"Well, this is just FREAKING WONDERFUL."
Musashii hit the side boosters, sideslipping out of the way of an incoming barrage of gunfire. The Normal up ahead, Gundam-like in its appearance, tracked his progress and let loose with another barrage. The 03-AALIYAH was barely holding together under this sustained firepower- not to mention the fact that his Primal Armor wasn't engaged.
Remeber- you're in a civilian area. The mission planner had brought that up to him before he launched. Musashii thought about him- a nondescript, nasal man. "I swear, if I make it out of here alive, that man is getting a fist up his left nostril." Musashii turned his mech to the right, letting his grenade launcher shred the Normal that was just firing at him. Up ahead was the target- a special helicopter that, if it were to escape, could be used against Rayleonard to a most devistating effect. "Lock, lock, gimme a lock!" Musashii let the targeting recticle drift over the helicopter. "Gotcha!" He pulled the trigger. A heavy grenade round launched out of the barrel, and, traveling at super-sonic speeds, slammed into the chopper. It blew apart spectacularly as Musashi turned and dashed for his own carrier.
"Good work." The nasally-challenged officer came on the line. "Come back- we'll debrief you after you return." Musashii grimaced and punched the throttle, letting the mech do all the work.
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"REPORT!" The commanding officer, a man by the name Gehrin, slammed his fist on his desk. Musashii decided to flinch, only to appease the base leader's insufferable self-love. "Well, sir, the chopper was more heavily guarded than you had told me." Musashii phrased his words carefully. "Not only were there NO civilians, but someone had purposefully locked my PA system down under a password." He cast a searing glance to the mission planning officer, who only sniffed and looked up. Musashii returned his gaze to the officer. "That, plus the fact that the craft I was using was very lightly armored, and had little in the way of ballistics"
Gehrin waved a hand to stop him. "I don't want excuses. What I wanted were results, which you delivered, albeit a bit pockmarked." He slid a pad across the table. "There are your earnings for today. I'll expect to see you tomorrow morning for another mission." He stood up and sighed. "See you tomorrow, Raven." Musashii saluted and walked out of the office, accompanied by the mission officer. All around him were the signs of a busy hangar, hard at work repairing some of the more powerful mechs. In comparison, his mech was pitifully underpowered.
The mission officer turned to him on the catwalk. "Look, you. I've got half a mind to recommend your immediate conversion to a Normal, but your unusual synch ratio with your AC makes you a viable candidate to become a Next." His tone got deadly. "If you ever foul up like you did today, I'll make sure that there's an 'accident' waiting for you on a mission." With that, he stormed off. "Now what did he mean by 'foul up'? Getting hit twelve times is not 'fouling up.'" Musashii walked down the catwalk alone, passing over his mech. The office was located on the upper floors of the hangar, well above any normal officer's quarters. Musashii himself lived off-base in a small, abandoned hangar. He sighed and walked out to the ground transports, hopping a ride back home.
------
Musashii thanked the cab driver and entered his personal hangar. A bunch of tools and scrap lay about, testament to his eternal quest for better parts. Rayleonard payed him well, but the company just didn't suit his fighting style. He had (on his own time) purchased parts, very slowly, to build his own Armored Core. He had started with the core- big and blocky, with high defensive capabilities, and a strong emphasis on blocking projectile shots. From there, he had purchased the arms, legs, booster array, head, and different stabilizer sets. An old generator he had found in the back of the hangar served to run his mech, which, after painting green in a camouflage pattern, was designated RISING SUN. "Now all I need is that computer suite I ordered..." Musashii approached his mailbox. "...and by the looks of things, it's arrived." He took the package, roughly a foot long by 8 inches wide, to his workshop's bench and set it down. He hit the switch for the lights, and they blazed to life, casting illumination down onto the small human and the large robot. He carefully removed it from its package and took the delicate circuitry over to the robot. Grabbing onto one of the multiple ladders, he climbed up to the cockpit and sat down. The worn controls were comfortable to him, and he held onto one of the grips for support as he opened the access hatch below his feet. Delicately, he lowered the computer core into his mech. It fit snugly, and he closed the hatch over it and clambered out. Sliding down the ladder, Musashii heard footsteps approaching from behind. He hit the ground and turned, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Anjou!"
