Call of the Void

by llAnzull

The Indifference; the greatest mistake of Albrecht Entrati. And the Drifter; the older, ill-fated counterpart of the very 'catalyst tenno' that made the deal to save the children of the Zariman - and the only one who could stop It's plans. Deciding the Drifter is too much of a threat to ignore, It banishes him to the other side of the universe... to a planet full of academies.

8. 8: Redout

I do not want to commission you, artists. Go somewhere else. All queries will be considered spam and ignored.
If you wish to draw fanart for the sake of art, that is fine. I have no issues with people who want to draw for the sake of it.

---

I know I said I was gonna wait after Techrot Encore. I changed my mind.

I'm going to declare this from the start: The overall increased word count of this chapter is not the new norm set by the last one. However, I once again didn't want to compromise on certain details. The normal average word count is what CH2 through CH6 was. Don't get used to this.

I don't have a lot to say this time.

---

I can't sleep. No matter how hard I clutch my trusty pillow.

This is the first time this has happened in years.

...

The Abydos debt is gone. Completely gone.

When I woke up this morning and had that meeting with everyone, I was expecting things to slow down. The peace and quiet since our party yesterday was intoxicating, and the feeling of a job well done hasn't been this nice in a long while. But it also felt like the calm before the storm.

After our meeting was adjourned, everyone went their own separate ways; Serika and Ayane went off to work, while Nonomi and Shiroko went into one of the few classrooms downstairs to do classwork. I was about to take my routine early-morning nap, when my first few minutes of sleeping were interrupted by a notification for a Schale BlueTube livestream. They hosted it in one of the many classrooms, which she didn't mind.

It was what happened in the livestream that she did mind. That was something Hoshino would remember for the rest of her life.

Somehow, someway, Drifter-sensei stole the Promissory Note for the Abydos debt from Kaiser's hands. That was psychotic. It was also the very thing me and my junior's looked for in the Stygian Bank but couldn't find.

The reason I could recognize it immediately is because it had the signature from the Student Council President that started this whole mess. Even though it was on camera, visible for only a couple seconds, there was no mistaking its validity.

Frankly, I had mixed feelings about him revealing our debt to all of Kivotos without our consent. But those mixed feelings became a moot point when he burned the Promissory Note on stream. Shot it with incendiary ammo, grabbed it off the floor and held it up for all to see as its paper turned to ash. And then he covered his ass with his extrajudicial power, while also giving our land back to us.

The debt... It's gone. And with it, the whole silent war they've been fighting.

I was so glad that I was alone at that moment. Watching that happen made me ugly cry. Any semblance of my cool act I've crafted, or my brave front I usually put, was completely shattered in seconds.

The burden that everyone has tried to fight, and the very thing that prevented Abydos from having a future, was finally gone. I don't have to worry about the terrible debt stealing my juniors' chance to enjoy their youth, or the school being shut down and the district dying with it. If only Yume could have seen all this for herself—I think she'd have cried even harder than I did.

But the cost has been too great. It almost feels like a pyrrhic victory.

It won't bring back the people who've already left. It certainly won't remove all the sand that's still there; the harsh grains have eroded everything they've touched, from public infrastructure to private housing, and filed the very soul of Abydos down to a dangerous level.

Even still... with the debt nullified, the Foreclosure Task Force's purpose is no more. They can now be just the student body— No – the Student Council. There's still work to be done. Work that falls on us, the Abydos quintuple, to set into motion.

Realistically, all that sand that blankets Abydos is too much to move. On top of that, there's way too many buildings that have rotted away and decayed from the years of neglect, and the reputation that precedes Abydos can't easily be fixed. But our freedom of action has expanded dramatically.

Things can now actually be done to try and build something new from the ruins of what was.

...

In our time of need, when all hope seemed lost and Ayane sent our desperate plea for help to Schale... He came. The Sensei of Schale; the very enigmatic haloless adult who destroyed a tank like it was nothing. Not only that, but he went above and beyond our request for supplies; he defended our school and saved Serika (although in a way I HEAVILY disagreed with), helped us discover Kaiser's plot to usurp them, and then did nothing short of declaring war on Kaiser by nullifying Abydos' debt.

He didn't give us false promises, or try and feed us excuses on why he couldn't help due to legal hurdles or logistical issues... he took action and made things happen. One adult countered the bad actions of many—willingly putting himself at great political risk—just to save Abydos High School and the five students left.

All because we asked. He saw our unjust treatment, and took it personally. But he had no incentive, no reward for helping us... and he still did it anyways.

...

I never thought I'd admit this to myself. But in light of his selfless actions, the truth is clear to me; there are good adults after all.
When he got here, I didn't trust him whatsoever.

I thought he would ditch us like so many who came before. How wrong I was.

Now I'd dive into hell itself if it meant I can help him. If he's doing something, he's probably doing it for the benefit of whatever students he's helping. And for that, I implicitly trust him about 90% of the way.

My only wish is that he got here sooner. If a man like Drifter-sensei—if not Driftier-sensei himself—was here two years ago... maybe Abydos would've been able to weather the great sandstorm that took everything from us. I think even my prickly past self would've grown to trust him through his way of doing things.

...

Maybe it's about time to fill out that Schale application. Might as well burn that resignation form while I'm at it, too.

—Knock-knock—

There were two knocks at the door, both urgent. I looked up from my phone screen to watch the door. Before I could open my mouth to say something, someone twisted the knob and walked in without waiting for a response... someone unexpected.

The Head Prefect from Gehenna was here. And she was already holding her weapon.

"...Hina?" I cocked my head to the side. I uneasily reached towards my 1301 Tactical leaning next to me, but didn't draw it. Her being here was completely abnormal.

"Hoshino." She politely bowed with her gun still in her hands, but there was a sense of urgency as she quickly raised her head. "Forgive me, but we don't have time for introductions. It's an emergency."

"An emergency?" I furrowed my brow. So she wasn't here to start shit. "Go on."

"Kaiser is about to attack your school."

I reflexively pulled my shotgun from the ground, grabbing my folded-up shield by the strap with my other. "How many?"

"Their entire force present in Abydos." Hina replied seriously. "I have brought the Prefect Team to help assist in the defense of your school."

I felt a terrible rage begin to burn in my soul, unconsciously tightening my grip on my weapon. Kaiser's finally decided to drop all pretenses and attack us directly, instead of trying to take it through strong-arming. Those bastards.

It was never about the money. It was about owning Abydos.

"I appreciate the help," I began. "But why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Gehenna?"

"I made a deal with Schale on behalf of the Prefect Team in exchange for providing Abydos with aid." Hina answered respectfully. "Truthfully, I was here performing reconnaissance on Kaiser in Gehenna's own best interests. During said reconnaissance, I witnessed Kaiser PMC mounting up their forces. I could not stand by and let this unfold."

"Has Sensei been notified?"

"He will be shortly." Hina nods. "But we'll have to make do for now until he gets here. Where are your classmates?"

I glanced at my phone on the desk. "Two are downstairs studying, the rest are out. I'll text everyone."

"Do that." Hina turned around. "Come. I need to see the best places to station our equipment and personnel."

"In a second." I gently placed my shotgun on the table, aiming it away from myself and Hina. I got up from my chair and shuffled over to a nearby locker, opening it. "I have to prepare."

I hoped I wouldn't need to bring all this out again. But things being the way they are, I had this ready in case things crossed the point of no return. Looks like that point's been crossed anyways.

I opened the locker and grabbed the bulletproof vest, equipment bag and the Beretta sidearm inside. I slipped the vest over my torso, clipped the bag to my waist and holstered the pistol on its holder velcroed to the vest. When those were on, I picked up the last thing in the locker; a hair tie.

"...Takanashi Hoshino, Master of Horus..." Hina muttered under her breath.

"Hm? Speak a little louder, this old man can't hear you." I quipped as I deftly tied my long hair into a ponytail.

"It's nothing." Hina gently shook her head after clearing her throat. "I will be waiting outside."

Hina then turned around and exited the room. A couple seconds after, I let out a sigh I had been holding.

I haven't used all this equipment in the locker since I was a first-year, save for the pistol. As familiar as it felt, it was also... bittersweet. This would also be the first time I've used my vest in tandem with Yume's Iron Horus since... since she...

...No. Now's not the time for that. Tears have already been spilled today.

The debt is gone, leaving behind an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild Abydos. But Kaiser wants to stand in our way and take our school, our home, by any means necessary? I won't dare let that happen. They've been our oppressors for far too long.

Little do they know, this will be their biggest mistake ever.

Not only will they answer to me and my trusty Eye of Horus at our most serious, but the infamous Hina and the Prefect Team are here too because of a deal Drifter-sensei made. I know what I'm capable of, and my juniors aren't any slouches either—but Hina's strength is legendary.

Uhe~... Sensei's pretty good at making connections, isn't he? I'll have to thank him for this later.

Once everything is secure in its right places, I grab my shotgun off the table with my off hand, then my phone with my main hand. I type up a concise message for the MomoTalk group chat that boils down to 'emergency; under attack soon, come home ASAP'. With that message sent, I put my phone in the equipment bag and glanced over my shoulder out the window.

Hina wasn't lying about the support. There was a company-size unit of Prefect Team members outside, including several armored vehicles like tanks or APC's, a bunch of supply trucks, and a mobile command truck. All of them were parked in front and around the school. This had to be a good chunk of the Prefect Team's equipment here.

Wow. I never thought I'd see the day a foreign academy would send direct aid like this. Hina could've just chosen to report this and be on her merry way, but she's gone the extra length to help. Looks like I'll have to find a way to thank her, too.

As I stepped out of the clubroom, transferring my shotgun to my main hand, I saw Hina talking to one of her fellows. This twin-tailed gal with dark skin looked like the goody-two-shoes type; but by the time I noticed them, miss twintails was already walking off by the time I swung the door open. Wasn't she, uh... Iori, I think?

"Ah, Hoshino." Hina noticed me exit the room and turned to face me. "Are you ready to show me the best defensible positions of your school?"

"Yeah. Let this old man show you what's what."

"Old man?" Hina tilted her head.

"Don't worry about it~" I say, shrugging with both shoulders. "Now, this building might not look like a lot, but we've got a pretty good overview of the surrounding area. If you'll follow me..."

As we walked down the hallway, I gave Hina an impromptu tour of the school like she was a transfer student, only I was showing her the best places to set things up. Because most of these classrooms weren't being used properly, there were a lot of good places to set up gunner positions or store supplies and the like.

...If only there were actual transfer students to our school. That used to be a distant dream. But now, we can start seriously considering it.

Gosh... I really do feel old now.

---

Those haloes... I still don't understand them.

Each student has a halo, no exceptions. Most of them are a generic white torus-shaped halo, but there's some students with unique halo designs. Hina and Reisa come to mind, but I haven't found a reason why some kids have unique haloes, and some don't.

Hell, even the sky has haloes. I don't know how or why they're there, but they're bright enough to be visible in the daylight. At night, they might as well look like solar rails with how bright they are. Are they technology? Some sort of natural phenomenon?

Concerning those haloes hovering above students, they've also got some quirks. Through some process I don't know, they enhance the physical dexterity and durability of the students to beyond Dax levels. They also represent their state of consciousness; if the halo is absent, that student is unconscious.

Or worse.

I can't stop thinking about one moment from several days ago. The day I arrived in Abydos.

When I severely cut that gangster's upper torso with my Reaper Prime, the battle instantly stopped. Like the reasons for the standoff were suddenly irrelevant in the face of what happened. In that moment, the Kata-Kata gangsters' haughtiness was completely gone, replaced by the uncertain fear of immature kids facing harsh truth for the first time. The Abydos students lowered their weapons, completely distracted by what I did. Neither side dared fire at each other while they were gawking at the injured kid.

Each time I remember that moment, I can't stop myself from feeling this terrible sense of disgust at myself. In the Origin System, it is commonplace to kill some bitch every day because they're trying to kill you. But here in Kivotos? All it took was one severe slash wound—and the sight of blood—to pacify those gangsters and scare them shitless.

This is more than 'they're just kids'. They all fear the very concept of dying. And the one who has seen a dead student has been traumatized for life.

...

If seeing a severe wound was enough to completely rip the ego out of some delinquents, immediately stopping a fierce battle in the process, then this goes deeper. It's a primordial fear baked into their souls, enough to erase the difference between friend and foe.

Even though Kivotos fights with lethal weapons, these kids are mortally afraid of taking a life, or having their life be taken. In that very core way, It's the complete opposite of my home.

...

I don't understand this world enough. My gut feeling says there's some uncomfortable truths that I haven't discovered yet.

—

≪ Approaching landing pad, Sensei! ≫

"Right. I'll be less than a few minutes, I promise."

RABBIT Squad's Blackhawk approaches the roof of Schale. Moe demonstrates her evident skills by maneuvering the helicopter in a way that defies its size. I get up from my seat and stand next to the side door as the helicopter pitches up, slowing its inertia.

≪ Are you sure this is a good idea, Sensei? ≫ Miyako voices with slight concern. ≪ That suit of armor should be more than enough to handle the enemy... ≫

≪ Maybe. ≫ I hold onto the door's handle as the helicopter touches down on the roof. ≪ But I have better options. Picture the difference between a shotgun and a rifle; this suit of armor is a shotgun, when I need a rifle for what's to come. ≫

I slide open the door and sprint towards the roof access door, not wanting to keep the RABBIT kids waiting any longer than necessary. At the same time, I pull out the Shittim Chest and mute myself on comms, then quickly clipping it back to my waist. As I swung open the door and practically slid down the stairs, I made a beeline straight for my office.

There are warframes that can take on entire armies. Lavos Prime, despite being very durable, is not one of them. While he is one of my most versatile warframes, there are others who's solely-designed purpose is to fight hordes of seemingly limitless numbers. I wanted to field one of these better-suited warframes, so I opted to have us take a slight detour so I could swap warframe.

I barge into the office, currently empty, and quickly enter the side room. The first thing I do when I enter the room is step onto the platform.

Before I switched warframes, I immediately discarded my Jat Kittag, while keeping my Fulmin Prime and Kuva Brakk. That hammer wouldn't provide the type of precise damage I wanted. Instead, I brought out the blades I trusted most; the Sun & Moon.

It took me a long time to unlock the full potential of those blades. But now that I have, they are easily some of my strongest melee weapons. Beyond being effective from the get-go, I can send forth two ethereal slashes of energy waves, almost similar to Excalibur/Arthur's Exalted Blade. But in Teshin's hands, he could command the blades to change elements on the fly.

He never taught me that, even when I asked. But just last week, I finally figured out how to do it. The best part is, I don't need a warframe to do it. It's an innate trait of the blades. How I would've loved to have one last go in Duviri with these.

At least I finally have a proper excuse to use them here. I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't excited... I've got a soft spot for twin blades. They were my first stepping stones on the path towards the mastery of combat.

Now... for the warframe itself. As I said, I can think of many good options here.

The Orokin had a nasty habit of making a warframe for every possible, conceivable niche that could exist as a means to fight the Sentients, or just because they felt like it. Some of them, like Cyte-09 or Vauban, are general-purpose enough to serve multiple roles in addition to their main one. Others, like Oberon or Ivara, are so specialized that they can only reach their full potential in their ideal conditions.

One choice immediately came to mind: Nekros. For a mission like this, he could meet Kaiser's army with his own by raising the Shadows of the Dead to fight them in infinite numbers. So long as Nekros keeps on top of things, I could wear down Kaiser into retreating, or overwhelm them with ease.

There was also Limbo, who can rip a hole into the space he alone controls, dragging enemies with him. There, the world plays by his rules—and whatever he does, whatever the enemy does, those outside his dimension can only watch their comrades succumb to their fate.

Oh, and need I mention Rhino? He's a one man army with such power that only Atlas comes close.

But none of these choices can properly channel the rage I'm feeling. There's only one warframe suited to that.

Kullervo.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't bring him out to play in Kivotos. He is the master of blades, thriving when he's slicing his enemies in two; needless to say, he would be lethal to students without even trying. Where other warframes can be used without their more lethal gimmicks, like Styanax or Dante, Kullervo is in the "no safe options" group. Everything about him is centered around brutality and savaging his enemies.

Today, that reason was flipped on its head.

I wasn't going against students here. My enemy is a large force of robots led by a faceless corporation. And I will strike the fear of Lua into Kaiser; they'll know how we do things back home in the Origin System, where much bigger fish swim in the space ocean.

In Lavos Prime's place, manifests Kullervo where he once stood. I'm immediately hit with the odd sensation of being impaled without pain; I look down and see numerous daggers sticking out from my chest. I also feel even more sticking out of my back.

Oh... right. These things. I haven't used him in long enough that I forgot about this "quirk" of his.

Yeah, I'm gonna get so many questions for this.

≪ S-Sensei...!? ≫ Arona gasps in horror, manifesting in front of me. She's on the verge of tears, halo dark blue and dripping. ≪ Y-YOU'RE HURT!? H-HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!? ≫

...Like that.

"I'm fine, Arona. Let me show you."

To demonstrate my point, I effortlessly take one of the blades out of my chest with a grunt. This doesn't cause pain, but it feels weird. I show her the blade, devoid of blood or any attached viscera.

≪ ...Y-You're... alright...? ≫ Arona uneasily steps closer, inspecting the blade. Her pupils seem to dilate like the lens of a camera, obsessively scanning the blade. ≪ ...I-I don't detect any traces of blood or injury... So how did...? ≫

I stuff the blade back where it belongs, prompting another grunt. Arona gasps and flinches, her halo going spiky red.

≪ P-Please don't do that! ≫ She rallies with indignation. ≪ It isn't good for my heart...! ≫

"You know, I hate to tell you this, Arona... but you're gonna have to get used to it." I assert tersely. "The daggers are a part of this warframe, not invasive objects. You're just gonna have to trust me on this: It looks worse than it actually is."

≪ ... ≫

Arona stares up at me, expression unreadable for once. I meet her stare in turn, even though Kullervo doesn't have eyes. This is an unusual reaction—I was expecting her to pout or avert her gaze, but she is staring at me like she's deep in thought. However, her halo does betray some of her inner emotions, as it becomes progressively more smudged.

≪ ...Fine. ≫ Arona relents, her halo turning back into red triangles as she (finally) pouts. ≪ But if you get hurt, I'll protect you! You got it!? ≫

I give her a dry chuckle in response. "Yeah, I know. Now let's get out of here."

As I turn to leave, I notice something out of the corner of my eye. Arthur's Protokol Longsword was missing from its spot. Did he grab it on the way out? Maybe he had the same idea as me. Since we're justified in using sharp blades this time, why not bring it?

Either way, works for me.

I retrace my steps back through the hallways, up the staircase (with some bullet-jumping assistance), and I'm in front of that door again in no time. I lightly kick it open with the push bar, stepping out into the mid-afternoon rooftop breeze. While I'm walking towards the helicopter, the 3 RABBITs in the drop seats notice me out of the corner of their eyes, looking upon me with warm smiles.

Ones that quickly morph into horrified shock.

Yup, here we go again.

≪ S-Sen... sei...?! ≫ Miyu looks upon me with utter trembling dread, looking like she was on the verge of passing out.

≪ W-What happened in there!? W-We need to treat you ASAP! ≫ Saki quickly shifts her gaze from me to her feet. She reaches forward and grabs a first-aid kid that sat in front of her, frantically placing it on her knees.

I'm about to vocalize a response to Saki, when I realize I was muted on comms. I subsequently re-enable my voice with the Shittim Chest, stepping into the back of the helicopter and closing the door behind me. I held out a hand towards Saki, who was searching through it.

"Not necessary." I reply, deliberately using a perfectly calm tone of voice. "I'm not wounded in any way."

≪ What do you mean you're 'not wounded'!? ≫ Miyako cuts in, putting the most emotion in her voice that I've seen so far. ≪ You have blades sticking out of your chest AND your back! How can you be fine!? ≫

"Because they haven't actually pierced anything. Let me show you."

I once again pull one of the daggers out of my chest, avoiding the grunt this time. This makes them flinch, but I make a show of demonstrating the blades' cleanliness to them. This seems to alleviate some of their dread as they observe it intensely. Regardless, they still look upon me with extreme caution.

≪ Sensei, I dunno what kind of equipment you have... ≫ Moe begins, and I look up to see her staring at me with equal parts unease and uncertainty. ≪ ...But a suit of armor with blades sticking out of it doesn't look like it's doing a good job of protecting you. ≫

"Would you all believe me if I told you that this suit is only slightly less armored than the other one?"

Moe lightly shakes her head. The other three similarly harden their gazes when I look at them.

"Fair. I won't try and convince you all that this is normal, but I do want you to trust me when I say this: It looks worse than it actually is. I am not in any pain, I am not damaged, and there was no attacker in the Schale building. This is just how this suit of armor is."

≪ Just how bad is your home country for this to be acceptable gear?! ≫ Saki blurts out a valid question, face red with emotion.

"Bad. This suit of armor is, let's just say, a 'special case'. It's a one-of-a-kind suit that's very specialized for its role. I'm only bringing it out because it's perfect for fighting huge numbers of enemies."

I was not lying. This Kullervo is the only one to exist... That is, apart from the original himself, who is still jailed in Kullervo's Hold in Duviri. The reasons why are... complicated.

...

Every warframe design has a common blueprint they all derive from. Even Harrow, who was possessed by the late Rell as a means to keep The Indifference at bay. Or Revenant, the 'warden' that succumbed to the Eidolon's influence on Earth. They can all be traced back to their original designs. But not Kullervo.

He was originally something else before he ended up in Duviri. Like how the Void warped the Aeolak and Incarnons into new effectiveness, Kullervo was also morphed by its influence. The Kingdom is of the Void, after all, and he's been there for time unrecorded.

How am I sure of this? Well, let me explain.

After one of my many sparring matches with the real Kullervo, something peculiar happened: A complete set of blueprints for him popped into existence in my Orbiter's storage. Ordis, understandably paranoid, spent a full 24-hour cycle scanning them for faults or embedded horrors; what he found confused us both.

According to him, the design was entirely unique and didn't match any known Orokin-era records. It was also completely steeped in the essence of the Void. Not corrupted like Xaku is, but it was so altered and evolved that Ordis couldn't find any loose ends of info to work off of. The only thing that he could cross-reference was the familiar name.

Kullervo definitely existed in the days of the Orokin Empire. Annoyingly though, all records of him were erased by order of The Seven, meaning any concrete details of his past got buried in the Collapse Era. If I had to wager a guess, it's because of all the heinous shit he did that the Warden sentenced him for... if any of it is based on a breadcrumb of truth.

His original design might still exist somewhere in the deep black, stuffed away in some Void tower vault or something, but I've never seen anything even resembling him fielded by the Tenno. And I was going to clone the blueprints for the Lotus, but... they dissolved into Void energy the moment I crafted him.

That has never happened before, and it's never happened since. And it gets weirder.

For reasons unknown to me, the Void rejects all Tenno except me from entering the Kingdom of Duviri—excluding the Undercroft which is its own special mess. It also seems like there's only one Duviri, as if it exists separate from the Void's Eternalism shenanigans.

Could it be that creations of the Void that remain in the Void are anchored or something? Or maybe it's a case like the Zariman Ten Zero, where it's torn such a deep gash in reality, that all timelines collapse into a singularity in its domain. The ship does hang in the Kingdom's sky, after all.

Honestly, Duviri is a mystery I don't think I'll ever solve. I gave that up long ago.

Anyways, because of all this strangeness—combined with the blueprints vanishing—there are only two Kullervo's that exist: The real one that's still imprisoned, and the crafted copy that I own. This means Kullervo is mine alone.

The only one-of-a-kind warframe. I guess it fits a walking paradox like me, doesn't it?

...

≪ ...Alright, I... guess I'll trust your word. ≫ Moe reluctantly turns around and puts her hands back around the joystick. ≪ Departing towards the AO! ≫

The helicopter lifting off the ground causes the gravity to increase slightly, pressing my warframes feet into the ground. I promptly re-insert the blade in my hand back where it belonged.

≪ Sensei!? ≫ Saki cried out in shock. ≪ WHY DID YOU DO THAT!? ≫

≪ What did he do this time!? ≫ Moe asks, not turning around as she brings us back above the buildings.

≪ Sensei just... stabbed himself. In the same spot he drew the knife from. ≫ Miyako answers, looking utterly dumbfounded.

Next to her, Miyu stares at the hole. Before anyone gets another word in, she interjects. ≪ S-Sensei isn't bleeding. H-He's unharmed. It's like it's s-some sort of... s-storage slot? ≫

"Bingo! Miyu's on the right track." I reach out, lightly ruffling her hair. She closes her eyes, blushing. "That's why I said it looks worse than it is. The knives are stored in all those slits."

That is technically a white lie. They didn't need to know that, though.

≪ But... Why do you need so many knives, then? ≫ Saki asks, sounded a bit calmer now. ≪ Isn't a few more then enough? ≫

"Well... You'll see." I answer vaguely. "They aren't just for show."

The comms go quiet after that. Each of the members back here except Miyu stares at me, seemingly unhappy with my answer. After several uneasy moments, Saki and Miyako shift their gaze to instead stare out through the windows. Miyu just stares down at the floor.

Again, Miyu's presence is very subtle. Since the moment I've been introduced to her, I could pick up on it quite easily... but I must admit, it was also easier than usual to lose track. This was a unique thing that I've never experienced before.

If I weren't so perceptive as part of my Tenno training, I would forget she existed. Even though she's a sniper, there's other potential there that has yet to be tapped.

I think I might need to pass down some of Quincy's tactics to her.

—

≪ -whistle-... They really set up shop here, didn't they? ≫

"Almost reminds me of home. And not in a good way."

As Amir and I approach the school's position, me on my bike and him running alongside me, we are greeted by the sight of military vehicles being positioned in strategic places by the Prefect Team. We see sidewalks being fortified, alleyways being booby trapped, and fortifications being stocked with supplies and weapons.

It reminds me of my time in the Crimson Watch. A time before the madness of Höllvania.

≪ Hey, is that girl flagging us down?... Yeah, she's totally flagging us down. ≫

I squinted my eyes a little; A blue-haired girl was waving at us from the front gate of the school. We come to a stop in front of said gate, me shutting off the engine for my motorcycle and taking off my helmet.

"Greetings." The girl politely bows before us, a neutral smile on her face. "My name is Amau Ako, Executive Officer of the Prefect Team. It is a pleasure to meet you two in person at last. Although I must admit, I wasn't expecting either of you to be present... or for Amir-sensei to be so fast."

Amir flashes a toothy smile. "Yeah, I know—I'm that good."

"Salutations and all that." I extend a hand, shaking hers as she grabs mine. When she lets go of my hand to shake Amir's, I continue. "So let's start off with a sitrep, eh? It looks like you're still getting things ready."

"Certainly." Ako nods, bringing up a tablet of some sorts. She taps it a few times and shows it to us. On the screen is an infrastructure map with various markings. "This is a map of Abydos High School's immediate surroundings. The areas in red are the areas we suspect the enemy will advance from. If you look here, you'll see the areas we've fortified are in blue, in addition to positions where we could use to our advantage, marked in yellow."

"Wow, kid. You did all this?" Amir gives her a toothy smile. "You've got a smart brain in that noggin of yours."

"Of course." Ako responds with a prideful smile of her own, taking the compliment in stride. "Such foresight is to be expected of someone befitting my position. Moving on, it is expected that the enemy will attack from multiple directions. We have reason to believe that Kaiser PMC will be utilizing all of their forces, including those from outside Abydos. We have provided all the manpower and equipment we could safely task, but they won't be enough. To that end, we are intending to heavily rely on Schale's assistance. Your unexpected presence here will be necessary for victory."

"A full offensive, it sounds like." I reply, taking my slung rifle off my back. "Are the Abydos kids here?"

"Naturally." Ako replies seriously. "They're inside the building. Takanashi Hoshino instructed her classmates to return the moment our Head Prefect, Sorasaki Hina, informed her of the situation in person. All are accounted for."

"Good." Amir replies, taking his Latron off his back as well. "I'ma go find a spot to chill in the school building. You'll see me when the fun begins."

Amir then takes off running inside, already in the building in less than half a second. His speed leaves behind a wake that knocks a few rank-and-file kids off balance.

"Kgh-! H-How can he run so fast?!" Ako holds on tight to her tablet. "Running alongside a motorcycle is one thing, but this!?"

"Apologies, kid. Can't tell you why." I shake my head calmly. "I'm gonna go talk to the Abydos kids."

"-sigh-... Understood. I will resume my preparations."

I roll the motorcycle inside past the gate, bringing it with me inside the school building. I refused to leave it outside while there was an active battle going on, it was too vital to ignore. I wheel it into a storage room with no windows, hoping that the roof wasn't fragile enough to collapse on the motorcycle. When that was done, I made my way upstairs, destination being the clubroom the kids use.

"...That damned Kaiser! They just couldn't leave us alone! No, they had to attack us! IT WAS NEVER ABOUT THE MONEY!"

I can hear Serika shouting from outside of the room. She was sufficiently angry.

"I agree, Serika." The voice of Ayane followed. "But that doesn't mean we should overextend ourselves. Even with the Prefect Team's help, I'm not sure we'll be enough until Sensei gets here..."

