Armored Core: The NEXT Emergence

by Siphon 117

In a world of constant conflict, Ravens, pilots of the great war machines called Armored Cores, serve as mercenaries for hire from the Ravens Nest. While the main leaders are content with the current world order, a small group of corporations with newly discovered technology, work their machinations behind the scenes, with the goal of creating a new world order. Alternate Universe.

2. Chapter 2

Armored Core: The NEXT Evolution

Chapter 2: From this moment on, you are, a Raven.

"Speech"

"Radio/Electronic Speech"

"Thoughts"

Sitting in my AC, I stare at my main monitor, slowly eating a ration bar. This particular mission, was either going to be exciting, or very boring. And so far, it's been very boring.

My name is Delilah, and currently, I'm sitting guard at a defensive station, several miles west of the oil refinery I'm guarding. Intel gathered, suggests that an attack by the Corporation "Kirsiragi" was eminent. The strength of the attack is unknown, but Vennide isn't taking any chances, having me and another AC stand guard, along with a detachment of Schidt model GPACs.

My employer, Vennide, has been increasing its resource reserves, in an effort to build up a proper fleet to maintain defense around the continents, and to act as staging grounds for future engagements. And oil is crucial to that.

Hence why I'm here, bored out of my mind, waiting for something to happen.

As I go to take another bite of my ration bar, my radio lights up, and I hear "Delilah, ready up. We've got radar contacts inbound. Defeat all enemy forces."

I put the ration bar away, and begin powering up my AC, and say into the radio "Molly, we've got contacts, get ready. I'll go ahead, you support me with your sniper cannon." After a moment, Molly responds "Roger that, moving to position A."

After my AC is fully powered up, my main screens come up, and I power on my boosters, and move forward. I activate scan mode, and throw up a recon unit, and wait.

I don't have to wait long, as not 30 seconds later, I see my targets coming in above the horizon. I count a total of 13 enemy units.

The crack of a sniper cannon sounds out behind me, as Molly starts firing. The round flies through the air, towards the apparent leader at the front of the pack. The enemy target moves to the left, dodging the sniper round, and as they get closer, I get a good look at my opponents.

The unit at the front of the pack, is an enemy AC, a hover type by the looks of it. The 4 units flanking it appear to be bipedal types, with wing like arms. The other 6 units appear to be flight model MTs, lacking the features that AC's typically have.

I begin charging up my K29 model laser rifle, and move into cover. Molly fires again, this time at one of the outer units. That unit was much slower to respond, with much less distance between them, and only begins to move when the sniper round impacts it. The round punches clean through, and the unit begins to lose altitude before exploding into pieces.

I round the corner, and move out, as our detachment of 8 Schidts move past me, towards the enemy. I get a much better look as they close in, and watch as a series of rockets detach from each one and fall away, as they begin moving forward under their own power.

I aimed and fired my fully charged laser rifle, aiming at the leading AC. It quickly swerved to the side, as the beam of energy tore through the space it previously occupied. I back pedaled as alarms went off in my cockpit, high boosting backwards as a pair of energy beams slam into the ground in front of me.

The Schidts begin firing their chain guns at the enemy units, but their fire is ineffective, missing the fast moving targets.

Another crack is heard over the battlefield, as another sniper round flash above me and slams into on of the bipedal type AC's punching through the side as it was making a strafing run on the Schidts. The AC staggers in the air, before falling to the ground, landing on top of one of the Schidts, destroying it and the Schidt.

My alarms flash again, and before I can dodge, 3 hovering drones appear above me, and start firing down on me. The energy bolts aren't very powerful, but they none the less begin to damage my armor. I boost charge into and off of a nearby building, dodging some of the fire, and fire my H22 model battle rifle at the enemy AC as I move.

The 3 round burst of fire goes wide, with only one of the rounds hitting the AC square in the chest, dealing minimal damage. I aim and fire my laser rifle at the AC again, as Molly fires her sniper cannon again, striking another MT, destroying it. I hear the yells of the Schidt's pilots as they are torn apart by the MTs and AC's.

I duck behind a building, and jump off of its side, attempting to gain some altitude. A pair of the bipedal AC's dash past me, and begin firing at Molly's AC. Molly jumps up and boosts back, switching her arms from sniper mode to normal mode, ducking past a building while her arms switch.

I fire another burst from my battle rifle, but the enemy AC evades, ducking past another building. Molly jumps up from behind her building, firing away at the pair of bipedal units chasing her. I bring my laser rifle around to bare, another shot charged up as they enter my firing line. I pull the trigger, and a beam of energy cuts clean through one.

