Perfect Sacrifice

by Parker, Jack

  The two pilots she had mentioned weren't present, but their Genos were. One was in blue armor while the other was green. The Genos were in the shape of a human being, having a main body and head, along with powerful arms and legs. Their lively yellow eyes gleamed in the bright rays of the sun. It was amazing how a machine could so closely resemble a living being.

  "And look over here," said the reporter, motioning to two more Genos. "We have Carry and her ground base Geno, and over there is Justin and his air base." The ground base Geno was shaped like a feline while the air base was a bird, similar in build to an eagle. The feline was red and the bird was a deep blue.

  It was a little strange that none of the pilots seemed to be there. Geno pilots were attention hogs by nature. They usually loved being in the limelight. It was possible, however, that they were all inside the cockpits making last minute checks on their mechanical sidekicks. After all, this would be an important battle, not to mention a hard one. They were all fighting one against four. There was no room for error.

  "This is really gonna be exciting," continued the reporter as she looked around the arena a bit, her eyes finally landed on what she had been searching for. "And over here is our last competitor." The scene switched to a jet black Geno in its feline form. Its sleek body gleamed in the light, standing out in its bright surroundings. On top of the head stood a woman with silvery blue hair and cherry eyes. She wore a proud smirk on her young face. The breeze blowing past didn't seem to bother her in the least as she stared towards the camera that she knew was focusing on her.

  Dr. Solaris and Chris stopped eating, staring wide eyed at the television. Leon also seemed to notice who was on the screen since he was now leaning forward to get a better look. Not a single one of them could believe what they were seeing right now.

  "Is that…?" began Chris.

  "Here we have the young, nineteen-year-old Ray and her standard, black armored Geno," said the reporter. "She was a later entry, and even though we rarely get to see her battle, we're happy to have her here at the battle tournament."

  "That idiot," remarked Leon, drawing the attention of his father and brother. "She shouldn't be battling yet." Dr. Solaris just smiled and turned his attention back to the screen.

  "She'll be fine," he stated calmly, leaning back into the couch. He seemed pretty confident about his statement. Good luck Ray, but something tells me you won't need it.

  * * * *

  Ray climbed into the cockpit of her Geno, located in the head of the massive feline shaped machine. She hit a few buttons, and the cockpit lit up. Buzzes and beeps echoed off the metal softly as the creature was soon brought to life. Screens appeared in front of her, allowing her a view of the outside arena she was currently in. There was a small blip on the monitor, and a second screen popped up to her side.

  "Good luck, R.C," said Abby with a smile. "We'll be rooting for ya."

  "Thanks," responded Ray cheerfully.

  Brian came onto the screen next to Abby. He didn't say anything, only gave her a silent thumbs up and a smile. She returned it and shut off the communication link with her friends. The battle was about to begin, and she couldn't have any distractions. It's not like their presence would bother her too much, but she'd rather focus solely on her enemies. If she messed up now, it would tarnish her reputation, and she couldn't have that happen.

  The other competitors got into their Genos, the cockpits closing behind them. Ray just smirked as she maneuvered the oversized cat towards the center of the arena. Any second now, the battle would start, and she getting rather anxious.

  "Pilots, take your places," said a voice over a loud speaker. It echoed throughout the entire arena. Ray's smile only widened when she decided on what to do first. "Get ready…" Every Geno crouched down, ready to pounce the second the overseer gave the word. "Let the tournament…begin!"

  As expected, the two humanoid Genos began dueling amongst themselves. The air base took off into the skies, and the ground base leapt towards Ray. However, she was ready. With the flip of a switch, she quickly lowered her Geno. Within an instant, a swirling cloud of dust from the sandy ground was kicked up. The ground base stopped, not sure about the cloud of dust. Running right in would be pointless, especially if it was some kind of trap. However, the feline didn't have much time to ponder a plan of action. It was quickly met with fire from the flying Geno, and it had no choice but to return it. That didn't mean it had given up on Ray though.

  The cloud of dust eventually cleared, revealing a large hole in the ground. The pilot, Carry, of the ground base Geno looked around, searching for any sign of Ray. Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath her, and before she knew it, her Geno was flung into the air by a black blur, moving too fast for her to decipher what it was. A growl emanated from her Geno, and it was met by a bird like shriek from the black blur. In an instant, gears began to turn, and metal bent and reshaped. Limbs changed, the cockpit shifted, and before she knew it, the black blur was a flying Geno.

  Ray and her now air born Geno took off into the sky after damaging the ground base machine. She pirouetted gracefully towards the other air born creature, dodging gun fire the entire time. Ray quickly positioned her own back mounted cannon and began firing off round after round, all the while continuing to dodge her enemy's attacks. She moved very gracefully, calculating each move she made with haste and accuracy. Each counter was dead on, and each dodge brought her centimeters from the bullets. She knew exactly what she was doing.

  In no time at all, the enemy Geno was falling towards the stadium ground, pieces of the metal now coming off. Other parts were singed to a fine rusted color. However, before it could hit the ground, gears began turning, limbs and metal shifted, and the once air born Geno became longer, fins replacing wings. A drill like structure formed at the nose of the great beast, spinning rapidly. It touched the ground and instantly drilled a hole into the stadium floor, disappearing into the shadows.

  * * * *

  "Let the tournament…begin!" shouted the announcer. The Solaris family watched intently as the Genos began their battle royal. The actions of some were rather predictable, such as the two humanoids and the air base. They watched as the ground base Geno went after Ray, who quickly disappeared in a cloud of dust that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

  "What?" questioned Chris, confused at the action.

  "Wow," said the reporter, her voice going over the battle scene. "This battle royal is off to a great start. Both humanoid Genos are going at it in an old fashioned fist fight. The air base, piloted by Justin Garv, is already soaring high in the sky, raining ammo down on his opponents. Carry and her ground base seem to be searching for Ray, but she has concealed herself in a large torrent of dust from the desert." They watched as the dust cleared, but there was no sign of Ray and her Geno anywhere. It was like they had just vanished.

  "Where'd she go?" asked Chris, his eyes scanning the screen.

  "Oh my," said the reporter. "It seems Ray has vanished, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground." It was then that the rocky floor under Carry's feline Geno exploded, a black blur coming out with the up burst of rock and sand. The black blur quickly transformed into a bird shaped creature.

  "Amazing," stated the reporter. "It looks like Ray used the water form to tunnel under the desert, and now she's changed it to the aerial form. It seems Carry is going to have some trouble recovering from that hit." Indeed she was. Only moments later did the green humanoid Geno, now done with his own battle, come over and use its shoulder placed guns to open fire on the feline. In a matter of mere seconds, Carry's Geno was suffering from a system failure. The blue humanoid across the field was lying in a pile of broken metal, its pilot fuming silently to himself in the cockpit such as Carry was doing now.

  "It looks like only three are left," noted Dr. Solaris. The cameras quickly switched to the air born battle. Ray was dodging shots left and right, each one just missing the sleek body of her black Geno. She beat and folded her wings at exactly th
e right times, predicting every angle of every shot, never once slipping up or miss calculating.

  "How's that possible?" questioned Leon as he studied the way her Geno moved gracefully through the sky. "Every Geno's given a base, and all the other forms should be considerably weaker. However, it looks like her water base and air base are of equal quality." Dr. Solaris just smiled, happy to see that his son was at least paying attention to something of relative importance.

  "A Geno doesn't have to have a weakness," he stated, drawing the interest of both his sons. "A Geno needs a pilot like Ray, one who can draw on all of its aspects. Her eyes are sharp, and she has a lot of stamina. She's dominating because she's obviously skilled. She probably practiced for years to get this far."

  "Unreal," said the reporter, drawing their attention again. The air base Geno was plummeting to the ground, but before it hit, it changed into the water form, tunneling under the stadium's desert floor.

