Armored Core: Lunar Battle

Chapter 9:

Deathscythe VIII sped across the sandy plains near the cortex for about an hour before it reached its intended destination. The unit crouched down on one knee and opened the cockpit hatch, allowing its occupants to disembark. Nick climbed out with ease and waited near the opening to the cockpit for Jen to get out. She looked in surprise at where they were. "Wow…a natural beach," she said. The waves crashed into the sandy shore, the sound of birds not too far off.

"I've been coming here for a while now," Nick said, hopping down to the ground from the hatch of his AC. Jen gave him a questioning look before he landed, then prepared to hop down herself. He looked up just in time to notice what she was going to do. "H-hey!" He got under her in time to catch her bridal style, his knees shook slightly as he prevented them both from hitting the ground hard. Jen smiled at him.

"Thanks for catching me," she said, standing on her own feet once Nick let go of her legs with his one arm.

"You really shouldn't be jumping like that so soon," Nick said in annoyance.

She frowned at him. "I don't like waiting for my body to heal before I can do anything." The two got closer to the ocean and sat down next to each other in silence for a moment. "So, how did you learn of this place anyway?" she asked.

Nick looked up at the stars. "The day that I had to attack a Mirage base out here."

"OH yeah! Your AC returned with seaweed all over it for returning from that mission underwater," Jen said with a smile. "I still can't believe the Cortex thought your AC was a bio-weapon." She giggled a bit. "Deathsythe VII looked so much like one of those old monsters from a monster movie."

"Don't remind me," Nick said in irritation. "I had to trek back from the base underwater, otherwise the explosion would have killed me." He stared up at the stars. "Kiseragi couldn't get their transport there in time. To make matters worse, its wreckage was spotted in no man's land."

'The silent line,' she thought. "So, I'm assuming you found this spot when you finally were able to get out of the sea, right?" Nick nodded. "Do your teammates know of it?"

"No, they don't. For now, this place is sorta like my private retreat when I get tensed up and need to think." He glanced at Jen. "You're the only other one I know that knows of this place."

Jen looked at him and smiled. "Makes me feel kinda special." The two laid down in the sand, satisfied with each other's company for the time being. Then Jen thought of something. "Nick, there's going to be hell at the cortex tomorrow."

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Linda's going to figure out what happened tonight when her buzz wears off. When that happens, Ed's going to pay a price, regardless of the fact that they both were drunk tonight." Nick visibly twitched.

"When we see Chris tomorrow," Nick started, "we better try and convince him not to make his alcohols anymore. Those do more harm than conventional liquor." Jen nodded. The two just laid there for a while longer before they heard a beep on their watches. They tapped their watches and said they were there.

"Grim Reaper. Tanja. Where the hell are you?" They recognized the voice as Lians.

"We're outside the cortex enjoying some fresh air," Nick said. "You should consider doing the same once in a while."

"Another time, perhaps." Lians checked her paperwork. "We got another mission lined up for you both. It's a joint operation being hosted by the earth corporations and the cortex to all available ravens. We're going to be sending starships over to Lunar and take the fight to them. We're going to do what Mars's Concord raven division failed to do and take them out. We would like for you both to participate."

Jen glared at her watch. "You've got to be joking. Once we're there, there is no way we can get repaired and resupplied. Besides, five space cruisers could barely even get half their ravens off in time because of the defenses."

"That is where you're wrong," Lians said. "These ships are in the same amount of danger as before, but they are armed and armored enough to protect themselves. Once they set down on Lunar, they will act as your nest for repairs, supplies, and mission objectives." She looked at her paperwork. "Besides, both of your teams applied for this mission over twelve hours ago, as did the Martian."

The two looked at each other. Nick was still near Jen's hospital bed about twelve hours ago. They looked at each other a moment, noticing the same look in each other's eyes. "Mission accepted."

"Understood. Report to the space port at 1800 hours tomorrow. Lians out." Nick sighed as he laid back down on the beach.

"Amazing," he said. "We barely survive an attack from Neo core, and they already are sending us out."

Jen looked at her. "If we don't deploy to them, they will just keep sending their forces on us." She looked at the ocean. "Worse thing is, we are losing human lives in this conflict, while they are just losing computer chips. We would eventually wear down and be crushed."

"So, we are to settle the score for all they have done to earth and mars then." They both relaxed a little too long on the beach, for they eventually fell asleep next to each other.

-

Linda groggily awoke when her clock started to chirp. She got up only to fall back down as her head throbbed like crazy. 'Ow, my head,' she thought, trying to rub her forehead. She tried again a few moments later, a bit slower than normal to avoid her pain getting worse. She looked around her room to notice that it was a mess. Several liquor bottles are scattered around, all of them empty, as were some clothes. It took her a while to figure out that half of those were her clothes. 'What the hell…. What are my clothes doing on the floor? And whose clothes are those?' She started to get out of her bed when she felt a slight draft, discovering in shock that she was naked in her own bed. She covered herself with the blanket while uttering an eep, making an attempt to get her clothes back on.

She never saw Eddy stir with the blanket offering him warmth missing. He tried groping for the blanket unconsciously, managing to grab it before it slid completely off the bed. Linda felt her blanket snag before she gave it a tug, dragging the end off of the bed, along with Eddy. A loud thump was heard. Linda looked in the direction of the sound, while Eddy immediately awoke from slamming into the ground. "What the hell?" he managed to say before noticing Linda's eyes. They both blinked in confusion, but Linda's face was turning red in both embarrassment and anger at what she saw. Eddy felt a draft and looked down. He immediately realized one thing. 'Oh shit… I'm gonna get creamed.'

-

Nick and Jen awoke the next day and started on their way back to the cortex. It took several hours for the unit to arrive back at base, but it got an incoming call just when it was entering. Nick keyed in the communication, not too surprised to see it was Greg. "Hey, old man," Nick said in mild surprise.

Greg grimaced. "Ya damned kids r all alike. No respect fer elders." He sighed a moment on screen before looking at it again. " 'ave ya seen Tanja anywhere?" Jen tapped the screen, getting the old man's attention. "Ah, there ya are. Yer AC's ready and wait'n fer ya at the shop. Jest thought ya should know."

"Thanks for the update, Greg," Jen said in reply. "I'll be right over as soon as I can."

"Glad to hear it," Greg said before cutting communications. He tapped his counter a few seconds thinking, shrugged, then went to the back to make sure everything was all set. 'I swear them two are a couple,' he thought as he checked his equipment. It took a few minutes before both Nick and Jena entered the shop, the door making a noise that Greg was far too familiar with and made him get to his counter. "Tat was quick," he said to the two, blinking in surprise. He stood there looking at the two while they looked back at him. This lasted about a minute.

"Greg," Jen said, "is something wrong?"

"Ya both sure ya not a couple?" Jen turned red in the face with surprise, but it was hard to figure out if Nick was red with embarrassment or anger. "Never min, never min. Jen, yer AC is in the hanger, waitin fer ya. Come with meh." Nick went back to his AC to make sure everything was ready, selecting whatever equipment would be necessary for the new mission scheduled for later that day. Jen was taught about her new capabilities with her AC, then was allowed to leave for the garage. Once she arrived, she did a systems check on her new AC as well as deciding on what equipment to bring with her. She was done within ten minutes and started to leave when she noticed Nick standing in his garage area. It didn't take much thought to know what he was doing there still.

His back was facing her, eying the beaten up and devastated AC that now sat idle next to Deathsythe VIII. "You miss piloting her, don't you?" Jen asked quietly.

Nick didn't even move at all. "I was just remembering all that I had accomplished in this machine within a whole year," he said simply in reply, still looking at the wrecked AC that was Deathsythe VII. "Yet, I realize that the mechanics won't dare try to repair this machine, meaning it will remain as it is until its metal corrodes to nothing, its purpose for existence completely stripped from it."

Jen sighed. "I'm hoping you have had your gear ready and haven't been looking at your old AC this whole time."

Nick turned to her, a small grin on his face. "Are you kidding? I've been set for almost fifteen minutes now." He turned back to his AC. "And when I get back, I'll be doing my best to get Deathsythe VII back in the arena once more."

Jen looked at him in a sad manner. "You're going to waste your life after this mission to bring that back online?" She sighed. "All of its systems are fried, the armor melted, the essentials barely there. It would be impossible to even get it fixed." She turned to leave. "Even worse. Even if you can get it fixed without just buying new parts and replacing the unit altogether, it would already be obsolete from being technologically outclassed. Not just that, but you probably won't even find a woman that you actually love keeping yourself here."

"You're probably right," Nick said, turning to follow her. "But I'd definitely have at least a girlfriend when I'm finally done fixing it. And once I'm done, I'll make sure it can kick the shit out of the new competition." Jen looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"As cocky as ever, I see," she said in response. Neither one spoke to each other for some time as they walked towards their rooms. They figured it would be for the best to actually rest up a bit before they leave on their mission.

It was Nick that noticed something odd. "Hey, Jen."

"What?"

"Please tell me that we aren't the only ones in this hall." Jen looked around and noticed. Normally, several ravens would be waking around. They would either be chatting to someone they know, running to the hanger, or just lounge around out there. Instead, the room was barren of any form of life.

