//SENYUU V.IV Rusty x C4-621 Raven
—C4-621, without her identity or memories, will take any name she’s given, including senyuu—buddy—coming from the V.IV, Rusty.
Though she didn’t know why a nickname that felt like any other could make her feel… a certain way.
; takes place during Operation Wallclimber ; canon-compliant with some extra dialogues ; #senyuu
***
Raven will take any name she’s given, including the name from the callsign she stole.
In her defense, it’s less of a mouthful than 621 and sounded more like a real name than her augmented serial, so she’s keeping it. She asked Walter if he would call her that too, but he’s sticking with 621 since he’s her handler and could do whatever he wanted… presumably.
Oh, well. At least Arquebus Corporation and the Rubicon Liberation Front acknowledged the callsign Raven that she used now, despite one using it to address her for the briefing and one using it to curse her for breaking through their defensive line on the Wall—a trading outpost RLF was using as a fortress.
Operation Wallclimber was Arquebus’ attempt to take over the Wall from RLF and their JUGGERNAUT, the heavy mobile artillery platform stationed at the top of it. G4 Volta, and by extension, Balam Corporation, failed at it, so they decided to send her there, probably thinking she would do a better job. And a better job she will do, all for the credits, all the COAM.
So far she had managed to clean up the MT outside and the few stragglers inside the Wall, so all were left to move up and face the JUGGERNAUT who had already shooting at her from the top since she arrived for the mission.
“There should be a lift nearby. The target should be close.” Handler Walter’s voice boomed in her ear through the speakers.
She located the lift on her left side and got on it before pressing the control to move it.
As she took the lift up, her mind buzzed, thinking about the G13 rank Michigan from Balam gave her. She wondered if Arquebus would give her a rank too if she managed to take this JUGGERNAUT down. Maybe they could give her an honorary rank too like the G13? She knew that numbered Vespers were leaders of a squad, but maybe Arquebus wouldn’t be stingy and would still give her a title.
What were the lowest numbered Vespers again? She glanced at the personal database and files she kept on her corner to consult on.
The lowest-ranked Vesper is V.VIII, so maybe she could be V.IX. V.IX Raven does have a nice ring to it after all.
And speaking of Vespers, the one she should meet in this mission is… Vesper number IV, callsign Rusty.
He called in just before she fully broke through the Wall, praising her speed, and Walter even said how a numbered Vesper was an important one, making her wonder just how truly strong this Rusty was.
The lift stopped. She was on the top now.
“621, I’ve dispatched a supply sherpa. Make sure you resupply.” As Walter spoke, the mark for the supply area popped up.
“Understood,” she answered, the collar around her neck amplifying and stabilizing her voice. The device wrapped around her neck stayed in place with a fancy metal buckle and kept under the thick fabric so it would look more natural, the dark fabric blending in with her hair and eyes.
According to what was left of her files, she bought the collar as a way to control her voice since she was rightfully worried about her voice disappearing from the augmentation surgeries. She didn’t know how it worked, but it helped her regain her voice faster after Walter woke her up again, so she was fine with using it. The only downside was that it felt and looked like a tactical dog collar.
How ironic, she mused. As if she needed more signs that she was under Walter’s as his hound, his dog. But, hey, at least she could add those to her name collection, no matter how degrading they are.
Her Armored Core glided over to the incoming sherpa and restocked her ammunition. Then, she moved forward to the big metal door leading to the top part of the Wall and fiddled with the control to open the hatch. The door lifted ever so slowly, revealing the world outside again.
But the chaotic wind, the freezing blizzard, all went pale in comparison to the shaking from the engine of the machines revving up, ringing through the air.
A dark blue AC flew down, turning sharply, and stopped just in front of her, its back facing her AC. Then, his voice came in through the comms.
“You must be Raven… one of the infamous Handler Walter's hounds,” Rusty mused, not even turning to face her.
He knew who she was.
