A/N: I don't own Infinite Stratos nor Armored Core. The prologue is a bit long but its not required to understand the main story. It mainly servers as a way to set the setting/style of writing for those interested.

Pilots: Unknown

Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Operation: Tranquil Flight

"She gets a little bit of fame and all of sudden she's too important to talk to us. What happened to the good old days of just sortieing out with the whole family there" dully moaned a woman in her late teens. Crossing her arms and pouting slightly at the flash drive and a note marked Tranquil Flight.

"That's just how the world works, besides at least we still get to fly out unlike the others" called out another woman in her early twenties, idly looking through the small fridge in the briefing room. The bland and intense white light of the room and inner fridge lights ruining her appetite, forcing her to settle for a juice pack. "You know, with all the money we got recently, you'd think they'd be able to have lighting that doesn't look like it's coming from a mental asylum".

"I actually prefer the garage" whined the teen, twirling and inspecting the ends of her long red hair, fiddling with the split ends while waiting for their third wingman. "Where the hell is Ao-"

"HERE!" panted a highschool girl with short brown hair in a bob cut as she burst through the doors of the briefing room. Squinting her light blue eyes as the intense pure white lights stained her eyes. "Sorry the club meetings took longer than expected, and my sen-"

"Don't care" quipped the older teen as she pushed the flash drive into a personal computer and began typing her part of a complex 3 person password. After a couple seconds stepping away and allowing the blonde 23 year old to enter her portion then allowing the youngest and newest pilot to enter her portion.

'How in the hell was she of all people recruited?' Quietly thought of the blonde as she watched the youngest of her wingmen struggle to pull up the mission file after entering her password wrong twice.

"Sorry about the delay… ah here we go.. u-um o-operation Tranq-quil Flight" stammered out the youngest.

"Just a text file briefing this time…..seriously I cannot believe her. She gets even lazier by the day. You think if they pulled this shit in the milita-"

"ENOUGH" called out a firm yet calm voice behind the redhead and brunette. "Just pull up the files and scroll through them already. The faster we know what we are doing, the faster we can get our wings into the sky" came from the blonde 23 year old, the seriousness in her voice indicating to her younger compatriots that her patience was slowly running out. Partially due to the fact that lighting in the room was making her uncomfortable.

"Operation Tranquil Flight: A combined wings approach to test the long range hypersensors and stealth capabilities of the experimental Infinite Stratos Type-17. Kaze Squadron will pilot 3 Type-17s and rendezvous with friendly air escort at the designated Waypoint 1 marker indicated in the Statistics and Reference (S&R) section of this document. Sortie time and vectors will be left to pilot discretion, however convergence at Waypoint 1 must be accomplished by 2130 plus or minus a 1 to 30 second delay. Once linkage has been maintained, Kaze Squadron will maintain angels 30 on given vectors to Waypoint 2 whereupon reaching the destination Kaze Squadron will perform a hovering holding pattern for 30 minutes, followed by a 12 minute circular holding pattern at angels 25. Upon completion of the holding pattern, Kaze Squadron will RTB upon the specified vectors in the S&R. Should Kaze Squadron or the escort squadron come under hostile fire, as per the Rules of Engagement for IS Interdiction Missions, the use of deadly weapons in direct fire retaliation is authorized. Mission scrub parameters will be left to the discretion of Kaze Squadron Flight Lead and the escort squadron flight lead, under no circumstances is the Type-17 allowed to suffer catastrophic damage or to fall into enemy hands. Projected force strength consists of USAF export F-15EXs and Soviet era Mig 31s armed with long range air to air missiles that have been encountered so far, direct threats to the Infinite Stratos have been projected to be at 0%. Intelligence has noted that OPFOR has not fielded nor is capable of fielding any units with the ability to deal damage to the Infinite Stratos at present. The escort for Operation Tranquil Flight will be designated as Alpha. Type-17s have been pre loaded with weapons and data at the flight bays. Kaze 1's IS is docked at launch bay 1. Kaze 2's IS is docked at launch bay 5. Kaze 3's IS is docked at launch bay 17."

"Well well well, would you look at that, our captain finally gets the reserved parking spot that she oh so deserved" grinned the redhead teen toward her blonde squadron leader.

"Sigh…..Can't say that you haven't improved either K-a-z-e 2, finally made it into the top 5 within your first few months...sigh….. guess I owe you that dinner"

"YES! prepare yourself because I'm gonna make your wallet cry. There's this new super expensive steak place that opened up in the city that I've been dying to try out."

"Please don't" came a dull response

"Aw don't be like that, you know you can afford it" Quickly whipping around to the youngest member of the team "anyways, so short stuff, whose our escort, do they have a picture, come on show me show me" beamed the redhead to the third and final member of Kaze Squadron.

Kaze 2's agreeable side slowly showed through as she now had a meal that didn't consist of packaged food on the horizon.

"U-Uh….. no…?...That's weird, there's no profile for our escort, no data, no picture, not even an IS model or core number….." stumbled out Kaze 3 as she was scrolling through the PDF looking for any identification on their mystery escort.

"What, then how the hell are we supposed to verify our escort?" asked a confused but still jovial Kaze 2.

"Here let me see that, there has to be something that we can use. Refusing to put down that information was intentional, but there has to be a way for us to know who we are linking up with" noted Kaze 1 as she stepped over and took over control of the computer from the young brunette. Slowly scrolling through the files and pouring over the hundreds of lines in the Statistics and References section.

"Looks like we are going old school with challenge words" said the blonde staring both her wingmen in the eyes with a flair of seriousness. "Commit this to memory, the challenge word is sea strider, and the proper response is tsunami. Don't mess it up otherwise we will all be grounded for the rest of our lives. Be clear and make sure that friendlies can hear you clearly. "

…..

"Do I make myself clear" Kaze 1 bellows out, in a far more authoritative and commanding voice.

"Yes Ma'am" they immediately replied in sync, while quickly standing at attention, hands raised to their head now saluting their flight lead.

"Dismissed" Kaze 1 replied back as she closed the computer and finally exited the briefing room, both glad to be out the white lighting of the dull room and to have her first real sortie once again. Especially a mission where she was finally cleared to use her weapons once more. Finally her squadron was moving up the ladder. After a few months of slow and dull missions, including both in going and outgoing transfer of wingmen, she finally had a live fire mission again. One where she would be set free into the skies once more. An opportunity to prove to her superiors that she isn't second fiddle to White Knight. They would be equals, no she would be better, she had to be better. The embarrassment and anger of being snubbed at the last minute for the debut of the White Knight, still fresh in her mind.

"Looks like our 'big sis' is all fired up…. always so serious when it comes to these things, I'm just happy to be out there flying and toying with the other pilots on the field" smiled Kaze 2 to Kaze 3 as she began to follow her squadron leader out of the drab briefing room. "C'mon you, I'll help you get set up in your IS" Kaze 2 uncharacteristically offered to her underclassman.

'Geez, get an offer for free food and it's like she's a completely different person. Should start carrying snacks with me all the time I guess' mused Kaze 3 as she finally switched off the lights to the drab and depressing the room while pocketing the note containing the operation name. Finally setting way through the narrow white corridors with her wingman by her side who was happily humming a tune to herself.

As they crisscrossed through a maze of white corridors and hallways, all appearing nearly identical in nature save for a few doors at different spots; they finally descended down a narrow flight of stairs, almost as if they were entering the stairs to a subway. The door at the bottom was slightly ajar, the light from the stairs side of the door creeping into the much darker and less lit hangar bay. As they pushed their way in they were greeted by a large room with walls that sloped up much in the shape of the letter "V". The recessed orangish and yellow lighting built into the sides of the walls and floor were far less obtrusive than the previous corridors that the girls navigated their way through. The lights were only bright enough only to illuminate the floor and walls slightly past head height, the mid to upper levels of the room were nearly pitch black as there were no lights on the ceiling. The single double door at the bottom of the stairs separated two totally different worlds, the darker room purposefully evoking a much more somber tone. Multiple cylindrical obtrusions lined the wall to the right, the tube-like structure traced a straight path along the slanted wall and disappeared into the darkness of the ceiling. Each one boasting a large number in white paint at about head height. At the bottom of three of the slanted tubes, was an open door that appeared as if it had been carved out from the tubes themselves. Two open doors were spaced close to each other, and a third much farther down, indicating that the IS units assigned to Kaze Squadron were primed and ready to go.

