As much fun as Midoriya was having as a teacher's assistant, he could admit that there was one class he was impatiently waiting for. Heroics. He was dying to get any amount of training, no matter how little, done. And with being a TA, came the prospect of participating. So when it finally arrived, one couldn't miss the excitement from him. With a roaring rush of wind, All Might had charged through the door.
The gust of air blew through Midoriya's hair, and the teen had to try his hardest to stand against it. But he couldn't help but be in awe at the power. Sure his full admiration of All Might was dampened over the years, but the keyword was dampened. Not gone. He lost respect for the symbol, but never the man. In fact, the few interactions he had with the hero were positive, Midoriya even got that autograph.
The Symbol of Peace meanwhile did what he normally did. A couple of loud boisterous laughs, a small galavanting talk, and finally the order to get ready. Which the students did quickly, all rushing to grab their costumes from the walls. Then they all hurried out, leaving only All Might and him. A brief cough signified the hero was "debuffing", and Midoriya slowly turned to face him.
Much to All Might's chagrin, the hero had been forced to reveal his weakened form to the MSF. It was either that or hiding in broom closets after his three hours were up. He did have every MSF member on sight sign an NDA though, which Nezu promised to hold them on. Seeing a bit of blood though, Midoriya quickly walked over and held out a handkerchief. All Might accepted it gratefully, wiping away what blood remained.
"So, Young Akatani, I have a question for you," All Might began, drawing Midoriya's curious gaze. He moved to close the door first, worried some student would see him in his weakened form. Once that was done he turned back to face Midoriya, thinking over his words carefully.
"Has Snake ever… taught you how to fight?" All Might carefully asked. Midoriya barely had to think it over, as he gave All Might a confident smile.
"Yep. Every couple of days or so I ask him if we can spar," he replied, causing All Might to hold a brief look of anger, before shifting to confusion, and finally going to neutral. Midoriya didn't notice this, however.
"So you know how to fight then. How good would you say you are?" All Might asked.
"Hmm… I'd say I'm decent at hand-to-hand. I'm better with a gun though," Midoriya replied, causing All Might to pause for a second visibly. What he was thinking about, Midoriya had a few guesses. The most prominent was that All Might assumed Snake was training him to be a child soldier. Which was touching for the concern, but still mistaken.
"A… gun," All Might muttered, not really being a question. Midoriya nodded anyway, before moving to unholster his pistol. In his choices for what to bring to UA, he had two. Choice one was the 1911 Snake had gifted him, and his first favorite gun. However Midoriya didn't want it to get ruined in any training mishaps, so it was left at home. Which led to option two, the Pitviper from John Wick 4. Why? He saw a rerun of the movie and thought it was cool… what? Not everything has to be for some overly tactical reason.
"Well yeah. I don't have a quirk, so I need something to fill the gap," Midoriya told him, looking over the pitviper carefully. The second the words left his mouth though, All Might broke out into a loud coughing fit. Midoriya looked away from the gun and toward All Might in concern, but the hero slowly got control over himself.
"You… you don't have a quirk?" All Might asked surprised, causing Midoriya to look at him confused.
"I don't," Midoriya replied confused, while All Might brought a frustrated hand to his face, "Is something wrong?"
"No, no, I just created the exercise under the assumption you had a quirk. Now I'm going to have to make a few changes," All Might replied, walking over to the podium to grab his lesson plan. The action had slowly confused Midoriya before he thought over what All Might said.
"Well, what was the original lesson plan?" Midoriya asked, worried about what All Might would say. The hero appeared hesitant to do so as if he were about to tell a mother her son died in combat.
"Originally, I planned for 1A to fight against you, mainly depending on your training. If you were truly skilled it would be you versus the class, if you were less so than one versus one or one versus groups. However, now that I know you don't have a quirk, that seems… dangerous," All Might hesitantly replied. And immediately Midoriya scowled at him, something that caught All Might off guard.
"Look, I don't mean to be rude in any sort of way," All Might attempted to defend himself, "It's just you would be at a severe disadvantage to everyone else. I don't want to risk you getting hurt out there."
"I get that, and in a way, it's touching," Midoriya told him, "But All Might, I can handle myself."
"Young Akatani, I'm doing this for your own good. Young Shoji and Sato are strong enough to bend metal. Young Bakugo could destroy a bunker with a single explosion, and Young Todoroki could cover a skyscraper with a glacier," All Might attempted to reason.
