86 EIGHTY-SIX Part 2

Called “Juggernaut,” these are the unmanned combat drones developed by the Republic of San Magnolia in answer to the attacks by the autonomous unmanned drones of the neighboring Empire of Giad, the “Legion”. But they’re only unmanned in name. In reality, they are piloted by the Eighty-sixers—those considered to be less than human and treated as mere tools. Determined to achieve his own mysterious ends, Shin, the captain of Spearhead Squadron, which is comprised of Eighty-sixers, continues to fight a hopeless war on a battlefield where only death awaits him.

In a cruel twist of fate, talented young pilot Shin Kazama is tricked into serving as a mercenary for Area 88. A hell on Earth where men survive by gunning down anyone who stands in their way. To return home, Shin must sell his soul to the battlefield and pave the road back to Japan with the corpses of his fallen opponents.

In a near future world, after the last great war, most of mankind lives in a handful of city states. There, for the privileged elite, life should be perfect. But for young Shion, the only thing perfect has been the nightmare his life has become since letting a strange boy called Rat spend the night in his apartment. Banished to the outskirts of the city and stripped of all privileges for helping the mysterious stranger who has since disappeared, Shion now finds himself in even worse danger as his inquiry into a new series of mysterious deaths results in his being arrested on suspicion of murder! But even as Shion is being sent to the city's Correctional Institute, the long-missing Rat reappears to rescue him! Now on the run, the two young men have only one chance at survival: uncover the mysterious secrets that lie at the sinister heart of No. 6!

The year is 1983. The Cold War is in full effect, and humanity is under attack. Strange aliens, given the name "BETA," have descended to Earth and have been destroying all life. Soldiers have been tasked with piloting large combat suits called Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF) to repel the alien invaders, but the front line is slowly being pushed back towards the surviving cities. Schwarzesmarken follows the story of Theodor Eberbach and the other members of the 666th TSF Squadron Schwarzesmarken (Black Marks), a ruthless unit that values a mission's completion over human life. Stationed in East Germany on the Oder-Neisse line and led by war hero Captain Irisdina Bernhard, the unit specializes in counterassault attacks on laser-class BETA. But the 666th Squadron finds itself with more enemies than just the alien forces when optimistic rookie Katia Waldheim joins the squadron, drawing the attention of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi.