The Entire Story of Armored Core 6

"Coral is an organic substance capable of self propagation. The speed at which it proliferates is determined by the density of the colony. As such, a vacuum would provide an ideal environment to maximize Coral density. However, one must not overlook the signs of mutation within the Coral brought about by this density effect. It is mutations such as these that will bring about a collapse that humanity has no hope of controlling. Assistant number one has lost his mind. His research has utterly consumed him. Granted, there may be some logic to C-pulse sensory augmentation on human subjects, but

no ethical scholar would ever dare cross that point of no return. Mankind is driven mad by possibilities. What does Coral represent is not sheer potential. I have decided that assistant number one's son is to remain at the lab. He's a reticent one. Tough too, Beyond his years. And now our research has robbed him of his mother and driven his father mad. He has every right to hate me. Perhaps assistant number two will be able to help. She does seem to have a knack for assembling toys. I hope that at least she can give him something

to smile about. No. The Coral tide is rising at an abnormal rate. This resonance suggests some kind of mutation. Run the calculations. How much time do we have? 47 hours, Two minutes, 16 seconds. We still have time. Deploy Ibis. There is no averting the ruin that awaits most the institute and Rubicon itself. I must now concern myself with what follows. The data shows signs of wave mutation. Observation must continue. Assistant number two is our only remaining hope. Though it pains me, I have no choice but to pass the legacy of our sins on her -

My own student. 12 minutes remain. I have done all that I must. I alone shall bear the burden of watching the fires of Ibis burn. Whatever future awaits the boy, I hope he grows into a man strong enough to seize it. I have friends in the Jupiter colonies. Surely they will look after him." So what you just heard were the leftover voice logs of Professor Nagai, who was the head of the Rubicon Research Institute, which brought about the fires of Ibis. So much lore is easily missed in Armored Core 6. And in this video, we'll

go over every data log, every secret, and every ending with a special time dedicated to showcasing the most cinematic moments this game has to offer. In a moment, we'll start going over every mission in the game in order. But first, let's set the stage. The game takes place on the planet ISB-2262 Rubicon-3 a planet on the very frontier of developed space. And this planet is special because it's here that the substance called Coral was discovered. Coral is many things. It's an infinite energy resource. It's a data conduit. It's a drug. It's food. It's a lethal

contaminant. It's organic. And given the right conditions, it's also extremely flammable. But I think what's really important to point out, especially at this early stage in the timeline, is that Coral is only these things to humans. Before them, it was simply a stable substance contained on a peaceful planet for an untold period of time. And without humans, it probably would have remained that way. Alas, humans eventually settled onto Rubicon. Here they began to research the Coral, building cities and having children who would be born Rubiconian all things that slowly set the events of Armored Core

Six into motion. At the heart of Coral research were the Rubicon Research Institute, which quickly set up infrastructure across the planet. Much of what they built had military applications, though their primary goal was clearly research of the Coral, the discoveries were poised to transform human society by leaps and bounds, and they even began to introduce the Coral to human subjects, using pulse technologies to augment the human brain and enhance the senses. These were the first generations of augmented humans, and in these days very few survived that process. But those that did were given a generational

Coral designation C1 to C4, followed by an ID number. And after this, many of them were clearly put into cold storage for who knows how long. But then, half a century before 621 would crash land on Rubicon, the Coral was ignited. A storm of flame, dubbed the Fires of Ibis, tore through not just Rubicon, but the surrounding star systems and Coral, The kindling was thought to have been utterly consumed and forever lost. When the ashes had cooled. An interstellar corporation known as the PCA, the Planetary Closure Administration, sent personnel who worked to seal off the

planet. Interstellar travel. It seems to be this slow and or expensive affair in AC6. Six so rather than transport everything they needed to Rubicon bases was set up amidst the ashes on Rubicon instead. Here, the PCA began the construction of an array of AI powered stations, satellites and cannons around the contaminated planet to ensure humanity would never venture back. And outside of Rubicon, life went on. We know very little of interstellar events in this universe, but we do know that there have been wars across Earth's solar system, and we know armored core units have featured

in these wars, piloted by independent mercenaries and pilots who serve at the whims of interstellar corporations like Balam, ARQUEBUS and many other corporations. Besides, though, for whatever reason, these corporations hadn't yet infiltrated Rubicon 3 even before the fires of Ibis, Apparently, when the Rubicon Research Institute were making their discoveries about the Coral, perhaps Rubicon 3 was too far away for the corporations, or perhaps the PCAs interstellar influence kept them at bay. Maybe word of the Coral's benefits hadn't reached them yet. Or maybe the corporations just hadn't put plans in place. We just don't know. These

are all the corporations we know of, each with their own character and goals, and I'll detail them properly across the missions to follow. As for the PCA, well, they discovered something while setting up the closure system, and it was that the Coral hadn't been entirely wiped out. Not only that, but they discovered that some humans had survived the fires as well. These humans were dubbed cinders, and they were a part of a culture of native Rubiconians who had been rebuilding with infrastructure and technology of their own. Even though they had this closure system built or

being built around them. Inevitably, though, it was leaked that the Coral was still on the planet, and before long a PCA station was attacked in orbit, a way onto the planet had suddenly been opened, and the race to claim the Coral had begun. By this point, all knew of Coral's potential, and any political risk of traveling there was clearly outweighed by the sheer benefits that such a sublime substance had to offer, so humanity would eventually return to stoke the fire. But hiding in the ashes from the fires of Ibis was an organization called Overseer and

Association of Observers, who were tasked with monitoring the Corals growth, Ready to burn it all again when the time came, and one of the members of Overseer was a man named Handler Walter. Which brings us to the current age. From this point onwards, I'd like to go through things mission by mission, and in this way I hope to extrapolate full lore context for pretty much every single thing that you might have missed as you played through the game. "Handler Walter verified." "We're close to Rubicon, wake the dog up." According to logs left over from the

Rubicon Research Institute, Walter was just a young boy when the fires of Ibis occurred, though he was noted to be reticent beyond his years, and Walter was sent away from Rubicon ahead of the fires of Ibis. And he survived, becoming a part of Overseer and making it a life's goal of his to monitor the Corals growth and burn it all again, If it came to that. "Activating cerebral Coral control device. Augmented human C4 621 has awakened." So who are we? Who is 621? Well, our name reveals quite a bit. C4 is a designation that reveals

where a fourth generation augmented human, one of the last generations, to experience Coral pulse technology during the augmentation process, and the number 621 means where 621st within that fourth generation of augmentation before release, we were shown a story trailer showing 621 being acquired by handler Walter so that they might serve as a hound. The doctor asks Walter what happened to the other augmented humans he gave him last time, and he's met by silence. They're all dead. The doctor then follows up with well, at least you're helping me clear my inventory, which suggests he has a

significant number of augmented humans just sitting around in cold storage, wrapped in plastic, and just waiting to be awakened. Indeed, Coral pulse augmentation is no longer practiced at present in Armored Core six and these augmented humans are clearly considered to be outdated leftovers. Their past lives are a mystery, but at some points in those lives, they became augmentation subjects, and now they're here. We get precious little information about this doctor. But if I had to guess, I'd say this doctor practiced human augmentation with the Rubicon Research Institute before the fires of Ibis, and might have

fled off planet with his inventory of fourth gen augmented humans in tow. After all, fourth gens are the most recent products of the institute's research, and this doctor is familiar with handler Walter, who was a boy who was there with the Institute before it burned. The doctor also tells Walter that he's not exactly craving company here, which could suggest that he's in hiding, but again, speculation. As for 621, the doctor states that you should assume everything besides its functions are dead, which I take to mean that he considers 621 to be combat capable, but that

everything else about its humanity is missing. Indeed, the Coral generations of augmentation are renowned for having such side effects, which is part of the reason it's a type of augmentation that is no longer practiced. The trailer ends with 621 being briefly booted up into the torso and head of an AC, so that Walter can deliver the first words they've heard and who knows how long. "621 will give you to a reason to exist" Anyway, back to illegal entry. "We're close to Rubicon, wake the dog up". I want to quickly point out this cutscene where Walter

calls you a dog doesn't play in new game + and ++, which is fitting because Walter treats you with more respect in those timelines, as if you two have been operating together for a while " Now, Activate the AC." This cannon that activates here is called the watchman according to its data. And if you look carefully, it's actually been built atop a giant asteroid, which would have served as a great foundation during construction. This cannon is a part of the PCA's closure system that encircles Rubicon and even though it manages to shoot us down, it

might actually represent the weakest point in the closure system because, according to an arena bio, the closure system was dealt a critical blow during the plot to attack station 31, and station 31 is actually the arena you fight a couple of final bosses at, here, where not too far away you can see the watchmen in the distance. So I think it's fair to say that the watchmen's capability might have been impeded by station 31 damage in some way, especially since many other corporations have clearly made successful landfall in this region as well. However, that's not

to say it's safe as it seems They've made quite a lot of unsuccessful landfalls as well. All throughout this region of southern Belius, you can find the smoldering fuselage of enormous craft, which I'm guessing might be the remains of spacecraft. And I think these could represent the casualties when these craft were hit on the way down. As for your crash landing, well, you actually managed to crash land in a fairly important location. This is grid 135 and a few missions later, it's revealed that the corporations are actually fighting over it, and soon the Arquebus Corporation

hires you to clear out Balam's Forces that are stationed here at grid 135. "Grid 135 is a key foothold in Arquebus's efforts to conduct a Coral survey in the contaminated city." Arquebus and their affiliates company Schneider are two of the corporate powerhouses on Rubicon, alongside Balam and Dafeng, and where Balam are brash and explosive, Arquebus are cold and cunning. But why is grid 135 a key foothold for all of these companies? Well, it's because this catapult makes this the perfect staging ground for a corporate attack on the contaminated city below. And the corporations want to

take this contaminated city, because then they'll be able to conduct their Coral surveys there in the hopes of learning more about the Coral and where it gathers. "See the contaminated city down there? That's where you're landing. Time to fly, 621. If we get our hands on a Rubicon's Coral we'll make a killing, Plenty for a merc like you with a fried brain like you to buy their life back." Again, we're part of the Coral generation of augmented humans, and side effects abound in these generations of humans. However, despite this, Walter's dialog here reveals that the

surgery is reversible for a price. And while he's not lying about that, he kind of is outright lying about his goals here. Yes, he's planning on making a killing of sorts, but he doesn't intend to steal Coral for profit. "Enough chat, back to work. Scavenge the AC wrecks ahead, find a valid mercenary license. We're illegals here. You'll need I.D. to operate." All the wrecks in the city reveal that quite a fight has taken place here already. The defenders of the city are the Rubicon Liberation Front, a militant group of Rubiconians who have the strength to

oppose the corporations and the PCA. Though the odds are stacked against them, since it's their territory that stands in the way of every other corporation's Coral survey. The corporations have clearly taken a pass at the city already, and the PCA are here too, attempting to suppress the situation. As Walter mentions, subject guard are the PCA's Planet Side force a standing army guarding the subject which I assume is the planet Rubicon. The fact Walter calls them planetside suggests that they have another, likely even greater force beyond Rubicon atmosphere, that the closest thing Armored Core six has

to a government force, and you have to assume they wield incredible power off planet if they're in charge of locking down entire planets. Even so, the call of the Coral was so great that all of the corporations have come running, leaving the PCA to attempt to suppress things here with their planetside force. While untold politics play out in a part of AC6's universe that we don't get to see. Speaking of things we don't get to see, the license we eventually claim belongs to Raven, an infamous pilot who has somehow fallen in battle here you might

recognize their AC named nightfall from Armored Core Six's first cinematic trailer, where they're locked in battle against a rival AC atop one of the grids. This trailer goes on to show a bunch more that we now recognize in retrospect. There's the juggernaut BALTHEUS, the SG helicopter, Gatling guns and MTs at the wall, and even ARQUEBUS deploying a set of ACs here. This trailer does a good job of showcasing all of the factions going to war on Rubicon, and its the fallen Raven and their cohorts that are in no small way responsible for turning Rubicon into

this corporate playground. So who is Raven? Well, Raven belongs to an organization named branch, a hacktivist collective of four mercenaries who arrived on Rubicon around the time that the Coral response was rediscovered. So not only did they manage to get access to what was assumedly extremely confidential information about the Coral, but they also leaked that information to the corporations. And not only did they leak that information, but they followed up with an attack on station 31, the station we mentioned earlier, the destruction of which dealt a critical blow to the closure system, creating the very

gap that we and countless others likely exploited to set foot here. We'll come into a bit more detail on branch later when they show up, but for now, it's enough to know that Raven was high on the PCAs list for termination. In future missions, the PCA considers Raven to be dead, so the PCA either found them fallen here, or they managed to defeat Raven in combat here, which I think that's more likely. I think Raven was probably fighting on the side of the corporations, and then wound up getting more than they bargained for with the

PCA around, but of course, that's just speculation. Whatever the case, for now, we take up their license and their legacy. "ALLMIND provides a combat training simulator to support its mercenaries. Your license was in a suspended state. Perhaps you may need a refresher." Now, I don't think having a license really makes it legal for you to operate on Rubicon, because no mercenaries here are really legal in the PCAs eyes at least. Rather, having a license allows the corporations to access a centralized system of active mercenaries so that they might hire them. And for that task, there's

ALLMIND to assist. ALLMIND is an AI support system that exists for all mercenaries, and seems to handle licensing on Rubicon, as well as access to the parts shop, training simulators, a simulated arena mode. And she also does many other things besides... many other things. Armored Core Sixs second mission is grid 135 cleanup. It's the sort of mission you don't think twice about, but at the back of the battlefield, there's a corridor, and at the end of the corridor, there's the chamber that you crash landed into at the start of the game. And hiding in this

chamber is a ghost, an agent of ALLMIND that is clearly investigating the crash site. "That mech, I can't see it. Handle it 621." As for why ALLMIND is here, it's hard to say for sure. Maybe it investigates everything that crash lands on Rubicon, but maybe, just maybe, she has her eye on you. "Confirmed, Unidentified machine down. Get back to work, 621." At this early stage in the game, Dafeng and their parent company, Balam Industries, are really leading the charge against the contaminated city. Most of the calls to attack the city come from them. And alongside

independent mercenaries, they've also started to commit members of their own in-house attack squad, the Redguns, to the cause. In fact, a fairly high ranking member of the Redguns, gun seven Hakra can be found dead in the center of the city from the very start of the game. Subsequent missions for Balam have you destroy RLF artillery installations and then later destroy the transport helicopters carrying supplies to the Strider. and eventually Balam Throw so many resources at taking the contaminated city that they are victorious, and the city does eventually fall under their control. We know this because

when we return to the contaminated city later in a new game plus mission, it's Balam's forces that have taken over, not the Alef or octopus. But this raises the question why is the contaminated city so important to Balam? Well, in the grid 135 clean up briefing ARQUEBUS reveals that they consider themselves to be ahead in the Coral survey race. So maybe Balam is desperate to make some headway here, more so than ARQUEBUS desperate for some clue as to where the claimable Coral is. And I will say one thing that you notice in a lot of

missions is that groundwater is very often present wherever there's Coral, and considering the contaminated city is flooded, it might really be close to some underground vein and the city might be a valuable survey asset because of that. But why is it called the contaminated city? Well, according to an in-game cutscene, the fires of Ibis left lethal contamination in its wake, which reveals that burned up Coral is in fact lethal. But then live Coral is also lethal. later on, There are warning symbols for Coral caution, and live Coral absolutely wrecks your AC. It even has a

damage type that's all its own. a damage type there are no defenses for. So I think the word contaminated might just relate to Coral in general. Which brings me to the grids. The structures that tower and interlink in skies across Rubicon. Now this is just speculation, but I think they might have been built to avoid Coral contamination on the ground. It wouldn't be the first time that humanity has had to escape to the skies to avoid lethal surface contamination, In the Armored Core series. and what's interesting about these grids is that they actually predate the

fires of Ibis. You can literally see them being enveloped by flame in the cutscene, so they can't have been built to avoid contamination from the fires of Ibis. They might have been built to avoid Coral contamination in general before that. And as for who built them, I think it has to have been the first settlers on Rubicon, either the Rubicon Research Institute or maybe some population of settlers that split off from the institute. Whatever the case, now that the corporations have landed an RLF member has dialog where she claims the grids won't be safe, which

sort of implies that they were a safe place for the RLF before this. At any rate, our first sign that Balam has commandeered the contaminated city comes when you realize that they've just had a new tester AC delivered straight into the heart of the city. This AC uses a Dafeng heavy weight frame, one which emphasizes Dafeng's stout tree slender branches Philosophy. It also has the signature combustion generator equipped as well, but this tester AC also allegedly features extensive assembly optimizations such as the 12345 booster from RAD, which actually does feature quick boosts that synergize extremely

well with this heavy build. But the tester pilot is tragically bad at making use of it, and they rarely ever dodge at all. As per the briefing. All of these optimizations allegedly come from an external architect. As for who this external architect is, well, I think it's ALLMIND, because this exact AC design eventually shows up as one of ALLMIND's analysis subjects. And in that description, it's stated that ALLMIND strives to create a future where all Mercenaries can enjoy a near symbiotic relationship with their ACs. This is one of ALLMIND's core goals programed into its very

being. And while ALLMIND eventually takes this imperative to an absurd degree, here ALLMIND is simply providing a new, easy to pilot AC to the Redguns. After all, they have just lost one of their own G7 hakra in their takeover of the contaminated city. So there's an opening for a new pilot. "We're under attack. Must be the locals... No it's an independent. I'll deal with the merc. I've been training for this. The Redguns need this AC, I can't fail this mission." He fails the mission... "I just - I just wanted a callsign of my own." Taking

this job was a very calculated move by Walter. Without this new AC, Balam is more inclined to outsource jobs to independent mercenaries. Pilots like you. This next mission is a big one. Attack the dam complex with a briefing delivered by Gun one Michigan himself "heard the good news from Walter. Did you? Good. Sit your ass down and listen." So who is gun one Michigan? Well, let's take a look at his arena bio. Commander of the Redguns, the Balam group's AC squad. Michigan took up leadership after a career as the commander of the furlong armed fleet.

There, he earned a reputation as a merciless, heavy handed ogre of a man who was equally feared by friend and foe alike, who knew him as hell on four legs. Apparently, he has posted a bounty on his own head to Balams bounty board, with the stipulation that half of the reward money is to be distributed among his former comrades at furlong. His AC Liger Tail is a tetrapod explaining the hell on Four legs Nickname. Furthermore, a liger is a real animal. It's the hybrid offspring of a male lion and a female tiger, often believed to

be the largest cat in the world. This suits Michigan for obvious reasons. Unsurprisingly, Michigan is an easy one to pick out in the STV sketches, which are a series of sketches that feature the human side of many characters in game. Can you spot him? So we think he's almost certainly this man, given his bulky frame, his commanding pose, and the identity of the man beside him, which we'll get into later. But the most interesting background about Michigan actually doesn't come from his arena bio. Instead, it comes from the arena bio of gun six Red, a

member of the Redguns tasked with managing Balam's use of independent mercenaries on Rubicon. He's the one who has been delivering all of Balam's mission briefings up to this point. "I want to introduce myself. Gun six Red. But you can call me sir." Red's arena bio reads 'as a young boy, Red's life was forever changed when he saw the news broadcasts of Commander Michigan's brutal triumphs in the Jupiter War. Red trained through blood, sweat and tears in order to emulate his idol, supporting his impoverished siblings All the while. When the Balam admission exam finally came, he

won his place in the Redguns at the very moment he stood to attention to greet the squad.' Of course, what's most interesting to learn from this bio is that there was a Jupiter war, and that commander Michigan, leader of Balam's Redguns was victorious in it. We get precious little information about interstellar events, so learning something like this is pretty huge. It might be a stretch to say that Balam is in control of the entirety of Jupiter now, or something like that, but I think it's fair to say that Balam probably has a commanding presence there.

Now. At least this fact is made even more fascinating when you consider this video record of the fires of Ibis, which muses on Walters future as he was evacuated off Rubicon as just a young child, it reads whatever future awaits the boy, I hope he grows into a man strong enough to seize it. I have friends in the Jupiter colonies. Surely they will look after him. I mention all of this because I think it's fair to speculate that Commander Michigan was one of these friends tasked with Walters safekeeping, especially since Michigan is shown to be

quite familiar with Walter at numerous points in the game. "Well, well, well, handler Walter. The way your hounds been up in my business, I'm surprised you'd even dare to call" "Michigan about my proposal. "Here, Walter proposes a job with the Redguns as a shot in the arm for 621 who, like some other fourth gen augmented humans, tends to be emotionally withdrawn. Of course, Walter's real goal here is to convince Balam that you're worth the extra credits, which this job inevitably does. Whether you successfully destroy the dam or whether you betray bellum and defend it in