  * * * *

  Ray began to nosedive, heading right for the ground below. To many, it probably looked like she was going to collide. However, when she got within a few feet, her Geno began to change again, taking on the look of a feline. She smirked as she landed perfectly on the ground, her eyes instantly going to the humanoid machine that was still left. Her Geno got into a pouncing state, a low growl emitting from its mechanical throat.

  The humanoid began charging towards her, pulling its fist back for a punch, but she was ready. At the last second, her Geno sprung into the air, the humanoid's punch hitting nothing but sand and rock. She spun in midair, getting behind her opponent. Two panels flipped open from her Geno's sides, revealing two guns. She began blasting at her enemy, showing absolutely no restraint.

  Each shot hit its limbs, but the humanoid was still standing. It spun around to face her, firing off a few shots of its own. She just sprang up again, dodging each one. Its massive hand shot out, the pilot hoping to catch her off guard, but she twisted in midair, moving sideways and out of arm's reach. The second she touched down, she sprang forward. Her Geno opened its mouth wide, revealing the mechanically made white teeth. She sank them into the humanoid's shoulder. Sparks shot out from where the metal was being ripped.

  From inside the cockpit, Ray smirked, knowing that her victory was inevitable. A slight tremor suddenly ran through the ground right under her Geno. It was obvious that her enemy hadn't noticed, and she planned to use that to her advantage. She released the humanoid and jumped back just as the ground exploded beneath him, sending her enemy off the ground in a rush of rocks. The air base Geno, still in its water form, was now above ground, and Ray wasted no time finishing it off with a decent round of bullets. It now lay motionless on the desert battlefield. She quickly turned her attention to the humanoid, which wasn't out of the battle just yet.

  Ray ran towards her final obstacle, her Geno letting out a fierce roar as it picked up speed. She leapt towards the now standing machine, slashing it with her feline's long white claws. After taking such a beating, there was no way it could recover from such an attack. The humanoid fell to the sandy ground, unable to rise again.

  * * * *

  "What's she doing?" asked Chris as he watched Ray's Geno nosedive towards the ground, something not too many pilots did on purpose. However, she pulled up at the last minute, the Geno transforming once again to its ground form. Her landing was absolutely perfect, her Geno sustaining absolutely no damage. She quickly turned her attention to the humanoid that had just finished off Carry and her ground base.

  "It looks like Justin has gone underground for now," said the reporter. "And it looks like Ray has turned her attention to our remaining humanoid Geno." They all watched as Ray maneuvered behind the massive hunk of technology, firing at it repeatedly. For some reason, not a single one of her shots missed. Either she had really good aim or that pilot was just horrible at maneuvering. However, he managed to get in a few shots of his own, which resulted in nothing more than breaking off her attack. He was quick to charge her again afterward. As he took a swing at her, she easily dodged, and while he was still in mid swing, she rebounded and sank her Geno's teeth into his humanoid's shoulder.

  "It looks like Ray has the upper hand on this battle," stated the reporter. However, Ray quickly let go of the humanoid. Everyone was confused until they saw the ground erupt where she had been only seconds before. The humanoid was tossed into the air as the formerly air born Geno reappeared. Ray made short work of it, blasting it until its system froze up. She then ran towards the surprisingly still intact humanoid. As the last two Genos met in the middle of the arena, everyone knew who was going to win this battle.

  With a single slash of her Geno's claws, the humanoid Geno went down. That had been the last of them. Ray had just won the battle royal, and her Geno didn't even have a scratch on it.

  "Incredible!" stated the reporter. "Ray and her standard black Geno have won the tournament!" Cheers could suddenly be heard in the background since in the stadium there was a small enclosed seating area where the officials from the GRC resided. They were all cheering loudly for their fellow coworker and friend. However, before the battle had even begun, they had known she would win. No one could stand up to her. She was the ace knight, after all.

  * * * *

  "I knew she could do it!" shouted Abby as she enthusiastically pumped an arm into the air. Brian just smiled as he watched his young friend exit her Geno, now standing in the open cockpit. She was waving both arms, knowing full well that all the cameras were on her. She had always been one for attention. She loved the spotlight. Then again, most pilots did.

