Armored Core: Warped Souls, Wired Minds (Uncensored)

Party Of Corpses: Act 1 - The Terrorist Incident

A high speed bullet train races through the futuristic city of Brex, a beautiful city when the night comes, but beneath the shimmering facade lay a city teeming with secrets, a metropolis built on a foundation of corruption, crime syndicates, and corporate greed. Power was wielded not by governments but by mega-corporations, Brex stood as a testament to the triumph of capitalism run rampant. The air hummed with the constant thrum of activity, the streets alive with the hustle and bustle of those trying to survive in a world where the divide between the haves and the have-nots seemed insurmountable. The city, with its gleaming exterior masking the rot within, is a playground for the elite, a secret battleground for rival factions vying for control. Here, the law is dictated not by justice, but by the whims of corporate overlords who pull strings from the shadows, orchestrating a symphony of power and oppression. The train is transporting the current President of LuminTek, one of the most influential corporations in the current age, his name is Anthony, 57 years old, he's currently on his way to a building where a meeting will be held with representatives of other corporations to discuss about their joint project, Human Plus, he's being protected by more than 15 guards.
"Mr. Anthony! There are Amored Cores closing in on the train, we didn't pick anything on the radar, they must be equipped with ECMs!"
Without warning three 5 meter tall ACs, an yellow and white quadruped with dual moonlight blades, a gray heavyweight bipedal with dual gatling guns and two cannons mounted on it's back, a red and blue colored bipedal carrying a rifle, all surround the train, the two ACs with ranged weapons shoot the sides, creating several holes and killing some guards who barely had any time to react, painting the brown carpet below their feet red.
"Damn it, Guards! We have hostiles, get to your positions and protect me!" The president shouts, a fearless guard climbs a ladder that leads to the roof of the train, carrying a rocket launcher on his back.
"Don't worry, Mr. Anthony, I'll take care of these terrorists! This is my time to shine, YEARGHHH!"
He's instantly blown into pieces by the sleek red and blue AC the moment he put his head outside. Anthony and several guards dive for cover as soon as the heavyweight bipedal fires it's gatling guns, creating even more giant holes in the train's wall. A guard crawls towards a phone dropped on the ground and calls for the police force, these remaining guards know they stand no chance against several ACs.
"This is an emergency, my name is Sergeant Davis, were currently under attack by terrorist ACs, we need immediate assistance, I'm inside a bullet train with other guards and a really important passenger, please help! I'm sending the train's current location now!"
At the the police station, several police ACs are launched from underground hatches, these units are blue quadrupeds equipped with 5th generation technology and they all are 5 meters tall, each unit holds a shield and a small plasma pistol.
"Alright boys, y'all known what you're getting into, this is gonna be a high risk mission so I better not see anyone being a wimp" exclaims Officer Jackson.
"Yes sir!"
The police units activate their boosters and fly towards the bullet train under attack.
"How long until their arrival?!" Anthony screams while the remaining guards fire at the ACs through the windows, the bullets do no damage to the ACs.
"They're close sir, we need to survive until their arrival! Don't worry i didn't tell them about you being in this train, that project can't be known to the public yet"
The guard crawls on the floor and hides under a seat, the ammunition of his gun ran out.
The heavyweight terrorist AC bashes itself against the train, making everyone who's still alive lose their balance temporarily, the corpses of the guards all slide to the right side, the entire cabin is soaked in blood, the terrorist is trying to derail the train using the weight of his AC, fortunately the entire police AC units are behind them.
"I see the terrorists, they're up ahead, let's make them leave that train and have them focus all their fire on us!" Jackson boosts towards the terrorists, the AC equipped with moonlight blades notice him and the other police units.
"Looks like the cops have arrived, Viper will take care of the Lumintek President, you two come with me" The three ACs leave the train to fight with the cops.
"They left? Maybe I'll be able to reach the meeting in time" Anthony is relieved to see the terrorists retreating to fight against the cops. The entire cabin is soaked in blood, bullet holes and several corpses, those ACs caused a mess, only 2 guards, sergeant Davis and Anthony survived that massacre.
"I can't believe we survived that, who were those guys anyway? We suffered too many losses, I'll never forget their sacrifices, well, at least I'll be able to have some good grilled steak with my wife, play some videogames, go bowling with my friends so that's good I guess"
"Wait, there's something wrong, my phone isn't working!" The guard is shouts with a worried expression.
"Maybe it broke during all that fighting, it's no big deal compared to the losses we've had! our main priority is protecting Lumintek's president remember that, so focus on that first and think about what's gonna happen tomorrow after this mission is over! Were already passing by the bridge leading to the building where Anthony will have his meeting, this train will come to a halt soon" Sergeant Davis is clearly stressed at the remaining two guards, the ground below all of them suddenly shakes.
"What's happening?!" Anthony wants an explanation to the shaking, this is no good at all.
"There's something underneath the bridge!"
A giant gray and white colored jet-like frame rises from underneath the bridge and splits the train car in half.
"NOOOO!!!!!"
The train car is split in two, Anthony and the guards try to hold onto anything stable but it's no use, the sliced half is already on collision course towards a nearby apartment building, the sliced half of the train car spins several times in the sky while on it's collision course with the apartment.
"Help! Help!!! Help!!!"
Meanwhile, a brazilian man is having dinner in the 30th floor of the apartment near the railroad with a man whom he has been living with for months, they're AC pilots.
"Holy crap, I've never had a pizza this good since the mission to protect capsules in the amazon, I'll have so many stuff to tell my family when I come back to my country, this mercenary work I've been consistently getting is great, maybe I can finally be a participant in the Master Of Arena Competition!"
