Chapter 12 The Coral Siren
Grid 073 - Independent Mercenary Hangars – Central Belius / Saturday, Tiberius 24th
The pain told her that she was still alive. Her adrenaline high from the pervious day had entirely worn off, so she felt the bite marks in her right shoulder…and her left arm…and the bullet graze on her left shoulder...and the bruising on her skull.
She was just a little bit fucked up.
The message from Handler Walter detailing her next mission hadn't come in yet. Still, she hated sitting idle, so she decided to get up and see what work she could get done in the meantime.
Exiting her private room, she walked down the first set of stairs, turning and taking in the sight of her black and white Armored Core…
621 had to do a double take, and nearly fell off the stairs doing so. That would have been an utterly anticlimactic end.
Instead of the rusted and neglected surface her AC had been accumulating for the past month, she found it cleaned and repainted in black, with secondary surfaces repainted in white. Along the feet, arms, wrists, and a few other spots, yellow and black caution stripes had been painted on the armor. On a few interior panels, she could also see dark neon purple paint.
It looked like someone had repainted it to look like a ten-meter-tall Disassembly Drone, matching it's colors as closely as possible to the frame of the 2000 series AC.
The culprits of this unexpected and unauthorized modification were passed out at the feet of the AC. Uzi looked very snug pressed between N and V, who themselves leaned against each other.
621 was going to let them sleep in until Handler Walter called, but this demanded an explanation.
Walking over to the control panel for the hangar's mechanical features, 621 started the launch procedure for the AC, at least for the first second, before resetting it back to default. For Uzi, V, and N, it felt like an earthquake as the entire platform they were on shifted sharply.
"Ah!" Stray Squad screamed as they woke with a start, stumbling over themselves in confusion. 621 strode up to them, hands on her hips as she glared down at them.
"Wha-! Oh…Uh! Raven!" Uzi sheepishly greeted.
"…"
"Uh so as you can see we cleaned your AC and painted it up!" Uzi announced. "I didn't think you should be using such a dirty and bland looking machine…you deserve better."
"…"
"I uh…I suppose I should have asked for permission before doing that, huh?" Uzi rubbed her head awkwardly.
"…"
"…Shit." Uzi quietly cursed. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
"You acted without my permission, and modified my AC." 621 noted coldly.
"T-That's bullshit!" Uzi argued. "I tried to do something nice for you, as a way of showing my thanks for teaching me and protecting me these last two days, and I'm in trouble?"
"…"
"Mmm." Uzi bowed her head sadly, knowing there wasn't anything she could do to change the Hound's stubborn mind. "It was all my idea, okay? V and N had nothing to do with it."
"Hey-No!" V argued. "It was my idea to paint it in this color! If you're going to punish Uzi, then I deserve it too! Just leave N out of this!"
"No!" N added. "I did a bunch of the painting! I helped so I should be punished too!"
"Silence." 621 hissed, staring down at the three drones as they flinched at the sound of her voice. "Stray Three. As the ringleader of this little operation, I intend to punish you as harshly as possible for this infraction. Are you prepared to face these consequences?"
"…Yes." Uzi sneered up defiantly, rooted by responsibility, and the fear of pain.
Uzi flinched when she saw 621 reaching for her head, and closed her eyes. She was a bit more confused when she felt 621 pull her beanie off her head.
Uzi looked up, and saw 621 throw her beanie at a confused and surprised V, who caught it.
"Fetch." 621 ordered, pointing her thumb behind herself.
V smiled widely, and put Uzi's beanie in her mouth, running past 621 and towards the stairs.
"Wha-!? V!? Give me my hat back!" Uzi whined, chasing after her.
N sighed in relief, and smiled up at 621. "Thanks for going easy on Uzi."
"Oh…I'll have a few more words for you three in a bit." 621 smiled softly. "For now, help Stray One torment Stray Three for a bit."
"Okie dokie!" N saluted happily, running after Uzi. "V! Toss it!"
V giggled as she tossed Uzi's beanie over her head towards N, who then started running towards the front door with it.
"N! Not you too! Give me my hat back!" Uzi yelled at him, chasing him.
621 let them go back and forth for a few minutes while she inspected their work. It was actually fairly competently done, and it didn't look bad either. 621 was almost sorry she'd be taking it into heavy combat.
She walked back to the main deck where V and N were still tormenting Uzi by throwing her hat across the hangar. Reaching out, she caught Uzi's beanie with one hand, then scooped up Uzi with her other hand. She slapped the beanie back onto Uzi's head, who then pulled it back on tight.
"Now, have you accepted your punishment, and learned from it?" 621 questioned.
"…Yeah. I get it. I'll ask for permission before modifying your AC." Uzi huffed, crossing her arms, but smiled.
621 placed Uzi back on the improvised bed, then gestured for V and N to sit and listen to what she had to say.
"In this instance…you were right. It was in poor taste for me to allow my AC to deteriorate to that state, and your work appears satisfactory. However, ask for permission before making alterations to the AC next time. Additionally, I want you each to write up a detailed report about your work-"
"Ugh!" Uzi, V, and N groaned loudly.
"…If you want to be fairly compensated."
"Ah!" Uzi, V, and N cheered.
"Now…" 621 continued. "Our relationship as master and property is…circumstantial at best. It's mostly for your protection, marking you as untouchable to most other fractions here on Rubicon. That being said, there will be times where I expect my orders to be followed, and there will be times where you fuck up, either as a genuine mistake, or due to vapid incompetence. In either case, I'll have to judge whether you are deserving of punishment, to what severity, and if you might learn something from being punished. You should know that, before we begin to seriously work together."
