Chapter 33 Bitter Obligation

Pacific Ocean – 370 Kilometers (230 Miles) From Russian Flotilla

There was some good news to be had. While outnumbered by four nations who were temporarily allied against her, that didn't mean they were working together yet.

Everyone wanted a shot at killing her, so that they could raise their heads high and proclaim, "We! Members of the [Insert Country] Military, have dealt a blow against ORCA!"

It was a strange advantage, but one May was sure to exploit.

Staying out of radar and missile range of the Russian Navy, she waited, hovering a few inches above the ocean in the Armored Core NEXT she was borrowing. With the Russian aircraft out of range, they were no longer spotting for the Naval Railguns in their fleet.

The radar display she was reading showed the first to come and challenge her would be the Chinese J-11s, followed by the American F/A-18s, coming from the West and East respectively.

The J-11 was really just a Chinese production of the Su-27, originally built under license, but later built under "questionable legality"; it was an advanced and capable fighter from the end of the twentieth century.

They would need every advantage they could get when facing the bulwark of violence that was May of ORCA.

"Target sighted! Enemy…robot?" Ninox lead called out. "All fighters, engage!"

The flight of five fighters fired their missiles at the stationary ORCA target. Letting them get close, May quick-boosted at the last second, gaining altitude and speed in order to intercept the fighters.

"B-Break! Break!" Ninox lead ordered, a moment too late as May opened up at less than a kilometer, six seconds of gatling gun fire tearing through the formation, taking down three aircraft.

"Ninox Three, Four, and Five, all shot down!" Ninox lead reported in terrible surprise, accelerating with his wingman to take him away from the dangerous weapon.

Ninox's retreat led them past the flight of F/A-18s, the versatile multi-role fighter of the United States Navy.

"Golem One to all aircraft, we have sight on the unknown enemy unit. Check you fire, friendly aircraft in the area. Engage at will." The flight of American aircraft fired missiles, then wisely rolled away. Dodging yet again, May set her sights on an outlier, and fired for two-seconds while they were in range, shooting down one aircraft.

"Golem Five is hit! Damn! You'll pay for that ORCA!" Golem Two announced.

"This is Ninox Lead, we are reengaging." The Chinese flight of two announced, coming in from the north and letting a pair of missiles off against May. Dodging easily, May then made to move, only to stop as a missile exploded against her Primal Armor from above, doing minimal damage.

"Yes! Direct hit!" Golem Two announced as she dived past May, having looped above to be able to reengage her quickly, as well as dive to escape.

Hissing in annoyance, May then turned around, defending against two F/A-18s coming around behind her. Firing a four-second-long burst to shoot down the missiles, May just managed to cripple one, then had to stop maneuvering, as she had exhausted her allotted flight time, at least until the load-baring thrusters had cooled.

"Golem Three is hit! I'm going down! E-Ejection is jammed! Damnit!" The fighter pilot reported. "Take out that weapon, no matter what." Then the channel went quiet as the fighter crashed into the ocean. At the same time, May was forced to hover over the ocean, waiting on the thrusters to cool.

While she waited, another pair of F/A-18s dove on her, the lead firing his missile then rolling away. His wingman had another idea. May dodged the missiles easily, holding fire until she could gain altitude, only to be looking down the nose of Golem Two.

"Guns! Guns! Guns!" Golem Two shouted enthusiastically, holding down the trigger for the 20mm gatling gun in the nose of her aircraft. The rounds did no damage to the Armored Core, and only lowered it's Primal Armor by a quarter.

It did, however, give May's complete and undivided attention to Golem Two. Rolling out of her gun run, Golem Two glanced at the imposing form of the Armored Core, when she noticed something terrible.

Within the head units of Armored Cores, there was always some kind of optical sensors. Some head units used large lenses to protect it's optical suite, that allowed for minimal corrective movement, like an actual eye. Other units, such as the 03-Aalyiah, instead used a large number of sensors, in this case over a hundred, that had variable settings for locking and tracking targets. On units as expressive as the 03-Aalyiah, this meant that the optical sensors followed May's eye movement, actually showing where in her field of view she was looking by highlighting a segment of twenty-seven sensors from the triple stacked lines of sensors wrapping around the front of the head.

For Golem Two, this meant that as she passed May, she could see the highlighted sensors tracking and following her across it's head. They were not following her aircraft or her projected course though, they were only following her. As she watched, the active sensors changed to a single line, giving it the appearance of glaring menacingly.

Golem Two's gung-ho and cocky attitude evaporated in a second under that violent and hateful glare. Appropriately, she pushed the throttle all the way forward, afterburners engaging to take her away from the ORCA machine.

May had no intention of allowing her to escape.

Looking at her radar display worriedly, she could see that the unknown weapon was following her. Looking over her shoulder, she could see it behind her, less than a hundred meters away. Pulling hard on the stick, Golem Two grunted in exertion as crushing G-forces forced her down, as she tried to lose the enemy.

"Golem Two! What's your status?!" Golem One requested.

"I can't shake it off! It's matching me move for move!" Golem Two replied quickly.

"Golem Two, stop dogfighting and run!" Her leader ordered, already looping around on her pursuer.

"Ahhh!" Golem Two grunted as she tried to break away, but May kept closing the distance, inch by inch, glaring down not at the fighter jet, but the woman inside.

The rest of the surviving aircraft followed, reluctant to fire. Between the high-G turns taking place and the unnatural maneuverability of the ORCA weapon, they had a higher chance of hitting the fleeing aircraft than was acceptable.

"I'm dead meat!" Golem Two spoke quickly. "I don't get it, why isn't it opening fire?"

Turning to evade, she found May closing the distance, cutting off the avenue of escape the pilot was hoping for, boxing her in and reminding her just how fucked she was.

"I'm scared!" Golem Two cried out. "I'm scared!" She shook in her cockpit, red eyes occupying all of her rear-view mirrors.

"This is not good." Ninox lead noted grimly, following the American flight in useless support.

"Brownie, break off!" Golem One ordered, calling the pilot by a different, more personal callsign.

Several seconds of turning and fleeing went by, agonizingly long for the pilot being chased. May matched Golem Two move for move, with every twist and turn bringing her closer and closer. The afterburners of the F/A-18 started to singe her paint.

"Golem Two, what's your status?" Golem One requested. When no replay came, he asked more aggressively. "Status report!"

"She's a predator." Golem Two whispered. "The weak get eaten."

"Golem Two, get a hold of yourself!" Golem One shouted back. "Golem Two, get away from the enemy!"

"Golem One! Support!" Golem Two begged. The vicious red eyes were looking down at her, through the cockpit canopy. "Somebody! Support!"

Done playing with her prey, May quick-boosted in front of the F/A-18, spun around, and engaged her laser blade, aiming specifically for the pilot.

"Golem Two, lost." Golem Four noted calmly, yet sickly.

"Shit!" Golem One cursed. He and the rest of the aircraft breaking off pursuit, all having the same idea to fly north. "All aircraft, retreat north, towards the Russian Fleet. We'll plan our counterattack there."

Letting the four aircraft go, May calmed herself. She had allowed herself to get carried away with that last kill, hunting the pilot and terrorizing them. But that kind of fighting was only done by the truly bloodthirsty and cruel, of which she did not consider herself. Going forward, each duel would be done honorably, without delay.

It was the only way she could honor her foes.

Iturup Island - Cape Triokhpaly Airbase – Base Facilities

She had gotten a little carried away with herself. Her one-woman-campaign had gone well enough against the regular base guards, as they had not been expecting to fight someone as vicious and callous as her.

Now though, against Special Forces, what the back of her head was calling Spetsnaz, she was having a more difficult time, with every kill an exercise in patience and tactical supremacy.

Sayori ducked as bullets slammed into the wall next to her head. Spinning around the corner, she blindly fired with a pistol, covering her retreat to the previous hallway, where only bodies and more ammo remained. She was confident she could take any of these enemies one-on-one, but they were fighting intelligently, keeping overlapping fields of fire, and did not flinch when being shot at or when comrades fell.

She passively noticed a sign on the wall, while she was scurrying over one of her previous kills, looking for a spare magazine.

арсенал

The feeling she associated with Strayed cried out in dark joy, and she was coerced into following the direction that the sign pointed to. Hastily, as her previous position was suddenly filled with bullets.

The enemy had no intention of taking her back alive.

Coming upon a locked door with the same word above the frame, Sayori quickly and brutally smashed the lock with the stock of her empty rifle, entering to find…several hundred guns.

Eyes widening in delight, she knocked over a cabinet to block the one door into the room, just to buy a minute or so at most. Moving swiftly and confidently, she quickly acquired more ammo for her guns, and several bayonets. As well, she grabbed four weapons for rapid use. Three RPK machine guns with seventy-five round drum magazines, and a 40mm revolver grenade launcher. Setting the machineguns near the door, she hatched an insane and desperate plan, right as the enemy prepared to breach the armory.

Laying down as the enemy shot the door, Sayori kept her head down, waiting until they thought they had destroyed it enough. When the firing stopped, Sayori stood up, and began to shoot the door with the grenade launcher. The first shot tore the door apart, leaving just the cabinet partially blocking the bottom of the door. The next five shots went out into the hallway, and Sayori could hear how the first two most definitely blew men limb from limb.

Picking up two of the RPKs, she held them with their drum magazines resting on the cabinet. Though she had it's will, she did not possess the same strength to dual wield weapons as Strayed. Even so, she sucked in her breathe, took aim, and released the loudest possible scream, filled with horrific anguish, inexhaustible rage, and blind bloodlust that she could.

She didn't care about trying to escape anymore. She didn't care about trying to preserve her innocence. She didn't care about the numbing in her arms and the burning in her chest. The enemy lay before her, and she had the means of silencing them.

Firing in full auto, and strafing through two platoons of shocked and frightened men, Sayori came to a wonderfully horrific realization.

This is it! This is war! And war is what we need!

Southern Outer Perimeter

They fucked up.

James had known the risk of using the Mark Thirteen Combat Armor, with it's limited and unproven battery. Strayed knew it as well.

They had known the risk, but gambled that they could eliminate the majority of the enemy and all of their armored vehicles within the limited time frame available. They were wrong.

That gamble had left Natsuki fighting alone with a non-lethal weapon, Yuri with a bullet in her skull, and Monika on fire. Not to mention Sayori, who was still unsecure and in the enemy's clutches.

You know what we need to do. Strayed groaned.

You are actually suggesting that? James regarded his other half suspiciously.

To complete the mission, to eliminate the enemy, to carry out our obligation, there can be no question to what must be done. Strayed hissed back.

Well…whatever. James flippantly sneered. What's a few years' worth, anyway?

/OPERATIONAL CONTROL: PROGRAM MODIFICATION

/ENGAGE PROGRAM: REVERSE FLOW ENERGY GENERATION

/WARNING: SELECTED PROGRAM WILL IRREPARABLY DAMAGE CORE CONTROL SYSTEMS

/DUAL AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED TO ENGAGE SELECTED PROGRAM

/PRIMARY CONTROL AUTHORIZATION:

Authorization granted. Strayed replied certainly.

/AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED

/SECONDARY CONTROL AUTHORIZATION:

Authorization granted. James responded just as quickly.

/AUTHORIZATION CONFIRMED: MODIFYING PROGRAM

/ENGAGING REVERSE FLOW ENERGY GENERATION

White, hot ice tore through their nerves, their entire body feeling as though it were basked in electric fire, as they used their own body to produce the energy needed to power the heavy armor they wore.

It was the single most painful thing that a Lynx could ever experience. The only pain that even came close had been their original augmentation, and that paled in comparison.

This kind of damage, this kind of pain, was the only certain way to kill a Lynx.

/WARNING: PERMANENT NERVE DAMAGE: 1%

. . .

The armor James had made for them was exceptional. The complex webbing and weaving of carbon and metal making it near impervious to kinetic damage. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stop thermal energy from transferring through conduction.

Even though not one drop of the napalm like substance made contact with Monika's skin, it didn't matter when the clothes she was wearing were being superheated, searing and boiling her flesh.

Screaming incoherently, eyes wide, wild, and watering, Monika suffered as her arm burned like she had never experienced before. Writhing in agony, she could only drag her right arm through the bloodstained dirt, hoping desperately to put out the fire.

But the battle was still going on, and Monika shifted enough of her attention outward to see past the flames burning her alive to notice the terrible situation they were in. Since Natsuki was the only one fighting anymore, only a small section of the battlefield was being covered, such that the BTRs and several platoons of men were closing on their position unopposed, ready to finish them off.

Stepping around Strayed's flanks, a squad of soldiers came up, leveling their rifles with her. She wouldn't have time to recover her shotgun, and enough bullets would certainly kill her and her friends.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

It was not to be.

Strayed reached out with their right hand, grabbing a soldier by the face, and slamming their head into the ground, crushing it. Standing back up, they then used the blade mounted on their left arm to cut another two men in half.

"Oh shit! It's still moving!"

"Everyone! Take cover!"

From above, the hissing roar of rockets streaked by, as the AI in the V-22 performed another attack run, dumping it's remaining rockets into each BTR, destroying them and killing several men around them. Still on station, the belly-mounted turret strafed near them, cutting through half a platoon that had been entirely too close. It then retreated, around the volcano to the south, on stand-by for them.

The machine needed them alive still.

There were several men lining up to shoot them on the left flank, but a burst of motion came from Yuri, as she turned on her side and brought her machinegun to bear. Her movements were sluggish and pained, but she was alive, and she could still fight.

The fire on her arm out, Monika retrieved her shotgun. She had lost all feeling in her right arm, but the armor was linked to sensors on her neck that followed the movements she was thinking of, meaning she was controlling the arm with the armor's mechanisms. Standing, she leaned against Strayed's back, panting and sweating. She could hear the roar of the gatling gun on Strayed's arm, but didn't notice that it was firing at a much slower speed than before.

"S-Status…?" Monika weakly asked.

"Arm still broken…but I can fight." Natsuki responded. Her armor was, thankfully, holding her broken arm straight, and her augments would reduce the pain. The other girls didn't have that luxury.

"Head…fuck…" Yuri clutched the left side of her head. "I think…I'm in a bad way…but I can fight too." She stood weakly, not happy to be moving at all.

"Orange…Strayed! What the fuck!" Monika shouted, slamming her good arm into it's back.

"Unit. Performing. Below. Proficiency. Still. Combat. Operational." Strayed stated slowly, still shooting with it's gatling gun, at only one-tenth it's normal rate of fire.

"…And the enemy?" Monika asked it, deciding it wasn't the time for her to be mad at it.

"…" Strayed fired off a short burst from the .50 caliber weapon, relaxing and letting the weapon point down slowly. "All clear."

Letting off a sigh of relief, she let her own weapon point down lazily. Hesitantly, she grabbed her right arm with her left, only to retract it suddenly, as the armor was still burning hot. That implication was unpleasant to her, but she had no time to dwell on it.

"Okay everyone, ready for the assault into the base. Red, what's the status on your weapon?"

"About thirty seconds of battery." Natsuki answered.

"Got it, so keep focusing vehicles. Violet, how well can you see?"

"Nothing from my left." Yuri hissed.

"Okay, then take the right flank. I'll take the left." Monika ordered. "Orange? Are you ready to move?"

"…" Rather than responding, Strayed turned it's torso to the left, glaring at her from over the shoulder, before it faced forward and began to walk towards the base at a slow and steady pace.

"Alright then. The next mission is a go, breach the base, secure the runway!" Monika ordered, staying close to Strayed's back as the they prepared to breach the southern wall.

Improvised Command Center

The General shifted uncomfortably, disturbed by the silence from what had once been hundreds of men under his command. The sounds of combat could still be heard from behind, in what was supposed to be a secure facility.

"Fifth Company! Report!" He demanded, trying to contact the forces behind him. "Somebody, respond!"

"T-This is Corporal Petrov! The enemy…! The enemy is not human!" There was a deafening screech over the radio, that sent a chill down The General's spine. "It's a fucking Banshee! It's killing us! N-No!" The radio cut out, but not before that horrible scream threatened to tear out his eardrums.

"…Tsk." The General hissed, disappointed. How hard was it to kill one teenage girl? "Sergeant! Kill everything that comes from the south, I'm going to deal with this 'Banshee'."

"Yes sir!" The Sergeant in charge of the last of the base's defenders saluted, turning to organize the men and the last two BTRs.

Pacific Ocean – 200 Kilometers (124 Miles) From Russian Flotilla

It was nice to know that they still cared about her.

May knew this, because she was currently looking up at over sixteen-hundred missiles currently closing on her position in several waves. On top of having to deal with that, every few seconds a wide volley of railgun shells would streak over the horizon, trying to cut off avenues for her to dodge through.

Since she needed to prioritize dodging the railguns, she raised her gatling gun, firing in long bursts in between sideways boosting to shoot down missiles, as she closed on the enemy at Mach Two.

It was still going to take nearly three minutes and two thousand rounds of 30mm fired in defense for her to reach the enemy. Passively, she noticed that over a hundred of the missiles that had been coming after her had done so poorly, and continued flying level with the ocean in a widespread pattern.

As it was, she had to focus on staying alive, and could only appreciate that the enemy had fired missiles that weren't tracking her efficiently. For the moment, it slipped her mind.

She really would have preferred having a VOB, a Vanguard Overed Booster, a fusion powered rocket designed to help NEXT counter Arms Forts by closing the distance at Mach Three until the unit was under it's guns. It would have been nice considering she was doing her damnedest to dodge missiles and railguns.

Even so, May squeezed through, calm and certain she would get past the overwhelming barrage of fire. Her reward as she crossed over the horizon, was to lay her eyes on her enemy.

Sixteen ships arrayed into three formations. The flanks were protected by two groups arranged with a battlecruiser in the center, with four destroyers protecting them. The central group consisted of an aircraft carrier, protected by a pair of cruisers and three destroyers.

Optimally, it would be in her best interest to destroy the railgun armed battlecruisers first. However, the railguns were specialized for long range firing, and had slower tracking than normal gun turrets.

Alternatively, it would be terribly demoralizing if she were to destroy the enemy carrier first.

. . .

The sight of the ten-meter-tall machine coming over the horizon was surprising, but not unexpected. It was exactly as the surviving aircraft had described. Great and powerful, swift and terrible.

An embodiment of humanities will, to destroy.

"All guns! Fire!" The Captain of the Kirov ordered. All of the conventional 130mm cannons in the fleet opened fire, with a combined rate of over twenty-two rounds a second landing near May. This was not counting the four railguns still firing once every five seconds.

Yet May proved to be extremely determined, closing to ten kilometers under extremely heavy gun fire.

"Short range missiles, fire!"

At that command, over a hundred missiles from CADS defense turrets left their racks, tracking accurately. May slowed her approach, focusing on sideways quick-boosting, while defending herself with ten-seconds worth of gatling gun fire.

"All aircraft, attack!"

The eighteen aircraft circling over the battlefield began to angle downward, ready to dive in from multiple angles, to avenge their fallen comrades. Just seconds away from the center group, May quick boosted forward. At five kilometers, the defensive cannons on each ship opened up, and May had to make an effort to not be caught too long under the barrage. Still, the massive number of 30mm rounds from dozens of defensive turrets brought her Primal Armor down to half.

It would not save the Sovremenny Class Destroyer, the Bystrry, as May once again lined up an attack run to cut through the ship with her blade. Desperately, the Bystrry fired off it's torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets, forcing May to commit another boost forward, before she reached out and dragged her blade through the ship.

…

"Uhh…what!?" Where was the kaboom!? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom! She'd dragged her blade through the ammo-stores for the missile turrets and pierced the starboard anti-ship missile launcher. The starboard AK-630 defense guns were offline, so the blade had definitely penetrated deep into the ship, crippling it, except that it's ammo had not detonated. The only explanation…

May growled in frustration, remembering the missiles that had continued flying straight after they had barely tried to hit her. To keep her from detonating their ammo, they had fired every missile they had, even if they were meant to take out ships.

Annoyed and with blade on cooldown, she backed away from the damaged ship, arming her Zuni rockets and deploying the OGOTO 280mm cannon. Firing four of the rocket pods for sixteen rockets, she aimed for the hole she had carved out of the superstructure, further widening it, before she dropped a 280mm high explosive shell into the space, breaking the ship in half.

"Bystrry lost!"

"Hmm." The Captain of the Kirov grunted in annoyance. "So, she adapts just as quickly. This will be a long night."

Not having the time to take out a second ship, May fired another four rocket pods at the next destroyer, the Burnyy, before she had to defend herself against incoming aircraft. Most of the rockets were shot down by the defensive guns, but enough made it through to destroy the rear AK-630 gatling gun.

Taking to the air to try and avoid shots from the main guns of the ships, May countered the multiple waves of incoming aircraft with gatling gun fire, spinning as each squadron came in to attack, and singling out fighters to destroy.

"Strigon One-Two, shot down!"

"Molot Five is hit! Can't recover!"

"Golem Squadron, attack ineffective."

"Damn! Ninox squadron was wiped out!"

"Strigon Three-One, lost!"

She would have stayed in the air a bit longer, but a radar alert caught her attention. A large wave of long-range missiles, closing on her at Mach five, just seconds away. Cutting her altitude while firing her gun in defense, May managed to avoid all but two of the missiles, which brought her from full Primal Armor to half again. From over the horizon, the new force made itself known.

"This is Cyclops Squadron, of the JASDF. We are here to engage ORCA." The lead pilot of the flight of six F-15 air superiority fighters announced.

/GAU-8 AMMO AT 30%

Annoyed, May let herself continue falling, back towards the last two Sovremenny Class Destoryers, the Burnyy, and the Besstrashnyy. Shooting a high-explosive shell down the funnel of the farther ship, the round penetrated down into the engine, where it exploded, igniting the fuel and breaking her back.

"Besstrashnyy lost!"

Retracting the cannon, May aimed another volley of sixteen rockets at the previously targeted ship, aiming for one of the forward defensive guns. More of the rockets scored a hit this time, tearing a deep gash into the ship, just in front of the bridge. Aiming for this hole, May engaged the laser blade as she landed, and dragging it down through the ship, almost cutting it in half. It was not nearly as optimal as detonating ammo or fuel within the ship, but too many compartments had been breached to keep the ship operational. The Burnyy began to list as the ship lost it's buoyancy.

"Burnyy reports catastrophic flooding, she's going down."

"Damn, even after adapting to her tactics, she is too damn fast." The Kirov's Captain remarked.

May still had a few seconds before the aircraft reengaged, and about a minute before the flight of F-15's joined the battle. The next targets in her sight were the two Slava Class Cruisers guarding the Aircraft Carrier's flanks. If they still had their missiles, then it would have been easy to put her blade through either the VLS or anti-ship tubes and tear the ships apart, but she knew that every ship had prepared for her. The only place on the Slava's she could safely attack from would be directly behind, to tear into their engines at the middle without being targeted by more than one 30mm cannon at once.

Circling the closest ship, the Varyag, she slipped in at a very narrow angle along it's rear starboard flank, closing in while just one gatling gun opposed her. Firing a round from her shoulder cannon, the large shell tore the deck holding the starboard gatling guns clean off. Landing on the exposed deck, just forward of the funnel, she aimed her blade down, into the ship, aiming for her fuel lines. The plasma blade made quick work of flash boiling her fuel, tearing the ship cleanly into halves.

"Varyag lost!"

"Shit, even though we deployed every missile we had, she just works harder for her kills." The Captain cursed.

The enemy aircraft were just about to start their run, and her strongest weapons were still on cooldown. Taking to the air once more, she had to carefully choose her targets, firing in one second burst, as she was running low on ammunition.

"Shit! Strigon Two-One and Three-Two, shot down!"

"We've lost Molot Six!"

"Golem One here, Golem Four shot down."

Having finished bleeding more of the enemy air assets, May dropped down towards the remaining Slava Class Cruiser, the Marshal Ustinov, from directly above. Spinning to throw off the aim of the four AK-630 defensive guns, she managed to weather the fire, landing between the conning tower and the funnels. First, she slashed below herself with the laser blade, tearing down several decks into the ship. Deploying her heavy cannon to fire at point blank range, she fired into the gash she had cut, the bulk of the ship buckling into halves.

"Marshal Ustinov, lost!"

"Cyclops Squadron, on station in the next fifteen seconds!"

May really didn't want to deal with another squadron of aircraft while the carrier was still alive. Deciding to deceive everyone, she lifted herself out of the ruins of the Admiral Kuznetsov's last escort. Gaining altitude to three kilometers above the carrier, she waited while Cyclops Squadron closed the distance.

"Target sighted! Destroy the ORCA weapon!" Cyclops lead announced confidently.

Before anyone could get their missiles off, May fell. Carefully, she spun so that she was upside down, and reengaged her boosters, driving her towards the aircraft carriers deck.

"She's going to hit the Carrier! Sound the alarm!"

"That's suicide!"

Having studied her enemy before battle, May understood that the Russians built their carriers as "aircraft carrying cruisers", meaning that they had the capacity to engage in front-line combat. She had no want to face over a dozen gatling cannons spread out over the ship, so she lined herself up with the aircraft elevator in the center of the deck, and spun onto her feet, firing a round from her OGOTO down to destroy the aircraft elevator before impact.

Thruster's firing at the last second, May shuttered as her Armored Core's feet impacted the deck of the hangar under the flight deck, heavily denting the floor. Around her, service crews scrambled away from her while the carrier's compliment of Marines arrived to hilariously discourage her with AK-74s. Looking down to several small elevators at the edge of the hangar, May used the giant hands of her NEXT to dig, slowly tearing the deck apart as she exposed more of the ship's interior.

While she expected none of the ship-launched ordnance to remain, they wouldn't have had time to purge the aircraft-launched ordnance from the carrier, which is what she was currently trying to find. Careful not to set off the several thousand tons of ordnance protected deep in the ship, she broke through after about a minute of slowly tearing the decks open, exposing one of the ship's ordnance magazines.

Turing her back over the exposed ordnance, she set the next shot of her OGOTO to explode in the next ten seconds. Without firing the round, she cycled the cannon, the live shell ejected and falling in with the rest of the aircraft carriers' explosives.

May had barely gotten airborne when a multi-kiloton conventional explosion ripped the Admiral Kuznetsov apart, the ship bifurcated by the explosion.

"God… Admiral Kuznetsov…lost…"

Iturup Island - Cape Triokhpaly Airbase – Southern Wall

"Breach!" Monika shouted.

'Breach' in this case being Strayed breaking down the wall by punching it. Not exactly elegant, but reasonably effective.

Passing through the remains of the mortar crews, Monika noticed a still living soldier, injured, in their way. Whether intentional or not, Strayed's pace remained the same, which ended up with it stepping on and crushing the soldier's skull.

Grimacing at the cold callousness of the kill, Monika kept pace with Strayed and her friends, covering the left flank as they slowly strode Northwards, towards the rest of the base facilities on the other side of the runway.

It was the most exposed position of their advance, which made it fortunate that they had already destroyed most of the vehicles at the base. Still, two BRT's, armed with 30mm auto cannons, opened up on Strayed. In response, Strayed raised their left arm and blade over their face, protecting it from the high explosive shells, while it's right arm pointed down, widening the cover the girls had to work with.

Yuri and Monika took shots opportunistically, mainly trying to keep the enemy from flanking them. Natsuki peeked from behind Strayed, blinding the BTRs and a few men before her weapon ran out, beeping in alarm that it was so. "I'm out! Switching!" Natsuki dropped her UV laser, grimacing as she grabbed the FN P90 hanging behind her left shoulder, drawing it into the crook of her right shoulder, ready to use it as they got closer to the enemy.

"Keep going! Keep going!" Monika shouted encouragingly, as Strayed continued to advance, it's stride unbroken by the fire it was receiving. Halfway there, the autocannon on Strayed's left shoulder leveled with the left most BTR, firing fifteen rounds and destroying the lightly armored vehicle. Aiming towards the next BTR, the second to last rocket was fired, blowing it up.

As the enemy no longer had any heavy weaponry, Strayed spread it's left arm out, the physical blade at the ready, and leveled the gatling gun on it's right arm with the last few dozens of men, guarding an improvised command center between two buildings. Behind it, the girls spread out, firing as quickly as they could.

Finally running out of ammunition, Yuri shouted, "I'm out! Switching!" Throwing away her machine gun, she pulled her own M1014 shotgun from behind her left shoulder, using it to devastating effect at a closing range.

Just in front of the barricades the last few men were using as cover, Strayed forced itself forward with a surge of speed, cutting through crates and other piled debris with it's blade, and impaling one soldier through the neck. Knocking the rest of the barricade in front of it down with a kick, it stepped into the line of defense, putting three and four rounds of .50 caliber rounds into every soldier it could see, cutting them down for the last few seconds that it still had ammo for the gatling gun.

/GAU-19: DEPLETED

/PURGING

/WARNING: PERMANENT NERVE DAMAGE: 7%

The explosive bolts holding the gatling gun to it's arm blew, dropping the gun. Soldiers were firing into it's armor point blank and full auto, doing nothing to it. Strayed leapt forward into a squad of four.

"Oh shit!"

Knocking the first soldier to the ground with it's moving bulk, it's right hand reached forward and grabbed another man by the face, squeezing it's hand closed with a sickening crunch. Twisting quickly, the physical blade was swung out, splitting a man's shoulders from his body. Striding towards the fourth man, it actually did make an effort to catch the first man's head under it's foot, popping it against the ground.

"Fuck you!" The last man shouted, raising his rifle to it's face, firing in full auto. The rounds pinged off harmlessly, unlike the physical blade which swung up, bifurcating the man through the middle, his halves falling apart.

To it's sides, Monika, Natsuki, and Yuri finished clearing out the improvised command center, firing to finish off anyone still breathing.

"Clear!" Monika shouted.

At that word, Strayed immediately pulled up a command prompt.

/WARNING: PERMANENT NERVE DAMAGE: 9%

/MK13 HEAVY COMBAT ARMOR: PURGING

The heavy armor it had been wearing broke apart, with critical explosive bolts being triggered, freeing it from within, and leaving it with just it's armored clothes, and the physical blade still mounted to it's left forearm. Strayed fell to it's knees, reaching quickly to remove the heavy helmet from it's head, and then behind it to remove the thick cord in the back of it's head. Once those were removed, Strayed fell with it's hands on the ground, breathing deeply.

"James!?" Monika asked worriedly, kneeing by his side, placing a hand under his shoulder.

"…Armor ran out, had to lose it." He explained quickly, refusing to mention the pain he was in.

"Alright." Monika accepted, still deeply focused on the battle at hand, while assisting James to stand. "Now, we've come to the last push. Split up and find Sayori. Report when you find her, and then we can finally leave this damn island."

"Got it." Yuri and Natsuki responded. Strayed turned around, to the armor it had abandoned. It pulled the last AT4 off the launcher and slung it on it's back, then pulled the main firing mechanism for the RMK 30 from its mount, holding it at the hip. The cannon had been slightly modified with a pump-slide beneath the barrel, allowing it to function as a pump-action grenade-launcher for the nine rounds it still contained.

"Confirmed." Strayed stated coldly.

"Let's just hope that Sayori is doing alright…" Monika stated grimly.

Base Facilities

"Come on! Hurry up!"

"Let's get the fuck out of here!"

A shrill, high pitch cry came from down the hall.

"She's coming! The Banshee is coming!"

Several armed men in full retreat sprinted around a corner, the last turning and emptied his weapon in full auto, desperate to hold back an enemy that defied expectations. A short burst to the throat put him down, right as a blood-stained, blue-eyed demon slid into the hall, an RPK machine gun at the hip, and murder on her mind.

With but a breathe, The Banshee charged, screaming with a piercing and terrorizing cry, and complemented by a machine gun held in full-auto through the hall, cutting into men's backs as they ran.

Dropping the machine gun when it emptied, she pulled a pair of handguns from her hips, closing the distance to point blank range. The enemy grew false confidence when she had dropped her machine gun, and had turned to fight her.

They should have kept running.

The closest man didn't have time to raise his rifle when she thrusted her left handgun under his chin, firing up into his brain. Spinning around a shot, her right handgun targeted the face of the next man.

"Stop her! Shoot her!"

Sliding below the next burst, both guns pointed up at a target, putting him down.

"She's too fast!"

Spreading her arms wide, The Banshee shot behind her and to her front simultaneously, shooting a soldier behind herself, and someone in front of her. Kicking off, she kept charging through the squad at close range.

"Just keep shooting! Stop her no matter what!"

Quickly emptying her left handgun into the crowd in front of her, she twisted, grabbing a man who was shot but not quite dead, and used him as cover while charging the remains of the platoon before her. Shooting around her meat shield with her right hand, she emptied that handgun as well, a step away from the enemy.

"Kill her now!"

Leaping over the dead man she had carried for cover, The Banshee grabbed a pair of bayonets from her belt, holding them tightly as she plunged them into the eyes of the closest man she could find.

"Oh fuck!"

Stepping over her kill, she twisted sideways, driving one blade through a man's temple, snapping the blade off at the hilt, while kicking another in the mouth. Coming back down to the ground, she caught the legs of the man she had kicked, forcing him onto his back, where she drove her other blade into his eye, leaving it there.

"Get back! Get the fuck back!"

Rolling closer to her enemies, she pulled another pair of blades, intending to drive them into soft flesh.

These sheep…these wonderfully obedient sheep…

"She's tearing men apart!"

So kind to come straight to her den…

"She's a monster!"

None of them would leave here alive.

Lost in the violence, drunk on it, there was no greater thrill, than to satiate the agonizing hunger for the next kill. Drowning completely in a hateful thirsting for blood.

She wasn't Sayori anymore, her entire existence reduced down to three constants. The desire to kill, the enemy before her…

"OH GOD AHHHHH!" Screamed a soldier as she pulled his head free from his body.

…and the inferno burning in her heart.

Pacific Ocean – AMCS Anatolia

The ship moved quietly through the waves, uncrewed, but still on task.

