Mission 1: Illegal Entry

"We're close to Rubicon. Wake the dog up."

"Handler 'Walter' verified," a computerized voice projected throughout the darkened cockpit. "Activating Cerebral Coral Control Device."

Sparks flowed through the limp body cocooned in the cockpit, muscles jittering and shuddering sporadically. Air flooded the unconscious pilot's nostrils, sharply inhaling as she lurched back into her seat, deforming its sparse cushioning as the shocks came to an end. Slowly relaxing, the pilot opened her mouth to exhale. "… haa… aahhh…"

"Augmented Human: C4-621 has awakened."

The sound of something rapidly losing pressure dimly hissed in 621's ears. In her hazy state of consciousness, it vaguely reminded them of the shop. Her reminiscence was broken by a sudden shaking, the stimulation snapping them into a sense of awareness and dispelling any stray thoughts from her head. Artificial lighting outside the cockpit activated, a dim red seeping through the slight hatch outlines cracked open within.

"Time to get to work, 621," Handler Walter instructed.

Stretching her fingers, 621 silently confirmed her hands were already in position.

"I'm powering down your entry capsule. On my signal."

"Mmhh… hmm," 621 confirmed. Handler Walter said nothing in response, leaving 621 to simply wait in the wavering shades of maroon as the world around them slowly began to vibrate. As tiny quivers rapidly grew into large tremors, 621 slowly tightened her grip on the controls.

"Now! Activate the AC."

621 flipped two switches with her left hand and entered a quick series of console commands with her right. The hatch in front of them resealed itself as the cockpit came to life and flooded with dim blue light. The vibrations around them grew stronger as the cameras inside all began activating one after another, revealing the coffin-like container 621's AC was encased in. 621 pre-emptively moved the AC's left hand to the inner lever, preparing for the next stage of the operation.

A sudden crash and small explosion rocked the container. Something had struck with enough force to seriously damage the container. Her AC remained in position without issue, confirming that her ACS system remained nominal while docked. The container itself had clearly taken more damage, as the red lights within quickly shut down and the dim status screen to the AC's right began throwing up various warning messages.

"Atmospheric entry confirmed," the computerized voice inside the AC said. "Recalculating approach vector… Confirmed. Initializing docking bay release procedures."

621 inhaled and exhaled slowly. Every restraint on the AC came off one by one, the mechanical limbs feeling as if they released its pilot tension and allowed the growing force of gravity more purchase on the incoming machine. The few bits of support that attached to the AC's back popped out one by one at the rhythm of needles methodically unplugging themselves from a waking patient.

"Docking bay release finalized. Container unlocked."

621 turned the AC's hand. Small explosions popped just outside of the container doors before they suddenly blew away from the machine itself, revealing the innermost edge of the planet's atmosphere. The planet eclipsed half of the system's local star, showcasing an illuminated industrial complex 621 was rapidly approaching. The cracking sound of the container slowly breaking apart prevented them from spending any further time taking in the sights, as she activated her AC's boosters and exited the container.

Using the smallest bit of thrust to keep themselves from entering complete freefall and maintain her AC's posture, 621 rapidly fell towards the planet. Her AC's sensors vaguely recognized the explosion of the container she had just exited behind them, but she gave it little thought. Her focus was solely on making micro adjustments to avoid having the AC's limbs snag on any buildings as they descended. The precise shifting allowed them to avoid what appeared to be an industrial crane and some hanging cargo container, but no amount of movement could prevent them from crashing into the side of an entire Grid complex.

621 braced themselves and felt her entire body jerk inside their cockpit's restraints as the AC crashed through layer after layer of metal. The rapid impacts quickly overloaded the ACS system, disabling the camera feed and leaving 621 in complete shock as the AC suddenly stopped after crashing into something solid enough to stop it.

Heaving, 621 opened their eyes. The cockpit lighting revealed she had spit up something during the landing, leaving a visible stain on the visor. She took a deep breath, tapping a button on the side of her helmet to activate the automatic cleaning spray. With her vision mostly blurry for the moment, 621 could only tell that she had landed inside of a Grid's maintenance area, poorly lit and likely uninhabited by anything other than automated drones.

