Chapter Fourteen: Kuiper Belt Mission Part Two

"Lena, give me a status update!" Captain Aurora said to her bridge hands.

"Currently, Fireteam Epsilon has engaged two special targets; unit E-08 is fighting one of these units by himself, and the other members of the fireteam are engaging other high-value targets. Fireteams Alpha, Delta, and Theta are in the thick of it with the main enemy units." A bridge hand said.

Aurora's first thought when hearing that was "E-08? That's Ren!"

Aurora started to worry; after all, Ren was a new recruit and was facing a high-value target by himself. She was worried about whether or not Ren could handle it.

"Do we have any free units who can assist Ren?" Aurora asked.

"No one is available from our deployed units." the bridge hand said.

Aurora was not pleased by what she heard. Ren, who she spent so long trying to find, was taking on a possible general from the Centauri Empire. All she could think was, "Ren, please be safe."

*On the battlefield*

"Tyler, can we get free?" Scarlet said on comms.

"No, there's just too many of them. I know you're worried, but Ren may be on his own right now. As much as I want to save him, we have our own issues to deal with." Tyler said.

"Sadly, he's right, but I plan on getting to him as fast as possible; after all, what man doesn't like being saved by a woman who loves him?" Serenity teased.

"...It is not the time, Serenity." Scarlet says, clenching her fist.

It was then that they received orders on their comms.

"Listen up; we need to regroup. Let Ren handle the purple centurion. Lena said he's holding his own right now, and that's all we can ask for from him. According to Grace, we've suffered losses; let's regroup and rethink our plan." Eleonora said.

"Who did we lose?" Tyler asked.

"Sam was confirmed KIA, and James is wounded; he needs to be escorted to the Enternity hospital wing for treatment." Eleonora said.

"But what about-" Scarlet said before being interrupted.

"I know you want to help Ren, but right now we need to focus on the objective of taking out that red unit; whoever it is, they know how to wage combat." Eleonora said.

Scarlet sighed and said to herself "Just wait a little longer, Ren..."

* Ren's perspective*

Ren and his opponent, the purple-colored centurion, were going back and forth, with Ren mostly defending himself with the titanium alloy pipe he got from the destroyed UNS Florence and his opponent using their own sword, who was on the offensive.

Ren managed to block most of the attacks but was suffering shield damage. His opponent was ruthless in their attacks, not giving Ren a second before attacking again.

"Well, even I can tell from here you're getting irritated with how long this is going; now how long until you make a mistake?" Ren thought to himself.

*Lucilia Perspective*

"Well, aren't you annoying, but honestly, this is enjoyable—finally finding someone who can fight me equally. Sadly, this needs to end now!" Lucilia said to herself.

Lucilia went even further on offense; she could almost feel her opponent's defenses weakening.

She unleashed a barrage of strikes against her opponent, but her opponent decided instead of blocking to try and dodge.

"Very clever, but not enough." Lucilia thought to herself.

Lucilia unleashed a flurry of strikes on her opponent, but they just barely managed to dodge; however, they didn't escape unscathed.

The left arm of the enemy machine was cut clean off, leaving him with just his right arm.

*Ren's Perspective*

"Damn! That's not good... I'm working at a major disadvantage now." Ren said to himself.

Ren knew how bad his situation was; the chance of his victory dropped significantly, but it wasn't impossible to make it out alive.

But just in case...

"Lena, record a message for me" Ren said.

*Scarlet perspective*

Scarlet and the rest of Fireteam Epsilon engaged a unit of the Centurion Empire that the Red unit was in.

"Serenity, use your remaining missiles to take out most of the basic units. Scarlet, you will take Tyler and Kian into the thick of it and cause chaos. I will take on the red unit. Eleonora said.

"Understood!" Fireteam Epsilon yelled.

