Alright, this story has been getting more followers and favorites than I thought, so that's nice.

KisaragiKei: 1)I thought blade waving was a default thing after AC:SL, but if it isn't then I can work it in. It would explain why the Raven would be so quiet, if you read Tower City Blade then you'd notice that being a Plus has certain side effects.

2)The Raven will become a major character alongside a select few other Ravens and Huntsmen.

3)The Raven will pilot a mid-weight bipedal, the rest will be a small surprise. Their AC will evolve overtime. They will also remain silent. They will have thoughts, but will never speak.


Northern Border of New Region
1 day after arrival
3:00PM

A representative from the OAE stood alone on a beach, the waves of the ocean slowly creeping up the shore. She was rather unsettled to say the least. She simply stood there, awaiting first contact with the natives. There were already so many problems with this situation. Cultural differences, language barriers and a boatload more issues that added to her fear.

On the bright side, she was accompanied by an infantry team armed with Armor-Piercing rifles, a few MT pilots, and a Raven, who was yet to arrive. A small amount of the MTs and the pilots were from the corporations, the rest from the OAE itself. The Raven, on the other hand was forced by the Ravens' Ark to accompany the team in order to dispel any hostile intentions from the natives.

Because the MTs clearly weren't enough. Then again, nobody sees the MTs as threats. Especially the "chicken-leg" variants.

"Hey, Nigel?" One of the Mirage-employed MT pilots called out to his friend.

"Please don't say my name. Or anyone's name."

"You're really scared of getting murdered in your sleep because someone knows your real name? What, would you rather that I go with your alias, that people can also just look for on a database and then find your name and kill you? Nigel, you need to understand that those stories are goddamn retarded. Use your brain."

"Sure, Frank... sure." Nigel sighed. He wasn't as professional as most pilots, he never was, but he wasn't eager on dying, less so now that he was very far away from home. "I just think that we need to be much more careful, now more than ever. Politics is a very delicate thing, you know. And I think war with MORE factions is the last thing we want."

"Leave the politics to the brunette down there. And don't talk to the Navis guys. Mirage is suspicious of traitors already."

Nigel remembered something else at that moment. "By the way, did you see the arena fight? I've never seen someone do that blade-wave thing before."

"Actually I heard that it was integrated into all laser blades just recently. The blade-wave feature, that is. Then again, I could be wrong... and NR could be a Plus. ?"

"I wasn't talking about NR and Ammo, I mean the one with that one Raven... Kikka*, was it?"

"Speaking of Ravens, isn't our Raven supposed to be here by now?"

"We've got our MTs, and some boots on the ground. I think we'll be able to do more without a Raven intimidating everyone. Still, would be nice to have them here." Nigel then took notice of the sounds of jets in the distance. Didn't seem like the Raven was gonna arrive on time.


100 kilometers away from the Northern Border

"The hell were those things?" Vernhunt, the Rank 18 Raven, and pilot of the AC Great Den spoke out in curiosity. He was assigned by the Ark to protect a diplomatic meeting, and came across some sort of... black creature with white armor plating, and red markings on the armor. The creature attacked, but it was easily put down with a shot from his pulse rifle, the beam completely engulfing the much smaller creature.

"This is bad..." He muttered as he looked over at the transport chopper, that was destroyed by another one of those beasts, a large number of feathers penetrating the cockpit. "Guess I'll have to get there myself."

Suddenly, another AC zoomed by, heading towards the meeting. It took Vernhunt a while to understand what was going on, trying to put the pieces together. The appearance of an unidentified AC usually meant bad things. "Oh hell no." Vernhunt gave chase, his middleweight AC going as fast as possible.

He then noticed another AC going past him, this one oddly enough being marked as friendly. He took a moment to look at the friendly AC, and instantly recognized it from the white and orange color scheme. "No one ever told me another Raven would be hired... let alone the Rank 30 guy. At least he got a slightly better AC now."


Northern Border

A large number of Bullheads and other aerial transports were heading towards the new region, carrying an entire army equipped with anti-armor weaponry alongside a number of huntsmen courtesy of Atlas. The man leading this group was James Ironwood, a huntsmen, and a General in the Atlesian military. He stood at the bridge of an Atlesian Airship, wearing a white overcoat with a gray undercoat, awaiting any new developments.

