Perfect Sacrifice (22 page)

The two Genos ran through the desert, their boosters flaring, kicking up sand that swirled through the already thick air.  Leon wasn't sure where she was going or how long this was going to take.  The scenery, however, began changing after a while.  The desert was becoming rockier.

After about ten minutes of pure running, some lights appeared in the distance.  They would brighten and then fade, and then they'd appear in a different place.  The sound of explosions was soon picked up by the wind, being carried to their ears.  Leon kept his eyes on Ray, but in a burst of speed, she became nothing but a blur.

Leon scowled as he reached for the switch that would accelerate his boosters.  He froze, however, when Ray's words from their battle resurfaced in his mind.  Breaking the sound barrier could easily destroy him and his Geno.  He wasn't trained for high speed battles.

With an exasperated sigh, he placed his hand back on the control stick.  He would just keep going forward in hopes of eventually finding Ray again.

The excavation site was full of activity right now as two Genos tried to defend against over twenty.  Every time one would go down, another would take its place.  They were pouring out of the large hole in the ground.  The two Genos were currently hiding behind a rather large rock formation.

"Damn it, they just keep coming," said Brian as he pushed his Geno up against the rock formation, keeping out of range of the bullets that were flying everywhere.

"I guess we can't tease R.C about this place anymore," noted Abby.  "We were discovered about as quickly as she was."  The sand exploded around her Geno's hind legs, and she moved closer to Brian.

"Look on the bright side," began Brian.  "At least Ramirez isn't out here."  A large explosion rang out, and the rock formation began to crumble, the pieces falling towards the two of them.

"Run!" shouted Abby as her Geno bounded away from the falling debris.  Brian ran the opposite direction and quickly opened fire on the enemy Genos, taking out as many as he could.  Abby did the same.  Unfortunately, more started coming from the excavation site, and the barrage of bullets increased.  Soon it would get hard to dodge.

"This is endless," noted Brian as he tried to take out a few more.

"Hurry up R.C," prayed Abby softly as she focused on dodging the swarm of bullets.  The ground began to tremble beneath her, but her mind was elsewhere at the moment.  She couldn't feel anything.  Before she knew it, the ground beneath her shattered, and a Geno in its water form threw her into the air.  She cried out as her Geno hit the ground.

"Abby!" shouted Brian, looking to his fallen comrade.  In his moment of distraction, he was met with heavy fire.  His Geno crumpled to the ground, barely staying out of a system failure.

The heavy wave of bullets ceased as the enemy units noticed that neither of the golden colored Genos was getting back up.  It looked like they had won this round.  It was then that the wind picked up for a second.  Before any of them knew what was happening, a black blur sped past them.  The sonic boom that followed took out about five of them.

The black Geno skidded to a stop, spinning around to face the enemy units.  The side panels flipped out, revealing two guns.  In an instant, both guns were firing away, launching a volley of shells at the remaining enemy Genos.  Some managed to burrow under the ground in their water forms, but most of them received the brunt of the attack.  Their systems failed quite quickly.

"Only one person can take Genos down that fast," said Brian with a smile.

"Glad to have you with us, R.C," greeted Abby with a thumbs up and a smug grin.

Ray retracted her guns and began scanning the area.  Unfortunately, her scanners weren't able to reach underground.  Instead, she turned her attention to Abby and Brian, who were slowly getting their Genos up and running.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked them, seeming slightly worried.

"Of course," responded Abby.  "No problem…now that you're here."  Ray just smiled, but a beeping on her tracking system quickly drew her attention.  From the excavation site, more Genos were appearing, crawling out of the hole.

"Here we go again," said Brian with a sigh.

"My God, how many of these cockroaches are there?" asked Abby.  This whole ordeal was beginning to get frustrating.  Nothing ever seemed to work out the way they wanted it to.

