Author's Notes
Hey guys, here's the new chapter for Iron Stratos. At first I wanted to release it on Christmas, but there were a few details that I wanted to write properly without confusing you guys, so I took my time to edit. There was a moment I had considered splitting this chapter again, but I figured the suspense will get messed up, so this is the remainder of the arc.
Consider this a belated Merry Christmas Gift + an early New Year's Gift to you readers.
Without further ado, let's start the chapter!
=Chapter Start=
Part 1
"Are the authorities at the airport yet?!" Everyone winced as Chifuyu growled at them with an expression that would probably make even the most hardened soldiers weep in fear. The reason for her temper was evident on the screens; she had witnessed her brother get shot at by an enemy aircraft that had no known association, nearly lost his unit to the unknown Disruption Wave, nearly taken out by the enemy point-blank, and finally, the appearance of the unit that had become a bit of a taboo subject around her.
Chifuyu glared at the main screen displaying 'Raptor' hovering in front of Ichika and the rest. She had enough problems to make her head ache, and these units have to appear in front of them in the midst of the chaos. She knew she was being somewhat biased in her thinking, but one does not go around hacking a high security system and caused a complete shutdown without repercussions to their reputation.
In any case, the situation has turned in their favour, with all but one terrorist accounted for on the plane, the passengers were safe, and the plane was on-route to Okinawa airport. However there was one small snag to it: the red unit that was supposedly protecting the hostage got attacked by the enemy with a missile, and up till now, had yet to appear. She did hope for the best scenario where the hostage is safe ('and one annoying machine removed' she thought privately), but at times like this, it would be best not to get too optimistic.
"Orimura Sensei, I managed to get communication channels back with Ichika-san and the others." Kanzashi called from her desk as she quickly typed commands on the keyboard. Despite being relatively new to the tasks handed to her, she was arguably doing twice the workload of everyone else in the room, and had no trouble of handling it.
"Thank you, Kanzashi." Chifuyu gave a tired nod as she replied back. The Disruption Wave that the enemy used had completely scrambled their communications with the teams involved, so they could only reply back through the support teams on the planes that were not affected from the attack. At least now they should be able to communicate with Ichika and the other girls directly. She did not let anyone know, but she was getting seriously worried for her little brother being out there with a damaged suit.
"Miss Orimura, there's something you might want to know." An operator next to Kanzashi called out to her. "It would seem that the news stations have gotten word of the hostage situation. Now they are scrambling to get to the different airports to try and get the story."
"What? How?" Chifuyu rubbed her temple as she tried processing the information through her tired brain. That was really not what she wanted to hear right now; they tried to put a lid on the situation to prevent the vultures from making matters worse. Evidently, it was not enough.
"It would appear that the terrorists wanted to let everyone know who was involved for this entire mess." The operator gave a soft snort at this point. "Thing is, I don't think they realize how far off their idea of victory was. What with the machines appearing and all."
'Great, what next?' Chifuyu thought grimly.
"Erm, Miss Orimura?" One of the male operators pointed at the screen nervously as he called out to her. Chifuyu turned her attention to the screen to find 'Raptor' getting closer to Ichika's group.
'Now what?'
Ichika took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart as Raptor docked its rifle at its waist and raised its hand towards his armour in a manner suggesting it meant them no harm. He just went through a crazy experience of getting shot at and nearly killed in a span of a few minutes, not to mention nearly hugged to death by Houki, Laura and Charlotte in their worry of him being injured. And now in front of him was the unit that had appeared from top secret documents and god knows what it does around the world.
Ichika was hardly surprised when a "Ping!" indicated him to open another message from the machine; if anything, it was getting a little scary how easily he accepted the situation.
[M23: Please relax. I am not going to hurt you, I am about to reset and restore your system.] The grey machine tilted its head as Ichika read it, as if to confirm whether he got the message.
"Ah okay then, please do." Ichika gestured to the others to lower their weapons. Unlike him, the others were having a very distrustful expression towards the latest party crasher, and had their weapons aimed at it at all times. Reluctantly, they brought their weapons down slowly, constantly looking at it for any signs of trouble.
[M23: Please excuse me.] The machine brought its hand slowly to show that it was not going to do Ichika any harm, before placing it on Ichika's chest plate. A few of the girls' hands twitched as the hand started to emit a light that spread across Byakushiki's armour.
Ichika watched with slight surprise as his armour went back to its 2nd Shift and the red rust started to disappear slowly from his chest back to the limbs. Even the mechanics on the support plane were unable to fully nullify the effects of the Disruption Wave with the amount of time they had, and the machine was doing it so easily.
"Man, you can remove the rust and reset the IS suit completely." Ichika gave a soft whistle as he watched the last patches of rust disappear with a small jolt of electricity.
[M23: Not completely.] 'Raptor' replied back immediately as it removed its hand from him. [Rusting can be removed completely, however effects done to the system are more problematic, currently only 90% of the jamming effects have been removed. You would need to get your system completely rebooted in order to function properly.]
"Guess that would have to do for now then." Ichika raised his arms and flexed his fingers to test the movability. That was a very good job from 'Raptor'; his movements were a lot better than before, arguably better before the whole Golem incident.
[M23: There is something you may wish to know.] 'Raptor' told him as it looked him up and down.
"Oh?" Ichika stopped moving to gaze at the machine.
[M23: Your IS seems to have sustained damages at multiple areas of your suit. Some more recent, others later. Did you not go for repairs?] 'Raptor' asked him while pointing to his unit.
"Ah, tried to, afraid stuff keeps popping up." Ichika scratched the back of his head as he thought back to all the different battles he had to go through ever since he entered IS Academy. Even if he had tried to repair them on his own, there was only so much that could be done without the help of the Kuromochi staff.
[M23: I see. Do you require assistance in repairs?] 'Raptor' extended that invitation to him. [It would be a little problematic should your suit malfunction in the air without assistance.]
"Oh really? Thanks, I would not mind…" Ichika started thanking it before he got interrupted by Cecilia.