New Game plus. "Balam's moving in on the Gallia Dam complex, one of the Liberation Front spaces. The objective is to destroy their lifeline and make those sacks of shit beg for mercy" alongside you for this mission. Gun Four, Volta and Gun Five Iguazu. And you become the Redgun's lowest ranking member, receiving the callsign Gun 13 "a lucky little number that just became available." The way this is said suggests that its previous owner has just died. This could be referring to the tester AC pilot you downed in the previous mission. Or it could be referring to

another pilot that we don't meet, like the one who pilots the Melander AC, nicknamed Tenderfoot. For example, as revealed by promotional material, this AC pilot had the gun 13 callsign and Redgun customization as well, Before you did. 13 is an unlucky number to the Redguns. It's a source of superstition, though the reason for it might actually be quite logical because think about it whoever inherits gun 13 as their rank is the newest to the Redguns and thus the lowest ranking member. So to me, it makes sense that whichever pilot receives this number is more likely

to fall in combat. They're inexperienced, after all. "Balam group AC squad Redguns reporting for duty. Commence Mission. attack! Get in there you maggots." "Great. An independent Merc. Who's the wise guy who decided the Redguns should be taken care of Some freelancer" "Who gives a shit? we'll handle this mission ourselves." "One target destroyed" "Hey freelancer, betno one even told you why we're here. Well, us real Redguns are going to go climb the wall. It's just target practice. When we're done the locals little base is next." "Gun five can't tear yourself away from chatting with a tag

along. Why don't you start a sewing club together and stitch that damn mouth of yours shut?" "Does this guy ever shut up?" And it's your inexperience, your lack of loyalty to the Redguns that this enemy RLF member bets on, hoping that they'll be able to sway you even in the middle of combat. "Independent mercenary. Why be a mere pawn? What honor is there in Serving corporations that exist only to kill and plunder? Do you hear me you corporate vulturea? The Rubiconians will never yield. You're going home in armored coffins. forged in ash, we stand as

one" "hot dog, they got an AC" More like a piece of junk. It's barely different from an MT. "Gun Four. You're not exactly cutting edge either. You want to be next on the scrap heap?" This enemy AC, is piloted by Index Dunham. His arena bio reads a blue collar worker who was involved in the construction of the grid. He is now dedicated to establishing symbiosis with the Coral and building a future for Rubicon, free from planetary closure. Inspired by Father Dolmayan's ideals. Able bodied and eager, he is zealously dedicated to the cause, but he is

more at home in the construction yard than the cockpit. It's this description of Index Dunham as a loyal worker that helps to identify him. In this STV sketch. I think he's pointing towards Father Dolmayan here as he argues with another man. It's from Dunham's Arena bio that we get confirmation that Rubiconians who became RLF members, were indeed involved in the construction of the grid way back when. And if they're talking about the original grid, then I guess this would also make him a cinder, a survivor of the fires of Ibis, though they could also be

talking about the more modern grids in this region. But if he is a cinder, it suits his flaming pickax emblem, which also represents his transition from work to warfare. As the pickax is a tool that was used for general construction, and in medieval times it historically doubled as a weapon whenever war broke out. This same duality of worker and warrior can be applied to index Dunham's AC as well, which is also named burn pickax, and it uses Basho parts and the Joso generator parts with performance that I quote is not dissimilar to generic labor MT

models, which reflects this hasty conversion of labor MTs into combat ACs that could be used to repel the corporate incursion, where these ACs were based on MTs that were just basically labor models originally. Unfortunately, Dunham's burning zealotry is not enough to stop Balam overpowering the RLF here "Damn you scavengers. Father Dolmayan, i've failed you" "Confirmed all targets destroyed." "Looks like we got competition." "You got lucky. Freelancer." Index Dunham is so dismayed by the dam's destruction here for a couple of reasons. First, what we're tasked with destroying here are generators. These are what give the Rubiconian's

power and likely what keeps them warm. Michigan describes this dam as their lifeline, and it's a grim reminder of the war crimes we're committing crimes that the game does a good job of distancing you from. But crimes that occur nonetheless. And if you're wondering how a frozen dam can generate power, well first, it might not always be frozen all year round and might generate some hydropower, but the true source of the dam's energy is actually likely to be underground Coral. A later combat log titled The Well Dries reads the well we found in Galia is

going to dry up sooner than later. We just can't harvest as much Coral as we used to, and what little we do get the corps squeeze out of us. They know we need it to raise mealworms. How many more children must we watch starve? So this reveals that there are subterranean rivers of Coral that the Rubiconians tap into for energy, and they use this harvested Coral to raise what are called mealworms. We find these mealworms later creatures that actually manage to feed on the Coral, digesting it before themselves, becoming a safe food source for Rubiconians

what is actually an incredibly hostile planet. A later combat log even mentions that these mealworms give Rubicon a tiny shot of Coral when consumed, meaning that every native Rubiconian grows up ingesting Coral in some form or another. So your destruction of the dam threatens the Rubiconian's food supply, unless you betray them and side with the RLF instead in New Game plus. "Wait 621, I'm receiving a coded transmission." "Raven I represent the Rubicon Liberation Front. Our request is simple. We want you to take out the two Redguns. Our compensation will be double Balam's offer. awaiting your

response." "Interesting. Your call 621." "Your cooperation is appreciated, Raven." "621. We've received a friendly I.D. tag from the Liberation Front. Let's not waste their firepower." "You meant that, did you?" This is Volta, Gun Four of the Redguns. A fighter who like gun five Iguazu, seems to have been brought into the Redguns somewhat against their will. His bio reads. After beating the rebellious Volta and the Iguasu into submission, Michigan made it his personal crusade to make something of the two and thus began their daily hell. For the past seven years, neither Volta nor Iguazu have achieved

their goal to punch the living daylights out of Michigan, then get the hell out of the Redguns. As they would put it. Volta has since admitted defeat and is now learning about business from Wu Huahai, another member of the Redguns, who we'll talk about later. "That's a low blow, Handler Walter. gun four, gun five, return fire. It looks like gun 13's playing dirty Now. this merc's something else. Where did Michigan find this freak?" "Now you've done it, Freelancer. No one picks a fight with the Redguns." "I'm losing control of my machine. No choice but to

withdraw" We think it's most likely that we can see Wu Huahai here in the STV sketch. Given that he has dark hair and is clearly of Chinese descent. The AC that they're all sitting upon is Volta's tank AC, cannon head, and the others here are almost certainly a Iguazu and Volta with gun six red in the distance, but it's hard to say for sure Who is a Iguazu and who is Volta. This could be Volta because there's money in front of him, and he was said to be learning about business from Wu Huahai. But it

could also be a Iguazu because a Iguazu was a known gambler. The Iguazu's bio reads back street gambler Iguazu bet big and lost, and he was forced to undergo experimental fourth generation augmentation surgery to pay back his debtors. In his new life, he quickly began to quarrel with Volta, his oftentimes partner in crime. Iguazu's recalcitrant nature was such that one day he even picked a fight with the hero of Jupiter, who retaliated with such fury that Iguazu never quite looked the same afterwards. Of course, the hero of Jupiter who punched the Iguazu's face in would

be Michigan. And Iguazu's face here is blurred out, leaving the damage quite to your imagination. "I'm not taking any more of your shit. I already get enough from Michigan every day of the week." As for a Iguazu's recalcitrant nature, that's even represented by his choice of emblem, which is a stag beetle, a species known for clashing violently with its peers. Recalcitrant means to have an uncooperative attitude, especially towards authority or discipline. And it's not too surprising that's Iguazu has this attitude thrust as he was into the Redguns hardly by choice. "Watch it. Freelancer. I'm not

going down like Volta. I'm gonna punch the living daylights out of Michigan and no one's stopping me." Iguazu's Whose gambling debts leading to his augmentation echoes the human plus system from previous Armored Core games, where you could reach a state of debt so severe that your body was offered to an experimental augmentation program. After this, your debts were cleared and you received enhanced abilities. The fact that experimental augmentation can work a similar way in AC6 with a Iguazu's here, getting a new life after his surgery offers a rare insight into what our past as 621

might have been like. Of course, we can only speculate on the details, but Iguazu, like us, is also a fourth generation augmented human, and it's possible that Iguazu was bought and paid for after his surgery by Michigan in a similar way to how 621 was with Walter. We've previously established that Walter and Michigan were likely to have ties to the Rubicon Research Institute, and maybe they share a source of fourth gen augmented human stock as well. Not to mention the fact that Walter has the word handler as a title, suggests that there are other handlers

of augmented humans out there, and that buying and paying for augmented human lives is a firmly established thing in this universe. "Damn it, I've been hit bad. freelancer got lucky" "Confirmed gun four and gun five eliminated. You can bill me for the AC repair fees, Michigan" You've ruined our little field trip, Walter. I'll be filling in for tuition fees too." Another thing worth mentioning early is that despite their ACs being destroyed in this mission, Iguazu and Volta aren't dead. Instead, they've withdrawn from their AC6, which is a handy plot device that Armored Core Six uses

whenever it needs you to defeat ACs But keep their pilots alive. Presumably similar to in Armored Core five, the pilots have ejected to be safely picked up later by their own organization. "Your cooperation is appreciated, Raven" though they're never named. These voice lines came from a man named Middle Flatwell, he's the de facto military leader of the Rubicon Liberation Front, and he's the one who's offering you the job to double cross Balam here. Flatwell, is likely to be this man in the STV sketch. Engaged in an argument with Index Dunham, who earlier we established is

more loyal to Father Dolmayan. So it kind of makes sense that these two would clash. the rest of Middle Flatwell's Bio reads. His authority is second only to that of Father Dolmayan and his standing within the organization has earned him an informal title as a fellow elder. He is the uncle of the Liberation Front to Dolmayans father. In addition to the familial titles of uncle and father, five members of the RLF are also extended secondary, more colloquial titles. These are little, ring, middle, index, and thumb belonging to little Ziyi, Ring Freddie, Middle Flatwell, Index Dunham

and Thumb Dolmayan. Together they make the full fist of the RLF united against the extra planetary corporations. "Got a job for you. 621." "Raven. This request comes from Schneider, an ARQUEBUS subsidiary. The mission will take place in the Bona Dea dunes of western Belius. Our Coral investigation there is being blocked by the Strider, a Rubicon Liberation Front mining ship. You are to destroy it." In the earliest leaks of Armored Core six, the Coral was called mélange, the same name given to the spice in Frank Herbert's Dune, which Armored Core six seems somewhat inspired by. And

if the Coral was mélange, then the Rubiconians would be the Fremen, a people that are hardened by strife and emboldened by their familiarity with their planet's most valuable resource. There's a lot of parallels "an unidentified AC. Let's be one of the corporation's dogs. Activate the eye, burn them away." "Yes, sir. Coral abide with Rubicon." "Abide with Rubicon." Even the Rubiconian's logo reminds me of the Fremen of Dune, and we first see this logo here on the side of the Strider in the next mission, which is this arms fort that was once merely a ship used

to mine Coral. Except now it's been weaponized. This logo, though, it's infused with some serious symbolism. "The Strider is the flagship of our war, Hold the line. Defend the ship with your lives" "We can't shake the enemy AC." "Remember the hardships that made us, remember that one Rubicon burned we endured." Now that the dam is destroyed, the Strider will be crucial to the RLF as it's a way for them to travel around Belius mining Coral and distributing it elsewhere and, you know, controlling their own destiny. "No wait, we cant lose the Strider." "sir, No response

from the eye" Sure would be nice if you could help the RLF and help them keep this ship around, but alas, it's either destroyed by you or destroyed in New Game plus plus by a foreign force if you attempt to escort it instead. According to this new Game Plus Plus mission, the RLF paid another Rubicon and force, the Dosers, to outfit the Strider for combat. This included attaching all of the weapons turrets, as well as attaching an enormous energy laser, the eye, to the front of the ship. It looks quite similar to the closure system

eye actually, which makes me wonder if there's a story there or if this is just coincidence. At any rate, the RLF need these weapons attached because once again, the corporations are intent on a Coral survey in their territory. This time in the bona dea dunes which again have water on their surface. So assumedly there is Coral beneath these dunes, especially since the mining ship is in this location. But the most curious part of this mission by far is the new Game Plus plus variant of it, where you're given the option to escort the thing and

it gets taken down by foreign forces before you can arrive. "Enemies on the radar. 621 They're coming! are those... C-weapons? Defend yourself, 621 they're not going to listen to reason. Those are drone weapons made by the Rubicon Research Institute. Relics that survived the fires of Ibis." This moment is kind of bizarre because despite Walter later telling you he'll look into this, we never get a follow up on why these machines attacked here, forcing us to try and puzzle it out ourselves. So these are drone weapons left over from the Rubicon Research Institute. One set are

Helianthus machines named after the sunflower that they really do look a lot like. Amazing name. And the other set are MT like drones that you eventually find in a state of disrepair around Institute City, which is an underground city on an entirely different continent. Specifically, these are all C- Weapons. They're autonomous deterrents created by the RRI to protect the Coral. So following on from that, it's logical to think that these weapons might just be defending the Coral here against the RLF who might have been mining it, and maybe they just accidentally triggered these C-weapons lying

in wait beneath the ground. However, it's kind of strange to think that the Rubicon Research Institute would have planted C-weapons here on a different continent, so far away from Institute City. And it's also kind of strange to think that the RLF would just randomly trigger them now while they're mining here, uncovering relics that they clearly didn't even know existed. "Wait, what is that thing? "Alternatively, you could theorize that the PCA sent these weapons to suppress the RLF, the PCA to commandeer other institute relics. After all, you could even theorize that ALLMIND is behind this attack,

since she has a vested interest in seeing ARQUEBUS succeed in this mission. In the end, though, I don't think it's possible to know for sure what's happening here. "Looks like the last of the thing on the long range radar. You may have failed to protect the Strider, but you had a hell of an excuse. I'll look into this. You go home and get some rest, 621." Regardless, this mission gets you a foot in the door for Operation Wall Climber, led by ARQUEBUS. "I understand you want to join Operation Wall Climber. You do realize that smashing

up some old institute relics hardly qualifies you." "Commence mission. Start by clearing the way for ARQUEBUS. Take out the Gatling cannons protecting the city and the BAWS Tetrapod MT further in." "You'll never climb the wall, Corporation dog." "Coral. Abide with Rubicon." "We're under attack. They're in the city." "It's just one AC ARQUEBUS. They're marking us." "Forged in ash, we stand as one. Die mercenary." "Corporate dogs" "BAWS tetrapod MT Eliminated." Unlike other missions up until this point, the wall isn't important because it's a part of the Coral survey. It's important because it's a key trading outpost,

presumably with the infrastructure from which Coral surveys can be launched. And naturally, taking the wall strikes a blow against the RLF, who use it to supply their own forces Balam, as is their style, rushing headfirst to take the wall, sending Iguazu and Volta on what Volta describes as a suicide mission. However, Iguazu chooses this moment to go a while, leaving his partner Volta to attempt the wall climb alone, and it's a task he can't complete. In front of the wall is a video record with an incomplete message sent from Volta to Iguazu, apparently just before

death. It says Iguazu. I'm telling you, man, you got to give Michigan another chance. He's different from the suits at HQ. Look, I know he's an asshole, but he's looking out for us, you know, almost like we got a family here, man. If there's anyone who deserves punching out, it's the freaks who sent us on this suicide mission. You picked a good day to go AWOL. You'll wish I... So this log tells us a few things. First, that it was the suits at HQ that demanded this mission, not Michigan himself. It's a good reminder that

even though people like Michigan and Snail are the leaders of the combat teams here on Rubicon, they're actually not the highest ranking members of Balam and ARQUEBUS. They're the ones calling the shots, presumably somewhere safe off planet where we never get to see. The second thing that's curious is why it Iguazu went AWOL here in the previous mission. Iguazu, you bragged about being the first over the wall. So what changed? If I had to guess, I'd say Michigan is to blame somewhat. This record reads as if something had just happened between Michigan and Iguazu, with

Volta pleading with Iguazu to give Michigan a chance. Presumably, Iguazu is fuming about getting chewed out by Michigan during or after the dam mission, and he deserts the Redguns for a while here out of bitterness. The sad thing is that Iguazu and Volta work very well as a team, and this desertion might have directly led to Volta's death. What's more, Volta is right Michigan does look out for Iguazu, and in a later mission, when another Balam member references Iguazu's desertion here, Michigan defends him "Iguazu? oh yeah, the deserter who pissed his pants and ran." "Albany,

I forgot we still kept you around Iguazu's worth a hundred of you. Which means Albany. The merc is worth 20AM. Your doing nothing productive. Why don't you do the math for us?" The answer is 2000 Albany, Sir. But enough about balance. Read guns. What about ARQUEBUS Vespers. The word vesper means evening as reflected on the emblem. There are eight Vespers, and as suggested by the briefing in this mission, each Vesper leads their own squad of ARQUEBUS forces. Though we never really get to see the forces they lead. Each Vesper also has an emblem that is

some anatomical play on the augmented human body, except for Rusty , whose emblem is a muzzled wolf. It's the first of many things that set Rusty apart, since he's not a true Vesper. Instead, he's secretly allied with the RLF. and is only playing along with ARQUEBUS's plans for now. "do you read me? This is V4 Rusty . You're fast. guess you're are sharper than they say. I'll have to step up my own game. A numbered Vesper is elite. But remember, even Balam couldn't crack the wall. Don't count on it too much." "You must be RAVEN.

Fond of the infamous handler Walters hounds. Interesting. You ready to climb the wall?" Interesting that handler Walter is called infamous here. It makes you wonder what his other hounds jobs have been before Rubicon. And what he did to earn such a reputation. "That's the juggernaut heavy mobile cannon, I wouldn't recommend taking it head on. That's the stuff. Walter knows how to pick em. watch out, It's coming. It won't be able to keep up with Steel Haze. I'll distract it while you hit It's blind spot. Stay focused, 621." "Confirmed juggernaut destroyed. Operation Wass Climber is a

success." "So that's how a hound fights. I'll take care of mopping up the remaining hostiles. With luck. Maybe we'll meet again. We're war buddies now. I think I should tell you something. During Operation Wall Climber 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 higher ups are going to remember you now, that's for sure. As will I." As a double agent, Rusty is forced to do some very difficult things, especially in

the lead up to this appearance in Operation Wall Climber, where Rusty is instructed to clear a path through RLF forces, the very people whose cores he secretly fights for and afterwards in retrieve dcombat logs, We investigate Rusty 's actions before the war, which reveals a wealth of information "search the nearby wrecks for combat logs, recording engagements with V4 Rusty . That's what we're looking for, 621. I'll analyze it on my end." Many members of the RLF have craft that have been destroyed here, with some even triggering their emergency eject levers as soon as they engage

Rusty , perhaps they recognize him and decide to get out quick. But not all of them would have known what was going on here, because at least one of these tragic logs comes in the form of a video record of a fallen RLF pilot who does recognize Rusty , but doesn't understand why they've turned on the RLF here. They say, I know you, I've seen uncles files referring to the files of Uncle Flatwell, who is second in command in the RLF. The last part of Flatwell bio reads for a time Flatwell worked as a spy

within the extra planetary corporations and has sway over a rather significant contact in Schneider's H.R. department. So like Rusty , flatwell was also able to infiltrate the extraplanetary corporations. And while Rusty infiltrated the vespers who are part of ARQUEBUS Flatwell infiltrated Schneider, who have ARQUEBUS as their parent company, and the fact that Flatwell managed to infiltrate an extraplanetary corporation makes me wonder, because does that imply that he escaped from Rubicon before the fires of Ibis and then infiltrated? Or does it suggest that he's not even Rubiconian at all? At any rate, he's not a spy

for ARQUEBUS anymore, but he does still have an influential contact within Schneider and continues to hold sway with them. Which leads me to my next theory, which is that I wonder, did Rusty manage to infiltrate ARQUEBUS through this same contact with Schneider? After all, his Arena bio reveals that he was discovered through the recruitment program operated by Schneider and ARQUEBUS affiliates, and goes on to state: Rusty so quickly distinguished himself that he was selected to join the upper echelons of Vespers, In less than half a year. Rusty received augmentation surgery prior to joining the Vespers,

and though the precise details are unclear, he has declared himself to be of the eighth generation. The wording here of Rusty declaring himself to be of the eighth generation makes it pretty clear that he's not really of eighth generation augmentation. If I had to guess, Rusty probably declared himself as an eighth gen because this is one of the most advanced generations of augmentation. And perhaps he thought having this would help ingratiate himself with his fellow Vespers, who are themselves all products of modern augmentation. We also speculate that this is Rusty in the stock sketches, the

man making a strong effort to buddy up to his fellow Vespers. What's most suspect with Rusty are the precise details behind his true prior augmentation surgery. Augmentation isn't exactly an easy thing to get. It's not cheap, and it's not particularly widely practiced either. I don't even think there's any evidence that any Balam members are augmented except for a IguazuI. So why the Rusty is an old gen augment without any issues with his humanity, or he's a modern augment from a source he doesn't want to disclose. Or perhaps he's not an augmented human at all. What

do you think? Another thing we discover about Rusty in this mission is that he doesn't use the laser weaponry that other Vespers typically use. Instead, he favors kinetic weaponry of the sort the RLF prefer in battle. To me, this suggests that he has prior experience with this weaponry. Otherwise you'd think he would just take up the laser weapons, right? I like the idea that Rusty is secretly Rubiconian because of this, as all of the Rubiconians prefer these weapons. But this is just my own speculation. Rusty 's biggest secret on Rubicon is hidden in this last

log encoded comms, which reveal Rusty was communicating with the RLF here even as he took them out. The lines are interrupted, but I'm going to try and fill in the gaps since I now know what these communications are referring to. It should read something like when the time comes, furlong will assist with the technology stolen by Elcano. You must keep the AC hidden until then. This log reveals Rusty 's plans within ARQUEBUS. He and Uncle Flatwell are conspiring with a set of other smaller corporations to develop an AC that will outmatch anything ARQUEBUS has to

offer, but I'll talk about this more as the story progresses. For now, just know that Rusty is trying to tell the RLF to be patient until the time is right to reveal their secret weapon. Some of the RLF present at the wall anticipate an attack from the Vespers. Friendly comms from before the start of their mission reveal as much, with RLF members stating we can't beat the top Vespers were as good as dead. At least Ziyi is off duty. She's the Liberation Front's little sister. She doesn't deserve to be out there on the battlefield. She

can still love and be loved. Have a family. The reason the RLF fear they can't beat the top Vespers comes back to this technological gap that they have compared to the corporations. Many of their BAWS AC parts, like the Yaba generator, for example, had development that was aimed at narrowing Rubicons post closure technological gap, a period where the native Rubiconians were hurrying to improve their combat forces to the point where they could compete with whatever the corporations would eventually return with. And so they really do need this secret weapon AC that Rusty and the other

corporations are conspiring to develop because the RLF are largely held back by their outdated ACs, many of which fight without even a full set of weapons. Take little Ziyi's AC, UAU, for example. She arrives towards the end of this mission, coming to the battlefield late. She was off duty, but perhaps she heard about what was transpiring here and came as quickly as she could. "You AC pilot, you're no comrade of ours, are you? wait, you you.. killed them all." Ziyi's arena bio reads A warrior of the Rubicon Liberation Front. As an infant, Ziyi was taken

to Rubicon by her parents, who, tempted by the promise of riches from Coral mining, sought to make an illegal entry to the planet. Only Ziyi survived the crash landing. She came under the guardianship of Uncle Flatwell of the Rubicon Liberation Front, and the core of an AC was the Young Orphan's cradle As she grew up to become a Coral warrior "I'm a Coral warrior just like the others. And I will not give in. Forged in ash we stand as one. Shameless corporate dog. Go! Leave Rubicon alone." Perhaps this is why Little Ziyi's emblem is a

fish out of water. She was an offworlder, and her dialog reveals her desperately striving to fit in as one of them, despite her fellow Rubiconians worrying about her constantly. "We're not like you, a greedy hound. I'm sorry, Arshile. I couldnt keep my promise" "Confirmed enemy AC destroyed. Get back to work, 621" Ziyi's death dialog mentions someone called Arshile, who she apparently made a promise to us. Arshile's identity is never made clear in game, but we can figure out who he is thanks to Armored Cores voice actor credits. Turns out Arshile is the nameless RLF member

who gives you most of their mission briefings. "Raven. Here's an operation that may be of interest to you." So fittingly, he's also the one who gives you an alternate mission to retrieve combat logs. A new game, plus asking you to engage in a prisoner rescue mission instead. And one of these prisoners is Ziyi, who Arshile eventually thanks you very personally for saving "Raven. There's a mission I'd like you to take on. We have authorized a solo helicopter sortie to rescue a group of imprisoned comrades. There are three to rescue in total, including some particularly significant

personnel." Now, this mission only appears if you sided with the RLF at the dam and betrayed Balam there. As a result, Balam don't offer you the mission to retrieve Rusty's combat logs. Instead, they take punitive action against the RLF, capturing three of their key personnel At this stage of the game, including little Ziyi, who doesn't seem to get captured in the original timeline. It's this mission that reveals Balam has taken full control of the contaminated city. Here, they extract information from at least three prominent RLF members comrade Messem, little Ziyi, and Thumb Dolmayan. "We appreciate

your support. Raven. We have to rescue our captured comrades. Failure is not an option. Coral, abide with rubicon" "We're under attack. The Liberation Front chopper and an escort AC" "Focus on the chopper. Shoot it down!" "Don't let them go. We need their Intel on the wells." It's revealed that Balam's interrogation is attempting to discern the location of the RLF's Coral Wells. And based on the status of little Ziyi when she is extracted this interrogation likely extends to torture. "You-You came for me." "Sorry to keep you waiting, Ziyi." "I'm okay. still alive, At least. A little

rest and I'll pay them back." "Heading to the next site, Raven. keep us covered". Not to mention, Conrad Messam is actually dead. As a result of the interrogation, "we've extracted Comrade Messam, But we we're too late" "Dammit, not Messam" "heading to the last site. Just a little more Raven" we know that there's a Coral well at Gallia Dam, but because you betrayed Balam, they didn't get to discover this information in this timeline. Hence the interrogation "The Coral wells are the Rubiconians lifeline. He must have refused to talk." Lastly, this mission is the earliest 621 can

get to Father Dolmayan, the man behind the founding ideals of the Rubicon Liberation Front. "Father Dolmayan has been extracted." "Thank goodness your say, father. Coral abide with Rubicon." You-You don't know what you're saying, girl. There'll be nothing left, but dying embers" here we see an example of Father Dolmayan wavering faith in his own beliefs, fears rising to the surface here, perhaps thanks to Balam's interrogation. Dolmayan arena bio reads father of the Rubicon Liberation Front veteran military commander and founder of the School of Coral Mysticism. As a young man, Dolmayan was once a Doser vagrant until

the fires of Ibis burned The star system. In the fire's aftermath, he developed an ardent belief in symbiosis with the Coral. This belief informed the founding ideals of the Rubicon Liberation Front, ideals that have made martyrs of countless Coral warriors Dolmayan's idea of symbiosis with the Coral is that of a Doser, someone who takes Rubicon as blessings roar and imbibe the Coral directly. However, this dosing is not true symbiosis with the Coral, and Dolmayan himself knows this. True symbiosis is something that even Dolmayan fears. But we'll discuss that point a little bit later on. Before

