Disclaimer: I do not know anything by IS: Infinite Stratos or any other mentioned characters/merchandise. They belong to their respected owners. However, original characters all belong to me, Grayjedi-Productions...
Sorry for the delay everybody, but with College and all, it has been a rough ride for me...
I had replayed Metal Gear Solid 3 and Peace Walker, and I just realized that I had made Kenneth Buyuu sometimes of expy of Solid Snake... However, that was unintentional as I made Kenneth to be more Jason Bourne and Heero Yuy-like... With my sarcastic views and tone...Either way, on with the fanfiction!
1909 Hours- Phantom Task Base, Hidden Bunker.
(Main theme is Heaven's Divide from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker...)
Kenneth continued down the bunker, watching his radar as nothing had appeared. The lights were dimmed for the people working in the base, to help them focus more without the harsh Island environment. No hostiles? Easy work... thought Kenneth.
The hallways were large enough for two patrolling ISs to float around, but with Scion Initiate Armor being only 2/3 the size of IS armor, the space was even bigger for him.
Swinging around the corner, Kenneth took out his modified Vent assault rifle with a pile bunker attachment. Still scanning the adjacent hallway, he reviewed the facts on the Sharks Division member, codename "Zebra".
Zebra...Real name Erica Benoit,, member of Les Dirigeants d'Arc. Daughter of the Three. Trained many female pilots... including Angel Adrian.
Kenneth continued following the natural hallway lines, with signs directing to the main core of the base. At least Phantom Task labeled where things are this time.
As Kenneth rounded the corner, he found a pair of double doors, the words Mainframe.Kenneth pushed open the doors, seeing that the room was completely blacked out. It much like a factory, pieces of Infinite Stratos mech parts scattered in different corners of the group, a ceiling hung well above the halls of the original facility of the Phantom Task base. A small light reflected in the far back, with the silhouette of woman in front of the light.
Kenneth readied his assault rifle, pointing at the figure. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"No one of great importance... As you recall."
She turned around, stepping out of the shadows, revealing heavily modified cybernetics around the left side of her face, most of her jaw cruelly replaced with a mouth guard. Strains of former brunette hair stretched from cleanly shaven scalp . A blacken arm stretched outwards her body, as a navy-blue heavily modified Raphael Revive IS manifested around the woman.
The lights in the room suddenly turned on, as the faceplate on Kenneth's SI armor quickly adjusts to the incoming light. He looks around the room, seeing that it mimicked the exact same layout of the factory during Operation Zulu.
"..."
The girl outstretched both arms in a welcoming fashion. "Welcome back to the place where it all began...Kenneth Buyuu." she cooed.
Kenneth fired three-shot bursts at her. The bullets were easily deflected as the shield's blue-ish glow activated.
"Replicating Operation Zulu." trailed Kenneth, his eyes keen on enemy contact. "You won't get the pleasure from me, PT pilot."
The female pilot slowly glided towards him. "I don't plan to, but you certainly have the Phantom Task brass interested... The Hitokiri of STARIS, and the man that started the Incident... Don't you recall me? A fellow soldier of STARIS... Erica Dubois." she grinned
Kenneth gritted his teeth behind his helmet. Damn... Converted one of ours eh? Maybe...
"..."
Erica grinned. "It's rather sad actually... To see a fallen soldier like yourself back on the field... You allowed Angel to die if I do recall." she accused.
Kenneth boosted into the air, hovering just below the ceiling. He firing shots at Erica, saying "Shut it."
The heavily modified IS suddenly appeared right in front of Kenneth, slamming him into the ceiling as chunks of concrete fell. "Feisty... I like it." Erica grappled Kenneth, throwing him to the ground, as Kenneth narrowly avoided crashing with a quick booster ignition.
Let's try to Anti-shield rounds. thought Kenneth, as the Vent Assault rifle switched rounds. However, Erica brought a metal shield to her face, blocking any bullets from following through.
As Kenneth was reloading, Erica had materialized twin Garm shotguns. Closing in on Kenneth, she fired, heavily damaging Kenneth shields and nearly swooping at him again.
"It's rather sad actually..." mock-lamented Erica, continuing her assault. "To fall. It's such a quiet thing, but when you see yourself do it. The Son of the Three, the greatest shame that STARIS ever had. And yet, the Hitokiri of STARIS, an assassin to hunt down terrorist IS pilots."
How the hell is she still talking while fighting? Though Kenneth as he continued a hail of lead at Erica. She won't get into my mind that easily...
