Chapter Ten: Angel’s Ascent

Heather’s nerves were on end, her fingers recurrently tapped against the plastic obsidian throttle. Her thighs bounced up and down she tried to stop them but it was automatic, she was nervous. As the plastic face protector slid closed covering her eyes her breathing became erratic. Small clusters of grayish fog caressed against the inside of the protector causing her vision to become distorted. In front of her was her opponent, Miguel Castril, he was an Elite Pilot in the TA, specifically connected to Chris Procella’s unit. The MF that lingered in front of her was classified as a heavy assault model; the block-like armor made it a mere repugnant sight to behold. But that didn’t make it any less of a threat, both arm units were attached to high powered grenade rifles, while the shoulders and the back were brimming with missile pads, it seemed a bit excessive in Heather’s opinion. Miguel’s MF, Chaos was a close to mid range MF while Heather has specialized in long range combat for the past 2 years, it was going to be an up hill battle for her she thought. She wiggled in the restraints, her pink jump suit was causing her body to itch, she tried to scratch and satisfy every annoying distraction but she didn’t have much time. There was only 30 seconds left before the match would begin.

“Calm down, you’re going to be fine.” Adam’s voice soon radiated throughout her cockpit. Her frightened and pale eyes glimpsed to the side, Adam appeared on her communication screen, his lips curved as he smiled.

“I….I can’t do this…” She mumbled. She was horrified, never before had she had to rely on her own skills. She always had Adam, or Stephen even Mario to back her up in a pinch.

“You’ll do fine. You’re a great MF pilot Heather. I believe in you. Now Miguel, he’s a good pilot, but he tends to rush in and expend his ammo all at once. He has no endurance, from what other pilots have told me about him he can only last about 15 minutes before his mental state breaks down. Blue Angel is equipped with some hard hitting weapons that can keep a good range between you and him. Keep that range, make him waste his ammo, those weapons of his are powerful but they’re low on ammo. Each grenade launcher has about 12 rounds, so that’s 24 rounds right there. The missile pods are about 50 each launcher, and he has 4 so that’s 200 missiles. You can do this, just keep a good distance.” Adam replied.

Heather nodded her head trying to keep it from shaking.

“How do you know all this?”

“I have my sources. Thank Mario later. Now you don’t have much time. Beat this guy so we can eat some lunch.” Adam replied smiling.

“I will…” Heather shut off the communications link, with a newfound confidence she grasped the throttles.  

“So is she alright now?” Mario asked.

“Yeah she’s good now. She won’t lose this…by the way, how did you know about Miguel’s piloting strategies anyway?”

“Hehe…Michelle, she’s on Procella’s unit.”

“Hahaha…I see. Well it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Heather and Michelle have to face one another. I mean they’re the 3rd and 4th match in the tournament, so if they both win they’ll meet in the 2nd round.” Adam replied.

“Hehe, Heather’s my friend…but Michelle…”

“Taking a liking to her then I take it?” Adam asked as he nudged Mario in the gut. Mario smirked grabbing Adam in a headlock. His fist dug itself into Adam’s skull and began to rub excessively.

“Maybe..haha, you can’t escape bro!”

“Oh God man…let me go...Hey, I did you shower today bro?” Adam mumbled.

            The tension in Heather’s eyes caused her to focus on Chaos. The heavily armored brown MF exploded out of its stationary position. Miguel was heading straight for Blue Angel with no second guesses. Without even thinking Heather quickly switched the attack mode to sniper, a small rectangular scope descended from the ceiling. As the crimson scope covered her eyes, a tiny green translucent box solidified around the core of Chaos. Her nerves lightened up, her finger then pulled the trigger inwards. The rail cannon on the back of her core flipped over as it gathered green energy around the tip of the barrel. Miguel ignored the massive cannon that was preparing to fire and unleashed his onslaught. Chaos’ arms jolted backwards as the intense grenade shell ruptured out from the barrel. Heather cringed as she watched the two shells flare towards her at tremendous speeds, since there was no gravity the normally heavy shells were twice as fast. Suddenly Blue Angel rocked as the massive thin beam of energy shot out from the rail gun. The intense beam of energy soared past the shells, the sheer velocity and heat of the beam caused the shells to explode instantly. Miguel freaked out as Chaos’ brown exterior lit up with shades of green as the beam neared. At the last second Chaos strafed to the right, the beam of energy ripped through the left arm causing an explosion to send Chaos tumbling through space as it sent off dozens of electrical sparks. The crowd lit up excitement, the loud roar of the spectators filled the dome. Heather knew the match wasn’t over; she just got lucky that her opponent was a berserker, one who rushes in without thinking. Her intelligence and experience with her team gave her a clear advantage.

