Oh look I'm doing it again! Starting another story on impulse that will almost certainly not be updated regularly. So, I.S, eh? Okay, well I can only do as much as my imagination will permit, so screw it, Ichika needs a god damn rival that doesn't wanna do the horizontal tango with him, so I'll bring one.
If I knew my enemy would be this dense I'd have fought a Neutron Star
Prologue: Friends, right?
The world had changed since the advent of the Infinite Stratos; exoskeletal war machines with unparalleled aerial abilities, weapon customisation, armour configuration and utility. The technological world had marched forth with renewed vigour with new weapon systems emerging, storage and manufacturing methods, even A.I. However, while the technological world flourished, the political landscape of the world was knocked clean off balance.
There was a drawback with the creation of the I.S, and that was they only responded to female command, thus only being usable for women. With such a massive military advantage in their hands, prominent female figures in the world called for societal and social change. They were met with resistance as change often is, but it was eventually a woman's world within just a few short years.
However, while women were guaranteed to be able to use the system, it was never proven to be completely impossible for a male to use one, not without some...alterations. That is where Marik I.S.M.R.D, or Marik Infinite Stratos Military Research and Development came in. Marik was a private military and security corporation that eventually branched out into the Infinite Stratos market, soon developing its own technology and training its own pilots through some dark and underhanded business deals.
They scoured the world for their pilots, taking in soldier's sons, young gang members, war orphans, and homeless teens in order to give them a future, and create an army. Their roster of trained and eligible pilots stood at just 30 combat ready pilots split into six teams of five. Cadets made up around two thirds of the pilot force, coming in at just over 60, with nearly 400 waiting to be screened and inducted in to Marik's forces.
The most prominent team, and the go-to guys for messy wet-work was Team Railhead. They were the best at what they did, each with personal I.S units, and they were getting ready for their favourite pass-time. Unlike the lesser teams who had customised training units, each cranked up to badass levels of power and performance.
The leader of Railhead, Ivan Vasiliev, was a 19 year old Russian boy with a past with gangs and violent crime. He grew up in Tolyatti, a city in Russia with a reputation for gang violence and its less than stellar economic climate. He never went into much detail about how Marik found him or why he decided to join. He was around 5'10, with a stocky build and military buzz cut. He was soft spoken and often quite gentle, not really one to confront people about anything unless it involved a mission. His brown eyes seemed much older than his age would suggest. He piloted the heavily set and bulky I.S unit T-34-X1, or 'Hunchback'.
The second in command was Raimundo Velasquez, a 5'8, 18 year old Brazilian boy who also lived with a past of gangs. He was fiery and twitchy, always messing with something. He spoke his mind and if someone had a problem, they were dealt with. He had choppy close shaven hair, with a short mohawk. He piloted the light and stylish EE-T1-X2, also known as 'Osório Salvador'. He was brought into Marik when he was found in the warehouse basement of a Cartel stronghold by privately warranted Marik strike team.
The third member of Team Railhead was Carter McCoy, 16 year old American boy who was sent by his father, an Army Ranger. He had short, sandy hair and green eyes. He stood at 5'9 with a rather slim build. He wore rimless glasses and had several piercings in his right ear. He piloted the M2A1-X4, a medium weight, long range unit that went by the name 'Sherman Longshot'. He was rather reserved and was well educated on how the I.S and their weapon systems functioned.
Member number four, Alexei Petrov, was and odd one. He rarely spoke but was an absolute wizard when it came to I.S piloting. He also let the explosions he caused speak for him as he was the artillery of the team. He was around 5'7, 15 years old and also from Russia. He was very pale, with charcoal black eyes and grey eyes. He was quite withdrawn, only ever speaking to Ivan or their Commander. He was pulled off the streets where he begged day in day out and given a chance to be something more. He piloted the heaviest of their team's units as it was laden with shoulder mounted MLRSs for rapidly firing salvo after salvo of missiles over long distances. He piloted the M270-M1X15, the 'Barrage'.
