Chapter 8: Flown the Coop
"Damage assest team 032Yellow, what's your report" "Level 1 destruction, no annihilation, there's even rubble for the rubble, 7 ACs found northwest of the Nest, almost completely destroyed, their cores with the same markings as the rest" "Any survivors?" "Including civilians?" the leader looked down at the charred remains of what appeared to be a man, "zero" "Ravens?" "All gone, this Nest is empty"
"Another AC, scan the emblem" a man in a blue suit said, he turned to the person next to him, "what's the count so far?" he was looking up at the destroyed behemoth, even though the AC was on its sides it still towered over him "So far including this one.283" "And how many of the 9ball ones?" "72, damn.where did these AC's come from?" "Unknown" the man shrugged "9ball, I just cant believe it" "The scannings done, the pilot." he rearranged his glasses, "is Chris Parker, handle Defect" the other man let out a sigh "Call Jean and tell her we found what she wants" he looked at his assistant, "tell her it doesn't look pretty" the man looked at the giant hole located on the core, peering into the cockpit.
"Jean we need to break it to her sooner or later" Steve was laying on his bed talking to Jean, he was stuck in the hospital and would bed ridden for 3 weeks as his leg healed. It had been 4 days since the attack of Claymore faction, and many rumors were spreading about it disbanding. Jean bit her lips "Look we don't know if he's alive or not, all they found was an empty core" she turned away from Steve's look "Jean, I know its hard to accept it" he kept his voice steady, "but what else could have happened?" he didn't want to show Jean his emotions, he might trigger hers "I know I know!" she was shaking her head, "I'm gonna go out for a walk" she needed some fresh air, she needed time to think. She had checked all nearby hospitals, all shelters, and she had nothing that could explain anything about Chris's position. Her phone rang before she left the room,
"Hello" "Jean? This is Zack about that AC you asked me to look for."
"How are you doing Jeff" Renee was by her brother's side, he was found in his AC, luckily still alive "I told you Renee, I'm a big kid now, you don't need to be watching over me" he was in bed, only suffered a broken arm, he only had to stay for 2 days before he would be released "yeah the only 19 year old who still called himself a kid" Renee smiled, it had been a long time since she had given a person one. "Hey where's your boyfriend?" he chuckled, "I cant believe your dating him" Jean put her hand around her scarf "Renee? What's wrong?" "Its nothing" Renee just had a passing thought "By the way where is Defect, I gotta thank him for watching my back" Jeff said before he stuffed his hospital jell-o into his mouth. Renee got up and walked to the door "Well see you later lil bro" she stepped out, "I'll stop by your apartment after you get out" "Sure see you around" he replied after her
It was mid afternoon, the suns rays complemented Renee's orange hair, she pushed up her glasses with her pinkie, an old habit since her early childhood. It had almost been a week since the horrifying attack, the Nest was in ruins, she thought that when she had left Mars 6 years ago, all the bad things would stop happening. This wasn't so. She had lost her friends, her comrades, her Nest, her love and almost her brother.
"Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey" someone was talking to me, my head was pounding, where was I and what was I doing here? "Hey come on Defect, you've been asleep for 3 days now" this time it was someone else's voice "Defect you gotta eat something, you cant just lie there" a female, my head was killing me, disoriented, and even worse I had bed hair. "Huh? Where am I?" I said, after the hammers in my head stopped pounding
"You're in a lovely cell, painted a cement grey to bring out the color of the steel bars that are holding us in" the man joked, "would you want to be served dinner now?" "Yeah I'll take some eggs" I replied, catching their smiles as I opened my eyes I was in a cell, big enough for 10 people but was filled with 20. I looked past the bars and saw 5 more similar cells, all filled with people and by the look of things all Ravens. "What are we doing here?" I asked, sitting up I took a good look at the people I was with. Many of them where high ranking Arena combatants, and lucky me the pilot of Cherry Wood, Cynthia was in here too. "Who knows?" she said, tossing her hair back and tying it with a scrunche "What happened? I thought we where all dead meat, how come were still alive?" "It seems that someone wants us alive" it was a man this time, I recognized him as the second ranked Raven of our Nest, that is if we still have a Nest to get back to.
"Damage assest team 032Yellow, what's your report" "Level 1 destruction, no annihilation, there's even rubble for the rubble, 7 ACs found northwest of the Nest, almost completely destroyed, their cores with the same markings as the rest" "Any survivors?" "Including civilians?" the leader looked down at the charred remains of what appeared to be a man, "zero" "Ravens?" "All gone, this Nest is empty"
"Another AC, scan the emblem" a man in a blue suit said, he turned to the person next to him, "what's the count so far?" he was looking up at the destroyed behemoth, even though the AC was on its sides it still towered over him "So far including this one.283" "And how many of the 9ball ones?" "72, damn.where did these AC's come from?" "Unknown" the man shrugged "9ball, I just cant believe it" "The scannings done, the pilot." he rearranged his glasses, "is Chris Parker, handle Defect" the other man let out a sigh "Call Jean and tell her we found what she wants" he looked at his assistant, "tell her it doesn't look pretty" the man looked at the giant hole located on the core, peering into the cockpit.
"Jean we need to break it to her sooner or later" Steve was laying on his bed talking to Jean, he was stuck in the hospital and would bed ridden for 3 weeks as his leg healed. It had been 4 days since the attack of Claymore faction, and many rumors were spreading about it disbanding. Jean bit her lips "Look we don't know if he's alive or not, all they found was an empty core" she turned away from Steve's look "Jean, I know its hard to accept it" he kept his voice steady, "but what else could have happened?" he didn't want to show Jean his emotions, he might trigger hers "I know I know!" she was shaking her head, "I'm gonna go out for a walk" she needed some fresh air, she needed time to think. She had checked all nearby hospitals, all shelters, and she had nothing that could explain anything about Chris's position. Her phone rang before she left the room,
"Hello" "Jean? This is Zack about that AC you asked me to look for."
"How are you doing Jeff" Renee was by her brother's side, he was found in his AC, luckily still alive "I told you Renee, I'm a big kid now, you don't need to be watching over me" he was in bed, only suffered a broken arm, he only had to stay for 2 days before he would be released "yeah the only 19 year old who still called himself a kid" Renee smiled, it had been a long time since she had given a person one. "Hey where's your boyfriend?" he chuckled, "I cant believe your dating him" Jean put her hand around her scarf "Renee? What's wrong?" "Its nothing" Renee just had a passing thought "By the way where is Defect, I gotta thank him for watching my back" Jeff said before he stuffed his hospital jell-o into his mouth. Renee got up and walked to the door "Well see you later lil bro" she stepped out, "I'll stop by your apartment after you get out" "Sure see you around" he replied after her
It was mid afternoon, the suns rays complemented Renee's orange hair, she pushed up her glasses with her pinkie, an old habit since her early childhood. It had almost been a week since the horrifying attack, the Nest was in ruins, she thought that when she had left Mars 6 years ago, all the bad things would stop happening. This wasn't so. She had lost her friends, her comrades, her Nest, her love and almost her brother.
"Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey" someone was talking to me, my head was pounding, where was I and what was I doing here? "Hey come on Defect, you've been asleep for 3 days now" this time it was someone else's voice "Defect you gotta eat something, you cant just lie there" a female, my head was killing me, disoriented, and even worse I had bed hair. "Huh? Where am I?" I said, after the hammers in my head stopped pounding
"You're in a lovely cell, painted a cement grey to bring out the color of the steel bars that are holding us in" the man joked, "would you want to be served dinner now?" "Yeah I'll take some eggs" I replied, catching their smiles as I opened my eyes I was in a cell, big enough for 10 people but was filled with 20. I looked past the bars and saw 5 more similar cells, all filled with people and by the look of things all Ravens. "What are we doing here?" I asked, sitting up I took a good look at the people I was with. Many of them where high ranking Arena combatants, and lucky me the pilot of Cherry Wood, Cynthia was in here too. "Who knows?" she said, tossing her hair back and tying it with a scrunche "What happened? I thought we where all dead meat, how come were still alive?" "It seems that someone wants us alive" it was a man this time, I recognized him as the second ranked Raven of our Nest, that is if we still have a Nest to get back to.