Darling in the Franx: Alternate Core

Chapter 1: Not as alone as they believe...

Hello everyone, I'm importing this story from my site at fanfiction. After seeing the hype for the new Armored Core 6 game (boi, FINALLY!) I simply couldn't hold it anymore. As the description of the story says, this is my take on the 'Darling in the Franxx' anime with the main division from it being that in this AU, we have a secret faction apart from APE and the klaxosaurs. A faction whose focus is to restore humanities future while staying true to their authentic nature, one that the humans of APE have abandoned. This AU has elements of many franchises I love, specially Ace Combat, Super Mecha Champions and Armored Core. There are some notes to consider:

1 - I suck at descriptions, meaning that if there's something that has a picture or video about it that can give context, then I will use it and avoid me the trouble unless it is absolutely necessary.

2 - There will be some scene/time skips because it is something that plays exactly like in the anime and helps save time and words.

3 - It has been a while since I watched Darling in the Franxx, so I may get wrong a few details or modify some of them for the sake of this fic. Please read with a grain of salt.

With that out of the way, I'm glad to announce the pilot episode of this fic!

Remember, 'Darling in the Franxx' is not of my property neither the franchises associated to make this fic possible except my OC's and their lore.

Now on with chapter 1!

(Edit 18/07/2023: reworked the intro to integrate the same mythical tone used in the anime pilot.)

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He had that dream again: a lone pink-haired girl with red horns and skin was walking alone in the white snowy forest wearing only a black cape as her only cover against the cold winds. And again, he for some reason followed her as she seemed to speak...

"The Jian, also known as the bird that shares wings... because it only has one wing. Unless a male and female pair lean on each other, and act as one? They're incapable of flight. They're imperfect, incomplete creatures. However, one day? Their way of live... began to strike me as something profoundly beautiful."

That was when she turned around towards him, seemingly surprised to sense him...

"Surely you as a Raven understand that? Why the need to follow me? To strike me down? To seize and feast upon my corpse once I fail to find my partner and I'm at the mercy of the elements?"

Then he answered calmly...

"As a Raven, I'm supposed to be the bird that omens misfortune and death itself as its master. It is my duty to help those suffering poor souls to be released from their mortal coils and to recycle their vessels so that new life can emerge from where they fall... but there's also, a secret reason to why I follow you... tell me Jian... once you find your partner, you two will be able to fly... but how do you plan to do so?"

Just then, the snowy winds start to blow faster and stronger, covering everything in white, as the picture of a black Raven flying above is seen before his shadow transforms into a the Jian... and that is when the boy wakes up...

The wasteland, Earth, circa 2100, 12:30 am...

Only the sound of the desert wind could be heard all around the dead valley... that is until the sound of thruster engines invaded the serene peace of the night as two mechanical figures rolled through the sand. One of the two colossal figures had the frame of a white knight: