Chapter 8; The Fall
This thing is talented Simon thought as he dodged another wave of wires. The IS he was fighting was constantly retracting them before sending them off in newer, more complicated patterns. It was clearly trying to ensnare him, but at the same time it seemed as if it was toying with him. "Come on, bird-boy," it taunted, "Dance for me!" Launching another wave, it forced Simon further and further from Ichika, whose own opponent was giving him a run for his money. Rather than stick with its two swords, arms had deployed from its wings and it now wielded six energy swords that it was using to constantly push him back. Taking flight to avoid an attempt on his footing, Ichika charged up a bolt and tried to shoot it. The IS just brought a sword up and blocked it with no effort before continuing its attack.
"Alright, enough of this!" Simon said, "I will rise from the ashes victorious!" With the command phrase he activated his Phoenix shift, causing his IS to begin to glow and crackle with electricity. Disengaging the magnetic locks on his sword, he transformed it into a whip before accelerating at the IS. With the Phoenix shift, combined with the fact that he used a 4th gen IS, his speed was increased to the point where he was practically teleporting. He was in the IS' face in less than a second, bringing the whip up and wrapping it around one of its arms. Simon then proceeded to throw it into the nearest building before moving to help Ichika. At least, that's what he wanted to do. But as he accelerated he felt a tug on his foot and looked down to see one of the IS' wires wrapped around it. He had all of three seconds before the IS pulled him down into the same building it had been thrown into.
Meanwhile, Ichika continued his streak of just barely avoiding his opponent's swords. He was sure that the only thing saving him right now was that his wife had often used him as a training dummy when she felt frustrated. As such, he had become very good at dodging swords. Ducking under one of its swipes, he tried to counter only to be forced further back by two of its arms. The fact that this machine was coordinating six different swords so well was nothing short of impressive, but he needed to stop this pattern. He had just watched Simon get pulled down into a nearby building, and if his friend was having trouble then they were all in deeper shit than he realized. Triggering an Ignition burst, Ichika backed way off from the sword IS before taking flight. Before it could try and close the distance again, Ichika opened fire with his left hand, sending energy bolts at it and forcing the machine to defend.
However, he couldn't keep this up forever and he quickly looked around to try and find something to distract it. That's when he heard someone yelling and looked up just in time to watch a grey streak fall from the sky and collide with the sword IS. The impact forced the machine back, and Ichika winced when he saw that it was a student with silver hair that had come to his aid. The boy's IS was a metallic grey with black trimming, with delta shaped wings and a pair of small rocket boosters along their base. Aside from that, the IS was surprising under equipped. All that it had for obvious offensive weapons was a sword that looked almost like a katana and two hip-mounted cannons that were currently collapsed.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Ichika asked the student as he walked up beside him, "This isn't where you should be!" "The headmaster said we were under attack," the boy responded as he squared off against the other IS, "And I'm not about to let some weaklings run rampant around my school." This seemed to get a reaction out of the machine, since it tensed up at the mention of 'weaklings.' "Well, now, you have a high opinion of yourself," it said, its tone cold, "Let's fix that, shall we?" Before either of them could move, the IS accelerated into Ichika and sent him flying before rounding on the student. Caught completely off-guard, he just stared as it was about to take his head off. Before the blade could make contact, something smashed into his chest and carried him clear of the attack. Landing hard, the kid immediately scrambled to his feet and wondered who had the nerve to knock him down, only to see that it was Simon, one of his teachers.
"Ludzik, you idiot!" he said, turning around and watching the sword IS, "You're supposed to be evacuating." "Like I'm going to pass up a chance to prove myself here," Ludzik replied, moving next to him, "Besides, I already took out six of those smaller ones. How tough can this one be?" In response to that question, a pair of wires appeared from behind them and wrapped around their throats before quickly pulling them back and up. Ichika had recovered from the last blow by then and quickly severed the wires, causing the IS that launched them to huff in annoyance before landing next to its teammate.
