Author's Notes:

Hey guys, here's the new chapter for Iron Stratos.

I apologize for the lateness of this upload. I have just finished my exams and currently trying to get a job while waiting for results.

Without further ado, let's start the chapter!

=Chapter Start=

Part 1

"Okay, listen up! We are currently at 23, 000 feet in the air and roughly 10 minutes away from the drop-point. You all will be assisting the IS Representatives in this operation. We are to ensure that no one gets left behind and no one gets hurt in that plane. The only bodies I want to see are those scumbags who take hostages for kicks. Do I make myself clear, Rough-Necks?!"

"SIR YES SIR!" The soldiers bellowed their reply as they saluted in perfect synchronization. Ichika could only sigh in resignation at the sight of those soldiers being so energetic while their commander continued barking orders and rallying the troops for the mission at hand.

Currently he and the other girls were on the transport plane that was bringing them close to the private jet in order to get to it. Normally, they would be able to fly directly to a moving target (with him have to be piggybacked by someone), but considering how much damage their units had sustained, it was deemed necessary to fly them close to the plane before they deploy their suits. Last thing they needed was to fly half way before falling a couple thousand into the water or solid ground.

In addition to that, Chifuyu figured they could use some extra help in this matter, since they were mostly trained for combat and not hostage situations, so she decided to reign in the military for their cause. Kanzashi was left back at IS Academy for 2 reasons. One was due to her unit still being an experimental model based off an old Uchigane design, so hers needed more adjustments before it could be operational. The second reason was for her to be handling communications channels for them.

The trip there was not unpleasant to say the least. For one thing, the soldiers came to talk to him and occasionally asked for his autograph and to have a picture taken, which was a little new and pleasant for him, considering how every person who came to him were girls who often fought over him for some reason. He still shuddered at the memory of the time girls went to him some time after his photo shoot with Houki. That was a memory involving a karaoke bar, a few drinks, a couple of lasso ropes and an angry mob of guys that he vowed to seal away in his mind forever and not talk about it.

As for the others, it was clear that they had some experience with the attention; Cecilia and Rin practically started posing and giving out autographs almost automatically, while Charlotte was being polite as she slowly talked to the guys. As for Houki and Laura, they were somewhat overwhelmed or aloof at the attention given to them, but nevertheless their attitudes seemed to attract the guys even more. Ichika could have sworn that he heard one of them saying "Queen" after he got his autograph from Laura.

In any case, he just hoped that they got to the drop zone soon, so that he can get this nervousness out of his system, and if it can stop Laura from alternating her sights on the soldiers and him; the last thing he needed was Laura getting some weird ideas for him.

Corporal Damon was resisting the temptation to let out a sigh of frustration as he watched the ensuing argument, wondering if he needed to step in to make sure it does not escalate into a fight that could cause the jet to crash.

When the jet landed in Dallas, the 4 of them went to knock out the crew changing over and took their place, leaving only the pilots to get them up in the air. However, as one of his companions pointed out, the passengers brought along more security guards than anticipated, since some of their targets went to Japan by a separate route. After consulting with General Gregor about the numbers, it was decided that one of the men would remain on the second plane for emergencies, while Fenix and two others called in the last minute would go assist in commandeering the jet. It was a close call; they barely got on the plane before it left the airport, and with their increased numbers were able to take over the jet with few problems.

One of the precautions taken was to activate the device immediately after loading it on board to ensure no one had any IS equipment activated while they were taking over the plane. That was some good thinking on Fenix's part; there were a couple of guards that were guarding Anita Anderson, one of their primary targets, who had equipment similar to IS Units, and would made things difficult. There were also a few other females guards that had similar equipment that could derail their operation. Even so, it was a bit of a struggle to get them and other guards subdued, before herding everyone to one of the larger rooms, but it went relatively well.

One other concern came from the pilot who managed to send a distress message before Fenix stormed into the cockpit and take him and the co-pilots captive. Fenix estimated that it would likely take an hour or so before the authorities rallied up the force needed to find them, so they still had time to prepare.

So why was he feeling the waves of an incoming headache now?

"Say that again, you damn bastard!" A half-Mexican man in military briefs snared at the other soldier in front of him. Like the others, his hair was tied in a ponytail and a tattoo of a scorpion was on the left side of his neck, but was distinguished from the rest with his ear piercings and a cross-shaped scar on his right cheek.

"No problem Sanchez, I will say as many times as I have to!" The other soldier snapped back with prejudice in his tone. He had blonde hair and a tribal tattoo across his left eye. "You are not to touch any of the females for your sick games. We are here for the operation, NOT to engage in your twisted hobbies!"

'Oh yeah', Damon thought privately as he finally gave in to the temptation of massaging his temple to relieve his headache. 'That's why.'

Juan Carlos Sanchez, otherwise known as 'Diablo Sanchez', was once a high ranking officer from the American Marine Corps who was highly decorated for his achievements in the military. But that was somewhat marred by his almost barbaric methods on the battlefields that made even his fellow officers a little wary of him, hence the nickname. At the same time, he had a lust for women that seemed unquenchable; he earned the moniker 'Diablo 23' because when they were convicting him of war crimes, they could only tie Sanchez to 23 cases of women disappearing and being found in another area in a state that had investigators appalled at the atrocity.

Quite honestly, no one wanted him on this mission; True, they themselves were no role models as many were either dishonorably discharged or were laid off due to them disobeying orders, but most of them was due to disobeying orders that were immoral, or they were forced to make choices that were either to save civilians and lose the fight or to win at the cost of thousands of innocent lives. Damon himself got laid off due to abandoning a mission in order to save a family of four from raids performed by the enemies he faced.