The two ISs closest to each other were identical in nature. The overall structure was large and triangular shaped, on the longest side the edges of the triangle sloped upward and into the center of the triangle, almost reminiscent of stealth bombers the girls had seen on TV. Three large angled jet engines blended into the angled fuselage of the IS. At the flat side of the large triangular structure was a slot for the pilot to mount themselves onto the IS. The IS's arms and legs were far smaller than that of other IS designs, in fact none of the appendages ever reached past the edges of the large flying wing mounted onto the back of the pilot's cradle/housing. The arms and legs of the IS were made out of a thin and flexible black carbon fire metallic mesh. The size of which was only a few inches larger than a normal pilot's arm and leg. Each of the two ISs sported an internal weapons bay, the left side had a small rectangular rack of micro missiles, while the right wing rack mounted a small repeating laser rifle with an under barrel 23mm cannon whose barrel traveled the length of the entire laser rifle assembly. At the tail end of the cannon was a bullpup like system where ammunition was fed in via a belt, along with an ejection port. It was as if someone had taken a Bren gun and moved the magazine to the back and attached a laser rifle in the now free forward section of the gun.

Further down another internal bay housed a various assortments of ranged and melee weapons for the pilot to choose from if the wing mounted weapons didn't suit her needs. Towering over the blonde flight lead and her wingmen, the angular looking IS's all but told the 3 young women that these were machines of war. There was no other purpose for these machines, they were born into this world for the sole purpose of striking deep into enemy territory and landing a killing blow on unsuspecting enemies. A stark contrast to the flashy angel-like appearance of the White Knight who sported a sword.

"These look like giant kites, are our cores in there or is this a generic unit?" asked Kaze 2 as she walked over to her flight lead who was currently pouring and scrolling through a data tablet.

"Oh they're in there alright, this is definitely Shinonono's work". The mention of Tabane Shinonono immediately drew smiles upon the other two women, knowing that they had a quality machine at their disposal. Unlike the generic models that her coworkers would focus on over personal units, personal IS units with IS cores had far greater capabilities and were highly attuned to their user. Both pilot and IS would grow and learn together. Both needing each other to unlock their full capabilities and full potential. Compared to the battery powered generic versions, however, personal IS cores could only be built in totality by Tabane Shinonono herself.

"Kaze 3, your IS is farther down…. I have to say it's quite the machine". Added the blonde, as she stared off into the distance toward the significantly larger IS launch bay.

Launch bays 15-20 were the dedicated heavy lift launchers, designed to launch ultra heavy IS test units or to transport equipment from the surface into the depths of the base. Anyone assigned to such a test unit would have to have been a veteran test pilot or someone with an incredibly high IS compatibility score. Kaze 1 had finally answered her own question as to why Kaze 3 had been allowed to go near an IS in the first place, let alone pilot one. What Kaze 1 didn't understand at the time was how much higher of a compatibility ratio Kaze 3 had over her and Kaze 2.

Standing with large outstretched triangular and boomerang like wings, similar in design and shape to Kaze 1 and 2's units, Kaze 3's IS had significantly longer wings and overall shape. Almost 3 times the width of the other IS unit, and nearly twice as tall; Kaze 3's IS was the definition of a flying wing. It was as if someone had taken one of America's premier flying wing stealth bombers and miniaturized it into IS form. Like the other IS units, engines were blended into the rising section of the IS unit's fuselage, only instead of 3 jet engines, Kaze 3 sported a monstrous 6 thrusters, all flush with the fuselage's angular body. On the flat side was a pilot's cradle with arms and legs much like the other two IS units with the exact same dimensions. Aside from the impressive wingspan of the unit, the main feature that had both Kaze 2 and Kaze 3 shocked with eyes wide open was the weapons complement of the hulking IS. Like her smaller cousins, the large IS had an internal weapons bay, only it was what was inside the bay that stunned the two teenage girls.

"I...is….is that an….a-a-are tho-" Kaze 2 stammered in disbelief

"R-33s…..and a KS-172…...w-what kind of mission is this" quietly spilled out of Kaze 3's mouth.

"Both of you knew what you were signing up for when you both decided to pilot the world's most powerful weapon. All of us here have both shot and been shot at before, this should be business as usual for you two. Don't tell me you actually believe that the piece of paper that the Alaska Treaty is written on is worth a damn…... Besides, if you're so scared of missiles Kaze 2, we might have to do something about that missile rack in your IS" smirked Kaze 1 while she gently but reassuringly patted the two girls on their shoulders.

"Bull…." quipped back a still shocked Kaze 2

"Oh? and how do you figure"

"Micro missiles are one thing….. micro missiles that Tabane and her team made… but these…. cap these ar-"

"Russian heavy missiles….." Filled in Kaze Squadron's third element.

"How did she get a hold of these" continued Kaze 3. " Captain… these are the types of weapons that you use to go to war with" as she ran her hands across the length of the KS-127 anti AWACS missile. "W-W...We aren't probing into their territory anymore, or being a nuisance. This, this is fo-for real"

Up until that point, all the IS pilots had only used weapons that were made by Tabane and her team. All of a sudden the appearance of Russian made missiles now fitting flush into an IS made by Tabane signaled to the woman that something larger was at play. None of the pilots were naive, they all knew that Tabane and her team couldn't be a hundred percent trusted. Ever since the debut of the White Knight society changed on a larger scale, social ramifications of the IS being limited to women aside, the ever growing backstabbing and even more intense secrecy and distrust in the post IS world caused them to cast away any innocence they had. All three were forced to adapt to a world that would be more than willing to kill someone over the chance to take an IS core for themselves. The presence of such hyper specialized weaponry, one so fundamentally different to contemporary IS design sent massive alarm bells ringing in Kaze 2 and 3's heads. Most of the weapons that they had used up until now were far smaller than their military counterparts and weren't often specialized in a militaristic manner. Micro missiles, repeating lasers, large swords, short range cannons all these weapons necessitated that an IS pilot get up close and personal to do damage to their opponent. To some of the pilots it was an unnecessary artificial constraint that was imposed by the super genius and her. It was almost as if she were taunting her enemies, letting them know that with the power of the IS, any woman could simply walk up to her opponent and deliver a devastating blow. None of these weapons were practical from a militaristic sense. The urgency and tenseness in combat of ultra long range weapons and beyond visual range combat didn't exist for IS pilots especially with the hyper sensors getting stronger and stronger by the day. Coupled with the IS's impressive shield, decades of modern aviation and dogfight tactics were turned on their head by the decision of a select few. Furthermore, neither of Kaze Squadron's younger two pilots had actually fired a shot or struck a target that had landed a killing blow. The presence of radically different weapons from the standard IS doctrine, and weapons designed to kill at extreme long range significantly dampened the mood of the two younger and combat inexperienced pilots. At present the Kaze Squadron would be the first IS squadron in the world to handle such a weapon system. The fact that they were piloting a stealth based Infinite Stratos was not lost on them. As sharp as they were, they knew they were going to be the first strike in a military operation against the mysterious country.

Until now, Kaze Squadron and other IS units had only harassed the mysterious country that popped up in the middle of the pacific ocean during the 1970s. From simply flying close to their interceptors and then outmaneuvering their ordinance, to messing with their radar and sensory equipment via the usage of special micro missiles, almost all IS pilots worth anything had used the country that popped out of nowhere as a testing ground for their IS. Some even go as far as to engage and shoot down their aircraft in contested air and sea territory. Given that they had no IS units and weren't part of the Alaska Treaty, to the world their airspace was free reign. And the United States along with Russia and China were more than willing to send over their surplus military equipment that the IS had rendered obsolete for a quick buck. All in all, a political situation had ensued where the mysterious nation who despite their pleas, constantly had their airspace violated and their admittance into the Alaska Treaty constantly revoked. Due to the lack of an IS, said mystery nation was not able to join the treaty, a factor which multiple countries happily exploited. From the world's point of view, it wasn't like they would be able to retaliate or stand up to the Infinite Stratos in any capacity.

"We're on the crux of history, ladies. Whatever happens today will probably get put in some kids history book in the future" beamed Kaze 1 as she rubbed her hand against the anti AWACS missile. She finally had her chance to prove herself to the world, she would be able to prove her value to not only the world but her family. She would finally get the adulation and love that only her eldest brother ever received.

"H-How can you be so nonchalant about this….. these are Russian missiles…. how in the hell did she even get these" Kaze 2 argued as she pointed to the other two long range air to air missiles.

"Hey… wait what the hell are you doing" she exclaimed, only this time in pure shock as she watched Kaze 3 climb into the pilot's position of the IS and give a command to retract the specialized long range missiles into their enormous weapon's bay.

"I-I don't want to think about this anymore….. can we just get this over with please. Whatever happens….happens. As long as you're all safe I don't care." Closing her eyes the youngest members of Kaze Squadron meekly spit out. Her new found courage shocked her two older teammates.

"I-I-wha-what the...what the hell is going on…. am I the only normal one here?" came softly from Kaze 2.

Without saying a word, Kaze 1 simply turned her back to Kaze 2 and walked toward her IS getting ready to change into her special IS body suit and mount her new stealth based IS. In all of Kaze 2's frustration and confusion, she didn't even realize that Kaze 3 had somehow managed to undress herself and get into the pilot's suit before mounting her IS. As she watched her flight lead do the same, and the squadron's third elements run through pre-flight checks, she mentally gave into the peer pressure and made her way to change into the special IS suit.

"It'll be fine….just leave this to me alright, it's like the document said. All we have to do is fly in a circle once we get to the second waypoint" Kaze 1 whispered to Kaze 2, channeling every bit of maturity she could. She could tell that the normally cocky and high spirited pilot was starting to see the reality of the situation and crack at the seriousness of the situation. Like a mother comforting her child she pulled her into a tight but short hug in an attempt to relieve her younger pilot's stress.

"Thanks"

"No problem, I'll always be here for you two. If you can't count on me, who else can you count on" Kaze 2's flight lead beamed and tilted her head. Her blonde hair flowing off to the right in picture-esque fashion, as if she were an angel herself. However she could see that the smile had a tint of pain to it. In the short time she had known her flight lead, Kaze 2 had grown to look up to her and appreciate the helping hand she always put out. For once in her life she had someone who wanted to help her, and to actively be around her. Silently steeling herself, Kaze 2 came to a resolution. She wouldn't fly this mission for Tabane, world politics or to kill, no she would fly this mission for her flight lead. This time she would be the one to help her flight lead realize her dreams and to grasp her once in a lifetime opportunity, just as she had done for her. In her mind she had all the justification for the mission now, surely she didn't need to feel guilty for what would happen to the pilots of the mysterious nation. She wasn't killing, no she was just helping someone important to her, nothing more nothing less.

Moments later all the pilots were inside of their IS, the doors to the launch tubes hissing close while an alarm blared signaling that a launch was about to take place. Ensuring that all the pre-flight checks were in the green, each pilot sent a signal to the automatic launch system signaling that the squadron was ready for launch. As soon as all the pilots checked in, a green icon labelled LAUNCH appeared on their IS's hud.

Microseconds later the incredibly powerful steam catapults pushed each of the IS units up the launch tubes at tremendous speeds and G-forces. The Infinite Stratos's passive inertia control effectively nullifying the strain and forces. Seconds later 2 triangular shaped objects shot through the pitch black sky followed by a significantly larger boomerang shaped object hot on their trails.

AN: Hey guys this is my first ever story that I am writing, any feedback is appreciated. I've been wanting to write a story for a long while now, and I finally decided to pull the trigger on it. Personally I really enjoyed the tech and world building for Infinite Stratos, I didn't care too much for the other aspects. However I always wanted to write a crossover between IS and Armored Core. To me both open a huge gate for creative writing possibilities. I wanted to make the characters more human than your run of the mill cookie cutter characters where they have a personality and stick to it. To me people are complex and can't be reduced down to "heroic lead" or "always stoic lead". That's why I tried to frame out the characters in such a way where there are slight variations on their behavior, but to their friends it's not abnormal. It's why Kaze 1 can go from stern to hugging to absolutely determined, and it's why Kaze 2 isn't bothered or shocked by it. Furthermore it's also why Kaze 1 and 3 aren't shocked by Kaze 2's sudden apprehensions despite her usual self. They understand that she's human just like them. Let me know how I did and where there is room to improve.

The inspiration for Kaze 1 and 2s IS comes from the F-117 Nighthawk. And Kaze 3's IS comes from the B2-Spirit. To me these two are the quintessential angular stealth planes. The suits in IS always looked like the emphasized fashion over form, and so I wanted to create a semi realistic or at least believable shape for what a stealth based IS would look like. Next chapter will dive right into the action so stay tuned.