“That’s right!”

  “I’ll finish you off myself. Feel grateful. Ahahah.”

  “Orimura Ichika. It’s time to pay for your sins...”

  “Ichika... Tonight you’re going to sleep a lot less comfortably.”

  Just as they’d finished saying their pieces, the guillotine’s rope finally snapped. Its merciless blade swung down toward his neck. And suddenly, just as they realized what they’d done.

  “......?!”

  Suddenly, a hail of lasers rained down on the dining hall. As most girls ran for cover and the cadets readied their IS, a squad of crimson IS like they’d never seen before descended.

  “What the—”

  There were at least ten of them. That many IS was remarkable on its own. More so, that they were all the same mass-produced type. And even more so, that instead of pilots, strange mechanical mannequins sat in their cockpits.

  “What the heck is going on?!” Tumbling to safety, Ichika opened his own IS, getting ready to fight.

  The squadron of enemy IS soon spotted their target—Houki.

  [TARGET CONFIRMED. BEGINNING EXTRACTION.] Cold, mechanical voices echoed in unison. All dozen or so of the drones grabbed Houki at once, and immediately attempted to withdraw.

  “What are you doing?! Let me go!” Houki struggled, but their grip on her was too strong. Ropes of an energy she’d never seen before wrapped around her even as she tried to open her own IS.

  “ICHIKAAAA!” Houki reached out to him, straining for his hand, but found only air.

  Ichika took flight as fast as he could to follow her.

  “You’re not getting away!” He chased after the drones, with the other cadets not far behind. “Charl! Suppressive fire! Laura! Blast them! Cecilia! Start sniping!”

  “Got it!”

  Taking advantage of the disarray caused by their combined attack, Ichika and Ling charged forward.

  “Wait, no! You can’t! Get back!” Kanzashi yelled out as she completed her analysis. No sooner did the words leave her lips than the drones self-destructed.

  “......?!” Tatenashi’s nanomachines were barely enough to protect the cadets from the blast, but they weren’t enough to stop the drones from carrying Houki away.

  “HOUKI!”

  Ichika’s cries fell on deaf ears.

  ◇

  “We’re tracking the mass-produced IS that took Shinonono.” In the underground complex beneath IS Academy, Chifuyu and the other instructors were briefing the cadets. “Oh, and there’s a gag order about this incident. Be careful not to leak any information.”

  While Chifuyu was the picture of calm, Ichika was anything but, “Who cares about that?! Is Houki okay?!”

  “Calm down, you idiot. We can track her vital signs, remember? Plus, they took her alive. It’s obvious that they obviously want her for something.”

  “How can you be so sure about that?!”

  “Just calm down! We should leave them alone until they make it to where they’re going.”

  “Eh...?” Whispers began to spread. “Have you gone crazy?!”

  Laura was the first to speak up, “If we know where they went, we know where they’ve taken Houki.”

  “And we have some more important info about that.” Chifuyu nodded to Maya, who led another woman into the room.

  “Haha... Hey there.” Kagaribi Hikaruno. Her usual goofy attitude was gone, replaced with a bundle of bandages which left it less than clear whether she still had all her limbs.

  “Those mass-produced IS are from Dr. Kagaribi’s lab, Kuramochi Engineering.”

  “Wha—”

  Kuramochi Engineering. The original developers of not just the Byakushiki and Akatsubaki, but also the O.V.E.R.S. packs used during the Excalibur incident. The revelation that those had all just been steps in the development of the mass-produced Akebachi (‘Vermilion Hornet’) model shocked not just the cadets, but their teachers.

  “A mass-produced version of the Akatsubaki?”

  “O.V.E.R.S. packs need a source of energy to amplify. How are they even working without that?”

  “Never mind that, how are they being controlled?”

  A one-word answer was enough for the teachers. “...Tabane.”

  They shuddered. However much of a technical stretch that seemed, it wasn’t beyond what could be expected from the inventor of the IS and only builder of IS cores. So she’d captured Kuramochi Engineering’s prototypes, turned them into unmanned drones, was feeding them energy from somewhere, and had kidnapped Houki. That meant...

  “She needs the original Akatsubaki and its pilot for some reason?” Tatenashi connected the dots, and Chifuyu nodded.

  It was then when Ichika’s anger finally broke through to the surface.

  “I’m going to go save Houki!” he shouted.

  “But you don’t even know where she is.”

  “Yes I do!” Ichika opened an info display on Akatsubaki. “Here. Over the Pacific.”

  The crowd gasped at Byakushiki’s ability to pick up signals from Akatsubaki even when it was in stealth mode.

  “That has to be a trap. What even makes you think they’re keeping her with her IS?”

  “I... I just know. Houki’s there. She’s waiting for me.”

  “Doesn’t look like there’s any stopping you...” Chifuyu sighed in resignation.

  “So I’m going to go save her. Even if I have to do it alone.” Ichika’s eyes gleamed with determination. And, for just a moment, glowed gold unnoticed.

  “Understood... It’s decided, then. We’re rescuing Shinonono! Cadets, go over your preflights! Instructors, get ready to back them up! We deploy in forty minutes!”

  The cry of ‘yes, ma’am!’ in unison echoed through the briefing room. And thus the operation to rescue Shinonono—the string of battles known later as the Akatsubaki Incident—began.

  ◇

  “How many are there?” As the cadets rushed through their checklists, Chifuyu ran down the intel with Maya.

  “They’d completed six before Tabane took over, but it’s a safe bet that she’s produced more.”

  “So no reliable data on enemy strength...” Chifuyu grimaced at how hard an opponent Tabane was to read.

  “Are you sure this is something IS Academy can handle on its own? We worked with the British government before, maybe we should ask the Japanese if—”

  “They’re not going to lift a finger. Remember?” Chifuyu barely even had to remind her of what had happened with Shirokishi. “If whatever the problem is isn’t actively stomping Tokyo Tower, they’re too chickenshit to get involved. We’ve got to do this our way.”

  “But do we really have to make the students fight?!”

  “Is that a problem? No... that’s too harsh. Are you worried about them?”

  “Yes...”

  Chifuyu paused, then let out a deep breath. Then she smiled tenderly and said, “Never change, Ms. Yamada.”

  “That’s not what I meant!”

  “I know, I know. But here’s how I look at it. These kids are gonna change the world someday. And this may as well be the day.”

  There comes a time in everyone’s life when they must decide. And Chifuyu understood that the time had come for her students. It had for her, once. Now it was their turn. Would they choose the world, or—

  “Engines are dialed in!”

  “Weapons check, OK!”

  “Ready to go anytime!”

  “Assault package installation complete.”

  “Let’s go over these tactics quickly...”

  “Let’s get this done!”

  As the other cadets wrapped their prep up, Ichika sat alone meditating. His hands folded, his legs crossed, his mind emptied. Making sure that his heart was in the right place.

  “I’m coming, Houki...” he muttered.

  With that, the signal to launch appeared.

  “All units, scramble!”

  From the arena runways set up for use as catapults in emergencies, first Ichika, then Cecilia and Ling, Charlotte and Laura, Tatenashi and Kanzashi flew forth. Each with their own worries, their own hopes, as they soared toward the decisive battle.

  ◇

  Where...

  The breeze on her cheeks and the waves lapping at her body brought Houki back to consciousness. A horizon which seemed to stretch off forever. Blinding white sand. And not a single living soul.

  Where am I?

  Alone, she walked on a patch of sand too small to be a proper desert island. Then, she stopped. “Who’s there?!” she called out.

  Feeling eyes on her, she turned around—and paused in shock.

  “Who are you?!”

  Another her. The darkness in her heart. The strength she always imagined having. Standing right there before her, staring at her with red eyes.

  “I...” The other Houki’s smile twisted into a smirk of contempt. “I will replace you.”

  Houki shuddered at the menace in the other her’s eyes.

  “You have no strength. So I’ll replace you.” Languidly, the other Houki held out her hand. Houki spun around to flee, only to see herself mirrored once again.

  “You can’t escape,” the doppelganger’s voice seemingly echoed through the air.

  She couldn’t.