"Wait a minute, Ichika-san." Cecilia put her arm in between them as she stared at 'Raptor' with narrowed eyes. "I do not mean to be uncouth, but I would rather we don't trust anyone so easily, considering the nature of our situation." Houki and the rest nodded, while Ellen's teammates clutched their weapon tighter while watching the machine. "Furthermore, you should not allow anyone to just modify your suit so easily, how do we know that it won't try and hack your system?"
In response to that, a "Ping!" from every other unit indicated that everyone got the option to open a communication channel with 'Raptor', who apparently thought it would help ease her tensions.
[M23: I sense hesitation and slight irritation in your voice.] 'Raptor' turned towards her. [I understand the hesitation stemming from the appearance of an unknown unit claiming to be an ally. But regarding the irritation…] 'Raptor' paused for a while before continuing. [… My guess it is from JetStream's comments. My brother did not give a good impression of himself, I suppose.]
"Gee, you think?" Rin sarcastically replied while rolling her eyes.
[M23: My apologies. I'm afraid he has been tuned for… I believe you people call it "Brutal Honesty".] 'Raptor' replied back while bowing its head.
"That's one way to put it." Ichika shrugged as he studied the unit before him. If he had to describe the personalities of the two units he met, 'Raptor' would be the "polite but firm senior", as opposed to JetStream's "delinquent" attitude.
[M23: That being said, it would be disadvantageous for Orimura Ichika should his armour not be fully repaired. In his current state, he would only last another 10 minutes before his unit shuts down. We do not have much time left to bicker if you would. So if there's nothing else, may I proceed?] 'Raptor' turned to Ichika and asked again.
"Please do." Ichika nodded. He really needed to be at the top of game for this situation.
"Ichika, are you sure Byakushiki is okay?" Houki asked him with a look of great concern. They were currently going after the passenger plane that had a few minutes head-start of them during their little fight with the enemy jet. Ichika, Houki and the girls were following closely on the tail of 'Raptor', who was flying a little ahead of them.
"Yeah, no problem." Ichika assured her while clenching his fist a few times to show her. 'Raptor' did a hell of a job repairing his unit. He never felt so light and free in his suit before, it was as if he was wearing silk clothes rather than a suit of armour.
[M23: Your armour has been tuned and repaired to optimum performance.] 'Raptor' messaged him through the channels. [Currently your unit has been given the highest specs that can be allowed in relation to your combat style. Power efficiency increased by 80%, battle competency by 75%, energy recharged to 100%. If we are to base this on Mondo Grosso standards, you should be able to go through the first few rounds without issues.]
At that statement, a number of them including Houki and the girls nearly stumbled in the air and dropped suddenly. "Wait what?!" Rin gaped at the grey unit with shock on her face. "Are you telling me you have effectively made his unit strong enough to compete in Mondo Grosso?"
[M23: The first two rounds to be precise.] 'Raptor' turned to face Rin while flying. [If we are going by the standards of top pilots, he should at least last 10 minutes against Italy's Tempest.]
A stunned silence hung in the air as everyone processed the information. This was plain crazy; like how the hell the machine could not only repaired Byakushiki in a short range of time, it completely revamped it to the point of going against the strongest pilots around!
[M23: Keep in mind though, this is merely a temporary repair.] 'Raptor' turned its head slightly towards Ichika's direction. [Master asked me to repair the suit for the duration of this mission. The moment you remove your suit, the settings will be reset to ensure no data has been compromised. I would suggest getting a proper look over to ensure top performance.]
"Well, that's too bad." Ichika replied back while feeling a little down that his new improvements were only temporary. He would have liked to see if he could go against some of the best, maybe Chifuyu if he really wanted to risk it.
On second thought, maybe not. He would probably be a smear on the tar-mat when Chifuyu is done with him.
"Moving on to other matters: can you tell us if the passenger inside JetStream is safe?" Ellen asked 'Raptor' as she drew closer to it.
[M23: The passenger, Cynthia Aleston, is safe. JetStream's barrier was able to deflect the explosion from the missile. Master told him to use the distraction to go to the support plane and drop off the passenger to ensure her safety.]
"That's good then." Ichika let out a sigh that he had been unconsciously holding back for some time. He was really stressed out from the idea that something may have happened to the hostage. "Thanks for your help, Raptor"
[M23: Question: Why do you call me by that name?] The grey unit tilted its head to show its curiosity. "Yeah, it does have a point." Houki turned to Ichika with a raised eyebrow. "You seem to know what its name is when this should be the first time we are meeting it."
"Err…" Ichika scratched his face as everyone near him alternated their observations between the two. "Let's just say that someone I know has a photo of you with that title, so I assumed that was your name. Unless you have a different name?" Ichika arched an eyebrow at the grey machine.
[M23: Maybe later, right now we need to get to that plane.] 'Raptor' pointed towards the plane. [Currently its fuel is down by 20%, so it can only support the journey for 10 minutes, 15 if the pilot can reduce the power and setting the plane to glide mode. Doing so might get the plane back to Okinawa Airport safely, but it would be best if we monitor the situation in the event we need to support the plane on our own.]
"Okay then." Ichika paused before asking one last thing. "Don't suppose you could switch to an audio channel would you? It would be easier to communicate among us." 'Raptor' stared at him for a while before nodding. An audible click could be heard through the channels before it spoke.
"Would this do then?" Again, the voice of a supposedly sentient being seemed to unnerve the people listening in on the conversation. Like JetStream, it had a monotonous tone that made it hard to tell whether it was a person talking or just a voice recording. However it had a decidedly more upbeat tone as compared to JetStream's deadpan type.
"Y-yeah, it would do." Ichika stammered slightly as he tried to get used to the sudden change. He was so not going to get used to it.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"
"NOW what?!" Rin growled while grinding her teeth. She had enough irritation from the recent events that had transpired, and the comments made by JetStream only elevated her dislike for everything.
"Enemy approaching, 5 o'clock. Distance: 350 meters and closing." 'Raptor' grabbed its rifle from its waist and deployed its shield. "Initiating battle mode." With those words, the gold antennas dropped down with a sliding sound, covering its eyes and with the embedded crystal between the antennas glowing.
"Everyone, prepare for battle." Ellen called while deploying her weapons, with the others doing the same. And in the nick of time, as a jet burst through a cloud with a resounding sonic boom. With a jolt, Ichika recognized it as the enemy jet from earlier.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Cecilia threw up her arms in frustration. "What does it take to get that stupid plane down?!"