"Oh…okay." Uzi nodded.
"Sounds…fair enough." V agreed.
"We won't let you down, Raven!" N smiled.
"Good. Now, get me my reports." 621 demanded.
"Yes ma'am." Stray Squad replied, getting to work.
While 621 wrote up her own report about the incident and the updated visuals of her AC to Handler Walter, Stray Squad returned with their written reports.
Uzi's report was by far the most detailed and would be the basis by which Stray Squad was paid. It included information such as time spent working, kilos of paint used, what colors were used where, and who painted what surfaces. It even made sure to credit V for designing the visuals that they used.
"Uh…hey Raven, I was wondering?" Uzi looked back at the AC curiously. "Most other ACs have names, so what is your AC called?"
"…Loader 4." 621 answered.
"…Eh?" Uzi raised her pseudo-eyebrows in disbelief. "What kind of name is that?"
"I imagine the previous owner used it as a forklift." 621 reasoned.
V's report was much shorter and blunter. Accurate to be sure, but it left something to be desired when compared to Uzi's report. Still, the effort had been made, and there would be time to improve it.
N's report was…something else.
"Stray Two…what is this…?" 621 had inquired utterly baffled.
"Oh! It's my report! Do you like it!?" N cheerfully asked.
"…" 621 stared at N, then at his "report." It was a single sentence, and a series of crudely drawn pictures.
"me and freinds clean AC and pant it prety"
The drawings were all based on assumption, but 621 surmised that the large, brown, boxy figure that dominated the page was the AC, with black squiggly lines over it signifying paint. Arranged around it were three thankfully labeled stick figures. The two taller yellow stick figures were V and N, and the short purple figure was Uzi. There was a sleeping brown dog in the corner labeled 621. Lastly, at the top of the page, was a white sun with a dead smiley face, and opposite it was a broken moon, also with a smiley face. The only other detail was the black lines near the sun and moon, symbolizing either the orbital rings or the train lines connecting distant megastructures.
Hang on, where the fuck did he get the crayons to draw this?
"I have…several questions…" 621 demanded dryly.
"Oh…Oh!" V had shouted, before quickly running up to 621's side, smiling with an understanding kind of disappointment. "So…this is just how N is. J tried for years to improve his writing skills to…no effect. Eheh." She laughed awkwardly.
"…" 621 stared at V, then at N. She placed the "report" down, and walked away.
Attack the Watchpoint – Handler Walter / Reward 380,000 COAM
"This is a rather personal request…from a friend of mine." Handler Walter requested softly. "It concerns a certain facility…a Watchpoint." The video briefing showed a massive cylindrical building two hundred sixty meters tall and an array of angular abandoned industry, labeled as "Watchpoint Delta". "Once, it regulated the underground flow of Coral. Now it serves to monitor the dormant veins. I want you to attack it. Your objective will be to destroy the sensor valve at it's core. The Watchpoint is kept secure by SG, the planetside PCA force, which means it's too hot for the corporations to be seen there. In other words, we're flying strictly solo on this one. Have Stray Squad assist you by marking targets and watching your back, but keep them out of the battle."
The briefing ended, and 621 sighed. She'd have liked to go into battle with four weapons, but she spent all her scrip on Stray Squad. She'd even been cutting into her emergency reserves in order to make them more comfortable. The best she could do was put her shotgun on a reserve mount on her shoulder, freeing up her right fist for close range combat.
"Hang on…we're going up against the PCA…?" Uzi noted worriedly. It had only been fair to let them listen in to the briefing, after all. "Don't they have orders to kill us all?"
"Any fraction we fight is going to try and kill you for the duration of hostilities." 621 pointed out. "You'll be going in mainly as an observer, Stray Three. There's not going to be a lot for you to do this mission. Just keep your eyes open. Stray Two, don't forget that you're on guard duty for Stray Three. Don't let anything happen to her."
"Uh…Copy." N nodded, only a little worried.
"Stray One, stay high and quiet. Scout out but don't make yourself a target." 621 ordered.
"Copy." V nodded tensely.
621 boarded her AC, and started the launch procedure, with Stray Squad hanging on.
"You'll be going in under cover of darkness. Be ready for anything." Handler Walter advised, acting as Operator, to guide his Hound and her Strays.
Attack the Watchpoint – Handler Walter / Northern Belius / Saturday, Tiberius 24th, 3175
The corpse star had not set yet, but it was blocked by distant megastructures, making the area very dimly lit, and the sky a bleak grey.
The heavy transport helicopter opened it's rear door, and slid 621's AC out the back, dangling them before deployment. There were walkways besides the AC extended alongside it, from which V and N would deploy, with Uzi riding on N's back.
"It's go time, 621." Handler Walter announced. "Ready up, Stray Squad. Don't worry, not even the PCA would anticipate a solo independent mercenary, or her pack of Strays. Get in there and get to work."
The helicopter dropped 621, while V and N jumped out, deploying their wings to slow them down.
/MAIN SYSTEM: ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE
621 landed just over a kilometer away from the target zone, Stray Squad right behind her. To their front, an organized force of Subject Guard MTs and laser artillery cannons.
"Leave no evidence. If anyone sees you…handle it." Handler Walter advised. "Stray One, you're up. Stay high and slow, don't make yourself an obvious target."
