Armored Core For Answer: The Mercenary's Legacy
Hey folks, it's me... Back with a new story, and not one on my ideas list too! O-o **Shock horror**...
Okay, here's the usual stuff, theme song and disclaimer and all that... Oh, and watch for language too.
Chapter Theme Song: /watch?v=ug2-zj-dU-8&feature=related (Carmina Burana O Fortuna ~Carl Off)
Disclaimer: I don't pretend to own Armored Core, but I wish I did... It'd save me typing out a disclaimer, you know?
Chapter Two: The Life of Old Finally Dies
It was less than four hours after the operation that Anatolia had dubbed "Bitter Obligation", the mission to destroy Reyleonard's Headquarters building Exavil, had ended. In the NEXT hanger that had at one point, been filled with Armored Core units and now stood empty except for one unit and dozens of spare parts from different companies, was Conrad Burns, Anatolia's Lynx and ranked number thirty-nine amongst the forty Lynx. To most people, Conrad seemed cold and indifferent to all the damage he had done since he started piloting the "Howling Moon" for Anatolia. Far from it, the man, in his early twenties, was a professional; He put the mission before everything else. Standing at six foot two, the man was quite impressive in height and was well-muscled to match. With rust-red hair and green eyes, he was quite the unique-looking man. Gazing at his NEXT, the Reyleonard 03-Aaliyah "Howling Moon", he let himself have a slight grin... Reyleonard had had their back broken when he destroyed Exavil, while Akvavit had suffered the same fate at the hands of his Aspina-allied friend and rival, Joshua O'Brian, the rank forty Lynx and his NEXT, "White Glint".
Exavil... The name weighed heavily on Conrad's mind... Not for the loss of the company he had been sponsored by, but for the deaths of over two hundred innocent civilians. He had saved one of them, a six-year old girl with brown hair as she fell, bleeding from the collapsing roof. Fiona Jardenfedlt, his operator was with the girl now, overseeing the operation to try and keep the girl alive from her injuries.
"Damn you Reyleonard... Why did you have to put that girl through hell?"
"Because the CEO was a power-hungry asshole who was obsessed with winning the war and thought he could do whatever he wanted to."
The speaker, a blonde woman walked down the hanger to stand next to Conrad and put an arm round his shoulder, leaning against the bigger man with her slim five foot five build. With her brilliant-blue eyes, Fiona looked up at her companion's green eyes.
"You'll be pleased to know that the girl you rescued is stable. The gunshot wounds to her lung, stomach and liver were all through-and-through hits, so the bullets were not there to be removed."
"That's some good news... What about Joshua? Has there been any news from him yet?"
"Not yet Conrad, I know he's your friend... But, he might have been shot down after leaving Akvavit's HQ..."
"Not Joshua, no way would that happen to him. White Glint is too fast for someone to get him that easy Fiona, and you know it. Aspina tuned those boosters to the max."
"Maybe, but it's been nearly four hours since you took out Reyleonard and about the same since Joshua radioed the Aspina ship that Akvavit fell... They haven't seen his NEXT or had it on radar since that message."
Before Conrad could reply, a doctor came hurrying down the hanger to hold a hurried conversation with the woman.
"What did you say about those bullet wounds?"
"Kojima-laced, and I don't mean from being caught by the Lynx ma'am. The bullets she was hit with must have had a Kojima Particle-laced core."
"You mean that she's got Kojima poisoning?"
"Acute, but contained thus-far. If we remove the infected tissue from liver, stomach and lung, then we would have to graft some cybernetic parts to her lung and stomach to ensure she can live."
"I know it should be her call to make and not mine, but do it. If anyone deserves to live after Exavil, it's her... From what the Howling Moon's recordings show, she was forced to kill her friends and family before being kicked from the roof and shot as she fell."
"Understood ma'am, we'll get to work on the operation now."
"Thanks... Keep me posted, okay doc?"
With a nod, the doctor left, leaving Fiona to turn back to Conrad... The man however, was absorbed in his NEXT. For the purpose of destroying Exavil's pillars that supported the roof, he had equipped the Reyleonard-made 07-Moonlight Laser blade he had taken from the wreckage of Anjou's NEXT, Orleans after he had beaten her fairly in a fight, to the left forearm... Another Reyleonard-made weapon graced the right hand; The 03-Motorcobra machine gun with twelve magazines holding 92 rounds each . The back however, had a pair of Omer-made EC-O300 Laser Cannons with 48 shots each. On the shoulders was the Reyleonard-made 09-Flicker Flash Rockets that had once graced the shoulders of Orleans like Moonlight had graced its arm... In the right hanger, the Global Armaments Europe-made GAEN01-SL-WH Handgun rested like it was in a holster.
With the Akvavit-made INBLUE FCS, Global Armaments America-made GAN01-SS-G Generator, Rosenthal-made CB-Hogire main booster, M.E.L.I.E.S.-made BB103-Scheat Back booster, Rosenthal-made AB-Hogire Side Boosters and the Omer-made KB-Judith Over Booster, the Howling Moon was fast, well-powered and highly agile, if somewhat fragile due to the lighter end of the mid-weight parts the 03-Aaliyah used. Stabilized with a Global Armaments America-made GAN01-SS-CUS1 Large Stabiliser for the core on the upper-left core, a pair of Reyleonard-made 03-Aliya/CLS1 Large Stabilisers on the lower core, one to a side, a Rosenthal-made AM-HOGIRE-OPE01 Large Stabiliser on the left arm, and a Global Armaments America-made GAN01-SS-AS2 Small Stabiliser on the right arm made the unit pull to the rear quicker when the boosters were fired for reverse movement. Colour-wise, the NEXT's name was misleading, it wasn't white or grey, but a lustrous blue with red highlights while the joints and the rest of the body was black. The head though, had a luscious red eye to move on the track. This paint scheme was mottled however, in a forest-typed camouflage pattern in a vague "attempt" at hiding the well-painted unit. The weapons were gunmetal in colour with a more speckled camouflage pattern that was better suited to snow-bound conditions.
The emblem of the NEXT however, made up for what the name lacked. Within a black octagon sat a templar-esque cross that had been rotated to make an "X" shape, while a black moon sat in the centre of it. Standing in front of the moon was a black-bodied wolf holding a blue rapier with a half-basket hilt by the blade in its mouth, and in front of the lot were twisted red thorny vines acting like a barrier to the wolf's feet.
"A beaut of a NEXT... My Howling Moon..."
"Call your NEXT what you will Conrad, but it is still just a weapon."
Leaving the man to his machine, Fiona walked out of the hanger. After a while however, Conrad followed suit and headed towards the medical wing to watch over the little girl whose life he had saved.
The hours past and night drew in, bringing with it peace... Or so the denizens of Anatolia colony believed. Without warning, Early-warning sensors tripped and blazed alarms of attack while the first laser blasts slammed into buildings. From where he had fallen asleep in a chair, Conrad jerked awake. Running for the hanger, he entered the cavernous building as Fiona's voice sounded over the intercom.
"We've confirmed an unidentified craft approaching Anatolia. That's...?! Why's that Armored Core here?! Stay back! Something's not right here!"
As his operator's voice was cut off, Conrad glimpsed the aggressor unit on the view screen... The 00-Aretha was bigger than any other NEXT he had seen before... The malformed left arm was a mess of a huge Hi Laser Cannon and bomb launchers, while the right arm was several large Gatling guns strapped together... But the speed! Nothing should have been able to move like that... The Quick Boost of the unit left a blurry line behind it, a real impossibility for something that bulky...
"Load me up a GAN-01 Sunshine with two 03-Motorcobra machine guns, the 09-Flicker Flash Rockets, and two HLC02-Sirius Hi Laser Cannons! Transfer my boosters, generators and FCS over to the Sunshine! Hurry, we have a few minutes before it's on us!"
Hurriedly, tech crews who had headed to the hanger threw the requested unit together. Thankfully, amongst the many spare parts that Conrad had brought and had gotten painted in his colours was a complete Global Armaments America GAN-01 Sunshine. Due to NEXT units being so modular, the transfer of parts was quick, as was the assembly.
"Conrad Burns in the Howling Moon Heavy, launching now!"
Leaving the hanger in a roar of thrusters, Conrad was confronted by the sight of Anatolia burning in flames that lit up the night sky... But it was the voice of the 00-Aretha's pilot that stunned him...
"Hey. I guess there's little need for words..."
It was Joshua... Joshua O'Brian, his friend and rival... Gritting his teeth, Conrad dived into the fight with everything he had... A heavy impact shook the Howling Moon Heavy, dropping it to a one knee. Once again, Joshua's voice came over the radio after some heavy breathing, believing the unit to be wrecked and Conrad dead...
"I'll be right behind you. You can chew me out on the other side."
However, Conrad wasn't beaten yet... With his armour gauge reading only ten thousand AP, he couldn't afford to take another hit... As Joshua stood over him, Conrad wiped the blood from his forehead and sighted the back-mounted Hi Laser Cannons... Muttering "Sorry Joshua...", he fired and took out the last of the Aretha's armour, wrecking it.
"So...this is the end. *Cough* This is for the best..."
Those were the last words Joshua said as Aretha went offline with a violent explosion... Without warning, a new voice came over the radio as soon as the massive machine's signal faded off the radar.
"Heh... Is that really all? Or maybe... Everyone's exaggerated about you."
The voice belonged to Celo, the ranked six Lynx and the golden boy of Omer. Gritting his teeth as he tried fighting the high-speed Type-Judith frame "Testament", Conrad waited for each lock as they came in and fired the Sirius' into the Omer Lynx over and over until a gleeful laugh from the Lynx signified his end.
"I'm glad that's over..."
"Conrad, are you still alive?!? Answer me!"
Crackling through a mess of static, Fiona's voice sounded panicky and desperate... Flicking the radio to two-way, the red-haired man replied slowly.
"I'm here... Joshua O'Brian... Has been eliminated... The Ranked six Lynx, Celo has also been eliminated..."
"Never mind that right now, are you safe?"
"My unit's critical. Armour's less than a thousand, but I can just about move."
"Stay there, we'll pick you up."
"Roger that Fiona."
An hour ticked by slowly before a carrier VTOL landed by the Howling Moon Heavy, before disgorging a truck that carried the regular Howling Moon on a trailer. Driving over to the stranded NEXT, the tech crew quickly swapped the parts over from the GAN-01 Sunshine back to the 03-Aaliyah. Changing over to the regular Howling Moon, Conrad sighed in relief as he walked up the plane's ramp and into the vehicle's belly. Once inside, he powered down the generator and climbed out of the machine. As he headed for the plane cockpit, Conrad nearly tripped over a gurney in the hallway... It held the little girl, Rose, who's surgery to remove the Kojima contaminated tissue had succeeded.
"She's a real fighter huh? Docs gave her a twenty percent chance of survival for the operation."
Looking sideways at Fiona who had come to stand next to him, Conrad nodded sadly...
"Yeah... I just wish that I..."
"Could have saved more of them? All of them? Don't dwell on it too much Conrad, you'll destroy yourself inside if you do. She survived because of you saving her, so be thankful of that."
"Right... I'm guessing because she's here, we're leaving Anatolia?"
"Yeah... We're going for the Line Ark company and a new life there, away from the other companies that fear you for your skills... I know a guy there, so he can get us in... Maybe, just maybe, we can raise this girl there, help her forget the tragedy that has befallen her and start anew."
"We? You mean both of us? I like the sound of that, Fiona..."
"I thought you would. Now come on, let's get out of here... I'm sure Joshua wouldn't want you to be sad forever, moping and grieving while staring at his final scene..."
Watching the pain and hurt flash through Conrad's eyes, Fiona gently pulled the big man into the cockpit of the plane. After several minutes, the plane lifted off into the sky.
(Recording Interrupted)
Sighing to the camera, the shadowed figure spoke again.
"Fiona and Conrad got their new life for a few years, adopting and raising that little girl as their own. For a time, all was right with the world, the girl learned to pilot the old Aaliyah frame before one day vanishing with it into the night. It broke her adopted parent's hearts to know that the girl they had saved then raised had done that, but Conrad had a new job to do; Protect Line Ark with the new White Glint. Fiona did what she always had for him; become Conrad's operator. Even though he was Collard's number nine ranked Lynx, Conrad never did missions for them... Not for the organisation that was a front for the League of Ruling Companies... The world's power-balance was shifted after the war, companies fell and others joined together to make new ones. In the end, the League had nine member companies; Interior Union, formed by Leonmeccanica joining with M.E.L.E.I.S., The Bernard and Felix Foundation was refloated by Global Armaments America, while Rosenthal, Eqbal, Technocrat, Aldera and Omer Science never changed... And then there was one other group... Formed by the remnants of Akvavit and Global Armaments Europe, was Torus. Nine groups to rule the world, something that was meant to bring peace..."
Stepping into the dim light, the figure shook her head... Revealed to be a teenage girl around sixteen, with long brown hair and soft, blue eyes.
"I know this because the League's history is common knowledge, but about Line Ark's defender? I owe him and Fiona my life. That little girl they saved... Was... It was me. My name is Rose, short for Rosemary. I don't have a last name, not that I remember... Fiona and Conrad never married, so I didn't get either's last name."
Running a hand through her hair, Rose continued.
"That's my early life... After I ran away with Conrad's old Howling Moon, I joined Collard as an independent Mercenary... My career is what I will describe next..."
End of Chapter Two. Find out what happens to Rose in the next chapter of ACFA: TML.
Please Read and Review. Critique about my writing style is not appreciated, so please don't do it. Pointing out things I could have done better is okay, but please don't be overly critical.