"But we can certainly try! " Nonomi follows up. "We've come this far to let them scare us into surrendering. This is the only barrier left. After this, we'll be free."

"Nn. Abydos will live again... Because of Sensei." Shiroko asserts with evident positivity, despite her monotone voice.

I knock on the door, entering the clubroom a second after. The five Abydos students watch me entering the room, and their eyes light up upon seeing me.

"Arthur-sensei!" Nonomi gives me a cheery smile. "It's nice to see you again! Come on in."

"Whoa. That really evens the scales." Serika gives me a wide-eyed stare. "If you're here, does that mean Amir-sensei is here too?"

"He is." I say, taking a seat and placing my rifle on the table. "He's somewhere around here, don't know where. Where's Hoshino?"

"Helping with the preparations outside." Ayane answers. "I've never seen her so... serious before."

"She was there to see the downfall from the start to the end." Nonomi glances towards the window outside. "I can't imagine what she's been through, or what's been left unsaid. But I can say this: The fire in her eyes has never burned as bright as it has today."

"Nn. Well said, Nonomi." Shiroko nods with an accompanying thumbs up. "A serious Hoshino will be a nightmare for Kaiser. But she isn't the only one determined to end this."

"Right!" Ayane nods with a bright smile. "We've even received assistance from the Prefect Team! Things have never looked so bright before!"

"We'll kick Kaiser's ass so hard, they'll never set foot in Abydos again!" Serika pumps her fist, a cocky smile on her face.

"Well said, kids." I say, leaning forward in my chair. "Drifter's on the way, too. Dunno how long he'll be, but he's not happy."

"Ahaha..." Ayane laughs nervously. "I hope we can count on his incredible strength. But in the meantime, we should be able to hold steady with all the help we're getting. And now that you and Amir-sensei are here too, I feel a lot better."

"Right." I lean forward, placing my arms on the desk. "I've been through this song and dance before. I'm hoping I can see what the plan is. Who's in charge?"

"Hoshino." Serika answers. When I stare at her in response, she blinks. "...Oh, you mean the Prefect Team? That would be Sorasaki Hina. Not sure where she is, though."

"What does she look like?" I ask, looking at each of the kids.

"She has white hair, wears a coat without the sleeves on, and carries a big machine gun." Shiroko answers. "You can't miss her."

"Thanks for the info." I get up from the chair, sliding it back under the table. "I'd love to stick for a chat, but I've got things to do. Apologies."

"Oh, that's fine!" Nonomi flashes a warm smile. "We'll be here if you need us. You might not see us during the battle, but we'll be there! "

"Good to know." I nod. "And good to see you kids safe and sound, too. I'll see you soon."

I make my tidy leave from the room, not intent on staying longer than necessary. I needed to find this Hina kid and talk to her immediately. To try and identify her from a vantage point, I make my way towards the roof access, running through the halls at a pace that doesn't stress my stamina. I run up some stairs and open the door to the rooftops.

I spotted her immediately. She was on the rooftops, doing some sort of computer work at a makeshift command post. White hair, big coat, big machine gun... and that halo. Gotta admit, this kid has some pressure to her presence.

As I approach her, she notices me out of the corner of her eye and shuts her laptop's lid.

"Arthur-sensei. Greetings." She nods at me in respect. "Sorasaki Hina. I take it you've come to the roof to try and find me?"

"Yeah." I answer honestly as I approach her. "I hear you're the one in charge of the Prefect Team?"

"Yes." She nods again. "Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to have a look at your battle plans." I declare with authority. "I've got experience handling messes like these. I know who needs to be where doing what, and why."

"I see." Hina responds, staring into my eyes for some reason. "You do give off the impression of someone who has battlefield wisdom. And since Drifter-sensei trusts you, I trust you as well. Do you see any faults in our strategy so far?"

"From what your Executive Officer showed me, the plans are solid enough. There's one problem, though."

"What is the problem?"

I point to the laptop she was just using. "You've got a copy of those plans on this?"

Hina wordlessly opens the laptop back up. After a few seconds of operating it, she gestures for me to come take a look. I get down to a knee and inspect the plans again.

"...Could you zoom it out for me?" I request. She zooms the view out with the touchpad. "Right, good. Now, here's the problem: You've got the troops bunched too close. The enemy can disrupt your formation with a well-coordinated strategy. You should spread them a bit thinner. Plus, you aren't using the buildings well enough."

"What do you mean?" HIna asks in that calm voice of hers.

"Too many people using the streets instead of the natural terrain; you should have an equal mix. And you're relying on too few of the buildings. Sol... How do you edit this thing?"

"Like this..."

Hina shows me how to edit the plan with the bespoke software. I've never seen something this advanced before. It's able to represent the immediate surroundings in a 3d geometric view, but that isn't what really throws me for a loop; it's the fact that it could see various raw statistics.

Yeah... I can work with this.

"Let me have a go at this, yeah?" I gesture for Hina to stand up, which she does. As I swap places with her, I crack my knuckles. "I'll review everything for you. As I said, what you've got is solid but could be better. When I'm done, I want you to forward it to your troops."

"Okay." Hina says, crossing her arms. She stares at me as I continue working.

Several minutes of intense focus pass. I feel something of a fire burning, as I update the battle plans with some strategies I used in the Crimson Watch, while also undoing some glaring mistakes that they haven't seemed to notice. My past service life is going to come in very useful here.

"...May I ask a personal question?" Hina asks after something like 7 minutes of work.

"Depends." I respond without looking up from the screen. "I don't like talking about myself. I can't promise you an answer."

"Understood." Hina replies respectfully. "My question isn't about you. I... wanted to know what your home is like."

"My home?"

"...Yes." Hina affirms after a notable delay. "I've heard a variety of things about it. That it's a place of brutality... Where in the wake of catastrophic, death is common and the people are oppressed and taken advantage of. However, I've not yet developed a complete mental picture. I'm hoping you can help me understand."

So she's talking about Höllvania, then.

"..." I pause my typing for a moment, leaning back in the chair while closing my eyes. "...I need to know two things first."

"What do you wish to know in exchange?"

"First thing. Why? You said it yourself; it's a place of brutality. Why does someone in a cushy place like Kivotos want to know?"

Hina doesn't immediately respond. I look at her from the corner of my eye. She looks down at the floor, wings retracting slightly. She then looks back up at me.

"...Personal curiosity." Hina responds honestly. "At first, it was to gather information on behalf of the Prefect Team. But now it is a personal matter of intrigue. The three Sensei's of Schale are completely unlike any adults in Kivotos... Yet they hail from the same home and speak the same words of woe when the topic is brought up. Drifter-sensei describes it as if it is the worst place to exist."

"Because it is." I say seriously, as I resume typing. "Second thing; how well can you handle ugly truth? I don't know what the others have said, but they've probably kept the fine details under wraps. If you're prepared to hear about the worst in people, I can indulge you."

"...I am." Hina responds after another delay. "Please tell me."

"On one condition."

"What is it?"

"You keep this to yourself." I follow up immediately. "I don't want the rest of Kivotos to know about what I'm gonna tell you. And since I haven't heard any familiar gossip from the people, I'd say Amir and Drifter share the sentiment."

"I give you my word." Hina responds resolutely. "This information stays with me."

"Good. Then I'll start at the beginning..."

-BAM-

"HEAD PREFECT!"

Very abruptly, the doors to the roof slam open, as a rank-and-file member runs over. I suppose that dialogue will have to wait.

"-sigh-... Yes?" Hina turns around to face the service member. Despite being interrupted, she shows little to no signs of irritation.

"We've received a tip-off regarding the approaching Kaiser forces, but it's come from an unexpected source..." the girl remarks, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"Who is the source?"

The girl hesitates for only a moment before speaking. "...Problem Solver 68."

Hina goes quiet for a few moments. She soon releases the tension with a sigh. "...I see. I expect they weren't arrested for their good deed?"

"A-About that..." The girl stumbles over her words. "They weren't arrested per-se, but they're currently detained. Senior Administrator's orders."

"Really..." Hina fiddles with her glove, wings extending slightly. She looks over her shoulder at me. "...Arthur-sensei. I hate to interrupt your task, but I would like to request your help. I have a feeling this will be bothersome."

"Why is that?" I say, getting up from the chair and closing the laptop's lid.

"Problem Solver 68 are fugitives taking up asylum in Abydos." Hina begins, putting a hand on her hip. "However, because of the state of emergency declared by Drifter-sensei, due process has been suspended. The Prefect Team does not have jurisdiction to pass judgement, so this matter requires the oversight of a Sensei."

"...Politicking." I grumble. "Fine then. Let's get this over with."

Hina turns to face the service member again. "Lead the way."

"Right away!" the girl salutes, then turns around and walks back the way she came. I and Hina follow.

...

...

...

"Right in here."

The girl stops in front of a classroom guarded by two other service members. The room is just another one of many classrooms in the school, nothing special.

Hina looks to the two members standing guard, and then the one that escorted us. "Leave us."

The three service members salute, and depart in separate directions down the hallway. Hina looks up at me, composed and collected as ever.

"I have other business to take care of, so I leave you to be the sole arbiter. I trust your judgement." Hina pauses, taking a deep breath and sighing lightly. "I'll return to the roof and forward your revised plan to the present forces."

"Right. See you later."

Hina gives me a sincere smile, and starts walking off down the hallway. She really gives off an impression of power, doesn't she?

I put my hand on the door knob, twisting it and entering the room. There, I saw 4 kids sitting at individual desks. They appeared to be whispering to each other, and I could see their hands weren't cuffed. As I entered the room, their attention immediately shifted to me.

The red-haired one. "Ah, it seems they finally sent..." she began indignant, but shifted to shock. "...A-Arthur-sensei!?"

"Whoa, that's a surprise!" the long white-haired girl gives a cheeky grin. This one gives me the same impression as Amir, only more mischievous. The outfit choice supports that.

"W-What do we do, Aru-sama?" the black-haired one that looks absolutely mortified glances towards the red haired one, seeming like she's expecting some sort of guidance.

"Everyone, calm down." The other white-haired girl speaks with a much deeper voice than expected, and is already giving me the impression of someone wise beyond her years. She looks like a punk kid, down to that 'born to kill' shirt, but the vibe doesn't match.

"...You girls seem familiar." I stare at each of them individually. My gaze seems to make them shift uncomfortably. "You're the kids that were at the Stygian Bank, right?"

"Y-You remember us!?" The red-haired girl looks at me wide-eyed, before they seem to sparkle with joy. She clears her throat and folds her arms on the desk, wearing a confident smile. "T-That's right! I suppose we should formally introduce ourselves! My name is Rikuhachima Aru, president of Problem Solver 68!"

"Oh, we're doing introductions now?" the long-haired short girl smiles impishly. "I'm Asagi Mutsuki, captain of Problem Solver 68~"

"Onikata Kayoko, section chief." The short white-haired with sharp eyes scans and inspects my features.

"It's my turn? O-Oh, uh..." The black-haired girl looks at my feebly, nervously. She takes a moment to gather her composure before speaking. "...I-Igusa Haruka. T-That's all."

"Arthur Nightingale." I introduce myself while taking a chair from one of the desks, bringing it to the front of the classroom. "I hear you gave the Prefect Team some info about Kaiser's forces. How'd you manage to get that info?"

"Coincidence." Kayoko answers ahead of the others. "We were taking care of unrelated work, when we saw Kaiser PMC setting up a huge number of vehicles and robots not far from here in the desert. The forces are... substantial."

"It would be against our best interests to let Abydos fall, so we came here to report it as a show of good faith..." Aru trails off, a trace of fear crossing her eyes before she blinks. "...But we found it occupied by the Prefect Team of all people."

"A substantial amount of forces, you say..." I say, taking a seat on the chair backwards, arms leaning against the backrest. "It's brave to come here when you're wanted by the Prefect Team."

"To a fault!" Mutsuki adds.

"Mutsuki!" Aru claps back at her friend, but quickly clears her throat to regain her composure. "B-But yes. In the face of this threat, such matters are irrelevant. We felt this information was vital enough to risk our safety."

"Where's Kaiser coming from anyways?" I say, looking out of the window.

"They're probably approaching from their existing base to the west." Kayoko answers. "It seems like they've already merged with some of their forces from out of Abydos, because there's a mix of them. They're likely going to overwhelm the school with sheer numbers and power."

"Textbook blitzkrieg." I remark with a grumble. "They really think they're all that, don't they? Thanks for the info. Now, what're you planning to do when you get out of here?"

"Judging by how you phrased that question, I assume we're free to go?" Kayoko sharply notes.

"Yeah." I nod, giving them a smile. "Least I could do as thanks for the intel."

"In that case... We'll probably watch the battle." Aru answers honestly. "Considering Abydos' fate is at risk, we'd wish to assist, but we're in a... complicated position."

"Because you're wanted fugitives by the Prefect Team." I finish her sentence for her. Aru nods in confirmation. "Right then. Let's make a deal."

"A-A deal between us and Schale!?" Haruka's eyes widened. "A-Aru-sama...!"

"O-Of course!" Aru smiles widely, a genuine smile. "What do you wish of us?"

I look Aru directly in the eyes. "If you help us in the battle, I'll give you permission to stay in Abydos. Or citizenship... however that works—"

"Deal!" Aru nods without hesitation, interrupting me.

"Whoa, no hesitation!" Mutsuki gives a mischievous smile. "You sure it's a good idea to interrupt him like that?"

"Thank you, Sensei." Kayoko gives me a surprisingly radiant smile. That fits her a lot better than that scowl of hers.

"You can thank me when it's over." I return her smile with one of my own. "Come with me. I need to go tell the Prefect Team that you're helping us."

The four of them stand up from their desks, prompting me to do the same. We all walk over to the door and leave the room. As we walk down the hallway, the four PS68 members keep behind me. That is, except for Aru, who speeds up to walk alongside me.

...

"...And that's why these kids are gonna help us."

"-sigh-... I can't believe you've sprung this headache on me, Arthur-sensei."

I've brought the PS68 members with me to see Ako outside. She is very unhappy with this turn of events.

"It's a reasonable deal." I counter. "If they want to help defend Abydos in its darkest hour, then they've earned the right to exist in its borders."

"You do understand that that's a severely complicated issue, right?" Ako asks sternly. "You cannot just handwave that matter off with your authority alone."

"Really? Well last time I checked, Drifter's been doing exactly that." I responded with some sass. "This is nothing compared to annulling a debt through decree."

"-sigh-... I cannot convince you, can I?" Ako gives me a tired stare. "Fine. I will inform the rest of the Prefect Team of PS68's assistance. I hope you know that you're going to be the one held responsible for their actions if they act up."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." I say, looking at some vehicles behind her. "Did Hina tell you about the updated battle plan?"

