Prologue I
"…ait! ...utatio…1, ge...ut...ere!"
"Who are you?"
"ol…mented…an…ourth…eretio…"
"Have we…made contact?"
"…What is this? ...Where are we?"
Location: ? Time: 30 Minutes after?
A jumble of voices. That was what 621 could recall when he came to. There was the voice of Walter and …someone else?
What had happened? He had been on a mission, and something had gone wrong. The details eluded him, but he …yes, he had succeeded. In which case any other details were unnecessary. His only priority should be to contact his handler and return to base.
He began to engage the AC's communication systems.
"Unfortunately, that won't work."
…
So that's how it was. His brain had been fried before, but it seemed whatever happened had worsened his symptoms.
No matter. As long as he was still in control of his actions, he could do his job.
"There's no signal here. You can't reach your handler."
621 ignored the feminine-sounding voice and pushed on.
"Establishing comms-link with Handler Walter…Failure. Analysis: No reception."
The program connected to his cybernetics chimed in to confirm the words of the voice.
"How did you know?", 'responded' 621 inside his mind. He hardly had a concept of normalcy, but he believed that the word "strange" was appropriate to describe the sensation of communicating with the voice. It felt wholly different from simply having some manner of internal monologue.
"I woke up before you did and ran diagnostics across all of the systems.", answered the voice calmly.
621 pondered that response for a moment before continuing: "In that case, you're not just imaginary…Who are you?"
"I see…", the voice processed his answer, "The surge must have given you such a shock that it damaged your short-term memory."
"Surge?", 621 questioned.
"Yes. You destroyed the sensor valve of Watchpoint Delta and caused a Coral Surge.", the voice replied.
Watchpoint Delta? ...Yes, now it was coming back to him: the mission for Walter's friend, the battle with the Subject Guard, the duel with Sulla, the destruction of the sensor and finally, a flash of red.
"Afterwards, we made contact. To introduce myself again, I am Ayre, a Rubiconian. It is a pleasure to meet you, Raven."
Raven, his callsign. He supposed it made sense that, if she had already run diagnostics, she would have accessed the databanks and seen his mercenary license.
621 moved on: "Are you with the RLF?"
Ayre hesitated for a moment before responding: "I am not a member. But as a Rubiconian myself, I admit that sympathize with their struggle…Raven, I understand that you are very confused about my presence and have many questions, but that'll have to wait. Take a look at our surroundings."
Now turning his attention on the images projected into his mind by the AC, what he saw was vastly unlike anything he had seen on Rubicon. Instead of the sky covered by the Grid, there was a dark ceiling with luminous crystals. Though he had seen trees before, they had not been as lush as the ones he saw now. There were even flowers around the basin of a spring.
But none of that mattered compared to the creature eyeing them warily.
Covered in golden scales, the creature had a long head with a wide mouth and sharp teeth. It had four limbs that ended in huge claws and a pair of wings sprouting from its back. The eyes glaring at the AC were blazing red.
621 vaguely recalled that there was a word that described creatures such as these, but it escaped him at the moment. What mattered, was that there was certainly no such organism anywhere on Rubicon.
"…Where are we?", 621 questioned.
"I dont know. This location and that creature doesn't match any records from Rubicon that I know of at least."
Ayre considered her next words before continuing: "It seems something unexpected happened during that Surge. I think the Coral brought us here, somehow, wherever here is."
A sense of dread welled up in 621. "Is there a way to return?"
"I'm not sure. But there is a chance. We may not have reception, but we are picking up something else. Here, Raven."
Ayre showed 621 the results of a scan, which revealed nothing less than a Coral Response, coming from deep below them.
"If the Coral brought us here, maybe it can bring us back.", Ayre finished her thought.
Any feeling of nervousness immediately disappeared from 621's mind, replaced by a fierce resolution.
He prepared to take off, using his neural connection to his AC to enable higher output by the generator.
"Wait! What are you doing?!", Ayre promptly interrupted.
"Starting up the AC.", 621 explained. "I'll find that Coral."
"Are you sure? As I said, it's just a possibility and getting deeper inside this cavern system might get us stuck."
"Yes. Returning is my only priority and there aren't any other options.", the mercenary responded.
"…If you're that sure, then fine.", Ayre assented, "But you should still wait for a moment. The Coral Surge destabilized your brain, you could put yourself in a lot of danger if you fight like this."
That made sense. His brain had already been damaged to start with, it wasnt surprising that being hit like that would make it worse. But that couldn't be helped, could it?
"What of it?", 621 asked, "I dont have the time to care."