"Based on damage scans, not much now, Miss Cecilia Alcott." 'Raptor' replied back. "However, you got to give the pilot credit for being extremely stubborn."
"Oh great, just great. Maybe we should give him an award then." Rin gripped her weapon tightly as she rolled her eyes.
"Maybe later. Incoming." 'Raptor' raised it shield as the enemy started firing off more missiles and shots at them. Then to everyone's surprise, the paneling broke off, revealing multiple beam turrets embedded into its body. The increasing balls of light were all the indication they needed to activate their thrusters before lasers shot out of the turrets and weaved through the air towards them.
"Oh man, it even has homing laser beams!" One of Ellen's teammates yelled as she dodged a laser in time. "How much tech does this thing have?!"
"This is really a big problem for us!" Charlotte summoned her shield to defend herself against the lasers. "Despite what we throw at it, it just keeps coming back! At this rate, the enemy will get to the plane in no time!"
"Allow me to distract it then." 'Raptor' let loose some shots before flying right past the enemy. That definitely got the enemy's attention; evidently, the pilot seemed to have made it his personal mission to take down the grey unit, as the plane immediately turned and chased after it at full speed. 'Raptor' expertly dodged each laser while occasionally taking a shot at it. Then to everyone's surprise, it suddenly accelerated into a climb, before executing a half-loop in the air and ending with it twisting in the air at sharp angles and right at the tail of the enemy.
"What the? Did it just performed an 'Immelmann Turn'?" Charlotte widened her eyes in shock as she watched the machine evade the missiles and shots fired at it. "And it's doing all that at Mach 5. That's like 20Gs on it easily!"
"Admire it later! We got lasers incoming!" Laura brought out her AIC to protect herself and Charlotte from the fresh onslaught of lasers that targeted them. It was good that 'Raptor' was distracting the enemy, but that did little to ease off the attacks from it.
'Darn it! If only I can get a clean hit on it!' Ichika thought while slashing and blocking any lasers and missiles in his way.
"Might I suggest a tactical response?" 'Raptor' asked while using its shield to deflect the shots aimed at it. "Seeing as your sword is able to take down its barrier and the beam, it's imperative that we get you close enough for the strike. No need to worry, equipment dealing with the Disruption Wave has been destroyed earlier."
"That is easier said than done!" Ichika cursed as he leaned back to avoid a laser to the head.
"Then allow me to assist." 'Raptor' docked his rifle and brought out a beam saber from a compartment hidden at its hips, then started to slash any lasers coming its way. That definitely got the attention of the enemy, as the jet started to focus more fire power at the machine.
"Let's give it a hand girls!" Ellen brought out her mini-gun and launcher in both her hands, before launching forward and spinning in the air to simultaneously take down every missile and beam in her wake. The others took that opportunity to keep the enemy plane in the same spot using their weapons as a deterrent. This time the plane was forced to bear the onslaught from their attacks without the benefit of its energy barrier.
"Do it now Ichika!" Ellen shouted, and for the second time, Ichika obliged by charging forward. At the same time 'Raptor' pushed forward with its shield, closing in on the enemy's rear.
"AHHH!" Ichika roared while bringing down Yukihira and cutting off one wing of the plane, while 'Raptor' cut through the underbelly of the engines. With nothing to support it, the plane started to spin uncontrollably downwards.
"Yes, we did it!" Rin pumped her fist in the air, while Ellen's teammates high-fived each other in joy.
Unfortunately, their victory was short-lived, as the enemy decided to make a last ditch effort to hamper their mission, by firing off all the lasers and missiles it had towards the passenger plane.
"SOMEBODY STOP THOSE SHOTS!" Ellen gave the command while firing off more rounds. Cecilia tried to use her bits to shoot down the missiles, with Laura and Houki dealing with the few that got past. Unfortunately, despite their attempts, one missile managed to escape their onslaught and made its way straight for the plane.
"BOOM!"
Part 2
"Is everyone all right?" Catherine asked as she helped Floris up from the floor. That earlier explosion knocked everyone off the ground, and they remained there while waiting for the action to pass.
"For now." Clarissa grumbled as she rubbed her hip where she hit the ground hard. "Can you tell us what just happened?" She ask the machine which was standing by the main system.
[Enemy aircraft has been taken care of. No damage found on the passenger aircraft. We are safe.]
"I wouldn't quite say that."
"AHH!" Everyone turned to see Villian being grabbed and held in place by Fenix, who had appeared at the doorway. "You really should be careful of what you say. It could backfire on you."
"You asshole!" Genaro roared as he went towards Fenix with his arms out to grab him. "Ah I would not do that if I were you." Fenix coolly said as he took out a small trigger from his pocket. "Not if you want everyone get blown to the kingdom come." Genaro stopped just short of straggling him, but the rage in his eyes was very apparent.
"Please do not do anything too risky." Fenix lifted his hand to show everyone the trigger in his hand. "Now that we got that out of the way, can you please release the plane back into my custody? I would like to take this plane somewhere else, if you don't mind." Fenix addressed the machine once he moved back a little to ensure Genaro cannot get to him. "Otherwise I will be forced to press the button."
The machine stared at him for a moment, before an audible click could be heard from it.
"Are you certain of that choice of action, Sergeant Marcus Fenix? Would this not violate your other commands?" Despite the severity of the situation, some of the representatives turned to look at the machine with a bit of shock on their side. Not once had they heard the machine talk before, having their questions through small messages on the screen.
"I know this might go against what my general had in mind, but I would do whatever it takes for this mission to succeed." Fenix replied back without missing a beat.
"Perhaps so." The machine waited before continuing. "But do you think your son would want this of you?"
From where everyone was standing, they could see that Fenix got decidedly rattled by that comment. "How did you…"
"Sam Fenix. Born December 5th, 2026, West Virginia Hospital at 8.00 p.m. Age: 25 years old. Previous occupation: information technician for the Pentagon." The machine said while keeping an eye on Fenix who was going pale in the face.
"Stop…"
"Graduated from Carolina University with degree in electronic science and bachelor in engineering. Attracted the attention of officers with keen eye on securing intelligence on enemies abroad, and gave him the job offer to maintain the servers and information on missions."
