God of Thunder

by The 483

A New year, and new Student. The New Representative Contender from America arrives, and is immediately embroiled by the animosity of Ichika's Harem. But her claim is she had no interest in making his heart dance to her tune. What is her real goal, and where did she receive the tech that her odd IS is equipped with? Original Character x ...not Ichika. Ichika x .. it's obvious.

5. Chapter 5

Infinite Stratos: God of Thunder

By: The 483

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Infinite StratosFranchise.

Spoiler Alert: Warning: Light to mild spoilers for the Anime may be included herein.

In the City

They had been quiet since leaving the train, Catherine following slightly behind and to the side of Ichika while she thought of what to say.

"So… if you like her, and she's made it pretty obvious that she likes you… why don't you just ask her out?" Ichika was decidedly uncomfortable with this, because it was a problem he thought about a lot.

"It's more complicated than just that." He said, gloomily.

"Is it because you like having all the girls fawning over you?"

"No!" Ichika replied, sharply, and Catherine grinned at the back of his head. "I don't dislike any of the girls, on their own merits. I truly didn't believe that any of them could really like me, like they seem to. I would have never considered myself conceited enough to think even one of them would actually be interested in me. I mean, besides a few lucky shots, and the fact that I am the only male capable of piloting an IS. And I think better of them all then to think they'd just like me because of that."

"A girl likes a guy for more just his utility. If that was all it was, only the subservient nice guys would ever mate."

"But still, if I asked Houki out, and she said yes… what would it be like for the others? I don't want to hurt them if they really do like me." He was almost pleading.

"And you don't think leading them all on by pretending you don't notice how they feel isn't far more cruel then you respecting them enough to tell them how you feel?" Ichika stopped and looked at her as if she had slapped him.

"What?" She adjusted her glasses on her nose, and crossed her arms, fixing him square in the eyes.

"Think about it. Is it really better that they are willfully wasting their time and effort trying to secure a place in your heart that already has an occupant? Think about how lowlt it would feel if someone took your own feelings, and rather then have the balls to tell you that they were not interested, continued to bask in the shows of affection, never letting on that they knew why you were doing what you were doing." She drew a sharp breath, getting angry as she spoke. "Come on! You may think that you're avoiding it to "save their feeling" or whatever, but it's just rank cowerdice, and you're simply leading them on, which I don't care who you think you are, is wrong." Ichika took a step back. She was almost yelling, and the words were hitting home.

"You tell someone that you aren't romantically interested in them. If they are your friends, they'll hurt for a while, but understand. If they are petty, they hate you, but at least you can feel respected for being honest, and respecting them enough to acknowledge their feelings." Catherine stopped suddenly, blinking back tears and noticing that there were several eyes on her. She seemed to visibly shrink as she blushed and couched into her fist to clear her throat.

"Oh, my. Sorry about that." She said, demurely, before removing her glasses and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"That… that's okay. A lot of what you said rings true. You just surprised me with your… forcefulness." She coughed again, and nodded.

"Sorry. Wasn't your fault." She sighed. "One of the few things I disliked about my brother, was that I had a friend that liked him, and was not shy about showing it. He'd accept what she offered, but never acknowledged it to her. He said that he enjoyed the perks with none of the resposiblities. Even at his funeral, she cried as much for her own failing in properly showing her love, as she did for sadness at him being gone. Pissed me off so much, I still haven't been able to talk to her sense." Ichika's eyes widened, as her words hit home, and the light glinted off the formost tag around her neck. It had the name "Chambers, Everret" and two dates. He had been 28 when he died.

"Oh, you're brother is… I am sorry." He felt awkward.

"No, don't worry about it. It's sad, sure, but he got to go in a way he would have enjoyed. And he managed to finish Tesla before he went, so he was not dissatisfied." She shook her head and cleared the fog, and smiled, reequipping her cheery persona. "Anyway, forget my ire, I am just a notorious busy body at heart, I guess. Hope I didn't put you off too badly." She smiled apologetically.

"No, it's really okay. I hadn't really thought about it, from that angle before. It does make a painful amount of sense. Truth is," he started walking again, and Catherine kept pace with him now, her chest lightened, "I did have one of them clearly confess. She's not in the school, she's the sister of a friend I've had for a long time, and I told her the truth, and were actually pretty good friends now." They crossed under an arch, into a plaza with a fountain, boarded by multi storied buildings on three sides, adverts in the windows staring down.

