There was a sound of breaking metal, and the hiss of pistons that carried vibration through the physical connection between two walking weapons of war.

The void around them was silent, desolate, and lifeless.

The backdrop of laser-and cannonfire had whittled down to nothing as the orbital weapons platform in the distance fell silent with the destruction of its controller- The C-weapon, which had been run through by a melee weapon which was effectively a jet-powered metal spike.

"-...Raven, I still… believe… in our shared dream… I… know you still do… as well…-" The voices of Coral faded, and the massive, run-through bipedal C-weapon slumped against the frame of the smaller Armored Core that had run the rod of a Pile Bunker through the C-weapon's chest.

The C-weapon crashed on its back as the penetrating rod of the Pile Bunker withdrew, leaving only one 'core standing on the desolate orbital platform that had become a battlefield.

Red particles, the voices of the Coral, began floating from the decaying C-weapon and dissipating into the void, battered and bruised by hope, expectation… and betrayal.

Heavily modified Loader-4, if one could still call the 'core with that name after all of its parts had been replaced or swapped gradually during the campaign on Rubicon, reached down with its mechanical arm to touch the fading, red-glittering stream of Coral, all the while the augmented human within the walking war-machine considered his options.

Or rather, his choices.

…The consequence of which had resulted in the Augmented Human C4-621 standing on the abandoned orbital platform, standing before the body of the C-weapon that had become both the controller and guardian of the left-behind PCA orbital weapons, which in turn had been preventing Colony Ship Xylem's approach on the Vascular Plant on planet Rubicon's upper atmosphere, which the massive space elevator-collector structure reached.

The Vascular Plant was vacuuming up Coral from the atmosphere at astounding rate, and collecting it in it's stem-bulge, and in mere months or years the plant would be all but dry of Coral after it had been agitated into becoming airborne. The resource's potential would then be firmly and irrecoverably in the hands of the Corporations that had plundered Rubicon dry of their wealth, hope… and future, or what little of it remained after Fires of Ibis had scorched the planet, killing billions in the process.

The Corporations saw Coral as resource, much like ancient Corporations had considered oil of ancient Earth, but in truth Coral was much more magnificent than that- It was alive, conscious, speaking through voices that were like sparks of neurons within one massive weave. A hive mind of people, of unused purpose.

But at the same time… it was also much more dangerous than mere resources. Without direction, it could replicate itself. Spread itself. And in time… It would be too numerous to control, and too dangerous as a resource. Unlimited energy, but with a hair trigger.

At that point, once Coral would have spread itself all over the worlds that still housed humanity, a single spark, a single lit ember of rebellion… would ignite the Coral, all at once.

…The Fires of Ibis would repeat, only a hundred million times worse in scale and power, and would scorch the worlds clean.

However, the Overseers, who had sworn their lives to prevent Coral from having the chance to procreate, had devised a plan to infiltrate Rubicon, and destroy Coral before it could have the chance to spread. And their harbinger had been Augmented Human C4-621, a 4th-generation Augmented Human, the recipient of extensive, invasive surgeries and Coral-based augmentations which had enabled the barely-human sentient sack of arguably-living meat to control Armored Cores- 'Advanced' Muscle-Tracer-based weapons of war that were the result of reverse-engineering mankind's once great marvels, the barely-lit ashes that remained after wars upon wars upon wars that had set humanity back from what had supposed to be a bright future amongst the stars.

The Overseer's plan to stop Coral's proliferation had been simple, once all secrecy around it was undone: Find Rubicon's landed-and-buried original Colony Ship which had brought in the first settlers into the world, and prepare it to take to the skies once more. After that, 621 would find the Coral Siphon, the Vascular Plant, and alert the Corporations into it's presence.

The Corporations would tip over themselves to secure the Vascular Plant and begin harvesting Coral in industrial quantities, as their greed was easy to count on… After which the Overseers could lift the colony ship to the sky, and crash it against the Plant- Which would ignite the gathered Coral when it's spread was in its infancy, and burn it all in one fell blow.

