A/N: I know, I know, I need to get an update out for The Human War. Unfortunately, I've been hit with a massive case of writer's block on that story, and no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to make significant progress on the upcoming chapter.

Chapter 29

The next few days went by relatively uneventfully. With all of the girls having gone, there was little to do until the first round was over. That meant boredom, as there was only so much to do outside of staying cooped up in the room, watching match after match.

That boredom had eventually boiled over into a game of hide and seek that slowly grew to encompass the entire building. By the time the teachers broke it up after complaints of property damage, several hundred students were participating. Needless to say, finding every single student and convincing them that the game had actually ended was a trial in and of itself.

Finally, the first round came to an end with a match between the Polish representative candidate's squadron and an all-Revive team. The predictably named Hussar squadron tore through their opponents with relative ease, with their speed and agility allowing them to take advantage of their opponents' poor fire discipline in a long range fire exchange. The match ended with the five Polish IS suits charging the Revives once they ran out of ammunition and taking them down in melee combat with lances and swords.

A few minutes later, Ichika received a text message reminding him of his opponent, as well as the predicted time the match would take place.

"Ichika, are you fighting today as well?" Charlotte asked.

"Looks like I am." He replied, showing her the phone. His opponents were the members of Squadron 087, armed with improvised weaponry cobbled together from scrap metal. That said, they probably didn't have much left in the way of weaponry, what with how badly mangled they had been in their previous battle. However, regardless of the state of their armaments, they were a negligible threat.

"Huh, looks like our matches are one after another. If we both win, we might end up facing each other next round." Charlotte commented. Her own opponent was a fair bit tougher than Ichika's, being equipped with guided missiles and light machine guns. Nonetheless, Ichika did not doubt that Charlotte would be able to take on all five of them on her own.

"Well, let's hope we both win then! I'd love to see how your upgraded suit stacks up against mine." Ichika replied.

"Should we place our bets now?" Tatenashi asked.

"Go right ahead." Ichika replied before turning to Houki.

"What about you, Houki? Who are you facing?" He asked.

"A Naked Slate squadron." She replied simply, just before her phone buzzed. Looking down, she blinked and sighed.

"Never mind. Their leader just messaged me and said that she's conceding the match." She said.

"I don't blame her. Her squadron has nothing to gain by fighting this match, and being thrashed on camera is likely to hurt their future prospects worse than a simple concession, especially since they're not testing anything." Kanzashi replied.

"I'm surprised no other squadrons have conceded so far." Cecilia noted.

"They probably didn't know they could. Come to think of it, I didn't exactly explain that it was possible. I'm sure that once the first conceded match is announced, pretty much every other Naked Slate squadron will drop out. " Tatenashi shrugged.

"Let's hope so. Staying with you all is nice, but I'm starting to get pretty sick of Nemuro." Cecilia replied.

"I wouldn't mind staying here for another week or two." Charlotte commented.

"Normally I wouldn't either, but I didn't know the tournament would take so long. There are a lot of stuff I'm starting to miss that I left back at IS Academy." Cecilia answered.

"Still, even if all the Naked Slate squadrons drop out after this round there are still almost a hundred sponsored squadrons still in the running. That's a good week and a half of matches until it's all over at the very least." Kanzashi commented.

"Well then, I guess we're stuck with each other for another two weeks!" Tatenashi said with a satisfied smile. Before anyone could respond, Ichika's phone buzzed. A quick glance showed a message from Theresa.

"Charlotte, looks like our bus leaves in ten minutes. We should head down." Ichika said.

"Alright. You take the bathroom." Charlotte replied as she stood up and headed over to where her pilot suit was folded. Ichika nodded and went into the bathroom to change. Charlotte greeted him as he emerged a minute later.

"Ready?" She asked.

"Let's go." He answered.

"It's starting!" Lily looked up from her phone as Catelyn Black spoke up. True to her word, the holo-screen was now displaying Ichika's squadron hovering in formation several thousand meters above Shikotan Island.

"Shame about their opponents. Won't be much of a match to be honest." Shizune Kawahara sighed, and Lily nodded her agreement.

"I still don't see the point of letting non-sponsored squadrons participate in this. I mean, all that does is prolong the tournament to a ludicrous degree without actually benefiting anyone." Cai Lan, her third squadmate, continued.

"From what I understand, this tournament was thrown together at the last minute to appease IS Academy's sponsoring companies. Hence mistakes like that making it through to the final version." Lily explained as the match started. She gave Ichika a glance as his IS shot off at supersonic speeds, quickly leaving his squadmates in the dust. From his descending trajectory, Lily deduced that he was aiming to prevent any chance of a flag capture by establishing air superiority over the central island before his slower opponents could make it there. That match would be quick, at least.

"But isn't IS Academy funded by the UN? Why are they so desperate to appease the sponsoring companies?" Cai asked.

"In theory IS Academy is a UN funded organization. In practice, the amount of funding they receive from the UN is only enough to sustain the bare minimum of IS Academy's functionality. The rest of the funding comes in the form of payments from sponsoring companies getting their hardware tested and their test pilots trained. If enough of those companies were to pull out, IS Academy would have to make a lot of cuts to its own budget, and that is without factoring in the immense amount of debt it is currently in. Long story short, they need every cent they can get right now, otherwise it might end up shutting down for several years." Lily continued.

Before Cai could reply, the hotel room door opened up and Lily's fourth squadron member, Sarah Delansky, walked in.

"She said she'll consider it. I guess that's as good as we're gonna get." She said as she flopped down onto the bed in front of Lily.

"Better than nothing, I suppose. Still, being cooped up in here all day is killing me!" Catelyn sighed. Lily privately agreed with her, which was why she had sent Sarah out to suggest to the teachers that it might be a good idea to send the students who had already dropped out of the tournament back to IS Academy.

"Yeah, it's better than nothing. Now come on, time for me to make good on my promise." Sarah shifted, allowing Lily to straddle her. A few moments later, she gave a happy sigh as her squadron leader began massaging her back.

As she worked, she glanced up to see Ichika make first contact with his opponents' squadron, who were evidently also trying to rush the flag. Of course, against a supersonic IS their ability to do so was limited, and they quickly dove for the water upon realizing that Ichika was already there, having seen the bright flash of light as he deployed all his drones at once. It was a good decision on their part, but even then there was little they could do when their opponent could conduct such a thorough underwater search for them. Ichika appeared to understand this too, as his drone swarm immediately dove into the water. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Ichika did not take the opportunity to just grab the flag and retreat, in spite of the fact that the instructors had clearly just given up on hiding it and tossed it onto the island at random. To some it might have seemed as though he wanted to play with his food, so to speak, but from what she knew of the boy it was more likely to be misplaced pity.

Now, if only Reikou hadn't been so short-sighted, that boy would have been firmly in her clutches alongside his sister. Alas, his mother just had to go berserk upon seeing that her family's first son relatively free of the effects of generations of inbreeding wasn't born with some genetic enhancements that could have been easily added in with just a few years of surgery and therapy.

She idly wondered just what the future would have been like had Ichika stayed with Phantom Task. Would he have turned out like Madoka and become her loyal companion and lover? She chuckled silently at the thought. No, barring a miracle or some intensive mental reconditioning in a dark cell twelve fathoms under the Pacific Ocean, she would have to be satisfied with his sister. Of course, Madoka wasn't so bad once one got over the shell of psychopathy and brusqueness that she kept up. At the end of the day, she was just a scared, lonely girl so desperate for companionship that she gave herself heart and soul to the sister of one of her childhood tormentors without a second thought. The fact that she was a damn good IS pilot too was just the icing on the cake, and judging by her brother it really did seem to run in the family. She had no doubt that Reikou would have been kicking herself for letting them slip through her fingers had she not been rendered completely batshit insane by her inbred pedigree.

Sarah gave one final contented sigh as Lily finished her massage, allowing her leader to get off her and stretch. The rest of her squadron looked up at her with hopeful eyes, and after a few moments Lily shook her head and made a show of acquiescing to their demands. Her squadmates were like puppies, really. Ridiculously eager to please once she'd broken the ice with them, and while their skills were still rather lacking she had no doubt that she could hone them into something magnificent given a month or two. Of course, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to do so. After all, if everything went according to plan, she would likely find herself opposing them on the battlefield. Unless, of course she could convert them, or at the very least, bring them fully under her command. Knowing her father's plans for the future, she knew she wouldn't even have to convert them to Phantom Task's silly ideology of strength through eugenics, but even then it would be a long shot to convince some of them, Cai and possibly Shizune specifically, to abandon their families even temporarily. Still, it would be nice to have an elite cadre of IS pilots loyal to her and her alone. The more she thought about it, the more she liked it, and as she got ready to give Cai her own massage, she decided that at the very least, it would be worth a shot to make them hers. If worst came to worst, she could just make them disappear. Having teleportation tags built into their IS suits made doing so very easy, after all.

About an hour after he left Ichika found himself back at the hotel, following his squadron inside. He quickly spotted Houki waiting in the atrium, although the rest of her squadron was nowhere to be found. She looked up as he walked in.

"Hey, Houki!" Ichika greeted her as she came over. She gave him a smile in return.

"You did pretty good out there." She replied.

"I tried to end it fairly quickly." Ichika said, and Houki nodded.

"Looks like you're fighting Charlotte next. That one's going to be fun." She changed the subject as the girl in question walked through the door.

"Hey Houki! What are you doing down here?" She asked, approaching them.

"Well, my squadron would have been on the next bus out, but since my opponent forfeited they just want her to come out with me to confirm the forfeit on camera. They're hoping that if they showed it to everyone and then explained the procedure for a forfeit, they might be able to get other squadrons in no-win scenarios to drop out." Houki replied, her smile fading.

"Ah, that explains it. Anyway, that means you'll have more time to plan for your next fight. Judging by the tournament brackets, you're probably going to go up against the Swedish representative candidate." Charlotte replied, giving Houki an encouraging look.

"Of course, of course, planning..." Houki replied.

"Speaking of planning, I have to start preparing for the fight against you, Charlotte." Ichika said, before turning to his squadmates.

"On that note, how does lunch sound right about now?" He asked.

"It's a bit early, but I don't mind." Theresa answered.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I slept in and ended up skipping breakfast. I'm starving right now!" Sakura added.

"I have no objections." Ayane said, while Rei just nodded.

"Then it's settled." Ichika replied, turning to Charlotte.

"I would invite you two as well, but unfortunately this meeting is for Archer Squadron members only." He said.

"No worries. In fact, I'd say my squadron is due to attend a similar meeting, wouldn't you all agree?" Four French girls nodded in response.

"Well then, I'll see you later." Ichika replied.

"You too. Oh, and don't even think about going easy on me." Charlotte answered and Ichika laughed.

"Of course not. You're pretty, Charlotte, but you're not that pretty." As soon as those words left his mouth, Ichika realized that he made a critical mistake. Charlotte's smiling face briefly shifted into an angry glare that could have frozen the blood in his veins.

"Ichika... You've doomed us all..." Ayane muttered as Charlotte gave him a saccharine smile.

"Orimura-kun... If you beg for mercy right now, I'll make it quick!" She said sweetly.

"It's on now..." Theresa added, shivering beside him.

"Um... Sorry?" Ichika said weakly.

"Not good enough~!" Charlotte sang, before turning away.

"Come on girls! We have a battle to win!" She said, before leading her squadron out the door.

"Ichika, I thought you'd grown out of your foot in mouth phase..." Houki sighed.

"He's certainly done it now. Come on, let's get something to eat and then try to figure out a way to get out of the hole our dear squadron leader just dug." Theresa said, before heading off to the food court.

"One second, I need to get my practice rig. I'll find you when I'm ready!" Ayane said as she headed for the stairs.

"Shouldn't we change out of our pilot suits first?" Rei asked.

"Good point. We'll meet up down here when we're ready, alright?" Ichika asked.

"Got it." Theresa replied, changing course for the elevator. The rest of the squadron followed suit, leaving Ichika alone with Houki, although they weren't alone for very long before another girl came down the stairs and approached them.

"Good morning." She said, a tight smile on her face as she addressed Houki.

"Good morning." Houki replied, her face impassive.

"Let's get this over with." The other girl answered, before heading out the door.

"Ichika, I should be going as well. I'll see you soon." Houki said.

"See you soon." Ichika said, before making his way upstairs to change.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's get started." Theresa called the strategy meeting to order once they had all finished eating.

"First, what do we know about Charlotte's IS?" She asked, turning to Ichika.

"I know that firepower-wise, she has us all outclassed. Engaging her in melee is out of the question, and even a short to mid range fire exchange is going to be skewed heavily in her favor. She also has guided missiles available, although I am confident enough in my IS suit's ability to intercept them before they hit." He replied.

"So that means we have to keep our distance and stick close to you while you and Theresa whittle her down at long range?" Ayane asked.

"That sound good. However, I'm not sure how effective those cannon pods of hers are in the point defense role. I think Aurora should be able to get through, but my drones probably won't." Ichika replied.

"I see a fairly big problem with this plan though, namely that if we're going to keep our distance it would be difficult to stop Charlotte's teammates from going for the flag." Theresa pointed out.

"That is not a problem. Since Charlotte can probably intercept my drones, I can send them over to the island instead. They might even be able to retrieve the flag while we skirmish."

"Hmm... So what do we do? Rei, Ayane and I don't exactly have much in the way of long range weaponry." Sakura asked.

"Actually, I might have a solution to that." Ichika replied, holding out his hand and allowing a trio of equalizer units to materialize in its palm.

"No way!" Theresa exclaimed.

"These are the prototypes of designs Five, Six and Ten. I figure that before we start selling them to the student body, we should get some combat testing done." Ichika replied.

"That's... That's impossible! There's no way you could have finished anything in this time!" Theresa exclaimed.

"You'll find that having an IS suit lets you ignore things like time constraints." Ichika replied, before turning to the rest of his squadron.

"I've only got one of each, so you'll have to choose which one to use among yourselves."

"So what do they do?" Sakura asked.

"I was about to get to that. First, Number Five is a one hundred and fifteen millimeter smoothbore gun." As he spoke, a hologram of the weapon in question shimmered into view in the center of the table.

"For this, you've got two choices of ammunition, ballistic and rocket. Both use plasma warheads taken from the Aurora, and both use the same type of fuse." The hologram shifted to display the two different projectiles, one nearly three times as long as the other.

"The short one is the ballistic round. It just follows a ballistic trajectory when fired, and can effectively be used against targets up to three kilometers away. The long one is the rocket round. When fired, it accelerates up to mach six using its built in motor before going ballistic, and it can reliably be used against targets up to ten kilometers away. That said, the rocket round probably won't do much at that range against airborne and evading targets. That said, its powerful warhead means you don't have to land a direct hit. The weapon comes with an optical targeting system linked to your hyper-sensor." Ichika continued.

"So how is it reloaded? I don't see any magazine on that thing." Sakura asked.

"Due to the wide variation in ammunition size, this gun is a single shot weapon. You will have to manually reload the weapon after each shot." Ichika replied, pointing to the rear of the holographic weapon, where a shot was being inserted and then pulled in by rollers.

"Damn... That's pretty inconvenient." Sakura sighed.

"You sure you couldn't just make it fire guided missiles?" Theresa asked.

"That would be possible, yes, but it would be a waste of the barrel's length. If an IS wants to launch guided missiles, it would be more effective to either create a smaller dedicated launcher or just attach them to underwing pylons. Still, making a missile that fits this should not be too much of a problem." Ichika replied.

"What about the others?" Rei asked.

"Number Six is a seventy millimeter high velocity rifled gun. It's effective out to six kilometers, and fires fragmentation rounds equipped with the same smart proximity fuses as Number Five. It has a five round magazine, which takes around two seconds to load the weapon after each shot. Its targeting system is an adapted version of the one used on Number Five." Ichika continued, the hologram changing to take the form of the new weapon.

"Wait, that's basically the same as Number Five but with a lower caliber, shorter range, and a three shot magazine. What's the point of it?" Theresa asked.

"The primary advantage of this design is weight. Compared to Number Five, the gun weighs about two hundred kilograms less, and the ammunition is about a third of the weight of a Number Five ballistic round. Its magazine also affords it a significantly faster fire rate. Recoil is also significantly lower." Ichika replied.

"I see. I'll stick with my sun gun."

"Very well. Any other questions?" When none came, Ichika continued on.

"Finally, we have Number Ten, which is a missile launcher. Right now it can only take impulse seekers, but I am currently working on a targeting method that uses networked IS suit hyper-sensors to triangulate the target's position in real time and relay targeting information to the missile while it is in flight. The missile, once again, has a plasma warhead taken from the Aurora. The launcher has a four shot magazine." He explained.

"Wait, this thing uses a whole new targeting system? How does that work?" Theresa asked.

"It takes optical silhouette detection and rangefinder data from multiple squadron hyper-sensors and uses that to calculate the position of the target IS. This position data is relayed to the missile as it travels via radio signals. The advantage of this system is that it cannot be fooled by flares or chaff, as well as its upper range limit being the same as that of our hyper-sensors. However, it requires at least two IS suits in the squadron to maintain line of sight to the target while the missile is in flight. It also will not work without at least two IS suits networked together." Ichika replied.

