A/N: This chapter was somewhat delayed by real life, but it is done nonetheless. I hope you all enjoy this somewhat plot-heavy chapter.
Chapter 33
The meeting between Archer Squadron and Lily's squadron was also set to take place in the engineering building, in a conference room on the uppermost floor. However, as his squadron climbed out of the dark basement, Ichika realized that he had forgotten the drawings he had made of tent concepts in his dorm.
Said dorm was on the opposite end of campus, but a quick glance at his watch showed that there was still a little time left.
"Do you mind going on ahead and telling Lily that I'll be a little late? I need to get some things from the dorms." He said.
"No problem. I guess we did kinda derail any plans you may have had." Theresa replied.
With that being said, Ichika headed off, running into Tatenashi on the way.
"Need any help?" He asked, gesturing to the immense bundle of presents that the blue-haired girl was hauling with some assistance from her IS.
"Not right now, but when we come to a doorway it would be much appreciated." Tatenashi replied. Ichika laughed and agreed, walking alongside his roommate across the IS Academy campus.
"So, you're meeting with Lily Mallory, right? Trying to seduce her already, or are you going the slow route?" She asked after some time had passed, a teasing smile on her face.
"Nothing of that sort. Just want to get to know her better before..." Ichika looked around, seeing a few students nearby, potentially within earshot.
"Before the exercise. That and get our tent into production." He finished.
"Ah, I see. The long, slow route it is. Better long-term results that way!" Tatenashi giggled, and Ichika flushed.
"It's not like that!" Ichika protested as he made his way into the dorms.
"Of course it isn't. Now, do you mind helping me with these?" Tatenashi asked, lowering the bundle in her arms. Ichika took helped her move the packages through the doorway, before helping her carry them to their room. Setting them all down on the table, Tatenashi closed the door while Ichika picked up his drawings.
"I received a dossier on Lily late last night. I forwarded it to you, so you can read it in full, but the gist of it is that Lily is a bit of a genius. She was near the top of her class before leaving school for representative candidate training. There isn't much info on her training itself, but she apparently kept up with her coursework and then some. We've found some of her standardized tests taken several years early, and she has apparently managed to ace them. Aside from that though, there really isn't much on her. All the data we have is either from before her representative candidacy or from her brief stay at IS Academy, and you already know that second bit." Tatenashi spoke.
"I see. Nothing unusual?" Ichika asked.
"Aside from the standardized tests? Nothing really. Aside from her academic performance, there was nothing really that stood out, which seems a bit odd when you consider her personality. She doesn't really strike you as the introverted nerd, does she?" Tatenashi asked.
"She spent a few years training in a top secret facility to operate a cutting-edge IS that could potentially change the face of warfare. I'd say that's plenty of time for personality growth." Ichika replied.
"Exactly. That means most of what we know of her personality is hopelessly out of date. You're going to have to wing it." Tatenashi replied.
"That's not a problem. Truthfully, reading dossiers psychoanalyzing people to try and tailor my behavior around them is somewhat creepy." Ichika replied.
"Yeah, it really does leave a foul taste in one's mouth, doesn't it? Still, it's a part of the job." Tatenashi sighed.
"True. Is there anything else?" Ichika asked.
"No. I won't keep you any longer." Tatenashi replied.
"Alright. See you later." Ichika said, making a quick check to make sure he had everything before heading out once again.
As it turned out, he hadn't needed to worry about being late. When he arrived in the meeting room, only one member of Lily's squadron was there. The girl in question, a slender Japanese girl with short black hair and green eyes behind her glasses, stood up as he entered.
"Oh, hello Orimura-kun! Happy birthday! I'm Kawahara Shizune, Lily sent me here to tell you that she went out to get food for all of us but... well..." She greeted him. She was clearly somewhat nervous, so Ichika smiled as he responded.
"Hello, Kawahara-san, and thank you. Did my squadmates give you your piece of cake yet?" He asked.
"Oh, yes! It was wonderful, especially after our training this morning! Thank you!" Shizune exclaimed.
"Lily's driving you hard, I take it?" Ichika asked.
"Oh yes, from sunrise to sunset on the weekends. She'd probably be trying to do the same on the weekdays if it wasn't for homework!" Shizune replied.
"Really? That much? That sounds awful!" Theresa interjected.
"It's hard, but we'd probably be complaining more if Lily wasn't just as exhausted as we are at the end of it. She's our opponent, and she uses her IS to try and simulate an entire squadron. I don't know how she does it, really." Shizune said.
"What do you mean?" Ichika asked.
"She uses her teleportation to try and act as multiple opponents. It can't be easy tracking our shots, judging whether or not they'd hit, simultaneously attacking and jumping back and forth between five different locations. She's good at hiding it, but she's pretty damn exhausted by the time we land."
"That's... Impressive." Ichika replied, shocked. If what Shizune said was true, Lily's IS would either have to enhance her capabilities, like the Akatsubaki, or she would have had to go through truly hellish training to make such things second nature.
"Yeah, it is..." When Shizune didn't continue, Ichika decided to press for information.
"So Lily has been training you like this from the start?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Ah, no. At the start, we didn't really... How should I put it... We didn't really get along all that well." Shizune sighed.
"Really? You seemed pretty friendly at the tournament. It didn't look like you were fighting with each other." Sakura interjected.
"It wasn't like that, it's just... We didn't really know each other, and it took a while for us to break the ice. Really, Lily put it best when she said we were a bunch of randoms thrown together because there wasn't room for us in other squadrons. If it wasn't for Lily, we wouldn't even have been able to talk to each other properly. Catelyn and Sarah could barely speak Japanese, I had pretty bad English, and Cai wasn't particularly good at either, being Chinese. Lily had to translate for all of us and slowly teach us until we could all understand each other properly." Shizune explained.
"Wait, Mallory-san can speak three languages?" Ayane exclaimed.
"More, actually. I know she's fluent in English, Japanese and Chinese, and she understood French, German and Russian well enough to translate for the rest of us during the tournament. She can probably speak those fluently as well..."
No, Ichika told himself, he was not at all jealous of the fact that Lily could speak more languages than him.
"So she taught you all English?" He asked instead.
"Yeah. I'm still not that good at speaking or writing, but I can at least understand it." Shizune replied.
"Wow... She must be pretty smart." Sakura said.
"She's a genius and a prodigy, definitely. Of course, with great power comes eccentricity..." Shizune trailed off.
"Eccentricity?" Ichika asked, genuinely curious.
"Ah... I don't think it would be nice to talk about it." Shizune said with a nervous laugh.
"Nice to talk about what?" A familiar voice asked, and Ichika turned to see Lily enter the room, flanked by the rest of her squadron and carrying several large bags of food.
"Nothing!" Shizune exclaimed, a little too enthusiastically.
"I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we've brought lunch for everyone, straight from a nice Chinese place down in Restaurant Row." She said, placing her bags down and starting to unpack them.
"Thank you, but we just ate..." Theresa said, trailing off as a mouthwatering smell began to fill the room.
