Darling in the Franxx: Alternate Core

Chapter 2: Trying to re/connect.

This chapter will feature our favorite squad reaction to the events of last chapter, alongside a little backstory between Naomi and Raven. Afterwards, it will be a little slice of life as Naomi stays behind in the bunker alongside Raven while Sally and Orion continue the mission.

Anyways, a little side note, this means an author note, *this mean an action* in case you got confused on last chapter.

Now, onwards with chapter 2!

Milstinteinn, inside plantation 'Cerasus', 10:00 am...

The morning after the attack, the ceremony was restarted as if nothing happened earlier, but this time the adults were absent. Afterwards, all of the graduated Parasites reunited at their new home from that point afterwards, the boardhouse inside the dome. But through all the day, two things stayed on their heads: Hiro's newfound ability to pilot Strelizia and, unsurprisingly, the unknown mechas that appeared on the attack. And none was busier thinking about it than Hiro himself. Hiro found hard to believe that he was able to pilot with the 'Stamen Killer' and would believe harder on it if it wasn't for the fact that he managed to woke up inside the cockpit alongside Zero Two to witness two mechs of unknown proceedings face off against two klaxosaurs. While Zero Two complained about the two unknown warriors stealing her prey, Hiro found himself watching very closely as the white gunner pummeled his klaxosaur to smithereens like it was nothing! And when it was shown that the creature remained alive, the mech finished the job in a gruesome but effective way. He took some time processing this as the same mech went towards debris and pulled out Naomi from them. At that moment, Hiro felt some relief as he saw that action as proof that the mechs were on their side, even if they were unknown at the time. That relief turned into horror when the same mech put Naomi inside a container and placed it on his back, which then freezed in front of his eyes. Her friend was being taken away!

In retrospect, he should have spoken with the unknown pilot to at least convince them to return Naomi, it could have been that they saw her injured and sealed her inside to keep her alive. However, for some reason he felt 'wild', the first after a long time, and acted impulsively by taking the controls and piloting Strelizia towards the mech. In the few glimpses he could give to his improptu partner, he saw that her reaction was first one of surprise followed by an understanding grin. The attack missed unfortunately as the pilot of the mech managed to dodge them. After a few words which he could have used to defuse the situation, they attacked again and this time the mech counterattacked with its weaponry after dodging again. The two of them, in surprising coordination, evaded them and went for a charge again when the white knight unleashed a highly powered wave from its blade, cutting his klaxosaur in half cleanly and rushing towards Strelizia. Seeing how deep it could cut, Hiro just barely managed to sway the robot out of the way so that the wave only cut the left hand. And yes, it hurt both of them, as Hiro suddenly clenched to his hand after the cut was made and while she saw Zero Two be more calm about it, the twitch on her left arm indicated that she also felt it too. The pain was enough to stop Strelizia which then gave the two unknown mech the chance to fly away.

After that, both were ordered to return into the plantation after recovering Strelizia's hand alongside an empty canister ejected from the gunner mech. Once inside, both were sent to the infirmary for a check-up. Hiro was given painkillers after confirming his hand was still functional to deal with the shadow pain given by the cut. After that, he was sent back to the boardhouse where he had to deal with questions from his friends alongside survivor's guilt. After all, Naomi was gonna be sent back to the orphanage because of him, and now she was at the hands of an unknown player that could very well hurt her in retalliation. At least in the orphanage, he knew she was gonna be safe. Now her fate was unsure and only he was to blame. Even as his friends assured him that he shouldn't blame himself for failing to rescue her, he couldn't get the feeling that his actions have done something that would change everything soon.

Little did he know how right he was...

? - Hiro? Hiro! -

Hiro: - Huh? -

He was brought out of his thoughts by Ichigo, whom was looking at him alongside everyone else...

Ichigo: - I was asking you if you heard what we just talked about... -

Hiro: - No... sorry its just, certain thoughts have been bothering me for a while... -

Goro: - It has to do with Naomi and the ones who kidnapped her, right? -

Hiro: - *sighs* Is the only thing of interest that happened to be fair. -

Ikuno: - That and also the fact you managed to ride alongside the "Stamen killer". -

Zorome was about to remark something when Miku decided it would be best to interrupt: - Look, we can talk about her later, but what matters right now is that what happened to Naomi wasn't your fault Hiro. -

Hiro: - You think? I should have talked to them instead of charging at them! I don't know what took over me to act so impulsively! -

Goro: - Probably the adrenaline of piloting for the first time? -

Hiro: - But I became unconscious after stepping in... -

Mitsuru: - Yet you woke up the moment the unknown mechs arrived. Don't you think the timing is too coincidential? -

Hiro: - I don't have control of when I wake up. -

Zero Two: - Although when you do, you seemed to have more energy than before... darling. -

Everyone turned towards the entrance to see the famous "Stamen Killer" whom just arrived. Zorome, being his usual self went towards her...