"So the enemy can fool it by hiding behind a cloud?" Theresa asked.

"Yes, that would work. It also won't work during particularly cloudy nights. Anything that breaks line of sight will cause the missile to go autonomous towards the target's last known location and activate its impulse sensor. It will then home in on the reading closest to the last known target position. That means no firing into a melee." Ichika replied.

"Got it."

"Alright, any other questions?" Ichika asked.

"Don't think so." Sakura replied. Theresa looked as though she was about to ask something for a moment, before shaking her head.

"No." She said.

"Alright. Take your pick." Ichika said, pushing the equalizers into the center of the table. Immediately, Rei's hand snaked out and grabbed Number Ten. Sakura's hand smacked the empty table where it lay a moment later, and the black haired girl growled in annoyance as she grabbed Number Five instead. That left Ayane, who eyed the equalizer for Number Six with distaste.

"Do I have to? I don't want to weigh down my IS with an oversized sniper rifle and who knows how many tons of ammunition." She asked.

"I mean, I'm not going to force you to use it, but the battle against Charlotte isn't looking like it's going to contain much in the way of melee combat." Ichika replied. Ayane looked at him for a moment, before sighing and taking the weapon.

"Fine, but I'm removing it as soon as the battle is over." She said.

"Fair enough. I'm probably gonna do the same." Sakura added.

"What, no appreciation for my hard work?" Ichika teased.

"Well, I mean, it's nice and all..." Rei began.

"But these guns are really heavy and our suits can't keep up with you as it is. It wouldn't be so bad if we could rapid-switch those weapons out, but unless you have four IS cores just lying about, that is just not possible." Ayane finished.

"Afraid those are a bit beyond my capabilities at this time. Still, I understand." Ichika replied with a smile.

"Alright, so we have some new guns. When do we install them?" Sakura asked.

"We should be able to do so right before the match starts. Unfortunately, that means you will have no time to practice with them." Ichika replied.

"So we're gonna be using them completely unprepared... And you expect us to hit things with them?" Ayane asked.

"Truthfully no, but hopefully you will be able to get close enough to trigger the proximity fuses." Ichika replied.

"Great..." Ayane sighed. Before anyone else could speak up though, a familiar voice cut through the chatter in the food court. Ichika looked up to see Chifuyu near the entrance, addressing the students within.

"Attention IS Academy Students! Due to student requests, any squadron that has been defeated in the tournament will soon be permitted to return to IS Academy. Upon return to IS Academy, your flight clearance will be restored, allowing for practice to resume. Buses to IS Academy will run daily at 14:00 hours, starting three days from now. Spread the word to students not in attendance." She announced.

"Huh... I guess it makes sense." Theresa mused.

"Doesn't affect us though... Unless we lose our next match." Sakura replied.

"Well then, let's make sure that doesn't happen!" Ichika said, returning his attention to his squadron.

They continued their discussion for several more hours before finally going their separate ways. Ichika took the opportunity to buy dinner for the rest of the girls before heading up, only to nearly bump into Cecilia as she exited the elevator. The English girl was wearing her coat unzipped over her pilot suit.

"Oh, Ichika-san! There you are!" She said as the rest of her squadron exited behind her.

"Cecilia? It's already time for your match?" Ichika asked. He could have sworn it was happening later in the day.

"Yeah, we were starting to get worried!" Cecilia replied.

"Sorry about that. Anyway, who are you up against?" Ichika asked.

"Sasha Vadimova, Russian representative candidate." She replied.

"Huh, you're up against her? Well then, good luck! I won't keep you waiting!" He said.

"Alright, enjoy the show!" Cecilia said with a laugh as she turned and headed out.

"It's starting!" Tatenashi announced. All eyes went to the screen in the center of the room, where Cecilia's squadron was now being displayed.

"Starting over Habomai and sponsored by the Vladivostok National IS Development Bureau, we have the Squadron 314, the Red Falcons!" The camera panned over Sasha's squadron and Ichika took the moment to examine it, having missed their first match. Sasha's IS, the Chernaya Karakatitsa, was equipped with a pair of long sabers, along with a double barreled cannon in a turreted mount on its left wing. On the other wing Ichika recognized the presence of a laser defense system, although the device in question was normally mounted on tanks. All in all, it appeared to be a melee-focused design, albeit one capable of closing distance. Of course, how well such a design would fare against Cecilia's plasma cannon was anyone's guess. The rest of Sasha's squadron appeared to be equipped with military surplus equipment, with their right arms being taken up completely by thirty millimeter cannons taken straight off an old Su-27 fighter. The immense ammunition drums occupied the entirety of the space between their Blank Slates' wings, while their left arms carried long maces. The entire squadron was painted black, and all of them bore red stars on their shoulders. Evidently, the entire East Russian population of IS Academy had been grouped together in that squadron.

"Meanwhile over Shikotan and sponsored by the Alcott Foundation, we have Squadron 001, the Blue Spears!" Now the camera panned over Cecilia's squadron. Comparing her to her opponent, he concluded that technological superiority seemed to be on her side.

"Let the match... Begin!" Within two seconds of the match starting, Cecilia's gun was up and the first shot was fired. At the same moment, panels in Sasha's suit's wings opened up and released a flurry of canisters that exploded around her squadron, shrouding them in a cloud of dark grey smoke that seemed to almost glitter in the fading sunlight.

"What the... I've lost lock!" Cecilia called out as her first shot punched into the cloud, only to pass harmlessly out the other side.

"Can you re-acquire her?" One of her squadmates, the American, asked.

"No! My radar's just getting one big return off that cloud." Cecilia replied.

Meanwhile, her opponent was giving out orders in Russian, which Ichika translated.

"She's going to dive towards the ocean and somehow drag that smoke cloud with her. When she's low enough, she wants two of her squadron to go underwater while the rest follow her in the air." He explained as Sasha put her plan into action. True to her word, the smoke cloud followed their movements, giving away their position but simultaneously preventing Cecilia's squadron from locking on.

"Alright, looks like just sitting back and sniping her won't work. Time to close in. If you have a missile lock, wait until range is five kilometers or less, then you are free to engage. " Cecilia ordered.

"Understood." As they spoke, Cecilia's squadmates followed their leader into a shallow dive, staying together in a single group.

"How can that smoke block her radar?" Charlotte asked as the two squadrons closed.

"If I were to guess, I would say that the smoke is made up of dense metal particles. Make a thick enough cloud of those and it would probably be able to block most sensors. How she's keeping it suspended in the air around her though, I am not sure." Mabel, her AI, replied.

"Either some sort of active inertial stabilization tech or some sort of magnetic techno-magic. My money is on the magnets." Tatenashi mused.

"Not the way I would put it, but I'd say you're about right." Tuman commented.

Nearly a minute passed by with little action as both squadrons dove, with Cecilia's team leveling out about one kilometer above the ocean while her opponent continued down until the cloud entered the water. A few moments passed before it lifted back up again, the mass lost to the ocean being replenished with another burst of smoke grenades. As the smoke lifted back into the sky, Ichika spotted two sets of ripples where Sasha's squadmates had entered the water.

The two teams came closer and closer, but still no shots were fired.

"Hmm, Sasha must be just as blind as Cecilia is, otherwise she'd be opening fire by now." Laura noted as the two squadrons closed to within a kilometer of each other.

Suddenly, Cecilia stowed away her rifle in a flash of light. In its place she deployed another, smaller rifle, which she aimed at the cloud.

"Spread out and open fire! We're bound to hit something!" Cecilia ordered as she launched her drones. A moment later she opened fire, the rest of her squadron doing the same as they moved to encircle the smoke cloud. Plasma bolts and railgun slugs tore into the cloud, the metal cloud swallowing them whole as whatever force maintaining it held it together.

"Don't panic! Into the water, now!" Sasha ordered, and the cloud stopped moving forward. It slowly settled onto the water. For several more seconds Cecilia's squadron poured fire into it before their leader called for a hold.

"Hold fire, I'm sending in my drones. Something's not right." Cecilia said as two of her drones accelerated into the cloud. A few moments passed before Cecilia gasped.

"She's not in there! That means... Climb now!" She exclaimed, but even as she spoke the water beneath her squadron erupted as Sasha's own teammates breached the surface. Their guns roared to life a moment later, already aimed. Bright green tracers shot up at their targets, and one of Cecilia's squadmates fell out of the sky a second later.

"Ashley's down!" Even before her squadmate hit the water, Cecilia's drones had already engaged both attackers, while her remaining squadmates launched missiles. Four converged on each target and one of Sasha's teammates, distracted by Cecilia's drones, was eliminated before she could react. The other was able to release flares and dive back into the ocean, but not before taking multiple plasma cannon hits.

