Ichika wandered the halls of the forward base, hands in his pockets and gaze facing downwards.

It was a good thing. What they'd done was a great thing. He was doing his job by killing them and they were doing their job by dying. It was a good thing they were dead. It was a good thing he had killed them.

But man, why couldn't he just forget about it then? The blood, the screaming, the chaos. What if it was Monika? What if it was one of his friends?

No, no, he was putting faces on the faceless. They were nobodies who he had to kill. It was the right thing to kill them. He was happy he killed them. The instructor would be proud, Angela would be proud, Emily even told him herself that she was proud. What would his sister think?

He was disturbed from his thoughts however as the door to his right opened and York stepped into the hallway.

"Oh, hey Orimura. Good job out there by the way. Those machine guns were so heavy, I thought my arms were going to fall off," York remarked, rotating her right arm which was still aching.

"Yeah, everyone did really good. Shame Summers got hurt by that shrapnel though," Ichika replied.

"Bastard, it was a lucky shot while Summers wasn't looking. At Least it wasn't too bad, with some stitches and time it'll heal just fine."

Ichika nodded. Summers was the best out of all of them when it came to first aid and medicine. It was incredibly unlucky that she was the one who ended up getting injured. Thankfully though, nobody was hurt enough to require medical attention.

"Hey, but are you ok Ichika?" York asked, her friend seemed down in the dumps. She honestly couldn't blame him though, quite a few of the girls were in similar states.

"I guess. Well, I dunno. I know what we did was good. But why do I still feel bad?"

York pursed her lips. "If you really do feel genuinely bad… well I don't really know what to say. I guess you'll just have to get used to it. I do know one thing though, you're a strong guy Orimura and when someone is at their lowest, it takes a strong person to persevere, to be true to themselves."

Ichika met York's gaze with a small and grateful smile. "That's pretty wise. I'll try to stay strong."

"It's nothing, they're not even mine. It was my dad who said that to me. Maybe I'll tell you about it later. Either way, I'll see you around," York said, turning her back to him and walking down the hall.

Ichika watched his friend turn the corner before beginning to wander through the halls again. Doubt and anxiety still plagued his mind. Memories still weighed heavily on his mind. But he supposed he had to keep going despite that. His friends were, he should as well.

The boy decided that he needed to find something to do, something to keep him busy so that time could pass easier. All of his friends had busied themselves with something. York was keeping busy with the logistics and reviewing their operation. Finley and West could be heard playing ping pong in the armoury. Summers was recovering in bed with Kane watching over her, they were probably chatting. Monika had opted to use the base's only television to watch American football.

He ended up wandering into the kitchens, seeing Schaefer who was scouring the cabinets.

"What are you doing Schaefer, dinner isn't until a while you know," Ichika called out.

Schaefer checked her watch. "Hm, guess it isn't. I dunno, I just felt like cooking I guess."

"That's cool I guess, I didn't know you knew how to cook."

"Yeah, my mom taught me a whole lot of things when I was a little girl. My dad's from Switzerland but my mom is a really ethnic German. She always said stuff about never forgetting my cultural roots, so she taught me all sorts of German stuff, especially cooking German food," Schaefer replied, inspecting some potatoes.

Silence overtook the kitchen space as Schaefer busied herself with preparing ingredients while Ichika watched awkwardly.

"Well… do you need any help?" Ichika asked, scratching the back of his head nervously.

The girl looked at Ichika with a raised eyebrow. "You want to cook?"

"I um, I don't really know how to. Would you… teach me?"

"Hm, I wouldn't mind. I only really know how to make German dishes and a few Austrian ones though," Schaefer admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. "Just wondering however, why the sudden interest in cooking?"

Ichika shrugged. "It seems kind of fun and useful at the same time I guess. Also, I could use the distraction to be honest."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Schaefer offered.

"Not really, sorry," Ichika declined.

"You know what? That's totally fine Orimura, I don't really want to talk about the operation either, what's done is done. So let's both just forget about it and make some good old German cuisine shall we?"

Ichika smiled a bit at the girl's reply and before he knew it, he was peeling potatoes over a trash bin. The two exchanged some small talk as they worked, Ichika doing the easier tasks while Schaefer took over for the harder tasks.

In the end, they cooked up quite a bit of food. Well, Schaefer did most of the cooking while Ichika hung back and listened to the older girl lecture him about the correct procedure. Ichika idly wondered if the other girls would be fine with an early dinner.

