I made a small change to chapter 15, although the main story hasn't changed a whole lot. I apologize for not posting in a long time, I've been hospitalized for a while now and was discharged a couple weeks ago. For those of you that stayed with the story, thank you and congratulations, you guys are the best. Enjoy!
Six hours later, the male dorm
Hayate muttered a near silent swear as he heard his alarm go off. He was about to get up when he realized there was a weight on his chest. Smiling, he literally whacked the alarm until it stopped beeping and wrapped an arm around the singer snuggled around his chest. She looked up and gave him a sleepy smile.
"Uwaaa, mornin' Hayate..." Freyja sleepily yawned.
"It's noon, and I didn't say you could get out of bed yet." Hayate smirks as he gently tugs Freyja close to his face, earning a soft moan of approval from her.
"You're not mad I snuck into your room?" Freyja says as she snuggles close to Hayate, her mouth right next to his neck.
"Why do you think I left the door unlocked?" Hayate chuckles slyly.
Freyja wraps her arms around Hayate's neck, her emerald eyes narrowed slightly as she purrs. "Ohhh, so you wanted me here, didn't you?"
"Yes, and you're not leaving until I say you can." Hayate says. Before Freyja can react, he flips over her, placing the Windermerean singer under him with her arms still around his neck. He squeezes her hips with one hand while pulling her torso closer to him with the other, and finishing with a solid placement of his lips over hers. Freyja's rune twinkled as her eyes widened. She immediately melted into the maneuver, digging her hands into his azure hair whilst moaning happily. Hayate applied a slight amount more pressure to Freyja's hips, causing the singer to gasp for air. Hayate then began kissing her neck, gently nibbling on her right, sending shivers up her spine.
"~Mmmm, Hayateeee..." Freyja moans as Hayate applies a slightly increasing amount of pressure on both her neck and back.
"You're so cute, Freyja." Hayate whispers in Freyja's ear. She turns to look at him as he gently presses his forehead against hers.
They kissed passionately, their bodies as close together as physically possible. For a while, it seemed like it would last forever. Until someone knocked on the door.
"Hayate, get up or we're coming in." Messer's and Arad's voice sound through the door.
Instinctively, Freyja jumped, pushing Hayate off to her right. Unfortunately, two things were in play: Hayate had rolled the two of them to the edge of the bed when he pinned Freyja, and Freyja still had an arm locked around Hayate she pushed him. The result was Hayate landing head first on the floor of his room, with Freyja following suit simultaneously. The first thing Arad and Messer saw when they entered Hayate's room was a pair of pink striped panties sticking in the air. Her shorts had slipped downwards while they fell, but her legs were still on the bed, unlike Hayate's. Her head was face-down on Hayate's chest, who was looking up when the two senior pilots entered. Hayate looked up and saw the two pilots gaping at him before turning and seeing Freyja's exposed undergarments. She was still dizzy, so she tried to move, inadvertently shaking her hips. Hayate turned to look at the two senior pilots with a face that unnerved even Messer.
"Oi, what do you think you're looking at?" Hayate's voice sounded like a demon at that moment.
The two senior pilots immediately turn their backs.
"W-we're sorry." Arad mutters, obviously uncomfortable.
"W-we'll give you a minute." Messer mutters in the same tone.
They close the door and Hayate looks at Freyja.
The latter looks up at him. "What happened?"
Hayate sighs. "Let's just get changed. Did you bring clothes with you?"
She looks to her left. "Of course I did. I'm not gonna wear just pajamas around you."
"Well, at least you're wearing a nice pair of panties." Hayate mutters, smiling as he looks at the beauty displayed before him. Freyja quickly realized her shorts were around her knees and her face turned 10 different shades of red. Before she could say anything, Hayate kissed her briefly.
"This stays between you, me, and the bed." His voice is firm yet joking.
Freyja's blush deepens. "D-don't try anything else, I mean it!"
Outside, Arad chuckles to himself softly as Chuck walks over. "What's going on?"
"Just the mating of two jellyfish that are meant to be together." Arad replies nonchalantly.
"Mating-" Chuck asks, his eyes bulging at the door behind the senior pilot. "You-did they-?-"
"No, they didn't do anything of the sort." Messer replies. "Yet."
"Yet?" Chuck asks incredulously.
"It's not like it wasn't coming." Arad says nonchalantly.
The three pilots look at each other, their silent conversation obvious to all. A few minutes later, the door opens. Freyja walks out first, wearing her usual Chaos uniform. Hayate walks out next, his appearance noticeably different than before. While his hair didn't change, the way he wore his uniform did. There was a lack of a teal hoodie under his Chaos jacket, only a dark blue shirt; his sleeves and pants were rolled all the way down, and instead of tennis shoes, he was wearing grey boots that were slightly darker than his pants. He closed the door behind him before turning to the pilots standing near his door. They were inspecting him with mixed expressions.
"What? If you're gonna grill me for having Freyja in my room, do it now or forever hold your peace." Hayate says, looking at the pilots, focusing more on Messer.
"Hayate, I told you I snuck into your room." Freyja says, mild concern in her voice.
"It doesn't matter; I'm not gonna let you take the heat for this." Hayate starts. His voice turns darker as he narrows his eyes at his senior pilots. "More importantly, you didn't see anything."
Both pilots take the hint.
"Understood."
"Just don't go crazy. Not now, anyway."
"Fair enough."
Meanwhile, at the girls' dorm.
Mirage and the other girls all woke up at around the same time, meeting each other in the living area of their dorm. The first thing that they noticed was that Freyja, who normally got up earlier than everyone else, was nowhere to be found. Obviously, they checked her room, then the restroom, and for some reason, the deck outside, all of which proved fruitless.
"Where do you think she went?" Mirage asks the group.
"You don't think she was kidnapped?" Yui asks, a hand on her chin.
"No, if someone wanted to capture one of us, they'd probably capture me." Kaname says flatly.
"Why is that?" Kiriko asks.
"I have administrative access to Chaos' classified information second only to Captain Ernest's. For this branch, anyway." Kaname replies.
"So she wasn't taken." Mirage confirms. "Knowing her, she probably snuck off to sleep with Hayate."
Makina sighs. "Well, Haya-Haya's a good guy, and Freyja's head over heels for him, so there's not really a problem here, is there?"
"As long as he doesn't get her pregnant." Reina nonchalantly says.
"Reina!" Kaname starts to scold.
"Look, isn't Freyja technically of age by Windermerean standards? If anything, Hayate's the underaged one in the relationship; you said it yourself." Reina says.
"That was supposed to be a joke; I honestly think it's too early for them to be having sex." Kaname rubs her temples.
"It's not like you can stop them, at least it was Freyja sneaking into the male dorms instead of Hayate sneaking into the female dorms." Mirage points out.
"I suppose that's true." Kaname admits.
"Should we get going now?" Yui asks, checking her watch.
"Do you guys need to change?" Makina asks the two ISDF pilots.
"All we have is the clothes your lent us and our pilot suits, so I don't believe we do-" Yui starts.
A knock on the door interrupts them. Mirage, nearest to the door, walks over and opens it. A woman and a man, the latter of which standing out the most, are standing near the entrance. The man is as tall as Messer, but is three times bulkier than him, with blonde trimmed hair. His eyes are a sharp blue. The woman is about the same size as Mirage, her body incredibly similar to hers. She has brown hair that reaches her shoulders, and eyes that match her hair. They are both wearing uniforms that were silver and red, similar to the trims of the Chronos squadrons that assisted them earlier. She is holding a duffel bag that doesn't appear to have much in it. She looks at Mirage, who looks between the two.
The woman speaks first. "Hello, are Captains Takamura and Masaki here?"
Mirage nods. "Yes, who are you two?"
"I am Second Lieutenant Yuki Takamura, and he is First Lieutenant Ein Schwernz." Yuki motions to the man standing behind her.
"Pleased to meet you." Ein says curtly in a flat tone.
"Don't mind him, he just has a problem with looking at women in anything other than a uniform." Yuki points a thumb at Ein.
"I don't normally view women in their sleepwear, so forgive me for being somewhat mindful of myself." Ein replies, clearly annoyed.
"That's fine, what is your business with the two Captains?" Mirage asks right as Yui walks up behind her.
"Ah, Yuki-chan. What are you doing here?" Yui says, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Mirage almost immediately noticed her hair being the exact same shade of brown as the Lieutenant standing in front of her.
"W-why're you calling me by my first name, Captain?" Yuki stutters.
Yui smiles at Yuki. "Why wouldn't I call my cute little sister by her first name?"
Yuki frowns. "Wh-whatever, I brought you and Captain Masaki your field uniforms. Colonel said you two should at least look presentable in front of Chaos' leadership."
"Ah, so that's what he was worried about. Thanks." Yui says as she takes the bag from Yuki.
Kiriko leans forward to look at the mountain of muscle behind Yuki. "Ein? Is that you?"
Ein looks downward at the silver-haired pilot. "Yes, it's me, Captain Masaki." His face is monotone, but his tone is light.
"You don't have to address me so formally, Ein. Not here, anyway; as far as I know, everyone around here isn't that strict." Kiriko gives Ein a happy smile.
"Understood, Kiriko." Ein only managed a small smile, but it seemed normal for him.
"Anyway, we'll get changed; I assume you're here to debrief Captain Ernest with the two of us?" Yui says.
"Yes, we were; Ein was going to go to the male's dorm and escort Delta Platoon, but I was told First Lieutenant Messer was staying with them." Yuki says.
"You know Messer?" Mirage asks.
"Sort of. Lieutenant Messer was something of a legend way back when-" Yuki opens her mouth to say more, but Yui stops her.
"We should probably get changed; you're still in your nightgown, Mirage."
Mirage looked down, turning red as she did so. "P-please excuse me."
She quickly turns and walks away. During the time they were talking, Kaname and the rest of Walkure had gotten changed into their respective Chaos uniforms. Kaname walks to the door and looks at the two other ISDF members standing near the door.
"You two can come in, you know. You don't have to stand outside." Kaname says with a light smile.
Yuki nods and proceeds to walk inside, but Ein remains firmly planted where he is.
"I do not mind waiting here; please do not mind me-" Ein starts as Makina walks over to him and takes his hand.
"It's fine, we don't mind you being inside. Plus, it'd be less awkward if you were inside than standing outside of our dorm." Makina chimes at him, leading him inside.
Ein seemed rather uncomfortable being inside. "I, uh..." He looks around, trying look anywhere but Makina until the pink-haired singer tugs at him, causing him to look directly at her. His eyes widen as focuses on her and her ample, exposed chest. He quickly catches himself, stiffening as his head snaps straight forward.
Makina giggles softly. "Hehh, what's the matter, Ein?"
Ein gently but firmly yanks his hand free from Makina's. "Nothing, I just don't feel entirely comfortable being in your living areas."
Makina tilts her head. "We don't mind, Ein. It's not like you're bad looking anyway;" She gives him a smile that makes him stiffen. "You're pretty good looking."
Reina smirks. "I agree."
"You ladies are a well-known singer group, correct?"
Makina nods, now genuinely curious.
"Do the locals know where you all live?" Ein asks.
"They do, why is that relevant?" Reina asks, not knowing where this is going.
"How do you think they would react if they saw a man like myself standing outside your door, much less walking inside at this time of day?" Ein asks, a nervous sweat on his forehead.
The realization hits all of the singers and pilots simultaneously. Right as they realize it, Yui and Kiriko walk out of the rooms they slept in for the night, wearing their ISDF uniforms.
Yui looks at all of them, who are all staring awkwardly into space. "What's wrong guys?"
"I think they're spaced out." Kiriko says flatly.
"I can see that, but all of them?" Yui says, raising an eyebrow at everyone.
At that moment, there was a series of loud knocks on the door, followed by what sounded like ten different people shouting. The noises snap everyone out of their stupors and Ein instantly snaps his head toward the door. His expression was equivalent to someone who realized they were caught in public with their pants down. He immediately looks around for an exit that wasn't the front door.
"Don't bother, Ein. The only other exit is through the window, and that leads straight to the ocean." Kaname sighs.
"You mean there's no other exits in your living areas?" Ein asks.
"Not ones where you can walk out unseen." Reina says.
"And on top of that, we're definitely going to attract unwanted attention." Yuki mutters.
"Well, unless you four want to go for a swim, I don't think there's any other way out of this. We'll at least go through one of the side doors, but we're going to get seen either way." Kaname says with finality.
"I guess it's a good thing you four studied and executed infiltration missions; maybe you can teach them a thing or two." Mirage says as she peeks out one of the shaded windows. "I see six different news vans, twelve pairs of cameramen and reporters, and a couple drones."
"Wait, aren't you guys used to attention?" Yui asks.
"We are, but having a third party here, in our dorms, right after an attack that crippled the Elysion, isn't going to be a fun situation to talk ourselves out of; I'd rather avoid it at all costs." Kaname says.
Right as she finished talking, her phone went off. She picked up her phone.
"Hello, Arad? What? Yes, I am aware." She looks around at the group. "I think we could use a hand getting out. Why, do you have something in mind?"
Her eyes widen. "Y-you're not serious, are you? No, there's not a problem, but-" Kaname sighs. "Alright, fine; for the record, though, I am not going to explain this to the Captain or the other leaders until you've said your bit."
"What was that all about?" Mirage asks.
"It looks like the Captain knows about our current situation, and so do your commanding officers." Kaname says to the group.
"So, what's our course of action?" Yuki asks.
"Apparently, they've sent us a ride to the Elysion; it should be here in ten minutes." Kaname replies.
"What about Freyja and the guys?" Kiriko asks.
"Arad said not to worry about them; I don't know why."
"What about Mikumo and the other man with her?" Yui asks.
"Other man?" Yuki turns to her sister.
"Shiro Okumura; he's the newest member of Delta Platoon, and he's Mikumo's assigned bodyguard." Kaname explains.
"Don't all members of Delta Platoon act as bodyguards for Walkure?" Ein asks.
"Technically, that is the case, but primarily for operations and concerts; unlike us, Shiro's first role is as Mikumo's bodyguard, then as a pilot. For the rest of us, it pretty much goes the other way around." Mirage states.
"So he's a skilled ground combatant?" Yuki asks.
The members of Walkure and Mirage all look between each other.
"That's an understatement." Reina says flatly.
"A very deep one, at that." Makina adds.
"He's something else entirely." Mirage says.
"What does that mean?" Ein asks.
"Put it this way," Kaname says. "Shiro's capable of doing things I didn't think were possible; on top of that, his flying skill is comparable to any member of Delta Platoon, despite a number of things."
"Such as?" Yuki asks.
"He's only been flying for a month or two." Mirage says flatly.
The four ISDF members look at each other with mixed expressions.
"Is that really the case?" Kiriko asks.
"If you don't believe us, we can pull the video logs from the first time we threw him into a Variable Fighter and had him fight Chuck, Hayate, and Mirage." Reina says.
"Wait, you put a man who had never flown a Variable Fighter before into one and had him participate in a mock aerial battle?" Yui asks incredulously.
"That pretty much sums it up." Mirage states.
"And how did it go? Did you at least beat him?" Yuki asks, her eyes slightly wide.
Mirage squeezes her elbow while looking down. "Not at all."
The four ISDF members gape at her.
"What do you mean, the three of you couldn't take him down?" Ein asks, completely shocked.
"His flight patterns were incredibly erratic at the start, as expected; however, it only took him five or so minutes to figure out how to fly a Nightmare, and we were caught with our pants down." Mirage admits. "He managed to take out Chuck, and Hayate and I tried to end the mock battle, but he fought us to a draw. I didn't think it was possible, but he proved that it's possible to learn how to fly a Variable Fighter in ten or so minutes, while flying, might I add."
"This guy sounds insane." Ein mutters.
"In terms of skill and ability, he is." Kaname says. "Personality-wise, he's rather calm and collected. He's pretty similar to Messer in that they're pretty duty-orientated, but Shiro seems more, how should I put it, analytical."
"Analytical?" Kiriko tilts her head.
"Yeah, Shiro always thinks before doing anything, it just doesn't seem that way sometimes because he thinks very quickly; that or he's really good at making things up on the go." Makina notes.
"I'm much more inclined to believe the former; when he explained his thought process to us over how he learned how to fly a Variable Fighter, it all made sense. However, I know for a fact the information he had to process would've taken a normal person much longer than he did." Mirage states.
"This is one interesting man you've managed to hire. What did he ask for when you hired him? Any special conditions?" Yui asks.
"Not that we know of." Reina says.
"There was one thing I overheard Shiro talking about with the Captain." Mirage says. "They were discussing his salary and Shiro said he didn't care how much he was paid; in fact, he said he figured out that we were in financial straits, so he said he didn't mind being paid lower than what a normal captain earns."
"Was there anything else to this?" Kaname and Yui ask at the same time.
Mirage looks between the two women before replying. "The only other thing he added was that he received enough pay to be able to purchase food and supplies weekly. Other than that, I didn't hear anything else."
"So he's something of a minimalist when it comes to living standards." Ein says.
"It would appear so. His room on the Elysion consists of nothing but his bed, a bedside dresser, and his mobile armory, apparently." Kaname says.
"Mobile armory?" Yuki asks.
"Yeah, that's where he keeps all of his equipment and weapons." Mirage adds.
"If I didn't see him fly in combat, I doubt I'd be able to believe any of what you all just described to me." Kiriko says as she turns her head towards the door. "Has anyone else noticed that the voices beyond the door are gone?"
Everyone stopped and turned toward the door. It had gotten quiet while they were talking, and no one had noticed until now.
"Hey, you don't think-" Makina starts, but the growl of engines cuts her off.
At that moment, Kaname's cell phone went off. "Hello? Arad? Yes, we're ready. Got it, we're on our way now."
"What just happened?" Mirage asks.
"We have a ride to the Elysion." Kaname says as she walks toward the door. The rest of the group follows her, and upon opening the door, everyone saw that the news trucks were still sitting nearby, but the reporters were all standing by their respective vehicles. The reason why soon became obvious; there was a squadron of Kairos hovering nearby in Gerwalk mode. As they walked out, a shuttle flew close by before stopping a few meters in front of them. The rear door opened to reveal Shiro and Mikumo; the latter was wearing her Chaos clothes, while Shiro had apparently received his. He had on a Chaos jacket, but aside from that, the gray pants and black boots seemed perfectly normal on him. He didn't have his swords on his person, but Walkure and Mirage assumed they were nearby. As the group approached the two, Shiro turned his head towards them, inspecting the four new members with them. The four ISDF members gazed at Shiro, each one of them withholding their respective thoughts on the stoic bodyguard.
Shiro looked at Kaname as she neared. "Hello, Kaname. I trust you had no issues aside from them?" He glances at the group of media vehicles.
Kaname put a hand on her hips. "No, we didn't; I just don't know why all this was necessary." She motions to the hovering Kairos squadron and the shuttle.
Shiro sticks his hands in his pockets. "I do not understand either; anyway, you can introduce your new companions to us during that time."
Kaname nods. "Alright." She then turns to the group. "Everyone, we're getting on. We should be back at the Elysion within ten or so minutes."
Everyone acknowledged that and boarded the shuttle. As the shuttle took off, the Kairos squadron hovered nearby until it gained speed, then switched to Fighter mode. While they were taking off, Kaname introduced the four ISDF members to Shiro and Mikumo, and vice versa. Once they reached a suitable altitude, Shiro walked over to a locker-like storage unit and pulled out two swords, which were in their scabbards. He placed them next to his seat, fully aware of the curious looks he was getting from the four ISDF members. After a minute or so, he looked at Yui and Yuki, both of whom were being rather obvious about their curiosity.
"Is there something you two would like to ask me?" Shiro says blankly.
The Takamura sisters look at each other, then at their counterparts sitting across from them.
Yui speaks first. "Yes there is; I apologize for being rude, I could not help but wonder about your swords."
"What is it that you would like to know?"
She pauses for a moment before answering. "Are swords your primary weapon of choice when going into an engagement?"
Shiro answers immediately. "Generally, yes; I understand that swords are not always ideal, but swords are weapons I feel most comfortable with."
"Then, how proficient are you with firearms?" Yuki tags Shiro with another question immediately.
"Depending on the firearm, I assume I am comparable to veteran marksmen and/or riflemen." Shiro says.
"And that level of proficiency is constant across all firearms?" Ein jumps in.
"Somewhat; I am most proficient with sub-machineguns, assault rifles, and sidearms. I am moderately adept at using heavier machine guns and sniper rifles, however, they would not be my first choice of firearm, if I had a choice."
"So you're saying you're just as good with a pistol as you are with an assault rifle?" Makina turns her head towards Shiro.
"That is correct; I admit, you all have only seen me use sidearms, so for now, you will have to take my word for what it is."
"You don't have to prove anything to us, Shiro; those of us who saw you fight know how skilled you are." Mikumo says, a smile on her face.
Shiro looks at Mikumo, turning his head slightly. "I know that, but it's for the best that I keep working to improve; as our adversaries change, so must I." He then gives her a small smile. "Besides, you can't be the only interesting one here."
Mikumo's cheeks flush and she looks down, her face shadowed slightly by her flowing violet hair. She muttered something inaudible as she turned towards the window.
"Everyone, we'll be landing on the Aether in two minutes!" The pilot calls from the cockpit.
"Captain Takamura, just so we can hurry along the formalities, who is your commanding officer? I didn't catch his name when Arad spoke with me last time." Kaname looks at Yui.
Yui shifts her eyes downward slightly, gently tugging at her collar. "That would be Lieutenant Colonel Ryu Takamura."
"Wait, Takamura? Is he your-" Makina trails off at seeing Yuki's reaction.
Yuki gulps nervously. "Yes, he is our father."
"He's the kind to give them the fatherly brand of tough love." Kiriko says blankly.
"He's almost as hard on them physically as he is me." Ein adds.
"You didn't seem nervous when Second Lieutenant Takamura mentioned him earlier; what's the matter?" Reina looks at the tense Takamura sisters.
"That was before we realized he would be the one to talk to your leader." They both say in sync.
"Don't worry about it too much, what's the worst that could happen?" Mikumo asks the two sisters.
"Never say that." Yuki groans.
"I can think of a number of things that can fall under worst case scenarios." Yui says in a semi-depressed tone.
"I don't believe your father would do anything to reprimand you two; I am certain that he would place his duty as a high-ranked officer over his duty as a father while working. On top of that, he would most likely act as a father when the rest of us aren't around; probably to keep up a professional appearance, I assume." Shiro notes.
"Well, I suppose that's true." Yui says as they land.
"Seriously, don't worry about it too much." Kaname tells the two sisters.
The bay doors open as everyone gets up and walks toward the door. Mikumo turns and sees Shiro strapping his swords to his back. She notices that his face is noticeably darker than when just a minute ago. She walks up to her bodyguard, leaning towards him.
"What's wrong, Shiro?" Mikumo tilts her head slightly.
Shiro snaps out of his trance and focuses on the violet-haired singer. "Nothing, I was just thinking about the people we are about to meet."
Mikumo gives him a flat stare. "That's not all you were thinking. What's bothering you?"
"I'll tell you later. Right now isn't the best time; we have things to do." Shiro says, rolling his shoulders.
Mikumo clearly didn't seem satisfied with his answer, but she simply turned and walked out of the shuttle, promptly followed by Shiro. They all began walking to the bridge, unaware of the ferocious battle that was soon to take place above.
The bridge of the Elysion
Ernest looked at the two officers standing before him, inspecting them carefully. One of them was a well-built, middle aged man with black eyes and brown hair. Standing next to him was an equally tall, platinum-haired woman with orange eyes and generous curves.
"Hello, I am Captain Ernest Johnson. I apologize for any inconveniences you may have had to deal with on your way here, this ship has certainly seen better days." Ernest says politely.
The male officer nods. "There was no issue at all, Captain. I am Lieutenant Colonel Ryu Takamura, and this is my second in command, Major Illya Barchenowa." Ryu motions toward the Major.
"Pleasure to meet you, Captain." Illya bows lightly.
"There's no need to be so formal. I appreciate you two coming down here to talk with us, in addition to two of your squad leaders staying with us. While we wait for everyone else to arrive, would it be okay if I asked you two a few questions?" Ernest asks, scanning their reactions.
Ryu nods. "As long as they aren't over sensitive material, I see no problem with this; in return, I would also like to ask you some questions, under the same conditions, of course."
"Agreed. Then, may I go first?"
"Of course."
"What is your organization, and what is it's purpose?"
"We come from an organization known as the Interstellar Defense Force, which is one of three factions that fractured from the NUNS. As of now, our objective is to prevent the spread of chaos and violence that the Apex of Humanity is causing." Ryu explains.
"Is there anything you can tell me about Apex of Humanity right now?" Ernest asks.
"We could tell you the basics, but I think it would be best to wait until everyone else is gathered." Ryu says.
"And your objective means to cover the entire universe?" Ernest asks, an eyebrow raised.
"We understand that our objective sounds rather childish or overly optimistic, but we remain steadfast in our goals. Naturally, our goals can change, but everyone in the ISDF signed up knowing what could happen and what is at stake here." Illya says, her eyes showing a glint of emotion.
"I see. From what I understand, the ISDF is more capable, militarily, than Chaos is, correct?" Ernest asks, a hand on his chin.
"That is correct. I think you know where we are going with this." Ryu says.
"You want to form an alliance between the ISDF and Chaos, given that your forces are more likely to be better suited to combat, and Chaos being more economically and logistically well-versed." Ernest says.
"Naturally, we understand that you are not the highest position in the organization, but given your recent combat record, on top of your people's experience, we believe that your word has significant sway in the higher ups." Illya notes.
"That is most likely true. Given the way the universe is right now, I'm fairly certain that Chaos has financial and political interests at stake. While I believe that is somewhat questionable, I do believe they would be interested in a partnership."
"As long as there is a modest possibility of our two organizations working together, we will provide support; it seems you could use some now more than ever." Ryu says.
"I do not wish to impose on you guys; you have already helped us out considerably. As long as you understand that we cannot repay you anytime soon, you are free to do as you wish." Ernest turns as Mizuki walks up to him.
"Captain, there's a communication request coming from HQ. They're asking for you specifically." Mizuki tells the captain.
"I assume it can't wait?" Ernest looks down on the green-haired bridge operator.
"They said it was urgent."
Ernest exhales softly before turning to the two ISDF officers. "I apologize for the interruption, but apparently this is rather important for me." He turns to Mizuki. "Are you doing anything of importance right now?"
"Not right now. The supplies from our reserves are still coming in, but most of the maintenance crews agree we should focus on repairing and restocking the Aether and the Hemera. As for ordinance, we still have a decent supply, but spare parts are starting to run low. Also, Delta Platoon, Walkure, and four ISDF pilots are on their way here now, they should be here soon."
"At least that's been taken care of. Okay, unless you think something may come up, can you answer any questions that these two may have? I will try to make it brief."
"Yes sir." Mizuki quickly salutes before turning to the two ISDF officers. "Was there anything else the two of you would like to ask?" Mizuki smiles politely at the two officers.
Ryu puts a hand on his chin briefly. "Yes, there was. If I understand this correctly, there was a failed operation to implant devices within Mikumo Guynemer, and the man tasked with executing this was Toland Stein. Is he here, by any chance?"
Mizuki pauses briefly. "I'm not sure if I'm qualified to answer that; may I ask what your relation to him is or what you know him for?"
Illya frowns. "He was a close friend of ours. I couldn't stop him from being sent on that operation, nor could I be there with him. I would at least like to know if he is alive or not."
"You can tell them, Mizuki." Toland says from behind them.
"Toland?" Illya turns toward the smiling engineer.
"Hello, Illya. I apo-" Toland starts before Illya cuts him off with a hug. It lasts a solid minute before Illya lets him go, an embarrassed look on her face.
"I-I apologize, sir. I let-" Illya starts before Ryu stops her with the raise of his hand.
"It's alright, Barchenowa. I was really worried for Toland as well. I'm sure you made sure of that." Ryu smiles at Illya and Toland. "Now then, Toland. What have you been up to the past four weeks?"
Toland smiles lightly as he sticks a hand in his pocket, pulling out an expandable data pad. "Well, I've decided to take up a new job, in case you couldn't tell."
"What, we weren't paying you enough?" Ryu chides lightly.
"Well, I certainly didn't think you guys would muster the guts to separate from the bigwigs back at old HQ, and they kinda screwed me." Toland's face darkens considerably. "They murdered Kim, John, and Rose."
The two ISDF officers freeze, their shock evident.
"What?" Ryu's eyebrows arc before narrowing.
Illya puts a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. "N-no..."
"We'll try to recover the bodies-" Ryu starts.
"You don't have to do that." Toland explains. "My new employers graciously recovered their bodies and their last messages to me already. The only thing left to recover is a particular Valkyrie blueprint that I'm sure you're both aware of." Toland gives a small smile.
"I take it you know who did it?" Illya asks, grimacing.
"We can discuss it when everyone else gets here, but if you know the name Ob Neghaus, I need not say anything else." Toland says, turning to the returning captain.
Ignoring the deep scowls from the two ISDF officers, Ernest looks down at Toland. "I see that you've recovered, Mr. Stein. I take it you're interested in the meeting we're about to have?"
"Indeed, I am, though I suppose it helps that the two liaisons from the ISDF happen to be close friends of mine." Toland says as he sticks his hands in his pockets.
"Is that so?" Ernest asks, giving the two ISDF officers a mildly surprised look. "If that's the case, then I assume you've already informed of the events of late?"
"Just the notable ones." Toland says flatly.
The door behind them opens, revealing the group of pilots and singers.
"Good, everyone's here. Everyone, I realize that it's a bit cramped in here, but the ship has lost most of its power. Because of that, I can only explain things in detail here, so please bear with me." Ernest says as he walks over to his chair.
"Now, then. Shall we start?" Ryu says, looking at the large group of pilots and singers before him.
"I think it is matter of where we should start. Might I suggest a few introductions?" Arad says with his usual smile, stepping forward slightly.
"Indeed." Ryu says, returning the smile to Arad. "I am Lieutenant Colonel Ryu Takamura, founder and commander of the ISDF Alpha Company Elites, or ACEs." He motions to Illya. "She is Major Illya Barchenowa, my second-in-command."
"It is nice to meet you all." Illya says politely. "The four pilots here are from the ACEs; Captain Yui Takamura and Captain Kiriko Masaki are squad leaders for Alpha Squad and Bravo Squad, respectively. Second Lieutenant Yuki Takamura is Captain Yui's second-in-command for Alpha squad; First Lieutenant Ein Schwernz is Captain Masaki's second-in-command for Bravo squad." She looks at the four ISDF pilots among Walkure and Delta Platoon. "I see you four have become acquainted with Walkure. Would you care to introduce them to us?"
"Of course, Major." Yui says. She motions to Walkure. "This is Kaname Buccaneer, Walkure's manager. She is Reina Prowler, an extremely skilled hacker and information specialist. Makina Nakajima, an equally skilled mechanic. I didn't actually get the chance to meet Freyja or Mikumo, but based off what the other three told me, they're the most powerful singers of Walkure."
"What do you mean by that?" Illya raises an eyebrow slightly.
"You understand that Walkure performs concerts to reduce and cure Var infections, correct, Major?" Kiriko asks.
"Yes, that much I understand."
"Their ability to cure Var Syndrome stems from their ability to generate fold waves from their singing; Mikumo Guynemer and Freyja Wion are capable of generating fold waves significantly higher than Kaname, Makina or Reina." Yui explains.
"That brings up something I don't understand; if their singing generates fold waves, why is it that they perform concerts in dangerous locations instead of recording and broadcasting their songs?" Ryu interjects.
"We did try that, early in Walkure's career; it turns out that the recording isn't capable of generating fold waves because the audio from said recordings don't retain the biological fold energy that our voices project, making so that we have to perform live to get results." Kaname explains.
"Pardon me, but we should finish our introductions and get to the discussion at hand; I have information that I think everyone would find important." Ernest says politely.
"No problem, Captain." Arad responds. "I'm Captain Arad Molders, Delta Platoon leader. I've been working with Walkure since their beginning. As Walkure's dedicated support, we defend them during their concerts from whatever threats arise, and we fly modified Kairos' called Siegfrieds, optimized for supporting Walkure. Of course, we are capable of holding our own, if not, dominating an aerial battle."
"I'm First Lieutenant Mirage Fallyna Jenius. I'm Captain Arad's second-in-command." Mirage says with a neutral expression.
"I'm First Lieutenant Chuck Mustang, Delta Platoon's recon pilot." Chuck says, his usual smile on his face.
"I'm Second Lieutenant Hayate Immelman; I joined Delta Platoon just before the outbreak of the Windermerean war." Hayate glances at Messer, who doesn't meet his gaze.
"It is good to meet all of you; now that introductions are out of the way, I suppose it's time to move on to what we're here for." Ryu says.
"Indeed. The reason why we've gathered here is to discuss our next move." Ernest continues.
"Our?" Arad questions.
"I thought we were going to discuss the terms of our alliance." Ryu looks at the Zentradi captain.
"We were, but it so turns out that Headquarters and some of your higher-ups have agreed to an alliance between our organizations; they are finalizing and discussing the details as we speak." Ernest looks at the two ISDF COs.
"They sure work quickly, don't they?" Ryu sighs.
"It appears that way." Ernest nods. "Anyway, from here on outwards, we're going to be working together, so let's get along as we work."
"Does anyone have any objections?" Illya turns to face everyone else in the room.
Mirage raised her hand.
Illya focused on her. "Yes, Lieutenant Jenius?"
"This isn't so much an objection as a question."
"Go ahead."
Mirage looks at Messer, who doesn't meet her gaze like Hayate. "What is his purpose, or rather, his affiliation?"
Ryu and Illya glance at each other, noticeable frowns on their faces.
"As much as we would like to brush off that question, we know that we can't avoid it forever." Illya says matter-of-factly.
"Look, we'll explain everything later; you have my word, for what it's worth." Ryu promises.
"As long as we get our answers in a timely manner." Chuck was uncharacteristically serious.
"Is there anything else anyone would like to ask?" Illya looks at Delta Platoon and Walkure.
Seeing as no one said anything, in spite of some skeptical faces, Ryu continues. "Well then, shall we move forward?"
"Sounds good. Where should we start?" Arad looks around at the faces in the room.
"I think the best place to start would be identifying our potential and current adversaries." Toland points out.
"I agree." Ryu looks at Toland. "I assume that you have something of a lead?"
"Yes, I do." Toland says as he walks towards the central console with the holographic map. "I've made good use of the resources and time available to me these past few days."
"Really? How so?" Illya focuses on the array of planets appearing on the holo map as Toland types.
"Well, because Captain Ernest was so gracious enough to grant me relatively high clearance to access Chaos information networks, based on the movement of resources, ships, people I was able to get a decent picture of who our enemies are, and where their areas of influence are."
This resulted in more than a few raised eyebrows, because as Toland finished typing, four different globular clusters, one being their current cluster, appeared on the holo map. The other three globular clusters had at least 5 planets each, with the last one containing 13 planets, moons excluded. Areas of the globular clusters were tinted varying intensities of red to denote level of hostile resistance. Almost everyone paled at the sight of the largest globular cluster. Out of the 13 planets, 9 of them were a sharp crimson; the other four were just a little lighter. The second largest globular cluster, with 10 planets was completely white, and the last globular cluster, with just 5 planets, was tinted a deep blue.
"I hope we have more allies than this, otherwise we're in deep trouble." Ernest says, a scowl on his face.
"This is incomplete intel, but I share your concern, Captain. The reason I put up these particular sectors is because they are the closest to our current one."
"So that explains why we've been under relentless assault." Kaname looks at the holo map.
"Yes, and it seems they're not done yet." Toland says.
"Who even are these guys? I can't figure them out." Arad looks between Toland and Ryu.
"Apex of Humanity: They're extremely wealthy, extremely powerful, extremely aggressive. They have a rather simple take on the mass explosion of violent Var-related incidents." Ryu looks at Walkure with a small frown. "If there aren't any people who are susceptible to Var attacks, then there wouldn't be any Var-related incidents."
"You mean-" Freyja's eyes widen.
"Yes, they've essentially began what can be considered a purge of all people who have fold bacteria; but that's not even the worst of it." Illya's eyes narrow.
Delta Platoon and Walkure alike sans Shiro frown and look at each other; the stoic bodyguard appeared to be deep in thought.
"You'd think mass genocide wouldn't go unnoticed by the public, but these guys are good at what they do." Ryu mimics Illya's facial expression.
"Perhaps a little too good." Toland mutters.
"Are you certain that they're going about killing people in such large quantities that people wouldn't notice? I can't help but find it a little far-fetched." Arad looks at the two ISDF COs.
They look at each other for a moment, then Ryu nods. Illya then pulls a medium-sized data disk out of her inside jacket pocket.
She walks over to the holo map and inserts the disk. An innumerable number of photos of people with dates and other text below them appear on the display before shifting to an order not explained. Illya takes Toland's place on the console, typing quickly for a minute. The photos rearrange, sorted by date. The least recent date was marked 7 months ago.
"What is this, Ryu?" Toland looks at his longtime friend with a concerned look on his face.
"It's a list of people who've 'disappeared'." Ryu emphasizes the last word with a hint of venom.
"I take it you don't mean they just went out for ice cream and got lost, right?" Arad asks without any sarcasm.
Ryu talks to the nearby Chaos leadership. "To be completely honest, we're not 100% sure that they've been murdering people in cold blood for their less than stellar objective, but when people start disappearing for more than two weeks on end, and almost every crime scene has bullet holes, casings, and blood spatters, it's not misguided to assume they've been killed. Problem is, we never managed to find a body, much less any evidence of what's really been going on."
"This is a list of people who have gone missing under similar or identical circumstances. They range from small children to middle-aged adults, and the only real relating factor between the incidents is the circumstances by which they went missing, and the fact that all the missing persons had an Internal Fold Bacteria Concentration, or IFBC, of 50% or higher." Illya explains.
"How was that measured? That doesn't seem like something you'd figure out with a routine checkup at the doctor's." Mirage puts a hand on her chin.
"No, it isn't, but during the Windermerean conflict, NUNS wanted a countermeasure to work against Windermere's Song of the Wind, which should tell you just how much they trust Walkure and Chaos. They began testing people on the basis of gauging which planets were prone to Var outbreaks; it actually started with their forces near the Brisingr globular cluster." Illya glances at the singers standing in the middle of the room. Toland then takes her place on the console, the information on missing persons
"Anyways, about our current standing with the nearby globular clusters; it's not as bad as it seems." Toland begins. "It looks like the Apex of Humanity has the advantage in terms of territory, but this map doesn't show the size of planets." He says as he types on the console. The hostile 13 planet cluster horizontally aligns with the friendly 5 planet cluster, and as Toland finishes typing, the two clusters appear to take up the same amount of space when put side by side, but the largest planet in the hostile cluster is only as large as the largest moon in the friendly cluster. The largest planet in the friendly cluster is roughly five times larger than the hostile cluster's largest planet. Every friendly planet had at least two above-average sized moons.
"Well, that makes me feel better about our current standing; now we're not totally screwed." Chuck thinks aloud.
"Lt. Mustang is right, despite this fact, we'd still be hard-pressed to fight on an even level with our adversaries if we had a head-on confrontation." Yui says as she scans the display.
"Which is why we won't, this is where you all would come in." Ryu faces Walkure. "From what I understand, you ladies and Delta Platoon have a considerable amount of experience in infiltration and intelligence gathering."
"Well, Colonel, you aren't completely off; the problem I see right now is that the applications that you are talking about would not completely fit our bill." Mikumo says to Ryu, surprising everyone in the room to an extent.
"Please explain." Ryu replies politely.
"Well, in most of our previous infiltration missions, we were working amongst a civilian population in which a group of girls, albeit disguised, would blend in normally. If that wasn't the case, we were infiltrating hostile territory in which we had to rely on not being spotted at all. Which, might I add, didn't go very well for some or all of us. If I'm understanding you correctly, we may have to infiltrate military complexes to complete our tasks; we have not done anything of the sort as far as I remember." Mikumo explains, again, surprising everyone in the room to an extent. Shiro raised an eyebrow lightly at Mikumo before reverting back to his usual stoic self.
"Ahem, Mikumo is right, the bulk of our infiltration missions were centered around investigating the Protoculture structures on the planets in this cluster, so resistance was generally light, with the exception of our operation on Voldor, where the NUNS garrison stationed there were under the control of Windermere's song of the wind and artificially-induced Var Syndrome." Kaname notes.
"I see. Well, I appreciate the clarification, I would have made a significant mistake if I treated you ladies like any other RAS group." Ryu admits.
"Now that that's out of the way, what's our first move?" Ernest looks between the group of pilots and singers.
"Well, our first moves were to gather as many solid allies as possible; like Toland and Captain Takamura mentioned, it's uncertain who's got an advantage in a fight, and I'm not to keen on finding out the hard way." Ryu says with a light scowl on his face. He regains his composure as he turns to Arad and Ernest. "I don't suppose you have anyone worth noting?"
Arad looks at Ernest, then at Delta Platoon and Walkure, then back at Ernest. "What do you think, Captain?"
"I don't think that's our call to make." Ernest looks at Arad with flat face.
"What is it?" Illya looks at Ernest and Arad.
"Well, there is still the question of what to do with the Windermereans, but I don't think they'd be too keen on fighting alongside us when we just ended a conflict with them." Ernest responds.
"If I understand them correctly, they originally fought to break free from NUNS control, right?" Illya asks the Zentradi captain.
"Correct. The recent conflict was a originally a result of the late King Gramia's attempt to restore what Windermere had lost in their fight for independence seven years prior, but when he died, his advisor, Roid, took control of Windermere's forces to fight for his personal goals." Ernest explains.
"That involved using Ms. Guynemer here as the trigger for his plan?" Ryu's gaze flickers between Mikumo and Ernest.
"Yes; there is a lot of classified information regarding Ms. Guynemer, but I'm sure you're aware of her background." Ernest subtly takes note of Ryu's gaze on Mikumo.
"Only that there isn't much to her. A certain Lady M made getting that information very difficult, so I imagine it's very dangerous information that shouldn't be tossed around lightly." Ryu notes.
"Indeed it is; please don't mistake our not giving you this information as mistrust; it simply isn't really ours to hand out." Ernest says.
"I understand completely. I was particularly curious because the entire universe heard her voice that day, and it's raised a lot of questions." Ryu exhales softly.
"To be frank, Colonel, I doubt we have many answers to the questions that exist over Ms. Guynemer; and it's not like she can answer them herself anyway." Ernest says as Mikumo looks down slightly, her facial features obscured by her hair.
"How is that so? Does she not know the extent of her abilities?" Yuki questions no one in particular.
Yui lightly smacks her younger sister. "Forgive 2nd Lt. Takamura, Captain. Like myself, she probably does not understand much about the circumstances surrounding Ms. Guynmer and was wanting to know more."
Ernest ignores Yuki's fidgeting and Ryu's stern gaze toward the former. "No problem at all, Captain. As I mentioned earlier, we do not know much, so we can only tell you what we know. You could ask Ms. Guynemer directly, but you'll have to wait for her to come back."
Everyone in the room took a moment to process this, the silence both awkward and abnormal. The sounds of neck bones popping filled the room as they turned to Mikumo's last known position filled the room.
"Geez, again?" Hayate rubs the back of his head.
"And in the middle of a debrief?" Mirage sounds exasperated.
"Is this a common occurrence?" Kiriko asks, her soft voice filling the room.
"You have no idea." Walkure and Delta Platoon, including Messer respond in total sync.
"Wait, where's Shiro?" Freyja looks toward the spot where the stoic bodyguard was standing.
While the groups were discussing where and why Mikumo and Shiro had left, Illya, Ryu, Ernest and Arad turn toward each other.
"Ms. Guynemer has had a tendency to go off on her own, most during operations. She always got results, so we've let it slide for a while now." Ernest explains to the ISDF officers.
"The truth is, we have no real way of stopping her, it's just in her nature." Arad adds.
"Isn't it the role of the superior officers to discipline their subordinates?" Illya frowns at the Delta Platoon leader and Captain.
"Barchenowa, calm down. They've been reasonable and rational since we met them, I'm sure there's a reason behind this." Ryu puts a hand on his XO's shoulder.
"About that," Toland walks toward them. "I myself haven't been told much, but judging by the After Action Reports I've read, Ms. Guynemer has often wondered off on her own, done things without permission, despite results, and acted somewhat anti-socially. Most of this suggests immaturity or an age much younger than one would expect."
Arad and Ernest glance at each other, then back at Toland.
"I guess you're not sought after for nothing, Mr. Stein." Ernest softly remarks.
"I just hope our potential adversaries aren't half as smart as he is." Arad notes.
"What is that supposed to mean, Captain? Major?" Illya looks between the two.
The two glance at each other briefly then back at the two ISDF officers.
Ernest exhales softly. "Alright, this is one piece of information that we don't really mind sharing with you three, but it still needs to stay under wraps, agreed?"
The two officers and bio-engineer nod.
"Okay, the truth is, Ms. Guynemer is some a clone of an unidentified individual using old DNA stolen from Windermere some years ago, and because of that, she's only had about three or so years of consciousness; I think you know where this is going." Ernest rattles off.
There was an awkward silence among the three.
"You don't mean...she's only three years old?" Ryu is the first to recover.
"H-how is that possible?" Illya stutters.
"I was under the impression cloning technology hadn't advanced to the point where clones would as functional as she is..." Toland trails off.
"Well, like we said, we still don't know much about her." Arad reminds the three.
"But still, she has a very potent ability, and at such a young age too." Ryu puts a hand on his chin.
"As true as that is, it is very likely she isn't aware of all her abilities, much less have control of them. That's why we're being cautious with her; she's still one of us though, so we try not to isolate her." Ernest states.
"So she's an existence that could very well be easily manipulated if we we don't ere to the side of caution." Illya notes.
"I'm afraid so. Strangely enough, the after the final battle for Ragna, she's opened up quite a bit, but after we hired Shiro, she's a lot more social and talkative, but I guess things have progressed a bit to quickly for her to change this much in so little time." Arad states.
"I take it didn't really help that we talked about her like an object or a liability, did it?" Ryu frowns slightly.
"Probably not, it also might've made her more aware of herself, which could be good or bad." Toland adds.
Not really; she's been given more choices recently than she's had her entire life, so it's had the effect of her becoming more aware of herself and the world around her. I wouldn't think her becoming more aware of herself could have any negative repercussions, but that remains to be seen." Ernest says to the group of commanding officers.
"That might be what's happening right now, now that I think about it." Toland puts a hand on his chin.
"Anyway, I suppose we should finish up while we wait for Ms. Guynemer and Captain Okumura to get back." Ernest says coolly.
"That guy's a Captain?" Illya asks incredulously.
"For all intents and purposes, it's mainly so that he can act on his own authority, pertaining to Ms. Guynemer." Arad explains.
"And that's all because of her solitary behavior." Illya huffs. "You sure have an interesting crew, Captain."
Ernest simply lowers his cap, hiding his eyes. "I believe it makes life as interesting as they are."
Meanwhile, two floors below the bridge deck
Shiro turned the corner and saw Mikumo sitting against the wall with her knees pressed against her chest. Her face was shadowed by her violet hair, which, in combination to her position, made it impossible to see her face. Shiro knelt near Mikumo.
"I assume you didn't leave because you were tired?" Shiro calmly asks.
"For the record, I actually am tired." Mikumo responds without looking up.
"But that isn't the main reason, is it?" Shiro doesn't move.
"I don't get it."
"What is it you don't get?"
"How do you understand me this much?"
"I really don't understand you."
"You do enough to know where I'd be if I chose to leave at random."
"It wasn't random for you. Furthermore, you're a little more predictable than you'd think."
Mikumo looks up, a small frown on her face. "Why did you come here, Shiro?"
"I could ask the same of you, Mikumo." Shiro maintains a level gaze at Mikumo.
Mikumo exhales softly. "You know when we were...inside my mind?"
Shiro nods.
"Something's been bothering me about the whole thing. The things that happened keep flashing in my mind... I'm finding myself worrying about things I haven't considered before, and hearing them talk about me like a massive liability isn't helping."
"Mikumo, I don't intend to make you feel worse, but you should understand that, with your abilities, you pose a threat to everyone. Understandably, they're worried, however, anything they might have said was not meant to hurt or insult you. To be honest, I think this is what people call a 'reality check.'" Shiro sits next to Mikumo.
"A reality check?" Mikumo turns toward Shiro, her expression half curious, half concerned.
"It's apparently an expression for an occasion in which one is reminded of the state of things in the real world, or in this case, the universe."
"I don't get it." Mikumo frowns, her eyes lost in thought.
"Let me ask you this, Mikumo. Do you ever think about the consequences of you actions?"
"What? Of course, that's why we're having this talk now." Mikumo replies, her tone hot.
"Did you ever think about the consequences of your actions before the events that transpired in the past 48 hours?" Shiro asks, his tone betraying the fact he already knew the answer.
"Of cours-" Mikumo stops, her eyes widening. "No, I didn't..." Her thoughts flash through every decision she made. She begins to tremble, her voice as shaky as her body. "I-I didn't think about what would happen a-at all..."
She stops when she feels Shiro put an hand on her shoulder, the warmth breaking her train of anxious thoughts. She looks down, her eyes brimming with tears.
"H-how much danger have I put them in because of my actions? Put you in?" She gasps softly when Shiro puts his hand on her head. She looks up at him, small tears in her eyes and pink dusting her cheeks.
Shiro swallowed nervously. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm used to being in danger, so-" Shiro stiffens when Mikumo practically jumps on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Tell me, Shiro. Am I a burden to you? To everyone else?" Mikumo's voice is still trembling, but most of it is masked by the fact that her head is buried between Shiro's shoulders and chest.
"To be honest Mikumo, yes, you are a burden to me and probably everyone else, but..." He stops when she looks up at him, the pink on her cheeks still present along with the small tears.
"But?" The words were even less than a whisper.
"You've been with them for an considerable amount of time, so if they didn't want to put up with your behavior, do you think you'd still be here today?"
Mikumo shakes her head, but still kept her gaze on him. "And you?"
Shiro smiles genuinely at her, causing her blush even more. "Mikumo, I expected you to be a burden, as I do with all of the people I am contracted to protect; do you want to know the difference between you and them is?"
Mikumo simply leans in closer, and Shiro clenches the hand not on Mikumo's head to stop himself from focusing on the overwhelming yet subtle scent of cinnamon. "It didn't feel the slightest bit meaningful for me to protect them; it didn't matter what the personality of my contractor or protected person was, or how well we got along, it just didn't feel right to me. Here," He stops to part a lock of her hair obstructing her face, causing her to turn a pink akin to Freyja's rune. "it just feels right, and despite my normally blank expression, I actually like being here with all of you, especially you Mikumo."
Mikumo looked as though she was going to say something, but a familiar hacker's voice makes her freeze.
"Was that a confession of love?" Reina smiles cheekily as she pokes her head around the corner.
"Oh my god, that was soooo cute!" Makina exclaims as she pops out next to Reina.
"That was surprisingly honest." Hayate casually remarks, Freyja under his arm.
Freyja grins, snuggling with Hayate. "But, it's nice to see him being honest, isn't it?"
"Does that imply you all do not think I am honest with all of you?" Shiro narrows his eyes at Reina and Makina, who tense up under his gaze. Reina turned towards Mikumo for a reprieve from Shiro's gaze, only to find that Mikumo was glaring at her just as much, except her cheeks were as pink as Makina's hair.
"Still lovely." Reina mutters, her cheeky grin still present.
"Not really, it's more like you don't tell us much." Hayate replies flatly, Freyja humming her agreement.
"That, and I can't make up a cute nickname for you, Shiro!" Makina adds bubbly.
"I do not believe 'cute' is a word that describes me." Shiro mutters loud enough for them to hear.
"Amazing is, isn't it?" Mikumo absentmindedly asks no one in particular. Her pupils narrow to the size of pins when she realizes she made her thoughts known to everyone nearby.
For a painfully long fifteen seconds, no one said anything, mainly to process what Mikumo had said. Everyone gaped at Mikumo, while Shiro simply stared at her.
"Does that count as a confession of love?" Reina asks no one in particular.
"I don't see how it couldn't." Makina smirks.
Mikumo's face, at this point, had turned a shade of red only Kaname's hair could match. She could only sputter and fidget as Hayate, Freyja, and Reina give her mixed expressions ranging from disbelief, adorable smiles, and smiles that held underlying messages she didn't even want to think about.
"Do you two enjoy toying with Mikumo?" Shiro frowns at the duo.
"Kind of." Reina replies nonchalantly.
Shiro's frown deepens, making the atmosphere much less light-hearted than she had intended; Makina quickly picked up on this.
"W-we're not doing it to antagonize her, Shiro. We just want her to open up in any way possible."
Mikumo recovered at hearing this, surprise written all over her face. Shiro didn't relent in his unfavorable gaze.
"And teasing her while she opened up to me about concerns she did not think to talk to you about was your way of 'getting her to open up'?"
The four of them immediately stopped.
"Concerns?" Freyja and Hayate were immediately on alert.
"What's he talking about, Kumo-Kumo?" Makina turns on the now recovered Star Singer.
Mikumo didn't say anything, opting to lean on Shiro further while avoiding their gazes.
Shiro exhaled silently through his nose. "Apologies, I said something I should not have said without Mikumo's permission. Please disregard-"
"Mikumo, what's wrong?" Reina asks, the humor all but nonexistent.
"I...I just...I was just thinking about what's happened lately, reevaluating my life decisions, and reevaluating the way I make decisions in the future." Mikumo says softly.
"We're sorry." Reina and Makina apologize in unison.
"Don't worry about it, just try to read the atmosphere next time." Mikumo dismisses them flatly.
"Anyway, I think we should return to the meeting upstairs; I doubt our guests will tolerate half of us leaving on a whim." Shiro says calmly, standing up.
Mikumo gently tugs at him. "Shiro?"
Shiro looks down, taking note of the pink dusting her cheeks. "Yes?"
"A word alone?" Mikumo looks at the four standing nearby. "Sorry, this will only take a couple minutes."
"No problem. I'll just tell them you're sorting out your thoughts." Hayate nods to Shiro before taking Freyja's hand and walking up the stairs.
"We'll see you upstairs, Kumo-Kumo." Makina smiles gently at Mikumo.
"We got you covered, so take your time, Mikumo." Reina turns and leaves with Makina.
"Thanks." Mikumo says before turning to look at Shiro, who knelt next to Mikumo.
"Something still bothering you?" Shiro looks at Mikumo, whose blush had only deepened in the past minute.
"Kind of. I just...I just want to get this off my chest." Mikumo takes a deep breath. "Shiro, I...I really like you, but I can't explain why...I...I don't know if I even have the right to like you, given the situation."
Shiro simply stared at her, his mouth open slightly.
Mikumo, upon seeing Shiro's reaction, blushed deeper. "L-look, I just..." She trails off as Shiro kneels close to her. It was at this point Shiro noticed that her hair had started glowing softly.
"Mikumo..." Before he could stop himself, his hand was caressing her cheek; he didn't even realize he had leaned so close to her until he saw his reflection in her sleek, crimson eyes. They continued to lean forward until their foreheads met. Mikumo basked in the warmth that only Shiro could provide, and Shiro relished in the aromatic scent of cinnamon that seemed to emanate from Mikumo's being. They remained like that for what seemed to be hours until the sound of distant talking snaps them both back to reality. Shiro looked at Mikumo, his gaze relaying a message she shared: they would meet later and continue their 'discussion.' Shiro stood up first, offering his hand to Mikumo, who took it gratefully, a small smile gracing her face. Shiro returned the smile before returning to his usual stoic self. Mikumo followed suit, switching to her 'business mode.' They made their way upstairs, where the four commanding officers plus Toland were standing, the other pilots and the rest of Walkure were waiting. Hayate nods to Shiro, while Freyja smiles gently at Mikumo.
Mikumo steps forward towards the leadership. "I apologize for leaving on short notice, I needed to sort out my thoughts."
Illya looks at her critically. "Hmm, I see. Are you well enough to continue with the meeting?"
Mikumo, while calm on the outside, fumed internally. "Yes, I should be well enough to continue onwards."
If Illya noticed the hint of venom in Mikumo's voice, she didn't show it. "And you?" She says pointedly to Shiro, who doesn't seem to react in the slightest.
"My purpose is to look after Ms. Guynemer, regardless of internal or external circumstances. If you have an issue with this..." Shiro trails off.
"What would you advise me to do?" Illya asks back, her tone heated. By this point, the discussion had drawn the attention of everyone in the room. Shiro had long since become aware of the watchful gazes of both his superiors, and the even more watchful gaze of the ISDF Commanding Officer.
"Either ask for Captain Ernest or Major Molders to renegotiate my contract, or simply put up with it." Shiro replies coolly. He ignores the smirks that Arad and Ryu give him, on top of the rather inconspicuous grin Ernest gives him.
A vein appears on Illya's forehead. "Is that so?"
"Yes, it is. I am simply following the conditions of my contract." Shiro replied, maintaining his stoic attitude and composure.
"And you've been faithfully following the conditions of your contract since you were contracted?" Illya narrows her eyes at Shiro.
"Yes; even more so recently given the events that transpired in the past 24 hours." Shiro stops, his composure steadfast. "If you are finished, Major, we still have things that need to be discussed."
Illya finally took notice of the fact that the entire room was watching the two of them. Her eyebrow twitches before she regains her composure. She turns to look at Ryu and Toland, who are both giving her cocky, Hayate-like smirks. Without saying a word, Illya takes a slip of paper out of her jacket, walks over to Ryu, and sticks it in his jacket.
"You win." Is all she says before returning to her original position.
Everyone in the room watched the three of them with mixed levels of curiosity, while Shiro and Mikumo simply looked at each other until Ryu begins talking.
"Alright, now that everyone's back, let's continue; there's isn't much left to discuss without turning this into a office board meeting, so let's get to it."
"I believe we were discussing whether or not to attempt to make allies with the Windermereans." Illya starts.
"Not to mention, there is the matter of the new Valkyrie blueprint that's on Al-Shahal." Arad points out.
"The way I see it, we could either go after the new Valkyrie blueprint or try and get Windermere on our side for the upcoming conflict." Ryu puts a hand on his chin.
"We could do both." Toland says.
"That too, but we still have to figure out how to allocate our forces; you guys don't know the extent of our forces' abilities, and vice versa." Arad crosses his arms.
"Major Molders is right, we should gauge each other so as to group up our pilots in the most efficient way possible. That, and we also need to incorporate Walkure as well." Ernest looks down slightly.
"It looks like we'll have plenty to do in the upcoming months, huh?" Ryu exhales softly.
"It seems that way, Colonel. We-" Illya starts as Miyuki runs toward the group.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant Colonel, Major. There is an incoming message on the same frequency you used to contact us, the other person on the line said it was urgent. They told me to relay the phrase: 'Broken Chains.'" Miyuki looked concerned.
Ryu and Illya stiffen as they look at each other.
"What's going on?" Ernest was on alert.
Ryu grimaced as he turned toward the group. "Did you all know that there was a large NUNS fleet, including a Macross-class warship in orbit of Ragna?"
"We know now. What are they doing?" Ernest asks, ignoring the shocked crew behind him.
"It seems that we've been found out; our ships are engaging the fleet now, but with that Macross-class warship there, I doubt it's a fight we can win." Ryu says, his expression grim.
"What kind of ships do you have?" Arad asks, recovered from his initial shock.
"Five ships total, two battleships and three carriers, all heavily modified prototypes of existing warships." Ryu fires off.
"All of our ships have heavy energy cannons that could easily damage and/or cripple the Macross, but the problem lies with the fact that there are nine enemy carriers and ten battleships. Our ships are incredibly vulnerable whilst firing, given the prototype nature of the ships, firing the energy cannons leaves them with low power output for a few minutes, which is more than enough for the enemy fleet to annihilate our ships." Illya quickly rattles off the information.
"Man, we don't get a break, do we?" Chuck rubs the back of his neck.
"We'll scramble who we can, but a lot of our fighters are under maintenance." Ernest notes.
"We appreciate it." Ryu says before turning to his daughters. "Yui, Yuki."
The Takamura sisters snap to attention with simultaneous "Yes sirs."
"I need you two in the air, link up with the rest of your squad. Masaki, same goes for you, but make sure Schwernz gets to his Konig, we're gonna need it." Ryu pauses when he looks at Messer. "Ihlefeld, as of this moment, you are under command of Captain Ernest and Major Molders. Understood?"
Messer snaps to a salute. "Yes sir."
As the ISDF pilots turn to leave, Arad and Ernest turn towards Delta Platoon and Walkure.
"Delta Platoon, are you all up?" Arad asks.
"Yes sir." Mirage, Hayate, and Messer reply.
"Aye sir." Chuck grins.
"Awaiting orders, Major." Shiro calmly replies.
"Our mission as of now is to support the ISDF as they fend off the Apex of Humanity. We'll send the Aether up with whatever fighters we can. Walkure, it's your call on whether or not you want to go up with them." Ernest looks at the singers.
"We'll be there, Captain. Right girls?" Kaname turns to the rest of the singers.
"Yeah!" Freyja chimes.
"Wouldn't miss it." Reina smiles.
"I know someone's gonna need me up there." Makina says with her usual bubbliness.
"Do you even have to ask?" Mikumo smiles at Kaname.
"Looks like we'll have to practice later, Kumo-Kumo." Makina grins at Mikumo.
"Think of this as live-action practice." Mikumo says.
As the singers turn to leave, Arad puts a hand on Messer's shoulder.
"Messer, your callsign from here on out will be Delta-3. Sorry, but Mirage earned her way to being my second-in-command." He grins at Messer.
Messer returns the smile. "I wouldn't dream of it, sir."
"Does everyone have to 'sir' me? I feel like I'm getting old." Arad cracks.
"I would not have to address you so if you did not lie about your rank, sir." Shiro says coolly. "Also, I do not have a fighter at this time, I was unfortunately too rough with the last one."
"Oh right." Arad frowns. "I'm not sure if we have any spare fighters. The rest of Delta Platoon, get in your fighters and link up with ACE squads 1 and 2."
The four pilots turn and leave promptly. Arad turns to Shiro as Ryu walks over to them.
"I hear your newest pilot doesn't have a fighter?" Ryu asks calmly.
"No, he went and got shot down 8 hours ago." Arad jests at Shiro, who didn't flinch.
"Well, Okumura, it's your lucky day. I know we've got some spare fighters in our hangers, we can have you ride in the stealth shuttle Barchenowa and I took here." Ryu says.
"If Walkure is going to join the battle aboard the Aether, I would rather ride the on it in the event that an enemy manages to board the ship."
"Walkure's protector above all else, huh?" Ryu smirks.
"Technically, Mikumo's first and foremost, but Walkure a high-tier priority." Shiro coolly remarks.
Ryu looks at Shiro evenly for a moment before alarms go off. "Alright, it looks like we all know where we need to be. Okumura, we'll get you a fighter as soon you get close. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong."
Shiro looks at Ryu briefly before he turns away. "Colonel, if my experience has taught me anything, one should always prepare for anything and everything to go wrong."
Arad and Ryu exchanges glances.
"Strange guy you picked up."
"Gets the job done plus some. Has the right mix of confidence and humbleness. What more could you ask for?"
"Point taken. Shall we get a move on?"
"You fly with your subordinates?"
"I wish, but my XO and my daughters would kill me if I tried."
"Heh, easy retirement."
"Like hell it is. Here's to hoping things don't get any worse."
With that, the two seniors of their respective air wings left the bridge of the Elysion to confront their adversaries. It seemed, their hardships had just begun.
Alright, this chapter was some 13,000 words, technically took me four months to write even though I was incapacitated for two and half of them, and is kinda an exposition dump. Sorry, but I need to advance the story, and I didn't want everyone to think this was a dead story, can't please everyone. Anyways, I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. I will try to post more frequently, but I'm not feeling my best right now, so I hope you all can forgive me. That aside, if you have any thoughts you want to share with me, leave a comment or a review and I'll get back to you ASAP. See you all later!