Breakdown of VIRM types
After Hiro and Zero Two defeated the "VIRM Planet" the 18 years prior, VIRM spent the next generation building up a new force to face a regrown humanity. This is how the military classifies them.
Zeta (Z) class – Grunts, similar in form, size, and durability to the HATMs, as in, humanoid, yet, stockier than FRANXX models in form. Typically easier to dispatch than a pilot due to brute intelligence.
Epsilon (E) class – Larger and more durable versions of the Zeta class. Harder to take out with typical weaponry (Rosoideae's superlaser is not typical) except for the core near its chest.
Delta (Δ) class – Triangular drone-like creatures with "butterfly" wings that act as shields to protect important targets like the Gamma class. Attacks with artillery lasers.
Gamma (Γ) class – A large, quadruped tank often referred to as a "headless tortoise" that carries lower ranking VIRM. Artillery lasers fire from extendable appendages and a superlaser fires from within its main "eye" sensor. Armor is nigh-impenetrable by most weaponry, save for gaps within the armor and as the superlaser is firing.
Beta (B) class – Unknown, a placeholder for anything greater than the Gamma aside from the Alpha (i.e. the VIRM core)
Alpha (A) class – the VIRM core; presumably what was originally considered "Papa"
[Nine months prior]
It is a big day at the Neo Japan Pilot Academy. Not only are the candidates graduating, but the inaugural selection of the most prestigious squad, Squad 00, is being announced.
"So, which three do you think is gonna be selected?" one person muttered, wearing a white dress uniform like everyone else.
"I think Airi, Ruth, and… Makoto…"
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking; except maybe Satomi or Shinobu instead of Makoto. Airi and Ruth are a given."
"I think I'm gonna make it."
"You ranked, like, 32 on the entrance exam. No way."
"You never know… My teacher totally likes me!"
"For the last time, she doesn't like you…"
"What about Airi, Ruth, and Akio?"
"Akio!? That kid's only graduating cause Nori-sensei likes him."
"Why? He didn't get in any major disciplinary trouble…"
"I'm talking about his grades!"
Akio heard that and scoffed. "I'll have you know I aced that last exam," he muttered.
Ruth, who was sitting next to him, patted his shoulder. "I, for one, think you'll make Squad 00. Satomi?"
"I could do worse…" Satomi said, looked around and whispered, "I'd rather have that idiot than that snob Airi."
Akio began tearing up, "Thank you, Satomi…"
Satomi blushed, "That's faint praise and you know it!"
Satomi continued to scan around the audience.
"Any sign of them?" Ruth asked her. Satomi shook her head.
"Aren't there supposed to be assigned seats for parents?" Akio asked.
"I checked there earlier, brainiac! They were empty!" Satomi retorted.
Akio reeled back. "Sorry… Thanks for finally acknowledging my genius."
Satomi scoffed.
Nori called for "all rise" and he made his speeches, everyone who graduated walked up stage and received their certificates, and then the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived.
One of the captains, Mitsuru, whom everyone knew was one of the famous "Plantation 13" First Contact veterans, came up to the podium.
"My name is Mitsuru and I have been selected to lead Squad 00. Me and the other high-ranking officers have had a very difficult time choosing three out of this outstanding class of graduates. However, we finally have come to a decision. Here are the graduates who are stationed to Squad 00."
He held up a list.
"The first one, who is selected as team leader – Ruth."
Everyone applauded loudly. Ruth burst into happy tears.
Airi looked disappointed.
"Don't worry. There's two others left," Rin assured her.
Airi scoffed.
"Yeah! Ruth!" Akio exclaimed. "Congrats!" He held out his hand for a high five
She held in the tears and returned the high five, "Thank you so much, Akio…"
After the applause died down, he announced the second name.
"Satomi."
Another round of applause as Satomi put on a smug face.
"Congratulations, Satomi!" Akio said.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to working with you," Ruth said.
"Thanks, team leader."
The applause died down in anticipation of the final member.
"And last, but not least…"
Airi clenched her fists in furious excitement.
"Akio."
"What!?" Akio exclaimed in astonishment as everyone burst into applause.
