Blue Record

Entry 5: Operation Dust Devil – Commence

It's a good thing I'm used to deserts. My last duty post was in the irradiated, hot-as-hell dust bowl that used to be Arizona. Even through the thick layers of suffocating, yellow-grey smog, the sun seemed hell-bent on baking us alive. The gritty wind would skin you alive without protection, and the amount of casualties by dehydration and overheating were staggering. Frankly, it was miserable, and so only the toughest or the luckiest lived on to the next day. Even then, if the heat didn't get you, a million other things were licking their lips. Literally in many cases.

However, there's the reason I'm even in a desert in the first place.

This morning, the first thing brought to my attention was a letter addressed to me personally. I'd just arrived in my office after making use of the gym when Mio – up and busy as I'd hoped – pointed it out on my desk.

It read as follows:

To the advisor of the Federal Investigation Club:

Hello. My name is Okusora Ayane, and I'm a student at Abydos High School. I'm writing this letter because I want to ask for your help. Our academy is being harassed. One of the local gangs has been tormenting us. It's a long story, but we think this gang is after the school building itself. The students are doing their best to stop them. It's only a matter of time before we run out of ammunition and supplies, though. At this rate, the school will fall to them for sure.

That's why I'm asking for your help.

Will you help us, Sensei?

Of course I would.

''Arona, pull up any intel you have on Abydos High School and the surrounding area. Any system you can access, do it,'' I ordered. My A.I Lieutenant saluted.

''Aye, aye, Captain!'' I chose to ignore that, ''Abydos is a region of Kivotos that's been in heavy decline for a long time. It used to be the largest and most powerful district, but sand storms caused significant damage to the district, leaving a lot of it buried in sand. The population there is small, making it popular for gangs to set up operations. The district itself is surrounded by a desert, with Abydos High School being the only Academy. The most recent student census data tells me that only five students remain, with the others having transferred or dropped out.''

''Infrastructure?''

''Functional, Sensei. Public transport is almost entirely useless due to all the sand on the roads and tracks. However, water, gas and electricity remain intact. Food availability is stable, but environmental and economic pressures could see that change soon.''

''What about Abydos High School itself?'' My frown grew deeper as I considered the situation. How had the situation in the district deteriorated this much? Had anyone even noticed? I find it hard to believe that the GSC hadn't been aware of Abydos' problems even before the President vanished and everything started going to hell.

Arona looked troubled as she spoke. ''The school is functionally defunct, only kept open by the last five students operating it. They don't receive any financial aid or supplies, but by looking at their employment records, they rely on part-time work to get what they need. They probably struggle for basic necessities. Things don't look good for them, Sensei.''

''And who are these students? Ayane is one, but the other four.''

''There is one third-year and four second-year students. Okusora Ayane is a second-year. Takanashi Hoshino is the sole third-year. The others are: Sunaookami Shiroko, Kuromi Serika and Izayoi Nonomi.''

Shit. That was a lot of new names.

''Then I know who I'm looking for,'' I looked at Mio who stood attentively nearby, ''I'll be heading out once I'm geared up. Depending on what happens, I may not be back for a few days to a week. Hold down the fort until I'm back. If you need help, ask Yuuka. If anyone you don't recognise comes and doesn't state their intent within five seconds, you have my permission to repel them.''

Shoot them. I was saying she could shoot them.

''O-oh, uh, okay, boss. Good luck,'' she said, then grabbed my sleeve, ''hold up a moment. If you see my friend – Yuina Hikuidori – please let her know who you are. I've already told them both where I am, but they're not so sure about it. So if you see her, just let her know you're legit.''

I nodded. ''I'll see what I can do.'' I was sent a picture on MomoTalk a minute later.

Once I reached my room, I set about gathering my equipment. My desert camouflage fatigues and plate carrier, webbing and rucksack, gloves, several pairs of socks, underwear and spare clothes, my weapons, spare ammo, the Shittim Chest and other necessities. I filled some used bottles from Angel 24 with water, not wanting to get caught without it in the middle of a desert.

With everything loaded into the humvee, I used the GPS on my phone to set a course.

The first thing I noticed when I crossed into the Abydos district, was of course the sand. Whole buildings had been swallowed up to the roof, while dunes rolled across the horizon. The other thing was the heat. While not as hot as I'd expected, it was still noticeably warmer than Schale's district. Nothing a little air conditioning didn't fix. The windows pulled downward manually via a knob on each door. That let extra air in but I also opened them so I could smoke on the way. I've only had it for a couple of days and I love this thing already.

There was a distinct lack of road traffic the closer I got to Abydos. The roads were almost invisible beneath the sand, with very few remaining cleared. This meant I could get there faster since I didn't need to worry about cops chasing me for driving too fast.

It didn't take long for the roads to get tricky. Many were nothing but sandy tracks, though they were still used. The clearest roads were the ones I followed. My phone's GPS was telling me to go down routes that were out of use, so I just turned it off.

I noticed then, that I had a problem. I hadn't refuelled since getting my truck, and I'd gotten a bit carried away driving it the last couple of days. With work piling up and only very recently learning that I didn't need to fill out a requisition for fuel, my tank was empty.

Fuck.

I closed everything up, got out and locked it after picking up my rucksack. Looking around, I saw that I was in a residential area. The roads were mostly free of sand, with the bulk of it being piled along the curb, most likely carried by the wind if the rooftops were any indication.

I lit up a cig and checked my phone as I leaned against my truck. No wireless signal.

Again, fuck.

It was then that I heard something from the road ahead of me. And little did I know at the time, but the person I was about to meet would be my ticket out of shit creek. The sound of wheels crunching on sand preceded the arrival of a student. She wore a school uniform: a white shirt and dark blue blazer, with a black plaid skirt. Her tie was bright blue with a scarf of the same colour. Her one glove was bright green, while she wore dark blue, white and green running shoes. Her halo was blue and looked almost identical to a cross hair. I see that design a lot, with only small deviations.

The girl had grey hair down to her shoulders, topped with wolf ears. Her eyes were strange. The pupils were different, one black, one white. Weird. However, I took special notice of her gun. It's a SIG SG550, most likely chambered in 5.56mm. The girl has taste. By the look of it, she'd customised it with an M4's lower receiver, and ran a suppressor and vertical grip, with a SUSAT L9A1 sight.

She was riding a bike, though one without an engine. Why she chose to go without one made no sense to me. Aren't bikes with engines just better?

Anyway, she had a halo, so it took no time to deduce that she was one of the students at Abydos High School. Well, she had a badge with her face on it with ''Abydos'' in block lettering, so that also helped.

But, thinking back on our first meeting, I can't help but feel like there was something eerily familiar about her. In fact, she feels more familiar to me than most, but I don't know why. I also don't know why my right hand was reaching for my sidearm, or why my instinctual friend-foe sense was having a tough time making its mind up about which one I was looking at. I forced myself to relax.

I don't know how long I'd been staring at her, but it was apparently long enough that she broke the silence first.

''Are you okay?'' her voice was soft, her tone measured. I'd later find that her voice doesn't change much, kinda like mine.

''Yes. My truck isn't, though. You're a student, correct?'' I asked.

''Nn,'' she nodded with a noise of affirmation. ''You're out of fuel?'' It was my turn to nod. ''There isn't a gas station near here. But I know where one is.''

''We can discuss that later. I'm actually here for you. I'm with Schale, the Federal Investigation Club. One of you sent a letter asking for my help.''

The girls' eyes widened slightly. ''Ayane... you're Adam-sensei?''

''Correct.''

''I'm Sunaookami Shiroko. Second-year,'' she said.

It was then that - beyond anything I could have believed - her name actually stuck. It was like I'd always known it right as she said it. That's... never happened before, and hasn't happened since. Many things today had made me curious about Shiroko, but chief amongst them was why – of all students – she was the one who stuck out in my hazy understanding of Kivotos.

In a previous entry, I'd mentioned that I felt familiar with every student I encountered. Nothing too detailed; just that it was like I'd met them before. But Shiroko is different. Like we were close. Enough to where she left a solid impression on me, but the means by which this is the case are beyond me. I'd only met her today, but I feel as though we've spent a lot of time together already somehow. It's the only reason I can think of why her name didn't feel like new information, but rather a reminder.

I tested the words in my mind, repeating her name as easily as I could repeat my serial number. With each repetition, I expected to forget it, but I never did.

''I'm on my way to Abydos High School. I'd appreciate your assistance,'' I said. Shiroko dismounted from her bike. As she did, I made opened up the truck and hefted the two sports bags full of ammunition out the back.

''I'm going there, so I'll guide you.'' She was going to push her bike while I walked, but I preferred speed in this situation. The sooner I could meet the other members and get the details on this mission, the better. Besides, hoofing it with all this ammo in this heat would be a great way to get killed off, so that wasn't happening.

Spying another bicycle out the front of a house completely unattended and unsecured, I moved over to it and wheeled it back onto the street. I mounted the bags onto the bike by the straps.

''Sensei, that belongs to someone else,'' she said as she watched me but made no moves to interfere. I threw a leg over and sat on the rather uncomfortable seat. I'd never ridden a bike before, but I was sure it couldn't be too hard.

''It's a necessary seizure of valuable equipment for official Schale business. They'll be compensated.'' I put my feet on the peddles, ready to get underway.

Only to immediately eat shit as I toppled sideways onto the sandy ground.

Weirdly, I felt a strange sensation in my chest and my face warmed up, like I'd been seen doing something I shouldn't be, and it only got worse when I saw Shiroko looking down at me as I began to stand. My face was really hot for some reason.

''Your face is red, Sensei. Are you okay?''

I'm not really given to feeling shame, but I really wish Shiroko hadn't seen that. Had it always been this hot out?

After eating shit a couple more times on pebbles and manhole covers, I finally got a hang of riding my borrowed-until-mission-completion bicycle. Shiroko and I rode from one of the many residential areas – where she happened to live – and eventually made it to the school. Oddly, Shiroko seemed rather chatty after I'd taken the bike, asking me what it felt like or if it was liberating. I mean, I suppose it was liberating. I was at liberty to travel faster than just walking with my truck out of fuel. There was an odd twinkle in her eyes that I didn't – and still don't – know how to take.

The school building was quite large and comprised of several buildings. When we entered the main gate, we crossed the track field and entered through the front door, leaving our bikes there. From bullet holes in the walls to broken windows, evidence of a school under siege was everywhere, right down to the spent brass swept into whatever corners they could be.

Shiroko led me to a room deeper within the school, where a large central table had various items on it. A whiteboard with scrawled notes, papers and a map stood along one wall. But more importantly, the other students were present. Well, most of them, anyway.

''Shiroko, welcome... back?'' said a girl with black hair in twin-tails and cat ears. She had red eyes, a shared characteristic with her halo, and wore a uniform like Shiroko's. Her uniform wasn't much different from the wolf-girls'. The buttons of her blazer were done up, wore red and black gloves and a black knee support on her right leg. Her halo was similar to Shiroko's in that it looked like a cross hair.

''Uh... who's this?'' the cat-girl asked.

''Adam-sensei, Schale Investigation Club. I'm here to assist,'' I informed them. Two faces lit up, while the cat-girl's eyes narrowed.

''No offence, but you look more like a door kicker than a teacher,'' she looked at Shiroko, ''you're sure this is the right guy?'' Couldn't fault her for that assessment. The suit I wore when I woke up in Kivotos seemed more like teacherly attire, but I'm far more comfortable in fatigues and plates.

''He said he was. Stole a bike to get here,'' Shiroko said. While that was true, I don't think that was a good defence of my role as a teacher. But the way she said it and how she looked at me suggested she thought it was glowing praise. At least she understood what it meant to take whatever the mission required from wherever you can find it. Like bikes or cigarettes.

''Shiroko! Lose the starry eyes, would you! Theft is bad, we've been over this!'' the cat-girl replied testily, ''besides, what kind of teacher steals a bike, anyway? Don't actually answer tha-''

''The cool kind?'' was the wolf-girl's answer. Thanks, Shiroko.

''It's fine, Serika. What matters is that Sensei is here to help,'' said a girl with blonde hair. Upon hearing the cat-girl's name, I forgot it immediately. I'd expected that, but I was still disappointed. But what didn't disappoint me was how quickly I'd devised a nickname. Until I could reliably remember her name, she would be known as Sourpuss, on account of her stand-offish demeanour and cat ears.

The blonde girl didn't wear a blazer, instead favouring a beige cardigan. She had green eyes, matching her halo, which was a bright green circle with a smaller circle in the middle. The outer circle had two almost-tear-shaped things on either side. Her hair was quite long, with a bun on the side. Why she wore a food item on her head confused me, but so do many things about Kivotos.

''Hello, Sensei. I'm Izayoi Nonomi. It's great to finally meet you! We haven't had a visitor to our school in a long time,'' she greeted me warmly, a peppy smile on her face. She was like a ray of sunshine. They were rare back in my world, since the sky was always choked with a thick chemical smog. Everyone would take the chance to see them, and getting caught in the rays always felt so different to anything else. It felt nice. I only ever saw and felt them once.

Sun Bun. That was Nonomi's nickname. Sunny disposition, bun on her head. Simple.

''You too,'' I said, offering my best in return, which seemed to be good enough for her.

''I'm glad our message reached you, Sensei,'' a girl with glasses said, ''as you can see, things aren't great right now. O-oh, sorry, I'm Okusora Ayane,'' the sender of the message said. Like Rin, she had pointed ears and wore glasses, and was the most prim and proper of the bunch. Her uniform was pristine, in the same colours as Shiroko and Serika. Her halo was also a cross hair, red and with an outer circle. Her amber eyes were wide and inquisitive. However, I spied something I recognised holstered on her hip.

''Got yourself a Sig? Nice,'' I said, pointing to her gun. She's also a girl of taste, it seems. ''That a P229?''

''Huh?'' then she looked at her gun and laughed, ''o-oh, yeah, it is. It isn't much, but it's what I like.''

I unholstered my X5 Legion and showed it to her. ''Same,'' I said, then spun it on my finger and placed it back in its holster. That was enough showing off. ''I brought the supplies you requested.'' Slipping the sports bags from my shoulders, I dumped them onto the table in the middle of the room. Like many soldiers I'd seen, they were on them the moment I dropped them. Serika unzipped one while Shiroko unzipped the other. To say they were pleased would be an understatement.

They took stock for a while, conversing amongst themselves while Ayane approached me.

''Thank you, Sensei. This should keep us going for a while longer. Things were starting to look pretty bleak,'' she said before sighing tiredly. Then Ayane looked around. At this point in time, I'd yet to decide on a name for her. It wasn't really on my mind, to be honest. ''Where's Hoshino-senpai?'' she asked the others.

''I think she's napping in the next room,'' Sourpuss replied as she loaded some loose rounds into the magazine she held, ''I can go get her. She'll wanna see this.'' She went, and as she did, I stepped outside and fished a cigarette out of my combat webbing. I lit it as I got past the front entrance and leaned against the wall. I didn't leave the room for any particular reason other than my own social awkwardness.

''Sensei,'' Shiroko's voice startled me and I nearly snapped my cigarette in half. I turned my head to her. My guard must have been lowered. I didn't hear her following me at all. In fact, I haven't figured out the sudden interest in me. It was a struggle convincing her to go home rather that shoot the shit with me when the day's events wrapped up. Not that I really have much to talk about, anyway.

''Shiroko,'' I replied, maintaining eye contact for several seconds. When neither of us spoke, I looked away and went on smoking. Was I supposed to say something else or... what?

''You shouldn't do that,'' she said. Oh, this again. I guess everyone having a problem with my little habit is something I'm gonna have to get used to. I didn't feel like addressing it, so I changed the subject.

''Noted. Before I got here, I was looking for information about the situation in Abydos. You've seen it first-hand. What's going on?'' at this, Shiroko shuffled uncomfortably. But just when I thought I was about to get some details, the brickwork between us burst into clouds of dust. I grabbed Shiroko and pulled her down while readying my UMP45 from where it hung across my torso.

I scrambled forward, taking up position behind a parked car. Bullets broke the windows and punched through the bodywork before hitting the sand behind me in harmless, dusty plumes. It was as one bullet tore past my head, I looked at Shiroko. She returned fire in controlled bursts as she lay prone on the sandy ground just in front of the school's entrance, eye in the scope.

''This the gang?'' I spoke over the noise. After taking a few more shots, the wolf-girl nodded.

''Kata-Kata Helmet Gang. These punks have been harassing us for months,'' she covered her eyes as a round kicked up sand next to her face. She rolled aside before moving up beside me. ''I saw around ten, Sensei. There's usually more, though.''

''Weapons?'' I inquired.

''The usual. AR's, shotguns and sniper rifles.''

''And how do you usually deal with them? I know students have a trick or two up their sleeves,'' I said. Instead of answering, she opened her school bag and – get this shit – pulled out a drone that was at least twice the width of the bag. More Kivotos bullshit, I guess.

