It had been a tumultuous week, to say the least.
Not only had the General Student Council president gone missing without so much as a word, but the entirety of the Academy City was in collective upheaval within less than a few days of her disappearance.
It started with the most prominent academies - the ones with the largest populations, and, by extension, the largest resource requirements. Millennium was the first to present with issues, as expected. Advanced power plants and the like, which required GSC executive supervision to continue running, were the first to go offline. The academy had been quick to dispatch a member of Seminar to the GSC headquarters to amend the issues to no avail. Trinity and Gehenna, being the other titans in terms of population, naturally sent their own representatives, members of the Justice Task Force and Prefect Team respectively, soon after.
As the situation escalated, the GSC headquarters had been confronted by seemingly no end of complaints, petitions, and threats both implicit and explicit by academy representatives from all over the city. The media had also caught on to the commotion and heckled any GSC official they could find for juicy scoops whenever the opportunity presented itself. Rin couldn't even go out for a cup of coffee without being accosted by hordes of representatives and reporters. Rumors began to circulate about the president's disappearance and Rin suspected it was only a matter of time before the truth was unveiled and the unrest magnified.
And without the authority granted to them by the Sanctum Tower, Rin couldn't do a damn thing about it. Just damage control, until either a solution was found or Kivotos descended into anarchy.
Their only hope to reverse the mess was to rely on the help of an outsider, a teacher appointed by the president herself, who would re-activate the Sanctum Tower's permissions then go on to advise the club the president had created, Schale.
The only issue was, they never arrived. And with no indication of their expected arrival or even any useful identifiers, the GSC could only cross their fingers and continue defending Sanctum Tower and the Schale club room from attacks with the hope that someone would arrive to regain control. Time passed, however, and the GSC was forced to begin looking into ways of consolidating their authority without the Sanctum Tower.
Then something unusual happened. A stranger, an adult male wearing full body armor and a coat, spontaneously appeared in Rin's office. He wore a helmet that slightly muffled his voice and veiled his facial expressions from sight, and on both his forearms were bulky pieces of technology whose purposes Rin could not surmise. He had no halo, which she assumed the armor was meant to compensate for. The man was also armed to the teeth, even by Kivotos' standards, with at least 3 different types of weapons on his back and two sidearms at his hips.
Rin had to wonder just why exactly he needed so many weapons on him. What kind of environment necessitated the possession of so much firepower?
From what he said to her in that strange accent of his, it seemed he was just as confused by his appearance as she was. Incidentally, he matched the only known identifier for the teacher appointed by the president.
Rin had many doubts, but she wasn't in any position to be picky about help.
Though he was reluctant to accept the position, he agreed to lend his aid after hearing about and seeing the state that the city was in.
Despite herself, Rin found that she couldn't help but smile at that. She supposed the president must have picked this person for a reason, after all.
As she led the man who smelled of dust, sweat, and gunpowder down the halls leading out of her office, she pulled out her cell phone and prepared to make a call.
"Momoka, it's Rin. Sensei is here," Rin said after she pulled out and pressed some buttons on a small handheld device, holding it to her ear.
A telephone? Nah, too small.
"Yoooo, Senpai. It's about time. Tell him that he's late," the voice on the line said dismissively. It was very faint, but I made out what she was saying easily enough.
"I most definitely will not tell him that," Rin replied irritably.
That's nice of you, Rin, but I heard it anyway, I thought flatly.
"Prepare aerial transport outside the hangar. We'll be leaving immediately," Rin said, quickening her pace.
"Ah, you're heading for the Schale building? Well… about that…"
"Out with it, Momoka."
"We just lost the Schale building," Momoka said. What was that crunching sound I kept hearing in the background?
"What?!" the elf-eared lady exclaimed as she stopped walking, looking mortified.
"Yeah, I was just talking to Valkyrie before you. Looks like the infamous Fox of Calamity and her goons broke through the police fortifications," Momoka said periodically through crunching noises.
Rin pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Momoka. Could you stop eating your chips for five seconds while we get this sorted out?"
