Chapter 18: A New Dawn Part 1
The next day, Houki woke up with a feeling of excitement and anticipation. She almost couldn't believe it. Not only was she going to get her own personal IS but from her sister's description, it was going to be an incredible IS. Houki was unsure how accurate her sister's description was considering she said that it was more advanced than any unit out there, but then again, if anyone was capable of such a feat it was her. Houki was also unsure on when and where Tabane would deliver the IS. In hindsight, she should have asked about that but for her holding a conversation with her could be very frustrating. Houki decided to just go about her day and wait for it to show up. Knowing Tabane, she would likely deliver it when Houki least expected it. After going through her morning routine and getting dressed, Houki headed out towards the canteen for breakfast. In the canteen she spotted Ichika and Charlotte sitting at a table so after grabbing a soup she swiftly made her way over to their table.
"Good morning Houki," said Ichika.
"Good morning," said Charlotte.
"Good morning Ichika, Charlotte," said Houki with a smile.
"Are you ok Houki? Yesterday you left without a word," said Ichika.
"Oh, I was just tired," replied Houki.
"I see," said Ichika.
"You seem to be in a good mood today,"
"I guess I'm just feeling better today," said Houki while taking a spoonful of her soup.
"Are you down for some training later?" asked Ichika.
"Yes, I'm really in the mood for an IS battle," said Houki.
"Really?" asked Ichika, surprised.
"I thought you would be feeling down after the free-for-all. I know I am,"
"It's fine. I may have lost then but there's always room for improvement,"
"True I guess," said Ichika.
"Would Charlotte like to join us?" asked Houki.
Charlotte looked taken back.
"Thanks for the offer but I already have plans with Laura. Hoping to show her a bit around the city. I don't think she has gone out often,"
"That sounds nice," said Ichika.
"Yeah, no worries," said Houki.
Truth be told, she was hoping Charlotte would join so she could see how well her new IS would match up against her's. Oh well, there were always going to be other opportunities. After finishing their breakfast Charlotte headed to her room to get ready for her trip with Laura while Houki and Ichika headed out towards the battle arena.
"So you said you wanted to do an IS battle?" asked Ichika.
"Yes. For this one, I was thinking we both go all out," said Houki, surprising Ichika.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't that be unfair considering-,"
But Ichika was interrupted by a large object which crashed from the sky right in front of him. The two recoiled in shock, staring at the object. It was a giant steel box, easily three times their height and decently wide.
"What is that?" asked Ichika.
Houki had a fair idea of what it could be before she could say anything a high pitched voice from the sky spoke first.
"Hey Ichi-kun!"
Ichika's head spun through the air trying to locate the source of the sound.
"Over here!"
Ichika's head zipped back to see a pink flying ball with a rabbit's face and a pair of bunny ears.
"Tabane, is that you?" asked Ichika.
"Sure is!"
"What are you doing here?" asked Ichika.
"Well I'm not really here, this is just one of my devices. So sad. Oh how I would have loved to see you and Chi-chan in person. You've grown so tall!"
Ichika looked to be a mix of confused and flattered.
"You too Houki-chan. Oh you're so pretty! No guy could ever resist you,"
"Stop it Tabane!" yelled Houki in embarrassment.
"What's with all this commotion,"
Chifuyu walked towards the box as by now, quite a large crowd had gathered. Upon seeing the floating rabbit device she let out a big sigh.
"CHI-CHAN! OMG! SO NICE TO SEE YOU!"
"You never answered my phone calls. Look at you. You look so professional,"
"Why have you sent your toy here Tabane?" asked Chifuyu with an irritated tone.
"Gee, so cold. I just came here to deliver Houki a present. Check this out!"
The walls of the box broke apart and collapsed, revealing the contents of the box. It was the most extravagant IS Houki had ever seen. It was mainly a pinkish red in colour but had lines of gold traveling all throughout the limbs of the unit. It had bulky legs mainly made out of the pinkish red with black on its feet and golden rings around the lower parts of the legs. The arms were pinkish red and slimmer but still had bulk near their tip which each held two long blades with golden handles and a steel tinted pink and purple respectively.
The unit also had three pairs of wings. The uppermost pair was the bulkiest which was in a pointy kite shape and coloured the same shade of pinkish red with each having a long, white spike coming from their back. They were located above the head of the unit.
