Well, I guess it's time to get back to it after all.
I don't have any reasons beyond trying to S rank everything in AC VI and real-life obligations taking hold, but I can confidently say we are in one of the rides now that I got all 3 endings.
As per usual I don't own anything.
-0-
Ichika looked nervously at the audience that filled the arena to the brim, hell he even spotted Mayotta and Hari among the crowds alongside the trio of childhood friends.
'I don't have time to worry about all these people…'
He looked across the arena and spotted his opponent, Rin stood there arm crossed across her chest quietly waiting for the match to begin and she was the Shenlong. Just as with Blue Tears, the Japanese boy could see she had unattached units. They were floating above her shoulder in the form of spiked balls.
Orbit weapons?
"Okay, both of you go to your starting positions." announced the arena operator as both contestants floated up, and a good about five meters apart.
"Ichika, if you apologize now, I'll let you off easy." she smugly announced through the open channel.
"If that's all you've got to say, then I don't need it. Come at me with everything you've got."
Ichika didn't say that just to sound tough, it was the same as it'd been with Cecilia, he hated not taking this sort of thing seriously.
Arena battles are serious business, even his most laid-back friends agreed on that point, It was only natural to tell them if you thought as much.
-0-
"Just to let you know, the Absolute Defense system isn't perfect. You can hurt the pilot if the power of the attack pierces the total shield energy."
It wasn't a threat but the truth. It was only a rumor but he heard from Hari that supposedly there were even weapons designed specifically to hurt the pilot.
Flamethrowers are a major example of banned weapons alongside Pulse weapons, Those were obviously against the competition rules, and they were very dangerous. Still... The point was, that it was possible to directly torment the pilot, and for a National Cadet, being able to do that was feasible.
He remembers being drilled on all kinds of ranged weapons by the redhead and thanks to Byakushiki's limited armoury he had to spend days learning how to dodge weapon fire with quick boosting.
Being shot by Mayotta and Cecilia wasn't a pleasant experience since the two are the academy's best gunslingers.
Especially Mayotta who specialised in mid to long-range combat, and lastly the dangers of having your IS staggered was equal to a death sentence in an arena match.
He didn't remember the whole thing but it involves your IS Attitude Control System being overloaded, he stopped listening once the technical terms started flying-
-0-
-The buzzer sound rang out bringing Ichika back to reality and as soon as it stopped, Rin leaped forward.
He brought the Yukihira Nigata out and just barely managed to block her attack, Then quickly used the Cross Grid Turn that Cecilia had taught him to swing the IS around and face Rin again.
The international then uses Quick Turn and faces him once more, Of course, she can use the Quick Turn manoeuvre…
"Hmm. Not bad, blocking my first attack. But..." Rin was holding two oddly-shaped halberd-like weapons which she swung around like a baton. The blade on them was so large it looked more like a blade with a small arm attached, and Rin swung them around like they weighed nothing. What's more, her attacks were so fast.
Ichika is all too aware that Byakushiki is on the lighter side of the middleweight class and his opponent Shenlong is more on the heavier side of things.
It's like watching the Fireworks of Shibuya punch that poor lightweight out during the climax of the Tokyo Arena last night.
Except he is on the receiving end as it took all of him to just parry and redirect the massive blades.
'I need distance!' Just as he boosted backward both Orbit Weapons on Rin's shoulder opened up and-
"Gotcha now!"
Something invisible and powerful shot out and slammed onto his body for a moment. His mind went dark as he almost lost consciousness from that one attack alone.
"That was just a jab," she smiled at her childhood friend, confidently and like a boxer, after a jab, the boxer goes in for the knockout punch.
"Ngh!" An invisible fist slammed into his chest knocking the winds out as he crashed on his back to the ground. Ichika could feel pain because some of the impacts had penetrated the shield barrier. It had done some damage, all in one blow.
-0-
"What was that?" Houki asked as she looked at a live feed down into the pit.
"An impact cannon. It uses air pressure to make a gun barrel of sorts, and fires a concentrated ball of pressure forward," Shinkai answered, as he was staring at the same monitor. "To think they got a working model already."
He continued on how third-generation IS like Blue Tears or ShenLong even his own Split-Moon but she wasn't listening as she couldn't stand watching him fight so desperately. It hurt her soul every time he took a hit.
This was way more brutal and merciless than when he'd fought against Cecilia, alone and without anyone to watch his back, she hoped that he returned safely above anything else.
"Don't worry, I believe Ichika can turn the tide in the last second." Her cousin offered a comforting pat on the back.
She hoped he was right.
'Ichika….'
-0-
Rin was tired, despite being confident in her skills as a pilot and her weaponry she could not help but feel exhausted as she stared down at her opponent, Ichika always had a knack for pulling some last-second surprise and it seemed he had shown it.
'The next one will be the last'
She whittled down Byakushiki's shield little by little with her shoulder weapons, she heard rumors about how faulty that white IS of his, for a middle-weight machine she noticed how light and easy it was for her to push and shove it around.
"I won't hold back on my last attack," he said with a grin, somehow it's quite nostalgic for her.
"I'll show you how big the gulf between us is!" the Cadet Representative shouted in return as she twirled her blades and entered a new posture. While her opponent readies himself to accelerate and close the distance before the impact cannon could hit him.
As white met black second before their blades clashed once more a sudden blast shook the arena as there was smoke rising from the center of the arena. Apparently, something had penetrated the arena's isolation shield and impacted the center.
"Wh-What was that? What's going on?" she heard Ichika asked as he looked toward the observation room.
"Ichika! Rin! The match is off! Go back to the pit!" the two of them heard Zina shout as she pointed toward the smoking crater in the middle on her side Noa stood up alongside Evan as both of them leaned on the railings.
"Ichika! Rin! Hurry!" they heard Noa shout as he was enveloped in light revealing his IS: Cascade range in all of its glory before suddenly he opened fire at the center of the arena right at the nick of time as a scorching ray seared through the sky where Rin had been.
If it wasn't for Ichika grabbing her and carrying her away with Byakushiki's superior speed and Noa's pinpoint precision shot it would have cooked both of them.
The output is far above the standard regulations! Everyone knew the intruder was bad news.
"Zina! Buy them some time!" Noa shouted as a violet flash appeared this time it was Zina's personal IS manifesting itself.
"Is that what I really think it is?" Evan asked as he watched Fascinator launch herself at the enemy and deliver a brutal kick sending the intruder flying away from the cloud of dust and revealing its form for the world to see.
"Yeah." Noa replied with a cold sweat. "It's a Pulverizer…."
-0-
Far away from the academy…in one of Phantom Task, many bases are scattered around the globe.
If there is one thing that Walter hated most in his fifty years of living, it is the act of wasting the lives of others, the last meeting among the Phantom Task operative cells was quite disastrous despite the success of the operation and the loss of Iroha-620, Maria-617, and Tatsuya-619 left them in a disadvantage.
Hounds despite being failures of Mosaica are still extraordinary and above-average pilots, not to mention the loss of their IS has left quite the hole in Phantom Task armory, taking a long drag of smoke as the aged man sat inside the transport helicopter loaded with Nightfall he cannot help but to think if he can fulfill his promise to the few remaining hounds of his.
To give them a normal life after everything is said and done.
He can't help but bitterly remember how the meeting went, Phantom Task obtained the Leviathan, a monster of a weapon developed after the Phantasma in an attempt to emulate its destructive power but in a more controlled setting.
He can't help but scoff at the idea even more now they plan to complete the monster by stealing its generator and weaponry that was sent separately.
Was it worth it? To trade the lives of three extraordinary pilots for a single superweapon they have no guarantee can use or control.
"That bitch Squall."
He never liked Squall Meusel, the way she wasted her money on frivolous things like luxury hotels or dinner, and now her wasting the life of his hounds on suicide missions, he has faith that 621 can finish the mission, he only worries about his younger sister mental health, so utterly consumed by the need of vengeance it hard to imagine her having a future beyond dying inside her IS.
"Old man."
The handler looked to his side and saw 621 walking into the helicopter.
"Chihiro," Walter replied, at least he had the courtesy to call the boy by his name instead of his serial numbers alone. "Is it time?"
He nodded.
"How's 623?"
The dark-haired man couldn't help but sigh and the silence told Walter everything he needed to know, must be one of her volatile episodes. She always lacked discipline and a dog that bites her owner's hands often gets put down.
"Another time I suppose." The handler threw the cigarette out of the helicopter before walking to the cockpit. "Get dressed Chihiro, We have a job to do."
-0-
Not exactly my proudest chapter in terms of length because of the limited time i have with college and other real-life obligations. Other than that this chapter is named after AC VI's OST of the same name.
First time for everything I suppose.