Episode 4 - Triple Threat Tempo


"He's faring better than I thought."

Cecilia turned to the taller blonde, a curious look in her eyes as she raised a brow. "What do you mean?" She asked amidst all the noise of the arena.

Ephraim's eyes never left the two dueling figures in the sky.

Blue and pink clashed, producing bright sparks as their weapons met in loud screeches.

The Shenlong was relentless with its aggression, but the Byakushiki had the advantage in speed and maneuverability. Something Ichika was exploiting, as he constantly dodged and moved himself around his opponent's guard. It wasn't perfect, mind you, but the fact that he actually made an effort to dodge and then counterattack when the chance revealed itself brought a sense of satisfaction within the Neo-Type.

It seems his training with the Astrays was paying off.

"He's wearing her down." The purple-eyed blonde remarked as he crossed his arms. "Rather than constantly using his blade to block and parry, he's relying more on the inherent difference in speed between the two suits to dodge and play chicken."

Just as he said that, the Byakushiki soared past, practically brushing against the shields that protected the crowd. The Shenlong was close behind, its weapons combined into its pike form as it's pilot roared after the boy. Ichika suddenly stopped his movement, grimacing at the arrest, and let the pink IS rocket past him. A smug grin was on his lips as Rin whirled around, lips set in a snarl.

"But he's forgetting something crucial." Ephraim rumbled gravely, and a high-pitched whine echoed from above. Cecilia looked up and shielded her eyes as a yellow bolt impacted the bleacher shields, the energy rippling at the impact site.

Unaffected by the blast, the older blonde merely shook his head. "He's fighting a human opponent. Someone who can think, someone who can learn. He can't run away forever." He raised his sights, watching as Ichika took a Ryuhou round at close range.

Boom!

The impact sent the Byakushiki hurtling to the ground, skipping several times and leaving craters in its wake.

Cecilia gasped. "He took that kind of attack point blank!"


"The Ryuhou..."

Kanzashi looked up from her maintenance check of her Uchigane at the sound of Davion's low mutter. The mechanic himself was looking at a nearby holographic screen that displayed the current battle.

His grey eyes narrowed as he watched the cannons use low powered shots to provoke the Byakushiki to run and dodge the way it wanted it to go.

"Apparently it has no blind spots due to the cannons being able to fire from any angle." The Astray pilot crossed his arms as he frowned, already thinking of the ways he could counter the weapon. "If he doesn't do something about it, then the match will be his loss."

"...So?" Kanzashi couldn't help the bitterness from slipping into her tone. She resented the damnable boy for stealing what could have been her chance for a personal IS.

"Nothing." Her friend shrugged, the frown turning into a small smirk. "Just that watching the Ryuhou in action got me thinking of a possible countermeasure against it for your suit."

Distant memories of wings of light popped up in his mind, of rapid afterimages that would allow the bluenette to close in for the kill.

"...After all, the human brain can only process so much in a single time frame."


Green eyes watched as a blue and pink streak danced high in the air. Explosions followed the blue light, and Ryo could only smirk.

"Dodge, boy. Dodge."

A pink beam-

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Boom!

He turned his head, squinting his eyes before seeing three dark blurs dive towards the newly made holes in the shields of three different arenas. His heart seized, a brief flash of fire and destruction going through his mind.

"Shit!"

In an instant, the Gundam Astray Red Frame rocketed up into the sky.


Ephraim stood up, glaring up as everyone else around him wondered at what just happened.

"What was that?"

"The shield broke, what just happened?"

"Is this part of the match?"

"Sir Sahaku?" Cecilia asked, a heavy feeling settling in her gut. "What's going on..?"

Purple eyes scanned the skies before widening at the sight of a blur diving into the smoke. A red and white figure appeared in his vision not a second after, and sea-green optics flashed in his direction. The Red Frame sent him a message in Morse Code, causing the blonde's lips to stretch back into a snarl.

Three. One here. Careful.

"Alcott, get the audience out of here!" He ordered, glancing at the Launch Bay for a moment before turning around and running up the stairs to the exit.

"W-Wait!" Cecilia quickly stood up and went to chase after him. "What do you mean?!"

"No time to explain!" The tall blonde barked as he picked up the pace. "You're the only one that can calm them down before it becomes a stampede, I'm trusting you on this!" With those parting words, the Neo-Type used his enhanced speed to bolt down the hallway. Cecilia could only slow down and gape at the way he practically zipped around a corner.

'My goodness!' Was the thought at the responsibility he pressed on to her. Catching her breath briefly, she nodded to herself as her ears picked up the panicked screaming of her fellow students.

"Very well then, Sir Sahaku!" The noblewoman harrumphed, puffing her chest out as her pride soared at being entrusted with an important act. "I shall do what nobles do best!"

Turning around, she-

Slam!

-gaped as the metal door closed shut right before her very eyes, blocking her out from the arena and the very people she was going to calm down.

...

"Oh, bollocks."


"Suspend the match! Orimura, Huang, get out of there immediately!"

An air raid siren droned as all of the Arenas entered lockdown. The audience began to panic and would have devolved into an unruly mob were it not for a few who took control and enforced discipline amidst the all the chaos.

"Wait, what's happening?" Kanzashi looked around in a panic as the Launch Bay was bathed in the red alarm light. The mechanic immediately pulled out a tablet from his work vest, fingers dancing on the screen as he overrode the security measures in order to give the Astrays clearance.

"An attack." Davion growled as he looked across the launch pad, where black smoke illuminated by flames came from the arena grounds. Hiding the device away, the grey-eyed teen then brought his fists together with a metallic clang, surprising the bluenette at the sound. "Sarashiki-san, I'm going ahead!"

In a flash, the Gundam Astray Blue Frame was already moving on the catapult. Its weapons appeared on it in the next second, and Davion gripped the Cattus recoilless rifle tightly.

"B-But wait, I can help!" Kanzashi quickly hopped into her IS, activating it and materializing a solid naginata which she twirled around with expert grace. "I want to help!"

Davion turned his head to look at her, sea green optics staring into her red before he nodded. "I'll be your ranged support, then!"

Smiling due to the trust given to her, she nodded before a determined frown replaced it.

"Right!"


Tatenashi tensed her jaw as she stared down at the burning crater in the middle of Arena 5. She had just been making her rounds when three beams broke through the shields of Arenas 3, 4, and 5.

"This is an attack..." She mumbled as the bleachers' shutter shields began to close up. All around her, students began to panic, speaking in increasingly rushed tones as the blaring alarms and lights swept through the crowd. She stood up, attempting to regain control and order when the sound of thrusters made her look up.

A red and white blur dove down before stopping a few meters off the ground. Its backpack thrusters roared over the flames as she finally saw what it exactly was.

It was an Astray.

Rather than the gold that was seen in the duel between Sahaku and Alcott, this one's inner frame was a glossy red. It had a decorated katana on its side, and had a physical shield alongside a rifle-type gun in its right hand. The multiple engines on it's big backpack extinguished the flames as it hovered, blowing away the smoke and dust that erupted from whatever impacted the arena.

Her mind quickly connected the dots, and her frown eased into a mysterious smile. It turned its head towards her, red eyes locking on to sea green optics before the shutters closed and hid her away.

"I wish you luck then, Kusanagi."


"Hey, what's happening?!" Ichika cried out, looking around in a daze as the whole arena seemed to go into lockdown. "What in the hell's going on?!"

"Gold Frame, Launching!"

The Byakushiki and the Shenlong both turned to see the Gold Frame rocketing down the launch pad on the catapult. With a burst of its Flight Pack, it quickly reached their level in less than 5 seconds.

Wielding its signature Gae Bulg Rail Bazooka in its right and a new shield in its left, the sea-green optics flashed dangerously.

"You two, Orimura-sensei called you back to the Pit!" Ephraim ordered, glaring at the two of them behind the impassive lenses. "The Byakushiki's shields are low and need recharging, and the Shenlong's Ryuhou's are close to overheating, you two need to retreat now!"

"But I can help!" Rin protested, turning her IS to face the Astray. "The Ryuhou's can cool down, I still have my swords!"

"Against an enemy whose beam attack broke through shields stronger than an IS'!" The blonde pilot countered, sights now fixed on the fireball happening below. "I'm not giving you a second warning, go!"

!

A pink beam burst through the smoke and Ichika's body moved on its own.

"Look out!"

"Ah!"

The Gold Frame nimbly dodged the attack with a flip while the Byakushiki tackled the Shenlong out of the way.

"H-Hey, let me go!"

"Ow! Hey! Quit it!"

"DODGE!" Ephraim roared, and once more Ichika's body reacted.

A larger beam shot towards them, and the Byakushiki executed a barrel roll to dodge it.


Ryo backflipped over a beam, cleanly landing in a crouch within the trench it carved out.

His eyes narrowed as a dark shape moved in the smoke.


"I see movement!" Kanzashi called out from above him, having just dodged a beam with a twirl, and Davion grit his teeth as the sounds of pistons and grinding metal echoed in the chaotic arena.

A black armored titan pushed past the fire and smog, 5 red eyes glaring at the Astray and Uchigane.


"Golem..." All three Astray pilots unknowingly growled out at the same time.


(BGM Start: Gaia Chaos Abyss -Toshihiko Sahashi)

Chifuyu tensed her jaw as several screens popped up, showing the point of view of the Astray pilots as well as the cameras around each arena. Those idiots managed to get into the Launch Bays and hijack the catapults!

"Sahaku, Guele, Murakumo, what the hell are you three doing?!" She barked, watching the black armored intruders through their optics and the cameras around the arenas. "You're each up against an unknown IS, it's too dangerous!"

"We're buying time for the evacuation, distracting the damn things!" Ryo countered as he entered a fierce stare-down with his opponent, a screen showing his face as one of grim determination. The Red Frame aimed its Type 71 at the black IS, setting the output to high as its opponent merely stared blankly.

"If those beams of theirs can bust through the arena shields, I shudder to think what it could do against the shutters and the people behind them." Ephraim rumbled, his face set in an imperious glare. His shouldered Gae Bulg was locked on to his opponent, while the other hand adjusted his grip on his shield.

"This'll be my first Astray on IS fight, and I got backup!" Davion spoke up, a fierce grin on his lips as his camera glanced up at the Uchigane hovering up and in front of him. "Let's see this thing withstand all my ordinance!"

Shaking her head, Maya accessed the communications. "All of you, pull back at once! The teachers will be there with their IS units to neutralize the situation!"

"No, Murakumo-san is right!" Ichika spoke up, glancing at the shutters with worry and determination. "We need to buy time for the evacuation!"

"I understand how you all must feel about this but you just can't!" Maya pleaded and before she could say anything else, Houki ran up next to her station.

"Ichika, run!" The swordswoman cried out in dismay. "This is a serious battle and you're in no shape to fight!"


Tensing his jaw, he closed the communications and glanced down at the pilot in his arms. "You okay with this?"

Rin looked at him like he was stupid before starting to flail. "Just let go of me already!"

"DODGE!"

Ichika's eyes widened and he tossed the Shenlong high in the air, rolling to the right to dodge a pink beam that was aimed for them. Rin screamed in surprise before righting herself, materializing her swords as she watched the black IS begin to take off.

"Oh no you don't!" Ephraim roared as he fired the Gae Bulg, the supersonic explosive rounds impacting its shields in staggering booms. The weapon itself rocked his right arm heavily, having increased the railgun's charge to its near limit so that the Golem wouldn't be fast enough to dodge. He could feel his muscles strain at the sheer recoil, but it was still within manageable levels of pain.

It soared, undaunted by the heavy hits to its shields, and pulled back a fist as it neared the two IS pilots.

Ichika and Rin dodged, splitting apart as the black IS soared past. It then turned around and spread its arms, energy charging within its weapons. The shoulder cannons spewed out a deluge of pink lasers in an instant, aimed down towards them and the arena itself.

Purple eyes sparked as the world slowed down.

'Release limiters! 300%!'

Bringing the shield up, the Astray's thrusters ignited as it intercepted the stray beams that were about to impact the shutters. With the limiters released, the normal blue flames were gone, replaced with an eye-catching red as the engines roared. Ephraim tensed his jaw, feeling the effects of performing rapid aerial maneuvers to his squishy human body. Super soldier he may be, doing twists and turns that pulled upwards of 10 G's was still going to hurt. Much more, the kinetic energy and heat from the pink beams impacting the shield made him hiss, as they splashed off forcefully against the Anti-Beam Coating.

The world sped back up...


With wide eyes, Maya watched the Astray Gold Frame become a white and yellow blur as it intercepted the stray energy beams fired by the black IS in Arena 3. The suit's status had all gone past the red, with the flashing 'Limiter Released' in all capitals. When it finally slowed down to a stop, she noted the various scorch marks and craters in the metal shield.

But that wasn't the end of the damage.

The golden 'pinions' of its Flight Pack were visibly glowing red hot, and while Ephraim's face was set in a stoic mask, his vitals reported another thing altogether. The sudden movement and arrest had caused various excess g-force trauma on his organs and skeletal structure. There were no outward effects as of yet, and the blonde moved as if he wasn't in a level of pain a normal human being would simply crumble in.

"Sahaku-san, be careful!" The green-eyed teacher pleaded, watching as a smirk formed on the pilot's lips. The Gae Bulg was fired once more with a staggering boom, impacting and distracting the black IS as the Byakushiki and the Shenlong formed up.

Chifuyu, however, noticed the way his purple eyes seemed to glow. His pupils held a faint spark within them, volatile and uncontrollable, like lightning. The veins around his eyes bulged ever so slightly as they pumped more blood to aid in visual perception. It was an intimidating sight, so unnatural and alien. She had seen it before, during their spar in their enrollment period. He seemed to move faster, react quicker, and hit harder upon its 'activation'. It was only brief moments, a literal 'blink and you'll miss it'.

She didn't blink that time and neither did she now.

"Sarashiki-san, I'll create an opening for you!" Davion's voice barked out as the Blue Frame fired the Cattus.

"Right!"

Turning her sights to the other screen, brown eyes watched as the Blue Frame and the Uchigane fought together against their own opponent.


Boom!

The 50mm round impacted against the black titan's shields, obscuring its vision with a debris cloud alongside the smoke surrounding it.

6 'Pardus' thermobaric warheads then erupted around the intruder, momentarily killing the fires before engulfing the target in a series of high-temperature explosions.

BOOM!

The Blue Frame circled around his opponent, the pilot's wild grin widening as he hovered half a foot off the ground. He didn't need to use the Flight Pack as of now, as Kanzashi was his partner in the sky. All he needed to do was to make the ground theater a horrible place to fight on and..!

The Golem shot up into the air, right into the effective range of his missiles.

"Gotcha!"

8 screaming tubes of explosive death soared towards the black IS, who began to make inhuman maneuvers to dodge the ordinance.

Unfortunately for it, his missiles were...special.

Those that missed quickly spun around, thanks to a hidden vernier thruster, and locked on once more. Their engines roared as they began to circle around the Golem like a swarm of enraged hornets. Again, the black IS tried to dodge and was constantly on the backfoot due to being relentlessly chased down.

"Hiiiyah!"

Slash!

So distracted was it by the missiles that it momentarily forgot that it was facing two opponents.

Kanzashi soared past, her naginata flashing twice as it inflicted heavy damage to its energy shields. The Golem flinched from the impact, taking a step back...

BOOM!

"Ha!" The mechanic laughed as his missiles impacted the black IS in a series of explosions. Dust and debris were rocked up into the air, shockwaves kicking up rubble and stray licks of fire. "How's that fe-?!"

From the smoke 5 red eyes flashed, and faster than anyone could react, the IS rocketed forward and slammed one of its massive metal fists against the Uchigane.

"Aaah!" The Representative Candidate was sent flying, skipping against the ground past the Blue Frame. The ground cratered from her impacts, not unlike the beating of a heart in it's final moments.

"KANZASHI!" Davion yelled in concern, looking over his shoulder to see her recovering and using the momentum to launch herself up in the air.

"I-I'm fine! My shields took the heavy hit!" She hissed, face set in a rictus of anger and caution.

"You sunnuva-!" Snarling, he turned back to the Golem, only for his eyes to widen at the pink beam heading towards him.

Raising his shield, he was pushed back from the sheer kinetic energy of the blast. Grey eyes widened as the edges of his bulwark began to heat up. Stray pink threads bounced off of it, scratching and carving into the white foam metal of his armor. Hissing in pain, he detached the melting hunk of metal and dove to his right.

The shield exploded in a bright pink cloud, metal fragments flying everywhere from the shockwaves.

Kanzashi's eyes widened before her Hyper Sensor began to flicker and glitch. Thousands of twinkling metal flakes floated in the air as a result of the explosion, and she gasped quietly when she saw the enemy pause at the sight of it.

"Chaff..!"

The roar of thrusters caught her attention as the Blue Frame burst through the cloud with all guns a 'blazing, dozens of missiles, rockets, and 50mm HVAP rounds impacting the weakening shield of the black titan. The Astray held a Cattus rifle in each hand while the missile launcher simply launched its payload vertically before the missiles themselves redirected towards the IS, all the while the Pardus rocket pods roared and roared in a staggering level of dakka. The intruder covered its face with a huge hand as the ground around it cratered and threw up debris in response to the explosions. In no time, the energy shields broke and the ordinance began to pound away at its thick physical armor.

In a flash, the Full Weapon System disappeared, having been replaced with the Short Region Assault Kit. The head of the Blue Frame seemed to change, the V-fin disappearing in favor of additional sensor lenses. In its hands were a simple armament of a pistol and a knife, though from the high-pitched whine, the knife itself seemed to be a High Frequency blade. The backpack, having snapped up where it originally was, roared as its thrusters propelled him forward, the suit taking bounding leaps to close the distance.

Davion raised the pistol, green beams shooting out as he pulled the trigger in rapid succession. Said beams cratered the metal armor, melting and slagging pockets within the arms and legs. "Get some!" He laughed, sea-green optics flashing as he closed in-

!

Grey eyes tightened and the mechanic suddenly ducked, cleanly dodging a fist that was meant for his chest. Swinging the combat knife up, he gouged the upper arm of the IS. The blade easily cut through the material and metal, exposing the insides and breaching the hard suit of it's pilot. Suddenly, red blood-like liquid gushed out, coating the Blue Frame as it dodged and weaved a wild flurry of fists.

"Haaah!"

Slash!

In two quick flashes, the tubes that connected the arms to the shoulder cannons were cut as the Uchigane soared past.

The Golem turned, sending a fist-!

Gritting his teeth, Davion dug the Armor Schneider into the chest of the enemy IS just as it was turning. The high-frequency vibrating combat knife easily cutting into the pilot itself.

!

He raised his arms to block a sudden fist and with a loud clang, was sent several meters back. His backpack thrusters roared, preventing him from skipping along the ground. Regaining his footing, the Astray simply readied both weapons again. Smirking despite the throbbing pain in his arms, he glanced at his battery levels.

69%

'Nice.'

Shaking his head, he thanked the Trans Phase Shift armor for practically nullifying most of the damage of the blow. What little white foam metal armor on his forearms broke off, revealing dark blue plating underneath that buzzed and whined before quieting down.

"Guele-san, are you alright?!" Kanzashi fretted as she floated above him, eyes shimmering with worry as they went over his form.

"The new armor system works!" He gave her a thumbs up and a hidden grin.


"Huh?" Houki let out a surprised sound, pointing at the screen that was the Blue Frame's point of view. "It did no damage?!"

"Must be this new 'armor system' Guele just spoke of." Chifuyu muttered, watching the status of all the combatants in the three arenas. She eyed the red liquid gushing from the wounded IS, however, noting its odd viscosity. Everyone else in the control room had paled when the Blue Frame damaged the black IS, but the lack of screaming or even any outward reaction caused most to have suspicions on just who their interlopers were.

'...That's not blood.'

"Orimura, Huang, Sahaku, can you hear me?!" Maya cried out, eyes wide in worry as she watched the battle within Arena 3. "Please respond!" The assistant homeroom teacher gripped her head at the ensuing silence and static, uncharacteristically slamming a fist on her station in anger. "Damn it, we're being jammed!"

Tensing her jaw, the homeroom teacher put her foot down. "If they said that they can handle it, they'll handle it." It was all that they could do in this situation, that they had to wait and hope that their current roster would be able to handle the intruders.

"But-!"

"Tch!"

Brown eyes turned to the last screen, where the sole duel between all three battles was occurring.

(BGM End: Gaia Chaos Abyss -Toshihiko Sahashi)


(BGM Start: Mobile Suit Gundam 00 OST - MASURAO)

Pink and green beams passed each other as their owners danced within the thick black smoke.

Ryo tensed his jaw as he blocked several low-powered shots from the Golem, his Type 71 retaliating with its own lances. So far, his opponent seemed to favor ranged attacks and was very nimble, nimble enough to marginally outrun him. He didn't want to redline his Flight Pack right from the get-go, but he was going to get whittled down if he didn't close in.

He's already approaching the critical levels on his spare battery!

The Red Frame's head turned around, optics and sensors attempting to track down the elusive Golem within the smoke. "Where is it...where is that bastard..." He snarled, green eyes narrowed as the Astray held its shield over its chest. The suits sensor suite seemed to be glitching in and out, and so he had to rely on his own biological set. Sharp as his hearing and eyesight were, the smoke presented a huge problem alongside the mobile battle that he was in.

Something cold dropped in his gut.

Tossing his rifle aside, he pulled out this beam saber. Swinging it to his right in a wild slash-!

Clash!

A metal fist crashed against it and he was carried along despite his Flight Pack's own momentum.

"Damn it!" He brought his shield up just as the Golem lashed out a kick, the metal groaning as he was launched back. His wrist throbbed, making him grit his teeth as he righted himself. The Golem was nowhere to be found, and he resisted the urge to simply go all out and reveal his cards too early.

"Almost fucking died-!"

!

He swung again, this time behind him-

Clash!

Another fist was blocked and he snarled at the sheer force behind it. Those big gorilla arms seemed to be able to deflect his beam sabers, if only for a moment, before they melted at the intense heat generated by the weapon. But his opponent knew this and decided that hit and run tactics would be the best way to defeat him. The Golem disappeared once more into the smoke and he quickly looked around, taking deep breaths to control his anger.

...And failed.

'Fuck it!'

Fine, if he can't get close then..

"Haaah..."

He closed his eyes, placing his beam saber back in its port with a click of his tongue. The shield disappeared, the hand holding it moving to grip the scabbard of the Gerbera Straight. His free hand grasped the handle...

...!

A pink beam was sent towards him-

Slash!

-and the Gerbera Straight neutralized it, the extreme sharpness of the blade reflecting and cutting into the whole beam. The two halves harmlessly flew past him as he took another deep, calming breath. He held the blade horizontally, the metal gleaming as the sea-green optics next to it seemed to dim, mimicking closed eyes.

"Come."

More pink beams were sent towards him, an almost overwhelming amount..!

A beat.

And then his arms were a flurry of smooth, graceful movements. The Gerbera Straight became a calming stream of silver as it formed a blade shield around its owner. It sang and hummed as it cut through the energy. Not a single stray beam impacted his armor, which was already battered from the earlier exchanges, nor did they get past him at all. The remnants of the beam simply sputtered into harmless light as the molecules, cut as they were, neutralized.

..!

He turned, still with closed eyes, towards a lightning-fast charge attack from his opponent.

"...Itto..."

Both fists were aimed at him, pink light gathering for another blast as the Golem's thrusters redlined just so it could kill its opponent-!

"Ryodan!"

Green eyes opened, glowing ethereally as he brought the Gerbera Straight down in a helmet-splitting strike.

