[The Witch and the Raven]
Date Started: 2022-12-31 A.D. | Date Finished: 2023-02-24 A.D. | Date Last Edited: 2023-06-22 A.D.
[CHAPTER START]
[Chapter 01: The Witch from Mercury, the Raven from Earth]
Suletta Mercury was beside herself right now. She was heading off to school, one that her mother had chosen for her. She had been going over her list in case she missed something.
Lights around her flashed and moved, making her smile.
"Don't worry, Aerial," she spoke. "I did an application for you, too."
Aerial was her sister. She was not leaving her sister behind for anything. They were in this together. That's what Mother wanted for both of them. She was not going to let Mother down.
["Approaching at Front Sector Twenty-Three, Asticassia School of Technology, in five minutes,"] the ship's captain announced on the intercom. ["The ship will now enter a docking course."]
Curious, Suletta tapped the screen of her phone to activate the external camera of the ship. Her breath stilled in awe.
There it was. The Asticassia School of Technology.
"That's the school?" Suletta wondered out loud, a smile on her face. "Mom, I finally made it!" It was time for her to live her dream. She and Aerial are going to have a lot of fun together in this new school, she just knows it!
"Hmm?" She hummed when she thought she had seen something move in front of her. A few taps on her phone and she was able to zoom in on the object using Aerial's own advance suite of cameras. She zoomed in on the image.
Her eyes widened when she recognized it as a person in a normal suit, far out from the school. All alone, with no means of survival in sight.
"N-No! Y-you can't!" She exclaimed, quickly grabbing her phone and keying in the number to the bridge, albeit shakily.
As soon as the call connected, she explained the situation as best as she could with her stutter, showing them a feed from Aerial's head-mounted camera. The crew on the bridge glanced at one another before quickly getting to work, smooth like clockwork.
Suletta herself decided to provide aid. Donning her normal suit and collecting whatever junk was floating around and putting them somewhere where they would not hinder her.
Gripping the controls, Aerial moves forward towards the opening hangar bay doors, to the surprise of the ship's crew manning the hangar.
Once it was fully open, Aerial surges forth to save someone once more.
He felt it. Brief it may have been, but he had felt the call. It was like a siren's call to him, beckoning him to seek out the source.
He hated it. The call made the back of his neck itch. It was an unpleasant sensation.
"OI!" A woman's voice knocked him out of his thoughts, accompanied by a strong fist to the face. He stumbled a step back, his surroundings once again registering in his mind.
"Get your head in the game! Damn idiot!" Chuatury Panlunch, otherwise known as Chuchu, snarled at him, her fists raised for another bout of punching.
Right, he was in the Earth House, in one of his usual spars with the volatile girl with the massive twin buns. He snarled back at her, answering her punch to his face with a kick to her side, sending her stumbling two steps to the desired direction.
They were both tough, both knew it. They can take all sorts of beatings before throwing in the towel but not before they paid their aggressors back with interest.
Chuchu sent a bloodied smile at him, a gesture that he returned in kind. They both charged at one another again.
The call will have to wait. For now, he will have to deal with this task in front of him.
He threw a harsh punch to her gut, sending her flying a foot off the ground but she was quick on her thinking. Using the momentum, she drives her own knee into his chest. The two of them staggered back from one another, each one taking a moment to catch their breath.
"Hah… Haaaah…" Chuchu huffed out. "Had enough… yet?"
"You… hah… kidding?" He shook his head, also huffing like Chuchu. "I'm not through yet!"
Chuchu's smile became wider, and her eyes became sharper. As did his, the two of them tightening their postures like springs ready to be sprung.
Once their mental timers count zero, they charged once again.
She could not help but marvel at the sight of the school, even from the linear train that she was a passenger on. This entire facility, built into the side of a massive meteoroid, housed everyone from students to faculty to security personnel, alike.
"It's so pretty," Suletta thought to herself, entranced by the sight of the school. So immersed in her ogling was she that she did not sense the presence of another next to her.
Specifically, this person was next to her feet which were sticking out and blocking her side of the train.
"Excuse me," a soft male voice reached her ears, making Suletta jump as though someone had shot a gun. Turning to face the speaker, she stammered out her words.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I am sorry!" she bowed in apology, hoping the person would forgive her disturbing of the train's space.
"It's no mind," he told her. "Stop bowing, please? People are staring."
He was right, other occupants of the train were staring at them. Staring at her. These would be her peers for the foreseeable future, and here she was making a fool out of herself.
