Armored Core: The NEXT Emergence

by Siphon 117

In a world of constant conflict, Ravens, pilots of the great war machines called Armored Cores, serve as mercenaries for hire from the Ravens Nest. While the main leaders are content with the current world order, a small group of corporations with newly discovered technology, work their machinations behind the scenes, with the goal of creating a new world order. Alternate Universe.

1. Chapter 1

Armored Core: The NEXT Evolution

Chapter 1: Fortress Assault

"Speech"

"Radio/Electronic Speech"

"Thoughts"

Authors Note and Codex Entries at the end of the chapter. Please, read and review.

"So, what's our ETA?" I say, going through the activation checklist on route to my target. After a moment, the pilot answers "You'll be dropping in 90 seconds, get ready Raven."

"Well, that was fast." I thought, quickly going through the various switches to activate my AC. As I bring my AC online, I take note of mission.

The destruction of all enemy forces. 4 tanks, 2 APCs, 3 AAA positions, and 2 Shinonome Class MTs. A simple enough operation, get in, wipe them out, and then leave. My AC, being a mostly Crest model middle weight with a linear rifle, core EO and high output laser blade, should have no problems.

As we close in on to the drop point, my main monitors come online, and I get a overhead view of the Fortress that this group has taken control of. I power up my Op-Intensify unit, and plug my suits helmet into its socket, connecting my controls to the sensors on my hard suit. Once complete, I switch the visual feeds to my helmet emitters, which begin sending the AC's camera feeds directly into my eyes. I get a quick feeling of queasiness, and then I'm ready.

The pilot chimes in "We're here, dropping AC." The holding clamps release, and I drop down towards the ground.

In my AC, Swift Strike, I take in the enemies positions. The 4 tanks quick advance, with the APCs pulling back, as the 2 MTs advance, backing up the tanks. They move up in front of the Fortress, who's AAA positions begin firing my way.

I power up my boosters, and accelerate forward, quickly reaching my top speed of 968 kph, closing the distance. As I boost forward, the Tanks open fire, and the MTs deploy their leg supports, aiming their grenade cannons. I quickly strafe to the left, dodging the tank fire, before raising my linear rifle and begin firing into the tank line.

The first round impacts the lead tank, damaging its armor and stunning it. The second round hits before it can recover, breaking through and demolishing the tank, sending bits of armor everywhere. My third round impacts and stuns another, as the MTs fire their cannons. I boost to the right, dodging all 4 rounds, and jump, just clearing the top of the tanks as I lower my left arm, cutting through a tank as I pass with my laser blade.

Once over, I immediately throw my AC to the left again, dodging rifle rounds from the MTs, quickly sliding past their firing arc as I pass them. I aim and fire my linear rifle once at each APC, pulverizing them with each shot. I activate my shoulder thrusters and perform a 180 degree turn, boosting back towards the MTs.

The one on the right, now left, was a bit faster than the other at turning, firing its rifle at nearly point blank range. The rounds impact my core armor, bouncing off of the angled plates, with some rounds shattering on impact. Before the MT can deal any serious damage, I lunge and activate my laser blade, cutting the MTs right arm off at the joint, as well as cutting into the armor on the right side. The MT pilot, unfazed by the loss of the right arm, tries to bring its physical blade to bear, intending to slam the blunt force weapon into my AC's core.

I quickly boost to the left, dodging both the MTs melee attack, and the follow up rifle rounds from the other MT, who has finally made the turn. I open up with my core EO and linear rifle. The EO's machine gun rounds start hitting the MTs, doing very little damage. The linear rounds however, impact and stun. I put 2 rounds from my rifle into each MT, causing one of them to collapse onto its back, its balance servos overloaded. The other, the one now missing its right arm, is able to fire back with its grenade cannons, having deployed its leg supports.

I cut my boosters, causing the MTs aim to be off, making both rounds to fly just in from of my AC. I fire my boosters again, and move in close, lowering my EO as I activate my laser blade. The MT pilot opens up with its CIWS in its core, while turning to bring its blade to bear. I quickly lash out with my laser blade, cutting off the MTs left arm, while also cutting into the left side of the MTs armor, disabling its CIWS. I then raise my linear gun, and fire at point blank range. The first round impacts and detonates, cracking the armor, with the second and third round cracking the armor even more. Noticing the MTs legs supports engaging, I swing my laser blade high, cutting off both cannon mounts, before firing again.

