Chapter 22; The Battle Begins

Standing in the hanger bay of their new ship, Gospel watched their forces prepare for the coming battle. The latest units in their growing army were docking into their various ports and powering down. It wasn't necessary for them to be up and around since the ship was automated. The fact that they had been able to secure this ship at all was still a minor miracle, but not one she was about to question. They probably had another day or two before the Americans would have to officially report it as missing, but until then they would have freedom to move around. As she returned to the bridge, she brought up the latest status update on the retrofit. They had teams of initiates and Harpies working on rebuilding the ship to their specs. So far, the upgrades were on schedule. But we won't have them done by the time we arrive she realized as she did the math.

She wrote up a new set of instructions and sent them out to all of the work teams before she entered the CIC. Crusade and Fairy were already there, looking over the improved control systems and making minor adjustments to the programming. Like the work teams, they were working to make sure the ship would be ready for their arrival. "We have a problem, Gospel," Fairy told her, turning away from the console. "I already know," she replied, "I've directed the work teams to focus on the critical upgrades. The rest can wait." "Are you sure this is the best course of action?" Crusade asked, walking over to her, "We aren't exactly in a position to fight a major battle yet, even with our advantages." "That is precisely why we're targeting the IS Academy first, and not any of the other discussed targets." "It's still not what I would call a 'soft target.'" Standing over the central table, Gospel ignored the last comment and brought up the maps of the Academy grounds.

Most were from satellite images of the grounds and blueprints retrieved from various databases, but almost a third of the map was from the data collected during the raid. "You're not doing this for personal reasons, are you?" Fairy asked. Despite the fact that their helmets lacked faces, their body language was very telling and they all had learned to read it a long time ago. Right now, Gospel's body tensed at the question, and the speed with which she faced Fairy told her that even hinting at Simon was still a raw nerve with her. Fairy had needed to do some serious justification for her attempt at recruiting the boy again, although she had refused to apologize outright. Whether or not Gospel had approved the action, Fairy had deemed it necessary to try at least one last time. The boy was too valuable to just give up on. "As I've explained before, the Academy is the largest collection of IS cores and pilots with the potential of becoming like us," Gospel explained, her voice a little strained, "Once we have it under our control, we will be able to double our existing forces. This decision has nothing to do with Simon."

"And if he should join the forces that will inevitably oppose us?" Fairy didn't like having to ask these questions, but she accepted that someone had to. She had grown to respect how cold and calculating Gospel could be. But there wasn't any room for doubts, not now. We may not like it, and she certainly doesn't, but it needs to be said. "Then we fight him, to," Gospel replied after a short hesitation, "The same rules of engagement apply; take him alive if possible." "And if it's not?" Fairy pressed, needing to hear it, "If we don't have a choice? If you don't have a choice?" This one met silence for a longer period of time as Gospel considered the possibilities. Regardless of what she said, Simon was still her brother, and links like that didn't get severed overnight. Finally, she said, "If it comes down to that, then I will take care of it myself."

Simon had been mildly surprised that Kanzashi hadn't been with them this time, but her sister had explained that she was still not used to serious fights. "She wanted to come really badly," she explained, "But I could see how scared she was, so I told her to stay behind." "And she listened to you?" Simon asked, trying not to sound sarcastic. "You should know by now that when the Student Council President tells you to do something, you do it," she replied, smiling and sticking her tongue out at him. This just met several laughs and a snort from Rin as they took off. Yeah, you'd think I'd know that one by now Simon thought, smiling.

"So, how are we going to locate this fleet?" Laura asked after they had put some distance between themselves and the Academy. "We were able to pull rough coordinates out of the data taken from the program implanted in my IS," Simon lied. There wasn't really any need to explain the whole 'meeting his core's AI' to everyone. "I got a rough heading from them. If we back-track their path of approach, then-" "We should run straight into them," Ichika finished for him, eager for the fight. "Do we have a plan for when we arrive?" Charlotte asked, determined to remain one of the level-headed ones. "I was thinking we could go in guns blazing," Rin replied, getting a smirk from Simon and Tatenashi. "I like that plan, it's very simple," Laura commented, "But perhaps we should come up with something with better odds?" "Wouldn't be a bad idea," Simon said. "You're just jealous of my awesome plan, Feli," Rin teased, laughing at the glare he shot her.

After some discussion they decided that Laura and Cecilia would hang back as long-range fire, while the rest of them would form a defensive line. Not really a fool-proof plan, in all honesty, but it would serve them well in the beginning. As they got further out, the chatter gradually died down as everyone finally realized the scale of the challenge they faced. After about half an hour, Cecilia opened a private channel to Simon. "Something I can do for you, princess?" he asked, smiling. "I want you to make me another promise," she said, noticing that Houki and Ichika had drifted much closer together. They were probably having the same kind of conversation. "Promise me you'll come back alive," she continued, "Please, promise me that." "Was there ever any doubt?" Simon responded, his smile growing broader, "So long as you promise me the same thing." She nodded back, feeling better now that he had said it.

As the horizon began to brighten, they noticed a spot that looked disturbingly like a ship. Without saying anything, Cecilia brought her rifle up and sited on it. She also linked the sight to the others so they could see the ship. It was actually two ships; the assault ship they had previously dealt with, and another boat that was shocking, to say the least. "We just can't catch a break, can we?" Simon asked, sighing, "An aircraft carrier, really?" It had clearly been worked on extensively, and its deck had several work crews setting up various turrets for point-defense. "Anyone want to take a guess on how many machines they have in that thing?" Rin asked, trying to sound brave. A quick glance at everyone else showed that she was the only one; everyone else looked like their spirits were dropping fairly quickly.

"We focus on the carrier," Simon said finally, trying to project confidence, "As long as we take it down the other ship will be a piece of cake for the Academy." "And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Laura asked. She had been prepared to face long odds, but this was just insane. "Easy," he said, drawing his sword and smirking, "We go in guns blazing." With that, he accelerated towards the ships, leaving everyone to make their own choice. Cecilia followed him almost immediately, with Houki and Ichika coming up behind her after a brief hesitation. After that, everyone else rushed after them, determined to protect their friends. For better or for worse, they were now committed.

Rather than wasting time trying to hide, since he figured they were already spotted, Simon went straight for the carrier and spun up the dynamos on his IS. He was a little sad to learn that his hip mounted fangs were gone, replaced with another pair of dynamos, but the increase in those docked in his wings made up for it. Unleashing a set of four, he charged a bolt in his left hand as the first tracers started to fill the sky around them. Without any verbal signal, they split up into their discussed formation, with Cecilia and Laura immediately taking shots at the AA turrets. After the fourth one went up in flames, the carrier responded with a wave of Harpies while its deck started to become covered in the Cyber Cats. While the Harpies tried to break them up into smaller groups, the cats began taking pot-shots from the deck.

Blocking an attempt at his head, Simon cut through the Harpy's waist while he loosed his fangs on the enemies on deck. It took him all of 5 seconds to clear a spot to land, and once he landed he unleashed his charged bolt and watched in satisfaction as it chained between several enemies. They were all fried on contact, and he quickly tried to charge another as the remaining machines turned their attention to him. He was joined by Charlotte and Tatenashi a moment later, the two girls opening up on the machines on his flank while Simon began carving a path to the conning tower. Rin, Houki and Ichika had taken up the job of defending Cecilia and Laura while they dealt with the carrier's defense turrets, and it was a near thing. Several Harpies were managing to get past them, although the two girls were able to deal with them easily. This distraction, however, was enough for one of the larger turrets to lock onto them and launch a salvo of missiles.

While none of them hit, it was enough to drive them apart and allow the Harpies to move into their formation. As Simon turned to give them some support fire, the deck around his feet erupted in flames and he plummeted into the hole. "Simon!" Tatenashi called out as she saw the blonde fall. Before she could move to help, Crusade slammed into her from behind and knocked her to the deck. "I truly didn't think you would be foolish enough to try something like this," it said as it walked forward, raising its swords, "You must have a death wish. Allow me to grant it!" With that, it slammed into Tatenashi again and sent her through the tower wall. Charlotte was right behind them as the hole began to fill with the sound of weapon fire and the ringing of swords on metal.