"Shut up…"
"Age 23, participated in the operation in Bagdad that involved insurgents in the area. Due to misinformation, the teams involved fired upon each other. Sam took a bullet to the spine, paralyzing him from the bottom down and slipping into a coma. Currently seeking treatment at Saint Margaret's Hospital at Florida."
"Shut up!" Fenix growled as his grip on Villian got stronger, making her gasp in pain.
"Due to potential fallout and public unrest, the division commander and the politician in charge of the operation decided to remove evidence of the mess-up and blamed it on Sam and a few of his fellow soldiers…"
"Shut up!" Fenix roared as he brandished the trigger in his hand. "Don't tempt me into pressing this button. Got that?!"
"Do you honestly believe that?" The machine tilted its head while asking. "Do you really believe that doing this can get your son of the coma? For that matter, is it not for yourself that you are doing this? You could have chosen to report to the other officers who would be able to investigate the incident carefully." The machine twisted its body slightly to get a better look at Fenix. "In the end, you did nothing, and decided to pull off this reckless action in the hopes that your rage could be satisfied."
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Fenix raised his hand and pressed the button hard. And…
After a few tensed seconds, everyone opened their eyes and peeked at Fenix who was staring at the trigger as he pressed it again. "Why won't this thing work?!" Fenix yelled as he pressed a few times more before throwing it at the wall in anger.
"Yeah, no surprise. Performance issues have always been present, 1 out of 5 times. Also I blocked all available signals around the plane, so no go" Before Fenix could react to such a comment, the unit quickly brought out its right arm and fired a grappling hook docked inside its arm. The hook clamped the arm holding Villian, temporarily releasing her as Fenix attempted to remove it from his arm. The moment she was out of the way, the machine pulled hard on the grappling hook while unplugging itself from the screen, so that it can grab Fenix by the neck with its left.
Fenix gasped as the machine lifted him slightly off the ground, vainly hitting on its arm and kicking it in the chest to try and free himself.
"Ah. Ah. Ah." The machine wagged its index finger while staring at the Sergeant. "Now that was very naughty of you, Mr Fenix." It tightened its grip, watching Fenix struggled to breathe while futilely trying to get free. It was clear to everyone that he was slowly getting choked to death, with his breathing sounding more labored and seemingly losing strength.
"Naughty humans should be punished dearly. And Severely." The machine said while increasing its pressure, making Fenix gasp loudly and his eyes rolling backwards from the exertion.
"Please stop!" Everyone in the room turned to see Villian rushing forward to put her arms around the unit. For a moment, she got shocked from the electricity on its body, but she held on resolutely to get its attention.
"Why?" The machine turned to face Villian. "He tried to harm you, took everyone hostage, and threatened to kill everyone on board. Why then, do you still wish to save him?"
"I know that!" Villian looked down as she struggled to hold back her tears unsuccessfully. "But that does not mean he has to be killed! At the very least, he should at least answer to his crimes!"
"Did you not listen to my explanation? Master does not trust the authorities enough to handle several situations." The machine spoke while tilting its head, ignoring the faint twitching of the terrorist in its grasp. "And records have shown that this man and several of the terrorists on board had evaded the law due to someone bailing them out. If we do not stop them, there is an 85% possibility of them escaping."
"Perhaps you are right, but please." Villian lifted her head to show her pleading eyes. "At least, give us a chance. We may not be very good in dealing with justice, but we can still try."
Everyone held their breaths as the grey machine and Villian maintained their staring contest as Fenix was losing his breath. Then, as though it made a decision, the grey unit swung Fenix towards Catherine and the other guards, releasing its grip in order for them to catch him. With nothing holding his neck, Fenix started to take deep breaths to take in the precious oxygen.
"Your emotions are affecting your logic." The machine paused before continuing. "But for now, I shall listen to your words. For your sake, pray that your actions do not betray you." With that, it turned back to the computer system and plugged itself again.
"Villian!" Annie rushed forward to give Villian a hug. "Are you okay? Please do not do that again." Villian hugged her back while nodding in her embrace. It was something that was somewhat out of character from her, but at least no one died from that struggle.
Gently stroking Villian's hair, Annie turned to glance at the grey unit that was now sifting through data files before announcing to everyone.
[Capture of last terrorist successful. Checks complete. Bomb has been wirelessly disabled. No problems in flight trajectory to Okinawa Airport.] The machine reported using the small screen again as it checked the cameras and system. [There is nothing to stop us now. We are good.]
And with that, as if there was a force in the world that decided to challenge its words, an alarm began to blare with the main screen flashing red windows. The machine responded by pulling up programs and skimming through files quickly.
"Is there something wrong?" Annie asked as she hugged Villian close to her.
[We are now down to 10% on fuel, but we can still make it to Okinawa Airport if I changed the settings for the plane to glide, thus saving on fuel. No need to panic.]
"BOOM!"
The plane suddenly rocked violently, making a few people lose their balance and fall to the ground, and the others grabbing onto the wall or each other. "What happened?!" one of the representatives shouted with a pale face.
[We have just lost one engine to enemy fire. Shutting down power to damaged parts and redirecting power and fuel to remaining engines.] The machine brought up more programs on the screen and skimmed through them quickly. [We still have enough power to the remaining three to get back to the Okinawa Airport. No need to panic.] The machine replied back after checking the system.
Just as it finished typing that, the lights started to flicker, and a few monitors flashed a few times before going dark. Then to everyone's sinking hearts, the plane started to tilt slightly to the left, and the loose items on the plane falling off the table and shelves and people struggling to stand upright.
"Now what?" Genaro asked as he grabbed the nearest railing while holding Floris and Carissa in his arms.
[We just lost power to the engines. Emergency power currently rerouted to air supply and safety systems for emergency landing.] The machine turned to the others and in an odd gesture, shrugged at them.
[Okay. Now you can panic.]
Oh Great, just bloody great! Nothing like a passenger plane going down in flames to make the situation all so crappy!
Ichika grabbed his head in frustration as he watched the passenger plane start to drop altitude, one of the engines burning due to the missile hitting it. This was bad, they ended up missing a missile, and they were so close to getting it to the airport.
"Excuse me, I will now complete my mission." 'Raptor' said as it docked its weapons into their respective slots.
"Wait a second, what are you going to do about it?!" Ichika shouted at it.
"I and my brothers will stop it from going down." It replied back quickly before shooting forward towards the plane. Before Ichika could even think of responding to that odd sentence, a "Ping!" indicated he had a message for him. Impatiently, he opened the message and read it quickly.
[M17: Out of the way.]
"Boom!"
The sonic boom that reverberated in the area and that message were all the indications Ichika needed to move out of the way in time for a red blur to blast past him and head towards the falling plane. Without thinking, Ichika shot forward with Ignition Boost and followed it, ignoring the cries by Houki and the girls.
By the time he caught up to them, 'Raptor' and JetStream have gone under the plane and started to propped themselves on the underbelly to try and lift the plane up. "Anything I can do to help!" Ichika called out to them, barely hearing his own voice.
Perhaps the machine realized that itself, because Ichika started receiving schematics on the plane's design, before the image focused on the engine design. [M23: Please remove the engine from the plane. The fuel leaking into it would blow up the plane if we don't do so.]
"On it!" Ichika flew to the side where the engine was getting charred from the heat of the fire spewing. Ichika was tempted to use Setsura to blow it off, but since the fuel was feeding the flames, he did not want to blow the whole plane up, so he had to use Yukihira. Pouring more power into the blade, he increased the length of the beam blade, then with a yell, he slashed at the joints holding the engine to the wing. It was in a nick of time, as the engine flew off the weakened joints and exploded a little away from the plane.
"Now what?" Ichika asked 'Raptor', now that the sound was reduced significantly.
"The plane is down on fuel and power has been rerouted to emergency equipment and air supply." 'Raptor' reported quickly. "We could use some assistance to lift the plane."
"All right!" Ichika went to the middle of the plane and activated his boosters to try and push against the weight of the plane. But in this situation, it was like pushing against a wall while standing in high winds.
"It's not working!" Ichika winced as Byakushiki groaned under the strain of lifting the plane. "We are going to need more help with this!"
"Don't worry, more assistance is coming." Before Ichika could react to that statement, the sounds of an incoming jet reached his ears. A loud "Clunk!" drew his attention to his side, where he saw to his surprise, another grey unit had appeared and propped itself at the underside of the left wing. "Ping!" He got another message with the ID "M12" and quickly opened it.
[M12: I would appreciate it greatly if you could go to the other wing to support it.]
"Oh right, sorry about that!" Ichika quickly moved to the other wing and settled himself in between the engines. After that, he diverted all available power to his thrusters to lift the wing.
[M12: Okinawa Airport in sight.] The new unit reported as the eye-catching tower came into view. [Activating landing gears.] Ichika felt the plane jolt violently as the retractable gears came out of the undercarriage compartments they stored in. The increase in air resistance helped to reduce the speed even further as the plane approached the airport.
"Brace for touchdown." 'Raptor' reported as the ground drew closer. At first the wheels bounced hard on the tar-mat, letting out some smoke from the heat generated, then they started to bounce lightly on the ground.
"Booyah! We got it down!" Ichika whooped as the bouncing started to diminish and the wheels made more contact with the ground.
"Don't get too happy kid, we are not done yet." JetStream mercilessly crushed his hope while still supporting the plane. "The wheels need to be in full contact with the ground completely for it to slow down, also the speed of the plane is too much for touchdown. We will need at least a mile of tar-mat to slow down completely at our current speed."
"And how much do we have?" Ichika asked with a sinking heart. 'Please let it be slightly under a mile.'
"250 meters and decreasing."
"Oh fuck!" Ichika swore as he saw the glass themed terminal that was in front of him. "That will get us crashing straight into the damn airport!"
"Might I suggest you go to the landing gear next to you and apply pressure on it?" 'Raptor' reported as the wheels finally stop bouncing and started to screech from the constant contact with the ground. "The brakes won't be enough to slow it down, and there is not enough power to engage the emergency stop controls."
"On it!" Ichika quickly flew to the landing gear next to him and tried to use his arms to stop the wheels. The momentum generated nearly tore his arms off, so he had to resort to using Yukihira and ram it into the axles. Ichika winced as the poor weapon screamed under the strain from stopping the wheels.
"It's not stopping!" Ichika yelled as he pushed on the wheels even harder to stop it. "We are seriously running out of room right now!"
"More power would be needed." 'Raptor' quickly flew out from the underside and placed itself at the nose of the plane. Once in position, its jetpack roared to life and it started to push against the plane. JetStream on the other hand went to the tail of the plane and pull on it to help and slowed it down further.
"80 meters." Ichika pushed on the wheels while activating the boosters to try and resist the tension on the machine.
"50 meters." Sweat dropped down Ichika's forehead as the wheels screeched louder from the strain and started smoking from the heat generated.
"30 meters. Impact with terminal in 20 seconds." From his end, Ichika could see the panicked faces of the workers and civilians who were viewing the situation in front of them through the glass.
"20 meters. Venting out particles." From his side, Ichika could see white particles spewing out of sides of 'Raptor' and the back of the new unit, to the point where they were almost covered by it. Finally he could feel the speed reducing significantly, but they were still going too fast!
"15 meters." Ichika abandoned the idea of pressing the wheels and devoted all power to the thrusters and pushed as hard as he could on the hydraulics attached to the wheels.
"Impact in 10, 9, 8, 7..."
"STOP YOU PIECE OF JUNK!" Ichika yelled as Byakushiki roared to life and his thrusters started to generate so much heat, he could feel his feet sweating.
"4, 3, 2, 1."
"THINK!"
The gentle sound of something tapping the glass was all that Ichika could hear for a while. Slowly, he opened his eyes which he closed on reflex to find the tip of the plane barely touching the glass panels of the terminal. Through the glass, he could see some of the workers who did not escape on time slowly getting up from the ground they fell on.
'No way, did we actually stop the plane from crashing?'
"Success in stopping passenger plane impact. Scanning structure for any damage." The latest addition to the part spoke for the first time as it removed itself from the smoking undercarriage.
"Well done, Orimura Ichika." Ichika turned to face 'Raptor', who detached itself from the nose of the plane and hovered in front of him. "Looks like we are able to save the people on time."
Ichika stared at it for a while, then with a sudden burst of energy, threw his arms and let out a triumph roar. They were able to save everyone!
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" An alarm stopped his victory dance, as Ichika turned to see the new grey unit looking around. "What's the matter, Dual?" JetStream asked as it came down from its spot.
"Unknown radio frequency detected." The grey unit called Dual replied back while twisting its head side to side to find the source. "Frequency signature matches that used by the terrorists."
"Do you know where is it coming from?" Ichika asked while turning his head. Without a word, Dual lifted its arm and pointed. Ichika turned to look at where it was pointing and saw…
… A security service truck?
"Sir, what are we to do now?" Gregor could only stare at the scene in front of him as the soldier asked him nervously.
To say that the past hour had been extremely hectic was like saying Hitler did the unexpected by dancing to the Marcerena. He had to get radio updates that Benson had tried to engage the pilots, but lost not the jammer, but also the entire plane from the combined attacks of the IS pilots and the third unit that had appeared to take him down. After that, he gathered that Fenix got taken out by the unit manning the passenger plane, and lastly, all three units and the male pilot worked together to land the plane safely without anyone getting killed!
Gregor felt his heart was in his throat when he laid eyes on the unit that had the camouflage paintjob and the jetpack. He recognized it from the descriptions given by his contacts, and based on information he gathered from the representatives' documents, it was safe to say that this unit was the most problematic of the lot.
Now he was forced to decide if he had to cancel the mission and get away. It's not like he could do anything at this point. Even with [Corruption Overload], he could not hope to hold them off, since they were not affected by the Disruption Wave, and certainly he did not have the firepower to go against them.
What was he to do?
"SIR!" The soldier directed Gregor's attention to the window. He did not need to look closely to see one of the units pointing straight at them.
'It's okay, I'm sure it is just a coincidence that it is pointing at us…'
The unit with the army camouflage turned to face them.
'It's okay, they do not know we are here…'
That unit activated its jetpack and flew straight to them.
'Fuck my life!'
"Get us out of here!" Gregor ordered the soldier as the unit came closer. The soldier did not need any prompting; he rammed his foot on the pedal and drove the truck as fast as he can to get away. That did not last very long as the unit flew past them and stopped facing the incoming truck. Without stopping, it raised its right arm and delivered a straight right punch, plunging the entire arm into the engine and violently stopped their getaway vehicle, causing them to hit their heads before getting stifled by the emergency airbags.
As Gregor and the soldier tried to recover, a crunching sound drew their attention to the roof, which to their increasing horror, was being pulled apart roughly in the center. A final "Crunch!" and the roof got completely pulled in half, revealing to them the grey unit that had pointed out their location, and was now looking at them with red glowing eyes.
All plans and rationality flew out of Gregor's mind as he felt the intense stare of the machine. All he could think of was one thing: he was going to get killed by a cold-blooded machine. Both he and the soldier could do nothing else but take out their weapons and fired at will.
"AAAHHHHHHHH!" The both of them let loose their guns at the machine that stood resolutely in front of them. The rational part of Gregor's mind was telling him that shooting normal firearms was not going to work for the machine, but the irrational side was overwhelming his psyche, and his fear of getting killed by the seemingly unstoppable machine was preventing him from making rational decisions.
The sound of empty clips in their weapons signaled the end for them.
"My turn."
With that, the machine grabbed the soldier next to Gregor and threw him out of the car and send him hurtling to the wall, knocking him unconscious. Before Gregor could react, the machine grabbed him by the neck and lifted him from his seat, then with a huge burst from its thrusters, flew him to where the red unit and the male pilot were standing and threw him hard. Gregor tumbled on the ground before sliding to a halt, tasting blood that ran down his nose. Before he could move, the red unit rammed its leg on his chest, before deploying the weapons on its arms and palms, and aiming them at him.
"Make a move, Rudolf." The red unit taunted him with homing lasers aimed at his head and chest.
'That's it.' A part of Gregor's mind spoke. 'This is too much for me. I'm out of here.'
With that, he fainted on the spot he laid.
Part 3
"Well, that's about every one of them." Ellen commented as she looked at the pile of unconscious bodies near her. She had deactivated her IS and was now in her green suit. Her team and a few others were currently moving about helping some of the representatives to the medical staff, and also securing the area. Some of Ellen's teammates were rounding up the terrorists that were on board, which formed the pile that was near Ellen. Next to them was the instigator of the whole situation, General Gregor, who was actively struggling and yelling out profanities for all to hear.
Ichika and the girls were on the ground supervising the movements of the cargo. They only deactivated the major weapons or flight components to save on power and to have better mobility in assisting the rescue teams. Ichika for one wanted to hang on for as long as possible until they got back on the plane, since the system would be reset and he would lose the performance granted by 'Raptor'.
Everywhere he looked was a scene of total craziness; the firemen that arrived scrambled to put out the fire that was still resisting their attempts to take it out. The medical staff was a few metres away, tending to the more seriously injured passengers on the plane, mostly the female guards who attempted to go against the terrorists. The other support teams and representatives were currently returning from checking the surrounding area for any other members of the crew who may have escaped their grasp.
"Nice job, Dual." Everyone turned to where the three machines were standing a little away from the plane, 'Raptor' actually giving a thumbs-up towards the third unit that was on-board the plane earlier. In an odd way, this was a very unusual scene to behold: three unknown units that each have the capability to go against them in many ways, and had been on the radar of the IS Council for so long, was now in plain sight for all to see.
Dual stared at 'Raptor' for a second, before nodding back. "I trust there weren't many serious issues on the plane?" 'Raptor' asked while turning to the passengers who were standing a little away from the plane and them.
"Not too bad, I suppose." Dual replied back in the same monotonous tone as the other two. "Though there were a few…" It paused before continuing. "Complications."
Ichika could hear a few of the passengers who were closest to it snort in disbelief. Evidently, it was downplaying the situation big time. From what he heard, it seemed that Dual left them rather suddenly, so they thought that it had abandoned them to their doom. Only after they were rescued and disembarked then they found out what it really did.
