The Whisperer

Disclaimer:"…"

--

Chapter 19

"Sir, synchronization is at 68. Earlier it was a mere 35. Are you sure this will be enough?"

Sousuke stared at the screen. His three enemies still stood a distance away. They had not dropped their light bows. The black AS jumped backwards as three more arrows raced at it. This time the black AS leapt towards its enemies. They fired three arrows in a triangle simultaneously at their approaching opponent. The black AS straightened, a small amount of light appeared as it fit right through the small length between the attacks. He fired three shots in perfect succession one at each enemy. V-1 and V-3 leapt away while V-2 jumped towards him. She smiled in her cockpit as she approached. She fired two shots with her handgun before pulling out her mace. The black AS easily parried the bullets with its knife. He flipped to a better position as his enemy approached. A loud scratching sound and sparks flew as the weapons clashed. No one said anything as they continued to push at each other. Sousuke was surprised when his machine began to be pushed back. He swept his leg out at his opponent tripping her. He dug his knife into the purple machines side causing serious damage and limiting movement. He could not confirm anything as the V-3 came down upon him. He stepped backwards with each punch of light that came at him. He stumbled as a few of the attacks ran into his upturned arms. The V-1 was coming from the sky in a slanted descent at his position. He turned grabbed the spear and elbowed the V-1. The elbow was caught by the V-1's hand. The black AS went rolling across the floor when a wave of light crashed into it from up close. He used the technique similar to when he fought Gauron by slamming his hand against the ground which sent him up to quickly recover from, and stand after the attack. The black AS turned sideways as another light arrow zoomed past his chest. He looked at the grounded V-2. She was on one knee firing the arrows which meant she was not a casualty…yet. Finishing her is my current priority…this thought went through his head as he watched his other two opponents take up different positions. They were each on an opposite roof. He jumped towards the V-1 he kept his shotgun out. He listened for a strange sound as he rose.

'There!' He fired his shotgun backwards. His bullet of light passed right by the approaching arrow. The V-2 never saw it coming. The others watched as there friend blew up instantly.

"Shauna! You bastard I'll get you!" The V-3 pilot took a deep breath before charging towards the black AS. His arm-slave was still going forward from the jump. It was about to approach the V-1. She fired her machine gun at his approaching figure. His shield blocked every bullet. She pulled her spear.

Shing! Despite his lambda driver the spear of the V-1 tore right through the black arm-slave's side. The V-3 had halted her chase.

"Sir we have taken serious damage. Flight mode and underwater travel have become impossible. Synchro ability has decreased to 37. Response time has lessened." Along with other complaints Al had confirmed the obvious. They were damaged. Sousuke turned his head when a spark flew by. Hydraulic fluid was leaking as well as other liquids in the machine. He wiped his forehead, and cheek on his shoulder to wipe away seat, and blood. Luckily despite the damage all his systems were functioning.

"Gotcha!" The V-1 slammed the spear sideways throwing the black AS towards the ocean. A long cable shot from the black AS and spun around a large pole. He grunted when the force of him stopping was felt through the cockpit. It shook as the arm-slave landed on the edge of the platform. The cable was released from the black AS. He kept his eye on the two approaching opponents. After one opponent these two were still in pretty much perfect condition. He had taken more damage than he liked. This did not look good for him, and his partner.

"This is a problem Al."

"Yes."

--

-Outside the Loisir hotel 3am-

"I'm bored can we go yet?" a pilot in one of the Venom two's was getting annoyed. They had been sitting outside the hotel for more than three hours. Other pilots who actually went to sleep woke up when he called over the link. Gauron was getting impatient himself but he knew some of the greatest joys in life required waiting.

"Heh, don't worry we can go in a minute. Is everyone ready?"

Everyone called in confirming they were awake.

"Okay boys let's have some fun." Just as the Venom-2 type arm-slaves began too move 2 blew up shaking the other close by arm-slaves.

"What the F#$k!" Gauron looked around. He could not see anything. The other pilots were complaining over the link.

"What happened?" "What the hell's going on?" "Shit!" Gauron was finally able to locate the enemy. He looked up to see the Mithril Arm-slaves landing. He hadn't seen these new ones yet but they looked nice.

"Looks like this will be fun. Spread out…" Gauron said in a calm voice as a short burst of bullets rained down on them. He started running then fired three shots at the falling enemy. Lilliane had engaged the lambda driver and was fighting with one of the opponents. Clouzot was taking care of his own. Spake and Melissa were having a bout in the forest with another two. Kurz was perched on the nearby mountain. Unfortunately so was another Venom2 so they had engaged in their own little scuffle. Gauron smiled as he turned to the hotel. He grinned when he saw his opponent land in front of him. It was an AS different from the other ones. It was painted a similar color however. It had two eyes the face was a bit strange as if it had a strange mouth cover, and circular helmet. The body had even sized rounded shoulders, and a basic body size, the upper body had a little more built to it, in a chest like form. The legs were regular as well. All and all it didn't look too different from most arm-slaves. Gauron fired at his opponent. He grinned again when he saw he had lambda driver.

Leonard was in his new AS the Verial. Mithril had looked around it earlier and painted it but it was pretty much untouched. He was not pleased that they had attached a mechanism inside the machine that would let them activate his self destruct should he try to betray anyone. It could be activated by Clouzot, Melissa, and headquarters. It was just in case he decided to betray them. He knew this was a test run for him. His performance in this battle would mean a lot to Mithril's decision on his having joined. Also he had to protect Kaname in the building behind him. He swore he would not let anything happen to her. He owed her a lot for his earlier actions. He wondered why Mithril waited until now to attack the enemies rather than earlier. It was as dark now as it was 3 hours ago but the enemy was ready to move when they chose to attack. That didn't matter now though. He had to fight. The Verial shot three waves of light as it lunged toward Scorn. The red and black AS ran to the side and continued its way into the forest. The Verial followed closely.

Urzu 1 fired his rifle at his enemy. They had decided to take the battle to a distance since the close range combat was wasting time. The sooner they killed each other the better. He fired three shots at his opponent's visible head. He quickly dodged and fired his own. Clouzot blocked them with his lambda driver and fired a shot right through the tree his opponent was hiding behind. He gasped as the bullet tore through him and the AS exploded.

"One down." He called over his head set as he went to join another battle. Urzu 2 and Urzu 8 were both dodging heavy fire from there two opponents. They were equipped with heavy assault gattling gun which was destroying everywhere it shot, and another had a portable large sized grenade launcher. The weapon had a large amount of ammo so they did not have the luxury of waiting for them to reload. Another opponent had appeared out of nowhere and was blocking any shot the Urzu team fired with its own lambda driver. With two firing and one blocking there was not much they could do against the small enemy gathering. Melissa jumped over the opponents, the trail of bullets from the gattling gunner followed after her. Spake fired a few shots at the barrier as flying oversized grenade bombs flew towards him.

"Urzu 8 this is Urzu 2 get close go straight for the one using the lambda driver. I'll do it on this end. When you get there use as much force in yours as you can. Let's see this guy fold under the pressure." Spake didn't wait to confirm. He ran straight for the opponent the lambda driver of his repelling the bombs launched at him. Small explosions began to appear in random spots of the forest. Melissa ran towards the small gathering from her end. She was focusing as best she could since her opponent was using lambda driver on the bullets she was blocking.

"Now." The three fields of light crashed together. Like Melissa predicted they were able to use more force easily destroying the Venom2 in the middle and sending the other two a good ways away. They rose and continued there assault on Melissa and Spake quickly.

Kurz was taking turns taking sniper shots with his opponent. One would fire, then duck. The other would wait for the other to stick out a part then fire, and the target would dodge. They had been doing this for a good time now. They knew that if they made one wrong move or stepped out just a little too far it was over. None had decided on using the lambda driver. Kurz decided to have a conversation with his opponent.

"You're good. I don't run into many snipers like you. You know how to play." Kurz said.

"You're not too bad yourself. It's a shame you got to die though." He responded. Good.

"Yeah I know. That's what everyone says. But I can't let that happen."

"Hahaha, you're a funny guy."

"Yeah you wanna hear a joke?"

"Sure a good laugh before you go isn't too bad."

"Look up."

"Not this one I'm not wearing pants."

"Your loss."

