Pilots: Kaze Squadron, 3 Element Wing, Kaze 1 (Squadron Leader), Kaze 2, Kaze 3.
Alpha Squadron, 2 Element Wing, Alpha 1 (Squadron Leader), Alpha 2.
Location: Over Cascadian airspace on Earth
Date: Unknown
Operation: Tranquil Flight
Like a lit cigarette in a dark room, Kaze 1's engines traced a small orange glow behind her. Despite the earlier beatings she had taken, her IS was somehow still barley flying. Much to both her shock and happiness. The majority of her subsystems however had been significantly damaged or outright destroyed. Her hypersenor was a shadow of its former self. She couldn't help but feel a sense of unease as she continued forward. Questions of whether or not she was doing the right thing, or if she should even be doing it in the first place swirled in her heart.
The once cloudy sky was beginning to slowly recede itself into the distance, as if the horizon began to pull it like a rug. The faintest shimmers of a brown orange could be seen in the distance as the sun threatened to take over the night sky's vigil over the battlefield. Kaze 1 had to admit that the night had blessed their battlefield in a strange beauty.
Gun and missile fire seemed to stop after she separated from Kaze 3, finally giving her a moment to rest her aching muscles. Pain slowly found its way through the nerves of damaged muscles and flesh. Slowly but surely her body began to sting as the immense firepower of her opponent began to take its toll. Her watery eyes ached as they struggled to stay open, fatigue desperately wanting to take over and force her to succumb.
The night flight had been a quiet one, she had no rwr or radar systems to work with. Like a pilot from the Second World War, she had to rely on her eyes for navigation, and eventually combat. With the superior range of the unknown IS, she couldn't piece together why the shelling abruptly stopped. It seemed that after the AWACS had been shot down, things stopped making sense. Despite possessing a radar themselves, the unknown unit hadn't continued to shell her. Conventional IS battlefield wisdom would have dictated that the enemy continue its fire, or reposition and commit to the fight again.
'Unless….' she mused to herself. A sense of dread overcame her as the thought of her opponent simply turning tail and running after the interception of the large jet. If that was the case then she was simply wasting her time, and the chance that she thought she had, simply never existed in the first place. She hoped that wasn't the case, most if not all IS pilots rarely ever ran from a fight, though she figured that was because of the tournament setting they always fought each other in. This was real combat however, and people do unexpected things when their life's on the line.
Skating across the wavetops of the ocean, she peered to the best of her ability for any clues as to where her opponent was concealing themselves amongst the dark backdrop. With the sun slowly ending the night's watch over the skies, every moment that passed played into her favor as she was able to see easier.
While observing the changes in scenery, her hypersenor's audio system offhandedly picked up the muffled sounds of howling off in the distance. Two whistling sounds rang out in the distance to her far left, try as she might she could not see what it was. It lacked the distinct screeching sound of the supersonic plus missiles from earlier, and its sound profile was nothing like that of the artillery. Whatever it was, she had finally gotten her break.
Changing course immediately she diverted to her left, still at wavetop height. Silently hoping that she had made the right choice and that her hypersensor wasn't playing a cruel joke on her as it laid in an extremely wasted shape. With no rwr and radar, she was truly tossing up her fate in the air.
Agonizing minutes passed as the only thing that changed was the sky slowly changing color. The French woman's eyes forcibly shut themselves for a moment at a time, only to be jerked wide awake as the sound of ocean waves brought her back to her senses. The more time that passed, the more tired and frustrated she was beginning to get. At times she considered making her wounds worse to shock herself into staying awake.
Her contemplations of self harm were cut short however as several flashes of bright yellow lit the night in front of her. Immediately her control systems were redirected to propel her out of the way. The shots simply landed in the water drawing up large columns of water upon impact.
More controlled bursts from the pitch black traced her as she danced around the sky. Shots of controlled bursts trailed her, try as she might, she couldn't get an accurate image. The flash was simply too far away and didn't illuminate the target enough.
'Multiple rounds? Not pinpoint?" The gears slowly turned.
'Not sniper or artillery rounds… a smaller caliber weapon? A submachine gun? No she's too far away, and the shot pattern is grouped too well. Maybe a DMR? Or a rifle?'
Suddenly she felt a slow tingling and warm sensation. Something began to feel like it was tugging on her skin, bubbling with excitement. It seemed that her IS was also eager for a fight. Both were in sync, both happy and terrified to face such an opponent. It was like the world didn't matter to either of them, all that existed was the cold dark of the night, and their opponent. Both were electric.
More shots rang out from the same spot, whoever their opponent was, behind the greyish black cloak of the night, they were perfectly content with standing their ground in the most literal sense.
Kaze 1 started to notice that the shots were getting longer in bursts every once in a while. Had it been anyone else they may not have picked up on it, but there was an extra bullet or two in the upcoming volleys. Furthermore the closer she got the more frequent the volleys came. Their grouping getting tighter and tighter. Her opponent was slowly gaining form with their new weapon.
A small smile cracked itself on her somewhat serious face, at this point in her life she only wanted one thing. She simply just wanted to rest her eyes on whoever was shooting at her. She just wanted to get close enough, and to have a good fight. She didn't even care about the outcome anymore. Her IS buzzed in agreement. The only other time she could ever recall feeling like this was when she fought with Tabane's close friend, Chifuyu. An excellent fighter in her own regard, clashing blades with her was dangerous and it certainly got the blood running. Sure she could back off and pepper the teen with gunfire and easily win like always. But for Hana, she never felt more alive than when she purposely threw away her firearms, drew up her own sword and closed into Chifuyu's area of specialty.
It flew against all logic, putting herself at equal or lesser terms with her opponent. But she couldn't help it, no one else had ever come close to making her fight for her life, as if she was on a back foot. There was an objective to work for, something she had to sink time and mull over. When it came to firearms, no one had been able to successfully challenge the Frenchwoman, with or without an IS. That was, until now. Blood rushed through her veins, as she searched her mind for ways to beat her opponent.
She soon spotted what looked to be one of the small island formations that belonged to the Cascadian Federation. A small chain of varying islands that dotted itself across their ocean territory, before eventually leading to the main and large island that situated itself between Hawaii and Japan; after it appeared out of nowhere during the 1970s.