The second pair were shorter and thinner and were coloured a mix between red and black. Each wing was made up of two spikes which joined together similar to the wings of Blue tears but shorter. They were at the same height as the shoulders
The third pair was the thinnest but the widest. They were each in a diamond shape and were a warm shade of white with a pinkish red outline and they dropped just below the waist. Houki stared in awe at her new unit.
"It would be my pleasure to introduce everyone to the first 4th generation unit, Akatsubaki!"
"But I thought the world was still only figuring out 3rd generation units?" said Ichika.
"Oh Ichi-kun, don't you know? I like to work at a different pace than the rest of the world. Try it Houki-chan. I have already customized it with your data. Am I the best sister or what!"
Houki paced towards the unit. She tapped the unit and it immediately began to glow. Houki was engulfed in light as the unit wrapped itself around her figure. Soon, she was fully in her Akatsubaki.
Houki admired her new unit, intensely analyzing every detail.
"Try flying Houki-chan,"
Houki launched up and in an instance she was immediately high up into the air. She soared through the sky at an incredible speed with the spectating students struggling to keep their eyes on it. Every time it made a turn she did it with such grace and elegance like a dolphin in water. Houki flew with joy, enjoying her new found strength.
"Well that will be all from me! Goodbye Ichi-kun! Goodbye Chi-chan!" and with that the rabbit-shaped device took off into the sky.
I was mesmerized by Houki's new IS. Not only was it a 4th generation unit but it flew at such high speeds it would by my Ignition Boost blush. While I was happy for her, my joy didn't last too long. After Houki received her unit we had an IS battle and suffice to say, the tables were turned. Where before I was usually the one leading the battle, now my unit struggled to keep up with Houki's incredible speed. During battle, her two blades would glow pink and purple respectively. The pink blade was most troublesome as when it connected it would deal big damage which happened often as even if I could block an attack, Houki would just be able to swiftly and easily turn her unit around and go for another. I was soon caught in a vortex of slashes that I couldn't break out of. In a desperate attempt I tried to Reiraku Blitz her but Houki's unit's speed allowed her to even dodge my Ignition boosted unit and retaliate with a devastating strike that sent my crashing into the ground. If my defeat wasn't bad enough, many people were interested in the capabilities of the Akatsubaki so a large crowd gathered to watch the match, meaning I was squashed in front of dozens of people.
This carried on into next week where at each of our training Houki's IS allowed her to easily defeat me, sending me to my dorm pummeled and exhausted. For Houki, it was great. She was enjoying every training and was much more cheerful everyday. For me however, it was crushing. I was already demotivated from all my previous losses and being outclassed by most of my peers didn't help. But at least when I trained with Houki before, I felt good. Like I was an IS pilot with skill that so long as I continued, I would improve and catch up to my peers. But now I was getting thrashed every training and was by far the weakest in my friend group. This sent my motivation at an all time low. It took great effort to get out of bed. During classes, it felt pointless to participate as I didn't feel like I could improve. After class, I dreaded every training session but forced myself to go. All for what? I was beginning to think that maybe I wasn't cut out to be an IS pilot. I mean sure, I enjoyed soaring through the sky in an IS and the adrenaline I got from an IS battle but when you lose every battle the novelty wears off.
On one Saturday morning I woke up and immediately regretted it. Despite it being the weekend I had no energy to do anything and wouldn't have minded to just lay in bed all day. However, that option was not on the table as suddenly my phone started ringing.
I didn't even have the energy to pick up my phone but out of curiosity I turned to see who was calling me. I saw Chifuyu-nee's name and immediately jolted awake.
"Yes Orimura-sensei," I said, answering the call.
"There is a meeting for all personal IS holders in the engineering room. It is an emergency and coming late will not be tolerated,"
"On it!" I said quickly as I rushed to get dressed.
Despite my lack of energy, Chifuyu-nee's punishments were enough to motivate me to do anything. After getting dressed I rushed to the engineering room, making it just in time. Inside, there were about two dozen people. There was Rin, Cecilia, Houki, Charlotte and Laura, the security team and Chifuyu-nee and Yamada-sensei who were all at the front of the room, and the rest were people I didn't recognize but all seemed to be older students.
