Disclaimer: See previous chapters
AN: These chapters are coming up too slowly. I'm going to have to kick it into overdrive
Chap. 27
In a helicopter carrier holding his AC, Elijah waited while it flew in to the target area. Waited, but not patiently. Already, his fingers were drumming on the control joystick as he sat in Havoc. 'Hurry up…' The helicopter finally reach the target area; a military facility. His mission was to enter inside the facility and destroy the generator. But an energy shield protected the generator, so he had to destroy the shield generators inside first. Now the problem with that is that each one would most likely be heavily guarded. 'Oh well. No one said this would be easy.'
Main system. Engaging combat mode.
Havoc disconnected from the transport helicopter and plummeted to the ground. Elijah activated the boosters in order to cushion his landing. He landed before the entrance, but Havoc moved away to the side. The facility was in lock down so he had to find another way in. Luckily, he had seen one on the way down. It was a metal grating that leads into one of the circulation systems and hopefully into the facility itself. He saw the grating leveled on the ground and fired a single shot, blowing the grating open. Havoc dove in and stepped into what appeared to be the ventilation system. He followed it to another opening and with another shot he was through. Finding himself in an empty storage area, Elijah checked his area map radar to determine where he was. As luck would have it, he had arrived a good meter from the first shield generator.
'Not bad at all. Must be my lucky day.'
Unknown to the Raven inside, another transport helicopter was approaching the facility as well, holding with it an AC of its own.
Hospital
Diana sat still next to unconscious, but resting Koemai. It was late night, but she hadn't moved since the others left hours ago. She had drifted asleep through the night, but she was never able to rest long and wound up continuing her nightly vigil over Koemai. Her thoughts kept her active with memories of the things the two of them had went through together prevalent in her mind, starting with when they first met.
It was in a local bar…
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"Can I buy you a drink?"
"Not too many pick up lines, huh?"
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
"Well then, how about this? Go away."
Click…"A gun? Isn't that move a little sudden?"
Click…"? Heh... So, now what?"
"Now, I buy us a drink."
"You know what, I think I'll take you up on that, Raven."
"What gave it away?"
"Your eyes…they're deadly."
"I'll take that as a compliment, Raven."
"Diana."
"Koemai."
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And it has been a whirlwind ever since. She smiled lightly as the thoughts of their dates and encounters flashed through her mind. As time grew on, she felt the attraction and desire to be with him grow strong within her. And she knew that he felt the same way. The wedding between Cain and Aria made it clearer than anything. She loved him and wanted to be with him always.
Perhaps he didn't feel the same…
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"I think we should move in together."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Koemai. We've been together for about four and a half years. Don't you think it's time?"
"Isn't that moving a bit too fast?"
"Too fast? Are you serious?"
"I'm just saying that we shouldn't rush into this."
"Rush? You know what, forget I asked."
"Hey, don't take it the wrong way."
"Then tell me, what way should I take it?"
"What are you getting so angry about?"
"You don't want to live with me because you think its rushing? That sounds like a bad excuse."
"A bad ex…? Who are you to tell me what's a bad excuse!"
"I thought you loved me!"
"What? Are you serious! How can you be stupid enough to ask that!"
Needless to say, the conversation deteriorated from there. Meaningless words were said, feelings were hurt and in the end, Koemai stormed out. The argument was the start of the deterioration of their relationship. At the time, she believed that he didn't want to live with her because he didn't really love her. But that wasn't the case at all. Koemai just wasn't ready and truthfully, neither was she. She had forgotten the single factor that they were Ravens and thus open to many dangers of which they may not survive. Then when Aria was thought to have been dead and Cain dropped into utter despair, the friction grew between them, eventually causing them to separate in anger.
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'God, I was so stupid.' She brushed a finger over his brow and then rested her head beside him. She felt nervous right now. No…Not nervous... Afraid… The same fear that prompted her to want to move in with Koemai to begin with. The fear that she would lose him. She wanted to keep him close so that she would never see him disappear. But she wasn't strong enough. The fact that he was lying there was proof of that. She didn't understand how Cain and Aria made it work. Surely that fear must have been present in them as well. She didn't like comparing herself to them, but it always sprang to mind. 'Maybe that's the problem.' It was just that those two seemed happy together, despite being Ravens. Maybe those times together were all that mattered. She nuzzled her head across his chest, her eyes now closed.