"Well, well, what have we here?" the wire IS said, "A little boy that got lost?" Hearing this, Ludzik almost charged them blindly, determined to put that annoying pilot in her place. Only Simon grabbing his shoulder stopped his reckless charge. "I think you've made your point by now," Simon told them as he moved in front of Ludzik, "You're clearly not taking this fight seriously." "My, that's observant of you," the IS responded, "Actually, we achieved our initial objective a few minutes ago. Saber, I think it's time to leave. They will have a lot of pieces to pick up." The other IS just nodded as it returned its swords to their various compartments and collapsed its spare arms down. While Simon really wanted to finish this fight here and now, the island was still under threat and he had responsibilities. However, when they took flight and left, and before Ludzik could get pissed at them leaving, they all felt a large tremor as something appeared on the eastern end of the island; something big.
Annabelle just barely ducked under a swipe from Reaver before trying to counter with her greatsword. Before it could even make contact, Reaver leaped back before throwing one of its knives at Anna's head, forcing her to duck. Using that opening, the IS brought its right leg up and kicked her in the stomach, sending her skidding back a few meters and knocking the wind from her. Taking that as his que, Erin opened fire on the IS from behind the moment his sister was clear. But again, the IS proved too nimble and was able to dodge every one of his shots. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Erin switched tactics and started to fire around the thing, trying to keep it contained as Anna came at it again.
Reduced to only its one knife, Reaver chose to retreat rather than block and managed to sidestep all of Anna's strikes. Finally, as if it had lost patience with her, it stepped into her swing and wrapped one arm around Anna's right arm. With its left hand it grabbed her by the throat before lifting her from the ground and starting to squeeze. She only managed a strangled cry before it became a struggle just to breathe. Seeing this, Erin was about to move in and rip that thing off his sister, but someone beat him to it. An orange and red IS landed right behind Reaver and lashed out with its own sword, forcing it to release Anna and retreat. Coughing a few times, Anna looked up to see who had saved her and immediately blushed furiously. It was Joshka in his own IS; the Amery Lotario. Its wings were modeled after a bird's and served for increased stability in flight. Other than its Rapier and a lever-action rifle on its back, it had no obvious weapons, but Anna knew that he had a small armory on call like his teacher did.
"Are you alright?" he asked, offering his free hand. Not trusting her voice, Anna just nodded as she accepted his hand and pulled herself upright. Erin, meanwhile, landed next to them and noted his sister's reaction. While he was the more serious of the two, he wasn't above giving her grief over an obvious crush, especially when it seemed that Joshka wasn't aware of said crush. "So, I take it you're the ones running rampant over the school," Joshka said, turning to face Reaver. It just remained silent as it flicked its wrist, deploying another knife from a hidden compartment. They all prepared for it to charge them again, but what happened next was something none of them could prepare for.
Something rose out of the bay they were overlooking, and it stopped them all cold. It looked like an IS in design, but with two major differences. First, it lacked wings. Second, it was freaking huge; easily measuring 30 meters in height. Taking advantage of this, Reaver charged them and knocked Joshka into Erin, sending them both sliding. It then turned to Anna and knocked her sword away before lashing out with one of its knives. This time, it hit home, severing cloth and flesh and causing her eyes to widen in shock. Before she could cry out, it brought its knee up into her chest, denting the plate and knocking her out cold. It then leaped clear as Erin opened fire, crying out in pain as he watched his sister go down.
Instead of fighting them further, Reaver sheathed its knives and retreated, knowing full well that Colossus would finish this for it. Rushing over to Anna's prone form, he watched as her IS destructed in a flash of light. He almost locked up when he saw all of the blood, but thankfully Joshka was there with him. Punching his shoulder, he said, "Hey, focus! We need to get her out of here, now!" Erin just nodded numbly, forcing Joshka to hit him again to finally bring him back to reality. "You need to give us cover, alright?" he said as he picked the girl up. Now that he was focused again, Erin nodded as he readied his rifle while trying really hard not to notice how quickly the blood was staining Joshka's suit.
However, it seemed that the giant machine's appearance was the signal to retreat. The skies were completely devoid of the Harpies that had been there earlier. Rather than dwell on this, they took advantage of it and rocketed back over the Academy before noticing a sound coming from behind them. It was something they felt rather than heard; a low whining that was steadily building up. Turning around briefly to see, Erin noticed that the giant machine had raised one of its arms, and that its palm was obviously a cannon barrel. "Joshka, move!" he cried out, turning around and putting all of his power into acceleration. Sensing the danger, Joshka did the same as they struggled to get clear of the island. They rocketed over the empty piers where the evacuation ships had been, and briefly noticed that everyone had gotten off the island.
This relief was shattered when they heard the machine behind them fire. The explosion was large enough that for a second they didn't hear a thing. Then the blast wave hit, and the sound returned. It was a roaring thunderclap, so loud that it physically hurt as it sent them tumbling through the air. Righting himself first, Erin rushed to Joshka and managed to grab one of his wings to stop his spinning. When he did so, he made the mistake of looking behind them and froze. Noticing the look on Erin's face, Joshka turned around as well and was dumbstruck.
The Academy was gone. The tower, the stadiums, the warehouses, dorms, classrooms, everything was either turned to dust or burning down. The island had been reduced to a smoldering crater that just vomited smoke from the fires around the edges. The rail line had collapsed along a third of its track, leaving the island completely cut off. They couldn't see the machine that had done it, but they both silently prayed that the beast would slink back into the sea after this as they watched their school, their home, burn. "It's gone," Erin said, more to cement the idea in his mind than anything else, "It's just…gone."
When their boat made it to shore, Cecilia and Madoka were quickly collected by a team of medics. Ever since the attack had begun, the mainland had prepared for casualties, since the ones in charge could still clearly remember the last time the Academy was attacked. But they weren't prepared for the sheer number of wounded coming in and were forced to prioritize. Houki had wanted to go along with them, as had Maylin, but the medics had stopped them by saying that they already had too many people around. Hearing this, Houki took a long look around at the people walking up the docks. Aside from the teachers and students that had been lucky enough to be near the docks, everyone had some kind of injury. Unfortunately, Maylin noticed this as well, and she was clearly trying to come to terms with what she was seeing, and was failing to do so. Houki wanted to help her, but she knew there was nothing she could do or say, so instead she went to help bring some of the newer arrivals in.
Maylin, in her numb state, decided to wander off down the beach. She hadn't seen any of her other friends since they had landed. In fact, she hadn't seen anyone else that she knew from the Academy. That could have been due to the shock, but she couldn't be sure as she started to search for familiar faces. Finally, she spotted two familiar shapes out on their own and rushed over. As she got closer, she saw that it was indeed Erin and Joshka sitting on a large boulder. "Hey, guys!" she called out as she broke into a jog. Erin turned around at the sound, but Joshka stayed where he was. In fact, it looked like he hunched over further when he heard her voice. "Hey, where's Anna?" she asked when she joined them. The look on Erin's face was enough to crush her fledgling hopes. Instead of answering, he turned to Joshka who had just gotten up and turned to face Maylin.
She gasped and took a step back when she saw all of the blood. Joshka had been trying to wipe it off with a small washcloth, but he had long since soaked it clean through. "Joshka, what happened?!" she asked, stepping forward and looking for wounds. When she met his eyes, she was surprised to see them brimming with tears. "It's… it's not mine," he said, his voice trembling. And suddenly, in a terrible moment of clarity, Maylin connected the dots. "No…" she said, collapsing to her knees. She had been well on the verge of tears before this, but now that she knew that Anna was hurt it broke the gate. She tried to keep the sobs in, but she felt her body starting to tremble as the tears fell. She didn't see that her father had come up behind them with a reluctant Ludzik in tow.
