DES BATTLESHIP GUSION, MECHANICAL LABORATORY
In a room overlooking the hangar, scientists were busy monitoring and adjusting the data on their screens. The lead scientist, a tall, eye-glassed man named Shimada, looked at this clipboard.
"I assume everything is fine, doctor?"
Shimada saw a young female approach her. "Yes, ma'am. Our test subject is now hooked to the giant LAS we codenamed 'Gusion II'."
The woman retreated into the back of the room to watch the test.
Shimada then gave out commands. All preparations have been done, and the test subject was then brought in an empty room, but only as an energy source, as she was not so capable in operating the mech. A separate pilot was there to receive manual commands while the mech was running through the subject's performance.
"Begin the test."
They could hear the subject's scream as she was forcibly hooked into the system. It was based on a captured 00 LAS, only modified by DES scientists to be more formidable.
"Connection successful," one of the scientists reported.
Shimada talked out loud. "Tsubasa, honey. It's time to sing."
Ryuko Kanzaki looked onto the test with interest. At first she had argued against using someone else for this-she discovered the LAS, damnit, and she's pretty sure she deserved to be the first one to pilot it.
But Nakajima had pointed out that it's risky. She still remembered their recent conversation:
"Captain, the LAS Gusion II is ready! Let me be the one to pilot it!"
"Not yet!" Nakajima replied. Ryuko had went up to the bridge when Nakajima had authorized the use of the LAS. The presence of a 00 LAS made the captain nervous and now he wants to bring in their best weapon.
"But why? I'm the one best suited to pilot it! I can handle it."
"We can't risk you yet. Even our best engineers aren't sure if they were able to fix it up properly."
"But…"
"That's enough, Ryuko. Don't worry, you'll have your turn. But we need someone disposable to try it out on first."
The test subject, Tsubasa Kira, started singing.
Dancing, Dancing, non-stop my dancing…
Ryuko listened to the song. It was a fast, danceable tune. Energetic and happy, supposedly. However, while the music was still the same, the way the test subject sang it was haunting. Tortured.
The Gusion's eyes lit up in response to Tsubasa's singing. Waking the mech up was inclined with an idol's performance, after all. "Kirara signals", so they called it.
Shimada held his breath. "Try moving an arm."
The pilot followed the command and moved a series of levers. After the succession, the robot's left arm moved.
"Open and close the wrists?"
The huge mecha did as told.
"Alright, proceeding to phase two. Testing mobility in combat."
The Gusion was moved to the ship's catapult.
"Launch the LAS Gusion II."
The Gusion II was now in space.
"Unleash the unmanned LAS!"
Several unmanned LAS were launched and started attacking it.
The Gusion II responded by attacking and destroying those LAS.
Ryuko smiled. If all goes well, I myself will take to the battlefield soon…
The Guison II was doing well. It fought off the unmanned mechs in a graceful way. The defense this mech offered was almost impregnable. The pilot must have had some experience with operating a mech himself. The way he evaded and counterattacked the mechs in front of him was that of a professional. However…
This guy has rusty movements. And these robots weren't even set to kill him, so he'll probably lose in a real battle, Ryuko had these thoughts as she watched the robot's performance in space. She stared at the mech intently as she imagined herself inside the cockpit of the robot and operating it more professionally than the guy currently inside.
"The mech is malfunctioning! We're losing contact with the pilot inside! Bring it back right now!" one of the scientists reported. They could observe that robot was still moving well, but this time it was more of a bloodlust. The mech literally obliterated its opponents and minced them to nothingness.
The whole team responded and tried to turn off the source of power, but all of their actions were in vain.
"It's her! The test subject!" a member pointed. They had not noticed the change in Tsubasa's singing voice. At first, it was observed that her voice was indeed haunting and creepy, but her change in expression was so drastic; it went creepier and creepier as the song progressed. Her voice became heavy, which was probably why the robot lost control.
Everyone right then tried to stop Tsubasa from singing, but no one was able to calm the singer down. Nakajima himself went inside the room and approached the subject.
"Captain, you can't go inside! The test subject's emotional levels have achieved the highest stages! She can kill you at any moment!" one of the scientists tried to stop the captain. But the captain ignored the staff, took off his right glove and slapped Tsubasa hard across the face. The idol fell from where she was chained to, and fell unconscious.
Along with this, the mech stopped moving. Several mechs were brought out to retrieve the Guison and bring it back to the hangar.
"Oh, dear. Captain Nakajima must have taught Tsubasa her lesson," Shimada muttered as he fixed his glasses. "Means this first test was a fail."
"No, it isn't," Nakajima denied as he exited the room Tsubasa was in. "Bring the test subject back to her cell. Make sure to feed her. I'm sure she's lost her spirit for today." He then faced Shimada. "This test has given us more intel on Kirara signals. The performance of an LAS depends wholly on how passionately the energy source would sing. This right here is the performance of an idol ready to kill."
"… I see. You're as clever as always, Captain," Shimada confirmed and input the detail on a tablet nearest to him.
"Though it might need modifications on its sensitivity to emotion," Nakajima added. "We can't have a powerful but insane mech with us on the path to war. Otherwise, this test has been a new lesson to all of us." He then wore his loves again and exited the lab.
Nakajima then turned to Ryuko as Shimada started giving out commands back inside. "You see, Ryuko," Nakajima started, "This is why I'm not yet bringing you out to battle. The risks a single LAS could kill you. So at least be patient. Guide the others to Tsubasa's cell."
"… Yes, Nakajima-sama," Ryuko muttered and bowed before the Captain before finally heading out to the cells. As she walked away, she could observe the pilot of the Guison II coming down from the cockpit. His mates were there to comfort him from an apparent panic attack. Ryuko then moved forward to the cells with an expectant smile on her face. She picked up her sword and prepared for something "fun".
Inside the cell rooms were A-RISE themselves: Toudou Erena, Yuuki Anju, and Kira Tsubasa altogether, just in separate cells. The recent test subject, Tsubasa, was holding out a hand to Erena, whose cell was just beside her. Anju was just holding on tight to the bars of her cell as she listened to Tsubasa's story.
They didn't notice Ryuko coming in, so the latter took advantage of the situation and hit the bars as hard as she could. "TRASH!" she called out to the three. A-RISE was taken by surprise as they heard the clanging of the bars. Tsubasa crawled back to the edge of her cell, while Anju and Erena jumped.
But the most remarkable feature of this surprise was their faces. They looked pretty much hilarious in the eyes of Ryuko, so to this, the woman laughed.
"This is so much fun! I never once thought that I would be seeing faces like this the moment I step in to this department! Those faces of despair, desperate for freedom! Broken faces, void of all hope! You girls are amusing!" She laughed again as she turned away from the girls. Anju and Erena hid their faces in shame. Tsubasa was silent, but eyes had killing intent.
"Oh?" Ryuko definitely felt it. Tsubasa was still fighting. She turned to the latter and pointed the pointed metal sword at her. "You? The test subject who sang horribly during the session? You are no match against me! One day, I'll stand at the top of this chain, and I'll make you all regret you even chose the path of idols!" She had this sinister smile on her face as she looked at Tsubasa provocatively. "I guess my time is done. Gotta go!" She then left the cell rooms, the three members of A-RISE.
DES BATTLESHIP GUISON, CAPTAIN'S ROOM
Nakajima was looking over some of the data they received from the test earlier. He had confirmed the extent of the Guison II. Its defense, offense, mobility, maneuver, ease of control, all of it. But no matter how hard he thought it, the thing he said back then was a shallow analyzation of how the mech lost control. Certainly it wasn't Tsubasa's voice. The Kirara signals won't get affected easily just by the change in tone. Or maybe it was true, and his wild guess was indeed correct.
Nakajima was confused.
He scratched his head. "Argh, what's up with the robot?!" He then slammed the tablet he was holding on the side of his bed. He then lied down and recalled what he saw earlier.
The Guison II performed extraordinarily well. It dodged, counterattacked, defended and handled all of what fifteen unmanned mechs could do. But then, it lost control of itself that even the pilot wasn't able to control it, despite being an experienced one. Was it in the mech itself? The singer? The kirara?
We'd need to undergo another test. At least two or three more. To confirm my theory.
He stood up and prepared himself.
One step. One step closer to obliterating AKB. And then I'd have retrieved what was taken from me.