"Pip-Boy interface synchronization with helmet UI, complete! Connection to Shittim Chest, established! HUD has been updated accordingly and looks good from the inside!" Emphasizing her point, Arona's Vault-Tec-styled avatar popped into view on my power helmet's HUD, grinning happily. "As for hardware, frame integrity checks out. Joint servomotors operating without a hitch. Auto-medic protocol is on standby, but hopefully we won't need that! And lastly, electric core is at ninety-five percent capacity!" Arona winked as she gave a jovial thumbs up, placing her other arm at her hip. "We're ready to roll!"
As if on cue, the HUD lit up with several indicators. Some of these were holdovers from my usual HUD, the ammunition counter and Geiger counter being prime examples, while others were native to Power Armor exclusively, such as a simplified armor integrity indicator, a gauge that keeps track of the wearer's vitals, and a power core gauge, which, according to Arona, was nearly at full charge.
Power cores tended to vary depending on where the Power Armor originated. For instance, Power Armor manufactured near the West Coast normally made use of a specialized TX-28 microfusion pack as a power source, whereas Power Armor manufactured near the East Coast commonly utilized fusion cores, which were apparently implemented to minimize operational discrepancies between different generations of Power Armor models and streamline their usage.
This power core, however, was a little different. As I was reluctant to spare the precious nuclear materials necessary to manufacture a fusion core to power this armor, I forwent nuclear energy entirely in favor of utilizing electricity from Schale's power grid. Borrowing concepts from both types of the aforementioned power cores, I had the idea to overcharge and bundle together several energy cells into a makeshift power core of sorts. The resulting electric core was thus entirely independent of nuclear energy, and was instead reliant on a more readily available form of energy.
It was with a heavy heart that I made this change since, predictably, changing power sources introduced a whole slew of problems - the most prominent issue being the new core's longevity. Nuclear energy-based cores were adopted by Power Armor's original manufacturers precisely because early Power Armor prototypes were plagued with power issues that were only exacerbated during lengthy military deployments. As such, I didn't expect an electric core to last for even a fraction of the time a normal fusion core would, but it was my hope that our conflict in the Abydos desert would be resolved by the time the new core ran out of juice. If it didn't, I could always just abandon the suit and fight without it.
Alternatively, after I explained the suit's power issues to her, Arona offered a solution in rerouting power from the Shittim Chest's energy barriers to the electric core, but I wasn't too keen on the idea of trading one type of personal protection for the continued operation of another.
We'll just have to finish our mission before power becomes a problem.
Power issues aside, I was pleased that there were no issues with the suit's viability thus far. Compatibility between the T-51b series and the T-45d series was the prominent concern I had while building the parts for the suit. Thanks to the top-of-the-line raw materials I obtained online from a Millennium distributor, I was able to more or less replicate the majority of the T-51b series' parts, then used leftover material to make a few custom modifications - one such example being the replacement of the underlying lead layer. Owing to Kivotos not being a nuked-out shithole like the Wasteland, I figured that there was no point in making the suit radiation-resistant, so I removed the lead lining entirely and replaced it with an extra layer of titanium alloy. I'd get a lot more mileage out of extra ballistic protection than rad resistance in Kivotos.
However, the internal components of the Power Armor, such as the frame, were more complicated to build than the outer shell, which was, perhaps counterintuitively, the easiest part to build. While I did possess the necessary materials to construct a T-51b frame, what I did not have was the time. Power Armor servos were incredibly complex mechanisms, and the difficulty of manufacturing the base internal components from scratch was only magnified the more advanced the Power Armor model. As such, thanks to this time constraint, I was only able to construct servos on par with the T-45 series.
Regrettable, but there was only so much I could do with only one set of experienced hands. Building a powered exoskeleton (or at least a good one) wasn't a matter of simply cobbling together random junk. There was a reason why the Chinese were never able to reverse-engineer Power Armor in any appreciable quantity that'd turn the tide of the Great War. Thus, while I would've loved nothing more than to try my hand at replicating Enclave Power Armor and more of their tech other than ED-E, I had to work with what I had.
In summary, this suit, which Arona happily dubbed S.C.H.A.L.E. Power Armor Mk I in the Pip-Boy interface, offered personal protection slightly above that of the T-51b series - its drawbacks being the T-45d's lower mobility and dexterity, coupled with a nearly non-existent rad resistance. I found Arona's naming of the suit quite agreeable - Mk I implied that the suit was merely the first in a line of models and that there was room for improvement. I had every intention of making this implication a reality once things were sorted out here.
Additionally, I made sure to add the Schale logo to the paintjob as well as to ED-E's chassis. In my previous confrontations with Kaiser, I was extremely diligent in concealing anything on my person that might be linked to my identity, but not this time.
This time, I wanted them to know exactly who I am.
"By the way, what's that gauge on the bottom right corner?" I asked about the unfamiliar addition to the Power Helmet HUD. The gauge in question was right next to the power core gauge, but unlike the latter's sectioned tick marks, the new gauge was a solid, shimmering, light blue bar. The bar had no other indicators on it aside from a blue whale icon identical to the keychain attached to Arona's gunbrella.
"Ah, that's the Shittim Chest's power reserves!" Arona explained. "I added it since I thought you might want to know how much we have left during a fight."
True. Her little addition to my HUD saved me the trouble of asking during combat. "I like it. Good work."
"Eheheh…" she giggled smugly. "Move over, RobCo! Super Arona-chan is Sensei's new favorite OS!"
"Don't push it."
"Who's Sensei talking to?" Nonomi inquired to no one in particular as she kept pace with the group.
"The voices in his head, maybe?" Hoshino offered chipperly whilst marching beside her.
"Wouldn't surprise me if he is hearing voices in his head. He's wearing a tin can in the middle of one of the hottest areas in Kivotos," Serika said, before knocking on my arm, producing a series of hollow thuds. "Hey Sensei, if you're having heat stroke in there, give us a sign, okay?"
"This thing's got life support for a reason," I replied to assuage her thinly-veiled concern. "Worry about yourself first."
"Life support?" Ayane repeated over the comms.
"You're telling me you have air conditioning in that thing?" Hoshino added dumbfoundedly.
"Something like that," I answered. While Power Armor was intended for braving the cold environment of Alaska, West-Tek - Power Armor's manufacturers - made several adjustments to allow the armor's occupants to thrive in a variety of environments - from arid, to humid, and even in hypoxic or otherwise inhospitable conditions. It helped that the implementation of an internal climate control system was fairly straightforward - it was only a matter of rerouting a portion of the air flow surrounding the temperature-regulated onboard fusion reactor inward toward the occupant. While this suit had no fusion reactor to speak of, I nevertheless put in the effort to install a basic life support system. Don't want to risk suffocating in a hermetically sealed suit, after all.
"Uheh…" Hoshino smirked. " Look at Sensei over here enjoying the luxury of AC while his students are dying in the desert heat…"
"Dying. Really. You were the ones that were thinking I was having heat stroke in here," I shot back, unimpressed.
Hoshino appeared to conveniently not hear my words as she wiped nonexistent sweat from her brow. "It's so hot, and we're not even fighting yet… Oji-san's going to shrivel up…" She sighed exaggeratedly before turning to me all too eagerly. "Unless… Sensei's willing to let me take the tin can out for a spin?"
