Chapter 4: The Witness to Armageddon
"Dust swirled overhead as people huddled...witnesses to Armageddon."
-Dan Brown, Angels and Demons
08:55 hours, 4 kilometers away from secret Raven outpost "Hell's Grave, inside cockpit of AC Halimaw
"What the hell just happened?" thought the pilot, apparently traumatized by the gravity of his current predicament, his flesh pale, still in shock from witnessing such power.
The STARLING MTs that he had faced a few minutes ago were like a walk in the park for him and his engine of destruction.
A few minutes ago, he thought this would be the easiest mission to accomplish.
Now, after seeing firsthand the power that his bounty possessed, his mind was nary but putty before the hands of trepidation.
His AC wasn't looking too good, either.
Several scorch marks could be seen where the ivory beam passed over the AC's left shoulder. The reinforced pivots that supported the HYDRA missile pack had melted away, leaving a jagged stump of molten steel in its place.
Behind the AC, the iceberg that the beam collided with had vanished, leaving behind a vast crater marking its passing.
He was now a witness to Armageddon.
Still trembling, he aimed his AC's bazooka and linear rifle at his opponent.
His opponent would pay for the loss of his missile pack with his life.
08:57 hours, 3.2 kilometers from secret Raven outpost "Hell's Grave," inside cockpit of AC Black Dragon
"With his multi-missile pack gone, maybe I can finally breathe easy...," thought the Emperor, unaware that the missile fired by the HYDRA missile pack was now heading straight for him.
Outside, the multi-missile split into 4, accompanying the relation missiles on their flight of retribution.
With the Emperor's AC remaining stationary, he would stand no chance of dodging those missiles in time.
Inside the cockpit, a warning started to boom out of the 2 speakers positioned beside both flanks of the central monitor. The central monitor also read in large red letters:
AERIAL MULTIPLE-VECTOR STRIKE IS IMMINENT. EVASIVE MANEUVERS ARE A RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION.
"Oh, really," he spoke. "It's time to use those decoy dispensers."
Multiple orbs started to shoot out of his AC's arms, diverting the missiles to them.
They worked, but failed to divert 2 of the 6 incoming missiles, the remainder colliding into the decoys.
"Stray missiles have been detected," the AC's surveillance AI spoke. "Permission to activate core AMS."
"Permission granted," replied the Emperor. "As long as those missiles don't hit, all necessary actions must be taken. Activate the BDC and lower the targeting sights."
"Affirmative," the AI responded. "Core AMS has been activated."
With that, the quad guns on the CR-C83UA core whirred to life and shot down the last traces of the multi-missile barrage.
During all this commotion, the BDC antimatter cannon had finished the annihilation sequence, its barrel glowing white, ready to release its powerful ivory lance once more.
With the targeting sight lowered, the Emperor started to establish a lock on Halimaw. Meanwhile, his left arm KRSW hi laser rifle fired continuously at the AC's heavily armored frame, preventing it from establishing a lock of its own.
09:02 hours, 2.7 kilometers from secret Raven outpost "Hell's Grave," inside cockpit of AC Halimaw, closing distance towards AC Black Dragon
"I can't keep this up for much longer," spoke the pilot. "He's starting to wear me down..."
His AC was starting to belch smoke in several areas, mostly as a result of the multiple KRSW rounds impacting on its framework. Even though his AC was built to have high energy defense, this was simply too much for it to handle.
He had to get out of here, and fast...
Suddenly, the surveillance AI began to speak, its voice icy in tone.
But, this time, it was more icy than usual.
"Powerful energy signature detected," the AI droned on. "Cannot identify."
"Oh, great," the pilot muttered. "Now, I also have a Pulverizer to deal with."
The incoming Pulverizer, fortunately, was a tank. The tanks were the least armored of the monstrosities.
The significant threat it posed to his AC, however, could not be denied.
09:10 hours, 3.5 kilometers from secret Raven outpost "Hell's Grave," inside cockpit of AC Black Dragon
"Great," the Emperor muttered. "Just when things were starting to get fun..."
"Brother?" the comm. officer asked. "Are you okay there? You were silent for the last few minutes."
"We may have a setback," he replied. "Keep all signals in the outpost on stealth mode. We have a Pulverizer in the area."
"Roger that," the comm. officer replied. "Give them hell. Over and out."
"Time to end this," he spoke, and turned his AC to face the Pulverizer, with the antimatter cannon ready to fire.
After establishing a lock, he fired.
Another ivory beam emerged from the barrel, except this one was different.
It was larger than the previous beam fired at Halimaw's missile pack.
The Emperor had overcharged the weapon.
Normally, when energy weapons were used for an AC, such as the energy sniper rifles and various laser rifles, it was not possible to use extra energy to infuse the first shot with more power.
But, with the advent of the CR-06BDC, it was now possible to overcharge energy weapons.
Basically, the trigger button for the annihilation sequence's initialization would be pressed twice, yielding twice the power of a regular BDC shot.
Unfortunately, its inherent instability when it came to heat became even worse when overcharged, and it usually resulted in massive damage and ionization of the energy channeling device integrated into the barrel.
The ivory lance crashed dead center into the core of the Pulverizer's torso.
The resulting energy ball began to grow and grow, consuming the Pulverizer until no trace of it could be seen within the glowing sphere, virtually invisible against the snow of Antarctica's landscape.
Then, it stabilized, and a second sun shone before the pilot of Halimaw.
Suddenly, a gargantuan shockwave emanated from the orb, knocking Halimaw off its feet, crashing a few meters away, while the ball began to shrink, eventually vanishing from existence.
"Now," spoke the Emperor, "it's time to get rid of you."
Aiming the BDC at Halimaw, he triggered the annihilation sequence, preparing to wipe another Raven from existence.
To be continued...
Author's Note: Well, guess you now know where I got the antimatter idea from...