The fourth round penetrates and detonates, blasting the front section of the MT apart. I glance at my radar, and look over to the 2 remaining tanks. As they fire, I casually aim and fire my linear gun at each one twice, before walking over to the fallen MT. I activate my laser blade, and slash it over the core, once, twice, and on the third swing, the blade cuts through the armor cutting into the center of the MT, causing a small explosion to flare out of the opening. I fire my boosters, and ascent into the sky, and fly over to the Fortress, the AAA fire having no effect. I open up with my EO, shredding one position while firing my rifle once at each of the other positions. As I set down, I take a quick once over, noting the 2 MTs have exploded into pieces, before saying into my radio "That's the last of them, mission complete. Operator, please confirm?"

My radio stutters to life, with my Operator saying "Confirmed, mission complete, come on home." I breath a sigh of relief, and begin moving to the pick up point, when my long range radar pings. I quickly turn towards the point on radar, and make out an unknown transport in the distance. I toggle my radio, saying "I don't recall reinforcements being mentioned in this mission?". The operator quickly responds, saying "This wasn't in the briefing, stay alert."

"Great..." I say to myself. I hate surprises, especially on missions. I zoom in with my display, and take note of the 4 walkers slung under the transport. I get down off of the fortress, putting it between me and the unknowns. As they approach, my Operator says "There's been a change of plans, apparently these are survivors from another combat zone that Mirage is engaged with. They're offering you 100,000 credits if you wipe them out. Your call, Kia."

"Mirage, huh." I respond, thinking. I don't normally take contracts from Mirage, due to my close allegiance with Crest, but due to both companies being quite close together these days, I'm sure it won't hurt. I respond "Alright, I'll take it. As long as they're willing to cover my ammunition fees." After a moment, my Operator calls back "Condition accepted, intel says these are 4 MAMLUK class MTs, a newer model from the Algebra organization. They have powerful weapons, but low armor. Just don't get hit." and disconnects.

"Right, don't get hit..." I say to myself, boosting up and over the fortress as they transport closes in. Before it can drop its cargo, I start firing my rifle at it. The transport, a modified Cranwell class transport, immediately lowers its altitude, attempting to drop its MTs as fast as possible. The first couple of rounds just barely missed, but as the first MT drops off from the transport, the third round slams into the front of the transport, shoving it back from the force. The armor holds however, long enough for it to drop the remaining MTs. My fourth and fifth rounds impact the front as it begins to rise, before my sixth round punches through the armor and blows off the front section of the transport, showering the MTs beneath it with debris.

The MT pilots quickly react to the transport collapsing on top of them, but not fast enough. 2 of them, the last to get off, get caught underneath it as it falls, crushing them underneath its weight. The other 2, seemingly uncaring of their comrades demise, begin marching towards me, and unload with their side mounted rifles. I throw my AC to the left and right, only catching glancing hits from their rifles. One of them is able to get a solid hit into the left leg of my AC, breaching the armor, but lacking the power to punch through the machinery underneath. I fire with my linear rifle at the closest, the first round impacting the front of its armor, crumpling it. The second round penetrates, and detonates inside, causing it to burst apart at the seams, sending pieces of the MT everywhere. As I close in the last MT lowers its rocket pods into place, and fires.

I fire my shoulder thrusters, and perform a 180 degree turn to the left, dodging the salvo, while boosting backwards. Once I passed the MT, which is turning to fire its rifles again, I redirect my boosters and lunge forward, activating my laser blade. Unlike the with the Shinonome, my laser blade cuts completely through, cutting the MAMLUK completely in half. The top half of the MTs body slides down a bit, before the generator goes critical and detonates, showering my AC with debris.

I perform a scan of the area, and sure that that was all of them, contact my operator "All hostiles neutralized, mission complete, please confirm?" After a moment, my operator replies "Confirmed, mission complete, you're free to come home. Mirage is grateful for your cooperation."

I fire my boosters, and head towards the pick up point, taking in the view. This particular fortress, was a remnant from the Crest/Mirage war from 40 years ago. While a fairly defensible structure, its actual placement was quite poor, sitting out in the open with very little cover besides the fortress itself. All of its wartime assets have since been pulled out, or destroyed, leaving a shell. Why these guys, who appeared to work for the group called "Struggle", would choose here to make a base, was unknown, but Crest didn't want them there either way.

Once at the drop off point, my transport came down to pick my up, a F21C Stork class transport. I wait for it to attach, engaging the clamps, before disengaging Op-Intensify. After separating from the socket, I begin powering down my AC, and get ready for the trip back, after a mission well done.

AN: And so, that concludes chapter 1 of my new fanfic, Armored Core: The NEXT Emergence. What do you guys think? Did I get the feel of the combat down right?