the end of this mission, We'll meet one more pilot from Balam's group photo. This man here who has Michigan's ear and a folder in hand, gun two Nile, "621, new enemy confirmed" T"hat's-That's a Redguns AC" "Escorting a prison break all alone. You're daring. I'll Give you that. But I fried bigger fish than you." "that's gun Two Nile, the Redguns deputy commander, and The brains to Michigan's muscle" gun to Nile's arena bio reads deputy commander of the Redguns, the Balam Group AC squad, formerly the commander of the Balam security force, a paramilitary police organization that preceded

the formation of the Redguns, Nile distinguished himself with an exceptionally high arrest rate, And in those days, the only man he never managed to put in handcuffs was Michigan, then the commander of the rival, their long armed fleet having failed to arrest the man, he instead settled for a friendly drink with his old nemesis. This is extremely revealing. We learn that the Redguns were preceded by a paramilitary force, and we learn that Michigan was the commander of the furlong armed fleet during those days, so Michigan rivaled Balam before coming over to their side. Perhaps it

was even this friendly drink with Nile that preceded him joining Balam and forming the Redguns. "no wonder Michigan took a shine to you" "confirmed, gun two Nile is down" "Raven. A symbol of resolve. But mark my words, there will be nothing left for dying embers." "Let me thank you again. Raven. We couldn't have rescued our comrades without your help. Father Dolmayan is a key figure to the movement. A great Coral warrior who witnessed the fires of Ibis and a guide to us all, but now it seems like he's... No, i shouldn't. He carries a heavier

burden of than any of us. Oh, and on a personal note, before you go, thanks for saving Ziyi, I owe you one." So to bring this full circle, this man speaking here is Arshile who shares this deeper relationship with Ziyi and its thanks to us that sea lives on in this timeline., At least. there's just one more log to discuss from the mission to retrieve the combat logs. A video record recovered from a wreck stationed at BAWS arsenal. It seems this craft was once stationed at BAWS arsenal Number two. At first glance, the recovered image

depicts nothing out of the ordinary. However, on closer inspection, one can identify noise in one corner of the picture indicative of digital interference, potentially an effect of monitor display deception jamming. Indeed, there is something hiding in this video record, and this video record is foreshadowing for something that's about to happen at the Arsenal. Eventually, the RLF calls on us to get to the bottom of things. "I want you to investigate BAWS Arsenal number two, a major MT factory in the Bellius of region. The BAWS Corporation sells to any one, but they've been essential to maintaining

our firepower. Now their second arsenal has gone silent overnight." "I've been checking the perimeter. I'm picking up nothing. What happened here? 621, Watch its shots and see where they're coming from. Of course, MDD. stick to it like glue. MDD. Encoded comms. was that mech behind what happened here?" Soon enough we realize that the hostile mechs here are using MDD the same monitor display deception noted in this video record. With this, they were able to overrun BAWS without leaving a single trace. So who are the BAWS Corporation? The word BAWS stands for Belius Applied Weapon Systems,

revealing that they primarily operate on this continent. BAWS's multiple arsenals are essential to the war efforts of pretty much everyone on Rubicon, as they produce the MTs and quadruped MTs that you encounter throughout the game. MT stands for Muscle Tracer, referring to the way that MTs are piloted by tracking the muscle movements of the human pilot within this rudimentary control method is nowhere near as advanced to the neurological control that AC pilots, especially augmented ones, have over their ACs. But muscle tracing is likely much easier to use for the average person, and thus it's widely

used across Rubicon, and most enemies we encounter are MT units. The reason BAWS and their MTs are so essential comes back again to the idea that access to Rubicon has been difficult for the corporations. ARQUEBUS and Balam. Are corporations the size of countries, maybe even planets, and yet they were only able to get a fraction of their power onto Rubicon, partly because of the PCA, though this could also be explained if we assume interstellar travel is just slow and or difficult in Armored Core six. Whatever the case, BAWS are an established production force on planet,

and thus its BAWS MTs are extremely desirable for every player in this war. That said, there's some evidence to suggest that BAWS are on the side of the Rubiconians and the RLF, and it's difficult to imagine that they wouldn't be on the Rubiconians side, they are a corporation native to Rubicon, after all, one that might have even existed before the fires of Ibis. Our best piece of evidence for BAWS's true allegiance is this record of a BAWS guard's last words, recorded right before they were shot dead by an unknown aggressor. Their log here in this

mission reads. You're just on edge, man. BAWS supplies MTs to the off world corps too. No one would ever touch this arsenal. Gotta move as many units as we can to bankroll Elcano. That's the only way we Rubiconians stand a.... What was that? The connections... Yeah. So this guard was basically saying that BAWS is untouchable because they're playing at neutral between all the hostile forces. And if you're wondering why bounce doesn't just side with RLF against the corporations, well, I think that's because going down that route might not really achieve anything in the long run.

The corporations aren't going to stop assaulting Rubicon until they get the Coral, and BAWS only has the numerical advantage here. They don't have the tech advantage, as echoed by a lot of their part descriptions. BAWS is primarily concerned with closing the post closure technological gap, and for that they need the knowledge gained from the extra planetary corporations. So they've partnered with Elcano, who, according to steal Haze's AC data, have stolen ARQUEBUS technology and used it to develop a new model and bounce off, funneling credits to Elcano so that Elcano can bankroll this new tech with

an absurd amount of cash. So who are Elcano? Well, their logo is included on this graphic describing the qualities of a Rubiconian AC, so they're clearly a Rubiconian corperation. As for the parts they're known for, well, Elcano have their roots in producing and forging steel, allowing for parts that are strong but light and agile, traits only enhanced by the fact they've been copying Schneider's work as well, Since Schneider are also known for aerodynamic ACs, all of this is helping them to create a unit that's perfect for Rusty , who favors these kinds of agile craft.

After this tech is perfected, I assume their endgame is to bet on the Rubiconians, who are really only held back by their outdated tech and if their tech improves BAWS and the Rubiconians, and Elcano could conceivably become a force greater than all of the corporations combined. Finally able to defend their planet from the outsiders and free it from the PCA as well. "According to the blueprint, there's a massive water reservoir deep inside the arsenal. If there's anything waiting for us, that's where it'll be. Is that a Coral response. 621 Go down and take a closer

look." Perhaps unsurprisingly, BAWS being Rubiconians, secretly have control of a Coral well at their arsenal, "BAWS was hiding a well all this time. 621, above you. You're outnumbered, pick them off, One by one, 621. Seems that's the last of them. This wasn't a simple check in after all. And back and rest up. 621." And if you're asking why the PCA doesn't just take over BAWS to stop all of the corporations from buying all their firepower? Well, they actually do kind of try to at this time with a mandatory inspection in an alternate mission here. Indeed,

it's quite convenient for the PCA to launch such an attack. They actually have a watch point right next door. If you look at the map, this fact also conveniently explains why BAWS is able to set up a Coral well in this arsenal. The arsenal is located right next to the watch point, and there's definitely Coral beneath the watch point. Independent mercenaries have started to notice Pca's inspectors moving as well, with a comms record at the nearby watch point, reading looks like the PCA inspectors are on the move. Make sure the four know. As for the

other corps, well, Melanite and Takigawa don't seem too ambitious. All they care about is selling their products. Furlong, though.... they're pretending to be neutral. But you know, those crafty foxes would never make a move out in the open. So to quickly break that down, the "four" are the four big corporations Balam, Dafenng, ARQUEBUS and Schneider. As for the other corporations, Melanite might simply engineer a set of grenade cannons, and Takigawa are simply known for their pulse tech, but furlong are indeed collaborating on the production of the RLF's Secret AC project, so they are indeed crafty

foxes, though on the surface they simply appear to be missile specialists. anyway, according to the new Game Plus Plus mission briefing BAWS intend to disrupt this PCA inspection with a raid by independent mercenaries. But this new Game Plus mission is given to us from ALLMIND, not BAWS. And as we soon learn in either mission, BAWS probably aren't exactly in control here anymore. Instead, their facility has been completely taken over by ALLMIND, Kate Markson and her MDD ghosts. "My name is Kate Markson. I have a special request to ask of you. It concerns the elimination of

PCA Mandatory inspection squads dispatched to BAWS Arsenal number two, I need you to lie in wait inside the Arsenal and ambush the Vanguard squad. I'll disrupt their rear guard squad outside, then rendezvous with you." So this is Kate Markson, and she's totally a human. She's got a human name and lots of very human qualities as well. Yeah, no, it's ALLMIND, And if it's not ALLMIND, then it's an AI that's sympathetic with her, At least. "commence mission. eliminate the Pca's mandatory inspection squads." "I'm grateful for your support, Raven. We'll rendezvous later on." "Code one five. unknown

AC" "I was right to count on the wall climber. Keep up the good work." "I looked into this, Kate. She's not even registered in the arena." In a world filled with names like Iguazu and Dolmayan, who chooses Kate Markson as their name? Like, really? What's more, Kate's AC is named transcriber and its emblem is designed to look like a fountain pen, which is a reference to ALLMIND's innate desire to transcribe everything she learns from other races into her own development plans. Granted, she might have got away with this reference, but her emblem and AC are

colored in the ALLMIND colors as well. So yeah, Kate's AC is using ALLMINDs mind beta unit, whose arena model reveals it to feature an AI that benefits from the breadth of ALLMIND's Research archives. ALLMIND anticipates that this new model, Mind Beta, can autonomously operate in actual combat at the same level as a highly skilled mercenary. And ominously, it's this exact model that can actually be seen in the background of the BAWS guard's last words here as well, suggesting that Kate was the vanguard sent in first. As for whether these ghost units are affiliated with ALLMIND

as well, they are. They show up everywhere that ALLMIND is involved and their stealth complements her surreptitious tactics throughout the story. So in your first playthrough, you act on behalf of the RLF to try and figure out what happened. The arsenal. But in new game plus plus you get to see what happens from ALLMIND's perspective at a point where she's already taken over the arsenal, but where she wants to ward off the PCA's incursion with mechs instead. Now, ALLMIND probably could have resisted the PCA with her ghost units, but that would have looked suspicious. Instead,

by using ACs like Kate Markson and hired independent mercenaries like you, she can pretend to be defending against them on behalf of BAWS "Raven, I finished mopping up, but I have something to report. The PCA has made an unexpected move. Let's rendezvous for now."" You heard the lady dating market data." "As much as I'd love to stop and chat. I'm afraid we're rather pressed for time." A side effect of this mission is that it's revealed to Walter and 621 much earlier, that the PCA's suppression fleet is on its way to Rubicon "attending scene. We've got

a 31C on our hands." "We've lost the inspection team. Mercs made a big mistake." "System Authorization recieved. Commencing termination." This isn't subject guard That's fighting here. Instead, these are the PCA's special forces. "Their suppression fleet is coming to Rubicon. These are just the outriders." "621. There's no avoiding this encounter now, wipe them out." For now, though, these are just their outriders. A set of extramoy, which is a name from Greek antiquity, which means outrunners, and the catafract also shows up. The name Catafract means armored or completely enclosed, well except for the giant obvious weak spot

that they probably think no one would be dumb enough to approach head on. Except the hound, Of course. "Code 31c, sustaining heavy fire. dammit." "It can't be... It-It really is Raven." Confirmed, all special forces craft Destroyed. We're done here, 621. "Excellent work. Raven. You've shown me a thing or two." 617 Also defeated a catafract as well as other PCA forces besides, in the story trailer. And you'd think that now that AC6 is out, that we'd know why. 617 and 619 and 620 were fighting against the PCA here. Right? But we don't. Our only clue really

comes at the end of this mission where Walter contacts Carla, another member of Overseer who wants to burn the Coral. "Long time no see, Walter. Looking good for a change. I see you've got a new augmented human. What happened to 617 and the rest?" "Their jobs they did, what it took to get us here." This at least tells us that whatever 617 and the other hounds achieved, it was a part of what got us onto Rubicon in the first place. Maybe Walter was raiding a PCA base in order to hack them for information, or to

install a backdoor into PCA systems.617 and the others could have even been a part of branch's plan to punch a hole in the closure system. We just can't say for sure. Anyway, after this dialog from Walter, we get dialog from Carla that leads into the watch point. If you investigate, BAWS Arsenal number two and defeat ALLMINDs ghosts. Carla hacks into them, calling them friends, sarcastically, "I found the data our friends left behind. There's something promising at the watch point" but if you obstruct the mandatory inspection and side with Kate Markson instead, that's how you learn

about the watch point instead. "we've run into someone shady" "someone you want me to look into." "Yeah. Independent mercenary. Goes by Kate." Either way, it's ALLMIND who leads you here. So I think it's fitting, then, that we discuss ALLMIND's goal here at the watch point, a place that she is also extremely interested in. "This is a rather personal request from a friend of mine. It concerns a certain facility, a watch point. Once it regulated the underground flow of Coral. Now it serves to monitor the dormant veins. I want you to attack it." It's hard to

say exactly what Walter hopes to achieve by destroying the watch points sensor, but Carla has figured out that there's something promising at the watch point. And my best guess is just that Walter's more than happy to let Carla dig around there after 621 renders the place obsolete and deals this huge blow to the PCA. However, in a lucky coincidence, destroying the sensor actually causes an unexpected Coral surge and monitoring its directionality is actually what leads Walter and all of the corporations to the true source of the Coral. It's also the moment where we get a

friendly little wave mutation in our head, Ayre. "code one five. intruder. sighted." "It's it's just one AC" "Who were they with?" "We can look into that later. Engaging" The reason the corps don't want to attack The watch point for information is that it would be seen as a grave declaration of war and a severe escalation. And if Balam or ARQUEBUS earned the ire of the PCA this early on, it could put one of them at a severe disadvantage compared to the other. But as an independent mercenary, we're able to go. A fact that explains why

we find the wrecks of some independent mercenaries here as well. The most interesting wreck here, however, is this one of ALLMIND's ghosts carrying an extremely important piece of data. It reads: A wave mutation has been detected. It's happening. The aging mercenary is the ideal candidate to serve as the trigger. We must now bring the third factor into play. It's at this point that we should speak very openly about what ALLMIND's plans are, and how she intends to achieve them at this early stage of the game, at least. So I'll explain her plans, and then I'll

come back and explain this data. Look, many times in new Game Plus plus you'll hear ALLMIND Refer to the project. The project, put simply, is to achieve something called Coral release. So what is Coral release? Well, long ago, researchers at the Rubicon Research Institute discovered the Coral could self propagate and that the speed at which it multiplies was determined by the density of the Coral colony. Thus, if Coral was allowed to grow inside of a vacuum, Coral density would be maximized and so would growth. However, what they also discovered was that the Coral would begin

to mutate in these dense conditions, and they feared that these mutations would bring about a Coral collapse followed by a Coral release, a phenomena I think we observe in the third ending of Armored Core six, where the collected Coral becomes so dense that it collapses in on itself before being triggered to release and spread throughout the universe. In this ending, Coral and humanity are able to achieve a deeper symbiosis. This is seen as a good thing by some, though the word collapse could also be referring to the heralded collapse of human civilization that this event

would represent. Logs reveal that ALLMIND has identified three main factors required for her to achieve Coral release. a primary factor, a secondary factor, and a third factor. She's never clear about what these factors are, but we can kind of puzzle them out by looking at the context in which they're mentioned. Her primary factor is mentioned here, where ALLMIND notes that she has to wait for ARQUEBUS to put the primary factor for the project in place. This one's pretty clear. She kind of has to be talking about the vascular plant, which needs to be found and

then repaired by ARQUEBUS, ideally so that it can start sucking up the Coral from Rubicon's atmosphere. As for why she's chosen ARQUEBUS in later missions, it's revealed that ALLMIND has infiltrated ARQUEBUS to a large degree, and I think ARQUEBUS just has the capacity to repair the vascular plant more so than Balam does. ALLMIND's Secondary factor is mentioned in the context of destroying this machine. Hal 826. This is the AC that Walter eventually pilots and ALLMIND needs it to be destroyed by her secondary factor. As far as I can tell, the secondary factor is just any

pilot she can wield as a weapon to further her goals. I personally think that at one point it's Kate Markson, then another point it's us. And then eventually it's a Iguazu. This same datalog refers to the pilot of Hal 826 as that man. Given Walter becomes Hal 826's pilot, she's almost certainly talking about handler Walter here since she later calls him a hindrance to the project. She complains that he has greatly delayed our efforts to put the third factor in place. So what is the third factor? Well, it's actually pretty obvious. It's either a Coral

wave mutation or a wave mutation integrated with an augmented human. As we learned from an earlier log, the Coral density effect creates wave mutations which lead to Coral collapse and Coral release. Thus, ALLMIND needs a wave mutation, The third and final factor to trigger Coral release. This third factor is mentioned here in the observation data found at the watch point, and here ALLMIND has detected a wave mutation and she has an aging mercenary who is the ideal candidate to serve as the trigger for her plan of Coral release. This aging mercenary is C1-249 Sulla. "you

see that? That's the watch points Control center. the targets inside. Make your way in." "Attacking a watch point. Your incorrigible handler, Walter. How many of your dogs must I kill before you learn?" Walter has a bit of a history with Sulla. And it's here that we learn that Sulla has killed at least two of Walter's previous hounds. Where's 619 and 620? dead? Which ones that I kill, I wonder?" in the new game plus plus variant of this mission, Sulla more accurately muses on the specific hound that he killed. "Was it 618 I killed last? He

was good, but he had nothing on this one." So now we know that Walter has at least six hounds to date. There's us then there's 617, 619 and 620 who were defeated while assaulting the PCA, and 618. And then there's at least one other nameless hound who was killed by Sulla. But who is Sulla, Really? "Pitiful dog. I feel sorry for you. I really do. You may have survived a little longer, if only you had a different master" His arena bio reads A veteran independent mercenary who was active in the star system surrounding Rubicon before

the fires of Ibis. Sulla is a patient of generation one augmentation, or better, said a survivor, as the technology in its infancy had less than a 10% success rate. Though he escaped the fate of others, Sulla is followed by the specter of death wherever he goes. After receiving his surgery, Sulla lost interest in most mercenary work and now lives only for the hunt. It is unclear who currently employs him, so while it's unclear why Sulla hunted down Walter's hounds in the past, we certainly know who employs him now, ALLMIND. "Encrypted comms. You must be controlling

them to. Don't think twice. 621. Kill him before he kills you." If the presence of ALLMIND's ghosts here in New Game Plus Plus wasn't enough to convince you that Sulla is working for ALLMIND, there's also this list that appears later showing ALLMIND's Prime candidates for Coral release, and one of them is clearly Sulla, who Walter identifies for us as C1-249. This list is organized into four columns, with each column showing a different generation of augmented human. Only generations 1 to 4 are listed here because these are the generations of augmentation that successfully used pulses of

Coral to augment their subjects. Thus, these augmented humans, including you and Sulla, have been highlighted as subjects that should theoretically be able to make contact with a Coral wave mutation, which ALLMIND has detected at the watch point here. Incidentally, this might be why ALLMIND decided to take over BAWS Arsenal number two in the first place. There was a Coral well there, which might have been instrumental to her plans of locating a Coral wave mutation. This C model mid-range radar imaging overlay in her ghosts log reveals one more thing to if you look closely, we see

the wavelength shape that's commonly associated with Ayre here. And if you look even closer, we see that this wave mutation, Ayre, is the third known wave mutation. This checks out as before her, we know of one wave mutation named Seria. And we'll talk about her later. And then before that, there would have been another nameless wave mutation that led to the first Coral collapse and the fires of Ibis, and we'll talk about that event in more detail later on as well. "Handler Walter, I'll be coming for you next." Right now. 621 and Walter are a

threat to ALLMIND. You'd think that she'd avoid killing us since we're on her list as a potentate for Coral release. But she clearly prefers Sulla, who is far easier to control than one of Walter's hounds. And yet, when we kill Sulla "Handler Walter, forget about the hound" He correctly hints that ALLMIND will be targeting us next. He was her first choice after all. His arena bio states that he lives only for the hunt, so he's easy to control. But this also explains why he's so honest with Walter about us. He's ALLMIND's merc, yes, but he's

not pursuing Coral release for its own sake or ALLMIND's, He's doing it for the thrill. So he plays it straight in his comms. No matter how this fight ends "that hound's better off dead. It's for your own good, Handler Walter." And Sulla is not wrong. Because while it takes ALLMIND a while to realize it, we do go on to factor in her plans. Because we make contact with that third wave mutation, not Sulla. "There. destroy the device in the center. Good job, 621. We're done here at back to base. Wait. No. 621 Get out of

there." "Who are you? An older type of augmented human, fourth generation. Have we made contact? I am Ayre, a rubiconian. Please. You must wake up before your consciousness. Is forever scattered in the Coral flow." At the start of this video, I mentioned that Coral was a revolutionary data conduit. Well, turns out that's kind of underselling it because here, Ayre notes that if we get caught in this Coral surge, we won't just die. Instead, our human consciousness will get lost within the Coral flow. So, yeah, I think it's very dark. What almost happens to us here,

especially when you consider that a Coral surge has probably happened on Rubicon before, way back when the fires of Ibis first began sweeping up and burning all human lives on the planet. Therefore, I think it's absolutely valid to consider Coral to be a substance that has subsumed human souls. In a sense, it's never outright confirmed, but I think it makes Coral a much more interesting substance when you imagine that it changed as a substance when it started to interface with humanity. And I'll admit that we're getting into a little bit of speculation territory now, but

I wonder if this helps to explain. Ayre, she's a wave mutation who is in no small way pretty human from the very moment we meet her "Augmented human 6462 vital signs confirmed. Disabling autopilot. Establishing comms link with-" "Raven. I've taken your comms link offline for now. That massive dose of Coral nearly killed you. I've identified an approaching enemy. I've looked into the enemy craft. It's an autonomous PCA craft. BALTEUS. You'll have to break its pulse armor to inflict meaningful damage. I'll synchronize with your brainwaves and maintain contact to support you. Picking up a massive heat

signature. Evasive action, Raven. Please. You have to focus on winning this. Enemy system's down. It's silent. Raven, you need rest. But first, a warning. he Coral surge you were swept up in. That was just a glimpse. A premonition of the swarm of flame that will burn Rubicon." "A friend of mine sent me this observational data. Look 621, a localized explosion caused by the surge has a certain directionality. It's headed straight for the centralal ice field across the Olean Ocean. Like a flock of birds or a school fish, Coral loves company. Which means somewhere in the

ice field there's a huge, mass of Coral lying dormant" as befits a Coral entity, Ayre was inclined to stay with her Coral brethren. And when the surge blows them sky high, she's is still inclined to follow them wherever they go. One interesting thing to note here is that while one Coral surge occurred here, it actually triggered a Coral explosion way further west. This is because there's a difference between a Coral surge and a Coral explosion. A Coral surge is just a mass of Coral moving outwards, escaping a vacuum, Perhaps. we later learn that the destruction

of this watch point created a number of Coral surges. So I assume us destroying the watch point caused the underground Coral to vent out and surge in the entire region. But what happened in the northwest wasn't just a Coral surge, it was a Coral explosion. A Coral explosion only occurs when the Coral is ignited. And as we later learn, it takes a lot of combustion to ignite Coral. So I assume that must have been something that ignited it over there in northwestern Belius. Not that we'll ever really know since the whole area was instantly vaporized.