"Sure thing. But just for you, Senpai."
You've got to be kidding me. She's eating chips while her police force is being overrun?!
Suddenly it made a lot more sense to me how the disappearance of the President sent the city into disarray.
"Thank you," Rin said, her thanks sounding anything but genuine. She turned to me.
"Sensei, we'll be making a bit of a detour."
"Sure. What for?" I asked.
"If we're going to retake the Schale building, we're going to need help."
I hummed. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought that she had no faith in my fighting abilities. But then I realized I had no idea what kind of forces we'd be up against. For all I knew, their weapons could have been so far above mine technologically that I'd just be getting myself killed. An unlikely scenario, given Rin's sidearm didn't look too out of the ordinary, but the possibility was still there.
I decided to defer to her appraisal of the situation for the time being.
"Sounds good," I said.
"Still want that transport, Senpai?" Momoka's voice chattered from the device.
"Yes. And let Valkyrie's remaining forces know to hunker down until reinforcements arrive."
"Gotcha," Momoka replied, and the sound of chips being eaten resumed.
Rin removed the device from her ear and pressed something on the device, ending the conversation.
I had many questions pertaining to the Fox of Calamity, Valkyrie, the Schale building… But first things first.
"What's that?" I asked, pointing my hand at the device that Rin was about to put away.
Rin followed the direction of my finger to the device, looking puzzled.
"You mean my cell phone?"
"Cell phone? Is that a type of telephone?" I asked, tilting my head. That device was like a telephone, yet so compact. Pre-war portable telephones were large and terribly cumbersome, and thus never gained traction with the everyday consumer, so could that really have been it?
She was clearly taken aback at the line of questioning. "Well… yes, but cell phones handle a wider variety of tasks and are portable."
Portable and handles a wide variety of tasks? "Like a Pip-Boy?"
"Pip…Boy?" Rin asked with a flabbergasted expression.
Ah, of course. No RobCo Industries, so they must not have them here. I thought about what would make a better comparison to a cell phone.
"Oh! So it's like a telephone, but small and portable like a radio!" I said, smacking a fist in my open palm, taking care to avoid the Power Fist.
Rin looked like a part of her died right then and there. "Yes… like a radio…"
"Are our students going to be okay learning from this person?" Rin murmured as she faced away from me.
Hey, I can hear you, you know.
We resumed our walk through the GSC's halls, occasionally passing other staff members who had enough courtesy to try not to stare at the stranger with the armory on his back.
Sure enough, they all had halos, just like Rin. I was just about to ask about their purpose when we arrived at a pair of double doors flanked by a pair of female armed guards. There was a significant amount of commotion behind the doors, akin to a crowd.
The pair of guards took one look at me and tensed, then relaxed at Rin's nod. They clasped the handles to the doors and began to open them for us. Rin took a deep breath and exhaled, as if she were preparing for something dreadful.
The doors opened. We found ourselves in a large lobby, presumably a waiting area for GSC visitors. However, nearly every inch of the lobby was occupied by, for all intents and purposes, an angry mob. Judging by the tall cameras and microphones, a good portion of them were reporters. Others wore uniforms of various styles, from militaristic to traditional Chinese and everything in between. I assumed these were representatives from the numerous "academies" here to make demands of the GSC.
The moment Rin and I set foot in the lobby we were immediately beset by the bellows of the crowd. The only thing holding the mob between us and them was a line of GSC guards who were diligent in keeping the crowd back but still hopelessly outnumbered.
And guards sure won't help if they decide they want to revolt, I noted, taking in the fact that literally everyone in sight had a gun.
If anything, I admired the restraint of the angry mob in not drawing their weapons.
"When will GSC operations return to normal? Hyakkiyako doesn't have enough power for tomorrow's festival!" A girl clad in traditional Japanese clothing exclaimed.
"Nanakami-san! What do you have to comment on the rumors regarding the President's disappearance?!" one reporter loudly chimed in.
"Vice President, who is that person next to you?!"
