"You again? I'm a busy man. Far too busy for the likes of you." said Snail.

Walter almost laughed at the irritated voice of the second Vesper. Snail's cocksure attitude would get him in trouble eventually, but for now he was here to offer the trump card that would make whatever plan the man was concocting succeed. "So I hear. Must be a tough time to be the Vespers' deputy commander."

"Get to the point," Snail drawled, clearly not amused at his jab.

"The plan to raid the PCA. You're going to need more pawns on the board."

"... Of course. You're here to hawk your services again. Very well. I'll consider that mutt of yours part of the effort."

He bristled at the casual insult Snail threw out. 621 had done what the corporations had failed to do multiple times, and more besides. He'd be surprised if it wasn't in contention with Freud or Michigan for the best pilot on Rubicon now, and still the second Vesper insulted it like that.

"One more thing... Show my hound some respect." Walter demanded, "Gen 4's as good a pedigree as any other."

Before Snail could respond, Walter hit the disconnect button. It was admittedly a childish pleasure, but he reveled in cutting off the arrogant ass like that.

...

It had been a long few months since all of the Vespers had been gathered in one place. A weird sense of déjà vu washed over Rusty as he took a seat next to O'Keeffe, with Freud and Maeterlinck joining them a moment later. The rest of the squad trickled in shortly after, Pater and Hawkins, followed by Snail.

There were only seven now. Swinburne had died at the Wall, shortly before the Liberation Front attempted to retake it, only for the PCA to swoop in.

The next person in line was Pater, who had no interest in inheriting the title of V.VII, so it would remain unoccupied.

Losing a Vesper was a blow, if only because someone else now had to manage his duties as well. Swinburne had been a mediocre pilot and a paranoid, egotistical pain in everyone's ass, so he doubted that any tears had been shed over him.

Rusty might not have celebrated when he heard the news, but a sigh of relief wasn't amiss for not having to deal with him anymore.

Snail opened the briefing again with an overview of the current situation. "As of this week, we have managed to stabilize and slow down the rate of losses to the Planetary Closure Administration. However, we will still be worn down unless we can strike a decisive blow to slow down the Suppression Fleet. To that end, we are targeting the former Bertram Spaceport, which has been seized by the PCA to act as a hub. The majority of you will return to your assignments and mount a short offensive against local enemy forces to distract the PCA. V.IV Rusty, you will be deploying to attack the Harlov communications base, which acts as a relay for comms between enemy squads. Additionally, we will be retaining the services of the independent mercenary Raven to assault the spaceport. With this loss, we can hopefully force the Closure Administration onto the back foot and regain lost ground, and perhaps stockpiles of superior equipment at the same time."

The briefing wrapped up shortly after, and Rusty found himself walking with O'Keeffe back to the hangar.

"Gathering everyone from Belius and the Ice Field just to give a briefing for an op only one of us will be on. It's so stereotypically Snail it hurts." Despite his monotone voice, O'Keeffe was clearly amused by the situation.

Rusty cracked a grin at that. "It's very in character. Guess I'll see you when I see you then, buddy. Take care."

They separated at the gantry for BARREN FLOWER, docked in the third bay. STEEL HAZE was just a short walk away in the next berth, and Rusty found himself looking up at his machine in the stark lights. The muzzle was still on, but it shouldn't be long now before it would roam free.

He'd need to keep an eye on Raven though. They'd been a great pilot back at the Wall and would have only gotten better. And if they decided to throw their lot in with the corporations, he might need to end them.

...

"Hey there, buddy. Got a request from Arquebus for you." Rusty greeted, "Here's the briefing from my CO, who came up with the plan."

The droning, self-absorbed voice of Snail made the briefing drag on, and Raven knew his partner was just as glad as he was when it ended. At least the Vesper that would be dispatched to assist was Rusty.

"A solid plan, but there's a catch: Disruption of PCA comms won't last long." said Rusty, "I'll come support you when I've finished on my end."

