FanFic: Dark Angel's Arena

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

Welcome to the second installment of the 'Dark Angel' series. For those who are unfamiliar, I recommend reading the first installment here (http://www.pso-world.com/viewtopic.php?topic=79307&forum=12&21).

----------Chapter 16 - Arrival----------

Tenshi stepped out of the shuttle into the Pioneer 2 ship dock, followed closely by Guy.

"I'd say it's good to be home, but I don't think we're welcome." Guy said as he stretched his arms.
"We'll be fine. We returned, just like they asked. We just didn't cooperate with their forces, that's all."
They stepped through the automatic door in front of them, which opened as they approached.

The first thing they saw were the barrels of no less than twenty Photon rifles aimed straight at their faces. The next thing they saw were the cold faces of the bulky android soldiers who held them with robotic precision, leveled perfectly at their heads.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tenshi-Fo-ru on 2004-06-18 12:16 ]</font>

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

----------Chapter 17 - On Trial----------

"They could've come up with a friendlier welcome party." Guy muttered.

"Drop your weapons. You will come with us to Chief Nastasha." The lead android said in a steely, emotionless voice.

"Go to hell, you-"
"Guy, not now." Tenshi nudged him in the ribs to get the point across. "We'll cooperate." She dropped her Suppressed Gun, partisan, and Lavis Cannon, and kicked them across the floor. Guy threw his twin saber aimlessly behind him.

"You are cooperating. This will be noted. Come this way." The half the androids moved behind them and shoved their guns to the now-prisoners' backsides. The other half led the way through Pioneer 2 to the Hunter's Guild.

"Y'know, Tenshi, we probably could've taken'em." Guy said casually.
"And what about the other 24,568 Hunters in the Guild?"
"Twenty thousand- But there wasn't even half that when we left!"
"Times change."
"Apparently."
They came to a stop at a sliding door.
"Go." One of the androids said. Tenshi stepped through the door first, and Guy followed. They both stepped onto the teleporter and slipped away through space to another section of the ship.

The room was relatively small. There was a ramp leading up to the main area, with doors on the left and right of the ramp. Scientists wandered about here and there, paying no attention to the two of them.
Tenshi led the way up the ramp and stood between the three desks at the elevated platform at the top of the ramp.
"Hunter Tenshi Fo-ru."
"Chief Nastasha. I'd say it's a pleasure to see you again, but that would be stupid, wouldn't it?" Tenshi smirked.
"Cut the crap, Fo-ru. Keep in mind your life is nearly in my hands. Watch yourself."
"Nearly, Nastasha. Nearly. Which means, at this point, that it could go anywhere from here."
"The only place you're going is the court, Fo-ru." She said with a glare. Then she saw Guy standing next to Tenshi, looking completely bored. "And who might this be, Fo-ru? A lost Hunter from Pioneer 1, perhaps? Wouldn't put it past you to claim that much."
Guy had to reach forward and restrain Tenshi from hauling off and assaulting the Chief.
"Calm down, or we'll both get killed." He whispered.
"Still as easily angered as ever, I see."
Tenshi struggled against Guy's hold, but to no avail. Finally, she loosened up and stepped back.
"Why am I here?" She asked, calm once more.
"You murdered Rico, Fo-ru."
"She was already dead. I brought back the body because it's what Principal Tyrell would have wanted. Speaking of, did he receive his daughter's body?"
Nastasha looked away for a moment.
"Despicable. Your tactics are completely despicable. All this just to get me killed? Where's your shame? You don't seem to understand, Nastasha. There's the truth that you want, and the truth that everyone else wants. Which one do you think is right?"
There was a long silence.
"Didn't think so. I don't think I'll ever understand why Tyrell made you Chief. There are many others that are twice as qualified and four times the person you are. Principal Tyrell is far too accepting-"
There was the sound of a weapon being hastily drawn followed by the sound of a hand-held Photon Railgun being shot.
Time seemed to slow down as the red-hued burst of Photon energy shot toward Tenshi's head. Instinctively, Tenshi cocked her head to the right, letting the bullet sail right past it's mark and slam into the wall, tearing through a solid two feet of alloy plating before dissipating. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"You missed." Tenshi said with an arrogant smirk. "And you called me easily angered. Tsk tsk, Chief."
"Guards, take these two into the jail."
"No need. We'll go ourselves." Guy said.
Nastasha seemed to ignore him. Two android guards shoved them back through the teleporter.
"Where are we headed?"
"If I had to guess, Guy, I'd say that we're headed to the jail."
"Why?"
"To await my trial."
".....Oh."



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tenshi-Fo-ru on 2004-06-07 12:30 ]</font>

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

----------Chapter 18 - Recap of An Adventure----------

"Hunter Tenshi Fo-ru, please step forward."

Tenshi stood up from the defendant's desk after glancing at Guy briefly. It was the third day since her capture, and her trial was just beginning. She sat down at the desk to the right of the judge and thought back at some of the historical records she had seen about how trials were executed in the 21st century. The ones then and the ones now seemed nearly identical.
Some things never change, She thought. A man dressed in black approached her in front of the desk.
"Raise your right hand, ma'am."
Tenshi did as she was told.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"Yes, sir." Tenshi said, and put her hand down.
The man walked away and stood near the door at the opposite end of the room.
"Tenshi Fo-ru." The judge said. "You have been accused of murdering one Rico Tyrell, top scientist of Pioneer 2 and one of the best Hunters in the Guild. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty, sir." Tenshi said calmly. There was a wave of murmuring throughout the jury.
"What do you have to say in your defense, Miss Fo-ru?"
Tenshi was beginning to think she had a chance. The judge seemed fair enough.
"Where do I begin? It started when I was sent down to Ragol with my partner, Guy Lyorda-" Tenshi pointed at Guy. "-to investigate the recent explosion on the surface, as well as the disappearance of the Pioneer 1 personnel."
"Go on, please."
"The order was issued by Principal Tyrell himself. Upon the surface, Guy and I were met with extreme aggression from the native animals of Ragol, and were forced to slay many of them as we travelled through the forest."
"After a while, we came across the central dome where the residents of Pioneer 1 were thought to have taken refuge. The door was completely smashed, and we couldn't enter. There was a teleporter nearby that took us inside, however. Inside, we found no evidence of any surviving members of the crew. Instead, we were confronted by a gigantic Dragon, another native of Ragol, and were forced to destroy it." Tenshi took a deep breath before continuing.
"After scanning the room, we found another teleporter. The coordinates display was destroyed, and we had no idea where it led. We had no choice but to go through, since the teleporter leading into the dome was one-way. The new teleporter deposited us on an enormous glacier, probably several hundred if not thousand miles away from where we were before. Here, we were confronted by a massive ice variant of the creature we had just fought; a Sil Dragon."
"And you were successful in defeating it?" The judge asked.
"Yes, though it took time. After we defeated the Sil Dragon, another teleporter was found. Still, we had no idea where it would take us, but once again we had no choice. We entered the teleporter and found ourselves underground, in some sort of cave. It didn't look natural, however. More creatures were found in the caves. They, too, didn't seem natural, as if someone had tampered with their DNA structure and altered them. On that note, was Pioneer 1 conducting any such experiments?"
"Not to my knowledge, no."
"After several days, potentially even weeks - we lost track of the time down there - we found another large, mass-transport teleporter. Again having little choice, we stepped through."
"And what did you find?"
Tenshi hesitated.

