Black Feather: Episode I
"Raven in the Sky"
Unidentified Surface Crater
5:50 p.m., ??/??
"Twenty to touchdown." The transport pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. Stiff tension from Angelus' shoulders fleeted into relaxation. Times were hard, and soaring the skies became ever more dangerous. He glimpsed out the window...
"Hmph... The surface world... It's only been five years and look what we did to it." His thoughts were somewhat longing as he gazed into the fresh horizon, the sky blue and violet of his eyes sorrowfully shimmered in the freezing window's reflection.
"What the...!?" The pilot's voice ripped throughout the walls. Angelus turned his gaze towards the on-board speakers.
"Mr. Angelus, we have a problem. Please brace yourself as a rough landing is imminent."
Great, something new to worry about. With everything that's been happening in such a short space of time, stress was taking a toll on Angelus. His voice has become grave lately, and his features began to show age.
"What evil times have we fallen under-" Abrupt vibrations thrashed the transport.
A pillar of light flashed. The pilot's cabin vanished, leaving a gaping portal to the sky in front of him. He felt his blood rush to his left side as the plane leaned. Angelus instantly reacted and his attention went towards the window.
Still airborne...
Seat belts released, Angelus sprinted to the on-board hangar, resisting the beckoning vacuum of the outside, the wind and charred chunks of flesh striking against vacant seats.
After shutting the door behind him to stop the suction, Angelus leapt from the descending steps, landing in front of the automatic door. It opened, and still on one of his knees, Retribution came into view as the sliding doors receded into the gaps in the wall. The door above and behind him was torn straight out of the walls, the snakes and festoons of wiring circuitry waved exposed. Using every strand of his legs' sinew, Angelus bolted towards his AC, the cool rising air meekly lifted his short silver hair, as the hangar door closed.
The anterior of the 11 meters tall giant revolved into view, Angelus still rushing ever closer. His hand dove into his pocket and pushed a combination of buttons from a small remote device. A portal with several shutters appeared near the bottom of the core, and a ladder struck the metallic floor of the platform.
A wave of heat blasted throughout the hangar, and Angelus felt as if he was diving towards doom at an accelerated pace. The hangar was heavily leaning to the Angelus' right now, as he found himself hanging from the rail bars. The manacles restraining Retribution groaned. Angelus climbed the railing like a ladder, miraculously reaching his AC. He quickly crawled his way up the ladder (since Retribution was facing near-perpendicular to Earth) as it rose into the center of the core, the numerous protective shutters blocking out the light from the platform one-by-one. Finally reaching his destination, Angelus carefully stood on the cockpit screens, hoping they won't shatter under his pressure. He pushed himself up against the cockpit chair above him and forced the seat belts over his torso, feeling the blood centering in the front of his body. A shutter closed behind him as an image on the main screen came on. Angelus moved his legs from the screens to the pedals. The HUD image was equivalent to that of a television monitor that had lost its reception. A window came up and Angelus typed in the codekey on a small on-screen keyboard, located between his knees. The password accepted, the main screen transformed into the battle HUD.
"Main system. Engaging combat mode." The custom female AI voice was somewhat soothing to Angelus in this time of crisis. He grasped the two controls, his fingers tense on the trigger button. The manacles released, and Retribution was thrown to the opposite wall of the hangar, forcing the plane to lean perfectly parallel to the horizon. Angelus managed to cushion the force with his left arm, as his right held a rifle. Retribution found itself "laying" on the wall, soon sliding down to the hangar's closed hatch, making the transport's now-incinerated nose face the high evening clouds.
The hatch didn't open, and realizing that it won't budge, Angelus fired his rockets blindly into the wall in front of him to weaken it. He pushed an upper pedal, activating the overboosters. The rising hum of the core machinery moaned. He was then pushed back from the recoil of the OB thrust, and multiplied with the present gravity, his eyes blurry since the blood rushed away from them. Retribution ripped through the hangar wall, and then through what's left of the passenger cabin, the weak metal and plastic scathing against the AC's armor. The transport vanished below him as he cut the OB, and the blank evening sky swallowed the HUD. He noticed a dark dot in that evening canvas, and not taking any risks, swiveled himself with the turn boosters to face the horizon, then trying to somehow regain stability.
But, it was too late. A stream of blue energy struck Retribution's back from the heavens, and the AC found itself twisting uncontrollably from the blast. The column of cerulean continued to plunge, eventually disintegrating the remains of the transport.
"DAMNIT! What the hell HAPPENED!?" A concoction of anger and precarious excitement composed his words.
"Boosters are temporarily off-line. Auxiliary leg boosters are undamaged. Would you like to ini-"
"DO IT!! HURRY, DAMN YOU!!" The AI activated the weak, but reliable boosters on the back of the MLL-MX/EDGE. The legs motioned itself to bring the AC back into a perpendicular position to the ground.
"Main boosters are on-line." The AI blankly stated. Angelus pushed the right-right pedal and the CBT-FLEET activated. Retribution landed softly on the crater. The MHD-RE/005's stolid gaze rose up into the bluish-purple expanse. Angelus spotted a red-black AC floating high above him. The screen zoomed in and spotted an emblem. THE emblem. A black sphere with the number "9" in the center.
The enigma disappeared. A lone raven laughs in the sky.
