Chapter 2: An Omen of Purity
Jayden pressed his back against the cold wall behind him, overhearing the voices that seemed very close by. Two men dressed in army wear were conversing with eachother. The topic they were discussing peaked Jayden's interest. "...yeah, but if Sphere plans to attack us full on...I don't think they stand a chance, at least, not with what we have." One voice was gruff and almost a growl. The other was that of an unsure person, probably a new cadet from the way he talked.
"Yeah, no doubt about it. B-but, do you think its safe to use that thing! It really gives me the creeps just staring at it." The fear was prominent in the soldier's voice.
"No worries! If there happens to be any trouble with it section B will be held responsible. We're just here to check things out remember?" The rough soldier smirked.
"R-right! But I'm still not sure...I mean, I'm pretty confident that we can annihilate Sphere...but...I feel as though something is going to happen or something."
"Well, we're done for the night. The special unit in warehouse thirty-five is fine. I think its about time we take a break...don't you?"
"Alright! Lunch time! I'm starving!" The two men had not noticed a the Raven eavesdrop on their conversation. He hid behind a wall that lay just up the hallway. The footsteps of the soldiers began to vanish, the thumping on the ground continued to soften until nothing could be heard.
Hehe...warehouse thirty-five. Got it! That's just up the hallway! Sweetness! This mission was easier than I thought! It was strange, there were no guards at the posts, not even in the rooms. Even though the hallways were illuminated with bright lights, it still felt like an empty corridor. Jayden proceeded to open the door that led to the warehouse he intended to go to. Upon opening the door, Jayden could tell that no one seemed to be occupying the warehouse. There were no footsteps, and it was too bright on the inside for snipers to properly station their rifles without being noticed. After checking his surroundings, Jayden quickly realized one thing. His target was right in front of him, within arms length to be precise. Staggering back a little from awe, shock and a bit of fear, Jayden took a glance at the tall entity that stood before him behind the railing. A demonic form, with a demon like head, covered in pure white. The smooth armor of the figure was only constantly interrupted by small crevices in between them, the crevices were part of the design itself. Decorated by its wing-like extensions that seemed to be part of its shoulders, it was an intimidating sight to behold. Wide eyed youth could only stare at the godly figure before him. He swallowed hard, This thing is Zeal's! What the hell is it! Jayden walked forward, his guard was still up for any ambush that might occur. He continued forward towards the white entity, extending his arm out and touching the smooth armor. I've never seen this type of metal before...just touching the texture of it, I can tell that its harder than any metal covering our ACs! Looking to his left, Jayden noticed the cockpit had been left open. Sweetness! I hit the jackpot this time! Jayden resisted the urge to laugh out loud and straightened up his composure. Okay! Calm down. We're not out of this yet...but man is this ever so sweet! Quickly jumping into the cockpit, the door closed in behind him. With a clear mind and insightful eyes, he checked the modules and systems of the machine. All the controls in the cockpit were familiar to him. However, this was strange as the controls inside were much different than the ones in the ACs. A quick glance at the controls and fingering of buttons wasall it took to illuminate the screens in front of him. But...how do I know all these controls? I've never even seen any of them. Suddenly the whole being came to life, its evil eyes suddenly emitted an erie blue glow, the crevices within its armor lit up with the same blue glow.
Scion's right arm tensed up a bit, he glanced around the deck for anything unusual. His white hair ruffled against the winds that blew past him. Only the sound of ocean currents could be heard in the bright summer day. His strange emerald eyes glanced from one end of the ship to the other. This aura...it seems familiar...An abrupt voice addressing him stirred him from his thoughts.
"Is something wrong, Captain?" Scion turned around, his white hair moving along the air. It was Beatrice who had called him. He replied to her question with a gentle smile.
"It seems we'll be meeting an unexpected guest very soon..."
Her dark brown hair lay tumbled in front of her shoulders, it reached down to her waist. Her bangs would get in her eyes every so often, and she would hook them out of the way. Jen sat in the rugged cockpit of her AC, Haven. I'm getting a little worried, Jayden's been in there for sometime now...wonder what's keeping him? Haven was a lightweight blader, using a parry blade and the new ELF3 to great effect. Tinted with light purple all around, it did not seem intimidating at first but using the combinations of parry blades, laser blades and the dual rockets that were placed on the back of Haven had made Jen one of the top rankers. She was one of the most skilled Ravens. She had been waiting impatiently in her cockpit for well over two hours for her companion. Haven stood by a cliff side that hid the small Zeal base still in construction. Her body was beginning to fall asleep a bit. Ugh...if that guy doesn't show up right now I swear I'll-! An abrupt explosion from one of the warehouses had caught her attention. ACs tinted with crimson and blue that surrounded the area like little ants by an ant hill were alarmed by the sudden commotion. Once of the warehouses seemed to have burst into flames, engulfed by searing red fire and a curtain of grey smoke. Within the fires, an ominous shadow seemed to walk out of the smoke. Glaring blue eyes, would constantly pulsate with erie blue energy. A white entity, similar to the form of a large demon stepped out of the fire. A long rifle was holstered onto its right hip which reached down and almost touched the ground. What the heck is that! Is that the secret project that Zeal was working on! Jen stared at the new machine that stood at the base below her. Her eyes were only wide with disbelief with shock. One of the crimson-blue ACs that guarded the tiny base immediately boosted straight towards the demonic form, its LB4 was already extended. The blade weaved a long focused thread in the air. Charging at the new entity, the AC slashed with its laser blade, only to have missed. The white machine ducked slightly, letting the erie blue beam barely miss the top of its demonic head. In response the machine pulled its right arm back, the blade which was folded up behind its elbow suddenly switched forward, emitting a ghostly aura in its presence. The blade arm suddenly jolted forward, plunging the blade into its opponent's core. With only seconds to react to the counterattack, the crimson-blue AC could not avoid the blow in time. It was quickly consumed by hellfire as it exploded, diminishing into nothing but scrap metal.
