Chapter 4

Clemont began desperately slamming the buttons in his cockpit. Dammit, dammit, dammit! His heart began racing, and thoughts were rushing through his head so fast that he never really had time to process them. Am I really going to end up like the first team that was sent here? I can't fail yet… I CANNOT fail yet! In the midst of Clemont's nervous mental chatter, he heard an all too familiar voice coming from the small screen in the middle of his control panel.

"Oh Clemont, don't tell me you've already forgotten about your big red button," Lloyd said in a very judgmental tone. "I knew you were forgetful, but it's so eye-catching. How could you possibly miss it?"

Clemont's heart rate slowed back down to it's normal pace. He remembered what Lloyd said about installing an emergency power source. He had invented a revolutionary technology that could convert solar energy into simulated Sakuradite power. The frame could absorb the energy from the sun, allowing a pilot to stay in control even when his Knightmare has been trapped in a Gefjun disturber.

"Thanks Lloyd! You're a life saver… quite literally." Clemont made a mental note to really make Lloyd's efforts worth his while.

"Don't get too excited. Those rebels still have plenty of Knightmares, some of which are very advanced. Even their regular ground units are far more advanced than ours."

Clemont heard Lloyd's warning, but he quite frankly had no interest. "Lloyd, with this Knightmare, I'll be invincible." He had a massive grin spreading across his face, and he was brimming with excitement at the prospect of finally getting to test out his new toy in real combat.

"Listen to me, Clemont," Lloyd warned him. "You're severely outnumbered. The rest of your squad doesn't have the solar converters, and the enemy's Knightmares are upgraded versions of our ground units."

Upon taking a closer look, Clemont noticed that the enemy Knightmares that surrounded his squad were all Sutherlands that had been repainted and equipped with less outdated weaponry and float units. Not only that, but Clemont was vastly outnumbered. The rebels even had some seventh and eighth generation Knightmares themselves. "You're right, Lloyd… Damn."

"Clemont, please, just surrender. If you do, we can have reinforcements over there in a matter of-"

"No, Lloyd," Clemont interrupted. "I'm not surrendering this Knightmare."

"Have you gone mad? The most important thing is the life of the pilot, not the Knightmare! The only chance you have of escaping this one alive would be to just surrender!"

"But… I haven't even gotten a chance to try this out," Clemont argued. "I want to see some limbs fly."

Clemont's new sadistic attitude frightened the sociopathic scientist, and he couldn't even muster the strength to tell Clemont not to resist. At that point, it was already too late. Clemont slammed the red button on his control panel and took off straight into the air, where he was soon pursued by ten of the modified Sutherland pilots. Clemont continued his ascent but began slowly but surely decreasing his speed. Eventually, he had slowed to a complete stop and the rebel units flew right past him. They had flown above the thick clouds and none of the ground units could see what was happening above. Even the rebels who had remained on the ground were too stunned to try to pursue him. The rebel Sutherlands were now above Clemont, and he laughed at the fact that he had gotten his enemies right where he wanted them.

"Damn fools, the lot of you!" Clemont yelled through his microphone. "Be proud that you get to be the first victims of the Goliath's unparalleled fighting abilities!" His self-righteous spiel was broken up into barely intelligible spoutings by menacing laughter. He relished the idea of killing, now that he finally had the opportunity. The timid schoolboy that Clemont had once been disappeared underneath the mask of a hardened soldier, and he took hold of the two control sticks on the sides of his control panel. On the top of the two sticks sat two black buttons, and the newborn warrior pushed the buttons down without hesitation. Within a fraction of a second, the Hadron cannons booted up and Clemont sent blasts through every single rebel unit. Before any of them had time to move, all ten modified Sutherlands had been blown to bits by Clemont's new weapon. Down below, all that the ground units could see were explosions, followed by falling debris.