Chapter 8

[A day off?]

The sun's bright rays enveloped everyone as they rose to another day. It seemed as the pilots were too lazy to head to their rooms as they all fell asleep upon the couches in the lobby. Anna and Angel, still embraced, Claire sitting by herself, Claude again sprawled all over the couch and Sean, in a chair also asleep. The first ones to come to was Anna, who again realized that she had not gone to her room in a while. She closed her eyes, as she still sat with Angel's arms around her. Sean, got up and a couple of minutes came back with five cups of coffee. By that time, everyone but Claude was awake and busy doing nothing. The sounds of mumbling came from the other side of the lobby, but everything in the pilot's area was still quiet.
"Here's some coffee for you guys…" Everyone slowly nodded and lethargically took a cup of java as they returned to their seats. Silence engulfed almost all of the pilots, until it was broken by Claude falling off of the couch, then awaking. A loud thump hit the floor, and everyone turned to see Claude half awake.

"I'm… okay!" Claude said as he jumped up, and he shook his head. Claude hesitantly walked over to the cup of coffee and started taking small sips as he returned to his seat.

"You guys are having a day off…" Sean started to say as Claude cut him off.

"Really? A day off!?" Claude responded quickly, his eyes lighting up.

"Uhm, yes…" Sean started. "A second day off. So, I'll meet you guys back here tomorrow morning."

Meanwhile

Slowly orbiting through the quiet stillness of space was a small space station. Quietness filled the small room as a couple of men sat at their spots.

"Sir, something is coming up on the radar," a man in a tidy uniform blurted out.

"What the hell is this?"

Outside, a large fleet of ships approached the satellite. Suddenly, a large explosion rang out and flew toward the station. A bright shatter of light engulfed the station, as the fragments flew through space, and the humungous number of ships sat themselves in orbit.

"Sir, weapons prepared for assault," said a man who sat at an array of computers. Mr. Perry stepped out and took a look at the main screen.

"Prepare my Votal. Including Jonathan's."

The sun was starting to set as Anna and Angel were at a nightclub. Loud music blared through the tightly packed room as many people stood dancing. All of a sudden, the mood changed automatically with the music as a slow song as only a few couples came onto the floor to dance. Angel smiled, and they both gazed at each other. Then, they pulled each other closer and they looked like they were embraced on the dance floor. After those few minutes, they both stepped off the dance floor and walked outside. The warm orange glow surrounded the boardwalk. The sound of waves crashing upon the beach rang through the area and the warm smell of sand was all over. They both came to a stop, and sat down on a bench.

"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" asked Anna.

"Hn," Angel grunted as he looked back at Anna. "yeah, it's getting dark, anyway." They both got up and into a car, and drove back towards the hotel.

A bunch of sirens blared out across the large ship. Suddenly most of the frigates formed a formation. A large number of missiles fired from the humungous ships as the flaming trail quiescently spelled doom for the planet and it's inhabitants.

"Sir, something just came up on radar." Sean ran towards the man and he looked toward the screen.

"Oh my god…" Like second nature, Sean ran toward another panel and slammed upon a red button. Horns and sirens blasted a warning sign. Suddenly, the entire base jumped to life and men were running all over the base.

"Bombing in sequence. Take shelter immediately, I repeat. Bombing in sequence. Take shelter immediately," blasted through the hallways and outside of the base. In the cities, many people ran for their lives, taking shelter in their basements and such.

"What the hell is this?" Angel pulled up to the hotel, and they both got out. Suddenly, a couple of men took Anna and Angel and took them into another car. When they got in, Claude and Anna happened to be there.

"What's going on?" The driver did not reply and the other two men got into the car. After some reckless driving through the city, they got to a small bunker that would be shielded from the missile blasts.
"Get in!" screamed one man as the driver and the other man escorted the pilots into the small bunker. Turning out, it was not a bunker, but an entrance to a base. Suddenly, the doors opened and Sean and a couple of other people were waiting.

"What the hell is happening?" screamed Claude as he stared through Sean.

"Perry found us…"

"No, that's not good," said Anna. Out of nowhere, a number of explosions rocked the small room and some of the supporting beams fell down, crushing some of the people that were in the room. Once the dust settled, only little remained, and suddenly, a movement pushed out of the rubble.

"Not again…" said Claire. Again, Anna pushed out of the rubble.

"Claude? Angel?" was heard as Anna and Claire could be heard screaming their names. Then, a number of screams in pain could be heard as Claire and Anna struggled to lift the debris off.

"No, Angel…" said a sympathetic Anna as she tried to get some debris off of him.

"My leg, it's pinned.," said Angel as he tried to squeeze out. Out of nowhere, Claude pushed out of the debris, helping Sean up.

"I'll kill him…" said Sean, trying to stand.

"Help us, stupid!" screamed Claire, trying to push off the large chunk of rock that pinned Angel down. Claude ran over, and helped push. With enough time and luck, they pushed the big boulder that held Angel's leg. When Angel tried to get up, he stumbled and fell back down.