He took a moment to consider his loadout for the mission, knowing that they would likely face PCA LCs and possibly more HCs after the comms blackout ended.

He switched the pile bunker with his laser blade. The bazooka was switched out with the machine gun.

Raven considered on replacing the needle launchers were to be replaced with dual DF-MG-02 CHANG-CHEN Machine guns. The shotguns would be good for heavier armor, but they might leave him too vulnerable against multiple targets. Although, they could still cover a lot of space.

No, this might require more power strikes. It'll hold him still but it'll be worth it.

"Raven, we're nearing the target," Ayre informed him. "Two minutes."

With that, Raven hit the button to begin the startup sequence, the generator spinning up as she climbed into the cockpit and connected himself to the machine.

Syncing to an Armored Core was never a boring thing, the feeling of power is now a part of him.

The hangar rotated to prepare for drop when Raven allowed the comms link with Walter, his voice graveling as usual. "If this mission succeeds, the corporations will deal the PCA a major blow. Ignore V.II's snotty attitude. Just focus on your own work."

...

The outer perimeter guards of the Harlov communications base were just MTs, and Rusty watched as they roved around. From the comms channel for the operation, it seemed like Raven was inside the perimeter of the spaceport and encountering resistance now.

"I'm on standby near Harlov, buddy." Rusty notified, "Patch me in, I'll gauge the situation on your end before I jump in."

A second later the feed opened and stabilized. Raven disposed of an LC carrying a heavy cannon before taking off again toward a nearby hangar, the imposing bulk of a heavy warship hidden inside it. It was time to move.

STEEL HAZE leapt forward off the ice shelf, his guns spitting fire as he mowed down the nearby patrol squad. The rest of the base immediately went on high alert, but they wouldn't be able to stop him from destroying the comms array. An LC was closing from the opposite side, but the relay mast was in range and he dumped a barrage of plasma missiles at it as soon as they acquired a lock.

From the link, Raven was just slicing their way through the first warship, the shotguns on their shoulders firing massive spiked penetrators that tore through the hull and slicing the vulnerable reactor hidden inside with the laser blade.

"Hey, buddy, I've taken out the relay mast. That takes care of their external comms... for now. Keep moving." Rusty instructed.

He then checked to see as Raven moved toward the next pair of warships before turning to engage the LC.

It was clearly unprepared to eat a quick burst from his Ransetsu rifle, the fire giving it pause before concentrated fire from his burst rifle followed by a kick staggered it, leaving it undefended against the laser slicer which savaged the frontal armor before lopping off a limb and puncturing a critical component in the torso.

Raven had destroyed the first warship, and was moving to the second now.

"Looks like you're doing just fine, buddy." he complimented, "I'm keeping them busy, but they're working fast."

Another squad of MTs approaching got a volley of plasma missiles, the plasma fields weakening their armor enough that his gun and rifle could tear them apart with a few shots each.

"Don't expect the comms blackout to hold for long." he warned.

Suddenly, the two warships berthed at the north of the spaceport lit up the active and passive sensors alike enough to be visible to even Rusty.

"You there, buddy?" he asked, "Bad news. The PCA's external comms are back online, they've brought a second relay up at another base and are calling for reinforcements. They've got who-knows-what heading your way. Hold out till I reach you."

Rusty turned his back on Harlov, deactivating combat mode to free energy for a long distance overboost flight. The back of STEEL HAZE opened and the radiator deployed, the boosters glowing red hot as he rocketed off into the sky.

...

Ayre watched in trepidation as the two warships at the opposite end of the spaceport began to lift off, initially angling away before banking around, likely to come in for a sweep with their bow-mounted laser array.

"Raven, I'm detecting a number of enemies on the superstructure above us." Ayre warned, "The warships likely deployed their complements of LCs. They're firing from above!"

