86: Eighty Six

Undertaker

The Republic of San Magnolia has been at war with the Empire of Giad for years. However, thanks to both sides using unmanned drones to fight, the Republic boasts that they are fighting an ethical war since no humans are actually being killed. However, in reality, the Republic's Juggernauts are actually secretly being piloted by humans called 86s, from the Republic's unofficial 86th District. Major Vladilena "Lena" Mirizé is a Handler, an officer in charge of commanding 86s in battle, though she has a reputation for treating the 86s as humans. One day, Lena is suddenly appointed to be the Handler for the prestigious Spearhead squadron, made up of the most elite 86 pilots. However, the unit's leader, Shinei "Shin" Nouzen, known as the Undertaker, has a reputation for destroying Handlers, as every Handler that has attempted to command him has either requested transfer, retired or even committed suicide. Meanwhile, on the frontlines, the pilots of Spearhead live life as best they can, while taking personal glee at tormenting every Handler sent to them. However, during one battle, one of them is mortally wounded, and Shin lives up to his name by mercy killing him. Later that night, Lena contacts Spearhead and introduces herself to them. (Source: Wikipedia)

Spearhead

One week after Lena assumes command of Spearhead, one of the Empire's Legions sends an attack wave towards Spearhead's position, forcing them to mobilize and counterattack. Lena witnesses Shin's battle prowess as he single handedly destroys the Legion's most powerful units. Afterwards, Lena attends a history class for Handler recruits where the teacher explains that since it is believed the Empire was wiped out by their own Legions, and the Legions have a set lifetime, it is predicted that the war will end within two years when the Legions automatically shut down. Lena then takes control of the lecture and reveals to the students that during the war, the Republic revoked all citizenship and human rights of the nation's non-Alba population (people who do not have silver hair and eyes) and forced them to pilot their Juggernauts. Since 86s are no longer considered "human," their losses are no longer considered as fatalities. Lena stresses to the students that 86s are human and should be treated as such. While this angers the government monitors, Lena is confident her uncle can protect her. When speaking with her friend Annette, Lena says she has a positive impression of Shin despite his reputation. That night, Lena continues her daily conversations with Spearhead, and the unit begins warming up to her, especially Shin, who is briefly seen smiling for the first time. (Source: Wikipedia)

I Don't Want to Die

Lena continues her conversations with Spearhead, though some of the members have mixed opinions of her. Kureha has a deep resentment, due to the fact that she is jealous at how close Lena seems to be to Shin, as well as her anger at Alba in general due to her parents having been executed. Kaie, meanwhile, has become fascinated with Lena, having learned that not all 86 are good and not all Alba are bad. Meanwhile, Lena works to secure a more accurate map of the battlefield to assist Spearhead. Kaie then asks Lena why cares so much about 86s and Spearhead, and Lena reveals that while she was on the battlefield, her life was saved by an 86 pilot which made her realize that they are all human. However, Kaie warns Lena not to get too attached to them and recommends she transfer out, otherwise her idealism will come back to haunt her. In the next battle, Lena uses her new maps to help Spearhead set up in superior positions. However, despite the battle being a success, Kaie is apparently killed when her Juggernaut gets bogged down in a marsh and destroyed by an enemy unit. Lena apologizes to Spearhead for Kaie's death and blames herself for not spotting the marsh sooner. This causes one of the pilots, Theoto, to go off on a rant against Lena accusing her of merely pretending to care about 86s while she stays safe in luxury behind the frontlines and is ignorant of how they truly feel about their situation, and finally points out how Lena hasn't bothered to learn any of their real names, instead referring to them only by callsign. Upon hearing all this, Lena begins to suffer an emotional breakdown. (Source: Wikipedia)

Real Name

I'm With You

Lena tells Shin how Shourei saved her life in a Legion ambush that killed her father, and how he was kind and compassionate and wanted nothing more than to go back home to see Shin again. She also learns that the Nouzen family immigrated to the Republic from the Empire before the war, and possibly lived in the capital of District 1. Just then, Shin warns Lena of a Legion offensive, despite the fact that she hasn't received any notifications from command. Shin also warns Lena to cut her Para-RAID link with him due to the presence of "Black Sheep" in the Legion, but Lena insists on staying connected. However, during the battle, Lena begins to hear voices of people in distress, including Kaie's last words, and goes into shock. Though traumatized by the experience, Lena works up the courage to contact Shin again, and he explains due to a near death experience, he can hear the "voices of the dead" from the Legions, which is how he can predict their movements. Furthermore, the Legions' programming is based on how a human brain works. Because of this, the Legions have been able to copy the brains of the people they have killed on the battlefield, imprinting their victims' last thoughts into their programming and creating "Black Sheep" and "Shepherd" models that have far superior performance and intelligence. The Legion is in fact far larger and more intelligent than the Republic realizes, and has already evolved a method to exceed their original lifespans, meaning the Republic's defeat is inevitable. Hearing all this, Lena resolves to work with Shin to destroy the Legion "Shepherd" commanders within one year to end the war for good. Later that night, it is revealed that Shin bears a scar on his neck from a time where Shourei attempted to strangle him. (Source: Wikipedia)

Through to the End

Four years in the past, a young Shin searches through an old battlefield before finding Shourei's headless corpse. In the present the Legion begins rapidly evolving its tactics to counter Spearhead's ambushes, and Spearhead suffers two casualties, Daiya and Lecca, in their latest battle. Shin is forced to mercy kill Daiya to prevent the Legion from harvesting his brain. It's revealed that Shin is focused on finding Shourei's missing head, and that Shourei attempted to strangle him in the past in a fit of rage, blaming him for the deaths of their parents. Lena celebrates her birthday with Annette and asks her what would happen to anybody with an abnormal reaction to Para-RAID, and Annette explains that an 86 would be dissected for study while a Handler would undergo an examination before being transferred. She then petitions her uncle to provide additional military support to Spearhead and replacements for their losses, but he refuses, instead ordering her and Spearhead to attack a Legion base under construction. Shin agrees to carry out the mission, knowing it is likely a trap. Lena tells Shin more about her memories of Shourei, and quickly comes to realize that she has feelings for Shin. (Source: Wikipedia)

Will You Remember Me?

With the Revolution Festival coming soon, Lena arranges to have a crate of fireworks smuggled to Spearhead. She also continues to advocate for supplies and reinforcements to be sent to Spearhead, and her uncle finally appears to agree. As a new supply shipment is sent to Spearhead, Anju and Kurena privately talk about Daiya's death and how it has affected Anju, and also wonder if they should tell Lena about Spearhead's secret, which even Shin and Raiden do not have the heart to tell her. During the Festival, Lena is forced to attend a party while Spearhead celebrates with the smuggled fireworks. Later, Spearhead prepares for their planned attack on the Legion base, but they are suddenly ambushed by ultra long range artillery fire that inflicts heavy losses, forcing Spearhead to retreat and leaving only a handful of Spearhead members alive. As Lena promises to to secure more reinforcements, Shin decides to tell her the truth about Spearhead; it is a suicide unit meant to kill off every 86 who reaches near the end of their term to ensure they can never return to the Republic. Spearhead will only be replenished when every current member is dead. Lena then asks why they still fight if their death is certain, and Raiden explains they all want to keep their pride by going down fighting rather simply accepting death. Meanwhile, in another sector, a new type of Legion unit completely obliterates a Juggernaut squadron. (Source: Wikipedia)

Let's Go

After retreating back to base, Shin reveals to Raiden that he heard Shourei's voice among the Legion, and he is eager to confront him one final time. Meanwhile, Lena studies Spearhead's history and discovers that numerous previous iterations of the unit had been sent on "special reconnaissance missions" to guarantee their destruction. She goes to Annette to ask for help, which only makes Annette furious as Lena's idealism only reminds her of how she allowed her neighbors, who were friends and 86s, to be taken away by the government. She reveals that their para-RAID technology was developed by performing human experimentation on 86s, and her own father committed suicide from the guilt. Lena and Annette have a falling out and Lena goes to her uncle next to protest Spearhead's upcoming "special reconnaissance mission". However, he explains that the complete extermination of the 86s is necessary, because if the truth of their treatment were ever to get out, the Republic would immediately become a pariah state among foreign nations. Unable to do anything, Lena can only bid Shin farewell. Shin informs Lena that once he destroys Shourei, who is now a Shepherd, that will cause enough confusion among the Legion that she will have a chance to escape the country. On the day of the mission, the last remaining members of Spearhead: Shin, Raiden, Theoto, Kurena, and Anju, clean out their base and head out. Meanwhile, Shourei moves out to intercept them, eager to assimilate Shin into the Legion in a warped desire to protect him. (Source: Wikipedia)

Goodbye

While Spearhead engages the main Legion forces, Shin heads directly for Shourei to battle him one on one. However, Shourei's Shepherd unit proves to be too well armored and advanced for Shin to take on alone, and he is knocked unconscious when his Juggernaut is hit. Meanwhile, Lena approaches Annette again, revealing that she has figured out that Shin and Shourei were the neighbors Annette abandoned. Feeling guilty, Annette agrees to hack the Republic's artillery system to give Lena control of it, and she provides much needed artillery support, destroying the Legion forces and disabling Shourei long enough for Shin to regain consciousness and destroy him. Regaining his sanity, Shourei apologizes to Shin before his machine explodes. With Shourei and the Legion forces in the area destroyed, Spearhead decides to continue pressing forward beyond the Republic's borders to find their freedom. Realizing Spearhead are leaving without her, Lena has no choice but to watch as Spearhead travels out of range of the Para-RAID system and disappear. (Source: Wikipedia)

Thank You

Now free from the Republic's control, Spearhead travel deeper into old Empire territory, avoiding Legion patrols until reach a river their Juggernauts cannot cross alone. With their progress stopped, Spearhead are able to take the opportunity to rest and relax and explore a nearby abandoned Imperial town, and they note that Shin seems far more relaxed and easygoing now that he has set Shourei free and been able to confide with Lena about his troubles. The next day, Shin returns to the town to confront a damaged Black Sheep that he was able to hear, and mercy kills it by destroying its core. Afterwards, he tells the rest of Spearhead that he intends to find a foreign nation the Legion hasn't been able to conquer where they can live in peace. Two weeks later, Spearhead's robot companion Fido recalls its memories of being found by Shin and living with Spearhead before it is destroyed in an explosion. (Source: Wikipedia)

Here We Go

After a skirmish with the Legion, all but one of Spearhead's Juggernauts are disabled and Fido too crippled to move, forcing Spearhead to leave it behind. In addition, most of their supplies were destroyed, leaving them with limited prospects of traveling any further. With no choice, Spearhead continue on to another abandoned Imperial town, where they spend the night in a school and briefly roleplay being students again. The next day, Shin take the last remaining Juggernaut to intercept the Legion, intending to use himself as a decoy for the rest of Spearhead to escape. However, Shin's friends follow him into battle, and all of them are seemingly killed while Shin hears the voice of another Shepherd. Meanwhile, Lena arrives at Spearhead's base as the replacement Spearhead is transferred in. She explores the base and finds a note left behind by Spearhead expressing their final farewells to her, as well as a request to adopt the kitten they had been keeping as a pet. Inspired by Spearhead's words, Lena resolves to keep fighting and moving forward. Elsewhere, Shin appears to have a dying dream of being reunited with Shourei in the afterlife, leaving his headless body behind. (Source: Wikipedia)