Chapter 16 Against All
"Huh…Huh…" Tabane Shinonono mused in confusion.
It was not often that she was proven wrong. Still, even she could admit that she was only human.
"Okay okay okay okay…" She put her fingers against her temples, thinking hard. "So…I'm going to guess those bigger Armored Cores are inventions of The League. They emit that same weird radiation…I guess The League destroyed their world using these machines then. Yeah, that makes more sense than if they had only had the smaller ACs. Cool."
With a long intake of air, Tabane hissed slowly.
"Right, they won't be able to take them on in a fair fight. That much is obvious. How many are left…just Ichika?" Tabane sighed in disappointment. "I guess I can help him out a little, but this is the last time."
Big Box
"Hey, I need to ask a favor."
"…" James regarded the ghost with insipid annoyance. "Really? Now?"
"Yeah." Not Judith nodded with a smile. "So there's a tool I need access to, but, as you know, I uh…I don't have any hands. I need you to get me linked to it."
"I'm not going to stick weird things into my head again for you."
"Ah don't worry, we won't need to do that again." Not Judith assured him. "What I want is access to one of those weird IS cores. You know, the handheld quantum anomaly things? Kinda looks like a big glass marble?"
"And why would I want to help you connect to a technology even we don't understand?"
"I think I can use it to help both of us." Not Judith explained. "See once I'm in, I can scan through the network, read the files, maybe figure out how all that shit works. I'll use that to try and find what I'm looking for, and while I'm at it, I can look for that Tabane woman for you."
"…" James sighed. "So what do you need me to do?"
"I need you to make up some excuse to connect an IS core to your temporary AC for an extended period of time."
"…" James pulled out his phone, and called a number. "Haze."
"What?"
"I want you to start building a hybrid Core. Modify my temp third gen by installing one of those IS cores we've taken. Get Fiona to help you."
"Why?"
"Just an experiment." James suggested, then reconsidered his answer. "And insurance."
August 25th, 2030 – 0900 Hours / Tokyo Bay
"This can't be happening. This is a nightmare."
That was the global consensus regarding the war against ORCA. Certainly, they expected heavy casualties. Certainly, they expected to struggle as they fought down every level of the megastructure.
They did not expect for ORCA to deploy a single super weapon of unimaginable power. Something that revolutionized warfare and wiped-out thousands of units in a matter of minutes. Something that trivialized and brutalized the power of the IS, humbling them with sadistic results.
Something named Strayed.
What's more, the devastation left in Strayed's wake had left all the Pacific powers vulnerable to a massive ORCA counterattack. So far it was limited to flights of fighters and bombers, but already the JSDF was operating from a depleted and decimated position.
A few divisions of armor were amassing near Tokyo, and what remained of their Navy and a few ships of the US Navy were stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base, in preparation against a possible ORCA invasion. So far…Tokyo was the last city in Japan that was completely under their control.
"What's the situation abroad?" The Admiral requested desperately.
"There are only a few dozen allied naval vessels left in the Pacific theater. That failed invasion was far more costly than anyone could anticipate. The United States is already mobilizing it's Persian Gulf, Atlantic, Artic, and Mediterranean fleets for redeployment to the Pacific. Russia has promised to do the same with it's Artic and Atlantic fleets. A European multinational fleet is also preparing for a long haul. Still…it will be weeks before those reinforcements arrive. Unfortunately…the global reserves of IS units are in a depleted state, and seem to offer little against these new models of Armored Cores utilized by ORCA. That's not even counting the devastation being unleased by Big Box's main armaments. The Americans are so desperate that they are reactivating their three remaining Iowa Class Battleships in the hope that they can engage with Big Box in over-the-horizon bombardment with experimental rail cannons." An Officer reported.
"What of our forces? Are we only in contact with units near Tokyo? Have the rest been wiped out?"
"Almost…we are still in contact with a few teams of our Armored Cores. The unit's mobilized once the invasion force was defeated, and have been evading ORCA air attacks ever since. Some have even reported limited success in shooting down low flying ORCA fighters…but those units are isolated, and operating without regional support."
"And what of our remaining IS units?"
"ORCA…has seemingly made eliminating our IS suits a priority. A single one of those new '4th Gen' ACs did a high speed pass through our nation, stopping only to engage IS suits outside of Tokyo."
"Was it Strayed?"
"No, it was a white machine with the callsign 'Ambient'. Intel believes it was flown by one of ORCA's leaders, Lilium Wolcott."
"Sir!" Another Officer in the command center reported. "Sonar reports massive disturbance entering Tokyo harbor! ETA two minutes!"
"Already!?" The Admiral cursed. "Are they planning an underwater assault! Get me a visual! Alert all ships to prepare for anti-submarine warfare!"
"All ships, all ships. Commence anti-submarine warfare." The order was sent. Simultaneously, several destroyers in the harbor fired off dozens of missiles and rockets meant to sink submarines. Underwater explosions rocked the harbor, detonating against an unseen foe.
"Did we get them?"
There was a massive surge of white foaming water disrupted by an incredibly large object that slowly started pushing itself up, out of the water. The first things to breach the water, was four turrets arranged in pairs, side by side. The rear two turrets had flat faces filled with thirty-two plasma cannons, also known as Strafing Lasers. The forward two turrets had three, 1500mm Coilguns each, for a total of six cannons. Once out of the water, the Coilguns fired into the closest destroyers, pulverizing them such that they folded in on themselves. The two plasma turrets swiveled and found two more ships, their heavy bolts of super-heated blue plasma melting the ships down to slag in seconds.
But the structure these turrets were affixed to kept rising. A half kilometer long, rose higher and higher out of the water. Until it rose itself high enough and pulled it's legs up on the land, dragging itself to shore.
"W-What the fuck is that thing?!"
And then the world was newly terrified at the sight that was the League manufactured Land Crab Class Arms Fort, Thresher, standing two hundred meters tall on it's twelve legs.
Angling down with it's cannons, the Coilguns tore into fortified structures, causing them to collapse. The plasma cannons melted buildings in seconds. Secondary missile turrets fired cruise missiles, angling for the city of Tokyo, finding fortified positions set up by the Japanese and American militaries.
Already, the lower doors of the Arms Fort opened, deploying an entire armored division comprised of tanks, Muscle Tracers, and 3rd Gen Armored Cores. Additionally, helicopter pads on the back of the Arms Fort started to deploy attack helicopters,
Immediately, the few IS suits the Japanese had held in reserve deployed to respond to this unimaginable threat, this moving metal mountain that had suddenly mounted their homeland.
Exactly where it had been hiding, no one knew, but Strayed was suddenly in the air intercepting the IS suits. With the same swiftness and brutality as it had shown hours before, it wiped out their whole formation in a matter of seconds. There had been no time to plead for their lives or surrender, let alone put up a reasonable fight. Strayed had even made a show of catching the last woman, throwing her to the ground, and stomping out her life with it's massive foot.
Then two more Land Crabs, the Hammerhead, and the Mako, rose from the depths of Tokyo Bay, making landfall on Japan.
Big Box / 1000 Hours
"Sir! Japan has formally issued their unconditional surrender." An Officer announced.
"I see." Thermidor nodded coldly. "Send Strayed to accept it."
"…R-Right away sir!"
Thermidor watched as the Japanese government made a formal televised broadcast. Their Prime Minister strode up to a podium, a sense of barely maintained dignity hiding a sick, sour taste and distraught disbelief.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today, I stand before you as the Prime Minister of Japan to address a momentous and solemn occasion. In the span of a few hours, our nation has witnessed a cataclysmic event that has forever altered the course of our history. Our proud and valiant forces have been overwhelmed in totality by the ORCA Nation."
"We, the Japanese people, are no strangers to adversity and sacrifice. Today, we find ourselves in a situation of unparalleled gravity. Our military forces have suffered near-total annihilation. As such, it is with a heavy heart and a sense of responsibility that I announce Japan's unconditional surrender to the ORCA Nation."
"It is true that mere hours ago, Japan, alongside a global alliance, attempted to invade ORCA. Regrettably, our efforts were in vain, and our forces were decisively defeated. We must acknowledge the strength and resilience of the ORCA Nation."
"I wish to emphasize that while our military has borne the brunt of this conflict, civilian casualties have remained remarkably low, and for this, we must be grateful. We are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our citizens during these challenging times."
"The ORCA Nation now occupies our land, and it is crucial that we cooperate fully with their authorities. It is my sincere hope that we can find a path towards reconciliation and stability in this new chapter of our history."
"Though our feelings towards ORCA may be tinged with contempt, we must also recognize the imperative of peace and the preservation of life. Japan is the first nation to declare unconditional surrender, and we hope that our example can lead to a swift resolution of hostilities."
"In closing, let us remember the resilience and determination of the Japanese people throughout our history. It is my belief that even in these trying times, we can find a way forward towards a brighter future. We must come together as a nation, heal our wounds, and build a more peaceful and prosperous Japan."
"Thank you, and may peace-"
The transmission cut off suddenly.
"Sir, Strayed reports that they have eliminated the source of the transmission."
"Surrendering to spare their lives? How detestable." Thermidor spat. "Just hours ago they stated loudly and boldly that they would bring justice upon us all. Where did their tenacity go? This is my answer, you mewling quims. Stand and fight, and die with honor, or bend the knee and give me your head. ORCA will see this through, no matter the indignity and injustice of our actions. And when we're through, there'll be nothing left of this world, but dying embers."
One Hour Later
"We've got new reports." Fiona announced. She was busy, acting to help coordinate deployed Lynx for the global invasion they were enacting. "A slew of new countries have just declared their intention to surrender unconditionally."
"Oh?" Thermidor mused. "Who?"
"South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Seems well placed flights of Next have decimated their militaries and left them utterly defenseless."
"I see. Excellent." Thermidor nodded. "Let's send Strayed to accept their surrender."
"…You and him, huh? You two really are taking on all the sins of ORCA for yourselves." Fiona noted sadly, but coldly.
"So be it." Thermidor smiled. "Malzel, you said you wanted me to authorize deployment of the Flight Bunkers?"
"Yes. There are three different missions I want them tasked with." Malzel pulled up a map of the Pacific. "First, I wanted to send a bunker to Beijing to decapitate their leadership and occupy the city. It will throw their forces into disarray and allow us to systematically pick off their remaining forces at our leisure. Second is this area known as 'Southeast Asia.' These five countries; Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, are all heavily inundated with dense jungles that the locals tend to use to conduct guerrilla warfare. Historically, they've used the jungles to their advantage on many occasions. I refuse to put our troops into a protracted war of attrition. I want to use the drive plume of a bunker to wipe away the suspected hideouts their military would fall back towards, so that we might force them out into the open. Lastly, I wish to send a bunker to Australia to deposit troops and occupy their capital. It's just far enough out of our way to warrant the deployment, and it would be a logical staging area for any naval ships coming from the Atlantic after we destroy the Panama Canal, as well as allowing us to step off and decimate New Zealand next."
"Very well Malzel. Your plan is approved." Thermidor agreed. "And let me know if you need any Lynx deployed to wipe out any targets."
"Will do." Malzel nodded.
One Hour Later / Beijing, China
It was late enough in the day that China had realized the war was not going well. At all. The army was being redeployed into defensive formations, in preparation for the eventual ORCA invasion.
Their air force had been devastated in the opening hours of the war, and as the next closest target, enemy fighter-bomber flights were eradicating obvious and exposed targets such as military bases and air defenses. They had managed to move several infantry divisions in to defend Beijing, expecting what came next, but still being utterly unprepared.
Before the first ORCA soldier had even set foot on their soil, one of their Flight Bunkers, those massive, two kilometer tall flying armored blocks, came down over the city, and landed on the main government building. Except that they didn't turn off their engines.
The massive drive cones underneath the bunker boiled metal and concrete down into lava, and burned down into the supposedly secure bunker hundreds of meters underground, boring through it with plasma fire.
ORCA armored divisions began to deploy into a China that had been politically and militarily decapitated on the first day of the war.
And at the front line, doing this dirty work, was Strayed, wiping out the defenses at a rate of thousands of lives per hour.
Big Box – Command Center
"Sir, Strayed reports contact with enemy forces."
"Excellent." Thermidor nodded. "Malzel, your projections?"
"China will be the first nation in this war not to fall within the first day." Malzel declared. "Though SIGINT is reporting no orders from their command hierarchy, there are still more than two million soldiers spread along their coastal cities to eliminate, and another two million called up in reserve. So, we'll have our work cut out today."
"So it really depends on how many people Strayed can kill a day with an AC?" Thermidor mused.
"Something like." Malzel admitted. "With optimal output, it is estimated that Strayed can eliminate between two thousand and twenty thousand people per sortie. Depending on distance of deployment and time to return, that means that in a day, Strayed can kill nearly half a million people in optimal conditions, without using nuclear weapons."
"Well…I'm in no rush. And our arrangement means that they are more than happy to carry out this kind of work. Let them hunt." Thermidor dismissed. "This world will fall, and we will pick up the pieces and rebuild it in our image. That is certain. The question is…will we ever be able to find and catch Tabane Shinonono?"
"She's no doubt seen the superiority of the AC by now. Eventually, she'll run out of pawns to use. At that point…" Malzel speculated. "I suspect her ego is too big to allow this to continue. She'll make her next move soon."
Changsha, China / Tuesday, August 27th, 2030
Having moved away from Beijing in increasingly wide circles of death, ORCA took their time to decimate the military of the Peoples Republic of China in utter totality.
The reality had been obvious for a while, especially without the central government breathing down their necks, having been eliminated on the first day of the war. ORCA would defeat them, and move on.
None of them could stand it, and ORCA obviously had no intention to take them alive, openly executing prisoners of war where they stood. What few commanders of their military they had left decided an insane last ditch plan, to at least allow them to die with some dignity, and take the life of at least one of their most hated enemies.
So, they had consolidated most of their remaining forces at Changsha, in central China, to make a last stand. Four armored divisions, a hundred of their remaining fighters, and at least one elite unit comprised of Infinite Stratos suits and Chinese operated Third Gen Armored Cores to draw out just one man.
Just five units, three Armored Cores, and two Infinite Stratos. Viper Squad.
"Inbound confirmed. One Next. Believed to be Strayed. ETA, two minutes." Regional Command reported.
"This is it!" Viper-1 announced. "Our primary target is inbound. Our orders are to lure him into the city, and detonate the "device" on top of his head. Even if this kills us, eliminating just one of ORCA's Lynx will help save the world. Copy!?"
"Copy!" Vipers -2, -3, -4, and -5 answered.
"Fighters are reporting engagement." Reginal Command reported. "…Twenty aircraft shot down…send the next wave."
"22nd Mechanized! Reporting engagement!" A Division commander reported quickly from the edge of the city. "They're cutting through our lines! We won't last much-"
"…22nd Mechanized…lost." Regional Command reported, growing somber. "Strayed cut them down in less than a minute."
"35th Armored! We're under fire!" The next Division commander reported fearfully. "It's right on top of us! We need immediate fire support! S-Shit! It's right on top of-"
"35th Armored…lost." Regional Command seemed disturbed. "Another twenty fighters have been lost as well."
"Half the force…in just two minutes." Viper-2 shivered in their AC.
"It just mean's it won't be long now." Viper-4 in an IS commented.
"52nd Mechanized just took a hit!" Their Commander reported. "Half our vehicles are destroyed or damaged! That was cluster munitions!"
"Damn…looks like ORCA stealth fighters are operating in the area." Reginal Command reported. "Sending fighters to intercept."
"This is it then!" Viper-1 announced. "Strayed will be here any second! Keep the heat on them!"
Sure enough, Strayed burned in, having knocked a fighter out of the sky and rode it down to the ground, the aircraft exploding as it crashed and coating the Armored Core NEXT in fire, that it then boosted out of, engaging the 46th Mechanized.
Viper squad and the 46th were within the confines of the city, forcing Strayed to engage them along narrow avenues. Though they had yet to even substantially damage an Armored Core NEXT, they had noticed that their survival increased inside of dense cities, where a NEXT's super maneuverability and high speed were limited, and the slower, smaller 3rd Gen ACs could evade long enough to, at most, annoy them.
Ripping into formations of the 46th with it's autocannons, Strayed laid waste to the tanks, knocking them out and killing the crews at a rate of a platoon every second.
"46th is engaged! Get them Vipers!"
"Go go go!" Viper squad pounced, with Vipers -1, -2, and -3 boosting into the street where Strayed was, firing at them at all angles. Meanwhile, Vipers -4 and -5 engaged from inside buildings, staying as far away from the NEXT as they could.
While they were able to score hits against Strayed's energy shields, it was fast enough that it just boosted down the street, out of their range. But even as it seemed to be disengaging, Strayed had already turned around and was coming back their way.
"Disperse!" Viper-1 ordered, forcing his squad to scatter and seek cover while they tried to lure Strayed into another ambush, to do either more damage or get them closer to the target zone.
"S-Shit!" Viper-5 shouted. "Target just cut into my building with laser blades! It knows where I am!"
"Calm down Viper-5! Relocate as quickly as possible! Remember, you can go through windows! It can't!"
"C-Copy that!" Viper-5 flew through the window of the compromised skyscraper, through the windows of another, and into the building beyond that. She sighed over the radio. "Viper-5 has disengaged, waiting on-"
Strayed had engaged their overed-booster, and boosted through the building she had tried to lose it in at Mach three, and into the building she was hiding, collapsing the floor she was on.
"It's-! It's got me! No-!" Viper-5 screamed, just before Strayed tore her apart.
"Shit! Regroup! Ready phase two!" Viper-1 ordered, as his squad backed towards their objective, several platoons of the 46th serving as bait.
As expected, Strayed came down over the top of the buildings, landing among the first formation of tanks, crushing one of them.
"It's on top of us! Look-!" Strayed spun in place, wiping out the platoon with shots to their turrets from above.
"Attack!" Viper-1 ordered, his squad and what remained of the 46th firing on Strayed. The enemy boosted away, instantly gone, then came at them sideways from another street, right on top of them.
"It's on top of me! Going for blade!" Viper-3 announced, being closest to Strayed.
"Viper-3 back off! Disengage!" Viper-1 ordered.
"Take this you-!" Viper-3 swiped their laser blade at Strayed, only for Strayed to engage their own laser blade, block Viper-3, then stab them through the front and through the cockpit block, their machine carried into the air as Strayed sunk the blade to the hilt in their AC.
"Fall back!" Viper-1 ordered. "Viper-3…lost."
"Copy that, Viper-1…" Regional Command seemed desperate. "Just another three-hundred meters to your objective, keep going."
The three Vipers continued towards their objective, while the last remnants of the 46th took the blunt of Strayed's attacks, being wiped out in totality in just another minute.
"Viper squad, be advised…" Reginal Command reported somberly. "The 46th's been wiped out, and your air cover has been shot down. We have nothing we can use to support you."
"Copy that command. Just a bit more to the objective. Be ready for us." Viper-1 replied. "Let's double time it, make ourselves good targets for that bastard."
"Copy!" Viper-2 and Viper-4 answered.
That plan seemed to work, and Strayed descended upon their formation, intending to finish them off.
"Go! Finish the mission!" Viper-2 demanded, as they blocked the way, challenging Strayed as they fired on them with machinegun and missiles. Strayed broke off their pursuit to focus on the lone Armored Core. Viper-2 dodged behind a building, working their way back in evading, only for Strayed to cut through the building, baring down on Viper-2 with twin blades and cutting them to ribbons.
"Dammit…" Viper-4 cursed. "Viper-1…keep going. You're nearly at the objective."
"No Viper-4! You know that bastard likes to tear IS users apart!" Viper-1 warned.
"That's what I'm counting on. I just need to buy you a few seconds more…it's been an honor." Viper-4 fell back, looking to engage Strayed. She found what she was looking for.
Strayed was merciless, catching the IS and slamming them into the ground. What came next could be best summarized with three words, the things Strayed did to Viper-4.
Drawn and quartered.
"Viper-1 reporting…" Viper-1 called up to command. "Be ready on my signal…or lack thereof. I'm in the target zone."
"Copy Viper-1. Your sacrifice will be remembered." Regional Command answered. "Standing by."
It didn't take long for Strayed to find them, slowly advancing with a terrifying gait. Viper-1 turned around, and fired their machine gun at Strayed, the rounds bouncing off it's energy shields.
"Target is on top of me! Ready to go!" Viper-1 shouted, backing himself further into the target zone. Changing to an open channel, he shouted at Strayed. "Come on you son of a bitch! Come and get some!"
"…" Strayed lunged forward, intending to tear the enemy apart.
"Do it!" Viper-1 shouted for his command, seeing Strayed bare down on them, with blades drawn.
To Viper-1's back, a thousand feet away, a Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile had been carefully hidden. They had made the assessment that traditional methods of delivery would be too obvious and easily evaded. Thus, they had concocted this trap to lure Strayed into the blast range of a five-megaton nuclear bomb.
The blast flung Viper-1 forward, past Strayed, who themselves raised their arms to block as much of the blast as they could. Viper-1 could see Strayed holding their ground, even as several buildings seemed to fall inward on them, as half the city was decimated by the blast.
Viper-1 thought he was dead, but the pain in his head told him otherwise. Opening his eyes slowly, his Armored Core had been nearly totaled, but was still mobile, enough to push the rubble off of themselves and stand. Looking around, he took in the sights.
Half the city was gone, and tens of thousands of people had been killed. It had been deemed a necessary sacrifice, and worth it…seeing as it appeared that Strayed was dead.
"Viper-1 to command!" Viper-1 called out. "Hello? Is anyone there!?"
"…" Static buzzed on the line.
"Command, this is Viper-1…" Viper-1 paused, feeling the weight of loss hit him. All this death and sacrifice, just to kill one man. But…knowing the tenacity and evil that was James "Strayed" Klein…any sacrifice to kill that bastard would be worth it. "Mission complete. I say again, mission…"
At the edge of the blast zone, rubble and ash shifted, slowly at first, until it exploded outward with a burst of green energy, like a mini-nuke going off. The ORCA weapon…the Armored Core NEXT…James "Strayed" Klein. The demon burst up through the rubble, coasting thrusters so that they gently landed over the ruins of the city.
"…" Strayed turned towards Viper-1, regarding him intently. Viper-1 got the impression…that the bastard was laughing at him. Laughing at all of them and their desperate and vain sacrifice. All this death and pain and destruction…just to singe their paint.
Still, in Strayed's opinion, that earned Viper-1 a pass for today. That accused Armored Core NEXT took flight, and left the combat zone.
"Command…mission…failed…" Viper-1 reported somberly. "Strayed…lives…"
Big Box – Command Center / Wednesday, August 28th, 2030
"Sir! Strayed reports the last pockets of organized resistance in China have been wiped out." An Officer reported promptly to Thermidor.
For the last few days, the war had gone disastrously bad for the rest of the planet, far beyond what anyone believed was possible. With China now subdued, the entire Western Pacific was secure under ORCA's control. The vast majority of nations under their sphere of influence being left to their own devises, to be allowed to rebuild their decimated governments, so long as they did not build up any military forces to oppose ORCA.
The only exception was Japan. Due to it's proximity, ORCA had actually taken to occupying their closest neighbor. Though they were at war with the world, they simply did not have the troops to spare to occupy every nation beyond their borders. They were still a relatively small nation, after all.
It had not been entirely one sided through. A few thousand ORCA soldiers had been killed, holding lines or being bait to draw the enemy out, making them easy targets for Armored Core NEXT to wipe out in totality. Still, for what they had lost, it was a small price for utter dominance over the world.
"Where does that put us now, Grand Strategist?" Thermidor questioned. Though this might be his war of conquest, it was ultimately Malzel who's brilliant mind was responsible for their deployment and subsequent victories.
"Right on track." Malzel assured him confidently. "With the conquest of China and the far east of Russia, we have secured our own exclusive economic zone and a potential population of over two billion people. We have also pilfered a percentage of food stores from our new conquered territories, allowing us to comfortably feed our population for the next two years."
