Chapter 15: The Power of the Alus
Two ominous figures stood facing each other in the wrecked, blue tiled room with a deep gouge in the center. The only thing that bore light on the room was a cracked glass roof at the top. One of the figures was a white giant with brilliant blue outlining. Its jagged edges and malicious head made it look demonic. Small teal colored blades protruded from its elbow that reached up to its shoulders. Large grey pillars lay on its back. On the opposite side of the gouge, stood a dark red mech. Holding a long barreled gun and a rectangular shaped silver weapon on its left hand, it stood poised with its knees slightly bent, ready to fend off the demonic mech that stood before it. Inside the cockpit, a raven-black haired girl wearing a silver jump suit sat. Her light blue eyes were wide with fright and strands of her hair fell in front of her face. The demonic figure stared down its target with surging blue eyes, breathing in its movements.
"You..." the voice that came through on the girl's comm-link was familiar. She noted that the voice was more malicious, icy and more emotionless than she had remembered but it was in fact recognizable.
"Wind!" the female known as Sara said. "What the heck are you doing here! Your supposed to be back at the hospital! And why are you piloting that...thing!"
"...looking for you..." the different tone in his voice left Sara unease. Wait...this is...weird...his voice...and that mech, its the one in my dreams... Shaking the feeling off, Sara continued in her conversation.
"Okay...well that's awfully sweet of you to worry about me. But we have to get out of here fast! There's something at the surface, its already destroyed all the MTs that were here. We've got to get out of here fast!" she said. Her thoughts were on turning her red Crimson Tear around and boosting out fast but an uncontrollable impulse urged her not to turn her back on her friend and keep a guard up.
"No..." Windbreaker's soul piercing, emotionless voice hinted a slight satisfaction, "We shall stay here...and fight!" The white monster raised its right arm, pointing its linear rifle at the red AC. A brilliant yellow light was emitted from the rifle, enclosing on Crimson Tear. The slender AC reversed its boosters, avoiding the shot that made a smear of black char on the ground where it once stood. Crimson Tear slid to a halt, recovering it defending poise once again.
"Wind! What the hell do you think your doing! This isn't funny!" she yelled, but deep down inside, she already knew the answer to her question. The white demon lowered the rifle and stood in a triumphant stance, still staring its prey down with its light blue glare.
"What else? Eliminating the threats..." he said in a low malicious tone.
"Threat! What the hell are you talking about!" she snapped.
"I have been monitoring your progress...observing how your skills improve, and it seems that...your skills are improving dramatically. Eventually, you'll become too powerful and start threatening the lives of the ones you proclaimed to defend," The white mech looked down at its left rectangular rifle, "You see...your very existence cancels out mine. We are opposites, and eventually, we will have to destroy each other. Therefore..." Snapping to attention, the demonic mech jolted to an offensive position, with its knees bent and its back boosters surging with blue energy. "I have decided to take you out first! Now, feel the wrath of the Alus Omen!" the giant sped forward with both its rifles raised at an incredible speed. Crimson Tear fired its explosive grenade shell from its left arm unit and overboosted to the right in self defense. Alus Omen tilted to the right a bit, making the explosive shell skin right past its front end torso. It started jumping up high and fired rapid machine gun rounds from its left unit and large bursting shots from it linear rifle. Crimson Tear side stepped to the left to avoid its first volley of rounds and then boosted into the air to the right to avoid the linear shots. This was all followed up by a couple shots from the sniper rifle, aimed towards the white AC. Sparks flew from the unscathed armor of the mech as the rounds merely bounced off.
"That thing...it's impervious to solid shells!" Sara realized in shock as each bullet that was sent into the demon's armor was only making a good spark show. Alus Omen slightly boosted to the left in the air and flew straight at the red AC, dual wielding its weapons at the same time. A couple shots scraped the crimson AC before it boosted onto the ground and turned around, bringing its sniper rifle up.
This isn't Wind's tactics! This is just mindless rushing! Is this really him? Sara took a quick glance at her opponent before firing. The only thing I can do is disarm that...thing!
Immediately, Alus Omen's back units unmounted and swung onto the mech's shoulders. The vertical crevices that ran horizontally across the middle of the two grey pillars started to open, revealing crackling sparks inside. Unphased by this, Crimson Tear aimed its rifle at the white giant's weapons and fired two rounds in succession. Both shots bounced off of the white armor, as the white mech covered its core with its arms. At this moment, Alus Omen was hovering above the slender red AC. It started firing both its rifles along with large yellow bursts of light that were emitted from its now activated back units. Crimson Tear overboosted straight forward, right under its oppressor, letting the shots make a huge crater on the floor. The red mech slid on the floor while turning around to face its opponent. I-it can dual wield and use both back cannons at the same time! The shining white figure fell to the ground on its feet with a hard thud, crushing the tile that lay beneath its feet. It took one step to turn around to its prey.
"Is that the best you've got? To be honest...I'm quite disappointed. How do you expect to avenge your father's death with such inferior tactics?" the icy cold voice said.
"Avenge my father! What does that me-" A cold realization suddenly struck her, making her face go even more pale than its normal white texture. Memories of the MT pilots screaming the name of a mass killer and the news report of a white mech that killed her parents flooded her mind, "...you killed my father...your Horizon..."
"Good, see? Your not as dumb as I thought you were. Although it did take you sometime to figure it out," Windbreaker said with a smirk on his face. A slight tint of red could be seen in his irises. His hair was still in the same style, only a pitch black color instead of its usual dark brown. He still wore the bandages that he had received from the previous battle wounds.
"...so tell me...why did you kill my father then?" her voice was no longer pleasantly soft, but a small raspy whisper. Sara's mouth was dry and she was shaken with fear, fear of what she had discovered and what she had to do.
"Crest hired me to kill him. He was destroying Bayload City and was out of control. Eventually, he would have destroyed everything if I hadn't stepped in."
"So then, what about my mother! Was she out of control too!" she snapped with fury and rage.
"...that was an...accident... I simply took her out because she was in my way. It was nothing personal, just doing my job as a Raven."
"So all you do is just mindlessly obey corporation orders and kill without remorse! What's with you!"
He grunted, "You may not know this, but other people in the world feel differently about their jobs...namely me!" The mech reeled around, charging its large cannons with crackling yellow energy. Two large blinding blasts of light that was emitted from the two cannons, enclosed on Crimson Tear. Strafe-boosting to the left in time, the blasts hit the tiled wall behind it. A large crater could be seen in the wall, small crushed tile pieces fell to the floor. No sign of the red AC could be seen as the white giant scanned the area. "...hmmmm...how interesting..." Its arms jolted upwards, pointing both rifles at the object above it and let off volleys of machine gun and linear rounds. In response, Crimson Tear side boosted slightly to the left to avoid the shots and landed some shells on Alus Omen's back units. Various holes were created in the two grey pillars as the shots pierced them, making sizzling electricity. The two back units were dropped and fell to the ground with a big thud. Immediately, the wing shaped extensions on its shoulders started to emit a faint eerie blue glow, the same glow that was being emitted in its outlines and eyes.
Sara decided to speak, her chest heaved and she was tired. Drops of sweat rolled down her forehead and strands of her already split end hair flowed down the front of her face. "Wind...there's more to being a Raven than...killing..." she spoke in a soft voice.
"Perhaps for you...but for me...there is no choice!" Charging forwards with high velocity, the white mech fired its rifles with immense rage. Crimson Tear only avoided some shots by boosting up in the air, the others pierced into the leg armor of the AC. Alus Omen aimed upwards and continued its barrage of dual wielding weapons. With ease Crimson Tear pulled in reverse in the air and dodged the shots, returning some sniper rounds with a grenade shell. The white demon staggered for a moment as the linear rifle was knocked out of its hands and its left machine gun had been blown away by the grenade shell.
"Wind, everybody has a choice. You just have to approach it at the right way."
The giant stood there, affixed in its current position and seemingly unarmed. The wing shaped extensions on its shoulders started to spread open and produced large blue energy spikes in the form of wings. Long blades that were protruding from its elbows that reached its shoulders, switched forward with surging blue energy. "...everyone...but me!" In a smooth motion, it swung its right arm upwards, letting the blade carve the air. Nothing could be seen, but an uncontrollable impulse to move out of the way made Sara believe something else. Crimson Tear slid to the right with its twin boosters roaring behind it. Looking back, something surprised Sara. The wall in which it had stood in front of was now cut up, the tile sliced into tiny bits. "So...you can see my movement...that just makes you even more dangerous!" The red AC quickly overboosted in a curved left direction, turning around and halting its boosters, the AC slid with its back facing the wall and firing its arm grenade in Alus Omen's direction. A realization hit her that the grenade shell was targeted at a thin air. The white mech could be seen nowhere.
Where did he go! A sudden lurching of the cockpit drew her attention. Crimson Tear sent sliding forward on the tiled ground, friction of its metal armor and the floor made brilliant sparks. A large diagonal slash could be seen, indented in the rear end of the red AC's core. There, the white demonic mech could be seen, standing triumphant, with its surging blue blade extended on its arm. Despite the hits it had taken, its armor still shone brilliantly.
"How disappointing...I was expecting a little more..." Windbreaker sighed. "I really would rather prefer to no kill you, but I have my objectives."
"From who!" Sara asked profusely as Crimson Tear staggered up.
"That's none of your business. What should matter right now is the value of your own life!" Alus Omen suddenly became a white blur. It was only seconds later that Sara realized the white mech was right in front of her. A series of furious slashes were made by the ominous giant. Crimson Tear moved out of the way in time, avoiding a direct slash to its already damaged core. Unfortunately, the same could not have been said for its left arm. The ghostly blue blade sliced through its arm joint like a knife through butter. Impact from the caused the slender red AC to fly side ways. Attempting to stop, the AC slid on the floor, its feet colliding with the tiled floor. This movement was followed by a swift motion in which Crimson Tear brought its sniper rifle around to fire at Alus Omen, only to have a giant white hand grapple onto its right arm. "Useless..." Windbreaker muttered in a malicious voice. Alus Omen had appeared in front of Crimson Tear held the sniper rifle in place with its left arm, "...you can't win...my speed is much greater than yours..." With its right arm, the demonic mech reached out and grappled onto the right side of the core of its prey. The arm of the red AC began to shake and sizzle, until it was torn off. Immediately after, the red AC was pushed backwards with tremendous force, causing it to slam into the wall.
"Guh...I can't...believe...Wind would do such a...thing..." she gasped for air, her chest heaved. Blood trickled down the side of her head and her arm. A demon head that glared down with luminous blue eyes appeared above the fallen AC, now in ruins and smeared with char. Crimson Tear struggled to get up but its legs staggered in response. Alus Omen brought up its right arm to a stabbing poise, its ghostly blade still surging with blue energy. This is...just like...my dream...
"And now..."The mech pulled its arm back slightly, ready to plunge its blade into its fallen prey."...for your last prayers..." Sara closed her eyes, hoping that it was only a nightmare, which she would wake up sooner or later. But deep down inside, she knew this was real, and could not bear the fact that she was going to be killed by her friend, the one she cared for the most. It's...not his fault after all...he's just being what any Raven should be... There was a sudden ear deafening explosion. Sara opened her eyes in shock, she was expecting a hellish death with flames but the only thing that met her expectations was a large explosion sound. She looked up to the display screen, barely able to move her head. What? Am I dead already? Her answer was immediately given as the once tall demonic figure that stood above her was now kneeling downwards; its right hand was placed around its left side as if tending to injuries. Brilliant light sizzled from its right hip.
"Guh...ergh..." Windbreaker grunted. "No...not now. Not when I was...so close..."
"Wind, your time limit is up! The system cannot take much more strain and neither can your body. We failed to repair the Logic System in time. Consider the mission a failure."
"But...Jack...the girl..."
"We have more pressing matters at hand right now, Wind! Return immediately."
"Wind, are you alright!" the abrupt feminine voice with a hinted soft kindness in it interrupted.
"Heh...worry about yourself..." Alus Omen struggled to its feet, stepping up with its left leg. A sudden searing red energy that surged in its left leg made the mech stagger and drop back on its knee. "It's your...lucky day..." The ominous mech re-illuminated the room with its ghostly blue wings and flew high, through the glass covered ceiling, causing more glass to shatter and drop to the floor in its wake. The only thing that was left was the wrecked AC, and its pilot already unconscious from the severe loss of her blood.