AHAHAHAHAHA DOING WELL IN COLLEGE AND FREE TIME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE OR SO I FOUND OUT THE HARD WAY.
Anyways, I'm back! I'll do review replies later but for now, chapter! Here we go! Let' just jump right into this.
AGH SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE UPDATE, FFNET HAD SOME WEIRD UPLOADING ERROR.
Chapter 4: Legacy of Belief
I leap back, dodging the swing from Mei's knife. Even though it won't actually cut me, a block of wood like that's going to leave a mark. Taking the window that opened up, I slip underneath her due to the size of her unit before turning around leaving a slash on her back. Or at least I would, had this been a real knife and she didn't have her shields up in 'Near-Manual Mode'. It flickers up and deflects my knife as I cut near her exposed abdomen area, but I've been attacking long enough and doing enough experimenting I'm able to make the attack without my grip on the knife being loosened.
"Dammit…!" Mei hisses as I look for another opening. Got you.
Without another word, I continue my assault. Fighting her in an IS has similarities if I was fighting some sort of powered machine. She can swing just as hard if not harder than a normal person, so I rely mainly on watching her feet and reading her movements along with the size of the unit. Because an IS has a large frame compared to a normal person, I can abuse things like blind spots more.
In hand to hand, against a skilled combatant, the IS becomes nothing more than just a massive set of armor. I can also grapple as well, because the IS shields only activate in this mode if an attack would connect. But it means I can latch onto it and use it as a hold to get in close unless she chooses to activate the shields on me.
Of course, this means if the IS were to be piloted by someone whose physical abilities bordered on the level of inhumane, they truly would be fearsome to go up against.
"Gr…!" I grit my teeth as Mei boosts to the right then left quickly, throwing me off as my grip wasn't too storng. I tuck myself in and roll on the ground, pushing myself to get more distance between Mei and I before coming up off the ground. "You're getting better."
"I had a good teacher, after all."
I switch my grip to a reverse style while charging in. Knowing that Mei can apply much more force, I carefully feint a swing to try to get her to block. She takes the bait. I use my smaller frame to quickly retract my arm, causing her to whiff. I step in close and go for a vertical slice before ducking underneath her legs.
"Stop doing that!"
"You need to learn to read your opponent better. Especially because of your larger frame. How humiliating would it be for you to win IS matches easily but fall to a single footman carving you up with a knife?"
"Gra…!"
"You're getting provoked. Keep a level head, Cayden."
I move in once again, knife in my right hand, reverse grip. Closing the distance easily, I don't give any indication of where I'm going to hit. I'll force you to open yourself up…
When Mei realizes that I'm not going to attack, she attempts to make first contact by slicing where my chest is. Because she's so huge in the suit, I can easily read the attack and duck. It passes above my head. Got—
"Kuh!"
I go flying as a knee from Mei slams into me, knocking me to the ground.
"You bitch, that's cheating, that's what it is…" I mutter as she stands over me, flipping her off.
"You're the one who was climbing on top of me." She fires back as I get back on my feet.
"Yeah, yeah… Well, good job catching me off guard like that. Although, if you were fighting foot soldiers who were insistent on hand to hand combat, you should probably just switch to radial shielding to repel them. But again, you damn cheater. This was supposed to be a knife exercise."
"Our condition was I get a hit in. The knife was just a suggestion."
"Heh, I've taught you well."
"Rule Zero: Never fight fair."
"Indeed. Now, there's something that I'd like to do."
Mei grins. "You haven't fired one in a while, right?"
"Let's go."
We head back up to the launching platform, where we request through the terminal a Barret M82… for Mei, of course.
Mei then passes it to me and I bring it over to the edge of the launching platform. I then lie prone and prepare to fire, with Mei standing behind me.
"You brought the cans, right?" Mei asks as I look down the scope.
"Yeah. Plastic bag, left it by the terminal."
"You freaking battle maniac." She mutters, retrieving the cans and then flying out, setting down the cans all over the arena's field.
I chuckle before getting into a serious mindset, calming myself. Rather ideal conditions for shooting. Another clear day, eh?
Well then. Let's go shooting for a bit. While I'm at my best when blading, I suppose that my predecessor's skill in a rifle bleeding over to me has its benefits.
And besides, before I became Dark Breeze, I was raised to be a long distance killer…
Armored Hearts
The crack of the sniper rifle rang out again, with another can exploding into dust.
"Eight for eight." Reinhardt muttered, watching through binoculars as she looked on from the stands in the arena, having followed them to learn just what kind of people she was dealing with. The look in Mei's eyes when they fought hand to hand… it had certainly been the eyes of a killer. And there was no doubt in her mind Weiss was aware of this as well.
The way her carried himself, the way he spoke, something of it smelt of military. However, something about it differed. With her family, she understood military pride and love for the country and more importantly, that you had something to fight for when you were out there.
Weiss was an exception to that. There was no pride, any loyalty he concealed for any one place was incredibly well hidden, and during their one spar when she wanted to get a feel for him—he had felt empty. She knew that when fighting, the aim was to incapacitate the enemy without bringing harm to yourself. That was exactly how Weiss fought, but while she put her pride from her family and the objective of winning in order to become a better combatant in her strikes, something in Weiss' movements just gave her a feeling of emptiness.
It bugged her to no end, that she could not put it into logical terms, having to fall back on this 'feeling'.
Her thoughts were interrupted by someone taking flight in her vision.
"Eh? Mei's flying out again…?"
She was surprised to find Mei dodging Weiss' shots. Or at least, trying to dodge all of them. Despite knowing where he was, it was if Weiss was reading her movements, predicting her every twitch.
He's calm. Incredibly so.
The person he is firing at is not Mei Cayden. He is not firing at Mei Cayden in a firing and dodging exercise.
Right now, he's a hunter. Down those sightlines, he sees another target he must eliminate. A target that must die. From here… she then focused her sights on Weiss, who was still firing—and now reloading—her gaze settling on him. …It's as if he revels in it. Something draws him to combat. Even if… no, I still need to finish processing everything from that spar.
It's strange, though. Cayden was the pilot and Kazuma was the Operator. But from here, you'd be more likely to believe that Weiss is the real pilot.
She sighed, shaking her head.
There's so much more to think about. They're not really who they say they are, are they? I should probably just let it go…
…because I'd hate to be on the wrong end of Kazuma's sights.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the arena, another person was watching.
Taigei remained breathless as she watched from above, hidden to even Reinhardt who was scanning the arena for anyone else who had followed the two to their practice session. She had come here to find out the reasoning of the words Cayden had said when questioned about the partnership she shared with Weiss. That without him, she wasn't anything.