"Descent to ISB2262, 'Rubicon 3', complete," the computerized voice in her AC said. "Disabling emergency protocols… Rebooting AC control systems…"

"Your position is… Grid 135," Handler Walter informed. "Off target, but within permissible range."

The sharp release of steam from her AC's thrusters accompanied the clearing of 621's visor. She sat up, eyes quickly adjusting to the dull metallic surroundings outside.

"There's a catapult ahead. Use it to close the gap."

Her ACS system normalized, having completed recalibration to account for the planet's gravity. The lights in her cockpit grew slightly brighter, and her AC stood up.

"… Yes…" 621 replied. She tightened her grip on the controls.

"Main System: Activating Combat Mode," the computer announced. With that, 621 gained full control of her AC.

She had her AC take a few test steps forward, confirming the landing hadn't significantly hampered the machine's full range of motion. Afterwards, she engaged the main boosters and advanced at a more reasonable pace. Boosting up into a raised maintenance corridor, she followed the path to a much wider area that seemed like it could be used for storage. Quickly surveying the area, she saw a few ball-like machines she recognized as unmanned units that were patrolling the area.

"Clear out those guard mechs. Perfect chance to test your AC," Handler Walter said.

"… Can avoid…" 621 said.

"Better to find out if your weapons are broken now before you really need them," Handler Walter said.

"Oh… kay," 621 said. With that, she boosted forwards, letting her AC drop down directly into the path of one of the guard mechs.

Right hand weapon, RF-024 Turner Assault Rifle test. She held down the trigger and fired off six shots, downing two unmanned drones.

Left hand weapon, HI-32: BU-TT/A Pulse Blade test. She boosted around another unmanned mech and activated the weapon, allowing its onboard system to strike twice despite one hit being sufficient.

Right shoulder weapon, BML-G1/P20MLT-04 Missile Launcher test. She locked onto a single unmanned unit and fired, watching as all four missiles struck the target and completely obliterated it. She then spent a few seconds easily avoiding fire from a group of unmanned drones and confirmed the multi-lock functionality, launching four missiles at four different targets.

Left shoulder weapon, VP-61PS Pulse Shield test. She flipped the switch as she approached the final unmanned drone, only for an error message to appear on her AC's HUD. Huffing, she dodged the incoming attack she had expected the shield's initial guard to block instead with a quick boost and cut down her target with the pulse blade. Checking the camera, she saw a mechanical rod that should have held the shield now stuck in the raised position, clearly snapped near the bottom of the neck.

"Looks like the shield was lost in the crash," Handler Walter said. "Must have happened near the end of your descent. No system recorded memory of the incident. You'll have to make do without it."

621 sighed, approaching the sealed door near the end of the strange storage area. The AC's automatic electronic interface popped up, prompting her to access the control panel with the press of a button. As the door opened, the comms came on once again.

"Your AC's taken damage. Patch it up," Handler Walter said.

Pressing a different button, a small capsule emerged from her AC's core and let out a small spray of metallic particles. A small charge flowed through them before they rapidly flew towards her AC's legs, rapidly binding to them and reinforcing the areas that had been severely compacted or cracked upon landing.

"Two Repair Kits remaining," her computer reported.

Continuing her mission, 621 boosted forwards, reaching an open edge of Grid 135 that overlooked snowy mountains and a distant city. The path flowed primarily right towards a launcher catapult, her current objective.

"See the contaminated city down there? That's where you're landing," Handler Walter said. "Access the catapult."

"… Done," 621 said, watching as her AC's computer automatically began interfacing with the industrial device. Once ready, she loaded her AC onto the catapult and let the automatic synchronization systems guide her through the rest. Once her AC was raised and locked into launch position, her comms came on again.

"Time to fly, 621."

She was pushed back into her seat, less uncomfortably than her previous experience crashing through metal walls repeatedly. Her AC rocketed down the length of the catapult as her boosters activated, launching her AC into the open sky.

"If we get our hands on Rubicon's Coral…" Handler Walter began, "We'll make a killing. Plenty for a merc with a fried brain like you to buy their life back."

"… Can buy… other things?" 621 asked.

