Interlude 1 - Stray Abilities
"I'll go first."
Plum eyes watched as Ephraim handed his suit jacket to Davion. The blonde walked up to the edge of the bleachers, touching the golden choker around his neck. Hopping down, the boy was briefly encompassed in motes of white-gold light. When he landed, his three piece suit was replaced with a pilot suit. It was hugging, accentuating the firm muscles of his arms and torso. Flexible plastic-like armor covered his upper torso and around his neck, forming something akin to a gorget. Primarily black and purple, it lacked a helmet and had a golden sunburst emblem on his left shoulder.
Walking to the center of the Arena, he was once more covered by the same white-gold light. It wasn't anything blinding, rather, it was a rather paradoxical phenomenon wherein the eyes could tell that there is light but there were no light effects. No shadows, no gleam, nothing. Just white motes that were there and then gone.
Chifuyu narrowed her eyes as, in the brief second of its appearance, they formed the brief outline of an armored figure. The plum haired inventor ooh'ed and aah'ed as the Astray materialized in place of the blonde. The most defining feature of it was the gleaming golden inner frame. A lot of it was worryingly exposed, with what little white armor it had mostly focused around the legs and shoulders. Bits of its auric metal were poking out from the dark chest armor, and its helmeted head was topped off with a v-fin of identically golden luster.
"The Gundam Astray Gold Frame." The mechanic introduced the first of the suits with a small smile. "It stands at 7 feet tall and weighs less than a ton, almost similar to that of an IS."
Tabane's eyes glittered while Chifuyu's brows furrowed.
"So that's what they use..." The teacher muttered, briefly glancing to the side at the other two Neo-Types. They seemed nonchalant about all this, though the mechanic seemed to send wary glances at the Professor. Said Professor was vibrating in place, her robot ears twitching and glitching in response to her excitement. Looking back at the arena, she watched as Ephraim do a few simple movements of the limbs and joints.
It had a backpack with thrusters and two white hilts sticking out in angles that were easy to grab from. Eyes narrowing, she could tell from the indents on the handles themselves that they were melee weapons. The question was what they exactly were, swords or extendable spears?
The sea-green optics flashed and a physical shield manifested itself on its left forearm. It was a tower shield, primarily black with white edges and golden detailing. A small vision slit was near the top-center, just about at eye level, and the bottom of the shield ended in three prongs.
"Based on..." Davion spoke up only to pause, glancing at Tabane whose attention was wholly on him. "Based on our experience in exploring our suits, we all have a form of default or 'universal' armament." The mechanic pointed at the Astray, more specifically at the armaments that his friend was inspecting.
"Maya, bring up the targets." Chifuyu spoke through her earpiece, and the green haired woman complied.
"Understood. Initiating standard ranged test." Maya typed in a series of commands from her place in Arena 3's control booth. The enclosed arena began projecting floating hard-light bullseye targets around the Gold Frame, hexagonal constructs that flickered into existence with small numbers denoting points.
"Thank you." Davion nodded at the teacher. "The first weapon that we all have are a pair of 7.62mm Igelstellung multi-barrel CIWS."
Brrrrrt!
Two ports on the helmet of the Gold Frame lit up, just behind the V-fin, as lead streamed out in an angry rumble. The Astray's head moved from target to target, shattering them in quick bursts. Spent casings were discharged from hidden slots on the back of the helmet, arcing the casings up and over the backpack and on to the ground behind the suit. After hitting 4 targets the CIWS stopped firing, gun smoke wafting from the previously hidden vulcan ports on the helmet.
The shattered targets quickly reformed and the armored Neo-Type turned to look back at the group, as if waiting for the next instruction.
"And then our next weapon, considered the default armament, is the Type 71 Beam Rifle." Davion continued, flashing a hand sign to his friend. Ephraim nodded and he materialized a black rifle-like weapon with a scope in his right hand. It didn't resemble any design that Chifuyu could recognize nor could she see any sort of magazine that would feed it energy.
"Ooh, a beam weapon!" Tabane cooed, clapping excitedly as she hopped in place.
"A rifle?" Chifuyu glanced at him, noting the increasingly wary look the mechanic sent to the Professor. "It looks more like a carbine."
The Gold Frame's head turned and tracked, and in less than a second, the rifle was raised and the trigger pulled.
