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.

3. Chapter 3

Armored Core: The NEXT Evolution

Chapter 3: From this moment on, you are, a Raven.

"Speech"

"Radio/Electronic Speech"

"Thoughts"

So, I'm going to answer relevant questions just down below. Much like last chapter, there will be another Authors Note and more Codex Entries down below. Please, read and review.

Well, I didn't get any reviews from last time, so never mind. Aw well, there's next time.

"Ok, generator is on, check, FCS is on, check, boosters are powered up, check..." I say as I go through the motions. My name is Vance, Vance Cooper, and I've been training for this day. The day I become a Raven.

My radio sputters to life, saying"Vance, this is PK. Your initiation starts now. Your objective is simple. Defeat the opponents that are put in front of you. This will be a live fire exercise. If you fail, you die. Good luck."

"No pressure, I guess." I say to myself, tightening my straps down and keying the controls activation sequence, before bringing up my main monitors online, my AC's primary visual feed coming into view just as the elevator rises up to the Arena floor. The doors open, and I stop my AC forward, moving the foot pedals in time with the steps. Once clear of the door way, the doors close behinds me, leaving me in the arena with my opponents.

I access the situation, taking in my targets before me. I notice the size of the arena, one of the larger ones, a 1200 meter radius circle, with an elevated upper level 100 meters above the floor. Over halfway across, sat 4 Ostrich model MTs, along with 8 Rat model Guard MTs. I ping my radar to check for anything on the upper walkways, and with nothing showing up, and power up my boosters, and charge forward, boosting towards the left of the enemy positions.

As I close in, the Rats move up to intercept, firing their machine guns at me. I swerve left and right, avoiding most of the fire, but still taking a few rounds, which do nothing more than chip the outer paint. I raise up my AC's rifle, and begin firing, striking the lead Rat head on. The first round stops it in its tracks, with the second and third round punching clean through its main body. I switch to the next, blowing it apart, and the next. By this point, the Ostrich's have moved within range, and begin firing their rifles. I jump up, and boost backwards, strafing left and right to avoid their fire. I bring my missile launcher online, arm and fire at the front most MT.

As the missile flies, I cut my boosters, and land in the middle of the 6 remaining Rat's. I aim my rifle one, firing at nearly point blank range. The round impacts and punches through, blast out of the back. While aiming my rifle at another, I swing my laser blade into one that came just a bit too close. One of the Rats is fires off a burst of its machine gun, the rounds slamming into my AC's right arm, throwing off my aim. I take to the air again, moving towards Ostrich's while firing off another missile.

The missile impacts the lead MT, which collapses to its side, its armor crumpled from the first missile. The remainder MTs fire again as I boost towards them. All three rounds impact the front of my core, the impacts sending shock waves through the cockpit, but the armor holds. I close in, and slash through the left side of the nearest MT, before moving past them. As they turn to track me with their weapons, I cut my boosters and turn around, cutting through the rear most MT, causing it to explode into pieces. I raise my rifle and fire my rifle into it at point blank range, the first few rounds bouncing off of its armor, before one pierces and causes it to stumble. I swing my laser blade again, and cut off its left leg, causing it to fall over. I look over to the remaining Rats, aiming and firing off my missile launcher one missiles at a time. Once they were taken care of, I looked around, pinging my radar and sonar one more time.

My radio crackles to life, as PK chimes in, saying "Good, good, well done. However, the test isn't over yet. You have one more opponent to face. Get ready."

"Really, was this not enough?" I ask in reply. I turn towards the center of the Arena, where the center square opens up as a large MT is brought up. I observe, the unit, and recoil in shot. It was a Mirage model MT, an Owl. My Owl. I could tell based on the unit number on its shoulder, as well as its custom eye paint job on the front of the cockpit.

I yell into my radio "What the hell is this!" My radio crackles back "Sometimes, that which was once your ally can become your enemy. Now fight!"

I clench my jaw, and boost forward at max speed of 518 kph, intending to finish this in one swift strike. I arm and fire a missile at it as I close. The MT reacts, boosting forward and fires its rifle. I immediately throw my AC to the right to dodge, and then to the left, dodging the rifle shots as I open fire with my own rifle. The rounds have little effect, bouncing off of the thick armor at the front of the Owl.

As I maneuver my AC, the MT's tracking catches up with my maneuvers, and begins putting rounds into the front of my AC's, sending shock waves through the armor. I get shoved back into my seat, gasping for breath from the shock to my system. I shake it off, and fire off a missile, continuing on my charge towards the MT.

The MT boosts to the my left in an attempt to dodge the missile. As it does so, I fire another missile, just as the first missile reaches the MT, striking it in the front of the core. The missiles explodes on impact, slightly stunning it and scorching the paint at the front. As my next missile flies into it, I begin firing my rifle at close range, the rounds having greater impact at such close range. The front armor of the MT absorbs the second missile, but begins to buckle from the repeated impacts from my rifles rounds.

The MT raises its right arm, and fires with its bazooka. The bazooka round hits my rifle, blasting it to pieces and ruining the manipulator hand of my right arm. I activate my laser blade, and swing it in an upward ark, cutting through bazooka, slicing the weapon in 2 and detonating the remaining ammunition, blasting the bazooka into pieces, and blowing off the lower half of the MT's right arm. The MT is rocked by the explosion, and the loss of mass causes it to loss balance, stumbling to the its left.

I lash out with my right arm, slamming the ruined manipulator into its right shoulder, shattering the hand and upper arm into pieces. The force from the impact sends the MT spinning to the right, its balance servos failing to maintain balance as it collapses onto its right side. Before it can rise, I lunch forward, and cut through the thinner armor plating on the back side with my laser blade, cutting into its power core.

I step my AC back as it explodes, showering my AC with shrapnel. Once the explosion passes, I hear "The test is over. From this moment on, you are, a Raven."

I sag into my seat, sore from the impacts, and stretch, popping my joints. Afterwards, I begin moving my AC back towards the entrance, as worker MTs begin entering the arena to clean up.

Timeskip: 2 hours later

Once settled into my new apartment, courtesy of the Ravens Nest, I head down towards the Liaison office, where I'll meet my operator, as well as complete my Raven registration. On my way, I contemplate my new position, and its significance in the world.

During my employment by Mirage, I learned a good amount of knowledge of the world. Mirage maintained power of Europe, and parts of the middle east, total control of Greenland. Crest controls most of Africa, and the southern portions of the middle east. Kirsiragi Controls India, and Austrailia.

Other companies, minor nations, and other factions make the rest of the world a garbled mess of constantly changing borders and rulers. Mirage, Crest and Kirsiragi, after decades of war, signed an armistice, and elected to try to keep some form of order throughout the rest of the world. A newer faction, known as Vennide, has taken root in North America, with a Warlord led faction known as the Evergreen Family, located in South America, being the biggest known factions in the Americas. Minor corporations, each with their own objectives, such as Algebra, have been popping up in uncontested places in the world.

With the loss of all known pre-destruction history lost, and the constant conflicts that take place, one faction rose up to benefit from the chaos. A mercenary faction, which would become known as the Ravens Nest. Wielding powerful Armored Core technology, the Ravens Nest established itself as a powerful fighting force, one that could serve anyone, for the right fee.

With their headquarters located in Anatolia, the Ravens Nest has sense grown into an established organization, having branches located in all over Eurasia and Africa. All of their branches have their own headquarters, but none of them compare to the jewel that is the Ravens Ark. Set in the center of Anatolia, the Ravens Ark is a massive structure, taking the appearance of a large, metal castle. With encircling rings set around the structure, the Ravens Ark serves as the primary home of the Ravens, equipped with the latest in Armored Core Technology.

This is where I will live the rest of my life for the foreseeable future.

Once I make my way down, I approach the office, to see a fellow Raven, a pale skinned brunette with green eyes, roughly in her 30's, exiting the Liaison office. She turns to walk the other way, but stops, taking note of me, with my plain pilot suit. She moves towards me, saying "Well, I see we have a new recruit here. My name's Kia, what's yours?" as she holds out her hand.

I reach out and shake, saying " Mine's Vance, Vance Cooper. I've just recently completed Raven initiation test."

She finishes the shake, and as she pulls her hand back, says "Vance hey? Well, that's good to hear. Always good to see a newbie getting his wings." She reaches into her back pocket, and pulls out her PDA, saying "Hand me your PDA, got a gift for ya."

"Uh, Ok, sure." I respond, nervously pulling out my PDA, and hand it over. She starts tapping the screen, switching between the 2, and after a moment, hands me back my PDA. As I look over the screen, she starts walking away, saying "Spend it wisely." with a tone of amusement in her voice. I take a look at the screen, and gasp in surprise, at the amount of money suddenly in my account. With my life's savings added to the amount, I have over 1.2 million credits. More than enough to outfit a decent AC, and still have some left over for living expenses.

I turn to shout my thanks, but I see her turn a corner before I can say anything. I shakily put my PDA away, and step up, and knock. After a moment of silence, a female voice comes through, saying "Come in."

I open the door, and step into the room, taking note of the simple decor of the room. Once done, I focus on the desk in the center of the room, with a raven haired woman sitting, glancing through papers. As I step forward, she glances up, looking me over and says "Ah, Vance, good, come, take a seat." as she straightens up in her seat, and sets her current papers to the side. I pull out a seat, and sit down.

She stares me in the eye, and says "Alright, so, you've completed you're Raven initiation test, and should be settle in. Just got a couple of papers I need you to sign, and then you'll meat your operator. Firstly, I'll need you to sign this here, it is a agreement stating that you're ending your contract with Mirage." and hands me a contract. I look it over, and after a moment, sign it.

As I hand it back, she hands me another contract, this one nearly double the size, saying "I'll also need you to sign this one, agreeing to all the terms and conditions of the Ravens Nest, including lodging, finances, repairs, and you're arena coverage."

I look it over, taking note of the various terms, and sign where needed, before handing it back. She flips through, checking the various signature places, and once done, straightens it up, and says "Alright, that about covers everything. You are now officially a Raven."

She pulls out a folder, and hands it to me, saying "This holds the details of you're arrangement as well as contact info for an operator of your choice. You're now rank E-15. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors."

I accept the folder, glancing through it, and say "Thank you, truly. This has been a dream of mine, to join the Ravens. I won't let you down."

She folds her arms, saying "I'm sure you will. Best you run along, you've got things to do."

Taking the hint, I nod and turn to leave. As I open the door, I turn back, noticing she's already back to working on the paperwork she was working on before hand, and I say "Say, I didn't get your name." She pauses, glancing up and says "My name is Karen Holt, and if all goes well, this will be the last you ever see of me." and goes back to the papers.

I mumble "noted" to myself, and head out, with a couple of plans already in mind.

Timeskip: 2 Days Later

After a couple of days of exploration, getting to know the place, and doing some AC parts shopping, I finally felt ready to take on my first mission. After accepting the contract, I moved out and got settled in.

My AC, which I've named named Nero, was a largely Mirage based, middle weight type, with a EN Machine gun, laser blade, vertical missiles on the back and shoulders, and a core mounted pulse gun. Colored in a blue and grey color scheme, Nero was my new beauty.

My first contract, was to engage and destroy a convoy of transports carrying supplies to a group of pirates. Intel suggests that the defenses of the transport are light, but I was apprehensive of said intel. A properly made convoy could hide quite the force, hence the vertical missiles I had equipped.

In the transport, a standard Cranwell class, I went through my final checks as my operator chimed in over the radio "You're 60 seconds from the drop zone, enemy force consists of 8 Ostrich model MTs, 4 APCs, and the 8 transport trucks. Leave none standing."

I answer "Affirmative.", and began the AC start up sequence. Just as I finished, the Cranwell's pilot calls over the radio "We've reached the drop zone, dropping AC." I felt the subtle thunk as the clamps released, and my AC fell.

