Post by Ash on Dec 3, 2008 10:47:10 GMT -5
(( Sorry to throw another RP at you, but seriously, now that Ash is "gone", I have to get two new characters into the story. More or less. As said it will be just a short RP for introduction. Possible that there will be one or two "WTF!?!" moments.
But it will all make sense in the end... I hope.
Working on the profiles. Will post them as when the time comes.
Also: HUGE Intro is HUGE! ))
In the middle of nowhere.
Two armors hover over what once could have been a nice small town. Now the city isn't more than a ruin. Most of the buildings have been destroyed or are on fire, through artillery and other heavy weapons.
One of the armors begins to circle around his opponent and opens fire with a huge cannon that appeared from his back and unfolded to its actual size just a few seconds ago. A huge beam flies toward the other armor, and misses only by an inch. The other armor, a mass-produced model called "Schneider", ignites the thrusters on his back and quickly gains height, while answering the attack with rapid fire from his machine-gun. The armor with the huge cannon also activates his thrusters, who are built in something that looks like a pair of wings, and evades the incoming bullets without much effort.
"No good! He is just to fast!"
Another huge beam flies toward the mass produced armor. And again the beam nearly hits him.
"Stay calm. Only shoot if a hit is guaranteed."
"Easier said than done!"
*click*
A small "0/00" on the bottom right corner of the Schneider's HUD begins to blink red.
"nuts!"
"I TOLD YOU ONLY TO SHOOT WHEN A HIT IS GUARANTEED! AND NOW!?!"
"Now I am going to slice this bastard into pieces!"
The Schneider throws away his machine-gun and stretches out his right arm. A small white cylinder shaped object ejects out of his underarm, which he catches as soon it reaches his hand. The winged armor stops circling around the Schneider. The cannon folds itself together automatically in the blink of an eye and disappears on the back again. The winged armor, aware of the fact the the Schneider has no other option than to go into close combat, grabs something on his back and pulls it in front of him. Like the cannon from before, the weapon unfolds itself and takes shape of a huge sword. After a second a bright green edge appears at the sword.
"Tch. Overcompensating for something?"
No response from the winged armor. Instead the wing shaped thrusters on his back split in half and create a pair of big, glowing wings. He charges toward the Schneider, and while he does so, a dozen of armors appear everywhere around him, every single of them looking exactly like him.
"Wha-!!! Which is the real one?"
The Schneider raises his shield, still unsure of which one he should attack. As he makes a decision, it is already to late. One of them gained more speed, his sword pointed at the Schneider.
"No!"
"EVADE!"
Too late. The sword pierces through the shield and then the armor itself with ease. The Schneider's HUD goes black before a wall of text appears on it.
- SIMULATION END -
- A-MP-01 -
- SCHNEIDER -
- SHOTS FIRED: 150 /3 CLIPS @ 50 -
- DAMAGE DEALT: 0% -
- DESTROYED: 0/1 -
- DAMAGE RECEIVED: 100% -
The simulation was so real that the young man almost forgot that everything that had happened wasn't real. He is still on one of the EDF´s carriers. Alive. He sighs in relief.
"d**n. I was sure to get him this time."
"No one managed to defeat him yet. No need be angry."
"I know. But still. I am sure that I know his next move. I mean... I am really sure. And then, he does something completely different."
"Just like real combat."
"Guess you are right. But thats the whole point. Why do I even have to fight? I would like it more to work at R&D."
"Ah. Here we go again. Look. You have done the aptitude test. And..."
"And it said that I would fit perfectly in here. Blah blah."
"Watch your mouth!"
"Sorry dad. It is just... Come on. In real combat, I would have died a hundred times already. I know that. You know that. Everyone knows that!"
"Thats what a simulation is for. To get better without the need to face real danger."
The young man clenches his teeth. He knows that it is useless to argue with his father.
"Don't want to interrupt you guys, but... Could someone please help me?", he asks in a annoyed tone as he tries to get out of the armor on his own.
Two scientists who are busy checking various diagrams on one of the nearby monitors, walk to the simulation armor, which is mounted onto a huge chair, connected to a computer through countless cables and wires all over the armor, and help the man inside to get out. The man, which from the looks cant be any older than twenty, climbs out of the armor and walks to the old man who was apparently his father.
"What now?"
The old man rubs his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"I guess you can take the rest of the day off. I have a meeting in a hour anyway."
"Take the rest of the day off? Best thing you said today.", the young man says with a small grin.
"How is he doing?"
"Not good."
"Not good?"
"Yes. According to the reports I got from the other bases, he is the worst if it comes to combat."
"I... see... And what are we going to do now?"
"I don´t know. I really don't know. I suggest even more training. But it will be useless. He does not want to fight."
"Eight."
"What?"
"There were eight of them. And he is the only one who does not want to fight?"
The other man nods quietly.
"Under other circumstances I would accept his decision to avoid fighting. But we lost four bases this week. Those people are... They were our only hope."
"Four...? In only one week? The rebels?"
"Most likely. Their attacks get stronger and more devastating with every day."
"Maybe because of the new armor that has been mentioned in various reports?"
"I am not sure. But even then. One armor cant make such a big difference, right?"
Silence fills the room. Both men look at each other, not sure what to say, until the younger man broke the silence.
"Which bases have we lost?"
"Australia, Germany, Japan and our station near Jupiter."
"The base in Japan?!? But wasn't that..."
"Yes.", the other man grumbled. "They got our new spaceship. And with that they have probably destroyed our research station near Jupiter"
"nuts!!!"
The younger man slams his fist on the table.
"You know... I was thinking.", the old man says slowly, looking at the ceiling. "What if they build more of those armors? They could overrun us. We probably wouldn't even stand a chance."