It produced a sound unheard of from a beam weapon in their experience. It wasn't like the high-pitched whine of laser rifles, or the short and quiet chirp of a plasma carbine in sci-fi. It was a raw energized sound of excited particles emitting a tangible beam.
Green lances spewed from the barrel, the accuracy of the pilot impeccable as they struck the mobile bullseyes. Ephraim turned the Astray with controlled motions, hitting the targets the moment they appeared. There was no wasted movements, no unnecessary posturing, as the minimal recoil of the rifle allowed him to quickly switch between the hard-light constructs. Though, after striking a dozen targets dead-center, the Gold Frame stopped firing and attached the rifle to the rear skirt armor. Its head turned back to the group and nodded ever so slightly.
"Is there any chance that you can create some sort of hard-light dummy? The next weapon will be our melee option." Davion asked Chifuyu, pointedly not staring at the visibly drooling Tabane beside her.
"Maya."
"On it."
A mock Uchigane materialized before the Gold Frame, and Ephraim took a few steps back. A golden manipulator rose, wrapping around one of the white hilts on the backpack. The thrusters on said backpack spat out blue-white flames, and previously hidden calf thrusters joined them. With a single step, he rocketed forward with his shield raised.
Crash!
He rammed into the hard-light construct, visibly bouncing back from the impact. It didn't seem to affect him as he brought his hand down, and in a pink crescent, the beam saber diagonally cut through the projection. Bringing his the blade back up, he slashed it horizontally, the momentum from the swing bringing him around the Uchigane. Thrusters roaring once more, he took a great leap back and landed when he was a dozen meters away from the shattering construct. Deactivating the beam saber, he placed the hilt back in its port, allowing it to recharge once more.
"The Type 70 Beam Sabers are our go-to close combat weapons. Able to cut through metal as thick as two feet with little effort."
"Oh...my...me..." Tabane eyes were sparkling, the air around her seemingly twinkling as her rabbit ears twitched wildly.
Ryo merely snorted beside his friend, having been quiet the whole time as he spun a pen in his right hand.
"How does it work?! Does it take the suit's shield energy?! How strong is it?!" The mad rabbit raved and ranted, plum eyes locked on to the Astray as it turned back to them.
The mechanic took a deep breath, hoping that his action wouldn't backfire on them. "The beam saber has its own battery which charges from our suit's Ultracompact Energy Battery via a special connector in the suit's hands. We don't have energy shields and before you ask, no we can't fly. Instead, we rely on our superior agility and speed on the ground. And we've yet to test the beam saber against anything IS-related."
"Oooooh~!"
"Wait, you don't have energy shields? Nor can you fly?" Chifuyu turned to him, somewhat stupefied at the rather disadvantageous fact.
Davion nodded with a small frown, eyes still staring at the Astray in the arena. "No to both. Though, I have already have some plans drawn up to correct that. I just need..." He paused, as if realizing something, and then grimaced like he just swallowed a particularly sour lemon wedge. "...I need a proper workshop to make it a reality..." The mechanic grumbled as the Professor sent a victorious grin at him, the silent conversation between them undecipherable even to the teacher.
"Hmhmhmm~! A workplace that the school will now provide, Davion-kun~!" Tabane cooed, her grin widening at his sour expression.
The mechanic sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned his head. "Just look at Ephraim's next weapon, please."
Turning back to the arena, the two older women rose a brow each at the sight of the Gold Frame and its newest weapon.
It held a launcher-like weapon in its right hand, one nearly as tall as the suit itself. It, like the Type 71, was made of black metal and had odd rear end to it. Once again, it was of a design that they have never seen before. The suit didn't seem to have any problems with holding it, shouldering the weapon with practiced ease.
"The 35mm Gae Bulg Rail Bazooka." Davion introduced the weapon. "It fires special SAPHEI rounds which packs more punch than the caliber would entail. The projectile can go up to Mach 5 in it's velocity, through that is it's upper limit and risks damaging both it and the Gold Frame's entire arm from the sheer recoil. Ephraim's actually been running low on ammo for it lately, so him doing this is...odd."
"A 'Rail Bazooka'?" Tabane tapped her chin, eyes glinting as she watched the long tube-like weapon aim up at the furthest target.
Fwoom!
