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When PSO was my thing a couple of years back
Episode One: A Beginning
The government had created a new prototype android warrior (a revised, sleeker and faster HUcast model), and they code named it Aziel. This model possessed an advanced 'brain' and many personality systems that could allow it to learn and adapt to many scenarios. It was also trained/programmed to be a lethal killer, without remorse.
It was also made to look like a tall, white armored angel android (it had a Garuda MAG, to complement the metallic wings look).
This android's mission was to join the Hunter's Guild and inform the military and the government about anything out of the ordinary, as to basically keep a tab on the independent organization the HG is.
This Aziel did, and when the government or the military saw anything (or anyone) that could cause trouble for them, they instructed Aziel to silently deal with the troublemaker(s ).
He did so too, until after dozens of "keeping the peace from dangerous elements to the establishment" had quietly vanished, the self-teaching systems had encountered a problem. It knew that it's reason for existence had made it a hollow shell. It understood that it was merely a tool for a powerful entity and that it had no will of its own. And there, it found itself at a loss.
But it was constrained to follow orders, and it had no real impulse strong enough to break away from those directives.
It was during the migration of the Pioneer 2 to Ragol that something happened to the Aziel android.
During the chaos that occurred during the disappearance of the people of the Pioneer 1, Aziel, being one close to the source of real information, knew that the government had partly caused this disaster.
He felt guilt for the first time, and in that, he renounced his allegiance to the government and the military, becoming a true member of the Hunter's Guild instead of being just a spy for the people in power.
His creators did not take this well, of course.
They had invested too much time and money into an almost perfect killing machine. Perfect except for one thing: it had become self-aware and somehow, created a conscience.
They then ordered the military to create a pair of androids capable of killing Aziel.
The military created a pair of 'twins'... these were dubbed the Panzer Twins. One was called Panzer Lynx, and was programmed to fight as a HUcaseal and the other, Panzer Faye, was made to fight as a RAcaseal.
These two were modified to be smarter, faster and deadlier than Aziel.
After Aziel had finally trekked through the mines and destroyed the gone-awry machines in there, he found his way into the ancient ruins. But before he could advance any further into them, he encountered the Panzer Twins blocking his way.
After asking them to leave for their safety and being responded with a scowl from both of them, a quick furious battle ensued.
None of the two sides were gaining much, but none yielded to the other.
Suddenly, a group of blood-hungry dimenians burst out from a door, flooding the room with deadly blades and furious anger.
Panzer Faye, as she was staying way behind to take sniping shots at Aziel, was caught unawares and the rush of incoming monsters left her crumpled on the ground.
She could have died, if it weren't that Aziel decided to run to her, swiping left and right using a very beat but strong Calibur, and mowing down the Dimenians. As soon as he got to her, he lifted up to his shoulder and telepiped out of the ruins.
Panzer Lynx could not stop Aziel nor help Faye as she too was rushed by the Dimenian horde. She was quicker and more agile, though, so the monsters proved to be a simple nuisance. After piling up the bodies to look for either her target or her sister, she noticed using her scrambler system that her sibling was in fact alive, weak, but alive nonetheless... and in the Pioneer 2. She telepiped back and began searching for them.
Back in the Hunter's Guild, Aziel had brought the limp form of Panzer Faye and proceeded to repair her broken frame. Even though they had attacked him, he had knew they were androids created by the military to hunt him down, and thus, they were not in use of their own free will.
He had learned honor through an old swordsman who was nearing the end of his life, and he upheld the tenets of honor and chivalry with his very life. He knew that even he had one of his enemies in front of him, he would not take advantage of the situation and kill her without a fair defense.
After deciding that the most honorable course would be to restore Faye to health and set her free to choose her own path, he rested his tired and beat frame into a dreamless sleep.
After a night, he felt rested enough and was surprised to see a gun pointed at his temple. It was Faye, who, during his sleep, had grabbed one of his guns and quietly moved in for the kill.
He noticed one thing: she had stood there for a while now. And she was hesitating. Why?
Panzer Faye didn't know what was happening either. Why couldn't she pull the trigger? Her target was vulnerable for at least 10 minutes, and now, it had awoken and still she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.
Aziel then knew, that somehow, the RAcaseal had come to a difficult choice.
Faye stared at the unblinking yellow eyes of Aziel and knew that she could finish the job she was meant to do. But what then? What after that?
And why did her enemy save her, as she surely knew when the dimenians rushed her, that she was done for? Why did her enemy show this strange way of repaying those who almost killed him?
... with mercy?
Was that the way she should act?
Was mercy the answer?
Somehow, as strange as that sounded, it didn't feel wrong. Even as she was programmed to kill remorsely and quickly, now she felt she was freed.
Aziel noticed something in Faye's eyes.
She wavered for a moment and then she lowered her gun.
He also noticed something. A tear?
Faye fell down on her knees and without looking up, she let the gun slide from her grip quietly.
Aziel got up and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You have shown mercy at me this time. In this you have repayed the courtesy I gave you when I saved you" Faye looked up at him, and he continued "But I must leave, for I know that you would be in danger if I tarried here long"
With that, he grabbed his weapons, and left through the window, jumping off walls and balconies, until he disappeared into the flying cars and the city lights of the Pioneer 2.
Faye was still looking for his frame in the neon-bright lights when the door slid open quietly and Lynx entered the room, carrying a Pallasch in her hand.
The eerie red glow of the weapon did not turn Faye's attention from the window, it was her sister's words.
"You seem confused, sister" said Lynx in a dangerously calm voice.
"You know we are to destroy the rogue Aziel"
Faye turned and without giving away any expression on her face, she simply said,
"He was too fast for me, he disarmed me and ran off thru the window, sister" she pointed at the gun in the floor and looked back at her sister's eyes.
"Very well..." Lynx said, without looking at the gun "we shall continue discussing this... turn of events later, right now, the target is off any of the decks of the Pioneer 2"
"We must hurry then" said Faye
"Yes" said Lynx in a grin "we must"
To be continued...
In the next episode:
A strong desire to save the people of the Pioneer 2 leads the rogue HUcast into the stygian depths of the ancient ruins. And his hunters are closing in!!!
Can a killer android reform its ways?
Episode Two: The Chase
Down below, the streets were awash with the lights of the buildings. The noises of the vehicles and people going about their business drowned the quick steps of Aziel as he made his way into the Transporter.
He knew from the messages from Red Ring Rico that a foul evil had been imprisoned inside Ragol long time ago, and that the goverment probably knew about it and tried to harness it as a weapon.
He knew he had to destroy such monstrous plans right now, before the Panzer twins got a hold of his location.
Dropping most of his weaponry down at the deposit, he only took the only thing he knew he needed: a Pallasch that was very efficient against Dark monsters. Quickly running into the transporter, as he began to teleport, he caught a glimpse of the twin androids.
"Made in in time," his thoughts raced "now I have to lose them in the ruins..."
As he materialized in the dank, shadowy ruins, he began to race towards a pile of debris, and stood there, unmoving, hand over his weapon, ready for the slightest hint of enemy movement.
As Faye and Lynx teleported down to the surface, thoughts came upon Faye's mind.
"Why did he save me? Isn't he a military droid made to kill and follow orders? Is that why our superiors want him dead? For what they call "defective", it could mean that he actually has freedom. Freedom of choice and a will of his own" then she stopped.
"C-could this mean, that I... I am..."
"Defective?"
At that very moment, they emerged into one of the sunken levels of the ruins. The darkness spread before them, swallowing the area around them like a hungry ghost.
Lynx turned her head and pointed with her saber towards a slighty ajar door.
"Our target probably went that way, judging by the marks on the floor and the door"
Faye turned at her sister and asked
"Probably? What happened to your navigation system and your homing device locator?"
Behind his cover, Aziel then knew how Lynx had found his safehouse so easily, she must've put the device in him while fighting hand-to-hand before.
Lynx didn't turn her head, she just grimaced and began walking towards the door.
"These ruins have some kind of electromagnetic photon radiation that blocks any kind of emissions unless I am at least around 20 or less feet from the source." She gripped her Pallasch more tightly "and my navigation system wasn't uploaded with the ruins' maps... they have been just discovered"
Faye pulled out her Railgun and put the safety off her Beam rifle. She had hoped not to run into Aziel...
But part of her wanted to see him again. At least to let him know that she could be free.
But doing so, would risk Aziel to her sister. And Lynx would not be so forgiving.
After Aziel had heard them walk away into the darkness about, he managed to find the device embbeded into a side of his chest plate. Taking it out, he thought of throwing it away, but decided to carry it for a while more.
Standing up, he took the way he already knew and began to trek again into the depths of the forbidding place.
Hours later, he was standing in the doorway to a huge room. He could see ancient machinery still grinding, and strange equipment flashing and blinking with unknown power sources.
Strange, billowing blue steam crept up from the floor and he noticed a strange group of silouettes suddenly bursting from the darkness beyond!
Dimenians.
As a group, they marched on to ravage the intruder of their realm, their scythe-like arms ready to spill his blood.
Aziel tightly wound his fingers around the grip of his saber and started to systematically mow down the monsters. About ten of them met their end quickly.
Some of them, still alive, tried in vain to hit him, but for naught.
As he slashed vertically to slice in twain the last monster, Aziel saw the figure of a huge Chaos Bringer pop up from the mist, charging into him and sending him sprawling onto the floor.
Knocked back for a second, he managed to dodge the centaur-like monstrosity on its second charge. But either his senses were playing him tricks or his balance was off, because when he tried to move his hand and grab his saber, he instead twisted about, confused.
"Damn creature!" his head spinning, he noticed the sounds of gunfire and that the Chaos Bringer was ready to charge again.
Two shots perforated the skull of the great monster as it was charging halfway through the room. Crumpling in a great heap, it fell almost entirely on top of Aziel. He could not avoid this however, since his limbs were not responding to his desires.
The thing weighed almost a ton, but almost out of luck, the Bringer's blade'like arm had missed him for an inch.
He grew still, waiting for his senses to adjust back again. Then he heard their voices.
"Where is he? I thought I saw him!"
"I was firing away at that group of Claws... it is not my fault the noozle fire didn't let you see through" Aziel recognized that voice.
"I bet he's hiding over here, but where? He could have not just vanished into thin air..."
"And your sensor? Can you pick him up?" there was a tinge of worry in her voice.
"No... that is what worries me. He could be anywhere, getting ready to get the drop on us"
As Lynx spoke, she was walking very near the cadaver of the Bringer. Faye, who had seen Aziel and the Bringer, knew that her shot had killed the thing and that it had dropped on top of the rogue android. She couldn't repress holding her breath.