"Shit," Angel paused, "It's broken…"

"I'll kill him…" said Claire, clasping her fist.

"Where's the Votal bay?" said Angel.

"Your leg, it's gonna be hell to operate your Votal with your leg like that!" said Sean.

"I don't give a fuck! Where is the bay!" Claude helped Angel up.

"Follow me," said Sean. He dusted off his trenchcoat and trudged off among the rubble. Slowly but steadily moving, the four pilots followed faithfully. Arriving into the bay, the immense size once again, overwhelmed them.

"Can you climb up, Angel?" asked Sean, as Angel looked up the ladder toward Angel Xero's cockpit.

"That's it!" Angel screamed and he latched upon the ladder. "Argh!" He squirmed, and he pulled his way up, but he got into the cockpit. Settling down in the padded seat, he relaxed.

"Can't relax," said Angel, "I still have a vendetta…" Suddenly, Sean's voice came up on his headset.

"We're taking off, and we have no backup whatsoever, since most of our defenses have been destroyed," said Sean. "We're launching now." A jolt of movement set Angel's Votal in motion, and just before he knew it, he was in mid-air.

"Let's Go…" Angel mumbled as the five pilots headed toward space. Suddenly, sounds of explosions and screams over the radio channels could be heard as the pilots approached closer and closer to where the missiles came from.

Mr. Perry looked at the screen and saw the five blips appear instantly.

"Jonathan, hurry, they are coming…" Suddenly, they both got into their cockpits and launched into space.

"There still are people alive?" Sean looked around and saw many other unmarked Votals fighting the EvA's.

"Duh, at least we're still alive!" said Claude, as he looked around. Suddenly, two unfamiliar Votals appeared out of nowhere.

"Shit! It's Perry, but who is the other one?" Then, a familiar voice came up on the headset.

"Surrender yourselves… Now."

"Jonathan?" questioned Claude. No reply came from the voice. But then, another voice replied.

"Yes, it is Jonathan," said Mr. Perry. "There is no need to, because he isn't really Jonathan anymore.

"I thought you were dead, Perry…" Angel grunted.

"Stupid!" screamed Perry. "I simply left before the bomb went off, It's not that hard."

"Split up," said Angel. "I have a vendetta to carry out."

"Oh, so you come to challenge me again?" Mr. Perry stated, drawing his beam sabers.

"Bring it," said Angel. "All you've got…"

"Angel, are you sure you want to do this?" said Anna, with a hint of fear.

"Yeah, you take out the other ships," said Angel. "Make sure they can't fire again." Their Votal's boosters lit up, and flew toward the ongoing battle.

"So you replaced me with him?" said Jonathan. His Votal looked different, and he had a more serious tone to his voice.

// He's not like the Jonathan I used to know… //

"What do you say, me and you, buddy?" Jonathan's Votal faced Sean's and they both sheathed their beam weapons at the same time.

"Anytime, just bring it…" Sean replied, his voice getting tenser.

"How could you replace me with someone so weak?"

// Big talk… he never said anything like this… //

"Weak? I'll show you weak…" Sean flew toward and smacked Jonathan's new Votal. Leaving a dent, Jonathan replied in anger.

"You… You bastard!" Suddenly, his flares lit up and they both went into a deadlock. Out of nowhere, Angel looked toward Mr. Perry's Votal.

"Shall we dance?" Mr. Perry questioned as he charged toward Angel. They both met each other, blow by blow. Showers of sparks flew down and illuminated the area as all four Votals clashed. The eerie glow of the beam weapons cast fear into each pilot's heart. It was the symbol of life, or death. Grunts and screams of anger were heard over and over again over Angel's headset, as he fought to kill the man who dragged him and his girlfriend into a whole war.

"You bitch!" Suddenly, Angel slashed the Votal's arm off, and then flew back. Mr. Perry did nothing but smirk, then commented.

"We'll see who has the last laugh, Angel…" With no warning, Perry's Votal disappeared. Angel looked around, but to no avail, he did not find Mr. Perry.

"Gotta help Sean…" His boosters lit up and he went to find Sean.

"Weakling!" Jonathan screamed as his anger kept building up, and accelerating his speed and strength. Sounds of beam weapon against metal kept ringing through Sean's ears. All of a sudden, Jonathan slammed his beam weapon into Sean's Votal, crippling it. The victor, Jonathan raised the weapon over the Votal's head, preparing to deliver the final blow. Without warning, a shower of electrical tipped spikes came down and landed on Jonathan's Votal, shorting the circuitry, disabling his arms.

"Bastard!" screamed Jonathan. He turned around, and fired a couple of laser shots, which hit Angel in the cockpit. He grabbed his chest in pain, then looked on. Then, Jonathan's Votal disappeared and left Sean and Angel hovering.

"Transfer all power to boosters," said Sean.

"Stay here," Angel stated. "I'm going to see if they're okay," Angel's Votal started to move and headed toward the fray that the other pilots entered.

