By the time I got back to the garage and finished all of the repairs, it 
was nearly 3:00 in the afternoon.  I was dead tired and wanted nothing more 
than to crawl into bed and sleep.  I practically sleep walked to my dorm and 
opened the door.  I pulled my Ravens suit off and threw it on the floor and 
then collapsed in bed.  I was just dozing off when I heard a knock at the 
door.  “Damn it.”  I stood up and answered the door in my tighty-whities and 
saw Trish standing there in her tight white Ravens suit.  “Well don’t we look 
tired?”  She was laughing under her breath and looking at me funny.  “Oh 
yeah, my mission went longer than I thought it would and I’ve been up for... 
Ah hell I don’t even know.”  I was so tired that I didn’t even care I was 
only wearing my underwear in front of Trish.  “Well why don’t you lie down on 
the bed and let me give you a back rub?”  That sounded really nice so I got 
on the bed face down and felt Trish sit on top of me and start rubbing.  It 
only took a few minutes and I was out like a light.

    I woke up and the room was almost pitch black.  I tried to roll over but 
something was in my way.  I reached over and felt a warm body next to me.  I 
was still half asleep so it took me a few seconds to realize it was Trish.  I 
carefully climbed out of the bed so I wouldn’t wake her up and then I walked 
to the kitchen.  I started to make a sandwich when I saw Trish walking out of 
the bed room wearing one of my white tee shirts as pajamas.  The shirt hung 
down to her knees and she had bed hair and was still half asleep but she 
still looked sexy as hell.  She walked up behind me and wrapped her arms 
around me, rubbing my chest and stomach.  “You sleep well Hun?”  She was 
resting her head on my back, listening to my heart beat.  “I slept great, I 
don’t know what you did but my back feels great.”  I finished my sandwich and 
handed it to Trish.  “Thanks, babe.”  She took the sandwich and set it on the 
table then got out a couple of glasses and some milk.  I made myself two 
sandwiches and joined her at the table.  We ate our food as we talked about 
our missions. 

    Once we were done eating we took a shower, separately unfortunately, and 
got dressed.  We walked to the rec. room and played a game of pool with a 
couple of other Ravens who had nothing better to do.  Once we were beaten 2 
games to 3 we sat down to watch the late night news together.

    The reporter was a pretty good looking blond woman wearing a long brown 
trench coat and standing in front of a destroyed building.  “Our top story 
tonight is this building witch you can see behind me.  It used to be the main 
Government office building in down town Corella city, now it is an 
unrecognizable pile of concrete and steel thanks to the efforts of a single 
Raven hired by the Global Cortex.  The buildings security forces, 35 remote 
battle MTs, a long range sniper, and five remote ACs were all also destroyed 
in the attack witch the Earth Government claims is an act of war from the 
Global Cortex.  The Global Cortex claims the attack was a retaliation strike 
for the Governments plans to shut the Cortex down.  We don’t know the truth 
as of yet but it is obvious that the Government and the Cortex are walking a 
fine line witch could lead to war.  From down town Corella city, this is 
Mandy Moore signing off.” 

    Oh shit.  This isn’t happening to me.  “Oh my God Kur, you are the one 
who attacked the office building.  If the Government finds out it was you, 
they are going to have you executed for sure!”  Trish stopped talking as a 
few other Ravens walked by also talking about the news broadcast.  “Did you 
hear that man?  We might be going to war.  What the hell are we going to do 
if the Cortex and the Government are fighting?”  The other Raven didn’t seem 
to care too much.  “That’s easy, we work for the side that pays the most.”  
“You got that right man!”  The two Men walked past and Trish started talking 
again.  “Kur, this is serious.  If the Cortex and the Government go to war 
the whole city, hell the whole world could be destroyed.”  “I know, I know.  
Shit, why did I have to pick that mission?  Out of all those hundreds of 
missions I had to pick that one.”  “You couldn’t have known Kur, it’s not 
your fault.”  “Tell that to all the people who are about to be killed.”  
“Kur, if you didn’t take that mission, somebody else would have.”  “Yeah but 
suppose that somebody didn’t complete the mission?  Suppose they failed and 
the building was still standing right now.  The Government wouldn’t be so 
ticked off and there would be no war.”  “You know there isn’t a war yet Kur.  
There might not even be one.”  “There will be Trish, there will be.”  “And 
how would you know that?”  “Because Murphy’s law always bites my ass.  
Anything bad that can happen, will happen.”