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

----------Chapter 19 - Questions, Questions----------

"I repeat, Tenshi. What did you find through the teleporter?"
Tenshi sighed, as if she never wanted to answer the question.
"We ended up on a raft in some kind of underground river. It was pretty quiet until we heard some rumbling and splashing coming from behind us. We looked back and saw a giant serpent-like creature swimming towards the raft. It had an enormous mask-like plate of bone covering its face, and four tentacles coming from the sides of its head. This may seem a little far-fetched, but the snake's attacks were comparable to the Photon weaponry on Pioneer 2. It was like someone took all the weapons off a military tank and built them into this creature."
"Interesting. Do you know what it was?"
"In fact, I do. Later - after we had completed the mission - I took another job from the Guild, assigned by a scientist named Mome. Over the course of the two missions he assigned me, I discovered that a man by the name of Dr. Osto was performing genetic experiments and created this creature - De Rol Le. Moreover, after we defeated this geneticly enhanced creature, another one looking and acting very similar to it appeared. The research of Dr. Osto proved this to be an evolution of De Rol Le - Dal Ral Lie. It was faster, stronger, more armed, more armored, and more aggressive than its cousin."
"And you defeated this creature?"
"It was difficult, but yes. It stayed away from the raft for the most part, so we couldn't engage it in melee. After we defeated both of them, the raft came to a stop, and a teleporter arose from one of the corners. Naturally, we went through it, having not been given a choice once again."
"Where did this new one take you?"
"The coordinates display was a bit damaged. All it said was 'Mines - Level 1.' We figured it would be civilized, so we thought of it as a bit of a lucky break. We were half right in our assumptions about the place. There were no Ragolian animals there. However, we travelled far from unopposed. There were guard robots in every room, and we were nearly killed many times."
"What kinds of guard robots, exactly? Anything you may have recognized from the Pioneer 1 records?"
"The only ones I recognized, as well as the only ones who stood a serious threat, were the Sinow models."
There was a wave of whispering in the jury.
"Sinows? The 'Shinobi' robots?" Said a man rising from the prosecution table.
"Yes." Tenshi affirmed.
"You saw them?"
"I only destroyed about... Guy, how many did we get?"
"Think somewhere around sixty-three."
"That sounds about right." Tenshi said, thinking.
The man seemed surprised.
"You two destroyed sixty-three Sinow machines?"
"Thereabouts." Guy said coolly, leaning back in his chair. The prosecutor sat down once more.
"Miss Fo-ru. Continue please." The judge said calmly.
"It was hectic. There were broken machines everywhere. When we got to the second level, half the lights were out. Guard machines came at us in every room. Like Guy said, Sinow bots were coming with virtually every wave of machines, and-"
"Ojection, Your Honor. I begin to doubt the truth of this woman's statements."
"Explain, prosecutor."
The prosecutor stood up.
"From what I see here, this adventure seems to follow a kind of pattern. According to Tenshi's story, the two of them cut their way through several lesser animals of Ragol, and finding a much stronger one seemingly standing guard over the way forward, or downward in this case. Moreover, the creatures she mentioned seem very far-fetched. Up until now, there have been no reports of anyone seeing a dragon on the surface of Ragol-"
"It doesn't live on the surface. It was in the Central Dome, which had overheated due to several coolant unit failures. It's too cold on the surface for the Dragons to live comfortably."
The prosecutor stood silent for a moment.
"And what of these twin serpents, De Rol Le and Dal Ral Lie? Where's your evidence that they exist?"
"I have three solutions for you. One; seek out Dr. Mome and get the data from him. Two; find the Hunter named Sue, who was on the same mission as me and also acquired a copy of the data. And three; pick up a weapon and go see for yourself!"
There was another loud burst of murmuring. Tenshi stood up.
"Yes, there's more than one. I fought one when I accompanied Mome, and I fought one with Guy, and I fought one on the way to return to Pioneer 2."
"You endangered a non-military life on your mission?"
"With all due respect, he asked to accompany me on that mission."
"And what about the Sinow robots? According to the Pioneer 1 records, only the most elite Hunters even stood a fair chance with them, Rico included! I find it difficult to believe that you two defeated over sixty by yourselves."
"Then you obviously haven't seen the synergies that Guy and I are capable of. Rest assured, if we hadn't killed them, you wouldn't be feeling the need to execute me right now."
"Unless of course this story was fabricated by you and Mr. Lyorda here."
"Go ask Principal Tyrell. He gave the order."
"He doesn't attend trials."
"How convenient." Tenshi had a disgusted look on her face. There was a hostile-sounding outburst of mumbling from the crowd.
"Order!" The judge shouted. The crowd fell silent at once.
"Continue, please."
Tenshi took a deep breath. It was time to remember something she hoped she would never have to remember again.

