Jormagund sighed as he read the message. He's challenging me... again? The message in question was a rather angry challenge from the 2nd ranked Raven on Mars, Ares. Jormagund had beaten Ares at least 3 times before in the past, yet the angry raven persisted, one day hoping that he could regain the rank of 1.
"Is something wrong Jorma?"
The raven smiled as he heard his pet name. "Nothing Remille, just Ares getting angry again. I don't understand why he insists on challenging me when he knows the same thing will happen again."
"He's a stubborn one, just like you." slender arms wrapped around Jormagund's shoulders, and he grinned as a hand ruffled his short, dark green hair. but sighed as his thoughts turned back to the other Raven. "Oh come on Jorma. Don't let him get you down."
"Well, that's not the only reason. I heard that the disorder units are back." There was a gasp from behind him, and he turned around to confront Remille's ghost-white complexion. "Yeah. I know. Everyone thought they died with Klien, but now they're back." Remille's mouth worked silently, then she abruptly threw herself into Jormagund's arms, the said raven gave her a sympathetic look as she started to sob into his chest. The silver-haired woman finally managed to sob out a string of broken words.
"I... thought... dead... Klien... bastard... had.... almost... kill... me..." Buried in the folds of Jormagund's muscular arms, she was unable to see his face twist angrily, his eyes blazing death at whatever laid in front of him. She was, however, able to feel him squeeze her tighter.
Damn you Klien. Damn you for all that you did to her, and damn you for killing so many of my friends... as well as all the others you killed... in your senseless quest for power. Jormagund relived those final few moments deep inside Phobos for a second, then sighed and ran his hand through Remille's silky hair. "It's alright Remille, I stopped him the first time, and I WILL stop those monstrosities again."
Remille laughed from inside his arms. "That's what I love about you. You're so protective of me... of the people... of this planet."
"Well, even though I wasn't exactly born and raised here, I've come to love Mars, and all it holds. Although Zio Matrix and Emeraude's senseless wars threaten to engulf this planet in destruction, I still see this place as beautiful, in its own way."
After disentangling herself from his arms, Remille looked up into his dark purple eyes with her own light gray orbs, and smiled. Jormagund smiled back, then looked out the window. Although he hated to interrupt the romantic moment between him and Remille, he knew the legendary impatience of Ares well. Too well for his liking. "I suppose I'd better get Ares his answer..."
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Ares paced back and forth restlessly in front of Providence. The huge, red war machine was all ready to go, and seemed to command him to enter it and fight. I'll get him this time. He snarled mentally. I'll humiliate him, and reclaim everything that he's stolen from me. My rank, my pride, my love. Everything. Undaunted despite his many attempts to defeat the man generally regarded as the "savior of mars", he had challenged him again, and again, and again.
Only to find himself defeated each time, and a bit more broken in the spirit.
However, the pieces of his soul flared brightly, and each new crack only created a new opening for fire to spill out and engulf the hapless men, or women, who it spilled upon. This was the legendary anger of Ares, former "Nine-Breaker."
After spinning on his heel for the umpteenth time, the lanky man noticed his opponent across bridge from him, talking to a shorter woman with silver hair. His hazel eyes went wide for a moment, then bored down, creating a gaze with KARASAWA intensity at his opponent's back.
However, the other Raven was happily oblivious to his enraged opponent, as he rubbed the woman's cheek, then they kissed. By the time the larger raven had made his way to the bridge, Ares was ready to brutally murder him. "Hey buddy." The tone of his voice suggested anything but, however, "I didn't know you were getting cozy with a former frightener."
The barb totally missed its mark, only drawing a disapproving stare from Jormagund. "That's none of your business."
"Damn right it's my business. Are you going to get on their bandwagon? Start the new frightener movement and kill us all? Make the new frightener generation?" Ares carefully calculated his words, structuring his sentences to annoy and anger his opponent, but not enough to enrage him.
"No." The calm reply he received left him angrier than ever. Too enraged for words, he spun on his heel and stalked towards Providence, his bearing as stiff as offended royalty.
Jormagund stared at his retreating opponent's back. Is it just me, or has he been getting angrier lately? He's changed ever since I defeated him... I don't think this is about pride and honor now. I think this is about revenge.