Tick!

The black titan rocketed past him, silent as the pink lights immediately dispersed.

Tock!

The Red Frame held the blade out to the side and then rested the blade in the crook of his left arm. Dragging it in a motion that would have wiped blood clean off, the pilot then slowly, reverently, sheathed the Gerbera Straight.

Clink!

His opponent sparked, letting out a mechanical screech as its body suddenly halved itself in two. Its insides were nothing more than a complex mess of wiring and circuitry, with a split IS CORE where the heart should be.

Boom!

It exploded in a great thunderclap, blowing away all the smoke surrounding them.

Ryo let out a long sigh, already feeling his entire body scream in pain at the extremely physically demanding counterattacks. He looked up at the clear skies as the Red Frame slowly began to land, closing his eyes as he let the auto-pilot take over.

"...Fuck, that stings..!"

(BGM End: Mobile Suit Gundam 00 OST - MASURAO)


The control room was silent, wide eyes staring at the end of the duel in Arena 5.

Chifuyu furrowed her brows as she held her chin contemplatively. She knew that Murakumo was a natural but...to be able to deflect that many beams in such a short time... Not to mention that blade of his cut that through the IS and its shields like they were nothing.

Just like her Yukihara...

'Ephraim was right. The Gerbera Straight can cut through a lot of things...'

"W-What just..?" Houki stammered, awed and out of breath from witnessing an utterly clean strike as a fellow sword practitioner. "Did that really..?"

"A-Ah..." Maya too was speechless, her fingers having stopped typing out of fear when she thought that Ryo was going to get killed. Watching the Red Frame land on the Arena ground and just...stand there brought great relief in her. "Thank goodness..."

She turned to the Astray's screen, where Ryo had his eyes closed as he breathed calmly. His vitals were spiking, however. Plenty of pulled muscles on both of his arms and shoulders from executing that last strike. His heartbeat was irregular, though it was well within expected parameters of being in a deathmatch with something as dangerous as those black IS'.

"Get a medical team to collect Murakumo." Chifuyu ordered, grabbing a nearby thermos and drinking straight from the cap. She relished the taste of Jamaican Blue Mountain, freshly brewed by her assistant who was fighting for his life with an ecstatic grin. The teacher knew that her assistant tried to keep his battle-lust under control, but it often emerged at the most inopportune times. She's going to have to talk to him about it, a reckless moron was a dead moron.

"We have one less problem to worry about now."

The loud hiss of the door opening caught their attention, and they turned to see Cecilia Alcott at the door catching her breath. Her face was set in fierce determination as she placed a hand on her chest.

"Please give me authorization to launch!"

Maya turned to Chifuyu, who slowly shook her head. The British Representative Candidate recoiled as if struck, brows shooting up in surprise. "Why not?!"

"Because..." The elder Orimura turned to the screens with a grim frown. "The deflection shield is at level 4."

Houki's eyes widened as she saw another warning pop up. They littered the already clustered holoscreens, all of them depicting live feeds of students crowding at large metal doors. "And all the entrances and exits are now locked! The rescue team can't get in!"

Green eyes widened as she checked an incoming alert. "Wait! Arena 5's restrictions are lifting!" She gasped, realization washing across her face. "It's those unknown IS! They're somehow controlling the lockdown!"

One of the students manning the control stations turned to them. "Ma'am, we're now just confirming the evacuation of those in Arena 5! Sarashiki-kaichou is handling the situation!"

"Good." Chifuyu sighed, inwardly relieved that some of the students were safe. "That's one front secured. How are things looking in Arena 3 and 4?"

The same student enlarged the camera feeds of the two battlegrounds. "Deflection shields are still at level 4 and the Seniors can't break through the doors as there are too many students crowding around!"

"Still!" Cecilia spoke up once more, clenched fists shaking as her frustration made itself known. "There must be something we can do! There must be something I can do! We have two IS' with low shields and an Astray with no energy shield at all fighting against that monster of an IS!" She stomped forward, standing beside a troubled Houki as she watched the Gold Frame's physical shield take another beating. "Sir Sahaku said that the students in Arena 3 were my responsibility and I intend to do my part!"

Before both teachers could refute her, a loud blare from the screens showing the golden Astray's status cut throughout the room.

"Gold Frame's battery level is at 0%!" A control booth student reported as she continued to try and crack whatever control the rogue IS' had on their systems. "He's going to-! Wait! It just went back up to 100%!"


Ephraim clicked his tongue as he jettisoned the empty spare energy battery, having run out of ammo for his Gae Bulg and had to resort to using the Type 71. He didn't like using rifle, with it not having as much 'oomph' as using a melee weapon or the Rail Bazooka for him. Sure, beam attacks are highly dangerous, but there's just something when using ballistic and physical weapons that tickle his fancy.

He was practically back to back with the Byakushiki as their opponent circled around them, hidden by the thick black smoke. The Shenlong was outside the smoke pillar, having been chased before but now trying to see where the Golem was. Both boys were silent, eyes darting this way and that in an effort to try and find their attacker-

!

5 red optics flashed by and he snapped a kick that sent Ichika flying away.

"Ow— Hey!"

Crash!

"Ggghrk!"

His shield almost folded in half at the sheer force of the punch, and the black IS' thrusters sent them flying out of the smoke. His Flight Pack fought back, almost approaching the maximum stress limit on its 8 engines, but there were far too many thrusters on the Golem to fight back against.

"Sahaku-san!" Ichika called out as he and Rin chased after the two. The Astray took that powerful hit for him!

Sea-green optics glared into the 5 red orbs of the enemy machine, and the Igelstellungs barked.

Brrrt!

The bullets pinged off the energy shield, but the action was enough for the black IS to toss him away.

Flipping head over heels, Ephraim righted himself in the air. Shaking his head to clear the disorientation, he dematerialized his damaged shield in favor of drawing a beam saber, though he didn't activate the blade just yet.

"Sahaku-san, are you okay?" The Byakushiki stopped beside him, Ichika's brown eyes looking into the optics in concern.

"I'm fine." Ephraim hissed, purple eyes glaring down at the Golem as it dodged more of the Ryuhou's shots. He levelled his rifle, green beams joining the yellow projectiles. "We need to finish this thing off!"


(BGM Start: Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans OST 2 - All Out)

!

Davion ducked under a punch and then leapt over a grab attempt, firing his beam pistol straight into the shoulder cannons of the enemy IS. The metal heated, glowing white, and sparked with each shot. Due to the tubing having been cut, it was unable to use any of its ranged weapons and thus relied on its brute strength. Those giant fists continuously tried to strike the Blue Frame to no avail, the smaller suit far too nimble and its pilot having the expertise in fighting in close combat.

"Leave him alone!"

Clang!

Fist and blade met, and Kanzashi grit her teeth as the overwhelming power of the black IS more than matched her own. Though shaken from having seen what seemed like blood gushing out, she fixed a resolute gaze against the cold optics. Red glared into red as the Golem raised its other fist-

Slash!

-only for Davion to duck into its guard and deal another debilitating cut on its arm. More of the red fluid gushed out, steaming, as the unknown unit tried to hit the mechanic with a spinning backhand.

"Guele-san!" She cried out as everything felt like it was going in slow motion.

The Astray's thrusters ignited as it tensed its legs. The large metal fist approached its target, and just when it was a literal inch away from impact, the Blue Frame leapt.

It rolled in a backflip and its hands pushed off the top of the giant metal fist as it passed by underneath, propelling the knife-equipped fighter towards the body. The armored legs wrapped around the torso of the faux-pilot of the Golem, with the Astray lurching forward to-

Bash!

-deal a devastating headbutt that caused a large crack to stretch across the right side of the Astray's faceplate.

It did its job however, as the sheer sudden force of such a short-ranged blow caused the black IS to stumble back. The knife was raised, gleaming in the fires, before it was stabbed deep into the neck. A savage pull later, and the entire head was shorn off by the high frequency blade.

