Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
North Sector - Training Field Septa
Frontline Position - Division 8
Time: 1330
January 31, 2050
“Hey.. did you see what that guy Itsuki did?” A young first year whispered to another student.
“Yeah.” The other first year nodded, rubbing his arm as if to try and get the sudden goosebumps off of him. “He’s a friggin psychopath, no wonder the upperclassmen talk about him like he’s the devil.”
“Just, how did a guy like that become the supervisor of the dorms? A mental asylum patient seems like a better fit.”
“No kidding, better steer clear of him.”
“I don’t think we can.” Said another first year. “Rumor has it that the guy gets to everyone eventually.”
“Get’s to them? How?”
“Well, you see..”
Stella tried her best to ignore the gossip. The fools were speaking over a comm line that wasn’t even secure. They weren’t on the open comm, but that didn’t stop others from being able to eavesdrop on what they were saying. While not able to tap into their comms herself, she was tuned into her current team members communications feed, which included Chisuke, 2 other trainees, and Itsuki, who was apparently monitoring everyone. When she asked about why this was necessary all she got from him as an answer was that it was his job.
Stella believed that, though there was an undertone to his words that a noble like her could surmise. No one else could tell, but Itsuki held his hand close to his chest, similar to how the noble court official from her homeland did when discussing political affairs or certain topics that couldn’t be said aloud. Those old statesmen were cunning and conniving.
So growing up? Stella learned to read inbetween the lines, and knowing better she didn’t pry any further into Itsuki’s motives. Her main concern at the moment was what Itsuki was doing rather than planning. They were minutes away from beginning another of their counterattacks to win today’s war game and he was cutting it close with all the adjustments he was making with S1’s tank. She leaned herself over the top hatch of S1’s tank and saw him working away at the tank’s inner mechanisms.
“Are you not bothered by this?” She asked him, “Your reputation is going down the drain at this rate.. Or well, it's going even further down.”
Itsuki looked up at her and flipped back the welding mask from his face. “Why would I be concerned about that? I’d rather be feared than looked down on.”
“And why’s that?”
“It’s so that people don’t forget that I’m older than them. Fear sends a clearer message, and I’d rather they be afraid than naive, if you get my meaning.”
Stella did, she kept what she gleaned from showing though. Itsuki pulled himself out of the tank’s top hatch and threw off the fireproof jacket. He stretched as he let his sweaty overalls cool in the wind. She spied a glance at him, scanning him up and then down. He was short for a guy and had a face so youthful that it didn’t match with how he acted. In terms of maturity, he had it in spades and his tolerance for bullshit was zero. That was especially true with how he had minutes ago bashed an uncouth first year’s face in with the back side of the tank. Stella shuddered at just remembering how it all happened. It was so fresh in her mind, mostly because of how visceral it was and how recently it happened.
“Can you stop looking at me like that?” Itsuki asked as he hopped off the tank to air himself out, “Your eyes are wandering.”
“Huh?” Stella realized he had noticed that her gaze was focusing on his chest and other well toned muscles. She flustered and started to massage the blush out of her cheeks.
Itsuki raised a brow at her. “You really are like your mother.” He said, almost chuckling to himself, “She had a fascination with muscles too, it makes sense why she married your father. The man was a hulk of a warrior, so it seems her feminine fascination runs in the family.” He gave her a rare smirk. “The apple truly doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Stella grimaced in displeasure. “I do not have a fascination with muscles.” She said, trying to sound convincing, except her tone was faltering.
“Really? You don’t sound like you mean it.” By Itsuki’s matter of fact tone, he made it sound as if there was no room for argument. “I know about what happened between you and Ikki. I must say I’ve never known a girl to be so bold as to mount someone in their..”
“Ah! Shut up! Shut up!” Stella yelled to cut him off as she hopped off the tank and clasped a hand over his mouth. She turned her head to see if anyone was around had heard that. The coast was clear, so she leaned in to ask in a whisper, “How do you know about that?”
“I’m the dorm’s supervisor.” Itsuki said, annoyingly muffled. “I know about most of the things going on in the dorm. That’s my job.”
Stella scowled at him. “Stalker.”
Her accusation unfazed Itsuki, he only brushed her hand away and went back to working on the tank. He ran his fingers over the armor plates, tapping on them to test that they were secured in place. Stella caught a glimpse of what remained of a red blood smear left on the backside of the tank.
It stirred her to ask, “Hey, about earlier? Was it necessary to be that violent? I know that creep from before was causing trouble for Dahlia, but.. Doing all that seemed too extreme.”
Itsuki stopped in his tracks for a second as he peered closer at the tank’s armor plating. “Yes.. Yes it was necessary.” He said, “In fact I’m surprised that you don’t agree.”
Stella sat herself beside the tank. “Why would you say that?”
“Because your father would’ve killed him without hesitation.”
Stella immediately bristled. The topic of her family was a sensitive point for her and she disliked hearing his opinion about them. Whatever seemed to come out of Itsuki’s mouth was either slander or what seemed like baseless conjecture. “And what do you know?!” She asked vehemently, “Actually, why are you comparing me to my parents?”
Itsuki sighed and turned to her for a moment. His eyes gazed at her from her leg greaves of her manifested armor and then up to the rather buxom chest plate hugging her small yet curvaceous frame. Stella, in reflex, crossed her arms over her chest to hide herself away. Face souring, she mouthed the word creep at him.
“Will you quit that?” She snapped, “Now answer the question!”
“I see a lot of them in you.” Itsuki finally said, his eyes going back to the tank, “You have your mother’s features, but the fighting spirit of your father. Yet you’ve inherited some of your mother’s mercy and very little of your father’s.. bloodlust. It’s.. interesting.”
“You sound like you know them personally.”
“I do.” Itsuki drew attention to his face. “This goes back to what I said earlier. I make people fear me because it's easier for them to remember that I’m older than I look. I may seem like a teenager, but I’m probably old enough to be your uncle. And I’ve even met your parent’s before, I grew up with your father during the war actually.”
“How so?” Stella asked, her father had rarely reminisced about the war and she understood why. “Was the war as terrible as the books say it was?”
Itsuki nodded. “Yeah.. only I’d say seeing it was the only way to really believe it.”
“I see.” Stella then had to work up her courage to continue. “You said my father would’ve killed without hesitation. Why? My father is nothing like that. He’s a kind and benevolent ruler. He is just, and not as ruthless as you.”
“He is now.” Itsuki told her, “But not always.”
Stella was about to rebuke him. She had to stop herself at the last second. The recent history of the world hasn't been pleasant. Civil wars had been fought after the end of the starfall war. It was over territory, resources, or even beliefs. She couldn’t help but admit that the Kingdom of Crimsonia, her homeland, didn’t have a blood free history. Revolts had happened, and while she hadn’t been around for them, the subsequent discontent that the lower rungs of the European Bloc held for the upper class and nobility, was something she wasn’t blind to.
“Hey Stella, are you thirsty?”
That question drew her out of her thoughts. She found Ikki offering her a bottle of water. That smile of his helped to sooth her heart. She seemingly always felt a gentle thrum that pulled on her heart strings whenever she saw him. Immediately a blush on her cheeks bloomed. She hurriedly nodded and swiped the bottle from his hand as she averted her gaze.
Ikki tilted his head in confusion. Beside him, Amanda shot Itsuki a look. From where Itsuki was on the tank, he shot the same look back at her. The phrase, hurry up and get a room, was an unspoken sentiment they wished Stella and Ikki would eventually understand. Alas that was not to be.
“So is it ready?” Ikki asked Itsuki. “You’ve sure souped up the tank in such a short time, just how did you do all this?”
“Simple.” Itsuki knocked on one of the box shaped armor plates on the tank, “These CDU tanks are modular. The inner components, outer components, and framing components can be switched out with ease. You just need to know how to do it.”
“Will this thing even move?” Amanda asked, worriedly scrutinizing the tank. The extra plates of armor and the widened side skirts that were big enough to lay flat on top of it, seemed too cumbersome. “Won’t all this add a lot of weight? It’s going to slow you down.”
“Not if I imbue my core energy into the tank’s engine, and I’ve made the adjustments to the engine’s output as well. It should last for how long I need it to.”
Amanda nodded speculatively. “Yeah, if you say so.” She paused, then asked, “I’ve been wondering, but back when we had our first official duel, on that day we met in the dorms.”
“You mean when you cracked a bat over my head?” Itsuki interrupted, “And when Stella punched Ikki in the nuts?”
Stella suddenly choked on her water. “That.. that was an accident.” She said flusteredly, desperately gasping for air. “Right, Ikki? Right?!”
Ikki put his hands up in surrender. “Yes Yes, I know, I know.” He said placatingly, and motioned for Amanda to continue. “So, you were saying Amanda?”
“Uh? Yes, That day.” Amanda said, somewhat with a stiff upper lip. She tried to not look annoyed but the question she held didn’t help to quell her emotions, so she spat it out to get it over with. “Were you holding back? No.. wait, that sounds childish.. What I should be asking is, what was with that attack you did before? The one that shot the silver bolt.”
Stella shared in that question. Itsuki's show of force had been astonishing for a grunt type explorer. His usual use of firearms was his go to, but his utilizing of core energy was rare in his style of combat. The recent technique he used to disable Haruka, Sinder, and Arielle had been in the back of her mind.
Itsuki, knowing what they were referring to, withdrew the silver pistol holster on the back of his hip. “By the looks on your faces, you know what this is.” He said, handing it to Amanda.
Amanda touched the pistol’s slide and it made her visibly tense. Stella couldn’t blame her, the dense pressure the pistol was giving off was similar to her father’s authoritative aura. The common consensus was that you could tell a veteran explorer apart from the rest by how much weight you felt in the presence of their manifest weapon, armor, or techniques.
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“So this is your manifested weapon.” Ikki said, scanning over it with an intrigued eye, “This is the first time I’ve seen it. Why don’t you usually use it?”
“Because it's a drain on my core energy.” Itsuki explained, “Using manifested armor, weapons, or personal techniques wears an explorer out. And in a long fight like this one today, you need to conserve your energy. Also, I wasn’t supposed to use this, in fact none of the hired explorers were to fight so seriously today.” His attention drew to an approaching group of people behind Amanda. Recognizing that time was running short, he motioned to one of them. “Looks like it’s time. Chisuke!” He shouted. “Mount up, that goes the same for you Stella.”
Amanda handed the silver pistol back and asked. “You know what you're about to do is crazy right? And why does Stella have to go with you?”
“Because we need heavy hitters.” Itsuki said as he climbed up the tank and then buttoned up his camo coat. “Stella has the highest amount of innate firepower among the mystics and I’m sure the headmaster’s keeping an eye on her. That goes double for Chisuke and myself, so the three of us will make a great distraction.” He then thrusted a finger at Amanda. “You make sure you follow through as well, don’t fall alright?”
Amanda sighed. “I really wish I don’t have to. This plan is crazy.”
“Oh, so you read it? I thought you broke your HUD at this point.”
“Yeah.. I did read it.” Amanda hissed as she nursed her head and tried to not admit she had difficulty with the displayless interface. “And I don’t like it.”
“You don’t like it!?” Chisuke scoffed as he passed by, “If you want, you can switch with me.” He got up beside Itsuki and nudged him in the side. “I prefer to not work with this guy when he’s driving a vehicle.”
Itsuki nudged back, “Hurry up and get on, Chisuke. And make sure you latch yourselves onto the tank.”
“Latch?” Stella asked, getting up on the tank as well, “Why do we need to do that?”
“Trust me.” Chisuke said, “You don’t wanna know. Here.” He tossed over a rope harness belt to her. “Get that on and I’ll show you how to use it.” He then ushered her to the front of the tank.
Ikki waved to Stella. “Good luck out there.” He called out, “I’ll see you when this is over. Or well, if we make it pass this training exercise.”
“Oh I won’t need luck.” Stella called back, “I’m sure I’ll be able to handle whatever happens.”
