Author's Notes
Hey guys, here's the new chapter for Iron Stratos. I apologize for the late upload, real life had been a big issue on my side, and I have trying to fit in time for the writing.
Without further ado, let's start the chapter!
= Chapter Start =
Part 1
Ichika sighed as he leaned back in his seat, letting the slight jolts of electricity pass through his body from the special material that made up the cushioning. This was one of the perks of being inside the student council room, having his very own electric massage chair.
And indeed, he needed it after the fiasco that took place after the hijacking incident. Tateneshi returned from Russia with her suit mostly fixed, and so celebrated her return by coming to his room dressed only in a swimsuit and an apron and asking whether he would want a bath, a meal or her. And she had to do it when the girls were following him to try and get in. He spent the next couple of hours running around the campus to avoid getting cut down and shot by the girls, only to end up in the iron grip of Chifuyu, who made him clean up the classrooms after lessons the next day.
And if that was not enough, IS Academy got attacked by some unknown individuals while he went to get his unit repaired, whereby some of them nearly kidnapped Tateneshi, and the others were caught in some weird virtual reality trap that he had to dive in to rescue them. And quite frankly, he was genuinely unnerved by what he had seen when he entered their separate worlds. What type of fantasies were they having about him?! He felt like he had to take a shower every time he remembered their delusions.
Out of all of them, Houki's seemed to be the most tamed, yet he felt that it troubled him the most when he was in her mind. He was annoyed at all of them; that much was clear, yet for some odd reason, Ichika felt something else when he saw Houki training with his fake counterpart. He felt, dare he say it, jealous at how she treated him so nicely. Why did she not treat the real one that way?
It only served to give him an outstanding headache and one question: if those girls were having such thoughts, what of the rest of the academy, or heaven help him, Tateneshi?!
Yeah, he never felt so vulnerable against the type of women coming after him in his entire life.
Shuddering from the thoughts, he was thankfully interrupted from his thoughts at the sound of the news anchor from the television he set he turned on.
"It is a bright sunny day here in Central Tokyo, but the mood here cannot get any colder than ever, with the upcoming IS Conference that would take place at the Twin Towers in this afternoon." The news anchor spoke with a video showcasing important looking people entering the iconic towers of Central Tokyo. "This is going to be the biggest meeting the committee and the IS Council have ever held since the creation of IS and the appearance of Orimura Ichika as the first male pilot to have risen."
"As to the reasons for the sudden meeting, although there has been no official word about them, sources state that there have been unusual activities going on around the world that have seen the fall of many known terrorist cells, and also the sighting of unusual machines during the hijacking incident have people wondering if these were the reasons for this meeting."
Ichika sighed as he listened to the news anchor talk about the conference while absentmindedly taking out a small letter that had become a little crumpled after being stuffed in his pocket for a few times. He took a moment to read its contents before letting out a louder sigh. He already read its contents a few times before, but he was still getting a migraine from it.
Dear Orimura Ichika,
Firstly, we wish to thank you for your assistance in the rescue mission of the CEOs and representatives of the IS Council. We are truly indebted to you for having saved them from the terrorists.
Regarding your participation with the IS pilots for the mission, we would like to ask you to come to the conference to debrief us regarding the machines that have appeared during the incident. Your experience working with them will prove beneficial for the unforeseen future if they were to appear again.
We have already attached an invitation to this message, so all you have to do is to come and show this to the security and they will let you in promptly.
We do hope you can come for this conference.
Sincerely,
Alfred Daniels, Assistant to the Seventh Head of IS Council
Ichika laid the letter on the table and almost immediately raised his hand to massage the bridge of his nose.
Honestly, a part of him should have known something like this was going to happen from his interactions with the 'Raptor' and the other two machines. Based on their conversations and questions he asked Ellen on the way back home, he gathered that they have been very active for the past few weeks in dealing with certain situations. And indeed they were active while they were away; when he and the others returned to IS Academy, it was to find the staff in a huge state of panic and Chifuyu looking downright murderous. Apparently, they tried to track 'Raptor' and the other two by satellite, but they ended up getting their systems hijacked when 'Raptor' found out and so everyone was running around like headless chickens trying to salvage whatever data that could be saved.
In the end, they did not have to worry too much about the matter, for it seemed that no information was lost, though there was definitely some data downloaded to some offside server. Chifuyu wasted no time in implementing new security measures for the system to avoid another hacking incident. Still, she had so much anger from that incident that she used it as fuel to increase the intensity of her lessons, leaving him and the other fearing for their lives after the first two days. 'Raptor' became a bit of a taboo name to mention around her, as she would immediately go into the 'Instructor from Hell' mode as Laura put it with a look of fear on her face, and went on drilling every single information into their heads until they passed out.
Her temper only got worse when the messenger came to deliver both their invitations to the conference. As Charlotte and Cecilia pointed out after reading his letter, it was their way of 'politely' saying that he has no choice but to come to the conference in the first place. They also hinted that they may want to do something else apart from asking him for information regarding 'Raptor' and the other machines, but they did not elaborate on it since they were not sure themselves.
And speaking about 'Raptor'…
Using one hand to turn the television off, Ichika used the other hand to login to the desk computer and quickly search through the web before he found what he was looking for: an internet forum talking about the machines.
Spartan134: Hey guys, you heard about the machines that popped up during the hijacking?
Radgaghest5: Yeah, and apparently they have been appearing all over the world taking down cartels and terrorists. That's so cool!
Saruman5: Come on, you guys seriously believe in this BS?! This is probably some publicity stunt made by the people of the IS Council or something.
Blackops: Guys, guess what I got? 'Picture Attachment'
Saruman5: The hell is that?!
Blackops: Another one of those machines that appeared in Moscow, it just came back from taking on the weapons smuggling group that people took months to find out, and it completely wiped them out!
Saruman5: OMFG! They are real?
Spartan134: You know it, son!
Ichika shook his head slightly as he watched the feed update at a rate that would probably put the servers on heavy traffic. Due to the unsuccessful attempt to withhold the footage of the hijacking incident, all of the internet forums have been buzzing with images and rumours of those machines that came from nowhere. And the weirdest part was how the whole matter escalated to such a degree. If he did not know any better, he felt that someone was purposely feeding the masses information in order to keep a look out for those machines.
To say the least, those machines have been hard at work for the past few days. They had taken down insurgents in Pakistan, an entire aerial combat team in Egypt, a manufacturing plant in Moscow and a drug cartel in the Netherlands. They have taunted attempts to blow up countries, stopped an attempt in kidnapping the French President's daughter, stopped a potential fallout between two countries, and even took on some people trying to steal IS Cores in the US.
Evidently, there's a pattern to their targets. Each target seemed to have some connection to some of the world's most wanted terrorist groups, engaging in some illegal trade of drugs or smuggling, otherwise related to some conflict that was in the region.
But why do all of this? It's not like doing this will stop the crimes totally, and from what he had gathered from Ellen and Chifuyu, their actions were not totally accepted with good will.
As it stood, the world got split into three parties of sorts: the first group comprising of the people, mostly from the general population, who praised the work of these machines, claiming that they were actively doing a better job of protecting the peace that the governments promised to do but neglected, not to mention helping those in urgent need when no one was around.
The second group comprised of those on the opposite spectrum of the ideal, with mostly the politicians or officers slamming the actions of the machines as vigilantism, and claiming that their actions were only inviting more chaos. They even took footage of some of their activities and tried to portray them as proof that the machines were to be destroyed at all costs.
The last group was the neutral party, who were taking a back seat to see how the situation would play out in the future. These consisted of those from various government sectors relating to the UN or the IS Foundation whom were involved with some of the incidents and were seeing the effects the machines had created from their actions before making their choices.
On his part, he was at least supportive of their actions, but he did have doubts about their methods of using force to handle certain situations. Even if their intentions were good, their methods were somewhat disturbing, if the reports from the representatives were of any indication. In a way, it does show that even with the programming that grant them sentience and human-like personalities, they were still machines that would use deadly force to subdue their targets. Ichika still remembered the chilling manner JetStream treated the terrorists with near-ignorance to their lives, preferring to let them die if not seriously injured.
Ichika sighed as he cupped his face in his hands. Times like this really hurt his brain, he could not understand the intentions of their creator. Why do all of this in the first place?
For a moment, he stayed in that position, then he laid back on his chair and said out a question loudly.
"Can I help you with something, Tateneshi Senpai?"
"Oh my, how did you know it's me?" A playful voice replied back cheerfully. Ichika sighed as he turned his chair slowly to see the smiling blue-haired president lightly fanning herself with her favourite paper fan while sitting on the window sill. "This is the type of situation that would be ideal for you to come right behind and scare the heck out of me."
"Hu-hu, you understand Onee-san so well, I am happy!" She flicked the fan open to show the word "Impressive" at him. "But it does make Onee-san sad that I can't use the trick again. I will need to bring up my game if I were to catch you off guard next time."
"Please don't." Ichika nearly begged in despair at the thought of her using more new tricks to scare him. The last thing he needed was for her to come up to him in another bikini apron costume and get him from behind, or something worse, like her appearing in a string bikini, or naked!
Wait, naked? Ichika quickly suppressed the dangerously tempting thought quickly before it took shape. Last thing he needed was to have that thought in front of Tateneshi.
"You are thinking something naughty, aren't you?" Tateneshi gave a teasing smile that was borderline scary at the same time.
"No, I am not!" Ichika quickly shook his head to deny her words and to get that thought out of head. He really did not want to push his luck in this situation!
"Okay then." She promptly got off the sill and made her way to the desk to view the monitor, much to his relief. "Oh, it seems they are at it again."
"Yeah, sure looks that way." Ichika touched a button to show the other forums having the same activity about the machines. "I don't suppose your family or the Russian government had heard about them?"
"Nope, the people from my end haven't heard about it at all." Tateneshi shook her head as she scrolled through the forum. "As for my private network, there is not enough information about them. Do the others have any answers to them?"
"Nope, they turned up empty as well." Ichika thought back to the discussions he had with the girls a few days back. Each one tried their own connections from their governments or other friends to get as much information on them as possible, but most of what they have gotten was what they already knew, or major speculation. Perhaps the biggest nail in the coffin was Houki's conversation with Tabane; based on her expressions during that brief conversation, Tabane had no relation to the machines whatsoever. Together with the statements by the representatives, it would seem that the creator was someone else totally.
"Hmm, so unusual." Tateneshi lightly tapped the fan on her chin as she watched a small video clip of a black unit flying off from a smouldering wreckage. "I still don't get the reasons for these attacks."
'You and everyone else.' Ichika thought as he recalled the conversations with Ellen regarding about all the different situations the machines have taken part in.
"Hmmm…" Tateneshi grabbed the nearby chair and sat herself next to him. "I don't suppose the locations these machines have been appearing at have any other reasons by chance?"
"What do you mean?" Ichika turned to her with a puzzled look.
"Well, on the surface, those are the major hotspots for criminal activities, but what about other obscure locations?" Tateneshi started to count with her fingers as she recalled the information in her head. "Take the incident in Norway for one; that was a military base that supposedly was not around to begin with. Now when the authorities went to check on it, they found IS frames and enough military weaponry to start a mini-war of their own. Naturally, many believe that the Leftist Party were trying to gather military strength to overthrow the government, but that seemed a little much even for them."
"The second incident that comes to mind is the manufacturing plant of Russia. Why attack a factory that deals with IS parts? Even if there was evidence that the people were involved with illegal parts selling, there shouldn't be the only reason for them to just destroy it."
"You think there may be other reasons for their destruction?" Ichika asked as he connected the dots in his head.
"Exactly, which was why I asked the people on my end to check those areas and the others to see if there were anything that could be salvaged from the wreckages. One thing did turn up." Tateneshi paused for a moment before continuing. "For both those places I mentioned, there was evidence that 'Phantom Task' was involved."
"What?!" Ichika said a little too loudly as he sat up upright.
"You heard me right." Tateneshi took an USB drive from her pocket and insert into the monitor slot. "It was a little hard, but they managed to find something: equipment that were not registered with any of the known corporations out there, or even the governments or cartels. Upon closer examination, they were able to find the remains of the wrecked IS Frame and found that their designs were similar to the ones that were being developed before they were stolen."
Ichika frowned as he leaned back on his chair to ponder the information. In an odd sense, he was not too surprised about the two locations being connected to the shadowy group. If anything, he was wondering when they were going to show up again after their last tussle.
"Did they find anything else?" Ichika asked Tateneshi, whose only reply was her shaking her head. "Unfortunately, they could not get anything solid on them." She replied while sifting through the information on her device. "It seems like whatever information that could be found were purely circumstantial, the majority seemed to have wiped out either by the group or were destroyed in the destruction of the base."
"Still, this does give us an idea as to why the machines targeted those two. If Phantom Task has dealings in both that military base and the manufacturing plant, it would stand to reason that the owner of those units must have discovered their intent, and tried to eliminate them."
Ichika could only sigh at her reply. He was kind of hoping for more information, but only got more questions in return. How was Phantom Task connected to those two locations, and how did the "Master" find out about them if entire governments and IS Academy did not with their technology?
It must have shown on his face, as Tateneshi closed her fan and placed her hand under his chin, lightly lifting it so that they can see each other in the eye. "Now don't you go being in the dumps, Ichika. Onee-san does not like to see her kouhoi so sad." She said with a twinkle in her eyes.
'If only it were that easy.' Ichika shook his head while sighing. "Sorry about that, but it is getting a little tiring that Phantom Task has its hands in places where we won't know, and that they are going around stealing IS cores, mine included, and if what people said is true, they have infiltrated IS Corporations to steal their secrets. What's more, all of these backdoor politics are getting somewhat annoying, and with this 'Master' going around with his machines, how do we know if that person has good intentions?"
"Now that may be the case, but you should not put all this weight on you." Tateneshi wagged her index finger at him. "You already have a lot on your plate as it is. Do not worry yourself about Phantom Task or this 'Master' and the machines associated with that person."
"But I am a man, I have to protect those around me!" Ichika protested, but Tatenshi responded by placing a finger on his lips.
"Maybe so, but you still don't have to hang on to all of it." Tateneshi placed her hand on his cheek and gave a soft expression. "You can let us help you along the way. Besides I still owe you from that time you saved me."
Ichika could only look at her before quietly nodding. It was only a few seconds later that Ichika realised the situation they were in: alone with a beautiful senior, with the mood seemingly nice between the two. It would seem that Tateneshi may also be slightly aware, if the deepening blush on her face and her expression were any indication.
"Since we are alone, do you think you can call me by my real name for once?" Tateneshi asked softly while running a finger along Ichika's cheek. Ichika gulped a little loudly as he stared nervously at her face.
'What's going on? Why is she looking more beautiful today for some reason?' Ichika thought as he looked at her somewhat softened expression. 'Why do I feel so drawn to her all of a sudden?'
"Please say my name…" Tateneshi said as she drew closer to him. Almost automatically, he too drew closer to her, feeling her breath on his face and seeing that deep blush on her face.
"Katan…"
"~Here we are~!" A loud voice echoed just as the door opened loudly, to reveal the presence of Nohotoke Honne, followed shortly by Kyouko and Fee who were yawning rather loudly.
"Man, all that training was a killer! Orimura Sensei is seriously pissed today!" Fee stretched her arms as she complained.
"No kidding, I'm so tired…" Kyouko started talking only to trail off as she took in the scene that was in front of her and gawked hilariously. The other two were also stunned to silence as they tried to register the scene, while Ichika and Tateneshi looked at them with her hand still on his face and being very close to each other. For a while, they were silent, then all hell broke loose for Ichika.
"EHH~ President is trying to get ahead of us!" Honne waved her arms theatrically as she said that loudly.
"NO! I wanted to get the special moment!" Fee cupped her hands to her face as she reacted dramatically to the situation.
"Wait, we can still get it! No, I will get it!" Kyouko said that before diving at Ichika, who paled and pushed himself away from Tateneshi in time to avoid her tackle.
"No, me!"
"I will be the one!"
"Wait a second here!" Ichika yelled as he dived for cover from the girls who had a scary predatory look in their eyes. It did not help that Tateneshi was standing just outside the door frame, using the fan to no doubt hide the teasing smile on her face as she watched the chaos.
'Damn it, don't just leave me like this. The guy who creates these units, please save me!'
"AHCHOO!"
[Caught a cold, Master?]
"Sniff! I guess so, I was working in the cooling room a little longer than usual to recalibrate the system. Sniff~ Man this sucks."
[I shall prepare the cold medicine Master. Also it would seem that the information we have gathered on Kuromochi Research Center proved to be correct after all.]
"Hmm, I know it is a good thing I have prepared for such a scenario, but it is times like this, when those people do execute the plans and everything does happen the way it does, I wish I was just being paranoid."
[Nothing can be done about it. At the very least, we should try to reduce the aftereffects that would follow.]
"I suppose you are right. Okay then, take whatever information we have and start running simulations. I would need the data to try and think of some countermeasures, in case they are able to recreate the Fold-Out Armour. What is the status of the equipment fabrication?"
[The Anti-Fold-Out equipment is undergoing the final phase of fabrication, and once we have completed the simulations on its features and battle scenarios, we should be able to have it operational by the end of the week latest.]
"That's good, then we can…"
[However, there is one point of concern I wish to bring up Master.]
"Oh, what would that be?"
[If you recall, the version that we have obtained from Byakushiki's data is basically a prototype that solely focuses on the offensive qualities of the Armour, not the defensive or the mobility properties that made the overall weapon formidable. Although this does gives us an edge on attack power, there is still the issue that we got our data based off a defective version of the Fold-Out Armour that would take up large amounts of power for its deployment alone, let alone the maintenance of its configuration.]
"I have looked into that part, and the most I could do is to tweak the power settings and remove the unnecessary components that could hamper the performance. As for the features of the armour, it's not like we have a choice for that matter, since we can't get the data of Akatsubaki that Shinonono Houki possesses. We should be lucky that we even have one version of the Fold-Out Armour."
"For now the power ratio for the armour should be sufficient for both the deployment and the usage, but perhaps I should look into an alternate power source for that. Once that is fixed, we would definitely be able to explore other aspects of this technology."
[How about the new reactor design with the experimental element?]
"That is still very unstable; the power ratio keeps going off at 60% and it will start to burn out within the hour, and that's if I were to control it with the stabilizing formula. Without it, the damn thing starts to overheat and blow up within 15 minutes."
[That is a problem. While we are on the subject, what of the new suit you are creating with the Fold-Out Feature?]
"You mean your soon-to-be brother? The unit's frame is coming along well, but the armaments are a bit of an issue, since the equipment is still under development, and we barely understand any of the features that are in the Fold-Out Armour. Honestly, the more I try to make sense of this, the more I think that Tabane has some screws loose in her head."
[I think that is the general opinion of the IS public.]
"No seriously, something is really messed up in her head. This version is flawed, that much is true, but at the same time, just that one feature gives Ichika the greatest attack power out of the entire IS Academy if not for the power drain. You recalled that mission with the hijacking incident? He was able to cut down the force field that was stolen from the Russian Research Facility. The same force field that was supposed given to the Russian Representative that would have twice the shield power of standard units, and he cut it easily like butter!"
[Indeed, the Yukihira blade that was Chifuyu Orimura's signature weapon, combined with the Fold-Out Armour Technology from Shinonono Tabane, make a very formidable combo. I dare say it may even take us down if given the chance.]
"No kidding, and the insane part is that she gave the completed version to her sister, and if I recalled correctly, she was originally a Grade C pilot based on initial rankings. Soundwave checked the information about her and found out that her rank went up to S Rank. That's along the line of "Brunhilde" and the Valkyries for crying out loud!"
[If it can make a lower ranking representative candidate perform this well, one can only imagine what it can do in the hands of a true representative of the nation.]
"Precisely, so the fact that those guys are planning to replicate the Byakishiki with the Fold-Out Armour is a great cause for concern. We need to speed up the production of the Anti-Fold-Out Equipment and the fabrication of the new suit."
[Resources are currently being rerouted to the processing of the equipment. If there are no missions in urgent need of completion, we should be able to get this done within the next couple of days. What of the Yukihira data? Should we use it to create a working model?]
"I'm not too sure if I want to use that, it's already a bit cheating to use the data on the Fold-Out Armour because we accidentally got it when repairing his unit. And quite honestly, I feel it should only belong to the Orimura siblings."
[That may be the case, but we still have it, and considering the possibility of Kuromchi reverse-engineering and mass producing the two weapons, we would need whatever advantage we need, even if the consequences could be high. And in terms of killing potential, don't we already have that to begin with?]
"Sigh~ I suppose you are right. Okay then, put the data together with the Fold-Out Armour design in the offsite servers, and isolate them with the highest security. After that, try designing a few concepts that could go with the data. One thing is for certain, both weapons have serious power issues."
[Understood Master. Regarding the conference that is taking place, should we have Soundwave watch over them?]
"That was my initial thought, but considering the amount of surveillance channels it is monitoring currently, I would prefer that he concentrates on all of them, especially on the IS Academy channel. No doubt Chifuyu would have repaired the systems and added more security to them. We would need a different method to monitor the conference."
[Perhaps we should prepare the Impersonator?]
"Him huh? That might be a good idea, but we would need to get him in without them knowing. Some of the CEOs coming over are pretty intent on getting you guys, and the last thing I need is to have my designs popping up everywhere."
[That would be very unfortunate. What about you Master?]
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
[Orimura Ichika has been ordered by the IS Council to come to the conference in a few hours' time. The official word is that his experience with us would be beneficial to the representatives and thus he has been called for to debrief them about it. But we can safely assume that they are also planning to announce his candidacy to become a true representative cadet, and when that happens, you know every corporation in that room would try anything to get him to their side.]
"That might be problematic, but you are referring to something else, I guess?"
[Don't you want to meet him face to face? I believe perhaps he might…]
"Wait a minute. I know what you are thinking. We will meet soon, but not the current 'me' for the time being."
[But Master…]
"No, right now I got other obligations to do, we can't afford to let him know about the missions and the real reasons for those locations."
[Orimura Ichika may not be pleased with this.]
"Sigh~ I know. But I can't turn back. He may hate me, hell he would downright detest me enough to point the blade at me, but I cannot turn back anymore. I must keep my promise to the one who protected me and the others, and I cannot afford to get too personal in this matter."
[I understand. Returning to the subject on the conference, what measures do you have in mind?]
"Well, we can send in the Impersonator, but for this case, it may be best to send one escort along with him, just in case. Maybe send in Bow-Rider with the blaster attachment."
[Another one of your gut feelings, Master?]
"Yeah, I get the odd feeling we are going to have some party crashers. I just pray I'm wrong about this."
[Statistically, the chances of it happening has become a lot higher the moment you said it. I believe the human expression is 'you just jinxed yourself']
"Oh jeez, thanks for the big load of confidence."
[I aim to please. Going offline now.]
"… This much though I will say: I also plan to keep the second and third promises, both to him, and to his father."
Part 2
Catherine sighed tiredly as she idly sat on the chair while watching everyone pass by her in a frenzy. The past few days have been a complete fiasco to say the least.
After the hijacking incident, they were rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment of more serious injuries. For Cynthia's case, she was relatively fine, but she got pushed to stay inside for observation by Annie and Villian, who was being unusually stubborn in making sure she was totally fine.
After the check-up, it was a complete rush to salvage the situation and pacify the corporations who were outraged at being left out of the loop about the meeting. Annie, Genaro and a few other representatives spent the next few days negotiating with them, and finally came to a compromise to make the meeting official and to host it in a place where everyone could gather to discuss.
Since then, she has been helping out with the security detail composed of other representatives and guards to ensure there was nothing that could hinder the progress of the conference, and that the place they were hosting it had any surveillance equipment that could divulge the information being shared.
Needless to say, it was an uphill battle. Within the two days of preparation, they had to remove 50 different spy cameras and monitoring equipment, 10 spies from different nations, and the occasional lunatic who claimed to have a 'solution to the problem', whatever that may be. It definitely did not help with the fact that the security guards who were coming along with the representatives had to be tagged upon arrival and searched to ensure they do not have anything that could compromise the safety of the conference.
All in all though, things were going smoothly as best as possible. Thanks to some of their contacts, they were able to bring about enough security measures to rival the Pentagon or the Buckingham Palace, so anyone trying to sneak without proper authorization was going to experience a lot of pain.
There was another reason for the craziness unfolding before her. Apparently, there was a high possibility that Orimura Ichika was coming to the summit due to his involvement in the previous mission along with his sister, so everyone was going nuts trying to beef up the security for their arrival. For the majority of the security details who were Japanese, to lose the only male pilot would be a huge disgrace for them.
That, and the idea of his sister, the first Brunhilde, coming down on them with vengeance was something they really wanted to avoid.
The representatives were preparing in their own way for his arrival: the different CEOs and representatives from their respective companies and corporations all came in clothing that screamed money and power, and they were going through different speeches in their heads in the event they have a chance to communicate with him so that they could win him over to their company and by default, their country by becoming their representative. Some even got their hands on data on his IS unit, noting how his unit seemed to suffer greatly from power shortage and discussing different ways to improve his unit with their products.
The females themselves were also preparing in their own manner. Many of the younger representatives were putting on make-up and gossiping on whatever they knew about him. The older representatives took a rather daring approach of wearing clothing to emphasise their figures in order to get his attention.
As a joke, Cynthia asked Anita if she was going to dress up to get his attention, to which she replied that she did not want to look like some desperate woman, and also she was not too interested in trying to get him to their side, merely have a chat with him, so she would not need to present herself too nicely.
Not that Anita needed any help for that matter, judging from the looks from some of the males around her and the cameras flashing at her.
Now that she was taking a break, she took the chance to look around and see the faces present for the summit, and more importantly, for the ones she had yet to meet before.
Many of the representatives coming to the summit were familiar faces to her; aside from Genaro, Senator Coulson, and Adisa Beily, other important figures came along for the conference. There was Alex Cromwell, CEO of EDI-IS Corporation that handles the politics of the IS World; Gengo Aoi, the head of the AOI Foundations committee, and also Abraham Altex, the oldest of all at the age of 75, but still active as one of the council heads of the IS Council, and affectionately called "Grandpa Abraham" by the younger members for his jovial attitude.
But Catherine focused her attention on the two new arrivals that were already in Japan to begin with. Douvin Roma, a half-Italian and half-American representative of Kamiya Industries, was a man of rather lax style of dressing, in the form of a simple t-shirt and long dark pants to complement his black hair and green eyes that showed a cheerful light in his eyes. From where she sat, Catherine could see him talking with Annie, occasionally laughing together at a joke that either one gave.
The second arrival was Leeroy Anthony Gibbs, the representative for EXCOM Dynamics. He was an American with greying hair like Genaro's, and wore a brown suit with a white inner shirt, with a small patch on his left breast pocket to show a small logo representing his history in the Marine Corps. He seemed to be fairly popular with the ladies, judging from the small group of women surrounding him, only to be fended off with ferocity by his female security detail headed by Ellen Mira Meiz.
With those two here, it only left the young CEO who has yet to make an appearance.
Now for Catherine, she made it a point to find out as much as she could about the people in the IS world to better prepare for any encounter, but this was someone who had her stumped big time. Genaro was apparently downplaying his description about him being a rising star: the guy was virtually an unknown a few years back, then started to gain fame as the mysterious young man who worked his way to the top and becoming one of the youngest CEOs of his generation, yet he did not lavish in the attention like many of his peers do constantly ('Justin Dain being one of the prominent pain in the ass' Catherine thought). Rather he kept mostly to himself, occasionally coming out to do small charity works and fund-raising events.
The same could be said for the medical world, except in this case he was a full-blown celebrity. Every article she could find on the guy have people praising his works in biomechanics and his designs for artificial organs and limbs were considered the 'go-to' items for any patient. Many of the soldiers abroad, both current and old, were particularly grateful of the chance to move freely again after getting their limbs removed due to some injuries that required amputation. For those with failing organs or illnesses that attack from within, his artificial organs made them feel like they could run a marathon without a hitch.
It was because of this he was approached some time earlier by Genaro and some of the senior members to create a heart for one of the terrorists' sister. He was willing to do so, but he did not like the suggested idea of withholding the transplant so that they could make the terrorist spill any valuable information. In the end, they reached a compromise and they managed to get some information while ensuring his sister gets the treatment.
Even so, this person called Michael Craig was a total mystery to the public; the latest photo she could dig up was two years ago, and even that was not a complete photo. Whatever she could gather from the other representatives were not too helpful; the majority of the representatives have not met the man personally before, considering he did not talk to them much during their meetings. He did not have as many military ties as some of the senior staff, despite being offered quite a few contracts from some of the top military groups.
Of the minority who have met him before, there were two groups of opinions. The first group that included Genaro and Annie pretty much said the same good things about him: kind, a little quiet but open, and utterly brilliant and humble. Another point that they secretly enjoyed watching was him being extremely sarcastic towards people they have a mutual dislike.
The second group who apparently dislike him said that he was just like any other upstart, in that he would no doubt fail in his work and eventually fade out of memory. Of the people who said that, Catherine noted with slight amusement that they were the ones who stand the most to lose if Michael Craig ever decided to expand his areas of expertise into their territory. Those in his age-group apparently saw him as a rival for the contracts for the IS Representatives and the military contracts.
It would seemed that he really did not want to be too famous, a rarity among his peers. If only she had more information on him…
Whatever thoughts she had got interrupted by the loud whispers of some women close to her end.
"Hey, who is that guy? I don't recall seeing him anywhere." A brunette asked her friends a few metres in front of Catherine.
"He is wearing the security badge, and the Council insignia is on his case. That must mean he is part of the security for one of the members. He could be the security guards for the ones that have yet to come. Must be recently employed." Another one with her hair dyed a shade of pink commented back.
"What, a security guard? He looks way too hot to be one!" A third girl with short brown hair replied back amidst the loud giggles they shared.
Out of curiosity, Catherine shifted in her seat to get a better view of the person they were gossiping about. For a moment, she paused, then thought privately while raising an eyebrow: 'That is definitely not the type of person you would see around here.'
Seated a little farther from them, a man was relaxing by a cup of coffee while reading a magazine, a steel suitcase with the security markings approved by the security detail placed near his legs. He definitely looked a little out of place when compared to his bulkier male counterparts in the area: he had white hair that slightly covered his eyes while reading, unusual for a man who looked to be approaching his thirties and with a pale complexion. He wore a black business suit with a white inner shirt that complemented the lean but muscular frame he has. His shoes were polished to the point she could see the light from the ceiling shining off it, and he wore fingerless gloves, showing a ring on the fourth finger of his left hand.
At the moment, the man seemed totally unaware of the attention the females around were giving him as he continued reading the magazine, or if he did, chose to ignore them. Catherine honestly doubted that she would have seen him as one of the security detail if not for the badge on his shirt. Heck, she would think that he was either a representative of a different corporation that came for the meeting, or some modal for a magazine.
"Alright then, if you girls don't mind…" Catherine's attention got brought back to the earlier group, to see the tallest and most developed of the group flicked her brown hair confidently. "I'm going to have a word with that guy."
'Hoh boy, here we go again.' Catherine allowed herself to roll her eyes as she watched the woman approached the man with self-confident strides. She was not a stranger to seeing some of the female representatives or guards try to 'catch a good one' as they so put it, but honestly, it was a little bit demeaning in her opinion. Sure there were some guys who do not mind having a beautiful talk to them, let alone a woman who had potential to be an IS representative, but if the ring on his finger and his ignorance to the attention around were any indication, he was not 'available'.
And from the way the conversation was going on at her point of view, she was right. It was only a short while before the woman went back to her group, with a notably downed expression on her face.
"Darn, he's been taken." She said the moment she came back, to which their reply was a collection of apologies and silent cursing that someone got to him first. Catherine could only shake her head lightly at their conversation. Obviously, that guy would probably be off-limits by now.
"Excuse me, miss." Catherine turned and much to her chagrin, saw one of the younger male representatives standing near her. He was dressed simply in a light brown suit and dark shoes, making him a little out of place with his maroon hair. "I was wondering if I may have the pleasure to have a conversation with you." He sounded like a nice guy, but the manner of his eyes hovering over her body was a bit of a giveaway.
"Ugh!" She silently moaned as she thought of how to get out of this conversation. She really hated the way some of these men looked at her. If only there was someone who could at least be a barrier of sorts!
She paused as she laid eyes on the white-haired individual, who seem to have realized the amount of attention aimed at him and was starting to look a little haunted by the increased intensity from the women around him. 'Well' Catherine thought as she quickly got up from her chair and made her way to him. 'Might as well kill two birds with one stone.' After taking a few quick strides to try and lose the person after her, she stopped just one chair away from the white-haired individual.
"Excuse me, may I sit here with you?" Catherine asked while trying not to sound or look desperate that she wanted to get away from the guy coming after her. She must not have been successful, as he raised his head and looked at her with one raised eyebrow, before he craned his neck to see the guy behind her, who was looking a little dejected at losing his chance. After a while, he merely nodded and motioned to the empty chair next to him.
Catherine took the chair with a grateful expression, trying hard to ignore the glares that the other women were giving her and the soft cursing by the males towards her companion. She was never going to hear the end of it.
"Something tells me you have a hard time dealing with the attention around you." A voice from her side broke her thoughts, prompting her to turn to the individual who had a slightly bemused look on his face at her reaction. He had a notably American accent mixed with a tinge of French, giving his words an odd but pleasant tune to his words.
"I could say the same about you." Catherine remarked a little too quickly, before she grimaced. Thankfully, the guy laughed it off.
"Yeah, I'm not going to lie to you, but I was feeling a little too much like a prime steak left for predators to be fought over." He gave a slight shudder as he said that. Catherine let out a light chuckle at his description. It seemed that she had an ally in terms of suffering from the unwanted attention.
"I guess it did not dissuade them much with that?" She asked while pointing to his ring. "Yup, they hardly stopped." The white-haired man nodded his head. "Honestly, I lost count of the number of times I have to tell them I'm already married to someone."
"Oh, is that so?" Catherine asked in good humour.
"Oh yeah, you should see their faces when I told them I have a son." He nodded lightly with his eyes closed. Because of that, he did not see the look of surprise on Catherine's face.
'Wait, he's a dad?! But he looks so young!' Catherine shook her head and rearrange her facial features quickly.
"That's… a little surprising."
Boy was that an understatement.
The guy chuckled slightly before lowering the magazine he was reading and offered his right hand. "The name is Jack Bolt. Nice to meet you, miss…"
"Catherine, Catherine Beal" She took his hand and shook it. Jack frowned for a moment as he started muttering. "Catherine Beal, Beal…" His eyes went wide open with an expression of recognition. "Catherine Beal, the security officer for Anita Anderson, if I am correct?"
"You are." Catherine answered, noting his grip was unusually harder than others, though not uncomfortable. She paused before asking "How did you know of that information?"
"Ah, my apologies." He lightly bowed his head before explaining. "I was with my boss during the time he went to meet up with Mrs Anderson regarding this conference. Due to the security issues that could arise from it, she suggested exchanging information between our two details to ensure smooth sailing. I did not get the opportunity to do so, so I only remembered some details of the people involved."
"Ah, I see." Catherine nodded to show her understanding. "And who may this boss be?"
"You might not have heard of him, since he's a new guy in the block." Jack smiled while taking another sip of the coffee. "His name is Michael Craig, the CEO of AS-Thor Industries."
'Whoa, talk about luck!' Catherine thought excitedly at the prospect of finding out more information of the young CEO. "Well, can you tell me more about him?"
Unknown to Catherine, Annie had finished her conversation with Douvin, and was now watching their conversation with a faint smile on her face. She recalled meeting the young guard during one of her meetings with Michael. If she recalled correctly, this man was actually the second in command for the small security detail that protect Michael. Given that he was an unknown person to start in the IS business, he did not need such a big group to watch over him.
Annie leaned against the pillar and folded her arms, watching the proceedings around her while thinking about the conference and the people attending it.
When the corporations came knocking to ask about the details of the secret conference, Annie had to spend a momentous amount of effort to appease them. It took a while, but she and the others were able to set up a public meeting for all to come to. That did set their schedule back by a few weeks, not to mention the visit to the IS Academy, but it was better than the fallout of not dealing with the masses.
One thing they had to do was to call all the people who had some contact with the units in any way. That meant all the pilots who had fought the units directly, the people who were involved in the Amazon incident, and lastly the people who were in the hijacking incident. That meant the IS pilots who had direct contact like Ellen and Orimura Ichika, and also poor Villian and Cynthia.
During the time Cynthia was in the hospital, many people came in droves to ask about her experience of the machine. They pretty much grilled her for details to the point that the doctors had to step in to tell them that she needed rest. Together with Annie's "slight" intervention, all of them quickly left her to rest.
There was one detail that Cynthia withheld for Annie's ears only. During the time she was inside the suit, she caught a glimpse of the something resembling the operating system of the suit. It was only a brief moment, but she remembered it clearly due to the odd acronym it created.
Internal Regeneration Operation Neuron-Link system, or IRON in short.
Naturally, Annie did not know what to expect from this. It seemed like good luck on Cynthia's part, but to the best of her knowledge, she cannot comprehend the type of system that had to be used for these units, or for that matter, what such a system was supposed to do. But based on what she had seen, combined with what she knew and the information from Cynthia, she could make a guess about it.
Much of the speculations about those units involved the glowing object in the chest cavity. Many speculated that it was a possible power source for the units, exemplified by a video footage showcasing "Blue" fighting the Israeli Representative. They noted that the object glowed more intensely towards the end of the fight, right before the unit started to dominate the representative with its attacks.
Based on that, Annie could make a guess that the units were powered by some sort reactor of sorts that allowed for self-regeneration of their power source. But the part about "Neuron-Link" had her puzzled; that meant that the suits were meant to be piloted by someone with some sort of neural link for better control. Cynthia had mentioned that she felt a little weird being inside the red unit, feeling that there was someone inside her head responding back in some manner each time she tried to move in the suit.
Well, there was nothing she could do on her part. She would have to discuss some of her findings with the other companies to get a basic idea. At least most of the people involved had arrived or were on the way here, the few who were not here couldn't come due to some type of engagements. With their input on the units, they should be able to form some theories, and with the companies in one place, they could privately monitor those who may be more involved with these units than they thought.
Now all that awaits was the arrival of Orimura Ichika and Michael Craig.
It was a good thing she got herself behind one of the bigger pots of plants, so that no one could see the deep blush on her face as she remembered her conversation with Cynthia about the young man. It was not like she wanted to 'get it on' with the young man; he was just a very nice young man who did not go around flaunting his wealth or go clubbing like his peers. True, he may be a little too quiet at times to the point he seemed anti-social, but there wasn't much of a topic to discuss with him, and from what Annie had heard, he did not talk much ever since the death of his partner and friend whom he was close to.
There have been a few times when she thought of introducing him to her daughters. He would be a bit of a good influence on them, plus the fact that she had been thinking of finding someone suitable for them. Why not someone she knows and approves?
Oh, she would look forward to the grand children she could have!
"Well, fancy seeing you here." A voice broke her thoughts and nearly brought a frown on her face. Barely managing to stop her emotions from showing on her face, she turned to face the owner of the voice. "Hello, Natalia. Nice to meet you."
The woman who stood in front of her merely waved it off as they faced each other. Natalia Kimblee was a woman similar to Annie in terms of age and natural beauty. She had wavy black hair that extended past her shoulders and covered the left side of her face. She had tanned skin and a small beauty mark on the right side of her chin. She had a figure that could compete with Annie's any day while making some of the younger representatives very envious, and she emphasised it with her current attire, consisting of a black vest with a white inner shirt, and a short skirt that reveals her very long legs for all to see, complete with stockings and black heels. Her vest and inner shirt were purposely left unbuttoned to show off a very bountiful view of her assets and a hint of black lace.
Now, Annie would be fine with most of the people she worked with, even some of the unpleasant ones were tolerable once she got used to it, but Natalia reserved a special place in her list of most disliked characters around. Whenever they have meetings, Natalia was often the one who tended to go against her ideas for some of the more peaceful solutions or for greater control of certain situations.
Another aspect of Natalia that Annie did not like was her doings with the men around her. It was a bit of an open secret among those in the IS Committee that Natalia often had men around her of different ages and positions in the different corporations. One reason was her method of getting their favour for either their secrets regarding the IS equipment or support for her petitions by promising them "rewards" as she so subtly put it.
Considering the number of men who left her apartment at one point, she would have to give a big one to gain a lot of support.
But perhaps the biggest reason why she held a major dislike for this woman was the fact that Natalia had tried to seduce Howard in order to get parts for her company or support for her work. Unfortunately for her, and to Annie's happiness, Howard did not take the bait, and at one point, turned the tables on her, thus making her lose some major support for a project that would have set her company on the rise to the top.
In some ways, that situation pretty much set them on a warpath, with Annie defending her husband from Natalia trying to ensnare him. Idly she wondered if this was how Howard felt towards Maverick Kane when they were fighting over her.
"So, why are you standing around here?" Natalia looked around her lazily. "You can't just be talking to all these people. We have the conference later for that."
"At least I'm doing something worthwhile, not like a certain someone who goes around with men at her tails." Annie nearly growled out that reply as she struggled to keep her poker face. Natalia merely waved her hand as she looked back.
"Hmm, don't worry about them; those men were nice, but they were so boring. So I dumped them." She replied back carelessly. Anita frowned at that reply. That was another reason she hated the woman in front of her: given her methods, she tend to tire of the male contacts she had and just break away from them, moving on to the next potential target. It was a wonder most males did not give her a wide berth.
"So, the famous male pilot is coming and the mysterious CEO is coming to this meeting as well?" She let off a predatory smile as she considered the information. "Well, the pilot is rather cute, and I have yet to get Michael to my side."
"Don't even think about it." Anita gritted her teeth silently as she resisted the urge to slap the woman in front of her. She was not too sure about Ichika (though she had heard some rumours about his experience from males envying his position), but she knew Michael enough that he was not the type to go around with women at his sides. Now that she thought about it, he was polite to women and could start a conversation, but he tend to keep his distance at times, preferring to work on his projects and only coming out to do charity work.
Of course that did not dissuade the ladies much, if anything it only made him a bigger target for them to attain, if the magazine hosting the list of "TOP 10 Most Eligible Bachelors" were of any indication.
"Maybe I should introduce myself to Orimura Ichika, and have another crack at Michael?" Natalia placed a finger on her chin and made a mocking imitation of thoughtfulness. "I think my chances are very good at this point."
"Don't you dare try to seduce those two boys?!" Anita nearly exploded at her, but settled for a warning. "They do not need any more issues as it is with the attacks from these units, and you trying to ensnare them is not helping! Not to mention the sister of the pilot is the Brunhilde, and I don't think she will let you get so close so easily!"
"Hmm, I wonder?" Natalia smirked as she walked back to the meeting room. "No women ever stop me before except you, and I dare say those boys could acquire a taste in mature women." With that, she went through the doorway, leaving a red-faced Annie in her wake.
That's it. She was planning to have a nice talk with Orimura Ichika and to have some light catching up with Michael, but now she made it her personal mission to at least keep an eye on the both of them and make sure that they were not alone with that woman. The last thing she needed was that woman being a bad influence on those two!
"Michael Craig, CEO of AS-Thor Industries has arrived!" The voice of the announcer rang through the hallway. "Orimura Ichika and Orimura Chifuyu have also arrived from IS Academy. We will now be commencing with the conference. "
"Right then!" Anita moved with great strides towards the conference room as the whispers around her got louder at the news of the two young men arriving at the same time with the famous Brunhilde.
"Show Time!"
Part 3
As the conference went underway, many agendas started to appear from all sides...
"Boss, we have infiltrated the towers."
"Excellent, did you encounter any problems getting in?"
"Snort! For security guards meant to protect all of those big shots, they are not exactly doing a good job. They are only looking out for the more obvious types. Also, nothing beats the classic costume switch with the catering staff."
"Well, we should be thankful that the ones earlier were careless, so they would probably focus their attention at the corporations that sent them in the first place and those who have questionable reputations to begin with."
"Of course, so I guess we are ready for this?"
"Yes, show those people that we men have not gone out without a fight for this world. The world may be handled by women and little girls, but a mere decade is nothing compared to the history that men has achieved all these years."
"But what of Orimura Ichika? They say he might be coming over, and I'm not sure if we should get him hurt."
"Don't hurt him, if possible bring him alive so that we can recruit him. A male pilot in our ranks will definitely help us in the future."
"And if he refuses?"
"Oh he will see things our way. That much can be assured."
"Lady Squall, I am in."
"Excellent, we should be able to get some information in the end."
"I have managed to hide the new bugs inside the room and other facilities which are important for the meeting. You should be able to get the streamed data soon. Also, you might be interested to know that Orimura Ichika is coming to the meeting."
"Oh, now that is very interesting. Keep an eye on him, and if you see a chance, try to get closer to him."
"I will not fail you, my lady."
"Fufu, we are finally getting somewhere. Has the meeting started?"
"It will start soon, my lady. However I did manage to get some information from the people attending the conference, and I have to say that things may get a little nasty for us in the future."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, it would seem that some of our earlier fears regarding the units' attacks are true. They seemed to be targeting our bases of operations and other places we have interest in. That would mean that they have some means of tracking us."
"Well then, that would be bad, and yet it makes life here so much more fascinating. Ufufufu!"
"Captain, communication channels have been established, so now we have a direct line to the agents inside."
"That's good. Look sharp people, there's going to be a lot of data coming through, and there are bound to be some party crashers coming in."
"Captain, I just got confirmation that Orimura Ichika has just arrived to the towers with the Brunhilde."
"! ~ Orimura, you say?"
"Captain?"
"… Slight change of plans. Monitor the representatives and collect data on the units, and keep an eye on the male Orimura."
"Captain, why do we need to monitor him as well?"
"Do it."
"U~ understood, Captain."
"… Well then, the son of that man has come huh? I will see for myself if he has picked up anything from him."
[Master, Impersonator has infiltrated the conference room and Bow-Rider is en-route to the towers.]
"Okay, monitor the situation for now. I better take this time to consider how best to adapt the Fold-Out Armour to your latest brother. Maybe I should consider putting in a draft design for equipping the Yukihira."
[Understood. You may wish to know that Orimura Ichika has arrived to the conference with Priority Personnel Orimura Chifuyu.]
"That's nice, at least there should be no problems coming up. One thing's for certain, those guys won't be able to touch him as long as his sister is there."
[Indeed, the Demonic Brunhilde is one to be feared.]
"No kidding, and with Bow-Rider and Impersonator there, he will have double the protection."
[Then perhaps you would be glad to know that Dual is joining them for this outing.]
"Dual? Why is he out?"
[He requested to join on this mission, apparently he felt he did not interact with Orimura Ichika enough. And I thought that this mission may need a more delicate touch, given the location of the conference. Also we do not want to have Impersonator exposed to them in such a place.]
"Smart thinking, but that's a little unusual for him. Any of the others asked about it?"
[JetStream wanted to tag along, but I told him that he had already met Orimura Ichika already, and that he is not suitable for this mission.]
"I guess he did not take it well."
[Last time I checked, he was busy blowing up the terrorist cell in Seattle to complete oblivion in an attempt to vent off some steam.]
"I will have to deal with an angry unit when he returns. Great, anything else?"
[Nothing else Master.]
"You know what I mean. There's also another reason for Dual to go to the conference, isn't there?"
[… You might say I too have a gut feeling about this mission, that we could use some extra hands for the situation that could come about.]
"That's your answer?"
[Yes, Master.]
"… Sigh~ Times like this, we both need a vacation."
[Indeed, Master. Indeed.]
===== Author's Notes=====
And that's the end of this chapter.
I got some ideas of how this story should be played out, aided by some of your comments and ideas, just need to rearrange them and flesh the out a little.
Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I will try to upload another soon!