"Where is the aid that was promised to Red Winter? We'll all go hungry at this rate!" a person with a megaphone shouted.
The crowd's voices coalesced into one big clamoring headache. I winced, understanding why Rin was hesitant to come here. But that begged the question: why come here for help?
A peculiarity occurred to me as I looked into the crowd. Where were all the men? Was this a matriarchal society, so every academy official would naturally be female? No, the reporters were all females too…
Were males second-class citizens here, like some kind of reverse Legion or something?
Additionally, most of these people had some variation of tails, animal ears, and unnatural hair and eye colors, sometimes a combination of each. Did Kivotos have some bizarre culture centered around technicolor cosmetics?
Everyone here had a halo. I wondered if that had anything to do with it.
…Were they angels or something? Halos and weirdness in general seemed to be a common trait of spiritual material I had pored over in the past.
I smirked. I think they meant to grab Joshua Graham to be their teacher, not me.
I turned to Rin to see how she was holding up.
Not very well, it seemed. Frustration was apparent on her features to the point where I wasn't sure whether or not she would draw her gun and start firing into the crowd blindly.
Well, may as well beat her to the punch. We won't get anything done otherwise.
Clearing my throat, I unholstered A Light Shining in Darkness and fired once into the air. The resounding bang seemed to do the trick, as the majority of the crowd ceased whatever they were doing or saying to stare at me. The cameras also pivoted to face me.
Better get this right or we'll end up with an even worse mess.
I holstered the weapon, put my arms behind my back, and stood straight, preparing the voice I customarily used when addressing crowds.
"Calm yourselves!" I ordered, putting as much authority and power I could into my voice without necessarily shouting. "Rest assured, your Vice President is working on resolving the situation as we speak. We ask for your cooperation to help expedite this process."
"That's what they've been telling us for the past few days!" one onlooker shouted defiantly, giving rise to a few murmurs of agreement in the audience.
"I am not 'them'," I said firmly. "And I do not make false promises, nor do I give you empty platitudes. I guarantee you that control will be back in the hands of your respective academies in short order."
"And I will make sure of it personally," I finished with the utmost confidence.
"S-so then if you aren't with the General Student Council, who are you?" one girl with some kind of animal ears meekly asked, evidently cowed. Poor thing didn't look like she belonged here at all.
"Me? I'm just a teacher," I said, giving an amused grin that no one would see.
Might as well play the part, at least until things here get back to normal.
The mob seemed placated… for now. The noise returned but nothing beyond a manageable speaking volume. Several hushed whispers and not-so-subtle points in my direction didn't leave much to speculation as to what they were talking about.
That was… surprisingly easy. Did their President leave so large a void that they were desperate for an authority figure? Or maybe they listened to me because I'm an outsider with no ties to their politics. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened.
I faced Rin, who was still looking at me in astonishment. "Go, do what you need to do."
She nodded, relief evident in her mien.
She walked over to the front of the crowd, singling out a purple-haired girl in a blazer and jacket.
"Seminar," Rin greeted. "It's fortunate that you happened by. Your assistance is required."
"H-hey! I have a name, you know!" Seminar said indignantly.
Rin ignored her, addressing the ones next to Seminar. A brown-haired girl with glasses and pointed ears, and a pink-haired girl with a uniform reminiscent of that of the quintessential nurse, but pinker.
"It would be good to also have the support of Gehenna's Prefect Team and Trinity's…" Rin stopped, staring at the pink one. "…Remedial Knights?"
Rin began looking around. "What happened to the Justice Task Force and Vigilante Corps members? They were here last time."
The Remedial Knight gave a sheepish chuckle and scratched the side of her cheek with an index finger. "I imagine they have their hands full keeping order at the Trinity district. It's only gotten worse in the past few days, after all."
"I suppose you're here to requisition medical supplies for Trinity then?" the Prefect Team member asked the pink girl, to which she received a nod. "Same. Our stocks have been running dangerously low as of late."