  Brian was suddenly interrupted from his silent cheering when a voice came through on the small earpiece he wore. His general had insisted that he take it with just in case of an emergency. He had a sinking feeling that something bad was about to happen. He wouldn't have been contacted otherwise.

  "Brian," said Gordan on the other end. "Something's coming."

  "What do you mean?" he questioned into his small microphone, trying his best to speak over the loud cheering of his coworkers.

  "There are some unidentified objects heading your way," Gordan elaborated. "There's about ten…possibly twenty. They're approaching fast from the east." Brian walked to the huge window spanning nearly the whole wall of the boxed room he was standing in. He looked up into the vast blue sky, not seeing a single object flying above. It was so clear out that there wasn't even a small white puff of cloud. Despite how hard he was looking, he just couldn't see anything. Maybe Gordan was mistaken. Then again, their tracking system never lied.

  "The east?" he questioned, focusing solely on that direction. However, there was nothing but sky. He still couldn't see anything.

  Dr. Solaris smiled as he watched Ray eat up the attention. She was taking it all in, a smile on her face, her arms waving through the air. Such was the nature of someone like her. She had every right to brag like that though. She had done well today.

  "That was an entertaining battle," he commented as he leaned back again on the couch.

  "I'll say," agreed Chris. "She's an amazing pilot. There's not a scratch on her Geno. She took out two of those guys all on her own." Leon didn't say anything, offering no words of praise. He just smiled as he watched the energetic nineteen-year-old. She was incredibly happy about her win. To be honest, he had been rooting for her.

  Ray suddenly stopped waving, her smile faltering slightly as she placed a hand near her ear, apparently listening to something. She then looked up to the sky, her eyes widening slightly. From above came a rain of bullets, showering the ground of the coliseum. A few bullets came down towards her, hitting the metal of her Geno's head. As she backed up to avoid them, she lost her balance.

  The Solaris family moved to the edge of the couch, worry etched on all their faces. Ray was falling, but she quickly grabbed the side of the still open cockpit. She just hung there for a while before carefully pulling herself back up. The barrage of ammo had ceased for the time being.

&
nbsp; "We have some urgent news," stated the woman reporter as Ray closed the cockpit to her Geno, now safely inside. "About fifteen air born Genos are flying over the coliseum!" Ray's Geno quickly leapt into the sky, instantly shifting into its air born form, taking off towards the people who had so unashamedly opened fire on her. "The GRC will hopefully send someone out here before-" The screen went blank as the camera was destroyed, the reporter's voice gone along with it.

  "Change the channel!" shouted Chris, looking to his older brother. Without a word, Leon changed to another news station.

  "We're live here at the coliseum where only moments ago, fifteen air born Genos appeared," began the woman reporter. "They instantly opened fire on Ray and her black Geno. She is now going into a head on battle with these red armored machines." The three Solaris men watched as Ray's Geno soared towards the flock of air born enemies.

  * * * *

  Ray wore a scowl on her face as she held her targets in her eyes. They were flying pretty close together. She thought about her options, but her usual cocky smirk didn't appear when her mind formulated a plan. They had really crossed the line this time. Not a single one of them was going to get away. They would receive no mercy from her.

  A screen popped up to her right revealing Abby and Brian. Both looked equally worried about their young friend. She seemed highly serious right now which was highly unlike her.

  "R.C, do you have a plan?" asked Abby.

  "I think so," she responded. "I'm gonna see what they do first."

  "They're from Ramirez, you know," said Brian, a solemn look on his face. "They know who you are."

  "I'm aware of that," she stated, tightening her grip on the two handles in front of her, the controls for her Geno. "I'm not letting them get away. They damaged my Geno."

  "Be careful, R.C," said Abby with worry hidden in her eyes. "We'll be on standby if you need help." Ray only nodded before ending the communication. She was now within range of the enemy. All at once they fired at her, sending a volley of missiles her way. She only narrowed her cold eyes as she lifted a small panel and flipped a switch. The boosters near her wings flared up, erupting in a burst of pressure that sent her streaming forward. She sped under and past the bullets, now pulling up to attack her enemies.