Disclaimer: Why do I even put these up? Oh yeah, so I won't be sued.

Chap. 17

While Cain had gone on his mission, Koemai received a challenge from the arena. His opponent was AC Server, a four legged type. Accepting the challenge, he decided to use Comferd. Darkhand still needed repairs and his Interceptor II was still short a few parts. No biggy. Comferd will be more than enough anyway. The arena was in the abandoned factory and when Comferd entered, his opponent was already waiting.

"Let's cut to the chase."

Sure. No problem.

It was then that Comferd was suddenly slammed from the side by an energy blast. Turning to the right, he looked at another AC. Huntress? A third AC then dropped in, one he hadn't seen before. This one was heavily armored and colored in a dark grey.

"Aw, come on. I know I intimidating and all, but this is ridiculous."

The dark grey one stepped forward, "You will not defy The Controller. I, Apocalypse, will see to that."

"Apocalypse? You're the one Glaive battled with."

"That's right. You can give him a message for me."

The three AC's began to move closer and Comferd raised his weapons.

"Just bring it."

_____

Fenrir had just returned from his mission. Cain exited the AC and looked it over. Fairly damaged, but not too much. Luckily, Glaive and Lockheed were ready at a moments notice. Looking over, Cain saw that Comferd was missing. Another mission I guess. He then remembered the events before he left. Aria. The couch. That mind blowing kiss. The heated sensation of her half-naked body on top of him. The thrilling enrapture as she was about to....

"Cain!"

It was Diana. She ran in out of breath and bent down a bit.

"Cain. It's Koemai. He's been hurt."

"What?"

She went on to explain his deadly encounter in his arena battle. Three Ravens from The Controller had attacked him. He fought back and they brought him down."

"Where is he?"

"At the medical ward."

Cain immediately dashed out the door with Diana behind him.

Medical Ward...

Cain arrived in the room to see his comrade wrapped up in various bandages and hooked up to several machines. Nearby, a doctor and nurse stood beside him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm his partner. What happened?"

The doctor looked at Koemai, "Direct blast to the core. If his AC wasn't so well armored, he would have been incinerated. He's actually quite lucky considering the damage his machine was in."

"How is he now?"

"Stable. We fixed most of the damage, but he'll have several burn marks on him. Also, he may have internal injuries, so we'll have to watch him closely."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Actually, may I speak with you alone?"

Okay."

Cain and the doctor stepped outside of the room and the doctor faced him.

"I was a former Raven. The damage to the AC was done on purpose. Someone took a bazooka while the AC was down and fired at point blank range. Whoever it was wanted the pilot dead or crippled."

"I was told that there were two other Ravens in the area."

"Yeah. Huntress and Server. From the damage on them, it would appear that your partner took them down first. From what I can speculate, they fought and he brought down those two before being defeated by the third. Then while he was down, he shot the core."

"You said a bazooka did that. Can you tell me what other weapons were used by this guy?"

"I believe so. From the surrounding damage, the core had to have had an EO system and an orbiter cannon. But what brought your friend down was a large missile, TITAN class."

TITAN launcher? EO system? Bazooka? Why does this sound famil...?

"Finish it! I would have shown you no mercy."

Apocalypse. This was his doing. Cain's fist clenched, but his face remained neutral.

"Thank you, doctor. You've been helpful."

"You know who did it, don't you?"

Cain simply nodded.

"I can tell. You have that murderous gleam in your eyes. But before you do anything, you should speak to your friend. He should be waking up by now."

Cain nodded and re-entered the room. There, they were greeted to a strange sight. Diana and Koemai were engaged in a 'tug of war' with their lips. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending) for Koemai, he was losing.

"Don't you two ever stop?"

Diana suddenly backed away, with an embarrassed grin on her face. "I...was just happy he was still alive, I...uhhh...kinda got carried away."

Koemai gave a pained grin, "Hey, there's nothing like a kiss to wake me up."

Cain face grew serious, "Diana, could you leave us alone?"

"Huh?" She saw his face. "Sure." She bent over and gave Koemai another kiss, "See ya later."

After she left, Koemai's smile also disappeared, "It was Apocalypse."

"I know. I'm guessing he did this as a message to me."

"Yeah, but that's not all. The Controller sent them. That was their main goal."

The Controller again. Why does it keep attacking us? What is so different about us from the other Ravens? Cain was about to ask another question when Koemai suddenly started couching badly and blood came out of his mouth. Cain called the doctor and he and another doctor checked on him.

"Damn. He's bleeding internally. You'll have to leave now."

Cain nodded and walked out the door. As he did, he could hear Koemai coughing even harder and more pained. Cain clenched his fists again.

Koemai. This time, I'll be vengeance.