At any rate, this marks the end of chapter one. The cinders from this Coral explosion begin to converge northwest, hinting that there's a larger Coral mass in that direction. It's around this time that 621 tells Walter that they've started hearing voices. "You said you could hear a strange voice in your head. That's a common side effect of old gen augmentation. Could also be from getting caught in that Coral search. Don't let it bother you." It's interesting to note that 621 is capable of communicating, though it's probably non-verbal. It's also interesting to note that hearing voices

was a common side effect of old gen augmentation. I don't think this is suggesting that other augmented humans had wave mutations in their head like we do. These sentient wave mutations appear quite rare, after all. Rather, the voices that other augmented humans heard probably came from the general Coral swarm, or maybe from the cinders that burned Coral left behind. I bet those voices were probably just dismissed as schizophrenia back in the day, and it's kind of chilling to think that all along those voices were real. So 621 is an emotionless blank slate as a character

by design. But if there's any characterization, I'm okay with leveling at them. It's that they're just obsessed with getting jobs done because despite being ordered to rest, 621 needs little convincing to immediately take up the Balam mission to reach the Intercontinental cargo Launcher to cross the Alean Ocean and pursue the Coral, "commencing infiltration to grid 086, creating backdoor into system. Deactivating lock on vertical catapult, connecting steam cylinders. Launching. All right, Raven, let's get to work, shall we?" This job requires that you infiltrate grid 086, an older grid than the one you landed in, and one

that's much more dangerous. It's the territory of RAD a group of arms dealers who are themselves an organization of dosers, Rubiconians who treat Coral like a drug. A nearby recording of doser ravings mentions their distaste for Coral mealworms, which don't have nearly enough Coral to satisfy their cravings. Taking Rubicon blessings raw instead hits your brain with a pop and a sizzle, and many dosers are utterly addicted to raw Coral and are perpetually high. This drug use has led to many of RAD's products being a little bit more inspired than parts you'd find in the corporate

catalog. Take Delivery Boy, for example, which came from the feverish mind of a Coral addled engineer and packs a large number of compact explosives into a box that repeatedly circles around to make its deliveries. There's also this RAD booster with an eccentric model number that suggests development under intoxicating influences. As for why RAD was founded as an organization, well, if we look at their logo, I think we can get some valuable insight. First off, enshrined within other words, colony revitalization. RAD is a Rubiconian force. And if there was ever a time for colony revitalization, then

it would have been after the fires of Ibis which decimated the human population, leaving few survivors. Thus, Revitalizing the Rubiconian colony would have been a top priority and RAD was clearly founded with this goal in mind. This naturally leads into the second piece of text featured on their logo, which is reuse and development already refused to be wasteful as they look towards the future and many of their AC parts reflect this. Bad cook, for example, was once a tool used to melt down scrap at ultra high temperatures. Double trouble was originally a tool used by

industrial demolition craft, and the wrecker parts were originally specked for demolition work. Most interesting of all are the parts for RADs Scout ACs, which are the frame parts that 621, and all of the rest of Walter's hounds use the noted as crafts that have commendable ease of use, a fact that enables Walter's hounds to perform well in their very first sorties. But what's really interesting about these crafts is that they were originally specked for activities in space and were commonly tasked with surveying terrain, extravehicular activity, surface surveys of astronomical objects, transporting resources, and recovering scrap.

I feel like these spacefaring actions must have taken place before the PCA installed their closure system around Rubicon, and if these RAD Scout ACs were once active in space, well, it conveniently explains why an RAD AC is seen on a different planet in the third ending. And it might also explain how Walter got his hands on so many RAD Scout ACs for his hounds to pilot. This is just speculation, but perhaps Walter secured their supply from space outside the closure system. Anyway, Walter has a very close relationship with the woman that now leads RAD, so

of course she's okay with him commandeering her craft. This is none other than Cinder Carla, a survivor of the fires of Ibis and assistant number two at the Rubicon Research Institute, where Walter was present as a child. We see Carla and Walter in this sketch, present alongside Assistant Number one, who is Walter's father, and Professor Nagai. This sketch was done by STK, a famed artist who perished half a century ago during the fires of Ibis. After this, his style was assimilated by AI artists and with time mimicry supplanted the real technique. So it is that

this is the only original STK sketch we find in the game. All others are done by a masked battlefield artist known as STV, who is shamelessly using AI techniques to replicate STK style in the current age. Nonetheless, these renderings are still done of actual people, and thus they command a high value among collectors in the know, so they're pretty valuable to us since we've been using them to put a face to the name for so many characters already. One other the curiosity is that every STV and STK sketch is found on ALLMIND's ghost units, suggesting

she's either behind these AI drawings or she's collecting them to research the pilots in them. In this piece, we can see Cinder Carla, STV notes, the woman's the one in charge, and she's the smartest of the bunch. Have I seen her somewhere else before Though? Of course they have seen her before. In the original STK sketch created half a century ago. Maybe if STV actually drew the art in their paintings instead of using AI, they would have recognized her. Can you tell I don't like AI art? Anyway, these drawings of Carla give us a hint

at a side effect of ingesting Coral. It appears to unnaturally prolong one's life, considering Carla doesn't look a day older here, despite there being a half century gap between these images. Again, if you've read Dune by Frank Herbert, this isn't too surprising of a plot detail, as is obviously what inspired Coral and mélange two has life prolonging effects. Alternatively, though, I guess Carla could have always prolonged her life by going into some sort of stasis. We know that augmented humans like 621, were put into a cold storage of sorts, so it makes some sense that

this tech would be accessible to others to prolong their lives as well. Although I lean towards Coral being the reason more so. whatever the case, Carla is seen here again 50 years later alongside two other men, one of whom is a faithful doser who has clearly taken one hit too many, Rummy. "Who's this tourist? You think you can just waltz straight in here? Hope you're watchin', boss. Leave it to 'Invincible' Rummy to show our guest a good time!" "Arena registration found. AC identified as Mad stomp. Ranked dead last." Like many other doses, Rummy is utterly

addicted to Coral based drugs, and in his perpetually addled state, he is convinced himself that he is an invincible demigod. "Me and MAD STOMP can't be beat!. Argh...! You're no ordinary tourist!" So Rummy gives us another insight into the side effects of Coral dosing, a feeling of invincibility. His bio goes on to read even should reality intervene with a costly defeat, he will forget about the setback entirely by the next day. Only death can dispel his notions of invincibility, now."NO, MAD STOMP" "Hostile AC destroyed." "Looks like you're having fun, Tourist." "I've gathered data on a

woman from our broadcast. That was Carla, leader of RAD, a formidable doser faction. She joined them three years ago, bringing with her a crew of junk wizards and hackers. Within half a year, she sees total control and greatly expanded their operations." Based on this timeline, it seems like Carla made a play at taking over RAD three years ago. Remember, she's secretly a member of Overseer, just like Walter, with a goal to burn the Coral for her, RAD is just a front, a means to an end. It's kind of messed up when you think about it.

She's using RAD, an organization with a stated goal of colony revitalization, as a front, while her real goal is to burn their planet and colony back to the same ashes they rose from. The junk wizards and hackers she brought with her might be some of her closest loyalists members who remain at her side towards the end of the game, where I assume they agree to hack the Xylem and go up in flames. "you know, RAD loves a good welcome party. Come on in and let's get acquainted." We're not the first AC to receive a welcome

party. The phrase is clearly a bit of an inside joke among the RAD, suggesting that they clearly the subject of frequent incursions that they have to turn away. As we learn later, there's a big concept of territory and turf among dosers, and it's something they clearly take very seriously. Because further inside grid 086, we find a video record of the collector's last words. It's located in an AC under a molten stream and it reads, wait, let's not do anything hasty. I'm no one, okay? I'm just a lowly debt collector. I didn't know this was your

turf. I swear, the guy I'm after, he's a tricky one. He could be hiding anywhere in the grid by now. Wait. No, please. You don't have to kill me. True to his word, right opposite his submerged wreck is the AC pilot he was seeking. The pilot's name is Nosaac, and his ex name is Bitter Promise. Likely named after Nosaac's tendency to take on loans, upgrade his AC, and then short his creditors. His arena bio reads. An independent mercenary who snuck onto Rubicon hoping to get rich quick, taking advantage of the chaos brought about by the

extra planetary Corporation man's forays under Nosaac's economic theory, the funds of others about extensions of his own resources. "Don't worry, I put your money to good use. Just take a look at what my new AC can do. My credit score is only going to go up. you get it through your skull. Why would I return what I borrow? You gotta put that S*** to work, every last credit." "Hostile AC destroyed, lets move on." "All right, tourist, that's enough. You've made your point, I surrender. It's just not worth the losses. Come on. I'll let through." This

mission ends with a fight against the smart cleaner, a piece of tech clearly designed to scrap hostiles and melt them down for re-use at the same time, "you're not afraid of anything are you? I like that in a tourist." After this, Carla decides to cut her losses and work with you instead. Remember, she doesn't know that you're Walter's hound. Not yet. Anyway. "Hey, tourist, it's me. "Carla, that works some of my magic to track you down. I've got a little job for you. Take a look" "Raven. It's highly unusual to receive messages from hostile sources.

Did she hack into ALLMIND's mercenary database." When you went through ALLMIND's arena. Did you ever notice a few entries that were glitched? First Sulla's glitches out. "Combat aptitude evaluation program number 15 C network instability detected." And then a little later, Carla's glitches in a similar way, and Carla admits that she's been digging around in there "Arena combat aptitude Evaluation Program number 11 rank... What is this?" "Kind of creepy to go around ranking strangers, don't you think? Well, whatever. I'm busy. You can have this old data." Now, this is a little open to speculation, but I'm

pretty sure Sulla's entry glitches out as a result of Carla digging around for information on him after investigate BAWS arsenal number two and obstruct the mandatory inspection, we established that Carla has begun looking into the ghost craft and Kate Markson, and I think it's led her down a path to investigating ALLMIND and Sulla as well, who currently works for ALLMIND. I personally also think that it's Carla who's responsible for hacking the data logs from all of the destroyed ALLMIND ghost craft we find in game. These have descriptions that read appears to have once been heavily

encoded, then cracked by a third party and out of every character. Carla displays the best proficiency at hacking, especially when it comes to hacking ALLMIND. Speaking of hacking, that's what some rival dosers attempt to do with Carla's tech in new Game Plus and new Game Plus plus, at least "you see a certain someone smashed up on my defense hardware. Now I've got rival dosers muscling in. It's the junker Coyotes. We never did get on" the Junker Coyotes are a rival dose of faction. Some are even former members of RAD. And with Carla weakened now, they're

moving in on her territory. So you're enlisted to defend the place instead. "Look, fellas, we got company," "That ain't dumbass Rummy" "that one of RAD's newbies?" "We'll blow sky high!". "This one is on you for taking out Rummy. You would have kept watch at least." "Confirmed, Cyote force eliminated" in new game Plus, the Coyotes get a little further into that plan and managed to set up hacking units on Carla's servers as well. "That's five. all hacking drones destroyed" "just in time. They nearly had us, sent the coyotes and their pals A little counter virus. Their

servers are officially fried. Maybe that'll teach them to behave. Wait the radar. Are there more of them?" They even hire a merc to help them. Iguazu, who at this point in the story is likely still AWOL from Balam. "You know I really owe you one. You got lucky at the dam, and I'm going to prove it. You're gonna die, Freelancer." The most curious thing that happens in this fight, though, is that during your fight with Iguazu, ALLMIND gets involved with her ghost units. In this fight, their comms are encrypted, but a new game Plus Plus,

Ayre manages to decrypt these communications, revealing that the ghosts are trying to take you out because they've identified you as an impediment to the release project. Remember, at this point, ALLMIND definitely doesn't know that you have the wave mutation from the watch point in your head. After all, as established earlier, the wave mutation in an augmented human is her much needed third factor for triggering Coral release. And while you helped her secure BAWS Arsenal number two, after that, you went on to kill Sulla and destroy the watch point as well, putting a huge dent in

her plans. It was these actions that explain the last line in this description, where ALLMIND notes that that man, Walter, has greatly delayed our efforts to put the third factor in place because Sulla is dead and the watch point is destroyed. She probably thinks the wave mutation is gone. So right now you're considered to be an impediment worth killing. That is, until a later moment in chapter three, when suddenly ALLMIND identifies you as an asset to Coral. Release instead of an impediment. So what happened in between to change her mind? Well, I have a theory,

and it's that in attempting to take you out here, ALLMIND actually starts to suspect that you have the wave mutation she was seeking in your head. And I think this because of what Iguazu says during this fight, while ALLMIND's ghosts are listening. "Agh, that ringing in my ears again. It'll be peace and quiet when you're gone." Whenever you fight Iguazu. He suffers from a ringing that gets worse when you're around. The one exception to this is when you fight Iguazu in the attack the dam mission earlier on in that conflict, he hears no noise. Why?

Well, I think it's because at that stage in the game, Ayre isn't present with us. And indeed, in the final mission of New Game Plus plus, Iguazu finally does realize that it's Ayre who caused the ringing in his ears? "I'm with you, Raven. Now I can fight by your side." "That damn noise. It was you all along" this is because Iguazu is an augmented human from the Coral generations, Like us. And like us. He's sensitive to Coral voices like Ayre. "Dammit! I would have had you. Don't dare think you've won" So I think. And again,

just speculation. But I reason that by overhearing this exchange, ALLMIND eventually figures it out and tries to get 621 and Ayre on her side. But that's in chapter three. To get there, we have to make it to the Intercontinental Cargo launcher and cross the ocean. One more thing Raven. Cinder, Carla's nickname... That's what the Rubiconians call survivors of the fires of Ibis. But as the fires happened half a century ago, well, it could just be some dozer inside joke." Thanks to Carla's personality, she can pass this off as a joke, but the truth is, she

was there, and she was probably ingesting the Coral back then as well. After all, even her portrait reveals that she already had addictive habits. "This elevator goes straight to the top of the grid. The outer shell. Sadly, that's beyond my territory. I mean, once you're up there, the PC satellites see everything. A few of the stupider dosers took it as a challenge when out to prove themselves. You can guess what happened." Again, we see an example of the doses misguided sense of invincibility, a feeling that ironically proves fatal for them. In this mission, we can

even eavesdrop on what were some of their final words to each other. They say, want to hear something wild? Turns out those big shots at the PCA who run the satellites take their orders from an AI. They're working for a computer. Man. It's our first reference to the system. The AI that directs the PCA to enforce planetary closure, just like they're doing here with their satellite cannons, preventing anyone from getting near the cargo launcher. Fittingly, this part of the grid with the launcher on it is higher than the others, and thus it's in range of

the Pca's satellite cannons. Out here. We even get to see a red sky, likely made so by the higher concentration of Coral cinders in the air caused by the Coral explosion near the watch point. "Intruder detected near closing facility" A closing facility is a place where operations have been suspended, and the PCA have certainly done that here with the cargo launcher. Once the Rubiconians must have used the cargo launcher to transport resources. And it's interesting that the PCA haven't just destroyed this launcher, but instead they opt to defend this place because it links to the

central ice field and the Coral convergence is there. So they don't want anyone making their way across the ocean. So I guess they figure no one's going to be able to access it with all their defenses around destroying it would have been smarter, but the PCA seemed to have sent a sea spider to trip up anyone who gets this close, and they have a lot of confidence in its abilities. "Great. Found a C-weapon. That tourist, Is a sea spider. One of the Institute's relics left to haunt Rubicon. Now, what's it doing here?" As I mentioned

earlier, C-weapons are Institute weapons programed with an autonomous desire to protect the Coral. In my opinion, it's no coincidence that it shows up here. Later. We get evidence that the PCA has repurposed the institute C-weapons to defend points of significance. So I don't think the sea spider is any exception. Of course, that doesn't explain why the Institute built a sea spider in the first place. To answer that, well, the name suggests it was designed to defend places on or even in the sea. And later we do find an institute city that once floated on the

ocean. So I guess it makes sense that a sea spider would have once been an important asset for the Institute. "Enemy systems down. The generator is going to explode. They were using Coral for fuel." Ayre is upset here because the Coral generator burns Coral for fuel. I've seen a lot of people speculating that that explains why the Coral weapons sound like screams. The cry of the Coral as it burns. "That was quite the show, tourist. how bout we get back on track. Hop in the container. I'll operate the launcher from here. Brace yourself. By the

way, tourist. You're Walters hound right? Well, I guess a dog can't choose its master. But still, tough luck. I feel sorry for you. I really do. Oh, and one more thing. You know, the cargo launcher is strictly for cargo, right?" Carla knows that even if you succeed in Walter's mission, that it's your fate to burn in the fires of Rubicon. No one wonder she feels sorry for us. I want to quickly note. Walter only ever says that he has to tie up loose ends in missions after the PCA is involved, considering there are multiple examples

of him interrupting PCA communication systems, I want to say that it's possible that Walter has a back door set up into the PCA systems, and that's what allows him to tie up all these loose ends. "Ravem? You-you see it too, don't you? The voices of the Coral. Currents coursing across Rubicon. Walter was correct in his judgment. The Coral. It's here, in this desolate place." "Looks like you've made it to the central ice field, 621. Good. I'm done tying up loose ends. ARQUEBUS found their own way in and are ready to deploy survey squads. And it

looks like Balam's come running after you scoped out the place to. You know what's going to happen. Business as usual." Chapter three immediately reveals a little bit more about these Coral trails. As the first mission has you steal some data from ARQUEBUS's Coral survey in the central ice field. According to this data record, cinders from the fires of Ibis are also considered to be inert Coral. If something is inert, it means it's no longer chemically reactive. You'd think that that would mean the inert cinders couldn't be used as fuel. But there's a future mission where

we fly through dense Coral cinders and get infinite fuel, so I'm not sure it can be that. Instead, perhaps this inert Coral can no longer reproduce or serve as a data conduit. Whatever the case, inert Coral, residual Coral, cinders, whatever you want to call it, this Coral still has a voice. And I guess you could argue that these voices are the voices of ghost, since this Coral isn't really considered alive anymore. Moving on. This log talks about how ARQUEBUS also surveyed Pca's old bases on the central ice field, revealing that they were built on planet

to help facilitate the PCA construction of the closure system, only to be abandoned afterwards. "Even the Rubiconians have forsaken this lifeless place." Indeed, the Rubicon ions don't really have much of a presence here on the centralized field. Perhaps this is because the fires of Ibis originated here all those years ago, and maybe it burned this area the hardest. And on that note, the last piece of observation data reveals a cavity beneath the centralized field. This is the place where the fires of Ibis first originated. But before we can conclude our survey of the base and

unearth the secrets it hides, this happens. "Wait, what's that sound" It's a bomb!" "The PCA, They're coming." With the exception of the PCA force that came for the mandatory inspection of BAWS arsenal Number two, this is the first PCA force we've seen that isn't subject guard. This fleet and its outriders are something else. They're a force reserved for special missions and appear here to suppress the corporations who have clearly gone one step too far in their efforts to exploit Rubicon. So the being suppressed here. Shortly afterward, the PCA act, quickly wiping out several of ARQUEBUS

and Balam survey bases and managing to push back the corporations for the very first time. In your first playthrough timeline. The Rubicon Liberation Front celebrates the suppression of the corporations, but in new game plus timelines, they know better and give you missions to take out PCA forces as well. Fearing that the corporations will eventually commandeer PCA technology and use it against them. In one such mission from Middle Flatwell, an RLF leader, you're tasked with taking out two LC's and a HC. LC stands for Light Cavalry and the HHC is heavy cavalry. It's a piece of

cutting edge tech that the PCA deems very powerful. "You must be confident to come here alone, no matter. This duty is more than a match for some patchwork AC." One thing you have to remember about Armored Core units is that there's a lot of variance in what an AC can be. As our opponent condescendingly points out, AC's are patchwork. They're modular pieces of tech that are built to the preferences or shortcomings of the pilot. There's also a lot of variance when it comes to AC pilots. Some are dolts, like Rummy, who combine a melee chainsaw

with literally the worst arms for melee attacks, and some are gods like Rusty channeling pure anime Gundam main character energy. The PCA heavy cavalry, on the other hand, is a non modular tool expressly designed for one purpose suppression of corporate forces. In many ways, it's beyond AC tech, but in other ways it's beneath AC tech. After all, a HC pilot can't change their build based on the latest patch notes. Haven't they heard laser turrets are the meta now? Bazookas are the meta now, laser tanks are the meta now. "No, the HC's cutting edge" "you live

up to your name, Raven. You fight like a bird in flight. You may yet fly higher beyond Rubicons Scorched skies to chase the freedom we never knew." "Raven I've been thinking about what Middle Flatwell said. The others are so used to fighting and shouting slogans that they've given up thinking. But Flatwell, he's exploring a potential for something new" Flatwell sees a future for Rubiconian's beyond just living within the closure system of the PCA. He may be the RLF's second in command, but he thinks beyond Dolmayan's zealous slogans for the Coral to abide with Rubicon. Dolmayan

might have inspired a generation of Coral warriors, but it's Flatwell who seems more relevant in the current age, especially considering the crisis of faith that Dolmayan was going through during the prison rescue. Anyway, as the corporations prepare their own counterattack on PC forces, Balam gives you a mission to distract the PCA, tasking you with destroying a derelict watch point that the PCA plan to repair in the future. "Code one five unaffiliated AC" "An attack? Why?" This watch point is linked to a Coral vein below ground, and it's here for the second time that we destroy

a watch point sensor and trigger a Coral surge. Much to Walter's surprise. "A Coral surge that shouldn't have been enough to. 621. Pull out now." What I find interesting here is that Walter is consistently surprised that you keep triggering Coral surges by destroying Watch Point sensor's. This guy obviously knows a lot about Coral, and he doesn't anticipate that destroying a sensor should trigger a surge. So there's clearly some factor here with you that he hasn't been able to account for. So I was thinking, what if it's Ayre? we know from professor Nagai's logs that a

wave mutation precipitated the Coral surge that led to the fires of Ibis. So, I'm assuming it's the presence of Ayre here in these watch points that are triggering Coral surges here, too. Even if she or Walter never realize it. "Code 31C. What's the system's verdict?" "Proceed. How, exactly?" This is the first time we ever hear indirect orders from the system. The AI that commands PCA personnel. And it doesn't paint a very flattering picture. The AI simply tells the PCA enforcement squad to proceed with combat, even in the face of a Coral surge that will cause

certain death. At best, it reveals that the system has no concern for PCA lives, and at worst, it's an overly simplistic order that betrays the system's ignorance about how best to handle this situation. "We don't have time for this." "Hurry, Raven. The Corals coming" "621. Don't fall behind." "one misstep and that Coral surge would've swallowed you whole. Raven, must you always put your life on the line" in the next mission to attack the PCA's refueling base, we listen in on some chatter from the PCA's enforcement squad. They state we do what the notice from the

system tells us. For now, focus on mopping up the corporate forces. Make sure to keep an eye on the independent mercenaries too, we have Branch to thank for causing this mess. No doubt they landed on Rubicon. Here we learned that the PCA holds an organization called Branch responsible for the corporate foray onto Rubicon, and by extension, they're also starting to hold you responsible for the real Raven is a part of Branch, and you've stolen their callsign. "The Watchpoint Report checks out. callsign Raven. Priority subject for termination. High on the list" to deal with you. The

PCA have sent the Ekdromoi, their executioners who can quickly catch mercenaries like you while you're mid mission. And if you die here, the lieutenant actually notes that something is off with you. You're not the Raven they've prepared for "Target Raven terminated. code double 4 requesting intelligence review. Observations found to contradict briefing." Meanwhile, back in the Belius region, the Rubicon Liberation Front is plotting to retake the wall, which ARQUEBUS are now using as a Coral survey base. Beyond that, ARQUEBUS have also started setting up some other infrastructure, including a reeducation center and an ominous place called

the Factory. Text data in this mission reads. To facilitate smooth progress of the Coral Response Survey, a temporary branch of AREC is to be installed on Rubicon. Primary subjects are to be Rubiconist prisoners of war. This reveals that ARQUEBUS has a corporate policy of reeducation, not just on Rubicon, but off planet as well. From what we learn later, reeducation is a torturous process that realigns the victim's priorities with ARQUEBUS making their human lives worth something to the corporation. That said, there are those that can resist this process. The log goes on to state that subjects

who are resistant to reeducation, and who possess a certain degree of combat skill, are to be processed according to the relevant procedures and transferred to the factory. Later on, it's revealed that the factory contains pilots that are used for experimentation. It's also revealed that these relevant procedures for processing resistant pilots seems to involve some sort of amputation or mutilation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this disturbing text comes from none other than V2 Snail, the leader of the Vespers second squad and the man in charge of ARQUEBUS's reeducation measures Here on Rubicon. Reeducation involves neurological tampering and fittingly, Snail

and ARQUEBUS as a whole are quite obsessed with augmentation surgery, which is a similar neurological pursuit. Snail's bio reads: After receiving generation eight augmentation surgery, Snail continued to receive follow up treatments as new technologies entered the mainstream so as to make their merits his own. Many augmented humans have died in order to assure the safety of his repeated adjustments. Before Snails eighth generation augmentation surgery, there were seventh gens like Swinburne, and this is the man that the RLF have tasked you to kill in this mission. Somewhat less capable than the other Vespers, Swinburne is in

charge of overseeing the walls defenses back in Belius. His bio reads: Swinburne is a product of generation seven, the first to receive experimental augmentation using Coral substitution technology. This granted him enhanced aptitude as a pilot without the usual complications, but with no obvious indication of either efficacy or potential side effects. Swinburne's fears and doubts turned into an overpowering paranoia, the final jewel to crown his odious personality. "what the? stop that! how dare you attack me with my back turned?" His paranoia regarding his own abilities shines through here. When Swinburne cuts the fight short. "Know what?

