Disclaimer: see the first two chapters.
Bold is thought
Italic is the computer talking
Underlined Parentheses is communication
Underlined Bold are emails.
Chapter 3: Defender
I have no idea how long I was asleep, but the next thing I remember was the sun filtering through the blinds and hitting me in the face. I grunted silently and rolled onto my back cursing the sun and the headache that plagued me. This wasn't a normal headache, but more along the lines of a 'hangover' headache, which would be odd because I've never drunken alcohol. A normal person WOULD be worried, but I've had this type of headache before, mostly when I was an MT pilot. Of course, this was nothing compared to back then, where the pain was so bad, ripping my head off would be slightly less painful. When the sun and pain refused to go away, I signed and rolled to my left.
Bad idea.
WHAM! I hit the floor sending a dull pain throughout my body. "… damn it" I muttered. I could already tell this day was going to be bad. I struggled to sit up and finally came upright and rested my back against the front of the couch.
It took a few minutes for the events of the previous night to return to me. When it finally came back to me, I smiled thinly; I had finally become a Raven. I stood up slowly, as not to entice my headache to worsen anymore than it already was. Shower, I needed a shower. I strode over to my suitcase which I had brought here and thrown on the coffee table last night before that mission. I unzipped it and took out clean clothes which included a black sleeveless shirt and black jeans and then proceeded to the bathroom.
I sighed quietly as I stripped down: I had a few credits from last night, but it wasn't enough to upgrade my AC or anything spectacular, but at least I could get some food. I turned the water on and waited for it to warm before stepping in the shower and closing the door behind me. The water was lukewarm, but it was enough to wake me completely. It also dulled my headache somewhat. I worked the water into my hair and thought about various things while I finished showering. I stepped out, dried myself and got dressed. I stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing the towel on my hair. I draped the towel over my shoulders and walked over to the computer nestled in a corner of the room.
A small orange light was flashing in the corner of the monitor, indicating I had new mail. I tapped the mail icon on the screen and a box appeared on screen. In it were five sky blue icons, they were new and unread. Two were from Laine Meyers, one from Crest, one from The Controller and the last one was from Global Cortex. I opened the one from the Controller first.
Title: No. 0824-FK3203
Sender: The Controller
Text: This message is to notify citizen 0824-FK3203 of their authentication as a Raven, which includes the right to operate ACs in support of activities registered through Global Cortex. Keep in mind that your actions while holding this position must, at all times, adhere to the laws set in place for maintaining order throughout Layered. Reports in any questionable activities will result in your immediate dismissal and the revoking of all rights and privileges associated with being a Raven. Good luck in your endeavors.
I closed the email and sighed. Blunt, firm and to the point. Doesn't surprise me.
I had a pretty good idea what both of Laine's emails said, so I just deleted them and opened Crests.
Title: Our Thanks
Sender: Crest
Text: Good work Raven. We appreciate your help. If a few factory jobs have to be sacrificed for the greater good of society, then so be it. It's a harsh reality, but the decision to redevelop Sector 303 was made by The Controller and we aren't about to stand in the way. We sincerely hope that you'll continue to assist us so that order can be maintained.
I scoffed before I could stop myself. "Greater good of society?" I had to restrain myself from thinking on the subject matter before my temper got the better of me and opened the Cortex's email.
Title: Mission Request
Sender: Global Cortex
Operation Area: Dome Arena
Enemy Forces: Unknown
Objective: Destroy all enemy forces.
Text: Information has come to light regarding a possible terrorist attack on Global Cortex interests. The instigators have yet to be revealed, but there is no mistaking their intentions.
As far as we know, they plan to one of our Arena facilities and force the cancellation of an up coming match. Stand by on the scene and make sure the attack does not succeed. An overwhelming show of force must be brought to bear so that our response isn't misinterpreted. Hostilities against Global Cortex are not tolerated and will be dealt with accordingly. You showed the ability to adapt to unforeseen events in your initiation mission and we have chosen you for this mission because of that. Due to our stance on this matter, your reward will be determined by the number of enemy units destroyed. Do not let us down.
I tapped the close icon and stood up. A Raven for less than a day and I was already making waves. I smiled, then went about finding my flight suit. I strapped it in on (not as easy as it sounds) and proceeded to the garage. I headed toward my AC and stopped a few yards from it and looked it up and down. Last night it had been a silvery grey color, but now it was a jet black with red detail and a gleaming red eye. I couldn't remember requesting my AC to be painted, but I was happy someone took the initiative and painted it for me; and in the colors my old MT had been.
"I figured you'd like it." came a deep, gruff voice from behind me. I whirled around and found the speaker: a tall man who was likely in his late forties with graying hair and piercing green eyes. He grinned and extended his hand. "Name's Markos. I'm the Chief Mechanic of Garage 7."
I took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "I'm Sabre. Thanks for the paint job."
His grin faded to a friendly smile. "Heh, no problem. Figured you'd want the same color on your AC that was on your MT." He looked like he was about to say more, by one of the other mechanics called out and waved him over. "Well, duty calls. See ya later."
I nodded and then proceeded to my AC's cockpit. I sat in the control seat and donned my helmet. The cords in the head rest snapped into the back of my helmet and loaded the HUD into my helmet. I tapped the ignition keys and inserted my ID tag. The machine hummed to life and the console lights flooded the cockpit. Main system start-up. Welcome back Raven. Do you with to assign a name to this AC unit? Where the hell did that come from? It didn't ask me that last night. I already had a name for it of course; it was my old MT's name.
"Yes I do: Oblivion."
Confirmed. Name Oblivion has been registered with Global Cortex Archives, Raven.
"Don't call me Raven, call me Sabre."
Roger, this unit will refer to the pilot as Sabre.
I rolled my eyes and disabled the clamps that held my AC, then gently walked Oblivion out of the stall. I then ignited the boosters and head out of the garage and towards the Arena entry ramp. It took me a little over ten minutes to get to the dome arena and dock with the entry ramp. It took only a couple of minutes to arrive at the arena's entry doors. With a grinding moan, the doors opened and revealed the cavernous arena.
No sooner had I stepped through the doors, than my lock-on alarm started wailing. I hit my boosters a moment too late and two missiles slammed into my side, causing my AC to skid back a few yards on its feet. I recovered just in time to dodge a salvo of chaingun slugs and open fire on the tactical attack MT. Four rifle shots slammed into the MT's chicken-knee joint and cockpit and cause it to collapse in a smoking ruin. I jumped and dodged a rocket from a mini-support MT and fire three shots. The MT exploded and I hit the ground with a thud.
I turned and saw that I was being vastly outnumbered. There were at least twenty tactical MTs and around ten mini-support MTs.
"Damn."
I grunted and switched to my missile launcher and quickly fire three missiles in quick succession at an approaching mini MT. I was already firing another three missiles at yet another mini MT even as the first was going down. Oblivion staggered forward suddenly as a rocket from another mini-support slammed into its back. I whipped around while switching to my rifle and punished the punk by firing right into its rocket launcher. The resulting explosion destroyed several adjutant tactical MTs and two mini-support Mts. A missile slammed into my left arm joint and severed it almost completely. This was getting very bad, very fast.
I fired my rifle at a tactical MT approaching from my left and sent it crashing to the ground.
Another missile slammed in my back and shredded the left side of my Overboost. I quickly turned and fired three times and sent the enemy to the ground.
"This is getting tedious." I growled.
I slammed my knee into an MT and sent it skidding on its back. I then boosted back and fired five times, downing a mini MT with every shot. I skidded to a stop and checked my radar: there were a lot of red blips. Too many for me to handle on my own. I grunted as I slammed into another MT that was closing in on my left. I dropped it with a knee to its side and fired into another one that was trying to get behind me.
I saw another tactical MT's minigun barrel start to spin and knew there wasn't enough time to avoid or counter.
A sniper slug came out of nowhere and split the MT in two at the waist.
(Looks like you could use a hand.)
A deep bronze and black AC dropped in beside me and cut down two MTs with one slash. The AC in question had middleweight legs, with ultra light arms and core and Skyeye head, with a grenade launcher and chaingun mounted to its back, with energy missile interception units. It carried a high attack power sniper rifle and a Moonlight blade.
(AC Arcadia identified.)
Arcadia switched to its chaingun and unleashed a withering storm of bullets into the massing Mts. I wasn't about to stand there and let him have all the fun, so I opened with my rifle and downed two tac-MTs and three mini-MTs.
The pilot of Arcadia chuckled. (Not bad rookie.)
"Thanks. You're not half bad yourself." I shot back.
Between the two of us, it took only a few minutes to finish the remaining MTs.
Arcadia flew off towards the southwestern gate.
(Not bad Raven,) he said, and I detected just a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. (I hope we can work together again.)
I was left standing there, wondering who the pilot was, why he was there and why someone with such formidable power and skills would have complimented a rookie such as myself.
"Who is he?" I wondered aloud.
Not wanting to dwell on it to long, I exited the arena and returned to the hangar. I had to stop myself from laughing as I got out of the cockpit to Markos's howling about how I had trashed my AC right after he had it repaired. I was hungry and decided to proceed back to my room. I was also curious as to the identity of Arcadia's pilot. I threw together a couple of sandwiches (I didn't even bother to look to see what I had put on them, I was THAT hungry.)
I brought up the Global Cortex's Raven database and imputed Arcadia. It didn't take long to turn up results.
Arcadia's pilot was called Ace, and he was the A-1 arena ranked Raven and an S ranked Raven overall. In a word; one of the most powerful Ravens currently registered with the Cortex.
A dozen questions went through my head: Why had he been there? Why had he helped me? Why had he acknowledged me, a new pilot?
I wouldn't get the answers for some time, but when I did, my life would be changed forever.
To be continued….
I am so sorry for the wait. I haven't had my writing mojo lately and have been in a kind of slump, but thats slowly disappearing, so look for updates in the near future.