It was time to recount her encounter with Vol Opt.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tenshi-Fo-ru on 2004-06-08 20:51 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tenshi-Fo-ru on 2004-06-08 20:52 ]</font>

[TheJust1]

Great Story, keep it comin.

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

Sorry for any delays, but I've been busy. I promise I'll have the next chapter up soon. Until then, I apolagize to everyone who's reading and enjoying the story.

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

----------Chapter 20 - The Defendant Rests----------

"Your Honor, I really have no wish to continue..."
Another man at the prosecution table stood.
"Why not?"
Tenshi liked this man better than the last that spoke. At least he wasn't jumping to conclusions.
"What happened from then on is something I have no intention of recounting at all. Not now, not ever. It's just...too terrible. It still gives me nightmares, what happened in the mines..." Tenshi shuddered. "My only suggestion, with his consent, is to have Guy tell you. My guess is that he's had more time to get over what happened than I have..." With that, Tenshi rose from the table and sat down next to Guy.
Guy stood up.
"I have no intention of finishing this explanation." He said calmly. There was yet more murmuring throughout the crowd.
"Why not, Mr. Lyorda?" The prosecutor asked.
"Because it would cause Tenshi a great deal of grief if I recounted those events right in front of her, and I've caused her grief for nearly three years." He looked at Tenshi, who was sitting quietly at the table. "And I will thereby refuse to finish telling what she started. Kill me if you must. I have no objections."
There was more loud mumbling.
"Order!" The judge shouted over the din. "I will give the jury a chance to consider the truth of Tenshi's story, or what we heard of it. Members of the jury, please file out into your designated room."
Several minutes passed. Tenshi and Guy just sat beside one another, not speaking a word, not moving an inch. After what seemed an eternity, the jury came back in.
"What is the jury's verdict?" The judge inquired.
A representative of the jury stood up.
"Guilty, Your Honor." There were mixed shouts of cheering and disapprovement from the crowd.
"Order!" The judge shouted once more. Everything fell silent, then the judge spoke again.
"Tenshi Fo-ru, you have been determined by the jury to be guilty. The truth of this matter will be looked into. Until then, you are assigned to solitary confinement. As for you, Mr. Lyorda, since you have not been charged with having to do with the murder of Rico Tyrell, you are free to go."
This was followed by more mixed cheers and mumbles of disagreement.
"Court is adjourned."
Everyone filed out. Some guards took hold of Tenshi's arms. Before Tenshi was forced out of the room, Guy whispered a message in her ear.
"I'll get you out."
Tenshi didn't respond.

[Tenshi-Fo-ru]

----------Chapter 21 - Trouble in Prison----------

Tenshi sat down on the bench in her cell. She observed the grid-like setup of the lasers that acted like the prison bars of old she had seen in historical movies. She felt helpless. Being unable to do anything was Tenshi's worst nightmare. And now, here she was, completely unarmed. Granted, she was plenty dangerous without a weapon, but not against guards who spent all day with their guns trained on her. Especially when those guards had the extra benefit of steel skin. Tenshi looked up into the cold, dark eyes of the nearest android guard.

"Androids look so sad..." She muttered to herself.
She desperately wanted out of this prison, to be away from the smell of stale air and dead prisoners, the incoherent rambling of other prisoners who had gone mad from confinement.

