Chapter 17; The Battle for Tokyo

They were geared up, on a plane and on their way to Tokyo in less time than even Laura thought possible. She had been able to get them onto a small cargo plane pretty easily, but she hadn't been able to get them clearance for take-off. That task had fallen to 134, who had 'found' their clearance in the systems when he was poking around. It had all looked official, so by the time that Tatenashi figured out what they had done they would be at the fight. Speaking of which, Maylin took a moment to look around the cabin at her friends. The cheerful banter she had been expecting wasn't there; instead they were all silent and brooding. She could almost taste the tension in the air, and it made her wonder just how much would be left by the end of all of this.

This enemy is chipping away at our innocence, piece by piece she thought as she turned back, pulled her legs up and rested her head on her knees, pretty soon, we won't be able to go back at all.

I agree, it is regrettable 134 commented, and it's a damned waste. But the only other choice is to sit back and let this happen.

I won't Maylin replied firmly. Her brush with death might have taken pieces of her with it, but it had steeled her resolve. This enemy was willing to kill them all, and she couldn't, wouldn't, let them harm her friends again. As the flight dragged on, Laura called 134 into the cockpit. "I need you to take over," she said simply. 134 didn't even reply, he just nodded as the control stick jumped slightly as he took over the autopilot. Moving back into the passenger section, she waved everyone over while trying to appear in control. In truth, she was terrified about what they might face here. Her own team had been taken down by one of their special IS, and it was very likely that there would be several of them leading this attack.

"Alright, we have virtually no idea what will be down there," she began, seeing no reason to sugar coat this, "So, we're sticking to the basics. Ludzik and I will move down to the harbor and try to cut them off from whatever ships they have. My guess is that's how they'll try to transport their…captives out of here. Maylin and Erin will head into the city center. What few reports we got said that there's still fighting going on down there, so they'll need some help. You're also going to have to activate your Link system. Finally, Karen and Joshka will be on disruption duty; you two will do a circle around the downtown area and hit them hard wherever you find them.

"I won't lie to you; this is going to be tough," she continued, allowing her voice to soften a little, "Just stick together and remember what they taught you at the Academy." "We'll make you proud, Captain," Ludzik said, smirking. Laura just smiled before ruffling his hair, and that was the point when their world fell apart. They had been approaching Tokyo, and 134 was about to tell them when something put an energy bolt through the right engine. The plane lurched to one side and began to wobble dangerously. 134 tried to correct it with the flaps and the other engine, but this plane was going to go down. "We need to get off this thing, now!" he said as he projected himself near Maylin. Looking at his projection, she saw a group of Harpies had pulled level with them, and that one of them was holding what looked like a rocket launcher. "Suit up!" she screamed as she activated her IS.

The rocket impacted the side of the plane, blowing it to pieces. But from that smoke soared a number of IS, 6 to be exact. Letting loose a pair of cannon shots, Laura shouted, "Ludzik and I can handle this. You have your orders, move out!" Ludzik grinned as he took a two-handed grip on his sword and charged, deploying the energy blade and slashing through two Harpies in one go. While he and Laura kept them busy, the other split off and moved into the city. Maylin breathed a quick prayer that they would all come back in one piece.


Taking a firm grip on his older sister's hand, a young boy of no more than 12 tried to get his big sister to safety before the machines came back. They had been out with their parents shopping when the IS attacked. His sister had seen them and pushed him into an alley right before she was shot and stunned. But in the confusion she and several others had been left unconscious on the street. Now he was trying desperately to get her out of sight, but she was easily twice his size. Just as he was about to get her into the shadow of the nearby building, something landed behind him. Turning around, his eyes went wide when he saw one of the Harpies. It looked at him, its head tilting one way then the other before it brought one of its clawed hands up and latched it onto his shoulder.