"Code 5, target for termination approaching!" said the enemy

It was a pair of LCs armed with long range laser cannons. OBSIDIAN WING's generator had just enough energy supply to assault boost up to the top launch pad, shotguns crumpling the first LC while he boosted past to close on the second LC. Its pilot only tried to move when he was closer, and for their troubles they got a pair of needles ripping through the torso when they stopped to take aim.

"Handle it, the main squad will be here soon." said Ayre.

Another pair of signatures resolved on the upper platform, and Walter was on comms again a second later.

"Company 621." he warned, "In front of the base."

Ayre locked the radar on the two targets, monitoring their weapon energy levels as they took aim at her partner across the platform while he boosted toward them. The lead LC's weapon was nearly charged when a pair of Trueno spikes ripped through the torso, throwing the wreck backwards off the platform, the other one following it a moment later.

The long range radar pinged, the two warships that had lifted off were close and their weapons aimed and ready. Walter's voice soon came in warning. "Heavy warships incoming!"

"This is the Planetary Closure Administration." The voice boomed over the local announcement system. "Disengage your weapons and surrender, now. Resistance will be met with immediate termination."

Raven launched himself off the structure, assault boosting toward the first one as it went for a laser sweep, dodging the first beam before landing on the deck, ignoring the ventral turrets and launchers to go straight for the reactor, gouging the armor before sending a quartet of spikes through it.

The warship was wracked by explosions and began to fall from the sky as he jumped off, heading for the second one. It fared no better as he fell down on it from above, easily crippling it before jumping free.

"Authorization acquired." said the enemy, "Terminate them."

Raven stood back to watch as the warship fell out of the sky, and Ayre kept watch on the long range radar. He nearly missed it among the energy surge as the ship crashed to the ground, but two signatures were incoming, and their comms filled the local unencrypted frequency.

"Code 15." said the enemy, "Target for termination sighted."

The cliffs directly opposite were suddenly occupied, a HC setting down followed by an LC with something on the back that looked like extra armor. The IR sensors were detecting cooling thruster ports on it as well.

That must be the "high mobility LC."

"Time to pay the piper."

A third contact appeared, an AC in overboost mode rapidly approaching from the southeast.

...

Rusty glanced over at the new arrivals, a pair of PCA officers who had arrived from a secondary base. He only needed a moment more to even the odds before they engaged.

"Looks like we've got high ranking PCA officers..." he said.

STEEL HAZE banked hard toward the ground, coming to a grinding halt next to OBSIDIAN WING, who stood staring at the new arrivals.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." he apologized, "I've got your back, buddy. Hope you've got mine."

He received an affirmative ping a second later, and with that Raven launched himself ahead, angling straight for the LC.

"Code 44. Send me what you've got on the targets." That was the HC; the officer piloting that was definitely the one in charge.

"Relaying system response. Corporate AC: V.IV Rusty. Independent mercenary: Raven. Data on the mercenary is being checked for discrepancies."

OBSIDIAN WING was near the LC now, and while his machine gun and laser blade impacted the frame, it immediately dodged the follow up kick, putting enough distance that the machine gun and laser blade would be ineffective. The HC was angling for him so he'd keep it busy while Raven dealt with the LC.

...

"Strange bedfellows." said the first lieutenant.

Raven danced his machine around a massive volley of missiles, the LC's stationary posture while launching making it an easy target for a return volley. The Truenos embedded into the shield as it tried to dodge, but didn't remove it. This LC was even more up-armored than the others. It moved to gain distance, pelting him with gunfire before a near miss from the underslung bazooka almost cracked his leg armor, forcing a repair system usage.

"Just means the corps can't afford to choose." the lieutenant spoke again.

He glanced at his local scanner, seeing that Rusty was keeping the HC busy, dancing around it with his superior mobility. He'd need to finish the LC quickly to assist him. The machine seemed to have no end to its flight time, so he waited until it tried to close again to deliver a kick followed by a blasts from the machine gun and slash from the laser blade, the front armor severely weakened.