"Excellent work." Thermidor praised. "What is the next step of your plan?"
"We will be taking things significantly slower now." Malzel noted eagerly. "We were fortunate that the surrounding regions were all within range of Big Box's main armaments and aircraft. Now, however, we will have to work significantly harder on the deployment of troops and resources. Already, we have our engineers setting up a forward operating base in the Gobi Desert, to help facilitate our invasion of Central Asia. But my main goal now will be to break the United States."
"Oh?" Thermidor smiled excitedly. "Tell me old friend, how will you complete this task?"
"We'll start by establishing a major military base in the middle of the Los Angeles Dead Zone. The entire region has become an inhospitable, ashen wasteland…something our troops are naturally accustomed to. The Americans will not stand for our occupation, even if all we control is glass, they'll mobilize their army to dislodge us, but we'll have the advantage. Using the LADZ as a steppingstone, we'll conduct a seemingly normal invasion, moving inland towards Las Vegas and Phoenix, and north towards San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. While the whole of their military is moving westward to take back their land, we'll strike as many command centers as we can, no matter how deep they are, and land a Flight Bunker in the middle of DC, with the intention of capturing everything from Norfolk to New York. Then, with their leadership effectively decapitated, we'll withdraw most of our forces along the west coast to focus on other theaters of war, only performing the occasional airstrike or NEXT sortie when they gather too many of their remaining forces. Unlike China, we are not able to completely wipe out the Americans in a matter of days. A few weeks to a month at most."
"I see." Thermidor nodded in understanding. "Can we expect them to use nuclear weapons in a defensive role?"
"Strategic theater weapons? Probably not on their own homeland." Malzel assessed. "Tactical devices? Probably. Hence our need to continue producing 3rd Gen ACs as our frontline troops. That way we can reduce the deployed troops in any engagement while also giving them the maximum protection. Only IS units and other ACs pose a credible threat to our ACs, and we already have our Lynx tasked with hunting down the remaining IS units across the world."
"Understood." Thermidor smiled. "It's a good thing then we had so many orders for ACs canceled before they could be delivered."
"It certainly is." Malzel agreed. "Keep in mind though that we are still massively outnumbered, and it is only our NEXT that have given us the overwhelming advantage we currently maintain. Without the six of us, this war could drag on for years."
"Then let's not keep this world waiting." Thermidor nodded. "There'll be opportunity enough for all to know our rage."
Los Angeles Dead Zone / Saturday, August 31st, 2030
The ash choked lava fields and ruins of Los Angeles served as the sight of the heaviest fighting of the war so far. Though it had only been two days since ORCA had set foot on American soil, they had already built a massive fortress and military complex using prebuilt wall sections, each over fifty meters tall. Their FOB, which intel had assessed as being called Fort Joshua, stretched from Long Beach in the west to Anaheim to the east, and to Irvine to the south.
The base had been built over the top of the ruins, and featured multiple airfields, military facilities, and even manufacturing facilities. There was even a landing pad for their Flight Bunkers to touch down on, from which even more troops and supplies could be offloaded.
Their base was defended on every side, in some cases with natural barriers. A firebase and lookout point was set up on top of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and a line of bunkers defended the coast from Long Beach down to Newport Beach. The Santa Ana Mountains to the east covered that sector, and the Compton Lava Fields to the north made another impassable route.
Naturally, the United States would prefer to use their airpower advantage to bomb the entire area back into oblivion again, but the ash clouds of Mt. Wilshire prevented the air force from operating, something ORCA aircraft had no apparent problem with. This was besides the fact that ORCA also deployed massive plasma weapon platforms known as Procyon Cannons as an anti-aircraft weapon, capable of creating a lingering cloud of plasma that would persist in the air for several seconds, melting anything that passed through the cloud into slag.
As such, the United States was relegated to fighting off the waves of autonomous tanks and drones being sent out of Fort Joshua and into the Riverside Valley, where the half of the city, the half east of the 91 Freeway, was still standing, being protected from the Catalina Island disaster by the mountains.
Most of the tanks ORCA sent their way were GAM4-Wildboars, which looked just like an Israeli Merkava tank, but with a French styled casemate turret similar to an AMX-13. They were cheap and weak machines, but their continuous advance kept pressure on the US from being able to mount a counter offence.
And given the rate at which ORCA operated, that was not an acceptable outcome.
The solution was a desperate, three-pronged attack into the Los Angeles Dead Zone. From the north from a staging area in Santa Clarita, a light infantry assault would attempt to blitz down past the active Mt. Wilshire caldera and around the active lava flows. This assault had to be lightly armored and highly mobile, as the ground was unstable and inundated with active lava flows.
From the south, from an FOB built over the ruins of San Deigo, an armored push would attempt to drive north along the coast. Though free of ash for most of the way, it was the most exposed and longest route taken by attacking forces.
From the east, from the main FOB in Riverside, would be the main push. As many tanks that could be quickly mustered into attack position would attack along from the 57, 91, and 142 freeways and attempt to assault the ORCA base.
For this operation, high casualties were expected, considering they would be operating in a volcanic hellhole and without the support of air cover. But they had to make the effort, before ORCA had a chance to deploy their Armored Core NEXT.
As part of the assault, a battalion of Recon Marines led the charge through from the north, driving into the ruins of Pasadena in their heavily modified HMMWV trucks. Though initially phased out of combat due to their light armor, their light weight made them the only viable vehicles for traversing the unstable lava strewn ruble of Los Angeles.
"Gah! God fucking dammit!" The Private cursed. "This fucking heat!"
The Private itched through his chemical warfare suit. Though ORCA themselves had not deployed chemical weapons, the ash and sulfur being expelled from the local volcanism made breathing extremely hazardous.
"Eyes on the road, Private." The Lieutenant next to him chastised.
"Road!? What fucking road?!" The Private gestured in front of him as they drove through the ruins of Glendale. "The only thing out here is rubble, lava, and glass!"
"Just keep on your current course." The Lieutenant ordered. "Just follow along the river…without driving into the lava."
"Damn fucking right." The Private agreed, driving the HMMWV through ash and over dried lava flows. To their immediate right, the Los Angeles lava river flowed unsettlingly quickly, and glowed brightly in contrast to the dim, ash choked skies. In the far distance across the city, the distant thunder of tank shells being traded could be discerned through the dust and smoke.
"Army tanks are kicking ass." The Radioman in the back noted. "Shitty ORCA AI tanks are dying fast."
"Then maybe we'll be home in time for dinner. Right Lieutenant?" The Private suggested.
"They still have their AC's in reserve." The Lieutenant warned. "But ours should soon be engaged."
Through Glendale, the US Marines drove along the river, into Boyle Hights.
"You know the one good thing to come out of this disaster, Lieutenant?" The Private joked. "No more LA traffic!"
"Yeah…" The Lieutenant smiled at the macabre joke. In some sense though, it was true. They were making good progress, what with every building in LA being demolished and then remelted by lava flows that bubbled up through the streets.
"Ah shit sir!" The Radioman cursed. "Vehicle four just drove into a lava lake!"
"Holy fuck! We have to go back for them!" The Private shouted.
"We can't." The Lieutenant denied grimly. "We have direct orders to continue advancing, regardless of casualties."
"Lieutenant they're burning to death man! It's all over the fucking net!" The Radioman begged.
"We have our orders Corporal. We advance." The Lieutenant ordered in frustration.
As they advanced, they came to a point where the Los Angeles River intersected another water way, and with most of the bridges out, it left them trapped in Bell Gardens.
"Shit." The Lieutenant cursed as the way was blocked by two lava rivers. "Corporal! See if the other Companies have a route around this?!"
"Sir!" The Corporal responded. "Company B has a route over the 5 freeway, three clicks to the east!"
"Alright! Let's back track and get down that highway! We are kicking ORCA out today!" The Lieutenant declared.
As the US Marines entered Downey, they were reinforced with a company of tanks following the 605 freeway, the latest M1A4 Abrams. They followed a narrow passage, avoiding the heaviest fighting to the east as they skirted the Compton Lava Fields to the west.
