Everyone returned from their shopping around the same time and they were all about to enter the school and make their way to the hangar when they were stopped by the commander. The students saluted while the Dorssians continued in their relaxed state, not owing any salute to his man.
"At ease soldiers. What is all this?", he asked.
"It's for a party" Shoko explained. "I thought it would be a good idea to welcome our foreign guests properly."
He nodded, as if considering it, then spoke. "ARUS will be providing aid in the battles against Dorssia. PR wants the pilots to make an address to the people of JIOR and ARUS to announce our alliance."
"An address?", Haruto blinked. "Like a speech?"
Inuzuka grinned. "That's a great idea! If we put a face to the struggle, it'll be more relatable. The patriotic people will donate to us and we'll get more money."
"What struggle?", Saki muttered under her breath. While they'd only had one fight, the weapons the enemy had didn't compare to the might of the Valvraves. It seemed pretty one sided to her.
"Speeches are boring and stuffy. Can't we just make a post online about it?" Yamada could feel a yawn coming on just thinking about having to sit through one.
"I got it! We can live stream the party!", Shoko suggested. "It'll show everyone who the pilots are and what they stand for. And we get to welcome our new Dorssian friends!"
Ichijo considered it, then nodded at her. "That's a good way to do it. Proceed. We will set up a live feed that everyone can see." In the end, they were still teenagers. Parties and socializing was in their repertoire. At least he thought so, as an adult. "Have it set up in the gymnasium."
"The gym?", Shoko blinked. "B-but! Sir! I was hoping to have it in the hangar."
"In the hangar with our high guarded Valvraves in zero gravity? I'm going to have to deny that request."
"But!-"
"Denied."
"Sir!", Haruto spoke up. "If I may. We can adjust the gravity in the hangar. And at this point are the Valvraves really a secret? We won't be letting the enemy see their blueprints or anything, so is there...really any...harm?" His voice, which sounded strong at first when defending Shoko's idea grew softer under the hard gaze of his commander.
"I suppose it wouldn't do any harm. Just knowing what the weapons look like won't make Dorssia any more prepared for what we have. Proceed." With that, he turned on his heels and walked off.
Permission granted, they all went off to the hangar. Shoko broke off and made sure there was steady gravity in the hangar. With the mechs properly supported in their holdings, the new weight didn't damage them and everyone was free to set up.
"Why are we even participating?", A-drei asked as he hung up some streamers.
"I was able to get an idea of the layout of this module from shopping", L-elf answered, doing the same. "From here, we can look at their robots as much as we please." Despite becoming allies, he knew the chances of them learning the secrets of the Valvraves so early were slim to none. "If this is being broadcast, we can send a message to the people of Dorssia."
There were many back in their homeland that opposed the militaristic rule and longed for the return of the royal family. An underground faction of royalists had been making plans for such a time. Highly trained operatives working alongside JIOR would provide the perfect opportunity. If L-elf, a top student from Karlstein, spoke out against the current government, the seeds of rebellion would be sown.
Shoko looked up to the Valvrave that Akira was the pilot of. She waved up from the ground. "The party's about to start! Why don't you come on down?"
Akira trembled in her metal cocoon, wanting so much to just get out and join them. But a bigger part of her didn't. Even so, she was able to gather the nerve to turn on her communicator and speak to them all with a barrier.
"I-I'm sorry, Shoko-can." Akira bit her lip. "I can't. I can't come out. I'm sorry."
"She sounds anxious", H-neun murmured to himself. It was the first time he, and most of them had heard her voice.
Q-vier was already eating and chewed as he looked up to her un-moving mech. "If she won't come out, we should just get started. Can't waste food. She'll come out when she sees how much fun we're havin."
"We can't start without her!", Shoko scolded. This party was more for Akira than anyone else but she just couldn't admit that yet.
Yamada scratched his head. "Yeesh, women, am I right?", he looked to X-eins who didn't return the sentiment.