After his attempted heroics, Simon wasn't about to let him out of his sight until he had a good long talk with him. Now he saw his daughter crying, but still trying to remain strong. Her friend and the German boy just stood nearby, unsure of what to do. Sighing, Simon walked up and kneeled down behind Maylin before wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder. "It's okay, sweet heart," he whispered, rocking her slightly, "Let it out. Let it all out." She just wrapped her arms around his as she cried, unable to bear this pain. "Why, dad?" she asked when the sobs had subsided, "Why did this have to happen? Why us?" "I don't know," he said, "But I promise you I'll find out."
They remained on the ground for another minute before Maylin had collected herself enough to stand again. With a hand around her shoulders just in case, Simon led her up the beach and to the road while making sure the three boys followed. He led them to a car that he had called for while searching for Maylin, and they all piled into the back seat while Joshka tried not to be self-conscious about the blood on his chest. Much to his relief, neither the driver nor the others with him seemed to care. This didn't cause him to feel any better about himself; he was still beating himself up for how shaken he was over this. He had managed to hold it together when he and Erin were getting Annabelle down to the medics on the shore. But the second she was handed over he felt his calm and focus disappear in seconds. Now, he didn't trust his voice and felt like he was trembling constantly.
Meanwhile, Erin was struggling to figure out what he felt in general. His sister was seriously hurt, suffering damage that he could only guess at. One of his closest friends was also in the hospital after having been shot God only knew how many times. A woman that he had never met, but had heard loads about, was also in critical condition after making a stand to try to protect them. And to top it all off, the place he had always wanted to go, the only place he thought he would ever belong, had just been turned into a smoking ruin. He now fully understood what it felt like to have your world shattered. It was like there wasn't any ground and he was in free-fall without knowing which way was up.
In contrast, Ludzik was a ball of barely contained fury. He had been completely prepared to take those people single-handed to prove to everyone who the real professional was. And he had been forced to run away. Him, Ludzik Vasilyevich, had been forced to run from a certain victory because his teacher didn't trust his abilities. Granted, the appearance of the giant machine hadn't been something he had planned on. But he was positive he could have taken it. Seeing all of the wounded being brought in only served to further prove his point; if they had just left it to him, there wouldn't have been any wounded. It would have been done and over within a matter of minutes. And these people call themselves IS pilots he thought with disgust.
When they arrived at the hotel that Chifuyu set up for those that weren't heading for the hospital, Ludzik took the opportunity to separate from them and head to his own room. Simon stayed with the others as they silently made their way to their rooms. He had made sure that they were all on the same floor and wing, knowing first-hand that they would need each other right now. Joshka and Erin went into their room, with Joshka making a bee-line for the shower, while Simon led Maylin into their room before sitting her down on the bed. She had been very quiet during the entire ride, and Simon found that troubling. She had never been a loud person to begin with, but this was like her voice was just gone. "Maylin, sweet heart? Can I get you anything?" he asked, lowering himself so they were eye level. She just shook her head numbly while continuing to stare at the ground.
"Alright, then stay here, please. I have to go and take care of some things," he told her, straightening up and turning to leave. He didn't even take a step when he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. "Don't go," Maylin begged, just above a whisper, "Please, don't…leave…" She couldn't keep it together any longer and broke down crying again. This just caused Simon to feel like his heart was being ripped out. Kneeling swiftly, he wrapped his arms around her again as she hugged him back, crying into his shoulder. He just held her tightly, stroking her back as he said, "It's okay, Maylin. You're okay."
By the end, she had cried herself to sleep, and Simon laid her out on the bed before covering her up with one of the blankets. Taking a moment to wipe some of the tears away, he tried to set this image in his mind. He would need the strength it gave him, because what he was about to do would require almost as much courage as proposing to Cecilia. It was time he had a little chat with his boss about the decision they made. And this time, she would hear him out. However, when he walked out the door he was completely blindsided by a fist to the side of his head. Before he could even begin to recover, a pair of strong hands grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against the wall.
