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This is the beginning of a story that I'm writing. It takes place in the world of Armored Core, a futuristic world that people named Ravens, mercenaries that piolt ACs, or Armored Cores, and do battle on behalf of corporations or the government. It is a fanfic, so you might see some things that are in the games.
Anyways, here it is:


Armored Core: Journey of a pilot

Chapter one: A Fresh New Beginning


Alex yanked the controls to the left, maneuvering his AC just in time to dodge the barrage of fire from his opponent. Sighing to himself, he pulled the trigger, unleashing a series of shots from his weapon, only two out of ten hitting their mark. A voice crackled over the radio, "You're gonna have to do better then that to hit me, Raven!" Alex's last name, just by chance, was the same as his occupation, a Raven mercenary. So, everyone just called him Raven, instead of Alex, or some other cool sounding nickname, like the pilot he was facing right now, who called himself "Deadly shadow", because his AC was painted jet-black, and blended well into the shadows of the arena they were in. However, nothing could hide from his radar, or his missiles, of which all twenty of the small missiles were locked on, and he fired them, all of them hitting their mark. They may have been small, but in numbers like that, they could cause some serious damage. And they did, nearly dropping his opponent's AP to none. A loud bang, followed immediately by a shuddering vibration jarred him out of his thoughts as warning lights and high-pitched sounds told him his heat was high, as was his damage. He needed to end this soon. Pulling up his back weapon, the barrels of the chain gun began spinning, then firing a rapid succession of shot, some of them missing, but most of them hitting, dropping the opposing pilot's AP to zero. 'Just one more shot...', Alex thought to himself. He took it, and it hit it's mark, but not before his opponent got a shot off, destroying his AC just moments after his enemy's. He had won, but his AC was destroyed. "Lucky the arena pays the bills.", Alex said to himself as his AC was put into the docking collar, where he met up with his opponent. "Good fight, Raven. You were better then I thought." Alex smiled and thanked Jason, the pilot as he fest a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Megan, the person who had been assigned to him, to help him with missions and decide what he would be best doing. "Megan, hi. Good to see you." She nodded, but didn't have a look of congratulations on her face as she said, "Kline wants to see you in his office." Sighing, Alex nodded and walked down the corridor, stopping for a moment to look out the window at the scenery of Mars, and found himself in front of the door that he didn't want to go through. Opening it, he walked in, facing the man that could be considered his boss. Kline smiled at Alex and said, "You are dismissed." Alex shrugged and turned to leave when Kline said, "From this planet."
Turning in bewilderment, Alex said, "Excuse me?" "Alex Raven, you are hereby discharged from the service of the Ravens on the plants Mars and Earth." "WHAT?!", Alex shouted, "Why?!" "Because you've accumulated more debt then you can pay off. You're a heavy spender, and you've caused more damage then you can repair. Your account has been in the negative for the last three weeks, and we cannot allow you to go on." Alex just stood there, dumbfounded. "That will be all, Alex. There's a shuttle waiting to take you back to Earth, where you can start a new life. Who knows, you might even find yourself a wife or something.", Kline said, smirking. He had been looking for an excuse to get Alex off of Mars for a while now, and didn't hide it. And he had found it in Alex's debt. Storming out, Alex made his way to his quarters to find that there was someone in it. Another Raven, who had no stripes on his uniform, and had no name tag. A rookie. "Oh, you must be Alex. I was told that you were gone, so they gave me your room. Your belongings are were already shipped to the shuttle. Sorry man, but I guess we aren't all cut out to be Ravens." Alex boiled in his own blood, wanting to strangle the kid right there, but kept himself in check. He just sighed and made his way to the shuttle. Indeed, all of his things were there. His trophies, his posters, and his pillows.
Alex resigned to his fate as he strapped himself in, feeling the ship shudder to life beneath his feet. He was going to miss being a pilot, and everyone knew it, especially Megan. She had been there with him since day one, and she knew how much he loved it. The pilot put the ship on auto-pilot and walked back to Alex, holding out an envelope, "Someone said that this was to be given to you." Curious, Alex took it and opened it to find a letter.

"Dear Alex,

I don't know exactly how to write this, but I know that I need to. I enjoyed the time I spent monitoring you, signing you up for missions, and even hanging out with you at the bar sometimes. I think I might have even fallen for you in a few months if the job didn't prevent it. I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything to persuade Kline from kicking you off of Mars, and believe me, I tried. I wish you the best of luck in your new life on Earth. Raven, where will you go? What will you do now? Write me sometime, I'd like to keep in contact with you. Hell, I might even take my vacation time and come to see you. Well, that's all I can say for now.


Best of luck,
Megan Aldorman"

Alex stared at the letter for a few minutes after he finished reading it, then set it down. He would keep it. He knew where she was staying, so that wasn't a problem, but she was right. Where would he go? He needed a place to stay, or he would be out on the streets. He had some friends back on Earth, but they would probably want a little notice. unstrapping himself, he made his way over to the communicator on the wall and typed in the number of his old friend, Kaekar. After a few rings, a figure appeared on the screen. "Huh? Alex? Is that you? Man, it's been forever since I last heard from you! What's up man?" Alex smiled and said, "I'm coming back to Earth and was wondering if I could crash at your place until I find a place of my own." Kaekar smiled and said, "Sure man. I might even hook you up with some of my sister's friends. You know, they've been asking about you lately, wondering if you were ever going to visit. Kim has had a crush on since the third grade." Alex smiled and said, "Too much information, man. See you when I get to Earth." Kaekar nodded and the screen went black. Sighing once more, Alex made his way to his seat and buckled up, reclining the seat. He needed some sleep, and he planned to sleep during the entire journey to Earth.



Well, that the story I have so far. Tell me what you think.