Chapter 3: Rules Are Made to Be Broken

After catching my breath and internally cursing out Silver Wolf some more for leading us straight into an ambush, my mind shifted gears as I quickly considered a strategy. Time slowed to a crawl, and my honed senses began to find the high notes in this cacophony of gunfire and explosions. The shouts of the charging assailants were uneven and seemed to be coming at various distances, which would suggest they were coming in waves in a pincer formation, or they were spread out so widely that they had no idea how to actually fight in a group. I had a feeling the second was more likely. Confirming this was that Rin had taken the opportunity to drop smoke grenades in front of the tank to obscure its view, cutting off the support the cannon would have been able to provide the infantry. Rather than driving through the smoke, the tank proceeded to take pot shots with its cannon at the helicopter, which wasn't usually a sound tactic against a small and moving object. One of the cannon shots even came within three meters of the chopper.

"That's a Crusader Type 1!" Yuuka shouted to the rest of us. "Those thugs must have stolen one from the PMC!"

With about thirty seconds left at most before we were forced into combat, I opened a communications line with Rin. "We got a tidal wave of thugs barreling down on us. Can you tell me their formation and numbers?"

Rin's voice cut in, with the static nearly overpowering her shouting as the rough turbulence from the pilot's evasive maneuvering and the tank's barrage of fire proved too much for her phone to capture properly. "About six dozen enemies, split between two halves converging on both sides of the park. We'll keep the tank distracted, but we're running out of munitions." The pulling of a grenade pin could be heard, and another smoke cloud formed in the road area near the Crusader's parking spot. Rin could be heard shouting to the pilot the chopper only had a few more smoke bombs in the armory.

I gripped my bat tightly, sweat and adrenaline running through me, and turned towards my party members. The four were already taking cover and prepping for combat as I began barking my orders.

"Hasumi, cover me, I'm rushing towards the group at the left hand entrance! Everyone else, stay in position!"

Yuuka shot a glance towards me, gritting her teeth and taking clear issue with my reckless abandon.

"Sensei, wait! Where are you go-"

I took off in a dead sprint, quickly clearing the five lanes and approximately 25 meter distance in less than five seconds, while a hail of bullets whizzed by my head, each shot barely missing me. By the time Hasumi had was able to position herself at a better sightline to give supporting precision fire, I was already among the enemy, my bat smacking and crushing skulls and bones.

"What's this crazy b-gah!"

"She's big! She's fast!"

My body weaved and contorted itself through the air to dodge any attacks thrown my way.

"By the car!"

"WHICH car?"

A small number of the delinquents began to try and gang up on me, but it was all for naught.

"Nothing's hitting her!"

"Why didn't ANY of us bring frag grenades?"

Stellaron is my body and Trailblaze is my blood.

"Where's that minigun?"

"Get that tank up here now!"

I had become an unstoppable force: a juggernaut, the Galactic Baseballer's legend incarnate.

"Where'd she go?"

"She's running on the wall!"

My bat and I would not be stopped.

"She wiped out the whole squad!"

"Crap, it's just me-agh!"

After less than 90 seconds, the initial few waves of the group I had rushed towards were lying in the ground, some moaning in pain, and others unconscious. Unfortunately, I was so caught up in my power trip that I had failed to notice the back waves weren't going to be rushing me single file through the side street leading towards the park entrance's intersection, and the group that was on the adjacent side of the intersection next to the main road were coming up right behind me, and the fact I was a sitting duck was something Hasumi took notice of.

"Sensei, get back here, they're about to flank you!"

A hail of heavy machinegun fire tore through the air, and the sound of the bullets shredding concrete and asphalt pierced my ears. A considerable burst of bullets nicked me, but thanks to Hasumi's warning and quick reactions, I was able to dodge the brunt of the heavy gunner's minigun fire before Hasumi took them out with one well placed shot that seemed to roar through the air with a thunderous clap and made a heavy impact that seemed to resonate across the entire area. The minigun spun around with reckless abandon as its payload pierced various car windows, adding the whining of disgruntled car alarms to the soundscape. The rest of the enemy reinforcements, who were already in the process of forming a firing line, scattered, serving as the distraction I needed to leap back out and close the distance between the remaining thugs, who were already in the process of scattering as their only support unit was felled. The assault on the left hand park entrance was a resounding failure for the delinquents.

Unfortunately, my aggressive tactics had left a glaring hole in the defense of the right side of the park; behind Yuuka, Hasumi was the one of the group who brought the most of the table offensively, and was also the only member with a weapon suited for longer ranges. Both Yuuka and Suzumi only had submachine guns to work with, and the particularly large frame of Chinatsu's pistol did little to compensate for its lack of range. They were forced to let enemies in close, Yuuka using her superior durability and fire rate of her weapons as the thugs couldn't work together and came at Yuuka in small, manageable packs; Chinatsu kept Yuuka in the game by giving her what seemed to be stim shots.

A sniper rifle round tore through the air and connected with Hasumi's shoulder. As she reeled from the hit, Rin's panicked shouting could be heard through my earpiece.

"We're out of grenades! The tank is ignoring us! They're about to breach the smokescreen!"

I turned to see that Yuuka currently had an energy barrier up, but the strain of fending off the thugs at close range was too much and her stamina was running low. If the tank breached the smokescreen, there was no doubt in my mind it would tear Yuuka to shreds with its machine gun turrets, and if the tank didn't make it in time the thugs would overwhelm her.

