Chapter 9

You're Gonna Go Far Kid

I was in the air for no more than a minute when I encountered my first foe. It was humongous. The squid glared at me with it's red eye, almost as if it was boring into my very soul. I froze up. "What the hell are you doing, Blaze?" radioed Dahlia. She quickly took down the Image in front of me with TheBELLONA's chest lasers. "Sorry," I apologized.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a family fleeing from an Image. My mind flashed back to a year ago, in that second I saw the family as my own. Without realizing it, I started barreling towards them. I wasn't about to let the same fate befall them. I took out my boomerang knife and plowed into the Image just as it's beastly jaws opened. Then I split it apart like it was nothing. Blood sprayed. "Hurry, there's a high speed craft about 6 kilometers to the north." I told the family. "Th-thank you." they told me before running off.

Todd radioed me. "Rookie, what are you doing?" he asked in a cold tone. "I was just…" I began. "We can't save everyone. Our mission is to protect that ship." he stated. "But…" I started to protest. "I could have you court-martialed for disobeying orders." he warned. Then, I saw a grin form on his face. "But thankfully, I'm not that type of guy. Good job." he smiled at me. "Thank you, commander." I told him as I hurried back to cargo ship.

"Is it just me or do these bakemono seem to be concentrating their attacks on that Vodarac vessel?" radioed Kelly. "No, I think you're right, sis." agreed Rob. The Image kept on pounding it as it attempted to leave the airport. Just what the hell is in that ship? To my left another foe appeared. I quickly shot it with my rifle before it had a chance to do anything. It exploded into a cloud of dust. Matt did the same with the ones on his six and ten.

Suddenly, all at once, every Image ceased attacking. "Did...did we win?" wondered Matt. My gut told me it wasn't that simple. The next thing I knew they started doing something. They began fusing together. "No, I don't think so." I told him.

Todd quickly took action. "Shit! It's the Ecstasy Phenomenon. I'm heading out in the 909. Jacobs, you're in charge while I'm gone." stated the commander. "Roger." responded his friend. He sprinted to the hanger, jumped in his mech, and launched.

"What the hell is that thing?!" yelled Emma as the beast continued to grow. Then all hell broke loose as a combination of wide-range Dimensional Bursts and Hikari Spears came forth the monster. All we could do was watch as it began to massacre everything in sight. A feeling of helplessness began to overwhelm me. One of it's beams struck the left leg of Matt's 505. "MATT!" I screamed. "I'm fine. My board's been hit though. Sorry, buddy." he radioed. I breathed a sigh of relief. "You did good, fall back to the Eclipse for repairs." I ordered. "Roger." he responded and did so.

(A/N: The Dimensional Burst is the name I'm giving that time-space rupture attack the Anti-body Coralians used in the anime. It left nothing but an orb shape behind. The Hikari or Light Spears are exactly as their name suggests. They're the beams of light the Anti-body Coralians used to take down airships. Remember them?)

*Phew!* A laser attack from the Eclipse struck the fused monster. "Don't just stand there, take that thing down!" came Todd's voice. The 909 had entered the battlefield. It immediately began a barrage of attacks on our new foe. "R-Roger." responded everyone, except for Emma. "Emma, what's wrong?" I radioed her.

Zita

It was happening again, another violent migraine. My head felt like it was going to explode. No, not now. "N-nothing, I'm fine." I responded as I fought off the attack. (A/N: I'm referring to her headache, not the Image btw.) "Don't scare me like that." said Hi. "Sorry," I apologized. I couldn't let him know about my attack, he'd just worry. We had to focus on the mission.

Hi

Another beam hit the pod launchers of a Striker belonging to Frazier, one of Alpha's squad members. "Emma go down and help him." I ordered. "Roger." was her only response. "Aim for the tentacles." said an unknown voice. I didn't know where it came from but, something told me to trust the voice. "The tentacles, aim for the tentacles! They're it's weak spot!" I radioed everyone. "What? And just how do you know that?" demanded Todd. "Just trust me." I responded. "Alright, you heard the rook. Everyone with me, our objective, the tentacles." he ordered us. "Roger!" went everyone as we sped towards the giant monster with our boomerangs ready.

We slowly closed in on the monstrous beast. "Now!" I shouted. The beast screamed as we severed it's limbs, two each. As the last one was cut off the giant beast fell to the ground with a loud boom. "The eye." said the mysterious voice."Everyone aim for the eye." I said. Once again we fired our guns, missiles, and pods at the beast as it squirmed, finishing the job. After letting out one final cry, it fell silent.

The rest of the Image suddenly began to turn to clay as the red sphere disappeared. The 1246 seconds had passed, it was over. "We won," I realized. "Hell yeah!" exclaimed the twins. I began radioing the others. I had to know if my comrades were alright. "Can anyone hear me? I repeat, can anyone hear me?" I waited for a few seconds. Then someone answered on the other side. "This is Tara, Alpha Team." a female voice replied. "Tara, how's your squad?" I asked. "My squad leader, Obito, is down but, not dead." she reported. "And the others, what about them?" I inquired. "The other leaders are on the ground checking for survivors." she reported.

"This is Kakashi, we've suffered many loses altogether. About three-fifths are still alive." he reported. I felt sick to my stomach, all those lives extinguished. Todd radioed me. "Rookie, look down." he told me. I did so and my eyes widened. The entire city was cheering for us. "So, how does it feel?" Dahlia asked with a smirk. My sorrow began to fade away, replacing it with joy. "It feels good." I told them. "We can't speak for the rest of IEF but, to us in Omega, this is what's all about." added Todd. I looked again at the thousands of lives we saved. "C'mon rook, let's finish our mission." he said.

After the Eclipse retrieved us, Todd radioed Alpha and Beta. "Alpha, Beta, I want you to stay behind." he told them. "The mission was to help you escort that ship all the way to Tresoir." protested Kakashi. "Right now, you need to do what you can for the survivors. There are a lot of people down there who still need your help. Omega can handle it from here." he stated. "Understood." sighed Tara. From that point, the rest of the escort mission went along smoothly.

Forty-five minutes later we arrived at Tresoir and landed along with the Vodarac ship. As the ship started unloading it's cargo I caught sight of a single large crate with V.E.N.O.M. stamped across it but, nothing else.

Seeing this Todd stormed over to the nearest technician and grabbed him by his collar. "One crate?! We risked our lives for one lousy, stupid, crate?!" he demanded. "Calm down, sir." went the technician. "Calm down?! My men nearly died out there!" he spat. He was furious. "Not that it's any of your business but, the contents of that one crate could turn the tide of this war. Now release me!" the technician demanded. Todd released him and stared at the crate. So did the rest of us. Could one crate really turn the tide? I found it hard to believe.

The commander approached his crew. "Mission complete, nice job. Now lets go home." he grunted. Everyone let out joyous cry. "Yes, sir!" responded the Eclipse's crew. Only the thought of holding my awaiting baby sister in my arms filled my head.

I decided to pay the ship's doctor a visit as Eclipse made it's way back to Controrado Base. I knocked on the door. "Come in," she said. The door slid open and I entered. The young girl looked up at me from her desk. "Blaze, was it? What can I do for you?" she asked. "Doctor, can I ask you something?" I requested. "Sure," she responded. "Is it common for soldiers to hear voices during battle?" I inquired. "Explain." she said.

"When I was fighting that fused Image it felt like there was this mysterious voice guiding me, telling me it's weak spots." I stated. "Has this ever happened before?" she pressed. "This was my first battle so, no." I admitted. "Well, there have been cases of soldiers making similar claims, it's not uncommon. It was probably just your instincts." she explained. I scratched my head. "Yeah, maybe. Sorry to have bothered you." I said. "Not at all." she assured me. "Thanks, Rin." I said. "That's Dr. Egan." she corrected me with a smile.

