Chapter 3 A Normal Day

IS Academy / June 16th

"What are you asking of me exactly?" Chifuyu scowled.

Across from her, two of ORCA's leaders, Lilium Wolcott and Fiona Jarnefeldt, sat patiently and pleasantly.

"We would like to enroll two of our best at your institution." Lilium explained plainly. "We were hoping that since you have some history with us, that you would be able to sway the Academy Administration."

"I see." Chifuyu narrowed her eyes. "Does ORCA possess any IS Cores?"

"No." Fiona answered.

"Do you plan to petition the UN for access to IS Cores?"

"No." Lilium replied.

"Do you even have operational knowledge of how to operate or maintain an IS Core?"

"No."

"Then why the hell does ORCA want to send two students to the IS Academy?" Chifuyu accused.

"There are several reasons in fact." Lilium confidently replied. "The first of which is that the IS Academy is an advanced combat school, thus our two candidates would be uniquely suited to the environment as they are both career military."

"Is this just some ploy to gather information about the IS and the Academy?" Chifuyu accused again.

"About the IS themselves…we can neither confirm or deny." Fiona reluctantly answered. "About the Academy and it's students though? No, we would respect their privacy as much as possible."

It was a more honest answer than Chifuyu expected, she had to admit. "Alright…" She nodded in understanding.

"The other reason is that these two candidates are rather socially underdeveloped." Lilium explained the next point.

"Okay…why?" Chifuyu worded it in confusion, but it was a demand.

Fiona sighed. "Anyone who has the title of 'Lynx' in our society is a heavily augmented super-soldier with advanced combat potential."

"Most of us were augmented as adults, so we know how to behave reasonably." Lilium added. "Unfortunately, these two were augmented as teenagers, and display abnormal behavior when compared to humans."

"So you think it's a good idea to send cybernetic psychopaths to a high school?" Chifuyu widened her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh they're not psychopaths, in fact they are both extremely empathic." Lilium defended. "It's just that they more often than not choose extremely incorrect responses to situations, and that's also why we would like to send two of them, since the only beings we reasonably trust to stop them if they lose control is each other."

"I'm hating this already." Chifuyu shrugged in exasperation.

"We're…hopeful that attending the academy and making friends with students roughly their age will allow them to develop those missing social skills." Fiona emphasized.

"…Is that all?" Chifuyu grimaced in expectation.

"No." Lilium admitted equally tired. "There is a political aspect to this request. Having students of ORCA admitted to the IS Academy would prove that we are trying to be a diplomatic nation, participating in a sort of social outreach program. I think you can understand."

"Lastly, we are curious to see how our Armored Cores will fare against Infinite Stratos units." Fiona admitted.

"Hmm." Chifuyu hummed in acknowledgement. "Let's just say for arguments sake that I found everything you just said completely reasonable. Who are these two students you wish to enroll at the Academy?"

Lilium smiled, pulling out a folder which was presented to Chifuyu, who opened it curiously. In the folder, was a picture of a young, smiling girl with long green hair and bright green eyes. Chifuyu had to do a double take, seeing as the girl could have been Maya's white twin-sister. She also did not fail to notice how much of the file had been blacked out as ORCA secrets.

"May 'Smiley' Greenfield, Rank eighteen Lynx of Collared. Sponsored by GA America, she favors high explosive ordnance and heavy armor in combat. Otherwise, she is extremely friendly and over all well liked." Lilium explained.

"If she's so friendly then I don't see the problem, unless she has some other vice you're not saying…?" Chifuyu questioned.

"Well…May is known to be rather promiscuous with people her own age. As well as having bouts of incredible violence against even mundane or inconvenient circumstances."

"Ah…" Chifuyu groaned, trying to imagine the smiling girl in the photo as a dangerous and violent deviant.

"The other candidate we wish to send is James 'Strayed' Klein." Fiona spoke up, handing over another folder. Inside was a stoic young man with dark skin and bright, mesmerizing orange eyes. Of serious concern however, was the how thick the folder was with redacted combat reports. Whole pages filled with thick black lines, leaving stray words here and there that implied little more than that James had been deployed many times and eliminated every enemy he encountered.

With May's file, it was clear that ORCA was hiding something. What, exactly, she couldn't be sure, but it was different with James's file. Chifuyu got the distinct impression that for as successful as James had been, there was something about him for which ORCA was ashamed.

"Officially he is null Ranked, but only because of the strange circumstances of our world." Lilium explained. "His combat potential makes him one of the strongest fighters in all of ORCA, surpassing both myself and Thermidor. His skill with a blade was legendary in our world."

"Unfortunately, his immense skill came at a cost." Fiona frowned. "The corporations saw fit to split his hemispheres during augmentation, creating an artificial split personality known only as Strayed. If I…had to describe this entity…I would say that it is ruthlessly efficient and utterly detached."

` "Both of them…seem like serious trouble." Chifuyu commented, looking over the two files. "I can't say that I'm pleased at the prospect of having either of them at the Academy. It honestly seems like more trouble than it's worth."