It recovered again, turning so the follow up charged up laser swing would deflect off the armor but unable to stop the needles from caving in the armor. It fell from the sky, leaking fire.

"Code... Code 78E..." The comms from the dying machine cut out as it hit the ground.

"Code 78E received. System processing."

A quick scan of the HC revealed that Rusty had been able to wear down the front armor with his missiles and laser slicer, so all she'd need was one good opening. The HC went to charge STEEL HAZE, attempting to bash it with the shield.

A volley from the needles and laser slice sent it reeling and he alighted next to it, the blast of assault armor stunlocking it. A quickboost got him around front and he activated manual aim, focusing on the most damaged spot he could find, triggering both launchers at once.

The four spikes cut through the weakened armor and the HC toppled backwards, looking like a pincushion. "Sending report... to System... Code 78... Threat level E..."

The advanced machine exploded as the static died the voice down, collapsing in a wreck against one of the small warehouse buildings.

"Relaying System verdict. Code 78E acknowledged." a voice boomed, "Threat to planetary closure identified. Use of IA-02 authorized."

Raven could feel the spike of unease, then panic, from his partner. "I'm picking up something!"

He watched as Ayre began tuning the long range radar, then accessing vibration sensors.

"I've marked it." she informed him, "There's something there..."

The vibrations began to grow steadily stronger, and a moment later eruptions of ice and snow became visible in the distance, growing closer with every moment.

"It's... It's underground!" she panicked.

Ayre's warning came a second before the ground near the perimeter exploded upwards, a massive shape emerging before diving back under.

"What... What is that thing?!" Rusty's voice seemed just as shocked as Raven was himself. "Is that... another PCA weapon?!"

Another? Has the PCA been deploying other C-Weapons against the corporations?

Raven turned to the cliff, pinging Rusty to follow before boosting toward it, dodging the thrashing body of the machine.

"This Coral response... There's no pilot." Ayre said. "It's an autonomous C-Weapon!"

They watched as the worm-like machine demolished the structures around them, at one point vertically boosting to avoid a swipe from the tail.

Rusty's voice sounded grim as he took potshots at it, the armor deflecting everything. "I can't get a read on it! This is bad!"

Suddenly the machine dived below the surface before emerging vertically, the massive drills on the underside grinding at nothing. Its head turned toward the pair of them, almost watching, before the drills started to slow.

"Wait..." Walter again. "Something's wrong."

The lines of energy on the body, likely the Coral powering it, had begun to dim, and suddenly it turned back toward the empty ice field. The massive grinding noise resumed and it dived forward, leaving the ruined base behind it.

"It's changing its behavioral pattern... Answering to a greater imperative... To protect... the convergence?"

The wrecked base was silent, the hulk of the destroyed warship mulched and distributed across the debris strewn ground.

"Looks like the PCA's helped itself to the Institute's Relics." Walter's voice on the private link was grim. "621. Rest up at base. I'll come up with a plan to deal with our new friend."

...

Walter breathed a sigh of relief when 621 let him know it was back to the transport. It hadn't encountered any further PCA forces after they activated the Ice Worm, likely afraid of losing them to it as well.

Those damn Institute machines. Guess that answered where they'd ended up. He'd already received a notification from both Michigan and Snail that they wanted a cease fire to discuss how to deal with the new threat.

He'd need to let the hound know what it was so it could be prepared.

"Here's the situation, 621. After the PCA sicced that Institute weapon on us, Arquebus and Balam are moving to cooperate. IA-02... AKA, 'Ice Worm.' It's a C-Weapon, an autonomous deterrent created to protect the Coral. If we don't take it out, no one's going to reach the convergence. We'll have a tough fight ahead of us, everyone's getting involved... 621. Don't forget we've got a job to do on Rubicon. I didn't bring you all the way here for nothing."

https://youtu.be/WEsibVKPNA0

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