Chapter IX – The Face of the Enemy:

"Adam is looking at their wounds now. I won't know how they're doing until he's done." Cecelia said, finishing her tale.

The entire bridge was silent. Some of the crew knew at least one of the Academy's former pilots and those that didn't at least knew of them.

"I want to know the moment you have confirmation on their conditions." Chifuyu ordered.

"Yes ma'am, of course." Cecelia replied.

"Now, where is Ichika, I need to speak with him?"

"He hasn't left Houki's side since we got her here. I can go-"

The line filled with static, cutting off the call.

"What happened? Get her back!" Chifuyu ordered.

"Something is overriding the signal." One of the officers said. "Another signal is being forced over it, it's flooding every channel."

The monitor that they were using to talk to Cecelia only a moment ago now showed a middle aged woman with long dirty blonde hair that ran down below what the camera could see. She wore a simple flowing red dress and had no make up on, yet still looked quite beautiful.

"Greetings everyone, I am is Abigail Winters." As she spoke text in dozens of different languages scrolled across the bottom of the screen, subtitling her speech.

"By now you have all no doubt heard stories of the terrorist attacks against both the IS Academy and the grounds where the world championships were being held. I was responsible for those attacks."

Everyone on the bridge noticeably tensed, though several of them had already suspected that this was the case.

"While the loss of life is indeed regrettable, it would have been worse to simply do nothing and allow the world to continue on the course that was laid before us. Too long had the tool for ensuring stability been used for the amusement of the wealthy, while the poor struggled to get by. Too long had the device to end all war languished in gladiatorial combat. Too long had Tabane Shininino dictated the fate of our world and hid when all we wanted were simple answers. No more! I have unlocked the secrets of IS technology and used them to overthrow Tabane's dictatorial directing of our futures."

Abigail folder her hands in front of her and rested her chin on them while the information soaked in. "I have created an army of IS pilots to take the place of those lost today. Fear not; for they are not conquerors, but peacekeepers. They are already stationed all across the world and have the pursuit of peace and justice to govern them. As of this moment, all your wars are over. You will cease all conflict with each other immediately and begin to disarm your boarders within the next twenty-four hours, or my IS pilots will do it for you."

"As for those criminals that choose to conduct smaller crimes, know that my IS units are in every country. They can see through walls, amplify sound from miles away, and kill you from twice as far. If you commit a crime, we will find you, and you will be punished."

Abigail sat back in a black leather chair and folded her hands into her lap. "From this day forth, let no human cause harm to any other human, and let no body of government conspire against another. Today and forever after, we will have pace." A warm smile crossed her face and the lighting in the room shifted slightly, making her look almost like a benevolent deity. "Until we speak again, sleep soundly everyone." Abigail nodded her head to the entire world, then the screen went dark.

"Did she just... take over the world?" Charlotte asked.

"Not as long as we're still around." Chifuyu said and turned to one of the bridge officers. "Helm, how long until we reach our destination?"

"About an hour ma'am."

"Charlotte, Laura, go fill the students in on everything." Chifuyu said "We're going to need everyone able to operate an IS in the fight to challenge our new dictator."

"Jawol mentor." Laura saluted and left the bridge followed closely by her best friend.

Aaron turned to follow but Chifuyu stopped him. "We still need to talk." she said.

Chifuyu motioned for him to follow and lead Aaron into an adjacent room with a small round table and six chairs. It looked like a very slimmed down version of the meeting room back at the Academy. She motioned for Aaron to sit and he obliged.

"Before we get started," Aaron said. "I have a question for you. How did you get the Academy evacuated so quickly. With nearly four hundred students, it couldn't have been easy to corral them all and make sure that no one was left behind.

Chifuyu sat down across from him and met his gaze. "While I did have my doubts, I wanted to believe you. I figured it was better to be safe then sorry, so I ran an evacuation drill before the ships arrived. If you were wrong, I would have played it off as a simple test, but since you were right, everyone was nearly ready to be evacuated by the time we were attacked."

Aaron smiled. "You always did plan five steps ahead Chi. Thank you, for trusting me."

"You're welcome. Now I want to know exactly what you were running around in out there."

"I told you before that I was working on a project to adapt the IS to be compatible with male pilots." Aaron began. "I also told you that I hadn't succeeded in adapting the IS."

"Actually if I remember correctly, you avoided answering directly."

"Well that's because I did succeed, at least partially. The IS core produces an insane amount of energy, I don't know how they don't blow up half a country when they are destroyed but it should be considered a miracle. Anyway, there is something in the main power draw that is not compatible with the Y chromosome."

"We worked at it for years but no matter how we altered the device or the subjects, we couldn't get the main power draw functioning. So it hit on the idea to use a work around, you see, while the main power draw that operates things like anti-gravity, and energy weapons rejects the Y chromosome, the subsystems did not. While that power pales in comparison to the full draw of an IS, it does make a unit operational."

"The problem is that mass production is currently not feasible, the power draw is immense and unless the unit is designed to very specific specs, they are inferior to even second generation IS models. Why waste one of the few cores you can get your hands on for a male pilot when you can get much more bang for your buck from a female."

"So then how did you get them to give you a core?" Chifuyu asked.

"They didn't, this one is mine. Core zero-zero-two, the one that you and Tabs thought I destroyed."

"So you stole it and have been working on it in secret this whole time."

"Hey, it doesn't classify as stealing if I helped make it. You had the first core and I kept the second, I wasn't going to walk away from all that with no way to change things."

"Well you're going to have plenty of chances to change the world now. Even if your IS is technically an inferior model, with most veteran pilots dead or missing, I'll need you on the front lines."

"In a situation like this, there's no place I'd rather be."


Shizuka shifted restlessly in her new bunk next to her sister Mei, and Ramona. "When do you think they're going to tell us who those people were?" she asked.

"We'll know when we need to know." Ramona replied.

"Whoever they were, they just showed up and blew up our home. I'd say we damn well need to know." Shizuka retorted.

"Arguing about it won't help," Mei insisted. "They'll tell us when they tell us, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Mei's right, just relax."

"Realx? Relax!" Shizuka fumed "Have you forgotten that Amy lost most of her leg, and that Leticia didn't even make it back!"

Ramona slammed he hands on the bed, the dull thud not having the deafening effect she would have wanted. "I was the one that carried Amy back here and don't you forget it!" she pointed her finger at Shizuka for emphasis. "I want answers too, but this is bigger than us. We need to trust that our teachers know what they're doing and that when they need our help they'll ask for it."

"They didn't ask for us to rescue them and they certainly needed that." Shizuka retorted.

"And look what happened, Leticia is dead and Amy's not getting out of the hosp-"

"So what, it's my fault then?!"

"Stop it both of you!" Mei pushed the pair, who were now nose to nose, away from each other. "It's no one's fault, you did what you thought was right. If you hadn't, the teachers might have all been killed."

Ramona sighed. "I didn't mean to blame you Shizuka. Mei's right, it could have been a lot worse if we didn't step in. I just think that the teachers were trying to protect us."

"We did make a difference in that fight, which means that we do actually have something to contribute. We're going to need-"

The room feel silent and the people who had taken a passive interest in their conversation turned as the hatch to the room opened. Laura walked in, followed closely by Charlotte; their expressions both foretold grim news.

All the students listened intently as Charlotte and Laura told them everything from Aaron's warning to recent proclamation by Abigail. When they finished, a hushed silence fell over the room for nearly a minute until Shizuka raised her hand.

"Yes Shizuka?" Charlotte said.

The whole room turned to regard her as she spoke. "You want us to fight right? With most of the world IS competitors dead, you'll need every IS at your disposal, and that means us."

"As much as we hate to ask, we're at war now. If we're going to stop Abigail from controlling the whole world with her IS army we are going to need you."

Ramona slowly stood up then saluted Laura. "I will stand by your side mentor."

Shizuka stood next to her best friend. "Don't think I'm letting Ramona run off with you alone. Besides, these ass whole's owe us a new island; I'm in."

The rest of the room rose to join them, all cheering for their teachers and all having no idea what they had just signed up for.


"Approaching co-accordance ma'am." One of the bridge officers reported.

"Bring up external camera one." Chifuyu ordered.

A small computer screen folded up from Chifuyu's arm rest and displayed a murky image of the waters outside the submarine.

"Lights." Chifuyu said.

The dim murk turned into a sligtly brighter murk and Chifuyu was able to make out a structure in front of them embedded into the sea floor.

Aaron peered over her shoulder at the image. It took him a few seconds to make out exactly what it was, and when he did, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "That's Tab's facility alright, she's the only one crazy enough to build a giant carrot at the bottom of the ocean."

"We're in international waters now and deeper then most other submarines can go, where else do you think a person the entire world is looking for could hide?" Chifuyu replied.

"Fair enough."

"Besides, even if someone did find it, where is the entrance?" she asked.

Aaron squinted at the image before them. The giant carrot station had no visible docking bays or hatches, it looked perfectly symmetrical. "Okay, I give up. Where?"

"Signal the other subs to hold back," Chifuyu ordered. "Helm ahead one eighth, course eleven by seventeen; any deviation and we'll be targeted by the stations automated defences."

"Aye ma'am."

As the submarine approached, a section of the giant carrot that looked solid only a moment before, opened up and allowed the submarine inside. The area beyond looked as though it had been designed exclusively for the submarine and they rose quickly to a large pressurized dome shaped room that kept the water at bay.

"Maintain this position until I return." Chifuyu ordered. She got up from the captain's chair and patted Aaron on the shoulder. "All ashore that's going ashore; assuming that you're not going to blow it up of course."

"I don't suppose we'll ever get past that will we?" Aaron asked, falling in step behind Chifuyu.

"We will not." she replied curtly.

There was nothing left to say on the matter, Aaron was surprised he had gleamed as much trust out of Chifuyu as he had. Regardless, he was eager to see Tabane again; despite all of their differences, if there was any duo he would put money on to accomplish... virtually anything it was Chi and Tabs.

As Chifuyu turned the wheel on the exit hatch Aaron noticed that they were alone. "Is no one else coming?"

The hatch unsealed with a hiss and Chifuyu pushed it open. "There is a lot of secret IS tech literally just laying around in here. Other then myself, you're the only person in the world who's seen even a fraction of it. I figured we could keep it to ourselves; for old times sake." she offered a hand down to Aaron.

He hesitated for only a brief moment before taking her hand. "Old times..." he mumbled as she pulled him up and out of the sub.


So, now you know exactly who they are up against. Finally, right? :) There were a lot of ways I thought about handling the scene after Abigail is introduced. I really wanted to get into all the character's opinions on who she was and what they though of what she was doing and her motives behind it. However, having that conversation between all of them at once on the bridge kept coming out very clunky and forced. So I thought it made sense for Chifuyu to keep them all focused on work and that would also let me get to their own thoughts on the matter in the upcoming chapters.

As for Abigail herself, I wanted a villain who was sympathetic; someone who did the wrong things for the right reasons. I hope that came across.

Last but not least, originally I was going to have Tabane in this chapter but it wound up being a bit longer then I anticipated so you'll all get to see how this situation is effecting her next time.