*****Chapter 1: Failure*****

//----------//RECIEVING//----------//
Line Ark Transmission: Priority 1
Mercenary Contract Request Form
Pilot Name: Liam
Core Name: Failure
Head: [REDACTED]
Core: EKHAZAR
Arms: 03-AALIYAH/A
Legs: LG-LANCEL
AP: 39388
Color Scheme: PRI-Tan; SEC-Black
Emblem: LOGO//NEXT-Failure
Mission Outline: New terrorist faction has taken a foothold in decommissioned power plant.
Primary Objective: Eliminate enemy presence in the region.
Secondary Objective: Observe enemy activity for signs of unknown Kojima-based technology. --Speculated to be shield generators--
Tertiary Objective: Retrieve Kojima-based equipment if found.
Reward For Satisfactory Completion: 1,000,000c

//Addendum: This comes from the top, kid. Your brother said no. That's right, HE said no. I know exactly who you are, what you've done, and we want you. Who knows. . . complete the mission with satisfactory results and we may just hire you for keeps. Not to mention success where your own brother was too afraid to go.//
//----------//END TRANSMISSION//----------//

I read the notification more times than I could count. . . 100, 1000, it didn't matter anymore. Ever since my older brother hit the Mercenary scene a couple years back, contracts were nearly impossible to come by. I had become a burden on my loved ones, namely, my mother, Sharice. I lived with her on a Cradle, a giant flying city. My money was dwindling fast, and so I had to save it for the one thing that mattered most to me, my NEXT. It wasn't anything over the top, granted, it was an impressive machine. The only gift I ever received from my brother was the head I used, the same model that was employed in the legendary White Glint.

My other special equipment, or rather, weapon, was a design by my father. A katana, upsized and modified for use with a NEXT, was mounted to Failure's hip. I had a similar sword, an old family heirloom, that I wore practically everywhere. The two weapons were the only things my father left me, deciding to use his money to pay for my brother's first NEXT when he decided to enter the Merc business. I was fine with it, it wasn't like I wanted a NEXT or anything.

Liam sighed, pushing himself up from the chair in front of the console. He had already sent his reply, glad for the chance to do some work for once, even if he had denied the contract. There weren't many rules around his mother's house, take out the garbage, save water. . . there was one more. . . OH, tell her when he was going out on a potentially deadly mission.

"MA!" he shouted, glancing throughout the small apartment that they shared.

"In here, honey," came a sweet voice from the bedroom. Liam entered, his heart dropping a bit at the scene. She was old, well getting there anyway, even if she insisted that she still had the energy of a 21 year old.

Liam forced a smile, noting the pitiful state of the room. She lied on her normal bed, which was just barely long enough to hold the 5'6'' woman. Next to it sat a dirty mattress, the one he slept on. They didn't have the money to upgrade to one of the suites, which could run upwards of 6,000c a month, so they had to settle on this single bedroom dump.

"I just got a contract offer from Line Ark," he said, the smile turning genuine as his mother perked up a bit, "Shouldn't be too difficult, just some nut jobs hanging around an old power plant that he has already cleared out a couple times. Decent payday also, we'd be able to upgrade for a while at least. Not to mention that L.A. is hinting at a permanent employment option if I do well."

His brother had cut all ties with his family after their father's death. It was that pain, Liam supposed, that drove him to do so well with all of his contracts.

Liam's mother perked up a bit, taking a breath to speak before breaking down into a violent fit of coughing. She regained her composure, taking a breath to steady herself before replying, "That sounds wonderful, Liam. I hope for nothing but the best for you, you know that. Just promise me you'll be safe. I know our family history, hell, I used to be your father's Operator, but you don't want to hear ancient history I suppose."

Sharice let out a rough chuckle before continuing, "I know that you named your NEXT Failure. I don't know why, and I don't care too much. It's a better choice than naming it 'Lucky', or some other cliché garbage like 'Death's Messenger', but know this: a NEXT's name is more than just a name, it's a reflection of your heart and soul. I know you aren't a failure, your father knew too. You're destined to go far, and maybe one day you and your brother will set aside your differences and work together. The two of you would be unstoppable, you know."

"Ma, I know my limits, I know his. They aren't even in the same galaxy. I just need to do this so I can afford to keep my NEXT," he sighed, "And get you the help you need, in the place you want to live."

His mother frowned at him, "I'm healthy as a horse. You worry about you, I'll worry about me. Money is one thing, but don't you dare think yourself any less of a LYNX than your brother, because you're already better for not dropping off the radar like he did."

She held her arms toward him, and he stepped forward. They shared a short embrace, Liam shuddering on the inside at how frail she seemed. He knew she wasn't going to last much longer if he didn't get help, but doctors wanted hundreds of thousands of credits these days, and that wasn't something that he had access to without Line Ark's contract.

He sighed, turning towards the door before looking over his shoulder, "Bye, mom. I love you, you know."

Sharice beamed at her son, "I love you too, Liam, and so does your father."

He wanted to say more, to tell her that he would be fine. He could tell she'd seen the apprehension on his face, and he could see the worry on hers, but he wasn't in the position to make promises he couldn't keep. This was live combat, after all.

Liam grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and his duffle bag from the corner of the living room. Within it was his piloting suit, a complicated array of circuitry and neural sensors woven into a spandex body suit. It was completed with a white helmet, sporting his logo on the back and a full face visor that served double as a display for the NEXT's cameras.

He drained the water bottle, tossing it into the sink to refill when he returned, and opened the door to head to the hangar. The hallways were cramped, but mostly deserted since most residents preferred to stay in their homes. Liam came to an elevator, depressing the button as the gears whirred inside the shaft, lifting the metal box up to his level.

When it opened, Liam hesitated before entering. Already in the elevator was a woman. Not just any woman, though, this woman was special. Catherine, the girl of his dreams, and a friend since they were old enough to walk. His palms began to sweat a bit as he entered, of course, he could wade through hordes of enemy Normals any day, but when faced with an attractive member of the fairer sex, he was rendered ineffective.

"Hey Li," she chirped happily, "Long time, no see!"

She stepped forward, enveloping the LYNX in a hug.

"Y-Yeah, heh, long time," he stuttered, "Where're you headed?"

"Oh I'm headed to the atrium, there's a few trees that aren't doing so well, and I want to make sure they got watered today." She seemed depressed about the trees, and for good reason. She was this Cradle's premier botanist, a dying art in an apocalyptic wasteland. "Speaking of heading, where are you off to with that gear?" she eyed him for a moment, casting a meaningful glance at his piloting gear.

Liam scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I got a contract from Line Ark. Gotta clear a few terrorists out of an old nuclear power plant and recover some new kind of Kojima tech junk."

Catherine sighed, looking him in the eye, "You know, one of these days you're not going to come back from 'a few terrorists'." She placed a hand on his shoulder, holding eye contact, "I just want you to come back safe, alright?"

"Cat," he sighed, trying to find the right words. "I just. . . I need the pay to get a doctor to check on my mom, you know that. Not to mention that there's enough on the line with this mission to move into one of the nice suites for a while, and a possible permanent pos-"

He was cut off mid sentence when Catherine wrapped a hand around the back of his head, pulling him into a deep kiss as his mind tripped, stumbled, and then fell all over itself. He sighed through his nose, leaning into the kiss as his brain simply stopped trying to figure everything out. They stayed that way for what felt like hours, but in reality it was only about a minute.

The elevator dinged, notifying the pair that it had reached the NEXT hangar. Catherine pulled back, tears on her cheeks as she looked in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me, Li?"

He snorted, "You're too good for me, Cat. I couldn't ever bring myself to say anything."

A light slap was his reward, making him flinch before tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Li, I had the same problem with you. . . Just come back alive, that's all I want," she let out a raspy chuckle before planting another quick kiss on his lips. "There's more than credits on the line now, right?"

She pulled a gold pocket watch, complete with chain, and pressed it into his hand. "Here, my mom told me that this is what my dad gave her when he asked her to marry him. She wanted me to give it to someone special some day. When you get back. . . well, I think we've put things off for long enough."

Liam closed his hand around the watch, catching Cat's hand in his. He smiled, leaning forward and kissing her one more time before pulling away and jogging across the hangar to his NEXT.

"Ahem," Twilight cleared her throat with a small cough, gaining both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia's attentions. She replaced the hoof on the ground, smiling shyly at her mentor and her sister.

Luna rolled her eyes subtly, not liking the idea of being cooped up in Canterlot while Twilight and her friends got to go on an adventure. She turned, walking out of the room as Celestia whispered behind her, "Trust me, little sister."

Twilight walked forward, "You wanted to see me? To give me a test?" She smiled at Luna as she walked by, looking bored. "I brought my own quills, and plenty of paper to show my work," Twilight said, spilling the contents of her saddlebags and spouting apologies at Celestia as she sheepishly began to roll up a 30 foot piece of parchment before it was encased in her teacher's golden glow.

"This, is a different kind of test," Celestia replied, appearing downcast for a moment before explaining further, "The Crystal Empire has returned."

"Line Arc Operator here, call sign Angel," came a bored sounding female voice from the radio. "Looks like we'll be working together today, LYNX."

"Sounds good," Liam replied, ensuring that the NEXT's inertial dampeners were working and that he was strapped into the cockpit securely. The last thing any LYNX wanted was to be tossed around like a ragdoll and splattered across the cockpit interior when they used their boosters.

"Sending in coordinates now, should be a short flight from that Cradle," Angel droned.

"Yeah, sounds like it," he replied, mirroring her enthusiasm perfectly.

The NEXT stomped forward, positioning itself in front of the massive framework supporting his only Vanguard Over Boost module. Various thuds could be heard through the hull of the NEXT as the supports were latched on. Liam took a glance around the hangar, spotting several other NEXTs that were in storage. This Cradle was a military model, built to support the machines while their pilots waited for contracts or an attack. That was the main reason nobody messed with the ship, as they'd be up against about 20 of the most effective tools of war ever created. It was also made to keep the pilots and other Kojima contaminated citizens away from the 'clean' population.

Liam checked the responsiveness of his arms before grabbing the offered assault rifles from their lifts. His adrenaline was already pumping, and he was eager to get underway. The techs gave him the green light, signaling that he was all set as he thumbed the boost controls.

The entire 'mech shook as the liquid fueled rocket motors ignited, blasting him down the short runway and out the front of the Cradle. His NEXT shot its arms out front, legs behind, to be more aerodynamic. He worked the foot pedals, turning to the correct heading before engaging the second stage motors and shattering the sound barrier. He was currently at 30,000 feet, plenty of space for his high altitude drop, but what worried him was the recon that he was supposed to do.

Liam had poured over the provided maps, noticing immediately that there was very little cover in the area around the nuclear power plant. In fact, his best bet would be to simply use the altitude to drop into the cooling tower before setting his main booster to hover and let his sensors do the work. Intel on enemy resistance was sketchy at best, a few Normals had been spotted, a turret or two, but remarkably small for such a large payday.

He could already see the plant below, the massive cooling tower shooting out of the planet, reaching towards the sky above. Thumbing the release control for the Vanguard module, the rocket motors shattered behind him, raining down to the ground miles away from the combat zone. Using his own boosters, Liam began his descent into the cooling tower to wait.

"*static* . . . Ange- - Comm.- -," his headset was filled with static as he slapped the radio control, cutting off the Operator's channel and leaning back into his seat.

He sighed, the mission was complicated enough as it was, now with his comms being jammed. . . he'd have to do it without an Operator.

The neurofibers in his suit picked up the movement, throttling down the boosters as they mirrored his own intentions. A faint flash caught his attention, and he flexed his abs to activate the NEXT's forward facing engines in a quick boost to bring him to a halt. As he did so, a sniper cannon shell flew right past his face, stunning him for a moment before a familiar voice invaded his ears.

"Long time, no see. . . Brother."

Author's Note

And here it is. Been bugging me for quite some time, and I just had to get it out of my head. Let's see what happens, eh?