The planet was blue! She couldn't believe her eyes. Earth really was blue! A gigantic, blue orb filling most of her sight. It was incredible. She had never seen so much blue in her life. Lena could only imagine what it would be like on the surface. It had to be wonderful. There was no other way. She made a decision to not just return here, but to actually land on the Earth's surface and explore as much as she could. After all, this was her new world.
"You like it?" Leonard's voice crackled through the radio, a smile evident in his voice. His AC, the Joker, trailing Lena's Proto Star, as they moved through space towards the designated coordinates. It wasn't long until their long journey would come to an end. Unfortunately, once the journey was over there was a very high chance of a battle taking place. Anthony was not someone who solved things peacefully. Furthermore, his AC, the Sangreal, made things worse. The Sangreal was a capable machine. A dangerous pilot and a dangerous machine. Lena gulped. It was a fearsome combination.
With a slight effort of her will, Lena turned her thoughts away from the near future and focused on the present. She cast another look at the blue orb. "Yes. I like it very much." It was only then she realized that some time had passed until she had given her answer, but Leonard didn't seem to mind. The short chuckle over the radio proved that.
"No wonder. You've probably been staring at it ever since you spotted it for the first time. Isn't that right, Blue Angel?" He used Lena's nickname, much to her embarrassment. She almost opened her mouth to tell him to stop calling her like that, but decided otherwise. Leonard wouldn't stop calling her like that no matter how many times she asked him to stop. Besides, the nickname was actually quite accurate. Lena loved the blue color. She had no idea why she liked it so much, only that she did. After all, her AC, most of her clothes, her belongings, everything was blue. Whether it was dark blue or sky blue it didn't matter. As long as there was a hint of blue in it, Lena loved it.
"Yes, Leonard. It is an amazing view." Lena admitted and, hesitatingly, turned her attention on the sensors to do a quick check for any nearby contacts. It was a futile action since the Joker had a much more sophisticated and powerful sensor array. If there was someone out there, Leonard would spot it long before she did. "Anything on the radar?" She decided to change the topic.
Leonard checked his radar and frowned. The sensors had just picked up a faint thermal reading on their extreme range. It was too far to get a proper read, but he was certain there was something in front of them. "Actually yes. I am getting a faint reading on the edge of the radar. We're too far for identification, but I think that's our guy. I doubt there's someone else here."
"It could be the people he is supposed to meet." Lena pointed out quietly.
"It is… no, wait!" As the distance between them decreased, more detailed readings started pouring in, he also slaved Proto Star's sensors to the Joker's so that Lena could take a look as well. "That's definitely a AC. I've seen this type of heat signature." Leonard was more than certain about the nature of the contact ahead of them. He searched his mind for more info. "From what I remember, the Sangreal's sensor range is much shorter than ours. I don't think he has spotted us yet. That means we have time to come up with a plan." Both ACs powered down their boosters and even retreated for a short distance, just to be sure. As expected, the Sangreal's pilot showed no signs of being aware of them. "Okay, so how are we going to do this?"
Lena clicked her tongue, an unconscious habit she often exhibited whenever she was deeply thinking, and tried to come up with a suggestion. "How about we try to solve this peacefully? Maybe we can convince him not to sell the data?"
"That won't work. Anthony's a friggin' lunatic. Who else paints their AC golden and calls it the Holy Grail? Talking is out of the option, he is not going to listen. Besides, talking will only distract us and with a guy like Anthony we can't afford to be distracted. The Sangreal's a heavy."
Leonard was speaking the truth, Lena had to admit. Anthony was known for his eccentric behavior and preference for shooting first and not bothering with the questions at all. Furthermore, just like Leonard had mentioned, the Sangreal was a heavy class AC. That meant lots and lots of armor and heavy weapons as well. Lena sighed. It looked like a battle was inevitable. "If he's in no mood to talk then I guess we're in for a fight … How are we going to do this?" Though she was a capable pilot, Lena often preferred Leonard calling the shots. His experience outmatched hers by almost forty years, which was something of a legend among Ravens since no one had survived for that long.
"I think we should split up and come in from two directions. Make a strafing run and see what happens." Leonard ran various possibilities through his minds. "Remember, this is going to be a battle of attrition. All that heavy armor will take some time for us to wear down. So just keep your distance and don't stop firing. Also, don't forget that we'll be fighting near the border where Earth's gravitational pull can become strong enough to pull you down … Oh, and one more thing. If I recall correctly, Anthony likes to equip his AC with a pair of heavy plasma cannons. Whatever you do, stay out of their line of fire. Those things are devastating." Leonard gave one last advice and ignited the boosters increasing the distance between them. "Give me a few minutes before you move in, got it?"
"Yes." Lena watched him leave and began her own preparations. She decided not to change her approach. Without Joker's help, she didn't know the exact location of the Sangreal. Only that the Proto Star was pointed towards it. With her decision made up, she ran a quick check of the systems and, seeing everything to be in order, relaxed. It was difficult. The anxiety was growing inside her and no amount of effort would shake it off. Despite this, Lena wasn't too concerned about it. It wasn't her first time going into battle, and it most certainly would not be the last. Or so she hoped.
As she was waiting for the moment to strike, Lena's eyes drifted to a small object, hanging from the ceiling of the cockpit. She raised her hand and touched the small trinket. It was a thin silver chain with a small blue opal attached to it. The necklace drifted in the weightless environment and coincidentally moved just out of her reach before she could touch it. Lena stared at the necklace and, with a heavy sigh, lowered her arm.
The necklace was the only thing that remained from her family. Everything else was gone, claimed by time and events surrounding the deaths of her family. At least that's what Leonard said. Lena had absolutely no memories of her family and everything she knew came from Leonard. There wasn't even a single picture of her parents, nothing other than the necklace. Though Lena had often asked Leonard what else he knew, he was very hesitant of addressing the subject and often spoke in circles without saying anything specific, during the times when Lena pressed the issue more than usual.
Setting the thoughts of her family aside for the moment, Lena decided she had given Leonard enough time and gunned the boosters, sending the Proto Star at the location she hoped the Sangreal was. Even as she recalled everything Leonard had taught her about AC combat, Lena was very concerned whether it would be enough. She had no doubts about her skill. No, the reason of her distress were the weapons. She threw a quick look at the shotgun and the two back mounted weapons and gulped. If they were to run out of ammo, she'd be in a lot of trouble. Losing the majority of her arsenal would give all the advantages to her opponent and when the opponent was a heavyweight class AC, this possibility was very real indeed. She had heard enough stories of Ravens spending all their ammunition in a fruitless effort of bringing down the heavily armored beasts. The source of these stories was very well known as the Scaled Micro-weave Fusing armor.
Shortened to SMF armor and colloquially pronounced as "Semf" armor, it was nothing short of a wonder. The protection it granted was supreme and more than capable of dealing with practically anything that was thrown at it. Furthermore, not only was it light, even regarded as featherweight, it also possessed qualities that to some seemed almost magical. It was due to this armor that Armored Cores had been given their name.
The technology behind the SMF armor was a combination of various scientific achievements. However, three of these achievements were the cornerstones of the armor and granted it most of its abilities. The key components of the armor were known as advanced reactive carbon nanotubes. A mixture of electroactive fibers and carbon nanotubes had yielded a rather unique fiber. Unlike most armor materials, this fiber was woven at a molecular level in order to form separate armor plates and proved much superior to anything Utopia had at that day.
However, the most amazing ability of this armor revealed itself when exposed to a certain type of current. At that moment the fibers literary fused together in a single piece, not only that, but the effect transferred to the surrounding plates as well, turning the numerous armor plates, covering the surface, into a single piece of armor. Also, when a tiny layer of electroactive mesh was applied to the surface of the underlying hull, the armor fused with the machine, literary becoming a part of it. This eliminated any need for rivets and welds since the armor was "glued" on to the surface.
This type of armor became known as Micro-weave Fusing armor and was widely used on the Pulverizer class machines. Even though the armor offered excellent protection, especially to energy type weapons, the designers were not satisfied. They wanted more. A few years later the SMF armor was born.
Using the same technology as its predecessor, the SMF armor, used exclusively on ACs, differed only in the fact that small scales of a special material were included in the weave. These scales, made from aggregated diamond nanorods, were actually harder than diamonds. In order to eliminate the brittleness, inherent in all types of diamonds, the designers had decided to make it a type of composite armor. Placing a new version of the Micro-weave Fusing armor fiber layer between two layers of the scales, in addition of crisscrossing the scales themselves with the fibers, so they could act as a shock absorber, meant that the new armor was capable of taking devastating kinetic strikes without failing.
In addition of the increased physical protection, the SMF armor also provided an even better protection against energy type attacks. Whenever a laser beam or a plasma bolt struck the armor, the layer between the scales reacted to the heat by contracting, bringing the two layers of diamond scales closer to each other. This meant that the following shots to the same location faced a double layered diamond which was all but immune to the punishing heat. Only relatively constant heat type attack, like that of a laser blade or beam, was able to penetrate the armor with any kind of effectiveness.
This function had a drawback however, the closer the scales were brought, the more brittle the armor became, as the padding between them became thinner. Until the armor had cooled off, this made the location increasingly vulnerable to sharp kinetic impacts. A lot of Ravens knew this and had found a way to deal with the toughness of the armor, especially on the heavy ACs who were known to carry up to five or six layers of SMF armor. The method was relatively simple. You had to shoot the AC with energy based weapons first, then, when the armor was all nice and brittle, shoot it to pieces with an ammunition based weapon. This was exactly the method Lena was planning to use against the Sangreal.
Any stray thoughts were dismissed when she picked up the Sangreal on her own sensors. The computer made a quick scan and instantly identified the AC. "AC Sangreal identified." The computer announced, the emotionless voice summoning a sensation of decisiveness inside Lena's chest. There it was. The time for thinking and consideration was over. Now she had to act.
A quick beep told her that the Proto Star had achieved a target lock. Without hesitation she let loose a salvo of micro missiles from the launcher behind the left shoulder. Though small and posing little threat separately, the micro missiles compensated for it by sheer numbers. Twenty missiles corkscrewed through space towards the target, leaving contrails of smoke behind them. Lena pulled sharply to the right and let loose a trio of rockets as well. She didn't expect the unguided rockets to hit, but she had to try.
True to her expectations, the Sangreal turned to face her and the incoming attack. Instead of using the MIA system, the Sangreal raised the heavy flamethrower it held in its left hand and unleashed a huge cone of pure plasma. The missiles and rockets were unable to endure for more than fractions of a second in the hellish heat and detonated with eerily silent flashes. A second later, red laser beams pierced the already diminishing explosion as Lena blindly fired the laser rifle at the Sangreal.
Unfortunately the Sangreal was already moving and therefore wasn't threatened in the slightest as the beams were aimed at the location he had occupied a few seconds ago. With the opponent this close, Anthony was finally able to identify who was attacking him. "The Proto Star? I'm under attack from the Blue Angel?" He laughed through the radio. "What, betraying Utopia's secrets aren't enough for you? You want to present your friends with a AC as well?" A long burst from the twin barreled 120mm machine gun in the Sangreal's right hand cut off Lena's path, forcing her to abruptly change her course.
Lena had to dodge a pair of plasma bolts from the Sangreal's back mounted 90mm heavy plasma cannons and another burst of machine gun fire before Anthony's words registered in her mind. "What! I'm not the traitor! You're the one…" She broke off when the Sangreal caught her off guard by suddenly darting towards her and hosing down her AC with the flame thrower. She frantically moved out of the way and managed to avoid most of the damage. The plasma cone didn't come even near of touching the Proto Star directly, but the heat was enough to melt the paint off the armor on the core and the right arm.
"You dare to accuse me of lying? How dare you!" Anthony yelled across the comms. He once again cut off the girl's retreat path by a pair of plasma bolts, forcing her to stay in his sights. Three laser beams lanced out of the rifle and struck the Sangreal's core. However, Anthony made sure to keep moving, so that the beams didn't expend their energy in a single point, not that it would hurt him much. He was about to unload his machine gun in a long burst that would have left the Proto Star heavily damaged, when the Joker finally arrived.
The arrival had a rather heavy announcement as the Joker let loose from all its weapons. Twinned laser beams, round after round of rifle fire, several cannon shells and even a pair of railgun slugs were fired at the heavy AC. For the first time it was the Sangreal that had to take active evasive maneuvers. It was too late for the laser beams; they struck even before Anthony could notice them. A deep gash opened up on the rear of Sangreal's left thigh. Most of the rifle rounds also connected, slamming into the AC's back with enough force to rattle the pilot inside. All three cannon shells missed since the Sangreal, already turning around, had narrowed its profile enough to avoid them. One of the slugs missed as well, but the last one struck true. Unfortunately it connected with the most heavily armored part of the AC. The front of the core. In addition of the thick armor, the Sangreal's parts were somewhat roundish, granting them additional deflecting power. As a result, the round ricocheted off the armor and disappeared into the vastness of space.
The Sangreal replied instantly, filling the space with machine gun tracers and occasional plasma bolts. Few rounds nicked the Joker here and there, but the damage was minor. Further attacks were rendered useless when Lena let loose another missile salvo and forced the Sangreal to back off. She used the opportunity to back off as well; staying even relatively close to the golden AC was the last thing she wanted.
"I thought we agreed to stay far away from that guy! Why the hell were you fighting him that close?" Leonard admonished, while dodging another attack. He returned fire with both hand weapons, but even though they struck the target, they did very little damage.
"Sorry, he caught me off guard." With a rapid burst, Lena fired off six rockets and, once the weapon had reloaded, she fired six more. Large explosions sent armor shards in all directions as the Sangreal didn't even bother to dodge. Though impressive looking, the explosions did very little damage. "How long will it take to bring him down!"
"Don't worry, just keep working, we'll wear him down eventually."
Lena was about to do as she was told when her conversation with Anthony suddenly surfaced in her mind. "Leonard, I think something's wrong." She said during a brief moment of calmness. "He thinks we're the ones selling the technology."
The Joker's pilot spared a quick glance at her and frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? You sure you didn't overh… Whoa!" The brief interruption cost him. A plasma bolt struck the Joker's left forearm. "Fuck!" Leonard cried when the alarms went off. The laser blade was gone, so was most of the armor and several internal systems. The temperature instantly shot up, frying a few more circuits and mechanisms. "Damn it! It doesn't matter, just keep fighting." He retreated a short distance and gave a more thorough check to the reports. The hand was still working fine. It only jerked a few times when he moved it, but the computer made all the necessary corrections and adjustments, and rerouted the control system around the damaged sections. Satisfied that he hadn't lost his rifle, Leonard turned his attention back to the fight. He couldn't leave Lena alone for too long. "What the hell are you doing!" He said when he saw the Proto Star staying out of the Sangreal's effective range and making no threatening movements.
"We have to talk to him. It is wrong to be fighting just because of some misunderstanding." Lena replied as she worked on the comms. "Anthony, can you hear me? We want to talk to you."
"What is it now? Have the two traitors had enough? The fight was just starting." Anhony replied, shifting the Sangreal so that he could keep an eye on both of them. "If that's true, then hold still. I'll make it quick." The two plasma cannons on the back oriented themselves on the Proto Star.
"Wait! There has been a mistake! We were told that you are the one selling Utopian technology to Earth." Lena quickly replied and gripped the controls so tight that they almost snapped off, or so she thought. "Someone wants us to fight each other." Anthony fell silent, obviously considering her words. Lena herself was on a similar track. It was clear that they've been lied to. The client, probably the same person in both cases, wanted them to fight each other. The answer was, why? Why would someone want that?
As if by accident the Joker started slowly drifting towards a spot where it would be outside the Sangreal's immediate sights. Unfortunately, Anthony was a savvy bastard and adjusted his position accordingly. "Lena, I highly recommend you to stop talking and just shoot the guy. It's not going to work." Leonard said slowly, when the Sangreal once again turned enough to keep the weapons oriented on him.
