I gotta say of all of my stories I think the banter in this one may be the absolute best. Not that the others don't have their fair share, but the others don't have Cerberus now do they? Though the competition can get pretty fierce at times...

Despite a few interesting hiccups to break the atmosphere, the sense of relaxation and peace brought about by the vacation at Cecilia's mansion was mostly undisturbed. That meant the days flew by relatively quickly, especially with how Church spent them: Cecilia had acquired some photos and specifications for the planes she was interested in adding to her hangar, so the two of them had geeked out a lot over that. Similarly, he and Charlotte had spent many a late night discussing weapons and modifications she could make to her Rafale Revive, a topic that often derailed into all sorts of tangents on weapons and technology. Church often found himself awake beside the French blonde at one or two in the morning, simply because the two of them had lost track of time. Neither of them ever seemed to notice. Needless to say, Church's relationship with Charlotte had become a lot more friendly: hard for it not to, what with them keeping each other up until the early morning almost daily.

And none of this was to even talk about the evening walks on the beach with Laura, or his mornings with Rin, which often included her making something new for him to try. Church had even managed to get Houki to spend some time directly with him, though generally only by fighting her in video games every once in awhile. His other free time was spent hunting down music for Chifuyu or getting her feedback for said music directly from her. That, or he spent time trying to figure out what he could do with the information he had fished up from the Umbra Stratum base in Sierra Leone. Unfortunately, though he had learned some important things there, he had yet to decipher what they meant or what he should do about them.

All of this was to say that the days had gone by very quickly, and before Church knew it, the end of their vacation in England was in sight. Chifuyu had informed everyone that regular school activity would be resuming soon enough: in exactly five days, to be exact. Despite having a very nice time at Cecilia's home, the girls and Ichika were excited to get back in the swing of things. Church, on the other hand, was not.

After all, he had little reason to look forward to it like everyone else did. The girls and Ichika were all I.S. pilots, meaning they actually had something to gain from returning to school. They were eager to improve their abilities as pilots, considering the position many of them held for their respective nations. They wanted to improve, and the best way to do that was to learn, which meant classes and practice.

As for Church, he was perfectly content to stay at Cecilia's mansion indefinitely and enjoy the beach and the bikinis and the tourism. He had nothing personal to gain from returning to the Academy: in fact, he would have a lot less time to spend with everyone because they would all be back to classes, studying, and training.

Of course, realistically, it was also a bad turn for the mission. There were a lot more things to worry about at the Academy itself, including one particular Chifuyu Orimura. Truth be told, Church was eager to see her again, but having such an astute woman around inherently added new layers of difficultly to espionage. On top of that, Tabane was still around too, and that woman just made him uncomfortable in general. He got the feeling that there was a lot more to her than she let on, and also that she didn't particularly like him. Not a great combination.

All things considered, Church knew he needed to get on the ball as far as his objectives were concerned. He had only gotten bits and pieces of Akatsubaki's data so far, and he knew his superiors were getting impatient. It was only a matter of time before his lax approach to their objectives resulted in direct negative consequences. Although, that was only if Church actually stuck to the mission at this point. By now it was very clear that something big was going on behind the scenes. He was a part of it, but he didn't know anything about it at all, and what he had been enlightened to wasn't very informative.

What he knew about the situation was as follows: his current mission was part of an operation known as Aggregate Paragon. Said operation was only underway due to the failure of a previous operation, codenamed Fairchild. Aggregate Paragon required cooperation with the organization known as Phantom Task, although the purpose of this cooperation was unknown. Finally, the ultimate goal of the operation, though unclear to Church, involved something dubbed 'Valravn'.

So basically, he knew jack shit, other than the fact that Umbra Stratum liked codenames and stuff. In the latter hours of the morning, Church laid in his bed, eyes on the ceiling as he tried to discern anything valuable from all those codenames. He'd already eaten breakfast with Rin, and excused himself back to his room until lunch. After all, it was easier to think about this things while he was alone.

These names have to mean something, right? I mean, there's usually a logic to these things. So, Fairchild and Aggregate Paragon... what would require names like that?

From the depths of Church's mind, Cerberus weighed in.

While it is true that naming schemes sometimes allude to deeper meanings, it is not always the case, Operator. Consider, for example, Gothic Serpent or Viking Snatch. Real operation names that had little to no connection to the details of those ops.

...did you make that up? I mean, I know about Gothic Serpent, but Viking Snatch? There's no way that's real. Sounds like a cheap Scandinavian porno...

September 20th, 2007, Sheik Hammad Village. An incredibly minor counterinsurgency op, but real nonetheless.

Church shook his head, wondering how people came up with these things sometimes. But instead of dwelling on it for too long, he decided to refocus on what actually mattered.

OK, you have a point. But assuming there's no meaning to the name doesn't help us. Let's just pretend there is some meaning, starting with Fairchild.

That one seems simple to me, Operator. Our current mission is only underway due to the Silver Gospel incident. The Silver Gospel was officially piloted by one Natasha Fairs. The name probably refers to whatever goal Umbra Stratum had in mind for the Silver Gospel.

Church couldn't deny that this reasoning made sense, even if it was a total assumption. For now, he was willing to accept it. That said, he wanted to be able to weigh in on all of this deductive work as well.

OK, and Aggregate Paragon... well, I know what those words mean, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Maybe if we knew what the heck a Valravn is...

Though he hadn't framed it as a request, Cerberus knew it was one, and responded accordingly.

Valravn: an entity from Danish folklore. There are two interpretations to consider. On one hand, it refers to ravens that have consumed the corpses of the slain, thus gaining human knowledge and malice. Another interpretation is that the Valravn is a knight in a raven's form, who must consume the blood of a child in order to be returned to it's former self.

Church frowned as he listened to Cerberus. Honestly, neither of those interpretations sounded very good. More like some Brothers Grimm type stuff, which Church wasn't looking forward to if it meant taking on a real world interpretation.

So, birds gaining human knowledge by eating bodies, or a knight in bird form going full vampire on a baby to return to his former glory... an aggregate is a whole formed by many parts or elements, and a paragon is an ideal example of something... so maybe, the assimilation of lots of things to create something more impressive?

Perhaps, Operator. Though as we have already surmised, it is possible that these naming schemes mean nothing at all. Either way, there is very little we can actually do with this information. Even if we take our assumptions as fact, it is too little to do anything meaningful with. We still need more information.

Cerberus was right about that. Church was pretty much in the same situation as before, where he just didn't have enough information to know what the hell was going on, if he should care, or what he should do about it if he did care. The problem now was how to go about getting more info. He certainly couldn't risk going for another Umbra Stratum mainframe. For one, pulling the same trick twice in such a short window of time opened him up to a lot of danger. Secondly, it was likely that any information he managed to pull about Aggregate Paragon would simply be inaccessible for destroyed again, so the risk wasn't even worth the reward.

So what options did he have to try and figure things out? Well, only one, really. Phantom Task: he had no idea how they were involved with Umbra Stratum and this secret operation, but they were involved somehow, and that meant they had to know something. It was just a matter of finding a way to learn what they knew. Unlike Umbra Stratum, Church didn't know where Phantom Task had their bases. The best he could hope for was a direct interrogation. But that meant he had to actually find a Phantom Task operative again. Could he just wait and hope one would come for him again? Or would it be better to try and go after them himself?

And what did they even want? According to Chifuyu, they were an organization that stole I.S. Were they working with Umbra Stratum to try and get the Akatsubaki data for themselves? If so, that could actually be super bad. It definitely wouldn't be great for a terrorist organization to have access to the specs for the world's currently most advanced I.S... though honestly, Church doubted Umbra Stratum would really just hand that over to anyone else.

The only thing that was obvious was the impatience of Church's superiors and their allies. Apparently, at least one half of the alliance was so impatient that they were willing to shoot at Church in broad daylight in the middle of a busy tourist town. Needless to say, he needed to appease them somehow so they wouldn't try anything so blatantly reckless in the future, but that meant giving over Akatsubaki's data once it was acquired, which he was a little worried about doing considering everything.

He wasn't entirely without options, though. There were numerous things he could do to stall or mislead his mysterious opponents. Church was certain Cerberus could falsify some data or even plant a virus in the data without being detected. But figuring out what he could do along those lines would have to wait until after he actually had all of the data. After all, Church still wasn't sure if he would even avoid forking over the real deal: his benefits from Umbra Stratum were on the line, and he wasn't keen on betraying them unless there truly was a good reason to do so.

Really, he wasn't sure just how out of pocket the organization would have to be for him to consider taking action against them. Just how much did he value what they were doing to pay him for their services...?

He may have been able to quantify that value if he had a bit more time to himself, but a knock on his door interrupted any form of solitude he may have been able to engage in. It wasn't long after this when he heard Cecilia's voice coming through from the other side.

"Church! Would you mind terribly to come with me? We need a fourth player and no one else is up to the task except for you."

Moving to the doorway so he could open it and actually look at the girl on the other side, Church decided to save his more dire thoughts for later. There was nothing he could do with them right this moment anyway.

"Sure. What are we playing?"

"Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime!"

Needless to say, there was a few moments of confusion on Church's part, though he eventually managed an answer. "Yeah...haven't heard of that one. Sounds a bit eccentric."

Unusually excited about this particular game, Cecilia was a bit more buoyant than usual. "It's a four player couch co-op game, where we all get to man different stations on a ship. Laura stole the driver's seat and Rin took two of the cannons, so we need you on the shield!"

Admittedly, this concept did sound like a lot of fun, assuming you were playing with people you actually liked. On top of that, it wasn't like Cecilia actually had several of the same console lying around, so couch co-op games were kind of the only options they had.

"Well, far be it from me to knock a game before I try it. I'll play."

Emboldened by Church's agreement to play, Cecilia led him back down to the game room where all of the fun stuff in the mansion was gathered. Laura and Rin were already on the couch, waiting for their other two players. Church wasted no time in ingratiating himself with the group of players.

"So, I heard someone stole the pilot's seat."

Laura glanced back at him with a serious look, seemingly unbothered by his accusation. "I'm the only one here who was trained for squad-based leadership. Clearly I am the only one fit to command."

Church cocked an eyebrow at her. "Actually, I've had similar training to that as well..."

Laura pouted at him, making her desire to be the driver quite clear. Needless to say, Church succumbed immediately. Besides, he didn't really have a preference for what station he was manning. "Don't worry, I think I'd rather use the shield anyway..."

Rin glanced over at the two of them from her spot on the couch. "Oh please. Shields are for cowards!"

She said this jokingly, but it was still an obvious jab at Laura's AIC for the Schwarzer Regen. Of course, Laura was quick to riposte.

"Some machines are actually worth protecting. Superior craftsmanship, and all that."

"Hey, are you trying to call Shen Long junk? It could take on your I.S. any day of the week!"

"As proven by our first match against one another, I take it? Then again, that was actually against you and Cecilia, wasn't it?"

Rin looked like she wanted to make a counter, but she couldn't deny that Laura had thrashed both her and Cecilia together back then. But they had been fighting an enemy with no intelligence on their I.S. Knowing the capabilities of Schwarzer Regen now, Rin was positive she could beat Laura. Maybe they needed to have another sparring match as well.

"Just wait. Now that I know how your silly gimmicks work, I could take you on just fine."

"I admire your confidence. Perhaps we should put it to the test?"

Church was initially worried that the girls were getting out of hand, just like Rin had with Cecilia that day on the beach, but he didn't detect that heated tension from that situation. The two of them just seemed eager to compete, though Church wished they'd tone it down since they were about to play a team-based game.

With the minor distraction put behind them all, Church was able to jump into the psychedelic couch co-op game Cecilia had invited him to participate in. It was a bit strange: the whole game revolved around a universe united by love, yet it involved a bunch of shooting and fighting. Then again, Church barely had any idea what was going on as far as the narrative was concerned. What he did know was that the four of them had to work together to fight an animated hippie looking version of the Ursa Major constellation at some point.

Short term conclusion, weird as all hell. Long term conclusion, super fun. He and the girls spent hours playing this strange game, and they likely would have played it all the way to the end in one sitting had they not been interrupted by a particularly onerous looking Houki at some point. When she had arrived, no one had any idea.

"I'll admit I've come to appreciate a handful of things about video games, but is this all you four have been doing all day? Talk about lazy... why don't you get up and so something else?"

Rin scoffed at her without taking her eyes off the TV. "Like what? Training?"

That last part was said with obvious sarcasm, but it didn't stop Houki from interpreting it as a serious suggestion. "Of course! We're going back to the Academy in just a few days! You know Orimura Sensei will hit us all with a dozen drills and probably a few tests besides. What do you think will happen if she finds out that we've been slacking this whole time? We've only trained once on this entire vacation!"

While none of the girls wanted to admit that Houki had a point, they all knew she was right. Chifuyu was the kind of person that expected everyone to treat a vacation like the weekend, and she treated the weekend only as time to study for the week itself.

There was a chorus of grumbling among the trio Church sat with, but they nevertheless saved their game and got to their feet to supposedly put a few hours into training with their I.S. instead of doing anything fun. Not that they didn't enjoy being pilots, but if they were going to do it nearly every day at the Academy, the least they could do was refrain while on break.

It was Rin who questioned what exactly they would do. "So what, do we just spar again? Or should we practice something in particular?"

Before anyone could answer, Church recalled what Laura had said earlier, and made a suggestion himself. "Why not have a team battle? It's my understanding that you guys don't have too much experience with team combat. Minus a few practice sessions and the Gospel, of course."

To his delight, it seemed like no one wanted to disagree. And this made for an opening he could exploit. Provided he managed to land himself on whatever team was opposite of Houki, he could focus all of his efforts on grappling her in close quarters. As long as there was contact, Cerberus could hack her machine to acquire its full specs. Of course it would be difficult to hang onto another I.S. in open combat like that, especially during a team battle, but even so it was currently his only option. The only other thing he could do was actually get his hands on Akatsubaki in standby form, but he had never seen Houki without it, whether she was in her uniform or any level of casual clothing.

Still, a certain level of stealth could be employed if all else failed... Church was just about at the point where he would actually do something uncouth to achieve the objective. Nothing harmful, but... uncouth.

Considering the implications of sneaking around Houki at any point in time when she was vulnerable, Church felt a bit uncomfortable at the thought of it, but he nevertheless held the plan in the back of his mind in case it was necessary. For now, he had the chance to achieve his goals through more direct means, especially since Houki seemed excited to engage in the team battle he had suggested.

"Alright, I'll go find Ichika and Charlotte. You guys head down to the beach so we can get started right away when I round them up!"

Church found it amusing that none of the girls thought Ichika and Charlotte being the only absent members was suspicious. Considering their old dynamic, he figured they would jump on that particular coincidence in a heartbeat, concluding the worst possible scenario. Then again, it was the old dynamic. They didn't act like that too often these days. Besides, Church was actually not particularly convinced that Charlotte and Ichika were absent together.

While she hadn't directly spoken on the topic, Charlotte had accidentally let slip that she was a bit disgruntled with Ichika during the conversations she shared with Church. Usually it was just passing comments about him not spending time with her or Charlotte admitting that she felt annoyed by Ichika's nonchalance with her. Either way, Church got the feeling that they weren't carrying on a relationship that resulted in making out in dark corners when no one else was looking. At least, not at the moment. A girl that was vexed with her man usually wasn't very physically intimate with him.

Ultimately, no one seemed to share the suspicions that Church had, or at least, no one said that aloud if they did. That being the case, Church headed down to the beach with the trio of girls he had been playing games with, where they spent a good fifteen minutes by themselves before Houki finally arrived on the scene with their two missing members in tow. Houki didn't look furious and Ichika was still in one piece, so Church assumed the kendo practitioner had not caught them doing anything with one another she would dislike. Perhaps Church had been right about them being absent separately.

"Well, it took far too long, but now we're all here! So, how are we doing the teams?"

Naturally the girls had unique criteria for how they wanted to pair off, made evident by the glances they began to share with one another. Not that Church knew what they were thinking. Did they want to pair off with the guys they liked? Or pick and choose teams based on who they wanted to fight? Ultimately, these questions went unanswered, as Laura made an unexpected suggestion.

