Chapter 3: Unexpected Encounter
Four years passed since then. Now in 2182 AD things have dramatically changed. Bahram is at last revived. The forces of UNSF on Earth are falling one by one. Only some countries withstand the pressure of Bahram forces, which have become more powerful thanks to advanced technology. In the other colonies of Mars, Calisto, Europa and Antilia, things are not better and forgotten memories of terror awaken through the human race. The last hope of UNSF stands now on the hands of former Frame Runners, like Leo, and other 'Lone Wolfs'. Soon they must be ready to face…an unexpected encounter.
The Sahara desert, one of the hottest places on Earth; it used to be the land of many ancient civilizations, which vanished in the sands of time. In the last centuries it was a quiet place but after Bahram's revival, a part of it has become a fully equipped and well-protected training ground.
Sounds of battle are roaming in the air; in the view of the hostile desert two gigantic figures were giving a fight. The orbital frames were easily recognized as the fight between the A.R. (Advanced Raptor) and the woman shaped orbital frame, known as Ardjet II.
"Enemy status scan accomplished, A.R. status: damage exceeding 86%!" April said
"Then, let's give an end to this!" Ken said
For Ken it was the first time that she used a Frame with an A. I. like April, it gave a personality to the Frame, and it reminded Ken April's "ancestor" and Jehuty's battle A. I., Ada, even they were totally different.
The Ardjet II with a quick dodge evaded the incoming fire from the heavily damaged A.R., during the evasion it extended the hand and the energy blade appeared. Then with a dash uppercut it slashed through the enemy and stopped a few meters away. The A.R. struggled to keep up fighting but soon it ended within the sound of explosions, energy jolts and burning flames.
"Kisses to your mommy, freak!" Ken said
"Ha, ha, you always have a way of enjoying your battles Ken, don't you? Bill said through radio communication
Bill was the chief training instructor; a handsome black man known for his friendly manner and respect for the other, enemy or not. He also commanded every unmanned frame for training use only.
"Always Billy, always." Ken said
"How was the A.R.?"
"More powerful than common Raptors and quite a challenge to beat, it was a bit nasty in moments!"
"Well, you have to get used to it. Bahram has advanced every fighting frame even Naritas and Leopardos."
"Do you have one of these so I can train a bit more?"
"I'm afraid this is something I can't allow" a voice of a young boy was heard
Ken noticed a humanoid robot just behind her.
"Who the…you?!" She said in surprise
"Long time no see Ken." The runner of the robot said
"Leo? Is that you?" she asked
"You still remember me I see."
"How can I forget you! Where have you been all these years?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you as soon as I finish my training."
"Ok, then I'll wait at the base. Good luck with your training" Ken said as she flew with Ardjet II to the base, located some miles away.
At the same time Leo was preparing the Vic Viper for battle. While doing this he put his hand on his chest and took away a medallion. This medallion was given from Celvice as a memento from her before leaving Earth. "I hope she's all right wherever she is." Leo thought
After a short while he was ready
"Ok Leo, back to work now, don't let them down!"
Meanwhile, some thousands of miles away, within the cold grounds of Siberia. The whole crew of the base was in action. But in Rene's office a report is taking place with some quite interesting news.
"Sir, all colonies are under our control, our plan has total success!"
"That's very good officer, excellent work!" Rene said
"But…" the officer added
"But, what?" Rene asked
"Well, the remaining countries may have a secret weapon, as our spies informed me, it's about a new generation Orbital Frame called "Amazon" and it will be tested today in the Sahara Training ground sir."
"Hmm…I don't think it's a threat to us so let it be; we will destroy it when time comes. By the way how the Azrael project goes?"
"From what Alex told me the Frame is nearly complete, it is actually ready by 85% sir"
"Good! And the Armada?"
"The Armada is waiting behind the Moon, cloaked from the OSS, ready for action. Also war machine «Doom» is ready, and the runner of "Mirron" waits your orders sir."
"And Jehuty?"
"You mean the Iridium Project sir?"
"Yes."
"As Jose said, he made the SSA (Self-Supporting Armor) again so the frame looks like before the battles with Anubis. He also increased its abilities to the max reaching the levels of Jehuty version 2 we faced before the final battle and even beyond it, and now is making a battle A. I. for it, sir."
"Terrific! You can leave officer, thank you for the info." Rene said with his face full of pleasure.
As the officer left the room Rene got up from his desk and while he was looking at the hologram of the solar system he thought:
"Everything is going fine but why am I still having this awful feeling, like something terrible is about to happen."
While these events were taking place, a spaceship was approaching the Earth's orbit and so the OSS (Orbital Space Station) was taking the identity process.
"Orbital space station here, please give us your identity."
"This is transport frigate Atlantis, we brought the 'Cargo', series 5691 to 8622!" Elena said
"Ok, start the process to enter the Earth's atmosphere." the OSS replied
The 'Cargo' was nothing more than a code name for the new Orbital Frame "Amazon", in case of being spied by Bahram officers, without being aware that Bahram already knows about it.
At the same time, at the docking sector of Atlantis, where the "Amazon" was located, the female runner has a conversation with Dante.
"Dante do you think I'm ready for this?" the lady asked
"Absolutely! You are one of the best, have you forgotten that?"
"No, I'm not talking about this. I just don't know if I'm ready to meet him."
"That's something you have to find out on your own my lady, but don't worry. Everything will go fine. And something else: don't underestimate him or be afraid, just focus and you will make it. Ok?"
"Ok!"
"Good, now go, your partner is waiting." Said Dante as he pointed to Amazon
The girl approached the Orbital Frame and before entering the cockpit she said to him:
"Thanks Dante for everything, I really appreciate what Elena and you have done all these years for me…farewell."
"Farewell my lady, and take care."
As Dante was finishing his words, he left the docking sector. The Amazon started to move. Some moments later, the gates opened and a view of the Earth filled the whole sight. Slowly, like being afraid of being left free in space, the Amazon moved out from Atlantis. After the female runner got used to this first time feeling, she said through radio communication:
"Training grounds, radio cover is over, Amazon ready for action, please identify my target."
"Training grounds here, Amazon you have entry acceptance, your target is located in position 6-9-0 from the point you are, he is all yours and good luck, over and out." Billy replied to her.
After this conversation, with a dash the Amazon started entry in Earth's atmosphere.
Meanwhile Leo was giving his report
"Leo here, Vic Viper is ready to roll, please confirm my target." He said
But he didn't get a response
"What the heck?!" he thought
"Hey guys give me my target!" he shouted
Again no response but something appeared on the radar "Object approaching with high velocity, position 45 degrees South-West, Speed 2.438 Km/h, Object power level unknown." the battle A. I said
Leo soon observed an object in the sky, which was burning aflame like a meteor in the atmosphere; he soon realized that the object was actually human shaped.
"An Orbital Frame" he thought
The mysterious war machine, after making a maneuver, landed just opposite Vic Viper about half a mile away, still overheated from the entry but not for long. It was really strange to its construction. The body had a female shape with colors of metal red and silver with a strange mask on the head, the thrusters, located at the back, looked one with the body, while the cockpit wasn't in the groin but nowhere to be seen. In general, the whole Frame had a design that showed a light, fast and formidable opponent.
"You must be the Vic Viper, piloted by Leo Stenbuck, aren't you?" The rival runner said
"Hmm… that female voice; sounds somehow…familiar! Leo thought
"Yes, I am, and who are you?" he replied
"It doesn't matter who I am, but if you want to know so badly, just fight me; I'll be your target!"
"Ok, if that's your wish! But you will lose." Said Leo
"So you think!" the runner replied
Both Robots started dashing at the same time executing different close range attacks. None of them found their target as both machines evaded or blocked each hit they were about to take. The martial art moves of the Amazon were very quick and wouldn't let Leo change to flight mode so he just continued along with slash attacks. The battle was getting fierce and everything showed that the fighters were equal.
"The runner lacks in experience but fights really well and her Frame is quite strong!" Leo thought
"Even the fact that I have more powerful Frame he fights really awesome due to his experience." The female runner thought
After these thoughts the Amazon got in long range. This move gave Leo the chance to use Burst attacks, which hit accurately, sending the Amazon flying and trailing on the ground.
"Hey! Leaving so soon?" Leo said
"Arggh! Not yet! Amazon, enter cloak mode!" the female runner said
"Changing mode, cloaking fully functional in use." the Amazon A.I. said as the frame disappeared.
"What the…!" Leo said
"I have to find her before she hits me!" he thought
But it was already too late; the Amazon started to attack from all sides cloaked as it was, making Leo hard to keep up.
Soon the Vic Viper A.I. said
"Damage exceeding 50%"
"Damn it!" Leo said "Use all scanning systems!" he said to the A.I.
And the A.I. started:
"Thermal scan: Negative."
"Sonar scan: Negative."
"Metatron detector: Negative."
"X-Ray scan: Negative."
"Damn!" Leo said in anger
He hadn't finished his sentence when the Amazon started attacking again.
"Arghh! That's really nasty! Her cloak is flawless!" but soon the battle A.I. mentioned
"Damage exceeding 75%."
"Hmm, lets try this:…Battle computer, change mode of thermal scanner, search for something cool." Said Leo quite sure for his idea
"Signal of cool object directly behind us and approaching" said the A.I.
"Gotcha!" said Leo while he made a 180 degrees turn and with a right cross slash hit something invisible and the Amazon reappeared.
"Arggh! How did you find me?" the female runner said in surprise
"I just searched for something cooler than desert's environment, that's all." Leo replied
"Ok, now lets get serious." The female runner said
With some quick evasive moves the Amazon reached Vic Viper and grabbed it, then started 'frying' Leo's robot by overheating the systems, using overflowing energy.