The other dodges to the left of my attack, just barely dodging my burst of battle rifle fire. My alarms flash, and I throw my ac to the side, as a pair of energy beams flies through the air space I previously occupied. Molly begins firing at the enemy hover AC with her Gatling gun, sending hundreds of rounds downrange.

I boost forward, and leap onto the roof of the nearest building, turning myself around in the process, and watch as the enemy AC opens up with a barrage of missiles. I deploy my leg shield, anticipating them going for me, but watch in horror as they swarm in on Molly's AC. Molly, having just jumped forward, activated a high boost to the side. Some of the missiles miss, but the majority impact her AC, Carnation, surrounding it with explosive fire.

I activate the right bay unit, and as it goes through the motions of switching my right side weapons, I charge forward, shield retracted, and fire another burst from my battle rifle.

This burst connects, with 1 round each hitting the center of the core, the center of the hover leg, and the front of the left arm, each one followed by a explosion. Before I can fire again, one of the MT units comes at me from the my left side, firing its chin mounted chain gun. I aim and fire my battle rifle, with all three rounds hitting the MT's front. It crumples into pieces as the rounds hit it, causing it to stagger to the side before exploding.

I instinctively jump and high boost to my right, dodging a volley of missiles from the enemy AC. I begin laying down fire from my battle rifle and newly switched rifle, sending high velocity AP rounds toward my target. The enemy pilot is good though, expertly dodging by weaving back and forth before cutting behind a building, as a set of 3 drones appear above me, and begin raining fire on my.

I jump and high boost forward, smashing one with my AC's left leg while shooting the other 2. I cut my boosters and land, as Molly's AC appears next to me, its left arm blown off at the elbow joint, and other pieces of armor blown off, but otherwise intact.

I ping her comms, and say "You alright there, Molly? Your AC took a nasty hit there."

Molly answers "Yeah, just a little shaken. My left side took the brunt of it."

I respond "Good, time to finish this."

As I begin to move forward, the main enemy AC appears several hundred meters down range, headed back towards where it came from, along with the surviving pair of bipedal types. A Schidts model GPAC rolls up, contacting us "Mam, it appears the enemy is withdrawing. Should we pursue?"

I respond "No, they're far too fast. We'd never catch them, not even us. See to the wounded, but keep your guard up." He responds "Yes mam." and begins moving back towards the others, barking orders, as I turn to Molly, saying "Got a shot?"

Molly, having transformed her arms into weapon mode, responds "I'm afraid not, those missiles destroyed my gun sight, I'd be firing blind." I turn back towards the the Atlantic. As I scan the horizon, I get a message, audio only. I run it through the virus scrubbers, and play it, hearing "To the pilot of the green heavy weight AC, you have my respect. You fought well, and I look forward to our next battle." The message ends, with the text "Sighned, Wesley"

"Huh, modern day chivalry. Who'd have thunk it." I say to myself, as I download and save the message for later. I stretch, popping my joints which have been stressed from the combat, and begin typing up a report, keeping an eye on the horizon.

"Shit" I say to myself, looking over the state of my AC as I boost away from the combat zone. The front armor of the core and hover platform was buckled at the front, and the emitter on the left arm was completely destroyed. In addition, we'd lost all of the Scimitar MTs, and 2 of the RAKAN type GPACs.

In other words, this operation was a complete failure. I sent a voice message to the lead enemy AC, complimenting their skill. Their AC was largely undamaged, being a heavy weight type with a good amount of armor. The other AC, from what I saw, had lost one of its arms, and the MTs and GPACs had destroyed 5 of the defending GPACs.

I pull off my helmet, and straighten out my hair, and send off my report to Kirsiragi Command, and head off to link up with the KNU Longest Night, a stealth submarine.

On the way to the rendezvous point, I was wondering, how did they know we were coming? They were clearly waiting for us, as the likely hood of not one but two AC's standing guard directly in our path, was highly suspicious. I'll have to pass that along.

Authors Note: And there we go, chapter 3 is done. What did you guys think? I hope I brought Gen V AC's and Gen V's version of GPACs in well enough. Anyway, onto the next codex entries.

Ravens

Wesley Battle

Male

Affiliation: Kirsiragi

Piloting a lightweight hover type, and leader of Kirsiragi's deep strike unit, Wesley is a simple, pragmatic man, often at odds with Kirsiragi higher ups, but is none the less one of their best pilots.

