Perfect Sacrifice (46 page)

"Well," she heard Aaron say.  "I guess it's time to finish this."  All eight guns were about ready to fire again.  He was going to finish them off.

At that moment, everything snapped.  Ray's mind was quickly overwhelmed, forcing her current fear from it.  Reality quickly hit her as she realized what was about to happen to the few friends she still had left.  This man had already taken eight of her family members.  He wasn't going to take any more; she'd make sure of that.  She had a promise to keep.  However, that excuse was slowly becoming less and less of a reason.  It's not that she
had
to protect Leon.  She wanted to.

Before any of the eight guns could fire, Ray began firing her own, knocking off every single one in a matter of seconds.  The spider quickly turned to her, its eyes glowing fiercely, but she didn't care.  Not anymore.  She had more important things to do.  She had friends to protect.

The spider turned to her fully, and Aaron was rather bemused.  After learning of her fear, he hadn't thought he'd have much of a problem taking them all out.  If she wanted to fight, he'd have to step things up a notch.

"Are you finally ready?" he asked her, but all he received was a growl from her Geno as it lowered itself to the ground.

"Ray?" questioned Leon as his Geno slowly rose from its position on the ground.  Abby and Brian were doing the same.  Their Genos were soon back on their feet, a little wobbly, but they were at least standing.

"Let me handle this," said Ray, her voice rather low.  "I owe him."  She tightened her grip on the controls, her red eyes flaring angrily.  "Do you hear me?" she asked him, her voice rising.  "I won't let you take another life.  Not now, not ever!"  She flipped both switches simultaneously, and her Geno was off, ripping through the sound barrier.  As she maneuvered her Geno, she began passing by four of the legs on the spider.  As she passed them, the cannon on her back shot off rounds, hitting all four of the legs.  The spider quickly began falling, but not before managing to turn around one last time, attempting to use one of its still functioning legs to crush her.  However, she was too fast.  She spun around and began charging back the way she came, shooting at the other four legs, disabling them all.  Now it was nothing more than one big target.

"Impossible," whispered Aaron as he tried to get his Geno back on its feet.  "In just two passes…she took out all eight legs.  I didn't even have time to get the other guns out."

Ray wasn't done, however.  Just as she pulled into a stop, her Geno quickly transformed into its humanoid form, jumping into the air and spinning around.  Its arm was pulled back for a punch, and as it came down on the spider's back, it thrust its fist into the machine, ripping through some of the metal.  Sparks began to shoot out as she pulled her fist out, quickly jumping back into the air.  Her Geno transformed once again, becoming its aerial form, soaring through the sky above the massive spider.

"Damn," cursed Aaron as he watched a few vital signs flash on his monitor.  His Geno was beginning to lose power.  That last hit had really damaged it internally.  He still had a few guns left though.  In a last ditch effort, he released every remaining gun he had, sending bullets and rockets flying everywhere.  Ray read every projection, completely focused on one thing and one thing only: the need to win.  She wasn't going to let anyone beat her in Geno battling.  Not Ramirez and not this man.

"Ray," called out Brian as his Geno was soon seen in the sky near hers.  "We have an idea."

"A sonic boom, I know," she said, watching as Leon and Abby soon joined them.  "I was watching the whole battle.  I know what you wanted to do.  Let's try it."  They dodged the rest of the bullets and soon didn't care if they were hit or not.  A few more holes wouldn't hurt them too much.

"Ready?" asked Abby as they all got into position, flying side by side.

"Anytime," responded Ray as she put her hand out towards the switch.

"Now!" Abby shouted, and they all broke the sound barrier, racing towards the now stationary Geno that was running out of ammunition.  They all swooped down as close as they could get to it and passed it completely, nearly skimming the top.  The sonic boom that followed was enormous, the current of wind being too much for the piece of metal to take.  It was flipped over, rolling once before falling to its stomach.

Aaron rubbed his head, a glare on his face as he watched the ace knight land her Geno, switching it back to the ground form.  He was starting to get angry.  He had taken down three knights at once, and now he was having trouble with basically just one.  She had taken out his stealth transmitter, she had disabled his legs, and thanks to her, they tipped his Geno and sent it rolling.  What was so different about this one knight?

"Damn you," he cursed, trying to get something to work.  "I'm not done yet!"  He had one last machine gun.  He was focusing all his Geno's power into bringing up that one last gun, his last means of defense.  He couldn't lose.  He just couldn't.  Ramirez would kill him if he failed.  He would much rather die during the battle than face what Ramirez had in store for him.

Ray's Geno crouched down a little as two side panels flipped out, each one having a gun on it.  However, they weren't the guns that had been seen before.  These ones were very different.  They were very sleek and silver, gleaming in the bright sun above them.  They resembled laser cannons, similar in style to the one Ramirez had, only these were a bit smaller.  Both of them began charging, the inside of the barrels glowing a soft pink color.  Aaron's eyes widened in disbelief.

"A…a four point cannon," he said, his voice shaking. 
If she has two there…then where are the others hidden on that thing?
  He realized that she probably didn't need all four.  After all, two points of a four point cannon were enough to deal with.  They were far beyond his Geno's capabilities.  He began desperately trying to get the machine gun up and running.  If he could attack her before it finished charging, he would have a chance.  She had to remain stationary while charging it.

"Ray, don't!" shouted Brian over the communication link.  "Your Geno can't take it.  You'll rip the armor off."

"I don't care," she stated.  "It's better than letting you all die.  Everything will be fine.  My Geno should have enough energy left to at least walk."

"This better finish it," stated Abby.  "If it doesn't…"

"It will," stated Ray, her eyes and mind solely focused on charging her cannons.  "No one ever escapes a four point cannon."

Aaron almost had the machine gun ready.  He was just waiting for it to lock and fire.  He wasn't going to give up.  He couldn't.  The stakes were too high.  He had to win this.  He had to go back victorious.  He didn't want to die yet.

"I won't lose," he stated.  "I won't lose!"  The machine gun locked and fired, sending a wave of bullets towards Ray.

"R.C!" shouted Abby as she watched the bullets race towards her friend.  Ray only smirked as her cannons fired.  Everything seemed to stop in that one moment, as if the cannons had drained the sound out of everything.  The machine gun bullets were quickly absorbed in the white hot light as it flew towards the immobile spider Geno.  Both beams smacked into it, ripping apart metal and circuits.  It melded some of the armor together, the heat being so intense.  Luckily for Aaron, she hadn't aimed at the cockpit.  That didn't stop the heat though, and in no way did it mean that he was safe.

In only a matter of seconds, the beams died out.  The light had been so intense that Ray's Geno had been nothing more than a shadow against it.  However, they now saw just what the assault had done.  The armor was falling off of her Geno's body, the main frame being very visible in the light of the sun.  One of the glass eyes had been blown out, the pieces spread out in the sands.

The cockpit slowly opened after her Geno fell to its stomach, and she quickly jumped out.  She ran to the fallen spider that no longer looked like what it had been.  It was now just a smoking pile of metal and wires.  However, the cockpit was still intact.  She had made sure of that.  She wanted to kill this man personally.  She would get back at him for what he had done, for the lives he had taken, for the people he had made suffer.

She jumped onto the cockpit, the cover already loose from the onslaught of white light.  She reached to her backpack and pulled out a gun, her finger already on the trigger.  Abby and Brian, along with Leon, were getting out of their Genos, running towards her.  They weren't telling her to stop.  They probably wanted this just as badly as she did.

She threw open the cockpit cover and looked down into the face of a young man, his eyes closed, his auburn hair shading them from the sun.  She quickly began to wonder if he was still alive, but the rise and fall of his chest was evidence that he was.  She quickly lifted the gun and aimed for his head, but something stopped her.

"Aaron?" called a concerned voice over this man's communication link.  "Aaron, are you alright?  Please answer me.  Aaron?  Aaron?"

