A/N: This one's actually been finished for almost a month now, the delay in posting it has come primarily from my going through three damn computers. Srsly. In that short amount of time. That's sum bullshit. I'm working on a borrowed computer for the time being, and it's just one headache after a-goddamned-nother. Because of various and sundry bullshit ranging from shitty headphones to a lack of motherfuckin' install priviledges, I can't assemble the OST for this chapter, even though there is one. Thankfully, there's only four tunes to this chapter, so it's not a problem listing them, as below:

SeeD - Final Fantasy VIII OST - Negi Party Planning Session
The Stage is Set - Final Fantasy VIII OST - Kuro Crew Strategy Meeting
Interlude - Samurai Warriors 2 OST - Yuuna Akashi Story Mode, Chapter 1
Activate the Droids - Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace OST - Surprise Attack

It's my hope that, with the cooperation of some of the other actors in Project: Arashi, that we can get a downloadable OST out for you for the remainder of Mages vs. Mars. Now gear up and stay frosty, cos we're diving headfirst into it!

"An army of clankers, huh? This one's gonna end up just like the Clone Wars!"
- Seno Nakakami; 'Mages vs. Mars: The Complete Visual Encyclopedia'

Chapter XIX:
Gift with Purchase

June 24, 2007
Library Committee Break Room, Library Island, Mahora Academy, Japan
0846 hours, local time

"So how do we do this?" Asuna asked.

Chamo produced a folded-over piece of paper labeled 'Aniki's Notes' from seemingly nowhere and answered, "I'll go over the information that aniki got from the magical teachers." He produced an ermine-sized pair of reading glasses and set them on his face, then unfolded the paper and read off the notes. "Around seven PM, Chao takes over six magical hotspots around the World Tree using approximately 2,500 robots and six giant tank...looking...things? I dunno, that part isn't very clear. Next, she creates a large magic circle with a diameter of three kilometers. She plans to cast a forced recognition magic spell on the whole world using the circle!"

As he explained the notes, he continued to produce more material, including satellite photographs of the magic radiating from the six hotspots in the form of a pentagram, hand-drawn representations of the 'giant tanks' that had been provided by both Misora and Cocone, and security camera still-frames of the robot units. Many of the robots were identical to the Tanaka robot that had taken part in the Budokai tournament, supporting the claims Misora had made about there being a mass-produced army of them. Other units were six-legged, medium-sized walkers that resembled crabs. Wrapping up the assembly were small airborne units that seemed to rely on a ducted-turbofan powerplant, likely used for aerial reconnaissance and distracting assaults.

Needless to say, the members of Negi's party were rather distressed by this information. "T-twenty-five hundred robots?" Asuna stammered.

"Th-that's a lot..." Setsuna agreed.

"Giant what?" Konoka asked behind them. "That looks like a pastry bun..."

"That army sounds pretty tough," Asuna said to Chamo. "Are we going to be okay?"

"Well, it won't be easy," the snow-white ermine admitted. "According to this information, there is a defense strategy for us. We essentially need to protect the hotspots. All we need to do is protect one of the six locations to prevent the giant spell from being cast."

All this went over the heads of both Haruna and Asuna, who nodded enthusiastically and made noises of understanding. Chamo wasn't fooled, but he decided not to waste time by calling them on it. Instead, he continued, "That's only the defense plan, of course. As seriously outnumbered as we are, we can only protect it for so long. We also need an offensive plan, soo... Yuecchi?"

"Got it," the girl garbed as a typical black mage said, her nose buried in her Orbis Sensualium Pictus artifact. "This large-scale spell that will affect the entire world can't be cast without the enormous magic circle. In order for the spell to be activated, the spellcaster would need at least ten minutes for complex rituals, plus the incantation. At the very least, the spell has to be cast in person and not by mechanical means. In addition, this large a spell would require the caster to be in a wide-open area without a ceiling or other physical obstacles in order to perform the ritual, similar to the event with Konoka-san during the school trip. Chao-san will likely be the caster, so she'll need to be somewhere in the open in the area of the magic circle for the ten minutes to cast the spell."

"And that's our chance, ladies and gent!" Chamo said. "So the plan is simple: As long as we protect one of the magical hotspots, the spell can't activate. While that's going on, another group will find Chao Lingshen and capture her. Once we accomplish that, it's game over and the victory fanfare!"

"It's not a bad plan," Setsuna nodded. "There's really not much more we can do."

Kaede likewise nodded, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "The question is, can we find Chao-dono in a three kilometer area in time? That's going to be hard."

"Well, it's a given that my plans tend to have a few holes..." Chamo murmured. "I doubt Chao will have anticipated our ability to travel back in time a whole week to get past her trap, so we're going to have to rely on the element of surprise here."

"W-wait, Chamo-kun..." a quiet, weak voice called out from the couch. The gathered group looked over to see Negi sitting up from where he'd been laid on the couch to recover from the complete draining of his magic energy due to having powered the Casseiopeia to come back in time a full week.

"Aniki?" Chamo asked, alarmed.

"I think..." the boy mage struggled to get out, "your plan is a good one, but I don't think... that's going to be enough..."

The next several minutes were spent intricately detailing the plan that Negi had concocted while he had listened to the discussion. His students' reactions had started off skeptical, then graduated to confusion, disbelief, outright shock, and finally, excitement.

"Are you serious, aniki!?" Chamo blurted, beaming at the audacity of Negi's plan.

"Are you sure we can do that?" Haruna asked, wiping drool from the corner of her mouth. "It sounds totally interesting."

"It is a bold plan," Setsuna said.

"That would definitely take Chao-san by surprise," Kaede agreed, "but is it feasible?"

Asuna wore a proud grin. "It's quite unexpected," she said. "I never thought I'd hear a plan like that come from your mouth."

She had meant it as complimentary, but Negi seemed to take it in the opposite manner. He appeared stricken and looked up at her with a pleading expression. "Do you think I'm despicable for suggesting such a plan?" he asked earnestly. "It would involve the general public and impose on the class rep."

Asuna grinned and shook her head, refraining from giving him a thump like she normally would because of how drained he was. "Idiot, of course I don't. Why would I think less of you?"

"Yeah, this is a festival, after all!" Haruna agreed. "I'm sure everyone wants to get involved!"

"I'm sure the class rep will be happy to help you, Negi-kun," Konoka added cheerfully.

Properly reassured, the boy mage smiled. "Great." He turned to the redhead standing behind the couch. "Asuna-san, would you go and talk to the class rep for me?"

"Wait, what!? Why me!?"

"Konoka-san, Chamo-kun, I need you to talk to the headmaster."

"Gotcha!"

"Okee!"

"Haruna-san, Yue-san, Nodoka-san, would you do the fliers?"

"You've got it!"

Chamo and Konoka were already on their way out the door when Setsuna joined them, thumbing through her contact list on her cell phone. The white mage looked over at her childhood friend and asked, "What are you doing, Secchan?"

"Negi-sensei's plan is exceptional, but if Chao-san somehow manages to anticipate us, then she could easily counteract our preparations," the samurai mumbled in reply, clicking the send button and then raising the device to her ear. "In that case, it's best to have additional, powerful allies on hand that she wouldn't be expecting."

It took Konoka a few moments, but eventually the light of realization appeared in her eyes. "Oh. You mean them."

Setsuna nodded. "That's correct, Ojou-sama." The line picked up, and she raised her head slightly. "Ohayou, it's me... Yes, thank you... Listen, there's something I need to ask you, all of you. Could I meet you somewhere? Yes...? Okay... The McDonald's at twelve... Yes, thank you. I'll see you then."

McDonald's Restaurant, Near the World Tree Plaza, Mahora Academy, Japan
1208 hours, local time

Setsuna and Konoka occupied one side of one of the restaurant's booths, their meals of a Caesar salad and a chicken sandwich, respectively, halfway consumed. Across from them sat Seno and Motoko, who were sharing a twenty-piece chicken nugget box. In the center of the table, between the representatives of Kuro Arashi and Negi's party, was the flier that Setsuna had brought along to help tell the story. The headline of the paper boldly proclaimed "MAHORA MAGE KNIGHTS DEFENSE BRIGADE vs. MARTIAN DROID ARMY" and displayed images of robe-clad combatants wielding staves and magic guns, as well as panoramic views of the World Tree plaza.

"So that's the situation, huh?" Seno asked, tapping his finger against a fry he held in his hand. "Masaru was talking yesterday about being suspicious about things that are going on, what with his fight in the preliminaries. So Chao's planning to make her move with an army of clankers."

"Yes, and we'd like to petition you and your comrades to help us in fighting back against her," Setsuna answered. "She expects that we'll fight against her, but she may not be prepared against your group as well."

"Of course, we'll lend you our support, Setsuna," Motoko told her sister. "The others almost certainly will, as well. We'll contact them as soon as we can to prepare."

"So, drop some details," Seno said, leaning forward and taking a gulp of his soda. "What disposition of forces can we expect? Equipment, rules of engagement, that sort of thing."

Negi's white ermine familiar scampered out onto Konoka's shoulder, holding a cigarette-shaped chocolate stick in his hands. "I'll handle this one, babes," he told Negi's two students. "I got the old man to call in one of his favors and get a magical weapons storehouse emptied out for us to use its contents. We're looking at enough magical arms and armor to outfit an army division."

"That's a pretty substantial number gap," Seno said. "We talking equipment for ten thousand or twenty thousand?"

Chamo ran a rough calculation based on various equipment loadouts, then answered, "Probably about fifteen thousand worth. The 'armor' is little more than standard mage robes with a light protective and magic-resisting spell to give the civilians some form of protection against Chao's droids."

"I still doubt the tactical sense of employing a defense force comprised almost entirely of untrained civilians against machines of war," Motoko said, shaking her head.

"From what we've learned, Chao has specifically programmed her droids to avoid fatalities," Chamo responded, staring seriously at the heiress of Shinmeiryu. "That's the only reason we even considered going forward with this plan. As to your doubt about the students' capabilities, I've observed that you only find something of a special breed here at Mahora. These students are enthusiastic and not in any way unskilled. They'll serve as a distraction, and should at least break an even kill/loss ratio."

"The best laid plans of mice and men," Seno quoted with a shrug. "What kind of arms are they getting?"

"Magic-charged staves and casters, designed to destroy constructs. Their energy doesn't harm living beings, so there won't be any worries of friendly fire casualties. You can take a look at the selection whenever you head out there."

"Fair enough. So what's our role?"

"When aniki proposed the idea of playing it off as the end-day event, Haruna-anesan came up with the idea that all the mages and guys like you could play the role of the 'Hero Unit' NPCs you find in video games," Chamo grinned, obviously pleased with Haruna's ingenuity. "Doing that allows you to use the fullest of your abilities with no-holds barred, and the high visibility makes it harder for Chao to send assassins to take you out."

