As KishouDoragon advanced, the enemy forces fell back to regroup. The remaining two Decarabia vessels aborted their assault on the island's defense network and Mass Driver, and instead focused their attentions on the Drake of Braves. Below, a pair of Nine-Breakers suddenly rocketed out of the hangers.

"Man, we miss all the action already?" Rodeo complained over the comm. channel.

"What took you two so long?" Leon asked, immediately rescinding his authority to Ashley now that she had arrived with Rodeo.

"We were delayed inside. We managed to get to our hangers, but the Ultimate Nine-Ball's still being prepared," Ashley stated. "We need to buy Raven time to launch. Razgriz Squadron, form up in Delta Formation B."

A number of voices responded to her order, and the Nine-Breakers began to form up to begin the counterattack.

===Central Command, Aube===

"Easter shoreline defenses have been breached," reported one officer. "Enemy is advancing on the lower Falken launch hangers."

"Have the 8th Armor Division cut them off," Patrick ordered. "Have the 32nd Air Squadron provide air support for them."

"Yes sir!"

Warning klaxons suddenly began blaring within the compound.

"Enemy bogey is incoming!" came the report. "Enemy is--jesus, what the hell is this? I've never seen anything like this before!"

"What?" Patrick demanded. "Bring it up on the main screen!"

The view switched to a scene above the northern coasts. The General's eyes narrowed in puzzlement and suspicion as the enemy became clear.

"We have no data on the enemy bogey, sir! Enemy forces must be deploying a new unit!"

"Begin analysis of the new creature," General Dagenais ordered. "When complete, send all the relevant data to our mobile forces."

===Aube Airspace===

"Look alive, people!" Leon shouted. "We got a new enemy inbound!"

"What the hell is that thing?" Rodeo asked, spotting the monster and turning his mechanoid towards it.

The beast flew over the sea at high speeds, leaving a rising wake of seawater behind it as it approached the island of Aube. Like the Cyraeth and Decarabia vessels, this creature sported the same pale green hide. An overgrown head jutted forward like an obscene beak, and open folds of flesh opened to show some sort of ocular growth to serve as the creature's eyes. It had little in the way of a normal body, having four conical growths extending forward from its head, two on either side. A pair of large pincer claws hung beneath the body, each one angling forward. Long ridges jutted out behind the creature, like a pair of unusual wings.

The beast, only slightly smaller than KishouDoragon, sped right for the Drake of Braves. The tips of its conical protrusions folded open into four flaps, and the new openings began firing a series of barbed missiles at KishouDoragon and its entourage of Nine-Breakers.

"Sanctum Roar!" Spreading a palm. KishouDoragon issued a wave of force that repelled the needles, and kept them off as it charged in for an attack.

"Let's see how else I can kill this thing!" Matt shouted, enjoying himself way too much.

As the projectiles were deflected by KishouDoragon, the Nine-Breakers opened fire with their KARASAWA laser rifles. Azure rays of energy lanced through the air at the incoming monster, only for the beams that struck to do minimal damage. It banked off to the left and flew ahead.

"Be careful, Matt," Kaile said through the comm. channel. "We don't know this enemy's capabilities. They may have fielded it in response to KishouDoragon's use."

"Then I guess we'll just have to use this thing's weapons a bit more creatively!" Matt said. He rushed in to grab the head, intending to unload a vicious punch to the eyes.

The enemy swooped in to attack as KishouDoragon charged forward, and its body shuddered violently as the fist smashed against its head. Despite the blow, it pushed forward, grabbing at KishouDoragon's arms with its underside claws.

As it struck, the four conical appendages alongside the creature's head shook, then split off from the body entirely, revealing small, atrophied claws alongside its head. The four released appendages flew out and around, opening up to fire their barbed projectiles at multiple targets, including KishouDoragon.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Matt cried out as the barbs rained over KishouDoragon. Okay, that was a stupid move! But now it was time to make it up. Matt exerted a lot of effort trying to hoist the monster up-if he could, he'd swing it around to tag all the appendages at once.

KishouDoragon's strength easily overpowered the monster's, and it released an unearthly cry as its remote weapons were knocked away with its own body. Its grip on KishouDoragon was lost during the swing, and it was thrown away.

It quickly stabilized and summoned its discarded appendages to return. Each one flew in and was grabbed by the atrophied claws, and it released a quick burst of barbed missiles at KishouDoragon before flying up and around.

Immediately, the two Decarabia vessels renewed their attacks. Pores opened up across their pod-like hides, releasing gaseous spore projectiles at the various airborne mechanoids.

"Look out!" David shouted, propelling his Nine-Breaker up out of the line of fire. Beneath him, two Nine-Balls and a Nine-Breaker from other squadrons were caught in the spores and exploded violently, as the acid had quickly eaten through the armor and caused critical damage to their reactors.

"Provide covering fire for KishouDoragon!" Ashley shouted, activating her Nine-Breaker's missile pods. "Let's keep those things from shooting Matt down!"

Missiles flew up into the air and rained down on one of the two vessels, causing a series of explosions in the air.

"Ah, damn it!" KishouDoragon flew up and away from the attacks, sweeping around the enemies. "Infernal Gaze!" The eyes on GaiaDraken and AquaDraken glowed, firing beams of energy streaming towards the big monster and the Decarabias.

Devil Dragons screamed in pain as the beams swept through their ranks, the Crystalis empowering the attacks easily stripping them of their profane divinity. Flaming corpses rained down on the fields and forests as the beams continued and struck against the Decarabias. The creatures released strange, mournful cries of pain, but the marauding creature evaded the attacks.

Once more, its appendages were released, and they darted through the air. Turning, they fired on KishouDoragon; this time with acidic spores like those used by the Decarabias. The beast screeched as it turned in to attack, opening up its pincers. Energy gathered between then, then fired in a pair of electrical bursts.

"Genocide Blazer!" Once again it fired, down the row to hopefully tag a few monsters at a time. KishouDoragon swerved up, trying desperately to avoid all the fire while keeping an eye on its rocket fist. "Little help here!"

Four Falkens shot past KishouDoragon as Matt called for help. The noses of each jet lifted up to reveal the Tactical Laser System installed in them, and they fired the beams in tandem, using them to cut through the airspace and down as many of the spores as possible.

"All pilots, intercept the nearest bogey and commence firing," said the squadron leader. "Phoenix One, Fox Three!"
"Phoenix Two, Fox Three!"
"Phoenix Three, Fox Two!"
"Phoenix Four, Fox Three!"

Sidewinders were let fly beneath the Falkens, and the missiles zeroed in on the nearest of the beast's detached appendages. They exploded against the side of it, knocking it off course and causing it to falter--each Falken flew past and dispersed, leaving the airspace clear for the Genocide Blazer to smash into it. It burned through in an instant, causing the two remaining halves to explode violently as the projectile returned.

Beam fire came in at the others, forcing them to disperse and return to the beast. Razgriz Squadron kept up their fire, pelting the beast with their rifles.

"Dammit, Raven, where the hell are you!?" Rodeo shouted over the comm. link.

Genocide Blazer returned as Matt kept a wide arc, sprinkling Infernal Gaze over any nearby targets. Was this the only good distance attack it had?

Twin beams of deadly fire lanced out from beneath one of the Decarabias, tearing through an entire squadron of Nine-Balls and destroying them instantly. Pilots near the explosions winced at the sudden light, then began to fall back in case another volley was fired.

"We're getting slaughtered up here!" one of the pilots shouted. "When the hell is that super mech gonna be launched!?"

===Central Command, Aube===

"What's the status on the Ultimate Nine-Ball?" General Dagenais demanded.

"Its being loaded onto the launch catapult now!" came the response. "Captain Maersk is being briefed on mission objectives!"

A warning came from the radar. "Sir, we've got incoming hostiles converging on the Ultimate Nine-Ball's hanger!"

"Damn! Have Razgriz Squadron intercept! Do not let them collapse that hanger!"

===Aube Airspace===

"You heard the general, let's move!" Leon bellowed. "COME ON!"

Laser fire blasted down through the horde of Devil Dragons, but it wasn't enough to destroy them all. The monsters shot down towards the opening hanger doorways, with green flame developing in their mouths.

And suddenly, twin waves of plasma fire tore into the heart of the monsters, destroying dozens of them and forcing the rest to disperse.

"What the hell!?" Leon exclaimed, turning towards the direction of the plasma fire.