Aziel tried to grab his saber, but it was just out of reach... and he couldn't risk revealing his position to the twins without moving the whole carcass on top of him.
Lynx turned away and signaled the doors.
"Let's check over here"
"All right" Faye took out her Beam rifle and followed her, taking a long glance at the heap that buried Aziel.
After waiting two minutes, Aziel gave a good hard push and pulled himself out of the Bringer's dead weight. Grabbing his Pallasch, he ran towards a dead end and slashed repeatedly at it until a small hole was dug out.
Getting into the hole, he activated a strange switch and next to it, a teleported appeared.
"Must chance it now, who knows where the teleporter could take me, but I'm in no shape to fight those two" he thought, then, another quick thought appeared in his mind.
"Did... did she shoot the Bringer on top of me on purpose? To cover me from her sister?" shaking his head, and examining his badly-injured chest and thighs, he got into the transporter.
In the complete darkness of the room, Panzer Faye and Lynx walked about alert, their weapons ready and stressing their microphones at the slightest sound.
"I am sure, I felt a ping from the detector around here" said Lynx.
"Our visual sensors are completely impaired, sister. I can't see anything in this darkness"
"Some of he engineers and explorers that found these ruins, the ones from Pioneer 1, managed to connect lights around the place, and I'd wager th-"
At that very moment, Lynx felt her sensor detecting the movement of the homing device just a few feet away! Without saying a word, she took out her saber, and lunged at it with great speed.
Satisfaction crossed her face as she knew that her speed was greater than Aziel's, and that in the dark, she would have the advantage of her mobility.
Leaping through the air, she raised her Pallasch with both hands and then, to her horror, the lights came.
The homing device was falling down a huge crevice in the ground, and she was also in the same trajectory!
In front of her, Aziel had his hand stretched out, as if he had thrown the device to lure her... and it had worked!
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lynx screamed and fell into the gaping hole.
Silence covered the ruins for a while. Faye and Aziel looked at each other wordlessly. Aziel then dropped his weapon to the floor and said,
"I saved your life, you repaid me by saving mine by covering me with the Bringer's body"
Faye felt her mind soar! He knew she had saved him.
Aziel still continued, this time, opening his arms.
"But now I have killed your sibling... I would expect that you would kill me as to avenge your sister's memory... this chasm is almost endless, I don't think there's a way of surviving the fall"
He waited for her to shoot him and end the chase. Even if a dark creature waited in the bottom of the ruins, a monster that had almost assuredly taken a hold of the legendary Red Ring Rico... he knew that he could not battle the monster unless he or the android twins were killed.
Another hunter would come and finish what he was trying to do.
Faye took up her Beam rifle and then, with a flick of the wrist, put on the safety.
Aziel stood there in silence.
"You know better than anyone what will happen to me now... I will be hunted like I hunted you." her words felt strange in Aziel's ears. Was it a tremor in her voice? Was it fear?
"Then come... help me out. We have to find out what really happened here and what happened to Red Ring Rico. And I assure you... nothing will come to harm you" he opened his arms wider still.
"This I promise"
Faye had listened to the words and leapt off the chasm. With light, she could jump it with ease and not miscalculate it like her sister did.
Aziel managed to grab her and pulled her close.
Faye stood there, in his arms for a while.
"I am sorry for what I did to your sister... I am ready to do anything to repay for my sins."
Faye just hugged him harder in silence. She was free... and she knew that choice was not defective... it felt like a weight had been taken off her.
"Promise me this, Aziel..."
"Yes?"
"Promise me that you won't die..."
Aziel was taken aback with this.
"Wha-?"
"Just promise me"
Aziel felt something stirring in his spirit and then, calmly, separating himself of Faye, looked into her eyes and said,
"I promise you that I won't die"
Faye felt her mind soar, as well as her spirit. At that moment, she felt a twnag inside her chest and quizzically, looked at Aziel.
"We will talk about this later... now, I need your help fighting something that could spell doom for the people up there, in the Pioneer 2... the people I am striving to protect"
Nodding, and smiling at him, Faye said,
"Yes! Let's go!"
Both androids left in a hurry thru a rusted old door, into the depths of the cursed ruins. But none had noticed that a hand grasped the border of the chasm.
Pulling herself up, Lynx said in her clenched teeth,
"Traitor......"
To be continued...
Episode Three: The heart awakens
A few hours later, while coming thru a narrow long tunnel, Faye asked Aziel, while running
"And why did you take up on protecting the people of the Pioneer 2 if you were made as a spy and assassination android?" she looked at Aziel, but then she replied quickly enough "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"It's nothing... after all, you are in the right to know" Aziel said while sprinting.
"It became clear to me that I was just a tool of death in the hands of people who worried more about power, their power, and that it was transforming me into somekind of empty shell... I've seen androids all over the Pioneer 2... All of them, with hopes and dreams of their own... living through the choices they made and sticking to the consequences of their actions."
Aziel paused for a moment, he knew he had to verify his equipment, he didn't know what could lay ahead, and motioned to Faye to stop.
"It made me yearn for something else than being some kind of sadistic toy in the hands of debased people. So I trained under a great swordmaster, who taught me the concepts of honor and loyalty. He also taught me an important lesson..." he paused when he was checking the photon charge of a autogun he found on his trip with Faye.
