Disclaimer: Same as before. Why do I even bother?

Chap. 7

"Alright, that'll teach them not to challenge the Hands of God, don't you think?"

"It was a good match, although I wish Ripshade had a left-arm blade. It would have been a better fight."

"Are you serious? Oh yeah, you are." He looked at his watch. "Whoa, I better get going. Diana is going to kill me if I'm late. Wanna come?"

Cain gave him an incredulous look, "Are you serious? Just go."

"Ok. See ya." Koemai quickly ran out of the hanger.

What's his rush? Oh well. Cain went to the computer terminal. Glaive was fully repaired and ready for the next battle. Cain nodded at this and decided that he should go out himself. However, he checked one last thing on his terminal.

Project 9-B

Koemai hurried through the Cortex into another set of hangers and rooms. But as he was running through one particular hanger when...

"There he is, boss. That's the guy."

Koemai turned to see the same group of punks coming in the hanger with an even bigger guy with them. They marched over to Koemai and the big man began to examine Koemai.

"This shrimp beat you guys?"

Hey boss. It wasn't our fault. Those sluts that were with him distracted us."

"Yeah whatever." Turning to Koemai, "So...what have you to say for yourself?"

Three things. First, you're a moron. This the third time already. Do you really think its going to be different this time? Two, one of those sluts as you say it is my girlfriend, so I suggest you watch your mouth. And three, you are all going to apologize and walk away."

The thugs began laughing at him and the big man smirked at him, "And whose going to make us? You?"

"You bet."

"You and what army?"

Koemai pointed his thumb behind him. At that moment, the AC behind him came to life. It pointed it laser cannon arms at then and began to charge. The thugs saw this and immediately ran out of the hanger. The AC powered down and out came Diana.

"Well that was fun."

"Those guys are real idiots. You'd think they'd know that the weapons couldn't fire because it wasn't in battle mode."

Diana slid down, "And they called me a slut. I should have put it in battle mode. That reminds me." She gave him a wry look. "They said 'sluts' as in plural. Were you with someone else?"

Koemai looked at her and smiled, "Yeah, a hot red-head with a gun."

Diana gave a fake cry, "Oh how could you? After all we've been through."

"I'm sorry."

"Now jokes aside. What happened?"

Koemai lent on the ladder, "After one of our recent missions, me and Cain went out for a drink. The guy asked for a soda. A SODA IN A BAR!!! Can you believe it? Anyway, those guys came up to us again and a red head showed up and helped up out. Her name was Alia and she uses the Firewave AC."

"Why would she help you guys?"

"Hm. Oh, Cain knows her. Says he met her in a fight. I think he likes her."

Diana gave a weird look, "What do you mean? As in LIKES her?"

"I think so. Who would have thought that he was human after all?"

"I've got to meet this woman."

Koemai shrugged, "So...shall we go?"

She looked at him, "You know, locking on inside an AC really turned me on." She put her arms around him. "How about we go to your AC and....work the controls."

Outside...

Cain was walking the streets late at night. In reality though, the sky he saw was nothing but a massive hologram. The real sky hasn't been seen by human eyes since the Great Destruction. The only real glimpse a person would see is if they were on their way to Mars. But the shutters on the windows would close so soon, no one would really see what the surface looked like now. But as far a holograms go, this one did produce a good enough moon. While he passed through the town, he saw many people wandering around. Many of them probably looking for jobs, he assumed. It wasn't until his thoughts started to drift when he saw a familiar face.

"Alia?"

Alia was slumped next a wall on the far side. Bur what caught Cain's attention were the group of guys heading toward her. He briefly thought about leaving her. She can take care of herself. But he saw the dazed look on her face and realized something. She's drunk. And with the two men coming at her, she wouldn't be able to defend herself. Almost without thinking, he strode over to her by the wall. Her eyes were watery, but she was able to make him out.

"Cain...."

Cain nodded to her before slinging her arm around his shoulder. The two men came faster and Cain saw that he wasn't going to escape with her condition. Seating her down on a bench nearby, he waited for the would-be attackers.

"Hey pal. That's a nice girl you got there. Mind if we borrow her?" one of them snickered.

"As a matter of fact, I do." he replied coldly.

"Well too bad, 'cuz we ain't asking."

Cain turned to see one of them pull out a knife, "Come on, don't be stupid. You could walk away and not get hurt. We promise we won't hurt her, much."

Cain spoke in an even colder tone. "And you could walk away and live. And I'll promise you that I won't have to bury you."

The men backed off a bit at his tone, but smirked a bit, "You were warned, pal."

"So were you."