"We can solve this without fighting." Lena shook her head. "There has been a misunderstanding and no one should die for something like that. Trust me; I think I can solve this."
"You can't. Even if what you're saying is true, and someone has set us up, it won't work. Our mission is to destroy the Sangreal. Furthermore, whoever hired Anthony knew what they were doing. Anthony is not the type to negotiate. He won't stop. He's a lunatic!"
As if by summoned by his words they both received a response from Anthony. It was a series of short chuckles, eventually turning into a long laugh. The increasing tone of insanity strongly pervading it. "To think that you two would fall as low as to try and distract me by these pathetic lies. Lying is the most grievous of sins! … Still, I will offer you two a chance to redeem yourselves. You two shall be tested by the ancient laws of combat. If you win, you will be proven innocent and absolved of all taint … If I win, then deaths shall be your punishment!" With these words he opened fire at both of them, forcing Lena and Leonard to dodge and weave as best they could to avoid taking damage. They were lucky, being forced to split his attention between the two of them Anthony was unable to get a proper aim.
Lena gritted her teeth when a very bright plasma bolt nearly took off the Proto Star's head. She threw the AC to the side and replied with both back mounted weapons. Once again smoke erupted from the two launchers as missiles and rockets were fired at the enemy, but once again her attack was useless. What Anthony didn't shoot down, he avoided with pathetic ease. "I should have switched to guided missiles." Lena watched the rockets streak into the void. She wanted to try and talk again, to find a peaceful solution, but part of her understood that Anthony was beyond reason by now. The only way he could be stopped was to pump enough firepower into the Sangreal to render it useless and destroyed.
Once again she had to focus more attention on staying alive when the Sangreal tried to repay for the attack. The blue AC maneuvered with all its might and agility, and was barely able to stay out of the torrent of munitions and bolts that streamed from the Sangreal. Still, despite her efforts, Anthony was slowly boxing her in. His attacks missed by increasingly narrower margins. It was only a matter of time until he landed a solid blow. For a lightweight AC like hers a single, good blow might be more than enough.
Lena was saved when Leonard used the opportunity to strike with precision. The back of the Sangreal's head exploded in a fiery fashion after a combination of a cannon shell and a railgun slug impacted it almost simultaneously. Two thirds of the part ceased to exist, what little remained was still holding on to the core. Barely. The triple camera visor flickered and died, along with all other sensors mounted in the head, turning it into a worthless piece of junk.
Still, the Sangreal was far from disabled. There were backups. Though not as sophisticated as the main ones, they did their job and allowed Anthony to stay in the fight. Maddened by the humiliating blow, he forgot about Lena and started pursuing the Joker, determined to rip the machine in half at the very least.
It took only a second for Lena to realize the chance before her. Apparently Leonard was thinking the same thing, since he didn't bother attacking and focused only on defense. Their victory revolved around teamwork. By working in pairs they could bring him down fairly quickly. The key was to land a strong blow and draw Antohny's attention, so that the other person could use the moment to line up an attack of their own. That way, using Anthony's impulsive nature by forcing him to constantly change targets, they could aim and fire practically undisturbed.
With the plan laid bare before them, Lena and Leonard started moving with newfound determination. It was a series of moments of intense dodging, followed by careful attacks that turned the battle in their favor. One by one, new dents and holes appeared on the Sangreal's armor as they slowly whittled it down. Even though Anthony tried not to completely ignore the other Raven, he was losing the fight. Furthermore, for the first time, the heavy armor and weaponry was becoming a handicap. The Sangreal's boosters were not built for speed and agility. He could not run away, or evade their attacks as effectively as he wanted. Fortunately for him, the one-sided battle didn't last long.
Since the Joker sported the most powerful sensors, Leonard was the first to pick up a new contact heading towards them. "What the hell? Is that Anthony's contact?" For a second he thought he was right, but he was forced to change his thoughts a moment later. The contact was very similar to their own, meaning it was a AC. "Lena, be careful. We got company." He warned and prepared himself for the new arrival. Whether it was friendly or hostile, he had no idea, but if it was another Raven then it could only mean trouble. He watched the unknown AC move closer and took a deep breath. Okay, c'mere ya bastard and we'll see what you can do.
What followed next had him yelling over the radio at the top of his lungs, ordering Lena to get away as far as possible. He then opened fire at the newcomer, attempting to force the machine to change its course, as it was heading straight for the two ACs, locked in a fierce battle and having no idea of the imminent threat. His attempts were fruitless. Even though his shots missed only by margins, they still missed. The pilot of the AC seemed to be able to predict the exact location where Leonard would land his shots and act accordingly.
Anthony seriously started to believe that his luck was beginning to turn. The Proto Star, after putting immense pressure on him, suddenly just broke off and tried to pull out, despite being in a perfect position to take out his back mounted cannons. For a moment he suspected that it was some kind of a trap on Leonard's part, but when he glanced at the light blue and teal AC, he was surprised to see it keep its distance. Hell, even the weapons weren't pointed at him. He frowned, his mind busy trying to figure things out. However, the sudden change of his opponents' actions was made very clear, very soon.
