Chapter 49: Disciple
December 2nd.
[Takeru]
"Haa… Haa…" Gasping for dear air, I keep on running in between the rows of graves.
The fog thickens, the eerie voices do as well. Encrusting more and more rocks into my feet, my breath rugged as my throat begins to close up, once more that foreboding cold feeling creeps up my back until it rests on my nape.
"I told you to release me!"
Suddenly, one of those dark silhouettes appeared out of nowhere trying to strike at me. Using my arms as a shield, feeling as if they had been lashed at by an iron whip, I'm sent crashing down onto a tomb.
And yet, as I tried to catch my breath, the cold feeling rang out in warning once more. Rolling to a side, I barely dodged another strike from a different silhouette. Far more grand than the other, imposing in its posture, yet with a glare that breathed curses back at me.
"You're leaving now. Don't make us waste our time!" Following the scream, it also tried to pounce at me.
Again barely dodging it, a sharp pain in my chest as I exhausted all air in me, with wobbly movements I stood up, again fleeing the silhouettes, again feeling the skin of my feet being peeled off.
The more I ran, the closer the tombs got. Rising tall, far beyond the clouds and fog, the few patches of grass and moss withered, and the once lush earth turned to a desolate wasteland as I fled. The freezing vice grip choking my nape, another voice rumbled through the fog. It immediately filled me with dread, halting my stride dead.
"Hereby, I declare you to be removed from the inner echelons of our fellowship."
My throat clamping up, a rain of glass might as well have pierced my chest just now. In that instant of inaction, something clawed at my ankles and began to drag me down.
The harsh, loathsome voice kept talking, splitting the ground apart as the crushing claws of the silhouettes dug into my legs as they pulled me down. I grabbed onto the edges of the dried earth, feeling my nail beginning to bend as I fought their grip. However, as I got half of my body above the rift, that same cold feeling returned to my nape, cutting my breathing short as if it had been stepped on.
"…Farewell, Shirogane."
Losing my grip, I fell and fell. The fissure closed up, crushing me no matter how much I rebel. Acid burned from within, coughing and hacking I felt more and more ill.
Urgh… Head hurts… Hard to breathe… C-Can't feel my arms…
No matter how much I push, I'm locked in. Can't move… Can't even muster enough strength to scream… Urgh… I'm gonna be crushed…
…
Something moves me, slowly shaking me left and right. Unlike everything before, it feels gentle. Feeling the pressure ease up, my breathing steadying down, the shaking becomes a bit more strong.
"Takeru-san."
…That voice… Who was it from?
"Takeru-san."
The shaking keeps picking up speed, yet it is so tenderly that it's almost like a massage. The crushing feeling fades away, a small jolt runs through my limbs as I can sense them once more.
But the shaking feels so nice… so soothing…
"Takeru-san!"
Like rocking on a ship, I'm slowly massaged by the shaking. Easing up my tension, I simply relax and enjoy it. But… that voice… it was from…
"Mmmgghhh…"
"Takeru-san, you have to wake up."
…Kasumi's voice, right. Yeah… It was… Huh…
Barely opening my eyes, my blurry sight catches her figure as she shakes me again. Letting out a small groan, rubbing the sluggishness out of my eyes, my mouth opens wide as I yawn and shiver.
"Good morning," She says, smiling my way. Immediately after, I sink back into my pillow. She shakes me again right afterwards. "Takeru-san, you need to get up."
…So cold. Five more minutes… I wanna rest some more…
"No. Get up."
Something rustles softly on top of me, suddenly the cold got worse.
"…Kasumi, give me my blanket back." I look at her, not moving from my pillow, as she smiles again.
"Good morning."
"Yawn… Good morning."
"Are you still tired?"
"…Yeah."
She comes closer, giving me my blanket back and petting my head softly. Uuh… It feels nice.
"Was it because of the last session?" Her voice tarnished by worry, I drown a yawn as I shake my head.
"Nah, it's not… that. I'm just sleepy, is all," Don't remember what I was dreaming about, but I'm just in a kinda lazy tired mood. Like, not feeling like getting out of bed at all.
"Is that so? Do you think you can train with me, then? Maybe you should rest?" Dulling her tone as her hand leaves my head, her mood fell off the stairs.
"Nah, it's no problem. I just… am having a slow start today. Yawn… After all, it took me a lot to fall asleep yesterday."
To be honest, I'm having some real trouble in balancing what we saw with how he felt. Thinking about it just makes my head hurt but… I can somewhat see why he would resent the Royal Guard, if they took him from his house like that. Still doesn't explain how or why he joined them after that…
And it also feels different to the sadness I felt in the CCSE. That was… crushing, cold, and with a tint of anger. But the one of the last memory… is just plain sadness, complete and utter fear. In the end… they took Dad as a soldier, sent him to his death, and then abandoned little me to his luck… I'd be lying if part of that wrath wasn't coming back up the more I think about it.
Sadly, that memory was too much for me and I ended up cutting the link forcefully yesterday. Left me out of breath, barely able to hold back the tears as he read Dad's letter, to say that someone tore my heart outta my chest and dropped a gallon salt water on the wound wouldn't make justice to how we both felt as we read Dad's last letter, and even more when that old bastard kept pushing him around. But due to how I closed up, abruptly ending the session seemed to shock Kasumi a lot yesterday, to the point that I had to help her to her room since she began to feel faint after the recoil of me shutting her off from my mind. Looking at her, she does look worn down.
"Well, but are you feeling fine, Kasumi?"
"Huh? Yes, do not worry about me."
"Hmm… You sure?" Rubbing my eyes, she nods back at me, "Well… Let's take it easy today, okay?"
"Yes, understood. It's almost seven, so please get ready. The training starts at eight," She says as composed as always.
"I know, I know. I'll hurry it up," Stretching to leave the stiffness back while still half-buried in the sheets, I smile at her. Promptly as always, she began to leave, "Hey, Kasumi?"
"Yes?" Looking back, she got closer again.
Then, tenderly grabbing her by the hand, pulling her slowly towards me, I gave her a hug, not too tight, not too soft, rubbing her back slowly as I did.
"Thanks a lot for caring, Kasumi. Your shaking helped me a lot right now," Brushing her hair, I tell her in a hushed tone.
"No… It's nothing…" She barely whispered it out.
"It isn't nothing for me, though," Ending the hug, bringing her face into my sight, I smile at her as I play with her bangs, "So thanks a lot, I don't feel that heavy now."
"So…" Her hands hesitate for a second before docking under mine, then they begin softly rubbing my back again as she returns the hug, "Did this help you with your nightmares?"
"I dunno if it was a nightmare today, but I've been feeling real tired lately," Returning the kindness, I ruffle her hair. She moves her bunny ears as she leans closer, they tickle my chin as they do, "So, thanks. And sorry for yesterday, I didn't meant to hurt you."
"No, it wasn't your fault… So, does this help you feel better?" Her hands' pace picks up, can't help but to sigh as my back finally relaxes completely.
"Yeah… Sigh… Thanks a lot, Kasumi," Again ruffling her hair, she nods while not moving away one inch, "So, uh, I should be getting ready. Just wait a while, I'll make it quick."
"Eh? But… If you're feeling tired, we could delay it for-" Bringing her closer for another hug, this one tighter, she makes a cute whimper, her hands forming a lock on my back.
"It's okay, I'm all better now," Drawing a circle on the back of her head, her bunny ears slap my shoulders softly as I do, "Plus, this is your training day. Let's do our best today, okay?" Again pulling her away, her hands hesitating for a second, a radiant smile greets me as our eyes met.
"Yes, let's do our best together…" Her hands tracing my arms for a moment before finally pulling away, her gaze took a second to admire the floor for some reason, "But… But you still shouldn't rush. I can wait for you and then we can have breakfast together, so please don't hurry up unnecessarily if you're feeling tired."
"I get it, don't worry. I know how to take care of myself, even if it doesn't look like it as of late," Extending my hand, her head lowers to welcome it as I ruffle her hair again.
"Understood. Well then… See you in a moment," Giving me her usual bright smile, we waved at each other as she left my cell, leaving the key on the outer lock of the door.
Yawning again, I stretch my arms up. Dunno what's up with my sleep cycle as of late, but thank God Kasumi is here to lend me a hand with it. Yet another reason to get cracking and do my best during our training today! I doubt she'd be able to imitate me perfectly, but I'mma give you the best glimpse of my skills I can muster as of now, Kasumi.
Getting out of bed, moving my ankles to wake 'em up, the coldness of the water as I splash my face brings me completely into focus. Shivering a bit, my feet refuse to move towards the shower, my shoulders again begin to cramp up, and my hands lag as they start to take my lithe clothing off me.
But I can't leave Kasumi waiting overlong… And I need to hear a report from Sensei about Mom and Dad too, since I freaked out yesterday… And, above all, I'm real hungry right now.
"Alright, no point in wasting time. Into the cold shower, now! Chaaarge!"
Not a second had passed after I opened the thing that I regretted my decision with all of my soul.
Some time after that.
(B17F. Hangar 78.)
Entering Hangar 78, now completely in my suit with the helmet and all, the buzzing and shouting of the teams reaches my ear as fast as the smell of oil and steel does towards my nose.
The walls made of a mossy green plating, taller but more compact than other hangars, it seems to make the sounds echo more for some reason. Streams of cables on the floor, the lifts right on the back end of the place, and the aisles for the maintenance teams left little free room to walk. Illuminated by the overhead beams, there's some dust clearly floating in the lights' direct shine.
Walking over the sprawling cables, the smell of dust and fuel intensifying, I reach the base of the area with the lone TSF the hangar had docked in. Painted in the standard UN colors, but looking as if they were fading a bit, as if it hadn't been used or even dusted off in a long while, thin stinger-like pods stretch from its arms, and odd-shaped sensors were in its shoulders. Some sharp and egg-shaped, others curved but hollow claws. And the curvature of its head, sunk in as if it were a triangle, does somewhat resemble the patterns the face of an owl has.
Slowly pacing around to get a view from different angles, I watch the Mindseeker as the engineers proceed to make the last minute checks to it. It looks nice honestly. I can see why it was nicknamed the Rock Owl, with a head like that. Though, it looks like it is a second gen machine. The overall shape of it does remind me of a Kagerou more than any of the third gen machines I've seen. Though, if it was made for Alt. III, then it makes sense. The Shiranui, the very first third gen TSF, was officially unveiled just the year before Alt. IV was started, if the notes I read are to be believed.
"So Shirogane, what do you think?" A PDA on her hand, Sensei strode towards me, smile plastered on.
"Looks nice. What will Kasumi do differently with this one?"
She moved closer, pointing to the shoulders of the Mindseeker, "She will control those extra sensors. I know you told me you've never piloted a Carrier-based TSF, so I'll explain how you're supposed to operate," Bringing her PDA near me, an image of a cockpit was displayed in its screen, "The one sitting on the front controls the weapons, while the one in the back is in charge of maneuvering. For this test, I want you to focus on piloting as you usually do and let Yashiro be the one that decides when to attack. Due to her ESP powers and the sensors, she should have no problems spotting and taking down your adversaries."
So it'll be the opposite of when we rode the XG, I fired the weapons and gave the commands that moved the thing while Kasumi connected me to Sumika to actually move.
"Got it. So, you didn't paint it in ARP. Are the Valkyries going to be using the stealth protocol?" She then shakes her head, fuming a bit as she sighs.
"No, we still haven't even started to make diagrams for the modifications to the Takemikazuchis. We will hold some test against stealth units at a latter date, since the Shogunate will have access to stealth tech. Do be ready for that too."
Sigh… It's hard being a test pilot. Still, the odds are already tough for today, "So who will we fighting against today?"
"Hayase, Takahara, Isumi, Munakata and Asakura. Your comms will be distorted again, so don't worry about them finding out who you are. All of them in their new Takemikazuchis with the XM3 installed, of course," Beaming cheerily at the last part, she then chuckled a bit.
"Okay, I'll do my best. I see you did change the jump units on this one, though."
"Oh, yeah. I honestly thought of this just a few days ago, so it's not like I can just fit in one of our new internal engines in the thing and expect it to work. The sensors should be on par with what you're used to with Yashiro on board, so I only changed the jump units of the thing. You'll have one dagger in each knee, a sword on your hand and two rifles in your back, since we can't mount stuff on the shoulders thanks to its sensors."
"Wait, so you're sending me against five Takemikazuchis, that are focused on CQC, with only one sword?" She chuckles at me, a smirk spreading like wildfire. Ugh… Dammit, Sensei.
"We can't help it, it's just how things are," Beaming again, she pointed at the machine, "The Mindseeker's arm joints are not fit for swinging the sword around, even if I improved them a tiny bit. Since this TSF is supposed to be a High Performance Hive Infiltrator, its knee blocks and tanks are larger than the rest of the other 2nd Gen. TSFs of its time. You have four magazines of 36mm on the left knee and six of 120mm on the right one, along your two daggers," Staring back at me, her tone sobered up as she again strode closer, "I know you prefer to fight in CQC, but let me see how you hold up as a ranged fighter against a team that has the clear edge over you in CQC. This isn't solely a test for Yashiro, got it?"
"Sigh… Roger. I can tell that this will give us nice data, but you really like to give me tough missions," I scratch my head again as she chuckles lightly.
"I do this only because I know that you can somehow pull this off. Your data against Takamura was better than I expected, though I did think you would win. I'm basically testing where your limits lie, and you did say that maneuvering is your biggest strength so go out there and show me what you have," Then, her eyes locked onto mine, unwavering. No longer smiling, she simply stared at me.
"Roger. I'll drive this thing to its limits. I do have a question about it, though."
"What is it?" Hand on her chin, she leaned in curiously.
"Are the pods on the arms' sides used for something?"
"Yes, they have extra sensors that will give you clearer data to move and attack. They should extend your effective range for you to shoot precisely from far away without missing, and to allow you to move much more nimbly in crowded spaces," She so remarked.
"Alright. I don't know how this will turn out, but I'll do my best out there," Even if this gives me another headache.
Sensei then smiles, brightly so, far more than the reflection of the lamps onto the Mindseeker, "That's what I wanted to hear. I'll be monitoring everything in the CP, so feel free to go all out," Arms folded, she gave me one firm nod I returned. She seems real happy for some reason.
As Sensei finished saying that, Kasumi walked into the Hangar in her suit. Briefly, memories of our last mission come back up, of the only time I saw her in that suit, of all the trainings we did with the XG back then. Though… I wonder what's different this time, to have her piloting a TSF. Why would Sensei risk her in this way? Because we have a surefire way to complete the 00 Unit, so she wants Kasumi to do something else of worth?
"Are you ready, Kasumi?" Giving me a small nod she then slowly paced to my side.
"Well, you two get in there. Go and check everything is working properly and get ready to fight," Sensei firmly stated, beginning to go her way out of the hangar.
"Roger. Let's go Kasumi."
"Yes."
We take the stairs to the railway and open the cockpit. It looks just like our usual units but with two seats instead of one. Slowly entering first, I sink into my place on the back seat as Kasumi sits on the front.
"Say Kasumi, have you ever piloted before?" I am worried she might pass out from the G-Force of my movements, but she looks back at me and gives me a wide smile.
"Yes, I do have some experience. Don't worry about me," Her small voice was firm as steel, those cerulean eyes of her showed hesitation when meeting mine.
"Alright then, just do your best. I know it might be a bit hard to aim with how fast I move, so tell me if you need me to tone it down a notch."
"Yes, you can count on me. I won't disappoint you."
Proceeding to bolt ourselves to our seats, after a small pause to double check that everything is in working order I connect to the Command Post.
"Here Viking 1, all systems green. Ready to launch whenever," Sensei's face appears on my view as the data link is formed.
"CP, roger that. Yashiro, how are you?"
"Viking 2, all green," She immediately replies, as composed as usual. Sensei curves her lips upwards as a lioness surfaces in her glare.
"Good to hear. Vikings, proceed to the launch pad."
The small rumbling of the cables coming off our shoulders shook us a bit, but the bracing system started and a jolt came from the controls as the rotary gears took us to the pad. All systems remain in working order as the hangar becomes more and more distant. Ending up in the usual aboveground railway, the ramp and everything was prepared already. The crew waving the light torches to signal the okay, a few taps onto the buttons and the jump units begin to heat up.
"You ready, Kasumi?"
"Yes, anytime."
On her positive, I push the control and step on the pedals, my back getting glued to the seat as I do, my arms pushed onto the sideways armrests, the impulse also docking my neck firmly in place. The difference in height compared to my usual gives me a slight feeling of disorientation at first, like when Uncle Koetsu made me ride in his car after he outfitted it with racing seats, but seeing the small bunny ears on a corned of my vision made me smile. It's nothing like when me and Meiya rode together, the point of view, the space available, the vision of the cockpit behind the projection… It's far more comfy than I thought it'd be.
The rumbling easing up, we proceed to steadily fly towards the spot marked in the radar.
"How're you feeling, Kasumi?"
"Fine," She gives me a thumbs up.
"Okay then, let's speed up a lil' bit."
Just a few minutes afterwards, we reach our destination on the eastern side of the ruins. And immediately after, the beeping of the CP opening the common channel came up.
"Vikings, your adversaries are already in place. The exercise will begin in one minute. The winning condition is total annihilation of the opposite team. That is all," Sensei leaves us as a timer appears on my view.
"Well, time to play. Kasumi, how do you prefer to fight?" She looks back with her usual blank stare, moving her bunny ears.
"I don't really have a preference. Just fight as you normally would," She's really calm about this.
Maybe it's because I never piloted a TSF along someone in a fight, but I'm kinda nervous. I mean, the only experience I have is when we struck down that rock to save that old lady and the XG. But this time I have to actually put some effort in moving in a way to allow Kasumi to do her thing.
"Alright, you take care of the ranged part of the fight, and focus on the sensors during CQC. Let me take care of the dogfighting."
"Roger," She nods as she answers immediately, smiling my way before facing forward again.
Sighing, I lean back as the seconds tick away. The clock shaves the timer down closer and closer to zero. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and fill my lungs.
Five Takemikazuchis. I had trouble trying to take one down. And with the upgraded Kagerou, no less. No stealth to help me this time, too. I guess I'll have to go seriously against them, without being too fast either. Like my world's Mikoto said, more speed is not the same as more mobility. Let's use the XM3's liberties to their fullest, like when I took on all those Forts. Otherwise, I'll get done in real quick, and that won't do anything for either Kasumi or Sensei.
