Episode 8 - Siblings


"To think I was going to face you in the first match, how very convenient."

The arena was silent, the audience tense as they beheld the first fight of what was going to be a gauntlet of martial prowess. This was the opening act, both parties knew this, but personal fires burned brighter than the competition's.

Ichika tightened his grip on Yukihira as he narrowed his eyes at the albino.

"Now I don't even have to wait." Laura smirked, malice and violence simply dripping from her words. This time, she was sure that the Byakushiki was hers.

No interruptions.

No Astrays.

Just the scent of iron and blood.

The male pilot returned her smirk with one of his own. "Yeah, that's how I feel." The anger he was holding on for two days began to roil and lash out, adrenaline already starting to pump through his veins. He'd read the extent of wounds Rin and Cecilia had taken from her attacks, from fractures bones to ripped muscle fibers. He was going to take his pound of flesh from the German as vengeance.

"This'll be a beatdown."

Charlotte glanced at her partner, frowning at the way he was letting his own emotions overrule his calm. She understood the reason why, she was also there to witness the near-crippling of the two Representative Candidates, but she knew that these things tend to happen between rival countries. Especially when the nature of the IS was so temperamental at times, where the shielding often wouldn't protect the pilot against some attacks, and often times even not activate at all.

Purple eyes glanced over to the holographic countdown, briefly sharing a look with the swordswoman in the opposite end. They both were wary of their partners' integrity, but could do nothing much besides try to rein them in just in case.

5

Cecilia and Rin, still bandaged but without casts this time, watched from the bleachers. The latter was glaring and growling at the black IS, while the former glanced down at her phone. It vibrated as another message was received, and she couldn't help the small smile from breaking out from her lips at the contents.

My Knight: I've asked your roommate to bring you refreshments when we passed by each other in the maintenance bays. She'll be with you shortly.

4

In the VIP's Booth, numerous international representatives watched with keen eyes, a fair few of them eyeing the white IS with a critical glint. It wasn't so long ago that it and the other male pilots defeated an opponent that were out of their league, though not without their own share of wounds. They wondered how far the Byakushiki pilot had progressed since then.

3

In the Control Booth, Chifuyu crossed her arms as she watched the countdown. Maya stood ever ready to act if anything went wrong, fingers ready to dance on the keys in the event of a mishap.

2

Houki and Charlotte eased their grip on their weapons, loosening their tense wrists as to not be too stiff during combat. The blonde ran some last-second ammo checks, eyes darting to and fro on the HUD as the ponytailed girl checked her energy levels.

1

"I'll crush you!" Came the roar of the two volatile fighters, breaking the tense silence as-

(BGM Start: SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays - Hatred)

Beep!

The match started, and the Byakushiki charged forward with Yukihira ready to thrust. Laura reached her hand out, the AIC activating to catch-!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

-a deluge of bullets as Ichika rolled to the side, a confident smirk on his face as the AIC flared. The albino's eyes widened as he came in from the side, swinging up that glowing blade of his as Charlotte preoccupied her shields with the two Garm submachine guns.

Clang!

Fortunately for her, she had a partner.

"Tch!" The boy clicked his tongue as Yukihira met the Uchigane's katana, both weapons shaking from the force either side put to try and beat the other. Houki's blue eyes narrowed as she glanced back, watching the Schwarzer Regen shoot up high into the air to dodge the staccato of rounds from the Revive Custom. "Don't you forget about me, Ichika!" She snarled at her current opponent, who's lips merely eased into a small smile.

"Of course not." He responded with an light tone before his expression suddenly turned into shock.

'What is..?'

A pair of black-purple wires wrapped around her legs, binding them together as she was pulled up into the air.

"What the?!" Houki let out in shock, eyes darting to the black IS as the albino snarled at the disguised Frenchwoman. "Bodewig, what the hell?!"

Laura ignored her, opting to charge down at Ichika as she swung her partner towards the airborne Revive Custom. Charlotte's eyes widened at the action, the sheer surprise causing her to freeze and-

Crash!

"Damn it!"

"Merde!"

As the two fell from the sky, the German ignited her bear sabers and began to duel the Byakushiki, their weapons meeting in bright sparks. The magnetic field of the opposing energy blades caused each strike to rebound, both fighters using the inertia of said rebound to get more strikes in.

Clash!

However, it was clear that one of the two was gaining ground. Ichika took a step back, barely dodging the beam saber that almost swept across his stomach, and brought the pommel of Yukihira down on top of Laura's head in a resounding clang.

'Ryo's far more pressing and unrelenting than this.' The male IS pilot thought as he boosted back to avoid the retaliatory swings from the Schwarzer Regen. He was glad for the Red Frame pilot's training, because that meant he had a distinct edge over his opponent now. 'Bodewig isn't even close to his level!'

Brown eyes glanced up as two more of the wires shot out from the black IS, going over him to what he assumed was his partner. Clicking his tongue, he kept up the pressure of his strikes, maintaining the speed and disciplined swings as he practically danced around the increasingly enraged flailing of Laura. The small girl found herself on the backfoot, surprised at the sudden show of skill of her opponent.

'This is impossible!' She fumed as she began to mix up her swings. In the corner of her eye, she saw the two other distractions fight one another, gunfire ringing out loud and clear as the Uchigane desperately tried to dodge to block all of the bullets. 'He's inferior, how am I getting pushed back?!'


"Huh, looks like he actually learned from all that dodging."

"Wait, what did you guys do?"

"We trained him. Anyway, I'm surprised that Shinonono-san has the skill to actually make a rudimentary blade shield with that katana of hers."

Chifuyu ignored the trio of Astray pilots that decided to walk into the Control Booth. Well, it was more of them having gathered in the Launch Bay underneath the central command booth and Ephraim using his privileges as her assistant to get them inside where they were now. She was going to have words with his use of loop-holes and technical abuse of his position, but since they were here to observe their opponents, she was...going to let it slide.

For now.

"Well, it's a high-level skill." Ryo shrugged, tugging at his pilot suit's gorget with a frown. "I do have to give her props for being able to."

"Sahaku, can you tell me why they're engaging in one-on-one duels instead of a big furball?" The teacher asked her assistant, who quickly pocketed his phone. His usual smile was missing, instead replaced with an indifferent frown. She had known about his resting bitch face for quite a while now, and it was a welcome change compared to the constantly smug and arrogant curl of the lips.

"Divide and Conquer." The blonde answered with crossed arms, his black and purple pilot suit stretching with the movement. "It's painfully obvious that the Uchigane doesn't have any ranged options and that's why Charles is focusing on Shinonono-san, to get her out of the combat cycle. The Schwarzer Regen, however, is primarily a heavy artillery unit with that big fu- er, big ffffreaking railgun," He looked away from her glower as he continued. "And while it does have 'beam sabers' stored in its arms, the katar-like weapons simply cannot be as versatile as a sword like the Yukihira."

The Gold Frame pilot then turned to their resident mechanic, who had just unzipped the front portion of his blue and white pilot suit half-way. "Just wondering, did you do anything to the railgun?"

Davion snorted, rolling his eyes as he shook his head. "Ain't no way I'm doing anything to that hunk o' junk. Speaking of, their magnetic rail setup is so damn clunky. I guess that's why it's big and stupid to look at, those idiots can't even make things compact!"

"Astray tech and IS tech are inherently different, Guele-kun." Maya reminded him with a small laugh, being far too used to the boy's rants about tech as his Engineering Bay supervisor. "You can't really fault them for not following the same line of thought as you, you're kind of a genius in your own right."

"A-Ah, thanks, Yamada-sensei..." The grey-eyed teen blushed as he looked away, still not really used to being complimented by the kind woman.

"But I have a little something else up my sleeve!"

Smack!

Chifuyu tore her eyes away from the golden sheen of her brother's unit to see both the Red Frame's and the Gold Frame's pilots facepalming.

"Why." Ephraim more so demanded than asked. "Why does he have to do that? Why did he activate the Reiryaku Byakuya?!"

"For fucking style points, what else?" Ryo snarked, groaning loudly afterwards as he pointed at the blonde in accusation. "I blame you for that, by the way! You're always so damn showy in whatever matches you're in!"

"Wha-me?! How about you, Mr. 'I deflect bullets for a living'!"

"Enough." The teacher growled out, not wanting the two to start arguing and filling the Control Booth with useless yelling. "We can lambast him about his choice of actions later, for now, what can you tell me on what they're doing? More specifically, what are they doing with the AIC?"

If the three were going to barge in here, might as well make themselves useful by checking if they were still as sharp as they were during enrollment.

"They're attacking on two fronts." Davion answered, much to her slight surprise as she expected her assistant to do so first. "As the name implies, the Active Inertia Canceller requires the user to focus on something in order to...well, cancel whatever that thing's inertia is. The human mind can only track so many things at once, and I'm willing to bet my Tactical Arms that, while Bodewig does have reaction times greater than that of a mundane, even she can't keep track of two opponents that have a plethora of threats of their own right. Her brain's Fight or Flight response system must be overloaded, what with the Reiryaku Byakuya's ability to cut through shields..."

Chifuyu stayed quiet, nodding along to the mechanic's rather detailed answer.

Beep!

"Aaaand his shield energy's all gone." Ryo deadpanned, running a hand through his hair. "Dumbass."

"What did you expect?" Ephraim sighed, sounding all the more tired as he watched Ichika get sent down to the ground by a vengeful Laura. "Even with all our training, even with everything we pounded into his skull, he's still him. A damn blockhead."

"It's not over yet!"

(BGM End: SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays - Hatred)


Sea-green eyes watched the ongoing match with slight disinterest.

"I see that your Representative Candidate is as skilled as ever, Monsieur Elsheimer, albeit somewhat...impulsive."

"Well, Bodewig does have her moments...I'm quite pleased to see that Herr Dunois is holding his own against her, however. That Orimura child though...he displays uncanny skill despite having the IS for merely a few months...who do you think trained him?"

The same eyes glanced over to her left, where older and more snake-like VIP's were giving each other faux-compliments about their representatives. Serpents in formal clothing, sharp-eyed experts of manipulation poking and prodding each other in search for a weakness, they were debatably a necessary evil. The sight of all these political double-meanings and facades made her angry, but mother had taught her that it was a necessity to survive the cruel world.

'Mother...'

The mere thought of the late noblewoman always brought a sense of sorrow in her heart. In a way, Rondo Mina Sahaku had saved her and her company from obscurity. Her parents had died in that terrorist attack protecting her, and it was only through the actions of the Okinawan that prevented her from sharing the same fate as them.

She had deflected bullets with a mere sword, a rapier that she expertly wielded with such grace and beauty that it was almost like she was dancing rather than fighting. It was a jaw-dropping performance, one that seized her heart when she watched the dark haired lady waltz into the terrorist lines, her weapon a simply silver trail that left many bodies on the floor that bled only once their last breaths left their lungs.

After that incident, she had noticed her, the young girl who stood defiant despite having had a gun to her head after she watched her parents bleed out from their shrapnel-induced wounds. Only when she embraced her, only when did she offer quiet whispers of encouragement, did the Scandinavian break down and let loose the sorrow in her heart.

And like that, the rest was history...she was adopted, taken into the dying Sahaku Clan and was brought up to be its successor.

"Ah yes, that same Candidate of yours that ruthlessly wounded our own Candidate in a practice match."

"Once more, I cannot apologize enough, Frau Copperfield. I had no clue that Bodewig would do such a thing. Loewenherz had told us that the younger girl insisted for a spar but was denied, and as a result, lost her temper..."

"I guess we'll have to thank those Astray pilots for saving Lady Alcott and Miss Huang, hmm?"

'There it is.'

Project: Astray.

The Professor's newest creation that took the world by storm by its sudden reveal and by the fact that its pilots were men.

Men nobody had even heard of, aside from rumors and hearsay.

Men that were trained under a regime the Professor herself created, leading them to have skills that rival IS Representative Candidates.

Men with access to machines that threatened the IS itself, machines that didn't need an IS CORE to function.

The chaos that followed the professor's unveiling of the pilot's profiles merely added more fuel to the fire.

Three boys with ordinary backgrounds, having been specifically chosen from a list of other candidates, a list that hasn't been divulged, and given a year to master the weapons.

And one of those boys was apparently the son of her foster mother.

Lath Winslet furrowed her brows as she recalled that particular night a few months ago.

She had just returned home from a meeting between the leaders of major Okinawan parties on what to do concerning the illegal fishing vessels coming close to territorial waters when her friend and sister in all but blood had pulled her aside to the living room to show her what was on her laptop.

She apparently had received a personal message from The Professor, describing that she had chosen a test pilot from their ranks within the Sahaku Clan. The Scandinavian was confused, as there wasn't anyone else other than her in the Sahaku Clan nowadays, albeit she was a Sahaku in all but name. At first, she thought that maybe the Professor chose her to become the test pilot, or even one of the few vassal clans under the Sahaku...

And then her friend read out just who the Professor apparently recruited into her new program.

The shock that went through her had floored the girl, and it took a good solid 10 minutes for her friend to snap her out of it. Immediately, she tried to contact this 'Ephraim Sahaku' and was relieved that he responded just as quickly to her email. He was cordial, friendly, and very apologetic about the whole thing.

Due to being enrolled in the IS Academy at the behest of Professor Shinonono Tabane for data gathering concerning her Astrays, the boy couldn't agree to her frequent requests for a meeting between the two of them. He kept on making empty promises, about how he would be able to schedule a meeting on a Saturday, but kept on moving it due to 'unforeseen events that required my attention'.

It was in the following weeks that she received emails from The Professor and the staff of the IS Academy, which contained medical data and even government papers that proved that Ephraim was the biological son of her foster mother. It all checked out, it was all in the databases and everything...

But there was one problem.

Rondo Mina Sahaku had remained unmarried up to her death. The warrior woman was satisfied with her pursuit of beauty that she never considered any of the courtship requests sent to her by interested parties. And those who were rather forceful of it faced her in the dueling ring, where rapier met flesh in her mother's famous, and infamous, Courting Duels. None could beat her mother, and thus none could claim her hand in marriage.

In the end, Rondo Mina Sahaku was satisfied with her life, and retired quietly with her foster daughter in their estate. The Scandinavian had been with her during those last years, and in all their talks she had never heard her foster mother talk about any kind of romantic overtures that could lead to Ephraim existing.

The fact that they were the same age, with the both of them being 18, only made it more suspicious.

Which was why she was here.

To find out the truth about the mystery that was the last biological Sahaku.

And so, Lath Winslet watched as Charles Dunois struck the Schwarzer Regen with its Shield Pierce, waiting for the match to end so she could get up and look for her 'brother'.


"Hot damn, look at that shield energy go!" Davion cheered, hyped up at the debut of the surprise pile driver. "That pile driver's giving me ideas!"

"Dont." Ryo warned the mechanic with a stern look. "I know what you're thinking, and don't you even try it."

Ephraim merely stayed quiet, cupping his chin as he watched the Frenchwoman lay into the German.

'Any minute now...and...'

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

All heads turned to the Schwarzer Regen's status screen as the IS began displaying abnormal energy readings. Chifuyu frowned, eyes darting at all the readings going into red. From the corner of her eyes, she could see her assistant tense up and take a step back, ready to bolt into action and run down to the Launch Bay. There was this...look of knowing in his eyes, like he expected this to happen...

'How..?'

Then the Schwarzer Regen began to emit large amounts of electricity, the pilot screaming her lungs out as her IS began to melt and morph around her frame.

"Holy fuck!" Davion cursed out loud, his expression one of surprise and a small amount of fear for her pupil trapped inside. "The hell's happening?!"

"We gotta go!" Ryo, whose expression was hard and concerned, grabbed her assistant by the arm. "That didn't look normal!" His tone somehow felt… fake.

(BGM Start: Gundam SEED Destiny - Kantai Shiki)

"Security Alert, Level D!" Chifuyu ordered as she turned to the trio of pilots in her midst. Each of their expressions immediately cooled when she turned to them, the sense of duty ringing strong within as the whole Control Booth dimmed down in response to the alert level. Maya, ever her dependable friend, immediately went into action diverting power to the shields and routing orders to the teams on stand-by.

"You three, deploy! Aid the instructors in containing Bodewig!"

Ephraim gave her a crisp salute before turning on his heel and marching out, his other hand signaling the other two to follow him. In a few seconds, they were in a rapid lock-step, brows furrowed as they exited the booth in an organized rush.

Her finger twitched.

The boys knew something, or rather, her assistant knew a lot more things than he let on...


Lath watched with wide eyes as the black metal seemed to consume the pilot, causing her to stand up in her seat in shock as the mass remolded itself into something.

A siren cut through the tense silence that fell the whole arena, snapping everyone out of their shocked staring as the speakers crackled to life.

"This is a state of emergency. All tournament matches are cancelled. The situation has been classified as Level D and we are sending a team to get this matter under control. All guests and students, please evacuate immediately."

"Winslet-sama, we must evacuate!" Her bodyguards immediately surrounded her, a few of them coordinating with the other guest's security detail as the national representatives were ushered away.

《 Gold Frame, Launching! 》

Sea green eyes widened and she broke through her security to rush over to the half-wall. Her head turned this way and that, trying to see which Launch Bay the Astray was going to launch out of.

"Winslet-sama, we gotta go!" Her head of security urged her, his hand wrapping around her bicep a tad bit too tightly.

Glittering amidst the sunlight-

'There!'

Lath watched as the golden Astray rocketed out from the Launch Bay to her right, eyes widening as her sea-green met the sea-green of its optics for just a second. As the security shutter slowly closed, she let her security detail drag her off as they and the other VIP's shuffled into the nearby evacuation tunnel.

'Even through that less than a second look...I could tell that you were surprised...'

She took one last look over her shoulder, at the closing doors that led to the VIP Booth.

'Our talk is long overdue...brother.'


"Yukihira..?!"

Brown eyes shrunk as the black mass before them reshaped itself into an IS-shaped opponent. It was obviously an older model but the fact that it had the same sword as...

"Just like Chifuyu-nee's..!"

Charlotte got up, narrowing her eyes at the larger opponent. It was a melee only suit and that meant that she had the advantage in range-

"This one's mine!"

"Huh?" She barely had time to turn around before her opponent launched itself towards Ichika. It was a blur of speed, shocking the Frenchwoman as even her Hyper Sensors struggled to keep pace.

Crash!

And with one swing, it disarmed the Byakushiki, sending the white-blue IS sprawling on the ground.

Ichika looked up from his downed position, eyes wide as the black IS lifted its sword and swung down-!

(BGM End: Gundam SEED Destiny - Kantai Shiki)

Gold Frame, Launching!

Clang!

The impact created a harsh wind, sending the male pilot sprawling back head over heels. As he rolled away, his IS armor began quantizing back into its bracelet form as he held his bleeding wrist. Panicked brown eyes looked up as familiar gold and white suit held the sword at bay with the shaft its spear.

(BGM Start: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works OST - Souls to Fight)

"Orimura, get back!" Ephraim roared with his Astray's loudspeaker, his anger making those at the present flinch. "You're low on energy, wounded, and you let your emotions get the better of you! AGAIN!"

The black IS seemed to realize its new opponent and sent a flurry of swings-

-Lightning formed a mitsudomoe in his mind-

-only for them to be parried by the Gold Frame's spear. A battle-hungry bark of laughter escaped the pilot's lips as both fighters kicked up dirt and debris. The jet wash of his Aile Pack kept the air clear, however, as red particles sputtered out from the high-spec engines with each strike.

Charlotte boosted back, stopping beside Ichika to help him up. "That wound looks bad..!" She hissed, paling at the blood dripping down from his wrist.

"It looks worse than it feels." The younger Orimura growled as he watched the golden-black crescent-like swings of the Astray's spear clashing against the faux-Yukihira. It was a deadly battle, sparks from metal meeting metal and electricity arcing everywhere as the two were stuck in a stalemate. There was this noise, a droning, constant ringing noise that hurt the ear, emanating from their clashing. So rapid that it was, it was like a rhythm, one of death or danger.

Suddenly, the faux-Yukihira was dug into the ground and swung up, launching large pieces of the arena floor towards the wielder's opponent. The Gold Frame's manipulators tilted and spun the spear to act as a shield against the debris, optics flickering as it boosted back to dodge a swing that would have dug into its side.

Using the momentum of its boost, the Astray spun and kicked debris back at its opponent. With heels digging into the ground, it ran in a zig-zag to and fro before suddenly-

"GUNGNIR!"

-exploding into action with a vicious thrust of its black-gold spear. So hard and powerful was the thrust that it broke the sound barrier, a veritable corona of wind and matter surrounding it briefly as it soared.

Clang!

The faux-Yukihira swung up, sending the spear off-course and opening the guard of the Gold Frame. The ground underneath the two simply broke into hundreds of pieces, having met with the pressure wave of both strikes combining into one powerful shockwave.

"Tch!" Ephraim let out as he immediately tilted his head to the left, just barely dodging the thrust of the black blade. He took short hops back, Gungnir flashing as he parried the black IS' attacks now that he was on the backfoot. With another click of his tongue, he switched hands as the Gold Frame's left manipulator met the metal shaft of his weapon in an ear-ringing clang. He exchanged a few more blows with his opponent, holding his spear one-handed before leaping back-

The Valkyrie simply closed in-!

-only to use the shaft of the polearm to block a strike that would have decapitated him had he not the protection of the Astray and TPS armor.

"Grrkh..!" Came the guttural snarl of the Gold Frame before he pushed the sword away. In those few milliseconds of free action, he took a great leap back, trailing red particles as his Aile Pack's engines gunned it for all they're worth.

Landing in front of the two IS pilots, Ephraim held his spear before him defensively. His blood was boiling, and a large grin was on his lips as he finally got to let loose. That bout with Bodewig two days prior was utterly unsatisfying, so he was thankful that this fight more than made up for it!

"Damn..." He chuckled darkly as pieces of foam metal armor on various parts of the Astray fell off from the rapid exchange of blows. "Yeah, that's Orimura-sensei's level of strength alright..."

Ichika grit his teeth, the blonde's words merely cementing his suspicions.

'That attack..! That was from Chifuyu-nee..!'

Anger sprung up once more, overpowering the pain and fear as he faced the large IS.

'How dare you..! Copying my sister just to fight me?!'

He shakily got on his feet, adrenaline fueling his actions as he began to charge. "I'll make you pay-!"

Red Frame, Heading out!

Clang!

The black IS quickly raised its sword to block a downward slash from the Gerbera Straight. Sea green optics flashed as the swordsman unsheathed the Tiger Pierce in an upward swing, halving the left shoulder binder of the large IS. The resulting shockwaves of the strikes sent Ichika once more on his back, Charlotte quickly boosting in in front of him to shield him further.

"Ichika, stand back!"

The metal mass that was an IS seemed to flinch before a flurry of wild swings from its faux-Yukihira knocked the Red Frame back. The Flight Pack roared and he stabilized before landing beside the Gold Frame. Their opponent simply raised its sword as the two Astrays began to have this sort of pressure emanating from them. The Gold Frame then nodded, and its red brother unit charged in with blinding speed.

Gerbera Straight came in a thrust, with the black IS barely dodging it with a side-step. Tiger Pierce then came in, swinging to the side and causing the mock-IS to duck. It continued to dodge, as if knowing the sheer amount of danger held within those twin blades, now fully on the backfoot as the unrelenting swings of the red swordsman picked up the pace.

Slash!

The other wing binder of the black IS was sliced in half, dropping to the ground and melting into a useless pile of metal mush. Most of those watching barely saw the blade move, never mind trying to know which sword did the deed in the first place.

"Ichika!"

The aforementioned boy turned around with wide eyes, catching Houki as she tightly wrapped her arms around his waist. "The hell are you doing, you idiot, let's get out of here!" She snarled, trying to drag the taller boy away from the fight.

"But she's messing with me!" Ichika growled, protesting her action as he tried to loosen her grip. "She's pissing me off by using my sister's moves and techniques when SHE DIDN'T EVEN LEARN THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Clang!

"Ryo!" Charlotte's voice called out, concern and worry heavy in her cry. The shockwave came after, causing both childhood friends to cover their faces as dust flew in every direction.

Fyoom!

Then came the supersonic shot from the Gae Bulg, flying through the dust cloud and clearing it sheer force. The shot missed, soaring above the head of the black IS and impacting the shields high above. However, it wasn't meant to be a damaging shot...

Once all the wind and shockwaves passed over, the two's heads turned to see the Red Frame on its knees, both katanas crossed above it as the faux-Yukihira grinded against both. A brief wave of yellow electricity washed over the arms of the red Astray, and it rose with a wordless roar.

Slash!

Half of the faux-Yukihira flew high into the air, melting quickly into a puddle of goop meters before it met the ground. The black IS flinched, looking down at its broken weapon before flashes of gold and silver surrounded it.

In a lustrous streak, the Gold Frame boosted to be behind it and delivered a brutal tornado kick, aided by the additional thrusters on its legs. The sheer force of the strike took off its head, the gelatinous metal bouncing away before dissipating into a useless puddle. Before it could even react, the Red Frame's arms were a mere blur as they, arcing and sparking with electricity, cut and cut and cut.

In less than a blink of an eye, both arms and legs were cut off and the now limbless torso fell flat on the ground.

(BGM End: Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works OST - Souls to Fight)

Silence reigned in the field.

Both Astrays shared a glance as they took a few steps closer, readying their weapons just in case. The Red Frame raised a sword, intent on cutting into the torso-

"...Did...did we do it..?" Houki asked, apprehension heavy in her tone.

The metal quickly reformed.

"Someone just had to jinx it, huh?!" Ephraim snarled, boosting back and moving in front of the Revive Custom as he held Gungnir in a defensive stance. He knew Bodewig was in there, in the torso, but it reforming was new! He didn't remember it being able to do that from his memories!

"Damn it, why does everything have to turn out worse!" Ryo hissed as he readied both blades, mimicking one of the stances of Miyamoto Musashi. Sure, Tiger Pierce may be of the same length as Gerbera Straight, but he still had two swords!

Unsure of what to expect, the two Neo-Types watched as the mass of black metal seem to evolve. It began to exhibit more angular edges, like what the Schwarzer Regen had, and combined it with the smoothness of an Uchigane's. The Yukihira reformed, purple energy coating it as the IS held it up-

BRRRRRT!

(BGM Start: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray - Mission Start Arrange)

A stream of bullets and beams flew towards the reformed opponent, causing it to slash wildly at the incoming barrage with cold yet rabid movements.

Everyone's eyes followed the trail of projectiles, aided by the staccato of multiple barrels firing, to the nearest Launch Bay ramp. There, they saw the Blue Frame using some sort of rotary cannon braced against the edge of the Launch Pad. The glinting edges of whatever it used to dig into the Launch Pad were clear, it was the same sword Davion used during the sparring incident days prior.

The Tactical Arms.

"Davion, a bit late, don't ya think!?" Ryo shouted amidst the gunfire of the 30mm Gatling gun. "Where the hell were you?! You were right behind us!"

Without wasting another second, the Gold Frame charged in, spear tip glinting as it came in for another thrust. Realizing this, the Red Frame followed with its swords soaring in for twin slashes. In an instant, the air was filled with the ringing of metal upon energy-infused metal, as spear and swords clashed against the energy nodachi of the black IS.

"I almost forgot to lock up the Astray hangar with all the rush today!" The Blue Frame's pilot retorted with an embarrassed laugh, lifting the gun and turning it back into its Sword form. "You two would've been fine anyway!"

With that remark, the last of the Astrays kicked itself off the edge and charged at the AI. Davion held the Tactical Arms high, grinning as he swung it down when he was just a few meters away-!

Crash!

The AI, in all its limited capabilities, had quickly turned to block it, only to find itself crumbling to its knees from the sheer force of the strike. The ground around it cratered, creating a shockwave kicked up more debris as the arena shook.

"Ichika, we have to get out of here." Charlotte turned her head to look at the two pilots with a frown. "The guys can handle it, it's better if we just-"

"No!" The Byakushiki pilot snarled. "Not until I get a cut in! Bodewig desecrated what was supposed to be something precious, something sacred! I won't leave until I have my pound of flesh! That iai only belongs to my sister!"

Slap!

Ichika's head snapped to the side, his cheek flaring in pain as Houki's hand came for another swing.

Slap!

"W-Wha?" He could barely let out before she grabbed him by his cheeks, forcing him to look at her in the eyes.

"Are you insane?!" She roared, worry clear in those blues of hers. "You don't have any energy for your IS! How are you going to 'take your pound of flesh' without a suit in the first place? Punch it?!"

A squad of green armored Rafale-Revives came soaring in, though they kept distance from the fierce melee happening between the large IS and the Astrays. It was as brutal show, with sparks flying and electricity flying everywhere. They were hesitant to step in, what with all the bladed weapons that they assumed could cut through IS shielding flying about.

"Take this!" Davion laughed as he swung the massive blade with a single arm, impacting the guard of the black IS with a resounding crash. White-gold particles formed the Cattus in his other hand, quickly aiming it down at the legs of their opponent.

Boom!

From above, came the sun-like glint of the Gold Frame's spear, swinging down in a heavy strike as the outnumbered opponent held its sword up in a desperate high guard. Both weapons clashed, the two pairs of arms sparking with purple electricity. The Aile Pack's thrusters were on full roar, a multitude of red particles flying off as the metallic mock-IS crumbled to its knees again.

Then from the smoke of the explosion, came the Red Frame. Its swords swung in deadly arcs, cutting apart the wing binders that continuously reformed again and again. But with each swing, a chunk of the metal simply refused to reform, and the pilot knew this. His was a battle of attrition, knowing full-well that this 3-on-1 was going to end in their victory soon.

(BGM End: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray - Mission Start Arrange)

"I believe I can be of help to that, as bad as an idea it is to me..." Charlotte laughed weakly as she pulled out a rather discreet wire. "Opening the Revive's CORE via bypass."

"Damn, this thing's persistent!" Ephraim snarled as he dodged a haphazard swing, spear flashing at the same time the Red Frame thrusted both of its swords into the legs of the monstrosity.

Clang!

The Valkyrie reacted fast enough to grab the shaft just before it could pierce its 'head'. Its single hand struggled to even hold its nodachi, the Tactical Arms grinding against it in an unfair contest of strength. Its feet were pinned to the ground by both Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce as the Red Frame's stoic silence taunted their opponent.

The three Astray pilots glared into the featureless 'face' of the liquid metal construct, their individual thrusters roaring as they sought to crush their opponent in a three-front strike.

"Take this, you imposter!"

...!?

They turned their heads to see Ichika charging in with only the Yukihira in its Reiryaku Byakuya form. Ephraim's eyes widened significantly as he looked between their weapons and of the closing IS pilot.

There was no way in hell he was going into that stupid mindscape..!

"Wait, Orimura!" He tried to warm him, as he failed to tug his spear loose. "Don't you dare-!"

The sword swung down-!

"Oh, for the love of-" Ryo could only comment as the blade made contact.

Suddenly their vision went white...

The three of them shouted in wordless rage as they realized what trope was happening before them. The environment around them started to fade into the stark expanse...

And just like that...their consciousness faded.

In their last moments of lucidity, they could hear the chorus of harmonic yet discordant laughter.


...

Naturalization Processes:...Ongoing.

...


Unknown...

She drifted through the darkness aimlessly...

"C0037..."

Lifelessly...

"Your new codename will be..."

Hopelessly...

"Laura Bodewig."

Hazy red and gold stared out into the umbra as memories of her past once more flashed by.

The blurred faces of her superiors.

The endless shooting practices.

G-force endurance in high-speed fighter jets.

Again and again.

Again...and again...

And then...for a brief moment in the timeless space that surrounded her...

She felt something shift.

New and unknown memories began to appear around her, confusing the German as she could not recall any of these happening. Disembodied voices, unfamiliar to her echoed in the darkness, bringing alongside images of cold laboratories, metal cages, and padded rooms that seemed very familiar but at the same time, not.

"Sigma-66..."

Blurring swings of the weapons around caused him to tighten his grip on his spear, the world slowing down as he began his counterattack-

"Alpha-207..."

The neutron collider was complete, now all that he needed to do was to adjust the positron fluctuation field in order for the desired effect to take place-

"Delta-444..."

Manipulating the scientists was easy. They would never suspect little ol' Four-Four, the little scientist's pet. Now I just need to sync the time when S-66 and A-207-


She blinked and suddenly found herself held within a tube filled with a blue liquid. Ahead and to the sides of her, similar holding tubes contained shadowy silhouettes, and mismatched eyes widened as her own memories overlapped.

Needlesinjectionssedationsserums-

A pair of masked figures walked by, wearing white scrubs and full-face coverings that hid any noticeable feature. They moved as if they were in slow-motion yet not, afterimages trailing after them before blurring into the background.

"I understand that we would have exceptional standouts, but the really? Getting rid of the existing ones?"

"Yes. The rest are to be disposed of. We shall use the three as a base for the next batches."

"Seems like a waste, doesn't it? All these perfectly good specimens with perfectly decent abilities..."

"The outside world deserve none of the fruits of our labor. Dispose of the current batches, we have all that we need."

The water began to drain and she looked down to see spinning blades at the bottom of the tube. Panicking, she tried to break the glass, only for her small hands to bounce off harmlessly. She could not scream, her mouth opening with no sound coming out.

The occupants in the other tubes were quickly sucked in and shredded into fine red mists in the blue liquid. Looking back down, her heart raced as the suction became stronger and stronger.

She closed her eyes...


...

【Thorn Unit E (IS): Status...53%

{Shutting down of most recent database [GI] : ..75%}

{Access to [Prime] Database: Bottlenecked. Admin Mandated.}

{System Boon: 〔Comet Protocol〕[Active] }

{Simulated History Integration: Encountering Errors, Fragmentation of Thorn Unit E requires Admin Action.}

{Current 『Identities』 Active: [Cu] , [O̷d̷i̷n̷] , [ɮǟɛʟ] , [Char] , [ЯΛЦ] }

{!/Error! Notifying Admin for 『Identity』 Correction./!}

{...}

{『Identity』 [ЯΛЦ] has been corrected.}

{『Identities』[ɮǟɛʟ] , [B̸̡͚̀̀͜é̵͍͐̕ä̶̖s̶̠̣̀͂̓t̸̳̄] have been sealed.}

...

{Thorn Unit E (IS) in danger of Overload.}

{Admin has sealed majority of Thorn Unit E 『Identities』 to reduce corruption risk of Version (IS).}

{Fragmentation Risk: Medium-High Fluctuation.}

{Thorn Unit E scheduled for Deep Diagnostics check following termination of Branch Connection.}

...


"66, are you sure you'll be fine...?"

'Who is..?'

"Yes, 74, I'll be fine. This won't be like the G-Force tests. We won't be shocked this time, because I'll win."

Laura opened her eyes, immediately recognizing the room she was in. It was a small cell, with a single bunkbed pressed against the wall and a thin strip of artificial light on the ceiling. The walls were of grey metal, featureless, without any rivets or seams and the like. It was...familiar to her, awfully so.

After all, she had been in these kinds of rooms throughout her whole life.

Turning her head to where the voices came from, she saw two children, younger than her for sure, hugging each other on the bottom bunk bed. Both were wearing plain white shirts and shorts, with a tagged bracelet on their right wrists. They both had blonde hair, though the smaller one had a pure blonde shade, as opposed to the dirty blonde of the taller one. Similar facial features led her to believe that they were siblings...

"O-Okay, big brother." The one the albino assumed to be this '74' smiled up at what she could only guess as '66', periwinkle blue eyes glinting with an innocent light. The softer tone of voice and gentle curves on the face identified her as female, aided by the neck-length hair that was styled in a pitiful attempt of a braid. "I'll be rooting for you..."

The taller 66 kissed the crown of his sister's head, purple eyes twinkling with confidence. "That's all that I need. We'll get out of here soon, mein kleine sonne. That, I promise."

Bang!

Laura instinctively shut her eyes, ducking down as the shot echoed in...whatever space she was in.

"Well done, Sigma-66. You've survived this trial."

"...Thank you, doctor."

She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself looking down at a large arena-like space. There were several glass booths overlooking the space beneath, and the arena had several square-like structures dotting it here and there like a maze. A circle of dead bodies surrounded a young boy in a bloody shirt and BDU pants that had an urban Flecktarn camo. The blonde hair of the boy barely reached his neck, though its shine and luster seemed to be stained with dirt, dust, and dried sweat.

'Sigma-66..?'

It was the same boy from seconds ago, but...he seemed older. Taller, with shoulders a bit more broad and there was an aura of apathy in his expression as opposed to the previously lively one. Loosely held in his hand was what looked like an odd variation of an MP5, which he reloaded with cold and precise movements.

"Get ready for the next one. This time, your opponents will use explosives."

"...Yes, sir."

The German watched with morbid fascination as hazmat suited adults stepped into the arena, carrying carts which they simply threw the bodies into. Actually, now that she looked at them...

..!

She felt her breath hitch as the glassy blue eyes of a child probably in her early teens met her own. There was a clear bullet wound dead center on her forehead, still bleeding the red liquid into her blonde...hair...

'...Mein gott...'

Red and Gold widened as she finally took note of all of the details of the bodies.

Blonde hair, eyes of varying shades of blue, and very similar facial structures.

'Clones..?!'

The heavy industrial sound of an elevator activating entered her ears as the ear-ripping sound of a metal gate opening accompanied it. Turning her head, she saw more children enter the arena, all armed with some sort of weapon. Swords, knives, spears, pistols, rifles, and even a few rocket launchers scattered amidst the mob. They all looked younger than her, younger than Sigma-66, and yet they held the weapons as if they had experience wielding them.

One of the children aimed a rocket launcher and fired-


...

【Thorn Unit D (IS): Status...77%

{Shutting down of most recent database [AK: ..100%}

{Database [AK] has been successfully sealed and archived.}

{Access to [Prime] Database: Bottlenecked. Admin Mandated.}

{System Boon: 〔Blacksmith Catalogue〕[Limited] }

{Simulated History Integration: ..66%}

{Current 『Identities』 Active: [Tinker] , [Gambler] , [Gladiator]}

{『Identities』[Fenrir] , [Vanargand] , [Barbatos] have been Sealed.}

{Fragmentation Risk: Very Low. Within stable parameters.}

...


Boom!

She had turned away at the explosion, her body moving according to muscle memory, and she suddenly felt her bare feet touch cold metal.

"Try again, Alpha-207. Perhaps you did something wrong with the Microfusion Pack."

"I-I'll try..."

A new voice, a young one, entered her ears. The adult sounded clinical, uncaring in the end, and the child's voice was so...weak.

Boom!

"Ouch!"

Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of what was a mix of a lab and a mechanic's bay. Several unknown technologies were shelved, and there was even what looked like an IS in the corner. An older generation, she recognized, with its clunky arms and legs. It was definitely one of the 1st Gens, as rare as they were...

Turning her head, she saw a child who was weakly trying to stand back up after being blasted back. He was dark of hair, the shade of brown just one tint lighter than that of black. It was messy, covered in soot, with some of the strands having been burnt. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that was torn up at the ends, with some oil stains and blots of blood all across it.

He was thin, glaringly so, and shuddered from the effort of trying to get back up. His eyes opened, revealing gunmetal grey as they darted around, squinting from the aftermath of the dust cloud. Coughing, the boy stumbled through the dark smoke, hands waving this way and that as-

Boom!

The cloud consumed her, and she cursed as she was knocked over on her back.

"AGAIN! 207, try again!"

"It just won't work, sir! The CORE would destabilize before I could even try to penetrate its firewalls-"

"Then try harder! You Alpha-series are supposed to be the smart ones, you're getting beaten by the Sigma-models and the Nu-types!"

Opening her eyes, she sat up and gazed at the figure pacing around a table that had an IS CORE in its center. The CORE itself was hooked up to a plethora of instruments, most of which were burnt out and sparking. Said figure ran a hand through his hair, ignoring the jagged piece of metal lodged in his chest as it bled and stained his shirt red. A fist slammed down on the table, his lips curling in a snarl as the boy used his other hand to slowly remove the shrapnel with nary a pained expression.

"Sir, it's inactive now. Any further attempt would just be a dead-end. Are there any other projects that you need me to do? What of the Sakuradite experiments? Perhaps you need me to recalibrate the combat models' simulation rooms?"

...

"Sir..?"

"Return to your cell, Alpha-207. Any experiments done now will be punishable with gassing."

"Wha-?! Fine. I'm on my way."

With those words, the grey-eyed teen glared up at the camera in the corner of the room before marching out. The collar around his neck beeped once he was at the sliding door, causing it to open and quickly shut back, leaving her in the darkness of the room.

"These memories are..." She muttered to herself as umbra began to creep in around her.


...

【Thorn Unit R (IS): Status...70%

{Shutting down of most recent database [GI] : ..89%}

{Access to [Prime] Database: Bottlenecked. Admin Mandated.}

{System Boon: 〔Perpetual Engine〕[Inactive] }

{Simulated History Integration: ..56%}

{Current 『Identities』 Active: [Kojiro] , [Courier]}

{『Identity』[Swallow] : Sealed.}

{Caution: Additional 『Identities』 Overlapping, Matrix Lattice at risk.}

{Running quick diagnostics of Version (IS)...}

{『Identity』[עֲזַרְאֵל: Successfully suppressed and sealed.}

{『Identity』[Ȩ̵̈͆x̸̡̹͝ȇ̷̈͑ͅc̷͍͙̱͗̐̄ṵ̴̈̽t̶̬̽̂o̵̢̳̔̌ͅr̷̛͖̭̈: Successfully suppressed and sealed.}

{!/Warning! Defragmented data strings may result in memory leakage/!}

{Fragmentation Risk: Medium-High Fluctuation.}

...

{...}

...

{Admin has scheduled to move Thorn Unit R to Level N for mainframe diagnostic checks following termination of Branch Connection}

...


"Tsk, tsk. You are quite lucky, Delta-444. You are the only one of your series to pass the tests."

"What am I to do, Doctor Hibiki?"

Her brows furrowed as a a flurry of images passed by her in the void. Each image was accompanied by disembodied voices, the only thing that could clue her in on what was happening. She could recognize some as...

Labs...

"Delta-444, bring these samples of the Alpha-series to the Growth Vats."

"Yes, Dr. Hibiki."

Laura wondered why that name, this...'Dr. Hibiki' sounded so familiar...

Offices...

"444, deliver the results of Sigma-66's trials to me once you get them."

"Of course, Dr. Hibiki."

"Good."

There it was again. 'Dr. Hibiki' and a mention of Sigma-66...

Living quarters...

"You are...Delta-444, right?"

"That's correct, Omega-54. Or rather...what were you called again?"

"Dr. Hibiki called me 'Kira'."

"Ah. Good."

BANG!

The German flinched, face paling at the implications of the gunshot.

An assassination?

A rivalry gone hot?

An Incinerator Room...

"You...shot the Doctor's pet project, Four-Four?"

"Of course, 66. Can't risk a liability like him to live. Dr. Hibiki should only focus on me, after all!"

"And...that's why you offered to help me and Alpha-207 over there with the body disposal..."

"Mhmm!"

Her stomach lurched.

Cleanrooms...

"Dr. Hibiki, why are you packing up the serums?"

"Don't tell anyone, but I'd rather save my life's work than continue on this foolish endeavor. When those...animals killed my Kira...I knew it was time to leave."

"But...what about me, Doctor? Will you leave me behind too?"

"I...I'll bring you with me, Four-Four. Don't worry."

"Thank you, Doctor. You won't regret it."

The sounds of sirens entered her ears, the sound so familiar to the super soldier. Indiscernible voices followed, sounding panicking amidst the rolling thunder of gunfire and screaming. Slowly, the voice around her receded as fire and flames sprung up. Flashes of gunfire caused her to tense up, and she raised her fists just as a mob of young teens charged past her, straight through the fire-

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets whizzed by, her Odin's eye tracking the lead that had flecks of grey matter and blood staining them. The moment her feet touched the warm metal floor, she immediately ducked as more bullets flew over her.

"Who the hell released the specimens?!"

"That traitor Hibiki did!"

Turning her head, she saw a makeshift shield comprised of torn or ripped steel sheets slowly advance, rounds impacting the bulwark and pinging off. Glancing to the side, she saw a side corridor that was untouched, though it definitely had plenty of blood staining the walls. Rolling out of the line of fire, she got to her feet once she was away from the fires.

"Hurry, Four-Four! They've started the countdown, we have to leave!"

"B-But what about the others?! I promised that I would-!"

"We can't go back! They're sealing the sectors before gassing them, I'm not risking that!"

Laura followed the voices, ignoring the bodies in the hallway that steadily became more and more prominent the further she went in. In the cacophony of chaos, she could hear familiar voices, screaming or roaring their addition to the noise.

"74! YOU BASTARDS, LET GO OF HER!"

"HOW'S THIS FOR AN EXPERIMENT, HUH?! ALL THOSE DAMN EXPLOSIONS, THE GASSING-!"

"74! 74!"

"DIE, YOU GRIPING PIECE OF-!"

She covered her ears, the deluge of voices becoming far too painful for her to listen to. Turning the corner, she found herself in a large mechanic's bay that had vehicles at the ready to leave the facility. Gunfire was rampant here, as she saw heavily armed and armored security forces clash with wave after wave of children. The teens and kids weren't even fully armed, some just having their fists while others picked up fallen weapons dropped by those that fell ahead of them.

'Mein gott!'

"I..! Doctor, you have to go."

"What?!"

She turned her head to see a man with short blonde hair looking at a dark-haired teen whose arm he was pulling along. The teen was wearing a lab coat, obviously bigger than him with how it seemed baggy and loose, and was barefoot. The long sleeves covered his hands, swaying to and fro as he removed the hand of the older man from his wrist.

"You have to get out of here Doctor. I still have a duty to the rest still trapped in there."

"Four-Four, don't be stupid! The car can only hold a maximum of 4, and the backseat already has my research in it!"

She could see the teen smile sadly, shaking his head as he turned back around to where they came from. Empty green eyes stared hard into the fire that engulfed the hallway, his hands reaching into his coat before pulling out a pistol.

"I'll catch up, I promise. Just get out of here, we'll meet up with you at a later date."

"Four-Four..! Tch...Alright. Meet me in...in Germany, okay? You'll find me in Berlin, you know where I'd most likely be over there."

