The Whisperer
Disclaimer:"…"
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Chapter 12
"How is the game going?" A thin man in a lab coat entered the room.
"Our units have all been destroyed, except the Titan…" This man was tall wore a suit, but he was watching the screen in front of him.
"Why didn't you send stronger units?" The thin man walked up to the screen.
"That didn't seem necessary, it seems he was busy while away." The tall man grinned.
"How is the Titan doing?"
"Well, for now. It has not actually entered combat with any of the other units but it did take damage to the head disabling its weaponry there."
"Is the lambda driver working?"
"They haven't used it to attack but it's walking around perfectly."
"… Excellent. How about him is he there?"
"He just arrived. We all want revenge but we can't be reckless other things come first."
"He's a soldier, he kills a lot. He also made everyone unhappy. He's lower than filth on this world. The world would be a better place with out him."
The tall man actually chuckled.
"He said the same thing."
--
-Perth area-
When the debris cleared up nothing could be seen or heard.
"Hah, he really didn't slow down, now he's gone. Loser." The rash one was all but laughing out loud.
"Well I don't see him; we should continue our practice anyway." The mature voiced male began to type something on the console.
"What are you doing?" The women sounded still a little annoyed.
"I am just sending some information back to headquarters. It's no big deal really." He shrugged his shoulders as he finished typing then pushed the console back into the wall of the cockpit.
"Fine but we still need to take care of the group of guys who disappeared." The younger girl was checking her screen for signs of movement.
"Never mind they'll pop up when they want. We still need to reach the actual city." The woman was back under control.
The Titans fingers opened up, fire and bullets began to rain down on the remnants of the end of the port city. It continued north to the actual city they needed to destroy.
"What are we gonna do." The Urzu team was in ECS but they still stayed out of direct visual range of the large AS.
"They're heading straight into the city." Kurz called in even though he wasn't actually with them. Kurz had been moving around looking for another open shot.
"How do you think Sagara is doing?" Clouzot still hadn't been able to find him after the impact, no one had.
"We need to find a weak point. I wasn't there but I heard the weak points in its groin. We can disable the lambda driver cooling system from there with a well placed shot."
Melissa was still keeping touch on the Titan.
"Well this isn't Amalgam, and that isn't a Behemoth." Spake was grinding his teeth together.
Melissa clenched hers as well. Did Spake think she didn't know that? They had to take a shot at it anyways. They had all fought Behemoth before, but no one had lambda driver then. Better than letting that thing destroy the whole damn city. She took a deep breath, now was not the time for them to fight.
Suddenly a loud shot rang out in the area. A large chuck of metal flew off the Titan.
"What the hell was that?"
"Sousuke be careful. The custom shot-rifle is effective but has incredible recoil, and will eventually cause severe damage to parts of this machine. It is only a prototype." Al practically barked at Sousuke.
"It's not a problem. We used the lambda driver, and destroyed a large piece of armor. The spot is now open to attack however we should enlarge the area with more shot."
"…"
Sousuke turned his head to look at the Titan, so the AS head did as well. The titan's hand was pointed right at him.
"Gotcha!" Bullets roared out of the fingers of the large AS.
Sousuke just stood there his shield deflecting the bullets. He pointed his large custom made weapon at the Titan.
"Sir be careful."
"Roger."
Sousuke took a moment to aim. When he fired the gun his bullet hit right in the joint of the index finger blowing it off.
"Sir shouldn't we disable the EIS."
"Affirmative." Sousuke sounded more robotic than Al currently.
The strange black AS materialized out of no where. It was about 3 yards back, because of the gun recoil.
"We need to be careful, let's finish this now. Everyone concentrate on using the lambda driver." The woman raised her voice. The four in the cockpit suddenly looked at nothing but the screen completely fixed on it.
"Lambda driver functions A, B, C, D all active."
The Titan AI informed.
"This thing is big, and bad. We need to us the lambda driver to beat it. Kurz you keep sniping at the target. Melissa and Lilliane will focus on firing at the joints. That seems to be a weak point. Spake and I will fire looking for more openings and weakening stronger joints. Urzu 2 take care of Urzu 9. Everyone got that?" Clouzot finished giving his orders.
"Yeah." Urzu 2
"Got it.' Urzu 6
"Yep." Urzu 8
"Sure." Urzu 9
With that done they split into two groups of two and went their own way. Kurz was on his way to what looked like a good sniping point.
Sousuke's AS kept jumping around dodging the hammer of light coming down on him. The Titan was trying to smash him with a lambda driver induced hammer. Unfortunately with 4 minds to work they also had a shield protecting the Titan. If this kept up there would be no way to stop it.
--
"They have activated the lambda driver. It seems to be working well. Your machine may work after all." The tall man turned his head to the computer monitor displaying the information coming from the Titan.
"Yes well it is one of my best. But those brats of yours have taken quite a bit of damage." The thin man was snarling.
"They are good pilots. The enemy is also skilled. It's understandable."
"No, it's not, my Titan should be invincible, there is no way to defeat it.
The thin man was raising him arms flailing them about.
"Ahh, but the Titans were defeated, and trapped. Cronos defeated with them. Also your machine can only stretch the shield so far."
The tall man turned his attention to the large screen again.
"Don't feed me that Greek mythology crap. Those raptors, and Javelins blow up too easily why don't you complain to Van Riel?"
The tall man chuckled once more but said nothing else.
--
"Urzu 9 do you know how to use the lambda driver?"
Melissa called over. She and Lilliane had gotten closer to their enemy but still stayed out of sight.
"Sorry, I didn't get proper training for it." Lilliane lowered her head, her AS did the same.
Melissa clicked her tongue. Regular anything wouldn't work on that damn shield they needed a strong shot. Kurz was good at using the lambda driver since he had to concentrate as a sniper anyway. His sniper shots were usually powerful ones. She was good with it too, but did not have the luxury to sit around to concentrate like Kurz. Clouzot was exceptional with his having the training he had, and having been a great AS pilot before. The way he thought seemed to help. Spake was a bit reluctant, but he could use it.
Melissa looked up as a few of Kurz shots fought with the shield on the Titan before fading out.
"Hold on. Kurz fire another shot at that thing!"
"Where?"
"Anywhere!"
"AI record it."
"Ok."
Melissa was getting aggravated since Kurz still hadn't shot. She watched the Lambda driver shield react again as the bullet made contact.
She watched the footage of the scene on her screen.
"Gotcha."
Clouzot had tried 3 times already to break through the lambda driver, with his. He used his monomolecular cutter on it but he still couldn't put enough force behind it. Spake just fired off shots at random points.
Clouzot looked at the machine. It had ignored the assaults and continued its game with
Sousuke.
"This isn't working, how does one person create so much power. Unless what they said about four pilots is true."
Clouzot continued to watch as the machine continued chasing Sousuke with the hammer.
"Sir I am not enjoying this." Al was displeased.
"This is a battle; I do not expect you to enjoy it." Sousuke grunted as he kept dodging the dangerous blows.
"But I have enjoyed combat with you before. And we are getting the area smashed a lot. We should move the fight. Would you like to hear a joke, or should I play music. I made my own joke the other day. Travis enjoyed it."
If Sousuke was drinking something he would have spit it out right there. Al was bothering him during a battle situation. He complained about destruction to the area. Then he tells him he made a joke.
"Al we need to talk."
"Sir that line is usually used by a member of the opposite sex when they wish to end a relationship. Do you wish to breakup with me sir?"
Sousuke flinched. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was not the time or place to lose concentration.
"Joke."
Sousuke looked at the screen. "I know."
"You should try that on Kaname, or has she already used it on you?"
That was it. Sousuke really needed to talk to Al. Not before he tripped from surprise giving the Titan an easy shot at him.
"…"
Sousuke's AS lit up as the hammer was coming down. Right before the Hammer made contact, his AS disappeared into the light leaving a trail as he appeared else where. He thought back to when he saw Gauron use the same form of travel in their first fight in Khanka.
The hammer swerved without being lifted, and swung straight towards Sousuke.
The enemy was manipulating the hammer now rather than actually swinging it about.
Sousuke crossed his arms over him.
The hammer sent him flying but his shield prevented any damage from occurring.
He landed softly on a building despite the force of the blow.
Suddenly he heard a voice.
"Sousuke there's a weak point on the enemy shield. The AS isn't concentrating much of the shield on the head. It's using most of it to protect the body, and attack…"
"Mao!" Sousuke was worried that she suddenly stopped talking.
When he looked at the battlefield he noticed the Titan was attacking her and Urzu 9 now.
"We're alright Sousuke. Listen try to get a close shot at that things head. Use your lambda driver to bullet right through the weak point. Heh, the idiots aren't making sure to guard there own cockpit. Kurz is going to fire at the head first. That may alert them so you'll need to put that bullet the tough the head immediately after."
"Roger." Sousuke nodded even though no one other then Al could see him.
"Remember the shot-rifle is a proto…"
"Shut up Al." Sousuke was getting aggravated now. He would definitely need to talk to Al.
Al despite no one being able to actually see him was beginning to understand the meaning behinds Sousuke's hostility towards him. Al knew he didn't totally trust Sousuke so he was constantly reminding him of problems. Al was just scared after what happened to him in the Arbalest. Al thought it was funny now. Referencing things like that to an AI was awkward. But it was being done. He knew Sousuke sensed his worry. He just hoped Sousuke didn't disregard it.
