It wouldn't be long before all the students were back in school, readjusting to their studious lives at middle school for the week. Akio would be spending his fifth period learning English once more, this time learning simple words and basic conversational phrases. It wasn't as if he could speak or understand the language yet, but some things were starting to make sense in his head enough to connect the dots. The class itself was engaged in partner work, meaning everyone would be working with a partner to figure out each word's pronunciation and meaning. As always Akio would be partnered up with Taira.
"Hey, hey Taira?"
"Yeah?"
"He-llo!"
Taira chuckled, "He-llo! How-are-you?"
Akio had his hands behind his head, "Man, you're good at this already..."
"I wouldn't worry about it! It's just a really simple phrase, I wouldn't be able to continue past that."
"I guess realistically I'd go 'I'm fine' or 'I am fin-e' or something like that."
"You could probably get away with saying the same thing then, doesn't seem too complicated from there on out."
"You say that as if I'm able to comprehend most of these words already..."
"Hey! We still have all year. I'm sure by that point we'll understand basic conversational English."
"I can write and maybe read a bit of English, it's just that actually hearing it and speaking it gives me a rough time."
"Eh well, you gotta start somewhere." Taira then looked up, taking notice of the students directing their attention to the window.
"What's up?" Akio looked over at the window, hearing the sound of wailing sirens in the distance. He and other students left their seats to get a better look, that's when they began to see the flashing lights of the police. Not just the police, but Special Vehicles Section Two, who seemed to have been in pursuit of a rogue construction labor. They could see the patrol labors being lifted up from their carriers, appearing to be the AV-5 Magnums that were still in use. They were at a stand off with what appeared to be an ASV-99 Boxer. "It's SV-2!" Akio said out loud.
"Really?!"
"I wanna see!"
"Move it!"
All the students crowded around the window to see whatever was happening outside, ignoring the teacher's request to regain their focus on the lesson. The labor they were after began to flee from the scene, which would've been something exciting to watch on a boring school day. Little did they know, the labor would be on the move toward the school they were in. It ran down the street and onto the premises, stepping over the courtyard gate and up to the walls of the building. It held one of it's arms up and then turned to the police, who had just caught back up with the machine.
The commander stepped out of the command car, taking out her megaphone. "Step away from the school house! There is no need to endanger the lives of innocent children!"
"Unless you want me to endanger the lives of all the kids in this building, you better pack up and leave!" The criminal shouted back.
"No way, this guy's actually threatening to tear down Mori..." Akio said.
"Okay—Class, we need everyone to evacuate right now! Out the door, one by one!" The teacher said, clapping her hands. The students would proceed to funnel out of the room, though amidst the confusion Akio and Taira would come into contact with Mochizuki.
"So you think they're gonna cancel classes this week if that guy actually does it?" Mochizuki joked to the rest of them.
"I hope not, I was just starting to like the labor operating class..." Sakamoto said.
Taira leaned in, "Don't you always space out during that class though?"
"That's only in the first half! Mr. Hayashi keeps using big words that confuse me..."
"Hey! You four just gonna stand there!?" It was Satomi, looking at them with her hands placed firmly on her hips.
"What do you want us to do?" Akio said, glaring at her.
"Well, two things, you can either evacuate with everyone else, or intervene."
Taira took a step back, "Intervene..? You don't mean.."
"Listen, as much as I may not get along with all of you, especially you Shinohara, like hell I'm just gonna sit here and let some jerk tear down this school."
"Well what are we supposed to do? It's five kids versus a labor."
"Easy solution, we use our own labor."
"That's insane!" Taira said.
"Well, if we're going to do that, we need a plan. Not like we can just show up and fight the guy straight up." Akio responded.
"I've got an idea, first, we need to head outside. If you wanna run off with the other students then I won't stop you, but if you wanna show these crooks not to mess with Mori then follow me!"
The five of them were outside at their designated workshop, the shutter was closed however the side door was left unlocked thus allowing them entry. They turned on the lights and saw the Anchor standing near the rear end of the room, Satomi ran over it and got a better look of it. "Shoot, he took it off."
"What's wrong?" Akio said, looking at the Anchor.
"The cannon, it's not on there." She looked around the shop, seeing it resting far off to the side. "There it is...! But we'll have to get it back on there somehow."
"What are we using the cannon for anyway?" Mochizuki asked.
"We're going to give the police an opening by hitting that Boxer with the paint round."
"Alright, well, first we're going to have to load it, second, we're going to have to reattach it to the hardpoint using those things up there." He pointed up at the ceiling, several different hooks dangling high up.
Sakamoto then caught the name of a label on a cabinet, "I think I found where Mr. Hayashi keeps all the paint!" He tried opening it, however it wouldn't budge. "Oh... I think he locked it..."
