Armour Duelling

By: Theodore 'Blitz' Leung

theoleung@sprint.ca

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 lead the group of captives to the location of the base were he got the original assignment to find these 'gladiators'. The exoskeleton figure led them in, carrying a still unconscious Siato. Any chance of escape was clearly impossible when they entered the facility. A contingent of soldiers led them off, taking the weight of the male gladiator off GS. He was then directed towards the office of his employee.

"Well done," the officer congratulated, his hands clasped together. On the desk was a duffel bag. The mercenary approached the desk, dropping the two used darts onto the table and taking the bag. He grunted something, then turned his back.

"It was nice doing business with you," the commander told the mercenary. In turn, GS only grunted again, leaving the room and heading back towards his Armour to find another job.

* * * * * *

Jena slowly landed her commandeered Aerial Armour, opening the hatch before it came to a complete landing and leaping out when the Armour finally stopped, turning it off. Ventra halted reloading his Armour, as did Pardramon, they gazed at Jena, and then behind her and the Armour towards Shinuindomon, who now landed outside the hanger. The Armour closed up, and Jena withdrew her Digivice.

"I heard, you destroyed them all," Ventra spoke softly, without malice or anger. Jena nodded slowly, approaching him, as did Ventra approached her. "Even without your Armour…you-"

"They branded me a traitor," Jena interrupted, finding it prudent to speak her mind, her disturbed mind. "Even before I finished destroying my…allies, they branded me a traitor…"

"Wha…?" Ventra asked, destroying any tension that could have possibly been between the pair from Jean's confession.

"They told me…I'm a traitor, in the air, when…" Jena hesitated, wondering if she should tell Ventra everything. She decided in the next moment. "When I came here to spy on you all and avenge the fellow pilots in my squad." She tilted her head down and away, ashamed for admitting the truth. The Aerial Armour pilot felt like she didn't belong anywhere now.

"Do you need to rest? I can give you one of the empty resting chambers in the base," Ventra offered. Jena tilted her head back up, blinking once, then smiling. She nodded slowly.

"Thank you…" she responded softly, barely audible. Ventra only shook his head lightly, heading back towards the base while ordering Pardramon to reload his Armour.

* * * * * *

GS somehow ended up returning to the UDF base where he deposited Nina only so long ago. The mercenary wasn't sure why he returned there, he just knew he was there. Amnemon made no protest, in fact, it occurred to the hedgehog Digimon that it may be 'healthy' for the mercenary to visit Nina. It wasn't the only reason they were there - the base was interested in hiring the mercenary's services again, which was an odd turn for GS. He rarely had the same person hire his skills twice.

The mercenary stepped into the facility, leaving Amnemon to the normal guard duty of the Gaia Armour that belonged to the Mercenary. Once again, he was guided by a soldier to the commander's room, though GS could have guided himself, he was familiar with the base layout to know where to go.

He entered the room, the familiar two guards standing outside. Like before, the room was poorly illuminated, though it didn't bother the mercenary in the exoskeleton. He approached the desk, seeing only the silhouette of the figure on the chair.

"What do you want?" GS asked impatiently, crossing his arms as he waited for the answer. The client regarded the mercenary for a moment, as though analyzing him if he was appropriate for the job or not.

"We need you to hunt down an Armour for us," the client spoke, tossing a photo onto the desk. The mercenary took the photo, seeing a standard Gaia Armour with a SMG, an assault rifle, and possibly a sword on its back, obviously energy tipped, though GS couldn't be sure. "The Armour and its pilot already destroyed a few of our squads, so we are suspecting a veteran, though we calculate it is nothing you can not handle."

"They're flattering me," GS mumbled, tossing the picture back down. "75 thousand," the mercenary told the client, a bold move on his part - he would normally let the client set the price and negotiate from there.

To GS' surprise, the employee agreed, nodding his head. The mercenary saw the job as a simple assassination mission, nothing more and nothing less. He let his greed overcome his common sense, seeing nothing wrong and becoming over confident. He left the room silently, detecting an easy 75 thousand.

The commander smirked, tapping his fingers together. His plan was working just fine.

* * * * * *

Siato slowly awoke, groaning in pain as he clutched his stomach. The trio he shared the cell with quickly glanced towards him, as he winced in pain while slowly sitting up on the hard bed he was lying on before. Agumon was quickly by his side, leaning over.

"Are you alright?" the dinosaur Digimon questioned, staring into the male's eyes. Siato blinked once, then closed his eyes tightly.

"Argh…as soon as this pain in my stomach goes away, yes…" Siato groaned, realizing that mercenary hit him hard right there, even with his armour. He clutched that section tighter. "Where are we…?"

"A WUF base near the border," another voice answered, as the doors hissed open. Sapphire and Gabumon backed away from the door, letting the uniformed man into the cell.

