Hey guys, JaphetSkie here! You guys are thinking if I'd keep the plot, but nope! I've realized that it's a bit too retarded and decided to completely overhaul the story! But even then, the "LYNX have psychic powers" bullshit will remain, along with a few other bullshitteries that I've put in the previous iteration of this story Enjoy!
As always, I don't own Muv-Luv and Armored Core.
Chapter 1: New World
"Another 100 million dead…" A young pilot gloomily thought as a massive airship went crashing down to the surface of the South Atlantic Ocean, its engines shot down by of Kojima Particle beams followed by a barrage of Scatter Missiles and Laser Blade Waves.
"That makes 25 Cradles. More than two billion lives extinguished by my hand within mere days…."
1 week. It only took a single week for him to commit mass murder of unimaginable scale and destroy the might of the current world order. The National Dismantlement War claimed 4 billion lives in a single month, while he recently killed off about half of the amount in a much shorter time-span.
"There was 8 billion before the corporations took over, then 4 when Pax Economica was established, and now…" he made some subtractions in his head. "A little more than a billion souls remain on this planet. Not too many to exhaust the remaining resources of this planet, but not few enough for mankind to die out."
Did he ever regret what he did?
Yes, but it was a necessary evil that must be done. 4 billion people are too much for a dying planet to handle, and these people are needed to be taught a lesson they would never forget. He killed two birds with one stone by doing so.
Were all the sacrifices worth it?
He had nothing left to lose, so probably yes.
Was it worth betraying his friends, allies, and his mentor?
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… Even if he did tell them of his intentions, they wouldn't understand. They'll only see him as a monster that lost his humanity, not as a man that wanted to change the world.
He took off his helmet, revealing his ruby-red eyes that were lined with deep bags beneath them. His silver hair was messy, not having washed for days, and his already pale complexion just got paler, making him look like a corpse if anything.
His name is Leopold Hector Burzleich, codename "Strayed". Collared Rank 1 and ORCA Rank 13. Former Aspina test subject turned Independent LYNX. One of the 20 individuals involved in the Human-PLUS Program and one of the only two survivors. And lastly, pilot of an experimental NEXT frame that was generations ahead of its time.
And he used said experimental NEXT frame as a tool to enact death and destruction all around the world.
He was quite an idealistic fool when he began his career, hoping to make the world a better place as a LYNX under the League's banner. But when he realized that the League was very much rotten to the core, he quickly accepted Maximilian Thermidor's offer to join ORCA.
Only for him to find out from Old King that ORCA was created with the League's backing, so that they could destroy the Assault Cells without getting their hands dirty and then eliminate the members afterwards.
Old King, who was once a terrorist leader himself, wanted to take the matters to his own hands and destroy the Cradles to hurt the League very badly. Leo joined the crazy bastard in his plans, partly because he did it out of friendship, and partly because it would help him carry out his own plans more smoothly.
He slaughtered entire armies and killed billions in cold blood, he crushed the mighty Arms Forts and ground them to dust, and every LYNX sent after him had fallen before him in battle. He never stopped until he became Death itself, destroying the world and creating a new one from its ashes. And hopefully from his actions, mankind will learn not to make the same mistakes they once did.
Leo had his NEXT settle down atop one of the sinking Cradles, with his machine facing south as it landed. His main objectives are now complete. The Cradles that once cruised the skies unmolested now lay destroyed on the surface, and anything that could threaten him are either vanquished or no longer capable of fighting.
With all said and done, there's only one thing left for him to do.
The city-sized airship his NEXT is standing on will fully sink to the ocean in a few minutes, enough time for him to remotely execute commands so that the cannons would begin to finally destroy the cage that stopped mankind from accessing the final frontier.
The pilot then proceeded to take out the laptop from the cockpit's storage compartment and opened the program that will access the backdoors he placed in the computer systems of the Arteria facilities and the Anti-Satellite Cannons.
His adrenaline wearing off, he tried to fight off the growing fatigue he's currently experiencing, both mentally and physically, and began to type in the commands.
[/execute_all: selfdestructif_EA-SatCnn_targetqueue_0%]
[/execute_ArtrCarpals: powergenerationpercent_300]
[/execute_ArtrUlna: powergenerationpercent_300]
[/execute_ArtrCranium: transmitpowerto_EA-SatCnn]
[/execute_EA-SatCnn: settargetparameters_allLEorbitobj]
This is it, there's no turning back once he does this.
All of the pain he endured, all of the sacrifices he'd done, all of the regrets he had, all of the betrayals he suffered, it all culminated to this moment.
"And to think that I was just a relative nobody before all of this shit happened…" He thought to himself.
His head hurts, and his vision was blurry. The Human-PLUS enhancements he received only got him so far, and he's now feeling the consequences of being deprived of sleep, food and water for an entire week. But even then, he managed to input the last command needed to fire the cannons.
[/execute_EA-SatCnn:attack_settargets]
His strength eventually gave out and he slumped on his seat, and the last thing he saw are the lances of light piercing through the heavens.
Some called it the worst act of evil ever conducted in history, while others considered it righteous retribution, what was supposed to be ORCA's rebellion escalated into a war against the two NEXT pilots that held billions of lives on the line.
But even though they gave everything they've got, they only managed to kill one of the two. Their best fighters, winded from the previous fight, were slaughtered like sheep by the surviving pilot.
And without anyone to stop him, this man laid waste to the world, single-handedly destroying entire armies and civilizations within mere days.
This event was forever remembered as "The Great Destruction". Out of 4 billion people all around the world, only a quarter survived from the lone pilot's onslaught.
The survivors from his onslaught, humbled and afraid of such nightmarish event happening again, would tell their children the tale of the man that once destroyed most of mankind as punishment for their greed, telling the youngsters not to let arrogance and hubris overtake them. The story changed as generations passed, but the message was still clear.
Two centuries later, an organization dedicated to recovering lost technology have found the remains of the machine that was used to destroy the world, deep under the ocean.
Seeking to use the technology to change the world, they created a successor model of the machine, albeit a less powerful one.
The machine was designed to send a signal to the mysterious Towers once it was destroyed.
A signal to the countless machines within the Towers to emerge and destroy all humans.
The inferior model was destroyed by a mercenary in a battle in the deserts of the continent that was once called Africa, now known as the New Frontier. And it was with the destruction of this machine that triggered another war.
But unlike many other wars before it, it was one that united the entirety of humankind to fight off the threat that looms over them.
And with everything said, the story of the man who destroyed the world, and the impact of his actions for years to come, ended here.
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… Or did it?
His nose picked up a scent of bleach the moment he regained his consciousness. Upon opening his eyes, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling instead of the sight of his NEXT's cockpit.
Leo blinked. He's no longer in his NEXT. "Wait…"
He's no longer in his NEXT.
"Shit!" he quickly rose in alarm, only to find that his hands are cuffed by the railings. He narrowed his eyes, he's more likely captured by enemy forces while he was unconscious.
Realizing however that it's just normal bindings, he snorted in amusement. "Idiots… They damn know well that ordinary bindings won't work on us…" he muttered to himself.
Back at 2027, there was a spike of paranormal activity and reports of children exhibiting unnatural powers all around the world. Upon thorough investigation, it was revealed that a sizable percentage of children that were born during 2020 to 2021 had displayed anomalous brain functions not usually present towards ordinary humans.
No one knew the origin of the anomalies despite many joint international investigations and researches conducted, but it was established that the Generation of Psionics, also known as Psi-Gen, started at that year.
Despite being merely tens of thousands in number, their powers are coveted by many and are very prized in jobs like law enforcement, intelligence-gathering, construction works, and many others. What's more, the Allegorical Manipulation System, the NEXT's piloting system, relied entirely on a trait that is only found on psychics.
There was even a pending request signed by 200 scientists to officially label them as an entirely new human species, but that is an entirely different can of worms that needed no more elaboration for now.
Back to the situation at hand, Leo merely focused and telekinetically broke the bindings with relative ease. Getting the IV drip and other wires off of his skin, he got up and made his way to the door. He was about to open it when someone suddenly opened the door, revealing a doctor coming in.
As if by instinct, he lunged to the unsuspecting man and silently tackled him before proceeding to read his mind.
