Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 24

Hospital

"They're gone."

Koemai and Elijah were just leaving the room where Aria was formerly in. Elijah grumbled in disbelief. "I don't get it. What do you think happened?"

"Well, chances are Cain moved her somewhere else." Koemai reasoned. After checking the hospital reports, he found out that the records of her presence there was gone, indicating that someone had wanted her out in secret.

"Without saying anything to us?"

The elder Raven lifted an eyebrow. "This is Cain we're talking about here, remember?"

Elijah moaned. It was true. Cain never usually speaks of his intentions and if he feels that he should act, he does so without say unless necessary.

"Yeah. But still…"

Koemai waved a hand. "I wouldn't worry. After all, Glaive is still in the hanger so he'll have to be back eventually."

"I guess so."

"I know so." Koemai reassured. He'll come back when he comes back. We'll just have to make due without him for a bit." He then gave a slight frown. "I'll tell you one thing. He picked a hell of a time to disappear."

"Isn't that the truth." the young Raven agreed.

Meanwhile in the hanger, Ellie decided to get to work on adjusting her AC. After the news Charles gave, she had wanted to make sure her Phantom was primed and ready for Silent Line. But as she finished adjusting the gyro systems, she paused for a moment and shook her head.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

"I wouldn't say that." the person responded from behind. It was Charles. "We need all the good luck we can get."

Ellie smiled at the complement, but kept it hidden away from him. Realizing what he had said, she lightly questioned him. "Having second thoughts, are we?"

He shrugged. "More or less. You?"

"I would be a fool not to." she chuckled. Her tone then became serious. "But I'm going to do it regardless."

Chalres nodded and took a step toward her. "Same here." A moment of silence drifted and then he spoke again. "Hey, you want to go get a drink?"

She stopped in her work for a moment, considering his offer. She then replied. "No."

Charles nodded in understanding and began to walk away, but then she added softly.

"But thanks for the invite."

A light smile graced his lips and he turned his head. "Another time, perhaps?"

"Perhaps."

Mid-afternoon

Koemai emerged from his room in the dormitories. After his return from the hospital, he had went in to check to see if there were any missions he could participate in. Seeing that there weren't any, he figured that he would get in on a little training with Elijah. Ever since his match against Cain, Elijah had been pushing himself to be better. It had gotten to the point where Cain didn't have to give him exercises and merely checked up on his students' progress. As he walked to the training area, he heard a familiar voice call him from behind.

"Hey Koemai."

"Diana." Koemai partly froze before turning around to her. "What's up?"

His gaze locked with hers and he almost it hadn't, because he froze again. She seemed to be equally stilled, but spoke on. "About last night...It was…nice."

"Really?"

"Don't act surprised." she smiled. "I know you enjoyed it too. Which is why I wanted to ask to go out with you tonight."

Koemai raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"No. I'm asking you out to dinner." She stared at him hard. "Do you see it as a date?"

"Well…Yeah." he responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

Her smile returned. "Then pick me up at 7:30 tonight." She turned and quickly walked away from him. "And don't forget to bring some flowers."

Diana disappeared outside, leaving the Raven stunned. "Huh…? What…just happened?"

Elijah settled in front of the test unit for his AC, Havoc. Dismissing the thoughts of his missing teacher, he decided to do some training on his own. Unfolding the terminal, he accessed the test units in the advanced level he would be able to fight against. Many were some basic ACs, which he has beaten already. Normally, Cain would put him up against a new creation each time to keep his options open. But it seemed that Elijah would have to find something else. Scanning through them, he stopped on a single AC.

'Extreme...But if I can handle it...'

Decision in mind, he pressed the Enter key and stepped inside the cockpit. The screen lit up and soon Elijah was in open terrain. He checked over his weapons to make sure the changes he made were acceptable. He was now armed with only one machine gun on the right arm, with the left sporting a long-range laser blade. On his back, he had a single extra ammo case and missiles and the shoulders had support missiles. The weapon were different, but he well knew how to use them. From across the virtual plain, a new figure materialized.

AC Obelisk activated. Test mode engaged-

Elijah gripped the controls and dashed off just as the blue AC made its attack barrage. Grenades wiped across the area as Havoc flew off and fired back. Due to heavy weight of the AC, Obelisk was unable to avoid the machine fire. But its heavy armor took the brunt of the fire without slowing and continued its onslaught. Havoc stopped firing and hid behind a building. 'This guy...' The building suddenly crumbled behind him and Elijah geared the machine forward as another burst of grenade fire. Havoc managed to turn and fire again, but as before, the bullets had little effect on it. 'What stops this guy? He's un...' Elijah suddenly shook his head. 'What is the matter with me? I shouldn't worry about this guy. I created him!'