"Hasumi, fall back to the center of the park and cover us from there!" I was too far away from Yuuka to give proper commands, and I had also neglected to take into account the possibility of the tank turning its attention towards my party, despite its attempts earlier to shoot at the helicopter. And since I was too far away from Yuuka and we didn't patch either other in through communications, I would have to trust Hasumi had the situational awareness to see that I was calling to give Yuuka the opportunity for a tactical retreat.

Suzumi's voice was faintly audible as I sprinted towards the group holding the right side entrance. "The Crusader's within visual range!" It fired its cannon towards the park, and the shot narrowly missed and slammed into a nearby building.

"The tank's too close! They're about to breach the smokescreen!" And in an entrance worthy of Sam, it slowly emerged from the fog as the rumbling of its tracks seemed to shake the earth to its very core. Its cannon was aimed squarely at Yuuka, who glanced up but was unable to react in time, the shell slamming directly into her energy shield, with the impact taking the barrier out of commission as well as a considerable amount of the damage making it through to Yuuka herself. I closed the distance in time to put my body between the tank and Yuuka as it fired its machine gun turrets, with me twirling my bat in a circular motion in an attempt to deflect some of the shots. The impossibly durable frame of the bat did so, but I had taken a considerable amount of fire in the process; a significantly heavy hit like a sniper shot would take me out of the fight as I was rapidly losing the stamina to stay upright from the assault. After a few seconds of fire, the tank's turrets stopped to cool down and reload, and I could hear the signature clacking of the main gun readying again. The tank's forward movement put just enough variance in the accuracy of the shot that a dive for cover by both Yuuka and myself was enough to put us out of harm's way of the explosion.

The rest of the group was closing in, but I noticed there were considerably less of the delinquents in my visual range now that the tank was on the scene. It seemed they were gathering on the left side entrance that I had just successfully defended barely a minute ago.

"We've got about a dozen left, everyone fall back to the center of the park and regroup! Chinatsu, use any healing items you have on you!"

In the span of about 20 seconds, the four were back at the center of the park, as I held my ground and began infusing my bat with the Will of Destruction. Yuuka was barely standing, while Hasumi was rapidly firing and cycling her bolt action rifle through a small opening at the tank; although the shots seemed to penetrate the front armor somehow, it did little to slow the machine down. Suzumi gritted her teeth as she gripped a flash grenade and took a running start out of cover. The crunching of cars underneath the oppressive tracks of the metal behemoth was the only noise that I could register.

"Sensei, that tank is going to shred us!" Suzumi shouted, using her sprint to lob a flash grenade over the wall. It detonated, causing disorientation in the infantry in the form of surprised yelps and panic gunfire of the infantry buying us just enough time for me to pull out my Stardust Ace in the hole. My bat crackled with electricity as its formerly black frame was covered in a neon blue glow, and I used the last of my energy to prepare a last ditch suicide attack on the tank.

"Get back here, Stelle!" Yuuka yelled in a panic, referring to me by my actual name for the first time. "You can't beat that tank on your own!"

I began counting the seconds in my head as I could see the tracks barreling towards the wall, and eventually, crushing the brick and stone with the same exaggerated efficiency as Firefly crushing insects.

One.

"Everyone, cover your eyes!" Suzumi shouted, throwing yet another flash grenade at the flailing hostiles as the rest of the group slowly plinked away at them from a distance.

Two.

The tank emerged, its cannon ready and its machine guns trained on our location.

"Rules-" I began.

I launched myself at the tank, my body a blur as the wind seemed to part before me, and I leapt towards the tank's main turret; the bat held above my head with both hands, the straps of my hoodie fluttering behind me. The cannon adjusted slightly, and the turrets began spraying wildly at my leaping frame; the vast majority of them somehow missing, leaving the ones that did find their mark ineffective as the velocity of my attack was such that the rounds seemed to be bouncing off my skin like raindrops.

"-are made-" I continued.

The cannon fired, but unable to keep up with the rapid shift in my height, its launched projectile sailed harmlessly past me and directly at the wall that was keeping the wannabe-rebels against the GSC in concealment. The gunfire from the four in the center seemed a bit closer to me now, signaling they had immediately pounced on the opportunity inadvertently created by the Crusader.

"-to be BROKEN!"

And the Stardust Ace swung down, with a soundwave reverberating throughout the area.

The tank exploded, the concussive force sending me flying back and conveniently landing right besides Chinatsu, and the wreckage and debris of the tank slamming into the already half-destroyed wall, collapsing it and letting the enemy infantry pour in. However, they were all stunned and confused from seeing their trump card go up in flames, and thus easy pickings for our team; sans Yuuka, who had stopped fighting to gawk at the feat I had just accomplished, or rather at the flying ragdoll that was the vessel for my soul.

With the last few stragglers taken care of, my adrenaline rush finally wore off and my muscles gave in, as I let myself fully sink to the floor and my bat rolled away from my hands. Yuuka was the first one by my side, as the other three finished the last few stragglers off, and checked up on me.

"Look at that, Yuuka," I grinned audaciously. "We beat that tank on our own."

"You crazy idiot!" Yuuka shouted. "What were you even thinking? You could have been seriously hurt!"

I coughed a little, the pain of the bruises, the bleeding, and the overall exhaustion setting in. "If I didn't stop the tank, you and the others would have been toast."

Yuuka glared at me, clearly still unhappy with the reckless risk I had taken. "We'll talk about this later."

