"Ladies and gentlemen, another splendid performance by the team from BAE Systems! Showing a remarkable improvement in manoeuvrability over their previous IS models, pilot Serena Harriet has surpassed the previous record of five minutes and thirty-nine seconds for this obstacle course, finishing in four minutes and one second!" Came the bombastic announcer-commentator's voice. "Of course my fellows, this event is far from over! Plenty of distinguished companies and development teams from across the lands of Britain have their own products to display. This event showcasing the cutting edge of British Infinite Stratos innovations won't be complete without competition!"
All around and below her team's specially suite the audience clapped and cheered in appreciation of the announcer and the previous display from BAE Systems' newest 2nd-gen high-speed IS and ace pilot. Claire Bennett and her teammates joined in, though the young teen did so only sedately. She had a certain image to maintain, though part of that was the absence of a certain someone who hadn't showed up with her parents earlier.
"What's taking him so long?" Went the frustrated thought through her mind. An annoyed pout came over her face in a flash before it turned back into her usual serene look. She hoped no one will notice, but as ever her closest friend's perceptiveness reared its head.
"Something troubling you?" Spoke Phoebe Alcott-Smithon, a girl half a head taller with blonde hair like hers, though going down her back in smoother waves. Her eyes were the color of emeralds, and tanned skin spoke of her enthusiasm for the outdoors. Currently her friend was smiling gently her way from her place lounging on the couch they shared. "This is supposed to be your big day. You gotta smile more!"
Claire gave a weak giggle at her words, sipping juice from her wineglass while she thought first on what to say.
"It's..." She started, putting down her emptied glass on the side table which was swiftly replaced by a server with full glass. "I just... It's my brother. I remembered that he wanted to be just like us."
"Arthur?" Queried Phoebe with a raised eyebrow. "Your genius brother who was hired right out of middle school by Camelot Arms?"
Claire recalled that time two years past, when she was fourteen years old and her brother who'd recently turned twelve. There was a party to celebrate his being hired by an IS R&D group whose reputation amongst the industry had risen high and fast. Their flagship product is the Avalon-01 energy barrier, that upon its unveiling three years back revealed a staggering improvement of three times the strength of the most cutting-edge energy barrier at the time while providing protection against more powerful attacks, all while using up only seventy percent of a suit's power compared to the previous leading model. Camelot Arms continues to be the leading R&D company in the development of shielding systems to this day, though strangely the company had yet to develop an IS suit. Claire's personal IS Skyreacher, developed by the group she's part of, the Marshall Infinite Stratos Group (MISG), had made use of several components made by Camelot Arms due to the higher quality for price they offer, especially the newest Avalon-04 energy shield system installed.
Returning from those more pleasant memories back to the present, Claire sighed before answering. "Arthur didn't show up."
She recalled greeting her parents earlier when they arrived, melting in the embrace of her mom. Her dad gripped her shoulders after and looked at her with pride, marvelling at how she'd grown since last they'd met, to her happy embarrassment. They had walked into the stadium facility together, exchanging stories and generally catching up with each other, though Claire had been wondering where Arthur was the whole time.
"You take care of yourself when you launch in your IS, yes?" Worried Maya Bennett, smoothing some ruffles and fixing her hair as they were about to part.
"Don't worry mom, I'm the best pilot of the team!" It was also with her family that she let go of the serene persona she often presents to others, instead letting her worries be obvious as she looked around. "But where's Arthur? I haven't seen him around."
Her parents reacted weirdly to her question, her mom fidgeting with her fingers and her dad Boris Bennett looking away while doing fake coughs.
"W-Well he'd... be around later when he shows up in-"
"A special transport vehicle." Her mom's answer was smoothly interrupted by her dad, his fake coughs increasing in frequency. "Camelot Arms had to do a late last minute delivery of specialised components."
"Indeed!" Her mom nodded eagerly in support. "He wouldn't dare miss out on your special day Claire, don't you worry."
"So he's just late?" Phoebe summarised, both eyebrows raised this time with her eyes lidded. "Damn, you really are a bro-con aren't you?"