"Forgive me."
Sousuke almost tripped again. He wondered if Al was getting emotional.
"Apology accepted." Sousuke didn't say anything more just watched for the right time to leap at the titans lowered defense.
--
-Kaname's Apartment-
Kaname was worried. Kyouko, and the others were sleeping in the futons beside her; they were in the living room on the floor. It was 2:00 am. Sousuke had been gone all day without calling. She didn't dare share the bed with her friends. Not anymore. She had been happy since she got back. Mostly. She never showed her friends or even Sousuke much how bothered she was by everything that happened. She was worried about coming back. She still was worried. She was hoping for some peace when she got back. Some peace came to her. But not with Sousuke. For some reason he was going off doing things she didn't even know about. Even though she had fun with her friends tonight, she was being bothered in the back of her mind all day. She almost cried when everyone greeted her back, days ago. She almost cried when they scorned Sousuke. But she was a strong girl so she wouldn't let anyone see her hurt. Sadly Kyouko had noticed, and had a little talk with Kaname earlier. Those made her feel better but did not totally convince her. For all anyone knew she was happy since she got back. No one saw her pain. At least she hoped they didn't. Kyouko had caught on, but wouldn't tell anyone. Unfortunately she ended up crying on her friends' shoulders tonight. Ren figured it out too. Then the girls that had been invited to her apartment all hugged her, listened and spoke to her. Even Mizuki was trying to make her feel better. It worked. She was glad to have such good friends even if they were pains sometimes. She already spoke with Sousuke about it before so she didn't worry about telling him.
"Sousuke…" She was still worried about him. She would have known what he was doing if she watched the news. Instead she tried to have a good time with her friends. They had ended up crying but it was a good release of tension. She hugged her Bonta-kun doll closer then rolled over. She eventually decided to get up. She stepped out onto the balcony, and watched the moon.
--
-Point between Fremantle, and Perth-
The helicopters rotors could be heard. They were news copters unfortunately. Sousuke wasn't worried about being seen however. He knew what was equipped to Melissa Arm-slave would keep the images from being useful. It made sure they never had to worry about being seen. The extra system in her AS blocked all weaker signals, and images from tracing or catching them on film decently. To anyone watching the news all they would see was blurs, even from the Titan. They couldn't get a clear image of them if they were one foot away. In fact that would strengthen the effect of the device's signal on the equipment.
"Now!" Kurz voice came up over the link.
Sousuke's arm-slave disappeared in the trail of light again appearing right over the Titan.
Just as he was about to land on the Titan's head Kurz bullet made contact. The shield weakened further focusing on the bullet that had already shot.
A flash of blew out as Sousuke pulled the trigger.
Melissa was right. Sousuke heard quick shrieks of terror as the bullet tore right through the shield into the head, and down through the body.
The machine jerked around a bit as explosions went off inside it.
Sousuke's arm-slave quickly leapt away. He stood on a nearby damaged building as he watched the Titan slowly dieing, you could say. The jerking became more violent as the explosions went off more rapidly. That didn't matter though. Eventually everything that could blow up, would blow leaving only fire heating the thing up. Now they needed to get rid of it. Before he even blinked after that thought. Multiple large helicopters were on the way. It was a small fleet of them.
"We did it guys. Now let's get back to the TDD-1 before we get in trouble with the locals." Clouzot called out before turning and heading for the shore.
"You coming Sousuke." Kurz was leaping off buildings.
"Negative."
"Suit yourself. But Tessa misses you."
Sousuke watched as the last of the Urzu team loaded on to helicopters by the shore. Their now vacant Arm-slaves being lifted into larger copters for carrying AS.
"See ya later Sousuke. Tell Kaname I say hi." Melissa blew a kiss before she loaded onto the helicopter.
"Yeah tell Angel I say hi too. And that the guys also say hi."
Kurz had popped his head out the side, which was unnecessary since they were still using headsets. Melissa kicked him back in.
"Affirmative."
Sousuke watched as a large amount of helicopters hooked themselves to the monstrosity, and others picked up the remains of the smaller Arm-slaves. They used powerful magnet type holders. He just hoped they would be gone by the time anyone else came.
"Travis decided to let Mithril take the leftovers." Al gave his opinion on the situation.
It was indeed Mithril copters taking the machine. It would be a long flight to Merida Island Base he thought. They would need to find someway to camouflage the machine while flying across the ocean.
Sousuke watched as pods were shot from gunmen on the helicopters to the Arm-slave. After about 20 were placed on good spots, a humming sound could be heard as the Helicopters, and Titan entered ECS.
"Sir they are using the ECS pods to…"
"I know Al. Don't worry about it. Initiate fly mode so we can go back."
"Roger. Sir I would like to talk you on the way back, and even after we get there."
"Understood. I need to speak to you as well."
Sousuke leaned back as the Arm-slave hovered then shifted position. After becoming invisible it took off into the sky.
--
"I can't BELIEVE it!" the thin man was practically pulling out his hair.
--
-Tokyo, Japan –
5:00 am.
Sousuke was walking to his apartment. He was terribly tired. He hadn't slept all night. He was able to make his relationship with Al better but he was still tired. He understood him a bit more. Al also was able to gain more trust in Sousuke, and tried to understand him a bit. Luckily the kids were asleep when he got back. He spoke to Travis about dropping the call signs. Sousuke didn't like the whole Sigma thing. It was agreed to so if anyone caught the signal they would think it was some American or something but he doubted anyone could get the signal anyway. Travis laughed before agreeing. Travis decided he wanted to change the name of the organization as well, not that it had an official name yet anyways. Sousuke told him to do as he pleased.
Sousuke was also worried however.
He had walked out on Kaname, again. He would make sure she was okay first then head to his apartment. He was forcing himself to stay alert, and act like he was in perfect condition. He showered at the base, but showers only did so much.
Kaname was sitting on the balcony. She had gone inside earlier after coming out, but she wanted to be out here again. She couldn't sleep but the cool air was comforting. She was watching the moon which would be gone soon.
"Achoo!"
Kaname stood up and looked over the balcony, she was a bit hurried. She looked displeased when it turned out to be a man walking his dog. As she began raising her head she saw what she was looking for. How lucky was she. She saw Sousuke walking sluggishly down the street. She would get answers from him but not right now. Kaname snuck back into her apartment. She closed the balcony door, and locked it. After making sure everyone was asleep, she tossed on a shirt, and changed into shorts. She wasn't in so much of a hurry she'd go out in her pajamas. She pulled on some socks, and her sneakers. She grabbed her keys, then quietly exited the door, and locked it behind her.
Sousuke may have been tired but he noticed the person watching him from the balcony. Of course he was so tired he didn't realize who it was. When he saw the person quickly go back inside he knew there was danger. He would climb the building to sneak on the person but he did not have the equipment or the energy, despite the rush of adrenaline he just received. He pulled out his handgun, and slowly with his back against the wall approached the entrance to the apartments. Before he turned the corner he heard someone exit the door. He placed his finger near the trigger but not on it. He pointed his gun the second the person turned the corner. Uh oh.
Kaname was shocked to find the end of the gun's barrel pointed at her. Not again! She was not in the mood to be abducted. She looked at the man holding the gun. She was relieved when she realized it was Sousuke. But he didn't lower the gun.
"Sousuke…" Her voice was a low whisper.
Sousuke eyes widened in surprise then he put away the gun. Twice now he had pointed his gun at her. Recently anyway.
Sousuke leaned against the wall then slid down it. All adrenaline from him gone.
He didn't even look at Kaname just sat there his head down. He was too tired to move anymore. He wondered why he felt so bad. He went longer without sleeping, and he was fine. So why was he tired now. He figured side-effect.
When Kaname finally regained composure from having a gun in her face she shook her head, then looked at Sousuke. He looked absolutely beat. At least that's what his position said.
"Sousuke, are you ok?" She was still finding it hard to be very loud.
Sousuke had heard her anyway.
"No problems." He didn't move at all after saying that. Kaname grew worried. She sat down on her knees next to him.
"Sousuke look at me." When he didn't raise his head she cupped his cheeks with her hands then lifted it towards her.
He was awake but his eyes showed his was definitely tired, but they also looked distant. Suddenly when they directly met hers his eyes flashed a moment.
"Kaname, what are you doing out here, are you all right, I saw someone on your…"
"Shh" Kaname placed a finger over his mouth.
"I'm fine, everyone's fine, except for you. Now C'mon I'll take you upstairs."
Sousuke slowly began to stand up.
"That is not necessary, now that I know you are safe I will return to my apartment." Sousuke placed his hand against the wall to hold his balance.
Kaname wanted to hit him for acting all tough, but she knew he wasn't acting. He didn't like to be a burden to others. She realized if she took him to her apartment it would be strange. She doubted the girls would really do anything however. Kaname turned around to face Sousuke's back as he walked away. She grabbed his hand before he could go any further.
"You're going to stay at my place tonight. Reason one is so I know where you are. Reason two is so you can explain later, reason three is the girls can help me watch you, that way you can't escape on your own." Kaname raised her fingers as she counted the reasons." Suddenly it dawned on him why he hurt her feelings the other day. Sadly that fact left him as he realized Kaname said she had comrades to help imprison him.
"Understood." Sousuke bowed his head in defeat.
Kaname smiled triumphantly. She pecked Sousuke's cheek before leading him into the building. He wondered when he would ever get a break.
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