Armored Core: Resistance Chapter 1, an armored core fanfic

Sitting atop the fence that drew the property line for the military testing facility, Ian gazed upwards towards the sky. Clouds spanned to the horizon with thunder echoing in the distance. A situation that he figured would not deter the testing of the prototype suit that had been in the works for over half a decade. Armored Core suits weren't new to the world, but not every territory had the resources or knowledge of how to create a suit of it's caliber.

Now that his home finally had it's first of what was believed to become a defense force most of the teenagers his age had all come out to the facility to witness the suit in it's first test run. Most were laughing at the expense of what could happen to the pilot in every possible situation that could go wrong. Thankfully he wasn't one of them. Most of them always had something to say about him. Unlike the lot of them he wasn't from the territory so he was naturally an outsider, and was deemed good for nothing from the start. As it was the only reason he was even close enough to them was because of the fact where they were was really the only safe position during testing.

"You could always come join us." the voice he heard was so soft he'd of recognized it any where.

Picking his thoughts from the air Ian looked down towards the source of the voice. "I don't think the rest of the crowd would enjoy my company." Ian spoke. The young female knew what he had spoken was the truth. For ten years he had put up with the harassment from the others quietly and without making a big deal about it. Noticing him nod with his eyes looking else where she turned to see the 'leader' motioning for her to come back.

"They might just think of you as joke, but I know better. You've got more heart than any of them."

Ian wasn't sure of what to think about anything she had said. Ever since he'd come to live there she had been one of the only ones to show him any decency. Something he was eternally grateful for. "Thanks Christa..." His words fell on deaf ears. The small crowd of his peers had only gotten louder over the course of just a few seconds.

His thought's turned from the crowd as the roar of an engine echoed in his ears. Exhaust smoke exited through the tail pipes of a truck pulling from the workshop's bay door. Ian grinned curious to what the others would think of the suit. This was not the first he would see of it. Perks of his parents being the reason it had been built. With the exception of the truck there was only silence. Being on something of a schedule there had been a rush to find a vehicle with enough power to pull a trailer; given the fact the truck specifically designed to haul the trailer and suit had suffered from a blown engine.

Sounds of shock and awe could be heard all around the fence. Shockingly enough even the biggest smart ass of the group had nothing to say about the five meter tall suit. A feat in itself that Ian was thankful to experience.

The suit's design was far from basic. Many of the armed personal had seen full sized Armored Cores like the one atop the trailer; and even still they like the teenagers had taken to silence. As with the high majority of bipedal styled Cores a Ready-Shield had been installed along the left leg. An addition that baffled Ian to no end. If it was not equipped with heavy weaponry that would force the suit to take the position why bother.

"That's it? How is that a suit? It has no armor."

There it was; Ian thought doing his best to ignore the dumb ass. Education wasn't something enforced or common in the territories extending further out from the Corporation's control. This had become apparent to him after only lived here for a few months. Having been born within the Corporation's borders of Corethena, moving to Yorlon had been a major change. Fortunately, it only seemed to be the one moron tainted by the so called contamination within the air. "It wasn't designed to be defensive. Primarily it was designed to be a reconnaissance. Mobile enough to get in and out with enough armor to take some damage. From the weapons I'd have to say close range fighting was it's primary combat."

His eyes had never moved from the Armored Core a single second. Christa was the only one among their peers that didn't seem speechless, or annoyed about his breakdown of the suit's functionality. "The chances of that being right is about as close to the chances you have of ever kissing Christa." Again, his attention never turned. Christa on the other hand felt heated.

"You would be surprised to know just how much I know. In the right hand it holds a standard kinetic rifle. Low energy consumption, medium weight. The other weapon is an overall basic form to the corporation's Moonlight laser blade. Most likely not as strong, but knowing my parents like I do some of that power was directed into lowering its weight and overall energy usage." No one muttered a single word. The ironic expression that it must have been something he said entered Ian's mind causing him to chuckle a bit.

"Parents?" This time it was the self-appointed leader that had elected to speak. "They helped build that thing?" His response came in the form of a nod as Ian felt little urge to trade words with the worst of them.

Ignoring their words was easy enough. Blocking out the pain from the bruises he suffered due to being attacked was another. Ever since that night not a word had left his lips directed towards the stereotypical jock. In fact this was the first time in over a year the bastard had said much of anything to him.

Before another word could be spoken a sound unfamiliar to the majority rung through the air forcing few to cover their ears to protect from the intense sound of gears grinding against one another for the first time. "Perfect timing." Ian's grin turned full on smile as he tightened the grip on the fence. Happy as he was to see his parents creation begin taking it's first steps something else entered his mind. What was soon to be a problem. Though the Core was still about a thousand yards from where the group of them stood when it ignited the boosters the force generated would be enough to send any debris in their direction; or worse even push against them with enough force. "Everyone get down!"

His random out burst had barely gotten the attention of his peers over the loud hum of the suit that stood before them. Christa was the first to react as she noticed Ian duck behind the fence. Grabbing hold of who ever she could reach she mimicked Ian's reaction. Unsure to what was happening, no one took the chance of questioning any of her reaction. Christa covered her ears on instinct as she glanced towards Ian to see him holding his hands in front of him; his mouth moving as he bent a finger each time. That's when she realized he was counting down, but to what?

Watching his hand become a fist Christa tightened her muscles; holding her hands over her ears she prepared for the worst. Time felt frozen in place. Over a minute had to have passed from the time she'd seen Ian make his hand into a fist. Loosening the pressure against her ears Christa soon found herself regretting her sense of timing when the force created by the sudden boom pushed against the fence with such rage. The noise alone was enough to dig what little nails she had into her head wishing that the terror would just end.

"Boosters work." Ian shouted.

Christa opened her eyes to once more see the young man standing. Surprising enough the young man actually seemed to be laughing. Truthfully she didn't see what was so funny about the situation. Looking between the others she had accompanied to this affair apparently neither did they. "How can you laugh about something as terrifying as that?" Tre yelled. "We could have died, so how about a little more warning next time!"

Time for silence was over. "I can laugh after something like that cause I'm not dead." Ian stood his ground even as Tre stormed in his direction.

"What if you didn't call anything out? It would have been your fault if any of us had been hurt!" Tre yelled again. Everyone around town knew he took care of his own; this time was be no different. Only the reaction he received was not the one he had expected. In fact it was an outcome he hadn't ever thought about. Christa was now standing between the two men keeping either from doing anything, though it was more keeping Tre from coming closer. Ian on the other hand was standing as still as ever his eyes locked on the suit.

"How dare you say it would be his fault? It was your dumb idea to come here." Christa's hand landed against the side of Tre's face before he was able to speak. "If he hadn't..."

"Shut up..." Ian, beginning to speak realized how much of a jerk he made of himself as she was defending him, "Something's wrong." Again everyone was intently watching the suit that stood only a few hundred yards away.

A loud pop could be heard as the whirring of machinery came to life. With the back of the suit facing them it was unclear to the actions the suit was about to commence. That was until Tre spotted some one drop to the asphalt before breaking into an all out run in their direction. "What the hell?" Tre asked. Each and every one of them surprised by the actions.

Ian was caught off guard the most. The pilot had been one that had followed his parents from Corthena wanting to escape the life of Corporation work. Standing in silence Ian had not felt the video phone in his pocket vibrate as he fought back every bad feeling he had ever felt. Coming to his senses the young man felt for his pocket, "Dad..."

"I guess the suit was to much for him." Tre found himself laughing. No doubt the suit was a marvel to the eyes of ones that had rarely ever seen a full sized Armored Core. Now with an unmanned one was before them only one thing crossed his mind. "Oh well. If he can't handle it let me give it a shot." Tre spoke boastfully as he leaned against the fence. Roars from his friends reached his ears. Each one a dare to leap the only barrier between him and the Core. Without a second more to think Tre was beaten to the punch. Ian had already hurdled over the fence running full speed.

After the events that had already transpired for the day Tre had been certain he'd seen everything. Even now he was proven wrong. Ian had covered half the distance in less than a few seconds. "He sure is full of himself. Just because his parents supposedly built the damn thing doesn't mean the asshole can maneuver it." Twice already today he had been shown up by the outsider. A third time was unlikely.

Although he had already covered over four hundred yards Ian was beginning to feel himself running low on energy. Worst than that his lungs burned like hell. i"Before I even get there I'm going to be done for. Besides that I don't even know if I can pilot the damn thing. Oh well...here's to trying."/i Approaching the legs of the core Ian could feel his legs want to give way from beneath him. Glancing over his shoulder he took notice that thankfully no one had followed him, and the look on Tre's face had seemed to make the pain in his lungs all that much more bearable.

"Lets see how the baby works."

"Attention Citizens of Yorlon, this is the UCT. Please remain where you are. Reports have spread to Corthena and her neighboring cities that the Armored Core you possess was built as a means to instigate a revolution. We understand that the number of armored forces before you may send confused meanings. Fear not. We seek a resolution that does not lead to the blood shed of innocents. As such we ask that you surrender the Armored Core unit with out delay. If there is no intention to turn over the Armored Core we will be force to take action; resulting in the occupation of your territory until the core is dismantled and all remains are disposed of. Again, we of the UCT do not wish for this to come to violence."

