Saul Metargo's Story

The entire shoreline of the Gatwashiim Peninsula, including the evacuated urban areas, has been preoccupied with naval combat and amphibious assault for a solid three hours since 0630 hours in that area's time. (0630 hours is equivalent to 6:30 AM.) the attacking Metargo forces have not let up at all, putting deep pressure on the defensive forces present. mechs and infantry alike storm the beach in an attempt to soften up land resistance to allow an opening further inland. So far, the Benjlakki garrisons present have been able to hold up, though the ultimate decider would lay with the ongoing fight between the 101st Naval Fleet on the Benjlakki side and the 96th Royal Fleet on the Metargo side. Should the defensive along this coastline succeed, Metargo would have to find a way around the garrisons there.

The intensively trained, newly formed Brown Wing Team was en route to the BRNS Seraphim as part of an assignment to the 101st fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Lionel and Captain Leopold. Once they were on board, they were introduced to the mechs they would be using, including the new prototypes: the A3B-7 Eagles, rumored to be the fastest mechs in the Benjlakki arsenal, yet.

Zechariah got inside his Eagle, in jet fighter mode, and waited for orders from his team's commanding officer to move out. Benjamin noticed his little brother not behaving as he usually would, which was more child-like and mischievous. Ben knew why, however: it was because that had no place in the Navy. Zechariah himself knew he would not walk out of this war while still his old self. The first time someone steps into the battlefield, it changes them forever.

At last, the order was given: they were to set out to fly above the battle in case the radars jammed and surveilence was needed. This also worked as a way to get in on the action knowing what is going on. Brown Wing Team launched and went up an altitude to where much of the scene could be witnessed from above, waiting to intercept whomever posed a serious threat to the fleet. So far, it was a stalemate, with neither one downing a ship from the other. It was a testament to how balanced out the two fleets were. The navies on both sides considered them the fleets that would determine which direction the war would go.

---

Meanwhile, on board the MRNS Titan, Lion Team just received prototypes of their own, called the RL-5 Falcons. Their mission was to make a hole in the opposing fleet's lines in order to enable a bombardment. Aaron and the rest of Lion Team available got in their mechs, most of them in Falcons, personally outfitted by the Titan's personnel with the armaments ahead of time, waiting for the correct moment.

Aaron spoke first. "With Corporal Barnett recovering from surgery in med bay on this ship, we're going to have to rely on our own heads even more, boys."

One of the Lions asked the sergeant, "Why did she need surgery, exactly?"

Kyle, as much as he knew what was going on, did not want others to know as it was private, so he answered in Aaron's place. "All you need to know is that she is, George. Now, focus on the task at hand. You heard Lextu's orders: do not launch until the smoke is released. If we waste time on chatter, we will miss our chance to go."

Aaron nodded. " Fore, don't forget that you follow my orders! Going off doing your own thing is a sure way of dying in battle! And, Howe, once the signal comes, we'll see what you can do besides walk around in fancy attire! Your taskforce in the Lion Team is relying on you to give orders when necessary, so no indecisiveness! The enemy won't be hesitating, at all! Got it?" While waiting for the smoke, he thought to himself, I swear, why do they let brats get the rank of corporal without knowing what the hell to expect by working their way up?

---

Saul Metargo entered the bridge of the ship Zane was in to observe what was going on. He already knew there was no side of the battle had a clear upper hand, meaning he could only hope something would happen. As much as he felt he must fight in order to avoid chaos in his country, there was this silent hope that Prime Minister Lopez would change his mind and call for Parliament to approve a cease-fire attempt. Such hopes were shadowed by the reality before him, however. Even if his country were to attempt negotiations, there was no guarantee Benjlakk would do the same, given its history of relentlessness towards their previous attackers from before the invasion.

"Admiral Preston, I certainly hope this war will end soon. I see no point in fighting, to begin with. There is also another reason: Though we have strength, I fear we may have bitten off more than we can chew." His head lowered some before he added, "Regardless, we will press on." Looking up again, he said to Zane, "With any success, the Leo Vermilions we sent out, in addition to the Lion Team standing by on the Titan for the right moment, will bring forth a breakthrough along this shore."

---

At the beach, wave after wave of Metargo troops made their amphibious assault, each time weakening the local garrison's resistance. It was still considerably strong, yet it was unclear how much longer the army troops there could withstand the attack. The entire shore was filled with troops, defenses, explosions, rubble, fire, and the bodies of men in gray, black, or dark brown uniforms littering it. (Metargo uniforms often had gray, black, or dark brown as the main colors, with their nation's flag's colors as an accent.) Bullets and laser beams sprayed onto the oncoming troops as the advanced towards the Benjlakki positions. The Benjlakki soldiers in green or khaki camouflage uniforms (both standard for the Benjlakki Republic Army) were giving it their all on the defensive, taking casualties as they did so.

In one of the bunkers, a stressed-out Lieutenant kept asking questions about the situation. Of note was the following exchange between the Lieutenant and a Corporal:

"Damn it! Those incoming transports are only used to carry Leo Vermillion mechs! Where the hell are those Navy pilots meant to operate our Praetorians downstairs!?"

"No response, sir! I'm getting nothing but gunfights on the radio!"

"Whatever happened to the cameras!?"

"Inoperable! We can't get a visual on the pilots' staus!"

"Is there anyone up here who can pilot one of those things!?"

"Private 1st Class Vance has had training on one during military school, Lieutenant!"

"You mean to tell me he's the only one!?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Great... Field Marshal Constantini's going to be pissed... All right, take over his gunner post!" The Lietenant then spoke to Larry once the switch was made. "Okay, Vance! Looks like we're going down to where the fireworks are in the bunker's mech bay! Take out the intruders and enter the cockpit of a Praetorian, then eliminate the incoming Leo Vermilions! Strike them at the backs and bellies when you get the opportunity; those are their weak spots! I'm going with you so you don't screw this up!" With those orders given, the Lieutenant sprinted with Vance towards where the action was at the mech bay and provided covering fire for him.

---

While all the fighting was taking place, one of the palace garrison in Metargo City, Metargo's capital, walked up to Princess Viki and relayed the news with a salute. "Your Highness, your parents and brother have not yet returned from the front lines. We received word from your father that the 96th Royal Fleet is confronting a Benjlakki fleet proving to pose quite the challenge at one of the shores of the Gatwashiim Peninsula."

Aaron nodded and told everyone on his team right on time. "Steady... steady..." As he waited, mechs called Cherubim surrounded the Titan from the air, firing aimlessly due to the smoke. Without shielding, this was dangerous for the ship, as even with all the blind shots, at least one of them could hit something vital. Hopefully, for Metargo's military, it would not happen. At last, Aaron and the Lion Team were clear. "Lion Team, launching!" Aaron's RL-5 Falcon, in jet fighter mode, flew out of the launch bay, the rest of Lion Team's mechs following suit. "Falcons, focus your weapons on the enemy mechs! The rest of you, aim at their ships' weapons!"

Soon enough, the pulse came. The Cherubim surrounding the Titan were disabled. The ones above the Titan inevitably collided with the ship. There was no telling what damage could have been done. Would the armor on the Titan hold up? Whatever the case, Lion Team had a mission to perform, so they had to get to it. The Falcons fired their missiles at oncoming mechs from the opposing fleet, grabbing the attention of some of the others away from protecting their respective ships. Once the missiles were all released and met their targets, the Falcons on Lion Team switched to humanoid mode and began their rampage on the Benjlakki mechs fighting them, Lion Team's other mechs tasked with the enemy ships' weapons.

Whereas Kyle used his mech's knives in a balance of speed and maneuverability, Aaron applied brutality with his double-bladed beam sward, at one point slicing three Sabre Bleus in half at once. Compared to the more battle-hardened Mysticaran Federation's golem riders, these Benjlakki mech pilots were mediocre.

---

Zechariah heard Captain Leopold and told him, "We are already in the air, captain, as per the sergeant's orders."

Brown Wing Team witnessed from above the devastating blow the enemy's new ship dealt with just one blast. Zechariah was both shocked and amazed by how the Ion Weaponry on that smoke-concealed ship could disable mechs so easily. If he could manage to create an energy chamber an a smaller scale for such beam ammunition for his mech firearms, he would not have to worry about killing nearly as much. Being a Solar Technician, he already got a head start on his personal project. This was getting ahead of himself, though.

Surely, enough, Zech witnessed a mech squadron come out and confront a bunch of the Benjlakki mechs (plus a few destroyers' weapons) below. A closer examination via camera indicated some of those were new mechs. However, the techniques matched the ones from the briefing. There was no doubt about it: that was Lion Team, and the mech inflicting heavy casualties with a double-bladed beam sword was piloted by Aaron Lextu.

Zechariah reported it to the current sergeant at the time. "Sergeant! Lion Team is down there! They came out of that ship!"

The sergeant nodded and ordered all Brown Wings to intercept Falcons on the Lion Team. Everyone in the squadron immediately dove into the scene to confront the threat to the local defensive efforts. They leveled off just above the water, but before they came within firing range, the Sergeant's mech was hit by a stray blast and immediately blew up. Zechariah could not believe it: the first mission, and already they lost a pilot, the very leader of Brown Wing Team, even.

The Brown Wings were about to scatter when Zechariah spoke up. "Fire a sonic missile each, if you have one! Draw the Lion Team away from the fleet!" One of the corporals spoke up to try to pull rank, yet Zech interrupted by saying, "Just do it!" It was then that any Eagles fired one of their sonic missiles, including from the Eagles. manned by Zechariah and Benjamin.

At the same time, Aaron was busy slicing through his opponents when Kyle just got finished stabbing an enemy Sabre Bleu, getting out of the way of a resulting explosion when he noticed objects flying their way. A closer examination using the computers and camera indicated those were missiles (he did not realize those were sonic ones).

Private Scipio immediately shouted his observations to Aaron, "Sergeant! Missiles incoming!"

Aaron responded by saying, "Intercept 'em!"

Kyle, Aaron, and the other Falcons in the Falcon Team barely had enough time to shoot the missiles before they came too close to be lethal, but once they were hit with lasers or bullets, those same missiles' true feat was unleashed: sonic pulse waves impacted with the Falcons on Lion Team, pushing them away from the Benjlakki mechs that had already retreated after detecting those missiles incoming via their computers. The Falcons nearly lost their energy shields to the sonic waves.

Aaron was outraged. "Long-Ranged Sonic missiles!? The Benjlakki beat us to developing that sort of technology first!?" In the distance, He could see mechs heading his team's way, at a low altitude. The Falcon of Fury realized right away those were the mechs who fired the missiles. "I got their leader! Everyone else, engage the rest of the enemy squadron! Stay sharp, Howe, and don't lose sight of your target!"

