Chapter 2 - One Small Step

"May quit fidgeting so much, you're making this worse than it has to be." An annoyed woman's voice whined as she did her best to apply eyeliner to the young redhead in front of her.

"I can get myself dressed you know. You act as if I'm a total slob. I don't see you hovering over the other two as much." An equally frustrated May retorted out with a slight undertone of bitterness.

"Yeah, unlike you they actually wore the dress clothes I set out when Robin came over. Flannel shirt, undershirt and jeans...Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?"

"I already told you she came earlier, and I overslept a little. It's not my fault that Mrs. Waldreich popped in uninvited, especially when you weren't even home."

"Your brothers were dressed, regardless you could have changed before heading out for dinner. I told you Robin does annoying shit like this all the time." May's older sister admonished, adding the finishing touches to her younger sister's eye.

Sitting on a stool uncomfortably closer to her little sister's face, Liana's perpetually tired yet sharp brown eyes focused on May's face. Regardless of the event, dark circles always accompanied her eyes. The brunette's wavy shoulder length hair rested idly. Sharp bangs covered the majority of her forehead, while a scar from her left cheek traced and pinched the surrounding skin all the way to her neck.

Despite the sharp features of her eyes and face, Liana had a far more subdued and tired look compared to that of her ever energetic younger sister. A look that had caused the triplets to tease that she was tired of life from the moment she was born. Such an appearance, however, was deceiving as the older Rockwell could go from the verge of sleep deprivation to serious in just seconds.

"I can't believe you did a photo op in jeans and a flannel, didn't even button up all the way... That picture is on the front of every news site and paper, even Earth side they're running the headlines with that picture."

"Those were the tabloids! There's a proper picture of all of us in our dress uniforms, not my fault if everyone ignores the better picture."

"Plus you already yelled at me enough about it… I don't need to hear it all over again. Not like I wanted to be dressed like an idiot." May continued, doing her best to not make eye contact with her older sister.

"Controversy sells." Liana sighed. "You're ridiculously lucky that Allison is the Earth side Secretary of Defense. Calvin tore Jean a new one for your antics when he saw the pictures." She continued with a slight chuckle.

"What? He never said anything about that!" A guilty May yelled.

"You know how your brother is."

May could only grumble in response. 'Not like you're any better Li Li.' She thought as her older sister finally added the finishing touches. Satisfied Liana leaned back and smiled at her work.

"Stand up and stretch your arms out, we're almost done."

Walking over to the bed the older of the two picked up May's new dress shirt. Putting it on her younger sister, Liana took great care to not crease or crumple the crisp white uniform. Buttoning it with extreme care she slowly made her way from the bottom to the top, all the while May's outstretched hand stung in slight pain.

"Now for the hard part...Stand still."

"Wait what are you-" May shrieked as Liana tucked the bottom of the dress shirt into her dark olive green dress pants.

"With a voice like that, who needs a signal gun?" Liana grimaced as her sister continued to yell and complain.

"Keep your damn hands straight! I spent five hours ironing everything to perfection while you were lazing around with your brothers! Do not try my fucking patience!" Liana snapped, her sharp eyes staring deep into May's soul.

May stood in silence as one of the few people who scared her was currently in a bad mood. Her sister doing her best to tuck the pristine white uniform without creasing it.

"Your arms are wavering."

"I've been holding them up like this for sometime now. It hurts."

"Well it's about to get heavier so bear with it."

"What did I do to deserve this?" May lightly whined.

"Consider it punishment for your antics, you're sixteen May...I shouldn't have to dress you."

'Not like I asked you to.' The young redhead quipped in her mind, pretending as if she had somehow won the argument.

Having tucked the inner uniform, Liana lifted up a thick olive green dress jacket that matched May's dress pants. Looping May's arms through the jacket, the older Rockwell took great care to not crease anything unnecessarily.

Standing in a full olive green uniform May was finally able to rest her sore arms. Liana took a step back and just stared, for a second May was scared that they missed something. Fear gave way to relief when her older sister lightly rocked her head and smiled.

May just stood still and let her older sister have her moment. For the older brunette, recent times had not been kind to her. Though Liana never said anything, May could tell that the past two years had been particularly tough on the oldest sister. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin her peace and happiness.

