Infinite Stratos, Volume 3, page 11
“All right, let’s kick the tires on Akatsubaki!” Tabane cheered.
“.........”
“C’mon. Smile more. You got picked for first string! Isn’t that great?”
“I was born with this expression.”
“I guess. It was cuter when you were a baby, though. You cried sometimes, too.”
“D-Didn’t everyone when they were a baby?!”
Tabane threw out a “Maybe, I guess” as she ran her fingers over Akatsubaki, which Houki had materialized.
“Hm, hmm. Set the back, leg, and arm variable-sweep armor for maximum thrust. Otherwise, leave it in support fire mode. There you go. All right, time to get started.”
As Tabane spoke, she was enveloped in a haze of glowing particles. Two parts formed around each of her forearms, for a total of four. They were around the size of IS armor, and had its general appearance, as well.
“Is this your IS, Tabane?”
“Huh? Nah, Icky. This is my mobile lab. I am a cat. As yet I have no name,” she intoned.
She waved her index finger in the air, and the two handlike parts on her right arm mimicked the motion. What the heck is this?
“Okay, here goes!”
Tabane picked up, between her fingers, dozens of screwdrivers and drills and knives and things I couldn’t even recognize.
“Mm-hm. If it starts to hurt, raise your right hand.”
It was the perfect phrase for what I was watching take place. She slid something which looked like a scalpel underneath an invisible panel and flipped it open, then quickly clamped it to hold it. From inside, she pulled a mechanism and began tweaking. The crazy part was that she was doing it in four other places at the same time. It seemed like she was working on the toughest part herself, while letting those floating arms handle the rest. Each finger of the arms seemed to have a range of tools built in, as they’d already begun cutting and welding with lasers while maxing adjustments with precise manipulators.
The most amazing part, though, was that Tabane herself wasn’t using any outside assistance—not hypersensor, no AR goggles, nothing. How could she handle dealing with that kind of intricate machinery?! Tabane was happily humming, seemingly without a care in the world. But she was working incredibly fast.
“And along came the jaw!”
A jaw? From where? I never could understand what Tabane was thinking. As I pondered that, I made eye contact with Houki. She seemed really nervous.
“W-What? What is it?”
“Hm? Oh, nothing.”
“Oh, good.”
“.........”
“.........”
I just continued looking at her.
“No, really, what do you want?”
Crap, looks like I made her mad.
“No, really, it’s nothi— Oww!”
As I aimlessly chatted with Houki, a fist caught me from behind. With as much force behind it as it had, it must have been Chifuyu.
“If you don’t have anything to do, Alcott can fill you in on high-speed combat.”
“Understood.”
Clang, clank. Grind, whiiirrrr. As the sounds of hard work settled into a sort of background music, I tried to get Cecilia’s attention. Somehow, it was really calming.
“Sigh... First I angered Professor Shinonono, then I was removed from the mission team... It’s simply too much...”
“Hey, Cecilia. Hey. Heeeeeey.”
“Yes— Eek!” Cecilia, suddenly noticing that I was staring at her, jumped in shock. At the same time, the small-ish monitor she was carrying slipped from her grasp, but I smoothly caught it.
“Whoa. This may be small, but it’s pretty heavy.”
“W-W-What is it? Did you need me for something?”
“Oh, uh, Chifu—er, Ms. Orimura told me to ask you for a rundown of high-speed combat.”
“R-Really?!”
Her smile suddenly beamed. That was nice to see. I’d been a bit worried about how dejected she was. It was way better to be a sunny person than a gloomy person.
“A-Ahem. I’ll be giving you some pointers on high-speed combat. First, Ichika, do you have an ultra-high-performance hypersensor?”
“Nope.”
“I see. Then, let me warn you. When using an ultra-high-performance hypersensor adapted for high-speed combat—”
Cecilia put a hand on her hip, struck a pose, and began to explain, but was interrupted by a second voice, “It’s like the world is moving in slow-motion. At least for your first time.”