She too, like Reinhardt, when locked in combat with Cayden, had seen the eyes of death in front of her. But if Weiss was the one behind Cayden, then she would follow things up to the source.
"S-strong…" she muttered to herself. "…they're definitely strong. But despite being unable to use an Infinite Stratos, he's amazingly strong…"
Yes, certainly he could teach her. The reason he could fight without hesitation. The reason on why even when faced with an IS and nothing but a knife, he could fight. The reason that despite being in the most advanced fighting platform in the world, Mei seemed to be struggling to dodge at times.
That resolve to pull the trigger.
She couldn't help but think that even if it was a real battle, one where the knives were made of killer steel and Mei was really intending to kill Weiss, that he could win. Well, maybe not win, but he could certainly put up a fight that would make any decent pilot question their actual ability.
BWHAAHHHH! The rifle went again, cracking with the intent to kill.
Taigei wondered how he could so easily shoot, knowing it was someone he was clearly friends with receive the bullet. She could do the same in a practice fight, yes, but here… from here, it looked as if he was shooting to kill, every time. This wasn't just practice, this was something more.
"I… I have to ask him."
Armored Hearts
I give a small huff, pushing the door open with my right hand, my document case in my left. We spent a lot longer than I thought we did, as the sun is already setting, painting the entire island with an orange hue.
"A bit of a strange place to be standing, isn't it Nomida-san?" I call out to the girl in question, with her quickly being startled as she takes a few steps back after a small leap of surprise. I decide simply not to approach and stand still. "Are you waiting for Cayden? She'll be out in a few minutes, always took her time showering."
"U… um, no, that wasn't it."
"Oh." Seeing that she's no longer trying to curl up and be smaller, I begin walking towards her.
"By the way, the sunset is that way." I say, pointing to the west, while she was looking southward.
"Um…!"
"Oh. That wasn't it either?" I put a hand on my chin, wondering how best to handle this. "Ah. This is one of those 'confessions' I've heard about, isn't it? I'm sorry Nomida-san, but I can't return the feeling. Although you picked quite a nice spot. Out in the open is a bit controversial though."
"T-that's not it!" she yells out, her face turning bright red. "I… I want you to teach me to fight!"
"…I'm not trained in swords, Nomida-san." I say, walking up to and then past her. "You're already a seemingly decent swordswoman. The most I can teach you is really what any military teacher could, but then you'd have to learn the basics from that. If you wish to read your opponent better, that is something I could teach you, but there isn't much more than that."
"Then…!"
"I'll talk with Mei about i—"
"I want you teach me how to become stronger!"
I stop in my tracks, not turning around to face her. I can't imagine what kind of face she has on right now. But I know my face is probably something I shouldn't show to her.
"I can't teach you to become strong." I say very pointedly, to the point I can feel the words she was about to say die in her throat. I have to take a breath before I accidentally let the next words out of my mouth.
'…because I didn't have a choice.'
I didn't have a choice to become a good pilot. It was all I could do to survive. And some fights weren't brute force. I forced their hands. I knew to survive, they had to die. So I put their loved ones on the line. It was cowardly. It was only after… after I got my hands on a NEXT and became "Dark Breeze" for a while I fought anything head-on.
"W… why? There has to be something, right?"
"I said, I cannot teach you to be strong. It's… something outside what I can do."
"But I saw you! I saw you fight Mei… you… you are strong, so how—"
"—how does he do it?" Another female voice asks.
"Cayden. I didn't expect you to arrive."
"Kazuma, that's pretty heavyhanded. And well, maybe she doesn't know what to ask. What do you mean by 'get stronger', Nomida-san?"
"I… I want you to teach me how, because maybe if I was strong enough, I can commit to my path. Without hesitation."
"You've got it wrong." I immediately fire back. "It's not that because I am strong, I can commit. It's because I commit, I can be strong. Because I commit to what I need to do, because my path I have chosen will not waver, I can do whatever I need to do in order to achieve its end."
I start walking away, almost stomping. Tch, getting emotional now.
"…whatever it is you want to do, until you've chosen to throw everything you have into it, you won't be strong."
"T… t-hen how do you deal with the doubt if you're path is right?!"
I pause, if only for a second.
"I told you—because I commit, I can be strong. Stronger than any doubt. Strong enough to not turn back."
"Although really Weiss, you can be a little weak at times." Mei says.
"I'm well aware of that." I reply back right away.
"You really believe those words, don't you, Kazuma?"
I glance over my shoulders and find Mei with her right hand on her hip, a small smile on her face.
I give a small sigh and relax myself. "I believe those words, even if I fail to completely practice them. I still need to fix that, after all. Holding yourself to your ideals is hard in this world."
"Isn't it?"
I give a small huff and start walking away again. "But that's all there is to it, Nomida-san. If you want me to teach you to fight more effectively, not necessarily with a sword, then that I can teach you. But don't think that it'll teach you to be strong."
"Hey, Kazuma, wait uuuup!" Mei yells as she sprints away from Nomida, catching up to me and latching onto my arm. She then leans up close to my ear, whispering. "That was a little harsh, wasn't it?"
"Sorry."
"…but she asked you something you didn't like, huh?"
"It's still a bit of a sore point." I mumble. "Maybe I played my hand a little too much today. I figured someone would be watching us."
"Hehe, what, do you think they're going to think you're the pilot now?"
"They might, possibly, although it should be very unlikely. And of course, there's a distinct lack of proof towards that conclusion and a plethora of proof that I'm just an Operator. An Operator, of course, with a few special trainings elsewhere. Also, Mei."
"Hm?"
"Get me something from the cafeteria, to-go."
"Want to give her some time to think?"
"I don't think I should talk to people for a bit, I might be a little snappy is all. At this rate I might slip up somewhere."
"Got it… you softie."
"Shut it. She's got potential, is all, and came to ask me. I guess I'm a bad person to ask for help on this crap, but I suppose she figured out the right person to talk to for that…" I bitterly mutter to myself.
"Alright. But you can't keep running away, you know? One day she's going to work up enough courage to come to you for help. She just seems like that kinda girl."
I give a small huff. "We'll see about that."
"Your meal's—hm?"
I wave Mei over silently. She closes the door and walks over before passing me my food, which is a simple boxed bento in a to-go box. I break the chopsticks apart and keep eating, paying attention to the TV.
"Something going on?"
"Dunoa Corporations just released a statement saying they've reached a deal with Rayleonard and BFF. Looks like they'll be taking Infinite Stratos development in a new direction, pursuing not third generation Infinite Stratos Units, but the first generation of a unit that mixes both the AC and IS.
