" Kaizuka-san, I believe that you seriously love the orange color."

" Yeah..."

" And can't believe it's time... for us to end this."

" Let's get this done with... and get back in one piece."

" We believe in you, Leader."

We knew this is the last battle. We knew that this is where everything ends. This is our destiny, and the path after this will be decided until this fight ends.

As The stars will be our witness...

* A year and a half earlier*

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock in a familiar room. As I check up the time, it was 6:05 AM. Guess I waking up a bit too early. After a few moment of ceiling-staring, I leave my bed and ready myself for school. Before I left my home, I pray at the Bukotsu in my home.

" I'm leaving for school, mother. "

After I finished my prayer, I walk out from my home and head towards my school.

The days around my life is just as normal as any days were. To be honest, I'm not much of someone who loves to describe the weather around me and just plainly enjoy my days without a problem. Except, the planet I currently live which is called Earth, wasn't live its days peacefully once. It was 15 years ago that a war between the United Earth and The Martian Empire of Vers takes place on the moon's surface. While the two factions were in battle, the Martian's Hypergate was eventually exploded and causes the moon's physical form to Knights Order lost contact with Mars and The order then settles by the Earth's outer orbit and a peace deal has made between the two factions. Now, 15 years have passed and it looks like the days on earth is getting more peaceful these days.

" I heard that there's an ambassador will come to earth for the Parade!" Inko inform us all about the promising day.

" I heard about that. It was the Vers princess. What was she called again? Essay... Easy..."

" It was Asseylum Vers Allusia, Calm." I correct Calm.

" Yeah... Calm, you're really getting worse at pronouncing names again." Okojo teased the latter.

" O-OI!"

I'm now with the rest of my friends from the academy and we are heading there right now by bus. Most of us were in the same class and were also a group of two squads for the KataphraktTraining Drills. Inko Amifumi is the third-best students for our years behind me since I'm better than her in Mech training, but she's also a student council member thus we're even. The girl beside her was Nina Klein, a foreigner who moves here with her family after the 'Heavens Fall' and she quite the expert in Docking class. Another foreigner here was Calm Craftman. Calm was not fond with mech maneuverability, but he was good at mechanic kinds of stuff. As for the teaser, we call him Okojo, but his real name was Okisuke Mikuni. You can say that he was a decent pilot and just a normal student of our academy, but his eye coronation and fast reflection do keep me entertain.

Lastly, the person that I kept seeing as a rival and friend was the 'emotionless' Inaho Kaizuka. You can say he was always at the top of our year and always beat me into second. But, this 'Phantom Vanguard' could also say that he admire the guy and sees him as a skillful pilot. Only... I hope that his 'emotionless' face just break already.

" Oh! I've already memorized the moves for piloting the Kataphrakt. Just you wait, Itsurugi-kun." Inko challenged me.

" Yeah-yeah... just keep those points coming, but do remember that I just informed by the instructor about the drills. No... more like the old man just keep leaving his papers all around his room, again." I sigh.

" Man... Instructor Marito is really a burden for you, isn't he?"

" Like I care, but I don't have a choice. He's the only guy I could rely on anyway..." I denied the fact given by Okojo.

" Right... sorry."

As the bus escape the tunnel, all of us gaze the outskirt of the ward's ruins. From here, we can see machinery move out some moon debris and some structure were getting rebuild.

" The Ward was in its better days, huh?" I said.

" After the 'Heaven's Fall' incident, it was getting peaceful as it was." Calm state after what I said.

" We can't tell for sure if the signing was a success or not. But...all I can say is that we could only pray for the best. Calm, you're lucky that both you and Nina were staying in Japan. I heard that Canada was having its worst days ever since that incident." I state.

" You could say that again. I heard that your old man got his worst."

" He was a soldier. A fine one that it causes his mental state."

Yeah... that it causes him to do that over and over again...

*FlashBack*

" Old man. You're late again."

" Yeah-yeah. good to see you too, Itsuka." Marito-san said after he closed the apartment's door.

" Also, isn't its time to sleep already? Tomorrow you had a Firearm drill with your friends again." He yawns after he lectures me.

" Same goes to you, old man. You're our instructor after all ?" I stop my reading and stand, " I'll take you advice, however. It was late after all. Also, it's Itsurugi."

I continue, " And, don't drink tomorrow morning, okay?"

" Right-right... you sounded just like your mother."