"Circle up! Sarah, watch our six. Jen, take my right side. Hannah, take my left. If you see anything, call it out. We climb to two thousand meters, then hold position." Cecilia ordered.

Her squadron complied, and for two long minutes nothing happened. Sasha's smoke cloud soon came to settle on the water, leaving a visible slick on its surface. Beneath the waves, hidden to both Cecilia's squadron and the observation cameras, Sasha's squadron maneuvered into position for its next attack.

"Behind us!" Sarah, Cecilia's Canadian squadmate, exclaimed as two of Sasha's squadmates exited the water some distance away, their guns blazing. Judging by the numbers painted on their suits' shoulders, they were the ones who had entered the water early in the match. Their attack, however, was nowhere near as lethal as the first ambush, and Cecilia's squadron quickly pivoted to face them and returned fire.

"Looks like she's taken a page out from Tina's book." Rin commented as missiles and plasma flew at their targets. Cecilia's drones joined the fray shortly afterwards, attacking the pair of East Russian pilots from four directions. While the East Russians were able to evade their fire, the constant pressure of dodging making it almost impossible for them to shoot back.

"She's trying something similar, yes, but visibility is not on her side. Tina was able to run rings around my squadron because we were fighting in zero visibility and left our searchlights on. Here, Cecilia can pin them down as soon as they exit the water and start shooting back." Laura replied.

"But why aren't they diving now? They've been spotted already, and with all the incoming fire they can hardly aim their guns. Why are they..." Houki trailed off as Sasha's IS breached the water behind her opponents, accelerating towards them with sabers drawn. One of Cecilia's squadmates must have noticed something, as she began to pivot and bring her gun to bear, but she only had enough time to shout out half a warning before Sasha's cannon opened fire. High caliber rounds exploded against her shield, and a second later she went down.

"Behind us! Evade!" Sasha's first strike passed through empty air as Cecilia gracefully somersaulted over her opponent. Already her long rifle was gone, rapid switched out for her shorter, faster firing Stardust plasma cannon. Said cannon opened fire a moment later as Sasha's fourth squadmate decided to exit the water once again. The East Russian girl barely had a moment to react before her IS was hit, its already depleted shield breaking under the brief burst.

However, the distraction meant that Cecilia's focus was no longer on her main opponent, and Sasha's second strike slammed squarely into her suit's shield. A third strike landed a moment later, while Cecilia was still pivoting to face her opponent. Already, Sasha was bringing her free saber around for a finishing blow, but just before it landed a second sword intercepted the strike.

"We've got this! Get back and finish her!" Jen said as Sasha withdrew her second saber while her suit's cannon swung around to target her new foe. Sarah took the opportunity to open fire, her railgun firing for only a short half-second before it ran out of ammunition. However, its shots hit true and threw off Sasha's aim. Green tracers went wild as their target dropped below the cannon's field of fire.

Not one to let the opportunity go to waste, Cecilia quickly gained some distance between herself and her opponent, switching to her faster firing plasma gun once again. As Sasha struggled to disengage from her two attackers, Cecilia took aim and opened fire. The stream of plasma bolts struck home, and Sasha's shield quickly broke under sustained fire.

Their primary opponent gone, Cecilia's squadron could now engage their remaining opponents with impunity. Soon, both East Russian IS suits were bobbing on the surface of the ocean, their shields gone. The feed cut out a moment later as Cecilia's squadron began to descend and pull its defeated opponents out of the water.

"Whoa... I did not think it was possible to get into melee range of the Blue Tears like that." Rin spoke first.

"Had she gotten one or two more of her squadmates in that close, she would have likely won." Kanzashi added.

"Yeah..." Tatenashi murmured. Ichika turned to see her frowning at the television set.

"Are you still concerned about her?" Ichika asked, referring to Sasha.

"Of course I am. Her entire squadron, really. Every one of them is an enlisted member of the East Russian VVS after all." Tatenashi sighed.

"Don't see how that should be too much of a problem. I'm in the PLAAF, and Laura here is in the Luftwaffe, and you don't seem to have any problem with us." Rin pointed out.

"Neither the PLAAF nor the Luftwaffe have a grudge against me. The East Russian Air Force, on the other hand, definitely does. The West Russian one too, come to think of it, but the Mysterious Lady was under development at Komsomolsk-on-Amur so it would have gone to the East..." Tatenashi trailed off as her phone buzzed. She quickly scanned the message before standing up.

"Well, looks like I've got another meeting to attend. Apparently there were so many forfeits by unarmed Slate squadrons that the tournament brackets need to be restructured. I'll see you all later." She said, before heading out the door.

"Well that was convenient." Rin muttered once the door closed and a few moments had passed.

"So how did Tatenashi get the Mysterious Lady anyway?" Laura asked.

"From what she's told me, she acquired the Mysterious Lady's core from Russia by agreeing to both be its representative at IS Academy and then serve in the Russian IS Corps afterwards, but that doesn't make sense." Kanzashi replied.

"What do you mean?" Laura asked.

"Because I know my family would have never allowed her to serve in the Russian military." Kanzashi replied. She opened her mouth, as if to continue, before shaking her head.

"Is that all?" Laura asked.

"Yes." Kanzashi replied, hesitating only slightly.

"I see." Laura muttered, evidently deciding to let the matter drop.

The room was silent for a few awkward moments before Rin spoke up.

"So, what's going on with the bracket restructuring?" She asked.

"Judging by what Tatenashi said, most of the remaining unsponsored squadrons just forfeited. Most of the brackets are empty or extremely depleted as a result, meaning that the sixty-odd squadrons left in the running have to be moved around and paired off." Charlotte replied, before pausing and giving Ichika a look.

"Of course, I don't think that existing pairs will be part of the rearrangement process. That means I still have my match with you to look forward to!" She continued with a smile.

"Likewise." Ichika smiled back, trying to ignore the cold fear he felt at Charlotte's saccharine smile.

The next match turned out to be a forfeit, followed by an announcement that the rest of the day's matches had been cancelled. Cecilia returned around half an hour later, bringing dinner with her. As for Tatenashi, she would not be back until much later, after they had all fallen asleep, the student council president sliding into bed and cuddling up to her sister.

"Madoka, there has been a change of plans. According to recent reports, the tournament length has been significantly reduced. Instead of the month we thought we had, I'm now estimating a week and a half or so before it ends." Madoka held back a sigh of relief at the news.

Already she had been stuck out in the middle of nowhere for far too long, and she wasn't buying Squall's constant excuses of her needing to stay close to the target area. After all, someone as highly ranked as Squall could have easily commandeered one of the several submarines in the area, and Madoka would have had a roof over her head and an actual shower to keep herself clean. But no, instead Squall had sent her into the wilderness of Sakhalin with only an inert drone for company.

"Understood. Am I permitted to launch tomorrow?" Madoka asked instead.

"No, the forecast says Iturup will likely be covered up tomorrow, along with several smaller islands." This time Madoka did sigh.

"I know, I know, but this has to be perfect. I want to spot the exact launch points the enemy uses, and that means no cloud cover. Don't worry though, if the weather doesn't permit that, we can settle for just finding the island." Squall continued. More likely, Madoka thought, her leader just wanted her out of her hair while she recruited some new officers for their cell.

"I understand. Is there anything else?"

"That's all for now. I will contact you if anything changes." Squall answered.

"Understood."

"Good. I'll see you soon enough. Don't worry, you'll still get your vacation, I'll just have to extend it." Squall said, before cutting the connection. Madoka shook her head and curled up into her sleeping bag. Some time off at a beach resort at Squall's expense would have been nice, were it not for the fact that her superior would have been there as well.

The next morning Ichika was woken up by a stabbing pain in his crotch. As he cried out in pain his eyes snapped open, to reveal a mortified looking Kanzashi staring down at him, and as he curled up into a ball he realized that he had fallen out of bed sometime during the night.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Kanzashi squeaked as she withdrew her foot back over the edge.

"It's... fine..." Ichika ground out in response, doing his best not to writhe in agony. Kanzashi continued to apologize as she made her way to the bathroom, while Ichika began to slowly clamber back into the bed.

"It's not funny." He growled to Tatenashi, who was desperately trying to suppress her laughter.

"But it was! Things like that just don't happen in real life!" She choked out.

"Mmh... What happened?" Rin's sleepy voice made itself heard.

"Nothing!" Ichika exclaimed, his voice an octave higher than normal.

"Then go back to sleep! What time is it anyway?" Rin growled.

"It's... Actually pretty late. Not much point in going back to sleep now." Tatenashi replied after a glance at the clock. Rin gave a frustrated growl, before leaping out of bed, earning an outraged squawk from Cecilia in the process.

"What was that for?" The blonde demanded as the rest of the girls began to stir.

"If I can't sleep, nobody can. First shower is mine." Rin growled, stalking off towards the bathroom.

"Remind me not to wake her early again..." Tatenashi muttered.

Throughout all this, Ichika hadn't moved from his curled up position on the edge of the bed.

"You alright?" Tatenashi asked, mirth giving way to concern.

"What does it look like?" Ichika bit out.

"Ah... I'm sorry for laughing." Tatenashi replied.

"Got it." Ichika muttered as the blue haired girl got out of bed as well.

Kanzashi's match wouldn't come for another few hours, Ichika spending the time watching the day's matches. Fortunately, the mass forfeit of the previous day meant that it was no longer a stream of one-sided battles with a few even matchups every once in a while.

The currently ongoing match, the one immediately before Kanzashi's, was particularly interesting in that it was a matchup between a sponsored squadron of Blank Slates and a squadron of modified Revives. Evidently the Dunois corporation had recovered enough from its hard times to work on a service life extension for the Revive. This upgraded model had its shoulders expanded, with the left carrying a radar while the right held space for a missile pod. Two members of the Revive squadron had gone with a trio of long range missiles in said pod, while the rest carried three times as many short range missiles. The extra weight's effect on speed was mitigated by a pair of additional engines in wing pylons, and a second battery.

Pilot protection had also been introduced to the design, in the form of a few plates that covered the chest and thighs of the pilot, along with a helmet that both covered the top and rear of the pilot's head and held a holographic HUD system. From what little information Ori had been able to glean on the design, the armor plates would be jettisoned in the event of an ejection, and the pilot would simply fall out of the suit and parachute down. It was simpler than the approach used in the Infinite Arsenal and the upgraded Blue Tears, and probably wouldn't work well at low altitudes, but it was also cheaper and did its job of protecting the pilot well enough.

"I'm surprised. I didn't think the Dunois corporation would be able to get something like this out so soon." Rin said as the match began.

"I'm not. They've practically cornered the global market for mass production IS suits. Russia's in no state to export its suits, the American Hellhound-E doesn't offer anywhere near enough of an improvement over the Revive to be worth the price tag, the Eurostratos program fell apart, the Uchigane is useless and the Chinese W-5 had that downgrade scandal that it never really recovered from, not to mention a rather abysmal combat record thus far." Charlotte replied.

"What do you mean, scandal? It was just a regular downgrade of an export version!" Rin exclaimed.

"Maybe, but the company making them didn't tell that to the Pakistanis. They thought they were getting a cutting-edge second-gen frame that was superior to the Revive, and instead they got stripped-down skeletons lacking basic systems like lock-on warning sensors." Charlotte replied. Laura shook her head at that.

"Typical. That's why it's always better to build your own hardware." She said.

"Not everyone can, though." Ichika pointed out.

"Still, you'd think there would be a bit more competition..." Houki mused.

"Oh there is, it's just that none of it is ready yet. The Swedes have a good portion of Eastern Europe sold on whatever they're building, Poland and the UK have their own projects, the US is upgrading its Hellhounds to be actually worth the price tag, China's trying to win back customers in the middle east with W-5Bs, and both Pakistan and Brazil seem to be doing pretty well at playing catch-up. Right now, the competitor closest to being ready is the German Huckebein, which has just started its low rate initial production run. It doesn't have any export customers yet, but there are a lot of people likely eyeing it with interest."

"So the Dunois corporation is trying to get ahead of the competition with its own design."

"Exactly."

"How do you know all this?" Houki asked.

"It's important to know such things when you plan to eventually run a corporation that produces IS suits. Isn't that right, Charlotte?" Cecilia answered.

"Wait, you're going to take over the Dunois corporation?" Rin exclaimed.

"No. My father was fired from his own company, his name was struck from the Revive, and and I doubt that the new leadership is interested in letting me just walk in and inherit without some solid legal backing. Unless something significant happens, trying to take control of my father's company will take a long, messy legal battle that I have no guarantee of winning. I might end up signing on to them as a test pilot after I'm done at IS Academy, but aside from that, nothing. I just like IS history." Charlotte replied.

"Planning that far ahead, are you?" Tatenashi asked.

"Well, I mean-"

"Care to let us in on your plans for the future?" The student council president continued.

"W-Well... I mean, I thought I'd just be a test pilot for either Aero Infini or Dunois corporation. I have enough money to live comfortably, a villa in the French countryside..." Charlotte trailed off.

"Looks like you're set for life! Mind leaving a room for me at that villa? I might drop in from time to time." Tatenashi exclaimed.

"Why not? It has plenty of room." Charlotte replied. She looked like she would say more, but Tatenashi had already turned away.

"So, now that Charlotte's said her piece, it's only fair that the rest of us go! Now come on! We've still got time until my sister's match! Why don't you go first, Cecilia? Where do you see yourself once you're done with IS Academy?" She said.

"I would think it's pretty obvious. I have a company to both run and test hardware for, and shady business dealings with a certain covert organizations to conduct on the side. In a decade or so, I'll probably be in my London penthouse, sipping tea and talking on the phone with someone important." Cecilia replied without hesitation.

"Is that it? Just business?" Tatenashi asked.

"Well, I think it's a bit too early to start planning for children. It's not like I don't want any, but..." Cecilia trailed off, shooting a quick glance at Ichika.

"I get it... Mind getting me a penthouse in London as well?" Tatenashi asked.

"That... Wouldn't be impossible, but it will come with certain terms and conditions... For starters, you will refer to me as Cecilia-sama at all times. I'll think of a few more down the line." Cecilia replied with a smirk.

"Yikes... No deal then. What about you, Rin?"

"I haven't really thought about it much. I mean, I've got a career in the PLAAF lined up for me, as a test pilot, demonstrator and probably an instructor, but after that? Haven't really given it much thought. I... I'd like to have a little girl though. Maybe a boy too..." Rin trailed off, and Ichika saw Houki's frown deepen. He saw Tatenashi frown too, briefly, and realization began to dawn on him.

"What about you, Laura?" Tatenashi turned to the German girl.

""After much thought, I have decided on a minimum of six children, in three pairs of twins. Two for the Heer, two for the Luftwaffe, and two for the Marine. Depending on my feelings they may be more. I myself will, of course, be a bit more highly ranked at that point, probably acting as an instructor to future IS pilots in addition to normal duties of command. I will, naturally, be married to a diligent wife who will instill martial pride and discipline into my children when I am not around, while also spoiling them just a bit to ensure that they remain mentally sound. He will naturally have to ensure the boys are sufficiently manly, and the girls' suitors are properly vetted. Depending on the circumstances I may need to enlist your aid as well, Charlotte. Your villa presumably has expansive enough property to conduct mock exercises without disturbing the neighbors with gunfire... Oh, and I'll probably end up acting as an Organization liaison. That is almost a foregone conclusion at this point." Laura replied without missing a beat.

"L-Laura..." Charlotte began before trailing off.

"That's certainly something..." Tatenashi added.

"So, will you allow me to conduct small-scale training exercises on your property, Charlotte? I promise that damage to the area will be minimal. Heavy armor wouldn't be sent across the border, at least." Laura continued.

"I'm not sure..."

"Moving on, what about you, Houki?"

"Huh? W-Well... I... I mean, I'm not sure. I guess I just want to live a normal life once I'm out of here." She replied.

"Really? Then why are you here? IS pilot training isn't exactly conducive to a normal life." Tatenashi asked.

"Ah, well..."

"Does it have to do with your sister?"

"Yes."

"I see. In that case, I will not pry. So, what about you, Ichika?" He took a few moments to choose his words before replying.

"I'd say a normal life is out of the question for me." He pretended not to notice Houki's small sigh at that.

"I haven't really given much thought to family. Once I'm out of IS Academy, I'm probably going to head off to Urup, actually earn my rank in the IS Corps, and then do as much good as I can. It won't pay as well as running an IS company, and it certainly won't be glamorous, but... I want to make a difference in this world. Call me an idealist, but I would much prefer any future children I do have to grow up in a world where Phantom Task isn't a threat." He saw Tatenashi nod at that.

"What about you, Tatenashi?" He asked.

"Pretty much the same as you. Once I'm out of IS Academy, I'm probably going to drop off the map, keep a low profile, and continue my family's work. The Phantom Task problem needs to be solved once and for all, and I would prefer to be the last Sarashiki to have to deal with it." Tatenashi sighed.

"And I feel like this is something that all of you should keep in mind. We're all in the same boat here, and unless the Phantom Task problem is dealt with, I doubt that any of us will be able to see that ideal future become reality." She continued.

"What are you saying?" Rin asked.