"I'd offer to let you try it on when we're all done here, but, well…" I gave the vice president, who also happened to be the shortest person in our group, a once-over. The diminutive student clocked in at around four feet and nine inches - ergo, much shorter than even the prerequisite minimum height for a Brotherhood initiate. Any frame that she'd be capable of piloting would have to be specifically tailor-made for someone of her stature. "...I don't think you'd fit."
Of course, height wasn't the only issue. She'd also have to be trained prior to wearing a suit. One does not simply enter a suit of Power Armor with no training and use it without falling on their face repeatedly.
Hoshino probably didn't expect a serious response, but nevertheless pouted indignantly. "Now you're just being heightist, Sensei."
"Kindly direct your complaints to West-Tek, not me," I flatly replied before adding, "And in fairness, can you really blame them for not designing their military-grade Power Armor to be worn by literal schoolgirls?"
"Hmm, guess you got me there…" Hoshino admitted.
"West-Tek?" Shiroko murmured. "Where's that?"
"I was wondering about that too. Did you go to Millennium? I don't remember any company named West-Tek in the district…" Nonomi gasped dramatically, then leaned toward me suggestively. "Maybe... that Seminar girl hooked you up? Yuuka-chan, right?" At this, Hoshino snickered and Shiroko huffed.
"Yuuka helped a bit, but I did most of the handiwork myself."
Nonomi widened her eyes as she examined the Power Armor closer. "You mean…you built this yourself?"
"With my own two hands."
"Given the skillset you've demonstrated so far, I suppose it's not outside of the realm of possibility that you'd build something like that," Ayane commented. "But you've spent nearly every day in Abydos for the past week, and you arrived in Kivotos not long before that…" The comms briefly crackled before the connection reestablished. "So where'd you even find the time to build something like that? Did you even sleep?"
"Of course," I half-lied, ignoring the murmurs from Arona who sounded awfully tempted to call me out on my bullshit. In truth, I was subsisting on a mere half hour of shuteye and the kick from a few cups of Dead Horse-style black coffee. Even though the modifications made to my brain made sleep less of an immediate necessity, I was still running on fumes here. But what the students didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
"The guy who didn't even know what the internet is when we met him… built his own exosuit in less than two weeks," Serika stated flatly. "You just don't make any sense, Sensei."
You have both cat ears and human ears, and I'm suddenly the one that makes no sense? I desperately resisted the urge to voice this notion aloud, if only out of consideration for hers and Shiroko's feelings.
"Sensei didn't even know what the internet is?" Fuuka, who had been quietly listening to the conversation as she trailed behind the group alongside ED-E, piped up in concern.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe half the stuff Sensei says, Fuuka-chan," Hoshino responded amusedly.
"Yeah, just wait till you hear about his gambling tendencies," Serika said with a smirk.
"Gambling… tendencies…?" Fuuka gravely repeated, shuddering. No doubt she was getting more funny ideas about life in the Wasteland. Besides, gambling wasn't even that bad.
"Weren't you looking into buying more of that cryptocurrency stuff, Serika?" Shiroko pointed out. "That's basically gambling too, isn't it?"
"T-that's completely unrelated!"
Anticipating my confusion toward the new term, Nonomi leaned toward me, whispering, "I'll explain what cryptocurrency is later, Sensei."
"Appreciate it," I whispered back, thankful to have someone who was all too happy to explain these kinds of cultural nuances to me. Hell, if it weren't for Nonomi and Arona's help in teaching me about online shopping, I wouldn't have figured out how to order so many raw materials from Millennium distributors for the Sink.
Our banter was interrupted by ED-E, who suddenly began playing his familiar Western tune at high volume, startling everyone else present and halting our march. A few of his antennae twitched erratically in a direction northward from our location, prompting me to ready my weapon.
How nostalgic.
"Is he alright? What was that music he just played?" Serika asked.
"It means enemies are nearby," I informed, just as my HUD's compass was updated with several red pings from the north. I was no slouch when it came to sensing danger on the horizon, but even I couldn't hold a candle to ED-E's [Enhanced Sensors]. Never once did I need to worry about sneak attacks from raiding parties or any nasty Wasteland wildlife while ED-E was keeping watch. "Few dozen, heading our way from the north. Judging by their speed, they're probably on foot."
"I'm seeing them now on my end. I must say, it's impressive that ED-E-san was able to detect them before I did," Ayane complimented with a hint of scholarly curiosity. "But that aside, we're nearing an enemy base, so they're bound to be well-equipped and well-manned. Can we still entrust the front to you, Sensei?"
"Yeah," I replied. While I wouldn't call myself a tactician by any stretch of the word, small squad tactics were something that I had ample experience with thanks to my time with the NCR. Seeing that I was acting as the squad leader at the moment, I turned to Hoshino. "You on board with this, Uncle?"
"No issues here, since it looks like you're dressed for the job." Hoshino nodded at me. "But what about this old timer? Don't suppose you're letting Oji-san slack off with Serika-chan in the backline while you take point?"
"I'm not slacking off! Don't lump me in with you!" Serika refuted.
Shaking my head, I replied, "Hoshino, I want you to play it defensively. There's limited cover out here, so you can help cover our more vulnerable team members and keep them from getting picked off."
Hoshino tilted her head as she digested the strategy. "It's different from what I'm used to, but that sounds doable."
Turning to my companions, I said, "Fuuka, fight however you're comfortable. But unless you're confident in your ability to take hits, I'd recommend avoiding making yourself a target."
"Understood!" Fuuka disengaged the safety on her weapon as she let me take the lead. "I'll be in your care, Sensei."
Next, I addressed the Eyebot who looked about ready to zap somebody. He always was rather bloodthirsty for a robot. "ED-E, follow, but keep your distance. These Kaiser guys are packing as much heat as NCR Rangers, so let me take the bulk of their fire."
ED-E beeped in confirmation as he buzzed away, maintaining a minimum safe distance of several meters.
As I was about to address the rest of the group, several enemies suddenly became visible on the horizon. Around two thirds of them were the bipedal automata from before, while the rest of them were conscripted students. All of them were clad in the brown camouflage pattern characteristic of Kaiser PMC uniforms. No sign of any leadership among them. Upon seeing us, they opened fire immediately, most of their shots missing their mark due to their distance from us, but the threat was clear.
Using one arm, I signaled to the group to move forward in the direction of the enemy. "Positions, everyone!"
With that, our forces spread out to counter the enemy's advance. The mostly flat, open terrain meant that it'd be difficult for our less hardy team members to avoid enemy fire, but such a disadvantage cuts both ways. Some of the students accompanying me stopped to take shots at the approaching enemy while the others trailed behind me as I lumbered forward, intent on meeting the enemy halfway through their advance.
"This is it, Sensei," Arona said with a hint of finality. "Time to show Kaiser the bonds you've created with your students!"
"I was hoping to show them a bit more than bonds, honestly."
"Oh?" Arona asked, though her tone implied that she knew exactly where this was going. "What are you suggesting?"
"Let's just say violence is the last resort of the civilized man, and I'm feeling mighty uncivilized."
"Seriously, what am I going to do with you…" Arona sighed.
"Having second thoughts?" I asked. I tried to keep my actions and language toned down around her as much as I could, but by now she had to have had some idea as to the kind of person I really am.