Zechariah noticed the Lion Team approaching, meaning his plan to draw them away worked. Now, for the hard part: the actual dogfight. The Eagles in Brown Wing Team switched to humandoid mode right on time: they were face to face with the fiercest of Metargo mech squadrons. Aaron charged at Zechariah, whom moved his Eagle to the side and open-fired to attempt to disarm Aaron. Their first one-on-one dogfight against each other began.

Kyle decided to pull out his mech's handgun for ranged while still holding on to the knife he had, aiming at one of the mechs (Cecilia's) and shooting. Whether or not it would hit was a mystery. He was close enough that it was possible, though.

---

Now that the mech bay was back in Benjlakki possession, the Lieutenant shouted to Vance, "Now's your chance! Go! Go!"

---

Saul saw the Titan's move and sighed. "Let us hope the Titan can hold out, Preston. This is their first mission, and if I know anything about first battles, they are nearly always the hardest. Have Oikawa stand by; we may need to use his ship's abilities to at least make it possible to make a getaway, should all else fail. If we lose here, our entire fleet can at least try to find a way around the enemy. Be sure to have four squadrons of mechs protect him the whole battle, then escort him in the case of retreat being necessary." Contacting Scoar, he told him, "Son, so far, the fleet I am with is holding up, though it is unclear who has the advantage, right now. How are matters in the battle you are in?"

Zane Preston

Zane stood in the bridge watching the operation as it got underway. Things were going, neither quite smoothly nor badly. Zane preferred to wait the situation out a little. He knew the enemy was very nervous as they should be. Zane believed confidence could mean the difference between victory and defeat. King Saul Metargo commented on the situation as they observed the happening.

"Admiral Preston, I certainly hope this war will end soon. I see no point in fighting, to begin with. There is also another reason: Though we have strength, I fear we may have bitten off more than we can chew." His head lowered some before he added, "Regardless, we will press on." Looking up again, he said to Zane, "With any success, the Leo Vermilions we sent out, in addition to the Lion Team standing by on the Titan for the right moment, will bring forth a breakthrough along this shore."

Zane remained peering at the observation monitor. “Your majesty, I feel that this is more of a test of wills than of might. We are more than equipped to put them down. Likewise so could they ward us away. It’s merely a matter of confidence and skill. The enemy is nervous and if we make every movement of ours steeped in undeniable confidence it will deal a steadily heavy blow to the enemy moral and then we’ll have them.” Zane turned partway toward the King. “I agree with you, you’re Highness, this could have been handled without resorting violence. I dislike strong arm tactics and that is what this invasion is. However I also believe that a war between our nations was inevitable. Either side but only needed the proper excuse. The question always loomed over the leaders of either nation, who’s superior. Empires are built on strength and power. Without a proper test of that strength an empire will lose its validity. There are those in Metargo that seek validation. That’s what this is truly about, in my humble opinion.” Zane continued with a smile.

The Titan made its move. Zane turned toward King Saul and saluted, “Might I suggest that what the Metargo needs is to devastate the enemy with a power strike. This would shake them and secure an upper hand in the confrontation.”

"Let us hope the Titan can hold out, Preston. This is their first mission, and if I know anything about first battles, they are nearly always the hardest. Have Oikawa stand by; we may need to use his ship's abilities to at least make it possible to make a getaway, should all else fail. If we lose here, our entire fleet can at least try to find a way around the enemy. Be sure to have four squadrons of mechs protect him the whole battle, then escort him in the case of retreat being necessary." Saul replied.

Zane was reminded of when he was headed off to the enemy nation for the current battle, and he visited Azaka before leaving. Azaka was in the middle of a rehearsal with his band when Zane visited. “Hey Songbird.” Zane said as he entered the studio and saw Azaka. Songbird was Zane’s pet name for Azaka. Azaka asked for a short break and the group disbursed to give the couple some time. They all knew that Zane would be heading off to battle and wanted the two to have as much time as they could get before separating.

“Zane come for last looks have you?” Azaka joked.

Zane chuckled, “No. I came for motivation. You’re my muse you know.” Zane replied as he pulled his lover close. The two sat and chatted playfully for about 30mins however the talk of war was a unavoidable and pending subject.

“Zane… you know I was told today that there is a possibility that I’d be summoned for Operation Azaka. The letter came to me this morning.” Azaka said in a melancholy tone.

“I see.” Zane replied calmly. “It looks like I have very little time Songbird. You just hold down the fort here okay. Keep the Metargo citizens smiling and singing okay? If the people lose morale then I might as well hand in my resignation and Metargo surrender.” Zane stood to his feet and so did Azaka. Zane hugged Azaka close and turned toward the door. After Zane took a few paces toward the exit Azaka called out to him once more.

“Wait! Zane, let me help.” Azaka said with a worried look on his face.

Zane replied after he turned around, “You help more than you know Azaka. I love you Songbird.”

Zane shook his head a little, as to bring himself out of his memories. Zane turned toward the King and saluted, “Yes sire. I’ll send for Oikawa right away. I suppose a blast from the Sonic Cannon would be a devastating enough blow to the enemy.” Zane replied.


Azaka Oikawa

Azaka had received word that he was to depart Metargo for the Benjlakki Nation immediately. He was excited and nervous at the same time. He had operated the Sonic Cannon before for the military and was damn good at it. However this time things were different. He would be using the Sonic Cannon to attack a nation that used to be on good terms with Metargo, a nation that was a part of his fan base. Now he would be seen as a representative of the enemy to those citizens and fans. It was hitting harder to him that he was to become a symbol of war. Azaka had soon arrived in Benjlakki. He was briefed on the battle situation and began preparations for the order to begin Operation Azaka.

“I’ve written a song for this battle. I hope Zane hears it and is inspired. I hope all the soldiers are inspired. I’ve named it ‘Clock Strikes’. Let’s get ready to sing to the stars guys!” Azaka said to the crew optimistically. He knew he needed to be enthusiastic so that the others were in good spirits as well.


Azaka’s song: "Clock Strikes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YZlFdTI ... A&index=27



Viki Lunaria Metargo

While all the fighting was taking place, one of the palace garrison in Metargo City, Metargo's capital, walked up to Princess Viki and relayed the news with a salute. "Your Highness, your parents and brother have not yet returned from the front lines. We received word from your father that the 96th Royal Fleet is confronting a Benjlakki fleet proving to pose quite the challenge at one of the shores of the Gatwashiim Peninsula."

Viki was happy to have finally received word from her family. She was instructed by her parents to remain in Metargo and hold down the fort as the substitute ruler of Metargo in her Father’s absence. Viki replied with a worried expression, “Oh dear…what should I do? The people are waiting for an update on battle progress and I haven’t a clue of what to tell them.” After pacing back and forth Viki came up with an idea.

“I know what I’ll do! I’ll simply ask daddy myself! I’ve been on his ship before I’ll simply teleport there and ask him what would be best for me to tell the people!” Viki exclaimed. With a wave of her magic Wow wand glowing golden spell circled spiraled around her and she vanished.

A split second later she appeared right in front of where her father was standing. “Daddy!!” she exclaimed as she lunged into him giving Saul a big hug. Her face nuzzled into his chest, “Papa I’m so glad you’re okay! I was worried.” She said. After letting him go, she further explained herself. “I came to ask your advice. I’m not sure what to say in my address to the people. They were asking me for a statement from the royal family. The advisors suggested some things but it simply seemed way too confusing and insincere to repeat. Papa do you have any suggestions?”

Sandra watched the map as the attack was made, she was slowly realizing that this was no feint and clearly this attack was going to be a major threat to the entire fleet if nothing was done. She was going to have to start pulling units to launch a counter attack against the Titan.

"Captain Leopold I want you to move to engage that ship." Sandra said as she began to look where else she could pull ships from.

"I want the Battleships Resmark and Unao to pull back and form up with us to engage that Vessel and someone find me a few destroyers we can spare!"

Sandra knew she was acting quickly but that ship was a major threat and she was going to need to pull more reserves to stop or at least draw the things fire.

"I want every non committed aircraft to be moved to engage that ship it cannot be allowed to fire that weapon at our ground forces again!" Sandra looked over the map as she surveyed what she was moving the lines would be thinner in the air in someplaces but she couldn't ignore a threat of that size and firepower.

------
A few moments after Sandras order for available fighters to be scrambled Kal was in his ship. He cleared with launch command and now he was racing towards the enemy threat. He kept his ship low and was traveling at Mach 3 for any on the beach all they would hear was a deafening crack as he flew overhead.

Kal turned the safety off on his plasma cannons and let a flurry of rounds hit a section of approaching Mango's on the ground before he began to climb to a higher altitude. "Serin, How far is that ship from here?" Kal asked as he reduced his speed to just over Mach 1

"3km and Closing" Serinm, Kals onboard AI stated.

Date: 4 months before the first battle.
Time: 2100

Flames. That's all Cain could see. It was like he had died and went to his designated place in hell. Although he knew he was very much alive, he had wished he hadn't been. Running through the flaming underground corridors, he dodged each of the crackling embers that had tried to bite him.

I have to make it. I have to stop this.

As he ran further in the screams were sounding closer to his ear lobes. The screams of death and agony. Oh how he didn't want to be late. He had to make sure for himself that the letter he found on his bed was just a dream.
Entering the maintenance corridor for ghost he saw it. The mountain of bodies burning like a bonfire. The scent of human flesh stung his nose like a violent wasp. He looked around furiously. No. He was in delusion. Delusion that made him oblivious to the real matter at hand. That's when he saw him. It was almost as if he was out of his own body and starring at himself. He looked as the figure slowly walked down the mountain and made his way towards him. He knew that if it went a certain way, he too would become one with the burning fire. For once in his life he had fear. The only person in the world who he couldn't touch was finally going to challenge him. The one person who he couldn't bring himself to fight. Instead, he closed his eyes and prepared to die. Yes. Death would be better than living in a world where things like this happen. He felt the presence of the man etching closer and closer to him, but, instead of killing him, the man said something. "Live your life Cain. Not someone elses." After those words he felt a sharp pain to his abdomen and everything went black.

Date: Present time.
Time: Between 0600 and 0900.

Scoar and Cain walked to the NEAR SHADOW, anticipating a hard battle. It was lucky for them that Cain had experience in this suit before. "How's Barnett doing?" Cain asked.

"Mom said she should be okay. She's just a little tired and needed to rest. How about you?"

"I just do what I'm told. Haven't been able to rest in a while. Haven't needed to."

"Really? You're happy just to keep up with any orders and not rest yourself?"

Cain nodded. "That's my job. To protect the kingdom and their people."

Scoar let out a slight sigh. "You know Cain, you can't protect everyone. No matter how much power you have. Everything will be fine so don't worry about it too much. You need to take it easy every now and then. Kay?"