The timer reaches zero, a siren blooms in ti signal the start of the match along the usual green message in my view. Wasting half a second, I open with a dash along the street. Gotta get close under some cover, and I need to scan the map to devise an escape route if the gang up on us.
However, as soon as I moved a bit into the city, a bleep appeared in my radar. Wow, this thing is something else, they're so far away and-
"Hayase-san and Takahara-san are coming after us," Kasumi informs me.
"Huh? You can tell which is which?"
"Yes," Looking back, she smiles again, "The sensors make it so that I can feel what's around our TSF. I can tell who is coming, at what speed, and with what weapons. They're coming at us with one sword and a rifle, to our Ten. Takeru-san, could you get into a sniping position?"
"Sure, is between those buildings fine?"
"Yes."
Erupting into a sudden boost towards two big buildings, I walk right between them and crouch. Tapping the switch, the left pylon moves upwards. Leaving my sword on the ground for a moment, I take aim with both hands holding the assault rifle.
Shortly afterwards, a small figure appears on my vision as the auto-aim warning appears. Kasumi was right, huh. The Mindseeker's arms move, Kasumi is aligning her shot. Her aim is… Yeah, a bit off. She should try to strike a bit lower, the auto-lock will do most of the corrections anyways. Zooming into the target should be what she should try out.
A tingly feeling suddenly appearing into my head, she then triggers manual aim and lowers her firing line. Well, this makes things easier for sure. After a second of wait, she fires off a 120mm round. The hit confirmation rings out, one of them begins to stagger in the air. Zooming in the view, looks like she hit the arm of that one, causing the Takemikazuchi to drop its sword. And from such a distance, too.
"Damn. Nice one, Kasumi."
"…I wanted to hit its cockpit," She sounds slightly upset at herself.
"Don't worry. So, do you want to keep shooting or do we go face them?"
"The others are already closing in, let me take that one out," Upon my agreement, she quickly starts sending more shots, the Takemikazuchis starts moving erratically on the air, doing some side dodges, but they're no match for Kasumi's sniping.
After missing two shots, Kasumi hit the one from before again, taking one of its legs out, and directly after she assessed a hit at its cockpit. One down already, huh. Kasumi 1 – Valkyries 0.
Though, I can't believe they aren't doing barrel rolls, or diving under the buildings, or something! Do they think that just because the XM3's reaction time is better they can just speed up and dodge the fire? Like, for real, what the hell are they doing? The girls weren't that basic in their approach last loop.
"Kasumi, the other one is closing in. Let's go."
"Roger."
Once we pick up our blade and re-lock onto the lone charging hostile, I dash out towards cover.
As the Takemikazuchi on the air was getting closer, it dove to the ground, surfacing on it, and then boost jumped towards us, sword at the ready to slash and dice.
Halting our stride, canceling the movement, we bounce away with a short boost jump as the hostile's slash met the air. Kasumi opened fire against it just as I started to spin, sending a shower of paint in a circular pattern at the Takemikazuchi. However, it just dashes backwards and takes aim at us undeterred.
"Don't think you'll get me so easily, Eight!" Ugh, Hayase.
Her cocky tone was clearly full of glee as she sidestepped away from our shots, returning the pleasantry. We play with each other, going back and forth in between some buildings, giving 'em a new paint job. Kasumi's shots were badly timed with my jumps and dashes at first, but she slowly began to time them more precisely.
"Takeru-san, the other ones are in an inverted arrowhead just in front of us. They will shoot at us soon."
"Thanks for the warning. I'm going to-"
"Go full boost past Hayase and deal with them, right?" She moves her bunny ears at me. Alright, that makes things easier. Get ready Kasumi, after we dodge that next barrage, we're moving out! "Roger."
Hayase kept boost dashing on the ground with gusto, shooting at us, trying to lure us to the middle of the others' aim. However, I kept canceling my dashes and doing back-boosts, coming in and out with the rhythm of a wave on the shore while Kasumi fired just as I cancelled my dashes, forming a dread lock for Hayase to get close enough to strike.
So long as we keep her at bay she won't be able to get in CQC range, and then she'll get upset and charge at us. I know Hayase's boner for close combat, I know she won't be able to keep it-
"What's up, Viking?! Too scared to come closer?!" Lashing out, fuming much, she roared into another forward dash.
You know, it's kinda cute how she gets upset at these little things. Back in my training last loop she was the same. But just because she gets upset doesn't equal she gets careless, it's all on me to make the most out of what little frames she gives away. And to make sure she does give us an opening… Hehe.
"All I can hear is the tears of someone who can't even graze me," Returning to my cocky tone, I then chuckle. Her groaning comes up on the common channel. C'mon Hayase, charge at us.
"Viking 1, is this what you call a noob?" Oh God, Kasumi is the last person I thought would go around spewing insults. Thanks for following on my plan, Kasumi. She moves her bunny ears a bit then.
"Yep, she's a noob through and through. Can't hit anything outside close range, it seems."
"What was that?! I'll make you two eat those words!" She takes a step back and comes after us in a vindictive full boost, grazing some buildings as we took a corner.
Retreating and as she gets closer, I do a boost backflip while changing the angle of the jump units on mid air, arching our TSF above hers. However, she cancels her boost, comes to a complete halt, and shoots at us. Dammit!
The shaking dives my elbows into my sides, again glues my back to the seat. Kasumi reacted in a split second and opened fire as well while I did a roll to dodge the shots, but this was too close for comfort.
…Shit, we got hit. It's not heavy damage, but any more hits will leave our hands out of commission.
"Hehehe! Looks like you can't escape anymore!" Hayase seemed very pleased with herself.
"Takeru-san! Behind us!"
"I know!"
I did look at the radar as I landed, so no seconds were wasted on the following double boost jump to our left. Just as I did, the spot we were on was drenched, badly soaked in paint. And yet, the danger ain't over yet, not by a long shot.
Hayase was now tailing us, shooting at us every time she started to close the distance. Kasumi threw both arms backwards and started shooting back at her, however the Takemikazuchi did one jump cancel and boost dashed in the opposite direction, effectively evading any and all shots.
