Ichika pointed at the bound woman as he answered.

  “That’s Ms. Autumn to you, punk!” Autumn was as angry as a caged animal.

  “Quiet down.” As she spoke, Laura’s fingertips dug into Autumn’s solar plexus, and she gasped for air.

  “No, I’m talking about her! The one who’s been all over you— Ahh! Wh-What are you doing?!”

  As Houki turned the topic to Allie, she grinned mischievously and said, “But he smells so nice! See, Shiny likes him too!” The white cat purred contentedly, something which no one really noticed compared to Allie’s constant body contact with Ichika.

  “Stop showing off,” Chifuyu muttered exhaustedly.

  “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Brynhildr. I see your little brother’s still as dear to you as ever.” She sprightly sprung away from Ichika, who, disappointingly to the others, was visibly disappointed with this.

  “Seriously! You could at least pretend to mind!”

  “But she smells nice...”

  “Grrr!” Ling stomped her feet while punching Ichika’s arm.

  “Ahh, I see. You know, Ichika, I prefer only the finest fragrances...” Cecilia stroked her Starlight Mk. III as she spoke, visibly itching for an excuse to pull the trigger.

  “Ichika, you just can’t say hello to a lady without her following you home, can you? I wonder why?” Charlotte smiled like an angel, but her eyes were deadly serious.

  “Get a hold of yourselves! We need to worry about Daryl and Forte now, too!” It was up to Chifuyu to focus the thoughts of a room full of lovestruck teen girls.

  “Why don’t I start by introducing myself?” Allie suggested.

  “...Whatever.” Chifuyu rubbed her forehead.

  “My name is Alicia. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Allie and her Tempesta?”

  Of course they knew about the second Mondo Grosso champion. Hers was a household name, especially for the Europeans.

  “So you’re the Tempesta’s pilot... My apologies for being rude, but what... happened to you?” Cecilia asked nervously, but Allie answered with no offense taken.

  “Things went wrong during the testing of the Tempesta II, and, well, they’re gone now.” Sensing that follow-up questions weren’t welcome, the girls fell silent. A heavy silence which hung over the room.

  “Hey! So when are you gonna untie me?” This time, it was Chifuyu’s turn to deal with Autumn not being able to take a hint.

  “Guh!”

  Woman prisoner or no, Chifuyu showed no mercy. She was a firm believer in not discriminating based on age or gender (and let’s not examine the obvious implications involving children and the elderly).

  “So. We’re down two. They’re down one. But with Allie, we’re up one. Unfortunately, they’re up two now too.” Chifuyu’s steady voice was enough to get everyone back on track... Except for Allie, who languidly floated in her IS, puffing on her pipe.

  “We’ve survived their first move, but that’s not enough. We need to strike back.” Tatenashi appeared from seemingly nowhere. “There are two places they could be holed up. One is a hotel nearby. The other is a warehouse at the airport. They’re living up to the ‘phantom’ part of their name, for sure. The hotels are all booked like normal tourists, and the hardware’s kept as air freight... Clever.”

  As the rest nodded in sudden understanding, Autumn interjected, “It took this long for you morons to figure that out?”

  “Quiet down.” This time, both Laura and Chifuyu jabbed at Autumn’s torso.

  “Cough, cough!” She glared at them as blood seeped from her mouth. But the glares they shot back left her trembling.

  “Let’s split up, then. Allie will lead the raid on the hotel. Houki and Ling, join in the attack. Cecilia, provide cover.”

  “Roger.”

  “Leave it to me.”

  “A perfect choice.”

  Each nodded. No one was silly enough to insist on going with Ichika even now.

  “The others—Ichika, Charlotte, Laura, Kanzashi—will infiltrate the warehouse. Laura, you take point.”

  “Of course. I’ve got this.”

  “Let’s do our best.”

  “I hope I don’t get in the way...”

  “All right, let’s do it!”

  Everyone here was visibly nervous, too, but still up to the challenge.

  “Ms. Orimura, Ms. Yamada, and I will wait in reserve. If anything happens, we’ll be right there.” Tatenashi gave the teams a confident, encouraging wink, made all the more believable by her position as IS Academy’s strongest. “Get going, then!”