"Very well then. This'll have to do," the vice president said, leading the trio through the line of guards and back through the double doors. I lagged behind a bit before following, making sure nobody in the crowd tried to get the drop on us. Could never be too careful.
Once I caught up to the group, the trio looked at me strangely as if I were some kind of novelty. So these were the forces we were bringing along? Just three? They didn't have much in the way of armor, though having medical support was never not useful.
"As you may have surmised from earlier, this is Sensei. He will be in charge of instructing students," Rin introduced me before I could say anything.
"With all due respect, Vice President and Sensei, how will this change anything?"
"Don't interrupt me, Seminar."
"IT'S YUUKA!"
"Not only has Sensei been personally appointed by the president," Rin continued amidst Seminar's complaints, "but he is also the key to regaining control of Sanctum Tower."
"He is?" all three asked.
I am? Wait, what is the Sanctum Tower supposed to be, anyway? Is it the building with the sky lights and the floating stuff?
"So what you're saying is that he'll practically assume control of the Tower? Can he even do that with the president missing?" the Prefect girl asked.
"In theory," Rin replied.
"In theory." Seminar flatly repeated.
"Before her disappearance, the president created a club, Schale, and entrusted the position of advisor to Sensei. Though I use the word 'club' loosely - it is more of an extrajudicial organization, one with the authority to register and utilize students from any academy to achieve its goals."
Extrajudicial, eh? I like the sound of that. Just like how I like to operate.
"Therefore, as an extrajudicial club of the president, it stands to reason that the head of this organization would be able to access the Sanctum Tower in her absence even when the General Student Council could not."
"So where will we be going, to the Tower?" the Remedial Knight asked.
Rin shook her head. "No, you will be heading to the Schale building, as the terminal Sensei must access to regain control of the Tower is contained in that building."
Terminal? Would be too much to hope that it's a RobCo terminal?
All the terminals that I'd seen here so far seemed to be slim, fragile-looking things. I prayed that the interface was the same, but I supposed I wouldn't know until I tried to hack one.
"So why are we needed?" Seminar asked.
"The building is under threat by a band of terrorists and the forces from Valkyrie are hard-pressed to repel them. You will be assisting the latter."
"Terrorists? Why would Valkyrie have issues repelling a bunch of petty criminals?" the Prefect asked.
"…They are very well-equipped criminals," Rin conceded.
That, or this Valkyrie was just incompetent. I'd learned from experience that large policing forces tended to get bogged down in bureaucracy, the NCR being the most obvious example.
"And on that note - congratulations, students of Millennium, Gehenna, Trinity. You will be the first among your cohorts to work under Schale, if only unofficially."
The three unforeseen academy representatives shared a look amongst themselves.
"Come, we should hurry to the hangar," the Vice President bade.
As we followed Rin, I turned to Seminar, who quickly pretended like she wasn't just staring at me.
"Howdy. Yuuka, right?" I said, viciously fighting the urge to call her Seminar. Diplomacy, diplomacy.
Yuuka smiled as if that were the best thing she'd heard all day and shook my outstretched hand. "Finally, someone with some manners. Yes, my name is Hayase Yuuka. I am the treasurer of Millennium Science School's student council, Seminar. It's good to meet you, Sensei."
"Same to you."
Millennium Science School. Now that intrigued me. If this city's advanced vehicles and infrastructure were any indication of their technological prowess, there was much I could learn from one of their academies that focused on science.
Perhaps some of their technology could be replicated in the Mojave. Would probably do a ton of good for standards of living.
"By the way, that was quite the spectacle, how you addressed that crowd back in the lobby," Yuuka commented.
"Oh, that? You could say that I'm used to it," I said.
"Really now. Combined with the guns and armor, that makes for quite an interesting portfolio for a teacher," Yuuka said, her eyes analytical, as if I were an equation to be solved.
"Nice gun," I said, rapidly changing the subject.
"Huh?" At her confused response I pointed at the SMG strapped to her side.
"It's a beautiful piece," I said honestly. It was obviously well-maintained and polished to a sheen. The fact that I didn't recognize its make intrigued me further. I wondered if she would let me disassemble it to see how it worked...
"W-well, but of course it is! Millennium affords only the finest in tech to its students, and to a member of Seminar, this much exceeds merely the bare minimum-" Yuuka preened with a smug smile, putting her hands on her hips.
She seems like the type who would let things like that go to her head, better reign her in a bit…
"I've seen better though," I interrupted, again being completely honest. Big Mountain really raised my standards when it came to truly being impressed by technology.
Yuuka sputtered mid-sentence and shot me a glare before crossing her arms and turning away to hide her reddened face. The Remedial Knight next to us gave a small giggle while the Prefect suppressed a smile.
It was a bit evil of me, but I got the feeling that Yuuka would be very fun to tease in the future.
The Prefect chose to enter the conversation at that moment. "Allow me to introduce myself, Sensei. My name is Hinomiya Chinatsu. I am a member of Gehenna's Prefect Team, and I am in charge of providing medical aid for the team," she said, bowing her head.
I inclined my head in response. "The pleasure is mine."
Is that a crosshair in her halo? That looks pretty darn cool, I'll admit.
Though… Gehenna. Greek for "hell". An interesting name for an academy, to say the least.
Incidentally, I had a weapon by that name, though sadly I didn't bring it with me from the Sink after my last trip to the Big MT.
"It's fortunate that you showed up when you did, Sensei. Otherwise, the Head Prefect herself would have been forced to come parley with the General Student Council," Chinatsu said.
"Why? Would that have been a bad thing?"
"Her visiting? Oh, no. Please don't take it as such. It's just that…" she began, fumbling for the correct wording.
"The Head Prefect's presence alone is often what deters troublemakers within our district. So when you take the current unrest and add in the Head Prefect's absence…" Chinatsu trailed off, letting me fill in the gaps.
I whistled. Impressive. I only got a glimpse of the city and thus didn't know how large these academies truly were, so I estimated one thousand students at the very least. Pretty conservative guess, considering large pre-war academies' attendance stretched into the tens of thousands.
One person holding that many people in line merely by existing? Maybe even I could learn a thing or two from her.
"If you don't mind, could you tell me about the Head Prefect?" I asked.
"I don't mind at all. Let's see…" Chinatsu said ponderingly, putting a hand to her chin.
"Well, she could be… scary," Chinatsu said hesitantly while looking around, as if to double-check whether the conversation's subject was in earshot.
"… But when it comes down to it, there's no one who works harder to keep Gehenna on the straight and narrow than her. I'm proud to work under her," she finished more confidently this time.
Going by what Chinatsu told me, combined with my Wasteland-centric imagination, I ended up with the mental image of a very tall and muscular person with a huge gun twice her size, and deathclaw horns on her head for good measure. Oh, and with a spiky halo, to keep with Kivotos tradition, as it were.
"Curious? You'll probably meet her eventually, if everything with Schale and the General Student Council works out," Chinatsu said, interpreting my silence as curiosity.
"I see. I suppose I will, then," I said, and left it at that.
My attention turned to the least assuming member of our party, the pink-haired Remedial Knight. As if on cue, she began eagerly introducing herself.
"Hello, Sensei. My name is Serina. Rest assured knowing that if you get hurt, I will be there," Serina said with the sweetest of smiles.
"Ah, sure. Thanks."
Simple introduction, with an earnestness that took me slightly by surprise. I was indeed thankful to have someone presumably skilled in medicine looking out for me, but something about how forceful she said the word "will" gave me the creeps.
And what the hell was that syringe attached to the underside of the gun on her back supposed to do?
Something clicked in my head. This girl was from Trinity, right?
Gehenna… and Trinity.
Gehenna was as straightforward a reference as can be. And it didn't take a New Canaanite to know what exactly Trinity alluded to. The symbols on Serina's uniform all but confirmed this.
This sent me deep into thought. Heaven and Hell, yet everyone here had halos. Kivotos referred to an ark. Was there a significance to all this that I wasn't seeing?
I really think the president chose the wrong man for this job, I thought, idly wondering how Graham would take this situation. Would he have begun capping every Gehenna student on sight the moment he learned of the academy's existence?
"We're here," Rin announced, leading us through an automated metal door.
The hangar was quite impressive in size, almost rivalling the size of Nellis Air Force Base's hangars. People who I assumed were mechanics toiled away on the sidelines, working with machinery I could not immediately recognize. Just outside of the hangar sitting on a circular elevated platform was a helicopter emblazoned with the symbol of the GSC, the vehicle's design evidently optimized for passenger transport rather than warfare. True to Momoka's word, it was ready to depart, with two pilots in the cockpit awaiting its passengers.
I'd never seen a helicopter in person, only in pre-war holotapes. If I remembered correctly, helicopters were largely phased out in favor of vertibirds, at least militarily. It looked like they had more helicopter variants here as a result.
Perhaps it was a bit childish of me, but I felt excitement welling up in me. I always regretted not being able to accompany the Enclave Remnants on their last flight.
Our group filed into the vehicle through the side door, and we took our seats. I looked around in fascination as the aircraft rotors spun, generating the force necessary for the helicopter to depart.
Yuuka was seated adjacent to me while Chinatsu, Serina, and Rin occupied the opposing side.
Flying felt… different than I expected. Not unpleasant, though the feeling of being carried through the air combined with the change in atmospheric pressure made my head swim a bit.
Judging by the strange looks the others sent me while we rode the aircraft, my current company was confused as to why my visor was practically Wonderglued to the passenger window.
The city from this altitude was truly a sight to behold. If I had an unlabeled map and a pencil I bet I could have drawn out the borders between districts with reasonable accuracy due to the abrupt shifts in architecture and climate.
Whoa, there's one district that's practically buried in sand. Reminds me of home. I should make the time to visit there at some point if I'm still in Kivotos.
"Um… Sensei?" Yuuka's voice called out next to me, cutting off my train of thought.
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing?"
"Looking out the window," I said matter-of-factly.
"Ah, I must have missed that," Yuuka said sarcastically. "What I meant to ask is why so… closely? You kind of look like a kid on their first flight."
So it's common for even kids to fly here, huh…
Back in the Wasteland, only the President of the NCR, certain divisions of the Brotherhood, and the Enclave had that luxury. And the Enclave was as good as gone, with the Brotherhood rapidly joining them.
I decided at that moment that I would go forward with my plans to build a vertibird once I was back in New Vegas. After all, I had acquired the schematics after probing through U.S. military terminals in the Divide. The only issue was resources.
I could get the Think Tank to build me more Sierra Madre vending machines. Those things were nothing short of miraculous, after all. The vending machines were so handy for resources that it's baffling how their invention couldn't single-handedly solve Old America's resource crisis.
"Probably because it is my first flight," I said, finally turning my head to face the group.
"Really?" Yuuka looked incredulous. "How did you arrive here in Kivotos, then?"
I grunted. "Ask the president next time you see her. She can probably tell you."
Yuuka, bewildered by my non-answer, looked to Rin for clarification, only to receive a shrug in return.
Meanwhile, I figured I'd do what I always did when I was on a trip with no enemies around.
Listen to some tunes and take in the sights.
I rummaged around in my knapsack until I found what I needed then inserted the holotape into a slot on my Pip-Boy, playing the holotape once its contents loaded.
I heard the first second of the song and immediately groaned, surprising my current company.
Of course it's gotta be Johnny-freaking-Guitar. I swore that Radio New Vegas was eternally cursed to play this song three times as often as any other song. Or maybe Mr. New Vegas had a sick sense of humor.
I didn't change it, though. Overplayed or not, good music was good music.
"I was wondering what that device on your wrist does," Yuuka noted. She seemed intrigued by its make.
"So this is the type of music you like, Sensei," Chinatsu said with a small smile.