"Of course, Doctor Hibiki."

'Berlin..?'

Without another word, the green-eyed teen rushed into the fire, and was quickly followed by the rapport of gunfire. Laura tried to follow, but...everything was crashing down on her. The facility, the vehicles, all the bodies..!

"Four-Four, did you see where they went?! Did you see the fat bastard that took my sister?!"

It was absolute chaos, all the noise, all the death...

"444? What're you...heh? W-what the..? I...I killed him?"

It was...!

"Let's get out of here, you two! This whole place is rigged to blow!"


She blinked.


...Gone.

Once more, she floated in the void...

"What were those..?"

"Our memories, apparently."

!

She turned around and-


The void receded, turning into a white expanse where she stepped on to a surface that seemed wet yet not at the same time.


Laura's mismatched eyes locked on to purple, grey, and green.

'Purple, grey, and green..?'

..!

"Those children were you..." Laura whispered in a trembling voice. "You are..!"

"Just like you." Davion, clad in a sleeveless vest and baggy trousers, sighed out as he shrugged. "What a surprise, huh?" Bandages wrapped around his arms loosely as his black hair blew this way and that from a nonexistent wind. On his neck, attached to a necklace, was a glowing amber gem, seemingly pulsating in its casing. Some form of square-like symbol was inlaid within, one that looked like it was moving all by itself.

She fell to her knees, hands uncontrollably twitching as she stared at all three of them in shock and disbelief.

"Damned IS CORE stupid fucking sci-fi magic." Ephraim grumbled as he paced around. The blonde was clad in a green jacket over a white shirt, while rugged khaki pants tucked into boots hugged his legs. On his back was a bow and quiver, etched with gold and silver detailing. Attached to his belt was a necklace-like jewelry that held an amethyst, encased in expensive and fancy looking lacquerware. It sparked and glowed, where three commas converged in its middle.

"So, it seems as if Dr. Hibiki came out of the facility with something other than the serum." Ryo chuckled in a hollow tone, clad in a similar looking outfit to Ephraim. A green baggy overcoat over white innerwear, but this time he wore black jean-like pants and steel-toed shoes. On his hip was a sword, though it wasn't Gerbera Straight nor was it Tiger Pierce. On a brooch just over his sternum was a cyan gem, pulsating with what seemed to be a winged symbol within.

"Some genetic samples perhaps." The blonde shook his head, looking around the white expanse with with a faraway expression. He seemed shaken by something, probably from what he saw in their memories. "74..?" He whispered, not caring if the German heard him or not.

'Blonde with purple eyes, brunette with grey eyes, dark haired teen with green eyes..!' Her mind repeated in a panic.

"This place some sort of mental connection? A nexus of sort?" The muscled mechanic asked rhetorically, turning to fix an indifferent stare at her. "We did see her own past, after all. As she did with ours."

Laura stared at all of them with wide eyes. Each of them had the same features as those boys, the same hair color, eye color, everything.

'No...'

It...wasn't only them that had the same features.

Wide red and gold looked at their faces, tracing the lip shape of the mechanic, the daintiness of the courier's nose, and then to the eye shape of the combat assistant..!

'It can't be...it just can't!'

Those same features...those were the same features she would see every time she looked at a mirror!

'But that's impossible!' The paling German argued with herself, ignoring the boys as they stared at her blankly. 'I...I cannot be related to them, they aren't even of my blood to begin with!'

"So, you were responsible for the breakout." Ephraim turned to Ryo with a small grin. "Never expected you to play the long game."

"I don't want to talk about it..." Ryo sighed as he crossed his arms, glancing off to the side as his hazy eyes seemed lost to his own memories. "Project: Neo-Type was brutal...inhumane. Genetic tampering, cloning, gene splicing, all kinds of horrors happened in that facility, wherever it was, I don't want to remember anymore. The end goal of the sick bastards at the top was to create super soldiers. Not for any country, but..."

"For themselves." Davion grunted, placing a hand on where the large scar on his chest was. "Not only that, but...I recall creating weapons. Chemicals...explosives..."

"And I recall...blood. So...so much blood on my hands..." The blonde looked down at his palms with an indifferent expression. "The blood of the other Sigma-series...my siblings..."

'Siblings.'

"Br...Brüder...?" She whispered, her lips betraying her disbelief as they trembled in a deluge of emotions. Immediately, her hands covered her mouth, looking down in fear as if they were going to punish her.

...

Seconds passed...

...

A minute...

...

"Lift your head."

...She did so, hesitantly.

Three pairs of eyes looked down at her in disapproval, frowns marring their lips. Ephraim was the most severe in his dislike, scowling at her as he crossed his arms.

"Don't think that just because we have similar genes, we're on the same level, Bodewig." The blonde growled, gripping his biceps tightly in restrained anger. "The sooner you get that stupid belief out of your head, the better."

The courier elbowed his friend, sending a stern look at him before turning back to her. "What he meant to say was, yes. We are siblings, in the barest sense of the word. Though, the more accurate term would be cousins." Green eyes stared at her debatably, gauging his own worth of them being connected.

"You almost bloody killed Alcott-san and Huang-san." Davion grumbled, by far the least caustic of the trio in his dislike. "You turned a whole class against yourself."

"That...that doesn't matter!" She found the strength to stand up, her own anger fueling her movement. "All that matters to me is my mentor and getting rid of-!"

"Orimura?" Ephraim finished for her, uncrossing his arms and stomping over to the albino. "Do you even understand the consequences of such an action?"

His hand darted forward, grabbing her by the collar of her—of her uniform!?

'When did-?!'

The taller boy tugged her close, their foreheads impacting none too gently as she grimaced.

"Getting rid of Orimura is a dead end for you." The half-German hissed, those royal purple of his sparking with annoyance. "Never mind the fact that using lethal force on him will cause us to decimate you, Orimura-sensei won't forgive you if you do."

"What are you talking about?! My mentor is strong!" Laura argued back, lips drawn back in a snarl. "Getting rid of that fool will only harden her, strengthen her resolve! He's the weak link that's dragging her down!"

"Orimura-sensei is not some infallible being!"

Crack!

Lightning flashed across the empty expanse, surprising everyone but the blonde, whose expression had immediately worsened into one of anger. The albino paled at the sheer hate in his gaze, shrinking in his grip as the silence between them stretched.

"She's not like that." He growled, a low tone that spoke of danger and warning. "You only saw her by the front she put up while she was training you in Germany. You haven't seen her in her entirety."

The short girl gulped at the sheer menace coming from the super soldier. With a shove, she was sent on her rear as the taller teen began to pace.

"Orimura-sensei is..." Ephraim started, the anger in his eyes washing away into one of admiration. "She is kind."

Kind.

The word that went hand in hand with being soft.

Laura grit her teeth, a retort on her lips ready as-

"You see strength as absolute." But before she could even open her mouth, the blonde continued. "You see it as some sort of...attainable attribute, something that you can simply grab with your hands." Those sparking purple turned to her in a glare.

"It is not."

"And how would you know?" She snarked, standing back up and clenching her fists. "You weren't there when mentor took down the best of the Bundeswehr, you weren't there when she demonstrated her skill to all of the German IS Pilots! You don't know what the true strength of my mentor is!"

"Do I?" His now calm voice caused her to flinch. To be so calm and confident..! "Were you there when she talked of family? Were you there when she would simply rant about her workload? Or how about when she'd thank you for picking up the slack she forgot, have you ever had that?!"

'Huh?!'

"Strength, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder." Ephraim walked closer to her once more, towering over the albino as he looked down on her with a slight frown. "You know of the Brunhilde. You don't know Chifuyu Orimura."

"I..!" She choked out. "I do-!"

"Then why does she fight?" He immediately shot out. "Why did she train you? Why does she still stick around?"

Laura could not answer, nay, she refused to answer!

Because...

The Neo-Type snorted. "She did all of the things she did for her brother."

...because she knew the answer.

"Chifuyu Orimura is an older sister, first and foremost." The blonde crossed his arms, frowning as he looked off to the side. "Everything else...is secondary."

Davion glanced at Ryo, unsure of whether to interfere or not. They both hadn't had the experience or the level of relationship the blonde had with their teacher, and judging by how Ryo was just watching...they should simply let him talk. After all, he was the expert concerning Chifuyu between the three of them.

The albino looked at the ground, glaring at her reflection on the misty surface they walked upon. She couldn't refute him, knowing full well that his words were true. She had seen her mentor smile so softly, so kindly, when she reminisced about her brother. About Ichika.

And not about her.

"An older sibling will always remember their younger..." His voice was distant, matching the faraway look in his eyes. "...Nothing can replace them."

"But can't I try?!" Laura roared, her fists clenching so tightly that she felt that they might bleed. "I just want to make her smile, to make be her reason why she's happy every now and again!"

The blonde turned and raised a hand, causing her to flinch and close her eyes...

...

Pat. Pat.

'...Eh..?'

Red and gold opened to the feeling of her hair being...patted. Glancing up, she saw the empathetic light in his eyes, frowning as his lips may have been.

"There are other ways to achieve that. Replacing Ichika...isn't one them." Ephraim murmured, brows furrowing as he looked to the side. "It would be like opening a deep wound for her and then placing a band-aid over it. On paper, it sounds good but..." He chuckled briefly, a cold and bitter sound. "Humans are...emotional. Too emotional. It is that unpredictability in feeling that'll ruin your plan. In the hypothetical scenario where you did succeed, that longing for Ichika will eventually turn into bitter hatred for you, for daring to replace her precious little brother. Who you took away."

His hand removed itself from her hair, and she raised her head to look up at him with conflicted eyes-

Bonk!

"Ow!"

-only to crumple to her knees when the fist came far too quick for her to notice. Her head throbbed from the blow, and she covered it in instinctual fear of further reprisals.

"This jealousy of yours still does not excuse your damn actions concerning Cecilia or Huang-san." The blonde grumbled as he stepped away. "Expect punishment when we're out of here."

It was a whiplash, seeing the different sides of the blonde. From being all...warm, and then suddenly faced with the cold bulwark of his frown.

It was like...her mentor's.

'Siblings.' Came the whisper from the back of her mind. 'They are our older siblings...'

She took a peek at them, watching at they looked at each other with stern features. They exchanged a wordless conversation, their eyes doing the talking, as Ryo and Davion walked over to her.

The sight of all three of them together simply reinforced this...sense of brotherhood that they had.

'Siblings.' Came the whisper again.

"Siblings..." Did her lips let out.

They were her siblings, through experience, through genetics...

Davion's strength...

Ephraim's martial prowess...

Ryo's skill with his blade...

They were just like her.

Designer Children.

Experiments.

Artificial.

"All this time...and I never knew that I had...brothers..." She slumped on the surface, ignoring how her pants didn't seem to get wet by the liquid. The fact that they were super soldiers still hung heavy on her mind, a sense of...connection present there. But said connection was obviously strained by her previous actions...

"We didn't expect to be related to you, either." Ryo grumbled as he stopped before her. His tone felt tired, fatigued about all this. "But that's how the chips fall, I suppose. A damn kick in the head, is what it is."

"But whereas we lived our life by our own rules, our own...with our own hands, Bodewig has..." Davion muttered as he crouched beside her, gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder in an effort of comforting whatever internal turmoil she had. He was angry at her for almost causing fatalities, but not to the extent of the explosive anger of Ephraim and clearly not something similar to the unknown expression of his swordsman brother-in-arms.

Laura bit her lip, tears freely running down her cheeks now as she began to sob. He was right, after all.

All this effort she did...

All of her drive was for Chifuyu and now..

"W-What do I do then? What can I do now? All my life, I've strived...I've wanted to..!" The albino couldn't even finish her sentence, her heart going wild with sorrow and anguish.

