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 27: Defense
Kaze aimed carefully to the sky, getting a lock on one of the Stingrays, and fired a barrage of bullets, severing one of the wings and causing it to spin out of control, crashing to the ground.
"Nice shooting!" Goki complimented as he warded off a Shogun with the laser blade before blowing the cockpit away with a salvo from the machine gun.
Three Stingrays took up position and, while in a dive, began to fire at Mantis. A few shots made their mark, but did little to harm it. As the planes flew by, Bug turned the AC for a counter attack, opening the small doors on the twin missile launchers, waiting for the lock.
Bug fired as soon as the lock box turned red, sending five missiles, in an arch-like formation towards the three pests. As the first missile hit the plane in the middle, two missiles grazed past the two other planes, putting a deep gash into their engines, and hit the plane in the middle, destroying it. Amidst the other Stingray pilots' shock, the last two missiles hit their respected targets, causing each plane to burst into a ball of fire and plummet to the earth.
Switching out weapons, Bug turned back to the forest and fired four rounds from the dual plasma cannons, accurately hitting four of the black MT's, taking out most of the cores.
AC-195 got down on one knee as the large laser cannon flipped over its right shoulder. It took aim at one of the Shoguns coming out of the forest and fired, reducing the MT to scrap. It turned and took aim at a group of the slow-moving MT's. With the energy gauge full, it fired again, obliterating the MT in the middle while the Shoguns next to it were hit by shrapnel.
The AC stood up from the grassy terrain, laser cannon retracting back, and pulled out the laser rifle, firing a round each into the remaining MT's core.
With arms folded, Guardian watched the battle through the small spaces between the trees in the comfort of Avenger's cockpit. "...Only a matter of time." he muttered to himself as he saw and heard the explosions of the MT's and planes. "...It is only a matter of time before one crosses the line." He closed his eyes and waited for that certain moment...
With the number of enemies wearing thin, the Shogun commander began to get worried over the outcome of the battle. "Guardian, when in the hell are you going to attack?" he asked. "We're getting killed out here!"
"...Patience." Avenger's pilot calmly replied. "Go out there and open fire on the black and red AC. He will attack in close range. That is when I will give the order... Now go."
Unhappy about the decision made, the pilot ordered the Shogun to trudge out of the forest and begin to fire rifle rounds at Mecha.
The black and red AC simply dodged the rounds as they came near, while returning the favor with a volley of machine gun bullets.
The bullets mostly chipped away at the armor, but severely damaged the cameras positioned in its head. The MT pilot cursed up a storm as he saw the image of snow on the monitors.
Knowing that he blinded the MT and planning on conserving his ammo, Kaze and Mecha boosted forward, drawing out the laser blade, and closed in on the helpless MT...
Guardian opened his blue eyes. "Retreat now!" he called to the remaining units.
Before Mecha could throw a slash at its foe, the MT boosted backwards, blindly guiding himself through the forest once more.
The other MT's and planes followed close behind until the plains were, once more, inhabited only by the AC's.
Kaze sighed, relieved that the stressful battle was over. "Nice job, everyone." he called to the rest of the team.
The team added their cheers and dances to the small victory: Mantis doing a back-flip, AC-195 shooting a few rounds in the air with the laser rifle, R.O.M. punching the air like a boxer.
"Oh, yeah!" Goki cheered. "We won! We blew those guys away! Whooo-"
A grayish blur with what appeared to be a yellow laser blade, flew past the R.O.M. The silver and turquoise AC froze in its place, unsure of what happened... until...
BOOM!
To be continued...