A/N: I want to apologize for the outrageous time between this and the last chapter. I think to some degree I was feeling severe performance anxiety now that we're so close to the end of it all. I want this to live up to the standards set by both Burning Path and Broken Wings and it's hard to convince those voices in your head that you're doing that. But here is Chapter 20, the finish line is in sight, lets see if I can make this a sprint finish, instead of crawling over the line.
Capital Wastelands, Sajjan's Underground Bunker
6:15
23/08/2114
Dawn had broken a little while before Alicia opened her eyes, but even underground, she could tell the Sun had risen. The circadian clock never stopped ticking after all.
She pushed the thin covers off and immediately headed for the sink at the end of the room to wash the grime from her eyes that built up over night.
After giving her face a good rub down with a wet hand towel, she stared at her reflection in the cracked mirror, seeing for the first time new lines, wrinkles and scars.
If today was going to be her last, she figured she might as as well remind herself of what she look like.
Assuming that the other two were up already, she changed into a clean, if somewhat battered jumpsuit and fastened the usual heavy boots to her feet. Running a hand through her hair to make sure it wasn't matted to her head, she reached under her pillow and grabbed the old Rayleonard sidearm that had saved her life all those years ago, slipping it into an equally old holster on her hip.
A comforting weight.
Leaving the makeshift bedroom, she covered the short distance to the main hub area of Sajjan's bunker in a minute or two, however upon arriving she saw that neither he nor Kostya were there, the usually humming banks of old computer hardware were dark, and silent.
Even the recently acquired, enormous server that looked like it was carved from a solid aluminium block was inactive, no flickering lights indicating the back and forth of data.
The silence however did allow the sound of clinking cutlery and kitchenware carry through from the small mess area that had been set up.
Approaching with some hesitancy, she opened the bulkhead style door to find the main table covered with an impressive array of bowls and plates. None particularly large or overflowing with food, but certainly higher quality and more plentiful than she was used to in the sparse times they lived in.
Kostya was sat at the side of the table furthest from her, gently stirring a steaming bowl of what looked like porrage, or some other cereal based meal. There was a small side plate next to the bowl with toasted bread and sliced tomatoes on it and it was paired with a visibly hot mug of either very strong tea, or perhaps coffee.
Not even counting what was claimed by the engineer, there was fresh fruit, bread rolls, decanted packs of both BFF and Leonemeccanica MREs, sealed thermos flasks that presumably were keeping some beverage hot, various dried meats splayed out on a small platter-like dish, at least two bowls of seasoned nuts and to her astonishment, the smell of frying bacon and eggs.
"Alicia!" Proclaimed Kostya, raising his mug like it was a pirate's flagon, "Good morning! You must join us for this feast that Sajjan has provided!"
"Holy shit you aren't kidding about the feast part"
She looked at the back of the man who was stood at the stove.
"Sajjan, where the hell did all of this come from?"
After a brief pause, he turned off the stove's heat and set the frying pan on a metal surface to cool slightly.
When he turned around, Alicia almost didn't recognise the man before her.
Sajjan was, as she could only describe it, transformed to something closely resembling how she'd seen him in pictures years ago.
His turban was clean, neat and tightly wrapped around his head, a vibrant violet colour. His beard was trimmed and tidy, oiled to look as tho it was a seamless part of him than something sprouting from his face. The skin that usually looked sallow and dirty was bright and even, even the gaunt expression on his cheeks had been alleviated to some extent.
To top it off, he was wearing what had to be the last Raven's Ark jumpsuit in his possession. It was almost pristine, bright white and with his AC name proudly displayed on the shoulder.
Alicia had to wonder if this was actually the Sajjan from before the Ark's fall travelled through time.
"Oh my God Sajjan, wh-"
He dismissed anything she was about to say with a slight wave of his hand and shake of his head.
"It's nothing worth commenting on, Alicia. I just assumed if this was going to be the last time I see my old friend, I wanted to look my best."
There was plenty she could have said to that, but instead she decided to smile and nod, before taking a seat opposite Kostya.
