Chapter 20 The Great Battle
The wind churned ever-so-slightly, causing three or four nearby birds to stir. Light flashed and Adrenaline was there, gleaming in the brilliant sunlight. The wings unfurled and washed away the ashes from the battle that took place moments before.
The radar showed nothing for a few long moments as Xero stared off into the distance, the many streams flowing down from all around him reflected the light and caused the outstretched wings to glimmer and shine proudly.
Xero at last determined that there was nothing in the area to worry about and that it would be foolish to go looking for trouble before the rest of the ravens arrived.
He decided instead to disengage the controls and gather down at the bottom of the spherical cockpit, somberly drifting into an uneasy sleep.
His dreams still haunted him.
He floated above the last battlefield he saw before he slipped into a coma.
The green grass was slicked by the rain that had started falling and there stood all of his friends, and at the head of the group was himself; standing off with Dash, who stood stalk still. Lightning flashed and drones came into existence, surrounding the group and causing everyone to jump into action. Everyone jolted off in different directions, evading the drones barrage of blades, he heard screams, saw Angel die, saw Blaze's AC get beheaded.
He saw Cataclysma smash its way into being, appearing in a split instant right there, causing Xero to halt his steps.
Xero's dream flashed and he found himself in his parents house, looking at himself look out of the window. Seeing his younger self see his parents sprawled outside in the yard and on the driveway. Lightning flashed again.
Xero's eyes shot open. He was breathing rapidly and a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead. The radar was beeping angrily. He wiped the sweat clean and stood, checking his sensor readouts and radar. The transports had arrived. They were right in front of him, passing over the azure horizon.
Xero opened his top cockpit hatch and quickly pulled himself out and onto Adrenaline's core, the crisp clean mountain air assaulted his senses, instantly making him forget his dreams for the time-being and causing him to feel more rejuvenated than anything. He smiled as he looked on to the large jets blasting their way through the sky, their sub-nuclear engines working hard to keep them in the air.
Hours later all the jets had disgorged their occupants and were off once more into the now crimson sunset.
All weapons were primed and ready; the mechs were prepped and outfitted with, in their owner's opinion, the best load outs possible, and all the people were prepared to do what was needed.
They marched, not wanting to burn any extra energy; everyone trying to hold all available resources for the coming conflict.
The coordinates provided to Xero during his last encounter with Dash were investigated and did indeed turn out to be the same ancient battlefield that Retribution had met Cataclysma on. The irony caused Xero to grin a little.
As the sun crept over the horizon and shown through the crutch of two mountains; they arrived at the edge of the large plain; it was a grassy field that spanned for almost as far as the eye could see. It was completely surrounded by mountains, almost as if God Himself had carved this place out of the hills and mountains for the purpose it now held.
The mountains parted on either side of the great expanse and gave way to small ripples in the hillsides, almost like rocky levees trying to hold back the encroaching mountains. Or perhaps wrinkles from whence the mountains had attempted to smash the field into a smaller shape. The large force of ACs gathered on the top of the first levee and held their ground.
The tension ran almost tenably high.
We know what to do… Kirel said suddenly after a few moments of silence. The wings unfurled and bent upwards and back stretching as far behind Xero as they would go. The gathering morning sunlight refracted in the wings and the strange angle caused the light to turn to a bright orange and red sunburst, flashing light off in every direction. This was obviously a sign that they had arrived and only lasted for a few moments, but Xero was sure the message was caught.
There was movement seen on the opposite shore.
A vast army of mass-production ACs and Drones gathered atop the opposite hillside.
The wings gathered back down around Adrenaline. The communication channels opened across the allied AC forces.
Xero spoke, "look ahead of you, all of you, what do you see? An army? Simply death? I'm sure every one here sees something different, lost loved ones, vengeance, many will go hand-in-hand I'm sure. But I will tell you what I see; the final steps to a world's freedom, that army, along with its commander, are the last things standing in our way! Lives have been sacrificed, friends lost…"
Xero's mind flashed back to images of Angel, yelling at him, sleeping in his truck, and finally dying in the battlefield. He also saw images of Dash who had seemed for a time to be his friend. "…I will tell you they will not be the last! There will be more, there must be more! The enemy will not simply lay down their weapons and surrender! We must make them! They stand tall… but we stand taller still! They are mindless and do only what they are instructed, they have no purpose! No cause!"