First Day of IS Training

It had taken a few days, an exchange of thoughts with his new kitchen buddy, and a cathartic heart to heart talk with Monika to shake Ichika out of his funk. Unpleasant memories found themselves shoved deep into the corner of his brain and buried under excuses and hard rationalization.

Soon after the successful operation, the eight were flown back to the training base. The instructor seemed to have a soft spot after all and gave them an entire day off when they returned.

Now, the eight trainees were lined up in front of the instructor who had led them to one of the base's storage facilities.

"You all performed adequately. True to my word, the eight of you are to begin your IS training starting today. Be thankful to Uncle Sam who has generously given us eight new third generation IS," the instructor stated.

"Yes instructor."

The instructor nodded in satisfaction before allowing the recruits to find the IS they were tasked to pilot for the foreseeable future. It was like watching a group of kids going into a theme park for the first time.

Ichika reverently approached the primarily brown IS with grey lines painted across some of its armour plating. This was a weapon that transcended modern warfare, this was going to be his partner probably unto death. If Ichika had to sum up his IS at first glance it would be bulky yet compact. It looked like a stocky metal bird, like an owl in fact. The long and sharp metal plates that surrounded the IS looked like enclosed wings and gave off quite an intimidating look.

"These IS came straight out of the research department, you eight will be their first ever pilots. The organization has authorized you to name your personal IS. As your instructor however, I urge you to be professional when naming it," the instructor intoned from behind the boy.

Ichika laid a hand upon its cold metal surface. It obviously resembled some species of owl probably native to America.

"Fukurō," Ichika breathed, watching as a soft light emitted from the IS, accepting the silent contract between man and machine.

As the instructor had taught, Ichika minimized Fukurō into its closed form which took the form of a simple silver ring. With careful hands, he slipped the ring on his right index finger.

"Ichika! Hey Ichika!" Monika shouted as she ran over to the boy's side. Ichika noticed the new necklace she wore, he assumed that was her IS in its closed form.

"Is that ring your IS? Wait, don't tell me, just let me see it," Monika practically demanded.

With an exasperated look, Ichika activated Fukurō into its default setting. The IS's frame materialized itself around Ichika's body along with twelve long serrated armour plates that hovered around his shoulders like enclosed wings. Ichika supposed they kind of looked like giant floating machetes.

Multiple huds flashed around Ichika's peripherals, displaying Fukurō's status and more importantly, the shield gauge.

"Access, system start," a mechanical voice intoned as Ichika made a few test test movements in the IS. It was actually a lot more comfortable than it looked.

"Holy… your IS is so cool Ichika. It's pretty big too. At least, it looks big with those floating armour plates," Monika remarked with wide eyes. "I bet you named it 'owl', it looks just like one."

"I actually named it Fukurō," looking down on his now much smaller friend.

"That's uhh… Japanese right?"

"It's the translation for owl, so you were basically right on the mark," Ichika affirmed. He played with the controls some and was pleased when he discovered that he could move the floating armour plates or 'flying machetes' with some concentration.

"Man, that's such a sweet IS, totally badass," Monika praised with a double thumbs up.

The instructor nodded. "Indeed, it's quite a spectacular model. Those serrated armour plates that look like an owl's folded up wings are capable of emitting a sound suppression field once you go into first shift. Your IS may very well be the only in existence practically capable of completely silent flying. Quite handy for stealth operations you may face in the future."

Ichika's eyes widened in disbelief. Fukurō was incredible. He silently thanked the universe for giving him this opportunity.

"What do you think of mine?" Monika asked, activating her own IS.

In comparison, Monika's IS was slightly shorter and far less stocky. It was coloured a lighter shade of brown than Fukurō with a full black torso piece. She folded down four-tube goggles which looked similar to the night vision goggles they had trained with. However these goggles looked far more advanced as the lenses glimmered in a murky red glow.

"Look Ichika, I have a special ability too! With this IS and these sweet goggles, I can see right through your clothes!" Monika exclaimed, pointing at the boy.

"Wha- turn them off Monika! That's weird," Ichika protested, trying to cover himself with his arms.

"Pfft, I'm just kidding you dummy. I wish I took a picture of your face right there, it was totally priceless!" Monika giggled. "I named this baby Vestige, pretty cool huh?"

"A fitting name Wyler. Wipe that stupid look off your face Orimura, Wyler can't actually see through your clothes. Those goggles do however possess the capability of night vision, infrared detection, and the ability to see what the eyes can't using sonic pulses emitted from the IS as a sort of sonar. The egg heads also crammed as many tracking capabilities into the IS as possible. It's a very specialized unit," the instructor explained with a shake of her head.

"Now go start learning how to actually use those things, don't forget what I taught you. I have to go talk with the other recruits about their own IS."

The two nodded their heads. "Yes instructor."

After all those hours in the classroom, after all that studying, they would finally be able to actually do it. They were finally pilots.

Ichika initiated his IS's gravity control and began hovering out of the facility, Monika close behind him. Ichika could feel the passive inertia control of the IS activate in earnest as he began to soar upwards.

"Damn," Monika muttered, wrestling with her IS's controls. She still was getting used to being connected to her IS's hyper sensor which enhanced her five senses. She couldn't quite keep up with Ichika who was already rocketing around like a maniac.

Even if Ichika was a natural, Monika was a quick learner and soon she was flying tentatively to Ichika's right.

"Hey Monika, how about we take it to the next level? I'm going to go first shift. You don't have to if you don't want to, you'll just be a chicken then," Ichika taunted as they flew side by side.

"Awfully confident huh? Is it because of the IS? Whatever, I'll show you who's a chicken," Monika retorted, activating her IS's first shift. Immediately her IS looked sleeker, the armour plating becoming slightly sharper.

Monika looked at the new huds that flashed in front of her. She smirked as she noticed that she could materialize a high precision sniper rifle instead of the simple marksman rifle she was limited to in her default setting form.

Soon after, Ichika's IS similarly shifted. Similar to Monika's IS Vestige, the armour plates making up his 'wings' became longer and more pronounced. Fukurō displayed via hud that he could materialize gauntlets that had double barreled light machine guns attached to the bottom side and hook shaped blades on top. It seemed his IS was naturally pushing him to fight close quarters.

Ichika smiled and laughed in genuine excitement. Despite the instructor's best efforts to discipline them, he was still a twelve year old boy in a literal mech suit. He gave a whoop and a holler as he flipped and twisted through the air in his IS. Maybe things were starting to look up for him.

One Year Later

"W-Wait don't do this," a disheveled Arabian man pleaded as Kane forced him in a kneeling position.

York kneeled in front of the man and narrowed her eyes. "You know this road is closed right? We were quite sure the locals were aware of that. So tell me, why in god's name are you here?"

"N-No you don't understand! You're Americans right? I'm a doctor and my niece is very sick in the next town over. T-This is the only road connecting our villages. Please Americans, I have to bring medicine to my niece!" The man pleaded.

Monika pursed her lips before shaking her head. "I don't buy it, this haji's a god damn liar."

"What makes you so sure?" Ichika asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

"Instinct."

"Hold on, even if this guy's a terrorist, wouldn't killing him expose our presence here to his friends? Wouldn't our best chances lay with letting him go? He says he's a doctor, you know how rare those are out here," Summers stated.

"I don't think so, terrorists aren't that smart. We should kill him now and bury him six feet under," Monika growled, pulling out her M18 pistol from its holster.

"Fuck, all I'm saying is we shouldn't underestimate them. I'm just trying to look a few steps ahead here," Summers retorted with furrowed brows.

"No, I think you're overestimating them. There's no point in playing off chance, we should be decisive here. He's a terrorist and we should kill him. Easy, quik, and simple," Monika argued.

"Girls, girls, both of you calm down," Kane butt in with a sigh of exasperation. "We'll just settle this like we did last time."

Monika and Summers glared at eachother but eventually turned away, each grumbling harsh words under their breath.

"Whatever."

"Fine."

Ichika sighed as the three looked expectantly towards him. He pulled out a quarter from his pocket and flipped it high into the sky before snatching it out of the air and slapping it onto the back of his palm.

"We should at least let the man call it, it's his life after all," Summer said, pointing to the man who was still being held down by Kane.

"Heads or tails," Ichika asked dispassionately, once again closing his heart to the enemy.

"Wha- I don't understand. Please Ameri-"

"Call it scumbag," Monika spat, shoving her pistol's barrel into the side of the man's head.

The man attempted to squirm away but Kane's grip held tight and he was forced to stare down the pistol's barrel.

The man began to sweat profusely as he mentally broke down in front of the four pre-teens. It was only after a minute of whimpering did he raise his head. "T-Tails."

"Hm, I'm sorry sir," Ichika intoned, shaking his head and kneeling down to show the coin resting on his palm.

"N-No, Americans please! My-"

*Crack*

"Fuck Wyler, a warning would be nice. You got the guys blood all over me!" Kane hissed, letting the body fall limply onto the ground.

"Err- sorry Kane, my bad," Monika apologized, holstering her pistol.

"Whatever."