Immediately she set forth for the island, whatever geology and formation it had; It certainly beat out the flat open ocean. She'd force her opponent to fight if she wanted to kill her. Force her to get close. Gun fire continued to erupt at Hana from the same spot, this time the very last bullet hit its mark. The bullet crashed into her IS and grazed the bent wing of her left IS's wing. Sent into a violent roll she just barely caught the large blooming light that appeared in the dark as her world spun vigorously, as if she was inside a washing machine.
A loud crackling sound shot off in the distance as the blooming white cone grew larger in shape. A fraction of a second later Hana swore she could hear the sound of something like a rocket engine priming and firing off. Within seconds a large hulking object registered itself in the distant view.
All of a sudden a large orange color lit the back of the distant object, it was as if it was struggling to hover in the air. The contrast of the lighting between the objects rear engines, and the night doing her no good as she still wasn't able to get a good read on her opponent.
Rifle fire began to dig up the earth as she had finally managed to regain control and reach the shores of the island. This time a longer stream of fire rang out at her. The muzzle flash finally gave her the best look she had of her opponent all night. Any thoughts of having some sort of amazing fight with an unknown IS melted in an instant. The careful balance of anticipation and nervousness gave way to confusion and pangs of fear.
Hovering off in the distance was a large object. She couldn't quite make out all the details, however, she knew for certain that she wasn't facing off against an IS. This wasn't like any muscle tracer, or declassified Normal she had ever seen either.
'An Armored Core NEXT?...there's no way, I thought those were just rumors? Kojima particles don't work anymore right? It doesn't look as big as one.'
As more rifle fire began to hail onto her position, she could just barely make out the contours of her opponent. The lower portion was boxy in nature, in a very distinct mechanical like nature. She could however make out what appeared to be some form of legs, how many she had no idea. The chest was large and almost rectangular with some angles to the sides. As her eyes traced the body of the unknown object for a head, her eyes immediately fixated on its arms and shoulders instead. Like the two legs, mechanical boxy like arms presented themselves. Attached to both arms were large weapons, both of which could rival the size of an IS itself.
In its right arm was a large rifle that was currently pointed towards her, spitting out lead at an incredible rate. On the left arm was a far longer rifle-like weapon, it seemed to sport some sort of box-like scope slightly behind the midpoint of the long gun. What really drew her attention however was what mounted on the back of the object. Mounted on the left side of the object's back she could faintly make out a long boxy rectangular object with what looked like lids off to the side. On the outer edge of each shoulder blade were two V shaped devices that extended away from the shoulders with an obtuse angle. The unknown device on the left shoulder protruded out diagonally longer than the counterpart to its right. Attached to the center of the right V shaped shoulder device was a large box, from her point of view she could make out a lens like circle on the narrower piece of the box that was currently looking at her intently. Right above the lens was a large square port, the same shape dotted the wider/larger side of the rectangular box as well. What the unknown device on the right shoulder blade lacked in complex design, it more than made up for in size. Hana swore that if she measured the size of that device, it would be slightly less than 3/4ths of the mech in question. Multiple times larger than any standard IS.
Wanting a better look she swung around the contours of the island to flank the unknown object, finally giving her a side profile view of her opponent.
The largest weapon was mounted on the right side of the mech's rear. Sitting there was an enormously long gun like device. The barrel and assembly well exceeded the overall size of the mech by a great factor. Three thin rails assembled themselves in a triangular like formation, all leading to a rear assembly that housed a large drum that took up a large amount of real estate on the gun. At the top, bottom, right and left of the drum were rectangular boxes that traveled the length of the drum, multiple wires darted from the boxes to an unknown point on the back of the mech. Towards the business end of the gun, all the rails tapered together eventually leading to a large opening. She figured that whatever high speed projectiles that slammed into her team, came out the end of that monstrosity. Multiple spokes, pistons, and shock absorbers exited at various points from the entire gun, all spearing and hooking themselves across the chest and shoulder of the unknown mech. The weapon reminded her of a shoulder mounted bazooka or recoilless rifle, only this one seemed to be bolted in place.
Despite her heavily damaged IS unit, she was still able to out pace the traversal of the unknown object. The large cannon on her opponent's shoulder doing them no favors. Try as she might, she could not make out any identifying features of the object in front of her. She didn't even know what to classify it as, it certainly wasn't as tall or large as the apocalyptic radiation spewing Armored Core NEXTs. Sure it looked like a Normal but it didn't move like one, the fact that it was flying this well, with this amount of weaponry meant that this was anything but a normal machine. There wasn't even a color scheme or identifying mark to the machine in question. From the public images that she had seen, as well as the less than legally obtained images that Tabane had shown her; usually most mech pilots from the other world would stylize their machine. A color scheme along with a fancy emblem paired with an interesting call sign was the norm.
However, standing in front of her was the completely black form of a machine. There existed no color separation that she could make out, her hyper sensor never even picked up any warning labels on the machine itself. No emblem, no pin up, not even a name was to be seen anywhere on the body of the accursed machine.
'Damn not a peep' Hana mentally cursed at herself, frustrated as she wasn't able to get an angle on her opponent. The fact that she wasn't even able to get a view of the person she was facing aggravated her even more.
Very few people had full bodied IS units, as a result most IS based fights meant that you could see who you were fighting. Each woman would be able to see the blood, sweat and tears that they soaked into their battle as they fought. Both women would be able to look right into the eyes of the other, to be able to see their fighting spirit and determination. An IS arena battle meant that you could see the person you were fighting against, unlike the modern battlefield which had engagement distances of 100 plus meters, or beyond visual range engagements. But in this engagement, there was nothing. It was cold and emotionless, almost sterile like. There was no consideration for fanfare, the entire design of the mech screamed out functionality. There was no mistake, unlike the flashy and knightly jousting of an IS match one would see in the upcoming Mondo Grosso, the mech in front of her was a military asset. One designed for the sole purpose of killing and nothing else. It was efficiency at its peak, and the machine in front of her harkened back to such days. Two ideologies of warfare were clashing that day.
Her philosophical musings were cut short however as more gunfire made its mark on her IS. Multiple warnings began to blare in head, she had yet to fire a single round back at her opponent. A deeper sense of unease was slowly starting to set in, she had the fight of her life in her hand, yet she was disappointed in how it was playing out.