The pilot of the Venom2 did not notice Kurz had snuck over and was right on top of him. He had used a trick he learned from Sousuke to sneak over so his enemy would not detect him. A loud bang roared through the area as the bullet pierced the pilot's cockpit silencing him forever.

"This is Urzu 6 one down." Kurz said in a serious voice.

Lilliane was practicing with the lambda driver. She was able to hit the enemy three times with her rifle shots slowing him down. He was using his own lambda driver so she was still at somewhat of a disadvantage. He had been shot but not seriously. He was playing cat, and mouse seeing how much the mouse would retaliate. He injured her arm-slave's left leg slowing her down. She knew Clouzot was coming so all she had to do was survive. She would be getting courses on using the lambda driver when she returned, she would request them. This just wasn't fair, or right. She listened to the sounds of battle filling the area. She was sure cops, news reporters, and spectators would be out there soon if not already.

--

-Kaname's suite-

"Dammit what the hell is all that noise." The whole floor, in fact the whole hotel woke up to rumbling, and the sound of gunfire. Before they could go anywhere they were told to stay still while it was checked out. Kaname was forced to stay in her room with her friends. Everyone was present but Sousuke. She was angry but she was more worried. She recognized the sound of arm-slaves fighting outside. She didn't know whether it was Sousuke or Mithril. She didn't know if it was that organization he spoke about. She was angry because she really wanted to sleep. She had spent a crazy day at the town with Kyouko, and Mizuki. She had gone to malls and other places. She even purchased some things. She was trying to get a type of fresh start. Her anger at Sousuke had not subsided as it usually would have by now. After returning she had gossiped with her friends, and played around. They were told to quiet down once but that did not lessen their play. Now she wanted sleep, and she could not get it with this disruption going on outside. She walked out to the balcony despite being told to stay inside earlier. She was shocked when she saw how close the actual fighting was. Her friends came out to watch as well. Kyouko took pictures.

"You think Sagara is in one of those."

Kaname squinted her eyes to see better. Other then the occasional flashes of light she couldn't get enough to make out any of the arm-slaves.

"I don't think so. I don't see his AS." The six girls were in awe as they watched the scene in front of them.

--

-Forest nearby-

Scorn and Verial were pushing at each other as best they could with the lambda driver. They tried getting in blows in between but they would not pass through the light that was smashing together. After about 30 seconds they jumped away from each other. The Scorn made a sword appear in its hand.

"Touché!" he called as he pointed the sword.

Leonard smiled. He decided he would play the game. A sword of light much thinner appeared in his hand. It resembled a rapier.

"En Guarde!" He lunged forward with his blade. Scorn span on it's toe then slashed towards the Verial. It was blocked then instantly countered by Verial. Scorn ducked, then jumped when the blade came to his crouched form. He jumped with more force then necessary sending him into the air. He lengthened the blade as he came crashing down. Verial rolled to the side as the sword traveled as a wave through the ground. When Leonard's AS rose he could no longer see Gauron's. He looked around but still could not find his opponent. He stopped and focused a moment. That was all he needed to remember that the target was the hotel. He started to run back to the hotel the only thing on his mind was Kaname.

Melissa fired three shots at her opponent. He jumped to the side then fired another round of gattling fire. She dodged through some rocks. She knew if she could get him close he would be at a disadvantage. That gun was big and heavy. Sadly that gave him a lot of ammo, stopping power, and chance to keep her away. If she could lead him to an enclosed space this would be easy if not she would be doing more work than she thought necessary. She continued running towards the nearby mountains. Suddenly she remembered Kurz call about a defeated opponent. Maybe she could use him.

"Urzu 6 this is Urzu 2 do you copy?"

"I'm here sis what do you need?"

There was a pause from Melissa end.

"Should I say over?" Kurz chuckled when he finished. She would probably get him later.

"Listen shit-head there's a guy behind me. He has some serious fire power and knows how to use it well. Can you take care of it?"

"Sure but you should head over to help Urzu 8 fires are starting to break out around them from all the pretty explosions."

"Fine just deal with this…" Before Melissa could finish she heard the sound of a sniper, and the enemy losing his head.

"Oops he still ali…" This time Kurz was stopped as Melissa finished firing bullets into the headless machine.

"Useless sniper." Melissa ran off to help Spake.

