Black Feather: Episode IV
"Surrounded"
Realms City Civilian Sector RCS-075
12:20 p.m., 03/06
"Damn..." Qastor cursed at the Arena availability charts on his way to the hangar. The Raven above him was unavailable. Needless to say, that Raven was always unavailable.
"He's busy again?" 'Twas the voice of Malirant, Qastor's comrade since their co-op Raven initiation test. He was five years Qastor's senior, with a large build and a messy head of hair.
"Gaidoz is a retard anyway... Funny... He stopped participating in the Arena ever since I got to where I am." He looked hatefully at the name on the screen. "Wonder when they'll kick him out?"
"Yeah, a lot of the lower rankin' Ravens are complainin'. Hey, I'm goin' bowlin' tonight. Ya comin'?" Malirant ended the sentence with a big smile, something he's also famous for.
"Nah, I gotta mission to do."
"Ha, is that right? Then, whatcha doin' here?"
"Eh... My client left."
"Well, that's life for ya. Good day, man, good day."
"Yeah, you too..." Qastor blankly said, his eyes glued to the monitor. Iris was way ahead of him. She's in B-3, and look at him, stuck in the gutters of E-15. He took a peek at the top ranking Raven, Angelus, and his sisters, Angeline and Nera. It was weird having the A ranking Ravens to belong from one family, but as Malirant said, "Well, that's life for ya."
Qastor had to check-in before entering the hangar. Ever since yesterday's attack, extra steps were taken to tighten up security. The hangar was a wide expanse. There were rows of individual stalls for each AC. The hangar itself was 10 stories tall, roughly three times the height of a normal AC. Vehicle transportation was available since the place was so huge. Usually, when one would enter the hangar, one will end up on the second floor of the entire hangar. From there, one could mostly see the head, upper arm, and core of an AC. The bottom floor was mainly for maintenance crews and repairmen. When AC assembly was required, it was taken to a special assembly area, complete with cranes, connectors, pumps, and all congenial tools.
Luckily for Qastor, his AC, Xanthippius, was only a short walk from the door. He pushed a button on his remote device, and a hole in the back part of the core, below the overboosters, opened. A ladder came down. Upon getting on it, the ladder would return back into the core, while the shutters of the hole slowly closed. The ladder stopped rising and the cockpit could be seen. It was a little cramp in the cockpit; some small dim lights offered aid in seeing where he was going. Qastor turned the pilot seat around, dropped himself upon it, and swiveled it around again to face the main HUD. A shutter closed behind him and the life-support system activated. He entered his codekey and requested transport. The request accepted and 250c taken from his monetary account, Qastor headed to the loading area. He stepped onto a mobile platform and was placed inside a transport plane.
_____________________________
Mission: Eliminate Terrorists Group "Darkness"
Operation Name: Twisted
Client: Sphere
Advance: 0c
Reward: 0c
Requesting Figure: Kenneth Gregson
Opponent: "Darkness"
Enemy Forces: 10 MTs
Time: 12:29 p.m.
Theatre of Operations: Realms City Civilian Sector RCS-075
Briefing:
"After repeated attacks from terrorists of several origins, we have pinpointed the terrorist group, 'Darkness,' concentrated in Realms City's civilian sector RCS-075. They are responsible for numerous attacks on our property. Taking advantage of this situation will save precious resources and structures that will otherwise be sabotaged by 'Darkness.' We request that you take out their main forces, and the rest we'll deal with."
-END MESSAGE-
"We've arrived at the combat area. Deploying AC." The support bracers holding down Xanthippius withdrew. The thick metallic hatch came down, leaving Qastor free to depart. He gave a deep breath and pushed the right- left pedal.
"Computer, scan the sector." There weren't any signs of enemy MTs traipsing around and nothing showed up on the radar. Xanthippius landed in a narrow street, about four and a half lanes wide.
"Scan complete. No enemy forces detected." Disappointed, Qastor released his grip from the controls. He stared at the green lit radar. His mind wandered...
"Heh... You know, if you spell radar backwards, it comes out the same..." His casual tone returned, but not for long. A red dot flashed on the radar and vanished in an instant.
"Huh...? ...Computer, run the scan aga-" His sentence was interrupted by a sudden bang and a short tremor.
"WARNING: AC DAMAGE DETECTED."
"Computer, trace the direction of the blast!" Qastor glanced frantically around the HUD and back at the radar.
"Origin located. It is south of our direction." Qastor's reflexes activated, Xanthippius turned around.
Nothing...
A dusty draft blew from a gap between two buildings.
Xanthippius shook again.
"DAMN YOU ALL!!! SHOW YOUR BUTT-UGLY MTS NOW, COWARDS!!!!" Qastor's voice could be heard from outside. Just then, Qastor noticed something. He spotted an MT, but it kept reappearing and disappearing, its metallic bodice flickering between reality and nightmare. This could only be...