She used a quick Ignition Boost to behind Kenneth, taking out her a double barreled Garm shotgun, blasting one of Kenneth's stabilizer wings off as he crashed into the ground.
"I believe that your shields are now completely drained now, hmm? It's amazing to see that you have not become completely insane. The soldier that killed over a hundred IS pilots, half were to only be detained for capture, and you killed them. You were imprisoned in your own mind, your body a slave to the crude combination of your grief and your SI core."
Erica floated down towards Kenneth, blasting off the other wing of the SI armor, and taking a considerable chuck on the shoulder armor as well.
"What a pity..." she continued. "You truly are lost Kenny; There is nothing leave for you here, once Angel died. Barely anyone for you to tell your story to."
Kenneth tried to get back to his feet, as Erica slammed down on Kenneth, plowing him into the cement flooring. She pulled Kenneth closer to her face, as he saw lime-green infected skin from her cybernetic implants hastily put together. Moreso, several areas of her face were charred black by the cauterizing of skin melding with blood fluid wires connecting from her face to her chest.
Kenneth felt a warm liquid trickle down his face, quickly covering a majority of his face. "So..." he coughed, as blood also came out from his mouth. "You joined PT just for revenge of a student, didn't you?"
Erica shook her head. "I was under direct orders from STARIS to do this, to be captured... I wanted to test you myself, to see if you are truly worthy of the title 'Son of the Three'. As a soldier of STARIS, you should have known that it would not last... Either of you could have been slain the next day, leaving the survivor to suffer in despair."
Erica continued to glare at Kenneth, trying to evoke an emotional response. "You are lost Kenneth. Nothing to fight for or to live for. You said that yourself. I should end you right now..."
Whipping out a beam saber, Erica swung at Kenneth's left arm, lopping it off. Kenneth stared at his mechanical arm for a second, then collapsed to his knees, looking down.
"There is nothing left for you Kenneth." repeated Erica, crouching to Kenneth head level, attempting to crush the helmet he had.
"...Perhaps..." replied Kenneth. Erica looked puzzled at Kenneth. With a quick draw of Kenneth's short katana, he pierced her shields, as Kenneth's SI armor started glowing like fire.
"However my mission here... Is not complete yet." grunted Kenneth in monotone, cross slashing her across the chest, easily ripping the armor of the Raphael-Revive, and penetrating into her flesh, pushing her back.
"Trying to find 'redemption' in this world; It's not possible..." said Kenneth again, his SI armor completely emblazed with flames of the Phoenix Overdrive. "Sins of the past will forever leave scars... All one can do is leave a mark in the world... to anyone."
With a final slash at the neck, Erica fell as blood and strange green liquid erupted from her wound. Kenneth dematerialized his short katana, as the Phoenix Overdrive ability started taxing his body. The SI armor returned to its original black-sheen, as Kenneth slumped over, heavily panting and coughing up more blood.
"If my time had come, you would have killed me then. If you do see Angel on the other side... Tell her that..." Kenneth coughed, tearing up. Erica could only look in curiosity as Angel had once told her that he was always in control of his emotions. This breakdown was an unusual.
"... It's my fault. I know that I have nothing left in this world. I died a year ago with her... I will continue to live as a shell of man. I am ready to die at any time, including now... I'll make it count."
Kenneth stumbled over to the Phantom Task mainframe, still keeping his sense on the fallen Erica. Kenneth started to blur in colors. He materialized the special STARIS hacking package. Plugging the package in, he waited for the operation to complete.
"To live as a shadow... That's what STARIS strives for. We will never be known." unconsciously whispered Kenneth. If this statement was to himself or to Erica, Kenneth didn't know. A soft beeping noise came from the hacking package as the mini-machine had transferred the data files over to STARIS Command.
Kenneth stumbled back to Erica, seeing that she had died. He sighed, trying to catch another breathe. As Kenneth flipped over her body still encased in the IS armor, he was that she had her self-destruct sequence package online. Pressing in the code "Genesis" a 5-minute countdown began.
Kenneth started walk towards the exit, the SI armor's boots making echos around the room as Kenneth had used the walls to help balance himself. As he tried to hurry around the corner of the base, he thought to himself.
Rescue of Operative "Zebra"... Complete; Data from Phantom Task Base uploaded to STARIS Command... Complete; Destruction of the PT Base...
Kenneth collapsed to his knees again, seeing the exit of the base. He projected a holographic projection of the time. Hn... Complete
A muffled explosion rocked the bunker, as pieces of the ceiling started falling.
Mission Accomplished
1918 Hours- Outside Phantom Task Base
Mélissa finished off another rogue IS pilot with a well placed bullet between the eyes.
"I swear that every new generation of IS pilots are getting weaker and weaker..." mumbled Emily, taking a few pot shots at PT soldiers.
"Why fix what wasn't broken?" questioned Sarah.
Anthony approached the Three, saluting before saying anything.
"Yes? What is it Lieutenant Rabin?" said Mélissa.
"Phantom Task is in full retreat. Shall we pursuit?"
"Negative. Now we wait for Kenneth to return."
A low rumble shook the ground, as Natasha Fair's boosted towards the four STARIS soldiers.
"Double H, Double H! Kenneth's signal disappeared! And the bunker has collapsed."
Emily's eyes widened. "Send a search team, look through the rubble. Mako's in there somewhere..."
Time: Irrelevant, Location: Unknown.
Kenneth awoke to find himself relaxing on a beach towel as the sun rested just above the horizon. Getting up, he looked around. The beach reflected a strange gold-like tint from sand. A city of white reflected the multicolor sunset. Looking to the right side, he saw a military aircraft runway, completely void of any activity.
Coronado Beach. Thought Kenneth, finally relaxing. A young woman started walking towards him from the base, holding two bottles. Her dirty blonde hair kept in a ponytail, a little blue mini bikini covering her body, swaying her hips in fashion that only Kenneth would remember.
"Heh, Angel Victoria Adrian..." chuckled Kenneth.
She sat down next to him, a sad look in her eyes. "Why do you push yourself this far?" she whispered, handing him the bottle. A Fanta Orange soda.
"This is just how I am, and you know that Angel." grumbled Kenneth.
"I know that... But it simply isn't your time yet."
Kenneth traced his hair with his hands. "And yet I'm here..." he took a sip of the soda.
"Koibito... You need to live."
Kenneth turned towards Angel, puzzled. "Live?"
Angel inched her way closer to Kenneth's face, as the world faded to black.
You must live...
April 24, 2022- 0143 Hours- HMS Illustrious
H...y... I...ink...he's waking up!"
Kenneth slowly opened his eyes, a bright white light blurring his vision for a second. As the light intensity lowered, he saw himself in the medical wing of the HMS Illustrious. A white patient gown replaced his former STARIS military uniform, and his SI armor. Kenneth glanced down at his left arm, seeing that it was replicated with another synthetic arm.
"Welcome back, sleepy head." chuckled Natasha, placing a warm hand on his shoulder.
"You keep giving us heart attacks with your..." mumbled another voice behind her. It was Anthony.
Kenneth sighed again. "Was the mission a success?"
Anthony rolled his eyes at Kenneth's question. "You need to stop that... But yes, the PT base has been destroyed."
"Stop what, Tony?" asked Kenneth, ignoring the answer.
"Your mission oriented bullshit... You'll only destroy yourself in the end."
Kenneth's eyes shifted slightly gray. "What would another stati..." *SLAP!*
Natasha had left a red handprint on Kenneth's right cheek. Her synthetic arm packed a punch.
Kenneth rubbed the red-spot as Natasha spoke. "Enough Kenny, you are not a statistic! You can't keep pushing yourself like that! Just because we are disposable soldiers for STARIS does not mean that you won't be missed. Yes, redemption in this world is nearly impossible to get, but you still have us and the Three..."
Natasha lowered her head. "We don't want to see you destroy yourself, just like what happened during the Incident."
Anthony finally spoke up. "And not just because that was a political fiasco. It's because we have been your friends and mentors ever since you joined the Sharks... Please Kenneth, we are trying to find peace after Angel died as well. You don't need to burden that shame alone."
Kenneth's eyes settled back to its original brown color. "So what happens now then?"
Natasha scratched her head. "Yeah...About that...uhhhh... Your SI armor was totaled when the bunker collapsed... So I guess that..."
Kenneth face twitched for a second.
"...You'll have to use..."
Goddamn it...
"One of the Worker Class armors." Kenneth slammed his head back into the hospital pillow.
Despite the name, the Worker Class STARIS armors were roughly equivalent to the 3rd generation of Infinite Stratos. Knowing the usual case, Kenneth was probably outfitted with the armor already.
"How long was I out?" asked Kenneth, trying to get his mind off using the Worker Class armors.
"Like 6 hours or something..." said Anthony.
Natasha nodded. "You should be able to walk on your own, but we'll be dropping you back in the IS Academy in the early morning. Get some rest." She ruffled Kenneth's hair a little.
