Welp, it took a while for this to get out. It's not like I was hoping to get these out once a month or anything whoops dammit college you are literally murdering all of my free time ugh.

BrokenLifeCycle: I'm gonna assume that's an Overwatch reference, as I don't play it but when I was searching for Reinhardt's name in order to check its country of origin, OW came up XD Thanks for reading!

Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov: Thanks for reading! Also I was hoping to make Yumemi and Chifuyu a little different, but I still wanted to aim for the "hardass in general" character, mainly because I think the dynamic with Weiss and Yumemi will be fun to play around with. I don't know what to do with Notten, maybe she'll make another appearance. Also yes, I was hoping to end up with a bunch of OCs because to be honest I felt it might be a fun new twist on things rather than playing with the same 5-7 characters that most people are used to. And yes, the incidents do have bigger meanings behind them, though I've yet to show that off. I do apologize for not reviewing any of your stuff, I'd love to read it but seeing as I'm barely even able to get updates like, once every 2-3 months (I was hoping once a month but then OH GOD WEED OUT CLASSES), I just haven't had as much time with FFNet.

Gnaoh El Nart: Thanks for dropping by! I do want to shift back to the AC at some point, but it'll have to wait. And amusingly it wouldn't be the more dakka route, as Weiss deals with sniping and blades XD

Thunder Dragon, Kaiser Dragon, while I'm flattered by the consideration of asking to write something, I just can't really do it. I just write what I want and mess around with it XD Also, if you're going to do requests like that, please at least make an account and send it via PM.

Either way, I believe that's everything I wanted to say. Here we go, and I apologize for the long ass delay!

Chapter 3: Rock, Paper, Scissors

I tap my foot impatiently—well, more annoyed than impatient—as I look at the list of weapons that the Revive unit that Mei will be using can have. What a poor selection. While two rifles is doable, if Mei will be able to aim those two as it requires manual aiming compared to the AC where the computer handles most of that (although manual overrides are possible), is an entirely different question.

"Mei, remind me what weapons you were trained in for the IS?"

"Um… I used most infantry-grade weapons along with knives and dabbled in swords. Not very good at the last one."

"I see. Hmmm… two sub machine guns. Less range than rifles, but you can probably hold them better." I mutter. "Sound good?"

"We can try later today, seeing as you're still trying to get over the IS-AC hurdle." Mei says with a grin. "You did get permission for the Revive, right?"

"I did." I say, tapping my briefcase where the papers to take the Revive out are. "I don't think we should try a sniper build."

"Hehehe. You couldn't turn me into a crack shot in two days, could you?"

"If I could, I'd be the best hunting teaching in the world." I say with a snort. "We'll head out for a spin. I don't know exactly what we'll use… I know we do have those SMGs available to us, but there's so many types."

As in, manufacturers. I've narrowed it down to a few models. There's the Calico M960 from Calico Light Weapon Systems, the classic Heckler and Koch UMP, and then we also have one from the AC manufacturers who are trying to move into IS tech.

Rayleonard was quick to hop on the IS train and has produced the IS03-MOTORCOBRA, which was great for shredding enemies, although its immense recoil will require some tuning from Mei. I'm tempted to pick it and see if we like it and continue using it to pick up a potential sponsor.

The only problem with that one is dual wielding those would be rough. Hmmm… does the Revive have anything to reduce recoil…? Maybe there's an arm-locking feature somewhere. Having something like that would be incredibly useful.

That would put us at close to mid-range… But I don't want to leave Mei without other options.

I flip a few pages and check on the other equipment, having taken a paper list.

…Ohoho.

We could go in with knives on the Revive, but this… I didn't know Omer had produced an IS version of those hangar blades. The IS-EB-O600… perfect. We'll probably be only able to use one of these, but that's fine. I've been forced to fall back on hangar blades before and this one has pulled my ass out, so I'll trust it.

"You look happy."

"We'll get to training right away." I say, circling the particular part with a red pen before depositing the list into my briefcase.

Everyone is quite excited to see this battle. Or at least, everyone who isn't fawning over the Orimura-Alcott battle. Other than those immediately involved, it seems we won't have to worry about someone trying to steal information.

Except of course, for Meghan, who I note is staring at my briefcase. Hm. Well, it's not like I have anything really in there that's important. She might try to estimate what our plans are, but then again anyone could just look in our practice sessions and see what we're using.

I should look into some of the others. It wouldn't hurt to ask around. Maybe figure out who their Operators are.

During the rest of the day, I observe who talks with who. I see Meghan talking with Reinhardt, surprisingly, so I can assume a pair there. Nomida seems to be talking a lot with Lisarene, with the latter of the two moving up to talk with the former so I'm not within discussion range. I honestly expected Meghan to go after Nomida, but I guess Lisarene might have skills she offered that I'm not aware of.

Also, partway through the day, I moved the weapons list into Cayden's case. Just to throw people off.

"And with that, class is dismissed."

Cayden and I immediately stand up, ready to go.

"Cayden, it was Arena 4, Gate 3. Just reminding you."

"Understood. I'll contact you when I've deployed."

The two of us give off a professional appearance as we both march out about thirty seconds after our teacher has left. Our footsteps are almost entirely in sync, with me right behind Mei. Eventually, when we get to the arena, we part ways, with me heading up to staging area.

There's a catapult out to the dirt arena, with pods along the sides for the IS units. I find a terminal and punch in the information provided to us, as I already remembered what the IDs and everything were. It lights up green and I hear a hiss, with one of the pods opening. A Revive, eh?

I then continue onwards, taking two of each gun and one blade. We'll need to get a baseline for today. As soon as I hit 'CONFIRM', I hear more parts moving somewhere in the background. Next to the IS, on the ground, some red lights flare on before the floor slides away, with seven smaller, rectangular pods shooting up. Each one opens up, revealing the weapons I requested.

"Whew… these trainers certainly have it easy." I mutter, giving a low whistle. I hear some footsteps coming from behind me.

I turn around, finding Mei running her hands on the edge of her bodysuit. Fitted to her, the dark grey suit clings to her body, accentuating her body's natural curve. Of course, it's nothing I haven't seen before (she's a slob when sleeping), so her easily distinguishable B cups don't fluster me in the slightest.