"How will this affect IS Academy?"
"We will be talking to IS Academy, along with several representatives, about having them test parts in combat for us. We are aware that there are several pilots at IS Academy that use the weapons converted to IS usage by Rayleonard and BFF, but we'll see where this goes before any further statements are made."
"Looks like you need to kick ass out there. Hmm… I wonder if it'll use AMS. Or will it just be an IS core that gets implanted into an AC-sized frame?"
"You think they had anything to do with this?" Mei asks, sitting down on the bed next to me.
"I'd be more surprised if they didn't."
MT hasn't given us any more news on Hidden Hand. We're supposed to be kept in the dark, after all, and only receive information as needed. I could see deal happening though, I just didn't expect it to happen like that.
Seems like it was kept off the radar though, as Dunoa needed this deal. Well, all the companies involved needed this deal, let's be honest. Still though, does this mean we might be able to use AMS to pilot an IS unit…? This could radically change everything… maybe even fix the mistake I made…
"I imagine they're going to get a lot of backlash."
"That's true." Mei says before taking a swig of water. "This is their last ditch effort, right?"
"Yeah. Either they stay relevant with this, or two of the greatest IS companies die out with little more than a whimper." I mutter, lowering my head. "I don't think we used very many of their parts, but still."
"I heard Interior Union's managed to sign in as a research branch with another company though. Scaling down their energy weapons might help keep them in."
"Yeah."
"So, if for whatever reason, I ever get a personal unit, we'll definitely be using AC company parts, right?"
"Of course."
I wait until it's 2330 hours before calling it a night, with MT not giving us a call. Looks like we're not required to know anything for this news. We should just accept it as it is.
At six thirty the next day, I wake up, change into a grey t-shirt and black shorts, throw on a running pack that holds my phone, wallet, and phone key, and then go jogging. I need to clear my head of all this crap. No better way to do that than a jog. I haven't done a close analysis yet of how much distance it is between places.
There's a few other morning risers too.
"On your left." I say, passing by another jogger who's in a grey tracksuit.
"Oh, Kazuma-san." She says in reply as I take the lead. "Morning!"
"Morning to you as well." I reply before continuing on, intent on leaving her behind. However, I hear footsteps at a faster pace, with Reinhardt now next to me on the right. "Pushing yourself?"
"Thought I'd keep up." She says between breathes. I slightly increase my pace, keeping an even face. "Haven't seen you over the past few days."
"I usually just do a small routine in my room. I really only going jogging to clear my head. I prefer swimming in all honesty."
"Ah, I see."
I glance over and scan over her, finding it seems to be a Canadian Navy branded suit. "Family gifted that suit?"
"Eh?"
"The suit brand, insignia on the left sleeve."
"Oh." she says as we round a corner, now heading towards one of the arenas. "Yes, it was. I used to run track on the side."
"Events?"
"Two hundred and four hundred meter dash."
"Ever ranked?"
"Second and third in districts, placed seventh and tenth in regionals."
"Not bad."
"Dad was in the military, even if I was the only daughter of the family I was going to be able to run and fight. Or so he told me. Got that from his father, who raised three daughters before him."
"Heh. Legacy's a funny thing sometimes."
"So, I suppose you heard the news last night. Dunoa and the other AC companies?"
"Yeah. Not sure how it'll affect us. Mei's not exactly known, but if someone wants her to pilot, that's fine with me. Besides, I'm only an Operator. What parts she decides to use is up to her in the end."
"Did you do anything before being an Operator?"
"Well, I did this and that before becoming an Operator. Was almost born into it, really. Can't say much else."
"Ah, I get it. Dad couldn't always talk about things. Didn't understand until I was older."
"…speaking of your military background, want to do a running cadence?"
"Ha, sure. Come up with one and I'll follow. Heading back to the dorms?"
"Was planning on it, this is about as far as you'll get from them."
"Then, lead us off, sir!"
We get to the arena and follow the curved pathway. As we get off the sidewalk that rounds the arena building, I start us off.
"Wake up men, get up and rise!" I call out.
"Wake up men, get up and rise!" Reinhardt echoes, matching my volume.
"It's time to support our allies!" I say a bit louder.
"It's time to support our allies!" She says right back, full of enthusiasm.
At this point, we're attracting attention, but neither of us seems to mind.
"Domination by land, sea, and air!"
"Domination by land, sea, and air!"
"We will win anywhere!"
"We will win anywhere!"
"Phew, my throat's going to be sore. Not to mention you stepped up the pace. Sheesh, you don't show a girl any mercy, do you, Kazuma-san?"
"I don't think I'm the merciful type, and you were the one who decided to try to keep up. Also, just Kazuma will do, or Weiss. I don't mind." I say as we stretch outside one of the entrances to the dorm building, cooling down from the run. "You're from Canada, right? I was based in the US for long enough, you don't need to force the whole honorifics thing around me."
"Ah… well, it might prove to be inconvenient if I don't, but perhaps while we're in private, I'll do so. Thank you, Weiss. The same goes for you, then."
"Would you prefer Ursula or Reinhardt?"
"I'll leave it as your discretion."
"Hm, well, I suppose Reinhardt will do, it's a bit of a habit for me to keep addressing people by last name. Good run today, although if you're going to keep up next time, try a little harder."
"Try harder, he says!" Reinhardt says with a laugh, wrapping up her stretching. "Really now, I suppose that on a jog you might have me beat, but I'm sure that I'm much faster than you in a sprint."
I open the door inside for her, with Reinhardt chuckling the whole way in as she runs a hand through her blonde hair.
"Oh that's right, we have a practical exercise today. I wonder what we'll be doing." I say as we go up the stairs. "And more importantly, what I'll be doing seeing as I can't pilot. Ah, that does remind me, I suppose if I get locked into being your Operator, I need to study your patterns. Unless you'd prefer to have Meghan."
"That's something I'll have to consider…" she mumbles. "…I would like having a more experienced hand, though."
"Well, at your discretion then, Class Representative." I say back before opening the door to the third floor. "I'll see you in class today, then?"
"I'll see you there." She says with a bit of a scoff, probably at my emphasis on her title.
I walk back to my room, unlocking and opening the door. I find Mei standing in front of the mirror as she fixes the ribbon around her neck.
"Mmm, maybe I can sew on some golden stripes onto the bow…"
"I thought MT frowned upon uniform modifications."
"O-oh! Weiss, you surprised me! Where the hell were you?"
"Going for a run. Thought you would've seen the note on the counter. Needed to clear my head." I reply, closing the door behind me. "We have practicals today, so make sure you're ready."
