Scene One: The Angel’s Second Advent
Stage 1: Red Monday
Line Ark: 1300 Hours
On the solitary bridge known as Line Ark, mechs known as Muscle Trainers (Called Mts by pilots) patrolled the lower levels. Line Ark was divided into three transportation zones. The top was for public use and consisted of a six-lane superhighway. The only two structures on the entire bridge were two twin towers. Both of which were the control center for Line Ark, as well as Line Ark’s capitol. The next level were two large suspended monorail tracks. They ran parallel to each other and were used by Line Ark’s military and Line Ark’s supply system. The final level was the private dual-superhighway.
Like the monorail, the private superhighway was parallel and ran the length of Line Ark. However, it was used by the Line Ark Defense Force (LADF) and the politicians that controlled Line Ark. Below this fortress bridge was deep water, whose depths were unknown and uncharted. Scattered across the surface were tall skyscrapers made for the residents of Line Ark.
As the shifts were about to change, something appeared on the Early Assault Warning System (EAWS, pronounced EE-aws). Moving at about 1800 kilometers an hour, the unknown object was not a Normal or an MT. As whatever it was got closer, it appeared to be a greenish-blue orb. However, it wasn’t a weapon of any kind. When it got closer, a large, ten-meter tall, figure could be seen in the center.
“Wha-What the hell is that thing? Primal Armor? It’s a league NEXT! We’re outmatched! Send for the Normals!”
Before anyone could respond to the MT commander, a thin blue light pierced through the cockpit. From inside the orb, the mech had lifted up its left arm. In its left hand, there was a large, sleek weapon. As it lowered its arm and the weapon, something on its back rotated upwards. The object was lemon-shaped, though thinner. Then, four flaps opened up on the front of the object. Suddenly, four heat-seeking missiles burst out of the object and locked on a pack of MT’s. The pilots had no time to respond before the missiles slammed into their mechs. Fire engulfed the area for a brief moment before the unknown unit flew through the flames.
The mech was a gleaming white, as if it had been recently painted. In its left arm was the laser rifle that had just destroyed the MT commander. Mounted on its right arm was what appeared to be a two-pronged knife. Its core was streamlined and came out to a point about a meter from the center. The head matched the core’s shape and color. On the top of the head was an emblem with a silver sword with two black angelic wings attached on the blade.
Inside the unknown unit’s cockpit, a man was watching the HUD in front of him as a virtual gauge slowly went down. The cockpit was dark except for the glowing screen that contained the HUD. The pilot was an elite Lynx known as “OverCross”. Lynx are the pilots of the newest model of warfare, the NEXT. A NEXT is a large mech that can be easily customized using a wide variety of parts and weapons. Collared, the main organization that handles NEXTs and Lynxes, is one of the three groups in this war torn world. The others are Line Ark and The League of Ruling Companies, also known as The League.
Soon, the mech had slowed down to about one-third of its speed. It had activated “Overboost”, a sort of prolonged thrust from a specialized type of booster. When tuned correctly on a light frame, speed can exceed 2000 km/h or 1240 m/h. OverCross’s NEXT, known as “OverLord”, was currently ranked Number 4 on Collared’s list. Collared had ranks (up to 30) for every operational NEXT that were freelancing.
OverCross looked at the radar. “Four Normals and seven MT’s remaining.” His voice was coarse, yet sturdy. However, it was emotionless. It was as if he were a machine, though he had no modifications whatsoever. In fact, he was nothing more than a human that had returned from the Abyss. As OverCross sped towards the pack of foes, a small tunnel underneath the two towers that dominated the Line Ark skyline became visible. Knowing he would be trapped if he tried to maneuver through the tunnel, OverCross jolted the dual-joysticks sharply right. The NEXT quickly boosted to the right with a burst of orange fire from the left side. It was no longer above the bridge, but above the water below Line Ark. The glossy surface reflected an image of the white NEXT as it soared in the sky.