The final member of Railhead, Hunter Comstock, was a 6',17 year old Australian pilot from Queensland. He was upbeat and cocky, with a sharp wit and a habit of purposefully aggravating others when the situation called for it. He kept morale up, and was also the most experienced member of Railhead behind Ivan. He had short dark hair and hazel eyes, with a small scar on his right eyebrow. He was drafted into Marik as a war orphan in a technical sense. His parents were killed when his family was caught up in a firefight between an unknown group of I.S pilots and Australian government units. He piloted the close to mid range specialist unit AC1-X52C the 'Sentinel Crusader'.
Each team member and unit had its own unique and crucial role within the team. Ivan and Hunchback were responsible for communication, first aid and laying down suppressive fire. Their secondary role was as a close range fighter as Hunchback's large frame and heavy weight coupled with its thick armour made it an ideal melee unit. It had a mounted machine gun with explosive rounds, a quad-barrel shotgun with the top set firing anti-armour rounds, and the bottom set firing small EMP grenades to take down any I.S absolute defence shield. For melee combat it had a large maul with a built in microwave generator designed to melt pilots and fry shields.
Raimundo and Osório Salvador served as the team's scout and reconnaissance unit. Osório was equipped with light armour, powerful thrust engines, camouflage technology, a coil-fired scout rifle, and two SMGs. It's light frame and peerless speed made it perfect for forward reconnaissance and infiltration.
Carter and Sherman Longshot were the team's sniper unit. Sherman came fully equipped with multiple HUD configurations including infrared, night-vision, Sonar vision and 3D scanning. It used a fully operational prototype magnetic-accelerator rifle, with a 300x SVD reticule scope. It had an SMG side arm and a trophy system mounted on both shoulders, with sensory plates on the back, forearms, shoulders and legs.
Alexei and Barrage were in charge of being the team's one man artillery crew. Barrage was mounted with MLRSs, flares, a chain gun, deployable grenade launchers with a secondary mortar function, four grenade belts with MIRV functionality, laser missile defences and thick, slanted armour plating. It was the biggest and slowest of the units, but had the most firepower. It's secondary role was to carry a surplus of ammo to resupply the team in an extended firefight as well as special, mission specific equipment.
Finally, Hunter and Sentinel Crusader's role was to be the front line combat specialist. Sentinel had a mostly close ranged array of weaponry. Sentinel's primary weapon was a quad-barrel shotgun like Ivan's but fired anti-armour and explosive shells. For auxiliary equipment, Sentinel had flares, mines, grenades, and a sword styled like a medieval longsword. Sentinel's secondary weapon was a powerful three-round-burst pistol. The unit's armour was of medium weight, with thicker armour around the arms and joints of the I.S.
Each pilot had one thing in common, and that was the prosthetic arms they all had. Due to the nature of I.S function, changes had to be made to the pilots and the I.S activation algorithms. So, each pilot willingly sacrificed their dominant hand, having their arms severed from just under the elbow and replaced with a state of the art, fully articulated prosthetic. These were used to activate, monitor and maintain their I.S units.
The team was spending the remainder of their day in the hangar. They practically lived in there as their beds, kitchen, showers, and toilets were all integrated into their section of the hangar. House of Pain 'Jump Around' played loudly from their stereo as Ivan checked Hunchback's armour and weaponry, Raimundo played basket ball with Carter, Alexei took stock of the team's ammunition, and Hunter stood frying up some bacon, mushrooms and sausages for the team. It was dusk, and in just two hours, they were to travel across the pacific from their base off the coast of East Timor and towards Japan.
'' Oi Ivan?'' Hunter called from his position at the cooker. Ivan looked over at him, stopping his inspection. ''The Colonel say what he wanted us to do? Seems kinda iffy he wants us to just float around that I.S academy.''
''Scout mission. Probing defences. The Commander wants us to observe their only male pilot. Says he's a high priority target.'' Ivan responded. He hopped down from the heavily armoured canopy that gave Hunchback its name.
''Ichika Orimura right?'' Carter asked, letting Raimundo take the ball from him.
''Isn't he supposed to be some kind of big shot? I bet the kid doesn't know the first thing about how to really fight in an I.S.'' Raimundo said with disdain. Ivan passed Hunter a brown folder with 'CLASSIFIED' stamped in red on the front. The Australian raised an eyebrow and opened it, taking out the pages kept together with a paper clip. On the first page was a standard photo of Ichika in his academy uniform, followed by paragraphs of information.
Hunter looked at it for several moments before cracking a mocking smile. ''Got a bit of a dopey face doesn't he? Like the kangaroo's loose in the top paddock.'' the others looked at him with thinly veiled confusion. ''I'm saying he looks bloody stupid.''
''His sister is a big deal when it comes to I.S'' Carter supplied, garnering the attention of the team. ''She won the first Mondo Grosso tournament about a decade ago. But since then, she hasn't done much outside of teaching other pilots at the academy.''
''I heard a furphy that she did military work as well.'' Hunter said as he plated up their food.
''Well rumours are just that, rumours. Though I wouldn't put it past her, she's like a drill sergeant.'' Carter replied. Ivan raised an eyebrow at him.
''You seem to know an awful lot about her. She that interesting?'' the leader asked with a smirk. Carter rolled his eyes.
''Come on Ivan, it's not like that. Besides, she was the best I.S pilot in the world at one point, so she's got that.'' Carter defended.
''Maybe when it comes to combat sports, but for active, live combat, I'd say we've got the edge.'' Hunter said confidently. It was true that weapons grade I.S units weren't permitted under international law as per the Alaska Treaty. Also, it was a rule of thumb that I.S pilots tended not to have military training in combat or tactics.
''Either way, this Ichika Orimura has started to stand out quite a bit as of late. The Commander wants us to gather information on his skills and abilities, and those of his friends. Though they would only be a bonus.'' Ivan cut in.
''So that's why we're launching so late. This is a night-op.'' Hunter said excitedly. ''Take them by surprise and see how they react under sudden combat conditions.'' Ivan nodded as Hunter plated up. They began to dig in as the sun lowered over the horizon.
0900 hours
After their late dinner, which was met with compliments from the other members of Railhead, Hunter and the others suited up in their armoured I.S body suits and deployed their units. The team was identifiable by their black primary and grey secondary colour scheme, and the different helmets and masks they wore for their HUDs. That and the red glow of their visors.
Ivan's helmet had three circular visors on the right side, each displaying different I.S statuses, combat data and pilot medical information. The left visor was a single circular visor which was for increasing magnification for whatever he was looking at. An antenna stuck up from the left side of the helmet for sending and receiving orders and communication.
Raimundo's mask was a simple aviator-breathing mask with a narrow, horizontal visor across his eyes with multiple vision configurations.
Carter wore a balaclava with a pair of goggles with the optics extended out in the way a camera's lens would extend. They processed movement much faster and with much more precision than any other on the team, and along with a link to an orbital satellite above the academy with which he could exchange tactical data with.
Alexei wore a fully armoured gas mask-like helmet with a vague skull motif. His visor was comprised of two semi-circular windows which kept track of ammunition, formulated firing solutions, and monitored weapon statuses.
Hunter's helmet looked reminiscent of the Templar helmets of the Crusades. Its angles and contours were shaped more effectively for deflecting small arms fire. The visor was a V shaped slit across the eyes that actively took in combat data from opponents, monitored armour and weapon conditions, tracked pilot vitals and had omni-directional detection apparatus built in.
The Commander of their unit, Col. Anton Marston, donned in full officer garb with a proud peaked cap with many medals decorating the breast of his coat. He eyed his soldiers critically, gauging their readiness. He was a tough son of a bitch at the best of times, and absolute hell at the worst. He handled, managed and requisitioned equipment for Railhead. And most importantly, he was the one who brought them to Marik.
''I'll go over this briefing quickly, not much time to be wasting on words.'' he opened his hand to reveal a small holograph projector. Activating it, a blue, fully 3D map of Railhead's route and the academy were displayed.
''Alright, by 0300, you are to arrive at the mission area five miles from the academy. From there, McCoy will separate from the team and head North-West six miles out. Petrov will follow him and await orders.'' he said in a stern, no-nonsense tone. The team nodded and waited for him to continue.
''Vasiliev, Velasquez, and Comstock will proceed until within one mile of the target area.'' he stopped and looked off to his right, and from the shadows came a woman with long purple hair, a blue and white dress and robotic rabbit ears that twitched atop her head. Tabane Shinonono, the creator of I.S.
''Miss Shinonono will give you the specifics on your next set of orders.'' he stepped back and gave the stage to Tabane. Railhead looked between each other briefly, but turned their attention to the woman.
''Alright boys, listen up because this is like, super-duper important, kay?'' they all mumbled a confused 'yes ma'am' with the exception of Alexei. ''Awesome! So, you all have individual targets that you have to engage. You're not to kill them, okay? Cos that would be super bad.''
She took the projector from Marston and changed the images from a map of the academy and their route, to the targets they were going after. It was one male, and four female pilots.
''The boy is Ikkun. He's Chichan's little brother and the only boy at the academy, so I want you to really put him through his paces. That's where you come in Hunter.'' the Australian pointed at himself in confusion.
''Me ma'am? I thought you wanted to at least make sure he had a fair dinkum fight. Against me he's got Buckley's chance.'' he chuckled assuredly.
''I don't know so much Hunchan, he's pretty strong.'' Hunter gave her a flat look behind his helmet at his nick name. It didn't help that the others snickered at him either.
''Ivan will go after my little sister Houki! I'm sure she'll have some fun with you.'' she said, disturbingly easily considering she was sending Ivan and his beast of an I.S after he younger sister.
''Yes ma'am.'' he replied with a salute.
''Carter, you'll be taking on Cecilia Alcott. She's one of Ikkun's friends and a sniper like yourself. I think you'd appreciate the challenge.'' Tabane said clapping her hands.
''Yeah, sure. Whoever that is.'' he paused in thought. ''Wait, isn't she the representative of England?'' he wasn't answered as Tabane moved onto Raimundo.
''And you'll be going after Huang Lingyin. She's pretty good at piloting and has quite the mean streak. Kinda like you now that I think about it.'' she said as her bunny ears twitched. Raimundo smirked and spun both of his SMGs.
''Not a problem lady. I'll show her how a real pilot does it.'' he gloated while pretending to fire his guns. Tabane looked at Alexei and tilted her head to the side in though. She hadn't really considered what he would do besides deliver what she was about to tell him. An idea suddenly popped into her head and she clicked her fingers.
''I know what you can do!'' Alexei silently turned his stony gaze to her. '' After deploying the EMP blackout generator and setting it off, I'll need you to take out the auxiliary powered anti-air defences around the academy. Can't have any of you getting shot down now can we?''
The silent Russian just gave her a thumbs up, turned his back to Ivan and knelt down. Ivan picked up the EMP generator which had been wheeled in and placed it onto the mag-locks on Barrage's back. He stood again and faced Tabane.
''Well if you're all set, I'd say it's time to set off.'' Tabane said with a bright smile.
''Team Railhead, deploy!'' Marston barked, and a mere second later the team set off, all propulsion systems firing, roaring like a pride of lions. As both Marston and Tabane watched them go, the Colonel frowned. Both he and his team were having their strings pulled by elder Shinonono, and he didn't like it. Marik was an independently operating conglomerate, and being blackmailed and strong-armed by one person was embarrassing to say the least.
''Now that they're gone, you and I need to talk Miss. Shinonono.'' he said glowering at her. When she faced him, her expression was one of lazily hidden contempt.
''Indeed we do Mr. Marston. First, I would like to ask about your boys. And as for Hunter, I'm sorry in advance.'' her voice turned as cold and hard as stone. ''Where did you get them? And what did you do to their arms?''
00300
Railhead had not long passed by the East China Sea, nearing the Northern Pacific. The journey had been long and quiet as they remained on alert for patrol ships and jet fighters. For a while they flew low and watched as the ocean passed beneath them like a glistening, mercurial expanse. It was easy to lose one's focus on the mission when in such a calm and serene place surrounded by the stillness of the night sea. Carter was the first to break radio silence.
''We're real close now. The satellite just established a connection with my I.S, so Barrage and I will move out in two minutes.'' he reported.
''Copy that Sherman, comms have been established. ETA five minutes.'' Ivan responded. ''Salvador, Sentinel, move to your positions and await further orders.''
''Roger that'' Raimundo said calmly.
''No worries.'' Hunter chirped. Despite his chipper reply, Hunter couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, like they weren't being told something. No matter how many times he told himself the Colonel wouldn't screw them over, he didn't know so much about Tabane. No one was just like… that. No one.
Soon the team had split into their two formations, with Sherman scoped in six miles away from the academy with Barrage at his back. He kept his eye on the building and watched it like a hawk. Barrage disengaged the mag-locks keeping the EMP generator secure and grasped it. He was going to throw it towards the academy, and when Salvador got the signal, he'd shoot it with his scout rifle, detonating the device and causing a blackout across the whole island.
One mile out, Hunchback, Salvador and Sentinel waited until they got the green-light for the operation to commence. It was already 0300, and pretty much everyone in the academy was bound to be asleep. Just as impatience began to set in, the Colonel spoke over their comms.
''Railhead, mission is a go. Remember, no casualties are to occur on this mission. I repeat, no casualties.'' he said. Ivan turned to the expectant Raimundo and Hunter and nodded with the 'okay' hand sign.
''We have the green-light. Throw the generator.''
Barrage reared back, his arm reaching as far back as he could get it and like a catapult, he launched the generator at break-neck speeds towards the academy. Salvador tracked the generator's flight path through his scope and within 10 metres of the wall of the main building, he took the shot with a loud crack. An immense, dull thump rippled through the air as the electro magnetic pulse shut down all power that the academy had. After that, panic ensued as the auxiliary power engaged and the alarms blared. The anti-air defences activated and began sweeping the area around the academy from all sides.
''Alright get moving! Salvador, Sentinel, Sherman, find your targets and engage. Barrage, I want those defences destroyed now!'' Ivan roared as he ascended and flew off to find Houki while Raimundo and Hunter did the same.
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Ichika Orimura woke up to the deafening whining of the alarms as crimson light painted his room. He scrambled out of bed to find Houki doing the same. They shared a panicked look as they were both bewildered by the situation. Before they could even exchange words, explosions rocked the entire island and screams filled the corridors of the living complex.
''The hell is going on!?'' he yelled as he saw another explosion on the southern end of the of the island. ''Houki, we need to get out of here and find the others. If we're being attacked then we need to get out there!'' he exclaimed. They took a huge gamble taking the time to dress but they did so quickly and scruffily.
''Are you sure it's a good idea going out there? We don't know what's attacking us and how many there are.'' Houki said voicing her concerns as the two ran down the hallway. Ichika frowned in determination.
''Doesn't matter. Who or whatever's out there is threatening everyone in the academy. So if we don't stop them then who will?'' Houki sighed but ultimately agreed. As they ran through the winding corridors of the living complex, they passed many distraught students and some who were itching for a fight. There were many students gathered in the cafeteria, with Chifuyu at their head. The two forced their way through the crowd and made their way to her.
''It's about damn time you two got here. What took you so long?'' Chifuyu demanded angrily. She didn't even wait for an answer as she waved her hand dismissively. ''Nevermind, our power is down, our defences are being dismantled and we have no units out there. We need you and the others to get out there and hold the attackers off for as long as you can until we can get government help.''
''Chifuyu, have you seen them before?'' Ichika asked.
''From what our security feeds picked up when the auxiliary power kicked in, only one was identifiable. And it was one that I thought had been scrapped and outlawed. The AC1-X52C. Only one was made, but upon inspection it was unmistakable. If allowed that unit could tear through the academy in no time.'' she explained grimly.
''Ichika, take Houki and find her a unit. Then you'll meet the others outside.'' she commanded. Ichika and Houki's eyes shot wide open.
''You mean to tell me that Cecilia and Rin are already out there!?'' Houki yelled in concern. Chifuyu spared them a cursory glance.
''Someone had to get out there while you two made you way here. Also, Maya is with them.'' she informed, hoping to have at least somewhat reassured them. ''You two need to get out there now. Come one, get moving!''
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''You know something? That whole silent, mysterious thing is really grating on me girl.'' Rin growled as she viciously swung her twin-blade at Salvador in savage flourishes. She kept rushing him as he consistently stayed just out of her blade's reach and fired volleys of SMG rounds at her. Raimundo said nothing in return and reloaded with expert speed and efficiency. Rin opened fire with her shoulder cannons, but each shot was seemingly danced around by the light and agile Salvador unit as it returned fire.
''Damn you're fast. Alright, I'll just have to keep pushing it then.'' the Chinese girl muttered to herself. Streams of blue light streaked across her and crashed into Salvador's shields, causing him to look at Cecilia who wore a smug smile.
''Honestly if you wanted a better fight you should have just come to me. After all, all this brute can do is flail angrily at you.'' she taunted while lining up her shot. ''By the way Rin, you should really check your shield.'' Rin did just that and her eyes bulged when she saw how low her shield was. In just under five minutes, 75% of her shield had been shredded.
''What!? Just how powerful are those guns!?'' she shouted, shocked at the firepower her opponent possessed. She withdrew and examined her opponent from a distance as she tried to formulate any kind of plan. Suddenly she rapidly ascended into the clouds, hotly pursued by the enemy I.S. When she reached above the cloud layer, she quickly cut the power to her engines and after the inertia died, she went into freefall.
'I need to time this precisely. If not, I might get taken out.' she thought, pushing all of her focus onto her next move. The ominous red glow of Raimundo's visor was coming very close to breaking through the clouds and Rin smirked. She twirled her weapon and poised the tip at her opponent, and the result surprised her. She heard a low grunt from the enemy pilot as her blade slammed into his shield. Dismissing it as distortion from the mask they wore, she repeatedly slammed the weapon home while relentlessly blasting the shield with her shoulder cannons.
Raimundo checked his shields and saw it steadily going down. 80%. 70%. 'Shit, this isn't good!' he suddenly cried out when something hit him from behind.
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Cecilia smirked as she kept her aim locked on the falling I.S. She made to squeeze the trigger again when she noticed a distant flash in the corner of her eye. Suddenly, she was violently jolted from her position and tumbled through the air. She corrected herself and checked for damages. She was shocked by the damage whatever had hit her had done.
'My shield is down to 10%!?' she thought frantically.
''Cecilia!'' a voice called. She narrowly dodged another round before turning to see Ichika, fully donned in his Byakushiki unit. Behind him was Houki, sword in hand and inside one of the training units.
''Ichika! Have you seen what's going on? It's chaos out here.'' she exclaimed. Another round passed them, clearly a warning shot as it passed between all three of them, just narrowly avoiding their heads. Cecilia took cover around a corner while Ichika hazarded a glance in the direction the shot came from.
''The hell is that?'' Houki asked while moving for cover. Cecilia shook her head and readied her rifle.
''I don't know, but whatever it its, just one round almost depleted my entire shield.'' she stated shakily. Both Ichika and Houki exchanged a nervous look. A football sized hole was blown out of the wall just above Cecilia's head. She screamed and scrambled forward, looking wide-eyed at the damage that was done.
'Just a little lower and that would have...' she didn't dare finish that thought and quickly stood. Just then Maya touched down and ran towards them.
''Are you alright? Anyone hurt?'' she asked quickly as she scanned over them all with her eyes. She sighed in relief as she noticed their shields were still up. They were shaken but okay.
''Miss Yamada, what's going on?'' Ichika asked in confusion. ''Whatever this attack is, it came out of nowhere.'' Maya uncharacteristically scowled.
''I don't know who they are, the units they're using or why they're here. All I know is that besides the one fighting Rin, and the one firing at us now, there are three others about. But what I've noticed is that they're only emerging when any of you do. So we should expect another two soon.'' she relayed.
''I've found the source of the mortar shells, and I only just barely escaped. It was huge, bigger than any I.S I've ever seen, heavily armoured and armed to the teeth.'' she said. ''We need to keep the academy as well defended until help arrives.''
''There won't be any. Sorry love.'' came an oddly accented voice. They snapped their heads upwards and saw an I.S brandishing a large Longsword. The menacing red visor glowered down at them as the large unit lowered itself to them. The unit had large shoulder plates shaped like coffins, and behind it floated a series of shields. Maya wasn't much into history, but from what she remembered they looked like Heater Shields. The unit didn't seem to have wings in the typical sense, but rather a series of clawed, arm-like mechanical appendages that arranged themselves into the shape of wings.
''Who are you?'' Maya demanded as she put herself before the enemy unit and her students.
''Someone following orders is all. Now, I'm here to fight him. Mano-a-mano. One on one. Or the boss and I are gonna have to kill your friends.'' he pointed his sword at Ichika. ''So what's it gonna be friend-o?
Ichika moved in front of Maya. He raised his own sword, a mechanical katana and glared daggers at Hunter. He slowly lifted from the ground to meet Hunter equally in the air.
''So you're gonna threaten my friends to get to me, is that right?''
''Yep.''
''And why go through all of this to get to me?'' Hunter scoffed at Ichika before waving a dismissive hand at him.
''Whoa, slow down there Mr. Centre of the universe. I'm here to fight you. The others are here to fight your friends. Pfft, assuming we did all this for you.'' he shook his head admonishingly. After a moment, Ichika's eyes widened.
''Wait, that voice. You're male?'' he questioned loudly. Hunter stared at him blankly and palmed the front of his helmet.
''Strewth you're dense. You just noticed? Don't matter anyway fella, I'm here to fight not throw a wobbly.'' he launched his unit at Ichika and their blades clashed in a shower of sparks. Ichika's back hit the wall behind him and he thrust further up to escape being pinned. They heard another shot from Sherman, more gunfire from Salvador, another mortar strike from Barrage and finally the heavy thumping of Hunchback's maul acquainting itself with Houki's sword. The whole area around and above the academy became a chaotic battlefield as the night was alight with gunfire and explosions.
Hunter and Ichika exchanged blow after blow, their blades clashing together loudly as they did all they could to force the other on the defensive. Ichika was struggling to keep pace with the Sentinel's movements as his shield would always take a hit before his blade could parry the incoming strikes. His opponent hit hard as every strike took off 12% of his shield.
'Whoever this guy is, he's got a lot of experience with this. But how? I thought I was just some anomaly with the I.S. Are the rest of his team guys as well?' he was knocked from his thoughts when Hunter's sword smashed into his shield across his chest. The devastating blow took 30% off his shield. He winced and pulled back.
'He's strong, and whatever his weapon's kitted out with its something that I've never seen. It almost felt like it was vibrating, and I could hear the hum for just a moment.' he was sent hurtling back by another blow that he'd managed to block in the nick of time.
''Hello, Ichika? Fight's over here fella.'' Hunter called tauntingly. ''It won't help you to stare off into space mate.'' he levelled his sword at him again. ''You see getting distracted will only get you...'' he stopped short. His sensors were going crazy, reading objects approaching from all sides and they were too fast too dodge. ''What the fuck!?''
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''Communication with Sentinel Crusader has been jammed. Sherman, Barrage, Salvador. Fire at will.'' Ivan spoke blankly. His heart sank as he gave that order, but he was just doing as the Colonel and Tabane said. He just hoped that someday Hunter would forgive them.
''I'm sure he'll understand that this has to be done.'' Carter said. Silence followed for a few seconds. ''Taking the shot.''
''No hard feelings man, just following orders.'' Raimundo said, slight sadness in his tone. ''Firing.''
''To paint our comrade as a turncoat through betrayal. Prosti menya.'' Alexei said softly. ''Zapusk zalpovogo.''
The resulting hail of missiles and gunfire was deafening, and the team saw their comrade engulfed in fire and lead. It suddenly felt as if their units were heavier after that. Their mission was complete, and now they had to return home with damaged units, tired minds and the heavy weight of guilt.
Okay, done. I took the approach of introducing multiple characters as opposed to just one this time. After this, the rest of Railhead will be seen again, just not for a while or any lengthy periods of time in the first few chapters.
For those of you who are curious, there will be pairings and shit like that. It will mostly be a kind of Hunter, Laura, Chifuyu kinda thing, but we'll see how that will go. Another thing is that the rivalry between Hunter and Ichika will be mostly comedic, but it will get intense at points. Remember to review, give feedback, like, fav and all that top notch, quality shit.
[Additional notes]
Prosti meny= forgive me.
Zapusk Zalpovogo= Launching salvo.
Brutal Aftershock out.