Seno grinned and looked over at Motoko. She likewise appeared pleased at that news; she was looking forward to this as much as he was. She'd built up a lot of excitement over the past several days at the festival, and this upcoming combat against a droid army would be a good way to release that pent-up energy.

"That's my kind of action, right there," Seno said.

"This kind of high-profile visual thing, I guess we will need some highly-visible costumes to wear," Motoko mused. She sighed faintly and glanced to her husband. "As much as I hate to, I have no choice but to ask for your assistance."

"It's not a problem," he told her, leaning back in the booth. "I've been putting together a couple costumes for you whenever you finally decided you wanted to come along on a convention tour. I think I can finish one off for the event this afternoon."

Street, World Tree Area
The Same Time

"...And those are the latest details of the revised closing event!" the class representative of 3-A, Ayaka Yukihiro, announced, her voice amplified so that the gathered crowd could hear her words. "We look forward to everyone's participation!"

Yuuna, still in her ODST armor, and Makie, wearing a 'schoolgirl witch' type costume, had been recruited to assist in handing out fliers and gathering attention for the event. Yuuna benefited from being one of the higher-ranked members of Fireteam Charlie, in that her armor featured many of the same communications and functionality upgrades seen in the armor of Lorenzo, Koike, and Katerine. She was making heavy use of the voice amplifier of the helmet.

"Now that we've totally bored you guys to death with the details, let's get to a demonstration!" she said, standing on top of a line of tables on which robes and weapons had been set up. Crates of more of the same were lined up behind the tables. She picked up a set of robes and tossed them to Makie, who obediently donned them. "These are the standard-issue uniforms of the Mahora Mage Knights!" she said, falling back on her not-so-well-known military knowledge to help her impromptu role as public affairs officer. "They're designed to resist impact and ballistics, so you've gotta have 'em on all the time!"

One of her basketball fans from the crowd called out, "Hey, Yuuna-san! What's it mean that they 'resist impacts'?"

She tapped a finger to her chin, then shrugged and said, "Well, from what they told me, you could get hit by a car while you're wearing these robes and come out of it with only bruises." Then she grinned, picked up her helmet and sealed it to her collar, and called out, "Okay, now here's the part that everyone wants to see, a weapons demonstration!"

The crowd cheered exuberantly at her words as she tossed a small microphone to Makie, as well as a star-topped miniature magic wand. People in the crowd began producing cell phones and other normal cameras, recognizing the opportunity for a photo op when they saw one. Makie held the wand over her head so that everyone could get a good look, and said into the microphone, "This is the basic weapon of all Mage Knights, the magic wand! Don't be fooled by the cute and kiddy appearance, because with the proper incantation of a spell..." She cleared her throat, and dutifully recited the word she had been taught by the mysterious people who had delivered the equipment. "Jaculetur!"

As she said this, a white beam of energy lanced out of the wand, traveled thirty feet in the linear direction she aimed it toward the sky, and burst in the air like a dazzling display of fireworks. "This light is harmless for now, but it'll blow away the enemy robots no problem!" Makie said, then set down the wand and picked up a large, thin staff nearly as tall as her. "There's also a larger version of the magic wand for you tabletop gamers who like to play as wizards. The mage's staff has greater power and range than the wand, and if you use it in melee and score a critical hit, then it releases a burst of magic energy that hits like a hammer blow."

"So it's like a gravity hammer then, eh?" Yuuna asked, more for the benefit of the crowd. As one of the ones who'd been on hand to accept the delivery of materials, she'd already familiarized herself with all the weapons. "That's cool and all, especially for everyone out there who's played the Halo 3 beta like I have, but I prefer something a bit less, well, kiddy. For those of you who think like me, we've got a myriad of much cooler weapons for you to choose from!"

She reached down to the table and picked up a pair of thin, pistol-like weapons from the pile of them on the table, holding them aloft over her head. "For all you gamer girls and the guys who want to look macho in front of them, your first look's gonna want to be right here!" The crowd cheered again, but this time there was a noticeably higher quantity of female voices. "The magic pistol comes in a number of variations, each with differences in ammo capacity, range, and stopping power. They may not be the most powerful weapon in our arsenal, but I'll tell you now that these babies here are going to be the weapon of choice of yours truly!" She gracefully twirled the pistols around her gloved fingers, a move she had practiced to perfection with her airsoft M6D mockups, drawing more cheers from the crowd. "We've got other variants of pistol that seem to function like micro Uzis or grenade pistols, so choose carefully if you're going to cowboy up like Doc Holliday."

It was a calculated misinformation on her part to refer to the dual-wielding of pistols by referencing Doc Holliday. The Old West figure actually known for dual-wielding pistols had been Wild Bill Hickok. She had heard that there would be scoring and prizes during the event, and she intended to enter under the pseudonym 'Wild Bill Akashi.' In order to prevent anyone from stealing her idea, she had intentionally named Doc Holliday rather than the proper figure.

She was glad she'd accidentally forgotten her mockup pistols in her locker at the Fireteam Charlie room in the university ROTC building; it allowed her to holster the magic pistols she'd laid claim to. She couldn't explain or even understand why, but she felt that the two weapons called to her. Shaking off the feeling, she picked up another weapon, a metallic-blue rifle-type that looked like a claw held vertically. Yuuna recognized what it was based off of immediately: the Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle, commonly known as the plasma rifle.

"I think Bungie's got to be bankrolling this one, guys, because here we have the primary assault weapon available to the Mage Knights!" she announced. "Officially recognized as the Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle, you guys might recognize it better as the Covenant plasma rifle! Though, apparently, this is in appearance only, because you get a lot more than two hundred shots per battery, and there's no overheat, meaning you can fire continuously! It's all well and good, of course, if that's your thing, but I'm not interested in using Covie gear."

Setting the plasma rifle-lookalike down, she walked across the surface of the tables, stepping over to where the sniper rifles were stored. Before she could get there, Makie had picked up another weapon and said, "Hey, Yuuna, what about this one!? It looks like one of your Halo guns, too!"

The armored girl looked back to find Makie holding another near-identical knockoff of a Covenant weapon, despite the color being all wrong. "Yeah, hold that one up for everybody to see, Makie-chan!" she answered. "Here you've got the semi-automatic Type-51 Carbine, folks! It fires as fast as you pull the trigger, and features a 3x optical scope to greater accuracy. Let's hope it doesn't fire caseless radioactive slugs the way the Halo carbine does..."

Makie turned a little green as Yuuna said that, and quickly set the weapon back down on the table. Somehow, Yuuna didn't think many people would be taking the carbine as their weapon of choice. Shrugging, she picked up a weapon shaped like a Y with an exceptionally-long stem, and held it up to the crowd. "Headshot honchos and students of the reach-out-and-touch-someone school of thought, this is the weapon for you!" Like the great wave of Kanagawa, the cheers started off in the back of the crowd of spectators and worked their way forward. Yuuna chuckled at this; figures that the snipers would be in the back of the crowd. "This is a replica of the Type-50 Sniper Rifle System! Accurate to a range of 'Helluva lot' and yes, that's a technical term. Take one of these babies, set up in a building with a spotter, and rain terror and plasma-y death down on the droid army!"

Whistles and cheers greeted those words, along with outbursts along the lines of "Bring on those droids!" and "We'll tear 'em apart!"

Yuuna grinned behind the visor of her helmet. Such enthusiasm was a trademark of the students of Mahora Academy. Setting the beam rifle down, she hopped down off the table and walked over to a crate whose labeling indicated it was filled with explosive ordnance. Prying the top of the crate off, she reached in and produced a baseball-sized blue sphere and tossed it up once before catching it. "We've also got some explosive goodies available for use," she said. "Top of the list is this here, what I like to call the blue spider of death! Just arm, throw, and aim at an enemy. If it hits, it sticks! Careful not to hit an ally with one of these; it won't kill 'em, but it'll sting like hell!"

Putting the grenade back into the crate, she picked up a heavy, ornate magical rocket launcher and hefted it onto her shoulder. "And for those guys who really want to blow 'em away, we've got a rocket launcher here for you! Heavy damage and a wide area of effect guarantee multiple kills per shot. That pretty much covers all of the weapons, so now let's move on to support equipment. Hey, Makie-chan, come on over here and help me demonstrate!"

The pink-haired gymnast skipped over, carrying one each of the multiple support equipments that they had available. Yuuna plucked a basketball-sized blue sphere out of the pile and held it up for all to see. "Having confirmed that our enemies are nothing but droid units, this is going to come in extremely handy!" she said. "For those of you who haven't been paying attention to the upcoming Halo 3 release, this is a power drainer! In the game, it drains shields and stops vehicles in their tracks, but it'll be hell for the all-mechanical forces of the enemy! Unfortunately, it'll also drain the energy out of our own weapons as well, so don't get caught in the drain radius!"

She then picked up a metal device the length of her arm, with four stubby legs on which to stand and topped with a green diamond. "Next up is a regenerator. Unfortunately, it won't recover us; its only purpose is to serve as portable rechargers for our weapons that way we don't have to rush back to one of the save points to reload."

Setting it down on the table, she grabbed a small grenade-like device with gold markings and grinned, holding it up. "Everyone who's seen the Starry Night Halo 3 trailer should recognize this baby! Bubble shield! Stops all forms of fire and attacks, but unfortunately, you can walk right through it." Pressing her thumb down on top of the device, she hurled it to the ground at Makie's feet, and a golden, geodesic sphere of energy rose up around the gymnast. Demonstrating the ability of the shield, she reached her hand through it, then stepped back, drew one of her casters, and fired at Makie's head. The girl inside the shield flinched and ducked instinctively, but as Yuuna knew would happen, the shot was stopped cold by the shield.

"Last but not least, we've got a portable shield thing," Makie joined in, tossing the device in her hand afteractivating it. The seed-shaped device spread open its metallic parts and deployed a shimmering blue shield of energy six feet tall and three wide. "It'll stop incoming enemy fire as long as it's in effect, but it can be overloaded if it takes too many shots."

Switching off her audio enhancers, Yuuna leaned in and said, "It's actually called deployable cover, Makie-chan, but that's fine." She grinned and pulled off her friend's witch hat, then ruffled her hair, and handed her back the hat. Turning the enhancer back on, she called out, "That's it for the weapons and equipment showing, folks! Step right up and sign up and get your weapons and gear! You're allowed to take two weapons, and participation is limited by what we have to hand out!"

Ayaka stepped back in to handle giving administrative and rules details. "This is a competitive and cooperative game based on scoring," she explained. "You score a certain number of points per kill, with the points varying based on the type of opponent you've defeated, with bonus points for headshots. There are point multipliers for multi-kills and sprees, as well as unique kills. You lose points for 'deaths,' that is to say, losing your weapons and armor. The game is based on holding six key Defense Points around the World Tree. They are as follows."

A holographic map of the Mahora area appeared in the air over the table, and as she announced points, they were highlighted on the map. The first that lit up was a spot of light southwest of the world tree. "First and foremost, the World Tree Plaza where you are now standing, designated as Defense Point Alpha. This is the allied main camp, and if we lose this point to the enemy, it's immediate game over."

The crowd began to mumble amongst themselves at that information, the apparent harsh penalties. Sensing that they were becoming restless, Yuuna stepped up and shouted, "Hey, what kind of attitude is that!? If we know that we'll lose if they take the main camp, that just means we have to defend it harder!"

Cheers answered her proclamation; Yuuna was fast becoming a crowd favorite. She grinned under the helmet, then stepped back and waved to the class rep. "Carry on, iincho."

Nodding, a bit flustered that Yuuna was stealing the spotlight, Ayaka continued with her information. The point due south of the World Tree lit up. "Next is the Mahora University Engineering Showcase Hall complex, designated as Defense Point Bravo." The next spot along the equidistant pattern of the magic circle, southeast of the World Tree, lit up. "The area of St. Ursula's All-Girl High School is Defense Point Charlie. Following this, the Tatsumiya Shrine to the northeast is Defense Point Delta. The Viertel Am See Plaza located north of the World Tree is Defense Point Echo."

Yuuna stepped forward again. "Sorry to keep interrupting, iincho, but I just got an alert from my CO." She tapped the side of her helmet. "Fireteam Charlie has requested, and given permission, to use live ammunition in defense against the droid forces at Echo. So, sorry guys, but for safety purposes, only Fireteam Charlie personnel are allowed to take part of the defense at Echo." Sensing the growing displeasure of the crowd, she hastily added, "Don't worry, guys, there'll be plenty of media coverage so you'll get to see all the fireworks!" As expected, that placated the crowd.

A black disc shaped robot had been hovering in the shadows, watching the crowd grow in excitement and number, with the last announcement from the Fireteam Charlie member about Echo being a restricted area, it started to fly off towards Viertel Am See plaza, increasing in speed and altitude.

Ayaka nodded and addressed the crowd, "Very well, that's an amendment to the rules of the event. Any students who enter the area of Defense Point Echo without permission will be immediately disqualified. Continuing on, Defense Point Foxtrot is located at the International High School's central courtyard, northwest of the World Tree. Defense of these bases is critical, and if your position is captured, you'll be out of the game. Located in the exact center of the defense points are a number of tall blue crystals. Touch these to restore your magical ammunition and save your score."

Hiroyuki had been on a nearby rooftop at the edge of the World Tree Plaza when he had received the call from Seno concerning some sort of pre-event plan. "Uh-huh...oh really? Why?...My that is interesting...Okay so where are we going? Hinata? I think I've been through there before. So do I need to bring anything?...Really? Kay kay, I'll be over A.S.A.P." finished the emerald eyed fire head, snapping his phone shut.

Getting to his feet after an exaggerated yawn and stretch, the ruby head listened to the closing points of the event speech. "So this event is more than meets the eye," snickered Hiroyuki. "This is gonna be so dam awesome!" His grin spread fully across his face as he attempted to predict the coming event.

His thoughts soon wandered to the subject of him being a chosen hero of the planet. Of course, Hiro maintained utmost confidence that he would be up to the task of saving the world. "Hiroyuki Murakami: Hero of Mahora!" Hiroyuki stated arrogantly, placing his hands on his hips and laughing in a manner he deemed heroic. Beaming happily towards the sky, Hiroyuki slowly reached up and clutched the small pendant that hung from his neck.

The pendant glistened in the day's beautiful light. It's shape was that of a star, and it was crafted of brilliant gold, with a four leaf clover made of radiant emerald in its center. Hiroyuki looked down on it, smirking as he opened it. Inside the words 'You are my lucky star' were engraved.

Hiroyuki clicked the pendant closed and sighed with his small smirk. "I'll make you proud mom, I'll prove you right to everyone." And with that said he raised the pendant to his lips and quickly kissed it. The wild young man scoffed quietly at the crowd below, scanning it for anyone he knew in particular. He happily allowed his smirk to evolve into a wide grin upon locating a target. Hiro began making his way down to the pavement below. "Looks like you couldn't resist the attraction of this event either, Takaki."

Takaki Sato was a thin young man, with neck length dark navy blue hair, curious silver steel eyes, and averaged about 5'6" in height. His skin was quite pale and he had semi-feminine facial features including a small pointed nose and a smooth, rounded chin. He wore a blue tweed beret that slightly resembled an officer hat. His clothes were black custom school design, most common with underclassman high-schoolers. Most people wouldn't think it, but his information acquiring and spying skills were unparalleled among the mundane high school division. Young Takaki Sato has been best friends with the one and only Hiroyuki Murakami since their early childhood.

At the moment, Takaki was carrying his Mages vs. Mars gear away in a box. He had been one of the first few up front who got first choice of weapons and gear. The steel eyed 'Double 0' was inspecting his gear, facing down and not watching his front.

"Walk with your head held high, Takaki," came Hiroyuki's proud voice when Takaki accidentally bumped into him.

In a short lived panic, Takaki dropped his box and waved his arms frantically. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry Hiroyuki-sempai!"

But Hiro shut him down with a slap to the shoulder. "Don't call me 'sempai'! Ditch the honorific and just call me Hiroyuki, or hell you can call me 'bro' if you like," proclaimed the hot-aired spearman.

At this Takaki lowered his head and began to retrieve his belongings. "Uh...um, I don't have any siblings, so that's kind of..."

"It's not about blood! We're soul brothers, siblings of the spirit!" laughed Hiroyuki slapping Takaki once again on the shoulder.

The younger boy winced but Hiro's words erased the small sting of the slap, it was the effect Hiroyuki had on Takaki. Hiroyuki had always had an aura of confidence; a confidence that inspired others like Takaki, who had no confidence or motivation to speak of.

"Nah, I'm just trying to sound cool. Don't call me 'bro,' that'd be kind of weird, right Takaki?" asked the elder Mahoran moving to help his hat wearing friend with his box.

"Heh, it'd be alright to be brothers. We've been friends for so long that it wouldn't be strange," murmured Takaki, mustering a smile of his own.

From there, the unusual duo made their way opposite the crowded plaza, taking a seat on the nearest vacant bench. "So what'cha pick out anyway? Hopefully something cooler than those wands right?" asked the fire head looking into the box for the first time.

The two were nearly complete opposites of one another. Sometimes referred to as 'Fire and Ice' or the more rare 'Heaven and Hell' by some teachers. "Uh, well nothing too special. I got the robes, a power drainer just in case, and the magic pistols," answered the water head lifting and showing the items one at a time. "I was thinking about picking the plasma rifle knock-off cause you know I like SMGs. But I figured pistols would be easier to store and carry."

Hiroyuki chuckled, nodded and stretched. "I figured you'd pick something practical. I mean, there are some whacky ass weapons." He paused briefly as he recalled the correct weapon. "Doesn't the default weapon weapon involve shaking a stick, and yelling the incantation 'Ejaculator' so that the stick can shoot a white magical beam? I swear we Japanese produce the weirdest shit!" laughed Hiroyuki holding back joyful tears.

Takaki soon found himself cracking up side by side with his 'spirit sibling.' The blue haired spy usually had a hard time relaxing around people. Hiroyuki was like a breath of fresh air to Takaki. "It's pronounced 'Jaculetur' idiot! Get it right!" commented the high school junior matter-of-factly. "Only someone like you could think of a stupid joke like that!"

"Ha! You can call it stupid all you want, but you're the chump who laughed at this idiot's joke," retorted the senior with a huff, shoving Takaki over slightly. "So say what you want, but I'd rather be the king of fools than the chieftain of chumps!"

Glancing towards the crowd, the wild child chortled softly at all the hustle and bustle to get to the front. "All that aside though, I have an announcement. So clean your ears and listen up Takaki!" broadcasted Hiroyuki jumping to his feet.

Takaki rolled his eyes, thinking it was probably another one of Hiroyuki's schemes or plans for getting into this year's Comiket. "Well then let's hear it, since you say it as though you want everyone's attention," responded Takaki with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

However, Hiroyuki's expression was that of a blissful child. "I feel totally awesome and it's all thanks to the first day's cosplay contest. I mean, she didn't even mention on the home page that she'd be attending. Ha! I knew it was a good idea to post the contest date and info on the site. But don't you know, she's so much different in the flesh. Oh, but she's so cute that it should be criminal. I'm so happy to be her fan!"

"Okay, who are you talking about?"

"Who the hell do you think I am!? I'm talking about my one true idol C-H-I-U! No, I am much more interested in contestant number 18, the girl behind the mask..." Slowly slipping into his own little world, Hiroyuki trailed off wearing a Cheshire grin. To correct that, Takaki improvised as he always did. He proceeded to, quite simply, with a swift and focused stomp to Hiro's foot. "Hey, snap outta it! I'm losin' you!"

Letting out a small cry accompanied by a wince and surprised expression, the day-dreaming spearman rushed back to reality. "Hey, hey, hey, hey! Hiroyuki Murakami is back!" the red head nearly yelled. "What was I talkin' about again?"

The amnesia of Hiroyuki Murakami was short lived. For the beautiful face that had intrigued him for the past two days quickly returned to his thoughts. "Hasegawa Chisame-san, Biblio Roulin Rouge, aaaaand Chiu-sama. She's almost too perfect and adorable for even her number one fan to accept," sighed Hiroyuki blissfully. "Oh, Chisame Hasegawa, her real name is so beautiful."

"Hasegawa-san? that sounds familiar...Wait! Seat number 25, Hasegawa Chisame-san. She's in Natsumi-chan's class, I already memorized her class roster a while ago," nodded Takaki assuringly.

"Yeah, I was gonna tell you but you beat me to the punch. I asked Natsumi yesterday, so that's how I know but I figured you'd remember before I told ya," laughed the young man who seemed to have no other mood than happy. "I first saw her at the cosplay contest, It only took one look, and BAM! I'm totally taken aback. I was all thinking 'Is that really her?' I wasn't sure when I heard her name, but I was sure in the next moment," ranted Hiroyuki like a child with a sugar high. "I saw her looking all sad, and I suddenly wanted to comfort her. I've never had those kind of feelings for anyone but Chiu, so I knew right away. I was the first person to say somthing too, 'cause I was all like 'She's Cute!'. She won because I wished it so. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh and look at what I got!" The smile on the face of the Mahoran native was bigger and brighter than holiday lights as he gestured to the crimson tie bound securely around his left upper arm. "It's the tie from her costume, I snuck backstage and found it with her discarded outfit. I even managed to follow her back to her dorm so I know where she lives. Mind you, I stuck to the rooftops and kept out of sight," Hiro said with half a childish giggle pressing his right index finger to his lips.

