Prologue
Kobo's clammy hands held onto the flight stick of her simulator pod as she kept the flight of her Strato-Hornet steady. Sweat dripped down her brow - harder than it did when she descended the staircase of the Hundred Thousand Miracles. The starstruck, rookie cadet did her best to keep her eyes on the simulated skies ahead of her. She attempted to watch the radar display of her dashboard, but her eyes wandered to the video feeds of the other pilots flying alongside her.
In particular, her eyes sought the faces of Olivia Kureiji and Moona Hoshinova.
Kobo stole glances at them and watched as they spoke rapid-fire with Reine to reorganize their squadron for the battle ahead. Olivia, Moona and Reine spoke in code and jargon that seemed incomprehensible to the untrained eye, mind and soul, but the three ladies were able to come quickly to a unanimous agreement.
Decisions made on-the-fly seemed to come as naturally to I.D.O.L. Frame pilots as breathing. It was a common language and mindset that they practically shared.
Something that Kobo, one day, desperately wished to learn.
Right now, she was a rookie outsider with an incredibly spotty record looking on as professionals discussed how to herd cats and cross a river, so to speak, on the spot.
Or rather, the professionals discussed how to get twelve wet-in-the-ears rookies to win a battle they were originally designed to lose.
How to change fate.
Watching this was surreal for Kobo.
When the Ancient Ones attacked near the Jakarta platforms, Kobo had heard Moona's voice through Olivia's TACCOM. She had seen the High Tide appear as a moving blip on a 3D radar. But now, Kobo had a face to the voice and she could see the High Tide itself in action - albeit as a simulated SF/A-18 EDX Strato-Hornet flying alongside Kobo's own.
In Kobo's eyes, it was an opportunity of a lifetime - just like the opportunity for an idol's superfan to dance as an extra together with her on the same stage!
That evening, Kobo was that extra standing behind Moona before the curtains fell. Kobo wasn't a very good backup dancer or chorus singer or understudy actress, or pilot for that matter. She was practically a dancer with two left feet!
And yet, she wasn't being substituted or benched for more capable hands. Anya Melfissa was just there outside Kobo's pod. Her skills on the battlefield as a bona fide I.D.O.L. Frame pilot would have been greatly useful in the battle ahead of them.
Instead, Kobo remained in her plane. She was going to dance on the same simulated stage as her idol. Her literal savior!
Kobo couldn't be happier - or more tense!
The snappy conversation between the three veterans ended and Olivia turned her attention to Kobo and smiled at her.
"Getting stage fright, Zero-Eight?" Olivia asked through her TACCOM.
"N-no…" Kobo tried to deny it, but Olivia snickered knowingly.
"In that case - chin up and eyes forward, girl." Olivia grinned, "We've got a hard battle ahead of us, so we'll need every missile and every shot burst to count."
"I know." Kobo acknowledged. She then shuddered and deflated in her seat, "But then… I'm not very good at flying. Surely Reine-simpai and Anya-simpai showed you my record. I could be a liability - I might hold the squadron back!"
"Is that what you really think?" Olivia asked.
Kobo fidgeted.
"It's what my record says." Kobo argued somberly.
Olivia paused. Then, she looked straight into Kobo's eyes.
"Maybe so, but here's the deal, kiddo. Right now, you're in the cockpit of an SF/A-18 Strato-Hornet and the Ancient Ones are attacking Yokosuka. You have your record yeah. Reine said a whole lot about your flying so far. I heard you beat my infamous record!"
"Urk…" Kobo felt her guts twist.
"But what matters the most at this very moment is what you do next - what you do in the here and now!"
"Olivia-neesama…" tears started to form at the sides of Kobo's eyes.
"You have your record, kiddo. Time to prove it wrong." Olivia beamed. Then, she winked, "Also, use the protocols, Zero-Eight. Or else Illusion Night's gonna chew me out for 'setting a bad example' again, okay?"
Olivia called herself a bad example - which Kobo sometimes agreed with. But in that moment, Kobo saw Olivia as a dignified and resolute warrior prepared for battle.
'She can actually be cool at times like this.' Kobo thought, sighing with relief, 'I'm flying with two heroes, then!'