"I c-can't help it when he's the best." Her defence was weak, Claire knew. "And I don't want him to miss me going out there in Skyreacher. I want him to see me try out the new weapon he made for me."
Her new primary weapon, the Longbow advanced EM rifle she named Skyfall. It can also project an energy blade from the tip to give her a melee weapon in the form of a lance, and the weapon can further shift into a form that's easier to practically wield. It was painted a sky blue with gold and silver accents, matching well with her similarly coloured IS armour. It was gifted to her on her sixteenth birthday, delivered to her dorm in a fancy locked crate with a letter from Arthur. It was his greatest gift to date, just another way he expresses his love and support for her as she takes on his dream of flying in his place when Claire knows how much trouble he must have gone through to give out a piece of Camelot's high-tech arsenal.
"Then just have faith that he'll be there when our turn comes." Phoebe waved her hand in a dismissive fashion, sinking deeper into the couch as she did. At least she had the dignity to not spread her legs apart as she did. "He clearly cares about you so why the doubt?"
"Maybe he still resents me for being able to fly in an IS." She did not say the old doubt, recognizing Phoebe's efforts in cheering her up. Besides, she rationalised, it has been years since Arthur openly cried with the impossibility of his dream. He never showed any hate for her, instead being so supportive that sometimes she nearly broke down into a crying mess and started saying sorry over and over. But then, she had the feeling that if that happened he'll just smile at her tenderly and pull her into a hug.
"And I thought I'm the older sister." She complained lowly. Phoebe only chuckled in response.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Returned the announcer's voice. Claire turned her attention towards the view out onto the arena, with Phoebe beside her perking up. "The obstacle course has been fixed up it seems. New drones have been deployed, destroyed turrets replaced and traps reactivated! All for the next IS pilot and their team to display their capabilities, and for us the audience to behold."
"Finally, break's over." Phoebe remarked, sitting back upright. "Wonder who's team is next?"
The way these events work is that various IS R&D teams who submit an entry will be randomly assigned a number which will determine when they can enter the stadium. A committee of chairmen and their underlings is in charge of managing the assigning of schedules, and charged with keeping the final schedule secret from anyone besides the higher authorities. This is all so that teams looking to sabotage competition will find a harder time to commit their acts, as well as maintain fairness. MISG and Claire knew though, that the system isn't truly secure and had taken the appropriate measures to defend the expensive machinery and equipment they brought inside the stadium's underground hangars. A few unfortunately unprepared teams had experienced this unpleasantness and been forced to forfeit when rivalries reached a boiling point, right before they were to be deployed.
"Coming up next folks, here comes the team from- oh, what's this?" The announcer's sudden shift in tone had Claire curious, making her unconsciously lean forward, eyes focusing more on the monitor above the window walls. There the emblem for the next R&D group remained a blank gray, as the announcer's yet to give a name.
"Well, well, well! I don't know about you folks but I'm feeling pretty confident about this team!" The announcer's excitement was infectious, and Claire felt the anticipation within her build up, though she did well keeping it in.
"Hurry up and announce it already, I'm dying to know!" Her friend was much more expressive of her desire. "No way it'll be one of the regular entries the way he's dangling it up."
"Possible." Claire flinched in surprise, and turned to the girl seated between her and Phoebe who definitely wasn't there before.
"Possible new contestant." Dully continued Edith Barclay, a red haired and freckled petite Scottish girl who's taciturn demeanour is totally at odds with most of her clan whose members are boisterous and loud on average. "New IS design. Or standard but improved."
"Ah! Oh, it's just you Edith." Phoebe was just as surprised, having jumped up onto the couch's armrest. "Wait, how did you get there without us noticing? Just how?!"
"Shhh." Edith went further and put a finger on the other girl's mouth to stop an further words, gaze locked onto the large monitor in front. Meanwhile the announcer was finally about to reveal the team.