"And none of that matters if I'm eight hundred meters away, on a skyscraper, with a sniper rifle, and a suppressor," Midoriya countered, of course, that didn't seem to sway All Might fully.
"But there is always the possibility that they can reach you," All Might pointed out.
"I know, which is why my Dad taught me to always be prepared," Midoriya retorted, "To always have a backup if something fails. If a scope fails you use iron sights. If a rifle fails you use a pistol. If a drone is jammed you use binoculars."
All Might still didn't seem sure, already grabbing a pencil to change his lesson plan. But then he stopped, the pencil's eraser hovering just over the pages. Slowly Midoriya saw a growing hesitance in the hero before he moved the pencil aside.
"You seem like a good kid, and I don't want to put you in danger," All Might told him, tapping the pencil against the podium.
"But… You're sure you can handle this?" All Might hesitantly asked, with Midoriya giving him a confident look.
"I'm sure," Midoriya replied. His answer caused All Might to continue tapping the podium, just a little bit louder. He set the pencil aside and walked away from the podium, a look of unease on All Might's face.
"Alright, for this lesson, I'm having you face all of 1A. If you truly believe you can handle it, then I won't change anything. But all you have to do is tell me, and I can change it," All Might told him, an almost pleading look on his face. Again, it was somewhat touching the Symbol of Peace himself was worried. But Midoriya wasn't going to accept being treated like glass. So he quietly nodded and followed All Might out the door. There All Might explained the rest of the training exercise, where Midoriya slowly thought up a plan. A plan that involved calling a certain digital friend.
The moment Yaoyorozu and the rest of 1A arrived at Ground Beta, she immediately knew this exercise would be different. For one All Might didn't hold his large boisterous smile and was instead quietly talking to Akatani. The second thing was well Akatani. He had swapped out his TA uniform for what she assumed was a hero costume. It was a dark grey and black outfit, with a couple of pouches and a small bag hanging off the back of Akatani's waist.
It was relatively form-fitting, but not too much so. By Yaoyorozu's best guesses, the costume had something to do with infiltration, if only because of the dark colors. Then there was Akatani's dog, which was also kitted out and standing next to him. It had a similar outfit to Akatani, an odd grey and black fabric with a couple of grips someone could grab onto or clamp something to. Also a knife oddly enough.
But the most telling of everything was the guns Akatani was carrying. Resting in a holster on his thigh was a pistol, and an assault rifle of some kind hanging off his back. It was alarming to say, but All Might seemed fine with it… maybe. Yaoyorozu couldn't hear what they were discussing, so maybe he wasn't. Now it would be rude to snoop in, and her parents always taught her to be cordial.
But at the same time, her TA was carrying a gun and dressed like he was going to join the exercise. Cordiality tended to come second fiddle when that kind of thing happened. So much to her behest, Yaoyorozu slowly scooted over until she found the person she was looking for.
"Jiro, do you mind telling me what All Might and Akatani are discussing?" Yaoyorozu asked hesitantly, with Jiro turning to face her. She was quiet for a second, seeming to concentrate.
"Kinda, All Mights asking if Akatani is sure he wants to go through with the exercise… Now he's asking if he has everything set up," Jiro replied, "That's the best I can make out at the moment."
"It's enough, thanks," Yaoyorozu commented, becoming slightly confused by what she learned. All Might seemed concerned, but why? No matter now though, as All Might quickly turned to face the class, rushing over in an instant.
" Great! Now that everyone is here we can begin! Today's lesson is a little different than normal, " All Might began, with the class giving him excited looks. Yet Yaoyorozu had already pieced together what the hero had planned. This was confirmed when he continued talking.
" For this exercise, an important VIP, represented by this robot, is giving a speech in public at a grand event. All of you will have to protect the VIP from a dangerous villain. For today, Young Akatani will play the part of the villain. Fail to protect the VIP your mission changes to apprehending the villain before time runs out, " All Might explained drawing everyone's eyes to Akatani, who gave them all a sheepish look. They didn't notice the brief guilty look Uraraka had. However, Yaoyorozu did notice the way Akatani was looking at them.
It would occasionally linger on one of two people before moving. The most prominent being Jiro, Shoji, and Koda. But secondary figures were herself, Iida, and Hagakure. Bakugo seemed to have noticed this too, and angrily grumbled to himself, which Yaoyorozu was glad for. It was either that or another loud flurry of expletives. Quickly though, Yaoyorozu also noticed the wording All Might had chosen.