/ALERT: INCOMING MISSILES

/TRACKING: 10X SS-N-19 ANTI-SHIP MISSILES

/VELOCITY: MACH 1.6

Ah. Hustler One regarded the missiles intently. It seemed that some of the missiles that missed May were still live, tracking any target that fell into their sights. It was a bit uncomfortable, considering the majority of it's operating capacity was within the Anatolia, so losing the ship would be a major blow to it's overall intelligence. Reasonably, it was prepared to operate the defensive systems on the ship to protect itself.

/OPERATIONS OVERRIDE

/LANA DEFENSIVE SUBROUTINES: ONLINE

The sentient machine intelligence hesitated. Though concerned for it's own "survival", the program LANA already had operations in place to protect the ship from destruction. Rather than interrupt it, Hustler One decided to trust the lesser program, as well as to watch it operate.

/SET COURSE: 135

/ELECTRONIC WARFARE SUITES: ONLINE

/CIWS: ONLINE

The ship turned hard to starboard, attempting to narrow it's own profile from the incoming missiles tracking radar, while also having at least three of it's guns available to fire, being the rear and port side guns.

/CALCULATING. . .

/NOTE: INCOMING MISSILES/SS-N-19/CONTAIN HOME-ON-JAM CAPACITY

/STRATEGY: IGNORE RADAR-JAMMING/ATTEMPT ELECTRO-MAGNETIC OVERLOAD AND CIWS INTERCEPT

/TIME TO IMPACT: 60 SECONDS

/BEGINNING OPERATION

The powerful radar array on the Anatolia began singling out the incoming missiles, firing enough energy to melt the connections in the onboard computer. Holding the microwave energy on target for eight seconds, the first anti-ship missile died, spinning and tumbling into the water.

/TIME TO IMPACT: 52 SECONDS

/9 MISSILES INBOUND

Switching to the next missile, the radar array melted down it's computer as well.

/TIME TO IMPACT: 46 SECONDS

/8 MISSILES INBOUND

LANA continued tasking the radar to melt each missile for as long as it could.

/TIME TO IMPACT: 38 SECONDS

/7 MISSILES INBOUND

/TIME TO IMPACT: 30 SECONDS

/6 MISSILES INBOUND

/TIME TO IMPACT: 22 SECONDS

/5 MISSILES INBOUND

/TIME TO IMPACT: 14 SECONDS

/4 MISSILES INBOUND

/CIWS TRACKING ONLINE

Knowing the remaining missiles were too close to continue using the radar against, LANA prioritized the CIWS tracking, giving each turret a missile to fire at.

/TIME TO IMPACT: 9 SECONDS

/DISTANCE: 5 KILOMETERS

/FIRING CIWS

The three turrets each hosed the sky, along the path that the missiles would be taking to impact. Their long burst visible as a line of orange tracers burning in the night. At two kilometers, three of the missiles were shot down, their payload detonating well short of the cargo ship.

/TIME TO IMPACT: 3.6 SECONDS

/1 MISSILE INBOUND

/RETASKING CIWS

Instantly, the two stern CIWS turrets targeted the last missile, still firing, and crossed their streams of Tungsten 20mm rounds in front of it. The rounds tore into the missile, tearing it apart just short of it's target.

/ALL MISSILES DESTROYED

/STAND DOWN WEAPON SYSTEMS

It could not be called relief, as Hustler One had yet to evolve such a concept. Instead, the machine deactivated it's own emergency programs that had been prepared for the loss of the Anatolia. Outwardly, it listened as cargo ships in the surrounding area sent out distress beacons, as they did not have the luxury of having defensive weapons and control AIs.

Unfortunate, but not unexpected.

Pacific Ocean – Russian Flotilla

"We might have crossed the line." Cyclops One noted, leading his squadron in battle.

"Things don't always go perfectly." Cyclops Three added.

May was finding out quickly that Cyclops squadron was not to be trifled with. Though doubtlessly desiring to kill her, they kept themselves in check, covering each other and sticking to a plan without becoming excited by the battle. It was challenging and thrilling to fight an intelligent enemy.

They had been on her ever since the carrier had been destroyed, trying to drive her further out to sea, where the remaining ships could more easily gun her down. Refusing to be led into a situation advantageous to the enemy, she continued dodging, quick boosting towards the battlecruiser Frunze and it's escorts.

Needing a few seconds to escape and evade, May lured the enemy aircraft into a dogfight, forcing them to slow and turn to engage her.

"It's going to be a long fight. Don't waste any ammo." Cyclops One advised as he led an attack run after her. Still, him and the rest of Cyclops were too far to engage. Molot on the other hand had strayed too close, right where she needed to evade. Having slowed the enemy enough, she turned to face the ships to the right, engaging her boosters to push her to Mach two, passing the last two planes of Molot, giving her an opportunity to strafe them out of the sky with a second long burst.

"Shit! I'm going down!" Molot One called out.

"Molot Squadron wiped! Shit!" Strigon One reported.

"Damn, she's fast!" Cyclops Four called out.

Having successfully evaded for a minute at most, May charged the formation of five ships closest to her. Lining up on the first pair of escorts, Udaloy Class Destroyers Marshal Shaposhnikov and Admiral Tributs, she decided to not waste any time, attacking head on. Instead of aiming for the empty missile silos, she aimed lower, towards the fuel tanks, below the water line.

Passing the starboard side of the first ship at Mach speed, she armed her back weapons, timing her pass so that the volley of four Zuni pods would be immediately followed by an OGOTO cannon shell, fired from point blank into the same spot. The effect was that the OGOTO 280mm shell had it's route into the fuel tanks opened by the Zuni's, detonating the flammable material and tearing the bow off the ship.

"Marshal Shaposhnikov lost!"

Twisting slightly to pass against the next ships's port side, May turned her back against it, beginning to slow, and extended her laser blade down through the ship, detonating it's fuel tanks as well.

"Admiral Tributs lost!"

Having past the Frunze, May side boosted behind it, dodging 30mm and railgun fire, and sped back forward towards the escorts on the other side. Quick boosting forward back to Mach two, she closed on the port side of her next target, dumping another four rocket pods and a high explosive shell deep into the ship.

"Admiral Vinogradov lost!"

Staying on the port side of the last escort to the battlecruiser, May reached down with the laser blade, tearing into decks below the waterline and igniting her fuel stores.

"Admiral Panteleyey lost!"

"Aaaahh hell!" The Kirov's Captain shouted.

"Son of a bitch! We left them to die!" Cyclops Four exclaimed unhappily.

"Just save who you can." Cyclops One ordered certainly.

Backing into the cover of the ships she had crippled, May kept herself covered from the battlecruiser, while ready to engage incoming aircraft. The first to come into her sights was the last six aircraft of Strigon. As they had been in the fight the longest, they had already fired all of their missile's minutes ago, and were forced to engage in gun runs.

Doing her best to conserve ammunition, May glided back and forth to throw off their aim, and fired back in half second bursts, making sure each shot hit its mark.

"This is Strigon Three-Three! I'm hit!"

"Strigon Three-Four was shot down!"

"Strigon Two-Four ejected."

"Strigon One-Four exploded."

"Green is eating through the Russian Forces!" Cyclops Four cried.

"No, no, no, no! Who is this girl?!" Cyclops Two questioned.

"Split up. The longer this drags on, the greater our losses." Cyclops One ordered.

The remaining aircraft broke off their attack run, trying to stay out of May's gun range, but one had strayed too close.

"It's a big maze!" Cyclops Five complained, somewhat disoriented. Targeting him, May intercepted him with a half-second burst, causing his aircraft to explode.

"Cyclops Five is down!" Cyclops Four cried out. "Lanza!"

Deciding on what to do next, May had two options before her: finish off their aircraft or the ships first. Backing out of her rapidly sinking cover, she decided to counter the ships first, then finish off the aircraft.

A distant light in the night sky…

She didn't go more than a few meters before the sky seemed to split in half, the boom of hypersonic ammunition passing by near her.

"A miss, as expected. But a lucky shot would be boring."

From the radio, an elderly voice, filled with strength and certainty. From the North, five new contacts, experimental variants of Su-30's, Russian air-superiority fourth-generation fighters. Long range scans seemed to indicate that the lead aircraft, a Su-30SM, had another Chrome weapon, a highly experimental aircraft-mounted railgun, slung in between the engines underneath.

Sol Squadron had joined the battle.

Targeting the battlecruiser Frunze, May readied every weapon she had. Too light to be called a battleship and too heavily armed and armored to be called a cruiser, the Kirov Class ship couldn't be approached yet, not with it's six CADS with twelve 30mm cannons tracking her easily. There was no best angle to attack from, as there was a railgun at either end of the ship, the defense turrets on the bow could overlap across the deck, and the rest of the defense turrets were tightly grouped at the rear.

Still, an attack from the front had some interesting options. With that, May rounded directly on the bow of the ship, rushing head on. Zuni's live, she fired four pods at each CADS turret and two pods at the railgun. Overwhelmed by forty rockets, the CADS turrets failed to protect themselves, and were destroyed along with the forward railgun. Firing a 280mm shell into the bridge, May wiped out the bridge crew, then landed onto the VLS deck at the base of the superstructure.

/ZUNI AMMO AT 30%

"Frunze reports forward weapons destroyed, moderate damage."

Using her laser blade to quickly cut the roofs off several of the VLS tubes, May then pointed her GAU-8 skyward, defending her position from the last of Strigon Squadron, who were attempting to shoot her off the deck. A hundred rounds of 30mm taught them a very permanent lesson.

"This is Strigon One-One! Damnit! Damnit all!"

"Strigon squadron, wiped out." Grimly noted The Radar Operator on the Kirov.

"Does she plan to tear that ship apart, piece by piece?" The Captain wondered.

Pointing the OGOTO down into the exposed and empty VLS tubes, May fired a round, tearing deep into the ship, but failing to sink it. It did, however, compromise the empty VLS launcher and created enough room for her to step into. Now deep in the bowels of the ship, she slashed her laser blade through the port hull, opening many compartments to flooding.

"Frunze reports critical damage, heavy flooding port side."

Not waiting for the laser blade to cool down, May turned to face the starboard hull, firing another timed artillery shell though the bulkhead, the round detonating halfway through, causing the entire bow to fall off. She made sure to escape before being caught in the water.

"Frunze…lost."

"She really did tear it apart…How soon until Sol Squadron is overhead?" The Captain demanded.

"Sol squadron is sixty seconds out."

Now, a new problem. The good news was that she only had to contend with five ships and eleven aircraft. The bad news was she was now several kilometers away from the enemy fleet, without cover, and with multiple aces converging on her. If she could just thin out their numbers a bit more, then it should be an easy fight ahead. Charging straight into enemy planes, May made herself an easy target.

"The enemy's arrogance will be their downfall! It's time we take the fight to them!" Cyclops Three declared, charging in right on her rear, letting lose with air-to-air missiles.

Letting the first missile explode against her Primal Armor, she let them get a false sense of victory.

"Let's fill'em full of missiles before they give up!" Cyclops Three led, his squadron falling in behind him. He fired a pair of missiles, hoping to finish her off.

Quick boosting out of the path of the missiles, May waited for the fighter on her to overextend.

"They dodged it!" Cyclops One exclaimed.

Boosting backwards as Cyclops Three attempted to reacquire her, May found herself on his tail.

"They're after me! I need cover!" Cyclops Three cried out.

Lining up carefully, May found she still had to expend two seconds of ammunition to catch the fleeing enemy, knocking them out of the sky.

"Cyclops Three is down!"

"Listen, real talk, if we keep this up, more soldiers won't be going home." Cyclops One advised. "I'll act as a lure, meanwhile, you shoot down the enemy!"