Sajjan wasn't lying when he said he wanted to look his best. But at the same time he wasn't telling the whole truth. She could work that much out herself.
That was his choice to make, he wasn't deceiving her and he wasn't deceiving himself. It was just less painful this way. They could enjoy the moment of a last meal saved for exactly that day. To not dwell on the pain in their immediate future, and perhaps gain a final measure of peace.
Capital Wastelands, Sajjan's Underground Bunker
14:20
All three of them had worked in the hangars for the rest of the morning and early afternoon, performing the last minute tweaks and maintenance on both Armored Cores and the helicopter that was due to take them into battle.
Kostya was resolute that it was in excellent condition, but the machine's age had Alicia's nerves on edge. It was a relic, far older than even the original parts of Supplice.
She had actually seen them used in battle before, dropping in small teams of MTs to combat zones where it would have taken them too long, or been too difficult to get into via their own mobility. And she also had to concede that they were effective at low profile insertions as their radar signature was small and they could fly very low, below most wide area radar systems.
However she'd also seen them swatted out of the sky by portable anti-aircraft missiles and small AAA batteries. Hell, sustained small arms fire from an infantry squad could bring one of them down if they focused on the least armoured sections like the engine intakes or cockpit.
But it really was their best shot and it wasn't like they had anything resembling an alternative.
To her pride, Supplice was showing absolutely no signs of malfunction or unwanted action. Any of the issues she'd previously experienced had been resolved. Sajjan reported that White Glint was equally running at full steam.
Their weapon's magazines were full and the chambers cleaned, optics were polished and servos lubricated.
Today, the two of them would enter as the most dangerous weapons on the battlefield. They wouldn't even let the Lynxes and their NEXTs take that title from them.
Ravens were born to dominate the war zone, today nothing less would be tolerated.
But eventually there was nothing left to check and nothing left to examine. Kostya climbed into the helicopter while the platform it rested on began to rise upwards, the enormous blast doors above parting for it.
Sajjan and Alicia stood on their respective AC's gantries, watching Kostya's helicopter ascend.
"You know," Shouted Alicia over the noise of the platform, "I'm actually glad I could be here for this. I don't think you could do it without me!"
Sajjan could do nothing but give a hearty, full laugh in return.
"You're right, I'd be hopeless, so thank you Alicia, I'm glad I got to meet you!"
At that, the two of them climbed down into the cockpits of their ACs as their own platform began to rise, a similar blast door opening, and the sound of gigantic rotor blades spooling up to speed roaring loud enough to resound in the cockpits.
Alicia fired up Supplice's primary generator, keeping the Kojima Particle module offline for the time being. The glow of the monitors before her slowly lit up Supplice's interior brighter and brighter, letting her see every break, buckled plate and burnt out electrical line.
So many imperfections that she couldn't help but be lost in every time she sat in this seat.
His seat.
Her seat.
Their shared sins and shame.
And on her wrist, her love for him, a watch given to a brother that gave everything he had for her. She didn't know if she'd survive today, but if nothing else at all…
She'd fight to make him proud, and fight for her friend's dream.
Capital Wasteland Airspace, Near Line Ark Headquarters
17:05
Alicia had to admit, she hadn't expected their journey to be quite as rough as it was. Having grown accustomed to the shock absorbing features of transporter gantries and their smooth flight patterns, the constant shuddering from the helicopter's rotor blades and the sensation of every sway and wobble going straight into her cockpit was like being stuck in a low quality cocktail shaker.
This is exactly the sort of thing she could have imagined the old Ravens complaining about on a regular basis. She didn't speak to many of the Rayleonard MT pilots so she'd never heard any first hand accounts of what they were like to use and now wished she had so that she could have at least been prepared for the experience.
Thankfully, to distract her, the com' light blinked in front of her, and she opened the channel.
"Alicia, I've been scanning the League long range frequencies"
It was Sajjan, who'd spent a good deal of the time enroute trying to get an old League communication package to interface with White Glint's communication system. He'd only succeeded in the last hour or so.
"Anything interesting?" She asked, wondering if there was anything about the Line Ark base being broadcast.