The brazilian man speaks with a man with long blonde hair who's wearing a tuxedo.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." The man looks at the window behind the brazilian
"Huh? What THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
The man runs away from the room, leaving the brazilian behind.
"Hey, where are you going?!"
The brazilian looks behind him, the sliced half of the train car crashes through the 30th floor, destroying everything in it's path, his precious belongings, his wallet which he left on the table near the tv and a picture of his family who still lives in Brazil.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The sliced half of the train comes to a halt near the brazilian's face who's completely petrified due to his recent losses.
Inside the train wreckage are the bodies of the guards, sergeant davis and anthony, all of them died due to the impact.
Back at the destroyed bridge, the jet like frame transforms, it's a 15 meter tall Next with black wings and a sniper rifle.
"Viper here, the president has been taken care of, retreat for now, I set the bipedal UNAC with the rifle to self destruct if any of you are caught by the cops, I'm leaving the area now, I can't let my existence become public knowledge yet. The cops clearly didn't know that Lumintek's president was in there if they did they would've at least sent one unit to protect it, either these pigs are that stupid or companies really don't want the project to be leaked.... that cloaking device we stole from Mercury Heavy Industries has proved to be pretty useful"
The Next transforms into it's jet mode disappearing into the clouds above, leaving behind it's trail of destruction below.
"Viper took care of our priority target, Silent Fang, why don't you go and let me have some fun with the remaining police units?" The pilot of the yellow and white AC speaks with the other terrorist throught a private communication channel
"Shadowstrike, I'm detecting reinforcements! something's strange, it seems to be only one unit heading this way, doesn't matter take down these guys first"
Silent fang fires it's cannons at each police unit, knocking them off their feet
"Jackson! Help me!!!"
Three police units are pierced by the the blades of Shadowstrike and are sliced in half. Shadowstrike does a 360° turn and boosts towards Jackson, the bipedal AC carrying a rifle doesn't seem to be moving at all during this fight.
"Damn bastard! We need Specter here now!" Jackson keeps dodging the attacks of Shadowstrike, his guns are all out of energy and his shield has been cut in half by the blades.
"Officer, Alex's on his way already, keep those terrorists occupied until his arrival" The voice of a woman speaks through the communication channel of all police units, this woman is commander Jane, she's the one in charge of the entire AC unit of Brex's police department. Shadowstrike slices both hands of Jackson's AC.
"I can't go down like this, not yet!"
"Jackson, I see Alex, he's here!"
A downed police unit points to an 12 meter tall white and black AC with purple highlights racing through the train tracks, this machine is equipped with the latest technology developed for the highly advanced AC machines known as Nexts, this Next was given the name "Specter" due to it's stealth capabilities and it's current pilot is Alex Jesterfield, a 27 year old male Lynx who was originally a mercenary belonging to the ravens but left the mercenary world after a tragic battle three years ago, he was chosen to pilot Specter due to his high compatibility with the AMS.
"Looks like these cops had an ace up their sleeve, Silent Fang, retreat, I'll take care of this"
"My legs are way too damaged, I'll need to change them. be careful Shadowstrike"
Silent Fangs fires several missiles to temporarily blind the remaining cops, he takes this opportunity and leaves the area.
Shadowstrike slices both arms of Jackson's unit and boosts towards Specter, it's blade attack is easily dodged by the advanced Next who vanishes from his sight.
"What the hell?! My radar's not working, where did that thing go?!"
Shadowstrike is hit by several bullets in it's head, those bullets could've only come from the front but he can't see the damn Next anywhere. The machine suddenly appears behind of him, it had turned itself invisible somehow.
"This machine. It's just like Viper..."
Specter kicks Shadowstrike off the bridge and into the road below, creating a big crater around the area, thankfully all civilians have been evacuated from the area during the start of this terrorist attack.
Specter floats above Shadowstrike.
"Surrender now and we won't need to use lethal force, you have lost this battle, leave the Armored Core immediately" Specter points it's rifle at the disabled AC's cockpit.
"It doesn't matter if I die here, we already took care of the lumintek president, we were just distractions, our plans will continue even if an important member dies"
"What did you say, Lumintek's president was inside that train?!"
"The train was destroyed while your crew were fighting me and my other two allies, your pig buddies have brains the size of a peanut to not even send one unit to protect the train, we succeeded in our mission. Soon you will know that not everything is what it seems"
"What do you mean?!"
"This world is being corrupted by fools who want to play god, and this is not a world that I wish to be in"
The previously stationary bipedal AC carrying the rifle suddenly jumps from the bridge and lands on top of Shadowstrike.
"What the?!"
Specter tries to grab it but the AC spontaneously combusts, knocking specter of it's feet, Shadowstrike is destroyed along with the pilot inside it. The buildings around the explosion and part of the bridge are burning and several police units were disabled.
"Jane, it's me alex. Lumintek's president was inside that train and they killed him. We were just being distracted by them, damn it!!! Damn it!!! Do we have any camera footage from the last 10 minutes?!"
"Doesn't seem to be that way, those terrorist definitely used some kind of ECM device to hide whatever destroyed the train, I did get some info that a train car landed in the 30th floor of an apartment, I'll tell the remaining units to go check that area. Your Specter seems to have suffered a lot of damage in several parts, that booster isn't gonna work so soon and the right leg isn't functioning properly. Please retreat and come back to the station"
As the sun sets over the city, Alex clenchs his fist in frustation, he swears to uncover the truth behind why this entire thing happened, why there was no information of Lumintek's president being inside the train, how the terrorists knew about and what exactly Shadowstrike meant.