"Raven in the Sky"
Unidentified Surface Crater
5:50 p.m., ??/??
"Twenty to touchdown." The transport pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. Stiff tension from Angelus' shoulders fleeted into relaxation. Times were hard, and soaring the skies became ever more dangerous. He glimpsed out the window...
"Hmph... The surface world... It's only been five years and look what we did to it." His thoughts were somewhat longing as he gazed into the fresh horizon, the sky blue and violet of his eyes sorrowfully shimmered in the freezing window's reflection.
"What the...!?" The pilot's voice ripped throughout the walls. Angelus turned his gaze towards the on-board speakers.
"Mr. Angelus, we have a problem. Please brace yourself as a rough landing is imminent."
Great, something new to worry about. With everything that's been happening in such a short space of time, stress was taking a toll on Angelus. His voice has become grave lately, and his features began to show age.
"What evil times have we fallen under-" Abrupt vibrations thrashed the transport.
A pillar of light flashed. The pilot's cabin vanished, leaving a gaping portal to the sky in front of him. He felt his blood rush to his left side as the plane leaned. Angelus instantly reacted and his attention went towards the window.
Still airborne...
Seat belts released, Angelus sprinted to the on-board hangar, resisting the beckoning vacuum of the outside, the wind and charred chunks of flesh striking against vacant seats.
After shutting the door behind him to stop the suction, Angelus leapt from the descending steps, landing in front of the automatic door. It opened, and still on one of his knees, Retribution came into view as the sliding doors receded into the gaps in the wall. The door above and behind him was torn straight out of the walls, the snakes and festoons of wiring circuitry waved exposed. Using every strand of his legs' sinew, Angelus bolted towards his AC, the cool rising air meekly lifted his short silver hair, as the hangar door closed.
The anterior of the 11 meters tall giant revolved into view, Angelus still rushing ever closer. His hand dove into his pocket and pushed a combination of buttons from a small remote device. A portal with several shutters appeared near the bottom of the core, and a ladder struck the metallic floor of the platform.
A wave of heat blasted throughout the hangar, and Angelus felt as if he was diving towards doom at an accelerated pace. The hangar was heavily leaning to the Angelus' right now, as he found himself hanging from the rail bars. The manacles restraining Retribution groaned. Angelus climbed the railing like a ladder, miraculously reaching his AC. He quickly crawled his way up the ladder (since Retribution was facing near-perpendicular to Earth) as it rose into the center of the core, the numerous protective shutters blocking out the light from the platform one-by-one. Finally reaching his destination, Angelus carefully stood on the cockpit screens, hoping they won't shatter under his pressure. He pushed himself up against the cockpit chair above him and forced the seat belts over his torso, feeling the blood centering in the front of his body. A shutter closed behind him as an image on the main screen came on. Angelus moved his legs from the screens to the pedals. The HUD image was equivalent to that of a television monitor that had lost its reception. A window came up and Angelus typed in the codekey on a small on-screen keyboard, located between his knees. The password accepted, the main screen transformed into the battle HUD.
"Main system. Engaging combat mode." The custom female AI voice was somewhat soothing to Angelus in this time of crisis. He grasped the two controls, his fingers tense on the trigger button. The manacles released, and Retribution was thrown to the opposite wall of the hangar, forcing the plane to lean perfectly parallel to the horizon. Angelus managed to cushion the force with his left arm, as his right held a rifle. Retribution found itself "laying" on the wall, soon sliding down to the hangar's closed hatch, making the transport's now-incinerated nose face the high evening clouds.
The hatch didn't open, and realizing that it won't budge, Angelus fired his rockets blindly into the wall in front of him to weaken it. He pushed an upper pedal, activating the overboosters. The rising hum of the core machinery moaned. He was then pushed back from the recoil of the OB thrust, and multiplied with the present gravity, his eyes blurry since the blood rushed away from them. Retribution ripped through the hangar wall, and then through what's left of the passenger cabin, the weak metal and plastic scathing against the AC's armor. The transport vanished below him as he cut the OB, and the blank evening sky swallowed the HUD. He noticed a dark dot in that evening canvas, and not taking any risks, swiveled himself with the turn boosters to face the horizon, then trying to somehow regain stability.
But, it was too late. A stream of blue energy struck Retribution's back from the heavens, and the AC found itself twisting uncontrollably from the blast. The column of cerulean continued to plunge, eventually disintegrating the remains of the transport.
"DAMNIT! What the hell HAPPENED!?" A concoction of anger and precarious excitement composed his words.
"Boosters are temporarily off-line. Auxiliary leg boosters are undamaged. Would you like to ini-"
"DO IT!! HURRY, DAMN YOU!!" The AI activated the weak, but reliable boosters on the back of the MLL-MX/EDGE. The legs motioned itself to bring the AC back into a perpendicular position to the ground.
"Main boosters are on-line." The AI blankly stated. Angelus pushed the right-right pedal and the CBT-FLEET activated. Retribution landed softly on the crater. The MHD-RE/005's stolid gaze rose up into the bluish-purple expanse. Angelus spotted a red-black AC floating high above him. The screen zoomed in and spotted an emblem. THE emblem. A black sphere with the number "9" in the center.
The enigma disappeared. A lone raven laughs in the sky.