I stared in befuddlement at the white suit-wearing, black/blue-haired elf staring back at me with an expression that betrayed how absolutely done she was with everything, she sighed.
"I suppose you are still a little confused since you came here so suddenly."
As a guy that had to face unexpected situations, I learned that improvising and not losing your cool was paramount to surviving, that and a little bit of Divine Providence working in my favour, let us see if I can wing it.
"Sorry for that, miss, it's just that I'm still in the dark as to what happened, may you tell me who you are and where am I?" I asked, it was now that I could really focus on her, apart from the white suit and…generous figure she had, she was wearing glasses and what seemed to be piercings on her pointed ears, she also had piercing deep blue eyes and what seemed to be bags under her eyes, heh, I can relate to that, probably a high ranking bureaucrat too familiar with how bullcrap things could be, Baikal certainly looked like that almost always, guy could use a vacation or several. In any case the woman did not have any problems answering my question.
"Very well, I am Nanagami Rin, currently the Acting-President of the Kivotos Student Council, that is, the ruling body presiding over all of the Academic City, you and three other people are the teachers we summoned" she explained with one eyebrow raised, meanwhile I stared blankly at her, Student Council? Does this mean this woman is no older than eighteen, and she is part of the ruling body of where I am? "Or so it would seem."
"I'm sorry?" I asked, trying not to sound so sceptical, "how can you not know?" Rin sighed.
"I apologize, Livesey-Sensei, but we still have no idea how you came here, or the rest for that matter" she replied trying to sound apologetic, so she has no idea how I got here? Well, I can at least cross off a kidnapping as to how I got here.
"Alright, first of, just call me Martin or Mister Martin, Sensei just plain sounds weird and makes you sound like a Tri Tac executive" I replied, really, I just do not like Tri Tachyon titles, they sound weird.
"I insist, Martin-sensei, it denotes your title, you were brought here for your teaching, or so I've been told" that got my attention in many ways, teaching? Were they expecting me to go and instruct children in a class?
"Of all the things I could have been brought here, it's for MY teaching?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level, people normally know me either as an entrepreneur that went from rags to riches, a statesman, or a warlord that conquered the Medusa Nebula and killed fleets far more numerous than my personal one, or how I stared back at Tri Tachyon and Imperial and didn't blink before them. Much as I like to think I am teaching Therese as good as I can and that she likes my lessons that's not the first thing people thought of when they thought of Martin Livesey.
"I did not know you and the others were chosen" replied Rin apologetically, "that would be" she paused "the one who knew you, the General Student Council President, she didn't tell us why you were so important, or the other three for that matter, she was responsible for bringing all of you here, don't bother asking for her, she is" she paused once more "unavailable as of now"
That brought even more questions than answers, so not even her knew how I was here, well at least that means I wasn't kidnapped, but hearing her say that she didn't know I was chosen gave me a troubling thought, if she didn't know where I was that meant one of two things, the last one more horrifying than the first one, the first possibility is that I am in some sort of decivilized world that hasn't heard of the Persean Sector polities, let alone me, which meant that they don't know space travel. The second possibility was even more terrifying, it meant that I could have suffered the same fate the Aurorians suffered, I was in another reality entirely with no immediate way of going back, which meant that for the Sector at large I was as good as dead.
'Creator have mercy, do not let the Sector go to hell because of this' I silently prayed, "Okay, so if you don't know how I was chosen, can you at least tell me why?"
The girl did not answer me at first, instead beckoning me to follow her to a balcony, I did just that, followed her outside and I saw probably my top 5 most memorable views I ever had. I saw a city as far as they eye could see, like the capital city of Auroria if it were built by privtech or Luddic Church builders and architects, the city itself was big, big enough that I could see what seemed to be sand dunes and a snowed mountain. But the simplicity of its technology made it all the more contrasting when I saw a giant spire with another spire above it, surrounding it, as if it surrounded all the land was an object that looked like Rin's halo.
"This is Kivotos, Martin-Sensei, the others have seen this before" there she goes again, who are those others? "It is city home to thousands of academies."
Well, she did say it was the Academic City, but still, how big was this 'Kivotos' for there to be 'thousands of academies,' did she count preschools? So, this city was made as a giant school meant to teach kids all they need for life, hopefully, but that made it all the more jarring that they needed me, were they short of teachers? Just then the sound of gunfire had my attention, I looked down, a bit closer and I could see that some buildings had chunks of it ripped down, windows were broken, and debris filled the streets next to the building I was on.
"As you can see, the city is in a state of chaos ever since the President disappeared, you and your colleagues are the only ones who can save it" so she needs help restoring order? Sure, I can do that.
"Okay, well, what do you need done?" I asked, Rin smiled.
"You only need to reach the Sanctum Tower, get past its verifications and transfer the authority of Kivotos back to us, I can commission a helicopter to ride you and your colleagues there" simple, far too simple.
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" Rin then took something similar to a Tri Pad and held it, shortly after a holographic figure of a pink-haired girl, wearing almost the same white suit and having the same elf-like ears, appeared, eating chips as if there wasn't a city-wide crisis happening, reminds me of Griselda, that lazy bum I told to rule over Tuchanka and its industries, this gremlin seemed to have the same personality, I hope she was just as good at her job.
"Yo, Rin, Momoka here, what do you need?" she spoke in an equally laid-back tone.
"Momoka, I need you to prepare a helicopter for Livesey-sensei, Daud-sensei and all the others, so that they can go to the Schale clubroom as soon as possible" I widened my eyes at the sound of Baikal's second name, could it be?
"The SCHALE clubroom? No can do, Rin, the rioters have pretty much enforced a no-fly zone in this area, the pilots and their officers refuse to fly in the vicinity" replied the pink-haired gremlin, Rin frowned.
"No-fly zone, what do you mean?"
"One of the Seven Prisoners escaped from custody, rallied the delinquents and started wrecking everything while looting the armouries, LZ is too hot with AA, they even have a looted Crusader tank they took from Trinity!" I smiled, trying not to get worried at how difficult this would look, also noting that I had my gauss revolver and my vibro blade at their respective holsters, five assassination attempts made it so I always had my weapons on me, too bad I can't sleep with the marine combat armour, a beep was heard, coming from Rin's Tri Pad, suddenly Momoka's expression brightened up, "oh, food's here, sorry Rin but no helicopter, wish you luck though"
"Momoka? Momoka!" cried Rin but the Tri Pad already flickered off the hologram, making me surprised at the inmaturity, these were children, and they directed this clown show of a city? How come nobody has tried to take it over until now, maybe they did, nevertheless I could see Rin get that same expression of cold fury whenever I hear of another Luddic Path bombing or Imperial operatives in my territory, she was trying hard not to explode and punch something, fortunately for her, and me, she calmed down and turned to me.