Red eyes narrowed as she rocketed towards the falling titan. With naginata in hand, she brought it up in a rising motion-

Slash!

-and sliced its right arm clean off.

The world sped back up as she passed the black IS. Shooting past and whirling around to check the damage, the bluenette held her weapon at the ready just in case. But thankfully for her, it was unneeded.

The Blue Frame raised a hand before burying it deep into the innards of the Golem's sparking neck. Flailing, the unknown IS tried its best to get the mechanic off its body but its sole remaining, and oversized, arm couldn't get an angle to remove him. The mechanic rummaged around circuits and metal, thankful for his Trans Phase Shift armor preventing the possibility of his arms being broken. If they were, he wouldn't have been able to do-!

"Gotcha!"

With a violent pull, Davion pulled out the IS CORE of the falling titan and then leapt off. Though half of its face was cracked and sparking, and it's armor chipped and melted, the Gundam Astray Blue Frame held the CORE up high in triumph.

"YOSHAAAA!"

He belted out a loud victory roar, his red fluid-drenched form illuminated by surrounding fires as they slowly died out behind him.

Kanzashi couldn't help but gape at the, admittedly, cool image of her friend.

The hero, triumphantly holding his trophy high as the flames and remnants of his evil enemy lie behind him?

"...Just like my anime..." She whispered to herself as the Uchigane touched down a few feet away from the Astray.

(BGM End: Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans OST 2 - All Out)


"Arena 4 is back under our control! Evacuation is now in progress!" One of the control booth operators reported with a cheer.

"Who's in charge?"

"Loewenherz-senpai! She's calming the students down!"

"A good head on that one." Chifuyu nodded, watching as the students were led by the 3rd year pilot through the now open gates. The purple-eyed German was belting out orders, her authoritative air and natural charisma wiping away any panic from her underclassmen as they began to file out in orderly lines.

"Is that why she wasn't in one of the rescue teams?" Maya asked herself with a small frown. "She was watching?"

"Guele. She was watching Guele." The homeroom teacher crossed her arms, her brows rising ever so slightly. "He's under her now, in Arzenal. She takes care of her 'flock'."

Brown eyes stared back at the remaining battleground. "Based on what we've seen so far, our enemies are not human. They are machines." They narrowed as the Gold Frame shattered its energy shield with the Type 71. "And that means no hesitation."


(BGM Start: SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays - Chall Acustica Theme)

Boom!

The Ryuhou barked as its round impacted the now shieldless enemy IS. Fragments of black metal were blasted off, and the suit itself lurched back from the force of the shot.

"Sahaku-san, now's our chance!" Ichika yelled out as he dove down, Yukihira held high and a roar on his lips.

"What?! Oi!" The Astray followed close behind, the beam saber activating. "We don't have a plan yet!"

Red optics flashed as it juked to the left, dodging the initial downward Yukihara strike and then flipped to avoid the rising slash of the Type 70 beam saber. Ichika barely dodged a spinning backhand and Ephraim flipped over a wind-breaking jab that blew the Neo-Type away a few meters.

The Golem quickly backed off, raising its fist to clash against the pink beam saber of the Gold Frame as the Astray doggedly pursued. Soon they were lost within the smoke, their silhouettes being illuminated by each harsh blow of their weapons.

"Oh, you idiot!" Rin chastised the Byakushiki pilot harshly. "Quit messing around! That was your 4th damn try!"

"I'm not!" Ichika snarled back, eyeing his shield level with trepidation. "She's agile for her size!"

A gold blur passed by before a barrage of pink beams caused them to break away and dodge.

"Was that-?!"

The Gold Frame righted itself back in the air, pieces of its white armor falling off to reveal more of the lustrous inner mechanics. The whole Astray was battered and damaged, with almost all of the foam metal having blown off from the exchange of strikes. The only armor left on the thing was chunks of the black chest armor, and even those were on the verge of falling off.

"That fucking thing...!" Ephraim hissed, rolling and weaving between blasts as the black IS hovered on the ground. He leveled his rifle and shot back with green beams. They brushed past the large opponent, who ducked, spun, and used its left arm to tank some hits.

Purple eyes widened as he noticed its familiar movements.

'Shit, Tabane works fast!'

The Golem was using his own moves from his match with Cecilia!

"What are we gonna do?!" Rin's voice peaked in the comms, a hint of nervousness in her tone. "We'll never beat her without some kind of strategy!"

"Hey, you can still run if you want to!" Ichika's smug grin was audible even through the comms. Panicking was only gonna make things worse, so he might as well present a strong front to keep morale up!

"Who said anything about running?!" The Chinese pilot snarled, insulted and fully aggravated. "I'm a damn Representative Candidate for Pete's sakes!"

"Then take point!" Ephraim barked, boosting over to them and leveling his rifle at the enemy IS. "Use that pike of yours to aggro it while Orimura and I flank! Then-"

!

"Damn it!" The Gold Frame pulled the Shenlong back, just as a beam shot past where the girl's head would have been. It blew past them, the intense heat almost melting the right half of the head armor of his suit.

"Ah!"

"Break! Break!" Ichika yelled out as they split.

The Golem raised its arms and they spat out a deluge of beams. Each arm was aimed at an IS, while its shoulder cannons opened up at the Astray. The sky was filled with pink light and the three airborne pilots tried their best to not get hit.

As he dodged the beams, Ichika's eyes tracked the movements of the enemy IS. The arms followed them cleanly, too cleanly. The chaos of both him and it moving about didn't allow him to notice, but now that it was standing still...

The barrage suddenly stopped and smoke once more covered its large form.

(BGM End: SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays - Chall Acustica Theme)

...

"It's too mechanical." The male pilot uttered, stopping just before the smoke. "It's movements are too mechanical!"

"Why do you think I've been calling it a 'thing'?" Ephraim hissed as he hovered above the Byakushiki, the pinions of its backpack white hot with heat. "No one's movements are that stiff. The 'pilot' also had unnaturally long arms, those were the first hints that what we're facing was not human."

"R-Really?" Rin turned to the Astray, looking down from her higher elevation. Her lips were set in a frown as she stared at all the damage on the battered suit. "I thought that you were just...uh...y-y'know, just all 'no mercy' and cold-blooded and...and stuff."

"Ha! Cold-blooded? There's nothing cold-blooded about me." The blonde huffed, glancing up at her as a slasher grin formed on his lips. "I get quite worked up~"

"E-Eh?" The Shenlong's pilot flinched at the sadistic glee in his tone before shaking it off and focusing back to their hidden opponent. "But still, how can it work? An IS won't work without a living, breathing pilot." Her eyes widened briefly as she flew down to the Byakushiki's side. "Wait, it's doing it again."

"Again?" Ephraim went down to their level, rifle still pointed at the smoke. "What do you mean?"

"It's...not attacking us. Whenever we're talking, that is." Rin answered with a wary frown, eyes ever locked to the smoke pillar. "It's almost like it's listening in...like it's curious about what we're saying."

The Astray pilot's brow twitched.

'...Gods damn you, Tabane.'

"Yeah, I know." Ichika mumbled, glancing at his friends before looking back at the glowing optics of the IS within the smoke.

"It is unmanned." The Gold Frame's optics flashed dangerously as it activated its beam saber. "Trust me on this. We can go all out, finish it in one last go so there won't be any more danger for the students still trapped here."

The Type 70's blade seemed to grow as he put more power into it. "Orimura, I've read your file and of your IS'." Ephraim glanced at the Byakushiki with a small turn of the Astray's head. "The Reiraku Byakuya may be powerful enough to cut through that thick armor in one go. Better yet, aim for the joints. Logically, the armor there will be thinner and far more easier to go through. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you with my own follow-up."

"...Right!" Ichika smirked, somewhat glad that he and the Astray pilot were on the same train of thought.

"Huang, get ready to fire your strongest attack. With any luck, it'll just blast it apart, but we're looking to stumble it so we can both close in."

Rin blinked before fixing a determined grin on her lips. "Got it!"

"Right then," Ephraim breathed out, noting that his own energy levels were steadily draining. He needed to finish this fight, or else he'd just be dead-weight. "Lets-"

"ICHIKA!"

"What the-?!" The blonde turned, and so did the other two, to see Houki standing at the edge of a launch pad. The swordswoman looked both scared and determined to be there but she stood tall nonetheless.

"If you're a man-!" She panted before raising her voice once more.

"IF YOU'RE A MAN, YOU BETTER DEFEAT THE ENEMY COMPLETELY!"

From the corner of the Neo-Type's eyes, he saw the Golem turn towards the younger Shinonono. The 5 optics gleamed as it raised its arms, pink energy gathering at the barrels.

"Oh crap, Houki, run!" Ichika cried out-

"Now! Execute the plan now!" Ephraim roared, shooting a high-intensity beam at the head of the enemy IS. It partially went through, melting 2 of the optics but it continued to charge its attack.

"Got it!" Rin complied as she soared up, charging her Ryuhou's for one last, devastating blast.

Fwoosh!

Purple and green eyes widened as the Byakushiki flew right into the line of fire of the Shenlong.

"Orimura, get the fuck out of the way!" The Gold Frame snarled as he turned back to the Golem, his Igelstellungs firing and denting the heavy armor to little effect. It continued to charge, ignoring everything thrown at it.

"You stupid idiot, get out of my-!" The Chinese Candidate protested, but a glare from the male pilot shut her up.

"Just shoot, damn it!" Ichika demanded and Rin grit her teeth.

"Fine!"

Fyoom!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Purple eyes widened as his sensors detected a sudden increase of energy from...the Byakushiki?!

Turning his head, Ephraim was treated with the sight of a golden IS that was powering up.

'...Oh what the fuck ever...' The outworlder seethed at the blatant Shounen moment. It was one thing to see and anticipate it as something from an anime, but seeing it happen right before him?

Really?!

"Hraaaaaagh!" Ichika roared as he soared down, the Reiraku Byakuya shining.

"This is for Rin! Houki! Chifuyu-nee! For everyone that was put in danger! I'll protect them all!"

He swung the sword down-!

Slash!

And cut off the right arm at the elbow..!

Smash!

But he was so tunnel-visioned that he forgot about the other arm!

He felt his ribs creak and break, his brain rattling in his skull at the sheer force of the punch. He was sent flying, impacting the edge of the crater they were in. Coughing up blood, he watched with bleary vision as the black IS stomped closer to him. "S-Shit...okay, I didn't think that through properly..!"

The giant aimed down at him with its sole arm, the cannon on top of it charging its finishing blow.

Smirking despite the pain, he tilted his head up, eyes narrowing as they stared up at the sun. "Hey...think you're forgetting something..."

(BGM Start: SD Gundam G Generation World - Side Story: The Blue Destiny - THE FRONT)

《 Let's end this! 》

Three high-intensity beams impacted the side of the Golem's body, burning through the weakened covering and exposing the circuitry underneath. Within the glare of the sun, the downed pilot could see the golden blur that was the Astray coming in, its own beam saber's size and luminescence rivaling the Reiraku Byakuya's.

The black IS turned and tried to punch with a wind-breaking jab, far faster than the ones thrown previously before. The fist closed in in the mere span of a blink-

-Lightning formed a mitsudomoe in his mind-

-and the Gold Frame ducked, sliding underneath the outstretched limb on his knees as Ephraim brought the beam saber over and around his head in a horizontal slash that cut off one of its legs.

Hissing audibly as his muscles screamed and tore, the Astray pilot used the inertia of his slide to leap forward, front flipping and materializing his rifle in the other hand. Locking on dead-center at its back, damaged red optics glared into upside down sea-green, the pilot snarling a curse.

"Damned puppet!"

Pulling the trigger, the green beam impacted center mass-

Fyoom!

-at the same time a bright blue beam did. The combined attack proved too much, even for the armor and whatever underlayer it had. The Golem lurched forward, optics dimming as the beams penetrated its chest cavity. It burned away the holding cell of its CORE, leaving it exposed and free.

It rolled out as the unmanned IS collapsed, stopping just at the feet of the downed Byakushiki pilot. Ichika smiled tiredly as he traced the blue beam back to it's owner.

There, in the distance, was Cecilia in her Blue Tears. The Blue Pierce's end was smoking, and she lowered it with a worried frown.

"It's over..." He whispered as darkness crawled from the corner of his vision.

Ephraim landed in a crouch, digging a small trench as his inertia bled off, and with his Flight Pack's engines visibly melting. Detaching it with a sharp hiss, the Astray pilot hissed as his entire being hurt, the blaring alarms of his suit not helping in the slightest. The entire right arm of the Astray sparked and shook uncontrollably, the internals having been buffeted one too many times from the Gae Bulg's recoil and the Golem's attacks.

"Ichika!" Rin and Houki called out, the Shenlong landing within the crater and out of his sight.

The Type 70 beam saber died out at the same time as his own battery. Panting, he struggled to stand up...

"Need a hand?"

Looking up, he could see the relieved smile of the Blue Tears' pilot. A hand was extended, and he chuckled weakly. The golden manipulator clasped around the claws as she pulled him up. The mere movement felt like there were a thousand pins and needles puncturing his muscles, but he kept the sharp hiss quiet.

"My body feels like it's on bloody fire." Motes of light floated from his form, and in a blink, he stood there in his Orb pilot suit. He was disheveled, with a nose that was starting to bleed and a right arm that screamed in pain at the slightest movement, but alive.

That was what mattered.

The shutters opened, and whatever audience that didn't crowd at the exits stared at them with wide eyes.

Then, they began to cheer.

'Fuck.'

(BGM End: SD Gundam G Generation World - Side Story: The Blue Destiny - THE FRONT)


Chifuyu took a deep breath as the whole control room celebrated. They were no longer being locked out, and the rescue teams were converging on the downed black IS'.

'Seems that they can handle themselves quite well...'

Switching the tabs of her thermos, she took a deep gulp of whiskey. The Old Fashioned was cold, just as she liked it, and was a welcome feeling after all the stress and tension. "...Did we record everything?"

Maya nodded, her expression torn at all the events that just happened. "Yes. Oddly enough, that was the only thing that we could access..."

Narrowing her eyes, she watched as the Blue Tears handed Sahaku to the medical personnel. Her brother was being treated with great care, given that he had coughed up blood. The grip around the thermos tightened, and it audibly squeaked at the pressure.

"Odd indeed..."


.

.

.


Later...

"You know, it's quite funny how our roles are reversed now."

Ephraim sighed, unable to contain the amused smirk from forming on his lips. "It is, isn't it." He answered the girl at his bedside.

Cecilia returned the smirk with a smile as she passed him a small bowl of chocolate-dipped strawberries. It was from Haku and Erina, both as a get-well present and as a thank you gift for his actions earlier in the day. "Though, a concussion can't really hold a candle to your entire body being damaged one way or another." She chastised him lightly. "Do you not have inertia and g-force dampeners in the Astrays?"

Taking and biting down on one of the treats, he shook his head. "We have the pilot suits but they most likely aren't as effective as the IS' own g-force dampeners. I'll pass the idea to Davion whenever I have the chance to. Something so obvious should have been our first priority, but I guess it passed over our heads."

She looked at his right arm in worry, at all the patches and bandages covering it to prevent further inflammation and damage. "Should you really be moving about so soon? You may not have gotten surgery, unlike Orimura-san, but the doctors still said that your skeletal system had a lot of trauma put on it. Not to mention that the muscles in your arms were..." The noblewoman trailed off, grimacing slightly at the memory of the doctor reading off the sheer amounts of ripped ligaments and muscle fibers of the Astray pilot.

"They said that I shouldn't do any strenuous activity, Lady Alcott." The older blonde huffed in amusement. "I plan to take it easy for the week. Besides, I heal fast." He then turned his head to look at the bed besides his, or rather, at the occupant of the bed beside his.

