The joint-operation began on the stroke of midnight.
With a shattered moon now shining between the December clouds, Symphogear Team-04 waited inside their van for further orders from the head of the operation, all while preparing themselves for anything they were about to uncover within an elusive Illuminati hideout. Clan Hida designated Team-04's target location as "Site-4", and their investigation into it was about to be the group's first ever mission with their newest field operator, Shinonome Aiko. While Komichi, Lanfen, and Aiko quietly sat inside the inert vehicle with its windows all armoured up through deployed steel plating, Yuki relaxed in the driver's seat, a can of coffee held in one hand as an opened suitcase rested on her lap.
Yuki could hardly complain when Tsuchiya suddenly requisitioned her a full case of Clan Hida's regularly-issued equipment. In addition to granting her a full restock of smoke bombs, the latest model of the Clan's half-mask rebreathers, and about a dozen of Hida's newly-designed kunais, Tsuchiya went out of his way to gift her one particular item that Yuki never thought she would ever see herself owning: a vial of revivification.
Gossip surrounding these vials always circulated within S.O.N.G. and Clan Hida alike. As the rumors tended to describe them, a single vial of this translucent liquid could reinvigorate a person from the brink of death while simultaneously boosting their physical capabilities, allowing one to pull off feats which only regular humans could ever dream of doing. The ingredients required to make this particular miracle juice were completely unknown. But Yuki sure as hell knew that Clan Hida was capable of manufacturing about four complete vials in total within a single year. Putting her vial safely aside for now probably sounded like a good idea.
While Yuki began strapping on her new ninjutsu equipment alongside a standard-issue firearm, Komichi sat in the passenger seat beside her, still occupied with tying up her hair into the practical shape of a bun. On the other hand, Lanfen and Aiko were in the back, quietly exchanging sweet-talk with each other about whether or not Aiko's S.O.N.G. uniform suited her. Just like Yuki herself, Aiko had chosen to don the masculine variant of the organization's navy-blue outfit. It was a decision that left Komichi as the only person among the four who decided to forgo a decent pair of pants. Komichi would - of course - never show regret over her choice to prioritize style over practicality.
After concealing her twentieth-or-so kunai within the confines of her uniform, Yuki placed her empty coffee can and suitcase aside before hauling her butt off the driver's seat, letting the woman slowly make her way over to the conversing pair in the van's rear. She couldn't help but notice how different the 'vibes' around them were lately. "Ai', 'Fen," Yuki called them as she deposited herself onto a seat right next to their Adaptor, "are ya both ready for tonight?" Her casual question prompted an eager nod from Aiko while she sat in front of the van's large terminal. In contrast, Lanfen only responded with the slightest of shrugs.
"I shall do my best to not disappoint," Aiko promised them with one pale hand held over her chest. The large fringe of silver that concealed half of her face couldn't do anything to hide the flickering excitement within Aiko's golden eyes. "As long as we rely on each other, I'm sure we will be able to fulfill our objectives without any issues."
Yuki couldn't stop herself from lightly smirking at Aiko's enthusiasm. Typical of a newcomer, she thought to herself. Still, Yuki was always grateful for any optimism to be had during a mission, so she wasn't about to go out of her way to dim it down so quickly. While Yuki heard Komichi subsequently answer an incoming transmission at the van's front, she shifted her pupils over to a leather pouch on Aiko's belt, and wondered if her essential intake of daily medicine was anything to worry about during a situation like tonight. Before Yuki could think any further about this, she switched her attention over to the group's lone Adaptor, and quickly noticed the way Lanfen's purple eyes were gazing at Aiko. Her concerns for their new teammate's safety were completely unspoken, and yet, completely obvious all the same.
Lanfen was easier to read than a children's book sometimes.
Out of a small attempt to calm down the Wielder's worries, Yuki lifted one arm from her side before playfully bumping her knuckle against Lanfen's shoulder. The brief gesture visibly yanked the brown woman out of whatever thoughts she was previously preoccupied with. "No need to start overthinkin', 'Fen," Yuki tried to tell her with a thumbs-up for good measure, "unless we receive any orders to escalate things, all you and Ai' have to do is sit tight and leave things to Komi' and I. Got it?"
Lanfen answered with a curt nod after briefly fiddling with the ends of her braided hair between two gloved fingers. "Right." She then cleared her throat and rested one hand on her hip. "Just... keep your eyes open out there, Yuki."