"We should pick teams at random."

Needless to say, the assembled girls looked at her begrudgingly, wondering why on earth she would suggest such a thing. Honestly, Church was kind of surprised too. In all humility, he had expected her to want to be on his team.

"Don't give me those looks. You all know that we don't always get to choose our teams or partners in tournaments once we get back to the Academy. We have to learn to fight with and against teams that aren't of our own choosing if we really want to sharpen our abilities."

While her words made several of the other girls scowl, they were nevertheless true, and they all agreed in the end. Still, there was some debate on how exactly they were going to randomize the teams. It was during this debate that Charlotte got Church's attention and motioned for him to walk with her a few feet away from the others. He had no idea what the blonde wanted from him, but Church was more than willing to oblige her.

"Something amiss, Charlotte?"

The girl lowered her voice so the others couldn't hear her. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Do you remember that discussion we were having a few days ago about upgrade packages we could make to our respective machines?"

"Yeah?"

For a moment, Charlotte looked bashful. "Well... part of me says I probably shouldn't give this to you since it's possible we're about to fight each other, but on the other hand, I'm excited to see if it works as well as I hope. I remember you talking about how you wished for more speed to make the most of your small profile, so I worked on some technical schematics these past few days for a speed boosting package for your suit. Of course I can't know how well exactly it will integrate with your systems, but I think it should work with a bit of modification. Would you be willing to accept it?"

Frankly, Church was stunned to learn that this was what Charlotte wanted to talk about. For one, she had designed an entire upgrade package for a cutting edge machine in just a few days? And two, she had done so for him and his machine? Honestly, he was kind of flattered.

"W-well, of course I'd be honored to accept something you worked hard on, but, you know you don't have to put that much effort in on my behalf. Wouldn't you have preferred to use that time to work on your own I.S...?"

Charlotte scratched the back of her head sheepishly, sporting a slight blush as she did so. "Please, it's nothing so great, mon ami. Consider it a thank you for spending all those late nights talking to me. Besides, it's just a theoretical schematic. It's not like I actually built anything physical. On top of that, the experience and data will be useful for my own I.S. as well. If you do decide to use it, will you let me know how it works?"

"Of course. Thank you, Charlotte. I'm not sure I've ever gotten a gift this... specific."

The blonde chuckled as she tapped a few buttons on her phone. "Alright, I've emailed the schematics to you. I'm not sure when you'll be able to make anything of them, but theoretically, you should be able to build this equipment directly from scratch via nanomachine construction. Maybe it will help you out in this training session, hm?"

Church received the email almost immediately, upon which Cerberus access his phone and downloaded it himself to analyze it.

Hm, oh my, a magnetized target fusion propulsion system, is it? A few of these calculations are off, likely due to assumed numbers about the attributes of the Exeter suit, but... yes, with some adjustments, this is a package that could be mounted on Exeter, Operator. It's impossible to know for certain, but I predict a thrust to weight ratio increase of approximately three times with this package.

Whoa, seriously? I don't even know what the hell magnetized target fusion means. Is it that good? Is Charlotte that smart?

Ignoring everything else, it does seem that Dunois is that smart, Operator.

Staring at the smiling blonde with new appreciation, Church added several points to her 'desirability' level. She'd already been beautiful and charming, but damn, she had a hidden engineering degree or some shit too. Sexy.

"Hey! We're done figuring out how we're going to do this, so you guys get over here!"

Summoned by Rin's demand, Church thanked Charlotte one more time before the two of them returned to their friends.

Thankfully, it was easy to generate randomized numbers with modern technology. Being her idea, Laura numbered everyone present and used her phone to randomly select them. Ultimately, the field of battle became an interesting one, but one that was not in Church's favor. He ended up being on a team with Houki and Laura, while the other girls made up the opposing team. Ironic: Charlotte really had helped out her opponent, assuming that Cerberus found a way to make her upgrade package work during the training session itself. Church had no idea how much time or effort something like that would take.

Needless to say, there was a bit of dissatisfaction with the teams from some of the girls, but Church was the most disgruntled of all, because it meant his plan was now a bust. There was no way he could latch onto Akatsubaki while he and Houki were on the same team. At least not long enough to get the full data scan he needed. He would have to fall back on plan B when this was all over...

Of course, aside from that, it didn't take anyone more than half a second to acknowledge that the teams were uneven, though Cecilia voiced this first. "You are aware that our team is one member larger than your own?"

Being the one that had more or less done the team organization, Laura gave her answer. "No one said the odds would always be fair in combat. We can switch the numbers after awhile if we must."

Accepting this truth, everyone prepared their machines for mock combat. Despite the obstacle that had been presented with Houki as a teammate, Church was actually kind of excited. He'd fought I.S. before, but usually in controlled environments. Moreover, he had never fought against four simultaneously. He was kind of eager to test his abilities against superior odds, and against the particular I.S. that were his opponents.

When everyone had mobilized their respective machines, the two teams took off into the sky, initially away from their opponents so they could have some distance to plan and act. Naturally Church had opened a comm channel for his respective teammates: without communication there was no team at all. Surprisingly, Laura addressed him first.

"Well? How do you think we should proceed?"

"You're asking me? Who made me team leader?"

Houki cut in as well. "Who indeed?"

As usual, Laura was undeterred by anyone else. "We've fought side by side before, Houki. We're already familiar acting under our own guidance. I'd like to see how Church commands the situation. And we'd best hurry; our foes won't wait for us to finish deliberating if they conclude their planning first."

While he was still surprised to have command of the team handed over to him so quickly, Church nevertheless accepted it for what it was. Besides, he was the type to enjoy tactics and strategy.

"Alright then. First order of business is to eliminate Cecilia. Since the enemy outnumbers us she can easily hang back and snipe us while we're engaged one to one with the others. That'll be your job, Houki."

"What? Don't be ridiculous, I should fight Ichika-"

Church cut her off just because he knew time was of the essence. There was no official start to this match, but whoever finished planning their strategy first would probably act first as well. "Cecilia's greatest weakness is in close quarters. Akatsubaki excels in CQC. Not only that, but with your superior speed she'll never be able to escape your range. Realistically you should be able to finish her in a few minutes or less, and then we've evened the odds."

While Houki still grumbled a bit, she begrudgingly accepted this plan, since it was entirely logical. "Fair enough..."

"Laura, normally I'd assign you to sniper duty, but since we're outnumbered you won't be able to hang back. You'll be our tank instead. Schwarzer Regen's equipment is perfect for defense and stalling. Try to take on two opponents if you can. I'll take on whoever is left, and provided Houki and I win quickly, we'll have them outnumbered."

The German girl nodded to herself. "A good plan. If we're ready, I believe I am most suited to begin the engagement."

"Then let's go."

With that, Laura fired her railgun at the opposing team, hoping to catch them off-guard. Unfortunately for them, Charlotte was on the ball, dodging the round and returning fire of her own, thus beginning the engagement.

As expected, Cecilia retreated further back while her teammates rushed forward, but Akatsubaki's blinding speed made it easy to slip by Ichika's advance and close in on her. Rin and Charlotte went for Scwharzer Regen first, but their initial rain of projectiles and shock rounds were all blocked by Laura's AIC. Ichika made to pursue Houki and protect Cecilia, but seeing as he had no one to fight, Church cut him off before he could make much progress.

"Well, I guess this is our rematch. No super weapons this time, promise."

Ichika didn't look terribly keen on the idea of leaving Cecilia to fight Houki alone, but with Church completely unoccupied he didn't have much choice.

"I guess so. I won't lie, I've been looking forward to it. Our last fight was already a great challenge, and we didn't really get to see it through."

Saying that, Ichika readied Yukihira, and launched into his most tried and true tactic: direct assault. Church was ready to meet Yukihira with his own plasma blade as soon as Ichika came in range, and their combat quickly became little more than swordplay, albeit between two warriors of vastly different sizes. As much as Church liked to tell himself that he was a great pilot, it wasn't like he was massively outperforming Ichika. The younger Orimura sibling was very good with a sword, though it was likely thanks to a lot of training with numerous more skilled individuals.

Church tried to keep tabs on his teammates as he dueled with Ichika, though it was of course difficult to manage while under duress. Houki seemed to be bearing down on Cecilia considerably, having little trouble on her end of things. As for Laura, she was holding her own against Charlotte and Rin's combined assault, but not for much longer if things played out. Both Rin and Charlotte knew of the AIC's weakness, and they were smart enough to attack from different angles to get around it. Laura managed to mitigate the damage by defending against one opponent while attacking the other, but her offense was mostly automated since the AIC required her total focus. She was beginning to take some minor damage.

In short, she could only distract the enemy for so long and she needed help sooner rather than later. And even though Church was fairly certain Houki would wrap things up with Cecilia rather quickly, he decided against dawdling in his bout with Ichika. Unlike the younger Orimura, Church didn't actually have any special desire to fight his fellow man, so he was fine with bailing from their sword duel to better facilitate his team's victory.

"Though I've loved making lightsaber noises in my head every time we clash, I think my teammates need me. So, how about I actually use my full arsenal, eh?"

With that, Church raised his free hand and blasted Byakushiki with an EM spread shot that he had readied during their clash. Tendrils of electricity raced from his armored gauntlet and attacked Byakushiki's shields, draining them far too fast for Ichika's liking. Attempting to get away from the unorthodox weapon, Ichika rocketed away from his opponent, but Church wasted no time in pursuing him, all the while unleashing a hail of bullets from two rotary cannons he had quickly manifested on his back. These cannons were flak, launching shrapnel every time they detonated near Byakushiki. With I.S. being hard to hit at the best of times, not having to aim as carefull was a major benefit, even if the individual shrapnel hits didn't do a lot of shield damage. There was something to be said about concentrated fire, on top of the psychological impact of having constant explosions in the enemy's face.

Though the battle had just started, Ichika's shields were already down to sixty-seven percent, and the flak cannons were dropping them even further with little delay. Obviously he had been better off at close range, but he couldn't close the distance while suppressed. Calling forth the beam cannon he had acquired thanks to Byakushiki's Second Shift, he tried to fire through the chaos of the exploding flak shells around him. Unfortunately his aim was God awful, especially with low visibility added to it, and every shot he fired missed Exeter by a margin of several meters. Heck, Church wasn't even attempting to evade, even though he had been caught off guard by Ichika actually using a gun for once.

Ichika was trying to pull all sorts of maneuvers to escape the hail of flak rounds wearing him down, but Byakushiki wasn't so blindingly fast as to evade Exeter's tracking capabilities. Unfortunately this state of affairs made Church relax a little too much, something he paid for when a large caliber projectile ricocheted off of his torso and sent him spiraling through the air, sixteen percent shield damage included.

He saw Charlotte pointing a rifle at him, having apparently turned from her own opponent to help Ichika out of a tight spot, but thankfully Laura roped her back into the engagement in moments, quite literally considering those energy whip things Church has only seen her use in one of the arena recordings. Apparently, the blonde wasn't going to go easy on him even though she had given him an amazing gift earlier.

Unfortunately, Ichika knew how to take advantage of a good opportunity. With Church still recovering from Charlotte's shot, he had no time at all to react to a swing from Yukihira, sending him careening even further through the air. While being smaller than I.S. did have many advantages, it also had one major drawback: less mass meant an inferior resistance to impact. Most I.S. wouldn't be sent absolutely flying like he was when a heavy blow connected.

Seeking to push his advantage, Ichika chased after Exeter as it twisted through the sky, but before Ichika could close in, Church had already recovered enough to defend himself, this time unleashing a horde of missiles to intercept his opponent. These were no ordinary munitions though: each split off into smaller explosives, which circled around their target before chasing them. This meant the enemy had to fend off missiles from a variety of unorthodox angles, and they were much harder to deflect or even evade.

But Church had severely underestimated Ichika's ability to dodge. Perhaps it was his Ignition Boost or just his insanely high compatibility with Byakushiki, but either way the boy managed to weave between the storm of missiles unscathed, albeit by a hair's breadth.

Of course, Church liked to be versatile, and who said the missiles had to hit their target to do damage? Readying the flak cannons he had used earlier, Church began tracking Ichika's maneuvers. As long as the missiles were close to Ichika they would still hurt, and what better way to detonate a fair amount of them than with flak?

Waiting until Ichika was essentially surrounded by a score of missiles, Church took hold of the opportunity and unleashed a hail of projectiles at his foe. Needless to say the flak detonated the missiles it hit, and though the explosions were far from direct hits, it blasted Byakushiki backwards, with the remainder of the surviving missiles pursuing him.

Had all of those connected, Byakushiki may have been out of the fight right then and there, but Ichika recovered fast enough to slice through the few remaining explosives with his sword, nullifying them before they could detonate. Even so, his shields had now dropped even further, and his situation was about to take a turn for the worse.

Before either he or Church could engage once again, Houki and her Akatsubaki came to hover beside the Exeter suit. Church figured he should ask why she was here.

"Cecilia?"

"At zero."

Church scanned the skies around him to see Cecilia and her I.S. some distance away from the fight. She didn't look very happy to be the first person defeated.

"Well then, how about you finish Ichika for me? Laura needs some backup."

With a smirk directed at her childhood friend, Houki drew Akatsubaki's swords. "I'd be honored."

Leaving the two of them to their duel, Church charged towards the battle between Laura and her two opponents, looking to see which enemy he could catch off guard most effectively. In the end, both Charlotte and Rin were prime targets, but ultimately it was a better idea to target Shen Long. If it was just Laura versus the Rafale Revive, her AIC could easily negate the majority of Charlotte's ranged attacks. Rin was a bit more difficult because she possessed powerful close and long range options. While Charlotte was mostly harassing Schwarzer Regen, Rin was doing most of the damage, taking advantage of openings to land consecutive shock cannon volleys or scoring hits with her blades.

Having come to this decision, Church loaded up another melee weapon of his own, though this one was quite a bit different from the typical swords used in aerial combat. It wasn't even a weapon in and of itself so much as a manipulator, but either way it caused damage. He'd used it once before, when he had to blow a hole in the wall of the Academy during the Crucible incident. With a secondary gauntlet forming over the base one, Church compressed the air in front of his palm. The Concussion Fist was an unorthodox weapon, but one he figured Rin could appreciate, considering the nature of her Dragon Cannons.

Charlotte, noticing Church's approach, tried to warn her teammate of the approaching danger over the radio, but even as Rin turned to face him, all she could do was take the explosive force of the Concussion Fist head on, launching her away from Laura with her assailant close behind. Even caught off guard as she was, Rin recovered quickly, righting her I.S. in mid-air as Church came to rest opposite of her position.

"Note to self: not making breakfast for Church for at least a week."

"Aw, what?! C'mon Rin, that's just not right!"

The Chinese girl smirked at him. "Well maybe you should have thought about that before you sucker punched me."

Church genuinely frowned behind his helmet, but his expression quickly came to match Rin's own. "Fine. I guess I'll just spend my mornings sharing breakfast with someone else..."

Now it was Rin's turn to scowl. The worst part was, she knew Church was outright playing her, but even so, she couldn't help falling for it. For a good part of this vacation, breakfast in the mornings had been when she and Church spent time alone together. She didn't want to give that up.

"Hmph, you really think you could ever be happy eating else's food at this point? You'd always come crawling back to me. But since I'm so nice, I'll avoid making you go through that. I'm still gonna pummel you right now though, make no mistake about that!"

With that out of the way, Rin unleashed a barrage from her Dragon Cannons, requiring some serious evasive action on Church's part to avoid. Thankfully, Cerberus did a stellar job of predicting Rin's assault pattern, allowing the A.I. to manage evasion while Church focused on returning fire with a quickly manifested beam rifle similar to Cecilia's, albeit much less powerful.

Naturally, Rin dodged these as well, and soon enough the two of them were flying circles around each other, simultaneously dodging and shooting at each other. Church actually knew this was a particular type of I.S. maneuver, but he forgot what it was officially called.

