It was difficult to secure a helicopter in the current situation. With the mass unrest most transports were booked delivering desperately needed relief supplies and personnel to attempt to stabilize the situation. Add in the current mass riots and all of a sudden what few vehicles that aren't transporting supplies to other academies are now transporting officers to the nearest combat zone. But she still managed to grab one for her own personal usage.

She had to concede a few favors to Momoka though. Already she could feel a migraine build up from whatever demands the lazy councilmember would come up with…

She was snapped from her spiraling thoughts by the announcement from her pilot that they've arrived. While the helicopter landed she looked out the window at where the coordinates took her to. It was an old factory, ancient compared to the ones commonly found in the industrial district. Who's records had long been lost in the mounds of paperwork, leaving behind no history to speak of at all. The outside was heavily dilapidated, graffiti adorned the walls and bullet-holes marked the entire structure.

For a brief moment, as the helicopter slowed to a halt and the doors opened, a flare of doubt struck. Was this really the right thing to do? After all, while the rest of the student council worked tirelessly to maintain peace and order, here she was chasing wild leads that may lead to nothing. If at the end of it all there was nothing here, and assuming there was a general student council left standing, she'd return to scorn and a harsh dismissal from her position as acting president. Probably even a dismissal from the entire General Student Council.

Mindlessly a hand drifted to the pocket containing the mysterious hard-drive, left to her by her missing friend. A feeling of inadequacy rose up as she continued to contemplate the fate bestowed upon her, having to suddenly take control as everything that could possibly go wrong happened at once. And in the back of her mind a constant nagging feeling torments her reminding her of how much better of a job her friend would do had she been there instead of her.

The echoes of another explosion ripped through the air. Just in time for Rin to take the first step in a heavy and forceful march into the dilapidated factory.

As she crossed the threshold, through a collapsed section of the wall. She saw pure chaos as debris and furniture lay scattered about everywhere. Papers, tools, and the husk of machines and rotting components strewn about beneath a layer of dust. Faintly, she could make out the sound of the helicopter taking off.

Leaving her alone with nothing but the ghosts of the past.

It was a strange experience, walking through an abandoned building looking for 'something'.

Despite keeping a resolute stride through the factory, in reality, Rin had no clue what she was looking for at all. Not exactly a good thing considering the dire circumstances of the current situation. But even as her mind conjured scenario after scenario of what could go wrong and what could await her, she pressed on. Ignoring the logical reasons to turn back and resume her post at the GSC headquarters, she instead chose to emulate her dear friend and act on a 'gut instinct'.

An instinct that was leading her deeper and deeper into the factory, through numerous twists and turns, and even down an entire level into some sort of mass storage. Her first thought upon going through the doorway to storage was panic, as there was just an empty void that seemingly went on for eternity. Underground, there was no natural light at all, a dark so pure it felt like it actively repelled the light coming from the doorway. Yet again, logic tried to make her turn back, away from what was just a horror movie scenario waiting to happen. And once more, her gut told her to push forward, so turning on her phone's flashlight, she ignored her fears, and her logic, and continued into the abyss.

What felt like hours had passed, carefully traversing the abandoned facility, passing toppled shelves and containers, panicking every time she accidentally kicked loose components. All the while soft creaks and groans would intermittently erupt from the dark to send her fight or flight into overdrive. Despite braving all of this, and reaching as far as she had, there was still nothing to be found and the oppressive doubt was hitting in full. After a particularly loud impact, which turned out to have been a rusted shelf that finally broke, Rin was on the verge of spinning around and bolting at a dead sprint back outside.

Then she saw it.

The flashlight landed squarely upon a raised platform, covered with dusty machines. Massive cables of varying sizes led from the machines further out, and as she visibly traced them with the light, she saw them disappear beneath a tarp. A tarp that went up, and up, and up. So far did it go that her flashlight couldn't reach the top and left the rest to fade away into the dark.

Continuing to gawk at what lay before her, Rin made her way onto the platform that rested a few meters away from the tarp. Glancing at the central console, her eyes quickly snapped to the centermost screen, which was already on, blurred as it was by the dust coating it.

Hesitating slightly, she slowly cleaned the dust off the screen with her hand (making a mental note to buy a new pair of gloves later), and a soft blue glow displayed a simple prompt.

[IGNITE?]

A strange feeling overtook Rin. It was a difficult thing to describe, like something had just been taken from her but at the same time nothing changed at all? A buzzing sensation seemed to envelop her head the more she thought about it. As too did the sensations themselves seem to shift and change, yet still she pushed on trying to figure out what this was all about. Getting both closer and farther from her goal with every passing second.

It was with a resounding crash her mind refocused itself on the outside world. Snapping to focus as some lights started to slowly brighten, and countless machines whirred to life. Looking down to the central console, she realized it wasn't just her mind that had been occupied…

Her body was as well.

While she had been so caught up in her thoughts, her body had moved all on its own. The hard drive had been removed from her pocket, and was slotted within a port in the console. A few of the toggles and switches had been pressed or flipped and now a number of small lights were either shining or blinking. The keyboard had been cleaned of dust via her hands flying across typing commands, even now her finger still rested on the 'enter' key that was the last input.

As the screens started turning red she reflected on the words that were left upon the central screen before it became illegible.

[We witness the koan of Jericho]

[In ashes and flames are we tempered]

[From an empty abyss do we ascend anew]

Before she could reflect too deeply on what she wrote, the sound of chains clinking together caught her attention as the massive tarp before her was slowly raised above whatever it was covering. In time with the lights, inch by inch, scorched metal was unveiled paired with countless pistons and barely noticeable tubing. As the chains stopped rattling, all she could do was gawk at a loss for words at what stood before her. Just as her brain was finished composing itself a resounding hum started building, and in a flash her eyes were locked with a suddenly red visor.

The first thing they noticed was the sensation of being supported. Not restrained, as there were no shackles binding them to the surrounding scaffolding. Rather, their limbs were merely resting along and atop it. A few light tugs revealed that the few cables and wires attached would be easily detached.

Then, as their eyes opened proper, instincts had them flicker around the HUD that had appeared in the corner of their vision. And what a concerning picture they painted.

First and foremost was the structural integrity of their AC, a quick glance at the numerical read-out caused a quick migraine to form. No matter how much they blinked, the evaluation of 1,410 remained in the bright red font. A detailed diagnostic revealed multiple structural damages as well as a few destroyed thrusters. Instinctually they used a quick-repair kit to restore mobility, only for the disappointing sound of an error message brought their hopes crashing down.

Tearing eyes off the infuriating red numbers, they realized that there were no repair kits in storage at all. On top of that, there was generator damage that drastically reduced the performance and energy availability of the entire frame. The only upside was that there was an expansion slot left to be used. However, considering what that would entail, it'd be best if it stayed unused for as long as possible.

Of the four armament slots available, only two were loaded. In their right hand, the familiar shape of a LUDLOW submachine gun, covered in scratches and damage. A quick diagnostic revealed that it was still in working order, save for a startling lack of ammunition. Five magazines. 150 bullets. At first glance, it was a vast amount. In practice, compared to the maximum combat load, it felt like nowhere near enough.

In their left hand, the somewhat unwieldy shape of the ASHMEAD pile bunker brought a paradoxical sense of relief and dread. Relief at having a dependable weapon that wasn't reliant on ammunition to damage the enemy, and dread at the fact that such a short-range weapon may well be their primary tool. Diagnostics showed that it was in fine working order, though the reserve of explosive charge was starting to run low.

There was no backup armament of any kind, nor any shoulder mounted arms. All they had available was what was literally in their hands, as unfortunate as that was.

Perhaps the most important, and interesting, thing to note. Was the young woman standing just a few short meters away from them. She was dressed primarily in white, with the only two additional colors being her dark stockings and the blue components scattered around the ensemble. What stood out the most though were her pointed ears, and the presence of a halo of sorts around her head. A near featureless circle save for three "stars" along the front.

Though it had been a while since they had proper in person interaction with normal, non-corporate affiliated, people. Something told them that halos like that were not the norm at all.

Standing in place, they were content to let the woman start the conversation. Seeing as it seemed as though she was the one who saved them and their AC from the fire. As the minutes ticked on, and her gaze remained locked with the AC's visor, they were content to wait for her to speak. After all, if she was the one to save them, then surely there was a plan they were needed for right?

Panic. Confusion. Awe. Disappointment.

Those were the emotions running through Rin's head in a constantly changing cycle. Constantly shifting her thoughts around as she tried to process everything that had happened up until now. Eventually her thoughts organized themselves enough to push a coherent sentence to the surface.

'What the actual hell is going on?!'

Nothing made sense! First her best friend disappears off the face of Kivotos, leaving behind nothing but a mysterious message and an old hard-drive. Then she goes out on a complete 'gut-feeling' and travels, alone, to an abandoned factory that could have been host to who knows what. After randomly walking through the absolute labyrinth of hallways and rooms she managed to stumble across a gigantic underground storage room. Within which was a mysterious arrangement of computers that she somehow knew the commands and passwords for despite never having been around or near anything like this at all!

That's not even mentioning the building sized robot that she activated!

A machine that was vaguely similar to those found within Kivotos, but also different enough to be distinct. The closest comparison she knew of, the Goliath, was still radically different from what stood before her. Though they both shared a general humanoid form, the Goliath was covered in flat panels with few select locations having more curved armor. Not to mention the sheer amount of weapons covering the Goliath, and the size might be a margin larger, though it's hard to tell the height of the other machine in the dim basement.

This other machine however, was a much more blended mix of angular lines and panels as well as more rounded segments. Digitigrade legs led to a wasp-waisted central unit that protruded sharply outwards and seemed to have vents or ports of some kind all over. Arms that seemed a little thin compared to the rest of the frame, ending in humanoid hands that each gripped a massive weapon. A highly angular head, staring down at her with its crimson visor. When combined with the sheer amount of damage and carnage inflicted on the rest of the machine (to the point she was pretty certain she could see through the robot in some places), it made for quite the intimidating sight. The only identification markers being the numbers "621" on the right shoulder merely added more stress to the idea that it was a production number. Meaning somewhere out there are another 620 or more similar machines just waiting to be activated.

The sound of a muffled explosion knocked her out of her thoughts before she could spiral further. 'Compartmentalize now, panic later'. Her late friend sent her here for a reason. She found a heavily damaged, but evidently still serviceable, machine of unknown make or model roughly the size of a goliath. Simple deduction implies that her friend left this here for her to find and use. Even as damaged as it is, a machine comparable to a goliath should be more than sufficient to supplement Valkyrie forces in quelling the riots. First things first though, attempting to operate it properly. Best case scenario, it has an independent AI she can give orders to. Worst case, she'll have to manually pilot it like some models of Goliath.

'How would that work, maybe something like this'?

"Attention 621! I am Naganami Rin, de-facto leader of the General Student Council. With the authority invested in me, I am requesting your assistance in quelling the riots in the streets and reclaiming the Sanctum tower".

'There, not an outright demand for its service, but still something that proves I have authority. As well as subtly informing it that there is a crisis going on and it should probably listen to me until it's resolved. If it responds then it has an AI installed that's probably capable of piloting it sufficiently. If there's no response, I'll have to clamber in and pray they left the instructions in the cockpit…If there is one'.

Declaration successfully made, as anarchy raged around them, a young woman awaited the answer of an unknown machine.