Chapter Text
Prologue
‘The Die Is Cast’. Words once said by an ancient general back at humanity's cradle, Earth. The meaning of these words endured the long and bloody history of humanity, the action of a single individual with the strength and will to commit such acts, a decision that cannot be taken back, a gamble that has many possibilities.
Now these words are said once again. As a single individual, a person with nothing to lose, decides to roll the dice for his close companion. Even if it is against his Handler's wishes, the person that gave him purpose, the freedom to choose, and the one that supported him every step of the way.
Now we watched this hounds master, Handler Walter, aboard the Xylem, to finish the duty passed down to him by his passed allies, The Overseers.
Aboard The Xylem, passing the Kárman Line
As Walter stands above the deck of the Xylem, a large colony ship 26 kilometers in length and several kilometers wide, a ship he plans to ram into the large megastructure he is looking at.
The Vascular Plant. A structure that reaches beyond Rubicon’s atmosphere, made by the corporations with one purpose. To collect all the remaining Coral on the planet.
His mission: Create another Fire of Ibis to prevent too much Coral from gathering, multiplying, and spreading so much that a possible ‘Coral Collapse’ might occur.
Recap of past events
It wasn't supposed to go this way, his mission was supposed to see if Coral Convergence was happening on Rubicon III after a part of the PCA’s defense grid came offline and rumors of Coral still remaining after the first fires.
Mission after mission with his skilled hound , 621, a 4th gen augmented human he bought from the black market. He delved into the remains of this cold and desolate planet to solve this mystery and do his personal mission.
The situation turned for the worst when his hound investigated Institute City, a mausoleum of sinners, as Walter said himself. As his hound continued on to the mission, his connection suddenly faded. Walter repeatedly tried calling 621, but ended in failure.
Frustrated, Walter decided to head back to the surface and report his situation to “Cinder” Carla.
His mentor and a member of Overseers.
Just as Walter was reporting to Carla above the surface near Watchpoint Alpha, multiple explosions came from inside the Watchpoint and the ground started shaking from it, with concern of the ice shelf collapsing, he retreated further, near the Old Spaceport, as he received reports from ALLMIND, the Mercenary support system, a list of AC pilots killed in action or missing. With his hound, 621, being in the MIA list.
Upon seeing this, Walter decided that preparing for the final plan early was necessary. With the loss of 621, Walter returned to the Belius region and met up with Carla to prepare the Xylem for the challenges ahead.
Back to current events
As Walter finished recapping events in his memory, he then received a call from Carla, her voice urgent.“Walter, heads up, we got incoming, multiple ACs, starboard and port side of the ship”
‘What?’ Walter thought, then said “Is it Arquebus's AC squad?” He questioned to Carla as most of the Vespers, Arquebus's Elite AC squad, was mostly KIA in Watchpoint Alpha.
Carla responded with “No.. odd” she said confused. “What's the problem?” Walter said, Carla then continued “Well… I can't identify them, no IFFs, no radio traffic, even their signatures are unknown..” ‘That’s foreboding’ Walter thought to himself, then said “Then prepare the Xylems defense system and your crew” before continuing “seems we have a welcoming party ahead of us”
“Haha! Now you're speaking my language Walter!” Carla said jovially before continuing “Alright! I'll prep my AC and meet the port side, while you handle the other”.
“Roger” said Walter before cutting off his coms with Carla, then prepared his AC, The “HAL 826” for combat, once preparations were complete, he then activated his Assault boost and went to the starboard wing of the Xylem and prepared for the upcoming battle.
As the Unknown ACs make their final approach, Walter heads down from atop a building to a spacious Roadway, small ponds of water around it, perfect for fighting against multiple opponents.
“Alright, let's get this done and dusted” Walter said to himself as he ordered the RaD MTs to position themselves above or near him for support.
Charging the Coral missile on his right shoulder, Walter fired the first shot of the battle with his Coral rifle on his right hand, as the Unknown ACs made landfall on the Xylem.
‘6 ACs’ Walter quickly thought before he spotted a crucial detail. “Exact copies of the Vespers?” Walter said in confusion and growing dread as things didn't add up.
The Vesper copies, upon seeing this, performed evasive maneuvers, but was ambushed by the RaD MTs and one was hit particularly hard overloading its ACS and stunning it.
‘An opening!’ Walter said before boosting towards the AC copy of one V.VIII Pater, firing his Coral rifle at it before swinging his Coral oscillator (blade) once he got close, killing the machine.
“Weaker than ACs, AP wise, but the weapons remain the same” Walter analyzed as he switched his target ‘ doesn't matter, we have a job to finish’ he thought, resolute, firing his Coral missile at the farthest target, a copy of V.III O’Keefe. A bright red orb of energized Coral slowly moves across the battlefield as it closes in on the unmanned AC.
As he was doing this, a 2-beep alert was activated, prompting Walter to Quick boost back, narrowly avoiding a Stun Needle round from the copy of V.II snail. Using the remainder of his EN to gain distance and ascertain the situation, Walter raised his Coral shield, protecting him from fire from all angles as his generator recharge, for a time until the shield deactivated as it overheated.
Just in time as his EN was replenished and quick boosted to the side, avoiding plasma missiles from multiple of the copies. Going for the offensive, Walter fired his rifle but not overheating it then swung his charged Coral oscillator in a wide arc, a cylinder of red Coral as high as his AC and 80 meters in length.
The Vesper copies dodge the attack but one was decimated by it as it lunged at Walter with its stun button as he swung the oscillator, the copy looked like V.VII Swinburne.
As Walter finished the attack, he saw his Coral missile narrowly hit the O’Keefe copy though not killing it, was heavily damaged after being in such close contact with the explosion. Seeing the crippled AC, Walter engaged his Assault boost to finish it off, but was interrupted as Pulse bubbles from the V.VI Maeterlinck copy hit his AC, lowering his AP, with the COM stating “AP at 50%”.
“Tch!” Walter clicked his tongue as he continued “I was careless”, using his repair kit to fix the damages, he switched to the V.VI copy as he suddenly saw V.II lunge at him using it's Laser lance, multiple blue plasma plums coming from the lance, helping boost the heavy AC towards Walter.
With two ACs at close proximity and one pushing to impale him with its melee weapon, Walter activated his Assault Armor, a sphere of Coral rapidly expanding from him, hitting both ACs and overloading their ACS. With the two stunned, Walter melee boosted to V.II and did an overhead strike with his Coral oscillator, killing it, before firing his rifle at half charge, putting his AC in firing stance to brace for the recoil, at the V.VI copy also killing it.
“Two more down, two remaining” He said to himself as a reminder. But as his AC rebalanced from doing a firing stance, his AC received bullet fire from V.III’s assault rifle and plasma rounds from V.V’s plasma rifle denting and scorching Walter's outer plates, lowering his AP. “Ahh!- ngh!” Walter grunted as he received the feedback of the attacks and immediately activated his Coral shield and flew to the skies to avoid the AOE of the plasma rifle.
Charging his Coral missile again, Walter backpedaled and dodged as explosive and plasma missiles from both copies rained down on him, damage being mitigated by his shield just as it overheated. With his AP nearing 50% again, he used another repair kit and assault boosted towards the two quadrupedal ACs as he fired his Coral missile close at the V.V copy, hitting the AC with his Oscillator before boosting away and targeting V.III just as the Coral missile hit V.V on the Core piece, obliterating the AC.
‘one-on-one, let's finish this’ Walter thought as he once again assault boosted towards the lone damaged AC, swerving left and right to dodge incoming fire before swinging his Oscillator once again, killing the AC.
Taking a breather, Walter stilled as his breathing stabilized and his head cleared, swerving his AC and checking his sensors to survey the battle. ‘It seems the MTs took the brunt while I picked them off one by one’ Walter thought to himself as multiple burning wrecks from his MT support were spotted from different areas of the battlefield.
His musing was cut short when Carla called, he accepted it immediately, keen to share his findings from fighting the Unmanned ACs. “I'm done on my side” Carla stated, continuing “how about you on the Starboard side, Walter?” Carla questioned, with Walter saying “just about finished, Six ACs, all copies of the Vespers” he finished, stating his findings to Carla.
With her stating “yeah, me too, this is a bad joke!” Her voice grimaced at the situation. ‘Something doesn't add up’ Walter thought with a scowl on his face as his thoughts continued ‘Both elites of Balam and Arquebus were killed at Watchpoint Alpha, the corps shouldn't have these ACs even if it's copies, the RLF has been quiet since Arquebus took the PCA suppression fleet’ he finished in his head.
But before he can continue speculating, Carla suddenly chimed in, saying “Wish the Tourist was with us” ‘Tourist’ that's what Carla called 621 when they first met at Grid 86. As Walter thought about what his mentor said, a revelation suddenly propped up in his mind, responding to Carla with “621 isn't dead” his voice filled with certainty “Nothing gets past you, huh?” Carla said, her voice low.
“Just prioritize locking out the Xylem” He said with authority before continuing “621 chose this, my loyal hound, now our biggest threat” he finished, his voice in quiet resignation as he had no choice but to fight his former hound.
As the duo were fighting above the Xylem, an unknown force was wreaking havoc inside, killing the Xylem defences as well as the parasite modules that Carla installed to control the ship without being hacked from outside sources, with extreme proficiency.
As the Xylem breach atmosphere and neared the point of no return, a point in which the Xylem cannot alter its course away from the Vascular Plant, Carla received a ping from her trusty AI she created herself “Chatty” Stick starting with “Chief, almost all parasite modules are destroyed what are your orders?” The AI questioned as he transmitted the footage inside the Xylem to both members of Overseer, with Carla saying “Chatty, initiate the Lockdown, we'll come to you” Carla finished as she worked on setting up waypoints to the fastest way to get inside the Control Center, where the AI is stationed.
As Walter reviewed the footage, though full of static, he discerns an emblem on the ACs right shoulder, his eyes widening in recognition and finality, as he said in a low voice, though heard by Carla “621…I knew you were alive” just as he finished, he heard the AI make a statement on their channel as well as an open one “You’ve come…. Tourist” the AI says before continuing “Got a message from the Chief for you” “I'm sorry but I'm not laughing this time”
As Chatty finished relaying his message to 621, the AI continued, determination and finality in the AI’s voice “You're going down with the ship” finishing with “Proxy Activation, Emergency Protocol, Xylem Lockout”.
As Chatty finished, Carla then sent the data points to Walter and said “You go on first, Walter, I'll catch up” “Roger” he said and nodded at Carla before firing up his Assault boost once again and traversing the urban landscape of the Xylem.
As Walter was nearing the marked entry point, he suddenly heard Carla say “Walter! Look out behind you!” Urgency and concern in her voice. Then, a 2-beep warning was heard as he quick boosted backwards “Ngh!” The G’s from going forward to back so suddenly, made Walter grunt in pain, but was safe as a cyan blue beam of energy as tall as his AC in width struck in front of him, leaving a deep hole on Xylem's street.
Looking where the shot came from, his eyes widen in shock as he says “That’s… that's an institute AC! No!” His voice wavering at the thought of facing such a powerful opponent, then, with a deep breath, Walter says “Carla! We need to lure this monster away from the Xylem now!” accepting the situation, Walter fired at the Institute Mech to gain its attention, once its focus was on him, he immediately went into Assault boost and headed above the Xylem where a ring satellite was nearby.
With Carla following behind them saying “Just keep going to that satellite, Walter!” She says as her AC “Full Course” , a heavy biped AC that uses missile weapons to suppress targets, gets left behind by the lighter “HAL 826” of Walter and the extremely powerful thrusters of the institute Mech that is slowly gaining on Walter as it fired its Laser weaponry on Walter, forcing him to activate his Coral shield.
As Walter lands on the dish, facing the Vascular Plant, his generator recharging his EN bar. He prepares for the final fight, his Coral missile charging up, his rifle at half charge, his shield ready for use, and his Coral Oscillator prepared to swing. He checks his AP ‘67%.. not good, not bad’ Walter thought in indifference but scowling as he only has one repair kit left.
Walter takes a deep breath to settle his nerves and steel his resolve as he knows he won't win against that Mech, especially with one repair kit, so Walter did what he does best, plan. “Alright, I don't have a chance to win against that thing, but with Carla's support, it may be possible” he said to himself as he planned tactics and contingencies once Carla arrived, he just needed to survive.
His thinking was halted as a large object landed in the middle of the station. The institute AC staring at him, its weapons seemingly glowing, ready to fire, its radiators releasing heat from the impromptu flight chasing Walter. As they stared at each other, Walter waited for the Coral missile to gain lock at the Mech.
Once he got tone, he fired both the missile and the half charged Coral rifle, the missile slowly going to its target while his rifle shot immediately hit the Mech, seemingly just scratching the armor. The Mech boosted to the right, dodging the Coral missile, and fired blue lasers from its left arm, Walter boosted opposite of it to dodge the shot, as he fired his rifle continuously but stopping just before overheating it and activating his shield if he can't dodge the shot.
As Walter and the Mech dance around each other, firing, dodging, pushing, retreating. The situation of the two changed when the Mech started getting hit by multiple missiles, overloading its ACS, stunning it. ‘this is it!’ Walter thought as he took his chances and melee boosted towards the Mech swinging his Oscillator, hitting it, then boosted back as his third Coral missile finally hit the Mech damaging it further.
“Sorry for being late for the party, Walter” Carla says, her AC landing beside his as she continued “how's your situation?” Her voice laced with concern, “I'm out of repair kits, I have one Assault Armor left, and I'm half ammo. How about you?” He questioned her once he relayed his resources “ two repair kits, don't have any Assault Armor left, still plenty of missiles on me” she says, the last part in amusement.
Once he heard her side, Walter thought of a strategy “Alright, you have the front, keep it busy while I attack from the sides” he says, determined to finish the fight. “And Carla” he says, stopping, “Yeah, Walter?” She questioned, before he continued “Be cautious, we don't know what cards it still has hidden” he says and prepares his Coral weapons to fight once again. “Haha! Alright, Walter, let's finish this party” she said jovially and touched by Walter's concern for her.
As the battle starts anew, the advantage of the institute Mech slowly fades away as Walter and Carla tag teamed the Mech, with Carla focusing its attention to her while Walter peppered its armor with his Coral rifle while only hitting it with the oscillator when it's briefly stunned “Alright! We're wearing it down!” Walter stated as he saw that their plan was working.
The Mech, its plates full of scorch and blast marks, suddenly stopped in the middle of the station, for but a moment, before boosting to the side so fast that both Walter and Carla couldn't keep up with it, even their AC’s FCS couldn't. Only leaving a faint cyan trail from the Mechs thrusters. Seeing this, Walter quickly turned to the side, following the trail, only to be shocked, activating his shield and boosting backwards on instinct, as three large cyan energy blades hit his shield, mitigating the damage, but the heat from the blades scorched a part of his plating.
Before Walter can react, the Mech boosted again, towards and past him, as its three blades, shaped like a claw, glow a pale blue. He turned once again to see the Mech swing right at Carla. She reacted quickly by boosting away from the swing, missing the core by inches, but hits her right handed missile launcher.
“Carla!” He shouted, concern in his voice, “Tch! That was close” He heard from Carla, her voice pained and frustrated. Walter upon seeing the damage inflicted upon Carla stated “Change of plans. I'm on the front, just focus on support, Carla” he informed her, “Not a chance, Walter” Carla says, denying Walter's plan “I still have a repair kit” she finishes as she used her second to last repair kit, her AC being repaired as micro bots appear in a shimmering white line go head to toe, sealing holes and fixing wires in its wake.
A quick fix, but not enough to fix the broken weapon on her right hand. She discarded the weapon as she told Walter “See? Good as new” as she continued “So… What's the plan now?”,
Walter responded with “No plan” he states, gaining a questioning hum from Carla, before continuing “We attack with everything we got. Finish what we started” he finishes as he charges all his Coral weapons, sans the Oscillator. Carla snickers at his words but complies “heh, roger that Walter” and looks at the Institute Mech, standing at the middle of the station once again, her missiles gaining lock.
But before Carla can fire the first salvo, a communication link from Chatty interrupted them, both of them accepted it and saw as 621 maneuvered around the lasers guarding the Central Control Block, the Xylems control system, where Chatty, the AI, is stored. They saw as 621 hacked and disabled the security consoles around the Central Device, before going below said device, now hacking into it. Chatty now exposed to the Hound’s attacks states “I’m sorry…..Chief” his voice cracking and distorting as the hacking continued “You….gave me life” his voice distorting even more, “Chatty! No…No” Carla says, pain in her voice as her favorite companion, her creation was being killed. With Chatty continuing “But in the….End” and continued “I…Never…Learned to laug—” his voice ended before he could say his final word.
“Chatty” Her voice low, filled with sorrow and rage, as she looked at the Mech, still standing, like it's also receiving the progress inside the Xylem. Her weapons already locked on, she pulled the trigger, all her weapons firing simultaneously as missiles trailed one by one, heading to the Mech. “Come on, Walter!” She shouted in anger to the Mech as Walter promptly fired his Coral missile, a red orb steadily approaching, and his fully charged Coral rifle. A beam of Coral, the same as his charged Oscillator, blasted towards the Mech, bypassing the missile from Carla.
The Mech, surprised by their actions, briefly took Walter's hit and the first few of Carla's missiles before boosting above. Walter disengaged his rifle, prematurely stopping the firing sequence and cooling it down, Carla meanwhile “I'm going for the attack!” Carla says aggravated, boosting her AC at the front of the Mech as it activates it's melee weapons once again and lunges towards her.
Carla boosted forward again and went under the strike of the Mech and fired another salvo at the back of the Mech, half of it hitting before the Mech backed off. Walter waited for a chance to strike with his Oscillator while his rifle cooled down, his Coral missile missing the Mech, its excessive maneuvers making it lose track.
As Carla was closing the distance, the Mech suddenly propelled itself upwards and circled in a small radius, its blue energy blades glowing with intense energy, before three large cyan blade waves swung through space. “Hng!?” Carla grunted in surprise as she boosted to avoid the blade waves but was hit from two of the three, damaging her severely.
“Fall back! Carla!” Walter exclaims as he moves in to protect Carla, firing his rifle at the Mech, overheating it, then activating his shield as the Mech swung at him. Protecting him from the first swing but its second attack going through as the immense heat of the blades overloading the shield module, overheating it as well. “Tch! All or nothing!” He says as he pushed forward, the Oscillator activated, swinging at the Mech.
The Mech reacted just as the oscillator started hitting, boosting back, then suddenly lunging at Walter, Cyan blades activated, forming a Trident shape blade. Walter tried boosting to the side, but the blades hit his AC, heat warnings as well as AP lost being reported to him “Arghhh!” He screams in agony as the feedback hits him. He boosted in panic checking his diagnostics doing so. Seeing the damage reports, Walter pailed as his AC was at 10% AP, his shield module destroyed from the intense heat, his rifle, though damaged, was able to fire uncharged, his missile module was unstable, and his Coral Oscillator heavily damaged.
Walter activated his scanner, looking for Carla and the Mech as he reoriented himself, then, one ping caught his attention, looking at the direction of it, his eyes widening in terror as the Mech swiped at Carla's AC, hitting only the limbs and not killing her outright. Walter's world slowed as blood rushed to his ears, his rage increasing by the moment as the Mech does one final swing and decapitates the head module of Carla's AC.
“ARGGH! YOU MONSTER!” Walter screamed in rage as he Assault boosted towards the machine, firing his rifle, overheating it, damaging it further, before swinging his Oscillator, the Mech boosted slightly to the side, making the swing miss. Walter the. Pivoted and used his Coral missile, even at close range, as the missile fired, the module housing it suddenly exploded, damaging Walter further, breaching his Coral generator, and overloading his ACS.
Yet, before Walter can continue. The Mech attacks Walter, doing the same actions as it did to Carla, disassembling his AC limb by limb, until only his Core and head remain. But, before the Mech could swipe his head, it stopped for a moment then flew away from the station. Walter after the pain feedback stopped and his head cleared, questioned the machine’s action ‘Why?...why didn't it finish me?’.
“Oh..?” His questioning stopped as another machine landed beside him, he looked on with his damaged head module and saw it, a regular AC, with parts he doesn't recognize. “This is it..huh?” Walter says, resignation in his voice. Huffing heavily, his mind full of emotions, from regret, sorrow, slowly dying rage, and acceptance.
Walter recalled his entire life, from a child escaping from the first fires, a young adult doing mercenary work, a middle aged man starting his Handler career, to this moment. The moment where he and his mentor die from an unknown force, their mission, his legacy, unable to be achieved. He inhaled a deep breath before coughing heavily, blood dripping from his mouth. As he sees the unknown AC charging its energy weapon, Walter prepares for his death, saying his goodbyes and sorrys, and one thought comes to his mind and says “621..I wonder.” He coughs more, as oxygen reduces “how high have…you..flown?” He finishes just before getting hit by the unknown AC, the shot hitting his head unit, yet it was enough to kill as the heat of the beam reached him and breached a small hole in his cockpit, exposing him to the outside space, all oxygen being vented outside.
As Walter drew his dying breath, memories flooded his mind. Memories he experienced, yet there are those that he didn't, two of which, he was captured by the corporations, used as a guinea pig for their latest augmentations, brainwashing him to become a tool for their agenda.
He saw as one of these foreign memories show how his Hound did his, Overseer's duty, and burned the Coral, starting another fire. Then another one where 621 fought against the Overseers, destroying the Xylem. The memories show as he, forcefully augmented and brainwashed, fought 621. But, as this other self resisted the brainwashing, he started talking to 621.
He saw as this version of himself saw the voice in 621’s head, his words echoing in his mind.
‘That voice…’
‘621 I see it….next to you’
‘Yes...kindling for the fires’
He was surprised by his other selves’s words, but it continued.
‘621…You earned all the credits’
‘undo the surgery…be normal again’.
As the battle subsided, 621 victories once again, his other self aimed the Coral rifle at 621, fully charging it, the other selves’s words stunned him
‘The corporation’s orders’
‘No…My friends mission’
As the other self fought against the brainwash, it lowered the rifle, deactivating it, then said his final words
‘look at you…621’
‘You found…a friend’
Before deactivating the AC letting it plummet to the surface with the Xylem.
As the memory trip subsided, the increasing cold and difficulty to breath reminded Walter of his impending death, yet before his world goes dark, on one of his screens, a secondary camera on his Core captured movement of another oncoming AC, as the other AC landed, Walter diverted the remaining power inside his AC to increase the quality of the video, doing so revealed the AC.
One that Walter recognizes as a small smile appears on his face “6…2.1..” he heaves before finally succumbing to his death, at least satisfied to see his Hound one final time.
As Walter died, a voice was heard, one he was unfamiliar with.
“Walter Nagai” the voice said, female in sound but heavily distorted, continued.
“Though you may not be Sensei, you know of how burdening of a legacy you carried”
She said, as Walter recalled his mission.
“The responsibility it comes with it, the dangers it possessed, yet you carried on, helping those without purpose, giving them one”
She stopped, contemplating her next words
“I…I believe that you can help bring safety to my land, give the undesirable purpose, help those in need, and maybe…maybe you can find peace”
The girl finished as Walter regained vision, his eyes landing on a young girl, long blue hair and eyes, a white dress suit with one side covered in blood, who’s? He doesn't know. Yet, the thing that caught his attention the most was the presence of a blue halo on top of her head.
‘Wha–ugh’ but before Walter can question. His mind and body felt heavy, exhaustion taking place, his eyelids slowly closing, Walter did his best to listen as the girl continued.
“I don't know if you will remember this conversation Mr. Walter. I also don't know if these is for the best or the worst”
She stated,her blue eyes staring at Walter's, he stared back, red irises sharpening, seemingly enough for the girl to understand him.
“Is this the strength of adults?” she questioned before continuing.
“No..maybe it's yours, hehe” the girl giggled before smiling sadly at Walter.
“I'm sorry to cut our conversation short, Sir, but it's the end of the line for both of us, I don't know what will happen in the future, but I hope you can finally get a happy ending”
With one last smile, the girl faded slowly, before disappearing completely. Walter succumbed to his exhaustion and closed his eyes, waiting for what would happen next.
End Prologue.