Armored Core 6: Cold Ghost

5. IGNITION

Nax is excited. Seven weeks of boring and non-sensical tests and exercises, moving to 3 different facilities, each gloomier and more restrictive than the last. To finally pilot the AC of his own, to carefully pick each part by himself, to paint the AC and stick decals on it any way he wished. Nax is definitely excited. Limited parts but still enough to make his AC his own, all for the purpose of wiping out the competition.

"64 Candidates, but not all of you are going to get licensed. Over the course of two weeks, you all will be competing against one another. Obviously, winning matches would be in your favor but the final selection will be based on other factors.

The first match will start 3 days from now. Pairings will be announced the day before. Should you need anything else, the AllMind AI assistant will be able to handle it."

That was what message read this morning as the program transitioned to week 8, AC Combat Aptitude test. It might as well be renamed to an AC tournament to save time. The test is to filter out the weaker pilots essentially and Nax has no intention of being one of them.

Nax had a clear vision what he wanted his AC to be, just not the parts specifically. Rapid fire, explosive, something to leave the scene with a bang. He had to admit that this 10-week long training program had its uses; the Weapons Aptitude test exposed him to a variety of setups. The explosive thrower had left an impression that made the rest of the options for the left arm feel insignificant. Now it is attached to the left arm of his test AC that's simulated on his screen, paired with a machinegun on the right, and a mix of split and 4-cell missile launchers on the shoulders. Not exactly what he had in mind but limited by parts, this would have to do.

"Besides," he thought out loud, "its all about the pilot, not the AC."

He took another look at his AC, trying to imagine the paint scheme that would make it distinguishable from miles away. A color not many would pick but still cool looking and appealing. The AC's name is Fire Starter, so ideally the whole spectrum between red to yellow. Add some black to contrast the bright colors. But it will have to wait, his match is starting in a couple hours and he'd rather go through performance tests in the simulator rather than paint.

And, surprisingly, before he knew it. His comm headset pinged a couple of times, with a message informing him to report to his designated Core within 30 minutes.

The Core, as the pilot candidates unanimously referred to the Simulation Pod assigned exclusively to each one, had become something of a second home to Nax. Actually, it's more like a second body, an extension of his own that made him interlinked with his AC, albeit a simulated one. On screen, Nax could see the brackets of the entire... tournament, 32 pairs and a total of 6 rounds to go through. The matches are more spread out in the first few rounds, but ultimately through some meticulous organization, the whole tournament would be done by the end of week 9. Thus, making week 10, the final week before he gets officially licensed as an AC Pilot Mercenary. Almost there.

The count down timer reach zero, Nax's AC took only a step as the Assault Boosters charged then expelled superheated gas, propelling the AC into the air just a few meters off the ground and straight towards his opponent. The opposing AC opened up the fight with a bazooka round at the incoming AC. A futile effort, a quick tilt of the controls and Pheonix's left side jets shot a powerful burst, shifting the AC mid-flight to its right while maintaining it's course. The whistle of the shell was audible as it flew past Pheonix, now reaching the outer limit of its weapons. It fired off its missiles, both shoulders, their trajectories putting them in a wide angle like a wave coming to crash at the opposing AC. In an attempt to dodge out of the way, the opposing AC also gave a powerful burst to the side, Quick Boosting a couple times in the side direction. A couple missiles still stuck the AC and Pheonix was close enough to pelt it with its machine gun. Pheonix kept machine gun firing to cover the missile launches, forcing the opposing AC to strain the generator till it ran out of energy. The plan worked and the latest missile salvo nearly all hit and the AC recoiled and staggered with each one. Pheonix moved in with a burst from its rear jets, and with a flourish of its left arm swinging a wide arc from right to left, the explosive thrower showered the entire view ahead with smaller explosions.