I don't own Kal, Dylan or Eddy, FIAOblivion does. Thanks for the help buddy. (Grins)
Don't own armored core either. I wish I did though (Cries)
"Well..." Lysander began, after finishing taking a drink. "It all began about two years ago..."
----------------------
"What? You never told me I'd have consorts for this mission!!" Lysander growled into the comm, clenching his fist and slamming it down on the controls.
"Calm down. We assure you that they're both competent pilots and will in no way interfere with the operation." The Mirage representative's calm reply did nothing to assuage Lysander's anger. Indeed, it only fueled it more as the orange-haired raven growled again and clenched his fist.
"Well..." The comm cut off with a snap, leaving Lysander no outlet for his comments, so he did the only thing he could. Talked to the computer with some of the most vile language that could be spoken in English. After he finished, he took the time to wonder about his fellow pilots. I wonder what they're going to be like..."ACs Gorgon and Flamestreak identified."
Guess those are them. Hmm... Lysander's eyes scrolled over the computer readout of the two ACs, taking in all the information he needed in a glance. Not bad, I guess the rep was right.
The first AC, Gorgon, was a huge, black colored tank AC. Heavy tank legs with heavy arms, a heavy core, and armor side extensions gave a viewer no doubt that the AC could withstand tremendous punishment. The MIRROR attached to the left arm did nothing to detract from that image. Armed to the teeth with grenade launchers and a grenade rifle, the first AC was the epitome of tank-types, a machine that could both take and dish out tremendous damage.
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AC Analysis: Gorgon-
Description: A heavily armed and armored Tank AC, the machine is capable of both withstanding and dealing incredible damage. Has some accuracy and mobility problems.
Tech Base: Armored Core 3: Silent Line
Head: MHD-MX/BEE
Core: CCH-OV-IKS
Arms: MAH-SS/CASK
Legs: CLC-D3TA
Booster: N/A
FCS: AOX-ANA
Generator: CGP-ROZ
Radiator: RGI-KD99
Inside: N/A
Extension: KES-AEGIS
Arm Unit R: CWGG-GR-12
Arm Unit L: KES-ES/MIRROR
Back Unit R: CWC-GNS-15
Back Unit L: CWC-GNS-15
Optional Parts: OP-S-SCR
OP-E/SCR
OP-ECMP
OP-TQ/ESE
Colors:
Sample colors – Night Black
Other Attributes: The pilot is not PLUS, but that doesn't really affect unit performance, because it wouldn't have to kneel to use cannons anyways.
Author Notes: This thing is designed to take and dish out pain. Tough to beat. It wasted my friend's AC in about 4 or 5 shots.
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Flamestreak was a totally different AC. Not nearly as big or powerful as its companion, it wielded a machine gun and smaller laserblade. The lack of back weapons was explained by the lightweight legs of the machine, which seemed like they'd snap under the weight of the AC's body. Its name was matched by its colors, which were bright and fiery reds and oranges.
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AC Analysis: Flamestreak-
Description: A lightweight, speedy AC. Capable of dodging enemy fire easily, and has plenty of ammo, but lacks power.
Tech Base: Armored Core 3: Silent Line
Head: CHD-09-OXI
Core: CCL-01-NER
Arms: CAL-44-EAS
Legs: CCL-HUESO
Booster: CBT-01-UN8
FCS: PLS-ROA
Generator: MGP-VE905
Radiator: RIX-CR10
Inside: N/A
Extension: N/A
Arm Unit R: MWG-MG/1000
Arm Unit L: CLB-LS-2551
Back Unit R: N/A
Back Unit L: N/A
Optional Parts: OP-S-SCR
OP-E/SCR
OP-S/STAB
OP-ECMP
OP-LFCS
OP-M/AW
Colors:
Uniform Color Scheme
Base; R: 200
G: 0
B: 0
Aid; R: 200
G: 40
B: 0
Optional; R: 200
G: 80
B: 0
Detail; R: 200
G: 120
B: 0
Joint; R: 200
G: 160
B: 0
Other Attributes: The pilot is also not PLUS, but that doesn't really affect unit performance, it doesn't have cannons that it needs to kneel to use.
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"Greetings fellow Ravens." Lysander was the first to speak, mentally kicking himself for not sounding lame.
"So you're the guy that Mirage is sattling us with." Obviously female, the first voice sounded annoyed, as if Lysander were some sort of unwelcome burden that was to be shed as quickly as possible.
"Well, who do I have the pleasure of addressing?" Lysander glared at the speakers. Just my luck. The first time I get stuck with consorts that aren't of MY choosing, and they already hate me. I'd better stay clear of this one. Lysander mentally shuffled the first woman off to the side as someone he didn't want to associate with.