"Damn." Kurz looked into the scope of his gun. He saw Scorn heading to the hotel. Verial was a good distance behind. He could shoot at it but he doubted he would hit it at the speed it was moving. He changed his aim to find Lilliane. He found her but could not get a clear view of the enemy from where he was. "This is a horrible sniping point." He sighed. He looked around the area again. He stopped when he found something he liked.

"Yeah baby." He had come across Kaname and her friends in their pajamas. He was disappointed with most of them being full covers but some of the others had gowns, and others were in underwear.

"Oh wait…Damn!" Kurz looked back to see Scorn was getting really close to the girls.

"Not good…" Kurz decided he could try the shot. He aimed and fired. He nicked the foot causing the machine to stumble. It wasn't much but Verial was catching up.

Spake was indeed surrounded by fire. His opponent was going bomb happy with that weapon of his. He had fired at him but he used the lambda driver to block it. Spake still wasn't so sure of the lambda driver but if he didn't use it he would be dead. He focused and fired a few shots at his enemy. He was out of ammo now. Being caught off guard the enemy was hit in both shoulders by the bullets. They hadn't done much damage. Spake saw his chance though. The enemy was having trouble carrying, and aiming his heavy weapon now due to the injured arms. Spake advanced on the enemy. He pulled out his knife and ran as fast as his AS could go. He cursed when another bomb came flying towards him. He was sent backwards by the explosion. He slowly opened his eyes to find he was okay.

"What the…?" He saw Urzu 2's ARX-9 standing in front of him lambda driver active. She fired two shots into the gun of the machine causing it, it's still loaded bombs and the AS holding it to explode. "Let's go take care of the big guy."

Lilliane was having trouble with her opponent. She had fired shots at him. She hit him but he was still going. He was better at using the lambda driver than her. He absolutely depended on it from what she could tell. She was also able to see he had limited fighting skills because of this. He expected to use super power to defeat his opponent. She turned and fired three more shots. This time they froze a moment then flew back at her. She brought her gun up to block it. A bullet entered her left arm, right leg, and disabled her weapon. She threw the gun, and pulled out her knife. She took a deep breath she could do this. She focused on the blade. She imagined it ripping through her opponent. She ran at her opponent. She had her blade ready to pierce him. She was caught when it used the lambda driver to alter her angle. Her machine stumbled and was left open to attack. The Venom 2 stuck out its arms. Light appeared on its hand. Before it could do anything it went flying.

"Urzu 9 are you alright?" Clouzot had saved her.

"Yes sir." She watched as Clouzot's AS leapt toward the opponent and finished it off. Clouzot was exceptional with the lambda driver. She followed as he ran in another direction.

"C'mon we have to stop the last one!" Clouzot called to everyone over the radio.

The girls were shocked. They knew they had no chance to escape now. The large AS was hanging on the building it's hand focused right on them. Light had already formed itself around his hand.

"Hello Kaname. I see you have some friends with you. Is Kashim here?" Gauron's laugh came from the AS as well. Kaname cringed when she heard his voice.

"Oh I remember you the pig-tailed one from Khanka. Remember eh? I took Miss Kaname there."

Kyoko was shocked when she realized what he was talking about. She turned towards Kaname for confirmation. Kaname was staring at the machine. She looked angry rather then scared.

"Don't worry we'll be okay. Let's go inside." Kaname tried to lead her friends inside but was stopped by a small force of light closing the balcony door.

"Ah uh uh… That's a no no. We're talking you shouldn't just walk away. I might get angry. Who knows what I'll do when I'm angry." Kaname turned her glare to the machine.

"Why don't you stop picking on girls? If Sousuke was here he'd kick your butt. AGAIN!" She was angry at Sousuke still but what she said she still believed to be true.

"So Kashim isn't here how sad. He won't be able to witness me kill you all." Gauron's laugh escaped his AS again.

"Kaname are you alright?"

"Leonard!" The voice had come from the approaching AS. Gauron turned his arm-slave's head to look back.

"Well if it isn't the Testarossa boy. Here to save Kaname-chan when Kashim isn't around again. I hear you stopped my first attempt."

Verial took a step closer.

"Don't move if you want her alive." Verial halted as Scorn twirled it's finger at the girls.