Ray smirked as she flipped a switch, starting up the boosters.  In an instant, her Geno took off at top speeds, looking like nothing but a blur.  As she disrupted the sound barrier, she managed to miss the underground attack that had been launched on her.  Now the whale shaped Genos were easy pickings for Abby and Brian.  They ambushed them with a volley of missiles, taking all five out at the same time.

Ray shot off towards the approaching Genos, streaking right by most of them, sending them flying in the backlash of her attack.  She leapt into the air and came down on one as it was trying to flee by transforming into its air born form.  The system failed as she drilled her claws into its back.  Before any of the other ones could fire at her, she sped off again.

Unfortunately, she was unaware of one Geno that stood atop a rock formation.  It was concentrating on her, a single gun aimed at her black blur of a machine.  All it would need was one second to launch its heavy round of ammo.  The second she slowed down, he would be ready to end her triumphant victory.

As soon as most of the threat was gone, Ray shut off the boosters, knowing that her Geno wouldn't be able to take too much more of the high speeds.  The cooling systems were already working overtime.  It was then that about five rounds were fired.  Before she could dodge, the bullets slammed into her Geno, knocking it over.  If it hadn't been for the harness keeping her in her seat, she would have slammed into the console.

"What was that?" she questioned as she rubbed the back of her head, a bump now forming there.  She looked around, but was soon met with a gun barrel aimed directly at the cockpit.  Ray inhaled sharply, her body and mind freezing up on her.  This had never happened before.  She was cursing herself, wondering how she could have been caught off guard like that.

"R.C!" shouted Abby out of fear.  She and Brian were currently caught up in their own battle with a few humanoids.  Before any of them knew what was going on, a stray bullet hit the enemy feline Geno.  It bounded back, looking around for where the shelling had come from.  Just as it looked up, a white Geno slammed into its back, shredding the armor.  The enemy Geno was out of the battle.

The white Geno jumped off of the now inoperable one.  It roared in victory and then turned to watch as Ray brought her black cat to its feet.

"You okay?" asked the pilot, and Ray instantly recognized the voice.  She quickly became annoyed.

"Leon, what are you doing here?" she asked him, demanding an answer.

"I came to help," he stated.

"You were supposed to be back at the base sleeping," she stated, gripping the controls in her cockpit.  She had to keep her temper down.

"I would have been, but your Geno woke me up," he retorted.  "I wasn't about to let you run away again, so I followed."

"Idiot," she whispered, knowing that he had heard her.  "Go back to the base.  We can handle this."

"Come on R.C," coaxed Abby as she finished off a few more enemy units.  "Let him stay.  We could use the help."

"After all," began Brian with a small smirk.  "He did just save your life."  Ray growled deeply out of sheer annoyance.  She turned her attention back to Leon.

"Fine," she said harshly.  "You can stay, but if anything happens to you, I won't be held responsible.  Your life is your problem now, got it?"

"That's fine by me," he stated.  "Now let's go."  He bounded off towards Abby and Brian, firing his guns at the enemy.  Ray followed shortly after.

It wasn't taking too long to finish up the remaining enemy units.  In fact, with the four of them, the cleanup was coming along nicely.  Pretty soon, the area was littered with different colored Genos, some in separate pieces, others without armor.  Either way, their systems were all down.

"Well, that was fun," commented Abby.  Usually she'd get a response from Ray, but the ace knight was currently glancing around the area.  Something didn't feel right here.  The excavation site was supposed to be important.  Wouldn't they try a little harder to protect it?  She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that this wasn't over yet.

At that moment, a low but ear piercing roar echoed through the area.  It shook her insides and jostled her mind.  Only one Geno made that kind of sound, and it was the only thing that could strike fear right into her very core.

All four warriors turned around, and there it was.  Standing on top of a large rock formation was a midnight blue Geno with hellish red eyes.  It was unlike any Geno they had ever seen.  It wasn't shaped like any of the four forms that Genos were meant to come in.  This one looked like a raptor, its body sleek and powerful.  Its sharp claws and teeth were all a fine pearl white, simulating the real thing.  It roared loudly once again, arching its back as it allowed its roar to echo across the desert.