AC: Stalker

Head: YH18-SCARAB

Core: RAKAN (Over boost Core, over boost top speed: 1452 KPH)

Arms: WA01-LEO (Laser Cannon Arms, Ammo 48 (fires 2 shots per attack, 24 shots total)

LEGS: CR-LN85

Booster: N/A

FCS: MONJU

Generator: G01-LOTUS

Radiator: R02-HAZEL2

Inside: I01M-URCHIN (Mine Dispenser, Ammo 20)

Extension: FUNI (Relation Micro Missile, Ammo 40, 4 missiles per volley, 10 volleys total)

Back Unit R: KINNARA (Micro Missile, Ammo 70, 7 missiles per volley, 10 volleys total)

Back Unit L: WB270-HARPY2 (Orbit Cannon, Ammo 30, 3 per volley, 10 volleys total)

Arm Unit R: N/A

Arm Unit L: N/A

Hanger R: N/A

Hanger L: N/A

Top speed: 1018 KPH

Delilah Briarwood

Female

Affiliation: Vennide

An up and coming AC pilot, Delilah is one of Vennide's newest pilots, and has been making waves with an impressive combat record. Often paired up with Molly Weatherford, she pilots a green colored heavy bipedal type, with a varied loadout.

AC: Splinter

Head: UMEGAE mdl. 1

Core: Co-D-S29 (35 Recon Units total)

Arms: AB-107D

Legs: L2HA-118

FCS: FA-303

Generator: GA-319

Booster: BA-309

Recon Unit: ASATORI mdl. 3 (Tracking Type)

Arm Unit R: Au-L-K29 (High Laser Rifle, Ammo 40)

Arm Unit L: Au-C-H22 (Battle rifle, Ammo 120, 3 rounds per burst, 40 bursts total)

Shoulder Unit: MONONOFU mdl. 3 (Sub computer)

Bay Unit R: AM/RFB-215 (Rifle, Ammo 350)

Bay Unit L: Au-V-G37 (HEAT Machine Gun, Ammo 450)

Molly Weatherford

Female

Affiliation: Vennide

A older AC pilot, employed by Vennide, Molly is often deployed for support duties for fellow pilots, and is rarely deployed outside of Vennide territory. She pilots a green colored medium weight build, with a sniper rifle weapon arm.

AC: Carnation

Head: Hd-H-E34

Core: CA-215 (40 Recon Units Total)

Arms: A04 Vampire (Sniper Cannon Weapon Arm, Ammo 40)

Legs: Le2M-D-F02

FCS: Fs-L-F03

Generator: GA-319

Booster: Bo-C-Hll

Recon Unit: ASATORI mdl. 2 (Tracking Type)

Arm Unit R: Au-C-B07 (Battle Rifle: Ammo 65)

Arm Unit L: Am/CGA-115 (Gatling Gun, Ammo 2,500)

Shoulder Unit: N/A

Bay Unit R: N/A

Bay Unit L: N/A

GPACs

RAKAN Type: A newer model GPAC developed by Kirsiragi, the RAKAN type is their first full production model AC. Although sporting lighter armor compared to a standard AC, the RAKAN model GPAC features incredibly high mobility, featuring a new type of bipedal shaped hover legs, compined with a high acceleration booster. For Armament, the RAKAN is equipped with a pair of rapid fire pulse cannon arms. Newer models are planned with differing loadouts.

R28 Sckidts: A model of GPAC developed by Vennide, the R28 Sckidts is a heavyweight, tank type GPAC, featuring heavy armor, and a large physical shield on the left arm mount. The right arm can be equipped with differing armaments, but the standard Sckidt is equipped with a heavy chain gun. Other models can be equipped with a heat cannon, and heavy laser cannon for long range fire power.

MTs

Scimitar: A high end flight capable MT developed by Kirsiragi, the Scimitar is a fairly quick MT designed for flight combat operations. Although armed with a chain gun and dual plasma cannons, the MT's week armor limits its effectiveness against AC's.

Technologies

Hover Legs: A Leg type, developed by Crest and Mirage for high speed, mobile combat. Usually sporting lighter armor than even lightweight bipedal types, hover legs are notorious for their high maintenance requirements, as well as how easily they can be disabled. Only the most skilled of Ravens use them.

Weapon Arms: Primarily split into 2 types, depending on corporation. Crest, Mirage and Kirsiragi made weapon arms, are built to have 2 firing modes, and can equip extension and inside units. Vennide and other American made weapon arms, are built with the bay system in mind, allowing the use of a pair of normal weapon arms, but cannot equip shoulder units. Both systems have weaker defenses than standard arms, and the built in weapons usually have lower ammo than the hand held counterparts, but are substantially more powerful.

Laser Weapons: Although not true lasers, laser weapons have been a mainstay of Armored Core Combat, being a important asset on all sides. Laser weapons are a combination of particle and plasma technologies, firing condensed beams of plasma at incredible speeds. Although not truly the speed of light, these "lasers" are still substantially faster than plasma or pulse weapons, and typically have longer range. Laser weapons come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all are powerful, directed energy weapons.