Callum and Valencia were eating lunch together when a hideous shriek came over the intercom. They both dropped their utensils and put their hands over their ears. After a moment the shriek cut off and Cosmos's voice came over all the speakers in the carcha base. "Warning: the carcha have arrived in system. Warning: the carcha have arrived in system." Callum dropped his hands away, not even noticing as the shriek resumed. He looked at Valencia and saw wide-eyed terror on her face. He was afraid he had the same expression on his. Callum stood and slapped his cheeks with his hands. "Alright this is it! We can do this!" he shouted. Valencia nodded jerkily.
The rest of the pilots were all out training but quickly returned. By the time they had come in, Cosmos and Dahri had put together a picture of what they faced. It wasn't pretty. The ship was a large freighter with a twenty-five selachii escort. That was much worse than they'd been hoping for. Nita had said that it might only be a five mech escort and even that had been worrisome. Yemoramato and Chajin could hold their own but the humans were all at a disadvantage even one on one. Five on one didn't even bear thinking about. The only solace was that the freighter wasn't heavily armed and would almost certainly avoid getting into the fight.
When Cosmos was done giving her rundown, made all the harsher by her unemotional voice, nobody spoke. So when Chajin laughed, Callum and most of the rest of them all jumped. "This is good. A nice meal to sink my teeth in."
"Feh!" Yemoramato fired back. "I think you'll choke on it, carcha! Don't worry, though, I'll make sure they die."
"Are you two insane?" Valencia asked. "They outnumber us five to one! We're the ones who are going to die."
Yemoramato raised one eyebrow and smirked. "Maybe you. I don't intend to die. It'll take more than this to end Yemoramato."
The arrogance of Chajin and Yemoramato actually buoyed Callum's own flagging confidence. They were both awesome pilots. That's why they had rescued them after all. If they weren't scared, maybe Callum didn't have to be. "Right!" he said aloud. "I'm not going down without a fight either. We can do this together, Valencia." She looked at him and then nodded, determination replacing the fear in her eyes.
"That's right!" Russell shouted, jumping up onto the table. It startled all of them, such a loud voice coming from such a small body. "They'd have to come at the God of Chaos a hundred to one to have a chance! Don't lose heart, children! Angra Mainyu chose you! Believe in him as he believes in you and you can't lose!" Callum didn't know about all that but he appreciated it. It made him feel stronger.
"How long will it be until they get here?" Nita asked, practical as ever.
"Answer," Cosmos said, "the freighter hasn't moved from its entry position and has only deployed five mechs in a standard patrol. It has been attempting to establish communications with us beginning about two point five seconds after reverting to real space."
"A big freighter like that must be for resupplying several little colonies like this. It is way too big to carry just one month of food for a place like this," Nita said. "They probably expected our ship to dock with them for pickup. Since we aren't there, they must be confused."
"Do you think we should answer them? Maybe we could come up with some way to scare them off," Valencia said.
Nita shook her head. "I don't think that would have a very high chance of working and if they figure out humans have taken over this place, all twenty-five will come down guns blazing. If we keep quiet, they might send down that patrol to investigate. If we can ambush them and wipe them out, which whittles down the numbers with little threat to us."
Chajin tittered. "You're sneakier than I thought, human."
Yemoramato sneered. "That's a coward's way of fighting."
"I don't give a shit. I want to survive," Nita fired back.
"I agree with Nita," Valencia said fervently.
"I knew humans were cowards," Yemoramato snarled. "No wonder the carcha took your planet so easily."
"You fie didn't do any better," Nita said calmly.
Yemoramato stood so fast that knocked her chair over. She stared at Nita with wild-eyed fury. Callum was shocked at the raw intensity of the emotion. After a moment, she visibly took control of herself and snarled, "I'll be in my yukuu. When the carcha come down, I will kill them. Do what you like." She stormed off. Callum watched her go, still a little stunned by how angry she had gotten.
There was quiet after she left until Catriona said, softly, "I think Nita's plan is best. We should remain quiet and see if we can lure some of them here." Callum was surprised to hear her offer an opinion. She was often pretty quiet at their gatherings.
"I agree," he said quickly. He smiled at Catriona but she glanced away. It felt like a knife to his heart. But it did set off a chorus of agreements so that they at least had a plan. They also decided to get as many women and children aboard their three ships as possible and try to run if things went badly. There wouldn't be much chance that they could escape but it gave Catriona and Riley something to do. Dahri volunteered to pilot the skiff. With that decided, the only thing to do was head out and wait to see what happened.
Callum felt low. It was one thing to go off to a fight where he might die but he couldn't believe this was how he was leaving things with his sister. Just as he was about to break off for his mech, he felt someone embrace him from behind. He knew before she even spoke that it was Catriona. "Please stay safe, Cal," she whispered. Then she let him go and practically sprinted away. Callum spun and put a hand up but she was too far away by the time he found his voice.
Valencia clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm happy for you."
Callum's hands curled into fists and he felt a new energy. He felt like he could take on the entire carcha empire. "Let's do it!" he shouted, startling Valencia. "We can't let them beat us!" He sprinted for Angra Mainyu with Valencia hurrying to keep up.
Once they were in their mechs, though, all that they could do though was wait. Cosmos kept them updated but hours stretched by without the carcha doing anything. It was starting to worry Callum. After all, if it took too long, they would have to eat and sleep. The PFC liquid kept them hydrated but that was it. The sun went down. 'Maybe it is safe to sleep a little. The carcha wouldn't attack in the dark, right?' He was about to suggest this to the others when Cosmos preempted him. The carcha were coming. All of them. Nita began cursing up a storm.
Callum felt relaxed, for some reason. They were coming. It would be over tonight, one way or another. 'Let's do this, Valencia. Together, we can't lose.'
'I believe it, Callum. When I'm with you, I think anything is possible.'
They waited. Callum was looking through Angra Mainyu's eyes so he wouldn't be able to see them until they were close enough to fight. Valencia tracked them on her instruments, however, and Callum could get a sense of that through his mental link with her. They entered the burned through space and then entered the atmosphere. 'Here they come.' Callum tried to ready himself, breathing evenly.
Russell hijacked the com system and began shouting into it. "Hey, you carcha fucks, knock the water out of your ears and listen up! You're coming to face the God of Chaos his own damn self! The Monster Mech stained red with the tears of carcha widows! You think we're afraid of you?! We'll teach you to be afraid of us! When you hear the name Angra Mainyu, you will learn to cower in fear!" Callum's heart started to race as Russell barked out his challenge. His body was warming up and he could feel heat from power from Venus for the first time in a long time. He could feel it pumping into Angra Mainyu.
"Your children will have nightmares, your wives and mothers will curse our names! You face death! You fish fucks might have thought humans were nothing! That we were your meat! But you cold freaks could never understand what it is like to have hot blood pounding in your veins! Humanity is a blazing fire! You may have tried to put us out but as long as any sparks remain, we will roar back to life!" Callum wasn't sure what was happening but his body felt like it was burning up. He was pulling more power into himself than he ever had before and couldn't seem to stop.
"Callum! Valencia! Nita! Mikan! Yemoramato! Even you, you freaky carcha bitch! This is the moment! Raise the black flag of rebellion! Throw off your shackles and fight! Kill, crush, slaughter and destroy those who keep you down!" Callum could see the approaching carcha mechs now. They were dots of light but coming in fast. The power was still flowing into him. His blood was boiling and his bones were melting. It was too much. He felt like he was dying. He was pouring it into Angra Mainyu but it needed a further release. Where was it going? The shoulder guns. Somehow he knew. 'Fire the cannons!' he thought desperately.
'What,' Valencia thought back, 'I think they are too far away to hit them yet.'
'Fire them!' His thought was a scream.