"No problem. Just means more for our leader, right?" One of her squadmates, a short and somewhat well-endowed brunette, teased.
"Catelyn!" Lily groaned, still smiling.
"Is that cheesecake?" Another girl, with black hair styled in buns, asked.
"Yeah! It was Orimura-kun's birthday today, and he brought up some cake for us!" Shizune interjected.
"What? It's your birthday? Aww, now I feel bad for not having anything to give!" Lily exclaimed.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, you brought food, didn't you?" Ichika answered as the new arrivals finished unpacking their bags and sat down.
"Still, it seems like-" Ichika waved away Lily's protests.
"Really, don't worry about it. Now, do you want to have some time to eat first, or shall we get down to business?" Ichika asked.
"Well... I am pretty hungry and I'm sure the rest of my squadron feels the same so..." Lily gestured at the food on the table.
"Alright, I guess it's settled. Bon appetit." Ichika said, taking a few spring rolls to be polite. The rest of his squadron took similarly sized portions, while Lily's squadron took more. That left a large amount of food untouched in the middle of the table.
"So, why don't we take some time to introduce ourselves? I know Lily, and we've already met Shizune, but I'm afraid I haven't really had a chance to meet the rest of you." Ichika said once they had a few minutes to eat.
"Good idea. Do you want to go first, or shall we?" Lily replied, looking up from the leg of duck she had been slowly cutting into.
"My squadron can go first. I'll start. As you probably all know, I'm Orimura Ichika, pilot of the Infinite Arsenal. I'm looking forward to working with you all." Ichika said, keeping his own introduction brief as the rest of the room probably already knew it.
"I'm Theresa Takahashi, Archer Squadron's sniper. I guess I'm also the closest thing Archer Squadron has to a second in command so... um... I guess you can come to me with squadron business if you can't find Ichika!" Theresa introduced herself next, and Ichika nodded.
Ayane came next, waving with both her hand and her practice rig, which quickly drew the attention of Lily's squadron.
"I am Tsukigami Ayane, and I'm the main close combatant of our squadron. These extra arms on my back were originally supposed to help me learn how to control an IS with so many limbs, but by now it's just pretty handy to have around." The black-haired girl explained, gesturing with both natural and metal arms.
"Can... Can I try it?" Lily asked, eyeing the metal harness with undisguised interest.
"Ah... I guess? I mean, we'll have to find a changing room, but..." Ayane said, somewhat unsure.
"Perhaps at a later time?" Ichika interjected.
"Of course. Sorry if I..." Lily trailed off.
"No problem. Maybe later." Ayane finished as Sakura stood up.
"Hello! I am Miyuki Sakura! I am Archer Squadron's heavy weapons specialist, and... um... That's all!" Sakura finished, smiling sheepishly.
"You... Were you the one who shot me down during the tournament?" Shizune exclaimed.
"I... Theresa and I split a kill on someone who was climbing into the clouds. Was that you?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah. Nice shooting." Shizune replied.
"Thanks!" Theresa and Sakura said in unison, before giggling. That left Rei to introduce herself.
"H-Hello! I'm Hayate Rei. I-It's nice to meet you all." The small girl introduced herself, her stutter returning much to Ichika's concern. Lily replied before he could say anything on the matter.
"Likewise. I guess that means it's our turn, right? I'm Lily Mallory, pilot of the Blazing Phoenix, commander of the Firebirds, and all-around wonderful person!" She said, standing and striking a pose that did much to amplify her figure.
"Wait, since when were we the Firebirds?" One of her squadmates, a blonde with a long ponytail, asked in English.
"Since now. Unless any of you have a better idea of what to call our squadron?" Lily asked. When no answers came she sat back down, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Then it's settled. We are the Firebirds now!" She finished, before gesturing to the blonde in question. She blinked for a moment, before realizing it was apparently her turn to introduce herself.
"Hello! I am Sarah Delansky... Unsure what to say after this..." She said in heavily accented Japanese.
"What she means to say is that she's one of the hardest workers in my squadron, and a good missile user to boot." Lily boasted, Sarah blushing at the praise.
The next girl to introduce herself was Catelyn.
"I am Catelyn Black, really glad to meet you all. I actually helped out quite a bit with our tent design. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming trip!" The brunette said, her Japanese somewhat better but still heavily accented. Lily nodded, and looked for a moment like she was going to say something, but Shizune spoke first.
"I've already introduced myself, but so as not to be left out I'm Kawahara Shizune. I hope we can all become good friends." She said, keeping her own introduction brief.
"And I am Cai Lan, the only sane girl in the squadron. I'd explain, but you'll all see soon enough." The last girl said with a noticeable Chinese accent.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Shizune exclaimed.
"Cai, that wasn't very nice!" Lily added.
"Don't worry, I still love you all. Just stating the facts." Cai replied, voice somewhat unrepentant.
When her leader didn't stop with her disapproving stare, Cai sighed and apologized in earnest.
"Alright, now that we've all eaten and had a chance to get to know each other, shall we get down to business?" Ichika asked.
"Yes, I think we should. Shall we go first this time around?" Lily asked.
"Go right ahead." Ichika replied, and Lily placed a notebook on the table, leafing through several pages of various doodles, notes and drawings before coming upon a set of diagrams. Realizing that he could barely see anything, Ichika got up and walked around the table, coming to lean behind Lily and look over her shoulder. She shifted slightly at the proximity, but otherwise just smiled and began explaining.
"We started out with a fairly simple dome tent design. Two really long poles support the tent, and the interior is one giant room capable of holding ten people plus all our stuff. However, we quickly realized that there were some issues with this design, so we came up with another. This one essentially chains two slightly smaller tents together, with one acting as a sleeping quarters while the other acts as a storage and general purpose room." Lily explained, pointing to a second design that was essentially two smaller domes connected via a small crawlspace.
"So, what do you think?" She asked.
"Hmm... The biggest issue I see is that ten people crammed into such a tiny room would be rather miserable. What would happen if someone sleeping on the side opposite the door has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night? They'd have to walk over everyone between them and the door on their way out." Ichika replied.
"Hmm... Perhaps splitting instead having one squadron sleep in each room?" Lily proposed.
"That could work better. It's somewhat similar to the arrangement I chose. I think it could work as a tent design, although it might just be easier to forgo that narrow crawlspace and either put another room there or increase its size to make it easier to go between rooms." Ichika replied.
"Alright. I had another design that I came up with myself, but thinking about it now just makes it seem less and less viable." Lily said.
"Is that the pavilion?" Catelyn asked.
"Yeah." Lily sighed, before looking over at Ichika.
"So, what did you come up with?" She asked, and he set his own drawings on the table.
"My own design started out similarly to your own, being based on a commercially available dome tent. However, instead of chaining multiple domes together, I decided to just add additional rooms to the sides. This results in a sort of cross-shaped design, with a central dome that can be used for storage or what have you, two sleeping rooms on either side, a mudroom for us to keep our shoes, and this room over here that I haven't really decided on a role for and only really included for the sake of symmetry." Ichika explained, pointing to each room in turn.
"Looks a fair bit bigger than our design." Lily pointed out.
"It is. It also has a few more poles to carry, but I figured that we'll be living in it for an entire week and only have to carry it for an hour at most, so some extra weight for more room would be better." Ichika replied.
"I see... That is a good point. We don't have to carry this tent around much, so we might have been better off going for the four room square for our own design." Lily replied, turning to Caitlyn.
"Yeah... I guess I did have my cross country hiking trips in mind when I worked on it." The other girl sighed.
"It's not bad, really. If I understand you right, you wanted to turn this into a four dome square? That would certainly work." Ichika commented.
"Actually, I'm not sure if it would. It's a square of four domes, right? Well, you have some tent poles that need to be put down in the middle of the square. How would that be done?" Ayane said, tracing out the rest of the square with her fingers before pointing to the interior tent pegs.
"Yeah... We'd have to trap someone in there to get things set up. Might not be the best design." Theresa said.
"Alright. So the dome network design is out. What about Orimura-kun's cross design?" Lily asked.
"I'd say it's pretty good. Only concern I have whether or not five of us can fit comfortably into one of those sleeping rooms." Cai answered.
"I think I made them big enough." Ichika replied.
"There's also the matter of that last room. What do we do with it?" Shizune pointed out.
"I was thinking that it could be used for storage, but I just don't see ourselves bringing enough stuff with us to warrant such a large amount of space." Ichika replied.
"Hmm... Perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone. What about turning that into a sort of officers' quarters?" Lily said.
"What do you mean?" Theresa asked.
"I mean that Ichika and I, as the leaders of this squadron, can take that room to both sleep in and make various plans for the day. That means only four people in each of the other sleeping rooms and we have a use for this side room." Lily replied.
"What about privacy? I-I mean, you'd be sleeping in the same room as Ichika!" Sakura beat Ichika to the punch.
"If it becomes a problem, it shouldn't be too hard to hang a divider in the middle of the room. Still, I don't think it'd be much of an issue. After all, Ichika here has been sharing a room with one girl or another for the entirety of his time here at IS Academy and I have yet to hear of any problems from that front." Lily replied.
Ichika's first thought was to protest, but then he remembered his mission and shrugged.
"It's as Lily said. It's an elegant solution to the problem, and I don't really mind sharing a room." He said.
"That and the walls are pretty thin." Sarah said with a wink.
"Sarah!" Lily exclaimed, flushing red. Ichika did the same, resulting in a round of giggling from the rest of the room.
"Relax, I know. The worst that's gonna happen is Ichika waking up to see you sitting up, completely-" Lily's hand covered her squadmate's mouth before she could continue.
"I'm sorry!" The blonde exclaimed, still blushing.
"It's alright. So, all in favor of going with my design?" Ichika asked, steering the conversation back on track. Nine hands went up.
"All in favor of using the spare room as a squadron officers' quarters?" Six hands went up, with Theresa raising her hands a few moments after everyone else while Cai and Catelyn kept theirs down.
"Any objections?" Ichika asked, looking at them.
"It seems a bit unfair to have the two of you in one room while four of us in each of the other ones, especially if they are all the same size." Cai said, while Catelyn, Theresa and several other girls nodded in agreement.
"I could make these side rooms larger to compensate." Ichika replied.
"That would work." Cai replied.
"So how long would it take to build it?" Shizune asked.
"To build? Not very long, a day at most. To design a template for the machine to build it from would take a lot longer." Ichika replied.
"What about rainproofing?" Caitlyn asked.
"We'll also make a waterproof tarp to cover the tent with. It shouldn't be a problem." Ichika said.
"Good. Then I guess it's settled. When do we start working on this?" Lily asked.
"Normally this is when I'd pull out my IS and deploy a finished product, but given how I'm not allowed to use it I think we could start work on the ISCAD template sometime tomorrow." Ichika replied, referring to the modelling software used by the various fabricators in the engineering bay.
"ISCAD... I'm afraid I'm not particularly well-versed in using it." Lily replied.
"That's not a problem. Honestly, it's a one or two person job. Splitting it up among ten people would only make it complicated." Ichika replied.
"I have some experience with ISCAD, so I can help as needed." Rei added.
"So what are the rest of us supposed to do while the two of you work on the tent?" Cai asked.
"How about this: While Ichika and Rei work on the tent, we come up with a list of everything we might need for the trip. We take inventory of what we have, and acquire anything we don't." Lily replied.
"Good idea. Do you mind if we help out too?" Theresa asked.
"Of course! The more the merrier!" Lily smiled, before turning to Ichika.
"On a related note, Ichika, you seem to know Instructor Stukanov quite well. Has he told you anything else about the trip? Like, say, what the challenges we might face are?" She asked, and Ichika shrugged in response.
"I'm afraid not. He's been pretty pointedly keeping me in the dark about the whole thing. That means I don't have any insider information regarding the trip." He replied.
"Ah, that's a shame..." Lily trailed off.
"So how long have you known Instructor Stukanov-san? You seem pretty familiar with him." Shizune asked.
"Yeah, we've known each other for a while now. Before he got poached by IS Academy, he was a contractor working at WSI who helped with my training." Ichika replied.
"But he can't pilot an IS, how..." Sarah began, but trailed off as Lily made to speak.
"Was he your analog trainer?" She asked, to the confusion of the rest of the room.
"What do you mean?" Ichika asked.
"Ah... I mean did he teach you how to fight and shoot without an IS to give you a better understanding of how to do so with one? You know, using personal-scale equipment to train you for IS analogues?" Lily asked.
"Ah, in that case you're right. Physical conditioning, pistol and rifle marksmanship, and close quarters combat were the things he focused on." Ichika replied.
"Sounds about right. Do you think this trip will be something along those lines?" Lily asked. Ichika shook his head in response.
"No. Mostly because that sort of stuff can't really be trained in a week. It will probably be focused on trust and teambuilding, and on operations with multiple squadrons." He replied.
"Multiple squadrons?" Lily asked, and Ichika leaned in close to her ear.
"You didn't hear it from me, but credible sources say that the next tournament will involve teams comprised of several squadrons." He whispered conspiratorially, loud enough for the whole room to hear.
"Oh my... This decision to group up squadrons makes a lot more sense now. I guess we'll find out what we'll actually be doing when it's time." Lily replied.
"Don't worry, I'll let you all know if I do learn something." Ichika replied, moving back to his seat.
"So with that in mind, what do you all think of the upcoming trip?" He asked once he sat down.
"I... Honestly I'm still uncertain. Without knowing what we'll actually be doing there, it still just seems like an excuse for Instructor Stukanov to take a week-long paid vacation." Cai replied.
"Is a week long break really that bad of a thing? I just so happen to know of five girls who could really use some time to unwind after a few stressful weeks of hard work." Lily commented.
"I-I mean, it's not like going camping in the woods is bad or anything, I just wonder how useful it would be for us." The Chinese girl answered.