Stopping in his retreat briefly, Havoc switched over to his missile and then activated his missile extensions. Havoc then shot up into the air and right in the sight of the behemoth machine, locking on multiple times until the sights were fully locked. Obelisk locked on as well and fired at his airborne opponent.

'Have to keep it locked...'

Havoc let the missiles swarm the air, flying around the grenades that were flying at Havoc. Jerking the controls hard, Elijah pulled his machine out of the line of fire. One of the grenades exploded in the air above him, but Havoc wasn't too badly damaged. Meanwhile the missiles hit Obelisk dead on, kicking up dust and smoke as the all smashed into it. But the missiles had just as much effect as the bullets. But it was the smoke that Elijah needed.

'It's now or never.'

Hoping that his machine was fast enough, Elijah boosted straight at Obelisk while it was distracted by the smoke. He knew that the FCS would allow Obelisk to see through the smoke, but his missiles were different. They were designed to jam radar depending on the AC. Because Obelisk was radar strong, Elijah would only have a few minutes, maybe even seconds.

'Have...to...make it.'

The strain on the Raven was great, but he continued to close in, igniting a blade of red light on his arm. Meanwhile, Obelisk's sensors kicked back up and locked on to the incoming Raven. The back grenades lifted and fired the dual fireballs. Havoc dodge the first one easily, but the second one was much closer. On instinct, Elijah pulled off to the side, causing the grenade to just miss him, although it took off the left extension piece. But Havoc continued its approach just as Obelisk lifted its arms.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The blade cut through the air, its long range allowing it to cut into the underside of Obelisk and continue by as Obelisk fired and missed. The blade didn't do too much damage, but it showed just enough to realize that is was significant. Havoc wheeled around and was faced with the back of the blue machine.

"Let's see you survive this!"

Unlocking his EOs, Havoc unleashed both laser and solid fire, literal scorching the back of Obelisk. Because of its size and weight, Obelisk was unable to turn around fast enough. Havoc kept firing on the back for awhile before Obelisk was able to turn around and fight back. The heavy machine was still in the fight, but the damage was now more apparent on it now. Elijah fought the urge to grin as he flew back into the fray.

"Let's go!"

Night

She smiled at him…

She smiled when he arrived at her dorm to pick her up. She smiled when he was rendered speechless after seeing her in her silky black dress. She had smiled at his stuttering, pleased that after all this time, she could still have that affect on him. When he had calmed down, he gave Diana the flowers, to which she gratefully accepted. And even though dinner was her idea, he chose the place in the city. It was an Oriental restaurant, quite expensive looking. Diana was flattered by this and Koemai was happy that she was (even though it was costing him quite a bit to do it). The two of them sat at their table and ordered the food. As they waited, Koemai found himself deep in thought about her. Or at least one particular question. How did I ever break up with her in the first place? Even though he tried not to think about it too much, he still cursed himself for his own stupidity.

'I guess last night cleared up a few things. A lot of things.'

"What are you thinking about?"

The voice of his date snapped him out of his thoughts and he smiled. "Oh, nothing. Just staring at you."

Diana smiled back. "As sweet as that is, you were still thinking about something. What is it?"

Koemai looked down at the table and then whispered. "…Last night."

"Oh." Her smile broadened. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

His eyes lifted. "Yeah."

They held their gazes on each other, simply smiling at each other as they enjoyed each other's company. It was beginning to feel like heaven for them as they both soon realized they were falling in love with each other all over again.

Then heaven, along with the entire restaurant shook violently...

"What the hell!"

Another shake rattled the place and people jumped up and screamed from the shaking. Light flashed outside and more rumbling occurred throughout the building. The two Ravens rose up from their seats and moved to the exit. As they did, they saw people on the streets fleeing for their lives and debris falling from the sky. Looking outside, they saw the cause of the disturbance. A missile had flown in a destroyed a nearby building. But what was shocking was that the missile had come...from and AC.

"No way!"

A black AC flew off into the air, dodging fire from another AC that was already airborne. The aerial AC raised a Karasawa laser rifle and shot bolts of energy down at its opponent. The black AC dodged it and the energy smashed into buildings, causing them to explode internally.

"ACs? Fighting here?"