"We still have the Mk. 2..."
"...but without the right person to operate it, it is useless. But... he is the only one left. The others are all dead.", the old man adds.
"Why...? Why do I have to fight? Whats the point of war? If I kill someone, there will always be someone who hates me."
The young man with the long brown hair lies on a relative small bed in his quarter, staring at the ceiling, the air filled with a beautiful but also sad music coming from an antique phonograph. The "Moonlight Sonata" , composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. He turns his head and looks at the phonograph, wondering how something that fragile survived so long in the war-torn world he lives in. Again he asks himself why the humans fight. He asks himself why they cant just overcome their differences and live together in peace. He is ripped out of his thoughts as an alarm rings through the whole ship.
"Wha...!"
He immediately jumps up and was about to run out of his quarter, but stops as the image of his father appeared on a small monitor right beside the door.
"My lab. NOW!"
"Dad! Whats going on? Is that a test?"
Before his father can answer, his image disappears from the screen.
The young man quickly leaves the small room and steps into the chaos on the outside. Countless people, technicians, soldiers, as well as communicators run up and down the hallway. He grabs one of the soldiers by the shoulder and pulls him closer to himself.
"Whats happening? What is this all about?"
The soldier looks angrily at the man and pushes him away.
"What do you think what happens!?! We are under attack!"
Without saying anything else, the soldier continues to run down the hallway.
"Under... attack? No way..."
Explosions shake the ship and several rooms and hallways catching fire make it difficult for the man to reach his destination. But he manages to reach his father, even though it took him longer than he expected.
"Finally. We don't have much time. If it is the person I expect it to be, it might be already too late.", his father says as the man enters the lab. He throws a black suit in his direction, which appears to be something like an overall at first. A combat suit for armors. He often wore one while he was in the simulation-armor. But now? the soldier told him that they are under attack. So that must mean... The young man stares at the suit, then at his father.
"You cant be serious! Dad!"
"Shut up and change already! Thats an order!", his father shouts at him.
Startled about his fathers reaction, he changes his clothes as quick as possible. Meanwhile his father begins to type various commands at a console near a big metallic tube covered with warning labels. After he changed his clothes, the man walks up to his father and gives him an questioning look. Before he can ask something, the tube in front of the man opens, revealing a complete white armor which looks as if it exploded from inside.
"New SSO system. Just step into the armor. As soon as the sensors detect you inside the armor will close and you are good to go."
"What? No. No. No... I...! Cant you find someone else to do this?"
"No. If you cant do it, no one can. Please. Trust me. I know that you hate war . But sometimes, there is no other way but to stand up and fight. I wish that there would be another way. But if you don't fight now, everyone on this ship will die. Do you want that?"
"No. But...", the young man stammers.
He thinks about his fathers words. Of course he doesn't want the people on this ship to die, even though he doesn't even know half of them. But the people he knows were always kind to him. Can he really fight? Fight in a real battle? Maybe if he will just stay behind, supporting the others... There are at least two dozen well trained soldiers around, all in armors. So what could go wrong?
"Tch... fine. I will do it. Only this time.",he grumbles with his teeth clenched.
His father smiles at him.
"Step into the armor. I will explain everything important then."
Even though the HUD remained black after stepping into the armor, the man could feel that he was elevated up. At least it felt like that.
But what confuses him even more is the fact that he lost contact with the ground. It feels like he is hovering. A small icon resembling a speaker with the words "sound only" appears on the still black HUD.
"How do you feel?", his father asks over the intercom.
"Horrible. This thing weights a ton. And I still cant see anything."
"Don't worry. It will get lighter in a few moments."
"The "Schneider" wasn't that heavy..."
"Right. And compared to the Mark 2 the Schneider is just scrap metal."
"What? I am not even good at controlling a mass-produced armor . And you entrust me to something even more valuable?"
"Stop arguing with me. You might fell a little stitch now."
The young man suppresses a painful scream as several tiny things drill into his back, almost feeling like needles.
"Good god! What the hell! What was that?"
"Quiet whining. That were the combat suits connectors."
"Connectors? The "Schneider" did not have such things."
"I already told you that the "Schneider" is crap compared to the Mark 2."
"But what..."
The man is cut off in mid-sentence. All of a sudden, he feels even worse than before. A biting cold crawls up his spine, all the way to his head. The coldness is getting worse and worse with every second, until it is unbearable.
"I... I am going to die! H... help me dad!"
"Your heartbeat is rising. You are close to a heart attack! Calm down!"
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!", the young man screams in pain, unable to hear his fathers words.
As much as he wants to protect the people on the ship, he cant bear this horrible feeling anymore. But as fast as it came, the feeling is gone.
"Can you hear me?"
No response from the Mark 2.
"Hey! Answer me! Don't pass out! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Finally, after a few seconds, the response.
"Y... yes. I can hear you..."
Not even a second after his reply the HUD begins to flicker before a wall of text appears, scrolling from the bottom to the top. The words and sentences pass by to fast for him to be able to read even one of them. Then the the HUD goes black again before more text appeared. This time slower and bigger.
- Neural link... online -
- Loading O.S. -
- ... -
- Done. -
- EDF O.S ver. 1.5 -
- MA-03-D-02 -
- Dragon Mark II -
- Battery online -
- HUD online -
- Movement support system... online -
- Thrusters online -
- Weapons online -
After all of the Mark 2´s systems finished loading, the young man can see where he was elevated to. A long barely lit corridor.
"Thank god... Okay. Listen. The Mark 2 basically works like an ordinary armor, except that the response time has been reduces to a minimum. As soon as you move, the armor moves."
"Response time?"