It was better to be sure that you had enough guns when the first impression you get from an entirely new civilization is 'Machines of war and destruction are common enough to be used in gladiatorial combat.'

"Sir, we've spotted some men on the ground, most of them are armed." A soldier reported.

"Deploy the troops." Ironwood ordered.

The fleet proceeded to drop off soldiers, and the men of the OAE could only wonder why so many military assets were being used in a diplomatic meeting. The soldiers, which the pilots noticed also consisted of automatons, then walked up towards the OAE representative and the others accompanying her.

The OAE infantry, knowing they were outmatched, proceeded to lower their guns in the hopes that it would prevent any irrational responses.

"Nigel, you see those guys over there, behind all the soldiers?" Frank alluded to the huntsmen staying at the back. The MTs were hidden somewhere a good distance behind the OAE infantry.

"Yeah, they're not wearing armor. How come?"

"No idea. Just stay alert. They haven't done anything stupid yet."

"Where's our Raven?"

Ironwood then walked past his men, which some OAE infantry noted had what looked like a strip of metal above his right eyebrow, and raised a hand, which the OAE representative shook. "Miss," he began, "Do you understand me?"

"Yes I do." She responded, bewildered by the lack of a language barrier, but thankful nonetheless.

"I hope you understand why there is the whole army on your border. Our first impressions were made from your 'Arena'."

"Right... sure." She was still rather wary of all the soldiers, and she felt that most of the blame lied within the Ark for broadcasting two Ravens shooting the shit out of each other. "Well... I suppose you came here for a reason?"

"Yes, I am here to make sure you're not going to be our enemies. You transported an entire island onto Remnant, which is the name of this planet," Ironwood clarified, then continued, "and we are unsure on your purpose for being here."

"Well, I represent the OAE, the ensemble of most of the major corporations, and from the reports, ending up here was an accident. And we do not intend to attack any of your nations or governing bodies."

"I would rather prefer being told that from your leaders themselves, however I suppose this will have to do for now. Just be aware, that any aggressive actions will be met in kind." Ironwood stated. After a short pause, he spoke again. "Hopefully we can confirm your intentions as soon as possible."Another pause. "For now though, welcome to Remnant."

All of a sudden, the representative's radio came to life. "Hate to be the bringer of bad news," One of the MT pilots spoke. "Three ACs are heading our way. Two friendly. One unknown."

"Sir, you should probably get going. In fact, we all should." The representative advised Ironwood.

"Any particular reason for this?" Ironwood asked, still cautious of the new arrivals.

"Yes." She simply replied as a dozen Mirage, Crest and Navis MTs appeared from the depths of the region, making a lot of Atlesian soldiers raise their weapons in fear of getting attacked by the giant machines which made the Atlesian Paladin prototype look like an outdated tool."Because those," she pointed to the team of MTs, "won't be enough to save us from ACs. Or as you know them, the mechs from that Arena show."


30 kilometers away from the Northern Border
Insert music here. I dunno. Maybe some Eurobeat? How about AC Nexus OST: 9 memories?

A red and black hover-leg AC made its way to the meeting spot. The pilot's job wasn't to ruin any chance of peaceful contact with the outside nations, but to eliminate the entire MT/AC team located there. He would normally refuse this, but the money was just too good. The diplomacy of a nation destined to civil war was not exactly one of his main concerns.

The client was actually unknown, however. In the briefing the client also mentioned something about collecting combat data and being worried about potential Ravens disrupting the balance of power. Also, it mentioned that oddly enough, this might be able to convince this world's nations to stay out of the region's affairs.

"10 kilometers until reaching the combat area." The computer went. "Enemy ACs Galvanize and Great Den detected. Scanning..." His AC found NR and Vernhunt it would seem. Great Den was closer to him, and more of a threat, so he entered the combat area and immediately fired at Vernhunt with micro-missiles, catching him unaware and taking half of the missiles to the core, nearly breaking through the armor.

