Fie wasn't a religious person. She had nothing against those who were, but after the childhood she'd lived it was impossible to believe that there was a higher being up there looking out for everyone. The world was too cruel a place for something like that.
But piloting the Kestrel Beta? Maybe there was something to the church because it felt like she'd died and gone to Aidios herself.
Tita had promised her she'd like the speedy soldat, but that had been the understatement of the century. The Kestrel was pure speed. Quick to react and quicker to move. Every problem she had with the standard Drakkhen had been corrected by whoever was responsible for making such a perfect machine.
Now that she thought about it, wasn't the original creator Schmidt? Maybe Tita was right in that that crusty old bastard wasn't that bad a guy after all...
The academy field wasn't big enough for her to go all out in the school's newest machine, but that didn't stop her from trying to boost the engine to the maximum as she raced around the area as quickly as possible. She at least put forth a token effort in evading the other students practicing in soldats, but if any of them got in her way it was on their heads, not hers.
It was beyond what the students were supposed to be doing, but if both Rean and Randy were willing to allow her to flex her piloting muscles then she was more than happy to oblige. Too bad the super fast flying Aion had already defeated back in Crossbell, 'cause she would've loved the chance to take it on in this machine.
Maybe she should practice with her soldat gunblades next? Or maybe she should try flying around in the Kestrel. That'd be a lot of fun too-
"Alright, Fie. I think you've had enough time. You need to let the others have a try."
She was smart enough to end Rean's transmission in time so he couldn't see her petulant pout. Why did the others need to try the Kestrel? This was her machine, from now until the end of time.
Grudgingly she followed the orders of her superior, ending her time with the machine that had stolen her heart. She scoffed as Wayne followed after her – there was no way a muscle-head like that was gonna do anything in the nimble Kestrel Beta.
"Seems like you had fun." Juna's comment was almost enough to break Fie from her condescending observation – Did Wayne really expect to get good speed with the Kestrel's legs placed so close together? Amateur.
"I am not surprised that you would be the most proficient member of our class in the Kestrel."
Altina's follow up finally gave Fie the motivation needed to tear her gaze away from the pathetic spectacle in front of her, "Yeah, well. It's fast. I'm fast. Pretty obvious, don't you think?"
Musse let out a giggle, "It's a shame. I really enjoyed my time in the Kestrel as well. It's a perfect machine for mobile sniping. Still, it's apparent to me that you're the best choice to pilot it in our class. Too bad the Branch Campus only has the one Kestrel... for now, at least."
Something about the way Musse said that last bit hinted at something the rest of them were oblivious to, but right now Fie was still riding her speed high and couldn't be bothered to care.
"The Kestrel is powerful, but I much prefer the balance of the new Spiegel." Kurt interjected, being as lame and boring as ever.
"Balance sucks. Speed is all that matters. Therefore the Kestrel is way better!"
"How can you make that judgment when you haven't even ridden the Spiegel yet?" The swordsman protested, "Our instructions were clear – all students must experience both models before the end of the lesson."
Fie rolled her eyes, there was an easy solution to that, "Hey, Randy!" She called out as she approached one of the supervising teachers, "It's cool if I skip piloting the other soldat, right?"
"Eh, why not?" The older man responded easily enough, with the two former jaegers earning a dirty look from Rean for their efforts, "What? We both know she's far better suited for the Kestrel. Wouldn't have earned the name Sylphid otherwise."
Rean tried to keep the stern look, but it was hard as the corners of his lips curled upwards, "Fine. Not a fan of you skipping half the assignment because you feel like it, but there's no denying your performance in the Kestrel was exceptionally good for a first timer. Just know that you're volunteering yourself for the first bout once we begin sparring sessions later."
The silver-haired student gave an easy shrug at that demand. She was more than fine with that, especially as it meant she'd be back in her beloved mech sooner rather than later. She almost felt bad for whatever student or teacher would find themselves as her opponent later. She'd hold nothing back against them.
Three hours later and Fie found herself regretting that earlier confidence.
The reason for those regrets? Her opponent – A Golden Spiegel piloted by none other than the Golden Rakshasa herself.
She still wasn't quite sure where it had all gone wrong. After everyone had gotten their chance at piloting both new machines Rean and Randy had told them all that they'd be fighting as groups against the two of them. Both instructors were skilled, of course, but as Fie got into her Kestrel alongside Ash, Juna, and Kurt she couldn't help but think they had the match in the bag. Rean wasn't in his Divine Knight, both teachers were likely to hold back a bit, her classmates were all quite strong in their own machines, and even with Ash as a new addition she was confident in their teamwork. It should've been an easy win.
So naturally that was when their psychopath of a principal appeared in her intimidating golden machine. Like an unstoppable typhoon she swept onto the field, practically shoved the two teachers out of her way, and challenged Class VII to a match against herself. Even from inside her machine they could all feel the legendary warrior's barely contained blood lust as she drew her blade and prepared to take all of them on.
Fie tried to psych herself up. Their victory condition was to land a single clean hit on Aurelia's machine. With the four of them working together that shouldn't be too hard... right?
The jaeger veteran hesitated even as Rean gave the signal to begin the match – She and her classmates hadn't gotten the chance to formulate any sort of strategy and she wanted to see how the others responded before making any moves herself-
"Raaaaagh!" ...Only to watch in shocked disbelief as unlike them Aurelia Le Guin didn't hesitate for even a moment as she charged across the battlefield like a raging monster, scattering Fie and the other hapless students before her.
Three of them were successful in placing distance between them and the golden Spiegel opposing them. Unfortunately for Juna she was the one their principal was focused on and her attempts at fleeing were futile as the deadly machine continued to close the gap. Fie launched some hasty bullets and Kurt made a desperate counter charge, but Aurelia ignored them as she swung her mighty blade, easily crushing through Juna's hasty defenses and sending the Crossbellian's Spiegel to the ground in a heap.
The silver-haired girl winced – Even if this was a simple sparring match a hit like that probably hurt like hell. Her friend was definitely gonna be nursing some bruises after that.
And more importantly, they were now down a member. And Kurt's attempt at rescuing Juna left him squarely in Aurelia's sights.
Not wanting to lose a second classmate before they even had a chance to fight back, Fie pushed her Kestrel to the limit as she attempted to flank their opponent. Opposite her Ash seemed to have the same idea, but the punk must've realized his slow Hector wouldn't make it in time as he reared back to launch his switchaxe towards the Golden Rakshasa.
Good. The three of them formed a triangle and Aurelia was trapped in the middle of it. There was little chance she could avoid their simultaneous attacks-
Once again she was reminded that the woman she was facing was someone at least on the level of the Boss as she pulled a seemingly impossible feat by halting her soldat's charge in an instant leaving her just out of range of Kurt's blades. While doing that she shifted her greatsword into a single hand before using the now freed one to reach up and snag Ash's weapon out of the air. Her sword-arm wasn't idle either as even without it's opposite arm it still managed to swing her massive weapon towards Fie like it weighed nothing.
It was only thanks to the Kestrel's high agility that she was able to redirect her machine out of the way in time, once again firing her gunswords hastily as she retreated away. Aurelia blocked the feeble attack, but in doing so she was forced to release Ash's weapon long enough for the blonde to retract it back to his soldat.
But all things came with a cost, and her forced retreat had caused them to fail their initial goal of backing Kurt up. The swordsman of Class VII took up a defensive stance, but against the full might of their opponent it was an impossible task.
At the very least his defeat was a lot less painful looking than Juna's had been.
With Kurt gone that just left her and Ash. Fie knew they only had a single shot at this as there was absolutely no chance either of them could score a hit on Aurelia on their own. Ash was already beginning a reckless charge towards their now stationary opponent, and she readied herself to do the same.
Even as she began her final lunge Fie could only see two possible outcomes. The more likely of the two was that either she or Ash would arrive just a little ahead of the other which would allow Aurelia to briefly ward off the lead attacker giving her enough time to absolutely demolish the trail attacker before the other could recover.
The other possibility was that their coordination was good enough for them to strike at the exact same moment. This was the better outcome, but with only the two of them a savvy veteran like the Golden Rakshasa could simply retreat away from them. Getting her to fall back would feel like a good accomplishment, except it'd mean they'd have to try again, just without an advantage in position aiding them on the next try.
And she was sure at how that would end.
Two options, both almost certainly ending in their defeat. But what if there was a third option? If the textbook approaches were useless then perhaps it was time to go with something a little more insane.
Fie sped her Kestrel to the absolute limit. This meant she'd definitely reach their opponent just before Ash. Hopefully the guy would be able to do his part, 'cause what she was about to do was going to suck in a major way.
As expected, Aurelia unleashed a wide slash with her sword. It'd cut through Fie's approach, forcing her to abort her attack, before leaving the golden machine primed and ready to take Ash head on.
