Deadly Research
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Armored Core or Gundam Wing characters or machines. Just the OCs are mine. Hope you guys enjoy! Also, itilicized words are thoughts while quotes are talking. Duh!
Recap
To their dismay, the rifle from the Gundam dropped to the floor as well and pulled a weapon from its back. A bright green blade appeared as the suit brought the shield up as well.
Her husband's voice came to her over their private frequency.
"You got to be kiddin' me . . . melee proficient too?"
Gritting her teeth, she had to agree. Their opponent was asking for melee combat against both of them simultaneously. So this was a forbidden weapon. She wasn't looking forward to this battle.
Mission 2: Power Balance
The Gundam just stood there, waiting like a guard for any attacks. Inside his AC, Dark Heart was running calculated battle plans through his head and break neck speeds. Maiden Sword stood beside him, her laser blade held in the traditional guard. She wouldn't move unless he did.
Damn . . . to have a laser blade like that is just genius! But that shield is massive; it has to weigh a ton, or several in his case.
The pilot in the Gundam waved his beam saber in the air a few times.
"Hey! You get cold feet? Come on! Do your worst!"
A dark, grim frown creased his forehead. He tapped a dark red switch and then hit his boosters.
Maiden Sword and the Gundam were stunned as Dark Heart suddenly charged the mobile suit with a huge speed boost. She had worried when a set of explosions went off on the leg unit of Dark Heart. To her stunned eyes, was a set of MLL-MX/077 lightweight legs where the STIFF pair had been.
When did he do that? No, better yet, HOW did he do that? I'll ask later.
She charged in after a brief second pause. The shimmering blue blade thrust at the new enemy, seeking one of the knee joints.
FSHHHCKKKKKKKKK!
The Moonlight struck solid . . . with the beam saber of the other unit. Glancing right, she saw that the shield had blocked the Halberd laser blade and while allowing him to counter her thrust with his own blade.
The two ACs kept their boosters driving, pushing the Gundam back. The harsh shrieking of metal as the suit was pressed back against its will echoed in the chamber with the crackling of energy blades in gridlock. Electricity sparked in the air between the three humanoid fighting machines. Maiden Sword wasn't fazed by the blade lock.
"Let's see how you handle this!"
The Ray Core's back opened up while gathering magnetically charged oxygen particles. The air rippled in heat waves as it changed to a blue tinge. The twin overboost engines kicked in at their maximum, driving the Gundam to the side as she did a 180 degree spin after she passed. Dark Heart slide his blade from the shield as the suit lost its balance coming in again with a diagonal slash.
A huge rush of energy propelled the suit to the right and out of the path of the deadly blade and into the air; finally landing on one of the massive concrete and steel awnings above them; its blade still radiating its green color. The AC team looked up in despair as they finally noticed the massive set of wing like boosters on the back. The exhaust port poured out fumes that made it look like blue fireflies, giving the suit the appearance of something celestial.
(No it's not Wing Zero. It's the predecessor to it. Heero Yuy's first Gundam!)
"That was impressive you two. You have my respect pilots."
The private communications channel opened up on Maiden Sword's data screens. Her lover was ticked.
"WTF! That's just not possible! How is that thing able to fire a gun that massive, fight in melee combat with shield and sword, and have mobility like that?"
"Dark Heart control watch the language and DON"T start that cyber talk! But yeah, I have to agree . . . just how powerful is this thing? Louise are all of you getting this?"
She had opened up a pair of recording cameras on the RAY core and was live feeding the data to Global Cortex. They loved getting new info, and this was definitely new. The sound of amazed voices mixed with ones of denial at the power of the enemy the two Ravens were facing was meshed in the background.
"Yes Raven, we're getting all of it. This isn't an illusion is it?"
"No, it's not Louise . . . I wish it was though. We may have to abort." She grit her teeth as the words left her lips. The thought of having to abort a mission sickened her.
"Understood Raven. Get out of there if you can. We don't need the two of you killed here." The pilot nodded. The Gundam dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Beam saber extended, he now blocked the path of escape.
"Not a chance you two. You're both ours now."
Dark Heart and Sword Maiden spun around as the lights came on behind them. The crews back at Global and the AC pilots went silent. Their before them stood four more suits, each different in appearance, but all full functional. The one thing in common was the golden adornment on the foreheads, but even those varied.
