 multi-chain missile launcher and NEMEHA-01 vertical launched support missiles. While this severely damages the joint, it doesn't completely destroy it. Knowing that they're just wasting their ammo Keith and Canis need to think up of an alternative. Keith tells Canis to follow him while Setsuna gives chase.

The pair reached the end of a cliff and where wrong step would lead to a horrible long way down to the ground. Canis scans the ground that's behind them and discovers that it is deeply unstable from the effects of weather and erosion that gives him an idea.

'Where are they?' Setsuna thought. He then hears a whistle and looks ahead and sees Savage Beast giving him the double bird. Juggernaut walks toward Savage Beast at maximum speed and arrives at the hill.

He said, "I've got you now!"

Keith chuckled, "Guess again." Setsuna turns to the left and sees Black Dragon hovering in the air pointing its WADOU grenade rifle at the cliff. Setsuna gasps as he realizes what Keith was planning but it's too late to do anything as a round from the grenade rifle destroys the cliff that Juggernaut is standing on. The cliff breaks up and the four-legged behemoth falls to its demise 12,350 feet below, from this height there is no way that even Juggernaut can withstand a fall of this height.

Canis waved, "Bye-bye." With Black Dragon and Savage Beast back in their possession, both pilots return to Collared. It is 7:30 p.m. by the time they land so that means they still have an hour and a half before the party starts. They remove their gear and place the weapons back then hop in the shower to clean up. Keith gets out and dries himself off before picking out some nice clothes to wear. He settles with a long-sleeve navy blue shirt with a short-sleeve white undershirt, brown khaki pants secured by a belt, and stylish brown shoes. Keith begins to put them on starting the pants and working his way up, pausing to look at the bruises on his chest. This came to be from the Dragon Skin body armor absorbing bullets but it didn't mean that he would not be left unscathed. He removes the images from his mind and puts the shirts on then the shoes. He grabs the invitation from the middle drawer of his dresser and proceeds to the party.

Canis chooses the same attire but sticks with a short-sleeve black T-shirt and he too grabs his invitation. The event takes place inside the main hall of a nearby building that was completely recently. They show their invitations to the security guard and he lets them in, Keith and Canis see the area packed with people. They spot Roy walking up to them wearing a tuxedo and his brown hair combed back. Wynne D. is with him and currently had an arm wrapped around his.

She wore a golden dress that stopped above her ankles, had on a pair of high heels, her shoulder-length black, red streaked hair was braided, wore bracelets, red lipstick and some eye lighter.

Roy said, "Wow, you two look nice."

Canis smiled, "Thanks, Roy. The same goes for you and Wynne D."

Keith looked around, "Where's Katrina? She said that she'd be here."

Fanchon told him, "Turn around." Keith does so and there standing right in front of him is Katrina.

She was wearing an ankle-high dress that matched the color of her hair, elbow-length gloves, 2" high heels, her hair was tied back with a red bow, wore angel earrings and lip gloss.

'My god, she's beautiful!' Keith mentally gasped. Katrina looks at him with a smile on her face.

Canis asked, "Wynne, where did she get that dress?"

Fanchon answered, "We went to a clothes shop this morning and looked around but none of the dresses there looked appealing to me. However, the manager of the store said that they make custom dresses to fit the wearer so Katrina and I went with that and judging by Keith's reaction, it paid off."

Keith snapped out of his state of surprise and said, "Glad you could make it to the party, Katrina. You look gorgeous."

Katrina blushed and smiled, "Thank you, Keith. You look marvelous yourself." Nice music begins to play and the attendants find a dance partner and dance to the music. Keith and Katrina sway to it with perfect timing. The song soon ends and the dancers grab some punch or food.

Fanchon decides to sing "Garnet Moon" dedicating it to both members of the Demons of Hell. Keith and Katrina look at each other before shrugging one more dance won't kill them. The pair reached the center and wait for Wynne to begin the song. Once she starts singing the first set of lyrics that was their cue to begin dancing. They lock eyes and smile as the audience backs up to allow them to move past them. Keith manages to pick up some whispers.

He said, "I think the male crowd is jealous."

Katrina chuckled, "I bet because you're dancing with a hot girl."

The black-haired Lynx cried, "No, more like the prettiest female Lynx ever." That earns him a bright blush from Katrina after she heard that compliment. Fanchon reaches the final set of lyrics as Katrina rests her head on Keith's chest. When Reiterpallasch's pilot finishes singing, the crowd begins applauding both her and the dancers.

Keith leads Katrina outside as the Moon illuminates the ground with its light. The two lock eyes again, deep blue meeting violet. The moonlight added a bright shade to Keith's eyes, making them seemingly glow.

He said, "Katrina, do you remember Shirley telling me that I would fall in love with a beautiful girl in my early teens?" He saw her nod and continued, "I'm looking at her right now."

Katrina gasped, "You mean…"

Keith nodded with a warm smile, "That's right. You are that special someone. I love you, Katrina."

Tears formed in her eyes, "I love you as well, Keith. I've been having dreams about us lately and when you almost died, I realized that I had feelings for you. I want to be with you forever because there's something about you that draws me to you, Keith."

Keith cried, "Katrina…" Their faces start inching closer to one another and close their eyes as they shared their first kiss. Keith wraps his arms around her waist to forever etch this moment into his memory and Katrina places her arms around Keith's neck. They sadly have to break the memorable kiss for air a bright red blush stained their cheeks. Keith holds his now lover close to him as Katrina returns her head to Keith's chest closing her eyes with a smile, listening to his heartbeat.

Many say that love is hard to find on the battlefield and damn it, Keith considers himself lucky that he was able to find it in Katrina. Canis, Roy and Wynne D. Fanchon watch the scene unfold right in front of them.

Fanchon stated, "I'm so happy for Keith, guys. He deserves this after having to suffer the pain of loneliness during childhood before he became one of us."

Canis added, "Now if only I were that lucky. I'm kind of jealous of Keith right now but it's pretty much pointless to hold a grudge against him. I will always consider Katrina as an older sister to me."

Roy patted his friend's shoulder, "Oh don't worry about it, buddy. I'm sure there is someone out there for you as well, you just need to be patient." The party ends around 11:00 p.m. and the attendants return to Collared. Many of the pilots sleep upon entering their assigned quarters. Keith passes out on his bed while Katrina looks at him lovingly. She showers then slips into her pajamas and climbs into her lover's bed, pulling the covers over them. Katrina places her head on Keith's chest, donning a loving smile as well. She'll be looking forward to what the future has in store for them.

A/N: Chapter 20 complete. Keith and Canis have managed to retrieve their NEXTs and showed the thieves what happens when you steal somebody's Armored Core since it represents a pilot's pride and honor. Stealing his/her NEXT would be a major insult to that pride and honor.

Keith and Katrina have both confessed their feelings for each other.

I feel bad for all the Japanese people affected by the 9.0 megathrust earthquake and tsunami that hit Tohoku on March 11. This was the most powerful earthquake in recorded history of Japan! The fact that aftershocks have been plaguing them since and the nuclear crisis going on just pains me to see those people suffer. Here's an interesting note. The quake was so powerful not only did it create a whirlpool out in the Pacific Ocean but it also moved Japan 13 feet towards the U.S.

Remember the megathrust earthquake that hit Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004? That was a 9.2 and it affected the Earth's rotation. So it's amazing what massive earthquakes can do besides causing damage.

May all those souls who perished in the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami rest in peace! *Does the cross gesture*

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