"Stealth units..."
"Surrounded"
Realms City Civilian Sector RCS-075
12:20 p.m., 03/06
"Damn..." Qastor cursed at the Arena availability charts on his way to the hangar. The Raven above him was unavailable. Needless to say, that Raven was always unavailable.
"He's busy again?" 'Twas the voice of Malirant, Qastor's comrade since their co-op Raven initiation test. He was five years Qastor's senior, with a large build and a messy head of hair.
"Gaidoz is a retard anyway... Funny... He stopped participating in the Arena ever since I got to where I am." He looked hatefully at the name on the screen. "Wonder when they'll kick him out?"
"Yeah, a lot of the lower rankin' Ravens are complainin'. Hey, I'm goin' bowlin' tonight. Ya comin'?" Malirant ended the sentence with a big smile, something he's also famous for.
"Nah, I gotta mission to do."
"Ha, is that right? Then, whatcha doin' here?"
"Eh... My client left."
"Well, that's life for ya. Good day, man, good day."
"Yeah, you too..." Qastor blankly said, his eyes glued to the monitor. Iris was way ahead of him. She's in B-3, and look at him, stuck in the gutters of E-15. He took a peek at the top ranking Raven, Angelus, and his sisters, Angeline and Nera. It was weird having the A ranking Ravens to belong from one family, but as Malirant said, "Well, that's life for ya."
Qastor had to check-in before entering the hangar. Ever since yesterday's attack, extra steps were taken to tighten up security. The hangar was a wide expanse. There were rows of individual stalls for each AC. The hangar itself was 10 stories tall, roughly three times the height of a normal AC. Vehicle transportation was available since the place was so huge. Usually, when one would enter the hangar, one will end up on the second floor of the entire hangar. From there, one could mostly see the head, upper arm, and core of an AC. The bottom floor was mainly for maintenance crews and repairmen. When AC assembly was required, it was taken to a special assembly area, complete with cranes, connectors, pumps, and all congenial tools.
Luckily for Qastor, his AC, Xanthippius, was only a short walk from the door. He pushed a button on his remote device, and a hole in the back part of the core, below the overboosters, opened. A ladder came down. Upon getting on it, the ladder would return back into the core, while the shutters of the hole slowly closed. The ladder stopped rising and the cockpit could be seen. It was a little cramp in the cockpit; some small dim lights offered aid in seeing where he was going. Qastor turned the pilot seat around, dropped himself upon it, and swiveled it around again to face the main HUD. A shutter closed behind him and the life-support system activated. He entered his codekey and requested transport. The request accepted and 250c taken from his monetary account, Qastor headed to the loading area. He stepped onto a mobile platform and was placed inside a transport plane.
_____________________________
Mission: Eliminate Terrorists Group "Darkness"
Operation Name: Twisted
Client: Sphere
Advance: 0c
Reward: 0c
Requesting Figure: Kenneth Gregson
Opponent: "Darkness"
Enemy Forces: 10 MTs
Time: 12:29 p.m.
Theatre of Operations: Realms City Civilian Sector RCS-075
Briefing:
"After repeated attacks from terrorists of several origins, we have pinpointed the terrorist group, 'Darkness,' concentrated in Realms City's civilian sector RCS-075. They are responsible for numerous attacks on our property. Taking advantage of this situation will save precious resources and structures that will otherwise be sabotaged by 'Darkness.' We request that you take out their main forces, and the rest we'll deal with."
-END MESSAGE-
"We've arrived at the combat area. Deploying AC." The support bracers holding down Xanthippius withdrew. The thick metallic hatch came down, leaving Qastor free to depart. He gave a deep breath and pushed the right- left pedal.
"Computer, scan the sector." There weren't any signs of enemy MTs traipsing around and nothing showed up on the radar. Xanthippius landed in a narrow street, about four and a half lanes wide.
"Scan complete. No enemy forces detected." Disappointed, Qastor released his grip from the controls. He stared at the green lit radar. His mind wandered...
"Heh... You know, if you spell radar backwards, it comes out the same..." His casual tone returned, but not for long. A red dot flashed on the radar and vanished in an instant.
"Huh...? ...Computer, run the scan aga-" His sentence was interrupted by a sudden bang and a short tremor.
"WARNING: AC DAMAGE DETECTED."
"Computer, trace the direction of the blast!" Qastor glanced frantically around the HUD and back at the radar.
"Origin located. It is south of our direction." Qastor's reflexes activated, Xanthippius turned around.
Nothing...
A dusty draft blew from a gap between two buildings.
Xanthippius shook again.
"DAMN YOU ALL!!! SHOW YOUR BUTT-UGLY MTS NOW, COWARDS!!!!" Qastor's voice could be heard from outside. Just then, Qastor noticed something. He spotted an MT, but it kept reappearing and disappearing, its metallic bodice flickering between reality and nightmare. This could only be...
"Stealth units..."