Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon

Chapter 19: Fall of HEAD BRINGER

OBSIDIAN WING was soon loaded into the hangar. Raven cracked his neck as the outline of his vision started to glow red around the edges.

"Raven," said Ayre, "I've been thinking about that... that one part you found..."

It took a moment, but Raven quickly realized that she was talking about the IA-C01G AORTA generator. It compensated for its mostly middling stats with a rather high Post-Recovery EN Supply stat, which lends itself to a counterintuitive doctrine of energy management, where it's desirable to completely deplete the generator in order to gain back the most energy after a short delay.

However, it was a Coral generator.

And, Raven was still remembering about their conversation after being shot out of cargo once meeting Carla, and the encounter with the C-Weapon SEA SPIDER. Her fear. Still rang in his head.

<<I... was going to sell it... I just forgot about it.>>

It was an honest answer. Raven knew that Ayre didn't want to be used and possibly be burned out. They still didn't know if the souls of the Coral used in C-Weapons are probably either burned out or just simply tired out whenever their energy is depleted, forcing the charges to cool down.

<<To make you feel better... I'll get rid of it right->>

"No... no." Ayre interrupted, "I... I-I want you to use it."

Raven's eyes widened. Use it? But... he didn't know if it'd be smart. He didn't want to hurt her. For he had come to a small realization: Watchpoint.

He had been wondering if that's how come she wasn't with the massive amount of Coral. He figured that Ayre was taken away, separated from her family. And then she was probably forced to power the entire base without probably even noticing it. Ayre would've said so by now.

Ayre could feel his fear for her safety. She secretly smiled. He truly cared for her.

<<You don't know what you're asking for.>>

"It's okay, Raven..." she promised, "I know what I'm doing."

<<Let me warn you though, Ayre. I don't leave the boost system alone. I'll have to push it hard and push it fast.  It'll be used frequently.  It might hurt you.  Worst, kill you.  I don't want to that.  I don't want to hurt you.>>

The Coral Intelligence knew he'd say that. Was she upset? No. She could never be.  In fact, she was thankful for his honesty.  And yes, this was true.  

"You risk yourself every time you go into battle." said Ayre, "Now, I'm willing to go into the abyss and face death with you."

Raven looked down. He let out a shaky breath. She had close to no idea what she was asking but... okay. If they were going to do this together, so be it but... why? Why's she trying to-?

"I thought that maybe I could be more than just your operator." said Ayre, "You're Raven, OBSIDIAN WING's muscle, its pilot. I'm its heart, its operator. We can work together even more. We can truly be partners though this."

<<Okay.>>

The mercenary then started to swipe over to the IA-C01G AORTA. He hesitated for a moment, eventually feeling a touch of warmth around his shoulder, he let out another shaky breath and then pressed onto the button.

The old generator: The VP-20S, was soon swapped with the Coral one. He then leaned his head back as he swapped the old boosters with the IA-C01B: GILLS.