Traversing the Medium Zone
Fading Light
Drip…..drip…..drip, the sound of freshly spilled blood was all that could be heard as it echoed through the quiet corridor. 88 struggled to drag his body through a secluded part of the compound, he had been shot twice, once in the leg, and once in the torso and the heavily armed guards who pursued him were hot on his trail, they knew the agent didn't have a lot of fight left in him. Now he was desperately trying to return to his Ac with the blueprints he had stolen while he bled out. “It’s going to be a simple mission, in and out, they said. but now I’m going to die out here because I got sloppy and they knew I'd be coming. Of all the luck.” he muttered to himself. Subject D-88 or simply 88 as he was called by comrades, rivals, enemies and commanding officers was a super soldier genetically modified by the government to pilot one of the most sophisticated and technologically advanced machines in the world, an armored core, or AC for short, his in particular was the Rayleonard 03-Aaliyah a very fast, very deadly machine that was rivaled by few and feared by many. Even the most hardened veterans had trouble keeping up with the mech. It was one of the best models out on the market, so long as you had the millions of dollars to spend on it. Towering about 200 feet, the mech was a force to be reckoned with, small yet efficient head with several cameras, an angular, streamlined cockpit/core that resembled an exotic race car, complete with a spoiler on the back. Strong arms equipped with vents and other gimmicks to hold the weaponry and assist in speed and stability. All held up by two standard legs instead of four, a tank or hover board. "pilots who use any of those don't interest me, it's too easy to control and makes it easier to hold onto over the top weapons like rocket launchers. It takes real skill to use only two legs and still come out on top". Now what’s a mech without its weapons? The mech was equipped with two shoulder mounted weapons. One long ranged plasma cannon and a missle launcher. Each hand had a gun a short but versatile sub machine gun in the left hand, while a mid to long-range assault rifle was held snugly in the right. But the piece de resistance of the suit was the beam sword attached to the right forearm, ready to be activated at a moments notice, and the Ai that helped the young pilot out in many different situations and scenarios.
88 was tasked with infiltrating a hidden base in the middle of the sahara desert, assassinating the lead scientist Edward Hammond and the rogue faction he was currently involved with. Along with getting rid of the blueprints that were for a new type of missile created to harness the power of anti matter, one of these things could level countries if 88 was reading all the variables and theories correctly. The blueprints had to be destroyed. All was going well until he was spotted by one the guards while he terminating the scientist who had no idea he was even there. "I think I heard him somewhere over here!" shouted a voice from a different hallway. 88's train of thought was interrupted as he heard voices approaching from down the hall. "They'll never find me." he said to himself as he began to disappear, he activated the cloaking device that was conveniently installed into his suit. He then hopped up onto the wall and stuck there being careful to hold his wounded stomach. "The bastard didn't take into account that the blood would lead us right to him" said a soldier dressed in desert camo with an assault rifle in hand. a similarly dressed soldier stood next to him. "the trail ends here. maybe he isn't as stupid as we thought he was" said the man who called 88 a bastard "where do you think he is now?" asked his partner. "Could be close, he obviously wised up and held his wounds so the blood wouldn't spill, we need to think of places to look before he gets away, the only things in this direction are the barracks and the hangars, where should we check first?" "try behind you." 88 whispered before the conversation could continue. both men turned around swiftly in an attempt to shoot 88 but he fired his silenced pistol at both of their heads. Both men dropped to the ground lifeless and 88 continued to walk to the hangar. Considering the base was recently created and was attempting to stay undetected the hangar was mostly bare-bones, weapons here a motorcycle there, and a few tanks. 