When Worlds Collide - My Mech Story

Absolutely awesome.

Chapter 2 Winning and Losing

White light emanated from the small screen and projected a 3D hologram that hovered above the small AV journal. A holographic representation of R'Tus's head from the time he made the entry appeared and began to speak. L'Cor knew without looking at the date of the entry that this recording was made shortly after R'Tus's eighteenth birthday.

Start of Entry - Orbit 3011, 6th Moon, 5th Solar Cycle

Hello? Is this thing on? Oh...yeah...I'm an idiot. This is recording, right? Oh well, I'll check it later...

Anyway, our instructors here at MAAC Basic advised us to keep this AV journal of our trials and tribulations. Specifically, we're to talk about our experiences with the MAAC trainers so that we can revisit our mistakes and learn from them. But what if we didn't make any mistakes?

I sound cocky now don't I? It's true. My instructor, Master Sergeant Frekkin said that I was a natural talent. I don't know about that. I just know that the MAAC trainer just felt right to me. As the rest of my unit struggled to get onto their feet, I was already standing and walking.

Anyway, maybe I should back up. First of all, we wear this really - I mean really - tight suits called (of all things) a neural suit. I mean, dagnag-it! I was downright embarrassed! Hadis, the girls sure looked hot! I wasn't the only guy holding his hands in front of his groin! Anyway, the neural suit links into the internal feedback system of the MAAC trainer. You half sit, half stand in this harness that captures your muscle movements and transfers them to the MAAC. They said that it was like wearing powered armour, but it's not. First of all, you don't really take full steps. You just flex your muscles and pretend to take a step. Ditto with the arm movements and the torso movements. The MAAC trainer is 40 tons of layered alloy armour. It's too stiff to exactly duplicate a person's movements. By the time the rest of my unit could stand straight, I was jogging a lap around the track. What can I say? It was fun!

After the exercise, one cute little blonde named Cinda came up to me and asked why I made it look so easy. I didn't know what to say so I said, "It's like wearing a huge piece of metal armour all around me."

She frowned at me and said, "I don't think so. I've heard of that comparison and I've worn powered armour in Infantry Basic and this was nothing like that."

She was looking at me rather intently and I was beginning to feel a little clenching in my chest. Dagnag she was cute! Her blonde hair was cut short in standard military fashion and her eyes were a strange shade of green. Her nose curled up ever so slightly at the tip and her lips were full and red and sweat poured down her face from her earlier exertion. I suddenly realized that she was waiting for me to say something so I improvised. "It's kind of like those VR sim games, you know? All you have to do is just stand as still as possible and move with minimal movements. Once you've trained your mind to adjust to how much minimal movement equals how much actual MAAC movement, you should be fine."

She cocked her head to one side and she had a strange smile on her face. "VR sim games? You mean like the ones where you simulate sex or the like the ones that teach martial arts?"

I felt heat rush to my cheeks. Was she flirting with me? I mean dagnag-it...girls don't come on to me! They usually go for my brother L'Cor who is tall, athletic and built like a rock. Most girls don't give my skinny frame a second glance. I stumbled a bit but finally managed to say, "Uh...martial arts of course. I just got my sixth degree platinum sash." I cursed inwardly. That sounded too much like bragging!

Cinda seemed impressed though. "Really? I've only got a third degree gold." She slowly turned away while maintaining eye contact for as long as possible. "Maybe you could show me a couple of pointers some time?"

"Sure," I stuttered. I watched as she turned and sashayed away from me. I couldn't help it. My eyes just could not look up from her round heart shaped butt. Dagnag-it, these neural suits left nothing to the imagination, which wasn't really that bad a thing when you think about it!

Anyway, that's it for now...signing off until the next time!

End of Entry

L'Cor still did not feel up to going into Ivan's shop to look for a Mick so he browsed through the AV journal until he found another entry that looked promising.

Start of Entry - Orbit 3011, 6th Moon, 26th Solar Cycle

We had our first live fire exercise today. By now, I've gotten somewhat used the dirty looks that many of my unit-mates shoot at me whenever they think I'm not looking. Even Cinda's attitude has cooled a bit towards me. We had a few sparring sessions as well as a couple of tutoring sessions, but they didn't lead to anything else. I think she wanted me to make a move of a sort, but I guess I was just too nervous. I mean, I've dated a few times in high school, but none of the girls I went out with were quite as aggressive as Cinda. I mean, I know she's a few orbits older than me and all that but dagnag-it! Everyone in my unit was older than me. They had all gone to Infantry Basic first before scoring high enough in their aptitude tests to go for MAAC Basic. As for me, I guess the high brass was getting antsy about getting frontline MAAC pilots because my enrolment officer had put me through a series of strange tests before bumping me directly to MAAC Basic. I'm practically a civilian and my unit-mates treat me as such. What would L'Cor do? I know what he would do! He would pummel anyone who dared to speak out and then he would take Cinda out on a weekend pass and show her a good time. Ah, who am I kidding? L'Cor would probably slap me on my back and ask me what the frak am I waiting for!

Anyway, by now, the whole unit was up and running and today, the instructors gave us a taste of real MAAC weapons. MAAC weapons came in two main flavours: mounted and held. A typical MAAC with a combat load had a mixture of mounted and held weapons. A mounted weapon was the type that was mounted on fixed hard points. These include the shoulders, upper arms and forearms, and upper thighs and waist. Mounted weapons tend to be heavier with more destructive potential and higher ammunition levels than held weapons. Held weapons have the advantage of being more versatile and a MAAC would switch out held weapons right on the battlefield without the aid of a Field Maintenance Unit. Heavy MAACs like a Drac'en could mount up to four heavy calibre weapons and be a truly devastating force on any battlefield.

Anyway, I digress. Today, they handed out small calibre auto-cannons that we held in the hands of our MAACs. At forty tons, our trainer MAACs were theoretically the equivalent of a large medium class MAAC - which meant that we could have mounted heavier weapons, but I guess on our first day, they didn't want us accidentally killing each other or blowing up the camp.

We were transported out into the desert and put through our paces. We started off with the standard range shooting at static targets. Everyone did fine here, even without the aid of targeting computers. However, when the instructors fired up the moving targets, the unit didn't do so well. When more than one person started to complain about the lack of targeting computers, Master Sergeant Frekkin called a halt to the practice.

"Cadet Lieutenant Penrag'n, front and centre!"

I keyed my S'Wave communicator and said, "Yes Sergeant!" All the cadets at the camp had an honorary rank of Cadet Lieutenant. That meant that I was technically higher rank than Frekkin, but hey, I wasn't going to try to pull rank!

"Uh oh, here comes the whiz kid!"

I don't know who said that but I ignored it. There were some muffled chuckles and several groans but again, I didn't pay any attention. It wasn't that I was trying to show off or anything. I just wanted to get through this training as fast as possible so that I could join my brother on the frontlines.

Frekkin fired up the Gauntlet, a huge combat simulator on an area large enough to host several starball stadiums. "Show these losers how it's done kiddo!". He hit my right shoulder with a thump that was hard enough to half turn me to face the Gauntlet. "Yes Master Sergeant!" I kicked my MAAC into a slow jog and entered the Gauntlet. My targeting computer was still down so I figured I would have to do this all on manual. A movement out of the corner of my right eye caught my attention. Without slowing down, I brought my auto-cannon in a one handed grip and fired off a shot. The target, a life-sized representation of a Saxx recoiled from the hit. It fell to the ground and I shot past it without another glance. The fact that it went down with only one hit meant that the Gauntlet wasn't programmed to simulate real Saxx behaviour. From everything that L'Cor has told me about the Saxx, it would take more than one shot from a small auto-canon to bring one down.

I was coming to the ‘Downtown District' of the Gauntlet. It had been modeled after a real city. There was a dark blur over my head that splattered on the wall of the building across the street from me. I glanced at it and felt a thrill of surprise. It was a globule of paint. They were going to shoot at me! Master Sergeant Frekkin must really want to see what I could do. They didn't usually let the targets shoot back until a trainee's fourth visit to the Gauntlet. I ducked down a bit and sprinted to the next intersection and dove to the right. I had just enough time to spot a Saxx in powered armour walking down the street with its weird three-legged gait. Of course I knew that it wasn't a real Saxx. It was really a mountain of plastic and metal overtop a thin moveable endoskeleton, but still, the sight of the weird looking monstrosity sent a chill down my spine.

I side stepped out from behind a building and fired off three quick shots. All three shots hit the main torso of the Saxx and then I ducked back before it could fire back. I heard a loud crash and I knew that the target dummy was down.

I didn't really have any mission objectives so I loped along inside the fake city for a while. I didn't have any radar so it was a pure combination of luck, reflex and instinct that let me avoid the next globule of paint. It splattered on the ground beside me as I looked around for the shooter. Far off in the distance, across a fake park, I saw a trio of Saxx in powered armour. There were two more faint blurs in the air so I dodged to the right and ran. As I ran, I saw on my secondary monitor that the Saxx were moving towards me. They were staying close to each other as they moved. This was a good thing for me. I suddenly pivoted and changed direction. I twisted my torso and brought my auto-cannon up. I couldn't shoot well from this angle so I transferred the auto-cannon to my left hand. That was the neat thing about held weapons. You could do things like change hands in the middle of combat! With the gun now in my left hand, I had a much better field of fire. I took aim at the Saxx on the far left so that if I missed, my shots would have a chance at hitting the other two. While wishing my gun had a full auto mode, I fired through the rest of my magazine. Semi auto just doesn't cut it for strafing! In any case, I had the satisfaction of seeing the centre Saxx fall down. Ok, so my aim was a little off! The other two suddenly split up, as if the remote human operators of the simulators realized what a bad idea it was to move in such close formation. I slapped another magazine into my auto-cannon and moved away.

I could see that they were going to try to encircle me, so I decided to find some cover. I lumbered over to another cluster of buildings and looked around for some cover. There wasn't anything that could cover me from two different directions. I glanced up and saw a hovering camera. Of course Frekkin and the rest of the unit would be watching. They all wanted to see me get iced. That wasn't going to happen! There was a large artificial pond off to the side. The water was dirty and very murky. What if?

I walked over and tested the depth of the water by placing my right leg in. The water level went as high was the thigh of my MAAC - about ten feet. Good enough! I quickly made my way to the centre of the pond and lay my MAAC down. It was awkward because I couldn't lie all the way flat without submerging my gun and my MAAC's head unit. I didn't know if either was waterproof and I didn't want to find out the hard way. If this didn't work, the shame and humiliation would be double. I half sat in a reclined position. I kept my auto-cannon horizontal to the water and the only other thing sticking out was the top of my head unit. With any luck, as the Saxx simulators came into this area, they would not be looking down at their feet.

Luck was with me. The first Saxx entered the cluster and scanned the area at what would have been eye level for it. I panned my head unit around until the cameras inside found the second Saxx, directly opposite of the first. I waited until they were both looking in different directions before making my move.

I triggered three shots into the first Saxx. All three shots made one large hole in the bottom of the Saxx's torso. I then sprang out of the pool in to direction opposite to where the second Saxx was looking. That gave me a precious second before its targeting computers found me. I fired off another three shots just as its arm brought up its gun in my general direction. It crumpled to the ground and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, my MAAC shook as if something hit it. Dagnag-it! I'd let down my guard! Of course there were more Saxx in the area! There was no call for an end of the exercise though. That was strange. Didn't someone just splatter me with paint?

I pulled my MAAC around in a circle and it shook again. Oh frak! Why was it suddenly so sluggish? My MAAC finally squealed in agonizing slowness until it faced my latest attacker. It was yet another Saxx in powered armour, but this one had a very real looking auto-cannon in its arms. The muzzle of its auto-cannon spat fire and my MAAC jerked as if in pain.

Wait...the pain was real! That last shot must have dented the armour of my MAAC's torso, directly overtop of the cockpit. A small piece of the back of my mind said that the Saxx must have been firing short full auto bursts. The cockpit's interior shattered and a sharp piece of metal from my harness stabbed me in my right shoulder. Thank goodness my gun was still in my left hand!

I brought my weapon to bear and fired three fast shots. The Saxx recoiled but didn't fall. This one must have been programmed for realistic response! A light auto-cannon like mine wasn't going to stop it!

My mind raced as I tried to remember the weak spots in a Saxx's power armour. There weren't many. A Saxx out of armour was as big as a light class MAAC. In powered armour, it was bigger than a Drac'en. In combat, the only way to kill a Saxx in armour was to use heavy weapons like a Multi Barrel Cannon or an Aerial Remote Optical-recognition Weapon.

The Saxx fired again and this time, my auto-cannon flew from the remains of my MAAC's left arm. My eyes filled with tears of pain as I did the only thing I could. I charged the Saxx. I had one chance and one chance only. This was not a real Saxx. It was not in real powered armour. In reality, it was a hunk of plastic and cheap metal. If I could get in close enough, I should be able to take it off line. What happened after that was completely unknown.

I was hit twice more and another piece of my harness broke off and stabbed me in my left thigh. But I wasn't dead! I kicked out with my right left leg and one of the Saxx's three legs broke in response. It fell forward as I raised my pain filled right arm and smashed down on its torso. My MAAC's fist thundered through the plastic and metal plating and drilled deep into its body. The Saxx lay still.

There was a flashing red light as well as a siren that I did not hear until now. Master Sergeant Frekkin's voice rumbled in my ear, "Emergency! Emergency! Shut down the Gauntlet. Shut it down now! Medics on scene!"

I spit out some blood from my mouth. I must have bitten the inside my mouth as I fell forward onto the body of the simulated Saxx. I didn't care that the exercise was over. I'd won. They didn't get me! Only then, did I let myself black out from the pain.

Much later, I remember waking up in the hospital. Frekkin was there was well as General Mora, the base commander. General Mora was apologizing and explaining how someone had activated a live ammo drone in the Gauntlet and that it had followed a standard attack program. Live ammo drones weren't part of the exercise. Obviously, someone had activated it as a way to bring me down a notch. Frekkin stepped in and told me that they had found the culprits responsible and wanted to know if I wanted to be there to see their whipping and subsequent dishonourable discharge. I shook my head. I didn't care who was responsible. All I cared was that I'd won. They hadn't beaten me. Just like those bullies who used to beat up on me as a kid couldn't keep me down, these unknown culprits couldn't keep me down either. Just then, a nurse came in to my room and ushered Frekkin and Mora out. She turned off the light and I fell into a restful sleep.

The next time I awoke, it was still dark outside. The hospital was quiet but I instantly felt the presence of another person in the room. It was Cinda! She was dozing in a chair beside my bed. I took my time to really look her over. While at rest, her face looked like it was at least five orbits younger than she actually was. She was wearing standard off duty trainee clothes, which consisted of olive green shorts and t-shirt. That gave me a chance to appreciate how beautiful she really was. She had well defined muscle lines on her legs and arms. Anyone who went through Infantry Basic came away with great muscle tone. My eyes traced a line up her strong but feminine legs, over her tight stomach and briefly paused at her chest. I briefly wished that I could see through her shirt to the soft mounds that I knew was underneath but I quickly quelled that thought. A gentleman does not take advantage of sleeping women! I managed to pull my eyes up until they finally settled upon her open eyes. Yikes!

"You like what you see?" she asked with a small smile on her lips.

I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare"

Cinda laughed and sat up straight. "I think I finally get you. I keep forgetting that you're younger than all of us here. What're you, like eighteen or something?"

My throat was too dry to answer so I merely nodded.

"Do you have a girlfriend back home R'Tus?"

My throat was still dry but I made an attempt to clear it and then said, "No, not really. I mean I've dated a few girls, but nothing serious."

"Good," said Cinda as she got up off the chair and leaned over me. She touched her lips to mine and gave me a deep long kiss. Yeah it wasn't my first kiss ever, but man, did it ever put me in orbit!

I felt her lips open in invitation and I hesitantly pushed my tongue up. It met up with something soft and wet and I felt a spike in my blood pressure as I realized that it was her tongue that was touching mine. Her left hand gently massaged my chest before making a slow burning path down my stomach, over my thighs, and then back up under my hospital gown. Her hands encircled me and my back arched involuntarily at the sudden rush of pleasure.

I must have gasped into her mouth because she pulled away and gave me a humorous look. "You're a virgin, aren't you?"

I barely managed a nod and her resulting smile dazzled me. "Good, this is going to be more fun than I thought!" Her left hand stopped what it was doing and before I had a chance to sigh, both of her hands went to the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up. She threw her shirt on the floor and quickly took off her bra. Her breasts were just beautiful. I'm not a very experienced judge but they looked large on her small frame. She took my left hand and held it to her breasts. I gently cupped one and then the other, marvelling at their soft firmness. She sighed and her hand traveled back down under my gown.

She leaned down again and whispered in my ear, "You were absolutely amazing yesterday in the Gauntlet. Everyone's talking about how a rookie took down four simulated remote controlled Saxx that were controlled by instructors and a drone that was programmed to kill with live ammo." She licked my ear and then said, "Everyone wants to meet you. I wanted to be the first so I snuck into the hospital." She sucked on my neck as her hands did something out of sight. Then she took my left hand again, and instead of moving it to her breasts, she directed it downward. I felt something that was smooth, wet and hot. I didn't need my imagination to know what it was! "See how much I want you?"

She climbed up on top of the bed while being extra careful with my bandaged left thigh. I could see that she was fully naked. She lifted up my hospital gown and gently mounted me. As she lowered herself, I felt like giant fireballs were going off in my head. I think I groaned a bit too loudly because she covered my mouth with hers and duelled my tongue with hers. All too quickly, my body suddenly rocked with spasms as I came long and hard inside of her. She rode out the storm with a bright gleam in her eyes. When the storm was over, she sat still for a few minutes before she started kissing and moving her body again. She started much more slowly this time and...

Ah..uh..ahem...sorry, I got a little carried away there with my narration. Hkumph! Oh well, too late now. It's not every day a guy gets to record his memories of how he lost his virginity right? Anyway, all of THAT happened earlier this morning. Cinda had to leave soon afterwards to get back into training. The doctor dropped by a few minutes ago and said that I should be able to rejoin my unit-mates in a few days.

Oh...wait...hang on a minute...

"What? Oh...uh thank you very much."

Ok, that was strange, a nurse just dropped by with a package...let see...Oh, it's a card and it's signed by my unit-mates. It says: Get well soon Ace! Ace? Well maybe not yet, but soon! Oh, here's another message. It says: Get some rest big boy. Your midnight visitor is coming back for a repeat performance!

Oh boy! I can't wait. That's it for now! Maybe I should turn this on later to record what happens? It would be for posterity, right? Nahhh! Signing off!

End of Entry

L'Cor laughed as he turned off the AV journal. He was sure that R'Tus would've been embarrassed to Hadis and back if he ever thought that his older brother would be watching his AV journal. Imagine losing your virginity to a hot blonde like Cinda! After the war, L'Cor had tried to find Cinda, but without a last name or even the name and number of the unit she was assigned to, it was impossible. That was a shame. L'Cor would've liked to meet Cinda so that they could reminisce about R'Tus together. L'Cor stood up and put the AV journal back into his pocket. He was finally ready to meet Mr. McMac!

Thanks @???48! I wrote this a lifetime ago and the board where I posted it originally weren't mech minded.

Chapter 4 Mistakes and the Lessons They Teach



Start of Entry - Orbit 3011, 9th Moon, 15th Solar Cycle



They say that MAAC training is almost over. Apparently, we're in this accelerated course because they're desperately short on trained pilots. I don't know about that. I've been receiving somewhat regular communications from L'Cor. From everything he's told be about what actual battle is like as well as the average survival rate of new MAAC pilots, I'm afraid that most of the trainees my unit are just not ready. I sometimes wake up in a cold sweat from dreams of Cinda getting swarmed under by Saxx. Yes, I can probably admit it here. I'm falling in love with Cinda. I mean who wouldn't? She beautiful, smart, funny and sexy as hell. Oh yeah, and she's the first woman I've ever had sex with. Maybe that's why I feel the way I feel about her, but I sure have never felt this way about anyone. Well, anyone that's alive I guess.



Ugh, I guess I'll have to explain that a bit. See, ever since I was a child, I've been addicted to this book. It's called, History of Royal Gaya. It's chock of full of stories of the time before people on Gaya made that first important step towards the technological age. Most people call that time the Simple Age while I tend to just think of it as a Simpler World. The world that I had lived certainly wasn't simple. My father died while I was still young. I barely remember him. I know for sure that Q'Wen doesn't while L'Cor probably remembers him the best. Anyway, he left behind this book; this supposed history of our planet. Anyone whose read it knows that it reads more like a fantasy novel than it does a history text. Anyway, as a kid, I was drawn to the stories of knights, fair maidens and wizards and witches. Yeah, I know, how can anything to do with magic be a part of our technological world? Anyway, I digress. The book chronicles how our planet came to be called Gaya. Way back then â?? and other texts have verified this â?? our world was nothing but a bunch of continents and separate countries that were always constantly at war with each other. One ruler managed to unite the majority of the countries on her continent and her descendants went on to unite the rest of the world. By the time the technological age rolled in and connected the continents with unified communications, the world had taken her name, Gaya. Anywhere you go, you can find representations of her. I don't know how accurate they are, but as I kid, I've always thought that she was beautiful. Maybe that was why I was more partial to blondes.



Anyway, I've been in love with Empress Gaya (or Princess Gaya as she was known before she conquered a continent) ever since I was a little kid. But that was an infatuation right? I mean, how could I really love someone who's been dead for over two thousand orbits? That meant that these feelings that I'm feeling for Cinda must be real, right?



In any case, Cinda was fast becoming a competent MAAC pilot. She wasn't quite near my level, but then again, who was? By now, even the instructors have stopped trying to take me down a notch. I didn't let it get to my head though, which was probably why I was fairly well liked. I remembered the advice that L'Cor had given me. He told me to never make enemies of those who may one day watch my back. If they resented or hated me, they may one day decide to watch in a different direction.



So, I tried to act as modest as possible and didn't hold my skill over anybody. Truly, all I wanted to was to get out to the frontlines as soon as possible. I wanted to join up with L'Cor and strike back at the monsters that had destroyed my home and killed my mother and stepfather.



I'm digressing again. Anyway, we had just completed a series of complex exercises when Master Sergeant Frekkin ordered us into teams. He made me a quad leader and told me to pick out three team members. The first one I picked was Cinda. She beamed at me with that brilliant smile of hers. After her, I chose Jonson and Micah. Jonson was an early supporter of mine and Micah and I both came from same province and there was that bond of similar backgrounds.



The teams split up to discuss basic tactics. I put Cinda on my wing and paired Jonson up with Micah. Jonson was a fairly good pilot but Micah needed a lot more polish. Frekkin came over and gave us our mission brief.



"Alright Penrag'n. You and your team are part of Blue Team." He pulled out a map card and projected a map and began to make notes. "Red Team is here. They are the defenders. Blue Team has to break into this compound and take Red Team's flag. I'll be in command of Blue Team. Master Sergeant Sosa is in charge of Red. I want you to take your quad and knock out this communication relay here." He highlighted an area that appeared to be a valley with densely packed trees. "After you knock that out, the main Blue force will advance and you'll rendezvous with them at the compound. Any questions?"



My mind was racing furiously. The mission objectives seemed simple enough. What other things were they going to throw at us? "No Sergeant."



"Good man. Now get your team ready. You move out in two hours."



After he left, I took the holo map and showed it to the rest of my quad. "I think we've been dealt a bum hand guys. I'm sorry."



"What're you sorry for?" asked Cinda.



"Look at this valley. There's no cover except for trees and there could be who knows how many bad guys up on the rim? No, I think they're going to spot us the moment we enter the valley and pick us off from long range." By now, we'd been assigned the full complement of available weapons. The ammunition was underpowered, but it was not unknown for trainees to get hurt in these training exercises.



"What do you propose we do?" asked Jonson.



I studied the map. I had a few options and I liked none of them. "Ok, Frekkin didn't say anything about how fast we had to knock out the communications relay. Jonson, you and Micah will enter the valley from different locations. You'll both load up with missiles. You're job is to keep their attention away from Cinda and I. Fire your missiles randomly throughout the valley to keep them confused. Move fast and they might think that this was a full-blown push. That might even get them to pull some troops from the compound so that when the rest of Blue Team pushes in; there will be fewer of them. Once Cinda and I take out the relay, get the frak out of the valley. You should be low on missiles by then.



"So we just retreat and leave you guys in there?" Micah didn't look happy at the idea.



"With any luck, they won't even know Cinda and I are there until it's too late. Any questions?"



"Just one, oh fearless leader." Cinda was studying the map intently. I tried not to get distracted by how her neural suit flexed in and out as she breathed. I was trying very hard not to think of our session last night. It had been especially hot. "How are you and I supposed to sneak in?"



I pointed to a large river that flowed through the valley. "How do you feel about a swim?"



*



The plan went fairly well until Cinda and I were almost to the relay. She and I were outfitted with Hyper Velocity Cannons and satchel charges. Not the most balanced of loads but HVCs could be submerged in water without fear of water clogging anything critical up. I don't' understand the technicalities myself, but the HVC was basically an L-wave engine connected to a long magnetic tube. The L-wave engine energized the magnets in the tube that propelled a large metal slug at hyper velocities. There was no muzzle flash that could give away our position to any nighttime observers. The HVC was usually reserved for heavy MAACs that could bear the weight as well as the recoil but I figured that if we fired from the river, the water should help with both the weight and the recoil. It was the closest thing to a sniper rifle that a MAAC could have.