She didn't argue any further. Valencia quickly sighted and then fired. The beam was immense, bigger around than Angra Mainyu was tall and so brilliantly bright that it lit up the entire night sky. It burned through the lead carcha mechs, reducing them to slag. Callum could feel it somehow. Five mechs dropped out of the sky, melted into scrap metal. Callum gasped. The pain was gone but it was replaced by bone weary exhaustion. He couldn't complain, though. That was five mechs for him and Valencia. They had done their part already. 'And we'll do more.'
"What the hell was that?" Nita asked.
Russell laughed, full-throated and triumphant. "That was the first taste of what the Angra Mainyu is capable of. I knew only the right pilot would find us."
"I-I had no idea our mechs could do something l-like that," Mikan said, sounding a little frightened.
"Ours can't," Nita said.
"Don't get too excited, humans," Yemoramato said. "Your attack made them pause but they're coming again." It was true. They had paused briefly but were advancing again. They were brave, Callum had to give them that. He gripped his control rods tighter and a spike of pain rushed through him.
'Are you alright, Callum?' Valencia had felt his pain.
'Yeah but I think that attack took a lot out of me.'
'Don't worry.' Callum felt Valencia's determination and knew she would take the lead at first.
A high-pitched, shrieking laugh sent a chill down his spine and Callum saw Chajin's mech blast forward. Yemoramato followed right behind, absolutely silent. "Go with them, children," Russell said. "They have the battle experience and it is telling them now is the time to charge. Go and crush them!" Valencia didn't hesitate, sending Angra Mainyu rocketing after them. Nita and Mikan followed. Callum watched as Chajin and Yemoramato split apart, each circling wide to dodge a speed of missiles launched from the leading carcha mechs. They looked like they had practiced the maneuver, it was so smooth. Each of them then corkscrewed into the cloud of mechs, getting up close and personal so that missiles would be impossible to use.
Valencia circled up, moving near Angra Mainyu's top speed in a blind and random pattern so that she avoided a second set of missiles coming toward them. A few managed to follow but Angra Mainyu had an anti-missile railgun lodged in its head and it automatically tracked and destroyed them. Valencia stopped Angra Mainyu for just a second and fired her own batch of missiles. They were the only ones they had, since they'd had to borrow some from the carcha mechs. Callum couldn't tell if they'd hit anything but a surge of triumph from Valencia suggested that they had.
'Are you ready?' she asked him. With their missiles used up and Callum not daring to fire another shot from the shoulder cannons, their only choice was to get up close. Callum drew Shamshir.
'Let's go!'
Valencia dived toward some of the carcha mechs. As they hurtled close, Callum heard a cry of alarm from Mikan but didn't even have time to look for her before they were in the fight. Then he had to concentrate everything on that. He was facing three mechs. They were smaller than his mech but Callum didn't even want to imagine how much longer they'd been piloting. They swiftly moved to surround Angra Mainyu but Valencia deftly moved back to keep all three in front. The enemy mechs all had those demonic-looking sawswords.
They attacked, working in tandem. Callum could only defend. Everything narrowed down to the next moment and Callum's concentration focused until he could barely even perceive Valencia anymore. He needed every shred to fend off the mechs. And even that wasn't enough. He beat back many of their attacks but some came through, scraping the red paint from Angra Mainyu. They weren't doing any real damage yet but he knew it was only a matter of time. Callum couldn't find the space to launch a counterattack but he knew if he didn't, they were dead. He just had to find an opening. Any opening.
He got it by accident. One of the enemy mechs stabbed through the armor on Angra Mainyu's left arm. It didn't do any serious damage but it did trap the blade in the arm for a critical moment. With a roar, Callum slammed down with Shamshir, a big sword meant for slashing rather than piercing. It carved into the shoulder of the carcha mech's shoulder toward the cockpit. Of course, this left Angra Mainyu open for counters by the other two mechs. One of them tried to stab Callum's mech in the head but it glanced off the angled metal. The other managed to stab deep into his left shoulder. Callum ripped his sword free and Valencia blasted them back to get some room. The mech he'd attacked dropped like a rock, so he'd taken one out of the fight at least. He tried to roll his shoulder experimentally and knew that it had taken damage. It didn't have full range of motion. At least it wasn't his right arm.
