Accessing [IS] Sub-Branch: Omicron-201174-1qA

{Clause: Observation of events for remedial of future scenarios.}

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{Actions: Observation of untouched events.}

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{Administratorprerequisites identified.}

{!/Warning! Sub-Branch is set to be Pruned! Advice is to not linger./!}

{Initiating Nexus.}


Bonk!

Ephraim flinched, a hand reaching up to rub the sore spot where his superior's fist just crashed down on.

In front of him, he could see Ichika wince. The male IS pilot gave him a sympathetic nod as Chifuyu glowered down at the blonde.

"Did you hear me, Sahaku?" She asked, looking around as the girls began to stand up from their seats.

"Forgive me, Orimura-sensei, I had...some intrusive thoughts that just wouldn't go away." He admitted, turning his head to look at his friends who also seemed rather distracted.

Maya giggled slightly as she stood by the door at the rear of the class, the front door still undergoing repairs and thus inaccessible. "We're going to have Practical Training, silly. So you boys need to head over to the Locker Rooms and suit up."

"PT?" Davion blinked as he rose from his seat. "Which Ground?"

Chifuyu grumbled as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Arena 3. The Professor made a special request concerning your Astrays as a favor."

The three Neo-Types narrowed their eyes.

"...May I ask what exactly?" Ryo stood up, spinning both pen forms of Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce in his hands.

"Change first." The teacher glanced at the girls who were looking at the 4 boys with raised brows. "I'll explain when you get there." She then glared at her younger brother.

"Move."

The Astray pilots merely touched the closed forms of their units, and in the mere blink of an eye were clad in their respective pilot suits.

Ephraim smirked at Ichika, who gaped at them with a betrayed look in his eyes.

"We'll meet you there, Orimura."


"A 'special request' from Tabane, huh?"

"It's a damn favor too. Her first one to cash in."

"Let's hope that it's not what I think it is..."

"You did not just invite Murphy."


When the rest of the class arrived at Arena 3, they spotted the three pilots already in their Astrays.

Chifuyu eyed the Red Frame as it held a massive sword-like construct that was currently in the shape of a bow. The Blue Frame next to it was animated in its gestures, and her enhanced hearing picked up the excited technobabble of the Neo-Type's mechanic.

"...ight now, the only features that the Tactical Arms 2 has in its Arrow form is a basic firing solution. When I finally get around to decrypting that damn wall, I'll be able to put in the rest of its upgrades so you could do stuff like track enemies and do your usual Archer stuff."

The red sword-bow was tilted this way and that, the user mimicking pulling back a draw string and then letting go-

Fyoom!

A bright yellow arrow-like beam shot off straight into the air, impacting against the high ceiling of the Arena's shields in less than a second.

"Whoa!"

"That's so cool!"

Clang!

The Red Frame flinched as a black-gold spear smacked the top of its head.

"Sorry." Ryo chuckled uneasily, turning his head to shy away from the glare of their teacher. "Didn't think that would happen in all honesty."

The Blue Frame facepalmed with a quiet 'ting' of metal on metal. "I was just about to talk about trigger safety!"

Charlotte giggled quietly as the Red Frame reattached the Tactical Arms 2 onto the special mount on its back. Its normal backpack was gone, instead replaced with a similar setup to the Blue Frame. The large sword reoriented itself into wing-like structures, and hidden ports in the blade itself sputtered out blue thruster flames.

Stop fooling around, Murakumo.

All heads turned to Chifuyu and Maya, both of whom were in the Control Booth.

"Alright. Alcott, Dunois, Bodewig, pair up with the Astrays!" The teacher pointed to the three girls, her broadcasted voice booming in the arena and causing everyone to stand straight. "The rest of you, sit down on the bleachers! We're being treated to a spectacle in the form of a three-way battle between the pairs."

Said boys flinched before the black-gold spear smacked the side of the Blue Frame.

Clang!

"Why did you have to invite Murphy!?"

"I didn't know!"