We had just emerged from the river over five hundred yards away from the relay. I could see the large satellite dish without the need for magnification. The bright moon overhead provided ample light. There were no alarms or hostile fire coming our way. We had gotten in undetected! At this point, I suffered a moment of uncertainty. If Cinda and I could have gotten in undetected, could I have snuck in my entire quad? I knew second guessing myself at this point was dangerous so I rationalized that while Jonson might have been able to make the swim in the river in his MAAC, there was no way that Micah could have. While Micah was a solid man to have around, he lost his sense of balance as soon as he was encased in tons of dur-alloy armour.



Suddenly, the night sky lit up with explosions. Micah and Jonson were making their move! I looked carefully and saw two distinct flashes. Dagnag-it! They were even more visible than I thought they would be! If I could see them from my vantage point, then the opposition up on the rim of the valley could too!



"Cinda, continue on to the mission objective! I'm going to try to give Micah and Jonson some cover fire."



"Roger that!"



Cinda's MAAC continued towards the relay station. She unlimbered a satchel charge as she walked. I took my attention away from her and studied my secondary monitor. Jonson was doing well. He was moving around a lot and firing from seemingly random positions. Micah, on the other hand, was not. He seemed to be stuck in one position.



I keyed my S-wave and ordered, "Micah! Get your butt in gear!" I saw a flash from up the side of the valley and marked it with my targeting computer. I magnified and saw the vague outline of a MAAC. It had a boxy missile launcher on its right shoulder. I brought my HVC up and aimed carefully. I knew the weapons being used in this exercise were underpowered, but a solid slug traveling at six times the speed of sound will still do significant damage. I aimed for the other MAAC's waist and pulled the trigger. The other MAAC recoiled violently and on my secondary monitor, I saw it collapse as the right leg broke away. The recoil of my weapon's discharge rocked me on my heels but I fought to stay upright.



"Help! I think I stepped in something. I'm stuck!" Micah's voice came through clearly on the S-wave communicator.



"Hold tight!" I ordered. "Do not fire!" If he fired any weapon right now, it would be like putting up a signal flare as to where he was. Without the ability to move, he would be a sitting du'kar.



To this day, I'm not sure if either he heard my order too late, or he didn't hear it at all. I saw a flash from his position and realized with growing horror that he had just fired a missile. At the same time, as if by some evil twist of fate, Cinda's MAAC shuddered from multiple impacts. The relay station was not unprotected!



At that moment, I did something no quad leader should ever do. I froze with indecision. Who do I help? Who do I save? Looking back now, I know that there never really was a choice. Cinda was closer and her enemy was clearly in front of me. Micah was somewhere in the valley and probably had several unseen enemies targeting his position right now. Cinda was the only one that I was in a position to help.



Cinda's MAAC had fallen face down. She was still over three hundred yards away from the relay station. I could see two MAACs in previously concealed positions taking aim at Cinda's prone MAAC. I took aim at the closer one and let fly with a metal slug. This time, due to the distance, I could see first hand, the result of my handiwork. My 'slug' was nothing more than a computer-generated image. The other MAAC rocked backwards realistically and my own MAAC shuddered from the computer-enhanced recoil. A moment later, the other enemy MAAC fell spun away as Cinda's slug hit it high in the right shoulder. She hadn't fallen as I had thought! She was simply taking a prone firing position so that she could fire her HVC properly.



I turned to look for Micah and that was when I saw multiple lines of fire meet at his last known position. "Micah! Micah! Respond! Micah!" I got no response from Micah so I called out to Jonson. "Jonson! Head over to Micah and check him out."



"Roger that!"



Jonson must have heard the urgency in my voice because he used his jump jets instead of running. I saw his MAAC rise up over the valley, a small human shaped object riding of twin plumes of smoke. I saw it jerk suddenly and then plummet towards the ground. I keyed my S-wave and yelled, "Jonson!" When I didn't get a response, I keyed a private call to Master Sergeant Frekkin. "Sarge! Emergency. Pilot down. I repeat, pilot down!"



"Don't get your panties in a bunch son. I got it!" Frekkin's drawl was somewhat soothing, but I swore I could hear some tension in his voice.



Meanwhile, Cinda got close enough to the relay station to throw a couple of satchel charges. They stuck to the side of the relay and I hear a chime in my helmet. "Mission objective complete," said a feminine voice.



Cinda formed up on my right and together, we headed out of the valley. With our current weapons load, we would be useless in the final assault so we set a course for home base. Cinda was quiet during the entire trip and I didn't feel much like talking. I kept worrying about Micah and Jonson. I knew that I had screwed up, but I wouldn't know just how badly until much later.



End of Entry



Start of Entry - Orbit 3011, 9th Moon, 20th Solar Cycle



Today, we were dressed in our full dress uniforms as we paraded in the central square. The band played deep mourning tunes as the drum pounded out a slow marching beat. File by file, we slow marched past the casket that was d?grape? with the Royal Gayan Armed Forces colours.



I marched with my unit and saluted Micah's casket as we marched past. It had gone down in the record books as a training accident. Micah's MAAC was hit several times by underpowered missiles, but a lucky hit set off the underpowered warheads in his own MAAC. That many explosions at once was enough to tear Micah's MAAC apart. To this day, I still don't know why Micah had stopped moving. Was it a servo malfunction or had he stepped in a large hole and couldn't get out? In either case, it didn't matter. Micah was there on my orders. He was armed solely with missiles on my orders. His death was my responsibility.



Later, Cinda and I visited Jonson at the hospital. When his MAAC was hit in midair by a simulated HVC slug, his computer had cut the power to his jump jets and he had broken a leg as he crashed. It really hurt me to see him hurt because of me and I apologized to him.



"Why're you apologizing?" he asked with a frown. "It was my mistake for hitting my jump jets like that. I should've stayed closer to the ground and did a ground boost."



"It was my plan, therefore it was my fault that you got hurt and that Micah died." I sounded like a sullen little kid and I knew it.



"Hey, it was a gutsy plan and we all agreed on it, right?" Jonsen looked meaningfully at Cinda and eventually, she nodded her head. She seemed to be deep in thought about something.



We sat around and hung out with Jonson for a while longer before heading out to the cafeteria for some food. We found a quiet corner and sat down with our food and began to eat quietly. Finally, I couldn't stand the silence anymore and asked, "Cinda, is everything alright?"



She looked up and I could see her eyes were damp. "Things are not alright. I've realized that I need to do something unpleasant and I'm working up the nerve to do it."



"What're you talking about?" Uh oh, I know that look and that tone!



"I've realized that I've been extremely selfish in keeping you all to myself. It's time for us to be non-exclusive."



"What do you mean? Are you breaking up with me? Please don't!" Dagnag-it! I was sounding like a whiny little kid again!



Cinda smiled wistfully. "How can we break up when we were never really together? R'Tus, what we hadâ?¦it was just sex and nothing more."



"How can you say that? Of course it wasn't just sex! Cinda I lo-"



She suddenly reached up and touched my lips with her hand. "Don't. Don't say it! You don't love me R'Tus. You can't. You don't even know anything about me."



"I know a lot," I protested. "I know that you love mornings and the colour of the sun as it rises. I know you have a soft spot for cute animals but you hate the Saxx with a passion. I know you've lost as much as I have because of this stupid war. I know-"



"Shhh," said Cinda quietly. "Please don't make this harder than this is. Don't you see R'Tus? Training is almost over. There has been dozens of young women making mooneyes at you in this camp. It's not fair for me to keep you all to myself."



I shook my head vigorously. "I don't care about anyone else. I just care about you!"



"R'Tus please. When training is over, we'll be assigned to different units all over the world. There's no way we could make a fling into something else in those kinds of conditions."



"It's because of the exercise isn't it? It's because of my mistakes that got Micah killed and Jonson hurt."



Cinda hesitated and said gently, "Partly, but not for what you think. At first, I thought it strange that you wanted me on your wing. After all, Micah was the weakest one in our quad. He should have been on your wing where you could have looked out for him."



"I didn't choose Micah because I didn't think he could have swam in the river in his MAAC."



"But you would have been there to help him. Besides, that river wasn't that deep. We walked our MAACs in chest deep water. I wouldn't exactly call that swimming. Anyway, I'm not second guessing your plan â?? just your motives."



"Motives?"



"What was your real reason for pairing up with me? Truthfully."



I opened my mouth but didn't answer right away. She had me and I knew it. I just didn't have the guts to say it because I knew it would only solidify her decision.



She didn't wait for me though. She stared intently at my face and said, "I thought so. R'Tus, I'm not a damsel in distress that needs protecting from you. I'm a soldier in a war against giant alien invaders who've killed most of my family. There's no way you can keep me safe and there's not a chance in Hadis that I'll let you either."



I didn't respond. I had nothing to say. She was right. She was right about everything. I guess maybe in the back of my mind, I had made her out to be Princess Gaya, with me the Black Knight. But Cinda was not a princess and I was not a knight.



Cinda gathered her food and stood up. "I'll see you around R'Tus."



I stared down into my plate as she walked away. I had learned a very valuable lesson. I would never again get involved in any way with anyone under my command. My relationships to those in my quad must remain strictly professional. I can never again allow my personal feelings cloud my judgement.



After Cinda left, my table seemed to fill quickly with young women from various other units. As with Cinda, most of them were older than me, but I guess I was getting used to that. They talked animatedly. Most of them wanted to know how I did what I did with a MAAC. I answered truthfully that I didn't really think it was all that special. That just seemed to get them even more interested. By the time I left, I had several invitations for private tutoring sessions and a few blatant recreational sessions. Dagnag-it! Women in the military sure were aggressive!



In retrospect, I guess they have to be. Military service draws a certain mind set. Not only does it draw those with a natural killer instinct, it draws those who truly appreciate what it means to have a lifespan that was shorter than civilians. In the military, if you saw an opportunity for pleasure, you took it with both hands wide open. Who knows when you would have another opportunity like that? Who knows if you would even live to see the next sunrise?



I walked back to my barracks feeling a lot more light hearted than I should have been. After all, didn't I just get my heart broken? Did I? Was I truly in love with Cinda? I think so. But then again, I think my heart always did belong to someone else - someone who only lived in my book and my dreams. In my dreams, Princess Gaya rode upon her drac'en steed while I, the Black Knight, ran tirelessly beside her.



End of Entry.

Two chapters today!

Chapter 7 The Champion



L'Cor stumbled away from his companions as they left the Pecca bar. "See ya later guys!"



His companions laughed and waved. Lani, the friendly young pilot of Arachne yelled, "Get home before you hurl!"



L'Cor chuckled and gave Lani a friendly gesture that involved folding all his fingers except his middle one. Lani and his friends laughed again and walked away.



L'Cor took a deep breath of the night's air and started walking in the general direction of his apartment. Tonight's party had been to celebrate another one of L'Cor's victories in the Tournament. Thus far, he had won ten matches with only minor damage to Phantom Crash. He was really starting to get the hang of piloting a Mick but deep inside, he sorely missed piloting a MAAC.



As with other parties, L'Cor had passed the night away by drinking and swapping war stories for Tournament stories. He also enjoyed debating the virtues of Micks versus MAACs with his fellow Tournament players. Now, with the party over, he only wanted to get back to his ratty apartment so that he could watch another entry from R'Tus's journal before he passed out. R'Tus's journal was special in more than one way. Not only was it a record of R'Tus's thoughts and feelings, but also the way that L'Cor came to possess it was special. After that fateful day, the one when R'Tus had died while holding back a tide of Saxx so that L'Cor and the rest of his tri-quad could get to minimum safe distance, L'Cor had collapsed onto his bunk only to find R'Tus's AV journal already occupying it. As far as L'Cor knew, R'Tus kept the journal close at hand at all times, yet somehow, had managed to sneak it into L'Cor's bunk the day he died. It was almost as if R'Tus had somehow known that he would not be returning. L'Cor was not normally someone who held on to sentimental mementoes, but somehow, he knew that he was meant to have R'Tus's journal.



L'Cor turned down a dark alley to take a shortcut. As soon as he was sure that no one was around, he straightened up and lengthened his stride. There was no way these young pups could ever out drink him but he wasn't about to let them know that!



He heard laughter coming out of the darkness, followed by a loud indignant scream. Unlike the laughter, the scream definitely sounded female. L'Cor frowned and turned his stride into a jog. Someone was in trouble up ahead!



He skidded to a halt at mouth of another alley. This one was darker than the rest and he could barely make out four or five figures at the end of the alley. He heard more raucous laughter followed by a string of curses shouted by a feminine voice.



"Ha ha! Hold her steady will ya? I'm gonna do her good!"



"Yah Jok!. Do her man! Come on!"



"Not so tough out here in the real world are ya?"



L'Cor heard the sound of cloth shredding and suddenly, he was past all thought. He raced down the alley and bulldozed his way through the crowd of dark bodies.



"What the frak?!"



L'Cor lashed out with his right fist and was rewarded with a thud and a grunt of pain. A hand bearing a knife flashed in his face and he blocked with his left forearm. Before his attacker could recover, he twisted his left hand and grabbed the wrist of his attacker. L'Cor heaved to the side and threw his assailant into another dark figure.



Something jabbed him in the back and he hissed with pain. He spun around and kicked out with his right foot. He felt more than heard the kneecap of his attacker breaking.



A beer bottle hit him a glancing blow on his temple and his vision blurred. He saw a young roughly dressed man with a mean looking knife come towards him. Suddenly, his arms refused to move properly. He stared helplessly, as the knife got closer and closer.



A small brightly coloured form leapt from the shadows and kicked the knife away. A reverse roundhouse put the thug down onto the ground for the count.



L'Cor blinked his eyes several times, not quite believing what he was seeing. It looked as if a small girl was kicking and screaming obscenities at the man on the ground.



L'Cor couldn't hold his head up anymore. He sank to his knees and closed his eyes for just a moment. The next thing he knew, he was staring up into the dark eyes of a young girl. The girl looked vaguely familiar but L'Cor couldn't place it at the moment. The girl snapped a bubble from her gum and said, "Gonna take a holo this time old man?"



Recognition finally hit L'Cor's brain but before he could say something heated in return, his mind blanked as he passed out again.



*



L'Cor awoke to the sound of someone coughing. The sound was ugly and nasty, as if the person coughing were trying to expel something from their system. L'Cor opened his eyes slowly and stared up at the dirty ceiling. Where was he? He remembered a brawl of some sort. Some guys had thought it would be funny to abuse and 「grape」 a young helpless girl.



Only, the girl wasn't all that helpless. Yoko Ana! He had rescued Yoko Ana, and then in turn had been rescued by her! Where the Hadis was she. Wait...where was he?



"There there now. Take a deep breath and drink this." The voice was soft and soothing.



"I don't wanna. It's tastes terrible!" The second voice sounded old, tired and raspy.



"Come on, don't be a baby. It'll help you sleep."



The second voice suddenly broke into deep hacking coughs. "I...ok..."



L'Cor got out of the couch that he was in and softly walked towards the voices. He was in a small apartment room that had certainly seen better days. The rug was tattered and there were cracks in the walls and the ceiling. The furnishings were spartan but clean.



L'Cor walked to a door that was slightly open. The voices were coming from inside. The floor creaked just before he reached the door. Before he could raise a hand to knock though, the door swung open and he stood face to face with the current reigning champion of the Tournament, Yoko Ana.



She was wearing simple clothes and not the usual hideous attire that L'Cor was used to seeing her in. Her hair was still multi-coloured but it was now combed straight. Her mouth was set in a grim line and her eyes were glaring silent accusations at him.



"Well, wanna take that holo now? Come on and get it over with!" Yoko angrily swung the door wide so that L'Cor could see inside. The room was tiny with a small dresser and a small bed. On the bed was a thin frail figure that L'Cor couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.



"Yoko, who is that?" said the figure on the bed.



Yoko's face softened as she turned to face the figure. "No one Kasa. Try to get some rest, ok?"



Yoko stepped out of the room and gestured for L'Cor to follow. She pointed to the front door and said, "Now that you're awake, the front door's over there. Help yourself out."



L'Cor took a step towards the door and then said, "Thank you. I think you saved my life tonight."



Yoko sniffed loudly and said, "Ok, now get out."



L'Cor took another step and then turned and said, "I saved you too, you know."



"So what? You want a medal? I would've gotten free eventually and taught those 「illegitimate child」s a lesson."



Instead of feeling angry, L'Cor only felt curiosity. Why was Yoko always acting so angry? Lani and the other players had said that Yoko never partook in any of the after game parties and that she always disappeared as soon as the game was over. "Are you angry at me or just the world in general?" He kept his tone mild and as easy going as possible.



Yoko snorted and said, "You don't deserve my anger. I reserve my anger for the people who did that." Yoko gestured with her head at the room where the pale thin figure slept.



"Who is that?" asked L'Cor softly.



All of a sudden, all the anger seemed to melt away from Yoko. She sighed and sat down on the couch. She motioned to L'Cor and he sat down on the chair opposite of her.



"That is what happens when someone signs up with one of the corporate sponsors. They pamper you, treat you like a princess, and when you lose, they drop you like a hot potato. That, is the former champion of the Tournament. That, is my older sister Kasa."



L'Cor leaned back and muttered a curse. He suspected it might've been something like that but he never imagined that the person on the bed was Yoko's sister. "What happened?"



Yoko's eyes took on a faraway look as she said, "My sister is several orbits older than me. When she turned eighteen orbits, the corporate hacks at Fizzy Pop discovered that she had a talent for piloting Micks. They sponsored her and provided everything from living expenses to a brand new top of the line Mick. She climbed up the ranks in the Tournament and soon became champion. She reigned for a few orbits until she met her match...me.



I didn't go through the sponsorship route. During my sister's time as champion, I got to know a certain Ivan McMac rather well and he counselled me to stay away from the corporations. I followed his advice but I desperately wanted to be a pilot like my sister. So, Ivan leased a Mick to me at a fraction of its worth. In a few games, I earned enough credits to both pay him back and to purchase my own Mick and customize it. In less than half an orbit, the Tournament was abuzz with the possibilities. Two sisters, one title. Who would win? I didn't want to fight my sister. I was quite happy chugging along and earning my way through the Tournament. However, the hacks at Fizzy Pop cornered me. They owned Kasa's contract and could tell her who to fight and when. We didn't have a choice."



Yoko paused and got up. She left the room for a couple of minutes and then came back with two glasses of water. She handed one to L'Cor and took a long gulp from hers. "I still don't know if it was my missile that punctured Kasa's cockpit or if it was shoddy maintenance. Either way, Kasa ended up being exposed to the radiation in Old Neomar for a hellishly long time. The corporate devils at Fizzy Pop had decided that since Kasa couldn't even defeat her younger sister, then she wasn't worth retrieving in a timely manner. After she got sick, they dropped her contract and moved on to the next victim. That's all she was to them. A way to sell more of their crap to the general population. A brief moment in time. A candle in the wind."



"Is that why you keep fighting? To earn money to take care of her?"



"That and to stick it to those corporate devils by keeping the title away from their people. The problem is, as champion, I don't play as often anymore because very few people are willing to challenge me. I have a reputation for not leaving enough of my opponents' Micks to salvage."



"You're that good?" The question was asked honestly, with no hint of arrogance or rancor.



Yoko answered the question with the same respect. "Yes, I'm that good." She picked up a holo remote and pressed a button.



Across the room, a small holo screen came to life. It showed a recording of a Mick game. L'Cor became instantly fascinated as he watched. It took him a few seconds to orientate himself because of the top down view but he managed.



It wasn't hard to pick out Yoko's Baby. From what L'Cor could see, it was a hover type and it moved very very fast. He watched in silence as Yoko danced Baby through the crowded and devastated city streets, always on the hunt for more prey. She hardly bothered with OC. As soon as she spotted another Mick, she went in for the kill with guns blazing and missiles flying. L'Cor watched carefully and could tell that Baby was armed with a laser weapon, a triple tube missile launcher, a rocket propelled grenade launcher and some sort of projectile weapon that spoke in powerful single shot bursts.



Yoko was right. She was that good. In fact, the only other person that L'Cor had ever seen who could move a war machine that fluidly was his long lost brother R'Tus.



The battle quickly wound to a stop as Yoko expertly defeated all of her opponents. L'Cor whistled softly and said, "I don't think I would want to face you either."



Yoko smiled the friendliest smile that L'Cor had ever seen on her. "You're not so bad yourself newbie. I've been looking forward to facing you on the field."



L'Cor shook his head. "As much as that would be an honour, I wouldn't last five minutes against you. You remind me a lot of my younger brother. He was a natural, just like you. He could do things with his MAAC that no one else could."



"Oh? Where is he? I'd like to meet him."



"He died in the war."



Yoko fell silent as she digested this piece of information. The she said, "So, you were a soldier? A MAAC pilot?"



L'Cor nodded. "Yup. I got drafted out of high school and wound up fighting the Saxx until we finally won.



Yoko suddenly did something so unexpected that it took L'Cor completely by surprise. She got up and crossed the distance between them. She bent down and planted a kiss on L'Cor's cheek. "Thank you."



L'Cor cleared his throat and managed to say, "Um, you're welcome?"



Yoko giggled and L'Cor decided that she was actually very cute and attractive when she laughed. "Thank you for fighting the Saxx. I actually have a soft spot for war veterans. Whenever I meet one in the field, I try to disable their Micks with as little damage as possible. You, and people like you, saved our world."



"It didn't always feel like that," said L'Cor. "My brother died from friendly fire because some creeps at Intel didn't know their heads from their 「multiple dookie delivery chute」."



Yoko didn't say anything to that. Instead, she bent down again and this time, kissed L'Cor on his lips. "Thank you for saving me in the alley tonight. It was very heroic."



In spite of himself, L'Cor found himself smiling. Now that Yoko was letting her guard down, he found that he actually liked the young woman. "You're welcome. My brother would've done the exact same thing, only he wouldn't have gotten beaned on the head."



Yoko laughed and gingerly touched the bump where the bottle had hit L'Cor. "Your brother sounds like a regular knight in shining armour."



L'Cor laughed. "Yup, that he was. He was always carrying around this old book. It was left behind by our father."



Yoko's face brightened even more. "Book?" She waltzed away and came back carrying a worn and tattered book. "This book?" She perched herself on the arm of L'Cor's chair and showed it to him.



L'Cor looked at the title. It read, History of Royal Gaya. "Yup, that would be the one. Somehow, I'm not surprised that you've got one too."



Yoko cradled the book to her chest. "This was left behind by my mother. When I was young, I used to fantasize that I was Princess Gaya and that the Black Knight would come and rescue me from the slums that we lived in."



L'Cor glanced around the room. Come to think of it, the room wasn't all that much bigger than his own ratty apartment. He had thought that once he started playing and winning money that he would move into a nicer place. However, between maintaining Phantom Crash and partying, he didn't have much money or time left over. "It certainly costs a lot to maintain a Mick in top fighting condition doesn't it?"



Yoko snorted derisively. "You got that right. I spent a large fortune in outfitting Baby with a laser cannon because I thought I would save money in the long run on ammunition. Little did I know that a laser cannon needs a ton of money just to keep it properly tuned. Ivan knows about Kasa. He knows how much I'm spending in her leukemia treatments. He's offered to maintain Baby for free but I won't accept charity. However, if I don't get some games soon, I may have to start selling pieces of Baby just to keep up with Kasa's treatments."



"How about a challenge match?"



"Challenges are good, but they're generally one on one with the challenger earning more potential money. The prize money from one top-notch player is barely enough for a month supply of medicine. I need to get into a melee where there are multiple opponents and more cash potential, but the rules state that players cannot win the title from a melee game. That prevents them from ganging up on me but it also means that they can't win the title from me either. Without numbers on their side, there aren't very many players that want to face me."



L'Cor felt a very strong urge to help Yoko. Not only did he feel empathy for her plight, but she also reminded him of R'Tus very much. Like Yoko, R'Tus had a strong sense of nobility and honour that he hid away from the world. Suddenly, he had an idea. "How about a team battle? You could form a small team and offer to fight any other team up to a set number. Players would have the chance to face you with odds on their side and you would earn more prize money."



Yoko cocked her head to one side as she considered the idea. "That could work, but who would team up with me? It can't be another Class A player. No one would want to fight then."



"You could team up with me," said L'Cor. As the idea took form in his head, he began to speak more excitedly. "I'm still a newbie so I'm still a Class E right? We could bill it as Champion and Newbie versus all comers."



Yoko got off the arm of the chair and began to pace around. "I like the idea. You're not a half bad pilot and you've got tons of potential. I don't think you'd be a liability at my side."



L'Cor got up too and began to pace in the opposite direction. "I don't need much prize money myself. Just enough to keep Phantom Crash maintained. I'm not in this for the money after all."



Yoko suddenly stopped pacing and face L'Cor squarely. There was just a hint of anger and wounded pride on her face. "No. If we're going to team up then we split the prize money fairly. I don't accept charity."



L'Cor raised his hands in a placating gesture. "That's fine. If we face a team of oh let's say six, I'm pretty sure I can handle two and leave you the rest. We'll split the money based upon who we take down."



Yoko smiled brightly at the suggestion. "That puts me back into a melee scenario where I can earn more money. I like the idea very much! All we need now is a team name."



"How about The Champ and the Nube?"



Yoko shook her head and took a few steps forward until she was standing right in front of L'Cor. "Not catchy enough. How about Beauty and the Beast?"



"That's catchy but you really shouldn't call yourself the Beast!" said L'Cor with a laugh.



Yoko laughed out loud and punched L'Cor playfully on his shoulder. "Idiot!"



L'Cor rubbed the spot where Yoko punched him in mock indignation. "Owch! You pack quite a punch for a little girl!"



In response, Yoko punched him again on the other shoulder. "I'm not a little girl. I'm a hunter in search of prey!"



"A hunter eh? How about, The Stalkers?"



"The Stalkers..." Yoko rolled the name around in her mouth. "I like it. Simple yet sinister."



"It's a deal then!" L'Cor held his right hand out. Yoko took it and shook it firmly. Then she stepped and kissed L'Cor firmly on his lips.



"There, sealed with a kiss!" She bounced away and disappeared into another room.



L'Cor touched his lips with his hand. Both Yoko's attractiveness and her kisses were starting to awaken feelings in his body and emotions in his chest. He wasn't sure how he felt. Did he like Yoko in that manner? Did she like him? What did she expect from him? There was such a large gap in their ages that L'Cor really didn't know how to relate.



He was roused from his internal conflict when Yoko came back into the room. She was carrying a computer terminal. She showed him the screen and said, "Here, I've registered us as a team and put in our fighting conditions. By this time tomorrow, there'll be at least five or six other registered teams, all vying for a shot at the champion."



L'Cor reviewed Yoko's posting but could not find anything that he disagreed with. "Looks good. I better get home to get some rest. Looks like I'm going to need it. Do you by any chance have directions?"



Yoko smiled broadly. "Of course! Take the elevator down two floors and hang a right."



"What're you talking about?"



"You live in this building!"



L'Cor was stunned. "You live in the same building as me?"



"I not only live here, but I manage it too. This building is owned under Kasa's name. I generally rent out rooms to people who otherwise could not afford more expensive homes."



L'Cor chuckled softly. He'd been right about Yoko's nobility. The rents in this building were by far the cheapest. They were cheaper than even some of the other apartment buildings that were in worse shape. "Well, that makes it easier for us to get together to discuss strategy and tactics!"



"And easier for transportation too. Make sure you set your alarm early old man. We're going to see Ivan tomorrow morning."



"Why?"



"If we're going to make this partnership work, you're gonna need some serious upgrades to Phantom Crash!"



"Upgrades? I thought I had a pretty good weapon load out."



Yoko laughed. "Ok, maybe I was wrong. You're not braver than you look for riding in that piece of crap – just dumber!" Yoko's laughter and smile took the sting out of her barb.



"What do you mean piece of crap?" L'Cor tried to sound angry but he couldn't. He knew from seeing Yoko's Baby in action that he had barely scratched the surface of all the options available to a Mick.



Yoko kissed him softly on his cheek and said softly, "Just trust me."

Chapter 9 Upgrades



L'Cor was rudely awakened the next morning when Yoko flounced into his room. She had used her master key to let herself in. She was dressed in her usual trashy attire and she acted as if she didn't give a dagnag. In short, she was back to her usual self.



She stood over L'Cor's head and her loose shirt flared out at the bottom, giving L'Cor a classic up-the-shirt view. Yoko's pink bra covered a pair of surprisingly well-rounded breasts.



"What're you waiting for sleepyhead?!" exclaimed Yoko. "The taxicab is downstairs. Come on, we've got to go!"



L'Cor pretended to keep his eyes closed for a couple more seconds and then said, "Shhh. I don't have a holo camera so I'm trying to preserve a memory. Pink looks very good on you."



Yoko glanced down and blushed deep red. She drew back in a hurry and pulled her shirt shut. Then, she got a devilish gleam in her eyes. "It was too dark last night so you probably missed it."



L'Cor slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Missed what?"



"This!" Yoko grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled upwards. Along the way, she managed to grab the bottom of her bra as well.



L'Cor's mind instantly snapped awake as he saw Yoko's beautiful breasts. It had been a very long time since he'd been with a woman and his body reacted accordingly. He felt slightly disappointed when Yoko covered herself up a moment later. "Hadis! What a way to wake up!"



Yoko chuckled and then sniffed the air. "Ew, you better take a shower, before we leave. The taxicab can wait." She took a good look around and wrinkled her nose. "Doncha ever clean up in here?"



L'Cor glanced around his messy apartment. "It's the maid's week off," he said. He got up off his bed and made his way into his bathroom. Inside, he stripped off his clothes, stepped into the shower, and turned the shower up to full blast. As the washed himself, he thought he heard the door open, but he could not see anything beyond the fog generated by his shower.



When he was done, he opened his shower door to find that all of his towels were missing. Even his dirty clothes on the floor were gone. Someone had come in! He shook his head bemusedly and chuckled. If that was the game that Yoko wanted to play, then so be it! His time in the military had long burned away any shyness he might have felt about nakedness.



He whistled a tuneless tune as he stepped out of the bathroom. Yoko was sitting on his bed with an expectant look on her face. She whistled through her fingers as L'Cor playfully posed for her. "Can I at least have a towel to dry off?"



In response, Yoko threw him a small face cloth. L'Cor caught it, and then shrugged. He proceeded to wipe himself down as he made his way to his dresser. He was acting as casual as possible but his mind was racing at ways in which he could get back at Yoko. The only problem was, all of the scenarios running through his head involved getting Yoko naked and in bed.



Yoko screamed in glee at L'Cor's physical reaction. "You naughty old man, what's going on through that gutter that you call a brain?"



"Keep this up and you'll find just how not-old I am!" L'Cor smiled broadly. He had to admit that he was enjoying this flirtatious activity. He pulled some clothes out of his dresser drawer and got dressed amidst booing noises from Yoko.



As they left his apartment, L'Cor asked a question that had been plaguing him. "Why do you dress up like that?"



"Like what?" asked Yoko innocently, "Like a 「strong independent woman who don't need no man」?"



"Yeah."



"How do you know I'm not?"



L'Cor snorted derisively. "You don't have the temperament. A 「strong independent woman who don't need no man」 wouldn't blush because a dirty old man had sneaked a peek under her shirt."



They shared a laugh and then Yoko said, "I find that it tends to make men underestimate me. If they're busy thinking of my body out in the field, it makes my job that much easier."



That made a lot of sense to L'Cor. Yoko's current attire was definitely hard to forget. She dressed in such a way as to show nothing of her body's naughty bits, but left a lot for the imagination.



They got into the taxicab and Yoko ordered it to take them to a drive through restaurant first. They ordered their meal and ate in the cab. By the time the cab pulled up outside of Ivan McMac's shop, they had finished their breakfast and threw the paper wrappers into the taxicab's disposal bin.



They walked into the shop together and Yoko linked her arm with L'Cor's. Ivan greeted them with a smile and an arched eyebrow. "Good morning Yoko. Good morning L'Cor."



"Good morning Ivan!" said Yoko brightly.



"What can I do for you guys today?" asked Ivan.



"L'Cor has agreed to team up with me. If he's going to play in the big leagues, he's gonna need some major upgrades to his Mick."



Ivan gave L'Cor a questioning look. "A partnership eh? Is he good enough to keep up with you?"



L'Cor was about to say something but Yoko beat him to it. "I've seen him fight. He's pretty good. He just needs some better equipment."



L'Cor felt something like pride inside of himself because Yoko was standing up for him. A part of him was surprised at how easy it was to get along with Yoko ever since she let down her guard last night. The other part of him was just going along with the flow because he really enjoyed being with her. "Actually the plan is to use me as bait and for Yoko blow up the other guys before I kick it."



That got a laugh out of both Ivan and Yoko. Ivan angled his head towards the back door. "Head on in Yoko. I want to speak with L'Cor for a couple of minutes."



Yoko surprised L'Cor by giving him a shy smile and then obediently followed Ivan's instructions. It was obvious to L'Cor that the relationship between Yoko and Ivan was more than the usual mechanic/player one.



Ivan confirmed this when he said, "You know, Yoko is almost like a daughter to me. If you're teaming up with her as a way to take advantage of that girl –"



"I'm not," said L'Cor abruptly with a raised hand. "She reminds me a lot of my brother."



"Brother?"



"Yeah, I think you knew him in the war. R'Tus Penrag'n"



Ivan's face brightened up immediately. "Of course, I knew there was something familiar about you! That boy had the most potential of any pilot I ever had the honour of being a crew chief for. How is he anyway?"



"He died," said L'Cor quietly. "About six orbits ago. It was from friendly fire."



Ivan's face fell and he looked as if he had suddenly aged. "Oh frak it! I knew no Saxx could ever do it in for that boy. He was a natural. I didn't hear anything. I guess the brass hushed it up?"



"Yeah. They didn't want it generally known that their best ace was nuked by his own people.



"How did it happen?"



"The usual frak up," said L'Cor with a bitter tone. "Satellite images had picked up unusually high Saxx activity but because of the terrain, they couldn't confirm the presence of a hive. When R'Tus's quad discovered it and called it in, someone at HQ panicked and fired off a thermo-nuke before we could get everyone to minimum safe distance. R'Tus had some damage to his jump jets so he couldn't boost out of there fast enough. He decided to hold rear guard and make sure that no Saxx followed us out of the area as we retreated."



Ivan sighed, a deep sad sigh. "A hero to the end." Ivan shook himself visibly and then said, "Well come with me. Yoko was right. If you're gonna team up with her and fight in the big leagues, you're going to need better equipment."



L'Cor followed Ivan to through the back door and said, "How much is this all going to cost me? I haven't spent much of my prize money yet but I've sent a fair bit back to my sister Q'Wen."



"Don't worry about that for now. There are a lot of poor and destitute people in that apartment building that Yoko manages. My helping her ends up helping a lot of other people too."



"Like Yoko's sister Kasa?"



"Yes," said Ivan in a sad tone. "She was seduced by those corporate 「illegitimate child」s with their promises of riches and fame. Well she got her five minutes of fame, but the riches all turned to dust."



They made their way to the central computer where Ivan had originally configure Phantom Crash. Yoko was already there. She had an image of Phantom Crash on the holoscreen. L'Cor could see that she had already stripped out all of its weapons.



"You have a rather bad habit of holding down your triggers too long. In an extended fight like the ones we'll have, you'll run out of ammo long before anyone else," said Yoko without any preamble.



L'Cor held his tongue. He didn't like to be criticized by a half pint of a woman but he reminded himself that this small woman was the current reigning champion and if she were in a MAAC would have given R'Tus a run for his money.



Yoko manipulated the computer like a pro as she dragged an icon onto Phantom Crash's frame. "This Gatling gun is the closest thing to a MBC for a Mick. The damage per shot isn't that great, but the volume of fire this baby can dish out is amazing. Plus, you'll have more than enough ammo to keep your trigger finger happy."



The weapon system looked huge and he looked at the display half expecting the computer to warn him that Phantom Crash was overweight. Instead, he was surprised to find that Phantom Crash was nowhere near its weight limit yet.



"The best thing that Ivan did for you was to give you a pair of really decent legs."



L'Cor remembered how much those legs had cost and now he was glad he had gotten them. "What about the torso piece?"



Yoko snapped a bubble from a piece of gum that L'Cor didn't know she had. "It's not bad," she said thoughtfully. "But, most of the opponents you'll be facing have advanced targeting computers. That means that all of their missiles will lock on at the same time."



"That's bad?"



Ivan cleared his throat and said, "Think of an AROW system for medium range."



"Ah," said L'Cor simply.



Yoko pulled another icon onto Phantom Crash's frame. "The shot cannon is a really useless weapon. At the ranges where it becomes effective, a Mick with a melee weapon would toast you before you could lock on. This rocket propelled drill arm will do the trick."



"What's that?" asked L'Cor.



"The concept of the rocket propelled drill arm was taken from the construction industry," explained Ivan. "Basically, you take a hardened tungsten drill with a diamond head and you attach it to a small rocket. Then you link the fire control to your Mick's jump jets and you've got a melee weapon that can take out even the heaviest armour in one blow."



"Cool."



Yoko pulled two more icons onto Phantom Crash. "A rocket propelled grenade has better range and better targeting abilities than the old spring-fire versions. And, last but not least, a dual tube missile launcher with an advanced targeting computer means that you can still fire two missiles at once."



"Ahm…Yoko, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but aren't we taking too much advantage of Ivan here?"



Yoko turned to look at him. The smile that she gave him made him feel as if he had just won a prize.



"Actually, these are weapons that I used to use before I could afford my current weapons on Baby. I'm a bit of a collector and I never traded them back to Ivan. As my partner, I'm loaning them to you. Put them to good use, ok?"



"Ok!"



"Now, as for the items that we'll have to lease from Ivan…let's see…" Yoko pulled the rollers off from Phantom Crash's legs and dragged another pair on icons onto its frame. "The legs that Ivan gave you actually have optional hover attachments. That means that if you use the hover jets in conjunction with your jump jets, you can have the same kind of mobility as a true hover platform. Also, if you ground yourself to use your OC and need to suddenly move, you don't have to wait until your hover jets fire up. You can just run on your regular feet."



A curious thought occurred to L'Cor and he asked, "Baby is a traditional hover type right? How do you overcome the OC issue? The blow back from the hover jets would blow the OC covering off right?"



"I have my OC built into Baby's armour. I usually don't take enough hits to totally disable it."



L'Cor whistled softly in appreciation of Yoko's skill. He looked at the computer as it tallied up the weapons and calculated Phantom Crash's specifications. Due to the added weapons Phantom Crash now had an even lower top running speed and its acceleration was lower too. However, these specs were offset by the ability to hover. "You also put an extra inch of armour plating?"



Yoko rolled her eyes as if this were a basic question. "Everyone takes hits. You're gonna need the extra plating. In the melee matches that we'll be in, I don't think even I will be able to remain untouched for long. When my OC fails, our roles will shift. I'll become the bait while you become the silent hunter."



"I'll do my best to protect you," said L'Cor seriously.



"I know you will," said Yoko brightly and then she blew him a kiss.



Ivan McMac watched the interplay between L'Cor and Yoko and smiled a broad proud smile.

Posting Chapter 11 and 12 together...

Chapter 11 An Unexpected Twist



A week after their announced team, L'Cor and Yoko were stalking through the ruins of Old Neomar, hunting for their prey. They had spent most of the week going through various strategies and plans. Because other players could monitor their communications, they came up with a complex series of coded phrases that would mean nothing to anyone else.



The last couple of days had been spent on Ivan's property where L'Cor practised some manoeuvres in his freshly modified Phantom Crash. He had to admit that he really liked the Gatling gun. Not only did it have an unholy amount of ammunition, but also the way that Phantom Crash vibrated every time he used it sent soothing shivers through the cockpit. The only downside was that the damage per shot was actually less than his old rapid fire cannon. The rocket propelled drill arm had truly amazing damage potential. He would have to be careful when he used it. As for the rocket propelled grenade launcher, he was still a little dubious as to its effectiveness. Its damage potential was greater than the spring fire versions because of its ability to target other Micks, but the blast radius and explosive content was less. Of all of his new weapons, the dual tube missile launcher was his favourite. When paired up with his advanced targeting computer, both missiles could lock on at the same time to either one or two targets. For today's game though, he kept the fire control synchronized and he had staggered the ammunition with armour piercing and high explosive.



At the moment, L'Cor and Yoko were playing through Battle Tactical Plan A. This was a complex name for saying that L'Cor was the bait. He stomped down a deserted street until he reached an intersection. He paused for a bit and then turned left and stomped down another street. To a casual observer, it would seem as if he were walking around randomly and aimlessly. However, Yoko had carefully picked out his route. She was waiting patiently under OC on one of the tallest remaining towers in this district of Old Neomar.



A red blip appeared on his scanner and he smiled grimly. The plan was for him to head directly for any opponents that appeared and to have Yoko retain the high ground and search for the rest of the opposing team. It was up to Yoko to see how their opponents' teamwork was before she joined the battle and racked up her wins.



L'Cor changed his course until he was heading for the red blip. His communicator chimed and a face appeared on the screen. It was Boran, a pilot on the opposing team. The transmission was coming through on the all wave band.



"This is Boran of Angel's Kiss to all Micks pilots playing in Old Neomar. All Micks, drop under OC now! There's something weird going on."



L'Cor frowned. What was Boran talking about? Sending out a transmission on the all wave band was unheard of. The transmission went to all Micks currently playing in the entire city not just to the area where L'Cor's game was being played. Still, Boran was known to be a cautious and serious player. L'Cor keyed his communicator and said, "What's up Boran?"



Boran looked somewhat relieved and said, "L'Cor? Something took a pot shot at me just now and it wasn't a Mick."



"What do you mean it wasn't a Mick? Are you sure it wasn't someone on your team?"



"Of course it wasn't!" Boran looked a little exasperated and confused. "It was big. Bigger than any Mick and it didn't have a humanoid profile."



A shiver rippled through L'Cor's body. A Saxx! It had to be a Saxx. What the frak was it doing here? All of the Saxx had been wiped from the surface of Gaya during the closing days of the war!



"What did it look like Boran? Did it have three legs?" The red blip that L'Cor was heading was standing still and L'Cor was getting closer to it. What would he find when he reached it? A Mick or a Saxx? If it was a Saxx, then he was in serious trouble. He doubted that any of the weapons he had on Phantom Crash could bring down a Saxx in power armour.



On L'Cor's communicator screen, Boran shook his head vigorously. "No, it didn't. It stood on two legs."



That froze L'Cor in his tracks. He halted Phantom Crash as he digested this new piece of information. The red blip on his scanner was on the other side of a row of low buildings. Before he could jump to take a look though, the red blip moved.



Phantom Crash's external microphones picked up a low rumbling sound. L'Cor knew that sound to be that of jump jets on a large mechanical vehicle. But what kind was it?



The answer came soon enough. A large vaguely human shaped figure rose above the buildings. L'Cor stared dumbfounded not because he didn't recognize the shape, but because he never thought to see a MAAC in Old Neomar.



A whisper in the back of his mind pushed him into action. He fired his jump jets in reverse and scooted backwards. A large missile hit the spot that he had just vacated. The explosion rocked Phantom Crash but did nothing to alter its course.



The unknown MAAC touched down and then did something extraordinary. First it bent at the waist and knelt down on hands and knees. As its palms touched the ground, large thrusters at its shoulders pivoted and fired downwards. The mysterious MAAC hovered as the rest of its body completed its reconfiguration. Large aerofoils deployed to either side as it began to thrust forward.



L'Cor reached an intersection and then spun Phantom Crash around in a smooth 90-degree turn and zipped down another street. His mind was still trying to struggle with what he had seen. A Grif'cen! What was a medium class Grif'cen MAAC doing in Old Neomar? And what in Hadis' stinking armpit was its pilot doing? Why was he or she firing upon civilians engaged in a Tournament game?



L'Cor made another turn at another intersection as he looked around for a good spot to hide and engage his OC. A missile detonated to his left and he flinched as the explosion shook Phantom Crash. He had gotten used to the smaller weapons that Micks were equipped with. A MAAC could field much larger guns, missiles and lasers that made Mick sized weapons seem like toys. L'Cor punched some keys and his secondary monitor showed him a view to the rear. The Grif'cen was keeping pace with Phantom Crash at an altitude that was just above the building level. That was pretty close to the ground and any slightest misjudgement on the part of its pilot would bring the MAAC crashing to the ground.



Suddenly, the left side of the Grif'cen flared with multiple explosions. L'Cor had just enough time to see a line of coherent light before the Grif'cen smashed into a row of buildings.



"L'Cor! Are you alright?" Yoko's face appeared on L'Cor's communicator screen. She looked worried.



"I'm fine Yoko. Get back under OC! You're not equipped to take on a MAAC!"



"I'm still under OC. My OC is built into my armour remember? I can fire while it's engaged. What's going on? Who was that?"



"I have no idea and this is not the time to worry about that. Get on the move! There's at least one more Grif'cen out there judging from Boran's description. It can trace your laser blast back to you."



"Good point! I'm leaving AHHH!" Yoko's face disappeared from L'Cor's screen.



"Yoko!" L'Cor changed course and headed for Yoko's hiding place. "I'm coming Yoko! Hang on!"



Boran's image appeared on L'Cor's screen. "I'm on my way too my friend!"



"Be careful Boran! MAAC's pack heavier weapons than Micks!"



"I know that L'Cor. I've already tasted their fire."



L'Cor stared at Boran's face and noticed several lines of blood dripping down his face. He rounded a corner and was presented with a hideous sight.



Yoko's Baby was lying on its side. Standing above it was another Grif'cen MAAC presumably the one that had engaged Boran before. It was pointing an HVC at Yoko's prone Mick.



L'Cor aimed all of his weapons at the MAAC and was about to fire when a heavily damaged Mick raced down the street on damaged hover jets and slammed into the Grif'cen. Both the Mick and the MAAC crashed down into a tangle of twisted metal.



L'Cor rushed forward but he was too far and too late. The Grif'cen managed to get back onto its feet and pulled a short monofilament cutter from the weapon slot on its waist. Boran's Mick was lying on its side and wasn't moving. The Grif'cen plunged the MFC down into the cockpit module of Angel's Kiss.



"NOOO!" L'Cor fired his weapons at the Grif'cen. The Gatling gun that was so effective against Micks merely tickled the MAAC's armour. The RPG managed to get the pilot's attention so that when both of L'Cor's missiles hit it, the pilot was just straightening up and they impacted right on it's chest armour, directly above where the cockpit was.



L'Cor hit his jump jets and ignited his rocket-propelled drill. The engine on the arm weapon gave Phantom Crash extra speed and momentum as the drill hit the Grif'cen right on the chest where the missiles had impacted moments earlier.



Sparks flew as the drill arm pierced the chest armour and into the cockpit underneath. L'Cor imagined that he could hear the pilot scream before he or she died.



L'Cor grounded Phantom Crash and called out to Yoko. There was no response. He popped open his cockpit and quick undid his safety restraints. The air outside was hot and humid as he jumped down and ran to Baby.



Once there, he touched the control panel beside the cockpit hatch and prayed that the manual override was still working. He breathed a sigh of relief as the hatch opened with a hiss and a mechanical whine.



Inside, Yoko was still strapped and there was blood on her face. L'Cor couldn't see any other signs of hurt as he undid Yoko's straps. Her eyes opened and L'Cor whispered a silent ‘thank you' before he kissed her forehead.



"My knight comes to my rescue once again," said Yoko in a voice that was tinged with pain.



"Hush…" said L'Cor as reassuringly as possible. "I've got to get you out of here." He picked Yoko up and marvelled at how small and helpless she seemed.



He carried her over to Phantom Crash and got in. It was a tight fit and he wasn't able to do up his safety straps, but Yoko was able to sit on his lap and lean back into his chest. Just as he closed the hatch, his communicator screen came on. This time, it was Ivan.



Ivan's face appeared scared and worried. The worried part of the expression eased when he saw both L'Cor and Yoko. "Oh good, she's with you. Is she ok?"



"I think so," said L'Cor. "She's got a cut on the side of her head but that's about it from what I can see. I still want to get her back to New Neomar asap to get her checked out."



"No! You can't do that!"



"Why not!"



Ivan heaved a sigh and said with great seriousness. "Everything's gone to Hadis back here. About two hours ago, City Hall was attacked by a bunch of mysterious MAACs. The mayor's dead and so is half of the City Counsel. The Hinton Embassy hotel was attacked too as well as most of the major Mick manufacturing companies.



L'Cor frowned at the news. "What about the police and the militia?"



"The militia were only armed with Micks. They didn't stand a chance. The MAAC force wiped them out within minutes."



"Does anyone know anything about them?"



"Not much. There are no Royal Gayan Armed Forces insignias on any of the MAAC's. Just a black skull."



L'Cor pondered that for a bit. He'd never heard of any unit that used a black skull. Yoko stirred in his arms and he turned his attention to her. "Are you ok?"



She half turned and gave him weak smile. "My head is killing me but otherwise, I think I'm fine. Ivan, what about Kasa?"



Ivan smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. Jan left a few minutes ago for your apartment. She'll be in good hands."



"Your son?" Yoko struggled to sit up but L'Cor wouldn't let her. "No…she doesn't want to see him. You know that!"



"It'll be alright Yoko. They used to date before Kasa's career in the Tournament, remember?"



"Of course I remember! She doesn't want him to see her now!"



"Don't worry! He still loves her you know. He'll take care of her. As for you, L'Cor and the other Mick pilots stuck out in Old Neomar, under no conditions are you to come back here! No fancy heroics until we get a better handle on who these guys are."



L'Cor piloted Phantom Crash as best as he could with Yoko sitting on his lap. He made random twists and turns until he found a small neighbourhood with small houses. He parked Phantom Crash beside one of them and activated his OC. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked quietly.



Ivan made some typing motions and a map appeared on L'Cor's secondary monitor. There's an old reservation not far from where you are now. It has a huge underground facility. Make your way there and stay hidden. I'll be in touch."



"What about the other Mick pilots?"



"I'll contact them one at a time. I won't risk a wide band signal. I'll join you with some supplies as soon as I can sneak out of the city."



"Be careful Ivan!"



"I will. Your number one job right now is to take care of Yoko!"



"Yessir!" said L'Cor automatically. It wasn't until after Ivan had signed off that L'Cor realized that he had answered Ivan as if he were back in MAAC Basic. In this time of crisis, Ivan was showing a surprising about of authority and initiative. L'Cor fervently hoped that Ivan would make good on his promise because beyond getting Yoko to safety, L'Cor had absolutely no idea what to do.



*



L'Cor gingerly walked Phantom Crash down a large ramp. He marvelled at the size of the reservation. Everything here seemed to be sized for giants. From the walkways to the thoroughfares to the gates that opened into the underground facility, Phantom Crash felt right at home. L'Cor wondered if this might have been an old military base of some sort.



He reached the bottom of the ramp and was confronted by a large metal gate. Before he could wonder how to open it though, the gate rumbled and vibrated and slowly lifted up. How was there even power? How did Ivan know about this place? Just who was this old man anyway?



L'Cor walked Phantom Crash though the gate and the gate automatically began to close behind him. He barely noticed. He was awed by what he saw in front on him. He was standing at the beginning of a long lighted tunnel that was obviously man-made. The tunnel was at least sixty feet tall by one hundred feet wide. L'Cor could march an entire tri-quad of MAACs through this tunnel and still have lots of room to spare.



L'Cor spotted some large green arrows with signs that said, "Hangar" so he followed them. Eventually, he came upon a gigantic hangar facility. It was obvious to him now that the long tunnel he had just traversed must have sloped downward. The hangar was mostly empty but there were several bays that were large enough to service MAACs.



As he walked around the hangar, he heard stomping noises and when he looked, he saw several Micks trudge into the hangar bay. He could almost imagine the looks of the faces of the pilots. They must be as dumbfounded as he!



L'Cor called out to them and got them organized. He was somewhat surprised that the leadership role came as easily to him now as it did during the war. As for the other pilots, most of them had shell shocked expressions and it was obvious that they were relieved to have someone take charge.



L'Cor sent several to go exploring this amazing facility. Their goal was to look for medical supplies, food and anything useful that they might need. L'Cor then organized the rest to take care of the injured. Amongst the injured was Yoko. She had passed out again but her breathing was smooth and even. Not being medically trained, L'Cor didn't know what else to do for her.



When some of the exploration team came back to report that they had found a small hospital type room with several beds, L'Cor ordered them to go back and bring back some stretchers.



By the time the all of the injured had been moved, L'Cor allowed himself a moment to relax his guard. It was at that moment that Ivan McMac made an appearance.



Ivan came down the long tunnel at the wheel of a large truck. L'Cor checked his watch and saw that it was almost midnight. Most of the other Mick pilots had found whatever comfortable places they could and had turned in for the night.



Ivan stopped the truck and hopped out. He held out his right hand and L'Cor shook it strongly. ‘What's the situation here?" asked Ivan. Ivan's face showed his exhaustion but his body still moved as if it were twenty years younger.



L'Cor found himself responding as if to a superior officer. "We've got about fifteen Mick pilots here. About half of them are injured in some way. Ditto with the Micks however a few of them like Phantom Crash are completely undamaged."



As L'Cor talked, Ivan began to make a circuit around the hangar. He was especially interested in the condition of the Micks and he nodded his head approvingly. "Good. Good. That means that most of the pilots who were playing today made it here. How's Yoko?"



"I think she's doing fine. I'm not a medic but her breathing is steady and she doesn't have a fever."



Ivan paused for a minute and placed a large hand on L'Cor's shoulder. "Thank you for saving her. You have no idea what that girl means to me."



"She means a lot to me too," said L'Cor truthfully.



Ivan gave him an appraising look but said nothing. L'Cor waited for several more moments but then couldn't contain himself anymore. "What's going on back at the city?"



Ivan started moving again as he said, "Pirates. They call themselves the Black Skull. They're holding the entire city hostage. They have about four tri-quads of MAACs and they've already shown that they're not too concerned about using them to make a point."



"What about the armed forces? Surely they're mobilizing?"



Ivan shook his head. "They don't dare start a MAAC battle in the middle of the city."



"Have they said what they want?"



"Not publicly, but it's not hard to figure out. They obviously want the Mick factories to start making MAACs. With enough MAACs, they could pretty much do whatever they want."



"Oh frak!" swore L'Cor with feeling. "How did you get out?"



Ivan shrugged nonchalantly. "I know a couple of secret passageways. Over the course of the next few days, we're going to have a lot more people show up here. For obvious reasons, we can't have the entire city come here so I've made provisions for some critical support people to come. As for the rest of the population, as long as they stay in their homes and not try anything too noticeable, they should be fine."



L'Cor waved a hand at the hangar bay. "What is this place anyway? How did you know about it?"



Ivan gave him an amused smile. "This is my home away from home. After the war ended five orbits ago, I settled down in New Neomar but spent as much time as possible getting this place operational again. As for what this place is, this is the Neomar Institute for Mobilized Havoc home of the first MAAC research facility."



L'Cor whistled in appreciation. "This is where they invented the MAAC?"



Ivan smiled enigmatically. "Not really. In my younger years, I was a technician here before I got called into active duty as a crew chief."



"Wait a minute. What do you mean not really? Either they developed the MAAC here or they didn't"



"Oh, they developed the MAAC here, but they didn't invent it." Ivan had an amused smile on his face. "Since the war is over and this place is deserted, I suppose it's ok to show you what I mean. Come with me."



Ivan led the way deeper into the large underground building. They passed by several security doors that were wide open. L'Cor could almost imagine how tight the security must have been when this place was fully operational. A question formed in his mind and as he followed Ivan, he gave voice to it. "If this place was so secure and secret, why is it still here? Why didn't they shut it down or destroy it?"



"Remember the nuke that destroyed much of this city? The brass thought that this facility was destroyed too. After the war, no one really bothered to come out here to check. Everything had already been stripped out before the nuke hit so why bother? It wasn't a secret anymore."



"But the nuke…this place is almost pristine condition! The nuke should have caused some damage at least!"



Ivan chuckled softly. "That is one of the mysteries that keeps me coming back." Ivan stopped in front of a large door. Unlike the others, this one still had power to it. Ivan placed his hand on the lock sensor and the door opened. He led the way into the room and with a mockingly grand gesture, he said in an amused tone, "Welcome to the greatest secret of Gaya and one of the mysterious of NIMH!"



L'Cor could not believe his eyes. In the centre of the room was a MAAC. He instantly recognized it as a Wyv'en. Even from this distance, he could see battle damage on the exterior. Most of the armour was blackened as if from an explosion. He whirled upon Ivan and said angrily, "What're you playing at? That's just an old battle damaged Wyv'en!"



"That's exactly what it is. However, that Wyv'en has been here longer than this facility. In fact, this facility was built around the Wyv'en. MAAC technology was developed by reverse engineering that Wyv'en."

Chapter 12 Collision Course



L'Cor lay on the hard floor beside Yoko's bed. She was snoring softly. Ivan had managed to turn on some medical machines and attached sensors that monitored Yoko's condition. As far as the machines could tell, Yoko was fine.



As for L'Cor, he was anything but fine. His mind was still struggling with what Ivan had showed him. How was it even possible?



L'Cor pulled out R'Tus' AV journal and turned it on. He was exhausted but he needed to see his brother's face and hear his brother's voice before he could allow himself to sleep.



He put the journal on a random search. A few seconds later, it beeped softly as it opened an entry. L'Cor glanced at the date of the entry and did a double take. He had thought that he had seen every entry in the journal but he had never seen this one before. It wasn't the date that had L'Cor confused though. He was quite familiar with the date. It was a date that was burned forever into his memory. It was the date that R'Tus had died. Somehow, R'Tus must have recorded this entry before leaving on the mission and the slipped it into L'Cor's bunk. Satisfied that he had a reasonable explanation, L'Cor pressed the Play button.



Start of Entry Orbit 3016, 9th Moon, 13th Solar Cycle



Down time is the time I hate the most. This is the time right before a mission. This is the time for the nerves to hit. Many pilots claim that they can sometimes feel that this is the last night of their lives. Many of these pilots were right.



As for me, I never had these so called premonitions of disaster. Never, that is, until last night.



Last night, when everyone else in my tri-quad was either boozing it up or seeking solace in someone else's bed, I was lying alone in mine. I couldn't explain the eerie feeling. Even now I can't explain it. Am I going to die? Is today my last day here? Would it be such a bad thing if it were?



If I were to die, I know Q'Wen would be sad. She would miss me terribly but I believe in time, she would get over it. I have no doubt that she loves me, but she's strong like that. As for L'Cor, I know that he would be devastated.



In a way, it's typical of L'Cor. Ever since we were kids, he's always looked out for me. It's become a of a way of life for L'Cor. I think it probably started when our father died.



I remember getting picked on and bullied a lot as a child when our father did not come back from his last mission. I remember one instance when I was surrounded by a bunch of bullies. The bullies said that my father had run away because he couldn't stand me anymore. It was at that point that L'Cor had waded into the group and took on all of the bullies at once. I had never seen L'Cor so mad before. In the end, he chased the bullies off, but he himself was bloodied and battered.



After that, L'Cor seemed to always be at my side, watching out for me, protecting me. It wasn't until he got drafted that we were physically separated for a long time. Those years without him really made me realize that I had come to depend on him too much. It was in those years I think that I really grew up without the smothering protection of my brother.



After I joined his unit, we argued many times about this issue without ever putting a name to it. I think I understand now though. I thought about it all of last night with more clarity than I have ever experienced.



It was simple. I had changed. I wasn't the small-frightened child anymore. L'Cor just wasn't prepared for that. He had this role that he had lived in for so many years that he just didn't know how to move beyond it. He was the protective older brother. That was what defined him. If I die today, I know it will devastate him because there's no way that he can convince himself that he couldn't have prevented it. If I die today, L'Cor will have to redefine himself somehow.



As much as I depended on my big brother growing up, I now see that he depended just as much on me. Without me, he is not the over-protective older brother anymore. Sure, he still has Q'Wen, but they were never that close. In fact without me, L'Cor and Q'Wen probably won't have much in common.



If I die today…



"Rrrooonnnggg….Rrrooonnngg…."



Klaxons rang in the background as I ran with the members of my quad towards our MAACs. Chief Willan gave me a thumbs up signal as I came up to him. I clapped him on his back and gave him a big smile. One of the best advices L'Cor had given me was to make friends with your crew chief. That was the guy in charge of maintaining your MAAC and he was the only thing that stood between you and a critical malfunction or jam at the wrong time. I slipped him a couple of large bags of chocolate. One was for sharing with his crew. The other was for his wife, who was pregnant with his third child. Apparently, she had cravings for chocolate. Not just any chocolate though. She wanted the real expensive imported kind that Chief Willan could not afford. I didn't mind picking them up for him. I didn't have much use for money. After sending enough money to keep Q'Wen in school every month, I had plenty left for myself. So, I spent whatever disposable income I had on buying treats and such for Chief Willan and his crew. It was a good investment. My Wyv'en never had even the slightest glitch.



"She's warm and ready to go, sir!" said Chief Willan with a proud grin.



That was another added bonus. Chief Willan and his crew had a habit of pre-warming the engine on my Wyvern. That way, I never had to cold-start it, and I was always the first one ready in my tri-quad.



"Thanks Chief! Say, when's your wife due?" I asked. I already knew, but I also knew that Chief Willan liked to be asked.



"She's due any day now sir!"



I shared a warm smile with him and said, "Give her my regards, ok?"



Chief Willan looked like he wanted to say something more and then he hesitatingly said, "My wife wants to name the baby after you."



That surprised me and my eyes watered at the thought. I put a hand on his shoulder and said, "I would be honoured, chief." We stayed like that for several seconds until one of his people noisily cleared his throat.



Chief Willan shook himself and promptly went into business mode. "I looked at your mission specs. It's a recon-in-force mission; however, it's all the way out in the Badlands."



The Badlands were once a mountainous region, host to a couple of rather beautiful cities and dozens of resorts. Ever since the Saxx created a toehold there though, it had been re-dubbed as The Badlands.



I nodded almost to myself and said, "The Intel folks think that the Saxx may be up to their old tricks there. They may be building a hive. Our job is to go in, verify the presence of a hive and then get the info to Intel ASAP."



Chief Willan nodded in agreement and said, "I had the boys put the heavy shield on your Wyv'en's left arm. I know how you like to get in close and personal with the bugs. On your back, I've put in your favourite MFC, the one with the really long blade. For your right arm weapon, I've given you a Hyper Velocity Cannon." He winked at me and continued. "Your head unit has the standard point defence laser - not very powerful, but great against missiles. Just remember to arm it when you get painted."



I nodded at all of Chief Willan's weapons choices. Chief Willan was very familiar with my fighting preferences. We had never once disagreed on a weapon load out. The heavy shield is often distained by many veteran pilots. They scorned the idea of actually blocking any kind of fire and would rather rely on their mobility and the armour of their MAACs. The problem was, in modern combat, it didn't matter if you were mobile. You were going to get hit no matter what. The shield gave enemy weapons another target other than my precious skin.



The outer layer of the shield was dotted with reactive armour pockets. These pockets were designed to blow out the second they registered a projectile impact. If a laser weapon were to hit the shield, the fragments caused by the armour's blowout served to help diffuse the damage done by the laser. Behind the armour, on the inside of the shield, I carried extra clips for my HVC.



Last but not least, was my favourite MFC. The monofilament cutter was the closest thing to a close combat melee weapon that a MAAC could have. Chief Willan had picked out the longest one he could find and given it to my MAAC. He had even added two extra bars perpendicular to the blade to so that it could be snapped securely on the side of my jump jet backpack. At first glance, it looked like a giant sword.



Chief Willan had loaded all of my favourite weapons. That was rare. Usually I only got one or two, but never all three. I gave him a questioning look and he replied, "There's something fishy about this mission. I wanted you to have the best possible load out. Your Wyv'en would have been a little on the heavy side, so I didn't bother giving you extra armour plating. If you need to run for it, just drop your shield to give yourself an extra boost."



Again, I agreed with Chief Willan. Something about the mission didn't sit right with me either. I noticed that the only energy weapon I got was the point defence laser. My HVC relied on ammunition and my shield was of time-limited use. As the mission continued; and if there was a lot of action, my Wyv'en would become lighter and faster. However, thanks to the point defence laser and my MFC, I would still be decently armed.



I clapped Chief Willan on his shoulder once more and said, "Thanks Chief. See you when I get back!"



Chief Willan took my hand between his and shook it warmly. "Good luck sir, and good hunting!"



I climbed up the retractable ladder and strapped myself into my cockpit, which was located in the chest area of my Wyv'en. As I powered on my internal systems, the S-Wave communicator came alive with the chatter of my quad mates.



"Can you believe this? My crew chief armed my Wyv'en with an HVC a flamethrower and a quad tube missile system. Why can't I ever get a multi-barrel auto-cannon or something?" Jensen's voice had a whiny quality that got one everybody's nerves.



"Because dumb 「bum-bum」, the Wyv'en can't handle a monster that that! You'd need a Drac'en or something similar!" Liselle's voice was firm and strong. It always made me feel good to know that she was going to be on my wing. She had caught the attention of the battalion commander though, so chances are, she'd be moving up the tri-quad to the medium class quad.



"It's easy for you to talk Lis!" Rosba was the other woman in my quad. "You're armed with a heavy auto-cannon today. You've got real firepower! All I've got is a light auto-cannon and a pair of flamethrowers. Who the hell uses flamethrowers these days?"



That was when I decided to cut into the chatter. "Alright people, listen up!" The chatter on the line cut off right away. "Remember people, we're the recon quad on this tri-quad. We have to be able to move fast to get in fast and get out faster. We find the hive; upload the coordinates and the get out while the big guys level it. Jensen and Rosba, you're our path clearers today. Your targets are the Saxx that do not have power armour. Lis, you're with me. I'll flush out any Saxx in power armour and you take them down. Oh, and Rosba? Intel says that the newest tactic adopted by the Saxx is to throw their worker-class at us. It makes us waste our ammo. The workers don't wear armour so the flamethrower is ideal. HQ says that one hundred workers are equal to twenty-five warriors so you might even make ace today!"



"Hot damn!" exclaimed Rosba.



"Hey, that's not fair!" whined Jensen.



"Enough chatter people!" I said with a growl. "Lis, take point. Jensen take Lis's right wing, Rosba, you're on her left. Move out people!"



I watched my displays carefully as my quad moved out of the hanger. Jackson and his Grif'cen quad would follow soon after and L'Cor would head out with the heavies after that. I know my brother was a little disappointed in my decision to remain with the scout MAACs. I guess he figured that I would move up to the Drac'en quad as soon as I made ace so that he could watch my back. He just couldn't get it through his head that I'm not that bright eyed bushy tailed little brother that he had left at home several years ago. By remaining in a scout class Wyv'en, I got to be the quad leader and it let me watch over the raw recruits that got sent our way. Despite the somewhat juvenile chatter, my quad was actually shaping up rather nicely. That was due in no small part to the fact that I drove them mercilessly in the simulators and on the missions. I checked my chronometer. We were early. The first MMA wasn't due to arrive for another ten minutes. It would fly us out to The Badlands where we would initiate a rapid aerial drop over the mission area.



I called out to the group. "Looks like we've got a few extra minutes folks; lock down weapons, simulators up!"



There was a chorus of groans as my quad followed my instructions. They knew what was coming!



"Lis, you're it! Jensen and Rosba, tag and paint her if you can!"



Liselle must have expecting something along these lines. Dagnag-it but she's good! She would make a fine quad leader and maybe even a tri-quad leader one day. She hit her jump jets immediately just as Rosba and Jensen were starting to turn towards her. They ended up painting each other with their targeting computers momentarily before they realized their mistake. One after the other, they fired their jump jets and began to pursue their prey.



I watched their performance carefully. As usual, Liselle's piloting skills were near flawless. Jensen still had an annoying ability to over compensate when he was riding his jump jets and Rosba was still relying too much on her targeting computer.



Almost ten minutes later, I heard an incoming communication announcing the arrival of the MMA. I called my quad in and had them wait at the Designated Area until the airship landed. While we waited, I gave them a quick critique on their performance.



"Liselle, good job, just try to watch your six a little more. The enemy is not always as predictable in their movements as Rosba and Jensen. Jensen, stop relying on your instruments when jumping. By the time you register the numbers, you've already flown too high. Stay up too long and you're just one big target. Rosba you still tend to spray your fire. Even heavy MAACs don't have unlimited ammunition. Any questions? Good. Here comes our ride."



The Mobile MAAC Airship landed with the aid of six spears of brilliant light from its vernier jets. The ramp in the back opened and my quad trooped in. I was the last aboard. It was a good two hours to The Badlands. I told my quad to stand down their weapons systems and to power up their computer simulators. Some quad leaders preferred their people to stand down during transport. Normally I would for a longer ride, but for the next two hours, keeping our brains active was a better way to spend our time. I've seen too many pilots get killed the minute they dropped because their brains were still trying to wake up from a short nap.



While my quad worked their simulations, I looked over the mission brief once more.



Mission Brief for Tri-quad 62909



Enter zone 5248 x 2341, also known as The Badlands. Recon-in-force and locate possible Saxx hive. Report coordinates of hive and destroy.



Intel Brief



It is believed that construction of the hive has only just begun. Atmospheric flyovers have seen only worker class with a few warrior class Saxx providing escort and supervision. No officer class Saxx have been detected. Threat assessment is low.



It was the last line that had me worried. This wouldn't be the first time Intel messed up a threat assessment. A hive is serious business. If we allowed another hive to be built, then the Saxx presence on Gaya would increase exponentially. A recon-in-force usually consisted of two or three tri-quads, just in case they ran into nasty action. Sending only one tri-quad out was just asking for trouble, especially to recon a potential hive. I blew out a sigh. Oh well, I'll just have to do my best to keep my quad alive long enough for the big guns to show up.



Signing off for now.

End of Entry



Rrrooonnnggg….



L'Cor snapped awake from a bad dream. Had it been a dream? He could still hear the alarm in the background as R'Tus signed off from his journal in order to prepare for the mission. For a moment, in his sleep-fogged mind, L'Cor thought that R'Tus was actually here. Speaking to him.



L'Cor shook his head to try to clear the cobwebs from it. Rrrooonnnggg….



There was the alarm again! Was it the pirates? No. Ivan had said that this place was almost undetectable from the outside. Besides, Ivan had activated some of the defensive sensors. If anyone had tripped them, the alarm would be so loud that everyone would've heard it.



L'Cor checked Yoko's monitor. It was still showing that everything was normal. He got painfully to his feet and left the dark room.



The corridor outside was dim, but that was because the lights had been dimmed to conserve power. He checked his watch and saw that it was almost seven o'clock in the morning. The people would be waking up soon.



Suddenly, L'Cor felt a strange urge to revisit the MAAC room where the mysterious Wyv'en was standing. He retraced his steps back through the long corridors until he came upon the doors. The last time he was here with Ivan, the door had been sealed and Ivan had to open the door with his hand on the sensor plate. This time though, the door was wide open. At first, L'Cor thought that Ivan might be inside, but the doors were programmed to close automatically.



Feeling as if the whole situation was surreal, L'Cor walked through the door. His eyes were immediately drawn to the Wyv'en MAAC in the centre of the room. The floor lamps had been turned on and they illuminated the MAAC.



Earlier, Ivan had explained that one of the great mysterious about the MAAC was that no one could touch it. The closest that anyone could get to it was a couple of feet and then they were pushed back by an unseen force. Ivan said that they had long stopped trying to figure out what the force was. In order to reverse engineer the machine, they had scanned it numerous times with dozens of types of scanners.



A couple of hundred orbits ago, excavators had unearthed the giant machine when they dug into the cavern where it had rested. Over the years, the engineers and scientists who studied the machine had tried to preserve as much of the surroundings as possible.



The Wyv'en stood in the middle of a rocky floor while the rest of the room was covered in modern machinery. Directly beneath the MAAC's legs was a block of stone and embedded into the stone was a T shaped bar. Ivan had explained that no one could come close to the bar either and many had speculated as to what it was. Some had even grudgingly said that the bar resembled a sword except that it didn't have an edge to speak of.



Ivan, of course had his own unofficial theory. He had said that the bar in the stone block was a key and that if anyone could remove it, then the unseen force that was keeping the MAAC preserved would disappear.



L'Cor didn't care about any theories right now. The stone block mesmerized him. He felt as if it were calling out to him. As if in a trance, he slowly approached until he was directly in front of the stone block.



"L'Cor! What're you doing?" Ivan's voice seemed to be coming from miles away.



L'Cor shrugged away the voice. All he could see now was the stone block and the T shaped bar embedded in it. The short end of the T did indeed look like the handle of a sword. Still in his trance-like state, he slowly reached out his right hand and grasped the bar.



The bar was warm in his hand and it felt as if it were vibrating. He pulled gently at it and the bar slid a little bit up. He gave a stronger pull and the entire bar slid effortlessly out of the stone block.



The long end of the bar immediately flared up in brilliant blue light. The blue light was intensely hot and L'Cor somehow knew that if he were to touch it, it would cut him as easily as a hot knife through butter.



In the brilliant light cast by the bar, L'Cor could clearly see the previously unseen force that kept the MAAC safe. It shone with a pale white glow and it encased the MAAC like a giant translucent egg.



Without fully understanding why, L'Cor swung the glowing bar at the glowing force field. An incredibly brilliant light instantly enshrouded him. There was a dull roaring in his ears and the bar in his hand suddenly grew heavier and heavier.



L'Cor shook himself as if waking from a dream. The light disappeared and to his shock, he could see that the bar in his hand was indeed getting larger. Soon, it was too large to hold and he quickly threw on to the ground in front of him. As soon as it left his hand, the blue light vanished and it hit the ground with a harsh clang.



It didn't stop growing though. To L'Cor amazement, it grew to over fifteen feet in length and it was with great surprise that he realized he knew what it was. What had appeared to be a long T shaped metal bar only moments ago was revealed to be a normal sized monofilament cutter.



L'Cor felt a presence beside him and he turned to look at Ivan. Ivan was staring at the MFC in amazement. "What did you do?" he demanded.



L'Cor didn't have an answer for him. The ladder that led to the cockpit of the MAAC beckoned to him and he started to walk towards it.



He felt Ivan's hand on his shoulder and he shrugged it off. He reached the ladder and began to climb. When he reached the cockpit, he touched the sensor plate on the side of the chest.



The chest armour rumbled and shook and then split open with a hiss of escaped gas. There was something eerily familiar about this MAAC but L'Cor couldn't put his finger on it.



There was a neural suit folded neatly on the chair of the combat harness. L'Cor picked it up before sitting down. He laid the neural suit on the floor of the cockpit and placed his arms and legs into their respective sockets.



The screen in front of him instantly flashed to life. On it, was a face that was as familiar to him as his own face except that it looked much different than the last time he had seen it.



R'Tus' face appeared older, and more mature. He even had a medium length beard running along his jaw line. His eyes were twinkling and his mouth was quirked up into a grin. "Hello L'Cor, reports of my death; have been greatly mistaken."

when i read the first part i thought there was gonna be an r/entitledparents story…I should really stop reading those

Posting 2 chapters at a time cause this is taking forever!

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Chapter 14 The Current Situation



Back in the main hangar, the entire room was a symphony of frenetic activity. Several large trucks had made their way down the long corridor and were busy trying to find parking spots. Several men and women were running around in what appeared to be chaotic activity. Many were gesturing at the contents of to huge flatbed trailers.



L'Cor was surprised to see two Grif'cen MAACs on two separate trailers. One of the Gif'cens was largely intact while the second had a large hole in the chest armour. Belatedly, he realized that these were the two MAACs that had attacked the Tournament players the previous day.



He looked around some more until he spotted a figure that made his heart skip a beat. Yoko was standing with an older version of herself and a younger version of Ivan. He made his way over and he felt a warm flush when Yoko's face brightened at the sight of him.



"Good morning sleeping beauty!" he said and he approached the little group. "I was worried to death about you but apparently, you were just catching up on your sleep!"



Yoko smiled. "Sorry if I worried you. I don't normally get much sleep and the last week has made it even worse." She hugged L'Cor briefly and when the hug was over, she kept her right arm wrapped around L'Cor's waist. "So, what've you been up to this morning?"



L'Cor wasn't sure how to answer that simple question so instead, he said, "Reconnecting with my past." He shook Jan's hand and then gently took Kasa's frail hand into his own for a moment.



Kasa had tired lines running down her face. Her scalp was covered in a thin layer of hair and she leaned against Jan for support. "It's too bad about the pirates. I had been looking forward to the match yesterday."



Jan put a protective arm around Kasa and said, "Come on sweetie, let's find a bed for you to lie down on."



"I'll come too!" said Yoko. She gave L'Cor a quick kiss on his cheek before waving good-bye.



L'Cor felt someone come up behind him and glanced quickly back at Ivan before saying, "I can't believe you got everyone here so quickly."



Ivan shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, it wasn't my doing." He turned slightly and gestured to a man. The man saw the gesture and came over. "L'Cor, allow me to re-introduce you to Chief Willan. Of course these days, he's Police Chief Willan."



L'Cor recognized the older man and shook his hand. "Chief Willan. It is good to see you again. My brother had very fond memories of you."



Chief Willan looked startled and said, "Please, call me Alain. You're looking good L'Cor."



L'Cor gestured to the activity that was going on in the hangar. "How did you arrange all of this?



Alain gave him a modest smile. "It wasn't hard. See that man over there?"



L'Cor looked over and nodded. "Yeah, is he someone important?"



Alain chuckled. "That's the chief fire marshal and the man beside him is the head of the EMT union. A long time ago, over some beers and a deck of cards, the three of us along with Ivan here played around with scenarios. It was basically a bunch of ‘what if' scenarios actually. This here is just one of them. I'm somewhat surprised at how quickly everyone got together."



"After what happened to the local militia, I'm not," said Ivan flatly. "Come, I hear there's someone we should meet."



"This way," said Alain.



L'Cor followed Alain and Ivan until the trio came up to a man who was bound tightly in ropes. The ropes in turn were tied around a tall pillar that went all the way up to the ceiling. "Let me guess," said L'Cor. "This is the pilot of the Grif'cen that Yoko shot down."



"Shot down?" laughed Alain harshly. "Yoko barely scratched the paint! Our boy here panicked and ejected. He's lucky we picked him up so soon, otherwise, the radiation out there would've made him real sick."



The bound man didn't say anything but gave all of them a venomous look. "Who is he?" asked Ivan.



"Well, we took some fingerprints and retina scans and discovered that he is one Jona J. Jornah. He's an ex-militia pilot who used to fly patrol copters. My guess is that he didn't realize just how tough a MAAC really is and ejected when he got hit."



L'Cor shared a laugh with Ivan. "So," said Ivan in a voice that was full of mirth, "it's thanks to him that we have one almost intact Grif'cen. I can use parts from the other one to fix his up." Ivan glanced over at L'Cor. "What do you think L'Cor? Fancy trading in Phantom Crash for a MAAC?"



L'Cor didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at the two MAACs lying in their respective flatbed trailers. He started walking towards them and stopped about twenty feet away. When Ivan and Alain joined him, he began to speak from half formed ideas. His recent experience with Micks was giving him an inspiration. "There isn't much difference between a Wyv'en and a Grif'cen, right?"



Both Ivan and Alain laughed as if it were a joke. "Only in basic fundamental design philosophies!" said Ivan after he had recovered.



"No, I mean their physical size and mass," said L'Cor distractedly. "The Grif'cen really only qualifies as a medium class MAAC because of the geometry shifting system right?"



Ivan nodded his head. "Go on L'Cor. Just spit out what you're thinking."



"R'Tus's Wyv'en has a command module. There really isn't all that much damage to it other than the jump jets and some cracked armour and blackened paint."



Alain opened his mouth to say something but Ivan shushed him with a raised hand. "Go on."



"Can you fix up his Wy'ven with parts from the damaged Grif'cen?"



"The jump jets on the Grif'cen are a little bigger than those of a Wyv'en, but I supposed I can jury rig it. But why fix it up at all when you have one relatively undamaged MAAC over there?"



L'Cor turned back to Ivan and said in a tone that was normally reserved for people who were a little slow on the uptake. "Because, this way, we would have two."



Ivan sighed deeply. "I can understand you wanting to use R'Tus's Wyv'en but we only have one MAAC pilot here you. If you take the Wyv'en, who's going to pilot the Grif'cen?"



"Simple," said L'Cor in a steady voice. "Yoko will."



That seemed to shock Ivan. "But she's not a MAAC pilot!"



"If I can learn to pilot a Mick, then she can learn to pilot a MAAC. It's not that huge a leap. And if I'm right about her, and I really think I am, she'll be just as good, if not better than R'Tus ever was. Not only that, as we capture more MAACs, we can start training the other Tournament players and getting them properly outfitted."



"Wait a minute! You're going to send kids out against those killers?" Ivan looked furious.



Alain touched his shoulder and said, "Hold up there Ivan. I think L'Cor's got a point. Towards the end of the war there, I noticed a definite increase in skill level amongst the younger pilots. No one ever came close to R'Tus, but the younger pilots certainly did have a knack. That's the same knack as what allows the players to be so good with Micks."



"R'Tus was a natural Ivan. I think Yoko is too."



Ivan's face showed his conflicting emotions. Having Yoko participate in a dangerous game where she could get hurt and maybe die was one thing. However, sending her out against ruthless pirates who have already shown their willingness and eagerness to kill was another.



"Ivan, there's something else you should consider," said Alain quietly. "If the Black Skull were simply pirates, why didn't they just hit the banks and then run? Why hold the city hostage?"



Realization dawned on L'Cor at the same time as Ivan. "That's why they're making the Mick companies produce MAACs! They're not pirates at all!"



Ivan continued the same line of thought as he said, "They already have a division's worth of MAACs. With enough, they'll be able to challenge the Royal Gayan Armed Forces. If they continue to hold cities hostage, they can make Empress Dana give up the throne!"



Alain nodded his head firmly. "They're not pirates at all. They're revolutionaries!"



*



"This outfit is really tight! Are you sure you don't have ulterior motives for wanting me to put this on?" asked Yoko as she examined herself in the mirror. She was currently twisting her body so that she could check out her profile.



From behind, L'Cor had to swallow a thick lump in his throat before he could answer. "Not at all, although, I must say, I do admire the view!"



Yoko laughed playfully. "Stop that you dirty old man!" Instead of covering up though, Yoko slapped her butt and giggled when she saw L'Cor's eyebrows shoot up. "This suit feels kind of tingly though…are you sure it's clean?"



"It's not from that pilot you shot down if that's what you mean. No, Ivan had stored a couple in this facility way back when. That tingly sensation is just the suit getting to know you."



"Eeek! You mean it's alive?" Yoko moved her hands up to her neck, fully prepared to tear off the neural suit.



"No! Keep it on! It's not alive but the built in AI needs to analyze your body rhythms in order to fully calibrate itself to your body.



Yoko pouted and said, "Are you sure you just don't want to see me like this?"



L'Cor laughed. "Believe me, I saw plenty during the war!" L'Cor laughed even harder as Yoko's expression darkened. He quickly placated her by saying, "But none were quite as lovely as you!"



Yoko sniffed like she wasn't entirely convinced. "By the way, when are you going to put one on?"



"Right after I put you through the MAAC simulator. Come on." L'Cor beckoned with his hand and Yoko followed him out of the small change room. As they walked through the corridors, L'Cor explained his plan.



"Ivan tells me that both the Grif'cens we captured are stock models. They've never been used before. The pirates must have broken into a depot or something. Anyway, whoever is maintaining them did not change any of the default settings in the computers."



"I know that," said Yoko a little impatiently. "I was there when Ivan said it, remember?"



"Right, but what he didn't say and what you probably don't know is that my brother R'Tus's Wyv'en is here in this facility."



"What? I thought R'Tus died in a thernuke explosion!"



"So did I. I don't know all the answers yet, especially how his MAAC got here…but…" L'Cor drifted off as he started to think about R'Tus's AV journal. He was anxious to get back to it and the answers it held but he also knew that he had to use his time wisely in the current crisis. One thing at a time, he promised himself.



"Hello, Gaya to L'Cor!"



L'Cor snapped out of his reverie and smiled at Yoko. "Sorry about that. You sound just like R'Tus sometimes. Speaking of Gaya, did you know that my family is distantly related to the royal family?"



Yoko rolled her eyes. "Yours, and about ten thousand other families!"



L'Cor chuckled. There certainly was no shortage of potential heirs to the throne! "No, I'm mean seriously! Look, my last name is Penrag'n, right?"



"Yeah…so what?"



"Look, before Princess Gaya became Empress Gaya the First, what was her last name?"



"That's easy," scoffed Yoko. "It was Tendra'cen. Are you saying that Tendra'cen eventually became Penrag'n? That's quite a stretch buddy! If you're trying to impress me, you have to do better."



L'Cor sighed theatrically. "Ok, fine, so it is a stretch. How about this: do you know why her last name was Tendrac'en?"



Yoko shrugged. "It's just a name, right?"



L'Cor smiled broadly. At last! Something to impress Yoko with! "Gaya's grandfather founded the dynasty. Lord Tendrac'en was an orphan boy in the old royal family's court. His father had been a courtier who had been killed in a duel that the old King endorsed. Anyway, Lord Tendrac'en was stripped of his name and eventually he left the court. When he left, he swore vengeance. He made his way to the mountains near Camu and he picked up some followers along the way. He was the first to capture and tame wild drac'en and eventually, with only ten drac'en, he charged through the old King's castle in Camu. The drac'en moved so fast that archers could not get good shots. Their jaws and teeth were so deadly that normal infantry could not get close. In one fateful hour, he made his way with his force through the castle and finally broke into the castle's main hall. There, he confronted the old King and killed him. With ten near wild drac'en at his control, no one dared to challenge him. He declared himself king and took the name Tendrac'en."



Yoko's face appeared somewhat dreamy as she pictured the scene in her mind. "I've seen tame drac'en in zoos. I sure wouldn't want to go near a wild one either."



"Lord Tendrac'en immediately saw the value of a whole army mounted upon drac'en and he spent the rest of his life building Camu into a city nation to be reckoned with. Camu was always a small nation with a small population, but its mounted knights were second to none."



"Wow, I am impressed. How did you know that?"



L'Cor shrugged nonchalantly. "My father was a bit of a history buff."



The pair soon came upon a large room filled with computer equipment. There were several spherical structures in the room and L'Cor directed Yoko to one of them. "Here, this is a MAAC simulator. Go ahead and sit on the seat."



Yoko approached the machine and then turned back to L'Cor. "What seat? There's only that tiny triangle thing. It doesn't look very comfortable."



"It's not but you'll get used to it. Come on, don't be a baby!"



Yoko blew out a loud breath and stepped into the machine. She sat on the triangle seat and grimaced as she put her weight on it; "Ok, now what?"



L'Cor went to the computer beside the simulator and began to type in commands. "Ok, the terminal is online. Put your feet into those sockets and slowly transfer your weight."



Yoko did as she was told and slipped her feet into two long boot-like structures. She winced as she slowly transferred her weight. "Dagnag-it! I've got a wedgy like you wouldn't believe!"



"I can help with that," said L'Cor with a leering grin.



"You keep you hands to yourself, you dirty old man!" As discreetly as she could, Yoko shifted the neural suit until it rested comfortably on her shapely behind. Then, without any prompting from L'Cor, she slipped her hands into the two sleeve-like objects in front of her.



"Good, now wait while I power up the simulator program." L'Cor typed some commands in and soon, a hologram projected itself out from his computer terminal. It was a 3-D representation of a MAAC and it was currently standing up. "Ok, I'm releasing control to you in 3…2…1. Now!"



The hologram wavered and Yoko suddenly found herself unsupported. "Whoa! How do you…" The image of the MAAC suddenly fell backward and landed on its rear. "Ouch!" Yoko fell back onto the triangular seat hard. "Oh frak! I bet I have another wedgy!"



L'Cor laughed hard and when Yoko shot him a dirty look, he laughed even harder. "Look, the secret is to not move. You have to pretend to move. The neural suit does all the work. When you pretend to move, your body can't help but to move ever so slightly. The suit will analyze your body's subtle movements and transfer them to the MAAC."



Yoko gave up on her dirty look as a look of concentration came over her face. The holo image of the MAAC moved slowly until it was standing on it's feet.



"Good!"



Yoko's face beaded with sweat as she tried to hold the standing position. After a moment though, she faltered and the MAAC fell face first. The simulator imitated the image by suddenly spinning Yoko until she was horizontal and facing the ground. "Oh frak!" swore Yoko with feeling. "You didn't tell me about this part!"



"You're doing great for a first timer Yoko! Don't worry; I ended up worse than you on my first trip in the simulator! Here, maybe this will help." L'Cor typed in some more commands and he was rewarded by a startled yelp from Yoko.



"What did you do? Now I can see the ground and grass and stuff…I feel like I'm in a VR sim game!"



"Actually," said L'Cor casually. "That entire market was pioneered from the MAAC simulator. The heads-up-display on the simulator is actually a holo-projector. I figured the reference to the ground would help your mind relax and get its bearings."



Yoko flexed her arms experimentally. The MAAC image pushed itself up in response. "Yeah, it does help. Let's see if…" The image projected by L'Cor's computer slowly stood up. "Yes! I did it!" Yoko flexed her legs and the image of the MAAC took a shaky step. It took another one and then another one. With each successive step, the image began to walk more stably and confidently.



L'Cor type more commands in and soon, the MAAC was walking around virtual obstacles. L'Cor couldn't help marvelling at how quickly Yoko was picking this up. He may have been right about her after all.



"You were saying something about R'Tus's Wyv'en earlier?" Said Yoko.



"Oh, yes…my master plan. Well, R'Tus was a quad leader before…before…anyway, yes, he was a quad leader. That meant that he had a command module installed. The purpose of the command module is to monitor the other MAACs in the quad. If necessary, a quad leader can take control of one of his subordinate's MAACs."



"So you're going to get close to the pirate MAACs and then force the pilots to eject?"



"In a nutshell, yes. You're going to be the bait. The pirates might not know that their Grif'cens were captured so they might not shoot at you right away."



"Might?"



"Don't worry; a Grif'cen is no ordinary MAAC. Here, enough with the walking and running. Time to fly!" L'Cor typed into his keyboard and the image of the MAAC trainer disappeared. In its place was the image of a stoop shouldered MAAC with a hunched profile. "Hit the button under your baby finger."



Yoko complied and immediately yelled, "What the frak?"



"The Grif'cen is the only MAAC with a geometry shifting system. It can convert between humanoid and air assault modes. In the air assault mode, the jump jets on the back as well as the extra ones in the legs work in concert to propel the machine forward. You can sit down on the seat and use your right arm as a joystick and use your left arm to control air speed. Much like a aircraft in fact."



Yoko grunted and said, "Well, I don't want another wedgy and I've never flown an aircraft in my life. Isn't there another option?"



"Well, technically yes. However, hardly anyone uses it."



"Just tell me what it is!"



"Ok, brace yourself and touch the button under your left baby finger."



"Whoa!" The simulator rotated Yoko once more until she was horizontal with the ground. "I think I like this much better!"



"Basically, you control the MAAC with body movements. Just "



"Weeee! I love this!" Whatever L'Cor was going to say was lost in Yoko's exuberance. L'Cor watched the holo image and was amazed at how fast Yoko was intuitively learning the controls for the Grif'cen in air assault mode.



Like most MAAC pilots, L'Cor had barely tolerated the air assault mode of the Grif'cen and only used it when he had to move from point A to point B quickly. However, L'Cor had already seen Yoko not only move faster and with greater agility than any other Grif'cen pilot, but he had also seen her perform manoeuvres that were thought impossible with a Grif'cen.



"I feel like a bird!" exclaimed Yoko. She had a big bright smile on her face as she soared through the VR landscape.



Without a word, L'Cor increased the difficulty of the simulator. The open grasslands disappeared and were replaced by a large city. Yoko took the change in stride as she zipped through the cityscape. A large building suddenly appeared in front of her and she swung the simulated Grif'cen's legs down and retro-boosted. She dodged around the building while riding her leg boosters and when she was clear, pushed her legs back and hit her afterburner.



L'Cor watched in amazement as Yoko went ballistic. The Grif'cen in air assault mode was not considered an air superiority fighter by any means due to the bulky profile presented by its armoured form. At the same time though, the advent of hyper velocity cannons and lasers had all but made the air superiority fighter obsolete. Unlike regular jet fighters though, the Grif'cen could take a few hits and still continue to fight. With a pilot like Yoko at the controls, L'Cor knew the Grif'cen or even a tri-quad of Grif'cens would be a force to be reckoned with. He knew he would have to bring this up with Ivan as soon as possible.



Though it was much too soon to be contemplating major revisions to the Grif'cen MAAC, perhaps Ivan and Alain could put their heads together and upgrade the Grif'cen that Yoko would take into battle.



Yoko swooped back down towards the ground and hit the conversion button while in mid-air. The holo image of the Grif'cen writhed and shifted until it landed on its feet in humanoid mode.



"What a rush! When can I try it for real?"



"Not so fast little lady! First of all, you can't do stuff like that out there. The possibility that you'll be spotted is too high. Second of all, I need to talk to Ivan and Alain first. I'm sure that they can do something to squeeze more performance out of that Grif'cen.



"Why?" asked Yoko as she began to unhook herself from the simulator.



"Because you just blew away all previous records!" L'Cor could feel his excitement rise as he considered the possibilities. Just like how the ancient Lord Tendrac'en had revolutionized warfare by introducing mounted knights on drac'ens, L'Cor could feel that another revolutionary change was just around the corner.



Yoko stepped up to him and her excitement was obvious. Her face was flushed and damp from her sweat. L'Cor felt a hot wave of emotion sweep through his body. Yoko was possibly one of the best natural MAAC pilots he had ever seen. Not even R'Tus had handled a Grif'cen the way Yoko just had. His eyes met hers in a hot stare and without a word she stepped into his arms. She pulled his head down to meet her lips halfway as they shared a kiss that was full of fire and passion.



When L'Cor tasted her tongue upon his, he suddenly lost all control. He pushed her arms aside and reached for the neck clasp of her neural suit. He expertly popped the clasp and pulled the neural suit wide open. Yoko's naked glory was suddenly revealed to him.



Yoko suddenly gasped loudly. "I…I can't…not like this! I'm sorry!" She pulled her neural suit tight, pulled out of L'Cor's arms and ran out of the room.



Chapter 15 The Wizard



Later that night, L'Cor retired to his room, which was just off the main hangar. R'Tus's Wyv'en had been taken from its secret room and techs were swarming over the machine. L'Cor watched the activity briefly before closing the makeshift drapes. Thinking of the Wyv'en reminded him that he still had a lot of unanswered questions. Besides, it beat thinking about what had happened earlier that day with Yoko. He cursed himself for a fool for letting the situation get out of hand and for his lack of control. He vowed to track down Yoko first thing in the morning so that he could apologize.



He pulled out R'Tus's diary and hit the play button.



Entry Resumed



I must be dreaming. No, wait, I know I'm dreaming. I had just spent the last couple of hours walking through dreamland. First there was that battle if it could be called that in the woods where I rescued Princess Gaya from what could have only been Mordue Hunters. Those horned helms were unmistakable.



After the fight, Princess Gaya recovered a drac'en and expertly mounted it. She put the drac'en into a loping run as I jogged my Wyv'en beside her. We continued a rather strange conversation in which she gave me a little bit of history on what was happening.



The problem was, I already knew most of what she was talking about. Almost word for word of what she was relaying to me was taken right out of my book History of Royal Gaya. This, of course, only perpetuated my belief that this was all a wild hallucination and I was lying somewhere in a thernuke blasted environment, slowly dying of radiation poisoning.



Princess Gaya had a strange accent. She had some problems in pronouncing my name. At one point during our travels, she changed subject and said, "My apologies Erthus, but this may sound rude but did thy father not like thee when he gave thee this name?"



Her tone was honestly inquisitive so I didn't mind. I get this a lot and I know L'Cor and Q'Wen have it even harder. "Not rude at all Princess. I was named for…" Oh great. How do I tell her that I was named for someone in my past but her present? "Well, my father was not very imaginative. I must have fallen in a pile of dirt so my father named me for the colour black."



To my surprise, Princess Gaya laughed. "Surely thou jest!"



"Yes of course! To be honest, I do not know for sure why my father would give me this name."



Princess Gaya thought for moment. "Erthus is a very archaic word for black. Why not just call thee black?"



It would seem that Gaya had a very practical and literal mind. "Perhaps he wanted to be artistic?"



Princess Gaya snorted in a very unladylike way. "Pah! Art is for fools who have more time on their hands than they know to do with. I cannot introduce thee at court as Erthus. Thou art a warrior not an artist."



That stung a little bit, as I have always liked writing poetry in my spare time. Oh well, this was just a dream right? Maybe it was a part of my subconscious that didn't like my own poetry! "What about using my last name?"



She glanced at me with an unreadable expression on her face. "I think not. My grandfather founded the current ruling family in Camu. However, before he became Lord Tendrac'en, his father was killed in a duel and he was stripped of his name and titles. The man who killed my great grandfather was named Penrag'n. It is not a name to inspire trust and friendship in Camu."



That stunned me. I had always thought that my last name was a 「illegitimate child」ization of Tendrac'en and that somehow, Princess Gaya and I were distantly related



"Until I can speak with my wizard Malin in private, I shall refer to thee as Sir Black."



Sir Black? I suddenly stopped in my tracks. Is this a dream? In all of my fondest fantasies as a child, I had always made myself up as the Black Knight. Was this just another aspect of my fantasy?



Princess Gaya had paused as well and she was looking at me inquisitively. I started walking forward again. I suppose I could play along for now. If this were a dream, then I will be dead soon anyway. I might as well enjoy it for as long as possible.



The only problem with this scenario is that I have never fantasized myself as being only slightly bigger than Gaya's hand.



*



I'm not sure what I expected of Camu. Modern day Camu is a huge sprawling city with a population larger than some provinces. What do you expect of the capital of an entire world?



Historic Camu though, was a fortified town. I had read stories that before Lord Tendrac'en took the throne; the previous royal family had never bothered with fortifying the town that existed just outside of the castle walls. One of the first things that Lord Tendrac'en did was to build enormous stonewalls that surrounded not only the town proper, but also much of the outlying fields that grew the crops that fed the town. This action did much to increase his popularity among the commoners.



Many cynical critics have said that Lord Tendrac'en's motivations were purely selfish and that he only fortified the town because he didn't want someone to do what he had done, i.e., storm the castle with a small fast force.



I tend to disagree though. After the town was fortified, Lord Tendrac'en proceeded to fortify the other towns and towns that paid tribute to Camu. Building fortifications is an expensive endeavour but Lord Tendrac'en hired out his mounted knights to neighbouring kingdoms and the Knights of Camu became a recognized name in warfare.



Many of these small kingdoms enjoyed the protection of the mounted knights so much that they willingly became part of a greater Camu.



Gaya carefully led the way through the crowed town. There were people everywhere but they all inclined their heads in respect as Gaya rode past. The townsfolk appeared to be well fed and in good health. Obviously they have not suffered under the current reign. I got a few curious looks but no one bothered me. I guess on the outside, my Wyv'en did look like an armoured man especially in its current shrunken state.



We were met at the castle gates by an old man. Gaya treated this man with a great deal of respect so I guess that this was the wizard Malin that she had spoken of. They spoke quietly for a bit with some inquisitive glances thrown my way. I suppose I could have increased the volume of my external microphones to the point that I could eavesdrop on them but that would have been rude. Besides, it didn't take a genius to know that they were talking about me.



The old man gestured with his hands and Gaya dismounted. She handed the reins to a stable hand and beckoned to me. Together, the three of us entered the castle. We walked through several corridors until we reached a large wooden door. The old man opened the door and we made our way inside.



Once the door shut behind us, the old man began to speak. "I am the wizard Malin. May I see the man behind the armour?"



I popped my cockpit hatch, unstrapped myself and stepped out. I thought I would see a shocked expression on the wizard's face but I was disappointed. "My name is R'Tus Pen-"



Malin held up a hand and interrupted me. "I know who thou art. I have agreed with Gaya that for as long as thou art here, thou will be referred to as Sir Black. Penrag'n is not a name that should be spoken of here within these walls."



"Why?" I asked. However, the old man did not answer. I thought that it was because I was so small that he had trouble hearing me so I cupped my mouth and shouted, "Why?"



Malin looked a little angry when he said, "No need to shout boy. I can hear thee just fine. The same magic that keeps thee small allows thy voice to be heard as if thou were normal sized."



Magic? Did he say magic?



Gaya pulled up a large chair and helped Malin to sit. He gave her a grateful pat on her hand and then suddenly coughed harshly. Gaya rushed to the other side of the room for a couple of seconds before returning with a large mug of dark liquid. "Thank you my dear. Now, go get thyself cleaned up. I am sure thou wouldst want to bathe before thy meeting with thy father."



Gaya kissed the old man on his cheek before heading for the door. As she opened it, she turned and gave me a small uncertain smile. Before I could reciprocate though, she vanished through the door.



When I looked back at Malin, I could see that he was staring at me with eyes that seemed to know too much. "You know something," I said. "Tell me what's going on. How am I here? Is this a dream? Why is my name hated in Camu?"



Malin chuckled and drank from his mug. "So many questions but only one answer!"



That made no sense at all! How could all my questions only have one answer? I was beginning to feel a little impatient. This old man knew what had happened to me and he was playing games! "What's the answer?" I demanded.