Kaname was surprised to hear Leonard. She had not expected to see him in an AS, or at all for awhile. She knew she would later if she visited the TDD-1 or if Tessa came by but that was different.

"Leonard, Kana you know him?"

Kaname made a worried chuckle. "Yeah I met him while I was gone let's say."

Kyouko looked confused. She took another picture despite her fear. Shinji would be incredibly jealous of her when he finds out.

"Let them go. You've lost Gauron. You really have no other choice." Leonard used an arrogant voice. Gauron chuckled again.

"You think I care. If I take out these people, and die it would be stupendous. But that's not in my plans especially not by you. Kashim has become very interesting. So I'm going to finish here and go. I hope I'll get to be the one tell him Kaname's dead again." Gauron laughed once more. The light around his hand grew larger.

"Bye bye girls."

Verial leapt forward. Light bursting through every inch of its body. The girls fell back as light erupted in front of them.

Every one tried to focus. The flash of light had spread throughout the area blinding everyone. Leonard looked around for Gauron but he was gone. He quickly stepped over to the balcony.

"Are you all right?" The AS looked down at the disorientated girls.

Kaname rose first holding her head. "Yes thank you."

She stumbled a bit and tried to gain her balance. She fell back onto the floor. She noticed none of her friends had moved.

" Kyouko! Ren! Mizuki! C'mon get up." Kaname tried to shake her friends but was too tired herself. Kaname ran towards the balcony rail and vomited over the side.

"You must have been affected by the blast. Urzu 1 this is…" Leonard was not used to this. "…this is…Urzu….10 we need to take the girls with us to the TDD-1 they were affected by the blast." Just then Urzu 1, and 9 walked up. "That's impossible. Chidori may come but we cannot bring that many civilians on board. We will have them sent to a hospital where Mithril doctors can watch them. No one will mind. We will have the teachers informed of Kaname's condition and that she is under special care."

Verial nodded. He slowly picked up a sick Kaname then started walking back to the forest. Transport helicopters should be there in 1 minute. He listened as cops approached, and people chattered. It was strange doing this like this. Fighting in an arm-slave under rules, and for a reason not entirely your own. Actually looking at the seemingly helpless people was strange. He looked down at the unconscious figure in his arm-slave's hand. There she was. He had come to love her. Now even if for a short while she would be his again. He smiled when at the thought. The helicopters were really close now.

--

-Oil platform-

Sousuke was having troubles with his current situation. He had let his mind get clouded making his ability to fight the level of a lesser warrior. He made mistakes, and was almost killed. He was disappointed in himself now. Disappointment. That feeling reminded him of Kaname's failure to act. Maybe he was just as bad as her. No worse he thought. That did not change his feeling towards what happened. He would decide what to do later now he was literally running for his life. He had dodged every attack sent at him but just barely. He had dropped his shotgun. His knife was useless because it is too dangerous to get close. They were also excellent in use of the lambda driver. He was at a complete disadvantage. The platform had gone from abandoned and old to full of new pieces of metal. He wondered if there wasn't anywhere he couldn't make a battlefield. He ducked and flipped back as an arrow shot where his head was. He had no idea how he would get out of this one. He turned and fired from a small sized machine gun he pulled from his thigh. The bullets were easily dodged. He back flipped again as the V-3 attempted to put her claymore through him. He landed right behind her and put bullets in her back. The machine turned to slash anyway. The black AS ducked. He would have shot again but a spear stabbed right into where he was before he just rolled away. He tried to slam them with a wave from the lambda driver but was blocked then countered by their own wave.

"Looks like he's getting weak!" The pilot of the V-3 said as she leapt towards him sword in hand. Sousuke tried for the knife again. He pulled it out and focused on the line of the blade. The claymore came crashing down on him. One swift slash he cut off the claymore blade. He quickly turned then kicked the V-3 hard enough to go through two buildings. The victory was short lived as the V-1 opened fire on him again. He picked up the blade of the claymore and took off.

"You alright?" The V-1 pilot called to the one of V-3.

"Yeah just a lucky shot I'll be alright." She slowly began to stand up. She stopped when the blade of the claymore flew through the pilot's cockpit.

