Act 1
The Destruction of Small Ideas
League Base Near Former Indianapolis, Collard Hangar
14:20
14/02/2113
There was something almost calming about the smell inside a hangar. The familiarity of oil, unburnt propellant and recently welded metal. Many of these scents would bleed into the cockpit no matter how new the sealant on the entry hatch was.
A woman in a black armoured jumpsuit stood by a bay that held NEXTs like the one she was due to use as part of her final Lynx assessment.
The name tag stitched onto the left breast of the kevlar reinforced plate said Alice Hutchinson, but that was in fact a pseudonym. A false identity she had maintained for almost 7 years at this point. If anyone learned her true identity and her relation to certain individuals, it would draw far too much attention to her.
That attention would make it difficult to carry out the mission she had given herself.
Her real name was Alicia Lamond, the sister of the recently deceased Ninebreaker of the Ravens, Berlioz Lamond.
From everything she'd seen and heard during her time as part of the League of Corporations, it seemed that they'd gone to great lengths to suppress knowledge of his existence, fearing that his actions during the fall of the Raven's Ark could inspire others to defect to a certain faction that currently opposed them.
That faction was Line Ark.
Supposedly formed by a former Raven who escaped the destruction of their home, they went public a few months after the formation of the League, declaring their intention to destroy all who supported the current regime.
They adopted the title of Raven to keep it alive, preventing the League from driving history out of the minds of the general public.
The League did everything in their power to synonymize the title Raven with outlaw or criminal, branding Line Ark as a collective of terrorists seeking only to destabilise the peace the League brought.
Due to the fact that so few Ravens survived the short but brutal war in the previous year, they used their limited numbers as makeshift instructors, making them train up vast numbers of new recruits to fill out their ranks.
These new pilots and their trainers were now referred to as Lynx, elites of the League piloting the latest generation Armored Cores called NEXTs.
Former Ravens became known as Originals, each one of them hardened veterans who could take on entire Line Ark companies alone and return alive. However, the League's overenthusiastic deployment of their Originals led to their numbers diminishing until as of recently only two remained.
However one of those two Originals recently defected to Line Ark, meaning that the League now only had a single Original. While they might have more pilots overall, the fact that Line Ark now had more Originals than them was a fact the League wanted to keep under wraps.
Alicia didn't particularly care for the conflict between the two factions.
If anything, their constant skirmishing would keep the League occupied and their attention away from any suspects inside their own ranks.
While she had briefly considered siding with Line Ark, she decided against it as they eventually became too high profile.
But Alicia was used to playing the long game. She'd spent nearly seven years working her way into Rayleonard, what was another couple on top to get into the League's core.
When the moment was right, she would decapitate the entire organisation with the power they so dearly coveted.-3
It was at that very moment that her concentration was brought back to the world around her, when the large armoured double doors leading into the Hangar rumbled to life, splitting apart down the middle to allow three people to enter.
The man in the centre was the target of her focus, as she recognised the two flanking him as regular agents of the League. Middle men for it's internal affairs if you could think of it like that.
With a long, slightly unkempt beard and black turban, the central man stood out more than most. The standard issue armoured jumpsuit he wore was the same as hers, meaning he was a Lynx and likely her supervisor for the final part of her training.
Alicia fixed him with a cold stare, trying to size him up as he approached. One of the suits to his side got his attention and whispered something to him.
There was a flash of annoyance across the Lynx's face but it quickly returned to the apathetic expression he had walking in and nodded.
At that, he walked over, apparently unfazed by her glare and stretched out a hand. His face didn't change whatsoever as he spoke, dark green eyes matching her stare.
"I'm your supervisor for this portion of your training. My name is Sajjan Singh."
She hesitated a moment, waiting for any sign of falter in his demeanour, but when none came, she took his hand and firmly shook it, unable to help giving him a wry grin. It was a twisted form of admiration that he was apparently so dedicated to this whole 'detached and emotionless' deal.
"Alice Hutchinson, looking forward to it." She said before letting go of his hand.
He nodded and began walking away, Alicia following. She called out to him, "You know, Sir-"
"It's just Sajjan, I don't care about any of that shit."
Somewhat taken aback at his now apparently genuine gruffness, she corrected herself and continued, "Sorry, Sajjan, but as much as neither of us want to be here, you're playing the 'aloof senior' card pretty hard."
Without breaking stride he answered, "It's not a card I'm playing. I had a bad morning and now, without being rude, I have to deal with you."
She raised an eyebrow at that, "A bad morning?" Did spilling the milk at breakfast really count as good reason to be an asshole this late in the day? Her opinion of this man was dropping like a rock.
He stopped walking, surprising Alicia as she came to a halt behind him.
"I was told that I have terminal lung cancer and will die without treatment in the next two years. I'm sorry if you were expecting someone with a spring in their step."
Leaving her on that, he resumed walking.
It took Alicia a few seconds to restart her thought process before lurching forwards to catch up. It seemed rude to say nothing at such a frank and personal answer.
"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that."
"Don't be. Everyone is dying, I'm just dying faster."
Despite the guilt at her earlier preconception, Alicia had nothing to say to that, so she allowed silence to settle. It wasn't a case of awkwardness or anything similar, she had simply learned when to keep your mouth shut. The military beat that into you quickly.
Moments later, they stopped alongside a Hangar bay holding an unfamiliar NEXT frame.
It was pure white with black accents on various detailings. The armour around the arms and legs looked like it could lock together at certain angles and the large protrusions behind the shoulders were downright confusing. It looked nothing like any of the NEXTs she'd seen so far.
Perhaps it was a test model?
Alicia decided to try and raise the mood a little by changing the topic that was likely on both of their minds.
"Is this a test model? I don't think I've seen a NEXT with this frame before."
Sajjan gazed up at it for a moment before answering without looking at her.
"That's because you won't, it's entirely custom designed. It's not a NEXT either, it's an Armored Core that's been retrofitted with NEXT technology so it can fight on the same level as them."
That was a genuine surprise to Alicia. From what she had learnt during her training virtually all Lynx, aside from special exceptions like Gerald Gendlin, had quickly phased out their ACs for NEXTs at the earliest opportunity.
"Custom or not, why hang onto a relic?" She asked, "Seems like a lot of work that could be avoided?"
Sajjan gave a slight sigh, his gaze dropping a little, "Because it's my relic. I've spent so long in this AC's cockpit I can't see myself dying in anything else."
Sajjan turned to face Alicia as the realisation of who her instructor today was, speaking before she had a chance to.
"Yes, I am the League's last Original. I've been piloting ACs for over eight years now and I can't see that ending voluntarily any time soon. White Glint will be my grave and at this point I think I can live with that."
He said this with such clarity and fluidity it was almost like he'd rehearsed such a speech. But at the same time he hadn't done anything to make Alicia believe he was the type to put on a show, so to speak.
Before Alicia actually had time to formulate a response to his statement, he pointed across the Hangar to another bay where a plain grey/pale blue Rosenthal TYPE-LANCEL NEXT stood.
"You'll be heading out in that. For this test you have some flexibility over armaments so you'll choose your loadout from a limited selection once you're inside. Is there anything else you need to know before the briefing?"
She paused in thought, running over any details that wouldn't come up in the debriefing.
"No, I'm good." She said after a few seconds.
Sajjan nodded at her before turning away and walking towards the small elevator platform built into the gantry that held White Glint, "Alright then, head on over and open a com channel when you're done with the loadout."
She would have nodded, but the action would be pointless considering his turned back.
Alicia didn't know what to make of Sajjan at this point. His brief interaction with her so far seemed to waver between abrasive and understanding. Something wasn't quite there about him, like he was hiding something or trying his best to put on a front.
A strange dissonance struggling to balance itself in him.
For the time being at least, there was nothing she could do about it but push it to the back of her mind, more important things required her attention.
She made a beeline for her NEXT, stepping onto a platform identical to the one Sajjan had used and push the small button on its control panel, causing it to lurch upwards.
Within moments it was at the highest point of the gantry, a walkway that lined up with the NEXT's head. The head itself was lifted away from the core in the fashion typical for entry into weapon systems of this type like MTs or ACs.
However rather than climbing into the cockpit as usual, she stopped part way at a touch screen panel mounted to the gantry that was used for alterations on NEXTs prior to deployment, like loadout changes, ammunition type or tuning of the frame.
The screen was currently set to display the armaments of her NEXT, which right now was a rather obvious N/A.
Flicking her finger across the screen, she realised that the League was deliberately limiting her options on choices for the various hardpoints of the NEXT. She didn't know what the objective of her test would be, so keeping flexibility in mind would be preferable over trying to laser in on a specific build type. Countering the unknown meant not blindly guessing at your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.
With that in mind, she chose the bread and butter of all weapons for her right arm slot, a Rosenthal assault rifle. In her left, she contemplated a laser blade, but remembered her own difficulties with utilising them properly and chose a high calibre GAE handgun as a suitable close-quarters alternative.
The selection for back mounted weapons was, in her opinion, ludicrously small. Given only a Leonemeccanica radar, a basic MSAC missile launcher, an older generation BFF sniper cannon or surprisingly, an external magazine rack for whatever right hand weapon was chosen.
While to some, the prospect of additional ammo for their primary weapon was hard to pass up, it was never going to be an option on any NEXT she set foot in. She hadn't seen it personally, but one trainee Lynx took a NEXT out with an external magazine rack and lost the entire right arm 30 seconds into combat when it detonated.
In the end, she settled on the radar and missile launcher. Sticking to the basics made sense because they were established classics. People loved them for a reason.
The deep rumble of machinery rang out around her as the bay came to life. After a moment, the NEXT slid back away from the gantry where several revolving racks of weapons emerged, robotic arms picking her choices and mounting them to the frame.
The entire process only took around 20 seconds, the NEXT moving back to it's original position as if nothing had happened aside from several large weapons appearing in its hands and on its back.
Once Alicia was sure it was secure, she walked away from the panel and off the gantry's walkway, now standing on the TYPE-LANCEL's core beside the head.
Before lowering herself into the cockpit, Alicia looked over at White Glint opposite her. Sajjan was nowhere to be seen and the AC's head was lowered, optics glowing a deep blue.
It seemed a shame to stain such a pure white machine with the filth of war.
Settling into the seat of the TYPE-LANCEL, Alicia quickly familiarised herself with the control layout. While it was standardised to a degree, some NEXT frames had various control systems in alternate locations.
She located the Auxiliary Power Unit control panel on her right, flicking three switches to engage it. It's quiet hum behind her was enough indication that it had spooled up correctly, providing power to the non-essential systems like communications and lighting.
The moment she was sure that the preliminary checks were complete, Alicia fired up the main generator while powering down the APU. It's brief roar to life was replaced by a subtle whine after it began to receive power from the gantry, the main monitors now displaying the view from the NEXT's optics as well as various readouts.
With the NEXT now comfortably running in normal-mode, she opened up the com channel with White Glint in front of her.
"Set up complete, ready for briefing, Sajjan."
"Good, thanks for not keeping me waiting." Alicia didn't know if that was genuine or not but allowed him to continue. "As this is the final part of your training, the League needs to ascertain that you are capable of performing the primary task required of you as a Lynx. Do I need to ask if you know what that task is?"
She cracked a wry grin at that, realising that perhaps in the past there had been those too naive to realise what exactly they were going to be ordered to do. She stated their purpose without hesitation.
"We kill Ravens."
There was a short pause before Sajjan replied.
"That's right. Today you get the honour of taking this man down."
On a side monitor, a file was received over the short range network between the two NEXTs, opening immediately. In it, were pictures of a man called Derek Hoezenberg. He had short spiky black hair and a long scar down the side of his face. His nose looked like it had been broken twice without correct resetting. If anyone met the definition of 'criminal', it was this guy.
As much as Alicia appreciated at least getting to know the person she was ordered to kill, this information wouldn't be particularly useful during combat.
"Do we have any information on this Raven's AC?"
"No. He's been known to use several variations with little pattern between them. Trying to predict his next loadout is virtually impossible. Expect the unknown and adapt on site."
Expect the unknown he says, don't we do that every day?
Alicia pushed the snide thought aside.
"Understood."
Another file came through, this time with geographical information of a region only a couple of hours from their position.
"We have confirmed reports that this Derek Hoezenberg is moving via a modified cargo truck along this route." A red line ran along a faint path on the map indicating the truck's journey. "The plan is to ambush him here." What looked like a population centre bisected by the truck's path was then ringed by red.
"Seems a little cheap to pass this test with an ambush?" Alicia wasn't actually concerned about the ethics of battle, she was more curious as to Sajjan's reply.
"If you want a straight fight in a barren plain then be my guest, but Ravens train every day to kill us just like we do to kill them. If you think having a NEXT means you don't have to worry you've got another thing coming. Raven's will use every trick they can to seize the upper hand and the moment they have the chance to kill you they'll take it."
Alicia didn't really have anything to say back to that, she just kept looking over the information in front of her. Using her finger, she drew a small cross at an intersection, "I say we mount it here, give them enough time to get deep enough into the urban area that a quick withdrawal isn't possible. Then we hit the truck before the AC has a chance to deploy."
"That's a rather rapid 180, what happened to ambushes being cheap?" She didn't answer as explaining was more effort than she could be bothered to expend at this point. Sajjan continued regardless, "I agree with your plan though, we'll go ahead with that then. Was there anything else you needed to ask before we head out?"
"No, we can move now."
At that, the gantries around their NEXTs fell away, the power and data cables decoupling from their mounts.
Striding forwards, Alicia and Sajjan made their way to the runway outside the hangar where their transporter awaited them.