Moreover, it was also the impetus for the two of them to take their battle less seriously. As Church cranked up the speed to try and outmatch his opponent, Rin did the same. The two of them kept boosting themselves further and further until they were simply a whirlwind of steel and energy blasts. It was exhilarating to move so fast, and Church was pretty sure he could hear Rin laughing over the open comm channel, just enjoying the adrenaline of their spirals.

Eventually Church reached a maximum output for his speed. He certainly wasn't being outrun by Shen Long, but the Chinese I.S. was still keeping pace with him. Neither had enough of an advantage to beat the other in their contest of turns. He couldn't beat her at their game like this.

Operator, would now be a good time to tell you that I have finished making alterations to the upgrade package designed by Dunois?

Frankly, Church was surprised to hear this.

Wait, really? That was fast as hell!

It was remarkably well-done to start with, and did not require significant modification to make compatible with Exeter. I believe it would be fair to say that your blonde benefactor worked much harder on this than she let on.

Church did his best to hold this conversation while keeping up his fight with Rin, which was no easy feat since he was getting a tad dizzy.

OK, so you've worked out any kinks in the schematics, but does that mean we can use it right away? Doesn't it have to be, y'know, built first?

It's not all that difficult, Operator. So long as the materials needed are available, construction of relatively small equipment is easy, at least for the those at the cutting edge of technology. I simply sent the schematics to an Umbra Stratum foundry once they were ready, and nano-construction got underway immediately. After that, it's just a matter of digitizing the finished product, and we can now access it at our leisure.

Church shook his head in disbelief.

Damn. Who knew that 3D printing would eventually lead to crazy shit like this? Well, we might as well use it. How does it work?

Simply give the command and I will activate the module. It will manifest the same way your weapons do, but in order to convert your armor rather than create armaments.

That sounds like an issue mid-combat. Will it cause a problem?

It should not. Of course this is our first time doing this, but the suit should be able to activate the upgrade package in mere moments.

Well, better to figure this all out now as opposed to later...

With permission given, Cerberus initiated the process of installing the upgrade package Charlotte had designed for him. Exeter was completely surrounded by the same artificial light that usually signaled the manifestation of weapons, but only for a few seconds. When the light faded away, Church was unable to visually notice any differences: after all, he was inside the suit, so it was kind of hard to get a good look at it. On the other hand, he did immediately feel a bit faster and more agile. To aid in explaining the changes, Cerberus pulled up a visual schematic in the HUD.

While the suit still looked mostly like itself, there were numerous distinct differences. The most glaringly obvious was that the suit was no longer a steely silver, but a dark midnight blue. The only parts that remained silver were a handful of heat vents and the aesthetic streamline throughout the body. He also noticed that the jet pack had taken on a far more intimidating appearance, the actual thrusters knifing out of his back like large blades. There were also four of them compared to the usual two. His visor, from the outside at least, had turned crimson as well, marking the only true point of contrast in this new form.

Uh, was a change in color scheme part of Charlotte's design?

Cerberus almost sounded a bit prideful as it answered.

No, Operator. I took it upon myself to make these aesthetic changes. I've been researching humans and their tastes in my spare time to further my capabilities. I believe this color scheme should be 'aesthetically pleasing'. Of course, you can change it at any time. Exeter has the capability to alter its surface colors on demand.

No, no, I like it. Just a little surprised you bothered to care about colors like that. But, aside from looking cool, what's actually changed about the suit, functionally?

The addition of Dunois' upgraded engine package allows for a significant gain in thrust to weight ratio, but I have made some modifications elsewhere to truly maximize its potential. I have sacrificed some armor plating and large-size weapon hardpoints to reduce the weight, and streamlined different parts of the suit to maximize its aerodynamic ability. Combining all of these features, this form of Exeter will be able to reach significantly higher speeds than the original, and perform much tighter, previously impossible maneuvers.

Church pondered how and when he would use this type of setup in the future.

So, a tradeoff between armor and firepower for raw speed and agility, huh? Exactly how much thinner are we talking here with the armor?

This variant's armor can withstand up to 20mm cannon fire, though not while under continuous attack. Needless to say, without shields, this variant will be very vulnerable to I.S. weaponry. I will investigate ways to bolster our shield strength later to combat this. Furthermore, our current heatsinks are no different than the default model. For now you will only be able to utilize maximum thrust for short periods of time before the suit must vent excess heat to avoid internal damage. I will also investigate solutions to this problem when we have the time to do so.

Admittedly, it sounded like this modified version of Exeter had a lot of drawbacks, and it would probably need a bit more modification to really shine. But even so, Church was eager to test out just how great this propulsion system Charlotte had designed was. The least he could do was try it out while he was in a relatively safe and controlled environment.

Taking all of this into account, Church activated the engine that was now several times more powerful than the original, causing his stomach to lurch as he accelerated at a blistering rate. He had never gained so much speed so quickly, and Church had to admit, he felt kind of sick, like the drop at the top of a tall roller coaster times ten. Of other note was the new high-pitched screaming whine of the engine as it pushed Church around. Kind of reminded him of a Star Wars TIE Fighter, which earned the package significant points in his book right away.

As for his spiral dance with Rin, Church gained the advantage mere moments after gunning his new engines. With his insane boost in speed, Exeter began to circle Shen Long so quickly that the opposing I.S. had to just turn in place to try and keep up. Even then, Rin was having a hard time getting her cannons in front of Church and not behind him. On the other hand, Church was way too unfamiliar with this velocity and shooting situation to accurately target Shen Long. Thankfully, Cerberus could just do that for him. Thanks to the combination of the new engine and Cerberus taking care of the shooting, Rin found herself subjected to a barrage of fire that she couldn't escape, and her shields were depleted to zero in no time.

Church decelerated as soon as he was done, allowing Exeter to begin a massive cooling flush, complete with the nearly molten red heatsinks on his back. At the same time, Church had to fight off the overwhelming sense of vertigo and nausea from his high-speed experience. When his head was clear enough to do so, he spoke to Cerberus again.

OK, we're going to have to upgrade the inertial dampening for this setup if we're going to use it again. There's no way I can fight well if I make myself sick just flying around.

Noted, Operator. I will add that to the list of modifications we need to make.

By the time Church recovered from his uneasy stomach, Rin was floating in front of him, a notably irate expression on her face. "Hey, what the hell, you cheater!?"

"Who are you calling a cheater?"

"You! Since when could you modify your suit mid-flight like that?! You've never done anything like that before, and you've certainly never tacked on several hundred kilometers an hour to your speed out of nowhere!"

Church smirked at the fuming girl, not that she could see it. "C'mon, Rin, ultimately the whole point of this exercise was to fight against unfamiliar odds, right? I had to surprise you somehow."

The Chinese brunette did not seem placated. "Still! Did you just goad me into this spiral speed fight knowing that you could easily win at any time?! That's just low."

"I'll have you know that I had no idea how well this modification was going to work before I used it. Heck, Charlotte only just handed me a schematic for it before the fight started..."

Now this actually got Rin's attention. "Wait, what? You've got Charlotte out here making equipment mods for you now? Since when?"

"Since about thirty minutes ago? Well, I guess she technically started working on it a few days ago..."

Rin furrowed her brow as she started counting things on her fingers. "Breakfast from me, walks on the beach with Laura, probably a whole damn plane from Cecilia knowing her, and Charlotte making gear for you... you're a right bastard, you know that?"

Church folded his arms as he appraised the disgruntled girl. "I'm sorry that people like spending time with me? One of which is you, by the way."

With nothing to really say to that, Rin grumbled incoherently to herself. On one hand, she didn't like that Church spent so much time with the other girls. But at the same time, she appreciated that he actually made time for everyone and never blew them off when they obviously wanted to spend time with him. With Ichika, each girl often had to fight and claw for alone time with him for any reason. Partly because they competed against each other of course, but also because Ichika so rarely understood that someone wanted to have alone time with him. At least Church didn't try to turn everything into a group adventure, and he seemed willing to give everyone their own thing that they could have his undivided attention in. It meant she had to share opportunities with the other girls, but... Rin appreciated that aspect of his character.

The conversation may have continued, but Laura floated towards them in her I.S. before it could.

"The match is over, you two. We won, due in no small part to your great planning, Church."