“Ling?! I was already in the process explaining to him. How many hours of high-speed combat have you even logged?”
“Twelve. Not quite as many as you, but still.”
Cecilia shrunk back at the unexpected response. Clearing her throat to regain control, she resumed her lecture, “And the reason that this slow-motion effect occurs is that—”
“The hypersensor sharpens the senses of the pilot in order to transfer more detailed data. So it ends up seeming like the world is moving slower. But that’s just the first time. You get used to it pretty quick.”
“Charlotte?! I was already explaining—”
“The important thing to focus on is your boost gauge. Ichika, you have a habit of relying on Ignition Boost. At high speeds, your boost gauge will drop nearly twice as fast.”
“L-Laura?! I—”
“Oh, and because your relative velocity is so much higher, you’ll take significantly more damage from ranged weapons. If you get hit in the wrong place, it could pierce your armor in one shot.”
“Even Ms. Yamada?! I give up! Why must everyone keep interrupting me?!”
Cecilia was pretty mad. It seems like the interruptions had finally made her boil over.
“Er, Cecilia?”
“What is it?!”
“Thanks for teaching me so much. Is there anything else I should keep in mind?”
She was already so angry that she was nearly about to bite my head off, but as she heard what I was saying she gave me a blank look. Two blinks later, the anger faded from her face.
“Oh, why, it was nothing! A British National Cadet is always glad to answer questions!” Her smug grin returned as her hand moved back to her hip. Yep, she was definitely herself again.
“Well, there’s one thing. Your Reiraku Byakuya is the key to this mission, so you should avoid using Ignition Boost at all. It burns too much energy.” Rin, having finished moving her equipment, spoke up.
“Oh, and you should think about how to defend yourself. Normally, you’d want a riot shield for these tactics, but your weapon’s a two-hander.” Charl was also done moving, and wandered over to rejoin the conversation. After that, even Laura and Ms. Yamada joined in the planning, as well. Even though it was planning for the upcoming mission, it still felt good to have people gather around me.
No matter what, I must succeed. Inside my heart, I renewed my determination.
◇
The time was 11:30. The July skies were clear and blue, as if nothing were out of the ordinary today, and the sun beat down relentlessly. Houki and I stood a short distance apart on the sand. Our gazes met, and we each gave a quick nod.
“Come forth, Byakushiki.”
“Let’s go, Akatsubaki!”
We were enveloped in light, and IS armor began to form around us. At the same time, I felt the lightness brought by the PIC and effortless motion from the power assist.
“All right, Houki. I’m counting on you.”
“My pride would normally never accept a man riding on top of me, but just this once, I’ll make an exception.”
The mission plan called for Houki to handle all the maneuvering, meaning I’d have to ride on her back. When it was first brought up, she was extremely displeased about it, but it almost seemed like she was warming up to the idea now. I hope this works out... Houki has had her personal IS for less than a day. Even with Tabane’s help customizing it and setting it up, Houki herself would be the weak link. If anything goes wrong, I’m gonna have to cover for her. The realization focused my mind.
“Still, I’m glad it’s the two of us sometimes. When you and I work together, there’s nothing we can’t overcome. Right?”
“Yeah. But remember what the teachers said, Houki. This isn’t a drill. You never know what’s going to happen in combat. Always be prepared—”
“I know already. Why, are you scared?”
“No way. But seriously, Houki—”
“Hahaha, don’t worry. I’ll get you up there. Just leave it to me.”
“.........”
She’d been like this for a while now. I knew she must have been excited to finally have her own IS, but this was taking it a bit too far. The anxiety refused to leave me as I climbed onto the back of Houki’s Akatsubaki.
“Orimura, Shinonono, radio check.” Chifuyu’s voice came over the IS open channel. Houki and I both nodded in response. “The mission plan calls for a shoot down on a single approach. Be ready for a quick fight.”
“Roger.”
“I should provide support for Orimura, correct?”
“Yeah. But don’t push yourself too hard. You just got that IS, and you’ve got no combat experience with it. There’s no guarantee problems won’t pop up.”