"What the hell was that, Felix?!" Houki demanded, getting up in his face, "What did you keep hidden? WHAT DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!" Ichika, meanwhile, was trying to talk his wife down, but she was far beyond the point of reasoning. "Houki, what's gotten into you? What do you mean?" Simon asked while he remained still, deciding not to provoke her further. "You know damn well what I mean!" she said, her voice dropping to a hiss, "What did you know about these things that you didn't share? Did you know that they would return? Did you know this was coming?" "What? Of course not!" he replied, "I thought they were dead and done, the same as you." "Then what did that thing mean? What's the big secret?" "Really, I don't kn-"
"MADOKA JUST SLIPPED INTO A COMA, SIMON!" she screamed again, tears starting to form in her eyes, "They don't know why, and they don't know if she'll come out of it. You damn well WILL tell me what this secret is, or so help me I will kill you." Looking at Ichika for help, he saw that it wasn't about to happen. Privately, Ichika was furious in his own way. Furious at how powerless he was when his own daughter's life was on the line, and furious to learn that someone he had believed to be his friend might have known about this all along. Bowing his head in defeat, Simon said, "Could you at least let me go? I'm not about to try and run." "Only if you talk," she replied, loosening her grip, "And I mean now."
When she released him, Simon took a deep breath and tried to steel himself for their reaction. He also quickly looked around to make sure that no one had come out to see what all the shouting was about. "When we first fought these things, I was captured by them. Do you remember that?" he began, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice, "While I was there, I learned that they aren't really machines. At least, not entirely." "What are you talking about?" Ichika asked, totally lost, "Of course they are. We hacked enough of them to pieces to know that." "Look, I'm no expert on the subject. If you want details, you'd need to ask your sister," he told them, noting how Houki winced at that, "The simple version is that the AI controlling them are created by fusing human minds with IS cores."
He stood there silently as they processed this, and it was Houki that realized what he meant first. "You mean that those things had human minds?" she asked, sounding shocked beyond belief, "We were fighting people? We were…killing…" As she fully realized what they'd done, she grew paler. It took Ichika a moment to figure out why, but when he did the look he gave Simon begged him to say that it wasn't true. Letting his head drop, Simon replied, "I'm sorry." Feeling her anger return, Houki stepped closer and nearly pinned him to the wall again. "Why the hell didn't you tell us?" "It wasn't my choice," Simon began, "No, that's not true… it was my choice. I choose not to tell you because I didn't want you to get killed." "So you just lied to us? Let us become murderers?" Ichika said, stepping forward to back his wife, "How could you, Simon?"
"How could I not?" he shot back, finally done playing the victim, "What would you have done if you'd known, huh? Mister nice guy; always has to help those in need regardless of the cost. You'd have agonized over how to save them while they would have slit your throat without a second thought." Before either of them could respond, Simon continued, finally feeling all of his pent up anger releasing in this one moment. "Don't you dare pull the self-righteous card on me! You have no idea what I had to do to win that fight," he said, his voice growing louder, "You remember the machine that led them? The Silver Gospel? That was my sister, damnit! I had to kill my own sister just to try to put an end to this! So don't you dare think that I would have stood by if I'd known this was going to happen!"
Before it could go any further, a sound behind him caused Simon to turn. Maylin had woken up when the shouting started, and she had heard every word. Now, she was looking at her father in surprise, and horror. "D-dad?" she said, taking a step back, "Is it true? Those are… you did…" Simon didn't know what to say. Neither did Houki or Ichika. They had wanted the truth, but they hadn't wanted this. Not this.
The human IS have won their first victory as they take the Academy. How will the pilots react to this secret finally coming to light? Will their relationships be forever destroyed? And how will the world at large deal with this second wave? Till the next chapter.
All I can say is that prepping for my finals has really taken a bite out of my writing time. Wish I could say this won't happen after next week, but I will be working over Christmas break so I can't make any promises. I can promises to continue working on this story, so fear not! And as always, feel free to drop a review if you see something you like/concerns you.
