Yeah, keeping those clothes on is strongly suggested...
Anyhoo...
New Entry and with it, a New Part...
Part 3: Transvaal
Entry 18: From the Depths of Despair Awaken the Razgriz
“Cross Caliber, engaging.”
“Eagle Gazer, engaging.”
“First Aider, engaging.”
“Spell Caster, engaging.”
“Relic Raider, engaging.”
“Roger, Rune Troupe. Destroy enemy vessels attacking Transvaal. Be careful, these are the guys that defeat the Angel Troupe.”
“What?!” cried Cross Caliber’s pilot, Rico Sakuraba. “You mean my sister is dead?!”
“Th-”
“Rico, Rico, Rico…” Gryphus chuckled as he interrupted the radio conversation. “I assure you, you’re sister, Milfie, is quite alright. I never killed her… merely captured her and now she, along with the rest of the Angel Troupe, is now part of the ESUN. I would love to see you two’s touching reunion, but I’m afraid I’m not going to offer you the same offer, little girl.”
“I don’t believe you! There’s no way Milfie would betray Transvaal!”
“Ah, but I do believe she betray Transvaal and joined the ESUN to save her life.”
“I won’t believe you until I see some proof!”
“You want proof? Alright, I’ll give you proof. Just give me a minute.”
- - - - -
Gryphus turned away from the radio, pondering his next move. He turned back to his radio and quickly typed a frequency into the keyboard.
“Gotengo to Loréné. How long will it take you to discretely place mind-control probes onto the Angels, then perform a Slipspace jump to Transvaal?”
“This is Loréné. We estimate 5 minutes to perform the appointed tasks.”
“Alright, make it happen.” Gryphus turned off the radio and turned back to face his bridge crew. “Get that Rico girl on the view screen.” The communications officer reestablished the link.
“Can’t get you fake proof together, eh?” Rico snorted.
“Watch your tongue, you’re speaking to a General,” Gryphus retorted. “If you must know, your proof will be here in 5 minutes.”
“Hmpf. I doubt you’ll live long enough to receive it.”
“Oh, there is where you are sorely mistaken.” Gryphus cut off the signal again. “Who do we have to hold off these dame Rune Angels?”
“Not much, sir. Entire compliment consists of Garuda, Windhoven and Avalanche Squadrons… Wait, hold on… I’m registering a “Demons of Razgriz” on the roster for the Essex…”
“Hmm… Are they launch-ready?”
“Mind-control is implanted… but the aircraft they had when we captured them are not capable of space flight…”
“Dammit… do we have any extra X-05’s in stock?”
“Yes, sir. There are four extras apart from yours in the launch bay.”
“Alright, transfer them over here and get them in those X-05’s ASAP.”
- - - - -
“I’ve heard great things about you, Razgriz. Too bad I didn’t get to meet you in person before your trial by fire. You’re mission is to occupy the Rune Angels ‘til the Galaxy Angels arrive. You are not, however, given permission to shoot them down. I want the Angel Troupe to do that themselves when they get here because of their relation to those Rune *****es.”
“Roger, Blaze, engaging.”
“Roger, Edge, engaging.”
“Roger, Swordsman, engaging.”
“Roger, Archer, engaging.”
The four jet-black Fenrirs rolled over, dropping into the fight. They weaved back and forth, dodging the hail of fire from the Transvaal forces, like wraiths in a storm. It was nearly impossible to see the Demons of Razgriz, for their black paint and radar absorbent material (RAM) hid them both from visual sight and radar in the inky black of space.
“LSWM, armed and locked,” Blaze announced as he fired the overly destructive missile from the central bay. The missile streaked through space and struck a Transvaal cruiser, piercing through the hull and detonating inside of it. The combined explosives of the warhead on the LSWM and the magazine of the cruiser created a flash as bright as the sun, blinding everyone temporarily.
“That seemed a whole lot easier than the Elle Ciel… Edge, run a check on the wreckage from that ship and compare it with the data taken from the Elle Ciel.”
“Yes, sir. … It appears, sir, that that cruiser lacked a certain energy signature that the Elle Ciel and the Emblem Frames had, but according to the records, there was no extra power source onboard. It must be from that “Lost Technology” that I was told the Angels were looking for before you captured them.”
“You’re probably right. Scan the enemy fleet for any other ships with that energy signature.”
“Done, sir. I hypothesize that the use of the Lost Technology as a weapon was only used by the Angel teams because the only other ships in their fleet emitting that energy signature is the Rune Angels’ Emblem Frames. Shit… mixing with enemy forces… Edge, out.” Razgriz 2 unleashed a hail of bullets from its twin gatling guns, tearing apart a pair of smaller Transvaal vessel that strayed into Edge’s gun sight.
“Gryphus to Demons of Razgriz. Loréné has arrived with the Angel Troupe. Fall back and watch the mayhem.”
“Roger.”
- - - - -
“Looks like those enemy fighters are running scared!” Anise, pilot of the Relic Raider, cheered.
“Or maybe they were just told to fall back…” Lily, pilot of the Eagle Gazer, grunted. “Look who’s just arrived… The Angel Troupe…”
“And they’re not responding to our attempts to contact them,” Rico added. “I think what the General said was true…”
“Care to fill us in?”
“We thought the they destroyed the Angel Troupe, but he said they instead captured the Galaxy Angels and had them join the ESUN…”
“Then they’re traitors and deserve nothing short of death, even with our connection to them… Rune Troupe, engage…”
To Be Continued…