"Get in the unit, we've got work to do."

"Yeesh, you really have no drive, do you?"

"I've seen you in the buff before, it's nothing new." I say back, walking over to the stairs that lead up to control room of sorts, where the Operator communicates to the pilot from. There's a combination pad here as well, to which I punch in the assigned number. The door slides away, allowing me to go in before closing behind me.

The operation room is well lit, although the orange-wash lights could go. There's several terminals, allowing for at max a five-versus-five battle, all of them with leather chairs. I go to the central one and look over the electronics in front of me. A standard QWERTY keyboard and mouse are right ahead of me. Above it is a small screen detailing the IS statistics. To the right is a series of buttons labeled CAMERA followed by a number. I push them, getting a feel for what each camera can give me, both in the hangar and on the field.

To my left is an interface for radioing. Simple enough, a few knobs and dials, plus some buttons for fine tuning. There's a few buttons for quick-swaps, such as public channels and other stations. Hanging on the side from the interface system are a pair of sleek looking headphones.

Above the keyboard and directly ahead of me is a holoscreen of sorts, as there is no physical monitor. Most of the display information is right here, such as current channels I'm broadcasting over, IS monitoring, pilot vitals, and everything I might need to know.

First, sign-on. That's easy, as I simply slide my IS Academy ID card into the slot provided nearby. The screen lights up, giving me an 'OPERATOR AUTHETICATED' message.

After that, I put the headset on and hit the 'AUTO-SCAN' button on the radio interface. It lights up green and notes 'CONNECTION SUCCESSFUL'. My holoscreen changes and on the bottom left corner it now reads:

PRIVATE-1: RAPHAEL REVIVE – PILOT ID: MEI CAYDEN

"Operator to Cayden, do you read me?" I ask, switching the camera views to look into the hangar. This is a nice display, I've got plenty of cameras to choose from plus I can view multiple at once, tessellating them on the screen.

She looks up at me and flashes a thumbs up. "Cayden to Operator, I read you."

I look at the keyboard and check the IS status screen, noting there are several arrows corresponding to some empty buttons on the keyboard. I press the one that lines up with 'IS WEAPON STATUS', with the mini-screen and main-screen both updating. No weapons yet.

"Alright. Volume sound good?"

"Yeeep!"

"Good. Let's get started. Since we'll be having the blade as your backup weapon, put that one in the backup slot."

I watch as Mei does so, attaching the blade to her right side, around her leg area. The screen updates, with the weapon status screen now having: RESERVE: IS-EB-O600.

"I see it. Alright, you've got a choice between a Calico, UMP, and an IS-converted MOTORCOBRA—Oh, picking up the VANDA. Before we try dual wielding, do you want to fire a few practice shots in order to get an idea of its recoil? It's not like your AC where you don't have to control the recoil yourself."

"Ah, right. I'll fly out, then."

I take a look at display again, finding the weapon screen reading "ARM R: IS03-MOTORCOBRA 92/1012". Hmmm… there should be a few commands.

I start typing in L-O, being prompted with several commands. I hit the down arrow a few times, picking the command "LOAD PRAC_TARGETS". I'm then prompted to select locations on the field, using the mouse rather than typing in coordinates.

Hm… Ah, there's a shortcut button labeled "3D FIELD VIEW", which changes the screen in front of me to show an orthogonal view of the arena, displaying Mei as a dot with an arrow pointing out with her vector. Alright, let's load up the targets…

"Warning! You've got several targets showing on the radar!" I yell, trying to simulate the live battlefield as I type "CONFIRM" on the prompt, with several targets showing up on the field view, highlighted in red. "Light 'em up, Cayden!"

I watch as that 92—the magazine size—drops as she shoots at the closet one. A log opens up on the side, a window labeled as the same on the display "ARM R: IS03-MOTORCOBRA", with several words underneath it, a mix of "EFFECTIVE HIT", "INEFFECTIVE HIT", "MISS". Above all of those though, is a field called "HIT RATIO" which has the value of .92.

"First one's down! Watch yourself!"

Mei whips around and shoots off to the right, her vector suddenly gaining size for a split second.

"Hey, do that again!"

I take a look at her IS Status screen and find that the screen displays a small heat spike from the left side, just about where the thruster is. Looks like it's a smaller version of a Quickboost. It won't save you from a locked missile swarm with good enough tracking, but it's enough to throw off a gunman.

"Magazine's three fourths exhausted!" I yell as she takes out the second one. "Watch your ammo, reload inbound!"

As soon as she opens fire on the third one, the last few bullets are exhausted. On the status screen, next to the weapon, a timer starts counting down—what the hell, three seconds?! That thing normally takes twelve! I guess this is the power of the IS…!

The rest of the targets are mopped up easily.

"Operator, all targets eliminated."

"…sorry, I'm still reeling over that three second reload time."

"The MOTORCOBRA had a twelve second reload, right?"

"Yeah. Does it seem like a good fit to you? I'll see about loading a moving target and you can try aiming it one-handedly.

I type in "load" again, finding a command called "LOAD_BULLSEYE_TARGET". Selecting it, I find a lot of options, which I set before placing it down.

"Hey, Weiss, I've got a score counter on my display."

I look at my own display and find the same. Looks like it's attached to the bullseye that's moving back and forth.

"Seems like it's just a counter for your accuracy. Try using the gun to shoot the target, but with only your right arm. Then we'll try your left arm and see which one is better."

"Roger that~"

I sit back and let Mei take her shots. Seems she favors the right hand for this gun.

We go through the other guns, repeating the same process. Move around, shoot targets, let her get a feel for the gun, followed by the bullseye on both hands. In the end, the UMP is a good fit for her left hand and the Cobra goes with her right hand. We did a practice test on that just to check, finding that this simulation also allows for simulated targets to fire back at you, along with having a massive database for targets. I can simulate infantry squads, tanks, small scale stuff, it's amazing. To think this is in a school, too. If only AC pilots had this level of training… but then again, most of us usually get our start with Normals. Those aren't exactly difficult to learn, but being good with them against other Normals becomes rough.