"I suppose you have no units to escort me to the clubroom, correct?" I asked.
"Unfortunately the GSC has deployed the entirety of the security forces to try to secure the immediate area of the GSC building, those who arent doing so are cooperating with Valkyrie, and the clubroom is 30 kilometers away from our current position, sorry Sensei, we do cannot spare anyone"
"Go fig" I replied, just before I was about to say about how suicidal this mission is, Rin spoke again.
"Livesey-sensei, I know I have not given you much reason to fight for us, you just got here and didn't even know what was happening, but I have no other reason but to believe you can do it, that you can restore order in the city, because so does the President who brought you here, and looking at you, perhaps you can"
She replied looking at my weapons, looking at hers, her pistol didn't look like a gauss weapon, more akin to a powder gun decivilized populations used, she didn't know but I was also wearing skin tight body armour mesh that was enough to stop low calibre bullets, wouldn't help me against gauss rifles but it was still better than nothing, besides, assasins don't use rifles, I sighed, well, okay, to another suicide mission I go, certainly not the first time I wing it through a suicide mission
"Okay then, I might be able to use what I have"
"And you won't have to" replied Rin "there is another reason why you were called, a far more… long term assignment" oh joy.
"And what is that?" I replied trying not to sound deadpan.
"To serve as one of the advisors in the council of the Independent Federal Investigation Bureau, SCHALE" that's the place she mentioned to Momoka "less of a club and more of an extrajudicial organization, as an advisor, you would have the power to recruit any student from any academy you wished, with extrajudicial powers to circumvent any regulations", so I was to be something similar to what Jen was before I recruited him? Extrajudicial power to achieve my objectives certainly seems similar to what secret police organizations and intelligence agencies in the Persean Sector have, "naturally I was not informed of this, the President created a whole organization behind our backs, behind mine"
Oho, now that was interesting, why would she do that? A good question, one which I didn't have an answer to.
"Why do you think she didn't tell anyone?" I asked, Rin shook her head.
"I do not know, I had nary a suspicion from this" she replied, looking down and massaging her temple, so now I not only have to worry about restoring the city's order and managing what is essentially a secret police in all but name but I also have to worry about cloak and dagger stuff as if I was in Andrada's fiefdom? What was this 'President' thinking about when she decided to involve me in this mess, what deciviled hellhole was this that a city ruled by children have to worry about shadow politics more serious than a popularity contest, what the hell is this place?
I sighed, regardless of what this place is, I'm here now and I cant hide away like a roach, I'm involved whether I like it or not.
"Fine, I'll do it" Rin looked at me with surprise and hope.
"Livesey-sensei"
"Save your gratitude for when the city is not in the crapper"
This city and its logic was going to test my limits for insanity, only the Creator knows why I was here, but if this was His will then there is nothing that can be done except to follow it, Rin regained her professional expression and nodded.
"Follow me"
Rin led me outside of the office we were on and to an elevator, but waiting just outside were seven people, four I didn't recognize but the other three almost made me jump in joy.
"Martin!" cried the voice of Therese, I was relieved to see that I wasn't alone and that they would be with me where no assasin could reach them, I allowed myself to smile and crouched down to receive my siblings in a hug, the blonde girl was crying and so was lil' Mikey.
"Big brother, we were so scared, a woman with blue hair talked to us about how she was goin to do someone a favor, and then we were here" said Mikey.
"Shhh, its okay, Mikey, I'm here now" then I heard someone clear his throat, I looked up and oh boy, it really was him, a man of somewhat short stature, greying hair, dark skin with a scar on his temple showing he was no stranger to combat, eyes that showed age, intelligence and professionalism and a brown military uniform with many condecorations and the highest rank possible in the Hegemony.
"Executor Martin Livesey?" he asked with a deep voice, showing some surprise, I grinned, glad to see another familiar face.
"Hegemon Baikal! It seems you're not the only one who was sent to this crapper, I hope the locals treated you right" I said, "seriously, its good to see you, one more face I can recognize"
"Likewise, I thought Andrada or Baird finally killed you" he replied with a smile of his own, I stood up and scoffed.
"Peh! As if that geriatric narcissist or that amoral hag could do anything me, no, I 'died' the same way you have I suppose" I was about to look at the other people there but then I heard Rin clear her throat"
"While I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on, we must continue"
"Right sorry, oh wait" I turned over to my siblings, hugging my legs "they cant come with me, not while the city is as it is, is there someplace where I can leave them safe?" I asked, Rin thought for a moment and snapped her fingers to one of the guards, beckoning the girl to come to her.
"Take them to Officer Momoka's office, it should be safe enough until the situation has been dealt with" I looked to my siblings.
"Mikey, Therese, do what the good girl tells you, when all of this is over I will come back, I promise" Mikey looked at me, trying not to cry.
"You promise?" he asked, I smiled.
"Pinkey promise" I raised my pinkey finger and shaked his, a small smile formed in his lips, "Therese, go with the good girl, and take care of Mikey while I'm gone, okay?"
"Okay, Martin" she stuttered.
"Okay, little fellas, follow me, I promise to give you snacks when we go to Miss Momoka's office" said the guard, I watched my siblings leave as I went to an elevator.
"So they are your siblings?" asked Baikal, standing between me and another old man with white and purple robes, behind him stood a woman with brown hair tied in a ponytail wearing a labcoat with two spherical drones orbiting above her shoulders and a man wearing what seemed to be a more advanced version of marine combat armor, was he from the Domain?
"Yeah, Therese is almost 10 years old, Mikey is half that" I then remembered "shit, Dorothy is not going to forgive herself for this, I hope Jen stopped her from doing anything too rash, when Dorothy looses her marbles, she looses them hard"
"You don't have to worry, Acting-Executor Jove has been managing the Combine as good as you had, and shortly after your dissapereance a new Minister of Intelligence for the Rim Combine was appointed, a woman named Dorothy Ibañez, I assume you know her" a weight was lifted from my shoulders.
"Good, that's her, I hope she didn't blame herself, none of this was her fault, what about you? Did you have a line of succession prepared?" I asked, the old Hegemon chuckled.
"In the event of the High Hegemon no longer being alive of able to futhfill his duties closed elections are held between the officers of the High Command of the Army and the Admiralty, I have nothing to worry about"
"That's good" a deep voice, modulated by what seemed to be an internal microphone commented, I looked back to see the powered armor individual speaking to us "you are already better than many of Earth's and Mars's politicians" I decided to indulge him, since we were going to work together for the forseeable future, I smiled to the guy and offered him my hand
"They haven't presented us, Executor Martin Livesey, former CEO of Livesey Industries and Executor of the Rim Combine, I'm just as clueless as you as to how I got here but I heard we are going to be partners in this SCHALE club" the man shook my hand with his right gauntlet.
