All the students with personal ISs had been moved to the makeshift command center at the lodge's luxury suite. Maya had pulled up a 3d floor display of the surrounding region, which had also displayed locations of pilots who were locking down the neighborhoods and evacuating the local populace. The students capable of fighting were sat around the display map, wondering whether or not the IS was indeed the one they were warned about.

Chifuyu stepped forward and announced the situation, but she needed to keep Lincoln's involvement a secret. So, she slightly altered the truth, "Two hours ago, the Silverio Gospel, nicknamed the Gospel, a 3.5 Generation IS unit jointly developed by America and Israel, went rouge. Reports indicate that the unit began running wild while performing tests maneuvers that were carried out off the seas near Hawaii. Word has now come that the unit has disappeared from the area it was originally observed."

Ichika and Charlotte were shocked that an IS went rouge for the second time this term, and started to wonder what...or who was behind it. Cecilia, Rin, and Laura just sat silent, already aware of what transpired before the Gospel went rouge. Houki merely sat attentively, already trying to figure out a strategy to bring it down.

"What's important," Chifuyu continued, "is that, according to our information, it is an unmanned unit."

"Again..." Ichika whispered, now extremely suspicious of the unit itself.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was flying over California, just now leaving the US. He was trying to open a communication link with the IS Academy while pursuing the Gospel, but he had no luck making a stable connection, "Dangit, come on! Why can't I contact them?!" He saw that just attempting to open a private connection was costing him energy and shut it off, "Not now...I'll try again after I'm back in Asia..."

Back in the command center, Chifuyu had finished the preliminary summary and opened the floor to students, who had just been informed that they are the ones who will stop the rouge unit. "Before we begin the official mission brief," Chifuyu said, "this is the time to ask any questions you may have."

Cecilia raised her hand, "Ma'am, may I have full specs and data of the target IS?"

Chifuyu nodded, "Yes, that's a reasonable request. However, if any of this information is leaked, you'll be tried in a court of inquiry and placed under a minimum two years house arrest."

"Understood, instructor," Cecilia agreed to the conditions, and then the full specification and information data was displayed in front of her. She quickly analyzed the information presented to her, and her intended outcome didn't seem too hopeful. "This has a special artillery designed for widespread target annihilation," she muttered, "And like my own IS, it seems that the Gospel is capable of all ranges of attack."

"Add to that insane maneuverability..." Rin thought, "...That'll be tricky."

Charlotte took one glance at the information screen. "This specialized weaponry looks rather suspicious, nes pa?" She said, "I think that continuous defense will be quite difficult."

Laura noticed something peculiar about the data, "The status of its hand-to-hand capability is unknown..." Then, she asked, "Can we do any preliminary recon?"

"I'm afraid that's impossible," Chifuyu answered, "The problem is that the Gospel is moving across the ocean at supersonic speeds, so we'll only have one chance to intercept it."

Maya heard that last bit and spoke up, "But if they're just gonna have one chance at it, then that means that only a unit with One-Shot Kill capabilities will have any chance of hitting it."

"One-shot..." Ichika sighed, "So, that means I have to go in?"

"That's right," Rin said, "You and the Byakushi's Reiraku Byakuya."

"It's the only shot we have of damaging the Gospel," Cecilia said, "But the problem is how to get him there."

"Oui," Charlotte agreed, "Success will depend on whether or not he can conserve his energy to be used in that one attack. So how will we get him there?"

"His IS doesn't have enough speed in the first place," Laura muttered, "so he'll need an ultra advanced hyper sensor...but we could lose valuable time even securing such an upgrade."

"Hang on...Wait a second," Ichika thought, "Isn't Houki's IS a 4th Generation model? Way over spec, or something?"

Houki flinched at the sound of her name, "Wha-I-...well..."

"Of course," Cecilia said, "You remember that brief test run, right? That could mean that you would be able to get him to the coordinates."

"But even so..." Rin thought, "...they both need to save up as much energy for the Reiraku Byakuya. And to that end, they can't get hit or waste any attacks."

Laura was listening to everything, but something still didn't add up. She had to ask, "Mentor, I would like to ask you something."

Chifuyu nodded, "Go ahead, Bodewig," without thinking about what could be asked.

Until Laura dropped the bombshell, "Was Lincoln Loud sent to intercept the IS first?"

Maya's ears twitched, "Eh-what?..."

Chifuyu, however, remained unfazed, "What would make you think that?"

"Well, for instance, I do not recall anyone having to sign any form of permission slip," Laura explained, "And Lincoln and his comrades spent extra time away from us and at the training grounds, which meant that they were preparing for something he would not tell anyone."

Chifuyu nodded, "Well, you're right about that..." but she tried again to alter the truth, "...Before the Gospel left the US, it made a pit stop at Royal Woods...one of its sewers was a cover for an IS manufacturing facility."

"Say what?!" Houki screamed.

"Where is this going?..." Charlotte asked.

"What we're trying to get at is..." Maya said, "...he was not on the trip, not because of a faulty permission slip, but because he was called to defend his hometown."

Most of the group was in disbelief, but Laura, Rin, and Cecilia witnessed his power firsthand, so they believed that he was a satisfactory choice. But Houki was appalled that she once again had to miss out on a crucial opportunity to prove her worth as a pilot, while Ichika questioned Chifuyu's decision to send a mere child to fight an adult. Laura was unable to call back to Clarissa in America. All she had to go on was the sudden glimpse of Mentor's phone, so she had to believe her.

Or she would have, if Tabane hadn't been so nosy, popping out from above the ceiling, "Hi, everybody!"

"Whoa!" Everyone jumped.

"Just put this operation on hold, ok?" Tabane said before flipping off onto the floor and running up to Chifuyu, "Chi-chan, Chi-chan!"

"Ugh..." Chifuyu groaned.

"I just had a brilliant idea on how to stop the Gospel, and now it's..." poke bunny ears "...printing, heheheh." Poke black hair "So, where's the printer?"

"Would you leave?..." Chifuyu groaned.

"Oh, just listen," Tabane shook her and made her declaration, "because it's definitely the Akatsubaki's time to shiiiiiiine!"

"And how..."

"Really?" Houki gasped, "What do you know about the Akatsubaki?"

Tabane giggled and took Chifuyu, Ichika, and Houki outside to the mountain cliffs, where she had Houki deploy the Akatsubaki before motioning with her hand, "Ok, Houki! Unfolding Armor, activate!"

At that command, several physical slots opened up on Houki's IS, on the wings and legs. Those slots materialized magenta plasma blades and turned the Akatsubaki into a bladed winged red demon machine.

"Unfolding Armor is now standard to all models 4th Generation and higher," Tabane said, "To put it in simple terms, the Akatsubaki is next evolutionary step of the Yukihira Niigata!"

Everyone gasped. That meant that, in a way, the Akatsubaki was in and of itself the Yukihira Niigata.

"That's right!" Tabane cheered herself on, "And I used Unfolding Armor for its entire body! Yahooo!"

Everyone blankly stared at her, as if they had already understood that...or saw it five seconds ago.

Tabane propped herself up and sighed, "Still, we have to deal with that..."

Back in the command center, Cecilia and Laura were already making plans for when things get hairy again. Charlotte and Rin were staring at the two.

"Um...not that we're not worried about you, but..." Rin said, "... what are you doing?"

"Aha," Laura spoke in her earpiece, "Ich bin in Kürze unten," and promptly left.

"Uh-hey!" Rin followed her out.

Charlotte was slightly dumbfounded, "Sacre bleu...what is happened with them..."

"I bet she's thinking the same thing I'm thinking," Cecilia said.

"And that would be?..."

"Preparing our personal units for combat in the event that Ichika and Houki fail. We just heard what happened to Lincoln and his team. Most likely, his sisters got involved with this as well, so we have to be on our toes here."

"I understand, but still-"

"Oh!" Cecilia stood up after receiving a notification, "I have to let Miss Orimura know!" And she left.

"Let her know what?" Charlotte chased after her, "Did you receive an upgrade package?"

"Something like that," Cecilia said as she ran out to find Chifuyu, "Now, if I was testing out a brand new IS, where would I do it?"

"Probably in a large clearing," Charlotte thought, "Though based on Houki's IS's color scheme, we just need to find a red blot, no?"

"That's...not...wrong..." Cecilia muttered while scanning her environment for any sign of a test run. She spotted a giant red IS in the cliffs nearby the main road, "There...Well, red red red!" She and Charlotte navigated their way into the mountainous clearing. When she saw that Chifuyu was within earshot, she decided to inform her of the news she received, "Miss Orimura?"

Chifuyu heard her from behind but was worn out by Tabane's childish antics, "Yeah, what?"

"Ma'am, I'm sure that I could achieve the objective in my Blue Tears," Cecilia said, "As you know, the Gunner Strike, my high maneuverability package, is on its way here now."

"And does that package operate on molecular exchange?"

"Well, no, not yet-"

Tabane scooted herself into the conversation, "By the by, I can finish adjustments to the Akatsubaki in less than seven minutes."

"So, that settles it," Chifuyu made up her mind, "The mission brief is: Orimura and Shinonono will engage the Gospel. She drives, he shoots." She turned to Ichika and Houki, "You're only gonna have one chance to blow that thing away. Are you up to the task?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ichika said, "I can go when the time comes." His conviction was shone through those words. He thought that this was his chance to succeed in a mission, to show his sister that he can hold his own.

Houki was feeling something else. It was a sense of joy...overpowering joy. A sense of finally belonging to the elite group, a sense of standing on equal footing with the people she constantly interacted with.

"Yes, ma'am," Houki said, "I'm ready."

"Good," Chifuyu nodded, "Then, we launch in 30 minutes. So, don't just stand there." She clapped her hands to signal the start of the preparation phase, "Get your asses moving!"

"While they're away, you need to get that package fully optimized and installed."

"We~~ell, this has a nice feeling to i~it," Tabane cooed.

"Huh?!" Houki was startled until she saw a pair of rabbit ears twitching to her right, "Oh...oh, yeah, it does."

"Come on, baby sister!" Tabane said, "You'll get nasty wrinkles where you don't want any of you keep up that troll frown!"

"I wonder why I got this face to begin with," Houki cowled.

"Oh, just let it go," Tabane wagged her hand, "I sent you a postcard, didn't I?"

"It was blank. And it wasn't even from Asia."

"Oh, yeah..." and then, Tabane did this, "...Well, it's the thought that counts. Now, let's finish those adjustments!"

Houki had to hold in her disgust. She thought of so many words to say to her chronically lackadaisical sister, but she had to focus on the upcoming mission. After all, the fact that this will be her first time fighting alongside Ichika as her only partner was enough to keep her troubles at bay.

But while she was preparing with Ichika to take the fight to the Gospel, Rin was busy helping Laura with preparations for when assistance would be needed...

"This is the big freaking gun you were waiting for?" ...by replacing Laura's big railgun with an even bigger railgun... "This seems like super overkill."

"It's supposed to enhance my railgun with powerful sniping capabilities," Laura said, "I can't do much by itself..."

"... but if it were lured into the sweet spot..." Rin cooed.

"Don't push it," Laura blushed when her mind decoded that message. She quickly regained her composure when she received an incoming transmission from Chifuyu, "Yes, Mentor?"

"Come back to the Command Room," Chifuyu said, "The mission is about to begin."

At the resort's outdoor recreation area, Houki and Ichika gathered together to prepare themselves for their biggest battle yet. The sun was shining brightly, the scene of the area was still lively, and the people here seemed to have no idea what was about to happen. Ichika and Houki looked around at the people that they were going to protect. They shared one more longing glance at each other before nodding the mission to begin.

Ichika grasped his bracelet and concentrated his energy, "Now! BYAKUSHIKI!"

Houki raised her wrist and signaled her new bell charm bracelets to assemble for battle. "Here we go," Houki said as she held her hand out, "Akatsubaki!"

In a brief flash of light, the resort goers stopped what they were doing and turned to the center of the court. They were in awe at what had emerged: a white knight and a red angel. They all cheered for their success, but Ichika and Houki didn't hear them. The two floated upward until they couldn't hear the people's voices anymore.

"Ok, Houki," Ichika smiled, "It's on."

Houki looked calmer than usual, "You know, I'd have never let a man go before me before this, but I think I can make an exception this time..." she returned his smile, "...especially since we're alone together."

"Let's worry about that after we complete our mission," Ichika reiterated, "We've got a crowd waiting for us after all."

"Yeah, you're right..." Houki almost forgot about that crowd below her.

"Listen, Houki," Ichika sensed that something was off about Houki, "This isn't a practice match, so we need to be extra careful."