"Attention students!" Chifuyu-nee's voice echoed through the room.
"I have called you all here for a mission,"
"There are many groups of rogue IS units moving towards areas near the IS academy,"
My eyes widened in shock at this statement. Through the room I could also feel the shock of everyone else.
"They have not responded to our attempts at communication. We theorize that they may be unmanned but we haven't confirmed,"
"From our analysis it seems they are headed to nearby villages and towns. We have contacted the government but by the time support arrives the IS will have reached their destinations which would put the people at risk. It is for this reason that I have called all you personal IS users and the security team to help take them down,"
"I ask for your cooperation. The mission while unlikely to be life threatening will still be dangerous. You are not obligated to participate but if you agree to, step forwards. You can take all the time to think it over,"
After Chifuyu-nee finished, there was a moment of silence where no one stepped up. Most held a look of hesitation. But it didn't last long as two people stepped up first. One of them to no one's surprise was Laura but the other was me. I felt my eyes and heads turn towards me. Hearing about the mission filled me with a thrill, a similar thrill I got from IS battles when I started. I hoped that this mission may be able to relight my passion for IS battles which is why I so readily agreed to participate. After we stepped forward, Rin and two other girls stepped forward. Then they were followed by Cecilia, Houki and two girls, then Charlotte and soon, all the students had stepped forwards, ready for the mission.
"I thank you for your cooperation," said Chifuyu-nee
"I will explain the plan now,"
"The groups of rogue IS are spread out so to counter each group before they reach each location you will all be separated into 6 groups"
"There are 6 groups of rogue IS units. The one headed for the town Shaiku consists of 3 units. Since it's the closest to its target, the security team will take it on. So we'll need 5 more groups. Yamada-sensei will now reveal each group and its members,"
Yamada-sensei then called out each group one by one from a list and the corresponding members. After finishing calling out each group up until group 4 I realised that the only ones left were just me and Houki.
"Orimura! Shinonon!" Chifuyu-nee called.
"You two will take on the IS heading for the village named Casho. It is very far from the academy and so Shinonon, you will make use of your unit's high speed to carry yourself and Ichika to it. Once you reach it, Orimura, you will use your IS unique ability to take it down quickly before it can reach the village with you Shinonon supporting him,"
"Yes maam!" I said.
"Yes maam," said Houki.
"Good. Everyone knows their role. We don't have anytime to waste so get in your positions,"
We then immediately dispersed into our groups and suited ourselves in our IS battle uniforms. We were all set to take off from the battle arena of the academy (the barrier had been disabled for our take off)
"Nervous?" asked Rin as we walked through the corridors leading to the battle arena.
"No," I said truthfully.
"I'm ready to give it all I got,"
"Wow, so confident," remarked Rin.
We soon all reached the battle arena. On Chifuyu-nee's signal we all activated our IS; turning the whole arena into a show of lights for a second. We then all took off into the air, each going our own separate direction. From below, the students of the academy could see multiple units zoom through the air over the academy. Through our journey I held onto Houki's unit as it soared through the air. The speed at which we were flying filled me with adrenaline, similar to the thrill I got from using my Ignition Boost.
"Listen up!" Chifuyu-nee's voice rang in our ears through the communication system in our units.
"I will be frequently communicating with everyone to give orders, help you locate the units and to give you any updates. We have blocked off and evacuated all areas where the units are flying over. So long as you can reach them before they reach their target which you should, then you shouldn't have to worry about civilians,"
"Orimura, Shinonon. The rogue unit you're facing is actually a modified version of a stolen American unit called the Silver Gospel. In terms of weapons it uses a very powerful missile gun. The gun has a long recharge time so it should be manageable but they are powerful so be careful as being hit from a point blank range may be catastrophic,"
"Another thing to be aware of is that the Silver Gospel was developed with a One-Off ability called 'Stratos Revival'. It is an ability that uses a reserve of energy to restore 25% of the unit's shield energy after being defeated. If it's an unmanned IS I'm not certain if they can use One-off abilities but I suggest not risking it. Orimura, I suggest saving your Ignition Boost until the end in case it can use Stratos Revival. Understood?"
"Got it!" We both responded.
As we soared over the ocean we got closer and closer to the island where Casho was located and it wasn't long until we could see the rogue IS unit, a flying silver figure.