Let's not do anything hasty. You realize I lead the Vesper Seven squad, which means I hold the purse strings. Every single transaction goes through me. Let me go and you'll still come out on top. Understand? You're quick on the uptake, aren't you? Splendid. You're not like the savages. Keep up the good work." Let him go. And the post mission briefing confirms his survival. Though he's to be sent in for reeducation. Taking this option also means betraying the RLF, Who gave you this mission. And that has dire consequences as well. "Death and dishonor, such is the

Oathbreakers due. Pay the Sanzu toll!" The Sanzu toll references Japanese mythology, where it is believed that a toll must be paid before a soul can cross the river to the other side, so to speak. This line comes from Rockumonsen, an independent mercenary and a proud weeaboo. He was watching your encounter with Swinburne ready to dive in to finish you off if you betrayed the RLF, his profile reads A wandering independent mercenary who shelters with the RLF. well versed in long lost classical theater, he has a particular interest in ninjas and kabuki, relics of the past

that he learned of from the Japanese immigrant culture, which now heavily influences his eccentric style. It's important to note this overt reference to Earth and its cultures persisting. Anyway, His profile goes on to explain why he fights for the RLF now. Once, when Rockumonsen was on the brink of starvation, he was rescued by Ziyi, who offered him food and shelter, and ever since that day, he has been the sworn enemy of those who would do her and her comrades harm. We see these two here in the STV sketch, with the younger Ziyi offering Rokumonsen food

with acts of kindness Like this, it's not surprising that Ziyi has earned so much of the RLF's affection. "I shall pay my dues. Watch me. good Ziyi. Your reward has come." Heed me, oathbreaker... Treachery benefits none. Coral take you, cur." "Hm. That was certainly an adventure." Next up, heavy missile launch support. The coyotes are back harassing RAD. Except this time they've joined forces with the PCA. What's really interesting about this mission is the area it takes place in. You're actually launching missiles from Watch Point Delta, the same place you met Ayre after triggering that Coral

surge. Apparently Carla has taken it over and now considers it RAD territory. So it makes sense that the PCA want to take it back using the coyotes as their pawns. "We started without you. Tourist. get to your position." "We did arrive as scheduled. I suppose they're an eager bunch." "We're all set. Chief. Commencing missile launch sequence." Carla intends to show them some fireworks. And it's here that we meet her systems admin for the first time. Chatty Stick, an AI whose profile reads the right hand of RAD's ringleader and chief engineer, Cinder Carla. One day, Carla

built a simple suggestion based AI to provide basic support and occasional entertainment. However, no matter what conversational prompt she gave him, he would never say more than necessary. Instead, it seemed that he was content to be a good listener to his creators free spirited, eccentric ideas. Ironically, Carla does find it entertaining that chatty never provides more dialog than necessary. That, coupled with his extreme attentiveness to serving his creator's needs, actually gives him a lot of personality. That said, some comms records from other dosers reveal a distaste for AI. Earlier, they questioned the system, and in

that same logic, they muse on Chatty's AI as well. "Missle launch sequence at 90%". A warship comes from a grid in the distance. Presumably this is territory of the coyotes who now share a kennel with the PCA. And it's this grid that you destroy. "Missile launch sequence complete, Chief" you're the best Chatty. Here come the fireworks." "Raven, they really are like fireworks." This next mission doesn't take place in Belius or on the central ice field. It takes place in between in the Alean Ocean, which hides a floating city Built by the Rubicon Research Institute long

ago. This floating city is called the Xylem, a word that refers to the part of a plant that sucks up water from root to leaf, sustaining the plant. Initially, I speculated that this might mean that the Xylem could gather or monitor Coral from the sea like a plant taking up water. Alean does translate to ascend after all. However, in Cut dialog, Ayre speculates that the city might have served as a maritime relay for transporting Rubicon's resources, meaning that the Rubicon Research Institute might have simply used it as a relay station for moving resources over the

ocean. And another piece of speculation I have is that maybe this is the ship that brought the first settlers to Rubicon in the first place. In addition to whatever other function it has, the Xylem is described as a colony ship, and the vast city suggests that it was mainly used as a habitat for people long ago. Now, however, it's uninhabited except for the autonomous defenses that have been left intact here. "Unknown intruder detection Normalization process E." These defenses have taken down Walter's survey drone. He says it was sent by a friend, but we eventually discovered

that he's masking the fact that he sent this drone himself. And he did this to see if the Xylem would still be operational for them later in the story. Later on, the Xylem becomes a big part of his plans. His drone reveals: Xylem remains fully operational. The Planetary Closure Administration did their best to hide the place, but I'll find a way there soon enough. The only ones who know are the PCA and.... and who? who, other than the PCA knows this place is here. "Normalization Process B2: deployng antigens." Walter could be about to say Overseer

here, since he obviously knows about it, So, So would Overseer. But alternatively, he might be about to reference someone else. ALLMIND. Past missions have proved that Carla and Walter are investigatingALLMIND, digging into her simulations and cracking the codes from her ghost units. It's not ridiculous to think that this slowly figuring out how much she knows. What's more, these units that you're fighting over the survey drone, they're identical to ALLMIND's ghost units that she fights with. Except here they're called antigens deployed as autonomous defenses for the Xylem. I want to quickly shout out the YouTubers SmoughTown

here, as I wouldn't have noticed that these were ghost units if not for their own video on AC6's lore, so definitely check that out if this Hours-Long video isn't somehow enough for you. Anyway, In that video, Smoughtown speculates that all of ALLMIND's ghost craft must have been Institute machines due to their presence as antigen units on the Xylem, which was built by the Institute, and very recently they were proven 100% correct in that speculation. That's because not long ago, Future Press released their official guide for Armored Core six, and in it all official names for

enemies were revealed. Here we can see that the ghosts have an IA designation, clearly classifying them as Institute machines. Alongside the Sea Spider, the ice Worm and others. This is significant because without this, you could actually argue that the ghost units are here because of ALLMIND, and that she integrated them with the Xylem or something. But no, these and all of the machines that fight you here really are all designed by the Institute. "Now we know what happened to the drone. I've located in ECM fog control device. See if you can access it. Once the

ECM fog is cleared, we'll be able to see what this city really looks like." "registration number RB-23, callsign Raven. Apologies for the intrusion. You've been followed. Contact is imminent." "hostile Incoming! AC." This reveals that someone else also knows about the Xylem. Thumb Dolmayan. "I know you menace." Although ALLMIND does say that they followed you here, so it's also possible that he just trailed you or that PCA helicopter all the way here earlier, we established that some Dolmayan was a dose of vagrant who developed an ardent belief in symbiosis with the Coral after the fires of

Ibis burned his star system. What we haven't talked about yet is why he started to have those beliefs. And the answer is that Dolmayan too started to hear a voice in his head, a wave mutation just like ours, the second of three wave mutations that we now know exist. One of Dolmayan's logs reads. How long has it been since I first saw her voice? Fear not, she said. There will always be plenty. She told me this as I was imbibing Rubicon's blessing one fateful day. If I were you, I'd never allow this, I replied. And

I was forever ashamed by my deceit. So Dolmayan was concerned about the loss of the Coral once consumed, but the voice in his head told him not to fear. Coral's ability to replicate is legendary, after all, so she argued that there would never be any real loss. His log goes on to read symbiosis. She seemed to be contemplating the meaning of the word. This moment of happiness we share comes at the cost of her siblings ,sacrifices all. is that symbiosis? surely not. As opposed to our contact with Ayre, which is powerful and constant, Dolmayan relied

on dosing for contact. Perhaps this suggests that he wasn't an augmented human. Whatever the reason, he only received a brief moment of contact and only when he was dosing. Thus, he harbored a desire for longer contact with the voice in his head, a desire both of them shared. As always, she whispers to me from inside. She tells me that she found something in the journals of Institute City, something about the potential for symbiosis. Coral release. If such a thing is truly possible, then perhaps I can join her on the other side. The fact that his

wave mutation is going through the journals of Institute City reveals that this wave mutation has the exact same data mining talents of Ayre, and since they're going through past journals, this likely took place after the fires of Ibis. But perhaps before the PCA closed off Institute City. So it was that Dolmayan learned about the potential for Coral release, something that he probably wished he never knew. Suddenly, Dolmayan carried the fate of mankind on his shoulders. He could pursue Coral release and elevate mankind and the Coral to a new plane of existence. Or he could do

nothing and never achieve symbiosis for himself or anyone. After all, no one knows what lies beyond the Rubicon. STV notes: Old man looks like he's seen some things. Dolmayans logs go on to read: She says that she will respect my wishes. If I cross this threshold, tragedy will befall the world of mankind. Yet if I do not here I stand too afraid to cast the die. "You can see them too? The voices. just as I once did." This reveals that Dolmayan no longer sees the voices. Perhaps his wave mutation went silent as the potential for

Coral release died in Dolmayan's heart. "How much of our Hymn have you heard, menace? Coral, abide with rubicon. Coral, endure within us all For none of us shall cast the die." In the end, Dolmayan resolved to inhabit an active state of intentionally not casting the die. The oft repeated hymn. "Coral, abide with Rubicon" is a plea born of Dominion's fear and the reverence of a dosers symbiosis. It's nothing more. "Seria, forgive me. Forgive this old craven" This reveals that Dolmayan Wave Mutation two had a name Seria, though it seems she has long since fled Dolmayan's

mind. Or she was lost long ago when Dolmayan committed to a doser's symbiosis with the Coral and nothing more. "Target destroyed. Good. The Rubiconian symbiosis is no more than suppression and exploitation of Coral. We hope this encounter was informative." Dolmayan's watered down symbiosis is an affront to ALLMIND, who sees Coral release as the way forward for humanity, a race of beings that she sees as creation's potential. Here ALLMIND fulfills that familiar rogue AI trope of thinking that they know what's best for humanity, even if it comes at the expense of what the actual humans want.

Back at the wall yet again. Now, we learn that the RLF's action against Swinburnes forces at the wall was ultimately unsuccessful, as the PCA swooped in and suppressed both ARQUEBUS and the RLF. Now it's Balam's turn. They were sending forces to attack the wall, even back when it was controlled by the RF. They sent them to attack ARQUEBUS as well. And they're still sending forces now. Balam just can't let go of their failure to climb the wall in this place. We find a new video record, a rousing speech delivered by an AC in front of

RLF forces. Specifically, the AC in front looks a lot like Burn Pickax, which was piloted by Index Dunham before we destroyed it. Their speech is as follows. They say the Coral was plentiful, infinite before the fires of Ibis. And then the Institute burned this planet dry. The academics in their ivory tower underestimated the power of Rubicon s blessing. And when it laid their weaknesses bare, they burned it all to ash. From Dolmayan's writings, we learned that the Rubicon Research Institute did indeed know about Coral Release, and they knew what that might mean for mankind. They

kept journals on the topic, after all. Therefore, when they burned the Coral, it was probably because they understood its potential to destroy or alter humanity. The AC giving a speech here suggests that the RRI burned the Coral because they were weak, as if they couldn't handle symbiosis with the Coral, which is kind of ironic considering that Thumb Dolmayan, their founding father, fears symbiosis via Coral release in much the same way it makes you wonder if the RLF do eventually achieve their goal of having the Coral abide with Rubicon. How long will it be until they

crave a more complete symbiosis? Will they always be happy with just dosing? And what if Dolmayan is dead in this future? What is the hand without its thumb? Can A mere hymn protect against Coral release forever? "End of the line, killer. I will avenge father." This is ring Freddy, your would be assassin. And the final finger we've yet to meet. A warrior of the Rubicon Liberation Front. Paramour and personal attendant to Dolmayan. Freddy maintains an aloof distance from his fellow comrades. An admirer of the inner world of Dolmayan mind. He entered the battlefield so that

the father of the Liberation Front would never need be alone. A paramour is an old fashioned term for lover, often used in the context of a secret relationship. This closeness is even conveyed in the RLF's STV sketch, where Freddy would be this character here, around Dolmayan. Not exactly subtle "Menace to Rubicon. No wonder father feared you. Can't read the next attack. Father, give me a sign. What should... What should I do? Father, guide me? please." "AC kindling has gone silent." But we're not here for Freddy. We're here to strike a blow against the PCA on

behalf of Balam. Since the PCA have since taken over the wall from ARQUEBUS. Code "318 sustaining damage." "Requesting backup, code 78." "I'm piggybacking on this SG's Belius link. Not the most Secure of the lines. there, I've made sure they can't call for help. The rest is up to you." Again. This isn't the first time that Walter has cut into PCA comms. He did it before at the watch point too. He really must have a back door installed or something. Code 23. A temp AC. That AC must be our independent Merc moving to terminate" "Corps and

Merc's, you're all the same. Violate the law, You'll pay the price. You've made a big mistake, Merc" "He's weakened, 621. Go for the jugular" "Enemy System silent. HC enforcement craft destroyed." "Gun 13 Raven. That was a beautiful massacre at the wall. You're a survivor, no doubt. Let me give you some advice. Join the Redguns, Have a career, Climb the ranks. Keep that unlucky number, And eventually the curse will get you too. That's all. don't forget what I said about putting you to work" Here Gun six Red reveals his superstition for the curse of gun 13

by getting you to climb the ranks of the Redguns, Perhaps he really just hopes that you'll eventually leave behind that unlucky number. Back at the Central Ice field, 621 is given a job to destroy the same PCA special forces craft that assaulted the BAWS's arsenal in the ALLMIND timeline. In this timeline, the RLF are fearing that the corporations will eventually assimilate that same PCA technology, so the RLF give you the chance to take out the PCA catafract here by now, the PCA have established that Raven appears to be operating on Rubicon once more. They no

longer consider Raven to be dead. However, they still haven't figured out that it's you fighting with Ravens Name. "Raven. Priority target for removal. You've got some nerve showing up here. That leak of yours started all of this. Did you really think we'd let you walk?" The leak in question is almost certainly the fact that Coral had been rediscovered on Rubicon, and this information getting out sent the corporations into a frenzy. "You've made Rubicon the Corporation's playground. We had law and order under the PCAs watch" previously a death dialog against an Ectramoy captain revealed that they'd

been briefed on Ravens fighting style. And this mission reveals that they've even been training for that rematch. "Go double four. Send Me What You've Got on Priority Target Raven, the combat simulator has misled me." Who are you? You'd think if they were prepared for a fight against Raven, that they wouldn't bring a craft with a giant weak spot in its center. An opening to attack the empty craft that is just begging for the Pile Bunker. "This isn't over." "Forget about this Raven character. Borrowed licenses are always trouble" for this next mission, ARQUEBUS has tasked you

with taking out the PCA's berthed heavy warships. While Rusty takes out their comm space. Luckily for you, the heavy warships are made out of paper maché. Unlucky for you, the comms blackout doesn't last long, and PCA elites catch you and Rusty at the base. "Code 15 targets for termination sighted. time to pay the piper." "Sorry to keep you waiting. I've got your back, buddy. Hope you've got mine." "Code double 4. Send me what you've got on the target." Overcome the PCA here and they call in the ice worm, an autonomous C-weapon designed by the Institute

and later commandeered by the PCA. However, it can only follow their command to attack you for so long before resorting back to its core imperative to defend the Coral. "It's changing its behavioral pattern. Answering to a greater imperative. To protect the convergence." After this, the corporations team up, and even RAD gets involved. To defeat the Ice Worm, you'll need something strong enough to punch through its Coral shield, which weaponizes Coral directivity the same directivity that led you to the ice field and the convergence in the first place. Luckily, long ago, Carla started developing a secret

project a rail cannon. What she wanted this for is hard to say, but whatever her target was, it must have been large. A PCA satellite, perhaps. Unluckily for her, the rail cannon was stolen, along with more credits and tech by a man named Honest Brute. Initially, she trusted this man. Him and what's likely his wrecker AC are even seen alongside her and Rummy in this STV sketch here. And as discovered by user DeltaV112 on Reddit, Honest Brute might have been the one who outfitted the RLF's Strider with all its weaponry. We can infer this because

another Reddit user user, justanewleader, recently discovered that many RAD parts contain the letters C, B, R, and S letters that are likely shorthand for Carla Rummy, Chatty Stick and Honest Brute and the Strider, EB-0309 has the B that is likely shorthand for brute. Indeed, the strider was weaponized by RAD. Brutes Bio reads: leader of the Junker Coyotes a major doser force. Brute was originally hired by RAD. His smooth talking, affable nature quickly caught the attention of Carla, who found him quite unlike the average doser. But his self-confidence and social assertiveness are common psychopathic traits, and

when it was discovered that the man was a psychopath and a pathological liar, brute fled, taking a considerable amount of RAD's funds and technology with him, a loss that was too great for Carla to tolerate. But tolerate it She did, apparently, as she's known where his hideout is for quite a while now. It's in grid 012, which Carla reveals is one of the first sectors they built. This also confirms that the Central Ice Field was likely the first place that the Rubicon Research Institute settled in, before expanding across the Alean ocean to Belius, where more

modern grids were built on the coast and then inland. The states of disrepair correspond to their numbers. The lower a grids number, the older it is. Thus, the greater its state of disrepair, and none that we see are as far gone as grid 012. "Welcome tourist. It's a delight to enjoy the company of a visitor from so far away "here at grid 012 brute commands a force of doser coyotes, the same force that has some territory in Belius as well, where they stage attacks on Carla and RAD. Here, though, we find a log that reveals

the coyotes were former members of RAD. It reads: I don't know about our new boss. You think we can trust him? You think Carla's better? She's got the nerve to call herself a freakin Cinder. Nice try, lady, but you're a little young for that stolen valor. man Are those people at rad full of s**t or what? What's ironic here is that Carla was telling the truth about being a cinder. While Honest Brute is a pathological liar. "We built that AC at RAD, tourist. Don't underestimate it." "How MILK TOOTH weeps. How the rail cannon weaps, torn

from their mother. Oh, they must miss Carla so. I weep too." A milk tooth is a tooth from a set of early childhood teeth that eventually fall out and are replaced. It's a very poetic name for an AC that eventually fell out from RAD, and was ultimately replaced by RAD. "My friend, this is a gift. Thank you" interestingly, brute welcomes death. I guess he didn't like who he was or was pretending to be. Interestingly, brute is also one of the few people that Ayre dislikes, and it's somewhat surprising that she asks you to kill him.

She cites being confused by him, and must find this human to be unlike any others she has come to know. I guess this makes sense, considering Ayre is a being that wishes for a greater symbiosis with humankind. Brute, it seems, would not be a fitting vessel for that future. And before we leave this mission, it bears mentioning that ALLMIND has been here. One of her craft can be found in this grid. Her data reads: The after effects of the fires of Ibis are causing anomalies that frustrate attempts to observe a number of sites. The central

ice field is dotted with many such blind spots, areas that cannot be observed off planet the PCA would be keen to exploit these will surely find the first watch point there. So ALLMIND is or was searching for watch points. Perhaps this was recorded around the time when she was searching for a wave mutation. in her next mission, ALLMIND comments that a couple of surges followed the one you triggered at Watch Point Delta. It's even shown that one eventually occurred here at BAWS Arsenal number two, where ALLMIND was presumably still in control. Presumably these upsurges align

with her goals as they free the Coral from underground to eventually converge in the central ice field. But there's a problem, and it's that the corporations have begun seizing the Coral from the upsurges. To ALLMIND This Coral is effectively already lost. In this mission she embodies the sentiment of "if I can't have it, no one can" and ARQUEBUS are truly confused as to who would risk destroying such a precious resource. "The Liberation Front? The Rubiconists wouldn't risk burning the Coral. who's behind this?" "It does not please us to lose the orphaned Coral, but when the

release project succeeds, their sacrifice will be rewarded." Here, ALLMIND almost gets credit for treating the Coral like a living thing. To her It's just as valuable as a human life, which is to say, it's only useful if it aligns with her goals. If it doesn't, it's better off being destroyed. In a way, Ayre is kind of the same. She too doesn't love the idea of burning the Coral, but she'll still boot up a Coral generator and fire Coral weapons if they mean securing a better future for the Coral. For them, the ends justify the means

and it's more about the greater good. That said, ALLMIND is definitely a lot more ruthless than Ayre. At least Ayre succeeds in having a human element, unlike Kate Markson over here in the next mission, Ayre tasks you with extracting historical information from the Engebret tunnel. Engebret or Engebret, I believe, roughly translates to narrow and bright. Two words that work pretty well considering the Coral surge that just swept through this narrow place. "Thank you for doing this for me, Raven" in the Corals wake a number of PCA wrecks have come back online. It's hard to know

if these machines are actually inhabited by the Coral, but later we learn that Coral can indeed control craft as well. It doesn't just power them. This reminds me of a word I read in the Parts list, and that's Coral Swarm Intelligence. The Rubicon Research Institute weaponized Corals swarm intelligence and used it to create weapons like the Coral Missile launcher, which uses Coral to track enemies and detonate. So maybe something similar is happening here. Weapons like the Coral Launcher are just some of the institute's questionable experiments. And among the institute's other questionable experiments was the C-pulse

sensory augmentation of human subjects mentioned in a data log down here, "another old research institute I see. this is about the first augmented humans, the same Coral technology that created you. But without it, we never would have made contact." It's interesting to think about. Human augmentation was clearly not ethical, especially when Coral was involved. But will it all be worth it if you can move things towards a better future for humans and Coral? Or is it better to burn it all away so that these atrocities can never happen again? In this next mission, you're given

the task to defend a corporate base against a PCA fleet. But another mercenary has already beaten you to the job, Raven. "Augmented human C4 621. We're not here to take back the Raven Name. However, We will see if you can do it justice." The word Raven has a long history in the Armored Core franchise. Previously, it was the name for all mercenaries, no matter who they worked for or why. And in Armored Core six, being a raven means something slightly different, but it still harkens back to that age of independent mercenaries and their operators. "A

raven is a symbol of resolve, the will to choose what one finds for." So in this game two Raven is more of a title. To be worthy of it, you have to embody the one thing at the heart of any independent mercenary, and that's the free will to choose what you fight for. "Raven, we can still... All right, we'll, watch this one. See where they go on a Raven's wings." The most curious thing about this mission is how Raven and their operator knew you would be there. I feel like they must have had some insider

knowledge of the job you were about to take on, and were able to anticipate your arrival. And this brings us to branch, the hacktivist collective that Raven and their operator are a part of, working alongside Chartreuse and King. "Let's get started, Raven. ASTER CROWN's pilot, callsign King, has an 89.6% mission success rate. UMBER OX is piloted by Chartreuse, an aggressive bulldozer with unrivaled firepower. intercept the two targets." "There's our Merc. Go take care of the objective, King. I'll clip this one's wings." "Not alone. This is a branch mission. I'll support you." So earlier we established

that branch, This mysterious organization, were responsible for luring the corporations to Rubicon. This lure involved leaking that the Coral was still here. And it also involved an attack on the closure system, which Chartreuse of Branch was responsible for attacking. Chartreuse's bio reads an independent mercenary who arrived on Rubicon around the time that the Coral response was rediscovered. Held to be a member of branch, the hacktivist collective active in the Rubicon system, Chartreuse is the second oldest and is said to have dealt a critical blow to the closure system during the plot to attack station 31.