The communication radio struggled with static when the voice attempting to break through filled the cockpit of the Armored Core known through out Corthena as Sagittarius. "Calm your nerves. You've got the statistics monitor going off in every area." The serious tone he knew could belong to only one person. A person that he was only to happy to have accompany him on his first non-simulation mission.

Ten years had passed since his recruitment into the United Corporation of Territories Armored Core unit. Serge wouldn't quite call it recruited so much as inspired by other means. Regardless of how it came to be he had become happy with his employment. Within the first few years he had proven to be quite a soldier with many accomplishments. One of those being to have successfully pilot a prototype unit with little to no training in it's difference's when compared to the mass produced versions. Even with progression such as his in their ranks the Corporation deemed him to be ill prepared to be introduced to real combat.

In fact the true reason he was even present on the current mission was everything they had been informed of was mere hear say. No real combat was expected to take place; yet even now he struggled to keep his breath steady and heart beat under control. His mentor had basically begged the High-Commander of their unit to allow him to participate. How pitiful he must look to the others of his brigade, and worse to his commanding officers.

"ETA fifteen minutes."

Letting out a sigh Serge felt a small bit of the anticipation for what was soon to come fade from his mind. Thirteen hundred miles from any major Corporation city; half of that to even the closest controlled territory. Besides that if the citizen's of Yorlon even had the materials to build a functional suit it was unlikely any one had the knowledge of how to assemble it. At most he began to figure if there was one being built it was most likely to be a construction unit reconfigured to be for defense purposes.

"Why the hell are we even out here to begin with?"

This time instead of his mentor's voice coming through his speakers it was another pilot who had originally been given the mission to preform reconnaissance, then to subdue the enemy Core at all cost. Destruction of the suit was only in a worst case scenario. "Bum-fucked no where is hardly going to present a threat to us or even our employer." Following her comment she instantly began laughing as if something she had said had been funny.

"Maybe so Serena. Regardless of our personal ideas or feelings towards the mission it is still that. A mission that is to be carried out to its fullest." Another masculine voice was now transmitting. With all the voices bombarding his thoughts Serge felt himself reaching for the off switch. Nervous as it was from anticipation alone, the last he needed was to fail his first mission. Especially with a high ranking officer present. A liaison sent to over view the briefing, and follow through of mission orders. Air-Commander Lucas Raven.

Running combat mode diagnostics, Serge thought back over the stories he had heard about the Air-Commander. Most were never good, but the missions he over saw; ninety-eight percent of the time ended with success.

"How you holding up?" Again Serena hailed his intercom with the exception this time it was on a private frequency. All in all Serge had only two words that described the girl in detail; Total bitch. Surprising enough though she was really the only one in his direct unit that he could even relate to on any level. Like himself she had become a part of UCT around the same time as himself. That alone tied them together. Each of them in away depended on the other to thrive. A fact their superiors have never overlooked and have put to the test many times over. Every single time the two would end up coming to blows physically, verbally, and even from the cockpits of their Armored Cores.

Although amusing, their superiors soon learned to keep forcing them to that point was going to get costly. Now here they were on their first mission together. Serge ended up laughing at the thought of the High-Commander's expression once he realized what he had done by sending them out together. "From the sounds of it you're doing better than alright."

Managing to gain some degree of control over his laughter, "Doing better now," a small hint of laughter still noticeable in his voice. "Serena, can I ask you a question?"

Dragging her hand through her shoulder length blonde hair she could tell from the change in his tone something a bit more serious had come to mind. "You have to ask?" Nearing a decade of friendship and he was still proper with her in every way. Time and again she would remind him that they were both soldiers, and the same rank no less.

"ETA Five Minutes"

"I know this isn't your first mission. How come you never told me about you having been put in the field?" Serge asked.

Serena bowed her head feeling guilty and ashamed all at once. A year ago she had been ordered to escort a Corthenan Official to the upcoming territory Vergon. Simple enough as missions went. Sitting in a helicopter was easy work. The boredom she endured was not worth the money she was being paid as she had soon realized she was cheated. "I don't want to lie to you babe. I didn't tell you cause I knew you would get pissed that you were overlooked again. You were putting so much work into being noticed." Her voice had lowered by the time she finished speaking.

Silence befall both cockpits. Serena was in fear to continue talking not wishing to take her chances in upsetting her friend. Serge on the other hand did nothing but smile. "Don't stress over it. Was just an escort mission, I'd of fallen asleep anyways. My talents are so much better off else where." Laughter once more filled the radio waves between the two pilots.

"Time to get serious pilots. Let's go over the mission objectives again. We can afford no mistakes here."

We are here under the anonymous tip that the Yorlon Territory has succeeded in assembling a full sized Armored Core unit. Normally a new unit as such is not of high priority for investigation. What concerns our officials is the purpose this particular unit was fashioned for. To spark a revolution against the United Corporations. If in fact this suit exist priority objective is to seek surrender of this Core to our control without violence."