Tenshi was lost in thought. What puzzled her most was the thought that she didn't want Guy to rescue her. The fact of the matter was that if Guy rescued her his way, there would be a lot of noise. If that happened, they'd both be in trouble, more trouble than was needed. She only wished she could tell Guy this.
"Hey, Fo-ru." A prison warden said, disrupting her thoughts. "Congratulations. You've got a new cellmate."
Tenshi smiled a little. She almost laughed when she saw the large, heavy-set man that came into her cell and sat down. She knew his type, and she knew he wouldn't last long if he tried anything stupid like most men did in prison.
"Careful, big guy. The last cellmate this little lady had still hasn't woken up yet." The warden said before stepping out. The large man gave a little laugh.
"I don't know what you may think of me, girl, but wherever I've been, I ruled. So as long as we're here together, you'll do as I say, get it?" The man gave another chuckle.
Arrogant bastard... Tenshi thought to herself.
"I don't know what you may think of me, but let's get one thing straight. Try anything stupid, and you'll find that the law won't need to execute you." Tenshi threatened calmly. She laid down on the bottom bunk of the tiny, bench-like piece of furniture that was supposed to be a bed and started thinking. Time passed. She wasn't sure how long it was before her new cellmate piped up again.
"So, hot stuff, what're you in here for?"
"I killed Rico Tyrell." Tenshi said, without even looking at the man.
The man cracked up with laughter. "You killed Rico, huh? That's a good one. Now why are you in here?"
"Are you going to make me repeat myself?" Tenshi said with a threatening gaze.
The man seemed to realize Tenshi was serious. Or, at least, she seemed serious. He didn't know the situation with Tenshi, so he assumed as much. He fell silent.

More time passed. Tenshi realized she was falling asleep. She tried to fight it, but her eyes felt like they weighed a ton. She began to doze off into a dream...

----------------------------------------

Tenshi kneeled over Guy and hugged him.
"Sorry I worried you, Tenshi." Guy said. Tenshi kept sobbing.
"I thought I...I..." Tenshi couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. Guy put his arm around her.
"It's all right... I'm fine."

Another explosion rocked the room. Tenshi's eyes immediately snapped to the ceiling, where a large hole had just emerged. There was a loud humming noise coming from up there.
"It's not over." Guy said, trying to stand. He almost got to his feet, but collapsed.
"Guy, let me do this. I've still got plenty of anger left from the last one." Tenshi's eyes were burning with anger. She was more than ready.
A large robot floated down into the center of the room, suspended by a thick cable from the hole in the ceiling. It had a relatively diamond-like shape, with different devices on each point. The front side was facing Tenshi, and looked like one of the pillar robots she had fought only minutes before. It had small socket-like spots lining its face. They opened up to reveal deadly laser cannons. The back side, Tenshi observed, housed many missle launchers.
The machine made it's move, rotating itself with the right point facing Tenshi. The gigantic plate-like part on its side opened, and a laser began tracking her movement. To her horror, another laser shot towards Guy. What was it doing?
Tenshi began sprinting in circles around the machine. She heard a loud rumbling coming from above her. Once again to her horror, she heard more rumbling coming from above Guy.

It all happened in a split second. A gigantic steel pillar slammed through the ceiling at Tenshi. She heard it before she saw it, and managed to quickly roll aside. What she saw next she knew would haunt her until the day she died. Another giant pillar came crashing through the ceiling and slammed on Guy's downed body.
----------------------------------------

"NO!" Tenshi screamed, bolting upright in her bed. She took a moment to regain her composure before she noticed that her new cellmate had been creeping onto her bed.
Just like the last one... Tenshi thought. There was an awkward silence before Tenshi spoke.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She inquired calmly.
"I was...uh..."
"Never mind your explanations. I already know." Tenshi rolled off the bed and stood up. The heavy-set man that was her cellmate stood up and gave another chuckle. Tenshi was beginning to dislike him greatly.
"I told you, wherever I am, I rule." He said with a laugh.
"Try me." Tenshi challenged.
He didn't seem to object. The man lunged forward, arms outstretched, across the room.
He's slow, Tenshi told herself. But he might be pretty tough. I'd better not get overconfident.
She jumped gracefully upward, letting him hit the ground where she would have been moments before. Tenshi landed perfectly behind him.
"What's the matter? I thought you ruled." Tenshi taunted. Her cellmate gave a growl and charged again. Tenshi smirked and sidestepped left, glancing back to watch him crash into the bed. She was thoroughly surprised when it didn't shatter under his weight.
Now's my chance, Tenshi thought. She leapt upward, her hair tickling the ceiling, before plunging downward and delivering a kick to the man's spine, probably breaking it. She used the same foot to kick off him and land a few feet away.
"Give up?" She said haughtily.
The poor guy didn't respond.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tenshi-Fo-ru on 2004-06-22 10:47 ]</font>