Since the Sangreal's head was little more than a chunk of twisted metal, Anthony had no chance of avoiding the attack. At least a dozen different alarms blared at him when a red laser blade bit into the Sangreal's right arm. The magnetic field of the blade collapsed immediately and exposed the armor to a beam of very intense light. The armor plates melted and parted way before the weapon, as it made its way through the AC's arm. The blade even left a deep gash on the right side of the core, almost penetrating deep enough to endanger the internal systems. Fortunately, the attacker used the very tip of the blade, so it wasn't long enough to penetrate deeper than that. Still the damage was done. Anthony howled in anger when he saw the lower half of the Sangreal's right arm sailing off into space, still clutching the machine gun. He searched for the one responsible for this attack and spotted his target almost instantly, as it stopped a short distance away from him, allowing everyone to get a good look.
"Nine-Ball? … It can't be!" Lena suddenly felt her heart jump in her throat. "Wh-what is Hustler One doing here?" She easily recognized the dark red AC, even without the computer's help. All Ravens knew that AC and all Ravens feared it. Hustler One was one of the most dangerous and skilled pilots in existence. A living legend.
Despite it being just a machine, the look the Nine-Ball gave to each AC was unsettling. The look spoke of amusement and contempt. The pilot clearly saw them as prey. Three little mice cornered by a cat. "Excellent, all three pieces have gathered together." A disguised voice sounded across the general channel. "Now, all that remains is to make sure you play your roles properly." The AC ignited a long, red laser blade from the left forearm. None had any doubts about what that role was.
As one, they all opened fire on the Nine-Ball. Even Lena, who often tried a diplomatic solution at first, was firing as quickly as she could. She knew that there was no way she could resolve the situation. Hustler One's voice had given her all the warnings she needed. There were only two options for them. Win or die.
By the time the three ACs raised their weapons, the Nine-Ball was already moving, it's weapons firing with deadly efficiency. A sweep of a laser blade took care of the Proto Star's missiles and rockets, whereas the 155mm cannon round sent the Sangreal tumbling backwards, a trail of flame leaking from a hole in the right side of the core. Whirling out of the way, just as Leonard pressed the trigger, the red AC avoided the Joker's entire attempt to cause damage. A salvo from the vertical missile launcher distracted the Proto Star and the recovering Sangreal long enough for the Nine-Ball to reach its target.
It was only thanks to four decades of experience that saved him. In the two seconds it took for the Nine-Ball to reach the Joker, Leonard managed to weigh his options and come up with a solution he thought was the best. He couldn't use the back mounted weapons to ward off the attacker. The cannon worked a little too slow for someone of Hustler One's caliber, whereas the railgun was still reloading. Running away was also out of the option, he just wasn't fast enough. There was only one way out of this, to do something unexpected and, truth be told, almost suicidal.
With only fractions of a second left, and his enhancements working at full speed, Leonard gunned the boosters and counter charged the Nine-Ball. As expected, Hustler One was not surprised by his maneuver. The laser blade came into existence once again; ready to impale the seemingly suicidal AC. However, that's where the unexpected part came into action. At the very last moment the Joker swung the left arm and hurled the rifle at the Nine-Ball. The rifle's demise was signaled by a brief flash of a laser blade cutting its way into the metal. A brief moment later, a violent explosion took place when the blade cut into the magazine and detonated the remaining ammunition. The force of the explosion was strong enough to disrupt the Nine-Ball's movements and force it to change course.
Leonard, however, kept gunning the boosters for all they were worth and blitzed towards the Proto Star. The explosion did little more than slightly rattle his machine. He was too far and had been already prepared for the detonation to be noticeably affected. With a corner of his eye Leonard saw the Nine-Ball make a wide curve and charge towards them with all the speed it could muster. The AC wasn't firing any of its ranged weapons despite the high probability of a hit. Instead, the left forearm was cocked back, the laser blade leaving behind a short tail of afterimages. Leonard had seen enough of such maneuvers to instantly realize what was about to happen. This kind of approach was often used to make a lightning quick melee attack during as the AC passed its target. The effectiveness of the attack varied from pilot to pilot; however, in this case Leonard was more than certain that the attack would land. He had no idea who was the target and he didn't want to find out. Instead, he hoped his plan would ensure their survival. At least for a moment.
Having to follow the movements of the Sangreal, the Joker and the Nine-Ball made things very difficult for Lena. Even though Nine-Ball was the obvious threat, there was no telling what Anthony might do. Shooting her in the back wasn't a thing she would put past him. As for Joker, it never hurt to know where Leonard was, so that she wouldn't get in his way at the very least. Since most of her attention was focused on the Nine-Ball, she didn't notice the Joker until it was right next to her. A second later, Lena yelped in surprise when Leonard's AC reached out and grabbed the Proto Star by the left shoulder, dragging her along as he fled the battle.
"C'mon, we're pulling out! This entire situation is completely fucked up and I'm not willing to hang around while that guy is nearby." Leonard explained just as Lena opened her mouth to demand an explanation. He was still thinking about where exactly to run, but for now, his main task was to get as far away from the fight as possible. "Be ready with your boosters. I don't have a lot of power left, so you'll have to switch with me while I recharge." He also made a mental note to add an Overboost system to his AC as soon as possible. The increased weight might hurt a little, but it was a fair trade-off for times like this when speed meant survival.