"Speak for yourselves." Ichika turn to look at JetStream who crossed its arms. Its arms were slightly darkened from where the missile had exploded, but other than that it was untouched. "I had problems working with some of the pilots, and I got my ass blown up. Not to mention trouble trying to close the chest compartment when saving the lady." It spoke while jabbing a thumb at the woman who was still being supported by her friend.
After the plane landed and every one disembarked, Villian came to ask where Cynthia was. She and her family did not have to wait too long, as the support teams came soon after. The moment Cynthia walked out slowly from the plane, she got tackled to the ground by Villian and Catherine. She was still feeling a little green from all the excitement and the movements made by JetStream, but she was getting better.
"What was the problem?" 'Raptor' and the machine called Dual turned to their red counterpart. "Issues with the servos, or was it the clamps? Maybe the air resistance from the altitude hindered your performance."
"None of them." JetStream pointed to Cynthia. "The problem being that her breasts are too big, so I could not close the compartment properly on the first time."
"!"
In the silence that descended on the air field, a crow could be heard as it flew above their heads.
To say that everyone was surprised by that statement was a serious understatement; the firefighters near the plane continued to drown the plane even though the fire was put out, the medical officers stopped moving their hands while patching up the injured, who themselves did not seem to notice as they stared at JetStream. The representatives all turned to look with dumbstruck expressions and even the struggling terrorist went silent to gape at the machine for saying such a thing.
"What." JetStream tilted its head as it looked back at them.
The silence got broken by the female guard's loud exclamation.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY BREASTS ARE TOO BIG, YOU DAMN Tin …" Cynthia clamped her mouth with her hand as she tried to steady herself from the exertion she let out. That definitely got people to react in a way; Catherine who was supporting her was actively and unsuccessfully restraining herself from laughing out loud, several of the female guards chuckled a little while turning their faces away, some of the medical stuff covered their mouths and blocked their faces with their bags, and some of the IS representatives were clutching their sides as they tried to hold back their laughter.
"Clang!" The sound drew Ichika's attention to 'Raptor', which to his amusement, was face-palming itself with its shield hand while lightly shaking its head.
"Why am I not surprised?" 'Raptor' spoke in a manner that suggested that it was used to JetStream's style of commenting. Before Ichika could comment on it, he got interrupted by Dual, who was staring at one area of the airfield.
"I do not mean to rein on your parade, but might I suggest we leave before the journalists come to get us?" Dual commented while pointing to an area outside the cordoned area of the airfield. Ichika zoomed in at the direction it was pointing, and noted with surprise the different news vans and reporters he recognized coming over. It seemed that they were unsuccessful in containing the situation quietly.
"I suppose we should." Looking away from the sight of journalist gathering, 'Raptor' turned its attention back to the other two units. "Best to say our farewells to them. We need to leave soon." The two units nodded, and with a soft "Piii!" started to let out the white particles from the vents, and start to hover in the air, before separating to where they wish to go.
Dual hovered close to where Villian was standing with her sisters and Annie were. "Farewell, little one. I will repeat what I said earlier: pray that you do not get betrayed from your emotions and actions." Villian nodded lightly while giving a gentle smile at it.
For JetStream, it went to where Ichika was standing with Houki, the girls, Ellen and her teammates. "It was fun while it lasted." JetStream talked while holding out its hand. "Farewell, Orimura Ichika." Ichika nodded as he shook its hand.
"You too, Ellen Mira Meiz." JetStream continued to Ellen, who slowly let out her hand and shook it for a short while. "And as for you…" JetStream turned to Houki and the girls.
"Goodbye then, Japanese Tsundere." A crack could be heard from Houki clutching her weapon tightly.
"British Twit." Another crack could be heard from Cecilia as she brought out her rifle in a threatening manner.
"Chinese pancake and sarcastic time bomb." Rin let out a strained and scary laugh while clutching her metallic fist.
"French Blondie." Charlotte merely closed her eyes and gave her 'angel-of-death' smile.
"And the German Weirdo." Laura promptly took out her beam saber while her face twitched in irritation.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL US?!" Ichika winced as the combined voices of 5 very angry girls screeched into his ears painfully, while the red unit merely shrugged and hovered higher in the sky.
"Once again, I must apologise for his comments." 'Raptor' bowed its head in apology while shaking its head. Ichika could only ruefully laugh while trying to ignore the glares that the girls were giving him and 'Raptor'. They were probably wondering why he was the only one getting proper respect.
"Farewell then, Orimura Ichika." 'Raptor' let out its right hand. "Perhaps we may meet again in the future." Ichika took its hand and shook it a lot harder and longer than with JetStream. With that, 'Raptor' activated its jet-pack and started to fly upwards when Ichika remembered something.
"You know, you never really told me your real name." Ichika called out to 'Raptor', who stopped and turned around while hovering the air. For a moment, they stared at each other, everyone around them observing their conversation, before 'Raptor' nodded slightly to acknowledge that statement.
"True, I did not tell you my name yet." It paused before continuing. "Tell you what, just keep calling me by that name. I will let you know my real name at a later time, if we ever meet again."
"Oh, being mysterious are we?" Ichika let out a light chuckle at that. "Okay then, that's a promise."
"See you around then." With that, Raptor directed its palms to the ground and blast off to the sky, with the other two units following shortly.
"Well then." Ichika turned after watching the trail of smoke getting thinner in his sights. "Shall we head home?"
"Well done, boys. You guys did a good job."
[M23: Thank you, Master, though it would seemed that matters have taken quite a tumble, quite unlike what we have expected.]
"True, the part about the news stations being notified was definitely not what I had expected from those soldiers, but then it might work in our favour. After all, sooner or later someone is bound to put this on the internet and lo behold! We will end up being shown to the world."
[M23: I see. Then regarding the information gathered from the plane…]
"Yeah, that too is to be expected, though it was a lot lesser information than I thought, but it pays to be ready. At least now I can prepare my countermeasures when they start coming us."
"On another note, what do you guys think about the representative cadets from IS Academy?"
[M17: Honestly, the girls are skilful, and more than capable to handle certain situations. But they also have high temperaments, and they tend to lose their calm the moment something overwhelms them.]
"I see, then what of Orimura Ichka?"
[M12: You have met him, Master. Why do you wish to ask our opinions?]