"Yes. The man-machine interface is the latest of its kind. There isn't even a millisecond delay. That alone gives you a huge advantage over the enemy."
"I see..."
"The weaponry on the Mark 2 is fairly simple. Two titanium combat knives and a dual 9mm machine gun in the chest. Both are only effective against slow or unarmored targets. But don't worry. It is possible to attach different packs to the Mark 2. There are three packs. I will give you the one with the most firepower."
"Wait. Wouldn't it make more sense to combine all the packs into one?"
"And slow the armor down with it? No. Besides, it is possible to switch the packs during a mission, thanks to a new laser-guidance system, which will automatically find the armor and attach the packs on its own, once we send one out to you."
"Understood."
"Another huge difference between the Mark 2 and other armors would be the solar collectors."
"Solar collectors?"
"A thin layer, covering all armored parts of the Mark 2. Invisible for the human eye. It is nearly impossible to run out of energy. The battery recharges in a few seconds. However, if you run out of energy, the battery in the armors back has to recharge completely. And that will take quite some time. It is something I am still working on. You should also know that, in the current stadium, the Mark 2 is only about fifty percent completed. It is still superior to a mass-produced armor, but don't overdo it. You are not invincible."
"You don't have to tell me."
"I will attach the heavy weapon pack now."
A big hatch above the Mark 2 opens. Two massive gripper arms descend from out of the hatch, holding a massive black backpack for the armor, with one big quadratic box on each side. The boxes are easily the size of the Mark 2 itself. The upper side of each box is open however, revealing a big handle with two triggers. The front of the boxes is open too, with the tip of a multi-barreled machine-gun and two metallic sticks coming out. As the pack connects to the armors back, the young man inside immediately feels how heavy the armor gets, despite the fact that he is in a state which could be best compared to zero gravity. The Mark 2´s torso changes the color from white to black automatically.
"I will shoot you out now."
"...WHAT?"
In front of the Mark 2 a hatch opens. The inside of the tube shaped corridor is instantly engulfed in bright sunlight.
"You heard right. What do you think the tube you are in is for? Ready?"
"NO!"
"Good! LAUNCH!"
The Mark 2 is shot out of the ships bow with an insane speed, like a bullet. As he gets slower, he lands on small island, near the ship he came from. Several destroyed armors lie on the island. The young man stares at them, shocked about the deadly precision they have been destroyed with. A shot through the heart or through the backpack, where every armors battery is placed. The latter would cause the battery to blow up, tearing the person inside to shreds. He shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts.
"Dad! Where is he? Where is the enemy"
"Shut up and listen."
"The heavy weapon pack I equipped you with consists of three weapons types. The first are the multi barreled machine guns, or "minigun´s" as most would call them.. Use them a middle distance when the enemy charges at you.
The second are the railgun´s. Use them to attack at long range. They should be able to pierce through ordinary armor with ease. Be careful with those weapons, they tend to overheat quick.
The ammo is pretty limited for the distance weapons, so remember what I taught you. The third weapon is a close combat weapon.
A beam Halberd. It is placed in a recharge rack in the backpack. It is about the size of a beam saber now, but once you push the small button on the handle it will extend to its full size. An axe blade shaped beam on the side and a spiked shaped beam on the top. Use it to keep close combat enemies at distance and stab them. The only disadvantage of this pack is the maneuverability. Due to its weight the thrusters have to work pretty hard to move you. The battery will be drained fast if you are not careful enough.
Be aware of that."
"DO YOU EVEN LISTEN TO ME?!? I cant even see the enemy! Where is he?"
Instead of his fathers voice, the young man heard a distorted voice over the intercom.
"Where is the soulless freak?"
"D...Dad?"
Then his fathers voice appeared again.
"So it is really you."
"DAD WHATS GOING ON?!? WHO IS THERE?"
"My son... I feared that this day would come. But that it would be so quick... Everything you should know or need to know is stored in the armors CPU. Promise me to use the Mark 2 to protect the people who cant protect themselves. Use it only to protect. Never to destroy."
"...Dad?"
"I love you my son. I love you."
Not even a second after his father told him that, the ship is ripped apart by a gigantic explosion, followed by smaller, but not less deadlier explosions.The entire ship is engulfed by flames.
The young man stares at the destroyed ship, unable to realize what just happened. The time seems to stop around him. All the people aboard... his father... There is no way someone could survive this. Not with those explosions. Not with the fire. He shakes his head violently. He has to wake up. This can only be a bad dream. He must have fallen asleep. He is still in his quarter and everyone is alright, he tells himself. But he does not wake up. He isn't sleeping.
He isn't in his quarter. No one is alright. They are dead. They are all dead. He opens his mouth. He wants to scream. But he cant. Tears run down his cheeks, making it hard to see anything.
Is something moving there on the deck, between the fire? Survivors maybe? The Mark 2 zooms in as far as possible to get a better of whatever it is.
There he stands. A cloaked armor. He realizes that this isn't one of the EDF´s armors. But where are the other enemies? He couldn't have done this alone. Or could he?
The cloaked armor turns around and looks in direction of the island the Mark 2 is on. He looks at him through a pair of red, demonic eyes while the flames seem to dance around him, his cloak waving in the wind. The two armors gaze at each other. Then, without warning, the cloaked one leaps up into the air and ignites his thrusters to charge at the Mark 2.
