Disclaimer: See previous chapters

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Chap. 30

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"Cain…Can we talk?"

Cain was currently working on his AC in the hanger. It was early the next day after they had conversed on their plans and she expected to find him early. It had taken her a good minute to approach him. After last night, she was unsure on how he would react to her. She had never really seen him angry or upset so she was at a disadvantage. He continued working with his back to her as though he didn't hear her.

"I deserve that." she sighed. "I only came to apologize." He didn't seem to react, but she continued anyway. "I…I just don't want Koemai to be hurt again. And then you suggested that he was still going on the mission, I just freaked out." She looked over at him and repeated. "Anyway, I'm sorry."

Cain was still as she finished speaking and Diana was getting the feeling that she wasn't getting through to him. She turned to move away, but was stopped by soft speaking.

"I'm going to tell you something. Something that no one knows." He lifted himself up from his work and turned to her halfway.

"It's about Aria."

Diana stopped and looked back at him. His eyes were still hidden away, but she didn't need to see them to know that he was in some sort of stress.

"Go ahead."

"You already know that Aria is in a coma because of her accident." That was obvious. After all, she was there when it happened. His voice soon became graven. "What you don't know is that it's worse than that."

"What do you mean?" she questioned. It didn't make since. Aria was in a coma. How could it get worse than what it already is?

"I didn't find out about it until a couple of years ago. Usually in the case of a coma patient, they either revive or they eventually fade away. But Aria was suffering from a rare case. Apparently, she had additional internal injuries that complicated it. The doctors were able to patch those injuries up, but now she is fading faster." His fist clenched tightly and his head lowered. "Within another year, she will die."

"Oh my god…"

His head lifted slightly. "But they also informed me of an experimental procedure. Having something to do with accelerating brain and nerve cells. But the point is that there's a chance to save. Not only that, but the treatment could actually allow her to revive fully. But there were two problems. The first was cost. I needed to secure a huge amount of credits in order to pay for it. That was one of the reasons I began piloting again, although I did it in way where there was little risk to me."

She nodded at his reasoning. "Minor missions. But they don't pay that much."

"I know. I had to push myself. Not a difficult feat for me really." he smiled. "I have a knack for doing that."

"What was the second problem?"

"The treatment itself. It uses some principals of the past human PLUS experiments. Because of that, it's unknown if it will truly work." He hesitated. "There is also a possibility…that it will kill her."

Diana moved close to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I…I had no idea."

Cain turned to her fully and Diana almost backed away from the intensity in his eyes. Yet they were opposite of his soft voice. "I understand exactly how you feel. I just wanted you to know this."

"That's rough."

Diana's eyes widened when she turned to the source of the new voice. Elijah was standing by the sideline, leaning against some of the equipment. Cain didn't seem surprised but then again, he wasn't the type to show it even if he was.

"Yes, it is." he commented briefly to Elijah before turning to address Diana. "Diana. I should be the one apologize. Koemai has just gotten through his operation and I was thoughtlessly talking about him coming back into battle without considering your feelings. For that, I am sorry." He let out a light chuckle. "But you know the truth as well as I do."

She closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm afraid I do. He will want to continue. Even if he only has one arm and no legs, he would still want to go."

Elijah shook his head. "Lunatic."

"That's just Koemai for you." Cain replied.

Diana moved away and crossed her arms around her body. "I just don't want to lose him again."

"Not to sound self-piteous, but just remember." Cain placed a hand on her shoulder. "There are worse things."

"Yeah."

Hospital

"You're awake."

Di…" His vision cleared and he was able to clearly see the woman sitting in a chair beside the his bed. He let out a gentle smile before his vision caught two other figures behind her. Cain and Elijah. "And the whole motley crew, heh."

"You look like crap." Elijah grinned as he folded his arms.

"Hey, at least I have an excuse." the injured Raven replied. "What's yours?"

The younger Raven retorted. "Just be lucky I don't beat up on sick guys in hospitals, although in your case, I may make an exception."

"You could try, punk. You could try." He turned his gaze to Cain, who was standing by the wall with his arms folded. 'As usual.' "Do you always have to stand there like some damned gargoyle?"

"Someone has to. How are you feeling?"

"Like a building dropped on me." Koemai moaned. He then blinked. "Oh yeah that's right. One did. What the heck happened anyway?"

Cain stepped forward to explain. "The Death Dealers tricked Majestic Force into battling Blood Omen and then took them both out."

"Sneaky. So it's just us and them, huh?" He turned his head toward the window. "And I'll bet they'll be waiting for us at Silent Line."

"Yeah."

"What do you mean, 'us'?" Elijah shot in. "You're stuck in bed."

Koemai ignored him. "How long do we have?"

"Two weeks."

"Hm." Koemai lifted his arm gingerly and clenched it into a fist. "It's a long shot, but I can work up a week of rest here and that should give me something to work with when we go."

Elijah snapped. "Are you serio…?"

"Could you two give us a minute?" Diana said suddenly

Cain gave an understanding nod. "Sure. We have work to do." He turned to the door and waved. "Take care, old friend."

"Who are you calling old?" Koemai growled. "Just get out of here. And take the brat with you."

"Why you…!" Elijah was ready to smash his face in, but he was stopped when Cain grabbed his collar and walked out, dragging the younger Raven with him while closing the door behind. Now alone, Diana gazed down upon her love.

"Koemai. You don't have to do this."

"Are you kidding?" he grinned. "And miss the opportunity to get past Silent Line?"

Diana shook her head, ignoring the bravado. "Please listen. You don't have to do this. We all know you're tough. Hell, even the doctor said that. But if you push yourself too far, you may…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the last sentence, but he knew what she was saying. Reaching up, he grasped her hand lightly.

"Don't worry about me."

"That's just it!" she nearly shrieked. "I can't help but worry. You almost died and I don't want that to happen. I…I don't want to lose you. Not after all we've been through." She lowered her head to his chest, careful not to hurt him. "I love you. I love you so much."

Her face was turned away from him, but he could tell that she was tearing up. "Di, listen. I love you too. That's the main reason why I am going."

Diana choked softly. "What?"

"We are part of a clan. As such, in order for us to survive, we need to be together." His hand moved to her hair where he began to lightly stroke it. "Yeah, I know it sounds corny, but I need to be there to protect you."

"Koemai…"

"When you go, I want to be there with you." His hand slid to her cheek and he lifted her face up so that she was looking at him face to face. "I don't want to be stuck in this bed while you and the others fight and die because I wasn't there."

"But what good will it do if you aren't at full strength?"

"Trust me." He reassured her. "I'm going. And I'll be ready." His palm continued to remain on her cheek. "But, I could use your help."

She gave him a smile. "Heh. You're just stubborn."

"And that's why you love me." he grinned back.

Cortex Dormitory

Charles sat alone in his room, looking over all the data that had been gathered by his clansmen. So far, it was all going well. Data on both the territory and their opponents were quite descriptive, so there was a lot to work with, strategy-wise. But there was still more to learn and even with the gathered information, they didn't know everything about what they would face within Silent Line.

Of this, he knew for a fact…

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Flashback

Charles looked grimly at the terrain before him. It was a wasteland terrain, with scattered trees and deserted buildings. He knew much about this particular place. Silent Line was quite famous among all the Ravens. It was called Silent Line because anyone trying to cross it would fall 'silent' within it. All attempts to get through have failed. It was as though anything going through simply vanished. It was like that area in the water in the Earth's past…What was it called?

Ah yeah, the Bermuda Triangle…

Discarding the thought, he double-checked his systems. And so far, everything was primed and ready. Looking to the side, he was accompanied by ACs Jumper and Draconis. Who their pilot's were, he didn't care. As the mission stated, the one who crossed the line first would be the one to get the reward so it was more of a race than a mission. But that didn't mean he would get reckless. As his AC's name states, he was a professional and he had to handle this coolly.