I opened the door and I found Emma standing there. "Emma/Blaze?" we went surprised to see the other. "What are you doing here?" I asked her. "I just needed to see the doctor. Don't worry, it's nothing." she told me as she looked away. "Did you have another attack? Was it...them?" I whispered so that only she could her. She said nothing. "Wanna talk about it?" I whispered. She stepped inside the room. "Later," she whispered as the door closed behind her. I just stood there for a moment

Emma

"My, I seem to be popular today. Your boyfriend was just here." chuckled Rin as I entered her office. I froze. "How did you?" I stuttered. "Oh please, I'm a girl first and a doctor second." she remarked with a smirk. "How can I help you?" she wondered. "Well, my head's been hurting. Do you have anything I could take for it?" I requested. "What type of headache is it? Mild, moderate, or severe?" she inquired. "Migraine." I answered.

"Do you suffer from migraines often?" she asked as she went over to her medicine cabinet. "No," I lied. She handed me a pill bottle. "Here, take two of these and call me in the morning." she said. I stared at her, confused. "It' an old doctor's joke. The directions are on the bottle." she informed me. "Oh. Thanks, Rin." I said as I left. "It's...oh, never mind. Why do I even bother?" she sighed. "I guess no matter where I go or what I do, I'll always just be, Lil' Rin." thought the doctor.

Hi

Three hours later we were back at Controrado. The ship docked in it's hanger and the catapult lowered. We were greeted by the Coronal, Izumi, and Yuki. "Welcome back," said Scott. "Honey, we're home." responded Todd jokingly. Matt dropped his helmet, ran to Izumi, and embraced her. Meanwhile, Yuki ran towards me. "Onii-san, onii-san," she cried over and over again as she ran. She leapt into my arms and gave me the biggest hug she ever had. "You're back." she cried. "I promised you, didn't I?" I whispered to her.

Later that night...

The hanger became loud and rowdy. "What's going on?" I asked Dahlia over the blaring music. Yuki had her ears covered but, there was also a big smile on her face. "Can't you tell? It's a party." she stated. "Is it always like this?" wondered Emma, covering her ears as well. "It's sorta a tradition in Omega to hold a welcoming party for the new guys after their first mission." she informed us. "In other words, you're the guests of honor." stated Todd walking up to us.

He looked around. "Hey, where's that Soma fella? This party was for him too." he inquired. Emma and I said nothing. "He and Miss Izumi ran off somewhere." little Yuki spoke up. The commander threw back his head and laughed. "Is that so? Well, I guess he must be celebrating elsewhere then, huh?" he remarked. "Sir!" I growled, glaring. He stopped laughing and stared at me. I motioned my head at Yuki. "Right, sorry." he apologized. Yuki tugged on my shirt. "What's he mean?" she asked innocently. "I'll tell you when you're older." I replied.

(A/N: Despite what Todd's and your dirty minds believe, Matt and Izumi aren't doing what you think they are. They're probably on a date or making out. I just thought I should clear that up.)

"Ally-oop," went Dahlia hoisting Yuki up and placing her atop her shoulders. Wow, she's gotten stronger. Yuki giggled. "Here you go, squirt." said Jacobs handing her a juice box.

After about fifteen minutes of eating and drinks, Todd stood up. "I propose a toast." he said raising his glass in the air. He turned to address me. "To Blaze, it may have been your first mission but, thanks to your quick thinking, we were able to take down that big sucker. You have the makings of a great leader. I think, you're gonna go far, kid. To Blaze!" he shouted. "To Blaze!" everyone joined in raising their drinks. Even Yuki raised her juice box.

The next day...

"Where were you last night?" I asked Matt with a smirk. "I took Izumi out for dinner, why?" he answered. "They threw us a party. You, me, and Emma were the guests of honor." I informed him. "Really? Damn, I can't believe I missed it." he groaned. "So, what did you two have?" I inquired. "Sushi. Squid and eel to be precise." he replied, smiling. "Blah!" I retorted. "What? I thought you liked sushi?" he questioned. "Let's just say I won't be having seafood for awhile." I mumbled. "Wuss," he jabbed.

(A/N: Or eating out, whatever works for them. ^_^)