The battle between the two armors raged on for quiete some time now. At first it seemed as if they were even, but that changed as the cloaked armor began to fire at the Mark 2 while evading the incoming attacks. Until now, he only dodged and fired once in a while. It almost seems as if he starts to fight more serious now. The Mark 2 already had problems evading the attacks. Now it is almost impossible for him to dodge anything at all. And, to make things even worse, the whole use of the thrusters slowly uses up the battery's energy quicker than he thought. The enemy armor isn't even armed as heavily as one would expect it to be. Just a pair of beam pistols and from what the young man could tell, this armor has a pair of small caliber machine-guns in his chest, just like the Mark 2. Probably a close combat weapon hidden somewhere, but he wouldn't let him come close enough to use it.
"WHY! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!", the young man shouts enraged. The pain in his heart was gone. Everything he can think about is to kill his opponent.
He continues his attack, not caring about dodging the incoming beams anymore. He only stopped firing both minigun´s to fire the railgun´s.Then the minigun´s again.
But no matter how he attacks, the cloaked armor evades everything he throws at him without much effort. His cloaked opponent begins to shot more precise. And he immediately scores a dozen hits. But the Mark 2´s armor holds. Barely. He was thrown back, the beams impacts caused him a lot of pain. Maybe a broken rib. Maybe something worse. But that isn't important now. Then the cloaked armor breaks his silence.
"To destroy. Just to destroy.", is all he says before pushing the pistols into their holster on his hips. He ejects a beam saber out of his right forearm and catches it in mid-air and begins to charge at the Mark 2.
The young man inside the Mark 2 was stunned because of this rather stupid change of his opponents attack pattern. He continued to fire everything he still has at the cloaked one. But like before, his opponent evades everything while gaining an unbelievable speed. In a second he was only a few inches away from him. The Mark 2 ceased his attacks.
The young man begins to stammer something as he looked into the armors red glowing demonic eyes.
He fires the machine guns in his chest, even though knowing that they wouldn't cause any damage at all. And still the cloaked armor evades, this time with a salto. He lands behind the Mark 2 and, with a single swing, he is able to cut off the heavy weapon pack. Without the pack, the armor´s torso changes its color automatically back to white.
The Mark 2 turns around, just to receive a chain of quick punches against the head. After that, the young man feels how the cloaked armor grabs his head. He loses his connection to the ground. He is unable to see anything but the hand which holds his head. Every attempt to break loose fails. What is he going to do? Finally he is being released, or better said, thrown away. But as he sees where he is, he instantly wishes that his enemy would still hold him. Somewhere in the air. So high that he could even see the clouds from above. He slowly starts to descent toward the ground. A last time the cloaked armor attacks with his beam pistols. Both shots impact on the Mark 2´s backpack, rendering his thrusters useless.
"Like the others, you were a huge disappointment. Disappear. Someone like you should not exist."
The young man is too shocked to answer. He wouldn't die. No. There must be a way to survive this. but how? With every second he gains more speed. If he doesn't slow down immediately, he would be smashed in a few seconds. He has to think. He needs a solution. And he finds one. He manges to turn around and ignites the thrusters in his feet. It works. Kinda. It does slow him down.
Not much, but it does. Unfortunately that uses up all of the batterys energy in no time.No surprise. Those thrusters are meant for maneuvering, but he uses them like he would use the thrusters in his backpack. Shortly after that he crashes into something soft. It is definitely not a cloud. But what is it then? He hadn't paid any attention to the surroundings. Thanks to the momentum he gained during the fall he exits the other side in the blink of an eye and crashes onto the ground. But that doesn't stop him.
He continues to roll down on what must be some sort of hill.
The young man clenches his teeth and thanks god that his father constructed the armor sturdy enough to survive the fall. Finally, several meters away from the hill he comes to a halt. It took him a while to realize this. In fact it took him a while to realize his whole situation. Lying on his back, he stares into the blue, cloudless sky. Cloudless? Just where did he drift to? He turns his head to the left and right to look at his surroundings. It is all white.
Snow. Snow as far as the eye can reach. Is there someone? He can see a person in the distance. Is this person glowing? Cant be. He blinks. The person or whatever it was is gone. His senses must play a prank on him. He breathes deeply. As he does so, a painful feeling fills his breast. So he was right about the cracked rib. Or ribs. But he tells himself that he should be thankful for a cracked rib or two. Better than being dead. He opens a public communication channel in hope that someone would find him here. if he could reach someone. Wherever "here" is.
"This...is...Private Zwei...", he begins to sob. Now that the battle is over, all the pain in his heart comes up again. " Private Zwei from... the Earth Defense Force... They are all dead... I am injured... I... I need a pickup. My coordinates are... my coordinates... are... If someone can hear me... I... I am...", he stammers, not able to think straight anymore. His mind and his body refuse to work the way he wants. It was all too much for him.
Upon trying to stand up, messages appeared on his HUD, telling him that all of the armors systems have been shut down. Then the HUD goes black.
Still lying on his back, he stretches out his arm, as if he was trying to grab something in the sky.
"Father... why... why did this had to happen?Just why...?"
The Mark 2´s servos remain in their current positions.
He passes out, his arm still stretched toward the sky.
The cloaked armor was already on his way back to his hideout, wherever that may be, as he stops all of a sudden. He turns around to the direction he just came from.
Was there something? Was someone crying? It wouldn't be the first time that he feels something like this. No. Impossible. He couldn't have survived this. He must be splattered all over the ground. He shakes his head to get rid of the doubts. As soon as he does, the feeling stops.
"Hoi! Commander! Something wrong?", another armor, who looks almost identical to the first, except for the cloak and the pistols, asks. He joined him on his way back to their hideout a few minutes ago.
The cloaked armor turns around and grumbles.
"No. I am alright. Just had a... strange feeling."
"Yeah I had it too."
"Really?"
"No. Come on. Lets get back to our ship. If the techs are done, you will have your little broadcast. And after that, we will drink ourselves stupid."
"Maybe you are right. But...", the cloaked one mumbles before they continue their way.
(( I just noticed... White armor surrounded by snow=harder to find than Waldo. ))
Working on the profiles. Will post them as when the time comes.
Also: HUGE Intro is HUGE! ))
In the middle of nowhere.
Two armors hover over what once could have been a nice small town. Now the city isn't more than a ruin. Most of the buildings have been destroyed or are on fire, through artillery and other heavy weapons.
One of the armors begins to circle around his opponent and opens fire with a huge cannon that appeared from his back and unfolded to its actual size just a few seconds ago. A huge beam flies toward the other armor, and misses only by an inch. The other armor, a mass-produced model called "Schneider", ignites the thrusters on his back and quickly gains height, while answering the attack with rapid fire from his machine-gun. The armor with the huge cannon also activates his thrusters, who are built in something that looks like a pair of wings, and evades the incoming bullets without much effort.
"No good! He is just to fast!"
Another huge beam flies toward the mass produced armor. And again the beam nearly hits him.
"Stay calm. Only shoot if a hit is guaranteed."
"Easier said than done!"
*click*
A small "0/00" on the bottom right corner of the Schneider's HUD begins to blink red.
"nuts!"
"I TOLD YOU ONLY TO SHOOT WHEN A HIT IS GUARANTEED! AND NOW!?!"
"Now I am going to slice this bastard into pieces!"
The Schneider throws away his machine-gun and stretches out his right arm. A small white cylinder shaped object ejects out of his underarm, which he catches as soon it reaches his hand. The winged armor stops circling around the Schneider. The cannon folds itself together automatically in the blink of an eye and disappears on the back again. The winged armor, aware of the fact the the Schneider has no other option than to go into close combat, grabs something on his back and pulls it in front of him. Like the cannon from before, the weapon unfolds itself and takes shape of a huge sword. After a second a bright green edge appears at the sword.
"Tch. Overcompensating for something?"
No response from the winged armor. Instead the wing shaped thrusters on his back split in half and create a pair of big, glowing wings. He charges toward the Schneider, and while he does so, a dozen of armors appear everywhere around him, every single of them looking exactly like him.
"Wha-!!! Which is the real one?"
The Schneider raises his shield, still unsure of which one he should attack. As he makes a decision, it is already to late. One of them gained more speed, his sword pointed at the Schneider.
"No!"
"EVADE!"
Too late. The sword pierces through the shield and then the armor itself with ease. The Schneider's HUD goes black before a wall of text appears on it.
- SIMULATION END -
- A-MP-01 -
- SCHNEIDER -
- SHOTS FIRED: 150 /3 CLIPS @ 50 -
- DAMAGE DEALT: 0% -
- DESTROYED: 0/1 -
- DAMAGE RECEIVED: 100% -
The simulation was so real that the young man almost forgot that everything that had happened wasn't real. He is still on one of the EDF´s carriers. Alive. He sighs in relief.
"d**n. I was sure to get him this time."
"No one managed to defeat him yet. No need be angry."
"I know. But still. I am sure that I know his next move. I mean... I am really sure. And then, he does something completely different."
"Just like real combat."
"Guess you are right. But thats the whole point. Why do I even have to fight? I would like it more to work at R&D."
"Ah. Here we go again. Look. You have done the aptitude test. And..."
"And it said that I would fit perfectly in here. Blah blah."
"Watch your mouth!"
"Sorry dad. It is just... Come on. In real combat, I would have died a hundred times already. I know that. You know that. Everyone knows that!"
"Thats what a simulation is for. To get better without the need to face real danger."
The young man clenches his teeth. He knows that it is useless to argue with his father.
"Don't want to interrupt you guys, but... Could someone please help me?", he asks in a annoyed tone as he tries to get out of the armor on his own.
Two scientists who are busy checking various diagrams on one of the nearby monitors, walk to the simulation armor, which is mounted onto a huge chair, connected to a computer through countless cables and wires all over the armor, and help the man inside to get out. The man, which from the looks cant be any older than twenty, climbs out of the armor and walks to the old man who was apparently his father.
"What now?"
The old man rubs his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"I guess you can take the rest of the day off. I have a meeting in a hour anyway."
"Take the rest of the day off? Best thing you said today.", the young man says with a small grin.
* * *
"How is he doing?"
"Not good."
"Not good?"
"Yes. According to the reports I got from the other bases, he is the worst if it comes to combat."
"I... see... And what are we going to do now?"
"I don´t know. I really don't know. I suggest even more training. But it will be useless. He does not want to fight."
"Eight."
"What?"
"There were eight of them. And he is the only one who does not want to fight?"
The other man nods quietly.
"Under other circumstances I would accept his decision to avoid fighting. But we lost four bases this week. Those people are... They were our only hope."
"Four...? In only one week? The rebels?"
"Most likely. Their attacks get stronger and more devastating with every day."
"Maybe because of the new armor that has been mentioned in various reports?"
"I am not sure. But even then. One armor cant make such a big difference, right?"
Silence fills the room. Both men look at each other, not sure what to say, until the younger man broke the silence.
"Which bases have we lost?"
"Australia, Germany, Japan and our station near Jupiter."
"The base in Japan?!? But wasn't that..."
"Yes.", the other man grumbled. "They got our new spaceship. And with that they have probably destroyed our research station near Jupiter"
"nuts!!!"
The younger man slams his fist on the table.
"You know... I was thinking.", the old man says slowly, looking at the ceiling. "What if they build more of those armors? They could overrun us. We probably wouldn't even stand a chance."
"We still have the Mk. 2..."
"...but without the right person to operate it, it is useless. But... he is the only one left. The others are all dead.", the old man adds.
