By the time Lanfen was finished with the last of her phone calls, the setting sun had disappeared into the horizon. A shattered moon took its place in the night sky, surrounded by a ring of debris that had been orbiting the lunar body ever since Tachibana Hibiki's battle against the so-called creator of the Symphogear system. It was a quarter past 7 o'clock and Lanfen couldn't bring herself to eat. Confirming the death of her little sister to the staff members of Yaman Academy had sapped away whatever strength remained in Lanfen. Subsequently conversing with multiple government officials over the phone regarding Kai's remains only ensured the lack of an appetite for the rest of the evening.
Despite the sheer number of fatalities the city was struggling to accommodate, S.O.N.G. had apparently gone through the process of initiating Kai's cremation before Lanfen even stepped inside her apartment. She could only guess that either the Commander or Tsuchiya had a hand in this. But in the end, she didn't care to find out. Her little sister was gone, and the only thing Lanfen could do now was to continue her physical training within her apartment's practice room. Having changed into a black tank top and a pair of white shorts, the room's lone window provided Lanfen a clear view of the ringed moon which sat in the skies as she rummaged through her storage chest's training equipment.
The wooden jian sword Lanfen eventually retrieved could not replicate the same sensation that coursed through her whenever the Sword of Damocles was in her grasp. It was slimmer, shorter, and barely a quarter of its weight. Utilizing the knowledge her Symphogear had implanted deep within her brain, Lanfen subsequently accustomed her body's muscles to a variety of fighting techniques, sword forms, and practiced strikes with the Chinese sword replica. To keep herself motivated, Lanfen left her wrist device on top of the room's storage chest, all while it projected a hologram displaying the numerous images S.O.N.G. currently recorded on Kai's killer. Every practiced swing Lanfen made became strikes which channeled the proverbial, flickering fires within her purple eyes.
With a practiced flourish of her wooden sword, Lanfen slid her jian into a sheathe at her hip and slowly exhaled. She then wiped the accumulating beads of sweat on her forehead and went over to a corner of the room to grab a bottle of sports water. Lanfen downed half of its contents in one go as the length of her sheathed weapon rested on her shoulder beside her black braid. Even though Lanfen's Symphogear granted her superhuman agility, strength, and endurance, the Adaptor could not ignore the need to maintain her body's own physical prowess. All that power would only be for naught if Lanfen was taken out of a fight before she could even initiate her transformation. A risk she could ill-afford to let happen.
A ringing from Lanfen's wrist device subsequently pierced the practice room's heavy silence. Noticing it to be an incoming audio transmission from Commander Genjuuro, Lanfen went over to the chest on the opposite corner of the room and crouched down in front of it. She made sure to rest her practice weapon on the matted flooring before tapping onto the device's holographic prompt. "Is there an available mission for me, Commander?" Lanfen sharply asked, taking another swig of her sports water.
"Actually, no. If anything, it's been rather quiet on your front, Lanfen," the Commander answered her in a relaxed voice. "I'm just calling to check on you now that you've arrived back home. So far, Komichi and Yuki's reports tell me that you've been keeping to yourself. Not that it's a bad thing, of course."
Lanfen glanced aside at the wooden weapon which laid at her feet. The feeling of a sword in her hand - whether it be a replica or a real weapon - was quickly starting to become as natural to her as wielding a pencil. "I'm just preparing myself for my next assignment, Commander," Lanfen stated, placing an emptied bottle on top of the chest next to her wrist device. "I can't expect the Distortions to arrive when it's convenient. And it's not like I've anything else better to do anyway."
She needed to wait for a couple of seconds for the Commander to resume speaking. "I see. I honestly assumed you would be resting up after everything you've been going through over the past few days."
Lanfen lightly scoffed. Wiping her mouth with the back of one hand, she dryly responded, "Sleeping hasn't exactly been easy after being told what the council expects of me, Commander."
"That's... understandable." The Commander loudly cleared his throat and continued. "Regardless, I apologize for calling you like this all of a sudden. We simply felt that it was necessary to first give you some time to take in your duty as the Wielder of the SG-r04. Since this is a private transmission, you are free to voice whatever thoughts you have on your role as an Adaptor." An abrupt pause from Commander Genjuuro emphasized his next words clearly. "Not a second of this will be put to record, just so you know. You have my word on that, Lanfen."
