Infinite Stratos, Volume 3, page 10
“Yes, ma’am!”
Houki landed next to me, with a strange urgency in her voice. I had nearly forgotten that Houki had her own IS now, too. There’s something not right about all this... The unease sent my heart pounding.
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“Let me explain the situation.”
At the very back of the resort, in the Windswept Flower Hall, we gathered with the teachers. The lights were dimmed, drawing attention to a large holographic display.
“Two hours ago, the third-generation IS Silverio Gospel, a joint development between the US and Israel, lost control during testing over Hawaii. We’ve received word that it’s now left its test airspace.”
I followed the explanation with a blank look on my face. The... what? Huh? A military IS? Losing control? What did that have to do with us? As I puzzled over this, I looked around at the others’ reactions.
“.........”
Each carried a guarded expression. They were proper national cadets, unlike Houki and I. Maybe they’d had training in what to do in situations like these. Laura’s expression, especially, was stone cold.
“Satellite tracking indicates that Silverio Gospel’s path will pass through local airspace at a point two kilometers from here in approximately fifty minutes. The Academy command has ordered us to respond.” Chifuyu continued matter-of-factly. The next words out of her mouth, though, were unimaginable. “Academy personnel will use the training IS to seal off both air and sea routes. Responsibility for the primary objective will be left to those with personal IS.”
Really? They wanted us to stop an out-of-control military IS?
“We’ll now take any questions about the mission. Raise your hand if you wish to speak.”
“Yes.” The first to raise her hand was Cecilia. “Requesting technical data on the target IS.”
“Approved. But remember, this is top secret material for both nations. None of it leaves this room. Any leaks and you’ll all be subject to an inquiry and at least two years of observation.”
“Understood.”
While I was still trying to get a grip on the situation, Cecilia and the other national cadets were already discussing the data.
“A nonconventional strategic bombardment IS... It must be equipped with all-range weaponry like my IS.”
“Powerful, and agile, too. That’s going to be hard to deal with. Its specs beat out my Shenlong as well, so it’ll have the advantage...”
“Its loadout seems like it’ll be trouble. I’ve just received a defensive loadout for my Revive, but I’m not sure about taking repeated hits.”
“The data has nothing on its melee capabilities, though. Its skills are a mystery. Can’t we conduct further reconnaissance?”
Cecilia, Rin, Charl, and Laura were all business as they discussed the operation. Meanwhile, I sank further into confusion. Honestly, I was pretty disgusted with myself.
“No. It’s already moving at supersonic speed. We’ve only got one shot at this.”
“Only one shot... Meaning... something that can take it down with one shot.” Hearing Ms. Yamada, the others turned to look at me.
“Eh...?”
“Ichika, you need to take it down with Reiraku Byakuya.”
“We have no other choice. The problem is, though...”
“How to get Ichika to it. He’ll need all his energy for the attack. How does he get close with it?”
“And it needs to be an IS that can match its speed. Likely one with a high-performance hypersensor, too.”
“Hold it! You expect me to go up there?!”
“Of course we do!” Their voices echoed as one.
“Orimura, this is not a drill. It’s real combat. If you’re not ready, don’t force yourself.”
“Right...” Hearing Chifuyu’s words, I kicked myself into action. “I’ll do it. At least, I’ll try my best.”
“All right. Then, let’s form a battle plan. Which of your IS is currently capable of reaching the highest speed?”
“That would be my Blue Tears. The high-mobility assault package ‘Strike Gunner’ has just arrived from England, and it also includes an ultra-high-performance hypersensor.”
All IS have these equipment sets referred to as ‘packages.’ They took many forms, often including not only weaponry, but also things like enhanced armor or additional thrusters. It also seemed that personal IS had specialized, unique packages called ‘Haute Couture,’ though I’d never seen one of those. Equipping a package could dramatically alter an IS’ capabilities and qualities, adapting it for an alternate tactical role. Oh, and me and the other first years with personal IS had a semi-customized default package. Well, except for Charl, who had a fully customized one. That was a little confusing.
“Alcott. How many supersonic flight hours do you have?”
“Twenty hours.”
“Hmm... This should work, th—”
Just as Chifuyu was about to finish, an impossibly-enthusiastic voice filled the room.
“Hold it, hold it! Put that idea on hold!” The voice was coming from the ceiling, of all places. As we all looked up, Tabane’s head popped out of the woodwork.
“Ms. Yamada... Remove her.”
“Huh? Ah, yes, ma’am! Professor Shinonono, if you could come down from there...”
“Geronimo!”
Tabane made a somersault before touching down. Her agility would be the envy of any circus clown. Just how many dumb tricks did she have up her sleeve?
“Chichan! Chichan! I’ve got an idea that’s so much better loading into my brain right now!”
“Get out of here... Now.”
Chifuyu held a palm to her forehead. Ms. Yamada stepped forward to forcibly drag Tabane out of the room, but Tabane managed to slip out of her grasp.
“Listen, listen! This is the moment for Akatsubaki to make its debut!”
“What?”
“Look at its specs! Even without a special package, it’s capable of supersonic speeds!” Tabane had opened up a wall of displays around Chifuyu, as if to trap her, before she even finished talking. “Just sweep a few armor panels, here and here and here and here. And, tadah! It’s more than fast enough!”
Sweeping armor? I’d never heard of something like that before, so I swung my head to look at the screens around Chifuyu. She’d even taken over the main display which had been showing Silverio Gospel’s specs and changed it over to Akatsubaki.
“Just let me explain! Variable-sweep armor is a special feature of the fourth-generation IS I’ve created!”
Fourth?!
“I’m such a nice person that I’ll even give you a simple, easy-to-follow explanation! Icky, you look like you need it. I bet you’re so grateful right now. The first generation of IS were focused entirely on developing the core unit. Next were attempts to fit various extended weaponry—this was the second generation. And the third generation implemented strategic weaponry, controlled by the pilot’s thoughts, through the ‘image interface.’ Things like area denial weapons, BT weapons, and the AIC. And lately, I’ve been keeping myself amused by thinking of a fourth generation that can be fully versatile without alternate packages. Do you understand now, Icky? I hope you do, I love quick learners!”
“Uhh... Well, uh, kinda?”
Give me a moment to process, here... The entire developed world was just starting to roll out their first third-generation prototypes. How’d we skip ahead an entire generation?
“Tch-tch! I’m not your run-of-the-mill genius! This is the kind of thing I can have done before afternoon tea!”
Calling it finished and going for snacks, uhh, really didn’t make it seem like she thought it through that well...
“Oh, and it’s in use on Byakushiki’s Yukihira Nigata, too. I snuck it in to see if it’d even work.”
“EHHH?” Even the others were astounded.
So that’s what happens when Reiraku Byakuya is activated? Then that made Byakushiki itself a fourth-generation IS.
“It worked pretty well, so I built the variable-sweep feature into Akatsubaki’s armor plating. Use it when you’re already operating at the limits, and you can basically double up!”
“Hey, uh, wait a minute. The whole thing? The whole thing works like Yukihira Nigata? That’s...”
“Yep. Absurdly powerful. The strongest, really.”
Everyone, myself included, just sat there with blank stares. Chifuyu was the only one who wasn’t left completely speechless by Shinonono Tabane being herself.
“Oh, and Akatsubaki’s swept armor is an advanced type including separate profiles for attack, defense, and general mobility. It completely fulfills the design goals of what I like to call a ‘Realtime Multirole Actress.’ And I did it first. Yay me!”
Silence followed. Absolute, wordless, silence.
“Huuuuuh? Why’s everyone sitting around like they’re at a funeral? Did someone die? It’s weird.”
There was absolutely nothing weird about it. Vast sums from national treasuries. Years of painstaking research by the brightest minds, just to be the first to field a third-generation IS. And all of it was completely worthless. This... This was just absurd.