"Officer Adam Johnson, of the 23rd regiment of Martian Raiders from the Martian League Fleet" he then turned to Baikal who also offered his hand.
"High Hegemon Baikal Daud, current, or more accurately, former High Hegemon of the Persean Hegemony" then the woman spoke.
"Maki Shina, lead scientist in the international project Exodus" the woman was going to say more but then the elevator halted and Rin lead us to a white and blue reception room, a colour scheme annoyingly similar to Tri Tachyon's rooms.
"There you are, Acting President, get the real president already!" exclaimed one of the girls in the reception room, she had blue hair tied up in twintails, two, what I assume are, powder submachine guns holstered at her hips and a white coat and a skirt that reached above her knees.
"I'm here to meet the student council president, the head prefect has terms she wants to discuss"
"Chief Officer, President Tsurugi told me to meet you"
My eyes widened at the two arrivals, a pinkish orange-haired girl with twin tails falling down both sides of her neck, a bow tying up the rest of the hair a white shirt with one of the sleeves having an armband that detailed her affiliation, prefect team it read, and red stockings, she also had a powder pistol of a peculiar design and a massive, and I mean, massive medical bag. The other girl had long black hair that reached down to her knees, she was massive everything, massive black wings, she was taller than the others, reaching me in height and certainly taller than Baikal, she had a powder sniper rifle holstered on her back that was maybe half as tall as her with some gold trimmings, she was also very big in the chest. Rin on the other hand looked once again about to throw her hands in the air "How unfortunate" she whispered, oh, that smile doesn't look good, it almost looks like it could kill me with how sweet it is, her closed eyes also showed a lot of frustration, she was literally me after a Wednesday.
"Greetings, student council members, representatives of disciplinary clubs and people who otherwise have too much time on their hands" she replied in a courteous voice that promised pain, it was funny to watch, like watching an overworked desk clerk dealing with a dumb an angry customer, "I know why you annoying, that is, very esteemed representatives are here, you are here to blame the chaos in the city solely on us" Okay, she is pulling no punches here, most others would be trying to calm down the guy but it seems Rinny here is having none of that, she already has more balls than some people I know, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"If you are so well aware of whats happening then do something about it already" Okay, time to step up, fortunately Baikal seemed to have the same idea, I took one step
"Excuse us, miss, what is your name?" I asked, the girl snapped off her angry tirade to look at us, actually, all of them looked at the people besides Rinny, yes, I am calling her that as of now, snapped out of their stupor as they were, the blue haired girl stuttered.
"My name? Oh, its Yuuka, Hayase Yuuka" family name first? Some worlds in the Persean League have that custom, well I'll just roll with it like the rest of the insanity in this world, Baikal answered before me.
"Miss Hayase, we are well aware of the situation currently unfolding in this city, worry not, we are working to fix it, but as of now the President is currently indisposed, if you have any complaints you can direct them to us" he answered professionally, that's more like the High Hegemon I know.
"Oh, oh okay" she stuttered before saying "an adult male?" Now why was that the first thing she focused on? Are adults scarce here? "Who are you?" asked Yuuka once more.
"I am Baikal Daud, former High Hegemon, with me are my colleagues, Martin Livesey, Maki Shina, Francis Taylor and Adam Johnson, currently we form the council of SCHALE formed by the President of the Student Council, we have received the mission to reach the SCHALE clubroom 30 kilometers away from the current location" he replied.
"With it we have the chance to give back the authority of the Student Council back to them, thereby giving them what they need to restore order in the city" I replied.
"But there is a problem" said a voice from Rin's side, it was the man, I think it's the guy named Francis Taylor, the guy with Luddic priest-looking clothes "we currently have no one to escort us to said clubroom, the units of the Student Council are spread thin trying to stop the malcontents from reaching to the Student Council building, we would appreciate any help you could give us to undertake the endevour ahead of us" he said in a soft but stern voice, everyone was silent at first but then the black winged girl spoke.
"I will asist you, Daud-Sensei, Livesey-Sensei, justice must return to the city, I am Hanekawa Hasumi, Captain of the Justice Task Force and I lend you my rifle" replied Hasumi, diligence obvious in her voice, well, we got a police sniper with us, that's not too bad, she can cover the combat armoured Adam while he acts as a frontliner.
"I will asist too, while my specialty lies in the medical fields, I can still fight well enough"
Field medic, good, good, now if I get shot it isnt an immediatel death sentence. Suddenly someone barged in, a white-skined girl wearing a grey uniform, red eyes and a wing protruding from the back of her head and holding a powder assault rifle.
"Captain Hasumi! Delinquents are breaching the GSC cordon, we have to move now" cried the girl.
"Looks like that's our signal, you, girl, whats your name?" I asked.
"Morizuki Suzumi, Trinity Vigilante crew, sir"
"Okay, if you are joining us, form up with Adam at the front, those of you who don't have weapons stay right at the back!" I cried, we moved out immediately after that, noticing idly that Baikal also had a weapon, a gauss pistol of typical blocky Hegemony design, constrasting to mine of the more sleek designs from the Kassadari artisans. When we left the building it practically dawned on me that we were using effectively child soldiers to protect us, I grimaced as we went through the streets littered with debris, rocks from the concrete that fell off from buildings or glass shards, with our cover being said concrete debris or the car wrecks that littered the main street, I turned towards Rin with a frown, but before I could speak I heard the telltale thunder of gunfire, instinctively I ducked behind a car, with Baikal and Adam beside me, looking ahead I saw four enemies, all of them girls wielding powder guns, I decided for once to ignore the insanity of the situation and let my combat instincts take over, unholstering my revolver I checked, one magazine in the chamber plus three spares. The others had taken position, Hasumi and Suzumi were slightly behind us, their honed instincts taking over and ducking behind cover, Suzumi laying covering fire while Hasumi rested her rifle on the car.
My eyes widened as I looked towards Yuuka, she was not near any cover as Hasumi or Suzumi were and she was right in front of two riflewomen, I lifted my gauss revolver to fire at them but it was already too late, I prepared myself to the image of a child getting sprayed with bullets when the unthinkable happened, Yuuka was lifting her submachine guns when she was peppered with bullets, but as if by a miracle of the Creator and Ludd Himself I instead heard this.
