Armored Core: Lunar Battle

Chapter 14

Oblivion sat inside his AC, situated at the lowest level of the lunar installation. He was still fuming about his last few bouts back on earth. He had tried to fight off the AC team that annihilated the remnants of Neo Core's MT battle forces back at that one Mirage base, and again during the fight at the Cortex. During both fights, he engaged ace pilot Grim Reaper and B1 ranker Tanja. In his first fight, he was sure that the ace would die, since Deathscythe VII had no ammo left and was severely overheating. He only fell back because of the sudden appearance of the Martian ace, Pilan Zeo, and the damages and ammo remaining on his AC. In his second fight, he had badly damaged Tanja's AC, Hunter III, and was causing the AC to overheat when Deathscythe VIII appeared. He hadn't expected the ace to survive his encounter, and was unprepared for the newer AC that the pilot had used. Even worse, the AC had attacked with a back mount laser cannon while moving on biped legs, just as his AC could with its laser and grenade. "That boy is no plus," he murmured from his AC. A beeping sound caught his attention, a communication from the employer. Oblivion merely snorted as he opened the channel. No video feed was available, only audio.

"We have a problem," a deep voice said. Oblivion knew off the bat this guy was using a voice masking system. "The earth Cortex has sent a team of ACs to Lunar."

Oblivion chuckled at that. "So, what's the problem?" he asked. "Your 'state-of-the-art defense system should easily keep them off the surface."

"It fell several hours ago, and our defense teams at our main defense station haven't contacted us yet," the voice said. "A secondary team confirmed three carrier class ships that were on approach here. The orbital defense system destroyed one of the three ships, but the other two landed when four Ravens attacked the cannons. We've been avoiding going after the ships themselves, but we have reason to believe they are approaching this base."

Oblivion checked the status of the base, and smiled. "There shouldn't be a problem. If they come here, they would need to work their way through the entire facility. This base extends down by ten floors large enough for AC units to move through. We have a large number of our NCC model MT units situated here." He chuckled. "Even if they get through those MT defenders, their armor levels would be quite low, more than enough for me to take them down myself."

"Quite true," the voice said. "We'll also be ready in the Behemoth MT we've been redeveloping."

Oblivion looked at the machine they referred to. It was a monster of a machine with several levels of armor plating covering it. It was supposed to move on hover tech used by some AC units. The machine consisted of two large vertical missile launchers on its back, with armored plating on the main thrusters equipped to the bottom back of it. The front had a pair of grenade launcher arms, each capable of firing together with deadly accuracy and able to fire three grenades in succession. Above the grenades were twin laser defense turrets, as well as an orbit cannon dispenser based below the armored cockpit. Oblivion remembered this machine. "You mean that Balena based assault MT," he said. He needn't say more, for that machine in the past was nearly able to destroy Neo Issac. It had ripped through two large MT detachments, and had annihilated three AC units deployed against it nearly twenty years ago. It eventually was destroyed by a fourth Raven, who was lucky enough to find the main segment to attack. The raven responsible for saving Neo Issac from certain destruction was Pilana, the former Nine Breaker, and her Ac, Zeo Streak. This one, however, wouldn't be so easy to destroy, now that its vulnerable parts have been reinforced with additional armor plates. Oblivion had to nod in satisfaction. The MT was near completion, but it was still an immense threat to AC units even at 60 completion, let alone it currently being 90 complete. He checked the data one more time, noticing another gate in the facility. Cameras to the room were unavailable, but the scanners were active and detecting an AC class unit stored within. "What about this section?" he questioned.

"Out of the question," the voice replied once more. "The machine in there would destroy the entire facility, and anyone stupid enough to get in the way of it."

Oblivion frowned, starting to think there was more to the 'Pandora's Box' room than he was being told. However, he had more pressing business to attend to, namely the preparation for his guests.

"Sir," another voice said, showing the helmet of a conventional MT defense pilot. "We've spotted an assault force of eleven AC units approaching the facility. What are our orders, sir?"

Oblivion smiled and opened a channel. "Good work," he said. "Don't engage the mechs. Locate and destroy the transports. Leave the assault force to us." The MT pilot merely nodded in reply before closing his comm. Oblivion smirked. "Ravens, prepare to meet your downfall."

……………..

"This is Devil," Chris started. "Hellbringer and Painbringer are in position for perimeter assault."

