Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Armored Core series. That belongs to Agetec and From Software. I only own the original characters. Thank you.
In TALON's Grasp
by: T.R. Fanatic
Chapter 7: First Mission
"Hey, Kaze!" the voice of Pyro called. "Time to get up and face the day!"
Kaze turned away from the voice and wrapped the covers on him tighter. "Can you back in five minutes and let me sleep a little bit more?"
Pyro sighed. "All right... But, you're gonna miss your first mission!"
Kaze threw the covers off him and sat up, staring at Pyro, not even minding that his brown hair had been tossed every which way (and that it looked better than Pyro's hair...).
"Mornin'!" Pyro cheered.
Kaze smiled back as he got up and shoved the never-this-energetic-in-the-morning pilot out of his room. "Give me five minutes to get dressed, and I'll meet up with you, 'kay?"
Three minutes passed when Kaze exited his room, dressed in an unadorned tan short-sleeved shirt and black pants (the uniform hardly worn by TALON members; another present that team pitched in on), tying the laces on his slightly worn black boots. "Okay, ready!" he said to the patient Pyro.
"Uh-uh-uh!" the redhead objected, pointing to Kaze's bare hands. "You missed something..."
Kaze looked at his hands, then realized what he was missing. He quickly went back to the table by his bed, retrieved his pair of the team's trademark gloves and slipped them on his hands.
Pyro smiled. "Now, you're ready!"
Another minute passed until Kaze and Pyro entered the meeting room where they stood and saluted to Chief and Tsubasa: the only two people, besides them, that were awake.
"AC pilots: Pyro and Kaze, reporting for duty, Chief!" Pyro announced.
"At ease, you two..." Chief muttered back, not fully awake. "Have a seat and wait for the others to get up."
The pilots did as they were told and sat before the large square table, with Tsubasa sitting across from them, reading the book.
"So, Kaze," Chief said. "how do you like it here?"
"It's great." the newcomer replied. "I have nothing to object to..." He then pointed to Pyro. "except for the wake-up call, here."
"Pyro..." Chief groaned, giving a sharp glare to the wild pilot.
"What?" Pyro asked. "He was going to miss his first mission with us!"
"If that happens again, Kaze..." Tsubasa muttered, not looking up from the book. "you can always hit him..."
"Aw, come on, Tsubasa..." Pyro whimpered.
"Aside from him, did you sleep well?" Chief asked.
"It was a little on and off," Kaze honestly admitted. "but I'm getting used to it."
"Good, good..."
The last three pilots entered the meeting room and saluted to Chief. "AC pilots: Rebel, Bug and Hyper, reporting for duty, Chief!" Rebel sounded off.
"At ease." Chief said as he pushed a button on a remote. "Have a seat and let's get started, shall we?"
A screen appeared before the team (to be more detailed, to Kaze's left) showing a map of the world, both above-ground and underground.
"This mission is a repeat of last week's mission," Chief began. "in which most of us knows what happened..."
Pyro hung his head sadly. "Ix-nay on the C-Ay ashing-bay..." he whimpered.
"But I'm going to inform of the mission and its requirements once more so that everyone knows what's going on."
"...Please don't..." Pyro muttered.
"Our client is a former member of the AC team REDEYE, who had just learned that their number two pilot, Lazy-Eye, had left the team for reasons unknown to everyone but her."
"...She's a demon, man... Scary as hell..."
"We're being asked once more by our client to coax her to come on our team and, yes, try and beat our rivaling team."
"Don't send me back there..."
"The reward this time is double: ten-thousand Credits will be given on the successful completion of this mission. I've decided to send three AC's into this mission: Dust Devil..."
Rebel stood up and replied, "I accept the mission."
"...Mecha..."
Kaze bravely stood up. "I accept the mission." he said with a slightly nervous tone. All the while, his mind cheered, My first mission... I can't wait!
"Please don't pick me..." Pyro whimpered.
"...and Firestorm."
"Oh, c'mon, Chief! Don't make me go back there!" Pyro objected.
"She's not gonna bother with you anymore, Pyro." Chief said. "She's scared you to the point where you've wet your pants!"
"That's a figure of speech, and you know it!"
"What I'm tryin' to say is that you shouldn't be worried! I'm sure that Rebel and Kaze would be more than willing to help you out."
"Of course!" Rebel replied. "And don't worry, Chief. If Kaze has any questions, I'll make sure they're answered."
"Don't forget about me!" Pyro added as he stood up from his seat. "You're not the only know-it-all on the team!"
"Does that mean you'll join them?" Chief asked.
Pyro sighed, now knowing that he made the mistake of standing up. "...Yes, I accept the mission..." he muttered.
"Then the three of you get to your AC's and the rest of you to your stations!"
The rest of the team stood before Chief and saluted simultaneously before going their separate ways.
On their way to the other side of the garage, Pyro couldn't help yelling, "Damn! It looks better life-size!"
Kaze, not sure what Pyro was blabbing about now, ran over to where he was, to find the black and red AC standing before them on a platform.
"Wow..." Kaze said in awe.
"I better quit gawking or I'll start getting jealous." Pyro said as he ran to his AC, painted red, orange and gold, and hopped on the small elevator that sent him to the AC's cockpit.
Kaze did the same and hopped into the cockpit. The lukewarm air inside the new AC gave him goosebumps and the cold seat didn't help either.
Everything looked the same as the test model: the three monitors, left, middle and right, that showed the outside surroundings; the two foot pedals; the control stick at the end of each arm of the chair (left controlling the left hand and right for the right hand...), as well as the weapon and radar boxes.
Kaze took a deep breath, strapped the five-point harness on and started up the AC.
"Come in, Kaze." the voice of Tsubasa called on his radio. "Give me a status report."
"This is Kaze." the pilot replied. "AP is full. Energy is at full power. All weapons are fully loaded. All systems are green. Awaiting your confirmation, over."
"I copy. Please wait until you hear from Bug."
"Roger."
A few seconds past. Kaze sat patiently, hands on the controls.
"Kaze, do you copy?" the voice of Bug asked over the radio.
"This is Kaze, I read you loud and clear."
"Okay. Keep the AC still. I'm sending it up the elevator right now."
He felt the jolt of the AC as it moved up to the second floor: the base's rooftop.
"You're free to walk around now, Kaze." Bug said. "Wait for the order from Hyper."
"Roger."
"Quit sounding so polite, Kaze." Pyro, who was already on the roof when Kaze arrived. "This isn't a test."
"I can't help it." Kaze replied.
"Ready whenever you are, Pyro!" the voice of Hyper called to Firestorm's pilot.
"Roger, Hyper." Pyro called back, moving the AC onto another platform. "I'm stepping onto the catapult right now."
"Confirm your launch when ready."
"Give me a sec. I'm gonna give some pointers to Kaze before I take off, 'kay?"
"Roger!"
"Kaze, listen up." Pyro called to the newcomer. "This is new, but it's easy. All you got to do is step on the platform, tell Hyper when you're ready and then wait for the green light at the edge of roof to send you off. Here, I'll be the example." He cleared his throat. "Hyper, this is Pyro. I'm ready to launch."
"Roger, Pyro." Hyper replied. "Get ready for take-off!"
The light on the other end of the roof blinked red.
"Kaze, one more thing." Pyro said.
The light went from red to yellow.
"Don't forget to scream!"
The light switched once more, yellow to green, and Pyro's cheer could be heard as he flew across the rooftop and out towards the other side of the city.
Okay... Kaze thought as the platform retracted back towards Mecha. Piece of cake. It's just like the test...
"The catapult is ready whenever you are, Kaze." Hyper said over the radio.
"Roger." Kaze said as Mecha stepped onto the platform.
"It looks like you're in. Good piloting!"
"Thanks, Hyper." He took in one more deep breath. "This is Kaze. I'm ready to launch!"
"Roger, Kaze!"
"Good luck, kid!" Chief rooted.
The light on the other side of the roof flashed red.
"Take care out there!" Bug added.
"Do not get into any trouble..." Tsubasa muttered.
The light changed from red to yellow.
'Don't forget to scream,' ran through the mind of the relaxed Kaze as the light changed to green. He felt his entire body being pushed back into the chair as Mecha set off for its first adventure somewhere in the dark underground city.
To be continued...