The one closest looked even darker than Dark Heart. It's dull black paint scheme and wing like structures gave it the look of a true demon. The head unit radars on the AC pair didn't even register the suit's existence. A giant glowing blade lanced out of a long, intricately designed rod.
"Stealth armored, with a scythe? Good grief." The younger pilot powered down his laser blade and stood defeated. His partner panicked.
"Dark Heart! What are you doing? Hey!" The dark AC turned to her, its red eye sensor glowed silently. She gasped, he had given up willingly.
"Melissa." She tensed, he just said her real name during a mission; something he never did. A long silence came before he spoke again. "We can't win against these monsters. Close the doors and accept it." She perked her ears at the code phrase.
'Close the Doors and accept it' meant to cut off the open com channels and wait for a private message. Killing the broad wave frequency, she waited patiently for him to explain his plan.
"We can't win. Let's allow ourselves to be taken captive and learn. Once we know enough, then we'll head back and report. All three corporations will pay huge sums to learn this technology and make better ACs." She smirked at his plan.
Always looking for the silver lining aren't you love?
"Okay, fine, we'll do it. You're treating me to dinner when we get back though."
Melissa could have sworn that he had face faulted and cursed under his breathe. She laughed at his self inflicted misfortune.
"Ugh! Yes, oh great one."
The two team AC pair sent one silent message home to Global before powering down their units. The couple left their cockpits, hands raised as the five Gundam units surrounded them. Dark Heart grinned behind the face shield of his helmet.
One way or another . . . we will get out of here. The knowledge we gain just might balance out the scales of war against these abominations. Power . . . heh; it really is fickle . . . isn't it?
The guards bellow surrounded the powered down units and ordered the helmets off. The soldiers backed away in shock at the two pilots. They had never seen pilots that skilled so young.
Dark Heart's pilot had long black hair that fell to the bottom of his shoulder blades. It was tied into a single long tail that began at the base of the back of his skull. The bangs hung around his face, framing a pair of sharp eyes of deep blue. His bangs were tipped red, looking as if he had dipped them in blood. A cold aura surrounded him . . . he radiated the chilling feel of a ruthless destroyer.
Not many other than his wife knew his past. This was mainly due to the fact that most who knew had tried to kill him. He wasn't bothered with them, not now since he had killed them.
Killed them . . . and left no evidence behind to cause him any trouble. Even Global Cortex didn't have anything on his records like that. His past experience and training ensured that.
Melissa stood there with a cocky grin on her face. She knew how to stun a man without ever touching him. Dark Heart had learned that lesson the hard way when they had first met. She too had dark raven black hair which fell to her waist.
Her skin was a deep tanned olive-brown with light hazel eyes. The beauty of the woman before them was exotic, like something found in the deserts of Earth. The aura around her was warm, hiding an equally cold master of destruction.
Two of the guards approached her, a small leer on one of their faces while the other was slightly worried. He had every right to be . . . as the lecherous one swiftly found a foot in his face after he tried to cop a feel while restraining her.
The guards all raised rifles as the man fell to the floor, his face planted in his hands which flowed blood. There was no doubt that he had a severely broken nose. To everyone's surprise, Dark Heart began laughing uncontrollably despite being put into shackles.
His laughter was unnerving, like a demon, his head was thrown back, cackling to the ceiling that echoed back every sound. It was as if the whole room was laughing with him, proclaiming the end of their lives.
He finally calmed down, a grin stayed on his face.
"Guess I forgot . . . don't try anything perverted. That's my privilege and mine alone." Maiden Sword raised an eyebrow as she gave him an incredulous look.
"That's IF I let you . . . Dear Husband." She put a large emphasis on the last two words, which sunk in after a moment of silence. The second man restraining her jumped away, fearing what the other pilot would do if he assumed anything wrong.
From his cockpit in the Gundam the two AC pilots had battled with, the man was sweating bullets. He knew what they had just captured, and he didn't like it at all.
"Dodged the Buster Cannon with ease at point blank, and drove back the Wing Gundam with their beam sabers while reducing the shield to uselessness with one strike. These two are dangerous."
"Hey Clive. Are you okay?" The voice of the dark Gundam's pilot asked. His face appeared over the communications circuit.
The pilot was even younger than Dark Heart by the looks of it. A long brown braid accompanied the dress of a covenant priest with a dark black baseball cap with no symbols.
"Yeah, I'm fine Maxwell. The Wing isn't though."
"What are you talking about?"
"Take a look at this for yourself."
A data feed link between the two mobile suits opened and Maxwell began to read the rapid scrolling text. His eyes couldn't believe what was being transferred. The cooling support units had failed, the shield had been damaged beyond repair, and the leg joints of Wing Gundam had been shot during the blade lock.
A concerned frown formed on the pilot's face. As he began reading the rest of the information on the enemy, his jaw dropped.
"No way. You're saying that red hunk of junk moves just as fast as Talgeese 2! Not possible! It isn't possible! Not for a woman!"
"Think and believe what you will Maxwell. It's true. How else did she force Wing Gundam aside and knock me off balance? That's not the only thing either. I did a data scan of the laser rifle that black unit was wielding. We're in over our heads if that's a mass produced weapon."
"Are you serious?" Another data scan passed his eyes. He slumped back in the pilot seat. This was too much for one day.
The glowing diagram on his screen showed the image of the Karasawa and Buster Cannon side by side. The damage estimates for the devastation that could be caused by a single shot from either one . . .
. . . were dead equal.
"The problem with the Buster Rifle is that it spreads a mass beam, enveloping everything in the range of the blast. This rifle however . . ."
"Concentrates all of the damage on a single point the size of a tanker truck, meaning the target vaporizes while the beam dissipates. This leaves the target with nothing left . . . not even remains. The smaller beam also means higher accuracy and less risk for hitting allied forces. It also looks like it has a higher shot count than the buster rifle."
The pilot finished for him as he scanned the data again.
"That's an understatement Duo. Look closer."
The self declared 'God of Death' did so, and then paled horribly.
The shot number for the Buster Cannon was three. The Karasawa's ammo count by the scans numbered to thirty with an unknown number of shots still held in reserve. A second column displayed the firing rates. The Cannon could fire every once every fifteen seconds as to not overheat in the atmosphere. The Karasawa could fire every five.
The Buster Cannon could wipe out twenty units with one shot . . . if they all conveniently just lined up in a row. On average though, it only tagged that many with all three shots, ten for each one. He could easily see that the mystery rifle could drill through over thirty; one for each shot if the collateral explosions didn't take more units with the downed one.
Even the Twin Buster Rifle of Wing Zero didn't have thirty shots. Three shots at full power from the thing had destroyed the majority of Wing Zero during that Christmas night two years ago. The firing rate was the scariest part though. With a rapid fire weapon that powerful and that accurate, a whole battalion of MS units could be devastated in little under fifteen minutes in the hands of a skilled pilot.
"No . . ."
The eyes of the two sides were sorely over calculating each other. The scales of power tipping heavily in the opponents favor in both sides' eyes.
The AC team and Global Cortex thought the Gundams were going to be the end for their civilization while the Gundam team began to plan for the possible deaths of all they worked for to get to Mars and peace back on Earth a mere two years ago.
Little known to the two factions, a third set of eyes stared down on the scene from the safety of space. The huge satellite cannon hadn't interfered with the newcomers from Earth. It merely let the two warring sides wear each other out, gathering information as it did so. Unlike the other two, it knew the exact abilities of the Gundam Team and Global Cortex's Raven pilots.
In its mind . . . the two sides were equal on the Scales of Power. Both were a threat to it, and it wanted both sides gone . . . permanently.
WOOT! (Stretches arms and fingers). Finally done with Chapter 2. YAY! Time to play more AC Silent Line.
I know that there are far more powerful weapons that the Karasawa for all you AC gamers. They will be introduced later; this is just comparing energy weapons, not solid ammo types. This chapter and the previous one takes place shortly after the Defend Lawdas Factory mission in AC: Silent Line.
Yes that is Duo Maxwell in a remade Death Scythe Hell. Wing Zero . . . well you'll see its return . . . in due time. Also, yes Heero Yuy isn't there yet for those of you wondering just who the heck Clive is. He's an OC like Dark Heart, Melissa, Louise, and other AC pilots and crew.
Dark Heart and Melissa (Maiden Sword) are POWs now. What will they do when they find that the Gundam pilots are even younger than they are? Meanwhile, Global has rallied two of the best pilots for a rescue attempt . . . Mobius and Shade. The only thing ahead . . . is flying lead.
Those who read . . . REVIEW . . . please? That's the only way this fic will get any better.