The pilot of the V-1 froze. She was disgusted with his techniques to destroy her friends. Did he have no honor? No, probably not. She didn't say anything. She decided to use her anger on action rather than screaming at him. She located him quickly.

"Bastard…" She whispered before she flew right at him. Sousuke had maybe a second before she flew into him. He was surprised by the speed of her machine. She was able to crash into him from that distance in a mere 2 seconds. He grunted from the impact and flew back. He broke through 5 large poles before crashing against the sixth and landing.

"Sousuke damage from that attack has increased our deficiency. We have taken 80 percent damage. We will not be able to function if this continues."

"I understand Al. There is not much I can do. But I will try."

"Sir I do not wish to die again…" Al's voice was solemn.

"You won't." The black AS rose. Light began to form around it once more signaling lambda driver activation.

"We will use the lambda driver to help move." The lines of light in the cockpit ran over once.

"Roger."

The Valkery pointed it's spear. "Still standing I see. I'll admit you're stubborn."

She launched a spear of light from her spear. The black AS shot to the side then sped toward the V-1.

"What the…?" She brought her spear up. The spear broke as his fist slammed through it and into the machines chest. He went to punch again but was knocked back.

"You think one little boost of power will make you win. This isn't TV you know." She fired the remainder of her ammo at him. He stood and used his lambda driver to block the bullets.

"Ok let's go."

The black, and purple AS leapt around the platform trading blows. Weapons were created in an instant and dispersed just as quickly as they attacked each other. It really was a light show for anyone who would come to watch.

"Sir we cannot keep this up."

"Understood." Sousuke slammed the V-1 with both fist knocking her into the platform.

She quickly recovered and leapt at his descending form. He pointed his hand and knocked her incoming AS back onto the platform. Soon he landed on it as well. He angled his body to dodge as rays of light shot forth. He leapt to the side when one big wave shot at him. He ran into the cover of the facility again. This pilot was really good obviously the leader of the three. They were all good but she was exceptional. He had taken out number 3 while she was distracted. They had been injured though he ran for cover again. The first one was simpler after injuring her, a simple trick shot took her out. He'd taken too much damage to use the lambda driver to it's full extent as a weapon.

"Sir I failed to inform you before but long range radio functions have failed as well. 10 miles is the distance we can speak. We will not be able to call for pick-up."

"…"

Sousuke said nothing as he carefully traversed through the small enclosure. He stopped when he kicked a heavy object. He lifted and examined it. He felt better when he found it was his shotgun. He only had one shot left. He would need to make it count. He loaded the weapon onto his back then exited the enclosure. He saw the V-1 immediately. She saw him as well because a light arrow zipped right past his head. He started running again as 3 to 5 arrows at a time launched at him. He had to duck to dodge a few. He jumped over others. He ran around the platform wasting energy as she stood and fired. He knew her plan but could not figure out exactly how to get past her. He decided to use the lambda driver again. He zipped through the air as he rushed towards her. He wasn't moving fast enough for her not to be able to accurately fire at him. He had to duck behind a wall again but leapt away as an arrow tore it apart. Sousuke was unfortunate in that his enemy would not be reckless out of anger. They were fortunate he had been completely stupid when he entered this fight. He should not have fought without completely dedicating himself to the fight. He might as well be dead because right now he deserved to die. He would not let that happen. He was unaware of what would happen if it happened.

"Al forgive me for my failure."

"There is nothing to forgive. Just get us out of here and we'll call it even." Humor. Al was still trying that.

Sousuke watched his opponent search for him. He expected his synchronization to have gone up a bit with Al's joke. It meant Al trusted him still which meant they would be working fine. That did not make their chances great or ensure victory however. He jumped from his location towards the V-1. His fist glowed with light as he approached. She turned and stuck out both hands. The light flashed and spread as their energies engaged each other. Sousuke was forcing as much power as he could into his punch.

The pilot of the V-1 grunted as she held out her hands. She was using less energy then he was but she still had to use a lot. She was surprised by the amount of power he could still muster after all the damage he had taken. In one fist even. She was using both hands and he was still going. The black AS flew back only slightly perhaps a few yards before landing.

