Armored Core: Controller Chronicles

Prologue:

AD (After Destruction) 146

March, 3

Location: Layered, Level 2, sector 102, Yasuke Residence

Sector 102, a silent sector untouched by the wars of the Corporations and, as such, lacking any signs of mecha damages. Young, 18 year old Nick was packing his suitcase for his new job. He is about 5'9" tall with a relatively large appearance, but not exactly fat. His brown hair was short and a mess, but perfectly matched his brown eyes. He smirked about it, knowing exactly what he was going to do. He was going to be a Raven, an elite few that fight in powerful robots called Armored Cores. He wished, anyway. He had recently taken the exams, but had failed horribly in the combat test. He wasn't alone in that test, and his ally was able to save him from certain death, the price any aspiring Raven pays for failure of the test by the targets. He was angry that he failed the test, and had to be bailed out by his own brother just to survive. Although he failed, he was seen as a pilot with some potential in the eyes of Crest. He was now getting ready to become an MT pilot, which is a stepping stone to his ultimate goal in his eyes.

He paused as he sensed someone near the door and looked up. "Hey bro," he said, recognizing who it was leaning on the door frame. Standing about 5'11" tall, he was a lot leaner looking than his younger brother. They both had the same eyes and hair color, but his was longer and messier. He was wearing conventional clothes, namely a pair of blue jeans with a white tee shirt.

He nodded to Nick. "Ready to go?" he asked. Nick's grin said it all as he closed his suitcase, positive he had everything he needed in there. "Come on, then. You can't be late for your first day." He then left the room, heading for his car.

Nick followed him out to the car. It was a '96 Ranger, a relic predating the Great Destruction that the two of them had been able to repair and remodel. Nick threw his case into the truck, noticing that his brother had already put his own in there. Both of them sat down in the vehicle as it was started up, and then drove away from the house. He looked at his brother. "So, guess you're going now too, eh Dan?" he asked. His brother nodded as he watched the road.

"So, what are you going to do?" Dan asked his brother, skillfully driving around a corner. He already knew what Nick's answer.

"It's Crest," he said. "I'm going to be a Muscle Tracer pilot for them for a while, then try to take the test again to become a Raven." Dan couldn't help but smile at that. He was worried about him, since MTs aren't exactly as though as an AC can be. "My friends all decided to become MT pilots as well with Crest. I'm sure they'll let us work together rather than split us up."

"Really," Dan replied, turning down another street and taking the ramp onto the main road. "I'm actually surprised about that." He turned to his brother. "And you're going to make sure that you're not killed in an MT?"

Nick glared at his brother. "I won't make the same mistake as in the Raven test," he said. "At least I can get better at flying one if I fly an MT first. They do say that the OS and cockpits for the two aren't that much different."

Dan nodded. "Just remember that I won't be there to save your ass like in the test," he said. Nick didn't need to be reminded of that. He looked back at his brother, just now noticing the pin of a raven he was given for competing the test. It was a black pin with a gold beak and gold eyes. He remembered why he got that. The examiners claimed that he was amazing with that trainer AC, having taken little more than 20 damage. He still couldn't believe it. Nick himself was doing fine against the MTs that were out there, but then someone dropped additional MTs down. They were a newer model, armed with bazookas and a shell shield on their left arm. They couldn't jump, but they were designed to take on an AC on nearly equal grounds, unlike the biped walkers they were fighting. His trainer AC was wrecked, only the left hand and legs were still working. The right hand was blown off, along with the missiles and radar, the head was barely there, and the cockpit was blasted open by an attack. He would've been dead with the next shot if Dan hadn't taken the hit for him, taking mild core damage as he sliced the enemy in half. Nick was forced to retreat while his brother took on the enemy, but he did finish off one of the AC busters with his laser sword, only because its back was turned to him to try and shoot the other.

"No need to rub it in," Nick replied in an angered tone.

Dan laughed at this. "I wasn't. I was just stating the truth. You're more likely to be my enemy now…" His laugh dissipated before he answered, his face becoming serious as he said this. He took another turn, taking them off the ramp and heading straight for the main Crest building. "And I really don't want to kill you either," he continued, "which is why I'm giving you this!" He dug into his pocket as he kept one hand on the wheel, skillfully turning the old pickup into the Crest parking lot. He pulled his hand out to reveal a small little device.

Nick looked at it, trying to see what it was. He gave up after a minute. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's a special chip I built after the test," he said, shifting the truck into park. "I have several more here. They're little beacons set at a certain frequency. If either one of us are near each other, these things will warn us of where the other is located." He gave him one, then dug into his pocket again. "How many of those guys are your friends?"

"Just three."

Dan nodded again as he pulled out three more. "Give these to them and tell you what I said. Just have them installed in your cockpits to make sure. As long as you have them, I won't attack you by accident, or your friends for that matter." He then smiled. "Don't let crest know about them, K?" Nick nodded. "Good. Come on now, you've got to get your stuff. I've already spoken to the Crest executives earlier. They'll give you everything you need, then ensure you have a room."

He looked at his brother. "What do you mean you talked to them?"

He smirked. "I accepted a mission for them. I'm going to check out rumors of a terrorist group in sector 526. Sounds easy enough."

"Too easy," Nick said. "I don't think you even know what they're using. Just be careful. I want to get the chance to fight you in the arena when I make Raven."

"I'll be careful," Dan said. "But I'm not too sure about the arena thing. I'll just do my best."

"You'd better," Nick said at last, pulling his suitcase out of the truck. "I'll see you on the battlefield."

Dan gave him a thumb up as he drove away, leaving Nick there to face his chances as an MT pilot.

………

AD 147

March 5

1st Layer: District 2 Trene City

A young girl strapped herself into the cockpit of her AC, her fingers gripping the controls as she tried to grasp a feel for the machine. She is about 19 years old with long, blue hair and green eyes. She stands about 5'7" tall and was currently wearing a trainee's grey pilot uniform.

Her AC is the basic machine, not overly powerful, but enough for the training mission. It was an all Crest design that has been used for several years for every aspiring Raven. Its steel grey color was standard as well, since the trainees normally don't have the chance to customize the machines before they get to play with them. Its head was the CHD-01-ATE, the basic head design that had little to offer aside from the most human of AC faces. The core was the CCM-00-STO, the common core part that is widely used for its over boost function as well as average specs. The arms were the CAM-10-XB, a heavy model that is quite stable under fire. The legs were CLM-01-EDF. Its thrusters were the CBT-00-UNI, the poorest boosters one could get, as well as the poor grade generator, radiator, and FCS. Its weapons included the CWM-S40-1 small missile launcher, CWG-RF-200 combat rifle, and CLB-LS-1551 laser sword. It was further equipped with the CRU-A10 radar part, giving the otherwise useless AC some radar capabilities that put most head parts to shame.

"We're nearly there. Let's go over the mission one more time," the Examiner said from the plane. "Your objective is to destroy the targets occupying the city. You're targets are battle MTs. Eliminate them, and you'll be registered as a Raven."

The girl laughed. "Just destroy a few battle MTs? That sounds easy!"

The examiner looked at his list as he eyed the comm from unit 2. "You're Jen Kasuna," he said.

"I respectably wished to be called Tanja, sir," she replied in a mildly irritated tone.

"Say that again when you're a real raven, aspirant," the examiner snapped. He looked at the AC, remembering its curse. It's been nearly a year since that very same AC was severely damaged during a Raven combat test. Ever since then, its proven difficult to handle due to exceptional damages throughout the AC that couldn't be fully repaired without replacing the whole AC. Many pilots that came after that Yasuke boy had barely passed the exam in that AC. Its counterpart, unit 1, was actually piloted by the only Raven that had performed exceptionally well, especially with the interference that was run during the test. "The test has been interfered once before. I'll actually be impressed if you can match the one Raven that aced it even with the interference."

She looked at the screen. 'The test had been infiltrated?' she thought to herself. "That won't happen again, will it?" she asked.

"As an added security measure, an additional Raven is posted nearby to run interference if such a situation happens again. He won't interfere unless he sees that you're going to get killed by a crasher. If you're going to die, it will be by a designated target, not a test crasher," he replied, checking the list again. He smirked. "Speak of the devil," he said, looking down at the city, swearing he saw an AC standing up on the roof of one of the buildings. It's dark blue and purple coloring made it hard to see, and the pale green glow possibly could be part of the building itself. "If your unfortunate enough, the same guy will save your ass."

"Have they needed to run interference yet?" the other girl asked from inside her AC.

He mopped his head at this question. The other problem was that whenever that Raven ran interference missions, there was a good chance it would be interfered. "Only once," he replied. He changed the subject as he noticed where they are. "We are now entering the area of operations, get out there." He said.

