Chapter 6: It Begins
This was the last day the arena would be open and this was the last battle. All rankings were final, I had reached C-8 and all that was left was an exhibition match between our top ranked Raven with a neighboring nest's one. In this case it was a Raven by the name of Adieu from Global Cortex, after attaining top rank in their arena Adieu was a favorite to battle in the MOR on Mars along with our home boy err.girl Cherry Wood. The sponsors of the arena decided on an exhibition between the two and labeled it the "Master of Arena" "You know Cherry Wood was the reason I became a Raven in the first place" Renee said holding onto my arm. Renee and I had gotten closer after our bout together and we wouldn't miss this AC battle for the world, and so did a lot of other Ravens, the corridors were empty before the start of the match, it seems they all wouldn't miss this battle either. "No kidding" I raised an eyebrow, "how much you wanna bet Adieu will win" "Your on" she looked up in thought, "the loser has to eat the fish tacos in the dinning hall" "Ewww." my stomach turned, "ok, I bet on Adieu while you bet on Cherry Wood" "Fine" she put her head on my shoulder, "I hope you know where the closest bathroom is when you puke the tacos out" "I hope you do to" I said with my crooked smile, "look their starting" I sat up on my chair and got ready for a great fight.
THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN TWO DEADLY RAVENS OF DIFFERENT NESTS The speakers where at their loudest, but it was over noised by the crowd
THE RAVEN RANKED AT A-1 CHERRYWOOD OF THE NEST "CLAYMORE FACTION" WILL DO BATTLE WITH RANKED A-1 ADIEU OF THE NEST "GLOBAL CORTEX" BOTH HAVE BEEN RAVENS FOR 5 YEARS AND HAVE GONE THROUGH MANY DEADLY BATTLES IN THE ARENA AND SURVIVED MANY MISSIONS The crowd was cheering madly now, the attendant's voice lost in the roar, it was hard to make out what she was saying
PRESENTING CHERRY WOOD The females of the crowd screamed and so did some of the guys, I've seen the pilot in person, she was what many say, eye candy, and I couldn't agree more. She had long flowing light brown hair streaked with red, her green eyes shone with a seductive look, she was about my height and had the voice that could charm any animal into a tame state, even Jean. Her AC waved to the crowd, it was a hover with a grenade rifle and duel missiles on the back, it was even equipped with a left handgun, it had a reddish pink color scheme her emblem was the queen of hearts.
PRESENTING ADIEU The crowd screamed for him too, he was more popular with the girls, even Renee gave him a cheer giving me an innocent look. He was 6 feet and had a scar that ran down the left side of his face. He had gotten it from the battle with Ace during a mission. Ace was another A-1 Ranked pilot and it musta took a lot to beat him. His AC's color scheme was the default plain silver and was a mid weight bipedal equipped with a Fire missile launcher, a left arm howitzer and ( I shuddered) a Kawasawa, its silver finish gleamed in the arena lights, the weapon shone eerily in my eyes and I turned away. "Anything wrong Chris?" Renee felt me shudder "Nah" I faked a shudder, "shoulda brought a jacket" His AC fired a Kawasawa blast at the ceiling, prompting the crowd to roar louder. I shuddered again, the noise this Kawasawa made was different, it was a whooshing sound but it still sounded how a Kawasawa should sound like, death. I was having second thoughts about watching this battle, until I felt the heat from Renee's body, I couldn't leave, her heat warmed his soul and erased any ideas of leaving, I couldn't leave her, not now.
THE BATTLE WILL COMMENCE IN 5.4. I couldn't wait, this battle will be burned into my memory 3. I felt Renee's grasp tightening I knew she couldn't wait either 2. Here it comes the moment of truth 1.
BEGI-
The arena speakers exploded in an instant, the cheers where replaced with screams as a whole section of Seats incinerated in flames. It was a terrorist attack. "WHAT THE F**K?!?!" I was screaming I had to get Renee out of here "CHRIS!" her grip was tightening, I heard her breath speeding up, her eyes darted back and forth, she began hyperventilating, her hold became a death grip "Renee what's wrong???" I began to sweat, my hand started shaking, I did what only came natural. I picked her up and ran out of the burning dome, I passed a few Ravens who began trampling civilians on their way to the exit, I passed others that where helping the trampled ones up, I ran into the corridor which was flashing red lights, the intercom kicked in.