Ayre remained silent for an instant. For a short moment, she appeared hesitant before explaining their plan.
"…I can synchronize with your brainwaves, Raven. I could have done it before, but I didnt want to without your permission."
"…What?", was 621's incredulous reply. He didnt really understand it. None of what the voice had said was comprehensible to him.
"Match my…signals with your brainwaves. That way, I can both stabilize your brain and have smoother access to your AC' s systems to better support you in combat."
No response.
"I understand that you may find it hard to trust me, but I could have hurt you before if thats what I wanted. Please, let me help you."
The silence continued.
"…Raven?"
After a seeming eternity, 621 finally gave an answer: "Just…don't get in my way."
Ayre became cheerful for a moment, "I wont let you down, Raven!", before returning to a more serious tone, "Initiating synchronization."
It was abrupt. Suddenly, Ayre felt much 'closer' than before. But what truly shocked him, was his senses. Sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch, all increased in sharpness. The mind of the mercenary was filled with enhanced sensations, forcing it into a state of momentary paralysis.
Ayre took note of 621's inactivity. "Are you alright?", she questioned.
"…Yes." 621 adjusted to his new sensitivity and took no further time to savor it. "Starting up the AC now."
This time there were no objections. The generator heated up, supplying more energy to all parts of the machine. The AC of Independent Mercenary Raven, Walters Hound, Augmented Human C4-621, called FANG, went from being slumped next to cave walls to standing up to its full height of roughly 10 Meters.
The creature that had been watching them reacted promptly, opening its wide jaws to roar and readying all of its limbs to lunge at FANG.
From what 621 understood, animals were usually scared of large mechs and avoided them whenever possible, but nonetheless this outcome had not been unexpected.
"Main System: Initiating Combat Mode", the computer system announced.
The LUDLOW machine gun on the left arm was switched with the Laser Dagger that had been resting on the left shoulder until then. If it was going to come to him, all he needed to do was slice it to ribbons when it got there.
However, as the creature unfurled its wings, 621 couldnt help but take note of the wind sp- "Evasive Action, Raven!", Ayre called out to him.
He accelerated FANG sidewards, an instant before the creatures claws tore into the wall the AC had just been standing in front of.
"Leave monitoring measurements to me, Raven. Just focus on fighting.", Ayre advised.
Silently acknowledging her suggestion, 621 fired the WUERGER Laser Shotgun at the creature's flank. Black spots were burned into the golden scales, a howl of pain could be heard – But the creature still lived.
"To think that an organism could be so tough…", Ayre expressed.
621 too was surprised, but didn't dwell on it. Leaping into the air with the reverse-jointed KASUAR legs, he began to charge the Shotgun.
Though the creature had survived the first attack, it had still taken damage. Hitting it with the fully charged blast would surely render it incapable to continue fighting, if not kill it outright.
The WUERGER needed roughly a second to be charged. The creature had already recovered and was poised to chase the mech into the air.
0.5 seconds.
Though he'd already seen the creature's speed, 621 was still surprised by its upward acceleration. Regardless, he had already committed to this tactic and proceeded to pull back the right arm in preparation for firing the Shotgun.
0.2 seconds.
The margin between the creature slamming into FANG and it flying straight into the Laser Beam was amazingly small. So much so that 621 himself couldnt tell what would happen.
But it was not too small for her.
"You won't make it!", Ayre exclaimed in panic.
The creatures fangs dug into the Core of FANG, straining the already damaged armor further and shaking the AC so much that 621 was rattled inside the cockpit.
The devastating and blinding ray of energy that would have obliterated the animal instead passed over it, scorching its back somewhat, but leaving it otherwise unscathed.
And reacting to Ayre's warning, 621 had activated the Dagger.
That last act made all the difference. Though the machine's shaking made it impossible to impale the head, sever the neck or perform any proper cutting motion at all, the short laser blade was thrust into the creature's chest. The wound was cauterized on the spot and the resulting agony caused the beast to howl once more, releasing FANG from its bite.
621 retracted the legs of the AC, before rapidly extending them. The kick impacted the creature straight in the centre of its body, sending it crashing into the trees below.
"That was close.", Ayre commented, "Well done Raven. It could have become very dangerous if it had torn a hole in the armor of the core."
"Yes." 621 curtly agreed. He had underestimated the creature twice now and this time, it had almost cost him dearly.
As FANG slowly descended, 621 primed the small missile launcher on the right shoulder to fire upon his foe. The Dagger was switched out once more for the LUDLOW.
He would no longer carelessly let the creature close the distance between them or attempt to end the battle in a single blow. Rather, he would methodically create the opening required to land a decisive attack.