"Never," she replied quickly and without hesitation. "I know you have your students' best interests in mind, and that's what makes you Sensei. It's why the president chose you. I'm sure of it," Arona said. "So no matter how you choose to go about supporting your students, I promise I'll always be here to support you in turn!"
"...Thanks." Though I was no closer to understanding who Arona is or why she was created than the day I met her, the fact was that she had been nothing short of a godsend in more ways than one thus far. So I was more than a little relieved that my occasional reversions to my Wasteland tendencies have not alienated her. Yet. "Then I'll be counting on your help."
"Leave it to Super Arona-chan!"
Not long after she said this, I heard the Pip-Boy switching tabs rapidly under my armor, clueing me in that Arona was rummaging around in there again. Was she using a chem? I was hoping to save those in case of emergencies…
"Arona?" I asked. "What are you up to?"
"Looking for something for the occasion," she replied. "Ah, found it!"
It was only once I heard the first note play that I realized that Arona was searching for a song. "...'Sixteen Tons'? Really?"
"Fitting, don't you think?" Arona chirped, with nary a hint of mean-spiritedness. "I hereby nominate this song to be Abydos High School's alma mater!"
An Appalachian Wasteland song telling of the pre-war coal miner's virtual enslavement by the mining companies who employed them indeed paralleled these students' situations uncannily. But at the same time, for Arona to even suggest something like this, I wondered if perhaps my sense of humor was rubbing off on her a bit.
The deep notes of a clarinet pierced through the sounds of gunfire, followed by the snapping of fingers and the resounding baritone voice of Tennessee Ernie Ford. Some of my teammates, thrown off by the sudden noise, looked my way with varying levels of amusement, as if used to my antics by now.
"Always with the music…" Serika shook her head, trying not to smile.
"Some people say a man is made out of mud,
The poor man's made outta muscle and blood."
I slowed my lumbering advance to a halt once I was merely a few meters from the enemy's vanguard. As expected, the enemy shifted their focus from my teammates to the hulking mass of metal in front of them. Their guns rang out as nearly a dozen automatons and soldiers directed their attention at me.
My features slowly contorted into a grin as the enemy's fire panged uselessly against the outer layer of Power Armor. Arona didn't even need to activate the Shittim Chest's energy barriers, a fact corroborated by the unchanged blue power gauge on my HUD. After a few seconds, there was a lull in gunfire as the multiple enemies stopped to reload.
"My turn," I said. Using both servos-assisted arms, I brandished Sprtel-Wood 9700, the Gatling Laser lovingly recreated down to every last fiber optic. I queued up V.A.T.S. and selected the nearest enemy, an automaton wielding an assault rifle.
"Muscle and blood and skin and bones,
A mind that's-a weak and a back that's strong."
Sprtel-Wood 9700's laser emitter started up with a high-pitched whine, then propelled forth several concentrated bright green beams of light at my chosen target. Evidently, these automatons' armor plating were not designed for use against energy weapons, as the first few beams easily punched through the robot's chestplate. To my immense satisfaction, the final beam caused the automaton to glow bright green on impact as it triggered a complex chemical chain reaction. Students from both the Foreclosure Task Force and Kaiser PMC watched, some in morbid fascination and others with horror, as the automaton completely disintegrated within the span of less than a second, leaving only the robot's weapon, some of its equipment, and a gray ash pile which promptly blew away in the wind.
Oh, how I missed that feeling. One tended to forget about the finer points of energy weapons when fighting against students who were resistant to nearly every form of damage. Just goes to show that regardless of how I personally felt about The Silver Rush due to what they put Cass through, their advertisement from Mr. New Vegas was right on the mark - Silver Rush: feel the rush of a warm laser in your hand.
"Whoa!" Hoshino exclaimed, wide-eyed as time resumed.
"That thing can turn people into dust?!" Serika shouted, alarmed.
Laser weaponry can indeed turn people into dust, but it was highly unlikely it would work on a student, not that I would even want it to. I saw firsthand during my first day in the Academy City that even petty thugs resisted the resultant chemical breakdown - or gooification, in simpler terms - from plasma exposure.
Students, however, did not know this. As they were likely used to sustaining damage that would be fatal to any normal human, the possibility of instantaneous disintegration by a means unknown to them was understandably jarring. Sure enough, several of the PMC's haloed soldiers were noticeably disturbed by the sight of their robotic teammate literally biting the dust, since many of them stopped firing.
The enemy automatons were unfazed, however, and resumed their attack. I responded in kind, firing the Gatling laser in short bursts, the lasers lancing outward toward a pair of robots. The first shotgun-wielding robot fell as its left arm was blown off by a series of lasers, while the second stumbled as a beam melted right through its abdomen. ED-E, who followed behind me, finished off the latter automaton with two consecutive red laser beams from the turret mounted on the bottom of his chassis, causing the automaton to atomize just like the first one.
"Complete molecular destabilization…" Ayane stated in astonishment. "Even ED-E-san has one. Sensei, just where in the world did you-"
"Now, now. Let's save the egghead talk for later, alright?" Hoshino said. "Let's take care of the ones who aren't running first."
Faced with what they probably perceived as the prospect of death for the first time, even enemies as disciplined as the PMC student conscripts quickly lost their collective morale. Many fled, and those that stayed were distracted enough that they were easily dispatched by the FTF's fire.
"I think Sprtel-chan's scaring them, Sensei," Arona observed.
"Sprtel-what now?"
"Sprtel-chan!" Arona elucidated proudly. "It sounds a lot cuter and is much easier to say than Sprtel-Wood, don't you think?"
"...No."
"Hmph! Spoilsport…"
I rolled my eyes. Cutesy nickname for one of my favorite tools of destruction aside…
"You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt."
"Deeper in debt…" Shiroko mouthed the lyrics, unsure of whether to be amused or not. "Did you choose this song on purpose, Sensei?"
"I really wish I could take credit for that, but no," I said before I began to advance further toward the enemy. This time, it was Arona who chose what to play, but I had suspicions that she was also responsible for previously manipulating the radio to play songs that were eerily suited for the situations at hand.
…With the exception of the time she played "The Wanderer." What terrible timing. Honestly, I was just glad that Wakamo didn't know enough English to understand the real meaning behind that song.
A stray laser from ED-E grazed the side of the head of a fleeing PMC student, causing her to yelp in panic and run faster. The Eyebot, wondering why his laser had such a lackluster effect when it should've at least inflicted excruciating burns, voiced his thoughts.
"{Confused beeping}."
"Welcome to Kivotos, pal!" I said as I dispatched another pair of robots. "You're gonna need a lot more than that to take out the ones with haloes."
"{Even more confused beeping}?"
"Look, I have no idea why! Ask Arona!"
"Eh? Ehhh?!" Arona replied. "Why are you pinning this on me, Sensei?!"
"Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go,
I owe my soul to the company store."
As they were the best equipped to engage at long-range, Serika and Shiroko each took a knee and began firing short bursts from their scoped assault rifles from their positions in the backline. Nonomi, who needed to close some of the distance between her and the enemy to get the most out of her weapon's effective range, trailed behind me for a bit before coming to a stop. Mini No. 5, as I recalled her gun was named, began to spin up, and Nonomi directed the ensuing torrent of bullets at the enemy automatons. This prompted them to return fire at the heavy gunner… only for their fire to be intercepted midway by Hoshino, who brought up the middle of the formation. As Hoshino's ballistic shield easily held against their gunfire, the pink-haired student reached into a compartment in her shield and pulled out a sleek black handgun. With practiced precision rivaling that of a seasoned [Gunslinger], Hoshino laid down covering fire from mid-range while drawing attention away from the backline.
