Chapter 4: Mission
Feyhander lay on his bed, in the middle of the night yet he was wide-awake thinking. How was it possible? There was supposed to be nothing but a computer how could there be a human, a female at that? Could it be an android built to house the hustler two programming? Perhaps it was built to unnerve him. Yet if that was true that meant she no it lost on purpose. Then again why build a housing for the program when it would never need to show itself unless defeated, perhaps to preserve it from total destruction? No, it could always create another that meant that was a flesh and blood person I just fought. She looked at me with the most hatred I ever saw in anyone's eyes, yet there was not an ounce of emotion despite it. Did the computer take her involuntarily? Impossible that hatred was far from fake, so she went to the computers side voluntarily. She looked familiar but I can't quite place the face with a name or where I saw her. All I seem capable of remembering is that face, that soft, gentle face contorted with a deep hatred and loathing, she wanted me dead. I could probably kill her yet I can't even bring myself to think of it. She was beautiful, somehow that was all I could think of, that and her skill. Her skill rivaled my own, she was a deadly adversary who despised every fiber of my being, yet I couldn't bring myself to lay a single finger on her. What was wrong with me? She was only another woman I had met plenty many who both liked me and were much hotter than she was. What if? What if I might be, no, I never had I never will. I could never possibly be, and yet, whenever I think of her. could this possibly mean I was. The message-mail beeped, Feyhander's only two-way link to the outside world. Only his most trusted friends and people with jobs for him knew the address. It was a mail for a mission; one of many that had been offered to him after is spectacular defeat of the 8-ball AC. He quickly skimmed through the letter taking in the basic of what it said and offered. He was about to put it on hold when he comprehended who sent it and where it was. It was from his old raven contact, the one who told him never to listen to the companies and who he never heard from after the destruction of the computer. Where it was scared him even more, where he destroyed that computer, what was offered was the exact same amount, the entire letter was the same he saw that long time ago except for the last sentence.
She's waiting for her revenge because you killed her family and she wants to see you the pilot who killed them dead, and I guarantee she will be armed infinitely better.
Feyhander shuddered, that letter shook him deeply. He had to know who she was and he had to re-equip his AC and to make it better than ever. There were very few new parts that were on sale in the machine shop. None of them he knew he wanted for his AC. He started to type a general for hire board message, as it was from him it would get top listing. He specified he would work only for the best and most unavailable AC part there were, as long as it was built with the AC's speed, agility, and power in mind, everyone knew armor was always a must. He also specified that the best weapons were good too, that was all he wanted except for the money to make repairs. He sent back all the letters adding that to them, all except for one. Feyhander wrote multiple letters calling in favors and tapping into the informants, he had to know who that female was. He had to know his enemy. He sat alone in his home slowly waiting as more and more mail pored in asking for his service or to tell the valuable information he was seeking. He finally got up and looked. Most of the information was sketchy or contradictory. None of it seemed to agree, all claimed she was human but as for the she part well, not everyone agreed. Then the last letter came from one source he never expected to hear from despite the last letter.
You really want to know about me? Well you can't handle the truth the truth is beyond you. My name is Killess Morguen, I was a daughter a man you killed, he was my only family because the rest died, and you killed him even after he surrendered. You will pay with your life for that, after I make you suffer like I have.
Feyhander was not amazed by her telling him that in a letter, he was amazed that he apparently killed someone after he gave up, he never recalled killing someone when they surrendered. Yet the last name was somehow familiar. Than it hit him, that was the last name of the man who hacked into the botanical garden only to surrender at the sight of him but to be killed by 9-ball coming in. Wouldn't that mean she would have equally have wanted to kill the computer? Unless the old computer had altered the files on that, he never did see mention of the appearance of 9-ball in the mission files. Than could the computer have used that fact to trick her into joining its side. Feyhander than remembered where he saw her; it was at the man's funeral, her face was shrouded in a black net, he attended because in a way it was his fault that man died yet he was not the direct cause. The computer had twisted her mind; she hated and waned to kill him all over a misunderstanding. He knew he could never kill her now; then again he had to face her. What to do, what to do, Feyhander decided to leave that to when he was ready to face them. He erased all the information, as he no longer needed it. He poured over the mission requests looking only at what they offered. Who, where, and what no longer mattered to him, if it offered him what he wanted he took it no matter the danger.
* * * Killess quietly brooded in her room. As she held her knees to her chest while sitting on her bed she wondered. What had she done wrong. Was it so bad to respond to her mortal enemies search to see who she was? After all, she knew him very well it would have been dishonorable to have killed him without him knowing who she was. She had honor unlike him. She would enjoy killing him. She did not know what she did wrong but she did know she would win and the only remaining question for her was fairly simple. How should she torture him to death because she would not allow him the honor of death with his AC. So she thought of her strategies and of how to kill him, slowly of course. Perhaps slowly ripping his heart out, or maybe. So she brooded on how to kill him while the computer on how to suppress the truth from her and still kill him, all while he was accomplishing mission after mission to gather all the parts he needed for the battle.
* * * Feyhander switched his boosters to max and jetted himself to the roof of the warehouse. The renegade AC's and their pilots were in there with the 1,000 people hostage. He had to take all the dozen out within the ten minutes or the first hundred would die along with years of research files that cost over a billion credits. He had to do it quick or they would realize what was happening. Feyhander blew the roof door open and jumped down and landed on the first AC he thrust his AC's left arm into the back of its neck and activated his energy blade, the light was totally muffled but the head came neatly off. Feyhander slid off the body and ran to the next one and pressed his AC's gun at point blank into the opponent's chest. There was a brief bit of light, more like moonlight glinting on armor and the AC fell to the ground immobile. Feyhander had just finished hacking of another's head when the lights were hit and he saw he was surrounded by an even dozen of them boxing him in on all four sides. " So we finally meet, you were quite impressive in that battle earlier on but not even you can take all of us on." Came a voice from the Ac to his immediate left, the obvious leader, without looking at his insignia." Instead why don't you join us then we can become the Renegade Thirteen instead of dozen. Thirteen is such a more threatening number even more than fourteen. So how about it?" " You know the answer to that" Feyhander responded. " Yes, well its always worth a try you know that?" continued the leader." In that case you know what I am about to say and that's kill him." All twelve AC's charged at him. Feyhander easily jumped out of the way and brought his plasma gun to bear. He spent half his ammunition on a large but slow tank AC, only to spend the rest on another. He armed his missiles and fired them at three reverse jointed AC's as they flew through the air one exploded, another landed in a crumpled heap, but the third kept coming. Feyhander blasted it with his AC's pulse gun. Three four legged AC's came at him all armed with missiles so jumping would have been fatal. Feyhander instead boost ran behind them and then jumped at the last moment to let the missiles hit one full in the back. The other two tried to fire their bazookas only to hit each other in the crossfire. Feyhander took the moment while they were stunned to fire his pulse gun and decimated the remaining two. According to his count that left four AC's unaccounted for including their lead. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Four different grenades from four different launchers from four different sides impacted him at the exact same time. The force of the blows literally shattered his armor as his AC lay in a smoldering ruin kneeling on the ground black, ashen, and smoking. " Invincible nothing, that wasn't too hard." Laughed one of the pilots. " Except for him taking out ¾ of our total fire power." Responded another. " Yeah well he ain't gonna take out anything but a waitin number in that big arena in the sky." Chuckled another. " Hold on his AC's damaged but its still in one piece!" cried the leader " No way nothin' could have survived that!" exclaimed another. " That's what we thought about that battle in the arena," said the leader. Sure enough the AC began to stand up creaking. It was almost nothing but an exoskeleton. Feyhander understood he was almost dead yet he could still take them out. He ejected his back arsenal, dropped his plasma gun and shook off all the armor pieces that were only just holding on. He activated his energy blade and charged at the leader. The leader was too much a veteran to have been taken out so easily but his blade could not stop Feyhander's. It sliced cleanly through and neatly severed the leader AC's arm before Feyhander brought it to behead it. With the leader gone the three remaining AC's were still to stunned to realize they could more than likely kill him and simply tried to run away. This made skewering them all the easier for Feyhander's super light and super fast AC. " Mission accomplished in 8 minutes and 49 seconds." Radioed Feyhander. Well, thought Feyhander, am ready to face you. With my upgraded AC. May I have the strength to face you Killess. Because I might, I just might be.