'Just this time…'"Excuse us miss, but we have to get started."
The woman eyes snapped open and she looked toward the window. She hadn't even realized that she dozed off and it was now well into the morning. She rose up to leave so that the doctors could get to work but before she moved away, Diana bent down and gave the unconscious man a light kiss on the lips.
'Be safe, my love. I mean it.'
Hanger
'That'd the last time I work for Mirage. I mean it this time.'
Baron had just arrived from a hectic mission with his White Wolf AC and the damage was clearly apparent; a tread when it came to Mirage's missions. Of course he knew that what he said earlier wasn't going to be true. Mirage was one of the biggest corporations (if not, the biggest) around and they supplied a large amount of mission for Ravens. Not that it wasn't possible, but there was no reason to. He was just venting on his mission. He was sent to a forest area to deal with some invaders when the opposition became a bit more than he anticipated. He had just managed to use up all his ammo by the time they finally withdrew. Needless to say, Baron had just barely managed to get through it alive. 'Oh well. At least they weren't cheap about it' he grinned as he held up his credits. Leaving the AC and the garage, he began to ponder over what to do with it when he absentmindedly looked over to the right and then blinked in realization.
"Hey, he must have come back after all."
Facility
KABOOOOMM!
Another shield generator destroyed, Havoc continued on his path of destruction. Opening the gate that would lead to the central generator itself, he continued on. 'This mission is almost over' he thought with a smile. He had never been on a high level mission before alone and he believed he was doing a good job. Some earlier obstacles had damaged his machine and it took him a bit to get through them, but overall he was still in good shape with his AP reading 6987. 'Guess all that training really paid off. I should thank…' He stopped himself, remembering that his mentor had disappeared. A frown came over his face and he pushed the thoughts aside. 'Just focus on the mission. More like finishing it.' A slew of energy beams shot at him from down the corridor and Elijah swung Havoc around one of the corners to avoid them. 'I am really getting tired of this' he muttered in thought and he timed the energy shots. When they stopped briefly, Havoc wheeled back around and fired on the cannons. Two explosions down the far end of the corridor verified that he hit his mark, but there were still energy blasts flying at him.
'I'm out of range. Guess I'll have to do it the hard way.'
Boosters a flare, Havoc slid down the corridor, taking the shots that were hit his armor. Elijah grit his teeth each time a shot hit him, but continued on until finally, his FCS locked on to the cannon and the machine gun did the rest. Elijah then switched to the area map screen. The final generator was just beyond the gateway around the corner. It seemed simple enough, but he had to tread cautiously. He had already used up a good portion of the ammo of his machine gun and his EO hadn't fully recharged yet. 'No need to rush, at least not yet.' Havoc strode quickly through the hall until he approached the gate. Locking in, the gate opened up to him revealing a wide room. Overhead, there was an equally wide skylight opening. The sun shone through from above, brightening the room. On the other end was the generator, waiting to be destroyed. 'This is way, way too easy' he thought. Havoc remained still in place as Elijah looked over to see if there were any traps. But there were none in sight and the generator hummed across the way.
'Oh well. Guess I'm really just lucky.'
Havoc didn't take so much as a single step when he heard the rattling sounds of a helicopter. A single object descended through the opening and smashed down in front of Havoc. A Raven. And not just any Raven.
"Cain!"
Indeed, it was the white AC Glaive that stood before him, its yellow eyes gleaming straight at him.
"Where the hell have you been?" Elijah yelled over the comm, completely forgetting where he was. But it came back in a flash when Glaive raised its right arm, aiming the energy cannon at him.
"Wh-What's this?"
"My mission is to protect this generator and stop any intruders from doing so."
Elijah blinked in shock. "Wh-What? Are you serious?"
"We each have missions to complete. Prepare yourself!"
SHHHHHKKKKKKKKKKK!