Chapter 4: Not That Easy...
After the Great Destruction, corporations took advantage of the planet's weakened stated and decided to try and take over, paying the Ravens to work for them. The largest corporation, Zio Matrix, plans to control everyone with an iron fist. Emeraude, not too far behind from Zio, has different plans for the planet. Smaller corporations also struggle to make a name for themselves, but find that it is much harder to stand up to these behemoth corporations than originally thought. The main fighting force for the corporations were machines known as Muscle Tracers, or MTs. They came in many different forms, but were inferior to the Raven's ACs.
Rapture Space Station: Year 2192.
Rapture's Launching Catapult

" Launch sequence activated."

An automated female voice came from speakers around his seat, followed by the familiar voice of Lieutenant Hawking.

"Alright. Good luck. Prepare for launch."

Kai nodded, then let out a breath. The speakers in the launch pad blasted to life, announcing the take-off.

"MSN-04 NERATI cleared for launch."

The mech's name. Its serial number. Kai just called it Nerati.

Launch in 3…"

Here we go.

"2…"

No turning back now.

"1…"

Showtime.

"Launch!"

Kai felt a massive force press against his body as the inertia pushed him against his seat, the mech moving forward at an incredible speed. As terminal velocity was reached, he felt the force let off, and he could breathe again. He drifted through space for a short time. Kai's rest was only a short break as the mech began to shake violently, breaking the planet's atmosphere. As he fell towards the Earth, he felt the cockpit start to heat up, but only briefly as the temperature regulator kicked on and sent a signal to the radiator, immediately cooling the space down. Kai closed his eyes, crossing his arms and waited for the landing sequence to start. About 10 minutes later, the sequence activated, boosters on the mech's legs and chest blasted on, turning the AC upright. A few moments later, the main boosters ignited and slowed the machine's descent, finally touching ground as lightly as possible, considering the mech's multi-ton weight. Kai opened his eyes as the automated voice spoke and looked at the video feed from the AC's perspective.

"Mission Objective identified. System switched to Combat Mode."

A barren desert was all he could see. The radar display to his left indicated multiple targets behind him, and he turned the bot around. Destroyed builings from a ghost town lost in the Great Destruction appeared in the distance, as well as his objectives.

"Bingo. There they are."

Five MTs surrounded a large cargo trailer as dust kicked from its tires. The convoy moved away from Kai, and he pushed in the foot pedal, the main boosters on the AC's back, and the smaller boosters on the back of its thighs pushed the mech forward, the speed creating an air pocket under its feet and making it glide over the ground. The speedometer read over 300 miles per hour, and the group grew near quickly. It seemed that he was detected on their radar, because the MTs stopped and turned around as the convoy took cover under what was left of a bridge. The escorts opened fire on Nerati, their machine guns letting out streams of bullets in its direction. Strafing to the left, Kai avoided the line of fire and the missile pod on the AC's shoulder opened up, the FCS quickly locked on to two of its enemies. Flames burst from the rear of the projectiles and flew quickly, striking both in the cockpits within seconds and exploding. The impact ripped the steel frame to shreds and the robot collapsed. the FCS was highly accurate, especially because the largest area of the MT was the cockpit. Poor design. Nerati's machine gun roared to life as a barrage of high speed bullets struck another MT, piercing the center and hitting its fuel storage, blasting a hole above its leg joint and toppling the machine over. The remaining two enemies took cover behind two adjacent buildings, waiting to strike. The AC entered the city as the laser rifle and sword energized, swinging the blade through the windows of one of the structures. The red beam of plasma quickly cut along the edge of the tower, and sliced through the mech hiding behind it, both halves of the bot lined by molten metal. Using the momentum of the swing, Kai turned his machine around, firing the beam rifle at the last robot, leaving only a hole lined by heated steel. As if in slow motion, both of the MTs collapsed hard, the sliced Tracer exploding upon impact. Kai looked at his radar and saw one last target. The cargo truck, which he located it quickly and destroyed it. A moment later, an explosion was heard directly behind Nerati, pushing it forward slightly. Kai turned to see an AC closing in quickly. The automated voice spoke once more.

"Enemy AC approaching. Target unidentified."

He looked at the console in front of him, as if it was the one who spoke to him. He talked in a sarcastic tone.

"Thanks a lot Nerati...I had no idea."

The mech turned to face the oncoming enemy, Kai's eyes narrowing.

"I had a feeling it was too easy..."