Houki seemed a little amused by his concern for her, "You're not telling me anything I don't already know."

Ichika caught that slight expression of amusement.

"But, don't worry," Houki reassured him, "You can always count on me to get you where you need to go. So, just relax and let me do the driving."

But Ichika was not that relaxed, "You're feeling awfully confident despite this being your first time. Did a new attitude come with that IS?"

"Oh, no. I'm just the same as I've always been," Houki said, "But you know, you need to remember to stay calm out there."

Ichika thought the thrill of wielding an IS was getting to her head, but before he could respond in the like, Chifuyu contacted them both via open channel, "Orimura. Shinonono. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ichika responded.

"The success of this mission is wholly dependent on completion of a one-shot kill," Chifuyu commed over, "so get in there and finish it as quickly as possible. Your target, the rouge unit, will now be referred to simply as "the Gospel" from now on. Is that clear?"

"Understood," they replied.

But Houki seemingly couldn't quell her own ego, so she made a request that was out-of-character for her, "Um, Miss Orimura? Should I continue to provide Ichika with tactical support as the situation calls for it?"

Chifuyu caught that hint of pride and gave her a warning, "Only if the situation calls for it. Remember, you have no battle experience in the Akatsubaki, and more over, it's a Gen4 prototype, so unexpected problems could arise. Don't push yourself too hard."

"Understood, ma'am," Houki seemingly disregarded a major portion of Chifuyu's warning, "But I'll do what I can to the best of my ability."

Chifuyu signaled to Maya, noting how the other pilots caught on to Houki's personality shift, "Open a private channel to Orimura."

Ichika was still wondering how Houki put on an alternate persona so quickly when Chifuyu's came through on his own IS: "Ichika, can you hear me?"

Ichika flinched, "Um..."

"There's something I need to tell you," Chifuyu said, "but it has to be where Shinonono can't hear our conversation, so play dumb."

Ichika nodded, then whispered, "Is it Houki?"

"Yes," Chifuyu said, "I think she's getting carried away. She's overly excited, and in that state of mind she could make a fatal mistake. Should anything happen, lend her your support."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ichika replied, "You can count on me, ma'am."

"Very well," Chifuyu placed her trust in her brother, nodding to Maya to disable private communication.

"Switching to main open channel," Maya reopened public connections, "Standby."

Cecilia, Rin, Laura, and Charlotte watched as Ichika and Houki prepared to take off. They started to worry more about Houki's mental state and whether or not she would get herself hurt, much less properly control an IS.

But Chifuyu has to put aside her worries, otherwise could lose the Gospel. She tapped her earpiece and gave the signal, "Commence Operation Gospel!"

Ichika grabbed onto Houki's shoulder. Houki felt his hand through the blue metal. His warmth started to energize her even more. "Ready?" She asked him.

Ichika nodded, "Always."

At that moment, the Akatsubaki's thrusters began to charge power. Just one second later, the Akatsubaki took off at a speed comparable to the Byakushiki's Ignition Boost. Two minutes later, it increased its speed to twice the magnitude.

Meanwhile, Lincoln was flying over the Pacific Ocean, barely able to keep himself at half his top speed. The entire flight, he tried to contact his friends in Japan, but he kept getting error messages.

"Dangit!...Why can't I contact them?!..." he panted due to exhaustion. This was the first time he experienced hours of continuous flight without sleep, and it took its tool on him, "I can't...need to rest..." He started to drift off and fall into sleep, into the ocean. The few he seconds he drifted off were bliss for him. Moments of the trip around town, with Lynn...

"!!" Lincoln was awakened by his lungs choking on water. He quickly broke the surface and had several clean gulps of air, "UGH...HUUHHH...HHH...What the..." He shook off the water works and resumed his flight, "Gotta stay focused...gotta get to Margo...before the others do..."

But it was already too late. Just as Lincoln regained his focus from the dunk in the water, Houki and Ichika have confirmed visual with the Gospel.

"Ichika! I see it!" Houki warned.

Ichika squinted his eyes until his vision adjusted, "Yeah, that's the Silverio Gospel, alright."

"I'm increasing speed!" Houki shouted, "Just ten seconds until we make contact!"

Houki eased her way to her maximum speed and steadied her body to allow Ichika to stand upright. He activated his Reiraku Byakuya and prepared his slash as they inched their way towards the Gospel. But when they were twenty feet away, the Gospel sensed their presence and changed flight direction.

"Keep going! Don't slow down, Houki!" Ichika shouted.

Houki stayed her gaze on the Gospel, closely following it through every twist and turn the Gospel performed.

Ichika kept his eyes open and saw that the Gospel was clearly outmatched in terms of raw speed. He gripped his sword and prepared to swing his blade the moment he was within striking distance. When Houki was close enough to reach the Gospel, he made his move, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

But it was a feint. The Gospel's AI had already processed the Akatsubaki's flight capabilities against its own, and concluded that the most optimal tactic was to use the Akatsubaki's speed against it. The Gospel slowed its speed on purpose to allow the Byakushiki the first strike; then, it simply sidestepped the sword swing and took off in the reverse direction.

"It dodged it!" Ichika exclaimed.

From then on, it was a dogfight. The Gospel flew in several complicated maneuvers, forcing Houki to put effort into keeping up with the Gospel. When she put too much effort in, she sped up too much and slipped off the Gospel's path, allowing it to gain extra distance and fire off a round of energy blasts. Ichika was forced to separate from Houki to avoid getting hit. The Gospel turned its attention to Houki, firing homing blasts to keep her on defense, while letting off several surprise shots at Ichika whenever he got too close.

Ichika backed away and restrategized, "Houki, listen! Let's try hitting it from the left and right at once! I'll take right, you take left!"

Houki nodded, "Understood-HUAGH!" before getting hit with another barrage of energy. She halted her IS and materialized her twin katanas before resuming her pursuit. They both had to push through the energy blasts to get anywhere near the Gospel, which kept changing its flight patterns to try to disorient Ichika and Houki. But they realized that the only way to hit the Gospel was to brute force their way through.

Houki slowed down, "Ichika, I'm going to try to cut off its movements!"

"Got it!" Ichika flew ahead of her to distract the Gospel with his sword.

Houki released her Unfolding Armor to boost her offenses, and sent out two blade bits to take on the Gospel. The Gospel sensed their speed and stopped its assault on the Byakushiki. It swatted away the two bits, but it took recoil damage after each one, giving the Houki the time frame she needed to charge in and slam her swords down. The Gospel quickly went on defense by catching the blades, but it left its backside completely open for attack.

"Ichika!" Houki shouted, "Engage now!"

"Roger!" Ichika initiated his Ignition Boost and lunged himself at the Gospel, "RRAAAAAAAAGH!"

The Gospel was able to shake Houki off with its energy balls, but it couldn't avoid the Reiraku Byakuya at all. Ichika got a solid hit in before getting punched away from the Gospel.

Lincoln had finally reached the Asian ocean border while the battle was underway, "Finally...I think I can-" His mind stopped short of seeing Houki and Ichika locked in a fierce midair battle with the Gospel. Next to a ship. "No, no, NO!" Lincoln woke right up, "WHAT ARE THEY DOING?!"

Ichika and Houki tried multiple times to take the Gospel out, but neither of them succeeded, so they had to pin their hopes on one final assault. Lincoln would've stepped in to stop the fight, but he doesn't know what kind of collateral damage he may incur if he prioritized the Gospel over the ship.

And the shipmen weren't too pleased to know that they've been caught in the crossfire, fending off numerous projectiles a waves with sheer luck.

"Son of a bitch!" One of them cursed, "These damn IS pinks are gonna get us killed!"

"We need to evacuate!" Another shouted.

"Are you crazy?! What about the profit margins?!" Right when the said that, Lincoln landed on the deck.

"Card Counter!" Lincoln called to the field his newest ally, who just so happened to be in the tower behind him.

"I thought I told you not to tag-out with me," Card Counter brushed him off in her usual monotone coldness, "I have very important work to do."

"More important than that?!" Lincoln pointed to the sky, which was raining down great green balls of fury.

"What are you yammering ab-" Card Counter stopped short of seeing the machine that was responsible for sending the balls downward. Her stoic facial expression suddenly turned to fear, "No...that's the-"

"Yeah, I know! Listen!" Lincoln grabbed Card Counter's hand and pointed to the ship's largest beacon, "We need a barrier big enough to encompass the ship!"

"Did the incomprehensible energy output disturb you in the slightest?!" Card Counter screamed.

"Yeah, but these guys's deaths will disturb me even more!"

"They're mere poachers!" Card Counter protested, "Lawbreakers! What value do they possibly possess?!"

"They're still human! They have lives too, you know!"

Card Counter sighed at Lincoln's annoyingly unwavering will, but she had in mind to notify the authorities while constructing a barrier. Two objectives could be accomplished. She accepted, and hopped onto his back, "Link me to the main connection tower!"

Meanwhile up in the sky, Houki had led the Gospel into another grapple, positioning the two at the optimal angle for Ichika to swoop in and strike, "Nngh...Ichika! Hit it again!"

"Here I come!" Ichika was about to trigger his Ignition Boost again, but something caught sight of his eye. Several of the energy blasts flew past him and hit the water below him, exploding near the poaching vessel, and two indistinguishable people barely holding up a thin barrier guarding it. He turned off his IB and blasted past Houki.

"Ichika?!" Houki exclaimed, to the advantage of the Gospel.

It blasted her off, and then blasted even more energy balls than usual right at Houki. She dodged most of them, but they went straight to Ichika, who had to stop to swat the energy balls away from the ship's range. And even then, he couldn't stop all of them. Some of them did find their way to the ship, hammering harshly at the makeshift barrier Lincoln created.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Houki screamed, "I need you back here with me!"

"Our intelligence was wrong!" Ichika responded, "The teachers didn't scan the water! There's a ship down there!"

"A ship?!" Houki wasn't aware of a ship anywhere near the battle zone. She linked her network to a local satellite and managed to get a visual of the unknown ship. She shared it with Ichika...and they saw a terribly weakened Lincoln holding up the barrier with someone resembling his second youngest sister. "Wha...what is he doing here?!" She screamed in disbelief, "And on a poaching vessel?!"

Lincoln was forced on his knees blocking the Gospel's attacks when he received a voice call from Ichika, "Lincoln?! What are you doing down there?!"

"Ngh...trying to guard these guys from getting energy splattered?!" Lincoln grunted before the Gospel sprayed even more energy across the ocean, forcing everyone on the defensive.

"They're just criminals! Forget about them!" Houki shouted while bobbing and weaving through the Gospel's attacks.

But Ichika stayed right where he was, "No! I can't turn my back on them!" He kept burning his energy trying to prevent the ship from getting wrecked.

Card Counter was having trouble maintaining the barrier's integrity due to the rocky nature of the water and the waning stamina from Lincoln. Luckily, her small gadget detected a faint radio frequency transmitted from the tower itself, "Ace, I've located a functional radio that's communicating to somewhere near Fuji-san!"

"Piggyback off that frequency!" Lincoln screamed, "Patch me to the IS Command Center!"

Just in time too, because Ichika's energy had decreased to the point where he couldn't use the Reiraku Byakuya or the Ignition Boost. Ichika was visibly disturbed with his Sabre's disappearance, but even more distressed whe he saw Lincoln fall to the ship's deck. He flinched for a split second because he was torn between taking on the Gospel and taking his friend to safety, but he was suddenly brought back to the fight when Houki shielded him from a surprise attack from the Gospel.

That caused her to lash out in over her head, "Idiots! You'd put protecting a bunch of lowlifes ahead of this?! Both of you need to leave right now-"

Ichika snapped, "HOUKIIIIIII!"

Houki gasped. She had never witnessed him shout at her so sternly. His conviction startled her so much that it unwittingly triggered a link to the IS subspace, where the two had a brief heart to heart.

"Please, Houki, don't talk like that," Ichika said softly, "Don't you remember what Chifuyu said about handling great power in the palm of your hands?"

She did...

("You two need to be more careful with situations like this and not get in over your heads. Some time in the future you won't be able to turn back from a mistake you could make, whether or not you're the one who caused it.")

That alone made her wonder exactly how she had been acting after she got her IS. Who was she to focus her entire being on the mission at hand, without thinking about what the exact scope was?

"That makes protecting people like them our responsibility, our duty," Ichika continued, "Not just by defeating rouge units, but by shielding people from their path of destruction. You can't just turn a blind eye to them."

Houki hadn't realized how far she had let go of herself until he said those words. She had never gotten her own personal unit until just a little while ago. And it got to her head.