Looking anywhere but her sister's eyes, May caught a glimpse of the name tag on her dress uniform.

"Wait, this isn't the right name tag." She called out with a slight concern to her voice, the beveled edges combined with the worn out sheen raised alarm bells in the teen's mind.

"You're right, it's mine. From when I was in the Cadet Corps just like you."

Alarm turned into curiosity as May inspected the older designed name plate that displayed her last name.

"But why? Redesign wasn't that ugly." She laughed lightly.

"It most certainly was that bad. Really though, it's for tradition."

"Tradition?"

"Passing it down…Since you joined the Cadet Corps, I get to pass down my tags."

"Still crazy to me how all of us are in the military."

"Woah woah…Calm your boosters, you and your brothers are still Cadets. And we've talked about what happens after you graduate." Liana lectured as she began to don her own jacket. The response drew out a deep sigh from her younger sister.

"What? Don't give me that, the last thing I want is for you three to end up dead for nothing."

"Didn't stop you from enlisting. A bit hypocritical Li Li, what's so different between us." May casually retorted as Liana pulled at the sleeves of her own bluish ISA staff uniform.

"Well back then it was either enlist or become a prostitute. So I'd say there was a pretty big difference." She snickered lightly as if she were back to her old self.

"Geez. And to think it was you telling Nate to watch what he says around the girls." The younger redheaded sister chuckled out.

Fully dressed to the older sister's standards, the two finally left the room after nearly an hour. The hallway door numbers decreased in a series of five hundred, the narrow corridor extravagantly decorated.

"Well...More than a few people here could use the experience of back home. I swear some of the staff here's worse than the students." Liana grumbled as she punched the button to call the elevator.

The elevator beep brought May out of her revere as the two sisters entered the even more ornate elevator. Everything on the massive cruise ship was highly decorated, a gold and amber hue accompanied the two as the elevator fell downwards, the large glass window gave way to the central atrium. Winding stairs with rows of balconies lined the large atrium. Hundreds of people became clearer and clearer as the elevator plummeted down tens of floors.

"On ramp in two dot dot okay. Bring the other two as well." Liana broke the silence as she stared off to the side, observing the array of warm colors.

"Yeah yeah, I got my watch and a notification on my phone."

"Good, don't forget about our conversation earlier."

"The dress?" May asked with slight confusion, drawing out a silent sigh from her older sister.

"No you idiot. I'm talking about your brothers... They're counting on you, don't let 'em down." Liana reiterated with crossed arms, leaning her head against the glass.

"May you have to be perfect-no more than perfect. All eyes will be on you and your brothers. Everyone will be looking for you to fail, the tiniest of mess ups and they will hold it against you till the end of time."

"Hardly seems fair." Liana could only sigh at the response, though internally she was glad that there was still a shred of innocence still left in her younger sister.

"That's the point. They don't want you here."

"Then why am I here?"

"The why hardly matters at this point." Liana insisted as the elevator came to a slow crawl.

The elevator doors suddenly opened giving way to a massive atrium. Stepping out with purpose and arms to her side, Liana made a quick exit leaving her sister scrambling after her.

"Two on the dot dot remember." She commanded while accelerating away from her sister, her back in the direction of her stride. Quickly disappearing into the sea of people aboard the massive ocean liner.

Standing alone in the impressively large, yet crowded lobby May looked around for someone or something to do. Despite joining the ranks of the Cadet Corps late, she had made some acquaintances. Unfortunately for the redheaded teen, the sea of students aboard the docked ship made it impossible to find anyone she knew.

Peering off to the left she spotted a row of stalls through the occasional gaps of moving students. With molasses-like pace she lazily walked towards an ice cream stall. However the thought of staining her uniform, and consequently incurring the wrath of her sister persuaded her to seek something else.

Unlike the sea of freshmen around her who all donned their traditional red and white academy uniform, May sorely stood out in her olive colored uniform. Like all other Representative Cadets, she got to wear her own special dress uniform for special occasions, especially for the freshman welcome ceremony.

'Wonder when we'll get to see Ichika.' She idly thought as she passed a stall selling IS keychains.

A buzz in her pocket jolted her out of her thoughts as she read the text message with a smile. With a sense of purpose she pushed her way through the crowded atrium into a series of long hallways and elevators. Each intricately designed to showcase a great deal of elegance, one only possible with a great deal of funding. Though such extravagance was a drop in the ocean for the IS Academy.

A long hallway greeted May at the end of her journey across the ship, unlike the others it was empty save for a single door at the end. The biggest feature, however, was the presence of two armed guards flanking the door.

The one sitting on a chair, probably stolen from a restaurant, went to put out her cigarette with a sense of urgency and panic; as if she had been caught by a superior officer. Academy students were known to be high strung or overtly posh, the power and prestige of being such a student often went to their heads. Complaints from a Representative Cadet about staff would most certainly torpedo someone's career, to say that staff on the ship were walking on eggshells was an understatement.

May simply waved the woman off, sparing the white stick intertwined in the guard's fingers from an early demise. She apologized with a heavy Japanese accent as she sprang from her chair.

"This is a restricted area!" A far more refined voice came from the other woman who actually stood guard, her hand on her weapon.

"I uh...I have a pass." May floundered as she fished out a slip from her wallet.

Reading the slip the woman tore it up before apologizing profusely to a confused May. Inputting their own security codes into the terminal the door swung open. The guard simply still continued to apologize, almost in a pleading like fashion.

On the other side, May was met with the same opulence as the rest of the ship. The only difference was the presence of students from other nationalities or groups that one wouldn't normally find across the ship. Purposely separated from the rest of their classmates, these students came from nations with contentious relationships with Japan or other countries, those who the Academy deemed needed extra security. The last thing that crew wanted was a shooting war onboard the ship due to nationalism.

Navigating her way through the segregated portion of the ship she came up on a bar serving non-alcoholic drinks, two boys seated as a woman mixed a drink.

"Is the word bitch written on my forehead? Cause every time I look at staff they always look at me like I'm about to screw them over." May hissed as she lightly slapped the back of her brother's back.

"Well you've got a big forehead so maybe." Nate mocked as his sister took a seat next to him, handing her a small menu card.

"Boy aren't you a real lady killer." May remarked as she ordered something from the menu.

"You should have seen him earlier, it was awful. Like really really bad. Like hot garbage bad, May you seriously gotta teach him something for the love of all womankind." Kenny mocked.

"Buddy, I don't want to hear shit from the dude who's more interested in some machine than the literal thousands of women around him." Nate jested back.

"Language young man!" The bartender hissed as she handed May her multilayered fruity drink.

Sheepishly Nate nodded, fiddling with the tiny umbrella in his own drink much to his brother and sister's amusement. He had yet to fully flush out his crassness from his vocabulary.

"You seriously should have just asked Rachel out, unlike everyone else here she actually did like you." May shook her head.

"Wouldn't have mattered anyway, she's committed to the Armored Core track. At minimum she's gotta slog up to 5 years of service in Normals before she even gets to train in an AC simulator." Nate dejectedly said as he buried his face in his hands.

"Yeesh...Yeah that's not a commitment I'm willing to make." May mumbled.

"The Cadet program graduates you at 19 or 20. So that means she'll be-"

"She'll be 24 at the earliest if she's perfect on her fast track. Add two years for training and then she can finally join an AC squadron. Even then she's still not fully done with her training." Nate lightly moaned, cutting off his brother.

"Why so much training." Kenny questioned, his wealth of knowledge barely intersecting with the Armored Core.

"ACs aren't cheap and aren't easy to pilot. That and according to Jean after the Continental War we basically lost our entire AC force. Guess they're being extra strict since all of our supposed aces died immediately." Nate responded.

"Liana said that we even deployed all our combat instructors too. Apparently they also all died." May added.

"Yeah, the highest ranking pilot that survived the war was a Captain. The Dalehan report was pretty bad."

"I don't know...The more I learn about it the less appealing actually piloting an AC becomes." May said.

"If a war doesn't take her out, the joint pain and drugs will make the rest of her life hell. That or the trauma will…Well you know." Nate filled in as he began to get out of his chair, his siblings in tow.

Walking out onto the deck they were welcomed by the sight of the academy. A large artificial island with three massive arenas sprawled out, a giant spire at the center of the island. Numerous buildings dotted the island including an impressively long tram line leading to another island. Below them, by the dock, hundreds of students lined up and waved at the massive ship the triplets currently inhabited. Some waved banners welcoming the new students, while others made gestures to tease their new classmates.

A band, in the distance, was seen forming and getting their instruments ready. Contractors worked diligently to set up large tables for a grand banquet on the further inland. A large line of trucks were unloaded, various trays of food and boxes all carted to the venue.

"There's enough food there to feed an entire refugee camp." Kenny observed.

"This entire island is weirdly expensive, kind of makes me a little sick." May remarked with disgust.

A gentle breeze fluttered the trees on the island, as clean air and water stretched over the horizons in all directions. Everything was peaceful, the entire island's atmosphere was euphoric. For those who spent their entire lives on Earth it was another sunny Sunday afternoon, yet it was paradise for the Cascadians.

Not even Cascadia's capitol held up in such beauty, though the triplets didn't know if that said more about how broke Cascadia was or the incredible amount of money that found its way into the IS Academy.

For a while all three took in the beauty and stewed in their own thoughts, the layers of May's drink gradually disappeared as the time went on.

"I asked Colonel Stanislaw about the aggressor squadron. Apparently she was going down that rabbit hole even before us. The 2948th sort of exists, we think..." Nate said, breaking the deafening silence.

Grabbing his siblings' attention, they quickly turned their heads, May with a slight smile and Kenny with a questioning look.

"But it doesn't belong to the National Defense Force, well that's the current theory. According to her there's no unit in NDef that allows for the schedule Liana and Jean had. She tried to bait out some details by asking for a joint exercise between an AC aggressor squadron and a team of IS special forces." He continued.

"So what happened?" Kenny prodded.

"She asked for any AC squadrons that had experience in asymmetrical warfare or that deployed during the Continental War. They said that units like that don't exist, then she asked if she could use Liana's old squadron for exercises. Then they said that the squadron doesn't exist anymore and was decommissioned. She asked them for a roster of pilots from Liana's squadron… Apparently they don't have the records anymore."

"I told her to try looking up Liana's Armored Core branch ID to get anything, apparently that was one of the first things she did when Liana joined. She didn't have clearance and got nothing." Nate continued.

"Wait… Colonel Stanislaw doesn't have clearance? Wasn't she the base commander?" May asked, confused.

"She's the only IS base commander, she should have a ton of pull. But it gets even weirder, whenever she'd punch in Liana's normal service ID, everything ended after she left the Cadet Corps." Nate elaborated.

"She had to use Liana's IS branch ID to get anything. And it didn't even go beyond her IS assignment and training. She also had a friend who had a higher rank look up Jean. She said literally everything was classified except for his name…Even the gender field was classified."

"And get this!" Nate continued, harshly whispering as if stumbled on a treasure trove. "His profile doesn't even have a photo!"

"I don't get it. Why's only his record so heavily classified?" Kenny wondered aloud.

"You're asking the wrong question, Li Li's IS record only goes back a couple of years. The IS came out about a decade ago, but Liana's profile only goes back a few years." Nate interjected as his sister led the group of three to the ship's atrium, entering an elevator.

"So?" His brother asked.

"So what the hell was Li Li doing before that, if it was in the IS, Colonel Stanislaw should have full clearance. And why the hell is Jean's shit all classified. They've both been in the military ever since we were born." His sister chimed in.

The elevator suddenly opened up to hundreds of students all packed tightly in the atrium. Hundreds more on the floors and balconies above them, the sight of their sister on a couch put an end to their conversation.

"And with forty minutes to spare." Liana suddenly called out as they approached her, not once looking up from her phone.

"Twenty minutes prior to twenty minutes prior." May sang in a sing-song voice.

"Finally catching on I see."

"Li Li, the two of us haven't gotten anything about the parade yet. Nothing in our emails or anything from the coordinators, what are we supposed to do?" Nate asked.

"Nothing, you aren't part of the parade. Not anymore."

"What!" The three exclaimed in unison.

"Why do you three yell so much? School admin wasn't thrilled with having boys enroll in the first place, pulling the plug on you two last minute shouldn't have been a surprise." A tired Liana said.

"So what are we supposed to do then?" Kenny questioned.

"Sit tight and join the rest of us for lunch after the parade. You can't get off the ship until the parade's over anyway, so cool off for a bit."

"You know your seating arrangements for the buffet, right? So just follow the rest of the teaching staff off the ship." Liana continued.

"A hundred says they never planned on letting you two walk." May theorized.

"For what it's worth, that Ichika kid isn't walking either, at least they're consistent." Liana said as she stood up and stretched to her pleasure.

"You two aren't missing much, whole thing's a giant sweat fest. Only the overzealous Cadets ever have any fun, sticking their nose at everyone else. At least I don't have to hold the damn flag this year around." She mumbled annoyed.

By the time the two boys had reached the deck of the large ship, the procession of students had already begun. A long snake of students disembarked from the ship as various national anthems and medleys played. Each group of students led by their nation's new Cadet Representatives and a flag bearer.

Proudly each of the first year girls marched in formation, their arms and legs swinging with precise timings. A thunderous clapping as their shoes hit the ground below them. Off to the side, four IS units held up a massive flag of each nation that had their moment in the limelight, both the flag and pilots hovering a good distance above the ground. Sounds of thruster bells whined over the national anthem of the country as three IS units flew in formation over the crowd.

The leader brandishing a lance that she extended forward, her formation partners both spearing the open air with sabers of their own. A dazzling display of colored water fell behind them in the form of white, blue and red stripes.

Nearly the entire academy had gathered in the harbor to welcome in the new students, the combined voices of the crowd soaring high above. Even some of the staff joined in with the students from their country.

Hundreds of flashes blitzed the girls as they marched on, the media in a hurried frenzy as they snapped all the video and photos they could. Normally not allowed on the island, the annual procession, graduation and sparse events offered a limited exclusive view into the geographically isolated academy.

Kenny, however, was content with recording the fly overs from the deck as IS units buzzed him from behind. While his brother watched the event through the viewfinder, Nate was more than happy to just live the moment. Despite his own opinions on the IS and the ISA, internally he begrudgingly admitted that they knew how to put on a show.

The rumbling of drums and a chorus of trumpets grabbed his attention as a flight of three IS units soared overhead. The leader in a blue and purple suit, the back of which sported two arm like structures on both sides. Almost as if it were mimicking wings of some sort, the overall suit bulkier around the pilot.

"Is this Britain's new army in all her crowning glory?" Nate scoffed.

"If British women solely want the right to get themselves blown up, well I won't complain." Kenny retorted as he zoomed in on the suspended flag of the United Kingdom which eventually changed into that of the United States.

A flight of seven blue IS units streaked overhead. Fanning out with great speed, streaking flares behind them. The IS medley of the United States blaring with grandeur. Flags continued to change between the few remaining nations as flyovers continued, the electric atmosphere raising everyone's spirits.

As the last nation on Earth wrapped up its display the speakers crackled to life.

"Lastly from Terra, the General Armament's Federal Colony of Cascadia." An announcer's voice called out.

Despite the volume of the crowd dropping sharply, a chorus of screaming made up the difference as a section full of Cascadians with banners and flags gave it their all. The steady thumping of marching reared itself as the two looked to see a stream of white uniforms led by a thin line of olive drabbed uniformed girls. A large blue Cascadian flag waving stoutly in the center as the national anthem played.

"What the hell!" Nate yelped in shock.

A flight of five blue IS units streaked overhead at incredible speeds just barely above their heads. A flurry of fireworks popped loudly behind them, the heavy vibrations rattling everyone's body as if they were at a concert.

"I don't think they're allowed to do that." Kenny laughed, yelling in excitement as his country's IS team put on a loud show to end the procession.

The rush of energy eventually hit Nate as he began to join in on his brother's excitement. Whether it was a jet or an IS, to the boys, nothing beat the rush of having one fly by at an incredible speed.

With the crowd dispersing and making their way to the buffet, the two Cascadian boys were finally granted escape from the large ship. Strolling down the now empty gangway both enjoyed the silence. A distant chatter could be heard as an island full of girls gleefully ate away at their food.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Kenny chuckled as he recorded a video of Nate taking the first step any Cascadian man had ever taken on the island.

Nate cracked a questioning smile as he saw his brother hop off the gangway, landing feet first into the concrete. His brother returned a smirk.

"Apparently some guy who landed on their Moon said it. The internet here is way better than the intranet." Kenny beamed as he shut the recording, giddy with excitement that he was finally on the island.

The short walk through the once full harbor, reminded them of late night walks on base with their older sister. Despite the large conglomeration of people just ahead, the fanfare for the two was nonexistent beyond a few stares from contracted event staff and security. Before either could enter the buffet line, two women approached them, their lanyards bold with the word 'STAFF'.

"Sorry you can't enter the venue, unfortunately the whole place is crawling with reporters. We set up a separate table by the shore way over there." The teacher said as she pointed to a long pathway that led to the edge of the island.

"Uh…our sister said that we would be joining her in the venue. We have tickets see." Kenny motioned, showing his phone to the women.

"Sorry. Plans changed. Get used to it." The other staff member curtly remarked.

Expecting a snarky comment from his brother, Kenny was slightly shocked to see him casually strolling down the path. Sighing he reluctantly caught up to his brother as the two walked down the narrow path.

"What. Don't look at me like that. Didn't actually think we'd get to sit with them did you?" Nate smirked, lauding his pessimism over his IS obsessed brother.

At the end of the path the two came up on a small fold out table by the sandy beach, the dining cloth grossly oversized. A singular tablet haphazardly laid at the center of the table for them to order off from. Despite the poor setup, the view was contrastingly beautiful. The beach offered a spectacular sight as the blues of the ocean and cloudless sky met on the horizon.

Placing their orders the two waited, making small talk as the time passed. Pacing around the sandy dunes the two took in the beauty, the atmosphere reminded them of a vacation resort they had once seen in a brochure.

"I feel like I've broken into a gated community…" Nate whispered.

"Its…Yeah this place is…Up close it…Yeah…" Kenny mumbled back, a chill running up his back, the realization that he was actually at the ISA slowly settled.

Gentle waves splashed their legs as they stood at the edge of the beach. Their only company the crashing of the waves and the ruffling of trees. Despite the entire school gathering further inland, neither could hear a single whisper from the event. The sudden rolling of a cart jolted the two as the non-natural sounds clambered over the nature.

"Your meals as requested." A voice called out from behind them, a Japanese woman dressed in all white plated their food and set up the rest of their table.

"Uh…and if you see any reporters let us know." Came out an awkward and forced voice, bowing quickly she left the two boys to enjoy their meal in peace. Taking the tablet with her.

"Man, good call on ordering extra." Kenny remarked as the two dug in.

Thoroughly impressed with their meal the two stuffed their faces with as much of the high quality food as possible. Compared to the cruise ship and Cadet training, the food had left rather impressive marks on their Cascadian pallets. Stuffed full the two lazed around as the sky slowly started to change its color. A solemn atmosphere settled as the two wrestled with the fact that this would be their home for the next five years, both coming to different conclusions. Having had their fill, the two left the beach, deciding to hit the line to get their class schedules before the entire island rushed for a single building. Purpose giving them a convenient excuse to ignore the hard questions in their minds.

Their foresight paid off as they grabbed their schedules with ease, quickly cutting through the maze of empty belt barriers. They had even managed to get May's schedule alongside all their room assignments.

Hurriedly the two boys opened their envelopes, the fact that they were holding genuine pure paper escaped their minds.

"Class 1-1 Homeroom Instructors: Orimura Chifiuyu and Yamada Maya!" Kenny shrieked in excitement.

"C-C-Chifuyu!" He continued to stutter out in glee as if he had received the best birthday gift ever.

Nate rolled his eyes as he read his and his sister's schedules. "Guess we're all in the same class, well homeroom at least."

"This is gonna be so awesome, we're actually in the same room as Chifuyu. She's really gonna be our instructor-"

"Oh quit your gushing, the entire island doesn't need to know your celebrity crush." Nate lightly cracked as the two walked aimlessly amongst the classroom buildings.