"—purge arm weapons!" I yell, noting that as soon as Mei discard her weapons, both guns falling to the ground, the "ARM R: IS03-MOTORCOBRA" and "ARM L: H&K UMP" labels fade away. "—equip blade!"

The IS does have weapon retrieval systems, so it is able to recover those weapons it has attached. By purging them though, we prevent the automatic retrieval from kicking in. If this was a personal IS, then it'd be so much easier to switch weapons on the fly. Of course, I'm used to this as an AC pilot. Rather than switching, you just need to make use of what you have.

As soon as the blade weapon moves onto her arm, I see the new label "ARM R: IS-EB-O600". We'll have to rely on that small boost that the Revives seem to be able to use. I should look into their history a little more, as they seem to have a few similarities to the AC.

We use the same mechanic as before, getting Mei a good feel for the blade.

"Ha!" Mei yells, having accelerated and taken out the last target. "How'd I do?"

"Alright, I guess. What's the maximum speed on that thing?"

"At straight ahead forward acceleration?"

"Yeah."

"I think it was what, three hundred miles an hour? But that's going only in a straight line and requires a bit of time. I can't just throw the output to maximum. Not to mention that's with no equipment."

"I see. Well, no reason to really go at anything less than your maximum. You can pull off that acceleration trick while charging with a blade, right?"

"Eh? You mean where I flare up the boost a bit?"

"Yeah. Might be what gives us the edge in combat. It's no Ignition Boost, but suddenly closing the distance is never bad for blades."

"I suppose. Am I done for today?"

"Yeah. Come home, pilot."

As Mei flies in, I realize that the platform extends out into the arena in such a way there's almost no way for pilots to shoot directly at the Operator area. That's probably just a safety thing. There's also a switch I here that can close the hangar area, probably just as another safeguard. Having the Operator so close to combat is normally a combat danger.

I wait until Mei's readouts have no weapons equipped and her unit reads "NO PILOT" before I look through the commands and hit "PRINT RESULTS", with a printer in the back corner of the room starting to churn out some pages. I then sign off the machine, pick up the small bundle of papers, and leave the Operator room, heading down the stairs after depositing the papers in my briefcase and taking it with me. I head over to the terminal, Mei right behind me, before entering in that we're done. It seems all the boxes are scanned before closing shut and disappearing, along with the pod containing the Revive from before reappearing and taking the unit back in before closing.

"Fancy system they got here." I mutter. "So much cleaner than an AC hangar."

"Hehe, smells a lot less like oil, too."

"Still though, I'm sure it gives the mechanics studies something to do, with all the maintenance on the weapons." I mutter before checking my watch. "Alright, it's eighteen hundred and forty three hours. I'll wait for you to finish showering and changing out on the other side, then we can grab dinner where we can review your results."

"Yes, sir!"

"I'm not your superior officer, you don't need to call me that. Anyways, hurry up. I'm getting hungry."

Armored Hearts

"H-how are we going to…"

"To win?" Blanc asked with a small grin on her face, leaning back on the wall as she watched Mei fly into the hangar. "Well, for one, we're going to surprise them. I suppose that those two are used to their opponents knowing what they'd be bringing."

"R… really?"

"It's a thing with the Armored Core community. Generally, the more known you get, the more predictable you are, as in your equipment. Everyone has a specialty, after all. Some people are better snipers, so you'll consistently see them sniping again and again."

"But wouldn't you just bring something to counter that?"

"It's the crux of being an Armored Core pilot. Even if they bring something to counter you, you just have to be better. You have to find a way to win despite being at a disadvantage." Blanc put her hands into her pockets and let out a small chuckle. "Your strategy isn't going to be too hard. All we have to do is find a way to close the distance. I know quite a lot about IS parts, after all, so I'll tell you how to win."

Elsewhere, another duo was watching.

"…Hm."

"Getting cold feet about challenging them?"

"Of course not." Reinhardt said with a small scoff. "Although seeing quite a fearsome pair certainly would shake anyone up. They're gearing up to win, very, very quickly."

"So you just need to keep out of their distance, right?" Meghan asked, looking up at Reinhardt.

"Fortunately for me, that's a viable option." She fished into her inner pockets and retrieved a silver pocketwatch. "The battle will be at approximately fifteen hundred hours. The sun will not be fully above, but due to the spring time weather, it will be slightly falling in the west. With that, I can turn the battlefield to my advantage."

"Mmm, that's kind of scary for you to think about."

"Environment is something to consider in any engagement. If I can make it harder for her to aim at me, all the better."

"What about Nomida-san?"

"You mean the girl you put up?"

"D-d-don't put it like that…"

"I'll be opportunistic. Obviously, I'm going to try to take out Cayden. But if Nomida makes herself open, I'll take a shot as well. Either way, what a hell of a first battle at this school…"

Armored Hearts

"There's a lot of information."

"A lot more than AC readouts." I mutter, munching on my garlic bread as I look over the papers spread out over the table. "But while I was waiting for you, I circled the more important parts. We've got two days, we can practice more tomorrow, but it's going to be trial by fire on game day."

"Right!"

"Alright, so unlike your AC, we can only really fire one effectively unless we're at point blank range. Also, like the AC, the weight is going to affect your acceleration and speed. If anyone's too speedy, I may have you purge one or both weapons and force you into a blader setup." I say, pointing at the relevant fields.

"Mhm."

After giving Mei a rundown of the numbers and highlighting the effectiveness of each weapon, I take up the papers and put them back into my case. "But all in all, not much. Play this like an AC match. I'll give you your information, you eliminate the target as you best see fit, and I'll give you recommendations based on the situation."

"So just like old times, right?"

"You could say that." I say with a smile as Mei gets up, stretching her arms. "Going somewhere?"

"I wanna phone our old friends, you in?"

"Nah, I think I'll take a walk after this. Oh, take my case back for me, I won't need it."

"What about your ID and key?"

"…right." I fish around in the briefcase for the folder labeled "Doujin Skietches" before putting it in Mei's briefcase. She snickers at the folder, but I suppose that when you want to be extra sure, why not? "Have fun, and if Marisa's there, say hi to her for me."

"I'll be sure to tell her you miss tapping that."