"...no answers? Despite the hints? Oh, alright then, here it is! Ladies and gentlemen, Camelot Arms-!" As the blank symbol was replaced in a flash by the sigil of Camelot Arms Claire gasped in surprise, and by the noises of shock and statements of disbelief from the rest of MISG's team around her many felt the same. Camelot Arms, the IS R&D company renowned for their high-end components, equaliser packages, upgrade services and armaments, finally revealing an IS design?
"-and their first Infinite Stratos, the Vanguard Valiant!"
And almost before the announcer finished speaking a white shape blurred down the catapult, and immediately before it took off Claire had noticed a glaring difference.
"It's... big." She stated, and then it launched.
"Ladies and gentlemen, are you seeing what I'm seeing?!" Exclaimed the announcer, though the trio of girls were barely listening at this point so focused on Camelot's IS displayed on the monitor as it gained altitude, thrusters flaring a brilliant blue as it spun and spiralled to show off its remarkable-for-its-size agility while climbing. Painted predominantly in shining white reflecting the sun's rays, the Silver Bulwark's appearance leaned more closely to those of mechas and giant robots of popular fiction. "A design so divergent from the traditional! Actual heavy armour plating, greater in size yet still flying with the speed and grace of a bird of prey!"
"Armour is useless." Muttered Edith beside her. "Modern weapons are too strong. Unless..."
"Piloted by... it doesn't actually say here in Valiant's sheet but anyway!" The pilot of Camelot Arms' IS manoeuvred into a hovering stop far above the starting zone, then holding her sword before the chest in a salute. "Over five metres tall and more than two and a half metres wide. Weighing nine tons, it is armed with a Trebuchet EM cannon mounted on the right shoulder, a Dragoon heavy machine gun in one hand and a Caliburn IIIA sword in the other. That's not all folks, because there's also a couple of missile pods mounted behind the shoulders of that beautiful piece of cutting-edge suit of knight armour made large, without even mentioning what nasty surprises are hidden in hammerspace."
And all throughout the announcer's spiel Claire had been staring hard at the monitor, her shock long since turned into awe as she watched the radically different IS suit... no, can it even still be considered a proper IS suit with how different it looked? For one, the armoured machine exposed nothing of the pilot unlike every other IS in the world. And, again, the sheer difference in size, such that any pilot standing next to the Vanguard Valiant would be dwarfed in height. As well, she can recognise Arthur's high-tech works in the form of the EM cannon on the shoulder mount as well as the various systems the machine surely had built into it. Her brother no doubt contributed heavily into the Vanguard Valiant.
On the other side of Edith Phoebe whistled, openly expressing her admiration of Camelot's latest creation. "The guys at Camelot really know what they're doing with how awesome their IS looks."
"...chest plates of unknown alloys shaped to deflect frontal physical attacks." Edith meanwhile was muttering feverishly as she stared hard at it. The Scot girl was famous in the team for her fascination for technology, with impressive examples reversing the girl's quiet nature. "Effectiveness against energy attacks unknown, possible absorption and dispersion of energy when hit. Multiple layers maybe?"
"Armour doesn't matter when it comes to IS vs IS fights." Phoebe scoffed, rather dismissively, at that part of the Silver Bulwark's design. "I like that it looks cool, a lot better than many other teams' entries-"
Claire winced, remembering the IS from an Irish team that came before BAE Systems. She pitied the poor girl who was piloting... that thing.
"...but there's a good reason why all IS are designed with almost no armour." Her close friend went on lecturing. "No matter how tough, armour cannot protect against modern weaponry like lasers and missiles. That's what high-speed dodging and energy shields are for, so putting on more metal on a frame will just make it heavier and slower."
Such has been the core principle of Infinite Stratos design since the first IS made their world shaking appearance. Any attempts to put more armour on an IS during the previous years of development had provided lacklustre results, with fatal results happening to the pilots not going unheard of. MISG had such incidents happen in its past, and had taken pains to educate their pilots and staff on the uselessness of further armour.
Claire meanwhile had rather less negative thoughts on the subject than most, courtesy of her brother. She remembered the moments when they're together when the topic of IS came up. He was always so vocal of his dislike of the amount of skin shown by her and other pilots.