"Plenty of them," Handler Walter assured. 621's breath hitched, a small, whinnied squeal of glee escaping their throat as a prolonged whisper. "But we need to finish the job first. Watch your landing, the terrain isn't flat."

"Hah! Hoohhkay!" 621 said. Focusing on their controls, they flipped two switches. A small forward terrain map rose up alongside their onboard compass, eating a chunk of their HUD. Scanning the upcoming area quickly, 621 shifted her AC rapidly as it neared the ground, picking out the smoothest landing zone, a mountain pass leading to her destination. Straightening her AC up to brace with its legs, 621 pulled back on her control sticks, setting the machine to slide forward across the ground as its boosters deactivated and began cooling.

"Good. Enough chat. Back to work," Handler Walter said. "Scavenge the AC wrecks ahead and find a valid mercenary license. We're illegals here – you'll need ID to operate."

"… Mmmhh," 621 confirmed. Her AC rose back up, and she wasted no time activating her boosters again.

Shortly after she began her approach, she encountered a small group of MTs chatting on open radio at the outskirts of the city. Seeing the make of the MTs, 621 licked her lips and fired up her secondary and tertiary thrusters for a full assault boost.

She found live prey.

The Loader 4 AC took off at top speed, getting right on top of the MT squad as they all turned towards her.

"An AC?! Where the hell did that come from?!" the MT squad vanguard asked. They tried to raise their weapons, only to be promptly bisected by 621's pulse blade.

"Wah?! Affiliation unknown – is it a merc?!" the rear MT asked. It received a spray of missiles as an answer, the pilot barely managing to take a step back and start shooting before death.

"SHUT IT DOWN!" an MT on the hill yelled, opening fire with a machine gun at the sudden menace.

621's vernier thrusters came alive with the press of a button, her AC quick boosting away from surprise attack and returning fire with its assault rifle. Six shots later, and the hill MT collapsed into a heap. The few that remained stood no chance, barely managing to scratch 621 with a few lucky shots from wide spraying burst machine gun attacks.

"Guerillas from the Liberation Front. They'll get in the way of our work," Handler Walter said. "Eliminate them."

621 giggled. She could feel her skin tingling. "Yes, Handler…"

"Waking up fully now… good. I'm picking up signals from AC wrecks." As 621 approached the cliff overlooking the contaminated city, three diamond symbols overlaid over her camera feeds. "Follow the markers."

Wordlessly, 621 boosted forward into the city. Her AC landed on an elevated highway, stopping just out of detection range for a small group of MTs surveying the watery streets below. As it happened, her AC picked up another set of open comms.

"Did you hear anything about what the corps are up to?" one RLF soldier asked.

"Yeah, they'll be coming soon," another answered. "They got us on the run…"

Ignoring the rest of their conversation, 621 made her move. She launched a salvo of missiles to the single MT patrolling the raised highway area before dashing towards the two MTs on the watery streets below.

"We're being attacked!" the RLF soldier on the highway yelled. Their MT barely completed its turn before it was blown apart by the incoming missiles.

"Unidentified AC!" the first RLF soldier yelled. "Return fire!"

621 never gave them that chance, swinging her pulse blade once to down the lead MT, and then again with a small burst of her thrusters to take out the second. Seeing no other threats nearby, she began boosting along the ground towards the nearest marker. Once her generator quickly recharged, she boosted up to the rooftops, flying from building to building as she made her way towards a massive wreck. Closing in on it, she saw a few MTs seemingly trying to scavenge from the area, one of which happened to be looking in her direction as she approached.

"There! That's the AC from the reports!" the spotter yelled. The other MTs immediately began turning towards her, raising makeshift metal shields to defend themselves while trying to take aim.

"Find out who they're working for!" another MT unit yelled over comms.

"Looks like they've got shields. Good thing you've got a blade," Handler Walter said.

Taking his advice, 621 strafed towards them at an angle, foregoing missiles and bullets entirely to safely close the gap against the first MT. Once she was in range, she cut through it and its shield in two strikes before quick boosting towards another MT. While the pulse blade couldn't be activated in rapid succession, her AC's far superior mobility over a mass-produced MT allowed her to get behind another MT and fill its back with bullets, disabling it. Closing the gap on her last opponent, she cut it down just like the first.

With no targets remaining, 621 approached the marked area, finding a wrecked AC partially embedded into the wreck. "Extract the pilot data. I'll analyze it from my end," Handler Walter instructed.

621 approached the wreck and began scanning it, her onboard computer handling the extraction. Once it was finished, a copy of the data appeared on her screen while sending the same information to Handler Walter.

[ Registration Number: Rb18

Callsign: Thomas Kirk

Rank: 26/E

Affiliation: Independent

License Status: Expired ]

"This one's already expired," Handler Walter said. "Keep looking."

"Hhmm…" 621 replied, already moving to the next target. She kept her AC grounded, using one of the city's perimeter walls as cover to avoid detection.

Gunfire rang out from behind the wall, causing her to cut her boosters. She expected bullets to fly through the wall in front of her, but instead watched as they flew overhead towards the hill opposite the city.

A massive assault helicopter larger than her AC and most buildings flew overhead, shrugging off the incoming MT fire without issue while readying a suite of its own weapons.

"SG! We got Subject Guard!" one of the RLF soldiers yelled as they fired.

"Get out of there! You can't handle them!" another pleaded. The cry came to late as the oversized attack helicopter carpet bombed its way forward, eradicating a squad of MTs in seconds.

"It's the PCA's planetside force," Handler Walter said. "Keep a low profile. We don't want them breathing down our necks."

"… Kay," 621 replied. Scanning the aftermath of the helicopter's attack as it flew off into the distance, she noticed that it missed the small outcropping where the next AC wreck remained. Approaching the partially buried machine, she began scanning it just like the last one.

"Analyzing…"

[ Registration Number: Rb29

Callsign: G7 Harka

Rank: 22/D

Affiliation: Balam Industries

License Status: Expires in 12 hours ]

"Corp license. Easily traced. Forget it," Handler Walter said.

Needing no further instruction, 621 approached the final marker across the city. She gunned down a stray MT squad, fighting in the wider central area to casually outmaneuver her unshielded opponents, before approaching a swarm of regular patrol helicopters meant for non-mech combat that she made short work of with her missile's multi-lock functionality.

"Corp AC!" a rooftop MT shouted, alerted by the destruction of the nearby helicopters. "… Wait, is that an independent?!"

"Destroy it!" another MT commanded. "It's been tearing through our MT squads!"

A bit of aerial maneuvers kept 621 completely unscathed as she shot down one MT with her assault rifle, destroyed another with missiles, and cut down the last upon landing with her pulse blade. From what she could tell, it looked like the RLF was attempting to scavenge the AC wreck for parts. She only needed the data.

"Let's see about this license…" Handler Walter said.

[ Registration Number: Rb37

Callsign: Monkey Gordo

Rank: -/-

Affiliation: Independent

License Expires in 15 days ]

621 giggled. "Muh… Monkey…"

"It's still valid, but the pilot's rank is no good. We can't use this," Handler Walter said. "Hmm… I've picked up one more wreck, 621. Transmitting marker. Go and check it out."

Seeing the point was close enough, 621 boosted towards it, only to quickly realize her AC might have difficulty making it all the way up. Pausing to think about her approach prompted Handler Walter to speak again.

"You can use that vertical catapult to get some altitude. They're fairly common on Rubicon, so keep an eye out for them," Handler Walter said.

"Aahhh… hah," 621 replied. She moved her AC to the small, raised platform on the ground and watched the pillar behind it prepare for launch automatically. Her computer hadn't accessed any controls, meaning these were probably public use automatic structures.

Prompting her AC to jump, the catapult reacted, flinging her far higher than her boosters would have taken her. With only horizontal distance between her and the marker, an assault boost easily got her onto the elevated area.

"That's it. Try accessing the wreck," Handler Walter said. 621 did as told, scanning the AC embedded in a crater likely created by that very mech crashing down from the atmosphere.

"Registration Number: Rb23. Rank fits the bill. Callsign…" Handler Walter began. "What?!"