Giving another nod, Cain put on his flight suit and went to board his vessel. Scoar followed suit and entered the back seat. Flicking some switches, the hatch closed and the operation checks started. "Engagement systems." Scoar called.
"Check." Cain announced.
"Thrusters."
"Check."
"Nano Tech."
"Check."
"Combat Energy."
"Full Power."
"Mission."
"Accepted."
"Move out!!!"

Cain took the NEAR SHADOW out of the bay and flew towards enemy lines.

"Alright Cain, our mission is simple. We pick off those who are on the offensive towards us so that they don't get close to the mother ship. The Brown Wing team has been sent on a diversion so they have to fight slightly defensive. Even so, their are still mechs that were sent to push us back. We have to make sure that we have the upper hand defensively."

"Roger."

As the Near Shadow landed Cain flicked a switch making it go invisible. They were in the grassy forest of Benjlakk but Cain knew the forest and his surroundings all to well. After all, he had been sent on countless missions before with his old team. Slowly creeping through the fields he came across a group of armed units. Gazing at the units blankly he counted each member.

"Targets spotted. Seven in sight. Ready for extermination." He said plainly.
"Strike." Scoar commanded.

Cain led his mech swiftly towards the first couple of mechs. He retracted the points on the suits right golden arm and combined them together. Going out of stealth mode he enabled the points to form a beam saber attached to the mechs wrist. The enemy units seemed surprised by the mech suddenly appearing in front of them. In any other circumstance Cain would allow them to live, but this was different. He couldn't let Benjlakk know about the Near Shadow production. No, not just yet. 'Poor souls' he thought, 'They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.'

Cain proceed to dice the first two mechs with a quick slash and jumped out of the way from the explosion it caused. He then held out the Near Shadow's left hand which lit up and blasted the three mechs closest to him.

"Two more to go."

Out of fear, or maybe orders, the other two mechs tried to escape. Alas, this was to no avail as Cain easily caught up to them. After all, his mech was the fastest design in Metargo history. running was only an option for him, not his enemy.
They went down quickly as Cain stabbed on in the chest and blasted the other.

"Targets, eliminated. Ready to return to mother ship until further orders arise."

"Good job man." Scoar said with a smile on his face.

"Hehe. I feel bad for them. They didn't even try to fight back. What is Benjlakk thinking sending these guys to fight us?"

Scoar shrugged his shoulders as he got a call on his intercom.

"Son, so far, the fleet I am with is holding up, though it is unclear who has the advantage, right now. How are matters in the battle you are in?" Saul asked.

"They seem to have a few forces here and there trying to go on the offensive still. I think as long as they don't have any definite change, they'll be forced to all retreat and go on the defensive one hundred percent. Cain and I just took down seven of their units. I'm pretty sure that should be enough to calm them down for a while, so Cain and I will go back to the mother ship for now. However, I am sure we will get called out again soon. Other than that, how many units and people have we lost already. Was anyone injured as of late?"

While Scoar was talking Cain saw some flowers of interest. He stepped out the cockpit and went to gather them. He was sure these flowers would be perfect. Afterwards he went back inside. Scoar was too busy talking to his father to notice. That was a good thing he thought, seeing as how the mans always in his business.

I guess that's what best friends are for.

Returning to the maintenance bay on the mother ship, cain hopped out and left Scoar talking to his father.
Taking the elevator with the flowers in his hands he went to the infirmary area. He checked in at the desk and made his way to the door that had Barnetts name on it. Slowly opening it and peeking inside he saw that she was still asleep. This was good. He could leave after he was done setting the flowers into the vase. Taking a closer look at them, he could hardly imagine how such beautiful flowers could grow on a battlefield. He left his note saying : I hope these flowers bring you good health. He didn't leave his name on the card, just thought it would be something nice to do. It also didn't cross his mind seeing as he was preoccupied with thoughts of his next mission.

Looking at her sleeping face, Cain remembered what Scoar had told him awhile ago.
"If you like someone, then you should tell them. Be a man. Hahaha."

Yeah right. Like I could do something like that.

He left the room slowly closing the door. It wasn't that he was shy. That wasn't the reason at all. It was just that Cain didn't see himself as ever having a girlfriend, a wife, or even a family. He knew his place was to alone. Something he had told himself for many years. That's his job, to take orders and to do what he's told. Scratching his head he went back to the elevator and took it back to the bay. He was ready to hear what Scoars father had told him.

Date: 1 week prior to battle.
Time: 0100

Axl waited inside a hotel room until it was dark enough to make his move. It was an easy route that he took to get to President Anderson's estate. Luckily for him there weren't many guards on post this night. Well, maybe more lucky for them. Seeing as he would have to probably do more than just knock them out if they were to attack. Easy wasn't the half of it. In fact he only came across three men. He sighed at the boredom.

Walking into the Presidents bedroom, he gently pushed the man away. "Mr. President. I have a proposition for you. That is, if you'll hear me out."

Date: Present.
Time: 0600-0900

Axl didn't like his current position. Sure he had all the freedom to do whatever he wanted but having someone watch him. That was a bummer if he had to say so. He gave secret information to Benjlakk in order to join their teams and this was the thanks that they gave him. A babysitter.
Giving a harsh sigh he turned around, glaring, but not a hateful glare. More of an agitated one. "Hey, Vika." He called to the person in the back seat of his mech. Well she wasn't quite actually a person but Axl would call her no less than human. "What exactly are we doing just sitting here. We waiting for orders are something. Damn. I hate just sitting and waiting." He said as he turned around and put his feet up on the monitors.

After all, I have to make my presence known.

Aaron nodded, then said to the Captain, "We'll try." No promises, though Taking a look at his radar, he wondered where Howe could have gone off to. Finally, he spotted his mech's heat signal, but it was coming from the shoreline. Maybe the sonic pulse from the missiles had something to do with it. Regardless, solo operations were suicide. Sooner or later, reinforcements from the enemy will show up. It seems he was facing a Praetorian, but given how three Benjlakki Navy Squadrons made their way to the garrison, it was unlikely the lone Praetorian would deal with Howe alone. And to think he only told Fore not to go off and do his own thing; Howe was doing the same thing Fore was told not to do. Even if communications were cut, there were methods to signal with the mech itself certain things.

There was no time to think on it, now: a beam from his target's beam rifle hit Aaron's Falcon on the arm with the double-bladed beam sword. Thankfully, shields were in place and the armor could resist it nonetheless. With each attempted slash came another evasion from his target. Zechariah shot at Aaron carefully, making sure to use the opportunity to see a pattern in the movements. Many of the shots were blocked by the beam blades on the double-bladed sword. Zech then realized that fighting from in front would prove difficult against Aaron, so he attempted to get behind him.

Aaron knew that maneuver, however, and side-flew to cut off Zechariah's flight path. What would have been a fatal slice in two ended up a beam sword lock because of Zechariah's swift thinking on his feet. The lock did not last long, as Zech felt his mech unable to hold it for long, so he kicked free of it before he could be entirely overwhelmed. The kick did not force Aaron's mech backwards by much, though. That moment told Zechariah that he would lose in a battle of strength to Aaron. Speed would be the asset that would work in his favor.

Aaron moved forward for another slash, which instantly turned into a dance of lethal proportions between him and Zechariah. Aaron used strength and durability, while Zechariah applied speed and maneuverability. Eventually, though, after losing a beam rifle that he intended to use during the scuffle, he finally got behind with enough distance for a shot with another rifle he attatched to the side of his mech. Aaron managed to turn around in time to avoid a hit to the arm with the double-bladed beam sword, but while turning around, the other arm received a hole from a second shot and exploded, leaving his mech with just the one arm. As much as he hated getting rid of a part of something he worked so hard to customize, he pressed a button which jettisoned half of the double-bladed beam sword, turning the other half effectively into one with a single blade to adjust to using just one arm on the mech.

"This bastard did more damage to my Falcon in the sword fight than I thought... the shields must be down..." Lextu said to himself before making another charge.

Zechariah's mech sustained some damage, too, first from his Eagle's right leg denting slightly from making that kick (Metargo mech armor is stronger), then from the series of several hits received during the sword fight. At this point, Zech could not afford to take any more than two more hits to any part of his Eagle's body. With the shields down, it will be that much more difficult to hold out. Zech side-flew and brought out his beam sword yet again, but only to block incoming attacks in an attempt to get some more distance.

During this second scuffle, Aaron remembered that Alan flew off the moment he gave the first orders after the fight. That idiot! He should have attacked an enemy ship's weapons before this dogfight! His mech is not a Falcon! Why does he always disobey my orders!? I swear, if he disobeys again, I'll personally burn him and his contract! This is what happens when we allow mercenary filth to join our ranks! They are no better than mafia rats!

---

Benjamin had already blasted away a Falcon with his Beam SMG at close range when a series of long-distance beams came towards him, one barely missing, yet it was enough to make him aware of where it came from. flying towards the source, he knew right away it came from a mech on one of the wings of the Titan. They looked like they were folding, meaning if the enemy mech remained standing there for too long, he would be toast. Then again, it would be one less enemy to deal with, and if the foe stayed there long enough, maybe he could make the kill before the Titan did it for him.

Ben swiftly shifted to fighter jet mode prior to charging towards the enemy, evading shots from the ongoing crossfire while doing so. He switched to humanoid mode in time to use his beam SMG to shoot down a couple enemy mechs that charged at him to protect the wings of the Titan, right before continuing his charge at the mech on that wing. "That Metargo's a sitting duck if he stays there!" He used the beam SMG to strafe his opponent while bringing out his Beam Knife and throwing it at the mech, sending the beam blade into a spinning motion towards the enemy. If it did not hit, it would at least tear a hole in the wing of the enemy ship.

---

Kyle could not believe the speed at which the Eagle (Cecilia's) went to evade his shot, even more so to realize the enemy reappeared to the side. Quickly reacting, he slashed his mech's knife to block while thrusting the engines for a forward motion to enable a lock since the armor of his mech was not that strong. He attempted to bang the handle of his Beam Handgun onto the opponent's head to try to disable the cameras. Whether or not it would work, he would attempt a kick to the torso (where the cockpit was) to force the enemy backwards while he attempted to get behind 'em and stab with a swift motion. With any success, it would give him the advantage. The attack from behind had to hit, however. If not, things could be difficult.

---

Saul nodded, then said, "Not anyone we know, Scoar, though the medical bay on Admiral Preston's flagship is full of men receiving medical attention. The numbers for the casualties are still racking up, but I believe it is roughly 5500 ground troops, nine ships, and 180 mechs. Amphibious assaults have always resulted in heavy casualties."