* * *
"Why...? Why do I have to fight? Whats the point of war? If I kill someone, there will always be someone who hates me."
The young man with the long brown hair lies on a relative small bed in his quarter, staring at the ceiling, the air filled with a beautiful but also sad music coming from an antique phonograph. The "Moonlight Sonata" , composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. He turns his head and looks at the phonograph, wondering how something that fragile survived so long in the war-torn world he lives in. Again he asks himself why the humans fight. He asks himself why they cant just overcome their differences and live together in peace. He is ripped out of his thoughts as an alarm rings through the whole ship.
"Wha...!"
He immediately jumps up and was about to run out of his quarter, but stops as the image of his father appeared on a small monitor right beside the door.
"My lab. NOW!"
"Dad! Whats going on? Is that a test?"
Before his father can answer, his image disappears from the screen.
The young man quickly leaves the small room and steps into the chaos on the outside. Countless people, technicians, soldiers, as well as communicators run up and down the hallway. He grabs one of the soldiers by the shoulder and pulls him closer to himself.
"Whats happening? What is this all about?"
The soldier looks angrily at the man and pushes him away.
"What do you think what happens!?! We are under attack!"
Without saying anything else, the soldier continues to run down the hallway.
"Under... attack? No way..."
Explosions shake the ship and several rooms and hallways catching fire make it difficult for the man to reach his destination. But he manages to reach his father, even though it took him longer than he expected.
"Finally. We don't have much time. If it is the person I expect it to be, it might be already too late.", his father says as the man enters the lab. He throws a black suit in his direction, which appears to be something like an overall at first. A combat suit for armors. He often wore one while he was in the simulation-armor. But now? the soldier told him that they are under attack. So that must mean... The young man stares at the suit, then at his father.
"You cant be serious! Dad!"
"Shut up and change already! Thats an order!", his father shouts at him.
Startled about his fathers reaction, he changes his clothes as quick as possible. Meanwhile his father begins to type various commands at a console near a big metallic tube covered with warning labels. After he changed his clothes, the man walks up to his father and gives him an questioning look. Before he can ask something, the tube in front of the man opens, revealing a complete white armor which looks as if it exploded from inside.
"New SSO system. Just step into the armor. As soon as the sensors detect you inside the armor will close and you are good to go."
"What? No. No. No... I...! Cant you find someone else to do this?"
"No. If you cant do it, no one can. Please. Trust me. I know that you hate war . But sometimes, there is no other way but to stand up and fight. I wish that there would be another way. But if you don't fight now, everyone on this ship will die. Do you want that?"
"No. But...", the young man stammers.
He thinks about his fathers words. Of course he doesn't want the people on this ship to die, even though he doesn't even know half of them. But the people he knows were always kind to him. Can he really fight? Fight in a real battle? Maybe if he will just stay behind, supporting the others... There are at least two dozen well trained soldiers around, all in armors. So what could go wrong?
"Tch... fine. I will do it. Only this time.",he grumbles with his teeth clenched.
His father smiles at him.
"Step into the armor. I will explain everything important then."
* * *
Even though the HUD remained black after stepping into the armor, the man could feel that he was elevated up. At least it felt like that.
But what confuses him even more is the fact that he lost contact with the ground. It feels like he is hovering. A small icon resembling a speaker with the words "sound only" appears on the still black HUD.
"How do you feel?", his father asks over the intercom.
"Horrible. This thing weights a ton. And I still cant see anything."
"Don't worry. It will get lighter in a few moments."
"The "Schneider" wasn't that heavy..."
"Right. And compared to the Mark 2 the Schneider is just scrap metal."
"What? I am not even good at controlling a mass-produced armor . And you entrust me to something even more valuable?"
"Stop arguing with me. You might fell a little stitch now."
The young man suppresses a painful scream as several tiny things drill into his back, almost feeling like needles.
"Good god! What the hell! What was that?"
"Quiet whining. That were the combat suits connectors."
"Connectors? The "Schneider" did not have such things."
"I already told you that the "Schneider" is crap compared to the Mark 2."
"But what..."
The man is cut off in mid-sentence. All of a sudden, he feels even worse than before. A biting cold crawls up his spine, all the way to his head. The coldness is getting worse and worse with every second, until it is unbearable.
"I... I am going to die! H... help me dad!"
"Your heartbeat is rising. You are close to a heart attack! Calm down!"
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!", the young man screams in pain, unable to hear his fathers words.
As much as he wants to protect the people on the ship, he cant bear this horrible feeling anymore. But as fast as it came, the feeling is gone.
"Can you hear me?"
No response from the Mark 2.
"Hey! Answer me! Don't pass out! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Finally, after a few seconds, the response.
"Y... yes. I can hear you..."
Not even a second after his reply the HUD begins to flicker before a wall of text appears, scrolling from the bottom to the top. The words and sentences pass by to fast for him to be able to read even one of them. Then the the HUD goes black again before more text appeared. This time slower and bigger.
- Neural link... online -
- Loading O.S. -
- ... -
- Done. -
- EDF O.S ver. 1.5 -
- MA-03-D-02 -
- Dragon Mark II -
- Battery online -
- HUD online -
- Movement support system... online -
- Thrusters online -
- Weapons online -
After all of the Mark 2´s systems finished loading, the young man can see where he was elevated to. A long barely lit corridor.
"Thank god... Okay. Listen. The Mark 2 basically works like an ordinary armor, except that the response time has been reduces to a minimum. As soon as you move, the armor moves."
"Response time?"
"Yes. The man-machine interface is the latest of its kind. There isn't even a millisecond delay. That alone gives you a huge advantage over the enemy."
"I see..."