"WHAT!?" Airi also exclaimed… in anger. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Rin and another graduate had to stop her from getting up and demanding answers from the officers and Prime Minister Ichigo on stage.
"I'm so happy!" Ruth said to Akio. "Congratulations!"
Satomi sighed. "Congrats…"
"Thank you!" Akio said, who was crying even more than Ruth was earlier, "I won't let you down!"
Satomi gave an ironic chuckle.
Other captains went up and announced other elite squads. The next one up, Squad 01, another highly anticipated unit, was announced to be led by Airi. This didn't stop her foul mood that lasted the rest of the ceremony and she stormed away not long after they were dismissed.
As the three of them walked towards the reception, Satomi sighed. "I guess the three of us are gonna be sticking together for a while…"
Akio nodded. "Yep!"
Meanwhile, it was an uneventful morning at the New Tokyo Police Station… until he received a message from the secretary.
"Ah, Lt. Hayato. The captain asked me to send you this call we received. He has issued a warrant."
Hayato glanced at the memo. "Another disturbance with those PAL guys."
Captain Kazuki came up with his coffee. "Oh yeah, these guys again… We'll take this."
The call was from a tenant of a nearby apartment complex who thought members of PAL were working there.
They boarded their patrol HATMs and arrived at a garage a couple blocks from the building.
As he climbed out, Hayato asked Kazuki, "You don't look nervous, captain. Last time we had a disturbance like this, we had two officers and a lieutenant in the hospital."
"I have a way of dealing with them. You don't need worry…"
Hayato looked cross and finished climbing.
They crossed the street and entered the building, walking up the stairs to the third floor. They walked up to a door and Kazuki rapped on the door.
"Tokyo Police, open up!"
Hayato reached for his firearm, but Kazuki motioned for him to hold off. "I'll do the talking."
A man opened the door.
"Officer Kazuki…" he said. "Come on in. What seems to be the issue?"
Kazuki walked in with Hayato. "The issue is that you agreed to lay low. Some people are acting suspicious."
The person who was really suspicious was Hayato, who glared at Kazuki trying to figure what he just said.
"Business has to be done," the man said. "I've been getting some affluent clients as of late who want my equipment."
Kazuki nodded "I would agree with that. But that would mean it would be more difficult to keep attention away. I may not be able to protect you for much longer."
Hayato clenched his fist.
The man sighed and reached for a suitcase, grabbing a wad of bills.
"Would this help?"
Kazuki nodded. "Sure. I may be able to offer some additional support."
"I understand. You have a good day, officer. Sorry for the trouble."
As they walked out and reached the garage, Hayato said to Kazuki, "With all due respect, are you out of your damn mind!? Receiving bribes from a black market dealer?"
"This is not the wild west, Hayato." he said. "We gotta keep the peace one way somehow. We are not just here to kill people, you know?"
Hayato quietly scoffed and got back in his patrol HATM.
Later in the day, before he got off, he went up to the Chief's office. "Come on in," he said. "What do you need?"
"Sir… I have reason to believe Captain Kazuki is receiving bribes from a black market dealer working with the People's Army for Liberation."
"That's a bold claim about a superior officer. What makes you say that?"
"When we went to that case earlier this morning, I saw him receive money from the person we received the warrant about." Hayato replied. "He was saying something about offering protection."
"Hmm…" the chief mused. "I'll look into it. For your own good and the force's good I would not speak about this to anyone."
Hayato nodded and left.
Later that night at the apartment, Hayato was lying in bed. Something was not right.
"For your own good and the force's good I would not speak about this to anyone."
It almost seemed like the Chief did not care. Would he actually take action?
Somebody knocked on the door. "It's me, Lt. Mayu," he heard outside the door.
Hayato opened the door. "Mayu? What are you doing at this hour?"
"Are you okay?" she said. "I heard you had a case involving PAL."
"It was just a dealer selling to them," Hayato said. "However…"
"What happened?" Mayu said.
Hayato sighed.
"The captain I was with accepted a bribe," he said. "And I don't think that was the first."
"Did you talk to the Chief about it?" Mayu asked.