Zorome: - Hey there! I'm Zorome the great, prodigy pilot of this group and I was wondering if... -

He got interrupted when Zero Two pulled out from her mouth a lollipop she was consuming and then smeared it onto his shirt.

Zorome: - Hey! I just cleaned that! It's now all sticky! -

Miku: - That will show no you not to be cocky you dummy! -

And as the problematic couple went into one of their fits again, Zero Two walked with decisive steps towards Hiro as she pulled out another candy from one of her pockets and opened it as she seated at his side being a little 'invasive'.

Zero Two: - You were amazing out there darling. I wonder if they will allow you to ride with me again? -

Hiro: - Thank you... I think? -

Okey, he was less flustered than Zero Two expected: - Huh, I expected your reaction to be more lively. -

Hiro: - *sighs again* Sorry, its just that I have been thinking a lot of what happened recently... -

Zero Two: - Hmmm? And why is that? -

Goro: - It has to do with the girl he was trying to rescue from that white mech... what was its name again? -

Zero Two: - White Glint. -

Everyone turned at her when she answered with total security about the name: - And the mech alongside him was called 'Arthur'. -

Ichigo: - How is it that you know? -

Zero Two: - I may say why if darling is willing to pay a price for it... -

Ichigo: - Okey, there's no way that... -

Hiro: - I'll do it... -

Ichigo: - What?! But Hiro... -

Hiro: - Listen, if she knows something that can give me an idea of what will happen to Naomi, maybe I will finally relax from my failure of rescuing her. Just let me have this please. -

Ichigo: - *sighs* Fine but I want to hear the information first before she makes you pay. -

Zero Two: - Its a deal then... - She stood up and walked around as she spoke (play "Testimony 1" Ace Combat Zero in repeat): - Those two mechs aren't the first ones to appear in APE operations you see. In the last months there has been reports of similar sightings coming from destroyed plantations or plantations that lost their Parasites in battle. Apparently, these secret pilots appear to pick up the surviving Parasites and spirit them away towards an unknown destination. Their mechs are different to ours, similar to those we have seen yesterday but all carried two emblems that seem to be universal on their forces... -

She then pulled out two photos that she set on the table of the lounge. One had the SMC triangle emblem while the second one had the RF circular emblem.

Ikuno: - The same emblems that the two mechs had... how did you manage to get a hold of these? -

Zero Two: - As I'm a special Parasite, that pervert of a doctor tends to carry me around the Plantations where he got more than one photo about them... -

Mitsuru: - But this still doesn't respond the original question, what do they do to the rescued Parasites? It is possible they will do to Naomi what they do to the rest... -

Zero Two: - That's where I'm getting into, before arriving here, we made a stop on Plantation 26 to help them with an operation. During that battle, they lost 3 Parasites. However, once it died out and the surviving defenders went inside that's when we saw it. A squad of mechs of this secret force appeared out of nowhere, using the cover of night to sneak close to the battle zone and proceeded to extract 2 of the fallen Parasites which turned out were still alive but barely. And here is where it gets more surprising. I was there on the command room alongside the doctor and the plantation commander when the lights were focused on them and we saw that only 1 of the mechs was of different design which represented the leader, while the other 4 were actually Franxx's, heavily modified ones that they were almost unrecognizable. And they too carried the emblems of our secret saviors. -

Everyone was silent taking in the new information just given to them before Futoshi said: - Are you suggesting that...? -

Zero Two: - It's just a theory the doctor came up with once he saw that the ex-Parasites of those Franxx refused to respond to the commander's orders and instead proceeded to follow those of their leader. They left fast before we could even sent a message. Upon digging more information, he also found out that this also happened with many of the other sightings. He believes that our secret saviours basically pick up those survivors for the sake of bolsting their numbers and combat units. Whatever they do with them to indoctrinate them into their ranks is still unknown but he kind of admires it because those Parasites on their site remain surprisingly loyal to them. They just never return to APE. -

(Stop the track) So a faction that acted like a scavenger by rescuing and taking in defeated Parasites and indoctrinating them to their cause. Who were these people?