One of them came forward, knife in hand, hoping to scare Cain off. But Cain suddenly snapped his arm forward and grabbed the man's wrist. He then twisted, causing him to release the knife and give a yelp of pain. The other one came to help, but Cain shot out a forward kick to the gut, causing him to double over in pain. Good, the beer is still in their system. That'll be an advantage. Cain repeated the action on the second one but he managed to grab his leg. Cain released the man's wrist and spun around, catching him in the chin in a devastating kick. The man fell and Cain stood up. But the second one came behind him, knife in hand. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and Cain saw Alia, sitting up from the bench holding her gun at the second man. Her aim was a little shaky, but she was still able to aim. Quickly, he ran off, leaving his partner unconscious on the floor. Cain walked over to Alia as she was putting the gun away.

"Are you alright?"

Alia looked up at him, "Yeah, I'm fine." She tried to stand up, but wobbled a bit. Cain slung her arm around his neck to help her up.

"Where do you live?"

"Why? Are you going to rape me?  Or maybe you're expecting a reward."

"I'm just trying to help."

She began to push him away. "I didn't...ask for your help."

Cain held onto her, "Well you're getting it anyway. Besides, you helped me out, so it's only proper that I do the same. Ravens should stick together." He smiled a bit, "Except in arena fights."

She looked at him dazed and after some thinking, decided to lead him to her apartment. They traveled the street, not saying a word to each other. They finally reached her apartment, which was connected to the hanger. She fumbled to get the keys and managed to open the door. As he helped her in, she started speaking, more softly.

"You know. I'm sorry for what I said either. You know, about you raping me."

"Don't worry. You have your reasons."

He helped her inside and settled her on the couch. He began to leave, but she didn't let him go.

"You know. About that reward." She pulled him closer. "It's not like you don't deserve it."

Cain was starting to get nervous, "No. I should go." But her grip held fast and she began to pull him closer. "What's wrong? Don't you want this?" A lopsided grin came up on her face. "I know I do."

Cain was a little torn. This woman was starting to get to him. He stopped resisting and began to move to her. But then he remembered her condition. No, this is wrong. If I take advantage of her like this, then I really would be raping her. Calmly, he unslung her arm from around him neck and began to move away. But he began to see tears well up in her eyes. Oh great, now what? He saw no other choice. He began to lean toward her again, coming closer to her face and he tenderly kissed her....on the forehead. Remarkably, she smiled again, a genuine smile and softly went to sleep. Cain grabbed a blanket from off her bed and wrapped it around her. Then he shut the lights and locked the door as he left

Later on, Cain walked inside the hanger, thinking about his encounter with Alia. Could Koemai be right? Do I care about this woman? As he entered, he heard a slight noise. Looking up, he saw nothing. Dismissing it, he continued to walk when he heard it again. When he looked up, he saw one of Darkhand's fingers twitch. Then the arm shifted slightly. Then the head rotated slightly. Cain went to the control terminal outside of his friend's AC to see if there were any problems, but the computer showed no problem. Cain inspected further, but the hatch of the AC opened. Cain looked in surprise as Diana came out, partially dressed and adjusting her shirt on. As he looked on, Koemai also came out, ruffling his hair and buckling his belt. She turned and kissed him and Cain knew instantly what had happened. Koemai looked down and stopped kissing her and they both looked down when they saw Cain watching them with arms folded.

"Um. It's not what you think."

"What do I think?"

"No, I mean..."

"You don't have to explain. What you do in your private life is your business. But in an AC?"

Diana smirked, "You should try it. It's exhilarating."

"Don't think so."

She shrugged and turned back to Koemai. "Same time Friday?"

He pulled her to him and kissed her, "Count on it. But next time, your AC."

An evil smile came up, "Deal."

Diana left, giving both men a wink. After she was gone for a while, Cain turned to Koemai and shook his head. At that time, a darkly clothed man entered the hanger. Cain and Koemai turned to face him.

"Are you the Raven team, Hands of God?"

Koemai walked forward, "Yep, that's us. Who are you?"

The man strode forward, "I am a representative of the Union organization."

Cain folded his arms, "What do you want?"

The representative looked at him, "We are waging a war to stop the Controller. Recently, it has been acting very irregular and we believe that it may be malfunctioning. We want to shut it down so that people can be free to govern themselves."

Koemai shook his head, "From what I hear, you guys are a bunch of terrorists. Why should we believe you?"

Because you've seen it or yourselves. Haven't you noticed that the current system is declining as of late? If something is not done soon, then we face worldwide chaos."

Koemai just shrugged, "Why us?"

"We're looking for people who will join our cause. We heard a lot about you guys and it sure would be a big help if you joined us." The man lifted a briefcase, "You don't have to join us if that is your wish. But consider this a token of our esteem. If you feel that you can't join us, think of it as an extra part for all work you guys have done." The man turned and began to exit the hanger. "I hope we meet again."

Both men watched him leave and Koemai opened the suitcase. Inside was something that made both their eyes widen.

"No way!"

It was an AC optional part; Op-Intensify