Israfil pulled hard on the controls, bringing the Resonance into a crushing spin, the speed pushing him back into the cockpit. On the screen, a flight of Federation Daggers, three of them, tried to keep up, falling back to his six, and Israfil took the Resonance around again, facing them.

The Resonance raised its submachine gun, firing a burst of beams into their midst, and one of the Daggers fell apart, its right side shredded. The other two returned fire, and Suvorov brought up the arm shield, holstered the submachine gun. The Resonance shook with the hits, and Israfil checked his energy. 67%. Good.

The Resonance reached over its shoulder, pulling out the massive 'Harbinger' sword, the edge flaring to life. Suvorov deployed the wings and was crushed back into the seat, his breathing harder. The Resonance crossed the remaining distance swiftly, the Harbinger descending, slicing one Dagger from its left shoulder to the right hip, the armor ripping easily. The other Dagger came around, its own beam sword raised, and Israfil let go of the Harbinger, drawing its beam saber in a flourish, the blade flaring into the Dagger's shield, warping the metal.

The Dagger swung down hard its saber, and the Resonance countered with its own arm shield, shaking to hold the Dagger in place. The two machines were locked in place, shaking. Israfil worked the controls, the Resonance opened fire with the CIWS guns, the Dagger's armor ripping at the close range. Israfil pushed it back, and grabbed one of the beam daggers with the left arm and flung it, the blade embedding itself in the Dagger's side.

Israfil pushed the Resonance forward, the wings deploying again, shooting it forward, faster than anything else in space, and sliced upward with the saber, the blade tearing through the Dagger's weapon hand. He brought the left arm around again and drew the second saber, bringing this blade up and across the Dagger's torso. He flew back, those wings deployed in the great V behind the Resonance, watching as the dagger erupted into flames.

"Good job Suvorov." That was Captain Gladys.

Israfil grinned. "Thanks ma'am. The Resonance handles better than I thought it could. This is-"

"Incoming contact! Its fast!" Meyrin interrupted, and Israfil saw the contact, speeding towards him, a white and black and blue blur of speed and power.

"Copy that, engaging." The Resonance deployed its wings, shooting towards the new machine, his eyes taking in the details, 10 wings, that color scheme. Could it be…

The Freedom drew out its saber, accelerating even faster, and the two machines clashed, Israfil thrown forward in his seat from the sudden deceleration. The Resonance sliced across, attacking aggressively, alternating with each saber. The Freedom matched its moves. Each attack was countered or blocked. The Resonance spun suddenly, brought both blades around in a slice, aimed for the torso and abdomen. Got him!

The Freedom suddenly shot up, out of his attack, going into a role, suddenly on his side, and Israfil couldn't counter, wasn't able to move the sabers back in to defend himself again. The Freedom accelerated, the saber coming in, then slicing the Resonances. The VPS lost its color near the slice, overwhelmed with the damage. Israfil could only wait for the saber to come in, to end his life. He punched a button and the image in the cockpit faded, going black. The cockpit opened and Israfil stumbled out, his limbs shaking.

Next to him, an engineer, an older man, almost 40, stood grinning lazily. Israfil glared at him.

"Shut the hell up Mark. This was an actual training exercise, and you put the Freedom into it?" Mark's grin got even larger in response.

"You're not gonna get any better swatting down those Daggers. Figured I'd give you a challenge. And you did pretty good. You lasted longer than Shinn, that's for sure. Here." He offered a hand, and Israfil stood up, looking back on the Resonance, the armor gray, the body still and silent.

"You did that to Asuka too?"

"Yep. He was none too happy about it. Got hit before he knew what hit him." Mark patted him on the shoulder again, serious now. "You did good. Haven't anyone fight like that since Jachin. Hell of a thing. Come on." He jerked his thumb to the exit. "I'll get you something to eat."

Israfil nodded, staring back at the Resonance, his machine.