"All I'm saying Claire, is that I do not like how people of certain... inclinations look upon you when you're in your IS. It's not right."
Hence his insistence of her wearing a long coat while wearing her IS pilot suit (Arthur called those "up-teched swimsuits") when not using the frame, going so far as to ship a specialised coat with built in temp. control, pockets with some hidden, zipped slots to insert ballistic plates, and made of a light-weight material that stiffens when hit that can stop blades and small arms comparable to that of a level III+ bulletproof vest. It also came with a detachable hood, helmet and gas mask, all with similar protective capabilities.
Yes, overprotective indeed.
"I say we wait and see how Camelot's attempt at armoring an IS will go." Claire spoke up, getting a raised eyebrow from Phoebe, though Edith agreed with a mutter of 'logical'. "They are well-known for making every product of theirs to the highest standard, with many of them being leaps and bounds more advanced than others." And the fact that Arthur was surely heavily involved in the IS's creation.
"Hmmm." Phoebe's narrowed gaze at her then smirked. She didn't say anything more, knowing her well enough already to figure out her reasons.
"Now finally, haha, I know you're all tired of hearing my voice when all you want is to see Camelot Arms' IS in action. SO! Without further ado..." As the announcer wound down with his speach a hush fell over the audience as giant monitors strategically positioned around the stadium transitioned into a countdown timer. Eight seconds were left.
[...5...]
A swarm of drones floated out from hidden recesses on the ground, forming clouds numbering ten machines that hovered over the prepared obstacle course consisting of high walls with turrets mounted on top. Traps are plentiful in the maze-like structure formed by the pseudo urban course, with beacons positioned to denote the path the IS must take.
[4...]
There are also other IS operators hiding in buildings and behind walls. These pilots were loaned by the RAF to provide more of a challenge that mere stationary turrets and sluggish drones cannot provide. More than a few other entries have been defeated by these trained women so they won't be so easy to overcome, with the ones deployed into the course replacing those that came before to ensure top readiness.
[3...]
As Valiant Vanguard lowered down into the starting zone, Claire found herself gripping onto her skirt a little tighter, wishing Arthur and the team at Camelot good luck.
[2...]
The watching crowd had gone silent in anticipation, expectations of the unusual IS a mix of positive or negative with more of the latter. Heavy armour had been tried many times before but considering the famous Camelot Arms created Valiant Vanguard many deigned to hold their judgement.
[1...]
Enclosed in the cockpit of the IS, an eager grin was hidden from all but Camelot's monitoring team watching over the data transmitted from the machine and pilot's body.
"Ready to fly?" Asked the lead technician to the pilot.
"I was born ready." Came the reply.
[BEGIN]
At the end of the countdown the three girls bore witness as from Valiant Vanguard's back brilliant blue jets blasted out, throwing the giant IS forward in a charge. Missiles were launched as it blitzed forth, making it appear as if the IS's pilot was accompanied by a dozen shooting stars glowing a similar bright blue, and in less than a second Camelot's machine was past the foremost swarm of drones as the deadly warheads annihilated them.
The crowd roared at the sight, thrilled by the demonstration of firepower and speed as Valiant Vanguard rocketed forth. Claire was smiling, nevermind that Camelot Arms is supposed to be a competing company because she knew with confidence that Arthur, her genius little brother must be responsible for the incredible performance of the IS so far. The world in awe of his creations warrant her happiness for him, for the one to have his dream of flying in an IS denied deserved it all and more.
A.N. - Hello. IReadToLive here. Writing another story, haha... Writing chapters for my other stories is going badly, my muse must be having it out on me.
Then she shoved this into my head. Uh, so I'll be writing this until she stops giving me the cold shoulder? Reviews and critiques are welcome.
Image reference: Valiant Vanguard - . (Iron Saga Paimon Type C)
The stadium in use is the Wembley Stadium, which has been renovated to accomodate IS displays and demonstrations as well.