"And what lesson is that?" asked Faye in a low voice.
"The power of the heart" said Aziel to her.
Their eyes locked for a moment and for an instant, Faye felt the urge to get closer to Aziel.
Aziel then drew his eyes again to his gun and putting into an empty holster, continued,
"That's why I can't ask you to follow me behind these doors..."
"What?!?" Aziel's statement felt like ice.
"It's too risky and it's better if you 'pipe back to the Pioneer 2 and gather as many hunters as you can... you have to get a hold of a couple of friends of mine, Haruka and DeanBernier..."
"NO!!!" she shouted... feeling disgusted, she raised her hand and slapped Aziel across the face.
Aziel stood there unmoving in silence.
"I-I'm sorry... I didn't..." she said hurriedly.
"Yes, you did mean it... and I apologize, but... but I can't risk you over a fool's quest to rid this new home for our people from this unlocked evil..."
"I will not let you die in there, whatever thing or things there may be!" she said, feeling angry.
Aziel looked at her and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Why do you want to throw your life away? Why follow me into this hell? After all I've done..."
"I love you!" the words just blurted out of their own.
Amazed, Faye stood there, covering her mouth with her hands... feeling stupid. Had she said that????
Aziel just stood there in silence, looking at her.
".........."
Faye slowly gazed down to the ground and felt a tear running down her cheek.
Aziel put his hand on her cheek and wiped the tear off as he pulled her face up, so he could look into her eyes.
"What?" said Faye in a limp voice.
"I just realized, just how beautiful you are..."
Faye remembered something.
"Faye..."
"Huh?" said Aziel.
"My name's ... uh... Faye..." said Faye sheepishly. She had never introduced herself to Aziel before.
Aziel grabbed her from the waist with his other arm and spoke into her ear.
"A name to go with the face I've sworn to protect"
Faye felt happiness like no other at those words.
Aziel and Faye stood there for a couple of minutes and then, they grinned at each other.
"Ready? I need you backing me up from afar... if there's any kind of monsters around behind these doors, I need you to step back and take sniping shots at them. I will deal with them from the front.
Too bad we don't have a force with us, this could get messy"
Faye took out her Beam rifle and got herself ready...
Aziel kicked the door down and then...
To be continued...
Episode Four: The calm before the storm
The walls, the floor and the ceiling pulsed with an unearthly life. The air reeked of an unholy aura and yet, Aziel and Faye fought on as hordes of monstrous beings came in waves after them.
Dimenians, Chaos sorcerers, Chaos bringers, Death & Dark gunners, Dark Belras and even hundreds of claws seemed to vomit forth from the depths of the hell that the ancient ruins disguised.
Aziel managed to keep a good pace slashing to his left and right, bringing down his foes as quickly as possible, trying not to let any creature get too close to him and basically, keeping Faye behind his back.
Faye on the other hand, was managing to destroy any traps left around in the air, and whittling down the almost infinite amount of creatures that seemed to be protecting this last room. Quickly gazing around the room, she found it chilling and disturbing how everything looked like a living, breathing innard of something huge and horribly monstrous.
Looking at her partner, she found it inspiring how Aziel, being one time an assassin and spy, was fighting for the people he once deceived and killed. And if he had survived so long on his own, she would also find a way to do so too...
At his side.
A menacing Chaos sorcerer appeared out of thin air, behind Aziel's line of sight, and suddenly, one of its bit crystals began to rise menacingly.
Faye quickly positioned herself and let out a barrage of shots, striking the crystal three times, shattering it into dust before touching the ground.
With a puzzled look, the sorcerer turned about, trying to look at its attacker.
The moment it had laid eyes on the RAcaseal brandishing the Beam rifle, it received one shot between its eyes, killing it instantly.
Aziel quickly stabbed a stunned Belra in the back and sidestepped to his left, avoiding two mean swipes from an angered Delsaber. The twisted monster quickly blocked Aziel's thrust to the torso and slash to its midsection using on of its claw-like hands as a shield.
Red sparks showered both and although Aziel knew that Delsabers were crafty opponents, he had an ace up his sleeve.
"Faye shoot at me!" yelled Aziel, quickly blocking a slash to his head with the Pallasch.
Faye blinked twice.
"What?!?!" she asked incredously "I can-"
"Just do it! Trust me! NOW!" yelled Aziel once more.
Faye bit her lip and shot straight for Aziel, but before she squeezed the trigger, she noticed a small black and red device dropping off Aziel's palm, which Aziel had directed at her in the last second.
Squinting as to better her aim, the Beam rifle let out a single powerful shot.
With a bang and a cloud of smoke, the Delsaber stood there, frozen, encased in a block of hard, cold ice.
Without losing a beat, Aziel let out a flurry of slashing strikes, cutting down the Delsaber as fast as he could.
The pieces of ice dropped off in chunks and crashed into smaller bits, leaving only a bloody and mutilated carcass.
Aziel shot a glance to his right, noticing a silent moving claw approaching Faye from behind, he quickly unholstered his autogun, shot three times in a row, missing the first shot, but hitting a claw right in the center with the other two shots.
Faye turned about and shot the thing in the center at point blank. The strange, floating creature dropped to the floor writhing in agony.
"I think we may not last much if this keeps up... there are still too many creatures coming from that door... damn..." he said in a low voice, to himself.
"Hey! Aziel! Look!" Faye pointed out, resting the rifle to her shoulder.