"A second opinion would be ideal at times like this. So?"
[M17: Honest to a fault. His skills are average, at best. His piloting is barely meeting the mark. And like the girls, he gets overwhelmed at times]
"I detect a 'but' coming along."
[M17: Somehow, that determination and luck of his defies logic. They do not compute well in simulations.]
"Ha, ha! That's the funny thing about humanity. You can throw anything at them, and some would just take it and spit it right back at you."
[M12: Perhaps you have a point. The little one on the plane was also unusual for my simulations. Despite the terrorist threatening to harm her and the explanation of the failures of law, she still believes in the good side of the law enforcement.]
"Well, we can't do anything about her, at least she has some innocence left in her; the honest ones should at least be protected."
[M12: Perhaps.]
"Hope you guys enjoy your interaction. On the whole, this mission is a success. We got the passengers safe, the terrorists were stopped, you guys got to interact with people, our status is still unknown, and we more or less got ourselves announced to the world. And as a bonus, we got a blueprint of Byakushiki, unintentional as it is."
[M23: True, for that last part. There are certain irregularities about the armor that makes it intriguing."
"You got that right! Now that we got it, I can finally try figuring out what the hell is Tabane up to, and at the same time, prepare for 'that'".
[M23: By 'that', you refer to the unusual activity displayed by Kuromochi Research Center and the Intel we gathered from it?]
"Yup, if the information we have gotten is true, it's imperative we understand the specs that was made on Byakushiki and developed a countermeasure. I will need to prep the offsite lab for this, in case the lady tries listening in on my work. The Fold-Out feature is too dangerous to be let loose, I will need to secure the information even more for that."
[M23: Understood. While we are on the subject of spying, it would seem that we have people doing the same on us right now.]
"Haaa. The 'Eyes in the Sky' huh? I already given them a warning about that, and we have a few more trying to track us. Maybe we need to give them another reminder, only this time, we will make it a harder punishment."
"Are the support teams accounted for?" Chifuyu let out a soft sigh as the operators confirmed her request. "Okay, keep me posted with the teams, Kanzashi. The three of you, confirm the whereabouts of those three machines. I want to know where they are headed to."
Chifuyu stretched her arms while people scrambled to check all the different statuses of the teams involved and the pilots. At the very least, everyone was accounted for. There were no fatalities on the passengers and representatives' sides, only a few injured who needed to stay at the hospital for a while. Amazingly, there were also no fatalities on the terrorist's side; the one operating the plane jettisoned and saved himself with a parachute, only to get caught by the representatives who were catching up with Ellen's team. The one that got thrown off the plane was perhaps the most injured, what with hitting the ocean at high speeds, so now he was completely unconscious with broken bones. But considering who he was, that would be the ideal fate for him.
"Orimura-Sensei, Ichika-san and the rest have returned to their cargo plane." Kanzashi reported as she leaned back on her chair to take a deep breath. "They are now returning from the airport. I already got the maintenance crew on standby to deal with some of the damages they got once they return."
"Thank you, Kanzashi. Go and take a break; you earned it." Chifuyu replied as she turned to the table and take a sip from the cup of coffee she had. It was strong coffee to keep her mind sharp, but at times like this, she wished she had Ichika's version of black coffee to relax, but she can't be too picky.
Taking a quick glance at the main screen, she could see the main window displaying the clean-up being performed at the Okinawa Airport, and the medical staff finishing up on those getting treatment. At the side are smaller windows displaying the lists of teams, the people affected by the Disruption Wave and needing repairs, and lastly, a video feed coming from a satellite following the three machines that had left the scene.
"What's the status on the information plug?" She asked as she watched with a slight disapproving eye the news reporters setting up their cameras for live broadcast.
"Not as well as we hope, I'm afraid." One operator replied as she skimmed through the data streaming through her monitor. "We were able to notify some of the news stations to hold off on the reporting until a later date, unfortunately the few we cannot contact have already streamed the incident, and regarding those who placed the information on-line, there is a limit we can do to remove the information without alerting the authorities involved."
"Fine, we will just make do with we have for now." Chifuyu let out a sigh to ease her nerves. "Okay, just check everything else, and we can close this…"
"Miss Orimura!" One of the male operators called out to Chifuyu while pointing to the screen. She turned to find 'Raptor' had stopped flying and was currently staring right at them. 'Oh no!' Chifuyu felt a bad sense of déjà vu as 'Raptor' raised its right hand and started to wag its index finger.
"Shut down the power now!" Chifuyu gave the order a little too late, as the system alarms started blaring and the screens started to stream large amount of codes and commands. "Somebody talk to me!" Chifuyu growled as more alarms started going off.
"Emergency shutdown procedures not working!" Kanzashi hurriedly typed commands into the system. "The whole system has been cut off from the power source, but it is still entering the system. It also seems to be downloading data from our systems!"
"Somebody stop the damn system!" Chifuyu went to an empty table and started typing herself. "I don't care if we have to purge the entire damn thing, just make sure that machine doesn't get any data!"
Before anyone could react, the main screen started flashing, clearing all the windows on the screen before displaying a single message.
[I believe I said that it is very rude to spy on others, please do not do it again.]
After that, the screen cleared and displayed a passport photo of Chifuyu, with a second message printed at the bottom.
[You have been warned, Brunhilde.]
And with that, the power got cut off with a loud "PEEEWW!" plunging the room and its occupants in darkness, and leaving Chifuyu seething with anger.
"I really hate that machine."
=====Author's Notes=====
And that's the final part of the rescue arc!
It took me a really long time to write this out properly, since there is a lot details that I had to rewrite to get this story readable.
One thing to note: I can't find anything in the novels stating the exact date for IS Creation, and since it is stated to be in the near future, and based on the anime with its futuristic style, I set the time range to start around 2040. If you guys can tell me the exact timeline, that would be much appreciated.
Much of my inspiration came from the Iron Man Films, but the scene where Raptor goes against the enemy fighter jet is an inspiration created from Iron Man 1 and Fate Zero Berserker V.S. Gilgamesh. And as much I want to, I can't seem to find enough words to describe that scene, so I leave it to your imagination to visualize that scene.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! I will try to upload another soon!