"Huh?" The V-1 watched as they light disappeared. She turned to slam Sousuke with another wave of light. He used the lambda driver as he drew his shotgun. In an instant the barrel of his gun slammed into the cockpit. The pilot of the V-1's eyes widened as she stared at the large barrel that had broken into her cockpit.

Sousuke pulled the trigger. She saw a flash of fire before everything was gone.

The shot exploded out the back of the Valkery. Blood burst out as well as sparks, and fluids. Sousuke pulled his gun out and the V-1 fell.

"Mission failed Al this trip was pointless."

"I'm sorry sir."

"Don't apologize it is not your fault."

"Ok. But we are stuck here now."

"That's only a slight problem. We'll figure out a way out of this location. I may be able to find an old radio or parts to use to repair you as much as possible. For now we should rest." The black AS crouched and the chest opened. Sousuke stepped out and looked at the destroyed field. It was dark really dark. Except for the moon which was only half visible there was no light out here except from the AS. Which couldn't produce much now anyway. He doubted he would even be able to get the damn machine to move again.

Sousuke stepped out and let the cool breathe run across him. He ran his hand through his hair as he looked at the fallen opponents and the condition of his arm-slave. He really was good at destroying things. He attracted more trouble than Kaname. He could smell hydraulic fluid, blood, rusted metal, and oil as well as the faint scent of the ocean. It smelled like a battlefield. He sat on top of his AS as the breathe became heavier.

"Are you alright Sousuke?"

"Affirmative just tired. What is your condition?"

"I have taken 90 percent damage, we moved due to lambda drive…"

"Not the arm-slaves condition Al, yours."

"Oh. I am fine. I was a little scared though."

"It's not a problem. That is natural in that situation."

"Are you sure?"

"Affirmative."

--

-Tuatha de Danaan-

"Sir…I have bad news." The voice came from the other end of the portable communications system.

"What is it?" Mac looked over some papers with a glass in his hand as he listened to the person on the other end.

"Well the three pilots sent to the oil rig. We have lost contact with them. It appears they engaged in battle and lost."

Mac spit out his drink and dropped the papers. "What? How many enemies were there?"

"We cannot confirm it but we believe it was just one. We received an image form the V-1 earlier. It appears to be the enemy it has been sent to you."

"Hold on."

Mac opened his laptop and checked through his mail. He opened one to find the picture of a black arm-slave standing on the tanker surrounded by the other two Valkeries. The AS looked very strange to him.

"This beat them. They were the best of their unit."

"Yes sir."

"We will need to find that AS, and pilot, and find out if he is working for the enemy."

"Yes sir."

"Good we'll speak later." Mac hung up the line.

He threw a chair, and slammed his bed and slammed his cup against the wall. He kicked his table, and went about destroying his room.

"That bastard! How could he beat them? How could they…" tears began to from in his eyes as he fell and sat resting against his bed. "Why…?"

"Captain we are heading for the oil platform. It is outside of Europe's boundaries meaning we should have no problems. Reports, and satellites indicate a battle recently took place there." Mardukas explained to Tessa.

"Okay that's good. Do we have reports on the missions yet?"

Just then Commander Gurevich walked in. "Yes here they are."

He handed Tessa the reports from the battle in Okinawa.

"Let's see. No one took any serious damage. Urzu 9 is performing better. The area took a lot of damage. The main enemy escaped. His goal seemed to be against Mr. Sagara. The report says Leonard identified the enemy as…" Tessa gasped as she read the name on the paper. She was told he was dead for sure. She grimaced thinking what could be happening if he was back. The report indicated all he wanted to do was kill everyone.

"Are you sure? Did Leonard see him?"

"No ma'am. He held a conversation with him."

Tessa flinched. So it was true he was back.

"Urzu 10 performed well… 6 girls including Kaname were injured… They are under our care else where… Kaname is aboard the submarine… the teachers have been informed…" Tessa spoke slowly reading each major part. But she could not finish her quick run of the report. The shock of hearing Gauron was alive had taken her.

"Are you alright Captain?" Mardukas was worried.

"I…don't…know…" Tessa quickly composed herself.

"We will continue heading towards the destination…We'll take care of this later…" Tessa slid down her chair then stood up.

"I'm going to rest. If you need anything call Mr. McNeil, if it's an emergency you know where to find me." Tessa clumsily exited the room.

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