ATTENTION ATTENTION ALL RAVENS SCRAMBLE TO THE GARAGE, CLAYMORE FACTION IS BEING ATTACKED, I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL CLAYMORE FACTION IS BEING ATTACKED ALL RAVENS ASSEMBLE TO ASSIST IN DEFENDING THE RAVENS NEST.ATTENTION ATTENTION
I ran toward the garage, Renee still gripping my hand beads of sweat dripped from her forehead, this was the first time I had seen her like this, but then again we've only been together for 3 days. I was carrying her past a bunch of screaming people when she turned toward me, her eyes filled with an unknown fear, I knew that this wasn't natural. Another explosion rocked the building and I stopped waiting for the aftershock to dissipate, I held Renee closer, tears were now streaming down her eyes. I knew that leaving her alone wasn't safe and allowing her to pilot her AC was out of the question, I only hoped Steve and Jean were still kissing in the garage. "Jean!" I yelled, it was useless since everyone was scrambling to their ACs, another explosion caused an AC loading tower to topple, crushing a crew of AC technicians, my heart leaped, they where good friends I had known since I first started out. "Jean!" this time I heard a respond, she was looking for me, and called me over, I got to her and saw Steve sitting against the wall, a pylon from one of the loading towers pieced thru his right leg, blood was soaking into his jeans "no" I said looking in disbelief, " no Steve hang on!" "Shut up Chris" Steve's gruff voice hardened and he smiled, "it's only a flesh wound" "Help me pull it out of him Chris" Jean had tears streaming down her cheek but I would have never guessed she was upset if the tears wasn't there "Sure" I let loose of Renee but she was still gripping me, I turned toward her and spoke calmly "Renee" I patted her head, "I'm still here" she looked at me and let go, she started to calm down. I grabbed one end of the beam while Jean grabbed the center of it. I pulled hard and heard metal scraping aginst bone, the beam came out cleanly, Jean then took off her shirt. She wrapped it around Steve's wound and pulled tightly "arrrgggg" Steve groaned and looked at Jean, "I finally got your shirt off" and smiled, Jean smiled back and wrapped her arms around him "help him up you two need to get out of here" I said, I handed Steve the beam I had just pulled out, he needed a crutch, "take Renee with you I'm joining in the battle" I turned and jumped into an elevator that would take me to my core, "Come back alive you hear!!!" Jean yelled after me I was joined by other Ravens this time we were all fighting on the same side. I waved my hand to Jean as the door closed, I took a deep breath.
I turned on my Vid and weapons, this time I had a rifle, a slug gun and a duel missile launcher equipped, new parts were being shipped from Mars and I had to make due with these. "AC Everman online" I heard a man on the com link, his AC was snow white with a green core "AC Yeti online" another one with a white AC but this time a tank "AC Adrenaline online" I responded and watched as the garage door opened "AC Laminate online" I tuned to my left, it was Xerox this time he had a quad, looks like he took my advice, and it lookes like I have to become baby sitter, I didn't want Renee to look sad anymore "AC Bug Zapper online" another quad this time yellow, that was all of us in this garage, we all prepared to leave when a grenade round blasted into our garage and hit Yeti in the chest "****" he said, "I'm still green lets get out of here!!!" Yeti's pilot yelled over the link "Who's attacking us?" Everman was already firing at an MT that had just stormed in "No clue" Bug Zapper replied "I heard it's the same group that attacked Nerves Concord, but I'm not certain" she was trying to hide the fear in her voice "Well who ever it is, is gonna pay for ruining a good match" said Everman "Here Here" we all shouted, we all boosted out and entered hell.
Half of our nest was in flames, explosions rocked the vehicle garage and a chunk of the barracks fell to the ground some on top of fallen ACs that littered the ground. I hoped Jean got Renee and Steve out of there in time. The surrounding City scape was reduced to rubble, untold amounts of lives were fighting for survival at this very moment. I looked at the guard station and saw Vent's AC motionless, smoldering in a heap but Vent himself was still firing rockets at the attackers from the ground. I looked up and saw our opponents. "What the hell?" Bug Zapper's voice began to shake now They were all different ACs with the same emblem, my heart got stuck in my throat. The emblem consisted of s black ball with the number 9 across it. I couldn't hold back my crooked smile any longer, this was the great finale, and one hell of a battle. I boosted toward the nearest one, tears streaming down my eyes now, before I began my attack I whispered.
I'm sorry. Renee.
This was the last day the arena would be open and this was the last battle. All rankings were final, I had reached C-8 and all that was left was an exhibition match between our top ranked Raven with a neighboring nest's one. In this case it was a Raven by the name of Adieu from Global Cortex, after attaining top rank in their arena Adieu was a favorite to battle in the MOR on Mars along with our home boy err.girl Cherry Wood. The sponsors of the arena decided on an exhibition between the two and labeled it the "Master of Arena" "You know Cherry Wood was the reason I became a Raven in the first place" Renee said holding onto my arm. Renee and I had gotten closer after our bout together and we wouldn't miss this AC battle for the world, and so did a lot of other Ravens, the corridors were empty before the start of the match, it seems they all wouldn't miss this battle either. "No kidding" I raised an eyebrow, "how much you wanna bet Adieu will win" "Your on" she looked up in thought, "the loser has to eat the fish tacos in the dinning hall" "Ewww." my stomach turned, "ok, I bet on Adieu while you bet on Cherry Wood" "Fine" she put her head on my shoulder, "I hope you know where the closest bathroom is when you puke the tacos out" "I hope you do to" I said with my crooked smile, "look their starting" I sat up on my chair and got ready for a great fight.
THIS IS A BATTLE BETWEEN TWO DEADLY RAVENS OF DIFFERENT NESTS The speakers where at their loudest, but it was over noised by the crowd
THE RAVEN RANKED AT A-1 CHERRYWOOD OF THE NEST "CLAYMORE FACTION" WILL DO BATTLE WITH RANKED A-1 ADIEU OF THE NEST "GLOBAL CORTEX" BOTH HAVE BEEN RAVENS FOR 5 YEARS AND HAVE GONE THROUGH MANY DEADLY BATTLES IN THE ARENA AND SURVIVED MANY MISSIONS The crowd was cheering madly now, the attendant's voice lost in the roar, it was hard to make out what she was saying
PRESENTING CHERRY WOOD The females of the crowd screamed and so did some of the guys, I've seen the pilot in person, she was what many say, eye candy, and I couldn't agree more. She had long flowing light brown hair streaked with red, her green eyes shone with a seductive look, she was about my height and had the voice that could charm any animal into a tame state, even Jean. Her AC waved to the crowd, it was a hover with a grenade rifle and duel missiles on the back, it was even equipped with a left handgun, it had a reddish pink color scheme her emblem was the queen of hearts.
PRESENTING ADIEU The crowd screamed for him too, he was more popular with the girls, even Renee gave him a cheer giving me an innocent look. He was 6 feet and had a scar that ran down the left side of his face. He had gotten it from the battle with Ace during a mission. Ace was another A-1 Ranked pilot and it musta took a lot to beat him. His AC's color scheme was the default plain silver and was a mid weight bipedal equipped with a Fire missile launcher, a left arm howitzer and ( I shuddered) a Kawasawa, its silver finish gleamed in the arena lights, the weapon shone eerily in my eyes and I turned away. "Anything wrong Chris?" Renee felt me shudder "Nah" I faked a shudder, "shoulda brought a jacket" His AC fired a Kawasawa blast at the ceiling, prompting the crowd to roar louder. I shuddered again, the noise this Kawasawa made was different, it was a whooshing sound but it still sounded how a Kawasawa should sound like, death. I was having second thoughts about watching this battle, until I felt the heat from Renee's body, I couldn't leave, her heat warmed his soul and erased any ideas of leaving, I couldn't leave her, not now.
THE BATTLE WILL COMMENCE IN 5.4. I couldn't wait, this battle will be burned into my memory 3. I felt Renee's grasp tightening I knew she couldn't wait either 2. Here it comes the moment of truth 1.
BEGI-
The arena speakers exploded in an instant, the cheers where replaced with screams as a whole section of Seats incinerated in flames. It was a terrorist attack. "WHAT THE F**K?!?!" I was screaming I had to get Renee out of here "CHRIS!" her grip was tightening, I heard her breath speeding up, her eyes darted back and forth, she began hyperventilating, her hold became a death grip "Renee what's wrong???" I began to sweat, my hand started shaking, I did what only came natural. I picked her up and ran out of the burning dome, I passed a few Ravens who began trampling civilians on their way to the exit, I passed others that where helping the trampled ones up, I ran into the corridor which was flashing red lights, the intercom kicked in.