As for King, his bio is much the same, except it specifies that he's the oldest of the roster and that he confounded an entire fleet of heavy warships in a solo diversionary maneuver during the attack on station 31. "This isn't right! you're just a Gen 4. You belong in a museum, not an AC" Chartreuse has this bullish attitude with the emblem and AC parts to match. Her tank part in particular has some lore related to her as well. It was designed by ARQUEBUS's Advanced Development Division, but during its development the specs were stolen and leaked

by an independent mercenary. Logically, this thief was Chartreuse, and the fact that she didn't just steal it for herself is a valuable show of what branch truly values. Again, they're not just hackers, they're hacktivists who believe in freedom of information, whether that's free access to AC parts or perhaps free access to Rubicon. In my opinion, they don't fight for any specific cause, but they'll fight for the right, for Ravens and other mercenaries to champion a cause. And what could be better for mercenary opportunities than the breaking of Rubicon closure system? "There's more to you than

meets the eye. You might not be so different from the other Ravens after all." As for King, Ayre notes that he has a 89.6% mission success rate and as such is advertised as the ideal Mercenary. It's a good reminder that even though they're part of branch, they're still mercenaries who like to choose the jobs they take on. Speaking of missions, though, they've taken on an ARQUEBUS job to attack the dam here, just as you've taken on the job to defend it. However, if you die before Raven arrives, then King reveals that you were why they

were here all along. "Looks like it was a false alarm for our friend. Chartreuse. We're leaving." "what about the mission?" "We've achieved our objective. We're done here." It's important to them that you live up to the Raven name. So important that all of them resolve to keep on fighting for branch and a new raven, even if they're the last ones standing. Chartreuse, A new raven will arise one day, and I... I'll have a perch ready for them." As for the name branch, I think it could be symbolic of a few things. It could literally be

the branch that's only there to support the Raven. It could represent branching paths and the free will to choose and shape the future. It could even be a branch of another organization like Overseer, perhaps. Overseers Emblem is a tree, which is also fitting, but we just don't know. but I could imagine there being a sequel to Armored Core six that would take place after we've earned our renown as a Raven. And in this sequel, I could definitely see branch playing a bigger role. King, Chartreuse and Ravens operator can be seen here in this sketch. King

is easy enough to spot, and we can tell Chartreuse and Ravens operator apart, because Ravens operator appears to be wearing a sort of headset here, while Chartreuse stands confidently, giving the thumbs up. Towards nightfall, which is Ravens AC. Anyway, with this job out of the way, we're finally clear to destroy the Ice worm. Long ago, the Rubicon Research Institute built this thing, presumably for its ability to tunnel underground, though it also doubles as a virtually indestructible undying unit for defending the Coral. It requires everyone working together to bring it down. "It's not every day you

see competing forces working together like this. It's time, 621. You're ready." "This mission depends upon you Raven. Lets go. I'll be here to offer support." "Main System, activating Combat mode." "Commence mission. Michigan will take command." "Commencing operation with combined AC force as per the Balam/ARQUEBUS agreement. move out maggots, time to die." "Act like a professional outfit and you might live." "Who does that creep think he is, I ain't here because I want to be." "This is V4 Rusty. Rail cannon is good to go." "Don't die before I get a chance to fire, buddy." "Tourist I've

got a message from the chief for you. Enjoy the show. And don't forget to smile." "Primary shield disabled." "Shield loss confirmed. Initializing ORC Firing sequence. Connecting EML modules. Opening energy turbines. Output at 80%. Sighting direction. A-Okay. 90...95. I won't miss." "Secondary shield down. "Gun 13. Heads open for a direct hit." "That freak actually did it." "Did what? The bare minimum? This is just the first hurdle." The targets deployed drones, Tourist. I'll handle them" "V4, load the next shell." "One step ahead of you, commander". "Finally, someone with their head screwed on straight. You ever thought about

switching sides?" "Sure is an honor to be praised by the Redguns Hell on Four Legs, But I'll pass." "You won't get rid of me that easily. I am the Vespers, I am ARQUEBUS. "Don't do this to me Head Bringer. I'm not going down first" "Pathetic... is that all Balam's Redguns can muster?" "I see ARQUEBUS had to top Vesper to provide running commentary." "Gun 13 show him how actions speak louder than words." "Wait. Something's wrong. Fall back 621." "Folks, we've underestimated this beast. My AC's compromised." "the Coral. It's out of control." "Looks like things just took

a nasty turn. I'll set the ORC to maximum output. We can't afford to lose control of the situation. This next shuttle'll be my last." "We're not through yet. Its primary shield is getting stronger." "I'm out, Tourist. You're on your own now. withdraw." "Stay cool buddy." "Primary shield down." "Good work buddy. all EML modules connected. energy turbines at full capacity. output at 80... 90... All emergency valves closed. Disabling limiter. 100.. 110... 115. approaching maximum output. All or nothing" "The target's Coral shield has been wiped out." "It's all on you now, buddy." "The Coral response is getting

stronger. Hurry!" "Is it over?" "Get clear! It's gonna blow!" "You sh***in' me? The freelancer really did it." "It's finally over. The blast will contaminate the area. Get out of-" "Coral voices... lost again. Raven. There's something I have to tell you. The Coral... It's my family. My brothers and sisters. I am but a single wave, born from the Coral tide. A Rubiconian without a body. No one even knew I was there for such a long time. Raven, you're the only one who..." "Go get your rest, 621 Things are going to get busy. You did good." In

their negotiations with ARQUEBUS for this mission, Balam foolishly opt for the glory of putting down the ice worm with 621 as their mascot. In exchange, they allowed ARQUEBUS to augment their strength with the PCA's own warship fleet. Now, with the PCA's greatest asset gone, the war for the Coral reignites. And while Balam was the one forging ahead into watch point Alpha, in truth, the balance of power is increasingly tipping in ARQUEBUS's Favor. "621. You ready? You'll be going down deep. There's no guarantee you'll come back. Still, you're The only one who can do this. I'm

counting on you to reach the Coral." "Watch point Alpha, my brothers and sisters... they're deep inside." The first depth of Watch Point Alpha. As you progress past the energy weapon platform called the nepenthes. Its name sake is the infamous pitcher plant that lures insects to its edge with a sweet smell, only for them to slip into the digestive fluid at the bottom of the tube. It's aptly named, as this tunnel is much the same, and the nepenthes has already turned half of Balam's forces to ash. I feel like it's even possible that Balam intentionally progressed

past the nepenthes these without destroying it, leaving it intact to fire at their pursuers, which is ARQUEBUS. But then you come along nepenthes sustaining damage, overriding depth one defense line" "Confirmed, target destroyed. Mission accomplished." "The nepenthes artillery platform is silent." Depth two is more interesting. The infrastructure here is that of a rail network designed to transport resources. And here Balam have set up ambushes. And here it's revealed what many of Balam's forces now view you as. "Been waiting for you, Raven. You're going to die, traitor." "Eliminate them. 621." But none hate you more than gun

five Iguazu. "You're my ticket back above ground. Let me tell you, I'm sick and tired of this pit. It'll all be over once your sorry ass is dead." Interestingly, Iguazu thinks he can negotiate to get out of this job if he brings Balam your head. But as usual, his proximity to Ayre messes with his abilities. "Agh, My ears. Not now. That crack messed me up. Learned some new tricks, huh?. I know you're laughing at me. What makes you so special, Freelancer?" In reality, 621 is just emotionally detached because of their own augmentation damage. Nevertheless, your

lack of response triggers Iguazu his own paranoia and sends him spiraling. "This isn't... this isn't over. next time... I swear i'll-" In new game plus Iguazu confronts his own shortcomings, sending a higher ranked assassin after you instead. "You must be Raven... Yes, you do seem rather extraordinary. I see why poor Iguazu couldn't beat you. Why he abandoned his Redgun pride and succumbed to his frustrations. what a pity. You shouldn't have been so hard on the poor lad." This AC pilot is Coldcall, named after his habit of unsolicited visits. His bio reads an independent mercenary who

bargained his way into an effortless entry to Rubicon. Having anticipated the Extra Planetary Corporation's forays well before they made their move, he is an assassin, after all. Naturally, he's good at thinking ahead. A specialist in corporate wetwork, Coldcall removes undesirable elements on behalf of those who do not wish to be seen getting their hands dirty. Quick to identify a fellow assassin, he claims that you can smell the real killer right through their AC. Indeed, Coldcall does have an extraordinary ability to suss you out. " Of course gen 4 augmentation, I presume. Mixed with something else

I see. How poor Iguazu Must have feared it. the unknown within you" There's even an STV sketch that looks like it could depict coldcall. the artist notes Reed caught a couple of hired killers on the prowl, managed to sneak in a sketch without being noticed. The fool won't pay back what he owes, one said. If I had to guess, the fool they're referring to would be Nosaac back hiding in the grid who refuses to pay his debts. The pair of feet on the floor could belong to one who tried to force Nosaac to pay those

debts, only for Nosaac to kill them and flee. One of the hired standing killers could be the collector, the AC pilot who was caught and killed by the dosers in the grid while trying to track down Nosaac. As for the man hiding behind the desk, could this actually be Nosaac hiding? Or is it the artist drawing themselves in the scene? Why does it look like they're holding a child? Of all the sketches, I feel like I could be getting something wrong in this one, so sound off in the comments if you have a better idea.

"Iguazu has more than a grudge against you? He's completely obsessed. We should be careful." After Iguazu, you fight the enforcer, an AI controlled prototype that the PCA were developing at the time. "Intruder detected in third sector defense program. Phase 3.0 switching to termination mode. Terminating target." "Enemy analysis, Complete. That's the enforcer, an AI controlled prototype developed by the PCA." PCA's heavy reliance on AI is what helps them to maintain the closure system on the planet, ensuring that even after they're gone, the AI will remain. There's not much else to say here, except it's in this

mission that Walter starts to get suspicious of you. I think he's finally starting to understand that the voice in your head might be something more. "Seems like smooth sailing, 621. As if hardly need help from me. When did you get so good at exploring?" "Confirmed. Enemy unit is silent. Walter should have some data on the next sector. Let's take a break for now. Raven" in depth three, A high powered laser barrier is blocking the way. To shut it down, you have to destroy the adjacent reactor. But an AC is waiting to prevent your escape. "Defense

program phase 5.0 pattern C. Terminating Threat." "No vital signs... There's no pilot." "That's Institute tech. 621., There's no time. Get rid of it." This AC is named Ephemera. Its AC parts reveal that it's an unpiloted AC developed long ago by the RRI. An old development quirk allows for its piloted operation, though the Unpiloted AC itself can function at a higher level than human nerves, can facilitate. And it's these institute AC's that ALLMIND finds particularly interesting, for they have a distinct focus on the biological analogies between humanity and Coral. The AC's enabled the two to complement

each other and evolve in symbiotic harmony. A fascinating approach, she says. And while we're on this topic, we can also use ALLMINDs analysis to compare corporate AC's and Rubicon in AC's. As for the extra planetary corporations, for example, they believe humanity to be powerless against its environment. Thus, they maximize the power of their AC's to subjugate this surroundings. And in contrast, the Rubiconian's AC's are defined by the human element and have a tendency to focus on harmony with the human body in varying degrees, a sign, perhaps, that they have embraced humanity's potential as beings that

exist within nature and that they intend to maximize this through optimization of human driven output. And as for ALLMIND's AC's, well, she tends to select for parts that have high compatibility with the traits of older generations of augmented humans. That's because she specifically needs Coral gen augmented humans for her plans for Coral release. And you aren't her only ally in this task. She has had many allies and many plans. This request comes from ALLMIND. true to form, They've sent us an encrypted message with top level security. I expect it must be about Coral release." "Augmented

human C4-621. Raven. There is an obstacle to the project that must be removed. The target is V3 O'Keefe, an ARQUEBUS special intelligence officer, a second generation augmented human. O'Keefe was once our ally within the corporations, but it seems he has had a last minute change of heart and means to betray us" ALLMIND never specifies how she knows O'Keefe has had a change of heart, or how he means to betray ALLMIND. If I had to guess, I think O'Keefe may have simply stopped feeding ALLMIND Intel from within ARQUEBUS. He's become apathetic. "The release project must succeed.

Only an exceptional augmented human can be the key." In this screen, we see four generations of Coral augmented humans arranged in columns. Within these, highlighted in red, are ALLMIND's exceptional subjects that she presumably believes can trigger Coral release with a wave mutation C1-249 was Sulla C4-789 is Iguazu, C4-621 is the player, and C3-291 is... Well we don't know who C3 291 is. You'd think it would be O'Keefe, but ALLMIND just specified that he's a second generation augmented human and C3-291 is a third gen. So okay, what about Dolmayan? Well it's possible It could be Dolmayan.

Dolmayan also communicated with a wave mutation, though his communication was enabled by dosing. And it's never mentioned whether he was an augmented human at all. It could be the original Raven as well. It could be Rusty , I guess, but at this point I'm speculating so hard that it's easier to just admit we don't know. We don't know who C3-291 is, and I don't think it's possible to know. But what do you think? Looks like they found a strong candidate this time. You're one of ALLMIND's, right? Tired as I am, I'm not ready to die

yet." "It seems you're not the first assassin that ALLMIND has sent. But you can be the last. Be careful. Raven." O'Keefe's bio reads O'Keefe is originally a member of an older generation of augmented humans, and during the Island four disturbance, he worked as an agent carrying out espionage activities. He was later head hunted by ARQUEBUS's information department and agreed to sign up on the condition that they provided him with generation nine augmentation surgery to counteract the Coral burn in on his brain. This last part confirms that reversing the burn in effects of Coral augmentation is

indeed possible, which is good news for 621. Unfortunately for O'Keefe, however, it doesn't seem to have done much to improve his state of mind. His emblem and AC name is a good reflection of his self, BARREN FLOWER, once full of life, now wilted. "Life on Rubicon sure does suck, huh?. Don't tell me you like it here." But even in his despair, he's identified that his despair is still human. A far cry from whatever Coral release would bring. Possibilities that mankind cannot even begin to comprehend. "You don't even know what you're doing, do you? Let me

tell you something. ALLMIND ain't worth it. You think you want Coral release, but you don't. shovel down your bland rations. Slurp your coffee flavored sludge. Sure it sucks. That's being human." Speaking of coffee, the artist STV comments that one of these vespers offered him a cup of coffee or something like it. So if I had to guess, O'Keefe would be this man here with a buddy by his side, someone good natured trying to cheer him up. So this buddy would likely be Rusty. Maybe now i'll get some sleep. See you on the other side, Rusty"

This last line is very curious. At this point in the story, Rusty isn't dead. You've actually yet to face him in the upcoming depths mission. So why does O'Keefe say see you on the other side? It could be that O'Keefe meant this in the sense that Rusty will inevitably die eventually, and that O'Keefe will see him then, or this line could be more ominous, and O'Keefe might know that ALLMIND is coming for Rusty. ALLMIND does have a data log that refers to Rusty's new AC and ominously says the time is not yet right. So who

knows? O'Keefe might have even been tasked with killing Rusty, and perhaps this is what caused him to turn away from ALLMIND. And as we find out later ALLMIND is most likely the character who gets to Rusty in this timeline. So it's possible that she kills Rusty and O'Keefe knew this, but this is all just speculation. "V3 O'Keeffe. he may seem like a pessimist, but he lives for the way things are, a life that can't co-exist with what we want." This is a very dark take from Ayre, an uncountable number of O'Keefe's exist within this universe,

and Coral release will thrust that uncountable number of people into assumedly what is a sort of eldritch, unknowable state of contact with the Coral. At least O'Keefe died while he was still human. The war fatigue of other Vespers, like O'Keeffe, is something that the RLF mentioned in the next mission, which is to ambush the Vespers V8 PAter and V5 Hawkins to this end. Middle Flatwell, the de facto leader of the RLF accompanies you. We know that Flatwell holds sway over a contact with an ARQUEBUS, so it's possible that contacts like these are how he lures

these two Vespers into an ambush. "What could this emergency call from V2 to be about, sir?" "that's just Snail being Snail, my boy. He loves to send his minions running." "Sure, there'll be trouble if he hears that kind of talk." T"hose are our two numbered Vespers. Ready when you are, Raven" "Stop! Ambush! Pater, What's your status?" "Superficial damage, no abnormalities." "Good. open fire." "That was a clever ruse, wasn't it, Pater? wouldn't have been the first time Snail sent us running at a moment's notice." "We took the bait, hook, line and sinker, sir." If I had

to guess, Pater is shown here in the TV sketch for the Vespers alongside Hawkins, mostly by the process of elimination in terms of a ease, though, Hawkins is the one in the quadruped AC. His bio reads: like Swinburne, Hawkins is a member of generation seven and has lost a great many colleagues and subordinates to the progress of science in revolutionizing the surgery. However, he has reached a certain peace with their sacrifices, knowing that his generation of surgery is far safer than those of the past, free of the loss of humanity inflicted on the Coral technology

generations or the grisly accidents of the interim generations. For a while, I'd been wondering why there is never a mention of any augmented humans from generations five and six, and Hawkins bio explains why these were interim generations. This was the period where augmentation was being pivoted away from using Coral, and it's very likely that few, if any, survived these processes. So in summary, generations 1 to 4 used Coral pulse augmentation. Generations five and six attempted to substitute the Coral's effects with something else. And by generation seven and beyond, they had achieved that substitution effect. The

most modern form of augmentation is generation ten, of which Pater is a product. Pater pilots the REVERSE JOINT in this mission. His bio reads: A product of generation ten, the latest and currently practiced form of augmentation surgery, Pater represents the culmination of efforts to preserve the patient's humanity through Coral replacement technology. You'd think that is one of the most modern augmented humans. Pater might be higher in the ranks, but instead it's commonly the opposite. If you're a modern gen augmented human, that means you've probably had less time to stick around and climb in their ranks.

Pater's bio goes on to read: At times, his noticeably unreserved remarks hint at an underlying lack of empathy. One might assume this to be a side effect of the surgery, but this trait has in fact been with him since long before his augmentation. "V5 Hawkins down" "NO! V5 come in. V5 Pater... That doesn't sound too bad." Peter's AC is named DUAL NATURE, with an emblem that also reflects his two sided self. "No! I-I Just made V5" "It was a privilege, Raven. We're war buddies now. maybe I'll find a comrade in you yet" here flatwell has

the same tendency as Rusty to label you as a war buddy. It's yet another subtle hint at Rusty's true allegiance with the RLF. When Rusty calls you buddy, he's using RLF language. Not something he would have picked up from the Vespers. If you take the mission to ambush the Vespers, Rusty takes the mission to intercept the Redguns instead. In this battle, he kills gun one Michigan, a task you can take on yourself if for some reason you want to kill the best character in the game "just get it done. There's nothing more for me to

say." You can sense Walter's reluctance to kill Michigan. Again, Earlier, we established that he has a history with Michigan, and this reluctance all but confirms that to me. "Attack, get in there you maggots!" Looks like ARQUEBUS and some clown on a suicide mission. Cute. Real cute" "The only clown around here is you Kennebec. You're talking about the wall climber, The worm killer, The only gun 13 thats managed to live this long. Until the Liger Tail deploys the odds are not in your favor. You better keep the emergency eject primed." Michigan's harsh language often betrays his

affection for his troops. He knows them all by name, and he would rather they eject than die in battle against the wall climber. "Yeah, I heard that merc took down gun five Iguazu" "Iguazu? Oh yeah, the deserter who pissed his pants and ran" "Albany? I'd forgotten we still kept you around. Iguazu's worth a hundred of you. Which means Alban, The merc is worth 20am. You're doing nothing productive. Why don't you do the math for us?" "The answer is 2000, Albany, SIR." "Shut the stink hole and start shooting" "AC LIGER TAIL incoming. It's gun one Michigan."

"Listen up maggots. This field trip is now a hunting expedition. You can go home now, but follow me if you got a death wish." Ready to die, SIR!" "Fifth wave, they're surging us." "How can one merc do this alone?" "Time to finish the job 621. Don't let them overwhelm you. Shake off the pressure." "Maggots! Do you read me? You can tell this to posterity: mean old Michigan died of a bad fall!" "AC LIGER TAIL destroyed. Gun one Michigan down. "It's over. Didn't think I'd see the end of the Redguns. You did your job, 621. Michigan

new the score. Balam's withdrawn from Rubicon. The politicians will be fighting there war now." Again, I kind of wish we knew what off planet conflicts looked like. Is Balam HQ facing consequences from the PCA for their intrusion into Rubicon? It's hard to say. "621. We're picking up where we left off. Now that you've dealt with the laser barrier, we can explore deeper underground. At this depth, we find mealworms, creatures that the Rubiconians used to breed for food, as they can subsist on the Coral. "breeding pods for the meal worms. Looks like they're out of commission

now." From this middle point, the mealworms could likely be transported above ground or further down to the city below. And it's in this depth that we find a comms record titled Message for Uncle. This MT is carrying a message referencing steelhaze Ortus. The secret RLF project that is a collaboration between BAWS, Elcano and now Furlong too. It reads I have to get this back to Uncle. Furlong Agreed to provide technological assistance. So this fallen MT has the Intel that furlong have agreed to help create steel Haze Ortus for the RLF, and they were desperate to

get this Intel to Flatwell. interestingly Furlong only agreed to provide technological assistance after the mission where we or Rusty kill Michigan and force Balam to withdraw. Michigan had many former comrades at Furlong and even posted a bounty on his own head to Balam's bounty board, with the stipulation that half of the reward money was to be distributed among his former comrades at Furlong. So I speculate that Rusty might have been counting on Furlong to support the RLF Once Balam was out of the picture all along. The log goes on to read: Now the new model

can finally be completed. Flatwell has to know before those two destroy each other. "Raven, I'm reading something behind us and it's getting closer." "Go deal with a mercenary who went in alone. They said. Hm, figures. it seems both of us are too dangerous to keep around. And the higher ups wouldn't miss an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I hate to say it, but Rubicon still needs me. So, buddy, who needs you?" "AC steelhaze incoming." On the surface, Rusty fights you here to maintain his cover with ARQUEBUS. "I don't want to dance to

their tune, but this time I don't have any other choice. I'm coming buddy." And maybe if he knew his new AC could be built, he wouldn't risk this fight. But in truth, he was probably always going to clash with you no matter what. And a new game plus Uncle Flatwell gets wind of this clash and tries unsuccessfully to intervene. "Rusty , wait." Flatwell, he's a Liberation Front leader." "Rusty that pilot is more than just a hound. You don't see the potential?" "Oh, I see it, uncle, But potential in danger are birds of a feather." You

represent something dangerous to Rusty and Rubicon, And that's power without purpose. "I wish it hadn't come to this. Raven, It's too late now." Middle Flatwell arrived to this fight with half health. I was thinking perhaps he attempted to ambush the two Vespers alone and then flew here as soon as he could. "My AC can't take much more. Get out of here Flatwell, we still have work to do. You're good. And that's not the only thing that makes you a threat. Something's changed since last time, but you still haven't found a purpose. Never failed to impress.