"Stop it!!" Leo said in anxiety
"So soon? We haven't even started!" the rival runner replied
After this scene, the Amazon through Vic Viper in the air, and by using 0-shift it appeared behind the damaged robot, a charged slash was enough to sent Leo's Frame crashing on the ground formatting a large crater.
"Damage to the Frame exceeding 90%. Damage report: Thruster navigation systems disabled, flight mode disabled, energy loss due to cracks in main supplier, Defense loss due to damaged exoskeleton, hydraulic and pneumatic manual movement disabled. Due to the above, Superior Estimation index dropped to minus 92.67%." the Vic Viper A.I. said
"Enabling recovery systems, main priority given in main supplier and thruster navigation system!" Leo said in agony
"What a pity! The great Vic Viper losing from a newcomer." Said the female runner in an ironic way
By finishing this sentence, it started charging a long-range hyper burst attack. A race between recovery and attack charging systems of the two Frames had started.
"Recovery system in use. Frame recovered in 58%…60%…"
"Burst attack charging. Power concentrated: 56%…58%…"
"Come on…faster, faster!" said Leo still in agony with his heart pounding like crazy
Some miles above, in the Atlantis frigate, which was in orbit around Earth, a conversation was held between Elena and Dante.
"Elena, how is she doing?" Dante asked
"She has the edge in the battle, and now she prepares the final blow."
"I hope she won't overdo it."
"Come on Dante, she's not a child anymore, she knows what to do."
Meanwhile, back to Training Grounds, Ken had reached the facilities and she was observing the battle.
"That new Frame is a toughie, I think I should step in." Ken said
"Don't even consider it Ken, take it out of your mind." Billy said
"But why?"
"I'll explain to you."
"If you want to explain something just do it quickly before it is too late for Leo!"
"Well, the Frame you see is the new generation of Orbital Frames, you see, Amazon combines a variety of offensive and defensive systems, dealing from martial arts and close range attacks to quite powerful long-range attacks. Now we are just testing it."
"By killing Leo?! See Bill, that Frame is ready to destroy him, and you don't even care!"
"Don't say that again! I care as much as I do for you, just trust me, ok?" Billy said in an angry way
"Leo will make it. Just have faith Ken." An artificial voice was heard in the room
Ken turned and looked in astonishment, as a human shaped android was approaching her
"Bill, wha…what's this?"
"Don't worry. It's Ada." Billy said quite simply
"WHAT? But Ada wasn't supposed to be in…" said Ken even more surprised
"Leo will explain everything to you soon enough." Billy said to her
In the battleground things were critical for Leo as he struggled to keep up
"Recovery completed, priority systems repaired and fully operational." The Vic Viper A.I. said
"Let's move out from here!" Leo said quite relieved
"Power charge completed, ready to fire in 3…" the Amazon A.I. said
Vic Viper started to move
"…2…"
Vic Viper was standing tall
"…1…"
"Let's go!" said Leo as he executed a dash and started moving out of the crater
"…Fire!"
A huge energy beam, spitting fire, came out from the Amazons hands, and a huge explosion occurred; flames, jolts, dust and smoke were jamming the sight and everyone believed that Leo and Vic Viper were destroyed, while the shiny new Frame, flying above the cloud of smoke, was showing the power of the once Anti-Earth weapon. But soon they realized how wrong they were as Vic Viper attacked Amazon for one more time.
"You missed me so soon?" said Leo
"You are really stubborn, aren't you? Why you don't give up?" the female runner said
"Never; as long as I live I will fight you and win or I'll die trying!" Leo replied
"Always the same, but you don't understand Leo!" the Amazon's runner said
She hadn't finished her sentence and both frames were lying on the ground because of Leo's dashing; the Amazon responded with a magnetic pulse, an energy wave counter-attack, which except from destroying the electronic parts it also threw Vic Viper in the air, directly above the Amazon.
"System overload, Frame shutting down." The Vic viper A.I. said before shutting down
"Oh God, I'm doomed." Leo said hopelessly
As Vic Viper was falling from the sky like a fallen star directly to the Amazon's hands hope was getting lost for its runner, especially when the rival Frame raised her hand and transformed it to a sword in order to finish once and for all this battle by piercing the heavily damaged Vic Viper.
"I'm sorry Leo, I hope you will forgive me!" said the female runner
"NOOO!!" Leo screamed as he closed his eyes
The contact was immense but there wasn't any noise of metal piercing; Leo opened his eyes. He saw the Amazon holding Vic Viper, to his surprise the rival Frame hadn't hit Vic Viper; it just grabbed and held him directly opposite the Amazon.
"Hey, what's going on!?" Leo asked
The Amazon cockpit hatch opened, which was located in the belly of the frame in vertical position, and the female runner appeared.
"Is that enough for you?" she said as she took off her helmet
"Celvice?!!!" Leo said in astonishment
TO BE CONTINUED…