"And you can still do that," Ryo assured as he sighed and crouched before her. "But it doesn't mean you can replace someone else, replace Ichika. You'd be living a lie if you did." Those green eyes seemed to pierce through her, sympathy shining through, but also some hidden weariness. "Try to find another place by her side, Even if it means getting along with his brother." Laura's face faintly cringed, and he let out a light chuckle. "Besides, if you somehow want to find something new, I guess I could go along with you."

Davion chuckled off to the side. "He's right." Grey eyed looked at her with a gentle gaze. "Make a new path... for yourself. You don't have to be the next Chifuyu, nor the replacement for Ichika. Be 'Laura Bodewig'. And if she hasn't been made yet, then make her. Find a hobby, make some new friends, beat a few people in IS matches to prove your superiority to them. You're free to do whatever you want."

The albino looked up at him, at all of them, with conflicted eyes. Her muddled thoughts were clear within her pools of ruby and gold, and as she opened her mouth…

Rumble...

The plane around them shook, and she looked around in a panic.

"W-What's happening?"

Ephraim cracked his neck as he put his hands in his jacket pockets. "If I'm correct on clichés..? This connection is ending and we'll soon be back in the real world."

"B-But what about the match? It's still going on right?!"

Ryo pulled her up, rolling his eyes but unable to keep the smirk away from his lips. "Yeah, no."

She barely got a word out before everything...vanished.


...

Naturalization Processes:...Ongoing.

...

{Thorn Unit E (IS) Simulated History Integration: ..57%}

...

{Thorn Unit D (IS) Simulated History Integration: ..73%}

...

{Thorn Unit R (IS) Simulated History Integration: ..64%}

...

{Shutting down of Simulation-Model Consciousness Nexus.}

...


Houki stared at the deadlock happening before her.

The three Astray's weapons clashed against the odd metal being's, their thrusters blazing as neither side gave way. Ichika was silent, Yukihira held loosely in his hand as it finally cut through the torso of the black IS.

Worried for her childhood friend, she took a few steps closer to check on him-

"Gggrrk..!"

-when the pilot of the Gold Frame let out that guttural snarl. Her head snapped over to the Astray, watching as its optics flared out in an angry blaze.

"Rrrrrgh! DAMN YOU!" With a violent pull, he ripped his spear free from the Valkyrie's grip. Said grip was nonexistent at that point, as Bodewig was already falling out-

"I got her!"

The Tactical Arms was dropped, the ground shaking ever so slightly at its weight. An unconscious Laura tipped forward from the grasp of the mutated Valkyrie Trace system and into the cold metal arms of the Blue Frame.

The three Astrays jumped back from the metal sludge, the Red Frame picking up the Tactical Arms after sheathing its katanas and the Gold Frame picking up Ichika, who was still unresponsive. The Red Frame wielded the great sword with little difficulty, pointing it at the undulating mass of metal and electricity as it screeched and moaned.

"You kids get out of here, we'll handle this part!"

And so the instructors finally acted, aiming their weapons at the squirming mass as they landed around it in a circle.

Ichika blinked as he looked around. "Whuh?" He intelligently let out, looking up into the sea-green optics of the Gold Frame and then jolting in surprise.

"Wakey-wakey, sunshine." Came the dry wit of its pilot.

"Oh...uh...can you...let me down?" It was emasculating for him to be held in a bridal carry, after all!

Ephraim did so without any hesitation.

"Oof!"

"Hey!" Houki roared as she rushed over to the IS pilot, who was holding his wrist with a grimace.

"Okay, maybe I should have worded it more specifically..."

The Blue Frame shook its head as Ryo walked behind him to reattach the Tactical Arms. As it reverted to its Flight Form, the Gold Frame looked at the trio of IS pilots. "First, let's get Bodewig to the Infirmary. There's no telling if she-hgrk!" Whatever Ephraim was going to say next was interrupted by a pained grunt. The Astray took to a knee, using Gungnir to stabilize itself by stabbing the blade into the ground.

A soft, angelic face smiling up at him with those gentle periwinkle blues...

"I'll be rooting for you..."

"74..?" The blonde gasped out amidst the pain, the Astray around him dematerializing as blood dripped freely from his nose. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Ryo and Davion suffer the same agony, both the Neo-Types having blood dribble down their lips.

Davion was still standing, though he had an eye closed and with grit teeth. He turned his head away to prevent any blood from landing on Laura, with it instead staining his blue-white pilot suit.

Ryo had a hand pressed against the side of his head, the other cupping his nose as the blood leaked between his fingers. "Actually, all of us might need a quick stop there. I feel a damn headache forming..!" The courier snarked, spitting out a glob of blood afterwards.

Charlotte was immediately by the Red Frame's side, face set in worry as she fretted over her friend.

"Come on, I'll help you guys out!"

Houki watched all of this with a small frown.

'Oh, sure...Ichika gets a bad wound and all you three have are headaches and a nosebleed. Once again you interfere in something that we could have handled..!'

Her childhood friend stood up, his back to her as he patted himself down. "Phew, that was..." She looked up at him at his pause, with his head tilted up...for some reason.

"...that was an experience, I'll tell you that." He finished with a small laugh, palming his lower face as he turned back to her with a grin. "Let's get out of here."

The swordswoman rolled her eyes, blushing, but she nodded anyway. "Whatever."

And so they left the arena, tired, dirtied, but victorious in the end.

But had Houki looked at Ichika's hand...

...she would have seen the nosebleed he was trying to cover up.


.

.

.


Later...

"What exactly happened out there, Sahaku?"

The forlorn expression of her assistant quickly turned to surprise as he turned his head to look at her.

"O-Orimura-sensei..." Ephraim murmured as he quickly sat up on his bed. He was still clad in his pilot suit, the chest area having the wiped remnants of whatever blood dripped down. "Don't worry, I'm right as rain, I just needed the nap."

Chifuyu frowned as she stepped into the room, eyeing the sleeping albino on the bed beside his before looking back into his distracted purple. "I won't repeat myself. What happened?"

The blonde opened his mouth and paused. A conflicted expression washed over his face before he sighed and swung his legs to the side so that he had his boots on the floor. "I doubt you'd be surprised, but what happened there was...the Valkyrie Trace System going berserk."

Her finger twitched.

"Indeed I'm not. I had a feeling you'd know about it." She dryly snarked as she sat down on a chair...that was already set up next to his bed. Who did..?

'Come to think of it, I think I saw Alcott nearby as I was heading here...'

"Tell me what happened. Leave nothing hidden." She ordered him with a stern glower. The teacher wasn't surprised that her assistant knew of the VT System, after all, he seemed ready for it to happen earlier...

Her assistant had the balls to chuckle as he leaned back on his hands. "Well, you already know what happened prior to your brother stepping in. The Astrays and the mutated IS, which had an uncanny similarity to you, fought and fought...until it was a stalemate." Ephraim cleared her throat as he continued. "Orimura came swinging in, that stupid sword of his striking its chest and..."

...

"And..?"

"...Bodewig and us, the Neo-Types that is...we...connected."

She narrowed her eyes. "Explain."

The blonde could only shake his head, his eyes becoming distant. "I...I can't really put it into more accurate words. Bodewig saw our past, our time in the Project. Memories that we believed we had buried, memories I believed I...I didn't have. Not anymore." His voice lowered to a murmur the longer he spoke. "We saw her past, and then there was this...white space. With a surface that was wet and not. There, we...talked. Yeah...we talked."

"What about?" Chifuyu pressed, wanting to find out more about this strange phenomenon. "Tell me what you four talked about."

Those purple eyes looked over to her, accompanied by that stupid grin of his that basically said to her 'whatever I'm going to say next is stupid'-

"About you, Orimura-sensei."

...

Her brow twitched, and there was this slight niggling within her-

"...Huh?"

"Mhmm," The blonde chuckled quietly. "Bodewig was...she wanted to be your little sister. She wanted to be Orimura, basically. Don't worry though, we talked her out of it."

With that, the teen stood up from his bed and stretched his arms over his head. With a cheeky grin, he walked over and then past her with a calm gait.

"By the way, I had Davion send my mini-fridge to your office earlier. "

Grabbing him by the arm, she stopped his retreat. "Hold on, we're not finished here, Sahaku."

Ephraim gave her an apologetic look. "I...don't think you can say that, Orimura-sensei. She's outside waiting for me."

'She..? Oh.'

Chifuyu huffed as she let him go, crossing her arms as she turned her head away from him. "Fine, but we'll continue this talk once you return. Now, go. I'm sure you have better things to do now."

Her assistant chuckled, and she knew that he was staring at her with that stupid expression with half-lid eyes and that damn smirk on. "Aye-aye, sensei. Just remember Bodewig's punishment."

Chifuyu rolled her eyes as she shooed him away. "Get out of here."

"I'll take that as a yes~"

And with that, he left, leaving the former Brunhilde alone with the unconscious super soldier. She stared at her still form before picking the chair up and setting it beside the German's bed.

Sitting down, she closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts.

'Laura saw their past, so she must know that the three are super soldiers like her. And she's sharp enough to notice the features on all four of them...'

With a quiet groan, red and gold slowly peeked out from underneath heavy eyelids...


Her body ached.

That was the first thing her tired mind concluded when she returned to consciousness.

Her body ached.

"You're finally awake."

With hazy sight, she turned her eyes over to the black blob beside...her bed?

'I am...in the Infirmary..? And that voice...'

"Mentor..."

With her vision slowly clearing up, she could finally see the impassive expression of Chifuyu Orimura bearing down on her.

"What happened..?"

The woman who trained her frowned, glancing off to the side and closing the curtain divider to hide them away should anyone peer inside the room. "What I'm going to say is of the utmost importance, as well as being highly-classified." Those stern brown eyes narrowed...

"What do you know of the Valkyrie Trace System?"

Her mind sharpened amidst the migraine, turning her head to look at her mentor with furrowed brows. "The VT System..? It is banned by the Alaska Treaty, was it not..?"

"It is." Chifuyu nodded. "However, it seemed as if the Schwarzer Regen was equipped with one, somehow eluding our detection systems."

Red and Gold widened ever so slightly.

"Moreover," The teacher continued with a quiet sigh. "It seemed as if it was set to activate should the IS take extensive damage and if the pilot's mental condition was practically obsessed with victory. Bodewig, you willed it to activate."

"It happened..." Her lips trembled as she now realized the implications of her actions. "Because I...I wished for it? For...Victory..?"

"Do you seek greater power?"

"Give me the power. Make me the absolute strongest!"

"Laura Bodewig!"

"Y-Yes, Ma'am!" Years of training kicked in, and even constrained to a bed, the albino straightened her back.

Her thoughts on her fault concerning the Valkyrie Trace system were pushed away. She looked up at Chifuyu with her mismatched eyes, wondering what she was-

"Who are you?"

Those same red and gold widened.

"Who...am I..?" She whispered, clutching the sheet over her body.

"Be 'Laura Bodewig'. And if she hasn't been made yet, then make her."

...

"...I am...Laura."

Chifuyu raised a brow, inwardly surprised at the conviction in her tone.

"I am...Laura Bodewig..." The girl continued, her voice trembling.

"And who is 'Laura Bodewig', hmm?" The teacher frowned, watching as the albino's eyes glittered with tears.

"I am a girl...I am 15 years old...I am an IS pilot...I am-!"

"Orimura-sensei is not some infallible being!"

"But that's how the chips fall, I guess. A damn kick in the head, is what it is."

"But whereas we lived our life by our own rules, our own...with our own hands, Bodewig has..."

"I am...! I am human!" Laura declared, shutting her eyes for fear of rejection of who she was by her mentor. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the wall she built around her heart broke down, letting the floodgates loose. "I have disappointed people, I have hurt people! I have three siblings that I failed the moment I met them!"