  She snapped open a fan reading ‘move out!’ The die was cast.

  ◇

  “Phew.” After a refreshing shower, Rain called out to Squall, “You don’t have to get so worked up. We’ll have Autumn out of there in no time.”

  “...Watch your mouth, Rain.”

  “Ooh, scary! Doesn’t she just make you shiver, Forte?”

  Forte, who had shared the shower, was surprised by the sudden attention, muttered, “Y-Yeah...”

  “Now that the limiters are off our IS, let’s go over loadouts.”

  “Got it!”

  The penthouse suite was scattered with weaponry that had already been brought up from the warehouse.

  “Oh, hey, I recognize that one! It’s the Jack Denim .38-caliber SMG. Looks like we’ve got the top of the line here.”

  “Nah, that’s totally last season’s. See? The sheathing’s different.”

  “I see, I see. Still gonna take it, though.”

  “Really? Guess I’ll go with this one, then.” Forte reached for the .42-caliber Alt Assault rifle. It may have been small, but it packed a punch—the magazine held 100 rounds of anti-IS ammunition.

  The two opened up their IS and each began to install the new gear.

  “...Okay, good to go.”

  “I’m ready too.”

  Rain and Forte nodded at each other.

  “Then let’s get this party started!” Rain let off a burst of fire at the wall of windows behind Squall.

  “......?!” For a moment, Forte was shocked, wondering if Rain was really a double agent—but no.

  “Good job noticing me. But I’m here for Squall!” Her resounding voice, her proud tone, her gleaming eyes. Allie was back for more.

  “Come, Golden Dawn!” Squall barked as she opened her IS, flames wrapping around its long tail claw. New, now, were two gigantic rings which wrapped around it protectively. “Well, well. Let’s see how this new Red Burn package works!”

  Bursts of lasers erupted from the rings in all directions, scorching everything, and not only the floor of the suite.

  “What’s the rush? It’s too cramped in here, let’s take it outside!”

  “No thanks. I have a date with Autumn.”

  “You’re not getting away from me!”

  The two IS flew through the blazing suite, and crashed through the far wall, joining the battle in the night sky over Kyoto.

  As Rain watched them depart, she leapt from the hotel in her IS Hellhound. Waiting outside for her were Houki’s Akatsubaki and Ling’s Shenlong, with Cecilia’s Blue Tears as backup. A moment later, Forte’s Cold Blood followed her.

  “It might be three on two, but no way are we gonna lose to you rookies!” Rain was fired up and ready to go, but Forte, still feeling a little guilty, wasn’t in the mood for enthusiastic posing. Instead, she simply showed her determination to protect Rain by stepping in front of her with her shield raised.

  “I want to know one thing before we fight!” Houki called out. “Why did you betray us, Forte Sapphire?!”

  They’d learned that Rain was with Phantom Task the whole time. That she had been a spy planted to steal IS even back when she was just an American cadet. But what they didn’t know was why Forte had turned against them too.

  “If you haven’t figured that out, you’ll never beat us, Shinonono Houki,” Forte was quiet but clear.

  “Good enough, then. We’ll just have to show you how we deal with traitors!” Ling was the first to make her move, with a scattered spray of impact cannon blasts to buy some distance. And then—

  “My sniping is simply marvelous!” Blasts from Cecilia’s Starlight Mk. III tore through the sky, only to be blocked by Forte and Rain’s Aegis.

  “You’re gonna need a lot more than that to take us on! Isn’t that right, Forte?”

  “Sure is!” Side-by-side, they leveled their guns at Houki’s squad and opened fire.

  “Damn you!” With no one to tank the shots, they had to split for cover and rejoin formation after, but since they were unused to operating as a squad of three, this left plenty of openings.

  “Got you!” The hound’s heads on Rain’s shoulders belched flame at Houki. Slowly, the chains tightened around them.

  “Your turn, Forte!”

  “Got ’em!”

  With Houki, Ling, and Cecilia backed into a tight clump, a massive block of ice formed over them and began to fall.

  “Uggggh!!” Houki shoved Ling and Cecilia out of the way before catching the ice on her crossed blades. But it was too heavy to bear and too solid to cut through, and she plummeted toward the city below.

  “Houki!”