Anjou was a Next pilot as well, one of the best. Her AC, ORLEANS, was famous for its close range combat abilities and it's signature energy blade, the MOONLIGHT. As for the woman herself, she was stunningly attractive, with long, wavy black hair, a nicely curved figure, and crystal-clear black eyes. She wore a black jumpsuit with the top slightly unzipped, revealing a white undershirt underneath. She had on a pair of high-heeled boots to complete the ensemble, which completely contrasted Musashii in his jeans, sneakers, green grease-splattered t-shirt, and black denim jacket. "Well, well, well... what do you have here, Mu-sa-shii?" she said, her slightly French accent adding a girlish touch to the phrase.
"Well... it's a project of mine." Musashii looked to her, then up at the bot. "Hey, would you mind helping me for a second?"
-----
"Alright! Juice it!" Anjou stepped on the thrust pedal. The AC whined, and coughed a bit.
"Nothing yet!" she called down.
Musashii bent over his computer. "Hmm... diagnostics say everything's online..." He turned up to her. "Try again."
Anjou put her foot on it again and really stepped on it. This time, the thruster revved up and the mech jumped off the ground a few feet as it fired. "Excellent! Anjou, you can come down now!" Musashii walked to the ladder as she stepped down, blushing and looking away from her descending form. She smiled at him as she hit the bottom, and looked back up at the mech.
"It's a beast. Much heavier than my little ORLEANS, but I believe it can pack a tremendous punch with the right equipment." She looked at him, coyly. "Where are you going to get the equipment?"
Musashii blushed and looked up. "I-I don't know yet."
Anjou stepped towards him, still smiling. "Come on, it's me." She tilted her head and pouted. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?"
Musashii sighed and walked around the workbench to the computer interface he was just using. He pulled up his email and twisted it around so Anjou could see.
"Oh-ho! So THAT'S what you're doing?" Anjou read the screen. "We of GA America would love to have you with us in this competition... So you're planning to defect."
"Sorta." Musashii stood. "I feel too... restricted here. No offense to you Originals, but you're all they promote. I'm lucky that they let my out with the 03." He sighed, then looked up at Rising Sun. "This AC is my chance at a chance, simply. GA's giving me the opportunity." He ran a hand through his brown hair. "So, I figure that I'm going to steal some weaponry from Rayleonard and head back home, to America."
"Well then... I have several options..." Anjou pushed off the desk and looked around the rest of the hangar. "I can report you... or stop you myself with Orleans..." She turned, grinning mischeviously. "Or, I can help you get away."
Musashii nearly choked on air. "You can't be serious! What about your career?"
Anjou waved a hand dismissively. "Come on, me? I'm a single-digit Original. They can't get rid of me, even if they sent Berlioz after me." She looked at him. "Seriously, though. What is it that you need?"
Musashii looked to his robot. "I'd need a radar package for the right-back, a gun for the right hand, and basic AS missles for the left shoulder. That's all."
Anjou grinned. "Alright! Meet me in your mech at 1:45 tonight in front of the hangar. Don't be late..." She quickly pecked him on the cheek, then turned and to leave. She cast a grin over her shoulder. "It's rude to be late, you know?" With that, she strode out of the hangar.
Musashii, blushing furiously, got to work- he had about seven hours, and he had to make sure everything was in perfect shape to keep his mech running- not to mention packing his belongings.
Where did I ever get such friends?
-------
"You're la-aate." Anjou looked at him, grinning.
"It's not my fault, it's his." Musashii cast a thumb over his shoulder at Rising Sun. "His main booster crapped out on me as I neared the complex- I had to walk in the rest of the way." The moon, rising over the complex, cast a shadow over the two of them and partially over Rising Sun. In the reflected sunlight, it's normal dark-green color scheme made it appear black.
"Whatever. It's probably better that you walked in- that way your thruster emissions won't be picked up." Anjou turned and opened the personel door to the faculty. Even though it was late at night, the hangar was always open to its top pilots- a right Musashii hadn't earned. The two entered. Although the lights were on- and bright, at that- the place was eerily creepy.
"I'm going to get Orleans," Anjou said. "and you're going to wait in Rising Sun outside. I'll open the hangar door, and we'll get your equipment. By that point, someone will have noticed that an unauthorized mech is stealing the goods, at which point, I swoop in and give chase." She smiled as she spoke, glowing with pre-mission excitement. "I chase you about ten, eleven miles, and then you get away." She looked up at him- he was pretty tall, and though she was one of the taller female pilots around, her height was not enough to bring the two to eye level. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? We may end up meeting as foes."
"Well, it wouldn't change much- that's how we first met, remember?" Musashii grinned, recalling the memory. "You actually dragged me into Rayleonard as a Normal pilot."
"Yes, and I'm glad to help kick you out. Get to your AC." She smiled, then became businesslike. "We have a mission."
--------
For all its weight, Rising Sun moved pretty well. It had taken about five minutes for the mech to get its radar and missle launcher loaded- they went first, since there were machines needed to secure the weaponry. By the time that was done, someone had alerted the base's security. Musashii had just grabbed his gun, a heavy gattling gun, when Anjou and Orleans showed up. "Lady Anjou!" The lead Normal pilot hailed her. Musashii watched the exchange detachedly on his secondary monitors. "There's a theif."
"A theif? Here, at Rayleonard?" She sounded cold, cruel. "Stand back- he's mine." Musashii emerged from the garage and nearly had a heart attack- twelve (now designated enemy) Normals read on his radar. They all featured upgraded laser rifles, and bore heavy shields. But the real imposing figure was Orleans, itself. Black as night in the eerie moonlight, its overall evil-ness was only enhanced by the ignited laser-blade, MOONLIGHT. "Stop right there, Raven." She addressed him with the standard nickname for an AC pilot. "That's Rayleonard property you're stealing. Hand it over and you won't die."
"You'll have to catch me, first." Musashii crossed his fingers and hit the Overboost. His Kojima Particle accelerator, deactivated due to civilians in the area, suddenly sprang to life, fueling the overcharged booster. Musashii was slammed back into his seat as his AC took off, rushing away at speeds faster than a normal AC could manage. The Normals began to maneuver in his wake, but Orleans stopped them. "Leave him to me- you see what was stolen." Anjou suited action to words and took off after Musashii's retreating form, leaving the Normals to scatter in their exhaust.
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"This is far enough."
"No, keep going. It has to look like you really did your best to escape me."
Musashii sighed. They were nearing the pickup point for his GA contact. He couldn't risk Anjou being recognized in this situation. "Look, I think this is far enough." He turned his mech around and let it settle to the ground. Anjou's image appeared in a little overlay on his main monitor as she slowed- she had opened a comm channel. To the right of her face and upper body, there was her mech, and beyond it, the moon and sky.
"So... this is where we part." Anjou looked down. "It was fun, you know"
"Yeah." Musashii didn't know what to say. After she had shot him down in an engagement, she rescued him, seeing potential in him. "Well... I'm off now. My ride leaves in an hour..."
"WAIT!" Anjou maneuvered Orleans towards him. "Take this." Her blade popped off of her arm. Musashii looked at it, lying on the ground, then her.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
"But!"
"No 'buts'." Anjou looked at him. "There are multiple copies of this blade, but this is the original. I want you to have it." Her black eyes pierced his brown ones. "It'll remind you- you have friends wherever you want to find them."
Musashii picked the blade up, and locked it into place on his mech's left arm. Somehow, the weight of it balanced everything he was controlling. He looked up at her. "Right."
"Oh... and one last thing." She looked down, then looked up mischeviously. "Start running." Her image winked out, and Orleans raised its rifle, the PA shield coming online.
"Well, shit." Musashii executed the tightest turn-dash he'd ever manage, and set Rising Sun into motion. Her shots exploded the dirt around him as he raced off, heading towards a new future and a new adventure.
