Chapter 11

LUCIFER DRAGON

Lexington stopped mid-range and started to unload shots from his KARASAWA laser cannon into the flocks of the large MTs as they landed. Reese took to the air and targeted only the most vital parts of the MT frameworks with her sniper rifle, occasionally engaging her illegally modified CROW stealth extension.
Raven boosted forward directly into the hoards of enemies, letting off volleys of the durable 800-round machine gun. The battle seemed to be going fairly in Raven's favor, but with every wave of enemies, the battle seemed to intensify, and the enemies seemed to grow more intelligent. Were these new types of MTs able to learn from real time battle data? Could it be possible that Gustave stumbled upon the ZG system as well?

As Raven was down to 200 rounds, he let grenades fly as he tried desperately to dodge the more accurate energy machine gun fire and bazooka shots of the municipal of MTs. Lexington managed to take out a good bulk of their main frontline forces up to the point where he ran out of missiles. He then had to resort back to the Karasawa to take out the enemies, who were quickly charging him. Reese was steadily backing both of them up with the superbly accurate use of her sniper rifle, hitting only the cameras and sensors of the MTs, as well as any vital area revealed due to slight armor damage that weakened the frame's integrity.
They fought on, knowing that they could not fight an extended, drawn out battle... and knowing the inevitable would eventually happen. Then it finally came to pass; they ran dry on all types of ammunitions, missiles, shots... all they had left were blades. After discarding all emptied weapons Raven fought on for a while with the powerful HALBERD he wielded, but even all of his skills as a blader weren't a match for these accurate and ruthless enemies.

After a desperate struggle Raven was forced to back away from the enemies, as were the others, soon all three of their damaged and dented ACs were back to back surrounded by the remnants of the enemies.

Lexington stated, "Dammit, I got nothing left. It's gonna be tough to fight on like this, I don't know how this'll turn out, but… maybe one of us can think of something. Any ideas?"

Reese then stated next, "I wish this could have turned out better, we all fought so hard . . . It's starting to look bad."

Raven then gazed up at that fortress, and the sheer sight of it angered him, the fury within himself grew to a level he had not felt in a while. With this Raven felt that he could go on fighting, and he answered "Lexington, Reese, we're in a tight spot. If worse comes to pass, then... it was an honor fighting alongside you two…"

Raven closed his eyes, tilted his head and started to remember what a brave pilot once told him before meeting his demise… Raven spoke to them again, "I recall what a strong man once told me… He told me that if a chick cannot break out of its shell, it will die without truly being born. Breaking your shell is the most important thing a raven can do. Even if it may be a losing battle, one should fight on, because in the end you will know that you stayed true to your own emotions, and that even if the battle is lost . . . you will know that you did not contradict your own feelings . . ."
After their talk, silence rang over the battlefield, and the MTs seemed to start moving closer. Perhaps they were ordered to finish them, or perhaps they were acting on their own will. All that doesn't matter, all Raven knew is at that exact moment, something happened that he would never have expected.

As the MTs approached the three of them and drew in closer, something strange happened. From seemingly out of nowhere energy weapon fire flew over them and blasted the heads off of three MTs with well placed laser rifle blasts. Suddenly landing in front of us, a black Armored Core stood and glared at the enemy. Lexington came across on my screen somewhat surprised, "Hey, what the hell is that!?"

The black AC then responded and said, "It's me, Roger. The military police and I are here to help you take down that thing and destroy these threats."

Raven thought to himself, "military police?" A moment later they all noticed a large, green camouflaged tank AC overboost across the battlefield, taking out multiple enemies with waves of arm missiles. This AC's pilot responded in a gruff voice, "This is Dastun, preparing to make another sweep of the battlefield." The tank then turned quickly with specialized boosters and a large black cannon folded over it's shoulder.