…A single attack, a single spark, which would end both the threat and the potential of Coral as a resource. And as people.

The plan had gone off without a hitch, at least for the most part if one ignored 621 being captured at one point and his Handler, Walter, being killed by the corporations. However, 621 had carried the mission through, even though the Overseers had not included 621 into the ring of people who knew of the true scope of the plan. Which, from their point of view, was correct: After all, to most, 621 was effectively as inhuman as the 'core that was being piloted, a weapon directing another weapon, mindless and malleable.

There were few people who held exceptions to that view, however. People who considered 621 to be a victim of circumstances, a silent hero in corporate chains, or simply, a friend.

…Most of those people were dead, either due to miscalculations on their part, due to a bad fall, or due to 621 being contracted or forced to kill them- And succeeding, further reinforcing the view others had of 621 being a mindless monster.

…And to a point, 621, as far as he could consider such things, agreed. It was necessary. And it was unavoidable.

In the present, the orbital laser-weapon controlled by the now-destroyed C-weapon had been preventing the Colony Ship Xylem from ramming itself into the Vascular Plant.

"...Tourist." A voice came through the communicator of the Armored Core, buzzing with static and faint due to the damage that the Colony Ship Xylem had sustained during the orbital assault against the Orbital Laser Platform and it's C-weapon controller. "Already grabbing the first-row seats, huh? Can't blame you, but with the autopilot out of commission, this'll be a one-way trip for me. And you'll know that I'll make a hell of a mess when I get too excited. You sure you want to sit in the splash zone and get faceful?"

The speaker was 'Cinder' Carla, an agent and a founding member of Overseers, who had infiltrated the planet Rubicon ages ago and had been posing as a leader of a local criminal gang-slash-paramilitary organization. However, her roots with Rubicon ran deeper- And even though 621 knew of them through means undisclosed, it was better if Carla didn't know that her secret was not as secret as she likely thought.

621's response to Carla's banter was to flick the communicator of the 'core on and off, effectively conveying the comms equivalent of a sigh.

"...Heh. For one of Walter's hounds, you aren't half bad. If you get to him before I do, kick him in the shin for me." The communicator went silent, allowing Carla's last words to echo faintly within the metal frame of the Armored Core. A reminder of one more lost 'friend', or perhaps merely a person who had believed in 621's ability to accomplish any mission no matter the cost.

The Colony Ship Xylem flew past the orbital station where 621 was standing, and one of the massive ship's wings clipped against the now-defunct PCA orbital defense laser-system that floated lifelessly in the empty void.

The wing clipped the orbital laser platform in almost petty manner, causing both the wing of the space-ship and the laser-system to shatter into a cloud of fire and debris in the eerie silence of the vacuum- But the damage didn't hinder the Colony Ship, as it had already set it's course, and it would take much more to cause the ship to deviate from it's goal anymore.

The Colony Ship approached the Vascular Plant as 621 watched… and then turned to other matters. Something that needed to be done, before the Stars would Burn, again.

The Armored Core, 'Loader-4' raised its right arm, which had dropped the Coral Rifle it had held previously.

The mechanical digits of the 'core were glowing faintly with the slowly-dying particles of Coral that it had gathered from the destroyed C-weapon… The remnants of the 'person' who had possessed the bipedal C-weapon.

The Coral Waveform Mutation- Who had called herself 'Ayre'.

"...Hey, Tourist… Hate to call you again after the dramatic speech, but I have one more thing… What are you doing?" Carla's voice came through the communicator once again, as she had no doubt seeded the void with surveillance devices on the colony ship's passing and thus could see what Loader-4 was doing on the desolate orbital platform.

621 knew that with the Planetary Closure Administration driven off-planet, the Corporations defanged, and the Rubicon Liberation Front leaderless, there existed only one potential threat to the Overseer's, or rather, 'Cinder' Carla's and 'Handler' Walter's plan:

C4-621 himself.

"...Is that Coral? What are you-" Carla's voice echoed in the 'core's communicator as Loader-4 extended it's right arm towards the Vascular Plant in the distance, as if intending on grasping it, despite the fact the massive structure was thousands of kilometers away.

