Discalimer: I do not own AC, I only own the OC characters in it.

Please enjoy!

Chapter 7: Friend or Foe

The young Raven jumped down from his cockpit, still on his mind were the events that had occured over the past few hours. He was tired, and needed some rest after what had just happened. Has the time really come! Is the crisis to come this soon! he thought, when an abrupt voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey! Windy!" It was Principal in her usual yellow and white jumpsuit followed by Grace in some casual clothes.

"You seem a bit pale...is something the matter?" asked Grace. Her hair was brown and tied into a pony tail that hung down to her waist.

"..." he could not sum up words to tell them what was stirring in his mind, "Its nothing of your concern..."

"Really? It seems pretty obvious that your concentrating on something that ensued in the battle just now," Grace was very curious as to why Windbreaker seemed to be uneased all of the sudden.

"...theres nothing...I just ate too much for lunch thats all..." Windbreaker lied.

"Right...I don't think-" Grace was interrupted by Principal just then.

"Awww...forget it, Grace. Windbreaker's not gonna tell ya...if anything, he must be thinking about dating me!"

Windbreaker turned even more pale at the words, Dating...something I'll never do with her, he tried to restrain himself from shivering at the thought but he could not hold much back.

"Windy, are you cold?" the blonde asked.

"...yes...thats it..." Windbreaker tried to get away from the topic, "Shouldn't you guys be somewhere else right now? Like reporting our mission status to the representative of the corps?"

"Your supposed to be there too, Windy, remember?"

"Damn you! Don't you remember? The administrator wants to have a word with me!"

"Ahhh...yes...Jack-O, I wonder what he wants..." Grace grabbed Principal by the collar, "Okay, let's get going before we're late."

"Ouch! Hey! Windy!" Grace had dragged Principal out of the garage and into the hallway.

Finally, some peace of mind-

"Excuse me...ummmm...Windbreaker?" an attractive feminine voice spoke.

Ugh...no...not another nuiseance, Windbreaker turned around to be facing the women whom he had had his Arena match with the other day. She was probably what he defined as beautiful, "Yes, what is it?"

"Ummmm...I was wondering if you could do me a favor?" Sara asked in a shy manner. Wow, he's so hot! she blushed lightly at this thought.

"Favor?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, can you help me find a specific person?"

"...person...who?"

"Well, you see...I'm trying to find a Raven who killed my parents, they died at Bayload city trying to defend it." she said, as painful memories began to flood her mind.

What a in cliched story! I've got to have heard this one a hundred times! Windbreaker wasn't quite moved this.

"My parents were both AC pilots...two of the best too...my mother died on the top of Bayload city and my father died in his AC while trying to defeat a Raven," tears welled up in the young female's eyes.

Oh, come on! I didn't even ask for your pathetic excuse for a sap story! I've heard better. Windbreaker was quite annoyed by this girl, " Listen...I can't help you...and frankly, I don't quite give a damn about whats going on with your life here. Can you please step aside so I can attend to my own business?" he said coldly.

"What?" She was surprised at his response.

"If you can't fend for yourself in this world then you won't get anywhere in life. Its as plain and simple as that! Your parents were probably some low class pilots who couldn't defend anything." This made Sara very angry, this man that she was asking help for was insulting her parents, she couldn't tolerate it and decided to bite back.

"What the hell are you saying! I came here looking for help and all you do is insult me and my parents? What gives you the right to do such a thing!" she was enraged.

"Everything, theres no rule on whether I can do this or that in life. So I simply chose to tell you what my personal opinion on this...pathetic feud was."

"Why you-"

"Do you even know what the name of this specific person is? Or did you just come to me telling this sap story hoping that I would be able to find someone just by listening to your story?"

"Ahhhhh..."

"Please step aside now..."

"Ugh! Fine! And you know what! I don't need your help!'

Windbreaker walked towards the hallway, "I didn't want to help you in the first place," he disappeared into the dark corridor.

"Ugh! That guy really makes me angry! If I ever face-off with him, I'll be sure to show him his place!" she yelled, to no one in particular.

Windbreaker walked through the corridor to find himself at another AC garage. There stood a man with a black trench coat and slicked white hair slanted across the wall. "Ahhh, Wind, been meaning to talk to you."

"Whats it this time Jack?" The man known as Jack-O was a revered and veteran Raven. After the collapse of Bayload city by the mysterious force, Jack-O had officially become the head administrator of the Ravens Ark.

"That girl that you were fighting...reminds me of someone eh?"

"Urgh! Don't remind me!" Windbreaker moved, uncomfortably.

Jack-O chuckled lightly, "I remember when you were like that...you were far superior to all the newcomers too, anyways.." his face darkened into a serious expression suddenly, "I came to talk to you about the battle that you recently had."

"Word sure travels fast doesn't it?"

"Karen told me about the battle you just had with the one called "Enigma"...you know what this means don't you?"

"...unfortunately...yes..." Windbreaker's face was grim.

"...the time is almost at hand..."

"..."

"And whats more, that Sara girl may be part of this as well..."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you should watch for any sign or suspicious things and be prepared...I'll contact you when something should occur..." At this, Jack-O walked off into the distance.

"...you hear that?" Windbreaker seemed to speak to an invisible person. The door slid open, revealing a man in brown jacket with black hair that reached to his neck.

"Yes, very unfortunate for us that the time is at hand," Vanguard said leaning against the railing of the garage. "Heh...by the way, about Sara-"

"God dammit! How come everyone knows about this!" He cut Vanguard off, scratching his head.

"Anyone from a mile away could hear that kind of talk! Maybe you should apologize to her, I mean, you were being a bit harsh!" Vanguard's face formed a frown.

"Me! Apologize! What the hell do I have to apologize for!"

"Listen, Jack-O may be right. Sara may be involved in this already. If she is related to Genobee or Agraya then she would be in this deep. We could use her, just keep monitoring her for any abnormal activities. I suspect many things may be revolving around her. It is very imperative that we keep up to speed with things."

"Well...I don't like it...but your suspicions have never been wrong...alright fine...but I'd better get high pay for this."

"If, by the time the crisis has ended and we are both alive, then you will have four times the amount of normal pay."

"That's nice..."

"But...should one of us die, the other will have to pay for the funeral."

"...thats not good!"

Yes, I thought this chapter had no significance to the story but I put it on just to show you guys what kind of a guy Jack-O is.