Armored Core: Warped Souls, Wired Minds (Uncensored)

Veil Of Uncertainty: Act 3- Muscle Tracers

THE PRESENT
"All scientists, please keep distance from the window, I repeat keep distance from the windows, all scientists must go to the testing chambers and activate the arm's control module. Commencing test... laser beam from prototype weapon firing in 3...2...1!"
Men in lab coats push several levers, in front of them is a giant mechanical arm being held by several chains, the Karasawa is held by it's hand. The laser from the weapon hits the target, a wooden dummy on top of a conveyor belt, the dummy is instantly turned into small blocks of burnt wood as soon as the laser hit it.
"First test: Sucess! Changing target, now it's time to test the beam on an organic target"
A conveyor belt moves, taking the remains of the dummy with it. A sack filled with cow meat stands in front of the arm.
"Commencing manual maneuvering of the arm. Locking-on target, 3...2...1"
The laser beam hits the meat sack and the meat explodes, the white walls of the chamber splattered with their blood.
"Changing target, now it's time to see what that laser beam could do to a Core. EMERGENCY ALERT! INFECTED SUBJECT IN CHAMBER 089, TARGET MUST BE EXTERMINATED AT ALL COSTS!"
The scientists leave the chamber, grabbing guns that were attached to the walls, they run as quick as they all can, with worried faces.
"This is Researcher Phil, I'm in the danger zone, the subject is in the cafeteria! Jesus Christ... I think I'm gonna puke!"
What that man saw was horrying, one of his colleagues was in front of him but it couldn't be him, it simply could not be him.
"Alan? What's wrong, why are you pointing that gun at me?"
A creature bursted from his back, it had taken control of his body similar to an ant that has been infected with the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis parasite, the creature had eaten most of alan's body from the inside out while it grew, his lungs, his heart, and his entrails. Phil charged at the creature, firing at it with the rifle he was carrying, but to his surprise, the bullets didn't penetrate the creature, it didn't even leave a mark on it's hard shell.
"Requesting immediate assistance at the cafeteria! The creature already reached it's full potential. Dispatch the ARK unit now!"
"What, that fast?! We can't dispatch the A.R.K now! Something's wrong with it's system, it doesn't want to respond to us! WE CAN'T CONTROL IT!"
"Damn! Why are the others taking so long?!"
A group of three armed men join the scientist.
"We detected movement in the sewers, sir! Should we go check it out?"
"Do you really think a bunch of rats matter more than the thing in front of us?! Fire at it with all you got!"     
The creature detached it's antennae from Alan's brain and jumped away from the dried carcass, landing on top of a table, it's design is similar in nature to a flea, a very oversized one that is. One of the scientists ran towards it, firing at the creature's six eyes, the eyes seem to be protected by an impenetrable shell. The shells protecting the flea opened themselves, tendrils rising from them.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!
The soldiers turned around, running back to his mates.
"Dispatch the Muscle Tracer units! We need them no- *cough* oh..m you gotta be kidding me guhh..."
One of the tendrils penetrated the man's chest, hardening itself, it made it's way up towards his head and sliced him in half. The others took this oportunity and fired at the creature's exposed shells, it shrieked in pain as a blue substance dripped from it, that substance was the creature's blood.
"We almost got it, keep firing on the exposed abdomen!"
The creature's shriek came to a stop as soon as the last bullet hit.
"This is team Bravo, target eliminated. I request the immediate dispatch of every MT unit available to the cafeteria, this area has been contaminated with the creature's blood"
One of the scientists falls on their knees, staring at the scenery in front of him.
"The eggs, they're hatching..."
"What the fuck are you talking about? What eggs!?"
The man stood up from the ground, his back still turned at his colleagues.
The two men took one step back, aiming their guns at their strange colleague.
"Don't tell me... No way, it can't be?!He's one of them! Fir-!"
