Disclaimer: I own neither Infinite Stratos nor Armored Core. Can I stop doing these now?

Chapter 10

Armor vs. Shields

With the final class of the day done and over with I finally get the chance to get those extra 3 hours of sleep I was missing. And naturally my sleep gets interrupted. I really should've known better than to just assume that I could actually finish my sleep, lady luck seems to hate my guts for some reason. Regardless, I was woken by the sound of someone slamming open the door and loudly shouting something I couldn't quite make out.

"No." Madoka, whom had apparently been reading a catalog of AC parts, said firmly. That… was really Chifuyu like. Apparently I wasn't alone in thinking that as I could see Rin, whom had quite obviously been the one to smash open the door, noticeably flinch back even though my eyes were still rather blurry.

"What is it?" She flinched again. It honestly took me a second to realize how annoyed I must've sounded.

"I just said that I want to switch rooms with her," Rin points at Madoka. Now that I think of it I don't think I've actually introduced those two yet.

"And I said no." and Nee-san goes back to her catalog. Huh, perhaps I should get one of those at some point, might be helpful.

"But you must dislike sharing a room with a guy right? I'm not bothered by it since he's my childhood friend so I'm saying that we should switch rooms." …Rin, you should really stop basing your arguments on assumptions and use fact instead...

Madoka doesn't even bother looking up from her book, "I don't have a problem sharing a room with Ichika-nii, therefore you're problem is invalid."

"Ichika-nii?" Oh great, not this again…

"Of course. He's my long lost twin brother whom our mother separated me from." Madoka drawled with another flip of the page. Well, she clearly doesn't care about this situation at all.

Rin for her part just stared for a moment, opened her mouth to say something, failed to say anything, and repeated the process several times. Eventually she just shook her head and shouted, "Bullshit!"

…Just like Houki. No one is just going to accept it when she is the one that says it are they?

"It's true apparently." Now her attention is focused on me, Madoka on the other hand is still completely disinterested, "I asked Chifuyu-nee about it and she confirmed it. Then again, she was drunk when she explained it…"

"Huh? So that's why Chifuyu looked like she was hung-over today…" Madoka commented between pages.

Rin just sighs and decides to drop the subject, "Hey Ichika,"

"Hm?"

Odd, I don't recall ever seeing her play with her twintails like that since elementary school, "Do you still remember that promise you made?" Promise…? Why does she suddenly look so embarrassed? I'm not imagining that am I?

"Promise…" now that I think of it I do recall a promise from all the way back in elementary school, she'd even been using the exact same body language then as she was now, "You mean the one where if your cooking skills improved you'd cook sweet and sour meat-"

"Yup, that's the one!"

"-For me to eat right?"

It's been years since we made that promise, I'd honestly forgotten about it. Good thing she had started playing with her hair like that, I'd never have remembered otherwise!

"…What?"

"That was the promise right? That if you'd treat me to sweet and sour meat when you learned how to cook? Man, I'd almost forgotten about tha-"

'Master you're-'

SLAP!

'-an idiot.'

Eh? Why did I get slapped? And why was Direwolf calling me an idio- actually that's pretty normal for him, he says it even more than most anime Tsunderes. I blink and my gaze turns to Madoka who had stopped looking at her catalog and was… snickering. Slowly I look back at Rin and find her literally trembling with rage and looking like she was about to cry. Well that's not good at all.

I didn't even manage to say anything before Rin inevitably began shouting, "YOU'RE THE WORST! YOU CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER THE PROMISE YOU MADE TO A GIRL! GET BITTEN BY A DOG AND DIE!"

Almost faster than my eyes could track she grabs the Boston bag that I hadn't even noticed from the floor and charged out of the door like a rampaging bull…

"…What just happened?"

My only response was from Madoka-nee who just laughed harder. That's… just rude.

Great, now Rin's angry at me and I don't even know why… I'd say something else but even I know tempting fate is a terrible idea!

Apparently merely thinking of it was enough as only now did I realize one very important detail that I had been missing… today was Thursday.

Amazing how quickly a day goes when you know you're going to have to do something you really would rather not later on that same day. I was almost tempted to just skip out and let Rin win by default, I mean I didn't even want the position in the first place… But of course Chifuyu-nee would never let me do that and I know it. Somehow I get the feeling that it would only make the situation with Rin even worse, despite how odd that seems to me. Perhaps I just sense that Rin really doesn't care at this point and just wants to beat me into the dirt to get back at me for… I don't even know.

I hadn't actually talked with Rin all day, despite the fact that she sat directly behind me, only felt that single hard stare on the back of my skull the entire time. Rin can be scary when she wishes to be… Actually the first time I really looked at her all day would be now, and at the moment it's not exactly a pretty sight…

Clad in her IS Rin stood, or rather floated, before me like a vengeful ghost. A glare leveled at me as he floating shoulder pieces, or are they cannons, aimed directly for me. Shenlong, the most recent 3rd generation prototype IS developed and owned by China. It's a pretty intimidating sight, even without that glare Rin was giving me amplifying it and I just know that it has some sort of weapon hidden within, after all I haven't really seen anything that would classify it as a close combat AC…

"Both of you," Chifuyu-nee said through Direwolf's speakers, "Get into position."

And so we did, or at least as well as we could. Direwolf couldn't fly and the instructed position was in mid air so I merely stood directly below it. Rin was having her own problems, namely that she's overshot her position and ended up smacking her head on the arena's shield. Normally you'd run no risk of actually touching the arena's upper shield but in this case the shield roof had been lowered. I was told that the arena itself was built like such because it was supposed to force ground based close quarters combat and for an IS I suppose that would be true. For someone usually bound to the ground and unable to even reach the height of the shield roof this wasn't a hindrance in the slightest.

What was a hindrance was the lack of cover. The arena was entirely bare and the ground was flat with the exception of a small bump that had once been a crater or two, probably from weapons fire. Of course those were no help for me. It seems as if this arena was chosen to put both of us at a disadvantage, my lack of cover made evasion difficult and the lowered ceiling made Rin pay very close attention to her altitude lest she end up colliding with the roof once again.

"Ichika," Rin's voice came, "If you apologize now I'll make this less painful for you!"

"The pain would be nothing. I don't wish for my opponent to take it easy on me, it would make me look back when I win." The childish part of me couldn't help but to grin when I saw her eye twitch at my bravado, "We're both already at a disadvantage so come on," I raised my shield arm and made the typical kung fu movie taunt, "Show me what you got."

This battle would mean nothing if neither of us took this seriously. It's quite clear that Chifuyu picked this arena to provoke a melee confrontation and I refuse to lose in a direct melee confrontation to anyone except Nee-sama herself!

"How can you say that? The ACs don't even have shields, every hit will directly hit you!" She's underestimating Direwolf now is she?

"I have armor." Direwolf's mechanical deadpan broke into our conversation, "It would take nothing short of a bunker buster to directly impact my Pilot."

Whoa, wait a second. Did Direwolf just talk to Rin? I think this is the first time he has actually said anything to someone beside myself.

"Rather would you not be in greater danger?" Direwolf queried, "An IS's shields can only take so much before they're overwhelmed, even in a single hit. Is that not the case with the Yukihira master idolizes so much? A laser blade with such an output that it could directly pierce an IS's barrier with a mere graze..."

Rin's eyes narrow as he speaks but doesn't get the chance to say anything as Chifuyu-nee's voice once again cut the air, "Now, both of you, begin!" and a buzzer sounded.

Neither of us hesitated.

CLANG

Something pings off my shield, doing virtually no damage, a shot from those cannons of hers? With a mere thought my boosters up their power output and I'm flung forward three times as fast as before, my Dragonslayer activating on the way. At the sight of the laser blade I could barely see Rin flinch, clearly not having known I actually had one of them, let alone two…

But I never connect. With a single move she'd leapt straight over my attack and set me up for one of her own. I will a single booster to increase it's output dramatically and flip myself around before she could strike. Briefly she looked surprised at my rapid recovery but it didn't stop her assault. That massive sword, not quite a scimitar but very similar, had appeared from nowhere, and I had only barely managed to block it's deadly decent with my shield. The sheet force and the crushing weight of that sword… it was almost enough to make me stumble over especially from such an already uneven position.

I lunge forward using the combined force of my weight and Direwolf's boosters to push her sword back an-

"Naïve!" Those shoulder guards of hers slid open and a second later something hit my own shoulder pieces, blunting my momentum for a moment,

"Wha-"

A moment. Direwolf's boosters compensate immediately and before you could say, 'this will definitely hurt,' I ended up body checking her with my entire weight. Before she could properly recover I ignite one of my dragonslayers and slash at her, no doubt dealing immense damage to her shields.

Thus we ended up 5 meters apart again, this time one of us decidedly less arrogant.

Slowly I chance a glance at me shield, I'd noticed my AP dropping steadily throughout that entire encounter and towards the end there I could've sworn my AP started dropping faster… It appears that my charge managed to give her sword enough power to cleave my shield in half and while the arm below it was perfectly fine, if a little scratched, the shield itself was nothing more than dead weight…

"Shall I purge it, master?"

"Yes," and the useless hunk of metal that had once been a venerable shield fell to the ground in two.

Slowly I let my eyes trail over to my AP count and do a quick count to check my AP total… I've only lost 4000AP? Throughout that entire sequence of events I only lost 4000AP?

"Master, her projectile attacks are nothing to worry about," I quirk an eyebrow at Direwolf's words. Perhaps realizing what I was thinking he continues without prompt, "Those weapons, Dragon's Roars or Impact Cannons if this information is correct, fire compressed air in a railgun like fashion. While an incredibly advanced weapon capable of cutting a man in half with a single solid hit it has virtually no armor penetration capabilities making it little more than a distraction to an armored target such as myself." What…? There is no way I'm that lucky, "It seems like the impact cannons were made with nothing more than IS on IS combat in mind and while they fulfill that role better than you'd expect they have no purpose against all but the lightest of armored vehicles."

I suppose it makes sense, until now the only thing IS had to really fear was other IS and the concept of armor penetration simply wasn't needed. After all, the armor of an IS was paper thin, little more than decorat-

"Master, dodge."

I do so mindlessly, quickboosting to the side just in time to avoid taking one of Rin's huge swords to gut, where I incidentally happened to be located. Apparently I'd been conversing with Direwolf so long Rin had gotten bored and attacked. I really have got to stop spacing out like that…

PING

My left shoulder is jerked back as something invisible hits it for a mere 180 or so AP of damage. A distraction indeed. Even if it did very little damage the sheer force of the projectile knocked my shoulder out of the way enough to throw me off balance… I roll with it however, activating the frontal booster of the hit shoulder and twirling myself away before she could hit me again. Incidentally this brought me closer to her, in fact close enough that if I swung properly I could probably hit her with a dragonslayer… But I didn't. She wasn't the only one with weapons hidden in their shoulders after all.

"What!" Rin shouted in surprise as a pair of flash rockets collided with her shields. That was bright even though Direwolf automatically filters the flash before transmitting it to myself, I didn't dare even consider what it was like for Rin. I lash out with a dragonslayer only for it to connect with one of Rin's swords. Should've guessed she'd stand and fight blindly instead of retreat. I step back before her second sword could be brought into the fray and perhaps even hit me.

Then she shoulder-checks me with all the force something that defies the laws of physics possibly could. Completely unsuspecting of such a tactic I take the ram head on and end up laid out on the ground several meters away from her… That was a really hard hit, my AP had dropped by almost 10,000 with that single attack...

As I climbed back to my feet I couldn't help but to notice that Rin was still flailing about wildly. Perhaps my flash rockets did more damage than I had expected, I hope she's OK… I suppose I should put an end to this now. While I am worried that perhaps my flash rockets might've actually just made her legitimately temporarily blind I also realize that the longer this goes on the more damage I'll sustain and while dishonorable I actually have to pay for repairs, unlike her…

Remind me to apologize to Rin when I next see her, I can only imagine she's going to be extremely angry with me after… that. Regardless I won and will have to deal with a duel with Dan tomorrow as well. This is getting troublesome. Why couldn't Shinji have punched me out back in the battle royale? Then he'd be the one dealing with this crap instead of me.

As I drag myself back into my dorm after a 'quick' medical checkup I find Madoka nowhere to be seen and with a shrug waste no time moving to lie down. Of course it was futile, something was going to interrupt me anyway, there was never any doubt of that. For once though it wasn't something as 'absurd' as someone busting down the door or something but rather a chirpish sound in my left ear. Odd, sounds vaguely like a cellphon-

'Master, someone is calling you.'

Oh right. Direwolf has a built in cellphone. How did I ever forget? Wonder who could be calling at this time, it's just about Ten in the evening already.

"Hi, hi, are you high?" Question answered. The one person whom has absolutely no regard for societal norms whatsoever, Shinonono Tabane.

"Yes." I deadpan humorlessly. Why is she even calling me anyway?

Tabane actually chuckled, "Funny, Ik-kun." That nickname... "I've been meaning to call for awhile but you wouldn't happen to be interested in testing something for me would you?" Testing…?

Slowly I shrug, these sorts of things don't normally end that badly. At least as long as Tabane is involved at least, "Why not. What do want me to do?"

"Ah, I knew you would do it! Don't worry, I'm sure this will benefit you more than me for once!" …She's even more honest than I remember her, "I just need you to field test a few things for me."

"Huh?" she does realize I can't use an IS right?

"They're AC parts, a Generator, a Laser Blade, and an energy shield." Wait what? Evidently she picked up on my surprise immediately, "Hehe, are you surprised? I was watching your battles and decided one day that I wanted to make an AC part or two so…"

'Master we've received authorization to use 3 parts developed by a…Shinonono Tabane. All 3 are unregistered.'

"So there you have it! You're the only…" she paused slightly, trying to remember the correct term. Had I not been used to talking to her I probably wouldn't have even noticed, "…Raven I know so I figured I'd give them to you. Hope they serve you well~"

'Call disconnected.'

…Well that's Tabane for you. For some reason I suspect the unstated reason why she bothered actually making those parts was rather because she was bored and wanted something new to do. Certainly sounds like something she'd d-

It just dawned on me that Tabane Shinonono of all people just joined the AC business…

Well… that can't end well.

A/N: And these goes another chapter. Let's not try to super-inflate my word count with an absurdly long author's note this time.

My attention may shift away from this story for a while, I've got a story idea for another fandom in mind that I may decide to actually write out.

Heh, the main thing the ACs have going for them at the moment is the fact that no one really knows how to explicitly deal with them. They're essentially ultra maneuverable tanks with enough weaponry to take out a careless (Shenlong) or poorly designed (The Golem Is) IS. The world treats the ACs like IS and use similar tactics and weaponry to attempt to take them out but their efforts show very little results since ACs can barely be described as even remotely similar to an IS. This is what put Rin at such a disastrous disadvantage here.

EDIT: Somehow I still somehow inflated it by just over 400 words...