Sorry for the delay, here is Chapter 5!
Chapter 5: Test Pattern
Darkness was all that existed for a moment. An infinite blackness surrounded me, holding me up. My arms and legs hung loosely in the air, and no matter what I did they would not move. I couldn't draw breath, and my eyes would not open. A fatal silence echoed through the space, the kind that would make someone jump at every shadow, cower at every fleeting glimpse of a form. But I was not afraid. I was ready.
"Initiating combat simulation: Muscle Tracer patrol."
The mechanical voice awakened me, and my eyes flew open to the bright, artificial sun of the Peace City desert. Sand billowed below me, and old, decrepit buildings were collapsing into the dunes. I was standing next to one, about even with what I thought was the twelfth floor. I extended my right arm as far as I could, and I saw in my blocky, metallic hand I was holding a rifle. The sunlight glared off the silvery appendage, which I recognized as the arm of an old, Rosenthal "Hogire" unit. I moved my arm up and down, watching the steel puppet follow suit. Quickly I began flexing my arms and legs, desperate to learn how I would control this NEXT.
"Ruby, this is Hector, come in." A voice crackled through my head. It was odd, seeing nothing, being completely alone, and yet speaking with someone. Almost like talking to yourself.
"Hector, I'm here." I replied into thin air.
"Good. As I'm sure you've figured out, there is a small patrol of Muscle Tracers inbound to your location. They will be very well armed and are aware of your presence. You will have to take them all out. This should be easy for you," he paused. "I'll be your operator for this exercise. Any questions?"
"No." I said. While Hector was going over the mission, I had been testing the functions of the NEXT. When I ran around on the ground and moved my arms and legs, it behaved in much the same way as a normal, albeit much more responsive and fluid. I felt like I was part of the machine, which was close to the truth. In real life, pilots are neurally linked directly to the NEXT's systems inside the core. They don't sit in the machine like a normal, they are implanted in, mind and body.
While I was aiming the rifle at the building, I made a trigger pulling motion with my hand. With a blast of light and a loud thud, the rifle fired a shell at point blank into the wall, sending rubble everywhere and leaving a large hole in the decaying offices. The noise wasn't nearly as loud as I remember from Aspina four years ago, but I could see the deadly result was the same. Raising my left hand, I saw I had a triangular looking laser blade on the back of my forearm. I balled my hand into a fist, and a bright orange beam emerged from the tip of the triangle parallel to my hand, extending out a few meters before tapering off. It radiated energy, and against the intense light I became aware of the NEXT's heads up display activating.
Numbers and bars were displayed on the edge of my vision, in a translucent green color. I recognized AP, meaning armor points, a numerical representation of hull integrity, and a small bar above the AP number representing energy reserved for weapons and boosters. Speaking of energy, the bar was quickly draining from my continued use of the laser blade, so I switched it off by opening my fist. Both the AP and energy bar systems were also present in normals, but the last one I saw was foreign to me. A thick, short bar was adjacent to the AP number, but it was unaffected by my use of the blade. Joshua had described primal armor to me once as being measurable, and since there were no other systems I could think of that required monitoring, I assumed the fat bar represented my PA. I returned to testing out my equipment.
Switching to my back weapons, which were a laser cannon on the left and a missile launcher on the right, required a less casual action. To prime the heavy guns, I needed to arch back the respective shoulder and rotate it in the socket, which would raise the gun up and into position. Once they were ready, I found I could aim with normal motions of my arm, and fire by closing my hand into a fist. The laser cannon I had was nothing compared to Hector's plasma cannon, but it still carved a searing hole through the nearest building with an orange beam of heat and gas. Having worked out basic movement and weaponry, I was about to turn my attention to boosting when I heard a quiet crack.
Masonry exploded near my face, filling the air with tiny shards of shrapnel that clouded my vision for a brief moment. Turning to track the shot, I saw three thin, reverse jointed figures emerging from behind another dune. They lumbered forward slowly, cannons in the place of arms turning up to take aim. One of them had what appeared to be missile launchers sprouting from its back.
"It would seem you've found the Muscle Tracers." Hector said. I silently cursed my ignorance. In my haste to try out the Hogire's systems, I had forgotten to check on my radar. I could see three red triangles were now illuminated straight ahead of me. Two more of them were closing in from the far right. But they were on the edge of my radar. There could be any number of them right outside my range. "What are you waiting for? Engage them."