Hanging up, Saul took a step back in surprise when his daughter enthusiastically appeared in front and gave him a hug. It was a pleasant surprise, though. Hugging back until she let go, he heard her mention an official statement which needed to be given. Pondering for a moment, and checking the screen, he told her, "You could mention that we are still battling at the Gatwashiim Peninsula, and that it is a stalemate, so far.

Franklin Constantini Watched the land battle from an electronic map and gritted his teeth at the difficulty of gaining the upper hand. Of course, he had backup from the Navy in the form of air reinforcements, but this was ridiculous. It has been a stalemate for so long, it was unclear who would win in the Gatwashiim Peninsula. We have lost many men, though are holding out and giving the enemy a rough time. Other than at the Gatwashiim Peninsula, we are making progress in weakening the defense forces along the shorelines."

---

Field Marshal Franklin Constantini became irritated by how the battle was going. More than three hours in, and still no indication who has the upper hand. As if that were not enough, the one Praetorian out there to confront the incoming Leo Vermillions was intercepted by a Type 34. If Laurence Vance did not make it in time, there was no telling what kind of damage those LVs could do to the garrison. Thankfully, with three Navy squadrons sent to him by Rear Admiral Lionel, he could do something about this.

He decided to send out a squadron of five mechs, which were three REMs and two Sabre Bleus, which quickly went to intercept the Type 34. This ought to buy Vance enough time to deal with the Leos, which were already along the shore and charging forward.

Sandra clenched her fists as the ship entered combat. It was clear that they were going to have one hell of a fight ahead and Sandra began to follow this battle more closely she had one or two officers monoriting the rest of the fleet but the Titan was now her primary concern. It was then that A thought crossed her mind but it was interrupted as Captain Mckenzie Spoke.

"Captain Get in your mech but I don't want you to attack just yet." Sandra ordered as she crossed the room toward the Ships command area. "I'll act in your place as Captain and Admiral for now, I need to send a message to our Metargo Neighbors." She said with a smile as she walked over to an open comm station and opened a hail for the Titan.

"Attention Metargo Flagship, This is Rear-Admiral Sandra Lionel, Surrender your vessel and call your forces off, fail to do so and you shall force me to fire upon your vessel with our heavy solar cannons. You have one Minute to decide."

Sandra knew she was bluffing on the heavy solar cannon's but the enemy didn't know that.

"Leo on your way to your mech talk to your Mechanic and see if there is anything we can do on the ship to intimidate the enemy." Sandra said.

She shouted over to one of her senior advisers. "Contact Stalker Force Have them ready to strike if that vessel submerses. If they fail to surrender but believe our bluff it will drive them right into our trap."

Under the water 2 Levithans and two submersible mech groups along with 2 Destroyers and 4 Hunter Killer subs(Will post the details eventually ooc) were running silently beneath the waves. The ships recieved the encoded message crews were ordered to duty stations prepping for an ambush.

Barnett Belvedere

Barnett awoke and shuffled in her bed. She felt a bit tired after her surgery. However she was more annoyed that she was on bed rest and couldn’t aid the rest of the Lion Team during such a crucial time. She looked over to the end table near the bed and noticed a beautiful vase of flowers with a little card. She wanted to reach for them but her chest was still a bit sore from the operation. “Oh… Why was I born with such excess baggage…? Geez any girl that complains about lack should really reconsider her wishes.” She fussed to herself. The door opened and in walked her co-worker and friend Minmei Midori.

(NPC Minmei Midori)



“Finally awake Barnett? Gosh I hope you’re feeling better. The support team and operators are having a really rough time without you onboard.” Minmei said with a relieved smile.

“Sorry about that… Hey Minmei, are the others upset about my having the operation during this critical moment? I hope they understand how it feels to have your chest knocking about while in a cockpit during battle. It’s totally uncomfortable.” Barnett replied as she sat up.
“Nobody’s upset with you Barnett. Besides they all know how hard you work and feel you needed to take a rest. See, someone even brought you flowers! They’re so pretty too.” Minmei said as he handed the vase over to Barnett. She then picked up the card and read it. “There’s no name on it. Hmm… looks like you’ve got a secret admirer Barnett~ who do you think it is?” Minmei added.

Barnett blushed as she examined the flowers. “Who? I wonder…” She replied.

---

Viki Lunaria Metargo, Zane Preston, Azaka Oikawa

Viki was a little disappointed that there was not any definitively positive information to relay to the Metargo public but she understood. Viki nodded to her father. “Alright then I shall do my best and deliver the news. Be careful papa. I don’t want to be a queen anytime soon.” Viki said with a giggle and a cute wink. She turned to Admiral Preston, “Please protect him, my brother and mother Admiral Preston. I don’t know what I’d do without them.” Viki added with a unusually serious disposition.

Zane gave a casual smile. “No worries princess. You be careful too. You never know if the enemy is preparing an attack on your life as you are alone in Metargo. Take great care.” Zane replied.

“yes sir!” Viki replied enthusiastically with a salute before teleporting away.

Not long afterward a transmission was received. "Attention Metargo Flagship, This is Rear-Admiral Sandra Lionel, Surrender your vessel and call your forces off, fail to do so and you shall force me to fire upon your vessel with our heavy solar cannons. You have one Minute to decide."

Bluff or not, Zane knew that the situation was dire and desperate measures were soon to be taken. “Prepare for Operation Azaka to commence.” He commanded. He knew that the Metargo fleet needed to score a devastating blow to the enemy to secure the upper hand. Zane did want to risk putting Azaka in any danger but he had little choice. He began to head for the area holding his mech. “I shall be taking to the field myself soon.” Zane stated as he walked out of the observation room.

After being rushed out of the medical ward by Barnett, Minmei reported to the bridge to continue her operators duties. Barnett knew that the team needed it’s most capable operators in such a crucial time and that Minmei need not be wasting time checking in on her. Zane communicated with the bridge via com link. “How swiftly can Operation Azaka begin? According to Rear-Admiral Sandra Lionel, we have one minute to reply to her demands else we risk a pretty nasty attack on the Titan. If I know Azaka he’s already set to commence.” Zane said.

Minmei seemed to type in commands on the operators keyboard at light speed. After scanning the situation of sonic cannon preparations she replied. “Yes Admiral, Mr. Oikawa is in place and all systems are go with the sonic cannon. The armored protection unit is also in place to guard the Sonic cannon as well.”

“Wonderful. Commence operation!”

Azaka stood on the emulator’s deck of the Sonic Cannon. Now that the cannon was in place he was awaiting the command to begin. “Once I start, there’s no taking this back.” He said quietly to himself as he held his guitar. His band were ready behind him. The order was given and Azaka began to play his song.
(Azaka’s song; the link below)
http://youtu.be/6YZlFdTIdzM

The music began and the holographic imagery projectors fired up. Azaka sang and played the guitar as the battle waged on, his image holographically projected onto the field of battle. The song blared out into the atmosphere and enemy communication began to jam up. Without triangulating the proper cm frequency they wouldn’t be able to use their com devices without a massive amount of static interference. As the song went on the Sonic Cannon charged up and began firing sonic beams at groups of enemy units. As Azaka played on he only hoped that Zane was safe. He had not yet seen his mech out on the field of battle so he was slightly relieved.

---

"We'll try." Aaron's voice came over the communication link Raiyn had established and she nodded briefly.

"That's good enough for me," she responded and left it at that as she turned her concentration to the Titan's change over to submersing.

"Captain, some of Lion Team has been separated... I can't find Laurence," one of the tactician's called out as she was also monitoring the fight between Lion Team and Brown Wing.

Captain Raiyn's heart skipped a beat as her hand clenched into a fist that was resting on the armrest with her head propped against it. She hadn't been expecting that and her thoughts whirled rather quickly. Had he been shot down? Possibly. Was his mech just damaged enough to where it couldn't hail anyone? Most likely. Raiyn ground her teeth as she sat there for a moment. Her thoughts finally centered on what she was going to do, pulling everything together in the span of only a moment.

"Captain, the rear wing is having trouble retracting due to damage sustained," the pilot called, his voice on the edge of panic. He'd probably done just about everything he could and it still wasn't working.

Damnit, one thing after another, she thought, "Override it, force the damn thing. It's damaged already," she ordered sharply. The man simply nodded his head, preferring not to say anything in the growing tension on the bridge. A loud sound rang out through the room then, taking Raiyn's attention. Glancing down a button was flashing on her armrest and she narrowed her eyes. Pressing it, a woman's voice echoed across the bridge.

"Attention Metargo Flagship, This is Rear-Admiral Sandra Lionel, Surrender your vessel and call your forces off, fail to do so and you shall force me to fire upon your vessel with our heavy solar cannons. You have one Minute to decide."

Silence fell, all but the pilot glanced over to the Captain who rested in her chair with one slender finger tapping the armrest. Slowly a grin pulled on her lips as she raised her gaze to look out the window before her. The flagship that had hailed them was pointed directly at them, but hadn't made a move to engage, not since the Titan had charged it earlier.

"The wing is being fully retracted!"

"Drop the bridge for submersing. Dive," Raiyn said coldly, her gaze never leaving the vessel that sat on the other side of the battlefield facing hers as the bridge began to descend. There's my answer, Rear Admiral, the Captain thought cruelly. The Titan's nose dropped forward, coming down to fall into the water in a streamline fashion. As the Titan fell towards the water, the wings on either side finally pulling into the hull of the ship, the vessel shook and alarms rang throughout the bridge.

"What happened!?" Raiyn yelled, partially standing from her seat.

"Severe damage to the port side rear wing!"

"Has it fully retracted?"

"Not yet," the pilot called back as he frantically tried to get it to fold in completely.

"Close the bulk head doors to that section immediately!" Raiyn stood completely, her voice barking out the order. There was a call back in acknowledgement, and then the vessel hit the seawater.

"Captain! Sergeant Lextu's mech has taken heavy damage!" the brown haired woman called out sharply.

Turning her attention there for a moment she looked at the screen as the tactician took the battle that had played out just a second ago and let Raiyn view it. A soft growl filled the back of her throat as she watched the fight up to where Aaron's mech lost it's arm in the fight. Flipping around she sat back into the seat as the Titan descended down further. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. A good fighter, very good with a sword if I do say so myself, thinking of how he'd fought brought a bit of a grin to her lips. Watching that fight almost made her leave the bridge in command of her Second to take her own mech out and fight with her own swords.

"Level out, don't go too deep," she called and peeled open her eyes to concentrate on the next portion of her fight. Aaron was doing just fine on his own, though he'd lost the arm to the mech, he was still very capable. That much she was sure of judging by his fighting just a moment ago. Just make it back to the Titan...

"Power the engines, head straight for that damned fla-" her voice was cut off as another round of alarms filled the room and the vessel shuddered violently. There was a cry from some place on the bridge and Raiyn glanced around quickly to see what had happened. Explosions were hitting the Titan from all sides causing more damage to the vessel. Her heart pounded hard as she processed all the information that was coming at her from all across the bridge.

Flooding was beginning to happen in some sections near the aft of the ship, the wings were taking minor damage but any more would be detrimental. Some of the power was beginning to fail because of damage to certain area's of the ship. One of the engines was in danger of being destroyed to add to it. For a single moment, the onrush was overwhelming. Then, Raiyn sat back on the chair and laughed lightly. Of course this wouldn't be easy. If it were, she wouldn't have enjoyed it.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she muttered to herself, then raised her voice once again, gaining control over the panicked voices of her subordinates, "Fire torpedoes and missiles. Begin strafing with continuous fire. Direct as much power to the engines as possible."

Her orders were met with a resounding cry of 'roger' or 'yes' and the team began working on their tasks. Once the power to the engines was enough, Raiyn would shout out her next round of orders. In the mean time, she leaned against the back of her chair heavily as her eyebrows came down, nearly meeting at the middle. If Barnett were here things would be much easier with her mech, she mused as she tapped the arm of the chair. The protection offered by that mech would have been valuable for the Titan during this run. Voices filled the room as the missiles were released from their chambers. One submersed vessel, then two were destroyed, a couple of underwater mechs followed right after. However, the barrage didn't stop and the Titan still shook and shuddered as the damage built up slowly.

"Captain... there's... music playing above us."

Once again, Raiyn smiled and she laughed out loud this time, "Wonderful timing Admiral," she said, chuckling slightly, "Release power in the engines, full throttle. Bring us up to the surface. Once you're in range, fire whatever weapons we have left at that flag ship and head straight for the coastline."

"The rear wings won't be able to sustain flight for very long, Captain," the pilot announced as he began to push the engines to their limits.

"All we need is to get on shore, from there we can have Lion Team meet up with us and if we're lucky we'll find Laurence while we're at it. They can protect us while the wings are repaired enough for flight," she called back. Raiyn knew it was dangerous, dropping behind enemy lines. However, what other choice did she have? Titan began her upward ascent, rising up above the water and the bridge soon followed to be replaced to where it was before the drop.

The pilot maneuvered her very well as she plunged skywards, spraying seawater all over. The damaged rear wings deployed the the Titan lurched a bit as it leveled out. They streaked straight for the Flag Ship that had issued the warning and unloaded whatever weaponry that was left, which at that point wasn't very much. The Titan flew straight over the vessel a bit rickety before cruising towards the desert shoreline. A loud beeping filled the bridge again. Raiyn didn't need to be told anything as she watched from her seat with her teeth grinding together. They were barely going to make the coast line, the wings were failing and the vessel was slowly loosing altitude.

"Get as far as you can from the coast!" She shouted before slamming her finger on an emergency com link next to her, "Titan cannot sustain flight any longer. We're taking refuge on land, Lion Team, fall back to the Titan to assist in recovery! I repeat, the Titan cannot sustain flight-!"

She opened her mouth to say more, however she was jostled from the seat and thrown forward as the vessel nose dived straight into the dunes of the sandy desert.

Chemda and Adira finally managed to defeat a formidable Falcon together. When they the other Eagles heading towards the Titan, they figured they ought to help out until they saw the fighting on the other side of the battle. Turning their mech's heads towards each other and having them nodding in agreement, the twins flew towards the scene of heavy fire. Without even communicating through words, they worked as a team and gracefully fought their way to the scene. Actually being in the midst of the intense fighting caused some worry. One hit from the sonic canon would surely be in the end of one of them. Of course, with the mech dogfighting so intense in the area, their primary focus was to wade it out until the moment they can strike at the canon.

--

Field Marshal Constantini observed from the holographic map the battle between the fleets, which was getting more intense by the moment. Once he heard communications with the 101st Fleet were completely cut, he finally had enough. thankfully, the long-range artillery was relatively intact. "Aim the guided missiles at the enemy ships, and don't hit any of our own forces!" From miles away, the artillery fired, guided missiles making their way towards the Metargo ships. The actual damaged would be known, later.

--

One of the other squadrons escorted Laurence Vance back to the mech bay, where he was ordered to stand by in another Praetorian until the situation calls for his assistance, again. Fro now, all anyone in the bunker could do was wait.

--

Saul saw the scenario and told Admiral Preston, "This may be a the time to launch. Be careful: enemy artillery has fired upon our fleet. from the ground, several miles away from the coast. Your priority is to protect the ships and stay close to the fleet." Contacting Scoar, he told him, "Son, we need you in one of the available mechs. Take command of whatever pilots you can and fend off the enemy mechs. At this rate, we may have to retreat and find a way around the garrison. Let us hope it does not come to that."

Cain and Scoar sat talking to each other about an old dessert that they use to enjoy when they were kids. It was meaningless conversation but cooled down the nerves. Suddenly Cain felt a sharp pain on his ear as Bibi grabbed it. "Specialist Numi, you'll have time to talk to the Crown Prince, later! Sergeant Lextu is ordering all available Lion Team pilots to protect the titan as per Captain Ire's commands!" Cain in returned put on his signature smile and said, "Sorry Bibi. I'll get right on that." Surprisingly, she was still hanging on to his ear while apologizing to Scoar.

"Don't worry about it. We weren't talking about anything important anyways." The prince said also smiling.
Finally she let go of the boys ear before saying, "Get a move on, will you!?"
Cain bowed and silently turned around, his smile disappearing once his face was out of sight. A disgusted look appeared on his face for a quick second and suddenly turned into an emotionless one. Scoar chased and grabbed his arm.
"Hey Cain, let me come with you." He requested. "It should prove to be fun."
Cain turned around slightly. "I don't see the fun in taking other people's lives. It's just part of the job and nothing else." His face eased up a bit. "You stay here and help somewhere else yeah?"
Scoar nodded his head a little as Cain got inside the Near Shadow.

As Cain put his buckle on he couldn't think of much else but for how, even though it was only for a split second, he wanted to kill that girl. It wasn't a surprising feeling, but the reasoning behind it was so miniscule. How long until he would actually start killing people for no reason?
................................................................................................................................................
Axl took his Beta mech and sneaked up on some of the Metargo's for front slashing mercilessly through their cores, making sure he would kill them. The feeling he received from each strike wasn't enjoyment or excitement, but something else entirely. It made him laugh a rather crazy laugh to think of the irony behind the situation.
Finally catching up to the Brown Wing team, he kept his mouth closed and decided to just follow leads. Either that or kill any Metargo his eyes came across. Upon hearing they were going to attack the titan, Axl's stomach tossed in excitement. If he used the Beta types move on the Titan, there would be no chance of survivors. He was sure that one of the royal family would be on it as well, meaning he could take down at least a 4th of Metargo's bloodline. Not really meaning much from a political viewpoint, but from morality level, it would at least bring sadness and anger. That anger would turn into either pride or willpower. This would cause the Metargo scum to fight believing that they have to win. And, finally, when they lose, when they all die, they will know true despair. Yes. Just like him. He chuckled at the thought and moved forward with the rest of the team.
"Vika, this is going to be an excellent opportunity for you to get to know me. Only in my element, can you see the real me." He mused.
................................................................................................................................................

Flying in the Near Shadow Alpha, always seemed like he was standing still. He loved the freedom of movement. It was so calm that if he closed his eyes he wouldn't even realize that he was moving towards any destination. Still, he had to focus on the mission at hand. He started by counting the amount of enemy units being picked up on his scanner. There were about a few dozen of them. Although that just accounted for this area of the battle field. He used the Near Shadow's advance computer to pick up on areas where he would be most needed.

He picked up on the sergeants unit along with an enemy unit discussing surrender. It seamed as if the enemy unit leader was confident that they had the upper hand, and it was Cains job to take away that upper hand. He slowly reached to the locked box on the console and unlocked it, proceeding to then punch the button inside. His mechs hand glowed in the center charging the mass nuclear cannon.

Fifty percent should be good enough for thirty people.

"This is Cain Jai Numi. My mission is to protect the Titan as well as to protect those who fight for Metargo. If you do not clear away, the majority of you will die. Mission, destroy enemy units. Mission. Accepted."
As with the change of his words, so came the change in his demeanor. His face was straight and unblinking and his ears were deafened to all exept his heartbeat. His eyes grew a shad of silver and were focused at the point of the blast. "Ready. Aim. Firing."
The Alpha swirled around in the sky looking to gain higher ground and stuck his hand out towards a designated spot in the battle zone. With a thrust of its arm it blasted a bluish rotating ball with a ring around it towards the battle field.
................................................................................................................................................
Not much of a surprise to Axl his brothers voice came up on his intercom threatening to destroy all surrounding units. Axl frowned at the straight tone in his voice. Luckily, no one was aware Axl was working with Benjlakk. He used this to his advantage. Of course he wanted to wait to use his mechs move on the titan and take a few people, but he needed to keep these people alive. Otherwise he wouldn't have a team to fight Metargo with. Or in the way he saw it, to use against Metargo.

Reluctantly he shifted his controls downward. "Vika, I don't mind if you try to gain more information on the enemy unit, but let me explain to you that my mech is more of a match for it and can even out do the destructive power of that mech. I can assure you it is nothing to worry about. However I do advise that you cut your connection at this moment. Nano byte viruses aren't things to joke about. At the full power both our machines will kick the bytes into overdrive. Take caution."

With that the Beta type Near Shadow took out one of the blades on its shoulders and ran its finger through it, coursing it with nano tech to give it firing power. The nano machines linked to each other on the blade and charged up with a shield that surrounded the weapon. Axl looked at the blast fire type bomb that Cain fired. He studied it for a brief moment trying to aim a proper coirdinante for his own attack. Finally seizing the opportune way point, he pushed up on his thruster causing the Beta type to swing its sword, forcing a line of energy straight at the ball of destruction. On contact, the scenery seemed to become blinded by light in a flash of energy. Random shots of energy dispersed through the sky's, reaching the heavens, and the coast reaching as far as the eye can see. It seemed like a meteor shower. Beautiful but dangerous, the men still felt need to halt and try to evade the shatter. Axl couldn't save every unit with that maneuver but he could at least stop the contact ground explosion.

Was Cain trying to kill everybody?
................................................................................................................................................
Sitting back down, Scoar nearly flipped out of his seat on impact of the shock wave. The whole ship was rocky. "Damn it Cain. Could've told me he was going to use that." In the middle of his curses he received a call from his father. "Son, we need you in one of the available mechs. Take command of whatever pilots you can and fend off the enemy mechs. At this rate, we may have to retreat and find a way around the garrison. Let us hope it does not come to that."