Sanchez on the other hand was someone who seemed to enjoy bathing in the blood of his enemies and victims, if the accounts Damon heard were of any indication. Not to mention the fact that he had this questionable obsession to turn any female in his sights into a state that supposedly made one of the most hardened investigators Damon knew to throw up.

General Gregor was reluctant himself, but the unexpected attack on the cartel at the Amazon led authorities to the arrest of some of their men, reducing their numbers severely, so he had no choice but to break Sanchez and a couple of others out of prison in exchange for their services. But he did make it very clear that if Sanchez were to go out of line in any way, they will take him out.

And right now, looks like they may get a chance at that.

The argument started after they got everyone into one of the conference cabins in the plane. The others were checking their documents to ensure they have everyone when one of them pointed out vocally about Anita Anderson's profile. Damon could understand their surprise when he recalled the information; most would not associate a 20 year looking young lady with an admittedly terrific body to be a 45 year old mother of three and a member of the IS Council.

Unfortunately, Sanchez was there as well, so when he went to check on that information, well... Damon was not there earlier so he was not too sure, but based on the description given by some of the others who were guarding the hostages, it was not too hard to imagine the type of 'checks' Sanchez gave to Anita Anderson and her daughters.

At least the guy Sanchez was arguing with, Corporal Chris was there guarding the hostages, and he made it particularly clear that the women were not to be touched in any way. From there, the argument escalated to the point where one of the other guards had to call for Sergeant Fenix to handle the situation, something Damon was thankful for. Apart from General Gregor, Sergeant Fenix was perhaps the only other person who could put down Sanchez easily if necessary, which made him and Sanchez bitter enemies from the beginning, somewhat cemented with the fact that Sanchez took every opportunity to disobey any orders made by Gregor, and that grated Fenix the wrong way.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" A shout made everyone wince and making the two soldiers stop their argument, as Fenix marched into the room and got between the two of them with a look that made Damon very glad that he was not on the receiving end of it. "May I ask, what the hell are the two of you doing standing around and arguing?"

Chris jabbed his thumb at Sanchez with a scowl. "He's the problem. This guy's trying to do that thing of his again, and he's getting the hostages extremely worked up because of it."

"Hah! Says the guy who has issues with his manhood all the time." Sanchez replied with a sneer on his face. "What was that, bastard?!" Chris turned around while gripping his sidearm. "Hah! Looks like you need a few more holes in the head if you can't hear that!" Sanchez reverse-gripped his knife in his hand while using the other to egg Chris on.

"I said that's enough from the both of you!" Fenix growled out that statement. "Right now, we are handling an operation, not a goddamn fistfight!" Turning to Chris, he said "Chris you will continue staying here guarding them okay? And as for you..." Turning to Sanchez, he asked in a threatening tone and an expression that got everyone a little wary, "Here's a question: can you fly?"

"No, I can't, so what..." Sanchez asked derisively only to cut off by Fenix's next words.

"So here's the deal: I despise rapists who go around murdering women for kicks. For me, you're somewhere between a cockroach and that white stuff that accumulates at the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty. But, in your case, I'll make an exception. So remember this when you look at her or the other women on the plane. Either you keep your little friend from flying out of your pants" Fenix pointed with deliberate intention with his handgun. "Or you will be flying out of this plane. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a tense moment in which the two of them were staring with each other with a large amount of venom in their eyes. After a while, Sanchez gave a loud 'tch!' and walked out of the room, pausing to give another glare at Fenix. "Yeah, damn clear, asshole." before grabbing the handle and slammed the door shut.

Fenix took a moment to glare at the door, before taking in a deep breath and letting it out as a big sigh, then turning to the hostages tied up. "My apologies, ladies and gentlemen, for seeing such a distasteful sight. Please understand, that we are currently carrying out an operation which requires a bit of 'manhandling'. I only ask for your cooperation, and I promise that no harm will come to you all, even from 'certain people'" He ended that with a face like he swallowed a sour grape, which pretty much said what he thought of Sanchez.

After that, he quickly gave an order to Chris and the other guard to lock the doors before heading out. Damon followed soon after, with a thought that the operation was going to become a major problem later.

Catherine let out a quiet sigh to ease her tensed nerves. It was not much, but she could not be picky of the situation.

She was still trying to wrap her head around the situation she and the others were in. When the fake steward came to take them hostage, she tried to activate her equipment to create a shield, but halfway in the mobilization, she suddenly felt a feedback that nearly knocked her out, giving the person the chance to force them out of the cabin and move them to the conference room, where some of the others were tied up, soon to be joined by Annie and Cynthia who seemed to have experienced the same problem but got a bigger feedback.

Things did not go too well when the Mexican came into the room later to check on the the entire group. She recognized him from the newspaper as one of the few prisoners who escaped recently from the military state prison. She did not know too much about him, but the little she managed to find out did little to comfort her.

She managed to hold herself back from cringing when he directed his eyes at her and the other females; she felt like the guy was stripping her with his eyes, and her body was laid bare for him to feast on. It was particularly trialing for the three sisters, particularly Villian, who looked like she was going to faint when the guy directed his attention at her. Genaro and the few kinder men who were next to her shifted as best they could while bounded in order to shield her from his attention, all the while glaring at him.

Thankfully, it seemed that the other soldiers do not share his lust for women; one of them stood in between him and them to block his view, while the other took out his radio to call the person in charge of this operation as the Mexican started to argue with the soldier called Chris. The situation got to breaking point when the apparent person in charge came to defuse the argument.

Now that Fenix got that man away, Catherine started to reassess the situation. It was pretty obvious that these men had some sort of device that could jam signals related to IS equipment, and based on the states Cynthia and the other guards were in, had the effective range and power to do so. Including Fenix, there were at least 7 in total that took over the plane, and supposedly a few others elsewhere on standby in another country. Due to their numbers, the hostages were split into the two conference rooms for easier management.