B̴̙̻̃ẹ̷̙̌̕Ț̸̻́ḁ̷̆͝M̶̲͛ő̶̼O̴̲̗͗̓n̵͈̙͂Ẃ̷̪͠ả̸͎̝͠R̴̰̚k̸͕̻̿̓A̶̠͋̿s̷͔͑H̸̼͕̒g̴̘̀A̷̟͠ř̸̦̹͝A̵̝̅l̴̢͠T̴̜͗͝e̶̡̎R̸̢̫͒ṇ̸̄͝A̷̜͐̾ṭ̵̀I̴̦͐̿v̷̦̳͗Ȇ̸̲͠ṗ̴̛̹̖L̷̩͙͝a̷̤̔N̴̳͌͒s̸͚̺͑͒E̵͙̥͌̀s̸͔̈̀P̷̺͖̾͛e̵̞͆R̷̬̒s̴͍͈̄S̷̥̒̍ô̵̡͝V̴͕̏ị̴̎E̶̯̐̓ͅṱ̸̘̓̊Ȕ̶͜n̸̢̄I̵̼̙͌̂o̸̟͉̒̋N̷͓̱̔t̴̠̫͋̏Ḁ̶͗̊c̶͖̿T̷͎̈́í̶͉C̶̲̑à̸̡̨̑Ḽ̸̖̍̂s̵̢̮̄U̷̗͓̓r̸͍̀͜F̶̙̀ȃ̴̧͎C̷̦̜̅ĕ̴̦̿F̷̠͍̕ī̶̯̕G̶͎̈́h̶̞͗T̵̫̅́e̷̺̓̃R̶̲̈́̈́ṣ̵͑͗Å̶͇͘l̶̥̳̽A̸͉̟̽͝s̷̙̉͝K̶̭̙̉͝ã̸̹͋L̵̉͜e̶̜̠̽A̴̙̦͛͑s̸̲̯̑̔Ẹ̷̺̓͋d̷́͑͜F̸̖̹̿r̴̺̆̎O̶̥̿m̴͈͈̀Ǎ̷͓͝m̶̡̓Ḙ̵͗ŕ̴̘I̸̧̖̓͘c̶̞̽Ȁ̸̟a̶̱͒̈S̸̘̺͛̕t̷̰͗R̸̤̩͌̋a̴̭͠Ñ̴̙g̶͎̈́͜Ẽ̶̠̠t̸͍̯͠S̶͎͉͊͛f̷͔͐F̴̳͗o̶̬̯̿Ṳ̴͋̾ņ̴͙̀̽D̶̥̿̈́ẅ̸̠̺́͛Ỉ̴̖̦̈́t̷̳̘̊H̴̢̺͛̅ṱ̶̘̇͠H̶͚̘͊e̶̗͠P̴͍͖̔͂i̴͓̚L̶͚̔̓o̸̭̔̌T̵̜̉̈́͜u̶̡̐̈́͜Ñ̴̥ͅc̶͈̈O̵̹̾̽n̵̙̗̍̿S̴̬͚̈́c̸͚̍̕I̶̥͛͌o̶͎͗U̷̢̐ś̷̼̘̎Ȍ̴̝̉c̵͎̈T̸͖̫͝o̷͖̽B̸̮̑̊ë̵̫̯́R̷̪̀ẗ̵͚̫́̅W̷̡̬̊õ̷̦T̵͚͂̀h̸͈̎̒O̵͍̣̿̂u̶̘̼͒̓Ś̸̼̗a̷͔̿̌Ň̶̖̌d̷̳͎̍-̴̯̓̂
Leo reeled back in shock. "What the hell…?" Knocking out the man with a swift strike to the neck, he gently set the man down to the floor and made a quick reassessment of the memories he found.
"Alright, so the year's 2000, and I'm here in a Soviet military base in Alaska. Mankind is under threat of annihilation in the hands of an extraterrestrial race called BETA and had been waging war with them for decades, using mechs that they called 'Tactical Surface Fighters' to as their main combat units in engaging BETA hordes." He rubbed his forehead as he felt a metaphorical migraine coming in.
"Good Lord, what the hell's going on with my life?"
Apparently, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere some 10 kilometers away from the base he's currently held up in. The attempt to extract him ended with a disaster, with casualties reaching up to more than a dozen as they tried to get past the Primal Armor that remained active this whole time.
And PA is made out of highly corrosive and lethal Kojima Particles. It is more dangerous than nuclear radiation that not even Tardigrades could survive exposure from K-Particles.
It was a miracle that a small team of four somehow managed to get past the Primal Armor and extract him off the cockpit, but they succumbed to K-Particle poisoning shortly after they got him to the base. Oh, and he'd been out for about two days. Quite understandable, since he hadn't slept for a week.
Nevertheless, whatever happened to them is not his problem. Getting out of here takes priority first.
"Okay… Find my pilot suit, reclaim anything they grabbed from the cockpit, wipe out everyone's memories and any evidence about me, get back to my NEXT, get out of Alaska, then lay low somewhere. Am I missing something?"
Now having a concrete plan, he went on to set his escape in motion.
Just outside the door, a couple guards were bored out of their minds.
"Hey, have you ever wondered why we're here?" one of them asked all of a sudden.
"What do you mean? We're assigned to guard the pilot of that weird TSF that showed up."
"No, no! I mean, have you ever questioned why do we even exist in the first place?"
"Why would you even bother with that kind of bullshit? Leave that to the philosophers, Dmitri! Why can't you have a useful hobby?"
The now-named Dmitri shrugged, "Meh, thinking about things is my hobby."
Mikhail rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd say tha-"
BLAM!
"What the-"
"Sleep."