"Perhaps, and, were the Academy on the other side of the world, we would not even consider it. However, since we are just on the horizon from you, should one of our Lynx go rogue, we would be able to intervene in a matter of minutes." Lilium assured her.

"Additionally, in exchange for hosting our Lynx as students, ORCA is more than willing to support the Academy in any way it can, including providing target drones for combat exercises, defensive installations, and security personnel." Fiona offered.

"…" Chifuyu silently apprised their offer, weighing the increased benefits with the obvious risks.

"As well, we would be granting you a provisional command in order to maintain full control of the both of them. Technically speaking, so long as their orders do not interfere with ORCA objectives, they would be your soldiers whilst attending the Academy."

"Mhh." Chifuyu hummed thoughtfully. Though she appreciated the gesture as well as the straightforward nature of having military command over those two Lynx, there were obvious limitations and dangers to treating students as soldiers, and vice versa. "I suppose I should like to meet these two before I make my final decision."

"Very well." Lilium nodded, moving to stand. "We've brought them for just the occasion."

Somewhat surprised at the speed of it, Chifuyu stood as well, as the two Lynx in question, James and May, entered the room, standing at attention, and snapping sharp salutes.

"May Greenfield, reporting for duty!" May shouted cheerfully. Chifuyu had to admit, that the Lynx's childlike cheerful demeanor reminded her of Tabane…except for May's predatory eyes, wide with excitement.

"James Klein, reporting." James uttered flatly, eyes unwavering, locked forward with equal parts devotion and disinterest. He could not be anymore unlike May in personality.

"James, May, I would like for you to meet Chifuyu Orimura, chief instructor of the IS Academy, and one of the most capable combatants in this world." Lilium stated professionally. "Should she accept, she will be your instructor at the IS Academy for the duration of your stay there."

Chifuyu raised an eyebrow in surprise. She didn't remember agreeing to that. There was already enough problems in her class just having her brother there. She didn't need the added stress of two obviously dangerous super-soldiers.

She was surprised when Fiona came forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If there is an enemy that must be defeated, a threat to be eliminated, or a fight you think you can't win, just send these two." Fiona frowned. "They will place your mission above even their own lives."

"…!" Chifuyu's eyes widened at that, as she gave a reluctant nod of understanding. Then Lilium stood on her other side, leaning in close to whisper.

"And if you need to commit an unspeakable sin, a terrible crime against man and god, or simply your own dirty work, just send James." Lilium smiled. "It's what the corporations made him for."

Chifuyu stole a glance at those two super-soldiers, those too young soldiers of a war she couldn't even begin to imagine. May smiled widely with barely contained excitement, swaying eagerly on her feet. James met her gaze with a blank stare filled with a terrible nothing, the eyes only dead men had.

June 17th – Monday – 8:00 AM

She wasn't exactly sure why the Academy Administration had allowed James and May to attend; perhaps because she had withheld the information shared with her in confidence. Regardless, Chifuyu braced herself for the expected absurdity once she introduced two of the newest students of the IS Academy to their class.

"Alright class, I have a special announcement. ORCA has decided to send two of their best to learn along side us. They're a few years older than you, but don't be too intimidated." Chifuyu announced to her class. "Now, introduce yourselves, you two."

"Hi! I'm May Greenfield! I hope we get along really well!" May struck a cute pose, with her hands up in peace signs, as she smiled widely. The school uniform, a white dress/shirt with red and black stripes, had fit her well, and the black stockings had done a good job hiding her prosthetic legs.

"James Klein." James stood with his arms behind his back. He hated wearing the custom sized male uniform that had been ordered just for him. He was quite an imposing sight at six feet tall, a full head above even Ichika, and looking quite unfriendly with an ORCA black coat hanging from his shoulders down to the combat boots on his feet.

Chifuyu frowned, as she waited for the expected useless chatter to fill the air.

"Oh wow that May girl is pretty!"

"And that James guy is hot too!"

"Yeah, but he's kinda scary."

"Oh I'm sure he's just a 'strong and silent type' who gets all sweet and cuddly with a girl!"

"Oh sweet! I'm not alone anymore!" Ichika had shouted from the front row. Chifuyu had to chuckle at that. Though she didn't know James all that well either, she could pretty well tell that he didn't get along with anyone.

"Yeah yeah, enough chatter. I've got seats for you two in the back, so get going." Chifuyu demanded.

"Yes ma'am!" James and May had shouted together, James leading with long strides while May skipped cheerfully…

Chifuyu could feel the barest vibrations as the building shook in time with May's skipping. She knew they were augmented, but exactly how much metal were those two kids?

It had only been a few hours and James was already sick and tired of attending the school. The only reason he hadn't just gone rogue and fucked off was because his stepmother had asked him to attend, and she had yet to do wrong by him.

This though was pushing it.

During the break, that other oddity, the boy named Ichika, had strolled over with a dumb smile on his face, his admirers trailing behind curiously.

"Hey man, it's nice to see another guy around here, how are you?"

"…"

"So uh…your name is James, right?"

"…"

"Hey now, Ichika asked you a question, plebeian!" That was Cecilia, a loud blonde with an accent he could not place.