"I seriously doubt he will actually waste our time like that. I think Ichika would say the same, right?" Catelyn said.
"Yes. Giorgi wouldn't just do this for fun. If anything, any fun we may have during the trip may be in spite of his best efforts." Ichika replied.
"Really? You make him sound rather mean." Lily laughed.
"Not so much that as the amount of time we'll have to unwind will be pretty limited." Ichika replied.
"Well we can still have fun doing whatever he tell us to." Sakura pointed out.
"True enough." Ayane added.
The conversation continued for a while longer, and the sun was already setting by the time the two squadrons went their separate ways. Archer squadron split up soon afterwards, and Ichika headed back to his room.
Tatenashi was already there when he entered, sorting through a small pile of mail on her bed.
"Oh, you're back!" The blue haired girl greeted him as he entered, tossing aside a half-opened piece of junk mail as she did so.
"Anything good in there?" Ichika asked, gesturing to the dwindling pile of envelopes.
"No, looks like it's more of the same. You, on the other hand, might have gotten something for once." Tatenashi replied, gesturing at a second pile of mail on the table. Indeed, there were a pair of wrapped packages beneath the usual pile of junk mail. The one on top was obviously from Giorgi, and Ichika opened it to reveal the promised technical manuals, and a glance revealed them to mostly be about various warships. Setting them aside to read later, Ichika now turned to the second package and smiled when he saw that it was from Dan and Ran.
Opening it, he saw a rather high-end strategy game from Dan and a pair of new swim trunks from Ran. The latter had a photo of the red-haired girl posing in a swimsuit with her brother looking somewhat exasperated beside her taped onto it, and Ichika chuckled as he re-folded the girl's gift and stored it away. It seemed as though some things never changed.
With that gift safely put away, he began going through the rest of the mail. One by one, envelopes were opened, and after a quick glance tossed aside in the general direction of the recycle bin. Then, at the bottom of the pile, he found a large manila envelope marked as confidential. He opened it automatically, wondering what university had decided to contact him this time around, only to freeze as a bunch of photographs fell out.
All of them were of a young girl who, were it not for her age, could have passed for his sister. The first one his eyes landed on were of her standing in what looked to be a shooting range, rifle in hand. With some hesitation, he continued to look through them.
In some photos she couldn't have been older than five, while in others she looked almost his age. Many of them showed her injured, or being attacked by other older children. One showed her on a surgical table, and Ichika gagged when he saw that half the skin on her face had been peeled off and was in the process of being replaced. This one, like many others, was of rather poor quality and possessed a timestamp in the upper corner, likely indicating that they were pulled from security camera footage of some sort.
One had the girl wearing a long coat that he could have sworn he'd seen before. Then he realized that he had indeed seen it, and the girl in question, shortly before the Gospel incident when she had cornered him outside a shop, said a few enigmatic words, and left. He hadn't known what to think of it, eventually concluding that it was likely some strange and possibly crazy girl's attempt at flirting. Now though...
The next photo had the same girl, now practically the same age as him, posing in the Silent Zephyrs, a cocky smirk on her face as she looked straight at the camera. That one, at least, had to have been taken recently judging by its high quality. Other recent-looking ones were of the girl wearing an expensive looking leather jacket over a black dress, with a necklace over her chest that was almost certainly the stowed Silent Zephyrs.
There was no doubt about it, this was the pilot that he had faced over London and that had later attacked both the tournament and IS Academy itself.
"Is everything alright?" Tatenashi's voice was laced with concern.
"No." Ichika breathed as he noticed a small white slip of paper in the envelope. It was a letter, and Ichika pulled it out with trembling hands.
Dear Ichi-nii-san
Happy birthday, big brother. Here is something for the family scrapbook, assuming you have one. I wouldn't know, of course. Ask your sister why, if you don't know for yourself.
I am well, and I'm looking forward to the next time we meet. Do try to stay alive until then.
Your sister,
Orimura Madoka
He read and re-read the short letter several times, his breath coming faster and faster.
"Ichika?" Tatenashi's voice caused him to look up.
"Ichika, what's going on?" The blue haired girl exclaimed, standing up and rushing over. She took a glance at the photographs and her eyes widened as well. Immediately, she grabbed the envelope and, holding it shut, deployed her IS. A bubble of water surrounded the envelope, and Tatenashi reached inside with her suit's other arm to tear the paper open. She waited for a few seconds, before stowing the water and IS away and allowing the now soggy envelope to fall onto the bed.
"Tuman, can you run a chemical analysis of the water I just sent you? Was there poison in that letter?" Tatenashi demanded.
"I'll try, but I'm not equipped for-"
"Do your best. Ori, can-"
"I'm fine. I don't think it was poisoned." Ichika finally replied.
"You don't look fine!" Tatenashi exclaimed as she deployed a disc of water to act as a mirror, showing that his face had gone white.
"I'm fine... Well no, but physically I mean-" Ichika protested.
"What the hell was in that envelope?" Tatenashi demanded, looking down at the photographs once again.
"I don't know! If this letter is telling the truth, then the Silent Zephyrs is piloted by my sister!" Ichika exclaimed.
"Who, Chifuyu-"
"No, some other sister I never knew about!"
Tatenashi was silent for a long moment as she too digested that information. Finally, Ichika stood up.
"I need to see my sister about this. Chifuyu, I mean." He said, gathering up the photographs.
"Right. I... I think I need to have a talk with Maya about postage security. Do you mind if I take that with me?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly as she pointed at the remains of the envelope.
"Go ahead." Ichika replied, already heading out the door, shoving the photographs and letter into his gun pouch as he went.
"Come in!" His sister barely had the time to respond to his knock before he opened the door, entered, and then closed it.
"Ichika? What's wrong?" Chifuyu asked, concern plain on her face as she looked up from her work. In response, he turned to make sure the door was closed before turning back to his sister.
"Chifuyu-nee... Answer me honestly. Do we have any other family out there? A sister, perhaps?" He heard Chifuyu's breath hitch slightly at the mention of a sister. She scrutinized him for a long time before shaking her head.
"You are the only family I have." She said. Ichika replied by pulling out the photographs and placing them on the table.
"Then what are..." His words died in his mouth as he saw the expression on his sister's face.
With trembling hands, Chifuyu picked up the photograph on top, which showed the girl on a medical bed, half her face covered in bandages and with what appeared to be an eyeball lying in a jar of preservative fluid on a nearby table. Her lips moved silently, saying the girl's name.
"Madoka..." The photo fell out of Chifuyu's hands as she choked back a sob, the first tears already running down her face.
"Chifuyu-nee?" Ichika asked, walking over and wrapping his arm around his sister's shoulders. Her arms snapped tight around his waist a moment later, pulling him close as she buried her face in his shirt.
"It's my fault... All of it..." She sobbed, more to herself than to him.
"What do you mean?" Ichika asked hesitantly, already regretting showing the pictures to her. His sister, however, didn't respond.