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"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we have a match between two legendary fighters!" The announcer bawled out the standard banter as the two ACs were admitted to the opposite sides of the arena. "To the west, we have Jormagund! The savior of mars, and current 9-Breaker enters Etal Base to defend his title once again!" The onlookers cheered as the black and purple AC lumbered through the gates to the arena.
Crush Dragon was anything but the typical AC. Heavyweight Reverse Joint legs formed a solid base for the lightweight core and heavyweight arms that made the body of the AC. An antenna-like head protruded from the middle of the core, giving it a creaturelike appearance. A large gray tube was clenched in its right hand, various sights and other instruments protruding from the large bazooka. A protrusion from the left arm split into 3 separate tubes, a focusing lens at the end of them. A handle jutted out from the end of the laserblade, and the whole assembly was painted a light brown. Rounding out the arsenal were a blue, trapezoidal missile launcher hanging over the left shoulder, and a large chaingun slung over the right, the black and blue weapons glinting maliciously in the glaring hue cast by the spotlights.
The black and purple AC stepped forwards, ready for a fight.
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AC Analysis: Crush Dragon-
Description: Heavy middleweight reverse joint AC. Moderately armed and armored. Moderate maneuverability. Exceptionally powerful right arm weapon. Well rounded and prepared for most situations.
Tech Base: Armored Core 2 (Armored Core 2: Another Age)
Head: EHD-WACS
Core: ECL-ONE
Arms: EAN-MWZ
Legs: ZLB-7744/VAT
Booster: ZBT-ZI/ARTERE
FCS: DOX-PG2
Generator: HOY-B1000
Radiator: RPS-MER/SA
Inside: N/A
Extension: N/A
Arm Unit R: WWG-BZ-B1100
Arm Unit L: ZLS-T/100
Back Unit R: EWC-CNG4000
Back Unit L: EWM-S608 (ZWM-M55/6)
Optional Parts: SP-S/SCR
SP-ENE-SCR
SP-BSI-LE
SP-CIR-K
SP-BFS/LOSP
SP-CBRK
SP-BMALAD
Colors:
Uniform Color Scheme
Base; R: 0
G: 0
B: 0
Aid; R: 60
G: 0
B: 60
Optional; R: 50
G: 0
B: 90
Detail; R: 200
G: 200
B: 200
Joint; R: 70
G: 0
B: 60
Other Attributes: The pilot is not PLUS, therefore the AC has to kneel to use its Chaingun weapon.
Author Notes: Normally this AC would probably have a tough time defeating the mighty Ares with his uberly-cheap Providence, but for the purpose of this fic the ACs are going to be on a more even level of competition. And no, the "Crush" in "Crush Dragon" is NOT intended as a romantic interest, It's meant to be crush as in flatten, pancake, smash, etc etc...
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"And to the east, we have Ares! Can the former 'Nine Breaker' regain his title today? Only time will tell!" Fans of Ares that happened to be watching the event cheered. Those who weren't watching the event? Well, they were none the wiser.
Providence happened to be a humanoid AC. The medium sized red machine housed a light brown box on one of its shoulders, a moderately sized laser cannon slung over the other. A MOONLIGHT laserblade was welded to the right arm, the oddly shaped weapon a distinct threat to those who knew its power. A remake of the legendary earth weapon, the KARASAWA II, sat impassively in its right hand, ready to unleash its supreme destructive power at the slightest whim of the Raven inside.
A dorsal-like fin stuck up from the head, giving it an almost fishlike look. However, the armored visor look of the base canceled the earlier impression, making the overall scheme of the head look like some sort of nightmare helmet. The AC of the former 9-breaker stepped forward, also ready for a fight.
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AC Analysis: Providence-
Tech Base: Armored Core 2
Armored Core 2 – Arena Rank 1
Author Notes: I weakened this AC somewhat so it would be more of an even match between Providence and Crush Dragon. I never did like the fact that the top 10 arena ACs were so frickin' powerful.