"Oh don't mind James, he doesn't like anyone." May defended, jumping beside him. "Nice to meet all of you, I'm May!"

"Well it's great to meet you May. I'm Ichika, and these are my friends Houki and Cecilia." The boy, who shared many of the same facial features as his sister, greeted kindly.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, May. So you and James are the representative candidates of ORCA?" Cecilia questioned.

"The what? Uh…I think so." May admitted. "Mostly we're here to make friends and learn about your world."

"Really now?" Houki accused. "So you're not even interested in the IS? This is the 'IS Academy' after all."

"Already memorized the instruction manual. Only thing left to learn would be practical application." James spoke up.

"What!? You already read that whole book? How long did it take you?" Ichika cried out.

"Uh, yesterday." May answered, holding up one finger. "Like James said, we're just curious how ISs will do against our ACs."

"Oh yeah, those units you guys had in New York. So what exactly are ACs?" Ichika asked curiously.

"Armored Cores are modular mechanized combat units designed to adapt to any combat scenario." James answered simply. "We've been fighting wars with them for as long as anyone can remember."

"Well, they can't be that impressive, especially when compared to an IS." Cecilia boasted. "ISs have never been defeated by anything other than another IS."

"I will concede that in a one on one, an averagely piloted AC will probably lose to an averagely piloted IS. This is partly why the two of us are here." It really burned May to say that, but the existence of Fourth Gen ACs was still a closely guarded secret. Third Gens, even the heavily upgraded Third Gens that ORCA operated, were obviously outclassed by even half decent IS units. "I'm the lowest ranked Lynx in ORCA, and James here might be the highest. Eventually, we'd like to see how we fair up against you guys."

"Alright, I always like a good challenge. Don't think I would go easy on you though!" Ichika boasted in a friendly manner.

"Oh, I look forward to it." May smiled deviously.

Lunch

"So what was it like back home for you guys?" Ichika questioned curiously.

"Pfff." James blew out air as he prepared to answer. So far, he hadn't thought Ichika was worth his time, but May reminded him that he was one of the targets of their investigation, and that he needed to be friendlier to the strange boy. "I think we were in the middle of a nuclear winter? So home was a lot of cold sand dunes."

"Oh that's pretty crazy." A new face, Lingyin, who preferred to go by Rin, commented. "How did anyone survive?"

"Underground." May answered. "Imagine whole cities even larger than Big Box, but completely underground. The League really liked building megastructures."

"I remember that Thermidor guy mentioned them. What were they like? Why were you guys fighting?" Ichika questioned.

"I was actually working for them up until I came to this world." May answered honesty. "Just a bunch of big companies trying to maintain order in the ashes of the last war. James here is hard core ORCA, however."

"…" James hid his discomfort as attention shifted back to him. "I can't really speak for the rest of ORCA, but I myself had deeply personal reasons to oppose The League. When I heard that a rebellion was forming, I threw in my lot with them."

"Next!" The Lunch lady called, laying her eyes on the two Lynx. "Oh, it's you guys." She frowned. "I got that special request regarding you two, so, here you go." She then placed down a pair of trays loaded up with three times the normal amount of food, in this case in the form of meat.

"Oh, wait, what?!" Ichika and his group of girls stared wide eyed as James and May took their large piles of food. "Are you sure that's healthy you guys? That could feed you for a whole day!"

"Mmm nope!" May smiled. She followed James to a circular booth, with James at the end and May beside him. Curious, Ichika and his three girls sat beside them, with the girls being annoyed about his proximity to May.

"A healthy Lynx needs at least six thousand calories a day." May smiled, looking down at the several different types of cooked meat eagerly, being chicken, beef, and fish.

"What does that mean exactly? What is a-" Cecilia had been asking when she saw a truly terrible sight.

Completely ignoring the utensils, James and May grabbed their food with their hands, and forcefully shoved the entire first serving into their mouths. Bones snapped audibly as their teeth grinded the cooked flesh into a fine paste, swallowing the sloppy mess in seconds. Grabbing the second serving, a chicken leg, they opened their mouths again, biting through the bone and swallowing the rest in seconds. Lastly, for the fish, they simply opened their maws wide and swallowed it down in one large gulp.

All this had happened in less than ten seconds, much to the horror and disgust of onlookers.

"Oh wow that was really good!" May cheered. "I just loved how crunchy and juicy it was! Why, I never had anything that tasty, even among the upper League!"

"It was certainly agreeable." James nodded. "Reminds me of food before GD3."

"What the hell is wrong with you two!?" Cecilia screamed. "Have you no manners?!"

"Ugh, that was nasty!" Houki squirmed. "How can you two eat like that?!"

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Rin cried.

"You uh…" Ichika hesitated. "You guys really like food huh?"

"Yep!" May popped the 'p'. "Food back home wasn't that great, but everything here is just so flavorful and fulfilling!"

"Just uh…maybe slow down a little next time?" Ichika suggested. "That way you can savor the flavor for longer."

"Oh…OH!" May realized. "You're right! That would make it so much better!"

"Ah…fair enough." James relented as well.