'Why use the rifle when that cannon could probably turn me into pink mist'
Seconds later she watched in abject shock as her opponent made a move that no betting man could have ever made. Multiple hisses, twangs, and pops came from the direction of the mech, the large shoulder barrel was pointed directly at her; like a deer caught in a headlight she starred in absolute horror. Her gut twisted and the contents of her stomach threatened to make its way up her throat. However instead of an enormous round smashing into her, the multiple support beams that held the gun simply disappeared, the pistons detached themselves, explosive bolts flashed briefly across the three thin rails. All of a sudden the massive cannon slung forward, and sank deep into the ocean like an anchor.
'It… it detached'
Using her internal cannon she tried to strafe the mech in front of her. Only instead of its sluggish and poor traverse behavior from before, it darted off to the side to avoid her cannon fire with much greater speed than she expected from a machine that size. Kaze 1 was now in an even more dangerous situation.
The unknown mech closed the gap towards her with incredible speed, a deafening roar could be heard as its engines propelled the massive multi meter hunk of metal across the ocean. Using the island as cover, she fired off multiple shots then took cover. The two danced endlessly, a pattern soon fell in where the mech would hover at the outer edge of the island, and Hana would pop up every once in a while to fire at the mech. Her aim was true, several cannon rounds smashed center mass. However, to her dismay most of the bullets had simply glanced off or crumpled on the chest piece. Ever since the mech shrugged off its large cannon, it resorted to only dodging her shots, it had yet to fire back at her.
'When life gives you lemons…..', emptying out the remainder of her cannon she switched to firing her laser rifle. Only it failed to actually do anything, it seemed that much like her IS, it too was badly damaged. With little options left, she opened the last internal bay and armed herself with a saber like sword and a large caliber submachine gun. Her left arm painfully tried its best to hold the gun up.
Multiple sparks flashed and popped up on the mech's right arm, the rifle in its right arm sagged down. Smoke and burnt metal soon emanated from the right shoulder. Seeing her chance she immediately closed the distance, overriding all safeties her IS had, just as Kaze 2 had done earlier to save her life. It was as if the mech in question had gone dark or died. It was an unnerving sight, the entire battle had been a cold and steely like affair. The sudden death of the mech seemed to fit so well, it simply just happened, there was no screaming or agonizing moments or blood. It just stopped existing in its optimal state. Wasting no time she used her submachine gun to open fire at the mech while priming the specialized energy sword in her hand. More sparks emanate from the right shoulder, followed by a loud pop.
Her bullets smashed into the boxy missile launcher on its back, severely compromising its structural integrity and overall shape. Multiple heavy gashes and dents perforated the empty missile launcher, when the submachine gun ran dry she simply discarded it to her side and readied her saber.
Taking a massive swing at the long rifle in the mech's left hand, she sent a heavy gash through the body of the rifle in question. Whatever weapon it was, it was now inoperable. With the right shoulder weapon at the bottom of the ocean and the rifle in its right hand sagging down, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her opponent had no weapons to work with. The unknown machine simply lazily moved in the direction of the island.
'Is this it….. did I win?', questions of her apparent and sudden victory hid the slowly creeping thoughts in the back of her mind.
'I…..I won…. So why do I feel empty…..'. Nothing had changed for her, she expected to feel something, but nothing came to her. Not joy, relief, sadness or happiness, she felt the emotions of someone who had just turned 18 and been asked how it felt to be an adult all of a sudden.
'Normal I guess…. but….I expected something more'. The entire way to the battle, and even during it she felt a combination of nervous excitement, she got the fight she wanted. But it wasn't as grand as she had hoped for, the hole in her heart hadn't been filled.
Thoughts of yanking out the pilot who had brutalized her team came to her mind, maybe if she actually saw her opponent she would feel the satisfaction she would get from an IS battle.
'That's right, the battle was way too clinical, there were no emotions the entire time….right? All we did was just fight, nothing else happened…'. She somewhat felt at peace, but in a neutral sense. Readying her saber to cut open the mech and face its pilot head-on, she assumed a stance which would allow her to quickly cut away at the metal. Halfway through her swing, a red light flashed its way through the visor of the enemy mech, as if it was searching for something.
CLANK
Using the rifle in its left arm, the mech swatted her away like a fly. Smashing into the sandy beach of the island she was now over, she watched in shock as the mech rocketed its way towards her. Her blood boiled with fear and thrill.
With new life, the mech's right arm re aimed itself towards her and opened fire in an unending burst. This time almost every single shot connected. Round after round smashed into her IS as she tried her best to crawl away from the sandy beach. Chunks of metal exploded from her IS as the large wing above her was continually perforated. Few if any shots missed their mark, igniting her boosters she propelled herself off the beach and into the forest, all the while her face flat against the ground. Gun fire still tracked and tore up chunks of her IS, this time her shield started to flash, as blood started to gush from her mouth. Slowly and painfully, she managed to find some time to stand up, using the saber as a crutch that had somehow miraculously stood by her side the entire time.
She could feel a stinging sensation at the soles of her foot. In between bouts of burning pain she could also feel dirt.
Her IS had been stripped so much so that the armor by her legs no longer existed, even her shoes were evidently gone. That meant that a focused barrage had eaten through the entire wing, fuselage, and pilot's cradle armor. Not to mention the actual IS shield itself.
Raising her sword she ignited the last remaining booster she had, her passive inertia controller, doing its absolute best to keep her on track from the unbalanced thrust. Feebly she delivered slash after slash, the blade angrily cut through empty air however as the mech in question simply skated off to the side. Pointing the blade directly in front of her, through blurry vision, she readied her final charge. Like a cavalry officer leading a charge, she put every ounce of willpower she had into her last ignition boost. Her IS responded in sync, cannibalizing every source of power it could for one final push. Shooting forward her view of the mech grew in size as she got closer and closer, the glow of her blade's green energy based edge lit the night as she flew like javelin. At such a close distance the mech in question didn't have time to move. The closer and closer she got, the more alive and confident she felt; she had finally had the battle she wanted where both sides got to give it their all. In this fight the winner would get to see the morning sky, this was the best kind of fight. Her notions of emptiness from earlier were dispelled, she finally had the ultimate fight she wanted, one that was fought with every ounce of willpower. One that was fought on a knife's edge, where the point between life and death was just nano meters away.
Just as she was about to deliver her strike, the left arm of the mech dropped its damaged rifle. Thrusting its left arms forward, a large blue and white light emanated from the forearm. Hana watched as her saber twisted and contorted under the extreme heat of the laser blade that was thrust back in counterattack. Multiple point blank shots from the rifle smashed into her, sending her back into the earthy ground of the island. Her arm no longer held her saber, infact she wasn't even sure if she could see her hands anymore. Multiple sparks emanated from the arm that shut down her last ditch attack. She laid helplessly on the dirt, unable to move without drawing the ire of the black mech.
The thought of death was now at the forefront of her mind, she had no weapons to work with. She was heavily bleeding with multiple broken bones, she was pretty sure she was missing some limbs. Every time she tried to get up, gunfire forced her back down, the concussive force pushed her deeper and deeper into the earth below. Eventually she could no longer move, for a while she felt pain in her back then simply nothing.
'Cough cough…..So…..this is how…. It ends….. paralyzation….. heh…'. Her spine had been heavily damaged, shards of metal embedded itself into her back, skewering multiple nerves. Nothing responded to her. Not her arms, not her legs. Her head refused to budge as well, the pressure and discomfort in her neck rose sharply.
Content with its handy work, the mech in question unloaded a few more rounds, before kicking her off into the forest as if she were football. She was sent careening deep into the forest, skipping and bouncing off the ground like stone that was skipping a lake. Finally her battered body came to a rest when it smashed violently against a tree.
With her back against a tree, and her head looking straight up at the sky, she watched as the full black mech left the area; the roar of its engines getting quieter, until all that could be heard was the gentle breeze. Confident that whoever it just drilled into the earth would never see another day.
Through coughs, broken teeth, spit and wheezes Hana mentally laughed and agreed. She knew it, she was done for. Her IS died, she could feel the neural link sever, as the IS withered away around her, it's buzzing body slowing to a complete standstill.
'Heh...looks like I won that bet old friend'. The bet a reference to when her IS's AI avatar bet that the IS would outlive her, one made in jest. A bet that was made ages ago. The two had been close friends after achieving their first shift, and their bond only continued to grow. Unlike most IS AI units, Hana had hers specially unlocked, meaning that it wasn't jailed to the confines of the IS core.
The entire battle had been so random, both sides just fought and that was that. It was clean and clinical, no words were exchanged. It truly was a battle that one would expect to see in a war. And it seemed that her death would fit it perfectly. Quiet and random, she would just die and that would be it. Both sides would continue their fighting, their lives, while she faded away into the dark. In the grand scheme of things, she would be forgotten, an afterthought in the minds of many if at all. The whole experience felt cold, she felt numb to it all.
Thoughts of death and what laid beyond started to flood her mind, she slowly started to become scared of the deep abyss. Scared but not mad. As she laid by the tree, staring at a slowly changing sky, she couldn't help but recall important moments in her life. Moments of her family, her younger and older brother. Her first time meeting Tabane and Chifuyu. All the squadron mates she had ever had, finally she settled on a mental image of Kaze 2 and Kaze 3. She wanted to smile but her lips wouldn't will it.
'Guess a mental one will have to suffice' she thought as the two young women's faces played itself on repeat. She was finally happy, she may not have defeated her opponent, proved herself to the world or captured her "opportunity". But she felt content in knowing that she had left her mark on the two girls. Things slowly started to fall into perspective as she slowly succumbed to her wounds. The annoying mental itch that nagged her throughout her life, feelings of inferiority, tiredness and discomfort slowly melted away. She felt proud that she and her IS fought as hard as they did, both of them knew that the metal bent before their willpower did. For some reason thoughts of her squadron mates overpowered her insistent need to wallow in self pity over the sudden end to her young life. It seemed that the two young women had meant a lot more to her than her actual family did.
With the mech flying in the opposite direction from them, she had protected the only smiles that had really ever mattered to her. It seemed that at the end of the day, in her final moments, the only ones on her mind were those two. She really only was ever at peace whenever she was around them, they were like the family she was never afforded. She didn't live a long life, but at least it was an eventful one. She wondered idly as to the story of everyone who had died today, about her unknown foe. What were they like, would they have gotten along together in a bar if they decided to share a drink?. Could they become friends, would they be able to put their past behind them? Did they hate her? Why were they fighting, did they care, did they have a reason to fight? She closed her eyes for a final time, no tears leaked from her eyes this time. The sound of waves lapping themselves on the beach comforted her. Her blonde hair fluttered gently about as a light breeze carried the ends of her hair. She mentally pictured her two favorite women, their mouths wide and beaming with smiles.
'Thank you'. With that final thought, Hana peacefully drew her last breath.
.
.
.
Miles away, far from the cold and emotionless battle that played out between the unknown enemy and her squadron leader, Kaze 3 linked up with Kaze 2. Hauling the body of Alpha 1 along with her. Both members of Kaze Squadron had been hauling the bodies of the women who had been sent over to protect them. It seemed that the reality of conflict held a cruel and ironic side to it, neither of them had found it funny however. Kaze 2 who had set off earlier, struggled to make ground as her heavily damaged IS constantly dragged its feet as she crawled across the wave tops towards Japanese airspace. The unconscious woman in her arms didn't help her case, every agonizing moment that passed strained what little energy she had left.
When Kaze 3 had easily caught up to her, she semi consciously pleaded about the whereabouts of Hana.
"She's taking a different route back, she said she'll see us back home". Kaze 3 lied through her teeth. The lie seemed to have worked as it stopped Kaze 2 from worrying or pestering her. Their race back home continued for a distance, the only sound that could be heard was the clasping of ocean waves against each other.
Kaze 3 had been darting her eyes between the horizon in front of her,and the vast sky to her rear. It was as if she was looking for something, hoping and praying that whatever it was, that it would let the two of them go.
Sometime after she had linked up with Kaze 2, her radar system picked up two high speed accelerating objects high in the sky. The two unknown objects loitered to her rear, keeping pace and not acting in malice. It seemed that they were following her for a while, as if they were deciding what to do with her. Whatever it was, she could only hope that it would give her a break. For about an hour, the objects in the sky kept their present course and altitude, not deviating one bit. Too scared to change her pace and risk forcing a move from the flying objects, Kaze 3 and her company flew straight and level.
"Whats...cough cough…..got…...ha-hack…... you so spooked" the British born but Japanese raised redhead of Kaze 2 croaked out. Sounding as if she was an old woman on death's door who smoked a pack a day.
"..."
"Come on…..cough….. Can't leave me in the dark…..forever"
"We're being followed, I think it's two missiles. Only one of them is actively tracking onto me, the other is onto you I think"
"A….ah, but they haven't made a move yet?"