Pulling Chifuyu closer, Ichika tried his best to comfort her. For what seemed like an eternity he held her close, running his hand through her hair like she had done back when he was younger and whispering what he hoped were comforting words in her ear.
Eventually, the sobs began to peter out, and finally Chifuyu looked up at him, eyes red and still full of tears.
"Ichika... I'm so sorry..." She said as she pulled away, settling back into her chair.
"About what?" Ichika asked, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer.
"I thought... I thought that it would be for the best if you didn't know about our ancestors, my origins..." She rambled on.
"Chifuyu-nee, if it is really so painful to tell me, I won't-"
"No. Enough hiding. It's... It's too late for that. You'd just leave with more questions and no easy path to answering them." Chifuyu sighed. She paused, taking a few moments to likely gather her thoughts, before looking him in the eye.
"Ichika... First and foremost, the Orimura family is, or was, one of the most highly ranked families of Phantom Task." Ichika nodded at that revelation, having already had some suspicions that any family he might have had might have been involved in Phantom Task. To hear that they were so highly ranked though, was rather shocking.
"They gained their position primarily through their advances in human genetic manipulation and enhancement. Most, if not all, of Phantom Task's knowledge of the field stem from the experiments of our great-great-grandparents, and their continuation by subsequent generations." Chifuyu punctuated her statement by grabbing the edge of her metal desk and with a quick, almost effortless squeeze, she bent a deep depression into the surface.
"What the- Can I-" He gasped.
"No. You will understand why soon enough. Now, what I know comes from my mother, who was never the most stable or honest of individuals, my own limited reading of Orimura family records, and conjecture, so much of it might not be true. However, from what I understand the Orimura family was extremely concerned about other families stealing their knowledge via marriage, as the enhancements they had made to themselves were hereditary and thus any child of theirs with another family could be studied to learn their secrets."
"Inbreeding..." Ichika murmured, his disgust towards his unknown family already growing.
"Indeed. I believe they gambled on being able to just engineer out any emerging defects, but, well... Obviously it didn't work out very well. Not only did I find a few records indicating physical birth defects in our grandparents, but there are also notes of severe mental disorders, including one in particular that appears to have been a byproduct of the enhancements themselves." At that, Chifuyu paused for a few moments.
"This disorder... It manifests itself primarily as a homicidal rage during times of extreme emotion. It... It is incredibly difficult to break out of this rage, and from what I read many of the family never did... I..." Ichika reached over and laid his hand on her shoulder. His sister took a few moments to compose herself, before continuing.
"This leads to my... Our, mother. Her name is Orimura Reikou. She is the only natural-born child of our grandparents, who were fraternal twins. From what I understand, our grandparents also attempted to give her a brother to pair her with, but were unable to conceive naturally so they grew several clone brothers and sisters. Of these, most died young due to health complications or were killed by their raging parents, but one survived long enough to elope with one of our family's vassals, the Meusels, and escape. I never met her, only her daughter and... I digress." Chifuyu sighed, returning to the subject at hand.
"Reikou was, from what I understand, meant to be the next generation of Orimura in terms of both enhancements and lineage... I suppose that she must have succeeded in at least some respects because when my parents objected to her affair with one of her subordinates, our father, she responded by slaughtering the entire Orimura family. She was quite proud of that, and would often tell me stories of the fight." Chifuyu's fist clenched as she continued.
"Shortly afterwards, I was born and I was the perfect child. Not only did I inherit all the enhancements, but I was the first Orimura in generations to be born without deformity. It seemed as though simply not inbreeding was the best solution... In any case, Reikou was enamored with me, in a twisted way. To her, I was a perfect princess. Anything I desired, I got. She never treated me with anything but adoration... Which meant that if I failed, others would be punished in my stead..." Again, her fist clenched before she breathed deeply and continued.
"Then Reikou became pregnant again, and she was overcome with joy. It seemed as though every day she would tell me that soon I would be getting the most precious gift of all, that of new family, a twin brother and sister... She seemed just as ready to give you the same love she was giving me... Then you were born."
For a long moment, Chifuyu was silent, and Ichika saw tears gathering in her eyes once again.
"What happened?" He finally prompted. Chifuyu took a long, slow breath before responding.
"I saw that love turn to hatred and rage in an instant when the doctor informed her that none of the hereditary enhancements were passed on to you or your sister, Madoka. I remember it as if it were yesterday. We were in our old family estate, in the Japanese countryside. I was standing next to Reikou's bed, while our father held the two of you and the doctor broke the news. In the blink of an eye, I saw Reikou lash out and crush the doctor's skull with her bare hand. My father barely had the time to fall backwards before Reikou was out of bed, reaching for her sword that she kept close at all times. I moved then, rushing to him but I was too slow. One slash, and our father was decapitated and she was already raising the sword to kill you." Chifuyu was speaking quickly now, and Ichika was transfixed, his hand slipping off his sister's shoulder.
"That was when I drew my own sword and struck. Reikou's strike missed as I cut into her side and up across her face. She turned on me then, and I remember... She was shocked, betrayed and... Proud? I grabbed hold of you two and ran, Reikou already recovering behind me. I remember her blade slicing through my hair, just barely missing me as I exited the room, hands full and unable to fight back as Reikou sprinted after me, covered in blood... I made it to the edge of the old family compound, and with my back against the wall I... I..." Chifuyu broke down in tears again, and once again Ichika moved to comfort her.
"I dropped Madoka... I left her for dead and jumped... I just barely grabbed hold of the top of the wall and... And Madoka was crying the whole time I... I heard her screaming as I escaped! I left her, Ichika! I left our sister to die! I..." Chifuyu sobs grew more and more incoherent and Ichika felt completely helpless as he once more did anything he could to try and comfort her.
"You saved me, Chifuyu-nee." He murmured.
"And it could have just as easily been you that I dropped! A simple coin toss could have meant you would have been the one sentenced to death or worse!" Chifuyu exclaimed.
"And then you would still have saved my sister." Ichika replied, less certainty in his voice. Chifuyu didn't respond in words, instead pulling him close into a tight embrace.
For a long time she was quiet, shaking silently with suppressed sobs.
"Then you saved me, Ichika." She whispered at last.
"Me?" Ichika asked, confused.
"Yes. As I fled the compound I... I remember the feeling of rage, of my only genetic defect, a rage that only ever subsided when I looked at you... If it weren't for you I would have likely started carving a bloody path through Japan, killing anyone and everyone who crossed my path. I would have been little more than a rabid animal to be put down."
"No! You are not like that!" Ichika exclaimed.
"I would have been. You have never felt so much hatred for the world, nor can you ever experience it. It was only thanks to you that I was able to pull myself out of that abyss, and it is only thanks to you that I stay out of it." Chifuyu replied solemnly, her eyes inches from his.
"Ichika... There are few things in the world that I fear. A relapse is one of them. With an IS, I would be unstoppable. I could kill thousands, tens of thousands, millions even! You are all that stands between me and that terrifying future, Ichika." She continued.
"I..." Ichika didn't know what to say to that. When Chifuyu said nothing more, he decided to change the subject.
"Chifuyu-nee, you said you were born into Phantom Task. Is there anything, anything at all you can tell me about them?" He asked. Chifuyu blinked at that, likely realizing his intent. Then she took a deep breath, composing herself once again before replying.
"Unfortunately not." She shook her head.
"What do you mean? Are you telling me that you don't even know the location of the place you were raised?" Ichika asked, somewhat taken aback.
"No. I know exactly where that is. It and seven other similar bases belonging to subordinate families in Japan alone. I knew the names and positions of fifty three individual agents tasked with infiltrating the Japanese government. I knew the position of hundreds more." Chifuyu sighed.
"Tabane and I followed up all the leads we could while you were growing up. The two of us together sanitized the government. Every infiltrator I knew of was discredited, forced out of their position, and then... We dealt with them. All to keep you safe." Chifuyu paused, and Ichika noticed a slight smirk on her face.
"It wasn't until almost two years after the White Knight incident that I decided to start hitting the bases I knew of. My very first target was the home I grew up in, and I went in with the goal of killing everyone inside and razing it to the ground with the White Knight. When I arrived though... It was empty, and it had been empty for some time already. The whole place was stripped bare. Secret areas I never knew existed were opened up to the elements, and the entire compound was rotting. Even the family cemetery had been dug up, the bodies buried there exhumed. Every other base I knew of was the same. Everything, nailed down or not, was gone."
"Did they find out what you were doing?" Ichika asked.
"That is one option, but..." Chifuyu trailed off.
"But?"
"That wasn't the only thing. Phantom Task... Something about it has fundamentally changed in the decade and a half since I'd left it. The Phantom Task I knew were infiltrators, spies and assassins. They had no armies, only small teams of special forces sent in when absolutely necessary. They sought to attain their goal by infiltrating world governments, working behind the scenes to cause the chaos they needed... Now though, they have a full-blown IS corps that dwarfs that of most nations from the looks of it. They brazenly attack targets like Pearl Harbor, London and IS Academy, seemingly without a care for the secrecy that once protected them. In my time, they were a complete unknown. Now they are on the lips of every intelligence agency worth its salt. Instead of operating from decentralized family estates all across the globe, they have a fleet of submarines based out of some unknown base or bases... Their plan has changed, even if the goal is likely the same. It was hard enough trying to figure out how to stop the first once Tabane and I ran out of names. Now... Now all I can do is react, same as you." Chifuyu finished.
"But you at least know their goal? Their motivation?" Ichika pressed. Chifuyu cocked her head at him.
"You mean you don't already know? No matter, their motive is a simple one. Reikou would always tell me that I would rule the world one day, and that all mankind would bow down before me. As cliche as it might sound, Phantom Task wants to rule mankind. Not as puppetmasters from the shadows, but as modern kings and queens." Chifuyu replied simply.
"That's it?" Ichika asked, and Chifuyu nodded.
"Their leading families claim to be the descendants of various nobility from across the globe and thus entitled to it... The Orimuras, for instance, claimed to be the descendants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, although who knows if that's true." Chifuyu shrugged.
"Is there anything else?" She finally asked. A million questions came and went through Ichika's mind, but looking at his sister's face still streaked with tears, he decided against it.
"No." He lied. His sister looked him in the eye for a long moment before taking his hand in hers.
"Ichika... You are the most precious thing in the world to me. You are the literal rope that holds me back from the abyss. Remember that, above all else." She said.
"Is that why you gave me what you did this morning?" Ichika asked, gesturing to the pouch where he kept his gun.
"It is a copy of a weapon I took off a Phantom Task field operative, albeit chambered for the ammunition your other pistol used. It is collapsible, has a twenty round magazine, and hits much harder than that peashooter of yours. I trust you to use it well." Chifuyu replied.
"I will." Ichika replied.
"Good... Now go get some sleep. You have that job from Edelberg tomorrow, and you should be awake for it." Chifuyu ordered, gesturing towards the door. Ichika stood, and was halfway to the door before he turned back.
"Chifuyu-nee... What should I do when I see Madoka again?" He asked.
"If, not when, you see her again, your only goal is to stay safe. She may be your sister by blood, but she is clearly a Phantom Task operative through and through. Don't treat her any differently with your new knowledge, just stay safe and come back to me." Chifuyu replied, her voice hard.
"But-"
"No buts. Remember, if you don't come back, me taking my own life is the best case scenario." With those chilling words echoing through his head, Ichika nodded, wished his sister a good night, and left the room. The door had barely slid closed behind him before he half fell, coming to slump against the wall.
He had finally gotten answers to questions he'd had for his entire life, and now he wished he'd never asked.
Those answers were still running through his head the following night as he stood on the docks, his IS deployed around him, looking out for threats from the ocean.
This assignment from Edelberg couldn't have been a more obvious trap if it had tried, especially considering how hard they had tried to fight against Ichika getting any sort of backup. Of course, Chifuyu had been able to wrangle the concession out of them, and thus Charlotte stood beside him.
Their task was to observe for threats from the ocean, while a pair of Organization-owned helicopters patrolled the skies above the city, searching for threats from that direction. In the worst case scenario, the ten IS pilots crammed into those two helicopters would jump out and engage, hopefully turning the trap against the ones who set it.
"Ichika, are you alright? You've been pretty quiet lately." Charlotte asked.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind." Ichika replied.
"Madoka?" Charlotte asked, and Ichika nodded.
"In her letter she implied we'd meet again soon. I'm expecting the Silent Zephyrs to jump out of the ocean at any moment." He replied.
"There's two of us plus another ten up above, and only one of her. We can take her." Charlotte replied confidently.
"But..." Ichika began, then sighed.
"What is it?" Charlotte asked.
"I... I'm not sure if I even want to fight her." He replied.
"What do you mean?"
"She's my sister, estranged or not, and if she wanted me dead she'd have poisoned that letter. What she sent... It felt like a cry for help!"
"Then that changes nothing. The Silent Zephyrs has an ADS, right? So we shoot her down, pull her from her IS, and that's that." Charlotte replied.
"And then what? Do we send her to Urup? They'll just throw her in a cell and wring her for information. I don't think either of us want that." Ichika replied.
"So what are we supposed to do? Just let her attack us with impunity? If she comes after us, we need to fight back. We can deal with what happens to her next when she's in our hands." Charlotte said firmly.
"You're right-" Ichika's response was cut short by a report from one of the helicopters above.
"Heads up, you've got incoming from the north entrance. Suspicious vehicle just ran a security checkpoint. Unmarked truck." Ichika and Charlotte pivoted as one and deployed their weapons.
"Target's entered your vicinity, on your right." Just as the observer finished speaking, the truck in question drifted into view, its tires screeching. It came to a stop, and the panels on the side of its cargo compartment began to slowly open. Through the gap, Ichika spotted the unmistakable silhouettes of IS suits.
"Two IS suits in the rear! Fire!" He ordered, and the rear half of the truck was promptly obliterated by a hail of lead. If it weren't for his helmet, the roar of Charlotte's eight rotary cannons would have probably deafened him.
Ten seconds later, Ichika ordered the firing to cease. As the dust settled, two disabled IS suits fell face-first out of the destroyed vehicle. Their pilots were still alive, protected by an ADS, but their suits were clearly out of the fight.
"Charlotte, secure the pilots. I'll check on the driver." Ichika ordered, walking over to the relatively intact driver's compartment of the vehicle.
"Roger that." Charlotte replied, grabbing one of the disabled IS suits and turning it over to reveal the terrified pilot while Ichika tore off the truck door.
"Please! I-I'll t-tell you everything! J-Just d-don't shoot, please!" The driver exclaimed from where he was cowering. The man was bleeding from his arm and head, but the wounds looked superficial. Ichika reached in and pulled him out, noting his soiled pants and holding him at a distance.
"I-It was Edelberg! T-They p-paid us to capture you!" Already, the man was singing like a canary.
"That much was painfully obvious. Do you happen to know why?" Ichika asked as five Organization IS suits landed around him. Five more came down around the dockyard, securing the area.
"T-They wanted t-to try and f-figure out how you could f-fly an IS!" The man exclaimed, shouting to be heard over the roar of a helicopter coming down to land.
"Shall we take him off your hands?" One of the Organization pilots asked, amusement coloring her voice.
"Go right ahead." Ichika replied, passing the man over to her.
"W-Wait, what's going on? Where are you taking meeEEEEEE!" The man's last word became a scream as his new captor took off, making for the helicopter that still circled above.
With that out of the way, Ichika turned to Charlotte, who had now successfully pulled their two attackers out of their suits. They were young, looking as though they had barely left IS Academy.
"Ori, can you take some pictures of them and send them to Maya and Chifuyu?" He asked.
"Roger that. Done and sent." Ori replied. A few moments passed before the two girls were loaded onto the landed helicopter while their IS suits, which Ichika could now identify as Russian Orlans, were grabbed and taken away by Organization pilots.
"Was that really it?" Ichika asked.
"As far as we can tell, it was. In any case, Edelberg has already confessed to arranging this little affair so we have no reason to stay here. You are clear to return to IS Academy." The amused voice of the Organization reinforcements' commander came through, and Ichika gave him a short salute before turning to Charlotte.
"Shall we?" He asked.
"Let's go!" The French girl replied, and the two of them stowed their IS suits away, changed back into their academy uniforms, and headed back to the train station.
"That was easy." Charlotte commented as the two of them boarded the train that was thankfully deserted.
"Ridiculously so." Ichika agreed.
"What were they even trying to accomplish here? Two second-gen mass production suits with washout pilots against two of IS Academy's elite doesn't sound like a good matchup." Charlotte mused, and Ichika laughed.
"You sound like Cecilia. Anyway, I think their goal was to capture me to try and figure out how I could use an IS. I guess they figured that if I was alone the two of them could take me, but even after you joined the mission they went ahead." He shrugged.
"So it wasn't Phantom Task?" Charlotte asked.
"Unless the Silent Zephyrs appears now with a squadron of Golems, I don't think so. Even as a distraction this move was just awfully planned." Ichika replied.
"I guess we'll find out later." Charlotte said.
"Yeah."
"Say Ichika, what do you think of doing some shopping before we head back?" Charlotte asked.
"Shopping?"
"Yeah, at the mall next to the monorail. I want to buy some ingredients there."
"Sure, why not? I'm starting to wear holes in my socks anyway, so I might as well restock now." Ichika replied, and Charlotte giggled.
"Then let's go!" And with that, the two of them continued their trip home.
Lily stared out the open window, looking out over the ocean to where she'd seen the battle take place. It had been remarkably brief, with a few seconds of tracers flying and a bit of faded noise, followed by a swarm of IS suits descending on the scene.
Of course, Ichika had to be at the center of it. With her suit's partially deployed hyper-sensor she could see the silhouette of the Infinite Arsenal against a backdrop of burning vehicle. Nearby, she could make out the figure of Charlotte Dunois' own IS, surrounded by the silhouettes of others.
If that's what constituted a night out with Orimura Ichika, she wondered just what the hell would happen during the upcoming camping trip. A trip that, she realized with some surprise, she was now looking forward to.
It was around then that her phone buzzed, indicating a text message. She didn't recognize the number, but the message used a standard Phantom Task encryption that she deciphered with ease.
'Was that you?' It read. Ah, that meant it was probably from another agent observing the situation.
'No.' She replied simply. There was no response.
With that done, she turned away from the sight of battle and headed back to her bed.
"What was it?" Her roommate asked.
"Not sure, to be honest. My best guess is that someone tried to jump Orimura and Dunois on their date." She shrugged.
"Date?" The girl exclaimed. Of course she'd focus in on that bit.
"Well, Ichika and Charlotte went out together earlier this night. Looked like a date to me." Lily replied, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Really?" The girl exclaimed.
"Yup." Lily nodded before flopping down on her bed. She tuned out the other girl's reaction as she considered what she knew.
Someone had just tried to attack Ichika and failed miserably. That someone either didn't bother alerting the Phantom Task units in the area to their actions or just flat-out wasn't one of them. As far as she knew, the risk to her was minimal and the chances of her identity being compromised were still low as ever. She was curious as to the motive, but not enough so to bother investigating further. She'd ask him the next time they met.
It was around then that her phone buzzed again. The message was longer now, and the sender... It had originated from her father. Decrypting it and dropping the padding phrases, she read through it.
'New orders. Identify Black Agents at ISA. Determine feasibility of elimination but do not act without further orders. Relay info to HQ. Black Origin known. Original target no longer high priority.'
That certainly threw a wrench into things. Of course, now that she finally had the perfect opportunity to capture her target her orders changed. As for her new objective, she began to go over the list of known hostile operatives in the school.
Ichika, of course, was well known to her. He had also inadvertently revealed that Giorgi was almost certainly a plant as well. Then there was the fact that the Dunois girl had been present on a mission from Code Black, implying that she too was an agent. Extrapolating from there, she concluded that all seven of the girls that Ichika spent most of his time around were likely agents as well. Was Ichika's squadron also involved? That was less certain, but a distinct possibility. Then there were the other instructors. Ichika's older sister and her assistant, Maya, were likely either plants or in the know judging by how Ichika appeared to meet with both somewhat regularly outside of class. Next was the fact that any of the instructors who came in as part of the new curriculum could be plants as well, considering how hard Code Black seemed to be trying to infiltrate the school at every level.
As she worked through her mental list of names and their likelihood, a seed of worry began to grow in her mind. She was well and truly in the lion's den now, surrounded by potential threats that, if even one learned her true identity, would likely force her to escape at best and lead to her death or capture at worst.
That was when she noticed something odd in the padding of the message. Normally it was just a string of specially selected gibberish, meant to hamper brute forcing algorithms, but as she looked further she quickly saw that they instead formed another message, this one encrypted by a code that, as far as she knew, was known only to her family.
