by Parker, Jack
"What?" he asked, wanting her to elaborate.
"Ramirez…he's got some kind of new Geno," she explained, wanting to get all the details straight. "It's larger than any I've seen, plus it can use stealth. He sent it to Azran, and…" Her heart clenched as she recalled the memory. She had seen the news footage, and she had heard the sounds of the second battle. It had been horrible. She didn't know how anyone, even Ramirez, could do that to someone. Then again, the silver haired devil wasn't even piloting it. Someone else had the same twisted mind that he did.
"What?" questioned Brian, wanting to know what had happened. By the look on her face, he was dreading the answer.
"He killed them," she said softly, "all of them. All four knights are gone." Brian looked like he had just been shot again. If what Ray was saying was true, which he knew it was, then four of his best friends were gone. It was like waking up one day to find that you were alone, that everyone had left you. He had just lost one third of his family.
"You're serious," he whispered, earning him a nod from Ray. He lowered his head. "I can see now why Abby and Gordan haven't come to visit me. They probably have their hands full wit this."
"Yeah…" whispered Ray. "Hopefully Gordan will have the knights on Trin evacuate before it's too late." She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as the images resurfaced in her mind. "It was horrible…having to see that." Brian didn't say anything. It's not like he could really offer much. This was a shock to him. He had never thought something like this would happen.
"What are we going to do?" he asked, drawing her attention. "I mean, if the four of them couldn't take it down, then how are we going to win?"
"It's simple," said Ray, deciding that it was time to lighten the mood. She put on a smile as she stood up. "You've got me. I never lose." Brian just let out a small laugh in response. Ray was always being arrogant to some extent. She had bragging rights, though. Ramirez was the only one who could beat her, and all their battles ended in draws for one reason or another. So technically she never once lost a battle.
They just sat there for a while, not really having much to say. Perhaps it was time for small talk. That always seemed to work. Besides, Brian wanted to know if she was at least having fun with the Solaris family. The last he remembered, she was furious with Leon.
"How's everything with the Solaris family?" he asked her, drawing her attention.
"Fine, why?" she asked curiously.
"Well, I thought you were mad at Leon," he said. "At least you were before I ended up in here."
"Yeah," she said, reclining in the chair. "But I guess he's not so bad." She remembered the note she had left for the family and realized that she had written Leon's thank you note on the same paper. If she had been thinking clearly, she wouldn't have. She would have just written a separate one for him. I hope Dr. Solaris doesn't get the wrong idea. What did I write again? I hope he explained the situation to them.
"Ray?" questioned Brian, snapping her out of her small trance. She just smiled as she stood up.
"Sorry," she said as she stretched her arms. "I'm just a little tired, that's all." Brian only nodded, accepting her answer.
Ray began to head for the door. She would stay all day with him if she could, but she had other errands to run.
"I've got to get going," she said while glancing back at him. "I've got some errands to run. But I'll be back, alright?"
"Yeah, okay," he said with a smile. "Thanks for stopping by."
"No problem," she said as she left the room, closing the door gently behind her.
* * * *
Ray walked down the streets of Torran, heading towards her favorite place in the whole city. It was the one place she knew she'd always be welcome. It was the only place where she could get a free meal.
She walked up to the rather small restaurant, opening the door. The bell chimed to let the owner know that he had another customer.
"Welcome to…oh, it's you," said Sam, seeming a little disappointed. He had probably been expecting a paying customer. Ray wasn't one of them.
"Hey Sam," she greeted, walking up to the front desk. She leaned over on it, looking up at her father's old friend. "How've you been?"
"I should be asking you that," he said rather softly. "I heard what happened on Azran." Ray's expression fell a little as he brought up the rather touchy topic. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm alright," she said. "A lot has been happening lately. Brian was shot." Sam quickly began to panic.
"Shot? By who? Is he alright?" he asked in a hurry.
"He's okay now," she said softly, trying not to disturb the other customers who were enjoying their meals. Sam calmed down, so Ray began moving on to the next topic. "I'm living at the Solaris base now," she told him.
"You mean with Dr. Solaris?" questioned Sam.
"Yeah, along with his two sons," she said while leaning down further, resting her arms and head on his counter. "It's been interesting."
"Wasn't it Leon Solaris that I saw you with the last time?" he asked, and then he remembered another situation. "And the time before when you skated through my restaurant?"
"Yeah," she responded with a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. But yeah, that was Leon." Sam didn't say anything, but he did seem to be thinking about something. Ray wasn't sure if she liked the smile on his face. It implied that he was having a private thought that he was enjoying. After what she had just told him, she wasn't sure if she would like it.
After a while of being in silence, Ray stood up and stretched her arms. She reached to her backpack and began to take items from it. She was apparently searching for something.
"What are you doing?" he asked, watching as she removed a variety of dangerous looking weapons from her bag.
"Looking for something," she responded as she continued looking.
"For what?" he asked, leaning over more.
"The reason I came here," she replied. She smiled as she reached in and found what she had been looking for. She pulled out the gun he had given her a while back and put it on the counter. It was the one that had belonged to her father. Sam looked to the gun and then back up at her.