Suzumi, after confirming the unconscious status of the delinquents, jogged over to us; while Chinatsu looked over my wounds. She bandaged the part of my arm that had been bleeding, rubbed gel on the various bruises I had, and injected me with the stim shots she had been giving Yuuka. She only showed mild surprise when I leapt up to my feet, seemingly ready for round two. In truth, if I was going to get into more fights after this, I was severely weakened and wouldn't be able to put up meaningful resistance against someone of moderate strength or skill. It reminded me of the aftermath of my one-on-one duel against Skaracabaz, and how it left me so drained that I couldn't even muster the will to be angry at Ruan Mei for sending me into a death trap. But if the others didn't know that, then they were less likely to question my sudden burst of energy.

Hasumi jogged over, carrying the bat that had been dropped and giving it back to me. "I believe this belongs to you, Sensei." I took the bat, gave it a few playful flips, and then dematerialized it now that it was no longer needed.

"Thanks," I replied. "And nice shot earlier. You took out the minigunner. If you hadn't, we'd all be toast."

She shrugged, and her face remained neutral. "We were able to win this battle because of your initiative. I look forward to taking the stage of the battlefield alongside you again."

"I'll admit, the fact you were able to take on a tank solo was rather impressive, Sensei," Suzumi mused. "But it's really a wonder you weren't hurt badly. You're not from Kivotos after all."

I rubbed my right hand on the back of my head, letting the flattery get to me. "Ah, you're making a bigger deal of it than it actually was. A lot of people where I'm from are even more durable than me."

Yuuka scoffed, crossing her arms, and said nothing further on the subject.

Suzumi glanced over towards the smoking, ruined wreckage of the tank, its frame twisted and bent in such a way that looked more like it had been the victim of being stomped on by a building sized monster rather than being whacked by a baseball bat.

"Strange, no crew," she mused. "Was it automated? Or remotely controlled?" She motioned Yuuka over, inviting her to join the inspection. Yuuka made her way over while injecting herself with a spare stim shot Chinatsu had given her earlier, her immediate state immediately shifting towards that of someone who didn't just eat multiple bullet sandwiches.

Hasumi had submitted herself to Chinatsu's inspection, while the helicopter touched down and Rin departed the craft, it left the scene as she walked towards us, talking on her phone.

"The Fox of Calamity is still unaccounted for, but the building is secure and her followers have been taken out. Have Valkyrie set up another perimeter immediately while I escort Sensei into the Sanctum Tower." She hung up, and looked towards me. "Are you unhurt, Sensei?"

"The few bruises and minor lacerations will be gone before I know it. I'm doing pretty okay," I replied.

"You are quite strong. I can see why the President chose you. We were worried the Crusader would have stopped us in our tracks."

I nodded. "Thank you for distracting the tank as long as you did. Without that extra time, the battle would have gone much differently."

She brushed her hair with her fingers. "It was no trouble at all. Come now, we have no time to waste."

"Sensei," Yuuka began as my party of four approached me. "We will stay here until Valkyrie sets up a perimeter, but after that we'll have to return to our academies. It's been..." She paused, seeming to search for the right word. "...an experience, fighting alongside you. I'm sure the students of the other two academies will say the same."

I smiled, and put my hand out to offer a handshake. This time, Yuuka accepted it readily. "I'm glad I was able to help out."

"Please visit me at my academy sometime. Millennium is the leader in pioneering technological and scientific advances here in Kivotos, and we would have much to learn from you." She seemed a little too excited in her tone, and her glance she sported reminded me a bit too much of how Herta looks at something that captures her interest. "Until then, it has been a pleasure, Sensei." The others then stepped forward to shake my hand as well.

"Please visit us at Trinity sometime, Sensei," Hasumi beamed warmly.

"Until next time, Sensei," Suzumi spoke softly.

"Please take care of your health, Sensei," Chinatsu wished courteously.

Rin and I departed from the group and began to head forward to the Sanctum Tower, it's clean white walls and stained blue glass complimenting the shining beacon of light at the middle of its structure.

While the exterior of the building may have been relatively normal compared to the other buildings I'd seen so far, and by that I mean it wasn't a smoldering crater reminiscent of the wreckage of an orbital bombardment, the interior was a different matter altogether. The first thing that stood out was the color scheme, or rather, lack thereof, because the power outage meant nothing was visible and I had to rely on my own natural vision in the dark. Rin, who had relatively poorer night vision compared to my own, was trailing close behind me as we descended the steps down to the basement. Only the fluorescent blue lighting on the walls kept her from stumbling around like someone overdosed on SoulGlad.

As I approached the basement door and slowly nudged it open, I approached the stairs that led to the floor of the room. Rin seemed to freeze up on the railing, and my attempts to signal her to follow me failed. In the center was a figure I could somewhat make out, the same height as Suzumi or ever so slightly shorter, with a black cherry blossom surrounded by a spiked circle as a halo; the light from it illuminated her long dark brown hair and white fox mask. I could make out the dark colors of her traditional dress as closed the distance; I could also hear Rin hyperventilating, but thankfully it seemed like the masked figure did not. Considering the fight with the Crusader and its mob supports weren't what I'd consider a tutorial fight, I'd hate to go up against their leader whom I was told attracts people as followers merely through the trail of destruction she leaves in their wake; both myself and Silver Wolf had figured out who this figure was.

"THAT is Kosaka Wakamo, the Fox of Calamity," Silver Wolf stated in an irritatingly mock-posh voice, which was very much not like her. This is probably yet another reference to an old game I have yet to play. "A true anarchist, she loves chaos and hates authority. Her vibes kind of remind me of Kafka, or at least the imitation fast food version of her." Guess Silver Wolf isn't over her own backstory as the sole employee of a fast food restaurant yet. "Careful, you're not at your best after that last fight. Try to avoid direct confrontation."

Wakamo walked around lazily as she searched the dark, empty room. There, she noticed the inactive Space Anchor in the corner. She touched it, and it remained unresponsive. Giving up, she turned around and placed what looked like a remotely detonated bomb on a stand containing a floating black stone-like slab.

"I don't see what the big deal is about this place," she mused to herself. "What am I even supposed to destroy?"

The room was empty save the structure in the middle, a desk with cabinets pulled out indicating it had been searched thoroughly searched, and a few scattered chairs. There was no way I was going to take on Wakamo in a fair fight with how weak I felt, but maybe a stealth attack could work. Barreling down her blind side with a panther-like stride, I was nearly on top of her when she wheeled around towards the entrance, saw the light of Rin's halo, and with impossibly quick reflexes drew her bayonet rifle not that different from Bronya's own; landing an impossibly powerful headshot on Rin that left a red trail of flower petals as it traveled. Rin was knocked unconscious instantly, and her halo flickered out. Before she could chamber another round by cycling the bolt, as she had no doubt detected my presence as I broke out into a hard sprint, I materialized my bat and whacked the rifle out of her hand, sending it scattering to the other end of the room. A follow-up swing directed at Wakamo's head missed as she leapt back and produced a detonator in her hand, making a show to press the button.

"That was a really stupid idea," Wakamo remarked casually. "Did you think I was an amateur? It's no fun if I don't give GSC worms like you a chance to fight back."

But no explosion came. Wakamo continued hammering the button, growing visibly frustrated with each attempt.

"I disabled the explosive," Silver Wolf announced over the earpiece. "You're welcome, Stelle."

"It's no use," I spoke. "The bomb's a dud."

"Of course it isn't, darling," she snapped, not even turning around to acknowledge me. I could practically feel the venom dripping from her speech. I don't think Silver Wolf was right that Wakamo was a discount Kafka: if Kafka's speech convinced you to do anything she asked, Wakamo's speech made you instantly distrust and be wary of her. If anything, her attire and attitude reminded me more of Sparkle than it did Kafka, and her apparent love for explosions as well as her overall height sealed that deal. "All I need to do is keep trying."

She continued hammering the button at a rapid pace, eventually shouting a feral, whimpering cry as she threw the detonator aside. "Useless piece of junk!"

She wheeled around, and the glare she shot towards me through the mask was like a thousand burning daggers. Her laughter echoed throughout the room. "You work for the GSC? Well, I have some bad news for you, darling. The GSC doesn't care about anyone who works for them."

"You don't know me, Wakamo. But you seem pretty determined to get rid of them. Why?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to," she hissed.

Wakamo rushed at me with an impossibly quick speed, and it took all the awareness I could muster at the moment to dodge the punches, kicks, and palm strikes she was throwing at me. She then throw an axe kick aimed at my head, which I blocked with the swing of my bat, sending her flipping backwards as she landed on her feet with the impeccable grace of a bathing dove.

"You're pretty good," I started, keeping her distracted with conversation and flattery to mask my low stamina. I could hear Silver Wolf snorting for some reason I couldn't fathom. "You're the one who set up the two ambushes back there?"

Wakamo gave a dismissive scoff. "The ants you fought do whatever they please. They chase my strength, and I am glad to use the meager assistance they offer in exchange. It's a pity I wasn't the one fighting you, darling." She seemed to smirk behind the mask. "It would have been a blast."

Wakamo swung a right hook towards my abdomen, and I nimbly dodged. We continued to circle one another as the air grew thick enough to cut with a katana. The Fox of Calamity might not have been as dangerous as Sparkle, but describing Sparkle as "dangerous" would be the equivalent of describing an Imaginary Neutron Bomb as "destructive".

"So, what's your problem with the GSC?"

"They're a bunch of arrogant, self-righteous tyrants. They did nothing as I was expelled from Hyakkiyako." I heavily doubt there was anything they could do in that instance, let alone care about. "They only care about themselves."

My thoughts strayed to Momoka feasting on snacks as the city burned around her, and I couldn't help but grunt in affirmation.

"Darling," Wakamo began. "If I knew were we one of the same mind, maybe we could have been friends."

"You can be my student first," I half-joked.

"But it is curious. You share the same sentiment about the GSC as I do." That was quite the leap considering I did just launch a sneak attack on her with Rin in my entourage, but I wasn't going to interrupt Wakamo when she was making a mistake that favored me. "Maybe, if the circumstances were different, we could have been allies."

"And you know," I spoke, trying to keep her distracted and talking as I circled her, maybe even persuade her into leaving. "We can still be allies. You didn't steal that Crusader tank, did you?"

"Not a bad guess, but no. I was paid for my services, and it was left for me." She shrugged, and it seemed to me like she wasn't exactly lying. "I had my reasons."