How did I just do that! The young pilot's chest heaved up and down, a bit startled from what he just did. I just jumped into the cockpit and it was like I knew all the buttons. But that's impossible! AC controls are nothing like this! Another one of the crimson-blue ACs approached the monstrous being, its SP shotgun now raised and pointing at Jayden's machine. Small spurts of clustered shells sped at the white demon. With a slight white flickering in its boosters and a hop to the side, the white machine evaded the shotgun bursts easily and countered by speeding forward. The startled AC tried to defend itself by slashing its TAROS dual-blade but the demon-like mech had reacted faster and jabbed its arm blade into the WASP head unit of the AC. The force sent the headless AC downwards, crashing into the hard cement. Grabbing the rifle that was holstered on its hip, the machine quickly pointed its linear rifle and blew a hole right through the core of the helpless AC. D-did I just do that! Jayden was shocked, he had never even pushed an AC backwards.
"Jayden! Is that you?" A slender light-purple AC came flying towards him, destroying every AC with its parryblade and ELF3 that got in its way.
"Yeah, this is me. I've got the machine!" He spoke with a smile.
"Alright then let's get out of here now! Before reinforcements come!" The army of crimson-blue ACs only watched from afar as the light purple AC and the demonic white entity made their way out of the base. One of the lighter weights stepped forward, about to follow them. An abrupt gruff and booming stopped the AC pilot from moving his AC any further.
"Wait! Do not engage!"
"But sir-!"
"We don't want to damage the machine, and we wouldn't be able to stand up to it anyways...let the elites handle this one. We'll secure the base."
"Y-yes sir!" The soldier stuttered.
A woman with raven-black that glistened through the sunlight. She stacked the pile of papers laying on the desk while the LCD television set flickered at the side. She sighed, staring at the papers with her light blue eyes. Her slender and pale fingers held onto the papers delicately. Its been nothing but paperwork all week!
"...reports indicate that a large shipwreck has been sighted out at sea..." The report caught the woman's attention as she glanced at the television that was propped on a table near her desk. Inside the image, was a silver ship. It was silver at least, charred marks could be seen all over it and large indented scratch marks were engraved in its hull. It was like looking at the after math of a disaster zone. Metal scraps, crates and all sorts of items were scattered on the waters. The ship itself was in pieces, in fact, half of it was gone. The other half that remained was turned on its hull, the insides of it was melted. There was no sign of life, and even more signs that no life could have existed. AC limbs floated above the ocean, some of which were still attached, others seemed to have been torn off of the body and thrown overboard. Dead bodies of pilots or sailors were littered the insides of the ship. It was apparant that this was more than just a disaster zone. Not even a cyclone could do this to a carrier. " Judging by the style and size and equipment of the ship, it was apparantly a Sphere ship. The main question of course is what could have done this to a Sphere battle cruiser? It is true that Zeal has been in opposition with Sphere for a long time. However, it has never shown anything that amounts as much to this disaster. Just what could have possibly wreaked so much havoc on a Sphere battle cruiser? A surviving man from the chaos that insued has been hospitalized, doctors report that his wounds are not the problem. They say that the major problem is coming from his mind, a dilema of some sort..." The female voice seemed to dissipate, the woman who watched the news shut her mind off, wandering through her thoughts.
What could have done that! Zeal has no weapon that could split an entire carrier in half!
The receptionist at the desk was wearing a cap with an earpiece stuck in her left hear and a mouth piece curling down to meet her mouth. A young man, noticeably in his thirties, approached the desk with his pure white hair swaying back and forth. He wore pitch black clothing from top to bottom and had a navy blue jacket slung across his shoulder. The man was also followed by a girl with golden hair that reached down to her shoulders. She was a good few inches smaller than the man. "Hello, we're here to see Vega." The man said, a gentle smile played across his face.
"Lord Vega is currently at an important meeting. May I ask who you are and what you're business is with Lord Vega?" The receptionist asked in a hushed voice.
"Oh, I'm Scion and this is Beatrice Armstrong...a student of mine." The girl with blonde hair glared at the back of Scion's head. He had not taken notice and continued to smile gently at the receptionist.
"Oh yes! Can you please wait for awhile? You're quaters are down the hall, room thirty-six." The receptionist held out a key to Scion, it was gold and glinted brightly in the sunlight that came through the windows. Scion grabbed the golden key and placed it in his pant pockets.
"Thanks." He said, smiling once again.
"I'm surprised though...you're a bit late."
"Oh, heh...we had a slight derailing...nothing I couldn't handle though..."