"What!" Cyclops Two protested.

Pulling ahead in the dogfight, Cyclops One centered his sights on the Armored Core, and fired.

May expected a missile or even the orange tracers of a 20mm cannon. She did not expect twin, blue burst of plasma from under the wings of the F-15 coming at her, each burst fired twice a second. The accurate shooting nearly depleted her Primal Armor, forcing her to evade.

That was!-Ah. That would be her fault. She'd forgotten she'd given plans of production ready pulse laser weapons to that company she technically managed, Murakumo Millennium. She didn't expect them to have already produced a working prototype and for that prototype to make it's way onto a fighter. Either way, that marked Cyclops One as an immediate threat to be taken care of. Boosting back into the engagement, she glued herself to his tail, trying to line up a shot on the evasive pilot.

"All right, she grabbed the bait! Time to take her for a ride!" Cyclops One shouted enthusiastically.

"Careful, she's a dangerous one." Golem One warned, having seen this before. Unlike May's previous pursuit however, the F-15 had much more power to throw itself around. As well, Cyclops One did not fear death, reveling in the challenge.

Also unlike before, Cyclops squadron was more than willing to close in and engage her, doing so one after another.

"All right, let's give them a beating!" Cyclops Two shouted, letting loose a missile.

"Cyclops Four, fox-two!" Announced the female pilot.

"Cyclops Six is engaging." The oldest pilot in Cyclops reported. "This will be a good story to tell my son."

May boosted hard, the constant attacks from Cyclops and Golem's survivors keeping her Primal Armor from rectifying. It was also keeping her from shooting down Cyclops One.

She was interrupted as another railgun shell passed in front of her, as Sol One dropped in close on her tail. Not wanting to be caught between two aircraft with experimental weaponry, she boosted backwards, over Sol One's canopy, lining up to shoot down the Russian jet from behind.

Then the most incredible thing happened.

Instead of pulling up, Sol One snapped over backwards, lining his nose up with her, his railgun charged and ready to fire.

May barely had time to drop back, as the hypersonic round bounced off the upper shell of her Core, and she glided down to the ocean to cool and recharge. That had been…too close of a call.

"You could've done that sooner." Sol Two chastised his lead.

"I want to understand the enemy." Sol One answered back calmly.

Given no respite, Cyclops One loped back around, strafing down at her with high energy plasma. The rest of Cyclops and Sol Squadrons had moved in, cutting her off at every angle.

"This is Golem One, I'm bingo fuel and ammo. Cover me, while I do something stupid." The last American pilot called out.

Being targeted from multiple angles, May barely noticed the F/A-18 closing on her, nose on, until it was just a kilometer away.

"For America Motherfucker!" Golem One shouted, firing his last burst of 20mm rounds at May, then pulling hard on his ejection seat trigger.

Golem One's pilot rocketed over as roughly twenty tons of fighter and fuel slammed into the Armored Core, shattering the Primal Armor, but barely scratching the Core.

"Is she still alive?!" Cyclops Four shouted in disbelief.

"…" Gritting her teeth, May tried to get airborne again, to focus on evading while her Primal Armor rectified. She'd be fully exposed until the secondary capacitor partially recharged, which could take up to thirty seconds in good conditions.

Naturally, May didn't have any time.

"Damn ORCA!" Cyclops Two yelled, diving on her from above. "Begone!" Cyclops Two began to ripple fire his missiles, all of them. "Disappear!" Holding down the trigger to his rotary cannon, he emptied nearly a thousand rounds of 20mm into her. "Away with you!"

Firing back while boosting backwards, May targeted the incoming missiles, managing to shoot them down with a two hundred round burst. The 20mm rounds did little, but not insignificant damage to her. Driven down by Cyclops Two, she crashed into the ocean, in a brilliant burst of foam and boiled water.

"ORCA target is down! I repeat, the ORCA target is down!" The Radar Operator on the Kirov reported enthusiastically.

"Yes! Excellent!" The Captain, and the rest of the fleet cheered.

"Nice shot Count! I knew you could do it!" Cyclops One praised.

"Haha, yeah, bit off a bit more than I can chew though." Cyclops Two reported. "Took a hit from her. I'm losing thrust. Definitely feels like my engine."

"Copy that Cyclops Two." The Captain responded. "We'll send someone to pick you and Golem One up."

"Uhh…S-Sir!" The Sonar Operator reported reluctantly. "I'm detecting…movement…"

"That was definitely the most intense thing I've ever been in. Can't wait to tell my son about it. What a day." Cyclops Six relaxed, right as his plane exploded.

"Oh shit! Cyclops Six is down! No chute!" Cyclops Four reported hysterically.

Retracting her OGOTO cannon, May boosted up, out of the ocean, back into the fight, as she regained half her Primal Armor a moment later. While not designed for underwater combat, the Armored Core NEXT was simply too survivable, and powerful enough to force itself to move, even at the bottom of the ocean.

"What! That's impossible! I shot her down!" Cyclops Two raged. "Damn! I won't be able to rejoin the fight! I'm going to work on a landing strategy."

"Copy that. We'll make sure to get her this time." Cyclops One replied. "Cyclops One to Sol One. Let's go Mr. X, and take that bitch down!"

"Copy that. You have the lead." Sol One readied himself for another fight. "Everyone, fall in, take down the ORCA weapon."

Cyclops One targeted May again with plasma fire, keeping her on her toes. Once again, she stuck to him, intending to take him down.

"Man, this is one stubborn bitch. She's on my tail, but she won't fire." Cyclops One noted. "Waiting for the perfect shot, eh? Sorry stranger, but my boys won't let you have it." A missile from a Sol aircraft connected with May. "Nice flying! Give her one more!"

Cyclops Four fired a missile, that May dodged, as she reacquired Cyclops One. "Why didn't that hit?"

May really needed to end this fight. Cyclops One was too confident and capable to be allowed to live. She lined up a long burst, walking the rounds on target with her gatling gun.

"I'll keep her on me, just a bit longer-!" Cyclops One declared, too late as 30mm rounds tore his aircraft apart.

"Wiseman! Eject already Wiseman!" Cyclops Two warned.

"I'm sorry. His plane exploded." Sol One announced.

"Dammit!" Cyclops Two yelled. "I'm going down, take out that enemy." He then ejected, cutting him off from the battle.

"All Sol elements, form up on my lead." Sol One ordered. "Cyclops Four, stay close, we'll avenge your squadron."

"Roger that!" Cyclops Four bit back, her grip on the control stick tightening.

"Copy that King." Sol Two answered.

"Don't call me that." Sol One snapped back.

Charging against the remaining aircraft, May came to a realization. While Cyclops Squadron had been good, Sol was even better. Every member acting as bait, tying to give an opportunity to their squadmate to get a shot on her.

As well, fighting against Sol One…was incredible. It had been a long time since she had a worthy opponent, able to stand their ground and strike back at her. Every time she would lock up another Sol member, Sol One would be on her, forcing her to evade. Every time she targeted Sol One, he would dodge and weave and burn his way out of trouble, forcing her to hold back and not waste ammo.

Trying to quick-boost into the path of Sol One, he read her movements, dodging out of the way, diving out of gun range quickly.

"Sol One, please respond. What's your status?" Sol Two requested, keeping an eye on the elderly pilot.

"My status? Well, I'm feeling a little excited." Sol One answered honestly. Turning around suddenly, the old man let off a missile at close range into May.

"Missile hit."

"Is she down?"

"No, she's got some kind of energy shielding. We'll have to take that down if we want a direct hit." Sol One explained.

"Shit! This bitch is tough!" Cyclops Four observed. "I don't think I can take her on."

Seconds away from her forced recharge time, May took a gamble, firing for five seconds at the closest member of Sol she could hit, managing a pilot kill.

"Sol Five, lost."

In response, a railgun shell fired by Sol One nearly took her head unit off, being fired from above.

"Hey, look! It's like the sky has been sliced wide open!" Called one of the surviving ships.

Letting her thrusters cool near the ocean, May was forced to defend herself as Sol members strafed her. Another two hundred rounds was needed to take out one of theirs.

"Sol Four, plane exploded."

"She's way out of my league. I can't even get close to her." Cyclops Four commented.

Having cooled down and ready to fight again, May boosted up, out of the way of a missile, curtesy of Sol One.

"Sol Two this is Sol One."

"Sol Two here, what's up?"

"Missile did not connect. That wasn't the plan."

Having gained courage under Sol's wings, Cyclops Four started lining up for a missile shot, only to be targeted by May.

"Do you want a piece of me? You got it!" Instead of running, Cyclops Four turned into the attack, her 20mm cannon leading and trying to strafe at point blank range. Slashing out when she was closest, May cut her aircraft in half, the engines separated from the nose.

"Damnit! Cyclops Four is hit! I'm out!" The woman called, ejecting a moment later.

"She wasn't a bad pilot." Sol One praised, coming back around to attack again. May fired off a two second burst to discourage him, forcing him to dodge early.

"Damn! We can't even last long enough to buy ourselves some time." Sol Two noted grimly. "Sol One this is Sol Two." He called in worry.

"My status is fine. Do not interfere." Sol One assured him.

Sol Two attacked next, firing a missile that May barely dodged. Targeting him, she set onto his tail, ready to cut him down.

"Sol Two! Evade! Evade!" Sol Three warned.

The last thing Sol Two saw was May baring down on him, gun pointed right at his cockpit. "Perfect movement…just like Mihaly's-"

"Sol Two lost! He was a good one, too!" The Radar Operator on the Kirov mourned.

"Wit! Damn it!" Sol Three cursed, swinging in for an attack run. "Let me avenge Wit."

Reckless and hateful, Sol Three emptied his ordnance at May, forcing her to defend herself with two hundred rounds of 30mm. Sol Three tried to empty his guns into her, only to receive a half-second burst of rounds into his engine.

/GAU-8 AMMO AT 10%

"Damn! You need to be extra careful if you want to fight ORCA!" Sol Three realized too late.

"Eject…while you can still talk." Sol One advised, paused in his dogfight to check on his wingman.

With Sol One distracted for a moment, May used the opportunity to escape, diving down to the ocean, and towards the remaining Russian Navy ships.

"Captain! We have inbound! The ORCA weapon has broken away from the dogfight, and is heading straight for us!" The X.O. of the Kirov warned.

"All ships! Ready close-range weapons!" The Captain ordered, hopeful, but realistic in his expectations.

Checking her ammo stores, May had just enough rockets and artillery shells to deal with the fleet. Still closing at Mach Two, she weathered the barage of 130mm cannons, 30mm defenses, and the occasional railgun shell from the Kirov as she passed the first escort on the starboard side.

Deploying Zuni and OGOTO weapons, she dumped four rockets pods and a single shell into the fuel of the ship, splitting it in half.

/OGOTO AMMO AT 30%

"Vice Admiral Kulakov, lost!"

Boosting backwards on the port side of her next target, she used the laser blade to ignite the fuel in it's tanks, killing the ship.

"Severomorsk lost!"

Passing the rear of the Kirov, May side-boosted to the port side of the second to last escort, firing another set of four Zuni pods, and a 280mm shell following the hole into the fuel.

"Admiral Levchenko lost!"

Staying on the port side of the last escort ship, May engaged the laser blade, tearing the ship from stern to bow and exposing the ignited fuel tanks.

"Admiral Chabanenk lost!"

"Damn!" The Captain of the Kirov realized that, as the last ship in the A.O., they would be next. "Overcharge the railguns! I don't care if they melt, just kill her!"

The energy from the Kirov's nuclear reactors was sent to the railguns at triple the normal capacity, threatening to melt the electromagnetic assembly. The motor in charge of tracking suddenly became much faster, locking on to May.

As she attempted to work her way to the front of the Kirov, she suddenly found the railgun tracking perfectly.

"…!" Surprised, she took a shell directly to the Core, doing a small but fair amount of damage. She wisely chose to boost away, just as two more shells were fired from the rapidly overheating railgun.

Unfortunately, Sol One had returned to the battle, and had correctly predicted where she would boost into, firing his own railgun. Forced to defend herself so suddenly, May naturally raised her right arm to protect her Core from the hit. Interestingly, the shell that hit did no damage to her structure. The same could not be said of her weapons.

/CRITICAL WARNING: 07-MOONLIGHT DAMAGED

/07-MOONLIGHT: OFFLINE

"Ahhh Damnit!" May cursed as she was deprived of her most powerful weapon, the laser blade. Doing a quick inventory of her munitions, she found she had thirty-two rockets, a thousand rounds of 30mm, eight high-explosive 280mm shells, and one…

Gift.

Smiling devilishly, she devised a plan to win. Deploying her back weapons, she retargeted to Kirov, dodging back the way she came as the forward railgun fired in triplicate, just missing her. Targeting the forward defense turrets with her remaining rockets, she fired all of them, destroying both weapon mounts.

/ZUNI AMMO DEPLETED

"Forward CADS destroyed!"

She fired the first of her remaining shells, missing her target of the forward railgun as she was forced to dodge it's fire, still managing a hit on the deck. Continuing to boost sideways, she rounded to the rear of the ship, firing again, and missing again as she dodged the rear railgun, hitting instead a radar tower between the CADS turrets.

Backing up to give her more room to maneuver, she had to boost up when Sol One lopped around on her, firing his railgun where she had been. This time, her shell did find it's home in the port-side guns.

"Port CADS destroyed!"

Dropping down she fired another shot, missing and hitting the helipad at the stern of the Kirov.

/WARNING: OGOTO OVERHEAT

Ignoring the warning, May boosted to the starboard side of the Kirov, still dodging railgun rounds from the forward and aft turrets, and any unwanted attention from Sol One. Finding the right time, she fired, striking the starboards guns.

"Starboard CADS destroyed!"

"Damn! She's tearing the ship apart!"

Now that the Kirov had no defensive guns, May boosted forward to the edge of the ship, well inside of the firing range of the railguns. Not having to dodge, she planted the next round on the rear turret.

/OGOTO AMMO AT 10%

"Aft railgun destroyed!"

Boosting to the front of the ship, she targeted the forward railgun, firing at near point-blank range.

"Forward railgun destroyed!"

"Sir! Ship has been completely disarmed!" The X.O. reported.

"Damn…" The Captain cursed quietly.

Backing up a safe distance, May fired the last conventional round into the bridge.

/CRITICAL WARNING: OGOTO OVERHEAT

"Bridge crew was wiped out, ship is crippled sir!"

"Well, that's that." The Captain sighed, resigned to his fate. "Sol One, the rest lies with you."

"Copy that." The pilot responded quietly.

Targeting amidship with the last shell in the OGOTO, two things happened when she fired.

/CIRTICAL WARNING: OGOTO DAMAGED

/OGOTO: DEPLETED

The long barrel of the heavy cannon peeled like a banana, it's structure having been softened by overheating. Fortunately, it was out of ammo, so it was not a critical loss.

Meanwhile on the Kirov, the shell struck and imploded, fusing Hydrogen into Helium. The central eighty meters of the ship simply ceased to exist, being consumed in nuclear fire. The rest of the ship was torn asunder by the force of the one kiloton fusion shell, rapidly sinking.

May breathed out a sigh of relief, having finally eliminated nearly every enemy asset in the A.O.

Nearly every asset.

"So, it's just you and me now." Sol One regarded his adversary calmly.

May turned to the aircraft in the distance, nodding to him.

"Then I shall be your opponent this evening." Sol One remarked. "To think an old man like me would be the last one standing."

"…" May smiled, flexing in anticipation of battle.

"This should prove to be fun." Sol One promised.

Iturup Island - Cape Triokhpaly Airbase - Base Facilities - Southern Building

Breaking down the door by running into it, Monika breached the next room in the facility, still looking for Sayori. Instead, she found two guards hiding, bringing their rifles up in defense. Faster on the draw, she raised her shotgun, firing twice with heavy slugs, killing them both.

Coming out into the hall, she found four men in a firing line just at the next corner. Firing three shells rapidly, she ran out of ammo during her approach, only managing to kill three of them. Grabbing the spent shotgun by the barrel, she used it as a club, crushing the skull of the last man.

Down the next hall, another squad had set up to stop her. Dropping her shotgun, she pulled out her pistol, firing into the crowd with her left arm pointed up in front of her face to protect it. Advancing in defiance of the gunfire heading her way, she kept moving, killing, doing what must be done.

Cruel and callous and hateful, the enemy would pay for taking that sweet girl from them.

Base Facilities - Eastern Building

Closing the distance, Yuri fired her shotgun at point blank range, watching in exquisite detail with her one good eye as the heavy slugs tore men apart. Heads and limbs removed wholesale, and bodies torn open by the heavy slugs.

Bringing the enemy into close combat, she fired into someone's eye, watching everything above the mouth spill open and fall apart. Swinging the stock of the shotgun around, she buried it in another soldier's temple, the body held up only by her pinning it to the wall. Swinging right, she pinned the next soldier to the other wall with the shotgun against their throat. Pulling it free, she aimed it at their throat, firing and decapitating the man.

Ducking a shot aimed at her own head, she circled around and swung her gun up, catching a soldier in the mouth, lifting him with the barrel of the shotgun caught inside and pointed up. Pulling the trigger rained brain and gore back on herself.

Spitefully, she was paying them back for the bullet still lodged in her own skull, wanting to see heads roll, and carrying out her own wish.

Base Facilities - Western Building

Running at full sprint, Natsuki ducked low, using her small size to her advantage. Having attached her knife to the armored paneling on her left arm, she used it the same way that Armored Core pilots would know to use a blade for hundreds of years, with vicious slashes and cruel thrust.

Holding her compact submachinegun in her right hand, she would spray at close range any too close, aiming for weak spots. Every burst she fired crippled or killed, and every slash took limbs and heads.

Firing into one man's knees, she followed with a knife to the throat. Cutting the arm off the next man, she pushed the barrel of her weapon to their face, firing a short burst. Stabbing another man in the heart, she kept him skewed on her blade, using his body as cover as she pushed the line, firing closer and closer to her hateful enemies.

These men who had stolen her best friend from her, they would all pay with their lives.

Base Facilities - Stockade

"…" Sighing painfully, James surveyed the damage before him.

Hundreds and hundreds of men, shot and butchered and torn to bloody shreds. Piled high in every hall and every room. At times with a look of fear and terror still etched in cold, unblinking eyes; at other times as unrecognizable lumps of ruined meat, and stains of blood pooled on the floor, up the walls, and across the ceiling.

Stepping over mounds so thick he could only step on bodies, the most concerning thing…was that he had not killed these men.

There were only two emotions running through his mind, relating to the carnage before him. Pride and concern.

Still looking for the culprit of the slaughter they stood in, Strayed listened, hearing the quietest breaths of fearful and hiding men around a corner. On the wall before the corner, it found a junction box, and opened it to find a power breaker and a fuse box. Tearing a power cable from the breaker, it struck it straight into the fuse box, killing all lights in the building.

For the dozen men hiding from a Banshee, they had been fearfully listening to the encroaching wet footsteps from around the corner, watching the empty hall they were guarding. Now, they were basked in terrible, choking darkness.

"NVG!" Whispered their impromptu leader.

Flipping the night vision goggles hanging from their helmets down, the hallway now appeared to be softly lit in grey-green light. Two steps in front of the group, a dark clothed butcher stood, an actual cannon held in it's right hand, and a three foot blade hanging from it's left wrist. More terrifyingly, the figure was still striding forward, silently straight for the first man.

"Ahh-!" The man hadn't managed much more than a squeak of fear before The Butcher took his head with an anticlimactic slash, striding towards the next man with cold indifference.

"Fire! Open Fire!" Shouted the man at the rear, already firing in full auto, as every man in the line fired desperately at the black beast of ORCA.

With a flick of it's wrist, Strayed bifurcated the second man with it's blade, then raised it's cannon to fire into rest of the men.

Using 30x250mm caseless high explosive shells directly on men was more than overkill, it was indecent and depraved; much like the Lynx holding the RMK 30 cannon was.

The rounds armed as they left the barrel, the first man was blown to pieces, blinding the man next to him as his body exploded in a bloody pulp.

"OH GOD!" Was the last thing the next man was able to say before a 30mm round replaced his head with air.

"The fuck!? A cannon!?" Someone protested, being cut in half by the next high explosive shell.

"Run! Just run!" Was suggested, but was impossible as they had backed themselves into a corner. Another man was turned into red mist.

Yet another man made a break for it, dropping his weapon in the process. Strayed pressed the barrel of the weapon to his chest, and fired. Everything above the waist instantly tore apart and rained back down, painting the Lynx dark red.

But Strayed didn't care. It just fired, and fired, and fired, and fired, and-

It was out of ammunition.

"Please!" The last man in the back pleated on the ground. "Have mercy!"

Flipping the cannon so it was held by the barrel, Strayed advanced with a cold and callous stride, unbothered by the thick red puddles it waded through.

Raising the spent cannon above it's head, it brought it down, breaking the man's arm. It repeated the action, using the cannon as a club to beat the man and break every single bone in his body; over, and over, and over again.

Base Facilities - Mess Hall

"Please no! No! NO!"

Silencing the begging, The Banshee squeezed, crushing the man's skull.

This is exactly as things should be, an enemy before her, to be driven, and hounded, and hunted, and slaughtered. This was war at it's highest levels, sacrificing everything for the very next kill.

That's what he wanted to see from her, right? To see her tear the enemy apart? To be filled with terrible desire satiated only by a long line of corpses? Just as he had left the world?

To be so lost in the slaughter that the only thing that mattered was the need to kill again?

Then so be it. She was content where she was, knee deep in gore, every breath and movement done with the intent of ending lives.

…

Her breathing…was still hard, labored, like she couldn't calm down. Her heart still beating a mile a minute, despite having been calmly standing for a while now. A sliver of concern crossed Sayori's mind, that her chest and lungs still burned, desperate for air.

Her limbs ached and burned, struggling with her own weight. Muscles like wet paper, and bones like chalk. She felt as though she could sleep forever, her head spinning and ears ringing. In spite of the evidence around her, she never felt weaker than ever before.

Unable to stand it anymore, she fell to her knees, clutching her head and chest. Breathing deeply should have helped, but it did nothing to alleviate the pain that permeated her body.

A door opened at the end of the hall, and the threatening sound of angry boots approaching…

Even knowing there was a threat before her, Sayori could barely respond to it, not until it grabbed her by the shoulder with an unkind grip, forcing her to stand.

"You!" The General sneered, punching her in the gut.

Gasping painfully, Sayori just managed to push him away, only to fall to the side, beginning to crawl away.

"Damn you!" The General shouted, following after her, delayed as she kicked at his shins. "Who are you, that ORCA would go through such trouble to recover you?!"

Finding a chair to support herself, Sayori struggled, forcing herself to stand weakly.

"Answer me!" The General made to grab at her throat, but Sayori pushed one hand off, biting the other one. "Ack! Bitch!" Kicking her backwards, Sayori lost balance, smacking into the ground painfully.

Already upon her, The General straddled her, this time closing his hands on her throat, intending to choke the life out of her. Not having it, Sayori reached, managing to find something metal, and stabbed it into his arm.

"Shit!" The General stepped off her, pulling a fork from his arm as Sayori crawled away again, finding another chair to lean against.

"Fucking bitch! Answer me! Why is ORCA so interested in you!" The General demanded, approaching again. Pushing the chair at him, The General tripped slightly, as Sayori brought her fist up and punched him in the chin, causing him to recoil.

But even that small victory was more trouble than it was worth. Breathing was still painful, and she felt that she could fall asleep at any moment. There was one way to win, perhaps, but it would probably hurt.

The General not yet recovered from the hit to chin, Sayori rushed him as well as she could, bringing her knee up between his legs. Instead of backing up safely, she stood uncomfortably close, reaching…

"Aaaa! F-Fuck you!" The General punched her across the jaw, taking all of her strength as she fell to the ground hard. Stepping away to hold himself, The General decided he'd had enough, reaching for his gun, to shoot the girl on the ground…

Where was his gun? It should have been in the holster at his side, but looking down found it empty.

The sound of a weapon cocking caught his attention, as he looked down at the girl.

Spitting blood, Sayori sat up, aiming the handgun she had stolen off him, but couldn't fire. She wasn't hesitating, no, she was just tired. Just so exhaustibly tired that her eyelids seemed to weigh a ton, and the weapon in her hands ten times that. She struggled to keep the weapon up, her breathing still erratic and uncertain, as she fought to stay awake.

She was so tired, she didn't notice someone enter the room.

Pacific Ocean

High over the dark and cold ocean, two warriors clashed.

A black Su-30 with orange wingtips, facing off against a black and white 03-Aaliyah. It should have been no contest; the twenty-fifth century Armored Core should have torn the late twentieth century fighter apart.

Yet Sol One himself was not so easily slaughtered, having spent an entire lifetime perfecting the art of aerial warfare.

And for that…May found herself enraptured.

Despite the difference in technology and power-output, Sol One pushed himself and his aircraft to the very edge, more than able to match the Armored Core in it's damaged state. Every maneuverer executed perfectly to evade, or pursue.

Fighting not for country, or revenge, or ideals; May and Sol One fought only for the challenge, the honor to face a worthy and dangerous foe.

Less a battle and more a graceful dance, each of them playing their part and moving with the other. The only misfortune was their intent to kill the other in this beautiful and delicate movement.

Lifting her gatling gun, May fired a two second burst, uselessly. Sol One dodged around, working his way closer. Boosting to a new position, she fired again, yet he had turned into the shots, firing a railgun at close range, missing the NEXT but still bleeding Primal Armor.

Forced to dodge again, May retargeted the incoming pilot, too close for him to dodge, and let lose a four-second burst, filling the air with glowing orange tracers of Depleted-Uranium.

Yet still, Sol One turned into the attack, spinning around bullets so that where few did strike, they did so at the flattest angel, doing minimal damage. Dangerously close, he let off a pair of missiles, a burst of his own 30mm cannon, and a railgun shell, before diving away safely.

The accurate application of so much ordnance so quickly popped the Primal Armor, leaving May with just the armored shell. What had before taken entire squadrons and fleets to deplete her energy shielding…one man was able to accomplish with nothing more than skill and will.

With just a few seconds before her forced cooldown, May decided to abandon the pretense of advantage, to fight both fair and without restriction.

"Discontinue Primal Armor charge. Prioritize cooling and thrusters." May ordered the computer in the NEXT.

/OPERATIONAL CONTROL: PROGRAM MODIFICATION

/DISENGAGE PROGRAM: PRIMAL ARMOR

/INCREASE COOLING EFFICIENCY

/INCREASE THRUSTER EFFICIENCY

/FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS CANCELLED

Able to hold herself in the air for longer, May boosted forward, pursuing her most wonderful enemy. Falling in on his tail, May lined up a two-second burst. Yet Sol One knew it was coming, pulling up and away far faster than would be expected.

Boosting up in pursuit, May suddenly found herself on the defensive, forced to dodge a railgun shell that rocked her as it passed. She fired a short burst, discouraging him from continuing the attack run.

His moves were perfect! Knowing exactly how to move his plane and when. May quietly realized, that if this man had been born half a millennium later, then he would have easily taken a spot among the top ten of Collared, maybe even giving Otsdarva...and even Strayed a true challenge. Such a foe was worthy of the deepest respects she could give.

An honorable duel to the death.

Sol One looped back around, fearlessly committing a head-on attack. Boosting into the attack, May forced him to miss his railgun shot. Firing a four-second burst, May tried to close the distance, yet he crossed through the fire, out of her arm's actuator range.

Coming back around on his tail, May tried to lead ahead of him with a two-second burst, but failed again as Sol One spun perfectly to evade. Turning around, it seemed as though he was fighting for a spot on her tail, before he suddenly turned into her path, his aircraft seeming to slide into attack position. A railgun shot over her head reminding her of his capabilities.

Forced to boost forward to evade, a missile alert already on her tail as Sol One closed in suddenly. Spinning around and backing up, May shot down the missile with a second long burst, then boosted forward, holding down the trigger.

They seemed committed to the head on, and at these closing ranges they were both certain to get a hit.

Five seconds from intercept, her gun leaving a long line of tracers in the sky.

Four seconds from intercept, Sol One opened up with his own 30mm, still dodging her rounds as he did so.

Three seconds from intercept, she could see where, in just a moment, her rounds would intercept and shoot down Sol One, so long as she kept holding down the trigger…

/GAU-8: DEPLETED

Ah…that's a problem. May realized, being completely disarmed, her gatling gun going silent. In front of her, Sol One's railgun began to charge.

Two seconds from intercept, May refused to give up, drawing back the gun, prepared to do something, anything, to damage her enemy.

/GAU-8: PURGING

Less than a second from closing, May threw the six-hundred pound gun into Sol One's flight path.

Caught off guard, Sol One broke off the attack, pulling up and missing with his railgun, though still managing to strafe her with his own 30mm cannon. He almost dodged the airborne gun, but caught it at the leading edge of his wing, damaging a slat. Still flight worthy, Sol One retreated, leaving May weaponless.

Well…

Though she had no ammunition, and the one laser blade she had was damaged, she still had two laser blade mountings. It was fortunate that Strayed had favored the 07-Moonlight, as its mounting was shaped like a giant, forked knife, split down the middle. Though only 1.5 meters long, it was something, the maximum distance she would be able to attack without literally trying to punch a plane out of the sky.

Ready to return to the fight, Sol One spoke into the radio, excited by the dogfight they shared.

"This weapon is not enough to take down ORCA. This aircraft is my body. If they are not enough, then I must put my soul into it."

"…" Smiling in response, May engaged her quick-boosters, meeting Sol One, and beginning their dance once again. Forced into combat at the absolute closest of ranges, May could finally see her opponent, face to face.

An old man, wrinkled with age and time, his hair going from grey to white, and eyes that still burned an ocean blue. He did not flinch or blink as she closed on him, merely keeping her in his sights, the fringes of a smile behind his breathing mask.

Coming so close that she could have shouted, and he would have heard above the roar of their engines, May and Sol One danced. Pursuing and countering, spinning around at breakneck speeds, and higher and higher into the sky.

It was certainly the highest May had ever flown. Altitude restrictions in her own time had limited her to a maximum altitude of eight kilometers. Anything above that would get shot at by the Assault Cells in Low Earth Orbit. But here in this time, in this fight, she was free, as she fought an equal, at more than twice that altitude.

"There are pilots like you in every generation, and I felled every last one of them." Sol One promised, his gun strafing across her Core, and his railgun growing more accurate, now singeing her paint with every shot.

Their fight was drawing to a close, as Sol One surged up, to his maximum altitude of seventeen kilometers, coming back down for one last pass.

"You're quite the entertainer, but the show's over with this next shot."

Knowing this wonderous and graceful fight could go on no longer, May readied herself, for one last swing to end it.

Sol One closed, his railgun charged, aiming for her Core, and firing at such close range that he would not miss.

Unfortunately, he fired at the thickest part of her armor, still doing tremendous damage, but May still had plenty of armor to absorb many more hits. Caught at the perfect distance, May aimed her strike, needing only to swing out sideways to end it…

But…

Even knowing he was too close to evade, Sol One did not flinch, merely staring back calmly, and waiting. Their fight had been so incredible, and Sol One had proved himself such a worthy and honorable foe…that…

May swung down, the blunt, improvised blade slamming into Sol One's right wing, sheering it off.

Out of the fight, Sol One spun downward, fighting to control his aircraft.

May breathed a sigh of relief, only to listen intently as the radio squawked from Sol One, one last time.

"Can you hear me, pilot of ORCA?" Sol One called, still calm even as alarms blared in his cockpit. "Thank you, for giving this old man one, last fight."

"…" May smiled, slowly lowering her altitude, losing sight of Sol One as he dropped below the clouds.

Calling to her friends, May made her report.

"Green reporting, all secondary targets eliminated."

Iturup Island - Cape Triokhpaly Airbase – Base Facilities – Mess Hall

A gloved hand softly pressed down on the gun in Sayori's hand. Looking to her left, she found…

James…

"That's not you." He whispered. With his other hand, he slipped her red bow onto her head, back where it belonged. "That's not what you do."

Sayori…broke. She remembered herself, how it should be, and was instantly horrified and saddened with herself. An innocence that she craved, that she could never again achieve. Her hunger left unsatiated and appalled. Her countless sins that night, certain to haunt her forever.

Letting the gun fall from her grasp, Sayori sobbed, a pained expression etched deep on her face.

Watching this exchange, The General cautiously backed up, thankful to be saved.

Then James stood, and met his gaze,

"This is what I do." James promised.

"N-No!" The General begged, too late as James pulled the AT4 rocket off his back, and fired it in one motion.

The General…was everywhere. A bit of him here, a bit across the room, smeared on the wall, and stained on the ceiling.

Dropping the spent rocket, James turned back to Sayori, lifting her to her feet. Guided by him, she took a step…

Before she nearly fell over, wheezing, being caught from falling by James. Even as he tucked her into his arms, she continued wheezing, struggling to breathe.

"…" Narrowing his eyes, James looked up, and called into the radio. "Orange to all units. Asset Blue recovered. Ready for extraction."

Runway

Having retreated outside, Monika, Natsuki, and Yuri waited on James as the AI piloted V-22 touched down on an undamaged stretch of the runway.

Shortly, he appeared from between the buildings. A prize worth ending the world tucked in his arms.

His approach was not uneventful, as, halfway to the aircraft, sporadic gunfire hit him in the back, from the very few yet still living guards in the base.

"Ah hell!" Monika shouted. "Red, get on the fifty! Violet! With me!"

While Natsuki stepped up to the ramp to man the rear .50 caliber machine gun, Monika and Yuri rushed out to meet James, firing behind him and trying to expedite his escape with the precious cargo.

Firing blindly with their weapons, their only concern was keeping the enemy down and away while they made their escape.

"Damn! I'm out!" Yuri shouted, dropping her shotgun. Pulling out her pistol, she set it to full auto, spraying blindly.

At the step to the ramp, Monika and Yuri holstered their handguns, pushing James along. As soon as their feet left the tarmac, the aircraft began to lift, Natsuki still firing away with the rear gun. Airborne, Hustler One added it's own fire to the mix, the gatling gun on the belly of their aircraft firing against the last few defenders, even as the V-22 transitioned to it's high-speed flight mode, making haste towards the Anatolia.

Not even bothering to sit in any of the seats, James fell to his knees, gently setting Sayori on the floor of the aircraft. Around him, Monika and Yuri fell as well, and Natsuki abandoned the gun as the ramp was closed.

Pulling her helmet off, Monika winced as she felt a deep, aching pain in her right shoulder. Knowing her arm was likely in a poor state, she kept her armor on. The same as her, Natsuki took off her helmet, keeping her left arm close to her chest, her armor still on. Yuri stepped out of her armor, but kept her helmet on, appearing hesitant and painful to take it off.

Looking down, Monika took in the sight of Sayori, and was appalled. Covered head to toe in blood, Sayori was drenched in dark red. More concerningly, she struggled to breath, tugging at her neck and chest.

"Sayori…? Sayori!" Monika shouted, falling to her knees next to her friend.

"Sayori what's wrong!?" Natsuki asked worriedly.

"…" Yuri looked up to James worriedly, waiting on an explanation.

"James! James what's wrong with her?! Why can't she breath!?" Monika demanded.

"…" Shamefully, James averted his gaze from his commander, watching Sayori struggle quietly. "When I entered the building Sayori had been held in, I found such carnage…" He paused. "She had escaped, and was trying to fight her way towards us. Except…she fought so hard…she fought like a Lynx, and it's killed her."

"Wh-What? I don't understand?" Monika asked desperately.

Pulling his phone out, James scanned Sayori over, already knowing what he would see. "Every bone in her body is riddled with hairline fractures. Every muscle is torn, lacerated, in a state of contusion, and oversaturated with lactic acid. Her lungs are filling with fluid, and her heart…her heart will fail in ten minutes, maybe less."

"Wha-! How did this happen!" Natsuki cried out.

"Extreme overexertion. She fought at the upper limit of what is physically possible for humans, for so long that her body is irreparably damaged."

"That's…no…no!" Yuri whimpered, distraught.

"So…she's dying? Is there anything you can do to save her?" Monika begged, still hopeful. "What about those Nanites you have…could they save her?"

"…No." James admitted, soberly. "I can't stop the complete body failure she's experiencing, and Nanites wouldn't be able to fix her heart quickly enough to stop it from failing."

"Then…this was all for nothing…we ended this world for nothing…" Monika realized, her heart growing heavy with shame and despair.

"…!" The smallest of sounds got their attention, as Sayori struggled, forcing her eyes open. "…Yu…"

"S-Sayori…!" Yuri cried out, grasping at Sayori's hands. Realizing this might be the last time she could speak to the girl, she decided to say what was most important. "You were the first real friend I've ever had. You opened me up and…I will be forever grateful to you for that!"

Smiling, Sayori weakly squeezed her hands, turning away from her. "…Na…"

"Oh! Sayori!" Natsuki cried. "Thank you for being so honest with me, so concerned with my feelings and well being! Thank you! Thank you so much for everything!" Natsuki leaned down, placing a kiss on Sayori's head.

Forcing herself to keep breathing, Sayori turned painfully, towards her other two friends. "…Mo…"

For a moment, Monika was speechless, pained and terrified of losing her friend. But she couldn't focus on that now, not as Sayori lay dying.

Lowering herself down to Sayori, so that she could hold her in her arms, Monika let spill her emotions. "Sayori…Sayori…I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I've been so selfish, so unpleasant, so difficult! You have been the best friend I could ever hope for!" Monika bared her teeth in a silently scream. "I don't regret it, what I've done to this world. I would do it all again for the chance to hold you here. I'm sorry. I'm…sorry…!"

Sayori gently ran her fingers through Monika's hair, and across her back, as Monika buried her face against Sayori's chest. Having let it out, Monika backed away, to let Sayori say goodbye, one last time.

"…Ja…"

"…" James stared down, accessing the cost of his most recent mistake.

"…Ja…!" Sayori cried more desperately, reaching out weakly. Her hands were caught in his, held as he met Sayori's tired blue eyes with his own, cold, orange ones.

"…Ja…" Sayori seemed content, even if James only held the same impassive expression he always held. She giggled slowly, smiling painfully. For James, his silence only intensified, as he slowly made a choice.

"…" Sayori grew quiet, limp, unconscious, and sure to slip away soon.

"No…no…no…no…no…" Natsuki cried.

"…!" Yuri drew in on herself, crying softly.

Monika watched as the final prerequisite to her nightmare came to pass. Already, she could feel a burning distain grow in her heart, distain for a dying world that had held no sympathy for someone as sweet and wonderful as Sayori had been. Insatiable desire to see it all brought down, all brought before the indiscriminate justice ORCA would seek. A choice to truly, bring about an end to all things, in revenge for a friend who had meant more than she would ever know. Let it burn.

A consensus was reached, and James spoke.

"I refuse to accept this outcome."

Instantly, Yuri, Natsuki, and Monika turned to him, unable to perceive what he meant.

"What are you saying?" Natsuki questioned.

"Dammit James…Sayori is…" Yuri wanted to chastise him.

"She's still alive, for the moment. If she is to survive, we must be decisive."

"Wh-What is your plan?! How will you save her?!" Monika begged.

James pointed up to his chest. "I have a spare."

"T-That's right! Your second heart!" Natsuki realized.

"You'd give her your own heart…" Yuri uttered, shocked and inspired.

Monika eyed James suspiciously, knowing by now that nothing was so simple. Grabbing him by the shoulders, she leaned close, face to face.

"I don't have to be a heart surgeon to know how incredibly risky that is, and knowing you, there is a lot you are not telling me." Monika sneered, showing her teeth. "I want…-no, I demand to know all the risk involved."

"…" James closed his eyes, nodding reluctantly. "You are correct. Lynx organs were not meant to be compatible to humans. In the short-term, I will have to maintain a physical connection to the heart to operate it for Sayori, and in the long term, Sayori will need to be augmented, to a HumanPlus. Additionally, we will be losing a lot of blood, so we would have to link our circulatory systems to compensate, and for me to provide her oxygen. Her blood in me will render me unconscious, due to it's low density. If my blood fills her volume greater than fifty percent, her capillaries will burst from the high pressure, killing her. If we lose too much blood, then we both die, and I won't be revived this time."

Gritting her teeth, Monika weighted the risk. "That sounds…incredibly dangerous…"

"Yes." James blinked, then gently pried Monika off of him. "So I won't give you a choice."

/SELF-SURGICAL MODE: ONLINE

Without hesitation, James quickly drove a knife into his own chest, tracing the stitching May put there days ago. Before anyone could even react, he'd reached inside, twisted, and pulled out his own left heart, still beating from the wire connected to it.

"Oh…for fucks sake." Monika cursed.

"Eww." Natsuki flinched at the sight.

"…Ah…" Was all Yuri could manage, being both fascinated and disgusted.

"There is a…small problem." James admitted. "I suffered 'some' damage during the assault, so I do not feel comfortable cutting into Sayori. You will have to do that." He then forcibly handed the knife to Monika, still aghast from watching James remove his own heart.

"…" Hissing, Monika gripped the blade tightly. Even knowing the risk, she knew what needed to be done.

"I'm sorry Sayori." Monika spoke softly to the unconscious girl. "But I need you to live. Please forgive me."

Then, guided by James, she began cutting open her best friend.

Pacific Ocean – South of Iturup Island

Watching the base burn in the distance, The Investigator watched as a V-22 escaped into the night. White letters read as "ORCA" spelled out on the side.

"Goodbye, kind Sayori." The Investigator whispered, hoping she'd make it home alright. Returning to the controls of the patrol boat he had "requisitioned" he set about to escape.

There was a sound though, of jet engines struggling to remain airborne. Looking up, The Investigator saw the belly of a one-winged Su-30, coming down almost on top of him. Ducking down instinctively was pointless when the aircraft sailed overhead, making what had to be the gentlest crash landing he had ever seen in the water behind the boat.

Running to the stern, he could make out the pilot forcing himself out of the cockpit, before the water could overtake his plane and drag it down. Reacting quickly, he grabbed a life preserver, throwing it very close to the pilot.

Seeing this, the pilot jumped for the life preserver, grabbing hold as The Investigator pulled him on board.

Grabbing the man by the hand, The Investigator was surprised at how old the man was, the sharp lines of age cutting into his face. Then, he realized who he had just pulled from the ocean.

"Mihaly A. Shilage. Fancy meeting you here."

"Yeah…" Mihaly sat down on the deck to catch his breath. "Who are you?"

"You may call me 'The Investigator.'"

"I see. I have heard of you. Analyst and spy, right?"

"Yes, though I may be looking for new employment now." The Investigator glanced at the burning base in the distance.

"…Was that their true objective?" Mihaly asked.

"Yes. All this to save a girl, believe it or not."

"Ha." Mihaly laughed tiredly. "Long day," he groaned.

"I take it the experimental squadron went out to engage ORCA?" The Investigator questioned.

"We certainly tried…but that woman…Green, she was in possession of a truly advanced weapon. A giant robot, if you can believe it. Heavily armored and fast as a fighter jet."

"Fascinating."

Both men were forced to cover their eyes then, as a blinding light came from the North. When it had faded, both looked up to see a mushroom cloud, rising over the remains of Cape Triokhpaly Airbase.

"…five kiloton, I'd say." The Investigator remarked.

"They used nukes to cover their tracks?" Mihaly noted, looking to the South and East, seeing the distant light of four more nukes. "Should we be worried?"

"No. ORCA apparently possesses the technology to produce nuclear weapons without using fission materials."

"…I want to retire." Mihaly groaned.

"How fortunate, I was just making my way to Japan. Care to join me, old man?" The Investigator mocked in good nature.

"…Sure. Fairly positive the world thinks we are dead anyway."

The Investigator nodded, returning to the boat's controls, before one more question crossed his mind. "Excuse me, but I have to know. Your file is rather…shall we say, black. How old are you?"

"…" Mihaly stared blankly at the man. "I'm ninety."

Author's Note: Oh! This is for sure the longest chapter I have ever written, but at least I finished it. This is what I was working on, back when I didn't upload for three months. Also, managed to finish chapters 37 and 38, so I am finally working on the end of the story, and what a ride it will be.

Not as much terminology to cover, but I wanted to point out for anyone who didn't know, the CADS turret is a Russian CIWS with 2 30mm Gatling guns and 8 short range missiles. Also, as part of a discrepancy, all of the Udaloy Class ships that were mentioned were all armed with their Udaloy II configuration, when in reality, only one ship exist with the upgraded set up.

Otherwise, feel free to let me know what you thought, and look forward to more! Thank you all for reading!

To JaphetSkie: Why are we sticking to this format again?

1. True, but I chose the GM6 for the other name it is known for. The Irony of it. :P

2. Yes, though if I had to rationalize this (in a way that is totally not covering my ass for being lazy as hell), the "guards" are all auxiliary forces, so not frontline soldiers. I may have forgotten to mention the equipment of the Special Forces, but it would all be AK-74 or newer. Just remember, this is 2017.

3. It was not technically the first time that quote came up, but yes. The first time was the title of chapter 7.

4. Yes, so really swinging hard and fast.

5. I looked that up too for a few reasons, and infantry power armor is prevalent in Armored Core from the very first game. There was even power armor infantry panned for Armored Core 4, for the missions inside the Sphere Reactor.

6. :P

Thank you again for sticking with the story and giving constant reviews!