After Crusade's exit, the enemies on the ship started to disappear as the survivors withdrew below deck. Before the others could decide who to help, Fairy launched from one of the open bays and came to a stop before them. "Well, now isn't this a quaint reunion?" it said, tone just dripping with sarcasm, "I guess you didn't learn your lesson about attacking us the last time." Raising its javelins, it launched its laser bits, saying, "Allow me to fix that." "Rin, Laura, go support Tatenashi and Charlotte," Ichika said, raising his own sword, "We have this one." It was a measure of their confidence that neither girl questioned him; rather they used the opening shots as cover to quickly dash down to the deck and through the hole after Crusade. Dodging the first few shots, Cecilia backed off to get range while Houki and Ichika closed on the Fairy; him on the left and her on the right.

It wasn't a bad strategy; it would either have to face both of them, or avoid the blows and leave itself wide open to Cecilia's rifle. Rather than dodging, it blocked both of their strikes while it sent its laser bits after Cecilia, forcing her to deal with them first. Tossing Ichika's sword aside, it kicked him in the gut to buy time. Turning to Houki, it brought the other javelin into play while she brought her own second sword up. They locked weapons and stayed there, both glaring at each other as they struggled to gain the upper hand. Before it could go much further, Cecilia launched her own laser bits to defend against Fairy's and turned her rifle on the IS, firing a bolt of her own and hitting it square in the back. This served to knock it off balance enough for Houki to force it back. Bringing the left blade back, she prepped her energy slash while Ichika came back up behind it. The three of them attacked as one; Cecilia's bolt, Ichika's one-off and Houki's slash. Ducking under the slash, Fairy brought its foot up and kicked Ichika's sword hand, knocking his attack aside as well before bringing one of its javelins up and blocking the attempted head shot.

"You three have gotten better," It noticed, taking advantage of their shock to gain some distance, "But, it still isn't enough. I hope you're prepared to die, because you will not be walking away from this one." Charging its javelins, it fired at the two sword wielders while it charged Cecilia. Bringing her rifle up and her laser bits into play, she tried to intercept the machine, but wasn't quick enough. Knocking the rifle aside, Fairy brought one of its javelins up so the point was touching her chest. "And then there were two," it said as it fired, engulfing them both in a cloud of smoke from the explosion. "Cecilia!" Ichika yelled, darting towards the cloud. A moment later, she emerged from the cloud, plummeting to the deck. Catching her, Ichika lowered her to the deck of the ship while Houki gave them cover. "I'm f-fine," she managed after a second, getting up on shaky legs, "But that bitch won't be when I'm done with it." "Brave words, little girl," Fairy taunted as it drifted free of the disappearing cloud, "But so far you have yet to prove you can actually do anything in the way of damage." "Then maybe this will change your mind," Cecilia shot back as her IS began to glow.

Ducking through one of the doors, Charlotte just barely managed to avoid a shot from one of the Cyber cats as it rounded the corner. She had hoped to find Tatenashi after she entered the hole they had made, but judging from the damage she and the knight IS had continued their battle as the drifted deeper into the ship. Now she was stuck fighting her way through the crew as she tried to get to Tatenashi in time. She may be the strongest student at the Academy, but the knight IS had proven that it was more than a match for her. When she leaned back out of cover, it was to see that the single cat had been joined by two others and a Harpy, all of which opened fire as soon as they saw her. Rather than duck back, Charlotte brought her shield up and an SMG, blocking their own shots while returning fire. She managed to take out one of them when she heard, "Hit the deck!" Without question, she went prone as a shell whizzed over her head and impacted the end of the hall, blowing the remaining machines to scrap. As she got back up, she saw that Laura and Rin had joined her, both of them looking a little annoyed.

"Any sign of Tatenashi?" Rin asked, keeping one eye on the path behind them. "Not yet, but I think they went left at this point," Charlotte told them, taking the lead as they advanced down the hall. Suddenly, a large explosion racked the ship, causing the three to almost lose their balance. "Well, that's a good sign," Laura said as she continued on. "How is that in any way good?" Rin demanded. "Because ships don't explode on their own," Laura reasoned, remaining calm, "If something caused an explosion, it was one of us. That can only mean that whoever did it is still in good enough condition to fight back." Rather than argue with the German, Rin returned her attention to the hallways they were passing through. They were all covered in bullet hole and slashes, some from Tatenashi's spear and others from the knight IS' swords.

Finally, they came upon one of the hanger rooms, only to see that Tatenashi had indeed caused the explosion. One of the fuel tanks had been hit and blown a hole out of the side of the ship, the resulting fire filling the hold with bitter smoke. She was currently locked with Crusade, the two trying desperately to get enough purchase on the metal deck to push the other back. The look on Tatenashi's face, however, was enough to give the girls pause. Her usual cheerful and mischievous manor was replaced with cold, unmasked furry. She clearly wanted this machine dead, probably a result of what it had done to her sister. Recovering first, Laura moved behind Crusade before opening fire, stunning the machine briefly. Taking advantage of this, Tatenashi gave a heave and managed to force its swords up and away before bringing her spear down and thrusting it towards its stomach. Her attempt at gutting it was thwarted as one of Crusade's shield bits stopped the blade, while another smashed into her from the side and sent her into several crates. Turning around, it blocked several more shots as Rin and Charlotte opened fire, hoping against all odds that they could hit the damned thing.

"Should have known that wouldn't work," Rin said as she powered down her cannons. "You realize you're fighting the inevitable, don't you?" Crusade asked when it was clear they weren't going to waste ammo, "You can't beat us, and neither can your respective militaries. This is our time, and I will see it come to pass." "Over my dead body, tin can!" Rin shouted, summoning her swords and charging. Instead of using its shields, Crusade blocked her blades with its own before forcing them up and coming face-to-face with the girl. "As you wish," it said before head-butting her, sending her stumbling back a few steps. Bringing two of its cannons up, it fired at the stunned girl, only to have Charlotte block the shots with her own shield. "If that's how you want it," she said, squaring up to the machine, "Then you will have to try harder than that."

Groaning, Simon picked himself up from the pile of metal and wire he had landed in. After dusting himself off, he looked around and saw he had landed in a lower storage room. "It's good to see you again, Simon," he heard from behind. Turning around, he wasn't surprised to see Gospel standing there. Of course it's her he thought with a sigh. He noted that its wings were fully deployed and that its stance was slightly loose, clearly prepared for a fight. "So, I have you to thank for that entrance?" Simon asked, flexing his hands. "I don't want to do this, Simon," it said, sounding more like it was begging, "Please, stop fighting me. I don't want to lose you again." "You lost me the moment you killed Maylin," he shot back, temper flaring, "Do you even know who she was, what she had been through? She came to us from a future where your vision came to be. She told us it was all death and destruction. That all you and your kind were doing was taking as many people as you could to increase the size of your army."

With every word, he could see it tensing further. Clearly, it hadn't known who Maylin really was. She had just been a thorn in their side, and that, more than anything, pushed Simon over the edge. "She was my daughter, Sarah," he said finally, deciding that discretion could go screw itself, "She was my child, and she died in my arms. You think I'm going to side with you after that?" Letting her head fall, Gospel let the silence carry on for a few seconds before saying, "If that is your decision, then you leave me no choice." With that, it shot from its position, and Simon barely had the time to bring his sword up to block it. "You would undo everything I've done, and I cannot allow that," it said, starting to sound more like a machine, "Regardless of who you were to me before, you are an obstacle now. And I will see you removed."