Kokoro: - That means that Naomi is safe then, right? If they took her in, that means maybe we will see her soon! -

Mitsuru: - But she is gonna be on their side now. You think she will try to contact us? -

Zero Two: - Maybe if you talk with the ones who took her in. Now, was that enough information for you darling? -

Hiro: - At least I know that Naomi will be safe with them then... I hope. So about that payment... -

Zero Two: - I'll tell you when to pay it, darling. No need to worry. -

That was when lunch arrived and everyone went to fill their tummies while Hiro made one silent prayer before joining them: "Naomi, I hope you're safe with your captors."

Meanwhile, on the bunker at the same time...

Naomi: - So this place is where you have been living the whole time? -

Raven: - No, that would be our plantation 'Oletros' but we do spend a fair amount of time here. Usually on rescue and recovery operations. -

Naomi had been glad to see Raven alive as it turns out both of them had been friends in the Garden when they were younger. Orion and Sally were a little surprised about it as Raven was not one to talk a lot of his past. Naomi would have asked for a lot of questions last night if Sally hadn't stopped her and then ordered her to get some sleep since she needed it. It had taken a promise from Raven for her to comply. On the morning, she realized that only he and Raven had stayed in the bunker as Orion and Sally had eaten their breakfast early and deployed towards the Cerasus. After having a fulfilling breakfast, Raven gave Naomi a little tour around the facility. It wasn't that complicated, it had a big hangar capable of parking 12 franxx and also a big storage hangar for any necessary replacements, it used a vertical platform to access the outside alongside long sets of emergency stairs for escaping; then there was the command center, medical ward, and communication room on the upper levels followed by the personnel quarters, kitchen, bathrooms, lavatory, robot storage and maintenance tools on the middle level and the electric generators, water pumps, and AC controls at the bottom levels.

It was minimalistic in furniture but for some Raven looked at the place in such a warm way, she could tell he saw past those flaws.

Naomi: - So, this 'Restoration Front' you now pilot for... -

Raven: - The word is 'work'. -

Naomi: - Work? -

Raven: - The word means to do an activity or service to a certain group or person in exchange of getting either goods or services of what you produce with that service. -

Naomi: - But isn't that something we all do for Papa? -

Raven: - Unlike Papa, the RF knows who is doing an excellent job and who is lacking. They actually take their time to know about their pilots. -

Naomi: - What? -

Raven: - ... Sorry, I got a little too proud. It's just, ever since that episode with Hiro I have been serving with the RF for quite a long while... -

Naomi: - And what happened there? What happened after that moment when you disappeared from the Garden? -

Raven had a hard look on his face after Naomi's question that she worried she might have stepped over a line... but after a few deep breaths, he led her towards the main lounge and took a seat while she settled at his side before he spoke again: - What I'm about to tell you will shatter everything you believed upon Naomi. This is your only warning, are you sure you want to know the truth? -

Naomi: - Shi... I was going to be sent towards the orphanage, I was already shattered for failing. -

Raven: - You were shattered with yourself, not with APE. Big difference in there... -

Naomi: - Half of the stuff you say doesn't even make sense... what happened to you Shijugo? -

Raven: - I survived and matured Naomi, faster than I would have liked... -

*Flashback begins...*

After that event I had with Hiro in the Garden, I was in trouble, deep trouble. The caretakers were basically looking for a chance to send me away after they discovered I had a big part on it. And because we were so young, I was prone to make a lot of mistakes. It wasn't long until I made an error that was more than enough reason to have me canned. I was desperate to live, so that night I did something very stupid...

The image is set on the children dormitories of the Garden at night, where a young Raven without his tattoo woke up and sneaked out of his bed, silently crawling under the beds and sticking to the shadows until he found his target, a box.

My plan was to stay inside that box and move to a diferent Garden without them noticing. But my stupid self didn't realize that the box was filled with supplies for the Parasites of a plantation whose number I forgot. I was basically stuck and trapped in there for 2 days, with only my bag of snacks and drinks to survive as they moved my box and prepared the convoy for departure while I tried to call for help only for no one to respond. It was an ugly experience for me and it got even uglier...

The scene changes to the transports of the convoy being ambushed mid-air by a big klaxosaur.

My transport got attacked and crashed, and by some miracle the box in which I was managed to save me from perishing both from the fall and the attack. However, I was seriously injured, my body hurt like hell in all the places, and I was scared for life, crying for one last attempt for help. And that was when it happened...

The scene changes to the klaxosaur suddenly being split in half by an unknown blade and then shoot to death as a familiar mech appears from the smoke...