The red unit started to push on the fireteam, creating chaos in the middle, but there was an idea here: fight chaos with chaos. Scarlet moved right next to him without hesitation and unleashed a barrage of attacks ranging from gunfire to explosives, making the center of the battlefield a complete mess and a hazard to venture into. Luckily, that was the plan. Tyler and Kian also took advantage of the chaos to eliminate distracted enemies. It was then that Serenity made her move. She launched every last one of her missiles into the biggest crowds of enemy troops, causing chaos and confusion among them. Then Eleonora and the rest of Fireteam Epsilon, with the assistance of Fireteam Alpha and Theta, pushed onwards into the middle of the battlefield, taking out as many of them as they could before having to retreat and wait for the chaos to calm down. However, Scarlet was not allowing that to happen.

In the chaos, she got even closer to the red unit and aimed her gun right at the middle of the unit's chest.

"I got you now!" Scarlet yelled from inside her machine.

Scarlet unleashed hell directly into the unit, causing it to malfunction and explode.

"All units, the red enemy unit is destroyed; clean up the remaining troops; then, Fireteam Epsilon, we go assist Ren." Lena said on the comms.

"I'm going now!" Scarlet said before she started to head in the direction of what was left of the UNS Florence.

"Scarlet, don't disobey orders!" Eleonora yelled, but there was no answer. Scarlet was focused on one goal and one goal only.

"I'm coming, Ren; that's all that matters right now." Scarlet thought to herself, she had to save Ren, no matter what.

* Ren's perspective*

"Shit...I don't know how much longer I can hold out."

Ren was in a desperate position; he was trying to hold on with one functional arm for as long as he could, but it was nearly futile.

"Shields only at 15%... I can't fight for much longer." Ren said.

Ren tried to do whatever he could to get away from the battle but couldn't escape; the purple enemy wouldn't stop following him. No matter what he did, he was outmatched.

* Princess Lucilia Perspective*

"You fought well; the fact that you lasted this long against me... you're very interesting for a random enemy. I kind of want to meet you face-to-face. See what you're like after all; there has been nobody like you before." Lucilia said.

She had lost herself long ago in the duel between her and the new unit; she didn't care about the rest of the entire battle; this was her sole focus. She had never been challenged like this in combat. Whoever was piloting the machine in front of her was the only person she felt could match her.

"If he had a better machine, then maybe this fight would never end. Wouldn't that be amazing?" Lucilia thought to herself.

Lucilia had a smile creep on her face. She had an idea—a crazy idea, but an idea nonetheless.

"I want to take you with me..."

Lucilia pressed one of the buttons in the cockpit and said "You are now mine... I can't wait to meet you."

*Ren's perspective*

He was almost completely out of energy; his shield energy was next to zero. There was no hope for victory or even retreat at this point.

He couldn't help but think, "If only I had a better sentinel, if only I wasn't limited to what this machine was capable of." However, his thoughts were nothing but futile.

However, in a moment that surprised even him, suddenly everything in his sentinel shut down—shields, lights, life support, everything—but he could almost feel as if his sentinel was being moved—not floating but moving in a purposeful direction.

"This can only mean one of two things. Either I'm being rescued and I'm going to sleep in my own bed tonight...or I'm being captured, and who knows what that means..." Ren thought to himself.

He couldn't even see what was happening; everything in his sentinel went dark. He knew the oxygen wouldn't be recycled out, so he did his best to conserve his breathing and limit his oxygen intake.

"Please, don't let this be a long trip; otherwise, I'll suffocate from being in here too long." Ren thought to himself.

*Scarlet Perspective*

She was looking around the wreckage of the UNS Florence, looking for any sign, but couldn't find anything. For as long and as hard as she looked, there was nothing.

"Lena? Do you have a read in Ren's Sentinel?" Scarlet asked Lena on comms.

"I'm sorry, Scarlet, but his signal is dark." Lena responded to her.

"No, I'll keep looking; he has to be here!" Scarlet yelled.

"I'm sorry, Scarlet, but there isn't a way for me to tell. We can search after the battle, but right now you're needed back with Fireteam Epsilon." Lena said.

Despite everything telling her to keep looking for Ren, despite her wanting to ignore every order she received, she knew that she had to follow orders. She had to swallow the feelings she had in that moment and do as she was told.

"I...I...Ok...I understand. I'll regroup with everyone." Scarlet said finally listening to the orders she was being given.

"Please Ren...please be okay..." 

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