Data File 1002: Operation Europa's Shield
Operation Europa's Shield is a military exercise created after Hammond became a recognized state. While the Hammond Republic is seen as an enemy to the European Union, the country participates in the exercise anyway. The exercise's premise is when a hostile power takes control of the Hammond Republic, and attacks the EU. Hammond has participated even as they grow stronger in military strength, requiring the nations participating to work on even more strategies to best and beat the new technology. Hammond hs refused to use Titans in the exercise, but doesn't hesitate to use Hybrid IS/Titans. The exercise got particularly heated after two Hammond army groups, one centered around the Hybrid models, 'punched' a hole through the updated Maginot Line, and when head to head with a French army group stationed in Paris. The ensuing 'battle' resulted in the loss of 90% of French IS models and the loss of France in the exercise. One fight in particular stood out to strategists, and that would be a fight between two defending EU IS models and a single Hammond Hybrid model, in which the EU models were defeated, but managed to severely damage the Hybrid with help from (REDACTED). Currently, the EU strategy taken from the exercise is to delay and defend, causing enough casualties to the Hammond Spearhead strategy in hopes of delaying attacks on the cities of Berlin, Paris, and Rome. The Hammond strategy has been Spearhead and Defend, which requires the Hammond forces to blitz through enemy lines while a stream of forces take hold of key positions in the aftermath to defend from counterattacks.
Infirmary, ISA
Kanzashi stood in the medical room, watching over Chifuyu as she was being tested for any after effects of the incident that had just transpired. While the school hadn't seen what caused it, the noise and explosion from the arena was hard to miss. Everyone assumed something had gone wrong during the tournament, and an IS went haywire. However, now that Chifuyu was conscience, she told what had happened in the arena to Kanzashi, filling her in on the details.
"Ms. Orimura, the tests have shown no effects from the explosion. I would consider yourself very lucky." The doctor said, holding a tablet with the results on it. "If you were on the arena floor, we would be having a very different conversation."
Chifuyu only nodded, and got off the bed to leave the room. Kanzashi followed her, already knowing where they were going.
"I hope he isn't dead." Chifuyu mumbled. "I can't kill him if he's dead."
The pair turned the corner to see the surgery room viewing window. They looked down at the scene of the ongoing "surgery".
Surgery isn't the right word, more of a rescue attempt. The IS Firestorm was in total lockdown mode, the user still trapped in the suit. Gio Inferno's eyes were closed, not by choice, but by force. The explosion had cauterized his eyes shut, and his mouth was the same. What was left of him was a burnt IS hull and a regenerated hand. The surgeons were working to remove the body from the suit, but were having no such luck.
"Amazing he survived that." Kanzashi mumbled, looking at the monitor displaying his vitals. He was in a medically induced coma.
"Will he look or speak again?" Chifuyu asked. "Cause he has a lot of explaining to do."
A doctor walked in, with a clipboard. "I can answer that question. He'll make a full recovery, and be okay in about four days."
Kanzashi whirled around at the doctor. "How is that possible? His face is basically melted shut, and he's been burnt into the hull of his IS! He's part of the damn thing, and not to mention the radiation from the blast! Ms. Orimura-!"
Chifuyu put her hand up, quieting Kanzashi. "Thank you, doctor. I expect to see him soon-"
There was a commotion down on the surgery floor, and all three turned to see what was going on.
Gio's body was moving inside the IS, which should have been impossible due to his current state, and was making noises that were muffled by his mouth being melted shut. Surgeons quickly backed away from the Hybrid IS/Titan.
"My god…" Was all the doctor could say as Gio combust into flames. His IS let go of his body and deactivated, leaving a flaming body on the ground.
(Warning, gore and disturbing image inducing literature ahead)
Gio got onto his knees, tore at where his mouth should have been, and ripped open a hole, letting out a guttural scream as the melted skin around where his eyes should have been began to glow and expand, exploding into flames, burning away the flesh, and dying out, revealing teal eyes. Gio's body, which was still covered in flames, started regenerating new skin, burning away the melted, charred, and radioactive skin and making it good as new. The area around his mouth healed to look normal again, and his face was fixed immediately. The fire began to die out as Gio got to his feet.
(Scene over, you may now stop cringing)
"Ms. Orimura…" Kanzashi started. "What is he?"