Like in a scene out of the books Hiro used to read us, a white mech appeared to save me arriving like an avenging angel. It was White Glint...

Naomi: - White Glint? The same one you pilot now? -

Raven: - Yes, the same one. Although at that time, it was a prototype... -

All I remember after seeing him arrive was falling asleep in fear and pain... and next time I woke up, I was in a hospital bed with a man watching over me (he looks like Larry Foulke from Ace Combat Zero) and when he saw me awake, he said the first adult words of my entire life: "Hey little raven, still alive?" That man's name was Zorran and from that point on, he took care of me, raised me and taught me everything about piloting mechs alongside the real meaning of being a human. He was my inspiration to join the SMC, the Specialized Mecha Corps, as a debt to him for saving my life back on those days. And he also gave the name to which I use now. He was the closest thing I had for a father.

Naomi: - What happened to him? -

Raven: - He unfortunately passed away... even with our better mechs we are still no exception to the fact that death can claim even the best of us... "although I HATE it when its caused by others..." -

Naomi thought that she saw Raven's features darken for a moment before seeing him back with his neutral face and decided to ignore it: - So... is that the reason you never tried to contact us again? We were worried for you Shijugo! -

Raven: - Please call me by my real name... and it wasn't all my fault! That was the first thing I asked him to do for me after the first year but he told me it was against the RF rules. Even if I wanted to, I wasn't able to do so. You all literally didn't even know we existed in the first place! -

Naomi looked like she wanted to argue more, but after thinking of it for a few moments, she realized Raven was right and so she collapsed on him, hugging him...

Raven: - N-Naomi? -

Naomi: - I'm just glad to see you again... it always hurt to see many friends in the Garden disappear forever... but you were the most painful... -

Raven sighed before returning the hug: - That's in the past now Naomi. You are like me now, uncapable of finding a future with APE, but it doesn't mean you can't have one with us. I can help you find a new one where we can live the dreams we had as children... -

Naomi: - For real, Shi... Raven? -

Raven smiled: - For real Naomi... -

They both stayed like that for a while before Raven asked: - Also, how was everyone doing after I left? Did Hiro ever told you about what he did that got me into trouble? -

Naomi: - What do you mean Raven? Hiro never told us about anything involving you or him... -

Raven was now confused: - You sure? He told me that he was going to talk to you about his adventure when... -

RIIIIIIING! The sudden noise of a telephone coming from the holographic radio scared Naomi so hard that she jumped right into Raven which made him lose his balance and both collapsed into the sofa they were seating at, leaving Naomi on top of him. After staring at each other for a few moments, the position of the situation soon made both teenagers look away in embarrasment as Naomi got off Raven while the latter went towards the intercom and seeing the caller, he grumbled...

Raven: - Dammit Orion... *answers* What now captain? -

Orion: - Sup Raven... were calling for... Nami was it? -

Raven: - Naomi, what for? -

Orion: - Right now we're observing her friends going for their first Franxx training. We thought she would like live coverage of the session... -

Raven: - Uh, sure let me ask her... -

She said yes and the rest of the day was about watching Squad 13 training and also talking a little about some memories...

Orion: - You know, all of them are quite sloppy in their movements. It they were in the SMC they would have been sent back to the academy for this... -

Raven: - Man, you weren't lying when you said APE was undertraining us... -

Orion: - Yeah, as you learned during the first year... seriously, how is it that they still have pilots? -

Raven: - Beats me... makes me glad I'm with you now guys... -

Naomi: - I still don't get it... what exactly is it that we're lacking? Mind telling me? -

Raven: - Well, you see... *le idea* actually, I think it would be better if we showed you by example rather than lectures. Orion! How about a practice duel tomorrow?! -

Orion: - Now that's what I'm talking about! I know just the place! There's an abandoned mine that the klaxosaurs took over a few miles from here, that will be the perfect spot! -

Raven: - Excellent! Prepare to bite the desert dust man! -

Orion: - It will be your ass the one that will be handed to dust tomorrow! -

Sally: *sarcasticaly* - And you can see now one of the reasons we're different Naomi... -

Naomi: - Sorry... if it serves any consolation, two of my friends on the squad are quite similar... -

Sally: - You sure you still wanna return? -

Naomi: - At least to tell them I'm okay and still connected to them... -

And that's a wrap for this chapter! On the next one, the duel between the 2 Aces gets interrupted by unexpected visitors and it becomes a cat and mouse chase through the mines with an unexpected ending! How did you find Raven's backstory? Tell me in the reviews! Happy holidays everyone!