Sharp tendrils bursted through the men's back, impaling the two scientists behind him, their limbs and guns fell to the ground as the tendrils retracted back to the body. A muscle tracer unit crashed through the cafeteria's wall, aiming it's gun at the infected, the machine was a Diggy-type MT made for construction work.
"Engineer Seals is infected! I repeat engineer Seals is infected!"
The pilot screamed through his MT's comms. Seal's hollow carcass fell on the ground, a spider-like creature rising from it. The spider jumped on top of the MT in the blink of an eye, the pilot steered his unit around the cafeteria, trying to shake off the enemy. There was only one way to get out of a situtation like this. The pilot grabbed a joystick to his right side and pushed it up, the right arm of the unit moving along with it.
"Get the hell away from me!"
The MT stabbed the spider's abdomen, the pilot punched a yellow button in front of him with full force and the Diggy's right arm began drilling through the spider's body.
"C'mon! C'mon! I need to get rid of this thing now!"
The drill arm jammed itself into the creature, it had reached the top of it but even that wasn't enough to eliminate it. The spider twisted it's head upside down, a blue substance dripping from it's mouth, The pilot grabbed a small pistol from his pocket.
"I won't die that easily!"
The pilot squeezed the trigger, and the pistol fired, striking the creature. It shrieked in pain as the bullet entered it's mouth and came out of it's back, but the spider was still alive.
"Why won't you die?!"
The spider retaliated by spitting an acidic substance at the Diggy unit's right arm, causing the arm's elbow joint to sustain heavy damage.
"Warning! Unit's right elbow joint has experienced heavy damage! Disconnecting..." blared the MT's AI.
"Stupid outdated AI!"
The pilot tried to regain the control of his unit as it's right arm fell to the ground with a resounding thud.
The spider, now free from the drill arm, lunged at the Diggy. It managed to leap away just in time, narrowly avoiding the creature's deadly fangs. The cafeteria's walls were painted blue by the spider's blood, and the situation was growing increasingly dire.
"Backup Units detected. Sending GPS signal,"
More Diggy-type units arrived on the scene, three of them, and the pilot felt a glimmer of hope.
"Is this what's been causing you all that trouble, B-79? Don't worry, I'm here to help you, my friend"
"This is different from the other creatures I've fought. It should've been dead the moment I drilled through its abdomen, C-54! B-33, where's the rest of the unit?"
"We couldn't get in contact with them. Their last known location was at the sewer entrance. I suspect that we have might have more undesirables inside the facility, oh well..."
"This is A-23! avoid using your unit's rocket launchers. We cannot sacrifice this entire facility because of one creature!"
"Yes sir!"
The Diggy's circled around the spider, aiming their drills at it, they turned their own units into a barrier that the spider could not escape from.
The spider jumped aboved them, firing a web, that unrolled itself and turned into a giant net.
"Break formation!"
A-23 ordered the others, the units jumped away from the attack area. The net suddenly stopped in the middle of the air, as it it was floating.
"Huh?!"
The net turned into a glowing sphere and launched itself towards C-54, the sphere began drilling towards the inside of his unit's cockpit.
"C-54!"
B-79's unit ran towards C-54's unit, as C-54's unit was pierced by the glowing sphere, a chilling silence fell over the battlefield. B-79 watched in horror as his comrade's cockpit filled with that intense, ominous glow. He felt a crushing sense of helplessness as C-54's voice crackled over the comms, weak but determined.
"You have... to win... this battle... B-79..."
The words hung in the air, heavy with the realization that they were C-54's last. The sphere continued its relentless advance, drilling through C-54's body, and B-79's heart sank.
"It can't be!"

The sphere continued its relentless advance, drilling through C-54's body, and B-79's heart sank. He had fought alongside C-54 for countless missions, and now he was witnessing his comrade's tragic demise.
As the sphere finally entered C-54's body completely, the cockpit erupted into a blinding explosion of flames. B-79's vision blurred as he watched the inferno engulf his comrade, and his unit was launched against the wall, the sound of the explosion still echoing in his ears. Tears welled up in his eyes, his voice trembling with grief.