"I don't really understand most of the lyrics, but it sounds… melancholic," Serina observed.
I had nothing to reply with, so I just nodded in vague affirmation, content to look out the window and enjoy the flight.
Damn, that's a lot of snow. Didn't we just pass by a desert?
Was there something wrong with this city's climate? Climates didn't just change like that, at least not that many times in the distance we've covered. Maybe they had nuclear winters here too.
"Sensei, who is 'Johnny Guitar'?" Yuuka asked.
Boy, this girl had a ton of questions. I suppose it's now literally my job to answer them…
I smirked. Better put on my newsman fedora here.
"He's a guy who's cold on the exterior, but deep down you know, he's a good man."
Yuuka gave me a blank look. "Is that supposed to be a reference to something?"
"Maybe."
I heard a smack that sounded like Yuuka facepalming but paid it no mind as I returned my attention to the window, my gaze following the light exuded by the distant Sanctum Tower.
I should break into that Tower one day, just to see what's inside…
Peggy Lee sung her final verse and the accompanying guitar strummed its last, the song fading. Not a moment later she was replaced by the upbeat "Lone Star" and I couldn't help but nod my head along with the country swing.
This song never failed to make me nostalgic. And I'd never even been to Texas!
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Serina happily swaying with the tune. I smiled.
Moments passed, and unbidden thoughts crept their way into my head.
Am I really taking these… teenagers to fight terrorists? I thought as my smile faded.
Surely any Wasteland-raised child would have begun shooting the moment they could hold a gun. But this wasn't the Wasteland. Where I was from, humanity destroyed itself, with us left behind to rebuild from the ashes. That was obviously not the case here.
Shouldn't I have had an obligation to protect them?
An ugly feeling rose up within me. I knew that the comparison of myself to the Legion who shamelessly used children to fight the NCR was not at all an accurate one. But still.
Just because Yuuka and the others know what they're getting into doesn't make it right.
Before I could further ponder the morality of what we were doing, the pilots called out from the cockpit.
"Acting President, we're touching down in thirty."
"Understood." Rin nodded to the rest of us, wordlessly telling us to prepare.
I switched off my music and sighed. Time to get to work.
Tentatively stepping off the aircraft, I surveyed the surroundings. An urban area, one that was cleaner and brighter than any I had ever seen, with a road wide enough to easily accommodate a helicopter landing. There was a sparse handful of sleek-looking cars parked along the sides of the street. No people; looked like most of the population's already evacuated from the area. That made things simpler.
I looked back to the helicopter as the rest of the team exited. "Not gonna join us, Rin?"
She shook her head. "I will keep watch from the air and keep you informed through Seminar. Good luck, Sensei. Schale."
"For the last time, my name is-" Seminar was interrupted by the helicopter doors shutting. She fumed in silence as we watched the helicopter take off.
I gently patted her on her head. "You'll get your time to shine, Yuuka," I said reassuringly.
"H-hey!" Yuuka's face turned from an angry red to an embarrassed red. I withdrew my hand and she pouted and crossed her arms.
What I did was half to reassure her, and half as an… experiment of sorts. I made sure to brush only the tip of my index finger against her halo as I went to pat her head, and gently, in case excessive force would damage the halo or my finger. I was surprised when my finger phased right through. Intangible.
A hologram? That would lend credence to the "bizarre fashion" theory…
"Alright," Yuuka said as she whipped out her cell phone. "According to GSC intel, the terrorists have formed a crude perimeter around Schale, displacing the Valkyrie forces that were stationed there.
She pointed in a direction down the street. "If we head west on foot, we should encounter enemy forces in"… she paused. "…four minutes and twenty-two-point-five-nine seconds, rounded down."
I stared at her. That was awfully specific. Did she just calculate that in her head?
"We'd better get moving then," Chinatsu said.
We began a brisk stride in the direction Yuuka indicated.
I looked at Serina who was keeping pace with rear of the group.
"So, uh… that gun. Does it shoot needles or something?" I asked the pink-haired girl.