"Damn, we can't lose her like this," I've been using the tall buildings as cover from the fire of the other three, that are still rather far. But that won't work for much longer, either.
"Takeru-san, let's go after them. Don't be afraid to do your best because I'm here," Kasumi's usual calm tone was firm, but she's not the only reason I'm being careful.
"Once we get to the main avenue, I'm charging at them at top speed. Just do your best to keep up, okay?"
"Charge at the one on the right, if the Captain falls they'll be demoralized," She remarks. I think Hayase is still going to come after us, but whatever.
I keep canceling my jumps and doing my zigzags, somehow managing to get us away from Hayase as Kasumi keeps spraying paint behind us. She actually managed to graze Hayase's Takemikazuchi despite its greater speed and quick maneuvering. The bunny has a hawk-eye, for real.
Blazing into a dash to my right, a canister of paint explodes from above and soaks the spot we would have been in. Hayase seized my brief stop to full boost her machine in front of us. Barely managing a step back to dodge the swing of her sword, a short reposition in the middle, I trigger a crouch and then dash forward in a flash, extending one leg sharply to kick at her. As if I were a defender tackling a forward in a soccer game, Hayase fall to the ground after our fierce sliding foul-play.
Quickly canceling both the dash and the crouch, the Mindseeker stands up in one fluid motion and, without losing momentum, I storm into a boost jump towards the avenue, while Hayase is still getting up. Jumping once again and, stepping with only one foot as I land, I change our direction to move along the street as we break into a sprint.
Taking a second to switch the sword for the second rifle, juggling with the stuff in our hands and in the pylons, we're good to go now. We gotta get some distance between us while she's grounded. A beep comes up in the radar shortly after.
"Takeru-san, they're close by. Should we attack?"
"Yeah, let's," Smirking cockily, my hands tighten their hold onto the controls. It's time for the counterattack, Valkyries! "Get ready, Kasumi!"
Opening into another full boost as I dash towards the others, paint rounds rain down on us like a drizzle, but, thanks to the updated info on the radar, our rushing stride doesn't even fizzle.
"Takeru-san, jump in ten."
"Okay!"
As Kasumi asked I cancel my dash and go into a sudden full boost jump, leaving the chasing Hayase right in front of the others' shots. Practically a frame perfect dodge, using her teammates' attacks against her. Sadly, Hayase cancelled her rush and backboosted in time to avoid getting painted in orange.
Now on the air, Kasumi takes aim at the rest of them and locks on. I start dashing on the air towards them, doing one barrel roll to avoid their incoming fire, edging closer to the ground and descending. Kasumi then opens fire, and unlike theirs some of our shots hit.
The Captain lost her left arm, apparently. Landing with a loud crash, I then dash behind some buildings. I should take some distance, bait them again and whittle them down little by little.
"Takeru-san, please go into melee. The one in the back shouldn't be a problem."
"You sure? The thing is gonna shake a lot with my erratic way of moving," She then looks back, firmly staring at me through the projection.
"I want to learn as best as I'm able. Please?"
"Sigh… That ain't fair, you know," You cute, little bunny, when did you learn to use the baby doll eyes? "I'm glad you're trying so hard. So, if you're sure this will work, let's go for it."
"Yes, I'll update the radar as best as I can."
"Then, let's rumble!"
I dash backwards as the Captain and Munakata, going by the naming on the radar, open fire from both of my sides. The one who should be Asakura tried to snipe me, but, thanks to the sensors, I could easily read her and boost jumped out of the way. The radar updates, showing me a path along the ruins. All right, let's do this.
As the Captain and Munakata cancelled their attacks and went for a boost dash towards me, pulling out their swords and trying to do a flat-scissor as Kei and Chizuru were planning before, I took a step back and, upon contact with the ground, exploded into a full boost dash again.
The Mindseeker blasted past both Takemikazuchis, straight through the open space in between them, leaving them tilted and in off-side. As I follow the path in the radar, I take my Mugen stance while doing some more zigzags to avoid the paintballs that are coming from behind and in front.
Kasumi bends our left arm backwards and shoots what is left of our 120mm ammo, forcing the Captain and Munakata to put some space by back-boosting away. And now, we've got time and enough space to take down the one up ahead!
Asakura's unit comes into view as she keeps boost jumping sideways. That's a nice technique, she's canceling the jump as soon as she does it, and she keeps doing consecutive jumps as she practically glides over the ground. Her aim, however, is far from perfect. Probably not used to her new ride, mastering a Takemikazuchi is probably no easy task.
Now that I think about it… I'm piloting this kind of model for the first time but I'm not having much trouble with it. Half of it is thanks to Kasumi's help with the radar but… Listening to the shaking, to the response of the joints to my moves, and double checking the numbers after my reckless moves has been enough to adapt well enough. Are they not doing that, then?
Could it be that they're forcing the machine to adapt to them, and in doing so all they manage to do is end up trapped by the superior specs? After all, with such a nice piece of tech, it wouldn't be weird to end up being merely riding it instead of properly driving it.
After giving some time for Kasumi to change the magazines in our guns, I boost jump above a building, landing on its roof to do then jump again. Canceling it in midair, entering my Mugen stance again and moving the boosters backwards, again I blast into a full dash towards Asakura, completely avoiding the Captain and Munakata's feeble attempts to stop me.
Our Mindseeker draws an arc in the sky as we descend upon the Type-00C, nearing top speed. Asakura only tried to backboost away but a quick, simple slash hit her hands, making her drop her rifles. Landing hard, carefully shifting the weight backwards, I manage to turn around without wasted seconds and then, seeing she was still in range, I let loose a decisive strike at the cockpit. The Takemikazuchi falls back with a booming thud, crashing into the concrete and remaining unmoving. Vikings 2 - Valkyries 0.
No time to rest, though. I quickly retreat away behind more tall buildings as the other three's rain is closing in on my position. Now that we took the newbies out, we're left with the real deal. The fight has just begun.
"Takeru-san, do you have an idea to take them down?" Kasumi sounds a bit tense, seems to be quivering just a tiny bit right now.
"Yeah, I'm going to charge forward and try to use the XM3's mobility to get 'em by surprise. You just focus on gunning them down."
"Roger."
Alright, they're closing in. We are slower than them, only by getting them by surprise we can do this. And I know how!