Anyway, onto other stuff. This is set in an alternate universe, and I'll be using elements from all generations of armored core. Another thing that I want everyone to take note, is that I'll be making the occasional video, detailing the AC's that are showcased here in this fanfic. And this is a bit of a spoiler, but this fic will feature Generation 3 AC's (built in Armored Core Last Raven, with Human Plus Cheats), Generation 4 AC NEXTs (Built in Armored Core For Answer, on regulation 1.4) and Generation 5 AC's (Built in Armored Core Verdict Day).

Generation 3 Armored Cores will simply be called Standard Armored Cores, and have the least mobility options of the 3 different types. To make up for that, in this AU, Gen 3 AC's will have the speed stats of both boosting and over boosting doubled. For example the AC featured in this chapter, has a top speed of 484 kph in the game. In this AU, it will have a top speed of 968 kph. Faster than a NEXT's normal boosting, but still not as fast as NEXT's quick boosting. Gen 3 AC's average around 10 meters tall, give or take 1 meter depending on part setup. One thing that will be unique to Gen 3 AC's is that in this fic, certain weapons will be given doubled the ammo capacity they have in Armored Core Last Raven. Such examples include the YWH13M-NIX and WR02M-PIXIE, which will have 720 and 480 rounds respectively.

Generation V Armored Cores, which will be called Verdict style Armored Cores, named after the manufacturer that created its own AC deigns. Gen V AC's will largely maintain their abilities and weapons from the game. They are more lower set than standard Armored Cores, ranging from 6 to 8 meters tall, and generally have lower top speeds than standard AC's. However, they're boost charge and glide boost abilities give them greater agility at close range. Gen V AC's normal boost on average of 400 to 600 kph, and glide boost around 800 to 1200 kph, and charge boost around 1000 to 1400 kph. Unlike in the games, in this AU, they have built in radar, but can still utilize Recon Units and UAVs for reconnaissance work. The lack of vertical flight does mean they need transports for long range transportation.

Generation 4 Armored Cores, or AC NEXTs, will almost completely operate the same way they do in Armored Core For Answer, on Regulation 1.4 . Gen 4 AC's have both a mobility advantage and a defensive advantage in this AU. Primal Armor will largely block ballistic and plasma weapons, but will still be only partially effective against high penetration weapons, such as sniper cannons, and rail guns, and will only slightly effect laser weapons. Gen 4 AC's are larger than their predecessors, and range from 12 to 14 meters tall.

One thing that I will try to keep consistent in this fic, is the damage output of all three different types of AC's will largely be the same. Meaning that equivalent weapons from each generation will be on largely the same power level. Basically, in a fight between a 2 equally skilled pilots, one in a Gen 3 AC, and one in a Gen V AC, both equipped with rifles and missiles, would largely be even. The Gen 3 AC would have the faster raw boosting speed, but the Gen V AC would have the better dodging capabilities, and would have the advantage in close combat. In addition, with a few exceptions, Gen 4 AC weapons are generally more powerful than their predecessors. This is partially due to Gen 4 AC's being a bit larger than their predecessors, and that allows them to equip larger weapons. NEXT grade rifles, are larger and fire larger rounds than their Gen 3 and V counterparts. However, Gen 3 and V weapons are still perfectly capable of dealing severe damage to a Gen 4 NEXT, should they lose their Primal Armor.

Another thing to note, is that weapons like machine guns and rifles, will not have the clips system, instead having the single, solid magazine. Meaning a machine gun like the Pixie 2 can fire its 1000 round magazine without pause.

And Just so everyone is made aware, all of the Gen 3 AC's stats are with the Human Plus Cheat in the Portable Version of Armored Core Last Raven. Saying this again, just to make sure everyone reading this gets it.

I'm also going for a more realistic approach to how AC's handle damage, inspired in part by MrMasher's series of Armored Core Fanfics. I recommend all fans of Armored Core check out his fics.

Well, that just about covers it, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask about them in the reviews, or PM me if you want.

Now then, onto the Codex Entries. This is something I've seen in a lot of fics, and I figured it'd work here as well.

Codex Entry Number 1:

Raven Kia, and AC Swift Strike

Raven: Kia Fargo

Affiliation: Crest

Piloting a Blue and grey AC named Swift Strike, Kia is a veteran pilot in Crest's ranks. She maintains high success with minimal costs, but is distrustful of contracts from outside Crest. However, that seems to be changing with Crest and Mirage's latest endeavors to strengthen ties between the 2 corporations, and has shown recently to help out Mirage on occasion, provided the pay is good. Is a known user of Op-Intensify.