Chifuyu's eyes widened briefly, genuine shock coursing through her as to how easily the albino accepted their genetic connection. Her mind worked itself into a frenzy, a near-thousand thoughts happening in less than a second.

Was it the Valkyrie Trace?

Just how did it 'connect their minds'?

Was her assistant hiding more stuff from her?

Just what-

She shook the entangling thoughts to the side, saving them for later as right now, she had a crying child to deal with.

Chifuyu sighed as she crossed her arms, not really all that experienced in fields like this. She used tough love, not...

"Yes." The teacher started with a gentle whisper and a sigh. "You are human. You make mistakes just like anyone else."

The girl sniffled, weakly rubbing the tears out of her eyes as she tried to listen even with a heavy heart.

"You are Laura Bodewig." The former Brunhilde stood up, looking down at the bedridden albino with a neutral look. "You cannot be Chifuyu Orimura. You should not be Chifuyu Orimura."

Red and gold looked back at stern brown with acceptance.

Laura nodded ever so slightly, her breath hitching as she slowly calmed down.

Chifuyu turned around, letting out a pleased hum. "Good. Now rest up. You've been through a lot today. I'll not burden you with talks of punishment right now."

The younger woman watched as her mentor, her idol, walked away. The hissing of the sliding door told her of her exit, and she let out a long tired sigh.

Try to find another place by her side…

Besides, if you somehow want to find something new, I guess I could go along with you.

"Find something new..." The girl now known as Laura Bodewig whispered to herself, looking over to the window to see the setting sun. She wondered if...

...if her 'brothers' could help her in that endeavor...

If whatever they were doing now or in the future, if her request would be as important as that...

'...I do wonder... just what do they usually do..?'


Elsewhere...

Clang!

Davion ducked under a flying wrench, somewhat helpless as he watched the short girl lift a table and throw it across the room in a fit of rage.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" The bluenette roared as she threw its accompanying chair, both metal constructs crumpling at their impact. "I'VE PREPARED ALL THESE WEEKS, AND THEN SOME STUPID SHIT HAPPENS THAT CANCELS THE WHOLE TOURNAMENT!"

"Sarashiki-"

"AND IT ALWAYS REVOLVES AROUND THAT STUPID ORIMURA, AGAIN AND AGAIN!"

"Sarashiki-san-!"

The IS pilot heaved the Tactical Arms up, adrenaline fueled muscles lifting it back in a rage-filled swing-

"KANZASHI!"

Two hands wrapped around her wrist, arresting her motion. She found herself pressed back against solid muscle, and the warmth of it made her snap out of her tantrum.

"Please! Calm down before you destroy the rest of the hangar, I still need to repair the frames!"

Red eyes glanced over to the three Astrays on their berths, cables plugged into hidden ports that recharged their batteries. Releasing her grip on the heavy weapon, she let it fall behind them as she started to sob.

"It's not fair!"

Davion sighed as he gently pressed her against his chest, letting the adrenaline filled girl calm down as she cried.

"I wanted to show off! I wanted those stupid morons at the Government to see that I don't need them! That I don't need their dumbass help to have my own custom IS!"

The grey eyed mechanic patted her hair gingerly, trying his best to comfort her without being too touchy.

It didn't help that she was still wearing her IS pilot suit, so there was really little fabric between the two of them.

...

Hey, he's trying his best to control the little pervert within him, okay?!

He was wearing his own pilot suit, but he unzipped it halfway, letting the top half hang around his waist. His white undershirt was partly sweaty, as he was in the middle of making the new foam armor for the Gold Frame's arm.

...That was, until she barged in all fuming and enraged.

"Well...hey, at least this means that we'll have more for me to fulfill my promise and turn your machine into a 4th Gen."

Kanzashi slumped in his grasp, leaning back against him as she sniffled.

"I wanted to show off the fruits of our labor though..."

"Don't worry," Davion chuckled lowly. "the time will come. And it will be glorious."

Unbeknownst to the two, the mechanic's pupils glinted crimson red...


Cafeteria...

"So, the tournament is cancelled..."

"I'm sensing a 'but'."

"But..." Charlotte sighed, setting her fork down into what was left of her carbonara. "They still want to collect everyone's data, so we have to fight one round each."

Ryo frowned as he finished his soda. "Over the weekend?"

"Over the weekend, yes."

The courier sighed, leaning back on his seat. "Well, on our end, with Ephraim away due to family reasons, the Gatekeeping feature is all but gone now. And that's not even including that massive headaches and nosebleeds we all got after."

"What exactly happened?" The disguised girl pouted, those soft purple eyes of her looking at him in a worried light. "You had a nosebleed when you three went to the infirmary..." She then gasped, alarm washing over her face. "Don't tell me you got some sort of brain injury..!"

The green eyed pilot smiled at her reassuringly as he spun his lie. "Nothing of the sort. I guess it must have been the electrical feedback affecting some of our blood vessels. That thing was sparking like hell while we fought it..."

Although he could still feel some sort of phantom pain lingering, he brushed it off.

"The chance to win a date is gone now..!"

"We didn't even get to face the Astrays!"

Ryo ignored the cluster of girls not so subtly staring at the two of them. They were just eating their dinner, was this scene really that interesting for them?

"Anyway," The courier resumed their conversation with a small roll of his wrist. "You said that Ichika conked out in your room immediately?"

"Mhmm!" The Frenchwoman nodded, with furrowed brows. "I guess that last strike from the mutated IS must have been far more tiring to block than he thought. Paired with the surprising amount of blood he lost from the wound..."

"I swear, he's such a blockhead." The courier shook his head, a frown marring his lips. "He should have just went to the first-aid station in the arena instead of wanting to go with us to the Infirmary."

"Yeah...Mon dieu, today's been pretty stressful..." Charlotte groaned as she palmed her face.

"Well, do I have wonderful news for all of you then!"

The blonde jumped in her seat while Ryo merely turned his head, having heard the newest entry into the conversation approach them long before she made her presence known.

"Yamada-sensei, good evening." He greeted her with a polite smile.

Maya Yamada smiled at both of them. "Good evening! I bet you guys must be stressed after everything, huh?" She tilted her head, looking around briefly for any sign of the others that were involved in the incident. "Where...are the others, by the way?"

"Ichika is resting in our room, Miss Shinonono stormed off not long after," Charlotte took a deep breath, both to calm herself and to list off where the others were. "Mademoiselle Alcott went to the Infirmary for a visit, Miss Huang is...cooking dinner for Ichika, I think?"

"Thank you for telling me, Mister Dunois." The green-haired teacher smiled at the disguised Frenchwoman before turning to the courier. "And the other Astray pilots?"

"Davion's in the hangar while Ephraim's probably on his way to the airport right now." The Red Frame pilot supplied, shrugging at the wide eyes of the assistant homeroom teacher.

"Oh, that's right! Well, he'll be able to enjoy it once he comes back!"

"...It?" Charlotte parroted, clear confusion on her face. "What do you mean 'it'?"

"The new men's bathhouse of course!"

...

Ryo's eyes slowly widened.

"Eh..?"

Those verdant greens of his slowly turned from expressing confusion to gleaming in slight excitement. Finally, a proper bath to relax in!

Little did he know...he forgot about one more event that would happen in that particular place.


As the nondescript van drove through the city, Lath Winslet stared at the man sitting across from her in the backseat. The interior was dim, partly thanks to the tinted windows that blocked what little sunlight there was left in the approaching dusk, but it was bright enough for her to see her fellow teenager.

Ephraim Sahaku held a regal air despite the clear tiredness in his subtle body language. Dirty blonde hair framed a face that was so like her foster mother, with obvious European features that were taken from his unknown German father. He had his eyes closed, but she could never forget those royal purple staring back at her in his pictures.

He was still clad in his IS Academy uniform, immaculate in its stark whiteness and the sheer formality of its suit nature. He lacked the distinct Closed forms of his Astray, those being the choker and the cufflinks, which revealed the faint scars that circled his neck.

"So..." She started, breaking the tense silence in the van. "How has your day been, Sahaku-san?"

The blonde opened his eyes slowly, somewhat startling her with the sharpness of his gaze.

"Terrible."

...

"I-I see..." The orangette muttered, right brow twitching as she folded her hands over her lap. "My apologies, then, for asking..."

"It's alright, Miss Winslet."

...

Lath felt her lip twitch, wanting nothing more to grill the boy before her but..! Manners came first..

The driver and the bodyguard at the front merely stared forward, keeping quiet of the awkwardness that even they felt.

Ephraim inwardly smirked, both praising and cursing himself for making the atmosphere unfit for conversation.

'Lords below, what the fuck am I doing..?'


.

.

.


It took some time to find all the hidden recording devices, courtesy of the black-market operators of the candid photos, but Ryo was finally able to get some peace of mind and relax. Letting the hot water soothe his muscles, the courier leaned back against the edge with a long, pleased sigh. The lo-fi music playing from his phone by the door made it an even better atmosphere to relax to while humming along.

"Shame, Davion's busy in the hangar...and Ephraim's off to Okinawa on his own story arc..." Ryo muttered to himself, closing his eyes and trying to balance between drifting off to sleep and resting his eyes. "This place is actually great... But why the hell is it so damn big? There are only like, 4 of us in the whole school. Not that I'm complaining at this point."

Step...

"Oh, please excuse me..!"

Green eyes snapped open in surprise, the courier's spine setting ramrod straight as he glanced to his right-

-Purple eyes accompanied a soft smile, creamy soft skin exposed with only a towel to preserve-

-which he immediately averted, turning his back to the Frenchwoman as he willed his blood to not go southwards.

"Charlotte?!" He crowed out in surprise, immediately removing the hot towel on his head so he could wrap it around his waist. "What are you doing here?!"

Ryo could feel his cheeks burn as the water faintly splashed at her entrance, and the woman's soft sigh escaping her lips from behind him didn't help in the slightest.

'BE CALM LIKE WATER.'

"I figured that I should check out the bath. After all, it was made for us boys right~?"

Oh how he tried to not let a shiver run up his spine at her tone.

"I-I'll just-... move to the other corner over ther-"

A hand grabbed his wrist just as he stood up, making him freeze and take a deep breath.

'I really should've remembered that she still had a possibility of coming here, but a hot bath is just something I can't pass up! Damn Ephraim and his tendency for cold showers!'

'Ooor you intentionally 'forgot' and it's an elaborate plan because you're crushing on her and as a red-blooded male you wanted to see that forbidden fruit, hmm~?' A traitorous part of him cooed.

"Wait, I...I have something important to talk to you about." Charlotte's voice was soft, unsure if she should continue. "So I'd appreciate it if we could speak face to face, s-so we could talk seriously."

He swallowed, heart pounding in his ears. "... S-sure..."

Taking another deep breath to gather himself, he shut his eyes and turned around. He heard the girl giggle as he sat down, and he tried his best to not let his imagination run.

"You can open your eyes, Ryo...I trust you to not perv on me."

'Well you trust me, I don't trust myself-'

He opened his eyes, his embarrassed blush only intensifying when Charlotte's soft smile greeted him. Immediately, he placed a palm on his face, his green orbs looking to the side.

"Mou~ I told you that I wanted to talk face-to-face, Ryo..!"

"Th-This counts as face-to-face." He retorted, subtly moving his other hand over his lap to hide... any possibility of her seeing that.

"Look at me in the eyes, and only the eyes, then." The Frenchwoman tittered. "Just like what you said last week on that night..."

'I really should watch my words more…'

He attempted and turned to look towards her with great reluctance…

...and failed.

Again.

And Again.

Charlotte drank in the sight of a fretting Ryo and let out a hearty chuckle. A refreshing view after what he pulled off during their private talk. To think that it was this easy to reduce him to this state.