"What do you want?" Sapphire hissed, drawing a bit closer to Siato, as though to protect him. The officer gazed towards the female, then to the wounded male.

"I am here to propose you an offer," he started. Sapphire glanced outside, seeing a pair of armed guards with their weapons trained. She decided it better to listen then to risk a breakout. "We are offering you a position into the WUF ranks as Armour pilots. Your skills are invaluable, and we would prefer to use them instead of waste them."

"And if we refuse?" Siato grunted, still staring at the ceiling. The Digimon remained silent, leaving it up to their partner's to answer.

"We will throw you back into the arena in a battle that you would never be able to win," the officer informed them, calmly, though it was hinted he was enjoying saying that. Siato forced himself to sit up, staring at the officer darkly. In turn, the person chuckled. "I'm only a messenger," he remarked, stepping out, the door sliding shut as soon as he exited. The pair of gladiator's exchanged glances, wondering what choice they had now.

"Without our Mega level, we probably won't be able to escape again," Agumon told the pair, though that answer was clear to the pair already. They sighed softly, knowing the choice that was best for this situation.

* * * * * *

The site was a graveyard for Armour's. Many were destroyed, maimed, decapitated, disembowelled, amputated. Blood poured from the parts, from the pilots who engaged the renegade Armour and died as such. It was clear the Armour pilot didn't just rip through the Armour, but also the pilot as well. GS shivered at the thought - not even he would go so low as to torture the victims as such.

"What…happened?" Amnemon gasped, disgusted by the amount of destroyed Armour's. GS remained silent, scouting in the distance. There the Armour stood, hunched over, hands curled up, though not completely. Whoever the pilot was, GS had the impression of insanity from it. On the ground before the Armour was an assault rifle, most likely empty of ammunition.

"Target acquired," GS spoke to himself, drawing his rifle and aiming it towards the Armour. He could barely see the Armour from that distance, though he saw enough to get one clean shot in. He calculated, and then aimed. His finger inched over the trigger, going to press it…

The Armour quickly reacted, drawing its SMG and firing at GS, blasting into the scope of the rifle as the mercenary exclaimed in surprise, backing away just in time as the bullet whizzed past. A moment later and the bullet would've gone through his Armour lens and into his eye, meaning instant death on his part.

"What the HELL?!" GS yelled out, as the Armour quickly sprinted towards GS. The Gaia Armour drew its energy tipped sword as GS drew his heated baton, his sniper rifle useless. "The pilot SHOT me with a SMG…and HIT my lens…" he muttered, wondering if it was just blind luck or if that was skill. The Armour let out a war cry, its external speakers on. GS winced upon hearing the voice, as though hearing a banshee, though it struck him harder then he thought. The voice lingered in his mind: a female one.

The mercenary barely had time to react, drawing his baton up and blocking the downward slash. He threw the energy tipped sword to the side, before punching the opposing Armour in the face, or would've. His fist was captured by the other Armour's hand, who basically crushed GS' hand with the amount of force.

"ARGH!!!" GS exclaimed, falling to a knee as Amnemon backed up, before narrowing his eyes. The Armour raised its sword, about to impale it through GS' back.

"SONIC DISC!"

The emerald energy discus knocked the sword away as it imbedded into the ground. Amnemon then leaped towards the Armour, curling up into a ball and colliding right into the Armour, who staggered backwards. The Digimon uncurled, approaching his partner.

"I don't need your help," GS muttered to his partner, slowly getting back to his feet. He raised the baton as the Armour stopped its stagger, staring at GS, then the Digimon. There was insanity in those eyes, even if GS couldn't see through the Armour's visor, he could tell - insanity and bloodlust. The Armour may have been shorter then his, but it hurt just as much. With another war cry, the Armour rushed forward, both hands on its sword, pulled back and going to run GS through. The sniper side stepped, then raised his baton to block the blow as the sword can rushing back at him, the Armour swinging in a massive arc towards GS. The mercenary stumbled backwards as the force of the blow knocked him down. The next attack came as a downward slash that GS barely rolled away from, the blade imbedding into the ground. GS leaped to his feet, only to get a hard punch to his face, as he staggered backwards.

The mercenary recovered, only to see the blade approach him in a crosscut. He raised his baton again, only to be knocked down. In addition, his baton was snapped in half, leaving GS defenceless in the occasion. He groaned in pain, his groans becoming louder as the Armour slammed its foot against his chest, pinning the mercenary to the ground.

"GS!" Amnemon shouted, leaping forward and curling back up into a ball to ricochet off the opposing Armour. In turn, as the Armour expected, it turned around and gave the 'ball' a quick backhand slap, knocking the Digimon to the ground. "Ow…" the Digimon hissed, hands curled up tightly. "Die…" the Armour muttered through the speaker, obviously female now. GS snapped to attention on hearing the voice, seeing the sword looming overheard, ready to drive a whole through his head.

