I do not own Armored Core and this story was created without permission. Armored Core is a trademark of Agetec and From Software.
Chapter 1: Behind the Scenes
An orbital marvel, Rapture is the largest structure known to man. First starting out as a satellite colony, the cost of travel between the Earth and the space station was putting a severe strain on the economy. To remedy this, the Earth's Government decided to build an elevator to connect the station and Earth. It would take almost a century to complete, but once it was done, travel between the two places was not only quicker and easier, but a lot cheaper as well. Accomplishing its objective, the space colony flourished and was given its name.
Rapture Space Station: Year 2192.
Rapture's Maintenance Hangar.
Systems Check Engaging:
Necessary Parts Check…..
Generator And Energy Check….
Booster and Overboost Check…
Radiator And Heat Check….
Fire Control System Check….
Weapons Check Unavailable
Optional Parts Check Unavailable
All Available Systems Ready!
The machine stood on the repair line along with a number of other mechs. Some of the mechanic bays were empty, either waiting for a pilot to arrive, or just finished with repairs. A red tint of light illuminated the entire maintenance space, which was filled with different noises from the separate repair stations. The area was the size of about half a mile in length, and half of that in width. The roof was tall enough to kill a person if they fell from that height. Power flowed through all of one mech's components. Its hands were empty, and its core was bare of any unnecessary parts. The weapons were housed in a storage container across the hangar bay, along with its sword and shield parts. The back parts, as well as the right and left arm parts were all in separate labeled containers, which lined the immense wall. A raspy voice could be heard from the center of the behemoth robot.
"Alright Mack, All systems show green! Now let's fire her up!"
The mechanic at the switchboard of the repair dock nodded, wearing a helmet with muffler headsets. He pressed a red button on the control panel, sending a signal to the robot's engines.
"Boosters are warming up! And…..Ignition!"
A loud whirring sound was followed by an even louder roar as the boosters spit out a bright blue flame, pushing the mech forward a few feet before being stopped by the supports across its frame. The structure bent from the force, but remained stable.
"Engine 1, 2, and 4 are showing normal! Engine 3 looks a bit shaky though!"
The mechanics heard a voice from their headsets. It came from the control deck positioned behind the repair station. The voice was young, and even-toned. The operations supervisor stood in the deck, watching as the intense flames burst through the pipes of the engine, before dieing out.
"Luke, you said engine 3?"
"Right, it looks like its just a few bolts loose. Nothing major."
The mechanic in the core of the mech stood from the cockpit and climbed to its shoulder, using steel ladder that came down from a cradle on top of the structure. The supports straightened themselves out, now that the force was let off. The mechanic waved at the control deck.
"Thanks for the help Luke. We would've never known!"
"No problem Ralph."
The supervisor nodded and waved back, then walked off, continuing his rove of the maintenance station.
A couple of hours later, the mech was prepped and ready for another test run. This time, it would go off without a hitch. A young, dark-haired man came up to the mechanic at the switchboard, looking at the machine. His frame was athletic, yet slightly muscular, unlike that of the repairman in front of him, who had a much thicker body. The engines were cut off again and he turned around. Mack yelled at him, not realizing volume of his voice.
"Hey Kai! Here to see how the repairs are going?"
The man nodded, already used to the shouting. He was the mech's pilot, and he was here to pick up his machine.
"The third engine was a bit loose from your last battle. Probably from all that overboosting you love to do so much. You need to calm down with that, or before long, you'll lose one engine mid-battle."
The mechanic looked back at the robot and nodded.
"Other than that, she's looking alright. All we need to do now is load up your weapons and configure your FCS."
Kai placed his hand on the man's shoulder, and Mack turned his head towards him. The pilot moved his head to Mack's ear, so he would hear clearly.
"Now, you know I configure my FCS the way I like it. Let me take care of that part."
The repairman nodded, then continued working, pressing a button here and a button there. Half an hour had passed and Kai was in the pilot's seat, taking Ralph's place, who now stood on the repair bay. Crane arms moved around, lifting steel crates around and removing the weapons Kai had picked out. Five different cranes worked in what seemed to be musical harmony, lifting heavy weapons and moving them to their respective slots on the mech. The Optional Parts were the first ones loaded, housed within the core itself. A high-ammunition machine gun was placed in the machine's right hand, a heavy-hitting beam sword on the left. The right shoulder held a missile launcher which wasn't too big, compared to others of the same type. It was just the right size to hold a good amount of ammunition without being too heavy. The only weapon which hindered the AC slightly, was the high-energy beam rifle hooked up to its left shoulder. It shared the same energy source as the beam rifle and the core's engines, as well as powering all the smaller components. To offset the energy cost, Kai purchased a high-priced generator, which dished out a massive amount of energy to compensate. The only downside to it was its heavy weight. The energy source put a bit of a strain on the legs, but not enough to pose a problem. The system had to be shut down for the equipping process, and before long, the mech was powered back for configuration. Kai typed away on the touch-pad keyboard, setting up the computer like how he liked it. By the end of the day, the repair work and configuration would be completed. His machine was set up for optimal performance, which would be put to the test the next day.