Ignoring whatever shenanigans the Astrays were doing, Chifuyu continued to talk as Maya set up the recording software. "The Professor wanted more combat data on her suits and decided that the best method to obtain them is through a live-fire spar." She turned to the assistant teacher, who gave a thumbs up as her other hand began dancing on the keyboard.

Ichika whistled as he sat down beside Houki. "Damn, we're gonna see a battle between the three huh?"

His childhood friend merely frowned, pangs of jealousy bubbling within.

'If only I had a personal IS, then it could be a 4-way fight with me and Ichika being a team..!'

A translucent wall appeared before the class, hexagonal patterns shimmering before quickly turning invisible. Maya had just adjusted the Arena shields, diverting some of its ceiling energy to reinforce the shield layers that protected the audience.

"Orimura." Chifuyu looked over to her younger brother. "Stand by with the Byakushiki at the ready. Someone might get carried away and we'll need you and another volunteer in an Uchigane to break it up once that happens."

"I volunteer!" Houki immediately raised her hand, quick on the draw as the other girls pouted and made noises of disappointment and envy.

"I shall prepare an Uchigane for you in the nearby Launch Bay, Shinonono-san." Maya informed her as she and Ichika made their way to the assigned bay.


The noblewoman gulped as she stood next to the Gold Frame, the nerves of working with Ephraim for the first time running hot. She could see the other pairs standing in their end of the arena, and noted that all the IS present were ranged focused.

"Sir Sahaku-" Cecilia turned to her partner for this match and paused when he set the golden manipulator on her shoulder gently. While the metal was cold, she felt the warmth of the action nonetheless.

"I know." The Astray pilot nodded, as he watched his fellow Neo-Types warily. His mind was already in combat mode, reviewing his contingency plans on taking down Ryo and Davion should they ever find themselves on opposing ends of the battlefield.

"Focus on your combat with the girls, I'll handle the boys. If the chance arises, I shall provide supporting fire."

Cecilia took a deep breath and nodded at him, a determined smirk growing on her lips.

The black-gold spear spun in his other hand as the Blue Tears quantized into reality.

"Let's show them noble steel." Ephraim chuckled, the clear grin in his tone infectious enough for Cecilia to do the same.


"Ephraim's going to be the most dangerous for our team."

Laura nodded as the Schwarzer Regen quantized around her body, the Purizushi railgun swinging forward in preparation to fire once the call had been made.

"I assume you'll handle him, brother?" She asked, her sole red eye looking down at the Blue Frame as she floated up above him.

The Tactical Arms detached from his back, and he grasped its hilt before it could fall to the ground. Bringing it around, he held the massive sword as the Blue Frame's optics flashed.

"I'll keep him busy while you tangle with the girls in the sky. I have a feeling that us boys are gonna stick to the ground."


The twin blades were unsheathed slowly, almost reverently, as their edges glinted dangerously in the morning sun.

"No hesitation, Charlotte." Ryo whispered loud enough for her to hear. The optics of the Red Frame were dim, mimicking his closed eyes as he prepared himself for the opening salvos. "Us boys are hardier than most. Don't even think twice about shooting at us."

"Yes." The Frenchwoman nodded, two .55 caliber 'Vent' rifles appearing in her hands as she hovered protectively over her partner. "I shall support you as best I can in the way I excel in. Overwhelming firepower."

"'Atta girl."

She blushed healthily.


"Are the teams ready?"

Chifuyu could practically feel the tension in the arena as she looked at the participants. In her hand was the buzzer, and the class' eyes were locked on to the fighters anxiously.

The Blue Tears hovered a few meters above the Gold Frame, its laser rifle ready to bear while the Astray quantized the Gae Bulg Rail Bazooka in its other hand. Both wielded long weapons and they both understood the other's fighting style almost perfectly.

Davion's Blue Frame merely held its ground, the massive buster sword easily carried as its head turned to its opponents in a critical motion. The Schwarzer Regen floated intimidatingly, its black and red a great contrast with the white and blue of its partner.

Charlotte's Custom Rafale-Revive 2 held its rifles at the ready, one pointed at each opponent. Her partner mirrored it with his blades, Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce leveled at the other two Astrays.