With those two heroes accompanying her, the array of black, ichor-like enemies beyond the horizon no longer struck icy fear into Kobo's heart. Unlike that fateful night when she sat adrift in her marooned escape pod, she was now armed - and she wasn't alone!
Knowing this, Kobo swore she wasn't going down without a fight!
Blue Horizon
Spread Your Wings
Eighteenth Scene - Steady, Steady!
Even though Kobo's idols had arrived, her flying only improved marginally. Compared to the other cadets, Kobo's maneuvers were sluggish, unwieldy and unrefined, but Olivia tutored her.
Literally on the fly.
"It's all in the mind, Kobo. When you get to use an I.D.O.L. Frame's HALO module, it'll be especially so!" Olivia taught her, "Think of the warplane as an extension of yourself! Understand its systems. Move it like you would move your own body."
"I'm trying - I'm trying!" Kobo fretted.
"And you're doing well!" Olivia cheered like an elementary school teacher watching her student finally understand a math equation, "Look - you're actually staying in formation this time!"
Kobo blinked.
She looked around and saw the rest of the halved squadron flying with her.
"Oh. I'm doing it…!" Kobo cheered, "I'm actually doing it!"
"Hehe, there you go! Now - follow me and High Tide. We're entering the combat vector."
Kobo nodded and followed Olivia.
On the display of her radar, Kobo watched as her squadron of fifteen Strato-Hornets split up. She and four other jets followed Moona's High Tide and Olivia's Jollie Jollie banking leftwards. Reine's Illusion Night, meanwhile, led Zeta's Zero-Six and the rest of the cadets to bank right.
Thus, the squadron split into two. In Kobo's eyes, she thought it looked like a majestic swooping crane spreading its wings as it moved to descend upon its prey: fragments of a 'Galactic Orca' of Ancient Ones posing as older-generation fighter jets.
The attack was about to begin.
…
…
…
Only for Kobo to remember she didn't know how to attack!
Thankfully, Reine's video feed piped up.
"Cadets! Attention please! Don't forget that class is still in session." Reine reminded dutifully, "Most, if not all of you, are learning on the fly so it is my duty to teach you how it's done. Though - I believe we are in the presence of a much greater teacher than myself! What do you say, High Tide?"
Moona snickered audibly. Then, she sighed.
"Alright, Illusion Night. I'll bite. But you'll owe me dinner." Moona grinned.
"Whatever you want, Moona-simpai!" Reine grinned, "I know a nice Izakaya in Tokyo! I'll take you and our simpais when M-chan isn't working you guys to the bone."
"Remember protocol, darling." Moona winked.
Reine snickered mischievously and answered, "Roger that, High Tide."
Moona sighed and cracked her knuckles. She then looked through her camera and into the video screens of all the cadets in the squadron.
"Okay, class. Air-to-air combat in five minutes or less. Listen up!" Moona spoke rapid-fire but annunciated every crisp word with crystal clarity, "First lesson - missiles! They're our best weapons. Those enemies can't hit us, but we can hit them with missiles! Let your radars and computers do their thing. Lock on the enemy and get ready to fire!"
Just as Moona spoke, a new overlay started to appear on Kobo's simulated cockpit. A compact summary of the Strato-Hornet's weapons systems were laid out there, highlighting the six air-to-air missiles that her fighter carried.
Moments later, green circles started to appear around the enemy planes in the distance. Many enemy planes lit up green seven at a time!
"Lesson two!" Moona continued her brisk lesson, "Our jets share targeting data. Mark a target that your other wing-gals haven't targeted yet. Spread the love - then fire! Make every missile count! When the reticles go red - fire!"
Green reticles started turning red, save for Kobo's own. The Strato-Hornets of Kobo's half of the squadron started unleashing their first missiles.
FWOOSH!
FWOOSH!
FWOOSH!
Smoke traced through the air, but Kobo's reticle stayed green. Then, explosions rocked the enemy formation.
BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
"All shots on target! Hits confirmed." Olivia reported, "Keep it up, ladies!"
"Okay, Bokobo… game time!" Kobo spoke to herself, "Mark a target… spread the love…" She repeated Moona's mantras, "Make every missile count!"
She nudged her plane slightly and made it point towards an unmarked enemy. Rhythmic beeps filled Kobo's cockpit and intensified in a brisk accelerando as her combat computer picked a target. Kobo's reticle finally turned green - and then ultimately red.
Kobo grinned.
Then, she roared.
"FIRE!"
She pulled the trigger and launched a missile of her own.
FWOOSH!
The missile zipped forward like a spear of light and fire tracing smoke through the cloudless skies. Kobo watched it accelerate towards the sea of enemies, towards the locked foe.
And then…!
BOOM!
Kobo blinked in disbelief.
"I actually hit something…" Kobo gasped. She squinted and started doubting herself, "Did I hit something?"
"Good shot, Zero-Eight! Hit confirmed." Olivia praised, "Acquire your next target."
"R-roger that, Jollie Jollie!" Kobo stammered.
She looked ahead and saw her targeting computer already picking its next target. Meanwhile, the High Tide, Jollie Jollie and the other cadets started firing their next salvo of missiles.
FWOOSH!
FWOOSH!
FWOOSH!
"I'm not gonna be left behind this time!" Kobo declared.
She eyed her own target, locked onto it and pulled the trigger too!
FWOOSH!
The missiles flew true and struck down their marks. Beyond the horizon, Kobo also saw the other half of the squadron unloading missiles upon the enemy. All fifteen Strato-Hornets unleashed hell upon the black ichor-like warplanes, gutting the diminished Galactic Orca from the sides.
It was a turkey shoot!
A continuous stream of explosions ate away at the enemy formation, bathing their warplanes in flame like a firework festival. All the while, the older-generation enemy planes could do little more than take the punishment.
And yet, after Kobo and her peers emptied their missile bays, more than a hundred enemies still remained.
Kobo tried to pull her trigger, but her Strato-Hornet had no more missiles left to fire.
"I'm out already…?" Kobo's face went pale.
At this point, Moona's video feed piped up again.
"Lesson three! Ammunition." Moona continued her lecture, "Just like the I.D.O.L. Frames, our jets in this sim will replenish ammo from your I-115 cells, but the missiles take a while. That means we have to close in and use our guns - the Vulcan rotary cannons! Check your dashboards now, ladies."
The weapons overlay on Kobo's dashboard shifted, highlighting the M61A2 vulcan cannons on her aircraft.
"Hoh…" Kobo hummed, "So we're not out of ammo yet after all."
When Kobo said this, though, her cockpit suddenly filled with ominous beeping noises.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
"What the hell…!?" Kobo furrowed her brow.
"Lesson four! Range." Moona added next, "We were firing our missiles from out of the enemies' range earlier, but now we're closing in to get them into gun range."
"We're… getting them into range?" Kobo gulped.
"That's correct, Zero-Eight. We're in their range now too." Moona confirmed, "That means - the enemy's gonna start shooting back at us. Watch for missile smoke and radar signals and take evasive maneuvers! Use your countermeasures if you have to - and you will have to. The bogies are going to try and bite - hard. Just like a real Galactic Orca of AO's."
This time around, the black, ichor-like enemies started shooting missiles at them! A menacing swarm of enemy missiles traced smoke talons through the air that shot towards the Strato-Hornets now. Both halves of the squadron were being targeted at the same time!
Enemy missiles blotted out the sun.
"Holy shit!" Kobo cursed.
And yet, Moona's High Tide, Olivia's Jollie Jollie and Reine's Illusion Night fired their afterburners and charged forward.
"We're closing the distance, everyone! Use the loose formation! Take everything you've learned from us thus far, shake off the missiles and take the fight to them!" Reine chimed in this time, "The sooner we can get in range, the sooner we can shred the AO's!"
"Goodness… easier said than done!" Kobo, quaking in her seat, clicked her tongue.
"What? Gonna chicken out, Zero-Eight?" Zeta's voice taunted her.
"You wish, Zero-Six!" Kobo hissed back.
Zeta scoffed and smugly dared her, "Watch my dust, then!"
On the radar, Kobo saw Zeta's Zero-Six follow the advancing Reine without hesitation.
Kobo's jaw dropped, "S-she's actually doing it too?"
One by one, emboldened by Zeta's charge, the endangered cadets followed her pursuit.
Kobo wiped sweat off her brow and gripped her flight-stick. She eyed Moona's and Olivia's jets, took a deep breath and cried, "Here goes nothing!"