Faster than the eye could see, though Tabane and Chifuyu clearly saw a yellow blur, the distant target exploded in a semi-large cloud. Just like what the mechanic said, the explosive payload did not match what a 35mm should have. The two women could recall the exact effects such a thing could do to a soft target such as technicals or thin-walled buildings. It was all over the news for nearly a month last year, and caused quite a stir amongst the world's militaries.
"Unlike the weapons before, the Rail Bazooka is exclusive only for the Gold Frame." Davion shrugged as the Astray began to walk back to them, a unique sound of motion coming from the Astray. "Though, it's only exclusive due to Ephraim not wanting to part with it. He uses it to snipe at insurge-" He cut himself off, looking away as Ryo sent him a warning glance.
The teacher rolled her eyes. "We know of your exploits against criminals and terrorists, Guele. No point beating around the bush at this point."
The Gold Frame's weapons and shield dissipated in the motes of light, the suit itself turning back around and walking to where they were. The mechanic stood up, cracking his neck as popped his knuckles. "Alright then. It'll be my turn to show off." He chuckled slightly, risking a glance to the two older women as his friend jumped up and over them. Tabane was looking straight up at the Astray, her eyes wide in childish wonder and no little amount of awe. Chifuyu, however, was frowning at him and he flinched at the heavily disapproving glint in her brown orbs.
"I'll go last." Ryo noted as the suit above them was quickly engulfed in the same white particles as before. The purple-eyed boy fell out from the cloud, clad once more in his three-piece suit sans the jacket. He landed in a clean three-point landing, slowly rising up and dusting his clothes with a faint air of smugness.
"Your floor, Davion." The blonde smirked as he ran a hand through his hair. Ephraim's choker and cufflinks glowed briefly before quickly dying down, and Tabane hummed as her smile grew ever so slightly. The mechanic passed him his suit jacket, to which the purple-eyed Neo-Type quickly put back on in one smooth motion. At the same time, the grey-eyed teen jumped down from the bleachers with a wide grin.
Landing, he stood up and quickly walked to the center of the arena. Upon nearing the exact spot where the Gold Frame was, Davion's outfit changed into a white and blue pilot suit. Unlike Ephraim's, which had the sunburst heraldry, the mechanic's had what seemed like red flower that brightly stood out from the blue shoulder. It also lacked the visible armor of the blonde's, instead having it seem like it was built into the suit itself if the thickness of the upper torso was any indication.
A second later and the Gundam Astray Blue Frame stepped forward, so similar to the Gold Frame and yet different at the same time.
"The Gundam Astray Blue Frame." Ephraim introduced the suit as he stood beside Chifuyu. "Evident in its name, it has an inner frame painted a metallic blue. As Davion explained earlier, it had the same armaments as I do. A shield, the Type 71 Beam Rifle, the Igelstellungs, and the Type 70 Beam Sabers." Purple eyes twinkled in amusement as his friend gave them a thumbs up.
"However, the greasemonkey has a...special weapon's suite."
The Blue Frame was momentarily coated in white, and it quickly dissipated, revealing the bristling amount of weapons that were mounted on the suit.
"That..." Ryo whistled lightly at the side, ever awed by the amount of dakka the suit had. "Is the Full Weapon System."
Maya refreshed all the targets, and the Blue Frame raised its bazooka at one. It was a large weapon, just as large as the Gae Bulg, and was top fed from a magazine
"While he can just as effectively fight with the default armaments, Davion prefers to use the 50 mm M68 Cattus Recoilless Rifle when in his F.W.S." The blonde explained, nodding as the Astray's sea-green optics flashed once.
Fwoosh!
The quiet discharge of the recoilless rifle bellied the explosive payload, as three clustered targets were shattered.
"It's named after a cat?" Chifuyu raised a brow as the Blue Frame dematerialized its shield in order to hold its other Cattus in the now free hand.
Fwoosh!
"I think it's cute~!" Tabane hummed as she watched her 'adoptive son' take out a score of targets.
Fwoosh!
.
Fwoosh!
.
Fwoosh!
.
Fwoosh!
"...Why hasn't it run out of ammunition yet? I can see that it has a magazine, but there surely has to be no less than 5 shots in there..." Chifuyu noted, watching as the Astray continue to fire at rapidly reforming targets. She didn't even see the suit reload the recoilless rifles, as it merely alternated between firing one and then the other.
"Davion's suit is...odd." The blonde confessed, brows furrowed as he frowned.
"While I would like to sound smart in trying to explain the intricacies of it...there's really no other words to explain the quirk of his suit other than 'infinite ammo'. It's only held back by the hard limit of the magazine of his weapons, and even then he only needs to wait a certain time before they are refilled. He stores all of it in his...whatever he calls his quantum storage."
Both Tabane and the teacher sent him their own looks, the former one of wonder and the other one of wariness. "All of the Astrays have this same 'subspace' where we get to store all sorts of things. Much like how the IS does the same thing with its armaments." Ephraim clarified with both of his arms folded behind his back as he watched the tinker go ham.
The Blue Frame tossed the rifles away, which quickly dissipated and returned to his 'inventory', and he kneeled as the missile launcher on his left shoulder released its payload. 8 cylinders of explosive death screamed out from their confines, quickly locking on to 8 different targets that were moving around erratically.
Boom!
"While we haven't had the misfortune to be stumbled upon by IS users..." The blonde briefly glanced at the courier beside him. "Davion has reported that his missiles can easily track and destroy bandits— I mean, hostile vehicles from at least 2 kilometers away, be it airborne or ground-based."
Then pods strapped to the calf armor opened fire, releasing their payload in angry hisses.
"And lastly, the thermobaric M68 Pardus rocket pods. Each pod holds 3 at a time, and can be launched high up in an angle to provide close-ranged artillery support with a maximum range of 2 kilometers."
The rockets exploded around a group of Uchigane mocks, briefly sucking the air in and then detonating in high temperature blasts. The arena was filled with smoke and debris, the fires raging where the Pardus ordinance had impacted. Turning, the Blue Frame began to walk back towards them and it cast an ominous shadow as the flames slowly died down behind it.
In a similar manner to Ephraim, he leapt back up to the bleachers and was covered in the same white-gold motes of light. Landing, Davion was back in his civilian attire, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulders with a smirk. His fingerless gloves glowed briefly as he did so, and Chifuyu at this point was sure that the Astrays had a mode that was similar to the Closed forms of the IS.
'Things just keep getting complicated...'
"Daviooon~" Tabane skipped towards the grey-eyed teenager, a bright smile on her face as he took a few steps back to distance himself from the woman.
"And it's my turn." Ryo stood up, still spinning that decorated pen of his as both he and Ephraim ignored the pleading look the mechanic sent them.
It was actually less of a pen and more of an intricately carved calligraphy brush. It was primarily white lacquered wood with golden, leaf-like etchings and crimson red metal embedded in the wood.
As the courier jumped down, Chifuyu crossed her arms with an indifferent expression. She ignored Davion as he was chased down the hall by his 'adoptive parent' in the background. "From what I've read up on the Neo-Type Project, you three are well-versed in combat. You, especially 'Cu'." She sent him an unreadable glance at the last word. Ephraim was silent as he watched Ryo walk to the arena. He tried his best to not let his emotions show, because...
'What the fuck is she talking about?'
The man had absolutely no idea what this Neo-Type Project was, but he wasn't going to make his cluelessness obvious. That nickname, however, struck a bit close to home.
"..Yes." He decided to humor her with vague answers. "We are quite well-versed in combat. I am quite proficient with polearms, Davion is an experienced brawler, and Ryo..."
"Murakumo? What is his specialty?" The former Brunhilde asked, to which he only nodded his head back in the direction of the arena.
The green-eyed pilot was holding his calligraphy brush pen horizontally, both hands over it was if...
..!
In a brief flash, the pen was replaced with an equally decorated katana. The sheathe was primarily white, with red designs and gold gilding. The wrappings around the hilt was a dull violet, and her sharp eyes could see the faint detailing of what seemed to be flowers on the saya.
With one smooth motion, Ryo unsheathed the blade with reverence. He held the sheath in his left hand while the gleaming blade of the katana was held in his right. Its golden tsuba caught Chifuyu's eye, and the inner swordswoman within her immediately identified that it was an immaculate blade.
"A katana..." she whispered in slight awe. "Beautifully crafted too..."
"The Gerbera Straight." Ephraim nodded as Ryo settled into a ko gasumi stance. "An extraordinarily sharp blade that does not require the kinetic energy of a high-speed swing to cut through whatever it is facing."
"I...find that hard to believe." she mumbled as the same white-gold particles coated the swordsman in the arena.
"Trust me, the Gundam Astray Red Frame's sword can cut through anything."
And stepping out from it was the armored suit, the Flight Pack igniting briefly as it warmed its engines.
"Maya, deploy solid dummies." Chifuyu ordered, noting the winged backpack of the Red Frame. Wings denote the ability to fly, was the the suit able to truly fly free like an IS or merely fall with style?
"Y-Yes!"
Quantizing from up above, three heavy pillars of concrete, rebar, and padding landed before the Red Frame.
The Red Frame's optics died down, shifting his feet as the very air seemed to freeze in anticipation.
Chifuyu unconsciously leaned forward...
Flash!
As if the world slowed down for her, she could see the rapid sword slashes and strokes of the Red Frame. True to Ephraim's word, the blade found little to no resistance in cutting through the solid dummies, the blade emerging unmolested. His swings were practiced, but there was an undertone of being untrained. It was more akin to watching a natural with the sword than a true experienced swordmaster.
She blinked.
Clink!
The Astray sheathed the Gerbera Straight, turning away and walking back to the where they were in the bleachers.
Tick...
A step forward, and the Red Frame disappeared.
Tock...
Another step, and he held the Gerbera Straight casually.
Tick...!
A third step, and the Gerbera Straight turned back into the calligraphy brush pen. The dummies behind him fell apart into clean pieces, very clean pieces, as if they were cut by a precision laser rather than a metal blade.
The pen was the sword, which was the suit itself.
"Clever..." she mumbled as Ryo joined them once more, spinning the pen around his finger the moment he stood up straight.
"Heeey, what did I miss~?" Tabane waved as Davion followed a few meters behind her. The two both looked none too tired, though the latter was obviously disgruntled and had an obvious kiss mark on his cheek. He was currently trying to wipe it away with little progress.
"We're finished with the suit testing." Chifuyu cleared her throat. "Next will be the standard test array. We'll go to the Infirmary first and then to the training rooms."
.
.
.
When they arrived at the Infirmary, Tabane personally conducted the medical examinations. She shooed away the doctors and nurses, stating that only she was allowed to check up on her 'test pilots'. The staff couldn't really argue against her, given that she was the Genius, and so they vacated the office the woman had essentially stolen. Even Chifuyu was not exempt from this, and despite her firm protests, Tabane had pushed her out of the room.
"Tabane, I swear-!"
"Nothing bad will happen, Chi-chan~! I swear it on my pure red heart~!"
Click!
Ephraim couldn't help the bead of sweat trailing down the side of his face. Nor could the other two, as they watched the Professor turn away from the locked door with an evil smile on her face. Her laugh started slowly and quietly, her feet shuffling as her bangs shadowed her eyes. The boys were tense, ready to explode into action as the Alice in Wonderland cosplayer came closer and closer.
"Ufufufu~ Now I've got you three aaaall to myself~" She cooed, the smile stretching into an ear-to-ear grin that caused a minute shiver to crawl up the three's spines.
Plum eyes gleamed as she pulled out a comically large syringe from...somewhere.
"Oh, what the fu-?!"
"Now, let's go practice medicine~!"
The tip of the syringe dripped with an unknown concoction and the Neo-Types immediately scrambled away, their faces set in varying states of fear and apprehension.
.
.
.
She gave them a, somewhat suspicious, clean bill of health and hid the papers away afterwards.
This did not sit well with the trio but they couldn't really do anything about it, given the fact that she had a metaphorical gun to their heads. They instead kept quiet about it, somewhat resigned to being toyed with and the possibility of being manipulated later down the line. That, of course, doesn't mean that they would subject themselves to it without a fight.
So after a harsh reprimand from Chifuyu, the rest of the group made their way to the training rooms where she and a few other staff were to conduct the next part of the 'Enrollment Test'.
Ephraim, as the Project files had alluded, was quite the fighter. The instructor assigned for him was quickly defeated, and when he used a polearm, it was even more evident of his mastery of the weapon type. He was untouchable in the spars, but when Chifuyu stepped up to be his opponent, the two were roughly even.
Clack!
Sword and spear clashed, the rhythmic ringing of training weapons echoing in the training dojo as the two warriors fought. Both of them had indifferent masks as they darted around the ring, their arms little more than blurs. Off to the side, the other two Neo-Types and Tabane stood and watched. The former were clad in plain white martial arts gis, while the latter seemed to track the sparring duo's movements with ease.
Purple stared into brown as he blocked her downward strike. The padded wooden weapons groaned at the sheer force being used, but they held firm nonetheless.
The teacher smirked.
"Not bad, kid. But I feel you can be better."
The blonde frowned.
"It wasn't as if we had a dojo at the ready to practice and train at."
The separated with a leap back, circling one another with their weapons at the ready.
"Excuses." Chifuyu snorted, shifting her stance so that she was holding her sword by her hip. "Ready yourself, kid."
"Tch."
The older woman blurred, and purple eyes widened as the world slowed down. His hand instinctively tilted his spear, barely parrying the sword strike. She kept her smirk as the sword made its mark, and he snarled as the teacher passed by him.
Thus the battle began anew.
...
It was only when their weapons broke that they settled for a draw. Ephraim then fell back on his back, groaning quietly as his entire being ached. His body was untouched from the strikes, having parried or blocked the incoming blows with his weapon. Beside him, the utterly shattered remnants of his spear lay scattered over the mats.
"Gotta...practice more..." He muttered, glaring at the barely winded woman that stood over him. Chifuyu merely snorted, tossing the wooden hilt away as she dusted her hands. "You better. If you're going to be one of my students, you don't ever stop training. Got that?" Her tone was fierce and stern, to which the blonde merely gave a thumbs up to in response.
Turning her head, she sent a challenging glower at the other two Neo-Types.
"Who's next?"
Davion proved himself to be a wily fighter.
Preferring hand to hand, he had no formal fighting style, preferring to seamlessly transition between various established forms. From Krav Maga to Russian Sambo, the grey-eyed Neo-Type was able to put his opponent on the bare defensive. He mixed in a bit of street smarts and dirty moves, like throwing his gi to blind his enemy while he went for a side attack.
However, his opponent was the former Brunhilde.
If it were anyone else, they would have been dazed on the floor a long time ago.
Snap!
"Heheh...gotcha..."
The grey-eyed mechanic panted, his lips set in a defiant grin as half of the wooden sword flew across the room. His fist was held out, splinters littering the surprisingly undamaged skin. Chifuyu was actually impressed when he lasted against her for a good few minutes, even more so when he forced her on the backfoot for a few precious seconds. His fists broke her training sword after it had struck his body plenty of times, the bruises littering his skin evident against his faintly tanned pallor.
Davion could take plenty of hits and then some, while also having the speed and reflexes to be able to parry her sword with his steel-like knuckles. The impact had resulted in a surprising metallic clang, one that caused all in the room to raise their brows save for his friends.
The youngest Neo-Type swayed on his feet, eyes dulling as he began to black out. He had been struck on the head with debilitating swings using the flat of the wooden blade, and it was only now that the effect finally took hold.
"Round...2..." He muttered, collapsing to his side as his eyes fluttered close.
Furrowing her brow, Chifuyu once again tossed the broken weapon aside. Placing her hands on her hips, the gi-clad teacher shook her head.
"Stubborn brat."
Clash!
Ryo was simply dangerous with a blade, there was no going around that fact. He fought with a deadly calm, his face betraying nothing as he swung his training sword. His Iai even impressed the ex-champion, even if it was just a little bit. While he confessed to not having formally learned Kenjutsu, the teacher could consider him a akin to a prodigy.
Clash!
While Chifuyu had experience and form, the green eyed Neo-Type had unpredictability and flexibility in his attacks. His swings sometimes came from unexpected angles that she had to block at the last second. Unlike Ephraim, who favored an opportunistic fighting style, or Davion, who was all-out aggression from the get-go, the former courier was akin to a hurricane with its cutting winds. He was gradual, picking up the pace once at the lead and then retreating when the situation didn't favor him.
He shifted his stance, holding the blade parallel to his face as he prepared for a thrust.
The swordswoman narrowed her eyes, her grip tightening as she-
!
She caught the subtle change of step in the middle of the attack, and her dodge quickly turned into a block.
Crack!
The courier's blade crashed against hers from above, and she took the opportunity in his wide-eyed surprise to sweep his feet. Ryo fell on his back, speechless and somewhat dazed. He blinked, looking up at her and then sighing.
"I yield."
Chifuyu pushed down the smile that was bubbling up.
With a proper instructor, Ryo could become a peerless swordsman...
