Disclaimer: See chapter one

Chap. 9

Elijah and Baron rushed into the hanger deck where the others of their clan had gathered together. Everyone, except for Cain.

"You called?" Elijah breathed heavily, tired from running.

"I'm sure you guys are aware of the mission sent out by Mirage." Charles started. "A joint mission specifically asking for a group of Ravens or if possible, a clan."

"Yeah. I heard." Ellie responded. "They're paying 100,000 credits to each Raven that participates."

"Yeah. I tried to accept it, but it was too late." Koemai grumbled.  "Some idiot signed up a clan in full and filled it up."

Charles chuckled a bit, "Yes. That would be me."

"What?! Are you serious?!" Baron shouted.

"Yes. Clan Nightwatch will be the guys for the job."

As the group began to mutter to each other, the final clan member strode into the hanger and approached them.

"Cain. What took you so long?" Diana asked.

"I was...occupied." he answered unsteadily. Quickly, he retorted, "What's the emergency?"

Charles repeated his announcement, "We have a mission. All of us. Mirage is sending us to a facility some distance away from Silent Line owned by Crest."

Diana grumbled, "Figures. Some things never change."

Charles continued, "It was found out that they may have found some valuable information about the city on the other side of Silent Line. However, it hasn't been deciphered yet so that where we are needed." Moving to a nearby monitor, he inserted the information Crest had given him showing schematics of a massive facility.

"I can't stress how heavily guarded this place is. They have security beyond security there. Heavily armed MTs, destroyer level linear cannons, laser systems, the works."

"Destroyer level..? What the hell?" Elijah gasped. Linear cannons were the most powerful single-fire energy weapon around. They were normally used either by Ravens or high level facilities.

Ellie whistled in response to the info. "Whatever they got, it must be major to defend it like that."

"Whatever it is, Crest wants it. And we're going to get it."

"I'm guessing there's a plan involved." Ellie responded.

Charles pressed another button and the schematics of the facility zoomed in.

"We're going to split into two groups. One will distract the bulk of the security while the second group enters in, find the data, and get the hell out of there. Koemai, Baron, Diana and Ellie will be group one."

"We're the decoys?" Diana asked.

Charles nodded, "Yeah. Based on your ACs, you four are the best for the job."

Koemai simply shrugged, "Cool."

Continuing on, "While you four draw away the bulk of their forces, Cain and Elijah will enter in and retrieve the data."

"Wait." Cain said suddenly. "Wouldn't it be better for a single Raven to go inside?"

The dark man shook his head, "No. Although a small group is best, a single Raven would get annihilated." He adjusted his glasses, "Three is the bare minimum and maximum."

"Why us?"

"We don't know what's we're facing in there, so I figure we need to be evened out. Your expertise in close range battle coupled with Elijah's long range abilities may be beneficial for this. And I can add power to the deck."

Cain nodded slightly, "Sounds reasonable."

"But even so, it won't be easy. We don't know the full extent of their security systems. And it is always possible that Crest will send a Raven or two of their own, but that seems unlikely. Crest is very confident in its abilities. That may work to our advantage."

"Perhaps."

Charles narrowed his eyes at his response. Cain was harder for him to decipher due to the fact that he doesn't speak too much or reveal his feelings in his words.

"Of course if any of you wish to decline, say so now." He focused on Cain again, "But our chances of success depend on all of us."

Elijah however interrupted his glance. "Hey, who could say no to 100,000 credits?" he grinned. "Of course we're all in, right guys?"

"Hey, we're just part of the diversion." Baron shrugged. "That's the easy part. It's you three that have to worry."

"Oh, right." Elijah muttered. "Well I'm in either way."

"What about you, Cain?" Koemai and Charles asked at the same time.

Cain blinked at their dual question, but answered, "It's going to be tough."

"Aw, come on. I thought you loved a challenge." Koemai teased.

Cain frowned slightly, "I didn't say that. Yeah I'm in. I'm just saying that it's going to be tough. But our odds of success depend on all of us working together."

Charles gave a small grin at the response, but Koemai blinked suddenly, causing Cain to frown further. 'He's got an idea. Oh no.'

Right on cue, "Hey Cain. Why not use the Seraphim?"

Cain answered sharply, "No."

This gained the attention of the others, particularly Elijah.

"Seraphim? What's that?"

"It's a system of extra parts that is equipped for our two ACs." Koemai answered quickly. "The core becomes an insanely powerful weapon. You wouldn't believe it." he finished off with a grin.

Elijah frowned and looked at his teacher, "How come I've never heard of it?"

"Because there was no reason to tell you." Glaring at Koemai, "The system still needs to be perfected. And our cores have changed since that time so even if I could work out the problems, I'd still need to re-adjust it."

Koemai saw the hard glare and waved his hand jovially, "Fine, fine. I'll let it go."

"The mission starts in an hour." Charles stated finally. "Be prepared."

******************

Crest facility, an hour and ten minutes later

The fortified facility stood silently within the desert landscape. There was no signs of movement or activity of any kind. Even the occasional guard MT was immobile and the cannons were silent. A relatively quiet day...that was about to end.

KABOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!

The facility suddenly came to life as four machines skimmed over the wasteland. Bloodhand (Koemai), White Wolf (Baron), Phantom (Ellie), and Cloak (Diana) all flew in toward the facility, seeming to fire at random but actually hitting the outer defenses to move in close.

"Alright guys." Baron called from White Wolf. "It's party time."

With that, White Wolf raised both his bazookas and let the massive rounds loose, blowing up a few cannon turrets. The others joined in as they released various rounds of fire and causing a good amount of damage. And just then, the defense system of the plant came to the full, with several dozen MTs coming to live and firing with the remaining cannon turrets opened fire. Now the battle had truly begun and the clan shattered slightly to deal with the fire.

"Alright. Phase one is done." Ellie called, avoiding a round of gunfire. "Proceed with Phase two."

"Acknowledged."

Inside...

A gun turret on the ceiling blew apart as the three Ravens swooped through the corridor, heading for their target. The attack from the first group drew the majority of the outside forces away, allowing them to enter in more easily.

"Alright. We have to go through this area and down the corridor here.  That's where the data is stored."

Elijah checked his radar, "A slight problem. That room is locked off."

Cain checked his as well, "He's right. It's locked off at three points. We'll have to split up and disable them before we can reach our objective."

"Fine then." Charles commented. "We'll split up and meet back here when we're done. But we have to move fast. Who knows how long the others could hold him off."

With that, the three Ravens split off. But in the skies overhead, a carrier dropped a dark object onto the top of the plant. The figure entered a hatch and dove in, moving in on its target.

Or rather, targets...