"You're speaking to Firecracker." The voice came over again, condescending and haughty. Lysander couldn't help but grimace. Great, she's one of those girls with an overly huge ego. I'd better not punch a hole in it or I'm in trouble. Big, big trouble.
"This is Aura. Reporting for duty as ordered." A surprisingly gentle voice came from the other AC, which Lysander figured came from Gorgon. Her voice was soft and husky, a nice change from the grating voice that had assaulted his ears a few moments ago. I wonder what she's like. Probably nicer than her companion.
"Excellent. I see you three are getting along nicely." The Mirage representative's voice did nothing to alleviate Lysander's irritation, indeed, the obviously incorrect statement only served to further inflame the orange-haired raven. This isn't going to be a pleasant mission. Lysander switched off the comm, then started banging his head against the controls.
----------------------
Three minutes and a minor headache later, the trio of ACs were picked up by two transport helicopters. As the massive transport vehicles closed on their destinations, Lysander went over the details of the mission one more time in his head. Ok. Sounds easy enough. Mirage's new base got invaded by crest forces, and they need us to get rid of them. Enemies consist of heavy and medium MTs. Not exactly your light skirmishing force. Alright, should be a simple, straightforward assignment. Lysander checked over Endgame's KARASAWA to make sure the weapon was in working condition. The large gray and green AC also had double missile launchers on its back, with an extension for additional firepower. A laserblade rounded out the Reverse join unit's weaponry and made sure that it would have a backup weapon should its ammo run out.
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AC Analysis: Endgame-
Description: Middleweight AC built for versatility. A variety of weapons enable it to engage many different types of targets with success. Best used for medium range fighting. The missile extensions can provide additional firepower at long range.
Tech Base: Armored Core 3
Head: CHD-07-VEN
Core: CCL-01-NER
Arms: CAM-11-SOL
Legs: MLB-MX/004
Booster: CBT-FLEET
FCS: VREX-ST-12
Generator: CGP-ROZ
Radiator: RMR-SA44
Inside: N/A
Extension: MWEM-R/24
Arm Unit R: MWG-KARASAWA
Arm Unit L: CLB-LS-2551
Back Unit R: CWM-S40-1
Back Unit L: CWM-S40-1
Optional Parts: OP-S-SCR
OP-E/SCR
OP-SP/E
OP-E/RTE
OP-TQ/CE
OP-R/INIA
Colors:
Uniform Color Scheme
Base; R: 35
G: 35
B: 35
Aid; R: 0
G: 200
B: 0
Optional; R: 0
G: 0
B: 0
Detail; R: 0
G: 0
B: 0
Joint; R: 100
G: 100
B: 100
Other Attributes: The pilot is not PLUS. You know the rest.
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As the pair of helicopters approached the installation, the three pilots went over some last minute preparations for the mission. Making sure their ACs were ok, weapons were online, systems checked out. Nobody wanted to look like a fool in front of the other. None so more than Firecracker, who would end up looking like a real idiot if she messed up in front of the other Raven, who she'd behaved in a condescending manner towards earlier.
"We've reached the target. Dropping ACs."
Lysander blinked once as Endgame crashed to the ground, its heavy legs bending at the knees to absorb the shock. The machine's radar filled up with contacts as it identified the various crest forces scattered around the base. Maybe this won't be so easy after all. I hope those other two are ready. A loud hissing noise startled him, and he looked over to see that Firecracker had already boosted off and was massacring the MTs with its machine gun. I hope she knows what she's doing, if she loses her rhythm those things will slaughter her. Gorgon had gone off in another direction, and the huge tank was harassing the MTs with its grenade rifle, its MIRROR shining as it deflected incoming rounds.
Well, looks like I'd better get started. I don't want Ms. Firecracker to think worse of me than she already does. Lysander thought sarcastically, walking Endgame towards the first MT. As the unit identified him as a threat and started turning towards him, he blasted it with the KARASAWA, ripping its arm off. The machine stumbled, the loss of its arm upsetting its balance. However, Lysander didn't give it a chance to recover, as the laserblade of Endgame sliced the machine in half. Easy meat.
The next MT figured out he was a threat much quicker than the first, and started launching missiles and laser fire in his direction. The AC-like unit strafed around him as it unleashed its payload, and Lysander returned the favor, the MT's arms and legs being surgically picked off by the huge laser rifle. The third MT that chose to attack him suffered a similar fate, its head being blown off by the huge rifle. Lysander then hit the button for overboost and streaked off to find more targets.
A depleted capacitor later, he found something that he didn't expect to see at all. Flamestreak was surrounded by multiple MTs, the light AC getting battered from all sides by laser and missile fire. Gorgon was off somewhere else, so the first AC didn't have any support. Lysander quickly set to work saving his comrade, Endgame's laserblade flashing out to sever the first MT's right arm, which cost it the laser rifle it held there. A KARASAWA charge was more than enough to destroy the second, the laser round coring through the back and blowing the MT into pieces. Flamestreak managed to finish off the other two MTs by itself, killing one with the machine gun while using the blade on its left arm to finish off the other one.