'Disregard all prior orders. Coronation soon. Stay safe.'
What did that mean? She could gather information just fine, which meant that there had to be a catch somewhere else. If her father was ordering her to stay safe, then there must be an imminent threat.
Suddenly her blood turned to ice as a thought struck her.
What if she was already compromised? It seemed awfully convenient at the time that her target would be assigned to the same group as her but now? Was it convenience or enemy action? Did she leave behind a trail of some sort while disabling the IS Academy radar during the festival? Did one of her messages get intercepted and decoded? The double encryption would make sense in this case, as it would likely give any observer the impression that she was yet unaware of her compromised identity. She struggled to maintain an outward calm as these paranoid thoughts ran rampant through her head.
Regardless, if her real orders were to keep her head down and stay safe, she could do so. But she would nonetheless sleep with one eye open from here on out, ready to teleport to her beacon in her sister's base of operations at a moment's notice. While her father had specifically prohibited her from teleporting more than a few kilometers at a time to keep the true range of the system secret, she was sure he'd make an exception if it was a matter of life or death.
With these thoughts still running through her head, she eventually went to sleep.
Chloe Chronicle didn't need her eyes to navigate the familiar hallways of her mistress' primary base of operations. She walked at a sedate pace, knowing that the news she carried, while of interest to Doctor Tabane, wasn't urgent by any means.
She finally opened her eyes upon arriving at her destination and, knocking once for the sake of courtesy, entered Tabane's sanctum.
In response, several alarms blared softly while snaking prehensile wires began to shift. Tabane sat in the center of the room, and as Chloe watched the wires connected to her head retracted, while robotic arms quickly reassembled her skull and face. Within a matter of seconds, Tabane stood up from her throne, her every fiber giving off the impression of exhaustion and disappointment.
"Edelberg made their move about thirty minutes ago. Ichika was able to stop them without issue." Chloe reported.
"So they actually went through with it... I admit, even I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to do so. Still, it's good to see that Ikkun could handle things on his own." Tabane replied.
"Was it ever in doubt?" Chloe asked.
"Of course not." Tabane laughed softly.
"What do we do?" Chloe asked after a few moments.
"I would think it obvious. It's time we made an example of those who would defy us." Tabane replied.
"Is that really wise? The world is already chafing against us. Actively striking would make them resist more." Chloe pointed out.
"In the long run yes. However, we don't need a long term solution. We need to strike fear and paralyze all relevant parties for a year at most. Past that point, it's all... Irrelevant." Tabane's face fell at that last word as she turned away from Chloe to stare out into the starry blackness of space.
"I take it you didn't find it?" Chloe asked, as she always did.
"No. I had a lead on several possible timelines, but in the end they all went the same way and were nonviable alternatives." Tabane replied, as she always did as well.
"An alternative exists... It must, and if anyone is able to find it, it is you." Tabane's response to her words of encouragement was to pull her into a hug.
"Thank you, Ku-chan... But the clock is ticking and even I am not omnipotent. Unless I can find an alternative I must continue along the current path, and every second I do so, more and more futures are lost to us." Tabane murmured, more to herself than to Chloe.
"You can do it." Chloe whispered back.
"I swore to Chi-chan that I would, all those years ago... But if she knew what I was truly planning, what I have already done... She would hate me forever."
"And you did it all for the greatest cause in the history of humanity. For her, for me, for my sisters... No matter what you do, I will love you for it." Chloe said in earnest.
"I know, and I will do everything I can to earn it." Tabane replied, stroking her long, silver hair with one hand while the other pulled her close.
No matter what the future held, Chloe knew that these words were the one thing she could count on. Thus, she held the doctor close for a few more long moments before releasing her and stepping back.
"What are my orders regarding Edelberg?" She asked simply. Tabane's response was simple.
"Destroy them. Topple their livelihoods, erase their deeds and corrode their minds, and make it known that it was done on my command. You may begin at once." She ordered.
"Thy will be done." Chloe curtsied, before turning and exiting the room. Just as the door was sliding closed behind her, she glanced back to see Tabane settling back down into her throne, prepared to resume her tireless search once more.
A/N: So this chapter has had a bit of everything in it. First, a rather light scene showing Lily and Ichika interacting. This was mostly meant to showcase Lily's squadron a bit more, and give Ichika and Lily some more interaction time as we move into the upcoming arc. I don't have much more to say about this scene, other than that if there are people who know more about tent design than me (I based the various designs off of one that I've either stayed in or other commercially available ones, but it's been a while since I've been inside an actual tent). I don't think I'll have many more scenes like this before the start of the trip itself, mostly because I intend to start the trip either next chapter or the one after it and there isn't much else to do in terms of preparation that requires screentime.
From there, we transition into a bit of a heavier scene, where Ichika finally finds out about Madoka and confronts Chifuyu about it... First and foremost, I really, REALLY regret writing that brief encounter between Ichika and Madoka prior to the Gospel Incident. Unfortunately, it was written during a time where, while I had a general idea of where I wanted the story to go, I hadn't quite determined many of the specific details and thus had an entirely different plan to handle the Madoka reveal. Then the Gospel Incident happened, and that arc kinda died after its first scene due to me having bigger fish to fry and changing course somewhat. This sort of thing shouldn't happen any more, but if I were to go back and rewrite that chapter I might end up just deleting that scene entirely as right now it serves no real purpose.
But I digress. Looking at the Madoka reveal itself, I wanted it to be sufficiently shocking, and I think having the always-composed and in control Chifuyu break down over it has accomplished this goal. This has brought many of her old traumas to the forefront of her mind, but at the same time it has allowed her to get many of those secrets off her chest. Ichika certainly has learned a lot more than he ever wanted about his family, and the history of the Orimura family and some more information on Phantom Task has been revealed to you all as well. Much of this has been planned for years, and it feels good to finally show it to you all as well.
Moving on, we have the Edelberg arc, which adapted one of the the only scenes of remote interest from the episode where Charlotte lost her panties. It's a bit anticlimactic if you were hoping for an epic fight scene, but really with how I've been worldbuilding so far it wouldn't have made sense for it to happen any other way. Still, the primary purpose of this scene was to act as a lead-in to the two scenes that followed it.
For the first, we have Lily. Recall that her primary purpose was to capture Ichika in order for Phantom Task to ascertain the location of the Organization base. Now that the location is known to them, his value as a captive decreases somewhat as he is a mid-ranking field operative at best who is probably kept in the dark about much of the information Phantom Task requires. Thus, her job instead would be to start seeing how far the Organization's influence in IS Academy extends, as well as await further orders. As for her father's secret orders, I'll keep those close to my chest for the moment.
Next we have the short scene with Tabane, who hasn't really had much screentime for a while. This is probably the biggest reveal of her motives, goals, and capabilities for a long while. Make of it what you will, as I don't want to spoil too much.
As always, please point out any inconsistencies, typos, etc. to me and I will do my best to fix them.