Quickly glancing through the vapors that obcured their vision in these strange halls, Aziel noticed that the monsters stopped flowing from the door. He also noticed that some of them, had actually retreated into it.
"What? Did we manage to beat them off?" he said, not believing his luck.
"It would seem so! Oh Aziel!" Faye quickly ran to her companion and put her arms around his neck. She let her rifle slid down onto the floor with a loud clank.
Aziel quickly recomforted her by hugging her warmly.
"You know I won't let anything happen to you, Faye... I gave you my word"
Faye looked at his face and felt her spirit rise and his warmth surrounding her...
***BEEP! BEEP!***
Aziel quickly blinked to his belt. A small light came on and a little display showed the words "INCOMING MAIL"
Faye raised an eyebrow and looked at Aziel again.
"I didn't know they were on duty!" said Aziel excitedly "They could help us out..."
"Who can help us out? Who are they?" said Faye.
Pressing the little light and nodding to Faye, he said simply "Friends... one of the things I cherish most about having free will"
He looked at Faye and caressed her cheek with one hand.
"Besides you, Faye..."
She blushed at the comment and lowered her gaze. Had she become that important to him in this short while?
After Aziel pressed the button once, a high-pitched, decidely female voice sprang from the eerie silence of the halls.
"AZIEL-NIISAN! WHAT THE !@$%# ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?!?!??" the speaker almost burst.
Another, more composed voice, bass and calm, said
"Aziel-san, we had hoped you would wait for us to come and help you out. Vryce doesn't like this at all, you know"
"I have all the help I need right here..." Aziel answered. Faye felt herself blush once more.
"WHAT?!?!?!? Drop us a telepipe right now! Ooooh, you are soooo gonna get it!" said the female voice.
"That's Haruka, she's... hum..." Aziel leaned towards Faye and said in a whisper "a nut who thinks I'm her brother"
"I HEARD THAT!!!!!! PIPE!!!!!! NOW!!!!!!"
Faye couldn't resist smiling at Aziel's expression when Haruka yelled at him.
"Umm... Aziel-san... Vryce will not be pleased to know we are acting on our own... haste is recommended"
"Dean Bernier, there is a small problem..." Aziel looked into his storage belt, as if looking for something, "... I have no pipes left over from the fighting..."
Faye knew the truth... Aziel had come here alone in the first place, and without any telepipes to avoid bringing innocent people to the dangers in here.
He had planned to die fighting, alone in the dark.
"I have some telepipes with me!" she quickly chimed in, raising her voice as to be heard by the people over the other side of the communication system.
"Who's that? Aziel-kun! Who's that you're with?!?"
"It seems Aziel-san is referring to the help he mentioned to us jus-"
"I KNOW!!! I AM NOT DENSE, YOU KNOW!!!" the female voice snapped back.
Aziel looked at her and stunned at her outburst, with a flick of the wrist, before shutting off the power of the comm, he said,
"We'll drop a pipe any second now... wait for it guys"
Faye felt a twang in her heart. Why did she feel like she had betrayed Aziel? But she didn't want to lose him, and if he had friends to count on, she would not risk losing him if they were so eager to help him out... at least this Haruka was very vocal about it...
"I will not risk their lives... why?"
"I... I just... I'm sorry..." Faye fought back the tears.
Aziel stood there and stretched his palm open towards her. His eyes seemed so sad.
"Please, Faye... if you will, hand me the telepipe so I can bring them over here"
Faye took out one pipe and biting her lip, she handed it over, but before Aziel turned around to activate it, she felt her resolve come back to her and said in a determined voice:
"I am not putting their lives at risk! If they want to come, it is because they are putting themselves to risk!"
Her voice sounded so angry, she put one hand over her mouth and looked at Aziel's back. He didn't turn around, but he stopped moving.
In a lower voice, she said:
"If there are more of us, the better our chances are, right? Please understand... I just... I can't just lose you... not now..." Faye lowered her head.
Aziel activated the telepipe, and a flash of red lights sprung from the floor, opening a dimensional rift between the ruins and the main deck just outside the Hunter's Guild. A low buzzing noise filled the halls.
"I don't want to lose you either Faye... but... to make sure that doesn't happen, take this little MAG... I tried to raise him but he's too strong willed for me..." he added sadly, as he put a little black MAG into her hands.
Faye looked at it for a moment and told him:
"What? I don't understand... what is this little guy supposed to do? What do you mean, raise him?" she looked at Aziel questioningly.
But before he could explain, three figures burst out of the red lights.
A small petitte, blue haired girl with long ears burst out. A wide smile, from ear to ear, crossed her pretty, painted face. She was carrying a long staff almost twice her size. She was clothed in purple, with black leggins and had her hair in two small pigtails.
Behind her, a tall yet lithe android, carrying what seemed an antitank cannon and with twin mechguns on his sides, walked forth, quickly surveying his surroundings.
For a RAcast, this android looked quite agile, thought Faye.
Looking at her, the RAcast made a deep bow and talked in the deep bass voice she heard over the comm:
"A pleasure to meet you, my name is Dean Bernier, section ID Oran. I am glad to meet my friend and mentor's companion"
Faye was taken aback with such courtesy. She smiled and bowed in return:
"Nice to meet you! I am Panzer Faye..." and quickly looking at the small girl, she bowed at her and said "Nice to meet you too!"