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Jormagund and Ares faced each other as the countdown timer began, each of them starting up their ACs, both getting ready for the conflict. Jormagund relaxed with his spare time, while Ares used it to tense up more, focusing on nothing but defeating, smashing, humiliating, eviscerating, and annihilating his opponent by any means, even cheating. As the timer reached zero, the announcer bawled "GO!", and both the Ravens activated their overboost at the same time.
Neither of them giving up a step, both ACs collided in the middle of the arena with a sickening crunch, armor plates scattering all over the pavement of the base. The overboosts abruptly cut off as the ACs sensed the impact, and both machines staggered back, momentarily stunned.
Jormagund was the first to recover, and launched a vicious blade assault at his opponent, who managed to parry the strikes with his own blade, the three beams of purple energy being sliced in half by the huge blue one, only to be abruptly cut off as a bazooka shot smashed into the arm, blowing a crater in the armor and sending Providence staggering back.
Ares growled and surged forward once again, Providence's laserblade erupting from his left arm. His advance was abruptly halted when a stream of rounds slammed into his AC's chest, forcing him to strafe boost to the left, or risk taking fatal damage at the hands of Crush Dragon's chaingun. He quickly switched to his medium missile launcher, and waited somewhat patiently for the thing to lock on. The extensions that adorned the AC's shoulders were already active, and a salvo of eight missiles was launched at Jormagund's AC.
The chaingun long since folded up, Jormagund strafed right, then left again as the missiles adjusted to compensate for his sudden motion. They overshot and blasted some armor off a nearby building. The reverse joint AC brought its Bazooka up again and fired a round at Ares, nailing him square in the chest and almost knocking the red AC over. Ares staggered backwards once again, forced to retreat under the blistering heat of Jormagund's assaults.
As the former 9-Breaker hopped behind a building to shield himself, Jormagund switched to his small missile launcher, and started to lock on to his opponent. As he achieved 6 locks, the purple-tinged AC's legs buckled beneath it, then heaved it high into the night sky. As he cleared the building, Jormagund activated the small missile launcher, raining a barrage of missiles on Ares. Taken by surprise, the former Nine-breaker could do nothing but scream and swear as the eight missiles bashed into his AC, breaking off more armor over the front of the core. Providence's KARASAWA II swung into line with Crush Dragon, and Ares' AC squeezed the trigger mercilessly, raining blue gobs of energy on his opponent.
Jormagund was forced back by the ferocity of Ares' attacks, but was far from out of the fight. The large AC planted its feet apart and squatted once again, its chaingun unfolding from its back as it rooted itself and waited for its opponent to emerge. Providence obliged him a few seconds later, only to get a stream of red-hot ammo in the leg. Ares screamed in fury as his AC was unbalanced and crashed to the earth, landing on its face. The red AC rolled over and regained its feet, losing some more armor from the bazooka carried by Crush Dragon. Time to end this now! Jormagund growled to himself as he hit overboost, ignoring the KARASAWA II shots that melted and blasted his armor. The reverse-joint AC lurched to near-impossible speeds, its laserblade raised high, the 3 purple rods of energy blazing as they plunged into the base of Providence's core.
Ares screamed in fury again as his AC slumped over, the generator petering out from being skewered. He started swearing furiously and abusing the controls of the AC in a desperate, but futile attempt to get it working again.
"It's over Ares. Calm down." Despite the complete loss of power, the radio system still functioned by drawing power from a backup battery. The #2 Raven felt something snap deep inside him as Jormagund's stern voice addressed him.
"NO!!!" Ares shrieked. "IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL I'VE AVENGED MYSELF!!! NOT UNTIL I HUMILIATE AND DESTROY YOU THE WAY YOU DESTROYED ME!!!!"
"What are you talking about?" Jormagund's perplexed voice betrayed no hint of anything other than confusion. "Wait, hold that thought." There was a loud snapping sound, causing Ares to wince. "Ok, we're on a private line. Now tell me... what ARE you talking about?"
Ares' head drooped until it hit the controls. "You... destroyed me... when you defeated me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I... used to be famous... had a wonderful life... I had everything... until you defeated me... On that day, when I lost... everyone left me... My woman... my friends... my fame... my pride... I was reduced to nothing... I became #2..."
"Ares. It's not my fault your girl was using you for your fame, and it's not my fault your friends were the fair weather type. Get over it and move on with your life, there's no use trying to get petty revenge on me for wrongs that I've never inflicted upon you."
No. He's wrong... A voice screamed inside Ares. HE'S WRONG!! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!! HE'S THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO YOU THEREFORE HE MUST DIE! But Ares knew better. He had known better all along. He knew that it wasn't the other Raven's fault. Torn between betrayal and acceptance, Ares did the only thing that he could think of.
He cried.
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"And the former 9-Breaker is defeated once again! The Savior of Mars has successfully defended his title! The only thing that remains a mystery is why the Ravens haven't emerged from their ACs for so long!" The reporter spewed a steady stream of words into the microphone, staring right into the camera. "What's this? The defeated Ares is emerging from his AC!"
The head of Providence popped open, and the brown-haired, lanky raven stepped out, his rusty eyes slightly red and puffy, but his face, and manner determined and resolute.
"Ares. You were just defeated for the 7th time by the Savior of Mars, Jormagund. How do you feel about this latest defeat?" Ares smiled.
"Refreshed."
The reporter looked at him strangely, then went to her next question. "How do you feel towards Jormagund? He's defeated you several times in the past. Do you have a grudge towards him? Or any hard feelings?"
"I used to hate him. I used to blame him for all the things that happened to me after the first time he defeated me. But not anymore. Now that I've come to terms with what happened, I think I see a kindred spirit in him."
The reporter looked at him even more strangely. "But you two are famous rivals, the animosity between you two is legendary! What happens now that you no longer hate him?"
"Simple." Ares replied. "We become friends."
The reporter fainted.
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Jormagund opened up the door to his and Remille's apartment, to greet the Raven standing in the doorway. "Hey, Helzehen, I'm glad you could make it."
"It was my honor to come." Helzehen nodded to Jormagund before continuing. "May I come in?"
"Of course, I'm the one who invited you here after all." The "Savior of Mars" stepped aside to allow his friend into his residence.
For one who expected a nerdy bookworm, Helzehen would sorely disappoint. His salt-and-pepper hair hinted at advanced age, yet there were no wrinkles on his skin to betray the ceaseless onslaught of time. Penetrating steel-gray eyes observed far more than just the surface of things, they penetrated deeper, drawing hidden meanings that one didn't know things had. Although he was only of average height and build, his presence commanded respect and authority.
But when he smiled, you knew you deserved it, and right now he grinned at Jormagund, removing his shoes before stepping further into his friend's house. "So, what's going on? I know you didn't invite me over here for no reason."
"Well, actually, I was hoping you could inform me. But I was hoping you'd be able to stay for dinner too."
"Hmmm, what are you having?"
"I'm not sure just yet, but rest assured that Remille is as good in the kitchen as she is in an AC."
"I suppose I could give it a try." Helzehen teased his two friends.
"Hey, was that an insult to my cooking?" Remille faked an offended tone from the kitchen.
"Oh, Helzehen. Before I forget, I invited someone else to dinner."
"Ah, really? And who would that be?"
"Well..." Jormagund rubbed the back of his head, suddenly sheepish. "Ares."
"Whaaaaaaat!??" Helzehen's eyes just about bugged out of his head. "THE Ares?!"
The doorbell rang. "The one and only." Jormagund replied as he walked over to answer it. Sure enough, Ares stood in the doorway, in casual attire. His shirt was yellow, and had a huge red worm with a cowboy style hat and sunglasses holding the planet Mars while spearing earth through with its other hand. "GO HOME!" blazed over the picture in large, angry red letters.
Jormagund shuddered, unpleasant memories finding their way into his head. I wish he hadn't worn that shirt... Jormagund was forced to relive those last few moments deep within the Quire Missile Silo, where he had been forced to fight Helios to the death. Despite his best efforts, the young raven had been killed. The Martian sighed and put the memory behind him, chalking it up as one more regret on a long string of remorses.
"Hey Ares. Glad to see that you could make it."
"Hey yourself." Ares looked at the other Martian, unsure of himself still. Although they had made up after years of hatred, he still felt like things were a little strained between them. "May I come in?"
"Sure, I'm the one who invited you, after all." Jormagund waved him in, and Ares stepped over the threshold, removing his shoes.