Xero paused, "We have that cause, and that is what makes us stronger! While many of us will fall in this battle, many will stand and it is both the task and burden of the living to decide how much meaning the blood of the fallen has had. The standing must fight on and never surrender; there will be no mercy on their part, so we must offer none on ours!"
Xero inhaled and rested for a moment before continuing, "now is the time to go… to show them our light, our strength. It was an Honor to fight alongside each and every one of you and I commend you for your courage to fight for this world..."
"Godspeed…."
There were clicks as the Communications were cut one-by-one. And a deafening roar began mounting as cannons were powered up and overboosters were charged.
The drone army began moving forward at great speed.
It had begun.
All at once the deafening roar that was building was unleashed as overboosters were released and cannons were fired. Beams of all colors and sizes literally raced the ACs that had ignited their overboosters, the racing ACs had laser-blades charged and were ready for the first swing upon reaching the enemy.
Then it happened.
The forces collided with a tripling of the roar that was heard before. Blades were swung from both sides; beams and slugs collided with their targets: ripping them apart.
Xero stood back on the hillside, Morrow on his left side, Blaze and Tyre on his right. "I'm going in, you guys cover me as best you can but don't worry too much about it. And try to stay alive and in one piece, I'll need your help when the final time comes."
He didn't get any verbal responses, he merely saw each of their ACs give a reassuring nod and they boosted towards the carnage that was taking place before them.
Xero took to the sky and soared above the battle, searching for a place where he was needed. It didn't take long to find a weak spot where the Ravens were being overwhelmed, Xero dove for the ground.
He landed with both blades extended and wings up, Kirel was firing off feather beams at random and Xero was swinging the Katanas with a deft skill that he never knew he had.
He swung the left katana upward with a slope and dismembered a drone from the center of the core all the way upwards to the collar area, at the same time he flipped the right katana over in his hand and thrust it backwards behind him. Stabbing a Mirage AC in the head and consequently ripping its head free as he pulled the katana upwards over his own head, the AC's head unit still lodged halfway on the shimmering blade.
He looked to his left and swung the right katana horizontally, cutting another AC in half across the core after throwing the head off blade, causing it to fly across the field and pass straight through three lined up drones, all three of them bursting into dust.
The feathers extended on the wings and sharpened as Kirel thrust them through an AC and a drone to Xero's left and right. The wings then swept upward and began an intricate blade dance around Adrenaline, cutting units apart and simply stabbing others beyond recognition.
Xero however could feel that it was quickly becoming a losing battle.
Don't lose heart Xero, you mustn't! we won't lose! Kirel, Dogan, and Torrind said to him together.
"fall…back… I will handle the rest…" Xero caught himself speaking without meaning to.
But the damage was done, he looked around him and saw his allies disengaging and moving back toward the safety of the levees that they came from. They dug themselves in and a few still took sniper shots and enemy units.
Xero was now alone, surrounded by numerous enemies that closed in on him, creating a tight ring.
Never fear… Kirel spoke soft words into his ears…
The wings swept upwards again and the tips turned to point straight downward, the feathers now pointed at the ground. The wings began glowing with energy and the katanas resonated, Torrind glowing bright red and Dogan, the most brilliant blue. The wings suddenly pointed upwards to a vertex and the feathers shot off the energy they were hiding, the beams collided not far above the tips and caused a small sphere of pure energy. The energy ball held for a slight moment before bursting downward and encasing Adrenaline in a hemispherical energy dome that shone brilliantly white.
All sound stopped, all light was changed, everything in and around the dome shone bright white, except for the blades of the katanas…
Sweep us pass the shield… the katanas spoke at last, their powerful words seeming to echo in eternity.
Xero looked at each blade and raised it, Torrind…. Dogan….
He swept them upward and the light from both blades burst forth into the shield. A colossal roar ensued as light patterns switched. All the white became black, and time stopped. The dome appeared black from the outside and white from the inside. It seemed to attract all light and draw in everything around it.
The Hemisphere of energy began growing; moving steadily outward in every direction, everything touched by it was vaporized instantly.
After all enemies were gone the energy shield shimmered and dissipated, glittering in the sunlight.
There was nothing left of the battle field, no grass, no haunting remnants, nothing…
The battle was not long, but was still as vicious as any mankind had faced.
In the center of the field stood Adrenaline; unscathed.
On the levee far behind him, stood Cataclysma.