Ichika looked down at his quarter and wiped off a drop of blood that had dirtied its surface. To think a mere 25 cents could decide not only a man's innocence, but his mortality. But was the man even an enemy? Their job was to destroy the enemy, but what if this man really was just a doctor?

Monika would later convince Ichika that it was the right decision.

Three Years Later

It had been approximately a total of four years since the eight trainees had received their IS and a lot had changed. Ichika along with the other seven had officially completed their training under the instructor who they were now supposed to refer to as Chiron. It was a fitting name for such a great instructor in Ichika's opinion.

Ichika still saw his seven friends often. Infact, Kane and West were in his same squad during last week's operation. York was often seen helping with the logistical stuff around base. And sometimes on rare occasions, Ichika would be in a team with all seven of the girls. Those were always the best operations.

Every single one of them had officially become pilots of the organization. The instructor, or rather Chiron, had informed them of the organization's tradition of giving new pilots aliases.

Unsurprisingly, he had been nicknamed 'Owl' after his unique IS. Kane had been dubbed 'Apostle', West was named 'Rider', Summer was 'Thirteen', Finley 'Vulture', Schaefer was 'Shepherd', York was 'Lioness', and finally Monika was named 'Bloodhound'.

Monika in particular had been pleased about her cool sounding name. Ichika however thought any name with the word blood in it would suit his eccentric companion. Despite being his best friend, even Ichika was sometimes put off by her more manic side.

Ichika's IS had also undergone changes and retrofitting over the four years. Using one of his expansion slots, he'd attached two heavy duty grappling hook launchers that rested on each hip. Further, he used his nickname as 'Owl' as inspiration to add talon shaped blades to the armour plates covering his feet. And after an offhand remark from Monika, Ichika had officially named the serrated armour plates that floated around him like an owl's wings, 'feathers'.

Monika had made fun of him for going all in on the owl motif, but Ichika liked it. It was not only functional, but intimidating.

He did miss the old days though. Waking up in a panic with his friends and frantically trying to live up to the instructor's standard day in and day out. After he'd gotten used to the general chaos, there had been a certain charm to it. However he supposed the operations he found himself deployed on had their moments. A lot of fourteen hour operations only had about two hours of fighting so most of the time he would just sit around chat with his fellow pilots.

The teen's musings were cut short however as his radio crackled to life.

"Owl, My IS shows there's another IS in the camp. I'm pretty sure it's a mass produced model, an Uchigane maybe. How those rats got their hands on an IS is beyond me, but the operation stays the same," Monika's voice buzzed.

"Are you certain? Where is it specifically?" Ichika asked through the radio.

"I'm 100%, Vestige is never wrong. The pilot is inside the house with the flag. Currently… they're resting their back on the east facing wall," Monika replied.

"If the mission stays the same, what's the plan?" Ichika grunted, quickly locating the house with a flag flapping freely from atop its roof.

"You deal with the pilot, you're better at that kind of stuff. I'll use Vestige's tracking to find and extract the two Americans. You get in position to attack with your stealth and standby. If they spot me then take the IS, if they don't then wait for me to get into overwatch position before moving. Either way, our second priority objective is now that IS."

"I'll try and grab the core for extraction when we go in," Ichika stated.

"Affirmative. Remember, if we're spotted at all, we gotta wipe the base," Monika reminded.

"I know," Ichika affirmed. "I'll move in on your mark."

"I have my IS's goggles in partial deployment right now. I'm moving through their compound right now so you might as well get in position," Monika informed.

"Roger."

Ichika descended from his position high in the night sky, his feathers emitting a sound suppression field around him to silence his descent. He was like a falling star as he plummeted down. It didn't matter how loud he was, absolute silence was guaranteed as long as the sound suppression field stood.

There was a single sentry posted to the building's roof. A single man wrapped in a hijab and carrying a cheap AK-47. Ichika had seen and killed countless people of an identical description.

As Ichika neared the roof, his feathers fanned out, increasing the total rage of the sound suppression field. He could exponentially increase how large the field became at the cost of his IS's power reserve.

The man screamed when Ichika plunged the talon-like blade attached to his feet into the man's shoulders. Unfortunately for his victim, all sound failed to reach anyone outside of his little world of silence.

With a quick and decisive tug, the man's body was asunder and fell limp in his grasp. He retracted his talons from the body with a sickening squelch, letting the body fall in a messy heap atop the roof before letting his feathers fold in. Once again, the sound suppression field covered just barely around him and Fukurō.

"Are you in position Owl? I'm just about to extract the hostages," Monika's voice buzzed over the radio.

"Give me a few seconds," Ichika replied, quikly soaring back into the dark night sky. "I'm in positio-"

"Fuck shit fuck they saw me, go loud! I'll get those hostages you get that IS!" Monika yelled over the radio. Ichika could hear gunshots on the other side of the base.

Without waiting another second, Ichika reversed his momentum in a mad blitz downwards. He crashed through the shoddy roof and immediately recognized the enemy pilot who had already activated their IS in response to the gunshots.

Monika had been right, it was an Uchigane mode. Even if its frame was unremarkable mass produced tash, the core was invaluable.

Ichika lunged forwards in a heartbeat like a bird of prey, his talons grabbing hold of the Uchigane, grinding against its automatic energy shield as they reached for flesh. He took into account six other occupants in the room who were scrambling for their third rate weapons.

Unable to escape Ichika's firm grasp, the enemy pilot materialized a .61 sub machine gun and began spraying bullets into his own energy shield. One of the grappling hook launchers on Ichika's waist fired and wrapped itself around the enemy IS's arm. The pilot's aim was thrown across the room as the hook's cable reeled itself in, dismembering a few of her allies with the weapon's IS grade ammunition.

One woman who dived out of the stray bullets' trajectory sprayed Ichika's side with what Ichika recognized as a T65 assault rifle.

Ichika remained unfazed as the bullets didn't even reach the energy shield, merely bouncing off his IS's armour plating. He did however dispatch one of his feathers, only taking a sliver of attention off the enemy pilot in order to do so.

The serrated armour plate that made up one of his feathers soared through the air and embedded itself in the woman's stomach before she could react. It was a quick yet painful death as the feather's serrated edge sawed through flesh and internal organs.

This discouraged two of the others as they stumbled over each other for the exit while one brave individual stood their ground and fired into Ichika's other flank.

Ichika grunted as he rotated his hips, forcing the enemy pilot's line of fire to sweep over the room once again, killing all three.

Realizing what she'd just done, the enemy pilot screamed at Ichika who was still grinding away at her shield with his talons. He was close, he could practically feel the shield begin buckle under the strain.

The enemy pilot quickly understood what was about to happen and lowered her head in defeat. She had given up.

Ichika said nothing as the shield finally broke and the weight of his IS crushed down on the woman's torso, his talons piercing through flesh to finish the job. He materialized his gauntlets and utilized the wrist mounted blades to carve out the core from deep within the IS. The teen pocketed the pearl like sphere before taking off through the roof once again.

Men and women took shots at his ascending figure but they only served to barely chip his shield capacity. They would all have to die, they had all seen his IS. Very few had ever lived after seeing a FOXHOUND operator unless they were an ally.

"I have the core, what's your situation?" Ichika called over his radio.

"Both hostages are accounted for. I'm just about to leave," Monika replied.

A second later, Ichika could see an explosion before Monika, donning her IS, soared upwards towards Ichika. Two slumped bodies were tucked under her arm.

"Was the enemy pilot any go- hold on to these guys," Monika interrupted herself, tossing the two bodies through the air towards her partner who frantically moved to catch them.

She materialized her sniper rifle and aimed at the rockets that had locked onto them from hastily set up launchers. Some exploded as they were shot down before ever leaving the ground, others similarly were shot down as they were no match for Monika's sharp shooting.

"The hostages are drugged up and barely conscious. Go take them to the extraction site and I'll take care of business here. Those rats won't stand a chance against my Vestige," Monika stated, materializing two miniguns mounted atop her shoulders.

Sometimes Ichika felt a little jealous of his friend's sheer firepower. But he was usually relegated to the close combat role so he bit the bullet and was a team player about it. It wasn't like his friends could do what he could up close after all.

"Roger, good luck Bloodhound," Ichika said, tucking the hostages into a more secure grip before beginning to fly away.

"Wait Ich- err Owl, it's not mission related but uhh, do you want to watch a movie on the plane ride home? I brought some of my DVDs so…"

Ichika looked down at the bullets that were flying towards them then back to Monika with a sigh. "I mean, if you brought your DVD player all the way out here then sure."

Monika nodded with excitement. "I'll wrap this up real quick then. It's been so long since we've had a movie night."

The two soon separated in opposite directions. Ichika wanted to help his friend but he supposed the two American Delta operators in his arms were more important right now.

He smiled to himself as the sounds of fighting faded over the horizon. He wondered what movies had Monika brought. She was into those cheesy action movies, but he knew she had a secret soft spot for sappy romance.

The gruesome melee was long forgotten as Ichika pondered over brighter topics. It was movie night after all.