Scoar sat thinking about who could pilot anything around him. Most of the pilots were out already or busy with something else. He decided to walk to where Bibi was and ask her. "Bibiana. I'm taking one of the mechs out. By the time I'm ready I need you to find me 3-4 people to go out with me. Thanks." With that he turned around and went to the loading bay area with all of the mechs. It seemed that there were still enough left to do what he needed to do. After getting in one of them he waited for the rest of his made up squad.
................................................................................................................................................
After firing the nuke, Cain realized that the Near Shadows systems were functioning at a half of the power. Even though he only uses fifty percent of the cannon power he had the same occurrence that happened when he practiced with it before. A flaw in the programing no doubt but still it wasn't all bad. He started his decent to ground so that the could start the recharging process. It would be an hour before he could fire another blast but that should keep Benjlakk on their toes for awhile.

Axl too, felt that his systems were down. Though, unlike Cain he didn't know how to deal with the situation, it of course being the first time he used his mechs nano move. Least to say he was happy with the result and wondered what would happen if he charged it up a little longer. Looking at his screen he turned on the original comm system and called in to the branch command plate, only consisting of Near Shadow types. He began speaking in a rather foreign language, neither Benjlakk nor Metargo. "Eve Nigh wei. Jai Numi Cain."

Cain glanced at his comm and immediately found out the source of the call. It made even more sense due to the collision from earlier. "Eve Nigh wei. Brother."

"I gave you a chance to change your life. What happened?" Axl asked.
"Old habits die hardly." Cain retorted.
"Heh. No matter. Since you decide to stay on the side I'm against, I won't hesitate to kill you. I'll lump you body on the top of a mountain of bodies, just like I could have done months ago."
Cain's brow twitched and his response came after a brief pause. "I too, won't hesitate to kill you."

Both machines needing time to recharge, this would be all the confrontation either had for now.

Barnett Belvedere and Minmei Midori

As Barnett sniffed the flowers that were left to her mysteriously earlier that day she blushed. She tried not to get her hopes up about having a secret admirer like Minmei had inferred. Soon a sudden trimmer hit the ship. The attack seemed to worsen. “What’s going on out there!?”, Barnett shouted from her bed.

Minmei held onto the dresser in the room for stability as the ship shook violently. “I think I had better return to the bridge. It looks like things are taking a turn for the worse out there.” Minmei replied.

Barnett furrowed her brow , she was determined to help out in some way. “That’s it!! I’ve got to get to my mech now! The rest of the lion team needs Sailor-Multi out there! I can’t just lay here while the team struggles on the battlefield!” Barnett fussed and Minmei quickly turned away from the door to face Barnett.

“You get yourself right back into that bed Barnett!! You’re in absolutely no condition to be knocked around in a mech in the middle of a losing battle! Trust your teammates why don’t you. They’ll be fine, they want you to rest so that you’ll be back soon and better than ever okay?” Minmei said as she helped Barnett back into bed.

“Oh alright… Hey Minmei! Why don’t you Pilot Sailor-Mate and fill in for me on the Lion Team!? Sailor-Mate and Sailor Multi are sister Mechs after all!” Barnett said in a perky manor.

Minmei gulped heavily and trembled a bit. “M-me? Well… I’m not the best battler and I’m not nearly as good as you Barnett… I’d only slow the lion team down with Sailor Mate. I couldn’t possibly stand in for you.”

“Awe come on Minmei!! You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit! You passed fighter pilot training with flying colors and you’re still not convinced that you’re a good pilot. Gee whiz what is it gonna take? Perhaps you’d feel more comfortable using Sailor-Multi instead of Sailor Mate? Sailor-Multi is a newer model that your Sailor Mate mech after all.” Barnett replied.

“Well… I don’t think it would make much of a difference. Besides Sailor-Multi’s skill set isn’t really my style, she’s a tad different from Sailor Mate. Remember the last time…?” Minmei retorted sheepishly.

Barnett let out a tired sigh. “I guess you’ve got a point there. But you’ve gotta help them somehow. The Titan’s Bridge has plenty of operators and analysts. But it’s only you and I who are best at taking the analyst and operator’s job to the battlefield. So what do you say Minmei?” Barnett was dripping with enthusiasm.

“Oh… alright!! I’ll take Neutranurse and continue my tactical duties on the field. If that acceptable Barnett?” Minmei replied in a frustrated tone.

“That’s my girl!” Barnett applauded. “Now hurry up!! It sounds like things are getting pretty real ou there!” Barnett said as she shooed Minmei out of the recovery room.

Minmei returned to the bridge of the Titan and informed the other operators that she’d be taking Neutranurse out into the field to continue her analyst duties and to perform rescue missions for stranded mechs during the retreat. Minmei hurried to the holding area and boarded Neutranurse.

“This is Metargo Analyst Minmei Midori. Neutranurse is online. All systems are go, ready for launch.” After departing from the Tiatan in Neutranurse, Minmei did a quick scan of the Titan’s damages and system info. She saw that the situation was dire. “I need to contact Admiral Preston stat…” Minmei said as she typed swiftly into the database. “I can’t believe this! Metargo on the run from such a backwater fleet!” Minmei muttered to herself as she worked on her transmission.


Azaka Oikawa and Zane Preston

Zane prepped his mech for battle when he received a transmission from Minmei Midori via com link. “Admiral Preston the sonic cannon is under fire and the Titan has taken considerable damage from enemy fire. We are currently experiencing 47% damage to the exterior hull of the ship sir! I am switching on the emergency damage protocols now. That should give us more time for quick patch repairs while we escape. The Titan Invisibility cloak is at 39% and won’t have fully cloaked the ship until another 7 minutes.”

Zane cringed at such difficult conditions. “Minmei it looks like things are a bit tight. However that’s alright though, I’ve never minded a tight squeeze. I’ll deploy at once. The sonic cannon must be protected if the Titan is to have any chance of escape. The royal family is on board and I am not going to lose them. Good call on taking Neutranure out into the field, we need that mech for rescue missions right about now. Keep up the good work Minmei and keep me posted.” Zane replied. He climbed aboard the Hyaku Shiki and took off into the battle.

Zane could see on his monitor that the Sonic Cannon was under fire. He hurried to protect it. Azaka’s second song was beginning. “I’ll protect you Azaka. I swear my life on it.” Zane said to himself as the Hyaku Shiki zoomed toward the sonic cannon. With his beam sword drawn, he cut down two Benjlakki mechs and proceeded to move toward the sonic cannon. Zane could hear Azaka’s second song and see his image holographically projected into the atmosphere. It was as if Azaka was performing at a concert hall and not a battlefield. He didn’t let the damage to the sonic cannon shake his focus. Many emulators would have great trouble achieving such a feat.

Azaka knew that his initial attack was a success. A large portion of the enemy’s fire was redirected from the Titan to the Sonic Cannon thus giving the Titan an opportunity to escape. The Sonic cannon was durable and could take plenty of hits if need be. At the first song’s conclusion Azaka turned to his band and smiled. “Alright guys that was excellent work! But it looks like we’ll have to amp things up a bit. The Titan needs a chance to escape and we’ve got to help them do it. The Sonic Cannon’s blasts amp up on our “Professional Griefers” song. We’ll knock as many as we can out of the sky. Let’s begin!” Azaka said as he started the second song. His image could be seen once more on the battlefield and the song blared across the atmosphere. The sonic canon fired many high powered beams out and took down enemy mechs with its sonic sound based blasts.

(Azaka’s 2nd song: http://youtu.be/QJelsOHe6xk)

Zane battled with an enemy mech that got a little too close to the sonic cannon. The two grappled and the enemy mech thrusted backward and pulling beam sword slashed away at the Hyaku Shiki. Zane simply smirked. “Clever move my opponent. However the Hyaku Shiki isn’t much impressed with beam swords. It’ll take a lot more than that to damage it’s golden coating. Too bad you’ve wasted your last chance.” Zane said, then he delivered a blow to the mech’s arm with his own beam sword, severing the arm. Zane flew off to continue to protect the Sonic Cannon as well as Azaka.

“Minmei, get this transmission out there to everyone, Wrap up your battles and retreat. Got it?” Zane said calmly, he knew that this couldn’t continue much longer. Benjlakki had proven themselves a strong enemy not to be underestimated.

“Rodger that Admiral!” Minmei replied. She then sent a transmission to all of the Metargo fighter pilots. “All pilots proceed to retreat pending the Titan’s escape. Admiral Preston has ordered that you wrap up your battles and retreat. The Sonic Cannon will cover our escape.” Just then Minmei caught an alert on Neutranure’s radar scanners. “Attention Titan operators there is are guided missiles headed for the Titan, do you copy? We need someone anyone to intercept as many as possible now! Someone please!” Minmei communicated with the rest of the Lion Team and the people on the open com link of the Metargo Fleets.

Queen Karen Lunaria Metargo’s Mech, Red Moon, came into view. “Targeting missiles. Four are on confirmed lock. Ready to fire and intercept. Karen fired several lasers and detonated a few of the missiles bound for the Titan. However as accurate as the Red moon was it was not possible for Karen to shoot down all incoming missiles headed for the Titan. The Titan took three good hits to its large frame. Karen communicated via the comm Link. “Sorry I missed a few missiles officer Midori. I suppose there were too many to shoot down at once.” Karen said calmly.

“Y-your majesty! Wha-what are you doing on the battlefield?! I MEAN UM SORRY FOR MY RUDENESS!!” Minmei was nervous.

“It’s quite alright Minmei. I am trying to do what I can for Metargo. You all could use the help and the Red Moon was dying to get in on the action. It’s been quite depressed since Barnett has been place in recovery.” Karen could communicate with the heart of machinery so to her a mech had a voice much like a human did. “Admiral Preston, please look after Azaka. I won’t stand for him getting hurt out here. You two still have to tie the knot you know.” Karen teased Zane via com link. She was much like a mother figure to everyone. The red moon fired away at the missiles but with every round of guided missiles there were bound to be a few that would escape the red moon’s lock on due to there being so many deployed at once.

“Copy that my queen.” Zane replied with a wink.

Cain started descending from the air into a desolated part of the area to give his mech time to recharge another shot. His goal was to give Metargo back the winning place in the field but it failed thanks to his brothers counter. Seriously. Out of all sides to be fighting on, why would he betray Metargo and fight with Benjlakk? It really made no sense to Cain. Still, it didn't matter anymore. If his brother posed a threat to Metargo, Cain would have to handle him. He soon realized his systems were being hacked and power was slowly deteriorating from the Near Shadow.

''Apologizes sir but I am going to hack you. If you experience malfunctions it might be down to the fact that I am currently at this moment clearing your nano byte viruses and using the connection to power up Axl's mech up further. I am also learning about your large entity ship, called Titan.'' A person called over his speakers.

Oh no you don't.

