[Recording Starts]
A'ight time to try this again – Heh, it was poor Una who interrupted me last time, though I guess she did personally make sure I didn't need one of these in the previous battle didn't she? Managed to convince the others to record some of these too so that's nice I guess...
It's strange, it ain't like you guys are the people I've been with the longest, it's been like 5, 6 months? Less even, or more?
But then again my whole life has been like that, I guess everyone's is – You make friends, then go to the next school and do it all over again – You change jobs, you drift away from people – That goes doubly for soldiers right?
Those original Vijaik test pilots I worked with, my first squadron, my first warship posting, my first company during the Bhaile invasion – My Naikima, Remembrance, people I met piloting, the crew of the Mithril and finally you guys – Heh I really do carry alot of names on my shoulders.
You guys feel kinda different though, more normal – Haha, guess that sounds a bit mean, I meant more like, throughout my 'career' if you want to call it that, I've been surrounded by fanatics – People obsessed with Abhailen independence, loyalty to the King, even IAFS with their whole stopping the injustices of TSU-s stick – But you guys, with you I can for the first time in forever see a future.
Like Hoki and you too Sabban, you two ain't gonna be with me for much longer regardless of what happens in the next battle – You're both young and smart and crazy skilled for your ages! But I don't see either of you dieing for a cause neither, you'll fight on and reach your own potential, ya know – You might even visit me from time to time for advice. But Kolme, you and me – Well maybe you see this thing we have as nothing more than a fling, a relationship of convenience, a shoulder to cry on and some entertainment over the last couple months – But for me, I think this is real old man – When this war is over I'm going to hound ya to the ends of the solar system until you take me as your wife!
I already got Doc-Hasain working on a detox plan for my drugs, we fight for IAFS one last time and then its about damn time we both finally call it quits ya?
But of course there is the chance something goes wrong, in which case you'll be hearing this recording – Heh, and if that's the case there's some things I need you guys to know. I've attached a password protected file to this, I'm pretty computer-savvy don'cha know, so it'll corrupt the data if you enter the code wrong too many time – Still Hoki or Sabban should be able to crack it pretty easy – If you are the only one left Kolme then, damn ummmm, that sucks I guess?
Anyway pass the code and you'll find a load of text files, typed 'em up myself – They're all my knowledge.
Ma' day to day memory ain't great but the broad-strokes stuff is fine, still whether everything in there is accurate or not is debatable but its the best I could do.
I included everything I could think of, machines I was a test pilot for, Remembrance and Abhailen safehouses that might still be useful, weapon caches and a good helping of just general classified info from the various groups I've been a part of.
.........There is also the full details of what I'm about to tell you – But you three should know this is proper treason and I mean that, crimes against the monarchy – Still if I'm gone I want someone to know this stuff.
Ummmm, first off, Kolme 'dear' I hope you aren't one of those men with a 'no-single-moms' dating policy....Bwahahahahahahahahhaha – You know I tried for ages to think of the best way to break that news but I'm happy with that, hahaha.
Seriously though, three years ago right around the time IAFS was forming, my old Naikima was about to die – I mean he had been dieing slowly for years but this time was for real – And what does he do on his deathbed? He tells me of his latest 'investigation'. See for years after the whole Remembrance Incident stuff, he spent his time in hospital beds investigating the organisation as it changed via his remaining connection, then telling me of his findings.
I ignored most of them, not much I could do after I had passed up the chance to be the leader – But this time he really was dieing and he did that thing old-people do, he asked a favour. Told me this was one thing we couldn't just ignore – Tch, don't old people ever learn?
Guess I count as one now too huh?
He had discovered project A.M.I, yup that A.M.I.
He died and now I, with no reason to stick around Remembrance anymore, was left with his last request – So I did it, found Station 9.3 and started my own hunt. I found a project about to be scraped – The artificial magi experiments had failed, something like a couple dozen kids were at best killed, at worst left in comas or with irreversible brain damage – You can't change an adults brains patterns to turn them into a physic, the world just isn't that simple to manipulate and with it seeming like children were no more viable, Remembrance was ready to shut down the whole thing – Except they did manage to do it just once – A single time they succeeded, one single little girl turned from a regular person into a Magi.
You can guess what I did next right? Stole the poor kid, hid her with my Nakima's remaining family and than ran away to IAFS under a sloppy pseudonym to cover my tracks. With their magnum opus seemingly killed off by a rouge agent, project A.M.I was shut down and station 9.3 abandoned – Mission complete.
Well except... The little girl is still out there, still waiting for me to come back for her. I'm not even sure she's human, like I think they were experimenting with true artificial peoples, grown in test-tubes or some shit – There is no family I can return her to and the people I left her with are old and poor – No the girl is my responsibility, my time with Una and Hoki, well as childish as it sound, reminded me I've got to go back to her.
It's funny, I never really wanted kids, yet I ended up with one – Thing is if I'm dead than the favour falls to you guys – I know its a bitch of thing to ask, I'm not saying you guys have to take her in or nothing but just....Like, check in on her ok?
I hope I don't die, that girl deserves a mother and I finally found her a dad, even an uncle and aunt, plus Una would of been the ultimate older sister am I right? Heh......
Oh right, so the true 'treason' part of all this – There is actually a second girl, though don't worry this other one isn't a second adopted daughter! No this one is something very special in an entirely different way....
Just before the final battle of Ghealach, in the last week of the First-War, my unit of the Special-Forces was given a very specific job – To escort a small town's worth of people and recourses to a remote corner of the solar system.
The royal family isn't dead and I don't just mean distant relations like the Duke of Bannerman – There is a remaining princess, little more than a baby 10 years ago – Alive.
As the only woman on that escort team, misogynistic as you might call it, I ended up spending the most time bodyguarding her during that short flight – She was cute, very innocent, literally unaware of how important she was or what it meant for the world for her to escape the end of the war. Of the people on that mission there's only a handful of us still alive – Actually I'm pretty sure one of the guys is now serving aboard the Tradech – Another was still in Remembrance last time I checked and finally there was the pilots of the ship, they still covertly deliver resources to that town on the edge of the universe.
If I'm dead it's possible the number of people who know their location will of dropped to just 4 or even lower – Point is I wanted to make sure someone knew. The info won't do much for you guys, nothing you can do about it, nor anything I want you to do – Just wanted ya to know I guess?
Well unless you can't break the code on the attached file, in which case this might all just sound like the crazed delusions of one old woman, Hahahahahahahaha!
Well there you go – The last of my secrets laid bare, my duty to the AMI girl and the Princess, now you really do know me better than probably anyone else out there. Oh and that in mind, destroy any of the Enhancers left in my room if I'm gone, there might be others out there with them, but we can atleast insure mine don't end up in the wrong hands.
I hope I don't die but even more so I hope you three make it, I'm not a very sentimental person and I apologise for being so bitter when we first met but really, good luck you guys, don't get killed out there a'ight.
- Scarlet.
[Recording Ends]
The oversized, gleaming white Casnel of Remembrance's grand commander, Omaes Agagite, swirled through the air alongside the battered and blackened, bulky shape of a Vijaik Heavy Mk2, Thee Scarlet Scourge.
The two mechs were locked in a ballet of death, swirling around one another, Scarlet firing off ankle held missiles, the Casnel dodging them with ease or even allowing the odd one to impact harmlessly against the curving, rounded armour of its massive shoulders.
Adding to the chaos, from within the shoulders were held missiles of Omaes'es own, firing at borderline random, sometimes smashing into Scarlet's weaker projectiles, other times heading straight for the heavy, any one of them probably enough to take out the Scourge, were it not for her uncanny ability to dodge at the last moment.
Onwards they moved, all the night sky their arena, up and around one another, moving in and out of each other's hold, twirling through space like a tornado of reds and whites with the stars their only witness.
One by one Scarlet's collection of weapons began to fail, her rifle out of energy, her missiles depleted – Arc staffs shattering with each impact. Omaes having expended her own supply of missile had swapped to a single blade, one lone golden Arc staff, shorter then Scarlet's swords and looking more like a ceremonial blade rather than one intended for battle – And yet it held within in it far more power than anything Scarlet could throw.
Every swing of the massive mech's arms put enough force into the thin golden blade to slice and cleave through each and every one of the Scourge's tools.
But by far, as the seconds turned to minutes, as the duel to the death rallied on – The most frustrating part was the talking – Omaes'es running commentary over the open comm channel, tugging on the edges of Scarlet's drug-addled mind;
“Really Scarlet Scourge is there a need for quite this much struggle? I never expected you would last this long!”
“But you know it means nothing don't you? You have yet to land a single hit on my machine's core, what hope have you of winning exactly? You are an Ace no doubt but what can those same old tired moves everyone has seen before do?
A crimson comet across the sky might be beautiful the first time, the second, the third! But after a while, every day the same sight - Simply put you've grown thin on the stage of our world!!”
“I am no human, you must surely understand that atleast?
I am a true Magi, I am the successor of St.Aardig herself!!
I can see your movements before you make them and my powers only grow stronger with each day – Soon I will be able to foresee something like you destroying my advance force ahead of time, be able to counter people like you long before you can even become a nuisance, and I will use this power to crush The States Union bit by bit, and take back our home!”
'Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!' Scarlet thought to herself.
The next moment she realised, that her conscious was returning, that the cold touch of metal was back on her fingertips, the smell of leaking hydraulic fluid filled her nose – She could hear Omaes every word – The Enhancer was beginning to wear off, yet the battle was nowhere near done – On they circled around each other, Scarlet using anything she could, grabbing up every weapon they happened to pass across the debris fields, punching, kicking, rolling, fainting – Onwards they danced.
“Oh-ho? You just had a clear thought didn't you?
How delightful, the Enhancers are truly fascinating are they not, under their full influence all I could read in your mind was an instinctual drive for combat – But that's all they are you know, they speed up your reaction time, cut distraction, a little painkiller in there too for good measure – But they can't help you bridge the gap between you and me, I can see the future, read your mind – I can reach out and touch the very fabric of reality!!”
Scarlet's teeth gnashed, with blinding speed the Vijaik heavy ducked under a slash from the Casnel's golden blade, outstreched its own hand, final arc-staff held and rammed it into the torso of her foe;
“Big words from the girl who's power couldn't get her the attention of her STUPID CRUSH!!!” She roared maliciously.
Her blade had hit just as conscious thought began to return, the arc-staff simmered against the core armour plating of the Remembrance Casnel – And there it simply stayed, it would take a lifetime to actually bore through Goibniu this thick but that hardly seemed to matter – The greatest insult of all against Omaes, Scarlet had reached out and cut a path to her heart.
The Remembrance Casnel pulled back its arm and positioned the golden arc-staff above the Vijaik Heavy which now held still as its arc-staff slowly blackened a small circle of the frontal armour.
----
“...........You know I never did like you.”
Omaes'es voice was cold over the line now, perhaps her powers hadn't foreseen an outcome where Scarlet landed a direct hit, or maybe it was Scarlet's simple jab at the proud woman's history, but all the cruel joy and excitement had left Remembrance's leader now, her words little more than knifes against a foe already defeated;
“It was when I first heard your real name, I thought it was so droll, so 'normal' and basic, unfitting of one who Father claimed was such a great warrior, a pillar of Remembrance – Turns out I was right about you from the start, a simple traitor-whore is all you are Amy.”
“Heh.....heh....” Scarlet half-laughed and half-panted, more than a little pleased at having gotten under the other woman's skin – And yet her heart ached, it screamed, it felt as though it could tear out from her at any moment, far worse than the seizure she had survived before and somehow the pain of it was greater than the wound to her side – She knew not what it was, yet with a strange sense of calm she knew her time was up;
“Go on then.... heh..... finish it....”
----
“No. No you don't deserve the honour of being cut down by one such as I – It is far more fitting that a fake, that a human like you, who would try to claw at the eyes of the great Magi, should die of her own poison!”
“What?” Scarlet asked genuinely, but her body caught on before her mind fully could – With an involuntary spasm, both her hands moved to clutch at her chest, “Ungh!?”
The pain in her chest was astounding, her vision blurred completely, her everything ached – Her pulse stopped.
“Y-you knew this wou-- Hah.... you bitch.....”
Scarlet panted.
“Farewell, traitor ace.” Omaes replied, her machine using its barehand clutched Scarlet's Arc-Staff, which had continued shimmering against Omaes'es torso armour, and with little flourish, snapped the blade in half.
With that the Remembrance Casnel began to float away, as though disinterested in chasing its pray any longer.
Scarlet tried to reach out, to grab the controls, or the first aid kit or something.
A dozen thoughts ran through her oxygen leaking mind, her heart died.
“Kolme--”
****
