The Only Oasis
by Kitsune D'gon
Disclaimer: I don't own armored core...
"Blast this desert," John thought out loud.
His unit was caught out in the desert during the middle of a giant firefight. His unit was named the Death Core, although who was dying more, the enemy or them, was hard to tell. The client said all they would have to do was lure the enemy into the desert and reinforcements would arrive. Well, the reinforcements had arrived as promised, but after seeing how many John knew they had gotten into way more than they bargained for. Twenty-five percent of his troops were down. One A.C. (Armored Core) was lying in a scrap heap of metal, caught unawares by two enemy A.C.s.
John's personal A.C., Knight, was limping from an unlucky, for him anyways, linear rifle hit. The left arm had several wires exposed showering the earth with sparks. He had long before dropped his vertical missile launcher and his micro missile launcher was running dangerously low. What he and his troops needed, was a place to regroup. He scanned the desert, praying to whomever would hear him. There, off to his left was an oasis. He decided to investigate.
The oasis was much nearer than John expected, coming up to it after only a couple of minutes. It was also much larger than John thought. The trees surrounding the pool in the center provided effective cover, and his ground troops could hide in the bushes. This was just the place he needed.
"All troops, head to these coordinates."
Mia was running for her life. She was definitely outclassed here. Several of the top rankers in the arena were fighting in this battle. She stood no chance against them. If only she could find a hiding place...
"Wait... what's this?" she asked the empty air in confusion.
A little bit of green in this background of sand. She wondered if it was really an oasis, or just a mirage. Still, given the circumstances she had no choice.
Mia's A.C., Lucky Lady, had a pink paint job, now charred black, and had long range weaponry. Several heavy M.T.s had ambushed her and did serious damage with their close ranged weaponry before she was able to destroy them. Unfortunately, she had to drop the majority of her equipment during the fight. Now all she had left was a sniper rifle, with only a few shots left, and a long range missile launcher, which instead of firing on the enemy, may just blow up in her face.
Her A.C. approached the oasis carefully, looking for ambushes. The oasis was cut off from the rest of the battle by the trees. The pool in the center was big enough to hide an A.C. in it. She powered down all her non-essential systems, and dove right in. Her A.C. slowly floated down to the bottom. Wearily, she closed her eyes, planning to keep watch on the radar. Unknowingly, she drifted away into a peaceful slumber.
Alex maneuvered his A.C. dodging and attempting to flank the enemy at the same time. His A.C., Arial, swiftly moved to the left of the enemy A.C.. The other pilot was good though, maybe too good. The enemy pilot cut Alex off with a salvo from his machine gun. From the enemy's emblem, Alex identified him as Jack, one of the top five ravens in the arena. Alex knew he didn't stand a chance in one on one combat. He looked left and right frantically for any signs of cover. In the distance he saw something glint in the sunlight. He turn and ran toward whatever was glinting, hoping that he could make it in time.
After a few minutes, though they seemed like hours to him, Alex came upon the oasis. He quickly thought up a plan. He maneuvered his A.C. behind the trees and shut down his radar to avoid detection.
Maybe, just maybe, if he could take out Jack he would be admitted into the Arena. He could be famous, and respected. If everything went right, maybe he could become number one in the arena!
He heard the heavy thump of another A.C.. Jack walked right in front of him, relying totally on radar. Alex counted to three, and then leapt out and struck.
Three different Ravens with different reasons for being in one place. One looked for a staging point. Another a sanctuary. A third for cover. What happened to these three souls who were connected by one place?
John's unit suffered heavy casualties during the battle, but completed the mission. The client had offered the Death Core a long-term contract for base defense. The Death Core was now rebuilding, and John was thinking about taking more of a management role. He'd still pilot Knight into the fight now and then of course... once a Raven always a Raven.
Mia realized that she still had much to learn about piloting an A.C. She knew that if it hadn't been for the oasis she would have died. She was then taken in as an apprentice by one of the top ten arena rankers and taught everything he knew. Now she is back and taking more contracts.
Alex's defeat of ranker Jack shook the arena. Alex soon after applied to be admitted into the arena, which of course was granted, and began to swiftly move up in the ranks. He soon reached rank 10, but still felt he was missing something in life. He continues to fight to learn what that is.
And the only oasis is still there even today.