The silence was more than enough to tell her.

BZZZT!


"BEGIN!"

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

The Tactical Arms shifted into its Gatling mode in less than a second, the barrels already spitting out hot lead and beams towards the Gold Frame. The Schwarzer Regen shot up into the air at breakneck speeds, the wire-guided daggers zipping around as they tracked their targets.

BRRRRT!

The black-gold spear swung and twirled, creating crescents of sheer force at the speed it moved. Beams and bullets were deflected, half of them harmlessly impacting the ground beside him while the other half sailed towards the Red Frame.

Fyoom!

The Blue Tears fired its rifle at the German IS, the Optical Bits immediately detaching as the missile pods unleashed their deadly ordinance that tracked and chased the black and red suit. Cecilia gave chase-

Bang!

-and she quickly rolled out of the way of a stream of .55 caliber bullets from the orange Rafale-Revive. The Frenchwoman roared a battle cry as she soared up, a veritable Arsenal Bird as she unleashed salvo upon salvo of heavy bullets.

While the angels danced in the skies, the Astrays on the ground were caught up in their own tango.

The Red Frame's optics flashed as the deflected beams and bullets closed in. Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce streaked through the air in silver streams as they cut the projectiles like a hot knife through butter.

Fwoom!

!

Ryo barely perceived the supersonic round, and it was only thanks to his instincts that saved him from getting a 35mm HVAP round straight to the face. The bifurcated round bounced off of his shoulder armor, exploding behind him as he glared at the Gold Frame.

Fwoom!

With a grunt, Davion took the round to the chest like a champ, the TPS immediately activating when the foam armor was breached. He switched the Tactical Arms to its Sword mode and charged straight at Ephraim.

The blonde answered his charge with one of his own, the Gae Bulg disappearing in motes of light in the meanwhile. The golden spearhead gleamed in the morning rays as their thrusters roared-

CLANG!

Two swords clashed against the spear and greatsword, the owners turning their head to glare at the intruder.

The Red Frame's optics glowed brightly, almost aflame as the Tactical Arms 2's jet blast kicked up dirt and debris.

..!

And in the next moment, they all pulled back as a beam, railgun round, and barrage of bullets impacted where they were just standing prior.

Three sets of sea green eyes glowed in the dust as they swung their weapons once more with blinding speed-

CLASH!


'Barely 10 seconds into the match and they've already tossed off the kiddy gloves...'

"Maya, are you getting this?"

The greenette nodded, remotely controlling the arena's camera movements via her station. "Recording at a thousand frames per second, Orimura-sensei. The Professor will get her data."

Chifuyu frowned somewhat at the words as the class gaped and whooped at the battle.

The skies above were filled with projectiles, the three IS pilots displaying their skill in ranged combat. The Blue Tears' beams were blocked by the Schwarzer Regen's AIC, while the Revive-Rafale took its chance to chip away on the German's energy shielding. In return, the Purizushi swung back and fired a shot that sent the orange IS flipping head over heels.

Wire-guided daggers snaked through the air, and Cecilia clicked her tongue. She boosted back into the nimbus clouds, the Optical Bits forming a beam net that destroyed two of the three daggers that were after her.

Missiles flew out of the cloud formation, and both German and French IS pilots increased their speed to outrun the homing missiles.

Fyoom!

A blue beam was fired downwards, right towards the three Astrays that were dueling in a brilliant three-way dance.

The Gold Frame suddenly leapt back and then up, its spear shining as it spun. The beam impacted the blade shield, halving and redirecting the attack towards the other two Astrays.

Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce swung in blurring strikes, the scattered beams harmlessly dissipating against the swordsmanship of the Red Frame's pilot.

The massive flat of the buster sword of the Blue Frame absorbed the attacks, briefly heating up at the impact sites but just as quickly dissipating against the anti-beam coated blade.

A flash of gold!

CLANG!

With a brutal dive kick to the head, the Gold Frame launched its blue counterpart to the far end of the arena. Thruster boosted, the sheer force of the kick sent Davion tumbling and skipping, the Tactical Arms escaping from his grasp as the kinetic force rattled his brain.

"Holy..!" Ichika gaped as he watched the white foam armor fly in pieces in the air from his position at the end of their Launch Bay's platform.

'They're not even hesitating! These guys are hardcore!'

Ephraim turned to the other Astray near him and pointed the spear at the Red Frame.

Ryo reciprocated the action by crossing his blades and then uncrossing them with a quiet whine of the extremely sharp edge cutting through the air.

And then they were gone.

"Oh my god..."

"Is...is this a mock battle or a real one..?"

The two were but blurs of gold and red, their thrusters roaring as it propelled them at supersonic speeds.

Spear and swords met with nigh-deafening clashes, the ground breaking at the shockwaves at each impact. Be it a trick of the light or some hidden feature, but their weapons were mere streaks in the air. Golden crescents met with silver rivers, neither side giving ground even as the dirt around them was reduced to rubble.

"What the hell are they..?"

Ichika jolted as he turned his head, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of Houki in an Uchigane.

The girl, however, was not relieved nor relaxed. Her face was one of growing apprehension and horror as she continued to watch the fight.

Using his spear to pole-vault, Ephraim launched himself up and brought his weapon over his head. Ryo crossed his blades just in time to catch the shaft of the weapon between the edges of his katanas, the ground beneath him cratering at the sheer impact force.

CRASH!

They held their position for a second, thrusters roaring, before the Red Frame uncrossed his blades and sent an upwards roundhouse kick.

CLANG!

Foot met foot as Ephraim countered the kick with one of his own. The simultaneous strike shattered what foam armor they both had on their legs, and the Gold Frame used it as a launching platform to flip over his opponent.

The spear flashed gold and broke the sound barrier twice as the Red Frame barely dodged the thrust.

"I'll kill you."

Landing, Ephraim used the remaining inertia to perform a reverse roundhouse.

CLASH!

The armored foot crashed against the stomach armor of the swordsman, sending him tossing and tumbling on the ground less than a second later.

Ryo did not waste precious time to cringe and hiss, as he used the momentum of his tumbling to push himself off the ground. Aided by his thrusters, he quickly took the Tactical Arms 2 from his back and turned it into Arrow mode.

Fyoom! Fyoom! Fyoom!

Three energy arrows were fired, supersonic in their velocity-

Golden crescents surrounded the Astray.

-only to be deflected by Ephraim's stupendous spear work.

'These guys...they're not human!' Houki paled as she watched Ryo right himself in the air.

He became a red blur-

CLASH!

-that reappeared just before Ephraim, the Tactical Arms 2 in its Flight configuration on his back.

The Gold Frame held the spear over its head as Gerbera Straight and Tiger Pierce were pressed down against it. The Red Frame's thrusters roared as it used the force to bring its golden counterpart to his knees.

CLANG!

Mirroring what Ephraim did to the Blue Frame just seconds prior, Ryo snapped a leg that caught the chin of his opponent. Taking the momentary lapse, his other leg soared in from the opposite side. Aided by thrusters, the armored shin impacted the side of the Gold Frame's head.

DING!

The Sahaku Heir dug a trench into the ground before he was sent flying, the spear stubbornly held in his grasp. He impacted the arena wall, tossing up rubble and copious amounts of dirt and dust.


"No..!"

Thanks to the Hyper Sensors of her IS, the Noblewoman saw her partner impact the wall even from her altitude.

Bang! Bang!

Her shields buffeted under the hail of bullets from the Revive-Rafale, the Frenchwoman having been hounding her since the start of the match.

"Dunois!" Cecilia snarled as she turned around to fire the Blue Pierce.

Charlotte rolled around the beam, switching her Vent rifles to the .61 caliber 'Garm' PDW's. She brought them to bear, only to boost back as a 20mm railgun round flew past her.

The British Representative Candidate took this opportunity to disappear once more into the nimbus clouds.

Her Optical Bits were still out there, feeding her information as they zipped in and out of combat. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and focused...

A slight pull...

A twist of the gut...

The twinkling of a bell and a white bolt-!

'There!'

The bits flew around erratically, firing straight into the Schwarzer Regen and Rafale-Revive's energy shields. The two girls were surprised at the sudden change of behavior, immediately breaking their own chase as they weaved in and out from the multi-angled attack.

The Optical Bits fired so fast and flew so erratically that they started to drain her own energy, her shield levels slowly decreasing as she continued to pummel the other two with the sheer force of lasers.

She opened her eyes, unaware of how her pupils shrunk while the iris grew. With the constant feed of information from the bits, she adjusted the aim of her Blue Pierce as she 'saw' the trajectory of the Rafale-Revive.

Fyoom!

Charlotte's IS warned her of the shot a tad bit too late, as she had been preoccupied with dodging the Optical Bits. She turned her head only to see the blue beam approaching and-!

Boom!

A chunk of her energy shields was carved off, and two Bits continued to fire down at her falling form.

Allowing a small smirk to form on her face, Cecilia lowered the Blue Pierce.

!

Boom!

She immediately boosted up, barely dodging the 20mm round as it parted her cloud cover.

With beam sabers igniting on her hands, Laura charged at the noblewoman with a defiant roar.


Much like his partner above, the Blue Frame let out a defiant roar as it burst out of its dust cloud. It had retrieved the dropped Tactical Arms, and was now wielding it with a single hand that swung down on the Red Frame.

Whirling around in surprise, Ryo put up a hasty defense.

The buster sword crashed down on the crossed blades, and hidden thrusters in the blade only added to its weight and inertia.

Crashing on to his knees, the Red Frame struggled to keep his blades up.

'...Damn!'

He let go of Tiger Pierce and dove to the side, the Tactical Arms crashing into the ground. It created a crater that scattered chunks of rock, some of which impacted the chipped and damaged armor of the red Astray.

Adjusting his grip on the Gerbera Straight, Ryo stood up from his crouch and faced the Blue Frame.

Most of the white foam metal armor on its face had been blown away by Ephraim's earlier kick, leaving a rather skeletal-looking frame. The exposed 7.62 vulcan by its cheek spun and that was all the warning the swordsman needed.

BRRRRRT!

His sword was a blur as it intercepted the bullets, cleaving into the stream of lead with fervor as the Blue Frame stomped closer. The blue Astray raised the Tactical Arms for another blow-!

Bang!

A .55 caliber bullet pinged harmlessly against the blade, but it served its purpose well.

Both Astrays turned to see Charlotte hovering high above them, a Vent rifle in her right hand while the left held a Garm PDW. Their sensors notified them that her shield level had been greatly reduced to a mere 150, though she still fought on.

Higher above her, the Blue Tears and Schwarzer Regen were in a fierce chase. The German continued to hound the noblewoman, who was firing with all she got against the AIC.

Ryo swung the Gerbera Straight towards the Blue Frame's side-!

CLASH!

Only to be intercepted by the deceptively fast Tactical Arms.

"Tch!"

Their arms were blurs, katana clashing against greatsword in massive shockwaves as the nimbler opponent danced around the more armored one.

Charlotte watched, unable to fire just yet as she kept an eye on her rear should Laura or Cecilia decide to gang up on her.

The Tactical Arms swung down, digging into the earth terrifyingly easily. Ryo took this as a chance and stomped down on the blade, briefly meeting the Blue Frame's glare with that of his own.

He swung the Gerbera Straight once more, aiming for the TPS protected neck armor of his fellow Astray.

Davion let go of the Tactical Arms-

-and leaned back, a leg snapping up at blistering speed.

The Red Frame quickly backed up, using the blade as a shield against the Blue Frame's toe and heel knives.

CLASH!

The mechanic let his brawler nature take over as he stood on his hands, quickly twisting to deal a rattling hit with the Armor Schneiders. Using the momentum of the twist, he delivered a sting-like low kick that grounded him. Spinning, he broke the courier's guard with a roundhouse and then followed it up with a reverse roundhouse.

All in the span of 3 seconds.

"Guhkh-!" Ryo let out as he was sent flying, quickly impacting the wall opposite of where Ephraim lay.