Satomi snapped her fingers, "Dang, now what are we supposed to do?!"
"I know what we can do!" Sakamoto reached into his pocket, taking out a couple paperclips.
"Are you seriously going to try and pick the lock? We're kinda pressed for time here!"
"I always race my Dad when doing this! He always beats me every time though..."
"...You're a weird kid but you're very resourceful..."
"You don't even know half of it." Mochizuki said to Satomi in an amused manner.
*click*
"That was so fast! I wish Dad saw me do this!" said Sakamoto.
"No time for worrying about your Dad! Just get the round and load it into the cannon!" Satomi barked.
"Yes ma'am!" Sakamoto grabbed the ammunition, bringing it over to Mochizuki, who'd then load the cannon.
"So, who's going to be doing the firing?" Mochizuki asked.
Satomi pointed at Akio, "Shinohara! You've got the most experience out of all of us, the job goes to you."
"If you insist." He replied, making his way over to the Anchor. Mochizuki would use the chain hoist to get a firm grasp of the cannon, then lifting it up and moving it towards the shoulder of the Anchor. There he would then lower it to connect to the hardpoint, Akio locking the connection once he started up the Anchor.
Satomi got a hold of the headset Mr. Hayashi normally would use, speaking to Akio through his headgear. "Shinohara, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, connection is confirmed by the way. What now?" He responded.
"We're going to open the shudder and allow you to exit the workshop, from there on out listen to exactly what we'll be telling you." She would then leave the workshop, going back toward the school."
"Aye aye captain." He said nonchalantly as he had the Anchor step outside. "Hey, quick question, if we're supposed to be hitting him with the paint round shouldn't I be able to see him?" The workshop was located behind the school and the school building obscured the view of the Boxer on the other side.
"You'll be shooting over the building from there."
"What?! Why can't I just go around the school then shoot him?"
"You want the police to think you're co conspiring with the guy? A labor with a cannon on it's shoulder would look very suspicious."
"Fine then, well, how will I know where to shoot?"
"Kobayashi and I are working on that."
Taira's voice then could be heard over the radio, "Hey, Akio, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"I assume you already know about the trajectory system in the Anchor, though the visualizer doesn't include anything like the school itself. Because of this we're going to have to do the thinking ourselves, but because of lack of time and information we're working purely based off assumptions. Remember, the Anchor doesn't have any kind of fire control system, so you'll be doing all of this manually."
"It's whatever honestly, they can't suspend us if the school gets destroyed."
"But they can if we save it..."
"Let's hope they don't then, go ahead and give me the rundown."
"Alright, so to put things into perspective, that paint round contains a ball that you could at the very least carry with one hand. When it breaks, it's going to make a big mess, so you don't have to worry about hitting it directly on the cockpit. What you do have to worry about, is hitting it in the first place. We're going to assume Mori is at least around 10 meters tall, we're going to need the round to travel up and over that height. Not just that, but from where you're standing, it's going to have to travel around 152 meters horizontally. Satomi, how's the wind and Akio's positioning?"
"The wind is blowing away from Shinohara, so that's good. Shinohara, you should move a bit to the right, I'll tell you when to stop... ...Stop now."
"Okay, Akio, this number may not matter to you, but just so you know, that round is going to need a velocity of 102 meters per second. I don't know how powerful the cannon is exactly, but given the size and weight of the round, along with the wind, there's a chance you can hit the shot. You have five shots, so I recommend shooting them all in quick succession but at slightly different angles. "
Akio somewhat felt the pressure of the situation, sweat would go down his forehead as he prepped the cannon to fire. He inched it ever so slightly, seeing the arc of the trajectory on the monitor move in small increments. He inhaled, closed his eyes, and then exhaled as he opened them. His hands tightened on the controls, then he quickly pulled the trigger on the cannon five times, all at slightly different angles. The first round hit the rooftop, coating the chain-link fence in bright pink. The next flew right toward Satomi, who was protected by the window that watched over the field, though the one after that hit, managing to land onto the Boxer. The other two would land in the courtyard of the school, nearly hitting the police on the ground. While everyone would be confused on what would be going on, the pilot of one of the Magnums charged in and grabbed the arm of the Boxer. The pilot managed to lift it's arm directly in the air before it's pile driver could fully extend outward. The Magnum then swept it's leg under the Boxer, knocking it down to the ground while holding it's arm behind it's body. With that swift move, it managed to apprehend the criminal before he could do any harm to his surroundings.
"Shinohara!" Satomi yelled through the headset.
"What?!" He said as his heart was racing.
"You did it!" She exclaimed.
"I did it?!"
"Akio! You did it!" Taira said.