“I told you, Tabane. You go too far.”
“Really? But I’m only just warming up!”
It was only after Chifuyu scolded her that Tabane understood why we were so quiet.
“Oh, but don’t make that face, Icky! Akatsubaki isn’t finished yet. You just seemed so gloomy that I wanted to play a trick on you.”
As if her little wink there would excuse this...
“Anyway, though. If Akatsubaki works as planned... Well, you’ll be home in time for dinner!”
In time for dinner... Ugh, enough about that already.
“Now that I think of it, though. Something getting loose over the sea reminds me of the White Knight Incident a decade ago.”
Tabane grinned. Beside her, Chifuyu gave the look of someone who knew things were about to go off the rails.
The White Knight Incident... I think everyone in the world probably knew about it at this point. Ten years ago, Tabane revealed the IS, but at first no one respected her accomplishment. Even as she insisted they’d make all existing weapons obsolete, no one believed her. No one had any reason to believe her.
“I never expected the whole world would think I was a fool. They could find it in themselves to believe in gods, but not in my talent that was right there in front of them? That’s just idolatry.”
A month after IS were announced, the incident occurred. Well, ‘incident’ was a strange term for something as serious as that. 2,341 missiles, from every country within range of Japan, were all hacked in one fell swoop—and fired uncontrollably. In the midst of the chaos and despair, a single woman wrapped in a platinum-white IS appeared. Her face was covered by an early visor-type hypersensor. Still, it was like something out of a superhero comic. Everyone who saw her stared up at the sky in awe. That hero, looking for all the world like a knight of yore.
“Cut them down. Half of the missiles, one thousand twenty-two of them, in a single slash. It was incredible.”
In her hand was something which could only be called a sword. Someone unmistakably human, darting and weaving at supersonic speed, cutting down modern weaponry like missiles... It was unbelievable. And then, to shoot down those outside of her reach, she summoned a gigantic particle cannon—the sort of thing that was still in the labs at that point—as if by magic.
Melee combat at supersonic speeds, the ability to materialize large objects from particles, and practical beam weaponry. No modern weapons system could have stood up to any one of those capabilities, never mind all three. But while the world was stunned, it wasn’t silenced. The countries bordering Japan immediately scrambled reconnaissance sorties, in violation of international law. Their orders: “Analyze the target. If possible, capture it. If not—then destroy it.” Dozens of what were, at the time, the latest generation of aircraft were thrown at her. But they didn’t stand a chance.
“You’re not even scratching an IS with a Vulcan cannon or missiles. Not with its energy shield.”
Even more importantly, fighter jets couldn’t make fast enough turns because their pilots couldn’t handle the G-forces involved, but IS were different. Their life-support systems kept the pilot from blacking out or having trouble breathing, no matter what maneuvers they made. And the data supplied by the hypersensor could be analyzed and acted upon faster than any computer system.
The white knight shot down the entire air armada without taking a single life. That, more than anything, drove home the true hopelessness of their situation. Not only that she could outfight them, but outclassed them enough to avoid even drawing blood... Incensed, they scrambled another wave of fighters, but it was too late. The white knight had disappeared, along with the setting sun. Completely vanished, as if a recording of her sudden arrival had simply played backwards. The white knight was gone as if she were never there.
She didn’t show up on radar. She couldn’t even be seen. It was absolutely perfect cloaking. The entire world tried their hardest to find her—and they failed. That one IS destroyed or disabled 2,341 missiles, 207 fighter aircraft, 7 cruisers, 5 aircraft carriers, and 8 spy satellites. It was truly the ultimate weapon, and everyone in the world knew about it by the next morning.
With that, it was proven that a single IS could stand up to an entire army, and the world quickly drafted treaties restricting their use while kicking development into high gear. The great powers had engaged in a battle of wits with Shinonono Tabane, and having lost, they accepted her standpoint that only an IS could defeat another IS. They had no choice but to accept it.
“And that’s how my lovely IS caught on so quickly! As for putting women on top, meh, I don’t really care. But the constant kidnapping and assassination attempts were certainly entertaining!” Tabane giggled. She seemed so enthusiastic, like a mother talking about her child’s big moment in the spotlight. “And, you know what? Guess who that white knight was? Who can tell me? I bet you can, Chichan!”
“No clue.”
“Well. Judging from her bust size of 88 centimeters—”
Bam! Chifuyu’s clipboard attack—well, screen attack. Jeez, those had metal edges.
“You’re so mean, Chichan! That split my brain in half!”
“That’s good. You can take turns thinking with your left brain and your right brain.”
“Ooh! That makes sense! You’re so smart, Chichan!”
I should point out once again that the person playfully needling Chifuyu was none other than Shinonono Tabane, genius among geniuses and the inventor of the IS. Though the validity of that statement has become iffier and iffier with each passing moment. Wait a sec. Shouldn’t Tabane know exactly who the mysterious white knight was? After all, she gave Houki her IS...
“That was incredible, Chichan!”
“I suppose. The white knight was definitely incredible.”
She definitely made it seem like it was Chifuyu, I think. But the IS Chifuyu used now was completely different from the white knight’s. I wonder where that IS went, anyway? It was the first IS to ever see combat, so surely it was in a lab somewhere still being mined for data day and night. After all, after the last of the 467 IS currently in existence were completed, not a single new one has appeared. To be precise, IS required a core, of which only 467 were made. In other words, no one would let a core just fall through the cracks.
Now that I thought about it, when Tabane disappeared three years ago, she left behind a letter reading ‘This is the final core. It’s not a bun. Don’t eat it. Lucky you! Free IS!’ How did I know? It was broadcast worldwide. She set up a TV special, ‘Shinonono Tabane’s Worldwide Live Interview.’ But when the media descended on her lab at the appointed time, it was completely empty. That didn’t stop them from broadcasting footage of the core and the letter, though.
Really, though... The older people around me, Chifuyu and Tabane both, had a habit of disappearing. It was honestly pretty annoying.
Anyway, that wasn’t important right now. By the way, of the 467 IS in the world, 322 were deployed for military purposes. The remaining 145 were reserved for various development labs around the world, with a number of testbeds for use at IS Academy drawn from that pool.
Between teachers’ IS, trainer IS, and personal IS, there were a total of 30 at the Academy. Which made having more than five just among the first years extremely unusual, apparently. It seemed that, normally, there were at most three per year. The reason for so many personal IS this year was probably... me. I was pretty sure there were already a few planned for testing third-generation IS, so when the world’s only male IS pilot appeared and countries reacted to that as well... Well, yeah. Anyway, that was all a bit over my head.
“Back to the point. Tabane, how long will it take to get Akatsubaki ready?”
“Ms. Orimura?!” The cry of shock came from Cecilia. She must have been sure that she’d be selected to participate, as the one of us with a high-mobility package. “I’m certain that my Blue Tears can pull it off!”
“Is that package already installed?”
“Well... Not quite yet...”
That must have been a sore point for her, as her confidence quickly turned into a low murmur. As a contrast, Tabane broke out into a broad smile as she spoke up, “Give me seven minutes, and I’ll have Akatsubaki ready to go.”
“Very well. Orimura and Shinonono will intercept and shoot down the target. The operation begins in T-minus thirty minutes. All personnel, begin preparation immediately.” Chifuyu clapped her hands. The teachers immediately began to prepare the ‘materiel’ needed to provide support. “If you’ve got nothing to do, help them move equipment. Orimura, Shinonono, prepare your IS. Get to it!”
Ugh, she got real serious real fast. As I looked around, I noticed that everyone else had already found something to do.
“Er, what should I...”
“Get Byakushiki set up and ready to go. Oh, and make sure it has full energy.”
“Understood.”
As soon as I answered her, I opened up Byakushiki’s console. Energy level... Check. Everything was working as designed. I was good to go anytime. Ah, but what about Houki?