I stopped.

" Marito-san. Did my mother also sees you like this?" I ask with much wilderness.

" Yes... She kept nagging me about my habits. But at least, she understands the problem."

*End flashbacks*

I saw him look down after answering my question honestly. The old man was a relative of my mother, so you could say he was my uncle. He was a soldier of the Japan's UN and also my school's instructor. He also a survivor of the 'Heaven's Fall' incident and being traumatized by that after a friend of his died in his arm. Since then, he kept himself busy with his drinking habits to keep those memories away from hunting him. Although the doctor told him to stop, but the old man was as stubborn as ever.

" Uahh... Inko's aim just getting better and better. It looks like she was serious about it back then." Calm warns me.

" Good, but not enough..." I gave them a straight statement.

" As expected from the 'Phantom Vanguard'! But..."

He stares towards me and Inaho.

" Which one of you is the best?"

Inaho and I stare each other before answering his question.

" Me." Both of us said it simultaneously.

" And the rivalry goes on..." Okojo said it straight.

It's true about what Okojo just said. The two of us were rivals ever since our first year in the academy. Sometimes I beat him, and sometimes he takes his revenge on me, with that face. However, the rivalry is a healthy one as we are trained to face those knights.

Where it was really my desire as well...

"Next up is Inaho Kaizuka and Itsurugi Cross. Both of you, please board the Kataphrakts." A familiar voice calls out for both of us.

" Ohh! The beauty instructor was here in time!" Okojo exclaims.

Can't agree much more with that. The instructor that Okojo refers to was Inaho's sister, Yuki kaizuka. She was the academy's instructor alongside the old man and was ranked warrant officer this year. The reason she was nicknamed that was because of her beauty. And I had to acknowledge that.

"Okay... It was our turn, Inaho. Let see who shot down the most dummies." I gave him a small smirk.

" Yeah... but don't complain your fails to me." The Emotionless guy teased me.

"Woah... shots fired." Calm follows.

" He is triggered..." Okojo does the same.

" Right-right..." I acknowledged his teased and let myself burn.

Both of us put on our pilot suits and proceed to ride the Kataphrakt. KG-6 Sleipnir, a training model and predecessor model of the advance KG-7 Areion. It was called a 'training model', but the way the things works is that it has better maneuverability and movement than the newer model. You can say that most of us have used the newer model and by the time we use it, it was really heavy compared to the Sleipnir due to the addition armor on the thing. As the two of us arrived at our designated spot in the training field, I ready my rifle and good to start.

" Alright... Activating targeting module. Movements, all green. Left and rig arms were in good condition. Kataphrakt is in stable condition." I confirm myself the mech's condition.

" Good. Inaho, Itsurugi, target dummies will be activated in 30 seconds. Shoot them down."

" Understood!" Both of us acknowledged the order from our instructor.

" In three... two... one!"

*Beep! Beep! Beep!"

As the third beep sounded, I pilot my mech in a quick pace and start pulling the trigger.

*Bang!Bang!Bang!*

*Few hours Later*

" That's 22 dummies shot down in 28 seconds. A new record for the second place. But..." Okojo explain as he sees how many dummies shot down by me before continuing.

" But... Inaho just shot down 23 dummies and the last shot was a triple kill... Looks like his win again."

I fell to my desk in slumber as I hear the results.

" Damn... you, Emotionless."

" I already told you not to complain about the results." Inaho reminds me.

" Shut up! If I knew that last shot is a triple kill, I could have just kill some more before the times out! If not because of that, I would have won!" I shout at the emotionless guy while he closes his ear.

" Calm down, Itsurugi-kun. You're not the only one who was down with that result." Nina calm me and I turn my head towards Inko who sulking by her desk. At least, she didn't break my record yet and placed five steps away from her original position.

"Anyway... want to talk about 'that'!?" Okojo asks everyone about 'that' which I didn't quite get with.

" What's 'that'?"

*At a Bar*

"We teach those kids to use that thing... What are your thoughts about this peace treaty? Is it really gonna hold?"

"Lieutenant..."

" Is it okay... to teach them to fight a battle where it was already decided? Look around, doctor. Those Martians won't sit back and wait. One day, they will attack us no matter what reason they have..."

The man who said those words then take another sip of liquor and slam it in anger. He looks depressed as he knew something is about to happen.

" The kid himself didn't think about his place and the situation as well..."