There were a few things about the whole scenario that didn't add up. The first was why, if she was paid to cause havoc, she didn't take out myself and the four representatives that assisted me in either of the two ambushes on our way to the Tower; instead, she seemed to have been instructed to destroy the Tower itself. However, it was clear Wakamo was not informed on the reason for destroying the Tower, which caused her to search for something valuable within it: she planted the bomb on the pedestal with the floating stone-like black slate not because it was explicitly her objective, but because it was more or less the only thing of note within this building. This also meant Wakamo had no idea about the Tower's true purpose, as the keystone that quite literally gave the GSC its authority and as the birthplace of SCHALE, which would narrow the suspect list of whoever hired her to the GSC and people connected enough to be in the know. All the representatives sans Suzumi had what seemed like important sounding positions.

The second was Momoka's comment during her phone call with Rin, specifically that things wouldn't get that much worse if the retaking of the Tower was delayed rather than halted. It was apparent that whoever hired Wakamo wanted there to be a controlled crisis that would hurt the GSC's credibility, but not actually do anything to loosen the grip on the GSC's authority. This was backed up by Suzumi noticing the tank was possibly remotely controlled, and the tank did ignore taking us out to solely focus on the helicopter, suggesting this mystery "benefactor" of Wakamo's knew Rin was on board and had some frustrations to take out. While circumstantial, the advance ambush party did seem to be too far away from the Tower itself as if they knew our exact time of departure. While I had no reason to suspect Momoka, I also made a note to be wary of the other Council members. If nothing else, Rin was definitely trustworthy, and Ayumu seemed to be as well.

I'd have to think about the rest later, because the moment I was lost in thought was the moment Wakamo struck. She charged me and, before I could react, swept my legs out from under me. As I fell, she brought her leg up and slammed it down on my abdomen, and the force was so great it felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. As I tried to roll away and dodge, she grabbed my ankles and flipped me into a full mount position.

"I have you now. What is your name? You must tell me." Her speech was reminiscent of something March would summarily describe as "burning love".

She brought her fist up, but as she went to bring it down, I held it back with one of my hands, taking care not to overly exert myself as I did so; too much would tire me out as I was still reeling from the effort I put against the second ambush party, and Wakamo would be less likely to listen to me if I let our fight that was turning into a date get too one-sided in either direction.

I coughed, feeling the air rush back into my lungs. Not missing a beat, I formally introduced myself. "It's Stelle-sensei, the Galactic Educator." Somehow, out of all the people I used that title on, Wakamo was clearly the only person who didn't think it was lame. She seemed to almost blush as her grip on me relaxed. "Wakamo, please listen. Someone within the GSC hired you." It was a bluff considering all I had was several pieces of circumstantial evidence with no solid proof, and I held little understanding of the politics within Kivotos; it could also just as easily be another powerful faction rather than a traitor, or some combination of both. "You're being used by someone in authority. I don't know how far the GSC's influence goes, but it's likely whoever hired you has their own agenda."

"Ara? You're not part of the GSC?" she was intrigued, her grip loosening further as she seemed to forget our fight altogether.

"I'm from SCHALE." I took care not to say anything that was untrue, but instead could be interpreted as what I wanted Wakamo to think, a trick I picked up from Kafka. I bent down to pick my bat back up and dematerialized it, no longer needing to use it. "I'm here to reform this city." I paused, before shifting into politician mode by outright plagiarizing the mission statement the president had given me through Silver Wolf. The amount of faith Silver Wolf was able to convince her to place in me was extreme even by my standards, which were the same standards where I approved paintings and statues of myself to be placed with less than token resistance against Rosa's proposal. "Together, we can free ourselves from this distorted fate, and find the choices that will lead us to a new reality."

"And what would this distorted fate be, and this new reality you propose?"

I had to choose my words carefully, as I could neither express complete disdain for authority nor prop myself up with the delusions of grandeur that the plagiarism would imply I held. Just about every potential dialogue option I could make at the moment sucked. Looks like the saying was right, cheaters indeed never prosper; I instead chose to redirect the conversation back to her previous question of my affiliation with the GSC.

"SCHALE is extrajudicial. It answers to no one. As its sole Advisor, I will bring justice to those who would abuse the GSC's power." I then decided to try to play on her sympathies. "The GSC kicked you out of Hyakkiyako, so why do you want to destroy the Tower?"

"To take away the rotten authority they hold, since it's so important to them."

She was right about the purpose of the tower, but for the wrong reasons.

"But you've seen the Tower holds nothing of importance. All destroying the Tower would do is inconvenience the GSC, and they'd just send more people after you to throw you back in a cell." I'm sure total anarchy was a step above an inconvenience, but it wasn't not an inconvenience either. Regardless, I had her full attention now. "The Tower is the birthplace of SCHALE, the only organization that can stand against their tyranny. I am its sole Advisor. With the Tower out of the picture, SCHALE would be gone, and nothing could stop them."

I could see the gears in Wakamo's head turning as she seemed to be considering the (half) truth of my words.

"That's right, darling. I believe in you."

I could almost hear Silver Wolf snort again. I didn't, but what I did hear was her munching on something soft. Omni-synthesized popcorn was no match for the real deal, but Silver Wolf was far from a picky eater; unfortunately she preferred the "chaos and schadenfreude" flavor of entertainment.

"And," I started, "if you really want to take away their power, there's a better way than just destroying the Tower."

"Which is?"

"Help me find the traitors in the GSC, and I will use my authority to eliminate them from the equation."

I was met with silence. She was still listening, and so I decided to continue, even as Silver Wolf's commentary filled the earpiece.