Miguel sneered, he lost an arm but he wasn’t out of the fight; not this early. He cracked his knuckles followed by his neck, his feet then applied pressure to the accelerators forcing Chaos to recover and fly towards Blue Angel once again. He knew that the cannon required at least a minute to recharge in order to be fired again, so this was his chance. His display screen soon filled up with a dozen lock-on boxes, the rectangular launchers flipped open revealing the metallic silos. Heather quickly switched on her missile interceptors in preparation for the attack. The large rail cannon flipped back to hang over the back of her core. Blue Angel’s right arm lifted as it extended her sniper rifle into space. She also raised the solid shield resting on her left arm for extra defense.

“A shield? Heh, stupid girl; that won’t be enough.” Miguel said. Suddenly dozens of missiles launched all flying at a curved angle towards their target.

“Damn…” Heather mumbled. Dozens of silver war heads spread across her display screen, they were everywhere. Finally her defenses started to kick in, a barrage of missiles violently erupted from her arm units in an attempt to negate Miguel’s attack. She then stepped on the accelerator, Blue Angel’s boosters flared and the blue and pink MF took off to create distance between her and her opponent.

“Heh, not good enough!” Miguel screamed; his finger retracted pressing another button. Just then each missile exploded sending out a wave of smoke. The crowd nearly jumped out of their seats cheering as they believed that Heather stopped Miguel’s assault. Adam, Stephen and Mario just leaned against the pallid wall remaining quiet, things were not that simple. The crowd soon found that out as thousands of cerulean energy beans shot out from the torrent of smoke all heading for Blue Angel. The crowd simultaneously gasped for air in shock.

“ERMs…heh, I thought they were a prototype.” Stephen smirked.

“Energy Rain Missiles huh? A nice trick, but I’m sure it won’t work a second time.” Adam replied.

            Heather tried to maneuver but the energy beams were too fast. Blue Angel was then pelted by the energy beams. The constant attacks prevented the MF from moving thus giving Miguel the time he needed to move in for the kill. Chaos’ boosters were flaring brightly as the MF dashed towards the bombarded Blue Angel. Once again he lifted the grenade launcher and fired. The massive shell tore through the rain of energy as it collided with Blue Angel’s core. Heather screamed as she was tossed in the cockpit from the forceful blow. Shards of singe metal floated in space from Blue Angel’s core. The damage wasn’t severe, but enough to send the MF’s radiator into overdrive. Miguel began to chuckle, he felt the victory resting in the palm of his destructive hands.

“Hehe, so this is a pilot from Novus’ team. I expected more.” Miguel said sternly. Chaos continued to head towards Blue Angel in a straight line, Heather smiled as the rail cannon quickly flipped over as it fired a constant beam of energy. Since the beam was fired as the cannon was moving it created a straight beam of energy that was like a blade of an energy saber. Chaos already traveling at a high velocity couldn’t stop in time, the green laser sliced through the left side of the MF. The beam just missed the cockpit but the force of the attack was so violent that it sent Miguel out of his seat, the restraints snapped in two. The protective face cover shattered as his head pierced the LCD screen in front of him. As the energy beam from the rail cannon dissipated Chaos floated lifeless as debris from its severe wound danced around. The right side of Chaos remained intact, the remaining booster continued to flicker beams of light but it had no more thrust. Miguel pushed himself out of the LCD screen as drops of blood fell staining the silver console. As he screamed in anguish he punched the console regardless of the pain it would cause.

Heather sat in Blue Angel’s cockpit breathing heavily, her chest palpated as her anxiety consumed her. Her hands shook dizzyingly as they slowly moved off the throttles. The crowd once again jumped out of their seats in an uproar of applause. Adam smiled and patted Stephen’s shoulder.

“I told you she’d win.” Adam mentioned.