ATTENTION ATTENTION ALL RAVENS SCRAMBLE TO THE GARAGE, CLAYMORE FACTION IS BEING ATTACKED, I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL CLAYMORE FACTION IS BEING ATTACKED ALL RAVENS ASSEMBLE TO ASSIST IN DEFENDING THE RAVENS NEST.ATTENTION ATTENTION
I ran toward the garage, Renee still gripping my hand beads of sweat dripped from her forehead, this was the first time I had seen her like this, but then again we've only been together for 3 days. I was carrying her past a bunch of screaming people when she turned toward me, her eyes filled with an unknown fear, I knew that this wasn't natural. Another explosion rocked the building and I stopped waiting for the aftershock to dissipate, I held Renee closer, tears were now streaming down her eyes. I knew that leaving her alone wasn't safe and allowing her to pilot her AC was out of the question, I only hoped Steve and Jean were still kissing in the garage. "Jean!" I yelled, it was useless since everyone was scrambling to their ACs, another explosion caused an AC loading tower to topple, crushing a crew of AC technicians, my heart leaped, they where good friends I had known since I first started out. "Jean!" this time I heard a respond, she was looking for me, and called me over, I got to her and saw Steve sitting against the wall, a pylon from one of the loading towers pieced thru his right leg, blood was soaking into his jeans "no" I said looking in disbelief, " no Steve hang on!" "Shut up Chris" Steve's gruff voice hardened and he smiled, "it's only a flesh wound" "Help me pull it out of him Chris" Jean had tears streaming down her cheek but I would have never guessed she was upset if the tears wasn't there "Sure" I let loose of Renee but she was still gripping me, I turned toward her and spoke calmly "Renee" I patted her head, "I'm still here" she looked at me and let go, she started to calm down. I grabbed one end of the beam while Jean grabbed the center of it. I pulled hard and heard metal scraping aginst bone, the beam came out cleanly, Jean then took off her shirt. She wrapped it around Steve's wound and pulled tightly "arrrgggg" Steve groaned and looked at Jean, "I finally got your shirt off" and smiled, Jean smiled back and wrapped her arms around him "help him up you two need to get out of here" I said, I handed Steve the beam I had just pulled out, he needed a crutch, "take Renee with you I'm joining in the battle" I turned and jumped into an elevator that would take me to my core, "Come back alive you hear!!!" Jean yelled after me I was joined by other Ravens this time we were all fighting on the same side. I waved my hand to Jean as the door closed, I took a deep breath.
I turned on my Vid and weapons, this time I had a rifle, a slug gun and a duel missile launcher equipped, new parts were being shipped from Mars and I had to make due with these. "AC Everman online" I heard a man on the com link, his AC was snow white with a green core "AC Yeti online" another one with a white AC but this time a tank "AC Adrenaline online" I responded and watched as the garage door opened "AC Laminate online" I tuned to my left, it was Xerox this time he had a quad, looks like he took my advice, and it lookes like I have to become baby sitter, I didn't want Renee to look sad anymore "AC Bug Zapper online" another quad this time yellow, that was all of us in this garage, we all prepared to leave when a grenade round blasted into our garage and hit Yeti in the chest "****" he said, "I'm still green lets get out of here!!!" Yeti's pilot yelled over the link "Who's attacking us?" Everman was already firing at an MT that had just stormed in "No clue" Bug Zapper replied "I heard it's the same group that attacked Nerves Concord, but I'm not certain" she was trying to hide the fear in her voice "Well who ever it is, is gonna pay for ruining a good match" said Everman "Here Here" we all shouted, we all boosted out and entered hell.
Half of our nest was in flames, explosions rocked the vehicle garage and a chunk of the barracks fell to the ground some on top of fallen ACs that littered the ground. I hoped Jean got Renee and Steve out of there in time. The surrounding City scape was reduced to rubble, untold amounts of lives were fighting for survival at this very moment. I looked at the guard station and saw Vent's AC motionless, smoldering in a heap but Vent himself was still firing rockets at the attackers from the ground. I looked up and saw our opponents. "What the hell?" Bug Zapper's voice began to shake now They were all different ACs with the same emblem, my heart got stuck in my throat. The emblem consisted of s black ball with the number 9 across it. I couldn't hold back my crooked smile any longer, this was the great finale, and one hell of a battle. I boosted toward the nearest one, tears streaming down my eyes now, before I began my attack I whispered.
I'm sorry. Renee.