I swear, I couldn't sleep at night unless I wrote this fanfic.
With weeks of sleepless nights brainstorming... I present all of you with... *drum roll*
Path Of The Trailblazer!
It's been a century since the war of Alliance and Vertex. In the 24 hours that Vertex declared their attack, many Ravens no, many human lives were sacrificed in this senseless war.
Alliance, a group formed by three corporations who were on war previously, which joined together has an unmatchable access to resources. Vertex on the other hand, had the most amount of Ravens on their side. These aspects constantly put the both of the groups on par.
But both sides were devastated.
Machines, named Pulverizers were responsible for most of the deaths. The goal of these machines was unknown, but one thing's for sure: They pulverize anything in their path.
Jack-O, the leader of Vertex, issued headhunts toward any Raven he deemed weak, even his own friend, Sorcerer. As cruel and heartless as his actions were, this was to prevent the creation of the ultimate Pulverizer.
Pulvirizers were created by the Internecine. The Internecine collects data from every battle the Pulverizers fight and learns from previous mistakes. This in turn creates newer, stronger Pulverizers which make up for what the older one lacked. If this went on, the Internecine will eventually create an invincible Pulverizer, one that is physically impossible to destroy.
But, there was one Raven, an unnamed one, who proceeded to fight against Alliance, Vertex and the Pulverizers. He killed many Ravens, destroyed the Pulverizers and shutdown the Internecine all in the span of 24 hours.
When he shutdown the Internecine, he was greeted, rather poorly, by another Raven, Zinaida. Zinaida was out to claim the title, Last Raven, as all the Ravens were dead, save Jack-O who went missing.
After a long, grueling battle, the unnamed Raven won, making him the Last Raven. After that, he and his operator were gone without a trace.
A century later, an organization called Terra Sphere took control of the world. Under Terra Sphere, the rich lived glorious lives on the surface. The poor on the other hand, were shoved underground and were left to starve to death.
This of course, led to many people trying to overthrow Terra Sphere. The problem is, there were no more Ravens. The best thing they could do is use MTs and assault Terra Spere HQ.
Terra Sphere, worried about the sheer number of rebels, decided to recreate an AC, based on the AC of the previous Alliance Tactical Unit leader, Evangel.
This AC alone managed to destroy all of the rebels. But, the rebels never gave up. They never stopped with their assault.
Terra Sphere then decided to make more ACs to fight against the assault. This was a mistake. As they started to remanufacture parts, a greedy man, Brian Schenwerg, who worked for them, sold parts to the black market.
The rebels purchased these parts and manufactured their own ACs. They learned how to crate parts by observing the workings of the parts they bought. They finally had enough pilots to call themselves an organization. They named themselves, Hasta Caeli.
As it seemed, history repeats. But with the Pulverizers gone, only one side is allowed to win this war.
In the Terra Sphere HQ branch, located at what used to be Area R-11 AC Garage, a middle-weight, two-legged model AC is being maintained. Nearby, a blond young man clad in red was shouting.
"The day has arrived! Finally!" the loud young man shouts toward the sky, gripping his fist.
"Mark, I know you're excited about taking on your first mission. But focus. It's a warfi-" a black-haired girl wearing a green sleeveless shirt says but was interrupted.
"Hey! I know YOU'RE more excited than me. That glint in your eye says everything!" he says, moving his face closer to the girl to take a closer look at her eyes.
"Haha! What can I say? The both of us went through so much together as a team." she says, starting to smile.
"Those training exercises were hell. They practically surrounded me with missile launchers and told me to dodge all of that. If that's not crazy, I don't know what is." he reminisces, shivering to the memory.
"But you made it. And you have to thank me for telling you when and where to dodge." she says. "You and me, we're like the picture perfect team of a pilot and an operator."
"You can say that again." he says, with a huge grin plastered over his face.
"Mark Ayeris and Madeline Hughs! Come here, you slackers!" the sergeant of the branch yells at them.
"YESSIR!" the both of them shout in response with fear in their tones quickly running to the sergeant.
"Good. As you can see, I have a mission here that I want you two to do. Several MTs are attacking Tartarus HQ. So all you have to do is dispatch them. Simple, isn't it?" the captain says.
"Roger that!" the both of them shouts in unison.
"Now you, Mark, seeing as you're now a pilot, you have to use a codename from now on." the sergeant says to Mark.
"Do I get a codename?" Madeline asks, raising her hand.
"No. Only pilots get a codename." the sergeant responds. He then turned to Mark and asked "So, what'll it be?"
Standing up straight and broadening his shoulders, he says with a confident voice, "Sir, from this day onward, I will be designated by 'Ace' for I am an Ace Pilot!"
"Quite cocky for a newbie aren't ya? Now let's see if you can walk the talk." the sergeant says.
The captain gives them a signal for them to go and take their stations. Madeline at the computers, having to get used to all the screens and Mark changing into his pilot suit.