Several laser cannons aboard Xylem swung around to point at the desolate orbital platform, at Loader-4.

At the same time, the Colony Ship's prow impacted against the side of Vascular Plant's superstructure, throwing off the aim of the laser cannons which carved streaks into the orbital platform where Loader-4 stood, but failed to hit the 'core.

The Coral siphon-bulge of the Vascular Plant collapsed as the prow of the Colony Ship's prow dug into it, sending out a wave of Coral that ignited in a burst of red, all-consuming flame…

…And Loader-4 closed its fist, with the appendage glowing red from the fading light of Coral.

"...I do as well." 621, no, Raven spoke.

The Vascular Plant collapsed on itself, and gave birth to a black hole.

"How?! No!-" Carla's transmission was cut midway through as the Coral, half-ignited, was sucked back into the black hole alongside the massive colony ship that crushed on itself like aluminum can-

The black hole of Interrupted Coral Convergence erupted, bending gravity and the space-time-

.

.

.

There was silence.

There was darkness.

And there was a spark of red.

"-...Raven?-"

The hum of the engine warbled softly in the core of the machine.

"-...I thought… I'm glad that you are alright. Engaging combat mode. Disabling autopilot.-"

"..." 621's eyes opened slowly, accompanying the Augmented Human's return to what passed for consciousness amongst their kind.

Loader-4 stood on a field of grass, the Coral Rifle in one hand and Pile Bunker in the other, with the familiar 'weight' of the VLS-12 multi-vertical missile launcher on one shoulder and the Songbirds dual-barrel grenade launcher on the other.

"-...I… 'woke up' some time ago. What happened?' The female voice that echoed within 621's head was as confused as she had ever sounded.

"..."

"-...You were captured by Snail, I remember that much- The re-education… After that, I can't… remember… I don't feel whole, it's like something is missing-"

"..."

"'Don't worry about it', huh…" The voice, Ayre, sounded both confused and reassured by 621's 'words'. Or rather, thoughts. "-Very well. I trust you, Raven.-"

The boosters of Loader-4 ignited as 621 took control of the 'core, and sent it gliding across the plains of green grass and trees, a scenery which was cloaked in darkness of the night, yet still visible to the sensors of the 'core.

The light of the red booster jets in the AC's rear illuminated the dark gray 'core with ominous glow, even though no-one but animals were there to witness it- Yet, the presence of feral animals was not a detail that was missed by the 'core's sensors.

"-Raven, I don't remember there being animals like those on Rubicon, not anymore… And the sky… Scanning… Huh.-" Ayre's voice sounded amazed. "-It's not a simulation, and the scanner doesn't detect a ceiling or anything akin to it… The stars are also… but it's… almost like we're not in Rubicon anymore. But how…?-"

"..."

"-...But… I can still hear them… The voices of the Coral… and… Raven, I am detecting something in that direction-"

"..."

"-I agree. Let's go check it out, Raven.-"

.

.

.

The next day, the Gates of Trost District fell.

.

.

.

Build:

R-arm unit: IB-C03W1:WLT011 Coral Rifle

L-arm unit: PB-033M ASHMEAD Pile Bunker

R-back unit: BML-G1/P07CTC-12 12-Cell Vertical Missile Launcher

L-back unit: SONGBIRDS Double-barrel Grenade Launcher

Head: HC-2000/BC Shade Eye (Raven mod.)

Core: IB-C03C: HAL 826 Advanced Institute Energy Core

Arms: IB-C03C: HAL 826 Advanced Institute Energy Carrier

Legs: RC-2000 SPRING CHICKEN Heavy Reverse Joint

Booster: IB-C03B: NG1 001 Heavyweight Booster System

FCS: FC-008 TALBOT Close Interception Fire Control System

Generator: NGI 000 Advanced Coral Reactor

Expansion: Assault Armor

I know what you're thinking if you notice some strangeness with the origin of some of those parts, we'll get to that.