"This is it," I said.
Houki's IS slowed down and I let go of it, using my own unit to fly towards the opposing IS. As we got closer we could see the Silver Gospel better. It had a similarly creature-like look as the Golem. It was a bulky unit, especially at its chest. It had long arms, each with a gun attached to it which I assumed were the missile guns. It had hands each with 3 sharp fingers giving them a claw like look. Its head had a kite-like shape with a pointy chin, two spikes coming from its sides like horns and two thin glowing red eyes. It noticed our arrival as it stopped in its path and turned towards us. It raised both its arms and pointed them to us. The barrel of the gun began to glow.
"Get ready Houki," I said.
"Wait, let me deal with them," she said.
I was reluctant but I trusted her judgement. From the barrel dozens of missiles shot out and soared through the sky towards us, leaving a cloud of smoke behind them. Houki flew forward and raised her right sword. It began to glow a purple light. Houki brought it towards her chest and then swiftly swung it towards the missiles 4 times like she was cutting through the air. With each swing a wave of purple energy launched towards the missiles. They soared through the sky and upon reaching the missiles each sliced through about 4 missiles, cutting them in half resulting in a chain of explosions in the air. Houki looked proudly at the cloud of explosions. I got to admit, it was impressive, she hadn't used that ability against me, well, not like she needed to anyways.
"Orimura, Shinonon!" Chifuyu-nee's voice rang.
"We have discovered that there are more IS units approaching,"
"What!" I exclaimed.
"They are also unresponsive so they may be unmanned. There is currently one approaching you now. Be careful,"
"Don't worry, we'll be ready," I said.
The cloud of smoke cleared revealing the IS floating in the air. We both launched towards it, taking advantage of its reload time. I looped behind it while Houki sent another barrage of waves from her right blade. The unit swerved over them but it wasn't safe as I was charging quickly towards it with Reiraku Byakuya activated. It immediately turned around and the barrel of its guns began glowing again. I immediately pulled away, getting out of its line of path just before the missiles launched. It turned its body, attempting to hit me with the beam of missiles but I was able to loop around the unit until it ran out of ammo.
Then the unit's side was suddenly struck by a barrage of purple waves, knocking it back. I charged towards it again, Yukihara raised up. The unit noticed me and began flying away from me, trying to evade my blade. I chased after it as it snaked through the sky, waiting for an opportunity.
One came when the unit was struck in its front by another barrage of waves from Houki blade. This allowed me to get closer and so I activated Reiraku Byakuya, hoping to defeat it. It swiftly turned around and its guns began glowing again. I immediately pulled back again as it unleashed another beam of missiles. I zipped around until it ran out of ammo. Once it stopped shooting, Houki charged at it with incredible speed, blitzing it with her left blade before it could react.
"Be careful," said Chifuyu-nee.
"You still have time before the other unit arrives. Don't do anything risky. Take your time and gradually weaken it until it's down,"
"Don't worry Chifuyu-nee, we'll be careful," I said.
The unit recovered from Houki's attack and launched into the air. I followed after it while Houki sent another barrage of waves from her blade. The unit snaked out of the way of the waves before charging for another missile attack. I retreated from my pursuit just before it released its beam of missiles. It once again rotated its body to try and reach me with the beam but I was too fast and its pursuit was stopped by another barrage of waves sent by Houki which pummeled the unit.
"Let's continue Houki!" I yelled.
"If we continue at this rate we'll take it down with enough energy for the other unit,"
"Got it!" replied Houki.
However, at that moment, I noticed something below us. It was a boat, a rather large run that was sailing below us."What's the boat doing!" yelled Houki.
"I don't know, didn't Chifuyu-nee say that all areas below the units were blocked?" I asked.
"Then it's probably a poaching boat," said Houki.
"Couldn't they have chosen a better time," I yelled.
But at that moment the unit looked at the boat below and launched down towards it.
"Houki! It's going for the boat!" I yelled.
"You have to stop it! Your unit is faster,"
"We can't risk a head on attack," said Houki.
"But those people are in danger!" I yelled.
"I know but the mission is more important. They shouldn't have been here in the first place!"
At that moment I wanted to scream at Houki but that unit was getting closer and closer to the boat. Knowing that Houki wasn't going to go after it, I activated my Ignition Boost and Reiraku Byakuya and launched towards the unit, ignoring Houki's protests. I soon caught up to it and before it could charge its missile attack I blitzed through it, my blade slicing through the unit and shutting it down. It began freefalling towards the ground. I turned towards Houki who was approaching me.
"How could you just ignore these people!" I yelled.
I was so angry I didn't even register Chifuyu-nee' as she was yelling through the communication system. Houki was at first taken aback by my anger but frowned back.
"Sorry but I couldn't risk the mission. I know it sucks but it's their fault for being here in the first place!"
"We can't just let them die!"
But at the moment I felt something wrapping itself around the leg of my IS. Then something else wrapped around my right arm which carried Yukihara. I turned to see a thick metal wire that had wrapped itself around my unit's arm and was pulling it down. Another wire then wrapped around my other arm and I was yanked from below. I looked down to see the Silver Gospel, active and moving again, but this time, metal wires were coming out of its shoulders like tentacles.
I struggled against the wires but it was futile as I couldn't do anything as the unit raised its arms and the barrel of its guns began glowing once more. I turned around to see Houki charging towards me. I could just about see the horrified look on her face before a yellow light flashed over me. The last thing I heard was a deafening explosion sound before it all went dark.
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Houki stared in horror as sounds of explosions rang through the air and Ichika's IS became covered in smoke. Her shock left her paralysed in the air. When the smoke cleared her horror only grew as she watched Ichika's body fall until it crashed into the small island beneath them. In her shock, she didn't notice the Silver Gospel lower itself towards Ichika's body or the other IS unit which was going towards Ichika's body until they were right next to it. The other IS was shorter than the Golem. It was mainly a dull shade of green with veins of glowing red flowing around the unit like a corrupt circuit. It had a more slender body but its chest area was completely covered, showing no signs of a pilot. It had a set of conjoined plane-like wings which had jet-like cylinders that released a flame as it flew. The new unit landed right next to Ichka. It put its hand on his unit and in a second, Ichika's unit had dematerialised. The new unit then picked him up in its hands. The chest of the Silver Gospel then opened up like the mouth of a carnivorous plant and the other unit placed Ichika's body inside. The chest of the Silver Gospel closed neatly shut, which Ichika's body now hidden inside. The two units then took off for the sky.
Houki finally snapped out of her shock and charged towards the 2 units. They turned around to face her. Houki swung her right blade seven times, releasing multiple waves of energy towards them. The two units flew apart, dodging the waves. The green unit materialised a green bulky rifle and began shooting towards Houki as the Silver Gospel lowered itself below them. Houki easily dodged the bullets of the green unit and charged towards them, rage oozing from her face. She lifted her left blade, preparing to strike it but before she could a thick wire wrapped itself around her leg, slowing her down. More wires joined in coiling around her leg and soon Houki's whole charge was stopped. Houki looked down at the Silver Gospel which had its wires released. It then pulled its wires which pulled Houki's unit with them. The unit pulled the wires back like a whip, dragging Houki through the air before slamming them down. Houki crashed hard into the ground with a scream, impacting it into a crater.
The green IS then charged towards Houki as she was still trying to recover from the impact. It grabbed Akatsubaki's hips and then its red veins began glowing and the light wrapped itself around the unit, changing its colour into a bright red. The light spread to Akatsubaki which also began glowing and before Houki could even react, the most excruciating pain penetrated through her body. She screamed like an alarm, feeling as if her veins were being burned. All she could hear were her own screams and the sound of static as the world began to blur. Blur turned into darkness and soon, Houki had lost consciousness. Houki's unit had disactivated and the green unit let go of her body. The two units then took off into the sky, with Ichika in possession.
Author Note: Hello readers and thank you for taking time to read chapter 18 of my fic "A New Dawn Part 1". Spent quite a lot of time trying to rewrite this arc as to me it felt weird the first year academy students were sent on such a dangerous mission. Like does the academy in the OG not have more qualified pilots? Does the government not have an IS police force? Anyways, I hope my changes have made the arc more believable, there may still be plotholes with this but I didn't want to completely shaft this arc. I decided to make this a two parter, a decision inspired by "IS Two Lost Souls" which I thought would work well for this arc as the two parts are very interlinked. Anyways, thank you once again for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed.