A/N: It's finally done! This chapter was meant to be attached to the last but I needed to do some last minute changes.

A lot of you are expecting the SSS... well, they are coming, but not right now. Give or take 3 more chapters. SORRY!

BUT BUT BUT! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I stress the importance of patience! Because their entrance that I have prepared is meant to be EPIC! BIG! and all round BADASS!

The SSS will come, don't worry about it. And they will come in style. heh heh heh heh

For now, enjoy this chapter!

Angel Beats!

What We Live For

Operation 39

Battle for Fortress / Counter-Offensive

"Push them back!"

"Don't let them get close to the wall a second time!"

"Reinforcements needed at the Eastern wall!"

"Edge Squadron 2 is on it's way! Tell them to hang on!"

"We need more ammunition!"

"Open storehouses 10 and 11!"

"They were open two hours ago!"

"Shadows breaching the Western wall!"

"All remaining Wolves to the Western Wall!"

"The gun's busted! I need a replacement ASAP!"

"There's no time for that!"

"I need an area bombardment at the Northern sector!"

"Mortar teams have all been despatched to the Southern wall!"

"Who gave such orders? !"

"Gigas!"

Tomoyo looked up just in time to see the giant Shadow raise its hand over the wall, casting a dark overcast over the defenders. It was planning on bringing down the wall with one attack?

"Not on my watch!"

Tomoyo cocked her fist back, the Conviction gloves charging up on energy.

"Access: Knuckle Breaker!"

She shouted, throwing a punch at the giant hand of the Gigas before it could bring it down on the wall. The force of the blow managed to slow down the descent of the Gigas's hand, but it was damaging to Tomoyo.

"NNNNNGGGGHHHH!"

Tomoyo gritted her teeth as the force of the enemy's attack was starting to tear the muscles in her arm. The bones in her hand were cracking Blood starting to drip from the corners of her mouth. Her tear ducts strained from the pressure, causing blood to pour from her eyes. Her ear drums torn, bleeding from the ears. The floor under her legs cracked, sunk in. Just what was with this Gigas's strength? ! She knew it was reckless, no, stupid to even believe she could take on a Gigas's attack head-on! But she acted on instinct. The Northern sector where she was at, was the least in number of defenders. She stayed at the Northern sector to make up for that lack of strength. But was her strength not enough? No. She will not let it end. She will defend this place, no matter what.

"NNNGGGGGGGAAAAA!"

She forced her body to push even further. Her gloves snapped the piston back, charging it up before

BAM

The pistons fired, releasing a large shock wave and knocked the Gigas back. The blow managed to get the Gigas to retract its attack, but it came at a heavy cost to Tomoyo. Collapsing to the floor, she could hardly see, barely breathe, let alone stand. She could barely hear the shouts from concerned SSS2 assault members, but they should not be so concerned for her. They should be more focused on the battle.

"Sakagami-san!"

"Captain!"

"Someone get a medic!"

"There aren't any more medics!"

Fools. With this sort of damage to her body, a medic can only put a bullet into her head to make her revive. But even that was problematic. Ever since this entire war started, their revival rate was getting slower. They would still heal and revive, but the timing was just taking much longer than before. Dying at this crucial point in the war was not an option. But she could not move and that Gigas would be sure to come back for a second attack.

"Gigas!"

'There you go, see what happened? All because you idiots were too busy worrying about someone insignificant like myself.'

Tomoyo thought to herself.

'I have to.. fight.'

But her body refused to move.

"Use the guns on it!"

"It's no use!"

'Move it dammit! Why won't you listen to me? !'

But her energy was gone. She could not even lift a finger. The sky suddenly got darker as the enemy poised to strike. The Gigas was about to attack.

'MOVE!'

"You're still as annoying as ever."

A familiar voice said before-

BOOM

Though her vision was blurred, she could faintly make out the shape of the Gigas's hand slightly over her, as well as a figure standing before her.

"I can't believe I lost control over my emotions twice in a row. I must be getting old."