  They wavered between helping her or carrying on the fight as they regained their balance, and that moment of hesitation was enough for Forte and Rain to make their move.

  “Got you!”

  A cluster of explosions swallowed Ling and Cecilia as they plunged toward the earth.

  “You plebes aren’t getting away!” Rain’s attacks didn’t let up for a moment.

  ◇

  Meanwhile, at the airport—

  “Are there really any clues about Phantom Task here?” Ichika, Laura, Charlotte, and Kanzashi rushed through the shadows. After the fight that afternoon, their cover in Kyoto was blown. All they could do was hurry.

  “Wait!” Laura, in point, stopped in her tracks. “Something isn’t right. It’s too quiet.”

  She was right. Never mind an IS, there weren’t even security guards around. Sensing danger, she opened her IS Schwarzer Regen.

  “Ichika!” As a blinding light suddenly flashed, she dove to cover Ichika.

  “Ugh!”

  “Laura! Kanzashi, Charl, let’s—” Before he could even finish his sentence, the hangar blew apart. Even with their shields up and functioning, the blast knocked them off balance as an IS came flying directly at them.

  “...Silent Zephyrus!”

  Madoka was here.

  “Weak...” Sweeping Kanzashi and Charl out of the way with her bayonet, she closed in on Ichika with an Ignition Boost. “You’re the one I’m after, Orimura Ichika!”

  Ichika was sent tumbling by Madoka’s diving tackle, but picked himself up off the ground just as quickly as she did and fired off his own Ignition Boost.

  “Looks like you’ve gotten better at this.”

  “I’ve been getting plenty of practice lately!”

  They streaked through the night sky like twin comets, blade against blade, every slash matched with a parry and riposte.

  Laura, Charlotte, and Kanzashi had taken more damage than they’d expected from Madoka’s sudden attack, and it was already too late to catch up. But, worried about Ichika, they tried their hardest.

  Before they could reach him, though, a shadow flitted into their path.

  “Hewwo! It looks like you’re trying to spoil Kurokishi’s big day, and that’s a no-no!” The lilting voice belonged to none other than Shinonono Tabane. “Sparkle sparkle POP!”

  She spun a magical wand to and fro in her left hand as she turned to face Laura and Kanzashi. Immediately, the three girls’ IS slammed to the ground.

  “Wha—”

  “I can’t move...”

  “Is this... gravity?”

  No matter how hard they struggled to stand up, it felt like a gigantic hand was pressing them down.

  “Tee-hee. What do you think of my newest little project, Experimental Area Denial Weapon #08? Or as I like to call it, King’s Field. I turned the power up nice and high for you!” Tabane, grinning, stretched out a hand toward them. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking your IS cores.”

  Laura may have been ground into the dirt, but her spirit still wasn’t broken, and her face twisted in rage as Tabane approached.

  “Dammit! I won’t forget this!”

  “Ahahaha, being angry won’t get you anywhere. Life’s unfair, and it doesn’t always have to make sense.”

  Suddenly, Tabane yanked back the hand she’d stretched out toward Laura. Looking closely, Laura could notice a cut beginning to well blood.

  “Oh, there you are, Chichan!”

  Chifuyu plunged in from the night sky, wielding a katana of the utmost craftsmanship. It cut, with absolute precision, between Laura and Tabane.

  “You’re such a softie, Chichan.” Tabane nimbly shifted, and the blade passed a hair’s-breadth from her. Their duel was as choreographed as a waltz.

  “I couldn’t just stand back and watch you hurt my students.”

  It was a closely-matched battle, but, slowly but surely, Chifuyu began to end up on the back foot as she tried to defend Laura and the others. Still, though, she didn’t let the pressure bait her into overextending. Precise step by precise step, she put up an impenetrable defense.

  “Let’s dance, Chichan!”

  “I’d rather not, Tabane.”

  Tabane deftly parried each of Chifuyu’s katana slashes with her wand. Whatever it was made of, it held up, as sparks flew each time their weapons ground together.

  “I... I get to watch the strongest in the world, the Brynhildr, and the ultimate human, the Renürion, fight...” Laura was emotionally bowled over. Not just as a soldier, but as a human, as a living being, the primal forces clashing before her fascinated her. “They’re... almost too strong...”

