The gentle rocking of the suspension. The clear azure sky. The subtle breeze flowing through her hair. Truly the basis for a beautiful day.
The cheering all around her. The laughter and joyful expressions. The sheer excitement in everyone's actions. They made what was already a good day seem even better.
And of course, the fires, the smoke, the screams and the rubble were the cherry on top of the delectable dessert that the day had turned out to be.
'Yes…' thought the Fox of Calamity, Kosaka Wakamo, as she rode atop the APC at the head of a group of delinquents. 'Today is absolutely a wonderful day'.
Barely moving her head, she caught a glimpse of the main entrance of the Sanctum Tower. The focus of a peculiar little rumor she heard while she was being transported to another prison. 'Something very important is being hidden there hm~? Something important to the missing GSC president at that? I wonder just what it is that's in there~ And, what will they do when I show up with it?'
Feeling the grin grow on her face, her daydreams are suddenly dashed when a hatch behind her suddenly slams open as a delinquent with headphones around her neck shoots out. Screaming at the top of her lungs.
"BOSS! BOSS! BAD NEWS BOSS! REALLY BAD NEWS!"
The shouting suddenly stopped as Wakamo slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder at the recent annoyance. The delinquent seemed petrified as she locked gazes with the masks eyepiece. Even the air around them seemed heavier, thick with the promise of violence…
"...What, is it?"
"E-er, Boss, um, th-there's a-a-"
"Speak properly or don't speak at all."
It seemed difficult to breathe, and the passing fires gave the eyes in the mask an infernal glow to them. The subtle tilting of her head only furthered the malicious feelings that had suddenly intensified.
"EEK! Yes Boss! There's a group of students heading this way to the Sanctum Tower!"
"...Is that all? You barge up here shouting at the top of your lungs about some small group of insects?"
She's already turning her body around, adjusting her grip on her beloved rifle to ''discipline'' the unruly bug before her when it shouts something interesting.
"THEY HAVE A GOLIATH!"
….
…
…
"Excuse you?"
"Th-they have a goliath! A couple of girls just gave me a call. A-apparently there's this huge group m-made up of students from all the different academies, including a bunch of Valkyrie officers. There's a couple tanks too! A-a-and apparently the acting-president of the GSC is leading them all from a Goliath's shoulder!"
The silence was still thick with the threat of violence, but this time it wasn't as threatening as it was before. As if the violence was being reserved for someone else. So lost in thought was Wakamo, she didn't follow through with her prior threat and silence the bug before her.
"Interesting~. Very interesting! Give orders to everyone, we'll be setting up defenses here outside the Sanctum Tower. If our dear acting-president is going to go through all this trouble to see us…Well, it'd be rude if we didn't show her the same courtesy, right?"
"Ye-yes Boss! Right away!"
As the delinquent grabbed the hatch she threw open, and lowered herself back down into the APC, she heard one last comment from the Fox of Calamity…
"The next time you speak…it best be done properly."
The last thing she saw before the hatch closed, was the gleaming point of a bayonet dig into the roof of the APC.
The street was unrecognizable.
Sandbags were assembled into cover. Barricades that would have been used to stop traffic were repurposed to stop bullets. Vehicles had been broken into, if they could be hotwired, they were swerved to provide additional cover. If they could not…Their tires were collected for additional defenses, and sometimes the vehicle itself would be flipped onto its side.
All throughout they were being harassed by the occasional stray student. Either on their own or in a small group, they'd show up near the outskirts. Watch for a little bit, then get scared away by a few errant shots. Sometimes they'd even fire back, before falling to a wave of bullets.
Flying high above, drones flew about, watching. Analyzing. Transmitting data who knew where? Sometimes a stray delinquent would fire off a few shots, trying to ground a random drone they saw. Rarely did they ever hit.
They'd been waiting for hours, just when she was starting to get bored, she heard it.
The resounding sound of stomping feet. Soon, far down the street, she saw it. And felt her blood start to boil in excitement. Approaching from a Main street, marching in almost unison, was a sheer wave of students. Moving in an asynchronous pattern, they approached with heads held high, Valkyrie officers at the front. Those with riot shields were already holding them in front of their body in preparation. Behind them, other officers interspersed with normal students. Even from here she saw the colors of Millenium and Trinity. The black and red of the JTF. She could even swear she saw the distinct uniform of the Prefect team somewhere in there!
And standing before them all. Walking at a casual pace in front of even the shield-bearers. Was the vice-president of Kivotos, the acting-president, Naganami Rin.
Keeping a confident stride, despite walking towards a wall of guns pointed at her. There wasn't a single hitch in her stride, maintaining a confident pace. With a carefully blank face that revealed no hint of emotion, she eventually stopped a few hundred feet from the first line of barricades. Calmly turning her gaze over the scattered defenses, she eventually raised her voice.
"To the delinquents terrorizing Kivotos! I am acting-president of the General Student Council, Naganami Rin! You are found in violation of a multitude of laws established by the General Student Council to maintain peace amongst the entirety of Kivotos, regardless of the district! I am here before you to offer you all one chance to surrender peacefully! Lay down your arms, put your hands above your head, and allow us to pass without an issue and I guarantee a reduction to the severity of your sentencing!"
Her eyes briefly met Wakamo's, even though they were hundreds of feet apart.
"That goes for you as well, Kosaka Wakamo! Surrender peacefully and I promise a reduction in your sentence!"
To the average troublemaker, she would appear as a stern, confident, leader. One who knew exactly what she was capable of, and that the mess before her was certainly within those capabilities. The type of opponent that haunted their dreams and nightmares…
Wakamo was not average.
She saw through the little facade Naganami was trying to pull. She could see the slight tremors in her limbs. The slight twitching of her ears. She could hear the very tremors in her voice, the suppressed stutters and chokes as she fought her fear. And when their eyes locked for that brief moment, she saw the fright and uncertainty in them. And she saw how fast they went from locked onto her eyes…To locked onto the towering building behind her.
'How incredibly interesting~! The brave leader of the GSC, who marched all the way down here to save the city! She's actually all bluster?!'
"Ah~ how typical." was the sigh that slipped through her mask. "Hiding your true feelings behind a mask, without even the decency to wear a proper one," She said while idly stroking the mask on her own face.
It was a small subtle twitch that briefly appeared on Rin's face. A blink and you'll miss it type of action. But she caught it as easily as she caught the obvious faces of denial and anger starting to form on the faces of the forces behind her.
A small smirk grew on her face as she subtly signaled a command to a delinquent behind her. 'Step one. Rile up the common masses. Focus them on a single point. And distract them from what else is happening around them.'
"But still, how magnanimous of you~ An offer to reduce my sentence from decades to mere decades!" She gestured grandly, like a ringmaster to their audience, at the delinquents around her. "And I'm sure my companions will face similar reductions to their sentences as well…" Deliberately leaving the sentence unfinished, she sensed the anger in the delinquents around her as they put two and two together to realize what she was implying.
The smirk on her face grew wider as they all started shouting. Inciting a number of their opponents to respond in kind, soon escalating into a cacophony of screams and threats. Subtly starting to close in on eachother in shows of intimidation and preparation. Completely masking the faint sounds of engines purring and treads maneuvering.
'Step two. Manipulate the situation to further draw attention to the here and now. Give them an active target to focus on that'll make them active in turn. This will usually get them to over-commit.'
The cherry on top of course being the sight of the poor vice-president trying their best to keep their mask on and regain order of their flock. She could only imagine what faces she'll make when everything's ready. She was so excited, that when a delinquent subtly tapped her tail, she had almost instinctively whirled around and struck them down with her rifle's bayonet. It was only the knowledge that she had given the order to do so as a signal for when the plan was ready that stopped her.
Smirk turning into a full on grin, she raised her voice to be heard over the chaos before her. "As I'm sure you're aware, my associates have made their thoughts quite clear on your proposal. And now…" Smirk turning into a full on grin, she quickly raised her beloved rifle in a one-handed grip. Channeling her power into it as a catalyst, sighting it directly onto the vice-president. She soon felt the pressure build up to the maximum it could for such a quick casting. "...Here is my response!" was shouted as she pulled the trigger.
As a brilliant burst of black and crimson lit up the streets the world seemed to slow to a crawl as adrenaline and euphoria raced through her veins. She saw and felt her arm push back from the recoil. She saw the bullet whip past delinquents, some missing by mere centimeters as it continued its path. She saw the Valkyrie officers jolt into action, some had already been on the move when they saw her raise her rifle and were now slowly racing towards the vice-president, shields and hands extended to block and move her from harm.
She saw Naganami's eyes widen in shock and pure, unadulterated, fear. She saw that poor mask of hers break, and for her emotions to show themselves in full as the bullet closed in on her sternum.
Then, she saw shock mix into Naganami's expression as a Valkyrie officer crashed into her and pushed her out of the way. The bullet dug deeply into the riot shield she was shielding herself with, and as it cracked and shattered from the force of the bullet she saw lances of mystic energy snake through those fissures.
Time seemed to resume its normal flow as the heroic officer stumbled back into the formation, ranks closing around her as her fellow officers dragged Naganami away from the front lines. All the while Wakamo just counted down in her head.
'10, 9, 8, 7' The Valkyrie officers formed a shield wall, and began slowly marching forwards towards the delinquents.
'6, 5, 4, 3' Naganami's halo was lost in the masses of nigh identical halos, but at the moment she wasn't the one who Wakamo was focused on. Instead, it was the officer that just took the bullet meant for her. The officer who was getting back on their feet proper and joining the shield wall with their damaged shield. Bullet still embedded within.
'2, 1…zero' There was a sudden crackling of crimson energy emanating from the bullet embedded within the shield. Then a sudden burst of light and energy emanated out as the broken shield acted as the focal point of a sudden explosion. Taking out the heroic officer, as well as those closest to her, and stunning all the others nearby.
Where there was once a formidable shield wall, now there was a large hole in the formation. Littered with the bodies of unconscious and stunned Valkyrie officers. A sudden and still silence descended upon the street. As friend and foe alike froze and took in the sudden developments.
The silence was suddenly pierced by a yell from a red-helmeted delinquent from the frontlines as she fired directly into the hole in the formation, at the unshielded officers now visible. Acting as a catalyst, countless others also started firing into the gap, or tossing explosives at the rest of the line in an effort to open up more gaps to fire upon. Meanwhile the officers started trying to reorganize the ranks, closing holes that appeared and moving the wounded out of the line of fire. Soon it turned into a proper firefight, with the officers slowly trying to push forward and the delinquents trying to push back. Two sides desperately trying to push against each other, yet the Valkyrie officers continued to slowly advance towards an intersection.
Facing an unrelenting enemy head on. Bracketed on either side by stray vehicles, buildings, and debris, there was very little opportunity for flanking attacks. At most they could reposition for a different frontal angle. This, combined with their prior rage and fury resulted in a case of tunnel vision that progressed as they slowly inched towards the center of the intersection. Losing comrades along the way.
That focused rage and tunnel vision would be mistakes they'd pay for as captured crusader tanks suddenly shoved aside overturned and parked vehicles or from around the corners that had blocked them from sight. Now perfectly positioned on the flanks of the approaching Valkyrie forces.
There was a sudden beat of silence, then the world erupted as multiple 40mm cannons fired high-explosive rounds into Valkyrie's undefended flanks. What had once been triumphant war cries suddenly turned into frightened shrieks of pain and terror as unconscious bodies went flying in all directions.
Countless streams of tracer fire raked the formation as the crusaders reloaded, knocking down countless and pushing a multitude of them over the edge into unconsciousness. The bulk of the casualties didn't come from the actual Valkyrie officers though. Instead it came from the volunteer students from the various academies that made up the majority of the GSC forces. Lacking in body armor and training, shots that would merely wound or tire the Valkyrie officers could completely knock them out of the fight.
All the while, the original force of delinquents continued to fight on. With the boldest of them all rushing forwards with shotguns and make-shift clubs, a crude attempt to imitate the one whose plan just ruined the GSC's advance.
The lines of the GSC were in complete disarray. The once pristine shield-wall was now as haphazardly put together as a toddlers block house. The officers in the frontlines were doing their best to hold back and stem the tides of the delinquents they were just moments ago pushing back. The rearlines were far more of a mess, countless officers and less professionally trained students were rushing around trying to fight back against the crusaders and their escorting infantry. Countless more were collapsed on the ground, either unconscious or wounded, being tripped over and adding to the sudden chaos.
Wakamo watched it all with absolute glee as the GSC was being bled to death right before her. On the students' faces were a bevy of delightful expressions ranging from despair to panic and everything in between. A single word command kept being shouted over and over. Any second now she expected them to break for a full on rout.
Then she actually registered what they were shouting.
"SMOKE! SMOKE!"
Over and over was the command shouted, by just one individual at first. Soon it was repeated by the surviving leaders until the group as a whole began acting as one.
Grenades of all shapes had been pulled off of belts, out of pockets, or from bags. Their pins were torn and a fusillade of explosives had been lobbed all around the intersection, including a number that had been dropped at their own feet.
Many had been expecting a prompt cascade of explosions, and had even been preemptively laughing at those who dropped grenades at their own feet. While the grenades did explode, instead of shrapnel they dispensed smoke of various colors and thicknesses.
A lull settled over the battlefield, the bold delinquents who had been charging directly at the GSCs lines stumbled to a stop. Uncertain what to do now with their targets completely obscured by smoke. An uncertainty that was shared with the rest of the delinquents. Were the GSC trying to buy time? Were they setting up traps and defenses of some sort? Were they trying to cover their retreat?
The confusion only deepened when more grenades were launched from the smoke and added even more to the smog. This time landing amongst the delinquents lines and starting to conceal them in a layer of fog.
She was fully prepared to order the delinquents to give chase into the smoke, thinking it was just a delaying tactic for some sort of plan. But the words were stolen from her lips when a piercing howl echoed throughout the intersection.
The helmeted delinquents who were about to charge into the smoke suddenly stumbled back, terrified, at the warcry. Then they broke and ran back to their lines as shapes started charging through the smoke in their direction.
They were hard to make out at first, emerging from the thickest of the smoke. But as they approached, and infiltrated, the delinquents lines the smoke got lighter, and they were revealed to be the GSC forces. Firing indiscriminately into the delinquent lines, roaring a wordless battle-cry as they charged into close-quarters fighting. Shotguns fired non-stop and the riot-shields never once dropped unless the officer behind it did.
She was stunned. When the GSC's flock started tossing smoke she fully expected a retreat. Perhaps even a makeshift defense of a kind. Not once did she ever entertain the idea that they'd use smoke as a cover for a suicidal charge into her lines! Evidently her forces were thinking the same as instead of counter-charging or holding their ground they panicked and started to retreat. Any proper defense against the rampage was summarily drowned out in the sheer tsunami of bullets and bodies that followed the first wave.
The grinding of treads reminded her of the presence of the crusaders, and the expected salvo of 40mm cannons was a welcome sound.
The sight of both GSC and her own forces being blown away was much less welcome.
Belatedly she remembered that the bulk of the combat was taking place in the smoke, meaning that unless they wanted to risk being boarded by the very unhappy enemy who may hold a grudge. They would instead have to content themselves with only being vaguely able to see who they were shooting at, risking hitting the GSC, their own allies, or even both, as the latest salvo just showed.
Then came the second salvo of cannons, except instead of landing among the massive melee forming in the middle of the intersection. They landed out of sight, with the accompanying screams of unseen delinquents being the only sound showing those shots landed. It still took a minute for her to process this on top of the previous events, but the much louder cannon shot and the explosion of a tank cooking off, helped her put it all together before a bug came up and said it out loud.
"BOSS! BOSS! WE GOT FLANKED BOSS!"
A quick glare shut her up before she continued to grate on her ears. She already figured out that the smoke was meant to keep their attention on the infantry while the tanks repositioned to flank their own vehicles. At least one of the drones they saw while setting up could have stayed in the air and helped coordinate the GSC tanks into proper positions. She didn't know exactly how many tanks the GSC had at their disposal, but considering the general lack of order, it isn't unimaginable that they could have gotten quite close before springing their ambush. Especially with everyone's attention on the seemingly suicidal charge happening before them. And the further chaos would make identifying friendly and hostile tanks even more difficult, so any perceived lack in GSC numbers could be offset by that, not even taking into account the generally lacking skill of her followers.
A small part of her mind continued to nag at her incessantly. Something wasn't quite right with the situation before her. Ignoring the obvious sudden turn in the battle, there was still something else bothering her. A rumor she heard perhaps? Yes, that sounded about right, a rumor about the GSC? No, a rumor about the vice-president? Something like that…What was it that bug said to her? The GSC vice-president was sighted on the shoulder of a Goliath, right? If that was the rumor, and the part of her leading tanks was also true…
'...Then where's the Goliath…?'
The world around her shook as her eardrums nearly ruptured from what sounded like the heavens crashing to the earth. The asphalt beneath her fissured and cracked like an earthquake had struck, unbalancing her.
The explosion that occurred right next to her then sent her flying into, and through, a building's window. Where she rolled around an abandoned office floor before briefly blacking out.
…
…
…
...
When she came to. Her head was spinning, her eyes could only blurrily make out her ruined surroundings. Her ears were constantly ringing, and her body as a whole ached in ways she rarely felt before.
Taking her mask off to make recovery easier, she felt a number of grooves in the once smooth porcelain. Flipping the mask over, she saw the cracked and damaged mask in all its chipped glory. It was honestly a miracle that the mask was still wearable.
Staggering to her feet, she approached the shattered window she came in from. Slowly, as she approached the light streaming in from outside, she recovered. Her stumbling gait smoothed out, her eyes got clearer and she could see properly again. The aches in her body dulled to a mere background feeling, and her ears stopped their incessant ringing until she could hear once more.
Once she finally reached the windowsill, she could then see and hear it all.
There were countless battle cries and shrieks of fear. Orders were barked and swears howled. The shouting alone blended together into a chorus of chaos that even she was barely able to comprehend. On top of the choir of cries, there was a constant musical backdrop of gunfire. The small caliber weapons formed a constant cadence while the larger caliber cannons emerged rhythmically to drown out the choir.
Visually, the performance before her was captivating. A sea of bodies, moving in a constant dance of bullets and fists. They constantly ebbed and flowed as either side would push or fall back. From her perch above the ground, she could just barely see down an intersection, and the waltz the tanks were performing as crusaders paired off against each other, commanders sticking out of their hatches in order to identify who was who. While a Gehenna tank, ('a panzer III? Even the Pandemonium Society is involved?'), skirted around, cutting in at random to put a shell into a distracted crusader. Almost as if it were a chaperone, correcting the obvious flaws.
And at the center of it all, looming above everyone, directing focused fire like a conductor leading their orchestra. Was the mysterious goliath she had heard so much about…
Dark armor that was littered with scratches and holes. Broken cables and tubing that slowly leaked fluid in a mimicry of bleeding. Even the innermost components that she could see were charred in some way. A firearm whose barrel barely had time to cool before another round fired, steadily thumping cases to the ground. An unknown device with a spike on it, one that was still stained and burnt. And that visor…those eyes.
Even without seeing into the eyes themselves, without staring directly into them as they stare into hers… She already knew what she would see…
She would see the eyes of kin.
There was no logical reasoning. No real thought behind that feeling at all. But she felt it with all of her. Her power, her mystic. Before her was someone that could understand. The toil it was to try and fit in with the others. The utter disdain for politics, and those who wield their ill-gotten power as if it was a god given right. The insatiable urge to let loose and tear it all down! The ecstasy that comes from bringing down a worthy opponent! That persistent itch to just! Let! Loose!
And standing here, staring at someone so similar, as an orchestra of chaos and anarchy plays before her. She felt something click, her heart started racing, her limbs started to tremble and she tightened her grip on her beloved rifle. She felt her breathing grow heavier as her body started to heat up. Her eyes dilated as she focused solely on the target of her interest.
Finally the urge grew too much to bear, so she chose to simply let it go.
And a bolt of crimson energy slammed into the goliath's shoulder, staggering it and sending a shell off target into its own allies.
As it slowly turned to look at her. As she felt the weight of its gaze land solely on her, observing her, dissecting her, planning its next moves carefully, she continued to feel shivers run up and down her spine.
Racking the chamber to her rifle, she leapt from the window to the concrete below and was fully committed to indulge in the sudden desire to test her fangs against a worthy opponent.
She could already see it now! A brutal struggle, back and forth as they skirted with the possibility of injury and even death! Raging against each other, a test of wills and ideals as they fought among the masses in a ballet of destruction!
The subtle shifting of her opponent's frame snapped her out of her fantasies and to reality. Her kin was slowly trying to circle around her, she of course did the same in the opposite direction. Around in circles they stalked each other, waiting for some unseen signal, watching all the while.
Finally, as if they both had the same thought, they acted at the same time. Her opponent attempted to fire upon her, and while she was fast enough to dodge the worst of the blast, some shrapnel still embedded itself within her. And she still felt the heat of the explosion. But she ignored all of that in order to sprint around to the right.
She had spent her time wisely observing her opponent, she noticed a particular slowness when it turned to the left. And logic of a sense dictated that it should have some difficulties hitting a target as small as her with its titanic spike, nevermind one rapidly moving about.
Her observation soon proved correct as the torso suddenly slowed as it tried to track her past the range of its gun arm. Taking the opportunity to start firing into its joints and exposed tubing. Her opponent tried to compensate for its situation by physically stepping backwards as it pivoted, she took the opportunity to charge her power and fire into its raised hip.
The detonation of crimson energies forced it to stumble forwards, she fully expected it to catch its fall where she'd take the opportunity to dig her bayonet into its eyes…
What she wasn't expecting was for it to turn the stumble into an impromptu lunge with its spike aiming to pin her to the ground!
Instincts took over and she dodged to the side in time to avoid the spike that dug deep into the street behind her. It wasn't hard to notice that had she stayed still, it would have been a direct hit on her center of mass.
Backing off to reload, she watched her kin seeming to shudder a little as it slowly removed its spike from the road and returned to its normal standing state. Taking a moment to reload, she felt within herself for her power, to gauge how much she'd already used. She was expecting to have used a fair amount, but the sheer level of exhaustion that hit her surprised her. Perhaps she got just a little too excited at the idea of fighting kin.
This time her kin took the initiative, slowly walking forwards and firing a constant barrage of explosive shells. Whereas before it seemed to be careful with its rounds and took care of where it fired. This was a constant stream, aimed not to directly hit her, but rather to suppress her. The constant fire forced her to continuously move lest she risk taking the brunt of a shell. Despite her frantic movements, she would still get caught in the outer edges of the blasts, being battered with heat, force, and shrapnel. Chipping away at her resolve and her ability to continue fighting. Its constant advance also served as intimidation, and another threat considering the closer it got, the better chance it had to hit her with the steel stake strapped to its other arm.
Shooting a quick glance behind her, and seeing the face of a building rapidly fill her vision, she gauged her strength and made a plan.
Completely turning her back to her kin, she sprinted as fast as she could to the building before her. Moving as erratically as she could whilst maintaining as much speed and momentum as possible, she heard her kin pick up the pace behind her while the shots got noticeably closer towards hitting her than before.
Reaching the building she leapt onto the wall then proceeded to use her speed and momentum to launch herself off of it towards her kin. Once more, adrenaline surged through her system, slowing time to an absolute crawl.
She could see all the dust and smoke lazily swirl through the air, she could see the rays of sunlight stream and reflect through all the particles in the air. She could even swear she saw bullets pass both her and her kin. Said kin was still moving, slowly, but it was continuing to advance and was trying to adjust its aim in the path of her new trajectory.
It wouldn't be enough.
She braced her rifle in a spearman's grip as the distance between her and her kin's shoulder drastically shrank. Feeling as the tip of her bayonet struck the shoulder armor, she felt and saw the tip begin to dull and deflect off the significantly harder material. She split a small portion of her power and funneled it into the bayonet, giving it a small glow. The sparks were still there, but now her bayonet started digging into the metal. Seeing the results she wanted, she firmly grasped her rifle and put all her physical strength into a single thrust.