"She's the face of the IS! She's not just some random pilot. She's the IS pilot Nate! There's literally no one better!"

"Million says that Li Li would curb stomp her."

"Nah Li Li's good and all-"

"There's no way in hell your poster girl touches sis in a straight up fight." Nate quipped back with the slightest touch of annoyance.

The sounds of a small crowd grabbed their attention as they hastened their pace to see what all the commotion was about. A banner hanging between two poles clued the two boys in, big bold red letters displayed the alluring message of Meet The Instructors. Rows of digital panels, about the size of a person, littered the open area.

"And of course he races for Orimura…" Nate silently whispered to himself as he saw brother sprint for the panel of the world famous Brunhilde.

However, a second group slightly further down was also crowding another panel as if they were in a team huddle. Unable to see the panel he pushed his way between the students, as if he were in a busy city. The large white letters on the blue background displayed a familiar name. Reading the paragraph his eyes widened.

'One of the youngest Armored Core pilots…Combat instructor…Extensive cross between Armored Core and Infinite Stratos…Colonel…Distinguished service…' Nate's mind read as fast as it could.

To the left of the paragraph a large digital video played of a certain woman in a striking pose in a black suit. Strutting around in a clearly choreographed manner, closing out with an arm on her hip as she stared down the camera. The video quickly gave way to a slideshow of images, amongst them a photo of the teen with a messy bun, two little boys in each of her hands as a little girl clung to her leg. Her face was tired and slightly shocked as the photographer had caught her off guard.

Too engrossed to hear the students around him whispering intensely, Nate was jolted back to reality when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His sister leaned in over his shoulder as both their faces flushed with embarrassment as the collage of images included a host of baby photos. The years on display as the sister in the photo grew with her siblings, the images eternally sealing the memories.

Making a hasty escape before someone stated the obvious, the two grabbed their brother who was staring down the display of Orimura Chifuyu a little too hard. The few eyes that had locked onto them grew as the day progressed. Despite the various orientation activities, the trio had somehow managed to evade questions from both students and reporters alike. With some help from May, the three were able to enjoy a relatively peaceful dinner by the beach, the simpler boxed meals far more palatable to them than the Earthers who scoffed at such a meal.

With all the bags finally unloaded from the ship, the entire freshman class had been turned loose upon their new dorms. The long and achy walk from the dock yard ended as Nate and Kenny finally settled upon a white dorm hall. The generic outside geometry did an impressive job of hiding how truly large the inside was. The heavy luggage that Nate struggled with became weightless as his older sister grabbed the scrawny boy's luggage for him, relieved to finally see and get her help after a long day.

"Not so sweet home!" Liana lightly sang out as she threw her little brother's bags onto his bed.

His other siblings barged into Nate's room to see him putting things away while their sister laid flat on his bed, breathing sighs of relief, the day's walking and office politics having taken a toll on her.

"Aren't we supposed to have roommates? No one else moves in after us, we're the last block." May asked, closing the door behind her.

Staring at the ceiling Liana smiled for a moment. "I figured that after all this time, the three of you deserved some privacy." She said, propping herself against the soft leather headboard.

"Wait-"

"No fucking way! A-are you serious!" May yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Geez, what'd I say about the yelling. And yeah, your rooms are your own-" Liana attempted before getting piled on by three very happy little siblings.

"Yeah yeah, I love you too." She chuckled, returning their hug. "I'll be down the hall, so you haven't completely gotten rid of me just yet." She teased.

Looking down at the three siblings, for the first time in a while Liana felt like she had her family back. A bittersweet feeling engulfed her heart as she held onto her brothers and sister. Happy that they were slowly finding their way in a tumultuous world. But even sadder that she could do nothing against the march of time. It felt like just yesterday they were sneaking into her bed at some absurd hour in the night. An aura of nostalgia set as the group of four traded memories and laughs, electing to turn the new chapter of their life tomorrow, instead of today.

At a very different dorm, a very different teen stared at the ceiling. Their emotions swirled violently in their stomach as the cold icy air bit their skin from the open balcony door. Tomorrow was the first day of classes, yet they felt no comfort or excitement, all they could feel was intense anxiety. It felt like they had been unceremoniously dropped off and told to have fun in hell.

Not even a full twenty-four hours on the island had passed and already they were having major second thoughts. Despite being a relatively calm day, the night had hardly ended how they hoped it would. Everything felt steely, cold, unforgiving and lonely. Most unforgiving of all, was as a certain roommate who whined with a grating voice; a voice that they hoped would be welcoming.

"-...ika!" A Japanese teen yelled, her voice adding to their headache as she droned about sharing the room, barely registering that their own name had been called.

Turning around they faked some attention to the ribbon haired girl who seemed to always wear a scowl, her voice drilling violently in their head as they tried to keep up appearances.

'Shut. Up. Please.'

Seated around a large rectangular table, multiple women sat in their dress uniforms. Rows of tabs lining their chests highlighting years of experience. At the head of the table, a woman in a black suit somberly listened to an endless list of information. Running her hand through her hair, the brief tugging brought a sense of relief for all but a moment. The woman, dressed in all white, across the table stopped her speech.

"Uh…Madam president I can-" The woman in all white stuttered out, somewhat understanding of the toll the long meeting had taken.

Turning to her left, the woman at the head stared down the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) with weary eyes. The president's glasses rested slightly under the bridge of her nose, eyeing the uniformed woman she squinted before motioning for the manilla folder in the CNO's hand.

"Uh ma'am, if you would like, I could explain-"

"I was a boomer captain Sarah, I probably know more about the technical details of this than you." The woman at the head wearily called out, tired of the daily bureaucracy and office politics.

Passing a manilla folder to the head of the table, the president opened it and fished out a hand drawn graph and some scribbled notes. Sighing she read it, her hand digging deeper into her hair. Eventually she removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. Sighing out loud, the new found attention on the naval woman's report caused her to shift uncomfortably in her seat. Wrapping the paper into a cylinder, the president lightly tapped it against their head.

"Well…This partly explains why…" Sighing, she closed her eyes and partially spun her chair to the side. "Well this explains why they practically sailed under our skirts…I didn't think the delta was this bad." The president mumbled out, finally opening her eyes as she stared at the ceiling.

"How sure are you of this, how accurate is this source." She asked, her eyes glued to the drab pale greenish ceiling.

"Extremely confident, the man has photographic memory. He's…He's solid I assure you ma'am. He's been worked on for years, and we've verified previous information he's given us." A woman to the right of the president advised, lacking a distinct dress uniform that all the service members in the room adorned.

"Explains why their boomers are so damn long. This isn't even a proper technical explanation, and I'm already weary of how complicated this all sounds. Their nukes must not be getting any sleep." She snorted, earning a confused look from the woman dressed in all white.

"I'm sorry boomer? And nuke? Does this refer to missil-"

"A boomer is a ballistic nuclear submarine, an SSBN. Nukes are the poor souls who are locked in with the reactor, condemned to a boring existence keeping the hot rocks nice and toasty." The president answered in a monotone voice, her eyes still glued to the ceiling. The casualness, not fully accepted by all the women in the room yet.

"These boats-" Unfolding the paper she stared at the graph for a short moment. "This is way quieter…Dammit…And I thought we were cutting edge." Sighing, the president's words cut deep into the naval woman next to her; much to the enjoyment of the IS general clad in all white.

"These could be incredibly problematic. As far as I'm concerned, this thing is as deadly as any IS." She continued, her fingers tapping away on the large conference table, her eyes shut closed as a certain woman's nuclear speech played on repeat.

A/N: Well its been a hot minute since I last posted. My schedule has been all sorts of messy, college hasn't helped with that. Things have simmered down recently so hopefully that helps things. This one's a bit on the shorter end length wise, reading a wall of text that never ends can get boring. If you have any thoughts on it I'd be happy to hear.

Story wise I wanted to give the triplets some additional screentime before we jump straight into the action, that and highlight/prime some of the differences between the two worlds. With that out of the way, the wonderful world of the ISA shall wait no more.

As always, comments, questions, or concerns are always welcome.

And as usual, I don't own Infinite Stratos or Armored Core.