The Class-Six Series Crewed Interplanetary Combat Vessel.

Or more colloquially known as the 'Super Destroyer'.

A Faster-Than-Light capable vessel, she is a mass-produced warship designed for use by the Helldiver Corps.

At one-hundred-and-seventy meters long and eighty meters wide, she is a relatively nimble vessel for zero-to-low-gravity maneuvers, a trait perfectly suited for the swift nature of the Helldivers.

With her Faster-Than-Light capabilities provided by the built in Alcubierre Drive, she holds the unparalleled ability to near instantly close the distance between two points by warping space and time around the Super Destroyer.

This allows the Helldiver Corps to strike anywhere at any time.

Be it reinforcing the front or striking deep into enemy territory, the vessel is perfectly equipped to dominate whatever role she is pressed into.

When deployed en masse onto contested planets, the Super Destroyers in low orbit blot out the sky with their vast weaponry, raining down ordnance onto the enemies that dare to attempt to step foot onto the planets that rightfully belong to Super Earth.

And like the Helldivers that crew her, the armaments she is equipped with are just as versatile.

She is armed with a vast array of weapons to provide unparalleled fire support from high above at practically any angle, at any distance, at any time.

Be it raining down High Explosive Ordnance, sizing one-hundred-and-twenty or three-hundred-and-eighty millimeters with destructive results,

Deploying Concentrated Laser Fire from her High Power Directed Energy Weapon Arrays, immolating and glassing anything unlucky enough to be caught under her gaze,

Or launching Tungsten Penetrators at supersonic speeds, piercing practically everything and anything,

With the firepower she brings and the destruction she can wreak,

There is nothing that can stand up against her might.

Within the ?

"My name is Arona!"

I knelt down to get eye level with the little girl. "Greetings, Arona." I glanced all around before returning my gaze. "Since you seem to know who I am already, would you kindly tell me about yourself?"

She nods before giving me a smile. "I'm the system manager that lives inside the Shittim Chest! I serve as its main operating system, just think of me as your trusty assistant, Allen-Sensei!"

'System manager...?' I thought. 'Could we be...?'

"Are..." I paused, confusion welling up as I raised a brow. "Are you telling me we are inside the Shittim Chest... as of right now?"

She gives me a look. "Uh... yes...?"

"Ooookay, and you're telling me... you are the operating system of the Shittim Chest?"

She gives me another look. "Yes...?"

I tilted my head slightly off, confusion at an all time high... for now.

"...Of course." I shook my head, I'm probably not going to get any proper answers anytime soon.

Arona raised a brow my way before beaming a smile. "Anyways! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I've been waiting a loooooong time!"

"Weren't you sleeping?" I pointed at the desk and tipped over chair.

She blushes, red creeping up on her face. "Well, uh... I guess I might've dozed off their a little... ah ha ha..."

I snort, a smile finding its way onto my face. "Well, it nice to meet you too, Arona."

She beams right back. "Yeah! I'm happy to hear that!"

"Though... my physical form is still small, and my voice could use a serious upgrade..."

What.

"...But I know I can still prove to be useful to you!"

I open my mouth to say something, but find the words somehow lost on me.

She continues. "Oh, right! Let's complete your biological authentication!"

I clear my throat. "Indeed, that's what I am here for... I think."

"So, how will we go about doing that?"

"Well..." She gives me an appraising look. "This is a little embarrassing, but it's all part of the protocol. Would you mind getting a little closer?"

I raise a brow, but relent, shuffling closer to the system manager whilst still on a knee.

"Just a liiiiiitle closer~."

I move a smidge closer, to the point we were basically helmet to face.

"Okay! Now, please place your fingertip against mine."

'This is somehow going to authenticate my fingerprint?' I thought to myself as I followed her orders.

I move to remove my glove... before realizing I didn't have it on in the first place. Now that I think about it, I don't feel the weight of my armor nor cape either... but I still have my helmet for some reason.

'Do as Kivotos does... I suppose.'

I then placed my index finger against hers.

She smiles. "Heehee~. It's kinda like we're making a promise or something, doesn't it?"

"Back where I'm from-" I began, a smile creeping up behind my helmet. "-When we make promises with our brothers and sisters, we clasp hands and headbutt each other with our helmets on." I knock on mine with my free hand.

She gives me a bewildered look. "I-is... is that so?"

I grin. "Care to give it a try?"

She shook her head, adamantly refusing. "N-no! That's uh, that's quite alright."

A few more moments pass before she pulls back her hand.

"And that's it, allllll done!"

She nods a few times with a satisfied look on her face, then glancing at me with a questioning look.

"Say... Allen-Sensei."

"Hmm?" I hummed, still on a knee.

"Can I trouble you to tell me what's been happening as of late?"

Following her question, I proceeded to give her a complete rundown of the events that elapsed the past few hours, from the brief interaction with the GSC President, minus a lot of the graphic sequences, to my arrival, barring the, uh... mishap with Meridia, and up to, what I dub: Operation: Doorkicker.

For that, I explained the heroics my squad and I have done in extreme detail, with a little bit of sugar coating here and there. From the Orbital Precision Strike, the repelling of the Fox of Calamity, to the deployment of the five-hundred-kilogram bomb, I recounted the events, garnering awe-struck expressions from the little system manager.

"Wow~! That is soooooo cool!" She bobbed up and down.

I nodded. "Very much so, and that leads us to now."

She nodded a few times before pursing her lips. "So, that means the General Student Council President is now missing, and there's no way to control the Kivotos Tower now..."

That reminds me. "Who is the General Student Council President anyways?"

She tilted her head. "I have plenty of information on Kivotos, but somehow, I know very little about the president. I don't know who she is really, and nothing on why she disappeared."

I narrowed my lips to a line. Looks like there are plenty of enigmas to be had here in this strange land.

"But!" She continued, a resolute expression on her face. "I think I can help with the Sanctum Tower problem!"

"Oh?" I sounded, I think I missed that part in the mission briefing... "Would you kindly, please?"

"Sure! Just let me restore the access permissions to the Sanctum Tower!" She smiled. "Just a moment please!"

A mechanical whir then reverberated all around me, causing me to glance around uneasy.

Then Arona popped in. "Sanctum Tower admin permissions acquired!"

"We've successfully regained the Sanctum Tower, Allen-Sensei! The tower is now under my control!"

She then bobbed up and down excitedly. "That means all of Kivotos is now in the palm of your hand!"

I froze, the words giving me all sorts of pause.

'A whole PLANET and its controls were just... HANDED off to me!?'

She continued, pulling me back down to the ground. "I can transfer control of the Sanctum Tower to the General Student Council with your approval, Allen-Sensei."

She placed a finger on her chin, adopting a thinking look. "But... are you sure that's what you want to do? You would be giving total control to the General Student Council."

I nodded a fair bit hard. "That would be best Arona. I am but a simple soldier, any and all bureaucratic or political matters are best left to more capable hands."

She nodded. "All right then! Control over the Sanctum Tower will now be transferred to the General Student Council!"

"So, what now?" She asked.

"I suppose the next course of action is figuring out how to leave this place." I replied as I got to my feet.

She froze. "Ah ha ha ha..." An awkward laugh at my statement gave me unease.

"There is a way out of here... right?"

She refused to look me directly in the eye.

This gives me all sorts of pause, causing me to scratch the top of my helmet... yes, I do know the action is counter-intuitive.

"You are the system manager, right?"

She nods, somewhat hesitantly.

"So, don't you have full control over..." I wave my arm towards everything.

Her eyes go wide at my statement, as if realizing that she does indeed have full control over... wherever we are.

She then placed a fist onto her hand. "You're right, Allen-Sensei!"

I exhaled in relief. "Thank Liberty, so you know how to get me outta here, yeah?"

She raised a brow, placing a finger onto her chin. "Well... I haven't had to do this when the president was around, you're kind of the first to be... sucked in, so to say."

"Sucked... in...?" Now it was my turn to be bewildered.

She nodded. "Well, not like it matters too much, I should be able to disconnect you from this server!" She then lowered her voice. "It might hurt a little though."

"Good good- wait was that last par-"

She gave me an old Super Earth salute, setting her hand flat and her arm at a forty-five-degree angle. "Good hunting Allen-Sensei!"

Within the Basement of the SCHALE Building

"OH SWEET LIBERTY MY EVERYTHING!"

Quickly lifting myself up, I propped up my body with one arm and grasped at it with my other.

"Sensei!?" Rin called out, quickly entering the room after tossing the door open.

Just as quickly as the pain set in, it dissipated, causing me to exhale in relief.

She half-ran down the steps before crouching down next to me. "Sensei! What happened!?"

I glanced at her after making sure all my important pieces were still attached... or present at least.

Then I shrugged. "Oh, you know, just had an out of body experience."

Her eyes narrow as she looked at me in disbelief. "What are you talking about...? And why are you on the floor?"

I cough before getting to my feet. "I'm not sure I can answer that for you, and even if I did, you probably wouldn't even believe me."

She scowls. "I think I could, especially after all the..." She then glared at me. "Damage caused by a certain now-important figure that just so happened to have arrived today."

I shivered. "Uh..." I lifted the Shittim Chest. "Got administrative permissions for this."

If looks could kill? Hers could massacre.

Then she sighed, as if an immense burden had been lifted off of her back. "Well done, I suppose, Sensei." She took out her own data pad. "If you would please, transfer said administrative permissions over to my side."

"Done and done." I replied as I tapped away at the various system prompts on the Shittim Chest.

She smiled genuinely. "This will allow us to manage the city as well as we could before the president's disappearance."

"Well done, Sensei. On behalf of the General Student Council, and all of Kivotos for that matter, I want to thank you for preventing the complete destabilization of Kivotos."

I placed my hands onto my hips. "Just doing my job, Commander. After all, that is what Helldivers do!"

She snorted. "Even if it comes with a plethora of collateral damage?"

I sputtered, caught off guard.

Another smile crosses her. "Barring that, you need not worry about the suspended students and thugs that attacked before. They will be tracked down and dealt with accordingly."

I nodded. "Good deal. Dissidents should be caught and punished."

She gives me a look, one of many. "Yes..." She coughs into her hand. "In any case, my duty was only to see that you received and activated the Shittim Chest, so now that's done..."

"Ah." She sounded as another thought came to mind. "But there's one more thing we should do for good measure."

"And that would be?"

"Please follow me, I'd like to properly introduce you to the SCHALE Federal Investigation Club."

That was somewhere in the briefing...

Taking the stairs up, Rin led me towards the lobby, and now with the tower fully reactivated, the lights were all properly on, allowing me to take in the sights unimpeded by darkness.

"This is SCHALE's main lobby." She introduced with a slight wave.

"It's been empty for a long time, but now-" She turned to meet me. "It finally has an owner." She then opened a glass door before stepping into what looks like an office.

"And you can consider this to be the SCHALE club room. This is where you'll be working, starting now."

I frowned a smidge. "Working?"

She nodded. "Indeed, surely you didn't think that you would be fighting-" She paused as she looked back at me, my body language opposing her thoughts. "-And yes, you did think so." Disappointment bled into the latter half of her sentence.

She sighed. "Anywho, SCHALE may have the authority, but it currently has no particular goals. But even though you do not have a specific job to do..."

"...You can freely enter any of the academy districts in Kivotos. From there, you are able to register any of the students willing to join the club, amongst other things."

A smirk crosses her face. "Interesting, isn't it? It may be called the investigation club, but the president never exactly specified what it would be investigating nor its purpose."

"In that sense... you have quite a lot of Freedom, don't you?"

I smirked. 'Ha ha! Yes! She said the thing!'

A small frown then took the place of the smile. "As much as I wish you could ask the president for further details, the fact of the matter is that she remains missing."

"We're using everything at our disposal to look for her, but that leaves us short-handed at dealing with other matters around Kivotos."

"As of now, the General Student Council is being inundated with civil complaints, material and support requests, environmental aid, make-up work for failing students, requests to save clubs..." She waved a hand. "So on and so forth."

She gave me a side-eye. "Perhaps SCHALE could look into a few of these requests, since it looks like you've chanced upon plenty of time."

I gulped.

Pointing at the desk, she continued. "On that note, I've left all the documents on your desk, please review them should you have the time." Then smirked. "Which you have quite a bit of, I might add."

She's not requesting... is she?

She then bowed her head. "We'll be counting on you, Sensei. And best of luck with your new position, please don't hesitate to reach out if you require any assistance."

Concluding introductions to my new position, we stepped outside to find my team hanging out in front of the building.

"Ah! Sensei!" Yuuka exclaimed as she walked my way. "Heh, not too shabby! Everyone in Kivotos will have their eyes on you! I bet it's all over social media as we speak!"

I nodded my head their way. "Don't forget your own contributions, team. Helldivers dive together, after all!"

Hasumi nodded. "Thank you, Sensei, though we will have to part ways for now. I do hope you will visit us at our Trinity General School in the near future."

Suzumi took to her side, nodding as well with a bright smile on her face.

"I'll be reporting what happened here to our head prefect." Chinatsu chimed in. "You're always welcome to stop by and visit the Gehenna Academy, should your work ever take you there."

Yuuka hummed. "I'm sure we'll see each other again, Sensei! Do be sure to visit the Millenium Science School!"

I waved them all off as they left, and with them returning the sentiment, I then raised a fist and pulled it down, saluting them.

"May Liberty guide your steps, Divers!"

They glance at each other with amused looks before laughing. "Bye, Sensei!"

Within the District Outskirts

"Ara~. Now this won't do~."

"Heh heh~... Heh heh heh~."

"Heeheehee~!"

Within the SCHALE Office

A terrifying sense of dread shot down my spine, causing me to glance around the office space.

Frantically searching for the source, I calmed down after finding zero threats.

'Strange...' I thought as I continued to peruse the documents.

...Though not without checking over my shoulder, following the intense fear that washed over me.

Then the Shittim Chest flickered to life. "Heh heh~!" The data pad's system manager sounded out triumphantly.

"Arona?" I asked, a smile slowly creeping up on me as I watched the bubbly blue creature hop around the screen.

"Things got a little hectic for you, wouldn't you say?" She nodded a few times. "But everything should be okay now, and it's all thanks to you!"

"Thanks Arona, but why the sudden appreciation?"

She smiled. "It's all over the internet! Your actions and heroics are on full display! Gotta hand it to you, Sensei, what you did was pretty cool!"

I nodded. "Well, all's in a day's work for a Helldiver."

An evil grin crosses her face. "But this is only the beginning, Sensei! You're going to have to solve all the problems the students of Kivotos are facing!"

I recognized this tone.

"Though seemingly simple, this is an important task. Kivotos is counting on you and SCHALE, Sensei-"

She gave me a heroic look. "Will you answer the call?"

Out of habit, I rose to my feet, the action rolling the office chair away a few meters. With a salute, I answered. "Of course!"

She giggled. "Let's start your first official mission for the SCHALE Federal Investigation Club!"