"What about the mission? And what about Anthony? Are we going to leave him to die?" Lena couldn't take her eyes off the Sangreal. The golden AC was busy fending off another one of the Nine-Ball's attacks while trying to run away at the same time. He didn't have much success in either regard. The Sangreal wasn't built for speed; running away from a battle was something the heavy machine was very bad at. Whereas staying to fight Hustler One promised even fewer chances of success. Either way, his survival was measured in minutes at most.
Leonard gritted his teeth in frustration. Lena was a nice girl, but there were times when she cared about people who didn't deserve it. Even now, despite the fact that Anthony had tried to kill them, she was worried about him and would have probably tried to help if Leonard wasn't around. "Such thoughts will get you killed, Lena. Anthony is our enemy, we were hired to destroy him. And he was probably hired to kill us. I'm not helping that guy only to be shot in the back later. As for Hustler One, he's here to kill all of us. And he is not someone I'd like to face without some serious preparations. In short, if we fight, we'll have to face both of them. If we run away, we'll lose Hustler One and Anthony will be killed, whereas Hustler One will achieve whatever he has planned for us. That way everybody wins, except Anthony." There was an awfully long silence, as Lena digested his words. He wasn't worried however, despite her caring nature; Lena always picked the logical choice when presented with facts like these. She wouldn't like it, but in the end she would do as he had suggested.
Just like he expected, the second he shut down his boosters, in order to cool down the generator, the Proto Star ignited its own boosters and continued in the same direction. "So where are we heading?" Lena asked quietly. "Back to Circ-City?"
"No, Circ-Cty is out of the question. Most likely Hustler One will be waiting for us there and we are in no condition to fight him. No, we're heading to the one place he won't be able to find us so easily." The Joker pointed at the planet below. "We're landing on Earth."
"What? Earth? Are you serious? We'll be on our own once we land. No supplies, no repair facilities and no transportation. We won't survive, especially if the natives come after us."
"It's either that or being killed by that bastard over there!" Leonard retorted. "Right now is our best chance, if we start landing right now; he won't be able to land anywhere near us. And don't worry, we'll think of something."
Lena sighed and chewed her lip. Leonard was right again. Landing on Earth was the only real chance of survival they had, especially when Hustler One seemed to be after them. Staying in space meant only delaying the inevitable as he would hunt them down without mercy. Going to the Moon was risky, no one on Circ-City had any idea about the satellite's development level and Lena had no intention of touring the Moon right now. Not in the current situation. Therefore Earth will have to do.
Slowly and cautiously, she released the Joker and angled her AC towards the planet, and, after a brief conversation with Leonard, entered the landing coordinates. They were aiming for the Eastern part of the largest landmass. More chances of landing in a remote location without attracting too much attention, thus giving them time to work out a plan of action and familiarizing themselves with Earth's environment. She tightened her grip around the controls and found herself holding her breath as the Proto Star's sensors detected a steady increase of a gravitational pull. No turning back now. Though ACs were capable of entering the atmosphere all by themselves, such feats had already been accomplished back home, they were unable to reach orbit without aid. Their generators unable to provide the necessary power long enough.
Still, despite heading into a potential deathtrap, Lena realized that a small smile had replaced her frown. She was going to the blue planet after all!
xxxxx
Hustler One took a careful aim and snapped off a few beams from the carbine. Each shot further wrecking the rear boosters of the Sangreal. Overkill perhaps, but he was in no mood to chance it. Not after this kind of a disaster. He watched the golden AC getting slowly engulfed in flames as gravity pulled it closer to the surface of Earth and smiled. Despite the damage, the AC would make it down to Earth in one piece. Sure, maybe smashing into the ground at terminal velocity might break it up a little, but the remains would still be more than useful enough.
Too bad the same thing could not be said about the pilot. Anthony was probably already cooking inside the cockpit due to three, carefully placed holes in the hull. Result of masterful stabs, made with near surgeon's accuracy. After all, the Sangreal had to be as intact as possible, especially when it came to the internal systems. Therefore he had to be extra cereful, making the hole too big, or placing it in the wrong location, might cause the interior of the cockpit to burn and be rendered useless. Which would be counterproductive to his mission.
Despite the success, Hustler One felt the sour taste of defeat in his mouth. There were supposed to be three ACs falling down, not one. He looked at his sensors, hoping he could still locate the two machines, but he saw what he already knew. They were gone. He cursed himself for not going after them immediately when they had begun their run almost thirty minutes ago. Considering that the Sangreal was practically immobile when it came to speed, there was a fair chance he would have caught the Sangreal after he had taken care of those two.
Then again, Lena and Leonard weren't exactly pushovers. They knew their way around the cockpit and worked well enough together to pose danger even for someone like him. Especially Leonard, whose experience as a pilot surpassed almost every other pilot out there. Few people had the skills, and luck, to survive that long. The guy had piloted every type of Muscle Tracer there was. Form the clunky and ungainly first generation models, to the recently developed ultra-modern Cored Muscle Tracers.
After giving it a second thought, Hustler One realized that maybe allowing those two to escape wasn't such a bad move after all. Had he gone after them, they would have gone down fighting. And even though he knew he would eventually emerge victorious, he also knew that the Nine-Ball would be in need of repairs. That he could not afford. He had other things to take care of.
A thick trail of fire erupted from the Sangreal's side as the AC hurled towards the inevitable meeting with the ground. He zoomed in and sighed. "Looks like they'll have to make due with just one … At least this gift from heavens will direct them down the right path. Assuming they will manage to unlock its secrets." A sudden thought crossed his mind and he found himself smiling. "The Sangreal … Holy Grail. An apt name. Relic that uncovers itself only to those who are worthy to learn its secrets. Let's hope you people are worthy enough. Or else I'll have to try a more direct approach."