Unfortunately, her next thought was derailed by the JUGGERNAUT crashing through obstacles and heading towards them, followed by Rusty’s voice coming in through again.
“Interesting,” he said. “You ready to climb the Wall?”
Without waiting for her answer, the Vesper slid to the side, leaving her in front of the JUGGERNAUT.
“That's the JUGGERNAUT, a heavy mobile cannon. I wouldn't recommend taking it head-on. It won't be able to keep up with STEEL HAZE—I'll distract it while you hit its blind spot,” he said.
“Roger,” she replied, preparing her missiles, putting the matter of how he knew her and her handler behind for a while.
True to his words, the Vesper led the JUGGERNAUT around with the expert of an augmented pilot, leaving her to attack it from behind with her arsenal of weapons.
“Walter knows how to pick ‘em,” his voice echoed through the speaker, and she scoffed at that.
“A hound like me is nothing compared to a numbered Vesper.”
“Heh, don’t be modest,” he replied, “you’re dealing quite the damage.”
She boosted back from the JUGGERNAUT, switching from her laser blade back to her submachine gun. “Only because you directed its attention.”
“Because I want to see how a hound can climb the wall with those wings.”
She let PLUME—her AC—fall for a second before boosting close to the JUGGERNAUT again, shooting it with submachine guns.
If she didn’t know that everyone just saw her as a weapon or a dog, she would think that Rusty was being friendly to her.
The battle was going well so far, until V.II Snail, the commander of the operation, came in through his comm before Rusty relayed his message.
“Raven, I just got an update from Snail at Command. We’ve got enemy reinforcement incoming. If I don’t intercept them, we’re both toast,” he said, “hate to leave you like this, but you’ll have to finish without me!”
“Copy that,” Raven answered curtly, hoping he wouldn’t notice the crack and waver in her voice. She held back a sigh. Was her collar not doing its job?
Then, blip. He was gone. Just like that.
“He’s gone. So much for our decoy,” Walter spoke through the speaker.
“Don’t worry, Walter, I’ll finish it myself,” she said.
She boosted up from the incoming JUGGERNAUT and drowned it in missiles before assault boosted onto it in a swift move.
The fight went over quickly with her reverse jointed leg and right placements of her laser blade, leaving her towering over the burning pile of JUGGERNAUT, humming at what name would get from finishing this mission.
After that, Walter picked her up back to the garage, and as she was settling down and closing her eyes, the AC’s COM buzzed.
‘One new message.’
She opened it without thinking and her eyes widened. From V.IV Rusty, it flashed his name and emblem, before playing his voice on the speakers.
‘We're senyuu—war buddies—now. I think I should tell you something.’
Her lips twitched at the new name, but her collar only managed a crackle before the message continued.
‘During Operation Wallclimber... Arquebus was planning to sacrifice you. The plan was to use independent mercenaries to clear the way so that the Vespers could step in and take over. But instead... you took the Wall.’
The realization started dawning in on her, but without much emotion to talk about, all she could think about was how cutthroat Arquebus was and how she probably wouldn’t get a Vesper number.
‘The higher-ups are going to remember you now, that's for sure. As will I.’
The message stopped and she leaned back, pushing her hair between her fingers, relishing in the silence and thinking back on Rusty’s words—of another one of her new names.
Senyuu—war buddies. Buddy.
Despite the bombshell he dropped alongside that new name, it was all she could think about. It stirred something within her, something she didn’t understand.
Thrill? It didn’t exactly feel like thrill. Maybe it was something else. Satisfaction? No, it wasn’t that either.
She pursed her lips, blaming her augmentation for her repressed emotional state. At this rate, she’ll never know. But no matter, it was just another name for her to write down, to pin and act as a building block for her identity.
“Senyuu,” she tested the nickname on her tongue. It felt warm. It felt more human than any name she received before. It made her wish could meet him again.
621 paused, looking down at the V.IV Rusty’s emblem from the corner of her eyes.
…but why, exactly?