Quickly complying, she ceased bowing and got a good look at the person before her. This person was around her age and was of average height, sporting fair alabaster skin that had only a few dark spots suggesting heavy use in those areas. He wore the uniform for the Asticassia School of Technology which, as far as Suletta could tell, was unisexual in design. His hair was a mess, ruffled up and not at all prim and proper like the other students. Lastly, his warm hazelnut brown eyes held nothing but kindness as he looked at her, framed with a pair of round glasses.
"My name's Ben," he introduces himself to her, holding out a hand towards her. "Ben Goodlight, I'm a second-year student in the Piloting department. It's nice to meet you."
Was she supposed to respond? What was she supposed to say?! What was she supposed to do?!
"I-i-i-it's ni-n-n-nice to me-meet you…" she responded, her voice muted as she retreated into her arms, anxiety filling her up. She was never good at socializing with others. One of the downsides of living in Mercury was that there was nobody her age to talk with. And with her mother gone on her long trips…
"Anxious, huh?" Ben correctly guessed, taking a seat next to her when he saw her retreat into herself. "I can relate to that, actually."
"Eh?" She perked up when she heard his words.
"I'm actually doing all I can to not break down right now," he admitted. "Especially when I'm talking to someone as cute as you."
Cute?! Suletta felt her face heat up when she heard his words. Ben chuckled, albeit mutedly, and coughed into his fist.
"Well… Since we're gonna be heading to the same place anyway, how about I accompany you for the time being?" He proposes, an easygoing smile on his face.
It would be nice if she had some company. And right now, Ben was polite, not like that girl she had met prior who was pretty high strung and rather intense, what with the way she had demanded that Suletta take responsibility for botching her apparent escape.
"Uh… Uhm… S-sure…" She mumbled out her response, making Ben nod lightly.
"Alrighty then!" Ben softly exclaimed, noticing that the train was closing in on the station. "Let's go then."
After his sparring match with Chuatury, he retreated back to his room in the Earth House dormitory to look over the damage. Stripping to his undergarments, he looks upon himself in the old mirror at the corner of the room.
He was a tall young man, over six and a half feet in height, sporting an athletic build and light brown skin. His dark charcoal hair was kept to a more manageable trim, with only a few stray strands of hair sticking out. Lastly, his own eyes met his own gaze from the reflection. Steel gray, hardened into a piercing gaze.
That same gaze currently hovered over the bruises he had accumulated from his spar with Chuchu.
"Chuchu seems to be getting better at her hits," he noted, examining some of the welts and bruises. True to his thoughts, his body had quite the collection of bruises, although they were slowly disappearing.
One benefit of his… arrangement, he supposes, with his employer. Still, with the lack of natural healing and with the boosted healing performance, he can't help but feel alienated from his peers.
Again, the back of his neck itched. The siren call beckons again. His eyes twitched at this. They never settle down unless he actively searches it out or gets far enough from the source of the call that it stops itching.
But before he could do something about it, his own personal notebook sprung to life, its screen providing some light in the otherwise dim room. Heading towards it, he can see that he had received an email.
From: Serene Haze
To: Strayed Raven
Subject: Request from Benerit Group
It's been a while since we've last contacted each other like this. I'll cut to the chase; we'll catch up later. The Benerit Group came to us with a mission request.
As you know, Benerit's been absorbing companies left and right ever since their little success on Gemina-13. There's been some companies that have been resisting Benerit, wanting to remain independent.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what Benerit wants.
If you're interested, you know where to find me.
- S.H.
"So, it's going to be like that?" He softly spoke, reading over the message. To be frank, he had no loyalty to Benerit, nor does he harbor any hostilities towards the conglomerate. As far as he was concerned, money was what speaks for his interactions with the conglomerate. Any personal feelings were cast aside.
Still, the contracts were a steady source of income, so he had no reason to attack the Benerit Group for the time being.
That, and he was rather strapped for cash at the moment. He had been browsing the market for parts and found some that, while enticing, were outside of his current budget.
"Might as well."
Quickly typing his response to his mentor, he began to dress up, donning his casual clothes and heading towards the door.
As he exited, he nearly ran into Nika, another member of Earth House. She squeaked, the shorter girl jumping and nearly dropping the object held in her hands.
Whatever it was, it was not his business to pry.
"Ah! E-Ennio, you startled me," Nika said, her cheeks red. He had no reservations here. She was simply embarrassed that someone got the drop on her. He shrugged in response.
"It's of no consequence, Nika," he responded before heading down the stairs. "I'll be stepping out for a bit. Got to meet a friend."
Thankfully, due to his status as an irregular student, his schedule is surprisingly flexible. He did not have any classes today either, so he had no true reason to just laze about.
"Oh, I see," she quickly recovered from her surprise. "I hope you have a safe trip!"
He nodded back in response before heading out. He began to walk down the path leading to the starship docks.
He did not need to read Serene's response. He already knew what she was going to say.
"Miss Suletta Mercury?" A young woman's voice called out to her, breaking her away from the conversation she had with Ben.
Who knew she would find someone as socially awkward as she was, although she noted that Ben had better control of his nerves if only just slightly.
She turned to see a girl her age, slightly shorter than her, sporting fair skin, wearing a uniform from what she and Ben were wearing. This girl had dark blue hair styled into a bob-cut, although the inner side was of a brighter shade of blue. Her eyes were of the same shade as the inner side of her hair.
She wore what looked like a mechanic's maintenance suit and she held a datapad in her hands.
"Y-yes?" Suletta stuttered out while Ben simply tilted his head from behind her.
"You're here to observe the drills, right?" The girl asked them.
"You bet!" Ben answered for the both of them.
"I'm Nika Nanaura," she introduced herself to them. "A second-year student in Mechanics. If any of you two have questions, feel free to ask me."
"Yes, m-m-miss…" Suletta stuttered out once again. "T-Thank… th-thank y-you…" She bowed rather sharply. "Thank y-you verr-!"
"We'll keep that in mind, Miss Nika," Ben replied, stepping in for her.
"Is she nervous?" Nika asked. She had seen cases of social anxiety before but never to this extent.
"Looks like it," Ben spoke, worried for his new friend.
"I-I've never…" Suletta began to speak, still sharply bowing to Nika. "Been to… a school before…" She finished, some sweat on her face, clearly not used to speaking to anyone for this long.
"Is this your first time?" Nika exclaimed, surprised that someone had that little interaction with others before. Before Suletta could answer her, three other girls wearing the more standard uniform bumped in on the conversation.
They began asking questions, making Suletta use both Nika and Ben as personal shields. It made for an adorable yet awkward sight to behold. She answered as best as she could, although it was clear that she was getting more and more uncomfortable. It was just her social anxiety getting worse.
As Suletta answered, she noticed that someone had passed them. Someone with pristine snow-white hair. She was a person that Suletta recognized.
It was the girl from before. The one that demanded that she claim responsibility for her actions. Shakily, she got to her feet and, stepping away from Ben and Nika, slowly approached her, using her own notebook as a shield for her face.
Once she was close enough, she began to speak.
"Don't have class for today?" Kasumi Sumika greeted him as he stepped aboard the bridge of her personal craft. The Sakura Blossom was an ample sized Triumph class DropShip that was personally owned by Sumika herself. As such, there was only herself and Ennio presently onboard the Sakura Blossom. The mechanic, Ed Weisz, had stepped out to grab something to eat, as did the others for similar and different reasons alike.
Kasumi was a tall woman, just a few inches shorter than him, sporting a slimmer athletic build. Her hair, in comparison to Ennio's, was long and colored a deep purple that faded to crimson when they get closer to the tips. She currently wore a simple business suit, her signature outfit when not piloting Mobile Suits herself.
"My schedule's pretty flexible," Ennio curtly replied as he took a seat on one of the guest chairs of the bridge.
"Ed went out?"
"As did the others. They needed some time to unwind, after all," Kasumi told him before clicking on a hidden button on the briefing table.
In an instant, a holographic projection of the Solar System came into existence before highlighting where they currently are.
"They already know what the stakes are," she told him, answering the unspoken question. "You're the only one that hasn't been briefed on account of your precarious situation."
"Understatement of the century, Ma'am," he dryly responded in his head as he and Serene began the briefing.
"Benerit as a whole has tasked us in getting rid of some dissidents to the current status quo," Kasumi began, the holograph quickly shifting locations to somewhere around the orbit of Jupiter, around the asteroid belt between it and Mars. "I'll just play the briefing video that they sent us."
A click, and the room dimmed as a holovideo began playing beside the holographic map. It showed the animated logo for the Benerit Group, the individuals sliding into position from multiple angles.
["Here's the mission,"] the spokesperson of Benerit began in the recording. The holomap zoomed in on the nearby asteroid belt that separates Jupiter from Mars. There, both can see gridline approximation of what appears to be military bases. There are two of them, although they are surrounded by numerous smaller structures scattered across the asteroid belt.
["Your targets are the military base belonging to the radical group known simply as Apogee,"] from the video, gridline approximations of various zero-g purpose combat units patrolled the different bases.