"Hey Remille! Ares just came, so you might want to get started on that 'mystery dinner' you said you'd make!"
"Alright!" Remille's cheerful response came from the kitchen, and the clatter of pots and pans could be heard as the slender woman set to work.
"So..." Jormagund tried to smooth out the tensions, as Helzehen, displaying a remarkable lack of composure, gaped vacantly at Ares, incredulous that Jormagund would invite his mortal enemy over for dinner. "Why don't we have a seat? The recent developments are very disturbing to say the least, and if you faint you won't hit your head on the floor."
Helzehen nodded grimly, "Indeed. And let's not forget about that unidentified ship that was detected near Deimos."
Jormagund grimaced "I'd forgotten about that..." the three men walked over to a table and sat down across from each other. Ares looked confused, while Jormagund and Helzehen looked deadly serious.
"I don't understand, what's all this about?" Ares inquired, hoping that whatever the two other Ravens were worried about wasn't too bad.
Jormagund looked at Helzehen knowingly, and they both looked at Ares. "Seems you're a bit behind the times." Jormagund cracked his knuckles then his neck. "Alright, let's get you up to speed on the recent Martian news... As you'll recall, it's been 5 years since Leos Kilen's attempted revolt." Ares nodded, and the other Raven continued. "I defeated him... deep inside Phobos... in single combat..." Jormagund shuddered, reliving those last few moments deep in the moon altogether unwillingly. "Anyways, it's been 5 years since then, and those armored monstrosities—the disorder units, that once rampaged across mars' surface have since disappeared." Ares nodded again, well acquainted with the Disorder units, as he had fought them on numerous occasions. "Well..." Jormagund looked at the other raven grimly, sending a shiver down the lanky man's spine. "They're back."
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"Well, let's eat!" Remille gave the other three ravens a sunny smile, then started cutting apart the 'mystery dinner' that had taken her well over an hour and a half to prepare. The dish looked like a giant, milk white shrimp. Blue veins stood out throughout the creature, and it laid curled up on the plate, its many legs protruding from its body. Jormagund sliced off one of the legs and snapped it open, sucking out the meat from inside. Helzehen had cut off a choice section of the tail, while Remille was eating a chunk out of the middle.
Ares, however, didn't like the look of the... thing laid out before him, but knew that it was incredibly impolite to refuse the food that your host prepared for you. He tenativley took a knife and sliced off part of the back of the shrimp-like thing, putting it down on his plate.
"Oh come on Ares, don't be so shy. It tastes like shrimp, but richer."
Ares looked at the thing, cut off a piece of it, and shuddered. "If you say so." He raised a thin sliver to his lips and took it into his mouth, thoughtfully chewing it for a few seconds. "Wow! This is really good!" Remille smiled victoriously as Ares started eating the shrimp thing with a vigor rivaling Jormagund's and Helzehen's.
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The shrimp-thing, several green-colored, apple tasting things, blue-colored meat resembling steak, and radioactive green drinks later, the 4 ravens sat down at the table in the living room, a variety of sheets and plans spread before them, as well as the drinks.
Jormagund was the first to speak. "As you can see, the situation doesn't look good. These things are more heavily armored and armed than before, and show a startling variety of weaponry, as you can see from this picture." The "savior of mars" plunked a picture of a variety of 4 and 6 legged, gray armored bugs assaulting a defensive position with weapons ranging from Lasers to Machine Guns.
"The Hellas plains have recently been overrun, and the Arden River isn't far behind, Zio's already lost its research lab there to the things." Helzehen sounded like a man stating a death sentence.
"What about Zamda base? Does Balena still control that?" Remille asked curiously, pointing to a location on one of the maps.
"Negative." Helzehen shook his head. "Balena lost control of Zamda to the remnants of Emeraude, but the base was overrun by Disorder units shortly afterwards."
"Zamda base fell? That doesn't sound good..." Ares finally contributed to the discussion.
"It's not." Jormagund agreed. "As of two years ago, Zamda base was the most heavily fortified base on the planet... I guess they learned their lesson from when I smashed through their defenses with appalling ease." Jormagund grinned sheepishly, and Remille smiled proudly at him.