Kyou muttered, scratching her head. The other men, however, were more in shock at what she was doing.

"M-Major Fujibayashi."

"Commander."

"She's stopping that Gigas."

"With only a book."

And indeed Kyou was holding back the attack with only a book in one hand.

"K-Kyou.."

Tomoyo called out to her friend, who looked down to Tomoyo.

"Thanks for hanging in there while I sorted out my own emotions. Luckily Ein wasn't here, otherwise I would have been punched to the next Afterlife. Still, I have to wonder why my connection to the program suddenly became clearer and lighter. It's also thanks to that that my head feels clearer and I don't think I'll fall into despair or madness again... Well, best not to question a good thing too much."

Kyou said, looking up to the Gigas.

"... Hmm, though I got some sort of 'power-up', I still don't think I can beat the entire enemy force by myself. Well, first things first. This guy needs to go."

"Access: Lavender Rain"

The pages from her book flew out without the book even opening up, twisting themselves into spear shaped rolls before flying towards the Gigas, piercing it all over. The number of pages that came out far exceeded the number of pages that the book was meant to hold, and even then the book in Kyou's hand did not seem to shrink at all. The Gigas stumbled backwards, before collapsing onto the floor with a thunderous boom. Kyou sighed, tapping her book on her shoulder.

"One down, another fifty to go."

She muttered, looking at the carnage of the battle.

"I don't think I can deal with fifty. Oi, Tomoyo, are you still alive?"

"..."

"Oi, you mountain gorilla of a she-bear, I'm asking if you're alive."

"... shut up..."

Tomoyo managed to mumble.

"Oh good, you're awake. So, what do you think of our predicament?"

"..."

"Ah, she's unconscious again."

Kyou muttered, looking back over to the battle. The SSS2 were giving all they could but Kyou knew that eventually this wall would fall. There was no mistaking it.

"The only question is when-"

BOOM

A sudden explosion caught her attention. She saw as a Gigas suddenly began to fall.

BOOM

BOOM

More shots, more explosions and more Gigas falling.

"What the-"

"R-Reporting!"

An SSS2 member ran up to her.

"Report!"

"T-there are additional forces in the forest!"

He said.

"Additional? Enemy?"

"N-no! Allies!"

Somehow, that word did not ring quite right in her ears. Allies? Who? How?

"They are carrying the banner of Guild!"

"Guild? ! But..."

Guild was trapped below ground. How did they-

"Reporting! Guild reinforcements are engaging the enemy on all fronts! They have brought with them tanks!"

"... TANKS?"

"Hammer 1 to Hammer 4, you're moving ahead of the line. Fall back."

She spoke through the comms network in the compartment.

'"Roger that."'

'"Hammer 5 reports heavy resistance to our right flank. Move to assist?"'

"Negative. Get Iron battalion to reinforce."

'"Roger."'

She turned off the headset comms and looked ahead of her. Riding in this giant metal tank, she had to marvel at the amount of power she now held. The heavy treads of the tank rolled across the snow covered forest floor with relative ease. Riding in Hammer 1, Kusanagi Yamato led the assault against the Shadows who were laying siege to the Assault Division's forest fortress. The tanks were the product of Himura Yuuko, the boss of Guild, but she had disappeared shortly after the battle for Guild started. Leaving behind nearly 10,000 T-74 and T-90 tanks, Yamato now utilized them in her counter-offensive efforts.

'"Titan 1 to Hammer 1"'

Her comms channel blared out. She grabbed the mike.

"This is Hammer, go ahead Titan."

'"Requesting coordinates for landing zone. The boys are getting edgy for a fight."'

"Understood Titan 1. I'll relay coordinates as soon as we can get a secured zone."

'"Understood ma'am."'

Tanks were not the only things that Yuuko managed to build and leave behind. Besides the military trucks, Yuuko actually managed to build 20,000 German Boxer Armoured Personnel Carriers, and each of those carriers were carrying troops from Guild to the battle line. Unlike the military trucks, the APCs could insert troops directly into the fire zone since it had armour plating and its own set of guns. However they could not hold as many troops as the trucks and were slower. Still, they were now an important part of her sizeable military strength. And that wasn't the only thing. She turned to her driver, a bubbly Guild member called Yoshika.

"Yoshika, can you get a visual on a good spot between our current position and the fortress to land our troops?"

"Aye aye ma'am!"

Yoshika happily replied, looking out through her tank's visuals. Yamato had to let Guild members take over the tanks operation. Shield, being the soldiers of Fort, were too invaluable as ground soldiers, not as tank operators. Guild members also had the best understanding of these machines as they were made by them. As for Yamamoto Takanari and his men... well, let's just say that they were off to prepare something else. As for Guard 1, they were soldiers, and were in fact those agitated troops in Titan squadron's APCs. But she needed to insert the troops properly. The enemy was besieging the fortress from all sides. Even with 10,000 tanks, it wasn't enough to close in around the enemy entirely. Not to mention it takes one entire battalion of tanks to take down a Gigas with concentrated barrages.

"Ma'am! Area located! Echo-Zulu-Niner-Five-Hotel-Whiskey!"

Yoshika said happily. Yamato wasted no time in snatching her comms.

"Hammer 1 to Thunder battalion."

'"This is Thunder. We hear you loud and clear ma'am."'

"Sending you coordinates. Echo-Zulu-Niner-Five-Hotel-Whiskey. Repeat."

'"Echo-Zulu-Niner-Five-Hotel-Whiskey."'

"Confirmed location. Fire for effect."

'"Acknowledged."'

Soon, a thunderous volley of explosions from far back erupted, followed by a faint whistling sound before the entire Earth before them exploded in a fiery fireball. Her T-90 tank shook violently as the explosions continued for a full minute before dying down.

"Ite-te-te... YOSHIKA! Did you just give me our own coordinates? !"

"Nooo maaaaaam..."

Yoshika replied, still seeing stars dancing around her head. Maybe the explosive rounds were too effective? But that was it. Yamato played one of her best cards. The artillery batteries of Guild. Thunder battalion. The blast from the attack had made not only a crater the size of a city block, but it also cleared out the forest in a ten kilometre radius. That was a little too much though.

'"Thunder to Hammer 1. Thunder to Hammer 1. Do you read me, Hammer 1?"'

Her comms channel called out.

"This is Hammer, go ahead."

'"Ma'am, are you alright? That last blast was also done by our second regiment. They must be done with bombardments over by the Western ridge."'

"Thunder battalion's second regiment? Weren't they suppose to clear our the Western and Southern sectors?"

'"Seems like remaining enemy forces are regrouping to the Northern sector where you are, ma'am. Advise caution."'

A change in the enemy movements? Was it a change in their tactics to counter her sudden arrival? Or was it something else?

"Advise noted. Stand down and wait for further orders."

'"Acknowledged."'

Putting the comm aside, Yamato consulted her map on the screen in front of her command chair. 10,000 tanks divided into 1,000 battalions of ten tanks per battalions. Her original plan was have the battalions encircle the entire fortress and push the enemy in, however upon receiving reports of the weakened state of the Fortress and its defenders, she had to change tactics. Attract the enemy away from the walls and pick them off with artillery. Now the enemy has begun to move, responding to their attacks and being drawn away from the Fortress. That was good, but now the enemy seemed to realized that the commander of Guild, herself, was in the Northern sector. Did they know? Or was it just pure luck? Either way, she needed to come up with a quick counter plan. She looked at the screen. The large crater being quite visible on her screen. Crater... Maybe it could work.

"All battalions are the fall back in a V formation. We will use the crater to sink them in."

She said through her comms.

"Southern forces enter the fortress and reinforce it from within. All Eastern and Western battalions will herd the Shadows towards us. Titan battalion, unload all personnel and have them set up a perimeter at fall back point Delta."

'"Roger that."'

"Thunder Battalion, we will need you to aim at the same coordinates, but do not fire until I give the order. Is that clear?"

'"Acknowledged."'

She turned to the driver, Yoshika.

"Yoshika, I will leave it up to you. Just make sure we get a clear shot while retreating."

The small driver sat up, adjusting her over-sized helmet on her head.

"Aye aye ma'am."

"Good. All forces, pull back and commence part two of the plan. Operation 'Over-kill', start!"

The tank battalions of Fort, under the command of Kusanagi Yamato, began to retreat back into the forest. With the boxer APCs unloading the troops of Shield and Guard 1, the forest was now armed with ground troops, lying in wait for the signal. The battle had drawn the Shadows from all over the Fortress out into the open, pulling them towards the large crater made by the Thunder Battalion's artillery barrage. With the Tank battalions from the Eastern and Western ends of the Fortress forcing the Shadows into the the bottle neck that Yamato's main Northern force had created with their V formation.

"Pick off the smaller Shadows! Leave the larger ones to the Tanks!"

The ground troops started to fire, killing the smaller and lesser Shadows that attempted to break through the tank siege.

"Don't let them through the line!"

The ground troops moved up, bringing with them machine guns and setting them up to mow down the smaller Shadows.

"Cannibals!"

"Don't let them devour the dead!"

Cannibals are a type of Shadow that devour the bodies of both its allies and foes. The more they devour, the stronger they get. It was recorded that a cannibal that was left unchecked devoured an entire platoon size of Shadows, transforming into something so strong that only the Guardians were able to despatching of, and even that battle had cost the Guardians two of their members. It was an extremely dangerous enemy to have once it reached that stage.

"Requesting additional fire support on the cannibal by Steel Battalion!"

'"This is Dagger battalion, we're on it."'

A ground of T-74 tanks rolled up their turrets all turning at the same time to face that lone cannibal. The cannibal raised its head, staring at the tanks with its blood red eyes, a gaping hole where its 'mouth' is suppose to be dripping with blood. It snarled at the tanks before-

BOOM

The tanks all opened fire at the cannibal, tearing the Shadow into shreds.

"This is Shield 5, we have spotted a large group of Gigas heading towards the centre. Requesting for arty."

'"This is Thunder. We hear you loud and clear. Firing for effect. You boys better watch your heads, it's going to get loud."'

Shortly after that transmission, came the faint, yet distinct, whistling sounds of artillery rounds flying through the air before all hell broke loose on the ground with the artillery rounds impacting the dirt and exploding. Raining fire upon the Shadows, the Thunder Battalion continued their barrage of shelling. Thunder Battalion was made up of two main divisions. One was the stationary howitzer division, which was the main group of Thunder. The second group was the mobile artillery group made up of Type 99 155mm self-propelled guns, able to change distance on the go and were extremely versatile. However the main howitzer group had one extremely distinct advantage over their mobile brothers. The howitzers were Yuuko's own specialized brand of artillery batteries, firing 200mm to 300mm explosive rounds. That meant the howitzers were dishing out the larger explosions, dealing more significant damage to their enemies than anyone else on the battlefield.

"Sir! Something is happening out on the field!"

A Thunder battalion sergeant reported.

"What?"

The Thunder Battalion leader, Tomonori Kiyoshi, grabbed his binoculars and peered through them to observe the battlefield below from the hill Thunder Battalion was situated at. Through the smoke, he could faintly make out the figure of a giant Shadow. A Gigas. Was it not affected by the artillery rounds?

"... Load corrosive rounds. Fire at that Gigas."

He ordered before picking up his radio.

"Thunder to Hammer 1."

'"This is Hammer 1, go ahead."'

Commander Kusanagi's voice replied. Though Tomonori had some reserved thoughts about getting a corporal to lead them, he knew that her skills were unquestionable. He will follow her no matter what.

"There is an unknown Gigas on the field. We're loading corrosive rounds. I repeat, we are loading corrosive rounds. Advise for all fire teams to pull back."

'"Advise noted. However that isn't the only Gigas out there who has grown immunity to Artillery rounds."'

Just as the word came through to his ears, he heard an ear splitting roar. Rising from the smouldering crater of the artillery barrages, stood up several Gigases. While most were destroyed with the barrage, these twenty or so were still standing and without a scratch. How? Could the Shadows be adapting to their technology?

"... Shit. Load those rounds now!"

He turned and shouted at the artillery crew.

"Loaded, sir!"

"FIRE!"

The howitzer fired the corrosive round, sending the dangerous shell all the way to the Gigas in the valley. The round exploded, sending a plume or corrosive gas to engulf the Gigas. The Gigas howled out with a hellish scream but it did not seem to be going down.

"Shit! It's still not going down! ... Where are the 'Monsters'? !"

"They're still on the way sir!"

"Dammit!"

'"Give up on the Monsters, Captain Tomonori."'

Yamato's voice came through the radio. Looks like she was listening in.

"But the Monsters are the only things that can punch through that!"

'"That may be true, but they are too big and cumbersome. Leave the Monsters and the Rattes behind and focus on what we have now."'

"... Understood."

It was true that the Monster and Ratte series of tanks could take down one of these mutated Gigases, but Yamato was right. They were too large and slow. It would take another day or two for them just to exit the Guild tunnels. He could not count on their arrival for help. He had to take care of this thing.

"Load the next round, HURRY!"

As the artillery barrages continued, the tanks down below began to change their formations. The barrages had taken out most of the enemy threat, now remained these stronger Gigases to deal with.

"Yoshika, turn us to the nearest Gigas."

Yamato ordered.

"Aye aye ma'am."

"Wataru, aim for the legs."

She ordered her gunner.

"Yes ma'am."

She tapped her comm piece.

"Hammer 1 to all Hammers, forward and hit their legs with everything we've got."

'"Roger."'

"Yoshika, match the timing of the others, don't get too far ahead."

"Aye aye ma'am."

Checking her map, she spotted that the other tank battalions had also begun to move up their positions, following her lead.

"Hammer 1 to Dagger, you're moving up too close, pull back, over."

'"Solid copy."'

'"Halbert 8, you're too far ahead, pull back."'

'"Chevron 5, you have boogies on your three."'

'"The rounds are not punching through!"'

'"Just keep firing!"'

'"Holy shit!"'

'"Halbert 8! Come in Halbert 8!"'

'"That Gigas just picked up Sword 5!"'

'"Pull back!"'

This was starting to get out of hand. With the Gigas able to take more hits, the tanks were doing nothing more than hitting pebbles at them. Perhaps she had no choice. She had to call it in.

"... This Hammer 1 to 'Yamato'. Do you read me, 'Yamato'?"

She paused for awhile before a reply came through.

'"This is 'Yamato'. We hear you, go ahead."'

"... Start Operation 'Dread'."

There was silence after she said that before-

'"... Acknowledged."'

"You heard the lady. Let's get this thing moving!"

"All hands to battle stations, we are a 'go'. I repeat, we are a 'go'."

"Crew to weapons deck 6."

"Ammunition storage secured."

"Pressure stabilized."

"Reactor signs all normal."

"Energy output at 80%"

"Engines running at maximum."

"All systems green."

He smiled, nodding at the good reports that came to him. He turned to the helmsman.

"Take us up."

"Aye sir. Main tank blow. Up trim 5 degree."

The river that streamed through the school was a quiet place. A perfect spot for fishing. The river was quite wide and surprisingly deep. No one knows exactly how deep it was but there lurked in its waters the legendary 'Master' of the river. Some say that it was a monster of a fish, being almost 100 metres in length. While no one knew whether this was true, it was true that the river was a mysterious thing, even for something in the Afterlife. And it just so happened that yet another mystery of the river was to be added this day. A great rumbling of the Earth began, becoming every more violent and intense with each passing second. It was soon almost deafening as the surface of the water started to bubble and foam up. And then-

BOOM

Like a torpedo, a gigantic mass shot out of the water, soaring through the air before crashing back onto the water. The morning sun clearly radiated its mass and slender. Measuring at nearly 300 metres in length, and 40 metres across, it was a giant in the waters. In fact, this giant was actually a-

"A BATTLSHIP? !"

Kyou stared in bewilderment through her shaking binoculars held by her trembling hands. Yes, it was a battleship, but it was more than a battleship. It was-

"Super Mega Jarganaught class Dreadnought Battleship, Yamato has arrived!"

Yamamoto Takanari laughed to himself as he stood in the bridge of the giant battleship. That wasn't its correct name, but let's just leave it as it is for now.

"With these 12 70 cm main guns, 16 40 cm secondary guns and 30 25mm auto cannons, nothing can stop me!"

He forgot to mention the thirty missile tubes but that was easy to miss given the size of the ship.

"Sir, we have coordinates from Commander Kusanagi."

One of the radio operators reported, sending the data to the screen before Takanari. Takanari looked over the data and nodded.

"Yosh! Let's test these guns out! 20 degrees port side!"

"20 degrees port!"

Shouted the order throughout the bridge.

"Bring all guns to bear! Open all missile doors!"

"Bringing guns to bear!"

"Missile tubes 1 to 10 are open and ready for launch!"

Takanari raised a fist and slammed it down on the console in front of him.

"FIRE!"

The giant guns of the Battleship Yamato turned to the left, Raising its aim before they fired.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

The 12 70cm guns of the ship blasted shots like explosions with each round, rocking the entire ship with each shot, sending giant rounds flying through the air before impacting the the grounds of the coordinates given. Missiles shot out from the missile tubes, flying in accordance to their programmed coordinates. The explosions from the rounds had caused even larger craters than the artillery barrages. The Gigas within range were all hit by the rounds, being destroyed before they could even scream out. A few more rounds from the battleship and soon the battlefield was silent. The battle was won.

Overlooking the battle, he smiled as he stood up on his feet. The battle was over and they won.

"Shouldn't we go down to help them?"

Kai asked. He shook his head in disagreement.

"No, there's no need. Besides, I am an NPC, the sworn enemy of the SSS2."

He replied.

"But you aren't they're enemy. Besides, you helped them out during the battle by cleaning out the corruption in their connections to the Program. That in itself prevented most of them from going berserk."

Saya added.

"Not to mention you gave them direct access to the main control program. They're more powerful than before, you know."

A new voice spoke up, making the three turn around. Standing there with a hooded cloak covering his face, a stranger stepped forward. Several of his Angels drew their weapons but he waved a hand.

"It's fine."

He said, and the Angels stood down. The stranger smiled and walked over to him.

"It is glad to see that you've recovered your memories. To be honest, I was afraid that I would be working completely alone in this mission."

The stranger said, joining him to look down at the battle below.

"You're the contact of my creator and Kei within the SSS2, am I right?"

He asked the stranger. The stranger nodded and pulled back his hood, revealing a young boy with a cheeky smile.

"Yes, that I am. My name is Tenryuu Shuusuke. I had been working with Otonashi and Kurogane Kei for the past twenty years. It was hard to work under the shadows but now everything is going to end."

"Wait, Tenryuu Shuusuke? The leader of the Analysers from the Intelligence division?"

Kai asked in surprise. Shuusuke turned and smiled.

"Yes, I am that very Shuusuke... or at least, in 'person'. The leaders had been suspicious of my activities for an extremely long time but I was always one step ahead. Still, it was quite irritating to dodge their inquiries or searches. Glad I don't have to continue that anymore. But besides that, I have come to join you and lead you to the main point."

"The main point?"

He asked, his interest piqued.

"Yes. The 'Apocalypse' Program has begun. We need to go shut it down. Now."

Shuusuke spoke with his tone dead serious.

"... Alright. So where must we go?"

Shuusuke smiled at that and pointed in one direction. And that direction was-

"Back to school."

A/N: Diablo 3 is almost out and next week I'm pretty much swamped with work. I will try to get a chapter out, but don't be expecting much! Sorry for that! I'll make it up to you guys for sure!