“Understood. I’ll do what I can.”
Houki may have seemed calm and composed, but her tone of voice seemed positively overjoyed. Hopefully, all my worries were merely superficial.
“Orimura—”
“Yes?”
This time, Chifuyu spoke not over the open channel, but over a private channel. Shocked, I switched over to reply.
“Shinonono seems a bit too fired up. She might push herself too far. If she does, I want you to support her.”
“Got it. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I leave it to you.”
With that, Chifuyu switched back to the open channel, and gave the order.
“COMMENCE MISSION!”
And so the operation began. As I clung to Houki’s back, we quickly rose to 300 meters. How was she this fast?! It was as quick as my Ignition Boost, no, even faster! Akatsubaki continued its rapid ascent to the planned altitude of 500 meters, unhindered by me on its back.
“Temporary satellite link established. Synchronization complete. Target position confirmed— Let’s do this, Ichika!”
“Yeah!”
As Houki shouted, she accelerated Akatsubaki. The variable-sweep armor on its legs and back, true to its name, opened, and a powerful energy streamed forth from within. This was like the variable-sweep armor of the Yukihira Nigata... No, like an improvement on it. According to Tabane, Akatsubaki could adapt itself for offense, defense, or mobility at a moment’s notice. But was all its armor variable-sweep? Just what would happen at full output? Where was it getting all the energy for this, anyway?
“I’ve spotted her, Ichika!”
“......!”
The feed from the hypersensor floated in my vision as if I were seeing it with my own eyes. The enemy IS, worthy of the name Silverio Gospel, gleamed silver from head to toe. But the most notable thing about it was the gigantic cluster of wings which sprouted from its head. While it glittered the same silver as the body, the intelligence we’d seen indicated that it combined a large thruster and a wide-area suppression fire weapons system. The data said it could fire in multiple directions at once. But what kind of attack? That didn’t matter. I didn’t have time to think about it. As we soared in pursuit, I gripped Yukihira Nigata.
“I’m speeding up! Contact in ten seconds. Focus, Ichika!”
“Got it!”
The thrusters and the swept armor roared even louder. Their awesome speed quickly closed the distance with the IS. Five, six, seven, eight, nine... Ten!
“AAAARGH!”
I activated Reiraku Byakuya. At the same time, I used Ignition Boost to try to close the remaining gap. I’ve got you! Then, at the very instant when my blade was about to make contact with Silverio Gospel—
“What?!”
—The IS made a sudden turn and dodged backward, ready for battle. Another go-around—no, we have to take it down now! We were already in range. It was too late to back off. We needed to finish it off before a counterattack. But...
[Target acquired. Initiating intercept mode. Silver Bell activated.]
“......?!”
A flat, mechanical voice came over the open channel. Its obvious malevolence startled me. I had a bad feeling about this. And a few seconds later, I was proven right.
With a bang it spun in the air, passing within millimeters of Reiraku Byakuya’s blade. Even for an IS equipped with a passive inertial canceller by default, that was a tricky maneuver.
“Ugh! Is that wing why it can accelerate so fast?”
It had plenty of other high-output multithrusters, as well, but I’d never seen an IS accelerate so precisely. I began to realize just why it was considered ‘top secret.’
“Houki! Cover me!”
“Got it!”
The longer this took, the worse of a position we’d be in. Letting Houki protect my back, I readied another slash at the target.
“Tch! Damn you!”
Again, though, it spun around, evading me by a hair’s breadth. It moved as if dancing, or as if swimming in the sky. It had played me like a fiddle, and panicked at how little time Reiraku Byakuya had left, I took one more wide swing. And now, it seized upon an opening.
“......!”
The silver wing... the thrusters’ armor folded wide, as if it were the wings of an angel. Dammit! It’s the gun barrels— A thicket of gun barrels pointed from within the wings as they wrapped around me. In the next instant, a hail of bullets of light erupted forth.
“Argh!”
The bullets were highly compressed energy in the shape of feathers. I thought they’d pierced my IS armor and carried on, but a second later, they exploded. Exploding energy bullets, that was Silverio Gospel’s primary weapon. Even worse, they fired incredibly fast. Their speed—the rate of fire—was unbelievable. While they weren’t very precisely aimed, it didn’t matter. They were explosive. Even a glancing blow would set them off.
“Houki! Let’s attack from the sides simultaneously! You take the left!”
“Got it!”
Houki and I traced complex paths toward the IS for a coordinated attack, as it continued firing. But our attack didn’t even scratch it. It made a quick evasive maneuver while turning to the counterattack. Its wing thruster may have looked unusual, but it certainly was extremely effective.
“Ichika! I’ll pin it down!”
“Okay!”
Houki closed in, both katanas drawn, for a series of slashes. Her arm armor opened up and blades of energy automatically extended, slashing at the IS as she attacked. Akatsubaki’s no pushover either! Using the mobility of Akatsubaki and the attitude control provided by its variable-sweep armor, Houki darted closer and closer. Her fierce assault forced even it to resort to parrying and blocks.
“HAAAH!”
We’ve got it! Reinvigorated, I clutched my sword, but at the same moment Silverio Gospel began a wide-angle counterattack.
[La-la-la...] Came a high-pitched synthetic voice. At the same moment, all of the gun emplacements on its wing thrusters opened. A total of 36. And each erupted in indiscriminate fire.
“Not bad... But I’ll cut you down to size!” Houki weaved through the rain of bullets for a counterattack. She’d found her chance.
“Ngh...!”
But suddenly, I reversed course, and dove down toward the surface of the sea at full speed.
“Ichika?!”
“RAAAARGH!” With Ignition Boost and Reiraku Byakuya at full output, I chased down the last bullet.
“What are you doing?! We finally had an opening!”
“There’s something down there! I thought the teachers were supposed to clear this sector— Dammit, it’s a poacher boat!”
Still, I couldn’t just let them die.
Fshhirrr. The light of the Yukihira Nigata in my hand began to fade, and its armor folded closed. I... was out of energy. I’d wasted our best—our only—chance. I’d blown the mission.
“You idiot! You did that just to save a few criminals?! It doesn’t matter what happens to them!”
“Houki!”
“Wha—”
“Houki... Houki, that’s too harsh. Don’t say things like that. Just because you’re powerful now, you’re forgetting what it’s like to be weak? That’s not like you, Houki. That’s not like you at all.”
“I-I...” Houki raised her hands to her face, as if to cover her wavering expression. At the same time, seeing the katana which fell from her hands dissolve into light, my heart sunk in my throat.
That was limit down... This is bad. Limit down, meaning, running out of energy. And this wasn’t in an arena at IS Academy. This was actual combat.
“HOUKI!”
I threw down my sword and launched myself toward her, using the last of my energy for an Ignition Boost. Come on, Byakushiki! Make it in time! Ahead of me, I could see Silverio Gospel returning to volley-fire mode. This time, its sights were centered on Houki.
IS armor was extremely brittle when starved of energy. Even a fourth-generation IS would probably be the same. A little bit of energy was reserved for emergency defense, but one hit from that curtain of bullets and there wouldn’t even be enough left of her to leave a stain. Please! Please, Byakushiki! Please! The world played in slow-motion as I saw the bullets leave their barrels an instant before I slid between the IS and Houki.
“AAAAAGHH!” As I wrapped my arms around her, the explosions rolled across my back like rain. Dozens of shocks, each strong enough that my energy shield couldn’t absorb it, and I heard my bones creak. My muscles cried out in agony, and my skin, the armor torn from it, burned as if on fire. Amidst the pain which seemed to last an eternity, just once, I looked up at Houki’s face.
She’s safe... That’s good. Haha, she looks like she’s about to cry. That’s not like her. Oh, her ribbon was burnt off... She... looks good... with her hair down...
“Ichika? Ichika! ICHIKAAAAAAA!”