…
Kobo fired up her afterburners once more and joined her colleagues on the assault. Her Strato-Hornet picked up speed and flew past the first wave of enemy missiles, but many more continued to track her!
"Shit…!" Kobo jerked her flight-stick and dodged the incoming missiles as best as she could.
She banked her Strato-Hornet left and right and then left again in rapid succession. Her heart pounded hard against her chest. Deep inside, she knew she had her back against the wall, but that morbid, desperate fact only sharpened Kobo's focus and made her senses keener than usual.
It was like a runner's high, Kobo thought.
But her body was an SF/A-18 EDX Strato-Hornet jet fighter.
And in her heart was a rhythmic song. As she flew, its lyrics escaped her lips!
'Dengarkanlah, suaraku - id:entity!'
Time seemed to slow down around Kobo, following the tempo of the song in her heart. In response, the visuals of her dashboard and the data outputs of her flight and combat computers synced with Kobo - all of Kobo! The gaps between the swathes of missiles seemed to take the shape of musical notes on a G-clef staff.
Her hand on the flight stick moved to that rhythm. She made her plane dart and weave, hitting those notes and flying through those narrowing loopholes of the missile-hell.
One missile, however, had Kobo's fighter plane in its sights. It drew close, kept up with Kobo's speed and cut off her path to freedom!
"I can't shake this one…!" Kobo gritted her teeth.
"Countermeasures, Zero-Eight!" Olivia's voice urged from her window.
"... right!" Kobo gasped. She switched to the countermeasures on her dashboard and fired them at the incoming missile.
THUP-THUP-THUP-THUP-THUP!
Bright, fiery flares shot out of the side of Kobo's jet in quick succession. The missile that had been chasing Kobo changed targets in an instant and struck a flare, blowing it up!
BOOM!
But it was too close for comfort.
The explosion rocked Kobo's fighter jet violently and her afterburners stuttered to an abrupt halt. Her dashboard computer started identifying damaged modules, but her jet continued to fly on her standard engines.
"I made it somehow…" Kobo breathed sharply.
On her radar, however, she saw some of the blue dots of her squadron flash wildly before disappearing. Three Strato-Hornets of Kobo's peers took harder hits than hers and were crashing out of the simulated sky.
"We're taking casualties, but push through!" Reine's voice called, "All units, check your ammo. Your missiles should have replenished by now."
"But watch your fuel!" Olivia interjected, "The I-115 goes into everything!"
"Fuel…?" Kobo furrowed her brow.
She checked her I-115 cell levels and saw it evaporate rapidly from two-thirds to just less than half.
However, just as Reine reported, she had six brand new air-to-air missiles at her disposal - along with her full load of Vulcan cannon ammo.
Once again, Kobo's targeting computer started picking targets from the herd of black, ichor-like enemy planes.
"Final lesson for tonight, ladies." Moona's voice cut through the din, "When you take to the skies or blast out into space to attack, see it through to the end. Our enemies, the Ancient Ones are heartless and soulless beings - but they are not mindless. They will try to destroy us at every turn, so do not hesitate! Show them no mercy!"
Kobo breathed Moona's words straight into her very soul. Her nervous heart stilled and she, once more, felt joined to her jet fighter.
"Don't hesitate…" Kobo repeated the mantra, "Show them no mercy!"
"You heard High Tide!" Reine chimed in, "All units - fire your last missile salvos. Then, close in and let your guns do the talking!"
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Kobo and Zeta both cried out wholeheartedly.
The two rivals looked at each other through their screens. Fiery glows illuminated their eyes paired with daring smirks painted on their lips.
And so, the remaining Strato-Hornets unleashed their missiles upon their menacing foes and bathed them in fire. Then, before the heavenly infernos subsided, Kobo, Zeta and their peers fired their afterburners once more and charged into hell as quickly as their planes could take them.
Nineteenth Scene - A Cut Above
Intense battle broke out between the twelve Strato-Hornets and the five dozen enemy aircraft that survived the second missile salvo. Guided by combat computers, the Vulcan rotary cannons came to life. Their rotary cannons spun rapidly at the drop of a hat and…
BRRRRT!
Kobo's trigger finger trembled.
Her Vulcan cannon practically deleted anything that she could get her sights on.
BRRRRT! BRRRRT! BRRRRT!
"Holy crap!" Kobo gasped, both frightened and amazed by the firepower at her disposal. Four enemy jets fell to her nigh-almighty power.
However, the enemy aircraft had guns of their own too. They faced Kobo head-on and fired back at her.
RATATATATATATATATATAT!
"Shit!" Kobo cursed.
She remembered that she actually still had to fly the plane. Kobo yanked her flight-stick and zipped away from the incoming fire. And yet, she could not shake the aircraft off her tail.
At the same time, her dashboard started to wail with a digital voice.
"Bingo! Bingo!"
"Bingo…?" Kobo furrowed her brow, "Is that a good thing?"
"That's the low fuel warning, Zero-Eight." Olivia interpreted for her.
"Low fuel!?" Kobo tried to complain, "But I need my afterburners to…!"
Before Kobo could say anything else, the enemy fighters chasing her sped up. They closed in and fired their guns.
RATATATATATATATATATAT!
Primitive machine gun shots struck the rear of Kobo's aircraft en masse, tearing through her tail fins and wings just as well as her Vulcan cannon did to their comrades. Kobo's jet engine sputtered and caught fire. Her digital dashboard flashed ominously.
"Damn it…!" Kobo hissed.
"Zero-Eight, eject - ej…ct!" Olivia's voice crackled through the failing TACCOM.
The dashboard brought up the holographic eject button. Kobo gritted her teeth and slammed her fist into it.
Then, the simulation ended for Kobo and her world turned to black.
Kobo sank into her simulator chair and covered her face with her hand.
"Guhhhhhh…" Kobo groaned irritably.
While Kobo stewed in her frustrations, the side door of the simulator pod opened once more. Light from the simulator hall flooded inside, forcing Kobo to shield her eyes. Then, the silhouette of Anya Melfissa appeared before her.
This time, Anya wasn't there to reset the simulation. Kobo's flying career, for that night at least, was over.
"Welcome to the afterlife, Zero-Eight. You are casualty number eight out of fifteen in the squadron. You have seventeen kills." Anya reported in a matter-of-factly voice.
"Is that good or bad?" Kobo asked.
"It's an improvement." Anya smiled.
Kobo pouted.
With the extremely low bar that Kobo had set with her poor flying earlier, anything could be considered an 'improvement'.
But still, Anya offered her hand to Kobo.
"The battle's still ongoing. C'mon." Anya said with modest cheer, "I've pulled up chairs. We can watch the finale on the big screen."
Kobo heaved a sigh. Then, she took Anya's hand and let her help her out of the simulator pod.
The petite brunette brought Kobo to the hub of the mainframe computer where folding chairs were spread out before a large formless screen. It showed the ongoing simulation with a free-roam camera paired with a 3D radar map of the warplanes still on the battlefield. M
Familiar callsigns caught Kobo's eyes.
Moona's 'High Tide', Olivia's 'Jollie Jollie', Reine's 'Illusion Night'... and of course Zeta's 'Zero-Six'.
In the heat of the frantic battle, the rest of the cadets started dropping like flies. Casualty numbers nine, ten and eleven of the Majestic 12 cadets came as the ichor aircraft counterattacked viciously.
Anya offered Kobo a seat, but she couldn't bring herself to sit down. She stayed there standing with her eyes glued to the screen.
Eight enemy aircraft remained, but the last four Strato-Hornets were damaged and running on fumes. Zeta and the veterans danced through the skies against their persistent foes and pulled off amazing maneuvers, but they were running out of fuel - out of time.
"I'll get us an opening!" Zeta declared aggressively, "Engaging afterburners now!"
Kobo saw Zeta's Zero-Six break ahead from the formation and then turn sharply. On the pilots' TACCOM, Zeta winced from the simulated G-force but kept her cool through the pain.
Zeta's maneuver brought her plane behind four of her pursuers. Then, she unloaded her Vulcan cannon upon them.
BRRRRRT-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK!
Three of the enemy planes were torn to shreds, but the fourth survived the assault. And yet, another warning followed on Zeta's dashboard soon after.
"Bingo! Bingo!"
"Shit, her fuel…" Kobo winced where she stood.
"I'm not done yet!" Zeta roared defiantly, "Come here, you little shit!"
She engaged her afterburners one last time and launched her plane into her fourth prey.
CRASH! BOOM!