The only thing she wondered was why they decided to hijack the plane with them on-board. Was it related to the private summit? Or maybe it was a coincidence they chose this plane?

"So what the hell is going on?" A voice broke Catherine's thoughts as she turned to see a groggy Cynthia trying to get up, which is problematic in her current state and the fact that her hands and legs were tied up securely at the back. She slipped and banged her head against the wall a little hard, wincing from the pain.

Amusingly in this situation, Catherine thought of the many men who tried courting Cynthia. They would probably faint from blood loss through the nose if they were to see her in that position; her hands were tied really tightly to ensure she does not try to escape, with the end result of her considerable assets being made more prominent. Add to the look of being vulnerable, and most men would probably be sent to hospitals for blood transfusions, but with very blissful expressions.

Before Catherine could reply to Cynthia, a sudden stomping outside the room stopped her words. With a loud crash, the door slammed open to show one of the other soldiers looking extremely tensed.

"Guys, get ready!" We have some company on the way!" He shouted before heading back outside. His words changed the mood of the room; all the soldiers steeled their faces while gripping their weapons tightly, while the hostages started showing hopeful expressions. Only Catherine and some of the other security guards were frowning; there was no way this could go well easily, and they knew it.

"Okay, saddle up people! We have arrived at the drop point, so look sharp everyone!" The commander shouted as he returned from the cockpit where he was conversing with the pilot. Ichika gulped a little loud to ease his nerves, but no one could blame him for that; the others too were wrestling with their individual emotions, Laura being the only person who was totally calm, if not looking downright bored.

It took a while for them to catch up with the jet; after all they were using an older military cargo plane to chase after one of the latest continental jets capable of going supersonic in a few seconds. Because of that, they needed to make an estimate of where the jet would be in order for them to deploy their IS and chase after them. It was a very accurate estimation; they barely reached the drop-point when Chifuyu called to tell them the jet was coming within a few feet of their location. Better yet, it seemed that some of the other governments had sent some backup to help them out for this mission.

"Nervous, kid?" Ichika's thoughts got interrupted as he turned to see the soldier smiling next to him. He was one of the more senior soldiers on board the plane and his appearance suit the 'typical badass' Ichika associate with tough soldiers: the old man had ridges on his forehead that gave his face a very hardened look, complemented with strands of silver hair to show his age. He had a very muscular frame that was evidently straining against the military fatigues he had on. Ichika thought that this guy probably would not look out of place if he were given a Gatling gun and stood on top of a building like the Terminator.

"A little bit, sir" Ichika gave a weak smile as he replied. Actually he was feeling like his stomach was turned inside out and filled with firecrackers. But he figured he should try to look a little tougher in front of the soldiers.

"Ah that's understandable." The soldier nodded at his reply. "It's okay to be a little nervous at times like this. Besides, I would probably knock your head a little if you said you were not in order to look tough." He added that part with a laugh, which Ichika could only respond by giving any weak smile. Good thing he admitted being a little nervous, because the old man's arms certainly look thick enough to knock off his entire head.

"A piece of advice, kid. Don't let it get to you too much; just use it as motivation to get this job done." He held up a small photo of him with two kids, smiling as he added. "Like me, I'm doing this so I can protect my grandkids. My motivation is to see their smiling faces every time I do a good job." Ichika gave a nod as the man beamed on the photo. "For your case." The soldier paused before giving a teasing smile. "Maybe your motivation can be to look good in front of those girls, heh?"

"Hah?!" Ichika nearly shouted at him while blushing heavily. He quickly turned around to find the girls looking at him, having been attracted by the sudden sound he made. He was already red in the face to begin with, but when his eyes laid on Houki (who was carrying a puzzled expression), his face went even redder as a memory of the two intruded his mind.

The two of them alone on the beach at night...

Houki asking Ichika whether he knew how she felt...

Houki and Ichika drawing closer to ...

'Damn it concentrate!' Ichika slapped his face a couple of times to clear his head, with the soldier chuckling at his action. 'Darn it old man, why did you have to say such a thing?!'

"Okay, we are opening the hatch now. All you soldiers strap yourselves in now!" The commander said as he attached his harness to the reinforced pole and put his hand on the lever. That was the cue for Ichika and the others to activate their IS. Ichika shook his head to rid of the embarrassing memory and focused on activating his unit while blocking out the sounds of awe made by the soldiers as Byakushiki started taking form with a bright light. He really needed to concentrate for this mission; during the maintenance before boarding the plane, the crew commented that his unit was still prone to malfunctions.

"Okay, now that's pretty impressive." The senior soldier gave that reply as Byakushiki finished materializing its armor. Ichika could only smile back as he examined the armor one last time. At least the crew managed to fix the armor so that he should not have to worry about taking too many hits. But they did warn him that even with the repairs done, his unit still had less power than what he normally would have, so they added a timer to his system to show the amount of time he had before returning to the plane for a quick recharge.

"All right, you are clear to go!" The commander yelled as he pulled the lever. As the hatch opened, the sudden rush of air went through it, making the other soldiers clutch their harness tightly. "Good luck, kid!" The old soldier yelled while giving a thumbs up. Ichika waved back before looking forward. Cecilia, Rin, Charlotte and Laura had already flown off, leaving only Houki and him left to leave the plane. With a deep breath, Ichika boosted his thrusters and launch himself out of the plane, and into the open sky.

Ichika blinked a couple of times to get his eyes used to the bright sunshine. No matter how many times he had done this before, it was still hard to readjust his bearings in bright light. Technically speaking, Byakushiki had the functions to perform lighting differentiation to aid pilots to see in the dark or to avoid blindness, but he had yet to fully set the readings properly.