''Dammit!'' I heard Sourpuss shout as she opened fire, having joined us along with Sun Bun. ''They're attacking again already?'' Then she looked at me. ''Get inside, Sensei! It's too dangerous for you!''

From behind her, Sun Bun lugged her own weapon. It was an M134 rotary machine gun, modified with a chainsaw grip for ease of use when hip-firing and portability. Like the delinquents I'd battled when retaking Schale, 6000 rounds of 7.6mm would be spitting from that thing. I was just glad it was against our attackers this time.

''Serika's right, Sensei. Just let us handle this,'' Sun Bun said, cheerful even now. I'd guessed that was just her default mode of being, and it turned out I was right. Even as stray shots struck her, she just kept on smiling as if she were having the best day of her life. Can't relate. But regardless of what they said, I wouldn't go along with it.

''No,'' I rejoined flatly, the same moment another round punched through the car just above my head. ''Sun Bun, lay down suppressive fire. Sourpuss and Shiroko, hug the side of the street and move with me.''

Both Sun Bun and Sourpuss stopped firing, ignoring the bullets slamming into the walls of the school that came with Nonomi's break in fire. It didn't occur to me at the time, but I hadn't used those names before, so neither of them knew what I was talking about. But, to her credit, Nonomi just shrugged with a big smile and did as I asked, blasting the street with a storm of lead. Serika, meanwhile, glared viciously at me, finally having discerned that 'Sourpuss' was her. And she wonders why I called her that.

''I have this, Sensei,'' Shiroko said from next to me and held up her drone. It was essentially two quad missile pods, joined in the middle by a camera housing. Both pods had a propeller mounted to the top. I wasn't too sure of it when I saw it, I admit, but it turned out to be a pretty handy piece of kit.

''What is it?'' I asked, popping out briefly to add my own gunfire to Sun Bun and Sourpuss'.

''Drone. It flies and blows things up.'' Short and to the point. Like Shiroko, who I'm quickly developing a fondness for. She's quiet, quick to act and direct with her thoughts. She reminds me of home, thinking about it.

''Send it and move with me,'' I ordered. She did, its propellers buzzing as it flew towards our attackers. Then, she and a particularly peeved Serika followed me along the street, keeping to the wall as Nonomi sprayed the enemy's position. Now I had a visual on the enemy. Each of them wore red uniforms with a motorcycle helmet, some modified with some kind of gas mask. Of the AR's they carried, I recognised them as SIG SG556 rifles with SUSAT sights. They were the bare-bones siblings of Shiroko's own weapon system. The shotguns were Beretta 1301 Tacticals. Reliable and deadly semi-automatic weapons that fired 12-gauge shells. A favourite of some of my old squad's more 'shock-and-awe' types, and a trench raider's best friend. As for the snipers, they used the H&K PSG-1. It fired 7.62x5mm rounds, but that's about all I knew about the weapon, having never used one myself. But a sniper rifle was a sniper rifle, and in urban combat, that meant problems if they had others posted up in the derelict buildings further out.

There were at least twenty Helmets, none of them in anything resembling a formation. Just a mob of troublemakers bull-rushing the school. In fact, I'd noticed something odd about the way they fought. Well, 'fought' is generous, but it was like they weren't necessarily aiming at us. Serika went on to confirm this as I thought it.

''It's like this every time,'' she hissed, ''they show up, shoot at the school, then run away when we take a few of them down.''

I opened fire in controlled bursts as we flanked them. Shiroko's drone paused its flight and then let loose with a barrage of small missiles that tracked individual targets. However, Nonomi's own salvo had forced many of them to cluster together, making for easy marks for the drone. Explosions caused sand and powdered asphalt to cloud that section of the street, and as it cleared, some of the Helmets were on the ground in soot-blackened repose. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised and gave Shiroko a quick thumbs-up.

''Nn,'' she nodded with a small smile. I wanted to smile back, but as usual, my face refused to cooperate. Stupid face.

''So how do you explain taking hits?'' I asked Sourpuss.

''Their aim's bad. They hit us by accident. Mostly, anyway.''

'Sensei!' I heard Ayane's voice in my ear as she spoke through the earpiece. Not surprising as it was an open frequency. For a good few seconds, I stood still, thinking on how to respond. I hadn't thought of a name yet and her actual name had completely escaped me.

''Report,'' I said, defaulting to my usual clipped manner.

''More Kata-Kata Helmet Gang members heading your way! North-West! Hoshino's awake and she'll join you in a few moments!'' she said urgently. It occurred to me then that Ayane was mission control for the Abydos students. Somehow, she was able to get a view of the battlefield and relay tactical information in real-time. How she does it, I don't know, but I wasn't about to turn my nose up at that.

The Helmets ahead of us were gathering their wits, and with us exposed, we needed to either push forward and cut the number enemy combatants down to a more manageable level before their friends arrived, or pull back. But before that, I needed to update them on the situation.

''More coming from the North-West. Contact imminent,'' I called out. They seemed to understand, knowing Ayane's capabilities. Otherwise it might have seemed strange that I'd know.

''Alright, I've had enough!'' Sourpuss yelled, her eyes gleaming as she reloaded faster than I'd ever seen anyone do so before. It was here that I'd gotten the first real look at her gun. It's a Beretta AR-70/223, chambered in 5.56mm as standard. I'd noticed that she'd put a Vortex Crossfire II rifle scope on it, but whether the the red lens is a custom job or from the factory, I didn't ask. The magazine she'd discarded was a solid dark blue, but the fresh mag had a white stripe on it, which I'd come to find meant she'd changed her round type.

The speed at which she fired in semi-auto shocked even me. I'd have mistaken it for full-auto, but the accuracy and trigger discipline on display indicated otherwise. One after the other, helmets burst open, fragmenting and knocking out the unlucky gangsters. The tougher ones took some body shots before going down. But by the end of it, none of the vanguard were left standing and Sourpuss changed her mag, switching back to her standard ammunition.