  “You can’t escape from yourself.” The girl before her eyes was just like her. Was her. “Let yourself slip away. Beneath the waves of consciousness...”

  Slowly, the other Houki reached out and stroked her cheek, wiping her tears away.

  That’s right. I’m... Ahh, it felt so good. Such bliss.

  “Giving in feels wonderful, doesn’t it?” Houki felt her body begin to sink slowly into the sand. The voice of her twin sounded so soothing. “Sleep, now...”

  “I...”

  It drifted further and further away until she could hear it no longer. Except for the last few words.

  “I’ll take care of it all for you.” The red-eyed Houki smiled, as a crimson IS wrapped around her. “Leave it to Akatsuki.”

  ◇

  “I’m picking up something manmade floating out there! It must be—”

  The sea stretched out to the horizon, its surface broken only by the manmade island, Giga Front. It was only 200 or so square meters, but its surface absolutely bristled with shipping containers.

  “It looks like a beehive,” Laura said.

  She was right. The unbroken field of hexagonal containers looked like a honeycomb. Then suddenly, a warning blared into view.

  “Picking up drones! Four, five... No, way more!”

  Giga Front shuddered as it began to rise into the air. As it broke away from the surface, it became obvious that it truly was nothing but a honeycomb of containers.

  “Go forth, my Akebachi...” The cadets prepared for combat at the sudden echo of a voice.

  “Look, Ichika!” Looking down on them, the sun at her back, was a girl in what looked like a more sinister version of the Akatsubaki. Her face was young, her form lithe and delicate. A black visor covered her eyes—no, it didn’t just shut her out from the world, it shut the world out from her.

  “What’s that IS? Where’s Houki?!” Ichika turned to her, ready to leap to the attack, but Cecilia and Charlotte caught him by the shoulders.

  “Wait! IR sensors are picking up something in the containers! Here they come, Ichika!”

  “Dammit!” he griped. “We were almost there!”

  “We still have a chance! Don’t give up yet!” The cadets fanned out into a loose circle around Kanzashi, readying their weapons as Tatenashi moved to cover them.

  “Enemy lock detected! It’s too dangerous to go in on your own. Wait for Kanzashi’s orders!”

  As Ichika slumped back, Tatenashi spread out a mist of nanomachines in the path of the incoming Akebachi. Ten of the drones came flying through the wall of fire.

  “Set up curtain fire, and make them close in! Don’t engage until they’re in melee— Ichika?!”

  “We can’t just sit around! Houki’s waiting for me!” Ichika rushed out ahead, shocking the other cadets with a single shot that took down three Akebachis. “Out of my way!”

  Ichika could feel the adrenaline running through his veins, telling him that he could do this.

  “Wait, Ichika! No!” Charlotte and the others were realizing that their engines couldn’t keep up. Their IS’ reactor output had dropped suddenly as soon as they entered this sector. They couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just a mechanical breakdown, something here was causing it.

  “I’m coming for you, Houki!” Breaking free of Charlotte, Ichika charged at the girl in red. Charlotte chased, trying to stop him, only to be intercepted by an Akebachi.

  “Wait, Ichika! Ichikaaaa!” It was like something was drawing him in, and he, and his target, disappeared into the glare of the sun. The cadets, left behind, plunged into a pitched battle.

  “Ugh! Why aren’t my engines working? Kanzashi, can you pick anything up?!” Laura grimaced as she yelled in confusion.

  “I’m running analysis now! ‘Code Red’?! A backdoor output-limiting mode...?!”

  It didn’t matter where it was coming from. Nothing could be done about it now. All they could do was fight as well as they could with the strength they could bring to bear.

  “Time to kick some ass! Let’s go, Shenlong!”

  “We can do this, Blue Tears!”

  “We’ll open a gap in their line! Charlotte! Laura! Follow Ichika!”

  “Got it!”

  The next three minutes felt like they lasted an eternity.

  ◇

  “I can do this! Byakushiki and I can take anyone on!”

  Ichika shot down Akebachi after Akebachi, unquestioning of his newfound confidence. A squad spread out around him, their arms opening to reveal Tsukumobari, ‘99 Needles,’ beam machine guns.