Or at least that was what it was supposed to do.
Instead the suicidal jaeger threw herself into the attack before crossing her gunswords and praying to Aidios for the best. If they were on foot the overwhelming strength of Aurelia Le Guin would've blown through her defenses instantly before turning the foolish girl into a smear on the ground for her audacity in trying to block.
In soldats, however, the outcome was a little different. The Golden Rakshasa and her similarly colored Spiegel definitely held a major strength advantage, but her little Kestrel – enhanced with the forward momentum she used in her charge – gave the girl a fighting chance.
For all of one second.
Her poor Kestrel crumpled under the weight of Aurelia's attack, with the sickening sound of metal straining heralding her fall. It was a good thing her opponent had the weapon discipline to halt her attack the moment Fie failed, as she could've easily cut her Kestrel in twain, even in a friendly mock battle.
Fie groaned in exhaustion and pain from her place on the ground, but that pain was somewhat tempered by joy at hearing Randy announce the end of the match in their favor. She'd have been so unbelievably mad had Ash not managed to take advantage of her sacrifice.
With the battle over she was free to rise back to her feet. Her beloved Kestrel fought against her every step of the way and Fie knew she'd made a lot of extra work for Tita, Mint, and the others who worked on soldat maintenance. Still, they'd just faced off against the Golden Rakshasa and squeaked out a victory for their troubles. Their machines being busted up had to have been expected.
"She's a damn monster!" For once Fie found herself nodding in agreement to Ash's words.
Something which held especially true as she gazed upon their golden opponent. Whatever hit Ash landed on Aurelia must not have been that great as her soldat still looked to be almost completely pristine.
"Not a bad warm-up." She exclaimed casually over her speaker, making Fie and the rest of Class VII feel pretty underwhelmed with their great victory, "Now for the next ones."
Oh well, even if they had just gotten bodied badly by their psychopath of a principal at least it was over. Now they could sit back and watch as the poor sods in Class VIII got put through the same ringer. And she was quite sure they wouldn't do nearly as good as they had.
"On second thought, I need to go all out or I'll end up getting too fired up. Orlando, Schwarzer. You'll be my opponents. You two will be able to give me a proper challenge. Though Schwarzer should probably use his own machine."
Screw watching her classmates get tossed around. A fight between Aurelia and their two combat instructors, with Rean inside Valimar?
This was going to be a fight worth watching.
The time it took for Rean to get into his Divine Knight was plenty for Fie and the rest of her classmates to get away from their soldats so they could watch the battle with Musse and Altina. It wasn't long before the three combatants took the field – Rean inside Valimar, Aurelia in her golden Spiegel, and Randy in his Hector.
It was something they were already painfully aware of, but as the battle began they were quickly reminded at just how outclassed the students were when compared to their teachers and principal.
What really bugged Fie was the realization that despite being outnumbered four to one Aurelia had still held back against them. Not so much with her overwhelming speed and strength, but in her aggressiveness. Against them after blitzing down Juna she had mostly contented herself to sit back and counter their assaults with her own, but against a pair of more dangerous opponents she was quick to take the offensive when possible, giving the two teachers as little room to maneuver as possible.
It was Randy who often found himself the target of those attacks. Despite making Ash look like a total beginner inside his Hector it was obvious to all the experienced fighters in the audience that he was the weakest link on the field. Still, to his credit the Red Reaper clearly understood his limitations, instead opting to fight like Fie had in her final assault by facing the Golden Rakshasa head on to create openings for his partner. He always came out the poorer after those exchanges, but both he and his Hector were tough as nails and remained upright despite taking a hellish beating.
And those efforts proved worthwhile as Rean piloted Valimar like he had against those two Aions. Any opening Randy created Rean did his best to exploit. Even though Aurelia managed to evade or parry most of his strikes, the few that Rean landed with his Zemurian Ore blade left nasty marks across the golden soldat that each surpassed anything the combined efforts of Class VII had accomplished.
Unsurprisingly, despite a valiant effort, it was Randy's Hector that was the first to fall. It reminded Fie of the jaegers who relied on war cry to keep going in a tough battle after their bodies ran out of energy – eventually the machine just stopped responding to the commands of the older instructor and collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
For a brief frightful moment she was afraid that with Randy gone that Rean would be in trouble, but much to her relief those fears proved unfounded. Aurelia's Spiegel was in almost as bad a shape as Randy had been, while Valimar was still nearly pristine.