"ITAAAAA!" screamed Yuuka as if she just stubbed her toe or gotten slapped, the bullets she was just shot with clattering harmlessly on the floor "that hurt you jerks!" she exclaimed and proceeded to unload a hail of metal on the girls that committed the first-grade offense of slightly inconveniencing with a bit of pain. Despite the brutal assault the girls were fine, though their halos disappeared, noticing their rising and falling chest as they breathed, as I looked up I noticed all the enemies were fine, they had no wounds on themselves, I could only stare with wide eyes and an agape jaw, Baikal also looked surprised, even if it only showed in his slightly wide eyes, the woman, Maki if I remembered correctly, was as surprised as I am and the priest made a warding gesture and seemed to have muttered something.
"Were those JHP rounds? They hurt more than normal rounds, its cheating!" complained Yuuka, massaging her neck as she grumpily stomped towards the car I was hunkering down.
"JHP and hollow points aren't illegal" helpfully supplies Suzumi.
"In my Academy they are now!" snapped back Yuuka in a fit of pettiness, but I couldn't help but exclaim.
"By the Prophet Most Beloved, what just happened, how are you still alive?" I exclaimed, to the utter surprise of everyone except Rin who looked apologetic, yes you should feel bad for not telling me anything.
"Livesey-sensei? This is normal, it would take more than that to…" started Yuuka but then her face turned white "sensei, you don't have a halo and you're fighting?"
"Never mind that, girl, you just received a whole mag on the neck, the one who should be worried is me, you should be choking in your blood by now!"
"No, no, no, no, no, you can't be at the frontlines sensei, one shot is enough to kill you, go back with Chinatsu now!" exclaimed the dark blue-haired girl frantically.
"I didn't say anything because I thought you were just as durable as us, Livesey-sensei, Daud-sensei, our halos allow us to survive far more and worse than people outside of Kivotos, now I know it is not the case with you" continued Chinatsu.
"I'm sorry for not mentioning this, I know you were about to tell me off about how I dared to allow children to go to a warzone" apologized Rinny.
In the name of everything that was still logical, I have been sent to a place where the average student has the hardiness of a superheavy tank and wielded guns like it's the most natural thing to do, the lack of bodies wasn't because some shady surgeons were looking to harvest organs, it's because nobody was dead, now it makes sense why that gremlin Momoka was taking it easy, the halos they had enhanced their bodies to a durability that only the most advanced power armour in the Persean Sector can give. Even I would be treating this chaos with a more relaxed mood if I couldn't die from a single shot, let alone a whole rifle barrage. I frowned at Rin who at least had the decency to look apologetic and ashamed.
"I'm very sorry for not telling you or your colleagues, the urgency of the situation didn't let me".
"You could have at least reassured us that these children were not in any danger to begin with and that the military in this place is composed of kids like them" replied Baikal.
"Sensei, you were ready to lead us even though you thought we were as fragile as you" Hasumi said slowly as she narrowed her eyes and so did the students, it was times like these where a single word could kill me, fortunately it seemed the priest came to my rescue.
"Do not blame the man, miss Hanekawa, he probably thought that due to the circumstances of his arrival here, you girls were very much not the average girl, you would not have weapons that seemed modified if you were not, and I saw him glare at miss Nanagami before we were attacked, he was ready to undertake this mission alone and so were we all, he simply played the hand he was dealt with" said the priest, Hasumi's frowned softened.
"Still, that doesn't justify not saying it before".
"And for that I apologize" I reply, "underestimating your capabilities as I did, if they turned out to be true would have led to the death of Yuuka here" I turned to here, "you have my apologies, Yuuka, I truly thought you would die then" I turned back to Hasumi "knowing that I have endangered the lives of children I propose this, if you feel like I have needlessly endangered your life, regardless of the possibility of your death being low, you may leave now, I will find a way to Schale even if its myself, someone has to go to the clubroom, if its only me and you feel I have been to callous, I understand and will not hold it against any of you" I said, and I was telling the truth for once, the fact I used child soldiers unsettled me greatly and I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I essentially ordered the deaths of children, I was fine with scum known as pirates dying, I even understand if a kid takes up his daddy's gauss rifle to defend the home with his mother and sisters still inside, but I would never order them myself nor would I let those under me to do so, even in extreme circumstances. Fortunately, Hasumi seemed to understand as she closed her eyes.
"I forgive you, sensei, I will continue to fight under your command." She said, being the first one to clear off any doubts, "but please, follow miss Hayase's advice and stay near Chinatsu" I chuckled.
"If that makes you feel better then fine, though you're talking to a guy that lead his raids and lighting strikes on the ground, my personal fleet was for a time, the Rim Combine's only exploration fleet" I commented but me and Baikal formed up with Chinatsu, with that, all the students, including Rin were in front of us, Yuuka looking back and forth from the front to us, as if looking for enemies from behind.
The students told us their capabilities as we walked, all the girls apparently had some sort of power given by either technology or what seemed to be magic, which they called Mystic power, what that is now is beyond me. In any case shortly after that we came up on a squad of twenty enemies, Hasumi quickly dove into the building while I and the rest of the unhaloed plebians followed Chinatsu behind a car, two cars behind Yuuka and Suzumi. It amazed me, these girls couldn't hear us talk while being in an almost quiet street, nevertheless Suzumi capitalised on their deafness, throwing a flashbang in the middle of the group, modified flashbangs that had a concussion field in the area of the flash, a nifty gadget for ambushes or closed spaces, the girls hit by it were blind and writhing in the ground as if someone hit them everywhere all at once, Hasumi immediately went to work on the machine gunners, laying headshot after headshot on the machine gunners and letting Suzumi and Yuuka advance, tearing through the riflewomen with ease as Baikal, Adam and me took pot shots on all the ones the three girls missed, always followed by a tense Chinatsu, I noted that the revolver seemed to down them in one shot if I shot them in the chest area or upwards to the head or neck, it would be logical that gauss rifles would be more powerful, after all even the old models easily surpassed the speed of sound, the standard models went up to a fraction of the speed of light, the bulk of Adam's armour allowed us to take cover as we laid shot after shot on the stragglers, despite his age, Baikal's combat instincts were very well honed. Soon enough we finished all of them, it took surprisingly little time to finish all of them, a little over fifty seconds, which seemed to have impressed the girls.
"As expected of a sensei, it was as you said it would happen" replied Suzumi.
"Our tactics could only survive due to your competency, good work, girls" replied Adam.
"I'm not sure I will be able to contribute much if this continue at this pace" commented Chinatsu, I grinned.
"That's good, it means almost all of us are smart enough to not put ourselves in a position to get shot".
Having been reassured that I wasn't sending girls to die, I could think clearly and see if they were as good as my Varangians, the enemies we fought so far were the equivalent of low-grade criminals of Hegemony worlds, they knew how to use a gun, but they didn't know anything else. Meanwhile we had students proficient in guns and fireteam tactics, two were pretty much our tanks, one of them was a medic and the other was the vice-captain of a police organization, Baikal and I have experience in direct combat, him as a result of the second AI wars fending off boarding actions and I as a result of the dozens of clandestine raids and invasions against many of my enemies, Adam obviously has been in combat before, I will have to ask later on where, so really the only people that were 'dead weight' were Maki and Francis, Maki had her drones do reconnaissance ahead of time and honestly if Francis holds to at least a fraction of Ludd's precepts then I wouldn't expect him to shoot a fly, Luddic priests are forbidden to do violence against anyone even if they try to kill them, a reason why even pirates think its cowardly to mistreat a Luddic priest. In any case, with a rooster like this, it wouldn't take long for us to reach the clubroom, my only concern was supplies, I only had three mags, and the others were low as well, granted, I only needed one normal powered shot to take down one enemy but I didn't want to test my chances, so I made sure to fight only when I had to.
I had no idea how long we were walking, but it was long enough that the evening was starting to set in, fortunately Ludd smiled upon us all because Rin started to speak of our destination.
"There it is the SCHALE clubroom".
"And our last obstacle as well" I said grimly as I looked at the enemies in front of us by peeking from the wall, a squad of eight with four minigunners and what I assume is their commander, mounted atop of a tank, but I was a bit disappointed and relieved to see that the tank didn't look to advanced, even its gun was too primitive, if this was our last obstacle then I presume the only problem would be the commander, she was, I think, a young woman wearing a black kimono with floral patterns at the sleeves, with a rifle resting between her neck and both ends of it resting on her shoulders, she also had something that made me pause and actually made me think she was a lost Aurorian at first, she had fox ears and tail, as far as I know only Aurorians had animal traits, I'll shelve that little fact for later, focusing on the tank I turned to Baikal and Adam with a devious smile
"Baikal, Adam, that tank looks so fragile I wager we could use our own weapons to pierce it" Adam turned to me.
"You might be onto something, back in Mars we used replicas of those tanks as target practice and gauss rifles are tested by shooting metal plates, I believe that is a Crusader MkVI, if the armour is the same then even gauss pistols can penetrate it" Adam paused "yeah, I can see it work but first" he turned to Hasumi, "back in the GSC I overheard that that tank comes from your school's armouries, would you higher ups mind if its destroyed or would you rather have it come back in one piece?" he asked, Hasumi looked at him questioningly.
"Adam-Sensei, what are you planning?"
"We are going to shoot the Crusader as if it was a PoW staring at a firing squad" I supplied, "we think our weapons can pierce its armour" Yuuka intervened.
"Most certainly not! It's too dangerous for you to be exposed like that, pierce tank armour, with that?" she asked incredulously but with a low voice, I grinned.
"Ah, but Yuuka, we don't have your average weapon, this" I lifted my revolver to her face "is a standard issue M17 Gauss revolver, also known as a Knight's Dagger, piercing a few millimetres of metal is child's play for this gun, I wouldn't be surprised if even Baikal with his M1 Merek could make two holes on that thing as the bullet goes in and out of the tank" Yuuka's eyes widened at the mention of the word gauss.
"A gauss weapon? So, it's possible…" she muttered, then cleared her throat "well, I suppose that changes things, but what about Wakamo?"
"What about her? She doesn't know what you do, if you mean the fox on the tank, with the amount of firepower directed at that tank, especially with a gauss rifle on full auto, then she won't have time to react before the tank explodes, worst case scenario she isn't done, she will still be tankless" I replied, Suzumi looked at Hasumi before nodding.
"I understand, what do you require us to do?"
"How good is your throwing arm, do you think you could land a grenade right on those minigunners?" Suzumi thought about it.
"I would have to get at least over there" she pointed to a row of wrecks about two rows away from the enemy "but once done I believe it can be done".
"Good, next question, how many flashbangs do you have left?" Suzumi smiled.
"Four more"
"Give two to me, in the worst-case scenario that the fox isn't taken care of, I will engage her in close combat" the eyes of the girls widened, even Adam looked at me.
"Hey, I'm not completely armour less, I have a mesh suit behind this suit designed to stop small arms fire, that is, gauss grade small arms fire, I don't think they can be pierced unless you used a powder sniper rifle" I retorted, "besides, this vibro-sword is not for show, I'm not technically a Kassadari Knight Errant for nothing."
"Ok, Livesey, so what is our final plan?" asked Adam.
"Suzumi will go with Adam and Yuuka and immediately dispatch the minigunners, Hasumi will go as far as she needs to lay down fire on the rest of the enemies and contributing to suppressive fire with Yuuka and Suzumi once the minigunners are out cold, once the others can't even lift their faces Adam will begin to fire on the tank, we will join you once the minigunners are down, as always, Chinatsu will follow us"
Chinatsu nodded, yes, I can almost taste it, we are so close to getting some answers, and the only thing in our way is an Aurorian wannabe and her gaggle of stooges, let's get this bread. Adam stood between Yuuka and Suzumi, holding three fingers for both to see, when the last one curled, they ran, Adam's feet causing small cracks on the already battered concrete, he sprayed on the minigunners forcing them to take cover, then the fox talked.
"Ahh, there you are, I was already getting bored" said the fox girl in an disturbingly sweet voice, the tank's machine gun started to fire at the girls and Adam, as expected the bullets didn't do more than scratch the paint, Suzumi then threw one of her flashbangs right on the centre girl of the line of minigunners, it exploded in a flash as bright as a white dwarf, knocking out the line of girls, immediately after Adam started to fire at the tank on full auto as Baikal, I and the rest of the girls came out of the wall, I set my revolver to its max setting and started firing while running towards cover. As I suspected, the small tank wasn't armoured enough to deflect gauss shots, and soon enough whether it was Adam's barrage or one well-placed shot by either me or Baikal, the tank exploded, the fox girl disappearing in a ball of fire that saw the torrent of the tank literally fly up in the air before coming down to one of the two girls taking cover while being supressed by Yuuka, immediately after that Yuuka, wide eyes, rapidly took out some sort of calculator and by pressing some buttons a blue hue started to form around her and in a flash she had a deflector shield, the grail for many Tri Tach scientists, and she just activated it with a calculator, oh well, I'll ask later and add it to the ever growing list of insanity.