I began running forward through the waste, making for a nearby building that I could use for cover. The sand kicked up in geysers as my thick, metal feet pulverized the ground beneath me, leaving deep tracks even in the billowing dust. More cracks sounded from the direction of the Muscle Tracers, and I rotated to get a view of them, sidestepping towards my destination. Five low caliber cannon rounds flew towards me, although most of them passed just behind my shoulder. Two, however, struck home. I could see my Primal Armor glisten as the invisible shield activated to absorb most of the force. My armor dropped an insignificant amount, and I barely registered the two impacts to my abdomen.
Raising my rifle and activating my laser cannon, I took aim at the lead Muscle Tracer. A white targeting reticule appeared on my screen as the Hogire's aim assistant made fine adjustments to ensure I would hit. When it turned red, I squeezed off a rifle shot and pumped out a laser blast, for good measure. Muscle Tracers were about as tall as a NEXT, but fairly low tech, and lacked any real protection. The rifle fire probably would have been enough for a kill, but I was taking no chances.
The bullet struck the MT dead on, ripping through its arm cannons and burying itself in the metal of the cockpit. The laser followed suit, boring a bright red hole straight through the dying machine that nearly sliced it clean in half. Molten metal fell apart, unable to support the weight of the compromised hull, and the shell collapsed into the desert. One down, two to go. Just as I began readjusting my aim to target the Muscle Tracer with the missile launcher, it fired a salvo from its back weapon. Four white missiles streaked towards me through the air. Still sidestepping, almost to the building, I fired a few wild shots at the explosives. One of the missiles took a glancing blow that ignited its charge, and it detonated. Another one was caught in the blast, but that still left two.
I threw my bulk around the corner of the building as the missiles followed close behind. They were coming at an angle, and as a result they turned straight into a wall, sending up a fiery cloud of concrete and metal shavings with a dull bang. The Muscle Tracers were still a fair distance away, and nothing they had could penetrate the building, so I took the chance to try and activate my boosters. If only I could start moving quickly, I could take out these scouts in seconds. I tried jumping up, but that launched me off the ground with the sheer force of the Hogire's legs alone, and not the thrusters. I was at a loss for what to do, but as I turned to engage in a long firefight with the MTs, Hector's voice once again tore through my head.
"Ruby, why aren't you using your boosters? You know a NEXT's greatest weapon is speed." He asked, puzzled. I felt embarrassment creep into my voice as I spoke.
"I… don't know how. I figured out all the rest of the motions, but I can't activate the boosters. I thought I was supposed to mesh perfectly with the NEXT." I whispered. Hector eased up his tone as well, speaking gently.
"The reason you're having trouble is because you're still thinking of movement like you're in a normal. There are no foot pedals and arm levers here, Ruby. Remember, your mind is what controls things, not your body. To move your arm, you must first think about moving it, even if it's only a subconscious thought. The same goes for boosting." Hector paused for a moment, before letting out a short laugh. "Don't worry. On the first try, everyone has this problem. I know I did. Your sister just charged the MTs on foot and blasted them apart." I smiled and shook my head at the story. I could easily imagine Yang rushing forward, weapons blazing through a hail of gunfire. "Try to imagine yourself floating over the ground. Allow yourself to feel how you want to move." Hector finished. I drew in a deep breath, and closed my eyes.
"Okay, I'll try." I replied as I slowly exhaled. Calming down, I focused on a mental image of the Hogire unit I was controlling. It was a middle weight biped, not the fastest, but it still outpaced many other models. The Hogire had fairly thick arms and legs, and the core was well armored and blocky. Boosters were positioned around the arms, legs, shoulders, chest, and all up and down the backside. To just get off the ground, I needed most of the boosters activated to some extent, to both lift me up and balance me in the air.
I imagined them firing, discharging the familiar light yellow flare I had seen in the videos. I imagined them heating up, drawing power from the Kojima reactor and burning it away into the surrounding environment as they radiated propulsive force. An odd noise drew me out of my meditation, and my eyes snapped open to see… nothing had changed. I was still on the ground. But that noise, it had almost been like a small rush of air, the quiet sound of gas spraying from a nozzle before being ignited. I once again recalled the thought of the boosters surging with power, this time with my eyes open.
The sound returned, and with a jolt I could see that the horizon was starting to tremble. The NEXT was almost off the ground, but it needed one final push. I was so close I could feel the machine calling to me, asking me to become one with it, to stop differentiating between muscles and servos. Willingly I gave myself over to the sensation, and with a mere thought, I rocketed up into the sky.
The ascent was smooth, like floating up through water as I cleared the building. I let out an ecstatic cry of joy as I hovered in the air. "Hector, I did it!"
"Good, now take some time to get used to hovering while you take out the rest of the MTs."
My only response was to smirk, even though Hector couldn't see it. I would do more than just hover. I would soar.
Turning my thoughts at the Muscle Tracers, who were struggling to aim upwards at me, I propelled myself forwards. Dunes and buildings blurred as the powerful boosters on my back let out a blast, accelerating me to a speed lethal for anyone in a normal. In an instant, I was positioned above the MTs, their forms seeming to move in slow motion as they turned to track me. Cutting all of my vertical thrust, I dropped like a bomb, slamming down in the midst of the hapless scouts who had gone up against a NEXT. I spun around in a burst of light and gleaming metal as I activated my laser sword. The beam cleaved the MT with the missile launcher in two like it was paper, sending a shower of sparks and steam into the air. I turned on the second MT before the first one hit the ground, and it met a similar fate as the orange blade sliced through its core, sending two halves straight into the sand with the hiss of melting alloys.
At the corner of my vision I could see the remaining MTs had drawn closer. They numbered five, moving in a triangular formation as they headed straight towards me. Wasting no time, I thrusted forward, coasting over the ground to conserve energy as my feet drew wide streaks in the dunes. A flurry of cannon fire rushed to meet me on my path, and I threw myself to the side again. But this time I activated my boosters, depleting a higher amount of energy to temporarily overcharge them, blasting me out of harm's way with blinding speed. I smiled inwardly. I had performed my first Quickboost, a signature move used by NEXT pilots to evade fire and reposition for an attack. It felt good to be making progress, and the Hogire handled like a dream. Every move it made was so perfectly in tune with me that it almost seemed like it had a mind of its own. Well, I guess it kind of did have a mind, just not technically its own.
Continuing onward towards the MT formation, I had the opportunity to practice Quickboosting a few more times as I dodged missiles and cannon shells before I was among the outdated walkers. My laser blade carved a path through the closest two, shearing off the tops of the cores with an impressive amount of sparks and leaving the flaming hunks to collapse loosely to the ground. Another one fell to a sharp burst of rifle fire as it turned to aim at me, tearing into the cockpit and drilling out the back, leaving two gaping holes that filled with smoke as the helpless walker shuddered and dropped. The last two MTs had nearly locked onto me, but I was close enough to cut them down. I boosted around them, cleanly circling behind the slow machines before they could shoot. It was sad, really, that people still used these things in combat even when they had no chance against a NEXT. With a short swipe, I drew my laser blade through them both, adding two more sparking, demolished Muscle Tracers to the mechanical graveyard at my feet.
"Excellent work Ruby. I've never seen someone take to the boosting system so fast."
"Really? You mean that?" I asked, bewildered. Hector's amused laugh echoed through the desert.
"Yes, Ruby, I mean it. Most people need to go through at least three or four simulations to have the degree of control you just displayed."
I nearly squealed with giddy excitement. Anatolia's Mercenary, the greatest soldier of all time, had just complemented me on my skills with a NEXT! On my first try using one!
"Thank you so much! I won't let you down." I quickly added.
"I know you won't. Do you want to take a break? Or keep going?" Hector asked.
Still feeling the rush from my first battle, and wanting to test myself more, I quickly confirmed the latter option.
"Let's keep going. I'll need all the practice I can get if I'm going to be the best."
"Alright, I'll load another simulation. We'll jump ahead a little. How does Silent Avalanche sound?"
My training advanced at a rapid pace, and I began to hone my skills around the laser blade and rifle especially. Back weapons were by all means useful, but I felt they lacked a certain maneuverability necessary for close combat. Nothing beat the thrill of charging through enemies with an unstoppable, elegant force. And my AMS aptitude made me better suited for it than most. The split second decisions, the rush of buildings and deserts and ice floes blurring as they disappeared behind me. It was breathtaking to have such fine control over something outside of yourself, to be a part of something greater.
But still, I made some mistakes. My raw talent and determination proved my greatest strengths, although Hector said I relied on them too much. Even though I had completed his combat theory course with flying colors, he still noticed in me a tendency to act before planning. Which, I admit, I did do a lot. Unfortunately, this led to some moments I'm less than proud of, most notably against Silent Avalanche. Other normal squads I learned to dispatch with relative ease, but the arctic snipers gave me quite a bit of trouble. Rushing forward into close combat with a powerful Overboost may work well against one group once I'm within blade distance, but it paints a huge target on my back for any other units with an overlapping field of fire. It was there on the simulated fields of Antarctica that I first experienced AMS feedback. Getting hit with a large caliber sniper cannon does quite a bit of damage and drains your primal armor, and getting hit again in rapid succession can compromise entire sections of a NEXT.