  No. She could sense something beyond strength from both of them.

  “Yaaaawn.” Tabane suddenly tossed her wand on the ground. At the same time, Chifuyu stopped mid-slash.

  “This is a waste. If we’re going to have a big flashy showdown, we need to pick a better place to do it.”

  “And you expect me to just go ‘oh, right, good idea’ and let you go?”

  “Mm? Yeah, kinda. Maybe not be happy about it, but don’t you have your kids to worry about?” Tabane clenched her hand into the shape of a gun, and leveled her index finger at Laura. “Bang!”

  Laura, Kanzashi, and Charl were blown away, IS and all, by a sudden tremendous impact.

  “Dammit, Tabane!”

  “See you later, Chichan! I hope you’re ready when we meet again!” Tabane winked, snapped her fingers, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

  “.........”

  Chifuyu turned away from where Tabane had disappeared, her thoughts likewise turning to Ichika’s battle in the faraway sky.

  ◇

  “Dammit!” Ichika tried to catch Madoka between Ignition Boosts, but their difference in skill was enough for her to turn the tables.

  “Time to finish this,” as Madoka spoke, her bits formed a circle around her, holding Ichika back. “Let me show you my new power!”

  The color of Silent Zephyrus shifted in answer. As it faded from a butterfly-like purple to a jet black, Ichika’s stomach plunged in his gut.

  “Second Shift?!”

  Watching the Silent Zephyrus transform, he remembered his fight with the Silverio Gospel. Ichika began to tremble as he imagined an even more difficult Madoka.

  “Bwahahaha! I can feel the power flow through me! It’s mine! Ahaha! Ahahahahaha!”

  Kurokishi’s armor, studded with ominous spikes, seemed to exude bloodthirsty menace. Not just Kurokishi—its pair of lancer bits had grown in size and power, and the armor of its long rifle had folded, shifted, to transform into a buster sword. The blade crackled with dark purple lightning as Madoka took a few experimental swipes at Ichika.

  “Ugh!” He tried to parry with his Yukihira Nigata, but the sheer force of the energy field pushed it away. “Gah...!”

  Ichika stumbled, but rather than follow up, Madoka instead leered at him.

  “I, Orimura Madoka, will celebrate the Kurokishi’s first mission by killing you!” Her lancer bits shot forward at Ichika, not just thrusting but drilling with the same dark energy.

  “You won’t get me that easily!” Ichika deployed the energy-absorbing shield from his Setsura weapons module. But the repeated attacks were more than he could block with a shield on his left arm. And as his energy began to drop, he exposed a fatal weakness.

  “I’ve got you now, Orimura Ichika!” Ichika dodged out of the way of the lancer bits, only to catch a sweeping overhand blow from the buster sword.

  “Dammit!” He tried to parry with Yukihira Nigata, but Madoka’s blade cleaved straight through it.

  “Hahahaha!” Ichika’s IS plunged through the night sky, the lancer bits scorching the surface below as they fired down at him in pursuit. The flames of the burning forest below danced in Madoka’s eyes as they twisted cruelly, and as he plunged to earth, she drifted down, grinding him into the ash with one foot.

  “Ngh!” Combined with the sudden impact, even the last-ditch life support shielding of his IS had been broken, and the pain wracked through Ichika.

  With a gleeful smile on her face, Madoka kicked him over and over, the point of her boots denting his armor, piercing his shields, digging into his flesh.

  “Ugh...” Ichika felt his consciousness began to slip away.

  “Is that all you had? Looks like your head is mine.” Murmuring softly, with murderous glee, Madoka increased the energy to the cutting blade of her buster sword. “I can finally be Orimura Madoka. Finally, finally!”

  She swung her blade down to lop off Ichika’s head, but somehow, it stopped just before cutting into his neck. Somehow, someway, even though he was unconscious, his left hand reached up of its own accord and wrapped around the buster sword.

  “What?!” Madoka had been forcing Ichika back with her superior power, but now, the tables were turned. Ichika was unconscious, but his left hand gripped the blade of her sword.

  “How are you—” Madoka tried to gain some distance, but before she could, Ichika stood. No, not stand, more like dragged to his feet by some unseen force.

 

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