"Only at troublesome patients," she said cheerily.
I had a lot of experience dealing with people from all walks of life, yet I legitimately could not tell if Serina was joking or not.
"I can tell you're worried for me, Sensei. Don't be. I can handle myself in a fight," Serina said adamantly. Very perceptive of her. She must have caught me throwing her and Chinatsu concerned looks.
"Alright," I relented. I supposed she knew her own limits, even if it clashed with my common Wasteland sense dictating that you should prioritize the safety of the person responsible for healing you.
I positioned myself so that I would lead the group formation alongside Yuuka while the two students skilled in medicine maintained a healthy distance behind the vanguard. Our team composition was skewed with three medical experts on the team so I hoped Yuuka and I would have sufficient firepower so as to not get overwhelmed. After all, the enemy almost assuredly outnumbered us.
The purple-haired girl turned her head to face me.
"Sensei, are you sure you should be in fro-"
Yuuka never got to finish. The moment my eyes registered the telltale sight of rifle barrels from the rooftops, I tackled her into cover behind a nearby bus, the rifle rounds impacting the pavement where we once stood. Chinatsu and Serina quickly followed suit, drawing their weapons and seeking cover behind an electronic sign on the opposite side of the street.
An ambush.
I gave Yuuka a once-over for any injuries, finding none. Good thing, too, as I doubt that uniform, not to mention the exposed legs, afforded much ballistic protection. However, Yuuka's expression indicated not fear or panic like I expected, but…
Embarrassment?
"W-w-what do you think you're doing?" Yuuka stammered, beet red for the umpteenth time today.
Strange girl. Didn't she hear the gunshots?
No time to contemplate her reaction, though. I backed away from Yuuka and drew close to the cover of the bus. I took a peek around the corner and activated V.A.T.S., slowing time enough for me to take stock of the situation in detail.
Two riflewomen on top of opposing rooftops, each wielding what seemed like high caliber unscoped hunting rifles. Approaching from the middle of the street on ground level was a group of six thugs brandishing assault rifles. All-in-all, nothing special. I've dealt with much worse odds.
Something definitely didn't add up, though. I couldn't identify their weapons beyond them being assault rifles and hunting rifles, but I knew a high-quality firearm when I saw one. Yet from what I can tell, none of them wore proper armor, except for motorcycle helmets, and that was being generous with the word "proper".
Why the hell were they armored more lightly than raiders but armed with better weapons than NCR Rangers?!
I exited V.A.T.S. and quickly retreated behind cover.
"You all should get back and take a support role. I'll handle this," I said to my party while drawing the All-American. Perfect weapon for lightly armored, numerous enemies.
I wasn't so much concerned about myself than I was the people with me. I was wearing gear that reasonably capable of blocking a shot from one of the enemy's assault rifles, and at least mitigating the damage from one of their hunting rifles. The same could not be said of these students' clothing.
"Don't underestimate us, Sensei!"
So the possibility that Yuuka would get up and charge into the fray, SMG at the ready, right into the sights of every single enemy out there, never occurred to me until it happened.
What the hell is she doing?!
Too late for me to go and drag her back without getting shot to hell, too late for me to activate Implant GRX and pick off all the enemies. I'd get five at most before the rest gun her down.
I pulled out one of my trump cards with my right hand. I only had two of these and there were no more like it in the Mojave Wasteland as far as I knew, but it was the only weapon I had on me that could cover such a large area in the time I needed. In my left hand I withdrew a Super Stimpak. My plan was to chuck my trump card as far as I could, get to Yuuka, and administer the Super Stimpak before she bled out.
I was counting on my luck that the enemy wouldn't hit anything vital or would miss her entirely.
As I moved to pull the pin on the Holy Frag Grenade, the enemies' gunfire converged on the lone student.
I could only watch grimly as multiple enemies' bullets impacted Yuuka and…
…
…clattered harmlessly to the ground off her uninjured skin?
My jaw dropped. It was at that moment I realized: Kivotos does not give a shit about common Wasteland sense.