AC: Swift Strike

Head: CR-H98XS-EYE2

Core: CR-C98E2 (Machine Gun EO, Ammo: 100)

Arms: CR-A92XS

Legs: CR-LH92S3

Booster: CR-B83TP

FCS: MONJU

Generator: G01-LOTUS

Radiator: RAGORA

Inside: N/A

Extension: ANOKU (Quick Turn Booster)

Back Unit R: WB31B-PEGASUS (Back Add-on Booster)

Back Unit L: WB31B-PEGASUS (Back Add-on Booster)

Arm Unit R: CR-WR93RL (Linear Rifle, Ammo: 80)

Arm Unit L: CR-WL06LB4 (Laser Blade, Blade length 12)

Hanger R: N/A

Hanger L: N/A

Top Speed: 968 kph

Muscle Tracers

Shinonome:

A older model MT, developed by Murakumo during their war with Chrome in the ancient past, reverse engineered by Mirage, the Shinonome class MT is a juggernaut of MT design. Featuring incredibly dense armor plating, coupled with heavy firepower, they work well as a support MT to faster units. They are, however, incredibly slow, being too heavy for boosters, and as such, are of little match against AC's. Due to their heavy armor, there have been issues with their balance servos.

Armament: Standard rifle on the left arm, KE physical blade on the right arm, core mounted CIWS, and dual heavy grenade cannons mounted on the left and back shoulders. Has to activate its leg supports to stabilize itself to fire the grenade cannons.

MAMLUCK:

A newer model developed by the Algebra organization, the Mamluck class MT is a middle weight class bipedal walker type, with high firepower, but low armor for its class. Despite this, they are quickly become a new favorite among both warlords and paramilitaries alike, for its minimum maintenance requirements, and high firepower for low cost.

Armament: 4 heavy rifles, 2 on each side of its upper body, with a rack of twin 6 barre heavy rocket launchers mounted on top.

Transports

Cranwell Class Transport:

A twin rotor craft, the Cranwell Class was the mainstay form of AC and MT transportation during the Crest and Mirage war. Heavily armor, and reasonably fast, the Cranwell Class has since started showing the age of its design. Although reasonably fast and well armored, the lack of any defensive armaments makes it vulnerable to attack, and while fast in a straight line, its lower maneuverability makes it easy prey once its in close. Modified versions have been shown to be able to drop off 4 MTs at once, but this reduces its mobility performance.

F21C Stork:

A Twin rotor craft, with its rotors set side by side instead of in front and back, that has made itself known as a rugged, powerful aircraft. Although smaller than the Cranwell, it has similar weight capacity, with improved speed and maneuverability in comparison. While only capable of carrying 1 AC, it can drop off its cargo much closer, and then exit with quick bursts of speed. Unlike the Cranwell Class, the Stork comes equipped with a pair of missile launchers, as well as a pair of chain guns, should the need arise. It also has armor much more in line with an AC, capable of taking hits much more reliably than its predecessor. There are also up armed versions, mounting heavy grenade cannons and chain guns for gunship roles. The only major downside, is that it can only carry up to 1 AC, or 2 light MTs, but makes up for it with better versatility.

Technologies

Op-Intensify:

Kirsiragi's golden goose, Op-Intensify is a powerful device, allowing for increased control of an AC. Op-Intensify is a system consisting of 3 parts. The first, is a quantum computing controller, to be hardwired into the back of the AC's cockpit. The second, is a Pilot's Hard suit, upgraded with quantum filament sensors. The third piece, is nerve connectors implanted onto the pilot, in the feet, hands and a primary node implanted at the base of the skull. Altogether, it allows the pilot to have incredibly high amounts of control of their AC, allowing for more extreme and dangerous maneuvers during combat. Is often utilized by high ranking Ravens.

Linear Weapons:

Linear weapons, including Linear Rifles, Linear Guns, and Linear Cannons, are a mainstay of modern AC combat. They operate through the use of both traditional ballistics and magnetic weapons. The receiver chambers a round, and fires it like a traditional gun. The barrel, which has a pair of rails along the barrel, increase the velocity of the round, and increase the temperature of the outer shell of the round. Once out of the barrel, the rounds delay action fuse activates. This allows for high levels of penetration of armor, as well as the weakening of outer armor from the rounds latent heat. The explosive core provides devastating damage upon a penetration. The rounds larger size provides increased impact force, serving as a powerful stunning weapon as well. However, the rounds lose speed and heat at longer ranges, limiting their long range potential.

Exceed Orbit:

Coming in multiple ammo types and sizes, Exceed Orbit weapons allow for an extra weapon to be operated by a basic targeting AI. They can come in machine gun, rifle, pulse gun, laser gun, and high laser variants. Ballistic EO's have limited ammunition, while Energy EO's can regenerate their ammo over time. They tend to be weaker than their hand held variants, but provide increased burst firepower to an AC.