Note: To make maximum strategic use of Serika; piss her off. Research to be conducted for the quickest route to this outcome.

We didn't have long once she'd finished. Seconds, actually. We heard them before we saw them, already firing their weapons and shattering windows on the upper floors of the school. I saw Nonomi crouched at the entrance, switching out her spent box magazine for a fresh one. But besides her, I saw a much smaller figure, one with long, pink hair and a uniform in such a scuffed condition that I felt like chewing her out right there and then. She shuffled along, arms hanging low and loose as she clutched a much more personalised Beretta 1301. Looking at her bright pink halo, from a certain angle, it sorta looked like an eye.

The new girl yawned, thus immediately gaining the moniker 'Sleepy', and opened her mismatched eyes. The right one was orange, the left one blue. She didn't wear a blazer. The two top buttons of her shirt were undone with her tie loose around her neck. She wore fingerless gloves and what looked to be a tactical brace on her torso.

''Ugh, these old bones don't need all this ruckus so early, y'know,'' she said, stifling another yawn. Slung over her shoulder was what looked like a thick hunk of steel that roughly resembled a bag like Shiroko's in shape. She was walking with it just fine, but I didn't fancy my chances lugging that around, peak physicality or not. As mentioned before, us clones are strong, but not like that.

''Hoshino-senpai, about time!'' Serika greeted as she ran over to her, her shoes crunching freshly broken glass.

''Hueh~ do my cute Kohais need ol' uncle Hoshino's help again?'' Sleepy intoned. However, she wasn't looking at them when she spoke. Her eyes were locked on me. And for some reason, there was something familiar and uncomfortable about our silent exchange. Familiar not just because she's also a student I have a vague memory of, but also because her eyes looked like they were just a few years of horror off being like mine. She'd seen something. Something that left a scar, and she hides it well. But not from me. I've known plenty with eyes like that. It makes me uncomfortable because, as my student, I feel like I've already failed. Doesn't make much sense, but that's just how it is.

''Nn,'' Shiroko confirmed. Her drone circled the area for a while, but whether it was programmed or had a short battery life, it soon returned and became inert beside the wolf-girl. She seemed to sense the tension – utterly one-sided tension, I might add – and she spoke up. ''This is Adam-sensei, from Schale. He's come to help us, Senpai.''

Hoshino made a show of thinking for a moment before giving a dopey smile. ''Right, right, the adult Ayane sent the letter to,'' she gave a lazy salute – one that was only matched by the sloppiness of her uniform – and nodded to me. ''Glad to meet you, Sensei,'' somehow I didn't believe that, ''I'm Takanashi Hoshino, Third-year and resident uncle.''

''Right. Meet and greet can wait,'' I said, cutting straight to business, ''what can you bring to a fight, Sleepy?'' I was met with odd stares – mostly from Serika – but Hoshino merely laughed.

''You've got me figured out, Sensei!'' she said before tapping the mass of steel hanging by her side, ''I've got this shield. Pair it with my shotgun and this old uncle is unstoppable.''

''Good enough. You're up front with me. We're gonna form an echelon formation. You know what that is?'' I didn't want to come across like I thought they were stupid, but general tactical knowledge seemed... underdeveloped in Kivotos so far.

Blank stares all around. Except for Sleepy, who was giving me a thinly disguised, appraising look.

''You don't have a halo, Sensei. What are you planning to do, exactly?''

''Fight. This isn't the first firefight I've been in,'' I said, ''now, your answer.''

''Us at the front, one to our left, two to our back-right or vice-versa,'' she answered crisply. She was correct. If I had to describe the shape of an echelon formation, then it'd be like this: take a tick mark, then turn it upside down. Or a slanted line to be really basic. That's an echelon formation.

When we went to meet the enemy, I took centre with Hoshino. To our immediate left was Serika, and behind us to the right was Shiroko, and further back in relation to her was Nonomi. The purpose was to give myself and Serika clear firing lanes, with Hoshino providing cover for me specifically. Shiroko could have enough clearance to use her drone if needed, while Nonomi could lay down suppressive fire without worry of hitting us while we advanced.

Sniper fire came in first. The first few rounds impacted Hoshino's shield, though none of it seemed to phase or slow her down. Each whip-crack echo bounced off the buildings, making it hard to tell where the shots were coming from. Or, they would have done if metallic thwack and the sparks spitting from the surface of the 'Iron Horus' weren't a dead giveaway. They were up ahead, posted up on the first floor of a sand-blasted office building. The shield, while effective, wasn't quite as convenient as Yuuka's. It wasn't omni-directional, but the trade-off was that it had no damage threshold or limited power supply from what I could see, so it really depended on if Hoshino kept the shield up or not.

It's a good thing Hoshino's so short as I had no problem shooting straight over her head, though the occasional brass casing hitting the top of her head had her almost pointing her shotgun at me a couple of times. Can't blame her, really. Those things are hot.

The percussive drone of Nonomi's M134 was almost deafening as it ripped cover apart and sent the Helmets scattering. Serika fired into the fog, as did Shiroko, both picking off isolated targets that got caught out in the open. From taking the occasional glance back to check Nonomi's position, the big smile on her face told me she was fine. More than fine, really.

Our advance was steady. A few minutes of fighting and the Helmets on the street were mopped up. All that was left were the snipers. This would require a little bit of CQB. I ushered the girls into an abandoned store, Hoshino taking fire with her shield as I kicked the door in. Serika did say I looked more like a door-kicker than a teacher, and she'd be right.

''Weapons check,'' I ordered, slotting a fresh mag into my own weapon as I did. Reloaded, the girls turned their attention to me. ''Snipers down the way. Taking them out from street level at their elevated position is an unnecessary risk. Sun Bun, I want you to force them into cover as much as you can. I don't expect you to take them out. Just keeping them from shooting at us is good enough. Shiroko and Sourpuss, provide overwatch. Make sure nothing gets close to Sun Bun.''