"Buzz off." I grumble, stuffing my face with more lettuce and chicken pieces as Mei goes off, laughing. And like that, I'm left alone at the table, eating quietly. Two days until the battle, huh? I also hear that Orimura and Alcott's battle will be taking place at the same time. Good. Less distractions for us on the field.

We should test out the field. There are shields to protect the audience who watches… I wonder, will they react like a surface? Can we use them in the battlefield? All things to consider.

I greatly dislike the open battlefield though. Rarely you'll have such a thing. Especially considering that the IS is much smaller and could be deployed in city streets much more effectively and with less collateral damage than with an AC. In an open field, a skilled pilot would decimate an IS if given the proper load out.

…bleh. Now I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth.

Whatever. We'll prove our mettle here.

"Working hard?"

I look over my shoulder and find Meghan, who immediately leans over and rests on my shoulder, looking at my meal. "Ehhh, I didn't take you to be a salad eater."

"Frankly I don't care what I eat, as long as it's nutritious and fills my stomach, anything will do." I say, not bothering to react to the fact what I estimate are C, maybe D, cups pushing on the side of my face. "Did you have something to ask me about?"

"Can't a girl just be friendly?" she asks, sitting down in front of me.

"When I have estimated you are an enemy Operator in the upcoming battle, I have every reason to be suspicious of you." I say back immediately. "Also, if you aren't here to eat, then aren't you just loitering?"

"Hey, I'm waiting for my food to be done, excuse you."

"I see. Well, I was just about to wrap up—"

"You can't even talk for a few minutes?"

"Well, if there's anything you want to talk about, please tell me."

"Yeesh, you ever hear of 'small talk'?"

"I have, but usually I don't have the time for it. There is a rather important battle coming up, so shouldn't you be preparing rather than making idle chit-chat with me?" I say before beginning to finish up my salad.

"Ehhhh, but it's good to relax too, isn't it?" she asked as I swallow. "Oh, my food's done! 'scuuuuuse me!"

I take the opportunity to slip away, cleaning up my utensils and putting them in the return tin and exiting the cafeteria before Meghan can notice me. I suppose I can keep her thinking about me, it will throw her off during the match.

When I return to my room, I find an orange, legal-sized envelope on my bed. A sticky note with Mei's handwriting reads "Package for you". Seeing as the sender is from one our of covers, I can assume it's the files I requested.

There's a note inside that says "Call when received". As I start reading through Reinhardt's file, I phone MT.

"Weiss?"

"It's me. Calling to report package was received successfully. Seems a little light, though."

"Had some trouble with your other request. It seems she's protected."

"Protected?"

"It's difficult to put it in exact words, but there's someone else looking out for her, let's put it that way. It's not so easy to get her files straight away unlike Reinhardt's. I'll pull a few strings, but it'll be some time. I can't divulge all of the details, but Lisarene is special."

"Should I be careful with her?"

"Just don't do anything stupid, but I would assume attracting her ire would not be beneficial."

"Understood. Is that all you wished to say?"

"Just reminding you to dispose of those when you're done as well. Shred, burn or soak, whatever you need to do."

"Got it. Don't worry, I won't be so sloppy. Couldn't you just have left a note, though?"

"Confirming it was you that received the package was a priority."

"Ah, right, right. Understood."

"I'll keep you updated on the situation. MT out."

With that, the phone call ends.

I start reading the files in detail, but there's nothing too delicate in there. Other than having pretty good grades, decent IS sync, and being the daughter of a man who turned in one of the reports on Sea Glass by being aboard the HMCS Winnipeg (which answers what ship her father served on), her record is… completely normal. Absolutely clean. I would normally be suspicious, but it seems that she's nothing more than a military raised girl who was simply keeping the tradition of the family alive in her own way.

Father was Navy. Two brothers, one Navy, one on the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mother wasn't military, but she was a doctor. Pretty good pedigree. The only 'dirty' thing I can find on her record was a disciplinary action record in high school, where she got into some hot water after judo throwing some girl who attacked her, but she was later let off after the investigation finding the girl who attacked her was the instigator and she wasn't really harmed, just humiliated. She seems to be a pretty normal person with a decent moral compass on her.

I know MT's work is top notch. I can trust that Reinhardt's not hiding anything. Just a normal girl.

Lisarene on the other hand, because of her apparent protected status, is going to be troublesome. I suppose I'll just have to be careful. Of course, I suppose that looking like a professional Operator will be rather easy with this upcoming battle…

"Oh, sensei." I say, pushing a few buttons before getting out of my seat and giving a salute. "I didn't know you'd be joining us today. I would have prepared a champagne bottle."

"You can stop the sass, Kazuma-san, but I suppose your previous handlers and allies had a hand in that."

"Are you ex-military as well, sensei?"

"I had a brief stint. Enough to know that smartass mouths like yours often get rewarded with more pushups. Also, you didn't hear me say that."

"Yes, sensei!" I automatically reply, sharpening my salute.

"Get back to your post, Kazuma-kun." She says with a snort. I nod and turn away, getting back into the chair. "I'm surprised you weren't more careful about hiding your practice sessions recently. Didn't you think they'd try to counter your strategy?"

"Well sensei, it goes like this. When they knew what we were probably going to use, they had two options. One, they could change their intended loadout. Two, they could go with what they normally go with. If one and two are the same, then all the better. However, this is not just a practice match. This is a match for a position. Everyone is going to bring what they do best. Not to mention it's a three-way battle. If they counter one opponent, they might be playing their weak suit and be easy prey for the other."

"Hmph, I suppose that's true."

"It's also a thing with the Armored Core. Most of our opponents, we knew what they were good at. And they did it damn well. While we could try to shift our equipment to best fight them, sometimes that just wasn't an option to make a complete counter-loadout. So you put on a few parts to help take out your opponent, but you still play to your strengths. If you'll excuse me, sensei, I'll be contacting Cayden."

She nods.

I put on the headset and initialize connection, having already logged in. As soon as the connection to Mei is loaded up on the screen, I begin talking.

"Alpha One, do you read me?"

"Operator, this is Alpha One, I read you."