After a few more seconds of blinking, his eyes cleared a rather stunning sight: the bright blue ocean in front of him, with small patches of white cloud drifting near and around him, and the bright sunshine radiating above him and sending its rays downwards. It was scenes like this that made him glad that he could operate an IS. You don't get views like this when flying a plane.

Pity it had to be ruined by the sight of a jet that was close by and the small groups of IS flying near it. The gravity of the situation made his mood sink back down.

"Ichika, we need to get moving." Houki's voice broke through his thoughts. Turning around, he saw that Houki had managed to catch up with him and the others on time. Looking around, he could see small groups of other IS pilots coming near them, with several fighter jets coming along.

"Orimura Sensei said that we should be working with one senior pilot and her team." Charlotte said as she looked around to see who it was they were supposed to be working with. "Which one though? There are so many teams on my side, not to mention the others at yours." Rin pointed out the other groups as she too turned around to check.

"Oh, so you are the male pilot we heard so much about." A voice from the intercom made Ichika turn around to see who it was. A little to his right, several IS pilots were flying close to them, being led by a woman handling an unusual looking IS. She was definitely a foreigner; she had long pale hair trailing in the wind behind her, and her fair skin was somewhat glaring in the sunlight. To complement that, her body was wrapped in a green suit that was accentuating her hourglass figure very well.

Her IS was unique to say the least: her armor frame was a lot thinner than most models, covering her abdomen and limbs, and the limb armor seemed to resemble more of gauntlets and greaves, rather than the bulky armor that were common of IS. Her equipment seemed to consist of a blaster cannon fixed on the right side and a mini Gatling gun on the left.

"My name is Ellen Mira Meiz. Pleasure to meet you." Ellen gave a gentle smile that made Ichika's heart skip a beat. "Ah, my name is Ichika Orimura, it's nice to meet you too." Ichika automatically bowed his head as he returned her greetings.

"Ellen Mira Meiz? As in the American Representative Pilot of EXCOM Dynamics?" Charlotte asked with her eyes wide open. Ellen gave her acknowledgment with a smile. "You know who she is, Char?" Ichika asked through the intercom.

"She's the test pilot for EXCOM Dynamics; they are field-testing a three-generation prototype for mass-production." Char pointed to the green armor frame that Ellen had and the white frame versions that her co-pilots were having. "She's also one of the top American IS pilots around. I believe she was one of the favorites to take the top spot."

'Oh, so she should know Natasha Fairs.' Ichika thought back to the first time he first met the American Representative. So that would mean this woman was a strong pilot to be considered one of the best.

"True, but it's a good thing I did not get chosen; I'm not that good with publicity." Ellen waved her hand while smiling. "Besides, don't think the cameras would like me." She added that while sticking out her tongue. 'That's a rather cute gesture of hers', Ichika thought privately.

"Is it really that cute?" Ellen asked while smiling at the sight of Ichika shaking his head in denial. Why was it every female seemed to know what he was thinking?!

"I'm currently one of the few handling the situation, so you guys will be under my command for now until the situation calls for something drastic." Ellen turned to Ichika and smiled. "So I hope you listen to my orders carefully, Ichika-san." She was leaning forward a little as she said she said that, which gave Ichika a very bountiful view of her assets squeezed tightly.

"Erm, yes Madam." Ichika blushed as he nodded and directed his eyes elsewhere. He really needed to concentrate right now!

"Kyaa, he's so cute!" The younger pilots following her squealed as they watched the interaction between the two. Ichika could only put a hand at the back of his head as he blushed heavily.

Unfortunately, this was all done in front of Houki and the rest of the girls.

"Ichika, stop flirting with them already!" Houki said with her eyes flashing dangerously as she brought out her sword in a very threatening manner.

"Ichika-san, we really should get that flirty attitude out of your system." Cecilia smiled with her eyes closed while pointing the barrel of her rifle in a threatening manner. "Yes we should" Rin gave a very scary smile as she clutched her weapon very tightly.

"Oh dear Ichika, you really are a hopeless ecchi, aren't you?" Charlotte gave her 'angel of death smile' as she gave that statement. "Ichika, you are my wife, so stop being unfaithful!" Laura declared loudly, earning her some strange looks.

"Oh my, you have such scary friends." Ellen noted as the girls got a little closer to Ichika whose face was displaying a lot of panic. She turned to the girls she was with and exchanged a teasing smile, before going to Ichika and surprising him by wrapping her arms around his. "Maybe you would like to be with this Onee-san and her friends afterwards? What do you girls say?"

"YES PLEASE!" The other pilots got around him and got into a big group hug. Ichika's red face went even redder at the feeling and sight of the women pressing their bodies against him.

""ICHIKA!"" The five girls yelled at him through the intercom.

'Somebody please help me!' Ichika mentally shed tears at the mess he was in.

"Erm, don't mean to interrupt your flirting and everything, but can we get this negotiations over and done with?" A voice resonated through the intercom, prompting everyone to stop their mini argument (on Ichika's side) / teasing (on Ellen's side). Ichika gratefully removed himself from the big group hug, steadfastly ignoring the glares being given by Houki and the girls, and the giggling that came from the others and the few groups near them.

"Testing, testing, can everyone hear me?" the voice resonated in the intercom, with the small sounds of thumping, like the person was hitting the mike lightly to test it. The voice seemed scrambled, so it was hard to tell whether it was a male or female speaking. "Right then, so who do I talk to for negotiations?" The voice continued in a somewhat bored tone. Those words brought the happy mood down to the ground.

"I will be the one handling the negotiations." Ellen started speaking, her expression and tone having switched to one befitting of this serious situation. "My name is Ellen Mira Meiz, to whom am I speaking to?"

"Very well then. You will be sufficient for the task then." The voice gave that reply after a pause. "My name is of no interest to you. Our conditions are pretty clear. As long you can complete the tasks given, we can ensure that no one will be hurt."

"It would largely depend on the tasks you wish for us to complete." Ellen gave that reply tersely. "Furthermore, I would require some confirmation on the conditions of the hostages."

"That's a given." With that, a "Ping!" made everyone look to their individual screens, to find a small icon referring to a video message. Ichika opened his and barely stifled a gasp as the video started showing a few people tied up on the floor, with a soldier standing guard near them. It then panned to another group of people supposedly tied up in another room.

"Satisfied?" The voice asked after the message had been played. "So here's the run-down of who we are and what we want."

"We are called the Engineers. We are the soldiers who had fought and bled for our nations, and had, under orders of our governments, gave up our lives so as to ensure everyone can be saved, yet your governments and officials continue under pretense of peace conservation, send others over in order to gain territory and wealth from the oppositions."

Ichika frowned as the voice continued speaking about the group's supposed mission and focus. He wasn't sure why, but somehow it felt like the words were scripted, yet the manner it was spoken seemed genuine. Further thoughts were broken when Ellen started speaking.

"A bold description of your group" Ellen arched an eyebrow. "Though I still see no connection to this situation."

"I don't expect you to; after all, you girls are lucky." There was a strong tone of sarcasm that rubbed everyone listening up the wrong way. "You girls do not need to know much about the back deals of governments too often. Technically, some of you would no doubt understand of what the government has probably asked of you, so I probably won't need to say it." the voice paused for a moment before continuing, a notable melancholy tone evident in his next statement. "But in the case of the young male pilot over there, I shall elaborate a little, so that he can learn what's to be expected of him in the future at hand."

"We had done many things to ensure the citizens do not have to enter the battlefield, yet you continue to send innocent men to their deaths, and continue shedding more blood. Your governments sugarcoat their speeches to send them fighting, while they stay behind in safety" The voice notably started gaining intensity as it continued. "Not to mention, for many who have fought in your wars, none had been given the recognition that was worthy of their cause. The ones who died, left forgotten by the politicians who used and discarded them. The few who lived, ended up in prisons for committing the crimes that was asked of them by the governments!"

Ichika flinched at the venom that was evident near the end of the voice's ranting. Whoever was the owner of that voice, that person did not appreciate how one's efforts to serve the country ended up being ignored or worse, used as means to justify sending the person to prisons.

"So what do you want from us?" Ellen asked, looking notably shaken at the unusual intensity of the speaker.

"You can start by releasing some of the prisoners that are currently held in the maximum prison in America, at Washington." The voice started talking, seemingly regained control over oneself. "These people have served their nations well, yet their governments used them as scapegoats in order to justify their work." Another "Ping!" sound and the sight of Ellen moving her arm meant that the speaker sent another message to her personally

"I would need to consult with the others regarding your request of your choice of prisoners. They aren't exactly" Ellen paused to find a more subtle word. "The type for us to release so easily."

Ichika nearly snorted at that statement. He was not too sure of the type of people they were asking for, but judging from the expressions on some of her companions' faces and the bits of information gathered from that conversation, it was safe to say that the type of prisoners asked to be released were not to be trifled with.

"Understood, but remember, you only have a half hour to meet this demand. The fate of the hostages rest on your decisions, and for both yours and their sakes, I would advise you make the right choice." The speaker said with an emphasis on the last few words.

Ellen turned to Ichika and the rest and gave a silent nod before turning around to head to one of the carriers that was with them. Ichika thought inwardly that this was going to be a rather tricky situation. Still for what's worth, it looked like some of the other IS groups had their own plans; he could see a few break off and approach the plane at its blind spots. So it would probably end quickly.

In a way, he should have avoided thinking that way.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Everyone stopped in mid-air to listen. What did the person want to add?

"Just in case you guys are planning anything." The voice paused for a moment before delivering the next message. "Here's a little incentive to NOT do so"

"Huh?"

"RRRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!"

"ARGH! My ears!" Ichika shouted as he attempted to put his hands to his ears, but with the headpiece in place, it was a little hard to do so. On the intercom, he could barely hear Houki and the others screaming in pain from the same sound. But his frustration soon gave way to confusion and fear when the screen in front of him started to flicker, and warning alarms and messages started to appear one by one, before Byakushiki started to sputter and drop sharply.

"Shit!" Ichika cursed as he frantically tried calling up menus for manual override, not an easy feat considering his boosters were going out-of-sync, and started to spin him around at increasingly dizzying speeds. When that did not work, he had to resort to pulling the small lever hidden at his left side of the armor to physically reboot the system temporarily. When the system temporarily went offline, his heart nearly skipped a beat. Then to his relief, the system gave the rebooting sound, and he took the chance to boost his thrusters backwards away from the plane. The screen flickered a little more before it displayed properly, the warnings screens and alarms having diminished from the increasing distance away from the plane.

"Ichika-san, are you alright?! Please respond!" Ichika winced as Kanzashi's voice blared through his intercom. It seemed that Kanzashi had been desperately trying to contact him for a while now. "Yeah, I'm fine for now." Ichika assured Kanzashi while grimacing. It was times like this he was grateful that the IS intercom systems did not extend visuals to the communications room.

"Are you girls okay?" He directed that question to Houki and the rest. He could not find them on the monitor, so he was getting a little anxious. His relief came when Houki's voice came through the intercom.

"We are fine, Ichika." Houki's voice rasped through the intercom, her exhaustion evident from the speakers. "But what the heck just happened?! Our suits suddenly went nuts on us and nearly went into lock-down!"

"It's some sort of Disruption Wave." Cecilia's voice came into the conversation, notably sounding very groggy. "It seems to be targeting the IS and induce some sort of interference that made the entire system go haywire. But to affect this many in such an open area, the range would have to be huge!"