As Stella and Chisuke got themselves in order, Amanda noticed the new equipment Itsuki was pulling out from his storage rings. This time it wasn’t the usual combination of guns and grenades. Instead he had a large rectangular box like sword sheath tethered to one side of his hip and a whip holstered on the other side. She had many questions, except the timer in the corner of her HUD told her to make it snappy.
“So how do you plan to get their attention?”
Itsuki didn’t answer for a second as he withdrew his manifested weapon and racked the silver slide twice. A casing fell out on the first rack and dissipated into silver dust. On the second rack a silver bullet flew out. He caught it and seemed to study it in his palm.
“Just watch.” He said, smiling with a hint of anticipation. “I’ll have to use something I don’t normally use.”
***
Division 8’s remaining members stood at the ready. Trainees and students mounted themselves onto the jeeps lined and spread behind the 5 tanks at the front. Behind them all, mortar crew were at the ready and making final adjustments. With them, S1 had his finger on his earpiece, it was like a trigger. At a moment's notice, he’d give the signal to start the attack.
He glanced in his HUD and saw the time. 1333. The time to attack was 1335 per 00’s calculations. He had two minutes to think, and if his math was right, they’d then have 10 minutes to close in on the enemy explorers and hit them before they could fully recover. This was going to be a stressful fight. But weren’t all fights stressful?
I suppose so. S1 couldn't help but laugh at himself, he was becoming soft. He needed to get his head in the game, so got on the comms and connected with Itsuki.
[Time to start, 1 minute.] He said, [Get ready Itsuki.]
[On it.]
Itsuki’s gruff reply was followed by him palming the silver bullet in his hand. He settled into his seat in the tank and then kicked the back of the seat in front of him to signal the two trainees who would be joining him. Getting an affirmative green wink of light in his HUD, he then crushed the bullet in his hand and silver light surged out from his clenched fist. The luminance quickly settled as it seeped into his palm and spread across his body in a wave of crackling silver lines. With his other hand, he flipped the tank’s communications to an open line so that everyone in Division 8 could hear him.
[00, report enemy status.]
[Query.. Enemy forces are in stand by position.]
[Good..] Itsuki grabbed the tank’s drive lever with his right hand and jerked his left foot into position to operate the tank’s firing and loading mechanism. [Begin the countdown.] He ordered.
[Query.. Understood.]
As 00 began, Itsuki focused his intent on the tank itself. He took in the firm and stiff feeling of the controls, and began imbuing his core energy into the tank.
[To all battlegroups.] He spoke, addressing everyone in a flat tone. [This is Battlegroup Storm 1. Prepare for shock. Brace Brace Brace.]
After giving his warning, Itsuki let himself relax as 00’s voice now counted down from 30. Everyone noticed that the tank in the lead shined a silverish white for a momentary second. A point of silver light then gleamed and formed at the front of the tank’s barrel. Secured on each skirt side of the tank, Stella and Chisuke held tighter to their harnesses as the pinpoint of light grew in size. Stella had only one word she could describe what was happening.
Insanity.
Everyone was in agreement, the pressure in the air had changed to an eerily sharp and grim atmosphere. When 00’s count got 20, they heard Itsuki’s flat voice boom over the comms and, most mysterious of all, the air. Their HUDs’ automatically displayed his targeting view from the tank’s modified optics, and target after target seen ahead were being isolated and identified as separate icons.
[Type 5.. Set.. Targets Locked.. Adjust right.. 4 3 6 D C E.. Line Memory.. Integration. 4 4 9.. Set 12.]
Amanda blinked in surprise at how Itsuki's tone wasn’t like himself. It was unemotional as usual, except this was machine like. As he went on, a shift in the enemy constructs became noticeable. A howl of hellhounds, the stomping of golems, and the manicale clatter of swarming puppet constructs filled the air. Red icons moved on their mini maps, they were charging. The first years braced themselves as the upperclassmen readied their weapons. The mystics and trainees held fire at S1’s command.
Itsuki zeroed in as he spoke the last of the keywords to fire off one of his techniques. [11 9 P3 6 E.. Final calculations.. Completed.. All status.. Green..]
