Disclaimer: All Digimon and their characters (except for those introduced in this fic/series) do NOT belong to me. I do not have permission to use their characters, but it's a FanFic, so, who cares? =) This story line belongs to me and me alone. Please ask for permission if you wish to use it. Thanks. Now let's get onto reading!
GS groaned lightly, slowly awakening from his unconscious state he entered so long ago. He could feel the soft and light touch of someone around his neck, though he couldn't identify it at first.
In all essence, he liked it. He never felt anything so caring before in such a long time…he couldn't even recall when the last time he felt something like that. Inadvertently, he smiled at the thought.
"Oh my…" he heard a familiar voice speak quickly and with surprise. "He's SMILING!" The mercenary's smile grew a bit wider, leaning back a bit against whoever was holding him.
"It makes it sound like you've never seen me smile before, Amnemon," GS responded to his Digimon partner, opening his eyes. His gaze met those of Nina Windhope and surrounding Digimon partners. The mercenary blinked a few times, placing an armoured hand lightly against Nina's cheek. She winced slightly, still in a bit of pain from the damage the mercenary did to her only so long ago.
The touch of comfort slowly left GS, the feeling more becoming an intruder to him then that of remorse. Slowly, his smile turned to an emotionless stare. His previous cool, cold, and calculated state returned to him.
He quickly pulled away from Nina and stood up, picking up his helmet with him. His gaze returned to his target, wondering what he just felt from her, but decided not to pursue the subject. As it is, he wasn't even sure why he blacked out in the first place.
"Satsuki…?" Nina asked, standing up, albeit her legs trembled with the lack of energy in her body. She nearly fell over if it wasn't for GS quickly catching her fallen body.
"Wha?" the mercenary thought, wondering why he caught the young girl as she fell. Quickly, he righted Nina back up, allowing her to settle back down and regain feeling in her legs.
"Thank you…Satsuki…" Nina told the mercenary, her breathing a bit harsh. GS didn't make any move, even after that name was mentioned to him, twice. He wasn't sure why he didn't protest to the name…it was familiar to him, in something unexplained, and it didn't make him angry at all, especially with this one certain female mentioning.
He shook the thought out of his mind, quickly replacing the helmet over his head and sealing it back up. He hated it when others saw his face, even for a few moments like that. A quick check of his armour was made, seeing that all systems were a green.
The mercenary's gaze was back on Nina, seeing her regain her energy. GS decided not to attempt travel yet of his target, not in the condition she was in. Any major travels in that condition could result in lose of income on his part…
Ventra raised the gattling gun arm of the Armour, unloading a full salvo of bullets into the direction of the Aerial Armour. The first bullet hit home, as did the majority of bullets afterwards. Of course, if Ventra was using his recoil dampener, once the first hit, the remainder would hit until he was out of ammo, or until his target was nothing more then bits and pieces.
Nevertheless, the Aerial Armour fell, due to its lack of armour. Ventra huffed, lowering the arm and waiting for his next opponent. The pilot of the Aerial Armour left the simulator disappointedly, wondering how he could've been chewed up so easily.
"Stupid pilots…you can never compare to the one that destroyed my mates…not even close…" Ventra muttered between his breaths, gripping the controls to the simulator tightly. It was quite clear where his anger was directed. Even Paramon's suggestion to try to vent some of it against other soldiers in the base didn't seem to work.
The next Armour was chosen, Aerial Armour, light assault rifle…standard armament for that type, and Ventra was getting bored of fighting new recruits like that. He opened fire instantly, ready to teach this newcomer a thing or two about combat.
Jena crept into the mess hall of the military base, surprised to get so far into the base undetected. She landed her Aerial Armour in the nearby forest outside of the base, relying on her Stealth to keep her undetected. From there, she sneaked inside, Kisheartmon right behind her all the way. She found it rather surprising to sneak into the base, let alone in such short time.
"What are you thinking?" the bird Digimon asked her partner, wondering why they paused at the door of the mess hall. Jena shook her head, not answering the question and headed in confidently. She figured she could fit into the group with little trouble.
Her attention was taken by a rather loud cursing near one of the corners of the room. She quickly identified the two linked simulators, and seeing one pilot leaving rather hastily. The Aerial Armour pilot figured the pilot just leaving lost, and lost horribly to the other person in the simulator. Another pilot took the place of the loser, and Jena decided to take her chances too, stepping towards the simulator to test her luck, and better said, to integrate herself within the community of other pilots that did not share the same goals as she.