"Wakamo, if the GSC is exposed for their treachery, it would bring everything crashing down on them. You'd get your revenge on the people who set you up. The people of Kivotos will not take kindly to a coup d'état. It would give everyone a chance to take back control of their lives."

Wakamo was silent.

"So what will you do? Will you stay a puppet dancing for a puppeteer using you to spread their seeds of power, or will you choose to live by your own terms?"

There was more silence. Then, a giggle. Then, more giggling. And then, uncontrollable, raucous laughter. Wakamo doubled over, her voice filling the entire room.

"What an absurd thing to say! The GSC will never let the citizens take back control! The people of Kivotos are ignorant sheep. They will be perfectly content living out their meaningless, miserable existences, not a care in the world! What makes you think they'll have the guts to fight back?"

"I'm not saying they will," I began. "But we have to at least give them the chance. I have as much authority as the GSC president, and I've seen how things look from your perspective. Who's to say others are not the same? The GSC made the rules, but rules are made to be broken. So you break them."

She laughed again, even harder. "I will never understand why you give these cretins a chance. But I see we both can spread beautiful destruction, together or separately, in our own ways." She took off her mask, revealing the picturesque portrait of a demure, beautiful girl; her golden yellow eyes mirroring my own. "I was right to think someone with the same face as me was worthy of my time. I accept your proposition."

Silver Wolf cleared her throat to get my attention. "Stelle, like I was just saying, I've installed MomoTalk onto your phone just now and set up an account for you. It's like the regular social media and messaging app that we use, but for Kivotos. Go ahead and trade information with Wakamo."

I held out my phone, which was displaying my MomoTalk code. She accepted it, and we had each other as friends. Wakamo put her mask back on, and gestured towards Rin. "So what will we do with her?"

It's definitely a good idea not to let Wakamo in on GSC internal politics, she'd be unlikely to understand and would probably spread what I shared in her various villainous monologues. "Leave before she wakes up, I'll tell her you escaped before I could catch you." It would also be bad if my one of my now allies outside the GSC was taken out of the equation, even if I didn't think Valkyrie stood much of a chance against her. "There's a Valkyrie patrol that's set up a perimeter and is looking for you."

Wakamo scoffed, having the same mind as me.

"Oh, and by the way." I interrupted her.

"Yes, darling?"

"You look pretty without your mask."

With that, Wakamo froze for a bit, and I couldn't gauge the reaction from her; it seemed to be positive as she didn't interject with a thinly-veiled threat, she simply stood there as if processing my words. Rin's halo was flickering back into existence as her consciousness faded back in, and when I turned back around at the basement exit, Wakamo had simply vanished, managing to disappear without a trace.

"Rin, are you alright?"

"Yes...what happened?"

"The Fox of Calamity escaped," I responded, taking care not to mention Wakamo by her actual name. "I waited for you to wake up." Granted, the waiting I did was also accompanied by a tense brawl and then a debate with the fox who bore my eyes.

Rin sighed apologetically. "I see. Thank you. With that, the Sanctum Tower has been secured." She walked over to the desk and inspected the cabinets again, which seemed to have been turned upside down for Wakamo. She grabbed a seemingly inconspicuous dongle and presented it to me. "Thankfully, it's still here. Please, take it. This is what the General Student Council president left for you."

She palmed it off to me, and I turned the dongle around to inspect it, noticing a miniature sticker of Silver Wolf blowing on bubblegum. I didn't need any further instruction on what to do with it, but Rin continued speaking.

"Its origins are a mystery. It's manufacturer and components are unknown. It's unclear what this does, and the sticker seems to be a custom design. The president left this in your care. She said you'll be able to take control of the tower with it. None of our other members know how to activate it, and the hackers we contracted from Millennium Science School were unable to crack it." Rin paused, noticing the look of disapproval on my face. "I apologize, Sensei, but we had to try, as there was no indication when you would arrive."

"It's alright, Rin. I'd have done the same." I was annoyed, but not surprised, especially if there were opportunists within the GSC influencing her decision making. Thankfully, Silver Wolf lived up to her 5.1 billion credits bounty as usual, keeping her involvement in Kivotos' affairs secret for another day.

Rin nodded. "I'll step away so as not to interfere. Just call me when you're done."

"Just a second," I interrupted. "Can I add you through your phone number on MomoTalk?"

"Oh, yes, of course, but..." her voiced trailed off, and she looked to the ground in shame. "I was out long enough for you to find out about and make a MomoTalk account?"

"Don't worry about it, Rin. You can make up for it by taking care of business."

"Yes, of course."

Rin stepped away and left the basement, shutting the door behind her. Before doing anything with Silver Wolf's dongle, I took the opportunity to activate the Space Anchor she had set up, its lifeless shell activating and beginning to levitate off the ground; it's spire like dark crystalline mass surrounded by two bronze rings on each end.

Silver Wolf had enough of munching on artificial popcorn and began giving me instructions. "Alright Stelle, put the dongle into your phone, it'll update the Blue Archive app with what is, quite honestly, my greatest work yet. You should be able to transfer control of the Sanctum Tower to the GSC after that."

"The greatest work of someone who can hack reality itself?"

"You'll see."

"I don't trust the GSC. Will this leave a backdoor for me?"

"It will leave a backdoor for us, Stelle. Don't you worry about a thing. You can take care of the rest, I've got games to play. This event won't grind itself. Talk to you later, Stelle. Oh, and before I go..."

