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 20: Defeat
"...Traitor..." Sora hissed again as he opened his eyes, scanning the small, but cozy, first-class of a private jet.
"I see that you're finally up!" a familiar voice said to him.
Sora looked over and saw the smiling executive across from him. "Senior?" he asked.
Senior nodded back. "We were worried about you."
Sora looked away, gazing out to the AC transport next to them, gliding in the sky. "...I failed you, sir..." he muttered.
"What?" Senior asked.
The pilot looked back. "...I said that I have failed my mission, sir."
The executive smiled back. To Sora, it was a pathetic looking smirk.
"Don't worry about it!" Senior said. "You can always live to fight another day, right?"
Sora glared at the executive. "...I lost to four AC's!" he hissed, ignoring Senior's question. "One, of which, looking identical to unit zero!"
"You mean-" Senior asked, halted by a nod from the cold pilot.
"What was more interesting was that I found an AC pilot that we both remember from long ago."
"Who?"
"You remember Tsubasa Arashi, do you not?"
Senior nodded. "Of course!" he said. "But, I thought he died when Nine-Ball ambushed him."
"Apparently not... He escaped death and joined a Raven team."
"Well, which team is it? REDEYE? The 18th A.C.T.? Four Blades of Hell? Titans of the Ancient Days?"
"TALON..."
Senior fell into shock, then into a fit of laughter. "He joined that sorry excuse for a team?" he asked. "And you lost to them?"
Sora quickly took hold of Senior's neck. "You will keep that between the two of us, correct?"
The executive parried the hold off his neck. "You needn't worry." he said, his laughing fit set aside. "But I must inform the boss of this matter. I'm sorry, but you have no objection to that."
The pilot calmly sat back down in his seat. "As long as you tell those higher, but not lower, than you."
"You have my word."
The jet carrying the two passengers fell silent for a minute.
"Do you have a status report on Mobius?" A quiet Sora asked, looking out to the transport.
"I've been told that most of the outer layer of the armor was burnt to a crisp." Senior informed. "That'll be replaced by a prototype alloy the guys over R and D had been making for a while. As for the interior, it sustained some smoke damage but it's nothing that the mechanics can fix!"
"Do you know how long it will take for its repairs to be completed?"
The executive scratched his head. "I'd say... about two weeks, give or take a week on which base we send it to..."
"...I see."
More silence fell between the two.
"There was one more thing I forgot to tell you about that mission..." Sora muttered.
"And what's that?"
"The one that defies Murakumo... His name is Kaze. But his full name is Kazuma Ishikawa."
Senior sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Senior, should we put him under the list of traitors?"
"You mean like a hit list? Of course! ...And, Sora, one more thing."
"What is that?"
"Quit calling me 'Senior,' will ya? You make me sound like I'm old!"
"Then, what am I to call you by, sir?"
The executive smiled while the jet and the transport landed at a Murakumo base. "Ryouken is fine."
To be continued...