In the intelligence tests, all of them scored well above the average. Each excelled in one field or another, and predictably, they centered around what their documents had described.
Ephraim was excellent in recent and past history, either domestic or military. He had a good grasp in strategy as well, showing traits that could make for a good team leader. In a simulated battle against a superior force, he utilized some unconventional tactics, on top of the standard ones, while minimizing the losses of his units while maximizing those of his enemy's. However, he was given a stern talking to when he was about to do a plan that would have violated the Geneva Convention. The blonde had the capacity to be ashamed about it, at least. He seemed quite sour about sacrificing more units than required, but he won that match within a dozen minutes.
Davion simply soared high when it came to mechanics and blueprints. Tabane audibly approved of this as they watched him sketch and draw what seemed to be some form of armor system, with the Professor quickly deducing that it was probably an upgrade for the Astrays. To many, the mind-numbing series of equations and illustrations would have been nonsense, but for a genius like her, all she saw was potential. She quietly watched and took note, adding whatever he was making to her ever increasing list of...experiments.
Ryo, unsurprisingly, was well-stocked with knowledge concerning geography as well as language. He revealed himself to be multilingual, and Maya was surprised at the fact that the way he spoke or wrote in foreign languages seemed practically natural, like he was a native. His singing voice was enchanting too, as the green haired teacher would note, as he would hum or sing short verses of various songs as he answered the tests. The subject name of 'Songbird' was quite fitting, to say the least.
All of this only made Tabane even more smug and insufferable about her choice of 'test pilots'. She may have not said anything, but the aura around her screamed smugness. Chifuyu promptly wacked her upside the head with a clipboard, causing the purple haired woman to quickly crumple and shield herself in fear of further strikes. All the while, Maya watched as her prospective students pass their special entrance exam with almost flying colors.
They would be interesting to teach, that was for sure.
AN:
The pilot suits mentioned are not like the pilot 'suit' Ichika uses in the anime. That thing can be barely called a proper pilot suit, but thanks to the bullshit surrounding the Infinite Stratos, it and the female 'pilot suit' are considered as such. What the Outworlders are wearing are legitimate g-suits used by Mobile Suit pilots in the Cosmic Era. Ephraim has a black and purple colored Orb pilot suit from the Gundam SEED era. Davion has the Earth Alliance pilot suit with a blue and white coloration. Ryo, for now, has none. Why? Hint: The pilot suits reflect the Astray which they pilot, more specifically, who piloted them originally and what they wore during space combat.
Speaking of the suits, finding accurate specs for the Astrays is hard. Besides the fact that mobile suit stats as a whole are whack, at least the UC suits have numbers attached to things such as 'sensor range' or 'thruster output'.
SEED has the most barebones, at least in the Wiki.
So I'm basically eyeballing it based on media that depicts the Astrays. Mainly the animations in SD Gundam G Generation Crossrays, which are dubious at best, I know. But there isn't really any solid piece that can be easily accessed. The SEED anime itself is whack at best and illogical in the least. I mean the Freedom Gundam flew from the PLANTS (which is in the same orbit and distance as the Moon) to Earth, more specifically Alaska, in what seemed like minutes.
Minutes.
The sheer G-Force exerted of such speeds would have pulped Kira Yamato. The Freedom Gundam crossed around 384,400km/240,000 miles, in a mere matter of minutes. The fastest trip to the moon we had, which was the New Horizons Pluto mission, took 8 hours and 35 minutes at a speed of 16.26 km per second (58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph).
How.
Jesus Yamato, I fucking swear...
That's enough of my rambling, Cipher out.
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Oh, and if any of you are curious, which I doubt, their JP VA's are:
Ephraim Sahaku = Hiroki Takahashi (Male Voice 12 in Crossrays, Albert Frazer in Akashic Records of a Bastard Magic Instructor, and the Abyss Herald in Genshin Impact)
Ryo Murakumo = Takahiro Sakurai (Male Voice 6 in Crossrays, Arthur Pendragon and Merlin in Fate Grand Order, McGillis Fareed in Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans, Giyuu Tomioka in Demon Slayer, Suzaku Kururugi in Code Geass, and many more)
Davion Guele = Kousuke Toriumi (Male Voice 8 in Crossrays, Kiba Inuzuka in Naruto, Guido Mista in JoJo Pt.5, and Kaeya in Genshin Impact)
