Chapter 13-Locked in a memory
I sat in the back of a Sky Hopper class transport gunship that was one of four landed at the landing strip in Mistralton City…I was locked inside the gunship on the orders of Liro who did not wish me to leave until I and my armor were fully healed…I was not the only one under lockdown…my apprentice Mira was also locked up in one of the gunships…though mine had something her's didn't…mine possessed a device that could allow me to relive my memories in great detail…I had been sitting in the gunship for a day already so I decided to simply plug myself into it…I needed to do something to preserve my sanity…I sat in the chair as the screen lowered over me and the tubing stuck me in the arms…soon I passed from conciseness…
-Computer World-
"Scanning," the computerized voice stated, "Occupant registered…selecting memory…memory selected…Region: Mindal…Mission: "Peace" meeting with Rouge Mindal Lord…Mission Start.
-Mindal Region: On board a Reaper class gunship-
I had just turned fifteen and this was my first mission outside of Ransei and I was quite nervous…I was to lead a squad of commandos against a rouge Mindal lord who had sought Ransei support to succeed from Mindal and promised his huge amounts of resources if we aided him…we told him we would help him and we told the Mindal government we'd attempt to bring him back into Mindal…we lied…in truth we planned to kill him…we'd received word that prototype plans for our latest weapons had been leaked to this rebel lord…and I planned to make sure that the leak stopped there.
"My lord this mission has not been sanctioned by the shogun," the commando stated, "Aren't you afraid of reprisal from your uncle?"
"No," I answered checking my armor…I was a level 1 warrior and my current evolution armor was standard Ashigaru armor, "My father gave me permission to test my new weapon designs…and I've always suspected that combat is the best test."
"If you're sure sir," the captain sighed unsure of the situation.
"Captain Sven we're approaching the landing zone," another soldier shouted.
"Ok everyone gather up," Capt. Sven shouted, "We're going over the plan one more time."
"Really," another soldier chuckled, "Anyone who doesn't have the plan down by now should be thrown out the back of the chopper…I mean we've only done three dozen training exercises to prepare for this operation.
"Shut your mouth and listen Gustav," Sven shouted, "We'll be landing just inside the grounds…this attack is commencing in broad daylight so expect heavy fire on touch down. If we fail to eliminate the target in the opening shots we'll be fighting through the mansion and will attempt to capture the courtyard as that's the best staging ground to land our reinforcements as it gives us access to the structure from all directions. We'll split up at this point to pursue the target and keep in radio contact until the target is down. We will have little to no armor support and this chopper will be our only air support and our only exit…if this chopper goes down we'll all be walking home."
"Good thing Reapers are built to last," Gustav laughed.
He was right…Reapers were the toughest military helicopter in the world and could easily withstand several missile strikes though this armor came with a price. They were expensive to make, didn't carry any real anti-vehicle weaponry, and was highly unmaneuverable in the hands of all but the most skilled pilots.
"Approaching target zone!" the pilot shouted over the intercom, "Touch down in 5, 4, 3, 2…
"Death before Dishonor!" Sven yelled as the ramp dropped and I followed the soldiers out into the incoming fire.
I dove for cover along with the commandos who quickly returned fire…Gustav was leap frogging from cover to cover in an attempt to put himself in more favorable sniping conditions. Sven was wielding a combat shotgun with a grenade launcher attachment and he was not being stingy with them. The remaining three members of the squad were all wielding heavy assault rifles which were more than a match for the lightly armored enemy soldiers who were only using standard issue assault rifles which couldn't even penetrate the advance armor of the Ransei Commandos. I didn't even bother breaking cover as I knew it was just a waiting game…all we had to do was wait for the Reaper to come back around…and as it did it opened fire with its quad barrel cannons mounted just under the nose. The attack scattered the defending forces allowing the Reaper to fire one of its light missiles which completely shattered the front of the house but didn't really do any real damage to the building's interior. It fell silent as the commandos and I rose to our feet and slowly approached the now shattered building. We entered through the front and I gazed around at what must have once been a beautifully decorated entrance hall but now was just a maimed mess. I motioned the commandos down a hallway to the right where we heard whimpering and as we walked down it one of the guards emerged from a room with a maid held before him as a human shield.
