Special Thanks to Jokun, the renegade soldier, GKoh, Lone Gundam, alexkehling and Rigged Bomb for their reviews. I'm grateful for it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Gate: Thus The JSDF Fought Here except for my own ocs.
*** 9th Episode: Towards Italica***
"King Duran…" Princess Pina softly calls out to the heavily injured man who is lying on the single bed inside the room she has entered.
The injured man, Duran turned his glance towards the source of her voice and frowned. His own body was a mess and filled with numerous cuts, bruises, lacerations, burns and not to mention, an entire amputated leg and arm, that is was a miracle that he was even alive at this point. His entire hair has even gone white from the experience and right now, his entire body was helplessly racked with an almost unbearable kind of pain that Duran himself couldn't describe.
"Princess Pina? What brings you here?" Duran asks as he tried his best to ignore the excruciating pain he is feeling from his wounds.
"When I was searching information about Alnus," Pina explained "I heard that a man from high birth was recuperating from his wounds here."
"Information?" Duran quietly asks "You don't know what happened at Alnus Hill did you?"
Pina took a step back as Duran suddenly began shouting angrily at her.
"You haven't heard anything about the battle?! About what happened to the Allied Kingdoms' armies?! Or perhaps you only heard about the edited rumors about it? About how like the grains of porridge, the corpses of our soldiers and the kings of Alguna and Mudwan were smashed into the ground?"
"Th… The two kings?... Impossible…" Pina faltered
"It's not just that…" Duran continued "Three times we went for an all out attack… and we never even made it to halfway uphill. Concealed explosions that came from beneath the ground as if from Hardy herself, lightning that rains down upon our men, blowing them apart followed by demonic, metal giants that fell from the heavens themselves as if to punish us all before burning us all with the flames they spew… We never stood a chance. We never did. The Allied Armies were easily annihilated… and those that survived have all fled for their lives…"
The princess stared at the injured king in shock at what he said before he carries on with his tale.
"Think about it princess, the Empire has suffered a massive defeat from this enemy before us yet the Emperor still summoned the army of the kingdoms that are allied with it and sent them all to fight against this fearsome enemy to whom they got slaughtered by. The Emperor knew this would happen so why did he even have to call us in the first place if he knows we can never defeat them?"
"There must be some misunderstanding here," Pina began "Surely the Emperor won't-"
"The Emperor just did!" Duran snapped at her "When he sent us to the enemy, it isn't to fight them! It is to be killed by them! He sent us to die by the enemy's hands because he knows we are a potential threat to the Empire!"
Princess Pina quickly approached and kneeled by Duran's bedside and hesitantly said "I-I am aware that the Imperial Army was defeated beforehand , but…"
"Princess…" Duran began while he turns his glance away from her "The Allied Armies fought at the very end against the enemy in front of them but what they neglect to notice was the enemy behind them. The true one…"
"The true one?" Pina asks
"Don't you understand?" Duran asked back as whipped his glance back to look at her directly in the eyes. "The Empire! The Empire was our true enemy!"
Pina's eye grew wide in shock as she was taken aback by Duran's words before she began gripping the bedsheets hard and pleaded "Your Highness! At least tell me more about what kind of people the Empire is facing! I need to know for later battles-"
"I won't tell you anything else." Duran huffed "After what the Empire did to us, I could care less if the enemy butchered them like they did to us. If you want to know, then go to Alnus Hill yourself."
Pina's eyes suddenly hardened and her tone of voice changed deeply as she glared dangerously at the injured king.
"I can't allow that. If you decide to leave for the afterlife before saying anything to me your Highness, your own kingdom, Elbe, shall burn to the ground before your own citizens."
Duran chuckled as he could start seeing the resemblance Pina has with her father "If that's the case, then me and the rest of my kingdom can happily depart to the lands of Hardy herself knowing that the entire Empire will soon follow us after the enemy burns them down too. Hahaha!"
Pina grits her teeth as she stood up and began walking towards the door, saying "The Empire, won't lose."
Duran smirked "If you want to throw more of your soldiers' bodies to their fire then fine by me. But let me tell you Princess, the enemies on Alnus Hill are an army comparable to the gods! And you and your Empire summoned this enemy and by every reason, deserve to fall by their hands!"
Duran began laughing madly as his attendants quickly approached his side while Pina continues to leave the room which is filled with Duran's mad, hysterical laughter.
Outside the building where Duran was staying, Hamilton and the rest of the knights attending Pina were just about to finish packing their supplies when they saw Pina approaching them from the building she just left.
"Princess, you are not going to tell us to charge the Hill all by ourselves right?" Hamilton asks
"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid." Pina replied "But either way, we need to go to Alnus. Norma, tell the main unit to move out and Gray, what's up ahead?"