S.O.N.G. wouldn't be deploying them both if they weren't capable of a few nasty tricks or two, Yuki mused within her head. Even though Aiko was the most vulnerable one out of their little quartet, Yuki had already made the quick decision of providing her with a stun-pistol before they arrived. If Aiko's ability to learn was as good as her files implied, then the lessons Komichi provided her in the shooting range just this afternoon should keep her perfectly safe. S.O.N.G.'s stun weapons were perfectly non-lethal too, so there wasn't any need to worry about getting Aiko's hands dirty if she actually needed to pull the trigger.
A loud clap of the hands suddenly arose from the van's front. When the trio at the back all turned their heads towards it in perfect unison, they noticed Komichi finishing up the motions of dismissing a holographic projection from her wrist device. "We've just received the order to head out," the brunette formally declared, her hair all neatly tied-up now. "Let's finish this quickly, shall we?" Komichi added with a cheeky wink. "Every maiden needs her good-night's rest, after all."
Everyone kicked into gear without a wasted second.
Aiko focused her attention on the van's built-in terminal while Lanfen remained in her seat as both Komichi and Yuki squeezed past them on the way to the van's backdoors. After taking a moment to prepare themselves for the freezing temperatures outside, Yuki swung open the back, allowing the descending snow beyond it to immediately flow into the van before they even disembarked. Surrounding the inert vehicle were the towering trees of a pitch-black forest. The nearest city was kilometers from where they were and multiple scans from S.O.N.G. confirmed the absence of any civilians within the vicinity. Once both Komichi and Yuki had their legs knee-deep in the forest's snowy floor, they closed the doors behind them, letting the van return to a perfect hiding state which was provided by the stealth-field its outer walls generated.
The sleek night-vision visors they swiftly donned made their surroundings appear as clear as day before their eyes. A swift hand signal from Komichi afterwards conveyed the order to get moving. Following their memorized procedures, the first thing the departing pair did was to make their way towards a marked location on their wrist devices' holo-maps. A pair of floating camera drones that had been deployed by the van accompanied the two women from behind on rings of experimental hover-tech. The snow beneath them made simply walking a tedious task, but both of them had faced far worse during their earlier missions with S.O.N.G. anyway. Playing the role of an Adaptor's support team was - if anything - a reprieve from their previous duties.
By the time they arrived at the marked location, the cloaked van was a 10-minute trek away, giving Yuki the cue she needed to announce their presence by letting out a short, distinct whistle between her lips.
The soft tune gently slipped out of her before it proceeded to float through the rustling branches of a snow-covered forest.
Komichi had one hand placed on her firearm's holster the entire time. Yuki was prepared to instead rely on her new kunais if things suddenly turned south.
While a blanket of silence continued to drape itself over their goggle-lit surroundings, light from a shattered moon peeked through the forest canopy, shining what little luminance it could onto their snow-peppered uniforms.
The eventual arrival of a second whistling noise eased up Yuki's grip around the hilt of a concealed weapon. Clan Hida was here.
Within the span of a single second, a shrouded figure dropped down from a nearby tree branch, causing no noise at all even when they landed on the forest floor. As Komichi continued to keep one hand on the holster of her firearm, Yuki sheathed a drawn kunai, and slowly lowered her head in acknowledgement of the approaching figure. Yuki could recognize the hooded garb, steel headband, and half-mask of Clan Hida even from a mile away. So, when the arriving Hida operative returned her formal greeting with the exact same gesture, Yuki lifted her head back up before waving a hand for Komichi to take it easy.
"I'm pleased to see that you two have safely arrived on time," the Hida operative respectfully began, his voice audibly muffled by the shadowy uniform he donned. "You may call me 'Kamashiro'. Accompanying my presence are five warriors of Clan Hida, all of whom you may know to have already deployed ahead of us. We look forward to cooperating with you, Symphogear Team-04." Once Kamashiro's formal report came to its conclusion, the man held out one hand, and showcased an open palm that was carrying a pair of prepared comm beads.