"Stop or the woman dies!" he shouted pressing the gun to her temple a bead of sweat running down his forehead.
"Okay couple rules about hostage taking," I stated as I raised my handgun, "When taking hostages make sure you grab someone your enemy will miss…secondly make sure your target actually cares."
As I said this Sven fired killing both the maid and soldier…I took no pleasure in this act but it saved my soldier's lives as they didn't have to attempt to rescue the hostage.
"No sign of him sir," A commando stated running up to me, "He must have fled deeper into the mansion my lord…should we begin our pursuit?"
"No…we will secure the landing zone first before anything else," I stated calmly, "Then we will spread out through the mansion and find him."
My squad began advancing through the mansion with little resistance…which we found extremely unusual…especially when we reached the center square where there was no resistance.
"My lord," the gunship pilot began over the coms.
"What is it pilot?" I inquired of him.
"We've received word that a detachment of the Mindal army is heading this way," the pilot answered, "also I've received reports of a strange ship appearing in the skies two miles to the northwest…it looks like it's one of your prototypes."
"Shit!" I cursed, "Pilot extend the lines…we're going after it."
"Sir," the pilot answered, "I'll signal the Genesis to intercept."
-5 minutes later-
We had once again boarded the gunship and set off in pursuit of one of my first prototype airships…
"Bring up the schematics for the stolen weapon," I ordered which quickly brought up a hologram of an armored blimp with probably a six point laser defense weapons and 10 machinegun turrets, "Getting close to the target is not practical due to the defensive systems and the shields."
"How the hell does it have shields?" Gustav inquired.
"It uses a pulse that disables the electronic systems of missiles and detonates them prematurely while the laser point defenses shoot down all other incoming fire…the armor is too thick for standard fire to penetrate."
"My lord the Genesis has sighted the enemy and is requesting orders," Sven stated turning towards me, "Should I order them to fire the W.O.G.?"
"No," I answered, "That weapon is not ready for test firing…who knows what the consequences of firing that weapon…besides a Super Weapon shouldn't be used lightly."
"Then what are your orders then my lord?" he asked.
"Fire a full salvo from the Genesis," I ordered, "Then use an older pre-advancement missile and manually shoot it…that should fool the point laser defenses systems due to the lack of a targeting system."
"But-," Sven began.
"There is no time captain," I stated angrily, "If that ship gets out of the range Genesis's weaponry then this entire battle will have been pointless."
"Genesis did you hear that order?" Sven inquired, "Okay…Fire when ready…let's watch the fireworks."
The hologram shifted to a view outside of the gunship and revealed the two airships as the Genesis prepared to fire…as the missile bays opened and fired the volley of missiles which either exploded prematurely or were shot down by the defense grid…but one missile did…the older missile bypassed all of the defenses and struck the side of the armored blimp and blew it open igniting the hydrogen inside in a great ball of flame.
"Good bye Lord Pak," I stated with a smile, "everyone we're pulling out!"
-Exiting Memory-
I remerged into the real world with a small smile on my face…the first test run of my airship Genesis…I had been unconscious for several hours…which in that little time the majority of my wounds had nearly fully healed…my eye was still damaged but I was well enough to leave the transport…but as soon as I stepped out I was approached by a soldier who quickly bowed.
"My lord something strange has occurred at the Dragon Spiral Tower," he stated, "Sir Liro has prepared a heavy Albatross transport and has had your pokemon and apprentice placed aboard…he advises you to personally check it out."
"Fine…I'll leave now." I stated with a yawn…Liro always was somewhat erratic in his decisions.
I began to wonder what I would encounter there…and why was Liro sending me…
Chapter Ends-
Next Chapter…Conflict in Dragon Spiral Tower…The shogun encounters a treasure hunting trainer and engages in battle with him over the fate of an ancient artifact…please review and thanks for reading. Chapter flashbacks of Anthony's younger days will be occurring as well…
Anthony Doede (Young)
Age-15
Rank-1/3
Ability-Bravado-Attack increased by 50% defense and evasiveness lowered by 50%
Bio-Anthony Doede before his evolution to stage 2 and promotion to shogun…he is a skilled commander but is ruthless but well-liked by his soldiers due to him putting their well-being above the well-beings of civilians.