Stretching and yawning Serge could actually feel himself falling asleep. He understand that they were all under a lot of stress with the Air-Commander being present so failure was no option. Then again, when was it?

"If the Core is not obtained in the preferred manner we are to to subdue the suit and pilot with as little harm to either as possible. T-minus two minutes and counting."

"What the hell..." Ian asked. As the mechanical suit whirred to life the first system to activate was the camera functions. Unfortunately the first sight he witnessed from inside the cockpit was a swarm of Corporation air forces. "Why would they think that a suit created way out here would be..." His thought was finished mid sentence as his thoughts flashed back to the pilot that had been running their way just prior to the arrival. "Son of a bitch!" Frantically his eyes started to rapidly twitch looking for some indication of which of the many buttons controlled the radio transmissions.

Static stirred through the transmitters, shocking him sense he hadn't pressed anything. "Ian..." the voice was even more attention grabbing. i"take...Core...get aw..ay..."/i The voice was that of his father no doubt in his mind about that. Nothing about these events were making sense. With the radio being unclear he could make nothing his father was saying out.

Reaching over head at the few flashing lights, Ian wasn't sure what he was pushing all he knew was he had to do something about the radio transmitter so he get answers. "Dad, repeat. Transmission unclear."

"...Core...away. Do...not...come look..in...for...u..."

Ian was not getting worried as the transmissions were getting to be more filled with static than words. He was sure at that moment the UCT had applied a signal scrambler. "Damn it!" Slamming his fist against the side control panels what sounded as an audio log began to play.

"Ian, we know some how or another you worked your way into the cockpit of the Armored Core Forever." The young man was taken by surprise at the sound of his mothers voice playing through the speakers. How could they have known he going to ever get inside? "This log was to only play at the confirmation of your vocal recognition. Your probably sitting there confused as to how we know you would be in that seat right now; all I can say is that we are your parents and know are son. Don't worry about the details, but right now we haven't much time."

Ian was indeed confused; now even more so. His parents were smart no doubt, but psychic was out of the picture. No way in hell they could of seen any of this coming. "Though our technology here is limited we were able to make a few prototype designs into your suit. Armored Core Forever, was from the beginning always intended to be yours. It knows you, and you know it. Trust your instincts and Forever will trust you." Now he had to admit confused was not the right word to describe his state of mind. He had never been trained to pilot a full sized core.

"You must take the Armored Core and get away from here. Do not come looking for us, do not come after us. When the time is right we will meet again..." Unsure of what he had been listening to Ian's trail of thought was once more interrupted by the disorienting sound of an explosion yards from his position. No words, no thoughts, only emptiness filled the young mans mind at the sight being shown on the video display.

Aside from the mushroom cloud of smoke that was forming over what had been turned into the control room for the Armored Core's test, a lighter much smaller trail of smoke could be made out leading back to it's firing location. Surprise, and even horror filled most of the thoughts of all present. At least one hundred lives had just been cut short with a single missile.

From where the group of teenagers had been standing, Christa had fallen to her knees in grief and sadness over what her friend had to be feeling. Hands over her mouth she too was speechless at the horrific act they had all just bared witness to. Only a minute since the order to surrender the Core had passed; still they were attacked. "Ian...I'm...sorry..." She was not the only one unable to find the words to describe the current events. Tre, as much of an asshole he was seen as found it hard to believe. So many lives taken in an instant. For the teens time crept by almost like they were watching life pass them by in slow motion all the while nearly a dozen Corporation Cores moved in surrounding Ian.

Once more static filled the radio belonging to the newly designed core, "Pilot, you've been given a direct order. Exit the core, and you shall not be deemed an enemy of the UCT; nor will we be forced to arrest..."

"Retract that ultimatum soldier."p

Stuttering at the sound of the Air-Commander's direct contact the soldier was hardly able to generate his own words. "Yes Air-Commander. What are new directives, sir?" There was no sound following his transmission. "Orders sir?"p

"Kill everyone. Destroy that core." the voice was cold and void of all emotion. "These are my orders. Carry them out or be dismissed from your duties."

Although it could not be seen from in the cockpit of the Armored Core Forever a look of extreme calm expressed itself. This was not rage, nor was it the look of one deeming vengence. No emotion he could think of explained what he felt in the current situation. All he knew, was he had to live. His parents had designed the suit for a purpose, yet more so it was designed with him in mind so now he needed to find out it's true purpose for creation. Placing his hands against the controls Ian allowed the calm of his face fade for only a moment. His slight smirk turned to a grin. "This is the AC-00, Codename: Forever. If you want him, come and get him you bastards!"

To Be Continued...