For a brief instant, he felt guilty for using fellow Ravens in order to achieve his goals. However, he shook such thoughts aside. All of this was needed. Sacrifices had to be made. Technology had to be passed on. The corporations were not interested in sharing the technology with Earth. They wanted to profit from selling it. They were working slowly, and solely for their own goals. They failed to see the big picture. Earth was on the doorstep of a new period of enlightenment. Ever since the day Circ-City had come to Earth, it had been made very clear. The signs were everywhere, painfully obvious to all who knew what to look for. All it needed was a little push. And, hopefully, a beat-up, flaming AC with a dead pilot inside would provide the necessary impact as it crashed into the surface of the planet.
With another phase of his task completed, Hustler One focused his attention on the next one. The Nine-Ball's boosters disgorged a pillar of blue light, as the AC blitzed across the endless void towards a destination only the pilot, and few others were aware. It was time to check whether or not a certain package had reached its destination.
xxxxx
"Captain! Captain! You are needed on the bridge! We have a problem!" A loud voice, crackled through the ancient intercom, interrupting the peaceful slumber of the most important man aboard the ship. Captain Vitaly Kurov rubbed his eyes and sat up. His other hand slammed down on the intercom with enough force to rattle the entire ship, at least he thought so.
Sporting the pissed off mood all proper high ranking officers possessed when woken up by their underlings, Vitaly leaned closer to the intercom and made sure his voice sounded properly angry. "What the hell do you think you're doing, calling me at a time like this? Who is this? Ensign Tretyak? I'll turn your life into a fucking hell if…"
"No Captain, this is Ensign Semonov. Ensign Tretyak is still in the brig, as per your orders." The fact that this Ensign had the balls to actually interrupt him, the Captain, caught Vitaly by surprise. It also served as a warning sign that something serious was going on. No member of his crew was stupid enough to wake him up in the middle of the night for anything less than a received message about his promotion to an Admiral or an incoming nuclear missile. Due to neither one of them likely to ever happen, due to his attitude or N-jammers, Vitaly was used to long nights of uninterrupted sleep. "I'm sorry to bother you, but we picked up a UFO on our radar. Analysis on the object's trajectory leads us to believe that it entered our sensor range from the orbit and will impact the ground in less than five minutes."
Vitaly mulled the whole situation over inside his head, unable to quickly decide whether this situation warranted him leaving his cabin or not. In the end, he decided that it was worth checking out. "Fine, try to predict the point of impact, I'll be there shortly."
"Understood, Captain." The Ensign replied, before Vitaly managed to cut the conversation short. With all thoughts of sleep banished from his mind, he got out of his bunk bed, and quickly got dressed. The procedure was short, since he only had to don his jacket and get into his shoes. Though he was technically supposed to be on the bridge at this hour, he considered himself too important to waste his precious time watching a bunch of Ensigns. Let the mere mortals be bound by something as insignificant as shifts and routine duties. He had better things to do.
Feeling that he was presentable enough, Vitaly stepped out of the cabin, careful to remember to power his head in order to avoid hitting the low doorframe, and proceeded to walk towards the bridge in a brisk walk. His path soon lead him past the single thing that pissed him off even more than incompetent underlings. Upon the grey wall several white letters were painted on, and together they read "Unsinkable". The ship's name.
Vitaly had no idea who was the jackass that came up with the name, but he promised himself that he would eventually find out who this person was and then throw the guy into the Unsinkable's brig to rot. Not only did the name sound like something of a cheap movie, or some sort of a joke, but, more importantly, the ship's name was tempting fate. From his experience Vitaly knew that no one, especially fate, liked showoffs. You had to keep a low profile if you wanted to avoid trouble.
On a second thought, the Unsinkable was not a bad name. If the ship was a badass aircraft carrier, or some prototype battleship with near indestructible armor. Basically any kind of ship that was tough as hell and hard to sink. However, there was a problem. His ship, the Unsinkable, was a frigate. A lone frigate, almost helpless against a serious enemy attack. Especially one involving Mobile Suits. While the Unsinkable had a lot of friends to call for help, Vitaly wasn't a fool. His ship was far too ahead of the main fleet for decent help to arrive in time.
Acting as part of a vanguard for an Eurasian convoy, the Unsinkable was one of many vessels sent ahead of the large convoy of transport ships in order to search for any hostiles. And even though they were near the Marshall Islands, practically the edge of the area ZAFT vessels usually operated in, they were still in danger. There was always the chance of stumbling on an enemy submarine carrier, sent out to harass and raid the Alliance's ships. The convoy was bound for Alaska, bringing reinforcements for the JOSH-A base in order to replace the previous garrison which was supposed to be moved to Porta Panama.
Vitaly shook his head in sympathy. Those poor fools. He recalled the rumors that were floating around among the Alliance's military leaders. Rumors that spoke of a massive attack being prepared by ZAFT. An attack that was supposed to hit the Panama base and take out the Alliance's last mass driver. He considered that he was probably lucky to be assigned to JOSH-A. A simple guard duty with lots of free time. It was much more enjoyable than being placed under the hammer and probably dying a horrible death.
