IS Verdict Day
AN: Finally got to get the next arc going. Been busy trying to find work for a while and now I just wanna relax and not worry about that for now.
So here we go IS Verdict Day. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Armored Core or Infinite Stratos (IS)
Chapter I: Calm Illusion
Summer vacation had ended on a high note for students of IS Academy, especially Dominick Santos formerly known as Shin Kusanagi. He had fun with his fiancée Laura and also did the deed; solidifying their relationship. His IS/AC hybrid Nine Ball had achieved Second Shift and had further proven the supremacy of his creation over the bitch Tabane's own after he and his classmate and potential threat Ichika Orimura took down the rampaging IS Silver Gospel. Finally he had buried the hatchet with his older sister Yami Kusanagi after their criminal parents had been taken down hard due to many charges. Their reconciling helped to remove a huge weight that had been on his shoulder for years and the action also gave him some form of clarity. Also Seraph trolling the fuck out of Tabane when she tried to hack into Nine Ball was a nice bonus too.
Still Dominick still had some other issues that had to be addressed.
One of them was that woman Anna Klein, a descendant of Leo Klein, the original Nine Breaker, and the one who defeated Seraph when he was once known as Hustler One before becoming the leader of the terrorist group the Frighteners and meeting his demise later on. That woman had met him and told him that she had some major plan for the world and him, Ichika and J were the main catalysts for it. She had also given US AC parts which they'd used on the Silver Gospel before it went rouge.
Next was Phantom Task, the most wanted terrorist group led by it's the enigmatic Squall who were once allies of those wastes of space and the same ones who murdered his uncle and his wife all because he refused to join them. Fortunately the Foundation and Reaper Squad had plans for those sexist fuckers which Dominick himself wanted in on.
Finally there was Operation Verdict Day; a major event that will rock the world and benefit the Foundation greatly. Even though he was no longer with Reaper Team Dominick and J are a huge part of the operation as he still was part of the Foundation. However, his boss had wanted Dominick to try and get Ichika on board with them too which was part of the reason he'd been sent to the IS Academy, but the Nine Ball pilot had doubts about that happening since it was clear that the dense moron was too much of a goody two shoes.
Another problem was whether he'd tell Laura about Operation Verdict Day and even if he did, what will happen to their relationship after that? Oh well he'll find out when he crosses that bridge.
…
Secret IS Facility
An individual in all black had infiltrated the secret facility where IS were being produced. It had been easy for said person but that brought up another issue. It was too easy.
No resistance had been met at all and it was deadly silent. Even after they had hacked their security and handled a few sentries from outside, it was inside that had gotten them unnerved and soon they found out why.
'They are already dead…' The individual revealing to be a woman with a visor over her eyes and black hair noticed as she saw the remains of the dead guard personnel in the base. 'Someone's already here then and they weren't that subtle about it. Better move fast.'
The woman sprinted towards the main storage area where the IS are stored, only to get an even bigger surprise. 'What the?! The IS are gone?!'
Yes. The IS that were stored in this room were nowhere to be seen. The room was completely bare of anything and also darkened a bit which pissed the woman off as that meant that someone beaten her to the punch.
Suddenly the sound of guns being cocked in her direction put her on alert and she drew her twin pistols out and pointed right back.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…M." A deep gruff voice warned the woman now known as 'M'.
"Oh? And may I know the names of the ones foolishly challenging me?" M replied as she'd sensed three more people apart from the speaker.
"Gladly." Four figures came out and M looked on in disbelief as she saw four men in IS, three of them in black IS with red stripes, pointing their weapons at her while the leader in his all black IS/AC, the NWGIX, just had his arms folded and looked at her like she was an insect. M instantly recognized the four as they have recently been a major thorn in Phantom Task's side destroying many of their bases and resources and slaughtering many of her comrades.
"Reaper Squad." She said with disdain. Worse she was surrounded by them making her odds of getting out of here in one piece very low even with her gear.
"To think that we'd meet here it must be my lucky day." J said blankly.
"Looking for an IS to steal? Well sorry to bust your bubble but they're already gone." N said with his shotgun aimed.
"I think she can already see that." D deadpanned with his KE Rifle aimed.
"I know. Just wanted to rub it in the Phantom Task bitch's face."
"Cut the chatter you two." J ordered, instantly shutting them up.
"So what do we do with her Reaper Leader? End the bitch like every other one?" The third subordinate K asked with her sniper weapon and sniper cannon aimed.
M growled knowing how fucked she was. However, she got a lucky break.
"As much as I'd like to squash this bug right here and now we won't do so." J answered, "After all Nine Ball has her marked for death and even I wouldn't want to be in his cross-hairs for stealing his kill."
That surprised M. Another major threat to Phantom Task apart from Reaper Team, the Foundation and the Sarashiki family, the notorious Nine Ball wanted to kill her personally and Reaper Squad don't even want to mess with him. She grinned at that as she'd actually wanted payback on that bastard for nearly killing her a few years back.
Suddenly the roof of the area they were in opened up as a large jet black carrier flew above them.
"Reaper Squad. Pull out." J ordered.
The other three IS pilots fired their jets and flew up towards the carrier which had already opened up a landing spot for them. J just looked on at M before suddenly pointing his KE rifle at her, the barrel in her face, spooking the woman out.
"Tell your leader Squall that Phantom Task's days are numbered." J said, "Also I'd normally give my condolences to you since you're a dead woman walking but I don't do that at all so I don't care. Enjoy whatever days you have left M or may I say…Madoka Orimura?"
Reaper Squad leader immediately took off towards the carrier leaving a shocked M looking at him.
…
Downtown Tokyo
Dominick, Laura, Ichika and Houki came out of the monorail as they arrived in Downtown all dressed in casual wear. Dominick however didn't seem too enthusiastic.
"Remind me why I came along with you guys?" Dominick grumbled.
"You agreed to go out with me for breakfast and shop for new clothes." Laura deadpanned.
"Oh I know. But why are Ichika and Houki here too?!" Dominick demanded.
"Well Laura invited us to come along." Ichika said.
"Which we agreed to." Houki added. "What?! You got a problem?"
"Yes." Dominick answered bluntly.
"Enough whining Dominick and let's enjoy ourselves." Laura said then grabbed her fiancé's arm and began dragging him along.
"H-Hey! I can walk by myself! No need to yank my arm off!" Dominick protested to the amusement of Houki and Ichika.
"Wow! Never imagined that Dominick would be whipped by Laura." Ichika said.
"Well those two clearly love each other after all." Houki added, before grabbing Ichika's arm. "Well let's go before they leave us behind." She also dragged Ichika along while ignoring his own protests.
However, unknown to them, they're being tailed by four other people.
…
"…We're being followed." Dominick sighed.
"I know. I can sense them." Laura confirmed.
"Huh? Sense who?!" Ichika asked puzzled.
"Stalkers…" Houki answered, "Four to be exact."
"Anyways. Just ignore them."
"Hey! Ichika! Houki!" Someone called out to them. They see Dan and Ran approaching them.
"Hey Dan. Ran." Ichika greeted back.
"Hi Ichika!" Ran greeted before glaring at Houki, "Houki."
"Hello to you too." Houki glared back.
"So who're those two?" Dan asked, ignoring the tense atmosphere brewing.
"Name's Dominick Santos. Nice to meet you." Dominick greeted.
"I'm Laura Bodewig." Laura greeted. "We're both classmates of Ichika and Houki."
"Hi. I'm Dan and this is my sister Ran." Dan replied.
"Hello." Ran greeted. She then noticed that both Dominick and Laura were holding hands. "You two seem awfully close. So you two are an item?"
Dominick shrugged. "You could say that."
"He's my fiancé." Laura stated.
Silence. Then…
"WHAT!"
…
Watching from a few feet away were Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte and Yami.
"Seriously! That German hussy doesn't have any tact." Cecilia said.
"What? Nothing's wrong with her making her relationship with Monsieur Dominick known." Charlotte argued.
"Not to mention that you two won't keep your mouths shut if you were intimate with Ichika." Yami said, glaring at Cecilia and Rin.
"Eep!" Both girls yelped.
"Speaking of that, why did you come along Yami-sensei?" Charlotte asked.
"Y-Yeah." Rin said, "Why are YOU here?!"
"Just making sure my future sister in law isn't screwing over my little brother or making me an aunt yet." Yami said.
The three girls just sweat dropped at their teacher's response.
…
After the two couples and Ichika's friends finished breakfast and shopping they walk toward the exit of the shopping center. Along the way they were happily chatting with each other and Dominick found Ichika's friends Dan and Ran great to be around. Unfortunately the good mood turned sour fast when three women bumped into him and dropped their stuff.
"Pick up our stuff, boy." One of the women snarls.
Dominick just ignored her, picking up the bags he was carrying and continued moving. Unfortunately, that angered the women.
"Hey! Didn't you hear her boy?!" Another woman yelled. A crowd soon began to form.
"You have working hands, do it yourself! Besides YOU bumped into me, not the other way around." Dominick replied before facing Laura and the others, "C'mon let's go."
A hand forcefully grabbed his shoulder and Dominick's sighed and looked at the offending limb. "You have five seconds to remove the hand or lose it." He warned the owner. Laura, Ichika, Houki, Dan and Ran along with those tailing them eyes widens at the dangerous tone of his voice. Yami and Laura especially as they knows what's about to happen next. Laura rushes to stop the situation but is too late.
"Oh really? What will you do about it boy?" The woman grabbing his shoulder retorted. Her eyes widen in shock when Dominick forcefully removes her hand from his shoulder.
"This."
With the woman's fingers in his grasp Dominick crushes them all, enjoying the sound of the woman yelling in pain. It gets worse when he follows that up by pulling that arm forward and using his other arm to shatter her elbow joint and finishes by grabbing the woman's head and slamming her to the floor. He then stares at the other two women who are looking at him in shock and anger.
"Pick up your stuff and leave or join your friend. Your move." Dominick said coldly.
The women pick up their friend and leave, angered expressions on their faces.
Dominick hissed in contempt. "Pathetic. All show, no substance."
The men in the crowd began to cheer for Dominick as he walked out the exit with Laura, Ichika and Houki following. The women among them however were angered and disgusted at the boy's actions.
"Oh my god…did Dominick just do that?" Rin asked still in shock.
"Well we saw that, right?" Charlotte stated.
"Hmph! Goes to show how much of a savage Dominick is!" Cecilia said.
"Cecilia…Shut up." Yami said bluntly with a glare, quickly shutting the British girl up. 'Oh Shin-chan…you just open the floodgates with that.'
…
On the monorail on the way back…
"Dominick! Have you lost your mind?!" Ichika yelled.
"No. Do I look insane to you?" Dominick asked.
"Considering what you did I'd say yes."
"Even though you know they bumped into me and thought they could flaunt their status around because they are women, you're expecting me to just act like their bitch?"
"You do know that you've only gotten yourself in trouble with that stunt of yours?" Houki stated.
"And?" Dominick retorted.
"This is serious Dominick."
"This is nothing but a joke."
"That's enough you two!" Laura said, "Houki it's true that those women bumped into him on purpose which we all saw but at the same time your use of excess force was unnecessary Major."
"I gave her a chance to walk away and she threw it away so I acted accordingly." Dominick argued.
"But even with that, this could go badly for you Dominick." Ichika warned.
"Whatever." Dominick shrugged.
…
IS Academy; next day
Like Ichika and Houki warned, it went bad.
"Dominick! Do you realize just how much trouble you're in?!" Chifuyu said angrily to Dominick who was seated in front of her with Maya standing beside her and Yami beside her brother.
"Once again what trouble?" Dominick retorted, "There are more than enough witnesses that can easily prove otherwise, one of them being your brother and my sister too." He then gave Yami a deadpanned expression making Yami laugh nervously and nod in confirmation.
"Even with that it's enough for the IS International Committee to get themselves involved." Maya stated.
