"Ahhh!" Eliza yelled as she's was blindsided by the attack. The sheer force of the attack sent her flying until she skidded to a stop a short distance away.
"Eliza!" Rachel yelled in shock. "Who did that?! Who has the balls to mess with us?!"
"That would be me."
Emerging from the ruins of the NAA base was a Meowth. He wore a confident smirk as he walked in front of his fallen commander and donned a familiar suit of Dark Pulse armor.
"How can that be?! You're supposed to be dead!" Eliza chimed in, finally recovering from the sneak attack.
"It seems the tales of my demise have been slightly exaggerated." Light replied "Or maybe you've both simply gone crazy and are being taunted by my ghost."
"First you blindside us and now you taunt us?!" Rachel yelled, clearly getting angry. "We will f*ing destroy you!"
"You really think you can? I would love to see you try." The former NAA commander replied. "In fact, just to show you I'm a good sport, I'll even give you a handicap." Walking over to Nate's body, he unhooked his communicator and began issuing a command. "Attention all NAA troops! This is Light. Everyone is to evacuate to the port immediately. I repeat. Disengage the enemy and head to the port!"
"So our handicap is that you won't have any help during this match?" Eliza asked. "What's to stop us from attacking your retreating soldiers?"
"Nothing." Light replied. "You know how my forces are moving and you have your entire fighting force at your disposal with only one person standing between you and total victory: Me."
This is obviously some kind of trap. Eliza thought. But the opportunity is too good to pass up.
"All units converge on this position!" She yelled. "Defeat Light!"
With Eliza's command, the battle quickly reignited. Knights and AKs from all around the battleflied began closing in on the lone Meowth, all the while firing their weapons.
Light took to the air like a rocket using his Magnet Lift technique and nimbly dodged the enemy projectiles.
"Light's incoming!" Rachel called to the AK pilots in his flight path. "Take him out!"
"With pleasure!" The squad leader replied before drawing a sword and leading her two compatriots into combat.
"Too slow." Light said as he picked up speed.
As the first AK pilot began her strike, Light began readying a Night Slash attack and spinning his body counterclockwise. His first claw was able to deflect the pilot's sword while the second landed a direct hit onto her torso, all while maintaining his momentum to avoid the blaster fire from the countless number of Knights gathering on the ground below.
"Time to level the playing field a bit." Light declared as sparks began to dance across his fingertips. "Thunder!"
At the Meowth's command, several large blots of lightning descended from the sky to destroy a majority of the Knights on the ground and incapacitate others as the electricity arced between machines.
"He's tearing us apart!" Rachel commented as she continued to watch the fight.
"Is that the best you've got?" The former NAA commander taunted as he engaged another AK.
"Aerial forces! Keep up the pressure! Wear him down!"
Faithful to Eliza's command, a swarm of AKs moved in, armed with a mixture of swords and guns.
Swords met claw as Light defended against the numerous enemies around him. While he wasn't able to effectively counterattack, Light was able to hold his ground.
"What are you doing?!" Rachel yelled to a small group of AKs who had not yet entered combat. "Start shooting him!"
"W-We don't have a clear shot Ma'am!" The lead pilot replied nervously. "If we try shooting, we'll only end up hurting our own units!"
"Stay calm and give our pilots some time Rachel." Eliza said. "Light will have to wear down eventually."
While Rachel truly did believe her comrade, Light continued to hold the AKs at bay. Every minute that passed, raised her frustration until she reached a breaking point.
"Rrrrrrr. I can't take this anymore!" She exclaimed, readying a Dark Pulse. "Losing a few AKs will be worth it if we can take out the famed Light.
"I told you to wait!" Eliza proclaimed, trying to rein in her friend. Unfortunately, she was too late. The attack had already been launched before she could finish her statement.
The attack reached its target and completely enveloped the cloud of bodies, obscuring both Light and the AKs from view.
"Did it work?" Rachel asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
As the attack dissipated, AKs began dropping like flies. As more AKs fell to the ground, it became clear that Rachel's attack had not defeated its intended target.
"Start firing!" Eliza ordered the gun weilding AKs. "We need to keep him on the defense."
"Yes Ma'am!" The nearby pilots replied before pouring their fire into the dissipating smoke.
Other AKs began joining their comrades and began to fire shot after shot into the smoke.
"How is he not dead yet!?" Rachel asked as her adversary finally returned to view.
It was clear Light had taken some damage from Rachel's Dark PulsePulse but he was still fighting strong. Despite the cuts riddling his arms and the bruises beginning to form on his torso, Light was matching the AKs shot for shot with Shadow Balls.
He's keeping our forces at bay via brute force alone. Eliza thought. Thankfully there's more than one way to win this battle.
"All remaining ground forces! Push toward the port. Don't let any of the Alliance escape!"
"I thought you had more honor than that." Light said as he fired off a Dark Pulse to create some breathing room. "The first sign of trouble and you're already playing dirty."
"All's fair in love and war." His adversary replied. "And I think you know which this is."
"All's fair huh? Then how about this!" Gathering a huge amount of energy into one of his hands, Light took aim in front of the advancing battleline and yelled. "Dark Pulse!"
The attack didn't hit a single enemy but instead created a giant chasm, cutting off the enemy from the retreating NAA forces.
"How the heck did he pull that off?" Rachel asked in both anger and amazement.
"By using up most of his remaining energy. Look." Eliza gestured toward the sky where Light was slowly descending back to Earth, unable to maintain the energy supply for the Magnet Lift technique.
The former NAA commander landed just in front of his man-made chasm and was greeted promptly by Eliza and Rachel, who gestured for their forces to cease-fire.
"How's that handicap working out for you now?" Rachel asked as they approached their enemy.
Despite his previous bravado and shows of force, the last attack had taken a toll on Light. He was sweating profusely and seemed unable to catch his breath.
"Not... quite as well... as I'd hoped..." He replied between gasps of air.
"Great! Now we can finally beat some payback out of ya!" Rachel said with a smile as she stepped forward aggressively. She was stopped a moment later by the outstreched arm of her comrade.
"You're sitting this one out Rachel. You've already taken a substantial amount of damage from battling Nate and that Dark Pulse earlier didn't help things. Let me take care of this."
"A one... on one fight eh?" Light replied between heavy breaths. "So now you want fair? Why the change of heart?"
"There has been no change of heart. I simply wish to land the finishing blow against you myself."
"It seems like I really pushed some of your buttons for you to want to defeat me personally. Care to talk about it?"
"My friend may want to do it out of revenge," Eliza said gesturing toward Rachel. "But I simply want to land the final blow so that our soldiers sacrifices will not be in vain."
"I didn't take out that many did I? Just a few Knights, some AKs-"
"Enough stalling! Our battle begins now!" Eliza yelled as she launched two Confusion attacks at her enemy.
Crossing his arms in front of his body, Light barely blocked the confusion attacks before noticing his enemy charging with fists raised. Eliza threw the first punch which was blocked on the Meowth's forearm. Light then immediately counterattacked with a punch of his own, which was blocked in a similar fashion.
The two worn out combatants fought tooth and nail, neither one wanting to give an inch. If Light landed a blow, Eliza would fight twice as hard until the damage had been returned.
"I haven't seen you use a Confusion in a while." Light asked as their fists met once again. "What's the matter? Out of energy?"
"I'm simply waiting for a right moment to strike." Eliza said before putting a little distance between them. "But I could ask the same of you. I haven't seen you use a single move since you put that chasm into our new base."
"I haven't seen the need to. For all your talent as a commander, you're terrible at hand to hand combat."
"Then how about I switch back to something I'm good at?" Eliza said before using Confusion on the ground to sent a storm of rocks hurdling at her enemy.
Expecting a similar tactic to the start of the battle, Light let out a small burst of electricity to deal with the rocks and prepared for the fist he thought would follow. While a fist did come, it did not come from the direction Light was expecting and landed a direct hit.