"I didn't even know you had a sidearm in there, Senpai," Nonomi remarked as she witnessed Hoshino down two automatons in quick succession.
Hoshino yawned as she propped up her shield in the sand and briefly retreated behind it. "Well, I'm usually the vanguard, so no use using a pistol when you can just blast people up close, right? But since robo-Sensei's got that covered this time around..." She deftly reloaded, and resumed firing as naturally as she would with her shotgun. "Hmm. Still got it," she muttered, nodding satisfactorily to herself. Judging from the flawless condition of the firearm and how she handled it, it was obvious that she didn't neglect the weapon both in maintenance and training even if it wasn't her primary weapon.
It was good to see someone else here who understood the value of having multiple weapons. Nearly everyone in this city relied only on their main firearm, with nothing in the way of even a sidearm to fall back on. While this tendency was understandable given the dearth of real conflict in Kivotos, it was a glaring disadvantage against opponents who knew how to exploit this.
Though enemy reinforcements continued to trickle in from the north, the enemy's formation began to weaken due to our aggressive advance coupled with the gap in firepower and skill. However, we couldn't get complacent. As we entered the desert from the south, it was only a matter of time before we were surrounded in every other direction. As such, we needed to stay mobile as well as on the offense; if we got bogged down by the enemy, that'd give them the opportunity to dogpile us, which'd end badly regardless of how individually stronger we were.
Lowering the Gatling laser, I ejected the spent electron charge pack, making sure to save the dead pack so I could recharge it later, then replaced it with a fresh one. Once Sprtel-Wood was ready, I gunned down an automaton who was lining up a shot at me, but not before the robot managed to hit me on the shoulder. A bluish ripple resembling that of a force field expanded from the point of impact as the armor-piercing sniper rifle round that attempted to penetrate the outer layer of my Power Armor was repelled by the Shittim Chest's energy barriers. Immediately after, the blue gauge on my HUD lowered ever so slightly, representing the amount of energy Arona used to neutralize the attack.
As predicted, Power Armor and the Shittim Chest had good synergy - Power Armor was all but impervious to small arms fire, and thus the wearer usually only needed to worry about armor-piercing rounds, higher caliber bullets, and explosives. As Arona didn't need to waste the tablet's power blocking incoming small arms fire, she could save energy for larger threats and effectively cover for Power Armor's most prominent weaknesses.
"I'm picking up two land vehicles closing in on your AO!" Ayane informed the team. "Please be careful!"
"Speaking of larger threats…" I murmured.
"I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain,
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name.
Shiroko picked off another sniper rifle-wielding automaton toward the backline, then stalked forward as our team continued its advance. Her foot accidentally came into contact with the equipment left behind by the second automaton I disintegrated. Shiroko swiveled her head around, checking to see if anyone was watching. She then swiftly knelt down and pulled the equipment out of the ash pile coating it. She then dusted off the equipment, and surreptitiously slipped it into her pack. With a spring in her step and a bag of loot, she rejoined her teammates on the assault.
"I was raised in the canebrake by an old mama lion,
Ain't no a high-toned woman make me walk the line."
"...Mm." Shiroko nodded her head along with the song, though it was unclear whether it was because she found it catchy or because she particularly identified with some of the song's lyrics.
Suddenly, her ears twitched and her eyes narrowed as she caught the first signs of the vehicles Ayane warned us about. Two tanks, whose model eluded my admittedly scant knowledge of pre-war military vehicles, rolled in from the north, accompanied by a contingent of robotic infantry.
Immediately recognizing the largest threats on the battlefield, I began firing on one of the tanks, the laser fire readily burning through the tank's frontal armor but not doing quite enough damage to cripple the vehicle.
In response to the sudden barrage, the tank swiveled its cannon to face me.
I instinctively tensed. If these two tanks were piloted by a virtual intelligence just like the Crusader outside the Schale building was, then there was no way I could evade their cannon fire in this armor unless I got lucky. However, with Arona's assistance, I was sure the damage I'd take would be minimal.
Still didn't make it easier having a cannon pointed at you, though.
"I've got this one," Shiroko said as she powered up her white rocket drone. The drone flitted upward, then swiftly unleashed its payload on the tank that was targeting me. The damage from both of our attacks in tandem proved too much for the armored vehicle, and the tank promptly turned into a smoldering wreck. Its payload spent, Shiroko's rocket drone buzzed off to remain on standby until Shiroko had a chance to reload its ammunition.
With one threat taken care of, I turned my attention to the other tank, expecting for this one to target me just like the last, only to be surprised when it trained its main gun on Shiroko instead. Shiroko's ears flattened against her head as she anticipated the incoming attack.
Crap, I thought. She probably got its attention with all those flashy rockets. I knew for a fact that Shiroko was stronger than Serika, but I also doubted she'd come out of attacks of that nature unscathed like Hoshino would. At this point, we couldn't afford to take the risk of one of our team members becoming incapacitated when we were already heavily outnumbered. With Hoshino preoccupied in defending Serika from sniper fire, I had to make a spur of the moment decision.
So I did something I previously would've considered unthinkable.
I maneuvered myself into the way of the tank gun's trajectory to intercept the shot as it was fired. Not a second later, the tank shell hit me square on the chest and detonated, producing a loud metallic crash on impact and causing my vision to fill with smoke.
"Sensei?!" Shiroko exclaimed alarmedly.
"What are you thinking, you idiot?!" Serika admonished, dread in her voice. "Why did you… you…" Her words died in her throat the moment she saw the aftermath. "You're… completely fine?"
"If you see me comin', better step aside,
A lot of men didn't; a lot of men died."
True to Serika's word, I was unharmed. Other than some scuff marks on the paint, the direct hit merely had the effect of staggering me. With Arona's help in negating the majority of the blast, the residual force of the blast was safely neutralized using Power Armor's innate shock absorption properties. I knew that Power Armor and energy barriers were a good combo, but this was scarily effective.
On the downside, the blue meter on my HUD decreased further, the attack understandably using up more juice than the previous ones. The Shittim Chest's power gauge seemed to be around the high eighties in terms of percentage.
Better not mess around, then. I'd rather not try to take a direct hit from a tank cannon without shields.
I had a few seconds before the tank could fire again, using the Crusader as a standard. But even though Serika and Shiroko focused their attention on the tank and began to whittle it down, I was unsure whether Sprtel-Wood could provide enough burst damage to take the vehicle out of commission.
Moments like these are when carrying multiple weapons truly comes in handy. I was saving this as a countermeasure for any airborne vehicles, but this was as good a time as any for a trial run.
"One fist of iron; the other of steel,
If the right one don't get you then the left one will."
I dropped Sprtel-Wood, letting the Gatling Laser rest on the sand for now. With my hands freed, I disengaged my armor's magnetic holster and retrieved the Tesla-Beaton Prototype from its place on my back. The modified Tesla Cannon powered up with a staticky whir, galvanized licks of electricity bouncing off the gun's incandescent orange interior.
Mounting the cannon over my shoulder and aiming it at the tank, I activated V.A.T.S. and queued up two shots. Upon target confirmation, the Tesla-Beaton Prototype produced a thunderous echo as it dispensed a highly concentrated burst of electrical energy which collided with the vehicle and promptly diffused across it, covering the tank in crackling electricity. I fired again, the follow-up attack seeming to do the trick as the vehicle's main gun drooped downward. Judging by the metallic groan the tank made and the smoke emanating from it, it looked like the Tesla Cannon short-circuited some vital electronics.
The aftermath wasn't as flashy as I was hoping, I'll admit, but I wasn't expecting something like a tank to disintegrate so easily. Either way, the Tesla-Beaton Prototype more than fulfilled its purpose - despite being Enclave tech designed primarily for use against hostile robots and Vertibirds, the prototype looked like it performed just as beautifully against tanks. Of course, the gun had all the warts that one would expect from a prototype; the thing ate up electron charge packs like no tomorrow, for one. For another, it was cumbersome as hell to carry around, though in terms of sheer size rather than weight. In contrast to Sprtel-Wood 9700, which I rebuilt using local materials, the only way I managed to bring the Tesla-Beaton Prototype from the Wasteland was by dismantling the weapon to carry its constituent parts, then reassembling it at the Sink 2.0.
"You know what? I think I kinda want one of those weird energy guns now," Serika remarked, peering at the ruined vehicle.
"Do you have the money to pay for the ammo?" Shiroko asked.
"It's expensive," I added, long having come to terms with the fact that I could practically feel Schale's electric bill rising by the triple digits with every shot I fired. Still, the advantage I gained from Kaiser vehicles' armor plating being ill-suited to ablate energy weapon fire was infinitely worth Yuuka nagging me about the club's budget for a few hours.
Hearing our words, Serika's grip on her rifle tightened as she blanched. "...On second thought, I think bullets do the job just fine."
The song's final notes petered out, but the sounds of battle raged on. Despite the fact that we'd been dispatching enemies almost as soon as they arrived, the sounds of gunfire all around only seemed to grow in intensity as time passed.
"To the company stooooore…" Arona attempted to mimic Tennessee Ernie Ford's deep baritone voice by lowering her voice by several octaves. She failed as spectacularly as you'd expect. "Do you ever try to make your voice as deep as Tennessee's, Sensei?"
"Arona, if I could sound like him, do you really think I would've ended up as a courier?"
"True…" she conceded.
A burst of submachine fire from Fuuka downed an automaton, only for the automaton to be replaced by three more. Likewise, while ED-E and I managed to dismember or disintegrate a few, the enemy was reinforcing themselves at a rate that outpaced our ability to take them out.
The enemy's big guns were out of the equation for now, but it seemed like the flow of enemy infantry wasn't stopping anytime soon. Furthermore, I immediately noticed some variations in their reinforcements - the most prominent of which were some new type of automaton. This new robot type was heavily armored and stood more than a head taller than their lightly armored counterparts, leading me to almost mistake them for Power Armored troopers. Most notable was the fact that they carried a large rectangular ballistic shield not unlike Hoshino's, though these shields looked like they had some additional tech embedded in them. These armored robots wielded submachine guns in their free hands, which they used to great effect as several of the shield bots formed a line at the vanguard of the enemy ranks, effectively shielding their teammates.
Intent on seeing how much punishment these shielded automatons could take, I raised my Gatling laser and took a few shots at one. Right before I did so, the robot slammed the bottom of its shield against the ground and braced itself against it. I watched in curiosity and irritation as his ballistic shield formed a holographic force field on its exterior, which caused the incoming lasers to ricochet harmlessly into the ground and sky.
Photonic resonance technology… Not bad. This complicated things. I kicked myself internally for deciding against bringing the Sonic Emitter to this fight.
After a few seconds, the robot's force field expired, and the shield bot raised its submachine gun to fire at us, only to succumb to concentrated gunfire from Fuuka and me. It was good to know that these shield bots had limits as to how long they could maintain their shield barriers, but the problem was that at least ten of them had arrived to fortify their frontline. With these automata shielding their backlines, our ability to handle enemy reinforcements as they came was hampered.
To make matters worse, the enemy began to deploy some type of drone as well. Many of these floating machines seemed to be outfitted with dual machine guns under their chassis, while other drones had rockets, similar to Shiroko's drone. It quickly became apparent to me as soon as several opened fire on me that their firepower wasn't anything to brag about, but their sheer numbers along with the other soldiers harassing us didn't bode well.
Our advance slowed to a halt as we worked to combat these new threats. Though we steadily whittled away at their ranks, their constant reinforcements more or less evened out the playing field.
"Sensei! The electric core is at eighty percent capacity!" Arona informed me.
Still okay. The blue gauge hadn't shifted much since last time, so I still had some wiggle room when it came to dangerous situations.
Hoshino blocked a rocket barrage meant for Fuuka, quickly dispatching the rocket drone that had fired it. Fuuka didn't even have time to thank her before they were both accosted by more threats.
Still good on electron charge packs. Might need to swap to backups if this keeps up. Taking stock of the tools I had, I pondered a way to break this stalemate.
I didn't have an answer for the shielded automatons that didn't involve expending too much ammo - I chose my current arsenal in anticipation of anti-personnel and vehicular combat, not energy-shielded enemies. Therefore, I prepared to take a more… uncivilized route to deal with them. They may have been heavily armored, but the fact that none of them wielded any variant of melee weapon led me to believe that bulk was all they had going for them. If I could stir up enough chaos within their ranks at close range, that'd weaken their formation enough for us to punch through.
I was already reaching for my axe when a singular gunshot rang out from the west side of the battlefield. An indigo contrail rapidly closed the distance and embedded itself in the head of a shield bot that was blocking gunfire from Nonomi, disabling the robot. Slightly surprised, I turned to the source.
A sniper with silver hair, dark skin, and red eyes. I recognized her as one of the students that was sent to spy on us as we were escaping from black market police. Several details which weren't readily apparent at the distance I saw her back then I could now see, such as pointed ears and the presence of an arrowlike tail similar to those of pre-war depictions of demons. She was flanked by a squad of about twelve black-uniformed students wielding various types of firearms.
The cavalry was here. I was prepared to proceed with the assault just in case the Prefect Team was a no-show, but I was relieved that they came through in the end.
The sniper stood up from her crouching position, addressing her subordinates. "Form up! Support Sensei and Abydos!" she ordered, pointing forward. At her command, the Gehenna students spread out to take up positions befitting their armaments - shotgunners in front, riflewomen and heavy gunners in the middle, and snipers and supports forming the backline. They began to engage Kaiser's forces, who, while still numerically superior by a long shot, were forced to divert their attention to fight on two fronts.
"Is that…" Fuuka started, becoming a bit pale.
"Gehenna's Prefect Team?" Nonomi asked, confused but not ungrateful for the assistance. "What are they doing here?"
"We came to an… agreement," I answered.
"An agreement?" Ayane asked.
"Indeed." Just as I was wondering where she was, Hina made her presence known. As her subordinates mobilized, her small frame, previously obfuscated behind her team, suddenly became visible. She strode toward us calmly, giving a curt nod toward the FTF and a questioning glance at Fuuka, who did her damndest to blend in with the environment, before doing a double take upon seeing me. Hina looked me up and down, before her eyes rested on the S.C.H.A.L.E. logo on my torso. "Sensei?" she asked.
"How'd you guess?"