"Right. By the way, you don't mind if I start calling you Weiss in class, right?"
"Do whatever you want."
"You suuuure? It's like," Mei continues as I start changing out of my running clothes and gather my towel. "Calling a person by their first name here means you're close or something, right?"
"But we are close. We're partners and I trust you with my life. And yes I know what you mean. I don't mind. It'll keep people away, anyways."
"Hehehe. All right. Well, I'll take off. Don't be late to class, okay? Also, I cooked some breakfast for you, it's under the foil."
I nod before entering the bathroom. "Thanks. I'll see you in class then."
I turn on the shower, sticking a hand in. Warm. Looks like Mei already started the hot water for me by showering earlier.
I strip and step in, feeling the warm water falling upon my skin. I run my hands through my hair, flicking off the black strands that come off. Relaxing, isn't it… ha…
Shampoo. Soap. Rinse. I go through the motions and clean myself off. In ten minutes I'm done. I stop the water, dry myself off, and step out of the bathroom to go grab my clothes. In doesn't take even two minutes to slip it on.
Hm… what did Mei make for me?
I walk over to foil and take it off, finding a muffin and some bacon and eggs. I look over to the small kitchenette and find nothing there. Hm…
I walk over to the cabinets and crouch, opening them. Nothing seems disturbed… let me just run a finger along the pan… dried, but still some moisture. Looks like Mei washed them, too.
"Hmph. Don't take everything onto yourself." I say, closing the cabinet and standing up, finding a plastic fork and starting to eat the prepared breakfast on the disposable plate. The salted scrambled eggs go well with the bacon. The muffin was probably just bought somewhere, but the sentiment is appreciated.
I go over to the fridge and pull out the carton of orange juice I bought, unscrew the cap, pour myself a glass and chug it. I then rinse the glass and put the carton away, making sure to keep my discipline during these times of ease.
Well, I suppose it's time to get going to class. Suitcase… there we are. Time to go to class.
I open the door with ten minutes still left before class begins.
"Kazuma-san—"
"Weeeeiss!"
Reinhardt and Mei glance at each other as I close the door behind me.
"Was that planned? If so, please kindly never do that again." I say, walking to my seat. "So you're not both tripping over each other, Mei, go first."
"Lunch with me today?"
"Sure, assuming nothing more pressing comes up. Reinhardt-san, go."
"If we require an Operator for today's practical, may I ask for priority? You did volunteer to be our class' Operator."
"I did. I'd like to say yes, but if our teacher requests otherwise, then there is little I can do."
"I see. Well, I appreciate your consideration."
"Say though, have you heard the rumors? Class 1-B is getting a transfer student. Supposedly she's a Representative Pilot." Reinhardt says, not having gone back to her seat. There's a few students who give out calls, saying they heard such things too.
"Ah… so, that would leave us as… The only class without a pilot that has a personal unit then, correct?"
"That would be the case."
"I suppose we'll just have to close the gap via tactics and outsmarting our opponent. Superior and customized equipment doesn't necessarily mean victory."
"But for a customized and advanced unit to go up against a mass production unit, that's certainly going to make it difficult, right?" Reinhardt asks. I put a hand on my chin.
"I would say to use the terrain. But then the arena battles are held out in the open, so that's out of the question. Then the next best thing would be to research your opponent and develop a counter. However, the problem arises if you aren't experienced enough to utilize the counter correctly. You either fight at a disadvantage but in your strong suit, or at an advantage but without as much experience. Of course, your preference does do well in open terrain."
"You mean my sniper rifle usage?"
"Yes. No cover. Little to no wind. The fact the temperature in the arena can be regulated. All of that makes your weapon more deadly. All you need is a way to keep your opponent where you want them. Damn, if Dunoa's company had only released those parts sooner, I might be able to come up with something."
"Did you have something in mind?"
"For all the IS units I have seen, they lack point defenses. While a NEXT also lacks point defenses, it's sheer speed and size make it a nightmare for any infantry or smaller arms to fight it and Normals usually go with some amount of escort but again, their sheer size is nothing to sneeze at. But what I'm talking about isn't infantry—what I'm talking about is missiles. A missile swarm could be launched at an AC, but its shells were large enough from a machine gun that it could disable all of them midflight or use a Quickboost and throw off tracking easily. While you have small boosts with the IS, it's nothing in comparison."
"…So you wanted to use a missile swarm to force the enemy to focus on dodging or blocking the assault to open up a shot?"
"In short, yes. Preferably you would have multiple distractions as well." I close my eyes and think. "…the parts list. Does the Revive have shoulder weapons?"
"—It does. However, keep in mind it will affect her aim. While PIC will allow flight and hovering, there's still weight on her arms." I turn around and see Lisarene walking in. "For all of its advantages and allowing the whole unit flight, it doesn't eliminate weight from the equation."
"Ah, Lisarene. Thanks."
"MSAC International already released the IS-NEMAHA02. Vertical-firing chain missiles. Because of the IS system and reloading, you don't have to worry as much about the low ammo count you'd worry about on the AC. Pair it with the IS-061SKSN rockets, you've got a missile swarm followed by a smokescreen. Throw on thermal vision, take out your enemy." She answers while closing the door.
"Can't exactly just keep repeating that though, unless your sniper rifle takes the enemy out in one blow. While the IS doesn't have the sheer capability of the AC, IS pilots are far more unpredictable and have more versatility in their movements. It's easier to catch the AC in a loop for that strategy."
"There's the MP-IS207. Back weapon, ridiculous tracking. Even if you miss, the missiles reverse and come back. Of course, you'll have a high energy drain, so watch your shield's strength if you get hit. If your shields are lacking energy to power them, you're going to end up eating a lot of points to block an attack."
I nod, understanding the situation. Say your shield at normal energy levels can block 100 units. But when operating at reduced power, you require more shield points to block the same strength as the shield would be thinner. Using that weapon could give us an incredible attack advantage, but it would also leave us wide open.
"What if instead of using her own sniper rifle, you just put the sniper rifle on the back and let it fire on its own via targeting computer? Give her a standard rifle, one with decent range. Put pressure on her opponent by shooting them with a good firing rate, throw in a smokescreen, and then punish." Lisarene offers again, seeing as I suppose my facial expression gave away my hesitance to use such a setup.
"Reinhardt-san?" I say, looking at our pilot in question.
"We have some time to think about it, right? We can do some testing, too. This is… well, it's a little overwhelming, is all."
"Ah. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry, I'll try to grow into the role. It seems I need to catch up to the two of you. Also, I just heard this the other day, but it seems Orimura, despite losing, is now the class representative of Class 1-A."
"…I hope our class goes up against him, then."
"Alcott was a sniper though, wasn't she? Orimura closed the distance from what I heard." Lisarene adds on from the side.
"What's her unit's speed compared to a Revive?"
"Better, probably. Want me to get the footage? Someone probably recorded it on their phone. Or the Academy has it somewhere for review."
"Do you actually think you can get your hands on it, though?"
"Probably not. The phone footage, maybe. Want me to keep my ears open?"
"You're awfully forward about this."
Lisarene shrugs. "Hey, you heard what the class tourney that's coming up offers as a reward, right? I want part of that prize, I'm not going to leech, so I'll work for it."
"Hmph. Do as you please, but I didn't tell you to do anything specific."
"Smart."
As we're waiting for our teacher to arrive, the front door opens. Nomida and Meghan walk in, with Nomida making eye contact with me. The instant she does, she immediately seizes up for a moment before looking down and quickly making her way past my desk. Meghan gives me a suspicious look, but I shrug and she carries on.
I sense a questioning coming soon.
"Fooling around again, Weiss?" Mei asks, nudging me, even though she knows damn well what this is about.
"Buzz off, it's not even like that!" I grumble, taking out my books. "And you're one to talk, considering the amount of times our superior caught you in someone else's bed."
"Hey, my sheets were thinner than most, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever gets you to sleep at night." I say with a snort, putting my books down.
Two minutes later, the door opens again.
"Alright class, sit down. Class is beginning. First, a reminder we'll be having practical lessons today. Kazuma-kun, I have something prepared for you. Instead of reporting to Arena 3's field, go to Arena 3 Gate 1's Operator station."
"Yes, sensei." I automatically reply, glancing at Reinhardt who gives a small shrug.
"Second, the class tournament is coming up. As you should know, your class representative Reinhardt will be fighting for you. The details have been sent out via email to your student accounts. While you aren't required to attend the battles, it would be in your best interest to witness those battles and maybe learn something from them. Before we begin, are there any pressing questions before we begin the lesson?"
Today is a lesson on PIC and its limitations, along with how thrusters work with PIC in order to move a unit. Alright… that gives me a better understanding how to equip Reinhardt's unit. The weight is very important, just like an AC, and counterweights will play a role in ensuring peak performance.
PIC does allow for hovering, though, by helping to reduce the amount of thrust needed to keep the unit in the air by some weird bullshit that I'm pretty sure doesn't make sense unless you're into some deep shit theoretical physics-wise. But then again it's not like I understand how AMS is exactly implemented, but at least I have a better clue about it than PIC.
"After lunch time, there will be a forty five minute break before you are expected to have finished changing out and should be on the field for exercises." Our teacher announces as the lecture ends. "Kazuma-kun, you already know your instructions."
"Yes, sensei." I say before she leaves with a nod.
"Seems my request won't be held." Reinhardt says as she reaches my desk.
"A shame. We'll have to set aside some time so I can get used to you."
"Used to me?" she asks, tilting her head in confusion. I decide not to acknowledge Mei's 'oh my' face in the background.
"The reason I can be Cayden's Operator very well. I know her well, I'm used to her patterns. What she'll think. What she's going to do. So given a situation I can give her the information she needs most without needing to think about it. And also point out when she's about to make a mistake she always makes."
"Ah, I see. Well, ah, we'll compare schedules after today, then."
"Of course. Now, I believe lunch awaits. We can't be wasting time for now." I say, rising from my seat.
I pick the lightest meal I can find. There's a simple noodle soup dish, nothing heavy, nothing too heavily spiced. I down it quickly without going too fast. Mei picked small tuna-salad sandwich, falling back into a light meal habit when given those orders.
We're out within the twenty minute mark.
"No time to waste." I say, walking down the hall.
"I'll be at the field, then."
"Understood."
"Testing, testing. Kazuma-kun, can you hear me?"
"I read you loud and clear, sensei."
"Got it. ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP!" I flinch slightly at her suddenly raising her voice, probably talking to the students out there. "Today we're going to be having a practical lesson about weighting your IS correctly. Normally you'll have a computer do this for you, but today we're doing it by hand and feel so you get an appreciation for the automatic balancing you have the luxury of.
"There are four Revive units and two Uchigane Kai units out here. Each one has been randomly weighted. Seeing as we have twenty five minus one, it fits nicely to four of you to a unit. Each of you will pilot it and then try to weight the unit correctly with the help of your squad. At the end, we will have a time trial to see which of units was best weighted."
"Sensei, what am I supposed to do?"
"Ah, yes. Do you have any experience in this—no, of course you do."
"Can confirm experience in correctly weighting AC units, sensei."
"Good. If you require any pointers, you can contact Kazuma-kun. I expect you to not just give them an easy answer."
"Understood, sensei."
"Then… begin! Split up into groups of four and begin working!"
I lean back in my seat and close my eyes, turning off my microphone while giving a sigh. Well, this is expected in a way.
"Weeeeeeiss? Are you there?"
I sit back up straight and check who's calling me. The bottom left of my screen reads "PRIVATE-3: RAPHAEL REVIVE – PILOT ID: MEI CAYDEN".
"This is Operator Kazuma. What do you need, Cayden?"
"Just making sure communications are working. Oh, hey, so, I was thinking, what if I just mirror the weights?"
"Mirror the—oh, I see. It could work. Although you may or may not be expected to have armaments when you take flight."
"Right! Seeeeenseeeei!"
"Turn off your radio if you're done talking to me, Cayden."
"Oh, right. Ehehehe~"
For the next half hour or so, I sit here and give small bits of advice, saying where I might put the counterweight. Slapping on a counterweight randomly doesn't work too much—no, you have to understand where it goes and if it can't fit in a space without being comfortable, then you have to say, move your original ten kilogram weight to two five kilogram weights that are placed in two different locations.
Mei and Reinhardt contact me sparingly. Hmm… cameras.
I flick a few buttons and check on who's grouped together. Mei is working by herself, or at least, she hasn't paired with anyone we both really know. Reinhardt has Lisarene's help, and Nomida and Meghan stuck together. Now that I know who's on which unit, might as well just bring up the status screen and check on the weights for everyone's units.
Heh, as expected, Mei's doing fine. Reinhardt and Lisarene along with their people are coming close, probably with Lisarene's guidance. Nomida and Meghan have taken the leadership of their group, although if when I tap into the microphone inputs, it seems more like Nomida had it forced on her.
Ha… still though, there's something in that girl. Despite having it forced on her, she continues on. Almost… like me, in a way.
She's already strong, with whatever's weighing down on her. To continue looking forward and marching on no matter what's been thrown on her. But if she doesn't have someone there, she'll break. I had Mei, my mentor, MT, the other pilots in Hidden Hand. I had people that when I was down in the mud, I could put my hand up and they'd pull me to my feet.
So tell me. So reach out. I've already made it apparent to this class that you can't win alone.
"KAZUMA WEISS!"
"MA'AM!"
"It's sensei!"
"Yes, sensei?!"
"No slacking off. Load up the flight pattern rings. The command is "load flight test pattern", use the one named with today's date.
Today… April, so 4, twenty third… 23, year 2026. Ah, "Pattern 4-23-2026", there we go.
"Alright, listen up! All of you have had time to weight your units. Now we're going to see how evenly they fly. You all will have a chance to pilot, so don't worry. If you're currently in the unit, stay in there. We'll go one at a time. Kazuma-kun will monitor you and guide your course. Let's see… Unit One."
I check Unit One. Ah, Nomida.
"Y-yes?!" she cries out as I check the course and mentally plot out how I might fly through it in an AC.
"Proceed to the starting line. Kazuma-kun, prepare to guide her."
"Understood. Nomida-san, I'll be your Operator for this upcoming run. The course is simple enough."I say, looking over the course. "I'll set waypoints for you.
"R... right."
"You're the one responsible for flight. I'll let you know when you have sharp turns incoming or when you need to suddenly change your direction. Are you ready?"
"Yes, I'm ready…" her voice trails off. I give a small scoff.
"Have a little pride in yourself. You're piloting here and now at an Academy that is viciously difficult to get in. You can do this. Now, I'm setting the 'ready' signal. Flash your acknowledgement light whenever you're ready."
Now just to make sure everything's set. I look down and see…
…Public channel. Oop.
"Wooooo, damn Weiss!"
"Language, Cayden. Nomida, thirty seconds after you flash your acknowledgement signal, I'll have you take off."
I silently shift my voice output to her channel, but leave myself open to receiving from our teacher. "Ahem. Nomida-san, whenever you're ready. Sorry about that small outburst. But focus. The mission is simple. Get through all the rings as fast as possible in the order they're displayed. You know where they are. Now, at your ready."
Ten seconds later, her light flashes green.
I begin the countdown in my head.
…Soon, five seconds remain. Four. Three. Two. One.
"Begin!"
"Go!" I yell. "First leg's easy, build up speed and accelerate! Your unit has better acceleration than the Revive, but don't max out, there's a sharp left curve with a rise at the end. Prepare to rise!"
Wordlessly, she follows my instructions. She goes into the curve, slowing down and then speeding up as she comes out of it, increasing her altitude.
I glance at her weighting. It's all right, but the only problem is there's a distinct weight favor on the left side. Going into a right curve might throw her off.
"Drop incoming!"
At the end of the rise is a sudden drop. She prepares and follows through, turning downwards and shooting towards the ground.
"Slow down and get ready to pull up!"
I give the command as soon as she's at the point she needs to slow down to make the curve.
"Right curve incoming! Turn about a second sooner!"
As she goes into the curve, I notice her arc is a lot bigger. She's almost swinging in a way, as it's a full U-turn.
"Turn hard right and activate your forward thrust as if you were using a sword!"
Nomida was swinging out due to the weight distribution, so she would have missed the ring after the midpoint, but the sudden boost and turn cuts the curve short and has her shoot in almost a straight line through the last rings of the curve.
"Zigzag coming up, boost through the right turns, just curve normally through the left turns!"
It slightly worries me how quick she is to follow my instructions, but I suppose I've been guiding her this whole time so she's warmed up to it.
First turn's a left. She easily glides through it. Rotates. Boosts, carves a straight line to the next ring instead of turning right, almost drifting into it.
"Another drop!"
The next leg of the zigzag puts her on a downward slope while doing this, but it doesn't seem to faze her at all. As long as I keep telling her what's coming up, she moves through it without too much assistance.
…Hm. I'll guide her to the end.
After Nomida finishes, I end up doing this for everyone else. Times are fairly good. Mei, having the most balanced unit, only has the third best time. Reinhardt and another girl who I don't really know beat her out. Nomida ended up placing sixth best.
"Good work, all of you. Now, you're free to go. Class is over for today. You're also free to stay here and practice though, however the units will be turned over at five in the afternoon."
"Yes, sensei." I say, chiming in with everyone else. I switch the channel over to PRIVATE 0: TEACHER COMMUNICATION. "Sensei?"
"Kazuma-kun?"
"Can you ask Nomida-san to stay? There's something I want to check in her unit, something feels off." I say, looking at her time. Two minutes and fifteen seconds.
"Hmph. Ask her yourself."
"No mercy." I mutter, switching radio channels to the public one. "Nomida-san, are you there? If you are, please return to the unit you used, there's something I want to check with your weighting."
It takes about thirty seconds, but I see her pop up on my radio channels.
"Y-yes?"
"I want you to run through the course again."
"Um…"
"I won't give you any assistance this time, though."
"K-kazuma-san…"
"There's something I want to see. You don't have to go through with this if you don't want to."
"It's fine," she pauses. "Um… what exactly do you want to see?"
"I can't tell you that." I say, loading up the pattern again. "Whenever you're ready."
"R… right."
As soon as she takes off, I start timing her. Compared to her previous time…
Full thirty second difference.
"I-I'm sorry, you already told me how exactly to do it and—"
"You don't need to apologize."
"I… I'll do it again!"
"You don't need to do that. I just wanted to see something. Sorry to sound so harsh about that."
"Right… right…"
"Nomida-san?"
"Sorry! I'll… I'll be going now."
"Thank you for indulging me. Oh, also… there's a better path, you know, for the unit that you were the main decider of the weights on."
With that, I cut off communications and don't respond, making it appear as if I'm not there. Now, let's see what you do…
Armored Hearts
Another path…?
For a while, Taigei Nomida stood still. Why had he not given her the better path, then?
But when watching all the others, everyone else had followed his instructions, and none of their paths really differed.
So what better path was there?
She looked around the arena. Yes, it had quickly emptied out. There was no one else here.
Surely, Kazuma-san has left.
Yes, there would be no one to witness her movements.
And so she began. Testing, flying, trying to find the path that Weiss hadn't given her but knew about.
Where can it be?
Surely, if he had said it was there, then it existed.
Meanwhile, Weiss watched from his station, hand on his chin.
There is definitely a faster way. But only with your unit could you use it. That unique weighting is what opens up the path for you. And so, you must find it.
But the question is… will you?
Another attempt. Two minutes, thirty seconds. Another run with a minor tweak. Two minutes, twenty seven seconds. Another run. Two minutes, thirty three seconds.
Where is it?!
What was she doing wrong? Why couldn't she find it? Why wasn't anything making sense? Was he lying? But lying didn't seem like something he'd do, or at least, not about this sort of thing.
Where could it be?!
Was it the first curve? Was it the acceleration? Was she not going fast enough into the turn? Was it her reaction time? But he said it had been a path, so that meant it wasn't something she was doing, it was something she wasn't doing that she hadn't yet done.
After the twentieth try, she began to question why she was even doing this.
Why was she listening to that voice that told her she had to find that path? Why did she continue to force herself despite the fact it hurt her at every turn? And why did she keep throwing herself at the problem?
"I don't… want to do this…" she said as she fell onto her knees, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Her hands, clad in the iron armor of the Uchigane Kai, clenched into fists as she took a breath and stood up. "But I have to…"
Have to? Weiss thought, his interests piqued.
"…I can't let them down. I… I have to be better. I'll find it."
With her determination now steeling her resolve, she kept flying.
"You'll break like that." Weiss muttered as he continued to watch her on the cameras.
Another thirty minutes passed. No progress. Her once fueled determination buckled as she finished another run, not coming close to a substantial leap in time.
"I can't do it…"
"You mean you can't do it alone." Weiss said, his voice suddenly crackling over her radio.
"K-Kazuma-s-san?!"
"It's interesting, you know, how you thought that just because I said something, it must be true."
"That's not it!"
"Then please explain to me why you have been throwing yourself at this course for the last hour or so." Weiss replied nonchalantly, his words cutting through to her very core.
"…it was because you said it…"
Weiss easily read the pause. "Go on."
"…and I thought that if you said that, it would be true."
"So if our teacher had said there was a faster way, you might believe her?"
"Yes."
"If Yosuka-san who sits in seat number nine had said that, would you have believed her? Renolds-san, in seat twenty one?"
Silence.
"I'm taking that as a yes. Nomida-san, name one person in our class you wouldn't have believed."
More silence.
"Do you believe yourself that there is a better path?"
The silence hung in the air for ten seconds.
"…es."
"Couldn't hear you."
"Yes." The whispered reply came.
"I don't believe you."
"Yes!"
"Is there a better path?"
"There is a better path!"
"Good. Find it, if you believe it. If you come to believe that there is no better path, there is no shame in leaving."
With that, Weiss' communication cut off again. She looked up to where he would be sitting and stared for a while, wondering what moved him to do this. But… there had to be a path forward.
Something in her felt freer. Stronger. Better. Her head had a strange clarity to it.
Ten minutes went by as she continue to try to find it.
This curve… I knew the weight was off, but my group was sure it was fine, so I flew with it. Kazuma-san definitely knew that too and told me how to do this curve. It's the one thing I haven't changed.
As she was about to hit the curve, she flew towards the inside of the rings before turning her acceleration up to the max, turning to the right, as if she was drifting in the inside lane. As if she was on a sling of sorts, she overturned in order to pass through with as much speed as she could, but still pushed herself through all of the rings by compensating for almost exiting the arc.
The rest of the course was nothing. When she finished…
Two minutes, seven seconds.
"I did it." She whispered to herself. And with that admission, the rings faded from her display. "…Are you still watching…?"
Nothing came over on the radio.
"Then, even if you're not listening… thank you."
Perhaps I should thank you to you. You've confirmed something for me. Weiss thought to himself as he logged out of the system. That you're already strong. All you need is to learn you believe in yourself.
Hmph. Even though I'm trying to keep my distance… there's just things I can't ignore. Goddammit, I really a soft-hearted bastard at heart…
But honestly, if you insist on keeping with the IS, your mentality has to change. Someone like you would turn to dust on the battlefield before you could even lift a finger. Unless they did something, that one thing that you would never surrender on, in which case you would become Death itself.
…let's hope it doesn't have to come to that. I will make sure of it myself. You came to me to get stronger, didn't you? While I can't do that, I can help you to know yourself. Knowing the enemy is the Operator's job. Knowing yourself is yours. Once you do that, you can find victory.
Armored Hearts
"Long day?" Mei asks as I walk over to her in the cafeteria.
"Buzz off." I mutter, putting down my plate filled with fries and a burger and a small bottle of soda on the table.
"Yeeesh, not even a salad? You really must be tired. What were you up to?"
"Just setting my screens up on those terminals. They save settings for Operators, so I was making sure I had an optimal screen setup."
"Uhhuh. I bet you were just busy seducing Nomida-san. All alone in the arena. Or maybe you were both sprawled on top of the keyboards. How naughty."
"That wasn't it." I say, elbowing her hard.
"Ow! Geez… you know when you react like that, it just makes me more suspicious."
"…Whatever. Either way, I'll have to meet with Reinhardt later to talk about scheduling, seeing as I now have to juggle school, you, and her, all at the same time." I say before munching on the seasoned fries. "So much to do, really."
"Heh. Well, don't put it all on yourself, then. I'll help out too." Mei replies, leaning up on me and encasing my left arm with her right arm.
"I can see you trying to take my fries, but I appreciate the sentiment."
Mei, with zero shame, takes two of my fries and eats them. "You're very welcome. Now, I'll help polish those off for you."
"Dammit, Cayden."
"You weren't going to finish them anyways. You just got sloppy because you were tired." She teases, shamelessly eating my fries. "Say, the weekend is coming up soon. Do you want to go shopping for some ingredients so we can cook on our own?"
"I wouldn't mind. After Saturday classes?"
"Mhm."
"If nothing comes up, then very well."
After that, the two of us head back to our room, where the two of us hit the books. It's fairly quiet save for the occasional question and the constant scratching of pencil on paper.
…this is a little nice. Reminds me of filling out paperwork, but less tedious. So this is what being a student is really like, hm…
Kchkchkch!
My head snaps up from the textbook I was reading at the sound of the door being knocked on. I glance at Mei, who nods and gets up, retreating over to behind the corner where she'll be out of sight, and I stand up and go over to the door. Lisarene…? What's in that messenger bag she's got…?
I carefully open the door, with the punk-ish girl in question grinning as she holds up a flash drive.
"Got 'em."
"Hm?"
"The video footage of Orimura and Alcott's fight. Wanna watch it?"
"Come in." I say, fully opening the door and gesturing for her to step in, and I can hear Mei move away from the corner ever so slightly. She marches in before I close the door behind her. "Let me get my computer booted up."
"No need, I have my laptop. I just have a copy for you." She replies, putting the drive on my desk before plopping herself down on my bed and pulling her laptop out of her bag. Her slender fingers run across the keys, probably typing a stupidly long password, before she pats my bed. "Sit."
