"So tell me, why didn't we bomb the shit out of Mirage?" Aylis sat in the pilot's seat next to me.

I swiveled the co-pilot's chair to looks at her, "Because Crest is the one runnin' the show for one. For two, we didn't have the firepower to do so."

"How do you know it's Crest? Mirage had some of those AI robots too. The FlashTactics are Mirage ACs, and they were all over that place."

"Yes, but the FlashTactics use Crest parts. Does that answer your question?"

Aylis scowled and looked at the radar. "Get ready, we're almost at Crest HQ."

I made my way to the hangar and to Shyft. I hopped into the cockpit and started the AC up. Halfway through systems checks Aylis' voice came over radio, what was odd about that fact was that the signal came from her AC.

"Garret, I've set the transport on auto-pilot."

"But it'll get shot down before it reaches the drop zone." The visuals buzzed to life, a good sign that the repairs did their job.

"That's why we're jumping out as soon as we're both ready to go."

I thought for a second. This is probably the last battle so I guess we won't need it… But still, I don't think it's necessary to send it on a kamikaze course.

"Ok Aylis, I'll follow your plan. We won't need to go anywhere after this is over… I hope." She had made her way to the hatch and was in the process of opening it. I moved Shyft into place next to her.

The hatch opened faster than it should have. I saw that the hydraulics that kept it up had snapped. "Well now I guess it doesn't matter if we lose this thing."
Aylis jumped without a reply. I shook my head and moved the AC to the edge, still not happy about a premature jump. I jumped out and started a freefall, looking at the rear view screen, trying to judge distance to Crest HQ. Aylis was already boosting toward the target. I landed harshly and followed her.

After a few minutes there was an explosion in the air. Now they either knew that we were coming or thought we died in the transport's explosion. I hoped for the later.

A moment later the battlefield came into view, it was covered with clusters of FlashTactics. I aimed my guns at the nearest group and waited for them to fire as they booted past. They didn't. I zoomed in a bit to find them full of bullet holes. A bit further and I saw that the rest of the groups nearby were in much the same condition.

"What happened here?"

"Not to state the obvious, Garret, but it looks like a rather one-sided battle between the FlashTactics and a larger force."

We stopped near Crest HQ, "But then why aren't there any Wreckless bodies around?"

"'Cuz Crest melted them all." The voice came over radio and sounded familiar.

I zoomed in on two black ACs that were standing in the middle of the battle scene. One was Dual Face, Genobee's AC; it had a rifle, a blade, and a cannon on the back. The other, with the emblem of a heart surrounded with golden wings, had a shotgun in one hand and a blade on the other; it also had a missile pod and a grenade launcher on the back. Both were smaller, more agile type ACs.

"Genobee and Agraya." I whispered to myself. Genobee had been part of the Ark, but worked solely for Crest. Agraya and her AC, Red Star, were Crest exclusive. "Why are you two here?"

"We came to destroy the AIs. They went out of control, the classic AI scenario. They questioned why they had to be slaved to Mirage and Crest and not have their own free will and all that good shit. Everyone in Mirage was killed before the warning could get out. But that just means less competition for Crest. The white prototypes, on the other hand, were almost perfect, just a few bugs. And you managed to exploit those bugs and destroy the only two we had. Good job."

"Well if that's all you have to say, we need to talk with Crest's executives now."

"We can't let you do that," Genobee pointed his gun at me, Agraya did the same to Aylis, "You see, the reason we attacked the Ark was to destroy all Ravens. After word got out that your little troop got out alive, the order was giving to eliminate you at any cost."

"Destroy all Ravens? Then why are you still alive? You were a Raven too!"

"I'm special." Without another word the two fired at us, barely nicking their targets, warning shots. They wanted this to be somewhat fun.

I boosted at Genobee, firing the rifle at his core. He countered by doing the same. As we flew past each other, he swiped with his blade, cutting my rifle to half the size. I turned around, discarding the rifle. Taking the machine gun out in its place, I opened fire, letting lose a stream of bullets with a few bursts from the shotgun. Somewhere Cupid was fighting with Red Star.

Dual Face ran at me, the cannon aimed in my direction. It seemed to have a few bullet holes in places but not enough to do anything. I boosted in Genobee's direction, firing with the shotgun. Most of the bullets missed or simply bounced off, leaving only dents, but a few had found their way into wiring in the legs, which slowed Genobee down a small bit. The next thing I knew I was flying backwards, nothing but a white flash for visuals. The force dared to rip me out of my seat. I slammed into something; I assumed it to be either a Cliffside or a building. Shyft got up, me shaking my head to reorient myself. I looked into the rear view screen to see that it was indeed a Cliffside that I had slammed into. On the front view screen, I could see Dual Face and his smoking cannon.

Aylis' scream came over radio as an explosion went of in the distance.

"Aylis?"

"She's dead," Agraya answered.

"You bitch. I'll kill you!"

"Come and try."

I turned in her direction and activated the boosters. One blew up on ignition; the other was blown off by the explosion. I looked behind me to find the sky through a hole where the boosters used to be. The crash with the cliff must've been the cause. My opponents laughed as Shyft crawled back to its feet. I aimed my chain gun at Red Star and fired. I unloaded every last round at her from my standing point.

Her voice came over the radio, "You little fuck," It was an effort for her to talk. She sounded like she was choking on blood, "How did you manage to hit me? Me, in the cockpit." Red Star vanished from radar.

Suddenly a laser blade was inches from my head. I could feel the immense heat coming from it. The blade traveled upward through my AC, splitting it in half from the cockpit up. I could smell a gas leak as I looked up to see the flaring electricity coming from the broken wires. I jumped out the hole my boosters made and landed hard, rolling along the ground. Shyft fell over and exploded, showering me with shrapnel, leaving lacerations everywhere.

I stood up, it was hard to do, and looked at the now towering Dual Face.

"If you wanna finish me, now's your chance, Genobee."

"I'm not gonna fight an unfair fight," He said as he exited his AC. He walked over to me and gave me a right hook across the face, "You killed my partner Garret. For that, I will kill you, but I will do it in a fair fashion," he paused, giving me another punch. This one knocked me over. He put his foot on my head, continuing, "It's more fun that way." He shifted his wait onto the foot on my head, attempting to crush it. It almost worked.

He took his foot off and kicked me in the mouth. My bottom jaw snapped in half, teeth falling onto the ground when I tried to stand up. I made it to my knees before I saw Genobee pick up a metal rod that must've come from Shyft. He struck me across the face, shattering my cheekbone and cracking the bones across the rest on my face. I had never felt pain like this before, from the time I got shot in the stomach as a child to the time I got brutally assaulted in school. It was unbearable. I just wished that he would take out a gun and end it instantly. That's not what he did.

He took a knife from his belt and crouched down next to me, lifting my shirt. He slowly inserted the blade into a space between two ribs, puncturing a lung. He began to saw away at the rib below the knife with the jagged blade. It hurt so bad that I wanted to scream, but I couldn't find the air to do it. My eyes now filled with tears, drained more with each new rib he found. I was quickly blacking out from the pain. Genobee must've noticed because he stopped and pulled out a two way radio. As I blacked out I heard the voices on the other end communicating with him.

"I've got Subject A, what should I do with him?"

"Is he still alive?"

"Not for too much longer I'm making sure of that as we speak."

"Good just remember to leave the brain intact, we need it for the new project."

"Of course," Genobee went back to sawing and the world faded away from me, each sound echoing for a short while as I too, faded away.

Well then, that's it for this one. I have a sequel coming up though. I hope you watch for it.