"Ahahahahaha, how bold, to blow up my chariot like that" said a sultry voice from behind the tank wreckage, worst case scenario it is, I unholstered my vibro sword from the magnetic holster and activated it, just then the grey blade started to hum and blur and I charged right at her, intent on slicing her, maybe it was the heat of the battle but I didn't realize something until it was too late, I didn't know if the vibro sword would actually kill her, now two things could happen, one, the vibro sword stops as if it just hit adamantium, in which case I can say goodbye to my life, or two, I eviscerate what is essentially a schoolyard bully and earn the scorn of the whole city, neither option was particularly appealing for me. The Creator seemed to compromise for me as the sword passed through Wakamo's knife and sparked against her side for a few seconds before swatting her away like a golf ball at the still burning tank, noticing that a few of the girls were getting out of it, the flames seemingly burning them not as hard as fire should be, thinking fast I ran towards her, sword pointed at her, she dodged and my sword instead impaled the tank, no problem, I slid it through, cutting up the side armour and ran again towards Wakamo, just then Adam decided to intervene, punching the girl at the back of her neck, making her grunt and allowing me to make an upwards slash that sent her up in the air, as she went down I swung at her as if she was a baseball and sent her to a wall. Even that wasn't enough to knock her out, she left the spot she made on the wall, but that wasn't all, the girl was shivering and seemingly panting behind that mask.
"Oh my, how exhilarating" she exclaimed, she looked at us, well, Adam to be exact "I" she stuttered "I'm sorry I must gooooo" she cried as she ran past us. What happened now? She gets roughed up and then she starts panting like a pervert and then runs? Everyone seemed to agree on the sentiment, yeah, I would be weirded out too, Rin however recomposed herself first and turned to me.
"Sensei, the path is clear, we can enter the SCHALE clubroom now".
"Yeah, let's get to it".
We entered the blue and white building through a reception room, the building was pretty big, it had a gym, a lounge, even a convenience store even though we entered into none of them, but that wasn't our objective, Rin lead Adam, Maki, Francis, Baikal and I to the basement of the building, it was kind of like a big living room, connected to other rooms via doors, it had several bookshelves, an office space, a sofa, some chairs, overall it was well furnished, what was interesting was the big dark blue obelisk looking thing in the middle of the room, but I suppose I could figure that out later. The basement for some reason had stairs to go down to, as in, stairs inside the room connecting to the floor of the basement, weird design choice but I've seen even weirder. We went down the stairs and Rin took something from one of the desk drawers.
"Here, this is the terminal we need, the Shittim Chest".
Again, another weird name, like Kivotos, the thing looked like a thinner Tri Pad, it was otherwise unassuming.
"This thing is what you need to retake the city?" asked Baikal sceptically, Rin nodded.
"Yes, Daud-sensei, we need only to access it, unfortunately the Shittim Chest is behind a password system that not even our greatest hackers have been able to breach" she lamented as she gave me the pad, "well then, I will leave you to unlock it, I will wait outside while you do so, feel free to call me if you need help" she said as she ascended the stairs, oh no, is this it? I pressed what I think was the power button and the pad powered up.
Connecting to Shittim Chest
Please enter the password
This is it.
"I don't know the password" commented Adam, Maki then went to look at the pad.
"More than 2000 possible combinations for numbers alone, and we don't have 5 years to solve it".
"Geez thanks for the vote of confidence" I dryly replied, then an idea went to my head, I still had her! Maybe she can help.
"Wait there is a possible solution, hold on I just need to connect it to my Tri Pad!" I said, I can't solve it but Sierra can, I remember her telling me that my Tri Pad could hold her, and after a few modifications she went into my Tri Pad and gave up the ship to one of my officers, she had been good company, even though she passes almost the whole day asleep, but just as I was about to look for an input I recoiled as words started to pass into my mind
We thirst for the seven wailings.
We bear the koan of Jericho.
I almost dropped the pad, surprised at the intrusion, but it seemed everyone else received it judging by the expressions, wasting no time I entered the words, somehow knowing they were the password we needed.
Password accepted, user identified as Livesey-sensei, other users identified.
Giving new users administration privileges
Converting to Operating System Arona for biological identification and generation of verification certificate.
My world then zoomed into the tablet and went black.
Welcome to the Shittim Chest, Livesey Sensei.
What happened? I obviously didn't die, I can still think after all, and Ludd is not before me ready to judge me worthy or unworthy. I looked around me, Baikal was just as surprised but looked otherwise fine, Adam and Francis were looking around the place, a classroom apparently, except part of the wall in front of us is simply not there, giving us the view of a blue sky with a few clouds, outside was a beach with white sand and only a few small waves. Apart from the broken walls, some desks were piled up in the classroom, some weren't, in the ones that weren't broken I saw a girl with a white skirt, blue shirt, blue hair, sitting on a desk a sleeping.
"mmmh, chocolate milk, banana split" she muttered, I sighed, yes, this officially peaked in weirdness and insanity, but I'm not gonna let that be the reason I was mean to a child, besides, this AI, I assume it was an AI, held answers and maybe she was like Sierra, if I treated her nicely maybe she would be nice in kind. I approached the sleeping girl, putting her gun on the desk behind me and nudged her.
"Heyy, I can't leave yet" she muttered, I raised my eyebrow and nudged her again, a bit harder this time, this time her eyes snapped open.
"Eh? Sensei?" she cried, "all of them?" she asked once again "Awawawa, how long was I sleeping?"
"Good morning to you too, little miss" I replied, sitting on a desk, the others either sat or stood, either way they now looked at the girl, "do you have any idea where we are?"
"You're here? That must mean you are Livesey-Sensei and his buddies!" I sighed.
"Please don't call me sensei, it sounds weird, I'd rather you call me Mr Martin" I replied.
"Never mind that, I think I know where we are, we are inside this so called Shittim Chest, and this girl is obviously its operating system, am I correct honey?" spoke Maki, saying the last part more softly, Arona giggled.
"That's right, I'm Arona, the Shittim Chest's OS, you can think of me as your trusted secretary" yes, totally like Sierra in her whimsical childishness, I wonder, yep, still had my Tri Pad, I suppose Sierra will have a friend she can relate to.
"Well, nice to meet you Arona, my full name is Martin Livesey" I replied, Baikal stood upright and presented himself looking down on the girl, his expression unreadable, that guy always looked calm even in situations of stress.
"Well met Arona, I am Baikal Daud" he said with a salute.
"Bishop Francis Taylor" said the priest in a soft tone and a little smile.
"Captain Adam Johnson," said the powered armoured man.
"I'm Maki Shina, sweetie" cooed Maki.
"Right, I'm sorry but could you all come down and put your hands together, just one hand from each, it's for your biological identification" replied Arona "think of it like a team's cheer" how innocent, and shady, oh well it's not like there is any other choice, we all crouched down to her eye level and put one hand over another's hand, finally Arona put her hand last and closed her eyes.
"mmh" hummed the girl, "mmh?"
"Something wrong?"
"No, nothing, I just thought someone else was here" Sierra must be doing her mischief again, I smiled.
"Alright, verification done, you all now have access to the Shittim Chest" I let out a sigh as I stood up.
"Well, Arona, thank you, now we need you to do something else, Kivotos, as the city is called, is going through a crisis with bands of criminals stalking the street, the General Student Council needs supplies for their forces and the rest of the academies, can you do something about that?" asked Baikal, Arona's eyes widened.
"Is that what's happening?" she asked frantically before closing her eyes once more and opening them again "alright, step one complete, all of you have access to the Sanctum Tower, but all of you must agree to transfer authority completely".
"Transfer it to the Student Council" I replied almost immediately, but Arona tilted her head.
"Are you sure, Livesey-sensei? That would mean giving them complete power over the city" that little question hit me like a ton of bricks, what an interesting little question, does she perhaps know more than she lets out? It's very likely she does. Remembering the earlier conversation I had with Rin, the President never told anyone about SCHALE, was it because some would oppose her, that she had enemies that were waiting to dispose of her? How very interesting, that would mean those others would probably try to undermine us.
"On second thought, don't do it just yet, Arona" I said, everyone then looked at me.
"Executor Martin, what are you planning?" asked Baikal in a low tone.
"There is something that's been bothering me about all of this and Arona just gave me a disturbing little thought" I replied.
"I did?" asked the girl, startled out of her mind.
"Rin mentioned that this club was made behind the back of literally all the GSC, doesn't that sound suspicious? Maybe after we hand over authority, we are putting ourselves at the mercy of whoever wants to see us gone".
"Come on, man, do you really think they would do that, Rin seems like a good girl" replied the woman.
"No, no, he has a point, maybe not her specifically, but if even the Prez couldn't trust even her right hand in this, maybe she didn't want anyone to know until the last minute, maybe there are elements in the GSC that would see us dead or in the streets" commented Adam.
"Mmmh, the idea of young Livesey had merit, perhaps we can barter with Rin, maybe take on some powers that were meant for the President like veto power on mayor decisions like on Old Earth or Trantor?" mused Francis.
"Not without merit indeed, back in Chicozmotoc I had to deal with the same type of elements trying to undermine me as High Hegemon, if the GSC is anything like the Admiralty and if what miss Rin said earlier is even half true, then handing them authority immediately would be unwise, I concur that we should at least have some of the powers of the President." Replied Baikal.
"So, are we in agreement that we should at least have veto power over GSC decisions and law proposals, for me that's enough, anything else?" I asked.
"We should also have the power to designate successors and retire whenever we wish," said Adam.
"That's assuming we can get back, and right now we have no reason to believe we can".
"Yes, but in the off chance we do, Creator willing, we shouldn't leave this place without someone to take care of it, of course, such individuals would lose power once a new President of the GSC is elected or the new one is brought back, this goes for you Arona".
"Uh?" asked Arona, not paying much attention and fidgeting "yes" Baikal raised an eyebrow.
"Right, in any case I would see it as irresponsible, so I would add the right to designate a successor for each of us and to retire whenever we feel like our job is effectively done".
"Sweet"
"Um, is it okay? I mean, acting like kingmakers here without talking to the highest authority first?" asked Maki.
"As in should we technically, do it? Depends on who you ask, I don't like it either, but Livesey has brought up good points, I don't think we should give them power without a few conditions, the President did entrust us behind the back of even her own friends, I believe she did it because in part we are to assume some aspects of her power" commented Adam
"Besides, having veto power over the GSC decision making would allow us to not be undermined through a simple vote, this is essentially the same scenario the XIV battlegroup found itself in when they reached the Persean Sector, we have to take measures to deal with this emergency, and yes, not having your head of state available and not having a clear chain of command to supplant her is an emergency" followed up Baikal
"We will tell them they can disband the club once the President is back, she formed it, only she can undo it, having veto powers makes sure they can't undo the President's decision" finished Francis, Maki sighed.
"Alright, I just fear we will go crazy with power" I chuckled.
"Power doesn't corrupt, Maki, it only attracts those that were already sociopaths" I turned to Arona, "okay Arona, you can send us back".
"Yes, good luck, everyone!" she said.
Before I knew it, I was back in the basement with a very impatient Rin waiting for us, she sighed in relief when she found us.
"There you are sensei; I assume it was a success".
"Yep, got the Shittim Chest up and running and I have the authority over the Sanctum Tower or whatever you call it" Rin smiled and closed her eyes.
"Good, now we just need you to give it back to the General Student Council and we can begin distributing supplies and putting order back".
"Oh, we will… On two major conditions" I said with a grin, Rins expression turned shocked at hearing that, shortly after she looked like she would blow a fuse, but she calmed down and spoke, even if she looked like she would tear me apart.
"Why, why would you impose conditions on your help?" she asked in a low, seething voice.
"You mean you all, this is an agreement on all of SCHALE's advisors, and I have two reasons".
"And those are?" asked the frowning girl, Baikal stepped in.
"We want veto power on all GSC summit decisions and law proposals" he stated, surprising Rin.
"Why, what makes you think you are entitled to such a power?" she asked.
"Well, the first reason is that since we were made by the President herself without her consulting anyone but her own soul, we believe that we carry her authority, hence us asking for it, also I think that since we will be meddling in your affairs, I think we should have a say on it"
"Do you believe that you, an outsider can make good decisions for the city?"
"Nah, just as I wouldn't be able to make good decisions for Lethia, but I do have some things in my favour, this is not the first time I rule, back home I was known as Executor, the highest civil and military authority of the Rim Combine, I personally ruled over two planets and oversaw the administration of five others, Baikal was also High Hegemon of the Persean Hegemony, nobody was above him and entire systems answered to him, Adam was a captain so he has experience leading men and Francis I heard he is a Bishop so almost the same goes for him, pretty much everyone here has been involved with politics and administration in one way or another, I probably ruled for more time than the President herself, Baikal has been in office for almost sixty years, we know a bad decision when I see one, I also know a selfish one when I see one. I can also recognize when I am surrounded by nothing by wolves waiting to tear me apart."
Rin almost widened her eyes at my last part, "what is your second reason? She asked tentatively, I wiped off my smile.
"I will be honest with you; I don't trust the GSC" once again I surprised Rin.
"Why, what could we have possibly done to earn your distrust?" she asked, her anger now gone and replace with confusion.
"You personally? Nothing, in fact I like you, you remind me of my younger self managing New Eire around the clock and surrounded by unashamed incompetency, however, one again, only the President formed SCHALE, with no help from anyone and no input from anyone inside the GSC, connect the dots" the eyes of the elf widened in realization.
"You believe there are elements in the GSC that would have tried to stop her?" she asked.
"Bullseye, even if they have good intentions the fact that she didn't tell you, her right hand and probably Vice President, means that she was worried that the moment she announced someone would have tried to stop her, in fact, with her disappearance, I wouldn't be surprised if someone already tried to do something to her"
"You're being paranoid" she said.
"Maybe I am, I hope that's all there is to it, but the fact that you finished my earlier thought for me means that you also considered it, it doesn't hurt to be sure, having veto power makes it so they cant vote us into dissolution so they cant get rid of us using the law" Rin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, but it seemed like she relented.
"Fine, what is your second condition?"
"Its actually a condition mixed in with a disclaimer, we reserve the right to name successors with our same authority until the President is found or a new one is elected, and we reserve the right to retire whenever we feel like our job here is done" I said.
"Really? After asking for veto power to keep the GSC in check?"
"Well, yes, don't worry I wont use this to just shift the job onto someone else, but look, I don't intent to stay here when the job is done, I never stopped being Executor of the Rim Combine and Baikal hasn't stopped being High Hegemon either, there are people back home that depend on me, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if my disappearance in my home has made a scandal and almost made a war"
"I see, was it that New Eire, the planet?" asked Rin, I smiled, fondly remembering the megacities of the place contrasting with rolling hills and vast oceans.
"Yeah, the crown jewel of the Combine and my family's legacy, its also why I wont leave until I believe I have done a good enough job, it would be a insult to my pride as Executor and to my parents who entrusted me New Eire in the hopes I would lead Livesey Industries into a brighter future, so, are we in agreement?" I asked, offering her my right hand, Rin took it after a second.
"Very well, I will inform the rest of the Parliament of our agreement" I grinned.
"Very good then, Arona, prepare to transfer authority of the Sanctum Tower to the GSC, do we all agree?" I asked out loud, everyone either replied back or nodded, "you heard them Arona".
It took five seconds for a notification to pop up on the Shittim Chest, the transfer has been completed, "you got your goods" Rin looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"You have my thanks, Livesey-Sensei, for resolving the crisis".
"Geee, thanks, Rinny"
"Even if you have been combative and a bit paranoid in the end".
"Rude" Rin gave me a smile.
"However, the GSC's work has only just begun, apologies for not being able to give you a tour around the building but I have urgent matters to attend to".
"Don't worry, I think we were all planning on exploring it anyways".
"Your offices and the meeting room are on the fourth floor, we will send representatives by tomorrow, until then you may relax on the lounge or even explore Kivotos, if there isn't anything else, I will take my leave".
"Take care, Rinny" I called out, I then turned to the others, "well, I don't know about you, but I think I'm gonna go and see the store to buy dinner for us".
"Do you even have money for that?" asked Maki, I made a mock expression of offence.
"Ah, do I look like a peasant to you? Of course, I have money, look!" I took out my tri pad and showed her my deposit, 10 million credits.
"I don't think that's the money used here" I froze, damn, Baikal was right.
"You're right, damn, now I feel like an idiot for not thinking about it, and I don't think they will convert with the currency here" I said, dismayed.
"We can still call miss Rin for that matter, in fact I will do so now, I will ask for a conversion rate of credits to the local currency".
"You do that, I will still go to the store, after that I will be in office, there's several things I want to discuss tomorrow".
"Shall we then make a meeting tomorrow in the morning?"
"Yeah, to properly organize ourselves" I replied.
"Seconded" commented Adam.
I went into my office right after we all agreed to a meeting, the office was your typical office of a CEO, a desk, a bookcase, a potted plant, and windows behind the main chair, it also had a round table at the side of the room with a projector, but I wasn't focused on that. Right now, I was writing down a timetable, detailing how much time we would work, which for now would be twelve hours leaving the night free for leisure barring any emergency like a massive backlog or any other emergency, I also resolved to propose weekly meetings where we would discuss the state of SCHALE from finances to mission progress reports. Things like this were the barebones for an organization like SCHALE, with that done I also began to investigate the academies in the laptop that came with the office, when two voices interrupted me at the same time.
"Sensei"
"Hello, captain!"
The voices of Arona and Sierra came at the same time, startling the former.
"Sensei, you're tablet just talked!"
"How rude, is that how you talk to a lady!" berated Sierra, I sighed, "hello captain, I just booted up and noticed from the Tri Pad's sensors that we weren't in New Eire anymore".
"You missed quite a wild ride, Sierra, to put it short, we probably aren't in the Persean Sector anymore, Baikal is here too".
"What, where you kidnapped? But the camera indicates that you are in an office".
"I've been called to a new urgent job, I'll tell you later, for now" I held up the Tri Pad displaying Sierra's logo "Sierra, meet Arona".
"Hello, Arona, I'm Sierra, the best void pilot in the whole Persean Sector" she greeted with a cheerful voice "its nice to see I'm not the only AI with actual feelings".
"Hello" stuttered Arona, how did you know I'm an OS
"It's all over the room, I can detect the Wi Fi signals, by the way you have very primitive transmission technology, what primitive world still uses phone lines? Anyways, I can sense your signal from here and the Tri Pad biological scanner only detects Martin here".
"O, oh"
"Don't worry little Arona, if you want me to keep it a secret, I won't say anything, though if Baikal is here then he probably knows too".
"Ok" replied Arona, still surprised that Sierra was a thing, I had then an idea.
"Arona, do you think the Shittim Chest can be connected to my Tri Pad?"
"Yes, its only a matter of connecting the Tri Pad to the clubroom's severs, but why would you do that".
"I want to do you and Sierra a favour" Sierra immediately caught up.
"You wanna give me a new friend, how nice of you, captain, you won't mind, would you, little Arona?"
"Sierra, don't impose on the girl, so, what do you want Arona?" I asked her, but she nodded fervently.
"Sure, I can have Sierra-san in the Shittim Chest if she wants to".
"Oh, I won't go into the Shittim Chest completely, but I'll make sure to visit you often, mama Sierra will make sure little Arona is not lonely".
Arona blushed a bit in embarrassment "I'm not little, I'm actually ten years old!"
"You just made that up" I replied.
"Nuh uh!"
"Yuh uh" I replied back, the blue haired AI puffed her cheeks in indignation.
"Auuw, look, she even pouts like a child, that's so cute!"
I guess this will be the new normal for the near future, I tried to ignore the bickering AIs while I focused on research until I had to go to sleep.