"Sir, are we facing Akatani in groups, or as a class?" Yaoyrozu asked, noticing All Might's smile falter slightly but still remained as strong as ever. But that's beside the point. All Might never said to protect the VIP in groups, he said to protect a VIP from Akatani.
" That is another difference in today's lesson. Rather than putting all of you in groups and going as teams, instead, everyone will be fighting Akatani, " All Might explained. The second the words left his mouth a loud cacophony of gasps erupted from the class, and a loud laugh from Bakugo.
"Oh please! I could beat this extra all by myself! At least give me some kind of a fight!"
"I don't know, you don't seem like much of a challenge," Akatani then- how did he get so close!? He caught everyone off guard as they all saw the teen standing next to a shocked Bakugo. Yaoyorozu turned to look back at where he had previously stood, confused as to how he managed to sneak by them all. She then turned back to face Jiro, who was in even more shock.
"Did you hear him?" Yaoyorozu quietly asked, the punk girl slowly shaking her head no.
"Hell no I didn't, how did he even do that?" Jiro asked in return.
"Maybe it's his quirk?" Yaoyorozu rationalized, though it sounded more like a question than certainty.
"Nope, guess again," Akatani replied, it becoming clear to the two that he had heard them. He was currently leaning back slightly as Bakugo grabbed him by his costume. Though ultimately he looked on unworried.
" Young Bakugo, unhand him, " All Might warned, with the teen quietly compiling. It allowed Akatani to walk away and stand next to the Symbol of Peace.
" Now, any other questions? " All Might asked looking out at the class again. Over a dozen hands shot up, one of which was Iidas.
"Sir, though I disagree with Bakugo's choice of words, his point does have some sense. Isn't it unfair to pit all nineteen of us against him?"
" Not necessarily Young Iida. He will be getting a small head start and the equipment you see him with currently is not all he has. " All Might explained.
"Doesn't that put the heroes on the back foot though?" this time Kaminari pointed out, "He's got all this extra gear at the ready and we don't even know his quirk."
" True you will be on the back foot. But that's how it is occasionally. One last question… Young Todoroki? "
"Akatani, what is your quirk?" Todoroki asked, turning to look at the other teen. Yaoyorozu could almost feel the ice from his stare.
"Sorry, afraid that's top secret," Akatani replied, "Maybe I'll tell you at the end of the exercise though."
"Who gives a fuck what his quirk is!? I'll kill your weak ass anyways!" Bakugo exclaimed, small sparks popping across his hands. The response made Akatani pause for a second before turning to face All Might.
"[He isn't actually going to try and kill me, right?]" Akatani asked, Yaoyorozu silently thanking her English tutor.
"[No, that's just something he says unfortunately.]" All Might replied, with Yaoyorozu quietly agreeing. For someone trying to be a hero, Bakugo was awfully vulgar. All Might then waved Akatani off, and faced the class again.
" Alright, Young Akatani has five minutes to get ready! After that time is up, you are allowed to charge in, " All Might told them, with Yaoyorozu watching as Akatani spared the class one last glance. She knew he was planning something, but what she didn't know. He glanced over everyone except a select few the longest, but she couldn't determine why. Shoji's main advantage was strength, Koda could talk to animals, and Jiro could damage structures with sound vibrations.
There wasn't a simple commonality she could see, not one that a normal villain would be wary of. Five minutes came and went though, and it hadn't taken long for Yaoyorozu to spot their VIP. It was one of UA's one-wheeled robots, only in a tuxedo this time. It stood in a large public park on a large stage surrounded by guards, and a massive crowd of guests in front. All of which were also robots. There were also generic flags, banners, and balloons around decorating the mock event.
"So… got a plan?" Jiro asked, walking up to Yaoyorozu. She thought about it for a second, giving one last look around before nodding.
"Somewhat. But I need the others' help for this," Yaoyorozu replied. Quickly though she turned around to look for Iida, and spotted him standing next to Uraraka and Asui. She quickly walked up to him, calling out as she did so.
"Iida! Round everyone up! We need to work together!" she told the vice rep.
