In direct contrast to what I said last chapter, I was able to get into a good flow for this one, and I ended up writing most of this chapter in one sitting. I have definitely not returned to regular levels of motivation, though.
I've decided to write the events planned across 4 chapters, with this being the second. You might be able to tell why I was able to write this one so fast.
"...You psychopath. They're all dead. Gone in the blink of an eye..."
"Now do you see? This is what th—"
"YOU KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE! EVERY PERSON IN A 3 KILOMETER RADIUS AND COUNTING IS DEAD OR DOOMED! █████████ AND ████████████ ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"
"...It was a nece—"
"IT WAS SENSELESS GENOCIDE! You used ████████████ because you wanted to kill ME?! YOU KILLED EVERYONE BUT ME!"
"And clearly I failed! Your goddamned powers saved you from dying like the rat you are!"
"...Like talking to a damned wall. Just shut the fuck up now... Everything you say only solidifies my decision."
"I don't think I will. They're just—"
—SLASH—
—THUMP—
—SQUELCH—
"..."
"...I told you to stop talking. Should've never let you be... I knew the stench of a golden tyrant lingered on you."
"..."
"...There's no way I can undo this—... This... mess. Not even ██████ is enough. What am I supposed to do now?"
"..."
"...That's two more groups of kids I failed to save...! GOD DAMNIT!"
...
...Another nightmare just happened. Just like the one from a week ago. But this time... it was a lot more visceral.
I found myself face-to-face with a student, wearing a formal suit of some sorts. The conversation was once again occasionally interrupted by static noise. I couldn't see her face, because it was obscured by something bright in the distance... something horrifying.
The entire city block was on fire, blanketed in a thick foggy haze of white smoke, and orange embers were floating everywhere.
The bright lighting from the angry, smokey fires in the distance was obscuring her face from the contrast, and the person in the dream who I was seeing things through had partially covered their vision with their hand. What I could see shook me to my core, though:
A portion of Kivotos was just... reduced to slag and rubble. Numerous people were walking out of the smoke, collapsing on the ground dead or unconscious, all on fire and horrifically burned. Civilians, robots...
...Students.
The person in the dream was confronting this student, and was absolutely livid. Rightfully so. They couldn't control their emotions and shouted at the top of their lungs, which the student responded to with an ever increasing smile.
That is, until the person had enough of her response and executed her while in the middle of speaking.
He then kicked her body as hard as he could into a building... to predictable results. This all happened before I could get a good look at her corpse. When that was done, he looked at the scene before him with terrible heartbreak, collapsing to his knees... and the dam in his soul broke, unable to contain all the raw emotions from the devastation.
...
I feel deeply unsettled. It was just as vivid as the last one. No. It was more vivid.
In my personal quarters, I sit at my desk, one of the SRT guidebooks the FOXes brought back in my hands. It was the same book covering how to make camp in urban areas that I skimmed through yesterday. I found it an interesting read, so I took it from the bag after I had dinner yesterday, and brought it back with me to read before I went to sleep.
Now, I'm finishing the rest of it to distract myself from my nightmare after doing my morning preparations. The information in the book was surprisingly useful... But it was taking longer than usual to stick, because my mind was too distracted by what I saw.
Someone saw fit to kill me no matter the cost in the nightmare. And they didn't care about mass civilian casualties.
I need to be careful. I don't think I killed Kaiser as hard as I thought.
...
On a more positive note, the start of today also marked a new first. It was raining outside, and the sound of the water hitting the window was hypnotizing. The clouds were a dull grey, casting uniform light on everything.
When it rained in Höllvania, it was not pleasant at all. It made all the Efervon puddles run into a slick, gooey mess that felt disgusting to walk through. It was also actively annoying to fight in, reducing visibility and causing a bunch of electrical hazards everywhere, entirely because of all the damage the Techrot did to the infrastructure.
Kivotos in the rain is the complete opposite. When I look out of my window, I can easily spot signs of life down below. City lights reflecting off the water, people still going about their day (albeit more annoyed), and no soldamned Efervon going everywhere.
For once, I'm not feeling immediately repulsed by the sight of rain. I'm feeling indifferent this time.
I finish the last few pages of the book, and take out the bookmark to return to the drawer later. I then get up from the desk, taking the book with me as I exit my personal quarters. The sound of rain becomes more distant and muffled, the only companion to my thoughts.
Arona has an unfortunate habit of snoring way too loud, so I've been leaving the Shittim Chest in the office. I do not know why, but I cannot adjust the volume on the Chest, so that was my next best option. She was initially very unhappy with this, but when I told her that her snoring was making me lose sleep, she never voiced her protest again. The consequence is that she always starts off the morning with low energy for some reason.
I take the stairs down a single floor instead of the elevator, and then walk into the office. The sound of rain becomes prevalent again, as I walk over to my half of the desk and grab the tablet from it.
≪ ...Ah. Good morning, Sensei. ≫ Arona greets me with a lower tone of voice, sounding as low-energy as I expected.
"Morning." I reply simply. "We're starting work later than usual."
≪ Okay. ≫
And that was the end of our exchange.
I ventured into the side room with all my machines, flicking on the lights for some extra illumination. I promptly stepped onto the Arsenal platform so I could change just my warframe. I took the cape and Chest off Loki Prime, laying it on a nearby table, and switched to Nekros Prime. I then grabbed the cape and pinned it onto Nekros, before transferring into him proper.
He would be needed for the Kaiser kids' combat evaluation today. How well could they handle themselves not just in general combat, but also against some of the enemies from my home?
With Nekros Prime now bound to me, I de-manifested him for the moment, returning the Chest to my hip. I took another few steps towards the group of duffel bags, returning the SRT guidebook to the one I grabbed it from (I think). I promptly left both the room and the office itself, re-locking the door behind me.
I then took the stairs down into the habitation floor, entering the hallway proper. There wasn't anyone in here yet, so I made my way to the lounge area, taking a seat on one of the couches. I stared out of the window at the rain, finding myself reminiscing on all those shitty Höllvania ops we went on in wet weather.
...
...
"Sensei?"
I heard a voice calling to me, breaking me out of my trance. I look to my side, seeing Kazue standing there. She was wearing the same basic combat clothes, but didn't have all that bulk on.
"Ah. Morning, Kazue." I say, giving her a smile.
"Likewise." Kazue nods. "Why are you here this early?"
"Because I'm waiting on you kids."
"Us?" She tilts her head. "Everyone except Hideko is available."
"All except Hideko?" I lean forward slightly. "Where'd she go?"
"The gym floor." Kazue answers. "She is carrying out her morning exercise regiment. If you have business with her, she will return soon. She began roughly an hour ago."
"Noted." I lean forward. "Alright then. What about the others?"
"Ayumi is likely asleep," Kazue begins. "Masuyo is certainly asleep, and Ami is certainly awake. Do you have an issue that requires all of us to address?"
"Not an issue." I answer. "I want to do a combat evaluation for your squad."
"A combat evaluation?" Kazue raises an eyebrow. "That will be no issue. I'll inform my peers. Why do you wish to perform one, though?"
"Because I'm curious." I admit. "But also because It'll help me figure out how I can make use of your squad."
"I see." Kazue responds with her usual flat tone. "Should I go wake them up?"
"Is it too early for them?"
"Only Masuyo." Kazue answers. "She has a night owl sleep schedule. Ayumi normally wakes up in around 15 minutes."
"Then feel free to do it." I say, leaning back on the couch. "I decided to postpone my work for this, so I'd like to get it done earlier than later."
Kazue lightly bows. "Understood. Please excuse me."
Kazue then turns around and walks back down the hallway. Shortly after Kazue passes most of the closer rooms, one of the doors opens. Out walks Niko, who already had her gear on.
She yawns, but notices me sitting on the couch and suppresses it, then walks over.
"Good morning, Sensei~" she greets me with a warm smile. "Thank you for the rooms. It has been unfortunately long since I've slept on a bed."
"Really? Well, the nice rest must've been a nice bonus." I say with a smile of my own. "I haven't issued the pardon yet. It'll be a few hours before I can."
"I see." Niko answers, appearing to take the news well. "I wasn't intending to bring it up. Instead, I couldn't help but overhear mention of a combat evaluation?"
"Ah, you heard that. Yeah. It's for a few kids I've taken in."
"You've adopted students?" Niko's eyes widened, appearing greatly amused. "Oh my~ I didn't expect to hear something so unexpected this early in the morning."
"Uh, technically I haven't 'adopted' them." I clarify. "It's more that they didn't have anywhere else to go. They're unaffiliated students, former Kaiser PMC."
"Oh..." Niko's amusement audibly fades. "That is unfortunate. Would it be rude to ask for specifics?"
"Well, I don't mind telling you, but..." I lower my voice slightly. "It's for serious reasons."
"...I see." Niko responds with an equally hushed voice. "What are the reasons?"
"Well... They almost died from friendly fire. I saved them from death at the last moment, and they've been in the care of Gehenna's Emergency Medical Club until now."
"Students that almost died..." Niko's ears fold flatter, but then starts speaking in a normal tone again. "...Are they the five students occupying the end rooms of the hallway?"
"You met them?"
"In passing, while we were enjoying dinner courtesy of Arthur-sensei last night. The five of them entered the kitchen and requested Arthur-sensei for their share. They appeared to be in healthy spirits~"
"...Good to hear." hearing Niko say this puts a smile on my face. "Those kids had nowhere else to go, so I offered them sanctuary here. In turn, I'm gonna give them a combat evaluation soon, so I can figure out how to make use of 'em."
"Ah~ That makes sense." Niko clasps her hands together, smiling with excitement. "I am very glad that you saved those students from dying. Such a thing is... rare." She says that last part gravely, ears momentarily folding completely flat.
"I already know that." I say seriously. "Now, let's talk about something less depressing. What do you and your squad plan to do?"
"Hmm... That was quite a loaded question, Sensei~" Niko remarks, closing one eye. She then walks over to the adjacent couch and sits down, placing her bag down at her side. "I'm assuming you mean more to this question. It is too broad for me to answer."
"Right, I asked that badly." I say, fixing my posture to something slightly more formal. "Let me clarify. Now that you're helping me with SRT, what do you plan to do to help me?"
"Whatever is necessary." Niko answers without hesitation. "When we were still enrolled in SRT, we were one of the most experienced squads. Whatever you ask of us, we shall do, so long as it's for the benefit of SRT."
"Hmm..." I place my arms on my knees, leaning forward some more. "What if I asked you to help me with stuff that isn't directly related to SRT's revival, but my in person duties?"
"What do you mean?" Niko inquires, one of her ears twitching.
"The SRT mess is gonna be an ongoing thing." I begin, staring out of the window. "But I think it'd be a waste of your skills to only help me with SRT related stuff. I'm considering having you help me with more serious requests, like my Abydos one."
"Helping you with formal Schale matters..." Niko brings an index finger to her lips, seemingly giving the matter deep thought. "...I will have to consult with Yukino. I personally don't mind your idea, but I want her to have the final say."
"You trust her a lot, don't you?"
"Naturally~" Niko answers without hesitation. "She is the one who has always led us to greater heights. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have become elite in the first place."
"I see." I nod thoughtfully. "Then you should go get your squadmates and talk to them. Do it while I give those former Kaiser kids their evaluation."
"I will do just that~" Niko responds with a caring smile.
I was expecting her to get up and walk off back to her room. Instead, she remains seated on the couch, opening her bag and pulling out her phone. She adjusts her posture to something more comfortable, rotating her phone to her side to type something with both hands.
Meanwhile, I hear the sound of the elevator's ding. I look over and see the doors open, where Hideko and Otogi step out in workout clothes; plain t-shirts, breathable shorts and running shoes. They're talking up a storm, appearing to enjoy the conversation they're having. I simply watch them approaching, until they recognize me sitting on the sofa.
"Oh! Morning, Sensei!" Otogi does her two finger salute, flashing a cool smile.
"Morning, Drifter-sensei!" Hideko waves energetically, a wide smile on her face.
"Morning, kids." I give them a light wave as they approach. "Looks like you've been busy."
"With working out, yeah." Otogi says, then notices Niko. "Oh. Morning, Niko."
"Good morning, Otogi~" Niko responds with that same caring smile from before.
"So what brings you down here so early?" Hideko asks.
"I'm waiting for the rest of you Kaiser kids to wake up." I answer. "I'm gonna give you five a combat evaluation."
"Really?" Hideko's eyes widened, then she smirked. "Sounds good to me! I've been itching to do some training since I got better."
"Kazue should be waking them all up right now." I add, staring down the hallway. "You should go back and change. We're gonna start early."
"Okay~" Hideko says, then turns to Otogi. "See ya later, Otogi!"
"See ya." Otogi nods, flashing a thumbs up to Hideko.
Hideko then walks off to her room, leaving Otogi behind. Otogi herself turns back to face me.
"I'll see you later too, Drifter-sensei. Really looking forward to that pardon, ya know."
"Otogi, we need to have a group talk." Niko suddenly interjects, looking up from her phone.
"Uh oh." Otogi's eyes widened. "That doesn't sound good."
"Oh no, it's not serious~" Niko says, waving her hand dismissively. "We just need to talk amongst all four of us about a suggestion Drifter-sensei made."
Otogi tilts her head. "A suggestion? What suggestion?"
"That is for us to discuss." Niko answers before I do. "Could you please go change? And after you're done, be a dear and fetch Yukino and Kurumi for me~"
"'Kay." Otogi nods. She then walks over to her nearby room, entering it and closing the door behind her.
...
—
"Good morning, Sensei."
"...Morning..."
"Morning, Sensei."
Ayumi, Masuyo and Ami greet me to varying degrees of energy. Ayumi seems like she's still waking up, but has energy. Masuyo appears utterly sleep deprived, and Ami appears to be perfectly fine. They are joined by Kazue and Hideko, who were already awake. Everyone has their gear on.
"Morning, kids." I say to everyone, including the ones who I already greeted. "Sorry for waking you so early, Masuyo."
Masuyo just shrugs.
"I've summoned you five for something important today." I get up from the couch, standing over the five of them. "Before I can do anything important with you kids, I want to see how good you are in combat. Schale has its own training facilities that we will use."
"They do?" Ami raises an eyebrow. "Guess it isn't surprising."
"You mean there's more than the firing range!?" Hideko asks excitedly.
"That's right." I answer, taking a few steps. "Follow me, kids. It's time to see what you can do."
I make my way over to the elevator with the Kaiser kids in tow. When we're all in (and quite cramped), I hit the button for the first floor - but then, I hit the 5 button, followed by the 'open doors' button. The elevator promptly takes us down the building, past the first floor and down into the basement level. When we hit floor B30, the doors open back up, where we find ourselves in a lone hallway.
I lead them down this long hallway, opening the armored door at the end. This opens up into a small room with another armored door at the end. When everyone has entered the room, the door I just opened closes by itself, followed by the next door opening on its own some 6 seconds later.
"Whoa...!" Ayumi's jaw hangs slightly open in awe, as we step through into the Simulacrum Chamber. "This was down here the whole time!?"
"Astonishing." Kazue displays a rare smile. "An entire underground city. Do people live here?"
"No." I shake my head. "This is the Simulacrum. A huge training area designed to replicate combat in a natural way."
"I see." Ami crosses her arms. "Is it for conducting student VS. student training? Or perhaps something else?"
"Any type of training that'll fit." I answer. "For some reason, this place has its own factory for building training robots exclusively. I'm going to set up a few waves of enemies; you will fight them as a full unit."
Everyone grabs their weapons from their backs in response.
Ayumi, who had a backpack on, also pulls out an ammo belt from its side and attaches it to the left-hand side of her rifle, charging it from the right. She then holds the grip with her left hand, and the handguard with her right. A left-handed kid? She's the first one of her type I've seen in Kivotos.
Hideko takes her shotgun and only racks the bolt. Kazue simply grabs her machine gun, so I presumed it was already chambered.
Masuyo takes out a bullpup rifle that looks fairly ordinary, but has several markings on the side that were interesting: "Pre-Production Prototype, Active Testing", "Granted exclusive to 1LT. S. Masuyo by K.P.", and "AC-42 NGSIW". The '1LT' and ' ' parts were freshly scratched out, but still legible.
This kid has a prototype rifle? Now that's interesting.
But then, Ami pulled out that weapon. And now that she's actually drawn it out, I was able to get a more detailed look at it. The mag had "SABOT RAIL" printed on it, while the barrel had "Project Nordvik" engraved. It also had an angled digital display built into the gun, which itself sat behind two bespoke, separate optics.
This is not a firearm. This is something else entirely.
She hit a button behind the digital display, which unlocked the battery. She then slid it forward from the front of the trigger guard, which detached it but didn't turn off the display, and placed it on the rear of her belt behind her. She then grabbed a different one hanging next to it, alligned it with the slots underneath the barrel, and pulled it backwards towards the trigger guard. It locked in place.
Ami then proceeded to flick a switch on the side, and I heard an ominous capacitor whine that reminded me of the Arca Plasmor.
Oh. I think I know what type of weapon this is.
"Hey, Ami." I spoke up, watching as she handled the weapon with care.
"Yes?" She looked up at me with her full attention.
"What's the name of your weapon?" I ask, fully interested in her weapon.
"Project Nordvik." She answers.
"I mean the real name." I immediately followed up. "You're not Kaiser anymore, so you don't need to keep it classified right?"
"...Fair point." Ami shrugs. She then shows off the weapon at her side. "Rorsch MK-4. Railgun. One-off."
"MK-4, eh?" I remark with a slight, devious smile.
"My firearm's also a one-off." Masuyo interrupts, showing off her AC-42 proudly. "Bestowed to me by the Kaiser President personally. It was supposed to be a next generation assault rifle for Kaiser PMC infantry. Now it is a personal trophy that I have no intention of sharing."
I guess the competitive spirit woke her up fully. I stare at her rifle, which honestly just looks like a straightforward bullpup design. Given the stuff printed all on it, it probably is special, I'll give her that.
Kazue then steps up, also exhibiting her machine gun. "My weapon may not be one-of-a-kind, but it is rare. There are presumably less than 150 total."
"So you've all got some pretty rare weapons, huh?" I remark, trying not to give any one of them favoritism... even though I definitely had a favorite.
"Not us." Ayumi shakes her head. "Kazue's RPL-20 might be rare, but my HK51 and Hideko's SPAS-15 aren't. We just modified our weapons to suit us better."
I nod in understanding. "I see. Well, let's see what you five can do."
We walk out into the Simulacrum. The door exits right into ground level, but there's a small armored room right next to it, and a checkpoint that separates this area from the rest of the chamber. Next to the armored room is a ladder that leads up to an observation platform; I enter that room, with the others following me in. Inside, a computer mainframe sits pretty, one embedded terminal waiting for its commands. I walk up to the terminal and wake the computer up.
The funny thing is, this terminal is running an old version of the Pom-2's OS. Or rather, whatever this world's equivalent is. I pulled up a really basic GUI that had a whole bunch of options, and then looked over my shoulder at the kids behind me.
"Go get ready, kids. I'm gonna prepare some enemies to fight."
Ayumi nods. "Right. Hail Mary, on me."
At her orders, everyone immediately takes their weapons off safe, while Ayumi lowers her glasses and Kazue equips her ballistic mask. Ayumi exits the room, with the rest filing out of the room neatly and orderly. They group up on her in formation, and they seem to begin discussing strategy with each other.
Meanwhile, I return my attention to the terminal and enter a query: 12 squads of 6 basic robots, randomly dispersed throughout the Simulacrum. One heavy enemy in each squad.
And then, I hit the "deploy" button. A harsh 2 second industrial alarm sounds throughout the facility, followed by a bunch of resounding thuds in sequence. When it ends, the screen tells me they've been placed.
I promptly turn around and walk outside, manifesting into my warframe seamlessly. This surprises the students, but I don't waste any time and shout.
"Alright kids, you're free to engage! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!"
On my mark, the kids take off into the 'city' in a paced sprint, as I bullet jump up the ladder until I'm on the platform. When I'm on top, I observe the kids as they pass the checkpoint separating the staging area from the battleground.
The first group of robots engages them from a distance right away. Masuyo takes cover, while the rest advance forward; Ayumi starts blasting that rifle of hers, which fires off white hot muzzle flashes with each shot. It's like a flashbang goes off everytime a bullet exits the barrel. Her aim is true though, as she takes out a few right away.
Kazue then stops moving with the group, going prone and setting up shop with her machine gun. She starts laying down suppressive fire into the enemy robots in the distance. The enemies quickly find some cover, their advance halted by the storm of bullets. But immediately after, two things happen at the same time: First, Ayumi gives hand signals to Ami, who then splits off from the team and runs down an adjacent street. Second, Kazue starts firing at one of the parked cars not that far from the enemy, which explodes into a fiery mess.
Ayumi capitalizes on the destruction by rushing towards the enemy, brutally gunning down the disoriented robots. All but one of them fell to the ground dead. The last one stumbles to its knees, and Ayumi walks up to it and kicks it onto it's back. She then walks forward steps on its neck, shoving the barrel of her gun in its face, and firing a single round that turns his head into shrapnel. Hideko similarly rushes the other group of robots, dispatching them with no mercy.
That... is some familiar brutality from the squad, but especially Ayumi. These kids aren't amateurs—they're using Grineer Nightwatch Corps tactics.
The Nightwatch rarely pop up in the Origin System; but when they do, they're one of few genuine threats to the Tenno. The Grineer only calls them in when they are especially determined. Their tactics? Overwhelm the enemy and suffocate their room to breathe. These kids have similar tactics to them, but have also sprinkled in something I haven't seen before: Causing chaos to their advantage.
The group continued to move up, with Masuyo maintaining her distance behind the trio. Ami, who was still running down the streets, abruptly jumps onto a car and holsters her railgun. She then jumps towards one of the buildings, scaling horizontally until she reaches an alleyway – where she proceeds to wall-jump up the side of two buildings, mantling onto the roof at the top. She then draws her railgun again and takes up a sniping position.
Down below, the fighting remains fierce. The rest of the robots have decided, of their own volition, to try and overwhelm the Kaiser kids with a numbers advantage. They smartly find opportune cover, while some of their squads fan out into separate roads with intention to flank. Hideko and Kazue break off to engage these flankers, while Ayumi holds her ground. She grabs a grenade hanging from her backpack, takes out the pin with her thumb(!) and tosses it with her right hand towards some enemies behind cover. Ami then fires into the grenade, with the snap crack of a supersonic boom following. The shot lands perfectly, causing an airburst of shrapnel behind the robot's cover. Ayumi instantly vaults her cover to rush down the few or so squads of robots that were affected by that tactic.
That was ingenious coordination. Let's see how the other two are doing.
Hideko and Kazue, meanwhile, lock down an area in the alleyway. Kazue suppresses the enemy with ruthless aggression and a steady advance, while Hideko uses the opening Kazue creates to get closer. The enemies try to punish her with blindfire for her tactics, but Hideko dodges and weaves with zero effort, showing that she's probably used to this. When she reaches the enemy, she destroys them with a mix of shotgun fire and melee kicks.
Ami was still up there on the roof, picking off enemies in cover. Each shot of her railgun almost sounded like the crack of a whip, and a haze of blue sparks followed the projectiles on the way out of the barrel. The absence of an explosion made for an interesting 'muzzle report'. Those enemies that she were picking off try to return fire, but get flanked by Hideko and Kazue, while Ayumi rushes at them with an aggressive advance.
And like that, the groups of training robots were all defeated. I lean on the railing, damn impressed with what I've seen; a street on fire thanks to a blown up car, countless robot bodies, and an excellent display of skills.
Speaking of the street on fire, a sprinkler automatically triggers in the ceiling *far* above it, putting out the fire with ease. It's sort of like momentary rain.
"WELL DONE, KIDS!" I shout as loud as I can. "REGROUP BACK BEHIND THE CHECKPOINT!"
I jump down from the observation platform down below, landing in front of the armored room. There, the kids gradually come running through the gate, slowly reforming their element. Ami herself is absent.
"Sensei!" Ayumi greets me first, still catching her breath. "How did we do?"
"Well, I'm pretty impressed." I say, arms crossed behind my back. "You kids move like people from my home. It's refreshingly familiar."
"Really?" Hideko smiles with amusement. "Well, it shouldn't really be too surprising."
"We are technically former special forces." Kazue adds. "We are not conventional like SRT, but we were trained to be the best of the best."
"Naturally~" Masuyo shrugs, sighing. "Some of us more special than others, even. Like dear Ami."
Right on cue, Ami comes through the checkpoint in a one-handed sprint and a measured pace. When she reaches us, she gradually slows her pace to a standstill, appearing completely unaffected stamina-wise.
"Sorry." she says, appearing minimally unfazed stamina-wise. "Did I keep you waiting?"
I shake my head. "No."
"Good." Ami relaxes her posture a little. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing." Ayumi answers. "We ourselves just got here."
"And now that you're all here," I follow up from Ayumi. "I can say this; I'm proud of what I saw."
'You hear that?" Hideko smiles widely. "We got his approval."
"...Your praise is noted." Kazue remarks cooly, stiffening her body a little.
"My, and I found little opportunity to participate." Masuyo says, staring down at her rifle for a moment. "Perhaps next time, I shall be more proactive such that the praise is justified."
"Funny you should say that." I say, uncrossing my arms. "Because there's one more round of enemies I want you all to face."
Masuyo's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Really? I was not intending for my request to be interpreted verbatim."
"Well, that was planned from the start. Now, how are you all doing on ammo and stuff?"
The five of them promptly check themselves and their equipment. Ayumi in particular takes off her backpack, opens it up and checks inside, before closing it back up and re-equipping it. It's here that I also noticed something interesting about Hideko's loadout; she was carrying multiple differing types of shotgun ammo. So her halo was actually related to that.
Now that all five of them were gathered here, I could finally see their levels. Naturally, all of them had armor readings.
"Good." Ayumi calls out. She was level 905.
"Plenty of ammo!" Hideko answers. She was level 800.
"Nominal." Kazue follows. Hers was level 900, only slightly below the squad lead.
"Excessive." Masuyo replies, nonplussed. She was level 600, the lowest of them all.
"A lot." Ami nods. Her level was level 1300, which put her among the strongest of all students I've seen.
"Acknowledged." I reply somewhat more formally. "For this next group of enemies, you're gonna help me satisfy a... selfish curiosity of mine."
"Selfish?" Hideko parrots while blinking. "Elaborate."
"Well..." I trail off, considering how to explain this. "...Watching students all around in Kivotos fighting has made me curious about something. To see how you'd fare against some enemies from my home."
"Well, it is not as if you can magically summon copies of them." Masuyo says, once again shrugging with both eyes closed. "Therefore, that is impossible."
I willingly go quiet. They don't know it, but I'm smiling right now. When I don't immediately respond, Masuyo's pupils dilate slightly as she stares at me.
"...Why are you silent, Sensei?" She asks, sounding fearful for some reason. "D-Did I offend you?"
"No." I shake my head, and then point to an open area behind the checkpoint. "All of you, look over there."
At my order, the five students turn around. I then outstretch my right arm and clench my fist, dragging it upwards. I pull a strand of Void energy out of thin air—and at the same time, shadows of past enemies manifest from the feet up, as a shower of energy particles coalesce together to build their physical form.
The enemies in question? A few Juno Elite Crewmen and mixed Juno MOA's.
"...What in Lua...?" Hideko says in utter shock.
"Did you just summon those out of thin air?" Ami asks, sounding amused.
"Yes." I answer. "These are a group of Corpus enemies. The Corpus are my home's equivalent to Kaiser... but much worse, and much larger. What you're seeing are copies; not actually alive, but also not holograms."
"I see..." Masuyo says. I took note of her free hand clenching in a balled fist when I mentioned the Corpus being my Kaiser equivalent.
"So they're apparitions?" Kazue asks. "They do appear to be flawed imitations."
"They are." I answer. "These will be your next enemies. You will be fighting a mix of humans and robots, and they will be a genuine threat to you. When you kill them, they'll dissolve back into energy, including their weapons. I expect you to struggle with them."
"What did you say?" Ayumi suddenly turns back around, staring at me in the 'eyes' with unexpected intensity. "Did you just call us incapable?"
"I did not say that." I raise my hands defensively. "In my home, these enemies aren't to be underestimated: They won't be like anything you've faced in Kivotos, and they're trained to be intelligently violent. This is the real combat evaluation."
...Huh. While she was glaring at me, something peculiar happened. Part of her right eye's iris went blue, contrasting against the amber. Internal iris damage? No, that doesn't look like it's damaged at all... Something esoteric like Hina's expandable wings, maybe?
"The real combat evaluation, you say..." Masuyo trails off, craning her neck side to side. "...Then let us prove you delightfully wrong."
"Yeah." Hideko says with sudden, calm determination. "I don't like being underestimated."
"Is there anything else to note?" Ami queries while swapping batteries on her railgun again.
"No." I replied simply. "On my signal, the evaluation will truly begin. Do your last preps while I get the scene ready."
The five of them nod with resolute fire in their eyes as I bullet jump back onto the observation platform. The already summoned shadows run past the checkpoint, maintaining their element while they find a random location to start from. At the same time, I once again raise my right fist and channel more Void energy. A substantial amount of Juno Corpus manifest all around the Simulacrum; enough for a standard definition Exterminate-type mission. Down below, the five Kaiser students prepare themselves for the ensuing battle.
So... Corpus wouldn't normally fight child soldiers unless they had no choice. This is one of few good things about them. But here, manifested as Shadows of the Dead, they will do my bidding regardless of their past life's code of conduct. They're just puppets now, after all.
How the students fare against the Juno Corpus will determine how I make use of them. No matter if they succeed or fail, I will still help them. The only thing that changes will be how I start doing so.
Once I see that the Juno Corpus are in position, and the students have seemed to finish their preparations, I take a deep breath and shout.
"CLEARED TO ENGAGE! GOOD HUNTING!"
At once, the students run past the gate once more, while the Juno Corpus stand guard and unalerted. I set this up to be like an Exterminate mission, so they aren't starting off weapons hot.
Not that it matters anyways. The moment the Kaiser girls see their first group of Corpus, they start firing.
Ayumi nails two Elite Crewmen that were standing in front of a pillar, who promptly collapse into a shower of energy particles outwards from the point of impact.
"Kuk!? etespey appaykptj!"
This alerts the Corpus in the nearby area, and they immediately return fire towards the students. Additionally, a group of mixed MOA's and two Shield Ospreys come rushing out from a nearby alleyway. The students halt their advance and take cover, while Kazue and Ayumi fire at the approaching enemies. Thanks to the Shield Ospreys, it doesn't do much – this prompts Hideko to quickly peek out and engage them with her shotgun, which destroys both of them right away. One of the MOA's, a Geminex Moa, fires off an energy blast that hits their cover, destroying it.
This is already more entertaining than the last test. I wanted to see this close up.
I jumped down from the platform and onto one of the building roofs, and I was now close enough for me to hear the combat-related shouting going on below.
"ROUTE INTO THE ALLEY!" Ayumi orders her squad with unexpected grit, which the five comply with.
The students funnel into an alleyway, which takes them out of the open and into a more defensible position. Kazue and Masuyo take point on a corner in front of the chokepoint to cover it, while the rest run in behind and engage the Juno Corpus in the alleyway.
Ayumi leads Hideko and Ami, dumping streams of bullets into the enemies. Hideko runs alongside her, focusing her fire on the MOA's that use their simplistic rushdown tactics. I should mention that the three of them were also dodging and weaving the Corpus energy weapons well.
Ami, meanwhile, engages the robot support enemies like the Shield Ospreys. She also takes care of some Corpus who, smartly, try to flank in from unusual areas like the roofs. Interestingly, her railgun now fires on full auto instead of a single shot, and it seems like the projectile velocity was lower, due to the less harsh sonic boom I'm hearing from it.
Suddenly, a small squad of exclusively Juno Tech emerges from the other entrance to the alleyway, each supported by a Juno Shield Osprey. At the same time, a group of Juno Jactus Osprey's fly over the alleyway, carpet bombing it with explosives. This staggers the three students, allowing for the Techs to rush in and get some hits on Hideko and Ayumi with their Exergis shotguns. This staggers them more.
"AGH! YOU MIND, ASSHOLES!?" Hideko shouts out loud in rage, momentarily shoved out of cover by the enemy Techs' attacks.
She suddenly pulls out that tool from her right holster with her left hand, drawing a retractable baton of some sorts, and rushes right into the Techs. She lands a clean hit on one of the Tech's, which sends it flying into the wall in an electrocuted mess, and then blasts two more in the chest. She just one-handed her shotgun.
The ones that get a window of opportunity to hit her are brutally killed by Ayumi, who was going for quick and dirty kills via headshots or throatshots.
While all that was going on, Kazue and Masuyo had their part of the alley locked down tight. Kazue was stonewalling the Juno Corpus units from getting too close to their position, while Masuyo was backing Kazue up by engaging distant targets, like Juno Sapper MOA's or Juno Oxium Ospreys trying to attack from high up.
When Kazue needed to reload, however, Masuyo took up the slack during the lengthy process as best she could. Out of those five, Masuyo seemed to be the most cautious when engaging enemies, preferring to avoid unnecessary risks like overexposure.
Another curious observation: The blue wires in Kazue's halo were no longer glowing. The halo just looked like a physical circle of wires now.
Roughly a third of the enemies were dead now. But while I was analyzing those two's fighting styles, I suddenly heard Corpus shouting from Ayumi's side of the alley. I looked over and saw those Corpus falling back from the group of three students.
"Ypeat pke jay tot pke saykitiypy!" one of the surviving Corpus Techs shouted to his comrades as he ran towards the exit. "Pkey'pp tpuyk pke etesiey ttos pke yottipot!"
Hmm... my Corpus is a bit rusty, but I could pick out 'retreat' and 'flush corridor' out of their frantic yelling.
...
Oh. They're gonna bring in some Machinists, aren't they? Let's see how the kids react to that.
Mere moments later, a squad of Juno Nullifier Crewman ran in from that entrance, followed by a trio of machinists behind them. Naturally, the students fired on the already deployed energy shields of the Nullifiers, which gradually shrunk them—but the Nullifiers were running right towards the students instead of returning fire. The Machinists, using the Nullifiers bubble as cover, began lighting fire to the alleyway around them.
"FLAMETROOPERS!" Ayumi called out immediately in urgency. "SQUAD, GET THE FUCK BACK!"
The three students emerged from cover in a fighting retreat, collapsing a few of the Nullifiers' bubbles and killing them once exposed, while the Machinists continued to dump flames all around the surrounding buildings. Ayumi, Hideko and Ami ran back the way they came, finishing off the remaining Nullifiers during their retreat. They only got one of the Machinists before regrouping with Kazue and Masuyo.
"What happened!?" Masuyo shouted as the three of them regrouped.
"Flametroopers!" Hideko responds. "The alleyway is compromised!"
"Opportunity!" Ami abruptly points towards the street full of cars. "Kazue, do you have that TNT pack with you?"
"I do!" she responds.
"Then we can give them our signature treatment!" Ayumi shouts, killing one of the Machinists that round the corner. "Let's drag them with us!"
Ayumi and the group suddenly take off down the sidewalk, using the surroundings as cover the best they could. The Juno Corpus do not let up, trying to keep up with them to cut the students off, but Hideko and Masuyo deal with any that get too close. I jump from building to building, keeping up with them until they reach the middle of the street. Everyone promptly takes cover behind the cars.
Once in cover, Kazue abruptly holsters her machine gun, and pulls out a brown box with a fuse on the end from one of her large pouches. She then grabs a lighter from one of the smaller pouches and lights the fuse, quickly lobbing the box under a car and grabbing her firearm again.
"BOX IS HOT!" Kazue shouts aloud to her peers.
"Good! CLEAR THE AREA!" Ayumi responds by shouting frantic orders.
They then exit cover and start running in their original direction again, focusing on a swift escape over returning fire. The Juno Corpus catch up to the original position mere moments later, continuing to chase them down. These were most of the Corpus I summoned.
...Bravo, kids. That's some fantastic split-second decision making.
—KA-BOOOM—
Moments after I think that to myself, the explosives go off, causing a deceptively huge explosion from under the car. This not only destroys the car and the Juno Corpus next to them, but sends shrapnel and debris flying everywhere. These aftershocks also set off a chain reaction that explodes a few more cars, taking out more and more Corpus in a delightful feedback loop. Needless to say, tremendous damage is done to the surrounding buildings, and the street itself is turned into a fire hazard.
They just killed all the Corpus units with that strategy. They did, in fact, prove me wrong.
The students remain combat ready, weapons still drawn and scanning their surroundings. I jump from the roofs down to the ground next to the destroyed cars, which prompts them to aim at me for a moment, before they realize it's just me.
"Well done, kids!" I say, giving them a round of applause as I walk up to them. "I'm impressed! That's the kind of on-the-fly tactics that my people use. You exceeded my expectations with flying colors."
"R-Really?" Ayumi's right eye, which was fully blue right now, slowly returned to an amber color as I approached. "I'm... really glad to hear that."
"Liked what you saw?" Hideko says, smiling cheekily. "That's our brand of chaos right there! I bet Kazue's the happiest to hear that, though. Right, Kazue?"
Kazue, who was standing very still, didn't respond. However, the blue wires in her halo gradually started glowing again, which was followed by her slightly relaxing her posture.
"...I decline to comment." Kazue responds to Hideko, sounding a bit bashful.
"Now do you see why you should not have underestimated us?" Masuyo smiles pridefully, one hand on her hip. "We were one of, if not the most elite squad in Kaiser PMC. Our skills are second to none amongst our peers."
"I can see that now." I remark. "I like your combat style. You seem to have great group cohesion and trust amongst each other, but also fight with the kind of brutality that Kivotos might not like, but I like."
"'Great group cohesion', eh?" Hideko's cheeky smile fades into a neutral expression. "That's 'cause we're all friends. We're a squad of outcasts that had no place anywhere else, so we had to make our own."
"Agreed." Masuyo adds. "Our reasons are varied, but we inevitably ended up in this unit together in one way or another. Although, if it weren't for Hideko, we would probably still be distant with each other.
"H-Hey..." Hideko responds by averts her gaze – not out of embarrassment, but discomfort.
"And additionally," Masuyo then changes gaze to Ayumi. "If it weren't for Ayumi's intelligence for tactical decision making, we would not have become so successful."
"..." Ayumi blushes. Her reaction is the complete opposite of Hideko's, as she appears genuinely happy at the praise.
"Every person in this squad plays a role." Masuyo says. "Not just in combat. We rely on each other for—"
Suddenly, the sound of a weapon being fired interrupts Masuyo. We all turn around to see a lone surviving Juno Sniper Crewman firing at the students. They immediately return fire towards him, killing him almost instantly. However, one of his Stahlta's thin steel rods hits Ayumi clean in the chest, puncturing through her chest rig before falling right back out due to its weight.
Now they're all dead. Once his body hits the floor, the rest of the squad turns their attention to Ayumi.
"Yikes..." Hideko looks at Ayumi's chest rig, then down at the rod on the ground. "...That blew clean through."
"Indeed." Ami says, kneeling down and touching the steel rod with the back of her hand, before immediately recoiling due to its heat. "...Clearly not a railroad tie. What is this?"
Ayumi herself then slowly looks down at her chest rig, eyes widening upon seeing the hole it made. She holsters her weapon, and then abruptly takes off her rig at a sudden frantic pace.
"Ayumi?" Kazue speaks up, moving her ballistic mask to the side to expose her face. "What's wrong?"
With her rig off, Ayumi then unzips her hoodie, revealing some thick looking body armor. The Stahlta's steel rod had gone through the same place the rig was punctured, meaning it failed to protect against the projectile.
Damn, the Stahlta's projectiles can pierce armor that good?
However, upon seeing the hole in her armor, Ayumi's weapon suddenly fell out of her grip, clattering on the floor. Then, she seemingly lost the strength to stand, her knees buckling under her.
"Ayumi!?" Masuyo quickly caught Ayumi, preventing her head from slamming down on the cold pavement.
I and the rest of her squad quickly got next to her, as Masuyo knelt down on her knees and lended them to Ayumi's head. Her face had gone pale, and her eyes had lost their sheen, darting around rapidly as if looking for an escape. Even worse, she was hyperventilating, breathing in and out at a dangerously unhealthy rate.
And most concerning of all, her halo has lost its saturation, going from a dark blue to just a dark grey.
...Oh no. She's having a severe panic attack.
"Ayumi!" Hideko quickly got down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, you're not hurt! You're not in any danger now!"
"Right!" Masuyo immediately followed. "Look around! We're all right here with you, so just focus on remaining present! Try and regain control of your thoughts, and then your breathing!"
"Yeah!" I opt to quickly add. "Don't let your thoughts control you! You've taken out all of the danger, so the area's clear!"
Ayumi's eyes drifted from Hideko to her squadmates, and then to me. When she saw I was right next to her, she quickly grabbed one of my forearms with both her hands, grasping it tightly—painfully, actually—and stared right into where my eyes would be. She then hugged my forearm as tight as she could, bringing it close to her. This seemed to stabilize her, as she slowly regained control of her breathing, and her face no longer looked so pale. Reassuringly, her halo gradually regained its saturation as well.
The group of us collectively sighed in relief, as Ayumi slowly let go of my arm.
"I..." Ayumi interrupts herself with several deep breaths. "...I'm sorry... for that..."
"Don't be." Masuyo says, placing a hand on her friend's hair. "We can stay like this as long as you'd like."
"I'd... Yeah." Ayumi looks up into Masuyo's eyes. "...I need a moment."
"Take as long as you need, dear." Masuyo says, smiling earnestly at Ayumi.
"It looks like those scars are still... fresh, so to say." Ami comments with a downcast expression, slinging her weapon onto her back. The others follow her example. "This is an unfortunate first. Ayumi has resistance to pressure."
"...Ayumi." I break my silence, grabbing her attention. "Would it be okay if I asked what happened?"
'I..." Ayumi looks at me, a fear tears in her eyes. "...I don't want to talk about it."
"Understood." I nod seriously. "I won't force it out of you."
"Thank you." Ayumi responds with an attempt to muster up a smile, as she wipes away the tears.
"How about I try and distract you with something positive, eh?" I say, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder while Masuyo strokes her hair. "I'm proud of you. All of you. Now that I've seen what the five of you can do together, you've given me a solid idea."
"And that is?" Kazue inquires, knelt down on one knee next to Ayumi.
"You're going to work directly under me now." I answer seriously. "You will become my personal squad that I'll send to do things that might be grey in nature. There's going to come a time where I might have to go against the academies' best interests, and that's not going to be pretty."
"Against their best interests, huh..." Hideko remarks with thought. "Like what?"
"A few things." I answer vaguely. "I won't say much more until I actually need to, but it's better to have that option there. I'll be utilizing you five for other things, too: You're going to do great things."
Down below, Ayumi smiles but remains quiet.
"Looking forward to it." Ami nods towards me, which I return.
"Are you okay to move Ayumi?" I ask, looking down at her. "Or do you need another moment?"
"I think... I'm fine now." she responds. "Maybe."
Hideko reaches out a hand, carefully pulling Ayumi up to her feet. Ayumi momentarily stumbles, but gets caught by Ami, who makes sure she's alright. Ayumi gives Ami a reassuring nod, which prompts Ami to carefully let go. Hideko reaches down and grabs Ayumi's weapon, detaching the belt and holstering it on her backpack on Ayumi's behalf.
"Thanks." Ayumi says with a smile.
"By the way," I interrupt myself as I rise from my knees. "Do you kids have an official name?"
"Hail Mary." Ami answers instantly. "That was our old squad name in Kaiser."
"Personally, I detest it." Masuyo adds, as I give her a hand to help her up. "It implies that we were the last resort. In reality, they sent us to do things normal soldiers couldn't do."
"I concur." Kazue adds. "We are not a desperate measure. We are professionals."
"Then that name is no good, right?" I ask. The five of them shake their heads. "Alright then. Do you have an alternative?"
The group goes quiet, exchanging glances between each other. They ultimately shake their heads again... except Ayumi.
"I might have a suggestion." Ayumi says with some timidness.
"What is it?"
"Well..." Ayumi puts one hand around her other forearm. "We don't fit anywhere. We're outcasts everywhere we go because we're not enrolled in a school."
"Sorry to interrupt, but now I have an important question." I ask, taking up the Entrati stance again.
"Yes?" Ayumi looks at me seriously.
"If I were to give you the option to return to any school of your choice, would you take it?"
This question immediately firms up all their expressions and stances. They look at me seriously, then each other. No words are spoken. But judging by the intensity of their gazes, and the way they looked at each other, it doesn't seem like words were needed anyways.
"...No." Ayumi answers with absolute seriousness. "We would not."
"...Really?" I tilt my head forward in genuine surprise. "But this is an academy city. I still don't know how things work around here yet, but that's probably considered heresy here."
"We have good reasons." Hideko speaks up. "We are... not fit to return, to put it simply."
Before I could ask what she means by that, Masuyo immediately follows up on Hideko. "We are too used to our lives as outcasts to be comfortable returning to normalcy. We do not fit amongst 'normal people' anymore. Each of us have issues; personal issues that get in the way of our lives."
The mention of 'personal issues' makes everyone except Masuyo look down towards the ground uncomfortably, including Ayumi and Ami. Masuyo continues.
"For better or worse, we choose to be dropouts. Our chance at a normal school life died long before you entered Kivotos, Sensei. The details for such are a topic are best saved for a different time... and I personally would not want to ever be seperated from my friends."
At the mention of friends, the group each looks up from the ground and nods.
I nod respectfully, acknowledging their feelings. "...I see. I understand that sentiment perfectly."
"You do?" Masuyo's eyes widened in surprise.
"I... never graduated high school." I reluctantly admit, which makes their eyes widen. I then step out of the warframe, de-manifesting it for now. "I'm gonna borrow what Masuyo said; it's a topic best saved for another time. What I will tell you, though, is that I know the feeling of not fitting in, because I lived through it myself. For years, I was a... -heh-, 'drifter', trying to find his way around – and his place to finally call home. I've been doing it so long that I forgot my own damn name. So I took the title, Drifter, and made it my own."
The girls nod slowly, absorbing the words I'm saying with utmost solemnity. I continued.
"I guess you're all fellow 'drifters', just like me. Kids who are different from everyone around you, who can't belong anywhere because you're just that way."
"There's a word for what you just said, Sensei." Ayumi says with sudden resolve. "It's the very word I was going to suggest."
"What is it?" I raise my eyebrows.
"Misfits." Ayumi answers. "A person who is maladjusted, unsuitable and incompatible with things around them because of core aspects of their character. That's what we are."
"...Yeah." I smile genuinely. "You're right. We're all misfits."
The moment those words exit my mouth, a lightbulb goes off in my head. They don't belong anywhere, and they refuse to return to school.
But they're also misfits.
"...I think we just came up with a new name." My smile turns into a smirk. "How do you all like the name 'Misfit Squad'?"
"That was going to be my suggestion." Ayumi smiles radiantly at the title. "It accurately describes us."
"Right!?" Hideko says, showing off a toothy smile. "It'd be one hell of an ironic title, wouldn't it?"
"I wholeheartedly approve." Kazue smiles the widest I've seen so far. "It is a perfect title."
"Agreed." Masuyo says with crossed arms. "I could not think of a better title."
"It is what we are." Ami says, putting her hands in her jeans' pockets. "Misfits. And I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Then it's decided." I remark, putting a hand on Ayumi's shoulder again. "From this day onwards, you are now Schale No-Pat Unit 01 'Misfit Squad'. I, the Drifter, look forward to working with my own band of fellow misfits."
"Well, I look forward to it too, Sensei." Ayumi says, giving me a smile that I wish I had a camera for.
"What does No-Pat mean?" Kazue abruptly asks.
"It means a person who willingly rejects their right to return." Masuyo defines for Kazue. "It's shorthand for 'non-patriated'. Legally we are classified as such, due to our refusals to re-enroll."
"Right, understood." Kazue nods.
"Let's go back upstairs now." I say as I take my hand off Ayumi's shoulder, turning back around. "I think we're done here."
With the conversation coming to a natural end, we begin our somewhat long trek back to the checkpoint. The fire suppression system has already activated above the alleyway on fire, putting it out, but the ones above the cars on fire don't seem to have triggered yet. I gesture for the kids to follow me down a different area to avoid both the fire and the inevitable rain. Moments later, my intuition is proven right—the system activates above the other area, dousing it with water which we just barely avoid.
We do not speak as we make our way back. The silence was too comfortable to consider interrupting.
-Postscript-
That's right. I gave two of the students Battlefield 2042 guns. That game is, at most, a mixed bag of unrealized potential - but it's premise is still incredible, and it hugely inspired me in earlier creative endeavors. This is me paying homage to it. I also just really wanted an excuse to have a student use the Rorsch MK-4 because that was my favorite weapon to use in 2042.
The five ex-Kaiser PMC students officially have a name now: Misfit Squad. Credit to this name goes to AO3 user Tatergattler, as my original plan was to name them No-Pat Squad. But I liked her suggestion a lot, so I decided to rework the idea into being called Schale No-Pat Squad 01 'Misfit Squad'.
I don't have much to say this time, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Until next time.
-llJaysimll