GS and company arrived at the closest and designated base they were supposed to be at much earlier then the mercenary expected. They made great time despite his 'uncontrolled behaviour', as Amnemon dubbed it, and as well as a few injured members of the group that slowed them down a little, much to the cause of GS in the first place.
"She's injured…" the client told GS, gazing towards the monitor that showed Nina before them. She waited patiently in the lobby of the base, Tigramon sleeping in her lap. She seemed too peaceful despite the environment of the military base around her.
"Circumstances made if difficult," GS lied, but his stance remained firm and solid, his voice didn't stagger at all.
"I see.." the client mused, his back turned to GS, though that was only a guess through the shadows of the poorly illuminated room. Their was a brief silence between the two before another briefcase was placed on the table, similar to the one GS received before while receiving this mission. The mercenary stepped to the table the opened the case, examining its contents. He nodded in satisfaction, then left the room to the privacy of his client.
Nina looked up quickly at the emerging figure of GS, completely masked behind the large exoskeleton armour he wore. She smiled affectionately and innocently, glad to see GS again, despite what happened last time. She ran her hand through the fur on Tigramon's back slowly.
"You found your new home," GS told her, causing her smile to fade quickly.
"But I wanted to be with you…" she protested, albeit meekly. She knew this was coming, especially with what the mercenary told her earlier, but she didn't believe it, and still didn't.
"My job is done with you," GS spoke emotionlessly, though his mind thought otherwise. "We may never see each other again." Nina's eyes grew wide with that.
"But I want to be with you, Satsuki…" she repeated herself again, pleading this time. GS once more regarded the younger girl, shaking his head slowly. He began to move again, leaving the base and Nina for what seemed for good.
"Satsuki…" Nina whispered, already missing the mercenary, for reasons unknown to everyone but her…
Ventra relaxed his grip over the controls for a brief moment, destroying yet another Armour with little trouble. He sighed softly, not even close to venting all his frustration and anger, but it was a start. The simulation was slowly elevating the pain in his heart.
The next armour materialized before him; another Aerial Armour with an assault rifle, expected. The Terra Armour pilot sighed in disappointment, seeing another quick victory as he open fired with his gun arm.
Ventra then gasped in surprise as the Aerial Armour dodged the bullets with relative ease. His surprise faded quickly though, the pilot growing much more serious much quicker with that one fact, seeing a challenge before him. His grip over his controls became firm, not slacked like the prior encounters. He intended to win this fight.
The Terra Armour pilot continued to spew hail into the sky, trailing behind the Aerial Armour while trying to second guess the pilot's thoughts. If Ventra could predict where the Armour would go next, it would all be over in seconds, but the Aerial Armour moved in such sporadic ways that it seemed impossible to track.
"It just makes it all the more interesting…" Ventra thought, grinning at the challenge. He decided to halt his mad frenzy of shooting and see what this Aerial Armour had in store for him. If all else, he still had the small rocket pack mounted on his shoulder for extra firepower.
The Aerial Armour hovered in the air for a little bit, possibly a bit confused with the halt in attack, but then decided to take the opportunity to attack, albeit, a bit cautiously.
Ventra decided to see what else the Aerial Armour pilot could do, firing one of the four rockets he held in his pack. He expected a dodge from the Armour's part, was quite surprised when, instead, the Armour shot down the rocket directed at it with about half to clip of the assault rifle.
"Whoever the pilot is…" Ventra thought, acknowledging the opposing pilot's skill. The remainder of the bullets from the assault rifle ricocheted off the plating of his Armour, doing minor damage. Ventra opened fire again with his chain gun in response.
The Aerial Armour barrel rolled out of the way and accelerated up, up, and up towards the sky, making it an extremely hard target to hit, and even if the bullets did hit in that distance, they would have already lost enough velocity to make their damage insignificant. With that in mind, Ventra halted his attack again, admiring his opponent's cleverness.
"If only I was using my real Armour, this would all be over…" Ventra thought, not angered anymore, but amused with the challenge brought before him. It was a while since he had a chance to really fight seriously in a simulator.
"Come on…bring it…" Ventra 'Paranoia' Asgard whispered, preparing for his next attack, or defence, what ever the case may be.