"I'm saying that Phantom Task is dangerous. I know that more than anyone else."

"Does that have anything to do with your rather quick assignment to, and promotions in, the intelligence division?" Ichika asked.

"Yes."

"What does that mean?" Laura asked.

Instead of responding directly, Tatenashi turned to her IS.

"Tuman, how much can I say?"

"I will warn you if you approach something I will be obligated to report." The AI replied, its holographic form shimmering into view. Ichika raised an eyebrow at that. Just how much classified information was Tatenashi privy to?

"Thank you. Now, let's start with the obvious. From what you've all seen so far, what do you believe Phantom Task is capable of?" The blue haired girl began, glancing at Laura. Naturally, the German girl was the first to answer.

"Phantom Task's exact capabilities are unknown, but from what I've seen it is capable of fielding submarines possessing advanced technology that is ahead of anything present in contemporary navies, capable of acquiring IS cores in large numbers, producing IS suit equivalents in similar numbers, capable of making up for any possible manpower shortage with their golems' automated combat capabilities, is brazen enough to attack targets like Pearl Harbor and IS Academy, and is fully aware of... Oh no..." Laura's face was white as a sheet by the time she finished.

"And is aware of how IS cores operate to the degree that they are able to convert them into weapons of mass destruction with no theoretical upper limit to their yield." Tatenashi finished.

"That's..." Charlotte began, but trailed off.

"Incredibly terrifying to think about?" Tatenashi prompted.

"That is an understatement." Cecilia replied.

"But why haven't they been used like that yet? We've seen it at IS Academy, but that was only to destroy the Golems to prevent capture." Rin exclaimed.

"Simple. Because their goal goes beyond simple terrorism-"

"This is my cue to give my warning, Tatenashi. Sorry, but you're approaching the line." Tuman interrupted.

"Thank you. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions from there." Tatenashi finished.

"Why are you telling us this?" Rin asked.

"Presumably to remind us what is at stake." Laura replied dryly.

"Just a reminder, yes."

"And here I was thinking it was a loyalty test of some sort." Rin said, her voice only half joking.

"Not quite. Honestly, I didn't mean to say anything, but once the conversation started I thought I had to do it. The Organization won't just let you cleanly part ways with it once you graduate." Tatenashi replied, looking the Chinese girl in the eye.

"So I'm in this for life? I-" Rin's words died in her mouth as her eyes came to rest on Tuman's hologram.

"You're already reporting what I'm saying, aren't you?" She asked.

"Truthfully no, but I doubt you'll believe that." The AI replied.

"Rin, we're all friends here. The last-" Rin cut Tatenashi off mid-sentence.

"No. You are asking me to commit treason! I don't know about you, Laura, but-" A loud 'Crack!' echoed through the room as Laura slapped the Chinese girl across the face.

"Laura!" Ichika exclaimed.

"I am fully aware of what I am doing, Cadet Huang. Yes, it can be considered treason. However, at the moment I see the Organization as the best option for the continued existence of the world as we know it."

"And why is that? Advanced technology or no, I doubt that a bunch of rogue agents playing world police can match the full might of the People's Liberation Army. If the Organization could hold them off for so long, how much more effective would a united and fully aware world be?"

"It is precisely because the world is unaware that things haven't gone to shit! A decade ago you would have been right, but now? Phantom Task is pulling its punches now, content to let its grand plan unfold, but who knows what they'd do if we were to spook them? Tell me, Rin, do you enjoy the sight of mushroom clouds?" Tatenashi hissed.

"My thoughts exactly. Phantom Task has nuclear capability, but for whatever reason does not want to use it. Keeping things quiet, finding their base, intercepting any attempts by them to move IS cores around, and finally striking a single killing blow is the only path towards an ideal ending. Escalation is a sure path to an immense death toll." Laura added.

"I... Dammit... None of you understand, do you?" Rin exclaimed. Before anyone could respond, she had already ran out of the room.

"Was this really the time or the place for this sort of conversation?" Ichika asked.

"No... Truth be told, I didn't intend to bring it up. It just... Happened." Tatenashi sighed.

"So what are you going to do now?" Cecilia asked.

"I am going to talk to her. Alone." Ichika replied, motioning for the other girls to stay seated as he stood.

"I'll try to be back in time for Kanzashi's match." He said as he left the room.

The door to Rin's room was closed when he arrived. He gave it a knock, and when no response came he had Ori undo the electronic lock.

"Was the closed door not enough of a hint?" Rin asked as he entered the room. Ichika didn't respond immediately, instead taking a seat across from her.

"So? Why are you here?" Rin demanded.

"I'm here because I want to hear your side of things. Without anyone interrupting."

"With a conveniently hidden AI observing and recording everything I say?" Rin replied, holding out her IS.

"Xingke, as the commanding officer of STS-01, I am ordering you to keep this conversation confidential." Ichika sighed.

"You are aware that I am forbidden from doing so without just cause." The AI replied, shimmering into view.

"If necessary I am willing to justify myself, but right now I think the situation alone is enough." He replied.

"I see... I will have to report you pulling rank though."

"Go ahead. I'm not concerned about a minor note in my file."

"Very well. This conversation will remain confidential." The AI winked out of existence.

"Is it really that easy to get us some privacy?" Rin asked.

"I'd prefer to not have to do that too often. One or two notes in my file I can deal with, but I would rather not deal with the fallout of something like this becoming regular." Ichika replied.

"I see..." Rin sighed.

"So, now that we're alone, do you mind telling me what is on your mind? What concerns do you have about the Organization?"

"I have a feeling you already know most of them."

"Still, I'd appreciate you telling me, just to make sure. You know how I can be sometimes." Rin got a small laugh out of that.

"We can start with the fact that it wants me to commit treason against my home country. I don't care what noble goals it claims to have, it still wants me to be loyal to it first and foremost, regardless of the cost to myself or my family!" She replied.

"I see..."

"Do you? What I've done already is enough to have my family be taken hostage should it come to light! If I were to outright defect with the ShenLong? I... I don't want to even think about it!"

"The Organization could guarantee your family's safety." Ichika pointed out.

"Could they? And even if they did, I'd be exchanging one hostage holder for another. In any case, it's off the table. Even if you could magically spirit my parents away, I'm not interested." Rin replied.

"Why not?"

"Isn't it obvious? What assurance do I have that the Organization and Phantom Task are not two sides of the same damn coin?"

"What do you mean?"

"Everything Phantom Task can do, your Organization can do as well. Mass produce IS cores? Check. Turn those cores into weapons of mass destruction? Check. Agents in high places all across the globe? Check! You claim it's trying to save the world, but for all I know it's just pursuing a different path to power. "

"I know a lot of people in the ranks who would mutiny if something like that came to pass."

"Altruism isn't exactly a common trait. Besides, that would only happen if your leaders were stupid enough to outright say it. But you've already got agents highly placed all over the world. What's stopping them from climbing even higher, opening the door for more agents to flow in and take control of governments one at a time, all in the name of world security? Then, when all the governments that can be taken over are under your thumb, all that remains is to remove the ones that don't cooperate, all in the name of a safer world. Can you assure me that this is not the case?" Rin demanded.

"I..." Ichika's response died on his lips as he realized that no, he could not.

"You can't, can you?" Rin replied after a long moment. Ichika sighed as he nodded, before walking over to sit beside her.

"No. I can't." He replied as he sat down, gently placing his hand over hers.

"But what I can tell you is that I would never allow for such a thing to happen... Rin, do you trust me?" He asked, looking the Chinese girl in the eye.

"Ichika... Back when we... We were younger, you stood up for me to the rest of the class. When my parents were arguing, you gave me a place to stay and... And a shoulder to cry on..." Rin murmured, leaning against him.

"So... So I trust you, but I don't trust the organization you are a part of."

"You're right to have your doubts, Rin. In fact, that's why I need you beside me. All those years ago, I joined the Organization because I wanted to make a difference in the world, to be something more than my sister's brother. So far, I have seen no reason to truly doubt it. But I wouldn't have any doubts to begin with if it weren't for people like you and Laura."

"What does Laura have to do with this?" Rin asked.

"Laura confronted me a while back about all of this. In the end, she took it upon herself to be my conscience, in a manner of speaking. She said that if lines were crossed... If a scenario like the one you outlined were to come to pass, she would ensure that I know, and do her best to take the Organization down before it could cause any harm. I agreed to stand with her should that come to pass. Will you do the same for me?"

For a long time, Rin was silent. Finally, her head came to rest on his shoulder.

"I will. But only for you." She replied.

"That's all I ask." Ichika said, wrapping his arm around her waist. He felt Rin shift closer to him at the gesture, her own arm coming around to reciprocate it.

"All I ever wanted was to have a good time with you at IS Academy... Why did things turn out like this?" Rin sighed. Ichika shrugged at that.

They stayed together until Ichika's phone rang, alerting him that Kanzashi's match was about to start.

"Shall we go?" He asked.

"Of course..." Rin replied, standing up beside him. Together, they headed back up to where the other girls were waiting.

"Starting over Habomai and sponsored by White-Sakamoto Innovations, we have Storm Squadron!" The announcer spoke as the camera panned over Kanzashi's squadron. The five IS suits were all painted white, with light blue highlights on their shoulders and wings. Each IS had the Japanese flag painted on its right shoulder, while the left held the WSI logo.

Kanzashi's squadmates were all armed identically, each carrying a particle rifle with an underslung grenade launcher in its hands while two missile launchers were integrated into their wings. However, what truly set the squadron apart was not visible to the naked eye. All five of Storm Squadron's IS suits were operating a prototype of the Organization's next-generation BattleNet coordination and analytics software. The original BattleNet allowed for near instantaneous sharing of information between units in the field, but this updated version was intended to take things a step further. Through real time analysis of hostile actions and intercepted information, the software would attempt to extrapolate and predict the future. Where its predecessor allowed users to react to threats with unprecedented efficiency, this one sought to allow them to outright preempt the enemy.

"And over Shikotan we have Grey Squadron, sponsored by Monochrome Technologies!" Now the camera switched to look over the opposition.

Grey Squadron's IS suits were, contrary to the name, painted a dark navy blue with black highlights. Ichika's eyes were immediately drawn to their leader's rather unusual-looking IS. By far its most distinctive feature were its four oversized wings, arranged in a rough cross about its body. Folded against them were what appeared to be cannons of some sort, denoting the IS suit's primary role likely being that of airborne artillery. In each arm it held another cannon, but no missiles of any sort were visible on its body. Kanzashi would probably have the advantage at long range, but closing in for a gunfight would be extremely dangerous.

"Hmm... Jacqueline's done well for herself. " Cecilia commented as the camera panned over the lead IS, giving a clear view of the blonde girl in the pilot's seat.

"You know her?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes. She was one of the runner-ups in the trials for British Representative Candidacy. She lost, of course, but evidently she caught someone's eye in the process."

"So she's good?"

"I remember she was very good at multitasking with the drones, probably the best one in the group to be honest. That said, she wasn't the best shot and her piloting skills just weren't good enough to compensate. She's almost certainly gotten better since the last time I've seen her though, otherwise she wouldn't be a representative." Cecilia replied.

"I see."

As for Grey Squadron's Blank Slates, there were two distinct models, a clear sign that their sponsor was very well funded. Both appeared to have a similar intended combat role, specifically that of long range missile and mid-ranged gun combat. The first model was equipped with a large rifle held in both hands, which appeared to have some supplementary attachments in the form of a bayonet and a secondary, larger caliber gun of some sort. In addition to this, a large single-tube missile launcher was mounted on its shoulder, with a large magazine being visible on the unit's back. These two units were on the immediate left and right of their leader, with the first bearing an Australian flag on its shoulder, while the second bore a Japanese flag.

As for the second variant, it held an even longer rifle, albeit one lacking the attachments of its counterpart. A second, much smaller gun was holstered on the unit's right hip, while the left was taken up by a nine-tube missile launcher. One bore a British flag, while the other bore a Taiwanese flag.

"Her whole squadron seems tough." Rin commented.

"Hmm... From weapons alone, Kanzashi actually seems to have the upper hand. I'm not sure how long the range on those missiles is, but Kanzashi has infinite ammunition and given enough time can resupply her squadmates on the fly. Grey Squadron, on the other hand, I'm not sure about. Of course, whether or not Kanzashi can use that to her advantage depends on whether or not she can outrun them." Ichika replied.

"Let the match... BEGIN!"

"Spread out! Miku, Kiko, with me. Noho, you go east. Mai, you're going west. Remember to stagger missile fire. Two seconds between each shot! When you're out, rendezvous with me." Kanzashi ordered, her group splitting up almost immediately.

"Stay together and make for the island. She's probably seen the Ignis already, so expect her to try and stagger fire. Everyone on me!" Jacqueline shouted simultaneously, her squadron sticking close to her as she made a beeline for the island.

"Is it wise to split up like that?" Laura asked.

"From what I remember of Grey Squadron's last fight, they have a plasma-based missile defense system optimized for dealing with swarms of targets. It's slow firing though, so the entire squadron had to coordinate fire to stop her opponent's missile barrages. If I'm reading this right, my sister is probably trying to swarm them with a multitude of spaced out, single targets from multiple directions, forcing them to either let missiles through or overuse their defensive systems and create an opening for a mass missile barrage." Tatenashi replied.

"But that leaves her squadmates open to be picked off one by one. If one of them is detected, an entire squadron could come down on them." Cecilia pointed out.

"She must be gambling on her squadron being faster than the opposition, allowing them to skirmish like that with impunity... Unfortunately that does not appear to have worked out in her favor. If you look at the radar map, it appears that Grey Squadron has the edge in speed." Laura replied.

"I'm confident my sister wouldn't gamble without a fallback plan if things get ugly." Tatenashi replied.

The two squadrons continued to close for about a minute before Honne detected the enemy.

"I see them! They're in missile range! Datalink is active." She reported.

"Hold fire until I give the order. In the meantime, accelerate and try to get a shot at their rear angle. The same goes for you, Mai." Kanzashi replied.

Then, about thirty seconds later, she spoke again.

"Miku, Kiko, lock on but hold fire until I give the order. I'm engaging." As she finished speaking, two missiles exited their tubes in the Uchigane Niishiki's wings, streaking towards their target. Two seconds later, another pair of missiles were launched, followed by another and another.

"Incoming! Dead ahead!" The incoming attack was spotted a few seconds later, the missiles already halfway to their target.

"Dive for the water!" Jacqueline ordered, her IS already streaking towards the ocean. Her squadron hit the water hard, and Ichika caught a brief glimpse of several shields flashing. Evidently, not all the pilots had bothered to brake. The missile barrage struck the water a moment later, detonating on contact.

"They've gone under. Hold position, they'll have to come up eventually." Kanzashi ordered.

"What do we do now?" One of Jacqueline's squadmates asked.

"Hmm... I have a plan. On my mark, we leave the water. We use the Ignis to clear a path until overheat, then dive and wait while it cools down. Got it?" Jacqueline replied.

"Roger!"

"Let's go!" At those words, Grey Squadron burst from out beneath the waves, making a beeline towards Kanzashi's position.

"They're out! Honne, Mai, open fire. Everyone else, hold and follow me." Kanzashi ordered as she turned around and accelerated away, her two nearby squadmates copying the maneuver. A few moments later, Honne and Mai launched their first missiles.

It took Grey squadron a bit longer to spot the incoming attacks. Upon doing so, they turned around and opened fire. Then, twin explosions rocked the sky as plasma incinerated the first set of incoming warheads.

"Spread out and fire at will!" Kanzashi ordered, turning around once again and launching more missiles, her two squadmates doing the same. Missiles now converged on Grey Squadron from all directions.

"We're surrounded! I'll act as bait! The rest of you, boost northwest and attack whoever's there." Jacqueline ordered as the majority of the incoming missiles came to converge on her. The cannons in her suit's wings unfolded from their stowed positions and began to fire at the incoming ordinance alongside the four Ignis units located in the wing roots and her handheld weaponry. The missiles that inevitably got through impacted against white energy barriers that would briefly flicker into existence, block the attack, and then vanish to be redeployed somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the rest of Grey Squadron accelerated towards Mai. The two different Blank Slate models appeared to have different boosters, as two of the units shot forward, briefly breaking the sound barrier in their rush to escape the incoming storm of fire, while the other two accelerated more slowly, quickly being left behind.

"Mai, you've got four IS suits making straight for you. Make your way towards me, Miku and I will assist. Kiko, keep firing at the leader." Kanzashi ordered as she rushed to assist her squadmate. As she flew, her right wing pivoted to continue firing at Jacqueline. Grey Squadron's leader was clearly struggling, the sheer volume of incoming fire overwhelming her defenses very quickly and forcing her into a series of hard evasive maneuvers, which in turn threw off the accuracy of her guns. One missile finally connected, then two, then three, and finally she dove beneath the waves. However, she had done her job.

"I have a lock! Finally, firing!" The faster two of Grey Squadron's Blank Slates had managed to get close enough for their own missiles and let loose. Two contrails now streaked towards Mai's IS, followed shortly afterwards by two more.