Thankfully, when the second round hit my arm it glanced off, but enough force was transferred to warp the metal of the elbow joint. The failing motors couldn't respond to my mental signals, and when that happens, the electrical charge sent out to the systems is returned to the source. In this case, my elbow. The sudden over stimulus of nerves in the body can cause severe damage, usually indicated by a numb or sore feeling. Extreme cases caused paralysis, and oftentimes, death. Although there were techniques to reduce the lethality of the feedback, they severely impeded the synchronization between the LYNX and the NEXT, leading many to eschew the technology in favor of not getting shot down in the first place. The training simulator was programmed to only simulate a minor shock, however, so for a couple hours afterwards my arm felt half asleep. AMS feedback was one of the main killers of NEXT pilots, right after direct attacks penetrating a compromised hull. Even if the armor holds up, intense radiation or extreme damage all over a NEXT can cause the bodily functions of the pilot to shut down, sending them into a short lived coma before expiring. Although I'm told it's relatively painless, as you lose literally all feeling in your body, I can't imagine how horrifying it would be. To watch as you just… turn off, and know there is nothing you can do about it. I shivered when Hector explained the situation. I couldn't let that happen to me.
Regardless of the setback, I pushed forward and survived the Silent Avalanche mission, although I wasn't pleased with the result. After completing all the other scenarios, destroying MTs, normals, battleships, you name it, I insisted on running the mission again. This time, however, I tried a different approach. Hector always said I was a good shot, so when I encountered the first group of snipers, I turned to my rifle and rear laser cannon instead of my blade.
When I had launched myself into the midst of the snipers before, I had to leave my back exposed as I cut them down one at a time. I couldn't defend myself if I couldn't see what was coming at me, so I would no longer make that mistake. Engaging normals specialized for long range combat at their own game was risky, but I trusted to my enhanced reflexes and skill to see me through. Massive sniper cannon rounds would fill my vision for a few terrifying milliseconds before I dodged out of the way, and continued firing towards closest unit. And when only one normal was left in each group, it was easy to speed past and sideswipe it with my sword. In this fashion I battered through the special forces unit, dodging their fire head on and returning some very accurate shots of my own. I finished with barely a scratch, and when I stepped out of my final simulation, Hector stood there waiting for me.
"Congratulations Ruby. You're done. There's no more I can teach you. Fighting head on like that is incredibly dangerous, but very effective if you have the skills to support your strategy. And you definitely have the skills." he said with a smile, clapping me on the back. In the year we had been training, Hector had been my constant companion, the voice on my shoulder that was the embodiment of wisdom and experience. He had given me advice, strategies, and the sum of his knowledge. And now, all that was left to do was register as a LYNX and build my NEXT. To this end, Hector and I stood in the elevator rising up to the top floor of Line Ark, filled with nervous anticipation. Well, I was filled with nervous anticipation. I doubt he was. Before I could strike out on my own, I needed the approval of the Line Ark government and defense corps.
My two choices were to sign a contract with a company or remain an independent mercenary. Either decision would bear severe ramifications for Line Ark, as the only companies I really had the choice to join were GA or BFF. Joining either of them would provide a lot more income for us, and probably increase the resources we received. But if I remained independent, I would have more freedom to investigate Omer. I wouldn't be making nearly as much money though, and I wouldn't have access to a NEXT for a while, since the only model we still had was Hector's Aaliyah. It was a tossup, between my desire for justice and my responsibility to repay Line Ark for everything it had given my family. Before I made any decision though, the directors of the government had to meet and discuss my plans and how they would affect the companies. Tensions between Line Ark and The League were at an all time high, and we were about to play the age-old, dangerous game of cold war negotiations that would determine the fate of the last independent power in the world.
Yes! Finally some NEXT action! (even though it's just a simulation)
Also, the LYNX piloting system is... complicated, to say the least. The best comparison I can give you is The Matrix: Their minds completely control their actions, and if whatever they are connected to is destroyed, they die. Although no one has those ugly looking brainstem hooks in the back of their heads.
If some of you haven't noticed by now, the chapter names are song titles from both the Armored Core 4/for Answer OST and the RWBY soundtracks. They are all awesome and I highly suggest listening to them all in the order of the chapters without stopping because I pretty much do that every day.
Chapter 6 should proceed as planned, and will probably be ready within a week.