He gulped and it came over the wireless. Stella tensed, her face forcefully brightened as the once pinpoint of silver light at the front of the tank’s barrel grew and shifted itself into the shape of a tank round, its brilliance shone with what could be described as the power of the sun.
[5, 4, 3, 2..] At the last second of 00’s count, Itsuki pressed the trigger next to his left foot and announced, [Earth Shaker Round.. Fire.]
The count was completed and an alarm blared from their earpieces. But the device's noise dampening features couldn’t drown out the rocketing boom of the lead tank’s thunderous clap of air that shook and shuddered the tanks beside it. The closest tanks reeled back on their heavy duty treads, skidding a few feet across the ground. The students were either startled, blinded, or left in awe as an incredibly quick flash flew across the field ahead and bursted on contact with the first approaching construct it hit. The silver light punched through a 10 meter tall golem, spreading silver flecks, dispersing them and multiplied into more flecks of silver light. A second later, every point of light that had spread itself across the horde of constructs imploded.
A wave of dust caked the battlefield and a second of silence took over everyones' mind. Many of them hadn’t a clue what had happened, they had seen videos and the VR recordings of past battles explorers had fought in. But they never saw this. Chisuke was amused by their reactions, except he didn’t get to relish it as Itsuki threw the tank’s driver lever forward. Chisuke had to hold on as the tank he stood on got up to speed in less than a second. In fact, the thing was going faster than it should, he could hear the engine roar and feel how hot it was pumping.
[Beginning Phase 1.]
Itsuki’s voice woke everyone back up and Stella caught herself before she fell off the tank.
[This is Storm 1, sending targeting locations.] Itsuki continued, [S1, order danger close bombardment.]
[Coming right up!] S1 raised his hand and then thrusted it forward. [Fire!]
On time, the mortar crews popped shell after shell and the mystics still on their feet volleyed their longest ranged attack. Every projectile zeroed in on Storm 1’s position and was offset through 00’s meticulously calculated trajectories. As Storm 1’s tank drew closer to the wall of dust that had been kicked up from the start of Phase 1, they caught a glimpse of the devastation that had been wrought by Itsuki’s Earth Shaker Round. Like the parting of the sea, the flat plain opened up. The only borders were the rows upon rows of constructs occupying their left and right flanks.
No sooner did the constructs detect them and start to close the hole that had been made. Storm 1 went in as S1’s ordered strike bombarded within meters of the tank. Stella had to clench her mouth shut in fear of biting her tongue off and her heart kept leaping out of her chest as every explosion rocked the tank.
So this is what he meant! Stella had gotten the gist they’d be decoy’s, but this was getting way out of hand. I didn’t think it’d be this crazy! She wanted to scream that so much, but her lips continued to stay shut.
On the contrary, standing on the right side of the tank, Chisuke was laughing his head off. He brandished his odachi and swung, letting off blood red slashes that crashed into construct after construct that tried to get close or climb up. He was like a mounted rider on a horse, except the horse was over a ton of metal that spat fire.
Undeterred as well, the two trainees inside the tank opened up with the front mounted machine guns. Stella, on her side of the tank, heard the rack of a tank shell load into place and was scared shitless as the barrel thundered right next to her. Thankfully her communications earpiece dulled the noise. How this thing did it for both of her ears even though she only wore it on one side was something she was eternally grateful for.
[Stella!] Itsuki shouted over their private comms. [Hurry up and start attacking. We need to draw them in. Make sure you cover the left side!]
[G-Got it.] Stella at this point was more inclined to huddle into a ball and cry, but she wasn’t one to give up and she was no coward. She was princess of the Kingdom of Crimsonia, daughter to the hero king of the European Bloc. Switching her switch axe into blade form, she held its full golden length to the sky and conjured a towering pillar of fire. [CRIMSON DRAGON!]
The skyward flame fell at her command and burned a swath through the constructs. A countering howl of hellhound fired hit the tank, but the armor held as a transparent layer of silver sparked on its surface for a second. The next volley from S1 came in and explosion after explosion shuddered the ground around them, kicking up dust and dirt. Through it all Storm 1 advanced with their tank, piercing deeper into the enemy line.