"A raven of your skill should know better than to get hemmed in by MTs like that." Lysander carefully chose his words as he baited the other pilot, fully expecting a snappy response, or to get yelled at. Instead the AC just turned around and boosted off to find other targets, but he could tell that his words had probably annoyed the pilot. I don't expect her to like me very much, but that doesn't really matter. All that matters is that we can work together to achieve the objective.
As the MTs continued to thin out, all three ACs took more and more damage as a few lucky hits here and there made it through. The pilots were altogether quite unprepared when the surprise came.
"Enemy AC detected."
"So." The Pilot's arrogant voice boomed, supremely confident that he would win. "These must be the three that Crest told me about."
Lysander stared at the new arrival. It wasn't an AC registered with Global cortex, he could tell that much. It appeared to be a medium unit, with a grenade rifle, shield, and double triple missile launchers. That guy must be overweight or something. I don't think there are any legs that can hold as much weight as he's putting on them.
The three ravens took different approaches and directions to fighting the new arrival. Gorgon drove straight up the middle, its grenade launchers blazing away. Flamestreak took the right, the light AC going for a long burst with its machine gun. Endgame strafed to the left, its KARASAWA spitting huge globs of blue energy at the enemy. The enemy AC simply jumped while activating its shield, the few rounds that it hit doing minimal damage to it.
"This is going to be even easier than I expected." The enemy pilot's arrogant voice came over again, setting Lysander's teeth on edge. I want to teach that guy a lesson. Really, really badly. The other two ACs renewed their drive to kill the mysterious AC that was attacking them, but Endgame activated its boosters and jumped backwards. Lysander toggled over to his "slingshot" missile launchers, and activated his extensions. As his machine quickly locked on to the other machine, he let loose a barrage of three missiles. The other AC tried to dodge them, but one caught it on the leg, blasting part of the knee off.
As the machine crashed to the ground, the abrupt jar disrupting the pilot, the other two cores pounced on it, showering it with machine gun and grenade rounds. Despite taking immense damage, the AC still managed to get up, and it pointed its grenade rifle directly at Gorgon.
Lysander quickly recognized that Aura would be killed if the grenade rifle discharged. Knowing he only had seconds to spare, he activated the overboost function and zoomed off towards the endangered AC.
It didn't look like Aura knew that she was in danger, as her AC kept pelting the damaged unit with grenades. She also didn't know that Lysander was on his way, as she let out a cry of surprise when his AC hit hers with a resounding clang, forcing the huge tank out of the way just as the grenade rifle discharged. The weapon hit Endgame's shoulder, cutting off the AC's right arm at the shoulder. As his KARASAWA dropped away, Lysander turned the black and green AC to face the mysterious one who had just assaulted the ravens.
"Easier than you expected huh?" Lysander didn't even give the pilot a chance to answer as he sliced the core in half, killing the other man instantly.
"You're a bloodthirsty one aren't you?" Firecracker's voice came over the radio again, and this time Lysander wasn't in the mood to deal with her.
"No. I only killed him because he's a pompous ass and threatened the life of you two. Now let's wait for the transport, there's nothing else to do here."
----------------------
Lysander hummed out a rather obscure tune as he sat down, lazily sprawling out in one of the lounges chairs. Two other ravens were playing a game of pool in distance, talking about something that he had nothing to do with, and didn't care about in the least. The only thing that concerned him was meeting with the other two pilots he had worked with. Although some Ravens chose to just go home right after the mission's end, and to hell with the others, he preferred to take a more considerate approach, that is to say, to make sure the other ravens were ok. Although some would look down upon this practice as foolish, many ravens appreciated the thought, especially the female ones.
I hope they're both ok. They did take some damage during the attack, and they might have received injuries I was unaware of. It would be a shame for them to get injured at this point. The raven's only reaction to the door opening on the other side of the room was to open one eye and calmly survey the new arrivals.
Well, well, what have we here? The first pilot had flaming red hair, which fell down to her neck. Although Lysander was sure she had a nice figure, the loose, baggy clothing she wore effectively hid it, and Lysander was moderately relieved at that. Well, at least I won't be tempted to stare. Not that I can't resist that particular temptation.
Although the second raven was taller, she seemed to be trying to hide behind the first one. Even though she was also wearing baggy clothes, it couldn't quite cover up the fact that her breasts were larger than usual. Lysander found himself staring before he quickly blinked the temptation away, forcing his gaze upwards towards her face. Blue hair and brown eyes. Odd combination. I wonder if she dyed her hair. Her hair was tied back in a long ponytail, and the bangs framed her face rather nicely. She's quite a looker I wonder if she's Firecracker. He briefly recalled an old friend complaining about how "the beautiful ones were always the bitchiest." Better snap out of that. That attitude's not going to help you with first impressions. Or making friends. Or anything else for that matter. Lysander ran a hand through his hair, thought positive thoughts, then went to meet the two women who had just walked in the door.
----------------------
"Firecracker and Aura I presume?"
Firecracker, better known as Faye Jolhin, looked at the man who approached her and her friend. She gave him a disdainful look. Who the hell is this guy? Whys he approaching us like this?
The man who had approached them was of a lean, but muscular build. Short orange hair and green eyes gave her an insuppressible mental image of a carrot. The guy wore a baggy T-shirt that read "My average mental velocity throughout the day is 0" and equally baggy pants. He looks like a bum. Can this guy really be a raven? "Yeah. I'm Firecracker, and," she gestured to her friend, who was still trying to hide behind her. "That's Aura."
"Oh, hey. I'm Ascendency. Nice to meet you both."
What an idiot. I can't believe this guy is actually a raven. Faye mustered up her best "I'm not in a very good mood so go away and leave me alone" tone of voice. "Yeah, nice to meet you too."
"It's nice to meet you too." Faye turned around to find her friend talking to the other guy. She's talking louder than usual. I hope she's not taking a liking to him.
"Well." The male raven grinned, then held out his hand. "Name's Lysander. Lysander Kiljorn. 'since to meet you both."
Faye half-glared at Lysander before reaching out and shaking his hand cautiously. "Faye Jolhin. Nice to meet you too." He'd better not be eye-feeling me, or I'm going to kill him.
"My name is Kenja Hector. It's nice to meet you Lysander." Faye watched as Lysander's eye twitched, the man obviously being surprised by the strength of Kenja's grip. Looks like he's not used to a woman that strong. What a dense bastard. However, what Kenja did next surprised both of the other Ravens.
----------------------
Kenja stepped forward gracefully, filling Lysander's vision as her arms stretched out, the wrapped around his arms and chest, squeezing him in a tight embrace. He could feel his cheeks heating up as their bodies pressed together. Oh man, she's got some muscle on her. Too late, he clumsily ordered his arms to wrap around her lower back, resulting in a somewhat awkward embrace from his end. Kenja's strong arms almost squeezed the breath out of his lungs as she squeezed him even more tightly. Wow. She's stronger than most men I've met. As her cheek pressed against his, he could feel that hers were just about as warm as his felt right now.
"Thanks for saving my life out there." Her breath tickled his ear, and her voice was like music to his soul. As he felt a genuine smile spread across his face, he gave her a slight squeeze and whispered back.
"You're welcome."
As the blue-haired beauty disentangled herself from his arms, she joined her friend, who had since walked over to the other side of the room. As she was about to leave the room, she winked at him and blew him a kiss. Lysander could only smile weakly and collapse on the couch, his knees feeling a bit rubbery at the moment. Luck was indeed on my side today...
----------------------
"And so, that was how me, Faye, and Kenja met." Lysander took another drink of beer, then cleared his throat. "Of course, that's not where the story ends."
"So Faye crushed your hand and Kenja strangled you? Nice." Kal said with a smile.
"Errr..." Lysander scratched his head. "The story doesn't exactly end there..."
"Well, I mean for your first meeting." Kal replied, still smiling.
"She didn't exactly crush my hand. And Kenja certainly surprised me... but no lasting damage."
"And from there on out it was everlasting love... awwwwww..." Eddy cut in with a sarcastically cute voice.
Dylan laughed and looked over at Eddy. "Sounds like Kal and Sophie huh?"
Eddy looked thoughtful for a moment, which sent a shiver down the other 3 men's spines. "Not really." His look dissolved into a laugh, and he didn't notice the silent looks of relief that passed between the three other men. "Kal harassed her."
Kal pretended not to hear as he looked back over at Lysander. "Hey, let Sandy talk here, I wanna hear the rest of his story."
"Well, that wasn't the first time we worked together of course, as the weeks, then months, went by, we worked together more and more. I saved their lives, they saved mine, it was a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' kind of thing. However, little did I know that our comfortable little arrangement would be drastically changed..."
"How so?" Kal leaned forward, interested.
"Well, let me tell you, and you'll find out."
----------------------
"Well, one down, 5 billion or so to go." Faye snarled as her machine gun eviscerated an MT, blasting its internal parts all over the street.
"We can beat them, we just have to keep fighting." Kenja's AC slaughtered another MT with its grenade rifle.
"Easy for you to say, you can kill them in one hit AND take much more damage than me." Faye narrowly dodged a series of laser bursts from the assembled MTs.
"It doesn't matter, just keep fighting. Crest said they were sending reinforcements." Another spread of grenades took down a few more MTs, but even more trooped up to take their fallen comrade's place.