88 walked over to the motorcycle and climbed on. After turning on the motorcycle and revving the engine he drove off. Minutes passed as he drove under the night sky. ""I wish you were here T-78, this would've gone a lot smoother with you here, i didn't take into account that the radar jamming would be so intense it would stop my- ah there you are! " in the distance 88 saw the shimmer of his AC's cloaking shield under the moonlight. taking one hand off of the handle bars he put two fingers up to the side of his helmet and pressed a button. "Aiylah are you there? " asked the pilot. "Yes second lieutenant. Shall I remove the cloaking field?" the artificial intelligence asked. "Yes take it off now and prepare to meet me half way turn everything on and get over here." Before the computer could offer a reply the desert began to rumble, an earthquake/sandstorm began to pick up. "What is that? it isn't a normal earthquake." "Hostile detected, it is emerging from the sand, I was unable to detect it because of the outreaching signal jammer." answered the AI. Sure enough said hostile emerged from the sand and began to soar high into the air, it was a silhouette of an AC and began to fire missiles at 88 and his mech "Shit!" 88 screamed as a missile landed near him, exploding and sending him flying several kilometers. "all systems online, rerouting all power to thrusters " spoke the ai. The machine came to life, the camouflage dissipating, the armored core threw down the assault rifle as it flew at incredible speeds to catch its pilot. Seeing the several ton piece of machinery coming at him with an outstretched hand, 88 braced for impact rolling himself into a ball,waiting for a hard landing. He felt hard steel hit him in the left side as He made contact with the enormous hand. he was then gently placed into the cockpit all while at extreme speeds as the machine dodged missiles and gunfire. As 88 went to strap on his harness he realized something dreadful had happened. Blood began to drip even faster in his seat. the reason being that he had been impaled by a long piece of debris on the right side of his chest from the missile. "sir your vital signals are dropping, you have a forty percent chance of living if we leave now, but a ten percent chance if we fight." replied the ac as it stopped in its tracks since the gunfire had stopped. "He won't allow us to run. We both die here." 88 replied tiredly, blood loss beginning to take its toll on him. "I'm impressed by your skill. That's the firdt time I've seen anyone not only survive a missile blast, but also be caught by his ac, but face it son, you've lost too much blood to carry on" said the pilot of the mysterious ac. The mech began to slowly descend until it was standing right in front of 88. the mechs core was a square with vents on either side, slender arms with circular shoulders, bulky legs compared to the other, and a more human looking head with an antenna coming out from the back of the head slanted slightly downward. It was armed with six cannons on its back that resembled wings, and an assault rifle. "The nobilise Oblige model, one of the few up to par with my model, amazing" 88 replied in an awestruck gaze. "The only one made to date" replied the contender. "That would make you Roronoak, bounty hunter whose known all over the world and banned in twelve countries." 88 responded. "Oh you flatter me with your knowledge, but enough about me, lets kill you" He said as he charged at 88 with a hidden sword. 88 responds by blocking with his blade and both machines are in a emotionless gazed standstill energy fluctuating off the blades as the opposing energies clash against each other. They break away at the same time flying down the desert sideways the other across from them. They close in on each other and clash blades again and again searching for an opening, waiting for the other to make one simple mistep. And it happens subject 88 doesn't keep his footing very well and topples over. "I was wondering when the blood loss would get to you. Being able to last in a fight for five minutes after being impaled is no small feat, so I'll give you one chance to surrender." Roronoak replies shutting his blade off and backing up a bit allowing the ac to get up. 88 is huffing and puffing inside the cockpit trying to stay awake as to not die in the middle of a fight. "You know what to do aiylah" whispers 88. "are you sure, we can both still fight our output isn't even at ninety percent yet" the machine asks, trying to reason with its pilot. "I'm sure, I can’t go on fighting with this shard in my chest, this fight was over as soon as it began. For what it’s truly worth, it has been a true honor, I couldn't have asked for a better machine, I'll miss you." "as will I D-88" "This is your only warning for surrender. Get out of the AC and turn yourself in, leave the blueprints in the cockpit along with your weapons!" hollers a frustrated Roronoak who's been staring at a silent machine for a few moments. 