Disclaimer: See previous chapters
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Chap. 37
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Out of all the Ravens of the clan of Nightwatch, only Cain was the one not to receive the alert signal, for two special reasons. One, As part of the plan, Cain was to keep Reaper occupied while the others went to work. Reaper had an interesting way of turning such battles and strategies around and they would be able to fend off the other Death Dealers without worrying about him. Thus, when the battles started, Cain made sure to take the fight away from the others so that Reaper would not know what happened.
The second reason was because Cain wanted it. He had a personal score with Reaper, one that he hasn't told his friends about, but that they knew was quite serious. Serious enough for the Raven to relinquish his title as the hand of Justice and hand it down to his former student, Elijah. Enough for the others to have to leave him behind while he fought the Death Dealer alone.
And possibly die…
-"Death is but a means to truth. So accept your truth. Die."-
The vertical swarmed down from out, diving in on Glaive who was pinned down by Reaper's laser scythes. Critical damage was imminent.
'No. Not like this!'In a act of desperation, Glaive switched to his orbiter weapons and let them loose. The little mechanisms surrounded Reaper and fired. Seeing this, Reaper released Glaive in order to escape, giving Glaive the chance he needed to escape as the missiles flew down.
"Ah! Go!"
The OB ignited and Glaive flew out of the way just as the missiles came close. The projectile slammed into the grounds behind him and exploded, leaving a close trail of fire behind the AC. Glaive flew out of the resulting smoke, only to confront Reaper, who had finally dodged the orbiters. Scythes flashing out, Reaper came in for the assault. The first slash hit dead close to Glaive's head while the second on locked in with Glaive's energy sword.
-"You continue to persist. It is futile. You can not change your fate. Or hers."-
"Shut up!"
Glaive pushed back before Reaper could fire one of his inside rockets and came back in for the attack. The lengthy blade swooped out, almost hitting the dark AC in the core. Reaper fired the rocket, impacting the underside of Glaive's arm. Stunned, Glaive was almost helpless as the dark AC came in with his scythes. Glaive quickly activated his turn booster extensions to turn back and catch the blades with his own.
-"Your future is clear. You will share in her grave."-
"Shut up!"
Reaper pressed, but quickly backed away when the orbiters emerged again.Cain used the time to recover, but that was cut short by the sound of Reaper's vertical warheads taking to flight again. Gliave held still for a moment and when they flew in close, he shot off to the side and then the air. Many of the missiles missed and hit the ground while two of them stayed on him. But then a bigger problem came up.
Reaper was in the air with him…
The two machines crashed into each other with resounding force and both were sent plummeting to the ground. The machine managed to land feet-first, but the weapons of their earlier attack came upon them. Reaper was shot with a few energy beams from the orbiters while Glaive was hit with the remaining vertical missiles. Reaper recovered first and again took to the air, scythes aflare. Glaive followed with his own blade and the two ripped at each other.
Fsshhhhh!The two machine hit each other backward and it seemed that Glaive took more of the brunt of the strike because it fell back down to the ground. Glaive looked up to see Reaper diving in on him and once more raised his laser sword to block. Reaper slammed down hard and Glaive was driven to one knee once again, the curve of the scythe stabbing into his orbiter cannon, rendering it useless. A lock-on alert and once more, the vertical warheads took too the air. And without his orbiter cannon, Glaive was powerless to stop it.
-"And now it ends."-
A distance away from the battle, the remaining members of the Nightwatch clan stand assembled. The ACs were stationed on low platforms with numerous technicians and mechanics going to work on repairing the damaged units and weapons. Nearby, a couple of heavily armor airplanes hum in wait, ready to take the group into the heart of Silent Line itself. While this work went on, the Raven themselves remained within, waiting for the repairs to be completed. From the AC Cloak, Diana looks over at the Bloodhand AC and opens a private channel.
"How bad is it?"
"Don't worry." Koemai answered, just as he finished bandaging his wound and putting his flight suit back on. "It's…"
She quietly cut him off. "Don't. Not now. I need to know."
Koemai took a deep sigh and then answered. "It's not too serious, Di. Really." Her AC seemed to stare at him and he sighed once more, imagining her face doing the same thing, which it probably was. "But I will be a second or two slower."
Diana nodded. "Then I'll have to be a second or two faster."
Just then, Charles broke in an open channel. "Okay guys. Listen up. We're two men short so our work is cut out for us. Once we hit the ground, move to these coordinates." He sent them the information, to which they received and installed in their area map computers. Charles continued. "Expect a fight as soon as you get there, but don't stop moving. Get inside the hanger as soon as you can and find the control terminus. Disable it and the mission is complete."
"Understood." Elijah replied.
Charles then became silent for a moment and then spoke again, more quietly. "We've lost a comrade and may possibly lose another. Death is always a possibility, but I want all of you to survive. If you feel you can not continue on, say so now. Once we're in there, there's no turning back."
Koemai was the first to answer. "We've come this far. No sense in turning back now."
"Besides, we've already passed the point of no return." Diana added.
"And I have a drink waiting for me on the other side." Elijah added further.
Ellie simply replied. "You already know how I feel."
"Very well then." The Nightwatch leader nodded. At that time, the signal light came up, informing them that repairs were complete and that their cores were at 100 percent. The five machines all lifted their heads in activation and Charles motioned.
"Let's go."
The five machines strode over to their individual carriers and began to enter. Due to the strategy of the attack, there was only enough space for the AC alone as the surrounding armor would protect them mostly from the laser blast that would rain down from the sky.
"Charles."
Professional paused as he turned to the one who called. Elijah…
"What is it?"
"Cain will make it." he said firmly.
The lead Raven said nothing and simply entered inside. As the hatches closed, Charles simply thought to himself.
'I hope so.'
As the missiles came in on approach, Cain struggled within, not only to force Reaper off, but to ward off the echoes of his taunts. But it proved useless and his mind was soon filled with voices of doubt and despair."Ravens are a symbol of an approaching death… We are harbingers of death…"
"You tried to hide her from me. But nothing escapes the eyes of death. Nothing escapes the hand of death."
"Death is but a means to truth. So accept your truth. Die."
"You can not change your fate. Or hers."
"Your future is clear. You will share in your wife's grave."
"NO!"
In a burst of rage and desperation, Glaive powered out of the hooking hold, forcefully pushing back Reaper and then soared out of way to the descending missiles with his OB. Bane was a bit surprised by the action. 'He is desperate. Good. This means that I have won.'
But that may have been premature because Glaive swooped back and attacked. The laser sword swooped out in a rush of wind, nearly slicing through Reaper's midsection. The dark AC backed away, but Glaive's OB ignited again and he was instantly upon him once more. Reaper lifted a scythe to defend, but the force of the blow pushed him back, tearing up some of the ground. A moment after, Glaive's orbiter cannon fired, shooting Reaper as he was held.
'What the…? He's using my own strategy?'But the only difference was that the shots connected, tearing up pieces of armor on Reaper's backside. Reaper managed to push out and then another thing occurred to him. 'How did he fix his cannon so quickly? I rendered it useless.' Glaive came in and again Reaper was in a lock. Bane moved to retaliate, arming the inside rockets only to find that they had been disabled.
'What the…? The first slash…was at my weapon?'
Something was very wrong here. Cain should be a wrecked shell now, acting only on instinct, desperation and rage. It would have made it easier for Reaper as he could use Cain's mistakes to end his life. And while the anger was still there, he saw none of the other two. Not only that, but Cain was planning out strategies and repairing his machine in limited time. A person fighting out of desperation wouldn't have thought at all.
'What the pit are you, Cain?'Pushing the thought away, Bane pressed hard on the controls, causing Reaper to push back Glaive, though not as forcefully as Glaive had pushed him. And certainly not enough to escape the white machine's wrath as it came in again. But this time, Reaper strafed to the side, dodging Glaive entirely. Glaive's turn boosters flared, putting Reaper back in his sights again. But by that time, Reaper was airborne.
A second later, so was Glaive…
Reaper had hoped to get some space and time before Glaive could come again. But that option was gone as Glaive and Reaper clashed again. The force had hit them both back, but Glaive came in and attacked again. Bane had finally had enough and charged in himself. He didn't know what was going on with his rival, but he had to put a stop to it now. Another air clash, far more forceful than the last and enough to knock both AC down to the ground again, hard. Reaper arose slowly, with the Raven inside shaken by the shock of the blow. But it appeared that Glaive had suffered worse. The machine was down on one knee, with electrical sparks flowing around the right leg, enough to tell Bane that the crash had damaged it badly. Glaive would no longer be able to come at him so relentlessly and that would give him the advantage he needed. Reaper's scythes shimmered in view.
-"It's time."-
"Yes. It is."
Bane blinked as Glaive slowly rose up on both legs. The sparks intensified on the leg, but that didn't seem to matter to Glaive as the blue-white sword stretched out. Bane looked at his rival and then realized what he saw. Determination… and something else… Bane also knew that this would be Glaive's last attack. With all the earlier attacks, there was no way a Raven, even one like Cain, would be able to hold up under such stress for long. So he would wait. He knew what would happen. Glaive would come in one final charge and Reaper would wait. The Moonlight sword would fly out and then Reaper will make his move.
The finishing cut…
He would miss his opponent. This had been the most extensive fight he had ever been in. No one had force Reaper to his own limits like Cain had with his Glaive. But Death does not play favorites. It would take his life and that would be the end of it. Glaive's OB boosters began to flare, just as he predicted. A burst later, Glaive flew at him. Glaive came in close when Reaper made his move.
And it was over…