"Yeah a few things. The big one being that the League started their siege of Line Ark's primary HQ a few hours ago. It turns out that it was in a small mountain range almost within visual range of the Capital. Talk about living under the enemy's nose. Anyway, they've pulled out all the stops for this one, committing all available military assets in the local area and a good few from outside it."
"Anything outstanding?"
"The biggest is the Aircarrier Venture. The old HQ of Leonemeccanica has been refitted into a purely military vessel, it's got even more firepower and air power projection than it did during GA's War. No one is broadcasting specifics but they've got a good number of Lynx on call too. It's safe to bet that if we show our faces, Tristanna will hunt us down."
"Yeah I wouldn't put it past her"
It felt like some horribly contrived fate that the two of them would have to fight the child of someone who'd caused them so much pain.
"Also got reports of fixed artillery being set up. If they can't fight their way into the mountain, they'll try and level it before Elijah can enact his plan."
"You're not worried about that?"
"Not really, I'll get to him before anyone else does and stop him from going any further with this chaos."
"What about Line Ark, have the League mentioned anything out of the ordinary?"
There was a brief pause.
"A lot of previously unaccounted for ACs have been spotted fighting League forces. Also several contingents of local independent warlords appear to have come to Line Ark's aid. It's mostly the recessed gun positions of Line Ark's base that are giving them the most grief. The League doesn't have anything precise enough with enough firepower to take out armoured gun positions outside their effective range. Probably what the artillery is actually for"
"So really, what you're saying is that it's a gigantic clusterfuck that we're dropping feet first into?"
"Yes. This is likely going to be worse than the battle at Maxwell and that…"
His voice trailed off. It was hardly surprising considering that was the day his world truly fell apart, with the loss of his last friend and the beginning of the League's control of his life.
Back then, he'd been forced to watch as all of his effort and sacrifice went to waste, all for mistakes made and words said in haste and pain.
Things wouldn't end like that today.
Not if she could help it. Alicia wasn't giving up on revenge, but it seemed to her, that helping Sajjan was the right thing to do. She'd even go so far as to say it's what her brother would do in her shoes.
"Alicia?"
Sajjan's voice dragged her back.
"Worse or not, we're winning this one. No turning back now."
He laughed at that, quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the com' channel.
"I wasn't all that worried about turning back. We're committed to this, until the we see it through to the end."
A second light flickered into life on the control panel in front of her, the only person it could have been was Kostya above them in the helicopter. She accepted the channel request, letting his accented voice fill the cockpit.
"I'm beginning to get long-range sensor readings, we're too low to get picked up, but that's not stopping them looking."
Sajjan hummed to himself as he thought.
"It wasn't like we didn't expect this, but having skies free of radar and sensor sweeps would have been a bonus. Don't worry Kostya, stick to the plan."
"Understood, you'll make it in, don't worry about that."
Supplice was positioned behind White Glint hanging from the framework below the helicopter, so she couldn't actually see what was ahead of them. But Sajjan had patched some kind of video feed sharing from White Glint's optics to her main display, meaning that for the time being, she could see everything that Sajjan could.
For now, that was a whole lot of nothing. Baked, dead earth and maybe the odd shrub that stubbornly refused to die despite its environment.
But on the pixelated horizon, was the faintest signs of smoke columns, and a sole mountain jutting out of an unimpressive range.
"Sajjan, is that it ahead?"
"Yeah, that's Line Ark's HQ, already under siege as the reports said. Get Supplice ready, a 'hot drop' won't cover what we're going into so be ready to start shooting the second we're free from the chopper."
"On it."
Alicia was now well versed in switching Supplice to Combat Mode, ensuring that rounds were chambered and safeties were off. The action on both her rifles slammed forwards with a clack that reverberated through the cockpit.
Even Supplice's relatively underpowered sensor array was starting to flare up with warning signs that something was trying to find them, but as it was in a passive configuration it wouldn't trip any low-power signals like the ones currently washing over them.
At least fo-
"Shit! We've been tagged!"
Kostya's panicked voice rang out loud as everything began to shift sideways with an almost violent lurch.