"Rodger!" both pilots said as they leapt out of the back of their planes, landing hard on the ground. "Battle mode engaged," their computers chimed, their rifles coming online. Both ACs slipped down the main street, finding two of the targets already. Both fired their rifles, taking down the biped walkers with ease. As they started searching for their next target, a series of loud explosions were heard. Both ACs moved in time to avoid a laser cannon blast.

"What the hell!" Jen shouted, spotting the aggressor. It was a newer MT model, and a dangerous one if ignored. It is a hover class MT equipped with a plasma cannon on its right side. The MT has no close quarters weapons and poor armor, but it moves quite well for an MT.

"I warned you about that," the Examiner said. "They aren't part of the scheduled test. However, you must manage for now." Unit 1 flew further into the city for more of the battle MTs, while Jen went after her new aggressor. Jen tuned in to her Examiner's frequency as she fired at the MT, strafing right to avoid another plasma burst. She overheard a conversation on the line. "I hope you're watching this, Raven."

"I am," a relatively deep voice replied. "The Cortex did catch wind of a possible terrorist attack against the aspirants." Jen gritted her teeth as she finished the MT before moving on to catch up. "I just hope these guys are all that show, and not the other part of their threat." She continued to move when she got shot from behind. She turned sharply and spotted another assailant, but it wasn't an MT.

"They sent a chopper now?" she asked, shooting it down with two hits before it could fire again.

"Something's wrong," the other aspirant said over the comms, her voice sounding worried. "My radar's picking up a lot of enemies."

"We can't cancel the test. Just try to take care of them," the examiner replied. He then started speaking towards the mystery pilot. "Raven, what are you doing?"

A loud explosion was heard on the other side of a building, glass shattering as another plasma MT fell through burned to a crisp. "Working on it," he replied, his AC moving in the shadows just outside of Jen's sight. She started moving in the opposite direction, hoping that some battle MTs were still active over there. "Ah hell!"

"Raven," a woman's voice said over the comms. "They've sent a bomber! It'll be in range in one minute!"

Jen's eyes widened in shock at hearing that. "I know," he replied. "And it's a big one!"

"A bomber," the other aspirant said. "They can't be serious!"

"Focus on the test," the Examiner said. "Leave the bomber to the Raven." Jen gritted her teeth as she heard this. She turned her AC around and activated the over booster.

'I'm not going to take this,' she thought as her AC whined, a sign that the over booster was charging up. 'This is my exam, and I'm not going to let a bomber stop me from becoming a Raven.' Her boosters stopped charging, then a loud explosion was heard as the AC accelerated forward at full speed, Jen being slammed hard into the seat. She gritted her teeth in pain as she resisted the pressure of being pressed into the cockpit, checking her gauges. She deactivated her boosters and fired on another nearby chopper, taking it down with ease.

"The bomber will be arriving in 20 seconds, get ready," the woman said again.

"I'm ready," the voice said again. "These choppers are proving to be quite a pain, the won't stay down."

Jen then saw it on her radar, a green dot directly ahead of her. 'That must be the raven,' she though as she boosted ahead, taking out a few more choppers. She then flew towards the Raven when she saw the bomber up in the sky. It was large and black, flying through the sky at a very high altitude. She realized it was out of her range, so she jumped up in the air and started to fly her AC towards the plane, her missiles armed. She fired them, but was irritated as only one flew towards her target. It impacted underneath the plane causing it to tilt slightly. As she was arming another one, she saw a booster light up in the sky. She instantly knew what it was, it was the Raven. She fired her missile and watched the AC fly right above the plane, firing six missiles down from above. She was surprised when it did what she couldn't believe, it landed on top of the bomber. She then saw muzzle flashes as he fired his machine gun onto it, smoke starting to trail from the bomber.

That's when she saw it, another one of those plasma shooters. The pilot was having it fly further up than it was normally allowed to. 'Is it a customized MT?' she though, moving fast to take it down. She wasn't fast enough, as the MT flew up high enough and fired a plasma beam at the Raven. He reacted by boosting away from the shot, but he fell off the bomber in the process. Jen took advantage of the situation by firing on the MT's hover pad, disabling the MT, and then flew after the bomber. She got a lock on with her missiles when she heard an odd sound coming from her AC. She looked at her gauges and noticed to her horror that the power was failing. She struggled with the AC to stay in the air as she fired the missile, then fired her rifle before the power failed. The missile and round struck the engines of the bomber, sending it out of control as it veered to the side. It crashed a little ways off from where the other AC was still in the testing area.

"Mission complete," the woman said. "Good job, Raven."

"It wasn't me," the voice said.

Before the woman could respond, the Examiner got on the line. "The test is over now, but I can't find Unit 2 in my test area."

Jen struggled with her AC, the power having failed completely. Only the radio, which was running on a separate power source, was still working. "This is Jen," she said. "I kinda got a problem here…"

"Where the hell are you?" the Examiner said, clearly irritated.

"Look out!" Jen heard a loud 'shrak' sound as something was cut clean in half from behind her. She felt as her AC was moved by something from the outside. "This is Mobius, I found Unit 2. Now I see how that bomber was felled."

"What do you mean?" the Examiner said. Jen listened to the radio, unable to see what was happening outside of the AC.

"I mean that I saw a missile and bullet punch into the engines of the bomber when I fell off of it, and I didn't fire at that time. Seems this aspirant got caught up in my mission." There was a pause, then a growl. "This AC has a faulty generator… You let an aspirant fly a defective AC?"

The Examiner sighed. "Couldn't be helped. We do our best to repair them, but that one's been nothing but trouble. That's the same one that was nearly destroyed nearly a year ago." He groaned. "Thanks to Yasuke, that AC couldn't be properly repaired. You should know the details."

"Don't lecture me, and don't think blaming my brother changes the fact!" Mobius snapped. "Where's the other aspirant? I could use a hand here."

"Surely your AC is enough to move a trainer," the examiner said.

"She's not the only thing that needs to be moved," he replied. " There was a damaged plasma shooter out here, I'm assuming this one was damaged by Unit 2. The unit is scrapped, but the pilot is still alive. The Cortex will want to question the pilot as to who's responsible for this fiasco." She sighed. "Hey, what the hell's the name of this aspirant?"

"My name's Jen Kasuna," she replied, remembering how the Examiner snapped at her request.

"Your pilot name, Raven," Mobius asked. She looked up at the radio.

"Raven, she doesn't have the right to have a pilot name. She didn't pass the test!"

"I say she has the right, especially flying this trashier of a training machine, taking on enemy MTs far exceeding battle MTs, and taking down that bomber," Mobius snapped again, silencing the examiner. "Your name, Raven?"

Jen replied, "My name's Tanja, sir."

"Tanja, you should be able to open the cockpit. The main power's out, but the cockpit mechanisms and radio run on a separate power source." She nodded and flipped a switch, then gripped her seat as she felt the cockpit lurch backwards. The entire back section of her AC slid back, the top of the cockpit opening up to the dark night. She climbed up out of the cockpit, standing behind the head of Unit 2. She then turned around, barely able to see the AC standing behind hers.

It was blue upon blue in color, with the aid color being a darker shade of blue. She looked up the AC, taking in its appearance. The legs are CLM-02-SNSK model, the core is the CCM-00-STO, and the arms are the rounded and armored CAL-MARTE. The right arm is carrying the CWG-MG-500 machine gun, the left has the CLB-LS-2551, and its back sported the MWM-S42/6 missile launcher on the right backpack and the CWC-GNL-15 grenade launcher on the left backpack slots. If she looked behind it, she would've seen a pair of MBT-OX/002 boosters that moved the AC at high speeds. She didn't notice that its cockpit portion was also pushed out, but its left hand was close to her AC. She looked up at its face, seeing that it used the CHD-SKYEYE for a head, its pale green 'eye' looking down at her. Next to its head was a man, standing about 5'11" with messy brown hair. She could only see him fairly well because of the AC's green exterior lights being on, and its green 'eye' shone enough light to reveal his appearance. He was wearing a blue pilot suit with a raven embroidered over his heart, while the right side had 'MOBIUS' embroidered on it.

"I can't carry your AC with you still inside," he explained. He nodded towards the hand, and she understood. She gently moved to the extended hand and used it to climb onto his AC. He crouched down on the unit's core as he extended his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Raven."

…………

Here it is, the prequel to Lunar battle. Because of a case of writer's block, I won't be done writing Lunar battle for a bit. I couldn't go on with a sequel yet either, because I'd spoil the ending of lunar battle in doing so. So now, I'm just going to do this prequel of my series. Read and Review.