    I got up and ran back to my dorm room with Trish right behind me.  I got 
on the computer and e-mailed the Global Cortex offices.  I told them I need 
to talk to them about my last mission and that I needed a response a.s.a.p.  
No sooner had I turned off my computer that my phone rang.  I picked it up 
and heard a deep male voice on the other side.  “Kur, we need to talk.  I’ll 
have a security force sent to your dorm and they will escort you to the 
Cortex main office.”  The man hung up so I put my phone down.  Trish had a 
worried look on her face and she was pacing back and forth.  “What did they 
say”  “They are sending some security to take me to the office.  They want to 
talk.”  “What do you think they want?”  “I don’t know, but I intend to find 
out.”  It took a few minutes for the security team to reach my dorm and they 
walked in without knocking, all 8 of them.  

    “Mr. Kur, please come with us.”  They were all dressed in the same black 
suit and looked so much alike that I couldn’t even tell witch one was talking 
to me.  “The woman will have to stay here.”  Trish began to protest but I put 
my hand on her shoulder and gave her a hug and a kiss.  She quieted down and 
I turned around to walk out the door.  As soon as we were in the hall way I 
was surrounded by the eight men and was led out of the hall to an elevator 
witch took us to the ground floor.  We got out of the elevator and the men 
led me outside to a large limousine.  We were driven to the main office 
building a few miles away and then the men lead me through the building all 
the way up to the 150th floor.  I was led right up to the door of the office 
of the president and CEO of Global Cortex.  The door opened and I walked 
inside.  The eight men stayed in the hall and the door shut behind me.  

    The office was huge and decorated with all kinds of ancient artifacts and 
weapons.  There were scale model ACs and MTs standing on tables and desks and 
large paintings of famous Ravens and ACs.  I walked into the office and found 
an older man, about 60, sitting behind a desk with his back to a large window 
that overlooked the rest of the Global Cortex compound.  “Welcome Kur.  I h
ave been expecting you.  Please sit down, sit down.”  I recognized his voice 
as the same one who was on the phone a few minutes ago.  “No doubt you have 
seen the news and know what is going on with the Cortex and the Earth 
Government.  It would seem that all of this hooha began right after your 
attack on the Government office building.  That’s why I had you brought 
here.”  “Well as I see it, the damage is done, what could you possibly need 
me for?”  “Well you certainly are a too the point kind of guy aren’t you?  
Fine then, I’ll get too it.  You seem to have a certain amount of luck on 
your side.  That last mission you were on had an estimated success rate of 
4%.  You took out over 30 MTs and five ACs.  You are just the kind of Raven 
we need to keep this situation under control.”  “Why don’t you get William 
Folton or one of the other A ranked Ravens to help you out?  I am sure they 
could help you out much more than I could.”  “Nonsense.  You are the man for 
the job.  You are the Raven that is going to finally rid the Earth of it’s 
corrupt Government.” 

    I must have been listening to somebody else talking because I know he 
didn’t just say what I thought he said.  “What do you mean ‘rid the earth of 
it’s government?’  You must be senile or something.”  “Far from it son.  
Earth has been under the iron rule of this government for too long.  It’s 
time for a change.  It’s time that people can earn their money and not have 
to give 80% of it to taxes to keep the government fat cats living the life.  
You have it easy, being a Raven.  You have all the money you will ever need.  
But there are people out there who live day to day wondering where there next 
meal will come from.”  I knew he was right, he didn’t know that I was one of 
those people but it wasn’t important.  I knew that the Government was 
corrupt, I knew that the Earth would be much better off without it.  “I mean 
it Kur.  Take a look at Mars.  Totally democratic society.  The Martian 
government officials have a salary cap and people only pay 35% of their income
 to taxes.  That is what the Earth needs.  The Earth used to be like that 
until the government got greedy.  We can change all that though Kur.  You and 
me.  We can change the world.”

    He had to be crazy, how can one newbie Raven and some old company man 
take down the government?  “Ok, so lets just say we do this thing.  Lets say 
that we take down the Government?  What happens then?  You move in to take 
over the world?  We trade one greedy government for another?”  “No no, I have 
no interest in a political career.  After we overthrow the government, we let 
the people elect new leaders, we create a democratic society.  Now I know it 
sounds like a crazy idea, but that’s why it is going to work!”  “And if I 
don’t help you?”  “Well then my friend, the government takes over Global 
Cortex and then the corporations.  With all of the super powers out of the 
way they can tax the civilians until they are all dead of starvation.  And 
you, you will be drawn and quartered for your attack on the office building.” 
 He was right.  I pretty much had no choice but to help him.  I had no idea 
what I could do to help, but if the chance was there, we had to take it.

    The meeting was over and the eight men lead me all the way back to my 
dorm room where Trish was anxiously waiting.  I walked in the door and she 
ran up and jumped into my arms.  “Oh God, what did they do to you?  Are you 
ok?”  “Trish, I’m fine really.  I’m ok.  All they did was talk to me.  Nobody 
is getting in trouble and nobody is getting hurt, trust me ok?”  Trish calmed 
down but she wouldn’t let go of me.  I saw my clock and it was barely 4:30 
a.m. so I carried Trish over to the bed and we laid down together and fell 
asleep in each others arms.

    When I woke up it was noon and Trish was in the kitchen cooking 
something.  I got up and looked into the pan to see what she was cooking.  
There was a big mess everywhere but the omelets in the pan smelled great.  
Neither one of us said a word, there was no need to.  She somehow new what 
kind of situation I had gotten myself into and has done a pretty good job of 
accepting it.  The omelets were done and we sat down to eat them at the 
table.  “So, what exactly are they making you do?”  “I don’t know yet babe.  
All I know is that either the Cortex destroys the Government, or the 
Government destroys the Cortex.  And then the corporations, and then the 
people.  I have been trying to think of another way, but I just can’t.  The 
Government is so corrupt that if somebody doesn’t stop it, well, we have to 
stop it.”  “I’m not letting you go alone you know.  I’m not about to let you 
take on the Government all by yourself.”  “Honey, you can’t do this with me, 
it’s too dangerous.”  “Hey, I’m a good pilot you know, I’ve been on a lot 
more missions than you and I’ve beaten a lot more other Ravens too.”  “I know 
you are a good Raven Trish, but your AC doesn’t have the parts that mine has. 
 If I didn’t have that muscle system and the extra armor, I wouldn’t have 
been able to even pull off that last mission.  Do you think you could have 
done it with your AC?  What I have coming is going to be much harder than 
anything I’ve done so far.”  “Well, maybe I couldn’t have done that mission, 
even with your AC, but I do know one thing, you are a lot better than you 
give yourself credit for, and as soon as you realize that, you will be a lot 
better off.  You told me about that mission you did before you got the 
upgrades when you fought those prototype MTs and that Titan MT thing.  The 
way you described that thing, I don’t think anybody could have beaten it but 
you.  You need to stop putting everything in the ‘I just got lucky’ category 
and realize that you have a real natural talent.”  

    I had to take a few moments to let what she said sink in.  The more I 
thought about it, the more it made sense.  I did have a knack for getting out 
of the deep stuff.  And all of those times that I’ve dodged a bullet or 
attacked an enemy without even knowing I was doing it, it is almost like a 
sixth sense.  I mean really, who else could have fought the Titan MT or taken 
on the four tank ACs in the forest, or the five Government ACs, or the AC 
with that weird FINN extension part?  It’s just too much luck for one man to 
have.  I had to find out what the hell is going on.  Maybe it has something 
to do with my eyes?  I mean why not, that Vincent guy had the same kind of 
eyes as me and he told me “Don’t let it go to your head” and to “Be 
responsible.”  Maybe he knew what was going on with me.  I should try to find 
him and see what he knows.

    “You get what I’m talking about now Kur?”  “Yeah... I get it.  I guess 
that I’ve known for a while but I never really thought to much about it.”  
Trish scooted her chair closer to mine and gave me a hug.  We finished our 
breakfast and Trish went home to let her family know she was ok.  I decided 
to find that Vincent guy and see what I can find out from him.  I sat down at 
my computer and did a search on the name Vincent.  I had millions of hits so 
I narrowed the search by looking for Vincents over 6’6 with blond hair.  The 
computer loaded a few hundred links so I searched through the pictures of 
them to see if I could find him that way.  I looked at every single picture 
and not one of them looked like the Vincent I was looking for.  I was just 
about at my wits end when I remembered he said that he used to be a Raven.  
So I entered in my search for any body named Vincent over 6’6 who used to be 
a Raven.  I only got one match and the picture matched almost perfectly.  I 
say almost because the picture was of a man maybe 10 years older than the 
Vincent I saw but it was definitely the same face.  I looked at the full name 
and my jaw dropped as I realized who I was looking at.  The full name read 
Vincent VanHell.  It was the Raven who was undefeated in every match he ever 
took part in.  He would probably still be the A-1 champ today if he hadn’t 
mysteriously disappeared all those years ago.  

    I looked into it but couldn’t find any evidence that VanHell had a son or 
a younger brother or any other male relations around the age of the Vincent I 
met.  I checked the picture of VanHell and found that he also had the same 
kind of eyes as Vincent and myself.  This was now officially more than a 
weird coincidence.  I had to find a way to contact Vincent no matter what I 
have to do.  In the meantime I had to do a few experiments and find out just 
what I could do.

    I ran down to the garage and climbed into my AC and started it up.  
“Welcome back Kur...”  “Later Kong, we have work to do.”  “Acknowledged.”  I 
flipped a switch on the control panel that was on the brace around my chest 
and two cameras turned on.  One was recording what the AC saw and one was 
recording everything I did in the cockpit.  I was ready.  I ran out of the 
garage and over to the practice area in the center of the Cortex compound.  I 
walked into the small arena and told the arena supervisor that I wanted 50 
MTs fully armed with multi missile launchers and as many different types of 
energy and solid shell weapons as they could equip.  “Um... Sir, I can’t do 
that, it’s against regulations to...”  “Fuck your regulations damn it!  Give 
me the MTs or I’ll step on your sorry ass!”  I didn’t know why I was mad at 
the poor guy, he was just doing his job.  “Let Mr. Kur have his MTs John, I 
have authorized it.”  It was the president of Global Cortex talking over the 
com link.  Apparently he has been watching everything I do.  “Yes sir, 50 MTs 
it is.”  

    I was perfectly calm as I waited for all 50 of the MTs to enter the now 
cramped arena.  “Ok Mr. Kur, The MTs will begin fighting as soon as you do.  
Good luck.”  I checked Kong’s internal clock and it was 1:15 p.m.  I lifted 
my KARASAWA and fired a shot into the air over the MTs heads so I wouldn’t 
destroy any of them.  As soon as the green bolt of plasma hit the wall behind 
them, every one of the MTs opened fire on me.  I just relaxed and let my 
instincts take over,  I jumped to the left and then boosted forward dodging 
12 missiles and a multitude of different typed of bullets, grenades, and 
plasma bolts.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw almost 100 missiles of 
various sizes heading for me from above, below, and everywhere in between.  I 
thought that I should be scared but I wasn’t.  The missiles seemed to be 
moving in slow motion and I simply hit my over boost and dodged in and out 
and in between the missiles as they whizzed by me from all directions.  I 
even dodged the ones coming in from behind.  I couldn’t see them, but I felt 
them coming.  It was like a tingling on my back and as the missiles got 
closer the tingling turned to more of a warmth.  It seemed to take forever 
but I dodged all of the missiles and whatever other munitions the MTs were 
firing at me at the time.  

    The MTs were surrounding me and firing everything they had at me and the 
ones closest to me were trying unsuccessfully to hit me with their blades.  I 
was slowly starting to realize that no matter what those MTs did, they 
couldn’t hit me.  I was boosting and jumping in all directions, I even 
boosted up to the ceiling and flipped upside down so I could jump downwards 
from the ceiling to dodge a group of missiles and a dozen grenades.  I 
flipped back over in mid air and over boosted into an MT with my STARLIGHT 
swinging.  The MT was cut cleanly into two pieces and exploded, damaging 3 
others that were cramped in close to it.  I continued my over boost through 
the crowd of MTs cutting with my blade on the left side and just punching the 
ones on my right.  I felt like I was moving so slow even though my 
speedometer read 830 mph.  It was like the MTs were just standing there while 
I walked through and destroyed them at my leisure.  

    My energy gauge was beginning to run low so I cut my over boost and 
turned around quickly to see a chain of the MTs I hit and cut exploding in a 
chain reaction all the way up to me.  I counted only 18 MTs still standing 
and each of them was locking onto me with their missiles.  I stood still and 
let each of them lock on with all 10 missiles they could fire at one time.  
All 18 MTs fired at the same time sending 180 missiles towards me in a huge 
stream.  I jumped and then boosted up and in a wide strafe around the ceiling 
of the arena letting the missiles chase me in a long circle.  I tightened my 
pattern and dropped back to the ground letting the missiles follow me.  I 
began to weave in and out of the MTs again but the missiles couldn’t maneuver 
as well as I could and the plowed into the MTs I boosted past.  All but 3 of 
the MTs were destroyed and I still had 20 missiles chasing me.  I turned and 
fired my chaingun destroying every one of the missiles before they got within 
20 yards of me.  

    I flew back into the air and behind the MTs never giving them enough time 
to lock on to fire a weapon.  I landed hard on top of the smallest one 
crushing it under the weight of my AC.  I grabbed the one on my left with my 
hand and threw it hard into the one in front of me and they both were sent 
flying up and away from me with the force of the impact.  I hit my over boost 
and limiter release at the same time and my AC rocketed up and forward.  I 
activated my plasma blade and cut both of the MTs in half before the even 
started to fall.  I quickly activated my limiter so that Kong wouldn’t shut 
down and then cut my over boost.  I landed on the ground with my speedometer 
still flashing between 999 and 000.  My AC slid on it’s feet for about a 
hundred yards as I turned around.  Once I was fully turned I saw the two ACs 
four halves fall to the ground.  I switched Kong back to normal mode and 
deactivated the cameras.  

    “Jeez man, that was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!”  It was 
John the arena supervisor talking through my com link.  “I don’t think you 
even got hit once!”  I asked Kong to do a damage check and sure enough, there 
was no damage at all.  I had to take a look at the video of the battle and 
see if I can find anything out of the ordinary.  Until then, I was exhausted 
I had to get some sleep.  I checked the internal clock in Kong’s computer, it 
was only 40 seconds later than the last time I checked it, witch was just 
before I started the battle.  “Holy shit..”  It was all I could say.

to be continued