Chapter 1: A legend is born.

Date February 29, 2020, Time: 5:50 PM Location: unknown.

Good afternoon, America! In tonight's news, American forces have successfully liberated the city of Riyadh from the Iran, Pakistani, and Chinese forces in the Middle East campaign. Meanwhile, in East Asia, American troops have liberated the cities of Dangjin and Cheonan from the DPRK and PLA forces. British troops are facing heavy resistance fighters in the cities of Chungju and Mungyeong, as North Koreans have entrenched themselves in both cities. Lastly, JSDF forces are laying siege to the cities of Gyeongju and Pohang against the DPRK and PLA forces in former South Korea.

Bum bum bum bum!The ABC News intro chimes with the news logo appearing before being swiftly replaced with two news anchors of the opposite sex.

"Thank you for the intro Erold," the newswoman begins. "Now, yesterday on February 28th, 2020, at exactly 6:00 PM Saudi Arabia time, the U.S. troops from the 11th Infantry raised the American Flag over the Burj Khalifa in Saudi Arabia, liberating the country from Communist rule."

The broadcast then changes from the news anchors to footage on the ground focusing on U.S. troops raising the American flag over the Burj Khalifa with fierce firefights happening around the cameraman as he records. The screen then switches back to the news anchors.

"Indeed, with the liberation of Saudi Arabia's capital city, the U.S and NATO Forces can finally start invasion preparation towards Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. Then into mainland China," the male news anchor states, full of American pride.

"Indeed! But that may never happen in the Middle East campaign since the American forces in the city, Dangjin, are just fifty miles away from Seoul, the capital of former South Korea," the female newswoman interjects.

"Ah yes. I almost forgot about the victory over Dangjin. After a grueling three month siege, DPRK and the Chinese Forces finally withdrew from the city via Dangjin's harbor to the Pyeongtaek Harbor. However as the DPRK and PLA Forces withdrew from the city, they laid a bunch of mines and destroyed much of the infrastructure such as railways, bridges, and buildings leaving nothing but a wasteland."

The camera then switches to combat footage in Dangjin from 3 months ago. The video's perspective comes from a U.S. soldier's GoPro camera as he and his troop marches down the street. The street is empty around them with the wind blowing against them. The buildings around them stand silent with their windows wide open.

"This feels like an ambush," the soldier loudly whispers to the left.

Suddenly gunfire erupts from all sides, striking a dozen or so as they drop to the ground. The rest run to take cover with the soldier using the Go pro hiding behind a car. An explosion erupts from where the troop of soldiers once stood as blood, guts and dirt fly everywhere, landing on everything and everyone.

"FALL BACK FALL BACK!" the squad leader yells before being shot in the head and falling to the ground with a thud. The footage is abruptly turned off and the screen returns to the news anchors.

"This combat footage was from three months ago and the cameraman who recorded this was Major John Cena, who is thankfully alive," the newswoman reports.

"Yes, we all know that John Cena enlisted into the Marines back in 2018. A whole two weeks after the war started," the news anchor adds.

"Right! It was Christmas eve of 2017 when North Korea and China launched missiles at the South Korean, Japanese, and American military targets," the newswoman retorts.

"I know! South Korea fell within a month because of the Chinese forces. Then we had the air battle over Japan which we won thanks to our aces in the sky. Heck! The Battle Of Japan is just like the Battle Of Britain during World War 2. Despite early victories it was ultimately a failure for the Chinese and North Korean forces."

"But the only difference is that the Japanese lost the majority of the air battles due to the size of their air force compared to China's and North Korea's combined air forces," the newswoman mentions.

"I agree, but don't forget that China did manage to destroy most of our aircraft and JSDF aircraft during the missile strike. Not to mention the evacuation of Busan with the U.S. losing a carrier to a DPRK sub."

"But in the end, we won the air and naval battle with no Chinese soldiers setting foot on Japanese soil."

"Yes! And from there we invaded former South Korea in Busan and here we are now. The Americans in the cities Dangjin and Cheonan, the British at Chungju and Mungyeong, and the Japanese at Yeongju and Pohang," the newsman replies as he takes a drink of water. He sighs before turning to the camera.

"You know, three years ago, I was with my family and friends having a barbecue. Everybody is laughing and having a good time. Until all of a sudden, my wife screams and I rush over to her. I asked her 'Honey, what's wrong?' and she just points to the TV. I look and I see the news that North Korea and China have just declared war on the United States, South Korea, and Japan because of the assassination of Kim Jung Un a week prior.

Everybody in the room is silent, thinking back on the day the war started. "Now," the newsman begins. "I want everybody, including you viewers out there, to take a moment of silence to remember and share what you were doing when the war started and how you felt on our Twitter page #AMC News."

"Really, Scott?" the newswoman sarcastically asks.

"What? I'm just curious about what people have to say," Scott replies playfully.

"Whatever," The newswoman shakes her head. "Up next is the Japanese siege at the cities Gyeongju and Pohang and before we go for a break I want to..."

Before she could finish, the screen goes black and the iPhone loading screen appears indicating the user's phone has died.

"Aww god dammit!" a boy complains, shoving his now-dead phone back into his pocket.

"Something wrong, Matthew?" the woman driving the car asks.

"Yea, my phone died," Matthew complains in a sad tone.

The woman chuckles before responding. "Well, you could always look outside the window."

"And look at what? The desert? We're literally on the road leading towards Area 51 and there is nothing to look at besides the dead plants and clouds," Matthew complains some more.

"Sucks for you, I'm the one driving," the woman teases.

Matthew groans irritated as he slumps down into his seat.

A few minutes of silence passed before the woman driving the car spoke up.

"Why don't we do as the news anchor said?"

"Huh?" Matthew asks, not knowing what she is talking about.

"You know? He asked us to remember what we were doing as a family before the war broke out. Don't you remember?" the woman quizzes the boy.

"You mean the very last Christmas we were a family before Hiroto..." Matthew pauses with a slight pain in his chest. His throat became choked up, not wanting to say the word. "...before he died," Matthew finishes with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yeah... Never mind this because today we are seeing your cousin Michael after what, three years? And it's not normal to have a family reunion in Area 51 with a tour of one of his latest projects. I bet one of his so-called latest projects involves dissecting or studying an alien. So we'll probably get to see Howard the alien or something like him." the woman says, changing the topic.

"Do you really think so mom?" Matthew asks, still saddened with the reminder of his older brother's death.

"I'm sure of it," Matthew's mom cheerfully replies.

"Then let's find some aliens mom," Matthew replies joyfully.

"That's the spirit!" Matthew's mom yells, smiling.


After several hours of waiting, the gates of area 51 came into view.

"Here we are. Welcome to the gate of Area 51," Matthew's mom announces.

"Holy shit we're actually here!" Matthew mentally screams to himself.

The gate itself isn't as fantastic as one would think it is. It has a simple arm gate with a stop sign protecting what is beyond it. To the side is a square white building where the gatekeeper waits. Behind the gatekeeper's hut is another square building colored brown, and finally around the perimeter are a few cameras and night lights surrounding said buildings.

"There it is, the iconic warning signs!" Matthew points out jumping out of his seat and pointing towards the warning sign. Matthew, feeling both scared and excited, begins reading out the warning signs until abruptly stopping and turning to his mom.

"Wait, do you still have the two Golden Tickets Micheal sent us?" Matthew worriedly asks.

"You mean these?" Matthew's mom pulls out two large golden tickets out of her purse.

Matthew sighs in relief. "Thank god because I heard the dudes in the white truck aren't too friendly with strangers," Matthew explains.

Matthew's mom scoffs "Yea no shit, this is top secret so I don't think those guards will be happy when a bunch of tourists come all willy nilly with cameras and a North Korean flag chanting, clap them cheeks," Matthews' mom responds, mentioning the Area 51 raid.

Matthew laughed at his mom's joke as she parks her car to the side of the road. Exiting the vehicle, they both begin to make their way towards the warning signs to take a selfie with it, but before they even get a chance to walk over to the warning signs, two armed guards dressed in desert camo and holding M4 carbines exit the small hut and approach Matthew and his mom.

The first guard with tan skin wearing black sunglasses speaks first.

"Sorry but you guys are too late to raid Area 51 so I suggest you head back." guard one sarcastically asks.

Both Matthew and his mom nervously laugh together at guard one's joke.

"No sir, we're actually here on an important mission to save Superman," Matthew's mom replies.

Both guards laugh at her response before guard one spoke again.

"No, actually we are waiting for a woman with wavy blond hair and diamond blue eyes and looks pretty young despite her age and her son who has black short hair and diamond blue eyes and is skinny as a twig. Last name is Yamamoto," the first guard tells them.

"Oh, it looks like that's us," Matthew's mom replies laughing.

"Splendid! Now IDs please?" the first guard asks, turning serious in less than a second.

"Here you go." Both Matthew and his Mother give the guard their ID's and he begins reading their ID's out loud.

"Sarah Yamamoto, Born October 31st 1975, age 45. Jesus! You're 45? You look so young and more… Fit than other women at this age," he exclaims.

"I'll be 45 in November and thanks, I get that a lot."

The guard looks back down and continues reading off her ID. "Relationship married, nationality American and service/status US Marines E5."

The guard looks back up towards Matthew's mom. "You served in Afghanistan?"

"Sure did. Four tours starting way back in 2002 up until 2014 when I signed up for reserves," Matthew's mom proudly responds.

"Thank you for your service then." The guards salute Matthew's mom who salutes back. Guard one hands Sarah's ID back and begins to read off Matthew's ID.

"Matthew Yamamoto, born: July 4 2004 and is 15 years old. Nationality, Japanese American."

The guard hands Matthew's ID back and signals both to follow him.

"Follow me, we'll be taking our truck to the actual base and stay close to us or you'll end up dead to one of our dinosaurs. Alright?"

"Dinosaurs?" Matthew inquires.

"Oh yea, you see, Area 51 is so remote and heavily funded that we are cloning dinosaurs now." He sarcastically explains."

The four of them enter a white truck. Guard one starts the truck up and begins driving down the road. The other guard notifies HQ that they are returning back to base for a 'lunch break.'

"So… you guys are related to Dr. Thompson?" Guard one asks.

"Yea he's my brother's son," Sarah answers.

"Really? Then where does Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory mix into his personality when you guys are clearly normal?" The guard asks jokingly.

"He still imitates Willy Wonka?" Sarah asks.

"From time to time, yes. Hell, sometimes it's funny watching the base commander destroy his ass but then again, Dr. Thompson does give out free candy bars so I'm not complaining," He explains.

"I see, I thought he would have grown out of that by now."

"What do you mean?" Guard one asks.

"My brother or Micheal's father died in the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq. Over time his mother wasn't able to continue raising him, so she sent him to live with us in Japan," Sarah says with a frown.

"Oh...I never knew," Guard one responds embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. He's a strong kid and is a little….weird at times but he's Micheal," she finishes.

The entire car ride to the main base is filled with unease and awkward silence until finally the group makes it to Area 51. Mathew peers outside his window and sees another checkpoint with a red and white bar. To the side of that gate is a small white building for guards to take shelter in. Behind the gate are several large square buildings. One building that caught Matthew's eye the most is named cafeteria. The gate opens without them having to stop and the group takes a left and continues down the street. Matthew peers out of his window and into the streets which are lined with even more square buildings. Some are small and some are big except one fuel silo at the end of one of the streets. The truck takes a right turn and Matthew looks out the windshield and sees five large aircraft hangars and a control tower at the very end. In front of the hangars and the coming tower is a huge runway with nothing but the desert sand and tumbleweeds blowing about on the runway. The truck stops in front of a very large wooden crate guarded by ten guards. Guard one instructs everybody to exit the truck to which everybody does and they approach the wooden box. One of the ten guards approaches Matthew and his mom and holds his hand out for a handshake.

"Welcome to Area 51, I'm Staff Sergeant Daniel Rodriguez. I'll be your guard for the duration of the tour," the man introduces himself.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sarah Yamamoto and this is my son Matthew Yamamoto," she introduces. Both Matthew and his mom shake Daniel Rodriguez's hand.

"Dr. Thompson wants you to open this crate, so here is your crowbar and good luck Matthew," Daniel says, handing him a crowbar.

Matthew looks at the crowbar confused, then he looks back at Sgt. Rodriguez. "Excuse me?"

The sergeant just rolls his eyes and bluntly replies "I know kid, I have my orders from Dr. Thompson himself. He wants you to open the crate, not us soldiers, however we would of helped you since you clearly don't have any muscles and-"

"I have muscles!" Matthew blurts.

"Oh really," he teases, crossing his arms.

"Yea...You don't believe me then watch this!" Matthew storms his way towards the wooden crate and stabs the crowbar between the crate lid and the crate itself. He then attempts to pop the lid off to no avail. The soldiers around Matthew, including his mother, begin snickering to themselves at his poor attempt to pop the lid off. Filled with embarrassment and anger, the teen attempts to impress everybody by sitting on the crowbar in hopes the lid will pop off to no avail.

"Jesus kid. Let me open it," one of the guards interjects.

Matthew hops off the crowbar and takes a step back. The guard grabs the crowbar and prepares to pull but stops.

"You know kid, if you join us, you'll grow some muscles like us," he remarks before pulling up and popping the lid open. Matthew slides the lid off the now open crate and peers inside. The crate is filled with a variety of chocolate bars.

"Chocolate?" Matthew says confused.

All of a sudden, a man leaps up from under the chocolate bars. He appears to be in his early 20s, has brown eyes with brown hair, and is wearing a black long coat and black suit with a blue tie. He also has the biggest smile Matthew has ever seen in his entire life. He yells at the top of his lungs, "surprise Matthew it's me, Micheal, tada!" while throwing more chocolate in the air.

"Micheal!" Matthew yells embracing Micheal. After a while, both part ways with each other.

"So, five years later and look at you, all grown up," Micheal sighs. "Do you have a girlfriend yet?" he asks, wrapping his arm around Matthew.

"No I don't, I'm waiting until college," Matthew responds.

Micheal laughs at Matthew's response with the other guards around Matthew joining in as well.

"That's what everybody says before high school!" Micheal teases.

The teen groans, irritated at the situation before replying. "So did you invite us here just to make fun of me or no?"

Micheal turns back to Matthew and dumbly replies "Huh."

Matthew repeats himself again but this time, a little slower and a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Did-you-just-invite-me-here-just-to-annoy-me-or-not."

"No! Of course not," the older man answers.

"In fact I am going to give you a personal tour on what I have been working on for the past three years of my life. So," Micheal clears his throat and begins to sing, "Come with me and you'll see a world full of imagination!"

As if on cue the hangar doors slide open revealing a gray I.S. in the middle of the room with engineers and scientists working on it. To the left are more engineers and scientists working on a large black weapon that looks like a giant lightsaber being held up by two stands. To the right is a large firearm similar to an old Thompson machine gun. The silvery metallic barrel and magazine with black wooden furniture makes for a striking appearance. Just like the lightsaber looking weapon it is also being held up by two stands while being worked on by various engineers.

The hangar doors open more, and Matthew could see a large black sniper rifle with another group of technicians working on it. It is located on the far right side of the hangar. To the far left side is a large black M11911. Finally on the 2nd floor there are two guards walking back and forth on the railings on the opposite side of each other patrolling the area or peering over the railing towards Matthew. On the backside of the hangar are stairs on each side leading up to the 2nd floor. Between those staircases is a control/observers room with blacked-out windows.

"Wow! Did you build all of this?" Matthew exclaims.

"Well not exactly. I designed the I.S. and its weapons and did some of the important programming here and there," Micheal explains in a less enthusiastic voice.

"But thanks to everyone in this hangar who built and programmed this I.S. for the past three years of our life!" Micheal yells out to everybody in the hangar.

The crowd of engineers, scientists, and technicians yell back a loud "you're welcome!" in response.

The fifteen year old continues to marvel at everything and begins to wander towards the giant black lightsaber. He gazes curiously at it as he could see his own reflection on it.

"Cough cough cough!" Micheal fake coughs from behind Matthew. Matthew turns around to hear what he has to say.

Do you guys like Star Wars? If so, then this weapon is what you want because this handle is a lightsaber," Micheal says in his best salesman voice.

"I think I already figured that out," Matthew bluntly replies.

"H-hey! I worked really hard for my salesman's voice… could you act more surprised please?" Micheal pleads.

Matthew rolls his eyes before replying. "Wow I'm sooooo impressed! How does it work!" Matthew replies with sarcasm.

"Thank you." Micheal bows before continuing on. "This lightsaber works by cannibalizing the shield energy from the I.S. itself," he explains.

"So it's like Chifuyu's Yukihira Nigata or in her words, a classic double edged sword."

"Yea and you know what? I actually have a funny story on how I created this lightsaber. Care to listen?"

"Sure," the teen responds.

"Okay, so when we were testing the lightsaber on an unmanned I.S. the damn thing cut the arm clean off ignoring the shield as it did so," Micheal explains.

"Cool. I guess this was a breakthrough for you guys right?"

"It sure was! Hell! Congress and Airforce command were so impressed that they sent us additional funds for our I.S.!" Micheal says full of pride.

"Damn..." Matthew marvels looking back at the lightsaber.

"Anyways why are we talking about that, let's talk about the next weapon," Micheal says, dragging Matthew and his mom to the large Thompson.

He then stops and abruptly turns towards Matthew and his mother. Raising his arms he starts to talk again. "Now if you like watching old Hollywood crime movies or World War Two movies and games then this is the gun for you. Because not only is this a Thompson that can shoot 100 rounds, it has a slight perk to it."

"And that is?" Matthew responds with a hint of annoyance.

"I'm glad you asked," Micheal cheerfully responds as if he was talking to a little kid.

"The special perk to this gun is exploding bullets. When the projectile hits a target it detonates upon impact. The explosion is about the size of a hand grenade and also the bullet glows in the air just like tracers to make the line of fire easier to follow for the user," Micheal explains.

Matthew nods his head, impressed by the weapon.

"To top it off, the Thompson is more accurate than the original and due to scaling up the size of the gun and caliber of ammunition for use on an I.S. its range is almost a full mile," Micheal ends in his salesman voice.

"Impressive but what kind of ammunition does this thing take?" Sarah asks.

"Good question. It uses the same ammunition used by the 20mm Oerlikon but with better damage and accuracy thanks to me" Micheal states.

"So it's literally just HE rounds from the second world war?" Matthew's mom questions.

"Well…It uses new ammunition but you could call it roughly the same." He sheepishly admits. "But anyways, during testing it was able to take out an old tank." Micheal proudly says.

"A tank, what about an I.S and why choose the Thompson over the M4A1 or SCAR?" She questions.

"Well, The lightsaber already destroyed the I.S we were going to use and the Thompson is supposed to be a salute to our great great grandfather John T. Thompson. The man who created the Thompson submachine gun" Micheal answers.

"Oh I see." Matthew's mom replies.

"Anyways let's go look at the next weapon shall we?" Micheal then drags Matthew past a crowd of people towards a giant sniper rifle.

"Is that a McMillan TAC-338 sniper rifle!" Sarah exclaims in surprise.

"Indeed it is. How did you know?" Micheal inquires.

"I got to see the special forces guys use these back in Afghanistan."

"Interesting but we're off topic now" Micheal clears his throat before continuing. "This sniper's design is based on the McMillan TAC-338. But thanks to me, it has a range of three miles and it uses my version of the 120 mm shell which is the same caliber the M1A1 Abrams uses. So in other words, this weapon is more powerful than the Thompson and that 1911 combined" Micheal reveals.

Matthew and his mother stand there impressed at what Micheal explained.

"Is this thing more powerful than a lightsaber?" Matthew asks.

"I actually don't know…" Micheal then places a hand on his chin and goes into a deep thought before coming back to reality. "Oh shit! What were we talking about? Oh yea that's right. You wanna know what I said to the guy interviewing me for the job that led me to getting this job?" Micheal asks.

"Umm sure," Matthew replies with uncertainty.

"Well okay, as I was being interviewed by the government official he asked me if there was anything he needs to know before he looks at my file," Micheal says in his deep voice mimicking the official.

"And I reply 'Yea I worked with Tabane Shinonono creating the Infinite Stratos" Micheal says in his normal voice.

"Then he replies, really and I reply, yea it's on the internet and on my file silly," Micheal says transitioning between his normal and deep voice. "And just like that, he hired me without asking any more questions."

"Damn… I guess the government would have hired anybody who worked with Tabane Shinonono. Every agency in the world is after her," Sarah states.

"Trust me. Anybody would hire you if you worked with Tabane Shinonono. Anyhow, back on topic.. Let's take a look at the giant M1911 shall we?" Micheal turns on his heel and begins walking over to the giant pistol.

Once there Micheal turns towards Matthew and Sarah and gives a brief overview of the pistol.

"Right I don't want to waste anymore time so I'll give a brief overview of the pistol," Micheal announces before clearing his throat once more.

"Okay, the short answer is that this is an enlarged M1911 that uses the same ammunition as that Thompson over there. Any questions? No? Good. Let's go look at the main attraction, the I.S.," Michael quickly speaks.

Leaving the pistol and walking over towards the I.S. a man in his early 20s approaches. With dark brown hair and brown eyes he wore a rather unassuming outfit: brown khakis, brown shoes, and a white button-up shirt with a black tie, topped off with a very clean white lab coat.

"Sir, we have finished repairing the unit. All we need to do is get a new test pilot and… Who are they?" the young man asks, looking at Matthew and his mother.

"Oh, Robert met Sarah Yamamoto, my aunt and Matthew Yamamoto, my cousin. Sarah and Matthew met Robert Boyle, my assistant," Michael says, introducing the trio to each other.

"Sir how did you manage to-" but before Robert could finish, Micheal interrupts him.

"Robert, my throat is feeling a little dry, so please," he interjects while wrapping his arm around Robert's neck. "Tell them about the I.S. while I head over to the break room and have myself a nice cup of tea. Thank you!" He says unwrapping his arm from his neck before leaving to the break room.

"So," Robert begins awkwardly. "We just finished repairing the I.S. after the original test pilot was almost fried to death three days ago and uhhh." he trails off.

"Wait what?" Sarah exclaims.

"Yea I know right. Something was wrong with the power distributor but we managed to fix it in under three weeks." Robert explains.

"I see…" Matthew trails as he marveled at the I.S. from afar as they rapidly approached it.

The I.S. has a sleek unpainted body with the chest plate being shrunken down to a size a human could wear. Finally the head or helmet is absent and there are two large metal boxes on the waist of the I.S.

"Wow, what can this do?" Matthew asks.

"Hmm… let me think… Oh! This I.S. is capable of using chemical warfare," Robert cheerfully answers, earning a look of shock from both Matthew and his mom.

"Chemical warfare!" Sarah begins.

"Aren't chemical weapons banned in modern warfare? How is the pilot supposed to protect themselves from the gas?" Matthew asks.

Robert laughs to himself at Matthew and Sarah's reactions before responding.

"Chemical warfare is banned in modern warfare but the Alaska Treaty doesn't state anything about chemical weapons being used against an I.S so technically chemical warfare is allowed to be used in I.S. battles," Robert explains.

"Oh I see. But then how is the pilot supposed to protect herself from the gas?" Matthew asks, confused.

"Easy. The pilot wears a specially designed mask that filters the air and has a built in HUD for the pilot to use. Micheal and I built it especially for this unit. Hell, even the uniform isn't a crappy swimsuit like most of those pilots wear."

"Swimsuit? You mean the uniform those I.S. pilots wear so the I.S. is able to copy and read the pilots body without any delay with the I.S. movement," Matthews' mom inquires.

"Yeah that. Hell Micheal and I figured out a way to increase the I.S. sensitivity for reading a person's movement when they are wearing heavy clothing. In other words the pilot is able to wear winter clothing or a flight suit for high altitude flying which this I.S. was designed for. But anyways we are off topic. The I.S. will function normally as if the pilot was wearing those silly swimsuits," Robert explains.

"Ah so this I.S. is different," Sarah says, giving another look at the machine.

"Indeed it is because this is America's new Generation 3 I.S. Destroyer," Robert proudly yells pointing towards the air and then pointing in front of himself.

He chuckles nervously realizing he made himself look like an idiot before speaking again.

"Anyways. This I.S. will only be using tear gas which are nonlethal chemicals used to dispatch riots. Optionally, it is also able to deploy smoke to escape sticky situations. Just like a squid would do with ink," Robert explains further.

"So wait," Matthew says, stopping the scientist. "What's the difference between a standard I.S. and an I.S. destroyer?"

"Easy. A normal I.S. is focused more on protecting the pilots life while also fighting other I.S. units. An I.S. destroyer is given light but effective weapons that still punches the enemy hard and also reduces the weight of the I.S. so the speed is not affected by the weight of the weapon and it's ammunition. To top it off, it is supposed to be a lot faster when pulling off zero gravity turns and maneuvers a normal I.S. cannot do. In conclusion, we have an I.S. that uses weapons that don't affect the speed or agility of the unit but still packs a punch. It is more maneuverable and faster than a normal I.S.," Robert explains.

"Cool," Matthew and his mom say at the same time.

"Anyways, who wants to touch the damn thing first?" Robert chirps.

"I do!" Matthew quickly answers.

"Alright just go on up and touch it." Robert points towards the I.S. whilst pushing Matthew towards it.

Standing at arms length from the I.S. Matthew starts to feel excitement that he is right next to a brand new gen three I.S.

"Holy shit! I can't believe I'm standing right next to an I.S. It's been so long since I got to touch Chifuyu's I.S. and look at me now, about to touch a new I.S.," he thinks to himself.

Matthew raises his hand and touches the I.S's leg, feeling the cold hard metal when all of a sudden, a bright red light emits from his hand causing him to fall onto his ass. The light grows even more grabbing everybody's attention in the hangar as it illuminates the area until it disappears before reappearing as a computer screen with a bunch of words and numbers scrolling upwards.

"Annihilator standing by," a robotic voice comes from the I.S.

"Holy shit it responded to you!" Robert yells.

Matthew's jaw drops. Hearing what Robert just said the entire hangar goes into a frenzy at the news. They begin to surround Matthew before he is saved by Micheal who shoos the crowd away.

"Do you know what this means Dr. Thompson!" one of the scientists yells over to Micheal.

"Yea I know. My cousin has just become the world's first man to activate an I.S." Micheal yells back.

"Who is this kid and where did he come from?" a scientist yells.

"What's your name kid?" another scientist asks Matthew.

Matthew is then bombarded with millions of questions until a shout is heard.

"Hey!" a booming voice echoes from across the hangar.

Everyone falls silent as they turn to look at who it was that yelled out.

Matthew turns his attention to the hangar entrance and sees a ton of soldiers outside with their weapons drawn and ready to massacre the entire group. In front of the line of soldiers is a man in 40s wearing the Air Force blues dress uniform. Next to the man are two older officers in either their 50s or 60s, wearing the Army ASU uniforms.

"Is that General Joshua MacArthur and General Walter Eisenhower?" Matthew thinks to himself recognizing both generals from the news.

"Aww shit," Micheal mumbles quietly to himself with a terrified look on his face.

"What is going on here Dr. Thompson? Do you care to explain who the hell these two civilians are?" the officer in the Air force blues almost screams.

"Ahh Commander Fairs, General MacArthur and General Eisenhower. It's so good to see you," Micheal replies in his cheerful persona attempting to dodge the question Commander Fairs asked him.

Commander Fairs looks at Matthew and his mother with an angered expression before looking back at Micheal.

"Did you bring civilians into a government facility?" Commander Fairs interrogates Micheal.

"Well yeah but I got your permission to do so," Micheal answers.

"What! Since when?" Commander Fairs exclaims.

Micheal then pulls out his phone and turns the volume up before playing an audio clip.

"So Commander Fairs, may I bring two visitors onto the base this weekend?" an uncertain Micheal asks from his phone.

"Huh visitors from off the base want in," a clearly drunk and impaired Commander Fairs can be heard speaking on the recording.

"Yes," Micheal answers slowly.

"Why not. Just don't tell anybody I let you though," the drunk Commander Fairs responds to his request.

"Thank you," Michael says as the audio ends.

Commander Fairs is beet red of embarrassment. The two generals look at him with an incredulous stare. The officer balls his fists and yells.

Dr. Thompson! You have committed a serious violation under the rules of the United States Air Force by deliberately and carelessly leading two people into Area 51 illegally. You and your two friends are under arrest! Take them away guards!" Commander Fairs yells.

"Wait what!" the mother and son duo shout.

Both Matthew and Sarah are detained with ease. There isn't much they could possibly do to resist a squad of heavily armed soldiers and there is no telling if they will use deadly force should they even attempt it.

'W-wait!… I have an actual answer as to why they are here!" Micheal shouts. Everyone freezes in their place for a moment as he steps away from the approaching guard.

Commander Fairs slowly turns his head to Micheal. "What's your excuse this time?" he growls.

"That kid is the new test pilot for the Annihilator class I.S.!" Micheal yells, resisting the guards attempts on detaining him.

"Hold it, guards! Leave Dr. Thompson and take the two civilians to the detention area," Commander Fairs orders. "I wanna have a little meeting with the good doctor."

Micheal watches as Matthew and his mother are taken away, leaving him feeling both guilty and regretful for what he has done to them.

"Let's go doctor!" Commander Fairs yells at Micheal.

Two guards approach Micheal and escort him to wherever the Commander is taking him.

"Fuck! I really fucked up big this time! Not just myself but Matthew and Sarah got dragged into it. We're screwed big time!" He mentally screams to himself before sighing in defeat. "It's alright, I told them that he is the new pilot for the Annihilator and all I need to do is come up with a cover story," he thinks to himself.

As they get closer and closer to the conference room, his thinking intensified, causing sweat to roll down his forehead when suddenly came up with a cover up story.

"That's it! I'll just say I invited him to be a test pilot for core 466 the Annihilator because it was rejecting the previous two test pilots last time even though it was due to a glitch in the coding as a burnt out resistor in one of the wires and for some reason, he was able to activate it somehow which should convince them to hire Matthew and clear both his and Aunt Sarah's name... I think." he concludes with uncertainty.

The sound of the door brings Micheal back to reality.

"Sir." A soldier guarding the door says, saluting the high ranking officers before allowing Commander Fairs and the two generals in.

The soldier gives Micheal a worried look to which he responds by throwing up two thumbs and a forced smile to which the guard rolls his eyes and opens the door for the group to enter the room before closing it with the sound of a click,

"Micheal take a seat," Commander Fairs demands, sending shivers down the doctor's back.

Micheal walks to the other side of the table and takes a seat, facing directly at Commander Fairs and the two generals.

"Doctor Thompson, care to explain why you brought two civilians onto Area 51?" Commander Fairs interrogates.

"They aren't here illegally," Micheal answers boldly.

"Oh really?" Commander Fairs says menacingly, looking into Micheal's eyes.

Micheal begins to sweat nervously.

"That kid Matthew Yamamoto is the new test pilot for core 466 and that woman is his mother who tagged along with him," Micheal answers with a voice crack at the end.

"New test pilot? What happened to Captain Kaitlyn Smicht? Our flying ace back in Korea?" Commander Fairs quizzes, crossing his arms at the same time.

"she was killed in action four days ago. Because of this, I decided to bring in my cousin Matthew Yamamoto. He is also the little brother of our most famous pilot Hiroto Yamamoto. I brought him here to tour core 466 and when he touched it, it activated, " Micheal explains.

Commander Fairs sits there silently taking everything in for a moment. "So why didn't I receive a report that Captain Smicht was killed in action four days ago?"

"Ermmm well?" Michael strains out, trying to think of an answer.

"And a male test pilot, did you forget that only women can pilot an I.S?| He asks more sternly.

"You didn't get a report that the Captain was KIA? How funny because I got one," Micheal answers in a cheerful tone.

Commander Fairs glares at Micheal, knowing full well that this was a lie.

Micheal begins to sweat nervously knowing full well that he;se been defeated at his own game.

"Well you see I mean-well shit I- The I.S was rejecting the last two pilots so I chose my cousin to test a hypothesis." Micheal stammers, forming hand gestures and fidgeting in his seat in unease.

"Commander Fairs?" General Walter Eisenhower begins, halting the interrogation on Micheal.

Commander Fairs turns and faces General Eisenhower.

"Yes, General? He asks in his normal voice.

"Commander, it's pretty obvious that the man is lying," General Walter Eisenhower states.

Micheal's heart stops. His body falls limp and his face turns pale.

"I failed them and now, they'll go to jail because of my stupid mistake." Micheal thinks to himself as he slips further and further into his seat.

"However, if that boy actually activated an I.S. then I think we can have an exception." General Eisenhower says.

Micheal's ears perk up.

"An exception?" Commander Fairs and General MacArthur say simultaneously.

"Let me elaborate. Despite being the technology leader for most of the Cold War and well into the current century, we've had terrible luck with I.S. units and designs and our dominance has come to an end."

"Right?" the other three men reply automatically.

"Now with our new Annihilator I.S. nearing completion, it should get rid of our reputation and put us back on the path to leading world power and have the best I.S. units in the world. Right?" General Eisenhower remarks.

"That's right!" Michael desperately exclaims, hoping this man can give him a way out of the mess he is in.

"What's your point General Eisenhower?" General MacArthur bluntly blurts.

"What I'm saying is that the Annihilator needs a pilot, and since that boy was able to activate it, I think he should be the one to pilot the damn thing," General Eisenhower explains, slapping his hand down on the table in the end.

The three begin to think silently to themselves at General Eisenhower's idea.

"If we were to adopt Matthew as the new pilot for the Annihilator, this will greatly improve the amount of research we need to gather for core 468. Hell, if he does become our pilot for core 466, I think we will be able to get core 468 done before the end of the year," Micheal exclaims.

"Don't forget that kid's older brother is our ace pilot and a war hero and not only that, but a male I.S. pilot? The propaganda will be insane. It's just the kind of boost Washington is looking for. General MacArthur exclaims with the biggest grin ever.

"We'll also be able to take revenge on that Chinese representative in the I.S. Academy!" General Eisenhower adds.

"But what about Project Juggernaut?" Commander Fairs mentions.

"What about it?" Micheal inquires.

"I mean, why don't we have the kid pilot the Juggernaut instead of the Annihilator?" the commander asks.

"Oh, about project Juggernaut," Micheal begins. "The Juggernaut is already eight years old now. It is still suffering from both weapons and system malfunctions since it's still using it's original gen one programming. The top speed and acceleration is terrible for today's standards since Congress won't give us any more funds to replace these gen one parts with gen three parts and they expect us to 'work what we have'," Micheal explains.

"How could I forget? We're at war but the priorities are still screwed up," Commander Fairs sighs. "The Juggernaut has always suffered from problems. 'It was a failure from the start' my daughter always says."

The conversation pauses as the men think about all the lives recently lost in the war and how many deaths might have been prevented if their I.S. technology could match their traditional military dominance.

"Anyhow, I'll tell the guards to bring ugh Matthew and his mom here. That was his name right?" Commander Fairs looks towards Micheal for an answer.

"Yeah it's Matthew and his mom Sarah," Micheal eagerly answers.

"Right, I'll notify the guards to escort Matthew and his mother to us so we can make an arrangement," Commander Fairs says as he picks up his walkie talkie.

Micheal smiles to himself and relaxes himself in his chair. "This didn't go as I expected it to go, but at least Matthew and Sarah will be safe."


"So what do you guys do here for fun?" Matthew asks the two cell guards.

"Well, I read a book or just watch anime on my phone while Tony over there, plays on his Nintendo Switch all day," the guard teases Tony who has his face glued to his Nintendo.

"That's cool. What kind of games do you play Tony?" Matthew asks.

"Games? Well, Minecraft and Super Mario Odyssey," Tony bluntly answers with his face still glued to the screen.

"Sarah, do you have any more funny stories from Iraq?" the previous guard asks Matthew's mom.

She takes a brief moment to think before responding to the guard.

"I could tell you that one time when a private crashed a Humvee into his squadron's barracks."

"Hell yea! Let's hear it!" the guard enthusiastically chirps.

"Yea," Tony bluntly says in an apathetic tone, his face glued to the screen as the sound of a Minecraft pig being slain can be heard.

"Right, so where was I? Oh yes! I was in the mess hall enjoying my dinner for the night," Sarah begins.

"It's been an hour since we were detained. But these two guards, they managed to take our mind off the fact that we are in deep shit thanks to Micheal. Once I'm out of this cell, I'm going to kick his ass six ways to Sunday." Matthew thinks to himself, being pissed, annoyed, and tired at the situation.

Just then the jail door opens revealing a soldier in his mid 40s in an officers dress uniform followed by two other soldiers.

"Room! Attention!" the guard yells, announcing the arrival of an officer.

Immediately, Tony crams his Nintendo Switch into his pocket to no avail as it hangs out conspicuously while his more talkative partner lets out a snort as Tony's Switch soon falls out of his pocket and lands onto the concrete floor.

"At ease," the officer announces, unfazed by Tony's Nintendo switch. Both Tony and his friend return to their normal form as the officer makes his way to the cell door.

"Ms. Yamamoto and her son." the officer begins.

Matthew and his mom cock their eyebrows at the officer in response, trying to downplay their worry.

"Commander Fairs wants to speak with you two personally so if you would please, follow me."

The guard unlocks and opens the cell door for Matthew and his mom.

They both step out of the cell, trailing behind the soldiers as they leave the jail and board the Humvee. Observing through the window, they watch the landscape pass as the vehicle heads back to the familiar hangar from which they were initially escorted. Once there, the two soldiers assist everyone in exiting the Humvee and guide them back into the building.

With one soldier leading and another following, they navigate a narrow hallway under the watchful eye of the officer. The dimly lit corridor eventually terminates at a single door, adorned with the words "Conference Room" overhead.

The lead soldier opens the door and moves out the way to let the two enter the room before closing the door behind them. As they look around they notice a really large rectangular table in the middle of the room with twelve seats in total. Micheal, Commander Fairs, General Eisenhower and General MacArthur are sitting at the very end of the table with Micheal across from the officers. On the wall to the left of Micheal is a projector screen and on each side of it is the flag of the United States and the Air force flag.

"Matthew, Aunt Sarah, come sit next to me I have great news!" Micheal gleefully yells over to the pair.

They both make their way towards Micheal and take a seat on either side of him.

Matthew's shoulders drop, realizing what's about to happen "They're going to interrogate us like we're Chinese spies before sending us off to a federal prison to rot for the rest of my life!" He thinks as he starts to panic, stiffening his body on the chair. "Don't drop the soap!"echoes in Matthew's head sending shivers down his spine.

"Hello. Sarah Yamamoto? I'm General Walter Eisenhower," the man with brown eyes and gray hair introduces himself.

"I am also pleased to meet you both. I'm General Joshua MacArthur," the other general says. His graying hair is neatly cut but his eyes and face look as if he hasn't slept in two days.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Matthew's mom replies, shaking their hands with Matthew watching nervously.

"Right let's get down to business shall we," General Eisenhower announces.

"As you probably would have guessed by now, Dr. Thompson has illegally smuggled you two into a secret facility. The three of you will probably spend three to ten years in federal prison after the court is done with you." Commander Fairs briefs them.

Matthew slumps down into his seat. "I knew it! Now I'm gonna have to share a bed with some crackhead who is gay and watches me in the shower! I'm ruined thanks to Micheal!" Matthew screams into his head.

"We never knew we were being smuggled onto the base!" Sarah suddenly blurts, cutting Commander Fairs off. "If we knew, we would have never come here." she explains in a pleading tone.

"Right but before we get into that, I want to ask your son Matthew a question," General Eisenhower says, turning to the teen.

"Huh?" Matthew perks up at being addressed suddenly. He sits straight up into his seat, realizing all eyes are on him.

"You're Japanese American right?" General Eisenhower inquires.

"Yea." Matthew responds nervously.

"So I assume your mother is American and your father is Japanese right?" General Eisenhower inquires.

"Yes sir," Matthew responds in confusion.

"Forgive my curiosity Matthew, we'll get back on topic. When you touched the I.S. did it really respond to you as Micheal explained to us?" General Eisenhower interrogates. His eyes meet Matthew's eyes, searching for any trace of a lie.

"Y-Yeah. If the thing glowing and showing a bunch of commands means it responded to me, then yes it did." the teen answers nervously.

"Who knew generals were so scary? Especially with that serious face of his and that intimidating aura," Matthew ponders to himself.

General Eisenhower chuckles to himself confusing Matthew even more but also calming him down.

"Well I'll be damned," General Eisenhower mumbles before clearing his throat.

"As a representative of the United States, I offer you a chance to earn glory and fame by representing the United States of America in the I.S. Academy and to-"

"Kick that commie mother fucker back to Beijing!" General MacArthur yells abruptly.

Everyone in the room turns to stare at the General after his outburst with either a fearful or annoyed face.

"Yes and that." General Eisenhower glares at General MacArthur who is rubbing his temples tiredly. "But yes, we are offering you a chance to become America's first male pilot to represent us in the I.S. Academy and the I.S. world. What do you say?" General Eisenhower asks.

Matthew pauses to think before asking his question. "And if I refuse?"

"Then you and your mom will be heading to Federal prison," General Eisenhower bluntly responds.

"You'll be essential research for the United States I.S. technology," Commander Fairs states.

Matthew looks towards his mom for an answer who mouths words to him to accept the offer.

"You'll get a chance to be a national hero, just like your brother." General MacArthur adds.

Matthew takes a minute to think about his answer.

"Fame, not going to federal prison, I.S. Academy and a ticket back home to see all my friends again, Hell yea!" He answers standing up, pushing over his swivel chair in the process.

"Excellent, you will begin your training next Monday after school. We will take responsibility for picking you up and transporting you. Your parents won't have to worry about driving back and forth from Vegas to Area 51. In addition the Army will ensure you don't have homework to do after training so you could sit back and relax," General Eisenhower lectures.

Commander Fairs hands Matthew a clipboard. "Sign this so we know you have agreed to represent the United States as well."

Micheal hands Matthew a piece of paper with the seal of the United States on it, titled "I.S. Representative Sign-Up Form."

Matthew scans through the paper before signing the bottom text. Handing it back to Micheal, he looks it over before passing it to the Generals who stamp it with the words "U.S. Approved."

"Will I be piloting the Annihilator?" Matthew asks.

"Yes. Before you ask, when you guys leave Dr. Thompson and the rest of us will decide who your instructor will be," General Eisenhower states.

"I see...Is there anything else I should know?" the teen asks.

"Not yet but please, don't let anybody know that you can pilot an I.S. alright? You would be swarmed by the media and attract the attention of spies."

"My lips are sealed," Matthew replies.

"Now if you have any questions ask away. If not then you are free to leave," the general says.

"Thank you very much. I am honored to serve my country." Matthew gets up from his seat and is about to bow but stops himself and salutes to the Generals and Commander Fairs.

All three stand up and salute back to Matthew.

"Have a good night Ms. Yamamoto and Mathew," Commander Fairs says, gathering his papers.

"You too." Both Matthew and his mom say as they exit the office.

"Mom, can you believe that? I'm a representative contender for the United States!" Matthew exclaims with a big smile.

"I know...I wonder though...how is your Dad and your sister going to react to this news?" Sarah ponders.

"I don't know but I think Dad is going to lose his mind while Aiko will probably be jealous or something," Matthew gleefully answers feeling like the luckiest kid on earth.

"Sorry to interrupt you two but I have orders to escort you both off base so if you would please follow me," a soldier says in front of Matthew and his mom.

Both Matthew and Sarah follow the soldier out of the hangar and into a Humvee which drives off base and into the desert night.

"Hey mom?" Matthew begins whilst staring out the window.

"Yea?" she whispers back.

"Do you think I'll be as famous as Hiroto?" Matthew asks looking up into the stars.

"You mean when the government releases the news that you can pilot an I.S. and that you have been selected to be America's new I.S. representative? Of course. It's going to be huge. Your life is going to get a lot more hectic," she answers.

Matthew stays silent, still watching the stars as he ponders to himself.

"What do you think Hiroto would have said about this?" Matthew asks.

"Hiroto would…" She pauses thinking for an answer. "I think he would have lost his marbles once he caught wind of this but I'm sure he is watching us from afar going crazy as we speak," Matthew's mom answers.

"I see," Matthew mutters back before looking out into the starry night.