"Yes." Ako nods, the sourness abruptly vanishing. "I have some reservations about it, but—"

"Enemies sighted approaching from the west! Requesting orders!"

One of the Prefect Team members' voices comes from the tablet Ako was holding. Her expression immediately firms up, and I pull my AX-52 off my back.

"I-It's finally starting!" Haruka comments nervously. She draws her shotgun, holding it a little closer than she should. Why was she holding a shotgun like a stuffed doll?

"Oh? About time I let off some steam~!" Mutsuki's face morphs into a devious smile, as she pulls out a machine gun from her bag. Despite its size and apparent weight, she holds it effortlessly. And that's not to mention the huge duffel bag slung on her shoulder, either.

"What's our orders, boss?" Kayoko pulls out a pistol with a sound moderator on it, holding it with calculated precision. I'm not sure how effective that thing will be against armored robots of war.

"We're going to cover the flanks and bend them to our advantage!" Aru states confidently. She pulls out a sniper rifle, chambering a round. She wears an equally-confident smile. "Let's go show them the might of Problem Solver 68!"

As the PS68 girls ran off down the streets towards the approaching enemies, I cast a glance towards Ako. She is busy tapping her tablet, before bringing it up in front of her face. She stares at her screen with authority.

"All stations, prepare for combat! Kaiser PMC is preparing their attack from the west! Review the updated battle plan and adjust accordingly! Be advised, Problem Solver 68 is assisting in the battle and is to be considered an ally!"

All of the Prefect Team infantry present turn around towards the west, rushing in that direction. Some of the combat vehicles start moving to support the infantry that are rushing down the streets. A small number of them stay behind, taking up fortified positions or rushing towards the school building instead.

"Yo, Sensei."

Right as I was about to join them, I turned my head to the left, watching Hoshino speed walking up to me. Unlike the last time I saw her, she was wearing a combat vest and made the decision to tie her hair into a ponytail.

"Good to see you." I nod respectfully. "Are your classmates going to join us?"

"Only Shiroko." She replies with a sharp smile. "I've told the others to stay behind and guard the school from the ones that get through. Nonomi's on the roof on anti-artillery duty, and Serika's keeping an eye on the perimeter. Ayane's helping Ako coordinate."

"Where's Shiroko?"

"Nn." I reflexively turn around, seeing Shiroko standing there. She gives me a heartfelt smile. "I'm looking forward to our next morning jog."

"Likewise, but this isn't the time for idle chat." I respond with a touch of firmness. "I'll be counting on you kids."

"Hold up there, tough guy. Aren't you forgetting the last guy in your party?"

To my right approaches Amir. He's already got his Latron drawn; he flashes me his usual confident grin. "Told ya I'd be here when the fun begins. Damn, you're looking like a brick kithouse there, Hoshino! I dig the look."

"Uhe~... Thanks for the compliment." Hoshino beams at the compliment, fanning her face with her free hand in an exaggerated manner.

"Right then." I take my rifle off safety and chamber the first round. "Who's ready to mangle those tin cans' arses into scrap metal?"

"Me! / Me." Hoshino and Shiroko raise their free hands.

"This'll be so exciting!" Amir replies with cheerfulness. "Y'know, we don't have anything even like robots back home. I dreamed of the day when I'd get to see some mad genius make one!... Uh, so who's going with who here?"

"Amir, you're gonna be with Hoshino. Shiroko, you—"

—BRRRT—

I am cut off by the sound of many bullets firing into the air. I look up into the sky, seeing tracers coming from the roof as Nonomi engagees approaching mortar shells. The hailstorm of bullets finds their marks, destroying all of the payloads in mid-air.

"...They don't even care about the building." Hoshino speaks with a venom that wasn't present before. She clenches her free hand. "Or the people in it."

"And we're not gonna let them have it." Amir follows up with cockiness. "Keep going, Arthur."

I nod. "As I was saying, Amir's going with Hoshino. Shiroko, you're tagging along with me. Our goal is to send them home running. If we can't do that, we'll need to buy enough time for Drifter to get here. Everyone here is capable in their own right, but we'll get overwhelmed if we can't keep them at arms length."

"Agreed." Hoshino responds with complete seriousness. "This is a siege. If we don't run out of supplies, we'll get tired. Robots don't get worn down like humans do."

"Nn." Shiroko nods. "We'll have to defeat them fast."

"Now you're speaking my language, kids." I bring my rifle up to bear. "Now let's go speak theirs! FOR CROWN AND COUNTRY!"

"GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!" Amir meets my battle cry with his own as we charge down the streets.

The four of us take off down the street in a full sprint. Hoshino unfurls her shield and runs with it front-and-center, Amir easily keeping up with her, while I and Shiroko follow after them. Shortly after we cross a few intersections, the sound of fighting starts to break out in the surroundings. Gunfire on both sides rings out across the surroundings, and I hear some Prefect Team service members shouting orders to each other in the distance.

Now it really feels familiar to my Crimson Watch days.

"Left flank!" Hoshino calls out.

Hoshino and Amir engage a small group of scouts, and at the same, I and Shiroko cover the right flank to support a few of the Prefect Team members. The foot troops have already intruded this far so early? Shiroko lands a few clean headshots on some of the automatons, while I support her by using my maneuverability to jump from the sides of building to building to disorient the enemy's attention. I am amazed at how well this works, because they start focusing on me instead of Shiroko and the surrounding service members.

"Eyes on the prize!"

I hoister my rifle and pull out my trusty Protokol Longsword, slamming down in the middle of their formation. Ethereal swords form in mid air, piercing clean through their various torsos. I sheathe the blade and bring my rifle back out, about to engage an approaching group of them. However, they fall dead one-by-one in the span of half a second.

"Nn. They had you dead to rights."

I look over my shoulder for a moment. "Thanks for the assist."

►–►–►

"Watch that guy!"

I heed Hoshino's warning and avoided some gimp trying to get the jump on me, kicking him in his torso. I keep my boot pressed against his chest on the ground, lining up my rifle and shooting him right into his robo-skull.

"Whoa, a bit brutal there Sensei!" Hoshino remarks, as she herself blows the top half off some other robot from punching range. She sustains some fire with her shield, effortlessly moving it around as if it didn't look as heavy as it probably was. "Did'ja adults fight like that back home?"

"It's a lot less kid friendly than this!" I shout as I rush straight towards the group that was shooting at us. "Oh yeah! Hey Hoshino, you wanna see something cool!?"

"Like what?" she shouts back, pushing forward with the shield as it takes some pretty notable punishment.

"Like this! THINK FAST, CHUCKLENUTS!"

I hoister my rifle and crack my knuckles, and then my neck. I run straight towards the robots with my speed, jumping up and dropkicking the one in the front. That sends it crashing right through the others like a bowling ball, knocking them all down to the floor. The one I kicked goes flying into a building, limbs torn clean off from the impact.

Man, Aoi would've loved this. She'd have turned these robots into modern art.

Despite the whopper I just hit 'em with, the survivors managed to keep their guns in their hands. While these bozos are still on the ground, I hold out my hands. High-energy arcs of electricity erupts from my fingertips, frying these robots in the power of my awesomeness.

"UNLIMITED POWER!" I laugh like an evil villain as I watch the robots spark into flames. Once I was sure they're done for, I stop frying them, and bring my rifle back out.

"What... the... fuck?" Hoshino stares at me, dumbfounded. "...Wow, Drifter-sensei wasn't kidding. Why do you need a gun if you can just do that?"

"Cause it's kiinndaa~ taxing." I answer truthfully. "If I did that, I'd burn myself out. That kinda energy doesn't come free, y'know?... Wait, hold up a sec. What do you mean 'Drifter-sensei wasn't kidding'?"

"He told me some things." She answers with a casual smile. "I guess he wasn't lying about what he said."

"Huh. Would'ja look at that." I shrug. "He actually did tell one of you kids some stuff about us after all. Better someone here then back in the main city, I guess. What did—" I am interrupted by the sound of my armored skin taking fire. "DO YOU MIND!?"

Hoshino immediately sends a few blasts of her shotgun downwind at another advancing squad of robots, rushing forward with deceptive speed, and disrupting their formation with a nice mix of close-quarters combat and the inertia of her shield.

Damn, she's fast. And coming from me? That's gotta be saying something.

"Whooie! Good going, Hoshino!" I cheer loudly. "You're being pretty rad right now!"

"Rad? Uhe~..." Hoshino scratches her cheek with the index finger of her free hand. "You're flattering me with that kind of old lingo..."

"Old?" I tilt my head. "Old how?"

"Uh..." Hoshino blinks once, then twice. "...Nah, we'll save that for later."

"Righty then!" I chirp back, taking the moment to reload my rifle. "The fighting sounds pretty heavy further west. We've gotta make sure they're doing okay!"

"Let this old man lead the way, then!" Hoshino gives me a confident smile, as we rush down the streets towards where the fun was really happening.

Killing robots for the forces of good? Dude, I had DREAMS of this as a kid!

—

"Pleasedie pleasedie pleasedie pleasedie pleasedie pleasedie!"

"Whoa, Haruka's motivated now~! Just look at her making those Kaiser robots look like a joke!"

"H-Haruka, you're doing great! But you should really tone it down ever so slightly!"

"I knew this would happen. When she is motivated, Haruka is the strongest of us all."

As Aru and her underlings assist on the front lines, Aru takes in the sights of all the fighting going on around her. Kaiser PMC's first group of forces were huge; there were so many troops coming at them, she physically couldn't keep count. And on the horizon, there were countless land and air vehicles approaching their position. The first wave that they were currently facing was infantry-only.

...

Today, PS68 will become a household name. They'll become legendary in their deeds as the ones who helped Schale and the Prefect Team inflict untold amounts of damage on Kaiser's forces. Aru lined up her rifle towards one of the transport helicopters, and couldn't help but smile with glee. That same glee compelled her to remove her right hand from the rifle, and to strike a pose befitting of her image.

And so their legend begins... now.

-BANG-

A magnificent shot rings true from her PSG-1, heading right towards the helicopter she was aiming at in the great distance. The bullet seems to land true, as the helicopter starts moving oddly, pitching forward until it's completely flipped. It lands on a few of the advancing tanks underneath it, disabling them.

"Great shot, boss~!" Mutsuki comments with an excited tone of voice. "I can just smell the burning fuel from here!"

"Keep going, boss." Kayoko follows up the captain with a few shots at enemies that were trying to flank Haruka. "The enemy will be in chaos from that. We can capitalize on this."

"R-Right!" Aru hastily brings the rifle back up, taking Kayoko's suggestion seriously. She lines up the sights at another helicopter, firing off another shot to similar results to her last one. "W-Wow. It's this easy?"

"ENEMY ATTACK HELICOPTER!" One of the Prefect team grunts shouts.

Aru looks up to see an attack helicopter firing off a salvo of rockets. Heading right for them.

"GET DOWN, GET DOWN!" Aru frantically shouts orders to anyone who can hear them, diving towards the ground and covering her head. Kayoko, Mutsuki and Haruka immediately follow suit, while some of the grunts brace themselves.

—BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!—

Explosions trigger all around them, from the front to the back. Aru's quick thinking just saved her hearing, because her ears were ringing like a bell from the shockwaves. If she hadn't covered them, there was a non-zero chance she would've gone deaf! Right as her vision stops spinning, the enemy helicopter flies right over them, circling back around and engaging some of the other friendly forces.

"That accursed Kaiser!" A new voice shouts indignantly. "How about you reign in your arrogance!?"

Aru stops looking up at the sky, and gazes at her side instead. A girl with twintails and dark skin aims up at the helicopter, taking a shot at its tail rotor. The impact completely destroys its assembly, sending the vehicle spinning out of control into the ground and exploding. Thankfully, there was nobody nearby... but if there were, the results could've been terrible. Aru stares at the wreckage, but her sight is blocked by the girl's figure.

"Hey, are you okay?" she kneels down, holding a hand out to grab.

"I-Iori?" Aru reluctantly takes it. "Thanks for the help."

"Don't mention it." Iori replies calmly. "I recommend you and your friends keep putting on the pressure like you are. It's distracting them, and we can capitalize on that."

"Ooh, you hear that boss?~" Mutsuki says in a sing-song voice as she gets up, dusting herself off. "We've got their approval~"

"Where's the Head Prefect?" Kayoko asks a valid question. "I noticed she isn't here."

"She's watching our rear guard for stragglers." Iori responds seriously. "If the situation calls for it, someone will take her place and she'll assist us more directly. For now, we're trying to gauge the enemy's power."

"Understood." Kayoko answers. "Haruka?"

"Y-Yes!?" Haruka jumps as if she weren't expecting to be addressed.

"Keep doing what you're doing. I'm proud of you." Kayoko requests with a warm smile.

Haruka's eyes sparkle, but she then looks at me. I nod in agreement, and her eyes sparkle again. "I-I won't let you down! For Problem Solver 68!"

With a renewed vigor, Haruka re-engages the enemy. She moves like a true hard-boiled outlaw, effortlessly dispatching the automatons with force and brutality. She even sometimes uses her shotgun as an improvised melee weapon between reloads, demonstrating her intuitiveness for combat. When she's surrounded, she shoulder-checks one of the robots into its allies. And when the enemy gets too close, she grabs its body and throws it towards the others, before tossing a grenade right into them for good measure.

—BOOM!—

...That was so much like what Drifter-sensei did! She was right to see the potential in her all those years ago.

—

—Brrrrrt—

"Where did you think you were going?"

Hina mows down a few of the enemies that bypassed their rear guard from her vantage point. They did well to use the narrowness of the streets to their advantage, avoiding the Prefect Team forces with the intention to sow discord from within. Unfortunately for them, she couldn't let their sly repositioning go unpunished.

That marks the 15th enemy so far. Kaiser has the extreme numbers advantage, and the battle's only just begun. Too many are bypassing our resistance already.

≪ Head Prefect, we have a situation report. ≫ Ako's voices comes over the radio.

"Yes, Ako?" Hina responds aloud, taking the moment to survey the surroundings for any more stragglers.

≪ We have identified artillery positions setting up from beyond visual range. We are not in position to counter them. ≫

Hina looks off into the distance, brow furrowed. Indirect fire was one of the gravest threats in a battle. If not properly dealt with, it could end us here and now. Even though Nonomi was tasked with defending the air from those threats, her effective range could only extend so far—her priority was defending the school itself, not the Prefect Team.

"Understood. Where is Iori? Could she be tasked with engaging those threats?"

≪ Negative. She's engaged with attack helicopters. ≫

She looks to the air, noting several attack helicopters engaging their forces from multiple positions.

The one thing she was unable to bring to this battle was anti-air vehicles. Those were under special restrictions, requiring explicit permission from the Pandemonium Society to use. Yet another result of Makoto's troublesome meddling. Was there not a day where they decided to be the most unreasonable annoyances possible?

"I will take care of the helicopters." Hina remarked with equanimity. "Iori is to break off and engage the indirect fire elements by any means necessary. She's always had the best eyesight of us."

≪ Affirmative, I will relay your orders to Iori. I have another report; Problem Solver 68 is currently engaged with Kaiser on the southwest flank. I must begrudgingly admit that they are doing a fantastic job of distracting the enemy. ≫

"Good. Arthur-sensei's judgement was correct." Hina couldn't help but smile at the news. She then firmed her tone. "Let this be a lesson, Ako. We should not be so hasty to make enemies of potential allies."

≪ Y-Yes, Head Prefect! ≫ Ako squeaks out. ≪ I-Is there anything to report on your end? ≫

"Nothing at this time. Inform all Prefect Team forces that I'm about to engage the Kaiser PMC helicopters."

≪ Understood. Good hunting, Head Prefect. ≫

The line then went cold. Hina tightened her grip on her machine gun, aiming at one of the attack helicopters attacking their tanks in the defensive line.

—Brrrrrt—

Hina fires a great hailstorm of purple energy bullets from her signature machine gun, The End: Destroyer. Each shot lands squarely in the side of the target helicopter. The large amounts of sustained fire pierced the hull one after another until she eventually struck its fuel tank, causing the whole thing to immediately explode into flames, splitting the body into multiple pieces. Each part of it landed harmlessly in some unoccupied buildings away from their forces.

She promptly aimed at the other helicopter attacking their infantry from the northwest flank. She pushed the rear handle forward, clasping the machine gun with both hands and focusing more intensely than usual with her wings spread fully. Once she was sure of her shot, she pulled the trigger; a much larger energy bullet soared straight for the engine of the helicopter, and Hina moved with the incredible recoil instead of fighting it. The shot tore a hole clean through the tail with such force that the entire thing was ripped clean off.

The main body of the helicopter spun out of control, landing dangerously close to the Prefect Team forces. Too close.

Hina would have to be careful next time.

She pulls the handle backwards, letting her machine gun's barrel cool off. As the hot smoke dissipates into the air, she gazes into the horizon towards the advancing enemy forces. It was a truly staggering size of an army, consisting of multiple separated formations of uncountable amounts of ground troops, numerous tanks, several helicopters (that have proven themselves easy targets), and even some mechanized walkers.

This was not going to be an easy fight. Sufficient enough numbers can nullify any advantage if the area could not be controlled. In a large, empty territory like here in Abydos, where only occasional buildings aren't buried by the sand... this was going to be difficult.

But she would be damned if she let Kaiser walk all over some students. Abydos isn't her school; but Kaiser is universal.

—

"Gotcha, you muppets!"

"Nn. You fight so effectively."

I and Shiroko continue to engage the enemy on the northern side of the battle. By now, we've separated from Amir and Hoshino, who were currently occupied on the southern end of the battle.

These kinds of battles do not bring up good memories whatsoever. At least when these kids get shot, the bullets just bounce off of them. And if they're hit hard enough, they just go down, haloes flickering like an old xenon tube that needs replacing. You have no idea how much weight that takes off my soul.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I saw kids getting head-eyes'ed like some Crimson Watch shinies.

"Watch the alleyways!" Shiroko calls out. She takes cover behind a decayed car, blind-firing over the cover. I assist her by using my agility to duck into an alleyway, scaling up the building and using the high ground advantage against them. When I jump back down, Shiroko's ears flap a little. "You move like a ninja. How do you do it?"

"Sorry, pup. I can't tell you why."

"Don't call me that." Her ears stand up vertically, as she stares at me with annoyance. "I'd rather be called 'kid'. Or Shiroko."

"Right, sorry." I nod. "No hard feel—!"

I am interrupted by a storm of bullets flying right by us. We both immediately duck behind some cover, as I return fire to our aggressors. As I peek my head out over the cover to get a better look, though...

"...What the?"

Our enemy isn't another group of robots like expected... they're instead a small squad of kids wearing gear painted in similar colors to the robots. Each of them wore a helmet similar to Libertalia's Aggressor War from two decades ago, while also wearing black body armor and gas masks. The kids promptly found some cover of their own when we both started paying them back for their surprise.

"Give it up! You'll be surrounded in no time!" One of the child soldiers shouted as an attempt to taunt us.

I don't humor them with a response; I just aim for their exposed weak points, with a focus on disabling them instead of outright neutralization. I aim for their knees, their hands, anything to make them stop fighting. Shiroko, however, doesn't follow me lead; she absolutely lays into them. She fires off several rounds for each of the enemy soldiers' heads, knocking them out one-by-one.

"Nn. They're down."

...This feels wrong. Very wrong. Why is Kaiser using child soldiers?

"...Sensei?"

Kids should be the one thing you avoid in war. They should be LEFT OUT of combat, not brought into it!

"Sensei!"

Shiroko's voice drags me back to reality. I look at her from over my shoulder. "Uh, y-yes?"

"Why are you staring at their bodies?"

"I... was spacing out. Yeah."

Shiroko frowns. "You were wearing a scary frown, Sensei."

"..." I slowly bring the palm of my free hand to my forehead, moving it across to rub my left temple. "...Ignore it. I don't want to talk about it."

"...Nn." Shiroko reluctantly nods.

We continue down the street towards some of the heavier fighting, but not before we disarm the enemy combatants. I throw their firearms into the open window of a nearby building, and then do the same with their sidearms.

I've never felt this... this disgust before.

"There's more of them!" Shiroko yells, bringing her rifle back up to bear. Indeed, there were more approaching robots.

"...Good."

I hoister my rifle and clasp the sides of my fists together. I spread them out, and a beam of pure energy manifests between my fingers. I feel the familiar tingle of electricity (or whatever that was) as I crouch down in a more aggressive stance. Seeing these robots using child soldiers has pissed me off.

"What the—!?" Shiroko voices her surprise with stood-up ears. "Is that an energy sword!?"

I rushed forward past a surprised Shiroko, swinging my energy blade way before I reached the enemy. Waves of pure energy slash forth, heading straight towards the robots. I never thought I'd see robots have a surprised reaction, because they immediately stopped firing and devoted their entire attention towards dodging.

They succeeded, allowing the energy waves to fly past them and cut through some street lights instead. But it didn't matter; I was right in front of them now.

I carve into the first robot, it's metal body putting up zero resistance to my energy blade. It glides clean through its torso, leaving behind molten metal where solid matter used to be. I then swing the blade around in a circle around my immediate perimeter, doing the same to the others horizontally instead of vertically. Those that survived immediately try and shoot at me from close range, but I deflected their bullets with my sword.

"SHIROKO, COVER YOUR EYES!"

I glance over to her, waiting until she does so. Once I see her get behind some cover, I hold my ethereal blade up. A light damn near as bright as Sol itself flashes for the briefest of moments from its tip. To me, it does nothing. To these robots, it was so bright that it quite literally lit their heads on fire. I can control who the blinding light debilitates, but not who sees it.

As I watched the robots collapse to the ground in a fiery heap, I brought my fists back together, "sheating" the blade I conjured. Shiroko comes running up, eyes sparkling.

"What was that!?" She says with her hands up to her chest. "That was straight out of an anime!"

"Let's just call it magic." I answer with a sort-of truth. "Now let's get a move on."

"Nn!" She nodded fervently, taking the moment to swap mags.

I cast one last look towards the downed kids.

I hated that I had to fight child soldiers. The types of people who would send their young to fight deserve to be tortured.

—

"Oh shit, watch out!"

"W-Whoa!"

I tackle Hoshino to the ground, allowing her to avoid taking a direct impact from a tank shell. That was not cool!

We've just taken down a pretty sizable group of robots. Our reward? A season's greetings from a damn tank. I move off of Hoshino, rolling to the side into some cover. Hoshino does the same, even despite that heavy-looking brick of a shield she's carrying.

"Argh! How did a Canon Tank get here?!" She pauses to inhale sharply, grunting in irritation. "We need to sweep the surroundings ASAP! They're getting too close to the school!"

"Right!" I grab my rifle, hastily ejecting the mag and loading in a new one. "So that thing's gonna be a pain-in-our-asses if we don't take care of it. What'dya say? You up to party like it's 1999?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She smiles pridefully. "On three! One... two...!"

—BOOM!—

I feel a shockwave shake my chest, interrupting the countdown. Against my smarter instincts, I look out and see something I wasn't expecting; the enemy tank has been hit in the side by a round from a Prefect Team tank. The Kaiser tank pops smoke and drives off at max throttle, using the broken light of sight to its advantage.

"Hey! The hell you think you're going, bub?!"

I jump out of cover, channeling my super-speed to zip right up to the tank. With my incredible agility, I run right up onto the top and put my hands on its main body. I channel a metric fuckton of wattage into its body, and the whole thing lights up like a few forks in a microwave. Yeah, that kills it good.

I then take a few steps over towards its hatch and grab it. Annoyingly, it was locked. Physical strength ain't my strong suit, either. Do I just leave it?

"Uhe~ You're pretty scary when you do that~ " The sound of an extra pair of feet jumping onto the tank makes me automatically look up, seeing Hoshino standing right next to me. She looks down at me struggling to open the hatch. "You need some help there? Here, let me do it."

Hoshino temporarily folds her shield, reaching down towards the handle and squatting with her legs. She looks at me, winks, and then promptly rips the hatch clean off. I gazed in awe like a deer in headlights, jaw pretty much on the floor.

Wow, those haloes do not fuck around.

I grab my rifle off my back and use the momentary distraction to aim inside. But...

"W-What the!?" an unexpectedly non-robotic voice cries out in surprise. "W-Wait! We surrender!"

"...What?" I mutter in genuine shock, slowly lowering my rifle.

First off; holy shit, the crew survived the substation's worth of electricity I dumped into it? The interior must be one hell of a resistor to handle that. The absolute Mojave levels of heat I could feel radiating from the inside probably meant I was right.

Second off; I was expecting to see robots inside this thing. But these Kaiser crooks, they... they've enlisted kids? No, that's insane. That's wrong on so many fucking levels.

All those enemy tanks, those helicopters, they... they might have actual kids inside them. Could we have...?

"Get out."

Hoshino's voice, usually happy-go-lucky, speaks in a cold and mercantile tone as she holds the operators at gunpoint. The Kaiser kids frantically obey, with around 4 of them stepping out of the tank with their hands behind their backs. I reluctantly lower my rifle, letting Hoshino take the lead on this one. She reaches down to her belt, grabbing a set of zip ties.

"Keep them held up for me."

"Uh, s-sure." I unexpectedly stumbled over my words, promptly raising my rifle again.

I watch as Hoshino binds the arms of the surrendering Kaiser kids individually. She nudges the back of the kids, gesturing non-verbally for them to stop off the top. They get the hint, which allows Hoshino to lead them over to the sidewalk. Why did she have zip-ties? Was she expecting us to encounter drafted kids?

"Sit down on the sidewalk." Hoshino orders firmly. "You're out of this fight."

"Y-Yes!" one of them replies out of fear.

I remain standing on top of the tank, rifle at my side. I glance down the street, seeing the Prefect tank rounding the corner. Instead of coming towards us, it turns down another street and continues on its own.

...

Y'know, I'm not in the mood for jokes anymore at all. Finding out we're fighting recruited children just shell-shocked my entire mood.

Putting down gangsters is one thing, but this?! Man, what the hell is wrong with Kaiser!?

—

Aru can't help but stand and watch the awe-inspiring sight of destruction of the battle. She was living through history, and she knew it.

And the best(?) part is, the battle hasn't even reached its climax.

She could see it on the horizon; all those vehicles that just keep on coming, along with the types that's yet to arrive. The Prefect Team's defensive line is holding steady, tanks on both sides in a ballistic game of back-and-forth, while the tracers from ground troops light the sky up like fireworks. What started off as ground vehicle skirmishes has now become an all-aspect fight.

...

Were they in over their head?

"Aru, watch your 4 o'clock high!" Kayoko shouts with urgency, which brings Aru's attention back to the present. Aru aims up high, shooting down a drone that was preparing to fire off some rockets.

"Aww... What a shame~" Mutsuki pouts light-heartedly, interrupting herself with a burst of her MG5 from her prone position towards some advancing automatons. "We could've stolen it for ourselves!"

"M-Maybe we can steal the next one?" Haruka asks meekly, which is juxtaposed by her brutally destroying an automaton with nothing more than her legs.

"S-Some other time!" Aru says confidently, re-establishing her carefully crafted visage. "If there are any surviving drones when the battle is over, then perhaps we could take some home for ourselves!"

"We'll need someone to crack into its firmware," Kayoko pauses to fire off a carefully-aimed shot of her pistol into an enemy automaton's weak point, rendering it kaput immediately. "But it'll be helpful to have one."

"What she said!" Mutsuki opens the top cover on her machine gun, swapping her box magazine for a fresh one. "Besides... think of all the explosive destruction~!"

"I suppose It's settled, then!" Aru reluctantly agrees with her underlings. "For now, let's focus on asserting our dominance!"

Haruka continues to brutalize the enemies, reciting "Pleasedie" over and over as she destroys robot after robot. Kayoko assists her by picking off threats that become too much of a flanking risk, while Mutsuki lays down suppressing fire towards enemies that are approaching the four of them. Aru herself snipes at targets in the extreme distance, focusing on any aerial units like drones or helicopters.

And then it happens. Their main advancing forces finally start doing something. Rows of tanks fire off in unison, while a storm of bullets come flying their way from the infantry. The helicopters engage the allied tanks all at once with explosive weaponry, forcing the Prefect Team to backpedal.

"EVERYONE, FALL BACK!" one of the Prefect Team members shouts as loud as she can. "THIS POSITION IS UNTENABLE!"

"Uh oh." Mutsuki says simply, getting up from her prone position. "C'mon, we've gotta move!"

"Right!" Aru turns around and starts running. "Come on, we've got to—"

—BOOMBOOMBOOM!—

Suddenly, a huge variety of explosive detonations hits the enemy's main force. A bunch of small explosions, a couple large, one huge explosion... even ones that light its affected area ablaze. Aru looks on in awe, joined by her fellows, as they stare at the unexpected destruction.

...

"...What just happened?" Aru asks with such bafflement that she fails to realize she's broken character.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Buuut...!" Mutsuki smiles the widest she ever has. "That! Was! Amazing!~"

"It was... beautiful." Haruka looks on in awe, evidently enjoying the devastation.

"Look! Up in the sky!" Kayoko points in the direction towards the school with her other hand.

Aru and the rest follow where Kayoko was pointing. There, approaching from the east, was a blue transport helicopter with mounted weapons. And now that Aru had noticed it, she could also see fresh smoke contrails that lead from it to the enemy. That helicopter was the cause of those explosions.

"Blue and white aren't Prefect Team or Justice Task Force colors..." Aru began, genuinely and fully distracted now. "...And the shade of blue is too deep to be Valkyrie's! Who could that be!?"

Haruka clutched her shotgun tighter. "Maybe it's Millenium? I-Isn't their color that shade of blue?"

"If it was, they'd make you know by plastering their insufferable logo everywhere." Mutsuki noted. "Nah, this is different~ You got any clue, Kayoko?"

Kayoko didn't immediately respond, staring intently at the helicopter. And then, her eyes widened in realization.

"It's...!"

—

"...An SRT helicopter?"

≪ WHAT!? ≫ Ako cried out in surprise.

Now this was an unexpected surprise. Hina watched in quiet wonder as the SRT helicopter engaged the advancing enemy, devastating them with a wide and disorganized variety of explosive munitions. She almost fired on the helicopter, but held her fire upon seeing the SRT emblems emblazoned on the side.

A dozen or so seconds after the dust settled, Ako spoke over the comms again.

≪ SRT was supposed to be closed! Why are they here!? ≫

≪ Wait! SRT was closed!? ≫ The voice of Okusora Ayane added. ≪ Since when!? ≫

≪ Just two days ago, unfortunately. ≫ Ako answered. ≪ And that's why this is very anomalous! I thought all their assets were seized by the General Student Council! ≫

Hina stroked her chin thoughtfully, considering the potential reasons for this unexpected assistance. SRT was indeed supposed to be closed, and an SRT helicopter was literally the last thing Hina was expecting to see here. However, there were a few groups that resisted the transition from SRT to Valkyrie; one of them was known to have taken some SRT equipment with them and occupied a park.

...Oh.

"...It's the RABBIT Squad." Hina stated matter-of-factly. "Those are their colors."

≪ Those protestors? ≫ Ako remarked in absolute disbelief. ≪ Why would they have ditched their park to come here? They don't even have a stake here! Hell, do they even have the authority!? ≫

"Valid questions, Ako." Hina put her free arm on her hip, holding the machine gun with her other by the handle. "Unfortunately, they're ones without answers."

≪ No, I can't just let that go! ≫ Ako protested. ≪ Why would they give up their occupation to come help in some matter they shouldn't even know about!? This doesn't make any sense! The only reason they could've done so to abandon their park is if they got permission to stay there, and the only ones who can give that permission is the GSC! ≫

Ako was quite agitated, wasn't she? Hina hadn't heard her that bothered since the Gourmet Research Society put the school cafeteria out of commission for a week. As Hina watched the helicopter pitch up to shed its interia, she weighed the potential reasons for random unsolicited SRT assistance, especially from the RABBIT Squad of all students.

One possibility immediately shone in her mind. At the same time, Ako and Ayane gasped over the comms, seemingly coming to the same realization.

≪ ...No, don't tell me! ≫ Ako remarked in some sort of desperation.

The SRT helicopter went into a close hover near the school roof, deploying chaff and flares diagonally as it descended until it landed in the Abydos High School courtyard instead. Shortly thereafter, the side door opened as three armored students stepped out... and one non-golden suit of full-body armor. Although she couldn't make out its details from this far, she could tell it was a familiar style to one of his suits of armor.

At long last. The cavalry has arrived.

"It's him." Hina stated with certainty. "Inform our forces; Drifter-sensei is here, and he has brought assistance via former SRT students."

≪ I-It will be done! ≫ Ako replied dutifully.

Hina grabbed her machine gun with her other hand, now holding it in a normal way. She took the moment to evaluate the battle, spectating her forces while they performed a fighting retreat towards some more defensible positions.

The bulk of the invading Kaiser PMC forces were now engaging the Prefect Team's head-to-head—which meant this was now a proper battle instead of a long-range skirmish. Kaiser was also attempting to reposition and encircle the Prefect Team's defensive perimeter, coming into conflict with the forces to the north and the south. The Prefect Team was being pressured into giving up some ground, and a notable quantity of the Gehenna tanks and IFV's they brought have been destroyed.

Drifter-sensei arrived just in time. The real fight has just begun.

Considering the situation... Perhaps it was time for her to participate in this battle more directly.

Now this is a sensation I haven't felt in a long time.

The feeling of being in an active full-scale, multi-aspect battle.

I step out of the helicopter, and take a moment to admire the sights and sounds. The rhythmic pops and bangs of exchanged gunfire, the occasional explosion, the sight of tracers flying through the air... Ah, I hate how giddy this makes me feel. Höllvania is the exact opposite of this, and you rarely find combat like this in the Origin System when the Corpus and Grineer invade each other.

Too bad this giddiness is mixed with a terrible sense of rage. They actually dared to come try and take the school by force.

In my heart of hearts, I was hoping Hina was exaggerating... I guess she wasn't.

≪ RABBIT-3 is leaving the AO because of enemy anti-air presence! ≫ Moe shouts over the comms. ≪ Good luck down there! ≫

≪ Roger, RABBIT-3. ≫ Miyako responds. ≪ Sensei, what is your orders? ≫

"Follow me." I answer, taking my Fulmin Prime out. ""I need to find either Hina or Hoshino and get them to tell me how things are going."

I take off in the direction where the fun was happening, avoiding my Tenno moves so the kids can keep up. Miyako, Saku and Miyu can run surprisingly fast, so I don't have to slow my pace down one bit. We pass by several groups of Prefect Team kids, who's jaws drop as they watch me run by.

"O-Oh my god! He's injured!"
"W-What happened!? Why does he have so many blades sticking out of him!?"
"S-Should we call for Chinatsu!?"

I ignore their observations and keep running. The closer I get, the more I smell that distinct smell of battle. I also start seeing some destroyed vehicles, destroyed Kaiser robots carcasses, Prefect Team vehicles (like some Ti-92 lookalikes), and the occasional Prefect Team machine gunner who awaits the enemy. Each of the Prefect Team members I directly pass stops what they're doing to gawk at me as I pass by.

Oh brother, this is gonna be annoying.

"Contact!"

As I was about to cross an intersection, Saki and Miyako took some enemy fire from an alleyway, with the latter calling contact. They immediately round on their aggressors, taking nearby cover. I halt my advance and move to assist them; I unscrew the suppressor from my Fulmin and start laying down suppressive fire into the enemy automatons in the alleyway. This makes them stop firing.

"Is that an energy weapon!?" Saki cries out in surprise.

"Let's save this for later! RABBIT-1, grenade out!" Miyako pulls out a grenade and throws it into the alleyway. This flushes them deeper into the alleyway, regardless of the explosion that happens; Saki capitalizes on this, rushing forward and engaging the enemy with impressive aggression. That machine gun of hers doesn't look like it's fit for CQB, but she makes it work anyways.

I watch them do their thing, impressed. They're definitely well-trained. But standing there watching wasn't really smart of me; I take some fire from a separate alley behind me, provoking me to turn around. I precisely eliminate a few automatons with some well-placed headshots, rushing after them into the alleyway.

"Alright, then. Looks like it's my turn!"

I screw the suppressor back on and start blasting the remaining ones with high-impact energy waves. The force of the collision knocks some off their feet, while those that resist get their arms blown off from the force. I'm reminded of why I love this thing; using something so fun makes this duty of mine oh-so-fun.

Just then, an explosion rocks me off my feet. I am knocked onto my back, moderately disoriented for about a second. When I've regained awareness, I kick myself back onto my feet and get a good look at the bastard that did that.

This clanker hit me with a motherfucking rocket launcher? I'll give him respect for his bravery, but it just earned him my full attention.

I bring my Fulmin Prime back up, but the robot prepares to fire again. I instinctively plant my feet in the ground in preparation, knowing that I might be too late to avoid this.

—BANG!—

...However, the clanker falls dead before it could even try. It falls to the ground sparking, a bullet hole clean through its head. I look behind myself, watching Miyu on her knees in a combat stance. She chambers out the round she just fired, standing back up. Saki and Miyako cover her back, finishing up the last of their enemies.

"S-Scratch one rocketman!" She calls out shyly. "I, um, saw a chance, and... I-I took it."

I exhale lightly, letting the tension leave me. "Good kill, Miyu. Thanks."

Miyu gives me a sweet smile for my appreciation. She's a mighty cute kid when she isn't suffering from apparent anxiety or assertion issues. It's nice to see kids smile so genuinely, with actual innocence in their eyes instead of war-torn apathy.

That's one of the biggest pluses about this city; they're free to experience their youth like the students they are.

I walk back out from the alleyway, rejoining the other three RABBITs.

"That takes care of that distraction!" Saki says chipperly. "Now, after you Sensei."

I give her a nod as a non-verbal response and resume sprinting down the streets. We continue down these eerily quiet streets, sometimes being forced to maneuver around anti-tank fortifications that the Prefects erected. Like some sort of beams that look welded together.

Damn, is warfare really like this in the past? My era is so different.

"There they are! TAKE THEM DOWN!"

Another set of enemies engages us as we run down the street. The RABBIT Squad meets them head-on, with Saki and Miyako rushing forward while Miyu stays behind next to me. I unequip my suppressor again due to the range; however, as I aim at them, I reflexively stop myself from pulling the trigger, breath hitching for a moment as I did so.

The enemy combatants aren't robots; they're actual students. In fact, they look like the Kata-Kata gangsters, but more fortified. Kaiser's actually done it; They conscripted kids to fight on their behalf.

I can't bring myself to fire on them. I only stand there and watch as the RABBIT Squad effortlessly dispatches the kids, and I'm left standing there with complicated feelings. As the world passes me by, Saki turns around and shouts in my direction.

"Sensei! Why did you hesitate!?"

...For the first time since Hoshino yelled at me, I don't know how to respond. I'm left at a complete loss for words. Miyako turns around to also shout at me, but hesitates when she notices how still I'm standing.

"...Sensei?" Miyako voices with worry. "What's wrong?"

I shake my head, falling down from the clouds in my own mind. "...It's nothing."

"It's something." Saki asserts. "Hesitation leads to defeat. You can't be indecisive on the—"

"I know, Saki." I cut her off. "I'm more experienced than you ten times over."

"I-Is there something wrong?" Miyu squeaks out.

"It's..." I take a deep breath and exhale, calmed by the fact that Miyu was the one asking. "...Just a bitter feeling in my heart. Child soldiers are heresy in my home country."

"And you live in a city full of students. What's the big deal?" Saki asks in a blunt way. "It's not like you've never fought them before. Why are you so hung up all of a sudden?"

"The problem, Saki, is that I've seen traumatizing shit before." I say in a bitter tone. "Child soldiers is one of those things. Whenever I've seen child soldiers in my home country, they... they've..."

I shake my head. The rest was better left unsaid. The three RABBITs seem to get the unsaid implication, and slowly lower their heads. Saki hangs the lowest, as she hides her face with her helmet.

Child soldiers. They're uncommon in the Origin System, considered the worst possible evil by citizens and Tenno alike. Even the Corpus—who are normally the most morally bankrupt bastards—view it as a sin justifying immediate capital punishment that ignores hierarchy and rank. If a higher-up dares to conscript them, a grunt has the impunity to execute their superior; no exceptions.

Unfortunately, there's been rare occasions they've been put on the field... and it was always the Grineer that was evil enough to use them. Every time we encountered child soldiers, they're rescued instead of killed and sent to a Tenno-affiliated syndicate for rehabilitation and reintegration. And if we accidentally damage them, we use our warframes' powers to undo our mistakes.

...What about the Grineer who made the decision to use them?

You don't want to know.

"...I'm sorry." I apologize. "I know they have halos, so It'll be very hard to deal fatal damage to them. It's just something I'm very uncomfortable doing."

"We understand." Miyako speaks for the group. "I suppose we failed to consider the cultural differences between Kivotos and your original home. We are glad you have a moral code."

"I'm sorry, too." Saki says in a deflated mood. "I understand your point of view now."

"Let's move on." Miyako states resolutely. "We still have a duty to uphold."

I take another deep breath, exhale, and continue my hasty advance towards the front line. As I pass the downed conscripts, I feel a terrible sense of disgust in my soul.

They might be super-durable. But fighting conscripts instead of delinquents leaves a terrible pit in my stomach.

...

Oh boy, the fighting was heavy now.

We've reached the rear guard of the Prefect Team—I see tanks and infantry all over firing ahead at the Kaiser enemies. At the front, the Prefects are maintaining a rigid defensive line with blockades, armored personnel carriers, emplacements and makeshift cover. Ahead, the Kaiser PMC vanguard are relying on their vehicles and their strength in numbers to try and disrupt them.

I'm about to jump straight up into the air and start channeling all this pent-up rage, when I see something out of the corner of my vision. A familiar white-haired girl comes running over, machine gun in hand. The RABBITs look like they were gonna raise their weapons, but the only one to briefly do that was Saki.

"You've arrived just in time, Sen... sei..." Hina states with utmost seriousness, but her face goes pale the moment she sees my warframe. I then see her face display the most emotion so far. "...You're severely injured!"

"You're talking about the blades, aren't you?" I say, looking down at myself.

"Of course I am!" Hina shouts, eyes darting around my various blades. "What happened to you!? We need to get you immediate medical attent— Hnn!?"

I cut her off by taking one of my blades out of my chest, which makes her whole body wince; the RABBITs, despite knowing I'm fine, also wince. For the third time, I show off the blade's lack of inflicted damage. Hina stares at both the dagger and the slot I took it out from.

"You see? I'm perfectly fine." I state matter-of-factly.

"...No blood... No wounds." Hina stares at the blade, and then at me. Her eyes then take on an intense vexation. "Why are there numerous blades sticking out of you? Were they the result of an enemy attack?"

"No. These are a part of the suit's kit." I answer honestly. "They're not actu—"

"Why do you require your suit of armor be maimed by your own hand?" Hina asks with unexpected pressure. I feel my 6th sense trigger from her response as I firm my stance a little.

"...Because this suit is a one-of-a-kind oddity." I give her a specifically-phrased answer. "I don't normally bring this one out, but I have valid reasons this time. I can assure you; I am anything but injured."

When I feel her pressuring gaze on me, I meet it with my own stare of equal strength of will. I cleanly re-insert the blade back where it belongs, which makes her flinch even as she continues to hold the gaze.

Eventually, after a good 10 seconds of the staring contest, she relents with a sigh.

"...Whatever. I see you've also brought some unexpected help."

"Greetings. We are SRT's RABBIT Squad." Miyako lightly bows in respect. "We just happened to be at the right place, at the right time."

"Doubly so, now that you're here." Hina adds, redirecting her gaze to me. "Amir-sensei and Arthur-sensei are fighting in the south and the north, respectively. However, we are beginning to struggle with Kaiser's attempts to encircle us. Their numbers are too great to effectively counter."

"How many are we talking about?" Saki asks a great question. "We were seeing robot corpses left and right while we were rushing over here."

"So far, we have destroyed at least 1,000 infantry robots of various types." Hina responds with a number that gives me pause. "This is accompanied by at least 60 tanks, 12 helicopters, and 2 power loaders."

"What's a power loader?" I ask, already having an idea of what the answer is.

"A heavily armed and armored bipedal automaton." Miyako answers with her usual calm and collected tone. "The ones of Kaiser PMC's design are equipped with a rotary cannon for their right arm, and have missile racks on their shoulders."

"...This is worse than I thought." I say with a grave tone of voice. "Excuse me for a second."

"Wha—"

I bullet-jump onto the exterior of a nearby building, not sticking around to listen to what Hina has to say. I run straight up the side of it onto the roof, where I earn myself a decent view of the ongoing battle. Thanks to there being so few buildings in this part of Kivotos, that view is very good. What I see worries me.

Thousands upon thousands of automaton foot soldiers are assaulting the Prefects from all angles. I look around and see many, many tanks, no matter the angle... and even a few of those 'power loaders' they were talking about. Oh, but it gets even worse: In the distance, further than what could normally be seen from flat ground, I spy a large automaton with two rotary guns for arms and a cannon mounted above their head—but it's so far that heat blur makes it tough to make out finer details.

This is worse than I thought. They've sent everything at these poor kids.

A force like this could take the Plains of Eidolon in less than an hour.

...

I need some heavier firepower to reduce these numbers.

I reached down towards my waist, pulling out the Shittim Chest so I could mute myself on comms. And then, I mute my Warframe's voice so only two people could hear me.

"Ordis, do you read me?"

≪ Clear as— THE EMPTY SPACE IN THESE CLANKERS HEADS— purified water, Drifter. ≫

"Send down the Voidrig."

≪ Right away, Drifter! ≫ Ordis replies with notable excitement in his voice. ≪ Please mark the desired landing zone with a waypoint. ≫

I look around the area, locating a suitable space. Once I've found one, I point towards it with my warframe.

≪ Waypoint coordinates received! ≫ Ordis calls out with even more excitement. ≪ Stand by for Necrafall! ≫

≪ Necrafall? ≫ Arona asks with her childlike curiosity. ≪ What's a 'Necrafall'? ≫

"I'm calling in a Necramech." I answer.

≪ What's a Necramech? ≫ Arona replies with another question.

"...Ordis, did we not tell her about Necramechs?"

≪ Negative. ≫ He answers clearly. ≪ I suppose Arona will find out organically. ≫

I unmute myself on both the Shittim Chest and my own warframe systems, clipping the tablet back onto my waist. This is followed by me jumping down from the building's roof, landing back in front of Hina and the RABBIT Squad.

"Are you done with your evaluation?" Hina asks directly. "I assume you understand the strength of the enemy now."

"Bingo." I answer with a nod. "So I'm bringing my big toy out."

"Your big toy? What—"

"INCOMING FROM THE SKY!" A Prefect calls out, interrupting Miyako as she points upwards. I and the rest follow suit; a great big crackling fireball is approaching us. "Oh my god...! ALL HANDS! BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

All of the allied forces present (including the RABBITs) seek cover, some diving into their nearby vehicles for cover. The Kaiser PMC forces also briefly stop fighting and retreat from us; even Hina braces herself by crossing her arms in front of her in an X-pattern, wings outstretched to their full length. I am the only one who doesn't brace for what's about to land.

—BAAAAM!—

A truly great impact lands right in front of me, shaking the entire area and cracking the whole street from the impact. There, sitting pretty while the dust and debris it kicked up disperses, sits my almighty Voidrig.

"...What the..." Hina's eyes go wide; this is the second time I've seen her break composure. "...Drifter-sensei. What is that?"

"That, Hina... is a Voidrid-class Necramech." I say without being able to mask my pride. "The fiercest son-of-a-bitch my home country has to offer. The perfect tool to fix this flanking problem."

"Did you say a Necramech?!" I hear the voice of Saki ask with evident childish awe, looking to my side to see the RABBITs now standing next to me again. "You mean it's a MECH and it's YOURS!?"

"...I am routinely left speechless by your armaments." Hina asks, admiring the Voidrig's golden visage from the top-down. "Just what kind of place is your home, Drifter-sensei?"

Right after Hina asks that question, the Necramech starts to actuate itself from deployment position. Its arms and torso rotate in a hard-to-decipher manner, revealing its full form – and the color-matched Kuva Grattler it's holding in its right hand.

"...Oh my. Is that a flak cannon?" Miyako asks, correctly identifying the Kuva Grattler's archetype.

"Yes, yes it is. I'm going to enjoy this."

I then walk up towards the Necramech. I place my warframe's hand on its ornate chestplate; my warframe dissolves into void particles, whisked back up into the Orbiter as I initiate Transference on the Necramech. The stimulation of all its mechanical systems floods my senses, and I feel every mechanical bit click into its right place.

"D-Drifter-sensei!?" Miyako cries out, evidently perturbed by my warframe dissolving into energy particles like that. The rest of the group appear similarly unsettled.

≫ IT'S TIME FOR A NEW PLAN, HINA. ≪ My Necramech speaks my words, not with my own voice, but with some sort of deep robotic one. ≫ SEND YOUR FORCES TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH. I WILL FIGHT THESE ENEMIES BY MYSELF. ≪

"...What?" Hina stares at my Necramech's face with disbelief. She firms her gaze. "I will comply with your request, but I refuse to leave you alone."

≫ WHY? ≪

"It's because that's suicidal!" Saki answers instead of Hina, and I turn my Necramech's head to face her. "I don't know what that can do, but are you blind?! You're up against an ARMY!"

"I also refuse." Miyako answers. "Kivotos would be put in great peril if you were to fall in battle. You may have successors, but your actions have inspired the students of this city. I will not allow you to fight alone."

"N-Neither will I!" Miyu asserts herself for once.

I would sigh, but the Necramech is incapable of it. ≫ FINE. I GUESS I WILL TELL YOU MY PLAN: WE ARE GOING TO DISTRACT THE ENEMY AND FORCE THEM TO FOCUS ON US. THEY WILL NOT ATTACK THE FLANKS IF WE'RE CAUSING ENOUGH HAVOC. ≪

"A solid plan." Hina says, but her brow is still furrowed. "But it is reckless. You have not thought this through."

≫ I DON'T NEED TO. ≪ The Necramech does not convey the sass I put in my voice. ≫ YOU DO NOT YET KNOW HOW STRONG THIS NECRAMECH IS. ≪

I almost expected a quip from Arona, but then I realized something. The Shittim Chest was still on my warframe's hip. She could communicate through comms, but for some reason, she was choosing not to do so.

"It can't be that strong, right?" Saki says, staring at my mech with skepticism. When I don't respond, her skepticism turns to unease. "...Right?"

Instead of saying something, I take my first steps with the Necramech: I position myself in a spot with no people next to me and a clear view of the enemy, and then drop the Kuva Grattler on the ground. With great anticipation, I put the Necramech into siege-mode; it's stance fortifies, followed by the shoulders rotating to expose the inbuilt fuck-you weapons—a pair of Arquebex energy canons. The Voidrig's arms automatically grip the cannons tightly without my input.

"W-What the? Miyu stammers out, as the rest of the squad looks on in awe. "A-Are those cannons!?"

"Holy moly!" Saki says, the wonder evident in her voice.

I twist my Necramech's head over towards the kids.

≫ I AM ABOUT TO UNLEASH THE STORM. ≪ I say, the urgency being conveyed through choice of words. ≫ YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS TO FIND SOME COVER. ≪

"O-Okay!" Miyako frantically holsters her rifle. "RABBIT Squad, on me!"

The RABBITs run away again towards some suitable cover. Hina jumps backwards a good 20 meters in one go, actually making use of her wings for their intended purpose. This leaves my immediate perimeter clear.

And here... we... go.

—BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—

Oh, I MISSED THIS!

The almighty rhythmic, all-encompassing drumbeats of the twin Arquebex cannons makes the whole area shake. I aim upwards at an angle, firing its energy shells up past the Prefect Team and into the Kaiser PMC lines. Each explosion shakes the ground much harder than the Arquebex's firing, and every one of them takes out a good 50 soldiers each from the radius. Every tank I hit inevitably exploded catastrophically; and with some skill, I also hit some helicopters that were hovering too close to the ground, bringing them down and further adding to the carnage.

And then I see it; that big mech. It takes several good hits before finally going down, but it goes up in an enormous explosion that makes that Flak-48 tank I destroyed pale in comparison. The sensation of it all, even through the dulled senses I feel through the Necramech, is enough to make me feel a euphoric sense of joy.

The cascading shockwaves of each Arquebex firing one after another was making the Prefects stumble off their feet. Out of the corner of my digital vision, I could see Hina—who hadn't taken cover—braced on the ground with her wings fully extended. And behind her, peeking out of cover were the RABBITs, who were looking on with sparkling eyes. Especially Saki, who looked like she was experiencing some euphoria of her own.

When I finally decide to stop the glorious song of the Arquebexes, I bring the Necramech out of siege mode, which folds them back into its shoulders and rotates said shoulders. I kneel down and pick my Kuva Grattler back up.

I'm not done yet. The fun's only just begun.

Capitalizing on the aftermath of the madness I just unleashed, I rush forward with deceptively fast speed, jumping over the Prefect's defensive line with booster assistance. There weren't many Kaiser PMC forces that survived that, but the ones that did immediately backed up from my unexpected advance, while I heard cheering from the Prefect Team elements look watched in awe.

"YOU GO, DRIFTER-SENSEI!"
"LET 'EM HAVE IT! THAT MECH IS SO COOL!"
"THIS IS GONNA GET MILLIONS OF VIEWS ON BLUETUBE!"

Oh boy, they were filming it. Can't stop it now, so might as well give 'em a show.

"I can't believe you weren't kidding about 'unleashing the storm'!" My audio feed picks up on Miyako rushing over, her squad in tow with their weapons at the ready. Miyako and Saki start laying down some fire of her own towards the retreating automatons.

With the RABBITs at my side, I lay into the Kaiser troops with the Kuva Grattler in full-auto, which shreds the infantry like wet paper. Immediately afterwards, I also grabbed a canister from a compartment on the Voidrig, throwing it up into the air towards the infantry that dared to redouble their efforts. The enemies think this is a grenade, and try to shoot it mid-air. That does not end well for them at all; the canister explodes mid air from the sustained fire, sending volatile slag all over a wide area and allowing the terrible chemicals to melt them.

The Kaiser troops start falling back a little, abandoning the surviving troops that continue to try and flank The Prefect Team. I can handle the remaining Kaiser forces, of which there are still plenty on the horizon still... but I take a moment to stand there and admire my handiwork.

It's like those very old pictures that the Hex showed me of a war that happened 80-years ago in their world—the First Great War. The sights around me look exactly like one of those battlefields after all the devastation, except with a bunch of robot corpses strewn about.

As I pan around, I see that Hina was standing right next to me, right hand to her chin. She was also admiring the catastrophic damage I've inflicted on the enemy.

"Well, Sensei." Hina pushes the handle of her machine forward. Her barrel ejects a bunch of vaporized heat in the process. "You've certainly turned the tides in our favor—"

"Enemies, right flank!" Saki calls out, cutting Hina off. I promptly rotate around to see the threat.

...Fuck. More conscripts. And not just that, but it was a whole fireteam this time.

They were pretty much the closest resistance left near us. Some robots continued to fire at us from a distance, but only the conscripts were actually rushing towards us. I stand there, considering what choice to make in my peculiar position.

Do I choose to engage them? Do I let the others do it for me?

My hesitation allows the Necramech to take some fire from the group of conscripts, which doesn't affect it much because of the Necramech's shields taking the punishment. Similarly, Hina was taking some fire herself, but appeared to be mostly unfazed by it. The RABBITs engage the fireteam for me, neutralizing them one-by-one and bringing their numbers down from double digits to single digits.

I reluctantly bring my Kuva Grattler up, preparing to finally return fire... Until I see something in the sky.

Smoke contrails with large parabolic arcs.

"ARTILLERY!" Miyako calls out to anyone who can hear, also noticing the incoming threat. "GET BACK, NOW!"

The RABBITs frantically turn back around and retreat from the incoming fire, leaving only me and Hina standing there. The Kaiser PMC automatons continue to try and fire at us, as do the remaining conscripts.

"Artillery?" Hina's wings outstretched some. She raised her machine gun up towards the air. "...Iori must've failed to defeat the threat."

As I stare up at the sky, shrugging off the small-arms fire, I then notice something even more attention-grabbing. It wasn't a small barrage of artillery shells coming right towards me; it was a metric fuckton, way more than there reasonably should be. And...

...

No... They wouldn't.

≫ THEY ARE HEADING RIGHT TOWARDS US. ≪ The Necramech fails to convey the urgency in my voice. ≫ HINA, ENGAGE THOSE ARTILLERY SHELLS. ≪

"Wilco." Hina responds cooly, bringing her machine gun up towards the air as she fortifies her stance. She then sends forth a great hailstorm of red energy bullets, painting the sky in a brilliant display of red tracers and frequent explosions.

However, the enemy artillery fire isn't stopping—If anything, their frequency increases. Why wasn't there any damned friendly anti-air?!

Seeing that Hina's efforts weren't enough, I then started contributing to destroying the shells. With my Necramech's free hand, I adjust a slider on the rear of the Kuva Grattler, setting the weapon for airburst explosions at a couple hundred meters. This would help significantly clear the skies.

"JUST GIVE IT UP!" one of the conscripts taunts, continuing to pepper us with bullets. "KAISER'S ARTILLERY IS UNDEFEATABLE! EVEN THE HEAD PREFECT OR YOUR GOLDEN MECH CAN'T SURVIVE THEM!"

I completely ignored their taunting, as all of my focus was on clearing the air of artillery fire. Similarly, Hina was not giving two fucks about being focused on, shrugging off the small-arms fire like it was nothing.

"W-Wait!" another conscript shouts, but not with a taunting voice. "Look at the direction of those shells! They're firing too close to US!"

"DRIFTER-SENSEI, HINA! TAKE EVASIVE ACTION!"

I hear the unexpected voice of Hoshino shouting as loud as she can from behind me. I briefly look down towards the horizon, only to see two tank shells heading right for us.

≫ AH FU— ≪

...Too late.

We both take direct impacts. My Necramech is sent clean off its feet, immediately depleting all of its shields and sending me flying through the air backwards. After way too many seconds of tumbling across the ground a significant distance, the Necramech automatically stabilizes itself and plants its feet in the ground without my input.

As I regain my bearings, I immediately try to visually locate Hina.

Good news; that wasn't difficult. Bad news; she took that tank shell right on. She is laid out on her back in the sand right next to me, her machine gun some distance away. Despite that, her halo wasn't flickering, which meant she was still conscious.

This kid just took anti-vehicle fire head-on. Wow.

≫ HINA. ≪

"-cough cough-..." Hina struggles back up to her feet, coughing violently. "...I am... fine... mostly."

She did not appear fine. Her clothes were very tattered, her coat flung clean off her some great distance away... and her face was bleeding. When I looked upon her with the Necramech's built-in UI, I saw something that disturbed me personally.

It wasn't just her overguard that was damaged; a small part of her health was also depleted. And on top of that, her halo itself appeared to be tinted a little darker, like some soot had gotten on it or something.

She has sustained actual damage.

I thought the overguard pool represented their halo's durability soaking up all of the damage. I was wrong. Somehow, someway, those who had haloes can take damage independent of their overguard.

That presented some very uncomfortable questions.

As I am focused on her, I see her staring ahead. But her expression, from what I could see at a sidelong angle, shifts to one of horror. It's only then that I realize something; The ground was shaking rhythmically. I shifted my attention over towards the same direction she was looking. And then I understood the reason for her horrified expression.

The area the conscripts were standing in was getting bombarded with countless rounds of artillery fire. The area we were supposed to be standing in. They were attacking friendly units, likely assuming I was still in the radius.

And the bombardment was still going.

I immediately transferred out of the Necramech, resummoning my warframe on my location in a mere split-second. I rushed forward as fast as I could.

"NO!" Hina screamed in protest behind me, despite her injuries. "What are you doing!? SENSEI!"

I didn't care about the possibility of getting injured. I ran forward like my life depended on it.

At the same time the bombardment finally stopped, I ran straight into the fresh smoke, unsheathing my blades and spinning around in a circle to disperse it with kinetic momentum. Once that was done, I immediately returned them to their shathes... and I felt my heart drop as I looked down at the ground.

Every conscript here was badly damaged. Almost all of them had severe injuries their haloes should normally be protecting them from. Singed clothes and damaged masks were the least of their issues: I saw deep cuts, broken arms and legs, and blood flowing from their open wounds. They were absolutely mangled.

≪ S-Sensei... ≫ I heard Arona speak with utter horror. ≪ T-Their... their life signs are critical! ≫

"I can see that!" I said aloud, not giving a fuck about if anyone overheard me.

These Kaiser conscripts... Despite all of the damage these poor kids were subjected to, most of them were rendered unconscious through damage. I only saw a few of their haloes not flickering. The ones that weren't knocked out were likely suffering through unimaginable pain; the fact that I could hear a few of them groaning in pain reinforced this.

I got down to one knee next to them. I grasped fistfulls of the bloodied sand.

This... this is so wrong. They didn't deserve this abuse at all! Kaiser sent these kids after us, knowing they would be caught in the artillery's blast radius—and they kept the bombardment going anyways!

THEY SENT THEM AS CANON FODDER!

I then felt one of the kids grab at my warframe's leg. I looked down at a diagonal angle, and saw the most damaged kid of all; she had both of her legs broken, and was bleeding profusely. The sight gave me a terrible sense of vertigo.

"Sen... sei..." the conscript who's name I didn't know grabbed at my leg with a weak grip, speaking through choked breaths. "...A... Are you... here... to finish us off?"

"N-No!" I stammered out, grabbing the girl's hand and holding on tight. "I'm here to get you help! Save your strength, kid—focus on staying awake!"

The girl then coughed up blood on my knee. Mortified, I looked at her information readout to see her condition.

Almost all of her overguard and health was gone, only slivers of each remaining. This girl was close to dying.

"J-Just stay with me, kid!" I spoke fearfully, holding onto her hand tighter.. "You're gonna get help soon!"

Of all the horrors I've seen in my home, seeing a child soldier so injured was something that truly made me panic.

"Sensei!"

I looked to my side after hearing Hoshino's voice, seeing her and Shiroko being accompanied by Amir and Arthur. All four of them look battle-worn themselves, but mostly fine. And behind them were the RABBITs, who were supporting Hina. I should mention that there was still fighting going on all around us – The Prefects seemed to have become utterly enraged, as they were fighting a lot more aggressively and allowing themselves to endure more damage. They advanced past us, leading a fervent counteroffensive against Kaiser.

"We came here when we saw the Kaiser troops getting an absolute wholloping..." Arthur said, but trailed off as he looked down at the wounded kids, and I could see the rage in his eyes. "No... Sol...!"

"What happened here?" Amir asked, absolutely zero trace of his jovial mood. It was replaced by complete seriousness.

"Those FUCKERS sent these kids after me and Hina," I began, pausing to place my other hand underneath the severely wounded conscript to support her. "...A-And they lead them right into a friendly artillery barrage! They didn't even STOP!"

"But their haloes..." Shiroko's eyes widened in horror, laying eyes upon the heavily damaged conscripts. "S-Shouldn't they have prevented the damage...?!"

"...The Kaiser artillery inflicted enough damage to overwhelm their haloes." Hoshino said coldly, no remnant of that old-man act of hers left. She looked at the severely damaged students, and then off in the distance. "They couldn't endure continuous damage."

I could see her fists clenched extremely hard. So hard, in fact, that she drew some blood in her left hand.

"Kaiser..." She spoke with venom that sent shivers down even my spine. "...I'll NEVER forgive those BASTARDS FOR THIS!"

"T-They're so badly wounded..." Shiroko, voice shaking, outstretched her hand and pointed towards the wounded girl. "...W-Wait... her halo...!"

It's then that I looked at the halo of the girl I was holding.

It was cracked like damaged glass and blurry. And the cracks were slowly growing outwards, while the halo also became more and more darker. Parts of it were starting to flake off, which struck a deep sense of dread inside my heart.

"...S-Sen... sei..." The girl weakly uttered, her voice so terribly weak. With her other hand, she slowly wrapped her other arm around my leg, holding on with a slightly stronger grip with both arms. I watched tears well up in her eyes, slowly overflowing down her cheek. "I... I'm... s-scared..."

Her halo was now starting to slowly dissolve into dust, and it wasn't stopping. She was about to die.

I reached behind myself, expecting a restoration pad to manifest. But none came. In a panic, I immediately muted my voice.

"ORDIS, I NEED A FUCKING RESTORATION PAD NOW!"

≪ I am unable, Drifter! ≫ Ordis replied frantically. ≪ You expanded your last one a few days ago! ≫

"I used up my last one...?!"

...Fuck...

This brutal reality check hits me like a hundred-thousand volts all at once. In all of my tunnel vision, all of my single-minded focus on helping Abydos, and then my time spent on today's day trip... I haven't once touched the Crafting Chamber since I used it a few days ago. I made the worst mistake of a Tenno: Forgetting to craft new spares of my essentials.

That meant there was one option left.

I still had the power to save this girl, but it was a complete shot in the dark. It involved something I had little mastery over.

...

Fuck the consequences, let them be damned! I'm NOT letting a kid die today!

I transferred out of my warframe, exposing my real self to the world. Completely ignoring the surprise from those around me, I immediately grabbed that girl's hand from my warframe with my own, and took the deepest breath that my lungs could physically hold. All around me, ethereal void wisps of Void energy coalesced around the girl and I, as I desperately channeled the Ways of Vazarin. I closed my eyes, directing the full extent of my Void energy into conjuring forth waves of restorative energy.

My counterpart could do this effortlessly, but I couldn't match his mastery. I was severely straining myself trying to meet his level; my insides were burning up rapidly from the sheer scale of Void energy being used.

I've never channeled any of the Ways as much as I have in this moment. Through gritted teeth, I took repetitive sharp breaths as I steeled my resolve.

It hurt. It hurt badly. But I would not let myself falter under the pain.

Enduring the ongoing and all-enveloping internal pain, I opened my eyes, watching as the energy flowed into her. Her halo started to reform its shape, reconstituting the parts of its form it had lost as some of the cracks sealed themselves back up. It slowly lightened, re-taking on its luminosity that it had lost. Her body wasn't recovering in the same way, but the bleeding had completely stopped.

"I... don't feel as... cold... anymore?" The girl's grip on my hand grew a little stronger. With her free hand, she put it towards her still-wounded chest. "But it still... hurts so... much..."

"How... did..." Hoshino's jaw hung open, her rage replaced with bafflement. This prompted me to look up and see everyone else's reactions; Hoshino looked at the girl's halo, then to me.

"...Her halo, it's... healed?" Shiroko looked to the girl herself, and then me. "Sensei... How did...?!"

"Holy shit..." Arthur cursed aloud in utter disbelief. Amir said nothing, but he had a smile that was growing wider by the passing seconds.

"He... he can heal people? My god..." Miyako muttered aloud. The three RABBITs stared on in just as much awe as the rest.

"He just... saved a student from death." Saki said, tears welling up in her eyes as she covered her mouth with both hands. "I... I don't know what to say."

Hina said nothing. However, she was giving me the warmest smile I've seen from her so far.

Satisfied with what I had done, I gently let go of the girl's hand. But my work wasn't done; I then moved onto the next girl, who was less injured but unconscious. The process wasn't as painful, but the burning inside wasn't getting any better. After the second girl was healed, I moved onto the third, then the fourth, and finally the fifth. Each of their haloes were mended, and the bleeding halted... but I couldn't do anything about their injuries themselves because of how taxing it was.

I felt like I was on fire. This was the best I could do. I've prevented them from dying, but they needed immediate medical attention.

I knelt down in front of the first girl, placing my arms under her back and legs. I proceeded to pick her up as gently as I could, feeling the faint signs of life she still had. I looked towards Arthur, and slowly held her out.

"Take her to the school." I say calmly through the pain. But then, I raise my voice to address everyone present. "All of you, grab a wounded student and take all of them back... I've done all I can. Hina counts as wounded."

"...What?" Hina's smile is replaced by confusion. "I may be wounded, but I am required on the—"

"That is an order." I say with absolute authority. "I will not accept your backtalk, Sorasaki Hina. You aren't fit for battle."

All of the students flinch at the harshness of my tone, including Hoshino and Hina herself. I stare right into Hina's eyes with the full weight of my anger. She recoiled under the intensity under my no-nonsense gaze.

"...V-Very well." Hina meekly replied. "I will accept your edict."

Arthur took the wounded conscript from me. The other students who were just standing there soon joined in, following his example by grabbing wounded students.

"...Nn." Shiroko knelt down, grabbing another wounded student.

"RABBIT Squad, we are evacuating the wounded." Miyako stated some orders to her squadmates. "We can't let them suffer any longer."

"Right." Saki nodded seriously.

"Y-Yes." Miyu replied meekly.

The three RABBITs walked over and also picked up a wounded student each. That left only one.

"I've got this one." Amir kneeled down and secured the last remaining wounded student. He then walked right up to my side, turning his head sideways, and looked at me with an intensity I've never seen before. "Give 'em hell for us. Make them pay for this."

"...Right."

He held out his fist, and I gave him a light fistbump as a goodbye. The Hex members were the last to leave.

...

Only me and Hoshino were left. I was about to say something, but she spoke first.

"...Sensei." Hoshino looked at me in the face seriously. "I have a personal request."

"What?"

"I know what you're going to do." Hoshino states, and I can hear the venom in her tone. Thankfully, it doesn't sound directed at me. "Please let me fight alongside you."

I looked down at the ground, towards the blood-caked sand. That was a loaded request. Truth be told, I wanted to do this myself... Alone. The terrible wildfire rage I felt in my soul like magma was painful, combined with the pain of overusing the Vazarin way.

I needed to vent it out immediately. The type of venting I would do wouldn't be kid-friendly at all.

"...On one condition." I said as I re-entered my warframe.

"What?" Hoshino responded dryly.

"I have been pushed to my limits, Hoshino." I speak from the heart. "I am so, very, angry. I cannot guarantee what is about to happen will be merciful... in fact, It might be cruel."

Hoshino said nothing, her hair flowing with the wind. But she took a deep breath, exhaling the tension that wound her up. I continued.

"...I'm sorry in advance. I can't keep your promise. Can you accept that you're gonna see me commit horrible things to the person who did this?"

Hoshino looked to me, to the bloodied sand, and then back to me. I could see the gears of thought turning in her head through those heterochromic eyes.

"...I accept." Hoshino said with full determination etched across her every feature. "Truth be told... I don't think I can hold myself back either."

"Good." I said, holding out a hand. "Seeing those kids almost die triggered something inside of me. I'm probably going to lose my self-control a little. Whatever happens... I'm sorry."

She sharply exhaled, but it was accompanied by a slight smile; she took my hand and shaked it.

"...I trust you, Sensei." She said, an unexpectedly trusting look in her eyes. "But all I ask is this; go easy on any students we face."

"Of course." I say with an unhesitant nod. "I can't say the same for the robots."

Hoshino reached at her side, unfurling her shield. And with her other hand, she grabbed her shotgun. "Then let's begin."

I craned my neck back and forth, clenching both of my fists. The blades in my chest and back exited their embedded slots themselves, and began to orbit me. They twirled around in a counter-clockwise flat circle, as I felt that terrible rage start burning more intensely inside me. And then, when I felt like I was about to be consumed by it, I stomped my right foot forward.

"GAAAAAGH!"

...And let all the rage flow out of me and fill my daggers through a guttural scream. I flooded them with all the hatred and pain I was feeling in that moment, which made them glow red and point upwards. They flew straight up into the sky, where a great thunderstorm stormcloud of red formed out of nothing and encompassed the sky of the battlefield. The desert sun shone red through the clouds, illuminating the surroundings in an eerily warm glow. Red electricity flashed between the clouds, some landing on the ground.

And then, the rain of daggers came. A great quantity of bladed weapons started falling from the sky, honing in on the Kaiser PMC forces while ignoring and avoiding the Prefect Team forces.

...

I'M
GOING
TO
MUTILATE
WHOEVER
DID
THIS!

---

-Postscript-

That's right: A cliffhanger.

This is only part 1; part 2 will not be immediately coming out because it isn't written yet.

As I said at the top, I don't have much to say this time. If not for the above notice, I probably would've skipped the postscript. You'll have to wait the usual amount of time for the next chapter, reader.

If I missed editing mistakes, bear with me. I've once again earned my rest for a while.

Until next time.

-llAnzull (formerly llJaysimll)