88 complies and exits the cockpit, choosing to use the secondary entrance behind the head. "let's get a good look at you, I want to see the face of the man who was able to take on four enemies at once when his comrades were killed in the Gobi desert 3 years ago. 88 complies and takes off his helmet, one side of which has been shattered while he was being caught in midair. "No way, four of the best pilots lost to a boy, the pilot of the rayleonard is nothing but a little boy!?"Roronoak exclaimed."It doesn't matter how old you are, I'm going to enjoy piloting and wrecking your machine to my heart's content, and there's nothing you can do about it!" he roars. "I don't think so." 88 says calmly. He grabs the piece of shrapnel that was lodged in his chest and pulls outward. inch by painful inch the piece of medal is dislodged until it is completely removed from the flesh. 88 gasps in pain and relief, tossing the piece of metal away from him, blood dripping down to his feet. 88 falls down, but catches himself, both knees on the top of his mech. "I need to do this fast, I'm starting to lose it." he thought to himself. 88 climbs to his feet slowly, a look of determination on his now visible face. Meanwhile the enemy pilot can only look on in shock and disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you? You do realize you"re going to die even faster now, right?!" Roronoak asks, somewhat convinced that the young man doesn't have a full grasp on the situation at hand. "That's the plan!" 88 yells. 88 Takes out a small tube shaped device no bigger than his hand. "You Wouldn't dare, you're still on top of the damn machine!!" but before Roronoark can call the pilot's bluff 88 presses the button. "Pilot input confirmed, self destruct initiated. Roronoak watches in anticipation, convinced that no one would pull a stunt this idiotic. The Ac begins to let out a high pitched scream before it begins to destroy itself. Roronoak is surprised that 88 has not moved once after pressing the button. Tiny, yet powerful explosions go off all over the once terrifying mech. After the head explodes the sheer force of the explosion sends 88 flying off of his beloved machine. Flying off of the mech 88 can only look up to see his once prized machine fall apart and become consumed by flames piece by piece. The speed of his fall makes the impact of the sand feel like concrete. All of 88's bones were broken, and his now unprotected head had began to bleed from the back, blood began to pool all around him. Roronoak's machine suffered minor superficial damage to the outer hull, sear marks and minor cuts decorated his mech. 88's mech however, was a far cry from an AC, the weapons had been rendered useless, the arms and legs were horribly disfigured, the head was nothing more than an recognizable heap of junk, but for some reason the core had stayed together for the most part. It only sustained several dents and scorch marks. Roronoark disembarked his mech and began to walk over to 88. Despite looking like a powerful explosion, most of the ac was intact, especially the core. Ronoark walked up to the dying pilot "that's it? you call that a self detonation, I've seen better explosions on Fourth of July by drunk rednecks, you're a disgrace!" he yelled, but 88 could not hear him. 88's face held a blank stare that looked straight up into the sky his gaze fixated on the moon. "whatever lies ahead, is a dream compared to the nightmares I've endured" 88 thought to himself as the light faded from his eyes. Roronak kicked the lifeless body. "finally kicked the bucket, I see, you're not so tough after all. What kind of master tactician blows himself up with his mech?" before Roronoak could continue his rant he heard a faint beeping noise in the distance. BEEP. Beep....BEEP....BEEP. "What the hell?" He walked away from the pilot and over to the core where the sound had apparently been coming from. Roronoak made it over to the core and opened the hatch via the switch oon the side for emergency access. Inside the cockpit was a heart monitor that was connected to 88's suitit was beeping along rhytmatically. BEEP.....BEEP....BEEP....BEEP......BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP. Suddenly the monitor flat-lined signaling that the pilot had died. "Took him long enough, now to..." The AI of the core spoke cutting off Roronoak's train of thought "Pilot Damien Devereux , subject number 88 deceased. Activating nuclear trigger." "wait.. wha-" before the pilot could answer he and his machince were destroyed in the enormous blast that followed the warning.