Malin looked amused at my outburst. "Thou art here because we need thee, oh great warrior. Thou art here because I saved thy life and brought thee to this place."



"Why? Why did you do it?"



"To right a wrong," he said simply.



I was about to start off with another series of questions but held up his hand again. Strangely, I felt an urge to pipe down and listen to what he had to say.



"Before Lord Tendrac'en became King of Camu, he was known as Galad son of Gawan Pelader. Gawan was a knight in King Groken's guard and he had a comrade in arms named Wayan Penrag'n. Now Gawan and Wayan were good friends the best in fact. The fought together, wenched together and got drunk together. They shared everything until the day they met Y'vain Morda from the Mordue nation. She was breathtakingly beautiful.



Her father, Emperor Morda announced that he wished to create an alliance with Camu and offered Y'vain as a prize. He set up a tournament for all of Camu's knights and said that whoever won the tournament would win Y'vain's hand in marriage.



Gawan and Wayan competed fiercely for both of them had fallen in love with Y'vain. They defeated all of the opponents and in the end had to face each other. Their duel was long and brutal moreso because it was not a duel to the death. In the end, both men were battered and bruised but King Groken declared Wayan the winner.



After the tournament, both men seemed to have repaired their friendship. Gawan was even Wayan's best man at the wedding ceremony. That was only on the surface though. Deep down, Gawan always resented Wayan for winning Y'vain and Wayan became intensely suspicious of Gawan.



Eventually though, Gawan met another woman, fell in love and married her. She bore him a son Galad. In due time, when Galad was ten orbits old, Y'vain also became pregnant. However, Wayan never overcame his suspicious nature. He publicly accused Gawan for getting Y'vain pregnant. He challenged Gawan to a duel to the death and King Groken endorsed the duel.



During the duel, Wayan severely injured Gawan and was about to kill him when Gawan's wife ran out onto the field in a desperate attempt to save him. Wayan heartlessly cut her down before dispatching Gawan. Poor Galad watched both of his parents die.



King Groken allowed young Galad to live in the castle but his name and title were stripped from him and he became a common boy. Two orbits later, Galad left the castle and returned three orbits after that with ten drac'en under his command. The rest, I'm sure you know."



Malin paused to taken another long gulp from his mug. I digested his story and began to piece it together with things that I remembered from my book. "After Lord Tendrac'en took the throne, he officially banished Y'vain, right? Sir Wayan did not survive the attack on the castle and neither did King Groken."



Malin said nothing but stared at me intently. I felt like a student who had to put together a puzzle by myself. I continued to speak, "Lord Tendrac'en never intended to take the throne. That was not why he attacked the castle. He wanted justice for what was done to his parents. That was why the only people who actually died in the attack were King Groken and Sir Wayan. It was not his father who got Y'vain pregnant. It was King Groken!"



Malin smiled encouragingly but said nothing. I took that as my cue to continue. I began to pace a bit on the cockpit hatch of my MAAC and I spoke my thoughts out loud. "After the attack, Y'vain and her five orbit old son were nowhere to be found. She and her son had disappeared. In fact, they eventually made their way to the Mordue Empire."



I suddenly stopped in my tracks because I remembered something else. After King Tendrac'en took the throne, Emperor Morda declared the treaty between Mordue and Camu to be void and then he declared war upon Camu. He had vowed to depose the usurper and put his grandson on the throne as the rightful king. Because of the vast distances involved and the lack of fast transport, the war had lasted for a very long time.



"It was all a plot! Emperor Morda wanted to control Camu so he offered his daughter as a prize. During the tournament, he was able to assess the strengths and fighting prowess of the knights. Then, as a way to further control the kingdom, Y'vain seduced King Groken and became pregnant with his son."



Again, Malin just smiled at me and didn't say a word. I got the feeling that I was right though. There was still something missing though and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.



Malin suddenly stood up and walked over to me. I craned my head up so that I could see his face as he looked down at me. "I used up most of my magic to bring you here. The war against the Mordue is approaching the last stages. After this war is won, Princess Gaya will need your help in uniting the rest of the continent."



"Me? Why me?"



He narrowed his eyes stared down with a somewhat scary expression. I felt as if those eyes were burning right through me. I could hear a roaring in my ears and I almost missed what he said next.



"Because you are the Black Knight. You are the Champion of Camu. I brought you back in time so that you could fulfil your destiny!"



"But I can't be the Black Knight! He is just a fictitious character in a story! I am Captain R'Tus Penrag'n of the Royal Gayan Armed Forces. The orbit is 3016 and I am very likely dying a slow painful death. This is all just a hallucination!"



Malin bent down until his face was right in front of me. His gigantic eyes seemed to look right through me. "Are you sure?"



The enormity of his words, plus the fact that I was exhausted both mentally and physically took their toll. Those words were the last thing I remember before I blacked out. Enough of this for now. I need to rest!



End of Entry

Chapter 18 Love and the Battle



When L'Cor climbed out of the Wyv'en back at NIMH's main hangar, he was handed a folded note by a grinning young tech. When L'Cor opened it, it contained a simple message from Yoko. It said:



"Come to your room as soon as possible. I'm ready. Love, Yoko."



L'Cor could feel his pulse race at the thought and he nearly slipped off the ladder in his excitement. However, as soon as his feet touched the ground, Alain came up behind him and tapped him on his shoulder.



"Got a minute L'Cor?"



L'Cor tried not to frown. "Uh, not really Alain. Can this wait?"



"No, it can't," said Alain firmly.



L'Cor sighed heavily and followed Alain. He fervently hoped that Yoko would wait for him.



Alain led him into one of the briefing rooms that connected with the hangar. Ivan was inside the room as well as several Tournament players and a very irate looking Yoko. Her hair was wet as if she had just stepped out of the shower and she was wearing a short bathrobe that barely reached past her rear. The bathrobe did not have a sash so Yoko had to stand with her arms crossed in front of her body.



Ivan and Yoko were the only people standing in the room and L'Cor was sure that Yoko was butt naked under the robe, which would explain her reluctance to sit in the short garment. He hid a smile and went to stand beside her.



"Not one word out of you old man!" hissed Yoko in a menacing tone.



L'Cor couldn't help it this time and cracked a small smile as he said, "I would never dream of it!"



Ivan tried to hide his amusement before he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Ok everyone, here's the update. L'Cor's plan went off almost cleanly. The salvage team is already on its way back with the undamaged Grif'cen. Unfortunately, the other pilot managed to get a distress call out. We monitored it but we couldn't stop it. We do know that it was received and acknowledged."



A hushed silence followed that last statement. Everyone in the room knew what was going to come next. Ivan didn't disillusion them. "The Black Skull is mobilizing"



"How many?" asked L'Cor quietly.



This time, Alain spoke up. "We're not sure, but we think at least one quad. Maybe two."



"That's up to eight MAACs. Any idea on the classes?" L'Cor was thinking furiously about the odds. Depending on the types of MAACs that got sent against them, they might have a chance."



"I'm sorry L'Cor," said Alain. "It doesn't look good. One of our computer geeks found a glitch in the Royal Gayan Armed Forces inventory list. One of their depots is missing several quads of MAACs."



L'Cor got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Several?"



Alain nodded grimly. "It gets worse. Among the missing MAACs were four prototype Had'ras."



"「dookie」!"



"Wait! Hold up a minute!" exclaimed Yoko. "I'm not familiar with that model."



L'Cor turned to her and said, "It was still in design phase by the end of the war but I heard a lot about the specs. During the war, the Drac'en was considered the biggest, meanest MAAC. That was why it was a favourite amongst the veterans. The Had'ra was supposed to be even bigger."



"It's more than just bigger," said Ivan. "I got to see the blueprints as well as one of the first walking models. Personally, I wouldn't even classify it as a MAAC. It's more of a walking fortress."



"Not only that," said Alain. "It was supposed to be the first MAAC designed for nuclear warfare."



There was a stunned silence as everyone digested that last piece of information. It didn't take a genius to figure out what could happen to New Neomar if the Black Skull had managed to steal nuclear ordinance for their Had'ras.



Finally, L'Cor asked, "What do we have going for us?"



Ivan gestured to the room. "We have eight Tournament players plus yourself and Yoko. The other players are too injured to fight effectively."



L'Cor nodded and then said, "We have three MAACs but only two pilots for them. If the Black Skull is going to come gunning for us, I don't think we'll have enough time to train another player. We'll have to go with what we have. What about weapons?"



"The bad news," said Alain, is that most of the weapons on the Micks are not going to do much more than tickle the armour on a MAAC, especially a heavy MAAC. The good news though is that there is a virtually untouched weapons depot here in this facility. A Mick can probably handle two light auto-cannons or a couple of small lasers."



L'Cor shook his head vigorously. "Scratch that. Find the biggest single weapon a Mick can carry and install it." He scanned the group and found that he recognized most of the players as well as their Micks.



"That makes sense," said Ivan. "A single weapon would be easier to calibrate to a Mick's targeting computer.



L'Cor started pacing as his thoughts raced. "We'll work in pairs. In each team, one Mick will be armed with a heavy ballistic weapon and the other will be armed with a heavy energy weapon. Do we have any missile systems?"



"I think I saw a couple of AROW systems," said Alain. "But none of the Micks will be able to field it."



"They won't have to," said L'Cor. "Can you set them up at the far side of Old Neomar to fire remotely?"



Alain thought for a moment and then said, "I think so. It shouldn't be that hard. However, we don't have a friend or foe system. Those AROWs could very well target you or Yoko once they've launched."



"Don't worry about that. Yoko and I won't reveal our presence until the AROWs have exhausted their supply or can no longer fire. If they're stationary, I can only expect one or two salvos from them. What about howitzer type weapons? Can you install any on any intact buildings?"



"That will be easier but we won't have any way to target the enemy. At least the AROWs have self targeting systems."



L'Cor shook his head. "I don't care. As long as their firing in the right direction and distract the enemy long enough for us to kill them."



Yoko, who had been listening intently up until now suddenly exclaimed, "Of course! Our Micks will be under OC and as the Black Skull MAACs come deeper and deeper into the city, they'll have to split up to find and destroy the weapons that are shooting at them! Once they do, we can get them!"



In Yoko's excitement, she gestured with her hands. As a result, her bathroom fell open. She did not even notice until L'Cor whistled appreciatively. She glanced down, blushed beet red, and the covered up once more.



One of the players whispered in a loud voice, "Did you see that? Shaved!"



"I heard that Dorjan!" Yoko fixed a harsh stare at the indiscreet player. "Just wait until I get you in my sights once more!"



Dorjan ducked his head amidst raucous laughter. Yoko stared defiantly at the crowd but L'Cor could see that she wasn't really all that angry.



Even Ivan was chuckling as he said, "That's a good plan. L'Cor, I'll leave it to you to lead the team. Alain and I have got our hands full. Good thing we don't have a shortage of techs!"



L'Cor was startled. "Me? Lead?"



"Of course! You're the only one with true combat leadership experience."



"But "



"You can do it L'Cor!" said Yoko proudly. "I know you can!"



L'Cor felt his chest swell with pride and he vowed silently that he wouldn't let Yoko down. "Alright, Anyone got a map of Old Neomar?"



Alain pulled out a large sheet of paper and threw it on the central table. L'Cor pointed to various parts of the map and said, "I'll leave the specific locations of the weapons to you and Ivan, but I want the AROWs as far away from New Neomar as possible. Chances are, the Black Skull will advance on us directly from there so I want the AROWs to get as many shots out as possible. As for the howitzers, put them here, here and there. Dorjan! Are you paying attention? Stop staring at Yoko. Maybe if you're good and do your job, Yoko will flash you again after the battle!" That got another round of laughter as well as a well deserved smack from Yoko.



However, Yoko couldn't stay angry for long and she quickly joined in the laughter. "L'Cor's got a point Dorjan. You better mark these weapon placements down in that pea sized brain of yours. You wouldn't want to be hit by one of them!"



Dorjan got a sly look on his face. "You know, I might be inspired to fight harder with some proper motivation."



Yoko sighed theatrically. She pulled open her bathroom for a full two seconds before closing it again. "There! Satisfied?"



Dorjan adopted a dreamy expression and nodded. Yoko bowed to the cheering group and then said, "That's all you guys are getting! The rest is being saved for L'Cor!"



That brought a fresh bout of laughter, cheers and applause. Even Ivan and Alain paused in their private discussion to join in the revelry.



L'Cor took it all in stride. As an experienced campaigner, he knew that they were all just blowing off steam and calming nerves. None of them had ever fought under conditions where their lives were truly in danger. Despite the live weapons in the Tournament, the grand majority of battles ended with the disablement of an opponent's Mick. He wasn't surprised that Yoko had clued in on the general emotional atmosphere and it didn't bother him at all that she was playing up to the crowd.



He held up a hand for silence and waited until the noise died down. He addressed Alain and Ivan and said, "When you install the remote weapons, make sure that you throw some OC on top of them. You can probably cover everything but the business end, but that should be enough to confuse the enemy even more."



Ivan gave him thumbs up, and then resumed his conversation with Alain. After a few more moments, he and Alain left the briefing room to begin their preparations.



L'Cor surveyed the players once more and said, "Break up into partners. I want one heavy Mick to be paired with a light Mick. Heavies will be armed with ballistics and lights will be armed with lasers."



He paused while the group sorted themselves out. After a few minutes he said, "Ok, hopefully, we'll get a chance to practise a few manoeuvres but for now, here's some basic tactics. Stay under OC for as long as possible. Aim for the back of the MAACs. If you knock out the jump jets first, then they'll have a harder time in catching you. Use the buildings of the city. They're bigger, meaner and heavier armed, but we have OC, guts and an intimate knowledge of the battlefield. We can do this. We can beat them! We just need to trust each other."



The rest of the meeting lasted for several hours. At one point, Yoko left the room and came back about ten minutes later, fully dressed. She brought with her some hot food that did much to restore the energy that had begun to falter up until then.



Much later, Ivan dropped back in to inform L'Cor that the remote weapons had been deployed and he gave all the players a map of the locations. "Your Micks are about half way modified folks so you better get some rest. We've been monitoring the Black Skull's frequencies. They're heading over in the morning. We never thought that we would have this much time but apparently, they had a hard time tracking down their leader. It seems that the so called Black Prince has been gorging himself in the Red Light District of New Neomar."



While the group chuckled, Yoko piped up, "That's understandable. Madam Rouge sent me a message earlier today and I asked her to keep the 「illegitimate child」 busy. Even the 「strong independent woman who don't need no man」s are doing their part in this battle!"



Ivan looked at Yoko incredulously. "I wasn't aware that you were acquainted with Madam Rouge."



Yoko smirked and said proudly, "Of course! Who do you think gives me fashion advice?!"



Ivan looked as if he was going to say something else but then he just sighed and shook his head ruefully. "L'Cor, you've got your hands full with this one!"



As the players all laughed, L'Cor smiled and gave Yoko an appreciative stare. "All right folks, we're done here for now. Go and get some rest, dismissed!"



The players filed out and more than one of them gave Yoko a wink as they left the room. Ivan gave both L'Cor and Yoko a big grin and a slight tilt of his head before he left the room.



In moments, L'Cor and Yoko were left alone. There was a moment of hesitation and then both L'Cor and Yoko rushed into each other's arms. They kissed each other hard as their hands explored each other's bodies.



With visible effort, L'Cor broke the kiss and said, "Let's go back to my room. We'll be more comfortable there. I have a promise to keep."



"I can't wait that long!" gasped Yoko. She pulled her shirt off and the flipped her skirt up. She pushed L'Cor down on a nearby chair and the proceeded to frantically strip him out of his neural suit.



"Wait," said L'Cor half heartedly. However, his willpower had just about disappeared. When his neural suit was around his ankles, he grabbed Yoko and pulled her roughly into this lap. His hands fitted around her buttocks as his lips latched onto one of her nipples.



Yoko gasped in pleasure and ran her fingers through his hair. L'Cor pulled away once more and panted, "Are you sure about this? I thought you wanted your first time to be special?"



In response, Yoko reached down and grabbed L'Cor's manhood in a virtual death grip. "Shut up and make love to me old man!" She lowered herself, let loose a hiss and then groaned in ecstasy.



L'Cor let out an involuntary moan and then did as his lover had ordered him to.



*



The plan was working even better than L'Cor could have hoped. The Black Skull MAACs had been caught completely by surprise when the first AROW salvos went crashing amongst their formation. One of the light MAACs had been destroyed outright and two others acquired moderate to heavy damage. Judging from the satellite images that Ivan had been able to hijack, the light MAACs were all Jeckos a new model of scout MAAC. The heavy MAACs were barely touched though and L'Cor felt his heart sink as the first images of the enemy force appeared. Somehow, the Black Skull had gotten their hands on four Drac'en MkII's. The MkII's were bigger than their predecessors with thicker armour and heavier weapon load outs.



The satellite images refreshed and L'Cor could see that another of the Jeckos had been abandoned. That brought the enemy force down to six MAACs.



L'Cor felt a faint trembling in his harness just as the satellite images refreshed once more. The first volley of the remote controlled bazookas had also caught the enemy force by surprise. Whoever these bozos were, it was obvious that they didn't have much combat experience. Still, it didn't take an ace in a MAAC to take down improperly equipped civilians!



The odds had gotten a little bit better by the time the enemy force reached the outskirts of Old Neomar. The last two Jeckos were down for the count and all the MkII's had received some damage. The return fire from the Black Skull force had been pretty effective though. None of the AROW emplacements had survived to fire a second volley and all of the entrenched bazookas were gone too. All that were left was a handful of bazookas placed around the interior of the city, eight Micks under OC and two MAACs.



From now on, things were going to get interesting.



L'Cor fired up his command module and linked his communicator to everyone on his team. "Alright people, this is it. Yoko, get down here. I want a full spread of missiles on the rearmost MkII as you dive. Once your birds are away, boost the frak out of there and haul 「bum-bum」 back to NIMH for a reload."



"Yes sir!" acknowledged Yoko. There was a slight grin on her face though so L'Cor knew that she hadn't lost her sense of humour.



"Dorjan, You and your partner will add your fire to that MkII as soon as Yoko's missiles hit. I want that MkII out of action! The rest of you: hit and run tactics! I want those MkIIs to spread out even further before we go in for the kill!"



There was a round of acknowledgements as L'Cor typed energetically on his keyboard. He linked his radar to the Battlefield Recon Probe that was hovering over the city. Linking to it increased its chance of discovery by the Black Skull but the real time footage of the enemy's actions was an invaluable asset. Besides, the Black Skull MAACs would soon have other things on their minds!



Another one of the gems that Ivan and Allan had found in the abandoned NIMH facility was experimental laser guided cluster rockets. These were single fire dumb weapons that did not have complicated internal targeting computers. The advantages were that they could pack heavier warheads and they did not generate a missile alert in the targeted machine. Unfortunately, the concept did not work against the Saxx because it was virtually impossible to get a team of infiltrators close enough to paint the target with a targeting laser. Virtually impossible that is, unless you happen to have a pair of Micks under OC.



L'Cor watched with his heart in his throat as Yoko's Grif'cen came screaming out of the sky in a near vertical dive. The angle put her out of the line of fire from any of the MkII's weapons but only a damn cocky pilot to try it under combat conditions.



A swarm of rockets flashed away from Yoko's Grif'cen. A split second later, her Grif'cen underwent a strange transformation. L'Cor drew in a sharp breath because he had never in his life even considered a manoeuvre such as this. The Grif'cen's dual engines folded out and down as if it were in the process of converting to ground mode. However, it did not complete its transformation. Instead, the engines pointed directly at the ground for a several seconds effectively slowing the Grif'cen's descent before they folded back and the Grif'cen sped away in an afterburner assisted climb.



As Yoko sped away, L'Cor belatedly closed his mouth. Not a single weapon had managed to track let alone fire at Yoko. Her target though, was a walking ruin. The MkII took three tottering steps and then collapsed.



"Dorjann Head out with your partner to the next target!" L'Cor tapped on his keyboard and sent the targeting instructions out to Dorjan's Mick. "Be careful and stay under OC for as long as possible!"



After Dorjan acknowledged, L'Cor turned his attention to the remaining MkIIs. The first kill had been a cakewalk, but he was sure that the last three were now forewarned and ready.



The lead MkII was getting closer to L'Cor's position. It showed no signs of being hindered by unseen opponents. L'Cor keyed his communicator and said, "Finn what's your status?" There was no response. "Maki what's your status?" Again, there was no response. L'Cor cursed under his breath. He'd known that there would be casualties eventually but he had hoped against it with all of his heart.



He switched his HUD to direct visual and zoomed in on the lead MkII. He could see the huge MAAC bulldozing its way through the abandoned city streets. Two plumes of dark smoke could be barely made out behind it. With the fates of Finn and Maki confirmed, L'Cor pushed his grief into the back of his mind and prepared for combat. He brought up his targeting computer. His current position was on top of a medium sized apartment building. He was lying prone with at least three sheets of Optical Camouflage covering his Wyv'en. In front on him, supported by a tripod was the closest equivalent to a sniper rifle that a MAAC could be armed with. The weapon was so large that only a heavy MAAC could use it on the move. The most that a light MAAC like a Wyv'en could do was to move it from place to place until it could use it in a stationary position. L'Cor had chosen his position very carefully because it gave him a clear shot down each of the avenues in which his team had been trying the herd the enemy. He had no illusions as to being able to hold this position indefinitely but he would settle for taking out at least one MkII before the others clued in to his position.



He slid his arms into their respective sockets and zoomed his targeting computer until it was centred on the chest of the advancing MkII. The chest area was where a pilot of a MAAC resided. A solid hit on this area had the best chance of stopping a MAAC in its tracks, especially if the pilot were injured or killed. However, the chest was also equipped with the thickest possible armour. If his first shot did not incapacitate the MAAC, then he would be in serious trouble.



L'Cor's mind went back several orbits to the duel with his brother. In comparison to L'Cor, R'Tus had been in an underpowered, lightly armed and armoured MAAC yet he had won the duel in less than five minutes. R'Tus had done it by incapacitating his MAAC and by making his heavier weapons useless before closing in for the kill.



He shifted his aim until he was targeting the MkII's right knee. L'Cor whispered a silent prayer and flexed his index finger. In response, his Wyv'en stroked the trigger of the heavy HVC and it bucked as it released its deadly projectile.



The solid slug traveled at a speed that made it invisible to the naked eye. L'Cor's HUD painted a silvery line that marked it trajectory. The MkII's knee crumpled under the impact of the solid slug and the MkII crashed forward. He tried to set up for another shot, but in its prone position, he had no clear shot to its vitals.



He was about to slip out from under his OC when Yoko's face appeared on his communicator screen. "Leave him to me dear! I'll finish him off!"



"Yoko! What the frak are you doing here? You should be rearming!"



"No time for that! And no point either! Bran and Yve are down. Dorjan and the others are dancing with one of the heavies, but that leaves one of the bad guys completely unengaged."



L'Cor glanced at his secondary monitor that was monitoring the tactical situation and cursed with feeling. He'd lost another two! It wasn't all bad though. One of the MkII's was acting like a blindfolded child reacting to jeering catcalls at a birthday party. It was wandering around looking for unseen opponents while stinging hits tore chunks out of its armour.



His primary monitor showed Yoko's Grif'cen as it descended on its jump jets. It had converted to ground mode and he watched as it pulled a MFC from its waist compartment and plunged it into the back of the prone MkII. He made up his mind at that instant.



"Yoko, go help Dorjan and the others. I'll take the last MkII." He panned his targeting computer but could not get a visual on the last MkII.



"Scratch that! I'm not letting you take a heavy all by yourself! Besides, we're a team!"



L'Cor was about to order Yoko to stay away from the last MkII, but then decided that he didn't have time to argue. Yoko was going to do whatever the frak she wanted no matter what he had to say on the matter. "Fine. Fly high and get me a visual."



"I knew you'd see things my way!" Yoko's image blew him a kiss before it winked out.



L'Cor chuckled to himself. He still had his link to the BRP hovering over the city so he already had a visual. At least this way, Yoko was safely out of the line of fire for the next several minutes.



The last MkII had wandered off the planned route. In fact, it was heading back out of the city in what was clearly a hasty retreat. He was briefly tempted to let the MkII go, but knew that it was better to take it out now while its pilot was still shaken up.



He still didn't have a clear shot at the retreating figure so he would have to chase it down. He thought about bringing the heavy hyper velocity cannon along but in order for his Wyv'en to use it properly, he would have to stop, set it down, aim and fire. He decided that he wouldn't have time to do that if he were chasing the other MAAC.



He grabbed a pair of heavy auto cannon and jumped off the building. Once up in the air, he zoomed in on the retreating MAAC and could barely make out the telltale blocky shapes of missile launcher on its shoulders. That gave the MkII an enormous advantage in a long range duel. He would have to get in closer if he wanted to do enough damage to bring down the MkII.



He boosted just above the buildings along the street at top speed and managed to close the distance quickly. Suddenly, his communicator was alive with yells and cheers. "It's down! It's down!"



L'Cor toggled his BRP screen and saw that Dorjan and his people had successfully brought down their MkII. Its legs were a mangled mess but the torso was definitely salvageable.



Alarms suddenly rang inside his cockpit. He snapped his attention back to his main HUD in time to see a double flight of missiles headed his way. He cursed himself for coming in big and stupid and did the only thing he could. He fired both of his auto cannons, engaged his anti missile laser and prayed that it would be enough.



It was not enough.



L'Cor distinctly felt at least six impacts before his Wyv'en tumbled out of the air and crashed into the ground. His combat harness kept him from dying a messy death inside of his own cockpit. He must have blacked out for several precious seconds because the next thing he knew, he was staring up at pair of rapid fire auto cannons wielded by one gigantic Drac'en MkII.



He held his breath as he waited to die…but nothing happened. Puzzled, he zoomed his HUD until he saw a blue glow emanating from the centre of the MkII's chest. The blue glow emerged from the chest plate and revealed itself to be the tip of a monofilament cutter. As he watched in shocked surprise, the MFC withdrew and the MkII fell forward onto its face.



Yoko's Grif'cen straightened up from a fencing style lunge and deactivated its MFC. Yoko's grinning face appeared on his communicator screen as she tartly said, "Having a senior's moment old man? Nice try, but you're not the only one who can link with the BRP!"



He started to laugh but his head felt as if it were still spinning out of control. "Don't try to move. Ivan is on his way with a trailer." This time, Yoko's voice was tinged with concern and she had a worried expression on her face.



L'Cor waved his hand weakly and his Wyv'en's hand obediently copied the movement. He still didn't trust his voice to speak but he didn't have to. Even in his befuddled state, he could do simple math. All eight of the enemy MAACs were down. It had cost him four Tournament players and their Micks, but they had done it. They had won!



Chapter 19 Fast Forward and an Old Friend



The sound of a beeping chirp woke L'Cor from his deep and exhausted sleep. After the battle, he had spent several hours explaining the presence of R'Tus's Wyv'en to Yoko as best as he could. After she finally seemed to accept the story, they had fallen asleep on his bed, curled up against each other, too tired to make love once more.



Now however, it would appear as if his well deserved rest had come to an end. The beeping was coming from Yoko's phone and he reached for it with a weary hand and turned it on.



Ivan's image appeared on the small screen and he had a startled expression on his face, "L'Cor? Oh, well good…uh, I was looking for you."



L'Cor rubbed his eyes and then forced them open. "Me? But you're calling Yoko's phone oh, uh never mind. What's up?"



"We were running some diagnostics on your Wyv'en and well, I think we triggered something. It's a message for you…from R'Tus."



Suddenly, L'Cor mind woke up all the way. "R'Tus?"



"Yeah, it's another one of those pre-recorded messages but it's weird."



"What's weird about it?"



"Well, R'Tus has asked that you bring his journal to the Wyv'en…something about fast forwarding the entries or something. Can you please come?"



"Sure, I'll be right there."



L'Cor shut the phone off and got out of bed. There was a moan from Yoko and he glanced back down at her. The comforter had slid off her nude body and he briefly played with the idea of getting back into bed with her. Instead, he pulled the comforter until it was snug around her body, gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and then got dressed.



Five minutes later, he was sitting in the combat harness of his brother's Wyv'en. The hatch was open and both Ivan and Alain were crouched upon it, eagerly waiting for something to happen. As with the previous message, R'Tus's face was somewhat more mature than the recordings on the journal, as if there were several orbits difference between the two. Right now, his image was frozen on the HUD and as L'Cor turned on the journal, R'Tus's face suddenly began to speak.



"Ah good! Well L'Cor, if you're seeing this, then that means my plan is working so far. You have no idea how hard it is to plan events from three thousand years in the past! Anyway, I know that I was still somewhat befuddled most of the times when I was making those recordings in my journal, but let me summarize what you should know by now. No, I did not die from the thernuke. Yes I was transported magically into the past. Yes, magic does exist. Maybe not so much in the future where you are, but here in the past, it is still pretty prevalent."



R'Tus's image rubbed his eyes and L'Cor could see many lines on the face of his brother. "Things are not all that bad here. I have found a new life, one that has had its ups and downs, but ultimately has proven to be very rewarding. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The reason for this message is this: I need your help."



L'Cor opened his mouth to protest but R'Tus's image forestalled him. "Yes, I know. How in Hadis' stinking armpit are you supposed to help me? You probably have problems of your own to deal with. All I can say is this: The world that you live in and the world that I live in is not no so very far apart. We are connected in strangely magical ways that I cannot even begin to decipher let alone explain. Anyway, I cannot tell you what I need done. I can only show you the path and let history take its course. Hold up my journal please."



L'Cor did as he was told and R'Tus's image said, "Unlock hidden entries. Pass code: Euther."



The journal in L'Cor's hand chimed and scrolled to a series of entries that he had never seen before. On the HUD, R'Tus's image spoke one more time. "Just watch the journal entries that I've unlocked. You will know what to do when the time comes. Oh, and make sure that you're heavily armed."



R'Tus's image on the HUD winked out just as the journal started to play. A younger version of R'Tus one that was more familiar to L'Cor began to speak.



Start of Entry Orbit: 1022 (I think), Moon: Summertime, Solar Cycle: Does it matter?



As far as I can tell, I've been in the past for about six orbits. Six orbits of carving a name for me as Princess Gaya's protector. Not that she really needed much protecting most of the time. She was very good with a sword, and she rode a drac'en as if she were born on the saddle. Still, dangerous creatures and other types of assassins would magically appear without warning at times. This Farad character must be spending obscene amounts of power in his efforts to kill Princess Gaya. Every time an attack was about to occur, some sort of six sense would warn me and I was always able to meet these attacks in the safety of my MAAC.



I'm still leery about killing humans who are obviously no match for me in combat, but I've gotten somewhat used to by now. Besides, I've equalized the playing field a bit by only using Callus, the sword given to me by King Auril. My MFC remains propped in a corner in the room that Gaya and I share in Camu Castle.



My Wyv'en seriously needs some maintenance though. Without any proper facilities though, there's just no way I can properly maintain it. Sure the engine and power are in no danger of dying out, but the joints need some serious lubricating. I've done what I can with the maintenance kit in my Wyv'en's storage compartment and for now, it'll have to do. I've brought this up with Malin on more than one occasion but he just smiles enigmatically and walks away.



As for the war, I know that it is coming into its final stages. The combined allied armies of Camu and her neighbours have pushed the Morda forces back. Pretty soon now, I know that Emperor Morda, otherwise known as the Immortal Emperor will issue his challenge. The war will end with a duel between the Black Knight and the Immortal. None of the history texts I've read seem to agree on what happened during this duel. Some say that Morda won because he couldn't die and that Gaya ended up imprisoning him for all time in a secret location. Others say that the Black Knight won but he soon died from his injuries. Maybe that was another way of saying that my Wyv'en stopped functioning? That sounds pretty plausible.



As for Princess Gaya…well, I didn't know what love was before. Now however, I can honestly say that I love her more than I could have thought possible. I'm pretty sure she feels the same but it's completely impossible for us to do anything about it.



Over the orbits, on those long campaign nights, we've talked to each other about everything. I've told her more than I've told anyone including L'Cor and Q'Wen. Heck, I've even told her things from my childhood that I'm sure everyone thought I had forgotten. That's how close we'd become. Sometimes the desire to reach out and hold her is so great that I can do nothing but curse in frustration.



We have not gone so far as to declare our feelings to each other. To do so would be pointless, right?



One day, while our army was about ten days away from the Mordue capital (the city was called Mordue too these guys were definitely unimaginative when it came to names!), Malin pulled me aside for a private talk.



The army was passing through a mountainous region and Malin and I climbed up one of the nearby hills and took a long walk over the paths. Eventually, we came upon a large valley. Strangely enough, it reminded of the valley in the Badlands where I had slowed a major Saxx advance back in the future.



"What is thy fondest wish Sir Black?" asked Malin in a tired voice. I'd noticed that lately, Malin had been getting frailer and frailer. It was common knowledge in the army that the old man's time was almost up.



"To be with Gaya," I said immediately.



Malin smiled faintly and nodded his head, as if I had simply confirmed something that he had already known. "Princess Gaya loves thee as much as you love her."



My heart soared to hear this but then it sank almost immediately as I considered my situation. "I'm not much of a companion to her as you may have noticed."



Malin coughed loudly before saying, "I have enough magic for one more spell Sir Black. It is up to you on how I should use it."



"Up to me?", Malin was looking at me expectantly again. I had become quite accustomed to that look. It was the look that a teacher would give to his prize student to goad that student into finding his own answers. "In other words, you can send me home right? Or, if I choose, I can remain here in the past, but you can return me to my original size."



Malin smiled but inclined his head. I knew there was more. "There's more though isn't there? You want me to do something. If you could have returned me to my size all this time, then there's a reason why you have not done so before now." Another smile but this time I was stumped. What did Malin want from me? And if he could have enlarged me before now, why hadn't he? Why torment me for six orbits?



Then it hit me. He needed me. Or, more accurately, he needed me inside my machine but he had to conceal the fact that I was from the future. Why?



Suddenly, the reason why didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that I could finally be with the woman I loved with my entire being! I opened my mouth to shout out my desire…



And then I stopped. What would be the point? I still couldn't be with Gaya. She was destined to marry a Mordue prince and unite the continent. As the Black Knight, I was fated to fight the Immortal Emperor and perhaps die in the duel. Why not just go home now and be done with it?



Malin was looking through my head module as if he could see the man inside the MAAC. Frak me, he probably could! Suddenly, my heart was filled with homesickness. I missed L'Cor and Q'Wen. I can almost see their faces when they found out that I had returned from the dead. Wouldn't that be something? I could go home!



"I want to be with Gaya," The words were out of my mouth before I even realized it. After I said it though, I realized that it was what I wanted, even more than going home. "I don't care if I'm with her as a friend, lover or soldier. I don't care if it's for a day, a moon or an orbit. I love her and I want to be close to her. Return me to my normal size!"



Malin smiled and bobbed his head. "Thou have just saved this world from destruction with that decision. Now, only the work remains."



Huh? What the frak did that mean?



Malin held up his hands in front of him. Between his palms, a translucent bubble formed out of thin air. Within this bubble were tiny moving insects.



Wait a minute! Those were not insects! Insects don't move like that!



I zoomed my HUD closer and what I saw froze my blood. The things inside the bubble had three legs and walked with a weird triple gait. Many wore unpowered armour but the grand majority did not. There were about fifty of them, and while these early versions did not seem to have power armour, fifty Saxx with modern weapons were more than enough to dominate this primitive world.



All of a sudden, I knew that my duel with the Immortal Emperor was the least of my worries. Armed with only my MFC, there was no way I could take on a fifty Saxx and live.



End of Entry



The journal entry ended so abruptly that L'Cor wasn't sure at first that it was over. He was about to open the next entry when there was a commotion by the main hangar gate. There was a rumbling sound as the gate swung open and a large MAAC stepped through and into the hangar.



L'Cor almost jumped into action until he saw the emblem of the Royal Gayan Armed Forces boldly displayed on the shoulders of the MAAC. Then he noticed the battle damage.



As the MAAC turned and faced him straight on, L'Cor saw that there was an actual hole in the left torso of the Drac'en MkII. Also, the MAAC's left arm terminated at the elbow and from what he could see, it did not look as if the arm had be blown off by a projectile weapon. Instead, it looked as if someone had gotten close with a MFC and chopped the arm off.



Ivan looked up as the MkII approached and said, "Ah, good, she's here!"



"Who?"



Alain had already climbed down the Wyv'en's ladder and was approaching the newcomer. The MkII stopped and its chest plate opened with a hiss of escaping gas. Unlike older models, the chest plate of the MkII opened upwards, so the first thing of the pilot that L'Cor saw was a pair of finely toned legs that seemed to go on for miles. After the legs came a thin waist, a generous bosom, and then a beautiful sweating face surrounded by short red hair.



Ivan waved to the pilot and then said to L'Cor, "I believe you already know Major Liselle Tenshen. She contacted us while you were asleep."



Liselle smiled tiredly and waved, "Hello L'Cor. Long time no see!" She hit an unseen switch and a ladder extended down from her cockpit.



Alain climbed up the ladder and began to help Liselle get unstrapped from her machine. L'Cor was still somewhat speechless so Ivan continued with his explanation. "Liselle's force consisted of a tri-quad of Drac'en MkII's. Her orders were to negotiate some sort of settlement with the Black Prince and to take him out if an opportunity presented itself."



As Ivan spoke, he climbed down the Wyv'en's ladder and gestured for L'Cor to follow. "At least we solved the mystery as to the location of the stolen Had'ras."



Once on the ground, Liselle greeted L'Cor with a warm hug and a kiss on his cheek. L'Cor found himself lost in memories because Liselle was the last person he had expected to see. Memories of a Liselle from R'Tus's journal as well as his own personal memories of the real person clashed in his mind. "Uh, it's good to see you Liselle. How's your sister?"



At that moment, L'Cor heard the sound of someone clearing her throat and glanced around to see Yoko standing not ten feet away. He quickly pulled away from Liselle and gestured to Yoko to come over.



"Cinda is doing fine L'Cor. She's just had her second baby. A boy this time and she's named him after R'Tus."



Yoko came up and put an arm around L'Cor's waist. "Uh, Yoko, this is an old army buddy of mine and R'Tus. Liselle, this is Yoko, the current reigning champion of the Tournament."



Liselle smiled a broad smile and said, "Yoko Ana? I am so pleased to meet you. I've followed your exploits rather closely. You're something of a hero back in my home town!" She shook Yoko's hand vigorously and enthusiastically.



Yoko smiled back but L'Cor could feel some tension in the arm that was holding him. Was Yoko jealous? He'd better defuse the situation fast. "After R'Tus ah…moved on, Liselle and I became friends and we kept in somewhat contact after the war was over. We lost touch though after I left the service."



Yoko's armed loosened its grip somewhat but the tension didn't leave entirely. Liselle's eyes scanned the hangar and when she saw the Wyv'en behind L'Cor, she gasped and said, "Is that what I think it is? But "



"Long story Liselle. We'll fill you in later, promise." Ivan interrupted Liselle's question and then added, "We really need to know the current situation. Let's go into a briefing room ok?"



As the group trouped over to a nearby briefing room, L'Cor put his arm around Yoko's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "We were only friends. Liselle was too in love with R'Tus."



The tension seemed to flow out of Yoko's body with those words. She smiled and whispered back, "I love you."



"I love you too," said L'Cor.



Once inside of the room, Ivan closed the door while Alain turned on a monitor and switched it over to a news broadcast. On the screen was a slender young man with a haughty face and an arrogant expression. He was addressing the camera the way a monarch would address oppressed subjects. "I am Prince Morda, direct descendant of the Immortal Emperor. I have won a great victory against the forces of the usurper otherwise known as Empress Dana. I hereby declare this city to be mine by conquest. Through me, Mordue will rise once more and take back what was stolen!"



Alain turned the volume down as the self proclaimed Prince Morda continued to rant. "Sorry, but that's what's been clogging up the all the channels for the last several hours."



The image on the screen changed and L'Cor hissed in surprise when he caught a glimpse of four huge MAACs. These MAACs were bigger than anything he'd ever seen before. The head unit sat upon an unsually long neck which in turn sat on a large broad chest. Two large cylindrical weapons stood on either side of the head unit. It was obvious that these MAACs got their names from the nearly extinct Had'ra.



"Those are the MAACs that ambushed my force," said Liselle in a hushed voice. "I'm the only survivor of my tri-quad."



"Wait a sec! How the hell did four experimental MAACs take out eleven Drac'en MkII's piloted by the finest pilots in the RGAF?" L'Cor couldn't hide his incredulousness at the idea.



Liselle sighed wearily before continuing. "Ivan filled me in on your battle yesterday. I don't want to sound like I'm belittling your accomplishment. Taking out eight MAACs with what you had was amazing. But you have to understand that the pilots in the force that attacked me were all ex-military. They were all veterans. Plus, those rail guns on the shoulders of the Had'ras can fire a new type of experimental ammunition called MFP."



"What's a MFP?" asked Yoko.



"A monofilament projectile is a new type of weapon based upon tried and true technology." Ivan got up, went over to a whiteboard hanging on the wall and began drawing. "Basically, you take a very large calibre HVC but instead of loading it solid slugs, you load it with a specially designed mini monofilament cutter."



Yoko snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "Like that Grif'cen that I took out! The pilot threw his MFC at me, and even that simple move embedded his MFC in my chest plate!"



Ivan nodded solemnly. "Exactly. Imagine now though, that you accelerate that cutter to what a normal HVC slug is capable off."



Yoko gasped. "It would slice through the thickest armour as if it were paper!"



L'Co,r remember the hole in the chest of Liselle's MkII as well as the amputated left arm. "Frak!", He swore vehemently. "What chance do we have? Those four Had'ras can take out anything with a single well placed shot!"



"Wait everyone!" said Alain suddenly. "We need to hear this!" He turned the volume of the broadcast back up.



Prince Morda had worked himself up to a frenzy and he was shouting, "I call for the rebels who blatantly attacked my forces yesterday to surrender themselves at once! You will submit to me or suffer the consequences! You will come to City Hall and surrender yourselves to my mercy! If you do not, I will start executing the people of this city, beginning with your family and friends!"



Alain turned the volume down again because the Black Prince was starting to work himself up into another frenzy. "What do we do? We have three MAAC pilots, two damaged MAACs and two undamaged ones."



L'Cor cocked his head to look at Liselle. "What do you think about trading in your MkII for an undamaged Grif'cen? I know it wasn't your favourite MAAC, but your MkII from what I could see is in no shape for another battle any time soon."



Liselle grimaced. "As long as I don't have to fly the frakkin thing, I'll be fine."



"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Everyone turned to look at Yoko. "Are you seriously thinking about fighting them? That'll be suicide! Not to mention the collateral damage! This is my city we're talking about!"



"Yes we have to fight Yoko," explained L'Cor evenly. "If we don't show up, that 「illegitimate child」's crazy enough to start arbitrarily executing citizens. If we surrender, we're as good as dead. I'd rather fight." He looked over at Ivan and asked, "Can you use your underground contacts to start evacuating the downtown area quietly?"



Ivan nodded but Yoko was not done yet. "Wait. This Black Prince guy frequents the red light district right? Why can't we just ask Madam Rouge to have one of her girls kill the 「illegitimate child」 in his sleep?"



Ivan had a sad expression on his face as he fielded Yoko's question. "Yoko, you've killed before, we all know that. But that was either in the Tournament, self defence or in the heat of combat. Deep inside though, you are not a cold blooded killer. Do you honestly think one of Madam Rouge's girls can do what you're asking?"



Yoko's eyes welled up as she considered Ivan's words and their implications. L'Cor quickly put his arm around her shoulders. "It's ok Yoko. Besides, we have no idea if the Black Prince even plans to get his rocks off tonight."



"Liselle, when can we expect reinforcements from the RGAF?" asked L'Cor.



Liselle shook her head sadly. "Not for at least a couple of days. Plan B was to send in a team of commandos to take out the Black Prince in his sleep, but that'll take some time to set up. Besides, I think they're monitoring most of the command frequencies. There's no guarantee we can catch them by surprise."



"Frak!" said L'Cor with feeling. He sighed deeply and said, "I don't see a lot of choices." He glance down and Yoko and asked, "I don't suppose there's much chance of asking you to sit this one out?"



Yoko glared back and said, "Not on your life!"



L'Cor smiled and then looked to Liselle, "I know you've just been through a lot. Care to take another swing at these 「illegitimate child」s?"



Liselle gave him a thumbs up and said, "You betcha!"



Ivan cleared his throat. "City Hall is in the downtown district. That area is mostly commercial and all businesses have pretty much stopped since the attack. Most people will be in their homes."



"Good," said L'Cor. He was thinking hard and many of his thoughts were only half articulated when he started to express them. "Ok, Ivan and Alain, we need both Grif'cens and the Wyv'en prepped and ready to go."



"Won't be a problem," said Ivan. "The Wyv'en was a little banged up but most of the damage was done to the armour."



L'Cor nodded absentmindedly. No one mentioned that against MFP's, fully repaired armour wouldn't make much difference. "Give them a full weapons load out."



"Sure thing, what's the plan?"



"Simple. Liselle, Yoko and I will present ourselves the Black Prince. While we have his attention, Dorjan and the rest of the Tournament players will sneak in behind the Had'ras and take out their knees."



"That's not much of a plan L'Cor," said Ivan grimly.



L'Cor shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have time to get fancy. The longer we wait, the more likely that this crazy 「illegitimate child」 will take it out on the population."



There was silence in the room as everyone considered L'Cor's words. Deep down, they all knew that he was correct.



"I'll need a couple of hours," said Ivan.



"That's fine. Liselle, make yourself at home. Grab a bite and try to get some rest. We leave as soon as our MAACs are ready. Ivan, can you call Dorjan and the others here? I need to brief them."



"You get some rest too," said Ivan with an inclined head in Yoko's direction. "I'll brief the others."



L'Cor was about to protest but a subtle but firm pressure from Yoko made him rethink it. Instead, he said, "Thanks. That's it for now. We'll regroup in a couple of hours."



With that, Yoko took a firm grip on his hand and proceeded to lead him out of the room. On the way out, he caught a glimpse of amused expressions on the faces of Ivan, Alain and Liselle.



Back in his room, they made love with a fierce passion that exceeded their lovemaking from the night before. No words were said about what was to come. None were needed.



When the call came from Ivan that the MAACs were ready, they got dressed into their neural suits, shared one last intense hug and left for the hangar and their meeting with destiny.



Chapter 20 Collision with Destiny



L'Cor glanced around New Neomar as he and his companions walked their MAACs into the downtown area. There were obvious signs of past fighting, but the damage to the city in general was not that bad. With luck, the Black Skull forces had not noticed the Micks under OC that had preceded them into the city. His plan was simple, but he had no illusions about his ability to survive it. Right now, his priority was to disable as many of the Had'ras as possible so that future actions against the Black Skull would be easier.



Oh, and it would be nice to minimize damage to the city, mused L'Cor. The Had'ras were experimental MAACs, and as such, they still had weaknesses that had to be ironed out before full production. Specifically, the knee joints on the beasts were somewhat weak. L'Cor had armed Tournament players' Micks with HVC's in the hopes that they could immobilize the Had'ras enough for L'Cor and his team to have a shot at taking down the monsters.



His Wyv'en was armed with a pair of HVC's and his MFC was docked on his back. Both Liselle and Yoko were similarly armed. He personally doubted that he would live long enough to use the MFC but it was comforting to have his brother's favourite weapon with him.



As L'Cor approached the large building that was City Hall, he noted how closely the four Had'ra MAACs were positioned. He snorted in a self-mockingly kind of way. Too bad his skills with a MFC were not as good as his brother's. If R'Tus were here, he could probably cut down all four Had'ras before they had a chance to fire!



L'Cor and his team stopped about one hundred feet away from the enemy MAACs. One Had'ra stepped forward with an arrogant strut and the Black Prince's face appeared on L'Cor's communicator screen.



"I am Prince Morda! I hereby declare you to be outlaws and I command "



Whatever else the Black Prince was going to say, L'Cor did not hear it. Suddenly, his world seemed to be enveloped in a flash of intense light.



*



His optical sensors shut down in response and for several seconds, L'Cor sat in complete darkness. After what seemed like an eternity though, his sensors eventually rebooted and he was able to see where he was.



However, he was not where he thought he was. He was somewhere else entirely. Feeling almost like a character in a long ago children's story, L'Cor panned his head unit around as he took in his surroundings.



"L'Cor! What happened? Where are we?"



L'Cor glanced at his communicator screen and said, "I'm not sure Yoko, but I don't think we're in New Neomar anymore!"



The trio of MAACs stood at the head of a large valley. L'Cor was reminded somehow of the Badlands back during the war.



Liselle's face appeared on his communicator screen. "L'Cor, do you see that?"



He linked his secondary monitor to Liselle's Grif'cen and watched as Liselle zoomed in on an area on the valley floor. His blood froze as he saw the dozens of three legged figures marching down the valley.



"Oh frak! What in Hade's stinking armpit are Saxx doing here?" Suddenly, thought of where he was disappeared as old war habits kicked in at the sight of his old enemy. "Liselle, Yoko! Form up on me. Delta formation!"



Liselle's MAAC complied instantly but Yoko's face appeared on his screen with a confused look. "Uh, fearless leader? What's a Delta formation?"



L'Cor swore under his breath. "Never mind that. Yoko, get in the air. I don't see many heavy weapons in the Saxx force. Liselle, you're with me. We'll hit them as Yoko makes her strafing run!"



Yoko's Grif'cen leapt into the air as L'Cor and Liselle started a quick loping run. L'Cor contacted Yoko again and said, "Be careful Yoko. Fighting Saxx is not quite like fighting people. Tournament rules do not apply here. Target the beasts in armour first. And for Gaya's sake, don't stop moving. If they get a bead on you, they'll swamp you with coordinated fire."



Yoko looked as if she wanted to crack a joke, but instead, she said, "I understand. You be careful too ok?"



He gave her a nod and the contacted Liselle. "Just like old times Lis!"



Liselle gave him a wild grin. "I don't know where we are, and I don't know what the frak is going on, but it's good to have an open battlefield!"



L'Cor pulled his arms out from their sockets long enough to type several commands into his keyboard. "I've synched my targeting computer to your Grif'cen. Stay on my wing and hit anything that I'm not hitting."



Liselle simply said "affirmative," but her grin told L'Cor that she was slightly amused that he had automatically assumed the leadership role even though he was no longer in the military.



From that moment on, L'Cor acted on instinct. He had fought the Saxx for so long that he knew, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the Saxx force had to be destroyed completely. His HUD showed the estimated number of Saxx to be no more than fifty, so he knew that this was just an scouting party Still, if any Saxx survived to communicate back to whatever passed for their homeworld, then fifty would soon become fifty thousand.



As he came into attack range, two things seemed somewhat odd to him. First, was the complete lack of powered armour among the ranks of Saxx. Second, and though he was no expert in Saxx psychology, was the apparent shocked reaction of the Saxx force as he and Liselle opened fire.



L'Cor was used to Saxx who fought in tightly wound teams. He was used to Saxx who moved and fired in coordinated groups. He was used to Saxx whose discipline in the middle of combat made them seem more like machines rather than giant alien beings. What he was not used to were Saxx who ran about helter skelter in undeniable panic.



He and Liselle fired their HVC's into the mass of Saxx and it was like shooting turk'as on a firing range. Yoko's strafing run was announced by a flight of missiles that added to the panic and devastation that L'Cor and Liselle were causing.



Despite the obvious confusion amongst the Saxx though, L'Cor made no attempt to get closer and engage with his MFC. It was obvious that he currently had the advantage of both range and surprise and getting into the middle of that mess was a sure way to get himself killed.



Yoko's Grif'cen came screaming back in on another attack run, but this time, she slowed her velocity and cut loose with more missiles and a barrage of auto-cannon fire.



After several minutes, L'Cor's HUD showed no more hostiles. It couldn't have even been considered a battle. It was more of a massacre. None of the Saxx had even tried to fight back because the shock of seeing armed and armoured assailants was too severe for them to handle.



"Yoko! Get up into the air and see if you can find their ship. We have to make sure its destroyed too!"



Without a word, Yoko fired her afterburners and headed away. L'Cor contacted Liselle and said, "I know you hate flying, but see if you can help Yoko. We don't want any of them to get away."



Liselle grimaced but said, "Roger!" Her Grif'cen shifted its body parts until it resembled a large armoured aircraft.



Before she could take off though, a giant explosion seemed to reverberate throughout the valley. "Yoko, are you alright?"



Yoko's face came on his display. She had a huge grin on her face. "Nothing to it, oh fearless leader. I found the ship and it was completely unprotected. I though Saxx were supposed to be tougher opponents?"



L'Cor gave her a shrug and said, "Who knows. Get back here on the double."



Yoko's Grif'cen flew back and converted to ground assault mode in mid air. It rode its jump jets down until its feet were firmly planted on the ground.



Liselle had converted her Grif'cen back as well. "What the frak is going on L'Cor? One minute we were about the face our fates at City Hall, and the next minute we're slaughtering a bunch of Saxx! Where are we?"



Now that the action was over, L'Cor took some time to really observe his surroundings and to mull over everything that had happened. There was no sign of modern civilization for as far as his sensors could see. The Saxx had reacted as if they had never seen MAACs. Their equipment had seemed…well for a lack better word…primitive. A sinking feeling assaulted his gut as he said, "I think the more important question is, when are we?"



Just then, blinding light flared up all around the trio of MAACs. L'Cor squeezed his eyes shut but overrode his MAAC's automatic shut down of his sensors. Instead, he dimmed the reception until he could just barely see. Unfortunately, there wasn't much for him to see. The three MAACs were bathed in light. There was no ground and no sky. There was only light.



Something seemed to be approaching him though. He turned his attention to it as it approached and his heart skipped a beat as he recognized the shape of another Wyv'en. The Wyv'en had obviously seen better days, but it appeared to be intact. In fact, it looked very familiar to L'Cor.



Could it be?



L'Cor reached up a hand as if to touch the other Wyv'en as it passed, but his MAAC's armoured hand seemed to pass right through his brother's machine. L'Cor reached out in a vain attempt to touch the other MAAC and then, as suddenly as it had arrived, the light vanished and R'Tus's Wyv'en was gone as well.



*



Alright, I only have a short time to record my thoughts. Oh frak! What the frak happened to me?



Where do I start? Well, without much fanfare, Malin cast his spell that restored me to my right size. He was also nice enough to magically transport my MFC here as well. I remember feeling a bit of a perverse delight when I realized that I was in fact taller than him. Yeah, I know…whatever.



Anyway, I jumped into my Wyv'en and made my way to where Malin shown me. On the way there, I was still trying to figure out what kind of tactic I could use. I didn't have many options. The only thing I could think of was that these Saxx were obviously a lot more primitive than their future counterparts. This must be some sort of early exploratory force. Still, armed with only my MFC, fifty to one odds did not seem survivable. I may get lucky and kill a dozen or so, but the rest were sure to figure out that there was only one of me and get their act together. Well, I'd always wanted to go down fighting impossible odds, right? Not!



I reached the valley without incident and I perched on the side of a mountain as I analyzed the force below me. I was just calculating my next move when this incredible light surrounded me. A second before my sensors shut down, I realized that I had seen this light before.



When the light was disappeared, I was no longer on the mountain looking down at the valley. I was in some kind of modern day city. I was back in the future!



As soon as I realized that however, I was confronted by four huge MAACs of a design I didn't recognize. For a split second, I experienced déjà vu, and I had to give myself a shake. Yes, these were MAACs and not men in armour!



A face appeared on my communicator and was shouting something on the all bands frequency. "I am Prince Morda! I hereby declare you to be outlaws and I command you to lay down your arms or I will start executing citizens!"



Prince Morda? As in the Mordue empire? What the frak was going on? Did I jump into an alternate future where the Mordue won the war?



The lead MAAC stepped forward and the two long barrelled weapons on either side of the long head unit lowered in a menacing manner. It didn't take a genius to know what its intentions were, and where MAAC tactics were concerned, I was pretty darned close to being a genius.



My MFC was in my hand even before the long barrelled weapons completed their descent into firing position. As I moved, I grinned savagely. It had been a long time since I didn't have to hold back! Also, it was awfully nice of these mysterious MAACs to position themselves so close to each other!



Something flashed over my shoulder as I ducked and closed the distance. I didn't pause to give it another thought.



My MFC drew a blazing blue wave as it arced upward. It sliced through one of the long barrelled weapons near the base. The resultant explosion surprised me a bit, but I was already beyond the first MAAC. It was clear, whatever these weapons were, a critical hit on one of them caused them to explode cataclysmically.



There were three more MAACs in my field of vision. Instead of an emblem for the Royal Gayan Armed Forces though, these MAACs sported a black skull, which from my experience over the last six orbits, I knew to be the banner of the Mordue empire.



The three MAACs already had their weapons in firing position so I put all other thoughts into the back of my mind. My next target, I decided subconsciously, would be the MAAC in the middle.



I leapt into the air and somersaulted forward. I briefly noted several lines of bright light flashing through the empty space where I had been. As I turned in midair and faced forward once more, I lanced out with my MFC and bisected the centre MAAC. It wasn't enough to destroy the MAAC though, so when I landed on my feet, I ducked and cut through the MAACs left knee.



I let my momentum carry me to my right and launched myself at the MAAC there. My MFC pierced through the chest plate and I deactivated it for a second. With my MFC stuck in the MAAC, I twisted my body around which had the effect of turning the massive MAAC that I had impaled. When I had turned the MAAC around enough so that it was between me and the last enemy, I reactivated my MFC and pulled it out. I saw two large holes suddenly appear in the torso of the MAAC and it suddenly dawned on me that these MAACs must be shooting some sort of small MFC projectile at HVC speeds. If I had stopped to really think about it, I think I would have scared myself silly!



The last MAAC was almost two hundred feet away. The back of my mind was calculating the chances that I could reach the last MAAC before it fired again. I decided that it would be close…maybe too close. As I ran and closed the distance, I flipped my MFC around and then hurled it at the enemy MAAC as if it were a javelin. I let my forward motion carry me down and I tucked and rolled as a last ditch effort to avoid being hit.



It must have worked because I didn't get hit. When I got back onto my feet, I saw that the last MAAC was staggering a bit and then it fell backward. My MFC had skewered the MAAC right in the centre of its chest plate.



I walked over and recovered my weapon. I deactivated it and clipped it back onto my back.



The first MAAC that I took down moved ever so slightly and I approached it cautiously. I could see a small figure crawling away from the open chest hatch. This, I surmised, could be none other than Prince Morda, the descendant of my enemy. Should I crush him?



I've never killed an unarmed opponent before and it's a good thing I never had the chance to seriously consider it. As with before, a blinding white light engulfed me and I left the modern world.



Something strange happened after that though. During my time travel back, I managed to turn on my sensors ever so slightly. What I saw though, left me dumbfounded. I had the sense that I was traveling in a straight line, although there was no visual proof of that. What I saw coming towards me though, was three familiar MAACs. Two of them were Grif'cens and the third was a Wyv'en and not just any Wyv'en either. It looked very much like mine! What the frak?



The Wyv'en reached out with a hand but that hand passed right through me. I tried to turn to follow the trio's progress but they quickly passed out of sight.



Well, that's all I can say about that adventure. My next one looms ahead of me. This time though, I will be on my own, in the flesh. And, there will be no help from the magical department either.



Oh…wait, that sound you hear in the background is the funeral horns. Malin did not live long after I got back from the future. I guess that little spell of his really took its toll on the old man.



Even the joy in Gaya's eyes at seeing me restored to my own size has been overshadowed by Malin's death. Even worse though, is that somehow, Emperor Morda has caught wind of Malin's passing and has issued a challenge for one on one combat to end the war.



As I am Princess Gaya's champion, I have accepted his challenge. Tomorrow, I shall face my true destiny.



Signing off.



Chapter 21 Endings and Beginnings



Almost two weeks later, L'Cor sighed deeply as he reclined on Yoko's old but comfortable couch. Yoko sighed contently and leaned against his shoulder. The last several days had been a nightmare of pomp and circumstance.



The Empress herself had insisted on meeting with the unlikely group of heroes who had saved New Neomar and ended an insurrection before it could begin.



Empress Dana had been very generous with the rewards. Among them was a royal order for Yoko's sister Kasa to receive the very best medical attention in Camu, the capital of the Empire. Jan, and Ivan were still there monitoring Kasa's progress while L'Cor had finally persuaded Yoko that her sister was in good hands.



Other rewards had included monetary grants, as well as elevation to nobility. At this thought, L'Cor glanced at his Star of Knighthood that sat proudly in its gold case on the coffee table and shook his head ruefully.



When he had embarked on his quest to fade away from life, the last thing he had expected was to find a lovely woman to love, win the gratitude of the Empress, and most of all, reconnect with this brother.



During some private discussions with the Empress, L'Cor had shown Empress Dana some of the entries in R'Tus's journal. After viewing a few, Empress Dana had asked if she could make a copy of the journal. L'Cor, of course, had readily agreed.



Yoko shifted uncomfortably as L'Cor raised the remote for the holo-tube and turned it on. "How come, the first thing you do when you get home is to turn on the holo?"



"Because I'm an insensitive man," said L'Cor with a grin.



The holo was showing a news report and at the moment, the biggest news on the planet was an amateur recording of the famous battle at New Neomar's City Hall.



L'Cor sniffed amusedly. Battle was too big a word. The entire action only lasted several seconds. R'Tus had lost none of his skill as he dispatched four experimental heavy assault MAACs as if they were toys.



Of course, the general public did not know that R'Tus had come back from the dead to save the city. Because L'Cor and R'Tus had been piloting the same MAAC, the actual credit for saving the city had gone to L'Cor.



At first, L'Cor had been uncomfortable with this, but Empress Dana had very firmly ordered him to think of the whole incident as being classified Top Secret. She had not given any details and L'Cor had not felt inclined to ask for more. Besides, it's not as if he could easily explain to the whole world that his brother had returned from the dead no from the past and saved the Empire!



Yoko reached up and took the remote away from him. "I still think it's odd."



"Hmm? What's that love?"



Yoko gestured to the images on the holo. "Now that I've seen your brother in action, how can you honestly say that I'm as good as him? I mean, look at him! If I didn't know better, I'd think he was simply dressed in armour. His movements are so fluid and natural!"



L'Cor kissed Yoko's forehead and said, "Don't forget that he's had many years of training and experience in piloting a MAAC. This reminds me. Are you really going to go through with your plans?"



"You mean to retire from the Tournament? Of course! Now that I don't have to risk my 「bum-bum」, I'm not going back in there!"



"What about your plans to go into business with Ivan and Alain?"



Yoko cocked her head to one side. Her eyes did not leave the holo as she said, "Yup, that's pretty much official. I've got some ideas that should revolutionize MAAC development. I went over some of them with Ivan before we came back and he thinks that they have a lot of merit. As unpopular as the Grif'cen is, I really think that the future of MAACs is mobility over weaponry. The Had'ras were really 「deteriorated bum-bum」, but when you stop to think about it, they're as mobile as a rock look!" Yoko gestured to the holo. "There, how did R'Tus know to go for the knee joint? He had what…a few seconds to size up his opponents?"



"They didn't call him the Whiz Kid for nothing."



"No offense honey, but now that I've seen you two, I have to wonder how the heck you guys are related. I mean, you're good, but dagnag-it, he's a natural!"



L'Cor chuckled. "Actually, not too many people know this, but R'Tus and I are actually not related by blood."



Yoko suddenly jerked upright. "What?!"



"My parents…my real father and my mother that is, always wanted another child as I was an only child at the time. Anyway, they were unable to conceive and eventually adopted a little boy to be my brother. After my father died, my mother eventually remarried and gave birth to Q'Wen."



"You mean you and R'Tus are not brothers after all?"



L'Cor frowned and said, "We are brothers in everything except blood."



"Blood is thicker than water but love binds us all," said Yoko. "Did R'Tus ever know?"



He shook his head. "No. We were going to tell him one day, but then our father died, and then our mother remarried. The timing never seemed right."



A beeping noise interrupted their conversation. Yoko frowned and said, "I thought we agreed to turn off our phones for at least today?"



"I did," said L'Cor as he fished though his pockets until he found the source. "That's odd, I thought I turned this thing off?" He held up R'Tus's journal and it turned on by itself."



R'Tus's face smiled at the couple. "Hello L'Cor."



"What the frak?" exclaimed L'Cor.



"Now, now L'Cor. No need for such language. There is a lady present after all." R'Tus turned to face Yoko and said, "I am pleased to see L'Cor keeping company with such a beautiful woman. May I have your name please?"



"Uh, Yoko. My name is Yoko." Yoko's face mirrored the confusion on L'Cor's.



R'Tus laughed. "You guys should look in the mirror! Surely, after your experiences, you believe in magic now?"



"But…but…"



"But how is this possible?" asked R'Tus. "Easy! I showed Farad my AV journal and he was somehow able to make a replica of this and then send the replica into the future where it landed on your bunk L'Cor."



"Farad? But…he…wasn't…"



"L'Corrrrrr!" sang R'Tus. "Shut up and pay attention. Yes, this is really me. No, I don't really understand the mechanics of magic enough to tell you how this works, and yes Farad: as in Malin's apprentice and wizard to Emperor Morda. That Farad. He's really not that bad a guy, once you get to know him. Of course, he did try to kill Gaya so many times, but let's not dwell upon the past, shall we?"



There was a faint crying sound and R'Tus looked away for a moment. "Oh, sorry, duty calls. Here, you need to see this entry. Maybe it'll bring you up to speed." R'Tus waved a hand and then his image was replaced with a younger looking version of himself.



L'Cor and Yoko watched in astonished silence as the younger R'Tus began to speak.



Start of Entry



This day has been the most incredible day of my life. Before you wonder, yes, Gaya and I were finally able to consummate our love last night, and no, I'm not going to recount those experiences here!



Basically, the purpose of this entry is to document my duel with Emperor Morda. I had gone into the duel this morning, convinced that I was going to die. Well, obviously, I didn't!



See, Emperor Morda had this spell put on him by his wizard Farad. He was immortal. Obviously, a spell of this magnitude requires a lot of power. It's no wonder that Farad looks as if he were ninety orbits old instead of the forty that he is.



Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.



As if to punctuate my feeling of doom, the day was cloudy and dreary. Big thick clouds threatened to drop torrential rain everywhere.



Gaya helped me into my armour. We did not speak but I could see tears in her eyes. When she kissed me one last time before closing my helm over my face, I could taste her salty tears.



She helped me belt on my sword belt and then watched quietly as I slid Callus home into its scabbard.



When I tried a test draw though, I found my mobility to be seriously hampered. We spent the next few minutes arguing about the armour. Gosh, women can be so stubborn. If I was going to die today, I was determined to die on my feet, facing my enemy not lying on the ground like an upside down ter'le. Even though I wouldn't be able to kill the Emperor, I was still going to give it my best shot. For that, I needed mobility. We compromised in the end. I switched out all that metal armour for a basic leather breast plate, forearm braces and a helm with a face guard. Heck, at least I got to kiss her again!



This time, Callus leapt from its scabbard and into my hand as if summoned by magic. I was ready.



The arena was small with no hiding places. This was going to be a simple duel. Emperor Morda was standing in the centre of the arena. I saw that he had outfitted himself in basic leather armour as well. Either he was confident in the spell that protected his life, or he preferred to fight as light as possible.



His face was protected by a mask like mine was. As if on some unspoken signal, we both drew our swords and saluted each other.



He attacked first with a lunge, which I parried. He carried his broadsword as if it was a rapier and I was somewhat surprised at his speed. Oh well, I'm no slouch when it came to primitive weapons!



We battled back and forth in the arena for a while. After the first few strokes, it became obvious that we were actually pretty closely matched. I could see by his posture that he was starting to take the duel seriously. His strokes started to come faster and stronger. I blocked the ones that I could and parried when I saw an opening.



He got in a good stroke though which I barely deflected with the back of my left arm. Thank goodness Gaya convinced me to leave the forearm braces on!



A little bit later, I managed to mirror his stroke and drew a line of blood on his left side. His left arm was just a little too slow to deflect it.



I think the fact that I drew blood shocked him. I heard him say, "Impossible!" Then, he really started to attack in fury.



One of the first things I learned about fighting was to always keep a level head. I sensed my opening well before it happened. Emperor Morda was becoming increasingly frustrated and it showed in his moves. Suddenly, he took his sword in both hands and hammered at me as if he were holding an axe and not a fine instrument of death.



I timed my blow to coincide with his upswing, knocked his blade further up than he had intended, and then ran him through his chest.



His sword fell from his grasp as I pulled Callus from his chest.



"How…how is this possible? I am the Immortal Emperor. Only my blood can kill me!"



I had no idea what to say to him. I was still shocked that I had won!



"Who…who are you? Let me see your face!"



I shrugged mentally and removed my helm. In response, Emperor Morda began to laugh. There was a shocked silence from the crowd that was watching. Morda was still laughing when he pulled off his helm.



He had my face!



Blood bubbled out of his mouth but he managed to say, "Yvain…son…" Then the Immortal Emperor fell face forward and died.



Someone, I think it was Farad, led me out of the arena before it became a complete madhouse. I was still in too much shock. Suddenly, Gaya was there too and the three of us managed to find a quiet corner.



Farad looked at me with wonder in his eyes and then knelt and bowed his head to me. "I pledge my allegiance to thee, Prince of Mordue."



"What? What're you talking about? My name is R'Tus!"



Gaya wrapped her hand around my shoulder and hugged me tight. "Nay, my love. Thou art the son of Yvain and King Groken. Malin informed my father and me many orbits ago."



I pulled away from her embrace and stared at her. "What're you talking about?"



Gaya grabbed my hand and held it tight as she looked into my eyes. "Oh, I have wanted to tell you for so many orbits, my love! Tens of orbits ago, when my grandfather was still a boy in King Groken's court, Yvain seduced King Groken in an attempt to undermine the unity of the Camu kingdom. Her seduction bore unexpected fruit though and thou were born. She never wanted anything to do with thee and allowed servants to raise you. One of these servants was Malin, who became thy mentor and tutor."



My head was spinning and I had the feeling of something being lifted from my mind. Suddenly, it all came back to me. Yes, I had known for a long time that I was adopted. My mother had told me one quiet night. Yet, the memories of the time before I was adopted had always seemed blank. Now, though, those memories came flashing back. I remembered rolling hills and long serious talks with an old man with sad eyes. I remembered laughing in delight at the tricks of light that flashed in this man's hands. Most of all, I remembered a fateful day, full of flashing steel and splashing red. The old man was there and he had said, "Aurron, something bad is happening. I will not allow thee to come to harm. Though born a 「illegitimate child」 of a senile king and a wicked temptress, thou have the right to live your life free of these evil tangles."



Without realizing it, I suddenly found myself sitting on the ground with my head in my hands. My real name was Aurron! "Malin sent me away, didn't he?" I asked of no one in particular.



Gaya knelt down beside me and said gently, "At the time, all he wanted to do was to keep thee safe. He would not tell anyone where he had sent thee. Everyone assumed thou were dead.



Farad knelt down in front of me and bowed his head. "When Yvain came back to Mordue, she had a little boy with her. My spells quickly ascertained that he was of no relation to Emperor Morda. When I informed the Emperor, he was happy and ordered the deception to continue. A few orbits later, he became worried that Yvain would not hold to the secret and ordered her poisoned."



I looked up at Farad. He looked almost as old as Malin, yet I knew that he was younger than King Auril. This was the face of the man who I had fought remotely with for the life of Princes Gaya. I couldn't bring myself to hate him for some reason. "Why would you follow a madman like that?"



Farad sighed deeply and looked extremely sad. "Many orbits ago, my master and I parted ways over a difference in opinion. He believed that the future of this world was in the hands of a tiny insignificant kingdom. I believed that the only way to save this world would be to take an existing empire and mould it into a force that can defeat the alien Saxx. I am sure that you can figure out the rest. The spell that Emperor forced from me as the price of his cooperation drained my life force until I am merely a shadow of what I once was."



I nodded to show my understanding. I don't know why, but I believed him. Farad turned to Gaya and said, "I am deeply sorry for all that I have done Princess. I should have placed my trust in thee long ago."



Princess Gaya shook her head and said, "Farad, if it were not for thee, Camu would not have been forced to become as strong as she is now. We became strong because we had to face strong opponents."



They looked at each other the way old friends who had been reunited after a long absence would and shared a small smile. Given their history though, it's not surprising that they did know each other from long ago. I had a nasty little suspicion in my mind and I had to ask it. "It was you, Farad wasn't it?"



He looked at me in surprise but I forged ahead. "Every time you sent one of your assassins, something warned me. Even when I was deeply asleep, I always knew when an attack as going to come."



Farad didn't say anything but I could see his answer in his eyes. I think that was when I made up my mind to trust him. However, I still had no idea what to do now. "What do I do now?"



Gaya leaned over and kissed me on my lips. Then she asked, "Wilt thou marry me?"



That startled me but I instantly said, "Yes!"



She rewarded me with a smile that out dazzled a mid day sun and said, "Then we shall unite this continent together and our children shall unite the world!"



End of Entry



The journal entry ended and the image of the young R'Tus was replaced by the older one. "Does that answer most if not all of your questions?"



L'Cor belatedly realized that his mouth was open and then shut momentarily before saying, "So you're the Mordue prince that Princess Gaya married?"



R'Tus grinned. "I thought that was obvious. Also, I've been doing some thinking lately. It's my fault really that you had to deal with that so called Black Prince."



"Why?"



"Well, after Gaya and I got married, she banished the puppet prince that everyone had thought was the grandson of Emperor Morda. Poor guy ran off swearing vengeance and he went on and on about how he would return one day and reclaim what was stolen. He honestly thought that he was Yvain's real son."



"That sounds familiar," said Yoko with a wry grin.



L'Cor suddenly found his throat to be dry and his eyes teared up. "That's really you, isn't it R'Tus?"



Instead of quipping, R'Tus said, "Yes big brother. It's me. You were always there for me, and I never got to say how much I appreciated you as a brother."



"I never got to tell you how proud I am of you," said L'Cor thickly.



R'Tus was about to say something else but he was interrupted once more by the sound of crying. "Oopsy! Hang on a sec." His face disappeared from the holo for several seconds. When he came back though, he was holding something in his arms. "Ok, I can't keep this connection up. It really makes Farad tired to hold this link open. I don't know when I'll be able to contact you again, but there's someone you should meet.



L'Cor, you are my big brother, and as such, you always got to do everything before I did. You started dating girls before me, you graduated from school before me, and you joined the military before me. I've never complained, but at least I finally got to do one thing before you." R'Tus held up a squirming baby up to the holo and said, "Allow me to present my son and your nephew: Euther Tendra'cen!"



Tears ran openly down L'Cor's face as he saw the image of his nephew. "You did good little brother! He's beautiful!"



R'Tus nodded in Yoko's direction and said, "You better get cracking if you want to catch up. My brother's not getting any younger you know!"



Yoko laughed and shook her head ruefully. "Maybe we'll start practising later, but I have no intentions of becoming an unwed mother!" She directed at the last to L'Cor who immediately fell to one knee.



"Yoko Ana, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"



"Hmmm….let me see," said Yoko playfully. She winked at R'Tus and then exclaimed, "Yes!" She jumped into L'Cor's waiting arms and kissed him fiercely.



R'Tus whistled and applauded clumsily and said, "Congrats big bro! Something tells me that you're gonna have your hands full with this one!"



L'Cor came up for air and regarded his brother. "Thanks R'Tus."



R'Tus shook his head. "No L'Cor. I should be the one to say thanks. Thanks for always being there for me. Thanks for being my big brother."



L'Cor wiped away more tears and said, "I love you R'Tus."



"I love you too, you big lug! I won't say good bye. I'll say farewell and please give my love to Q'Wen, ok?"



"I will," promised L'Cor. He was still crying when the journal beeped and turned off. His emotions threatened to burst out of his body so he did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around the woman he loved and held her tight until the storm of emotions passed, and with it, all of his pent up grief.







The End