Explosions rang out all over the area as the three pilots duked it out with the EvA Votals and the backup they had.

"Shit!" A missile flew past Claude, who barely dodged the deadly object. "Too many EvA's!" The backup that was supplied by the rebels all got killed and destroyed in one blast by the missile that flew past Claude.

"Ah crap!" screamed Claude, as he waved his heat chains around. Taking down more than a couple, his flamethrowers set whatever was left or the next line of EvA's on fire. Claire took cover, firing constant ki blasts, leveling most of the EvA force. Anna, was taking care of any other EvA's that got past Claire and Claude.

"Oh god…" said Anna as she looked around. "We're surrounded…" hundreds upon hundreds were around the three pilots as they sat in the middle of what looked like millions. Out of nowhere, more explosions rang out as Angel and Claude forced their way through from the outside. They finally reached the middle, and, noticed that they were once again surrounded.

"Fight your way out! All you have!" screamed Angel, as he drew his katanas and screamed in anger.

"Ahhhhhh!" screamed Claire, joining Angel. One by one, they all joined Angel in tearing through the hundreds of EvA Votals.

"Get going! Enter the planet's atmosphere now!" screamed Claude, as he flew toward the planet in a rush. Everyone quickly realized why Claude was in a hurry.

"Shit!" Screamed Angel as he darted toward the planet and they all followed. In no time, a large fireball emanated from the center of the fray, which engulfed the entire fleet.

"God damnit!" screamed Claire. "Tell us before you set the bomb!"

"Sorry, at least I got us out of a fix…" replied a meek Claude.

Upon exiting re-entry, they stumbled upon a view of a scarred planet. Fires all over the landscape, and the cities in rubble.

"Grrrr…" grunted Sean. "That bastard…"

"Do you think he's dead now… after that blast?" said Anna.

"No, he couldn't be…" said Claire. "He escaped the last one… he probably escaped this one…"

"Look, there should be a hidden base west of here that could repair our suits," said Sean. "Let's go." The flares lit up again, and headed toward the sun.

They arrived at the small base which was untouched by the missile raid. Small, and quiet, once the Votals landed, a large number of men rushed out to repair the damage that was dealt to the pilots. Sean jumped out of his Votal, and greeted the head mechanic.

"We have to leave the planet," said Sean. "They already know we're here…"

"After we get our ships working," replied the mechanic. "We'll be ready then."

"How long?"

"A couple of hours, give or take a few." Time passed slowly as the small population gathered their equipment and prepared their ships. A couple of hours later, the zero-gravity of space once again surrounded them.

"Where the hell are we going now?" blurted Angel as he tried to get his leg comfortably in one spot.

"Another one of those bases…" said Sean as he looked on. The soothing blue color of the former planet was slowly fading away as the pilots headed off to another home, in another place.

Slowly arriving out of hyperspace, the pilots looked around.

"Where are we?" said Sean, as the small fleet of ships and Votals appeared in a small asteroid field.

"Sean, I'm picking up a lot of ships around here…" said a voice on Angel's headset.

// Shit… What's happening? //

"They're asteroids, right?" said Sean, his voice becoming tenser.

// No… //

Out of nowhere, a small blast of light flew by and hit Angel's Votal, knocking it over. Angel quickly regained balance.

"Angel! Are you okay?" shrieked Anna, with the tone of sympathy on her voice.

"Shit!" screamed Angel. "I'm okay!" Another voice came up on all of the pilot's headsets.

"Surrender yourselves!" said the voice.

"You scratched the paint…" replied Angel. The voice laughed.

"Surrender your Votals and equipment now, or we will be forced to destroy you!" Flashing lights came up in Angel's cockpit as he looked around.
// Power's draining… crap… // Suddenly, one blip of an enemy Votal appeared on Angel's radar. Again, more and more kept appearing.

"That's not good, is it?" said Claude, keeping a sense of humor. One by one, the pilots slowly started to draw their weapons. Out of nowhere, many Votals suddenly appeared as their boosters flared up and they started to charge.

"Bring it!" screamed Angel, as he channeled his rage through his weapons and fighting.

"This reminds me of the EvA's!" said Claude as he ripped an enemy Votal in half. Claire's Votal moved quickly, and slowly disappeared in between ripping through the Votals. Sean took his massive beam swords and tore through the Votals like they were rag dolls. The heat of battle suddenly increased as Angel's screams started to increase with strength.

"Aargh!" Angel screamed as he ripped through many Votals, leaving a trail of debris in his path. In Angel's cockpit, the fuel meter started to decrease rapidly.

// Baka… // He thought to himself as he killed some space pirate. Within the time range of twenty minutes or so, they demolished the enemy's army to a group of 30 or so Votals, which were smart enough to turn and run after seeing the carnage they just witnessed their allies go through.

// Trained killers… aren't we supposed to be bringers of peace? Heh, it turns out this wasn't a day off… //