After Class

Something that May had said in class had really ticked Houki off. The implication that James, a guy, was one of the strongest fighters of ORCA just couldn't be possible. Because, as everyone knew, women were naturally superior.

Still, the ease at which May had claimed inferiority to James had sparked that hyper-competitive streak in her, and she would test it.

Her bokken firmly in hand, she stalked James like a ninja of old, slipping silently between halls as James and May made their way back to their dorm, shortly after class. Feeling confident enough, she chose her moment, quietly and quickly rushing forward to attack.

Surprisingly, despite the effort she had put into silencing her footsteps, both of the ORCA Lynx had stopped in the hall, with James turning towards May, and May herself turning fully around, frowning at her approach. Still, neither attempted to stop her, emboldening her to strike James, to test his reflexes as well as to pay him back for his unsightly display at lunch.

Confident, with her chest filling with pride at her seemingly successful ambush, Houki continued the attack, bringing her weapon up high, and down over the top of James's head.

Being struck on the top of the head with a piece of bamboo wood tended to make people flinch and recoil in pain, as the wooden staff would then bounce off their head.

Instead, the bokken broke… shattered against his head, and James refused to react, standing stock still with his back facing her. It took Houki a moment to register that.

With a slow and lazy movement several seconds too late, James turned to face her. She expected something, rage or pain, a curse or insult, some acknowledgement. Perhaps a counter challenge, or a threat of violence. Perhaps actual violence, or maybe, if he was insane enough, he would kill her right there.

When she met his eyes, she saw nothing. No emotion, no pain, no desire. If anything, he seemed more bored, more annoyed to have had to have made the effort to turn and face her.

And then he said something just about insane.

"Conversion rates from Coam to Yen haven't been finalized, but when they are, send me a bill for the replacement of your…stick."

He turned away from her, not waiting for an answer, and was already walking away. Which left May glaring at her with an annoyed and tired expression that Houki didn't understand.

James turned a corner and was out of sight, and May sneered, moving towards her with a rapid stride. A single finger pointed by May pressed against Houki's chest, pining her against the wall with unusual force.

"Do not. Do that. Again." May hissed. "James is dangerous, and if you provoke him enough with physical challenges, I can't promise that he'll be as disinterested as he was just now."

"I just-!" Houki argued.

"Shh!" May pressed with her finger, forcing the breath out of Houki's chest. "One of the titles James earned in our world was The Butcher, for what he did to people." Then, May did something…odd. May pressed herself close to Houki, a hand reaching up to her face, thumb tracing her lips gently, and she whispered. "I would hate for that to happen to someone as pretty as you."

Houki thought that May might seriously do…it…only for May to roughly grab her cheek and shove her away, stumbling back a step. When she regained her footing, May was already gone, and she was left with thoughts filled with equal parts uncertain fear and reluctant arousal.

Later / Arena

Apparently there was some ordered matches planned between students, and Ichika, in his infinite wisdom, had somehow pissed Rin off the week before, making their present match something of a revenge/challenge between the two old friends. Not that the ORCA Lynx cared. They were just sorry that their admission to the school was late enough that they hadn't been included.

So naturally, May vocalized her frustration as enthusiasm.

"Twist his dick!"

"May…no." James uttered tiredly.

"Give him the old dick-twist!"

"May…stop it."

Her unnecessary comments aside, James was just as invested, eager to collect tactical data on an IS suit in action. Unfortunately, both Ichika and Rin deployed from separate launch bays at opposite ends of the arena, so they hadn't been able to watch them activate the units, but supposedly the units could be stored in a pocket dimension and carried around in a small ornament such as an earing or necklace or bracelet; something small and unassuming essentially.

Deployed, both units were very similar. Mechanized arms and legs similar in shape to Armored Cores, but with the addition of a pair of metal wings floating behind and above the pilot. There was minimal thrusters used for forward and upward flight, with the primary maneuverability being provided by some form of gravity manipulation. And, at the very center, the pilot was almost completely exposed, with the limbs of the IS extending their own, but leaving their upper arms and thighs open. They each had a sort of stylized metal hat that could apparently serve as both a sensor and a holographic emitter.

Ichika's unit, the Byakushiki, was bright silver with parts of blue and gold, and was armed only with a sword that had both physical and plasma modes.

Rin's unit, the Shen Long, was light and dark purple with a stripe of yellow, and armed with dual swords, with the wings appearing as some form of cannon, making them look more like Armored Core Orbit Drones. What was more concerning about her unit was how exposed it left her.

"I mean…she looks cute, but I don't think I would ever willingly wear that into battle. Give me a skirt at least." May curled her lip in disapproval.

As the battle played out, both Lynx were notably disappointed as both opponents wasted lots of energy. Rin had a tendency to show off and mock Ichika, and Ichika spent the entire time evading, not even taking the chance to go on the offensive when Rin left herself open. After a minute or so, Rin started using the back mounted cannons her unit had, firing concentrated bursts of…something, that would stagger Ichika and force his energy shielding to protect him.

"What is that? An air cannon?" May questioned.

"Shock cannon, I believe." James corrected. "Firing concentrated burst of highly pressurized air. Sort of like the pressure front of a nuclear bomb."