"So, what kind of things you need?" Catherine dug into the ass pocket of her jeans, and pulled out several scraps of paper, sorted them briefly, grabbed one with her teeth, and jammed the rest back in the pocked. She opened it, and tried to decipher her handwriting.

"Let's see… hmmm… some casual shirts, at least one more pair of casual pants, bed clothes, and enough underwear and socks for a week and some leeway if I am lazy and feel like putting off laundry day. Then we can just window shop and see what turns up, unless you are bored."

"Sounds good. Any particular style you are looking for? No? Alright, then let's try that department store on the 3rd and 4th floors of this building. They tend to have a decent selection." She nodded, deferring to his judgment, while still feeling like she'd just made a complete ass out of herself.

Catherine wasn't exactly picky when it came to fashion, but she did expect certain things out of her clothing, as far as comfort and fit were concerned. And the women's department did not suit those criteria. So, she had Ichika direct her to the men's department. That was a bit better. She found a pair of jeans she liked, but was too big in the waist, so she grabbed two, and a sturdy nylon weave belt that she could alter the buckle on with her tools in the IS pit. She added a package of 3 white t-shirts, one size larger than a snug fit, a double package of socks, and a pair of large, plain white long sleeved dress shirts in a super soft silk, for sleep wear. The bra selection she found… undesirable, as any of the adult models she liked, did not come small enough to fit, and she refused to consider a training bra. She preferred sports bras, as she could, if lazy, wear that instead of a shirt when at home, or alone with Houki, and was just far less hassle then a normal bra. But she would need to go to an actual lingerie store to find a decent one, so she would wait and get panties there, as well. She relayed this to Ichika while standing in line to check out.

"Hey, I got all I can here. I'll just need to hit a lingerie store, and the vending machines, and then I should have all I need, and I'll buy lunch."

"Alright. But why the vending machines?"

"To get panties, of course. They only sell them in vending machines here, right? Or is that only for used ones?"

"What are you talking about?" Ichika said, a touch incredulous. "I have never seen any vending machines selling ANY variety of underwear." Catherine frowned.

"Darn. Another racist stereotype dispelled. I am starting to think very few of the offensive things we believe go on in your country are true. Disheartening."

"Not being racist is disheartening?"

"Not at all. Finding out that everything you thought you knew is completely wrong is. Oh, well. It's cool to actually learn things the way that they truly are, though, too." She smiled. "Oh, don't look at me like that. Don't you have any untested assumptions about other cultures?" She giggled at the face he made. "See? Maybe that's what unites us all, globally. We all assume our neighbors are a lot stranger than they actually are. But still, my fingers are crossed for Godzilla. Do me a favor, and let me keep believing." Ichika attempted to take her bags, but she did not let him win out fully. She carried one herself, as her pride demanded that much. The walked out into the air, which had gotten slightly cooler, the cloud cover having become denser, and rain again threatening to fall. "Do you know if there is a lingerie shop in this complex?" Ichika looked slightly embarrassed.

"I don't know, I don't frequent that type of place."

"Okay, then look it up on your phone." He looked blank, and the duh, as he pulled out his phone and did a quick search. He then looked around and pointed.

"It looks like there is one in there, on the third floor. Do I need to enter with you?"

"Not if you are that uncomfortable. It's just swatches of cloth, you know."

"Right, of course. A guy just gets looked at weird when they go into a store like that." She smiled understandingly.

"Not if you are actually with a girl, unless they are bitches. And even then, as long as you're not like, rubbing up on stuff or sniffing things." She let her smile turn coy. "Which, of course, you wouldn't do, right?" He was about to reply, when he saw something behind Catherine, and they both heard his name called.

"Hey, Ichika, bro, what are you doing here?" The voice was lazy sounding, and, upon turning, Casey saw it belonged to what she would normally regarded as a hippie. But he didn't feel like a hippy. It was more just that bandana he wore and the relaxed, or almost torpid manner he exuded. Maybe, uncomplicated was the word. Next to him, with a small bag in one hand, was a girl who, if hair color was a sign, was related to him. She looked bright and energetic.

"Hello, Dan. Ran. You guys out shopping, too?"

"Yeah…" Dan said, rubbing the back of his head, "Ran keeps trying to convince me that I missed her birthday, so either way, I let her pick out something." The bag clutched in her hand was branded with the name of a not too expensive jewelry shop. But she was only looking at Catherine, her eyes not quite narrowed. She knew about the other seven girls, but this one did not fit the description of any of them.