"You really did it this time..." The five students sat in the Principal's office, all silent while he would be talking to them. "Satomi Shinshi, daughter of the Chief of General Affairs. Shintaro Mochizuki, son whose father works a high ranking position in Yotsubishi Heavy Industries. Taira Kobayashi, boy who's grades nearly qualify him to skip to the eighth grade. Kota Sakamoto, boy who's parents both maintain high corporate positions in Holly Security Services. Akio Shinohara, son of not just one of the top ranking labor pilots in the world, but also the son of THE Mr. Shinohara." He began to pace quickly around the room, "Do you all know why I am telling you this?" He looked at all of them, who still chose to remain silent. "Well...? ...It's because you're all not just children, but students, who's parents put you in this institution to learn and cultivate your futures. All of you possess far more potential than you can imagine, and your parents have entrusted us to access that potential. You're not delinquents or hoodlums or ne'er-do-wells, you're not supposed to be running around doing whatever you want just because you can! I mean, trespassing, breaking in entry, theft, unauthorized use of school equipment, unauthorized use of a labor, unauthorized use of labor equipment, vandalization, interference with law enforcement. If this were any other institution, we would have had you all suspended and or expelled effective immediately. However, we have decided to let you all off with a simple admonishment. Though your parents will all be contacted and informed of what you all have done today, we'll entrust their proper judgment on how to handle this behavior." The Principal walked toward the door, "And one last thing, the Captain of the unit dispatched to the crime would like to speak with you." He left out of the room, a woman in a police uniform soon walking through the doorway to take his place.
"I assume you five are the ones responsible for the paint this evening?" She said, holding her hands behind her back. Everyone avoided eye contact with her, still silent from being reprimanded by the Principal. "So, who's idea was it...?" She stood there, looking back and forth at each of the kids who went unresponsive. "...I'm not here to arrest you guys, you can be honest with me. I want to know how everyone was involved." There wouldn't be a response for a few more moments, at least until Satomi slightly raised her hand. "So it was you? That was an interesting plan you had then, shooting a paintball over the school and onto the criminal like that..."
"...I only came up with it, it was Kobayashi who confirmed it was possible." She motioned towards Taira.
"Did he do all the calculations or...?"
"A little bit yeah..." Taira responded.
"I was the one who loaded the cannon and had it equipped to the Anchor." Mochizuki said.
"And I picked the lock that had the round in it." Said Sakamoto.
"Wow, so you're all a resourceful bunch huh?" She turned and looked at Akio. "And what did you do?"
"...I shot the paint rounds." He said.
"So you're the one that hit the labor dead on, you're a good shot you know that?"
"Yeah, I guess..."
She leaned over, trying to get a good look at his face. "...Is your name Akio perchance?"
"Yeah, Akio Shinohara, why?"
"Nothing, just wondering. You can call me Ms. Jun if you want." She stood back up. "Well, it was best that I got an accurate telling of what actually happened, and I'd like to say thank you for your assistance and courage to defend your school. This isn't going on any spooky permanent record or anything, so you'll all be fine academically. I'll say, it was very interesting seeing how this was all a coordinated effort. You kids definitely have a bright future ahead of yourselves, so do your best to make use of it while you can." She walked toward the door, "Bye bye now!" She said, waving as she left. The Principal returned back to the room, sitting down in his seat behind his desk.
"Like I said before, this will be a simple admonishment, meaning don't do anything stupid like that again. You're dismissed."
The five of them were walking home from school, tired from how hectic the day was for everyone. "I know we didn't get suspended but... Now that I think about it... I probably would've taken a destroyed school over getting suspended. Least then I wouldn't have to catch up on assignments..." Akio said.
"Not me..." Taira responded.
"Or me..." Mochizuki added.
"Whatever, it's not like we're in actual trouble so no use daydreaming about it." Satomi responded.
Akio then looked to his side. "...Also... Killer plan you came up with."
Satomi was caught off guard by Akio of all people complimenting her, "It was nothing, Kobayashi did all the thinking anyway." She said as she waved her hand in the air. "But I suppose I should say you were a pretty good shot out there, I just knew you of all people were capable of it."
"Heh, you two are bad at flirting." Mochizuki said with a sly smirk on his face, though he quickly received a lump on his head, courtesy of Satomi.
"Your head's bad at thinking." She responded.
"Hey look, Mr. Hayashi and Ms. Soratani are talking to Ms. June from before!" Sakamoto said, pointing to them in the distance.
"Huh, you think they all know each other?" Satomi asked.
"They could probably be old friends, who knows?" Taira would respond.
"Maybe, oh well, I think it's about time I split off now, I'll catch you all later!" Akio said, running off.
"See ya Akio!"
"Bye Shinohara!"
"See ya later Shinohara!"
Satomi sighed, "Take care Shinohara."