"Yes, but he gave me a vague response about it and told me to keep my mouth shut. My job may be on the line just talking to you."
Mayu looked shocked. "You are one of the most kind and honest people I ever knew. I can't believe they got you mixed up in this stuff."
"If the Chief isn't going to do something about it… I may have to do something myself."
"I'm with you," Mayu said to him. "If no one is going to support you, I will."
They heard another knock on the door.
Hayato rushed to the door. He was greeted by a young man slightly older than him and… a klaxo sapien! She looked like Zero Two but with slightly bushier red hair and yellow horns.
"Greetings. I am Takeshi and this is Hotaru. I think I may be able to help you... and you may be able to help us."
"What do you mean?"
"Our group is looking for a leader. We're a revolutionary group that seeks to stop corruption in our system. I've been hearing about you. You are a model officer, graduating near the top of your class at the pilot academy and became a lieutenant at age 20. However, you will not stand for dirty cops, even if the system supports them. Do you wanna help us stop it?"
"How do you guys plan on doing that?" Hayato said to Takeshi.
"We're getting our hands on state-of-the-art military equipment, HATMs even, and this girl is a damn fine pilot of them. We will take down those people in power like your captain and put in people like you who seek justice in their place. What do you think?"
"What about innocent lives?" Hayato asked.
"Only those who are corrupt will suffer. We seek only to benefit the innocent."
Hayato sighed. "I need a minute…"
Takeshi nodded. "I understand. You sleep on it. You have two options: go back tomorrow at your regular time and try in vain to sort things out with the police… or go to us as our leader at that same time tomorrow."
Takeshi handed him a sheet of paper. Coordinates to a remote base on the outskirts of Okinawa.
"Thank you for your time…" he said as they left.
"So what are you going to do?" Mayu asked him.
Hayato sighed. "I'm going. The Chief isn't gonna do anything, so I might as well do something myself to stop it. But don't come with me, this is going to be dangerous and almost certainly criminal."
"That's exactly why I'm coming with you. I said it before and I'll say it again. Even if no one else supports you, I will."
Hotaru slashed through several Zeta classes in Syriacus.
"How much longer?" she asked on the radio.
"Just a few more minutes," Hayato replied. "We're doing final tests on the new power supply."
"Well, they better be few," Takeshi said as Hotaru, in Syriacus, leapt, stabbing one of the three Epsilon classes through its power supply. "We got three massive ones coming up."
The three "massive ones" were Gammas.
VIRM had suddenly attacked Paragon's Okinawa base. Hayato was on the front lines with Syriacus while Takeshi was on the roof in Myrtillus. In the meantime, Hayato and Mayu were waiting for the new hydrogen power supply to be installed in Rosoideae – their new FRANXX.
"So, Mayu, what did you say about dealing with the tortoises?" Takeshi said as he took aim at the Gamma in the center. "My weapons never worked on them."
"You need to look out for the gaps in their armor," she replied. "They're particularly weak there."
As Hotaru knocked down one of the Epsilons and then stabbed its core for the coup de grace, Takeshi paid careful attention to the three Epsilons, looking for an opportunity to attack.
The one on the right began to take aim at Syriacus, as appendages came out of the side and began firing. However, doing so exposed part of its unarmored body.
"Bingo…" Takeshi fired twice at the exposed areas where the appendages came out of and the one on the right exploded.
The other two immediately began to retaliate by sending out a swarm of Zeta grunts at Hotaru. Before she knew it, she was beginning to be overwhelmed.
As Hotaru took down a swath of Zeta grunts, Takeshi exclaimed. "You better get here soon, we're about to be overwhelm-"
Just as he said that, he saw Rosoideae burst out of the garage and leapt into the air with its flotation system. It went straight for the horde and ripped straight through a majority of the Zetas with its arm laser. The rest of them were easily handled by Syriacus.
Meanwhile, the other two Gammas had locked onto Rosoideae with their superlasers. As they fired their massive violet beams up at it, it quickly made a dive to the ground faster than they could change their attacks' trajectory.