"You earned it."
0625 Hours- IS Academy- Room 1044
Charles woke up, her mind thinking that Kenneth's alarm would wake her up again. Instead, all she heard was silence.
It's only been a day... Cecilia and I are becoming worried... she thought, laying in the bed.
Our memories from Tuesday's fight are restored... We know that Kenneth was hurting during that time... A HUNDRED IS PILOTS? But there are only 467 cores in the world!... Right? For every IS pilot he slain, those pictures... I saw tears. It looked like he was trapped in his own mind...
A muffled sound came from the from of the main door, as rough shuffle of feet dragged on the carpeted floor. The voice of a man mumbled something, but Charles couldn't figure out what the words were.
A sudden dull thud hit the carpet, and Charles rushed out of her room to see Kenneth on the ground, his left synthetic arm wildly flashing a pale orange color.
"Oh my, Kenneth!"
Ichika slammed open his door, rubbing his eyes when he saw Charles trying to lug off Kenneth's body.
"Wh-What happened?"
"I don't know, but Kenneth's hurt, look at these injuries! Help me, Ichika. We gotta get him to the nurse!"
0730 Hours- IS Academy- Medical Wing
Kenneth woke up again, this time in a patient bed at the IS Academy. Ichika, Charles, Houki, Cecilia and Rin stood around his bed.
Great, a welcoming party... Thought Kenneth. When Kenneth was dropped back at the Academy, he had just realized that the technicians that forgot to recharge the battery of the arm. As Kenneth hurried to his dorm room, the arm had run out of energy, leading him to have a small heart attack. Being awake now must have meant that the nurse had replaced the battery with a spare before anyone could notice.
"You alright?" asked Rin, raising an eyebrow.
"I'll be fine."
Houki nonchalantly pointed to Kenneth's multiple injuries on his arms and body. All from the battle against Erica Benoit.
"Ah yes. 'Cause those would be 'fine', right?" sarcastically said Houki.
"I did say that there was trouble at home..." chuckled Kenneth. Houki rolled her eyes.
"Well, glad that you're back Kenny." said Ichika. "We better get to the theory class at 8, right everybody?"
Rin and Houki nodded, as the three exited the room. Only Cecilia and Charles remained. Kenneth furrowed his brow in response.
"Aren't you two going as well?" Kenneth asked.
Cecilia rubbed one of her curled hair strains. "Listen Kenneth... We need to talk to you about something."
"Ok... What is it about?"
Charles rubbed her hands together in preparation. "Ok... Well...eerrr... When you left one Saturday morning... We kinda...yyeeaaahhhh..." Charles paused for a second, then blurred out, "Got-our-memories-back-from-Tuesday."
Kenneth's eyes dulled grey, as he glared at both of them. He closed his eyes, sighing. "Instructor, what are your orders?"
The two rose their eyebrows in confusion as Chifuyu Orimura stepped in the room, glaring hard at all three of them.
"There's nothing much that we can do... However, you must now guard against these two." Chifuyu responded.
"Wait! How the...? But you are...WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" exclaimed Cecilia. Charles looked slightly fearful of what might happen next.
Chifuyu sighed. "This is why I don't feel like deal with kids... And I'm only 28 years old..." she muttered under her breathe. "Kenneth, these two are also under your security detail. Since the experimental drug only works once, these two must never allow anything from STARIS to be released into the public."
Kenneth saluted at her. "Yes ma'am."
Chifuyu left the room, leaving the two girls and Kenneth alone.
"What does she mean 'Under your security detail'?" asked Charles, finally speaking up.
Kenneth laid his head on the pillows again. "You simply can't talk about Tuesday to anyone."
"You're not in the best position to give us orders." bluntly said Cecilia.
Kenneth sighed, closing his eyes. "I'm not, but the rest of STARIS is. They won't care about morality if you two spill the beans, but I've just the informer. You two do whatever you want."
Cecilia glared at Kenneth, before storming out of the room. Only Charles remained.
"You already told me alot of things about your past Kenny. I remember those pictures that those three pilots showed us. You were crying... A prisoner of your own mind."
"You have a good memory." remarked Kenneth. "And yes, that was true. Please Charles, I need some rest, get going to class."
Charles nodded and left the room. As she left the room, she pondered. Every story has two sides, no? I wonder what his was...
Once again, sorry for the wait... Yes I know how old Chifuyu is in canon, but for the need of an age bump for this Alternate Universe Infinite Stratos, I made her 28 years old.
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