And yet the conclusion of the fight still took another five minutes or so. Despite being barely functional the badly battered golden machine gave as good as it took, and Valimar ended up with a few nasty looking whacks from her sword before the principal finally went down for good.
"Hot damn!" Ash's words finally broke the silence that had taken hold of the student body as they watched the fight.
"That was a spectacular fight." Kurt agreed, "Clearly we still have a long ways to go before we can reach that level."
Unlike the others, Juna seemed less awed and more miffed, "...I can't believe I went down in one hit. This sucks!"
Musse let out her signature giggle, but it was Altina who caught Fie's interest. The sheer relief on the usually stoic girl's face was too obvious to be missed.
In fact that happy expression was tempting Fie down a dark and dangerous path. The former jaeger nervously reached out a hand.
Should she risk it? It was a dangerous decision and if it backfired she'd be in a lot of trouble with her friend...
But she was Sylphid, dammit! She was a woman of action! Time to be bold! Rean wouldn't hesitate!
Decision made she let out a deep breath before striking.
Pat. Pat. Pat.
Altina stiffened under her ministrations and for a dark and dangerous moment Fie thought she was about to be rebuffed, but after that moment of surprise Altina relaxed under her hand, silently giving the taller girl permission to keep going.
Yes! Head pat privileges acquired!
Sure it was better to be on the receiving end of things, but being the one doing the patting was a nice change of pace. And given how short Altina was she couldn't expect her classmate to be doing the one patting, now could she?
"Ugh. You guys are so weird."
"You only say that 'cause I did it first and you're jealous." Came Fie's immediate retort to Juna's complaint. The pink-haired girl looked ready to protest, but hesitated momentarily as she laid eyes upon the blissed out Altina before giving a longing sigh and a pout.
Hah. Called it.
"Well I for one am certainly jealous." Musse admitted freely, "Just what do I need to do to get Instructor Rean to lavish me with the same affection you two get?"
The former jaeger responded with a lazy shrug. She couldn't answer Musse because there was no answer to give. It just wasn't ever happening.
Reluctantly Fie pulled her hand away, privately enjoying the annoyed sound Altina made, "I'm gonna go see if Tita needs any help with the soldats. You guys should come too."
"The hell!? Why should we?!"
"We were the ones responsible for getting them damaged..." Kurt mused aloud, "Still, I'm not sure I'd hold us responsible given who our opponent was."
"Doesn't matter. We're helping. And the sooner we get the soldats up and running the sooner we get to see Class VIII get their teeth kicked in way worse than we did."
The others still looked conflicted, but the idea of seeing his old class get mauled by the force of nature known as Aurelia Le Guin was enough for Ash to agree, which eventually led to the others capitulating.
Good. Just because she was the one volunteering to help Tita didn't mean she actually wanted to do all the work herself.
After the excitement of piloting the Kestrel around for a while Fie was ready to relax for the rest of the afternoon. Help her friend for a few minutes, watch the other students get destroyed, and sit through the briefing that'll totally surprise them with the destination for their next Field Exercise.
All in all, not the worst day ever.
Rean let out a tired sigh as he patrolled the halls of the Derfflinger. His hope that with this being their third such excursion away from the academy it would make the process easier had proved a naive one. Despite the experience everyone now possessed with these exercises the addition of new soldats and new materials meant there was still plenty of work to go around, and plenty of new stress for him and the other instructors to ensure everything went as expected.
With the train now in motion he thought he'd be able to relax a bit and check in on his students. For a while that goal seemed to be going well, as even Class VII's newcomers proved easy to find. He was confident in Musse and Ash's ability to adapt and excel at their special operations missions, especially as to his eyes they seemed to bond rather well with the rest of their new classmates.
Instead the biggest problem he found himself facing was Fie. He had just done a pair of trips around the train and yet he had failed to spot any hint of the girl's presence. Nobody in Class VII or any of the other students he asked seemed to have any idea of where she could be.
His greatest fear was that somehow she'd missed the train, but that seemed rather unlikely to him. According to Tita his stealthiest student had been sighted on panzer soldat detail as they loaded the hulking machines onto the train. So unless she loaded the mechs before wandering off the train for some ungodly reason she had to be here.
And if she did skip out on this trip there would be hell to pay. He wouldn't even need to do anything himself – her being trapped at the academy with just Aurelia Le Guin for company would be a worse punishment than anything he could think of.
The more likely scenario was that the girl was hiding somewhere. Probably taking a nap somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, was his guess. Thanks to her and the rest of Class VII Rean was confident he'd have grey hairs by the time they graduated. And he wasn't referring to Spirit Unification's transformation, either.