"The weaponry on the Mark 2 is fairly simple. Two titanium combat knives and a dual 9mm machine gun in the chest. Both are only effective against slow or unarmored targets. But don't worry. It is possible to attach different packs to the Mark 2. There are three packs. I will give you the one with the most firepower."
"Wait. Wouldn't it make more sense to combine all the packs into one?"
"And slow the armor down with it? No. Besides, it is possible to switch the packs during a mission, thanks to a new laser-guidance system, which will automatically find the armor and attach the packs on its own, once we send one out to you."
"Understood."
"Another huge difference between the Mark 2 and other armors would be the solar collectors."
"Solar collectors?"
"A thin layer, covering all armored parts of the Mark 2. Invisible for the human eye. It is nearly impossible to run out of energy. The battery recharges in a few seconds. However, if you run out of energy, the battery in the armors back has to recharge completely. And that will take quite some time. It is something I am still working on. You should also know that, in the current stadium, the Mark 2 is only about fifty percent completed. It is still superior to a mass-produced armor, but don't overdo it. You are not invincible."
"You don't have to tell me."
"I will attach the heavy weapon pack now."
A big hatch above the Mark 2 opens. Two massive gripper arms descend from out of the hatch, holding a massive black backpack for the armor, with one big quadratic box on each side. The boxes are easily the size of the Mark 2 itself. The upper side of each box is open however, revealing a big handle with two triggers. The front of the boxes is open too, with the tip of a multi-barreled machine-gun and two metallic sticks coming out. As the pack connects to the armors back, the young man inside immediately feels how heavy the armor gets, despite the fact that he is in a state which could be best compared to zero gravity. The Mark 2´s torso changes the color from white to black automatically.
"I will shoot you out now."
"...WHAT?"
In front of the Mark 2 a hatch opens. The inside of the tube shaped corridor is instantly engulfed in bright sunlight.
"You heard right. What do you think the tube you are in is for? Ready?"
"NO!"
"Good! LAUNCH!"
The Mark 2 is shot out of the ships bow with an insane speed, like a bullet. As he gets slower, he lands on small island, near the ship he came from. Several destroyed armors lie on the island. The young man stares at them, shocked about the deadly precision they have been destroyed with. A shot through the heart or through the backpack, where every armors battery is placed. The latter would cause the battery to blow up, tearing the person inside to shreds. He shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts.
"Dad! Where is he? Where is the enemy"
"Shut up and listen."
"The heavy weapon pack I equipped you with consists of three weapons types. The first are the multi barreled machine guns, or "minigun´s" as most would call them.. Use them a middle distance when the enemy charges at you.
The second are the railgun´s. Use them to attack at long range. They should be able to pierce through ordinary armor with ease. Be careful with those weapons, they tend to overheat quick.
The ammo is pretty limited for the distance weapons, so remember what I taught you. The third weapon is a close combat weapon.
A beam Halberd. It is placed in a recharge rack in the backpack. It is about the size of a beam saber now, but once you push the small button on the handle it will extend to its full size. An axe blade shaped beam on the side and a spiked shaped beam on the top. Use it to keep close combat enemies at distance and stab them. The only disadvantage of this pack is the maneuverability. Due to its weight the thrusters have to work pretty hard to move you. The battery will be drained fast if you are not careful enough.
Be aware of that."
"DO YOU EVEN LISTEN TO ME?!? I cant even see the enemy! Where is he?"
Instead of his fathers voice, the young man heard a distorted voice over the intercom.
"Where is the soulless freak?"
"D...Dad?"
Then his fathers voice appeared again.
"So it is really you."
"DAD WHATS GOING ON?!? WHO IS THERE?"
"My son... I feared that this day would come. But that it would be so quick... Everything you should know or need to know is stored in the armors CPU. Promise me to use the Mark 2 to protect the people who cant protect themselves. Use it only to protect. Never to destroy."
"...Dad?"
"I love you my son. I love you."
Not even a second after his father told him that, the ship is ripped apart by a gigantic explosion, followed by smaller, but not less deadlier explosions.The entire ship is engulfed by flames.
The young man stares at the destroyed ship, unable to realize what just happened. The time seems to stop around him. All the people aboard... his father... There is no way someone could survive this. Not with those explosions. Not with the fire. He shakes his head violently. He has to wake up. This can only be a bad dream. He must have fallen asleep. He is still in his quarter and everyone is alright, he tells himself. But he does not wake up. He isn't sleeping.
He isn't in his quarter. No one is alright. They are dead. They are all dead. He opens his mouth. He wants to scream. But he cant. Tears run down his cheeks, making it hard to see anything.
Is something moving there on the deck, between the fire? Survivors maybe? The Mark 2 zooms in as far as possible to get a better of whatever it is.
There he stands. A cloaked armor. He realizes that this isn't one of the EDF´s armors. But where are the other enemies? He couldn't have done this alone. Or could he?
The cloaked armor turns around and looks in direction of the island the Mark 2 is on. He looks at him through a pair of red, demonic eyes while the flames seem to dance around him, his cloak waving in the wind. The two armors gaze at each other. Then, without warning, the cloaked one leaps up into the air and ignites his thrusters to charge at the Mark 2.
* * *
The battle between the two armors raged on for quiete some time now. At first it seemed as if they were even, but that changed as the cloaked armor began to fire at the Mark 2 while evading the incoming attacks. Until now, he only dodged and fired once in a while. It almost seems as if he starts to fight more serious now. The Mark 2 already had problems evading the attacks. Now it is almost impossible for him to dodge anything at all. And, to make things even worse, the whole use of the thrusters slowly uses up the battery's energy quicker than he thought. The enemy armor isn't even armed as heavily as one would expect it to be. Just a pair of beam pistols and from what the young man could tell, this armor has a pair of small caliber machine-guns in his chest, just like the Mark 2. Probably a close combat weapon hidden somewhere, but he wouldn't let him come close enough to use it.