I rush forward and jump. Triggering the Variable Wings as I deactivate one jump unit to spin myself, I send our TSF towards a skyscraper. And as we approach it, tilting my controls our feet make contact with building as I activate my Jump Units to trampoline myself off the bricks. Then, I keep rebounding on the buildings in a zigzag patter, just like I did during the tournament.
We have the range, we have the speed, and we have the ammo. I'll rush through you as Kasumi pours her paint all over your frames.
"Get ready to be creamed, Valkyries!" One last pull of the controls, one last jump off the bricks, and their machines come into our sight.
Kasumi locks onto them in perfect sync with my jumps. I take one last, sharp, hard breath as I strengthen my grip on the controls to do one last full boost to make sure they can't catch me in the rush.
Paint flies from our spiraling frame as we dive hard towards the three Takemikazuchis. Since we have more range thanks to Kasumi and the special sensors, and also thanks to the patterns she displays in my radar to help me coordinate my cancels and spins with her aim, we avoid their first barrage as ours rains down on them hard.
I didn't chose this place for anything, they have two toppled down buildings right behind them. They can't escape so easily!
Not letting the pedals rest, keeping the boost on and off, then I cancel it, using the momentum to carry the rest of the distance while the boosters cool off. And as we begin to lose altitude, as full control returns to the boosters and our unit, I reactivate a full boost as our feet greet the ground. Again dodging their firing lines once I crouched, Kasumi starts firing just as the Mindseeker picked up its stride.
Hellfire raining over them, the Valkyries start retreating away to our nine. Once our boost had ended, Hayase's unit sharply took a turn, tumbling part of a building with her right shoulder, as she took out her sword ready to meet our assault while the other two take cover behind the rubble.
Quickly shifting the stick, pressing the pedals with my heels, I cancel the boost and align the thrusters to change my direction sharply. Gliding outwards but forward into the street, the Mindseeker power slides right under Hayase's slash, who thought we were going to clash with her in melee. The unnecessary impulse of her charge left her vulnerable, and a swift kick send her unit tumbling down again.
"Takeru-san, why did she opened herself like that?"
"Because she expected a direct parry, an outwards glide like I just did wasn't in her plans," Which means, they're not even scratching the surface of the XM3's potential.
An outwards slide into a crouch, followed by any attack, is one of the most basic moves of the XM3. It's what my world's Mikoto was so good at. Spreading the angle of the glide, as if trying to draw half a circle, does take some fine control of the boosters, but we're up against the Valkyries. They should be more than capable of something as simple as this.
I slowly ease up on the propulsion to soften my stride. Ending up hovering on a street parallel to the one the Captain and Munakata were on by the tail end of the boost, without wasting a second they open fire on me. Like I'll let this chance slip me by!
Almost in perfect sync, Kasumi dropped the guns to let me take out both daggers. Crouch, reposition to the left, cancel, and a forward dash! The Mindseeker avoided all the shots aimed at its body with the crouch and was now positioned under a Takemikazuchi, dagger rising at its cockpit. In a swift instant, another Type-00C fell to the ground.
However my feeling of triumph was cut short as I had to run away when Hayase came boosting towards me, and the other one almost got me at point blank. Dashing on the ground, kicking Munakata too while I was at it, and docking my daggers in the same motion, once I locate the guns and pick them back up, we ran away for dear life. Quickly dashing into another street, I keep taking turns when I get the chance, but I can't lose them.
"Kasumi, I'll do some consecutive jumps to get away from them!"
"Be careful, they're too close. And I'm low on ammo."
"Don't worry, this will end up just fine."
Unable to gain ground, Kasumi starts shooting the 120mm to keep our distance. I speed up a bit, doing some more cancels and jumps as I try to get away. They're not doing any flashy movements as they chase me, I can't lose them so if they went for some triple boost jumps they could get me in trouble.
Munakata is circling to my right, if she gets any closer she might land a hit. Starting a double boost jump to my left, I have to cancel it immediately.
"Come and face me already!" Hayase full boosted through a building, landing right in front of me with a vengeance, slashing her sword about towards me.
Damn! A side step to my left, one step backwards, crouch, cancel, backboost! The sudden shaking, the intensity of the movement, clamps me to my seat. Gulping my tongue to not bite it, lashing it against the back of my teeth as my knees buckled hard to not release the pedals, I could hear Kasumi let out a small pained groan.
"Think that will be enough?!" She opens fire, bending her pylons forward and pointing both guns at me.
Shit, Hayase! I boost jump away from her in a frenzy, noticing Kasumi isn't following up with her shots. A beeping reaches my ears, barely managing to do a barrel roll to dodge Munakata's shots. But one hit my left arm, disabling it. I backboost to give us some space, but we are getting worn down.
"Hey Kasumi, you alright?"
"Cough…Yes, I'm fine. The shaking was… a bit too sudden, so I couldn't brace for it," Her voice crumbling down, a weary whisper compared to her usual.
Damn you, Hayase… If her slashes had connected, even I might have bitten my tongue off. What's her damage? To come at us so violently… Kasumi's bending over, clearly exhausted after that last tight dodge… How dare you bring harm to her… Let's see if you find it funny when you're on the receiving end of the axe.
"…Takeru-san? Are you alright?" The strange tinge of worry of her tone refocused me back to the cockpit, where I found her staring right at me.
"Huh? Yeah, just bracing," She remains staring for a moment as she groans, as if not convinced, "So Kasumi, seems like we reached the end of the line. Wanna go out with a blast, or would you rather call it quits?"
"…No, let's fight until the end," She moves her bunny ears, facing me with a dead serious expression, her tone again blazing up. For her, anyways.
"If that's what you want, let's do this then. Keep your mouth shut, and your tongue behind your teeth. Don't ever move your mouth for anything, alright?" She nods, tightening her posture.
I rush out of my cover and do a crouch dash to avoid Munakata's fire. While remaining like that, I do a boost jump as I veer to my right.
"That's how I like it!" Hayase shouted over the common channel, stopping her guns and taking a fighting pose with her sword facing at us. She boost dashes towards us, ready to trade strikes with us.
Now, let me see if his technique works with mine. You gotta slowly arch the knees, move the torso a little bit to the right… As we got closer and closer, I tried to envision Maya-san's training again. The XM3's most vital strength is not its increased sensibility that gives us more speed, both to move and to process data.