"Is everyone all right?" Ellen's voice came through just as he spotted her on the screen. "All personnel are to retreat to a safe distance immediately. You guys will be heading back to your respective carriers to prepare an assault. The rest of you help the others!"

'Help the others?'

Ichika turned in time to see some of the senior pilots fly by, lifting several of their unconscious teammates by cables extending from the frames. To his shock, the IS units on them seemed to have reverted back to their default mode, and seemed to have lost its luster, having rusted in a reddish brown color. Ichika could not help but think:

'What the heck just happened?'

Part 2

"That worked a lot better than I thought" Sergeant Fenix could not help but give a soft whistle as he watched the pilots carry those affected the most from the demonstration. He was told about the upgrades that was given to the device, including increased range, intensity and a special targeting mechanism for focusing on a particular unit, but he did not expect it to be this effective. Considering they were in a flying jet, he had expected the effects to be diminished, but that did not seem to be a problem at all.

Admittedly, Fenix was feeling a little intimidated at the sight of all the different IS units flying around. He was also a little shocked to see the male pilot flying nearby. If he were here, that would mean that woman would be involved as well: Orimura Chifuyu.

Not exactly the type you want to mess with if it involved IS matters.

Because of that, he decided to change tactic and demonstrated the capabilities of the device. He figured that by giving them a taste of its true strength will make them realize that they have to take them seriously, and to avoid any sudden trickery to secure the hostages.

Granted, part of it got motivated from his memories stemming from the inactions his government did to deal with a small conflict that led to the deaths of many of his comrades. He felt justified to use it so as to remind them that they were at his mercy; a good thing too, given that he missed a few pilots until he saw them being carried away.

There was also a small pang of pain when he saw the male pilot flying nearby. It was stupid of him to think of it, that he knew from his heart, but he felt the kid was denied his own freedom the moment the news got out that he could pilot an IS. He had heard about the kidnapping attempt that cost Orimura Chifuyu her second win, and he could relate to the fears of it happening again.

It also reminded him of what the government did to him and his son.

'Damn Politicians' Fenix cursed as he kept the controller in his pocket and made his way back to the cockpit to relieve the guard. If this was how the governments handle things, then he would continue to oppose them in this manner.

And if they decided to take drastic measures such as blowing up the plane with the hostages on board, well... That would only prove his point that those people were the real monsters.

Catherine inwardly sighed as she watched the soldiers guarding them relaxed a little after Fenix radioed them of their success.

She could only imagine that whatever was used on her and the other guards was also the reason for the soldiers' exhilaration. For one thing, there were some who still had their equipment in standby mode, however it had turned a rusted red and it won't activate at all. Based on the mutterings by them, she gathered that their equipment had somehow been reset, and that their devices had been completely messed up. So it was not like they could do anything to help out.

Right now Catherine had other plans in mind.

"So how are you getting along?" Catherine whispered to Cynthia who had recovered enough to lay back-to-back to her.

"It's a little tough, but I think I'm just about there." Cynthia let out a slight undignified snort as she struggled with the small piece of glass in her hands. During the earlier argument, some of the glass bottles fell off the table, shattering and scattering all over the ground, one particularly big and sharp piece near Cynthia. Out of their sight, Cynthia was able to grab the piece and positioned herself such that she was leaning against Catherine. They had been alternating the process of cutting their bonds with the shard for a while now, and Cynthia's bonds were almost cut through.

"But seriously, what is with our luck?" Cynthia muttered as she moved her shoulders to get a better position. "I had hoped we could get at least one normal trip without a typical plane heist, or a boat takeover, or something coming our way."

"You're kidding right?" Catherine asked amusedly. "What part of our job description is normal?" One might question her words, but it was the truth: being the bodyguards of IS Council members, one cannot hope to have a typical security detail. When Catherine and Cynthia had taken up the duties, pretty much every trip was a bit of adventure on its own. One might wonder why they hadn't quit their jobs yet.

"Kind of reminds you of Egypt, huh?" Cynthia smiled grimly as she managed to cut through another strand of her bonds. "I think you and I have very different memories about Egypt." Catherine replied back in a deadpan tone while rolling her eyes.

Just then, the door slide open, then a soldier walked in to look at the group. Catherine recognize as one of the soldiers who came during the argument between Sanchez and Chris, who was also looking at him with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask why he was there.

"Do any of you know Michael Craig?" The soldier asked while scanning their faces for any expressions. Catherine noted the way the other soldiers turned to him with expressions of doubt and surprise at his question, and kept that bit of information stored in her head. It might come in handy later. Also she was wondering where she had heard the name before.

"Why do you want to know about Craig?" Genaro asked the guy slowly, a look of wariness on his face apparent at the question he asked. With a jolt, Catherine remembered where she had heard the last name from. Genaro was the one talking about the young CEO who was supposed to be in Japan due to a vacation.

"That's for me to know only." The solider gave that reply in a warning tone. "What I want to know is: why isn't that guy here?" For a moment, Catherine noted a small tone of desperation and a look of anxiety on his face. But before anyone could answer him, a voice drawled out.

"Seriously man, you are so paranoid." Everyone turned to where the voice came from. Leaning against the door frame was Sanchez, with his arms folded and a smirk on his face as he watched them with slated eyes. "Why don't you just tell them the real reason you want the guy?"

"This does not concern you Sanchez, so back off." The soldier growled his reply as he clenched his fist tightly. Despite the open hostility against him, Sanchez still gave a mocking smirk as he reached into his pocket and took out a small photo. "Oh, you sure about that? After all" he flipped the photo to reveal the soldier and a younger girl smiling together. "Does it not involve your little sister, Damon?"

Damon's eyes went wide as he frantically search his pockets, before he directed a very angry expression at Sanchez. "Give it back!" Sanchez smirk only went wider as he studied the photo.

"Ah, such a tragedy, to have a heart disorder at such a young age, she probably would need a heart transplant to at least live a little longer." Sanchez continued talking while taking peeks at Damon's expression, which was showing more anger by the second. "But the problem with heart transplants is that they are so costly to get the right heart for the job, and even then, the chances of success are rather low even with current technology. Not to mention the possibility of medication for the rest of her life" Sanchez paused for a moment to give the people listening in to understand the circumstances before saying the next few words. "But if she were to get an artificial heart that promises to be 100% compatible..." He left it trailing to emphasize his point.

Catherine understood as she caught a glimpse of Genaro's expression at the man's words. Based on what she had heard from Annie and Genaro, Craig was breaking new grounds of biotechnology and medicine by combining IS Technology with biology and chemistry. And if Genaro's description of Craig was correct, Craig was not the type to leave a person in dire need.

That being said, she had to wonder if Craig might make an exception with terrorists.

"Sad really." Sanchez let out a leer as he studied the photo closely. "She's such a pretty thing; it would be a bit of a shame to not meet her..."

"DAMON!" A shout drew everyone's gazes towards the soldier, who drew out his gun and pointed the barrel right at Sanchez, his expression the very picture of twisted anger. "Get your bloody hands off that photo, and GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY SIS!" Damon cocked the weapon and aimed it right at Sanchez.

Despite having the gun pointed straight at his face, Sanchez smiled while mockingly raising his hands to show his surrender, before throwing the photo at Damon, who grabbed it with his free hand. "Relax, I'm not here for you." To Catherine's horror, he turned to direct a leer at Annie. "I just have a little date with an old acquaintance of mine."

He walked slowly to the group where Annie was tied up, stopping a few feet away from them, directing his eyes at Annie. There was a look of lust, and at the same time, a trace of anger in his eyes. "Good day to you, Miss Reilly. Oh, I should be saying Mrs. Anderson? Though it's a little late, congratulations for your marriage and apologies for loss" He gave a mocking nod towards Annie, who looked at him stonily.

"Oh, don't remember me, heh?" Sanchez gave a chuckle as he asked. "That's a shame. Because I remember you specifically, or rather, I remember your husband, Howard Anderson." At this point, Catherine and Cynthia forgot about their rescue attempt as they listened to the conversation. Annie and Sanchez must have known each other in the past, considering that he knew her maiden name and Howard. He definitely looked old enough to have known the two of them. But what was their connection?

"Then again I'm not surprised. After all" He paused for a moment before talking again, this time with a tone of distaste in his mouth. "It was your husband that stopped me from making you 'Number 24' in the first place."

Everyone in the room gasped loudly at his words. Even the other soldiers and Damon momentarily forgot their mutual dislike to stare at him. Cynthia nearly dropped the shard of glass in shock of hearing that Annie was supposed to be the next target.

"Ah, so he didn't tell you then?" Sanchez gave a smirk as he began recounting his experience with relish. "Well as you probably know, I was arrested in California while trying to escape. I believe you were in Los Angeles having a vacation around that time right? What most people did not know was me going after Howard. He was trying to catch a charter flight out from San Francisco in order to get to you. So I decided to tag along for the ride."

"He did not know back then, but I have been keeping an eye on you for quite a while. You see, I prefer to keep tabs on all my potential targets. Then depending on where I go, I would pay a visit to them. But for you, ah! You are different; you have class and the beauty."

"Ah yes! I remember when I first laid eyes on you. You were just the right type for me. Your body was ripe and begging for my hands to be soaked in your blood. I wanted to hear your screams when I take you apart." There was a decidedly maniac glint in his eyes as he described what he had planned back then, and the tone sent shivers down Catherine's spine.

"Sadly it was not to be. You see, the news station was already showcasing some of my deeds, and the plane we were on hit some turbulence, causing much of our luggage to spill out, and lo behold! My bag got dislodged and fell on the ground, spilling out my notes and my photos of you. He only needed to take one look at them and my shot to realize who I am and my next target."

"I was careless, that much I admit. I was honestly astounded by the extreme foolishness and hardheadedness Howard displayed in his attempts to stop me. I will give him this: he was a particularly determined person to stop. It was because of him the pilot went to land in California, and I had to go steal a ride to get away from the local authorities. But even then it was not enough; I ended up getting caught and sent to the maximum prison." Sanchez's face twisted into a very murderous expression that made those bounded to try and crawl away, while the soldiers took a few steps back while clutching their weapons tightly.

"Truth be told, when I was told that you became one of the council members for the IS Committee, I was very surprised. I did not believe that so much had changed during my time in prison. So you can understand my reaction when I heard that you were on board, to think I get a second chance to get you as my next target."

"And now here we are again, only this time you are on the plane with me, and Howard is not around to stop me!"

With that, he took one step and reached out to grab Annie. But before he could get his hands on her, a blur went between them. Before anyone could react, Cynthia opened her mouth wide and bit hard on the hand.

"GAHH! LET GO!" Sanchez yelled as he swung his arm at the table, making Cynthia's head take the full brunt of the hit from the table's edge. Cynthia let out a groan as she slumped onto the floor, a trickle of blood going down her face and starting to make a small pool on the floor.

"Cynthia!" Catherine attempted to get up, momentarily forgetting that she was still bounded, resulting in her crashing to the ground hard. 'Crap! I need to move!'

"How did she get out of her bounds?" Chris moved to Cynthia and moved her slightly to check her hands and legs. "Damn it, she must have cut them off with something. At least only her legs were freed and not her hands. We just need to get more rope and…"

"Wait!" Damon turned to see Sanchez with a rather scary looking smile. There was an unusual serenity in the way he was smiling despite having a bleeding hand that was turning red by the minute. There was a glint that reminded one of a wolf who has found some prey as he turned to Annie once again.

"My my, you are very fortunate to have another taking a hit for you, Mrs. Anderson. So why not this then? I will use her to practice what I intend to do on you later." Using his other hand, he grabbed Cynthia by the collar and dragged her up, before forcefully moving her to the door.

"Wait a minute, Sanchez! You don't just…" Damon started to talk, only to falter when Sanchez turned with a smirk on his face. "Oh of course, how about this then?" Turning to the other hostages, he said: "You might want to tell Damon here what he wants, then perhaps I might bring her back in a more" He paused to find a word. "Recognizable state."

With that, he opened the door and shoved Cynthia through before closing it, pausing for a moment to see the expressions on everyone's faces before shutting it completely.

Annie cursed as she attempted once again to try and loosen her bonds. It wasn't her fault, but the fact that the guy was aiming at her all this time, only to take Cynthia away, was something that was gnawing at her inside like a persistent worm.

To say she was shocked about the news given was an understatement. Howard never once mentioned this incident to her, and certainly the idea of being a target by that man was rather disturbing. Then again, that may be why Howard did not say anything at all.

At the corner of her vision, she could see the soldiers discussing about the situation before one of them took out the radio and walked out of the room, presumably to call Fenix. Annie barely registered the action, she was focusing her attention to Villian, who was quietly sobbing with Catherine and the other sisters trying to calm her down.

It was probably a little too much for the gentle girl; being the shy and quiet one, there were not a lot of people who could interact with her. Cynthia was perhaps the first one to have broken through her personality and encouraged her to be more outgoing. Having been together for so long, it was probably a very traumatizing idea of Cynthia getting killed or subjected to something worse by Sanchez.

"Don't worry Villian, Cynthia can take care of herself. There's no way she would be going down without a fight." Carissa tried to calm Villian down, though her expression was not helping the situation.

"B-But." Villian sobbed as she tried to speak properly. "She got hit in the head, and she is bleeding so much…"

"She should be fine, considering her attitude." Catherine said in a calm tone to reassure Villian. "And besides," she twisted her body, to show broken strands of rope on the ground. "She has a better chance to fight him than any of us right now."

"Time check!" Ellen called out from the corner she was in.

"We have 10 more minutes before that guy calls back for an answer." The operator called as she stepped out of the cockpit. "But we better assume we get 5 minutes to be on safe side people!"

Ichika barely gave a nod as he continued to monitor his systems. He and the others made it back to their plane where they were checking their systems for any problems that could have resulted from the earlier attack. Fortunately, it seemed that his earlier manual rebooting helped to take care of the problem, and with the help of system copy he had, he was able to get his unit up and running again. He sighed as he double checked that his suit was recharging, before turning his attention to the others.

To say this operation was frustrating did not suit the mood the slightest. Houki and the rest were looking very grim, and as for the senior pilots, they were looking downright furious, since some of the affected pilots were their friends who were currently seeking treatment for electrical shocking. Another issue was the affected IS units; despite the attempts made by their mechanics who came along, they were baffled at how the units seemed to be stuck in the state that could only be described as 'rust-bucket'.

At least this much was clear. The enemy had some sort of equipment that sent out a Disruption Wave that could interfere the inner workings of the IS. Also it seemed that distance would have an effect; since he and the others were the furthest from the plane, they experienced a system breakdown, while the ones closest to the plane, mainly the ambush group, ended up with their units locked down completely.

Because of this, Ellen gave the order for everyone to fall back to a distance of at least 320 feet from the plane when they approach it later, in order to ensure they have each other to cover. And it was also decided to have one of the military aircrafts to try and get close in order to get the soldiers on board. It would be risky, but it was the best shot they got.

"Okay everyone, saddle up! We are going out again!" Ellen's voice brought him back to reality. He turned in time to see Ellen activating her unit and heading to the hatch door. Ichika disconnected his unit and started it up, wondering as he made his way with the others.

'Would the enemy have any more surprises for them?'

'Is there anyone else out there they could turn for help?'

[Mission Update]

[Currently En-route towards plane, 10 minutes to destination]

[Present Status: Level 3]

[Surveillance sensors indicate high levels of Unknown Disruption Wave. Surrounding IS Units displayed irregular behavior in response to it. Several units had been seen locked down and exhibited unusual rusting on their armor.]

[Observations suggest that unknown equipment used by terrorists has ability to forcefully disrupt and shut down IS units, after which said units would be reset and stuck in a 'rusted' state, possibly for a few hours.]

[Based on findings, threat level to IRON is minimal.]

[Response to situation: Increase threat level to Level 4. Pilot and units are to proceed with extreme caution.]

[Jetstream and Dual will proceed to destination first, followed shortly by pilot and Mark 23. In anticipation of aerial assault, safety seals have been removed.]

[All units are hereby allowed to use necessary force to take down terrorists, whatever it takes.]

=====Author's Notes=====

Ok, now we are entering the 'Rescue Arc' I suppose, so this will take awhile.

At first, this chapter was a lot longer, but after going through and getting someone to look at it, we both thought we were rushing into the action, so I have to split it. So be warned: this arc may end up being 4/5 chapters long till the next arc.

On another note, can you guys spot the few movie references? There are a few 'Shout Out' moments. (Damn you TV Tropes for being so addictive!)

In case you guys are wondering, for Ellen and her IS frame, my idea came from the LN "Date-a-Live", the AST unit. Also, as you probably might guess, the idea for my units are a combination of Iron Man and Gundam. I have yet to finalize the idea in my head, but I should be able to get it out by the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy the chapter, and I get a new chapter out soon!