Using her psychic abilities to augment her body, Eliza began to jump around the battlefield and attack the former NAA commander at odd angles.
"The NAA is just as bad as Devon was Light!" Eliza said as she continued to jump around the battlefield and pepper Light with Confusion attacks. "And now it is time we set things straight by defeating you once and for all!"
Taking a second to gather her power, Eliza launched a particularly powerful psychic blast toward Light. The former NAA commander responded by taking a deep breath and launching a Dark Pulse, causing both of the moves to detonate in midair.
Eliza prepared herself for another attack from her wily opponent, but no such counter came. As the smoke cleared from their clashing moves, Light could be seen flying toward the sea where the remainder of the NAA forces were retreating.
"We did it!" Rachel cheered from the sidelines. "The base is ours!"
We may have claimed this base but the return of Light is troubling... Eliza thought before turning to join her celebrating forces.
The celebration raged on until Angra and the remainder of the forces arrived at the Battle Frontier later that night.
"Great work your two." Angra said with a smile. "Hopefully the battle wasn't too hard for you."
"No sir." Eliza replied. "Other than a nasty scar on Rachel's neck, the battle was easily won."
"Excellent. Now our true counterattack can begin. Did you prepare the equipment as instructed?"
"Yes sir but there's something else you should know. Light has returned."
"Interesting... but it does not change our plans. He will be dealt with just like the rest of the NAA."
"Whatever you say sir. Right this way."
A short walk through the damaged structure led the two to a relatively undamaged room where Rachel was waiting with a camera and a white backdrop. Without even having to say a word, Angra stepped in front of the camera and Rachel pressed record to begin their broadcast. Utilizing an emergency broadcast broadcast system the NAA put into place, Angra's face soon began appearing on every television in every region.
"Attention world! I am Angra Mainyu and today I have liberated the Northern island from the New Age Alliance! They are not the invincible force for good many believe them to be. They are rebels who have halted the natural progression of the world! A war between humans and Pokemon was inevitable and should be embraced so that the world can move forward. Only one race can reign supreme and the gods have deemed now is the time to decide. But the NAA stands in the way of that ultimate decision. To every resistance cell, I urge you to end the violence between yourselves. You must band together against our common foe: the NAA. Those who deem themselves worthy will be allowed to join us: The Progressives. Together we can help progress the world into a better, stronger future."
Around the world, resistance cells cheered in agreement while members of the NAA began shivering in fear, especially those listening to the broadcast from the ship retreating from the Battle Frontier.
"W-What are we going to do?" One soldier asked another. "They were so strong. Not even Light could pull out a victory..."
"I know... It took everything he had just to let us get away. How are we going to fight back n-"
THUD!!
The two soldiers were interrupted by a large thud on the deck outside. Both of the soldiers rushed out on the deck to find an unconscious Light laying on the deck.
"Oh God! Get him inside! He needs medical attention!"
AN: No chapter for a year and then two chapters in 3 months. You guys are going to get spoiled. This chapter marks the end of the prologue. Now that Light has returned and the Progressives have established themselves, the true conflict of story can begin. Hopefully the Light/Eliza fight was up to par. I got a little writer's block near the end and tried to push throught it.
In other news... Good news everyone! With a new arc beginning, I'm opening things up for OC submissions from all of you! I'm not sure how many OCs I'll be accepting but I'm excited to see what you all submit! I'll be leaving additional details downdown below.
How big of a threat will the Progressives be? How did Light survive his attack on Devon and who will be the first to rise up and respond to Angra's call to arms? Find out next time on Pokemon New Age: Uprising.
OC Submission Details:
You all are going to have free reign with OCs this time. Similar to last time, characters can be Pokemon, or human and can use Knights or AKs if you wish. Knights are based off Knightmare frames from Code Geass and AKs are based off IS units from Infinite Stratos.
To submit an OC, simply send me a pm or leave a review with your character's name, backstory and base of operations. That's right! You're not just limited to the Sinnoh region! All I ask is that you don't use any Alola locations. I'm not quite as familiar with 7th gen locations as I should be. I look forward to your submissions!