The best trait of the XM3 is how it allows us to make more precise movements in closed spaces! All that superb processing power is used to its fullest when you have to make frame-perfect moves in quick succession, cancel after cancel! I'm gonna flow into you Hayase, with the might of an unending waterfall!
Sharply canceling the boost, grounding myself in the process, repositioning the Mindseeker for the attack as I take out the sword. Kasumi must have read my mind, as she pointed the pylons forward to shoot while I charged. Her shots delaying Hayase for the second I needed to take my Mugen Stance in the right moment of my stride, the coming slash goes at her in all its power.
Our blades clash, we keep struggling against each other for a few seconds. I take a step back and dash backwards into a building. Cancel the dash, jump in quick succession, use the bricks as a trampoline again, end up veering to my left. Cancel the bracing after landing to then do a double boost jump as soon as I hit the ground, sending us upwards in an arch above Hayase.
She apparently couldn't keep up with the sudden movements, and as we were landing Kasumi opened fire at her. Hayase reacted in an instant, barely managing to avoid a hit to her engine, but ended up losing her right hand.
"Tch, don't think you can just take all of us out!" Munakata started firing at me from behind, forcing me to take cover.
"Munakata, don't get in the way!" Hayase breathed fire on top of her eruption over the common channel back at her partner.
"What are you saying? We have to coordinate our attacks to-"
"Munakata, do I have to spell it for you? They. Are. Mine. Get it?"
I can't see her face, but going by her bloodthirsty tone I can tell she is pissed. Heh, looks like Hayase deems us worthy enough for a one on one resolution.
"Takeru-san, she seems really happy for some reason." Kasumi's bunny ears dropped, confused and lost.
"Well… That's how she is, as reckless as it might seem."
Munakata boosts away, after a really heavy sigh, and Hayase faces us with her sword at the ready again.
Once more I boost forward but Hayase's movements become more fierce and fast. She keeps canceling her slashes, moving to our left side, trying to overpower us. Kasumi is having trouble keeping up with the speed that I have to make to drive her swings off, so she can't lend me any firing support.
Mostly thanks to my footing, we're able to slip past her charges and get some breathing room in between her onslaught. However, Kasumi can't get the timing of the cancels of her attacks right, so we can't outmaneuver Hayase's onslaught even when we do get to a position where we could have taken her down. Kasumi is too green to keep up with me, and at this rate this won't end well for us. So, I gotta guide the bunny as her teacher!
"Kasumi, get ready to pick up a dagger."
"Huh? A dag… Takeru-san, that plan is too risky."
"Hey, it's just a mock battle. Let me see how good your reflexes are."
"Hmm… If you want to do this, I'll follow you. But I might miss the timing," Hey, don't sound so sad. Hayase is the weird one here. "Takeru-san, you can keep up and avoid her attacks," Oi, are you saying I'm weirder? Don't give me that smile!
"Whatever. Get ready, she's coming!" Hayase's yells roar over the common channel as she rushes at us.
We parry her strike, moving to our right. I boost away from her, cancel the boost, and come at her again. Kasumi takes a gamble to shoot our remaining ammo, only for Hayase to jump over our firing line as she had been doing.
The Takemikazuchi stops in its tracks as it lands, sending a slash to our head. Reacting in the nick of time, we parry the offense only for her to start boosting. We're being pushed back, unable to meet the force of the Takemikazuchi.
Damn, I just need to find an opening. Wait, what if… Kasumi immediately catches onto my thought, displaying some dots on my radar. Then, diving the Mindseeker's heels onto the concrete for a second, our sword moves backwards as we spin on ourselves.
Her blade losing its parrying partner, the impulse makes Hayase fall forward, freeing us from her rush. Backboosting with all I've got, I ready the Variable Wings for the next step.
Hayase chases after us, she's too close for her own good. Blasting into a boost jump, making us spin in the air, I move my arms back as if I were preparing to swing a bat. And just like in that memory I saw, out Mindseeker throws the sword at the charging Takemikazuchi, and Hayase has to suddenly stop and jump to avoid getting a sword to the cockpit.
Now, Kasumi!
She quickly makes both daggers come out, letting me focus on out position and landing. Using the last of the momentum from the spin I throws one dagger towards Hayase, who didn't see it coming. Her Takemikazuchi's head got struck by the dagger, I think it should have been disabled.
I land and break into a run towards the Takemikazuchi. Moving so that our right hand is facing forward we close in on Hayase, and after a crouch cancel I aim it right at the cockpit.
Hayase, however, did not want to give up. She activated the Retractable Dagger on the right hand, that thankfully had a safety sheathe on for the practice, and dashed forward swinging it downwards as we were charging forward at her.
Both of our TSFs clash into each other, driving the daggers into the other's cockpit. The impact shook us left and right as Hayase's Type-00C collapses on top of our Mindseeker, molding me into my seat and stirring my stomach.
…Ugh.
Man… That was rough… I can feel my heart on my neck, sweat flooding my forehead, and I can't stop gripping the controls. Phew… Damn…
"CP to all units. The exercise is finished. Return to your respective Hangars, that is all," Sensei's usual bored voice reached my ears as I had my eyes closed. So we lost, huh.
Hayase slowly moves her Takemikazuchi and gets off of us, easing up the pressure on our unit.
"Ugh, that was more shaky than I expected. How are you feeling, Kasumi? You alright?" She rubbed her head a bit in circles very slowly.
"My head hurts a bit. These last few minutes were too intense. But I'm fine, don't worry," She then looks back, smiling radiantly again.
"Sigh… That's a relief. So, what did you think of your first training session?"
"It was… harder than I thought. Sorry, I couldn't help out at the end," Hunching over, her prior glee clouds over.
"Hey, you did great. You're better than I thought!" She blushes a bit as I pat her head but returns her usual calm look at me after a while.
"That's only because your thoughts are simple. I can follow your ideas very easily, since you think in simple terms. Instead of thinking on how to do a certain movement with complicated terms, it's a sequence of 'Move-Cancel-Move-Direction'. It's very easy to get a hang of that pattern, even if you think scary from time to time."
"Huh, neat. Glad you found it easy. What do you mean by thinking scary, though?"