And then oblivion claimed them.
Ignoring the two unconscious bodies before him, Leo observed the hallway if there's cameras or any more personnel present in the vicinity. Seeing that there's not a soul around to see him, he proceeded to take a slow jog to the empty hallway.
Memory modification would be a tedious and time-consuming process, and the Soviets may have already informed their higher echelons of the situation, since he was asleep for a couple days now.
Which leaves him no choice but to absolutely wipe out any mention of him or of his NEXT. It's very suspicious, but he had no choice.
He focused and unleashed a subtle wave of psychic energy, the wave bouncing back to him akin to sonar. With it, he could make a mental map of the whole compound and the specific locations of the personnel within the building.
The building alone had about 49 personnel, and there's 15 more buildings for him to clear. He had to hurry.
20 minutes later…
"There. 1,537 Soviet personnel knocked out and memory wiped within 20 minutes." Leo concluded as he did a memory wipe to the last group of soldiers that were sleeping on the barracks.
He already took his suit from the armory and burned the reports he found from the commander's office, so the only thing left for him to do is to get on to his NEXT and get out of Soviet territory as stealthily as he could.
But since his NEXT is some kilometers away from the base, he'd have to steal a ride. He's lucky to be in a military base, so there's a lot to choose from.
His gaze wandered to a GAZ Tigr Infantry Mobility Vehicle parked by the building.
He grinned. Yes, that will do.
One Slavic joyride later…
"Well, thanks for the ride, Russkies." He whispered to no one in particular as the he stopped the car a mile away from his NEXT. The scenery before him wasn't quite pretty.
What used to be a forest became an inhospitable mini-wasteland, the once-fertile soil became barren and incapable of sustaining plant life as acidification took place. The trees weren't spared too, as they were reduced to nothing but dust, easily blown away by the wind.
But in the center of all the subtle destruction is a 15-meter tall machine, its sleek design marred with varying battle damages all over its frame. In its right hand held a Kojima Particle Rifle, while the left had a Handheld Laser Blade. An emblem was etched on its left shoulder: a horned serpent eating its own tail.
He named it Black Scourge, and it sure as hell lived up to its name.
A short walk later, and he's now at the Black Scourge's general location and boarded the machine. He made sure to deactivate the NEXT's Primal Armor to stop the spread of Kojima Particles, then activate the onboard Stealth Systems in order to evade radar detection.
Deciding to go to cross Canada's borders and hide in the country that's well-known for its maple trees, his NEXT is now cruising the skies at the speeds of 2,300 KPH at 15,000 feet, safely hidden by the darkness of the night.
That's one problem solved, and many more to go.
AAAAANNDD CUT! That's 2.6 K words. Anyway, here's Leo's Bio:
Name: Leopold Hector Burzleich
Age: 24
Occupations: Test Subject and Lab Assistant (Aspina), LYNX (currently)
Affiliations: Independent (Formerly Aspina and ORCA)
Special Traits: Has Human-PLUS enhancements and psychic abilities
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Likes: Vodka, Sea Thrifts, reading
Dislikes: anyone that are morally-corrupt
NEXT: Black Scourge
*looks like N-WGIX/v, but the upper torso is that of White Glint, the folding/sliding boosters included.
Armaments:
Kojima Particle Rifle (R Arm, looks like the ARC-920 from Halo)
Handheld Laser Blade (L Arm, looks like the katana-style laser blade concept for N-WGIX/v)
Scatter Missiles (Internal Shoulder, fired on Black Scourge's internal launchers on its shoulders)
2 Compact Machine Guns (Hangar Weapons, 200 rounds per mag, looks like the Magpul PDR)
Special Functions:
Space capability
"Asimov" Experimental AMS Model (experimental AMS that lets the pilot have unrestricted control in ALL of the NEXT's systems)
Also, about the coding shit, if you wouldn't mind:
/execute_all: selfdestructif_EA-SatCnn_targetqueue_0% : set the Arteria facilities and the Anti-Satellite cannons to self-destruct once all targets are destroyed.
/execute_ArtrCarpals: powergenerationpercent_300 : set Arteria Carpals' power generation to 300%
/execute_ArtrUlna: powergenerationpercent_300 : same as earlier, but in Arteria Ulna.
/execute_ArtrCranium: transmitpowerto_EA-SatCnn : Have the Arteria Cranium reroute power transmission to the Anti-Sat cannons.
/execute_EA-SatCnn: settargetparameters_allLEorbitobj : have the Anti-Sat cannons target all objects in Low Earth Orbit.
/execute_EA-SatCnn:attack_settargets : have the Anti-Sat cannons fire on set targets.
That'll be all, folks! JaphetSkie, signing out.