Suddenly the AC let off a large grenade blast, which traveled across the battlefield hitting it's target, taking out multiple MTs in one blast. On the other end of the grounds were multiple siege tanks and heavy-end MTs, piloted by other members of the Military Police, firing into the MT army remnants.
The black AC then turned to us after looking at the substantial wreckage on the battlefield, "You three are pretty good, you took out this many even with the grim realization that you were vastly outnumbered… Anyway, we here now to destroy all traces of Kisaragi and these new 'Type-XVII' MTs like I promised. They could become a large threat if left uncontrolled. Soon a large aerial fleet will come by to bomb that thing into a smoldering crater."

Raven stood there and looked around for a few seconds. Soon he walked forward towards the black AC and murmured, "I must go to the fortress, something of mine is there and I must retrieve it."

Roger responded, "Wait, no... the bombing! it's much to dangerous and your AC is too badly damaged to risk going up there. You'd have to be crazy to try that in your condition, once the bombers come by you'll be caught up in the blast if you're up there."

Raven responded, "No, the time is now, I must go… You can't tell me what to do."

But before Roger could continue preventing Raven, a tremendous tremor rocked the ground. A terrible roar was heard across the snow-capped landscape. Raven and the others looked towards the source; it was the crater that was mistaken as a missile blast.

A plume of snow and dirt was released into the air as Raven caught sight of two glowing red eyes in the debris. Fear caught him, wrung him. A horrible event reveals itself once again . . . even Lexington caught sight and gasped.

Gustave was in his pilot's seat, surrounded by a red spherical view screen. His controls were two gelatin orbs and a neural interface. He grinned... "The time has come. Time to show them your power!"

The Lucifer dragon, stepping out of the crater, opened it's gaping jaws, and an intake fan on it's back seemed to be taking in energy particles from the atmosphere. Perfect timing; the atmosphere was full of negative ions after the snowstorm blew over.

The dragon stepped onto the bordering AI MTs, not caring for the lost hardware. The mouth had a visible energy buildup, a white orb pulsating in the throat.

Roger began to strafe to the left, "Everyone, get out of the way NOW!!"

Raven, Lexington and Reese boosted to the right. Dastun moved out of range, but there were some unfortunate police MTs.

The beast fired an ultraviolet beam of charged particles down the battle field, melting the permafrost ground and disintegrating surrounding MTs. The gash left behind was a river of molten rock. Steam from the melted snow created an eerie scene combined with the crash of sound that almost caused Raven to go deaf.

Gustave engaged his outer communicator so everyone would hear, "You see, you SEE? That is the combined power of Kisaragi's ingenuity with two demons built prior to the Great Destruction. One being this prototype combat MT, the other being parts from the space satellite."

Raven called Gustave, "You don't understand . . . whether it's your intention to finish us off, or your whim to gloat over a near victory, now isn't the time for either."

Gustave hacked into the stolen LMC databank. Someone with the gall to talk back? This had to be him... "So you're Raven Cross. Good to see a soldier like you alive and well."

Dastun ignored their conversation, "All units left, FIRE!!!"

Gustave was caught off guard. The Lucifer Dragon was hit with salvo after salvo of bazooka and rifle rounds. Most shots were aimed at the head where the main weapon was housed. "Cease fire!"

As soon as the barrage stopped and the smoke cleared, the dragon hardly had any significant damage. Gustave merely laughed, "Ha! Don't you small-minded fools get it yet? In this world, in this time, power is the most important factor. Whoever has the most power has the right to rule," A pause, Raven walks forward with his allies. "...What will it take to make you understand? Another demonstration of my power?!"

The tail of the Lucifer Dragon opened up, revealing dozens of missile tubes. One segment released all missile, straight into the air, and detonated a kilometer up. Raven was just as confused as anybody, but Reese was the first to look up. "Everyone, look out!"

The majority of allied forces boosted out in time, but quite a few were left to face the fury of giant falling pikes. Those hit were either detonated or impaled permanently into the ground. The dragon then recharged it's main cannon.