"No," whispered Ray as she slowly began to back up.  "Ramirez."  The mighty raptor Geno looked around, taking note of all the scrap metal strewn across the excavation area.  Inside the powerful beast, Ramirez sat at his console, a slightly annoyed look upon his rather tranquil face.  His eyes soon landed on the four Genos that had turned his troops into scrap.

"Hello," he said, his voice echoing in all of their cockpits.  "I see you had some fun playing with my units.  Impressive handiwork."  All four Genos began slowly backing away.

"We need to get out of here," whispered Abby on a private communication link, making sure Ramirez couldn't hear her.  "He'll tear us all apart."

"Don't think you can get away," he told them as he watched them backing away.  They all halted their retreat.  "After all," he continued, "Gordan did send me two of his dogs to play with, isn't that right?"  His eyes were currently on the two golden armored Genos.

"Damn," cursed Brian.  "He knows it's us."

"I'm punching out," stated Ray, her voice slightly low.  They were still on a private link.  Ramirez could speak to them, but he couldn't hear them.  That would change soon, and they all knew it.

"Alright," said Abby.  "We won't try to contact you."

"What's going on?" questioned Leon, feeling a little lost on more than one topic here.

"I'm punching out," explained Ray, "so don't try to contact me.  Understand?"  Leon knew this wasn't a time to be asking questions, so he responded with a nod.  Her screen then faded from his cockpit.

"Abby, Brian," began Ray, catching their attention.  "Keep an eye on Leon, alright?"  Abby quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I thought you said he was on his own," she questioned.  "Why the change?"  Ray looked somewhat ashamed, pulling her gaze away from Abby.

"I…I owe him," she said softly, "so just keep an eye on him, alright?  He doesn't know what he's up against."

"Alright," responded Brian.  Ray gave them both a soft smile before jamming her communication system.

"Let's see," began Ramirez.  "Just who do we have here?"  A smirk developed in his eyes, never reaching his straight line of a mouth.  He looked to the white Geno.  "Leon Solaris, I presume?"

"How did he…?" questioned Leon, now a little more than freaked out.  This man was indeed strange.

"Ramirez is very perceptive," explained Abby.  "That's why Ray punched out.  If he were to find out that she's the ace knight, all hell would break loose."

"Why?" questioned Leon.

"Ramirez wants her dead," explained Brian, his eyes narrowing a little.  "She's the only one who can hold her own in a one on one battle with him.  He's the one who's been searching for her."  Leon nodded and returned his eyes to Ramirez and his mighty Geno.

"I see the ace knight isn't among you," said Ramirez.  "It's a shame.  I was hoping for a real challenge."  He prepared to leap from the rock formation, his Geno now crouching down.

"Why is his Geno different?" asked Leon.

"You sure ask a lot of questions," commented Abby.

"His Geno was altered using sacri crystals," explained Brian.  "Unlike most Genos, his has double the amount.  It allows his Geno to have five forms instead of four."

"Incoming!" shouted Abby as she prepared to dodge an attack.  Ramirez and his raptor jumped from the summit, landing on the rocky ground.  His Geno roared again before charging forward.  They all managed to dodge before he could ram into them, but when they were up in the air, there wasn't much they could do.

Ramirez turned towards Abby and Brian with speed that wasn't thought possible.  Before either of them could land, he shot off six bullets, three for each.  Not a single shot missed.  Both Genos crumpled to the ground, three of their legs now damaged.  Still they managed to get back up.

Leon opened fire on the raptor, but Ramirez was quick enough to dodge, using his boosters to carry him out of harms way.  As he was still levitating in the air, Ray jumped towards him, preparing her claws to shred his armor.  He rose higher, but she slammed on the boosters, allowing her to jump higher as well.  It wasn't quite high enough though.  Her attack only caught him on his left leg.  She landed back on the ground, watching as he came back down.