["They stand for the so-called self-actualization of the Earthian people. These radicals are outdated in their beliefs and stand in the way of humanity's progress across the stars. We have tried on numerous occasions to negotiate for their standing down, but Apogee remains resolute, clinging to their outdated ideals."]
"Pretentious bastards, aren't they?" Kasumi and Ennio dryly thought when they heard the briefing.
Then, an approximation of an independent Mobile Suit is seen navigating the asteroid belt and approaching one of the bases.
["That's where you come in. We need you to strike one of their bases on the Mars-Jupiter Asteroid Belt. At this moment in time, the majority of Apogee's forces are elsewhere, leaving them wide open with only a skeleton crew manning the bases. Unfortunately, we do not have the pleasure in wiping them out ourselves, so we have deigned to entrust you with this task.]
The simulation of the Mobile Suit began to strike the base as to explain further what Benerit wishes to accomplish before fading away and being replaced by Benerit's logo.
["This mission is a small but important step in securing mankind's place among the stars. We hope you that you come through for us."]
"Well, that's that," Kasumi began as the briefing video ended. "Think you can handle one last mission before going into ice at school?"
"I think I can manage, Ma'am," Ennio replied with a slight upwards twitch of the lip. "Been itching for some actual action these past few weeks." He had meant it, too.
"Just don't get too cocky on the field, you hear?" Kasumi responded with a stern look on her face as she addressed him. She had raised him better than that.
"I know."
He knew it well enough. He had seen what happens to those that gotten overconfident in their abilities in their line of work. Most end up dead, the smarter ones disappeared and were never heard from again, fleeing beyond the territories of the Benerit Group and trying to live the rest of their lives in relative peace out in the Periphery or, if they were crazy enough, even further out into the Deep Periphery.
Standing up, he made his way to the door.
"I'll be preparing then," he did not need to announce it, but he had always felt that it was necessary to inform her of what he would be doing, even if it was something as mundane as leaving the room.
"Let's hope this contract doesn't go too wrong. See you on the field, Kiddo. Be careful out there," Kasumi said before the door automatically closed, leaving him alone in the empty hallway. Ennio regarded it with softened eyes.
"I know… Mom."
Breathe in. Breathe out. The outside world does not exist right now. There is only yourself and the suit.
He repeated the mantra that his mother had taught him when he was old enough to pilot his own Mobile Suits. It was supposedly a painful procedure, but Mom had taken the necessary precautions to ensure that it was as painless as possible when he had the implants placed in him. It still stung when they had opened him up to place the system in him, but he had been kept stable the entire time. Mom had been there the entire time, speaking softly to him and encouraging him to get through this. That had motivated him to pressing onward through the pain.
Breathe in. Breathe out. The outside world does not exist right now. There is only yourself and the suit.
He repeats again as he felt the wires in the back of the seat connect with his Normal Suit. In an instant, a flood of information started pouring into his brain. The first few times had been nauseating but he had gotten used to the flood gradually.
Just as quick as it had happened, it had ceased. Now, he can clearly feel everything around him. He had successfully interfaced with his Mobile Suit, an old 03-AALIYAH that Mom had in storage since her days of piloting Mobile Suits herself.
The Rayleonard Mobile Suit was no longer just a machine now. It was an extension of himself. It was, in essence, him.
The Allegorical Manipulation System made such synchronization possible between man and machine, leading to a one-to-one (1:1) ratio of movement. Mere thoughts can now manipulate the machine with a degree of control and precision standard control mechanisms fail to achieve.
It was also highly illegal, outlawed by Benerit and punishable by imprisonment for life in the best cases and outright death in the worst cases. Apparently, it had something to do with an old system that was like the AMS called the GUND-Arm System.
Both systems were highly demanding on their users, necessitating that each user be both physically and mentally stable and powerful enough to resist the overwhelming sensations caused by these systems. Those that fail to meet such requirements often perish, sometimes screaming as the last vestiges of life were strangled away from them.
Mom had told him time and time again to hide any traces of the AMS whenever he was not in private and in the presence of the crew. It was also why he had used an old Global Armaments manufactured GA03-SOLARWIND Mobile Suit while attending Asticassia. That machine did not require the AMS and his own skills piloting Mobile Suits without the use of the AMS were good enough to not raise suspicion.
["Are you ready?"] One of the communications officers of the Sakura Blossom inquired. She was a bubbly girl, rather chatty, but that was simply her way of connecting with people. He liked her.
["Ready as I'll ever be,"] he replied, gripping the external controls within the AALIYAH's cockpit. Mom had always told him to never rely too heavily on the AMS and that he should practice using the standard controls. He saw no merit in doing otherwise and thus followed her advice. She had never led him astray so far and he doubts that she would do so willingly.
["Okay, good!"] She chirped. ["We're approaching the minimum safe distance from the A.O. It should be all clear for us to launch."]
The Sakura Blossom had departed from the Asticassia School of Technology and had used the nearby Jump Points to start navigating towards the area of operations.
Mom had dealt with informing Benerit of their accepting the mission. Now he just had to wait in the linear catapult's launch bay in the AALIYAH.
["Alright, we're cleared for launch,"] Serene Haze announced on the intercom. It was time.
Firmly gripping the controls, he repeated the mantra she had taught him all those years ago. He focused on making the AALIYAH move the way he wants it to. The AMS will deal with the rest.
Stepping onto the foot clamps of the linear catapult, he slightly lowers his posture, getting a grip of the weapons in his hands. A pair of Rayleonard-make 01-HITMAN machine guns, one in each hand and firmly held there not just by the grip of the AALIYAH but also of the mechanical connectors built into the palm of its hands.
The idea of an 84mmX309mm caliber tank gun being converted to fire in fully automatic fire might seem like the stuff of fiction a few centuries back. In this day and age, however, such weaponry was meant for Mobile Suits, although their use has been severely limited in recent years out of concerns of space pollution.
"But they wouldn't have any qualms polluting the atmosphere of planets," Ennio dryly thought, noting the hypocrisy of it all.
Besides the twin HITMANs, his AALIYAH also had a pair of beam sabers mounted on the forearms. Also hailing from Rayleonard, a pair of 02-DRAGONSLAYER beam sabers were there to serve as backups to the HITMAN machine guns. Their relatively lightweight package allows him to quickly swing them around, allowing for him to 'chain' strikes as it were towards his enemies.
These would serve as his melee options. Because it turns out punching anything with one's own Mobile Suit's hand actuators actually does internal damage to the mechanisms. And the last thing he needs is getting yelled at by Ed again.
On the back of the AALIYAH was an Akvavit made TRESOR plasma cannon, mounted on the right side of the mech. It was a lighter model produced by Akvavit meant for close ranged combat. Of course, fighting in the vacuum of space means that close range has a completely different meaning than in atmospheric conditions-based combat.
["Transferring control to pilot,"] the CIC officer relayed.
["Acknowledged,"] he replied as the power began flowing into the linear catapult. Instantly, the corridor that served as the 'barrel' of the linear catapult was alight, bright yellow lights providing illumination everywhere, the 03-AALIYAH included.
["Catapult energy is at seventy percent and rising."]
In the vacuum, he couldn't hear anything outside of his Mobile Suit. But he would like to imagine that the catapult was 'humming' as it charged, like in those old holovids he and Mom would watch back in his childhood.
["Catapult energy is at one hundred percent! Prepare for launch!"]
["Roger that,"] he replied, getting ready to launch. The AALIYAH, semi-crouched in posture, braced itself as they made the final preparations.
["Five, four, three, two, one… Launching!"]
["Strayed Raven, Oh-Three-AALIYAH… Launching!"]
The Mobile Suit surged forth out of the linear catapult like a bullet leaving a gun. It shot through the vacuum of space, maintaining its velocity.
["Commence mission,"] Serene Haze announced. ["Eliminate all Apogee forces. Let's not screw this up. Approach from under the asteroid belt and commence your assault."]
Wordlessly, Strayed Raven complied with the order. Approaching from below the asteroid belt mean that he would remain hidden from most visual sensors. He had no means of ECM on his Mobile Suit, so this maneuver was less of a stealth strike and more of a way to not get hit by the opening salvo.
["What the?! A Benerit Mobile Suit?!"] The hijacked comm system of the Apogee forces relayed. They had spotted him, and he was still a few thousand kilometers away from them. Thankfully, the 03-AALIYAH had a speed of 1.86 G's when using boosters in space.
["Dammit all, not now! Of all the times!"]
The skeleton crew of the scattered asteroid belt bases came out of whatever holes they were hiding in. A majority of them were MT63-MK Mamluks, surplus from a few decades ago. A few Aepyornis units were mixed in with the Mamluks, as well as a few Lance Porters. For a supposed skeleton crew, they had a formidable number of units.
["Hmph, skeleton crew my ass, this might as well be a small army,"] Serene Haze voiced her thoughts on the makeup of the enemy forces.
They had begun firing at him, physical ammunition piercing through the void of space, haphazardly aimed at the 03-AALIYAH in hopes of striking down the invader. Strayed Raven did not panic, nor did he radically shift his position. A slight dodge here and there, letting the rounds pass by.
That was when the Lancer Porters and Mamluks fired their missile launchers, their warheads homing in on the Mobile Suit. Clicking his tongue, Strayed Raven switched up his movement. Using the side boosters, he timed his dodges when a cluster of missiles came close.
By now, he had reached the five-kilometer mark. Most of his weaponry can be fired now, and in a vacuum, he did not need to worry about too much external factors affecting the trajectory and speed of his own ammunition.
The TRESOR flipped over his shoulder before firing a fast-moving ball of volatile energy at a nearby structure. It looked like a hangar of sorts. The projectile made contact with the hangar and exploded violently. The intense heat of the magnetically contained projectile exploding washed over the structure, melting away at the metal and causing space-purpose concrete to collapse or float away.
There were two bases in this asteroid field used by Apogee forces, he had just struck one of the many hangars they had in them. Wasting no time, Strayed Raven, in full burn, speeds towards the first base.
Upon landing, he noted that the lower end Mobile Suits used by the skeleton crew, though numerous, were spread far too thin. This eases things for Strayed Raven.
With HITMAN machine guns in hand, he begins his assault on the surface of the large asteroid housing the first base. Using the boosters, he glides across the now active base, deftly dodging weapons fire from hostiles and returning them with his own, more accurate fire. Each burst took out a Mamluk, an Aepyornis, or a Lance Porter depending on where he aimed.
Mercifully, the base is relatively small, allowing him to quickly find the main supporting structures of the base. With the DRAGONSLAYERs activated, he swung fast and hard, slicing through metal and concrete alike. The six-meter-long energy blades made short work of the support pillars.
["That's one base down. Now for the other… Wait,"] Serene Haze stopped herself. From her position in the Central Information Center of the Sakura Blossom, she saw more contacts appearing on the scanners. GA03-SOLARWIND units, sixteen of them, approaching the second base, no doubt to serve as support.
["Heads up, you got extra company waiting for you in the second base. SOLARWINDs, so mind your distance and aim for the less armored spots."]
In the cockpit, Strayed Raven smirked. He was more than familiar with the SOLARWIND unit, using it in Asticassia, albeit with a modified weapon setup to avoid any legal problems, in various duels.
["Just stay focused and take them down. Just a few targets left."]
This was going to be a cakewalk, Strayed Raven mused before burning towards the second base. True to Serene Haze's words, the SOLARWINDs had bolstered the defenses of the second base. Most of them were equipped with machine guns of a similar caliber to the HITMAN MGs but a few were armed with bazookas. All of them were equipped with dual vertical large missile launcher platforms mounted on their backs.
Scratch that, this might be a challenge.
No sooner than after he laid eyes upon them, they all began firing. The presence of the SOLARWINDs had improved the morale of the other units as their aim had gotten more precise, with a few large caliber shells slamming into the frame of the AALIYAH.
The Titanite Formula 2-4 plating made it so that the AALIYAH can shrug off the shells, but Strayed Raven would rather not take chances. Once again, he uses the side boosters to dodge the shells, firing his HITMANs in short, controlled bursts.
It was only when the Mamluks, Aepyornis, and Lancer Porters were destroyed that he flew down to engage the SOLARWINDs.
["Bastard, who do you think you are?!"] One of the SOLARWIND pilots yelled, clearly enraged at how easily he made short work of their comrades.
Wordlessly, Strayed Raven fired his TRESOR plasma cannon at the enemy Mobile Suits. Most dodged, a few did not. Four of the SOLARWINDs died in the blast.
Not giving them time to react, he fired the machine guns, felling four more, as he boosted across the field.
The SOLARWINDs weren't slouching, either, as they also fired their own machine guns and bazookas in conjunction with their missile launchers at the AALIYAH. A few shells hit but a majority of the attacks had missed as the invading Mobile Suit used nearby buildings as cover as it seemingly flew across the shell-ridden battlefield.
Another TRESOR blast took out two of them while machine gun fire took down five of them. That left only one SOLARWIND left.
A wordless roar came from the Mobile Suit's pilot as they abandoned firing at the AALIYAH and simply chose to charge with an activated beam saber.
"Trying to face an AALIYAH in melee? You must be insane," Strayed Raven thought, attaching the HITMANs to the back-mounted hangar racks and activating the DRAGONSLAYER beam sabers to meet the challenge head on.
Not even going for a wide horizontal swing, Strayed Raven thrusts forward in a punching motion, the laser blade slicing through the center torso of the sole remaining SOLARWIND, reducing the pilot to a mere charred corpse and wrecking the machine.
["Confirmed, enemy reinforcements destroyed. Now all that's left is to wreck this base,"] Serene Haze relayed to him.
["Roger,"] Strayed Raven flipped forward the TRESOR cannon and fired into the remaining base. A few shots were all it took for the base to start crumbling on its own.
["Confirmed, enemy base destroyed. Mission complete,"] Serene Haze's voice was level, but Strayed Raven could tell that she had pride in her voice.
["Well done, almost perfect. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves yet, Kiddo."]
Leave it to Mom to worry about him even after all this time. He supposes that he could not blame her. He was her student; she expects him to survive these missions and learn from them.
With nothing else keeping him, it was time to head back to the ship.
By the time he had gotten back, it seems that a few days had passed local time. And it appears that something was enthralling the students if their being glued to the screens of their personal notebooks was any indication.
Fishing out his own notebook, he looked through the feeds for anything that had occurred while he was away.
["THE CURSED MOBILE SUIT RETURNS!"]
["WITCH MOBILE SUIT MAKES SHOCKING RETURN!"]
["UNKNOWN MOBILE SUIT CHEATS AT DUEL!"]
"What in the…" Ennio looked bewildered at the articles flooding the major news sites active on the campus. Clicking on a random article, he began reading through it, mentally removing any sensationalist nonsense to get the clearer picture.
Article after article later, Ennio sat on a nearby stone carved bench and processed the information in front of him.
"So, a Gundam is still running around," he looked at the recording of the latest duel. It seems that Guel Jeturk had bitten off more than he could chew as his MD-0032G Dilanza had been annihilated by the newcomer Holder, one Suletta Mercury and her Mobile Suit, the XVX-016 Aerial.
As he laid eyes on it, he felt the back of his neck itching once more. And this time it was to the point he could not ignore.
"Dammit!" Nearly slapping the back of his neck, Ennio began to scratch at it in an attempt to soothe it. He lowly growled when it did not go away.
"What do you want me to do?!"
"Heh, talking to yourself doesn't seem like a good image, Sumika-Senpai," a cocky voice spoke to him, making him stop his scratching and turn his head to face the newcomer.
She was a statuesque looking woman wearing a modified version of the Asticassia uniform, with light brown skin, blue eyes, and short platinum white hair. Her overall posture gave off the air that she was rather prideful, looking down upon others.
Nearby, her fanbase had followed her, keeping a respectable distance, but still making for a notable presence on their own.
He sighed, temporarily forgetting the itching sensation.
"What do you want, Secelia?" He asked her, not in the mood for her nonsense today. Since day one, Secelia Dote was someone that seemed rather interested in him in the sense that she saw him as entertainment for her. He was not sure what spurned such a concept, but he was not one to take her nonsense lying down.
"Oh, so mean, Sumika-Senpai," Secelia playfully teased, bending forward and pretty much presenting her assets to him. "I just wanted to greet you after you went away on another week-long work trip."
"If that's all, you should've just went to Earth House and waited there," he responded dryly.
"Ah, and be accosted by Panlunch-Kouhai?" Secelia replied, looking aghast at his words. Of course, both himself and her know that this was all merely an act. "Are you really that cruel to your kouhai?"
He shook his head in light annoyance. Secelia really loved messing with him. Still, Mom did say he needed to socialize at times, so he suppose that he can't afford alienating himself from Secelia.
"No, if I really wanted to be cruel," he began, leaning close to whisper into her ear. "I'd be a bit more personal in how I'd deal with you."
Secelia lightly shuddered when she heard his words. She liked a man that can match her in these verbal spars.
Ennio straightened his posture, switching off his notebook and pocketing it in his uniform's inner breast pocket, and began walking down the road leading to the main campus. Footsteps from behind him told all he needed to know that Secelia was following him.
"So, you heard the news, Sumika-Senpai?" She asked.
"Hmm, pretty surprising," Ennio replied as they made their way to the doors. "Something like a Gundam showing up on campus. Whoever is at Mercury must've struck gold to build something like that."
"Yeah, and the fact that the pilot is still alive says something, doesn't it?" Secelia asked, a sharp grin on her features making her less like a beautiful woman and more like a cunning predator.
"If only you knew," he responded in his head. The GUND-Arm System was a surprise, yes, but after living with the AMS for so long, a similar system did not faze him as much. Perhaps the idea and proof that another system exist did, but if it was like the AMS, then he knew what to expect from machines using GUND-Arm.
"I suppose," he began, choosing his words carefully as they walked through the portal. "But if the pilot is still alive after using that Gundam, then I suppose that means what we've been taught about them might be incorrect."
"Hah, yeah right," Secelia scoffed. "She's probably just lucky."
"Maybe," silently, he was in agreement with her. Perhaps like the AMS, the GUND-Arm System required a certain type of individual to use them without any backlash. Until he could look into it further or until an official statement is declared, it will all just be mere speculation for the time being.
As he walked the halls with Secelia, he wondered what the future will bring, now that a Gundam had graced into their lives.
In the back of his mind, he can see the dying embers of war slowly being rekindled. It was only a matter of time before war comes to their doorstep.
[CHAPTER END]
A/N: I suppose I should explain myself. Neglecting Phantom Dogs and Puer Infernalis again for another story? What gives? Yeah, I know, I'm also questioning myself on why I'm doing this. And I have the answer.
An idiot by the name of Knightmare Lord. You guys might know him as Toxic Love Machine and Devil Dragon Stand Knight. Regardless of name, he's the same dumbass I'm stuck with, to my own eternal annoyance. For some context as to why I am badmouthing him, he deleted his massive collaboration story, Dreamworld Paradox, which I had also worked on with him and several other authors on numerous occasions, without so much as an announcement as, in his poor excuse of a justification, there was no need to make one if he was going to delete it anyways.
As a writer, this grinds my gears. Mostly because this blatant disregard for basic common courtesy of writer to reader interaction rubs me the wrong way and reminds me of my past self, which is supposed to have stayed dead and buried in a ditch somewhere. Now, you may be asking why I'm so much as tolerating such an idiot and why am I even bothering to even mention him.
Because for once, he had an idea that didn't make me roll my eyes or internally gag in disgust. He wants to make a fanfic based off Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. And all it took for him to get into Gundam besides Death Battle, which one episode had introduced him to the Gundam Epyon from the After Colony timeline/era, was the fact that a BBW exists in the show.
I'm genuinely baffled that it took a fatass to get him into Gundam.
Still, I had made peace with the fact that all of this had happened and it appears that he has been doing his best to try and move past this rather problematic habit of his. Bridges are slowly being rebuilt but I'm not looking hopeful.
Right, moving on before I have an aneurysm at how utterly stupid this shit is, the idea itself warranted my own investigation and mental logistics. It also provided me an in to write a fanfic based off of another Real Robot setting.
Armored Core. It is especially fitting as one of the mechanical designers for G-Witch, Wataru Inata, also provided mechanical designs for Armored Core 4: For Answer. Not only that, but I've also been playing 3rd Gen Armored Core games lately. Just finished with 3 and I'm just starting with Silent Line. I'll eventually get to playing Nexus, Ninebreaker, and Last Raven eventually. For now, those are my personal experiences with official Armored Core stuff.
There's also the fact that Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is slated to be released sometime in 2023. I'm saving up cash to get parts for a decent enough gaming rig to reliably run ACVI when it releases.
So yeah, in case this latter half of my A/N didn't tip you off nor did the title, this is going to be a crossover between Mobile Suit Gundam and Armored Core. In the MSG side, it's obviously taking place in the G-Witch setting's Ad Stella timeline/era. For the AC side, it's more or less an amalgam of the different generations of AC games so far (PS1 Gen, PS2 Gen, PS3/PS4 Gen, and, hopefully, the PC Gen that is Fires of Rubicon).
There is also the fact that certain other terminologies were used. Those terminologies being from BattleTech, another real robot setting that started as a tabletop wargame focusing on combined arms warfare with the stars of the show being the BattleMechs which are the titular Battlefield Technology the setting is named after.
As for why I did this, it stems from one of my gripes with both Gundam and Armored Core as a whole. The mechanic designs for the titular mechs are amazing but, outside of the Universal Century timeline, there has not been much detail in most alternate timelines on what sorts of mechanics are present, especially in regards to stuff such as tanks and other atmospheric-use combat vehicles, naval bases, and aerospace technologies.
As such, I'm also taking heavy inspiration from BattleTech when it comes to combined arms doctrines (as best as a guy from a third-world country with a passable level of vidya gaem knowledge of warfare can get) as well as non-Mecha stuff such as starships and other vehicles.
So, in essence, this is a three-way crossover between Mobile Suit Gundam, Armored Core, and BattleTech/MechWarrior. This would probably turn off a few folks, so I understand if this story is barely going to get any traction.
Hope you guys enjoy this and I'll see you all in the next chapter.
[EDIT 2023-06-09 A.D. #01: Updated the Sakura Blossom from being an Invader-class JumpShip to a Leopard-class Dropship as that's more believable.]
[EDIT 2023-06-09 A.D. #02: Changed the Sakura Blossom being a Leopard-class DropShip to being a Triumph-class DropShip.]