"Excellent idea!" Iid acomplemented, before speeding off to round up the other classmates. It didn't take long, mostly because everyone was still somewhat close together. That and Bakugo and Todoroki chose to just ignore Iida, much to Yaoyorozu's annoyance. Of course, that didn't matter. Once everyone was assembled the plan was simple. Ranged fighters would stick close to the stage to better protect the VIP.
So Ayoma, Ashido, and to a lesser extent Mineta were situated on the stairs. Next came the more adaptable fighters. They consisted of Yaoyorozu herself, Jiro, Uraraka, Asui, Koda, Kirishima, Hagakure, and Ojiro. They were the second line of defense to protect the VIP. With their more adaptable quirks, or fighting styles in Ojiro's case, they would provide support to the most important group. The quick response team. It consisted of Iida, Sero, Shoji, Sato, Kaminari, and Tokoyami. Yaoyorozu's plan was a plan and simple one.
With Jiro's earphone jacks, they would could watch for Akatani's movements, and know exactly where he was. The quick response team would then move in to quickly eliminate him with overwhelm him with strength, speed, and electricity. If that somehow didn't work, then that's where the adaptable quirks came in. Because Yaoyorozu still had no clue what Akatani's quirk was, a backup plan was needed.
That said, she was guessing teleportation. It was the easiest way to explain how he appeared next to Bakugo unseen. Regardless though, the adaptable quirks team would then focus on containing Akatani in some way. Hagakure would sneak up on him, Ojiro and Kirishima would force him into a hopefully even fight, while Yaoyorozu would provide Uraraka objects to levitate and throw.
With Asui, Koda, and Jiro remaining as backup. Finally came the last line of defense, the ranged quirks. They would stop Akatani from ever getting close to the VIP, be it through the risk of being melted by Ashido's, being shot with Ayoma's laser, or getting stuck on Mineta's… nope. Not finishing that thought, Yaoyorozu decided, sparing a final gaze at her classmates' defense. Everything was in order, all that was needed, was for Akatani to strike. Yet minutes would pass, with nothing arriving.
"Still nothing?" Yaoyorozu asked confused, with Jiro heavily focused on trying to find anything.
"Nothing except a hive of bees. What could be taking him so long?" Jiro replied, her jacks impaled into the ground. That alone was alarming, as another minute passed. What was he up to? Thinking it over, she turned to face Iida's group, cupping her hands over her mouth.
"Iida! Scout the area for a-"
The crash and crunch of metal cut her off, and Yaoyorozu turned to face the VIP. There its robotic head was split open, with All Might's voice announcing the VIP's death. A loud crack followed shortly after, a sound almost like lightning echoing around them. It dissipated quickly as her eyes darted back, searching over her surroundings.
"Where is he?" she asked, waiting for a response from Jiro.
"Give me a second, my ears are still-"
She was cut off quickly, the sound of something whizzing by before hitting Jiro. It was followed by the same loud crack as before, as Yaoyorozu dropped to the ground. Turning around she spotted her friend unconscious, her jacks still plugged into the ground. Explosions echoed around her, with Yaoyorozu looking up to see Bakugo blasting off into the distance. Carefully Yaoyorozu began to crawl back, looking for some kind of cover.
She found it behind a large tree in the fake park. Ducking behind it she noticed Bakugo's explosions had stopped, and another loud crack echoed around. Taking a deep breath she thought out her options. This was fine, sure the first plan was a fail, but she could work with this. It was fine. Carefully peaking out, she watched as Todoroki created a massive glacier covering a small building entirely in ice.
Seconds later another crack rang out, and the scarred teen collapsed to the ground. How? How had he taken out the heavy hitters so quickly? These couldn't have been rubber bullets, so then what? Pure pandemonium had broken out now, with all of 1A attempting to find cover as quickly as possible. But more and more cracks continued to ring out, as student after student fell. The first ones were Shoji and Koda, followed by Hagakure, and Tokoyami fell. Already seven out of nineteen were down, and Yaoyorozu slowly began to worry. She should have accounted for this! Why hadn't she accounted for this!?
Another crack rang out, this time with Ayoma falling unconscious after peeking out of cover for too long. She needed a plan, she needed one desperately. What was Akatani's goal here? Obviously to win, but he had some kind of strategy. This had to be his doing right? What… Yaoyorozu soon noticed a faint noise in the background, slowly remembering Jiro's words. She heard nothing except a hive of bees. It was slowly becoming more noticeable, causing Yaoyorozu to look around desperately.