"Let me go!" he shouted as it picked him up. Grabbing its wrist, he tried to twist it and break free. He might as well have been trying to snap the limp for all the good it did. Grabbing the stun pistol on its hip, the Harpy prepared to neutralize him when an energy bolt took its head off. The now lifeless body crumpled to the ground, releasing the boy to stumble back in shock. Landing next to him, Erin scanned the area while Maylin knelt quickly to address the boy. "You need to get somewhere safe, quickly," she said, trying to sound friendly. "I-I need to get my Sis out of here," he replied, trying to act brave. Seeing the unconscious woman, Maylin walked over and picked her up before hurrying over to a nearby shop. Kicking the door down, she laid the woman down towards the back while her brother followed.

At that moment, Erin opened fire on a group of Harpies, getting Maylin's attention. "Stay here until we're gone," she told the boy, "We'll send help when we can." "What about my sister?" he asked. "She's just unconscious," 134 said, "She'll come around in a few minutes." Giving the boy a reassuring smile, Maylin went back out onto the street and materialized her bow. Taking flight, they drew the Harpies a few blocks away before they began to take them out. Drawing on their combined power, Maylin fired off several splinter arrows. They soared for a few feet before breaking into half a dozen smaller shots that sought out their targets and tore them to pieces.

"How long can we keep this up?" Erin asked as he shot down another Harpy. "Unknown," 134 replied, "They're using jammers to limit communications and active scans throughout the entire city, so I can't see more than a few blocks in any direction." "Then we'll just have to keep at it until help arrives," Maylin said as she prepared another shot. "Assuming it does," Erin commented as he took aim. He didn't notice the wire around his arm until it was far too late. "Maylin-!" he began before he was yanked away and thrown into an office building. Before she could move to help, she noticed more wires coming out of the same building. Guided by their anchors, the wires moved outward to ensnare her, leaving no room to escape.


Outside the downtown area, a group of police had barricaded themselves in a small shopping center with a number of civilians. They were also under siege from a number of the cats, which had managed to blow several holes in the building already. However, two of them had been brought down by combined small arms fire, so they were hesitant to enter the building and fight at close-quarters. They had been programmed to take people alive unless there was no other option, and the situation hadn't quite reached the point where they were authorized for lethal force.

That decision was made for them when a swarm of missiles rained down and chewed them to pieces. Two cats survived the bombardment, only to have Joshka land between them and gun them down himself. "Get those people out of here!" he shouted at the defenders, "We'll cover you!" Taking flight again, he watched as two more groups of cats came at them. "You good on missiles?" he asked Karen as he prepared to charge. She remained silent as she flew higher before firing another wave of missiles from her wings. In truth, she was concerned about her friends, especially Ludzik. She hadn't wanted to admit it, especially after Maylin's joke about her crush, but she really did care about him. After teaming with him for the tournament, she had learned that his tough and abrasive personality was just a front. He could be really kind in his own way, and she knew he had a gentle heart.

"He'll be alright," she muttered as she watched Joshka open fire. They were all using the Command Link, after all, so the power they had access to was far greater than anything their enemy had in the city. If they stayed alert and fought smart, then there wasn't anything to fear.


Slashing through the last Harpy, Ludzik looked out over the port and allowed himself to smile. These things weren't anywhere near a challenge, but they did make good punching bags. Turning to where Laura had finished her last opponents, he felt nothing but admiration for her. He had grossly underestimated how strong she was as an IS pilot, and after a few sparing matches he had come to respect her immensely. She was everything he wanted to be; strong, confident and uncompromising. "Looks like we've secured this area," he said as he moved to put his sword away. He didn't have any time to think as something smashed into his back and sent him skidding along the ground.

Rolling with the momentum, he leaped back to his feet and turned to see the sword IS standing there, it's six blades held ready. "We meet again, child," it said, "But this will be the last time." "You got that right!" he shouted as he brought his sword around and charged. Rather than trying to stop his charge, Laura moved to the side and gave him supporting fire. Alternating between her two cannons, she forced the IS on the defensive as Ludzik smashed into it. The two arms on its right wing managed to stop him before flicking his arms upward to leave his stomach exposed. Before it could take advantage of this, he stepped back enough to bring his sword back down to block the blow. But that cost him ground, and the IS made sure he wouldn't have a chance to regain it.

Working all six arms, it threw attacks from almost every angle, forcing Ludzik to block or dodge while continuing to fall back. Finally, he triggered his flight system and took off in the hope of breaking contact. Saber would have none of it as it pursued him while taking a swipe at his legs. Laura tried to support the boy, but a group of Harpies burst from the warehouse between them and cut her off. Grinding her teeth in frustration, she prayed that Ludzik would last long enough against an IS like that.


Firing at the anchors in the hops of disabling them, Maylin drifted back and began to weave back and forth. She managed to dodge most of them, but there were too many to avoid them all. One finally wrapped around the upper part of her left arm, and she grimaced in pain as it tightened around her before it threw her to the side. Flipping around, she stopped her momentum while reaching up and grabbing the wire. Giving it a hard yank, she pulled the IS out of its hiding place before charging it. "Well, well! It looks like you're in the mood to play now!" it said as it purged the wire from its frame. However, it had plenty more, and it made use of them as it avoided Maylin's charge.

Rather than using her bow, Maylin grabbed one of the beam swords from her hip mount before slashing through two wires that got too close. "This won't go nearly as well as it did last time!" she promised as she charged again. "Oh, I know," the IS replied, "This time it'll actually be fun." Pulling a disk off its own thigh, it flipped over Maylin's charge before throwing said disk. As it spun, several cables extended from the edge with weights on the ends, giving the whole thing a spiral shape. She almost managed to dodge it, but one of the cables managed to wrap itself around her left leg. As soon as the disk was pulled in and made contact, an immense electrical surge ran through her entire body.

Crying out in pain, Maylin wasn't able to maintain her balance and fell, landing back on the street hard enough that she heard something crack. For a while, all she could do was lay there as she tried to breathe again, her head a swirling mess from the shock and the impact. Landing next to her, the IS tilted its head in confusion. "Aww… don't tell me you're done already," it said, sounding like it was pouting. Pulling a knife from a sheath on its back, it twirled it around while saying, "I guess this one's broken now. I'll put you out of your misery, little human." Before it could even begin to bring the knife down, something zipped over Maylin and crashed into it with enough force to send it skidding back a couple feet.

Maylin just gaped as she looked at who had saved her. Even Erin, who had finally picked himself up and was moving out of the hole he had made was dumbstruck. "Wow, I'm gone for a few days and you almost get yourself killed," Madoka said as she turned and smiled at Maylin, "You really are useless without me, huh?" "M-Madoka?" Maylin asked, "How?" "I'll fill you in later," she replied as she offered her hand, "For now, let's just focus on beating these things." Nodding, Maylin took Madoka's hand and pulled herself back up. Turning to face the wire IS, Madoka pulled two poles off of her back while her wings spread in preparation. Maylin brought her own sword up, happy beyond words that her friend was back.

"Oh, are you two done talking?" it asked, twirling the knife in its hand, "Good, then I can start cutting you now, right?" "You can try," Madoka replied. Before Maylin could even think Madoka had burst forward as she sent power into the two poles she was holding. They sprang to life instantly, sprouting energy blades like her scythe had as she spun them in her hands to build up speed. She smashed into the IS with one of her new scythes going for her head. The IS blocked with its knife, but that didn't stop Madoka from bringing her other scythe around and burying the blade in its side. Metal split and melted while circuits sparked and fried as the blade moved deeper, and the IS was forced back, ripping the blade from its body and leaving a glowing wound. "Wow, someone's gotten good," the IS observed, looking down at the gash in its side. "You have no idea," Madoka replied as she spun the scythe in her left hand.


