Arika's POV
"You are to be paired up with Serena Alestria for this scouting mission understood?" my commanding officer tells me. Serena I heard that name before...oh it's that one knight that found me sleeping in the fields at the town border a few months ago. I accompanied her back to town when she was finishing patrols because she said she was lonely. Back then I only told her that I was only an adventurer preferring not to be know by my alias when I'm not on duty. So her and me are assigned to scout out Ur to find out why so many fiends have been showing around the countryside recently. We were assigned to investigate and not engage, we are not to be seen at all or our mission will be considered failed. "Yes Sir. So as the King Orders it shall be done. The Gear Knight will carry out her duty as ordered." I say to my commander in response. With my salute my commander releases me and I leave to change into my armor. I go to my chamber and change into my gear armor. "Looks like I can't do anything on this mission?" I hear Girika in my head. "No. I've been ordered to not engage or be seen." With that my Chambers regain their deathly silence. Only the clanking of my armor plates is the only sound in here, Serena should be here any moment. I quickly put on my helm and ready my movement gears. These should make escaping easy. I then hear a knock "Hello Gear Knight you home?" I hear Serena ask. I open the door to let her in. She's still as beautiful as the last time, she now has her blue hair tied in pigtails a now is wearing wolver armor to not be as easily detected currently she doesn't have her helm on. Another thing I notice is her scent of roses. Whatever it no time to be thinking about this I have more important things to worry about, like our mission. "It's good to finally be teamed up with the local hero of this town the Gear Knight. I'm Serena Alestria I'm a Knight who recently transferred from the First Primary Combat Unit, Nice to meet you." she greets me with a salute. I salute her. "I'm the Gear Knight. Ninth Primary Elite Combat Unit." I tell her. She's silent for a little bit "Damn who would've thought the adventurer I found sleeping in the fields would be The Gear Knight. Hows it been Arika?" She then says. "Don't call me that. When I am in my armor you are to call me the Gear Knight."
Arisana's POV
I wake up once again before the wake up call. Though when I sit up I feel my hair suddenly feel the effect of static as it goes out of control. I then quickly tame my hair with a little help from Arika. Which is part of my routine. "Another one of those dreams, for some reason they're getting more common and detailed." I then hear the wake up call and that means I have to wake her up. I walk over and poke her cheek for the hell of it. Serene just groans "Two more minutes Amber-Chan…zzzz," I sigh and kiss her quickly. I hate to admit but I kinda like waking her up like this. Serene then gets up "Morning Ari-Chan." She says as she gets prepared. "You called me Amber again." I complain to her. "Sorry Ari-Chan but it just that she used to wake me up in the morning I'll try to not do it again." she explains. " It's not that it's just I'm just a little bothered by it." I say feeling kind of bad for bringing it up. "Wait a second if Amber used to wake Serene-Chan up that mean she kissed her!" So? We're kissing her now. "Alright we should get ready soon." I say as there's a knock at the door. I open the door to see someone in Blue fatigues. "Well met young Cadets. I am General Aoran here to give you your equipment. You've all been cleared for Proto Gear. So here you go. With that He hands me a couple of heavy supply boxes. "The instructions are included inside." He then leaves. I carry the boxes inside and put them in the center of the floor. I then open one of them. Inside I see a silver bracelet and some equipment. If the instructions on the top of the box are right. I have to put on the bracelet, turn it 90 degrees and say Armor Equip. It's a bit excessive but it does work. I then put on the bracelet. With some apprehension I turn it. "Armor Equip!" With that a skintight bodysuit suddenly appears on me forcefully changing me out of my Fatigues. Then the armor forms consisting of plate boots, Gloves, Breastplate, And a couple of decorative armor plates hanging from my sides. I then pick up the helm. It doesn't look like much but you have to put it on and pull the lower portion into place. I put it on and hold support it against my head. I then pull down the front part activating the locks on the armor and locking it into place. "You have Seven Health pips. Please remain aware of this number." I hear my armor's system tell me. Suddenly Serene runs to her box not even bothering to put the rest of her clothes on and still only in her lingerie. "Alright Proto Gear!" she cheer as she puts on her bracelet then turns it apprehensively. "You thought I was powerful before, but I have to show you my true power. Armor activate!" After saying all that which would be social suicide anywhere else she equips the armor. "I am the protector of the universe, the light that shines in the darkness! I'm hope for the innocent, nightmare to evil! I am Serinity of the Skies the KNIGHT OF LOVE AND PASSION!" She say while striking a pose. "You need any help with your helm? Hero to the innocent girls." I say mocking her self proclaimed title. "No I'm fine." She says as she puts on her helmet allowing her pigtails to go through the holes at the top. Yay. I quickly equip my Protoshield, Proto Sword, and Proto Gun. When I do my Armor suddenly says something. "Equipment Detected. Activating…" Suddenly a light on the shield turns blue as it attaches to my arm. The same style lights turn on with my sword and gun as a sheath appears on my back and a holster appears on my waist. I put my weapons away and get used to the new weight of my armor. Serene puts on her weapons and shield too "Alright this is awesome I really feel like part of the order now!" she says happily. "Nobody is happier than you." I tell her coldly. "Aren't you happy Ari-Chan to finally be wearing official Spiral Order equipment." She says. "This is old equipment. I can tell. The new armors normally weigh only 8 pounds. This weighs 15. Not only that my family hasn't used this style of equipment for a couple of years." I tell her the minor things only I would notice. "Well to be expected all of the newer models are probably being sent to all the knights fighting in the war. Makes since to give us the older models for training purposes." I hear her say, "These Model XIIIs are notably weak against energy based attacks and elemental attacks Serene. So you need to be careful." I tell her. "Careful why? We're not going in the field any time soon." she says. "They wouldn't give us armor for the hell of it. Let's get going." I warn her as we leave. "Alright lets go" I hear her cheer.
When we get to the Biotech research building I'm almost surprised seeing how many people are there. When I look up at the roof I see Morlin and General Akakiro. "Well met young Recruits. As you have seen you all have been given Proto Gear. Know that this doesn't mean you are qualified for duty. You are all still lost energy seeking purpose. Today after testing your battle sprites you will be released into the nearby forest outside the camp. Once out there you will fend for yourself. Morlin will fill you in on the mission later. ALL HAIL THE KING!" The general suddenly shouts our declaration. "All hail to The King. Hail to our Mother Planet Isora. Long live The Order! Long live Isora!" We all shout in response as the labs door opens. Once in everyone starts running around like nutjobs looking for their sprites and running diagnostics. Since I am confident in my work I get my Sprite and activate it. "Alright let's go Sera let's show 'em what you're made of!" Serene says as she actives her battle sprite. "You named yours?" I ask her. "Yup her name is Sera!" she answers happily. "You do know we aren't keeping these right?" I tell her. "I know but I wanted to name her anyway." She replies. "Whatever. Just don't get too attached." I say as I ready myself for some testing. "Alright Recruits. You will be given ten minutes to make adjustments and fix your Battle Sprites. After that we will begin testing." With that I get ready to wait for five minutes.
"Alright now that I've given you your chance to fix up your sprites let's get started" With that he leads us to a different part of the lab. There is a robot with a target painted on it. "Alright so for testing we will start with Fiiver-Man so you can put your damn hand down…" He says. Fiiver-Man then walks out from the crowd and readies his Sprite. "And… Begin!" Fiiver-Man then Fires his oddly short range tesla cannon that reaches only about 5 ft. He then uses his cloak leaving an outline of him in the air… I can tell this is going to be a short test. His outline starts approaching us. I reach for my sword when suddenly his outline regains color as he lunges at Serene for a kiss. Serene just side steps outta the way seemingly not noticing him. He then falls to the ground. He then quickly gets back up. "Now prepare yourselves for the ultimate in awesomeness! THE NEEDLE CANNON!" That thief! He smashed up my sprite so he could salvage my parts! Though something goes wrong? Suddenly the back of his sprite gets all dented up from the inside as the green LEDs turn off and it crashes to the ground. Though a couple of spikes escape the chassis Morlin blocks them with a Shield that bears the symbol of The Order. " Cadet Fiiver Asene. Mind telling me why you would try killing all of us? Don't worry about too much though. Under the divine authority of our glorious king Valkruz. I place you under arrest for attempted murder." With that Fiiver-man is handcuffed and dragged away shouting the usual 'I'm innocent' line repeatedly. "Alright after that show I'm going to choose Cadet Reekava to go next." With that Reekava comes out from the crowd. Her Sprite is Default as well… "Alright. Lets try to not repeat the earlier incident." He reminds her. She starts off with her camouflage field. It actually works. I can't see her. She then attacks the robot. And while she's still invisible she uses the Tesla Cannon that shoots an actual lightning bolt at the target. With that she reappears. "Sorry to say sir. I don't have a third weapon. After seeing what happened with Fiiver-man I'm glad I didn't have one." He nods. "Alright next is Cadet Seirnity." He calls Serene this time. "Alright lets go Sera!" She cheers. Sera first attacks the robot with it's Tesla Cannon it's about the same power as Reekava's sprite. "Alright now let's show 'em your special abilities." Serene says. Sera then creates a plasma barrier around Serene. "Now Ray of Light!" she commands. Sera obeys her command and fires a laser at the robot damaging it further then Serene's barrier disappears. "I replaced the camo with a Barrier figured it'd be useful in cases the enemy had thermal goggles or something." Serene explains. "I see. An innovative idea. but the Camo barrer if you read the instructions would've made you completely invisible even to thermal goggles. Though still very innovative. Next up is Cadet Arisana." I then step into the spotlight. I quickly fire the Tesla Cannon destroying the Robot's head. I then use it's cloaking field and slash another part of it off. Then I use the Needle Cannon destroying it. "Very good Arisana. Your Battle Sprite's abilities have exceeded what I have expected from you young cadets. Now all that's left of Group A is Signales. Now everyone be ready to deploy your shields. With that I go back to standing next to Serene as Morlin walks into a door to get a new target I assume. When Signales walks into the center it seems he is still in his black Fatigues. I guess they don't trust him with Armor yet. Another Robot with a target painted on it descends from the ceiling. He then opens with a powerful fireblast. Knocking the robot over. Just as it's getting up Signales suddenly summons a rotating barrier of spikes and attacks it with them. He then turns invisible. Then the Robot falls forward as Signales shoots it with a bunch of paintballs. The Robot gets up and Signales rejoins the crowd as Morlin also joins us. The rest of the testing goes fairly smoothly thankfully nobody fails as miserably as Fiiver-man did. After Group M finishes Morlin steps into the center. "Well done. All thirteen of the groups did exceptionally well. Now you will be given your first taste of Real Combat. Each of your groups will enter Gates leading to different areas of the forest. Your Goal is to retrieve a Recon module. Under no circumstances do you activate it. Doing so will cause this mission to fail and your Battle Sprites will be melted down! Now you will face heavy opposition. Remember to stay in your group. If for any reason you get separated. Don't hesitate to fire off a distress beacon. Doing so with label your mission as a forfeiture and I will have no choice but to melt down your Battle Sprite. Now are there any questions?" He asks to the crowd. "Um. Sir? When you say heavy opposition what did you mean?" He then smiles. "An excellent question. You're basically asking if it will be dangerous. In a word: Yes. As you all no doubt know our world is a dangerous place. Outside of our established cities and campsites there are Monsters. The ones here in the Forest are all specialized to eat you and your friends with no problems. There are also certain problems in the forest that are being paid to cause you havoc. They will try to steal the recon module from you. If they succeed you are not to engage them. They are trained Knights. Though if you do encounter them I suggest you run as fast as you can away from them. Now if there aren't any more questions you are to gather at the gates. Don't forget to grab 5 Vita Capsules, 5 Remedy Capsules, and 1 Distress Beacon. These are mandatory and if you don't grab them you will be disqualified. Don't try and ignore my orders. Dismissed!" With that we file out grabbing the supplies on our way out.