Helzehen spoke again, sounding even more grim than before. "Overall, the situation is anything but good. These things have been able to defeat even some of the more advanced MTs with ease. Only large numbers of ACs have managed to keep them at bay, and even AC groups have been overwhelmed by some of the larger assaults. Even masses of corporate troops are having trouble keeping them at bay. It's only a matter of time before all of mars is overrun by them."
Klien... Jormagund thought spitefully. Was this the final act you spoke of? "Well, speaking of Disorder units, the corporations have been paying good money to the people who can fight them off."
Ares nodded "That's very true."
Jormagund cast a glance towards the computer in the far corner of the apartment. "Speaking of money, I wonder if there are any recent contract offers out there."
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Jormagund browsed through the various contracts, the other three Ravens standing behind him. "Hey Jorma. Check that one out." Jormagund blushed as the other 2 snickered.
"She's got a pet name for you?" Helzehen chuckled. "Guess you two have gotten pretty cozy... but that's to be expected."
"What do you mean?" Ares looked at Helzehen curiously, still feeling out of place.
"Well, they got married last year."
"Yeah." Jormagund pitched in. "I still don't get how I went from 'a guy sent by Emeraude' to 'Jorma'." Remille blushed and buried her face in his neck.
Ares fainted.
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After the former Nine-Breaker had been revived, the four continued to contract surf. Jormagund shaking his head sadly at the number of corporate warfare contracts. "They're still fighting amongst themselves at a time like this?" His rhetorical question wasn't graced with an answer, but he could feel that the other three ravens agreed with him.
"Hey, take a look at that one." Ares pointed to the screen.
"Which one?" Jormagund couldn't quite follow his finger.
"That one."
"Oh, that one." Jormagund double clicked on the contract, and the four Raven's eyes quickly went from carefully neutral to outright surprised, then to aghast.
"Well well, I must say I never saw this one coming." Helzehen's voice, considerably smaller, echoed the other three's sentiments.
"They're trying to retake Zamda base? That's suicide." Remille sounded equally shocked.
"Suicide, perhaps. But it sounds like a challenge, and I like a challenge. Besides, look at the size of that reward." Jormagund licked his lips. "I accept."
"I go where you go, my Jorma." Remille nestled her chin into his shoulder, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I shall accompany you." Helzehen nodded resolutely. "You will undoubtedly need some help in this endeavor, plus, I can lend you some support fire with Scholar's missile racks."
"I'm in."
"Ares. Nobody's making you do this, It's perfectly ok if you don't want to do this." Remille turned to face the former Nine-Breaker, and the other two nodded, agreeing with her.
"No. It wouldn't be right if I didn't go. I've got to make up all the times we've fought somehow, haven't I?"
Jormagund looked at Ares, a newfound respect for the second-ranked raven burning in his eyes. "You don't have to make up anything Ares, everything's OK now."
"Sorry." Ares glared at the "savior of mars", "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
Jormagund grinned "Ah, there's the Ares I used to know." He looked at his three companions, then selected the contract. "Are you guys sure about this?" The other three nodded. "So be it." He double clicked the accept button.
"Well," The savior of mars groaned, stretching out in the chair. "Looks like we've got a lot of planning to do. Best to get to work."
Author Notes: BAM! Another cliffhanger. Bet you people are going to kill me huh? Sweatdrops as a large force of heavy MTs march up outside his door. Oh jeebus...
Ok! Ok! I promise I'll write about the invasion of Zamda base soon!
By the way, if some of you readers could tell me what you think of my AC Analysis, I'd really appreciate it. I put it in there so that if you liked the ACs that I used you could make them yourself, and see just how good they are. (Or how bad they are!)
See Kitsune? 1 update a day, and I'm already half done with chapter 4 and half of chatper 5. I'll beat you other authors yet!! HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!!
To the readers:
Retributi0n: Thanks for your support buddy, and thanks for prereading this chapter, as well as chapter 4. I really appreciate it! I'll make sure to make Kal, Lysander, Dylan and Eddy deeper, but I've got to introduce all the other characters first! (Dunno about making Kal, Eddy and Dylan any deeper though, you should read Delta Squad for more on thier personalities.)