"Ichika," she said, a suspicious tone in her voice, "don't tell me you've found a ninth." Catherine pretended to be offended.

"Ninth? You bastard, you told me I was the eighth!"

"Wait, eighth? You know about the others?"

"You know about the others?" Catherine shot back. Ran looked smug, and crossed her arms.

"Of course. Of the others, I am the only one that has actually confessed to him."

"Oh! He was telling me about that. Good for you. I am not actually trying to get him to date me, however. He just volunteered to take me shopping, because this is his home town." She smiled warmly, and held out her hand. "My name is Catherine, by the way, but you may call me Casey." Ran eyed her again, then smiled herself and shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Casey. I am Ran Gotanda."

"Pleased to meet you, too. You hair is so pretty. Is it your natural color?"

"Yes, actually, it is. I used to dye it, to fit in, but I have recently let it go back. What are you shopping for? I live here, too, so I can help."

"Oh, thank you. I just need to get a bra or two, and some panties. Ichika looked it up, and we're going over there." She pointed. Ran looked disgusted.

"Oh, no. You don't want to go there. Don't worry, I know just the place, come on." She turned to Ichika and Dan, who could do not but stand and stare in openmouthed stupor at how the girls met, squared off, and became friendly in the span in such a short span. "Well, come on, you two. You can wait outside, but I can't have you wandering off, and getting lost." And she grabed Casey's arm at the elbow, and towed her toward the direction.

"…what just happened?" Ichika asked, looking stupidly at his friend.

"I have no idea…" Dan replied, watching them cut through the crowd. "Did they already know each other or something… and were just fooling with us?"

"No. I don't think so. She's new here, only in the country for a week now. From America."

"Really. Seemed pretty nice, for an American. She after you, too?" He said, turning his eyes to Ichika, with a knowing smile.

"Nah. At least, according to her."

"Well, we'll see. Now, we should probably catch up. If we make Ran mad, she'll probably make me buy her the bracelet that goes with that necklace."

(…)

All in all, it was a productive and fun day. After the lingerie shop, and a good 15 minutes of teasing the boys, they had lunch at a nice little hole in the wall shop that had cheap food at even cheaper prices. Ran had made sure to exchange phone numbers and email addresses with Casey, and they were on the path to becoming friends.

"Thanks, Ichika. Today was nice." She said, as the crossed under an arch and back onto the school grounds.

"Not a problem." He said, and smiled. "It's nice going out, and not feeling guilty about favoring one of the girls over the others, or hiding from them." It was just before 4 in the afternoon, and the sun was low in the sky, just a few degrees from touching the tops of the tallest of the campus buildings.

"Well, don't you two seem to be having a good time?" A calm, level voice said at their backs. Catherine stiffened almost as much as Ichika did, as he turned haltingly to face Tatenashi, her back against the arch support, eyes closed, mocking smile on her face.

"Ah, Tatenashi!" Ichika chocked out, wondering if she had heard his comment. She was … not more clever then the others… more savvy. Catherine frowned, her good mood suddenly having been beaten to death. A flare of anger rose in her gut, and see decided she was healed well enough to hold her own. She reached back, and unclipped the good sized knife she wore on her belt, at the small of her back, and dropped it into the bag she was holding. She intercepted Ichika before anything else could be said, and pushed the bag into his chest.

"Ichika, be a dear, and make sure that these go to my room, okay? You know which one it is right? Houki's? Good." She said, loud enough it carried. She added something else, in a tight whisper. "I am in no mood for bitch right now, and I do not want you to get in trouble for what I am going to do. So scram." He didn't move. "Go." She said, more forcefully, with a look in her eye that told him he needed to obey.

"A-alright." He said, frowning, and turned away. Tatenashi, who had been watching, arms crossed and leaning, cocked a brow, wondering if this bitch was really stupid enough to do what she figured she was doing.

"I get it." Catherine said, and turned back to Tatenashi. "You don't like me. I didn't press it at first, with that farce you called a duel, because I thought maybe it was hazing, or a racial thing." She flashed a predatory smile. "But this petty crap… I don't care for it." Tatenashi pushed off the column, frowning now.

"Oh? So you thought that little display when you arrived was personal? Pfft. That was just for fun. If I had wanted to shame you, I would have fought you myself. You aren't even worth my ire." She said, but was irked nonetheless when the insult didn't seem to cause a reaction. Catherine just smiled more broadly, as the distance closed until they were face to face, within arms reach.