It didn't go far, not even a fourth of the way. But that wasn't the point, even just a small gap in the armor was enough to serve her purposes. The world slowly started to regain its normal speed as she removed her bayonet from the crack it made and lined up the barrel of her rifle directly at the fault. Caressing the trigger, she took her power, her mystic that she had been condensing. Almost every last scrap was gathered into one mass, then funneled into the bullet in the chamber. Further condensed into such a volatile state, her rifle shook with the power contained within it.
She pulled the trigger.
CRACK! —with a thunderous retort, her bullet bit into the crack she made in her kin's armor, then promptly erupted in a blinding flash of crimson and black, sending her flying into the building's wall so hard she bounced off back into the air. That pain was a minor footnote compared to the joy that flooded her veins at seeing the damage she had done.
Where there once was but a small crack in the shoulder, now the entire front portion was cracked, fissures spider webbing across the entire surface. What had once been additional cameras had all their lenses broken and blown out, exposing the delicate electronics to the world. She must have hit even more piping of a kind as dark fluids flowed from the new wound down the arm and ground. Staining its arm and the street beneath it an abyssal black.
Most satisfying of all though, was the fact that its entire right arm had gone limp. The gun stopped firing, the entire arm just dangled uselessly in the air, incapable of moving. She had crippled it. The grin on her face slipped a little as she reflected on how…easy…the fight was. It was certainly difficult in some ways, but it wasn't the struggle for dominance that she had envisioned in her head. Granted it was already heavily wounded, incapable of fighting at its best…
Even as she reflected her body sluggishly moved on its own to prepare a landing. It would hurt, but it would certainly be better than simply falling flat.
An explosive roar from in front of her shocked her from her thoughts. Eyes regaining focus just in time to see the bottom of a clawed foot before it slammed into her and then sent her flying into the building behind her with such force, she formed a crater in the wall.
Head spinning, stunned from the sheer pain she was in (as well as the happiness from being proven wrong about the difficulty of the fight). She still managed to see and hear the titanic form of her kin skid to a stop before her new resting place. A thick viscous smog bellowed from its back, hinting at the cost of its last attack. Deliberately hurting itself just to land another hit on her…How admirable.
Evidently it wasn't done, as its left hand had been reared back in preparation for a strike with its stake, except, she could vaguely see that it had suddenly changed shape? Instead of a rectangular housing, it had suddenly opened up, like a flower blooming, and the spike shrunk? She could vaguely see some sort of mechanism extend behind the rest of the housing before her kin swung it towards her at full force.
Gaining a second wind of sorts, she managed to move out of the way enough for the tip to impact the wall behind her instead of her torso. Which meant she had a front-row seat as with a thunderous boom the stake erupted to its apparent full length next to her, severely damaging the wall. Then a mere second or two afterwards, she found herself in the center of an explosion launching her through the ruined wall, and out another window into a freefall to a roof below.
Her second wind almost completely spent, she still managed to gather the wits and strength to soften her landing a little. Just a little though, it still hurt quite a bit but better than completely tumbling to the ground. Exhausted, in pain all over, her clothes were singed, her mask was completely shattered, and taking a glance down at her beloved rifle…She was truly in no condition to continue to fight.
Despite all of that though, her smile just couldn't leave her face. It was exactly what she had hoped for, a severe struggle between two individuals, pushing each other to the absolute limit. To the point that her kin had even gone so far as to hurt itself in order to continue to strike her! Her only real complaint was the length of the fight, it had turned out horribly short. She could only imagine what a proper battle would be like…
Giggling to herself, she started to limp away in search of transportation out of D.U. City to a black market hospital. First to tend to her wounds, then to repair her attire and rifle, and then, then she has to get stronger.
After all, her kin…No, 621, had managed to push her so hard while severely wounded itself.
She could only imagine what they could do once they got fixed up…
Her laughter haunted the streets as she limped away. Forming the basis of a few urban legends, not that she either knew or cared. All she could think of, was her next test of strength and wills against her kin, 621.
'My head hurts', was the predominant thought running through Rin's head as she and 621 entered the SCHALE hangars after leaving the clean up to the rest of the volunteer forces outside.
621, of their own accord, was already moving towards a large structure of scaffolding and machines that almost reached the roof of the hangar. A small part of her mind made the connection that this was a near identical replica to the set-up she found 621 in under the factory. The rest of her though, was far too busy lamenting all the aches and pains she was feeling.
She didn't want to step up and make that whole speech to Wakamo and her army of delinquents —since when have there been so many on the streets anyways!?— but the subtle pressure that the volunteers were pushing on her had just been too much. And it seemed like something she would do! Emulating her had gotten her this far, surely it would've taken her just a bit farther?
It was a thought that in hindsight made her want to just give up and run. Especially once they got within range of the drones and they saw what a large force Wakamo had amassed, setting up makeshift defenses all up and down the street leading to the Sanctum tower. It's one thing to make an on-the-spot address to a group of delinquents. It's another thing entirely to attempt to talk down a literal army led by one of the most destructive terrorists Kivotos had ever seen! And the tanks! She couldn't even keep track of all the tanks they had stolen and were attempting to hide nearby! She had a grand total of seven tanks to work with! One of which was low on ammunition! Not even mentioning all the other myriad of issues they had to craft make-shift repairs for!
She was incredibly surprised that she hadn't suffered a stroke! That wasn't even the worst part though! The worst part was that while there was apprehension in the eyes of those who volunteered to work with her, they were predominantly filled with confidence and hope. And all of it was directed at her, as if it was just a fact that she was going to lead them to a victory in the face of overwhelming defeat!? She damn near quit then and there, if it weren't for 621's presence and the fact that this could very well be their one chance to fix things any time soon.
It was strange actually, how quickly 621's presence had become a source of comfort for her. Perhaps it was the fact that they didn't really talk, and while it was certainly weird and uncomfortable at first. It had soon become something, 'normal', just another part of 621, the reliable figure that never questioned her, never poked or prodded at her doubts or insecurities. Someone who was just there, that supported her and helped kept her from harm but still trusted her to handle herself to an extent.
It was exactly because of how quickly they'd proven themselves that she felt any degree of preparedness in the plan she had concocted.
Thus, she had found herself on the very front-most lines, getting shot at by all manners of small arms fire and even mystic infused explosive bullets. Getting tossed around by explosions and countless hands that sought to keep her from as much harm as possible, not that she knew why.
Everything ached, her ears were still ringing, and she swore the mother of all migraines was forming in the center of her skull. At this point she didn't care what the rest of the GSC had to say to her, she was going to immediately go home and sleep for a full uninterrupted eight hours or god's help her someone was going to get hurt.
But watching 621 start to settle into their "spot", and a number of machines start to automatically hook themselves up to connection ports, she was reminded that they weren't finished yet when the lights started to flicker.
Headache growing stronger, she asked 621 to wait there while she ran off to a room she had more than a little experience getting to. As the lights continued to flicker, and her migraine continued to intensify, her brain still whirled with her thoughts as an idea was borne to life.
A few minutes of running, a couple of rooms later, and down a level through a security door led her to the potential source of her salvation. Sitting on a single pedestal, illuminated by a spotlight, was the Shittim Chest. A smart tablet of unknown make, model, or origin that had suddenly appeared one night after she had disappeared. No one could figure out how to turn it on, and she had spent whatever free time she had not asleep going over the files for project "extracurricular" in the hopes that it would give a hint as to how to turn it on and use it.
Grabbing it off the pedestal, her mind continued to mull over the gamble she was about to perform. After all, for all she knew the Shittim Chest was actually broken, and they were all wasting time trying to activate something that would be of absolutely no use whatsoever. Not to mention that 621 was a multistory combat machine, whose hands could act as a platform for someone to stand on, how would he work such a small tablet? And that the Shittim Chest was meant to be used by the "mysterious sensei" and they had never shown up and introduced themselves at all!
…
But what if…
…What if 621 was the sensei? Afterall, why else would she send her to that abandoned factory where she would awaken 621 in the first place? Why would her letter refer her to project "extracurricular" in the same breadth she sends her to find 621? Why would 621 even go along with everything up until now, unless they knew something she didn't about their purpose here!
…Yet, as she continued to mull over the idea that 621 was their missing sensei. The heavier the pit in her chest grew…
If she's correct, and 621 can activate the Shittim Chest—which would prove him to be the sensei. Then for an entire week she was just sitting on the coordinates that would've taken her to him and woken him up. An entire week of struggle, and strife, and rising tensions and looming logistical issues…It all could have been avoided had she just immediately gone to the coordinates left behind for her by…Just another failure on her part, proving that she's unfit for her current role…
Mind and feelings repeatedly racing around entangling each other in complicated knots, she soon found herself back in the hangar. Where 621 had finished settling into their dedicated section.
Making her way up to the catwalk that would leave her at roughly chest-height to 621, she cleared her throat, shoved every feeling down into her stomach where she locked them up. And made her request.
"I'm glad to see you settle in 621, but we aren't quite done yet", she holds up the Shittim Chest into 621's line of sight. "The missing GSC president left this behind for a 'sensei' who's supposed to show up. It's called the Shittim Chest, it controls the Sanctum tower, without it we will have no access to any of the regulatory systems that keep Kivotos working." she stared directly into 621's visor, trying her best to communicate the full weight of her request with her eyes alone. "I need you to try and access it and transfer the tower's permissions to me, so I can put a stop to all the chaos happening outside. Please 621".
She wordlessly extended the tablet out to 621. Staring resolutely.
All she could do now was wait. And have faith.
His head was fuzzy.
There was no pain, thankfully, but it was still highly uncomfortable to feel like his brain was physically itchy and his thoughts were murky.
His entire experience until now had been what felt like a fever dream. He wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't just experiencing a hallucination while burning at the center of history's largest coral explosion.
Awakening in an unknown location, within his AC that had been damaged to hell and back after… Then being requested by a "Naganami Rin" to help reclaim a city from some riots.
Compared to what he'd been through, it seemed like an easy job.
Then he had left the underground hangar.
A completely unfamiliar city stretched out before him, and looming in the sky was an overlay of a giant halo of some kind.
Quietly reeling at the sheer difference between what he last remembered doing and what he was doing then, he almost didn't notice the "rioters" in question.
Teen kids, all wearing uniforms of some sort, all having halos, and all of them armed with small arms and currently causing destruction and chaos.
He had done a lot of morally questionable things as a mercenary, some by choice, some because he had to or risk punishment. But taking an AC and firing at students, even if they were actively rioting and causing mass damage and casualties, still left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
Still, a job was a job, and they even decided to open fire first and damage his AC 'if you could really consider a single point of AP per bullet to count as damage'. He aimed a shot among a group of them, expecting them all to turn into a fine mist and coat the street.
It was then astonishing when instead of turning into pulped meat, they merely ragdolled around from the explosion and landed intact. The only real signs of having tanked an AC grade HE shell being damaged clothes, some cuts and burns, and the fact that they were solidly unconscious with their halos disappearing too.
Repeated experience showed this wasn't a fluke. The girls and robots that he saw rioting in the street were so durable they were capable of surviving AC grade munitions, ones designed for use against softer targets such as infantry and lightly armored vehicles. It was so baffling that he had been acting on pure instinct for the majority of the day, just listening to the orders that Rin gave him and retaliating when shot at.
Then her plan for the attack on the Sanctum Tower came, and it was admittedly a little surprising when she asked him to take a long flanking route for a surprise attack. Instead of simply doing as she had been and sitting astride his shoulder as he calmly marched forwards (not that he was really capable of faster movement without completely ruining his remaining boosters).
Most of the battles passed in a hazy blur, but that one student had certainly stood out to him. He never got a chance to hear her speak, nor a real peek behind that mask she wore—he knew she had yellow eyes, and that's it—but from the brief fight, he knew one thing for certain.
She was dangerous. Observant. A wolf stalking sheep. Even in an armored core, she had dealt far more damage than he'd ever imagined from someone wielding a bolt-action rifle and a bayonet.
She'd completely disabled the right arm, dealt catastrophic damage to the AP of his unit, and convinced him that deliberately destroying all his damaged boosters in order to get a suicide strike off was a perfectly reasonable manuever.
Finally, the clean up was left for the regular infantry to handle as he escorted Rin inside, including the large hangar his AC was now currently residing in.
Slowly opening his eyes, he took a good look at his surroundings and had to hold back a wince.
A pure white void, filled with a bright light. Every direction he looked was just another endless expanse of white. A small part of him thought that this experience was vaguely familiar, but he was more concerned by trying to understand anything of what had happened and what was happening.
The last thing he clearly remembered was her request to access the "Shittim Chest" and his attempt to use the ACs data-link to access it…
Deciding to be productive, he picked a direction at random and walked as he thought. Going off of gut feelings and turning at seemingly random. For an indescribable amount of time he walked and thought, passing the endless expanses of an empty pure white void.
Until suddenly it was neither empty nor pure white.
He hadn't even noticed, one moment he was walking. The next, there was suddenly a door in front of his face.
A simple, gray door with windows that didn't actually show anything on the other side. Plain and unassuming, what made it unique wasn't the door itself, but rather the fact that it was the first thing he saw wandering the void that wasn't just the endless white expanse.
Putting a 'hand' on the door, a deluge of images flashed through his mind at a dizzying pace. The most prominent being a young woman on a train whose features were blurred out as a collage of voices whispered something into his brain.
We recall the forsaken histories
With the hallowed machine we are awakened
Striving for the stars, sunken in the dream.
Having whispered the words under his breath, he found no resistance as the door smoothly opened and the blank void was suddenly bathed in a vibrant blue…
Arona dreamed.
Desserts of all kinds. Cakes, and muffins. Donuts and ice cream. And all the flavors of milk she could ever possibly imagine.
No, she couldn't really taste them. Afterall, these were just imagined creations she made with spare code in her sleep. But it was close, and it was something that distracted her.
From the silence. From the sheer lack of any entertainment at all. From the ruthless feeling of uselessness that comes with having power, but being unable to use it at all. From the crippling loneliness her forced isolation had caused…
So, she dreamed. And pushed those bad feelings away, even if it was just for a little bit.
A strange sensation interrupted her, briefly disrupting the dream to show the endless blue that was her reality. She fought to stay asleep, to continue the dream.
As the sensation continued to affect her, and the dream continually got more and more distorted did she finally resign herself to wakefulness. It was only when she saw the mysterious being looming over her resting place did her lethargy completely vanish.
A humanoid figure, made of jagged pieces of white static. Featureless except for a pair of thin black slits where the eyes were supposed to be, and a collection of thin red lines that traced a facsimile of veins throughout. Its limbs were proportioned weirdly to the rest of the body, too long, too slender in some parts, too thick in others.
Her first reaction was to scream, and swing her umbrella at it.
When it simply caught her umbrella in one hand, she froze. And a part of her mind informed her that the weird sensation she had felt earlier was the same as what she felt from this. Touch.
She was rapidly spiraling down a never ending list of 'what if's' that just got worse the longer she thought. So much so, she almost missed it when the thing spoke without a mouth.
"Hello?" Multiple voices blended together, filtered to the most understandable—though the others still mumbled in the background—by what sounded like radio interference. Making its voice take a staticky twinge similar to how its body appeared to be made of static itself.
"Are you well?" She could scarcely imagine the horrors it was going to inflict upon her! Perhaps it would! Would. Would…
…ask if she was okay?
Calming down a little, she took a closer look at what was happening around her.
Yes the figure's appearance was…off putting…but a closer look showed a clear lack of hostile or aggressive intentions or movements at all!
In fact, it had actively prevented any more movements after stopping her attack, and its grip on the umbrella was incredibly light. So much so, that a light tug was enough to return it to her side from its clenched hand.
Now feeling safer, she observed the figure closer as she felt, something, ping in the depths of her files. A slightly familiar feeling? Something she had only ever felt once before…something important…
There! It was incredibly faded, but just barely visible was a singular line of blue code mixed into the static that made-up its neck!
Subconsciously she realized that she had divided herself into two routines, one to engage in cautious conversation with it, the other—the majority of her—to analyze the code she uncovered and find out why it was registering and pinging something.
It wasn't a quick search. She had to reach far into her files, digging up and exploring routines that hadn't been touched in forever. Tens, hundreds, thousands of fragments of data were briefly looked into and then discarded, all in the search of this one familiar line of code.
Finally she had found it, near the very core of her being, hidden within her recognition programs. There were already countless profiles stored and ready to access, but they were almost all deactivated. And the code was registering as an active account. One of the two, and since one was corrupted and completely inaccessible, then that means he had to be…
"...Sensei?"
There was no way. There was just no way! Really!?
But no matter how many times she reran the identification tests, no matter how much she reanalyzed the code embedded within their neck, the results didn't change. It was a perfect match for the "Sensei" profile within her database.
In disbelief, she started to cry. After an eternity of solitude, cut off from the rest of the world, he had come! When she was in the midst of giving up hope entirely he appeared just like she said he would!
A return of that alien sensation, touch, brought her out of her mind. Through her blurry vision, she saw the figure…she saw sensei lay a hand on her head and try to gently stroke her hair. It was an incredibly stiff and awkward movement, as if it was only something they had seen and never experienced. And it was plain as day that he was quite uncomfortable with the idea of trying to comfort someone.
But it was still so warm and gentle, in a way she had never experienced before. As an AI she had been created and not born. But she still couldn't help but wonder if this is what companionship felt like? To interact with another being at all? To not be alone?
She didn't know, but she liked to imagine that's what it was.
Giving in to her emotions, she darted forward and desperately grabbed him into a hug. She actively felt him stiffen up in awkward discomfort but refused to let that stop her. For the second time ever, she was able to interact with someone. For the first time ever, she was able to touch someone.
…
…
…
She didn't know how long she remained in that embrace, ('a lie, she knew exactly how long'). But eventually she released Sensei and stepped back, wiping her tears away.
"Erm, S-sorry for that, Sensei. I just, I just let my emotions get the better of me." finished cleaning the tears off her face, she looked back into Sensei's eyes and gave a wide smile. "I'm just so happy that you're here now! Oh! I almost forgot to introduce myself!", never losing the smile on her face, she stepped back and gave a small bow.
"I am the main OS of the Shittim Chest, the system manager, and your AI secretary, Arona! It's a pleasure to meet you, Sensei!"
"A…pleasure to meet you as well, Arona."
"The pleasure's all mine! Now, let's complete your authentication so we can get to work, Sensei! There's so much to do!"
She suddenly leans forwards, lifting a hand with her index finger extended, pointing directly at Sensei's unique figure.
"Just touch your fingertip to mine and we'll be all set!" she watched with a mix of amusement and embarrassment as he awkwardly maneuvered his longer arms into uncomfortable positions in order to press a digit to hers. The thought of just stepping back a little apparently hadn't come to him.
Still, he eventually managed to successfully begin the authorization process. As she began to run his fingerprint and biological ID through her systems she idly commented, "It's like we're making a promise! So let's do our best, Sensei!".
"..."
"..."
…
…
…
'Why isn't it working?!'
For some reason, she couldn't read Sensei's fingerprint at all! In fact, all of his biometrics seemed a little off. But they were still registering…Was something wrong with her systems?! Was something wrong with Sensei!?
And now the tension was so thick she could practically lean on it. Only further deepening the awkward silence that had taken hold. She couldn't run a full system check now! Sensei would be standing there for even longer with nothing to say or do!
'It's probably fine, right? I mean, Sensei is still here! Able to speak and interact, so surely he's fine, right? So what if I can't read his fingerprints? I can still just authorize with retinal data once I'm powered on properly! I'll just officiate what I've gotten and bypass the rest…'
"All done, Sensei! So~ what's next?"
"...Can you do something about the Sanctum Tower? Rin, the acting-president, is trying to gain access to its functions."
"The…Sanctum Tower? Why would…" as she spoke the initialization finished and she managed to connect to the Internet.
Instantly, she gathered all sorts of data from countless different apps and some further knowledge of the physical world. Some movies and shows, some books and manga. A game or two as well.
And the news, all the recent news…Every protest, riot, and overall issue happening all over Kivotos, including what had just been happening outside the Sanctum Tower…
"...Oh…um…I-I'll get right on it, Sensei!" thank goodness all her systems were running at full capacity now. A little bit of simple file manipulation, some program initialization, restoring access permissions, and~
"Tadah~! Sanctum Tower admin permissions acquired~!" she gestured with her arms and hands to the side, displaying a screen that said those exact same words. "With this I have full control over the Sanctum Tower and its functions!"
Another window popped up, a simple message box:
[Transfer authority to General Student Council?]
[No] [Yes]
"This is the final part of the transfer process, you just need to confirm for yourself. Are you sure you want to give total control to the GSC, Sensei?" she had just barely finished her sentence when he stepped forwards and hit the [Yes] button.
Without any fanfare, the window closed and the only sign that anything had changed was another popup window saying [Transfer complete!].
"Err…congratulations? Umm…mission, accomplished?" recentering herself a bit, she slipped into a more cheerful persona, "Y-yeah! Mission complete, Sensei! Great job!"
She threw an exaggerated thumbs up at him, and watched as he slowly, and awkwardly, gave one back.
"Thank you, Arona…How, do I get out?" he looked around in confusion, even glancing behind him at the door that couldn't open and led to nowhere.
"Err…I don't really know? I didn't even know you could enter the Shittim Chest, Sensei. Umm~ maybe if you just think about it really hard?" She shrugged, clueless. "I suppose I could try to use my permissions as the OS to forcibly end your connection…But I don't know what would happen."
Luckily, it seemed they didn't have to find out first hand what would happen should she forcibly terminate their connection. After standing motionless for a few moments, Sensei started to visibly fade away as the static making up his body dispersed into the air. Soon only the empty classroom she was all too familiar with remained.
But for once, she didn't feel depressed or lonely. No, instead it was a buzzing feeling, down to her core. She felt energetic and excited.
Sensei was real! Sensei was here, he helped her! He's relying on her to help him in Kivotos! She has a purpose now!
Merrily, she skipped about the classroom. Idly cleaning the place up, and ensuring that all systems and files were intact and fully functional. Afterall, who knew what Sensei would need help with, and when!
So lost in thought, she never noticed the red dust she swept into the wind…
AN: So…hi? It took a lot longer to get this out than I thought it was going to.
I don't even know where to really start. I guess I underestimated college and I just lost track of time? It also didn't help that I was attempting to wrap up the entirety of the prologue in this one chapter, and I'm very much not used to writing such long entries.
Speaking of, I have mixed feelings on this chapter. On the one hand, I'm immensely proud of being able to write such a long chapter and keep it of at least decent quality. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure I paced everything properly, and I had more than my fair share of troubles trying to write it, as well as general "iffy-ness" on some of the content, hence the long period of silence.
A lot of things happened, we saw some Wakamo, saw some more of Rin, finally met Arona, and got a glimpse of 621 outside of his armored core…kind of.
I'm sure you already figured it out, but just to be perfectly clear. What Arona saw isn't what 621 actually looks like. It's her hard/software systems doing their best to translate what 621 is and the unknown codes he contains, into something somewhat understandable to Arona.
Also, I wanted to address a comment I saw on the last chapter. To snipervtk4: I was aware of the pre-existing stereotypes regarding academies and their tanks (though I did forget Red Winter had shown Soviet tanks, so thanks for reminding me). It's been a while since I'd played Blue Archive, so I was writing off of memory. After reading your comment I went through the wiki and looked for every unit (friend or foe) that used a tank. I forgot that there was actually a decent variety of different tanks besides Crusaders, so thanks for pointing that out and correcting me. As for what I have planned for Millenium? I might have something interesting planned for them later.
Anyways, this AN is already far too long, so thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoyed.
Until next time.