The carcha mechs pressed in and Callum found himself on the defensive again. He'd thought things would be easier with one of them gone but, if anything, it was worse. The two mechs feinted and darted with excellent timing. There was never a single moment when one of them wasn't coming at him and they always flitted away before he could strike back. Valencia kept them from doing any serious damage but they were chipping away again. But with only two of them, Callum could start to follow their pattern. He grit his teeth and waited, taking damage. He would have sent reassurance that he had a plan to Valencia if he had felt anything other than trust and love from her. 'She really is too good for me.'
The moment came and Callum thrust forward with Shamshir. The curved sword wasn't designed specifically for piercing but Angra Mainyu's great strength and the enemy mech's momentum combined to drive the sword right through the center of the mech. It died instantly, like a puppet with cut strings. Callum's elation turned to panic however, when the other carcha mech soared over his partner's head and head and stabbed down at Callum. There was nothing that Callum could do. The blade was coming right for the cockpit.
Just before the blade connected, something flashed behind the enemy mech. The blade didn't stop but it did go off-center and lose power. It dented the armor on the left side of the chest and bounced away. The relief Callum felt was brief as the rest of the mech came crashing into them. He flung his arms up, dropping Shamshir as the mech crashed into him. It was more startling than damaging though and the enemy mech fell away from him. Callum noticed that it was now in two pieces.
"That makes eight!" Chajin crowed.
Callum looked around. He couldn't see any more fighting. "Is it over?" he asked. Had they actually won? Had Chajin said 'eight?!'
"We...we actually did it!" Valencia screamed. She sent him an image of one of her monitors. All of the enemy lights were gone.
Callum unthinkingly let go of his control rods to pump both fists in triumph. He quickly grabbed them and Valencia stabilized their flight before they lost control. A sudden worry hit him. "Is everybody alright? I thought I heard Mikan get hurt."
"No, she was just surprised by a missile that exploded near her face," Nita said. "We're fine." Nita laughed disbelievingly. "We're all fine." Callum couldn't help laughing with her and Valencia started laughing as well. It was a mixture of relief and the unreality of it all. Outnumbered four to one and no one had died.
Chajin began to chuckle as well, which destroyed the mood. "Yes, not bad at all little humans. You two almost managed to outdo me. Very impressive."
Callum remembered what Chajin had said just after she'd saved him. "You took out eight of the mechs?"
"That's right. I admit, you had me a little nervous with your five head start." Callum did the math in his head. Five from the shoulder cannons, two that he'd gotten with his sword and one of them must have been from Valencia's missile barrage. 'I guess that is eight.' It sure didn't feel like he'd taken down that many. And Chajin had killed eight all by herself, in the same kind of mech the other carcha had. 'Nita was right to have her join us. No way we would have survived that without her.' Callum knew he at least would have been dead for certain. "Nita managed two and even the tiny one got one," Chajin continued. "So, eight and eight, two and one. Can you do the math, Yemoramato?" The fie woman didn't answer. "Shall I do it for you?"
"It's six," Yemoramato spat.
"Six," Chajin repeated with an exaggerated congratulatory tone.
"Shut. Up."
"I'm happy for you! You did a really, really good job." Callum could hear the edge of laughter in Chajin's voice. He didn't understand what was happening at all. Chajin had beaten Yemoramato by two kills. It wasn't like the fie had humiliated herself or anything. Six was incredible. Yemoramato and Chajin had definitely proved the wisdom of Nita.
"Maybe I should just add you to my kills?" Yemoramato snarled.
"That would still only be seven!" Chajin said with a peel of laughter. Callum wondered if being insane helped make a person a great pilot.
"Enough of that," Nita said firmly. "Let's go down and let our friends know they won't be dying tonight."