Upon hearing such a statement, Lanfen desired to express nothing less than vulgar profanity. It was the only sentiment she could reserve for the so-called 'world council' who ordered around the Symphogear-Wielders like pieces on a chess board. But in place of an honest condemnation, Lanfen instead chose to provide a few hush words. "It's not an easy duty they've given me. Being sent out to fight Distortions is something I have no complaints with. But the task I'm expected to fulfill regarding the others... is a whole different thing entirely." She hoisted her practice sword from the matted floor and slowly drew out a part of its wooden blade in front of her face. "That is all I'm willing to say, Commander."
"You can find no disagreements from here," the Commander said, sounding almost as tired as Lanfen was. "But while I cannot deny the burdens the Sword of Damocles is undoubtedly placing on you, I will point out that your mere status as the SG-r04's Wielder is ensuring our direct support from the council, Lanfen. Many of their members have shown themselves to be fearful of the power we hold, especially after the Shem-Ha Incident. It doesn't matter to them that this same power is what saved the world all those years ago. Our mere existence is seen as a potential danger which needs to be reined in, even if it's to the complete detriment of everyone."
Lanfen needed to let out an empty chuckle. Placing her sheathed sword beside the room's storage chest this time, the Adaptor leaned back against a cold wall and huddled her bare legs close to her chest. Lanfen's brown skin felt damp from all the sweat her training had been accumulating. "All these years of fighting, and their best course of action is to try and shoot themselves in the proverbial foot, huh?" Her dry jest roused a small laugh out of the Commander. "It's hard to believe that this was the one idea they've chosen to go with. They could've at least told me the damn truth the moment they tried to recruit me."
"I know, Lanfen. I know." The Commander audibly grunted in annoyance. "Sadly, this is not a situation which will budge in accordance with our opinions on the matter. We don't have the luxury of going against the council's orders unless we're willing to cease our efforts in protecting the world. Whether it be sending out our Wielders to their liking, or utilizing the S.W.O.R.D., S.O.N.G. has no choice but to follow the directives it's given. If anything, I would count ourselves lucky that they're not keeping you on a tighter leash. I won't doubt the possibility of them having thought about treating you more as a living weapon at some point."
Scowling at the mere mention of her Armed Gear's secret weapon, Lanfen stared at the translucent hologram that hovered over her wrist device while a question manifested itself on the tip of her restrained tongue. Upon reminding herself about how nothing related to this transmission was going to be put to the proverbial papers, Lanfen began to see this conversation as the best opportunity to ask something which had been festering within her mind for the past hour.
"Commander." Her words were firm. "Pardon me if this may sound sudden. But, would it be advisable to... distance myself from the rest of the other Wielders...?" It took far too long for Lanfen's question to actually come out. "While I'm thankful for the kindness they've shown me, it personally doesn't feel right familiarizing myself with those whom I might have to... put down."
The Commander went silent on his side of the transmission. The quiet felt almost agonizing while Lanfen waited for an answer. When he finally spoke again, it was in the same steadfast tone he would utilize whenever Commander Genjuuro gave out his orders. "Although I do not have the authority to make you finalize your decision, I will stand by whatever choice you choose to make in the end, Lanfen. You're a part of S.O.N.G. just as much as the rest of its Adaptor Corps, regardless of what the council expects of you, which means putting our trust in your abilities like all the other Wielders. As the Tactical Commander of S.O.N.G., I will only ask that you not lose yourself to whatever you're choosing to hang above your own head."
Lanfen pursed her lips and dug her fingernails deep into the skin of her knees. The stinging pain it conjured reminded Lanfen of how she was still alive, even though it felt like a curse to her, and her alone. "Understood, Commander," Lanfen uttered with barely an ounce of strength in her words. "I apologize for having second-thoughts about my duties. On the very day I've been recruited, no less," she hastily added afterwards. " I promise it won't happen again."
"We all have our own regrets, Lanfen. It's fine," the Commander gently reassured her, clearly noticing the growing stress in Lanfen's tone. "Try and rest up whenever you can. I'll have to get back to my own duties now. Good night."
Once the audio transmission switched itself off from the Commander's end of the line, the projected holograms above the Adaptor's wrist device returned to the grainy, unclear photos of a cloaked being. Lanfen had to wonder where Kai's killer could be hiding right now. The creature who took her little sister's life was still out there, free to return, and potentially capable of taking more lives with whatever power it wielded. Last they met, a combination of Lanfen's hesitation and inexperience had given it the opportunity to strike before she could even blink. Reaching the same heights as the other Wielders in a short amount of time was not a realistic expectation. Even so, Lanfen intended to ensure that her skills with the Sword of Damocles would be on a level capable of taking down the monster responsible for Kai's death by the time of their next meeting.
It was the one thing which kept Lanfen going. And for now, she simply needed to train. Both in her practice room and on the battlefield itself.
Unexpectedly, her device's projected hologram switched back to another incoming audio transmission. This time, the caller's contact ID was that of operator Fujitaka Sakuya. Pulling her sweating body up from the matted floor, Lanfen grabbed her equipment and pressed it against her left forearm. The device's extending strap automatically locked itself around the Adaptor's wrist before Lanfen tapped onto the holographic prompt to answer the transmission. "This is SG-r04, Cassandra Jiang Lanfen, reporting in."
The lack of immediate urgency in Fujitaka's words indirectly signaled the absence of any danger. The operator sounded more puzzled than alarmed, if anything. "Lanfen, we've just detected an unidentified energy signature within the outskirts of Yamaku City. We'd like your team to investigate it and report your findings as soon as possible. Tomosato has just alerted Komichi and Yuki about this, so you can expect to meet them downstairs once you're ready."
The apparent scarcity of any combat disappointed Lanfen. But orders were orders, she reasoned with herself. "Understood," the Adaptor responded. "SG-r04, heading out."
Clicking her tongue at a sudden twitching within her sword-hand, Lanfen dismissed the transmission and stored her practice sword back inside the room's storage chest. After securing it with a key, Lanfen headed into the living room and opened up the suitcase which Tsuchiya had provided, allowing her to don the same winter clothes Lanfen initially wore on the evening of the Distortions' global attack. It was simply more convenient than heading back into her bedroom to ruffle through her closet. Once Lanfen had slid her smartphone into a jacket's pocket, the Adaptor grabbed her pendant, rushed out of the apartment, and headed downstairs by means of an elevator with a black-and-white scarf now wrapped around her neck. The S.O.N.G. crew evidently carried out an excellent job when it came to repairing her axe-torn clothing.
Lanfen shivered from the incoming winter winds when she stepped out of the apartment complex's brightly-lit lobby. Rubbing her hands together for warmth, Lanfen quickly spotted a large, black van that was waiting for her in front of the tall building. Godai could be seen in its driver seat with a can of coffee held in one hand while Ayano took the passenger seat beside her. When the pair simultaneously spotted the Adaptor, Ayano rolled down her door window and began beckoning her over. Similar to Lanfen, both of them had chosen to forgo their navy-blue S.O.N.G. uniforms for regular civilian wear.
"Hop in the back, Jiang!" Ayano told her with a cheerful smile.
Responding through a curt nod, Lanfen stepped over to the back of their van and pulled open one of its back doors. She was immediately taken aback by the sight of a large computer terminal which took up an entire side of the vehicle's passenger area. Comprised of the same communication devices and scanners Lanfen had observed within the submarine's command center, there was still a noticeable amount of room for at least 2-to-4 people to gather in the backseats, even when the inert terminal occupied most of the space in the van's rear. A cursory glance at all the sophisticated technology their organization utilized left the Adaptor partially relieved at how her job demanded nothing more from her other than combat.
Lanfen promptly climbed into the vehicle's back and closed the door behind her shut before securing herself with a seatbelt. The van's engine rumbled to life as Ayano brought out her wrist device to ring up the submarine's command center with its built-in communicator.
"This is Team-04. We're now heading out to investigate the area."
As the van made its way through Yamaku City's bustling streets, the toy that dangled from Lanfen's smartphone softly jingled from the vibrations which coursed through the vehicle. Its ringing sounded like a gentle melody to the Adaptor's ears while she rested in her seat, eyes closed shut to try and stave off the exhaustion she could sense slowly creeping up on her. Were it not for the incessant twitching within Lanfen's fingertips, she most likely would have been able to actually catch up on her sleep. The events of today didn't help. The same could be said of the fact that her new teammates were primarily here to monitor her. Even though Lanfen appreciated the sentiment they had shown her so far, none of it could not change the purpose of their membership within Team-04.
Opening her tired eyes, Lanfen rubbed her aching temples with one hand, and glanced over to the front of the vehicle to see Ayano inputting multiple precise commands into her own wrist device, constructing a holographic map of the area to guide their vehicle towards their destination. The Adaptor could not see how much farther they needed to travel due to the distance between their seats, but Lanfen could at least notice from the view outside the van's windshields that they had already exited Yamaku City. As the armoured van now made its way through the prefecture's forests, their vehicle's headlights kept the snow-covered roads up ahead completely illuminated.
Ayano let out a long, unshielded yawn before she peeked over her shoulder to notice a half-awake Lanfen in the backseats. With a cheerful grin on her face, the brunette shuffled around in her seat to face the Adaptor behind her. "Ready for your first mission as part of Team-04?" Ayano asked, typing another command into her wrist equipment in order for its holographic map to be conveniently placed right between her and Godai.
Lanfen was starting to wonder if Ayano herself even remembered why S.O.N.G. had assigned the pair to her in the first place. "Sure, as long as Godai avoids getting us into a car accident," Lanfen dryly replied, tightening the black-and-white scarf around her neck with both hands. The computer terminal which sat opposite of the Adaptor barely gave her legs enough room to stretch their aching muscles. "Aside from our orders to investigate the area, is there anything I haven't been told about regarding our mission?"
With her attention still directed towards the snowy roads up ahead, Godai answered Lanfen's question, "Other than something about a 'strange energy signature' near the mountain? Nothin' else, really. We get called to handle weird stuff like this all the time." The ponytailed woman casually reached for her second can of coffee in the driver compartment's cup holder and held it up with an easy-going smirk. "Normally, I'd be worried about runnin' head-first into some paranormal shtick, but since we've got a Wielder tagging along, I think this trip should be a quick one for us."
"Staying up late is bad for a maiden's skin, after all," Ayano chimed in, holding up one finger in a matter-of-fact way. "If there's any danger, I'm sure that our dependable junior will be able to take care of it without much trouble!"
Lanfen warmed up her bare, freezing hands by slowly breathing into their palms. The three of them were undeniably on a mission, and yet, the pair's conduct instead gave off the impression that they were on a mundane school trip. Bringing up her own wrist device to display a holographic map of Yamaku City's outskirts, their van was now only a couple estimated kilometers from their destination. Since the energy signature's location had been located somewhere within the forest, a long stretch of ground would have to be carried out on foot once they had driven as close as they could. Withdrawing the translucent map back into her wrist equipment, Lanfen covered it up with her winter jacket's sleeve and then looked back towards her seniors at the front.
Despite the primary task the two women had been saddled with - along with the proverbial sword which Lanfen currently held over the heads of the other Wielders - Ayano and Godai were undeniably cordial to her. It was honestly strange to Lanfen. The Adaptor expected at least one of them to be more uptight in their duty to keep an eye on her for anything suspicious.
"Jiang," Ayano called her, flicking a small candy into her mouth with a satisfied hum, "do you have any kind of music you wanna listen to?"
Music. The very aspect that Lanfen's Symphogear wielded in order to channel its paranormal powers. While she had no particular fixation for any specific genre, band or singer, Lanfen's battles thus far gave her an answer to quickly reply with. "Jazz," Lanfen tentatively stated, still finding herself partially withdrawing from her two seniors. "Any kind is fine."
Ayano gave the van's driver a soft nudge in the arm. Godai promptly flipped a couple switches which were built into her steering wheel. Awakened with a soothing jazz tune from its speakers, the vehicle's stereo slowly permeated the cold air with a relaxing rhythm of saxophones and pianos. Lanfen found it to be similar to the same tunes she would always play out in her living room. Closing her eyes shut again, the Adaptor began lightly tapping her foot on the van's floor in accordance to the track's catchy beat. She could hear the pair at the front resume their playful banter as the three continued their careful drive throughout the snowy outskirts.
Lanfen didn't track how much time had passed since Godai switched on their stereo. While she still could not fall asleep, the jazz tunes that entered Lanfen's ears at least caused the stiffness in her shoulders to completely disappear. Every few minutes, Ayano and Godai would also initiate a sort of playful debate with one another about some mundane topic before the two eventually agreed to some silly conclusion. None of their conversations could break Lanfen out of her meditative state. But when the van's computer terminal started ringing right in front of her with an ear-piercing noise, the Adaptor's eyes shot open to see the large 'WARNING' alarms which were now flashing across its multiple screens.
"Enemies-?" Lanfen was cut off by the loud screeching of the van's halting wheels. Stifling a pained grunt, Lanfen almost bit off her own tongue as the vehicle's sudden stop nearly threw everybody out of their seats. The Adaptor heard a loud curse from Godai at the front. Lanfen quickly snapped open her seatbelt to rush towards the head of the van where Ayano was loudly whining from a mild bump on the head. Lanfen was about to ask if either of them were injured when a deafening thunderclap proceeded to blast across the skies up ahead. "That's..."
A 'crack' in reality.
Without any meaningful warning beforehand, a large Distortion rift had manifested amongst the clouds around the same vicinity as their intended destination. Ayano reached for her wrist device and tapped into its communicator. But in the process of contacting the S.O.N.G. submarine's command center, Ayano's communicator projected the prominent, holographic notification of a disconnected network. Godai and Lanfen mimicked her motions only to receive the same results once they had also brought up their built-in communicators' holographic interfaces. In just those few inconclusive seconds, a titanic crack in real-space expanded into a pulsing rift of glimmering amethyst. The reinforced walls of their halted van muffled out the loud, inhuman wailing that came afterwards.
"Oh, great," Godai muttered, now climbing out of the driver's seat and squeezing past Lanfen to access the van's blaring terminal. While Ayano desperately continued to try and contact S.O.N.G. command, Godai dropped herself down onto the terminal's designated chair with her fingertips on its user interface. Lanfen went over to the taller woman's side as Godai inputted a few blinding commands and activated the van's scanners. "We've got a couple Category-1s coming through the rift. Blade-Types. Damn things came out of nowhere and now- Wait..."
Both Lanfen and Godai spotted another alert amidst the constant warning signs of incoming Distortions. The field operator ran her fingers through the terminal's keys and a single, clinical announcement appeared on one of the screens next to the Adaptor, causing Lanfen to slowly widen her eyes at its submitted report.
"Civilian life sign detected."
A single civilian signature.
In the same approximated area as the enemy's predicted zone of descent, no less.
Grasping tightly on to the shimmering pendant which hung underneath her monochrome scarf, Lanfen's body practically moved on its own accord when the Adaptor kicked open the van's backdoors, giving her the physical clearance to jump onto the snow-laden concrete outside.
Lanfen could hear Ayano and Godai desperately calling her to wait for further orders. And yet, it was too late. Lanfen had already bolted off directly into the forest tree-line.
While her lips drew the icy air into her lungs, the howling of the winter winds resounded throughout the snowy forest, unable to impede a transformation chant's hymns from echoing out of Lanfen's throat.
"Valtorah Damocles sen zizzl."
A crimson light enveloped Lanfen, covering her body with black-and-white fibers to the excited howling of trumpets and saxophones. Her armoured boots locked themselves shut as Lanfen sped through the forest floor. Dark gauntlets encased themselves around her arms, allowing Lanfen to bash aside the tree branches in her path as though they were fragile twigs. The chess-piece pauldron on her right shoulder powered to life with a loud hum and the three-point crown on Lanfen's head glimmered like the stars in the night sky. The Adaptor could hear her teammates attempting to contact her through Lanfen's black-and-white headphones, but the team's van had long disappeared from her eyesight.
Stomping across thick snow that blanketed the floor, the thermal containment field of Lanfen's Symphogear system retained her body heat in the face of the freezing weather. Through the gaps in the forest canopy, Lanfen was able to catch glimpses of the growing rift, giving her a strong indicator that she was sprinting in the direction of her arriving enemies. Unsurprisingly, the farther the crowned warrior headed into the snowy forest, the worse her twitching sword-hand became.
Lanfen eventually hurtled out of the tree-line and skidded to a halt upon reaching a large, spacious forest clearing. While the pulsing rift hovered high in the skies above the forest glade, Lanfen's purple eyes fired a contemptuous glare at the emerald knights who were marching around the area, swords held in their hands as their backs all faced the arriving crowned warrior. Lanfen quickly drew a bladeless weapon from her hip. Fastening her fingers around its handle, metallic screeching pierced the air, created by the thick blade which had sprung forth from the Sword of Damocles' golden cross-guard. It was only then did the Distortions finally turn around to notice the Symphogear-Wielder who was brandishing an Armed Gear with a deep scowl on her face.
But when Lanfen's enhanced vision caught sight of a distinct humanoid shape, the intensity in her eyes instantly disappeared.
Moonlight from the celestial body above shone its faint luminescence onto the clearing, illuminating a figure situated right in the middle of the gathering battle automata. There - lying completely still under the cold white - was a person. The descending snow had covered them head-to-toe in a blanket of accumulating frost. While the emerald Distortions began trudging towards the crowned warrior with their crude weapons in their grasp, Lanfen's heart pounded against her ribcage, momentarily distracting her with a bloodstained memory she immediately forced into the rear of her mind.
"Not this time."
Electro-swing jazz blared from her Symphogear's speakers, chasing away the silence that permeated the forest glade. Apparently infuriated by the catchy rhythm of Lanfen's groovy tune, the Distortions stampeded towards the Adaptor with their swords raised high in the air. She counted between 12-to-15 enemies in her sights. With a casual flick of her wrist, the crowned warrior narrowed her focus on a single, armed Distortion which had chosen to instead approach the civilian who laid unconscious in the snow. The two-handed blade it dragged across the ground appeared large enough to cleave a small car in two.
"I'm not able to hear the girl I used to be. Will I ever touch those that I long for?" Lanfen stomped an armoured boot into the snowy floor and hurled her Armed Gear towards the lone Distortion. Rocketing past the approaching horde, the soaring Sword of Damocles impaled her target in the back and pinned its disintegrating body into a nearby tree before it could even lift its blade for an obvious execution. "I stare at those that I used to see. The monsters are begging for more."
Lanfen pounced on the first Distortion that managed to reach her. Clenching her aching hands into fists, the crowned warrior slipped under a savage strike before outright punching her attacker's head clean off its shoulders with an accompanying clang. As the decapitated knight started breaking apart, Lanfen seized one of its arming swords, and thrusted the appropriated blade into the neck-piece of another emerald Distortion. The colourful sand their bodies exploded into shimmered like emerald stars amidst a field of pure white.
"The cracking of my heart makes me scream. My tears have become an endless stream." Tumbling beneath another attack, Lanfen's armoured leg kicked her new assailant off its footing, leaving the Distortion vulnerable for her to leap above it and flatten its head beneath the soles of Lanfen's descending, metal boot. The proverbial fires within her pupils were hardly sated. "When will I be allowed a break from this world? The feelings deep in my heart are whirled."
Her left gauntlet split open and revealed the wired harpoon concealed within it. Hearing the approach of more opponents, Lanfen aimed her forearm towards her Armed Gear on the other side of the clearing and launched its tethered spear past the incoming knights. The harpoon subsequently slammed into the pommel of her affixed sword and mechanically combined with its handle. Hearing the confirmation of the connected weapon, Lanfen jumped into the skies, avoiding the bite of ten swinging blades entirely while her retracting wire reclaimed the Sword of Damocles back into her possession.
"Never knowing who is the true me inside. Allowing them to take me for a ride." Landing directly in the midst of the gathered Distortions, Lanfen hurled her tethered Armed Gear towards the knights and reaped through their dwindling numbers with the spinning ferocity of metal hurricane. Category-1s were nothing more than dispensable fodder in her eyes. Cheap chaff to quell her thirsting sword-hand's cries. As Distortions left-and-right were sliced apart into exploding clouds of emerald sand, her left gauntlet's wire wrapped and unwrapped itself around Lanfen, controlled via perfect manipulation of its momentum. "Am I meant to break free from it all? The voices are begging for me to fall."
Seizing her tethered sword again by the handle, Lanfen ripped the harpoon from its transforming pommel before withdrawing the wired weapon back into its closing gauntlet. She then turned around to face the last Distortion in her sights. Lanfen tossed the Sword of Damocles into her left hand and tightened her other palm into a clenching fist.
Black-and-white flashed before her eyes. Excited pianos accompanied a loud clicking from her right gauntlet. Steel letters slammed onto a cracking chessboard in her vision to spell out the words, "Knight Knuckle."
The remaining emerald knight lunged at Lanfen with a bastard sword which was twice the woman's height. Unfazed by its reckless assault, the gauntlet on her right forearm expanded with multiple, sliding layers of kinetic-absorbing armour. Its built-in harpoon retracted itself into the depths of her growing plating, replaced by a thick block of explosives that was stationed over the giant knuckle which encased Lanfen's clenched fist. While the Distortion thrusted its blade towards the crowned warrior's head, Lanfen felt a palm-size switch sliding into the grasp of her enclosed hand.
Sharpened metal grazed past her cheek, cutting just deep enough to provoke the spillage of sparks and ichor. With a flicker of proverbial fires in her eyes, Lanfen's fist crashed itself into the Distortion's chest-plate, caving in its torso as emerald metal crumpled beneath her thunderous blow like cheap tin foil. But Lanfen wasn't done just yet. Utilizing her magnified strength, Lanfen hoisted the howling knight over her head, a titanic forearm still embedded deep within its ruined chest. Hearing the rapid drumbeats from her Symphogear's speakers loudly cheering her on, Lanfen's thumb caressed the button of the palm-sized trigger within her encased hand's grasp.
"I won't allow my mind to hold me captive long. Molding my darkest thoughts into this song."
The crowned warrior squeezed down on the switch. The explosive block stationed over her knuckles rang with confirmation. An anticipated, violent detonation blossomed over her black-and-white gauntlet like an all-devouring sunflower. Lanfen's headphones shielded her hearing from the deafening roar that resounded throughout the snowy forest. While a gathered cloud of thick smoke slowly dissipated within the forest glade, Lanfen felt sand fall upon her bleeding cheek like a rain of emerald snowflakes. To her surprise, an ear-piercing wail erupted from the glowing rift in the clouds, audibly declaring how the giant tear in reality was already moments away from vanishing without a trace. No reinforcements this time, it seemed.
The giant mass of monochrome on Lanfen's forearm quickly shrunk back into its regular shape with a cacophony of metallic clicking. Retracting the blade of her sword back into its cross-guard, the Adaptor stored her Armed Gear at her hip and rushed over to the civilian who still laid in the snow. Although Lanfen still kept her guard up for any sign of lingering enemies, the crowned warrior wasted no time crouching down next to the frost-covered person before pressing two fingertips against their neck. Her Symphogear's speakers automatically silenced themselves right as Lanfen's hand made contact with the civilian's freezing skin to search for a pulse.
The thumping beneath her fingers. It was slow, but it was steady.
Letting loose a hush sigh of relief, Lanfen's hands proceeded to carefully dust away the snow which blanketed the civilian's body. With each batch of white she shoved aside, the Adaptor was slowly able to get a better view of whom she had just rescued. Judging from what Lanfen was able to examine, there were no signs of any external injuries for the Wielder to immediately concern herself with.
Finally pushing away the last bits of snow, the first thing that caught Lanfen's attention was the beige straight-jacket her rescuee was wearing. And with the disappearance of the rift above their heads, undisturbed moonlight fully shone down on the clearing, allowing Lanfen to gaze onto the youthful, pale-white face of an unconscious woman. If the crowned warrior's assumptions were correct, this person couldn't have been much older than Lanfen herself. Subconsciously drawing in a steady breath at the sight of the civilian's slumbering expression, Lanfen looked towards the messy, silver hair which concealed the entire right side of the person's face with its fringes, and blinked twice at its unusual colouring.
A faint groan slipped between the unconscious woman's lips.
Lanfen wouldn't have heard it were it not for the forest glade's ongoing silence.
Confirming the Distortions to be surely gone, Lanfen gently slid her gauntleted forearms underneath the civilian's body, and began lifting her up in a bridal-carry to spare the silver-haired woman the obvious discomfort of lying amidst the freezing snow. Medical care was not Lanfen's forte, but she at least knew that she needed to get this person somewhere warm for now. "A-Are... Are you alright?" Lanfen tried to ask her, hoping she would respond. Noting the silver-haired woman's twitching eyelids, Lanfen's delicate words appeared to have roused the rescuee from her slumber.
A pair of golden eyes slowly opened up and weakly stared back right at Lanfen's concerned gaze.
The crowned warrior sensed her grasp over basic linguistics outright disappear the moment the pale woman's flickering eyes seized her attention. Suddenly unable to direct her pupils towards anywhere else, Lanfen uttered no words while the silver-haired woman held up a struggling arm, and began caressing the bleeding wound which ran across the Adaptor's right cheek. Her soft fingertips felt cold to Lanfen's brown skin. From her quivering lips, the pale woman released a shaky, visible breath along with a stream of syllables that were too quiet for the Adaptor to even register. Just when Lanfen felt her voice return to her, the woman's golden eyes abruptly fell shut, concerning the Adaptor even when a pale-white hand continued to maintain a weak hold on the back of Lanfen's neck.
"H-Hey!" Lanfen exclaimed, growing increasingly worried about her rescuee's physical condition. Taking in a deep breath, Lanfen examined their surroundings in an attempt to remember the direction which led back to her team. "Don't worry. I'll try and-"
"Jiaaaaaaang!" a distant voice soon called out to Lanfen.
Spinning around on one boot with the unconscious woman in her armoured forearms, Lanfen spotted one of her seniors currently running over to them in a thick winter jacket. Ayano could be seen gasping for air from the long distance she obviously needed to cover without the physical aid of a Symphogear. "Ayano." Effortlessly kicking away the snow in her path, Lanfen went over to the panting field agent as the brunette caught her breath with both hands on her knees. "She needs our help," Lanfen swiftly told her. "Could you request a medical pick-up from command?"
Drawing one last gasp for air, Ayano dramatically plopped her hands on her waist, and visibly registered the sight of the silver-haired woman whom Lanfen held in a delicate bridal-carry. The Adaptor had to wonder just what was running through her senior's mind. Because the situation prompted little more than a curious, cat-like grin, and an exasperated sigh from Ayano. "Sure, sure. But please, don't run off like that again," she gently chided Lanfen, bringing up her wrist device to notice how its communicator was conveniently working again. "Since you're a part of S.O.N.G. now, you can't go around transforming willy-nilly, alright?"
"I-" Lanfen tightened her lips. "R-Right," she murmured afterwards, casting a regretful gaze onto her boots after realizing the recklessness of her own actions. "... Sorry about that, Ayano."
"Since the submarine's still in Japan, calling over a heli' should only take about ten minu-" The ringing of an audio transmission interrupted Ayano. Noticing it to be from Godai, Ayano tapped on the forming holographic prompt above her wrist device and increased the output of its speakers for their convenience. "Yuki, what's wrong?" she inquired out loud.
"I think I've found the source of the unidentified energy signature from earlier, Komi'. I'm sending you my location, 'cause you both might wanna take a look at this."
Withdrawing a holographic interface back into her device's communicator, Ayano and Lanfen wordlessly nodded in agreement before they headed off in the direction of Godai's location. Following the delivered coordinates their teammate provided, Lanfen made sure that the silver-haired woman in her arms was resting comfortably while they trekked into the forest tree-line. Minutes passed on without anything of note outside of walking past tall trees and trudging through carpets of snow. Eventually, Lanfen and Ayano arrived at a scene neither of the two had anticipated.
Lying down on its side next to a large, toppled tree was a metal, car-sized cylinder which could only be described as a 'pod'. Its door hatch was left open, revealing the small cushions and harnesses inside the pod's interior while smoke billowed from multiple cracks and tears on its metallic exterior. Godai stood beside the pod with her wrist device held up to access its built-in camera. The tall woman made sure to take a generous number of snapshots from every possible angle. When she was visibly satisfied with the images she had taken of the strange pod, Godai glanced over to her arriving teammates and whistled at the unconscious woman who Lanfen carried in her arms.
"If my guess is right, that lady over there was the one who was sleepin' in this thing," Godai remarked, lightly rapping her gloved knuckles against silver metal before walking over to Lanfen and Ayano. "Does this thing ring a few bells, Komi'?"
Ayano quickly left Lanfen's side to examine the smoking pod. While the Symphogear-Wielder herself could not understand any of the strange hieroglyphs that adorned its metal exterior, her senior identified the engraved markings without any apparent issues. "It's definitely an object belonging to the Bavarian Illuminati," Ayano declared, circling around the pod with one hand held to her chin. "If I'm remembering the reports correctly, this is supposed to be a hibernation device. Been a long time since we've confiscated another one of these."
'Bavarian Illuminati'. The name of the elusive shadow organization which Lanfen had read up on in S.O.N.G.'s database. Looking down at the silver-haired woman who rested in her hands, the straight-jacket she was wearing drew a concerned thought across Lanfen's mind. The woman's breathing was gentle despite the state they had found her in. But the Adaptor still contemplated what would have happened to this woman if Lanfen hadn't arrived as soon as she actually did. When the crowned warrior remembered the sensation of the woman's fingertips brushing themselves against her bleeding cheek, Lanfen felt her chest tighten ever so slightly.
"Whatever it's doing 'ere, it must've attracted the Distortions." Godai leaned against one of the snow-covered trees with her arms resting behind her head. "You might wanna call in a team to pick this up alongside us, Komi'. If there's one thing for sure, it's that we ain't heading back to the apartment anytime soon tonight."
With an overly-dramatic pout, Ayano stepped away from the smoking pod and brought up her wrist device. She tapped into its communicator and rang up the submarine's command center with a report on the situation alongside an extraction request for them, the pod, and the rescuee they had found. Tomosato could be heard confirming her requests as Ayano presumably headed off in the direction of their van. Meanwhile, Godai approached a quiet Lanfen and playfully bumped the Adaptor in the shoulder with her fist. The smirk that the tall woman quickly flashed was one which appeared to be directed at both Lanfen and the silver-haired woman in her grasp.
"Just leave the logistical stuff to us, Jiang," Godai reassured her, casually scratching the rear of her neck. "Oh, and since you're the one who found her, you're carryin' that lady till we can put her down somewhere comfortable."
Sharply nodding at her playful words, Lanfen wordlessly followed her two seniors from behind while they all walked towards their vehicle's current location. White snow loudly crunched beneath the weight of their footfalls. Conversation became sparse due to Ayano and Godai being currently preoccupied with their communicators. But it honestly didn't matter to Lanfen. She found it impossible to focus her attention on anything else other than the malnourished, pale-white complexion of their unconscious rescuee anyway. At some point of their trek, the slumbering woman had listlessly rested her head on the Adaptor's pounding chest, causing the warmth within Lanfen's cheeks to strangely increase by a slight degree.