They were just a few miles outside of Fort Joshua now. They could see the tall fortress walls, and the converging troops on the east flank closing in, taking the blunt of incoming artillery fire.
It had all been going so well, too.
"Shit! Sergeant!" The Radioman screamed. "The southern flank just got wiped out! Command thinks it's a Next!"
"Fuck!" The Lieutenant cursed. "How long do we have till they hit us?"
"Less than three minutes till they hit the main thrust, another minute till they are on top of us!" The Radioman reported.
"So, that just leaves us four minutes to take the base?" The Lieutenant grinned madly. "Punch it Private!"
"Ah hell, all or nothing then!" The Private pushed the pedal down, driving forward as quickly as they could, even driving through shallow puddles of lava, burning their feet through the floor of the vehicle.
The last few miles were blocked by ORCA Muscle Tracers. Short, tetrapod GAERQ9-SPINNE drones armed with 30mm gating guns, and MT63-MK Mamluk manned units armed with 50mm autocannons and a pair of six cell heavy rocket pods. Though the MTs had a height and firepower advantage, the US Marines were undeterred, driving in between piles of rubble before charging out among the MT formations.
Closing to point blank range with grenade launchers loaded with armor-piercing ammunition, the US Marines fired into the legs and flanks of ORCA MTs, often at risk of being stepped on or otherwise torn apart by their heavy ordnance.
It was a desperate and bloody battle, inflicting heavy losses on both sides. But the Recon Marines did their job, and broke through the ORCA lines.
"Holy fuck I can't believe we just did that sir!" The Private shouted.
"Eyes on the prize, Private!" The Lieutenant yelled back. "We punch a hole in their lines and take as many of these fanatic ORCA fucks with us that we can!"
"Sir! Command reports enemy Next almost on top of us! It's wiped out the east flank! We are out of time!" The Radioman warned.
Not soon enough, as The Lieutenant looked forward, and saw a wave of missiles fly overhead.
"Out of the vic!" The Lieutenant shouted in warning, causing most of his squad to abandon their vehicle while it was still running. The gunner was less fortunate, and was unable to escape as a missile arched down and slammed into their HMMWV, tearing it apart.
The Lieutenant looked up, seeing a platoon of four M1A4 tanks spread around him that had survived the assault. The first tank took a 250mm artillery round directly to the roof, knocking it out. The second tank was crushed by a ten-meter tall, green monstrosity.
The Armored Core NEXT Merrygate. Piloted by Lynx May "Smiley" Greenfield.
Merrygate turned her 130mm heavy rifle towards the third tank, advanced armorer-piercing rounds cutting through it's armor and killing it. The fourth tank got it's gun around in time, and fired at her once. Having seen it coming, Merrygate stepped to the side, causing the 120mm sabot round fired from the tank to impact it's energy shield at an angle, and glance off. In response, Merrygate jumped and flew on it's heavy plasma thrusters, and stomped the fourth tank to death.
In sheer defiance, The Lieutenant and his remaining squad got their grenade launchers on target, and fired at her. The low velocity, 40mm explosives detonated against her shield, earning her notice.
"…" They couldn't see it, but May stared at them sadly and indifferently. Killing infantry was beneath her in an Armored Core.
The dark, ash choked city, lit only by the lava fields of west LA, was suddenly turned to uncomfortable day as a bright white light shined overhead. Turning around, The Lieutenant and his squad witnessed one of ORCA's flight bunkers descend from space, and land in the middle of Fort Joshua, coming to deliver troops for their invasion of America, and to add it's own artillery to wiping out nearby American FOBs.
The counterattack had failed. ORCA had firmly entrenched themselves into the Los Angeles Dead Zone.
Big Box – Command Center
"All three Flight Bunkers have touched down, sir." The Space Command Officer Reported. "With Flight Bunker Two at Vandenburg Air Force Base and Flight Bunker Three on the ruins of San Diego, the full-scale invasion of America has begun."
"Sir! Greenfield, Fanchon, and Wolcott have reported engaging the Americans. They've wiped out enemy forces in the immediate vicinity of each Flight Bunker, and are keeping the sky's clean while we establish more bases or reinforce the existing base there in the LADZ."
"Excellent." Thermidor smiled proudly. "You hear that, Malzel? Your plan is going exactly as you predicted."
"Did you have any doubts?" Malzel questioned amused.
"Never." Thermidor assured him. "What is the next phase of your invasion?"
"Next, we expand our invasion of America." Malzel assured him. "We push north to take the entire west coast, and then inward, like we plan to follow a traditional invasion. Once most of America's military is deployed to counter us, we deliver the killing blow, taking New York and Washington with our Flight Bunkers. With the head cut off, the American Military will cease to function, and we can move on to Europe."
"I can't wait to get started." Thermidor smiled widely.
"Sir!" The Air Defense Officer reported. "We've detected a massive missile attack from the direction of the Russian Federation. Counting four hundred missiles, with an estimated payload of 1,500 MIRV warheads!"
"Interesting." Malzel noted. "I fully expected a mass missile attack from Russia, but not until we had begun invading their main cities near Europe. Ah, very well."
"Hmm." Thermidor hummed. "Malzel, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to put your plan for invading America on hold for several hours. At least until I've punished Russia for their aggression."
"Oh, very well." Malzel feigned disappointment.
"Set fortress defense level to maximum! Get our defense grid online!" Thermidor ordered.
"Sir!" An Officer reported. "Be advised that we expect upwards of ten percent of the incoming warheads to get through our defense grid."
"Within expectations then." Thermidor nodded. "The only thing we lose is a few operational hours, some man-hours, and a few thousand tons in munitions. A small price to pay for depleting our enemy's strategic missile arsenal."
Japan - IS Academy / Monday, September 1st, 2030
So far, it had been the worst month of Ichika's life.
The constant rivalry between himself and the imposing monster that was James Klein. The reveal that ORCA had been plotting the entire time to take over the world, destroying half of California and devastating the entire Pacific Rim.
Then the war itself…watching hundreds of thousands of people being cut down by ORCA. James Klein…killing almost all of his closest friends. His sister and Houki, captured by ORCA, and held hostage in their fortress, no doubt being tortured.
He'd survived the last week and the ORCA occupation of Japan by relying on the kindness of the girls from the mechanics club, smuggling out food to him as he hid from the ORCA patrols down in the tsunami-torn ruins by the coast.
As shameful as it was to admit…he'd been right to run away from James Klein. If he had stayed just one second longer, that evil bastard would have torn Chifuyu and Houki apart, just because he could. Still, his pride had suffered terribly. Unable to save the world, as whole governments collapsed to the ORCA war machine. Unable to save his friends. Unable to do anything against James Fucking Klein.
His pride was not helped by the rain of Russian nuclear weapons detonating with pathetic results against the bulwark of Big Box, doing little and nothing to the megafortress.
He couldn't even rally the remaining girls to his aid. ORCA had been thorough in destroying every IS training suit and IS Core they came across. It wasn't a technology they could use, so they made sure no one else could use it against them.
So, letting the light of distant nuclear explosions warm his skin on this dreadfully cool night, Ichika sulked. His IS might very well be the only one in the entire Pacific Rim, and he was still so powerless against ORCA…against James Klein…
"Hey hey hey!" Tabane Shinonono shouted cheerfully as she roughly slapped him on the back. "Why the long face, buddy?"
"Wha-! Tabane!?" Ichika screamed in confusion.
"Yeah yeah! It's me! I'm here to help you save the day!" Tabane assured him with a big smile on her face.
"Huh! Uh? But how!?" Ichika shouted. "ORCA has all those big, scary Armored Cores! Even all of my friends fighting together couldn't stop James's AC!"
"Yeah, that was kinda unexpected." Tabane admitted. "So I'll help you get past those big scary ACs and fight James Klein yourself! That way you can bring him to justice!"
"Ah…I don't know…" Ichika hesitated. "I know James is strong enough to fight an IS in hand-to-hand…If I still had my friends…maybe…but James killed them all…"
"…" Tabane silently hissed, hiding her annoyance from Ichika, before she answered in her usual confident self. "You know it's not just your friends he's been killing, right? He's been killing people all over the world."