I decide to ignore Mei's snickering while she seats herself back at her desk as I walk over to my bed, putting myself down next to Lisarene.
"Alright, I'll go over the important parts. First, let's go through Alcott's unit. Named Blue Tears, anti-mass-infantry and support unit. Made for taking on multiple hostiles at once." She then presses the 'skip to next scene' button (I'm guessing she configured that herself), pulling up a still frame of Alcott holding a massive rifle. "Main armament is a high energy laser sniper rifle. Can't determine its firing rate exactly, but looks like she can pop a shot roughly once every two-three-ish seconds. Nasty with every hit."
"Hm."
She presses the skip button again. This time the still frame has four small blue rectangular objects floating near Alcott. "Drone units, from what I could tell. The phone's camera is shit. Take my word for it, but every time she uses them, she stops moving."
"Must be diverting power to controlling all four units."
"Heh, that's what I thought. Its power output doesn't match an AC at all. Now, the final armament is two rocket launchers around her skirt armor. Fairly decent amount of power, but very weak tracking." She skips ahead and presses 'play', showing footage of the launched rockets tracking Orimura's flying. "His arc was too wide, so they still managed to track him. Had he maintained a sharper curve, it's likely he would've thrown them off."
"I see."
"Decent speed all around. Her unit is fairly light. Shields are rather high for a lightweight unit, though. Probably to deal with the lack of movement when using those laser drones. Orimura's unit is simpler. Just a sword, but there's a catch."
Another skip scene. This time, Orimura's sword looks different. It's as if it's been split in half, with a blue laser blade coming out from the handle. That is…
"From what I heard, it's similar to his older sister's energy blade. A very high energy blade that can pierce an IS' shields if not enough power is brought to them, effectively forcing a mass shield drain."
"Powerful in the right hands. In the wrong hands it becomes suicidal to use."
"The same could be said for blades in an AC, eh?" she asks, closing her laptop and putting it back in her bag.
I give a small snort. "Find anything else?"
She talks while putting her bag around her shoulder. "I'll have to look into the other classes to find out."
"Where the hell did you get this though, and how much do I owe you?"
"Nothing if you give me one of your shirts."
"What."
She shrugs. "I promised the girl who I got the phone footage from one of your shirts."
"Dammit, don't go making deals about my crap like that—" I mutter, opening my drawer.
"—Ah, used, preferably."
I give her a "you have got to be kidding me" look, with Lisarene giving another nonchalant shrug. With a sigh, I go over to my hamper where I stored used clothes, pull out the shirt I had run in this morning, and toss it to her. She nods in a sagelike manner.
"This will do."
"It better damn well do." I grumble, walking over to see her out. "…thanks for the footage though."
"I'll hand you a report or something tomorrow."
"You're awfully forward about this."
"Hey, I want those dessert coupons. As much as I'd love to drown myself in the soft, creamy, vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and all sorts of exquisite things that make that thousand dollar sundae in New York seem like crap, it's expensive as hell."
"It can't cost a thousand dollars though, right?"
"Well, if you're a student, it might as well cost that damn much. Anyways, gotta deliver this as part of the exchange and then go buzz off to sleep. It's been a long day. You better win those coupons, you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah." I mutter, closing the door behind her. "…isn't Reinhardt piloting? Why the hell does it fall on me to get those coupons?"
"Because you'll guide her to victory, obviously, Mister 'An Operator and Pilot Work Hand in Hand'. You just happen to be a little more in the spotlight due to the fact everyone's been looking up to you. Save for a few of them, but that's really to be expected." Mei answers from her desk.
"Tch. So much for just blending in."
"Is it really so bad?"
"No, but… it's just a little unexpected."
"Then… Kazuma Weiss!"
At the usage of my full name, I snap up to attention.
"As your former pilot, I order you to bring our class to victory!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"And then you'll hand all your share of the dessert coupons to me!"
"Hell no!"
Mei begins giggling as I loosen myself. "There. Now it's expected as you've been given orders, right?"
"Hah. Well, I suppose so. Very well, upon my received orders, I , Kazuma Weiss, will guide our class to victory."
Well, what sort of things have I gotten wrapped up into this time…
WEW
Okay, done!
I hoped that some more characterizations got mapped out in this one. I also wanted to start setting up some of the character subplots. Taigei/Nomida's quest to get "stronger" and her dynamic with Weiss, who she sees as strong, along with Mei. Mei and Weiss' dynamic of accustoming to normal life is something I'd like to stretch out, though. And with Reinhardt, her story in growing to the leadership position which ties into the military legacy she has.
Meghan and Lisarene's plotlines are ones I'd like to save for later, so I plan to introduce the plot threads for their lines later. Anyways, let's go over the scenes.
Mei and Weiss dueling was just me highlighting what Near Manual Mode looked like, plus Weiss being able to use the rifle again. It also gave me a nice transition into Reinhardt and Nomida watching him. I tried to include narration that indicated that their reasons for watching him aren't romantic, but because of something else that pulls them towards him.
I also started the AC-IS bridge with Dunoa in this chapter, mainly because it'll let me play around a little more. And bring back that corporation feel from AC4 XD
Got to have a few moments with Reinhardt where she and Weiss get to chat a bit over military stuff plus reveal some life details, nothing much.
The main meat of this chapter came from the practical scene though, which took me a while to get "right" when I actually was able to write. Nomida suffers from a lack of self confidence and really relies on someone she thinks knows the truth to push her along, or so was revealed at the time with Weiss pressuring her about "if 'x' said it, would you believe it?" Weiss ends up pushing her into affirming to herself that "a better path does exist". It also reveals a problem with Nomida that she keeps pushing herself for as of yet unknown reason, even past the point of breaking herself. Which is why Weiss slightly complains about her mentality, but says he's going to change it.
Lisarene showing up with the Blue Tears footage was also another characterizing point. So far I think I've had some success at keeping her a little mysterious and keeping her things 'behind the scenes', which makes her a little suspicious if you ask me. But it's what I want to aim for, hehe.
Anyways, sorry this took so long to get up. College slaughtered me, like, damn, can't believe I still have As. Blegh.
Let me know what you think! I might have some more time in the summer (HAHAHAHA I SAID THAT LAST SUMMER TOO HUH), but I don't know. I'm actually working this summer too, so haha, oh well. We'll see how it goes (betcha I said that later year too).
But damn, I'd at least like to update this more than ONCE EVERY THREE MONTHS. Oh well. Seeya guys next chapter. Whenever that is, hahahaha…