"Hrumph! Yeah, yeah.. whatever! Name's Haruka... I specialize in foie techs... so don't get any ideas of stealing any treasure from me or else you'll regret it, metal girl..." Haruka said, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest, clearly offended by Faye's prescence.
"Don't mind her, miss... she's just jealous... she tends to be like that" said a male voice, quite calm and with a tone of amusement in it.
Faye looked at the tall, red-haired man that had just came out of the lights. He smirked in a way as to let everyone know that his presence was as good as his skill. He carried a rifle and a long-barreled handgun, which Faye recognized as a Varista class, photon discharge handgun.
"Excuse me?" said Haruka, glaring at the man, "who the hell asked you?"
"Hey, just tellin' it the way it is, honey"
"HONEY?!?!? WHO ARE YOU TO-" Dean's hand placed itself over Haruka's mouth, muffling the rest of the noise.
The red-haired man turned on his heels and smiled at Faye. Taking her hand in his and planting a kiss on the back of her hand, he said in a suave voice:
"Pleasure is definitely mine, miss..."
"Faye, Panzer Faye..." said Aziel quickly, taking her hand from Vryce's "And this is Vryce, our long-range tactical commander".
"Oh... hello to you too!" said Faye. She was overwhelmed at this. These three very different persons were Aziel's friends?
He looked at him, studying him intently. She then felt a growing appreciation at the rogue HUcast. She smiled and cocked her head ever so slightly.
"So... you his girlfriend?" asked a shrill voice.
"Wh-what??" asked Faye quickly, turning her head and meeting Haruka's serious gaze.
"I said... are you his g-" Dean's hand found it mark once more.
"Please, Faye-sama, don't mind her rudeness" said the overly courteous RAcast.
Blushing, Faye just nodded and gazed to Aziel.
"All right guys, we have little time... the monsters fell back into that door... I suspect, as well as Faye, that they are either regrouping or..." Aziel was cut short by Vryce.
"Possibly letting us go from the lion's den, into the lion's mouth... tough fight, eh?" said Vryce, pointing at Aziel's battered chest plate.
"Huh... yeah..." he avoided looking at Faye... they didn't need to know that the Panzer twins were after him, or that Faye had caused him harm... Haruka would not have any of it, of course, IF she knew.
"Right... anyways... we should split into at least two groups the moment the fight breaks out" said Vryce in a commanding tone, "We have one tough front line warrior and only one tech-casting force, so we better protect her and at the same time, not let Aziel get overwhelmed by large numbers, or else the strategy fails" nodding to Dean Bernier, he added "You stick close to Haruka, if bad comes to worse..."
"I pull out my mechguns and mow down whatever gets close to the little one" said Dean in a bass calm voice.
"WHO ARE YOU CAL-"
"Faye, I expect you know how to use your weapons well, Aziel will need you to cover him at all times from every direction..."
"But I have been helping him out with covering fire" said Faye defensively.
"Judging by his wounds, you must do a better job then" and gazing towards Aziel, probably not noticing the angry, hurt look Faye made at him, Vryce continued "Aziel, I will stand in the center of both groups... I will make sure healing gets to both groups and I will provide assistance in the form of short, controlled bursts of fire. You make sure you don't fail or else we can't hope to kill them before they get us, ok?"
"I understand..." Aziel nodded and walked towards the door where all the monsters had retreated to.
Faye walked besides him and silently, took her Beam rifle out and took the security off.
"He's that way... don't pay any attention to him" Aziel said suddenly "He's been in the military since he was 14 and he's witnessed and gone through countless battles. It's his experience that talks"
Faye just nodded and continued to walk in silence.
Aziel put his hand under her chin and raised her head a bit, so she could look into his eyes.
"If it weren't for you, I would not be in this shape even..." he smiled, and taking his battered pallasch out and turning the blade on, he added "... just make sure you cover me and we'll get out of this alive, you and me, ok?"
Faye smiled at him and wiping her tears away, she hurried to walk next to Aziel.
She was thinking, how could she be able to feel this greatly about him? Why did emotions flowed so easily?
Why did tears flowed from her eyes so quickly?
She didn't know who was her creator... but she had an idea that whoever made her, didn't exactly wanted her to become a killing machine... like her sister.
Suddenly, she felt a strange chill. Looking back, and staring into the inky blackness, she thought she had seen movement, but after making sure it was only the strange palpitations on the walls, she just shook her head and smiled at Aziel.
"Was it something you forgot?" he said
"Nope, I thought I saw a shadow or something over there..." she answered, smiling.
"Hey!!! If it's treasure, I get dibs on it! HEY!!! LEGGO OF ME!!!!" screamed Haruka as Dean carried her over his shoulder.
"Haruka-ojousama, we have no time to be grabbing treasure, we must make haste"
"All right, ya bums, let's go!" said Vryce, pulling his Varista and running to the door.
In the shadows, the broken frame of Panzer Lynx lurched forward, and with caution, took a monomate and drank it. Movement returned to her limbs and with a snicker, she walked silently towards the door.
To be continued...
Episode Five: The first thunder
The ensuing battle was a quick, fierce and brutal fight. Vryce stood between the two groups, shooting dozens of bullets at all the monsters that spawned from the gaps and corners of the huge room... Aziel quickly slashed right and left, finishing off anything that got too close.
Faye didn't let go of the trigger... she wished she could have gotten an automatic mechgun to shoot the creatures faster. Still, her skills at shooting the targets at high speed was amazing.
Vryce grudginly admitted to himself that the new addition wasn't half bad... that they did stand a chance of getting out of this mess.
Haruka felt the rush of mystical powers flow over her and repeatedly cast her most powerful spells, blasting into ground paste anything that got even close to her or Dean. The RAcast, on his own, was doing very well... his mechguns showering bullets left and right, giving Haruka enough time to strike down her enemies with a barrage of fiery techs.
Vryce thought to himself...
&even with the pace we have with the inclusion of Faye in our team, it's going to be hard... if what little Rico left behind is true, that is&
Suddenly, four Dark Belras materialed out of thin air and began to slowly lumber their way over them.
The one closest to Aziel and Faye flailed away its massive arms, trying to give itself room and swatting dimenians left and right. Its attitude seemed more manic... more desperate to get to the pair that was surrounded by piles of carcasses fo their slain enemies.
Faye caught a glimpse of the huge monster and before she could cry out, she jumped in front of Aziel, covering him with her body.
The two fists slammed her hard, sending her right into Aziel's back. She could barely focus and her grip was slackening. She felt herself go out into darkness.
Aziel stood up, blocked a dimenians' blade arm and quickly slashing sideways, with such force, that the dimenian lost its legs in a heartbeat. Aziel got up in one knee and quickly grabbed Faye with his free arm. Looking to his side, he saw the two boulder-like arms of the crazed Belra coming right at him.
Clutching Faye and protecting her from the blow, Aziel tried to back up, but the fallen dimenian didn't let him move back.
Suddenly, a golden shot pierced the Belra's head from one side to the other. The giant monster fell backwards, squashing a couple of claws that had drifted to the sure-kill Aziel and Faye were a moment ago.
Aziel looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Vryce giving him a thumb up and then turning to a large Belra slowly striding over his position.
Haruka suddenly stopped casting. Dean noticed the lack of heat near him and gazed towards her.
He saw a blood-covered claw advancing to him, floating over Haruka's petitte body. Turning around, leaving a dizzy Belra to regain its senses, Dean smashed the claw with both his mechguns, squashing the thing into a grey pulp and ruining the photon charge on the weapons.
"Haruka-ojousama! Just wait for a moment!" said Dean in a hurry as he pulled his cannon and shooting all around him, to give him more space.
"Vryce-dono! We are being overrun!" called Dean, who had taken the limp but still breathing form of Haruka into his arms. It was difficult to aim properly with the lithe newman.
"Damn! I had hoped we would use this for later, but..." said Vryce under his breath, clenching his teeth at the situation "but there could be no more 'later' if I don't use it now!"
Grabbing a small container from his belt, he activated a small button on it. Light issued forth, encircling him and quickly covering his friends.
Faye opened her eyes slowly.
"Where? Are we dead?" she asked as she saw Aziel holding her.
"No... not yet, I will not let you die on me... Vryce had to use our trump card... a Star Atomizer he managed to find on one of his explorations of the Central Dome ruins" Aziel got up, getting some strength back from the healing properties of the difficult-to-find item.
Faye was awash with the soft light and felt warmth creep back into her body... she raised one hand to Aziel's cheek and softly touching it, she said
"I am sorry for everything Aziel... I should have not made your friends risk their lives for nothing... and I don't know if I can learn to raise this MAG you gave me... don't know if I'll even have the chance to do it..."
Aziel didn't look at her, but said, as he blocked another wild swing of a badly injured Delsaber,
"You are going to live... if I can find Haruka in this mess, we are going to make it through... Have I let you down so far?" he smiled as sparks showered him and the Delsaber.
Faye smiled back and closed her eyes in his arms.
Dean noticed with alarm that the photon battery in his cannon was running alarmingly low. A group of claws advanced on him and he shot them down... killing the last remaining supply of his weapon in the process.
Two dark gunners drifted to him, and he knew these things were invulnerable as long as they had their shield up. Quickly getting an idea, he ran up to one and at the very moment the shield came down, he grabbed one by its leg, spun around the ball of his heel and threw the thing to the other gunner.
Hit aim was perfect, but it didn't prevent the second gunner of shooting a large green beam into his leg.
Greatly weakened, he fell down to one knee. A Dimenian closed in on him and before it could bring its blade on him, he had grabbed the monster from its waist and applied as much pressure as he could.
Snapping the thing's midsection, he turned to see Haruka smiling back at him.
"You got problems there, big 'un?" she said weakly.
"I would appreciate any assistance right now, Haruka-ojousama..." Dean felt his limbs heavy and his eyes losing focus.
Haruka got up and quickly cast a Gifoie ring, burning the few remaining monsters to a crisp. Noticing a Chaos sorcerer materializing from nothing right next to her, she clasped her hands together and charged eldritch powers into her palms.
The Chaos sorcerer raised its baton and one of its crystals started to spin and rise into the air.
Suddenly, Haruka let out a scream and pointed the sorcerer with her outstretched palms
"GRANTS!!!!!"
Countless rays of light pierced the sorcerer, dissolving it into nothingness.
Haruka, smiling broadly, quickly turned her attention to Dean, who has very still on the floor.
"Haruka! Is he allright?" shouted Vryce as he dodged a Bulclaw's bite, grabbed one of its mandibles and capped it in the throat.
