AUTHOR'S NOTES: Sorry for the long wait, I've decided to take longer on the next few chapters to ensure that they're written well. Hopefully with Christmas break and all I'll be able to post more regularly!
The Council of Seven sat in their suspended seats, debating several topics.
"We need to postpone the Kissing of Plantations 13 and 26 if at all possible. Dahlia, alongside Code 135, would surely help us should battle break out."
"While that is true, how long will it take to prepare them? We don't even know if they can pilot Dahlia, let alone fight. And as far as Code 135 is concerned, we have yet to see whether or not he can fight at the same level as a FranXX."
"And that's not to mention how much Werner's experiments have already cost. We need to end these useless tests if they're going nowhere!"
"Have we reached an agreement, then? I will tell him of the circumstances, and hopefully he can push them to a point of usefulness."
Dr. Franxx sat at his desk, studying a group of the standard FranXX units fighting against the third wave of Klaxxosaurs they had faced in the defense of their Plantation. They used the same weapons and tactics, and despite fighting in a well and uniformed fashion, were eventually overtaken by their foes. And there lies the problem. The Klaxxosaurs have learned to counter the standardized tactics. If only the geezers would listen to me... his train of thought is interrupted by an incoming call notification. Just who I wanted to talk to. He leans back in his chair, accepting the call. "Werner," the Council begins, "We have reached a decision about Experiment Delta. We have seen little to no progress, and have put a large amount of funds into it. As we all know, your three most successful prototypes are currently stationed at Plantation 13. If they are unable to assist Squads 13 and 26 during the Kissing, all of Delta must be deactivated."
They say that like it's an easy thing to do. "Understood. I will try to motivate them any way possible."
"Good. We would hope that this ends in success."
"Yesterday's ceremony was really something, huh?" asks Kokoro. All of squad 13, with the addition of 003 and 004, are in the lounge room of Mistilteinn. "Yeah. I've never seen so many adults before!" replies 004.
"Plantation 26's squad leader seemed like a nice guy." says Miku.
"Is he the kind of person you'd want to ride with?"
Miku chuckles and responds "Better him than any of the boys we're stuck with." She looks over at Ikuno- "Wouldn't you agree?" Ikuno retains her bored demeanor, arms crossed. "Not really. I couldn't care less." Miku pouts and says under her breath "What a wet blanket." Zorome, hands behind his head, remarks "Man, it sure gives you a confidence boost have faith in you, huh?" "Yeah," says Futoshi sitting next to him. "Plus, it shows how much they need us!" Code 003 only scoffs and mumbles something under his breath as Zorome jumps off the couch and to his feet. "We believe you are up to the challenge!" he says in his impersonation of the adults, his right arm raised to the sky. "You are strong, and you will surely bring us victory!" All of Squad 13 laughs at this. 003 and 004 are not as amused however. "They're weak." says 004 under her breath. "And as the strongest," Zorome continues, ignoring or not hearing what was just said, "I'll be the one who leads us to that victory." Ichigo leans forward in her seat slightly and replies "I think you mean Hiro will be the one to lead us." Hiro looks up, coming out of a daze. "Huh?". Kokoro clasps her hands together. "That's right! You really excelled in that last battle. We'd have been lost without you!" 003 looks over at her. "So, what exactly happened in that battle? We had just landed so we didn't see much." Squad 13, starting with Kokoro, retells the events of that battle, of course including how Strelitzia jumped in to save the day despite her orders. 003 fumes silently when he hears this, as he knows how badly Code 135 was injured in that fight with 02. "But how are you feeling afterwards?" asks Goro. "To be honest, I'm feeling great right now." Code 003 seems slightly suspicious of Hiro's response, but says nothing. "Looks like that 'three times and you die' rumor was a bunch of nonsense then." remarks Miku. "Either that or he's just extremely compatible with the girl." replies Ikuno. Hiro, humble as always, replies "Don't forget guys, it took all of us to win that battle." "Sounds like fun! I can't wait until we're fighting alongside you guys too!" replies 004 enthusiastically. "Yeah. I had trouble keeping up at times, but it all felt so right." He looks around him kindly. "As long as I can keep riding, I hope I'll let you me be a part of this team." Zorome of course has a rebuttal for this, making himself the center of attention. "Don't get cocky man. All you did was make it through one time." he says, arms crossed. How typical thinks 003. "Zorome," Hiro begins. "What?" Zorome interrupts him sharply. And they'll probably start fighting... His thoughts are put to a stop however when Hiro responds with- "I'll try hard not to be a burden." He then walks over to Zorome, who is still putting on his stuck-up act. "So what do you say?" Hiro asks, sticking out his hand towards Zorome, "Let's fight together." As the two of them shake hands and make up, 003 leans over to 004. "I wasn't expecting that." he whispers to her. "Yeah. I thought Parasites were always more prone to fighting then peace."