Before the MT’s could turn to engage OverCross, its right arm had swung to the left. The two-pronged knife then started to glow between the extensions. Suddenly, a large rod of controlled violet energy that resembled a blade formed from the glowing area. OverCross then turned towards the slowly-turning MT’s. Inside the cockpit, a smirk came across his scarred face. The mech then boosted towards the pack of cannon fodder, rotating the torso slowly. As it came within a meter of the enemies, she suddenly turned, bringing the arm out with the movement. The energy rod passed through all of the MT’s, slicing them in half. As it seemed, time slowed down as the MT’s slowly separated. The tops slowing ascending and the legs slowly giving in to gravity. The blade dissipated and OverCross turned sharply around, firing two bursts from its energy rifle at two block-like units carrying bazookas.
“You’re no match for my power. I have surpassed the limits of the League!” OverCross yelled to himself, hoping the dying Normal pilots would hear his battle cry. As the Normals and MT’s exploded, ten missiles were detected on the radar. Before he could have time to react, the missiles hit the Primal Armor.
“Heh, that got ‘em. Lets inform HQ that the League has atta-WHAT?”
Amidst the cloud of flames and smoke, eight missiles burst from the chaotic explosion and hit one of the two Normals, destroying it. The Primal Armor flickered a bit and returned to its plasma form once again. The radio in the remaining Normal’s cockpit cut on.
“Hah...hahahah....It feels good to take on the ones who thought they could tame me. After all, Anatolia was just the beginning.” OverCross’s words were those of unknown meaning. He knew what they meant...but so did the Normal pilot.
“I-it couldn’t be...It...It’s you....J-UUUUUUWWWWWWAAAAAAAAGGGGGHH”. Before the pilot could finish, a shot from the OverLord’s rifle pierced the center of the Normal. The bulky machine exploded into small pieces soon after. OverCross had completed his mission.
An orange box appeared to the side of the monitor. In it, the words “VOICE ONLY” were spelled out in bold, capital letters. A woman’s voice came from speakers placed around the screens. “Well done.” Her voice was that of Rebecca Londe, the Operator for OverCross. Operators were the secretaries of the Lynxes, as they would be contacted by the companies and then see if the Lynx would accept the mission or not. If yes, they would arrange for the payment and delivery of the payment. “Almost perfect. I was truly surprised....even if it was you.”
Seemingly ignoring her, he asked with his monotonous coarse voice “How many casualties?” His eyes were a dark almond color. Well...his remaining eye was a dark almond color. He had lost his left eye in a battle with a Rank 1 Lynx many years ago, right after the fall of Rayleonard. And it wasn’t Berlioz. He started to ascend slowly, awaiting her response.
In the communications room aboard the NEXT dropship Anna Marie, Rebecca typed on an odd keyboard. It wasn’t ergonomic, nor was it in a foreign language. It was on the screen. While touch screen keyboards are now becoming popular, most people (since the migration to the skies in the Cradles) have gone back to the old fashion keyboards. The setup here was an “O-LCOMM” type, which was made specifically for the purpose of Operator-Lynx communication. It had five large monitors (50 inches tall and 40 inches wide), two of which were specifically for radar purposes. In the center was the main screen, which had a full-color picture of the pilot. The screen to the left of it had the status of the NEXT which measured remaining physical armor, remaining Primal Armor, remaining ammo, and fuel consumption. The ones to the right of the center screen were radar monitors. One had the NEXT’s radar tuned while the other was a long-range radar that detected enemies as they came into the battle area. The last screen consisted of what was known about the mission. It contained target information and certain conditions that needed to be. At the end of a mission, the NEXT status screen would allow the Operator to see what kind of damage was done by measuring where, when, and how the attacks hit. The screen lit up with different measurements. One said “Structural Damage to Bridge 4a, Section 90: 12.44%.” Another had “Windows Broken on Line Ark Residential Block 50: 405". Others had percentages, credit amounts, even just plain numbers.
