Disclaimer: I don't own Muv-Luv Alternative or any of the characters. All rights belong to âge.
November 11, 2001
Lying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, I hear my door slowly creak open. Kasumi slowly walks next to me to start shaking me. Halfway into her shaking, she realizes I was awake already. She pouts as a result. "I'm sorry for being awake already." I apologize to her. I had a lot to think about during the night, as a result I couldn't fall asleep.
"...Be careful…" Kasumi tells me as she leaves the room. I thank her and start to brush my teeth and wash my face. Since I expect the Valkyries might be heading towards the PX for breakfast today, I decide to finally use one of the cup ramen I brought with me. Quickly sneaking into the pantry shouldn't take very long. I should be able to get some boiling water before the Valkyries arrive for breakfast.
The process was pretty straightforward. Since it was still so early in the morning, there was only one cook who was still setting up. She gladly got me some hot water to use. Now I'm back in my room, enjoying this rare delicacy that I haven't had in a long time. I wonder if this world will ever end up recreating this quick and simple packaged food.
Noticing that I still had 35 minutes before I had to go, there was some time for a quick workout. Some push ups, sit ups, squats, and stretching should do me some good. Near the end of my workout, during my cooldown stretches, I hear a knock on my door.
"Come in." I tell my visitor.
Walking in my room, it's 2nd Lieutenant Pyatkh. She seems to be holding a package with her, "Good morning, I have a package here from the Professor. Good luck." She hands me the package and walks out of my room shortly after.
Looking at the package, I realize it's a cloak and a mask. Most likely I was to use the cloak to cover myself when walking to the TSF and the mask is to be on during the entire time. I quickly change into my fortified suit and don my cloak. After wearing the mask, I head towards the hangar.
Once I reach the hangar, I find the lone standing TSF with someone on standby. I walk up to him. "Shade here to report on duty. On a mission for the XO, deploying on 0605." I tell the personnel.
"Ah, so it was you I was waiting for. This baby is all tuned up, good luck soldier!" He cheerfully pats the TSF and walks off to the side.
The TSF that all of the STF used was the Type-94 Shiranui. Being the highest standard Japanese TSF that the UN could get their hands on, only we were allowed to use such a machine. Of course, the top TSF in the country would be the Takemikazuchi, but that machine is exclusive to the Royal Houses. Boarded and fully secured inside the cockpit of the Shiranui, I connect my comms with Yuuko.
"Shade 01 here. Ready for deployment. Requesting access to deploy." I inform Yuuko.
"Very well, you are cleared to deploy. Please arrive at the target location on time." she responds.
"Understood. Deploying now!" I launch my TSF out the hangar and start my travel towards Niigata. Using the specially prepared boosters attached to our TSFs, the travel time needed was greatly shortened. The only downside is that these boosters will burn out after we reach Niigata, but they will have done their job.
Arriving at Niigata, I can see the silhouettes of the Valkyrie squad in my sights. They must have spotted my IFF by now. I quickly received a transmission. Opening the communication channel, I see Captain Isumi's face. It's been such a long time since I've seen her face, I kind of got emotional.
"This is Captain Isumi Michiru of the STF A-01, so you are the mysterious test pilot that destroyed us the other day? Look forward to working with you." She greets me with a smile.
"Greetings, this is Shade 01, I am here to assist your squad in the mission as well as perform a field test for the new OS." I reply.
"Since you're here to join us as a Storm Vanguard, I'll introduce the rest of the squad real quickly." She offers. "Joining you as our front leading Storm Vanguard is 1st Lieutenant Hayase.
Since you're joining us as SV2, 1st LT. Fujisawa is taking the role of Strike Vanguard in this operation. Our Gun Sweepers are 2nd LT. Suzumiya and Tsukiji. For the Gun Interceptors, I will be taking over that position with 1st LT. Munkata. Our Impact Guards are 2nd LT. Kashiwagi and Takahara. In Rush Guard we have 2nd LT. Asakura and 1st LT. Takemiya. Lastly, our Blast Guards are 1st LT. Miura and 2nd LT. Kazama." She explains. "The call signs start with me as 01 and are in order of position all the way to 12."
"Understood, thank you for explaining." I respond. I remember that last loop during this operation, the squad had 2 KIA with 1 WIA. From what I remember, the unfamiliar names in the group are three of the 1st Lieutenants. Fujisawa, Miura, Takemiya… those three names are most likely the three that got taken out from this operation. I will need to try my best to keep them alive.
"Current operation plan is that we will be prioritizing on taking out any laser class BETA that appears. Once that threat is taken care of, we will start our mission objective by neutralizing the smaller BETA first. While kiting back and neutralizing the smaller classes, the larger BETA should trail behind, allowing us to tranquilize them last." Captain Isumi explains. The plan sounds straightforward, but plans never go perfectly. Most likely we will have trouble while kiting back.
Moving into position next to Hayase, she instantly opens a transmission channel with me. Instead of making it private, she accidentally opens a public channel. "Hey new guy! I might have lost the last time, but I'm gonna get my revenge you hear me!? How about we have a contest to see who takes down more of these bastards?" She shoots me a bloodthirsty grin.
Before I can respond, another person speaks up. "Hayase has it going for the mysterious new guy heh~?" Munakata teases her.
"MU...NA...KA...TA!" Hayase grounds out. "That's not it!" She yells back.
"Oh oh! What are the bets for the contest?" Kashiwagi curiously asks.
"Of course when I win, it will prove I am superior!" Hayase confidently states.
"That's kind of boring… how about whoever is the winner gets to command the loser for one day~?" One of the people I don't recognize speaks up. Most of the members agreed while praising 'Fujisawa-senpai' for the amazing idea.
"While I don't really condone this type of activity within the squad, this time I'll allow it since everybody wants it to happen... " Captain Isumi sighs.
While the squad was making small talk and making bets on who would win between Hayase and I, I could feel Akane's glare on me like always. She must be mad about the Storm Vanguard spot taken away once again.
"This is Valkyrie Mum to all units. The BETA have broken through the first perimeter forces, estimated time of arrival is 4 minutes." Suzumiya-san warns all of us. "While the main group is progressing on the predicted path, 2 battalions worth have split and are heading right towards your group. Home base wishes for the squad to quickly neutralize this force and attract a portion of the main force as well." She finishes her orders and closes her transmission.
"Well you all heard her, get into positions! We will be taking down this first force as quickly as possible!" Captain Isumi orders.
That's right, this is the first battle in which the BETA shows some form of strategy. Instead of blindly charging like always, they submerged before launching their attack and now they even split their group.
After 3 minutes of waiting, the silhouettes of the BETA force have started to show. In front, the large forces of destroyers leading the way, there was about 4 Fort-class following behind. Quickly firing our neutralizing bullets into the horde, we split our squad in two directions to avoid the destroyer charge. After regrouping, we start kiting away, while everyone else in the back kept firing. While blocking and parrying the Soldier class BETA from hitting us, we started to see the Laser class BETA move up as well.
"Shade 01 to Valkyrie 01, requesting permission to take care of the Laser class!" I yell out to Captain Isumi.
"Permission granted, Valkyrie 02 and Shade 01, we will provide cover fire." She replies.
Dashing ahead of Hayase, I quickly use the warrior class as footholds and lightly leap over them while keeping a low altitude. I see Hayase chasing behind me not letting me get away recreating my actions albeit with difficulty. The advantage of the XM3 was definitely starting to show as I got to the Laser class a few steps ahead of her. While dodging the attacks of the Fort class and Tank class BETA, I quickly cleaved through the Lux with my blade. Counting about only 8 of them, I managed to take out 6 of them by the time Hayase had finished the other two.
"Shade 01 to Valkyrie 01, all Laser class neutralized!" I report my status.
"Well done. Regroup back with us and we will begin heading to the main group to distract the back side of the horde." She orders.
Quickly regrouping with the squad, we head towards the back side of the main horde to help thin out the enemies as much as possible. As the rest of the squad had landed their shots against the rest of the BETA here, most of the BETA had already been neutralized. All that was remaining are the Fort class which should fall in approximately 2 more minutes. As we speed towards the main path, everyone in the squad had gained a lot of confidence because of the successful mission. Reaching the main horde of BETA, Hayase quickly speeds up and aims to take out as many as possible. Following her lead, the rest of the squad quickly shot down Lux and Magnus Lux. Split on two fronts, a smaller group of Fort class and Tank class BETA turned around to try to shield the laser class.
While the hunt was going amazingly well, that is when tragedy struck. As most of us were focused on trying to take down as many enemies as we could, nobody had realized that a few Lux were hidden within the corpses of the other classes behind us. While taking down a Fort Class, I noticed in the corner of my eye that there was a bright light similar to a laser approaching. I toss my blade hilt forward towards the TSF that the laser was approaching, knocking the TSF out of the way. Watching the laser still hit the TSF, the remaining parts of the machine fall to the ground, with smoke coming out of it. Instantly, memories of the Valkyries and everyone in Operation Ouka started coming back. Everyone who sacrificed themselves for me. Even though I came back once again, I still wasn't able to protect anyone… I feel a strong impact into the side of my TSF and I get thrown into the ground. As I tumbled from the impact, I felt my vision darken in regret. In the end I still wasn't strong enough…
(Michiru POV)
Everything went wrong so suddenly. One moment we were dealing with the BETA in tandem. Performing their duties perfectly, everyone in the squad was confidently cleaning up the enemies. Then suddenly, our mysterious pilot suddenly threw their blade at Tsukiko. Right as I was about to question why he would friendly fire, a bright light washed over her TSF. Eyes widened I quickly move over to cover her spot as the TSF fell.
"Tsukiko! Tsukiko! Respond!" I frantically yell into her comms. "This is Valkyrie 01 to Valkyrie Mum, what is the status of Fujisawa!?"
"This is Valkyrie Mum, her vital signs are still active, albeit on the faint sign. Current evaluation is that she is unconscious." Haruka responds. Tsukiko is safe, did Shade see the laser coming and that's why they threw the blade? Looks like they saved her life, I must thank him later.
"This is Valkyrie 01 to Valkyries 04, 09, 10! Valkyrie 03 is still alive, quickly recover her from the cockpit, we will cover you!" I order Suzumiya, Asakura, and Chinatsu.
As the three started moving to recover Tsukiko, I hear another warning from Haruka. "This is Valkyrie Mum, Shade 01's vital signs are decreasing, at this rate they may faint!"
I look over to that direction and I see their TSF take a direct hit from the tail of a Fort class. Thankfully the stinger did not make contact, but the TSF still tumbled on the ground. Most likely the pilot had fainted so I was prepared to order someone to cover him. However, the TSF suddenly slowly gets up. "Shade 01, are you okay? Retreat and get some time to recover, we can cover you!" I tell them. Instead, I get no response, which confuses me. "Valkyrie Mum, what is Shade 01's status? Do they require any assistance?" I ask Haruka, making sure that there is no problems.
"I'm not getting any signs. All I'm seeing is faint vitals, their status is similar to sleeping." She responds.
That doesn't make any sense. I try to communicate with the pilot a few more times, but I don't get any response in the end. Instead I focus on covering Tsukiko's recovery and keep a watch on Shade's TSF with the corner of my eye instead. However, the next moment, the TSF disappears from my vision. Tracking down the TSF, I see it in the middle of the horde of BETA. I decide to prioritize recovering Tsukiko instead, hoping that they will last while distracting the BETA.
Much to my surprise, once we recovered Tsukiko, I check to see how much damage Shade has taken while distracting the BETA. Instead I see half of the horde taken out and they were still going strong. I immediately order the squad to cover them. Watching the lone TSF massacring the horde, I am once again reminded of that TSF simulation that I first saw them do. Moving acrobatically, dodging every single attack with the slimmest of margins. Cutting down a Fort-class, while stomping and killing a soldier class. Using the momentum of the stomp, they perform a flip and then fires a round into the back of a destroyer. Quickly spinning their TSF, they decapitate a tank class with the blade. The death god of the battlefield was back.
Using our regained momentum, we quickly took care of the rest of the BETA, with Hayase gleefully trying to keep up with her rival. However, when the last of the BETA went down, Mitsuki went to try and pat the newcomer on the back with her TSF. Her TSF was quickly taken down, courtesy of a kick to the back of her left leg and then a tackle that downed her TSF. Realizing that this 'death god' was turning on us, I tried to wake up the pilot by connecting to their comms. In the end it seemed like it wasn't going to work. Since we were all out of ammo as well as energy, there is no way for us to take them down safely. I have to use this last resort…
-A few days ago-
"What have you called me here for today Professor?" I was called up to her office this afternoon, not long after the mission briefing. Perhaps this is related to the mission?
"You remember that I told you I was inserting the test pilot into your squad for the mission?" Professor Kouzuki brings up.
"Yes, is the reason related to them?"
"You got it right~! I'm expecting them to do some stupid things during the operation, such as even risking their life. So I had the staff install a failsafe into the TSF. Right here is a control to that failsafe. What I need you to do is to use this as a last resort if they are ever put into a situation where they will lose their life or break down. I still need them to live after all~" She cheerfully answers while passing a controller to me.
"Understood, I hope that it will not come to that point." I respond to her.
I was hoping not to have to use this, as the Professor had stated that the identity of this pilot was to stay hidden as much as possible. The moment I use this, there will be no way to prevent the squad from figuring out who they are. As the failsafe will completely disable the TSF, there is no way for us to carry the disabled TSF all the way back to Yokohama. We will have to rely on the recovery team to bring it back along with the tranquilized BETA. I activate the failsafe and the Shiranui instantly powered down and became immobile.
"Whoever is available, can you carry Mitsuki? I will carry the mysterious pilot." I order the squad. As I walk over to the downed TSF, I start wondering who the mysterious TSF might be. Perhaps they are a foreigner, that would explain the secrecy and the skills that were displayed. Or even perhaps it has to do with the project the Professor has been working on. It might be a super soldier trained with the resources from Alternative IV. I personally do not know too much as even I don't have much access to the information related to the project.
I open the cockpit and bring out the pilot. I see that their suit was slightly battered up, the mask on their face was on the verge of falling off. Clearly the pilot was male, using the standard black and purple exoskeleton. As I carry him so I can transfer him into my cockpit, his mask falls off, revealing his face. As the squad discovers his identity, Mitsuki is the one with the biggest reaction. I realized he was the recently transferred cadet into 207B, Shirogane Takeru. Why would a pilot with such skill be placed in a cadet squad? I hope the Professor can explain the circumstances to us when we get back. As I bring him into my cockpit I heard Mitsuki mutter "So it was Shirogane Takeru…" Did she know him? I wonder when they had met as none of us had come into contact with him before. Once everyone was secured and readied, we set off back to Yokohama base, having completed the mission.
(Takeru POV)
Slowly opening my eyes, I realized I was still alive. Staring at a ceiling again, perhaps this is a new loop? I look to my left and I see that I am lying on a sofa instead of a bed. This means it's not a new loop, so I made it out of Niigata somehow. It didn't matter though, I wasn't able to protect any of them in the end. I wasted all of Yuuko's effort. As I look to the right, I see Yuuko sitting in her office chair looking right down at me. So I am in her office huh.
"Finally woke up, Sleeping Beauty~?" She asked.
"I'm sorry Yuuko, I failed…" I start tearing up. I think back on everyone in the Valkyries. Because of my failures I had cost them their lives again.
"What are you talking about?" She tilts her head in confusion.
"I failed to save them… The laser hit one of them head on, I got hit by the Fort-class and lost consciousness. Everyone must've had a hard time without me. Wait, how did I make it here?" I realize.
"Hmm… so Suzumiya was correct."
"What do you mean?" Now it's my turn to be confused.
"Suzumiya told me that your vitals were fatally dropping after Fujisawa got hit by the laser. As a result after you got hit, you lost consciousness but your vitals were the equivalent of someone sleeping."
"So that means I was out of the fight. That doesn't answer my question though."
"No, according to the squad, you got back up and jumped right into the horde and fought solo. This bought them enough time to recover Fujisawa from her cockpit."
"Wait, but didn't she get hit by the laser?"
"Yes, but your blade managed to push her enough that she avoided having her cockpit in impact as well. Once they recovered Fujisawa, they regained enough motivation thanks to your effort and joined in on finishing off the enemies. After the BETA were gone, you didn't stop. You even took down Hayase when she was trying to talk to you. So Isumi had to use the failsafe I had installed." She explained.
"How could that be possible? You're telling me I was moving even after I lost consciousness?"
"I believe it is due to your strong will before you lost consciousness. The memories of the parallel worlds that were in your body managed to autopilot enough to succeed. Personally I don't know how that would work, but I need to perform tests on you for sure."
"If it will end up doing good, I don't mind doing those tests. But isn't that dangerous? You said my body wasn't able to differentiate between friend and foe."
"Of course, you didn't have a conscience at the time, there is no way for you to differentiate. Aren't you glad I added a failsafe because I knew something stupid was going to happen~?"
"As much as I don't like to admit it. I'm glad… thanks Yuuko." I sincerely thank her.
"Y-yeah… No problem… Just try to refrain on doing reckless things!" She looks away for a bit before scolding me.
"This operation definitely taught me something. Yuuko, I want you to give me access to the underground hangar. I also need you to give me command over the engineers and mechanics there."
"Why so? Is there anything you had in mind?"
"I'm going to add and create some new parts and weaponry for our TSFs. What we have now isn't enough, is what I realized." Using the knowledge I have of the other advanced world and the Valgern-on guide, I'm sure I can come up with some ideas to improve what we have. I already screwed up once. This time the consequences are not too bad, but there's no guarantee it will be the same next time.
"Hmm, I guess I can do that… but I need to approve whatever idea you come up with first before I give the go ahead to create it." Yuuko proposes. I obviously agreed. "Oh by the way, your identity has already been revealed. Since Isumi had to disable your TSF, you were carried out of it."
"Oh great, that's another headache…" Looks like the next few days are going to be extra long... As if this night isn't already…
AN: And that's Niigata complete~ Next big event isn't going to be a bit, so the next chapters are going to be a bit more light-hearted. I also need some time to plan for the big arc coming up after all. This chapter is once again kind of short, sorry about that~