-"You may begin. Good luck Raven."-

Charles quickly flipped the systems on, activating the AC's combat mode. With a roar of booster fire, the three ACs stormed their way in. Jumper, being the lightest, was in the lead, with Professional and Draconis following behind. Soon, Draconis veered away in another direction and Jumper soared on further. Charles didn't mind. After all, he had to find his own way through. Draconis was probably doing that right now, while Jumper was probably hoping to be able to simply fly through without anything happening to him.

A reckless mistake…

BOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHH!

Jumper was immediately shot by a massive grenade burst, knocking him out of his run and crashing onto the ground. As the machine struggled to rise, two more rounds of grenade fire floored it again and this time, Jumper crumbled into oblivion. Charles followed the path of the destructive fire and it led to one of the buildings. From behind it emerged a white bulky MT, unlike any he had ever seen before. It was arm with what looked like a massive cannon on its right arm. The machine turned to his direction and turned the weapon on to him. Charles realized that he was now the next target and shot off to the side just as the grenade burst came soaring at him.

"Showtime."

Stopping from its run, Professional took to the air and fired. Although he was equipped with a sniper rifle, he knew the power of his weapon wouldn't slow down the heavily armored MT. He would have to bid his time and take his openings when they came until he could finish this threat off. But that time would come as his shot hit the leg of the MT. 'Minimal damage at best, but it's the weakest point regardless.' Activating his hover extension, Professional continued to fire, with each shot hitting the knee joints of the machine while flowing through the air. The MT pursued him, switching off its grenade cannon and firing with what appeared to be chain gun weaponry. Professional had to weave through the fire all the while keeping his shots focused. This went on for quite some time, pushing him deeper into the line. He was then surprised when a single object flew out from the MT and slowly came toward him.

'Crap. A large missile.'

Deactivating the hover extensions, Profession landed on the dry ground where the MT unloaded a set of grenade bursts on him. The first one hit near its feet, causing Charles to lose control of his machine for a moment. But it was a moment too long for the second blast had collided right into him, knocking him back. The AC remained on its feet, but it was singed in front. Damage was minimal, but only because of the extra armor he had placed on it. Next time, he won't be so lucky. Charles continued with his earlier strategy, shooting the knee of the MT while dodging the fire. Meanwhile, the large missile continued to cruise toward the AC stealthily. As Professional continued to focus on the MT, the missile drew closer and closer until…

'I don't think so.'

Professional suddenly turned toward the missile flipped on his core's secondary functions. A beam of energy spat out from the core, hitting the missile and destroying it. He quickly returned his attention to the MT and fired again. The MT landed on the ground, but then it suddenly bent down on the ground, nearly collapsing. At last, his efforts were paying off. Professional began to take to the air when he saw it.

'Another large missile? Where did that come from?'

The missile was closing in and he couldn't use his core's missile interceptor so soon after the first time. In a rush, Charles dashed back, giving him some space to avoid the missile. But the projectile was still on him and getting close and he was running out of space. Not only that, but the MT had managed to recover and was in pursuit. Checking outward, he saw a several building structures, wrecked and abandoned like all the others. An idea clicked.

'I better hurry it this is to work.'

Activating his OB, Professional soared toward the building structure. He reached it and stood beside, but made no effort to hide behind it. Meanwhile, the missile was still following behind and closing it, with the MT behind it. The missile began to close in, but suddenly, Professional dashed off to the side, moving behind the building. The missile continued on until it exploded on the building. That was Charles cue. Arming his back dual grenade launcher, he fired upward at the building top. The explosion of the missile caused the building to fall in while the grenade shots pushed it over toward the MT. Professional boosted away as the building crashed and dust blew everywhere. Professional landed on the ground to survey the damage.

'Well, that was interesting.'

But it was far from over, for a round of chain gun fire shot out from the dust, hitting Professional on the arm. The MT emerged from the debris, continuing to fire on Professional. Charles grimaced. 'How is that thing still going?' The building hadn't dropped on it fully and it was only partially damaged. He motioned to fire with his rifle, only to find it missing from his grasp. The chain fire had shot the weapon right off and now it was lying damaged on the ground. And the MT was still coming at him full force.

"Gruah!"

Professional was now in retreat, with the MT shooting behind him with a combination of the chain gun and grenades. Charles piloted the machine through the buildings, avoiding the fire. But he knew that he would soon run out of places to run and then that machine would take him down. He turned the corner of a building and soared up into the air. He then began to rotate around, hoping that the MT wasn't too close.

'Come on, come on!'

Professional finally wheeled around and Charles activated his hover boosters and aimed with his grenade launcher. At the same time, the MT had come around the side of the building. Without waiting, Charles opened fire, hurling the destructive fireballs down at the MT. The MT was swarmed by the fire, but continued to advance. Charles continued firing, knowing that with all the damage the MT sustained, it couldn't last long against such an assault. The machine began to lock in its grenade cannon, but Charles was right. The continuous assault had done the white machine in and it fell back and exploded. The Raven gave a short sigh of relief, but it was cut off when booster sound caught his attention. Looking over to the side, his eyes widened with shock.

'What the…another one?'

The second MT wasted no time in firing upon him. Professional dodged once more, but the grenade shock sent the already weakened machine crashing into one of the buildings. Charles grunted painfully and made ready to move when he saw it.

Another grenade blast coming straight at him…

KABOOM!

"Guahhh!"

Professional was blown straight through the building, crashing on the opposite side. The front of the core was badly scorched, with parts sparking from the damage. Even the cockpit was partly exposed, revealing the badly injured pilot within. The flaming blast has scorched Charles right leg and arm with his uniform burnt up in several areas. As Charles struggled not to lose consciousness, he could hear the approaching steps of the MT from around the building. In haste, Charles moved his left arm, hoping that the controls weren't destroyed. It they were, he would share the same fate as Jumper. Professional began to rise up and Charles saw that the MT had not come across the building yet. Arming the dual grenade launchers on its back, Charles fired, not at the MT, but at the building itself. The blasts destroyed the building structure, causing it to crash down upon the MT in a billow of smoke and debris. He stood ready to fight in case this MT rose up, but that didn't happen.

'Didn't think the same trick would work twice.'

Rising up, Charles checked the damage to his machine. Needless to say, he was in pretty bad shape. Not only was he out of ammo, but his AP checked 1111. And to top it off, he was seeing problems with the radiator and damage to the generator. Continuing now would just be suicide. He would have no choice, but to abort. However, as he was checking the area, he gazed on beyond the terrain and it was then that he saw it.

The city…

Charles grimaced. He was halfway there. It couldn't have been no more than six minutes away on OB. But he couldn't. He was far too wounded and his AC too badly damaged. And without any weapons, he wouldn't make it the rest of the way, provided his machine didn't blow up on its own. He hated it; hated what he had to do. Something he had done only once in his career as a Raven.

He had to abort…

Wheeling his machine around, Charles boosted away from the city. As he did, he heard sound of fire and battle from behind. Using the rear monitor, he saw the second AC, Draconis, getting blown up by some force. A stream of energy fire pelted from out a bunker, destroying the AC. 'A bunker? There wasn't anything about it on the mission briefing.' Charles was too far away and his AC continued to soar away, but he was able to get a shadowy glimpse of the weapon within the bunker.

It was an AC…

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Present

'What was that?' There was something in there; something more powerful than the machines he and the other faced. He knew he couldn't face it; he wasn't ready for it. He wanted to return, but he knew he realized that he wasn't strong enough. If he and the others had joined together, then maybe they would have had a chance. And that's when it hit him. What he needed in order to break through the line was a solid team; one that would work toward the goal of getting through Silent Line through unity of powers. With his knowledge and a group's power, he would be able to conquer the challenge of Silent Line. As he recovered from his wounds, he began to makes plans. He had to select individuals with diverse skills that would be able to function as a single unit. Not only that, but he had to find Ravens with high battling potentials.

His first choice, Ellie and her AC Phantom, was obvious. Aside from her skills, she was one of the few who survived the Line. They would more than likely share a common goal; passage through the Line. After recruiting her, he searched for someone with strength. Narrowing down his choices, he selected Baron with the mighty White Wolf AC due to the quickness he is able to utilize his machine and the destruction that follows. He had a temper, but that could be forged into power if guided.

He next wanted to choose a team of Ravens and sought out the Cloak and Dagger team. But he only found Diana, for her brother had left for Mars some time ago to make his own mark. It was through her that he learned about the Hands of God team, two Ravens that were quite distinct among the other Raven teams. But as far as he knew, the team had faded into darkness and had not been heard of for some time. He was glad to have found Koemai and even more grateful when Cain rejoined him. And as an extra bonus, Cain's pupil, Elijah, had come along as well, completing his clan, Nightwatch. As he envisioned, the members were diverse and it was that diversity that made them strong; strong enough to become one of the top seven clans of the Ravens. They had it all. Speed, strength, agility, stealth and most importantly, teamwork and respect for each other. It was these last two that would be most important, for when they enter in, they would need to know how the other one will think and act in an AC without second thinking. It seemed that they would need that now more than ever for they had more to deal with that the hidden secrets of the Line.

They had to deal with a rival clan…

The Death Dealers were a fearsome team and judging how they pitted the top two clans against each other, that fear was justified. They were almost a mirror image of them in their talents. Chances are, they were studying up on Nightwatch the same way they were learning them. What made them different where their spirit. Nightwatch was powerful in their rights, but they didn't emit the fear the Death Dealers did. But they weren't afraid. Nightwatch saw past the fearful aura they created. Where others saw doom, they saw themselves. Where many saw death, they simply saw rivals. Deadly rivals, yes, but rivals all the same.

But their rivalry was about to end.

At Silent Line only one of them would dive deep into the Line to partake in the secrets and journey to the other side. One clan would cross the Silent Line and possess the secret technology within the city.

Only one…

Beach

Night had fallen once again. Cain was on the beach boardwalk alone gazing toward the sea. He was thinking about what had happened earlier the day. He had never told anyone about the true condition of his wife, but now that he did, he felt a little relieved. Like a release over his heart. Of course, he also knew that he had completed the easy part. Getting the money for the operation. He had already sent in the money as well as had Aria moved so that they would be able to begin the procedure. He also did that in order to hide her from the Death Dealers, or more precisely, Bane. But now he was unable to visit her until the procedure was over. He didn't want Bane to find out where he moved her. As a result, he would only be able to find out after all of this was over, which is why he was more focused on his mission than before.

"Absolution is a beautiful thing, is it not, Cain?"

Cain knew instantly who it was. He took a single gaze to see the dark Raven walking up beside him. But Cain didn't wait. His sword already in hand, he suddenly whirled around toward Bane. A sliver of light and Bane suddenly stepped back, covering his face. Moving his hand away, he gazed at the blood from now a new scar over the side of his face. It wasn't a deep scar, but it was marking.

"I'm…surprised." he growled, completely surprised by Cain's attack. "It's not like you to use sneak attacks."

Cain kept his sword leveled at side. "We will never meet this way again. When we see each other next, it will be Glaive against Reaper."

"Ah, still angry I see." Bane then grinned toothily. "And afraid. But it doesn't matter where you hide her. When I'm done with you, she will follow."

This earned him a deepened glare from his dark rival. "Fighting me is one thing. But you threatened my wife and for that, you must be stopped." He flicked his sword, throwing the blood off the blade. "By any means."

Bane narrowed his eyes. "Curious. That sound like an act of vengeance. Odd for the hand of justice to display."

"On the contrary, there is no greater justice than to defend the one you love. And since you will not back down, I will do what I must." Cain moved past him in order to leave, but stopped at his side briefly. "Now that's curious. We all reap what we sow. You have sown death. Now it will come for you."

"We shall see."