Zeta's assault and last strike broke up what remained of the enemy formation. That freed up Olivia, Moona and Reine to break off from their own pursuers and shoot them down with Vulcan guns.
BRRRT! BRRRT! BRRRT!
By the time that Anya helped Zeta out of her simulation pod, the simulation was over.
The IDSC, by the thinnest of margins, was victorious.
The cadets cheered for the veterans as they went out of their own simulator pods: Olivia, Moona and Reine. Impromptu fanfare broke out as they clapped and called out their names like sports fans of the winning team. When Anya brought Zeta to join the veterans, though, the fanfare continued but lost a fraction of the fervor.
Zeta snorted but kept a stoic face on for the rest of the night.
Kobo watched that wordless exchange from the audience stand.
'The other cadets aren't going easy on her too, huh?' Kobo thought as she looked on to the stone-faced Zeta, 'Perhaps we're not as different as I thought - she and I.'
While she did, Kobo made a promise to herself.
She swore that she would, one day, join the victors on the stage until the very end.
She swore that she would make a name - and a callsign - that everyone would remember.
And she would win victories that would let her stand on the same stage as Moona, Olivia and the rest of the I.D.O.L. Frame pilots.
Kobo would do everything in her power to do just that.
…
When the cheers and the fanfare finally started to subside, Reine brought her class of cadets back into order and addressed them.
"So, cadets. How do you feel about your first taste of flying?" Reine put her hands on her hips and beamed, "It's exhilarating, isn't it? Being able to fly these war machines through the skies."
Kobo and most of the other cadets nodded in agreement. Reine's blue eyes then shimmered mischievously.
"But what if I told you that you've only experienced roughly half - or less than half - of the true experience of piloting an I.D.O.L. Frame!" Reine revealed.
"... huh!?" the bulk of the cadets gasped.
Reine confirmed her words with a nod. Then, she gestured to Anya to take the stage. The petite brunette cleared her throat and faced the awestruck cadets.
"The starfighter form of I.D.O.L. Frames are powerful, but only if we fight the Ancient Ones in outer space." Anya came forward and continued Reine's lecture, "In the rare event that I.D.O.L. Frames are tasked to fight a planetary battle on this Earth, or maybe an Orbital Platform, we change their form accordingly. That's where CWO comes in. Combat Walker Operations."
Mumbling and whispers broke out among the cadets. Every single one of them was exhausted and had poured themselves into the fighter simulation. But now, they were being told that they had only scratched the surface.
Some were awestruck by news.
Others were frightened and stressed by what other challenges were to come.
Kobo, on the other hand, could barely contain her excitement.
'CWO, huh? This time…' Kobo swore beneath her breath, 'This time I'll make a name for myself!'
Reine clapped her hands and silenced the mumblings of the cadets.
"You've all done well today, cadets. There's still a lot more air training to do, but we'll call it a night." Reine concluded. She then turned to Olivia and smiled, "You and your classmates back at the Academy will have CWO classes with Olivia Kureiji tomorrow, so get ready!"
Olivia grinned and sauntered forward this time towards the cadets, "Yup! We're getting up bright and early and starting with some good ole' PT. Physical training! But before that, be sure to pick up your combat gear from Sergeant Sparrowhawk - we're taking it up the mountain through the steps!"
The cadets let out a collective groan.
Zeta, especially, pursed her lips and started fidgeting where she sat.
"It's alright, kiddos." Moona interjected and reassured casually, "I'll pick up a kit and march up the mountain with all of you!"
Moona's words perked up the class somewhat. Doing hard exercise was a dreadful experience, but doing it alongside a celebrated war hero seemed to lighten the load - even just a little bit.
And so, Moona and Olivia joined Reine, Anya and the cadets to pick up their heavy-loaded rucksacks, rifles and body armor. Together, they led the cadets up the mountain for their final trek of the night.
Twentieth Scene - Peace Offering
Most of the cadets, eager to catch up on their rest - or attempt to keep up with the veterans like Kobo did earlier on the way down, kept pace with the Reine, Moona, Olivia and Anya as best as they could.
Kobo did the same at first.
After all, she harbored many questions that she wanted to ask her four simpais.
She'd ask Reine if she managed to make up for her poor flying after her better-than-expected combat sortie.
She'd have questions for Anya about the flight simulator - and maybe about the Combat Walker modes of the I.D.O.L. frames.
For Olivia, she would have tried to glean more information about her upcoming Combat Walker Operations class.
Then, for Moona - Kobo wanted to ask her if she did a good job that night.
She wanted - needed - to know if her idol perceived her.
All those questions propelled her to push herself once more and fight against the weight of her combat kit. Kobo even managed to start inching closer to the veterans and hovered just over a dozen steps away!
But on Kobo's way up, she noticed Zeta lagging behind the other cadets yet again.
Or rather, she heard the obnoxious jeering and teasing of the cadets behind her.
So, Kobo stole glances of Zeta below from over her shoulder.
They had only reached the quarter-way mark of the staircase of the Hundred Thousand Miracles, but Zeta was already huffing and puffing. Her face, once cool, calm and collected inside the cockpit of a Strato-Hornet, was as red as a tomato and slick with sweat glistening in the moonlight!
Even then, through the pain, sweat and jeers, Zeta persisted and kept hiking up.
Eventually, the other cadets hurried off and left Zeta in the dust. Kobo, on the other hand, started slowing down to a crawl.
By the time Kobo had strolled leisurely up to the halfway mark of the staircase she stopped completely.
Moments later, Zeta finally caught up.
Panting heavily, Zeta forced herself up to the 500th step of the staircase and onto the halfway point landing. There, she found herself standing face to face with Kobo.
"Water fountain…" Zeta hissed at Kobo on instinct.
"Stupid cat." Kobo answered as if it were second nature.
"I'm not… a cat…" Zeta tried to argue, but the venom in her voice wasn't as potent as she wanted it to be. She lowered her head and scrambled to catch her breath, "What the hell… do you want?"
"I felt tired so I wanted to rest." Kobo lied. But then, she faced Zeta and insisted, "You should take a rest too. You don't look so good."
Zeta huffed and puffed as she lugged the heavy equipment upwards. She looked up to the unusually slow Kobo and scowled, not buying her story for even a moment.
"This has got… nothing to do with you." Zeta huffed, trying to puff up her chest with pride.
The silver-haired cadet tried to push onwards, but her tired legs buckled and she tripped forward. All the weight that she carried fell down with her and sped up her fall.
"Oh, crap…!" Zeta cursed and braced for impact.
And yet, the impact never came.
Kobo swooped in and caught Zeta, and all the weight she had been carrying, in her arms!
Kobo locked eyes with Zeta, flared up her nostrils and commanded her, "We're taking a rest. Right now!"
Zeta pouted, but she didn't have the strength to argue back.
So, Zeta conceded, "Fine."
She let Kobo help her to a stone bench beside an illuminated vending machine and a streetlamp. Kobo took Zeta's rifle and set it down on the ground alongside hers. Then, she faced Zeta again.
"I'll buy you a drink." Kobo offered, pointing to the vending machine, "What do you want?"
"Milk tea. The premium brand one. Cold." Zeta said without hesitation.
Kobo nodded and walked over to the vending machine and started pressing on the buttons and scanning her WristComm on the device reader. Zeta watched her, surprised that the hotheaded water fountain was finally doing something nice to her - and buying her premium brand milk tea to boot!
But then, Kobo turned back to Zeta and spoke without batting an eye. She showed her WristComm screen displaying a warning.
'INSUFFICIENT FUNDS'.
Then, Kobo spoke flatly, "Hey. Can you lend me some money?"
Zeta's softening expression immediately turned sour. Then, she facepalmed.
'Right…' Zeta grumbled beneath her breath, 'She's a Jakarta-03 peasant.'
Zeta sighed and stood up from the stone bench. Then, she marched towards the vending machine with labored steps and scanned her WristComm on the reader.
She bought two premium brand milk tea bottles and gave one to Kobo.
"Here. This one's on me." Zeta insisted.
The moment Kobo locked eyes with her, though, Zeta turned away and pouted haughtily.
Kobo blinked and whispered beneath her breath, "Is this what they call tsundere?"
"Did you say something?" Zeta furrowed her brow.
"Nope." Kobo lied again.
With that, Kobo and Zeta returned to the stone bench, opened up their milk teas and relaxed under the starry night sky side by side.
To Be Continued