Scanning the data with her deep blue eyes, Rebecca found the appropriate data. Casualties and Wounded. “My God...” She spoke to herself, trying to catch her breath. She grabbed the microphone, distressed and distraught. “Sir....Line Ark Casualties are high. Four-hundred-and-seventy civilians dead due to building collapses. All thirty Line Ark Defense Force pilots dead. Civilian casualties are expected to rise due to more collapses.” The collapses where buildings where the Line Ark Normals missed and hit the apartment complexes. The buildings were still crumbling, and if you looked carefully enough, you could see helpless people jumping from windows.
OverCross spoke only nine words. “Is that all? I hoped there would be more...” His tone was still monotonous, but a slight smirk curled on the left side of his mouth, pushing the scar upwards. “Might as well make me more known...” Before he activated his Overboost, he fired three volleys of missiles from his two missile pods. One volley from a single pod was four missiles. He fired three volleys from both of his pods. But where they were aimed was more of a shock. “I’ll pay you back...Fiona. Anatolia is what you caused.” The missiles struck the buildings in the water, some of them crashing into the depths below immediately, some falling slowly into the now blood-soaked waters. People were seen in the rubble burning, decapitated, or even bifurcated. Smoke bellowed from what was left of Block 50. You could hear the cries for young children’s parents. Cries of pain. Rebecca could see what was happening via the control room. Zooming in on blood-stained children beside what was left of their parents’ dead bodies, she grabbed the small waste basket beside her and vomited in it. She cut off the video feed and curled up into a ball in her chair, small orange chunks still beside her mouth. Her pupils were almost non-existent, as she was in pure shock. What she forgot to cut off was the audio. A small cry could be heard. She turned around and saw that there never was audio to the main screen. And it wasn’t a cry. It was laughter.
Inside the cockpit of the OverLord, OverCross’s smirk turned into a full fledged smile. His almond eye had turned crimson and the screen in front was flickering red and yellow, as he watched Line Ark burn. As he saw helicopters and boats rush to the scene of the nearly thirty burning buildings, he started to chuckle. The chuckle soon became louder. Then it became a laugh. A loud one. That was what Rebecca heard. OverCross was insane....no...he had lost his mind. He disappeared along the almost never-ending bridge.
The city continued to burn as another white NEXT approached. However, this was Line Ark’s savior, not another tormentor. The NEXT was named White Glint, a homage to the NEXT Joshua O’Brien piloted before he destroyed a colony under an unknown someone’s orders. The NEXT slowly landed between the two main towers of Line Ark. The area behind White Glint’s head opened up, revealing the only entrance to the cockpit. The pilot emerged, seeing the massacre before him firsthand. His green-blue eyes couldn’t handle what was going on. He quickly turned around, and back again. He couldn’t believe what had happened. He took out a pair of long-range binoculars to see the rescue effort. He dropped them after looking at one building. People were on fire, their skin slowly melting away. Those who were alive were screaming in pure agony. Some made it to jump into the water, most didn’t. Most had their eyes turn into liquid before they could scream. The ones who died right off were the lucky ones. From what he saw, nothing was a crueler fate than his. He was the protector of Line Ark, and he couldn’t stop this. There were people who were lying on their backs, what was left of their backs, and gurgling up blood as they slowly passed away. People were impaled by the steel rebar that held the buildings together. Some were even crushed by the ceilings above them falling. The rescue effort was turning into a corpse recovery effort by the minute. The pilot of White Glint saw what appeared to be a trail of where a NEXT’s feet had dragged on the asphalt. The black lines seemed like they led into hell almost. He wanted to go and follow the trail and kill the bastard that had done this. However, he decided not to. He would get his chance another day. He would have his revenge.
STAGE 1 ENDCHAPTER TWO COVER:
Thu Apr 26, 2012 2:59 am by Aivee
Subject: Armored Core: for Retribution