  “Too slow!”

  Spreading his energy wings as wide as he could, Ichika soared upward through the circle of enemies, scattering untold numbers of energy bursts. A rolling thunder of explosions echoed below him as the energy lines collapsed. Diving back down and breaking through, he pressed on, finally catching up with the girl in red.

  She was silent. Wordless. Forbidding.

  “Where’s Houki?!” Ichika’s voice was filled with rage, but the girl answered calmly.

  “You already know.”

  “What?”

  “So why ask me?”

  “Well...” Ichika was stumped. His confusion was only broken as Charlotte and Laura called out to him.

  “Ichika!” Their armor was peppered with bullet holes, suits scorched and torn, and their skin scratched and bruised. Charlotte, especially, had taken a heavy beating as she covered Laura’s assault.

  “Are you two okay?!” The shock on Ichika’s face was met with anger on Laura’s.

  “Damn it! You think you can win this fight yourself?! Quit fucking around!” That was the best way Laura could think of to show how concerned she was, but Ichika didn’t get the message.

  “Listen, I’m going to save Houki! Then this whole mess will be over!”

  “Dammit...!”

  Laura wasn’t the only one set off by Ichika’s self-centered response. Charlotte wound up and slapped him straight across the face.

  “Get a hold of yourself! You’re not the only one who wants to save Houki!”

  That was enough to make Ichika come back to his senses.

  “...Sorry.” Shocked by the slap, Ichika sheepishly apologized.

  “It’s okay. As long as you understand now. Right, Laura?”

  “Yeah.”

  And then, there was the silent, unimpressed fourth participant in the conversation.

  “You never do learn...” Sliding Akatsubaki’s twin blades from their sheathes, she rushed toward Ichika swifter than even Houki could. So fast, so fierce; her movements were uncannily precise.

  “Keep going! I’ll hold her off to buy time!” Ichika called out.

  “What?! That’s too dangerous, Ichika!”

  He locked blades with the girl, only for her to swiftly slide hers around, making him stumble to the side. Charlotte and Laura didn’t realize, but Ichika did, that it was the Shinonono-style tsubazeri-gaeshi technique.

  “H-How do you know how to do that?!” he blurted out.

  “.........”

  Having dealt with Ichika for now, the girl turned her attention to Laura and Charlotte.

  “You may be good, but you’re not good enough to take two of us at once!” Laura spread her AIC stasis field, only for the girl to carve through it with her Kawaware at max power. “Ugh!”

  Laura flinched back as the blade closed in, but Charlotte was there to cover her.

  “Not so fast!” Two shields layered made for an impressive physical barrier, strong enough to stop even a blow from Akatsubaki. But only once.

  The blow which was meant for Laura cleaved Charlotte’s shields in two. Behind them, Charlotte and Laura leveled their guns.

  “Eat this!” Laura fired a burst strong enough to pierce even an IS’ shields. The close-ranged blast was enough to send the girl sprawling.

  “I’m not letting you get away!” Charlotte’s bullets fell like rain. But just as they were about to finish her off, another wing of ten Akebachi appeared.

  “Why don’t you busy yourself with these?” Charlotte and Laura were driven back by the coordinated assault as the girl turned back to Ichika.

  “There’s too many! We can’t—”

  “Not yet! This isn’t over yet!”

  They fought on bravely but outnumbered, with more and more shots catching them as they maneuvered. But then, just as their shield energy ran out, an unexpected voice came over their comms, “GET DOWN!”

  Before they even had time to wonder how going prone would help in an aerial battle, a wave of explosions enveloped the Akebachi.

  “Graviton Cluster?!” They turned to see Iris in Seventh Princess and Djibril in Imperial Knight.

  “Princess?! What are you doing here?!”

  “After that match earlier, I’d feel guilty if I simply took advantage of someone else taking her out of my way.”

  While Iris was perfectly calm, fresh, and self-composed, Djibril—who’d given everything they had to get Seventh Princess in position—panted for breath, “Anyway, though. I’m glad we made it in time.”

 

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