"Kostya!" Shouted Sajjan, "What happened?"
"I don't know, maybe I was too high or they had more advanced radar than we thought but this helicopter is definitely being tracked by something ahead of us, more signals are following the trace they've put on us. Stealth is out of the question now!"
Sajjan cut the feed from White Glint, effectively blinding her. No definitive targets had showed up on her radar yet, just the vague warning that she had been locked onto, which was like the machine equivalent of anxiety. Useless.
The helicopter must have made some drastic manoeuvres because the framework holding Supplice and White Glint was groaning from the strain and she was being borderline thrown around in her seat.
Sajjan beat her to asking Kostya what was happening. His answer was less than inspiring.
"Short range IR missiles! Two so far, but I can definitely see more being fired at us."
Just wonderful, Alicia thought to herself as the seat straps dug into her shoulders and stomach yet again.
A series of dull thuds behind her signalled that Kostya had dumped a few charges of countermeasures, a mixture of IR flares and chaff to mask their heat and radar signature. Whilst it was effective, it had a limited amount of uses. Meaning once they ran out, you were counting on pilot skill and sheer dumb luck to keep you alive.
A different set of distant explosions sent shudders through her, this one very familiar from her time in Rayleonard's Army.
Anti-Aircraft guns, using airbursting 'flak' rounds that relied on white hot shrapnel to cut their target to pieces in the blink of an eye.
Instinctively, she reached for the two switches at her side that controlled the Kojima Particle flow, starting the process that would generate her Primal Armour.
Another burst of AAA fire, the sound of metal pinging off armour plating, but also more concerning noises, like a very shrill alarm coming through from Kostya's end of the com' channel.
"Kostya?" Alicia asked, trepidation unmasked in every word, "What's happening, are you alright?"
There was a plunge in altitude suddenly before the rotors span at an even faster pace to maintain level flight.
"Don't worry Alicia, I'll get you there, don't worry, don't worry."
Nothing about what he was saying made her worry any less, Sajjan equally now concerned for his friend.
"Kostya, set us down here we can make it in!"
"No Sajjan, not close enough, you need to do this, you need to get to him."
The Russian wasn't having any of it, determined to put the two of them as close to the battle as possible despite the declining condition of the helicopter.
Another bang, this time directly above, with another immediate drop in altitude. Alicia could hear Kostya's breath rasping over the channel.
"Don't worry, you need to do this."
A moment later, the chopper reared up like a horse, front end climbing before slowing the whole machine down, lowering them to a safe drop height.
Then with a bang, the bolts holding both Supplice and White Glint detonated, releasing them from the chopper's underhanging framework.
"Godspeed to both of you, find your friend and bring him home!" Kostya shouted despite the audible strain in his voice, "Go! Save him and live the life you were supposed to!"
Both ACs touched down, and Alicia had long enough to look up at the chopper, hemorrhaging smoke and wavering as it ascended, to watch two missiles streak into its side, the entire machine blossoming into a flower of fire and shattered metal.
"Kostya!"
But both Sajjan and Alicia knew that the chopper had no ejection seat or any sort of protection from a blast like that.
Sajjan's friend was gone, another life lost in pursuit of Elijah. She had to wonder what sort of toll this all was taking on him. Whether he had the resolution to push on through these endless traumas.
Thankfully, he had an answer to the questions running through the back of her head.
"Alicia, come on, we're going to get shelled if we don't move."
If nothing else, the man was resolute.
Following the glow from White Glint's boosters, Alicia pushed up Supplice's throttle, letting the AC lift away from the ground a little before leaning forwards, letting the energy carry her on.
Ahead of them was an impossible sight.
Thousands upon thousands of MTs, an innumerable horde that stretched out like a mechanical sea. Emerging from that sea were the towering frames of Mobile Fortresses, bristling with direct and indirect firepower.
Hovering over the battlefield towards the rear ranks of the League army was the Venture, a sleek, ominous shadow looming over them all. Bright blue lances of plasma energy darted out, carving molten red scars into the mountain side, trying to seek out hidden gun emplacements.
The white trails of missiles and mortar shells criss crossed through the air with bursts of tracers from both sides carving lines of fire in the sky.
In that sky, fighter jets and attack aircraft from the Venture performed daring strafing runs and bombing strikes on unseen targets in the forests around the mountain base, doing their best to burn away the nature that hid their foes.
It was a scene of chaos, the raw unfettered mayhem of war let loose on the earth before them. Mankind's most desperate attempts to annihilate each other in the name of pride, loyalty and selfishness.
But she didn't have long to admire the view, several of those streaking missiles were now headed their way.
The Kojima module had plenty of time to saturate the area with particles, and as she flipped the lever above her head, the resulting electrical charge sent them into the correct spherical form, arcs of amber lightning striking the ground around Supplice.
Only a second later, a missile slammed into the PA field, sending the blast outwards, the force of the impact sending a shudder through the field's surface like ripples across water, but its integrity didn't drop all that much, only a few percent.
She saw the missile launchers on White Glint's back rotate into position, his voice coming out of the speakers a moment later.
"Stay clear of my firing solution, I'm going to cut us a path through their front lines."
She shifted Supplice slightly to the left, so that the exhaust from White Glint's missiles wouldn't disrupt her optics.
A second later, the armored covering of the right hand launcher swung open and in quick succession, twelve missiles streaked forwards in a shallow arc. Each one, just like before, was a multi-missile, containing another eight smaller missiles inside.
The missile's casings broke away and they unloaded their payload, dozens of sub-missiles came crashing down in a rough line before them, blasting MTs, both League and Line Ark alike, into pieces with no distinction between either.
Before the clashing armies had a chance to react, the two of them slide into their ranks, both of them with rifles raised, firing blindly ahead to cut deeper into the fight, trying to get to the base of the mountain. Both White Glint and Supplice's PA fields flared with numerous impacts, stray rounds and deliberate shots taken at them as a few MTs decided to try and engage them.
Alicia was relying on Supplice's FCS to detect the incoming targeting patterns and return fire with her rifles, doing her best to eliminate anyone trying to stop her.
As the horde of MTs began to thin, something white on the ground caught her eye, fleeting glimpses through the legs of a dozen machines.
It was only when they got closer did she recognise it in an instant.
In the middle of the battlefield, being kicked around by MTs as they moved to engage, was the lifeless frame of Noblesse Oblige.
While the AC was battered and beaten, it was clear as day where the fatal blow had fallen. The front chest plate was boiled open, a scorched hole about a metre wide was evidence of something burning through the armour plating and incinerating the cockpit.
At least it would have been quick.
She moved on, pushing forwards until the ranks of MTs were thin enough they could see the recessed entrance to Line Ark's base.
There it is! We just need t-
Her train of thought was cut short and derailed by a blast of communication static, followed by a voice.
"Found you."
A burst of laser bolts slammed into the ground in front of White Glint, their small blasts still enough to throw up sand and dust, obscuring their view.
Something dropped into the cloud, clearing it in an instant.
The obsidian black, TYPE-LAHIRE framed NEXT, Unsung.
"You just couldn't resist the chance to poke your heads out of your hole could you? Could have lived a little longer but I should thank you for letting me kill you sooner"
Every word Tristanna said was spat at the two of them.
Sajjan spoke first, but to Alicia, not Tristanna.
"I need to get inside…"
"Don't worry, she's all mine"
Tristanna chimed in.
"As much as I want you dead Sajjan, the idea of ending the Lamond family line with my own hands is too good to pass up. I'll gut her, and then bring you back alive. I've got something very specially planned for you."
"Just try it you fuck. Sajjan, get in there, I've got this."
She raised both rifles at Unsung while White Glint wordlessly slid to the side, making a beeline for the entrance.
Unsung's gaze followed him for only a moment, as if she desperately wanted to kill him right then, but Tristanna's prize was already before her eyes.
Alicia's fingers itched to squeeze, the reticles over Unsung flashing red.
"Let's get this over with. Let's see you try and kill me, Thermidor."
"It will be my utmost pleasure, Lamond".
With that, the two opened fire with a sound like roaring thunder splitting the air.