* * * * * *

Tigramon weakly glanced up, sick and tired from everything. She missed Nina, who was taken to do something a bit back, as she did for the whole of the last few days. She hated being alone, even more so hating not being able to protect Nina, or better said…someone else, but that was besides the point. She curled up into a ball, closing her eyes.

The whole base rocked with an explosive force, bringing her to attention immediately. She leaped off the bed and onto the ground, the door to her chamber blown ajar partially. The Digimon slowly crawled out, glancing around. Alarms and klaxons echoed through the hallways of the UDF base. It didn't take the Digimon long to observe the base was under attack, but by what, she wasn't sure. Soldiers began to mobilize, though they then began to retreat, unarmed and running into something that obviously frightened them off. Tigramon, unable to see her partner in danger, quickly sprinted off, trying to find Nina in the complex series of corridors that made the base. She approached the first fork in the passageway, glancing all around as panicking soldiers were quickly drawing arms. They ignored the small cat in the hallway as she bounded down a path.

"There's one!" one of the soldiers shouted, opening fire at Tigramon. She gasped in surprise, leaping into the next corridor to avoid more gunfire.

"They're out to get me…" Tigramon gasped, slowly down to a trot, hardly able to run anymore, in her sick state. Nevertheless, loyalty drove her own, as she continued her sprint. She ran flat into another soldier, who quickly pointed his weapon down. Tigramon gasped.

"Die!" the soldier shouted, shooting the Digimon. Tigramon leaped back, but the bullet imbedded itself into her leg, causing her to collapse. The soldier grunted, walking towards the fallen Digimon, kicking her in the side. Tigramon cried out, eyes closed tightly. She heard the click of the weapon.

"I'm sorry…Nina…" she whispered, before her whole world went black.

* * * * * *

"Wake up!" GS shouted at the Armour, trying to snap whoever was piloting it. The mercenary had a good idea who was inside now, telling by the voice. The sword stopped inches away from him, as the Armour stared intently into GS' eyes. The weapon slowly elevated, as the pilot inside tried to recall who she was. A cry of pain came through the speakers, before the pilot began to resume her course of impaling GS.

At that moment, GS' Digivice blasted to life, empowering his Digimon partner with energy. The hedgehog Digimon leaped back to his feet, curling up into a ball.

"Amnemon…Digivolve to…"

The ball that made the hedgehog Digimon glowed with energy, as its limbs grew larger and longer. The quills on the Digimon's back grew larger and thicker, resembling fins of sorts. In appearance, it sort of resembled a mass sprouting from one source. The new Digimon roared in defiance.

"Jinmamon!"

With the new level of power, Jinmamon was quickly upon the Armour, throwing the Armour off GS and pinning it against the ground. Another roar of defiance.

"SONIC SHOCK!"

The shockwave of power exploded at point blank against the Armour, getting a cry of pain from the Armour's pilot. This was followed by the beating of Jinmamon's first against the Armour, pounding it inwards in an attempt to crush the pilot inside. More cries of pain erupted from the Armour, followed by sobbing.

"Stop it!" GS ordered, punching his Digimon partner right across the face. The Champion level Digimon fell to the ground, leaving the Armour untouched anymore. He rubbed his cheek lightly.

"What was that for!? She was going to kill you!" Jinmamon shouted at the mercenary, who only cradled the fallen Armour in his arms, gazing at it. The crying was ceased, but so was the aura of insanity that surrounded it as well. GS watched the Armour, who was now shivering, the pilot inside obviously afraid, if not half unconscious. It was then the Armour went limp in his arms, the pilot finally losing consciousness. Silently, GS fiddled with the Armour.

"You don't see it, do you…" GS muttered, finding the switch he was looking for and hoping it worked. Jinmamon watched silently, unable to comprehend his partner's action. The hydraulics and gears inside hissed to life, but did nothing, the parts jammed together.

"Damn…" GS cursed softly, gently placing the Armour down and standing back, opening his own Armour up and stepping up. He took his Digivice and replaced it into his Armour, kneeling down by the female pilot's Armour. The tri-pronged claws of his Exoskeleton emerged, as he delicately cut the Armour open with it. With three neat incisions, he ripped the chest plate open. He continued to cut upwards, breaking through the neck and the arms. He removed those pieces as well, leaving a Human figure with a helmet and the lower half of her torso's Armour on. A quick slash across the Armour's face cut it open.

"And the moment of truth…" GS spoke aloud, more to himself then to his partner. He ripped the mask apart and pulled it away, revealing the face of the pilot. Jinmamon gasped in surprise, staring in disbelief.

Nina lay on the ground, her legs still trapped in the contraption she was piloting. She slept so peacefully, and yet, she was the insane person that nearly killed GS and his partner so long ago.

"Why…?" GS questioned, retracting his pronged claws and stroking the hair of the female lightly. "Why…?"

Fin

Completed: 03/23/02