As Rosoideae hit the ground, it aimed each of its arm cannons at both Gamma classes and fired off two crimson superlasers of its own.
"Well, I spoke too soon," Takeshi said.
Mayu was panting and sighed. "I think we're finally in the clear…"
Hotaru spotted something. "Not quite. Look."
Two Epsilons were carrying something familiar.
Hayato scoffed. "That thing again."
In a flash of light, Rosoideae rushed towards the two Epsilons carrying the familiar obelisk and cut them both in half with its laser armblades. The obelisk hurtled into the air and Rosoideae fired its arm cannon, disintegrating all but a chunk of it.
That last chunk landed in Syriacus' hands. "What is this thing…?" Hotaru asked.
"I saw it at two of the places where we saw VIRM invade; at the PAL base and Kyoto." Mayu replied, "Maybe there's a connection."
"It's some sort of VIRM satellite," Takeshi said, as he, in Myrtillus, came up to them. "I saw one of those big tortoises plop one of them on the ground firsthand when they first attacked four years ago… right as I got out of my destroyed HATM prototype as the sole survivor of my squad."
"It's okay, Takeshi, you don't have to recount what happened," Mayu replied.
"They said to my face they were keeping the incident classified!" Takeshi retorted. "I'm not letting that slide until we get revenge!"
"Enough!" Hayato said. "That was the first one, there was probably one in that cave where Squad 00 found Strelizia, another at the PAL base, another at Kyoto…"
"And they were about to deploy the fifth one." Hotaru said. "And with how many forces they brought to a single base, I don't want to know what happens when they get to number 5."
Akio was wide awake in bed late at night. He then heard Yuji groan as he had trouble sleeping as well for similar reasons.
"I know. The anticipation for this final battle is killing me!" Akio exclaimed. "I can't sleep!"
"Except we need to sleep," Yuji replied, in the bed next to him. "We won't win unless we can concentrate."
Akio shrugged. "Fair point."
Yuji sighed and sat up. "I'm kinda hungry as well. I'm going to the kitchen to grab something from the fridge."
"But don't you do this kinda thing every night?" Akio replied, getting up after him. "That isn't really the anticipation speaking, it's your stomach."
"Shut up."
They walked together until they reached the common area, where they stopped as they could hear someone sobbing.
"It's okay, Satomi. I'm here. You can tell me," Ruth, who was sitting beside her, said to her.
"It's just-" she sniffed. "I miss home. I haven't seen my family since I went to the Academy. They were distant towards me before, but… It's like they abandoned me when they had the chance... I thought I would see my parents at Graduation, but- but…" she then broke down. "BUT THEY DIDN'T EVEN SHOW UP THEN!"
She was violently sobbing into Ruth's chest as she hugged her.
"If I died in the next few days… would they even know?"
Even Yuji was showing concern for her, rubbing his eyes.
Akio, meanwhile, was tearing up, but in rage. "To hell with them!" he exclaimed.
"Akio?" Satomi said.
He stormed right up to her and joined in hugging her from the other side. "They may be your parents be we are your family! We genuinely care for you, Satomi."
"… Thank you, Akio," she said.
She looked up and saw Mitsuru, Kokoro, and Naomi had walked in as well.
"If there is anything you need from us, Satomi, don't be afraid to ask us." Naomi said.
Kokoro nodded. "Mm-hmm. You can lean on us anytime you need."
They all joined in hugging her and, finally, Yuji did as well.
Later, when everything settled down and Satomi went back to bed, Yuji went out on the beach and ate a bagel from the kitchen.
"Needed some fresh air?" she asked.
He nodded. "That stuffy beach house is killing my sleep."
Ruth walked out and joined him. "Y'know. When I first met you. I thought you were cold. But you are a softie at heart, are you?"
Yuji sighed. "You got me."
"As little as you show it, you deeply care for me and the rest of the squad. You told me you wanted to hurt Akio at first, but you kinda look like besties, now."
He shrugged. "'Besties' isn't what I would call it."
She took his hand. "I'll be with you through the end. Paragon, VIRM, finding what happened to Subject 2, all of it."
He nodded, and walked with her back inside, hand in hand.