"Huh, other than the fact that the barrel seems completely cosmetic, allowing the weapon to fire in all directions, that's…" May noted.

"Yes, I noticed as well." James kept his expression neutral as he was conflicted between being enthusiastic of the news and disappointed in the threat. "It means that that particular weapon is completely harmless to NEXT, even unshielded."

"…Hopefully we won't have to put that into practice." May hissed back.

Then the battle got weird again, as Rin seemed to give Ichika a moment of respite to calm his nerves and form a semi-competent plan. Moving back into the fray, Ichika kept evading Rin, eventually closing the distance till he was on her flank. He seemed to be in a position where he could finally defeat her and win the battle-

The shielded ceiling of the open-air arena shattered as an object shot down at high speed and exploded in the middle of the arena with massive force, throwing up a massive cloud of fire and smoke.

"You know…" James remarked boredly. "Somehow, I don't think that was supposed to happen."

His statement was confirmed as Chifuyu announced over loudspeaker, "Suspend the match! Orimura, Huang! Get out of there immediately!"

Many of the girls in the stadium around them started to scream fearfully, while blast-shield shutters closed. An air raid siren blared and red emergency lighting was engaged.

"Huh…" May noted curiously. "Want to investigate that?"

"I guess, yeah." James stood, and May raised a fist in front of James's face.

"…Ah." James nodded, forming a fist and rasing it against hers.

"Gun, blade, shield!" James and May repeated together while shaking their fists. James opened his hand flat while May pointed two fingers forward and her thumb up.

"Ah ha! Gun beats blade!" May cheered, as she rushed down to the hangar.

"Tsk…" James hissed in frustration, making his way towards the command center for the arena.

Excited by the prospect of battle, May could barely contain her enthusiasm as she boarded the highly customized Third Gen Armored Core that Serena had built just for her, with the request of "Guns, guns, guns!"

It wasn't her favorite color, being a dark blue and dark grey, but it definitely filled May's niche of being absolutely armed to the teeth. Nine missile pods with a total of seventy-one cells, a tenth gauge 90mm shotgun with an underslung M61 gatling cannon, a 25mm machine gun with an underslung 80mm grenade launcher, and a 75mm hyper-velocity railgun mounted on her back. Then, just to be extra ready, it had a large back-mounted radome, Crest type chest mounted laser CIWS, a spare 20mm machine gun, and a backup physical blade. It was protected with a second layer of discardable armor plate, as well as a pair of shields mounted to the wrist mounts.

"This is May Greenfield, launching AC Black Rain!" May announced as the cockpit closed and she triggered the emergency start-up, fusion drive spinning up as she forced the machine to begin striding towards the exit to the hangar.

"May! Stand down!" Chifuyu ordered over the radio. "Reinforcements are on the way! Besides! The gate is locked down!"

"That's alright." May assured her. "I have a key."

Lowering the back-mounted railgun, she targeted the seam of the door, blowing completely through the door with two shots. Then, using her larger left arm shield like a blade, she thrust it into the gap, splitting the seam of the gate. Twisting her arm so that the shield was leveled out, the door was forced open, and May used both arms to force the doors apart. Her reactor warmed up, she engaged the overed-booster, shooting her through the launch tunnel and into the arena.

Tuning to the same radio frequency as the students, she caught their conversation.

"Another IS!? And there's no identification on it? Is it locking me out somehow? How can it be locked?!" Ichika questioned.

"What are you doing?! Get back to the pit!" Rin ordered.

"Get back!? And what are you going to do?!"

"Ichika! Rin! I'm on your six!" May announced. "Recommend you two evade and escape!"

"Now wait a second, there's no way I'm going to leave a girl behind!" Ichika argued.

"You idiot! You're the weaker fighter! So you don't get any choice, so move!" Rin demanded.

"Hey guys!? Seriously get out of there!" May recommended. "I'm more experienced than either of you, so back off and let me-Rin! Evade! Evade!"

"Look out!" Ichika shouted as he flew up and intercepted Rin, dragging her out of the way. A bright violet plasma lance shot out of the smoke and nearly struck Rin.

"Right!" May declared. "You two stay mobile and out of my way! I got this!"

Thrusters burning, the Black Rain AC charged forward into the smoke, spotting the enemy. An unusually large black IS standing five meters tall, with arms that extended down to the ground with exposed power lines to it's multiple laser cannons. The most unusual thing was that the pilot was completed covered in a mesh-like armor.

Opening up with her machine gun and gatling gun, the enemy displayed the unusual flight characteristics of an IS, cumbrously floating out of harm's way while it fired back at May with rapid fire plasma cannons. Opening one of her missile bays, she fired off four missiles, forcing the enemy to accelerate, evading furiously as it gained altitude.

With a confident smirk, May started firing rounds from her shotgun, making sure to keep an eye on the other two kids to make sure they didn't get caught in the crossfire.

"Alright you! Identify yourself! Answer me! Who are you!? What are you doing here!?" Ichika demanded of the enemy.