"C-54..."
But amidst the chaos of battle, A-23 and B-33 remained unfazed, their cold, calculating voices only deepening B-79's anguish.
"C-54 was the weakest of us all, I knew that his day would soon come, B-79! Now's not the time to get emotional. We were created with one purpose in mind, to be disposable tools for the corporations. This is the reason we're Muscle Tracer pilots."
B-79 couldn't help but feel a profound sense of loss and betrayal, not just by the corporations that had created them as expendable tools but also by his own callous comrades who seemed to value their mission above all else, even the lives of their fellow pilots.
"I'm picking up some signals sir!"
B-33 exclaimed to A-23, a group of armed scientists rushed into the cafeteria, those were the same scientists at the testing chambers.
"What took you guys so long?!"
A-23 complained, B-33 noticed that something was wrong, the scientists weren't replying to their questions.
"No way, did the entire facility get infected that fast?! What the hell is going on!"
B-33 panicked as the scientists' bodies seemed to twitch and convulse, and then, with grotesque suddenness, the flesh on their backs split open, giving birth to nightmarish flea-like and spider-like creatures, they began closing in on B-33 and A-23, seemingly ignoring B-79.
"It's just a bunch of Arachnids, no need to be scared! Come on, come at me! I'm B-33!"
B-33 fought valiantly, but the creatures proved to be more formidable than their previous adversary. With swift and coordinated movements, they overwhelmed B-33's unit
"MAIN SYSTEM OVERHEATING! MOBILITY SYSTEM IN CRITICAL CONDITION!"
"I can't die here, not now!"
The creatures tore the unit's cockpit apart with their nightmarish appendages.
"B-33, don't die right now!"
A-23 desperately attempted to come to B-33's aid, but it was too late. The creatures swarmed the inside of B-33's cockpit, and the only thing that remained inside was his own blood while the creatures chewed and swallowed his remains. A-23, locked in combat with the creatures, he could only respond with a grim determination. These foes were unlike anything he had faced before, and their sheer strength and ferocity were overwhelming him.
"A-23!"
B-79's voice crackled with urgency as he finally managed to get his unit back on its feet. B-79 fought his way toward A-23, his unit battered and scarred from the explosion. The loss of B-33 and the dire situation weighed heavily on him. He unleashed a flurry of attacks using his unit's only drill arm, desperately trying to clear a path to his leader. B-79 fought with every ounce of strength and resolve he had left, locked in a fierce battle with the spider-like and flea-like creatures. The cafeteria had become a chaotic and bloodied battlefield, and he could only catch glimpses of A-23, still bravely holding off the other grotesque creatures.
"B-79, listen carefully. You're the last one. You have to finish the mission. Don't let our sacrifices be in vain. stop these things from getting to the surface"
"Not you too!"
A-23's unit crumbled on the ground as the creatures tore it apart with their acid spit. B-79 was the last one standing in the facility, he knew that his chances of survival were slim.
With a heavy heart, he activated the communication system one last time, recording a final message for anyone who might find his unit. The creatures were already crawling towards his cockpit.

"To whoever comes across this unit, you must listen carefully. We were tasked with a mission to contain a grave threat beneath this facility,. I couldn't save my comrades, but I can save you. These creatures must never reach the surface. They are Biological weapons, an abomination, a danger to all life. You must seal this facility and prevent their escape at all costs."
With his message recorded, B-79 knew what he had to do. He activated his unit's rocket launcher and aimed it at the ceiling. As he fired a salvo of missiles, the facility's structure began to crumble around him. Debris rained down, and the floor gave way beneath him.
In a heroic sacrifice, B-79 sealed the creatures inside the collapsing facility, ensuring that they wouldn't get to the surface."
"C-54... I did it... I..."
B-79's consciousness faded as the debris and darkness enveloped his unit. In that fading moment, he found solace in knowing that he had prevented a grave threat from reaching the surface, even at the cost of his own life.