Dropping his now empty assault rifle, Joshka let it destruct in a flash while he brought out another SMG. He was starting to run out of weapons in his arsenal, since its auto-loaders could only work so fast. He had already burned through about half of his weapons, and the enemies just kept coming. Ever since he and Karen had taken out that squad at the shopping center, the Harpy patrols had been increasing. It's like they're trying to corner us he thought as he stepped out of cover, no, that's exactly what they're doing.

Karen's missile payload was also starting to grow thin as she sent another wave at their current opponents. They had been pinned down just outside a car dealership by no less than three groups of Harpies, but rather than pressing their advantage in numbers they were hanging back and making them waste ammo. Dropping through the hole in the roof, Karen took a moment to catch her breath while her IS went about materializing ammo and reloading her launchers. Firing off a few quick bursts, Joshka tried to keep them from grouping up only to duck back behind the wall as several energy bolts and slugs chewed into the building. At this point, the wall was only serving to keep them guessing where he was at any given moment. But considering how much of the building was being blown out with each salvo that advantage was going to dwindle to nothing rather quickly.

"We can't stay here much longer," he said as he peeked through one of the bullet holes. "I know that," Karen said, "And I think I've got a way to get out of here." "I'm all ears." "If I charge them with everything I have left, then you-" "Not going to happen," Joshka said immediately, cutting her off, "We both get out. Understood?" The look on his face was stern, and Karen realized there was no way she was going to convince him to just abandon her. Sighing, she stood up straight and pulled out her short swords. "Then it's plan B, then," she said as her IS finished reloading.

Before they could move, two of the Harpies outside suddenly exploded. They all turned in the direction of this new attacker only to have another three of them cut into pieces in one strike. Bursting through their formation in a shower of parts, fire and smoke was Annabelle wielding her new greatsword. Swinging it in another wide arc, she forced the remaining Harpies back while she came to a stop before bringing one of her wings up. They looked more like floating shields now than actual wings, but they had serious teeth. Splitting down its length, the wing opened to reveal a large particle cannon. Charging in less than a second, it fired and blew another Harpy into pieces while the rest tried to regroup.

"What's the matter?!" Anna demanded, laughing, "Is that all you got? Is it?!" Karen and Joshka just stood inside the dealership, dumbfounded at the sight. "Is that…?" he asked. "I think so," Karen answered, smiling slightly. Meanwhile, Anna had charged the Harpies again, bringing her sword around for another sweeping slash. But they were prepared this time, and they dodged the blade easily. Looking past them, Anna saw that their reinforcements had also arrived; another squad of the Harpies and two groups of the cats, and all of them out for blood now. Smirking, Anna whispered, "Numbers won't help you now."


Deflecting another stab, Ludzik propped himself on the wall he had been pinned to and leaped up and over the sword-wielding IS. Flipping around in mid-air, he brought his cannons around and fired a snap shot at it. He doubted it would do any real damage, but at this point he was just trying to buy time. Laura was still dealing with the Harpies that had come to back this machine, and until she was done Ludzik was on his own against an opponent that, frankly, outclassed him. Strange he thought as it charged him again, I would never have thought someone outclassed me before. He had noticed this gradual change in his perception shortly after meeting with Maylin Felix, and he was sure that her cheerful and kind demeanor had something to do with it.

He was broken from these thoughts when one of the energy blades got way too close to his head. Ducking to the side, he triggered his own energy blade in the hopes of taking one of this things arms only to have his slash easily dodged. Grinding his teeth in frustration, he continued to fall back while deflecting its flurry of attacks. But this time it was more used to his patterns of movement. Several of its strikes made it past his guard and hit the legs and forearms of his IS, melting the metal and damaging its systems. It wasn't enough to knock him out of the fight instantly, but his speed and strength would only degrade faster as the damage increased. Death by a thousand cuts he thought with a cold smile as he fought.

Laura, meanwhile, had blown away one of the few remaining Harpies only to see Ludzik starting to take damage. I have to do something soon she realized as she glanced at her own opponents. There were three Harpies left, and none of them seemed ready to back down. Looks like I have no choice she thought as she brought up a new system. "I can't believe I'm using this on cannon-fodder," she said as the cannons on her shoulders began to glow. The barrels began to extend and expand, the various parts separating and becoming suspended in a magnetic field. The base of the guns, meanwhile, began to glow ominously as the Harpies charged her, intent on stopping whatever this attack was.

Laura just smiled coldly as the charge on her screen hit 100%. Glancing at Ludzik to make sure his back was to her, she polarized the screen in front of her to its max before firing the cannon on her left shoulder. The barrel went white-hot immediately as the compressed energy roared out as a ball of super-heated plasma, the shot making the air around it scream in protest as it flew at the Harpies. They didn't have a chance as the shot passed by them, hitting one of them dead-center and vaporizing it on contact. The other two had the sides of their bodies closest to the bolt melt and twist in various degrees of damage, while the pavement and building behind them ran like water from the intense heat. The shot kept going out over the water, turning its surface into steam for another hundred feet before the plasma lost cohesion and broke apart.

Ludzik had felt the heat spike behind him and heard the screech of the blast, but he wasn't prepared for the sight as he turned around. Laura was standing at the beginning of a trench that stretched all the way to the shore, the warehouses between it and her reduced to burning wreckage. The two Harpies that hadn't received a direct hit were on the ground, unmoving and definitely dead after having their internal components flash-fried. Glancing at the gun on her left shoulder, Laura saw that its barrel was completely ruined. She had also burned through a good deal of the shared shield energy pool with that attack, but that had likely saved her life. Discarding the now useless gun, she turned to see something that Ludzik didn't.

"Ludzik, move!" she shouted as she burst forward. Wiping around, he saw that the sword IS had charged him again. He brought his own blade up to defend, but he was too slow to stop them all this time. Blocking the first and second strike, he watched as three of its blades came at him from his unguarded side. Gritting his teeth, he prepared for the blow only to be knocked aside at the last moment. "Ugh!" he heard as someone took the blow for him. Looking up from where he had landed, he gaped as he saw Laura standing over him. One of the swords had gone into her left leg, another into her stomach, and the third was just above her right shoulder blade.

"C-Captain!" he said, his brain coming to a full halt. Glancing at him, she smiled even as blood ran out of the corner of her mouth. "I'm…not about…to let another one of my subordinates die," she said before turning her attention back to the other IS. "Admirable, human," it said as it brought one of its blades back, "But pointless. He'll die anyway." "Unless I take you with me," Laura said with a cold smile as her screen polarized again. Realizing what she meant, the IS tried to pull away as Laura's other cannon charged. It didn't make it.

The bolt was just as powerful as the last one, vaporizing the IS' head and shoulders while turning its lower body into glowing metal. Its swords powered down as the body fell away, and Laura stumbled back a few steps while clutching her chest. Her proximity to the IS meant that she had felt some splash from the plasma, and her chest plate was now trying to burn through her. Disengaging the locks on it, she threw the useless plate away as she collapsed, struggling to breathe as her blood pooled around her. Ludzik was next to her in an instant, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and keeping her upright.

"Come on, Captain," he said, smacking her face lightly, "Stay with me. You're going to be fine." "You're a…terrible liar," Laura said, smiling weakly before looking past him and out at the water. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide in apparent fear, and Ludzik turned to see what was wrong only to have his expression mirror hers. Rising from the bay was Colossus, the massive machine that had destroyed the IS Academy. "I don't think…we're going to be fine," Laura commented as the machine brought itself to its full height.

The battle for Tokyo rages across the city as our pilots struggle to save as many lives as they can. Will Madoka and Maylin be able to take out Weaver in time? Will Laura survive her wounds, and can they bring down Colossus before it fires on the city? Till the next chapter.

I'm really, really sorry about how long this has taken. Real life sucks, it sucks hard.