"The city of Italica lies just between us and Alnus, Princess." Gray answered
***Meanwhile***
"So we are not going to tell him about it yet?" Thermidor asks Yanagida as he pours another round of scotch into both of their glasses
"As of this moment, no. Not yet." Yanagida replied "However as of now, Shiro Kamui is acting as the coalition's spokesperson for the events that transpired and I have confidence in him that he will be able to keep those vultures at bay for a while longer."
"Even though he is a famous legend during the war, I doubt he can keep those leeches from the Vox Populi party away from our activities forever." Thermidor said "Sooner or later, they will know what is happening around here and it won't be long before they try using it to their advantage during the elections."
"The rest of the other corporations and the League itself won't support Adams and his party during the elections. None of them are stupid enough to do so." Yanagida points out
Thermidor shakes his head slightly "That hasn't stopped them from winning at least 4 seats in government during the last one. They are quite popular with the masses like they say."
"Unfortunately, you're right." Yanagida agrees "According to our statistics, the percent of their supporters seems to be rising slowly over the years due to the growing problems of poverty and overpopulation our civilization is currently facing. If this keeps going up, they might win more than just 4 seats in the next election. Taking them down both directly and discreetly is… out of the question."
"The wonders of politics and democracy." Thermidor mutters before he drank down his scotch.
"It seems your plan for humanity regaining its former glory has gone horribly right." Yanagida said as he tilts his glasses
"Ironically indeed." Thermidor agreed "Though it is still a lot better than facing extinction itself. By the way, I heard that the League has finally agreed on the name we have chosen for the task force group we have created."
"Indeed." Yanagida confirmed "After a couple of debates, the League has agreed on the name we have chosen for the coalition we have created. As of now, we will now be formally known as the United Corporate Alliance or UCA for short."
"United Corporate Alliance." Thermidor mused "It's funny how ORCA used to oppose the corporations years ago and now it is part of a coalition that explicitly calls itself an alliance of corporations."
"Technically, ORCA has been recognized as an honorary corporation itself by the League and the other independents after forming that truce." Yanagida explained
"Now I feel like a hypocrite myself." Thermidor muttered
"Didn't you once played both sides in the conflict before, Thermidor?" Yanagida points out
"Fair enough." Thermidor admitted "Though I only did it because I have not much of a choice in the matter."
"Maybe." Yanagida mumbles "But if things come to shove, do you think that our plans won't be used against us by Adams and his ilk?"
Thermidor smiled "Don't worry. The Vox Populi may hold the hearts of the people back in our world but in here, we are the ones holding all the cards."
***XOXOX***
"This place is pretty impressive isn't it?" Rory asks Tuka as both of them sat at a table that's set up right next to some of the newly constructed living quarters for the refugees. "The UCA said that it's only a semi-permanent shelter."
"But there's plenty of food and a bath." Tuka points out "It's actually a lot nicer than living in the forest. But…"
"Is there a problem?" Rory asks
"We'll have to provide for ourselves eventually." Tuka explains uneasily "And I really don't know how. If worst comes to worst, we might have to sell ourselves to-"
"Sell yourselves to who young lady? To us?" A female voice spoke out from behind Tuka and she glanced around and saw a young woman with short white hair and pale skin, glaring at her deeply with her icy blue eyes. Her uniform seems to be very official, perhaps high ranked and is colored a lighter shade of gray than the uniform of the regular troops Tuka has seen.
"What's your name dear?" The woman asks
"T-Tuka. Tuka Luna Marceau." Tuka nervously replied
The woman smiled "Tuka. Such a nice name. I'm 2nd Lieutenant Alexandra Pavlova by the way. Tell me Tuka, what makes you think of such a horrendous action to do? Even the corporations themselves haven't stoop to such a low level of trade."
"B-But, selling yourself in exchange for services is quite common around here and-"
"My dear," Lieutenant Pavlova interrupted "Our society's leaders profit from warfare, not slavery and prostitution. I can understand, though that doesn't mean I approve, that it is quite common here in this uncivilized land but in our world, prostitution is illegal beyond any recognition. Even some low lives I know back home wouldn't stoop to such disgrace."
"But, what do you suggest we do?" Tuka asks
Lieutenant Pavlova smiled "I think I may have the solution to that. Follow me."
***XOXOX***
"Are those all… corpses? Of winged dragons?" Tuka asks in astonishment as she and Rory were led into a large warehouse building filled with stacks and stacks of winged dragon corpses, their bodies already starting to smell a little bit due to decomposition.
"Indeed." Lieutenant Pavlova confirmed "We retrieved every dragon corpse that fell on that battle that day as our resident eggheads are practically interested in studying them. Now, these corpses are all extra specimens that our scientists don't need for their studies and we practically have no idea what to do with them. We also have this in mind too."
Snapping her fingers, a large light was flashed at the corner of the warehouse and Tuka's eyes grew wide at the thing she just saw.
It was the large, dismembered arm of the Fire Dragon Itami's team has faced and defeated in battle and it was just idly hanging in the air above the warehouse's floor, supported by thick steel cables and beams strong enough to lift its weight.