Vernhunt fired missiles back at the unidentified AC, the launchers on his AC's shoulders firing as well. "Damned Irregulars." He grunted as the missiles missed. He switched to his pulse rifle and machine gun and started pelting the Irregular with lasers and bullets, doing significant amounts of damage and then switched back to his missiles to conserve energy and launched another salvo. Vernhunt activated his Overboost, and four triangular panels on the back of his AC's core flipped open, revealing large boosters that produced a glow around the back, then shot out a stream of energy, easily overtaking the hover-legged Irregular, but draining a lot of energy.

Vernhunt was then met was another batch of micro-missiles and shots from two gatling guns, severely draining his AP in a quick attack. "Warning, AP at 50%." His computer spoke out. Another burst, 30%. Vernhunt fought back with more shots, but his AC took too much damage. "Warning, AP at 10%."

"Damn it, Raven, deal with him!" Vernhunt shouted while he temporarily withdrew from the area. The Irregular then went for the MTs again, this time at close range. He switched back to his micro-missiles and launched multiple salvos at some heavy MTs, crippling them and leaving them vulnerable to further attacks. The Atlesian soldiers took notice of this, and fired at the Irregular, but to no avail as the hover-legs made it extremely nimble. Not to mention that the shots that did hit only scratched the AC, while the Anti-Tank weaponry would only create small dents.

The Irregular then destroyed eight of the Mirage MTs, and finished off the heavyweight Crest ones.

"Shit, Nigel is dead!" Frank shouted, firing fruitlessly at the AC. Frank was then eviscerated by a barrage of gatling gun rounds, his MT blowing up and flinging debris at the friendly infantry.

A huntsmen wearing a tan trench coat and equipped with a revolver-knife combo went in to engage the mechanical titan, his teammates occupied with keeping the soldiers alive, and leaped up high to shoot at the AC's optics, and slashed at the antenna on its head, making a large scratch and a slight amount of radar disruption. The Irregular was impressed with the strength that he possessed. And rewarded him with a bullet from his gatling gun as the huntsmen landed back on the ground.

The huntsmen was knocked away and landed next to the corpse of an MT, his aura barely saving him from death. It was a futile battle, the Irregular had decimated two thirds of the MT forces and only a third of his AP had been lost.

"Where the hell is our Raven?" Another pilot yelled in despair, then was subsequently riddled full of holes, only a few MTs still alive. NR then burst out into the combat area, and diverted the Irregular's attention with a few rifle shots. NR's AC was upgraded with a better rifle, a WH01R-GAST model and better boosters of the B04-BIRDIE2 model. He would have done more had he been given more money.

Didn't really matter though when faced with an AC that had completely custom parts. The Irregular fired one final salvo of micro-missiles before purging the missile launcher, the piece dropping to the ground. NR's AMS destroyed some of the missiles with a laser, however most of them hit the AC in the left arm. NR retaliated with his rifle and blade only, his missile launcher having been purged as well due to it being about as helpful as diet water.

"Warning, AP at 50%." The Irregular's computer blared at the pilot. He then purged his now empty gatling guns and his core jettisoned a pair of high-power handguns that looked like a revolver cylinder stuck inside a brick, and caught the backups with his arms.

'That's new.' NR thought to himself about that weapon storage method as he struck the Irregular's core, doing a lot more than just leaving a scorch mark. The Irregular, now in point blank range, then attempted to shove the handguns into the core of Galvanize, NR's AC, and shot twice with both pistols, and backed off. NR boosted around, circling the Irregular and then jumped up into the air, using an aerial strategy instead.

The Irregular was struck with more rifle shots as he destroyed another cluster of MTs. The Irregular then shot out NR's boosters, forcing him to land and become essentially a sitting duck. "Warning, AP at 50%." NR couldn't believe it. One Irregular was giving so much trouble to two ACs, an entire team of MTs and an army of soldiers from two different worlds. Perhaps it was because of the Starter AC?

The Irregular then focused on NR's left arm, pummeling him with round after round. NR's left arm was then damaged to the point where it couldn't move anymore, and the Irregular circled around the left side of NR's AC, who was trying strafe around and gain distance, which was difficult against a hover-leg.

Said hover-leg then rammed into Galvanize, forcing it to crash into a friendly MT and crush the pilot inside. "Who uses an AC for that?" One of the OAE infantry questioned nervously. They had hidden themselves and the representative in a space too small for an AC to enter, and the infantry were not equipped for combat with ACs, so they would be ignored. Usually. They were still shooting at the Irregular, occasionally accidentally hitting Galvanize, but that did nothing.

Galvanize then rose up from the ground again, and NR attacked with another burst of rifle shots. The Irregular then purged the revolvers to jettison yet another pair of handguns of the pulse rifle variety. NR shot twice at the Irregular's core while sidestepping a couple of green beams, penetrating the core and destroying the FCS, forcing the Irregular to aim manually. "Huh..." The Irregular grunted quietly in light surprise.

NR was running out of ammo, and his AC's AP was doing terrible. Pretty soon he would have to rely on the MTs and infantry to get his ass out of the fire, which was pretty unlikely. "Raven, you need to hold out a little longer, help is on the way." NR's operator spoke out. He almost forgot about her.

"This is Great Den, Raven, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out but I'm going to provide assistance." Vernhunt transmitted to NR. "I knew I should've gotten Trasher to help me." Vernhunt then jumped into the fray, taking a beam meant for an MT, and countered with pulse rifle shots, the machine gun too battered to do anything.

Another huntsmen joined the combat, and rocketed towards the Irregular. He then managed to blow up a booster by some miracle, however he was promptly backhanded by the AC. The Irregular lost some mobility, but still remained agile as ever as he dodged beams, rifle rounds and rockets with ease. The Irregular then rammed into another heavier MT, which tried to pry the AC off and ended up almost tearing off the head of the AC, leaving a very disfigured face.

Vernhunt then launched one last salvo of missiles before purging the missile launchers and extension. The Irregular swerved away from the missiles, a couple of them hitting the MT and disabling it, however the pilot survived. The Irregular then focused on the crippled ACs, mostly on Vernhunt. A few lucky hits managed to stop Vernhunt dead in his tracks, who was saved only by Great Den's fail-safe systems. The focus then switched to NR, who was then out of ammo and had to purge his last remaining weapon.

"Raven, grab the pulse rifle from my AC!" Vernhunt commanded. NR did as he said, unfortunately subjecting Vernhunt to a couple stray pulse rifle shots. NR had to wait a while for the rifle to integrate with his AC's systems, namely the FCS, and because of it being an energy weapon, the generator. The Irregular knew this, and swapped his targets from ACs to MTs once again. Only a couple MTs were left, and the sooner he got rid of them, the less of an annoyance they would prove to be.

He pierced the core of an MT with his pulse rifle and fired at point blank range, also destroying another MT with his free gun. NR finally got Vernhunt's pulse rifle working, and returned to firing at the Irregular, hoping to end this firefight before the other soldiers got caught in the crossfire more than they already were. The Irregular ran out of ammo in his own pulse rifles, and pulled out YET ANOTHER PAIR OF WEAPONS. 'Oh you have to be fucking kidding me.'

The Irregular's new arsenal was a pair of single-shot plasma rifles. He then resumed murdering the last MT in the team, and released another burst of plasma towards NR, the shot missing him and grazing Vernhunt, instead hitting and disintegrating a squad of infantry. The Irregular then grabbed Galvanize's left arm, tore it off, and started beating him down with his own arm. NR jumped out of the way, and fired one last shot with his pulse rifle before purging yet another empty weapon. Now he was out of options.

He would die here before he would have gotten a useful AC. That was going to be his biggest regret.

The Irregular somehow managed to equip NR's laser blade from his severed arm, and blade-waved him.

"Warning, AP at 10%."

"Raven, reinforcements have entered the combat zone. Hang in there." His operator went.

"This is AC Vulcansaber, I'm engaging the Irregular." A young female announced. 'Oh great. Another AC that I haven't even seen in the rankings. Why does that name sound familiar though?' NR thought.


*Kikka is a canon Armored Core character from Tower City Blade. Read it, it's not that long. She'll also become a major character later on. Hopefully... no promises. Anyway, still hoping on getting the characters right. If I don't, please point that out.