Still, mischievous slacker Fie was much more preferable to the lethargic uncaring Fie of April.
Since none of the others seemed to know where she was he decided to trust in his oldest and most reliable companion. She could run, or she could hide, it mattered not. Even a jaeger with the moniker of Sylphid couldn't evade Valimar's sensors.
"Good evening, Rean."
He couldn't help but smile up at his Divine Knight. Valimar really was more like a person than a machine at this point, "Hey Valimar. How's the trip?"
"I am well. Although it was unnecessary, Meister Mint was kind enough to install extra padding in this train car to make my stay a more comfortable one."
Rean chuckled. He'd need to think Mint for that one later. The girl could be clumsy at the best of times, but she had a big heart and could be surprisingly insightful when she wanted to, "That's great to hear."
"Is there something I can do for you?" The Divine Knight asked knowingly.
The swordsman nodded his head, knowing his machine could see the minute movements, "I'm looking for Fie, actually. I was told she helped load the soldats here earlier. Have you seen her anywhere?"
"Hmm..." Valimar paused for a moment, "Actually, I haven't seen her at all since the soldats were loaded. But I believe therein lies the answer."
His confusion must have been noticeable as Valimar let out a short laugh, "According to my memory banks when all of the soldats were brought into the train no pilot ever emerged from the Kestrel."
No one emerged. That would mean...
Rean rolled his eyes. Of course. It all made sense. It didn't take a genius to notice just how enamored the girl was with the Branch Campus' newest soldat model. And to be fair it was a well deserved affection as she was by far and away the best pilot during the test runs of that new machine. In fact he wouldn't be surprised if she was already a better Kestrel pilot than he was.
Fie adored the Kestrel. Fie loved taking naps in out of the way spots.
Fie was asleep inside the Kestrel.
It was such a stupid conclusion to make, but deep down Rean knew it to be true. Doing his best to stave off the approaching headache the Eight Leaves practitioner approached the silent machine before smacking the cockpit loudly and repeatedly with his fist, "Come on out, Fie! I know you're in there!"
No response. He tried again, but was again greeted with silence. Either she was trying to remain silent to outlast him or she wasn't actually there.
"My sensors have detected a spike in mental activity from within the soldat consistent with that of a sub-contractor waking up."
Heh. What would he do without Valimar in his life?
"Did you hear that, Fie?! We know you're there! You'd better come out before I force you out!"
Again he was met with silence, but just as he was about to make good on his threat the Kestrel's cockpit opened, revealing a very unamused Fie, "Why are you pestering me?"
He couldn't resist the temptation to roll his eyes, "Because you're trying to sleep in a panzer soldat?"
"Don't see the problem with that."
"Beyond the obvious issues of you sleeping in a weapon of war there's also the fact nobody knew where you were. What if we needed to find you?"
"Well now you know where I am. So can I go back to bed now?"
"Yes, you can." He reached out a hand stopping Fie from closing the cockpit before she could take his words at face value, "...But this isn't your bed, is it?"
She scowled up at him, "Fine, but my legs are stiff from sitting here awkwardly. Don't think I can make the trip. Guess you're gonna need to carry me back if you want me to go."
It was a bluff. He knew it and he was sure she knew he knew it too. But what she wasn't expecting was for him to call her upon it as he reached down and around her as he prepared to pull her from the soldat.
"H-Hey! W-Wait a sec! You can't go carrying around one of your students like that! People will get the wrong idea!"
"I think I'll be alright given your reputation for sleeping in weird places. The truth can be very persuasive, don't you know?"
"Bah. You suck." Rean didn't mind her spiteful words because they were accompanied by Fie pushing herself out of the machine and onto her own two feet – with absolutely no difficulty, he noted dryly.
He watched as the irreverent student made her way towards the exit and presumably to her bedroom. "Even though you can't sleep in the Kestrel I have a funny feeling you'll be getting to pilot it in the days to come. I'll be counting on both you and it if the situation turns bad."
His words caused her to stop briefly in front of the door, "...I won't let you down."
And then she was gone.
Rean couldn't help but smile at her parting words before turning to his partner, "And I'll be counting on you as well."
"Of course. As exceptional as your students have become it'd set a bad example if we were to give anything but our full effort. We can't let them surpass us just yet."
He let out a chuckle at Valimar's jest. He would definitely give the next few days everything he had.
Rean could only hope that that would be enough against what was to come.