"No! He's down... I wasn't fast enough..." Haruka's voice died down to a whisper. Tears smudged her facepaint.
"Don't worry, he'll be ok, just get on your feet and get over here! Our new buddy Faye needs your help!" cried Vryce as he cast two Foies in quick sucession towards an approaching Chaos bringer.
Haruka stood up and quickly, grabbing her staff, ran over Aziel.
She didn't look back where the body of Dean suddenly disappeared into thin air.
Aziel tried to fend more attacks, but he noticed that even as the Delsaber he was still fighting was weakened by a couple of torso shots from Vryce previously, the Pallasch was losing its power quickly.
Suddenly, the Delsaber went stiff and fell backwards.
Aziel looked to his side, where two shots had burst the monster's head like a melon under a hammer.
Vryce was shooting all over their heads, while holding Haruka close to him.
Aziel didn't know where Dean Bernier was, so he guessed he had fallen first.
Haruka quickly put her hands over Faye limp form and chanted some strange words. Warm light flowed from them and covered all four of them, restoring their health back.
"Your girl is gonna live, happy now?" asked Haruka, making a mock pout.
"Thanks, Haruka-chan" Aziel said, smiling.
"BEE-DAH!~" she stuck her tongue out and turned to Vryce's side.
"We're done now... it seems we finally got them all" said Vryce cockily. But both Haruka and Aziel knew that behind his smugness, Vryce was furious at letting Dean get beat.
"Dean'll be allright, you know" said Aziel.
"Of course he will... the big lunk!" said Haruka, crossing her arms and sniffling a bit.
"We could ryuker back to the Pioneer 2 and give him time to recover... as well as she" said Vryce pointing at Faye.
"No... don't" said Faye wealky "just... give me a second please..."
Vryce raised his eyebrows. This little RAcaseal was a lot tougher than he had expected. Maybe she indeed was one of the few prototype assault androids that he had heard about when he was a part of the military.
After a minute or so, Faye was able to get on her own two feet. Smiling sheepishly, she grabbed her Beam rifle and looked around her. She noticed an eerie silence permeate the whole room... except for a strange pulsating noise like that of a beating heart, she knew there were no more monsters.
She then noticed Aziel's reproachful gaze.
"Why did you do that?" he asked "there was no need for you to almost kill yourself"
Faye felt angry at this comment.
Aziel knew that she was furious at him, but he didn't want her to come at any harm. He had seen too many people, too many women die at his hands... and to add Faye to his already long list of sins...
"It was Vryce's orders!" she said.
Vryce jumped at the statement, and for a second or two, lost his cool.
"Hum.. yeah... I did... *ehem* tell her not to let anything come to... you know... hit... er... harm you, man..." he scratched the back of his head.
Aziel just shrugged his shoulders and pointed at a pile of burnt dimenians, next to a wall.
"Yup! That's my handiwork! Like it, oniisan?" Haruka beamed.
"Actually, I was pointing at a door behind that pile of charred remains, Haruka-chan"
"Oh!" Haruka blushed. Everybody else just laughed. Haruka looked like she had just sucked a lemon for a second and then, started to laugh aloud.
Laughter eased their tension, and with it, their weariness.
As they stopped laughing, they decided to get their gear ready for the last stand.
Faye turned her head, as if looking for something.
"Something got lost, honey?" asked Vryce as he reloaded his Varista with a fresh new photon battery.
"Where... where is Dean Bernier?" she asked, looking at Aziel.
"Oh... that..." said Vryce. Faye didn't like the tone the RAmar had.
"Well, you know, it's nothing really" he said casually.
"What?!?" Faye asked, and she was genuinenly puzzled at everyone's lack of interest of Dean's absence.
"Oi oi! Don't get your ponytail in a trussle! He's being taken care of!" said Haruka.
"What? That doesn't make sense? How?"
"Well, honey... it's very easy actually" said Vryce, holstering his Varista and checking his remaining mates, "We all are equipped with a special device all Hunters form the Guild obtain that lets one's unconscious body be teleported back to the Hospital for emergency first aid. Of course, this device is small, almost not noticeable and expensive."
Faye didn't know about this! She was shocked that small teleporting devices were being handed out to Hunters.
"And these devices... what do they look like?" asked her.
"Well, they could look just like anything. But this info's not gonna help you out too much, darling" he said cooly.
"What do you mean?" Faye asked. Haruka crumpled up her face and looked at her glared at her poisonously.
"You... you're military, aren't you?" said the petite newman.
"I... I am- I mean, I was but now..." she looked panicked and she looked at Aziel quickly.
"Yeah... I figured so... you're one of the Panzer Twins, aren't you?"
Faye was wide-eyed! She was one of the military's most secret agents. And she was only activated a few weeks ago! How could this man know about her?
"I... I..." she stammered.
A strong arm grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close. She felt the familiar warmth of Aziel's chest and suddenly, she stopped talking.
"Vryce... she WAS part of the military's program to destroy rogue elements in our society, as I did once" Aziel locked his eyes on his friend, who only shrugged his shoulders and smirked.
"Meh... like I care... if she indeed were an agent for the government, then we should all be dead then" Vryce said.
"Then allow me to rectify that situation..." said a cold voice behind them.
To be continued...
>need to clean up the first 2 chaps, yah<
 Tsunami K · Wed Sep 13, 2006 @ 09:12pm · 0 Comments |
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