"That's odd," Jen said as she looked. Nick approached his room and tried opening the door, only to notice that it was locked from within. Jen noticed this too with her door, except it was locked from the outside and had its password changed. Nick started to bang on the door. "Hey, open up." It opened a moment later, revealing Chris.

"Yo, Nick. Wassup." Nick peeked inside and noticed that Sara was also in the room as well, fiddling with the computer.

"Chris," Nick said in a threatening voice. "Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on here?"

Chris looked at him, then looked at Sara, then back at Nick. "I didn't get laid by her, if that's what you mean," he said. "We've been stuck in this room since last night, considering Ed and Linda."

Jen walked to the open door. "Well, they aren't in that room now. The door's locked from out here. Now, why the hell is everyone not in the…" She stopped as she heard footsteps in the hall, namely of someone running. There also seemed to be some yelling as well. "What the hell.." She and Nick said in union as they looked down the hall. Ed skidded into their line of sight, a look of pure fright on his face as he ran down the hall. The two looked at his advancing form un puzzlement.

Chris noticed too, his face turning pale. "You two better get in here," he said shakily. "NOW!" The two didn't move, they were too preoccupied by him running like a bat out of hell. That's when Linda also came skidding down the hall a mild distance behind him, a sledgehammer held firmly in her grip.

"HOLY SHIT!" Nick managed to say before Jen realized the danger and shoved both of them in. Chris locked the door behind them. Ed stopped at the door in an attempt to enter, only to be frustrated by the lock.

"EDDDD!" He looked behind him in time to see her swinging her hammer at him. His face turned pure white as he narrowly dodged it and ran, a loud bash heard as her hammer connected with the metal door. She continued her pursuit, while Nick stared in surprise at the dent that now was in the door. He glanced at Jen, both breathing in shock.

"What…the…HELL…was…that…" Nick asked between breaths. Jen managed to catch her breath and shook her head.

"THAT…is when Linda's pissed," she said with ease.

Sara nodded. "Best if we stay out of their way. One of them will give out eventually."

"Hope they both can still pilot their AC's when they're done," Nick said as he walked to his bed. He crawled into it and rested his head on the pillow. "I'm taking a nap. Wake me in about an hour."

Jen yawned herself and decided to take a nap as well. She noticed that Chris's bed is all wet, probably by some drink he had, while Eddy's was missing some sheets. Groaning, she walked to Nick's bed and tapped him on the shoulder. He opened an eye to see her standing near him. "Is it ok if I take a nap here? The other beds have problems." Nick propped his head off the pillow to see the other two beds, noticing their condition. "Crud. Chris, where's Eddy's bed sheets?"

"In the wash," he replied. "He would kill us for not washing them every month, and that month ran out today." Nick groaned again at this bit of news. Looking at Jen again, he scooted over and allowed her to sleep on the end he vacated. Smiling slightly, Jen climbed onto that end and rested her head on the pillow. Nick followed suit, but not before noticing Chris's looks.

"Chris. If I hear even one word about this anywhere, you're dead," he said before falling asleep, with Jen not too far behind.

Chris glared at him. 'At least THAT plan went without a hitch,' he thought as he dug into his fridge for a bottle of booze. 'Can't believe Sara's idea worked better than mine. Now I owe her a thousand credits.'

-

Zeo Streak II entered the Garage at 13:00 that day. The red visor dimmed as the unit followed its routine for shut down, popping open the cockpit and allowing Pilan to hop out. She followed the walkway to the AC part shop, spotting Greg at his usual place. He looked up as he heard the door open. "Well, hallo there, Pilan," he said. "Wat brings ya here dis time?"

Pilan smiled as she walked up to him. "You're my uncle. Don't I have the right to visit you whenever I please?"

Greg nodded. "True tat, true tat. But I doubt, tat's all ye want."

Pilan smirked. "You got me," she said. "I wanted to know if I could borrow your AC's grenade launcher for the Lunar mission." Greg gave her a grim look. "I'll buy you a new one if anything happens to it, plus half the credit's the new one costs." Greg sighed.

"A'right. Ya got a deal." He started heading for the back of the shop. "Get yer AC over here. Tis thing doesn't move itself, ya know."

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry that I haven't posted in a while. A lot of stuff has occurred between my last chapter and now. (corrupted data, near computer crash, school work, new computer installation floppy drive missing, no less, and getting sidetracked.) I can't guarentee chapters as often as before, but I'll do my best. And yes, they are going into space next chapter (finally. Someone asked about that a while ago.) Till then. I thank any reader that is still interested in this fanfic.