Suddenly, a golden trashcan popped into existence right in front of me, clanging onto the floor with the majestic grace of Asta throwing her credit card at an incredibly expensive bill.

"Now we're even." A click from the earpiece signaled the line had went dead.

I resisted the siren's call of the golden trashcan for the time being. With no more distractions, I plugged the dongle into the charging port on my phone. Silver Wolf's custom installer popped up as my screen was replaced by various rapidly scrolling messages.

AUTHENTICATING... AUTHENTICATION CONFIRMED. Access granted. User ID "StelleingUrMUM" was previously authorized.

Greetings, StelleingUrMUM. Welcome to swInstaller.

Updating "Blue Archive" app to Version 1.0.1... Update complete.

Note: Blue Archive is a multifunctional app containing a virtual machine running the operating system ARONA.

Transferring you to the Simulated Classroom. Please do not close Blue Archive until you have completed biological authentication and generated the verification certificate within ARONA.

Standing in the bombed out ruins of a classroom overlooking an ocean under the clear blue sky, I took in my surroundings, noting the desks haphazardly strewn about, with one having its surface cracked in the shape of a person sitting on it. I could smell the seawater, and the sounds of birds squawking could be heard outside, as well as the sound of the wind and waves. I reflexively reached to feel my phone and found it wasn't there, confirming this was immersia or something similar to it.

"Hey, Stelle. You're looking pretty as usual," a familiar bored sounding voice spoke.

"I'm surprised you're actually here."

Silver Wolf, sitting in the teacher's seat, smiled. "You can't expect me to miss the debut of my masterpiece. Actually, you can, this is a pre-recorded message. I'm not really here. I just wanted to set the scene. Anyway, I'd like you to meet your personal secretary."

She gestured towards the students' desks, and I turned around to see a small girl with pastel blue hair happily snoring away. Her bright blue uniform was complimented by a white skirt and hair bow. Her simple oval, sky blue halo was seemingly a dead ringer for the president's that I glimpsed in the vision. It was probably nothing, but I turned back around to ask the Silver Wolf apparition about it, only to find her hologram had completely vanished, but its voice was still present.

"Go on, Stelle. Touch her."

I shook the thoughts from my head and did as the disembodied recorded message commanded. The girl, however, remained unresponsive.

"Nom. Castella cake. Banana milk. Goes better than strawberry milk..."

Who voices sound effects out loud? Well, Hook does when she's assaulting others with her Diggertron. I gave her a tug on her arm, but the sleep ramblings continued.

"Heehee. There's so much left..."

I brushed my foot against her leg, only to be met with the fantasies of a miniature glutton once again.

"Sugary, plumpy, and tangy too..."

I grew impatient, balled my hand into a fist, and slammed the surface of the desk with somewhat considerable force; the sound of the impact was reminiscent of a war drum.

"Bwah!"

She shot up from her desk with a start, making a pose that unintentionally was a mirror image of Clockie's alarm ringing.

Her voice was soft, almost squeaking. She was looking around, dazed and confused, before she noticed me and her eyes widened. She leapt at me, throwing her arms open to be embraced, which I gladly returned though I admittedly had no idea who she was.

"Sensei! Sensei, it's you, right? If you're here, does that mean you're Stelle-sensei?"

"Yup, that's me. Stelle-sensei, the Galactic Educator." I set her down as gently as possible with a beaming smile on my face. It really doesn't matter if it's Hook, Clara, or Yanqing. I was as weak in the heart for kids as I was a pushover for March.

"Wow, the Galactic Educator! Such a cool title!" the girl said without a trace of irony or sarcasm in her voice. It was nice to know that someone else believed in the Galactic Educator besides a nutcase like Wakamo, even if it was a gullible child. "But never mind that! What time is it?! Wait, calm down..."

The girl, flustered, stopped to catch her breath.

"Um, so... Oh, that's right! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Arona!"

"Nice to meet you, Arona." I pulled out a seat and sat down, leaning forward at an unhealthy angle so she could match my eye level.

"I'm the system manager that lives inside the Blue Archive virtual machine. I serve as its main OS. Think of me as your trusty secretary, Galactic Educator Sensei!"

I stifled a laugh. "Just Stelle would be fine."

"Alright, Stelle-sensei it is! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I've been waiting a long time! My physical form is still small, and my voice could use a serious upgrade..."

"You're perfect the way you are, Arona." And she really was. If she had an adult build and the personalities of the Intellitrons from the Machine Empire, I'd be trading insults with Arona, which isn't something I want to do with someone who's supposed to be my secretary. As it stands, Arona reminds me more of the Pepeshi, a species I also had a soft spot for; this was despite their often nasty personalities and more than multiple laughably pathetic attempts to kill me due to petty issues like height angst.

Arona blushed. "Thank you, Sensei! I know I can still prove myself useful to you!" She paused for a bit. "Oh yeah, let's complete your biological authentication!" She held out her right index finger, and I touched it with my own. "Biological verification complete! You are now the sole authorized user of the Blue Archive!" She closed her eyes for a second, before opening them in a pensive frown. "Strange...my memory banks have been updated with the latest information up to the last fifteen minutes. Oh well." Guess that was Silver Wolf's doing. I decided to keep her in the dark about her creator, lest her childlike innocence be taken away with the knowledge her mother was a wanted criminal with a bounty that was higher than the net worth of some interastral corporations. "No knowledge on who the president is or what happened to her though. Guess it's not totally complete..."

Arona, now seemingly satisfied, continued. "Your authentication was a success, Stelle-sensei. I have pre-prepared instructions to transfer control of the Sanctum Tower to the GSC, but don't worry! I've left a backdoor open for us to access as well in case of an emergency. Restoring access permissions to the Sanctum Tower now...and done! You can always communicate with me at any time, but please visit me in the Simulated Classroom in person from time to time!"

"I'll try to. Thanks, Arona."

"Of course!"

The Simulated Classroom began to fade.

As my eyes opened and my senses returned to that of the real world, I saw that the once drab and dark basement was now a well lit and bright room, a room which was still admittedly messy due to Wakamo tearing it up looking for something worth destroying. As I reached for my phone and felt it still there, confirming that I had left the Simulated Classroom, Rin walked through the entrance and approached me.

"Great work, Sensei. I want to thank you on behalf of the entire General Student Council for preventing Kivotos from falling into utter chaos."

I sighed, both out of exasperation and relief. Relief that it was over, and exasperation that another task was coming which I likely didn't have the option to refuse. "It never ends, does it, Rin?"

Rin looked at me sympathetically and put a hand on my shoulder. "Kivotos needs you, Sensei. SCHALE's office is about 30 kilometers opposite of the Sanctum Tower, and we can discuss everything further there on another day. I'm sure you'd like to go rest, but we unfortunately have one more problem to deal with."

I nodded. "I'm not even from this planet, Rin. I'm from the spacefaring crew of the Astral Express."

Rin looked at me in surprise. "I've heard reports of those from other worlds ending up on Kivotos, but to think the president was able to secure assistance from the stars..."

"Never mind that. That's not important. The point is that this isn't even my main job at the moment, and I can teleport in and out of Kivotos whenever I want." Her eyes widened a bit at the last statement, but she motioned for me to continue. "So I might go for days at a time without in-person contact within Kivotos. My Crew is important to me, so I'd like to finish this up and go rest for a few days."

Rin nodded, her demeanor towards me changing slightly. "That's understandable. Of course, we'll accommodate whatever your schedule is. Please, go home and get some rest. Thank you again, Sensei."

I turned to leave. "It's not a problem, Rin. Thank you for being so understanding. And please, don't disclose this to anyone else. It'll be our little secret."

She smiled a little. "It's nice to know I'm not the only person overburdened by overwork at least. I'll be sure to have myself or Ayumu drop periodic reports on the GSC's activities at your office. After all-"

The noise of someone leaping down the stairs could be heard nearby, and both myself and Rin immediately stopped our conversation to exit the basement and quickly shut the door behind us as we briskly walked to intercept the intruder.

"Is that the problem you wanted me to deal with?"

An angry expression flashed on her face, confirming my suspicions non-verbally. We raced up the steps, eventually came face to face with what I assumed to be the paparazzi. The girl had tanned skin, green eyes, and blonde hair tied in a ponytail; I nearly groaned when I saw that her halo was a yellow wireless signal symbol. Whatever Aeon created her was really on the nose with their character design. I noticed her jacket looked similar in color scheme to my own hoodie, though she left it unzipped, bearing her white-and-blue half cut shirt that matched with her tight pants and shoes. In one hand she held a microphone marked "KPB" as well as a large camera in the other.

Rin bore a stern face as she scolded the journalist. "I, on behalf of the GSC, had already declined to give an interview when we were outside, and the Sanctum Tower is not open for the public. You are trespassing on GSC property. We will take appropriate action against this infraction, and the Kronos Press Bureau can expect fines to the highest possible amount in accordance with the law."

The girl sneered, completely unfazed. "If it's GSC property, why didn't you close it off? If the press can't investigate the Sanctum Tower, the people can't either. Besides, I'm not here for you." She looked at me. "Snazzy outfit, Sensei. You are Sensei, right?"

I crossed my arms and furrowed my eyebrows to communicate my unwillingness to speak with her.

"Sensei is very busy, and doesn't have time to be interviewed right now." Rin spoke on my behalf.

"Busy, huh? Not busy enough to answer some questions. How did you destroy that tank with a bat? How did the Fox of Calamity escape capture? What exactly is SCHALE? Are the rumors about you being a cyborg ninja true?"

"You're wasting your time. Please leave immediately. Sensei, do you require security to remove her?"

I shook my head. Considering this building was empty sans Wakamo, it's not like we had security to remove her anyway. "I agree to your interview," I stated definitively, shocking Rin. "Before we begin, I'm not familiar with how the press in Kivotos operates, so I'd like to hear the rules of an interview first."

The reporter snickered. "Did you hear that, viewers back home? Kawaru Shinon will conduct an interview with the mysterious Stelle-sensei, whom also holds the equally mysterious title of the Galactic Educator!"

What the heck? How did that even spread?

I turned to see Rin bury both her hands in her face in a reaction similar to my own thoughts. Actually, that's probably a good thing, considering I can insist people call me it now with a veneer of legitimacy, or introduce myself with that title without getting looked at like I was an idiot.

"The rules for an interview are simple. I ask questions, and you can either answer them, decline to, or give no statement. Before we begin, do you accept these rules?"

I smirked, quickly swiped both the microphone and camcorder from Shinon, and destroyed both over my knee. "Rules are made to be broken!"

I quickly sprinted downstairs past a paralyzed Shinon and an exasperated Rin to the Space Anchor in the basement and prepared to teleport myself back to the Express, for the first time looking forward to groveling before March to earn her forgiveness.