"WHY! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS!", the young man shouts enraged. The pain in his heart was gone. Everything he can think about is to kill his opponent.
He continues his attack, not caring about dodging the incoming beams anymore. He only stopped firing both minigun´s to fire the railgun´s.Then the minigun´s again.
But no matter how he attacks, the cloaked armor evades everything he throws at him without much effort. His cloaked opponent begins to shot more precise. And he immediately scores a dozen hits. But the Mark 2´s armor holds. Barely. He was thrown back, the beams impacts caused him a lot of pain. Maybe a broken rib. Maybe something worse. But that isn't important now. Then the cloaked armor breaks his silence.
"To destroy. Just to destroy.", is all he says before pushing the pistols into their holster on his hips. He ejects a beam saber out of his right forearm and catches it in mid-air and begins to charge at the Mark 2.
The young man inside the Mark 2 was stunned because of this rather stupid change of his opponents attack pattern. He continued to fire everything he still has at the cloaked one. But like before, his opponent evades everything while gaining an unbelievable speed. In a second he was only a few inches away from him. The Mark 2 ceased his attacks.
The young man begins to stammer something as he looked into the armors red glowing demonic eyes.
He fires the machine guns in his chest, even though knowing that they wouldn't cause any damage at all. And still the cloaked armor evades, this time with a salto. He lands behind the Mark 2 and, with a single swing, he is able to cut off the heavy weapon pack. Without the pack, the armor´s torso changes its color automatically back to white.
The Mark 2 turns around, just to receive a chain of quick punches against the head. After that, the young man feels how the cloaked armor grabs his head. He loses his connection to the ground. He is unable to see anything but the hand which holds his head. Every attempt to break loose fails. What is he going to do? Finally he is being released, or better said, thrown away. But as he sees where he is, he instantly wishes that his enemy would still hold him. Somewhere in the air. So high that he could even see the clouds from above. He slowly starts to descent toward the ground. A last time the cloaked armor attacks with his beam pistols. Both shots impact on the Mark 2´s backpack, rendering his thrusters useless.
"Like the others, you were a huge disappointment. Disappear. Someone like you should not exist."
The young man is too shocked to answer. He wouldn't die. No. There must be a way to survive this. but how? With every second he gains more speed. If he doesn't slow down immediately, he would be smashed in a few seconds. He has to think. He needs a solution. And he finds one. He manges to turn around and ignites the thrusters in his feet. It works. Kinda. It does slow him down.
Not much, but it does. Unfortunately that uses up all of the batterys energy in no time.No surprise. Those thrusters are meant for maneuvering, but he uses them like he would use the thrusters in his backpack. Shortly after that he crashes into something soft. It is definitely not a cloud. But what is it then? He hadn't paid any attention to the surroundings. Thanks to the momentum he gained during the fall he exits the other side in the blink of an eye and crashes onto the ground. But that doesn't stop him.
He continues to roll down on what must be some sort of hill.
The young man clenches his teeth and thanks god that his father constructed the armor sturdy enough to survive the fall. Finally, several meters away from the hill he comes to a halt. It took him a while to realize this. In fact it took him a while to realize his whole situation. Lying on his back, he stares into the blue, cloudless sky. Cloudless? Just where did he drift to? He turns his head to the left and right to look at his surroundings. It is all white.
Snow. Snow as far as the eye can reach. Is there someone? He can see a person in the distance. Is this person glowing? Cant be. He blinks. The person or whatever it was is gone. His senses must play a prank on him. He breathes deeply. As he does so, a painful feeling fills his breast. So he was right about the cracked rib. Or ribs. But he tells himself that he should be thankful for a cracked rib or two. Better than being dead. He opens a public communication channel in hope that someone would find him here. if he could reach someone. Wherever "here" is.
"This...is...Private Zwei...", he begins to sob. Now that the battle is over, all the pain in his heart comes up again. " Private Zwei from... the Earth Defense Force... They are all dead... I am injured... I... I need a pickup. My coordinates are... my coordinates... are... If someone can hear me... I... I am...", he stammers, not able to think straight anymore. His mind and his body refuse to work the way he wants. It was all too much for him.
Upon trying to stand up, messages appeared on his HUD, telling him that all of the armors systems have been shut down. Then the HUD goes black.
Still lying on his back, he stretches out his arm, as if he was trying to grab something in the sky.
"Father... why... why did this had to happen?Just why...?"
The Mark 2´s servos remain in their current positions.
He passes out, his arm still stretched toward the sky.
* * *
The cloaked armor was already on his way back to his hideout, wherever that may be, as he stops all of a sudden. He turns around to the direction he just came from.
Was there something? Was someone crying? It wouldn't be the first time that he feels something like this. No. Impossible. He couldn't have survived this. He must be splattered all over the ground. He shakes his head to get rid of the doubts. As soon as he does, the feeling stops.
"Hoi! Commander! Something wrong?", another armor, who looks almost identical to the first, except for the cloak and the pistols, asks. He joined him on his way back to their hideout a few minutes ago.
The cloaked armor turns around and grumbles.
"No. I am alright. Just had a... strange feeling."
"Yeah I had it too."
"Really?"
"No. Come on. Lets get back to our ship. If the techs are done, you will have your little broadcast. And after that, we will drink ourselves stupid."
"Maybe you are right. But...", the cloaked one mumbles before they continue their way.
(( I just noticed... White armor surrounded by snow=harder to find than Waldo. ))