Gloomy thoughts about unfortunate comrades were set aside the moment he entered the bridge. Not bothering to return the salutes of the crewmembers, Vitaly marched straight across the bridge where a nervous Ensign was preparing to answer his questions. "Well? I'm here. What do you have for me?" Vitaly crossed his arms and stood right behind the Ensign's chair, both to make him even more nervous and to get a better look at the displays.
The Ensign swallowed nervously, wiped his forehead and took a deep breath before replying. "Sir, we calculated the trajectory just like you told us and it looks like the object will come down a little under eighty kilometers to North-east from us in a couple of minutes. The point of impact is projected to be somewhere in the Marshall Islands region." He pointed outside the window. "The object entered visual range a few moments before your arrival." Vitaly walked towards the indicated window, noting that others were sneaking glances outside as well, and took a look himself. It didn't take long for him to spot a bright object streaking across the skies. Though it seemed to be moving slowly Vitaly understood that, due to the distance involved, the appearance was deceitful. "Are you sure it's not a meteor or some piece of junk from the Debris Belt?"
"That was our first guess as well, sir. But the absence of additional objects crosses that possibility out. In addition, most of the stuff from up there would simply burn in the atmosphere." The Ensign replied more confidently since Vitaly wasn't breathing on his neck anymore. The fact that the Captain was not yelling at anyone and seemed to be genuinely intrigued by the situation, presented him with an opportunity to climb a few spots higher on the Captain's "doesn't deserve to be abused" list. "Sir, we did some scans and came up with rather interesting results." He was aware of the glares others were giving him, but he didn't care. This was his chance of getting on the Captain's good side and he was determined to make the best of it. Survival of the fittest.
Still looking outside Vitaly tapped a finger against the window. "I'm listening."
"Yes, now, first of all the object is radiating a lot of heat. A lot more than atmospheric entry could account for. We also picked up a pair of intense heat flares coming from it in what looked like a controlled fashion as if something was released from inside which makes us to believe that it is man-made and still functioning, to some degree." He paused for a brief moment before the best part. "Additional scans on the object's dimensions indicate that the object's size is around fifteen to twenty meters."
"Are you saying that it might be a Mobile Suit?"
"Yes. I even compared the data with those we have from engagements involving orbital drops and the characteristics turn out to be very similar to a destroyed Mobile Suit falling from skies. Of course the heat flares are something new."
"Another thing that's new is a Mobile Suit falling from skies without reason." Vitaly pointed out. "We know that Mobile Suits can't survive atmospheric entry. Therefore, we can rule out the possibility that this is just some luckless bastard from an engagement in orbit. However, since there aren't any other Mobile Suits around and there are certainly no signs of combat. That eliminates the chance of it being shot down from somewhere nearby … Whatever it is, we know that it is most likely a Mobile Suit, capable of atmospheric entry. Or at least a partial one." He turned his gaze back to the crew, his face deadly serious. The situation was much more serious than he had imagined. No matter which way he looked at it, there was something strange going on. He had to call this one in. "You." He looked at the Communications Officer. "Contact the rest of the fleet and tell them what's going on here. Also, make sure to inform Colonel Dussart. This sounds like something right up his alley."
xxxxx
Once the message reached the main body of the fleet, the reaction was rather predictable. Excitement, suspicion, eagerness and nervousness permeated throughout the ranks of senior officers. Eventually, after heated debates and several arguments the decision was made. Part of the convoy would be sent to investigate this event, which many hoped, was a chance of capturing a highly advanced piece of technology for themselves. It was about time the Eurasian Federation attempted to join the technological race after having to trail after PLANTs, Orb and, as rumors said, even the Atlantic Federation.
Once the decision had been made, the Unsinkable received a new set of orders. Their mission of scouting the waters for danger was over. Now they had to reach the crash location, assess the situation, and report back. Afterwards the ship was to start exploring the region for additional information, as well as any possible hostile movements in case ZAFT tried to reclaim their property.
However, moments after part of the convoy changed its course and headed straight to Marshall Islands, another important message was sent. Although small and practically unnoticeable among the communications traffic going in and out the region, this message's contents far outweighed anything else. The information it contained was as deadly as any weapon in the right hands. And if used incorrectly, it could lead to a disaster of extreme proportions. The reason why this message was so important was that it was sent by someone who was not truthfully loyal to the Eurasian Federation. Someone, who was determined to inform the Atlantic Federation of the night's events.
Lastly, unknown to anyone aboard the Eurasian ships, their actions did not go unnoticed by another set of eyes. These eyes, electronic in nature, belonged to an object that had been trailing the convoy for days. Tasked with monitoring the Alliance's movements in this region, a ZAFT submarine carrier had carefully followed the formation, logging and reporting vast amounts of data back to Carpentaria. As a result, the sudden maneuver of several ships splitting away from the main formation, as well as several intercepted short range messages, allowed the crew of the ZAFT vessel to realize the approximate nature and importance of what was going on.
As numerous messages shot back and forth across the Earth, the ravaged form of the Sangreal impacted the surface with tremendous force. The following shockwave sending a message both far and near. For as the physical signs of the crash were focused in a relatively small area, the force of the following events would travel across not just Earth, but the entire Human Space, as several factions turned their attention on Marshall Islands. Though the gears of progress had started to turn some time ago, after this night their momentum would become unstoppable and echo far into the future.
A/N - Okay, I know it might look like nothing much happened in this chapter, but understand that there are times when the greatest of changes are caused by the smallest of events.