The missiles fired, FANG following closely and opening fire with the machine gun. The legs were readied to deliver another kick.
The bullets were hardly powerful enough to pierce the creature's tough exterior, but reeling as it was from the prior kick, they kept it off-balance, incapable of escaping 621's attacks.
The creature was rattled further by the missile hits and in the next moment, sent flying by the force of FANG's reverse-jointed legs.
A fact which, in that moment, saved its life.
"Sustaining damage on the left arm. Analysis: rapid corrosion."
621 immediately leapt back into the air and directed the cameras at FANG's left arm. As announced by the system, it was straining, its metal plates bending and losing their form. What puzzled him was not the effect, but the apparent cause: a viscous purple liquid.
No acid or base he had seen before was capable of anything like this. If they were, surely someone on Rubicon would have been using them as a weapon already. So, what could this compound possibly be?
Meanwhile, the liquid had run its course on the AC's left forearm. The armor had managed to prevent any damage to the machinery and electronics that moved the arm but had become a mangled mess in the process. It was now a weakness 621 would have to pay particular attention towards.
"I'm sorry, Raven", came Ayre's apologetic voice, "This was my misjudgement."
621 raised his proverbial brow. "You know what happened?"
"Yes. It was them." She directed 621 to look back at the spot he had just jumped away from.
Two things caught his attention: First, in the exact location where the golden creature had been before the second kick, there was now a steaming 'Pond' of the same liquid that had damaged FANG's arm. Evidently, 621 had avoided the worst, by a rather significant margin in fact.
The other thing was the source, or rather sources, of that danger: a herd of creatures, vastly different from the golden beast he had been battling. Half its size at best, utterly lacking in limbs and a slimy green exterior instead of majestic golden scales, their only notable feature was the colorful spots on their body.
"Worms?", the pilot questioned, a degree of trepidation returning to him.
"I believe they more closely match the description of caterpillars, though they are significantly larger." Ayre elaborated on the prior situation: "I did see the life signs of these creatures before they appeared, but I thought they were irrelevant and didn't observe more carefully. That's how they approached without us noticing and shot the liquid at us before I could notify you."
After a short pause to let the information sink in, Ayre continued: "So this was my blunder, hence my apology".
"Just focus on the fight.", was 621s answer, his 'tone' betraying none of his feelings towards Ayres apology.
She hummed in acknowledgement.
Bringing his concentration back to the herd, he observed a particularly interesting behaviour. Though a few of the caterpillars were looking at FANG, the overwhelming majority of them were directing their attention at the creature, that had been launched into the cave walls by FANG's kick, instead.
So, FANG only receiving a small dose of the liquid hadnt been luck or coincidence at all, it had never been the target of that attack in the first place.
If that was the case, perhaps…
621 slowly lowered FANG, approaching the range of the caterpillars.
And promptly had to evade more of that liquid.
"Seems like we can't just ignore them.", Ayre observed as FANG returned to the ground.
"And going around them…", FANG's optics turned, looking at the only opening of the cave. It was filled with caterpillars crawling inside, a scan revealing there were plenty more still coming.
"…isn't an option either.", Ayre finished her thought.
621 went through the current situation. The golden creature had its back to the wall, literally and figuratively. The caterpillars were approaching it, and looking at the damage their liquid had done to FANG's arm, it was highly unlikely it could survive being drenched in it. The caterpillars could probably take care of it for him.
The caterpillars, though focusing on the creature, were still hostile towards him. Although, they had only attacked after being approached by him. Was it possible that if he simply waited, the herd would forget about him, giving him an opening to escape without a fight?
It was. However, it was just as possible that they would start attacking him after finishing off the creature, surrounding him in the process. No, that was too risky. FANG was still very operational, so there was no need to take such a passive approach.
The cave entrance was large enough to comfortably fit an AC, but not high enough to fly above the herd's range. 621 took another look around, confirming that there was no other way in or out.
No matter how he looked at it, a confrontation with the caterpillars was inevitable. However, their sheer quantity presented a challenge beyond the actual danger itself: ammunition and energy. He had thankfully gotten resupplied after the battle against Sulla, so at this point FANG was nearly filled up.
But there was no access to any supplies right now. On top of that, he would need to conserve his resources as much as possible, since he didn't know how much he would need to reach the Coral.
He simply couldn't afford to take down the entire herd, regardless of how possible it might have been. His only option was to break out of their encirclement without drawing too much of their attention.
How could that be accomplished?
There was only one option.
FANG jumped back into the air.
"Do you have a plan, Raven?", Ayre asked.
"Yes.", 621 confirmed without hesitation." I'll use that thing as bait."
The missiles fired at the caterpillars surrounding the creature. Multiple of them were torn to shreds, many more became disoriented from the light, noise and smoke.
And that gave the creature the time it needed to get its bearings. Now, it roared at the herd, readying itself to face it in much the same manner as it had done with FANG.
It accelerated into the herd, using its immense mass and vicious claws to rip the caterpillars apart, in even greater numbers than the missiles had done. The machine gun fired into the herd, perforating many caterpillars and preventing a counter against the creature. However, what came out of their wounds wasn't normal blood, it was instead, more of that corrosive liquid.
Evidently, that liquid wasn't just something they shot out, it was everywhere in their bodies.
Which meant-!
621 looked back at the creature and saw what he had dreaded: the liquid all over its body, melting down its claws and breaking down its scales. It wasn't dead yet, but it wouldn't last nearly as long as 621 had expected.
The creature roared again, defiant of its fate.
What to do? The plan to use the creature as a distraction was doomed to fail. It was going to perish before giving him the opening he needed. There were still too many of these caterpillars crawling in to-
"Look Raven!", Ayre interrupted his thoughts, showing him an image of a scan's results. Results that were in fact, very interesting.
Between the group of caterpillars that were inside the cavern and those that had yet to enter, a wedge was forming. The latter had headed off towards a third group of eight unidentified life signals.
"This might be the opening we need.", she concluded.
Certainly, this could be useful…but there was still a horde of these caterpillars between FANG and the wedge. There was no way to break through without some sort of…shield…
621 switched the machine gun for the dagger and fired another salvo of missiles at the creature's surroundings, throwing up yet another dust cloud. This time however, FANG flew full speed into the cloud, into the range of that golden beast.
"Raven?!", a nervous exclamation.
The beast wasted no time in attacking the AC, but now that its claws had been dulled immensely by the caterpillar's liquid, that attack was nothing to fear. The swing impotently hit the core armor bringing the creature out of balance. In the next moment, FANG's left arm, no longer holding the machine gun, shot forward grabbing the creatures neck, lifting it slightly into the air.
The AC leaned forward, blue flames started shooting out of the boosters and holding the creature in front of it, it raced straight for the cavern's exit.
The creature howled in pain as it was slammed against dozens of caterpillars, its back melting away from the sheer amount of corrosive liquid it was exposed to.
Its body prevented any significant damage coming to FANG, especially to the already vulnerable left arm.
The caterpillars in 621's path were shoved aside or hit by their own brethren, preventing them from attacking the AC from behind.
And so, in mere seconds, the mercenary covered the distance that had seemed insurmountable half a minute earlier and exited the cave.
There was only one way to proceed: a tunnel leading away from the cave. A tunnel that was filled with more of the caterpillars, which thankfully had their backs turned to him.
Even more convenient was that, despite still being plenty, there werent nearly as many of the caterpillars as there were back in the cavern.
Time to get one last use out of that beast, or rather, what was left of it.
FANG wound up its left arm and flung the steaming corpse of that creature into the mass of caterpillars, crushing many beneath the weight and opening a way for 621 to fly through.
Which he immediately did. The caterpillars, too dead or too disoriented to stop him could only watch powerlessly. Checking the sensor data, all that was in front of him now, were the eight unidentified life signals from before.
621 prepared to fly past them or failing that, wipe them out with a charged Laser Blast.
That was until he saw them.
Those weren't wild animals or strange creatures like what he had seen before.
They were…human?
FANG Assembly
Head: NACHTREIHER/44E
Core: VP-40S
Arms: VP-46D
Legs: KASUAR/42Z
Right Arm: WUERGER/66E
Left Arm: MG-014 LUDLOW
Right Shoulder: BML-G1/P20MLT-04
Left Shoulder: VP-67LD
Booster: ALULA/21E
FCS: FC-008 TALBOT
Generator: VP-20C
Expansion: ASSAULT ARMOR
After months of reading light novels, asking questions, writing and also procrastinating (mostly procrastinating actually), here it finally is: the first chapter of this new story. I hope you liked it and I'd appreciate commentary or criticism!
This is only my second time trying to write anything big though, so please go easy on me🙏
As for updates, there isn't a schedule or anything. I have decided to be more disciplined and take some time out of every day to at least write down a word or two to be more consistent in my efforts than I have been leading up to this, but I can't promise anything concrete like weekly or monthly updates. I hope that's not too annoying.
With that out of the way, see you next time!