GS manoeuvred his Gaia Armour to his next destination, Amnemon riding on his shoulder. His goal was to meet his next client, someone from WUF, but his mindset was somewhere else.
"Satsuki," Nina whispered, smiling from ear to ear as she mentioned the name.
GS shook the thought from his mind, wondering why he kept on remembering her. That mission was done, he would probably not see her again…and yet…he couldn't stop thinking about that small girl.
"GS, what's wrong?" the hedgehog Digimon asked, knocking lightly on the helmet of the Armour. GS didn't answer, only remained silent to his Digimon's question. Despite that, the Digimon had a clue what bothered GS, and it had something to do with a certain young girl in their last job. "It's Nina, isn't it?" GS still didn't answer, but it was quite clear what lingered in his mind. "What is it between you are her?" the hedgehog Digimon asked next.
"Would you stop asking!?" GS exclaimed, getting fed up with the annoying questions from his companion. Amnemon nearly fell off the Armour's shoulder with that shout, silencing himself quickly.
The two continued on in silence towards the WUF base with their client waiting for them.
Jena exhaled, holding her breath for God knows how long. Her screen went blank. She slowly released the grip around her controls, never before seeing such challenge, aside from one other occasion.
"But…I didn't lose this one…" she thought, smiling as she began to unlock the simulator. "Well, neither did my opponent…it was a draw…" It was a battle well fought, no matter what.
The Aerial Armour pilot stepped out of the simulator, as did her opponent. Jena giggled at the look of surprise from her opponent's face when he saw the Aerial Armour pilot was female.
"I take it you have never seen a female battle so well, have you?" Jena asked, outstretching a hand. The other pilot took it with respect for his opposition. "Jena, Jena Starheart."
"Ventra Asgard," the other pilot responded, the two releasing their grip. "But I'm nicknamed Paranoia. It's a pleasure to meet someone with your skill at Aerial Armour."
"The pleasure is all mine," Jena responded, smiling lightly. Ventra nodded, then eyed the crowd that watched the two exchange greetings.
"I guess our little battle caught the attention of many," Ventra observed, turning his attention back to the other pilot. "But I believe this is the first time I've seen you at this base…"
"Let's just say I'm a mercenary," she lied, trying not to blow her cover. It was already risky enough to come in the open like that without proper authorization.
"Merc…eh?" Ventra mused, examining her. "Pretty cute for a mercenary." Jena blushed at the comment that came right out of the blue. Thankfully for her, there was a interruption to their conversation.
"Ventra!" Paramon shouted out, peeling out of the crowd and towards his partner. Kisheartmon did the same, only flying overhead and perching down beside Jena. The two Digimon exchanged glances, smiling.
"Strange how our partners are the same people," Paramon commented, looking up at Ventra.
"Yeah, no wonder we couldn't agree on who would win that simulator battle," Kisheartmon added, also looking up at her partner.
"I take it you two already met…" both pilots spoke, before introducing their partner to their opponent; now comrade.
GS held the photos of his target between his fingers, four photos in total. He scanned their faces, Human and Digimon alike. He took one hard look at them.
"Your pay will be 30 thousand, if you accept," the commander told the mercenary. "Nothing in advance, you either get them, or you don't get paid." GS continued to eye the photos, analyzing them. "So?"
"They were gladiators, weren't they?" GS questioned, though by the appearance of them in the photos, it was quite obvious.
"You have a good eye," the commander admired, collecting the photos that GS discarded onto the table. "If you accept the job, we will provide a little serum to help subdue them."
"I don't need your 'help'," GS answered, turning his back.
"Those two Digimon can Digivolve to a Mega level," the commander spoke, halting GS in his tracks. The mercenary analyzed the situation further, turning back around to see what this 'assistance' is.
In the hand of the client, a vial was gripped between his fingers. It was a steel vial, so GS couldn't see the contents inside. Next, the commander rolled two darts onto the table.
"The contents of this vial have the ability to de-Digivolve any Digimon back to its Rookie stage, as well as prevent Digivolving definitely," the commander informed the mercenary. "The darts are calibrated to fit into your rifle, but there is only enough serum for two darts." GS shrugged, taking the darts and serum and stepping out once more. "Don't miss!" Those two words stopped GS momentarily. He glanced back.
"I don't miss," he responded, continuing the walk out.
Completed: 10/06/01