Ray's hand began to shake as she held the pistol, still aiming it at Aaron's head.  This one man had caused her so much pain in just a few days.  He had taken eight innocent lives, eight of her dearest friends.  He didn't deserve to live…did he?

"Andy…" she whispered, still hearing his voice as he called out to someone who couldn't hear him.  Could she really do it after hearing his voice filled with so much concern?  Could she take someone that the fifteen year old cared so much about?

"Do it," came a deep voice, drawing her eyes to the man her gun was pointed at.  "Just do it.  Kill me."  Ray's hand stopped shaking, her finger tightening on the trigger.  Andy was still calling out to Aaron, and by now the others had gotten there, standing around the cockpit.  None of them were saying anything.  They weren't encouraging her, but they weren't stopping her either.  What was she supposed to do in this situation?

"Ray?" questioned Abby in confusion.  Hadn't this been the whole reason they were fighting?  Hadn't Ray vowed that he wouldn't leave alive?  Why was she hesitating?

"Just kill me," said Aaron again, his hazel eyes lacking emotion.  "It's better than going back to the base…than facing Ramirez."  Ray's hand began shaking again.  She quickly clenched her pistol tightly, and Aaron flinched, but she lowered it not long after. 

Everyone stared at her, confused.  What was she doing?  Andy's voice filtered in so clearly in the silence, and Ray began feeling worse and worse about what she had nearly done.

"You…you know Andy, right?" she asked rather softly, drawing a startled look from Aaron.

"Yes, but…" he began, but he stopped when he saw Ray smile.  It was an ironic one, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Then I can't do it," she told him.  "I can't kill you.  It would be like…killing his brother."  Everyone but Aaron now understood why she wasn't pulling the trigger.

"What?" he questioned, still seeming confused.

"Andy…lost his parents a long time ago…as did I," she explained.  "We're a lot alike really.  I lost my brother eleven years ago, and I can still remember how much it hurt.  I'm not about to put Andy through any more pain than he's already been through.  He's like my little brother, you could say.  I've always watched out for him, and I always will.  Killing you won't help him any." 

Aaron just stared at Ray, utterly and completely confused. 
This
was the girl Ramirez hated?  This was the person he had been told he was supposed to kill?  She was so different from what the general had said.  She was strong, cunning, and she had compassion.  She was about to let him go after all he had put her through.  However, he lowered his head when he realized it wouldn't do any good.  He couldn't go back to the base after failing.

"I'm sorry, but no matter what you say, I can't go back," he told her.  "I can't stay at the base anymore.  If Ramirez finds out that I lost, he'll kill me himself.  Either way, I'll end up dying.  It's either by your hands or by Ramirez's.  I'd prefer it to be yours."

"I already said I wouldn't," she told him, shoving the pistol back into her backpack.

"But I…" he began.

"Just fake it," suggested Leon, drawing Aaron's attention.  "You can fake your death.  Make it look like you died.  If you disappear, Ramirez will assume you were murdered, and he won't come after you."

"That's actually not a bad idea," complimented Ray as she turned her attention back to Aaron.  "There you go.  Perfect solution."

"That won't help Andy though," he stated.

"Then tell him," she said, hitting the communication button.  "Tell him what you're doing.  He'll understand."

"Aaron?" questioned Andy again.  "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he sighed, running a hand through his auburn hair.  "I'm alright."

"That's great!  Wait till I tell…" he began, but Aaron quickly cut him off.

"No!" he shouted, being a little louder than he had meant to.  "Is anyone there with you right now?"

"Well, no…" he said, sounding a little startled at Aaron's outburst.

"Good," he told the boy.  "Listen up.  I'm not coming back to the base."

"Why?" Andy asked softly, sounding very disappointed with the commander.

"If I go back, Ramirez will kill me," he stated, almost shivering at the thought.  "I can't go back, so listen, okay?  As far as you know, I was killed in battle.  That's what I want you to tell people.  I'll probably end up going to Torran, just so you know.  You can come and visit me, alright?  But you have to promise you won't tell anyone at the base that I'm still alive.  If Ramirez finds out, he'll hunt me down."