The girls looked between each other, then shrugged.

''Nn,'' was all Shiroko needed to... say? Is 'nn' a word? Whatever.

''I have a name, you know...'' Serika hissed, much in the way of a feline about to scratch your eyes out. I would know. I've encountered them in Kivotos before, and it's safe to say they don't like me much. Feeling's mutual, furry little bastards. Thinking about it, maybe that's why Serika doesn't like me. Cat ears and all that. Thoughts for a later date.

''What about you and Hoshino-senpai, Sensei?'' Sun Bun inquired cheerfully.

''Sidelining an old lady, Sensei?'' Hoshino's voice seemed nonchalant, but I could pick up on the judgement within. I was curious about what she was expecting.

''We're going inside. Either we flush them out where you can finish them off, or we deal with them then and there. Sleepy's shield and shotgun will be ideal, and my experience should help this go smoothly,'' I said.

''You've done this before, Sensei?'' Shiroko asked, here eyes fixed squarely on me. I may have to be careful what I say. Some of my students may start asking for explanations, and I'm not very good at lying. So, as ever, I deflect.

''Many times. Now let's get-''

''Sensei, more Helmet Gang are inside that building. Not sure why, but more of them are ferrying ammo in through the back. Could be that there's a larger force than we thought,'' Ayane informed me.

''Good work, Spyglass,'' I said, ''prioritise enemy movements. Getting flanked is the last thing we need.''

''Um... Spyglass, Sensei? What does that mean?''

I sighed. Then I turned to the girls with Ayane still on the comms.

''I'll get this out of the way now. The nicknames I've given you. I'm shit with remembering names, so until they stick, your nicknames are just gonna be it.''

Serika narrowed her eyes at me. ''Why doesn't Shiroko have one, then? You've remembered her name well enough.'' A good question, Serika. One I wish I had the answer to.

I shrugged. ''Beats the dog shit outta me, Sourpuss. No clue.''

''Fine, but the ones you picked. Why are they... well, like that?'' the cat-girl pressed, ''Ayane's is cool, I guess. Nonomi's is-''

''I like my nickname!'' Sun Bun beamed. See? That's why she's Sun Bun.

''Sure, whatever. Hoshino-senpai's is obvious. But then,'' I suddenly felt as though I was about to be on the receiving end of Serika's special ammunition, ''there's mine. Sourpuss. What. The. Hell?''

''Cat ears and grumpy. It made sense to me,'' I said flatly. Wrong answer apparently. As Shiroko and Nonomi had to physically restrain Sourpuss (kinda proving me right, Serika), I had already moved on. ''We've stayed here too long. If our enemy were smart, they'd have already come out in force to flush us out. Luckily for us, they're not. They still in one spot, Spyglass?''

''Yes, Sensei. Seems like they're setting up a base of some kind. With it so close to the school, they could launch attacks more frequently. And with them attacking so frequently-''

''They could harry you until you ran dry of ammo and supplies, making capturing the school trivial,'' I finished.

''Exactly. It already occurred to us that that's what they were doing, but they must really know how bad things are getting for us,'' she said gravely. At least Ayane's clued in. I had a feeling she was a smart girl.

''Alright. Our new objective is two-fold. First: Sleepy and I will enter and neutralise the Helmets. Second: we seize anything we can for ourselves. We'll signal when it's clear for you to enter. Understood?''

''Nn,'' Shiroko answered first, ''but are you sure it's a good idea. Close quarters might be too dangerous for you.''

''It is dangerous. But I'm experienced. And besides, I'm your teacher. I refuse to send you to do anything I wouldn't do myself,'' I explained.

''Hueh~ making a good show of yourself as an adult, Sensei? It's a bold tactic, but I like it,'' Hoshino said, keenly observing me still. As a teacher, I need to lead by example. No different than being a Squad Captain. First in, last out. If they were gonna work with me, then they needed to trust me.

''Let's go.''

Nonomi took up position in the middle of the street, her M134 spinning up before blasting out a torrent of lead at the first-floor windows. The windows and wall were quickly obscured by brick dust, working to our advantage as the breeze blew the smoke toward the enemy, meaning the room would become just as dusty as the outside. This made mine and Hoshino's advance all the easier as we left Shiroko and Serika with the happy heavy-gunner.

''The Kata-Kata Helmet Gang's forces have begun to move, Sensei! Careful on your entrance,'' Ayane said hurriedly.

''Understood,'' I replied. We stacked up on the door, myself behind Hoshino and her Shield as she blasted the hinges of the door, then kicked it down. I was impressed by her breaching technique, honestly. We rushed in. I checked my corners, spotting one Helmet with a shotgun hiding in a room. I rounded the corner with my UMP45 trained on her, but she didn't seem to be hostile. Instead, she seemed scared. Ordinarily this would be an easy kill or a prisoner for the taking, but alas, she's still a student.

I held out a hand and she relaxed.

''Give that to me,'' I ordered and she immediately froze up again, ''please?'' I tried smiling, but my frown only deepened. She dashed past me and Hoshino and left the building. Oh well. At least she dropped her 1301 for me. A quick check confirmed it was loaded.

The sounds of gunfire were a percussive din of roaring explosions in such close confines. My ears were already ringing as gun smoke began to fog the air. Hoshino's shield took everything thrown at it, while the small girl systematically blasted everyone she saw, sending Helmets sprawling and unconscious.

From the far end of the hallway, an object bounced off of the shield and got behind Hoshino. Seeing it, I recognised the grenade and pounced towards it. Scooping it up, I rolled to my feet and tossed it back, where it exploded between us and the sender. Shrapnel shot out, shredding the floor and walls around it and making debris rain down as the square ceiling tiles were blown to bits. A brief stinging sensation was the tell-tale sign some small pieces had sliced my face in some areas, but I was otherwise fine.

Hoshino looked over her shoulder at me and gave an approving nod and lazy smile. She said something, but the ringing in my ears rendered me all but deaf. But I could read her lips.

''Nice save, Sensei,'' she'd said. Then she frowned, seeing the trails of blood on my face. I didn't want to waste time on a status update, so I just gave a thumbs-up and motioned to continue. How hadn't that deafened her? She was closer to the explosion than I was. However, engineered as I am, it was quickly passing. My hearing was kinda muffled for a few hours afterwards, though.

Moving up the hallway, we passed by multiple rooms. We each picked a direction and fired into them, taking out whatever Helmets lay in wait for us. I took a few moments each time to scrounge whatever 12-gauge shells I could, fixing them into the shell carrier mounted to the 1301 and slipped others into my webbing.

But something strange happened in one particular room. I ended up getting caught unawares. I heard the blast of a Beretta 1301 behind me, but instead of getting my back ripped apart and myself thrown forward in a heap of shredded meat, I turned to see that not only was I in one piece, but the area surrounding me was littered with shot.

''That was close, Sensei!'' Arona suddenly spoke in my earpiece, finishing speaking just as I unloaded a 12-gauge shell of my own at my attacker, knocking the Helmet out, ''you need to be more careful! I can only protect you so much.''

''That was you? How?'' I questioned with genuine curiosity.

''The Shittim Chest is more than a tablet, Sensei. It can do a lot of things if I want it to. Like protect you from bullets and even explosives. But it drains me, so I can't do it too much,'' she said, sounding a little disappointed in herself.

''I'll keep that in mind,'' but hearing her tone, I wanted to try and cheer her up, ''I could have used a Lieutenant like you back home. Genuine life saver. Thanks.'' And I meant it too. According to my service record, I have been killed in action on thirteen separate occasions. May seem like a lot, but it's actually on the lower end of the scale. Two deaths via headshot, blown up three times, mauled to death once, crushed once, stabbed to death twice, burned to death once, mowed down by machine gun emplacements twice, and atomised once. How they confirmed the last one, I'm not sure. Not like there was any evidence of me left after that. Point is, if I had Arona with me at the time, that list would be even shorter.

''Any time!'' she sounded happier now. Good. Here I was thinking putting the Shittim Chest in my rucksack was a bad idea. Guess I was wrong.

''Hold on, then what about the shrapnel? Cut my face pretty good.'' I received no reply. Still haven't even as I'm writing this. I have my suspicions that my second-in-command had been napping up until I nearly got minced by that shotgun.

Hoshino had gone on ahead, dealing with whatever resistance was still inside the building. Judging by the sounds, she'd already advanced to the first-floor while I was talking with Arona. Her shotgun made a muffled krump through the ceiling with every trigger pull, accompanied by side-arms from the snipers trying to fight back. The firefight was already over by the time I got up there.

''That about wraps it up, I think,'' she said as her shield slid back into its more compact form. I nodded to her and pressed a finger to my earpiece.

''Spyglass, building is clear. I repeat, building is clear.''

''Understood, Sensei. I'm surprised you went in as well, but I guess it worked out,'' Ayane said with relief, ''can you check for any supplies while you're in there? I know they were carrying ammo in there through the back, but there might be other things we can use.''

''Right. I'll signal the others to come in and do a full sweep of the building.''

Hoshino and I waved to Shiroko and Nonomi from the windows, and they quickly entered. They kicked up a fuss about the cuts on my face, but I quickly dismissed it. We found no more hostiles, but we did find the cache they'd built up in the basement. All of the boxes looked similar to how ours did back in my world, being rectangular metal boxes. They were black, but had a familiar logo on them. As a bonus, there were crates of rations mixed in.

''Kaiser?'' I said aloud. I'd seen that name on billboards and the scrolling displays on many of the buildings back near the Schale building. However, I knew nothing about them, until now. This was a clear indicator that they were some kind of arms manufacturer. But I'd also seen their name on the construction vehicles rebuilding the streets after the operation to retake the Schale building. So perhaps they did more than make weapons and ammo.

''Biggest corporation in Kivotos,'' Shiroko said as she crouched next to me to inspect the box. Her intonation didn't change much, but the frown on her face suggested there was something more to this.

''Look at all this!'' Nonomi was practically glowing as she and Serika began digging through the boxes. In their situation, as I had been many times, I'd have been glad, too. It was rare to find even a fraction of this out in the field. Occasionally, my squad and I might be lucky enough to hit a convoy or find a command trench and raid the armoury, but I can count those occasions on one hand. However, for as good as securing this cache was, there was a problem.

''Moving all of this quickly won't be feasible without transport. And my truck's sat two miles back without fuel,'' I told them. Shiroko already knew this, of course. And it was her who had a solution.

''We can find a gas station, Sensei. I know where one is. We can go on the bikes and load up,'' she said.

''I got some jerry cans in the back of the truck. If we're quick, we can be outta here before the Helmets wake up,'' I replied.

''Take your time, Sensei,'' Hoshino said and yawned when I turned to her, ''we'll take their weapons away and keep an eye on them while you're out with Shiroko. All this ammo's worth it, I think.''

I didn't have an alternative or any real problem with the idea, so Shiroko and I made our way back outside and headed towards the school. Once there, we updated Ayane on the situation before mounting up and heading back to my truck, the journey taking about half an hour.

As I'd expected, conversation didn't come easily between us. Mostly because I'm... well, me, and Shiroko just seems like a quiet girl with the social skills of drywall. Huh, she's more like me than I though if that's the case. But that didn't mean I hadn't noticed her observing me. It seemed harmless enough, so I didn't make anything of it, but it just felt like she was making up her mind on my involvement with her and her school.

