Infinite Stratos Plot Bunnies Collection
Chapter 25: IS x Girls Frontline
Upload date: February 21, 2022
AN: PT has proven itself a very dangerous group with its ability to seemingly infiltrate nearly any group or faction to steal IS units and their personnel are extremely dangerous fighters, with Squall and Autumn being ex-American special forces according to IS Wiki and Madoka being no slouch either as seen in her anime debut. Yet it seems like there hasn't been any real response - a formation of a special unit or taskforce to deal with them whether officially or covertly. The only group we know of that stands opposed to PT is the Sarashiki clan which is some sort of secret underworld organization itself. The IS Wiki never describes in full detail what the Sarashiki clan's underworld dealings are, but it's safe to say they aren't the good guys either. ISA doesn't really count as it is supposed to be a civilian educational institution and not a proper military or security force for that matter even though its students and staff had engaged PT members throughout the lore of Infinite Stratos. This story concept explores that question of "What if there was a Counter to Phantom Task" This crossover is also inspired by my recent love for the Girls Frontline anime that came out this Winter anime season. I never played the mobile game as I already have one mobile gacha game I'm dedicated to and I can't afford to split my time between two of them.
Like always, feel free to adapt this story and make changes you see fit so long as there's no OC protagonist present.
Story Concept:
In this scenario, Ichika walks a far different path than his canon counterpart. Like Tabane, he is an unparalleled genius though in his case it is AI and his invention of Tactical Doll technology. He was one of the founders of IOP (and remains a stockholder of the company) and later Sangvis Ferri. Ichika and Tabane collaborated frequently in R&D efforts for AI based technology R&D. When Sangvis T-Dolls went rogue, he fled SF and ended up with Griffin and Kryuger PMC where he served as the expert on SF designed T-Dolls. It is at Griffin he received formal military training, but as an leader he was different from other commanders as he insisted on commanding Griffin Dolls on the field as opposed to staying behind at a base. It wasn't common to see CMDR Gentiane command Griffin forces from base while Ichika being her junior officer commanded them on the frontlines serving as the human eyes on the grounds and having on-field authority should Griffin forces lose contact with base or communications is jammed. While his whole life being around T-Dolls prior to Ichika's discovery of being able to pilot an IS could explain his alleged denseness, this is certainly not the case as Gentiane and Ichika's relationship started off as a sempai-kouhai relationship to that of "close friends with benefits", being there for each other during Griffin's war with SF. Griffin would neutralize the threat posed by SF at some point and thus acquired all SF T-Dolls, assets, and technology by default. Gentiane was promoted high enough to be third in command of Griffin while Ichika was promoted to Commander from Lieutenant Commander and was given the task of locating and accounting for all SF T-Dolls and assets as he was once a founder and chief designer of SF. Griffin takes on new PMC contracts, the first providing armed security for ISA and the second being Tabane's private army to fight PT on her behalf. The second contract was secured with Ichika's connections to Tabane which involved Tabane developing unique IS Cores specifically for IS units to be used by T-Dolls as part of the deal.
Ichika was eager to pursue his new duties and responsibilities with his recent promotion until it was discovered he could pilot and IS. At the same school where Byakushiki was, Gentiane with ISA administrators were present at a meeting to sign the armed security contract. Ichika was present commanding a mixed squad of SF-based T-Dolls and Griffin Dolls from his own elite unit the STANAG regiment as both security detail and to protect the Byakushiki from theft upon the signing of the contract. Ichika and Chifuyu have an awkward reunion as she does not respect his job and position in Griffin. Unlike in canon, Phantom Task makes their appearance much sooner. Madoka shows up and a major fight occurs as Griffin forces try to escort ISA personnel to safety while securing the Byakushiki. The AR Team was on their way but it would still take some time to arrive. By accident, Ichika touches the Byakushiki when he attempts to hand it off to Chifuyu. That was when the IS responded to his touch and activated. Ichika performed poorly as one would expect from an inexperienced user of an IS, but he held off Madoka and bought enough time for evacuation and for the AR Team in their own custom IS units courtesy of Tabane to back Ichika up. Madoka was forced to retreat as she could not hope to fight both Chifuyu and Griffin's elite Dolls at the same time.
In the aftermath, Griffin tried to keep the incident under wraps for Ichika's sake and protection as he wanted nothing to do with the IS. However, ISA couldn't keep quiet and word quickly spread with Japan sending a JSDF detachment to a local Griffin base where Ichika was staying at for his "protection" while Chifuyu had Ichika enrolled without his consent. A new contract between Griffin and ISA was made and ensured he would stay at ISA. Ichika was reassigned from his original mission to account for all SF assets to chief of armed private security for ISA with him answering to Griffin leaders and ISA staff, his status in the gray area as both student and pseudo staff of ISA. Ichika's request to have his ISA security forces consist of SF-designed Dolls and T-Dolls from his elite STANAG regiment was denied. Instead the ISA security force he would command would be AR Team and basic Griffin Dolls as per the new contract between Griffin and ISA, which pissed Ichika off greatly as he felt it undercut his ability to perform his new mission. His gray area status means he would have a hard time exerting command authority with ISA staff and students to show him respect, especially his canon harem who are extremely willful. GF version Ichika would behave a lot different from his canon self as he prefer to oversee AR Team's IS training and running combat simulations with Griffin's basic T-Dolls rather than train and improve his IS piloting skills and he didn't want anything to do with IS at all, a psychological scar from his kidnapping. Rather than interact with ISA students in his free time, he preferred to use his spare time on further R&D on Tactical Dolls and A.I. technology. Rather than practicing with Byakushiki, Ichika had already given up on such prospects as he considered it a waste of his valuable time on his other endeavors and felt that he was far too late to be able to catch up with even the most novice of first-year ISA students. Instead, he would count on AR Team and their custom IS units to repel any IS-based threats that come to ISA. Also this version of Ichika is less tolerant and patient with having to deal with Chifuyu's BS towards him - ranging from her lack of respect to him and his career and life choices, to not answering questions Ichika felt were vital to his mission and keeping secrets from him. Expect Ichika and Chifuyu to clash over different views regarding T-Dolls, especially as Ichika is defensively aggressive towards any ISA staff and student who berates and looks down on T-Dolls as he trusts them more than most humans.
In the meantime, Gentiane would be given the assignment to wage war against PT under Tabane's directions. At her command are both Griffin and SF-origin T-Dolls, with the most elite models being given IS units made by Tabane for Griffin's force of IS piloting T-Dolls. Other than the AR Team there are other T-Doll teams equipped with IS units, chief among them being Squad 404 and Task Force DEFY. In addition to the T-Doll armies of Griffin at her disposal, Gentiane would have her own custom IS unit designed and provided to her by Tabane.