621 immediately turned towards the sound of massive propellers, watching as the SG assault helicopter that passed overhead previously flew directly towards her. Quick boosting to the side just before it could focus its spotlight on her AC, she opened fire with her assault rifle and unleashed a volley of missiles.

"Looks like they were onto you after all," Handler Walter said.

The attack helicopter unleashed a flurry of heavy machine gun fire at 621, prompting her to swerve behind one of the nearby structures for cover. She looked back towards the contaminated city and considered her options, thinking her best escape option came from losing the helicopter in the vicinity of the massive wreck, where it would have difficulty maintaining a clear visual on her.

"I'm in no mood to pick a fight with the PCA… But it doesn't matter," Handler Walter said. 621 shifted her attention back towards the attack helicopter, which was quickly circling around to get a direct shot. "Take it out now and they won't have enough to ID you."

621 grinned, baring her teeth. The order had been given. "My pleasure, Handler."

As the helicopter turned on her, it unleashed a volley of missiles. 621 exchanged fire, unleashing her own missiles while assault boosting towards it. She corkscrewed past the volley, firing her assault rifle a few times before getting in range to strike with her pulse blade just after her missiles impacted.

Two swift swings, and the helicopter sustained heavy damage. It backed away, firing its heavy machine guns and landing a few direct hits as 621 dropped back towards the ground. Her AC reloaded her assault rifle as the generator resupplied, letting her quick boost strafe around the retreating helicopter before continuing to apply pressure. Adding another volley of missiles to the mix as she approached left the helicopter unstable, the constant barrage of attacks disrupting its own ACS system as it began struggling to keep itself in the air.

"You've got them now. Make it count, 621," Handler Walter said.

"Going for the pilots," 621 rasped out, her AC assault boosting towards the front of the helicopter. A few rounds from her assault rifle bounced off the front glass-like structure, clearly damaging it but not quite breaking it. As the helicopter seemed to be regaining control, she unleashed a fully charged swing from her pulse blade. The burning blade tore through the front section of the helicopter, doing significant damage. As she fell back to the ground, the helicopter recovered and began moving yet again.

"That was just the main camera. The PCA incorporates core theory into more than just their mechs," Handler Walter said. "A good hit, but not enough to end this."

621 hissed. She began weaving along the ground yet again, maintaining fire with her assault rifle and another set of missiles. The helicopter returned fire with a spray of pincer missiles and machine gun fire, limiting her options.

With no other choice, she boosted into the air and attempted to use her pulse blade again, but the helicopter suddenly flew to circle around her. Her first swing managed a glancing blow while the second trailed after her target, leaving her vulnerable to a burst of direct missiles. Using the last of her generator's excess energy, she managed to activate her verniers and quick boost out of the onslaught, avoiding heavy fire but leaving her easily traceable path back to the ground vulnerable to sustained gunfire.

Bullets riddled her AC, and she could tell the ACS threshold was rapidly approaching, Rapidly eating her excess energy supply again, she quick boosted behind another structure to let her systems normalize. "We've got what we came for. Tie up the loose end, 621."

With her generator recharged, 621 boosted upwards again as another set of pincer missiles approached. Once in the air, she activated her assault boost and fired both her rifle and missiles, rushing directly to the helicopter. The quick approach gave the helicopters main missiles no time to properly lock-on, allowing her to fly over them and score a direct hit with the pulse blade.

The first swing overloaded the helicopter's ACS system yet again, leaving it extremely vulnerable to the second. The second strike shredded a piece of the machine off, exposing bits of its innards to 621. Backing away, she began firing her assault rifle and missiles yet again, each shot and missile causing an internal explosion that spelled the end for her opponent. Shaking in a desperate attempt to stabilize as even its engines began to fail, the helicopter ultimately went out in a fiery explosion. Her AC shimmered in the burning light, head focused on the blast as the few remnants of the PCA wreckage crashed down around it.

"… Confirmed. Heavy combat helicopter is down," Handler Walter said. "That's all for our work here today, 621. Here's the callsign from that license you picked up…"

[ Registration Number: Rb23

Callsign: Raven

Rank: -/F

Affiliation: Independent

License Status: Expires in 3 days ]

"Raven. That's your new name here on Rubicon."