I lit up a cig when we reached the Humvee, opened up the driver's side door and fetched four jerry cans, dropping them outside. I put the cans on the handle bars by their handles, leaving enough space for me to still use the brakes.

''You're good at this, Sensei,'' the wolf-girl said suddenly. I looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

''Good at what?'' I replied. She couldn't have been talking about my conversational skills, as they're about as atrophied as could be.

''Fighting. Most people without halos run away when the shooting starts. I'd heard about what happened at the Schale Club Room. You led a team of students against a whole gang,'' she summarised.

''Getting shot at isn't anything new, Shiroko. But how'd you know about that operation?'' she fished her phone from a pocket and showed me a news site detailing what myself and the girls had done when I'd first arrived. There was CCTV footage showing different angles of the engagement, as well as myself, Yuuka, Hasumi, Chinatsu, and Suzumi at different stages of it.

''Alleged 'Sensei' blasts onto the scene. Can he correct the delinquents of Kivotos?'' I read one of the headlines. Correct them? Sure. I'll correct all of them. None of them will be left behind. I promised Mio that much. Even if I have to shoot them, as I did with some of the Helmets. One day, I won't have to shoot them, because I'll have corrected them. Maybe some with more force than others, but I'll get there one day.

''Nn,'' Shiroko scrolls down, showing brief clips of interviews with the girls as they gave their statements about that day's events. Below them, students had 'liked' the clips. I didn't understand any of this at the time, but Arona explained all of the social media jargon at a later point. ''You're already well-known, Sensei. A lot of people are keeping an eye on you.''

''That right? Like who?'' this news made my permanent frown deepen. I didn't like the idea of unseen eyes keeping tabs on me. It hadn't escaped me that with the situation in Kivotos being what it is, there could be students and other people besides that might not see my arrival as a good thing. Then, Yuuka had warned me about this. I'd been using the internet to buy weapons and equipment, while others had been using it to gather information about me. Is this a threat? Do I need to destroy the internet? But if I do, then how am I supposed to resupply? I suppose I could always just steal what I need, but that might make me more enemies than I need. You win this time, internet.

''Important people. Prefect Team. Pandemonium Society. Justice Task Force. Tea Party. That's just a few,'' she said.

I knew about the Prefect Team and Justice Task Force already. Two of their members had been with me that day. Chinatsu and Hasumi, respectively. They must have reported back to their superiors about the Schale reclamation and me. Following that logic, Yuuka is a part of Seminar at Millennium, so they must also know about me. But the Pandemonium Society and Tea Party are new to me.

''Any members of note?'' Shiroko then showed me who had liked the posts. I recognised Yuuka, Chinatsu, Hasumi and Suzumi straight away. Mio had also liked them, adding her own comments about how 'totes awesome' I am.

There were others, too: Sorasaki Hina. Amau Ako. Kirifuji Nagisa. Misono Mika. Kenzaki Tsurugi. Nakamasa Ichika. Midori Saiba. Momoi Saiba. Master Foxsploder? What? Still no idea who that is. Ichinose Asuna. Hatami Erika. Yozakura Kirara. The Abydos girls, sans Hoshino. Nemugaki Fubuki. Kyougoku Satsuki amongst a shit-tonne more names. My arrival hadn't gone unnoticed. I found it weird that Rin hadn't shown up, though that might have been because of her position.

Even weirder? Only two other names stuck in my mind the moment I looked up from Shiroko's phone. Sorasaki Hina and Misono Mika. Like Shiroko, their names were seemingly laser etched into my memory immediately. Others were half-remembered, meaning that whatever connection I had to them was still deeper than average. But those two, Hina and Mika... maybe, just like with Shiroko, I'd have the same feeling of having spent a lot of time with them, too. I'd just have to meet them to confirm it.

Shiroko explained – in her appreciably brief style – that I was on the radar of some of the most powerful organisations in Kivotos, and the students therein. Hina is the head of the Prefect Team, rumoured to be one of, if not the most potent student in Kivotos. Nagisa, while not sharing that reputation, was commonly known for her political proficiency, so logic dictated that both were dangerous enemies to make. Tsurugi is the captain of the JTF, and known for her brutal methods of combat and a madness that makes her akin to a wild beast on the battlefield. Here I thought Hasumi was the leader, but that just shows what I know.

That said, the sun was reaching its peak, as was the heat. Against my better judgment, I took off my jacket and plate carrier, leaving just my black t-shirt, rucksack and webbing on my torso. I dumped them in the truck, then followed Shiroko to the nearest gas station.

I'll end this entry here, as nothing of particular note happened for the rest of the day.

This concludes the report of Squad Captain Alpha-07.

Callsign: Adam

Serial Number: 071-AC-837-A-07

Signing off.


Hi there. Been a while. So things to address. Adam discovering the Shittim chest can mitigate incoming damage is revealed much, much earlier here. However, for people who haven't yet got to that part of Blue Archive's story, I'm not going to spoil how Sensei discovers that. Given how Adam is, I figured it only makes sense that he'd find out about that feature a lot sooner. I'm also planning to introduce a new element. A unique antagonist for Adam. It always seemed that different aspects of Blue Archive go underutilised or unexplored. Especially the robot people. Sure, we get the soldier robots, but can other robots stand out? With this antagonist, I want to introduce him as a robot that's a match for even powerful students, with Adam as his particular target. I'll get into the particulars of his character within the next chapter or two and big him up a bit. Also the next chapter won't be from Adam's POV. Quite a few chapters will be what I call ''Unwritten Records'', basically meaning they're third-person POV chapters more focused on what the students think and experience.

Anyway, that's it from me for now. If you enjoyed the chapter and the story so far, feel free to fav, follow and review. Until next time.