When Maria laid her eyes on it, she exclaimed too. "What the HELL!?"

At another hanger's entrance, perpendicular to the Ultimate Nine-Ball's, stood what could only be described as two halves of two Nine-Breakers bound together with heavy-duty metal cables. A large piece of metal had been affixed to the back of the two machines, and its plasma cannons were both swung up into firing position.

"Good lord... the Twinheads!?"

===

"You ready for this?" Johann asked.

"Been ready! Let's go!"

With years of practice and the innate connection held by twins, the Dylandy brothers gunned the engines of their combined Nine-Breakers simultaneously, causing them to lift up into the air. Two KARASAWA rifles in hand, they opened fire on the retreating enemy.

"What in the hell are you two doing!?" Ashley's shocked voice came over the comm.

"You really think we're gonna let you guys have all the fun?" Berenson asked.

"Get real! Razgriz fights together!" Johann roared. "Don't worry about Raven's hanger! We'll make sure nothing gets through!"

Damn it, this wasn't going good at all! He had to get back into melee-it was the only real thing KishouDoragon was good at.

"Okay, NOW I'm mad!" Matt shouted. KishouDoragon soared back in and fell on one of the Decarabias, smashing its fist into its back.

The Decarabia shuddered violently as the Drake of Braves smashed into it, its entire body rocking with the weight. Pores opened up in its skin to launch more spores at KishouDoragon.

There was a screech, and the marauding beast banked before making another attack run on KishouDoragon. Energy gathered in its pincers before firing, destroying two Falkens in the process.

"Oh no you don't!" KishouDoragon picked up the Decarabia over its head and flung it at the other beast, following it up with a Genocide Blazer to tag them both.

"Whoa," Rodeo breathed, seeing the spectacular sight of KishouDoragon lifting up the entire Decarabia and throwing it at the Marauder. The living vessel soared through the air, tumbling end over end, but the Marauder quickly flew over it, leaving it to its fate as it smashed hard into the ocean.

The Genocide Blazer was also avoided, but the projectile continued on to strike hard into the downed vessel. Its defenses were destroyed in an instant, and within moments, the second Decarabia was destroyed in a spectacular explosion that flung water and gore everywhere.

The Marauder took this moment and struck. The folds of its remote appendages were peeled back, and tentacles flashed out of the openings. The cut through the air in an instant and surrounded KishouDoragon's legs and right arm to limit its movements, and then became electrified.

Matt cried out in pain, his limbs locked due to the connection mech had with pilot. Damn it! He couldn't move! Damn mech! Stupid fat smug damn stupid crappy piece of CRAPPY CRAP!

The colors in the air were shifting in an eye-wrenching display as the electricity coursed through KishouDoragon, and the Marauder swooped in for the kill. Blades of energy exploded out from between its pincers, and the tentacles began to retract, dragging the creature down towards KishouDoragon.

===Ultimate Nine-Ball's Launch Hanger, Aube===

There was a rising hum of noise coming up as the various computer systems within the cockpit powered up. One by one, each screen blinked into life, and Raven had to blink a couple of times before his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. Fingers flew across the keyboard as he activated the machine, imputting the ignition password to give him access.

On the forward screen, his view shuddered slightly as his machine was lowered onto the launch catapult. An odd, two-toned voice, like that of a young woman and a cold-sounding man speaking together, cut through the cockpit.

"Modifying program, final level."

A list of text ran down the forward screen in a rapid pace, blinking by before it could be read properly. Within seconds, it had completed and disappeared from sight.

"All system checks are complete."

Tactical information appeared on the various screens of the computers laid around the pilot, showing an altimeter, speedometer, ammo reserves, targeting reticules, and various other displays.

"Combat mode is now engaged."

Raven grit his teeth as he spotted the battle. KishouDoragon was pinned in midair, electrocuted by a new monster he'd never seen before. Well, he'd take care of that. They'd never expect this to happen in battle. The A.I.s of the super mechanoid locked onto the creature, and onto the three tentacles extending from it.

"Target verified! Commencing hostilities!"

"Razgriz-1, Raven, launching!"

The Ultimate Nine-Ball's massive thruster units swung up and ignited, causing a massive wave of blue fire to explode out from behind it. The action signaled the operating crew within the base to activate the launch catapult, and the combined forces sent the Ultimate Nine-Ball hurtling down the runway. Raven felt himself thrown back in his seat, the sudden G-Forces proving too much for a normal human.

The red and black machine erupted from the hanger and took to the skies. Flying at insane speeds, it easily crossed the distance over Aube. Throwing a hand to the side, the Ultimate Nine-Ball activated its right arm laser blade, causing a blood-red blade of energy to lance out from its knuckles. It swept the blade up and around, cleaving through the tentacles as it shot past.

The beast screamed in pain as the severed tentacles were sucked back into its appendages, breaking off from its charge. At once, the electrical assault on KishouDoragon ended, and the remains of the tentacles loosened and fell from the Drake of Braves.

"You alright, kid?" Raven asked over the comm., moving the Ultimate Nine-Ball down in front of KishouDoragon.

"Yeah," Matt said. "Thanks for the assist."

"Then let's go. I'll hold off the enemy," Raven said, steeling himself for the intense G-forces that'd come when the Ultimate Nine-Ball moved. "You take out the rest of the enemy's command structure."

The marauder screeched and renewed its attack.

===Within the Decarabia===

The kael'thasth of the sole surviving Decarabia gnashed his teeth as the new robot appeared, severing the tentacles of the Vjayja demon, freeing the white robot from its fate. How could the humans have created such monstrous weapons? Recon on the world before Lord Ziatoch's invasion indicated that they didn't have such technology available to their race!

"Command the Vjayja to target the new robot," he commanded to the imps controlling his Decarabia, throwing out an arm. "Have it destroyed, and then renew the assault on the white robot."

"Master!" one of the imps shouted before anything could be done. "The white robot's headed this way!"

"What!? Destroy it! Use all available weapons to take it out!"

"These weapons aren't bad," Matt shouted, "but I think it's time I used this mech the RIGHT way!"

He shifted on his Genesis Arm, and it glowed amid the inner world of KishouDoragon's control center. "Let's DO IT!"

As the mech flew towards the Decarabia, it became engulfed in a massive aura of flame, trailing through the air as it soared. "Burning Driver!"

"Deploy the shields! Don't let that monster through!" roared the kael'thasth at his crew. The demons scrambled about, pressing nerve endings and instigating the Decarabia to activate its shield organs. A thin barrier of energy rose up between it and KishouDoragon, resulting in a loud crashing noise as the Drake of Braves impacted against it.

Energy flew about wildly as KishouDoragon's burning frame struggled against the barrier, causing a dazzling display for any who looked at it. But suddenly, as the Decarabia opened up its pores to launch more of its acidic projectiles, missiles rained down on the barrier, causing a series of explosions above and around KishouDoragon. The Decarabia's barrier, already weakened in the contest of strength between it and KishouDoragon, shattered.

The kael'thasth's eyes widened in shocked horror as KishouDoragon triumphantly crossed the distance, covering the view screens with its mass before the entire creature shuddered violently upon impact. Everyone within was thrown off their feet in the crash, and the controller of the beast looked about as blood vessels and other veins burst open, releasing dark fluids about the control chamber. It was slowly beginning to crumple.

"This can't be happening!" he growled.

KishouDoragon seized the Decarabia in one hand, and its other burned with a massive surge of flame.

"Suck it down!" Matt cried with triumph, and plunged the mech's blazing hand clean through the monster, cleaving it in twain.

Various demons in the control chamber, including the kael'thasth, threw up their arms in a futile attempt to wave off the inevitable. Flesh and muscle were split as KishouDoragon's hand tore through the beast, smashing into the control chamber and crushing them.

As he died, the kael'thasth only thought that at least, the Vjayja was primed to attack the enemy robots and avenge them. The mutant Decarabia shuddered briefly before its internals were torn apart in a violent explosion.

With a screech, the Vjayja renewed its assault. Its three mobile appendages were released, and they quickly swarmed toward KishouDoragon and Ultimate Nine-Ball.

"Oh no you don't!" Raven shouted, arming the Ultimate Nine-Ball's long-range weaponry. Dual barrels extended from the undersides of each arm, and charged with energy. Within moments, waves of plasma seared through the air as he fired, forcing each appendage to disperse. Ultimate Nine-Ball shot through the opening, switching to its shell-based weaponry and firing upon the Vjayja.

"Keep those things off me, Matt!" Raven shouted, closing the distance to the enemy and clashing the Ultimate Nine-Ball's laser blade against the demon's own.

===Central Command, Aube===

"Sir! All mutant Decarabia vessels have been destroyed!"

"Good. Once Special Officer Willard and Captain Maersk destroy the new bogey, we'll be able to establish air superiority," the General said. "What's the status on the intrusion of the facility?"

"We... we're still managing to hold the enemy back from the core facilities," came the report. "But all outer stations have been overrun. The download vault's still secure, but Willard Company still hasn't been able to reach it yet. Special Officer R.D. was last seen engaging a Hell Knight."

"Damn. What's Special Officer Larown's status?" Patrick asked.

"He's still engaging the enemy in the lower caverns," Kaile said. "We're not able to contact him yet; some sort of interference has been put into effect by the enemy."

===Underground Hanger Facility, Aube===

The chamber shook as explosions cut through the facilities, causing loose dirt to fall from the ceiling. Jared and Terranox stood on opposite platforms, their battle reaching a stalemate for the moment.

Terranox looked to the side, feeling a severing on the Dark Link. Damn. They managed to destroy all the Decarabias, he thought, almost growling. I need to hurry up and kill this bastard and find the Essence. I've wasted too much time already.

"Well?" he heard the cyborg call out to him. "Ready to give up, or are you looking for some more hurt?"

The demon sneered. He was easily more powerful than this pathetic cyborg and yet he had been unable to destroy it. It had to be that crystal on his arm that was giving him such power. If only he could pry it off of the blasted machine.

Matt laughed with triumph. "Not so tough now that I've got a ROBOT!"

He heard Raven shout and turned around, lifting a hand. "Chain Lightning!" The fiery aura dissolved, and a burst of massive electricity lurched from KishouDoragon's fingers, striking one of the appendages. The bolt bounced between the others, slamming them all in several passes.

(OOC: Sorry for the delays. Starting college on bad days has not been kind to me.)

The flight of the three pods stalled for several moments as the electricity coursed through them, and nearby pilots took advantage of it, pelting them with laser beams before the shock wore off and they dispersed. More barbs flew, striking and destroying several Nine-Balls and a couple Nine-Breakers in the process.

"Éclair, Rodeo, Ronin! Form up and target one of those pods, keep it off our backs!" Raven ordered, maneuvering the Ultimate Nine-Ball around as the marauding Vjayja swept by. "Nikita, Gold Bit, Advent, cover them!"

"Roger!" Ashley shouted, as she, Rodeo, and Leon guided their Nine-Breakers down to three specific points. Each one activated the plasma cannons mounted on their machines, and lowered down into a kneeling position. The other three pilots began swarming the area, using their KARASAWA and MOONLIGHT laser blades to fend off incoming Devil Dragons. Plasma fire erupted out in volleys at one of the pods--it broke off and began to attack the Nine-Breakers, but the other two would ward it off whenever it picked a target.

The Ultimate Nine-Ball twisted around as the Vjayja came around for another pass, energy blazing out from its pincers. With a snarl, Raven activated the super mechanoid's transformation.

"Flight Configuration activating," came Hustler One's cold, southern drawl. The Ultimate Nine-Ball's frame shifted and changed, its lower torso armor angling up and forward, a large blade slinging around and locking into place against the head unit's single horn as the head itself lowered half-way into the main core. Arms locked in place backwards while the massive thruster units swung up, aiming the two antimatter cannons forward. The rest of the torso followed suit, straightening out as the feet clamped down together.



The thrusters ignited and propelled the Ultimate Nine-Ball out of the firing range at insane speeds--Raven was thrown back into his seat, feeling his guts pressed back as the G-forces smashed into him. This can't be good! This thing's flying way faster than the projected speed indicated!

If this firefight kept up for much longer, he'd be pulverized into a fine paste by the G-forces of the Ultimate Nine-Ball's flight. Flipping a few switches, missiles flew out of the Ultimate Nine-Ball's thruster units, and they rained down upon the monster's head, eliciting a sharp scream from it.

===Underground Hanger Facility, Aube===

"Will Knife!"

Jared shot forward at his opponent, drawing out the twin-bladed weapon from its holster and flashing it down at Terranox. The beast shot off to the side with surprising speed, and just in time--so great was the Ao-Gem cyborg's determination to kill him, the Will Knife sliced through the metal platform as if it had been made out of paper.

Terranox wasted no time in attacking. He shot down and struck Jared with a vicious side kick, knocking him across the chasm, and quickly followed after him. Jared braced himself against the wall as he impacted against it and shot forward to meet Terranox head on. They darted past each other time and time again, his knife's energy blade clashing against the conjured sword the demon used.

Soaring past, Terranox spun around and threw his arms out, causing light to explode from his body. "Dragon Drive!"

Jared grit his teeth behind the face plate of his armor. Suddenly, he saw his opponent dart to the side, leaving trails of afterimages in his wake, and he was forced to block large claws as he swept past. The force jolted him around, but it played in his favor as Terranox shot past again, and he parried the next strike. The swing went wide as they connected, eliminating his defense, and Jared let out a cry of shock.

What the hell!?

Terranox came in again, and Jared landed on a platform and brought up the Will Knife to defend. Once, twice, three times the demon slashed with his claws, threatening to tear the weapon out of the cyborg's grasp with each strike.

KishouDoragon flattened its hands, waving them around as they crackled with electricity. "Thunder..."

Above the battle, the sky quickly grew dark with stormclouds, barely able to contain the eruptions of light flashing within them.

"Heaven!" With a downward slashing motion, KishouDoragon forced the stormclouds to expel bolts of thick lightning that rained down on the enemies.

Lightning rained down upon the battlefield, causing chaos to erupt as as dozens of creatures and machines flew around trying to evade the sudden storm. One particular bolt slammed into the pod targeted by Razgriz Squadron, causing it to halt in mid-air. Three blasts of plasma smashed into it soon after, causing it to bloom into a magnificent fireball.

The Ultimate Nine-Ball swerved through the lightning bolts and reconfigured back into its normal form, arming its machine gun in one arm and its laser cannons in the other. It sprayed both down onto the Vjayja as it too was stunned by the powerful lightning, but within moments it escaped the volley and flew out as its remaining two pods reconnected to its body.

"You're not getting away that easy!" Raven shouted, activating his laser blades and soaring down after it. It swung with one blade at the creature's side, managing to cut through one of the pods--the beast screeched and released it, causing it to explode and block the Ultimate Nine-Ball's view for a brief moment.

===Underground Hanger Facility, Aube===

Terranox backed off upon realizing that his quick, repeated strikes wouldn't get past the cyborg's nimble defenses. With a sneer, he lifted up both claws--it was okay, after all. He could easily destroy him with Matt Willard's power.

He suddenly bolted down at Jared, attacking with a ferocity unparalleled by anything the cyborg had encountered thus far--the Will Knife flashed around and caught both claws, but he was being pushed back towards the edge of the platform by the strength. Terranox howled in triumph as he continued to push forward.

Suddenly, Jared flung himself back as power flooded into his systems--the Ao-Gem began to shine brightly as he activated his trump card. Thrusting his right arm out, revealing the blazing Omega symbol hidden within the Ao-Gem, Jared spun around as he chambered both of his arms back at his sides.

"HYPER MODE!"

Light filled the cavern as power erupted through the Ao-Gem cyborg, turning black armor to shining white-gold. The Will Knife in his hand seemed to vibrate with all the excess power as he spun it around a finger.

"What the hell!?" Terranox demanded, taking the sight of the empowered cyborg. Jared suddenly gripped the hilt of his knife and flashed forward, cutting through the distance in an instant--the Will Knife swung and blood arced through the air as he passed, a wide gash now appearing in Terranox's chest. The beast howled with rage at the sudden turn of events, but he couldn't keep up--instantly Jared had landed on the wall and shot back, smashing his foot into the beast's hip and knocking him down through the air.

The cyborg landed on the platform once more and pushed off again, crumpling it behind him. He attacked the demon constantly, flashing back and forth, and very soon, Terranox found himself hard-pressed to block the furious attacks.

KishouDoragon held up its right hand, and another lightning bolt struck it, electrical power reforming into a long spear of energy. The giant mech reared back before flinging the massive bolt towards the fleeing Vjayja. "Lightning Javelin!"