We then gather together in front of the gates. Signales then rejoins us in Iron Armor. I assume to identify him. He also has Proto Weapons. "Alright Cadets! Ready…" I hear a woman yell. "Begin!" She then yells and fires her weapon causing us to run into the forest. Once there we carve our way through the forest using our sprites abilities. After walking through the enemy infested forest path we reach a clearing where the Recon Module sits on a stump. Since there are no enemies here I suggest we take a short reprieve. Everyone with the exception of Signales agrees. So we sit among many fragrant flowers and can relax. "So Ari-Chan want do you plan on doing after this?" Serene says trying to start some small talk. "After the mission?" I ask her. "Yeah." she answers. "Well I'm going to probably grab some food and catch a nap. Just fighting our way here was tough. Fighting our way back? That'll be beyond difficult." I say carelessly. "I hear ya I'll probably be too pooped to hit on you when we get back." Serene says. Reekava who is sitting near Serene lightly jabs her. "Don't talk about that stuff while we're on a mission. You know our Comm Logs are monitored right?" Reekava reminds her. "What so wrong if I flirt with her she is my girlfriend after all nothing wrong with that. Serene says "Relax everyone. We can get going now since everyone is recovered." I say as I stand up and dust myself off out of habit. "Alright Ari-Chan lets go!" Serene cheers as we go back into the forest. Though something seems different. Suddenly I feel something whiz right by my head and hit a rock. "Sniper! Everyone get down!" I yell so the entire team ducks and takes cover with me. Behind a large boulder. "Alright. Here's what we're going to do…" I then notice we're short someone. Signales… Whatever not having him will make things much simpler. "Alright Reekava. I want you to take the Recon Module. Serene. You need to protect her. If she gets attacked like we're being attacked now you need to take it from her and run. We'll catch up." I tell them the plan. Reekava nods and I give her the Recon Module. " What about you Ari-Chan?" she asks concerned for my wellbeing. "Well I'm going to stay back here and take out that sniper. Then I'll catch up." I tell her hoping she has confidence in me… Since I don't. "Alright just be safe Dear." She says before her and Reekava move out. I then glance over the side to try and see if I can spot him/her. I can't so I quickly duck back. I then reach over and fire three shots in a vertical line to see if I can hit him/her… After a couple of seconds I hear one of my bullets impact something. Causing some more sniper shots to be thwarted by the rock. I take a guess in assuming it's somewhere in the middle since I heard it from higher up. I then peak out from the corner and start shooting. Eventually I hear a distant thud and move out from my cover. I walk for a while and find Reekava. She's been injured… It's not serious but I quickly give her one of my Vita Capsules. It revives her. "Oh Ari? Thank goodness. We got attacked and now Seirnity has it." I see. I hope she got out okay. Suddenly I feel a presence… "I see. Then go and meet up with her." I order her. She then goes off. I then unsheath my sword and ready myself to fight the mysterious presence. "Let me fight." Not a chance. To be a Knight you have to stand on your own two feet and can't rely solely on your allies. Especially since they aren't always going to be there. "BUT I AM AlWAYS GONNA BE HERE WE ARE THE SAME STUPID!" I want to be strong so I can fight on my own. I love you and all but I need to fight sometimes as well. "...But I am your strength," Then lend me your strength like you did before. When we saved Serene together. Do you remember? "I remember...alright lets give it a go!" With that Arika and I try to synchronize.
Ari's POV
It succeeds and we now have our combined senses allowing me to see where our hidden friend is. "Needle Cannon!" We command it. The Sprite fires the wave of spikes and we follow up with our own attack. We attack with the Proto Sword knock the Knights helmet off allowing me to see his head. Now that I know where his head is I deliver a powerful strike to his chest and knock him out. We then re-seperate because staying in this state of mind is difficult.
Arisana's POV
Man synchronizing with her is really difficult. But when we work together we can do amazing stuff. Well lets end this mission. I walk further into the forest until the exit is in sight. Then as if my day couldn't get any worse.He appears. Though he is holding a second gun that he didn't have earlier. It's blue and has a bayonet. I think it's called a Valence. He then fires at me. I try parrying but it completely vaporizes my sword. I then mainly focus on dodging until I get the chance to get close. Once I'm close enough I try punching him but he counters my punch with his bayonet. He then shoots me in the shoulder with his Proto Gun. Before I can react to that he slashes above my eye with his bayonet! "You now have 2 Health Pips remaining." I hear my armors system say to me before I remove it to quickly wipe the blood from my eye. "Sana this is serious let me fight or use the flair!" Sadly Arika I don't think he gives a damn if I were to use the flare. Then I am suddenly knocked on my back. He then steps on my chestplate. "Nothing personal. I'm just following my orders. Like a good solder." What the hell is he talking about? Orders? Suddenly Signales is lifted by two Spiral Wardens in white armor. In a fit Signales suddenly starts firing at me at random. I feel my armor get pelted by the shots before everything around me falls silent. Not even my own heart can be heard as everything fades…