Kanzashi and Miku launched their own attacks a second later, splitting fire between the leading and trailing pairs. The trailing pair broke off, charging towards Kanzashi while the two leads continued onwards. Soon they were in gun range, their railguns opening fire from nearly twice the maximum range of Mai's own particle rifle. While none of their first few volleys connected, they did distract Mai, causing her to run right into an incoming missile.

Then, Jacqueline burst back out of the water and charged towards Kiko, who had been left to fend for herself. Honne attempted to defend her, but could only fire four missiles before her magazines ran dry. Undeterred, she charged forward, gun at the ready, but it was clear that she wouldn't make it in time. As for her missiles, two Ignis shots were enough to wipe them from the sky.

As the first railgun round began to fly towards her, Kiko began to fire her missiles more rapidly, launching six before her own magazines also ran dry. The girl followed her missiles, dodging incoming fire as best as she could in an attempt to close the distance for her own rifle. However, though she was able to weave through the initial barrage, as she closed the distance the rounds proved too fast for her to evade, and she was soon brought down. Her missiles, on the other hand, made it through. Two struck home, but they were not enough to down Grey Squadron's leader. With her opponent down, Jacqueline turned around and began to hunt for Honne, who had dove into the water when her squadmate went down.

As for the rest of Grey Squadron, the two trailing suits had managed to get into range of Kanzashi and launched everything they had, sending eighteen missiles towards the blue-haired girl. Not a single missile made it to its target though, as the Uchigane Niishiki's wings opened up and fired a full spread of forty-eight missiles at the incoming threat. The ones that missed were seamlessly retargeted at the attacking IS suits. Their Ignis units already overheated, they bore the full brunt of the attack. One of them went down immediately while the other played dead, escaping beneath the waves damaged but still active.

Their teammates, on the other hand, were having better luck with Mai. Isolated from her team and handily outranged, Kanzashi's squadmate had expended what remained of her missiles to no effect and was now unable to close the distance due to the storm of precise railgun and missile fire. Her shields were slowly whittled down, and eventually a final missile broke her shields and shot her down.

"Miku, watch the water. I'm going after those two." Kanzashi ordered, missiles already streaming off her suit's wings as she began to close with her new opponents.

"Roger!" Her squadmate replied, following close behind while keeping her gun pointed at the water below.

With their target eliminated, Mai's attackers turned to face the new threat, returning fire with their own missiles. Neither missile made it far though, Kanzashi deftly redirecting some of her own to intercept them.

Kanzashi's first barrage was wiped out by a pair of Ignis blasts, but the blue-haired girl merely launched another.

"Below us! I see a wake!" Miku reported.

"Fire at will!" Kanzashi shouted, and particle beams slammed into where Jacqueline's fourth teammate was hiding just beneath the surface. Her IS already damaged, the girl barely made it halfway out of the water before being disabled.

"Kelly, Kaguya, disengage now! Dive!" Jacqueline's panicked order came a moment later, and the two girls scrambled to obey. A pair of Ignis blasts took out some of the incoming missiles, but a few managed to strike home before they were able to reach the safety of the ocean.

"Stay deep underwater and make for the island! Once you have the flag, dive back under! I'll try to get their attention on me!" Jacqueline continued, abandoning her search for Honne.

"Miku... Follow me." Kanzashi ordered. She flew south for a few seconds before stopping, locking on, and firing all her missiles. She continued to hover as her missiles streaked towards her target, only to be obliterated by a single Ignis blast. The incoming threat dealt with, Jacqueline accelerated towards her attacker.

"Noho, wait until she's passed over you, then engage."

"Roger!"

As soon as Honne broke the waves, the railguns on Jacqueline's wings began to spin around, likely directed automatically, but Honne was already firing. Two particle beams hit home before Jacqueline managed to process what was going on, and her subsequent evasive maneuver threw off her railguns' return volley. Honne didn't bother to evade Jacqueline's second volley, and even as her shield began to flash from multiple hits she calmly lined up the killing burst. The entire ambush took less than ten seconds, and ended with Jacqueline's IS falling out of the sky.

"Excellent work. Everyone, to the island. We'll land there and wait. There's nowhere else for them to go at this point." Kanzashi ordered.

The three surviving members of Storm Squadron were waiting on the island's shore when their opponents finally emerged, and welcomed them with a barrage of particle cannon fire. Soon enough, Kanzashi's squadron was declared the match's victor.

"I see what you meant, Ichika. If Grey Squadron's missiles were longer ranged, this match would have turned out differently." Cecilia said as the screen faded to black.

"I'm more interested in that Ignis missile defense system. I'm not sure what it was intended to do, but as a point defense weapon I feel like it's inadequate. It's too slow firing to deal with spaced out streams of missiles, overheats way too quickly, and generally doesn't seem very effective outside of defending against dense swarms of targets." Ichika mused.

"It would certainly be effective against infantry in the field though, not to mention swarm drones. It would make short work of your knife missiles, that's for sure." Tatenashi replied.

"Still, that's nothing a few lasers can't do, and lasers almost certainly use less power and can also defend against prolonged attacks far better than that." Ichika replied.

"I'll have to agree with you on that. Replace those Ignis units with point defense lasers, and they'd have cleaned up my sister's missiles a lot more effectively." Tatenashi replied.

"You're fighting later in this round, right Tatenashi?" Houki asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, either tomorrow or the day after depending on how long the matches end up taking. Looking forward to seeing me perform?" The student council president asked.

"Naturally. You haven't had a real challenge in the tournament so far, after all." Houki replied.

"I'll be sure not to disappoint, then!" Tatenashi laughed.

Kanzashi would return an hour later, tired but with a smile on her face. Ichika joined the girls in congratulating her. However, as Tatenashi was busy embracing her sister and ruffling her hair, Ori pinged him on his watch to notify him of an urgent message. He briefly stepped out into the bathroom to read it.

'Report about security risk received and logged. Handling of situation deemed acceptable. No further action will be taken.'

Ichika's fist clenched. Evidently, Rin's AI had sent some form of report anyway. Deciding to save the confrontation for a more opportune moment, he dismissed the message, ordered Ori to acknowledge his seeing it, and stepped back out.

"Well done, Kanzashi-chan. At this rate, you'll be up against your sister in a few rounds." He said encouragingly.

"I'll hold you to it, sis!" Tatenashi added. Kanzashi blushed, and her response was lost as the TV blared, announcing the start of the next match. As the girls settled down to watch it he couldn't help but shoot a quick glance at Rin's IS, which hung loosely on her wrist. He didn't blame the AI, as it was almost certainly the result of another order superseding his own forcing it to send a message discreetly. Still, it was not a conversation he was looking forward to.

A/N: Here it is, finally done! As a bit of an apology to you all, this chapter is around 40% longer than average. Hopefully, the next one will not take as long to complete!

I would like to thank Lurkertheninth for contributing Grey Squadron to this story's ever expanding list of fanmade units. They've already been mentioned in a small cameo earlier in the tournament arc, but now they've gotten a full feature fight scene to their name.

Now as for the rest of the chapter... I'm not going to lie, I'm getting a bit tired of writing this arc, which is why I added in the mass forfeit to make it go a bit faster in-universe. Also, Lily's squadmates finally have names! As for Lily herself, she'll be getting a bit more development in a future arc, as well as some more time to interact with the rest of the cast.

Next up, we have the battles of the chapter. First up, Cecilia vs. Sasha was rather fun to right. Creating a way for a melee-focused IS to be able to close with the Blue Tears in an environment that heavily favored Cecilia was a bit of a challenge, but now that Tina has let the genie out of the bottle when it comes to underwater combat, you can expect a lot more squadrons to use similar tactics to defend against missiles and approach objectives slowly but stealthily. Case in point, Grey Squadron using it to hide from Kanzashi's missile spam.

Regarding Grey Squadron, I wrote it similarly to all the other battles against OC squadrons. You can see Grey Squadron's specifications on the fic's forum, but in the end it came down to Kanzashi's superior long range striking power winning over a somewhat unreliable experimental defensive system. Also Noho bagged a TIS this time around, but such actions are sure to draw attention to her...

Finally, we have the conversation with Rin, who has always struck me as being rather similar to Laura in some respects. In this story at least, she's very patriotic, takes her military position seriously, and as such is not particularly happy with the Organization. By comparison, Ichika is very much on the Organization's side, but places his friendships with the girls above it. In his ideal scenario, the girls get what they want and either successfully part ways with the Organization while keeping in touch with him, or stay with him as he gets more and more involved with it. He realizes that some of the other girls have some serious concerns about it, but ultimately doesn't really believe them. At the end of the day, he's forced to play an intermediary between the needs of the Organization and the needs of his friends. I hope I managed to portray him well in this role.

As always, feel free to review and point out any inconsistencies you may notice. I hope to get the next chapter out without such a long delay.