CRASH!

Rubble fell on top of him, burying his suit as he gathered his marbles.

"Ryo!" Charlotte cried out before she snarled and unleashed her new cluster munition down at the Blue Frame.

Davion easily held the Tactical Arms up, the wide blade tanking the hits.

Beep! Beep!

Gray eyes glanced down at the holographic HUD, noting that his battery levels were approaching critical with how much punishment he underwent. Even TPS wasn't enough to handle Neo-Type level strength, combined with how much he had to redline his own thrusters to gain that speed advantage against his fellow Astray pilots.

Rumble...

Turning his head, he saw the Red Frame crawl out from the pile of rubble it was previously buried in. Much of its foam metal armor was chipped and damaged, its namesake becoming more prominent as the battle went on.

Rumble...

Looking over his shoulder, the Gold Frame used its thrusters to boost itself up into an upright position. The damaged Aile Pack detached with a hiss, the white-hot pinions breaking off the moment they touched the cooler ground. In its place, the standard Astray backpack snapped up from its mount at the rear skirt.

The black-gold spear spun as Ephraim took a stance, the sea green optics seemingly sparking as hints of purple shone through.

Gerbera Straight sang in the air as Ryo held it beside his face, the Tactical Arms 2 igniting as its thrusters roared.

Digging his heels into the ground, Davion tensed his jaw as he anticipated whoever would charge first.

Crash!

Charlotte glanced to see Laura groaning as she sat up from the crater. Looking up, the Frenchwoman saw Cecilia panting as she held the Blue Pierce by the barrel. The main body of the rifle was mangled, and the noblewoman seemed to have used it as an improvised weapon that knocked the German to the ground.

"Take that, you brute!" The Brit whooped victoriously as her Optical Bits finally redocked, sparking and sputtering as their overworked frames recharged and repaired.

The three Astrays merely continued their stare down, with Ephraim practically emitting a palpable feeling of battle lust.

A shrill whistle echoed across the silent arena.

BZZZT!

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

"And that's that!" Chifuyu called out, a stern frown on her lips as she surveyed the battle damage of the arena. "We've got plenty of footage, the fight's over!"

With a quiet sigh, Davion settled the Tactical Arms into its mount on his back. It quickly folded up into its Flight form as he looked at the damage on his armor.

"This is gonna take me a whole day to repair..."

"Aw, come on, just when the fight was getting good!" The Gold Frame groused, though without much heat as he relaxed from the aggressive stance. Charlotte and Cecilia turned to him in slight surprise, as his usual genteel manner of speaking was replaced with a more...rough and gutsy way.

'Another side of him, perhaps?' The Frenchwoman wondered as she landed beside the Red Frame.

The Blue Frame bent over, picking up the Tiger Pierce and tossing it back to its owner. Ryo caught the blade and inspected the edges, nodding to himself at its undamaged condition before sheathing it alongside the Gerbera Straight.

Clink.

!

Immediately, the Astray's systems began blaring warnings concerning their pilots' status. The three boys flinched, wobbling on their feet as their suits returned to their Closed forms. Their expressions varied, but they all showed a sign of pain or two.

"Ow, my arms..." Ryo groaned as he tried to relax the two limbs, the fingers twitching. "Should've stretched beforehand, now I got these cramps!"

Charlotte came closer, turning her IS into its closed form as she fretted over the courier. "Do you need help, Ryo? Is there something I can do?"

"If you got some sort of warm towel, please give."

"Sir Sahaku!" Cecilia cried out, panicking as she spotted the nosebleed he was sporting. "My goodness! We must get you to the infirmary!"

The taller blonde merely shook his head, quantizing a few sheets of napkins which he pressed against his nostrils. "I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes of peace and quiet and I'll be right as rain."

Laura walked over to Davion, who was the least visibly affected by whatever pain he was experiencing. He cracked his neck and rotated his shoulders, wincing very now and again as he moved.

"Are you alright, brother?" The albino asked, getting out of the Schwarzer Regen and standing beside the taller boy.

"Got a full body ache, nothing new but it's a pain in the ass to deal with."


"Holy crap..."

"S-So, this is the true power of the Professor's new project, huh?"

"I gotta get me one of those..."

Ichika minutely gulped as he looked at the damage around Arena 3.

The ground was filled with craters, and the walls where both Gold and Red Frame crashed into were cracked and wrecked. Brass shells littered the floor, and fragments of the white armor of the Astrays were sprinkled across the ground akin to freshly fallen snow.

"What kind of monsters are they?" Houki whispered beside him, her grip on the Uchigane's katana tightening. "What kind of tech has my sister created now..?"

"Alright." Chifuyu turned too look at her class, crossing her arms as Maya finished up the recording software. "Now that that's done, the rest of you will take turns using the Uchigane to spar. The point of today's Practical Training is adaptability to any terrain, and that includes a ruined arena. By any chance one of you manages to get into the Mondo Grosso, you must be able to learn on the fly in regards to everything. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The class chorused, as Ichika and Houki lowered themselves to just a few feet above the ground.

"Good. Now get to the Launch Bays, the volunteer mechanics have readied your suits. Pilots will be in alphabetical order. Orimura, Shinonono."

"Yes!" The two IS pilots acknowledged her.

"You'll be the first to spar." Their homeroom teacher narrowed her eyes. "Show us what you've learned over the last few months. Whoever fails is going to get extra homework."

"Wha-!?"


Charlotte carried both katanas as the group walked back to their class, the girls having left their IS' in the Launch Bays for their respective technicians to look over. "I've got to ask, why exactly were the three of you so..."

"Brutal?" Laura piped up, glancing at Davion as he touched a growing bruise on his right cheek.

"I thought that you three came from mundane backgrounds?" Cecilia spoke up, looking at Ephraim worriedly. He had two bloodied napkins stuffed into his nose, and was walking with a near imperceptible limp.

"We do." The taller blonde responded, glancing at his friends for a moment before looking back forward. "The Professor's training was...well," He tensed his jaw, "it was what molded us into being the pilots for her Astrays."

Ryo chuckled, cringing somewhat in pain as he held his side. "I remember Ephraim smacking me across the face with a bo staff during a melee. It knocked me out and gave me a pretty big welt but ah..." He looked to the side, licking his lips somewhat. "The Professor's healing hands managed to fix it up like it was never there."

The mechanic in the group merely kept quiet, watching with somewhat narrowed eyes at the spun tales of his two other Outworlders. Admittedly, going 60% of their full capacity in their spar was a bit too much.

"Guess that would explain your proficiency in CQC, Ephraim." Cecilia looked up at him with a small challenging tilt of her lips. "No wonder you're called the 'Undefeated' in the Dojo."

The Sahaku heir groaned. "Lords below, I do not like that title."

"Hmph, 'Undefeated' by rookies, probably." Chifuyu quipped from behind them, surprising a majority of the group as they turned to see her come around from another corridor. "Any of you still good to continue with the class or do you need to bow out?"

Davion raised his hand, "I'm gonna need to repair the Astrays. All those blows might have caused some micro fracturing within the TPS and the inner frame, so better safe than sorry. The sooner I repair them, the better."

"I'm gonna take a long soak in the bathhouse." Ryo groaned once more.

"I'm..." Ephraim raised a finger, somewhat wobbling as he closed an eye. "...gonna go to the Infirmary. I think I have a concussion."

"Note to self: Make helmets for the pilot suits that can integrate with the frames..." The mechanic muttered audibly.

Sighing, the teacher thumbed over to the exit corridors. "Get going. Alcott, Dunois, Bodewig, are you three still up for class?"

"Yes, mentor!" Laura did not hesitate in agreeing.

"After a quick recharge, I'll be in tip top shape!" The noblewoman huffed proudly. She then looked at the tall blonde with a concerned frown, "Though, will you be fine without me?"

"I've got the boys covering me."

"Then, I'll just need to restock on ammunition and have a quick recharge." Charlotte nodded at the teacher. "I shall rejoin the class shortly."

"We'll make our exit now." Ryo bowed as he and Davion flanked their wobbling friend. Their teacher merely nodded before she turned to head back to the class with the girls in tow.

The boys then withdrew coolly.


Once they were out of sight, the three boys stopped their limping and flinching. Steely expressions were shared as they walked down a less-used path to the Astray Hangar, the one place that they could call sanctuary in the school.

Oh, the bruises and nosebleed were real, but the succeeding pain that they displayed was nothing more than a farce. They've taken much more punishing hits prior to waking up in this world, a few bruises here and there was chump change.

Slipping inside, they each docked their respective Astrays into their berths.

"Think we had them fooled?" Ryo asked as he hopped out of the Red Frame, stretching his limbs with quiet groans. He zipped down the jacket of his custom uniform, revealing the burgundy hoodie underneath.

"Undoubtedly." The blonde chuckled as he stepped off the Gold Frame, fixing his tie as he did so. "We did only go half our strength, yes?"

"I've only used the Tactical Arms, Ryo's TA 2 is still incomplete, and you barely demonstrated your other skills." Davion listed, sliding out of the Blue Frame and running a hand through his hair.

"I'm pretty sure they think that we pulled out all the stops during the spar."

The three boys shared a smirk.

"Now, let's head over to where we said we would be." The blonde sighed as he tossed the bloodied napkins into a nearby trash can. "Would be a bitch to explain why I'm not in the Infirmary resting."

Ryo raised a brow. "Didn't you say that you had a concussion as an excuse?"

Rolling his eyes, Ephraim gestured the mechanic over.

"Punch me."

Gray eyes widened before a wild grin grew on the mechanic's face. He wound his fist back and-

SMASH!

The courier facepalmed.


{Conclusion: Observation has yielded vital information.}

{...}

{Actions: Future events in Branch [IS] will be further modified.}

{...}

{Administratorprerequisites identified.}

{!/Warning! Sub-Branch will be Pruned! All traces of it will be erased./!}

{Initiating Pruning.}

[IS] Sub-Branch: Omicron-201174-1qA ...Pruned.

...

{...}

{Console Connection: Deactivated.}

/Shut. Down./


AN:

As I promised, the raw fight scene within the original Interlude 7. Hopefully, you like the battle sequence here as much as what I've written down in the previous chapters. The original Interlude 7 was written last year, months before I first published Gone Astray, so there are some stark differences here.

In the original, the Gold Frame hasn't been upgraded with Mirage Colloid yet, nor has Davion unlocked the Stealth Tech of it, resulting in the Gold Frame retaining its base form while the other two have been turned to the Kai and the Second G.

Now that I look it over again, I have no idea what I was drinking to come up with such a...confusing storyline.

Glad I got to refine it somewhat when I started Gone Astray.

...Somewhat, yes.

...Hopefully.

Reviews!

Commissar Baphomet: I thank you for pointing out the plot hole in your first question. I should have really asked ProjectRyo to proofread the thing instead of uploading it right away. Hell, he even pointed it out and reprimanded me when he read the chapter, so I went back and fixed it. For your second question, she will eventually get along with the Astray Trio, and yes it will be after the Silver Gospel incident. As for your third question...heh, I'll keep those cards close to my chest for now. But, rest assured that both Mirage and Green Frame are out there in the IS world just waiting for their debut. Also nice Bondrewd pic, absolutely Subarashii!

KnightOfZaku: Might be tough considering she's both mad and a genius. Not a good combination to face. But the three are going to do their best or die trying.

Mr Beaver Buttington: Yes, it's quite annoying to be bound by the Geneva Sugges- I mean, the Geneva Convention but public appearances matter. Can't have one of the three use Super Napalm on some annoying gnats calling themselves Phantom Task and still be considered a 'student' of the IS Academy.

P.B.S.: I've got plans for the Season 2 Golem fight and for Season 2 in general. Lots of things are gonna change, especially since I introduced new elements into the world for its inhabitants to ponder and tinker with. But yes, the Astray Trio are gonna have their hands full handling Golems upgraded with whatever bullshit Tabane comes up with.

With that, a slightly less tired Cipher, signing off!