Cain realized that if he activated the anti-hacking system it would take a majority of his power if not all of it. Still, he was ready to deal with that chance. He pressed a button that projected a keyboard with more than a hundred keys. Typing at a highly fast pace he directed the nano-bytes into a server that blocked the intel and instead pushed their powers to the Titan. It wasn't long until the Titan became invisible.

Going over to his intercom he messeged both King Saul and Queen Lunaria. "I've spent all my mechs power to insure the Titan become invisible. I hate to overstep my bounds but I think it is safe to say that we have to do a tactical retreat for the time being to regroup and change out mechs. Casualty possibility is high otherwise. Also, I am stranded for the time being. I don't mind staying behind as decoy but if you were to send me recovery, my coordinates are 5 Alpha 2.3.45.32.4.433."
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Axl looked steadily as the Titan seemed to disappear from sight. His frown appeared once again on his face. "Damn Metargo. I didn't even know the Near Shadow system was capable of shielding other devices. Vika, send word to Brown wing, telling them to be careful. It looks like Metargo might retreat but if they fired now, we wouldn't be able to hit a blind target."
................................................................................................................................................
In all the commotion, Scoar found himself following Captain Raiyn Ire. She along with him and a man named Laurance Howe went to the only available mechs area. Before they launched Scoar asked Bibi to have all the heavy artillery taken from the mech. He wanted to be as fast as possible. "I know what the Captain said, but I need only a rifle and a beam saber. Come on. Let's do this quickly."
From the treble that happened earlier he knew that Cain was probably close or out of power. For the next 10 to 20 minutes he wouldn't be able to fly.
He waited for the Captain to leave first and then followed, giving her cover fire with his mechs standard rifle. He wasn't amused with the mechs speed at all. After being in the Near Shadow, flying in lower grade mechs felt like he was sitting still. However, the loss of some of the heavy art. was a good boost. He was able to maneuver at an acceptable rate. Once the ground he gave cover fire until they reached the Lion team. Once there he said, "Okay, this is where we separate. I'm going to catch up to Cain and make sure he's safe. Contact my father for further orders."

He then zoomed backwards to where Cain had landed, keeping close to the ground so that he wouldn't be an easy target.
................................................................................................................................................
Cain sat inside of his mech waiting for the recover time to finish. '1 hour' is what was displayed on his screen. He didn't know if that was exactly accurate because the time hadn't changed in the last 15 minutes. Giving a sigh his eyes traveled to the scouter. It was picking up 2 duplicate Benjlakki mechs. He groaned a little and opened the cockpit. He jumped down and hid behind the the Near Shadows under. If there really were two Benjlakki's coming, he was going to be ready.

Kal had been providing some ground support but he knew he was running low on missiles and was only down to two air to air missiles and then all he had left was his energy weapons. Suddenly though he recieved an order to reinforce the battle by the Titan after the code orange had been called.


Bringing his fighter to mach 4 he raced toward the battle as he approached the dropped blow mach 1 and was traveling just fast enough to remain airbourn he was a target like this but in reality he just looked to be having engine troubles. He roatated the craft to face the massive sonic cannon ship in the distance and brought up his targeting.

Flipping switches he activated the rails on his craft. He could hear the humm and see purple jets of electricity pass between the rails at an increasing frequency. E-WEB WEAPON ARMED AND CHARGED. He heard his ships AI say. Pausing he made one final check on his alignment with the sonic cannon ship before he pressed the trigger. His entire ship lurched as a large ball of electricity was flung towards the sonic cannon ship. If the electricity hit the ship it would most likely wreak havoc on any unhardened electronics. Also upon impact it would release a secondary electronic burst in the form of lightning.

"You're not the only ones with fancy new toys." Kal said with a smirk. After firing he sped back up to Mach two and looked for a new firing position he knew he could get off at least one or two more shots with this thing before it over heated plus he needed to collect some damage specs on this weapon.

"Your going to need to launch in the next 30 seconds sir"
Jin-giro with a quick nod of the head to the flight operator who had just prepped his mech for departure quickly climbed into his pilot cabin flipping several switches initiating cabin pressurization along with the flight prep sequence.

"This is the real deal Jin, not a simulation." He thought to himself with the commanding officer's voice playing over his cockpits PA system as he rose to flight deck

"Your objective is to fly in and assist the Titan along with the remaining soldiers who accompany it in their retreat. You will be using the Lighting Striker mod for this mission, and remember pilot failure is not an option"

"Never is..." were the last words Jin-giro spoke before throwing the thruster controls forward and activating the overdrive function which violently threw his body back into his seat but launched his mech from 0 to mach 1 speeds in a matter of seconds.
60 seconds later Lighting Striker Champ's external boosters were completely drained and fell off into the crystal blue water that he now found himself hovering over. A few 100 meters before him lay the fruits of the battle that was still in full swing.

After taking in the horrific sight of death and destruction before his eyes Jin opened a private channel to the Titan warship "Titan, come in this is GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger, I am approximately 370 meters east of your position, I request that all units move toward this direction for evac. I will be covering your escape with two type 70-31 Electromagnetic Cannons" during his transmission he had already begun charging up his cannons to temporarily neutralize the enemy infantry beach units which seemed to be converging on the beached Titan war ship.

With a loud whirring sound the cannons reached full charge and Jin released two massive EMP blasts targeted toward the inbound enemy units, completely short circuiting most of the lesser units and causing total system reboot in the other units.
"That should give them enough time to take off " he thought after evaluating his handy work

"Who else wants some" No sooner before Jin finished his rhetorical question did a a squadron of Benjlakki fighters begin closing in on his position and with a quick targeting adjustment and another whirring blast of EMP energy the powerless aircraft were sent nosediving into the ocean below.

A small flashing icon appeared across Jin's HUD display "Warning! two shots remaining before mandatory cool down sequence"
"Good to know " He thought to himself as he began charging for his next shot.

Looking at Cain fly away with the help of another mech, Axl glared angrily at his monitor. He sat there for awhile unitil he was ready to shrug the whole thing off. Giving a sigh he listened to Vika's analysis of the whole thing that went down.

"I told you it was a waste of time to try to hack the Near Shadow. You could've gotten hurt or something. It's not a good idea to chase the enemy at this time. Let's just regroup with the Brown Wingers and see what their next move is. Maybe they might retreat too."

Axl piloted the Beta Shadow over to the Brown Wing teams position on the field. He changed his comm command to target one of the crews mechs.

"Zechariah ... Is this Zechariah s comm link. Whatever. Listen. What are we going to do now that Metargo has started to retreat? Are we gonna chase them or regroup?"

He laid back in his chair tapping his fingers on the side of the arm rest. "Haaaaaa." He let out an overdone sigh. "Vika I wish you had message programming. My back hurts." He said grumpily. "You do have your uses. Hacking into the Near Shadow caused it to go offline for a while, but still..." He looked to his side. "I wish I had a masseuse or something right now."
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Once they were back on the Titan, Cain took the unconscious girl over his arms and brought her off the ship.

"What should I do with her?" He asked, looking at Scoar with question on his face.

"Hmm." Scoar shrugged. "Just take her to the infirmary for now. It's small enough so you can guard her there. I, on the other hand, am going to call my father with the report."
"Gotcha." Cain said heading back to the elevator.

Once he was out of sight, Scoar went to the nearest comm receiver and called his dad. "Dad, we lost the Titan's captain in that last collision. Other than that, everyone seems to be safe.... for the most part I guess. In other news, Cain captured a soldier from Benjlakks side. From what he tells me, she may have an alteration in her Genetic makeup. What should we do with her now? Cain injected her with the sleeping chemical but I'm not sure how long she'll be in that state for."
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Cain walked into the infirmary room and saw that Barnett was up.

"Oh. Miss Barnett. I'm sorry if I woke you. I just have to put this girl in here." He said thinking that he'd woke her.

Cain gently put the Benjlakki woman's body on the empty bed in the room and sat down on a chair in between both beds.
"So." He said quietly. "Are you feeling better?"

Aaron heard Howe mention Captain Raiyn Ire having been killed in action, which infuriated him after a wave of shock hit him. He then proceeded to go slice some enemy mechs trying to breach the Titan in a rage. That same magnitude of rage released was part of the reason he was known all over Metargo as the Falcon of Fury; there were very few people who did not know of him and his reputation for applying deep ferocity when slaying opponents in melee combat. The artillery bombardment on the 96th Royal Fleet was over, by then, meaning all that was left to do was ensure the retreat be carried out.

---

Bibi was about to give out the orders for the switch on the newer mech, but the pilot beat her to it. Whoever was in there obviously did not know who was in charge of the mechanics on the Titan. "Who does that guy think he is? [I]I'm in charge of this ship's mechanics!" Despite her anger at someone doing her job, she figured she would just roll with it until the battle was over. Working quickly, she contributed to the switch and watched as the new pilot launched and took down two Benjlakki mechs while he was at it.

---

Saul became even more stressed out the more the battle went on. He knew fighting Benjlakk would not be easy, but this went beyond his expectations for a country with few men with much experience. He heard his son mention the loss of Captain Ire, as well as the capture of a woman whom allegedly had her genetic makeup altered. "I heard from Howe about losing the Captain. He was all over the fleet's channel. As for the woman, I would like a medic to go and check her genetic structure, to be sure. If it is true, and her genes were altered, one question rises in my mind, it would confirm my fears concerning what Benjlakki news said on an unorthodox laboratory on an island close to this battlefield during an attack there by mercenaries with an unknown employer. That would also raise the Why was a group of Benjlakki doing such experiments, knowing it was illegal in their country? Could whoever it was that conducted the alteration of the woman's genetic structure know something that we do not?"

---

Zechariah Was unable to respond to Sandra's query, at first, because he was preoccupied with an enemy mech's next move. Now that he was able, he said to the Admiral, "Sorry for the delay in responding, ma'am. The only casualties so far were Sergeant Harrison, Privates Jones and Robinson, and Corporals Johnson and Mercutio. Harrison's Eagle was shot down by a stray blast before we even engaged Lion Team. The other confirmed deaths I mentioned died during the dogfight with the enemy squadron. The Shapiro Twins' status is unclear. I can't pick up their Eagles' heat signatures. They may landed them underwater and went to investigate something, possibly that downed mech that used a nuclear weapon. I can't pinpoint where they are, right now."

He next heard a person, whom he assumed was Axl, mention the retreat and ask what to do. In his Eagle's current state, Zechariah could not withstand more damage. Other pilots in Brown Wing were in similar situations. It certainly proved how tough the Lion Team was. "All Brown Wings, regroup and head back to the Seraphim. We're in no state to continue the fight as we are, right now."

Benjamin heard that and groaned. On the open channel, he said to the opposing mech, "All right! I'm letting you off easy, this time! Don't be so sure about next time!"