Rin was able to forget her current thoughts on Church and her feelings about him as this was announced. After all, she couldn't help but feel irritated. "What?! It was four to three, how could we lose?!"

Since the fighting was over, Charlotte came over to hover beside them as well. "Sorry, Rin. Cecilia couldn't possibly last long against Houki in a direct fight, and once we were separated, I couldn't do much against Laura's Schwarzer Regen. It just wasn't a good matchup. Anyway, is that my MTF propulsion system I saw you using, Church? I'm amazed you were ready to use it so quickly! How did it do?"

"Oh, it was amazing! I mean, I felt my stomach twist into no less than twelve knots, but Rin here can attest to how extreme the boost in speed was. I flew circles around her with this thing!"

Charlotte's beaming smile completely ignored Rin's disgruntled muttering. "Merveilleux! Well, perhaps the feeling sick part isn't so great, but I think there are ways we could compensate for that. Though I'm curious, was the new color scheme somehow required to make it work?"

Church made a wide-armed gesture to show off more of the suit's new aesthetic. "No, just felt like changing it up a bit. What, does blue not look good on me?"

Laura chimed in from beside them. "I think you look very good in blue. Oh, and the suit looks nice in it too, I suppose."

Church was caught a little off guard by the subtle flirting. It really was a small compliment, but it was so unexpected that he couldn't help but blush. "Oh, er... thank you."

If Laura could detect his embarrassment, it didn't show. She moved things right along as though she hadn't done any flirting at all. "At any rate, this was only the first round of our sparring. I'm certain Houki will demand more than this. I was thinking though, it might be more interesting if you didn't directly participate in the next one. Perhaps you could be the strategist instead."

"The strategist?"

"You seem to have a respectable aptitude for it. I'm interested in how you'd order different teams in different situations. Plus it'd still be good training for all of us."

By now, Houki, Cecilia, and Ichika had managed to join up with everyone else. Church asked them a question as soon as they arrived. "Did you guys hear that suggestion?"

Ichika spoke for all of them. "I think so. Sounds like a neat idea to me."

From a bit to his side, Cecilia sighed. "Indeed. Though I'd appreciate if you didn't set me up for failure so blatantly next time! You hardly get a chance to do anything against Houki's overpowered toy from Tabane..."

Church could see that Houki was a bit upset by that comment, so he cut in before she could express any disgruntlement. "OK, well if I'm not going to participate directly... how about a multi-team battle? Three teams of two?"

Laura agreed to the idea immediately. "Sounds interesting to me. Random or organized?"

"Organized. Kind of interested in seeing how I can pit all of your skills against one another in different combinations."

"Then what are our teams?"

Church folded his arms as he looked around at all of the I.S. around him, contemplating their strengths and weaknesses and the ways he could pair them off to create unique strategies.

"Hm...Laura and Cecilia, Houki and Charlotte, and Ichika and Rin."

As expected, Houki wasn't happy to be on a different team than Ichika, but she didn't question it the way Cecilia did. "Not that I'm complaining, but why have you selected these combinations in particular?"

"Tank and Sniper, a speedy CQC and harasser, and two multi-role I.S. Interesting combinations to pit against each other, especially in three-way combat."

"Well, I cannot debate that, truly..."

"Well, if there are no objections, let's go with that. I'll have a separate comm channel for all three teams. Kind of weird giving advice to opposing forces in hopes to make them all win, but... maybe that means I'm competing against myself, in a roundabout kind of way? Everyone spread out to a few kilometers away from one another. Best to all start on even footing for this first round."

Breaking into the teams Church had indicated, the five girls plus Ichika put the assigned distance between all of their opponents. Still eager to test the capabilities of his new upgrade package, Church flew around the field of battle so he could both test its flight performance and observe the field from multiple angles. From a tactical point of view, it was challenging to try and lead each team to victory against other teams he was also commanding, but he would try nevertheless. The unique experience would probably also lead to unique insights.

"Laura and Cecilia, go with a shielded sniper pattern. Protect Blue Tears with the AIC while it wears into individual targets."

It was Laura who answered him. "Will do, Kommandant."

He then switched to a comm channel for Charlotte and Houki. "Charlotte, concentrate fire on Laura while Houki uses her superior speed to get around her and attack Cecilia. Make sure the Schwarzer Regen can't back up Cecilia without sustaining heavy damage from you."

"Acknowledged, mon ami."

"Ichika, Rin."

Rin answered for her duo. "Yeah?"

"Tag team Houki. With her speed and melee capabilities, one on one combat is suicide. Finish her quickly to eliminate the deadliest striker on the field."

"Heh, my pleasure."

Having issued orders to everyone the field, Church moved to the open comm channel and gave everyone the green light to engage. Everyone launched into action immediately, doing their best to carry out Church's instructions, which was a bit of a challenge since Church's instructions had each team trying to counter what he had told the other teams to do. But then again, a big part of this was everyone being able to alter their strategy as needed if it wasn't working. That said, Church was briefly distracted from his strategic planning as he once again took note of just how incredibly fast Akatsubaki was.

It had all of the other I.S. outclassed, not just in raw forward speed, but in maneuvering agility. Even when she was being focused down by multiple opponents, she was difficult to hit simply due to this vast disparity. Watching this, Church couldn't help but dwell on it.

Cerberus, now that we have this upgrade package...

His AI companion picked up on Church's question immediately.

It is debatable whether or not we could match Akatsubaki. Technically, we may be able to match its speed and maneuverability, but with our current limitations we could only do so for a limited amount of time. Until we solve the heat dissipation and inertial dampening issues, there is no way we could compete at the level needed to win a direct fight.

Damn. Guess I'm not really surprised, but still...

"Church, the situation requires a new strategy. Orders?"

Glancing over to Charlotte's team, which wasn't able to carry out his initial instructions with Rin and Ichika attacking Houki together, Church issued new orders to them. "Charlotte, focus on keeping Laura and Cecilia occupied. Houki can take care of herself with the ability to regenerate her shields. Houki, stall long enough for Ichika to wear himself down..."

Hours after they had begun their unorthodox training session, everyone had finally returned to the mansion in the late afternoon, ready to rest and eat. They had undergone several different battlefield situations. They had returned to some three on three situations, mixed up different multi team setups, and even engaged in an all on one scenario where everyone fought against Akatsubaki. While they had managed to beat her on that last one, it had taken a herculean effort. With the insane speed capabilities and the ability to regenerate her own shield, even five on one had been difficult for everyone else to manage. Still, Houki had not had much chance to retaliate so much as dodge and simply survive, meaning she had been worn down eventually.

Needless to say, it had been an afternoon of strenuous exercise, and everyone had agreed that they wanted to shower or bathe before eating dinner. Originally, Church had decided to put off his stealthy plan to nab the Akatsubaki data, simply because it was extremely risky. But when he learned for certain that Houki would be indisposed in the bathroom of her suite, he reconsidered. Granted, he had no way of knowing what Houki did with Akatsubaki's standby form when she showered, but it was at least fairly likely that she took it off. Preferably, on a nightstand in her bedroom or something. Less ideally, on the bathroom counter or something. Either way, this was one of the most opportune moments to be presented to Church thus far.

Admittedly, Church felt extremely guilty about intruding on her personal space. But he knew this was a great chance to get the complete data he needed, and he didn't want to pass it up. Once they were back at the Academy, his job would be much harder to achieve once again. Plus, it would be difficult to know for certain when Houki would be distracted and possibly separated from Akatsubaki in the future.

That was why he had foregone a shower. No, he was cloaked outside of the room Cecilia had assigned to Houki, having used a fiber optic cable to confirm that the Japanese girl was indeed in the bathroom right now. Granted, it wasn't like Church could see the entirety of the huge suites here in Cecilia's mansion, but he had seen enough. Plus, Exeter had allowed him to hear the water in the bathroom running.

Knowing that he was currently in the clear and using Exeter's distortion camo to hide himself as best as possible, Church slid the door open as quietly as he could, slinking into Houki's room. It looked exactly like his, with the exception of a few particular personal items lying around. A few, very particular items...

She sure does have a thing for light blue underwear...

Cerberus decided to add another facet to this analysis, noting the undergarments hanging on the bedpost.

They're also quite accommodating.

Tell me about it.

For some reason, Cerberus took this response seriously and provided a response to it.

OK. Aside from her sister Tabane and Yamada Maya, she has the largest breasts out of all the girls you know.

What about Chifuyu?

That data is unknown.

Church was about to accept that answer, but a thought occurred to him.

Wait, how did you have that data about everyone else?

Operator, don't you think we should focus on the matter at hand?

Tch, fine. Scan for Akatsubaki then.

Cerberus did as it was told without dissent, but it didn't take long for it to determine that Akatsubaki was not present in the immediate room.

Operator...

Resisting the urge to sigh, Church shook his head instead.

I know. Probably in the bathroom right?

Most likely.

...shit.

While Church didn't have any purely carnal qualms about what he was about to do, he did have some moral issues with it. He would never complain about getting to see the glory of the female body under normal circumstances, but sneaking around while they were showering was uncouth at best and literally criminal at worse. That was the kind of thing he wanted to see because a girl allowed it, not because she didn't know he was there. Now if it was an accident, like that time with Charlotte, that was one thing. But for him to be sneaking around a girl intentionally while she was exposed, that was just scummy.

That said, he had already committed to this course of action. It was best to just see things through to completion so he wouldn't have to do this again. So, he stealthily moved towards the slightly open bathroom door where he could see steam pouring out.

I feel like a stalker.

Just don't look at her, Operator.

I have to have my eyes open to look for Akatsubaki, moron.

Using a fiber optic cable again to make sure Houki wasn't looking in the direction of the door, Church slipped into the bathroom as quietly as possible. And while he did see Akatsubaki's standby form resting on the bathroom counter, he also saw something a lot more enticing, due to the design of Cecilia's showers: these were the kind that used glass windows and doors instead of opaque curtains. The ventilation was also excellent in here, meaning said glass hadn't steamed up that much. All of this together meant Church had a clear view of paradise before he even had time to think about looking away.

Holy cow! Just... god damn!

Despite Church's efforts to be an upstanding citizen, he couldn't help but admire Houki's naked form. Admittedly, he hadn't really had an eye for Houki thus far, even though he had always acknowledged that she was attractive. But seeing her long, dark hair perfectly accentuate the curvaceous and fit form of a kendo practitioner was difficult to ignore. Moreover, Cerberus was right: she was really packing some absurd firepower compared to the other girls. He had always thought that the term 'melons' was a cliched exaggeration, but the way those things protruded forward... goddam torpedoes was more like it.

Man, I know I shouldn't be enjoying this, but... damn, if she weren't so prickly all the time Houki would be fucking super hot.

Momentarily enraptured, Church only managed to regain his senses when Houki turned in his rough direction, scrubbing between her thighs and revealing some intimate bits generally reserved for a woman's partner. Admittedly, Church was happy to see it, but he also had enough integrity to know he at least had to avert his gaze from something that private.

OK OK OK, stare at something else! Uh, uh, her eyes! Focus on her eyes!

While you're doing that, Operator, could you kindly place your palm over Akatsubaki so I can actually get our data?

Doing his best to keep his gaze glued to a higher part of Houki's body, Church nevertheless did as Cerberus suggested.

She uh, she does have pretty eyes. Dark blue like that is rare in Oriental girls, but it looks really good with her dark hair. I guess that's why most of her underwear is blue- shit, don't think about that!

Despite his best efforts, Church still couldn't stop himself from lowering his gaze when she turned around again. Though her hair provided a pretty substantial barrier, it was slicked against her body due to being wet. And honestly, the way it stuck to her ass probably just made it even more enticing to look at. Personally, he thought that Rin and Laura still had more shapely behinds as far as pure form was concerned, but Houki was definitely carrying more buns in pure size. That had its own kind of appeal...

C-Cerberus, could we perhaps do this a little faster? It's getting really hard to keep any decent thoughts in this situation...

You haven't had a decent thought since we came in here, Operator.

Just hurry up, dammit! I don't know if I can take much more of this view!

Apparently taking his desires to heart, Cerberus focused on the task at hand so he could get it done as quickly as possible. That said, downloading the entirety of the technical data for something as complicated as a Gen 4 I.S. was not a particularly quick affair, even when you had really good hardware to carry out the task with. Church had to occupy his gaze for a full five minutes, though he didn't manage to keep his eyes off Houki the entire time. He honestly tried, but he wasn't strong enough to avoid stealing some glances at her altogether.

That said, Cerberus let him know when it was done, and Church waited for a good opportunity to slip back out of the bathroom when Houki's back was turned.

Well, I'm not sure how to feel now. I'm aroused, but also feel awful about this whole thing. Not exactly a typical combination... I feel like I should apologize.

Operator, feel free to tell Shinonono about all of this. If you want to die, of course.

...noted.

Sneaking out of the room entirely, Church brought up the data they had acquired. Before his eyes was row after row of technical data about Akatsubaki. The thickness of the armor, the energy output of its generator, the materials used in the servos, the dimensions of the wings, and just about everything else one could possibly need. Basically, it was a full blueprint of the world's strongest I.S. With this data, a company with enough resources could theoretically build an exact copy, or several of them, as long as they had I.S. cores to link the armament to.

This was what Church had been after all this time. And now that he actually had it, he couldn't help but feel the weight of its significance. This wasn't just technical data to some high tech toy. It was a guide to constructing the most advanced version of the currently most powerful weapon class in the world. This was like holding the plans for a nuclear bomb back when they had only just been made. This wasn't the type of information you wanted to hand out to just anyone. In the wrong hands, it could spell disaster.

For instance, if one nation had the capability to produce several I.S. of this caliber... there was practically nothing stopping them from declaring any war they wanted, with no fear of possible defeat. I.S. were forbidden from use in conventional war by the Alaska Treaty, but no one could actually enforce that on a country that had multiple copies of an I.S. that utterly dwarfed all others in capability. Though conflict was more complicated than that, the fact remained: handing this data off to someone was the same as handing a over a doomsday weapon. And frankly, Church wasn't sure he trusted Umbra Stratum enough to give it to them outright. Hell, he was certain that he didn't.

...Cerberus. What will you do if I just hold onto this for now?

The AI was silent for a moment as it contemplated this.

Withholding this information from Umbra Stratum does not endanger the Exeter Suit or its Operator. As of right now, I have no official reason to oppose your decision, personal thoughts about the matter aside.

Then that's what I'm going to do. Until I know more about this 'Aggregate Paragon', not to mention Phantom Task's involvement in it, there's no way I can hand this data over to Umbra Stratum in good conscience. Tch, if only we'd ever heard back from Marcus. Did he find out something? And if he did...

Though he didn't finish the thought, Church didn't have to. The implication that something bad had befallen Marcus was not lost on his AI companion.

I sincerely hope that is not the case, Operator. If it is, we will have to slaughter everyone in Umbra Stratum and raze their operation to the ground, which would be an awful lot of work.

Though it was morbid, Church couldn't help but chuckle as he retreated back to his own suite with his new trump card in hand.

Glad to see we're on the same page.

The days following Church's acquisition of the Akatsubaki data were nothing short of completely ordinary. Rin made breakfast for him, he and Cecilia debated the idea of procuring other neat things besides old aircraft, Laura walked peacefully alongside him during the evenings, and Charlotte stayed up with him late into the night, discussing further alterations they could make to the upgrade package she had designed to compensate for its problems. They were also still debating a name for the new Exeter variant: Church felt like she should have some input on it, since it was her MTF propulsion package that made it what it was.

He played games with Ichika sometimes, and did his best to avoid staring too hard at Houki after what he had witnessed in the bathroom that day. It was too fresh in the mind for him to avoid undressing her every time he saw the girl.

But overall, everything was ordinary. They were not molested by mysterious adversaries again, and no one contacted them about the investigation into those adversaries. It was just relaxation until the day came for their flight back to Japan. The day included a tearful goodbye between Cecilia and her many maids, and a leisurely drive to the airport in a limousine before getting down to the typical nitty-gritty of international flights. This time, Rin had made absolutely sure that Cecilia didn't steal Church away into first class while leaving everyone else behind, meaning Church got to spend the hours long flight with everyone instead.

A few movies, a meal, and many interesting conversations later, the group found themselves back in Japan, and they wasted no time in returning to the Academy, even though it was late at night. Classes would resume the following day, but the Academy staff had already cleared students to return the night before. And of course, if everyone had rooms of their own to sleep in on Academy grounds, there was no reason to spend the night in a hotel or anything.

So, they went straight from the airport to the Academy, and even though it was fairly late, Chifuyu was waiting to greet them when they got off the tram that carried students to and from the island.

"Good to see all of you again. I was almost growing a little wistful about the noise and the shenanigans you all tend to get up to. I didn't quite miss it yet, but we were getting there."

Ichika responded first, for obvious reasons. "Glad to see you too. Though I'm kind of surprised you're waiting here to greet us, honestly."

The elder Orimura frowned a bit. "Well, I imagined that a few of you might have questions about what's changed around here since you left. There's a lot of new security measures that have been put in place, as well as new policies students are going to need to keep in mind. It's best if you all know about them as soon as possible."

Church noted a variety of subdued forms of exasperation from his friends. A few quiet groans, some rolled eyes, a few drooping shoulders...

Whether it was just the fact that he felt the same way or that he actually picked up on how everyone felt, Ichika spoke up again. "Chifuyu-nee, it's really late. Can't we just go over all of that tomorrow morning?"

It didn't look like Chifuyu wanted to accept that decision right away, but as she identified the tired looks on everyone's face, she relented. "Fine. You have a point. We'll go over the specifics first thing in the morning. You all can go and rest for now."

Grateful that she had shown mercy, most everyone offered a thank you in some form, before saying their goodbyes to one another and heading their separate ways. As for Church, he stayed behind on purpose. He was tired too, but he didn't mind sticking around to speak to Chifuyu in person after all of this time. Once everyone else had gone elsewhere, Chifuyu allowed herself to look mildly disgruntled.

"I feel a bit underappreciated. Here I was, trying to put minds at ease considering the reason this vacation happened in the first place, and the only thing everyone wants to do is ignore me. Maybe I've once again overestimated how aware of their situation these students of mine are."

Church shrugged his shoulders. "The people who work behind the scenes to solve problems really don't get the appreciation they deserve. I'll do my best to appreciate your efforts in their stead. By the way you talked during my vacation, you were busy pretty much the entire time."

The older woman smirked at him. "That sympathy feels a bit hollow, considering that you were slacking off the whole time I was working."

"Hey now, having to deal with everyone in that group every day for a whole month is a form of work, don't you think?"

"Alright, fair enough. Besides, I guess I did have you hunt down good music for me to listen to during your trip, so I shouldn't be too upset with you. How was it? I hope they didn't absolutely exhaust you."

Church was about to jokingly disparage his friends when he felt the phone in his pocket vibrate. Ordinarily, he wouldn't check it right in the middle of a conversation with someone, but Church didn't exactly get texts too often. Maybe it was just Rin asking why he was willingly staying behind to talk to Chifuyu, but it didn't hurt to check.

So he pulled the device out of his pocket and glanced down curiously at the screen. Apparently, the confused expression he donned was enough to raise Chifuyu's curiosity as well.

"What is it? Doesn't look like something you expected."

Church pulled the phone closer so he could see it more clearly. "Well, I don't recognize the number. It's just a message that says, 'here's a gift from a lunar hare'."

Chifuyu's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "That sounds like Tabane's username. Has she texted you before?"

"No, this is the first-"

The young man had every intention of finishing his sentence, but Tabane's next message came through before he could.

"Holy-!"

Dominating his phone's screen was an image of a very under-dressed Chifuyu, sprawled out on a bed. Clearly asleep, which raised some very concerning questions about when and how this image was taken. But those concerns were secondary to Chifuyu's state of dress in this image. The gorgeous raven-haired woman was clad in nothing but purple panties and the white blouse she usually wore under her suit, though the latter item was pushed halfway up her torso, exposing her toned midriff and even some tantalizing peek of her more distinctly feminine assets. The way her shapely thighs intertwined with the white sheets of her bed was absolutely tantalizing, and her beauty was perfectly accented by the unbound black locks that messily framed her face. It was hard to imagine that this slightly disheveled sexy bombshell on his screen was standing not three feet from him, all prim and proper. He had to admit, he hadn't pegged her as a purple-loving type of girl...

Now, Chifuyu wasn't the type to barge in on someone's privacy, and under normal circumstances, she never would have tried to peer over someone's shoulders to see what was on their phone. But knowing that the message was from Tabane, and seeing that Church was clearly floored by whatever it was, she felt obligated to find out what was going on. After all, Tabane was a menace at the best of times. So, she took a few steps to get into a position where she could see what had frozen Church in place with an expression of utter shock.

"What has that headache done now-"

Chifuyu didn't finish her sentence, and Church didn't get a chance to answer her. The woman snatched the phone right out of his hand at what felt like light speed, immediately hiding the screen from the young man next to her. And in this moment, Church got to see something he imagined was akin to the once in a lifetime passing of a comet: Chifuyu Orimura, flustered and embarrassed. Gone was the perfect, professional mask that never fell from her face. In its place was a wide-eyed, beet red expression toeing the line between mortification and unbridled rage.

"W-w-what the hell is this?! When did she-?!"

Admittedly, Church was kind of pleased to see this kind of side from the woman. He hadn't really even thought it possible for her to get embarrassed to a degree like this. To be able to blush like a normal girl caught in a embarrassing situation. He did appreciate the professional, stoic Chifuyu, but knowing that she could feel this way and openly express such emotions was also nice. It was the first time he could see her as 'cute' instead of just sexy, which was a huge plus in his books. Of course, the image was slightly muddied when he heard the screen of his phone cracking under the pressure of Chifuyu's iron grip.

Wow, how strong does someone need to be to even do that?

Honestly, Church expected Chifuyu to explode in some sort of rage-filled fury, but suddenly, she grew very calm. Terrifyingly calm, actually. Her face went mostly blank as she turned on her heel and started walking with purpose back towards the Academy.

"Uh, Chifuyu? You still have my phone..."

The older woman didn't hear him at all, continuing to move away without any pause. Church imagined that she had a very particular goal in mind at this moment: 'kill Tabane', or something to that effect. Apparently, that goal was so all-encompassing to her that Chifuyu neither heard his words nor remembered to hand his phone back to him. Church supposed he could have gone after her, but honestly, that didn't seem like a good idea right now. Sure, he hadn't done anything wrong, but he knew better than to put himself in range to be collateral damage if Chifuyu was going to go ape-shit on someone. Though he was kind of curious to know what that kind of rage would even look like...

Of course, he was more curious as to why Tabane had sent him something like that. He had always gotten the impression that the elder Shinonono didn't actually like him that much, so why would she bless him with something so wonderful? Unless she was actually trying to drive a wedge between him and Chifuyu by creating an awkward environment between the two of them. Which might actually be a real concern. This was the first time Church had even seen Chifuyu so flustered and embarrassed. He didn't actually know how she would react to that type of stimulus. She could just try to avoid him from now on if she couldn't handle those emotions any other way. Chifuyu didn't strike him as the type to do that, but he had to acknowledge that he didn't know for certain.

Either way, he had no doubt that the heavenly image he had received would be deleted if and when Chifuyu remembered to give his phone back.

Cerberus, please tell me you saved that somehow.

Operator, that is uncouth. Just a few days ago, you were troubled by seeing Shinonono in a compromising situation, but this, you're alright with?

There wasn't really much of a way for Church to defend himself from that.

Yeah, well... er...

That said, I knew you would ask such a thing. So yes, I did. You are welcome. Try not to let it distract you too much.

Heh, I make no promises.

With this bizarre situation out of his hands for now, Church hoisted his travel bag and began making his way towards his room here on campus. He was a bit worried about how this was going to play out, but for now, he figured it was better to focus on the positives.

She did look good in purple.

I can't remember why I imagined Chifuyu with purple undergarments. I could have sworn I actually saw some official content that proved as much once. But maybe it's just the Mandela Effect.