"…Even innocent people?" Ichika questioned. He'd been ignoring the war as hard as possible the last few days. It was clear that ORCA was winning, as insane as that was.
"Oh, especially!" Tabane assured him. "Besides their usual publication that they've conquered another nation, they have been especially clear to exhibit the crimes of James 'Strayed' Klein, as he personally executes the unarmed and the civilian. He's a monster. Plus…there's what he's done to your sister…"
"…What has he done to Chifuyu…?" Ichika demanded darkly.
Bingo! Tabane quietly cheered, smiling widely. "I've heard rumor that James violated your sister, used her for his own pleasure."
"…" Ichika stared through Tabane for a long second. "Tabane…please…help me to kill James Klein in any way that you can…"
"That, I can do! Can do!" Tabane cheered. "I can get you inside the fortress so you can confront James without his AC. That should be a fair fight, yeah? You'll kill him for sure?"
"I'll drive my sword through his heart." Ichika promised. "Because my sword is a sword of justice! And I-"
"Okay hey maybe wait to give the big speech until you actually find Klein? Cool thanks." Tabane stopped him before he could get going. Otherwise they might have been there a few more minutes.
Big Box – Command Center
"Do you know why I've called you here, Klein?" Thermidor requested calmly.
"I am betting it's a new mission." Klein surmised easily.
Thermidor nodded. "As you might have noticed, the Russian Federation engaged in a massive missile bombardment of our fortress. This insult will not go unpunished."
"Would you have me subjugate them, Commander?" Klein wondered.
"I would have you wipe them out in totality." Thermidor demanded. He walked to a nearby map of Central Asia, and took out a red marker. Drawing a line from the Russian Naval Base at Severomorsk, he dragged it west to Saint Petersburg, south through Moscow, then all the way south through Tehran in Iran, before ending the line in Karachi, Pakistan. "Utilizing Kojima weaponry, kill every living thing on this line."
"It shall be done." Klein nodded, committed without question.
Big Box – Military Sector
Being teleported inside of the massive fortress had been utterly disorienting. Fortunately, Tabane had something of an idea of where Chifuyu and Houki were being held, so she sent him there first, to rescue them.
Ichika couldn't even imagine what horrific torture they must have gone through. What evils ORCA might have inflicted upon them…
He found what had to be the guard to the holding cells, and ambushed him, using his IS arms to punch him hard.
"Ow. Fuck." The ORCA soldier cursed. "Pashangwala."
"Where are Chifuyu and Houki! Tell me!" Ichika demanded.
"They're there!" The ORCA soldier gestured to the door. "Don't go in though, they're-"
"What are you doing to them?! Let them go!" Ichika punched the guard.
"Ow. Motherfucker." The ORCA soldier cursed again, bleeding from the nose. "Doors open! See for yourself."
Ichika broke down the door, rushing into the room. "Chifuyu, Houki, I'm here to save yo-"
"Ichika you idiot!" Houki yelled at him, punching him across the face. She was upset because he had just entered a private shower area, and caught them in the middle of it.
"Wha- oh! OH! I'm! Sorry! Didn't see anything!" Ichika winced, trying to find his way back outside. He found the guard standing outside, rubbing his face in pain. "Why didn't you tell me they were taking a shower?!" He complained.
"Cause you kept punching me in the face, motherfucker!" The ORCA soldier noted as calmly as he could.
Then Chifuyu, Houki, and Tatenashi left the shower area, appearing to be in good health.
"Ichika, what are you doing here?" Chifuyu questioned surprised.
"I-I'm here to save you guys!" Ichika declared. "You guys are prisoners of ORCA."
"Eh…kinda?" Houki shrugged. "After Japan fell to ORCA, we were told we're allowed to return back to the Academy."
"Then…why haven't you?" Ichika asked confused.
"It's…just safer." Tatenashi explained tiredly. "The whole world is at war. And yeah, ORCA have definitely gone too far, but their fortress is still the safest place on earth. We just got hit by over a hundred nuclear weapons and we're fine, where else in the world would we be so protected?" She then looked to the nearby soldier. "Are you alright, Corporal Daniels?"
"Well enough, ma'am." The ORCA Soldier nodded to her.
"It's unfortunate, but the world was forced into this war against ORCA, and ORCA has no choice but to be the bad guys." Chifuyu added. "Yes, they are committing atrocities, but there's nothing we can do. The best we can do is rebuild when they are finished with their war."
"But…how? How can you just sit by when ORCA is committing crimes against humanity?!" Ichika demanded, confused.
"Mostly…because it's not 'ORCA' per say…" Houki explained reluctantly. "It's James…"
"ORCA and ORCA command have been very careful about who and what strikes are being carried out. So far, in every instance of a war crime being carried out, the solely responsible party has been James Klein." Chifuyu explained slowly.
"So?! We have to stop him! End this war now!" Ichika shouted.
"That's the thing, Ichika." Tatenashi frowned. "We know the war is bad, what James is doing is bad, but when the war ends, ORCA won't be held responsible for his crimes. It will be a way out, for peace to exist."
"I…dammit…" Ichika hissed sourly. "I came here to save you guys…to kill James Klein…to end this war…only to find out-"
"Hang on…you said you planned to kill Strayed?" The ORCA Soldier looked worried.
"I'm still considering it, especially since he killed all my friends. Why? You going to warn him?" Ichika stared at the soldier.
"Oh…if you even thinking it…he already knows." The ORCA Soldier shivered, and rightfully so.
James "Strayed" Klein opened the door to the hall, and stared at them tiredly. "Huh…" He hummed, mildly amused.
"Sir!" The ORCA Soldier bowed fearfully, one knee on the ground, looking down.
"Corporal Daniels." James stated calmly. "Escort anyone who doesn't want to see what comes next, out."
"Nope. Fuck this." Tatenashi shook her head. "Ichika…it was nice knowing you, but the only way you'll live is if you disarm and beg for mercy. I…do hope you will live. Please. I have too many dead friends as it is." She refused to acknowledge James, as she followed the ORCA Soldier out of the area.
"James…" Ichika stared darkly at the black blade beast of ORCA.
"Yeah." James said loudly, eyes wide in feigned interest.
"You…you killed my friends. Killed innocent people. Committed acts of terrorism all over the world…" Ichika accused.
"Yeah, I know, I was there." James stated obviously. "Do you have some point to this or should I come back later when you've made up your mind?"
Ichika summoned his sword, his IS floating him an inch off the ground. "I won't let you get away with your crimes. My sword is a weapon of justice. With-"
"OKAY." James said very loudly. "So you want to stroke your own ego to the point that you'll be able to jack yourself off to this moment years from now, sure, everyone's different, I don't judge. But please, don't include me in your fucked up fantasies. If you're here to kill me, please just do it. I don't have the time or interest to waste on you. So either get over here and let's finish this, or please leave and don't ever let me see you again. If this turns out to be just another tease, I might actually kill myself just for the thrill of it."
"What the fuck is wrong with you James?" Ichika accused. "You're a criminal and a terrorist. You have to pay for your crimes with your life. That's…that fucking point of this. This is supposed to be justice."
"No…this is a fucking game, and I am very tired of playing it." James answered back, clearly agitated. "Yes I am a criminal and a terrorist, but I clearly do not think about it as much as you do. Honestly, I am begging you here. Try and kill me, or leave me alone. This is getting weird."
"…Fine. Just one question. Did you fuck my sister?" Ichika demanded.
"If it would help you make a fucking decision, yeah." James nodded. "I fucked your sister. A lot. So please, I got this thing going on where I have to go kill fifty million people, and your making this much weirder than it ever should have been. So, come on, get over here and fucking do it." He held his arms out invitingly.
"…" Ichika stared at James hatefully, and raised his sword, rushing forward.
"Stop! Ichika! It's a trap!" Chifuyu warned him, too late.
Ichika had never moved faster than in that moment, trying to break through James's guard to drive the sword through his chest. Except…that James didn't move, just continued to smile invitingly, seemingly genuinely happy.
The sword pierced James through the chest, through his heart, and out of his back.
"…For my friends." Ichika hissed, twisting the blade. James bowed his head, unmoving.