What was that noise? It sounded almost above her. And her eyes widened in shock at the realization, darting up as she saw it. It was small, ludicrously small. No bigger than one of her fingers. But a drone flew above her, with Yaoyorozu faintly spotting a dozen more.
"Look, if we go mining at three we could leave the town at nine and arrive back home in the morning," Victoria commented, with Midoriya not fully trusting the statement. At the same time, he gazed through the scope of his Mk 13, pulling the trigger carefully. The tranquilizer round flew forward quickly, before unfortunately missing its target, that being Ojiro's head.
"You sure we're not going to have another hour-long train ride?" Midoriya asked while moving to reload and pet DD simultaneously. The dog happily accepted the gift, as he kept watch of the surrounding rooftops.
"Yep! I've got everything figured out this time," Victoria confidently replied, right as Midoriya loaded another round.
"Including our schedules?" he asked, getting his answer in Victoria's brief silence.
"...Crap. By the way, the drones caught a student hiding behind a tree. I think she spotted them," Victoria replied, and Midoriya shifted his gaze over to a nearby Idroid. There it displayed the drones' feeds and a miny version of Victoria's avatar. These drones in particular were Black Hornet Nanos. Finding where the drones were looking, he spotted Yaoyorozu ducking behind the tree.
"Hey Vicky, mind flying one of the drones in close? I want to see if you can scare her out of cover," Midoriya told her, the AI's avatar quietly nodding as one of the drones flew forward.
"Also you did this exact same thing a week ago, why do we need so much ore?" Midoriya continued, watching as Yaoyorozu backed away from the drone just enough that she was out of cover.
"... West made a pair of painite revolvers," Victoria answered, just as Midoriya pulled the trigger. Seconds later Yaoyorozu collapsed and he turned to look at the AI.
"And?" he asked knowing there had to be more.
"Everything he shoots with them explodes," Victoria answers, immediately convincing him. Say what you will, but sometimes he forgets the Oasis isn't normal Minecraft. Just sometimes.
"Oh, you should have started with that. Is painite rare?" Midoriya then asked, racking another round.
"Extremely. More so than diamond and netherite." Victoria answered, happy to see she had managed to convince him, "If we can't find it mining, I heard from some other AIs it has the chance of spawning at Pillager camps."
"There was that annoying camp near the train station, right? It had a couple of old cannons and a giant raven pen if I remember correctly. Might be a good idea to check it out later." Midoriya commented, before again pulling the trigger.
"Think Rody'll mind if we use his plane?" Victoria asked, Midoriya's bullet knocking Asui unconscious.
"So long as we don't break it, we should be fine," Midoriya replied, racking yet another round.
Yaoyorozu could barely think straight, as her eyes caught sight of a painfully blinding light. What had happened? She wanted to get up, but everything felt sluggish. Voices talked around her, but she wasn't fully sure whose.
" ...So… when should they be waking up? Because class ended five minutes ago, and I don't want to deal with another lecture from Recovery Girl ," a voice she thought was maybe All Might's but was difficult to tell, said.
"I mean she won't be that mad, it's not like I broke all their bones or anything," she assumed it was Akatani who replied.
" True, however, they've been unconscious for almost an hour, " All Might pointed out. Hesitantly and very groggily Yaoyorozu decided to sit up, painfully opening her eyes after previously closing them. Trying her best, she attempted to look through the blinding light. Slowly but surely memories of what had happened rushed back to her. And very suddenly, a stinging pain rang through her head, all because of one person.
"Where the hell is that damn nerd!?" Bakugo exclaimed, forcing Yaoyorozu to cover her ears, the ringing seeming to echo in her mind.
" Young Bakugo that is enough! " All Might exclaimed. Yaoyorozu turned to try and find the hero and found him busy holding Bakugo back. His hands continually lit up with explosions, as he tried to claw at Akatani like a feral animal.
"It's enough when this coward gives me a damn fight!"
"You had your fight, and you lost," Akatani replied, though this only caused Bakugo to somehow become more feral.
"Damn it, do I have to remind you that you're on thin ice?" a new voice called out, one Yaoyorozu immediately realized was Ocelot. Bakugo seemed to realize this too, as he very quickly stopped everything he was doing.