"It's not just that." Lieutenant Pavlova adds "We also retrieved an entire truckload worth of that beast's scales from that battle and from what I heard from the locals, dragon scales are actually worth a lot of their weight in gold, especially the ones from what you call a Fire Dragon and seeing that our scientists already have enough specimens to study on their tables, I can see no reason why we shouldn't give their scales to you and to the other refugees so that you can sell these to provide yourselves with your basic needs. You can take all that you want. We are not interested in these things anyway."
"All of them?!" Tuka exclaimed in surprise "But dragon scales fetch for a very high price especially the ones from the Fire Dragon and-"
"My dear," Lieutenant Pavlova sternly said to her "I repeat myself. We are not interested in these things anyway."
Tuka simply had her mouth opened agape as she couldn't believe that these people will willingly give away something so valuable without much of a second thought.
These people are simply so strange. Tuka thought
***Later***
Loading the several large bags filled with dragon scales into the back of the APC, Kurata sighed as he felt he almost broke his back from lifting so many sacks.
"Hey commander! Since when did we became a delivery service?" Kurata asks Itami who begins climbing inside the APC along with Takeru since their NEXTs were currently being retrofitted for repairs and maintenance.
"Don't say that." Itami said to him while he keeps his eyes focus on the Iphone he is holding "It's a good thing for the refugees to provide for themselves. Besides, it's a valuable chance to learn about how trade works in this region and-wow! Another update! Sweet!"
Kurata groans as he buried his face in his palm "He's hopeless."
"Yeah. Tell me about it." Takeru mumbled while he watched the latest episode of his favorite anime on the APC's communications network.
Along with them, Rory, Lelei and Tuka have opt to join the team in selling the scales to the market of the nearby city of Italica while Kurokawa, Kurata and Takeru will be driving the APCs to the city itself. Meanwhile, their security detail consists of Kuribayashi and her GA03-SOLARWIND as well as two TYPE-DULAKE ACs that came from 2nd Lieutenant Pavlova's own squad as well as one NEXT that's piloted by the Lieutenant herself.
"1st Lieutenant Itami," Pavlova called from the communications channel implemented inside her NEXT, Sniper Wolf "Since your temporary rank is one level above me, it means you are the leader of this operation and that both me and my men will be under your orders to act."
"You don't have to be so formal 2nd Lieutenant." Itami mumbled "It's not like it's a combat operation or something."
"Nonetheless, one can't be too careful when preparing for the unexpected Commander." Pavlova replied "We are in a war after all."
"But still, don't you think that all this firepower we are bringing is kinda too much?" Takeru asks "I mean, won't the locals freak out when they saw our ACs coming?"
"Don't worry Tachibana." Itami assured "We'll station Pavlova and her guys at the outskirts of the city so that they won't scare anyone and that they'll be easy to call when things go south."
***End Of Episode***
***Encyclopedia***
Vox Populi Party – Meaning 'Voice of the People', the Vox Populi Party is a very radical and influential political party led by the famed politician Damian Adams in the recently established colonial government on Mars. The Vox Populi Party is created from the descendants of colonists that came from the remnants of the former independent government of Line Ark as well as survivors from the destroyed colony of Anatolia and its members are always filled with revolutionary fanaticism and clamoring to represent the entire oppressed and underprivileged individuals of modern society. Vox Populi's main goal is to slowly relieve both ORCA and the League of their military forces and power before subjugating them both to the control of the government as the party sees them both as too dangerous to be left on their own. However most methods that Vox Populi employ are far too extreme, even for the standards of other right wing political parties. Though they have a large following of supporters mostly from the lower classes or underprivileged youth, the Vox Populi only manages to get a few seats in the government during every election due to their opponents receiving support from the very people they are trying to oppose. As of this moment, the new government elections are drawing near and sensing that the UCA is hiding something big behind the Gate itself, the Vox Populi has began its own investigation on the Gate in hopes of finding some dirt to use against its opponents in order to further its own schemes.
***NEXT Profile***
NEXT Name: Sniper Wolf
Piloted by: Alexandra Pavlova
Made with parts from BFF, Sniper Wolf is a white colored mediumweight quad-legged NEXT model built for long range combat and support. The two laser snipers it uses as its primary weapons are the latest models made by BFF and can easily pick off a target that's miles away from the position of its shooter. The two sniper cannons on its back are very strong and devastating, able to easily break the Primal Armor defenses of its opponents in one shot. Its internal shoulder unit is an enhanced targeting system that allows it to augment the already deadly accuracy of its long ranged weapons while the white color scheme it possess gives it an excellent camouflage in snowy areas. However, one glaring weakness that Sniper Wolf possess is that it lacks any sort of melee weapon to defend itself in close combat, meaning that enemies that fight in close range are its deadliest challenge ever.