"...Just a feeling," she responded dryly, before her tone became businesslike once again. "We can discuss the details of our agreement another time. For now, let's focus on repelling the enemy."
"Works for me," I said. At least Hina, unlike many officials in the NCR, understood that the immediate danger took precedence over formalities. "Thanks for the assist, by the way."
Hina merely gave one more nod before unslinging her light machine gun, the size disparity between the weapon and its wielder almost comical. She took one step into the fray before she was stopped by Hoshino.
"Hold up," Hoshino said unusually strictly as she raised up her hand.
"Yes?" Hina arched an eyebrow as she eyed Abydos' vice president.
"You're kind of shameless, aren't you, Miss Head Prefect?" Hoshino commented, crossing her arms.
"...Pardon?"
"Thinking that just because Sensei called you here, you can act freely in our district? Don't you guys need to ask for formal permission for those kinds of things?" she asked, her tone severe but her eyes carrying an unmistakable glint of mischief.
Hina stopped for a few seconds, likely thinking of what to say. It seemed she was still wary of Hoshino, something that the Abydos student seemed intent on messing with.
Since we were well-accustomed to Hoshino's bullshittery, Serika and I only rolled our eyes. As entertaining as it was to watch Hoshino screw with a metaphorical Cazador nest, we were still getting shot at.
"Vice President Takanashi Hoshino, may Gehenna's Disciplinary Committee assist us in removing Kaiser PMC forces from the area?" I petitioned in the most foppish manner I could manage.
"Oh, sure thing, Sensei!" Hoshino casually said as she flashed a grin. "Did you even need to ask?"
At Hina's look of puzzlement, Serika said exasperatedly, "You get used to it."
The head prefect's expression became one of slight worry, but she nonetheless shrugged it off and departed to regroup with her team. She took one look at the battlefield and sighed. "What a pain," she murmured, before joining the offensive as well.
I'd have liked to watch the Prefect Team in action to gauge their overall effectiveness as a fighting force, and especially because I wanted to see why Hina was feared throughout her entire district. But even though the Prefect Team basically forced Kaiser's forces to split in two to combat the two teams, there were still enough enemies to keep us occupied. Invigorated by our unexpected backup, the FTF redoubled their efforts to break through the enemy's formation.
Intent on thinning out their numbers, I was already engaging various automata on the front lines when a hologram appeared next to me.
"You are Schale's Sensei, correct?" a student with short blue hair and a crescent-shaped halo asked. Her attire, however, was where things got… interesting.
She wore a short skirt and a blouse which bore peculiar slits around the sides, accentuating the outer edges of her rather well-endowed chest. That blouse must have been several sizes too small, because I couldn't for the life of me understand the reasoning behind such a lascivious design. Perhaps it was intentional?
…No. I wasn't an expert on pre-war academic institutions, but I was reasonably certain that students weren't supposed to dress so… immodestly. Plus, Kivotos' entire humanoid population was female, so unless she swung that way, who exactly would this student be trying to impress? Me?
…Granted, she more than outdid Vera Keyes in terms of attractiveness, but if I was going to fall head over heels for every attractive hologram out there then I wouldn't have made it out of the Sierra Madre alive.
And as if her manner of dress weren't questionable enough, hanging from her collar was… a bell? What was up with that? If Gehenna's dress code mandated that its students wear accessories meant for Brahmin, one had to question their priorities.
"Depends on who's asking," I finally replied, taking note of the patch on her uniform. "You're from the Prefect Team as well?"
"Indeed. I am the senior administrator of the Disciplinary Committee, Amau Ako." The Gehenna student absently brushed her blue hair over her ear as she flashed a sweet smile, but I've met enough politicians to know the gesture was insincere. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Uh-huh," I replied warily, a little conflicted as to whether my attention should be on the questionably-dressed hologram or the ten-plus Kaiser automatons trying to give me a new set of orifices. "If it's all the same to you, Ako, I'm kinda in the middle of something…"
"Of course. But please, allow me to offer some meager assistance."
"...What do you have in mind?" I asked skeptically.
"Chinatsu tells me you have a device that can receive data packets, correct?"
Was she referring to my Pip-Boy or the Shittim Chest? Even my Power Helmet interface could receive data packets, though there was no chance that Chinatsu would have known about this beforehand. "Sure. What of it?"
"I've run analyses on the enemy's formations, armor composition, and weak points," Ako listed as she consulted a clipboard she carried. "I will be sending you this intel shortly."
"Thanks, I guess," I said, somewhat thrown off by Ako's sudden charity. " But why give it to me and not Hina?"
"An excellent question. Your confusion is warranted; normally I wouldn't go through such an effort, especially for someone who is not a part of the Prefect Team, but since President Hina explicitly ordered it…" Ako said, twirling a lock of her hair as she inadvertently showed her true colors. "...Well, that is neither here nor there." She inclined her head toward me slightly. "Now then, I wish you luck, Sensei. Take care not to disappoint the head prefect, will you?"
Before I could reply, her hologram disappeared. Soon after, Arona confirmed receipt of the data.
"Sensei, I've formatted the data you received to your Power Helmet interface!"
I looked around my HUD for any changes, finding none. Confused, I looked down at myself, finding nothing out of the ordinary… until Sprtel-Wood 9700 flashed brightly for a brief second. Lifting the weapon, I decided to do a test fire at a group of four shield bots who activated their force fields once they saw me take aim.
Most of the resulting series of lasers ricocheted off the enemy's force fields as usual… then, to my amazement, a few stray lasers punched right through an automaton's force field and melted through his shield. The final unobstructed laser promptly disintegrated most of the automaton, leaving behind its shield, gun, equipment, and some pieces of its heavy armor that failed to atomize completely.
Hot damn! The hell just happened?
This went beyond just getting lucky and happening to hit a chink in the armor - she had to have enhanced my weapon somehow. But that was the thing - what the hell did Ako do? There was no way some reconnaissance data could have an effect like that, at least, not directly. Maybe she optimized my combat UI? No, but that didn't explain what happened when Sprtel-Wood flashed…
How in the world did this ability work?
Expending the rest of the electron charge pack, I made short work of the other shield bots guarding the enemy lines. This was still inefficient ammo-wise compared to just shooting the automatons when their force fields were on cooldown, but it sure as hell beat plinking away at their shields fruitlessly. This Ako lady may not trust me and I sure as hell didn't trust her, but I'd be foolish not to make the most of this opportunity.
Roll with it. Work out the details later.
I rejoined the fray. With the introduction of a third faction, the conflict grew ever chaotic, and soon the battlefield graduated into a warzone.
Giving the nearly empty canister of gasoline one last shake, Mutsuki tossed the container aside and took a few steps back. She raised her machine gun and fired a short burst at the ground in front of her, the resulting sparks igniting the gasoline and causing the provisions storage to catch ablaze. The Gehenna student stowed her weapon and put her hands on her hips, content to simply admire the blaze with a wide smile on her face.
Arson wouldn't have been Mutsuki's first choice by a long shot, but it couldn't be helped. She had to save the really fun explosives for the actual fighting. Getting into this base was surprisingly easy - probably since Abydos and Sensei were really riling up Kaiser something fierce - but according to Sensei it was only a matter of time before they realized what Problem Solver 68 was up to and sent in some big guns to take them out. Time was of the essence, so due to the base's large size their team chose to split up to do as much damage as they could before the enemy wised up. Aru and Kayoko set out to find the enemy command center, Haruka was assigned to rig the oil drill and several other vital fortifications to blow up, and Mutsuki was assigned to lay traps for the incoming enemy and sabotage anything else that looked important to an army. This plan left Mutsuki or Haruka without any backup in case of an attack, but either of them alone should be more than a match for some goons in small numbers.
Shrugging, she returned to the business at hand. That marked warehouse number fifteen. With that one finished, she skipped along as she set out to torching what looked like a weapons cache.
Aw. What a waste.
She loved indiscriminate destruction of private property as much as any proper Gehenna student did, but even Mutsuki personally thought it was a shame to have to just destroy everything. Like, extra munitions and rations would be really good to have, especially for people scrounging for money like those Abydos kids. But Hoshino was insistent in the matter of not taking any of Kaiser's facilities for themselves. Sensei didn't sound too happy about that but he didn't say anything else about it - it was hard enough trying to get them on board with using their money from the bank. It wasn't like he could force them to steal resources on top of that.
Well, there was nothing for it. Going scorched earth was the more fun thing to do, anyway, so who was Mutsuki to complain?
Besides, she made sure to grab some goodies before lighting up the place. Abydos might not want it, but they didn't say anything about what Problem Solver 68 could or couldn't do. At least with these rations they wouldn't have to split single meal portions between the four of them for a while.
"Mutsuki," Aru's voice called from behind her, causing Mutsuki to perk her head up and turn to the source. It came from a speaker attached to a lamppost adjacent to the warehouse. "Can you hear me?"
"Aru-chan!" Mutsuki exclaimed. "You made it in!"
"Of course we did," Aru smugly confirmed. "And thanks to our Department Head, hacking into the servers here was a cinch!"
"I don't know about a cinch," Kayoko replied, her voice quieter due to the distance from the microphone. "It's been a long time since I've done this, and worse, this software has Veritas written all over it. Literally. So we need to keep this brief; who knows how long it'll be before we're locked out."
Nodding, Mutsuki said, "I'm guessing you guys didn't find the jammers, huh?"
"No. I'm not sure what they're using to jam our comms, but I don't think it's localized. Otherwise we would've found it by now," Kayoko said in frustration.
Mutsuki clicked her tongue. That was kind of annoying. Splitting up wouldn't have been as much of a hassle if their comms in this base worked properly. "Have you gotten in touch with Haruka-chan?"
"Haruka ran into a leftover patrol on the way so she needs at least twenty more minutes to finish laying the satchel charges," Aru answered with some concern.
"Twenty minutes, huh…" Mutsuki pondered. "Guess I'll finish up here and help her out-"
"No time. You've got a Kaiser detachment headed your way from outside the south side of the base," Kayoko interjected. "We've managed to remotely seal all entrances except the north, so we've got a few minutes before they circle around. You've already laid traps outside the north entrance, so it's just a matter of finishing off anyone who tries to get in."
"Hmm~" Closing off all other entrances meant Mutsuki didn't have to concern herself with the rest of the base and could just focus on defending the sole entrance, which just so happened to be the first area she booby trapped. "I like it. Did you think of this strategy yourself, Aru-chan?"
"Naturally," Aru said. "This time, we'll show them how…best…68…" Her voice was cut off by static.
"Aru-chan? You're sounding a little fuzzy there."
"...scuttling the command center…" Kayoko hurriedly started. "...before...forced out…servers…"
"Kayoko-chan? You there?"
Following Kayoko's distorted message, there was only static.
"Hellooo?" Mutsuki ventured one last time, and, upon hearing no response, gave up.
Guess I'm on my own for now.
After making her way to the north entrance, she looked around for any signs that anyone had entered recently. The constantly shifting sand made it difficult to use footprints as an indicator, but in all other respects the area was exactly the same as when they had entered. Disabled Kaiser automatons and spent casings littered the area in front of a large automated gate - the only unsealed entrance in an otherwise completely walled off base. After a brief check outside of the gate to make sure all her traps were still intact, she checked her gun and ammo then took up position behind the wall directly adjacent to the gate.
Barely a minute passed before Mutsuki found herself getting antsy. Waiting in ambush was just so boring. Sure, it was the most tactically sound thing to do, but given the choice she'd much rather be out there sowing chaos, like Sensei was doing.
She sighed. If it weren't for the fact that she wouldn't be able to walk three steps out the gate without getting blown up by her own mines, Mutsuki would've gone out there herself just to finally have something fun to do.
The sound of nearby gunfire made Mutsuki's head snap to attention. Sounded like automatic fire, followed by a handgun and the distant crack of a sniper rifle. From the sounds of it, two groups were fighting, though it sounded pretty one-sided, all things considered. Then, silence reigned once more.
It couldn't be Aru and Kayoko, considering they had just contacted Mutsuki through Kaiser's intercoms. And the guns didn't match up with what Haruka wielded.
Mutsuki clutched Love & Violence in anticipation, its contents filled to the brim with explosives (among other things) - most of the explosives were from Sensei, while a few others were pilfered from Kaiser. Mutsuki didn't know where someone as broke as Sensei got his hands on so many quality bombs, but she found she didn't especially care. Such exquisite taste in merchandise speaks for itself.
The very faint sound of chatter from outside the gate clued Mutsuki in that someone was coming. The student slowly peeked around the edge of the gate.
There were three students, each looking alert, as if they were still riding on the adrenaline from a fight. Mutsuki tsked as she recognized one immediately, from the Prefect Team - Chinatsu, if memory served. Mutsuki didn't have a problem with her specifically, but her being there might mean that one or more dogs of the prefect were sniffing around somewhere.
The second was from Trinity - a nurse? This one was chatting with Chinatsu like they were old friends.
Huh. Did Trinity and Gehenna suddenly become besties when we weren't looking?
Oh, and there was a Millennium student there too. Kind of a third wheel, but what can you do. Those Millennium kids tended to be wet blankets anyway. Judging by that look on her face, she indeed looked like the type of student who would remind the teacher that there was homework right as class was ending.
Mutsuki shuddered, before turning her ear outward to better hear their conversation.
"We're done on our end," the Millennium student said, seemingly to herself. "Shun, can you spot any more reinforcements?"
One moment passed, and the other two students quieted to listen in. It took a moment to realize that she was speaking into an earpiece.
"Understood. Keep us posted." The student lowered her hand from her earpiece, then addressed the other two students as she consulted her phone. "This looks like the area where we're supposed to rendezvous with Team 2."
"We couldn't reach them on comms…" the Trinity student said, looking around worriedly. "Do you think something happened?"
"Maybe. But there could also be something blocking the signal." As they discussed the possibilities, the small group began to approach the base.
"I agree, we shouldn't make hasty assumptions," Chinatsu said. "We should be seeing sentries right about now, especially if this place is as vital to enemy operations as intel suggests. Either way, it looks like we've beat the incoming reinforcements to the punch. We should regroup with Team 2 while we can."
"Good thinking. Our odds of successfully breaking through the enemy advance to regroup with Team 1 rise exponentially if we consolidate our forces here," the Millennium student replied.
"You really like math, huh, Yuuka-san…" the nurse said with a wry smile.
