Chapter 1: A Promise

Location: Rasthol

"Damn it…! These guys are relentless!" Keith yelled as he continued to pump out his bullets onto the attackers and backing down at the same time. One by one the enemies fell, yet more will just fill in the ranks. There was no end to this battle. Keith had long lost count of how many enemies he had taken down already. He knew this battle was inevitable, but he didn't expect Global Armaments, Rayleonard and Akvavit to team up for this. Even with Bernard and Felix Foundation's military size and Rosenthal's support, it was obvious to the war veteran that they are fighting a losing battle. He just didn't know what was going on with the CEO, why couldn't he just give up Rasthol instead of continuing to fight? Rasthol wasn't an important city, as far as Keith was concerned. Chik-chik-chik his machinegun complained as it ran out of bullets, he backed down to get a new magazine while his squad's Normals moved in to provide cover fire.

He grabbed three fresh packs of magazine, one for him and two spares for those needs it, before dashing back into battle again. Just as he returned one of his squad members went down.

"Jamaal!"

"Uwa-…!" Static filled in Jamaal's last words.

"Tch. Keep on firing! If you stop, we will all die here!" Keith commanded and fired his machinegun. Bleep bleep A window popped up in the corner of his HUD.

"This is HQ. You are to abandon Rasthol. You will protect the HQ as we retreat from this colony."

"What? We are abandoning this place? What about the rest of the civilians? And the Rosenthal allies?"

"They will be used as a distraction to hold off the attackers, they are not to learn of this plan."

"You…! You are sacrificing them just for your survival?!"

"No lieutenant, it's OUR survival."

"…No."

"Did you say something?"

"I will not abandon this place."

"…Lieutenant Weeber, do you have any idea what you have just said?"

"… … …" He cut off his comm. channel with HQ. He opened his channel to his squad and said, "Delta 1 to all units, I will continue to hold off the attackers. Those who want to help, stay with me. Those who don't want to die, follow them."

He closed his eyes as he felt his teammates left one by one. He didn't want them burden with the possibility of getting kicked out of the military. He knew that some have to support their family too, so they can't afford to lose their job. He sighed, what a brash decision he has made… "Keith, what are you doing? Stop standing there like an idiot." someone said over the comm.

"Shut up Ralph, leave me alone." Keith replied.

"That won't do, commander. We can't just let you get all the fun alone." another voice piped up.

Keith smiled as he opened his eyes. Two Normals remained standing next to him firing on the enemies. The two men that he trusted the most within the squad: Ralph Jaeger and Marcus Ovan. He was about to open his mouth but shut it. There was no point in trying to convince those two. They attack together and fall back together, never leaving one behind.

"This is the final order, Delta team! Let's make this a nightmare for them!" Keith ordered as he fired at the enemies.

"Yes sir!" the two Ravens said.

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The colony was more or less taken over by the GA, Rayleonard and Akvavit alliance. The Rosenthal forces were thrown into a complete confusion due to BFF's retreat. They were ambushed in places where they expected BFF forces to be around to cover them. A few of them decided to stay and fight, while the rest tried to leave the combat zone as soon as possible.

"Keith! Duck!" Marcus yelled as he swung his machinegun around over Keith's head and fired. The Rayleonard Normal behind was pelted with bullets and fell down. The three of them continued to retreat. The three Ravens weren't fighting as proudly as a several minutes before. They were running low on ammunition and couldn't afford to go diving into the enemy's main force without losing their lives. Turning off their IFF tag, dashing through shortcuts unheard of to the enemy force, they tried to take down as many enemies as possible without exposing their positions needlessly. They even have to resort to taking the downed enemy's weapons, since the enemy's ammunitions were not compatible with BFF's weapons.

Picking another squad, they slide into a tight alleyway. Barely fitting through an alleyway, the three made their way in a straight line to intercept a small group of enemies. "On the count of 3." Keith said as he levelled his rifles. "3! 2! 1! Fire!" Keith yelled as he ducked and shot at the first two MTs he saw. Ralph fired over Keith's head and took out one of the accompanying Normal. The remaining Normal was taken back in surprise by the sudden attack. Just as it was about to regain composure, Marcus jumped in and sliced it in half with his energy blade. "Hey…" Ralph said, "We can't really keep on doing this, or else it will last forever."

"But we can't just run out like some wild men and actually hope to win now, can we?" Marcus said.

"I know, but still," Ralph complained, "I think those guys will soon pick up on how we are doing this and will group up, giving us no chance to attack them."

"…" Keith pondered over Ralph's statement. What they needed right now was a weapon that is fast and powerful. "Keith!" Ralph interrupted his thoughts, "There seems to be something weird going on. Enemies to the right of us are getting taken down really quickly."

Keith looked at his sensor, what Ralph said was true. He watched as dots by dots disappeared from the screen. Enemies were swiftly destroyed by a single person. "What a monster…" Keith muttered.

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A grey Next dashed through the buildings quickly. Vincent didn't hear anything about a battle going on in Rasthol. Just a day ago when he left for his mission, the city was still in good shape. It wasn't the best place, but at least it was peaceful and orderly. Now it was in ruins and filled with foreign Normals and MTs. Obviously BFF's force has already abandoned the place as he saw very few signs of fighting occurring right now. He really should get out of this area before it's too late, a single Next could not change anything. He spun around and started to head back out.

A group of four GA Normals jumped out from the corner of a building and shot at him. As if he had anticipated this attack, Vincent turned on his Primal Armour. Blade, Vincent's Next, was suddenly surrounded by a glowing ball which deflected the bullets. Raising its rifle, Blade took three shots at the Normals it was about to collide into. The Normal's armour was no match for Blade's rifle, as one Normal's torso got torn off from the sheer force of two bullets. The third bullet ripped apart the second Normal's left leg, causing it to topple over. The two remaining Normals seemed to be in shock at how quickly their teammates went out of commission. Knowing that they couldn't stand a chance against such a powerful adversary, they decided to retreated and boosted away. Vincent pursued them, but the two Normals were lying on the ground, destroyed. Three Normals stood behind the remains of the machines. Their signals didn't show up on his radar, but Vincent could recognize that they were BFF Normals. He decided to declare his identity to them, "I am 1st Lieutenant Vincent Maya of the Bernard and Felix Foundation. What happened here?"

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"Vincent Maya… You are Vincent Maya?!" Keith exclaimed.

"Yes, that would be correct." The man from the grey AC said, "My name is Vincent Maya."

Keith couldn't believe what he heard. Vincent worked in the same squad with Keith a few years ago. They were close friends and survived through a few battles. However, they were separated when the company was testing for people who were "AMS-compatible". Both Keith and Vincent were deemed to be AMS-compatible, but Keith decided to continue his service with his squad while Vincent went on to become a "Linx". That was only a year ago, but Vincent seemed to have changed a lot. He certainly looked like he had become a much stronger person. However, he seemed more distant than before. "My name is Keith Weeber. We were in the same squad, remember?"

"Indeed, I see that you have become the commander of the squad." Vincent said detachedly, "What happened here?"

"Global Armaments, Rayleonard and Akvavit combined their forces and attacked us. The rest of our force has retreated. We are the only ones left here." Keith replied.

While he was surprised to see an old friend here, Keith was more dazed by the presence of Vincent's AC. He looked in awe at the AC standing before him. He has heard of a new type of AC called "Nexts". They claimed to be a lot faster and much stronger than the Normals. He thought they were just some wild story made up as a part of the propaganda to raise the soldiers' morale. He couldn't believe that it did existed and he would be seeing one right in front of his eyes.

"I see. I shall help you in getting out of this city then."

"Well our original intent was to take this city back again and we can't go back to our company without getting fired instantly…" Keith said unhappily, "But since you offered it, we can't really decline now, can we?"

Marcus and Ralph didn't seem to mind either. Vincent's Next gave a nod. "Follow me." Vincent said as his Next started to run towards the escape route. The three Normals followed closely behind it. Out of nowhere, a group of five Rosenthal Normals jumped out. The Rosenthal Normals pointed their guns at them. "Are you part of the BFF force?" said one of the pilots of the Rosenthal Normal.

"Yeah. We're going to get out of here. Follow us." Keith said.

Without warning, the Rosenthal group shot at them. Luckily, a weird sphere surrounding the Next seemed to be protecting them from the fire. Keith, Ralph and Marcus returned fire, only to have it bounce off by the glowing sphere. Only when Vincent shot, did the bullet go through the ball and took down one of the Rosenthal Normals by surprised. The rest quickly backed off and hid behind the buildings. "You traitors will never get out of here alive. I will not forgive those cowards who try to run away by themselves!" said the Rosenthal Raven.

"We were trying to protect this place too!" Marcus yelled, "It was HQ who abandoned you!"

All of a sudden, Vincent shot at the building to his left with his sniper rifle. A heavy thud could be heard from the other side of the building and a signal disappeared on Keith's radar. "Keith, you have become weak. What are you waiting for? Shoot!"

Keith responded by boosting across the building and fired at the Normal behind the left building. The Normal boosted back and Normals behind Keith started to fire at him. Keith's Normal suffered minor damages on his back, but it was still fine. Marcus and Ralph jumped out and fired at the Rosenthal Normals while they were concentrated on Keith. The two Rosenthal Normals quickly crumbled under the fire of the two guys. The remaining Normal pointed its gun towards Marcus, only to find the barrel of Vincent's rifle already pointing at its torso. He fired mercilessly, killing the pilot inside the machine's cockpit.

"Man, we got to avoid those damn Rosenthal soldiers too now and I'm not even getting my paycheck for this." Marcus complained, "Come on. Let's get out of here as quickly as we can."

"It's too late." Vincent muttered as he turned around. Keith and the others looked back, only to find themselves surrounded by a mass of Normals and MTs. They might have heard the commotion during the fight and went to check out what have happened. "All three of you run away. I'll handle these guys." Vincent ordered.

"What are you talking about? We are not going to abandon anyone." Keith said in surprise. Every single enemy started to fire on them. The only thing that was protecting them right now was the sphere surrounding Vincent. Even so, Keith saw bits and pieces of Vincent's Next starting to get shredded off.

"No, he's right, Keith. We have to run away. There's no way we can win under this situation." Ralph said calmly, "He is raising our chances of survival by using himself as a bait."

"Your friend is correct. Get out of here now before it is too late." Vincent said. Even though he knew that he's going to sacrifice himself, he still sounded very calm.

"Vincent! You are coming with us!" Keith exclaimed.

"Keith… Have you forgotten the promise between the two of us?" Vincent murmured.

"…" Keith cringed. He knew very well what he was talking about. The very promise they made a while ago before Vincent left the squad. "To uphold our own honour, no matter what happens…" Keith forced the words out of his mouth.

"Correct. I have long been detached from this world. The experiments that the scientists performed on me… I'm no longer a human, but a monster. This… This is the very least I can do to redeem myself. Keith, go!"

"Vincent!"

"Go! Get out of here, Keith!"

"Tch… Vincent…"

"Keith, go. You must live. You must survive! You must live on, so you can fight and avenge my death! So, go! Keith! Go. GO!"

Marcus and Ralph forcefully dragged Keith away as they boosted away from the combat zone.

"… I understand." Keith said with his head drooped down, he then yelled, "Vincent! You must return alive. This is an order!"

"…" Vincent's AC turned around and faced him. Its eyes flashed as if it understood Keith's order. It turned its back against Keith and greeted hell with open arms…

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"Keith, what are you doing? It's time for your first actual combat on a Next. Are you going to screw this up?" Serena said. She noticed something was going wrong with Keith. She leaned closer and studied his face from her screen. "Are you crying?" she asked.

"Huh?" Keith uttered in surprise. He seemed to have been daydreaming about something from before. He felt tears flowing down from his eyes. He quickly wiped away the tears. He regained his composure and grasped onto the handles. "No, I'm not crying, Serena. Keith Weeber…" Keith paused and thought to himself. He should be announcing by his callsign, not his real name. He must have really lost it from his dream. He took a deep breath and started again, "Sperion, Azure Blade, lauching!"