Feyhander lay on his bed, in the middle of the night yet he was wide-awake thinking. How was it possible? There was supposed to be nothing but a computer how could there be a human, a female at that? Could it be an android built to house the hustler two programming? Perhaps it was built to unnerve him. Yet if that was true that meant she no it lost on purpose. Then again why build a housing for the program when it would never need to show itself unless defeated, perhaps to preserve it from total destruction? No, it could always create another that meant that was a flesh and blood person I just fought. She looked at me with the most hatred I ever saw in anyone's eyes, yet there was not an ounce of emotion despite it. Did the computer take her involuntarily? Impossible that hatred was far from fake, so she went to the computers side voluntarily. She looked familiar but I can't quite place the face with a name or where I saw her. All I seem capable of remembering is that face, that soft, gentle face contorted with a deep hatred and loathing, she wanted me dead. I could probably kill her yet I can't even bring myself to think of it. She was beautiful, somehow that was all I could think of, that and her skill. Her skill rivaled my own, she was a deadly adversary who despised every fiber of my being, yet I couldn't bring myself to lay a single finger on her. What was wrong with me? She was only another woman I had met plenty many who both liked me and were much hotter than she was. What if? What if I might be, no, I never had I never will. I could never possibly be, and yet, whenever I think of her. could this possibly mean I was. The message-mail beeped, Feyhander's only two-way link to the outside world. Only his most trusted friends and people with jobs for him knew the address. It was a mail for a mission; one of many that had been offered to him after is spectacular defeat of the 8-ball AC. He quickly skimmed through the letter taking in the basic of what it said and offered. He was about to put it on hold when he comprehended who sent it and where it was. It was from his old raven contact, the one who told him never to listen to the companies and who he never heard from after the destruction of the computer. Where it was scared him even more, where he destroyed that computer, what was offered was the exact same amount, the entire letter was the same he saw that long time ago except for the last sentence.
She's waiting for her revenge because you killed her family and she wants to see you the pilot who killed them dead, and I guarantee she will be armed infinitely better.
Feyhander shuddered, that letter shook him deeply. He had to know who she was and he had to re-equip his AC and to make it better than ever. There were very few new parts that were on sale in the machine shop. None of them he knew he wanted for his AC. He started to type a general for hire board message, as it was from him it would get top listing. He specified he would work only for the best and most unavailable AC part there were, as long as it was built with the AC's speed, agility, and power in mind, everyone knew armor was always a must. He also specified that the best weapons were good too, that was all he wanted except for the money to make repairs. He sent back all the letters adding that to them, all except for one. Feyhander wrote multiple letters calling in favors and tapping into the informants, he had to know who that female was. He had to know his enemy. He sat alone in his home slowly waiting as more and more mail pored in asking for his service or to tell the valuable information he was seeking. He finally got up and looked. Most of the information was sketchy or contradictory. None of it seemed to agree, all claimed she was human but as for the she part well, not everyone agreed. Then the last letter came from one source he never expected to hear from despite the last letter.
You really want to know about me? Well you can't handle the truth the truth is beyond you. My name is Killess Morguen, I was a daughter a man you killed, he was my only family because the rest died, and you killed him even after he surrendered. You will pay with your life for that, after I make you suffer like I have.
Feyhander was not amazed by her telling him that in a letter, he was amazed that he apparently killed someone after he gave up, he never recalled killing someone when they surrendered. Yet the last name was somehow familiar. Than it hit him, that was the last name of the man who hacked into the botanical garden only to surrender at the sight of him but to be killed by 9-ball coming in. Wouldn't that mean she would have equally have wanted to kill the computer? Unless the old computer had altered the files on that, he never did see mention of the appearance of 9-ball in the mission files. Than could the computer have used that fact to trick her into joining its side. Feyhander than remembered where he saw her; it was at the man's funeral, her face was shrouded in a black net, he attended because in a way it was his fault that man died yet he was not the direct cause. The computer had twisted her mind; she hated and waned to kill him all over a misunderstanding. He knew he could never kill her now; then again he had to face her. What to do, what to do, Feyhander decided to leave that to when he was ready to face them. He erased all the information, as he no longer needed it. He poured over the mission requests looking only at what they offered. Who, where, and what no longer mattered to him, if it offered him what he wanted he took it no matter the danger.
* * * Killess quietly brooded in her room. As she held her knees to her chest while sitting on her bed she wondered. What had she done wrong. Was it so bad to respond to her mortal enemies search to see who she was? After all, she knew him very well it would have been dishonorable to have killed him without him knowing who she was. She had honor unlike him. She would enjoy killing him. She did not know what she did wrong but she did know she would win and the only remaining question for her was fairly simple. How should she torture him to death because she would not allow him the honor of death with his AC. So she thought of her strategies and of how to kill him, slowly of course. Perhaps slowly ripping his heart out, or maybe. So she brooded on how to kill him while the computer on how to suppress the truth from her and still kill him, all while he was accomplishing mission after mission to gather all the parts he needed for the battle.
* * * Feyhander switched his boosters to max and jetted himself to the roof of the warehouse. The renegade AC's and their pilots were in there with the 1,000 people hostage. He had to take all the dozen out within the ten minutes or the first hundred would die along with years of research files that cost over a billion credits. He had to do it quick or they would realize what was happening. Feyhander blew the roof door open and jumped down and landed on the first AC he thrust his AC's left arm into the back of its neck and activated his energy blade, the light was totally muffled but the head came neatly off. Feyhander slid off the body and ran to the next one and pressed his AC's gun at point blank into the opponent's chest. There was a brief bit of light, more like moonlight glinting on armor and the AC fell to the ground immobile. Feyhander had just finished hacking of another's head when the lights were hit and he saw he was surrounded by an even dozen of them boxing him in on all four sides. " So we finally meet, you were quite impressive in that battle earlier on but not even you can take all of us on." Came a voice from the Ac to his immediate left, the obvious leader, without looking at his insignia." Instead why don't you join us then we can become the Renegade Thirteen instead of dozen. Thirteen is such a more threatening number even more than fourteen. So how about it?" " You know the answer to that" Feyhander responded. " Yes, well its always worth a try you know that?" continued the leader." In that case you know what I am about to say and that's kill him." All twelve AC's charged at him. Feyhander easily jumped out of the way and brought his plasma gun to bear. He spent half his ammunition on a large but slow tank AC, only to spend the rest on another. He armed his missiles and fired them at three reverse jointed AC's as they flew through the air one exploded, another landed in a crumpled heap, but the third kept coming. Feyhander blasted it with his AC's pulse gun. Three four legged AC's came at him all armed with missiles so jumping would have been fatal. Feyhander instead boost ran behind them and then jumped at the last moment to let the missiles hit one full in the back. The other two tried to fire their bazookas only to hit each other in the crossfire. Feyhander took the moment while they were stunned to fire his pulse gun and decimated the remaining two. According to his count that left four AC's unaccounted for including their lead. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Four different grenades from four different launchers from four different sides impacted him at the exact same time. The force of the blows literally shattered his armor as his AC lay in a smoldering ruin kneeling on the ground black, ashen, and smoking. " Invincible nothing, that wasn't too hard." Laughed one of the pilots. " Except for him taking out ¾ of our total fire power." Responded another. " Yeah well he ain't gonna take out anything but a waitin number in that big arena in the sky." Chuckled another. " Hold on his AC's damaged but its still in one piece!" cried the leader " No way nothin' could have survived that!" exclaimed another. " That's what we thought about that battle in the arena," said the leader. Sure enough the AC began to stand up creaking. It was almost nothing but an exoskeleton. Feyhander understood he was almost dead yet he could still take them out. He ejected his back arsenal, dropped his plasma gun and shook off all the armor pieces that were only just holding on. He activated his energy blade and charged at the leader. The leader was too much a veteran to have been taken out so easily but his blade could not stop Feyhander's. It sliced cleanly through and neatly severed the leader AC's arm before Feyhander brought it to behead it. With the leader gone the three remaining AC's were still to stunned to realize they could more than likely kill him and simply tried to run away. This made skewering them all the easier for Feyhander's super light and super fast AC. " Mission accomplished in 8 minutes and 49 seconds." Radioed Feyhander. Well, thought Feyhander, am ready to face you. With my upgraded AC. May I have the strength to face you Killess. Because I might, I just might be.