"I'm sure Mikumo could have taken him," a different voice countered. The comment brought a small amount of anger back to Bakugo, at least from what Yaoyorozu could see, but it was quickly stomped out. Yet she was distracted by something else, the new voice that had spoken. It was frighteningly familiar, and she dreaded if it was true. Slowly she turned around, finding someone she hoped to never meet.
" Snake, " All Might tiredly greeted, " What brings you here? "
"Well, I heard my son was going against your students. So I came down to check up on him," Snake answered, walking by Yaoyorozu. She watched as he continued forward only stopping when Akatani ran toward him. Very quickly the realization struck her, as to who Akatani was exactly. For now, she realized he didn't just work for these mercenaries, he was the son of their leader.
"[Not bad. Almost twenty people, all with differing quirks of differing strengths. You've gotten better,]" Snake complimented, ruffling his son's hair briefly before crouching to pet Akatani's dog.
"[Missed more shots than usual though,]" Akatani replied, somewhat frustrated with himself, only for Snake to set a hand on his shoulder.
"[Good. Better you miss them here than out in the field,]" Snake told him, "[You'll get better. Hell, I'll probably get better once those new sights arrive.]"
With that, the pair began to walk away, leaving Yaoyorozu to watch on. The realization was still surprising even as they walked away. To think Akatani was the son of a maybe villain. She didn't know what to make of it. He didn't seem like a villain, not from what Yaoyorozu could see. Granted her interactions with him had been brief, and this was the first day anyone in 1A had met him.
Soon enough though All Might seemed to have spotted her, the hero quickly walking over.
" Ah, Young Yaoyorozu! Good to see you awake! Class ended a few minutes ago, so go pack up and you're free to go, " All Might told her, offering a hand to help her up once he got close enough. She accepted it, standing up slowly.
"What happened?" Yaoyorozu asked looking around carefully. It was hard to see before, but the unconscious bodies of her classmates littered the ground. A few seemed to be stemming awake, but most were still out. The only ones completely awake were Bakugo and Iida. Yaoyorozu also noticed Iida had what she assumed were paint smears covering his costume, specifically his helmet.
" You as well as most of your classmates were knocked out with an anesthetic bullet the MSF, before the round came to an end. No one was able to capture Young Akatani, so he was the match's winner. " All Might answered, stepping to the side as he spotted another student waking up.
" Since class is already over, you'll be reviewing the match's results tomorrow with Ocelot, " All Might continued, " Which reminds me, I need to go apologize. "
That last part was a mutter, one Yaoyorozu didn't hear. For she was thinking over All Might's previous words. The entire class had lost to one person. Not some overly trained hero, or dangerous villain. But to a teen their age. Thinking back, it was all so ruthlessly efficient. He targeted everyone with such quick purpose, eliminating the threats he viewed as the most dangerous.
He had drones giving him eyes everywhere, and was far enough away no one could see him, or reach him in time. There was no warning for his attack, no loud battle cry. Nothing but a brief silence, and a loud crack. Now Yaoyorozu wasn't sure what made her so sure, but she always expected to see the villains she was facing. She expected them to be barreling down the street with overwhelming power. Not hiding away, picking them off from a distance.
Techno was never one to slip up. That was his, and his entire department's reputation. Whenever the internet or the media had some kind of message the HPSC didn't like, they covered it up. Whenever a new villain group sprung up or was planning something, they found out about it. Whenever anything happened, he, knew about it. He always knew. So this little slip-up? It was impossible.
Currently, he sat in one of the commission's many intelligence offices, scouring through a nearby computer's files mentally. Techno went through everything: its financial records, search history, users, passwords, everything. And all of it he saw. Yet that only made him angry, the man quickly pushed the computer off the desk. His hand rapidly tapped on the desk, as Techno tried to calm his breathing.
This had never happened, and it wasn't happening now. So why was it happening then? Back then? You don't just miss a hundred helicopters all flying together on radar. You don't miss the dozen-plus calls from agents, security officials, heroes, and police all across Musutafu. So why did he? Techno wanted to blame the staff, more so the lack of. He couldn't do everything by himself after all. He couldn't watch every part of the internet at every waking hour.
But Techno's mistake didn't occur when he was off duty. It occurred in Madam President's office when he was scouring through the internet. Tiredly he stood up, picked up a nearby coffee mug, and turned to walk out the door. Yet the second he did, he coughed. It wasn't anything major, just a small cough. But then he took a step, and he coughed again. He took another and continued to cough.
Techno slowly started to gasp for air, his coughing fit taking hold. Nearly collapsing, he leaned against the desk for support. It helped somewhat, and the coughing slowly ceased. Techno quietly swore as he stood back up. At first, he assumed he caught a cold. The rising taste of copper in his mouth told him otherwise. He brought a hand to his lips, and when he moved it away, the sure sign of blood was present. His eyes widened in shock, dropping the cup of coffee he had been holding. Seconds later he darted out of the room, determined to make it to the hospital.
Oguro collapsed his hands over his ears, desperate for the noise to end. Even in this quiet little space, with only one other person, he could hear them. They wouldn't shut up! His eyes darted around the room as his companion tried to help him in some way. Hands pushed out of the walls, clawing away at an unseen force. They were coming for him, why wouldn't they leave!?
"I can still hear the voices! You said they would go away!" he stated, trying to ignore the chaos around him. Trying to ground himself in reality. Oguro's view was blocked as his companion, a man he and everyone else called the Prophet, stood in front of him.
"They will, so long as we follow Reaper's will," the Prophet told him, his calm voice helping little against the endless screams.
"But when!? When!?" Oguro pleaded, before hearing something laughing behind him. He didn't dare turn to see what it was. It wasn't real, none of this was real!
"Oh shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Slowly the voices began to fade, an odd but familiar warmth taking hold.
"You must keep your faith strong. The day will soon come when we spread Reaper's message. And you will be one of the many to ensure it is heard," the Prophet replied, his quirk taking hold to ground Oguro. The screams finally died out, with Oguro beginning to think straight again. He could recognize the room he was in, that being a small apartment they had purchased years ago. Its renovations were efficient and clean, torn down walls opening up space to other apartments. What little furniture remained was decorated with sigils and texts dedicated to Reaper's will, his very word, and his beliefs.
Chests for guns and ammo resting against the back wall, with a nearby couch holding a Panzerfaust 3. Then there was a small kitchen in one of the apartments they expanded into. The sight of everything slowly eased Oguro's mind.
"My faith is strong, but I only wish to know when. Our suffering was promised to end," Oguro told him, slowly prying the hands from his ears. He looked over at the Prophet, examining the mask he wore. His was different. While all the acolytes had a ski mask, a hockey mask, a balaclava, or just face paint, usually depicting a skull of some kind, the Prophet had a ballistic mask.
The skull it displayed was intricately detailed, bearing mixes of white, purple, and black. Its straps were tightly wrapped around his head and were locked into place, unable to be removed and causing excruciating pain for the Prophet. Whenever Ogure asked why, the Prophet would always say it was an offering for Reaper.
"And it will end. All of our suffering, and the world's suffering will end," the Prophet replied, removing a hand from Oguro's shoulder.
"Remember, the only solace in life, is death. Its guiding mercy will come for us, but only if we follow Reaper's will. We may not know the date of our salvation, but it is coming soon. That is not just my opinion, it is the words of Reaper himself," the Prophet continued, stepping away to grab something from across the room. Oguro meanwhile lingered on the Prophet's words, a small amount of hope fluttering into his mind.
"It… it will come soon? Our day of salvation is close?" he asked, meeting the calming warmth of the Prophet's quirk again.
"It will. But until then, we must stand ready. Not for ourselves, but for Reaper," the Prophet answered. In his hands was Oguro's mask, a plain balaclava he had been handed down. The skull painted on was painted poorly, its teeth resembling more like fangs and the paint running down the mask. But it was his. He grabbed it quickly, putting it on like a cherished item.
"Yes, I will stand ready," Oguro replied, a slight bit of fervor in his words. The Prophet then gestured him forward, leading him to the room's exit.
"Good. We do this not just for ourselves, but everyone! Mercy will come for us all, it is Reaper's will," the Prophet continued, again stepping away. He calmly walked to a nearby crate, opened its lid, and pulled out a Type-89 rifle. With it in hand, he walked back to Oguro and held it out for him. Oguro looked over the weapon, with a mix of joy, and determination. It would all be over soon.
His years of suffering under this affliction, the screaming that always came back, the people who ignored his cries for help, it would all be over soon. He and everyone else would be freed from suffering. The pure joy he felt knowing it would all be over soon took over him, and he couldn't help but exclaim the saying everyone in the Ninth Circle knew.
"Praise be to Reaper!"
Through the death of the walker gear program, came Soul's pride and joy in the Exo-Skeletal Frame mark 3. It was a miracle of technology that combined a dozen new advancements all together. It had predictive dumb AI algorithms to predict a user's movements so that every action occurred smoothly. Its joints were made with an artificial muscle made of strong polymers to flex and bend like a regular limb.
Highly efficient and new batteries capable of a week's worth of energy. All of it was cutting-edge tech, and already other nations were looking to buy. And he knew why. This kind of tech was game-changing, not just for the military but for the civilian sector as well. For the battlefield soldiers could now carry hundreds of more pounds than they could before, march for hours without even feeling tired, and if the need came to be stronger than most of the opponents they would fight.
For civilians, it could allow the paralyzed to walk again, help carry heavy equipment or construction materials, assist in law enforcement, and practically any work-intensive industry. However, there was another thing that the exoskeleton helped in. The artificial muscles required for its design had other uses as well. One of which Soul was focused on, as ZEKE walked across the wide open platform.
"Everything good on your side?" he asked through a radio, soon noticing a crowd had begun to grow on the nearby platforms. Most were civilians living on Mother Base, but a few of the staff even stopped to watch. Soul turned back to watch ZEKE though, as the metal gear got into position.
"All systems are operational, just give us the word ZEKE is in position," Strangelove replied, a small amount of poorly hidden giddy in her voice. Not to mention she accidentally left her radio on.
"The big robot's going to launch a satellite?" Hal asked on the other end, the eager kid more than likely staring at some screen in anticipation.
"In a second, just keep watching," Strangelove told him, while Soul examined ZEKE yet again. The modifications to the metal gear had been extensive, mainly because of doctrinal issues. ZEKE was too vital of an asset to use on the front but too expensive to use for other operations. So it was unfortunately relegated to storage and weapon testing as R&D took apart some of its equipment.
The jetpack and electromagnetic field modifications specifically. They hadn't been able to make a smaller-scale version of either sadly, but they were getting close. That wasn't the point, however, because then came the creation of artificial muscle, the miracle machine it was. Most of the complex parts ZEKE needed to move around were swapped with artificial muscles. It both drastically lowered the maintenance cost and improved the metal gear's movement.
This was due to the artificial muscle being less prone to breaking or general wear and tear for longer periods of time. And because of that dramatic expense drop, ZEKE quickly found a new experimental purpose. One which Soul hoped would work. ZEKE soon enough was ready to fire, angling its railgun up toward the sky. It's onboard AI, its old AI pod AI, then brought the weapon to full charge.
"It's in position," Soul relayed, bringing a pair of earmuffs to his head. He was met with the sound of chatter over the radio before Strangelove replied.
"Understood, firing in three, two, one…"
With a loud boom, the railgun fired, its payload flying up in seconds. It soared up continuing for a good second, before Soul lost sight of it. Now he was hopeful the launch had been successful, however, that was unlikely. The railgun while powerful couldn't reach the speeds necessary to break orbit. So they had to get a little creative, as Soul turned back to the radio.
"How are we doing?" Soul asked, trying his best to see if he could spot the satellite. It was ultimately a fruitless endeavor.
"Good so far, thrusters have just activated. We'll have to wait and see," Strangelove replied, with Soul nodding quietly, even though he knew she couldn't see it.
"The satellite should have enough fuel to reach orbit, but I'm more so worried if it'll hold up," Soul commented, remembering how they designed the thing. It needed to be aerodynamic enough to reach the necessary speeds, while also being compatible with ZEKE's railgun, and at the same time being resistant enough to not burn up in the launch. It was a very complicated affair, one that Soul could only hope would work.
So he waited, watching as ZEKE walked back to its hangar. A few minutes would pass before Strangelove was back with answers.
"It reached orbit, the only thing left is to test it," Strangelove soon said to him. That gave him some small semblance of hope. It reached orbit, and even if it didn't survive it reached orbit. Maybe it survived, he reasoned. But then the sad truth came in.
"Nothing is working," Strangelove told him.
"Nothing? None of the cameras?" Soul asked, hoping they had missed something.
"Not one. The heat must have damaged something," Strangelove replied.
"I'll chalk that up for the next test then," Soul said with a sigh. Such was the way of science though. An immediate success for a first try was a rarity. Still, this would help them in the long run, that much Soul was sure.