"If they're any later, the reinforcements might be doing the fighting instead of us." Flamestreak ducked under another barrage of laser fire, and Faye swapped ammunition in earnest, spraying the ranks with machine gun fire.
"ACs Endgame, Wakeup and Double Wing detected."
Faye's eyebrow shot up. Lysander's here? That's good. But I don't know about those other two. They sound like bottom feeders.
"Ascendency here. What's the situation?" Endgame quickly looked around, then charged right into the fray, not waiting for a report.
"Bad. Most of the homes we were assigned to protect were destroyed by the fires, and even more are being burned." The reply came from Gorgon, off to the left.
"Understood." Wakeup and Double Wing were taking a more conservative approach to the fight, the quadruped and medium biped staying on the outskirts and showering the MTs with rifle and handgun fire.
Despite the five AC's combined firepower, the ranks of the MT's didn't thin out. "There are too many of them!" Double Wing's pilot finally cried in a panic.
"Stuff it Little Bear. We were assigned to be reinforcements, that means we get in, kill stuff, and help out the ravens who were already fighting. If you couldn't handle it, why the heck did you take the job?" Faye was grateful for Lysander's intervention. It was much gentler than what she would have said. I swear, if I ever see that whiner face to face...
"Echo Head here. My handgun's running out of ammo, are there any supply trucks out here?"
"Negative." Faye jumped on the other pilot before Lysander could reply. "Use your other weapons."
As most of the MTs fell to the combined firepower of Kenja's grenades and Lysander's laser rifle, the ranks finally began to thin out. It was then that the unwelcome news came.
"AC Cobra identified."
"Don't worry about it too much." Lysander's voice reassured the other Ravens. "He won't be able to take on all five of us."
Laughter replied him over the five comms. "I wouldn't count on that..." the Red Quadruped AC emerged from the distance, twin flamethrowers grasped in its hands. A rocket launcher and linear gun rounded out its armory. The red AC switched to the former, shooting a round at Double Wing. The Linear slug hit the machine in the hips, blasting through it and scattering armor fragments all over the ground. Double Wing dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, the pilot's scream getting cut off as he was knocked out or killed. "One down, four to go."
"We'll see about that." Endgame strafed right, firing its Laser rifle several times, then dropping the massive weapon as it ran out of ammo. It then started moving left and right erratically, shooting its missiles in short salvos. Cobra was hit by a few shots, which scorched and blistered the armor, but didn't do serious damage to the AC. The missiles peppered its legs and chest, but failed to slow it, much less stop it.
Kenja, Faye, and Echo Head added to the assault. Faye's machine guns tracked a line up the ground, scoring several hits on Cobra, which attempted to strafe right. Kenja's grenades missed by a wide margin, the red AC having slid past them. As it closed with Echo Head, the missile circled around and hit it in the back, making it stumble slightly.
As Cobra closed in on Wakeup, its flamethrowers suddenly came to life, bathing the brown quadruped in searing flames as the EO units in the AXE core popped out of its back and began blazing away at the bottom feeder, the raven screaming as his core was roasted. "Two down." The pilot of cobra spoke again, then laughed.
"Echo! You'll pay for that you bastard!" Lysander's AC launched another volley of missiles, which caught Cobra in the back. As the AC stumbled forward, unprepared for the force of three missiles to the back, A few grenades from Gorgon slammed into its right hind leg, blowing it off at the "knee". The raven shouted as his AC was abruptly crippled, and he attempted to recover, the other three ACs closing in on him. Suddenly, a rifle shot came out of nowhere and blew his head off, and the pilot of the red machine screamed in fury and started shooting streams of flame in random directions, his senses cut off to the rest of the world.
Kenja and Faye both let out wordless shouts of fury as a few blocks of houses were incinerated by the indiscriminate attacks of the red AC. Flamestreak and Gorgon dumped loads of firepower onto it, reducing it to a molten slag. Lysander's missiles didn't help the enemy Raven too much either.
"I don't think anyone could have survived that. And I, for one, say 'good riddance.'" Faye was the first to speak, being the first to recover.
"I'd say." Lysander popped Endgame's head open and climbed out, disregarding the fires as he walked over to the melted remnants of Wakeup. He shook his head sadly, regarding what was left of the AC. "Poor guy, he got traumatized, then this happened."
Flamestreak and Gorgon both walked up to the other AC, and bowed their heads briefly to pay their respects to the slain pilot, then went back to waiting as Lysander walked over to Double Wing and checked on the Pilot. He had passed out again after blowing Cobra's head off, but was still alive.
"Well, I guess most of us are OK. Time to wait for the transport."
----------------------
After checking on Little Bear, who had only received a moderate concussion, Lysander walked back into the lounge to find Faye and Kenja standing there, looking unsure of themselves.
"Hey you two. What's the problem?"
"Well..." Lysander could tell that Faye was struggling with her pride, and surmised that whatever the problem was, it was a pretty big one. Kenja placed her hand on the redhead's shoulder, which caused her to look back at her friend.
"Tell him Faye, it's not like it really matters anyways."
Faye sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Well, you recall how we were fighting in a neighborhood right?"
"Yeah." Lysander nodded, not quite sure what she was getting at.
"Well, we lived there."
"I see." That told Lysander everything he needed to know. Well, I'm sure they could live with another Raven, but... He took a quick look around at the others in the lounge, not liking what he saw. Maybe I'm not the best choice, but if they live with me, at least I know they won't be abused, and I can make sure they're doing ok. "You can move in with me."
Faye looked like someone had slapped her with a cold, wet fish. "Move in with you?!?" Lysander braced for a slap. "Well..." she sighed. "I suppose, it's not like we have anywhere else to go." Kenja nodded, indicating that she agreed as well.
This is going to be a nice change after living alone for so long. "Well, come with me. I'll show you to my place."
----------------------
"You live in a ship?!"
"Yeah, it's an AC carrier. Comes in handy for getting Endgame for places that I need to go, plus, it can hold about 5 ACs, so I'm not hurting for space either."
"Well..." Faye sniffed, then walked through the door. "It's better than nothing, I suppose..."
"I think it's pretty interesting." Kenja spoke, causing both other ravens to cast surprised looks at her. "And," she continued. "I think it was pretty nice of Lysander to let us move in."
As Kenja made her way deeper inside the ship, Faye stood there with a betrayed look on her face.
"Hey, c'mon both of you!" Lysander called from up ahead, waving his arm. "I'll give you the grand tour!"
----------------------
"And so..." Lysander took another sip of beer before continuing. "That's how they ended up living with me. I wish I could say the story ended and we all lived happily ever after, but I've walked in on them a few times, thinking that nobody was in the bathroom. Plus, Faye's been in a really pissy mood ever since Flamestreak got badly damaged a while ago. She's been taking turns with Gorgon ever since, but still doesn't quite know how to use that AC as well as Kenja."
"I see." Kal was the first to reply. "What kind of ACs do they use anyways? I figured Kenja used a tank, but what about Faye?"
Eddy drained his mug and got up to get it refilled, they could hear him start to argue with the bartender in the distance.
"Thought I told you that already... Guess I must have missed it. Faye used a light, fast AC. All it had was a laserblade and a machine gun."
"Oh, I see. You might have told me, but I must have missed it, or something like that. Rose uses stuff like that, but, man, that thing can cruise like a floating AC on speed. I'm telling you." Kal leaned back in his chair, taking another drink of beer.
"I see..." Lysander said slowly. An obvious hyperbole. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but It's getting kind of late and-- huh? What the heck?" Lysander's hands reached down as he started feeling around his pants for something.
"Uhh... Dude... are you jerking off in a bar without strippers? Or did you wet yourself?" Kal asked him, more than a little weirded out.
"Hold on, I think I got it." Lysander replied with his hands jammed deep in the insides of his pants, feeling around for something.
"Dude... get your hands out of your pants, those ugly chicks are looking..." Kal glanced in the direction of some other women uneasily, noticing that they were all staring at Lysander and giggling.
"Ha! Found it!" Lysander pulled a black object about the size of a tape recorder out of his pants, then set it down on the table.
"What the hell is that thing?!?!" Kal spat, disgusted.
Lysander balled his hand into a fist, then smashed the device as hard as he could with it. "It's a bug. Dunno how they slipped it on me. Might want to check yourself for one too."
Kal gave himself a quick search, but didn't find anything. "Who bugged you, Faye?"
"Yep. They probably had a good laugh about all those pranks we talked about." Lysander replied gloomily.
Kal stared at Lysander, Dylan and Eddy, who had since come back from the bar. He wore a deeply worried expression on his face. "Guys? Remember that thing I told you about Sophie and when she cried? I'm so screwed..."
----------------------
"What the hell is that thing?!?!" was followed by an audible crunching as the bug was smashed. Faye frowned, then snapped her fingers.
"Aww, it was just getting good too."
Sophie just sat there, completely out of it. Faye waved her hand in front of Sophie's face a few times.
"Hello, earth to Sophie." Faye poked her in the nose a few times.
Sophie started shook her head quickly. "What?"
"Jeez. You missed the whole thing, didn't you?"
"No. I just kind of zoned out after the stripper thing. That's a normal conversation around here." Sophie replied.
"So you live with three perverts? I don't know whether to admire you or call you an idiot." Faye sounded impressed and condescending at the same time.
Sophie laughed slightly. "Yeah well I guess you can do both."
"Nah. It's alright, Sandy boy can be a pervert too sometimes." Faye was interrupted by Kenja, who snored gently. "He's walked in on me more times than I can count."
"Same here. Just this morning Kal walked in on me." Sophie sighed.
"Do you like him?"
"Like that pervert? Why would you ask?" Faye had expected some blurted out response, but Sophie's pointed reply caught her off guard.
"I don't know... it's just that sometimes I think of Lysander and..." Faye trailed off, then shook her head, but her slight blush betrayed her. "Nevermind... it's just a stupid question."
Sophie smiled wickedly, knowing that her plan had worked. Faye gave her a strange look, then continued. "Well, the guys should be coming back. Want to make it sound like they missed some 'action'?" Sophie thought for a second, then smiled.
"Yeah, it'd be nice to pull a prank on them for a change. What do you have in mind?"
"Well... it goes like this..." Faye leaned over and began whispering to Sophie.
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"Well, that was certainly fun. We should do stuff like this more often." Lysander was the first to speak as the door to the Vergos opened.
Kal, Eddy and Dylan stared in awe at the scene before them. Clothes and underwear were scattered in the hallway, strewn about the floor in a completely chaotic manner. The three tiptoed inside, leaving Lysander standing out there, wondering what was up with them. "Guys?" he looked inside to see them sneaking down the hall, shrugged, and started to walk in, stopping cold as he saw the underwear. Oh my jeebus.
As they approached the bedroom door, Eddy shushed both the other two. "Shhhh, they might still be at it."
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As the three approached the door, Sophie leaned over to Faye and whispered in her ear. "They're here. Remember, be convincing." She pulled away and laughed silently, and Faye grinned back.
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"Wow, that was the most fun I've had in years!" Faye's voice came through the door, and the three male ravens strained to hear her.
"Yeah, really." Sophie's tired voice came next, and the three leaned closer.
"I'd love to do that again sometime, that was really great." There was a ruffle, then kissing sounds. After a short while, the kissing sounds stopped.
"Mmmmm... you taste good."
"Oh really?" More ruffling and some kissing sounds could be heard, and the guys pressed even closer against the door.
Suddenly, the door gave out on them and the three collapsed in a heap on the floor. Faye was sitting on the bed rustling the sheets, and Sophie was behind the door, having opened it. Both of the women had huge grins on their faces.
Kal looked at them, then back into the hallway, then back at them again, noticing that they were both still dressed. "You guys are evil!" he cried, slightly annoyed. His remark only caused both the women to burst out laughing.
"You deserved it." Faye smacked him in the face with a pillow as she walked out to see Lysander, leaning against the wall, eyes closed, hands in his pockets. "And what are you doing out here?"
Lysander snorted, then opened one of his eyes, spearing her through with a condescending look. "I thought that would be obvious. I'm waiting for you." Faye stiffened, and turned to go. "Hey." She turned back around as Lysander interrupted her.
"What do you want?"
"Where's Kenja? I'm betting she wasn't in there with you two." Lysander closed his eyes again.
"Asleep on the couch in the other room. I'll show you the way." The two walked past the bedroom, leaving Sophie and the other three guys wondering just what kind of relationship they had.
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True to Faye's word, Kenja was sound asleep on the couch. As Faye and Lysander went to get her, they said their final farewells to their friends, who had come in after them.
"Well, it was nice to reminisce, hopefully we'll be able to do it again sometime. Without a certain someone planting a bug on me." Faye gave Lysander her best shitface grin as he shot a death glare at her.
Kal just waved feebly, cowering behind Dylan and Eddy, fearing that Sophie might just decide to get a little revenge.
"Kenja..." Lysander prodded her gently. "Kenja..." he started to shake her gently. "Wake up, it's time to go."
"Wh--?" Kenja's yawn cut her off, and she attempted to sit up, but a piece of her shirt caught on the couch and halted her motion, stretching tightly over her chest in the process. Kal, Eddy and Dylan stared at her with far off looks in their eyes. Faye's glare promised them a fate far worse than castration, and Lysander just closed his eyes and shook his head. Poor Sophie... I feel kind of sorry for her now.
"Nevermind Kenja, just go back to sleep." The orange haired raven had already worked out how he was going to solve the problem.
"Mmmm'ok..." The sleepy woman fell back into slumber, and it was then that Lysander executed his plan. He carefully slid his arms under her body and lifted her up gently, being careful not to wake her up.
"Wow." He grunted from the effort, managing to get her above his waist. "She's heavy."
Dylan chuckled. "Must be the white meat." The remark earned him a warp-speed slap from Faye and a disapproving glare from Lysander. "What?"
Lysander just shook his head, and Faye glared at him again. They both waved one more time and walked to the door, then walked outside, headed home.
Eddy was looking up at the ceiling with one eye closed, deep in thought. As his three house mates looked at him, they felt a shiver running down their spines. He grinned goofily, much to the relief of the others, then spoke. "I think I get it."
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His arms being occupied with the sleeping mass that was Kenja, Lysander had to use his foot to open the door to the ship that the three lived on. Faye helpfully stood off to the side, doing nothing. After the door was fully open, she brushed past him airily, drawing a glare from Lysander.
"Thanks." She said casually before disappearing into the bowels of the ship. Sometimes she drives me insane.
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Although his progress had been impaired, he eventually made his way to Kenja's room with the aforementioned woman securely in his arms. Once again he had to open the door with his feet, not being able to move his arms.
Despite Faye's many claims to the contrary, this was the first time that he really got to look at Kenja's room since she moved in, and he had to admit that he liked what she'd done to the place.
At some point she had painted the walls a dark blue, and had moved in a dresser and a nightstand, along with her bed. All in all, it went nicely together, and the room had a cool atmosphere to it, which he found to be relaxing. The orange-haired raven walked over to the bed, and pulled back the sheets, then pulled Kenja's shoes off and tucked her in.
"Good night Kenja." The man whispered softly into her ear, and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. Afterwards he left the room, closing the door as quietly as he could.
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Unbeknownst to him, his female companion had been partially awake during the whole time, and had heard him whisper into her ear, and felt his kiss on her forehead.
Awwww... Kenja thought to herself, drifting back and forth between sleep and wakefulness. I didn't know he was such a sweetie.
Shortly afterwards, her gentle snores filled the room.
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Lysander walked back from the room, a happy look on his face. As he reached the main room, Faye glared at him. "Have fun in there? What'd you do, give her a goodnight kiss?"
"Actually, yes." Lysander's look instantly crystallized, transforming from happy to frostily hostile in a matter of seconds. I'm not in the mood to deal with her tonight. "You know what, let's get a mission."
"Now? At this hour?"
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Lysander let himself laugh recklessly. "I'm sure there's a night attack mission out there somewhere."
Faye stared at him strangely "Ok... if you say so..."
"We should spend some more time together, we really spend too much time apart as it is."
Her male companion's statement caught Faye completely off guard. Despite everything... he still wants to spend time with me? Both ravens sat down at one of the many computers on the ship and started looking over contracts, Lysander sitting in the chair and Faye leaning on his shoulder. Lysander found a contract and double-clicked on it. "There's a good one."
Faye nodded, then pointed at a part of the screen. "It starts in 2 hours though, we'd better get moving."
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"We've arrived at the target point, dropping your ACs now."
As the mission began, Lysander's mind was in a galaxy far, far away. As his AC hit the ground, he overboosted towards the enemies without even thinking, his Laser Rifle and Blade cutting a huge swath through the enemies. Faye could only stare as her companion cut his way through the MTs with a show of force far more aggressive than she'd ever seen him display before.
Lysander absentmindedly swung his laserblade in a wide arc, decapitating an enemy MT. You know... He thought to himself, killing another with a stream of blue energy from his KARASAWA. No matter how miserable I can get sometimes... Another MT met its end at his hands, being skewered with his laserblade, then having its head smashed in by the barrel of the huge rifle. No matter how much shit she puts me through... Endgame roundhouse kicked another MT, caving in its head and killing the pilot. No matter how depressed I become... 2 MTs fell, victims to Endgame's KARASAWA.
All through the night, Lysander thought, reflected, and killed enemy MTs. As the sun finally shined on his battered and broken AC, he'd reached a conclusion.
There's no other life that I'd rather be living.
Author Notes: No, this isn't the end. There's still much, much more of a story to tell! Sorry for the long pause between updates, but I couldn't do this one by myself. (After all, I AM using characters that aren't mine.) Hopefully I can get part 8 up soon, but since Kal, Eddy and Dylan are the main characters in that, I wouldn't count on anything anytime soon, but I'll do the best I can to get something out.
Also, I decided that despite the reviews, or rather, the lack of. I'd keep writing anyways. Maybe once I get something else out people will click that little link on my profile and be like "Hmmm... Sands of Time looks pretty interesting... I might want to check it out." and Volia! More readers/reviews/ego boosts. Hehe.
This one is the longest chapter yet, coming out at 21 pages, that's over 4 times longer than the first!
One more thing before I end this. Would some of you readers mind telling me what you think of the AC Analysis? I did it so that if you liked the ACs of the main characters you could make them for yourself, but maybe they're detracting from the story. I'd appreciate some feedback on that.
Until then.
To the readers-
BloodyKitsune: Thanks for pointing out my mistake! I must have spaced out when writing the shield part or something. Here is the fixed version. And if you really want to encourage me, drop me an email sometime, it's in the profile. About the AC Analysis, that's a great idea, and I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Someday I'll go back and put them all at the end, but until then I'm going to keep it the way it is.