"Ichika, stay off the damn line if you don't have anything useful to say!" May cursed. She continued to keep the enemy's attention on herself, flying up to meet it. Her armor took hits from the enemy plasma weapons, leaving shallow scorch marks. Good, even in this new world, they could survive this kind of destructive weaponry. "Taking hits, minimal damage. I can do this all day!"

"Orimura, Haung, Greenfield! Vacate the arena at once! The teachers will be there soon with their IS units to neutralize the situation!" Maya ordered them.

"No! We've got to keep it occupied while everyone evacuates!" Ichika argued.

"Yeah! And I'm kinda busy!" May complained.

"I understand how you must feel about this, but you just can't do that!" Maya begged them. "Get out of there now!"

May ignored the radio as the rest of Ichika's harem started yelling at him. She closed into melee range, swinging wide with her shield, using it as a blade to take the enemy's head. The unknown unit raised it's own arm, blocking her, so May kicked it in the knee, forcing down, only for it to evade and take a shot at the other two kids while they were vulnerable.

"Damn! Looks like it's not going to let you guys evade!" May noticed. "Alright, fine. I'll draw as much attention to myself as possible. Rin, keep up constant long-range fire and flank it. Ichika, I'll open it up for you to finish it off! Got it!?"

"Deal!" Rin agreed.

"Right, let's do it!" Ichika confidently nodded.

"Orimura please come in!" Maya shouted. "If you can hear me please respond! Are any of you listening to me!? Huang!? Orimura!? Greenfield!? What are you doing!?"

"…" Chifuyu sighed. "They said they can handle the situation, didn't they? So I say we let them go for it."

"What? Please say that you're not serious!? How can you say something like that at a time like this?!"

"Oh calm down. Besides, May isn't just any student, she's an experienced soldier. I can tell she's enjoying herself right now." Chifuyu noted.

"Boss?" James answered as Chifuyu called him.

"I figured since May is in there having all the fun, I need you to do something for me." Chifuyu calmly requested.

"I'm listening." James replied.

"While I was telling Cecilia to stand down, Houki ran off. She's probably planning to do something really stupid, so please keep her from dying." Chifuyu ordered.

"Ugh." James groaned. "Consider it done."

"Right, after I launch all my missiles, you'll charge in there and use your special sword thing to take down the enemy! Right!?" May ordered, trading shot after shot with the unknown IS.

"Hang on! Doing that could really hurt them-!" Ichika argued.

"Right now that is the enemy! If you don't put them down they won't hesitate to kill you and yours! Do it!" May demanded. All the while, she kept up her relentless attack, trading rounds of all calibers for the lasers of this IS, wearing it's defenses down. The damage she had sustained to her secondary armor was not insignificant, but not dangerous yet. "On my mark-!"

"ICHIKA!"

"The fuck!?" May had one of her sensors lock onto that noise, seeing Houki standing on the lip of the launch ramp to their rear, panting from having run there, with absolutely no protection.

"If you're a man…! If you're a man you'd better defeat the enemy completely!" Houki shouted.

"…What the fuck?!" May sneered, her opinion of the girl dropping significantly. Of greater concern, was that the unknown IS locked onto Houki when she had shouted, leveling it's laser weapons against her. "Ichika! Mark!"

May fired her missiles, but not before the unknown IS fired a laser at Houki.

She would have certainly died if James hadn't run up behind her and thrown her to the ground at that very moment.

"Err!" James sneered. "You dumb bitch! Did you really have to run into a battle just to stroke your boyfriend's ego!?" He made sure to drag her back into the launch ramp, out of the firing line.

"I! Uh! He's not-Ah! James!" Houki realized. "You're bleeding!"

"…I noticed." James sneered. Having taken the shot for her, his right arm was badly burned. Still, for as painful as the wound looked, James barely reacted to it. He grabbed Houki by the arm, dragging her down the launch tube. He was certain May could get it done.

May realized that Ichika and Houki must be destined to be together, because they were both really dumb fucks.

She'd told him that after her missile attack to drive his blade through the enemy IS. Instead, he'd gone for the right arm, cutting it off the IS, then was seemingly surprised when the left arm came around and slam danced him into the ground. It had slowly lumbered over to him, leveling it's remaining laser weapons to finish him off.

Reluctantly, May decided to save him. Quick-boosting in front of him, May used her left shield to knock the IS's remaining arm up and back, then thrust her shotgun up and fired it point blank at the elbow joint, blowing the arm clean off. Knocking the enemy to their back, May stood above them, and still using her shield as a blade, thrust it downward, crushing the enemies head.

"Tsk!" May hissed as she realized that the unit was a machine, completely devoid of a human pilot. Still, a kill was a kill, and she had fought hard and earned it well. However…

"May…you…" Ichika tried to accuse her.

"Do not. Ever. Hesitate on a kill!" May drove her point home, taking a threatening step towards Ichika, who flinched as he was forced to look up at the five-meter-tall titan of steel. "Or else I'll be the last thing you have to worry about!"

His actions were callus and cruel, and his temperament was indifferent and distant. Yet somehow, based on what May had said, this was James being nice.

"Other than a few scrapes, Ms. Shinonono is alright." The school nurse reported. "Now can you please let me help you Mr. Klein!?"

"No." James stood with his hands behind his back, having been patiently waiting. Dismissing the nurse, he said, "I'll have May take care of it."

"I would object, but given your clear control and lack of pain, and the strange request from ORCA that we not treat any of your wounds, I will reluctantly accept. Please get that looked at soon." The nurse pleaded before leaving.

"…" Houki still expected something, an acknowledgment, an insult, even a statement that he was finished with her since she was fine. Instead, James simply turned and left the room, black flesh and dried blood staining his shoulder.

Ichika was a mystery to her. Even having been a childhood friend, she still couldn't understand how he could treat her and the other girls he'd made friends with so admirably, like they weren't all in competition for his attention. Perhaps he truly was oblivious, or perhaps he was extremely ambitious. Either way, at least he didn't behave like a pervert, even for as often as she accused him as such.

James on the other hand was not a mystery. He was a god damned eldritch being for as well as she could understand him. Overwhelmingly strong but unnaturally quiet. Extremely intelligent yet unusual modest. Hyperaware yet exceedingly bored. Decently handsome but obviously uninterested. She had never met any man…let alone any human who behaved in such an unnatural way.

Watching him with his back turned to her, his own open wounds beneath his notice, she had an odd thought. Maybe the reason he was so different…so alien to the world…was because he was already dead.

In a dark maintenance area of the IS Academy, Chifuyu stood behind Maya as the green haired woman worked at a computer console. In the center of the room, the unknown unmanned IS was being scanned and dismantled by mechanical arms. Watching the work at close distance, May observed first hand the inner workings of an IS unit.

Oh, Chifuyu knew the risk of having an extremely intelligent and mechanically inclined person such as May investigating the unknown unit, especially when she represented a nation as unknown as ORCA. On the other hand, ORCA's technology base, however good or bad it was, would not have had time to develop an IS such as this and send it to attack so blatantly in so short a time. As such, ORCA was one of the few organizations she could trust in this instance.

"So it really was unmanned." Maya commented. "And it seems the Core was unregistered."

"I see." Chifuyu hissed.

"There are only 467 known IS Cores in the world, and yet somehow, this IS was equipped with a Core we know nothing about. How can that be?"

"…" Chifuyu had an idea, and she didn't like it one bit. Ignoring that for the moment, she addressed the other green haired woman in the room. "May."

"Ma'am!" May snapped to attention, looking up patiently and dutifully.

"Unofficially, you have my thanks." Chifuyu smiled. "Your experience and expertise proved vital in putting down this threat to our students."

"Just doing my job, ma'am." May smiled.

"Officially however, our bosses, the IS Committee, want to punish you."

"Ma'am?" May cocked her head in confusion.

"It's their pride." Chifuyu admitted tiredly. "Even if it was an unmanned enemy unit, the fact of the matter is that an IS unit was defeated by an Armored Core…and not another IS."

"…Cecilia said something like that earlier. Is it truly that serious an issue?" May questioned. "Even Armored Cores have been defeated by inferior units, the heat of combat being too much for inexperienced pilots."

"Like I said, their pride won't allow for the IS to be anything less than the 'pinnacle of human technology' and 'an object of feminine superiority'. It's stupid I know, but they're acting like you've committed a serious crime."

"Oh…is that bad?" May questioned, honestly confused.

"They seem to realize the more of an issue they make it, the more people will realize what actually happened today. Their strategy is going to be to classify the incident as top secret, so of course now everyone knows what actually happened." Chifuyu sneered at the situation.

"Ah…uh…sorry?" May shrugged.

"It is what it is. Besides, by their own laws you're protected from scrutiny at this Academy so long as you've not committed an actual crime. Other than ignoring my order to stand down, you've done right by me so far." Chifuyu smiled.

"I'm pleased to have proven my worth to you, Orimura-sensei." May bowed respectfully.

That Evening / Student Dorms

"So, how was your first day of school?" Fiona asked over the phone.

"…" James sighed. Behind him, May was treating his laser burn, cutting away burned flesh with her knife and applying a bandage. "Contact was made with the anomaly, as well as several high value targets. Preliminary assessment is…disappointing, but further developments may come to pass. Initial tactical assessment of IS units have been prepared, proving the units are capable, but ill-utilized by currently observed subjects. May engaged with an unknown IS unit, destroying it, and has prepared her own combat assessment."

"Ah, well, that is good to hear, but how are you doing?" Fiona requested.

"…I am continually annoyed, harassed with equal parts insults, accusations of suspicion, and offers of intimacy. I have been assaulted, and in another instance, gravely wounded. So…situation is normal." James answered.

"I see. It's good to hear you are having fun." Fiona smiled on her side of the line. "Please, continue to behave, and try to have fun. I know you just want to consider this another assignment, but remember that you have unofficial objectives I'd like you to complete. If you need any help making friends, just ask May."

"Yes…mom." James hesitated.

"Alright. I'll pass your reports onto the rest of the Lynx. Take care you two!" Fiona hung up.