Dominick chuckled, "You mean that joke of a committee?! Please, that joke shouldn't have even been created at all. It was due to a certain someone's stupidity that it even exists."
Chifuyu knew who Dominick was referring to and glared at him. "I'll advise you to watch your mouth Santos."
"What? I'm not insulting you or anyone in this room." Dominick retorted.
"You know who you're referring to." Chifuyu accused.
"That's what you're thinking. It could be anyone I'm referring to." Dominick defended.
Silence followed as the glaring contest continued until Yami decided to end it.
"Anyways how's the situation turning out?"
"Not too good." Maya said.
"Explain."
"Even with witness testimonies, the IS International Committee still disregard them as most of them were made by 'spiteful males' needing someone to latch unto as a heroic icon for them. However the fact that Houki, Laura and Ichika were witnesses too has made them hesitant to go after Dominick."
"So because Tabane's sister, my brother and Miss Bodewig were witnesses they're withholding their charges." Chifuyu stated.
"Yes." Maya confirmed.
Dominick scoffed. "Like that matters. Considering the one in charge of that joke she'll pull some kind of crap from her ass and call that sufficient reason."
"That's one opinion we have in common Dominick." Chifuyu said, "That woman Megumi Sakai is the kind of person who'll pull that off. Anyways until then Dominick just resume your studies and stay on campus."
"Sure." Dominick said, rolling his eyes before getting up from the chair and leaving the office. When he left Chifuyu sighed as she had a feeling that the situation was going to get worse.
…
While walking in the hallway back to class, Dominick's phone vibrates and the young man picks it up, sees who the caller is and then makes his way to the rooftop before answering the call.
"Kazuto. What's it? I'm about to get to class."
"I'm calling to inform you that Operation Verdict Day is about to commence."
Dominick's expression turns serious as he looks around the rooftop. "When?"
"Tonight. Reaper Team will be putting an end to that joke known as the IS International Committee when they attack their HQ and end that bitch of a chairwoman."
"Good to know as the bitch is no doubt trying to cook up some shit to use against me."
"What do you mean by that? Are you talking about your scuffle with those women at the shopping center in downtown Tokyo that's all over the news?"
"The same one. Apparently the women tried to press charges but the rules involving IS students prevent that. However, that joke is looking for a loophole to exploit."
"Well it won't matter when the fools are nothing but ashes after tonight."
"Good to hear. Is that all?"
"We got the Dunois Company to join us; Mr. Dunois was very easy to convince especially when a lot of money and the AC/IS hybrids were brought in."
"Not surprising. The greedy fool only cares about money, even more than his daughter."
"That's not our problem. Oh, also J encountered the Phantom Task member known as 'M' two nights ago during their mission."
Dominick stopped and his countenance changed. "Oh really? And she's not dead?"
"J let her live since she's yours to kill even though he was tempted to do it himself."
"Nice to know that J has some honor…M is mine to kill. No one else is allowed to end the bitch but me."
"Yes. Yes. We know about your unfinished business with her and how you toyed with her the last time you both met before letting her go on a whim."
"Yes and J didn't let me hear the end of it. Though I guarantee that the next time we meet it'll be her last day alive."
"Good to know and Squall and Phantom Task will be erased from the face of the planet."
"Oh one more thing Kazuto. Any luck with Anna Klein?"A growl was heard on the receiver.
"Tsk! The bitch is a slippery one I'll admit but it won't matter when Operation Verdict Day begins. Oh, what about Ichika Orimura? Any luck getting him to our side?"
"There's no use. He's too much of a goody two shoes to be convinced to side with us."
"What about your fiancée Miss Bodewig?"
"I…haven't told her anything yet, though I plan on doing that soon."
"Well I advise you to do so before tonight since I'll be having you pull out from the academy soon when things heat up."
"…Alright. And if she becomes an enemy?"
"You know what must be done. No loose ends…Nine Ball."
Dominick froze in dread after hearing that before the call ended. He stood on the roof for a while before sighing in frustration and leaving for class.
'Hell in a hand basket is about arrive at the front door…When it happens judgement will be passed.'
Chapter 1 End.