Chifuyu was silent, the doctor was furiously scribbling notes down, and the surgeons were shocked to silence.
Gio looked around, seemingly unfazed by what just happened, which is weird since it happened to him. "I'm okay, I'm okay." He looked at his arm that had been vaporized then quickly regenerated. "Yeah, I'm okay." Then passed out.
"He should be dead, he should be dead twice over." The doctor said aloud. "The radiation alone was higher than Chernobyl for a good two milliseconds...he should be dead…"
Chifuyu only nodded. "The number times he should be dead far outnumber my wins, doctor. I'm sure you've seen the unclassified parts of his file, correct?"
The doctor only nodded. "I understand then. He should be free by tonight."
Chifuyu turned to Kanzashi. "Sarashiki, I have an important mission for you. One your sister would fail to complete no matter how hard she tried."
Kanzashi turned to Chifuyu. "What would the mission be?" She asked, timid that she was being given a mission that even her sister would fail at.
"You need to monitor the Hammond Pilot."
Classroom 1-1, the next day
The class was unusually silent. Talk was replaced with short and quiet whispers, while others stared blankly forward.
Considering what happened and what could've happened, their reactions were justifiable. An attack on the ISA was not impossible, the technology and people housed on campus made it a serious target for terrorists.
But when Hammond Titans, one of the most classified and deadliest military assets in the world, go missing and suddenly appear right in your face no longer controlled by their original operators, scared doesn't begin to cover it. With the Titan, being face to face with one in combat essentially spelled defeat for any of the students in the ISA, being face to face as a non-combative is worse, being in the crossfire is a death sentence.
Three in one area is a genocide order, and the student's of 1-1 and 1-4 may have been the targets.
Chifuyu walked into the classroom, and the class lightened up a bit, but also stood rigid, waiting for what the teacher would say.
"Well class, it seems like the tournament is more or less a wash. The first round will go on, but every match in the second round and beyond is canceled."
The class groaned, upset at the fact that they wouldn't be able to show off their (read: Gio's) superiority to the other first year classes.
"However, in light of recent events, Gio has been crowned the best first year pilot." Chifuyu continued.
Cecilia raised her hand. "How come? He didn't beat class 1-4's representative."
Chifuyu nodded. "True, but he had her on the ropes and defeated three advanced model Titans. Show me a first year who can do the same and we can have them fight. Though I doubt Hammond will let you destroy three more MT-2s for that reason."
Cecilia nodded, understanding immediately. Houki raised her hand next. "How did Gio defeat the Titan?"
Chifuyu stared, wondering if she should tell her, and decided no harm no foul. "He stole a nuclear core from a destroyed MT-2, and, putting it lightly, punched the other two with it, destroying the three Titans and any evidence of them completely. As of this point in time, he is still unconscious."
"How is he even alive?!" Cecilia shouted. "A titan nuclear explosion is lethal to everything within a 25 meter radius! And he wasn't even 30 millimeters from the explosion, and he just passes out?"
The rest of the class was muttering about the same thing. How did he do that?
However, before anyone could say anything else, Ms. Yamada stepped into the room. She steps behind her desk, and clears her throat. "Attention class, today we have a transfer student who will be joining our class!"
The class immediately perked up, interested at who it could be. The excited muttering started to reach a crescendo when a blonde hair, purple eyes, and wearing a male uniform-
…
…
...Wait a second.
The class, for what might've been the second time in two days, was in shock.
"Hello, my name is Charles Dunois, and I am a male IS pilot." The boy announced, his voice carrying a french accent. "I came here because I heard there was a boy in the same situation as me."
Ichika stood up. "Nice to meet you, Charles. My name is Ichika Orimura, and I guess I'm the person you were just talking about."
Arena 6, where the tournament fight took place
Gio walked onto the arena floor, his eyes sweeping the destruction that was present. While Chifuyu had said that Gio was unconscious, he had been awoken around noon by something. Someone had entered his dorm room, then left after Gio started looking around. So Gio had shrugged it off, changed, and went to see how much he could salvage from the destruction he caused.
While walking towards the central explosion point, he saw that there was a multitude of small scrap pieces around, too small to be noticeable to the untrained and naked eye. However, Gio's TCC picked them out immediately against the black explosive residue. Gio partially summoned his IS on his right arm, and had it collect the pieces lying around. His eyes scanned the rest of the arena, finding little to nothing else. He sighed, of course the pieces he needed from those Titans were destroyed.