---

Adira was still unconscious as Zechariah said for the others in the squadron to regroup. When she finally woke up, she noticed both the man and her sister were missing from the scene. Tears came down her eyes, her grief turning into renewed anger. She was not going back to the Seraphim without Chemda. Bringing out a spy probe, she activated it and had programmed to follow the Titan and record its movements. Then, she went underwater and swam back into her Eagle, waiting for the right moment to pursue. The mech's electronic systems were still off, meaning her heat signature would minimum, with neither Benjlakk nor Metargo able to see where she was.

Jin was still in some what of a rage mode for being dragged into combat due to the death of Captain Ire, hacking down every enemy in range even managing to land a few shots with his beam rifle. He just knew he was going to get an ear full from command when he got back to base so for the time being every enemy mech he cut down or shot relieved him a little on the inside.

Piercing his sword into the cabin of an enemy mech and using its metallic carcass to shield himself from enemy fire, Jin activated his quick boost thrusters to close in on this next target and after getting within a few meters he raised his rifle and fired decapitating and destroying another Benjlakk mech, but this time he noticed something. Some Benjlakk forces stopped firing at him and had begun falling back and organizing a retreat of their own.

"Oh no you don..." Jin caught himself trying not to let his fighting past take him over again. "Wait this is just what we needed" he exclaimed with a brief moment of joy

"Where is Admiral Zane? someone needs to lead these men and women, and command is going to wonder whats taking me so long." After taking a second to contemplate Jin made a major decision and punched in his PA authorization codes

"All Metargo forces in the immediate area this is junior command tactician Jin-giro, pilot of the GAT-01A2R Slaughter Dagger I have orders for you all to convene on the Titan for immediate evac. I repeat do not pursue the enemy forces." His voice rang over the Metargo private channel

Saul was relieved the battle was over. Of course, he knew that thousands of troops perished in the amphibious assault that ultimately ended in failure, something which placed him in a deeper internal depression. He hid such depression so well, only his wife, son, and daughter knew about it. To the rest of the Metargo Kingdom, he had a charismatic aura about him. Seeing Karen return back to the ship safely brought a soft smile to him as he walked up to her and hugged her. "Karen..."

---

Bibi saw the Champ model and realized right away it was the same pilot. She heard what she was going to be asked to do, so she simply walked up to the pilot during the conversation he was having after she told one of the mechanics to prepare a spot for the admiral. The mechanic in front of her next noticed that and then introduce her to him.

"Pilot of the Slaughter Dagger, here is the Head Mechanic, Ensign Durrans." Whispering, the man added, "Her full name is Bibiana Armine Durrans. She's the eldest daughter of and eventual successor to Duke Adelias Durrans of Lexcorvi. As you know, Dukes and Duchesses often act as advisors to the royal court. Anyway, whatever you do, don't refer to her by any titles referring to a noblewoman. She gets a bit touchy about her status. If not refer to her by her military rank, just call her 'Bibi', and you'll be fine." That same man next went over to Laurence Vincent Howe and whispered the same warning to him about Bibi.

Meanwhile, Bibi glared at Jin while saying, "So, you're the guy who's been doing my job when it comes to my mechanics division on this ship! I am familiar with that model, by the way! I kind of have to be! I'm the one who laid the schematics for the prototype and helped build it, too! Next time, just request the switch to the mode of your choice, and I'll take it from there, all right?"

After she got her answer and told him she already prepared a place for Zane Preston's mech, she next walked up to her fiancé and suddenly, her expression was a bit softer. She realized it was an arranged thing, so she could not exactly blame the boy. That is not to say she would suddenly warm up to him. That would take time. "Laurence, my office is this way." Her office was one typical for a military mechanic on a ship, which also acted as part of a living quarters for multiple people (of course, there were separate bunks in the adjacent room). "This is the two of us will be staying in between battles. I personally requested that from Captain Ire, before the now-over battle, that is. We're engaged, anyway, right? So, we might as well get used to that fact." She washed her hands before going up to the fridge, then brought out two vanilla protein shakes and shook them well before setting one on the table next to the desk. "You'll need the supplements, trust me. Being in the military really takes a lot out of you." Sitting down in one chair and waiting for him to sit in the other, she asked with an arched eyebrow, "Not so glamorous once you're actually in a fight for your life, is it?" Shrugging, she added, "Well, that's reality for ya."

---

While Aaron used colorful language to describe how he and Lion Team lost several good pilots to a bunch of rookies, Kyle walked beside Minmei with a clam, yet stressed-out demeanor. Placing a hand on his forehead with a disgruntled sigh, he said, "I could sure use a drink, about now. Still want to do that?"

---

Zechariah and Benjamin made it back to the Seraphim with the rest of the remaining Brown Wings that were accounted for. Still, there was no sign of Chemda nor Adira. What happened to them? When Zechariah spotted Captain McKenzie, a burning anger seethed in him. Walking up to him, Zech said in a clam, but stern voice, "Captain, that mech pilot was already out of the fight. If she did not intend what she said to me to be a bluff, I would have already been dead." Benjamin pulled Zechariah aside and shouted at him with, "Zech, this is a war! This is what we do, we destroy the enemy! Forget that, and you're a dead man!" Pushing Ben away, Zechariah asked him, "What makes you think I wanted to be a part of any war, to begin with? When was the last time you heard me express any interest in that?"

With that, he walked away to leave his older brother to his thoughts. Meanwhile, Ben noticed Catrina nearby and told her, "Don't worry about my brother. He's just stressed out, is all."

---

Back on the Titan, after letting go of Karen, Saul spotted Jin in the aftermath of Bibi talking to that pilot. The King went up to him and said, "Bibi is often like that. You get used to it, after a time." He then said to Karen with a soft smile, "Oh! I almost forgot that you had something to say to this young man. I better check on Scoar and tell Viki of the results of the battle."

First, he gave his message on the results to Viki, which went like this:

My daughter, while the whole family is safe, for the moment, the amphibious assault on the beaches of the Gatwashiim peninsula nearest our country ultimately failed. The amphibious troops were all but decimated by the enemy garrison, roughly totaling a number of 6555 foot soldiers, 210 pilots, and 15 ships. Elsewhere, such as the southern-most shorelines of Benjlakki territory, the weaker resistance resulted in advancement further inland, though not without reinforcements from different places within Benjlakk arriving to try to counter them. Progress in this war has been made, but for how long from now, I cannot say. These matters are never so simple. The fleet I am with still has 21 ships, despite the heavy losses. I suspect neither this fleet nor the enemy one we face will be capable of any fierce combat for a while, considering the damage most ships on both sides sustained. Repairs may take at least a week, if not more. After that, we shall plan an alternate route inland to continue the military campaign. I pray to Marlextov that this war end soon, lest internal problems within the kingdom become our downfall.

---

Adira took a risk and activated the electronic map for a brief moment. Once she saw that the battle was over, she realized that this was an opportune time to test her stealth while piloting a mech. She took a guess as to where the enemy would go and took an alternate route to get there. Metargo territory was not that far, and with the mountains in the nearest enemy territory on the other side of the sea, radars would have difficulty locating her if she flew in low. Next stop, Fort Ordimarga. I'm not going back to the Seraphim without my sister.

---

Speaking of whom, Chemda was slowly regaining consciousness, yet it was barely noticeable. She had yet to be able to move, though she could hear a couple people speaking in the Metargo language. Although the words were similar to those in the Benjlakki language, some she could not comprehend everything. What she could gather was the male voice apologized for possibly waking the female one's up, while the female said something about being down while everyone else was fighting. Were they talking about the aftermath of the battle?

---

Field Marhsal Constantini received word that the defensive was successful and also heard about Vance's success in taking out three Leo Vermilions by himself. Knowing that at least one squadron needed more pilots, he personally went on speakers to make an announcement:

Listen up, boys! We may have taken some significant losses during this defensive, but thanks to everyone involved, we managed to repel the enemy amphibious assault. I would personally like to congratulate Private 1st Class Vance in defeating three Leo Vermilions all by himself with a Praetorian. He is now two kills away from being a mech ace, and his skills as a pilot, I believe, the Benjlakki Republic Navy could use. Therefore, I am requesting a transport and escort be made ready for his trip to the Seraphim, where Rear Admiral Lionel of the 101st Fleet shall be informed of his achievement and requested transfer.

One of the mechanics approached Jin with a woman who seemed about his age but carried herself as that of someone who was raised in high society. "Pilot of the Slaughter Dagger, here is the Head Mechanic, Ensign Durrans." the man said giving a former introduction, next the man added whispering, "Her full name is Bibiana Armine Durrans. She's the eldest daughter of and eventual successor to Duke Adelias Durrans of Lexcorvi. As you know, Dukes and Duchesses often act as advisors to the royal court. Anyway, whatever you do, don't refer to her by any titles referring to a noblewoman. She gets a bit touchy about her status. If not refer to her by her military rank, just call her 'Bibi', and you'll be fine." this shocked Jin at first, not because he couldn't tell she was of an important lineage but that she disdained being referred to by her noble title's. With one eye brow raised Jin offered a salute to the woman as the man walked off to go talk to a younger looking male pilot.

Bibi glared at Jin while saying, "So, you're the guy who's been doing my job when it comes to my mechanics division on this ship!" she began to lecture as if she had prepared a speech. "Doing you're Job? No" Jin tried to begin to explain but the woman just continued to lecture him. "I am familiar with that model, by the way! I kind of have to be! I'm the one who laid the schematics for the prototype and helped build it, too!" "And i am indebted to you for that, its a wonderful piece of machinery but due to the severity of the situation at the time..." again Jin was cut off from talking as Bibi finished her rant "Next time, just request the switch to the mode of your choice, and I'll take it from there, all right?" "Uhmm sure" Jin said knowing that was the answer she required, and finally content Bibi turned around and began walking away. Jin opened his mouth to inquire about Admiral Zane space on the ship but before he uttered a word Bibi answered him assuring she would have a space for him available on the titan.

Slightly ah struck as he stood in silence and watched the well figured woman walk away to the young man the mechanic was previously talking to. "She's quite a piece of work" Jin said to himself with a slight smile as he watched Bibi walk away.

While eyeing Bibi from the spot she left him in the King came up to Jin saying, "Bibi is often like that. You get used to it, after a time." Jin was surprised and slightly star struck to see the king and Queen standing right beside him although Jin didn't care much for titles, most of his life he had only seen pictures and heard recordings of them from the streets he lived off of. Saul then said to his wife with a soft smile, "Oh! I almost forgot that you had something to say to this young man. I better check on Scoar and tell Viki of the results of the battle." and with that he walked away.

"Queen Karen, you have something to speak to me about?" Jin wast expecting this and was hoping to not receive a royal chewing out, although it would just add to his collection of the day.