"Well, you're cocky, I'll give you that. Thinking so highly of yourself, makes we wonder what kind of competition you have on this side of the world. I mean, I've only seen Alcott actaually fight, and while I don't think she was really trying, I was still not impressed. If you are basing your own estimation on that kind of combat, I'd be pleased to give you a glimmer of what a real battle is like. Help you find the lower bracket you belong in." Tatenashi snorted.

"And you are claiming that I am arrogant, when you make a speech like that?"

"With the way you strut about, like queen of your own little world? Yes." She said it so plainly, as if stating a fact she was reading off a card, it was hard to rebut.

"Calling me out for arrogant when you have done little else then get shot is hardly humble." Catherine shrugged.

"Sure. Getting hampered and harried to the point where it becomes plain that the referee of a fight is going to restrict my unit to the point where it is clear that I am going to lose, even if I won, and refusing to fight in such a crooked duel got me injured. My pride didn't allow me to participate in a fixed game. Sure, I was pissed, but I let it lie, until I learned that it was just a petty little bitch abusing her position to tip the odds in a fight over a boy."

"Watch you mouth." Tatenashi hissed, with silted eyes." Catherine smiled.

"I will not tolerate that." Now Tatenashi smiled wickedly. She hoped this girl would take a poke at her, so she could put her in her place.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, you see, my brother would often get into some hot debates when he went to academic conventions. And, he just so happened to teach me his secret method for the perfect problem solver." Tatenashi was wary of the girl's confidence, she didn't seem ruffled.

"What's that?" Catherine smiled happily, then with a quick jerk of the neck, smashed her face into the other girls with a wet crunch in a powerful head-butt.

(…)

Houki didn't know whether to be pissed or worried. She had, maybe 3 minutes before, gotten the message that Catherine had gotten in a fight, and was in the infirmary. Reports were sketchy, but most of them seemed to consist of "The new girl picked a fight with Sarashiki." And since the one Sarashiki would have to be hunted down in order to start trouble with, that could only mean she had engaged Tatenashi. So Houki had rushed out only a few minutes after Ichika had dropped off some bags for Catherine. She had no idea what to expect, but was nevertheless surprised when she drew close, to hear laughing coming from the closed room. She opened the door slowly, and was greeted almost at once.

"Oh, hello, Houki." She said, wiping her eyes and still slightly chuckling. She was in a bed, a nurse fussing over her, a bandage on her forehead, and one ear taped completely in gauze. The nurse was taping a splint between the middle and ring fingers of her left hand, and she had what looked like a trio of scratch marks on her cheek.

Tatenashi was in bad shape as well. Her nose had been smashed, and the hollows under her eyes had grown black rings on top of a clear black eye on her swollen left socket. She also had a bruise along the left side of her jaw, and her right arm was in a sling.

"What the hell, Casey?" Houki said, anger winning the balance. Catherine merely continued to smile, though it was Tatenashi that answered.

"Oh, calm down, Houki. Everything is alright." Tatenashi said authoritatively.

"How is it alright?" Houki asked, partly worried about if she would get in trouble for letting Catherine off her leash. Tatenashi gave her that infuriating smile she wore when she was talking down to someone, while acting as if she were describing the obvious.

"Simple. I already talked to Miss Orimura, and explained the situation. Everything is in the clear." Houki was not contented.

"Okay, so then what the hell happened?"

"We had a frank discussion of values, and bonded." Casey chirped happily. The nurse clicked her tounge.

"Quit moving, Miss Chambers, I need to bandage your arm." Casey looked puzzled, and then at her arm. About half way between the wrist and elbow, a perfect semi-circle of rounded divots was impressed into the bruised flesh.

"Oi, Tatenashi… did you bite me?" She held it up for the other to see. Tatenashi placed a finger to her chin, winced, moved it farther down, and then thought.

"…No. I think you happened to backhand me at one point, and I happened to have my mouth open at the time. I remember getting hit in the mouth with some fleshy thing, but I didn't have a chance to bit down.

"Makes sense." Catherine said with a shrug, then let the nurse have her way. "You have very straight teeth." Tatenashi smiled.

"Thank you. You have a very strong backhand."

"How do you class that as a discussion?" Houki fumed. "God, that's twice in a week you've landed in the hospital!"

"No." Casey corrected, holding up a finger. "That's twice she has put me in here." She hooked a thumb at Tatenashi, who nodded. Neither girl seemed in the least upset.

"That is correct. You see, Houki, each of us had the problem that we were unable to see the other as anything other than someone to look down on. We needed to learn the proper respect for one antoher." She explained calmly.

"And the easiest way to do that was to beat the hell out of each other. Now we know where stand were, and she's not that bad."

"Right." Tatenashi agreed, and leaned forward conspiratorially. "And let me just say, Houki, you have one violent new friend."

"Excuse me? You are saying that I am violent?"

"Well, I would know, wouldn't I?"

"Fair point."

"I suppose it runs in your family? You said something about your brother teaching you that argument breaker? Said he used it at scientific conferences?"

"Yeah. He sometimes didn't get to stay long… and wasn't often invited back."

"Wait…wait. What is going on?" Houki couldn't quite follow the plot line, and her confusion stoked her ire.

"It's all good, Houki, were friends now." Catherine said, sensing impending meltdown. "You don't have to worry. I let her get my tail feather up, but we took care of it. I won't cause any more problems, I promise. But, we will have to move back my IS testing a bit. I hurt my leg, and the damn thing has seized up on itself. I won't be able to do better than a limp until it decides to loosen."

(…)

It was more than a week before they were able to set up the test. Casey's leg had unkinked around Thursday night, but another rainy weekend had postponed it until the following Wednesday. And even though she had been greenlit to use her weapon, the staff at the school still were hesitant to just turn her loose without knowing how much damage it could actually cause. This was why Catherine, Honne, and Kiyoka were finishing the setup on the 3 meter radius dome that was a stress tester for weaponry. The dome was made of a thin white metal latticework filled with grey hexagonal plates that were essentially just large, electronic burst discs. Inside, beside the electric nerves that collected the data, was a shield generator that would put up screens of better the 10000 points. This was possible because it was a non-moving unit, and could be hooked directly to the power source, rather then IS Core batteries.

"Amazing, isn't it, Tatenashi?" Houki, sitting a short distance away, sat with Tatenashi as they watch Catherine's butt sticking out of a lifted plate, wiggling to a tune only she could hear. "She can figure out how that thing works, and help fix it up, but cannot manage to work the Rice Cooker." They saw a hand snake out, and display a single digit straight up. Apparently, she could hear them.

"I don't get it myself. The lower machines just don't speak to me like these deliciously complicated ones." She pat the side of the machine, the pulled herself out. "There, that should cover it." She turned and cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted. "Oi, Kaoruko, go ahead and fire it up!" There was a short delay, then a loud bang, followed by steady chugging as the fuel cell powered generator came to life. Kaoruko studied the old fashioned LCD screen for a moment, then tapped at it a few times. Miss Yamada, standing next to her, did not interfere. She was out of her depth.

"Did that do it?" Catherine slapped the machine, and contacted metal.

"Nope, no shield." Kaoruko pressed a few more, waited, looking irked, and pressed a few more. Catherine jerked back as there was a loud pop and a thrum of vibration through the ground that threw up a small puff of dust around the edge where the dome met the ground. She slapped at it again, saw the slight ripple as the shield took the kinetic energy. "Looks good here. You get a read on that?"

"Yeah!" She shouted back, over the noise of the generator. "It took 6 points. The readout is weird, but I kind of understand it."

"Can you forward it to my glasses?" Casey shouted back, walking toward her.

"What? Oh, ummm… I don't think so… this display is ancient." Casey jogged over, and pressed in close, examining the panel.

"Damn, I think you're right." She pulled out her phone, swiped it over the console, pressed some buttons, waited, and the sighed. She put her phone away. "Yeah. Not even a pulse, much less a handshake. Oh, well, I guess you'll have to monitor it." Kaoruko gave a thumbs up.

"Works for me." She answered. "I can see fine, and if I have the actual stats, it makes a better article."

"You sure? Alright, cool. Thanks." She clapped Kaoruko on the shoulder, and moved back to the dome. She quickly skinned off her tank top and pants, leaving her in her pilot suit, and tossed the pair at Houki, who was smirking for some reason Casey could not figure out. Probably more smack talk. She the flicked at her ring, and called her IS. "Tesla, assemble!"

With a flash of light, a purple ray struck her in center of the chest, and metal spread in the form of a 5 point harness, over each shoulder, over each side of her hips, and one below and between the legs, linking in the small of her back. From there, a disk of blue white electricity swirled about half a meter from the tips of her outstretched arms and legs. Metal forms of gleaming dark purple and gold trim materialized from the disks, and slid into place over her arms and legs, before crystalizing into their finished form. As they snapped into position, waist and shoulder armor extended and linked. A band formed over the back of her head, and extended little probes over and under her ears. Finally, the 4 disk coalesced over her head, and her two wing spars spiraled out, spinning rapidly until they reached their spots, whence the stopped and floated. The final electric charge in the disk arced to the ground, dancing along the sides of her IS as it finished summoning.

"Ah, feels good to be mounted again." Catherine flexed her shoulders, and looked pleased. She reached over her shoulder, and lifted clear her rifle. It extended, the triangular plates sliding into place, and a jet of gas venting from a relief valve near the base of the barrel.

"Hey, why does it do that?" Tatenashi asked, looking over curiously, shielding her face from the glare of Catherine's machine with her hand.

"What? The vent? The interior of the barrel is a vacuum chamber. Not a good vacuum, mind you. You can't get a real, good quality vacuum in such a small device. But it does help reduce the wear on the rail and coils."

"How does it work?" She continued, looking up. Casey looked uncomfortable, then shrugged.

"No real secret, here. The coils generate and induction field, which pulls the projectile along and throws it at about one and a half times the speed of sound. The projectile is very low mass, and shaped so that it spreads most of its energy on impact. I also have the output tweaked to about 30% of maximum field strength, so it shouldn't do more than knock out the lowest quality model IS's shields. Plus, the projectile is specially made to detonate itself if I miss, so there is very little chance for collateral damage."

"That's the best it can do?" Houki asked, a little disappointed.

"Goodness, no. If I turned up the fields to max, and loaded a solid metal slug, it would tear through any model of IS I've seen specs for, liquefy the pilot, and keep going till it hit something sturdy, wherein it would make one hell of a boom. What I have it set for is to be as safe as humanly possible, while still being an effective tool for contest."

"Alright, then. Show us how she works." Tatenashi said, holding up her hands.

"Okay. Umm… you two should move up into the stands, just in case." They didn't argue, seeing as Kaoruko, about 200 meters away, had a thick, plastiglass portable wall she was coved by. This was not an idle precaution. The stands, while coated in a shield that theoretically could not be pierced, still had a specially treated glass shield covering it as well, about 12 centimeters thick. Shrapnel and missed shots had a bad habit of doing some very unexpected things. "You all good over there, Kaoruko?" She spoke into her IS radio.

"Yep. Looks good, Casey. Ready when you are."

"Alright. Thanks. Just make sure, that when I call out, you cover your ears really good. It's going to be loud." She waited until she saw Houki and Tatenashi move into seats, and waved. She keyed her radio to proadcast in the booths.

"You guys hear me in there?" There were nods. "Okay, good." She reached out and raked back the charging lever, connecting leads and priming the main battery. "Cover your ears girls, this one's going to shake your teeth a bit." She waited until both did so, then checked Kaoruko, before putting the guns but to her shoulder, and took aim. The little extensionals under and above her ear grew a little dome, and covered her own ear. She toggled a switch, and plates dropped from the feet of her IS and clamped to the ground, as hydraulics shifted to brace her. She breathed out, and squeezed the trigger.

The target, a scant 150 meters away, was hit before the colossal thundering BOOM shook the walls of the stadium. A white streak connected the barrel of the gun to the dome, and the sound of shot followed the crash of the impact by a fraction of a second. Both noises overlapped into an ear splitting roar that faded slowly in a series of echoing rumbles. The concussion from the shot threw up dirt in a circle from the point of shot, and caused the air to shake.

All the triangular plates flared outward as the vacuum was breached, and steam billowed from the chamber. She held it out, as her ear guards snapped off, and let it cool. She began to walk toward Kaoruko and Miss Yamada, and seeing that the show was apparently over, Houki and Tatenashi made their way back the field, and headed over.

"So, Ma'am… what do you think?" Catherine asked from her towering vantage point over the other two. They were all scrutinizing the display screen, which gauged the effect of the impact.

"Hmmm… well, it hit the shield for 368 points… and kinetic buffers say that none of the force penetrated. Can you do it again, just to make sure?"

"Umm… yeah, but I want to let her cool for a couple minutes. The heat is hell on it."

"You mean you can only shoot it once?" Houki asked, still looking for something to criticize.

"Oh, no. If I dumped my batteries into it, I could max the charge, and fire again. But the rails would probably melt." They waited another two minutes, plugged their ears, and Catherine fired again. This time the damage was rated at 384.

"Alright. I think that is sufficient. Very well, Miss Chambers. You are approved to participate in duels and contests."

End 5