"What about it?" he asked her.
"It doesn't have any ammunition," she stated.
"Of course it doesn't," he practically yelled out. "Why would I keep a loaded gun in my restaurant?"
"Wow, sorry," she said while propping her elbows on his counter. "You don't have to get so upset. I just want to know where I can get ammunition. It won't take the bullets my other guns use."
"Of course not," he told her while crossing his arms. "It doesn't take normal bullets. You'd have to have them made for it."
"But that costs money," she whined while placing her head on the counter for emphasis. She didn't have money. That's why she always came to him. Didn't he understand that? He was the only one who would give her free food.
"Yes, it does," he told her, almost as if he was angry. "And we all know that you don't have any."
"That reminds me," she said as she lifted her head off of his counter. "Could you spare some food? I didn't eat breakfast." Sam sighed deeply as he walked into the back area.
"I swear Ray, one of these days…" he began.
"I know, I know. Someday I'll pay you back big time, I promise," she said with a smile as he came back out with a bag. The truth was that this was one of the few days she had money. However, it was going towards groceries for the Solaris base. After all, it was their money. She had to use it properly.
"Here," he said bitterly as he handed her the bag.
"Thanks Sam," she said with a smile, knowing that he wasn't really mad or bitter. Annoyed maybe, but that was alright. He'd get over it just like he always did. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Next time bring money!" he called after her as she walked out the door, continuing on her errands.
* * * *
General Gordan stood in the main room of the GRC base. His men were currently working on trying to find t
he mysterious Geno that had killed his knights. The thought still sickened him. He had known that Ramirez hated the knights. He had always wanted to get rid of them, but he wasn't just killing them. He was slaughtering them. There just wasn't anything really left. His methods were painful, that was for sure.
"General!" shouted Abby as she ran into the room. He turned to her, his hands behind his back.
"Did you issue the command?" he asked her. She nodded once, keeping a firm look on her face. She had just issued a command to have the knights on Trin evacuate. They weren't about to lose any more lives.
"They'll arrive sometime within the next two weeks," she said. Gordan seemed a little distraught by the length of time it would take, but that was the best they could do. It was a long way from Trin, and the only way was to travel by boat. Needless to say a Geno didn't fit on a plane, and using the Geno itself to fly or swim across the ocean was a risky act. Overly long distances weren't good for them. Gordan found himself wishing that they had built more than one air born transporter and less GRC cruisers.
"Alright," he said at last while turning back to the monitor. "I guess that will have to do. We'll just have to hope that that monster doesn't reach them before they board the boats."
"It couldn't possibly get from Azran to Trin in that short of time," said Abby. "It would have to cross the ocean." Gordan didn't seem convinced. They knew nothing about this mysterious Geno. Perhaps it was able to swim or even fly across the vast body of water. The distance from Azran to Trin wasn't as far as it was to Nerid.
"Sir!" called out an official as a rather loud beeping sound filled the room.
"What is it?" asked Gordan. He had always hated that horrendous noise. It could be louder and worse, he supposed. However, right now this was the most annoying sound he knew of. At least the alarm didn't go off too often. It was only for incoming messages, after all.
"Hold on," said the official as he tried to stop the noise and receive the message. His eyes widened slightly as he realized where the source was. "Sir," he began, making sure he had Gordan's attention. "It's from Trin."
* * * *
Ray was walking down the streets again, now looking for a grocery store. She had only been there a few times with Leon. Other times he brought Chris, since for some reason he found Ray rather annoying to shop with. Perhaps it was because she asked for him to buy her about five hundred different things that she didn't really need. Some she didn't really want either, but it was rather fun just to agitate him.
She turned the corner, opening her bag to eat her breakfast. It was actually closer to lunch time now, but she didn't mind. She'd just eat something else later. Maybe Sam would giver her lunch as well. She highly doubted it, but it was worth a shot.
"My gun," she said to herself suddenly, her current thoughts of Sam triggering the memory. She had left her father's gun back at his restaurant.
Ray spun around and began to run back down the streets. She wanted that gun, even if she couldn't get ammo for it. It belonged to her father. That was a good enough reason to have it.
She was still pretty far from his restaurant, and she had other things to do for the day. In order to get there faster, she stopped and opened her backpack. She quickly found her skates. She hit the small buttons and then connected them to her boots. With that done, she took off again, dodging every person who was walking the opposite direction. She needed to get back to Sam's as soon as possible.
When she finally reached the small restaurant, she threw open the door, startling Sam. He clutched at his chest and took in a deep breath.
"God Ray," he said with a sigh. "It's bad enough you practically steal food from me. Now you're trying to kill me too. It's just too much." Ray smiled sheepishly as she walked over to his counter, seeing that her gun was still there. She grabbed it off the counter and stuffed it into her bag.
"Sorry about that," she apologized. "I just wanted my gun. Bye." She turned around to leave, but the sound of a nearby television caught her attention. She glanced back and noticed that the news was on, the flashing red logo at the bottom displaying the words "live" and "urgent" as the reporter at his desk spoke to the public.
"We're sorry to interrupt this program," he began as he put his papers together, "but we have an incoming message from the continent of Trin. Apparently the mysterious Geno that took the lives of four GRC knights has been sighted. It's on a course with one of Trin's GRC bases. We were told that all four knights are currently stationed there."
Ray began to walk closer towards the TV. Sam's eyes were on her, a look of confusion on his face. He looked up to the television as a picture of the base on Trin was brought up. It was soon bombarded with bullets. The camera shifted, going towards the source of the shelling, but all they could see was a black gun. The Geno itself was currently using stealth.
The gunfire stopped, and three Genos walked out. One was missing, but Ray didn't know whose. After all, every knight's Geno was the same except for hers. It would be impossible to figure it out. However, all four of them were definitely there. There wasn't anywhere else for them to be.
All three Genos charged the invisible creature, seeing the area that the gun was at. Something knocked them away, however, sending each ground base machine skidding along the desert sands. Before they could get up, they were met with heavy shelling. One managed to get up and charge the beast, but a second gun appeared. All it took was one bullet. One bullet aimed directly at the cockpit. In only a split second, the large bullet pierced the cockpit armor, and the Geno fell to the desert sands, never to rise again.
Ray stood in shock, having to hold onto a nearby empty table for support as she nearly fell, her knees starting to give out. That was one more member of her family that she would never see again. There was no hope for the other two, this she already knew. Nothing stood a chance against the invisible machine. It was just too powerful. She watched as another of the golden armored Genos got up, charging for the invisible enemy. It was quickly batted away by something, but not only was it batted away. It was ripped in half. Whatever had shoved it away quickly came down again, crushing the head of the golden feline.
"No," whispered Ray as she felt tears stinging her eyes. She began to shake her head, wishing that this wasn't real. Something this horrible couldn't possibly be real. She had to be dreaming again. She just had to be.
"Ray," whispered Sam sympathetically as he walked up behind her. He had been watching the news as well, seeing the same horrors that she was seeing.
There was a rather large explosion, and then that was it. The third and final Geno on the battlefield fell, never to rise again. The cockpit was on fire. There was no hope for survival. However, the mysterious Geno wasn't done yet. The machine gun on its back disappeared, being replaced with a rather large cannon. It resembled the one Ramirez had used only it was about three times as big. It began charging, and in only a matter of seconds, it fired. The beam engulfed the base. The massive building of rock and metal began to disintegrate, disappearing from the desert. The small particles were even obliterated, being washed away like sand by the sea. When the laser beam cleared, there was nothing but a hole in the ground. It was all gone.
Ray quickly turned away, and Sam was ready. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She was trembling, her body and mind unable to take what they had just witnessed. He was sure that none of his customers would want to eat right now after watching that massacre. How could anyone do something so horrible? It just wasn't right, nor was it fair. The girl in his arms would agree with that. She wasn't crying, but she wasn't far from it. In all the years he had known her, she hadn't cried once. Why would this time be any different? However, she had never had to deal with so much. Half her family had just been wiped out in the course of two days.
"It's alright Ray," he comforted, trying to reassure her. However, his voice gave away the fact that it wasn't alright. In fact, he would probably have nightmares after being witness to that. All he could do right no
w was try to make this easier for the girl he saw as his family. He had been so close to her father, almost seeming like his brother. Ray had even called him "uncle Sam" at one point in time. Right now his "niece" was suffering, and he was going to try and help her.
He pulled away a little from her and slowly tilted her head up. He could see the tears dancing in her eyes, but she was fighting them back. She was determined not to let a single one fall, and she was doing a wonderful job of it. Too bad it was unhealthy for her.
"Ray, if you need my help with anything, just ask," he told her. "I can have my assistant manager take over for now."
"Okay," she said softly, her voice coming out rather unevenly.
"I'll be right back, okay?" he said as he left her standing there and walked behind his counter into the back area. It only took a few seconds before he came back, removing his name tag. He walked back over and put an arm around her shoulders. "You ready?" he asked softly. He only received a nod in response.
They made their way out of the store and began walking down the not so busy street. He wasn't sure what he was going to have to do for the ace knight, but he didn't care right now. He was going to help her. Right now, she was all alone. Her silence wasn't making him feel any better about this situation. Mental pain was the worst to deal with. He could only wonder about what this would do to her. A wound on the soul took so much longer to heal, and sometimes it never did. Sometimes it left a scar, and her soul was so full of them. She didn't need any more…not one.
* * * *
In his dark office room, Ramirez reclined in his chair, a cruel smirk on his face. He was fitfully enjoying himself. In the course of two days, he had managed to take out eight knights. His newest Geno was indeed impressive. Not only that, but his most trusted commander was behind the controls. It couldn't get much better. However, he would wait a while to deal with the rest. He had preparations to make. He wanted to get rid of all three at once, and that required waiting for Brian. Also, he would find a way to make sure that Leon Solaris was there. He wanted to be rid of him as well.