Wait, they mentioned Team 1. So this was the backup - Team 3 - that Sensei mentioned would join them after they sabotaged Kaiser's central base? While that meant that Mutsuki wouldn't have to deal with the detachment that Kayoko told her about, the timing was all off - Team 3 was supposed to join up after they finished up here! Unless something happened to throw off that plan…
Oh, right. We're technically running behind schedule, aren't we…
Problem Solver 68 running into issues with their comms being jammed and their group being forced to split up really set them back a bit. Not to mention Haruka ran into trouble with a leftover patrol while making her way to the drilling rig… It was no wonder that Team 3 got worried and set out to look for them.
If this is Team 3, I should probably stop them and tell them about the mines…
"By the way, you look excited," Serina said suddenly, distracting Mutsuki.
"Excited?" the Millennium student raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What makes you say that, Serina?"
"I don't know. Just a feeling," Serina replied. "After all, you're leading Schale in its very first formal operation. I know I'd be nervous in your shoes."
"That's true…" Yuuka muttered, before nodding. "Well, I can't deny that leading a covert squad into another district is a bit novel, but…"
"...But?"
Not expecting the nosy Trinity student to press her for an answer, Yuuka flushed slightly. "Well, our work at Schale benefits all students, so it's nice being an integral part of that. And besides…" She stopped her sentence midway, as if she realized what she was about to say.
"Oh, I see." Serina tilted her head at Yuuka, smiling. "You're doing this for Sensei!"
"Sensei?" Distracted for a mere split second, Yuuka flusteredly spun to face Serina. "W-who said anything about Sen-"
Unfortunately for her, that sudden movement was all it took to trigger one of the frag mines buried in the sand near her, and with a boom a startled Serina was thrown into the opposite direction while Yuuka was knocked down onto her rump.
"Ow! What in the-"
…Right onto another one of the buried frag mines.
Mutsuki winced at the following explosion and the ensuing cry of pain. Normally she'd laugh at something like that but she couldn't find it in her to do so, probably because it hadn't been long since Sensei of all people pulled something similar on her. She still had to get him back for that. Somehow.
"Yuuka-san!" Chinatsu called out in alarm. "Are you okay?!"
"What do you think?" Yuuka grouchily called back, red-faced from both frustration and the fact that she'd just been given the bomb whoopie cushion treatment. Despite this, it seemed that the worst injury she sustained was to her pride.
Serina cautiously approached Yuuka and helped her to her feet. "We can get you treated right away-"
Yuuka held up one hand and dusted herself off with the other. "I'm fine. Save your supplies for when we need them." She looked around the gate entrance, her eyes scanning every inch of ground. "What I want to know is who hid mines around the main entrance to a secure complex. It wouldn't make sense for Kaiser to block their main road unless they were expecting an attack…"
"Yoohoo!" Mutsuki hollered from across the minefield as she moseyed into plain view. "You guys are Team 3, right?"
The students turned to face her. Chinatsu's eyes instantly lit up in recognition.
"Asagi Mutsuki…"
"Hmm? You know little old me?" Mutsuki playfully said. "Then again, we're pretty famous handymen in Gehenna, so I don't blame you."
"Yes… Famous… That's certainly one way to put it." Chinatsu shifted her feet uncomfortably. "If you're here, then it's safe to assume that Problem Solver 68 was sent here by Sensei as Team 2?"
"You betcha! Not our usual choice of client, but we kinda owe him one, so…"
Yuuka cleared her throat. "While this school reunion is touching to watch, it won't be long until they send additional forces our way. Would you happen to know of another entrance we could use to get in?"
Mutsuki put her arms behind her back and kicked a rock innocently. "Ah. The thing is, we kinda sealed all the other entrances…"
"...Seriously?"
"Yeah. But don't worry! I can guide you through the mines, easy-peasy!"
"You remember where you placed all of them?" Yuuka asked doubtfully.
Mutsuki petulantly crossed her arms. "C'mon! What kind of demolitions expert would I be if I didn't memorize where I hid my bombs?"
Yuuka shared a look with Chinatsu, who nodded.
"If nothing else, you can trust her with explosives."
"...Fine," Yuuka conceded. "I'll go first, then." She stowed her SMG and eyed the ground in front of her warily.
"Okay. So you're gonna want to take three steps forward-" Mutsuki started, only to be interrupted when Yuuka was once again blasted to kingdom come, causing Serina and Chinatsu to recoil in shock.
"H-hey!" Yuuka angrily exclaimed as she coughed from the dust cloud that had formed around her. "You said three steps forward!"
"Well, you didn't let me finish my sentence. I was gonna say after moving two steps closer to the edge of the road," Mutsuki said matter-of-factly.
Seething, Yuuka said, "Okay, fine. So what do I do now?"
Mutsuki put a hand to her chin and leaned forward, picturing a safe path through the minefield. "Approach the sandbags, and once you do, take four steps to the right."
Yuuka walked toward a stack of sandbags fortifying the road into the base, then took four careful steps to her right. One, two, three, four…
"Wait!" Mutsuki exclaimed, but her voice was drowned out by the resounding boom caused by the detonation of a bundle of satchel charges expertly hidden underneath a traffic cone. The blast sent the purple-haired girl sprawling onto the dusty road while the spectators from Schale gasped. Angry wasn't strong enough of a word to describe the Millennium student as she once again got to her feet. And here Mutsuki thought that Millennium students were pretty soft; this girl was tanking mines like a champ.
"Hey, why'd you move left? I said for you to move right!"
"Mutsuki-san, did you mean her right or your right?" Serina asked.
Oh.
"Oops. Sorry, um…" It was only as she was addressing the Millennium student that Mutsuki realized she had forgotten her name. Mutsuki squinted as she struggled to make out the credentials on the student's ID card. "...Seminar-chan?"
"It's. Yuuka!" Seminar said exasperatedly in between loud pants. Mutsuki realized she may have struck a nerve, since the student reached into her jacket and pulled out… a scientific calculator? "Ugh! I've had it!"
The moment a bright blue shield encased Yuuka, she sprinted forward right through the minefield, triggering every single mine in her path, the shield absorbing the damage each time. Finally, as the last mine in her pathway detonated, her shield expired. Yuuka came to a stop in front of Mutsuki, taking a moment to catch her breath, glaring at the Gehenna student all the while.
Mutsuki pouted at her. "Hey, why'd you go and do that? Landmines don't grow on trees, you know."
Yuuka simply pinched the bridge of her nose, declining to comment. Behind her, the other two students were joined by a fourth team member, a sniper from Shanghaijing, from the looks of her. She looked a bit too old to be a student, but something told Mutsuki to keep that to herself. With the way cleared by Yuuka, they retraced the path that she took through the minefield unhindered.
Once they joined Yuuka, Mutsuki sized them up. Good support in the form of two medics, something their team was sorely lacking. And with a full squad of four backing them up, now they won't have to worry about covering their butts while sabotaging the base.
"My, but aren't you a cute one!" Shun cooed, clasping her palms together near her cheek.
"Uh, thanks," Mutsuki said somewhat uncomfortably. This adult made her uneasy. Reminded her a bit too much of her fifth grade teacher.
"So, what's the plan, now that we're here?" Yuuka asked.
Unzipping her bag, Mutsuki reached in and pulled out a satchel charge. She tossed the block of improvised explosive at Yuuka, who instinctively caught it.
"Ready to make fireworks?" Mutsuki asked with an innocent smile.