"Don't lump me in with them", Saki crossed her arms, taking offense.
A-drei scoffed. "You're worse than the both of them, don't get too arrogant."
She turned to him and an argument was about to ensue when an alarm sounded through the hangar. A voice came on the intercom system. "Attention. Enemy spotted. All personnel to their stations. All pilots prepare to launch."
Haruto and the other pilots moved quickly, the Dorssians following behind. Shoko made her way to her spot on the bridge. L-elf and the others made a case for launching out with the pilots in some sort of spacecraft.
"You've given us information and I appreciate that. But I still cannot trust you on the battlefield. The answer is no."
A-drei was about to go on a tirade when Inuzuka's voice sounded in the bridge. "Commander. We're all ready to go."
"All of you?", he asked, referring to Akira. Even if she was seated, he doubted her commitment to the fight.
"Who cares?", you could practically hear Saki roll her eyes. "One of us is enough to get the job done. Having us all suit up is unnecessary."
"Rukino-san...", Haruto was prepared to come back with something when the lights went down in the bridge.
"What?"
"Our power!"
"Our power has been shut down?"
"What about the Valvraves?"
"I don't know!"
There was a panic for a moment before Ichijo felt around and slammed a fist into the wall, silencing them. Inuzuka called out. "Hello? I can still hear you guys. There's a bunch of static but comms are still up."
"What are we supposed to do? We can't manually launch if we're still in our stirrups. The bay doors are still closed", Saki complained.
L-elf's eyes narrowed. "This is the work of one of our crafts. It must be a jammer attached to the module. If you can get rid of it, we'll regain power."
Saki huffed. "I just said it's impossib-"
"I can do it", a trembling voice answered.
"Akira-chan?", Shoko called.
"The Valvraves still have power. I can open the doors and launch myself. And remove the jammer."
"You can really do that?", Haruto asked in an astonished voice.
"Akira-chan is really great with computers!", Shoko praised.
"Then proceed", Ichijo ordered. "Renbokoji, complete your objective. The moment you do, I want to rest of you to launch and scout the surrounding area for any other enemies." There was probably a mothership from which the jammer came from, but the bridge couldn't see it and the other pilots were helpless anyway.
"R-roger", Akira said and began typing away in her seat. The bay doors opened and she released herself from the holdings, launching out. The food that was left in the hangar was sucked out with her. Akira got familiar with her immediate surroundings and scanned the module, looking for anything out of place. Just as L-elf said, there was something messing with the power.
She found the culprit and the all-telling insignia of Dorssia painted upon it. Looking at what her Valvrave had to offer, Akira discovered the weapon she needed and activated it.
"Humming...bird...?"
Raising it above her head, she landed a strike against the jammer. From just that touch she was able to see the details of it. It was unmanned and being remotely controlled, which meant there was in fact a larger enemy close by.
"Power has been restored!", she heard Shoko say. "Good job Akira!"
Akira smiled, then looked back to the jammer. She removed it from the module and ripped it apart, allowing the remains to float away. It was harmless now. The other Valvraves launched and made contact with the Dorssian ship that lied in wait on the other side of the module.
"Thanks for releasing our shackles. We'll handle it from here", Saki said haughtily.
"Yeah!", Yamada nearly roared. "Now we can show those assholes what we can do!"
'My job isn't done yet.' Akira still had more she could do. She couldn't leave it all to them. She followed them into battle, using her Humming Bird and eliminating enemies from the inside.
When it was over, they returned to the hangar and Akira took a deep breath. Zero gravity had been restored and Shoko floated up to meet her. "You did great! You were so great!"
"Thank you", Haruto floated beside her with a soft smile. "Without you, we would have been in a pinch."
Before she knew it, Akira was being showered with praise and smiling faces. It was a little overwhelming. She still couldn't leave her robot. Despite that, she felt warm and smiled to herself.
"I did it."