Then she had an idea.

"Alright, you asked for this." Her slender arms, palms open, positioned themselves to the sides of her bath mate's face.

Slap!

The courier went still, arms immediately dropping to the side and submerging in the water with a splash.

She was also blushing, but as soon his gaze refocused, it drank in the sight of amethyst eyes full of seriousness, and he immediately calmed down.

"Thank you." Charlotte smiled at him before it fell into a contemplative frown. "... It's about the matter of my time in the Academy-"

And immediately, all the embarrassment from before was pushed down.

Ryo frowned while their eyes maintained contact. "We have diplomatic immunity. You can't be pulled out just because someone from the outside- uwh~"

"It's not about that. Let me finish." She demanded as she pulled his cheeks in opposite directions.

Although, she was slowly getting carried away.

A smile bloomed in Charlotte's lips, immensely gratified that she somehow gave the Courier a taste of his own medicine as her dainty fingers continued to squeeze and pull at his cheeks.

'Why are they so soft!?'

She immediately snapped back to the matter at hand and stopped what she was doing, but her palms never left the sides of Ryo's face.

The courier blinked and stayed silent, signaling her to continue. Wordlessly a hand from the side moved and repositioned itself to his chest, somewhere over his heart. A slight shiver ran up his spine when her fingers brushed against his skin as she dragged it down.

"I've decided to stay, not because I still want to gather data on the other IS, nor on the Astrays. But because I experience my life here to the fullest, with my friends."

'And with you.'

His heart skipped a beat as he read between the lines, somehow now doubting his ability to read people. And he was pretty sure she felt that if the way her smile grew more and more… friendly-

"When I arrived in this academy, I didn't actually expect anything. All that mattered to me was getting what my father wanted and fulfilling his expectations… But when I got dragged by a certain someone all around the school on my first day, no less, everything just felt confusing." Her face shifted to a slight glare. "You knew my secret from the very beginning. You had every opportunity to take advantage of me or expose me… but you didn't. And even then, you treated me like I was just another classmate." The blonde raised a brow as the expression in her eyes turned a bit mischievous. "Though, I doubt that last part hm~?"

The courier turned his head to cough, grimacing somewhat at the somewhat accurate accusation.

"I still have a duty to serve the Dunois name. But I'm going to do it my way." The amethyst eyes shone with confidence. "I want to prove to my father that I don't need any underhanded tactics to help the company. We might make more competition instead. It's like what you said, no? 'Don't make enemies when there are none to find?'"

Try as she might. She is never gonna forget those lines.

"The point is, Ryo, that you are the first person who genuinely saw me as who I am, the truth and the lie. You are...my friend... yes." She lightly pawed at where his heart was. "You are my first friend here in the IS Academy, and I want to thank you for giving me a chance to live my life as 'Charles' here."

The moment went on, green staring back at purple. In the mind of the resident courier, mental gears turned and creaked, processing what she had said and the changes he may have caused.

"So I'd like it if you'd keep the secret a bit longer. But you can call me Charlotte in private. I know that the Japanese place a great deal of importance when referring to someone with their first name but..." She blushed healthily, pressing her hand and tracing her fingers over where his heart was. "If it's you, I would never mind it."

"Keep calling you..." The courier blinked, eyes slowly widening at what she implied. "Wait, so you're going to..?"

"Oui. Over the weekend, after the makeup battles, I shall approach the faculty and reveal who I truly am. By Monday, I shall be henceforth known as Charlotte Dunois."

A flash of recollection went through Ryo's mind, and he finally remembered her original change of purpose. Mental gears clicked in place, and finally, he let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding since the start of their conversation.

Some things change, some don't, but at least they can be for the better.

"... Sure." Ryo smiled tiredly as he closed his eyes and tilted his head down. "I'll wait for the day, 'Charles'."

"Whatever do you mean, Murakumo-san~? Pfft-!"

Both gave out mirthful laughs as Ryo finally opened his eyes, only to find two round objects submerged in the water.

And the embarrassment came back swinging.

...

"I... I think I should clean up, though." The Astray pilot stammered, turning his body around. "I've spent enough time in here-!"

He then stifled an unmanly squeak when a pair of arms wrapped around his torso from behind, pulling him back into two soft mounds-!

"Now hold ooon~" Charlotte tittered, her hot breath washing over his right ear. "We must partake in the Japanese custom of 'washing a friend's back' first, yes?"

'NO!'

On second thought, he may have also changed things for the worse.


Outside the baths, red eyes shone with intrigue.

"...How interesting..."

Glancing down at the swimsuit she wore, the jacket was once more zipped up.

Tatenashi Sarashiki hummed to herself as she walked away, tapping her chin as she stifled the rather caustic feeling of jealousy-

"Haaaah, how bold of her to unintentionally copy my plan..."

Chuckling to herself, she smirked.

"Guess I gotta step up~"


AN:

Proofread and Co-Written by: ProjectRyo.

Sorry if this was published a bit late, the proofreader may or may not have had a first contact case. God help the poor bastard.

Man, I gotta stop writing chapters that are 15k words up, this isn't healthy. Speaking of, the next few chapters after this will take place over the weekend in the story.

Anyway, a buncha references! I'm just hoping someone notices them (especially the fight scenes) because that'll make me a happy lad!

Speaking of references, I might as well reveal the more obscure ones, namely the codenames of the Neo-Types.

Sigma-66 = inspired by Ace Combat Zero's "Galm Team", otherwise known as The 66th Air Force Unit "Galm"

Alpha-207 = from Gryphus Squad's designation in ACX: Skies of Deception, AB 207.

Delta-444 = not from any game references, but from the East Asian superstition of the number 4 and its associated with death. Delta is the 4th Greek letter, thus making Delta-444 four 4's.

Also, I've been wanting to approach this but...how do ya'll feel about smut? I've been thinking about writing them, mostly as debatably canon 'Lewdmakes', but FF has rules about that so...dunno. There's also the matter of their quality, but...well, opinion first before I even begin to write them. I've had a damn year-long dry spell when writing smut and I kinda want to shake off the rust on that.

On to the reviews!

P.B.S: Thanks for the review!

If its the JP dub? Oh definitely Char, or the same VA's as those who voiced Char Clones. But in the EN Dub? Keith Silverstein? God, I can't unhear Zhongli or Hawkmoth, so imagining Ephraim with that voice just makes me wheeze.

I chose Troy Baker because...well, mainly because he voiced Schneizel in the EN Dub of Code Geass, which was one of only the few animes I actually dedicated myself to watching while growing up. Schneizel and Ephraim have a lot in common, that's what I realized when I rewatched the Re;surrection movie. Blonde hair, purple eyes, smug bastards, stylish assholes, and have no qualms with killing...yeah, I'm on the fence whether or not to make Schneizel the face claim because they're so similar. Actually, I have a bunch of face claims for Ephraim but...eeeh, its's currently between Schneizel or Mu la Flaga. I do have a friend who's currently working on their rendition of the trio, but...well...art takes time.

The Astray pilots will struggle in the future, no doubt about that. Laura is actually the last antagonist that they have little problems with facing against. Tabane hasn't been idle in the background, after all...

As for the Amatsu upgrade? Well, Davion has the Mirage Colloid tech in sight, he just has problems in breaking through the firewall that prevent him from fully accessing it. Sadly, this means no Trikeros Shield System nor the Blitz arm, just putting it out there. Instead, the Gold Frame will be upgraded into a more...perfect form.

KnightOfZaku: Thanks for the review!

Well, dimension hopping would take its toll on the trio. There's no telling what level of depravity they've seen or horrors they've experienced in their frequent jumps (aka being yeeted into worlds by their boss). Ephraim's fucked up past...well, I think I've dropped a few hints about the trio's state of minds in this chapter.

Rodvek97: Hey, been a while! Thanks for the review!

During the framing of the plot for Season 1, I specifically tagged Cecilia as 'Stubborn' in her traits list. After all, she's a very independent young woman who has a lot of her shoulders, it would be odd if she was simply passive because of all that. Well, add that and the bullheadedness common in youth, then you have a somewhat accurate representation of the British Representative Candidate.

With that said!
This is Cipher, signing off!


.

.

.


Bang!

He stared back at dead eyes, frozen in their expression of betrayal seconds before he pulled the trigger.

'I trusted you.'

"Good work Delta-444, I'll inform the body disposal squad to get rid of that failure. You're free to go back to your quarters now."

Wordlessly, he walked away from the corpse, leaving the handgun on the table as he left the lab.

It was alright. This was all for the greater good. Both of them are still there somewhere. This… that was just another clone, a counterfeit. Just a few more weeks, and he'll be able to stop this madness, and they can get away from here.

His footsteps echoed through the empty hallways towards his personal quarters, given to him as a gift for his role as their assistant.

And as their personal cleanup agent.

Another exterminator with the same face, another killer.

Another murderer.

His plan was going to work, they were still out there. He didn't kill them.

He didn't

He…

Click!

He turned around and met the barrel of a gun. The hall was suddenly filled with test subjects staring down at him. But the ones directly behind the trigger were-

Mu

Gamma

Sigma

Nu

Epsilon

Alpha

Theta

Beta

And Delta

"We trusted you."

BANG!


Ryo woke up with a great jolt, Gerbera Straight in his hands fully extended and held in defense. He was drenched in a cold sweat and with shallow breaths. His eyes quickly scanned the room to find it empty. Ephraim was still out on his family reunion, and judging from the light outside the window, it was still early in the morning.

He didn't usually have nightmares, hell he haven't had a dream in a long while, but anything related to the mysterious past of their 'vessels' was something he wasn't looking forward to.

And for good reason.

'It's fine. It's fine...'

He was at the dorm, everything worked out ok. They were alive. All three of them were.

Retracting his blade back to its pen form, he turned and picked up his phone from the bedside table for a more accurate time of day.

4:00 AM

"4 in the morning..." He murmured.

He needed a walk, a long walk to think this through. Ryo headed over to the cabinet and changed out of sleepwear, replacing them with a comfy sweatshirt and shorts.

Knock Knock Knock...

Green orbs turned towards the door, highly surprised that someone was visiting him at this time. He walked to the entryway, investigating who it might be.

'If it's Davion again, I swear…'

He opened only the door to meet red, a single red, actually.

'Huh?'

"Laura Bodewig, reporting for duty!" The albino stood at attention, holding a salute to her brow. Her expression was one of steel, clear focus and seriousness present. "Good morning!"

Ryo blinked. "…Eh? Why are you here?"

"I was initially gonna visit Guele-san to… apologize for what I said. But I don't have access to the hangars at this time." She explained, shifting to a parade rest.

"Okay..." He furrowed his brows. "So why are you here?"

"You said something about trying new things out, and I wanted to know what you usually do. You did say that you were gonna help me."

'I did? Oh wait, I did.'

Ryo sighed at the turn of events, rubbing the back of his head the meanwhile. After a few moments of silent contemplation, he decided to go along with it and walked outside the hallway, locking the door behind him.

"C'mon, let's go…" Gesturing Laura to follow him. "You know any fun military cadence?"

"I… Well, I do know some?" Laura asked as she trailed behind her newly discovered 'brother.' "Though, I don't think singing Westerwaldlied would be considered 'fun' for you civilians..."

"As long as it has a steady tune, then it can be appropriated as a cadence."

It was going to take a while to rehabilitate and get used to their new albino sister. But maybe, it isn't going to be as bad as it seems if the small and almost unnoticeable curve of the courier's lips were any indication. They walked through the halls in relative silence up until they reached the elevators.

A red orb stared back at him as they waited for it to arrive.

...

"Should I call you Onii-chan?"

He froze.

"No."

"Bruder?"

"Nein-"

"Ryo-nii?"

"...Fine."

Yep, It was going to take some getting used to...