With medical equipment hooked on and a plethora of bandages were wrapped around his chest, Ichika laid there peacefully. The male IS pilot breathed easy, as if he wasn't in a life or death situation just hours prior. The bruising on his chest peeked out ever so slightly, but so far he had no other external injuries.

"...And hopefully so does this reckless idiot." Ephraim shook his head, a small begrudging smile on his lips. "I'll have to drill the meaning of caution into his thick skull."

"Oh?" The Brit raised a brow, somewhat surprised at the new leaf shown by the blonde to the other boy. "So that means you'll train him?"

"I already do train him. Rather, I train him when he approaches me. Though that depends, really." Purple eyes gleamed mischievously as the older blonde shrugged. "Or if Shinonono-san allows me to. She's rather territorial when it comes to Orimura-san."

"...Is she?"

He resisted the urge to facepalm.


Davion sighed as he looked at the three Astrays, each in a different state of damage.

The Gold Frame had the most damage, as almost all of its foam metal armor had been blown off. The TPS kept the suit whole after that, and that's not even mentioning the state of its Flight Pack. He would need to create one from the ground up, the extra battery pack included. The suit's thrusters would need some maintenance too, given Ephraim practically red-lined all of them in his dodging and split-second aerial maneuvering. The entire frame of the suit needs to be also checked for micro fractures, the blonde's releasing of the limiters did not bode well for the internals, and the whole right arm might need to be replaced because of the Gae Bulg's recoil damaging the hydraulics. Not to mention the shield needed to be remade...

Again.

His Blue Frame suffered moderate damage, with the white foam armor being the easiest fix. The whole helmet also needed to be checked for any micro fractures after his headbutt. He might need to clean up any dirt or debris that might have gotten into the nooks and crannies of the suit, since he did hover instead of fly. Other than that and having to replace the shield, he was lucky that he had Kanzashi to help prevent his suit from taking further damage.

And finally, Ryo's Red Frame had the least damage compared to all of theirs. The white foam armor wasn't totally melted or cracked to pieces nor did its Flight Pack suffer any major damage. It was practically untouched compared to the Blue and Gold Frames. All he needed to do was to run basic maintenance like checking on its thrusters, replacing the armor...

...Making another new shield...

'Fucks sakes, it's really gonna be that, huh?'

All of their shields needed to be replaced, and it was starting to become a pattern. He couldn't wait to decrypt any form of anti-beam coating for their suits proper. Applying it on their armor would be the first thing he'd do, so that they wouldn't rely on their shields too much. A free hand could improve their chances in finishing a fight far more quickly than only one.

"I wish I could make Nanolaminate Paint, it would make everything so much better..!" He groaned as he leaned back in his seat. The laptop was in front of him, various lines of code running as he did his nightly duty of trying to unlock more schematics for their upgrades. Right now, it was running a standard decryption formula, the automatic process allowing him to step away from decoding it himself and all the stress that came alongside it.

Ping!

Looking down at the screen, grey eyes narrowed as he actually did unlock something. Fingers dancing on the keys, he pulled the unlocked data packet from the Black Box and into the Laptop's drive. Opening the file, he was greeted with a flurry of formulae and diagrams.

"Mirage...Colloid?" He tapped his chin, wondering why the name sounded so familiar...

'...I'll ask Ephraim about it.'

Ping!

"Hmm?"

Repeating the process, he pulled the data packet to the drive and opened it...

His eyes widened as he jumped up, whooping as he raised his fists in victory.

"WOOOO! YEAH BABY, THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! THAT'S WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT! ANTI-BEAM COATING FOR THE SUITS!"

As he jumped around, hollering at the boons given to him, the window scrolled down to another schematic that came with the Anti-Beam Coating.

Gerbera Straight.


Ryo waved off the deluge of thanks and adoration from the latest group of girls that approached him. With a friendly smile, he thanked them and went on his way.

The whole school had begun treating those that fought against the Golems like something akin to celebrities, complete with the gossip and rumors that came along the position. Tabane had filmed the whole thing—'because of course she did'—and used said footage to unveil 'Project: Astray' to the wide world, surprising the courier at just how fast she seemed to compile and edit the videos. Alongside the footage, their basic profiles and small notes from her detailing how they 'met' as 'test pilots' were also included, with all the flowery nonsense Tabane used.

'That means that some semblance of surprise on our side is gone. She also has enough combat data to become a greater nuisance the next time she does something like this...'

He walked out into one of the many sky-bridges of the Academy, this one in particular crossing over the Medical Building where he knew Ephraim was. The nurses and doctors had chewed the courier's ear out when he expressed his wish to leave after they placed the anti-inflammation patches on his arms and shoulders. It was just some stinging pain, the green-eyed Neo-Type had dealt with far worse wounds with a stiff upper lip.

Leaning against the railing, he stared out at nothing in particular as he let his thoughts wander.

'Thing will only get harder from here on out.' Green eyes narrowed as they glared up at the sky. 'Silver Gospel will be tougher. Definitely tougher. And it would have its own surprises given that there were three Golems here instead of a single one.'

"For someone who just won, you seem quite dour."

He let out a long sigh, already knowing who approached him far before she even spoke up. "Kaichou."

Tatenashi smiled as she walked up and stood beside him, those rubies of hers also staring out into the horizon. "You did good work. Really good work, Murakumo-kun. You and your friends saved a lot of lives today." She started, her tone sincere. "Including mine. So...thank you."

Ryo blinked, turning his head towards her in slight surprise. His green eyes, somewhat hidden by the reflected light upon the fake lenses of his glasses, narrowed slightly. "...Your welcome, Kaichou. I had the means to stop them, and it wouldn't feel right if I did nothing."

"Then you're quite the hero, aren't you?" Mischief began to take root in her tone once more. "Are you perhaps doing it just so you can have a steamy reward from a beautiful lady such as I~?"

He facepalmed. "Why did you have to ruin the mood?"

She giggled, red eyes looking up into his with genuine mirth. "I'm sorry, Murakumo-kun, but you just have the best reactions." Tilting her head, she rocked back and forth slightly. "Though, I wouldn't be adverse to give you some sort of rewaaard~"

"No, your thanks is enough." He instantly shot her down, taking a step away from the bluenette.

"Ah well~" She winked at him. "A favor from me then."

"...Sure..."

"Also, pass on my thanks to Guele-san for protecting and giving my little sister the motivation to become better."

'The simp.'

Ryo smiled as he shrugged, pushing away the snark to the back of his mind. "Sure, I'll pass it on tonight maybe."

"Great!" A bright grin stretched her lips, and Ryo was taken aback by the genuineness of the action. "You're the best!"

With that, the Student Council President walked away, disappearing past the doors as they closed.

The green-eyed courier stared at her retreating figure before looking back out at the horizon. He covered his face from the nose down with a hand, so that he could hide the embarrassed frown from being seen.

"...God damn, she's like Haruno." He muttered, unable to stop his cheeks from warming.


In an undisclosed location within the IS Academy...

"This is...odd."

Maya's eyes narrowed as she tried to cross-reference the two intact COREs that the Astrays had left them.

In the middle of the room were the two corpses of the Golems. They were cut open, and it was indeed according to what they saw during the end of the Red Frame's fight.

Nothing but complex circuits and machinery within the facsimile of a human body. The red fluid that they perceived as blood was actually hydraulic fluid, the odd viscosity and tinge clueing them in.

"What is?" Chifuyu asked, somewhat tipsy from having her celebratory Old Fashioned earlier in the control booth. "The fact that they were unmanned and somehow were still able to move without a pilot?"

"Well, that and their COREs aren't within the 467 registered." Maya continued to type, cross-referencing the unique codes in the Golem COREs with those in their database. "It is...concerning to say the least, at the thought of unregistered COREs out there..."

Unseen by her, Chifuyu clenched her fists. She was fully aware of who was behind this attack.

The only question was...

Why?


AN:

First off, I apologize for the amount of BGM changes. They were what played during the pseudo-rp scenarios. It didn't feel right excluding them and I didn't really want to flood the AN part with numerous 'BGM in this part is _'. I plan to stick with Gundam-associated music in future BGM inserts, though omakes and some certain moments might get different ones altogether.

Second, hot damn, we got past 40 Faves and 50 Follows quickly! Thanks for that! Can't believe this idea born from a drunken rant between three anime nerds got this much attention.

Thanks for all the new reviews too! Even if some were ah...well...

Fleece Johnson: Did you...even properly read the chapter? The trio does not trust Tabane in the slightest. They know what she did, what she's capable of, and what she will and could do (to a degree. They're not omniscient and their presence obviously causes ripples). The matter at hand was that they had little to no resources, their ammunition was running low (save for the Blue Frame and its infinite ammo quirk), they didn't have a proper means to recharge their batteries, and they didn't have a workshop where their mechanic could start upgrading their suits. The IS Academy, through Tabane, offered a way to solve all of those. It was a 'deal with the devil' situation, and they'd sooner accept the offer of someone they know is going to make things harder for them rather than the bureaucratic mess that are governments that have their own snakes hidden within. With Tabane, they are given the freedom and luxury to operate on their own as opposed to signing up with a government, who will definitely demand progress reports and such.

TransientGundam: Actually, I was planning to use the new characters from the game but this story was 'written' using elements from the Anime and some from the Light Novel so I couldn't really put them in without some serious plot restructuring. The premise of the game seems really cool though, and I might make an omake about it! Though, I have a feeling that it's going to turn Super Robot-y...

Vercingetorix Rex: Um...wow uh...I really...don't know how to unpack that one aside from that's kinda racist, bro. I'll just make it clear that the Red Frame's Gerbera Straight (the physical katana) is the one with the shield nullifying effect, similar to that of the Yukihira. The Astrays' Beam Sabers will hit the energy shields of an IS and deplete some of the energy, even if held by the Red Frame. So in the event that, during their training, Ryo had struck the Byakushiki with the beam saber, all it would do is damage the shields and the courier would berate the IS pilot for his sloppy movements before they would reset for another bout.

Literally just that.

If the Neo-Types were out to kill, they'd be out to kill.

...And uh, are you implying that Ryo is part of Ichika's Harem?

Zet4: Don't worry, they're just there to expand the Neo-Type's school life! There won't be any Type Moon nonsense such as Grail Wars and such, nor will there be dimensional threats such as DRAGONs or that [copious amounts of curses] Embryo. If the latter was there, well...let's just say that the restrictions on the Outworlders would be released just so they could deal with the piece of trash. Also, Emiya Haku isn't a genderbent version of Shirou. I think I've placed enough clues to help come to that conclusion.

Well, with that out of the way...Cipher out!

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Omake: What if? The White Devil

The entire arena was filled with fire, smoke, and dust.

Muffled screaming of the captive audience could be made out from the shutters, if one wasn't already deafened by the blaring air raid siren. Panic was rife and all hope seemed lost.

Kanzashi felt like she was in actual hell.

The Uchigane pilot gripped her naginata tightly, red eyes looking around in the smoke cautiously as she strained all of her senses to try and locate her opponent. She knew that launching was foolish, especially when faced against an unknown opponent, but she saw what those beams did to the arena shield. She couldn't just stand there while she had an IS ready to help protect her fellow students!

A crimson glare flashed by-

-and suddenly she was assaulted by a deluge of pink beams. Her shield energy plummeted at the few seconds of her recoiling before she had enough thought to roll out of the barrage. Cursing to herself, she then quickly rolled out of the way of another beam barrage. Due to the smoke and fires, she could barely see where the beams were due to the flame's glare in her Hyper Sensors!

BASH!

The wind was knocked out of her lungs at the sudden impact, her opponent having moved far too fast for both her and the Uchigane's sensor suit to detect. The giant metal hand impacted her stomach, causing her to almost fold over the limb before inertia turned its head and sent her flying. Her vision momentarily went white, and she barely could comprehend her bouncing and skipping against the arena floor harshly.

CRASH!

It was only when she impacted the arena wall did she get her bearings straight...and all the pain that came with it as she fell. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her entire body hurt. Struggling to get up, her bleary sight could make out her naginata just a few feet away from where she lay. "Damn it..." She half-sobbed, half-cursed as she crawled to get her weapon. This situation was getting worse and worse by the moment, and she feared for her life!

Stomp.

Turning her head at the heavy footfall, she could make out a large silhouette through the smoke. Her heart leapt to her throat when 5 optics suddenly activated, glaring down at her as a black IS pushed past the debris clouds and into full view.

It was monstrous.

Her breathing became uneven, hitching due to the pain of what probably was bruised ribs and from fear. She abandoned her attempt to get her weapon, instead rolling to be her back and attempting to scramble away in instinctual panic. She ignored all the pain, ignored how her chest felt like it was on fire, all in an effort to get away from what was most likely her death.

The black IS raised an arm, the cannon on top charging its deadly attack.

She shut her eyes.

'I'm sorry, sister..!'

《 RAAAAAAGH! 》

SMASH!

The ear-ripping sound of metal breaking metal rang through the arena, and she ducked her head when the shockwave generated by such an impact washed over her. Bits of dirt and concrete pinged off of her weakened shields and she opened her eyes ever so slightly.

Amidst the dust and fire, she could see the telltale glint of gold. Green lightning seemed to be arcing from something in the cloud before her, and she could hear what seemed like the demented chirping of some sort.

《 Sorry I'm late, Sarashiki-san... 》

!

"A-Augus-san..?" She croaked, her voice weak from the pain and fear. There was anger in that apologetic tone of his, and it was clearly not meant for her. The bluenette could see the shoulders of whatever was in front of her shaking and she spied what looked like a stinger hovering a few feet above it. It was attached to some sort of wire, and it was the one that made that demented chirping as it moved.

The figure growled and snarled like a demented beast as it hunched over, the hands coming close to its head as the green lightning intensified. It was only then that she realized that it was coming from the eyes of the figure. The green light illuminated the golden 4-pronged crown and she felt her breath hitch, not from fear this time, but from awe.

《 You can rest easy now. My partner and I got this. 》

'Partner..?'

A bright pink beam crashed against the figure, and she covered herself on instinct. Stray pink beams gouged the earth and wall beside her, but none of them even came close to an inch from her.

《 That's right... 》

Opening her eyes, she finally saw her friend in his entirety. The pink beam had blasted away all the smoke and dust around them, and in doing so, allowed the sunlight to finally breach through.

《 Look at us. 》

A white suit, one around the same size as her opponent, stood before her. It seemed undamaged, untouched, by the beam as it lowered its hands from their crossed position. Gold-tipped claws clenched into fists, shaking in presumed anger and insult. The stinger, chirping its demented call, swung violently in the air in response to the pilot's state. Looking further from her friend, she could see the black IS with one of the arms shorn off. Beyond it, laid said arm, pinned underneath a massive mace that was in a deep crater.

《 You hurt our friend, you bastard...it's time for you to pay. 》

The black IS simply raised the other arm, the cannon already charging.

Green bled into red.

A palpable aura of malice came from the white suit. The green lightning coming from its eyes had shifted into a sanguine shade, and Kanzashi felt her heart stop briefly at the wave of tangible anger.

《 Let's go, Barbatos! 》

With a demented howl, the demon launched itself forward far faster than anticipated. In the blink of an eye, those golden claws were already ripping into the armor, a savage swing propelling the black IS up into the sky with brutal velocity. The powerful Thermal Phase Transition Thrusters roared as the Barbatos Lupus Rex followed its prey.

Kanzashi watched as those same golden claws ripped and tore into their opponent and then gaped when the stinger impaled the pilot straight through the heart. There was no gore, only red fluid and circuitry that came out when the golden tip pierced through. It reeled the hapless IS straight into the Gundam's grasp, where it quickly dove down into a death spiral.

The younger Sarashiki unfortunately blacked out just seconds before the impact, all the adrenaline and pain catching up to her. But one thing she knew, one thing that will forever stick with her from this day forth...

Was that the White Devil became her Guardian Angel.