"Ahahahaha! That's it!" shouted Gustave maniacally, "Just burn them all to the ground, send them back to the planet!"

Raven, as he tried his hand at evasive maneuvers preparing for the blast, saw Reese fly behind the dragon. She swung her left arm exactly at the moment she jettisoned her laser blade. Gustave looked behind him to see his mistake of underestimating skilled ravens, the beam mechanism grinding itself into the intake fan. "Raven, charge now as he's powering down!" Reese shouted.

The Lucifer Dragon, as well as Gustave, was surprised to see the energy buildup fade away from the monster's gullet. Gustave was getting perturbed, "Come on, you think that'll stop me?" he said as he activated the rear interception guns on the back of the dragon's neck.

Reese was about to boost away as she was hit with a barrage, a vital spot was struck, "Damn! Raven . . ." her communications fizzled out.

More knots twisted and churned in Raven's stomach, like there was a serrated knife jabbing itself in his heart. "Reese, respond! REESE!"

Roger circled around to the Lucifer Dragon to it's right side, "Gustave, there's no honor at all in you intensions!"

"And what's your point? The previous Gustave was the one preoccupied with bull-headed honor."

Roger signaled Raven, "Sorry, can't reason with him. That monster . . . It's my turn!" he shouted as the Big-O plowed it's left arm into the dragon's right leg joint. The leg collapsed, and Roger shouted as he ripped off the Big-O's arm, leaving it in the crippled joint. Roger then blasted the chest area with the Chrome Buster.

The bright white beam slammed into the right spot, but left only a major dent. "Dammit!"

Raven boosted over to where Reese crash-landed. "Reese, Reese?! Are you alright?"

He was relieved to hear her voice, "Yeah . . . but I guess I'm out of the battle for good, now."

"It's okay, just get to safety. Can your AC walk?"

"I think so... just take care of that creep!"

Gustave was losing his patience, "Lucifer Dragon, how could you let them do this to you?! You're the most powerful creature on the planet, don't tell me you've reached your limit now!"

The intake fan on the dragon's back screeched against Reese's blade.

Lexington couldn't suppress a look of fear an helplessness, "Oh, no! Raven, the fan!"

The increasing tension against the blade mechanism caused it to snap almost instantly. The fan began to swirl twice as fast, the energy cannon charged at an incredible rate. Roger had sweat forming on his face as he backed away, seeing the menace's head curve around in his direction.

Gustave couldn't help but laugh, "Hahahahahahaha! That's it! Now, fire the cannon, and lay waste to everything in site!" he shouted.

Raven looked at the charged mouth of the dragon. Fear turned into uncertainty, uncertainty into anxiety, anxiety . . . to hatred. Pure, blind hatred. Raven screamed as he charged the intake fan.

Roger sent a quick message to stop, but Raven ignored it. He dumped all of his energy into the overboost and blade. The HALBERD's range was sufficient as the attack power increased from the momentum. Raven jabbed the red blade into the back of the Lucifer Dragon, straight through the fan, into the vital systems past the thick armor.

The Tallgeese II was missing a hand as Raven jumped away, an explosion breaking the main power feed. The intake fan snapped and spiraled into the air like a Frisbee as the dragon, devoid of any real pain, screamed into the sky above it.

Sparks were flying everywhere inside the control pod as Gustave tried to comprehend the situation. "I don't understand... what went wrong? I had all the power in the world . . . and it still wasn't enough."

The command pod automatically transferred into the escape module. Raven and the others saw as it shot from the forehead of the Lucifer Dragon. Gustave screamed in agony, "WHY?!!"

Raven boosted out of the way with Reese. Lexington, Roger, Dastun and the remaining forces did likewise as the core of the dragon detonated. It was still roaring and withering in artificial pain as it exploded into shards and chunks of molted metal. The crater left behind rivaled that of the one upon reentry.