Gawking, almost dumbfounded with a stupified expression, Takaki brought his hand smacking into his forehead. "You mean you stalked this girl because you think she's your favorite net idol? I think it's great you've found someone you like but your going about it wrong!"

"Hey, the only reason I followed her home, not stalked, followed was to protect her. There were some damn shady types at that cosplay contest so I followed to make sure she was not stalked. I'm just doing my part as a hero." Hiroyuki threw back in his defense, his expression that of pride as though he had just won an Olympic gold medal.

"Hiro the hero? Yeah, right have you been drinking? Anyway, all following aside, if she's really in Natsumi-chan's class, then she's roughly three to four years younger than you. You have to be breaking at least several laws here. AND you're even holding onto her discarded clothes, you better not get caught," said the truly concerned Takaki.

Totally not even paying attention Hiroyuki checked the time. "Oh, I need to go, it's almost hero time." As the hot headed net idol fan started to leave he turned his head to his younger friend. "Play dirty, not fairly against your enemies! It's gonna be awesome, have fun with your ejaculation guns!" he called out loudly across the crowd to Takaki.

Takaki on the other hand pulled his hat down to hide his embarassed red face. "Stupid Hiroyuki..."

Hiroyuki made his way to his living complex, checking the time once more. It was roughly 12:23pm, Hiro had to hurry to make it in time and he didn't travel light. Maybe I'll get lucky, thought Hiroyuki lifting his left arm and inhaling the lingering scent of the tie's previous wearer. He shuddered slightly as he took in the trace smell of Chiu's perfume. "I'm ready to go!"

Yuuna looked away from the gathering crowds. It was mostly just getting everyone signed up and set in their defensive positions, which wasn't anything she needed to be on hand to handle. Besides, she needed to check in with Fireteam Charlie and get her own assignment. She was a member of E Company, Fireteam Charlie's strike infantry division, which put her under the command of acting-Lieutenant Colonel Lorenzo Ruiz. She radioed her commanding officer. "CQ, Akashi. Orders, Colonel?"

Border Between Foxtrot and Echo, Mahora Academy, Japan
1214 hours, local time

The UAV was flying over rooftops in high speed mode, and upon reaching the border between Foxtrot and Echo, was shot down. It crashed atop an apartment building, smoldering, as the assailant, a hooded and robed figure, drew back its weapon, a silenced Fabrique National P90 PDW, and jumped across rooftops to an escape route.

Defense Point Echo Headquarters, Viertel Am See Plaza, Mahora Academy, Japan
Same Time

Many people in Marine or ODST armor had been working since mobilization. Computer generated firing lanes and pre-marked points would turn the front of the plaza into a kill zone. Metal deployable covers, similar to what was seen on Cairo Station in Halo 2, with firing slits, had been deployed to make three walled bunkers. Heavy weapons were placed in the buildings on the main routes to the defense point, while any and all secondary routes were filled with sensors and at a point, an automated turret and a small fireteam of four.

The tanks were behind large sandbags and covers, ready to fire, while in the plaza itself, a large Sikorsky skycrane was lowering what appeared to be a large cargo container, something the MMEC had been building alongside the JSDF until funds dried up. Now it'll be used here, thanks to the higher ranks of both the Arlington Magic Society and Mahora agreeing that recent intelligence indicated a brunt of the armies will head straight through what was determined earlier as Echo defense point.

Lorenzo was in the rear command tent of the plaza, covering the numerous LCD screens. A woman in the next tent had a business suit on. One of the Mages from the Arlington Magic Society, she had been applying a nifty spell on the weapons, decreasing their felt recoil and granting the user increased stability and aim. It would help, most of Fireteam Charlie had only been training with paintball guns or airsoft, and very few, namely the prior leadership, had even fired a .22LR weapon.

Right now, he was contacting his current, self appointed Public Relations officer. "Sergeant Major, you're needed here. Our preparations are nearly complete here, and you're to report to your specialist squad," he said, nodding to the five people who were waiting outside. Each had either two SMGs, or two M6D pistols. Only one had a shotgun, a modified version, only keeping the pistol grip and placing a vertical foregrip on the pump action, the bottom of both the pistol and foregrip looked weighted.

"We also need you to look around the planned borders, and making sure barriers are in place as well as the final defensive lines. On the bounce Marine, you have one hour to do all that. I suggest you and your group take a specialist each and check the points. Your designation is now Cleric One, team is designated Cleric, just so we can keep up with you guys. Do you copy, over?"

"I copy, Control," came Yuuna's voice, distorted slightly over the radio. "Moving out now. Cleric Team, make your way to Foxtrot and we'll start from there."

It was then that the UAV was lost.

"Sir, we've lost the UAV we've sent to observe the registration," a technician called out. Lorenzo turned to look at her while she continued on. "Last confirmed location, just outside our border with Foxtrot."

"Command to Cleric One. Hold on...we've just lost a UAV. Carry out your orders. I'll contact you when needed. Your team's frequency is 6F6. It's encrypted up the wazoo, I'll be coming in momentarily while we deal with this. This is Command, Out." He turned to the screen. Other UAV discs had located the one shot down, and yet another was destroyed.

"Full alert, send a fireteam to retrieve those things."

"Anything wrong Lorenzo?" The suited Arlington Magic Society witch had come in.

"Someone's taking out the UAVs we've deployed."

"This is bad...AMS is merely an accessory to your fantasy here, and mainly because Old Man Konoe requested your help in this place. But if the higher ups believe this to be beyond Mahora's or your...group's capabilities, we're sending in people."

"It doesn't have to come to that Maria."

"You're still under watch. Frankly, barely a third of us support you now. Half the department wants you reassigned. We both know which half. So don't fuck up here."

"Yeah...yeah..."

"I'll join one of the teams, they might encounter resistance before the scheduled event."

"Thanks," Lorenzo said, as the woman turned and unholstered two pitch black M1911A1 pistols with extended magazines from a chest rig, engraved with simple silver vine-like design. She got on the same headsets the other people had and got on a Universal Carrier along with 4 other various teens and young adults in Marine armor, heading towards the rear.

Living Room, Hinata Apartments, Hinata, Japan
1322 hours, local time

Nearly all of the recently-bolstered ranks of the Kuro crew had gathered back at the Hinata in order to prepare the costumes they'd wear during the event and to discuss strategy. A large LCD screen had been rolled in from Kaolla's room, on which various maps and tactical displays of the defense points were displayed. In the bottom left corner of the screen, a live video feed to the Echo command center allowed Lorenzo to be in on the strategy talk.

"...So in all, there are a total of fourteen of us, and six points to defend," Haruka was concluding her thoughts on the matter. "Two each per defense point, then an additional two to put where necessary. Unless there are objections, I will join Lorenzo in defending Echo."

"I guess I could handle, uhh...well, let's just give me Bravo at random," Seno said, though more of his attention was focused on the finishing touches of Motoko's costume, pinning the last bits of fabric in place in preparation to apply heavy-duty thread to allow for strenuous activity without pulling apart the costume.

Motoko, amazed and flabbergasted that her husband knew how to sew, stood on top of a stool wearing the mostly-complete costume, alternatively raising and lowering her arms, turning, or twisting as he directed to ensure that she had full range of motion in the costume. "I'll probably accompany you, then," she said. "Even still, we probably need an actual plan to coordinate the defense, otherwise we might get swamped despite our skill."

Lorenzo appeared once again on the feed. He looked tired, having been in preparation since early morning. A female in a suit was behind him. Her arm in a splint, she had a few bandages and one around her head.

"Command and Control will most likely fall on Konoemon's group and mine. We're gonna be sharing communications via an encrypted hardline between our command centers. They'll be monitoring our progress. As for defense point command and control, there will be a Fireteam Charlie observer and a protection team disguised as regular participants in the rear. If at best you make sure no droid reach them. They'll be using newer versions of the antiques that was passed out to students earlier."

He paused a bit, signing something, as people passed by.

"As I was saying. They'll view the progress in each point. As for our controller, I will be in command of FTC, I'd like you to say hello to Agent Maria Shimizu. She will be in charge of our command team. And magical secrets are fine...the command team consists of Mahorans who are...adept. Haruka, Koike will be briefing you on other stuff. Also, decided to take a leaf outta Rommel. We're turning Viertel Am See into the next Normandy. The long road straight to the plaza is filled with interlocking fields of fire and our tanks are dug in. They're useless in these confined quarters, but as coastal artillery, they fit the bill. We've set automated sentry weapons in forward positions, and it'll basically be a war of attrition going up to the plaza. We'll give it our all. But our ammunition stores are gonna be limited, and by then, we'll be switching to blue mags, which is essentially the same type of beam used by the antique weapons, although that means our ammo shortages are fixed at the expense of not firing real ammo."

It was shortly after the end of Lorenzo's little speech that Kaolla and Nealla finally wandered down the inside stairs of the Hinata, coming from their own respective rooms. Kaolla was already suited up for Mahorafest, dressed as Samus Aran, the Haloid version. The red, orange and yellow suit was flexible, as proven when she vaulted over the railing, and landed neatly down on one of the couches with a bounce, turning to watch the display.

Nealla however, instead of going with the same costume as her 'twin', as most had expected, was dressed in a rather revealing outfit consisting of a piece of an upper body suit that tapered down like a duster, incredibly short shorts, and faux fur trimmed sleeves that went from just below her shoulders to her wrists.

A pair of 'devil wing' ears adorned the sides of her head, and a red flower on a long stem hung from the corner of her mouth. Her throat was covered by a wide choker with a small bell, and around her waist was a belt with a skeleton head buckle. Long fishnets went all the way up her thighs into the shorts, and boots laced up her ankles to her calves. Her outfit was, in the shortest description, a Ragnarok Online Stalker. At either side were fastened wicked looking scimitars, the blades finely honed and sharp.

"Have we missed much?" This from Nealla, who found herself a seat to perch herself on.

Sabashii wandered in wearing his costume, a perfect replica of Barbossa's uniform and hat from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, complete with 'scraggly beard.' As the group were talking, the white haired man hopped up on the nearest seat, or whatever would pass as one, and popped his neck from one side to the other, getting the kinks out. He looked over each member of the crew and mused.

"Actually, Motoko, I disagree with you and Seno being a pair. Let me explain. It might be best if we paired with someone who can cover a weakness of the individual that one is paired with. Long range combatants should be paired with a short range or supportive combatant, and multi-range combatants can be used as fire support for those who have limited resources. If there's no objection, I'd like to go with Shinobu. Her support magic will be necessary to supplement my combat skills, as right now I'm operating at about half efficiency. To maintain my speed and power, I'll need her White spells. I'm thinking that Motoko, you and Seno should probably separate; while you're an effective team because you know each other well, having two fighters with the same combat style in a single unit is crippling; it leaves the enemy with two people doing the same thing, meaning if they can counter one, they can counter both."

He looked over the group then, and rubbed his chin with one hand, thinking. He had to come up with feasible and useful combinations quickly. It had been a while since he'd been in a real war effort. Goodness, it felt so nostalgic.

"I know Nealla would normally go with Kaolla, but since there probably won't be any fatalities in this little contest, I doubt it will be necessary. Kaolla, you should probably be with Kitsune. Your ability to run interference and disable machinery will complement well her ability to fight at short range against targets that might otherwise distract you. Nealla, I'm thinking you might be best with Seno. That way there's a martial and a caster. You can run a pure offense team. Motoko, you and Mutsumi can run a support offense-defense team. I don't know what Nanao's combat capabilities are..so for now, I'll say she should go with Naru. Naru can take large amounts of damage. I know how sturdy angels are from experience, especially if they learn how to fully harness their powers."

He paced then, thinking.

"Masaru should go with Hiroyuki. They're a contrast in the harshest sense, meaning what one might not see, the other probably will. That, and Masaru, with his abilities, can cover just about any weakness, and he seems to know Hiroyuki better than the rest of us do, even if that is rather little overall. I'm not sure what Hiroyuki's combat abilities are either... It's why I'm assigning Masaru, who's the all-around five-tool type to that group."

Sabashii nodded, then stroked his Barbossa-beard thoughtfully.

"The rest, if there even is a rest, can pair up as needed or as they want, if I missed anyone. You're welcome to ignore what I've just said, mind you; it's just the ideas I have from personal combat experience. At least we know for sure there aren't going to be any real casualties. It isn't as bad as a full on war. Also, I took the liberty of bringing Masaru and Nanao with me. Aren't portals wonderful? I'm sure Hiroyuki will be here soon enough, if he's not already here."

Of course, about that time, Masaru decided to wander in, in his Papillion outfit, complete with poofy shoulders and butterfly mask. He looked around for a moment...and then spun about once, rather elegantly.

"Papi~yon~"

Nanao, dressed in her female Dante costume, wandered up behind Masaru, giving him a firm thump upside the back of the head. "Didn't I warn you about doing that gay entrance?" A huff of a sigh, before she continued. "My combat whatever is pretty low. I don't fight. I play the guitar. That's what I do. If I have some kind of power, I've got no clue what." She shrugged then. "But, I'm betting its tied to my music, so playing is probably the best thing, huh?"

"An excellent point from Captain Barbossa. Agent Shimizu also has a report on the earlier disturbance and Echo Point's own Ion cannon. Maria?" Lorenzo looked over his shoulder, and moved out of the screen. Just before Maria would move in, he could be seen hunched over, nodding his head and talking to a technician on another control panel. Busy busy.

"Hello, I am Agent Ruiz's partner. I am not sure if he briefed you on what had gone on, but earlier today, several of our patrolling recon drones had been shot down. We've investigated the matter, and we were shot at by an unknown person or group. Several students have been knocked out."

She adjusted her square framed glasses, before continuing. "We've also prepared for the possibility of our defense point falling, at which point any surviving armor and members will be leaving to the nearest defense point as reinforcements and heavy weapons will be assigned when that happens. As for the giant tanks, we've been granted permission to use the ERHA Weapon. If that's all, I look forward to working with all of you." She nodded slightly before moving off.

The screen was blank for a bit before the entire thing was hijacked by Fireteam Charlie's line and the ERHA Weapon schematics was shown. The EHRA, or Electromagnetic Rifle - Heavy Artillery was basically a large, 45cm railgun. Four distinct shells were shown, one shell was basically a standard armor-piercing high-explosive shell, the other KESABOT, one pure HE, and the other, was a Particle Beam Generator, a projectile sized and shaped generator 'shell,' it meant to use the electromagnetic field within the rifle to deliver an approximate 40 centimeter beam of charged particles at the target, though at the expense of damaging the rifle and requiring a large cool down period.

The ability for Suu to tab that piece of information meant they were back in control, and Lorenzo was back on the screen. "She's a beaut, ain't she?" he said, not clearly referring to who he considered beautiful, the cannon or Agent Shimizu.

"ORE GA DARE DA TO OMOTE YARU!? OH OH OH!" came the recognizable passionate cry of Hiroyuki Murakami who came rushing through the open entrance into the main living room. "Nice place you got here," stated Hiro as he inspected what he could see. However, Hiro himself was barely recognizable, and no longer had the obvious casual appearance that resembled Final Fantasy VII's Reno.

Hiroyuki's costume was as barbaric as the young man himself. Sandals occupied the feet of the wild child. Long black wavy slacks made their way down from Hiro's waist to his ankles; they were secured to his waist by an oversized, white belt that knotted into a giant bow in front of him. Sarashi bandages extended up from underneath his slacks to his upper abdomen.

His upper body costume consisted of arm bandages that covered the whole of his forearms. He had artificial tribal tattoo designs painted down his back that ran over his shoulder's to his pectoral muscles. The two single most bold elements of the costume consisted of a high-collared red cape that hung from Hiro's shoulders, with the assistance of two large golden cords. That, and the obnoxiously huge victory shades he adorned on his face. They looked like a giant ten inch red double-u that rested gracefully on his nose.

Hiroyuki's physique complemented the costume and fit well. His hair was also re-done; No longer in a ponytail, the full length crimson hair ran down to his back. The top of his hair changed the most, the entire left side had been slicked back while the entire right side was spiked forward. In the very appearance and attitude he was Kamina from the new show Gurren Lagann.

The only things different was that he still had Roulin Rouge's red tie secured around his left arm, he had a pearl-white holster that housed what looked to be a large revolver, and instead of a sword he carried his trusty full length naginata: Yuriko, the lily child. Spear of the house Murakami "I'm not late! So what's the plan? We gonna crash these tin-can bozoes or what!?"

"You're just in time," Haruka told the Mahoran as the rest of the crew were still going about deciding who would be paired with whom. "We'll be splitting up into two-man teams and sending each team to defend one base. The teams are being decided based on complimentary skill-sets. Since you're late, we decided to pair you with Masaru. You can get another partner if you don't want to work with him. It's up to you."

"Whaaaaaaat? I'm stuck with the cryptic-spouting, tight-wearing, know-it-all butterfly!?" questioned Hiroyuki as though deeply insulted. "Eh, I've played co-op with worse I suppose," he stated losing his insulted expression as fast as it came. Hiroyuki turned to Masaru. "I guess I'll see what you're really made of, unlike at the preliminaries. Let's hope your luck can keep up with mine!" laughed Hiro as he donned his usual arrogant smirk.

Masaru just smirked as he looked over at Hiroyuki, the butterfly mask concealed his features magnificently, and the uniform showed off all of his... bursting health, as it were. He closed his eyes then, and a pair of black butterfly wings made of powder burst from his back, floating to themselves, though they faded quickly.

"My Near Death Happiness will prove in this battle that I have more than enough of what it takes to be a superhuman. I wonder if the same can be said of you... You know, you're certainly different enough from me to be a sort of foil yourself. And how convenient for you that you happen to use a lance-type weapon."

He grinned then, naturally commenting on the rivalry between Kazuki and Chouno in Busou Renkin, and how Kazuki's weapon was a lance. Still, he chuckled and pulled the mask off, and looked over at the gathering. "The truth is, this will be a chance to show off some other things I can do; I was in good form in the last fight, but I also wasn't sure of what I was fighting at first. That was problematic. This time I'm more than prepared."

Hiroyuki merely scoffed at Masaru's remark and smirked on seeing the powdered wings. "It doesn't matter if you're superhuman or not, with enough tenacity any mortal can beat the unbeatable!" chuckled Hiro as he removed his shades and placed Yuriko against the wall. "I like unusual tag-teams, cover your own ass and don't you dare worry about me. Perfect Unison of Masculine Souls, Cannonball Attack!" yelled Hiroyuki with a tone that screamed confidence and passion, throwing the enveloping crimson cloak over his shoulders and crossing his arms.

"So it's me and Nealla to Bravo, then," Seno said, finishing the last touches on Motoko's costume, giving a tug to the skirt hem to ensure that it was secure. "Okay, all done."

She was clad in a sleeveless yukata that varied color from the top to the bottom from an extremely light, almost lavendar, blue at the top to dark ocean blue at the bottom. Over this she wore a black leather breastplate of the kind typically seen in the Sengoku period, and the costume was topped off with a black cape with a rich blue hem draped over her shoulders. She smiled faintly as she made a few experimental turns and arm movements in the costume; it was very well-fitting and still allowed perfect freedom of movement.

"Okay, who is she?" Naru asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked over the costume. It was familiar, but she couldn't exactly place it.

"Well, Sabashii said it," Seno answered, chuckling. He shrugged and pointed to the white-haired man. "You know, Azumi."

Nealla made a faint gesture, and the cape Motoko wore was bathed with a soft white light, before suddenly glowing blue as Nealla snapped, the light then fading away. "There. Now Motoko's cape can stay just as clean as Azumi's did." A wry smile crossed her face, and she nodded to Seno.

"Just remember, friendly fire from me is literal, so make sure you maintain a certain distance so I don't have to worry about accidentally setting off a fireball on top of your head. Not all of my spells are capable of avoiding friendly units. I'm going to have to be careful of them, but I think I'll need some of them."

Kaolla was operating the screen, putting up chibi images of each of the crew based on where they had decided to station themselves. Chibis of Seno and Nealla were attached to Bravo, Lorenzo's at Echo. The princess looked back and said, "You know, I think it'd work better if Kitsune and Mutsumi were made as mobile units. Because Kitsune, if her skill set keeps to what we know from Final Fantasy X, can steal critical parts to destroy the droids, and with her rapid speed, she could be a high-mobility attack support. Mutsumi would be better served, also, as mobile support to go where needed." She stuck her finger in her mouth and thought for a moment. "I think that Haruka should also partner with Naru."

"Good idea, Kaolla," Mutsumi smiled, clapping her hands together. "I'll go along with that plan."

"Me, too, I like that idea," Kitsune agreed.

"Sure, that works," Haruka said. "I heard that they're setting up a command and control sector in Charlie, so Naru and I will take over that one."

Kaolla nodded and added the chibi's to the board. Naru and Haruka's chibis were attached to Charlie, and Mutsumi and Kitsune's were just placed in the center.

Motoko raised an eyebrow. "Kaolla, that leaves you and I without partners," she said. "We're to team up, then?"

"Yup, yup!" the girl enthused. "We can take Foxtrot, if that's okay with you."

The Shinmei heiress nodded. "That will be fine."

Nanao from her position, tipped her head slightly. "I think I should be wherever the combat is going to be light, or nonexistent. If Masaru's right, and all my abilities are tied to my song, I need to be able to broadcast it to everyone for them to benefit from it. And not be interrupted. If I get hurt and can't sing, I can't support people." She folded her arms across her chest and studied the map for a few minutes. "Not to Halo-ify things on everyone, but I guess consider me the flag carrier. Don't let me get stopped, essentially."

Lorenzo chimed in, he's been on top of things in his end, and he's been shouting orders when off screen. "If you want, I can give you a protection team miss. Their job'll be to shoot anything that comes near you. As for this layout, seems good. Echo can hold its own for a bit."

"A protection team works, so long as I can stay out of the fray and keep focused on playing. Since it doesn't matter what song I sing, does anyone have a request?" Nanao would turn and face the group then. She'd let one of them decide on the song, she was happy to play whatever was chosen.

"My first inclination is to get some Dragonforce going on, but that's just me," Seno said, now starting to pull on pieces of his own costume. It seemed to consist primarily of Sengoku-era steel plate armor, green and black plates of a certain kind, hmm...

Motoko rolled her eyes and turned with a flourish of her cape. "Since we're talking so much about Final Fantasy, how about Otherworld?"

Kitsune and Shinobu gave her an odd look. She blinked at them and turned away slightly, blushing. "What? I can play video games, too..."

"As long as it isn't the Black Mages cover. Great song, baaaad singer." Nanao chuckled, and simply smiled at the swordswoman. "Thanks Motoko-chan. That'll work perfectly."

Lorenzo chuckled, well, it looked like his first real laugh since he was uncovered. "Protection team will be meeting you guys at Mickey D's. And as for DragonForce, Seno...Echo Point will be blaring that just to piss you off now." He smiled, as a technician started to play some of the songs, and lots of yelling and enthusiastic noises came from outside.

"I got song request Nano-chan, how about 'Happily Ever After' from Gurren Lagann, it's by Nakagawa Shouko. Or 'Sora-iro Deizu,' both're done by the same person." The cape-wearing spearman shrugged and turned his attention to the strategic display.

"I'm okay with being teamed up with a fellow Mahoran, seeing as there's no one else to team up with. And I keep hearing about these abilities, that Nanao seems to be talkin' about. How do we go about acquiring said abilities?" questioned Hiroyuki as he scratched as chin, wondering how interesting this would truly turn out.

"Each of us is born with them," Mutsumi answered as she wandered out of the room she had been changing in, wearing a pink sundress with a red vest over it, her hair styled into a braid tied with a pink ribbon and adorned with a green marble. "Though they likely do not awaken in an individual until they, themselves are awakened." She observed the naginata that Hiroyuki carried. "Since you wield a spear-type weapon, I believe it's safe to surmise that your class is that of a 'dragoon' and that you'd have similar abilities as them. I really can't say what each person's abilities are."

She crossed the room to where she had leaned her Princess Guard staff against the wall, and picked the weapon up, manipulating it to reduce it to its smaller size. "Hmm, even in its reduced size, it's rather unwieldy to carry this weapon as is. If only I had some sort of storage device..."

A gentleman in what looked like Renaissance clothing and a beret, with short hair and a box mustache, wandered through just then, his hands set upon a cart. It looked almost like a food cart, but it had a slight... aura about it. Sure enough, he stopped near the group and tapped the cart's top, and it sprung into a full blown shop, full of dubious looking bottles, bags, and glass cases that carried other weird looking objects.

"Perhaps, my generously-busomed lady, I can offer these to you; bags, backpacks, and other objects that can hold large objects of any sort up to a certain weight. In fact, with any purchase today I'll throw one in as a free sample. I'm cuttin' me own throat, I tell you, but you can't beat a deal like that."

Seconds later, Hiro jumped at the sight of the mysterious peddler. "What the!? Do traveling traders normally come through here unannounced through the open door?"

"What's with this guy?" Seno asked, struggling to attach a set of underarm buckles between his chestplate and backplate. "Coming in here trying to peddle some random crap to us."

"Here," Motoko said, crossing over to help her husband secure his costume.

Mutsumi carefully scrutinized the 'merchant' then said, "Actually, this fellow is a known dealer in magic items. I imagine that he could be quite useful to us." She inspected some of his wares, then said, "Shinobu, he has a lovely set of war fans here that would go greatly with your costume."

The domestic engineer, wearing a sky blue Chinese dress with a train reaching nearly to her feet, walked over and inspected the pair of Japanese fans that matched her costume almost perfectly in color. "Oh, it would definitely save me from having to use pans..."

"What currency are you accepting now?" Mutsumi asked.

"Actually, what I'm accepting now is 'credit'. So far, you fellows have been doing a great deal of fighting. With each victory, or semi-victory, you earn a sort of 'heroic credit'. Others may not see what you do, but the planet knows, and that means I know and can translate that energy you've spent into a tangible form. The more you fight for your cause, the more 'energy' you accumulate at the planet's will. I will translate what you have gained so far. Remember that this account, of sorts, extends to the entire group, so you must divide and use it wisely. Individual achievements will grant personal gain as well but as a whole, the majority will be a group thing. It's like turning your gamer score into spendable gold. I got tired of dealing in currency many incarnations ago."

The man smiled then, and looked over a meter. He handed Seno the meter, which appeared to be much like a pager. The pager had a number on it; 18,785. This appeared next to the word 'Party'. The following were shown if Seno deigned to pressed the small forward arrow button.

Haruka: 4,468
Lorenzo: 4,175
Seno: 8,790
Motoko: 8,180
Kaolla: 6,330
Nealla: 4,106
Shinobu: 7,009
Masaru: 3,300
Hiroyuki: 3,000
Evangeline: -ERROR-
Mutsumi: 8,986
Kitsune: 6,133
Keitaro: 4,405
Seta: 6,941
Naru: 9,001
Tama: 4,675
?: -SEALED-
?: -SEALED-
?: -SEALED-
?: -SEALED-

"Now. Tell me what it is you like, and I will endeavor to give it to you, if you have enough. The warfans you are looking at will enhance your combat speed and enhance your healing abilities. If you hold them when you cast healing spells, there will be an increase. They're called White Fans. They're 2,500. And of course, if you purchase them, you'll get a bag."

Shinobu looked at the accrued credits under her name, then again at the fans. Within her range of cost and beneficial to her white magic. Not to mention they fit her costume. She looked up at the merchant and nodded. "Okay, I'll take them."

Moving with the others closer to the cart, Hiroyuki inspected the cart. "You got a surplus on ammunition or something small that carries a crap-load of ammo?" Asked the man nonchalantly, placing his right hand on the pearl white holster at his waist. "I'm using live ammunition, revolver rounds, anything from .45 to .50 will fit into the Shooting Star." Already past the fact that the merchant came out of nowhere in response to Mutsumi's comment, he was kind of an idiot in that sense; he tended to assimilate abnormal things too quickly into his own life. He turned to the rest of the Kuro crew putting up his hand to reassure the others. "Don't try to stop me from using live ammo, I never miss my target ever...I'm lucky; and a very, very lucky shot."

The merchant turned his head to the young one then, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Ammunition? I don't carry a lot of magical ammunition. But, I can add effects to your actual guns so the ammunition will take on its properties. Depending on what you want, depends on the cost. Other than that, I have a box that can produce mundane, normal ammunition of any gun type infinitely for 2,700. And of course, you'd get a free bag."

"Hmmm a tempting deal, saves me a lot of actual hard cash. It produces whatever mundane bullets I need of an unlimited quantity right? That means Shooting Star will be spitting nothin' but 50s at those tin cans," Hiroyuki said, grinning deviously. "I doubt those clankers will stand up to that penetrating power."

Then for no apparent reason, the vivacious young man suddenly moved, swifter than seen before. In one movement that matched the blink of an eye, he unbuckled his hostler and drew his pistol, pointing it forward towards the cart.

The Shooting Star was a fine specimen of a revolver pistol. No, not a pistol, a miniature hand cannon. Extending roughly eleven inches in length, and expanding a whole inch and a half in width. With the barrels themselves stretching only about an inch or so. Forged of first-rate silver, with a handle grip of red oak. The peculiar stacked double barreled design, that was accentuated by the blue and gold swirl patterns on the two barrels. Even from the exterior one could tell the ammunition cylinder had been modified to hold twelve stacked rounds instead of the more usual six single rounds.

Hiroyuki smirked, before slowly aiming the pistol at the salesman. He brought the revolver up higher with his wrists angled toward the ceiling, looking as though he fired an invisible and silent shot. "Bang!" The whisper that escaped Hiro's lips was his very answer. "Sure, I'll take it, I'll take the bullet spawning box. Though I need to do something today about having the lowest score in the crew. It's embarrassing ya know?"

"It's only because you just joined the group recently and haven't had any major battles. It will climb. The planet is watching. Very well, done. This box is special. When worn on a belt or holster, it will reload your guns without you having to do so yourself, and will produce the ammunition you need provided it has no special qualities. I have a much stronger version, but it is beyond you just yet, in terms of cost, that produces bullets of unusual material."

He would produce the box, as promised, and also as promised, he produced the bag that would hold lots of things. It was a holding bag; it would hold about 200 pounds of material, and never weigh more than about five pounds. The meter would show that the necessary 'hero credits' were removed.

"Excellent choice."

With a flick of his wrist, Hiroyuki twirled the pistol on his index finger before dropping it vertically into the holster. He then buckled it secure in a snappy fashion. Wearing the smile he always did, Hiroyuki retrieved box the box and the bag from the mysterious man. "Thank you kindly, pleasure doing business. I'll be sure to take advantage of your bargains once again. Right after I go kick some ass!"

Hiroyuki then secured the box to the side of the holster, or he tried to. As if already knowing what he wished, it attached itself to white holster with small Shzooop sound. The small black box even went so far as to change it's own color to match that of the holster's white shading. As for the holding bag, Hiro had no real use of it at the moment so he stuffed it way in his trouser pockets.

The rest of the crew likewise gathered. Haruka looked over the wares, a good point brought forth by Hiroyuki. She was currently operating a 9mm Beretta 93, and that caliber ammunition lacked the penetration power to harm an armored droid. She'd need something with a heavier punch. "I think I'm in the market for a weapon upgrade as well."

Naru wandered down from upstairs, fully clad in her costume, which consisted of a black shirt and shorts, a blue duster with a white angel wing motif on her back, and matching blue arm warmers. "What's going on, guys?"

"Apparently we got us some kinda group merchant sellin' us stuff now," Kitsune answered, looking back at her friend. She drew the daggers that Kaolla had given her for the fight against the Mahorans, which she'd been using since. They were wickedly-curved blades the length of her forearm that had similar high-frequency technology as seen in New Goblin's sword from Spiderman 3. "These babies are top of the line for me, so I don't need no weapon buyups. Dunno what I'd need."

The angelic woman scratched her head. "I create my own weapons, so I don't know what I'd need, either."

Seno remembered something he'd said the other day at the tournament preliminaries and grinned. "You wouldn't happen to have Bracers of Suzaku, would you? That aside, just the bag of holding would be fine for me. Helps when I need to be a little more discreet in my carry and conceal."

"I...do not know if there's anything I would need," Motoko said slowly, scratching her head.

World Tree Plaza: Defense Point Alpha, Mahora Academy, Japan
1722 hours, local time

Setsuna stood on a balcony overlooking the World Tree Plaza, her sharp sight taking in the hasty preparations of the student defense forces. Most had gathered into large groups, apparently intent on taking the droids on American Revolution-style, while others were wisely seeking cover and defensive positions. None of the 'Hero Unit' mages were on the scene yet, nor were the members of the Kuro crew; most of the mages were still making preparations, and if she knew her sister and brother-in-law's group, they'd wait to make a fashionably-late entrance.

Haruna had suggested that her maid outfit from the Budokai make a return today, but seeing Asuna's armored costume, as well as knowing that aneue would be here as well, she had decided upon a style of clothing she had not worn since before she had been taken in by her foster family. She'd been attired in it in her mind's eye during her illusory battle with Evangeline, but she had not actually worn the style of her original father's tribe in many years.

It hadn't been difficult to modify an extra set of her Shinmeiryu clothing appropriately; she had removed the sleeves of her gi, cut the sleeves' length down, and then attached the sleeves to gold circlets she wore halfway up her upper arms. Her forearms and hands were protected by golden bracers that were sturdy enough to stop a sword strike. The hakama was left unchanged as all she had to do was wear a men's hakama; in Shinmeiryu, women wore red hakama, men wore dark blue.

In years past, she'd always been uncomfortable at any mention of her mixed heritage, including the clothing of her father's tribe. The outfit she wore was cut in the style of the tribe, and the circlet and bracers once belonged to her father, but she no longer felt the unease she'd associated with it. The accessories of her father had blended with her upbringing in Shinmeiryu to become her own unique style. She smiled faintly, taking in a deep breath of the magically-charged air.

Negi's familiar, the magical ermine Chamo, was scurrying back and forth across the railing before her. "If Chao cancels her plans because of our defense force, then we win," he was explaining. "The event will be one hell of a bomb, though. Too bad..."

"Perhaps she'll attempt to trick us and delay her plan a bit?" Setsuna asked, reaching up and removing the band keeping her hair up in her traditional side ponytail, then brushed her hand through her hair to let it fall free.

"That's not going to happen," the ermine responded, grinding out the cigarette he was smoking in an ash tray he'd produced from nowhere; there were already several other stubs in it. "A large-scale spell like the one she's planning to cast over the entire world takes time to invoke. Magic of this scale relies on resonation with the twelve major holy locations in the world. By nine tonight, they'll be out of alignment. She can delay up to an hour, maybe."

Another thought came to Setsuna, one that gave her chills. "Then how about moving up her plans and attacking early to catch us off-guard?"

The way that Chamo froze in place indicated that that thought hadn't occurred to him. "Uh...That is actually a real possibility. Perhaps you should wake up aniki early."

Nodding, Setsuna reached into her gi for her cell phone; she'd used some of the extra fabric from the sleeves to sew an inside pocket to hold just those kinds of items. She dialed Negi's number, and found herself immediately met with static. Frowning slightly, she disconnected and tried Asuna's number, to the same result. Feeling Chamo's gaze on her, she explained, "Phone's not working," as she switched the cell for her pactio card, proof of the contract that Konoka had been forced to forge with her in Kyoto in order to save her life. She placed the card to her forehead and attempted to contact her friend, partner, and mission objective. Nothing. Growing increasingly frantic, she put away the card and rested her hand on Yuunagi's hilt. "Neither do the cards."

Chamo broke out into a cold sweat as this news sank in. When he spoke, it was in a voice full of dread, "A communications blackout can mean only one thing..."

"Invasion," Setsuna finished, lowering her head slightly, a hard edge in her gaze.

Command Center, Echo Base
1720 hours, local time

The command center was a large, modernized Nissen hut. Made of tougher material, it had a more blocky, easily deployable feel to it. Work stations lined the walls, allowing people to move easily in the center. Lorenzo came in, having last inspected everything.

A prominent LCD clock on the wall above the command map of the Echo defense area counted down the hours, minutes, and seconds remaining until the resonation period with the holy lands, Chao's window of opportunity for casting the spell, ended.

Lorenzo had just finished talking with Maria in the back, talking about the battle. He was chewing on a pen when he came back in after inspecting the place, his vest slightly ruffled and his hair a little bit too unkempt. He looked slightly out of breath and dizzy.

Oil splotches covered parts of his uniform, having to help fix one of the forward Centurion's main transmission. He had run in full gear, well, run trying to put his gear on, back up to the command center. The pen fulfilled his need for something to chew on to keep his shakes under control.

"Oi..." He motioned to an aide. "Centurion 3 is immobile, it can move its main gun, but we may have to abandon it instead of it retreating to the third defense point. Just saw the damage, spent 10 minutes trying to help but we just got covered in oil. Stupid British tanks."

Amongst the row of monitoring stations set to watch the battlefield via radar, infrared, and closed-circuit television, a technician adjusted several dials, then called out, "Colonel, we've lost contact with our drones in Sector Four." That meant the drones that had been deployed in the lake to detect the rumored underwater attack had likely been destroyed. "They transmitted this image before we lost them."

The technician flipped a switch, and his monitor displayed a hazy, watery video loop of a large dark mass moving along the bottom of the lake perpendicular to the image's point of view. At the near edges of the mass, faint humanoid shapes were visible. A beam went out, before the sensitive and highly engineered drone went off the air. The video looped again, as the technician cleared up the video, and sure enough, the silhouette of the humanoid shapes slightly matched that of the bot from the tournament.

"Oh...Sound the alarm," Lorenzo said, as he pulled the slide on his pistols and deactivated the manual safeties. Maria arrived, ready to take over. Everywhere, people were hunkering down, hidden in the buildings, hidden in bunkers, loading their weapons. Lorenzo strolled out of the command room, and hopped on the back of a transport hog, converted into a fully enclosed command vehicle. He and his escort took to the front, where the third line of defense was located, two tanks on either side.

Getting up from a hatch, he looked around him. People were tense, ready to shoot. Nodding to an aide inside the vehicle, he got on the main communications channel, which had stayed quiet for his orders. "Alright boys, listen up. Take careful aim. Remember; aim small, miss small. Small arms, handle anything that moves fast. Heavy shit, slow stuff. Machine guns, short bursts, and make sure you hit an enemy. Once you're all out of ammunition, use the blue magazines, they refresh every time you put them back in their mag pouches, and you don't have to say anything to shoot it.

"Now, Defend Echo and destroy the enemy! Fireteam Charlie, MOVE OUT!"

He lowered himself into the main command section, closing the hatch as he did. The channel was strong enough to break through the interference, but people can still be heard, squad leaders instructing their men and such. The Warthog went back to the fifth defense line.

They waited...many were nervous... But none but the best were in the first defense line, all the MG positions there were automated and slaved to several observers, who gathered information in concealed spots and closed-circuit television feeds.

World Tree Plaza Central Defense Area: "Allied Main Camp"
1724 hours, local time

Kazumi Asakura hated being unprepared. She knew Chao was planning her magic revelation for tonight; that information had been her fee for serving as the master of ceremonies for the tournament. She had expected Negi and his group to try to fight off Chao's army on their own, a beautiful and yet tragically-futile battle. To that end, she had brought along her personal video camera to observe and record the battle, which she had expected to be a furious defense at the World Tree.

She had not expected that someone in Negi's group would concoct a plan of this scale in order to stop Chao. Utilizing the student body as a defense army? Priceless! With this, Negi now had enough forces available to theoretically stop the droid army at every defense point. Unfortunately, Kazumi had no way of covering the entirety of the event, so she'd grudgingly decided that she'd continue with her original plan to record the fighting at the World Tree.

"It totally sucks that I'm going to miss out on the action everywhere else," Kazumi muttered as she panned her recording camera across the plaza. Her viewfinder fell on Yuuna in her ODST armor directing defenses; she wouldn't have known that it was her classmate underneath the black armor if not for the white-stenciled 'AKASHI' on her helmet.

"Maybe you can make up for it by recording it documentary-style?" a seemingly-disembodied voice asked from over Kazumi's left shoulder. The voice actually belonged to 3-A's resident ghost, Sayo Aisaka, who regularly 'haunted' Kazumi, being one of the few people who could see her.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that," Kazumi answered. Pausing the recording, she walked over to where the basketball ace was directing her troops and called out, "Oi, Yuuna-san!"

The helmeted head with its deep blue, almost black, opaque visor turned toward her. "Hey, Asakura-san!" the armored figure cheerfully greeted, destroying its militaristic appearance by adding a cheerful wave. "What's up?" She pointed to the camera in Kazumi's hand. "Going to do your reporter stuff instead of play along?"

Kazumi grinned and hefted the camera. "You know it! Though it'd be nice if I could play and report at the same time, you know?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Yuuna answered, then looked to the side and called out, "No, you're too exposed right there! You'll be drawing a lot of hate with your rockets, so you're going to need better cover!"

Following the armored girl's pointing, Kazumi watched a pair of robe-clad students, one toting the magical rocket launcher, nod and move out of the meager cover afforded by the upper plaza's wall and head toward a nearby building. She turned back to her classmate. "Heh, hard work being a commander, huh?"

Yuuna shrugged. "I'm used to it, though. Being top NCO in Fireteam Charlie means I get a lot of squad leader assignments." She waved over another ODST, male by his build and height, whose helmet was stenciled 'HARTLEY.' "How's it look, private?"

"Not bad, SarMaj," he answered, lifting the visor of his helmet, revealing an average-looking university-level student, and taking a drink from a canteen on his belt, painted black to match the rest of his uniform. "We're about sixty percent set up here, with the numbers going up heading down toward the beach."

Yuuna nodded her head. Five different defense lines had been set up at Defense Point Alpha, ranging from the first down at the lakeshore, the second on the raised road that ran along the beach, and moving from there, up to the last line of defense, where they currently were. "Take the 'Hog, gather up the squad, then set up sniper positions at the third line. We're not supposed to be using live rounds here so make sure you hit what you aim at. We don't need anybody getting booted for betrayal."

Hartley chuckled, then nodded and lowered his visor. "On it, ma'am," he said, then headed off.

Kazumi looked at her classmate as though she'd grown a second head. "Wow, never saw this side of you before, Yuuna-san," she said.

The basketball gamer shrugged. "Just goes to show nobody really pays that much attention to me since I wear this stuff all the time outside of class," she answered, her voice sounding somber. Kazumi couldn't read her expression through the visor.

"That just means I'll get the exclusive scoop!" the reporter grinned, trying to infect her normally-cheerful classmate with good humor. "Got a proposal here for you, Yuuna-san. Since I'll only be able to film in this area, I thought that I'd do a sort of documentary thing, which generally means I'd need a subject to follow. How 'bout it? Want to be it?"

"Think you can keep up with me?" Yuuna asked, and Kazumi knew she was grinning. Her competitive spirit was firing up.

"You're on!" Kazumi said, then brought up her camera. "Come on, I've got an idea of how to introduce it, too."

The two girls headed for the fountain at the center of the plaza, from atop the railing of which Kazumi had a commanding view of the defense preparations. She started recording and began to pan slowly across the work of the student defenders, and as she did, she began to speak in her documentary voice, loud enough for the recorder to pick up. "At the 78th annual Mahorafest, the evil genius Chao Lingshen unleashed a massive army of droids in support of her plans to reveal the existence of magic to the world. In response, Negi Springfield, the son of the Thousand Master, revealed his own strategy to employ the students of Mahora Academy as a defense force against Chao's droids. Among these defenders is the basketball star of Class 3-A, Akashi Yuuna."

As Kazumi gave her dialogue, Yuuna felt reminded of the stage introductions of a game she'd played once, Samurai Warriors 2. Grinning, she decided that she'd play up the resemblance. With the reporter beginning to pan toward her, she popped off her helmet and set it at her feet, then struck a pose with the magic casters, holding one out before her as though targeting an enemy, the other held pointing up toward the sky behind her head.

As expected, Kazumi began to pan up her body from her knees, slowly rising toward her face. Putting on a game grin, she gave her lines, "I'll blow those droids to pieces and score the top prize! Chapter One: Defense of the World Tree Plaza. I'll defend Mahora until the day I die!"

Kazumi paused the camera, grinning from ear to ear. "That was great, Yuuna-san! This is going to be a great documentary!"

"Heh, heh, liked that, didja?" Yuuna asked, likewise grinning, as she holstered the magic casters and leaned down to pick her helmet back up. "I thought it was a nice touch. I'm going to go grab a bite to eat real fast. Haven't had anything all day."

Kazumi nodded. "Right, I'll meet you back here." As Yuuna headed off, a device that Kazumi carried in her pocket began to vibrate. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why that was going off. Heading away from the crowd, she stepped between two buildings and pulled out a small circular device, then pressed her thumb down on the center of it and held it in the palm of her hand.

Chao Lingshen's head and shoulders appeared in a column of washed-out blue light above the device. It was a real time holographic communication device, like something out of Star Wars, that the Chinese girl had provided in the event that she needed to contact Kazumi. "Asakura-san, in light of the recent events, I'm having a little present delivered to you as payment in advance for another service for me."

"Our deal was to serve as your MC at the tournament and nothing else," Kazumi answered shrewdly.

"I am altering the deal," Chao said in a threatening tone, but then it was gone, replaced with a happy smile. "But this totally isn't The Empire Strikes Back, so I'm not going to pull a Vader and go 'Pray I do not alter it further.' I just want you to do some more of your fine MC work. This present will assist you greatly in that endeavor. It should be arriving right about...now."

The heavy roar of engines drew Kazumi's attention out to the plaza, where she could see a stubby-winged transport aircraft with four thrust-vectoring engine nacelles, two mounted in the wing roots, two more near the tail. Kazumi was flabbergasted when she recognized that it was a fully-functional Halo-style Pelican dropship. It came to a hover over the plaza, dangling a metallic blue-colored platform with four curved metallic posts from its magnetic tail hook that, when compared to the UNSC vehicle carrying it, appeared Covenant in design. Coming to a hover ten feet above the plaza, the Pelican deployed the platform, then immediately rose and banked away.

The platform hit the ground with a thump that was drowned by the noise of the defenders readying for battle. She faintly heard a quartet of heavier thumps and the sound of concrete splintering, reasoning that what she was hearing was the platform securing itself. Once that was finished, a faint blue shimmer of energy wrapped around the platform from post to post.

"Ah, I can hear the Pelican, so it must have just arrived. What you're looking at is a high-tech holographic information station. The sounds you heard when it secured itself to the ground were also it tapping into the electrical and television grids running beneath the plaza. That shimmer is an energy barrier that bars entry; it's programmed to let you pass.

"I've taken the liberty of installing twenty-four advanced camera drones around the six 'defense areas.' The platform allows you to access the images, video, and audio, as well as record and playback. Through the television linkup, you'll be broadcasting live to every television in Japan and select locations worldwide. I want you to do your best in covering this event, Asakura-san; the world is quite literally watching."

Kazumi's mouth went dry as Chao told her this. She would be broadcasting to all of Japan and much of the world as well? It was a dream come true for her. This was the story of her life. The holocommunicator in her hand went dark and silent, and she returned it to her pocket, then approached the telecommunications platform.

As she neared, the energy field grew more and more opaque, barring access as Chao had said. Then a faint blue beam swept over her from atop one of the posts, and a feminine voice said, "Detected biopattern: Asakura. DNA variations within acceptable parameters for ancestor of Asakura, Private Satoshi." There was a pause that left Kazumi wondering what the hell it was talking about. "Asakura, Kazumi, registered. Authorized user status confirmed. Access granted."

The energy field blinked out. Cautiously, Kazumi stepped onto the platform, and when she was met with no blast of electricity or something like that, she confidently stepped up to the control panel, shadowed by a visibly-nervous Sayo. Idly, Kazumi wondered if the machine had been programmed to accept Sayo, but it was just as likely that it didn't even detect her otherworldly presence.

"Uplinking to target site observation drones," the machine reported. "Link achieved to television networks. Awaiting takeover command."

Two individual rows of a dozen partially-translucent screens the size of an average notebook appeared in the air surrounding her. The rows began to rotate in opposite directions around her, the top row toward her left, the bottom row toward her right. One by one, each screen came online, until a total of twenty four views of all six defense points were displayed.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Sayo exclaimed, floating around the circle in synch with the monitor showing a number of students using the torii gates outside the Tatsumiya Shrine for cover. The gates were the third of Tatsumiya's five defense lines.

Kazumi nodded. "With the real-time video and all the other stuff I can do from here, she definitely wants to make sure I've got the tools to fully-document this, win or lose, it seems."

Idly, she reached a hand out to touch the screen displaying the first defense line at the World Tree's lakeshore. The wall of images reacted; the touched screen grew to the approximate size of a car windshield as the other twenty-three screens in the double-rows shrank to the size of playing cards that rotated around her knees. Audio began streaming from speakers hidden in the curved poles.

The image was focused on the cheerleader trio, Madoka Kugimiya, Sakurako Shiina, and Misa Kaziaki, as they moved toward a cafe set up on the beach from which Madoka could use the beam sniper rifle she had picked up at random. Sakurako and Misa were equipped with a rocket launcher and a staff, respectively. They were Madoka's spotters and protection.

"If our defense point is the World Tree Plaza, then why are we setting up down here at the lake?" Madoka asked as she calibrated the scope to her liking. "We'd be much better setting up on the roof of the mall."

"I saw a rumor on the net that they're going to attack out of the lake," Sakurako answered, chuckling. "We're going to take 'em down and get tons of prizes!"

"Sniper teams are still better off far from the frontline," the short-haired cheerleader said, shaking her head. "Besides, it's not supposed to start for more than an hour yet."

"Jeeze, how am I supposed to be an MC if I don't have a mic?" Kazumi grumbled.

"Hey, Asakura-san, I think you can put your little talking device in this thing."

Kazumi looked down to see Sayo floating over a depression in the ground that her holocomm would fit perfectly into. Fishing the device out of her pocket again, she knelt down and pressed it into the slot, which then flashed and sealed shut. Another panel next to it slid open, revealing a compact, aesthetically-pleasing microphone made from a slate blue metal that was warm to the touch. She removed the futuristic-looking device and turned it over in her hands. "The universe provides," she said with a grin.

"Aah, Asakura-san, look!" Sayo said, pointing to the row of monitors.

Kazumi looked over her shoulder at the image of the lakeshore defenses that now showed an ominous mass of droids marching out of the lake, water streaming from their frames. The vast majority were identical to the Tanaka that had entered the tournament the previous day, some even wearing the Terminator-style clothing that it had. Among them were dozens of the medium-sized 'crab' droids and the flying scout units. Their sudden appearance took the lakeshore defenders by surprise, and they took advantage of this to unleash a volley of golden beams from their mouths that destroyed whatever clothing and magic weapons they touched.

"Damn, a strip beam?" Kazumi asked. "Then again, that robot from the tournament yesterday had one, too, so it shouldn't be that surprising."

The smaller monitors began to also display images of battle. Dismissing the lakefront screen from its full-screen size, Kazumi took stock of what she was seeing, and determined that Echo, Foxtrot, and Alpha were already coming under assault at their lakefront defense lines.

Despite the phone blackout, word obviously spread fast. On the complete opposite side of the defense areas, at Defense Point Charlie, the church bells of the St. Ursula All-Girls' school chapel began to toll, the urgent and somber tones echoing across the city-campus to warn all the defenders of the attack in progress.

Listening to the ringing bells, and the rising clatter of war, Kazumi began to feel the cold, spiky rush of adrenaline flooding through her body. Hers wasn't the excitement of a combatant going into battle, but the glee of knowing that this event was going to be the greatest story of her young life, no matter how it ended. She was glad that she'd worn her costume out to the plaza instead of waiting; she'd have been caught without a snazzy outfit for her worldwide debut.

She took a deep breath and raised the microphone, looking down at the panel that indicated that she was now linked and would be broadcasting live to every TV in Japan and other parts of the world. When she spoke, her voice boomed out over the battlegrounds of Mahora.

"Members of the Mage Knights Defense Brigade, the time has come to rise in the defense of your land! The seditious Martian invaders have launched a surprise attack an hour early, surely planning to catch us unaware. Rally your forces and counterattack, valiant defenders! For honor, for glory! For Mahora!"