“Heh, that you did. She performed well.” Stephen replied.

“Well guys, that means Michelle’s up.” Mario interrupted.

Both Adam and Stephen just glanced at Mario, their eyebrows arched in curiousity.

“So, about this Michelle…” Stephen began to talk.

Mario seemed like he was embarrassed, he never got embarrassed, he was always flamboyant and energetic, and to be shy about a single girl was uncharacteristic of him.

“What? She’s just a fun person to be around that’s all….” Adam and Stephen glanced at each other and began to laugh. They slowly walked out of the dome each patting Mario briefly on the shoulder. He just stood there dumbfounded, his arms angled upwards and his palms flat while he shrugged his shoulders.

“Guys? Hey guys come on…what’s going on?!” Mario mumbled as he ran after the two brothers.

            Blue Angel slowly re-entered the hanger as a crowd of people awaited her return. Most were just random people that she had never seen before, but here closet friends of late were there, Sharon and Ashley. The two of them smiled as they waved to Heather in an exaggerated fashion. Heather could do nothing but smile, the aura that her friends brought could lighten up any situation. As Blue Angel’s cockpit opened and Heather descended to the ground dozens of reporters ran confining her to a small circle with people as the ring. Dozens of obsidian microphones staggered in the air as her ears filled with gibberish for words. Reporters were like confused insects, all jumping around with no organization all screaming out words that could barely be put together to form a logical sentence. Ashley pushed her way through the crowd of reporters, she wasn’t afraid to get physical, her hands did the talking. As she finally managed to make it through the swamp of people she hugged Heather congratulating her on her victory.

“I told you! I knew you’d win!” Ashley screamed.

“I guess…I just got lucky haha.” Heather tried to brush off her victory as a fluke, she didn’t want to jynx herself so early on in the tournament. “Where’s Sharon?”

“Oh, she’s the quiet one. She said she’d wait for all the reporters to get out of here….” Just then one female reporter moved in between Heather and Ashley sticking up her microphone.

“Heather Pertencia, I’m Stephanie Star for GNT tell me how does it feel to be the first female advancing to the second round?”

“Umm..well…ummm” Heather continued to stumble over her words, not sure what to say. Abruptly Ashley took hold of the microphone and began to smirk.

“Well Stephanie, she is excited. She’s going to show all those men out there that women can kick just as much ass in an MF!” Ashley yelled.
Stephanie took back her microphone and turned back to the camera men.

“There you have it, Heather Pertencia one of the few women that are fighting an up hill battle in the Azure Cup. Will she win the whole thing? Only time will tell. We are now switching you guys to the last match of the first group in section ‘A’, Michelle Dolce versus Alex Altanero.”

            Once again the dome was filled with eager spectators all awaiting the next match. Michelle Dolce sat in her cockpit determined to win. Her spirit was even more lifted when she heard that Heather had won the previous match. She wanted the chance to fight another female pilot, Michelle felt that MFs were dominated by male pilots and for the most part she was right. She didn’t want to just make it to the second round; she wanted to win the whole tournament. She felt that her MF was all she needed to make it happen; Red Dawn was a light weight MF with a high emphasis on speed. Michelle was infatuated with her pulse rifle; a pulse rifle was a newly developed weapon that fires rounds of energy pulses instead of rounds. The difference between a pulse round and an energy round is that pulses of energy are quick spurts of energy that do not put much strain on the generator. They also emanate a lot more heat than an energy round as fire quicker and on contact explode sending out hundreds of smaller energy particles that continue to sizzle on the target causing a dramatic heat increase. When she runs out of ammo for the pulse rifle she relies heavily on her dual mounted chain gun, the sound of bullets launching quickly from the barrel soothes her soul. Red Dawn’s left arm has an energy shield attached that can cover the majority of the core for increased defense. Not much was known about her opponent Alex other than he was from the EAP, more specifically Fenrir’s team. His MF was a behemoth of a machine, the joints of its legs were inverted, they were more stable than straight bipedal legs, and for his armament of weapons stability was needed. Three extra high-powered plasma rifles hung on the back of the core so when he runs out of ammo he can just equip another plasma rifle. In the left arm his MF carried a massive energy axe; it was another newly developed innovation from Genesis.

Michelle appeared shocked when her display screen lit up with Alex’s grinning face. A thick gash ran diagonally across his forehead to his jaw line. His green eyes glistened, he appeared to be arrogant, and Michelle had no problem teaching arrogant people a lesson.

“So you’re my opponent huh? I’ll go easy on you cuz you’re a girl, but don’t expect me to let you win.” He replied.

Her mouth twitched in succession with her eyebrows, her anger was building up. She tried to contain it but her fists were shaking along side of her seat. As she began to take deep breaths she finally managed to calm down.

“Alex right? Heh, nice MF, a bit slow isn’t it?” She replied sarcastically.

He chuckled under his breath. “You mean my D-Block? Hahaha, who needs speed when you have power and defense? You can hit me all you like and you won’t do any damage. But I invite you to try little girl.” Alex replied as he abruptly shut off the communications link leaving Michelle staring at the blank screen in complete frustration.

“That little bastard…”

            The match began and Michelle quickly boosted forward. Red Dawn flew in a circular pattern as D-Block constantly fired the plasma rifle. Each massive thick beam of searing energy surged past Red Dawn as the nimble MF avoided every attack. Alex sneered; she was quick, a lot quicker than any opponent he had ever faced. He realized that if he was going to have any shot at winning the match that he’d have to get within close range of her and strike her fragile MF down. Six boosters on D-Block opened up and fired sending the behemoth forward while Alex continued to fire blindly. The lock on box couldn’t solidify Michelle was too quick. Red Dawn’s pulse rifle began to fire, each fuchsia bubble of energy exploded on the massive core of D-Block, It was true that the MF had a tremendous amount of defense, but the added armor also made it a lot easier to hit. As each pulse came in contact with D-Block the heat inside the MF began to increase drastically. Flashing signs in crimson filled Alex’s display screen all warning him off the dangerous increase in heat expenditure. Alex in a fit of rage hit the control panel which in turn shut off all the warnings.

“I hate that noise! Now come here you little pest!” D-Block flew towards Red Dawn as it sluggishly swung the energy axe. The thin beam of energy that flowed around the metallic blade sliced through the dual chain guns as Red Dawn moved out of the way. A small explosion took the chain guns off of Red Dawn. Michelle smiled as Red Dawn’s kneed suddenly struck the core of D-Block, the initial blow didn’t cause any significant damage but it managed to move D-Block away a few feet. In that instant Red Dawn began to pummel the massive MF with pulse rounds, as each round collided with the armor the thickly armored MF began to emanate smoke. Sweat poured out from Alex’s skin, his jumpsuit became sticky and abrasive to his skin. As he ignored the irritations and the apparent increase in heat his hands pushed the throttles forcing D-Block to swing the energy axe one more time. As the axe descended Michelle ignited the energy shield, a massive flat like shield soon emanated around the left arm deflecting the blow. Alex’s eyes twitched, he stepped onto the accelerators with all his strength but was greeted only with a loud squeaking sound. The six boosters slowly shut off leaving D-Block motionless in the space. Michelle then pulled the throttles inwards causing Red Dawn to punch D-Block in the head unit. The ferocity of the punch sent D-Block’s head flying off the MF’s core.

Mario nearly burst out in excitement over Michelle’s victory. Adam and Stephen remained smiling as they watched their friend indulge in Michelle’s victory.

“Looks like Heather has a difficult opponent in the next round.” Stephen mumbled to Adam.

“Yeah, but something tells me she can handle it.” Adam replied.

            The first day finally came to an end as ‘A-2’ finished its last first round match, with a relatively new pilot, Solice taking a victory over a high ranking EAP pilot Vagrant. Television screens all over Prosperity as well as Earth and military camps on Mars lit up with the radiant reporter from GNT.

“This is Stephanie Star once again reporting from the Prosperity Space Station. The first section has just completed their 1st round and what an opening day it was. We saw exciting matches filled with emotions like, suspension, shock, fear, and anxiety, God only knows what to expect when Section ‘B’ begins their first round tomorrow morning. Here are the current standings for the tournament so far!” Suddenly a translucent ivory list appeared on the screen leaving Stephanie in the background.

A-1

Zach
            Zach
Reine

Leo
Leo
Severen

Heather
            Heather
Miguel

Michelle
            Michelle
Alex

A-2

Fenrir
            Chris
Chris

Caleb
            Caleb
Josh

Ryan
            Ryan
Jason

Vagrant
            Solice
Solice

            “I am Stephanie Star and I hope you enjoyed the first day of the Azure Cup Tournament. Tune in tomorrow for what appears to be one of the best matches in the first round. Mario Liberalis takes on the EAP’s own, Fafner.” As he voice began to fade so did the broadcast.

The first day had come to a conclusion, winners celebrated while the losers soaked and debated if they wanted to stay and watch the rest of the tournament. Adam, Stephen, Mario, Sharon, Ashley, Heather and Michelle all went out for their own celebration dinner. They had invited Zach but he was still in shock over what had happened to Reine. All of them took this as an opportunity to dress up and take a break from the informality that they had been accustomed too. This was a chance to take a break.
As they sat comfortably at their dinner table Adam smiled, he rose his glass to salute the two winners at the table, Heather and Michelle.

“Congratulations you two, this is for you. May you make it to the third round.” Adam mentioned.
Stephen then looked at his brother awkwardly. “Umm we already know one of them will make it, they are going against each other in the 2nd round.” Stephen replied.

“Oh yeah…haha, guess I forgot. Well then good luck to both of you.” Adam said as he refined his toast.
Everyone at the table rose their glass to the toast. Sharon then turned around placing her hand on Adam’s shoulder. He turned around to look at her and instantly his eyes were in amazement. She was radiant in her silk dark blue gown; the color of the gown accentuated her tan skin, and her deep brown eyes. He smirked as she took a sip of her ice filled glass of cola.

“So I guess you like ice now huh. You’re such a hypocrite.” Adam mumbled.

Sharon just glared at Adam and shrugged her shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal.       

“Its ice, who cares? But more importantly when do you fight?” She brought up a good question, Adam has been stuck watching matches and he still had a good amount of time before his own match came to rotation.

“Eh, I’m stuck in Section ‘E-1’ so I have a few days. Its okay I guess, because this way I get a chance to scout the competition.” Adam replied.

“Hahaha, right. Try and make it to the second round, I would hate to have outlasted you.” Heather replied in a snug expression.

“Hahaha, I wouldn’t worry about that Heather. Just concern yourself with your own battles.” Adam replied.

The group continued to laugh throughout the remainder of the night, they were friends, and nothing would get in the way of that.

            Luscious smiled while Severen sat engulfed in his failure.

“You never were an MF pilot so I don’t know why you expected to beat Leo Ombra.” Luscious mentioned.

“My brother and I are twins; we’re supposed to excel in the same areas! I’m tired of being the one who sits here and does nothing. You control Genesis, and Caleb is out there fighting!” Severen screamed.

“That is not always the case. Besides Leo is a professional. He’s done great work for us in the past you know.” Luscious replied.

“Big deal, he managed to secure the 2nd Chimera pilot. That wasn’t too hard.”

“No, but it did his job with the utmost care. But he isn’t our concern. He’s in this tournament for his own accord.”

“Heh, he probably wants to find his lost memories.” Severen interrupted.

“I guess that’s possible. I find it amusing how most people try and find their memories in the cockpit of a machine.”

“Well they were MF pilots before you stole their memories Luscious. Its only natural for them to go back.”

“I guess that makes sense. I heard that the war is beginning to escalate Severen.”

“Yeah, both the TA and the EAP are on the verge of using nuclear weapons. Their frustrations have blinded them.”

“We’re nearing the designated time Severen. It won’t be long now.”

“About that Luscious. I received a report about the clones…”

“The clones? What about them?”

“The scientists are saying that the Beta-versions, the ones that have already been integrated into society have a problem. Their organs have a tendency to emanate a lot of heat, more heat than the human body is equipped to handle. If the clone takes on too much stress it is possible that it will suffer what they refer to as a heat attack. One of these attacks isn’t much to be concerned with, but if they keep up then it is a sign of decomposition and it won’t be long until the clone completely dissolves.” Severen announced.

“I see…well then we better get moving fast. How about the new batch, Alpha, do they share this same defect?”

“No, Alpha is fine.”

“Well that’s a relief then. Here’s to the rebirth of a better sin-free world.” Luscious said as he rose his wine glass into the air.