"Well… Sometimes it feels as if you were screaming, your aura felt all dense and spiky…"
"…You mean people don't scream internally in this world?"
"Not like you do. Why do you do that?"
"It's… like… a habit? Like, when I sing anime openings, or say the name of special moves, I can't help but to shout like that to hype myself up."
"Is that so… You still sound scary."
"Hahaha… Well, besides that, you found it useful?" Then, she beams at me, nodding with much impulse.
"Yes, very much. Could we keep practicing together, please? When you have the time, of course."
"Anything for you, little bun," Patting her head again, her bunny ear move slowly as her gaze burrows away, "Maybe we could practice with the Stallion from now on? Can we still use that?"
"I think we should. Anyways, thanks a lot for this, Takeru-san." Aww, she looks so cute when she's beaming like that. And now she's all embarrassed. Hahaha!
Chop!
"Hey! Don't hit me, I'm just messing with you, Kasumi."
"Don't tease me," You look even cuter when you shrug your lips like that. "Stop it, please," And she keeps chopping me.
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry. Well, let's go back. By the way, how is the Mindseeker holding… Oh…" As the images appear on my view I can't help but to tense my brows as a whiff of cold air comes out my mouth.
"Oh, indeed. Everything is red," Kasumi let out a few surprised yelps at the state of our TSF as she shuffles around the images with the state of the Mindseeker.
I have crashed my fair amount of TSFs in my loops, but aside from that time on Mt. Tengen and when I literally destroyed my Fubuki during the XM3 trials, I have never left a TSF in such bad condition. Everything is on red numbers. The joints, the legs, the arms, the hip block. I literally almost broke it, the Mindseeker is hanging together by a miracle apparently.
"Let's be kind to it on our trip back," She moves her bunny ears to agree, and I can see her reflection on the panel. She looks real worried at the numbers.
I slowly boost upwards, taking off towards the launch pad that'll take us to Hangar 78.
"Hey, Eight." Hayase connects to the common channel as her unit comes closer.
"Viking 1 here, what is it?"
"Say, you're the XO's bodyguard, right?"
I think Sensei told them that I was her personal guardian or something along those lines, and considering our state of affairs that isn't wrong.
"Yes, something of the sort. What about it?"
"So, like, when are you joining the Valkyries?" Clear and serious in her curiosity, yet firm as well, expecting a definitive answer.
Well, duh, I just forced her to a draw with a super inferior TSF, of course she'll be curious.
"That is for the Professor to decide. As you can see, I'm helping her test many things within the base, so I cannot join the A-01 STF in their missions just yet."
"Oh, I see," Deflating fast, she took a moment before continuing, "But you will join us at some point?" Oh shit, she's got me on her sights. I can already hear her petitions for a rematch.
"I may or may not. Depends on the Professor entirely." And since I'm a hazard right now… that day might never come.
"Huh. Well, I will be looking forward to it. Don't think I'll let you off like this, I am going to make you kiss the ground someday!" First she sounded terribly disappointed, now she's all fiercely motivated. She can swing her mood faster than her sword.
"Hayase, just be honest. You've been asking about the Viking since we worked together in Niigata," Munakata, with a nice amount of sparks in between, just couldn't help yourself.
"Munakata! Shut it! I am just happy to have someone decent to spar against."
"Yeah, sure. To spar in the bedroom, perhaps?" Ouch. She's on literal fire today.
Maybe she's angry that Hayase told her off during our fight? I can see Kasumi trembling a bit on her seat.
"S-Shut up! That's insubordination. I'm the second-in-command here, you can't diss me like that. A hundred squats for you!" Ouch, Hayase's also really angry. I never thought I'd get to hear an embarrassed Hayase ever.
"Mitsuki, you need to be more honest with yourself. There's nothing wrong with getting interested in someone." Haruka-san too?! Friendly fire is on, apparently.
"Haruka! You're betraying me?!"
"Oh no, I'm just doing you a favor. Since you were so happy when we were told we could spar against them, I thought that you should seize the chance to-"
"Aaah! No more! Shut up! Vikings, these two are just messing with me, it's all just a big teasing, okay?!" I would have laughed along, if not for the blades coming from Hayase's tone.
"Of course. In any case, it was a pleasure to cross strikes with all of you," Kasumi nods too.
"Uuuh… I couldn't do a thing. Why did you take me out so fast?!" A voice I don't recognize, a feisty and energetic one, speaks to me as another Takemikazuchi gets closer.
"Takahara, you got careless again. You're so confident in your speed that you don't factor in the other's accuracy," The Captain scolds this Takahara, as calmly as always, making her groan loudly, "Look at Asakura, who's not as fast as you. She still managed to keep up decently."
"But in the end, I also got shot down," Another voice, more calm and sweet, speaks this time. This is Asakura, I guess, "It was a surprise when you did that sudden dive. I almost couldn't react, I didn't think the XM3 could allow us to do that."
"Yes, as I showed you today, there are many combinations of moves you can do with it. You should try to break through the usual conventions and patterns, there is a vast ocean of possibilities yet unknown waiting to be made a reality with this OS," The Captain hums in agreement and speaks up.
"Viking 1 and 2, I thank you for your assistance in our training today. I was told you have very tight schedules, so you have my utmost gratitude for giving us this chance to spar with both of you. I await the day you can become part of our squad, I'm sure the new recruits will benefit much from your skills," Cpt. Isumi firmly stated to take the reins of the conversation, probably to stop Munakata from teasing Hayase further.
"No, the pleasure was ours. And I hope we can work together in the future too."
"Yes, it was a nice experience," So Kasumi enjoyed herself, despite the violent shaking? She then nods twice.
"Likewise. We did think we would have the clear advantage with our new units, but it's clear we still haven't mastered them yet. Again, thanks for your cooperation today. Best of luck in your endeavors. Valkyrie 1, out." The rest of the Valkyries also send us their parting words and close their channels.
"Well… At least this went well."
"Yes, it was fun, albeit a bit too shaky," She insisted, again rubbing her head.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to the XM3 in time, even if my style is too crazy for you. Just keep on training, Kasumi," She nods, again beaming at me.
Reaching the base again, we ride the launch pad and begin our descent towards Hangar 78, Kasumi asking me questions about my decisions on the way down.