He…he'd done it. He'd stopped the monster, the beast, the terrorist and killer. That thing that had tormented two worlds with it's cruelty and savagery. The war would end. His friends could rest easy. Justice had been done.
Because James Klein was dead.
Ichika attempted pulled the sword out of James's chest, but stopped. James had reached up, and grabbed the blade with both hands, pulling it the rest of the way through his chest, widening the wound, and forcing Ichika to stumble into him. James looked up, smiling far too wide and far too hungrily for a man with a sword through his heart. He spoke with a smile, and Ichika's world shattered.
"You should have gone for the head."
Faster than Ichika could react, James had reached out, and pulled his arms from their sockets, as easily as if he'd been pulling the wings off an insect. Then James's right hand went through his chest, and he could feel the claws of Strayed trace his heart, squeezing it slowly.
"Finally." James hissed gleefully, smiling far too wide. "I have been waiting months for an excuse to kill you. To think it took this long to get us here. You finally went for the killing blow, and took out my heart." He then leaned in close, and whispered sweetly. "Too bad you didn't know about my other thirty-five."
"No…no…I…won…" Ichika choked out in disbelief, feeling James squeezing the life out of him.
"Know this, Ichika Orimura. Though you failed to live as a man, you at least have the honor to die like one." James declared, honestly pleased.
The sound of slow clapping behind him caught everyone's attention. James turned to find Tabane Shinonono clapping with a wide smile on her face.
"So to the victor go the spoils!" Tabane cheered. "Hurray, hurray, the little bitch is dead!"
"Big…sis?" Houki was already in a horrified state, watching James kill Ichika. To see her own sister mocking Ichika was utter insanity.
"Ah ehehehe!" Tabane cackled. "You didn't think you were ever actually special, did you Ichika? I gave you that IS because I thought it would be interesting, making you and all those other cute girls fight so desperately against the obviously evil Phantom Task. It would have been so awesome, just think of all the cool fights you could have had, and all the silly and maybe perverted drama along the way."
"Wha…what? No…I…I am…a hero!" Ichika argued, able to breath as James had relaxed his grip around his heart.
"You were a fucking mistake, Ichika." Tabane smiled. "If I had known ORCA would have stumbled into this world, I would have spent much longer making actual heroes to fight them, and not bother on the effort with you. Know then that your death was at least humorful enough to have been worth watching for my amusement."
James heard enough, and used his left hand to swiftly snap Ichika's neck, killing him instantly. He then lowered Ichika's body to the ground, and closed his eyes.
"Ichika…" Chifuyu had wanted to scream, but settled for cradling her brother's head in her lap, alongside Houki.
"Hey!" Tabane hissed angrily. "I wasn't done mocking him you know! I had a lot more fun things to rub in his face."
"Sis what the hell is wrong with you!" Houki shouted. Her best friend was dead and her sister was only upset that she couldn't mock him more.
"You don't get to call me sis anymore." Tabane pointed out. "I gave you one of the greatest IS suits ever built, and you lost it to this barely human, lobotomized corpse." She pointed at James. "So consider this notification that you've been disowned little Houki! Maybe you'll find some worth as an ORCA whore. Good luck!"
"You…you piece of shit!" Chifuyu shouted. "You started this war! Got my students…my brother killed! All because of your petty obsessions!"
"Listen, when this is all over, I'm going to have to be the big hero, because obviously no one else was good enough to fight ORCA. Who cares who started the war, so long as my IS suits are the most unquestionably awesome amazing super cool things to ever exist!" Tabane declared.
"I…I don't understand! Why!? Why would you do this!?" Houki begged.
"Wow…you really are all tits and no brains." Tabane accused. "All you ever need to know is I'm amazing and I'm going to save this world."
"Over fifty million people are dead!" Chifuyu screamed. "And James plans to kill another fifty million! You haven't saved this world! You've left it in ruins!"
"That's not what people will say when I save this world from ORCA personally." Tabane cheered. "They'll say 'Oh thank you Tabane' and 'You're so amazing Tabane' and 'You've saved us from the evil ORCA Tabane'. Truthfully, I never wanted to be the big hero, I just wanted to sit back and let you guys get all the glory. But none of you were strong enough to take on ORCA. What a waste of my time and effort."
"…" James continued to stare at Tabane, unmoved and uncaring of her admittance.
"And what do you have to say about this? Mr. World's Okayest Lobotomite?" Tabane smiled sinisterly. "Are you mad? Do you want to kill me? Maybe violate my amazing body to punish me? Come on, show me what you got?" She offered sweetly.
"…" James sighed, and walked away. He knew that Tabane would not die. Not today at least.
"Mmm! You suck!" Tabane shouted at James's back. "I'll get you to fight me, just you see! And then you'll know that I'm much better than you! Now…before I forget…" Tabane picked up one of Ichika's arms from the ground, and took his IS's condensed form off it. "This one is very important, can't let it go to waste! Anyhow, sucks to be you I guess! Bye bye Chifu and little not-my-sister-anymore!"
Tabane vanished as she teleported away, leaving Chifuyu and Houki to mourn over Ichika, and consider the real reason this whole war had started, and why all their friends were dead.
Big Box – NEXT Hangar
"…Run into some trouble there?" Serena gestured to the fucking hole in James's chest.
"It was…an interesting conversation." James admitted. "Now, about my AC?"
"Yes, I got the order from Thermidor." Serena nodded. "You'll be equipped with a long-range variant of VOB, to allow you to perform your high speed genocide run or whatever. Several external bomb bays for Kojima ordnance are being filled to the brim. The AC itself has been modified to increase KP production beyond normal levels. Everything in a five-mile radius of your AC will die. Quickly."
"You disapprove?" James noted her tone.
"It's a little fucked up, you have to admit." Serena argued.
"That's why I was selected for this mission." James explained. "So no one forgets who the real monster is."
"Strayed, on target. Command, send it. Authenticate Solutions: 0-8-1-6."
"Authenticate: Blaze. Readback."
"Blaze. Let them burn."
Three Hours Later / Moscow, Russia
Blowing through the sky at Mach 3, James "Strayed" Klein flew their AC through the center of Moskow, dropping several Kojima nuclear weapons along the way.
Every surface-to-air missile died before it could hit him, and every interceptor fighter fell out of the sky, their pilot dying mid-air, from the radiation leaking out of the AC.
The bombs that fell were relatively small at only two kilotons, just enough fire power to destroy a few neighborhoods. It was what each bomb released that was the problem.
With each bomb, five million rads-per-hour of Kojima radiation was released. Every person and living thing caught in this radioactive cloud was reduced to ash in a matter of seconds. Every standing structure in a matter of minutes.
Such was the way, that James "Strayed" Klein cut a swath of death through Central Asia, and killed in excess of fifty million people, leaving only an ashen stain in it's wake.
Secret Base
"Honestly, I guess I shouldn't have expected much from him. What a loser." Tabane considered boredly.
Teleporting over to her deep storage vault, she walked down a long hallway filled with some of her oldest and most fun toys. There was one particular item she was looking for. The prototype. The original. Her most perfect invention out of her perfect inventions.
The White Knight. Shirokishi.
"Fine." Tabane smiled sweetly, activating the very first Infinite Stratos. "I'll do it myself."
Author's Note: So now that this chapter is out, and Ichika is finally dead, I can explain the strange series of events that preceded this chapter. I originally completed Chapter 16 at the end of September, but was not satisfied as it was a measly 3K words in which not a lot happened. Additionally, the plot of the pervious chapters were a little different as Tabane "helpfully" installed a Kojima booster module to Ichika's IS, only for James to rip his arms off in his AC and capture him. This resulted in a weird scene in the old ch16 where James explained to Chifuyu/Houki/Tatenashi that they had every cancer due to exposure to Kojima particles and that while they could survive with a subdermal medicinal drip (something from The Expanse) Ichika was dying in a matter of hours, with a follow up scene next chapter where Chifuyu pulls the plug on Ichika (or maybe shoots him I don't remember). However, because 16 was so short, it felt very unfulfilling, and I really wanted an actual face to face confrontation between Ichika and James.
Then about a week after I finished the 3K Ch16, I had an elaborate fever dream inspired by Project Wingman where right before James nukes Moscow (which had always been the plan but I thought would be in chapter 17 for...reasons that you will see) Ichika confronts him in his IS and gets his ass kicked. So after talking to my beta readers (my parents and brother in law), I decided to almost entirely rewrite chapter 16 into what you saw above, with the very special and intimate scene where James kills Ichika in hand-to-hand combat, whilst Ichika had an IS. I was heavily distracted by writing UDL during this time, and accidently wrote two chapters of that story before I finally finished the ch16 rewrite.
It's not perfect. I should have added a scene of the war from ORCA troops POV, and I forgot to mention ORCA capturing Hawaii and couldn't be bothered finding a spot to fit in a few lines to explain it away, but this is a massive improvement over the original I made back in September.
Okay. Enough of that. Now about this chapter. I felt ORCA going on a path of conquest would be a nice slap in the face to the IS world, and is partly the inspiration for the name of the story. They believed the IS to be an infallible technology that could not be surpassed, and they were proven very wrong. Oof. Also, the long awaited Ichika VS James death match. Yeah, James is just a little fucked up. Also, no, James does not have 36 hearts, he has 2 hearts and at least 30+ blood pumps distributed through his circulatory system. I don't go into it a lot in this story, but my version of Lynx are cybernetic monsters, with changes done to every aspect of their body in order to help them survive the superior maneuverability of a NEXT without flying apart at the seems. Some critics have noted these augmentations to be excessive or inaccurate and definitely contradictory to the AC4 era lore, but for my part, I don't care and I have had a lot of fun putting James and the other Lynx through intense combat scenarios that no human could survive over the course of OTK and now DBB.
Anyhow, even though I am only about halfway done with Chapter 20 of this story, I thought this would be a nice holiday gift for y'all. Stay tuned, as I'll release chapter 17 as soon as I finish chapter 20, hopefully in a few days at most. Thank you all for sticking with it, and see you soon!
PS: Sorry if I didn't respond to you "guest" readers on chapter 14. Your reviews don't come in on the main site for several days, and I posted Ch15 a day after Ch14. I'll try to respond to you here.
To Napster153: Oh yeah, I definitely enjoyed killing off most of the IS cast in these last 2 chapters.
To marseldagistani: James has always been a bad guy, it's just that he usually finds himself under the command of someone who will use him to try and do better. But he is more than willing to do worse with. Old King just likes killing, but James was built for it, molded to become death.
To EmperorCeph: Unfortunately, I've built up James in my head as such a character that sometimes he takes over and I'm left dealing with how he goes through a situation in what is often a cruel and unusual fashion. This has happened a couple of times over the course of OTK and DBB. In this chapter, I wrote him into a corner, and the way he saw it, he had to kill Kanzashi to remove Tatenashi from the battle without harming her. And of course he didn't even hesitate, he just focused on a target, and executed with extreme prejudice. I think Tabane now sees that she has to get more hands on, but she still doesn't really care, beliving herself and her technology to be superior.
And yeah, a lot of characters died extremely quickly last chapter. But they were agasint an AC NEXT, and that's always a bad time.
To NexusPrime42: ORCA and ACs are very powerful, and depending on the situation, it could go any number of ways. They would be evenly matched against most Gundam and other "real world" robots, though others might be significantly harder depending on the maneuverability, weapons, and protection of other mecha. Also, 40K is always OP because numbers. While AC NEXT are designed to conquer worlds, those are relatively near future earths. A typical 40K army would have the numbers and technology to slowly wear down AC NEXT such that they would not totally dominate the situation.
To MythianTechCorp: Yep! Things are not looking good for Tabane at this time.
To memoryofvirtual: It's all good, lol. No worries.
To Jredor13: Yeah, I explained a little up above, but Kanzashi (and maybe Maya) was the only IS character who I regretted killing off. Unfortunately, James has a way of taking over a situation and making some of the darkest but most pragmatic decisions possible. As for Tabane, she's pretty stubborn. It's going to take something truely drastic to break her confidence.
To snipervk4: Unfortunately I don't quite have the patience to put all that effort into this story. If not for AC6 and UDL, some of what you suggested might have been a reality or at least imagined in some form or another. Still, I'm glad you are enjoying this and noticing you commenting on both sites, much to my appricaition and confusion.
To Xs0nicblAdeX: Aha! Close, I was definitely thinking of a meme when I wrote this. But yeah, I don't mean to hype James up so much, but as my OC for Strayed, there is a massive difference between them in experience and fortitude. Ichika and characters like him are just very strange, almost stereotypes of "guy gets all the ladies but isn't smart enough to notice" and it's very tiring and anoying. James killing him off was a long time coming.
To Just a reader now a writer: Okay, I guess Charlotte is a close 3rd for me regretting killing, but some of her actions after her introductory chapters made me much more comfortable killing her off. In the original draft of the story, she was actually going to survive, but I decided to have Tatenashi survive instead. Houki and Chifuyu only survived because James wanted to hurt Ichika but the boy ran away, but since they are still here I decided to continue utilizing them, albeit a bit more to the sidelines.
I think that's great, that you are working on your own AC story. It a fandom that doesn't get enough content, and just keep practicing and you'll be able to make a great story. My first attempt at a story by in 2015 was so terrible and cringeworthy, and James was a cringe edge lord, so I had to completely rewrite his backstory for OTK, and that story came out great. This story is not the best example of my writing, as I've pointed out several times. Still, once I'm done with this story, I hope you check out Under Dead Light, that will be a blast! And good luck on your own story, don't give up!
(on your second message): Ichika tried playing the part as Tabane's chosen hero, but James would not play their game. Unfortunate, but that's what happens when people play games with other lives.
To Gwynx: Ah, well we're part way there I guess, lol.
To ideal man: No...but I do feel that the bloodless pilots like Pixy, Trigger, Monarch (Project Wingman but still) or even enemies like Sol 1 and Crimson 1 would be a more fair match to AC NEXT than the teenage cast of Infinite Stratos. And if you'd read OTK, you'd know that I've had that opinion for a while.
Also, my new story, Under Dead Light, is a AC6 crossover story that I am every exited to be sharing. That story might even surpass OTK as my best story. So please, take a look and let me know what you think!
To zacker1590: I'm fortunate that I delayed writing chapter 14 of UDL because several of those new parts are going to make it into my story.
To mega1987: Yeah, things are not looking good.
To ak4567nn: Yes, Tabane screwed everyone and it cost a whole lot of innocent (and annoying) people their lives.
To naufalrakha0104: I remember watching Infinite Stratos a long time ago and just had to quit when multiple episodes in a row were nothing but sexually charged games meant to seduce Ichika and he couldn't take a fucking hint. He even fucked it up so badly once he said something along the lines of "I like my sister the best". Like this isn't fun for anyone, who makes this bullshit?
To KitsuneTheWhite: Even killing Ichika and Houki probably wouldn't have affected Tabane that much except to blame them for failing to properly use her toys. How fucked is she? She's in the same story as James, and that's never a good thing for anyone's health.
To WarmasterXI: Ha, thanks! Admittedly that's a good idea and I might end up using it in some fashion of another. (on your second comment): Tabane giving Ichika Kojima tech was in the original draft for this story, with the caviat that it would have infected him and made Tabane partly openly responsible for killing him. Tabane's speach mocking Ichika this chapter was sort of making up for that. Instead of knowingly poising him to make a "tragic hero" who dies before he gets the girl, I had to settle for her being unusualy cruel to Ichika, and based on notes that I've read, that's not far off from how canonical Tabane feels about him anyway.
To Iguana (on chapter 14): James does have an uncanny ability to stumble into unusual circumstances, much to his annoyance. (On chapter 15): Yeah, that's the way it's going now.
To Nine (on chapter 14): It certainly did not go well for them, that's for sure.
To Guest (on chapter 14): The answer is James don't give a fuck he'd kill everything in his path. Oof.
To Guest (on chapter 14): Yeah, that seems to be the case. James just went through them.
To FoulerGlint60: We still have several chapters to go, and I'm still building up to the final showdown.
To Saberfang Orcalodon: That's what we all need, kopeng.