"C-Copy." V replied nervously. She nodded to N and Uzi, then took off, ascending quickly above the fortified industrial zone. As part of her equipment as their teams designated forward scout, she had carried a powerful optical scope and ranging laser, capable of marking targets. "Counting three heavy laser artillery turrets and eight SG MTs in this area. All on standby."
Unlike BAWS MTs, Subject Guard MTs were faster and much more heavily armed. They were all equipped with a large thruster flight pack, and armed with guided missile launchers and a laser rifle. As for the laser artillery, it could tear an unsuspecting AC apart with bright blue energy beams.
"Copy that." Handler Walter analyzed her recorded information. "Stray Two, take off and enter a loitering position with Stray Three, awaiting further orders. 621, come at the turrets from behind, you can get two of them before they can respond."
"Copy!" N and Uzi replied confidently, holding pattern high above the zone while their Hound went to work.
"…" It felt like forever since 621 had been on mission. It was good to be back in the thick of it, and to have the luxury of not having to say anything. She followed Handler Walter's advice, and dove down to the shallow ocean below, skimming above the waves as she worked her way over the to the left flank of the target area, behind two of the artillery turrets. The first one in sight, she fired with her dual-mortars, tearing the cannon apart, and alerting Subject Guard.
"Code 15: Intruder Sighted." The Subject Guard Commander in this area noted.
"It's…It's just one AC? Who are they with?!" An MT pilot realized.
"We can look into that later. Engaging." The Subject Guard was known for their prompt and professionalism, as was the rest of the PCA. Even under ambush, they stayed calm.
621 glided back behind the second artillery turret. It had started to turn around, but not quickly enough, allowing her to get her shotgun in close and tear it apart. Boosting up into the industrial zone, she engaged her blade and cut through two MTs with a wide sweep.
"Code 78: Requesting backup…Huh?! I can't get through to HQ!" One of the MT pilots started to panic.
"The cavalry isn't coming." Handler Walter had made sure to saturate the area with jamming. "Wipe them out, 621."
"…" 621 got within range of the third laser turret, and sent two mortars down it's throat. She dodged the laser rifle shots from a nearby MT, then got close enough to put a shotgun shell through the cockpit block.
There were five MTs remaining. Looking to get through them as quickly as possible, 621 fired her double-mortar at two in a group, wiping them out. She pounced on the next pair and swung her laser blade in a wide arc, cutting through them. Lastly, she pressed her shotgun against the last enemy, and tore them apart with the shot.
"Confirmed. Enemy squad destroyed. Move on to the next area." Handler Walter ordered. "Stray One, get ahead and count the enemy. Stray Two, land near the recently destroyed enemies to allow Stray Three to gather intel. Keep an eye on her, and extract her at the first sign of danger."
"Copy!" Stray Squad answered. N landed near some of the SG MT wrecks and Uzi jumped off, marking the wrecks and taking plenty of pictures. She wasn't exactly sure why, but from what she had heard, PCA tech was considerably more advanced than the local standard, so any intel on it's functionality was valuable.
V flew over to the next area leading towards the Watchpoint, an artificial valley and checkpoint, leading to three long highways 1.5 kilometers away from the Watchpoint. "Counting three more laser turrets and six MTs. They're not active yet, but they are aware."
"…" 621 engaged her assault-boost as soon as she rounded the corner, closing the distance to one of the laser cannons.
"Where did that AC come from?! What happened to the patrol squad?!" One of the MT pilots complained.
"Code 18! All units, deploy for combat!" The commander in this area announced.
"You're exposed to snipers from all quarters. Keep moving or they'll shoot you down." Handler Walter warned.
"…" 621 managed to get behind the first cannon, tearing it apart with a close-range shotgun blast. As she ascended part of the structure to get behind the next cannon, she took a glancing hit from the heavy laser across the valley, doing notable damage. Plunging her blade through the nearby MT, she got just enough altitude to shoot down at the center cannon with her dual-mortars, taking it and one MT out.
"Code 31C! We've taken critical damage!" One of the MTs shouted in alarm.
"Copy that. Time to reveal the surprise." The local commander announced.
"Wait…oh shit! Raven! They've just revealed a hidden cannon to your rear! And four more support MTs!" V alerted.
"Roger that Stray One." Handler Walter acknowledged. "621, handle it."
"…" 621 hummed, continuing on course to the third cannon, taking out a MT along the way with her blade. Still, it left her exposed to the new cannon to the rear, and she barely dodged out of the way of it's heavy laser beam.
"I don't like this! I'm engaging the support MTs!" V called out. Though her arsenal was limited, 621 had equipped her with a handful of magnetic anti-armor charges, that had enough firepower to cripple or kill an MT. Flying low towards the fourth cannon, she quickly circled behind the formation of MTs, armed one of her charges, and threw it on the back of one of the MTs, sticking it in a vulnerable spot that killed one of the machines.
"Code 54D!" The Subject Guard Commander announced. "All units, priority subject for termination sighted. Engage."
Then, every remaining PCA unit and soldier changed their target, ignoring 621, and focusing their weapons on V.
"What?! Shit! They're targeting me!?" V flew up, having difficulty evading every laser and missile that was launched at her. More concerning were the two remaining laser artillery cannons, slowly pivoting in her direction.
"621! Stray Squad!" Handler Walter announced quickly. "Stray One is under heavy fire! Help her out!"
"C-Copy!" N shouted. "Let's go Uzi!" He quickly picked up Uzi.
"Drop me off near an overhead area!" Uzi demanded. "I can get a shot or two off!"
"Right!" N agreed as he approached the active combat zone.
"…" 621 finished destroying the third cannon, and quickly engaged two more MTs at close range. In a hurry she kicked the last MT near the original cannons, and rushed towards the remaining enemies.
Three MTs, and one laser cannon. N quickly dropped Uzi off just above the formation, and swooped in behind the MTs, arming one of his anti-armor charges, and used it to take down one of the MTs.
Uzi lined up a shot with her railgun, and fired down into the top of one of the MTs, boring through it. She then had to step back and reload the weapon, by replacing the heat sinks and pre-charged energy capacitor. Though it increased the weight and only gave her enough ammo to fire it four more times like that, she didn't have to wait half an hour to use it again.
Finally, 621 got close enough to fire her Songbirds into the side of the laser cannon, tearing it apart. The blast had been close enough to disorient the remaining MT. Putting her shotgun on her back mount, 621 boosted to point blank range, and punched the MT through the cockpit block, crushing the pilot.
"Confirmed. All enemies taken care of." Handler Walter announced. "Stray One, in the future, try to avoid antagonizing the PCA. They'll prioritize your destruction over their own lives."
"Y-Yeah…copy…" V shivered slightly as she landed near Uzi, with N landing nearby, looking her over for damage. Her shell was singed from laser fire, but that would heal quickly.
"Updating your maker data. Proceed in the direction indicated." Handler Walter updated their information, prompting 621 to head south towards the Watchpoint. "Back to work, Strays."
"Copy…" V nodded reluctantly, taking flight and staying just ahead of 621. N and Uzi stayed towards the rear, keeping an eye on 621's back.
A kilometer and a half away, the Watchpoint stood. It was not a particularly overwhelming megastructure, considering what surrounded them on all sides, but it's circular design centered alone in the shallow sea certainly marked it as important.
"Do you see that? That's the Watchpoint's control center." Handler Walter pointed out. "The target's inside. Make your way in."
"…" 621 assault boosted down the highway leading towards the Watchpoint. She was a kilometer away, when her new scout drone pinged an alert.
"Raven…unknown AC, dead ahead." V warned.
"…" 621 stopped short of the Watchpoint, confronted by an all-black AC utilizing high tech parts. The unknown enemy opened a communications channel.
"Attacking a Watchpoint…?" The voice mused, amused and mockingly. "You're incorrigible, Handler Walter. How many of your dogs must I kill, before you learn?"
"Is that…Sulla?!" Handler Walter seemed surprised.
"Pitiful dog, I feel sorry for you. I really do. You may have survived a little longer, if only you had a different master." Sulla dismissed, diving down to attack.
"…" 621 boosted up, engaging the interloper.
"C1-249. 'Sulla.' He's an independent mercenary who survived first gen augmentation." Handler Walter explained. "Don't think twice 621. Kill him before he kills you."
"…" 621 agreed, but had to face the facts. She was severely outmatched, having only two ranged weapons to Sulla's four. Her mortars were slow and her shotgun was short-ranged. Sulla on the other hand was armed with plasma missiles and delayed fuse chain-cluster missiles, as well as a heavy artillery cannon and an oscillating plasma cannon, known otherwise as a pulse gun.
Sulla kept pressure on her with his missiles and pulse gun, which shot large bubbles of destabilized plasma and high-pressure air, making it function as a thermobaric weapon. 621 was forced back into the shallow ocean, but found the opportunity to gain some altitude and send two mortar rounds his way, doing little damage but unbalancing his ACS, slowly making him more vulnerable.
"Raven! Two stealth mechs are setting up near the Watchpoint!" V shouted.
"And another two from the rear!" N added worriedly.
"Damn! An ambush!" Handler Walter warned her in time. The invisible mechs charged up their laser rifles, giving 621 less than a second of warning before they fired. Sulla had planned this, forcing her out into the ocean. Bad. Untenable.
Uphill, all ways.
"Laconian strays…you don't belong on Rubicon." Sulla noted coldly. "Best I put you out of your misery, least your corruption voids another world."
"…" Uzi, V, and N fearfully regarded Sulla's voice, and made sure to steer clear of him.
"I was here you know? Fifty years ago, culling your kind with the other butchers of Sol." Sulla recalled gleefully. Then he sung a short tune to terrorize them. "Little drones, little drones, time to go home~! Down on your knees, and into the hole~! So decreed the voice of Sol~!"
"…" 621 managed to break away, and focus on one of the invisible sniper mechs. Though she couldn't see it, she knew where it had fired from, so homed in on that. It appeared as she closed the distance, and died as she tore through it with her laser blade.
"N! Let's take down one of the snipers! Just like last time!" V suggested.
"Yeah! I'll help finish it off!" Uzi added.
"Right!" N agreed, following V towards the north, where two of the snipers were elevated. Homing in on one of them, N dropped Uzi off while he and V circled behind the thing, and fired their pulse wave lasers into it's legs. Caught off guard, it was staggered long enough for Uzi to line up another railgun shot, and tear a hole in it's armor. Except it wasn't quite dead yet.
"Oh…uh!" Uzi panicked, backing up to the edge of the platform, close to three hundred meters over the ocean. "That thing is a lot tougher than the last one we fought!"
"Uzi, jump! I'll get you!" V ordered, taking off to do so. "N! finish killing this thing!"
"Right!" N nodded, getting very close to the stealth machine.
"Shit!" Uzi was force to jump from the platform as the stealth mech aimed it's laser rifle at her. It was terribly frightening, hurdling towards the ocean below, before she heard the familiar sound of metal wings.
"Got you!" V shouted, catching Uzi halfway down the platform, taking flight to avoid the rest of the battle.
N pounced on the leg of the stealth mech and jammed his tail into the damaged knee joint, slowly eating away at it with his nanite acid. The stealth machine tried to swat him away, so he jumped back to dodge it's arms, then got under it's guard, jamming his claws into the wound his acid was chewing through, and pulled as hard as he could, tearing the leg off the stealth machine, mobility killing it. He finished it off by placing an anti-armor charge over it's reactor housing.
621 had similarly spent her time trying to evade Sulla and finish off the other two stealth mechs. She fired on him again with her mortars and shotgun, before chasing down one of the stealth mechs.
"Where's 619 and 620? Dead? Which ones did I kill, I wonder…?" Sulla mocked, shrugging off the damage.
"Don't let him bait you. Focus." Handler Walter demanded, quietly enraged at the names of his dead Hounds.
"…" 621 cut through another of the stealth mechs with her blade, then dove under the highway, backtracking towards the remaining sniper while using the concrete columns to evade both Sulla and the sniper.
"Was it 618 I killed last? He was good, but he had nothing on this one." Sulla noted smugly.
"Who tipped you off, Sulla?" Handler Walter wondered.
"Don't make trouble for me Walter." Sulla warned. "You, your dog, and your strays aren't welcome here."
"…" 621 got enough distance from Sulla that she could take the time to ascend the platform with the remaining sniper mech, and get above it. She fired down with both her dual-mortars and her shotgun, tearing it apart.
"You're one of Gen Four's lot, and a failed one at that." Sulla mocked her personally. "I hear you make fine Hounds with the right training. But you…you have the scent of death. Far better I dispose of you."
"…" Once again in a one-on-one, 621 dove back towards the ocean, evading between concrete columns as she hit where she could with her limited armament.
"It's curious you'd go through the trouble, dog." Sulla could be heard smiling widely. "All that scrip for three little strays? What were you trying to save?"
"…" 621 ignored the comment as best she could, as she dodged his own hand-held artillery cannon.
"…Or maybe it was something you were trying to replace?" Sulla surmised, amused with his taunting. "Someone you couldn't save, perhaps?"
"…" 621 didn't take that well. With silent fury she ran into Sulla, and kicked him senseless, staggering him. Placing her shotgun on her back, she started to wail on him, punching him back and forth, over and over, till she started overheating the hydraulics in her own machine, smashing his armor in. Until, finally, she ran her blade through his reactor, killing the AC.
"Walter…Stay away from the Watchpoint…" Sulla choked out. 621 finished him off by firing her shotgun through his cockpit.
"…Confirmed. Enemy AC destroyed." Handler Walter reported. The Strays reconvened near the entrance to Watchpoint, watching 621 wearily, fascinated and frightened at how quickly she could change between calm and grace, to wrath and rage. "Forget about him, 621. You did good today. Back to work."
"…" 621 grunted, and followed Stray Squad. Uzi worked on getting the door open, to get them into the facility.
Once in, Handler Walter highlighted an area where 621 could resupply, just in case. She had sustained notable damage against the PCA and Sulla, and her ammo was low.
It was something that Stray Squad had very briefly trained for, but then stood by and assisted with. Handler Walter sent a Sherpa, a heavy unmanned delivery drone, that was filled with munitions and emergency repair packs. 621 backed into the rocket powered container as it landed and opened, and Stray Squad assisted by making sure the autoloaders connected properly, and that the repair packs refilled and repaired the AC. It wasn't a perfect fix, but it would serve almost as good as new till the end of the mission.
The inside of the Watchpoint was a mass of huge computer servers, lined around a deep pit in the center, a quarter of a kilometer wide and nearly a kilometer deep. At the very center, was a suspended sensor platform hung by heavy hydraulic lifts. 621 and Stray Squad landed near this contraption.
"There, destroy the device in the center." Handler Walter ordered. "Standby, Stray Squad."
"…" 621 lined up with her shotgun, and fired, destroying part of the support for the sensor. The fragile and valuable sensor fell out of it's housing, and 621 destroyed it with another shotgun blast. Destabilized, the rest of the sensor platform exploded within it's housing.
"Good job, 621, Stray Squad." Handler Walter announced as the servers shut off, going dark. "We're done here. Head back to base."
The ground started to glow ominously red, as filaments of Coral bubbled up through the steel plates on the floor, slowly floating into the air.
"Wait…No!" Handler Walter shouted. "Get out of there now!"
Uzi, N, and V, panicked, surrounded by the Coral as it whisked and pooled around them. Almost with…intelligence…
They weren't able to observe this for long, as 621 had grabbed all of them, and flung them as far as she could up the Watchpoint. Just in time as…
It was not an explosion, more a surge, as a tidal wave of Coral suddenly filled the Watchpoint and washed over 621, permeating through her.
"Raven!" Uzi, N, and V screamed as they saw 621 get swallowed up by this Coral tide, her AC going slack.
It felt…like everything. For a single moment, 621 could see her entire life from inception in a test-tube on Earth, the unholy union of her donor genetic material, to her childhood in a high orbit spin station, running through the garden of her youth, through her time in the Navies of Sol, racing through Jovian skies, and war after war against Laconia. Day by day by day by day by day at a time. Until she found herself here, Coral kissing the entirety of her mind, soothing her to sleep on the voices of cold, ice sirens, their crystalline voices crying on the wind…
"…"
"Who are you?"
"…"
"An older type of augmented human. Fourth generation…"
"…"
"Have we…made Contact?"
"…"
"I am Ayre. A Rubiconian."
"…"
"Please, you must wake up…"
"…"
"Before your consciousness…is forever scattered in the Coral flow…"
/AUGMENTED HUMAN C4-621: VITAL SIGNS CONFIRMED
"Guys! She's alive!"
/DISABLING AUTOPILOT
"Is she okay?! Come on Raven! Talk to us!"
/ESTABLISHING COMMS LINE WITH HANDLER-
"Raven."
"…" There was a voice in her head now. That was new. It sung like electric honey, sweet and soothing, but inherently unnatural.
"I've identified an approaching enemy." The voice that called herself Ayre announced.
"…" She felt like shit. Like she shat her own head up through her throat, eyes boiling in pools of her own blood, her mind still sunk halfway into a tar black sea.
Still, this was not even her worst day.
"Raven…Raven look out!" V warned. "Inbound enemy…what…what is that!?"
"I-I can't get Walter on comms! What do we do!?" Uzi screamed.
"We have to get out of here! But we can't leave Raven!" N shouted.
"…" Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. No need for so much noise. If it's an enemy…then let her take care of it. She waved off her squad of little machines, pointing to an outcropping at the edge of the Watchpoint, silently telling them to wait over there. Then, looking up with eyes that hurt to use, she identified her foe.
AAP07: Balteus. An attempt by the PCA to recreate the greatest weapons ever conceived, Armored Core NEXT. However, they lacked League technology, being unable to reproduce Kojima Particles, and being unable to manufacture advanced metamaterials and hyperalloys. As such, Balteus was massive and unwieldy, and did not even have half the power output of a NEXT.
It appeared as a large, ten-meter-tall MT in the center of a ring, with a massive backpack/weapons platform that contained it's main reactor and thrusters. It was armed with three 50mm gatling guns on it's right arm, and four 154mm fiftieth gauge shotguns on it's left arm. Additionally, there was a 300mm mortar on it's left shoulder, and it could deploy an additional fourteen ring segments lined with missile launchers, allowing it to fire volleys of two hundred and eighty guided missiles at a time.
It was capable of full flight, maintaining a full energy shield, and detonating said shield with Assault Armor. Despite being much slower and much heavier, it had all the basic characteristics of an Armored Core NEXT. Except that NEXT also produced deadly radioactive waste, so at least she didn't have to worry about that.
"I'll synchronize with your brain waves…and maintain Contact to support you." Ayre declared.
"…" Oh, well, a least the schizophrenic voice in her head was offering to be her Operator. That might help.
"Main system: Reactivating Combat Mode." Ayre commanded, jumpstarting 621's AC, just in time as Balteus fired an enormous number of missiles at her, filling the sky. She charged forward through the volley, in order to fire her dual-mortars and shotgun at point blank range, slowly bleeding it's energy shield.
"Raven! What are you doing!?" N cried.
"It looks like she's fighting that thing!" Uzi noticed.
"She's not scared of anything!" V added. "Back to work it is then!"
"I've looked into the enemy craft." Ayre added as 621 engaged it. "It's an autonomous PCA craft…Balteus. But you already knew that…didn't you?"
"…" 621 dodged away as Balteus backed up, and fired at her with it's massive mortar.
"You'll have to break it's pulse amor to inflict meaningful damage." Ayre pointed out.
"…" Dodging through yet another volley of missiles, 621 closed the distance, into effective range of her two ballistic weapons, firing into it's sides. It took great effort and several consecutive shots, but she managed to break it's shields. Being a less efficient machine than an AC NEXT, having it's shields broken put it in a feedback loop which caused the whole machine to stagger.
"Pulse armor down. Now's your chance, Raven." Ayre informed her, prompting 621 to get in close and slash at it with her blade, and even kicked it for good measure. She then punched it twice before it was able to back off and fire on her again. She'd gotten some hits in, but it would not go down so easy.
"I've taken your comms link offline for now." Ayre admitted. "That massive dose of Coral nearly killed you…please…you have to focus on winning this."
"…" 621 stared down her prey, and pursued viciously, firing double-mortars as quickly as they would reload, and a wide spray of her shotgun when she had a good profile. Dodging through tracers and mortar rounds fired in return, itching to blast this machine apart.
"Picking up a massive heat signature. Evasive action, Raven." Ayre warned before Balteus fired it's missiles, like a guided firework burst that turned inward and followed her relentlessly, unavoidable unless she went straight through them, head on with this imposing foe.
She knocked it's pulse shield offline again, forcing it to stagger, and fired with everything she had, tearing into it's armor with blade and fist, taking it down a notch.
"The enemy has taken heavy damage. Keep it up, Raven." Ayre supported.
"You got this Raven!" N shouted supportively.
"Kick it's ass Raven!" Uzi cheered.
"Fuck it up!" V shook her arms, smiling widely.
"It looks like you have good company. Cute little things…the battlefield is no place for them though…" Ayre commented, loosing track of herself for the moment. "Stray Squad. Something worth protecting."
Balteus retreated, and drew energy in on itself, shining brightly as it did so.
"The waves are intensifying! Raven, get clear!" Ayre warned desperately, before Balteus unleashed it's Assault Armor, detonating with nearly a kiloton of force. If she had been closer to that, it would have wrecked her armor.
Balteus opened up with a long stream of gatling rounds as it coasted to the right, then swung back towards 621 with an entirely new weapon. A flamethrower mounted on it's support ring, swinging wide like a sword.
"…!" 621's breath hitched fearfully in a panic, and looked away from the wall of flames as quickly as she could. Not now! Not now! Damn this infernal contraption!
"Raven, your heart rate just skyrocketed! What's wrong?! Please, this is no time to panic!" Ayre sounded worried, desperate.
"…" 621 barely backed up in time, dodging the worst of a rapid shotgun burst that would have torn her to shreds if she had been any closer. She had to dodge forwards to avoid most of another missile barrage, coming at her from all directions.
And then it came at her again with it's flamethrower, swinging it wide like a sword.
"…!" 621 did everything she could to not look at the fire, a dangerous proposition considering it was an attack by an imposing enemy still nowhere near dead. She closed her eyes, trusting her instincts as she ducked beneath the flames, and fired up directly beneath Balteus, bleeding it's shields further.
"This biting, overwhelming fear…" Ayre whispered distraught, feeling the raw emotions that threatened to spill over 621. "What did you lose, Raven?"
Balteus circled her around the battlefield, it's basic combat AI too confident for it's own good, stumbling into 621's mortars, staggering it once again as it's shields were depleted. 621 took the opportunity to pounce on it, to do as much damage as possible, with shotgun and mortar and blade and fist and feet, brutalizing the machine.
But not killing it, as it reconstituted it's shield, and backed away. Bringing the two flamethrowers on it's ring around to front, it set the ground on fire…
And 621 could not look away.
She was wedged between the bulkhead and the door, her arm reaching desperately into the room…
"Raven, what are you doing?! You have to move!"
Her arm was burning, but she didn't care…
"Raven what's wrong! Get out of the way!"
"Please Raven, you're in danger!"
But she couldn't reach, not as the flames reached every corner, consuming…
"It's not real Raven, snap out of it!"
She screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed…
"Get out of there Raven! Please! We need you!"
But there was nothing she could do…
The sound of a double-mortar Songbird firing surprised everyone. That was not 621.
A grey armored 2000 series AC, armed with a double-mortar, medium missile launcher, assault rifle, and a pile bunker swooped in front of 621, getting Balteus to target it. It braved through the fire and attacked with all it's ordnance into the shields, forcing it to stagger as it disabled it. The AC then reared back, and used it's pile bunker, a terrifying piercing melee weapon, to drive a thirty foot metal stake forward, through Balteus's flamethrower, destroying the weapon with an explosion of flame.
Mildly scorched but otherwise unharmed, the mysterious AC, who's only difference to the Core from 621 was a combat-oriented head part known as "Shade Eye", disengaged, backing away from the battle. It turned to 621, and saluted, jumping off the roof of the Watchpoint.
"That AC…who was that…?" Ayre wondered in 621's mind. "No IFF or callsign…but their Core was named…Nightfall?"
"…" 621 returned to her senses at the unexpected assistance, and what it had won. The only weapon she feared destroyed, she was filled with rage and wrath, and eyed Balteus with hateful abandon.
"Time to finish this Raven!" Ayre encouraged. "The enemy can't take much more!"
"…" 621 agreed, and rushed forward, damn the missiles and the guns, she fired back with her own weapons and punched it's shields down. Climbing up the larger machine so that she was standing on it's support ring, she thrust down with her laser blade, cutting off it's right arm.
Balteus recovered and spun to throw her off, angling down to shoot her with it's 300mm mortar, but 621 held her ground, aiming up with her shotgun. 621 fired a split second before Balteus did, aiming for the canon, and striking the armed high explosive shell while it was still inside the barrel, setting it off.
Suddenly having it's largest gun explode in it's face, Balteus was instantly staggered once again, and fell helpless before 621. She wasted no time in boarding the weapons platform, and punched the machine across the face, breaking several of it's optical sensors. Then she grabbed it's head in her right hand, and drove her laser blade into it's neck, tearing as hard as she could.
Though the head was only an optical unit, the cumulative damage she had done had killed it, as she decapitated Balteus.
"…Enemy systems down. It's silent." Ayre was stunned by 621's brutality, watching the Hound from within her own mind.
"Raven, are you alright!?" N had shouted, as he and the rest of Stray Squad approached rapidly, landing on the upper slope of her core, in front of her head unit, looking up at her optical sensors.
"Raven! You really scared us! Don't do that again." Uzi complained sadly.
"That was…too scary Raven…please be more careful. We need you." V frowned.
"…Jensen model androids…" Ayre noted from within 621's mind. "…Relics of Laconian rule…built as slaves…treated as worse…" Ayre sung sadly, caught in her own spell. "…So far from home…on a world they don't belong…sad…broken little things…"
"…" 621 tried not to listen to the alluring voice inside her head. Tried not to feel the melancholy empathy that Ayre poured out for the little machines.
"You certainly keep strange company…"
"…"
"…Raven." Ayre seemed intent to hold 621's attention. "You need rest."
"…" 621 agreed. This day had dragged on far too long, and cost more than she cared to count.
"But first, a warning." Ayre announced seriously.
There was a distant explosion, a blinding white light over a thousand miles away, halfway across the continent. Stray Squad shielded their eyes painfully, then looked up in fear, terror, and awe.
"The Coral surge you were swept up in…" Ayre reminded her, even as the sky burned. "That was just a glimpse."
A heavy shockwave hit them, as Uzi, V, and N struggled to hold on to 621's AC.
"A premonition of the storm of flame that will burn Rubicon." Ayre declared.
The horizon was ominously lit in bright, pale red, shining more than even Rubicon's corpse sun in mid-day. The sky burned brilliantly, gold-red clouds flowing like molten metal, pure and warm.
The Coral had returned to Rubicon, heralding it's arrival with a bang.
Grid 073 - Independent Mercenary Hangars – Central Belius
"Oh…oh fuck Raven!" Was generally not something someone wanted to hear when someone looked at them. In this case, Uzi, V, and N stared down at her in worry and disgust.
"…" 621 had a pretty good idea why. She was bleeding out the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, slumped barely conscious in her cockpit. Being permeated by an intense surge of Coral tended to have that effect on people.
"Maybe you should tell them not to worry. Please don't scare them." Ayre suggested sweetly, ringing in her ears.
"…Get…out of my head…" 621 held her hands over her ears.
"I…don't think that's helping, Raven."
"Get out of my head." 621 demanded weakly, shaking her head.
"It…it will be okay Raven…" Uzi trembled in fear. "Please…let us help you."
"…" 621 wasn't really in a mood to resist, allowing her Strays to pull her from the cockpit. V and N carried her from under her armpits, while Uzi cleared the way. It was enough of a challenge to get her down to the hangar's main level, that they didn't bother trying to drag her up the stairs, laying her in their improvised bed instead.
While N and Uzi tried to clean her up, V tried to make her lay down, but 621 resisted.
"Need to…send report…" 621 gasped out.
"Please, just rest Raven." V insisted. "You need rest…and maybe a doctor."
"Get your…compensation…" 621 hissed.
"…It's fine Raven." V frowned. "We trust you and Walter. Please rest."
But 621 resisted, and wrote her report for Handler Walter. She left out no detail. Including her sudden onset of paranoid schizophrenia.
"…" Ayre sighed loudly, sounding annoyed. "I'm not a mental illness Raven…I'm real…"
"Get out of my head." 621 shook her head, much to the worry of her Strays. "Get out of my head."
"Hey, hey, okay." Uzi held her hands. "You sent your report, so please lay down."
"…" 621 acquiesced to that, but waited patiently for Handler Walter's reply.
First came payment. As compensation for defeating Sulla and Balteus, Handler Walter threw in a 100,000 COAM bonus, which after expenses, came out to around 450,000 COAM. Of which, Stray Squad had earned 135,000 COAM, split three ways.
That being said, Handler Walter was a bit too excited when he did call.
"A friend of mine sent me this observational data." Handler Walter was quick to note. "Look 621, the localized Coral explosion caused by the surge…has a certain directionality. It's headed straight for the Central Ice Field, across the Alean Ocean. Like a flock of birds or a school of fish, Coral loves company. Which means…somewhere in the ice field, there's a huge mass of Coral lying dormant." Handler Walter finished talking about the potential Coral across the continent. "As for that AC you encountered…don't rely on them in the future. We have no record of that AC in the registry, so who can say about it's pilot. If you come across them again, be careful. Still…I'll look into this Nightfall…" He sighed, moving onto the more personal issue. "You said you could hear a strange voice in your head. That's a common side-effect of old-gen augmentation." Handler Walter dismissed. "Could also be from getting caught in that Coral surge…Don't let it bother you. Otherwise, you performed well out there today, and so did Stray Squad. They have a ways to go, but their potential is great."
Then Ayre decided to hijack the debriefing, something only 621 noticed.
"…Raven." Ayre hummed in her musical voice. "The Coral explosion completely vaporized northwestern Belius's bay area." She pointed out, highlighting the damage caused by a two gigaton explosion, and the five-hundred mile wide hole in the continent. "…And even yet…compared to the Fires of Ibis, that explosion was hardly a spark. Raven." Ayre said sternly. "I have a favor to ask. Let me remain in Contact with you until we reach the Coral convergence. I have to see where they're taking us. How this struggle over the Coral ends. I must…as a Rubiconian."
"…" 621 sighed tiredly, and allowed herself to pass out, too exhausted to think. She considered that Uzi, V, and N were a little too trusting…or perhaps too desperate, as they snuggled against her, worriedly, but warmly.
Author's Note: So their first real mission together didn't go quite as planned. For one thing, it seems that the PCA is aware of Murder Drones and has a special code for them. Another thing is that Nightfall showed up. I felt they were really underutilized in the game, so I have something really special planned for them.
I'm posting this chapter earlier than I expected because chapter 15 ended up being twice as long as I anticipated, what with there being no combat. Also because I just finished DBB, and that was a long detour that kept me from fully enjoying writing this story. But, now that that's done, it's time to suffer across Rubicon once again baby! Whoa!
Anyway, I'm really tired, and I'm just happy to once again be posting this story. So, stay tuned, because we are here for the long haul. And remember mi beratnas, abide with Rubicon!
To WarmasterXI: I just really liked Murder Drones because the characters are cute and endearing, and because it's story is interesting. I've already made the utterly insane Doki Doki/AC crossover, so this was no brainer, and I quickly made up a plot to make their plight on Rubicon especially interesting and tragic, and their growing and dynamic relationship with 621 is going to be very exciting to explore. I suppose I'm just as surprised that there are many RWBY/AC crossovers focusing on AC6. Maybe one day I'll rewrite my aborted AC/RWBY fic so that James can fuck up Remnant, but that's not going to happen for a long time. I'm glad that you find this story interesting, and can't wait to show you more. Stay tuned!