While Komichi returned the pleasantries in Yuki's stead, Yuki curiously glanced at the man's waist and noticed a distinctive one-handed blade which was currently tied to his belt: a Hida-type wakizashi. Such a weapon could sever human limbs without much trouble and were rarely permitted to be fielded on missions unless the situation necessitated it. They really weren't sparin' any expenses tonight, Yuki mused to herself, taking one comm bead for herself after Komichi had taken hers. A quick tap on their worn beads subsequently linked up the pair to the current head of the country-wide operation.
"AG-4-1. AG-4-2," Yuki recognized the incoming voice from this afternoon's emergency meeting. "This is Kagami speaking. I will be issuing orders for tonight's joint-operation. Therefore, I am hoping that your team will be able to provide us with acceptable results despite SG-r04's recent track-record."
One or two instances of Lanfen disobeying orders were apparently all it took to gain a 'reputation'. Not that Yuki actually agreed with it, that is. Kagami always came off as a stick in the mud in her opinion. And it wasn't as if everyone else in S.O.N.G.'s Adaptor Corps were compliant little soldiers either. "Sure, sure," Yuki responded with an exaggerated shake of the head which she directed at both of their awaiting camera drones, "but if ya got time to worry about 'Fen, then ya got time to get things done. Let's just get started already, yeah?"
As Komichi silently sighed in response to Yuki's transparent disregard for communication etiquette, Kamashiro voiced his silent agreement with a hand signal before wordlessly taking the opportunity to lead the way towards their target location. To none of Yuki's surprise, the Hida operative required no form of gadgetry to navigate through the pitch-black darkness around them.
The ensuing trek beneath a shattered moon went on in complete silence between the operation's commander and the actual boots on the ground. The only sounds being made came from each crunching footstep that Komichi and Yuki took on the forest floor. With Kamashiro strolling right ahead of them alongside a pair of camera drones on his flanks, Yuki gazed past them with her night-vision visor and used its binocular feature to get a better look at what lied beyond the forest edge. There, she could see a large manor slowly coming into view, providing them with the first visible building in the past hour or two. Its complex architecture wouldn't look out of place in most prefectures, but when situated in the middle of nowhere like this, it practically radiated a suspicious energy which only a top-secret hideout could emit.
"AG-4-1, this is your stop."
Just as Kagami addressed Yuki by her designated number, the traveling group halted in their approach, all while two additional figures quietly slipped out of the darkness in the same black garb of Clan Hida. After revealing their positions wholesale, the newly-arrived duo gestured over to a circular, metal hatch that was built into the earth's soil under the cover of the forest floor's accumulating snow. Everything about it matched the estimated structural layout which Team-04 went through the trouble of memorizing.
"I'm guessin' that we're splitting up?" Yuki said into her comm bead.
"Affirmative, AG-4-1," Kagami continued. "I want you, Yaguruma and Kageyama to investigate the lower levels of the hideout and report your findings. Meanwhile, AG-4-2 and Kamashiro will rendezvous with three other operatives to infiltrate the manor from ground floor." The redhead's following words were as sharp as they could've sounded over Hida's secured transmission line. "Nobody is allowed to engage the enemy until I give the order to do so. Have I made myself clear?"
Yuki shared a small raise of the brow with Komichi beside her before the ponytailed woman approached the nearby hatch with Yaguruma and Kageyama right at her side. If she was remembering things correctly, the two operatives were an almost inseparable pair who were more talkative outside of a mission rather than during one. "Affirmative," Yuki responded with one hand on her comm bead, "just don't be surprised if communication gets difficult underground." While Kagami began relaying the rest of her orders to the operatives around them, Yuki looked over her shoulder and shot Komichi a two-fingered salute. "Stay frosty, Komi'," she said with a smirk, "I'll see ya on the other side."
Komichi replied with a momentary stick of her tongue and the usual wink of her eye, "You are always so dramatic."
Now that their next move was confirmed, Yuki's momentary tag-alongs got the underground hatch open by slicing through its thick metal using the blades of their pristine wakizashis. None of what came afterwards was anything Yuki hadn't seen before. The short years she spent training with Clan Hida made everything almost mundane, if anything. With one floating camera drone assigned to Yuki's group, the separating trio headed down a long, metal ladder which descended deep into the depths of a cramped, dirty shaft. Aiko's controlled drone was the first to head down. Yuki was next, followed by Yaguruma and Kageyama. The clacking of footwear against the ladder's metal steps almost felt like it was going to go on forever until Yuki eventually found her footing on the floor of a large, spacious tunnel.
There was only one visible path to go down next and it was right up ahead.
No detected life-signs so far, judging by the lack of any alerts over their comms.
Once both of Yuki's companions had their feet off the metal ladder, Yuki slid out a kunai into each of her palms and approached the far end of the tunnel with silent footsteps. Her nostrils could pick up the distinct stench of exhaust fumes in the air and nothing about the tunnel gave off the impression that it was marked in any way with the Illuminati's usual security measures. It was admittedly boring to see, but the organization was practically a shell of its former self at this point anyway. The only thing left to worry about the Illuminati were their recent murders, and Yuki sure as hell didn't need any of that in her mind when the Distortions were already a problem for everyone.
Approaching the end of the large tunnel, Yuki stopped in front of the metal double-doors before them so Aiko could begin running an environmental scan of what lied beyond the secured exit. They waited for exactly five seconds and Aiko's voice soon came over their comm bead's secured lines. "No hostiles detected. You may proceed with caution, Yuki."
Yuki tapped on a nearby, dirt-caked control panel and the double-doors silently parted, revealing what looked to be an enormous, underground vehicle bay with multiple cargo transports all lined up in perfect order. Stacks of metal crates could be seen no matter where they looked, providing the trio with plenty of cover to hide behind as they skulked through the perimeter underneath the cover of shadows. Since the bay was partially lit by means of a few flickering floodlights, Yuki switched off her night-vision visor before peeking out of her cover to examine their surroundings with a camera drone floating beside her. Judging by the warning signs that were plastered all over the crates, each and every one of them contained secured pods of Alca-Noise shards.
Breaking open a box wouldn't immediately release the engineered weapons. But that didn't erase the mere danger the Noise posed to regular humans.
The distinct hiss of an opening door was soon heard. Yuki and the others slid back into the shadows and kept their ears open while Aiko's camera drone hid between Yuki's legs. The clacking of footsteps rang out. And then, voices. Yuki counted at least four arriving hostiles.
"Once we've emptied out the main database, we're leaving," a deep voice declared. "Lady Lotte is providing us only an hour to bring whatever we can carry. I suggest you finalize your decisions with haste."
A shrill voice responded afterwards. "But what about the others? Surely, she doesn't actually intend to-"
"They are a necessary diversion, Acolyte," another voice chimed in. "We'll be long gone before they even notice anything. And if S.O.N.G. is already in pursuit, then we will require whatever we can use to make our escape possible."
"It would not be the first sacrifice that Lady Lotte has made us carry out," a fourth voice added. "The price we pay for our salvation will never come cheap."
Twirling her readied kunais within the palm of her hands, Yuki reached for her wrist device, and began inputting a message in the form of Morse code. A tap of a holographic prompt soon after relayed the detailed report of their current situation all the way back to the van. Yuki then waited for ten agonizingly-long seconds with Kageyama and Yaguruma both ready to spring into action until Kagami's voice eventually came over their comms again.
"Secure the area with extreme prejudice, AG-4-1," she steadily commanded them. "We require only one person for questioning."
A nod from both of Yuki's tag-alongs confirmed them having received the same exact orders. The hostiles in the area were still conversing without any hint of alarm in their voices. The kunais in Yuki's hands were perfectly ready to spill iron across the walls. And she could only wish that she was simply relaxing back at her hometown underneath a warm blanket with Otome. As Aiko's camera drone continued to float between Yuki's legs, the ponytailed woman signaled Kageyama and Yaguruma to get into better positions before they carried out their little ambush. In the blink of an eye, the duo slipped out of sight, and Yuki waited for them to reappear while she remained where she hid.
But as Yuki felt a bead of sweat slowly trickling down her cheek, her eyes caught a blur of azure moving within the corner of her vision.
She immediately swung her gaze over to her right and caught the glimmer of a glass object which soon fell to the floor just a few meters away from her.
Before Yuki could even react, her hearing caught the sudden shattering of a single Alca-Noise shard.
"No hostiles detected. You may proceed with caution, Yuki."
For every second that flew by within the safety of Symphogear Team-04's concealed vehicle, the hands of the pocket-watch which Lanfen held in one palm would move in perfect sync, giving the Adaptor something other than the terminal's screens to fixate her attention on while the others carried out the operation. This was a situation that called for the surgical precision of an infiltration team, and it was an aspect which Lanfen could never really associate with a Symphogear, let alone the Sword of Damocles. Nonetheless, anything could happen during a mission. And until a severe threat actually reared its head, Lanfen kept herself preoccupied with the gift that Aiko had granted her just this morning.
Tick-tock. Tick-tock.
When a distinct 'itch' slowly manifested within Lanfen's sword-hand, the Adaptor clicked her tongue, and closed up her pocket-watch before placing it back beneath her monochrome undershirt. Now that Aiko's Christmas gift took the very same place where Lanfen's pendant used to hang from, the ruby-like crystal which encased her relic shard currently sat within the metallic buckle of the Adaptor's belt, ready to be deployed into her hands through the mere tap of a small side-button. As Lanfen tried to contain her persistent thirst for a bit of action by biting down on her chapped lips, she glanced at the field operator sitting in front of her, and saw the way her pale hands weaved across the terminal's control panel.
Her fingers danced at speeds faster than even Komichi could pull off. And even though Aiko bore the task of constantly relaying information back to the head of the operation, the vigilant nature of her duties could not distract Aiko from controlling the flight paths of the infiltration team's deployed camera drones.
She was a complete natural at this, and to the eyes of a stranger, her actions would probably give no impression at all that her first night in the S.O.N.G. uniform involved the very organization who once deemed Aiko to be 'discarded equipment'.
"Secure the area with extreme prejudice, AG-4-1." Kagami's orders were loud and clear over the terminal's speakers. Just like her doubts about Lanfen's own capabilities. "We require only one person for questioning."
The Bavarian Illuminati. Aiko made it quite clear that she had no interest in finding out who she once was. But a part of Lanfen always desired to uncover the reason behind Aiko's circumstances, let alone how and why she came to be inside that Illuminati pod to begin with. And if an uncovered recording of the secret society was anything to go by, it was also the Illuminati who could first be pointed at in order to understand why the Distortions arrived on their world. With almost nothing concrete to actually show - both to the public eye or any paranormal task force - circulating rumors on the internet were starting to insinuate the idea that the Distortions were man-made constructs instead of the interdimensional monsters they appeared to be. Lanfen could only find the whole thing to be completely idiotic.
A high-pitched alert subsequently blared from the terminal's speakers.
Lanfen felt a twitch instantly jolt through her entire sword-hand at her side. After the Adaptor got off her seat so she could focus her full attention on the multiple screens before her, Aiko held a hand to her headphones to swiftly relay a report back to the head of the operation. The trepidation within her words betrayed just how new Aiko actually was to her current duties.
"Command, sensors are picking up a surge of energy from within Site-4!" she exclaimed, all while overlaying the terminal's screens with sensor readings and numerous data reports. "I am unable to contact AG-4-1 and I have lost connection with Drone No.2. I repeat: I am unable to contact AG-4-1 and I have lost connection with Drone No.2!"
The blooming signatures they were suddenly picking up practically engulfed their sensors to the point of obscuring everything they else could be seeing. Nothing about it matched the tell-tale appearance of a Distortion rift. As Lanfen's sword-hand subconsciously tightened its gloved fingers around her metallic buckle, the Adaptor pursed her lips and waited for Aiko to provide additional information about the situation. Things were occurring faster than Lanfen anticipated. And it only took several inputs into the control panel for Aiko to bring up a visual feed coming straight from the van's other available drone.
The field operator immediately drew in a sharp breath. "That's...!"
While the terminal's calculations went on to match the detected signal pattern, the drone which accompanied Komichi and the rest of the Hida operatives provided the pair with a clear look of the massive, translucent half-sphere that was steadily expanding from within Site-4's estimated perimeter. It was an eldritch construct their database's archived information eventually identified without any chance of a mismatch: an Alca-Noise Barrier. Though rarely utilized by the Illuminati because of the experimental nature behind the Alca-Noise responsible for generating it, S.O.N.G. knew from pure experience that escaping from one was utterly impossible without a Symphogear.
"Command!" Aiko exclaimed again after calming herself down with a single deep breath, "I am now detecting heat signatures rising within Site-4! Sensors confirm it to be a single Illuminati vehicle that is about to make its way out of the area!" Her fingers clacked onto the terminal's control panel, bringing up a readied input which would cause the van's backdoors to swing open the moment they received the permission to deploy. "Alca-Noise presence confirmed! Command, please state our next recommended move!"
Every second that went by without an immediate response from the head of the operation made the twitching in Lanfen's sword-hand increasingly difficult to ignore. When Kagami finally responded, the redhead's words made the Adaptor grit her teeth. "SG-r04, divert your attention away from the Alca-Noise Barrier and prioritize on apprehending the escaping Illuminati craft." There was no sense of disregard behind Kagami's orders, only the cold touch of a final conclusion. "We can't afford to let them leave without whatever they may be carrying. Therefore-"
"I can't just leave Yuki and the others!" Lanfen spat in response, even if she was now speaking completely out of turn. The mere thought of turning a blind eye towards endangered people was enough reason to profess second thoughts. "Command, please reconsider focusing on the infiltration team first," she tried to argue. "If I'm quick enough, I should be able to keep up with the Illuminati before they can even get away!"
"Negative, SG-r04," Kagami coldly replied, "you have your orders. The danger the Illuminati could continue posing to the public is a risk too high for us to take. Apprehend the escapees first and then we'll consider a solution for the Alca-Noise. The rest of the infiltration team are already preoccupied with engaging Site-4's hostile occupants." There was a brief pause in the middle of her commands. "Remember, SG-r04, what happens next will reflect greatly on your records." Before either Aiko or Lanfen could debate with Kagami any further, the audio transmission cut off, leaving the pair completely to their own devices.
The knuckles on Lanfen's sword-hand immediately pounded against the van's inner walls with a thunderous clang. She could not be serious, Lanfen screamed within the back of her mind, fully realizing that she would have to abandon her own teammate if she was going to be a compliant member of the Adaptor Corps. It was unbelievable. Even though Kagami currently held the reins of the ongoing joint-operation, Lanfen could not - in good faith - call herself a Symphogear-Wielder if this was the path she was about to walk down. Lanfen wouldn't be able to look at Kaburagi in the eye again if she did so.
"Lanfen," Aiko gently called out to her, prompting the Adaptor to glance over her shoulder until she could see the field operator slowly taking off her headphones. Through a few inputs into the control panel, Aiko temporarily shut off the van's audio-receivers, preventing anyone from possibly eavesdropping on them. "... What do you intend to do?" The piercing gaze which accompanied her one question felt like it was staring right into Lanfen's aching chest.
When the Adaptor met those golden eyes with her own purple pupils, she felt the twitching within her sword-hand begin to cease, even the briefest of moments.
In the end, her decision was obvious.
On the day Lanfen broke into a rampage across Yamaku City, it was both Komichi and Yuki who defied their orders to try and save her. It was an act that Lanfen would never stop blaming herself for. And now here she was, faced with the opportunity to settle at least one out of many debts to her friends. Whether or not her relic pendant would answer to her song in a situation deprived of Distortions, the Adaptor could not know, but she still needed to try. Even as the designed "Symphogear-Destroyer", the Sword of Damocles was the one power in her hand which could turn this whole situation around. It was just like what Yukine had advised her on the day before Christmas.
"Even if we can't figure out why someone gave ya that thing... What matters in the end is what ya do with it, right?"
Lanfen fastened her grip around her belt's metal buckle and slowly drew in a practiced breath. When the stiffness in her shoulders slowly faded away, the Symphogear-Wielder put on the smallest of grins, and witnessed the soft, understanding smile that Aiko now wore. No words were required to actually say anything. Both of their feelings were clearly understood without misconception and misunderstanding.
"Good luck, Lanfen. I'm counting on you."
Aiko's gentle words heralded the confirming ring of an inputted command.
The van's armoured backdoors swung open to reveal the pitch-black forest outside.
Lanfen's combat boots subsequently pounded its soles into the forest floor and falling droplets of ice melted against her brown skin, all while the Adaptor clicked a single button on the side of her belt-buckle. Underneath the gaze of a shattered moon above, Lanfen parted her lips, and gave herself in to a power she hesitated to even wield right until this very moment.
"Valtorah Damocles sen zizzl."
In response to the ringing hymns of her transformation chant, a crimson light enveloped Lanfen from head-to-toe. Black-and-white fibers then wrapped themselves around her physical form, all to the exhilarating howling of trumpets and saxophones. As a glimmering, three-point crown slammed itself onto her head to connect with her headphones, Lanfen thrusted her arms into a pair of dark gauntlets, granting her the physical strength to turn back an entire army. Armoured boots soon encased themselves around her legs, automatically locking into place while the chess-piece pauldron on Lanfen's right shoulder powered to life with a deep roar. The electro-swing jazz which then flowed out of her armour's speakers began blaring without restraint, declaring the full formation of the Sword of Damocles.
The second footstep Lanfen made across the forest floor was made with an armoured boot constructed of pure heretical technology.
Even when she was still far from the forest edge, the crowned warrior could clearly see the distant Alca-Noise Barrier shining like the light at the end of a long tunnel.
Black-and-white flashed before Lanfen's eyes. The steel letters in her vision slammed onto a cracking chessboard, declaring the name, "Queen Quicksilver."
Armour slid forth from her headphones' casings, forming a sleek, blank mask over her face with a large pair of circular, compound eyes. With a few audible clicks, her face-shield docked itself with her three-point crown as the Queen chess-piece on her right shoulder followed up by emitting a powerful thrumming noise. The power generators stored within the pauldron soon kicked into life, sending a wave of revitalizing energy throughout the Adaptor's entire body.
Falling snow halted mid-air all around Lanfen. The howling, winter winds froze in place. And the briefest of seconds stretched into the time span of a dozen pounding heartbeats. With speed beyond Lanfen's understanding now within the proverbial palm of her hand, the crowned warrior's white mask projected a holographic timer in the corner of her narrowed vision.
Ten seconds.
The soles of her armoured boots pounded into the snow, sending chunks of flying white onto the trees nearby while Lanfen proceeded to blitz through the entire stretch of the forest in the form of a black-and-white blur. Descending crystals of snow exploded spectacularly upon contact with her rushing body, harmlessly bursting into pieces against her Symphogear's protective barriers. By the time Lanfen sped out of the forest edge and onto the perimeter of the Illuminati manor, the half-sphere Alca-Noise Barrier had reached its full size, swallowing up a full-half of the entire manor estate.
Eight seconds.
The crowned warrior stampeded into the giant, translucent dome without a second thought. There was only one way to get inside and it was through a straight path right into enemy territory. And as Lanfen practically threw herself against the glowing surface of the Alca-Noise Barrier, the Adaptor felt a tidal wave of stinging energy engulf her entire form, causing Lanfen to grit her teeth beneath her deployed face-shield.
The winter wonderland of a Japanese forest instantaneously vanished from Lanfen's sight.
In its place was now an expansive landscape of barren rocks and glowing crystals, all which laid beneath a never-ending ocean of a billion, glittering stars. No matter where Lanfen directed her attention within this subspace pocket, she witnessed hordes of Alca-Noise clambering across the deserted land, all to encircle three individuals who were visible in the far distance. The scanners beneath her white mask confirmed the ongoing life-signs of Yuki, Kageyama, and Yaguruma.
Six seconds.
Lanfen fastened her fingers around the grip of her Armed Gear and drew its golden cross-guard out from her black hip armour. With a ringing schwing, the Sword of Damocles sprung forth its thick blade, ready to begin the crowned warrior's first ever encounter with the dreaded Alca-Noise. Under the effects of her Symphogear's superhuman speed, both the Noise and the endangered operatives appeared frozen where they were, stuck in the motions of an ongoing fight for their lives while Lanfen's boots pounded rock after rock with each thunderous step.
Four seconds.
A thirsting Armed Gear soon began reaping through the horde that stood between the crowned warrior and the surrounded infiltration team.
Each thrust and slash was blinding, precise, and completely without mercy.
Since a simple touch from these eldritch abominations meant a death sentence for any regular human, their immediate elimination became a top priority for Lanfen to accomplish before she even came face-to-face with her companions. It did not matter how many of these monsters stood before the crowned warrior. The Sword of Damocles dismembered whatever its thick blade met without any resistance and turned every visible hostile into another casualty. As the distance between Lanfen and Yuki grew shorter and shorter, the Adaptor quickly saw the single Alca-Noise that was standing behind her teammate, ready to impale Yuki right through the chest with a large, spiked arm.
Two seconds.
In one smooth motion, Lanfen split open one of her gauntlets to expose the wired harpoon resting inside it. Through a tightening of her first, the harpoon launched outward and combined with the pommel of her Armed Gear, tethering the sword to her left gauntlet. After taking a single, graceful step on the barren rock beneath her armoured boots, Lanfen hurled her sword toward Yuki's attacker with the force of a speeding rocket, skewering the closest thing the Alca-Noise possessed to an actual head on its shoulders.
The crowned warrior subsequently tugged on her gauntlet's extending wire, expertly retracting the Sword of Damocles so she could begin whipping her tethered Armed Gear through the surrounding Alca-Noise horde with the viciousness of a striking snake.
The gauntlet's wire wrapped and unwrapped around Lanfen's body, perfectly manipulated through a combination of momentum and the usage of Lanfen's four limbs.
Like a field of wheat beneath the blade of a harvester's crop scythe, the Alca-Noise were cut down and slain, all while Lanfen's soaring Armed Gear reflected off the crimson lenses of her pure white mask.
Within moments, the horde around the endangered operatives became nothing more than a crowded mass of severed limbs that were all frozen mid-air.
Zero seconds.
Dozens of Alca-Noise exploded into crimson heaps of fresh alkahest in perfect unison. The bladed weapons of Yuki and the two Hida operatives continued on swift attack paths only to cut into the remains of already-defeated monsters. As the loud humming within Lanfen's shoulder pauldron died out, the crowned warrior skidded to a halt in front of the trio and retracted her faceplate back into her headphones' casings. Instead of the mouthful of blood she had become used to vomiting out after using Queen Quicksilver, Lanfen only felt several beads of sweat trailing down her face along with a temporary wave of weariness. Professor Elfnein's recent improvements to her Symphogear were evidently just what Lanfen needed.
"'Fen!" Yuki exclaimed, a pair of kunais still gripped in her hands, "I'm not one to complain about being able to tell Death to kiss my fucking ass, but I think your job isn't exactly done just yet!"
After confirming the lack of any injuries on both Yuki and the two other Hida operatives through but a short glance, Lanfen brandished her Armed Gear, and turned around to see a fresh horde of Alca-Noise charging towards them from but a single direction this time. The built-in speakers of her Symphogear had turned silent. The Labyrinthian-type Alca-Noise responsible for the Barrier was still nowhere to be seen and the crowned warrior knew they could not afford to waste any more time inside this subspace pocket. Thus, Lanfen pulled up an armoured hand from one side, and slowly plucked out the ruby-like converter unit which was situated on her chest.
The Sword of Damocles instantaneously revealed a glowing, crimson slot situated right in the middle of its golden cross-guard.
Yuki was quick to flinch at the sight of the crowned warrior's memorized motions. "Wait... Don't tell me Kagami gave you the order to-?"
"... It's fine, Yuki," Lanfen reassured her in a low voice, even when she could still feel a distinct trembling coursing throughout her sword-hand's fingers, "I won't lose control. I promise." Lanfen's declaration sounded like they were aimed at herself rather than her own teammate. And yet, Yuki gave no further protest. Instead, she took a cautious step back and signaled for the confused Hida operatives to do the same. The quiet pair quickly did so after visibly recognizing just what Lanfen planned on utilizing.
The spearhead of the Alca-Noise horde was getting close enough for Lanfen to hear the indescribable vibrations their eldritch bodies constantly emitted. The same vibrations that many innocent civilians once heard before they were turned into bits of raw carbon.
Tightening her fingers around the golden grip of her Armed Gear, Lanfen inserted her detached converter unit into its manifested slot and thumbed the crystal into place, causing a curved, silver trigger to slide out of the weapon's handle.
The Sword of Damocles was reacting to her will and it awaited the final steps of the procedure with silent diligence. All communications with the outside world were cut-off as long as they were inside this space. Nobody was going to know about the S.W.O.R.D.'s utilization unless somebody here said something. But in the end, this was not a fight to satiate the proverbial fires within Lanfen's eyes. Nor was it a battle to quench her sword-hand's thirst for satisfaction. It was a mission to rescue people, and if it meant wielding the damnable blade which she had learned to dread for so long, then it was a price Lanfen was willing to give into wholeheartedly.
This payment was her own personal decision.
And it was her own will which allowed her to declare the command word that was sitting right on her tongue.
"Fall."