Nick nodded inside his cockpit, checking what his AC's Misteye was seeing and checking his placement maps. Next to his AC stood Hunter IV, its Oxi head looking towards the facility. Right behind them were Speed Demon and Quick Death V, with both Eddy and Linda seemingly in a better mood with each other than they were earlier. Royal Mist was with them as well, mounted in his Kaiser AC. The group agreed that on the entering of the facility, task team Recon would link with task team Ace. Ace was the combat team consisting of Grim Reaper (Nick) and his Deathscythe VIII with Tanja (Jen) and her Hunter IV. Recon had Demon (Eddy) and his Speed Demon, Sprint (Linda) with her overhauled Quick Death V, and Royal Mist with his AC Kaiser. Once the two teams reached a certain part inside the facility, they would split up. Since Recon was only going to cover the top two or three floors of the AC scaled facility, and they consisted of two very light ACs and a heavy armored AC with impressive speed, they would need additional protection until they could get to the second floor. Ace would cover them up until they go to the second level up, and then continue down further into the facility. Team Pound consisted of Devil (Chris) and his tank AC Painbringer with Big Shot (Sara) with Hellbringer, and their task was only to attack the exterior defenses of the facility until the other four teams entered the facility, and then they would follow into the facility for mop up operations as they also proceeded down into the facility. Those three teams would enter through the east side entrance. Pilan and her AC Zeo Streak II with Destructor (Zeron) and is likely named AC made up team 9 Break. They were to enter through the south side entrance alone and proceed through the facility. Because of Destructor's configuration, he would constantly swap weapons with whatever weapons are available in weapon bays as Pilan covered him. She claimed she wouldn't be using her Karasawa unless she had no choice, so she would be using her back weapons and Moonlight sword. Team Zeo consists of Dark and his Midnight AC with Doom and her AC Red Death, and they would follow suit as the others using the north side entrance.

"Doom here, team Zeo is ready."

"Pilan here, 9 Break is ready over here."

Kaiser nodded. "Team confirmation confirmed," he said. "Operation commences now!"

All AC units said in one mix of computerized voices. "Mission confirmed, engaging combat mode," resounded on the comm as all units started their move. Explosions attracted the main external MT defenders as Painbringer and Hellbringer opened fire on the turret defenses. During the confusion of fire from the two ACs against the basic space model MT, the other four teams entered the facility.

……………………………………………..

Destructor was successful in hacking onto the facility's mainframe to open the door. "Lets move," he said, his Ac's Nighteye looking at the blue armored Egret head of Zeo Streak. It nodded in reply as the two ACs activated their overboosters, thrusting down into the facility with very little interference. One of the new MTs appeared around the corner to attack them, but it was in Destructors way. With a tap of the controls, the Ac activated and swung its laser blade, decimating the unit with its power and momentum of overboost. It didn't take long for them to need to keep an eye out.

"Alert: enemy units approaching!" the Nighteye warned as Destructor confirmed this on the radar. He armed his rifle and prepared to defend himself from the enemy forces approaching, as he noticed Streak's low trajectory missiles preparing to fire. The units rounded the corner before being impaled with rifle and missile rounds, but they only succeeded in taking down two of the MTs before the others fired down at them. Destructor and Zeo Streak hid around the corners of the hall to avoid incoming fire. He saw as Zeo Streak peeked around the corner, its grenade launcher unfolding as its left hand lifted to hold the weapon. "Fire in the hold," Pilan said as she fired the weapon, taking out the units unable to move out of the way. "Let's move." The two AC units then flew through the hall quickly, before they received another warning.

"Pilan, enemy MTs right behind us!" Destructor warned. The blue AC only glanced behind it briefly before the back panels of its shoulders opened. The sound of machine gun fire was heard as rounds fired from the shoulders into the enemy MTs behind them. One fell while the other one backed off. "The hell was that?" he asked Pilan.

"Back mounted Vulcan," Pilan replied quickly. "Balena created this weapon nearly fifteen years ago, but its lack of usefulness prevented it from being effective. I only placed them in for the hell of it, never thinking they would be needed."

"Good thing you did," Destructor said, continuing to move with Streak.

……………..

Three MTs collapsed as Deathscythe VIII and Hunter IV charged through the facility. Reaper had been holding back on firing the EO, for he can't rearm it in here. That didn't stop him from firing his missiles and machine gun at the enemy. Tanja was following suit, doing their best to cover team Recon. "Just got an update," Mist said over the comm. "Teams Zeo and 9 Break have already infiltrated the facility and are going down further. Team Pound is falling behind schedule, but they say they'll be in here in about eighty seconds."

"Sounds good," Jen replied, looking back at the team. She stopped when she detected enemy MT units approaching from the next corridor. "Enemy at 3 o'clock!" Deathscythe boosted towards the other corner of the hall, barely evading the Gatling rounds fired at him. The misteye peeked around the corner, spotting the enemy MT units.

"Same model as before," Nick muttered. He armed his machine gun and fired down the hall with Hunter IV backing him up with a rifle. "You three, get moving. Radar says the elevator to the next floor is down this hall. We'll keep these fools off your ass!"

"Rodger," Ed replied, looking at his teammates. "Team Recon breaking off. Happy hunting." He led the charge across, with Quick Death V and Kaiser following in its wake. An enemy MT got in his way, but he blasted it down with his stronger machine gun. He then opened the door as the other two approached.

"Get moving," Mist said, practically pushing the two smaller machines into the elevator. Ed merely sighed as he activated the elevator once they all were scrunched in. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the next floor.

"Checking radar," Linda said, noticing an extreme lack of fighters on this level. "I don't see anything up here."

"Not surprised," Eddy replied. "We moved to the top level instead of the second level." He frowned. "I don't think that elevator was a standard one, but an express elevator."

Mist and Linda nodded in agreement as they moved out. "This way," Mist said as he took the lead. "The sooner we find some information, the sooner we can help our allies."

………

Chris sighed as the last defense MT was shot down, his tank having taken little damage. He peeked at Hellbringer, noticing that she was in relatively good shape in regards to damage as well. "Alright, enemy MT units have been destroyed," Chris said, moving his tank over towards the facility as Hellbringer followed. "We'll be in the base in just a minute." His move was slowed down as he heard something opening. Both ACs looked at where the large hatch was, noticing that it was opening up. "Scratch that, an express route just opened up for below."

Nick's voice could be heard on the receiving end. "You know the drill," he replied, the sound of gunfire heard over the comm. "An enemy may use that route to escape. Scratch your original plan and secure that route."

Chris nodded in reply. "You get that, Shot?"

"I heard him," Sarah replied, following Painbringer towards the hatch. "But I don't like it. We should prevent the enemy from leaving there, but I don't think it's wise to go down."

Chris shook his head. "Can't be helped," he said. "We'll go down there carefully, so we can avoid and destroy any defenses they have." Sarah reluctantly nodded to this and boosted towards the opened hatch leading underground. Chris led the way down as Sarah followed.

…...……………

Eddy smiled as he rounded another corner. "Jackpot," he said as his AC walked into the room. He moved it over to a computer terminal and knelt his machine down on one knee. He then opened the cockpit, waiting for the back panel to be fully extended out of the core before hoisting himself up out from the core behind the AC's head. (AN: I learned that the back of the AC extends out to allow the pilot to enter and exit the core from behind the head.) He then moved himself to the console, jumping down his core to ensure he doesn't hurt himself before reaching it. "Cover me, I'm hacking in," he said on his portable comm. device as he started his work on the computer. He plowed through various data segments, smirking as he got the Intel.

Linda looked back at him, her core having turned slightly to let her Rachis head see him. Her laser rifle, Crest's answer to Mirage's Karasawa rifle, was pointing down the hall to fire on any enemy unit that approaches, as Kaiser's weapons pointed in the same direction. "Find anything yet?" she asked, checking her displays to make sure the coast was clear.

"I found enough already to help the teams," Ed replied, changing his frequency to contact the others, then hooked his AC's secondary terminal cables to the terminal itself. "Demon to teams, we've got the data. Transmitting now!"

Mist looked at the displays as the information was sent out, checking out what he found. "Schematics for the Drones, weapon emplacements, weapon storage, facility maps…" He let out a low whistle. "I'm impressed."

Eddy suddenly frowned. "Don't be," he said. "There's some more data here, saying that there are several other units. Two of them are down in the lowest level, but I can't find out what the thing is saying. There's another one up here." He hit the console. "Damn, the data's encrypted! This'll take a minute."

"Pray you have one," Linda warned, her AC turning back towards their escape route. There weren't any enemies on radar or in sight, but she wasn't going to let herself get caught off guard. A high ranker never lets their guard down.

Eddy's fingers danced over the console as he decrypted the data that was stored on the console. He was surprised the enemy didn't approach them yet. He smiled after a few minutes of working, the sounds of explosions below being muffled. "Alright, I got it!" he said, checking the data. His smirk disappeared nearly as quickly as it appeared, for he saw some information he didn't like the looks of. "Oh shit!"

"What happened?" Mist asked, looking at Ed for a moment.

"That data… it was an access encryption! I'm trying to restore it!"

"Access to what?" Linda asked.

…………

Two drones stood their ground in front of a door. Twin ceiling mounted defense turrets were active and guarding the smooth hallway from whoever was foolish enough to head that way. They were completely automated for guard duty, but nothing would prepare these AI units for what was to come.

The door they guarded was locked, as indicated by the red lights on the doors. However, the machines looked at the door once the lights shifted from red to green. Behind those doors, the room within was pitch black. It lightened up a bit with the green light weakly glowing on the inside part of the door. An AC stood in that darkness, its power disabled thanks to the specialized restraints placed on it. That didn't last long, for Ed's decrypting of the data not only unlocked the door, it also disabled the power restraints. The AC gave a soft hum as it started to power up, its fingers flexing as it identified its existing weapon systems. It stood on two legs, both of which were sleek and sturdy, although mildly rusty with age. Its core was boxy in appearance, and it has a part resembling a gun barrel fused into a ball, which was based on the top, front, and center of the boxy core. Its arms were standard, although the triangular pyramid appearance for shoulders was nothing like what current AC models used. These arms and core were as rusty as the legs, but they were armed. The left hand had a gap above the left hand, where a laser blade was hidden within the arm. The right hand had a small pulse rifle that resembled a standard pistol, although it is far smaller than the ones available. On its back were a large folding grenade launcher and a missile launcher system. The AC was rounded off with an oval shaped sphere for a head, with a blue visor visible from the front center of the machine that extended halfway across the head. The machine was red and black, with a large black circle painted on the left shoulder. In the center of that circle was a large yellow nine painted in the middle. The blue visor of the machine glowed to life as the AC once known as Nineball awoke from its slumber, one thought playing across the old customized AI system installed.

"Destroy," it murmured in the voice of Hustler One, the ultimate Raven pilot. The AC took a step forward before it detected the defense system and the MT Drones outside of the door. It armed its weapon system as it knelt down on one knee as its cannon unfolded, its left arm supporting the barrel. The instant that door was opened by Nineball, the machines did what they were programmed to do. They retaliated. It was over in ten seconds, with the turrets and MT's wasted by the AC as it boosted through the halls, its scanners seeking something else to destroy.

………..

Ed slammed his hands on the console, swearing loudly. "Dammit!" he yelled, pulling the cords out of the console as they zipped back into his AC. "We've got to go, now!" he said, moving as fast as he could to get back into his AC.

Linda looked back at him again with her AC. "Why? What happened?"

"I'll explain as we run," he replied quickly, strapping himself back into his AC cockpit as it slid back into the core. "We just have to get out of here now!" His AC stood back up from its kneeling position, turned as fast as it could, then boosted towards the two AC mechs from his team. They followed suit, engaging their own thrusters to avoid getting rammed by their ally. The three of them boosted around the corner and started moving as fast as they could.

Kaiser's Rachis head looked at the Tie head of Speed Demon. "So why the hell are we running right now?" he asked Ed, irritation noted in his voice.

"That encrypted data was meant to seal something," he replied.

"What do you mean?" Linda asked him, her own AC's Rachis head looking at Speed Demon as well.

"That program I decrypted, it was a lock to a hanger that was sealed for a reason," he replied again. "When I decrypted it, I accidentally unsealed that hanger. I also unsealed the AC that was stored in there."

Linda nearly stopped, but Kaiser's moving bulk was reason enough to keep moving. "What AC?" she asked as she rounded another corner. Quick Death V barely moved in time as a grenade slammed into the wall she was next to for only a moment. Kaiser and Speed Demon rounded the same corner and saw it. The red and black AC with the one emblem that was retired from the Nest, and it was kneeling on one knee with a smoking launcher.

"IT'S NINEBALL!" Eddy yelled over the comm., boosting his AC backwards to avoid turning his back on the AC. Kaiser and Quick Death backed up as well, their weapons locked onto the AC. Their computers couldn't identify the target as being the real Nineball, for their systems weren't augmented to include parts from nearly a century ago. "WE'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Destroy!" the voice said over their comms. The AC had suffered from recoil from firing such a powerful shot from the launcher, but it recovered as it fired again at the trio.

………….

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I had a horrible share of trouble and problems since the thirteenth chapter, which was posted exactly one year after this story started. Problems included floppy disk trouble, college classes, Christmas, thanksgiving, and my old computer finally crashing after ten dedicated years of service. I am hoping my new laptop can fill the old Compaq Presario's shoes. I should now finish this series in a few chapters with my new computer now working.

I would now like to thank all who have read this story so far, and I hope that those that did stay with me from the beginning stay with me until the end.