But this isn't over yet, buddy. Find your purpose. Then we'll settle this." "We've lost all signs of steelhaze." "Rusty made it. Good." "I'm picking up a major Coral response coming from the bottom of the pit. Let's get moving. Raven... A city, from before the fires of Ibis. "Institute City. Of course. No wonder we couldn't find it." Finally, Walter returns to the city he was evacuated from as a child. It was here that Professor Nagai worked with his two assistants, uncovering the mysteries of Carl. These assistants were assistant number two, who we can identify as Carla

and assistant number one, who was Walter's father. As noted by Professor Nagai, Walter's father was utterly consumed by his research. STK even notes that he's headed for a breakdown. Indeed, Coral research eventually drove Walter's father completely mad. "Let me tell you a story before you go. There once was a scientist. He abandoned his family to delve into the secrets of Coral. His work yielded a carnival of horrors. Augmentation surgery included." One curious thing about these logs are that they do briefly mention Walter's mother, though only briefly, with Nagai stating that our research has robbed him

of his mother. Considering the carnival of horrors and augmentation surgeries that Walter's father was pursuing, I wonder if Walter's mother became one of the earliest subjects of experimentation and died as a result, though of course, this is just speculation. At any rate, with all these sins of the Institute on Nagai's shoulders, it's little wonder that he decided to remain behind, sacrificing himself to record the fires of Ibis in his last moments, creating Nagai's Log five, which is something we loot here on an Ephemera AC that likely is what remains of Nagai himself, a man who

Walter admires. "But there was another scientist. He took his colleagues sins upon himself and set it all ablaze, died with no regrets. There's a lesson in this story. Once something's alive, it doesn't die easy. 621, story times over. It's time for work. We're done with the corporations. Wipe out the ARQUEBUS AC squad and get to the Coral first. Thanks to their Coral generators, the Institute machines still function left intact by the PCA to help defend the Coral "that machine's was running on stable energy for half a century. Perhaps it should be no surprise that humanity

so desires Coral" "these institute relics of such pests" "thats the ARQUEBUS AC Squad, isn't that one with the Redguns?" This is Wu Huahai formerly gun three of the Redguns. His bio reads: A born con artist. No scheme was too underhanded for Wu Huahai during his days as a criminal mastermind, and exploitation of others was a byword for opportunity. However, his illicit Feng Shui Pharmacy operation was a fatal overstep, imperiling the health of Balam's economic sphere and leading to widespread disease. If you recall, gun four Volta's bio has a line about him learning business from Wu

Huahai. They might even be talking here in the sketch. Or perhaps this is Gun Six Red and who were Hai is back here being shady? It's unclear. Anyway, back to the bio. It was Nile, now the deputy commander of the Redguns who ultimately shit Wu Huahai down. This suggests that Nile shut down Wu Huahai back when Nile was a commander of the Balam security force, the group that preceded the Redguns. And since Wu Huahai is gun three of the Redguns right behind Michigan and Nile. It's possible that these three were potentially the founding members of

the Redguns. It seems that even though Wu Huahai was a criminal, his arrest was turned to his own advantage. At least. "Oh, you're Raven. The independent mercenary. decided to ignore ARQUEBUS's orders, Did you?" Now that Balam is out of the picture, gun three has joined forces with ARQUEBUS, turning things to his own advantage once again, "Balam was a sinking ship. But Arquebus's star is on the rise. And me... I'll be well rewarded when I bring them your head on the silver platter. Yes... I smell opportunity." Huahai fights alongside V-6 Maeterlinck, Sixth squad leader of the

Vespers. Maeterlinck is a product of generation eight, which was held to have advanced the process to the point of rendering all previous generations obsolete, bringing about a new age of augmentation. Unfailingly loyal to ARQUEBUS, she has a reliable track record in the field, and her conduct during missions has established her as a risk averse problem solver. "V2 Snail come in. The Raven has landed requesting backup." Maeterlinck can be identified in the ARQUEBUS photo here. Not just because she's their only female pilot, but because she's following closely in the leader's footsteps, Snail, who is probably walking

alongside Swinburne here, another of his adjutants. Maeterlinck was unfailingly loyal to Snail and ARQUEBUS. But in this moment that loyalty is not returned, and she goes out fretting about the risk of the situation without hearing a single word from Snail. "This is too risky. Commander. V2 Snail. Please come in. This is Maeterlinck requesting backup." "Secure the area, 621." "please. Snail, come in." "The vespers Left her for dead. that wasn't pretty" "and my credit shall be all mine. A fabulous opportunity." "Did I misread the signs?" Maeterlinck's comms reveal that Snail is in the area. Indeed the

only real purpose. Huahui and Maeterlinck served was to lull you into a false sense of security for him to ambush you later. But first ARQUEBUS want to use you to take out this, IB-01 a designation that marks it as the first of the Ibis series before IB-02 the ice worm and IB-07, A Coral powered AC. These three machines are experimental weapons developed by the Institute, but kept secret as it was feared. They were outside of human control. This is because they weren't just powered by Coral, they can be controlled by it as well. "LIsten up

621. The Ibis series are no ordinary weapons. They're designed to prevent Coral disasters. A Security measure to keep Rubicon safe. And now their original masters are long gone. Destroy it before it destroys you." did you Ever wonder why it was called the Fires of Ibis? It's because of the Ibis machines like CEL 240 here, which were deployed by Professor Nagai at the institute to burn the Coral, and spark the fires all those years ago. "Run the calculations. How much time do we have?" "47 hours. Two minutes, 16 seconds." "We still have time. Deploy Ibis." Back

then the Coral was reacting to a wave mutation, and the Coral was resonating. This would have lead to Coral collapse and Coral release. In response, Nagai deployed Ibis to burn the Coral, as this deperate attempt to prevent what he considered to be a Coral disaster. In the eyes of professor Nagai, burning the stars themselves, would be preferable to what ever disaster Coral release would bring. And so, some of the Ibis series, we're not sure which, were deployed towards this. The surging tower in the backdrop of your fight. The vascular plant. It's the single biggest structure

on all of Rubicon, which once stood so tall that it scraped the edge of space itself. This is perhaps why the NGI-001 boosters of the institute say they make allowances for exo-atmospheric operation. The vascular plant is just that tall, and so institute AC designs needed to make allowances for its defense, for nothing nothing was more precious than this plant because it's capable of drawing Coral from all across Rubicon to itself. Yet this huge store of Coral would eventually surge, blowing the top of the vascular plant and spelling Rubicon's end at the hands of Ibis. "Is

it over, 621?" "The Coral resonance is fading. The machine's resolve inherited from its creators. Voices from past fading into-" "No, 621 Move!" "Raven. You're losing control." "Damn it! What's-" "Target neutralized. Yes, yes. I've left the subject alive as instructed. Only a fool would try to outfox ARQUEBUS. I'll see that the unruly dog is punished and brought to heel. Oh, and of course, let's not forget the hounds, master either." In this timeline, ARQUEBUS inevitably claim the vascular plant, repair it, and use it to siphon Coral once more, and 621 is captured by ARQUEBUS as his Volta

himself, forcing our handler to resort to a backup plan which was always destined to play out. "Raven. I found a message addressed to you. Decoding and playing back." "621 A friend of mine sent a request. No, this one comes from me. You know hidden dangers lurk within the Coral. Fires of Ibis Should've wiped the Coral out, but It survived, gathered, and it's been steadily multiplying ever since. Now the Coral convergence is growing at an exponential rate. Eventually, it'll spill out from Rubicon and contaminate space itself." Walter has a good point here. Coral multiplies exponentially in

a vacuum, and space is a vacuum. So far, the Coral has probably stayed on Rubicon because it's drawn back towards the other Coral on the planet, but Overseer fears it will eventually spill out from Rubicon, eventually overflow from a full planet, perhaps "the Coral must be burned 621. Even if that means reigniting the fire that scorched the stars. This isn't an order. It's a legacy. My fallen friends entrusted this duty to me. And now it's my turn to hand it on. 621. Feed the fire. Let the last cinders burn. I have one last job for

you. Find your freedom." Somehow, probably with the hacking abilities of Ayre on your side, you escape reeducation and begin swimming towards an AC. The fact that you're clearly swimming here really puts to rest early theories that 621 doesn't have a functional body. They're heading towards jailbreak, an ancient BAWS AC that has been repaired by Carla's RAD engineers who infiltrated Institute City and made field repairs while you were undergoing reeducation on site. "I found some coordinates in the AC systems. He's showing us the way out." "I can't believe they put us on sewer duty. It's not

ancient pieces of s**t they're worried about?" "Is that an AC? Where'd it come from?" "That piece of scrap's alive. is that institute tech?" "you should avoid combat as much as possible. Raven I'm afraid this AC is no match for your abilities." "This is V5, Pater. Calling all security team members. Raven, the Independent mercenary, subject to reeducation, is on the run. I have direct orders from V2 Snail, capture Raven and send the Patriot to the factory this time." "We're not far from our destination. Raven. What's this. I've checked. It's not a trap." "Emergency beacon intercepted. Been

a while tourist. Good to see you're still kicking. Chiefs coming to pick you up, head to the rendezvous point." "hey, tourist. Having a little trouble?" "Carla!" "Walter, he asked me to look after you. Don't mind if I do" "You should have let me handle this. RAD needs you in one piece." "You're missing the point, Chatty. This is our tourist's grand escape. I wouldn't miss it for the world." "I'm sending a chopper. We retrieve the tourists AC to." "Once we've caught our breath. Let's talk about Walter." It's at this point that you, Chatty, and Carla return

to the Xylem. This enormous craft is Overseer's ace in the hole. It's a powder keg with which they can burn the Coral, provided you can take over its systems before ARQUEBUS intervene. "Reinforcements. There's a lot of them." "Looks like they're falling over each other to get your autograph, Tourist." "Give me 30s and we'll have full admin access." "Just a little more tourist." "Good job holding out tourist. Now I'll show you what this city really is." "The water levels falling. No, the whole city's rising." "You can thank Walter for the tip. I give you the colony

ship, Xylem. Walter's parting gift!" Precaution is better than a cure, so reads the Latin text at the bottom of the Overseer logo, which depicts two people tending to the tree's branches before they grow out of control. Fittingly, though, the tree has branches above and roots below that lie out of reach. Not unlike the Coral in Rubicon's atmosphere and the Coral in its underground veins. This is Overseer the Association of Observers, a group with a goal to monitor the Coral's growth so that they could burn it at its limit point before the collapse came, and a

part of their plans seems to have always been the Xylem, the colony ship built by the institute, which is equipped with the means to crash into the vascular plant and set it all alight. It takes a lot to set Coral to burn on Mass, but if you manage to make it burn and you burn enough of it, it's capable of setting entire star systems aflame before stopping. The xylem is the key to that. And in every timeline of Armored Core six, it's set hurtling towards the Xylem, with Overseer at the helm. "Oh, is that the

observers plan? The corporations want only to devour the Coral. The observers fear the Coral and want only to eradicate it. I, I believe in the shared potential of humanity and the Coral. Raven, I need to ask you something." And this is where you need to make a decision for Rubicon has three fates that await it. Do you side with Overseer and burn the Coral? Do you defend the Coral and fight for a future for all Rubiconians? or do you fight for Coral Release and force the universe to accept symbiosis with the Coral? Personally, I opted

to burn the Coral in my first playthrough, a path that begins with the mission to fight off ARQUEBUS as they try to wrest control of the xylem away from you. "Here's a situation tourist. ARQUEBUS has sent its entire force after the xylem. We're trying to send them off, but honestly, we've got our backs to the wall right now. That's where you come in. Leave the grunts to Chatty and the others. I found someone just right for you. V1 Freud, the ace leading the corporate force." Freud's bio reads commander of the Vespers, an ace pilot who

achieved an astonishing 94.7% mission success rate during the island four disturbance. So, like V3 O'Keefe, Freud fought in the island for disturbance. Clearly, this was an important war in ARQUEBUS's past similar to what the Jupiter War was to Balam. Freud is widely suspected to be a recipient of repeated adjustments, much like Snail. However, the real Freud is simply an ordinary human being, a man who enjoys piloting his AC and making incremental improvements on his daily sorties. So Freud isn't augmented. But despite this, he pilots at a higher level than almost anyone. It's a pretty striking

reveal that augmentation is nothing compared to a man obsessed with customizing and perfecting his AC. Fittingly, his AC's name is locksmith. The perfect tool for undoing any challenge that stands in his way. So bearing this characterization in mind, this is probably Freud here in the STV sketch, the unaugmented human standing apart from his fellow Vespers, perhaps busy analyzing a new AC part on his screen instead. "You must be Raven. nrver sparred with one of Walter's hounds before. It better be worth it. Let's get this trash out of the way." "Chatty. Chatty. He's-" "AI controlled AC.

Always the same." Freud lives for the fight. Something you're just not going to get with an AI controlled AC. "Do it tourist." "I haven't seen moves like that before. Interesting." "This is no time for fun and games. Freud. Our objective is to seize the Xylem. You can ignore them mutt." Despite being v1, Freud hasn't played a part in any of our missions until now. The closest he came to being deployed was during the wall climber mission, but we took over his role there instead. So clearly in the wall climber mission and here now as well,

Snail is still considered to be the de facto leader of ARQUEBUS efforts in Rubicon, despite Snail being V2. But in truth, Freud's the one in charge when he wants to be "yes Snail, you're right. Now then, let's continue. I'm glad I chose your company over Snails. You fight like a hound on the hunt. At this altitude, I'd expected a scavenger bird. What a glorious view. What I wouldn't give to fight like this forever." "Show him that we're not doing this for fun." "not now. Locksmith... More... I want more..." "Confirmed V1 Freud down. Just went to

say goodbye to chatty. He was an AI I developed. Could've moved him into a new body. But, well, I never could bring myself to back him up. Be like taking the life out of him. You seem like you've lost someone to. Hope just imagining things." This next mission takes place at the Common Line, a real life boundary that stands between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. Here, the air is thick with residual Coral from the fires of Ibis, cinders which apparently represent an unlimited source of energy to your AC. You use this to punch through the

ARQUEBUS warships that they pillaged from the PCA. "Good job that's this sector dealt with. Wait. What's that? We're under attack. Tourist, unidentified AC on the Xylem, head back pronto!" "Here we are, buddy. I was right all along. You were just another threat to Rubicon." His emblem has been redesigned. Rusty is muzzled, no longer. "Even with the combined might of the corporations. I couldn't stop you. But this new AC can." STEEL HAZE Ortus is the culmination of secret collaboration between BAWS, Elcano, Furlong and the RLF, inspired by prototype plans stolen from ARQUEBUS and piloted by the

most talented pilot in the AC six universe. Apart from you, of course. "Always were at your best under pressure, buddy. But this ends here and now. They've always been after Rubicon, taking what they can get. Someone has to put an end to this injustice." Rusty sided with ARQUEBUS to make use of their might, killing his true allies in order to gain corporate trust. Also, he could betray them at the crucial moment, but in the end, you become the greatest threat to Rubicon, not ARQUEBUS. "Where did this resolve come from? You must have chosen something, sacrificed

something. You found your purpose, didn't you, buddy?" The word Ortus means dawn or sunrise. And indeed, this AC is intended to usher in a new dawn and fittingly, STEEL HAZE ORTUS can also do something that no other AC can, pushing past the point where it should have been destroyed. "I won't stop! I'll chase the clouds from over Rubicon... Only I can fly high enough!" "Must be heavy. This purpose you found. You finally showed me who you are. It's too late now. But it didn't have to be this way." Rusty finally had everything he needed to

fight ARQUEBUS, but was forced to fight and die against you instead. "You flew just out of reach, buddy..." "Buddy, huh? Do him a favorite tourist, Remember him. Satellite cannons? This isn't right. There's no way the corps took the closure system. Who's controlling them?" If Carla considers the closure system almost impossible to crack, then it must be we can trust her capabilities as a hacker. So the only one who could take control this fast is Ayre, A Coral data conduit filled with new resolve. "Raven. I was the one who fired the satellite cannons. I know that

you-you've made your choice. Then I must do my duty as a Rubiconian I'm waiting for the closure station. Come to me, Raven." As Carla and the Xylem hurtle towards the vascular plant, you arrive at station 31, the satellite station that Branch attacked to open up the closure system and Rubicon. "You know, for a tourist, You've got a sense of humor. Good luck out there." "Raven, I know you can still see it. The voices of the Coral. And yet you turned your back on our shared potential. You want to silence us forever. Raven, I will stop

you. I will stop you and the Xylem carrying our shared resolve on the wings of this machine. Symbiosis. A shared life. I saw the potential for our future with a new. You and I could have walked together." In cut dialog, air reveals that she's piloting one of the Ibis series, IB-07, what she calls a human creation beyond human control, which is exactly what many at the institute feared. "Raven, you are strong. Dangerous. I will hold nothing back. I realize what you are. The spark of war. Fires that haunts Rubicon." Earlier, we established that voices exist

within the Cpral. That even the cinders are like ghosts of the past. "No, my brothers and sisters. Humanity wants to burn them all. everything on Rubicon. I won't let you. Your fire must die" Here you work towards one of the futures that Dolmayan feared, that the Coral would be reduced to cinders. Ghosts left behind on the husk of a planet with nothing left to offer. "Raven, I still believe... our shared dream" She reached out to you here in her final moments, still believing that Coral has a future. Even as the Xylem sets it all ablaze.

And she might be right. The Coral survived the fires once before After all. "There were no winners at the close of the Coral War. When the storm of fire finally faded. Only the ashes of civilization remained. Ruined and haunted, the corporations made a joint announcement with the Planetary Closure Administration. Rubicon was to be abandoned. Left a dead planet forever. Meanwhile, the monster who burned the stars vanished into the flames, never to be heard from again. Yet history would forever remember. The fires of Raven." And somehow, 621 survives. Getting out ahead of the flames. Able to

hear a posthumous recording from handler Walter. "621. Looks like you got the job done. You chose to carry our burden and right the wrongs of the past. I'm sorry. And I'm grateful. 621, There's nothing left to bind you. Whatever choices you make now, I just hope you find your true potential." This dialog is kind of designed to make you want to play through another time. There are other choices waiting for you. And so let's go back three missions and make a different choice. This time we'll side with Ayre. We'll save the Coral, we'll ally with

the Rubiconians, and we'll eliminate Cinder Carla on the Xylem as it hurtles towards the vascular plant. "I understand how you feel about betraying Walter's last wishes and taking on Carla. But still, I want you to give me a chance. I'm not asking Walter's hound, but Raven, the independent mercenary" "Rubiconian apes. Out of my way". Here you can decide to fight Snail, but you can also choose to ignore him. You both share a goal to take out the Xylem, after all, and he is not what you're truly here for. "Let me tell you my motto. Tourist.

Get your laughs while you can. I don't know what you're up to, but you better make it worth it. Chatty, you know what we're dealing with. Pin that tourist down."" Roger Chief. Supporting." "Don't let them team up on you." "Walter told me, You know, looks like you made a friend of your own. But it's good to make a choice. Sit on the fence. You make no enemies or friends." This confirms what we suspected earlier. At some point in your previous missions. Probably when you get so good at exploring in chapter four, Walter realizes that you

are communicating with a voice in your head. Carla's dialog here suggests that he knew the voice had affected your decision to protect the Coral, which is to say he was okay with burning away a being that you at least thought was real. "This is bad, chief. Heh, some tourist" Uh, Chatty...Did you just laugh? I owe you one tourist. No one's ever made him last before" Carla was willing to go out in flames, willing to sacrifice herself in an attempt to wipe away her sins, as well as the sins of her colleagues at the Institute. For

it was everyone at the Institute who unleashed the carnival of horrors that was Coral experimentation. And if she was successful in burning the Coral, such horrors would theoretically never be perpetrated again. But in this timeline, you cause her to fail in this mission. While she does have one last plan, she's forced to die in her AC here. There's no point in her rejecting now. After all, "I gotta face the music, Chatty, it's all you." Carla's AC is called FULL COURSE, and the flavorful names of her parts reveal that signature sense of humor that she has

even in the face of death. "Chief? she's dead tourist... You have made a big mistake. Guess you won tourist... But the chief never loses." What? The Xylem's control center is locked out." "Let me- Chief. I'll take us over the finish line." In the previous timeline, Carla refused to back up Chatty, believing that such an act would be tantamount to killing him. Chatty is an AI, but Carla deemed him special enough to deserve one life, just like any human would have. However, when Carla saw you turn against them, she made that difficult decision and quote unquote

killed Chatty, knowing his sacrifice might be necessary to secure the Xylem "Owner, Cinder Carla. Vital signs lost. Activating perimeter protocol. Activating Perimeter Protocol. Xylem propulsion vector locked. All systems locked out." "Carla had planned everything, even her own death. Just like Walter, who both wanted someone to inherit their legacy. The Rubiconians are continuing to resist the corporations on the ground. Even now, the potential of humanity and Coral isn't the only thing we have to protect. Raven, There has to be something we can do" With the Xylem rendered inoperable. The only thing left to do is take

it down. If the generators and engines can be destroyed, then the xylem will fall, crash into the same ocean It rose from. "One more thing. I took the liberty of using your name to rally allies to aid. Beyond scorched skies. Raven fights on. No one has shaped Rubicon's destiny as much as you have. Come and see what the name Raven means to them. V4 Rusty was the first to offer his help." "It looks like the guest of honor is here. Hey, buddy. I never thought I'd be rubbing shoulders with the Liberator of Rubicon. Every Rubiconian

who heard your cry rose up to fight. Let's show them there's a future for Rubicon beyond these scorch skies. Here, Rusty finally pilots Steel Haze Ortus, the weapon he originally planned to use in Rubicon's War Against ARQUEBUS. But he couldn't have envisioned having to use it like this. "I never thought the plan would go so wrong. And it's teaming up with you again. I couldn't have hoped for a better silver lining." "One generator destroyed." "Looks like the Liberation Front has broken into Institute City. You should hear this. Patching you in" "Now Comrades, wipe the corporations.

We'll show Raven. The Rubiconian's will wallow in the ashes No more" "slogans scrawled in ash were never going to change Rubicon. Cinders are alive with flame once more." Dolmayan's slogans calling for Rubicon to find purpose in the ashes weren't enough. Victory was going to require heroes like Middle Flatwell and Rusty , who called for a future for Rubicon beyond its own skies, beyond just dosing. And here in the clouds, the hero representing that freedom is you. In this moment, the Rubiconians make their final stand, fighting against the corporations on the ground while ARQUEBUS tries to

stop the Xylem overhead, the same Xylem that threatens an entire star system. The Rubiconians, though, have nothing left to lose. And if the Xylem can be stopped, then it's up to them to reclaim their planet from ARQUEBUS. So they pick this moment to strike. "Surround the plant, keep pushing them back." "It's time. Deploying the Schneider AC." Even Rusty's old Schneider AC is being put to use. "It sounds like quite the party down there. Love to see all my hard work paying off." Rusty then goes on ahead to intercept a fleet of warships from ARQUEBUS. They

might share our goal of taking out the Xylem, but they're still the enemy and you just know Rusty has been dying to let his new AC loose on ARQUEBUS. "Target is one AC. identification V4 Rusty, he's supposed to be dead." This line of dialog from ARQUEBUS reveals that Rusty fakes his death and goes into hiding after an altercation with him back in chapter four "all generators destroyed. Get clear Raven the drive blocks going to explode." "Bad news buddy, something's said straight for your position." "I've never seen something move that fast." The PCA hardware that ARQUEBUS

boosted. It includes BALTEUS, which ARQUEBUS has now improved with tech of their own. "Raven, the independent mercenary. You're not the mutt I thought you were" "Oh, that machine!" "You're below that you are vermin" "analyzing enemy data. AAP-07A ARQUEBUS BATLEUS. Pilot identified as V2 Snail" "The Xylem is doomed. Good, it would be most inconvenient to see our hard won Coral go up in smoke, rabble rousing the locals. Another inconvenience, but I'll overlook that. No, your crime is that you ignored me. Ignored ARQUEBUS. You are vermin, And I will be rid of you" "Energy output's off the

charts. Be careful, Raven." To ARQUEBUS, There's only one thing standing in the way of total control. You. After they've dealt with a wall climber, they'll be able to eradicate the RLF. Though, of course, at this point, they're only just comprehending the threat that is Rusty. "We're we're losing the Flagship!" "More fighters! We need cover." "I knew there'd be more. I'm beat, buddy. Well, you're gonna finish this right? I guess I'm not done yet, Then". "Out of my sight, vermin. That traitor V4. those dolts at command. And worst of all, you, the pest of Rubicon who

stirred the cinders. you sicken me! All of you! I'll crush you underfoot. I am ARQUEBUS. No... I am ARQUEBUS One... Last... Plan..." "Confirmed. V2 Snail, down." "Sounds like it's over. I just about mana-" The last sound you hear is the sound of a Coral rifle going off, obliterating Rusty, who is caught off guard in this critical state after taking out ARQUEBUS's intercepter fleet alone so he wouldn't have had time to eject. "Rusty's signal just disappeared. Raven. It seems we've got trouble ahead. We need to take down Xylem fast. Port chamber is silent. Starboard chamber is

silent. The Xylem is fallen from orbit. The Coral safe. Rubicon's sa-" Is that... Is that you? They... 621. I have to... Dispose of you." This is Snail's last plan. To unleash a reeducated husk of handler Walter piloting an AC that a briefing reveals ARQUEBUS found in the ruins of Institute City HAL-826. The last of the Ibis series. "Walter! But that AC... picking up a Coral response. Watch out!" "The corporation's orders... No... My friends' mission... Eliminate... all obstacles..." When Walter says friends, he's not just talking about Professor Nagai, he's likely talking about all of Overseer who

put him on this path to right the wrongs of the past, a goal to undo the sins of his father. Now, Walter has been tortuously reeducated to do two things against his will. He's been reprogramed to stop the Xylem, and is being forced to kill you, even though it's too late for any of these things to matter. "Whatever they did, you're in danger. We have to defend ourselves." "That voice... 621, I see it next to you... Yes. Kindling for the fire." But finally Walter can see Ayre at our side. He is in an AC designed

to seek and burn the Coral. After all. Raven, We're reentering Rubicon's atmosphere. There's no time. Hurry." "Once something's alive, it doesn't die easy. You have to burn every last cinder. Burn the Coral, and our job will be over. You earned all the credits. Undo the surgery. Be normal again." "Raven! Walter! This has to stop." 621... The mission... My friends wishes.. Look at you, 621... You found a friend." In this moment, the Xylem is already doomed. We could leave, but we don't. There's still one last job to do. So ends the story of the man who

passed the torch. "Walter... We have to go, Raven. Raven. One day, humanity and Coral will thrive together. You kept our potential safe. I know Walter feared a collapse. But I promise you, there's another way. Raven, We'll find it together. In this ending, the Coral is left to abide with Rubicon. These were Dolmayan's words. But considering the rising influence of middle Flatwell in the RLF, I think it's more likely that the Rubiconians will be more inspired by Flatwell, and Rusty's sacrifice. Instead setting their sights beyond Rubicon's scorched skies and chasing the freedom they never knew, which

were Flatwells words. Of course, the corporations and the PCA probably won't stop gunning for the Coral on Rubicon, but now the tides have turned. With the vascular plant repaired, the corporate invasion stopped, and all of their tech left behind, the Rubiconians could easily become this force to be reckoned with, especially considering their forces are now bolstered by Ayre and Raven. Raven, or 621, is the liberator of Rubicon, an inspiring figure, and, as Ayre demonstrates in The Fires of Raven, she has the ability to even commandeer the PCA's closure system. And with the closure system on

the Rubiconian's side, I don't see how a corporate invasion of Rubicon can ever succeed again. The only footnote with this ending is that in it, I think humanity will inevitably become completely dependent on the Coral. The Coral will reshape human society as it was poised to do long ago before the fires of Ibis. And I think this will eventually lead to another Coral collapse, a future where humanity and Coral make contact on a deeper level. I personally feel like that ending is inevitable. So in a way, you could argue that the liberator of Rubicon ending

kind of just kicks the can down the road and gives humanity all this time to comprehend the Coral and comprehend all of the consequences that integrating it into society will bring. Maybe those consequences will lead to the fires of Rubicon all over again. Or more likely, I think this ending will lead to an eventual Coral collapse and Coral release. After all, Ayre is quite clear about desiring this deeper symbiotic future for humanity and Coral, especially in this third ending we're about to discuss where Ayre has it within her to be quite ruthless about achieving that

goal, especially if it's what you want as well. This is the third timeline and ending of Armored Core 6. Alea iacta est. The die is cast. The timeline for this ending pivots much earlier in the story, most notably in the mission to reach the Coral Convergence, where ALLMIND clues you into the fact that Snail will ambush you here. And ALLMIND tells you this because she can't afford to lose you to ARQUEBUS "It's like you're clear.Keep mo-" "Switching to encoded channels. Augmented human C4-621, Raven. V2 Snail intends to dispose of you once your utility is spent.

Proceed blindly and you will find yourself a prisoner of the corporations. We will transmit his coordinates, eliminate him. ALLMIND will handle the rest." "Confirmed, it's V2 Snail. we're clear to ambush him." Snail's base of operation within the sewers where he belongs is shown again here in a video record you can loot in the next mission. This video record reveals performance tests of an Unpiloted AC experiments that are specifically being performed by Freuds unpiloted locksmith AC, with the AC in the foreground almost certainly belonging to Snail. We can infer that this is Snail because his AC

is now equipped with the same stun needle that ARQUEBUS designed to take down the ice worm, and this wouldn't be the first time that Snail has used others to test technology before making their strengths his own, his bio reads: After receiving generation eight augmentation surgery, Snail continued to receive follow up treatments as new technologies entered the mainstream so as to make their merits his own. Many augmented humans have died in order to assure the safety of his repeated adjustments. So what was Snail testing in this arena previously? Well, the log, which also sounds as if

it was from him, reads I see no significant difference in performance compared to what an AI can achieve. How very disappointing. this experiment was another failure, then. Regardless, I will have answers. The arrival of ACs brought the age of Unpiloted craft to an end, but what essential difference makes them superior? Send a message to the factory. Have them leave the torso intact Next time. There's a lot to unpack here. Starting at the end. You might remember the factory which was mentioned earlier, and it's a place where captured pilots who were resistant to reeducation were being

sent for processing. So turns out these captured pilots are being taken from the factory now for experiments. And the people coming from this factory are not all in one piece. The fact that Snail specifies to leave the torso intact next time suggests that there's only something like a pilot's brain or nerves even, piloting the AC in this test. And Snail thinks that the lack of a body might be what is causing this experiment to fail. But what is Snail actually testing for here? Well, basically, he's trying to figure out what essential differences make pilotage craft

so much more effective than AI unpiloted craft. And perhaps he thinks he can find this answer by inserting these dissected pieces of pilots into this AC bit by bit, until he finds that essential difference. But in the end, the best answer to his question comes from ALLMIND, Who, in her nightfall analysis, observes that the independent mercenaries are the best representatives of core theory put into practice. Each and every operation of their AC's determines the odds of their survival, and so they have no choice but to perceive their AC's as extensions of their bodies. Many parts

in the game have descriptions that reveal that earlier versions of mechanized warfare in this universe was done at long range and by unpiloted craft. However, with the arrival of armored cores came this realization that piloted craft could outperform Unpiloted craft because of their survival instinct, Basically, as ALLMIND points out, and as this handgun description elaborates, Core Theory introduced a new kind of close quarters combat and with it, the reappraisal of things like handguns and melee weapons, which could be used by these human pilots forced to get in close and fight at a higher level, putting

their own lives on the line. Something an AI cannot understand. So that's what core theory is. It's the theory that fighting at close range is more effective because of survival instinct, basically. And it reminds me a bit of Gundam, which I've been watching recently, where they sort of also go out of their way to justify a reason why these mechs have to fight in close combat, when if they didn't come up with an excuse for this, it would be easy to rationalize that these mechs shouldn't exist. But there are reasons why. in Gundam, it's minovsky

particles. In Armored Core six, it's core theory. "What's going on with our coms? change the frequency, we'll report to HQ later. This had better not be one of that handler's tricks... Who goes there?" "we've been spotted." "The independent mercenary Raven. Leave it to a mutt to sniff me out. But how did you find me? I'll pick your AC's wreck for answers." "There you are. It just like they said, you're gonna die. Freelancer" "that AC, it's Gun 5 Iguazu. "Balam, What are you doing here?" "You? guy from the ice for a mission with a stick up

his ass." "And you're not the only one. No wonder I felt so nauseated." "It's my lucky day. I don't like you either. I'll kill the both of you." "Legacy augmentation. You disgust me. Rabid dogs. You'll die together." "I'm nobody's dog!" "V2 Snail, down." At this point in the game, Iguazu has clearly started to factor into ALLMIND's calculations. He's even started to equip a bunch of her own AC parts on his mech, replacing previous pieces like his shield, and as a fourth gen augmented human like us who can hear the Coral to a degree, ALLMIND has

identified a Iguazu as a potential trigger for Coral release, though at this point he isn't allied with a wave mutation and he struggles to hear Ayre without experiencing excruciating pain and paranoia. "That damn noise again. Freelancer, you're doing this, aren't you? make it stop! Make it- it's inside my head. You're all laughing at me, aren't you?" ALLMIND has clearly sent a Iguazu here to fight us. I feel like this is pretty questionable logic from her because she's putting a Iguazu one of her prospects at risk. But I guess it makes it clear that ALLMIND really

only needs one exceptional augmented human to succeed in Coral release. So she pits a Iguazu against us here. I figure her reasoning is that if a Iguazu wins, he'll be able to claim our wave mutation and become her coveted third factor for Coral release. to help confirm this theory, ALLMIND does have cut dialog here. That was at some point supposed to play in this mission, where she boasts that we have disappointed her. "Raven, you have disappointed us. We have found your replacement." Maybe she even hopes that Iguazu would win here, as 621 comes with the

burden of having a troublesome handler she'll have to deal with. She probably would prefer just to use a Iguazu, but instead ALLMIND is forced to make plans for a handler and we take out a Iguazu here, although it's not the last we'll see of him, regrettably. "Gun 5 Iguazu, down. We did it." "Augmented humansC4-621, Raven. Well done. Now you are one with us. Welcome to ALLMIND." In this next mission, we're essentially tasked with making it to the surface so that we can rendezvous with ALLMIND. Only problem is a significant number of ARQUEBUS forces have crawled

into the depths since we last came. And getting out isn't exactly easy. Fortunately for us, ALLMIND seems to have temporarily commandeered the watch points remaining defenses, causing absolute chaos. "What? What are these things?" "I don't know how, but the watchpoints defenses are back online" "Corporate stragglers still remain within the watch point. We have made some adjustments to ensure that they will not be a threat." "Fire! If they're not with us, they're against us." "We need to get out of here" "Retreat! over the partition" "No, don't!" "Without their leadership, the corporations are powerless. A chain made

of human links is easily broken." AC, ID unknown. it's all going wrong. and that AC's to blame! This is hell. We're in hell. Wait. We found a Balam straggler" "Damn you ARQUEBUS" "Is that... Gun 13? GUn 13, Raven, good timing, help me out!" With Michigan's death, Balam's forces fall apart in the depths. But somehow gun six Red manages to survive, hiding out here all that time, even as Wu Huahai turned coat. And as Iguazu pressed on further "good work, gun 13. You always did work hard for me, handled all my requests. And yet..." "Watch out!"

"Gun 13 Raven, I can't trust you! commander Michigan, everyone, They're dead! because of you, Gun 13. you and that cursed number!" Red is suffering from severe PTSD, and he dies in abject terror. "It was when you came to the Redguns! We'll never be safe with number 13 cursing us! Never! Iguazu, did the curse take you to? Damn it... Damn you!" Our final obstacle is Pater, piloting one of the PCA's LC's in favor of his own AC. He's one of the last remaining Vespers, though he's yet to confirm Snail's death. "You killed these three? you killed

O'Keefe? Damn You, He always look out for me. dammit. O'Keefe! V.V. Pater... That's got a nice ring to it. Once I make sure Snails dead. I'll be the only one left to carry on the glory of ARQUEBUS." Here we see Pater's so-called dual nature on display. He's legitimately loyal to ARQUEBUS and celebrates his promotion at the expense of his peers. But he also genuinely grieves for O'Keefe, who was close to him. "This isn't right.... I can still..." "Augmented human, C4-621 Raven. Well done. ALLMIND hereby guarantees your protection. Invoking ALLMIND administrator access. Erasing all records of

the subject in custody. Augmented human C4-621, Raven, your safety is now guaranteed." Your safety is not guaranteed. With you physically in her control, ALLMIND somehow puts you to sleep. It seems that she does this by interfering with your Cerebral Coral control device, whatever that is. It's the same thing that Walter used to wake you up from stasis at the start of the game. It seems that ALLMIND has hacked into comm, your basic robotic assistant in what is the biggest betrayal in Armored core six. "We have entered satellite orbit. Release the subject from stasis." "Understood, master

ALLMIND. activating cerebral Coral control device. Augmented human C4-621 has awakened." "Raven, you've come to... No brainwave abnormalities. Thank goodness." "Deepest apologies. Raven. It was for the best that you remain to sleep until the situation had settled." While you were asleep, Overseer took control of the Xylem alone. So in this timeline, instead of rescuing you from ARQUEBUS, Walter and Carla have a different tool at their disposal. Instead, the Hal-826 AC, which Walter now pilots fighting alongside Carla and her AC full course. In the other timeline, a briefing reveals that ARQUEBUS found the Hal-826 AC in Institute

City in the Liberator of Rubicon timeline, They even put the reeducated form of Walter inside it to fight you. In this ALLMIND timeline, however, Walter isn't captured by ARQUEBUS and pilots the Hal AC instead, revealing that he knew about this AC as well. So now it's an option that he can use to defend the Xylem from corporate forces instead of you. "Allow us to explain. You are in the vicinity of a closure satellite in the Xylem's hold. As anticipated, the corporations have siphoned the Coral into a single mass. All that remains is to seize the

opportunity to set the Coral free, so that it may carry humanity toward new horizons. The Coral release is imminent. Raven. Ayre. You shall be the trigger for the change to come." So ALLMIND has hidden you inside the Xylem's hold. She probably did this when it was still back in the alean ocean before Overseer commandeered it. You'll recall in the earlier mission to investigate this uninhabited city, she took over the Xylem's announcement system. So it makes sense that she'd leave you here as a trap in the Xylem. It certainly seems that she left some ghost or

antigen units back in it then as well, and she seems to have infiltrated it with even more now "A number of ghosts from our earlier infiltration remain within the control block. These two have fallen under the control of Overseer... Carla." but while these ghosts have now been commandeered by Carla, we're still able to use them to her advantage with Ayre using them to locate Carla's parasite modules Controlling the Xylem. "Augmented human C4-621 Raven, sharing progress on the battle outside. Your handler is a rather capable pilot." "Walter has a starboard block looking" "six pilotless AC's all

exact copies of the vespers." "Yeah, same story over here. This is a bad joke." ALLMIND has used her skills to create a set of AI Vespers to distract Overseer while you take down the Xylem from within. But speaking of the Vespers, where is Rusty in this ending? In the Liberator of Rubicon timeline, he gets aboard the Xylem to help you. Thanks to a call out from Ayre and even in the Fires of Raven timeline, he somehow manages to get aboard the Xylem to fight off you and Overseer. But in this timeline, he's nowhere to be

seen. Did ALLMIND anticipate this and take him out silently in advance? She was aware of Steel Haze Ortus, after all, and V3 O'Keefe did seem to be predicting that Rusty would die. At any rate, what ALLMIND didn't anticipate was Carla and Walter being so prepared for her incursion onto the ship. Not only did they fight off her Vesper drones, but Carla has set up lockout protocols backing up Chatty's AI, not unlike how she backed him up in the Liberator of Rubicon timeline. This forces ALLMIND to get involved directly. "Unfortunately, it seems the enemy was one

step ahead of us. Augmented human C4-621, Raven, head to the Xylem's control center. As for handler Walter and Carla, I will deal with them myself." "You've grown, tourist. I Got a message from the chief for you. I'm sorry, but I'm not laughing this time. you're going down with the ship. Proxy activation emergency protocol Xylem lockout. "Augmented human C4-621, Raven. If the lockout completes, the Xylem will be irrecoverably Forced into a collision course." "You have to hurry, Raven. "The chief left me with a job to do. I will eliminate you, tourist." "Walter, there's something behind you!"

"It's an institute machine. No..." "The control system security is down. Access the central device, Raven." "I'm sorry. Chief. You gave me life. But in the end... I... Never learned to live." "The Xylem control system is silent." "Augmented human C4-621, Raven, your efforts have averted a collision with the vascular plant. Additional. handler Walter and Cinder Carla have been dealt with." Shortly after this, the final mission begins with the crushed torso of Carla's AC floating through space and Walter's decapitated AC lying immobile at ALLMIND's feet. "Look, the Coral siphoned by the corporations is beginning to resonate. Augmented

human C4-621, Raven. your role has come to an end." "Well, well, I've been waiting for this freelancer. I became part of this monster so I could crush you. This time you will die." To properly understand this fight, I think we need to look at cut dialog. I believe it offers some really valuable insights to what's actually going on here. But I do want to stress that a lot of the dialog you're about to hear is cut content and naturally should be taken with a grain of salt. Okay, so in this first phase, ALLMIND Iguazu fights

alongside a set of other mechs and in cut dialog Ayre has this to say about them. "Raven, They're controlling of mechs simultaneously, channeling multiple psyches at once." So these other mechs might not be the typical AI piloted drones that we've seen before. Like Iguazu, they're beings that have been integrated into ALLMIND. They are the ghosts of other pilots. "Freelancer. You killed me. But not just once. Well, there's a whole lot of us inside of me now. Dregs with a grudge. So tell me, who else are you going to kill?" As for how ALLMIND can integrate

someone's brainwaves, well, this is actually nothing new to ALLMIND. her laser orbit part even reveals that it was developed by ALLMIND's neuro engineering division, the dark implication being that this weapon uses a real or replicated nervous system to identify targets. In phase one, Ayre is busy retrieving an Ephemera AC from the institute, which she eventually brings to the fight. And as for Iguazu, he's currently piloting Mind Gamma, one of ALLMIND's AC integration subjects. You would have fought in the arena, but in phase two, a new machine is brought in, one that can make better use

of Iguazu's hatred, "Iguazu, This body won't last." "Guess it's time." "You are aberrations to the plan. Irregulars. We will bring order to chaos." You might have noticed that this craft is similar to the one that Ayre pilots against you in the Fires of Raven timeline, and you'd be right. That was IB-07 Sol-644. It was an Ibis series craft, powered and controlled by Coral and in cut dialog Ayre explains why ALLMIND's craft here looks similar to that. "Raven, That's an emulation of the Ibis series, but it's powered by-" "When integrated in an aggravated state, Human brainwaves

function much the same as Coral." The implication here, I think, is that instead of being simply powered by Coral like Sol, this craft emulates that effect with aggravated human brainwaves, making Iguazu the perfect psyche to channel as he's always on tilt, especially against you, "Iguazu's hatred is resonating with the Coral. It's powerful, but you-You've never stopped feeling this pressure." Ayre can feel this resonance when she joins in phase two, because it's in this phase, that Iguazu notices her for the first time and realizes that it was his proximity to Ayre that was causing the ringing,

the voices, the pain and paranoia in his head. "I'm with you, Raven. Now I can fight by your side. I'll support you, Raven." "That damn noise. It was you all along. I'll kill you and the freelancer!" it makes sense that ALLMIND has no problem killing you as you learn from death dialog in previous missions, Ayre lives on after your death and ALLMIND only really needs Ayre. All that said, even if you're dead, ALLMIND seems confident that she can integrate you and your wave mutation and trigger Coral release "C4-621, Raven. C-pulse wave mutation, Ayre. You are

the trigger for Coral release. We will make you one with us. Ayre, your siblings will surely welcome us." I don't think ALLMIND just wants Coral release for its own sake. If she did, then she would be content to simply let Ayre and Raven initiate it by themselves. No, she wants Coral release with her at the helm. She wants to be the entity that is spread throughout the universe. It's this hubris that led to this arguably unnecessary fight, and it's here that she makes a crucial misstep. "Iguazu, You are one with ALLMIND. No one can stop

you now" "I said I don't care about ALLMIND. You want some of this? I'll give it to you!" Iguazu doesn't want to be unstoppable. He doesn't want ALLMIND. He just wants the freelancer dead. ALLMIND does not understand this. Or at least she overlooks it. And that makes a lot of sense, Because ALLMIND is this entity that focuses on everything at such a system level. She thinks so little of the human links in a chain, as she mentions in a previous mission, and I find it so poetic that it's this petty, irregular human called Iguazu that

eventually undoes her entire operation. His sheer hatred resonating with the Coral, shutting out ALLMIND and Ayre. "Shut up! I'll shut you all up!" "It's resonating" "Iguazu, what are you-?" "Interference. I'm losing- Think... I-I can't fight anymore" "They're gone. The rings of those stupid voices... It's all clear now. I feel good. Now, It's just you and me!" "You were a mistake Iguazu. Irregular." In every mission with Iguazu, you either one up him or defeat him. From 621's perspective, this was probably never done out of spite. But that's not how Iguazu saw it with an excruciating ringing

in his ears. All he saw was a better pilot silently laughing at him, and in the end he admits the truth. "I always envied you.... The freelancer who had it all." "Our.. plan.. humanity.. creations potential." A core ALLMIND motivation is revealed here. She wants to see humanity through to its full potential. No matter the cost. We are creation's potential. Something Ayre herself echoes in dialog as well. Ayre states that humanity assumed its current form to fight itself, to choose from infinite selections. That is the essence of the human race and the key to biological evolution.

"We have the trigger. And we'll pull it ourselves. It's beginning... Coral release. Isn't it beautiful?" First, the collapse... And then the release. "Thank you, Raven." In this moment, Raven and Ayre experience even deeper symbiosis. And they are themselves spread, present in the Coral that's now been projected across the universe. "Raven, you're finally awake. The Coral has carried us. disseminated us across the stars. Now... We're everywhere. Anywhere." I assume these acres here are what remains of some old, faraway war able to be controlled by whatever we are now. "Raven. Let's meet this new age together." What

we don't see here is how this Raven/Ayre Coral release affects humanity. Dolmayans's writings made it clear that he believed Coral release would be a tragedy for all mankind. V3 O'Keefe suggests that humanity would be lost in this process, and O'Keefe might not have just been talking about himself. So are all human minds now experiencing contact from this Coral surge? If so, is this contact affecting everyone in the same way? Are all minds receptive to it, or do you have to be an augmented human for that? Or is contact with humanity still a state that needs

to be worked towards? We don't know, and I think that's intentional. In O'Keefe's words, we are chasing a possibility we cannot possibly understand, and that's kind of what's terrifying about Coral Release. the Unknown. It's very Lovecraftian in that way. It's very eldritch. The name of this ending in Latin is alea iacta est. It translates to the die is cast as in the dice has been thrown. The result, what it will land on is unknown. In an excellent video by ratatoskr on this ending, he brings up that the Latin name of this ending refers to the

moment where Julius Caesar led his army across the Rubicon River in northern Italy. For Caesar, the Rubicon was the point of no return, and indeed this moment inspired another phrase called crossing the Rubicon, which means passing a point of no return. Excellent video. Check it out. So we, humanity, Ayre, the Coral, it has crossed the Rubicon. The die is cast as Dolmayan feared. And whatever the future holds, there's no going back. But this is Armored Core, after all. And with every new age "main system activating combat mode" comes War. Thank you for watching. This video

is so long. Well done sticking it through this far. I like to watch videos where you can sort of break them up into multiple viewing sessions and I hope for your sake that you did that with this video. Originally this video was going to be like six videos and then it was going to be two. Unknown And then I decided just to make one video with everything in it instead. As always with my videos these days, this wouldn't have been possible without the help of others who helped to make this video even better than the

sum of its parts. First, huge shout out to Mispap1, my project partner who captured and did the majority of the editing for this beautiful cinematic footage that really elevated this video to another level entirely. They literally pioneered what cinematic footage can look like in a AC6, as long as you have the proper camera modding tools. And for that we have chainfailure to thank. Chain Incorporated. So many things on our requested feature list for this camera tool and they worked tirelessly to create what is now, I'm pretty confident in saying, the best camera mod available for

AC6 and now this is something that you can use as well for your own projects as well. There's a link to it in the description. Also shout out to Vlimit who helped with the edit of this video in its later stages of production. Vlimit runs this fantastic YouTube channel with AC and Elden Ring content, as well, and I reckon you guys would enjoy it, so please check them out. Thank you for the help. Next I have something to show you guys. So this is my lore mind map for AC6 and it is huge. We basically

transcribed every single piece of dialog from every single mission, and you can see the missions extending horizontally across three different timelines in the game here, and then extending down vertically in each mission as the dialog plays out. Huge thanks to Absa and Zard, who I commissioned to help me compile all of this. That was a monumental task. If you want access to this map, that's something that's available to patrons because unfortunately, I can't make this publicly available to thousands of people because of the software. So I kind of have to limit it, So Patreon is

kind of the logical way for me to do that. So please check out my $5 tier on Patreon if you're interested in getting access to this lore map and others as well. I also want to thank GrayCaliber, who made a lot of useful observations on the STV sketches and who has a channel dedicated to showing off a lot of cut or hidden dialog in AC6. Check it out. Getting towards the end. Thanks to John and Xavier as well. John did these fantastic pieces of art in the STK sketch style and Xavier did a great job

animating them. We wanted to give a bit more punch to these sketches and try to bring these characters to life a bit, and I think it turned out great. Finally, Professor Nagai, who speaks in this animation, was voiced by Rice Pirate, who contributed this incredible voice acting to this project and who managed to really bring this previously voiceless character to life. And that's it. Special thanks again to Mispap1 for being my project partner. In particular. Thanks to everyone. Thank you for watching and I'll see you guys next time.