As my AC impacts the ground, I take note of my surroundings. I was dropped behind a small plateau between me and the convoy. I checked my map, and began boosting towards the convoy, heading to the left side of the plateau to put me behind the convoy, reaching my top speed of 674 kph.

After a few minutes, I turned and crested the ridge, and boosted over, heading down behind the convoy, and began pulling up behind them. As I was moving, I activated all my weapons, and as I closed the distance, the rear guard started to turn around, their radars pinging from my appearance. The 2 rear MTs were just turning around, as I closed the distance.

I opened fire with my EN machine gun into the MT on the right, the energy bolts impacting and melting the armor of the MT, and overloading the reactor from the excess heat. The MT on the left fires it rifle.

I dodge to the right, firing more into the first MT, before moving back to the left, and bring my laser blade to bear, cutting the MT in half with a single strike.

The rest of the convoy has finally caught up to the commotion, and the transports start accelerating to put distance between me and them. I switch over to my vertical missiles and activate my EO. I lock onto the leading transports, and fired a volley of missiles, as my EO burns a hole through the third MT.

I proceed in that order, firing missiles while my EO destroys the MTs one by one, their rifles ineffective against me. As I fired another salvo of missiles at the second to last transport, the last transport stopped in its tracks, as the top of the transport suddenly rips open, as an MT begins to fold out from it.

As I aim to lock on to this new threat, the 4 APCs suddenly move in front of me, and fire of chaff pods, creating a smoke screen between me and the transport, and breaking my lock. Annoyed, I aim my EN machine gun, and open up, turning them into molten slag one by one as they fire at me with their machine guns.

As the smoke clears up, I see a flash, and immediately boost to the side, just barely dodging a barrage of cannon fire. I finally get a good look at my newest opponent. It appears to be a gangly, reverse joint type, with long weapon mounts on the shoulders.

"That's a CHAOS model MT. It has heavy chain guns and missiles." says my operator, providing me a blueprint model of it on one of my monitors. I boost forward, firing my EN machine gun and EO pulse gun at it.

Just as a few rounds reach it, the MT crouches and jumps, firing its chain gun arms down at me. I maneuver to dodge, but a couple of the rounds still impact my AC, striking my left shoulder and front of the core. The armor dents, but holds.

I boost forward, and underneath it, under its firing arc. The MT reaches the top of ifs jump, and as it comes down, it fires a pair of thrusters to turn itself around. I boost towards its landing zone, and swipe at it with my laser blade as it lands.

The laser blade cuts through the outer layer of armor at the front of its core. The MT pilot lashes out with one of its arms, aiming for my left shoulder. I boost back, firing both my EN machine gun and EO into the cut of the armor. The rounds impact the armor, burning through the inner layer, and as the MT fires a pair of missiles at me, one of the rounds burnt through the core into the cockpit.

The missiles impact my core, sending shock waves through me, and knocking my AC back from the blast. The MT, its arms raised towards me, stood still for a moment, before collapsing forward.

I take a scan of the area, and say into the radio "Alright, enemy convoy neutralized, please confirm, mission complete." After a moment, my radio crackles to life, saying "Mission complete, confirmed, come on home."

I sigh in relief, and begin thinking of my next move. One day, I'll be at the top. One day.

AN: And that concludes that. What did you guys think? Please let me know.

Anyway, onto more Codex entries. Enjoy.

Raven Vance Cooper, and AC Nero

Vance Cooper: A former MT pilot in Mirage's Owl division, Vance has had plans of joining the Ravens for a long time. Is largely pro Mirage, but has no qualms about using non Mirage parts.

AC Nero: A Blue and black middle weight bipedal type, equipped with weapons suited for hit and run tactics. Low ammunition capacity limits combat endurance.

Head: H05-Hornet

Core: C02-Uranus (Pulse Gun EO, 100 rounds, regens 1 round per second of disuse.)

Arms: A09-Lemur2

Legs: LH05-Cougar

Booster: B04-Birdie2

FCS: CR-YF02H2

Generator: G02-MAGNOLIA

Radiator: ANANDA

Inside: N/A

Extension: JIKYOH (Vertical Relation missiles, Ammo 20)

Back Unit R: WB18M-Centaur (Dual back Vertical Missiles, Ammo 40)

Back Unit L: WB18M-Centaur (Dual back Vertical Missiles, Ammo 40)

Arm Unit R: WH10M-SILKY (EN Machine Gun, Ammo 160)

Arm Unit L: WL01LB-ELF (Mirage Standard laser blade)

Hanger R: N/A

Hanger L: N/A

Top Speed: 674 kph

Starter AC: A Crest manufactured basic model AC, used for the Ravens Initiation test, and often used by Crest as AI drones for large scale battles. It has decent armor, but lacks in both fire power and mobility.

Head: CR-H69S

Core: CR-C69U

Arms: CR-A69S

Legs: CR-LH69S

Booster: CR-B69

FCS: MF01-MUREX

Generator: CR-G69

Radiator: CR-R69

Inside: N/A

Extension: N/A

Back Unit R: CR-WB69RA (Standard Radar)

Back Unit L: CR-WB69M (Standard Missile Launcher, 1 lock, Ammo 40)

Arm Unit R: CR-WR69R

Arm Unit L: CR-WL69LB

Hanger R: N/A

Hanger L: N/A

Top Speed: 518 kph

MTs

GMT-RAT: A standard guard MT, the RAT model is a small, lightly armored machine equipped for patrol duties. Multi-type wheels allow it to move and turn in any direction, negating the need for a turret. Low speed, firepower and armor make it a minimal threat to AC's.

Armament: 1x Standard machine gun.

CMT-Ostrich: A bipedal type MT, designed by Mirage to be a standard combat unit. Ostriches can come in 3 different models. The standard Ostrich, often called the Model A, only comes equipped with a standard rifle. Model B, equipps a pair of missile launchers, one on each side of the rifle. The Model C trades out the missiles launchers for a flight pack, giving if limited aerial mobility.

Armament:

Model A: 1x Standard Rifle

Model B: 1x Standard Rifle, 2x Missile Launchers

Model C: 1x Standard Rifle, Flight pack

BMT-Owl: A heavy bipedal walker, built much like an AC, the Owl serves as Mirage's primary special operations MT, and is one of the few MTs that can compare favorably against an AC. Featuring heavy armor, with moderate boosting capabilities, and reasonably powerful weapons, the Owl can be a dangerous opponent for a rookie pilot. Can be outfitted with differing weapons, depending on the mission, but is most often set in three different types.

Type 1: 1x Standard Rifle (left hand), 1x ECM emitter (shoulders), 1x Parry Blade (right hand)

Type 2: 1x Standard Rifle (left hand), 1x ECM emitter (shoulders), 1x Bazooka (right hand)

Type 3: 1x Standard Rifle (left hand), 1x ECM emitter (shoulders), 1x pulse rifle (right hand), 2x missile launchers (back)

CHAOS: A older model MT design, dug up from the bones of Chrome from before the great destruction, and manufactured by Crest, the CHAOS MT is a reverse joint model MT, featuring enhanced jump capabilities, and a quick walking speed. Only 1 known model of CHAOS MT is known to be manufactured, it being equipped with heavy chain gun weapon arms, and a integrated dual back missile launcher. CHAOS type MTs are often used as support units, providing cover fire for friendly units, and are unsuited for direct confrontation.

Armament: 2x Heavy Chain Guns (both arms), 2x missile launchers (back of unit)

Technologies

EN Machine Guns: An interesting application of pulse weapon technology, EN Machine Guns provide the fire power of a pulse gun, with the rate of fire of a machine gun. Due to the intricacies of the weapon, the amount of times it can be fired is limited, often less than that of a normal machine gun. Best suited for close range combat, a EN Machine Gun is none the less capable of burning its way through the armor of an opponent with ease, due to the constant stream of high energy projectiles.