<span class="mu-i">The tides of history have called upon the line of Marik once more to remove an imposter from our country’s throne. I call upon all patriots, at home or abroad, and ask that they rise against the Empress. So with iron and blood, we may reclaim our future from the hands of a mad despot. So that their children, and their children’s children can live in a secure, safe world. </span>
-Jaime Marik, Patriot’s Address
The Ferrum Empire has descended into Civil War. The weapons built to subjugate the world and decisively crush their neighbors are instead turned inwards.
You are one of those weapons. Beta Core, an Artificial Intelligence built to operate the Empire’s most advanced mech frames against their enemies in tandem with a human pilot. Only together with a pilot, can you move the frame, merging the raw processing power and reflexes of an AI with the knowledge and restraint of a human.
This mission, your pilot is a teenager named Sophie.
You, along with your AI sister Delta, currently are operating for the Patriots. Your other sister, Gamma, is presumably operating for the Loyalists, but you are uncertain of her whereabouts.
Prior threads can be found at:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Core%20of%20Steel%20Quest—-----
For a bit more background, General Marik, architect of the Patriots, has swiftly marched his primary forces of Army Group South north to the Empire’s capital of Victoria in an attempt to capture the Empress and end the fighting before Loyalist reinforcements arrive, and before the snowstorm grounding the Imperial Air Arm blows over.
If he fails to do so, his cause is lost before it even begins as functional supply lines, raw numbers, and air power take their toll.
Beta and Sophie were dispatched to eliminate one source of Loyalist reinforcements from the Tsang Tsun Military Academy by killing the leadership there.
Assistance has been granted in the form of Headhunter, a foreign pilot and machine from the until-recently hostile Tamar Alliance, who is on station to provide close support when called for.
A raging blizzard has also aided his task, making stealth protocols more effective than otherwise expected.
Already, you’ve penetrated through multiple defensive patrol routes, and obtained codes from one of those patrols to appear as just another friendly mech.