"I think they are smarter than your run of the mill heat seekers or active guided. They've been lighting their engines the entire time, something that size with that amount of fuel probably has something special in it." Came from the tired Japanese teen of Kaze 3.
A sudden cough came from the body of Alpha 2 who seemed to regain some life.
As the two continued to fly, Kaze 3 nervously kept an ever watchful eye on her radar, and the sky to her front and rear. Praying and hoping that the missiles would ignore them if they left Cascadian territory.
As if picking up on her wish, the missile tracking her suddenly unregistered itself of her RWR, apparently no longer taking an interest in her. However in a sick twist, the two warheads nosed over and dived straight for the ocean, pulling out at the absolute last second like a dive bomber from World War 2. Converting all its potential energy into one of kinematic form, the missiles didn't even need to light their engines to quickly draw lead onto Kaze 2, whose body was on the constant verge of shutdown.
Kaze 3 could only watch in shock as the two incoming cruise missile shaped warheads cracked open revealing a thin rod with tiny fins towards its rear. As the rod exited the confines of the discarding jacket that imprisoned it, an incredibly powerful secondary rocket engine lit the back of the rod.
'That thing has to be near hypersonic' her brain screamed.
With not enough time to yell, Kaze 3 did the only thing she could have thought of at the time, both her and her IS were in absolute sync as together every single safety was disabled. Setting her onto a collision path with her ally, Kaze 3 smashed into her only surviving friend. The impact completely shocked Kaze 2 who had a final shot of adrenaline as the impact registered on her body.
The rods simply trudged forward.
With the two women out of the way, she began to mentally count and verify where everyone was.
'I'm alive…..I'm alive…..she's alive….'. She thought as she tightened the grip of the woman she held in her arms, feeling Alpha 1's unresponsive body.
'Okay…. She's also fine too, that leav-...where the hell is the other one'. Kaze 3 began to panic as she saw Kaze 2 alive and worse for wear in front of her. However the woman that had been tied to Kaze 2's back was no longer there. Kaze 2 seemed to be staring directly past her savior with eyes wide opened.
With a deep sinking feeling in her stomach, Kaze 3 whipped her head around and watched in unadulterated shock as the IS of Alpha 2 was doing its best to auto stabilize itself. Some of the subsystems apparently came back online after she was thrown off Kaze 2's back.
Two rods suddenly smashed into the slumped over and heavily damaged IS. There was no explosion or bright ball of released energy. Rather, only a simple and cold impact. Two visceral thuds were heard as the rods made contact, center mass on the IS at two different spots.
In the spot that once resided the full body of a woman, there only existed pink mist and metal shards that danced in the early morning sky. Alpha 2's physical existence simply ceased to exist, one moment she was there, then she wasn't. The first warhead smashed into her upper torso, slugging her with full force. While the second turned the remainder into fine pink mist and shards; the amount of raw kinetic energy displacing itself against the sudden obstacle was enormous. The gruesome scene played out way too fast for both women to comprehend or see the impact. All they saw and heard was a thud, and Alpha 2 phasing in and out of existence, followed later by two extremely close sonic claps as their ears ached. It was as if someone had flicked a switch. Both were utterly stunned and shocked as to the power and capabilities of their opponent. The IS a machine so powerful, one that rendered whole armies obsolete, was man handled as if it were a soda can being run over by a multi ton tank. Both felt utterly and completely hopeless for the first time in their life.
All in all, from the time of the cruise missiles separation, to both rod's booster phase, to the final impact, only 6 seconds passed.
After the sonic boom, all they could hear was the raining of tiny metal shards into the Pacific Ocean.
The last bit of Kaze 2's adrenaline and will power shattered as she fainted, her only remaining friend caught her. Carrying both women, one under each arm, the teary eyed, and visibly sick and disturbed Kaze 3 set off for friendly territory. She felt uneasy as the pangs of sickness tapped itself from her stomach up to her throat, leading to her throwing up on herself as she continued forward.
The youngest and most inexperienced member of all the IS pilots on that battlefield, ironically was the only one left conscious and perhaps even alive. Bits and pieces of her IS fell apart over the ocean as its structural integrity melted away like a marshmallow over a blast furnace. She was all alone, her greatest fear, she felt betrayed, abandoned and cursed all at the same time.
Absolutely captivated by fear, and physically sick at the events of the day, she slowly began to lose control over herself and the IS she was flying. Sensing this, her IS activated every single alert and distress beacon it still possessed. Not caring about appearances anymore, the flood gates of the brunette's eyes opened up. Like a dam that had burst, tears overcame her face blurring her vision heavily.
The lights on the upcoming Izu Archipelago blurred into a bittersweet bokeh as she finally reached friendly airspace. Home, Japan, had never looked more beautiful to her.
The blurry and circular lights grew in shape as she got closer and closer, eventually flickering out of existence as she crash landed onto a beach. Her breathing was erratic as she hyperventilated and cried alone on the beach. The two unconscious women that surrounded her simply laid motionless and cold.
'Why! Why! Why!' was all she could think. No words escaped her mouth, only pained grunts and screams as she finally lost it.
Minutes later two large helicopters raced overhead and slowly looked for a spot to land. Their search lights lit up a teenage girl who was in the middle of an absolute breakdown. Multiple IS units from Tabane and the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) streaked overhead and descended on the teen girl. IS units from the covert multinational special forces unit Phantom Task also surrounded her, rendering as much aid as they could. The two Chinooks finally landed, as multiple women in uniforms sprang into action, trying their best to carve the pilots out of their IS units. Looking downward, a woman with long purple hair simply watched everything unfold from her own IS. No expression plastered itself on her face, she simply watched, her eyes squinting as they adjusted to the light of day break. Multiple women with saws tried their best to cut away at the two large delta winged IS suits. Meanwhile the smaller mangled butterfly like IS was transported into one of the Chinooks, which promptly took off and raced towards the mainland. Trailing after the already airborne helicopter, she flew quietly and slowly. Soon another helicopter joined her in the sky as the two other women had finally been cut away from their shattered IS suits.
The sun, slowly peeking over the horizon bathed the shores of Japan with a warm glow, comforting all those who were lost to the chaos of battle.
It was finally over.
.
.
.
Somewhere in an unknown island chain between Japan and the Cascadian Island mass.