"…" James closed his eyes, a little tired and deeply annoyed. Still, it would be a few weeks until he was tired enough to sleep, so he set his mind to more calculation and threat assessment evaluation.

"I have to ask." May spoke up, having finished tending to him. "What's the other guy say about all this?"

"…" James hummed in thought for a moment. "It's annoyed that our war has ended, that it won't get the chance to kill you."

"Aww, Strayed wants to kill me too?" May smiled. "I'm touched."

"…This is a virgin world May, knowing not the horrors of the Great Destructions, of the terrible crimes of The League."

"Let alone your own crimes." May reminded him. "If they knew even half the things you've done, they'd demand your death, beg to purge you from their world."

"Is that a threat?" James smiled. "Come, let them try, let me soak my blades in their bones."

"It would be fun, making our names known, our deeds and feats in battle." May reminisced. "But that isn't our mission here. What does it think of those kids?"

"I would say it is conflicted." James answered. "If we fight them, who is to take their lives? It, or I?"

"Regardless…I think I did a pretty good job today~" May sung, throwing James to the ground. Straddling him, she looked down with a wide smile. "I want a reward for my efforts."

"…" James hissed, but acquiesced.

Meanwhile / Catalina Island, United States

"I see, it is good to hear that our preliminary analysis has proven correct." Thermidor remarked.

"Yes, their insistence to build IS units with minimal armor and maximum exposure of the pilot for aesthetic purposes proves to be a fatal flaw." Lilium agreed over the phone. "Though obviously weaker, Third Generation Armored Cores are not so outclassed as to be obsolete. Once we have our manufacturing base optimized, we can begin selling ACs as a cheap alternative to IS units. How goes your mission there?"

"I'm about to make the public announcement, which will hopefully entice other nations and allow us to expand our trade deals and prospects. Continue searching for whomever sent that unknown IS to attack the school, keep me posted of any developments."

"Will do, Thermidor." Lilium hung up.

Turning around from where he had taken the call, Thermidor strode towards the small stage set up in the middle of a field near Arrow Point, overlooking the ocean and Los Angeles to the distant North-East.

On the stage, was a podium with microphones, and behind it was the flags of the United States and ORCA; the red, white, and blue hanging alongside a black flag with four staggered white stars, and the name of the nation down the middle.

At the base of the stage stood reporters and television cameras, waiting on his word. With the prompt and confidence he was becoming known for, he took the stage and addressed the present company.

"Thank you all for coming here today. I am proud to announce that a deal has been made between the United States and ORCA, for the construction of a large-scale fusion reactor here on this site. It shall provide power to over thirty million people living in Southern California, as well as being a source of clean drinking water for many more residents, both on this island and on the mainland. With this, we shall help bring your world to into a future where energy concerns are a relic of a bygone era. This is but our first step towards a future of peace and prosperity, where none shall live in want or need. We, the people of ORCA, shall share with this world the technologies of the future, so that all mankind will prosper!"

Author's Note: Remember when I said I would upload every 2-3 weeks? I lied. Admittedly I wanted to get at least chapter 4 posted before the release of AC6 just so y'all could see the absolute insanity that I have planned for this story. Also my mother helped me edit this chapter much earlier than anticipated, so you get it a few days early. Expect chapter 4 sometime next week, THEN back to a 2-3 week wait.

Something to note since I am not as familiar with 3rd Gen as I am with 4th and 5th, is I sort of cheated when making the "custom 3rd Gen AC's" used by ORCA while they hide their NEXT. In this chapter, May's "Black Rain" is in fact the Crest Heavy Fighting Type "Black Rain" by 507 from FG-SITE, images of which can be found on the site Raven Repubilc. I know, I'm a lazy bastard, but you ain't seen nothing yet.

Also, why the heck is this story so popular all of a sudden? Is it the IS part, or the AC part? Is it because AC6 releases in a few weeks? Y'all should give my other story some love, since it's actually completed and slightly more competent. Either way I'm not complaining. Hope I entertain everyone, and see you next time!

To zacker1590: Oh my, you are certainly making me feel inadequate with the effort I put into this story. I SHOULD have tried to do everything you are suggesting. Unfortunately, my interest in IS is minimal at best, and this story is probably going to reflect that. Still, ORCA is definitely going to have an effect upon this little world, and I'm looking forward to telling that story, however lazy my writing for this one may appear.

To mega1987: Yeah, it's fairly obvious she has some issues.

To Zero: Ahh punctuation please! I think I just about had a heart attack trying to read this the first time.

I forget which episode I skip to, I believe it is the episode after Rin is introduced. Meaning that episode 1-whatever happened in the background and this chapter takes place the day Rin and Ichika fight in the show. If you've not read my previous work, I will spell Strayed's interest very briefly. Strayed doesn't give a shit about anything outside of combat. Canonically no, White Glint died months ago, he might be mentioned, but he's not going to make an appearance. Yeah I'm excited for AC6 too, it's going to be crazy, and I hope you stick around for the story I write out of it!

To Overmind: Good to be back. Let's get to work.

To For'Sleep 3rd: Thanks for pointing that out. I went back and changed it.