Damn it! Light thought. This Knight just seems to adapt to everything I throw at it.
The battle between Light and 24 had been raging for quite some time with neither side gaining a distinct advantage over the other. Light kept attacking in varying patterns but 24 was quick to adapt to each one before too much damage could be done.
"The heck with this, Thunderbolt!" Light yelled, sending a massive bolt of lightning at his foe.
"All right! You're mine now!" 24 cried as the forearm of his Knight folded out into a shield, easily blocking Light's incoming attack. "Now, let's see you deal with some energy blasts!"
The other arm of 24's Knight, which had previously held the baton, then folded out into an energy gun and proceeded to launch a countless number of projectiles.
Thrown into a frenzy by his failed attack, Light began to bob and weave, dodging as many attacks as possible while detonating the rest with Shadow Balls.
I've used too much energy. Light thought. I need more information if I'm going to beat this guy. "How are you able to block all of my attacks? No other human has been capable of such a feat."
Lowering his gun, 24 answered. "It's because of the new model of Knight: the Freudian model."
I need to keep him talking. "It doesn't look all that special to me. What makes it different from say my buddy's Knight on the shore over there." Light said, referring to Grunt who was engaged in combat against multiple AKs.
"Ordinary Knights require the pilot to input commands manually, which is why literally anyone can pilot them, even those who have low AK compatibility." 24 explained. "The Freudian model allows controls to be taken directly from the mind, cutting down on command time and increasing the overall performance of the device by nearly 50%."
"Taking commands from the mind… an interesting concept." Light mused. "But that would require a very creative imagination and a disciplined mind."
"Which is why I had to be created." 24 replied. "Ordinary humans wither couldn't maintain the proper amount of mental discipline or simply weren't imaginative enough to increase performance by a noticeable amount."
I've almost caught my breath, just a little more. "You seem perfectly normal to me. How are you able to do what the others couldn't?"
"As I said before, I was created for the sole purpose of piloting this machine. Scientists spliced a portion of Mewtwo's DNA into a number of children and raised them in a military setting. After various tests and refining, I was the first successful product of this research."
"Just because you were created for that machine, doesn't make you unbeatable!" Light cried, sparks flying around him in a brilliant display. "Thunderbolt!"
"Oh, so you still do want to fight." 24 said. Using his shield once again, the Thunderbolt was easily blocked. "I was content to let you regain your strength a while longer but if you're so eager to be beaten, so be it."
Both sides began to launch huge energy attacks at one another as though it were child's play, neither one gaining a single inch toward defeating the other. However, Light's stamina soon began to waver, the toll of blocking the earlier cannons shots finally coming due, and 24 began to push him back toward the shoreline.
My energy levels are crashing hard. Light thought. If this keeps up, we'll lose the battle for sure. Hopefully the others are OK. Maybe with their help we can still salvage a win out of this.
Back on shore
"Darn it. This is not going well!" Grunt yelled to no one in particular as he was forced to dodge yet another attack from one of the many AKs swarming around his position.
Since Light made a beeline for the enemy base, the oncoming AKs were left to the NAA forces on the shore to deal with. Grunt, being the highest ranking officer present and having a Knight that looked markedly different from the others, was quickly targeted by a number of AKs and was having trouble keeping them all at bay. Unable to use his signature rocket launcher at such a close range, Grunt was forced to make extensive use of the chest cannon and machine guns which, while effective, didn't provide him with the firepower he was used to.
"God! I destroy one of these things and three more take its place." Grunt said, bobbing and weaving between blasts, trying to identify a new target. "Momo, Nate! Are you available to back me up yet!"
"Sorry Grunt!" Momo replied. "The retreating eastern forces are in pretty bad shape so it's taking them a little longer to move through."
"Hold out a little longer buddy!" Nate said. "By my calculations I'd say we'll be set here in about ten minutes. Can you hold out til then?"
"It's gonna be an exhausting ten minutes then." Grunt said before ending the communication.
Renewed through the knowledge that help would be coming soon, Grunt began to reverse the momentum of the battle and put his enemies on the defensive. By firing his machine guns in a certain way, Grunt was able to guide the enemy AKs into the line of fire of the chest cannon. He was able to take out quite a few before the battle took another turn.
"Yeah! How about you have a taste of this!" Grunt yelled. Pulling the trigger of one of his guns, all that was heard was a loud CLICK.
Capitalizing on this break in Grunt's attack the enemy AKs swooped in and began a counterattack.
"What happened?!" Grunt yelled, looking at his gauges to see the word OVERHEATING written over and over. "OVERHEATED! I didn't even know that could happen! "
Overheated weapons turned out to be the least of Grunt's worries as an enemy sniper got off a lucky shot, blowing the leg clear off of his Knight, sending it skidding across the ground.
"How long has it been since talking with the others?" Grunt asked himself. Seeing it had only been seven minutes. He resigned himself to his fate.
"I've had a good run but looks like it's time for me to take my curtain call." Pulling out his rocket launcher, Grunt prepared for a suicidal attack. "For the glory of TEAM-"
Before he could finish his battle cry, forces from the west appeared on the scene, easily taking out the AKs that had been cornering the trigger happy solder.
"Wait a second. How are you guys still in one piece?" Grunt asked bewildered at the sudden appearance of the force everyone in the NAA had assumed wouldn't make it across the battlefield.
"It's all because of them!" One overly happy AK pilot commented.
Jumping down from a flying Pokemon, Silver landed elegantly on the ground next to the downed Knight.
"My name is Silver. Are you the one in charge of these forces?"
"Only the ones on this shoreline." Grunt replied. "Our head commander is currently engaged in battle over the water and probably kicking some butt!"
"I'd like to have a discussion with him after the battle but what is the condition of the rest of your troops?"
"Two of our other commanders are shielding the way over on the eastern end of the mountain and the majority of the troops stationed here are still in battle ready condition."
"Good. I'll assist you in dealing with these forces then. Everyone go forth into battle!" Silver yelled, trying to be dramatic.
A resounding battle cry was Silver's only response and the forces soon began to advance.
Back to Light's battle
Darn it. Light thought. I'm just getting completely overwhelmed. There's no way I can win if this keeps up!
After trading blows a few times, 24 began to push Light back toward the shoreline and away from the base. With his energy dropping fast, Light's situation has only deteriorated further as 24 pushes him back with every blow.
"Time for me to end this!" 24 yelled. "Samurai Strike!"
The hand that had been holding the baton once again folded out, only this time revealed an even deadlier weapon, a Sword.
With 24 charging in at the quickest rate since the beginning of the battle, the exhausted Light didn't even have time to attempt to block the finishing blow. He was knocked back to the shore and came to rest a ways inland after skidding viciously across the ground.
"Do you now see the power that technology can bring?" 24 remarked as he came to stop in front of Light. "You were fools to try and attack here. If you had attacked anywhere else, you could have easily won, but you had to choose here."
Too exhausted to even speak in his usual refined manner, Light replied weakly, "What can I say? I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment."
"Too bad you won't be able to feel more of it." 24 said raising his blade. "Good-bye Light, for what it's worth you were a worthy foe."
Before 24 could bring his blade down on the defenseless Light, a Sonicboom, fired from Nate's AK, knocked him backwards and shifted the attention of the pilot to the incoming NAA forces under Nate and Momo.
"How dare you try to hurt our commander!" Nate yelled. "Sword Resonance!"
As Nate and 24 began to cross swords in a heated bout, Momo ran to Light and began treating his wounds.
"What happened Light?" She asked, transferring some of the energy she had absorbed into her commander.
"He was too strong for me." Light said. "I didn't have enough left in me to take him on after shielding our forces here."
"We can still win!" Momo said, trying to encourage Light. "Surely you have a plan!"
"I do but I don't have the proper pieces in play." Light replied, slowly getting to his feet. "Or rather the pieces in play are too worn to do what I need them to do."
Is he talking about the NAA troops as though they're chess pieces? Momo thought. "We still have to try! If we give up hope, what will the troops think? Now what do you need?"
Meanwhile
"There certainly isn't a shortage of capable fighter here today!" 24 remarked as he blocked a swing from Nate's sword and moved to counterattack.
"You're not too shabby yourself!" Nate replied as he blocked the counter.
"You must be an experienced pilot to be able to match my moves."
"I've had my AK for quite some time now and fought in countless battles with it at my side, so you could say I'm experienced. But in all my battles, I've never seen a Knight move so fluidly, how-"
"It's because of the new technology within." Light broke in as he walked calmly back to the battlefield.
"I'm surprised you're able to stand, much less walk." 24 commented. "Come back to rejoin the fun?"
"What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment. Nate let's roll!"
"O…K Light." Nate replied, surprised at how casual his commander was acting.
Thus the battle resumed with Light and Nate facing off against the nearly unstoppable 24 with a now energy depleted Momo watching from the sidelines. Once again, Light and Nate started off strong but were soon beaten back by the sheer force of will 24 exerted through his machine.
"You've been a great distraction but it's time to finish both of you!" 24 cried, transforming his sword hand back into a blaster. "And I'm going to do it in one blow! Fire!"
"Be careful guys!" Momo yelled. "That blast has an even higher energy concentration than the cannon fire from earlier!"
This is what I wanted! Light thought. "Time to face this head on. Nate launch your strongest attack on my mark. THUNDERBOLT!"
"Sonicboom!"
As the attacks met, both sides began to pour even more power into their respective attacks, trying to gain an edge on the other.
Darn it we aren't going to have enough! Light thought. This is the end!
"Need some help?"
Suddenly a silver Eevee came out of nowhere and launched a Swift attack at aid Light and Nate in their beam struggle.
Quickly regaining what was left of his composure, Light replied, "Much obliged stranger."
The beams, which had slowly been moving toward Light and Nate stopped and began to slowly reverse its direction.
"Bringing in reinforcements?" 24 remarked, "No matter, I still have power to spare!"
The second arm of 24's Knight then proceeded to morph before fusing with the first arm to create one giant cannon barrel. With the additional firepower from 24's Knight, the beam began to creep back toward the NAA's two officers.
"This is the end of you!" 24 yelled.
We're tapped out. Light thought. He's won.
"You forget," Silver cried, "We still have power to spare as well! All troops attack!"
The troops that Momo and Nate had protected in the east and those who had followed Silver in the west then joined the struggle behind Light, escalating the battle further, yet the beam refused to move back toward 24.
"You've just sealed ALL your fates! Now Die!"
24 once again began to increase his power output but rather than moving toward the NAA forces, the beam began to creep back toward him.
"What's happening?" 24 cried. "I'm imagining my beam defeating all of you therefore the beam should be moving toward you, not me!"
"That's where you're wrong." Light said. "You may be able to control your Knight through visualization but your machine has limitations that your imagination doesn't. You've just reached that limit."
"No, that can't be!"
"All forces, full power!" Silver yelled.
That order spelled the end of Mt. Pyre's commander. Immediately after being issued, the beam began to race toward 24 and the resulting explosion completely destroyed the specially made Knight and left the pilot barely hanging on to his life.
Collapsing to the ground, Light began to gasp for air as Momo made the announcement. "The commander has been defeated. Everyone charge and take the base now!"
"Thank you for your-"
Before Light could finish thanking Silver, he was slapped hard by the stranger who had just helped him defeat 24.
"Do you have any regard for your troops?!"
With the battle now over, Silver began to realize what she had just done and proceeded to run behind Golem, who had just arrived on the scene.
"Sorry about that." Golem said. "She becomes an entirely different person when she sees other's lives in danger. I suppose we should introduce ourselves. The Eevee behind me is our commander Silver and I'm Lizardcrap but you can just call me LC."
"Lizardcrap?" Nate asked confused.
"It's a family name." Golem replied.
"What do you mean I have no regard for my troops?!" Light yelled, scaring Silver further.
"It's just.. you left those troops stranded out there." Silver replied meekly. "Every life should be considered precious."
"I agree but I'm doing what has to be done in order to fix this broken world for everyone."
"But at what cost?"
Silver's response caught everyone off guard and left everyone to simply stand in silence.
"Silver Eevee… Highest regard for life.." Nate pondered. "You're the Reluctant Queen!"
"Yeah that's the nickname she's been given." LC responded. "She is our leader yet she hates fighting. Only rushing into battle to help save others, that's our Reluctant Queen and we are her Queen's Guard."
"Is that the name of your resistance cell?" Momo asked.
"It wasn't the name we would've chosen but it's seemed to stick." LC replied.
"She came on to the scene here about a couple of months ago and built a cell revolving around the saving of refugees rather than outright violence against any of the powers." Nate continued.
"Where have you been operating from?" Light asked, finally overcoming Silver's earlier remark.
"We've been operatin' out of the remains of Lilycove." LC replied. "Even got a couple of the ports working again an' everything."
"How about we discuss a joint venture between the New Age Alliance and Queen's Guard?" Light asked.
"Sure thing!" LC replied.
Later
As LC and the NAA members discussed the rebuilding of Lilycove, Silver slipped away and, taking a communicator from her fur, sent a message to her hidden masters.
"I've… made contact."
"Well well well." Came the voice of Person 1 from the communicator, making Silver shiver in fear. "You've completed your task earlier than expected."
"Does this mean it can all stop?" Silver asked, hoping there wasn't more to her assignment.
"No. Your next task is to find a way to keep tabs on Light. Perhaps you can join the NAA."
"But I already joined a resistance group."
"So we've heard. News of your exploits has reached even here and the board is not pleased. If you should do something like that again, we'll send other agents to keep a closer eye on you."
"Yes sir."
"Your task has not changed. You are to spy on Light and report back to us."
"But what about the Queen's Guard?"
"You joined them of your own accord. That's your problem." Person 1 replied before abruptly ending the communication.
AN: Salutations readers! Here's the rest of the Battle for Mt. Pyre with more 'plot' brewing in the background! Hopefully any questions from last chapter were cleared up here. If not the offer still stands to leave a review or message me and I'll do my best to explain where I was coming from. Until next time, enjoy!
Also (been a while since I did this) Ten point to whoever can guess why Mt. Pyre's commander was named 24 rather than another number!
PS: Character submissions are still ongoing, check out chapter 18 for details. If I don't receive any submissions for Slateport, you guys will just have to settle for another one of my creations.