Gio was upset that he couldn't find the operation recorder that was in every Titan, but it was his fault that they were destroyed. He returned to the nearby arena garage, hoping he got something valuable from the salvage he picked up.
When he summoned his mech in full form, it was in a hunkered position, similar to when an Ogre Titan hit the ground during a titanfall. Gio noticed the chips in Firestorm, multiple scratches marred the IS Hybrid, some wide enough to expose wiring. Gio grimaced, and got to work replacing the metal. His storage device on the mech was still holding the salvage from the fight, while a computer tried to sort out what exactly it was.
Gio put the final finishing touches on the mech when it chimed, signalling it had deciphered what the salvage was. He pulled up a screen, and his face, for the first time in a while, showed a smile. He pulled up another screen, and separated the salvaged pieces. One was a sonar/radar upgrade, a nice 2 for 1 package. The other was a weapon, which Gio put on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by the Trebuchet.
Gio quickly summoned his Hybrid, and turned around with a P2016 Hammond pistol in hand aimed at the person who was sneaking up on him.
With Kanzashi, a little earlier
Kanzashi walked towards Arena 6, tailing the person Chifuyu told her to. She was slightly surprised when she was told to keep an eye on Inferno, but figured she would have to eventually. Besides Ichika, and to some extent Houki, she had the most experience with the Hammond Pilot, especially with his combat prowess. She made sure not to be spotted, but found it quite easy to do so. Inferno wasn't even paying attention to her. He could've spotted her this morning, but he was slow to return from his unconscious state. But nonetheless, she had gotten away.
Now, entering the arena, she saw Inferno partially summon his mech. The arm scanned the floor, picking up small bits of salvage that the clean up crew had missed. It was odd to Kanzashi, since the cleaning crew had the same tech Inferno had.
"How is he finding these pieces?" She whispered. "What is he finding?"
She retreated to the shadows when she saw Inferno walking back to the garages. She followed, supposedly not noticed. She was Inferno pull out the Hybrid, the tall and hulking mech that was one of the best, if not the best IS in the world, despite not being a total IS. She noticed the scratches the same time he did. Kanzashi watched as Inferno fixed the mech, replacing metal and fixing wires. She watched as he installed something from his screen, and narrowed her eyes when he smiled.
That smile...it seemed familiar. She crept closer, trying to get a view at what Inferno was smiling at. She watched as he placed whatever it was on the unoccupied shoulder. It appeared in real space, and she gasped silently.
In an instant, the IS Hybrid disappeared and Inferno whirled around to face Kanzashi, a firearm in hand. "Bold of you to sneak up on me, Sarashiki. The last person who did that died rather horribly."
Kanzashi could only stare, and realized why the smile was familiar. "Storyuski Manor."
Storyuski Manor, around two years ago
Kanzashi sat at a round table in a room vaguely familiar to the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, while other people at the table conversed about small things. She wished she knew what they were talking about.
The Sarashiki organization was built around the original Sarashiki family, and was created to fight to fight terrorist organizations, specifically those who had access to IS models. The majority of the time, it was only one organization they targeted. But today, it would change, but no one as aware of it.
Tatenashi, the one before the present one, stood up to begin the meeting. But before she could speak, a nearby window shattered, and the same second her body was impaled with a harpoon.
Everyone quickly summoned their IS suits, only to see the other windows around them break. They were broken by soldiers piloting a black IS, with a shield on the left hand and a laser weapon on the right. The torso was a metal harness, with plane wings on the back and jets near the small of the pilot's back. These were the Steppenwolfe mass creation model IS, created by a joint Russian-Hammond research project. Hammond produced them, and sold them as one of their few exports. They were fast, with moderate armor and shielding.
Kanzashi ducked under the table, as a fight ensued. Gunfire erupted from outside as IS suits traded blows, lasers, and bullets. Kanzashi was suddenly picked up, and taken outside by someone, she couldn't remember who, and taken out of the conference room. She was carried through a hallway and out to a helipad. She saw her sister there, too. She was being talked to by someone from the higher ups, who was probably telling her about her duties as the next Tatenashi title holder. Her sister, now Tatenashi, nodded, and grabbed Kanzashi's hand. Kanzashi turned around to see the person who took her out of the room and the other higher up pull out AK-47s, and fired at something, until it burst into view. The bullets bounced off the metal frame of a much larger IS. It's right hand ignited, and incinerated the two. Kanzashi looked at the pilot, but only could see the bottom part of the face. The rest was covered by a helmet, and all she saw was a smile.
Present Day
Kanzashi lunged at Gio, forgetting about what he had in his hand. Gio simply pulled the trigger, the sound stopping Kanzashi in her tracks, and causing her to fall to her knees.
"Operation Tundra, took place at Storyuski Manor. The manor was the supposed headquarters of the Sarashiki organization, and was attacked on orders from the highest echelons of the Hammond Military." Gio stated. "Let me guess, you were on that helicopter when I killed those two soldiers?"
Kanzashi nodded, her ears still ringing slightly from the gunshot.
Gio sighed, almost like he had explained this before. "There is some clarification on that, actually."
Kanzashi narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"As Ms. Orimura probably told you already, I am a child soldier from Hammond. By choice, of course, and fought illegally for my country. When I was found out, my punishment was...unusual." Gio explained.
Before the attack on Storyuski
The pilots of the Steppenwolfe's looked on at a horrifying sight. A TLC soldier was brought in, his wrists bound by electrical chains. They listened in on a conversation between the soldier and the handler with him.
"For your crimes against Hammond, you will be participating in the attack on the Storyuski Manor. You will wear this helmet, which is to hide your identity, and it will monitor you. If you falter, it will inject a stimulant into your body. If you die, then that will be your punishment, but to live without punishment after this operation, you must cause at least 50 percent of the casualties, failure to do so will result in jail time, then immediate service in a penal company on the frontlines. Understood?" The commissar announced. The pilot nodded, and took the helmet from his hands. The criminal put it on and, to the surprise of the pilots, summoned an IS/Titan Hybrid. It gleamed black and was basically a Ronin model with a jetpack and the pilot hatch cut away. The pilot grabbed a harpoon off of his back and powerfully threw it at the manor.
Present day
"So you were forced to kill, and stimulated if you started to fail?" Kanzashi asked. "Just because you fought for your country illegally?"
"Yes, that is a summary of it." Gio answered. "I didn't want to kill anyone...but it was literally me or them."
"That's insane!"
"That's Hammond for you."
Kanzashi's face lightened slightly, her scowl lessening. "I don't think I can really forgive you, you know that right?"
"I don't expect you to. I did attack your organization, and killed people."
"Well, you weren't targeting me, right?"
"My job was to kill people, but I remember you solely because I didn't want to kill you."
Kanzashi tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Gio sat down with Kanzashi. "It goes without saying that the current Tatenashi was trained before she was given the title. I am only aware of that from intelligence and experience."
"What?"
"Intelligence reports that the current Tatenashi had launched attacks on Hammond outposts during the Middle Eastern War. This was her training, and she did it rather well, but at a cost."
"What do you mean?"
"She would never leave unscathed, she would be left with major damage to herself and her IS. I should know about one of those missions, because I was at one of them."
Kanzashi's eyes widened. "What?"
"Yes, I even damaged her armor on her left arm. Regardless, she destroyed my base anyway."
"Wait, so what does that mean for me?"
"It means my target was your sister, but since you were with her I couldn't attack lest I risk unnecessary casualties."
"I don't really know how I feel about that." Kanzashi admitted. "Does that mean she used me as a shield?"
"Involuntarily, I don't think she meant to." Gio answered. "It was most likely out of love for you and fear of me."
Kanzashi nodded, understanding what he meant.
"Regardless, for a Representative Contender, you lack a personal IS." Gio said. "Enlighten me on that, will you?"
"..I was supposed to get one, but it was given to me unfinished when Orimura was discovered to be able to pilot IS." Kanzashi explained. "I've been working on it this entire time."
"Would you like help?" Gio asked. "I could be of assistance."
Kanzashi pondered that idea. Wondering if it was such a good idea. "I guess, the model itself is ready, but I need help getting the weapons hooked up on it."
"That's an easy one. Let's get to work."
A little bit longer this time, and a little bit of exposition. Next...more with Ichika and Charles...and a certain silver haired german.