"Just try it!" he responded, heaving up on his sword and throwing Gospel clear. Charging a bolt, Simon launched several of his fangs as the Gospel fired back. The wave of energy bombs was worse than he had expected. While most of them impacted on the surroundings rather than him, the explosions and chaos was enough to give the Gospel an opening to take another swipe at him. What was even more surprising was that it had apparently built itself an energy sword, and was now using it to try and take his head. Discharging the bolt into the floor, Simon took a two-handed grip on his sword as he was forced to block numerous swings. They moved back and forth, trading blows, giving and taking ground as the room around them burned from the explosions.

Finally, Simon's bits had moved around it enough that he could bring them into Gospel's back. Somehow it had been prepared for this move, firing several shots out of the back of its wings and destroying the fangs. "Well, had to give it a try," he said as it took another swipe at his head. He received silence as an answer while Gospel continued to try to kill him. Taking a risk, Simon took his left hand off the sword and started charging a bolt, hoping he could continue to hold his own with just one hand. Gospel responded by flicking its left hand and deploying a second energy blade. With two it had a significant advantage, and Simon was quickly being forced back into a corner. Instead of waiting for a solid target, he brought his hand up and fired blindly, knocking Gospel back but doing little real damage. Taking the initiative, he brought his cannons into play and fired another pair of shots, one of them hitting it square in the chest and cracking part of the plate.

The Gospel didn't move for a few seconds, too stunned at the damage he had just inflicted. He just shot me she thought, he tried to kill me. Suddenly feeling furious, the Gospel fired off a massive wave of bombs, sending Simon into the wall with the blast wave. Before he could fully get up, she was on him, slashing at his head. Rolling to the left, he managed to avoid the initial strike. Bringing his left hand up, he spun up the dynamo and sent a couple thousand volts into the IS, scrambling its systems and buying himself some time to get clear. It wasn't nearly as much as he would have liked, since it was right in his face the second he was back on his feet. Deploying the energy field on his left arm, he managed to block the first strike before bringing his own sword around in a slash aimed at its shoulder. His attack was blocked by its other sword, and they stood there; locked in place, neither of them willing to break off first, and both of them glaring at the other. "You can't win," Gospel told him, leaning into its right sword.

"You'd be surprised what I can manage," Simon shot back. Before it could try and force him off, he triggered his Phoenix Shift and leaped back, putting Gospel off-balance. Before it could recover, he fired his cannons again and knocked it back. He then disengaged the locks on his sword and swung the whip out, wrapping the end around one of Gospel's feet. Pulling back on the handle, he swung the IS around and threw it into the nearest wall. Moving up on it, he launched the rest of his fangs and sent them all straight into the hole. Please tell me that did it he prayed, only to have those hopes dashed in a large explosion. Flying out of the smoke, Gospel slammed into him and carried him through the opposite wall and into the next room. Collapsing his sword back down, Simon rolled clear of the IS before he charged up another bolt. But when he rounded on where the Gospel had been, it was gone. He didn't even have time to look around before another wave of bombs crashed into his back.

The damage was severe, his Phoenix Shift forcefully disengaging and his wings losing large chunks. Taking shelter behind some rather sturdy-looking crates, he quickly assessed the damage and felt his spirits plummet. His flight system was down and out, as were his two cannons. The damage also meant that his Phoenix Shift was out, since he would be risking a fatal overload in this condition. Before he could even begin to curse his luck, the crates exploded around him as the Gospel fired. Running forward a few feet, he spun around and brought up both of his shields as the debris caught up to him. The splinters from the boxes weren't any real threat to him in his IS, but the heat and any blasts coming through the smoke would be. And sure enough several bombs flew through the debris and impacted his shields, followed by a blast from one of its hands. "Is that all you have?" he taunted when the salvo ended. In response, the Gospel powered down its swords and returned them to the compartments in its forearms. It then brought its hands together and started collecting a large amount of energy. Oh, crap.

The final showdown has begun, and each side is pulling out all of the stops. Will Cecilia be able to control the shift her IS is about to go through? Can Tatenashi, Rin, Charlotte and Laura put Crusade down for good? And can Simon truly fight his own sister to the death? Till the next chapter.