Black Feather: Episode VI
"Sacrifice"
Realms City Civilian Sector RCS-075
12:43 p.m., 03/06
"Qastor, do you copy?"
"Who... Iris!?"
A gleaming white and purple lightweight AC feathered gracefully from the heavens. "Silvermoon..." the name echoed in Qastor's head.
Guernica stepped forward.
"Keep back!" Qastor cleared his head from everything that was happening.
"Qastor, are you alright!?"
"I'm fine..." The EST. AP COUNT: 4672 message flashed in the right side screen.
"My AC has stealth detection sensors. I'll take care of the MTs and you take out the AC!"
Qastor turned his attention back to Guernica. His glance met Guernica's Spread Laser weapon arms.
"Damn, he'll win if there's a damage race." he thought aloud. In this narrow battlefield, there's no choice but to fly. Xanthippius rose into the sky.
Spears of energy sprayed from Guernica's arms. The shot was too high, but burned and tore off the armor on the right sides of Xanthippius' head and shoulder, exposing the circuitry and wiring. The HUD went haywire for a second and returned to normal.
Qastor feather boosted above Guernica, keeping a constant lock on it. The rifle shots pounded on Guernica's weak armor. Guernica's pathetic movements reflected how bad the pilot was.
"Damn you!" The pilot cursed. "Take this!!!" Ten missiles, one-be-one, bolted straight for Qastor.
"Aarrggh!!!" Qastor juggled the controls, trying to shake off the missiles. Spread shots were fired, but only a few hit their mark, since Xanthippius' erratic movements made it difficult to hold a lock.
Missiles gone, nothing but sky.
Guernica popped up from nowhere in front of Qastor. Acting upon instinct, Qastor drew the laserblade and swung at Guernica's core.
"AAAAHHHH!!------HHH!!---H!!-!!" The opposing pilot's scream crackled. A deep gash of molten metal and wiring was clearly visible on the core. Control of Guernica was lost and it spun towards one of the buildings. The building had a long, pointed communications antenna.
The rifle bullets weakened Guernica's core armor. Falling over 1,000 feet from the sky, Guernica landed on the sword-like antenna. It punctured the back of the core and bursted out the front. Blood can be seen from the tip.
Upon crashing, a small chunk from Guernica's core broke off, exposing the cockpit. Qastor landed and got out of his AC. Iris did the same and they took a look at the cockpit. There he was. The pilot's shirt was heavily stained with blood. His right leg was completely torn off and blood oozed.
Iris gasped, her hands covering her mouth. The antenna had stabbed the pilot on his right chest. It protruded five meters from him.
The sun began to set. It was an early evening.
The pilot struggled to lift his head.
"A...are...y,you...h....happy..........now!?..." The pilot fell silent, with his hand pointing to a building, the other was gripping his chest wound, as if he tried to ease its shrieking pain.
The wind stopped. The birds were quiet.
Iris' eyes shone with tears. She turned towards Qastor. He responded by holding her in his arms.
"Qastor... why...?" She broke into a quiet sob. Qastor felt his shirt moisten.
"That's life nowadays. Now matter how hard we try to attain peace, there will always be a number of people to be sacrificed in the process... I'm sorry..." Qastor's voice was low, almost a whisper. His eyes moistened, also. His entire family was among those sacrificed people. With his remaining strength, he held back his tears. One streamed down his left cheek. Iris felt it drop on her silken hair. She held him tighter.
It felt like an eternity to Qastor when Iris next spoke.
"But, Qastor...?"
"Yes...?"
"How... many...?"
"I don't know... I guess... As many as it takes..."
"Sacrifice"
Realms City Civilian Sector RCS-075
12:43 p.m., 03/06
"Qastor, do you copy?"
"Who... Iris!?"
A gleaming white and purple lightweight AC feathered gracefully from the heavens. "Silvermoon..." the name echoed in Qastor's head.
Guernica stepped forward.
"Keep back!" Qastor cleared his head from everything that was happening.
"Qastor, are you alright!?"
"I'm fine..." The EST. AP COUNT: 4672 message flashed in the right side screen.
"My AC has stealth detection sensors. I'll take care of the MTs and you take out the AC!"
Qastor turned his attention back to Guernica. His glance met Guernica's Spread Laser weapon arms.
"Damn, he'll win if there's a damage race." he thought aloud. In this narrow battlefield, there's no choice but to fly. Xanthippius rose into the sky.
Spears of energy sprayed from Guernica's arms. The shot was too high, but burned and tore off the armor on the right sides of Xanthippius' head and shoulder, exposing the circuitry and wiring. The HUD went haywire for a second and returned to normal.
Qastor feather boosted above Guernica, keeping a constant lock on it. The rifle shots pounded on Guernica's weak armor. Guernica's pathetic movements reflected how bad the pilot was.
"Damn you!" The pilot cursed. "Take this!!!" Ten missiles, one-be-one, bolted straight for Qastor.
"Aarrggh!!!" Qastor juggled the controls, trying to shake off the missiles. Spread shots were fired, but only a few hit their mark, since Xanthippius' erratic movements made it difficult to hold a lock.
Missiles gone, nothing but sky.
Guernica popped up from nowhere in front of Qastor. Acting upon instinct, Qastor drew the laserblade and swung at Guernica's core.
"AAAAHHHH!!------HHH!!---H!!-!!" The opposing pilot's scream crackled. A deep gash of molten metal and wiring was clearly visible on the core. Control of Guernica was lost and it spun towards one of the buildings. The building had a long, pointed communications antenna.
The rifle bullets weakened Guernica's core armor. Falling over 1,000 feet from the sky, Guernica landed on the sword-like antenna. It punctured the back of the core and bursted out the front. Blood can be seen from the tip.
Upon crashing, a small chunk from Guernica's core broke off, exposing the cockpit. Qastor landed and got out of his AC. Iris did the same and they took a look at the cockpit. There he was. The pilot's shirt was heavily stained with blood. His right leg was completely torn off and blood oozed.
Iris gasped, her hands covering her mouth. The antenna had stabbed the pilot on his right chest. It protruded five meters from him.
The sun began to set. It was an early evening.
The pilot struggled to lift his head.
"A...are...y,you...h....happy..........now!?..." The pilot fell silent, with his hand pointing to a building, the other was gripping his chest wound, as if he tried to ease its shrieking pain.
The wind stopped. The birds were quiet.
Iris' eyes shone with tears. She turned towards Qastor. He responded by holding her in his arms.
"Qastor... why...?" She broke into a quiet sob. Qastor felt his shirt moisten.
"That's life nowadays. Now matter how hard we try to attain peace, there will always be a number of people to be sacrificed in the process... I'm sorry..." Qastor's voice was low, almost a whisper. His eyes moistened, also. His entire family was among those sacrificed people. With his remaining strength, he held back his tears. One streamed down his left cheek. Iris felt it drop on her silken hair. She held him tighter.
It felt like an eternity to Qastor when Iris next spoke.
"But, Qastor...?"
"Yes...?"
"How... many...?"
"I don't know... I guess... As many as it takes..."