"The damn automatic FCS switch didn't work when I dumped the railgun! Had to manually short circuit it, then blow the whole assembly and reboot to the backup system. You need to fix that shit Marilyn." An angry voice berated over the radio system as a four legged black Armored Core slowly made its way into a large hanger built into the side of a cliff. The hangar, only just large enough to house a single Armored Core.
"It was never a problem before" came in a soft woman's voice.
"Tell Omer that they can fuck off! I want my old custom BFF FCS system assembly back. No shit it wasn't a problem before because I had a system made by professionals who knew how to shoot the side of a barn at more than 30 meters. Maybe if they weren't trying to constantly revive the ghost of Kojima, they'd be able to make a quality weapon system. Couldn't even fire Artemis like normal. "
"Sigh….. Fine. I'll put in a new order. But we can't rely too heavily on BFF and Rayleonard equipment….. If that embargo goes through your going to be in trouble"
"Then reverse engineer it like we did with the cannon, like we did with the core, like we did with the thrusters!" came an angry voice.
A crane moved to catch the carefully hovering Armored Core, clamps soon set upon the large machine as the sounds of an engine spooling down could be heard. The cranes gently placed the large machine onto the metal floor of the tight hanger.
"Do whatever it takes, if it's man made it can be remade. I won't sortie out again without it". The same voice added, this time slightly choked and pained.
A mumbled "Mhm" was all that came back from the woman.
"Don't think you can get hung up on the parts….. You aren't fooling anyone. I-we both know why you're so angry. I'm sorry….. I know cared about her…..I'll be in the mess hall with breakfast...don't take too long okay." The woman added, this time with an angelic and calm voice. Just as she was putting down the headset she swore she could hear sniffles, and a weak attempt to hold back tears.
As she exited the messy room with a large glass window that looked towards the hanger, she observed the large four legged Armored Core, she sighed heavily. For the first time in her life she didn't know what to say to make the hardships of conflict easier. Death was always close for people in their line of work, they learned to live with it constantly. Losing someone close wasn't out of the ordinary, but this time, for some reason it was extra worse. Perhaps it was the false sense of invincibility they felt on this planet compared to their actual homeworld. Tears slowly traced her face. Slumping against the hallway wall to the cafeteria, the young woman crumpled onto herself and sobbed uncontrollably. Just like that, multiple people's lives were upended, and yet the world continued to spin without a care in the world.
With the sun slowly rising over Japan's skyline, people from all over the country woke up and got ready for a new day of work, a new day of life. Completely unaware as to the events that had transpired in the night before. Of all the blood and lives that were spilt that day, absolutely nothing of value was gained for either side. Both sides entered the skirmish, and both left bloodied and empty handed. If they hadn't fought, they would have achieved the same result. The world moved on, and the buzz of life continued endlessly for those who were fortunate enough to see the sun take its usual place in the sky.
Multiple hours later:
The island land mass in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is permanently attached to a vortex which leads to an alternative world called Terra goes on high alert. Multiple Cascadian bombers from the alternative world cross into the Cascadian Island on Earth via the vortex.
Days later:
The United State's Strategic Air Command is placed onto DEFCON 4
Cascadian Defense Secretary Robin Waldreich delivers her famous Nuclear Speech which spreads throughout the internet like wildfire: "The Infinite Stratos may survive nuclear hellfire, but your people won't".
All US Armed Forces along with NATO are placed onto DEFCON 3
Cascaida's premier kill/capture team is covertly moved onto Earth, occupying a permanent position on the island.
Tabane and her team begin creating as many IS cores as possible.
The UN holds an emergency meeting over the shocking words of Mrs. Waldreich, as well as the US and NATO response.
Two hours into the meeting the Cascadian ambassador is ejected from the UN conference room. All press and cameras are shut off, the room becomes a black box.
1 Week Later:
Cascadia formally declares Tabane Shinonono a terrorist, and strongly urges Japan to hand her over.
A UN meeting is once again called, the Cascadian ambassador is denied access to the conference on the grounds that Cascadia doesn't officially operate any Infinite Stratos suits. The meeting is observed by members of the Infinite Stratos Pilot's Association.
Tabane and her team release a press statement vowing never to create IS cores for the Cascadian Federation. Claiming that the IS is the only safeguard Earth has against Cascadia.
Germany joins Cascadia's call for Tabane Shinonono and her group to be turned over.
Cascadia's only aircraft carrier, Fort Grey, sinks to the bottom of the ocean with all hands lost.
Several Weeks Later:
An explosion rocks a German and Swiss research lab. The incident is covered up and never revealed to the public.
Germany and Switzerland, without consulting the UN, formally declare Tabane Shinonono a terrorist, sending the UN into a frenzy. Public outcry in both countries is vicious, riot control teams are sent to forcefully suppresses protestors. Eleven people were killed by riot control teams.
2 Months Later
Cascadia unveils its first Infinite Stratos suit, shocking the world.
A message from Tabane goes viral on the internet, stating that she never created the cores for Cascadia. Offhandedly questioning how they got their hands on such cores, and that perhaps countries should recheck their IS core stock.
The UN orders that the IS suit in question be handed over. Germany is the only dissenter, arguing that Cascadia isn't a part of the Alaska Treaty and thus isn't compelled to share anything.
A chemical leak in Alsace kills thousands.
Russian spy satellite Zenit 12M photographs multiple shipments of Normals and Muscle Tracers entering Germany.
The US 7th Fleet sorties out of Yokosuka and patrols the edge of Cascadian naval lines. Multiple American and JSDF IS units straddle the border of Cascadian and International air space.
The US 3rd Fleet sorties out of Hawaii after an unknown refit. They take up a vigil on the hurricane-like vortex in which half of it lays on part of the Cascadian island mass while the other half occupies the island's shores and ocean.
Germany protests the action.
Tabane Shinonono voices her support of the UN resolution to hand over the IS. She vows to take action on her own if necessary, galvanizing her supporters across all platforms.
After claiming that she has taken direct action, Tabane suddenly goes dark and is never heard from again
Information about the old NEXTs and a new generation of Armored Cores are leaked online.
Tabane's research team and co creators of the Infinite Stratos suddenly go quiet. All members are unable to be contacted and go missing.
An Indian satellite captures and publicizes a photo of a series of unknown machines that resemble Normals/mechs arranged neatly in a row on the large Cascadian island.
The UN demands that Cascadia join the Alaska Treaty and share all information about their IS unit.
Cascadia demands a new treaty all together.
American Infinite Stratos, Sea to Shining Sea, a specialized naval IS discovers a Cascadian ballistic nuclear missile submarine stalking the 7th Fleet in international waters. A Canadian diver attached to the 3rd Fleet discovers multiple explosive charges attached to undersea communication cables. Days later an unknown submarine is spotted following the US 3rd Fleet.
The US 3rd Fleet stops a Bernard and Felix supercargo ship. Demanding that they submit for inspection. The BFF captain refuses, a counter terrorist IS unit formed of Canadian and American pilots is sent into the ship. After a firefight, the special forces unit takes control of the ship. The captured ship begins its journey to Hawaii, however it is sunk on the way there. The contents of its cargo is lost and never revealed to the world.
The Bernard and Felix Foundation declare war on the United States of America and Canada. The UN, NATO, US and Canada are unsure on how to respond as BFF has no military presence on Earth. BFF's status as a company further complicates the issue.
The first squadron of Cascadian Armored Cores (AC) make their way onto Earth. This is the first official deployment of Armored Cores from Cascadia on Earth. Spy satellites of multiple nations are in a frenzy to grab as many pictures as possible.
A covert team of the United States Army Intelligence Support Activity (USAISA) make their way onto the island and get a closer look at the Armored Cores made by GA America. They make a clean exit, few nations get access to the precious data, with a hefty price.
A Brazilian sea crawling drone discovers a ballistic nuclear missile submarine laying motionless at the bottom of the coast of Baja California. This information is never revealed to the general public. USS Atlanta, a revised Los Angeles class submarine, discovers a ballistic nuclear missile submarine off the coast of New Jersey. Well within striking distance of New York and Washington DC. This information is also never revealed to the public.
The Cascadian built ICBM satellite intercept system is unable to be reached. Attempts to arm it and prepare it to intercept ICBMs or high altitude nuclear packages are fruitless. NATO's primary and first line nuclear defense system becomes unreachable. Like the ballistic submarines, this information is never made public.
British Vanguard, and French Le Triomphant ballistic nuclear submarines park themselves inside of Cascadian waters, ready to fire a nuclear salvo at a moment's notice. The United States only gets notice of this AFTER they penetrate Cascadian naval territory. Germany is never alerted of this action, and is placed on an information diet by the rest of NATO.
The United States of America hits DEFCON 2. The Strategic Air Command and the US Navy's nuclear capable ballistic submarines are secretly placed on DEFCON 1, they are told that nuclear war is imminent but NOT underway. Both forces are prepared to go hot against Cascadia at a moment's notice.
The UN spearheaded by the United States hurriedly convenes and works with Cascadian and German ambassadors for a resolution. The words of Robin Waldreich on the forefront of everyone's mind.
Tabane Shinonono is officially recognized as a terrorist by the UN. In the span of hours she soars to the top of the most wanted list of every country. The people of the world react with anger and shock, many protest. Claims of corruption and submission run a mouth. The protests, however, are short lived as IS units forcefully shut them down. Some IS pilots resort to lethal force. In response terrorists target the pilots. The Infinite Stratos Pilot's Association (ISPA) counter attacks violently, killing the terrorists and then some with extreme prejudice. Their actions sent a clear message, "Don't even think of targeting our pilots". Rumors of an IS rebellion that was quickly squashed spread amongst those in the know. None of the few who are privy to such rumors are able to confirm/receive evidence for it.
Cascadia is admitted into the Alaska Treaty. They do not have to share information about their existing IS cores or their first IS unit. However going forward any new information or research will have to be shared and documented as per normal guidelines.
Cascadia mediates a settlement and terms of peace between the Bernard and Felix Foundation and the countries it declared war on over the seizure of its supercargo ship.
The Cascadian built satellite ICBM intercept system returns back to its normal operational status. NATO's shield is back.
The US 3rd and 7th Fleet are recalled.
Cascadia recalls its ballistic submarine fleet back into the hurricane like vortex.
Several Months Later:
Communication with the multinational special forces organization known as Phantom Task goes dark.
Cascadia recalls its remaining nuclear capable forces, disappearing into the vortex.
Cascadia signs a new treaty regarding nuclear weapons.
1 Year Later:
A large amount of superficial and non technical information about the new generation of Armored Cores is released to the world officially. Both the UN and Cascadia begin to work on improving the strained relations between each other. The public is never fully aware of how close Cascadia and NATO came close to nuclear war. The United States doesn't tell the rest of NATO how close they were to nuclear war.
Germany and France become the first countries on Earth to operate a squadron of Normals.
Germany is ejected from NATO by a unanimous vote. The United States was not the nation that started the call for such a vote.
Thousands of IS cores are delivered to nations across the world, however Cascadia receives zero of them. Tabane is never located.
A live fire match in France between a squadron of French Normals and Infinite Stratos units takes place. The Infinite Stratos suits created by the Dunois Corporation destroy the Normals.
Cascadia unexpectedly bans the sale of weapons to Earth. Platforms that mount weapons will be given special case by case consideration. None of the arms companies and corporations from Terra protest. The Infinite Stratos Pilot's Association applauds the actions, much to the chagrin of many Earth based arms companies. Rheinmetall is nationalized.
2 Years Later:
Chifuyu Orimura sweeps the first Mondo Grosso. In a show of good faith she hosts the last minute Cascadian National Representative she beat.
The US spy satellite Hexagon-10 photographs multiple ships exiting from the hurricane-like vortex which is connected to the shore of the Cascadian Island. The flotilla in question is documented dragging a large flatbed like structure with a tarp covering it. The object on the platform is flat/blocky and is unable to be identified. The only discernible feature was the logo on the tarp: BFF.
Casualties Report for Operation Tranquil Flight:
Killed in Action:
Captain Hana Lachaux
Age: 23
Organization Commander: Tabane Shinonono
17th Tactical IS Squadron "Kaze Squadron"
IS Core Affiliation: Tabane Shinonono
Status: KIA
Body Recovery and Confirmation Method: Cascadian Coast Guard. Voluntary exchange of dead.
2nd Lieutenant Arya Misra
Age: 29
Organization Commander: Tabane Shinonono
2nd Special Operations Squadron "Washi Squadron "
IS Core Affiliation: Tabane Shinonono
Status: KIA
Body Recovery and Confirmation Method: Body recovery impossible, KIA status confirmed with witness and camera testimony.
Injuries List:
Classified
Equipment Loss:
Classified
A/N:
"Damn author, did you already forget about your story?"- Yeah the delay was not a good one, let's just say. Work has been picking up lately and I haven't had much time to write in that time. But on the plus side I was able to scaffold and plan out some things for later on. Things have settled down into a rhythm so things should be coming to a hopefully more normal schedule.
"Hang on Phantom Task is a terrorist organization. What's going on here?, how much are you planning on changing things"- One of the things that bugged me about Phantom Task is that they seemed so random and poorly written as to their goals earlier on in IS. They will retain their less than savory ways and dealings with the Infinite Stratos, but this time they will have a somewhat believable purpose and a goal to work towards to rather than "be evil because the story demands it" As for how much things will change, I will be using the novel and the anime as a basis for a general structure. But things that will require a healthy dose of reality will get their special treatment. The story will also be largely unique, but the important/ story moving events of the original series will make their presence known. As for characters they will be in character for the most part with few exceptions, but in a way that also conforms to the daily dose of reality (beating up the person you're interested in is a great way to get them to hate you don't you think?).
"Is the other Earth a parallel world or alternative reality" Lets get this right out of the way to make things easier to understand. Earth = World with the IS, Terra = World with AC. Clearly my naming conventions are boundless (not). It will be an alternative reality all together, so no we won't be seeing a parallel Ichika or Laura (not to say there won't be foils however). It will have its own unique history and world building that will tie in many aspects and narrative elements of previous Armored Core titles. That's not to say that we won't be seeing our favorite corporations or even named characters however. This is one of the things I was able to brainstorm when I wasn't writing due to work and life. With a blank slate to essentially work with, I can create a story for the world that the ACs inhabit.
"How did the IS beat Normals?"- Normals in this story won't be as fast paced as they were in AC 4 or FA. They will be more blocky and tankier with limited mobility and less flight capability. Basically the way that GA makes their Normals (think of the Solarwind), though with far less heavy weaponry. A rough idea of some shapes to expect for Normals would be some of the earlier gen ACs, but scaled down and without the flight/boosting capabilities. Normals and the new ACs in this story will be scaled down to about Verdict Day/ACV sizes. Unfortunately this is a narrative constraint that needs to be done for what I have planned for later on. The old NEXTs will retain their original size however. Design wise though expect to see a hybridization between 4/4A and V/VD in aesthetic and weapon design. The sleek looking ACs of 4/4A is something that I liked a lot and intend to keep, but the grittiness theme that V/VD had going was also something that I enjoyed.
"I'm confused as to how the Armored Core in the fight w/ Hana looked"- Here's the best way I would describe it, take the overall shape of the Armored Core Unseel (AC 4 from Berlioz's Squad, he uses a quad legged sniper typed AC essentially). The special railgun is similar in design to the Atlas Gundam's railgun, only this is shoulder mounted with a large drum assembly on its rear.
If you stuck around this far you'll get early info on why it's a drum assembly. The drum itself holds multiple rounds of ammunition, and because its length exceeds the normal size of a round it fires, the drum holds a lot of ammunition. But the reason it's a drum and not a magazine, is because with a drum, it can cycle between different types of ammo. Think of it like a revolver, but each tube can hold different types of ammunition and each tube can hold more than one bullet. The pilot will instruct the fire control system to select a specific round, it will cycle through the drum, rotating it and pushing and pulling ammunition across each chamber eventually finding the appropriate round. Then it will chamber it into the rail gun using a piston/loading elevator, and then the pilot will fire. In reality this is happening constantly, an onboard computer is constantly sorting the ammunition and preparing the drum for optimal usage, prediction and optimization algorithms are constantly running in the background to make the delay between finding and loading the appropriate shell as small as possible. For example if the pilot has been firing armor piercing rounds non stop and has yet to fire something like high explosive, or smoke rounds, then that type of ammunition will be at the very end of the drum/carousel assembly, while armor piercing and rounds closer to its effectiveness will be closer towards the loader. The railgun shells/jackets essentially act like a sabot jacket. This is why some of the rounds that smashed into the IS pilots were shrapnel based/ airburst. Whereas others were solid discarding sabot/armor piercing. Essentially what you get is a weapons platform that can act like a sniper/artillery and operate from extreme ranges, even by Armored Core standards. Of course this has its own host of challenges, tradeoffs and maintenance nightmares. For those of you who played with long range builds in AC, you'll have an idea of why the closer and closer Hana got. The harder it was for the AC pilot to connect a shot. Essentially when your target is within a certain range, the FCS system has trouble acquiring and executing on a target. It's as if the AC became far sighted, and was unable to shoot things it perceived as close.
And with that the prologue is out of the way, finally. It sure did escalate rather quickly towards the end didn't it. Hopefully I was able to convey towards the end that the IS isn't the be all and end all of warfare. In a situation of total war, sure the IS or even the AC may survive but with your people dead what good is it. It also gives credence as to why there is still a military (especially nuclear capable forces) around despite the IS supposedly being such a powerful weapon. In all reality, the IS won't completely replace the military, rather things will augment and shift around; like all military assets, it has a role that it plays.
I'm going to be releasing two chapters in sync next time, one will be the first proper chapter of Shattered Wings and the other a side story. Next stop, IS Academy and our characters of interest. The side stories add to the plot, but won't be considered a mandatory read. They may be referenced later on, but with ample explanation so that those who skipped over them won't be totally in the dark. These are meant to add to certain characters, especially the background or less visited characters to humanize them more. It would also serve as a detailed exposition on the world building I'm doing. Right now I've got two ideas for the next story, one is about a Cascadian special forces unit on a mission, and the other follows the day of a French Normal test pilot. Let me know which one you are most interested in. Also feel free to suggest ideas/topics of exploration for the side stories.
As always questions, comments and concerns are welcome.
PS: The wording at the end where things kick off is very intentional. Give it a second and careful read through, there is an element of hinting/worldbuilding snuck into the subtleties of the text and names.
Also if you have ideas for squadron/callsign names in a language other than English feel free to drop them in. I felt like an absolute scrub coming up w/ squad names for the Japanese Squadrons as a non speaker. I know some French but that's the best of my abilities, so if you can speak a different language drop them in and I'll do my best to work their way in. Just be sure to explain the meaning.
And this goes without saying, but I don't own Infinite Stratos or Armored Core.