"Copy that. Let's review the mission. You have two targets in the open. Both are not allied with one another, but they may team up on you if the situation goes badly. Unknown capabilities. Intel was rotten, but that's why we're sending you. Your skill should be enough to offset that."

"Give me some conditions in case I've got a sniper. I wanna know if they've got it easy."

"Sea level altitude. Atmospheric pressure seven fifty three. Temperature's a balmy fifty six Fahrenheit. No wind due to the nature of the arena."

"Wonderful, I'm easy pickings."

"Keep on the move. Using your cameras I'll try to get an idea of the sniper's movement and feed it to your screen, if there is one." I say, noting that on my screen "DOCK 1: READY" and "DOCK 2: READY" have signaled as ready with a green light by their name. "Anything else you want to know before deploying?"

I see Mei step onto the catapult, with an alert popping up on my screen displaying "DOCK 3 CATAPULT: LOADED".

"Just one last thing."

"Shoot."

"Will you guide me to victory?"

I snicker before giving a full blown laugh. The question I always asked her before deploying, how idiotic.

"Of course! Now, bring victory, but more importantly, come back home to us, pilot! Get ready for immediate deployment!"

With that, I ready us for launch. Mei confirms it, with our signal switching to green and "READY".

A mechanical, female voice talks into my ear. "All docks ready. Initiating match in thirty seconds."

In our hangar and I'm sure it's happening on the others, the hangar entrance to the arena opens up, the massive door pulling up like a garage, with sunlight filtering in from the bottom and going upwards as more and more of a gap is created.

I watch the timer count down. Five… four… three… two… one…

"Match beginning."

I see Mei launched out of the hangar with the catapult. As soon as she's airborne, I see an alert on the screen. Catapult launch successful. Hangar shields up until hangar has been closed. At the same time, I see the bay doors coming down in order to shield us. Good.

My attention snaps back to the current field. Pressing several buttons, I gain a vision of the open field. Mei has quickly taken to the skies, although it seem the sun is beaming down and making things difficult to shoot straight up, so she's taken the high route.

"Warning, both hostiles in combat range!" I yell, entering in commands and various shortcuts to get information. I run the ID_ENEMY, getting information back from the cameras from both Mei's unit and the arena cameras, though I rely more on Mei's unit. "I've got another Raphael Revive currently equipped with a… prototype Barret XM109 anti-material rifle! Stay out of that thing's sightlines! The other is a standard Uchigane Kai, just like the regular Uchigane but capable of flight! Watch out, it's got a higher speed and acceleration than you and the pilot is armed with a sword. Don't let it get close! Marking both targets on your screen!"

Mei boosts to the side just enough for the first shot of the sniper rifle—sent by Reinhardt—where the round explodes as it impacts the shield wall behind them. As soon as she dodges, she returns fire, although we're currently firing at around medium distance so not every shot hits. A flood of messages such as "EFFECTIVE HIT", "INEFFECTIVE HIT", "MISS" hit the weapon logs, most likely data sent from the IS calculating its shots.

However, Reinhardt doesn't seem to be moving despite the withering fire after the first initial attempt at a dodge. What is she—

"DODGE, NOW!"

We're just a bit too slow. Mei moves left with her thruster boost but Reinhardt's shot still impacts the shield, then exploding on impact. Kuh, ninety four points lost like that out of eight hundred. She was willing to risk taking a few shots in order to get a better shot by staying still…!

"Dam—warning, blader's within thirty meters of you! Take evasive action!"

"Uggguuuuuu, they're teaming up on me, Weiss!"

"Put pressure on the sniper!"

"Got it!"

Mei moves towards Reinhardt, opening fire, with more hits than misses this time around. However, Nomida's gaining ground on her due to the speed difference between them.

"Blader's within twenty meters of you, take evasive action!"

"Dammit!"

Mei's forced around to deal with and open fire on Nomida, along with putting more focus on small boosts to dodge her strike.

"What the—"

As soon as Mei was getting away, I noted a sudden boost in forward speed from Nomida's unit, allowing her to close the distance and deliver a crashing vertical blow onto her. Tch, we're losing shield points way too much!

How to conserve, how to conserve…!

Purging would give us more speed, but that energy blade might be able to cut through the steel blade but it'd leave them so close together that Reinhardt could just blast them with impunity…

"Priority shift—take out the blader! Keep eyes on the sniper! Try to keep the blader between you and the sniper!"

"Understood! Keep range with the sniper?!"

"Doesn't matter for now, take out the blader and we'll deal with her then!"

"Got it!"

Mei boosts out, aiming for the edge of the arena. Since know that the shields are there and can act like a platform, she ends up riding them while Nomida follows with her better speed.

"The hell?!"

"The hell?!" I growl as Nomida shoots out ahead, almost drifting as she swings her blade out—what the hell, she's using her burst when she charges and curving to do hit and runs! "Alpha One, prioritize getting to the edge! She won't be able to circle you there!"

Mei flashes an acknowledge signal, moving over to the shield wall, forcing Nomida to come from only certain angles. As soon as she looks ready for another attack—

"Disable weapon protection for the UMP!"

Mei does so effortlessly, blocking the sword with her UMP at such an angle to not have it completely break. However, because the IS is no longer protecting the UMP, her shields don't flare up. She pushes in deeper, forcing Nomida to act as a shield while also emptying as much of her Cobra into her enemy before Nomida pulls away—

One hundred and forty three shield points melt off our display as a direct shot hits Mei right up in front.

"That cheating bitch!"

"Keep your head cool! Focus on taking out the first target!"

"UMP's busted, though!"

"Two hand the Cobra and use it to land more accurate shots! Keep an eye out on the sniper, she's a wild card now!"

"Yeah and I'm about to discard her—"

"Cayden, focus on the mission!"

With a huff from Cayden, she tosses aside the UMP which falls to the ground as she puts both hands on the Cobra and lets loose a barrage. Keep at it, keep at it…

"—move!"

However, the boost ends up being unnecessary, as Nomida prevented a successful shot. She managed to use her boost trick again to charge Reinhardt, with Reinhardt seeming have missed Nomida's presence. She fires off several times wildly, hoping to discourage a chase. While she focuses on dodging, Reinhardt moves away and attempts another shot, striking Nomida head on.

"Wrap it up, Alpha One!"

The reload kicks in and the shots go flying. Nomida tries another charge at Mei, but Mei positions herself where she boosts right, putting up her knee and if it had been an actual hand to hand fight, would've been a nasty hit to the jaw before turning around in the air and blasting Nomida before delivering a striking blow to the back of her head, the shields flaring up.

Another sniper shot rings out before my screen reads "DOCK 2: TAIGEI NOMIDA – UCHIGANE KAI: ELIMIATED". It seems she's to retreat, as she immediately clears out of the area.

Now…

"Purge the Cobra!"

"You've got to be kidding me, right?!"

"While PIC allows for flight, the thrusters are what give you the speed! That extra weight is going to pull you down. Go blade only and divert as much power as you can to forward and side thrusters for those quick flare-ups!"

"Guh… alright, I'll trust you!"

On the display, all I see now along her weapons list is "ARM R: IS-EB-O600". Her top speed shifts due to the lack of weight from both guns.

The crack of the sniper rifle fills the air again—and it misses, with Mei having travelled faster than before, the ground taking an explosion behind her.

"Now!"

I keep guiding Mei, using my skills honed from years of piloting the AC to predict those sniper shots. Now that it's one on one, Reinhardt doesn't stand a chance!

"Finish this!"

Waiting until a good moment to charge forward, Mei then shoots out, her energy blade glowing as she delivers her first critical hit to Reinhardt. While it's harder to hit with the energy blade, it deals ridiculous amounts of damage. In three quick slices, Mei manages to knock off almost three hundred shield points. Each one is almost as powerful as a direct hit with that sniper rifle, but compared to the rifle, once in range, is a lot easier to hit with.

Add in the fact there's no Quickboost to really get away… the match is almost decided.

Reinhardt does her best to keep Mei away, almost fencing with the sniper rifle to parry her in a way by taking advantage of the fact she can knock Mei's arms aside as the blade itself has no weight. Partway through, she swaps to her pistol, discarding the sniper rifle. The weight difference allows her to get away, but it won't mean anything.

…but something's off. Even though she's swapped to the pistol and discarded having to push around the sniper rifle, she's moving slower than I thought she would.

We can't fine tune these units… something doesn't feel right. I can't get a scan of her unit though. Tch…

"Hm?"

I then note Reinhardt shoots straight for the ground. Ah…!

"You've no choice but to engage her on the ground. Attack from the air and charge from above. I'm thinking she's about to force her way with hand-to-hand combat."

It has to be some sort of melee trump card. Something that deals incredible damage at short range. But where would she store it…?

"You can't tell?"

"I don't know completely how the shields for the Infinite Stratos function, but my safe bet is she's going to try something like a fist fight."

"Got it. Engaging."

If Mei goes for her discarded weapons, which might not work, then Reinhardt might try recovering her sniper rifle. There's no choice.

Starting with a coordinated attack from above, Mei begins her offensive. I can't do much but watch as the struggle continues.

Mei's blade flashes in. Reinhardt steps back, dodging as she throws away her pistol, before attempting a hip check. That's offset by Mei's shields. It catches Reinhardt off-guard for long enough that Mei swings in again, scoring—

"What the—?!"

The buzzer goes off. Victory has been had.

But it isn't Mei who won.

Reinhardt had been waiting, I suppose, as she pulls her arm away from Mei, where a pile bunker concealed in her arm's armor had been exposed, used to deliver the final blow as Mei's shields had been reduced through the match.

I see… she purposely hit Mei's shields, bounced off, waited for Mei to swing again and used the opening for the final hit. Damn… clever girl.

"These shields make no fucking sense." I mutter… oops. "Sorry sensei."

"A bit of a disappointing end. Also, just don't talk like that in front of the other students." She snaps back before relaxing her tone. "Did they not cover shields for you?"

"I only know the basics of shielding in my crash course."

"I suppose that as beginners, it's only fair. They don't usually cover that on the examinations to get in. The default settings is the radial option. It gives a full, ellipsoid shield around the unit. Anything that the IS determines as a harm is automatically defended against. However, as you noted, it can be disabled for specific components."

"That's all I was informed about, I suppose. They said protecting weapons can be costly."

"It can. Of course, the advanced users can customize the way a shield is implemented. For example, a full radial method presents a large target. The enemy can shoot the air around you and it will still register a hit on the shield to stop the bullet. Disabling weapon protection is the first step. The step after that is what some call 'Bodysuit Shielding', where the shields are instead interwoven to fit an exact shape around you. It requires a lot more computing power, so you need a better processor and obviously, more power to run it. A sniper is more likely to run this in order to create the smallest target possible. Cayden automatically triggered it when you had her disable weapon protection."

"I see."

"The final stage is called 'Near-Manual Control'. This is what most users on the level of Personal Units are capable of, especially with those who specialize in hand-to-hand combat. Your IS has to be tough though, as only hits that must absolutely be guarded against will be shielded. It is the most consuming in power though, as the threat is not guarded against until the IS detects it and deems it a threat at almost the last possible moment. This is what allows for hand-to-hand—you can guard against a blade with the physical armor of your unit and counter."

"But this would leave the pilot most vulnerable, right?"

"Indeed. Of course, no one has come up with detection scrambling due to a lack of understanding on how the core exactly works, so it's fairly safe… but there's a chance in the field, it could be exploited. I will go over this with the others as well. Short version: you can either choose to be shielded all around but require less overall power due to being to register the threat faster and take advantage of a circular shield to bounce attacks off and lessen their potential, or you can present a smaller target but have to use more shield power in order to stop a target at the last second."

"And so when using the pile driver…"

"It's a weapon of extraordinary force, coupled with the close proximity of the attack, would require a lot of energy to stop it right in its tracks."

"Ah, no wonder our shield points vanished so quickly. Such a fearsome weapon."

"Hmph."

"A—oh, excuse me. Alpha One, this is Operator, come in."

"Operator, I read you."

"Come on home, we've got some review to do, and pick up your weapons." I say as our teacher moves over to another terminal, swipes herself in, and then puts on the headset. I note that a new broadcast has come up on my screen underneath the private channel, reading "PUBLIC: ALL STATIONS AND UNITS".

"Cayden."

"Y-y-yes, sensei?!"

"Decent work out there. A little sloppy for a pilot of your caliber, but I suppose you're getting used to the system as a whole. You got a little overconfident at the end as well. Good work from your Operator. Reinhardt."

"I hear you, sensei."

"Good sniping, but you let your guard down and failed to notice Nomida's approach. You were also a little slow to react to Cayden's sudden weapon change. Good job on the surprise attack, but I imagine if Kazuma had paid a little more attention or had better scanning equipment he might have discerned something."

"Yes, sensei."

"Overall, good. Now, your Operator—you need to pay more attention, Stoneson. Support your pilot more."

"Y-Y-YES, I'LL DO THAT, SENSEI!" Meghan's slightly panicked voice yells over the channel.

"Hmph. Nomida."

"Y-y… yes, sensei?"

"You did well against two ranged fighters. Your reflexes were a little slow, but keep at it and learn to read your opponents and their abilities. That faking of Ignition Boost wasn't your idea, was it?"

"No… it was my Operator, Yumemi-sensei."

"Thank your Operator, then, because she came up with something that put the others off-guard. Of course, you need to be able to read the situation better. It was obvious she was being used as a shield by Cayden, isn't that right, Lisarene?"

"In hindsight, it was. I apologize for my incompetence, sensei."

"You were anything but incompetent. All of you did well today. The results are obvious—the winner is Reinhardt Ursula." She says as Mei enters the hangar, with the doors having opened while she flew in. "Congratulations to all of you, for a good effort for the fight. Of course, I'll be speaking to all of you about what you need to fix in private. Sensei out."

With that, the broadcast comes to an end.

"Welcome home, Alpha One." I say as the hangar doors close, Mei putting her single weapon back in its case. I take off my headphones and look over—

"The weapons will be evaluated. Those that need to be replaced will be replaced, those that can are repairable will be done. The school has plenty of funding and it's already been factored in. Just don't toss around those weapons wildly. But then again, they are IS weapons, they're built tough for a purpose."

I nod, turning my attention back to the screen. "—sorry for not guiding you to victory. In a real battle, you would've died."

"It's alright. You did your best."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you?"

"Heh. Well, if you feel so bad about it, get me a steak tonight."

"So opportunistic." I mumble. "But I hear you. Meet me at the entrance to the changing area. Operator out."

With that, I sign off the terminal and stand up. "Sensei, may I have an evaluation?"

"Other than not telling your pilot to switch shield modes and also paying more attention to her speed, I do not know what else to offer you. Although I have to say, it seemed more like you were telling her what to do if you were piloting. And that you not catching that was rather sloppy of you."

"I was just using the cameras and seeing when Reinhardt was readying to pull the trigger. It felt like cheating, though, as normally I wouldn't have a camera right on her. Though, you read my profile, I'm sure—before I took the role of Operator, I was an operative, after all. As for not catching that pile driver, I had a feeling but chose not to act on it."

"I did read that. You've sharp eyes."

"It comes with the job." I say offhandedly, swiping my ID at the door to open it, with my teacher following me through. "Anything else?"

"It amused me that for old partners, she didn't trust you when you told her to throw away her gun."

"Her unit wasn't optimized for a blader attack. It was only natural she'd hesitate. I would have done the same. I do have to admit that it does seem like I was trying to pull the strings, but if I had told her the plan right away, she might have given something away by positioning herself a little too closely to Reinhardt."

"Hm. Well, I suppose I'll talk to your pilot now. Good job today. I'll be expecting a lot out of the six of you from here on out."

"Understood, m—sensei."

With a curt nod, she walks down the stairs to the changing area while I slump up against a wall before sliding down. Hmph. We could've done better. I suppose going with a normal rifle build would have been fine, but I projected a little onto Mei and gave her two guns like an AC.

I need to check what weapons she's best at. If Mei ever goes into live combat, that could very well save her life.

Still though… it feels odd being an Operator to Mei than the others I trained with. Ha…

"You look down."

I bring my head up and see Mei who is extending a hand, smiling the whole time.

"Yumemi-sensei didn't give it to you too rough, did she?"

"She asked if I used to use two guns on my AC and told me that the system is very, very different. If I was going to dual wield, at least use machine pistols, not friggin' submachine guns."

"Sorry about that." I say, taking her hand, with which Mei pulls me up to my feet. "I'll do better about your weapon selection next time. I should've tried to prevent that as well."

"Aaaaah, geez, we're both at fault on the battlefield. We're a unit after all. But besides that, you owe me a steak~" she lowers her voice. "…you knew about the pile driver, didn't you?"

"I noticed something, but didn't mention it. Not used to these units having hidden weapons, looks like I'll have do to more research into that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We never had that shit on the AC and I didn't anticipate it being used here. Mainly because everything we've seen so far doesn't indicate hidden weapons on the actual unit itself, rather they be summoned quickly. I would think of a pilot having weapons on them, but not the actual system. It seems I have a lot to learn."

"Ah…" She nods. "I'll trust you, then. I know you're looking out for them. Now, let's eat!"

"Ooooh, we've got a welcome party." Mei says as we walk towards a group of four people made up of Reinhardt, Lisarene, Meghan, and what I assume is Nomida.

"Nomida-san?" I ask as we approach, scanning over the unknown girl. She's wearing of course, the IS Acadmey uniform, though compared to the others she's got it completely buttoned up, the skirt is a little longer than the others, going past her knees, and she's wearing dark grey stockings. She has black hair and reddish-orange eyes, which immediately look away from me when I talk.

"T-that's me…" she whispers with a nod.

"Excellent work out there."

"Hey, shouldn't I be saying that?" Mei said, stepping in front of me. "Or are you flirting with her?"

"I know a good pilot when I see one, Cayden. Besides, she put you on the ropes, so she has to have some skill about her." I say, brushing her off. "Were you waiting for us?"

"Well, it was more of that we ran into each other and so we thought we'd all you know, have a small little sit down." Meghan said. I suppose she's the mood maker of the class. So? You up for dinner?"

"Who's paying?" I say with a smile.

"You're the guy, so aren't you supposed to pay?" Mei asks with a grin that makes me want to punch her in the face.

"Tough luck then, I ain't paying for you." I grumble. "I guess it might be a good idea to know those who were fighting us. Shall we go then? A little early for dinner, but a meal's a meal."

We all go in and order our meals, with Meghan deciding to go find us a table that'll hold all of us along with Mei, leaving me alone with the others.

"I didn't think you'd be an Operator." I say to Lisarene, who's checking something on her phone.

"Well, I knew my way around parts. I figured I could at least try to help her, isn't that right Nomida?"

"Y… yes, it is. Thank you very much!" Nomida says, giving a deep bow.

"Egh, you don't need to bow for that. Besides, your friend should've helped you out more considering she left you high and dry. But I guess she did that for a reason. You were pretty damn good out there, you've got some skill considering I was minimally guiding you."

"Sorry for the gang-up, by the way. It was… the only path I could see to victory… which of course, didn't happen. But then again, I suppose that's an empty apology. You do what you need to do on the battlefield."

"Getting cold feet?" Reinhardt asks with a small snicker.

"You should've heard Mei swearing at you when you shot her instead of Nomida-san." At this, Reinhardt gives a small smile and Lisarene laughs. "'That cheating bitch!' I believe were her words."

"I can imagine." Reinhardt says before Mei returns. "Did you find a seat?"

"Yep, Meghan's holding onto it for now." Before Mei can bring us over, several order numbers are called. Oh, how fortunate. We managed to get everything all at once.

"Gimme your ticket, I'll get your stuff." I say, with Mei handing me two tickets.

"One's from Meghan, so take care of that too, mkay? And by the way, let me tell my own insults, Kazuma."

"Yeah, yeah." I mutter, taking both and walking over. The other girls get their own meals, with Reinhardt taking some sort of alfredo dish with bread, Nomida with a ramen bowl, and Lisarene with two slices of pepperoni pizza.

Of course, I take on my chicken Caesar salad, Mei's beef soup, and Meghan's fried rice over to them, all on one tray. I quickly put down the food items in front of them before going to return the tray.

"Salad again?" Mei grumbles as I get back to the table. "Seriously, I swear you only eat salads."

"I ate cereal this morning." I fire back, opening the ranch dressing that came with it and drizzling it over the lettuce. "And for lunch I had a deli sandwich."

"Bleegh. I don't get how you eat them all the time."

"It's nutritious and it keeps me filled, I've stated that before. So, what did you all wait for us for, anyways? Did you just want to talk with those you fought with? Or did you want to set a secondary in case Reinhardt can't fight if she's sick or something?"

"Right down to business, aren't you?" Reinhardt says back. "Well, it wasn't really anything of the sort. I just thought it might be nice to know you. Er, all of you. There's a lot of students who came from Japan already and most of them naturally find themselves together so when Meghan wanted to pull us all together…" She quickly tucks her head down, hiding her face. "Geez, this is quite embarrassing to say."

"In short—" Lisarene says before raising a finger to finish swallowing her food. "—you thought it might be nice to make friends."

"I suppose if you put it like that, yes. It's always nice to have someone you can go to for support that isn't a counselor." Reinhardt says, coughing into her fist to recompose herself. "That, and seeing that no one else has really challenged you further, I'd like to also know you two to further my knowledge and skills. Well, all of you. There's a lot to learn. Honestly, I thought you had me today. I wasn't expecting to win with that hidden driver, so I'd like it if my victories were more… well, had more confidence behind them."

"Hmmm, I'm more on the first point. It's kinda been rough, making some new friends other than my roommate." Meghan follows up with a smile on her face. "But I suppose if our professional Operator wouldn't mind showing us the ropes, that wouldn't be half bad either."

I give a snort. "So in short, you're trying to butter us up to get us to help te—"

I'm smacked in the back of the head by Mei.

"What Kazuma's trying to say, because he's really bad at this sort of thing which is why he stares at computers all day, is that he appreciates you extending a hand."

"That wasn't what I was trying to say at all, but I was going to get to that. If that's the truth, then you should be ready. Mei might go a little easy on you, but I certainly won't. I'm sure that those sessions are recorded. You'll see what I mean later."

"Three points or less, what do you mean then?" Lisarene asks before slouching in her seat, holding her pizza above her and letting the cheese slide down into her mouth.

As I look into their faces when I say my next words, I see a determination in their eyes. No matter how hidden, these girls are driven by something. Ha… it's like I never left Hidden Hand.

"The lessons I would teach are not to win. No, they will be to survive. How to live on the battlefield. How to defeat the enemy. How to accomplish the objective. They won't be how to win an arena battle. In fact I greatly disliked today's battle because it was open terrain, which is foolish given the IS' potential. But if you'll accept this, then very well—I will help how I can. You all seem promising, anyways, and I suppose this Operator of a dying system can teach you a few tricks."

Wow this took way too long to get out.

Well, I hope you had fun reading this chapter. It's been a while since I really had to write an IS battle and I tried to make it fast paced without being too short.

Making up what the Operator sees was something I had probably way too much fun with. All of the various viewpoints, the cameras, the diagrams, and the interface in general. I kind of just let myself go and wrote whatever came to mind that seemed right and then put it all together, hehe.

I also had some fun toying with the shield system. Three types of shields so I can play around with it later, and also I thought it might add a bit of complexity in battle. Swapping shield types in order to suit a situation and conserve on power sounded like fun. I tried to give it some pros and cons. The radial shield can 'bounce' attacks by strategically positioning yourself to prevent a direct hit but give a larger area to shoot, while the near-manual control allows the least targetable area, but it would make you take more damage on being hit.

And finally, uniting the main cast. I thought rather than introduce them one at a time, I'd simply make them all come together and then slowly branch out. I wanted to try a new mechanic in character interactions. Usually I've done "focus one character" and slowly branch out. I wanted to try having them as a group, although at the start I want to do a focus on characters so you can learn what makes them tick and how they work before the big group interactions where they build off each other happens.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think of the changes and other things I've tried to do. See you guys next time!