Chisuke rapped on the side of the tank’s turret to get Itsuki’s attention. [Dead ahead, we got trouble.]
[I see it.] Itsuki called back. Ahead, a line of constructs was impeding them. He had been hammering them with tank fire but the enemy's density ahead had thickened to a point it was impossible to pass through by force alone. Glancing at the map, they had only traversed 300 meters. They were off aways from the targets, though this was within 00’s prediction. Double checking his position, he was satisfied.
[Phase 1, Complete! Switching to Phase 2! Hold on tight!] As he shouted, he pulled the drive lever back with his right hand and used his right foot to press a foot lever to reverse the motion of the left tread.
Storm 1’s tank swerved and jinked a hard left. The maneuver had everyone flinching from the sudden jerk of g forces. Before they could settle, Itsuki punched it and pushed the tank’s engine into overdrive. His modification had removed the built in limiter, along with adding a few extra options and armor to get through this next phase of the plan. And they were working well. Just as planned the constructs began to chase them. The headmaster was likely trying to swarm Itsuki, Chisuke, and Stella since they had the best chance of breaking through. They were going to keep that attention on themselves.
[Incoming!] Stella shouted and pointed ahead. [10 meter Golem coming right at us! Turn left!]
[No, we’re going through!] Itsuki shouted back, [Brace yourself!]
[What! We can’t..]
Stella didn’t get the chance to say anything more as Itsuki triggered a control in his HUD. The undercarriage of the tank started to hum. Steering the tank to an outcropping of boulders, Itsuki ran through it and aimed the treads for the most inclined jutting of rock. The whole tank jumped for a second and then started to lift off the ground. The jump propulsion module he had installed under the tank came to life and jetted a burst of propellant. Another booming propulsion module activated at the tank’s rear and they flew head long at the golem ahead.
Stella was about ready to see heaven. She was snapped back to reality as the tank’s barrel hammered a round through the golem and they then smashed right through what was left with the tank’s reinforced front armor. Stella and Chisuke wobbled as the tank landed with a hard thump, but this rough ride wasn’t over.
Itsuki accelerated, then kicked the gunner’s seat in front of him. [Imbue the armor! Quick!]
Releasing their fingers from the trigger, the pair of trainees at the front touched the interior of the tank and channeled their core energies. In doing so the front armor was hardened to the point that it could smash its way through any obstacle for however long the trainees could manage to keep their energies going.
Making use of the core energy Itsuki knew was in short supply for grunt type explorers like them, he pushed his way past every construct he saw. The tank gun boomed away as Chisuke and Stella let off what attacks they could. A countering hail of rocks sailed by them, barely missing them as golem after golem hurled whatever they could get their hands on. Jumping, racing, ramming, and smashing their way deeper into the enemy's ranks, Itsuki pushed the limits of the tank. But the noose around them was eventually going to be drawn closed. Stella looked up to her HUD’s clock, only 3 minutes had passed, 3 damned minutes of pure adrenaline and horrific fear coursing through her. It only got worse as they were surrounded.
For sure she thought this would be the end. 10 meter golems were closing in on them from the front and the back. No matter how fast the tank could go, they’d eventually be stopped. So Itsuki did something she hadn’t thought a tank could do. He rapidly turned the tank to the right and it actually began to drift. As he came around to do a donut, Chisuke let off a flurry of elongated slashes as the tank’s barrel boomed shell after shell in a 360 drift. After 2 full revolutions they stopped and Stella finally caught her breath.
[Is it over?!] She slumped to her knees, yelling more out of desperation than needing to know what the hell was going on anymore. Her eyes were spinning and she swore she heard birds chirping in her ears. Itsuki stayed silent for a second, until he heard S1’s voice.
[Phase 2 complete. Switching to Phase 3. Good work Storm 1! Vanguard! Advance!]
[Copy!] Itsuki replied, [Time to bail out! Everyone off the tank! Now!]