After Mark is done changing, he walks over to Madeline, tapping her shoulder to grab her attention and says with an egoistic tone, "Whaddaya think? Feeling the hots?"
"Nope. But you look okay." she says, not even looking.
"Okay? That's it?" he says, raising an eyebrow.
"Everyone, step back! We're raising the AC now!" the head mechanic yells.
The floor slowly opens. Then, a red-black-gold themed AC slowly rises up from the basement to ground level.
"Would you look at that? The Ace Custom. I designed it myself. It was nearly impossible to get my hands on the OP-I part. But I got it cause I'm just that awesome!" Mark gloats.
"Whoa. Its stats are amazing. Attack: A, Defense: A, Mobility: A, Energy Supply: S, Cooling: S and Vs. ECM: S." Madeline says, describing the Ace Custom's stats.
"Just who the hell do you think I am!" Mark shouts, pointing toward the sky complete with an imaginative volcano erupting in the background.
"Enough fooling around!" the sergeant yells, smacking Mark. "Go get in the cockpit!"
Groaning a little, Mark climbs up the ladder which leads to the top of the AC. The entrance to the cockpit was located at the area behind the head. He jumps down the hole and onto the seat of the cockpit. He then starts up the Ace Custom.
"Oh, man, this is awesome!" Mark says, his hand trembling.
"Systems... check. Weapons... Check. Boosters... check. The Ace Custom is good to go!" Madeline mumbles then shouts while reviewing the current status of the AC through her computer.
The 'eyes' of the DRONE head starts to light up. The AC stands up straight and walks out of the garage.
After some time, Mark made it to Tartarus HQ. But there wasn't a single MT. Only one yellow AC.
"Strange... No one told me about another AC..." Mark says, biting his lip.
"Mark! The mission briefing was wrong! There aren't any MTs attacking. There weren't any enemy MTs in a 20 kilometer radius! Only an AC!" Madeline shouts through the communicator.
"You could've told me that before." he says.
"There were ECM devices located around the area. No one could've find out." she says, reviewing the data on the computer , "Either way, get out of there! You're no match fo-"
"Now, now. I want to see what this cocky brat is made of. Ace, if you're man enough, you'll go and destroy that AC!" the sergeant shouts through the communicator.
Mark wonders why everyone keeps shouting at him through the communicator. After all, even a whisper is as clear as day. He grabs onto the controls of the AC and says, "It's just ONE AC. I can kick its ass with my hands tied behind my back."
"That's the spirit." the sergeant says.
"You idiot! You'll get killed!" Madeline shouts at Mark.
"LA-LA-LA-LA-LA! I can't hear you!" Mark sings, covering his ears.
Mark activates the boosters and flies near the enemy AC. The pilot of the yellow-reverse jointed AC notices Mark's AC and turns around to face him.
"Who would you be?" the pilot asks.
The voice seems to be a middle aged man, around his thirties.
"I'm Ace. And my orders are to take you out!" Mark says, somehow making his AC point at the yellow AC.
"... What? There's not a shred of data on you!" the pilot mocks.
"That's cause it's my first mission." he responds.
"Pfft. Terra Sphere must be bankrupt to send an amateur pilot against me!" the pilot says, trying to contain his laughter.
"Amateur? I! Am! An! Ace!" Mark yells with emphasis on every word.
"Then I guess this will be your first and last mission. I, Mistletoe, have never lost a single AC battle!" the pilot yells.
"Main System: Engaging Combat Mode." the computer of the Ace Custom says, "Enemy AC detected. AC MMM. Unit is equipped with micro missile weapon arms and uses missiles as its primary means of attack."
"What does MMM stand for?" Mark asks.
Mistletoe switches his weapon arm to ten missiles per shot. He then activates his extension part which fires 4 extra micro missiles.
Mark on the other hand, runs toward his right and aims his PIXIE2 machine gun at the MMM, shooting like crazy.
Mistletoe immediately jumps up in the air, using his boosters to stay airborne long enough to fire a 14 micro missile salvo at Mark.
"I... have a good guess..." Mark says, his eyes wide open.
He quickly uses his boosters to strafe to the side. About 5 of the missiles hit the ground whereas the rest keeps on heading toward him. All of them hit his left arm."
"Left arm damaged." the computer says.
"Dammit! Was I too rash?" Mark says.
"You're always rash... Just calm down. I believe in you. I know you can beat this guy." Madeline says through the communicator.
Mark immediately boosts behind a building to calm down and think of a way to counter Mistletoe's tactics.
Speaking of Mistletoe, he boosts nearby the Ace Custom and says, "You can hide... But you can't run!" and then jumps into the air again, firing another salvo.
"Bingo!" Mark shouts, quickly firing several shots at the missiles.
Three missiles explode, causing a chain reaction that makes all of the 14 missiles Mistletoe fired explode in front of him, damaging his AC. The recoil sends him plummeting to the ground, having to use his legs to slide onto the ground to stabilize himself.
But when he takes a good look at the screen, he notices the Ace Custom boosting toward him, with his beam sword activated.
Mark was screaming in the AC, "Ruuuuuuuaaaargh! Ace Custom... Vertical Slash!"
If the name didn't hint anything, Mark uses the ELF3 beam sword located on his left arm and performs a vertical slash onto the joint connecting the MMM's left arm to the core, chopping off the left arm.
To keep with the momentum, Mark screams again, "Ace Custom... Kick!"
In this case, he only activated the boost on his left leg to send it upward toward the MMM's core, in other words, kicking the core. The power of the left leg boost is enough to send the MMM several hundred metres back.
"Enemy's left arm destroyed. Enemy's core part damaged." the computer said.
"Do you HAVE to name your actions?" Madeline asks Mark.
"It's not as cool if I leave them unnamed." Mark says.
"You're not bad... For a rookie." Mistletoe says, panting. "But let me show you what a real AC can do!"
Mistletoe activates his core's OB function and boosted to the Ace Custom. Mark didn't have enough time to react to the next action. Mistletoe literally uses his still intact right arm to punch the Ace Custom's Core, with the speed and velocity of 700 km/h.
The impact is enough to make Mark throw up. But that isn't the end yet. Mistletoe activates his right arm's missiles and fires 5 missiles at point blank range. It sent the Ace Custom flying through the air. The extension missiles also fires hitting the Ace Custom.
Just as his AC is about to hit the ground, Mark uses his legs and his booster to stabilize himself.
"Core part damaged." the computer says.
"He's good..." Mark says, trying not to vomit.
"Mark..." Madeline says with a worried tone.
"BUT I'M BETTER!" Mark yells, confidently gripping the controls.
He switches to the linear rifle on his back and strafes to the left, firing it.
Mistletoe starts using the dual missile launcher on his back and fires as much as missiles as he could at Mark.
After 5 missed shots, Mark gets a clear aim and fires the linear rifle at the MMM. The recoil stuns the MMM for a second before Mark fires two more shots. The shots make a large smoke in front of the MMM, blocking Mistletoe's view.
When the smoke clears, the Ace Custom is gone. Mistletoe looks around before checking his radar on Mark's location. Surprise! He is right behind him.
But it was too late when Mistletoe found out. Mark uses his ELF3 beam sword and stabs the MMM's core through the left shoulder. After that, he quickly smashes his PIXIE2 machine gun on the MMM's EYE4 head. He then fires his machine gun through the head of the MMM until it explodes.
"Enemy's head part damaged. Enemy's head part destroyed." the computer says.
"Impossible! How could I lose... To a rookie!" Mistletoe says, shame and fear in his voice.
"Never underestimate...Your opponent." Mark says, quickly smashing the PIXIE2 machine gun on the top part of the MMM's core and firing more rounds.
The absurd amount of rounds fired made a hole through the cockpit and actually shot Mistletoe with a huge bullet before he could say anything.
Mark deactivates his beam sword and boosts back, as the MMM explodes.
"You did it. You actually won." Madeline says, surprised.
"I TOLD you I can handle an AC." Mark gloats.
"Impressive. You really are an Ace Pilot." the sergeant says, impressed.
"Mission objective achieved. System switched to normal mode." the computer said.
After a while, Mark makes it back to HQ. He gets out of the Ace Custom only to be greeted by Madeline. And when I say greet, I meant slap.
"Do you have to be so cocky all the time!" Madeline yells.
"Hey, I did win..." Mark says, rubbing his cheek.
"That's not the point! You could've been killed!" Madeline yells.
Mark couldn't think up a counter-argument. He only remains silent while looking away.
"Death comes to all of us." the sergeant says, slowly walking over. "We can't let something so trivial persuade us."
"Yeah... What he said." Mark says, agreeing to the sergeant
Madeline does not have the right to talk back to the sergeant, so she has to stay quiet. The sergeant then says to Mark, "Anyway, you have proved yourself to be a capable pilot, being able to defeat an enemy AC on your first mission. I acknowledge you as a pilot of Terra Sphere."
"Hell yeah." Mark says.
"And from now on you have all the right to be designated by Ace." he says.
"Hear that Madeline? You have to call me Ace from now on!" Mark says, pointing at Madeline. "And that means you too narrator!"
"Fine... Ace." Madeline says, a little bit mad.
Meanwhile, at the Hasta Caeli base.
"Sir, Mistletoe was killed at Tartarus HQ!" an operator says to someone. He was covered by a silhouette.
"Who killed him...?" he says, his tone getting angrier.
"A new AC and a new pilot. He calls himself, Ace." the operator says, fear grabbing hold to his tone.
"Mistletoe was weak... But I want to see the capabilities of this... 'Ace'" he says.
Wow, I never wrote this much before.
You may notice that I used the word, 'pilot' and not 'Raven'. I'll elaborate on that point next chapter. If there is one.