But she didn't think about what would've happened until he said, "That's...really not like you at all."

Then, and only then had she finally realized the mistake she made, "But I was just...I...I was..." about to let 15 people die just for her 15 minutes of fame. At the very least, had she continued her assault, one person would be confirmed dead...a 12-year-old kid pilot who was still maintaining his consciousness on the ship below her, fighting his own body's limits to stand.

Houki was too shaken to continue. She let her hands loose, letting her swords fall to the ocean, and covered her face, unable to cope with the possibility she wrought upon herself.

And during that very brief moment of self loathing, a host of things happened.

Chifuyu and Maya were speechless. They had visuals of everything that just happened. They knew that Lincoln wasn't supposed to return until a week later, and they couldn't figure out why he came now.

The other pilots were just as stunned. The 3d map projection in the center of the room displayed the positions of all those who took part in the battle, including Lincoln.

"What is he doing here of all places?!" Charlotte asked.

No one knew. No one could make any sense of what the situation was.

Until his voice penetrate the room via pirate broadcast, "STOP THE ATTACK! CALL IT OFF NOW!"

"It's Loud!" Maya exclaimed, "He's piggybacking off our frequency!"

"What?!" Chifuyu and Laura were horrified.

Charlotte was about to question the message, "I thought he was-"

But they all stopped short of hearing a "MARGO'S TRAPPED INSIDE THE IS! HER MIND HAS BEEN HIJACKED! GOSPEL IS MANNED! REPEAT, GOSPEL IS MANNED!"

"Manned unit?!" Cecilia gasped.

"But we didn't pick up any human activity from the Gospel!" Maya exclaimed.

Then, the Gospel leapt high in the air and released enough energy balls to cover all of Royal Woods and focused them on Houki. Ichika was the first to react, jumping directly in front of the blast to shield her, taking the full brunt of the attack.

"ICHIKAAAAA!" Houki was beyond horrified. Her one and only childhood friend, the only person who stood up to the bullies in her younger years, has fallen, "NOOOOOOO!" She caught him in her arms, taking heavy damage from the Gospel's sudden attack. She too had fainted, and the two pilots were sent into free fall, out of a pair of massive explosions.

"Fatal damage sustained by both Akatsubaki and Byakushiki!" Card Counter shouted, "Imminent collision in fifteen seconds mark!"

"Reroute this boat to the mainland!" Lincoln ordered while running to the edge of the boat and jumping off. But it was here when he lost all stamina and blacked out. The last thing he saw was his hand reaching out before plunging into the water. His female counterpart had to hijack the Suite and rescue the falling pilots. But the Suite only had enough energy to slow their falls. It softened the Akatsubaki and Byakushiki's landing, but it still ended in a huge splash that veered the boat off course.

Back in the command center, the three blips of the three pilots had disappeared from the map.

"They're all down!" Maya alerted the entire room, "Loud, Orimura, and Shinonono are all down!"

None of the remaining pilots could stay still any longer.

"Get them back here now!" Rin shouted.

Everyone vacated the room and booked the nearest taxi they could find. Chifuyu took two medical crews into her rental van. They zipped past traffic and raced to the harbor where Card Counter was able to lifeboat the trio to safety before fizzling out of existence. Houki woke up just in time to see the aftermath of the mission. Lincoln and Ichika were placed on stretchers and given oxygen masks while the medics treated immediate injuries. Rin and Cecilia rushed to Ichika's side, while Charlotte and Laura stood by Lincoln. Houki was eased onto the van, where Maya had to encourage her to tell them what happened. But Chifuyu was shocked. She had witnessed her brother and her brother's brother fall in combat. Her only remaining family. Down. She wanted to show emotion for him, but her pride as a Brunhilde, and as an Orimura, wouldn't allow her. Not when there's other people watching them.

All she could do was rush them into the ambulances and ship them to the nearest hospital. As they left, she turned her face away from the others. She forgot about the other pilots' upgrade packages. Her mind was still rattled from Ichika's injury. The only thing she said to anyone that day was the last thing the other pilots expected to hear from their commander:

"THIS MISSION WAS A COMPLETE FAILURE! IF THERE ARE ANY CHANGES TO THE SITUATION, I WILL CONVENE A MEETING! BUT UNTIL I DO, CONSIDER YOURSELVES ALL ON STANDBY!"