Disclaimer: See previous chapters
Chap. 23
"Now I remember why I stopped playing this game." Koemai grumbled
Koemai, Baron, Diana and Elijah were in a local bar playing pool. Unfortunately, the guys were all getting creamed by the skilled pool shark of a woman.
"Something must be wrong with my stick." Baron replied lamely.
Elijah sighed along with him, "Either that or she rigged the game somehow."
Diana waved the stick around as she circled the table, smiling"Now, now, boys. Let's not be sore sports here." She stopped and aimed the stick, "8-ball, center pocket."
She hit the white ball and it ricocheted off the edge and hit the 8-ball. The black ball rolled steadily into the center hole, sinking it. The others groaned aloud at her undefeated streak.
"Aw! She's unstoppable." Elijah groaned. Putting the stick down, "That's it. I'm going to get a drink."
Baron did the same"Me two. You guys want anything?"
"Yeah, get me a double." Koemai answered. "I get the feeling it's going to be a long night."
Elijah nodded, "Alright. Oh, and can you hold this for me for a moment"
Elijah passed Koemai a paper envelope to which Koemai slipped in his pants pocket. The two youths then walked away, but not toward the stall.
They went right out the door...
After her talk with Charles, Ellie returned inside the hanger and sat near her AC, Phantom. Once there, she looked up at the skylight roof, with Phantom alongside her vision. Frowning slightly, she stood up, hopped over to the machine's arm and climbed up on its shoulder. She lay on it and looked up in the skylight once again. It was a partially cloudy night, with the moon up in its half stage. She had thought over what she and Charles spoke about before.
About how she had came close to getting through Silent Line...
Flashback...
The thick clouds presented an ominous feel to the landscape, but the pilot was unafraid. Phantom silently entered the area with Ellie at the controls. Her mission was simple; she was to scout the abandoned mining facility and determine if it was still operable for use. Mirage had built the place, but it was right on the border of the mysterious Silent Line. 'What were they thinking?' she pondered. Considering the reputation of Silent Line, she thought it was utterly foolish for anyone to build something nearby. It was an accident just waiting to happen.
'Let's get this over with.'
Boosters aflare, Phantom glided over to the facility. According to her intel, the place was under minimal power, meaning that the gates and lights should still be functional. Moving in close, she entered the keyword and the gate opened up. Phantom then stalked inside, moving silently through the corridors and hallway that lowered deeper inside. Entering through another gate, she found a wide chamber hallway. Various mining equipment and scattered mineral were found in the empty space, but Ellie gave little regard for them as she moved on. Her survey was almost done and there was nothing out of the ordinary.
-"Survey complete. Return Raven."-
Sighing, Ellie turned her machine around and headed back up to the entrance. This seemed like a waste of time, but the woman Raven had been on enough missions to be wary when things were too easy. Phantom made its way to the surface and out the exit and for a moment, Ellie thought that maybe the mission was that easy.
It sucks to be wrong sometimes...
-"Raven. Heat source detected. Unidentified MT confirmed."-
Ellie frowned as she gripped the controls tight in preparation. She had dealt with MTs before. Some where heavily armored with high firepower while others were lighter and used laser based weaponry. She knew how to deal with them both. All she had to do now was see what she was dealing with.
KABOOOOMMM!
Ellie was barely able to pull her AC away from the incoming grenade blast that came out of nowhere. Turning to the left, she saw her assailant. It was a heavily armored white MT. Its design was unlike anything she had seen before. The machine made a short hop in the air and released another grenade blast. Phantom veered away and fired back, pelting the machine with the laser rifle. Most of the beam hit their mark, but it did very little to even slow te machine down and it fired another grenade burst. Ellie blinked with surprise, but shook it off as she jetted back and fired again, this time combining her rifle with her left-arm howitzer gun. The pellet weapon shot out and burst upon impact on the MT, but it kept coming. The MT settled on the ground and soon raised its arm. A long barrel protrusion unhinged and soon bolts of energy flashed out. If not for her quick reflexes and AC's speed, Ellie would have been blasted into dust as her AC hopped away from the fire. But she knew she couldn't keep this up for long. Giving the MT's strength, her machine wouldn't last long if it took a direct hit or two. Looking about, she sees a forest of trees nearby and flies into it. The MT unhinged its cannon arm and followed her in pursuit, firing continuously. As her machine flew through the trees, the white MT followed, firing whenever it could. Ellie continued to evade the fire while keeping herself close as to not lose it. Finally when she was ready, she activated her OB. The extra boosters opened and her machine swooped through the trees in rapid pace. Pulling hard on the controls, she pulled her machine around, swooping through the tree and eventually rushing toward the MT. Quickly, she shut down her OB and at the same time, locked her missiles onto it.
'Let's see you survive this.'
The missile flew out toward the target and mid-way, it split into four missile, all swooping in on the MT and hitting it. Not leaving it up to chance, Ellie rearmed her rifle and together with her howitzer, fired continuously at the machine. The combination of weapon fire would be enough to bring down the strongest of machines, but this one wasn't as easily bested and launched another grenade round. This time, she was unable to avoid it and her AC was hit hard, causing it to fall and the Raven inside to cry in pain. But her assault had worked and right after it fired, the MT exploded in flames. Inside, Ellie groaned and painfully motioned her AC upright. The right arm had been blasted away completely and the core was horribly singed, but still in tact. Which is more than could be said of the pilot. Ellie was bleeding from her side and shrapnel was still pierced within her. She had to get out of there. It wouldn't be long before she passed out from blood loss. As she looked to see where she was, sunlight broke out of the cloud, partially blinding her. But she saw it. Through the glare of the sun, she saw the ancient city that she had only heard rumors about. Which meant only one thing...
She was smack in the middle of Silent Line...
She briefly considered continuing on, chancing it. All she ha to do was OB straight there. She would have to put it on exceed orbit, but it could be done. But she couldn't. Her wounds were far too serious; she would be lucky if she could make it back at all.
Shhhhhhzzzzzzzzz!
Suddenly, an energy beam shot down from the sky, almost hitting her and demolishing the ground beside her. Looking up, she saw several more beams flying right at her like lightning. Without a moment's hesitation, she shot away from the city just as the second and third beams crashed down where her AC once was. As she flew to escape, she saw her AC's loss in fuel and it would only be a few second before she was dead in the water. Moving quickly, she adjusted her AC's booster controls. Once done, she activated her OB once again. A warning light flared up, but she didn't care. The energy blasts were becoming more accurate and closing in on her rapidly. The four-legged machine shot through the trees once again, out running all the energy blasts that rained down from the sky. But the Raven was no longer in control of the machine.
Ellie had passed out cold...
Present...
The last thing she had remembered was activating her OB and directing the machine. Her wound, along with all her exertion, had become more than she could bear and she passed out. Fortunately, Phantom had carried her clear across the border and her transport had picked her up a moment late. They had found her machine still flying across the landscape until the exceed orbiter on her fuel had shut down, bringing the machine to a complete stop. She was soon treated for her injuries, but the image of the city was burned into her memory. She was close. So close that she might have made it if not for her injury. Ellie raised her arm to see the scar that still remained. It was well hidden under her arm and it coursed its way straight inside. To her, it was a constant reminder of how close she had come.
And how truly dangerous it was...
Diana finished off another round of pool, much to Koemai's dismay. With a growl, he tightened his grip on the pool stick and briefly thought of snapping it in two. It was then that he noticed something amiss.
"What's taking them so long?"
"Come on." Diana retorted lightly. "It's been...a half hour? Whoa, that was awhile. Guess time does fly when you're having fun."
"Fun for you, you mean." Koemai grumbled. "I'm going to go check."
Koemai moved away from the table while Diana remained where she was. A minute later, he returned, a confused expression lined on his face.
"They're gone."
Diana soon shared the looked with him. "What? Are you sure"
"Yeah. Barkeep said that they left right after they came over."
"They just left? That doesn't make sense."
"Tell me about it. He even left his..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope. Strangely enough, he noticed that his name and Diana''s was on it. "What is this"
Opening the envelope, he found a small note inside. Diana moved next to him to read as he opened it. It read...
Koemai/Diana
You two need some time alone. Cain's idea. He says, 'I told you I'd get you back and have fun.' Credits under the table. See you guys later.
Elijah
P.S. Baron also left a little gift of his own.
"He got us back." Koemai laughed, shaking his head all the while. "I've got to hand it to him; he knows how to hold a grudge." He stuffed the paper note in his pocket and turned to her. "Well, what should do then"
Diana blinked and then turned her head to the table. Koemai was a little worried by her abrupt silence and then she finally whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
"I guess we stay out. We...can talk."
She turned around to face him and Koemai seemed to take in her words. Without a word, he nodded to her and the two of them moved to the door. But before they did, Koemai reached under the pool table and grabbed hold of the aforementioned credits...as well as Baron's 'gift'. Diana saw it as well and her face flushed.
"A condom. How...hm."
Hanger
The following day, Charles had called in the clan for an important announcement. All of them gathered except for Cain, but it wasn't unusual for him to be around somewhere in the shadows listening.
"Alright guys." Charles began. "Our moment is here at last. Crest has issued an advance contract for multiple Ravens. They want a group of Ravens to bypass Silent Line and scout it out."
Despite the indications of the news, the group was skeptical. This was still Silent Line they were talking about and it was unlikely that the corporations, even one as big as Crest, could have found an simple way to enter.
"And just how do they expect anyone to enter?" Diana questioned.
"The details state that they plan to send in a group of aircraft, each equipped with an AC and Raven to fly into it. As soon as that happens, they will be shot down." He held up his hand before they could protest"The aircraft will crash into Silent Line where the ACs will be released to continue onward."
Ellie folded her arms, "Well, that's certainly inventive. But it also sounds foolhardy. There's no guarantee that A: the destruction of the aircraft will survive getting shot down and B: the fall of the crash won't damage or destroy the AC's themselves."
The clan leader nodded, "I know. They plan on flying the aircraft on low levels. The hangers of the craft will also be equipped with shielding in order to protect the ACs inside. Also, we aren't going directly across Silent Line. We're going to head toward a bunker that was discovered within it. They believe that within it is the control source for the satellite defense mechanism. Once that's down, we're free to go on."
"If only it could be that easy." Koemai mumbled.
"There's no guarantee in this which is why they're sending in more than one Raven. Here's the good news. They're looking for a group that can work well together. Since all communications is cut off, the group needs to know what the other is doing without having to talk."
"They're looking for a clan." Ellie affirmed.
Charles smiled at her quickness. "Exactly. That puts us in a good position as well as increases the odds of survival."
Elijah lent back on the wall and placed his hands behind his head. "I hate to sound like Cain but, what's the bad news."
Charles sighed, "The bad news is that we have competition. We're not the only ones that want to venture into Silent Line. The others clans will want the contract as well and will fight to get it. Since it doesn't take effect for another month, which means in a month's time, we could be under assault by any one of the three remaining clans."
This was worse news than they could have thought. They were competing to enter in one of the most dangerous missions yet. And their competition was just as dangerous. The remaining clans besides themselves were Death Dealers, Blood Omen, and Majestic Force. They were already acquainted with the Death Dealers and their deadly ways. Blood Omen was even worse than the Death Dealer in that fashion and they were like some sort of dark cult of zealots. Finally, there was Majestic Force, made up of the six top-ranked Ravens in the arena and led by Mobius, the Nine-Breaker himself. This seemed like more than they should or could deal with. Yet, to every Raven, Silent Line was like the Holy Grail. It was bigger than they were, bigger than anything.
"Unless we attack them first." Baron suggested.
"No." Charles replied, shaking his head. "There's no sense in wasting our resources. We'll let them make the first move and counter it." He placed his hands on the table"Remember, we're Nightwatch and we have to see what they're doing before they do it." His eyes roved about and soon it became clear that Cain hadn't spoken yet. Looking around, they saw that the dark Raven wasn't there after all; otherwise, he would have made his appearance by now.
"Where is Cain? He should be here for this."
"Yeah, that's true. It's not like him to be late." Koemai noted. "Usually he just pops in out of nowhere."
"Is he in his dormitory?" Ellie asked.
"I checked already." Elijah answered. "He wasn't there. I haven't seen him since yesterday." He then added in afterthought"I think I know where he is."
Five minutes later, Koemai and Elijah are walking over to the hospital where Aria was being kept. As the two walked toward the building, the younger Raven casually asked.
"So...What happened last night?"
Koemai didn't even turn to him. "Sorry kid, but that is my little secret."
"Come on." Elijah goaded. "You can tell me."
Koemai continued to look forward and then he grinned. "Maybe...when you grow up."
This elicited a groan from the young Raven, "Oh don't you start that with me too."
Koemai laughed aloud as they entered the hospital. They walked through the white halls, indicating to the receptionist that they were visiting someone. Soon they reach Aria room, but were shocked by what they discovered.
"She's gone!"