Tides Of Protomis XCVIII
Battle In Hasegawa Academy
3 Hours prior To Demon-Realm Barrier Destruction - Silver Lions Transport Ship- Soryu.
While the Tides continued their days as normal, the same could not be said for Watanabe Taiki, Koeda Tsumotsu, Asano Yua, and Ashikaga Sara. The taller, Yua, sat in a chair beside Tsumotsu, looking down upon her holo-phone with a sigh. What was being said about Corde, and his allies, was certainly not praise, at least, on this site, it wasn’t.
“Geez… I should’ve expected as much, it’s not like we haven’t had our fair share of bad press…” Asano commented. Taiki, in the meanwhile, took a drag of his cigarette, and began to speak once more.
“At the very least, everybody isn’t against them. Besides, knowing Corde, it’ll be smooth sailing as far as he’s concerned, he's never been one to care. I’d probably say it’s the same for the others he surrounds himself with.”
Though Tsomutsu normally would have agreed with his old friend, today, he looked at his statement with some form of disagreement.
"But what of the so-called demon that appeared, or this group calling themselves the holy order? We know almost nothing of them, and they apparently have members capable of matching Arctaius, given the report we received concerning that battle. "
"Too many questions, and not enough answers… Either way, we'll have to trust them to handle things until we're able to get involved" As Sara chimed in, the members of the squad nodded in agreement. The Soryu's autopilot continued to take them toward their destination, a place that they certainly remembered well. After all, it was the same one that brought the group together. Before long, they saw a rather isolated large building that resembled the traditional castles of Yesteryear. The large complex was surrounded by walls, and within, were individual buildings with walls constructed with plaster, and tiled roofs. Though the buildings were obviously updated with modern technology, for the most part, the original building was preserved.
After all, the inhabitants of nearby Kanazawa, wouldn’t allow it to be any other way, it was a symbol to them, to that, there was no doubt.
The Institution known as the Hasegawa Academy had a long-standing place in Yamato’s history. Like any other state, Proto-humans were an important part of the nation’s military paradigm. It was for that reason, that shortly after taking power, Emperor Takao, the second Emperor after the dissolution of the shogunate, would found the institution in the year 1350. Since then, it has produced no small amount of fighters who have been instrumental to Yamato’s success in the many conflicts the state found itself in.
And the approaching squad was by no means the only powerful fighters they’d produced, and likely, they would not be the last.
After a while, Tsumotsu stood from his seat, and began walking toward the bridge.
“I’ll take care of the landing this time…”
He ascended up the stairs, and promptly began the process of both informing the academy of their arrival, and being directed to the correct place.It did not take long for them to land. The humming of the engines began to slow, until it came to the stop, as the ship touched down. It didn’t take long for the cargo bay doors to begin lowering, giving the welcoming committee below, a direct view of the elite squad’s members. Said welcoming committee had somebody they remembered quite well, a gray-haired man wearing an officer’s dress uniform. The general who served as the leader of the operations during their youth, when they still attended, a man known as Aki Kiyoshi.
“Aki. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Watanabe questioned, as he stepped toward the aging man. A smile began to appear on Kiyoshi’s face as he stepped toward Watanabe as well, offering a hand, as Watanabe took, and shaked it.
“Indeed, not since the conflict in Banyutami…” Kiyoshi responded. Before pulling his hand away, and stepping past him, toward the other members of the squad, looking at the two women first.
“Ashikaga, Asano, it seems that you two have done well for yourself.” The general shifted his focus, toward the Gunslinging proto-human.
“Tsumotsu Koeda. You joined the squad after they graduated, but I've heard about you through the grapevine...”
However, the man's expression quickly soured, as he remembered other things that he'd heard.
"I also heard about what happened with Yamaguchi…"
That much was enough to put a damper on all of their moods. The fact that their old comrade had betrayed them was something they didn't commonly speak about. Though in the public eye, it was simply passed off as the man being killed in action, those this high up in the ranks, knew what the truth was, even if it was vague. As Watanabe saw it, he deserved to know the details. But, this wasn't just a personal trip, and they had duties to attend to.
"It was unfortunate indeed… We'll explain in detail what happened later on. Let's get to the classroom." The Aging man nodded, as he began to make his way back into the school's gate, flanked on both sides by armored infantrymen, making a gesture for them to follow. They did so in little time. The large metal gate was as they remembered it, as were the winding cobble paths that lined the complex. Of course, the three had their own memories in this place. As Watanabe’s eyes moved to a tree near the mess hall.
He recalled his first attempt at trying to get with another student at the academy, who’s name he remembered, but the face, not so much. Though, by that point, he hadn’t had meaningful social contact for about 5 years, so it ended about as well as one would expect. It did not take long for a giggle to come from Yua, who began speaking soon after.
“I remember that… the incident with Sachiko, right?” She said, much to the former’s chagrin.
“So you still remember that….”
“As do I.” Ashikaga responded.
The man sighed.
“Of course…”
Tsumotsu looked upon this with a raised eyebrow, glancing at the three.
“What is this... Sachiko Incident?”
“As I heard, Watanabe tried confessing to one of his classmates.Unforutnatley, it did not end well.” Kiyoshi explained. The silver lion’s leader simply scratched the back of his head, as he put his gaze forward once more.
“How did you even know about that, Kiyoshi? You’d think after nearly 30 years, that stuff like that would be forgotten… I guess not. "
Eventually, the group made their way into the main building, where the classrooms lay, Seven, for each of the Seven Classes. A system that had remained in place since the academy's founding. The halls were filled with students, most of which kept their attention on the approaching group,knowing full well who they were.
"The Silver Lions…?" one questioned from the watching crowd.
"They actually came? I thought that was just a rumor…" Another whispered.
As murmurs came from the crowd, the group themselves simply continued walking, as if they hadn't noted the conversations. And, though they'd been trained for some time now, they were normal kids as far as their ideas of what was "cool". The relative nonchalance of the group that walked past them was more than enough. It was only when the group got out of earshot did one of them speak again.
"Our combat exercise to teach the students will be in three hours. I want to thank you all for coming here. Having an experienced special ops squad, especially one they all recognize as strong, will help us in preparing them for the future." Kiyoshi explained. The group nodded in acknowledgement, as their eyes drifted to something else in the hallway, classroom seven. The three members of the silver lions stopped walking, and promptly, Yua looked to Kiyoshi.
“If you don’t mind, could you give us a second?”
Kiyoshi glanced over his shoulder, almost ready to question why, until he noted what the other two members were looking at. Which was more than enough for him to make his decision.
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“Alright… You know where the training field is.” The general left soon after, leaving the silver lions by themselves. The four sauntered over to the door, and stopped there. Three of them stood in silence as they thought back to their past once more.
“Class seven… Been a long time, hasn’t it. It looks like Morimoto is still nowhere to be found.”
“He was your teacher, and commanding officer for a brief time, right?” Tsumotsu questioned. Gaining a nod from Sara.
“He was a good one too. The fact that we were ready to get into battle, we can attribute that to him.” Sara noted.
“By that point the only fights I'd gotten into were with criminals and maybe the occasional Kaemerge soldier… Well, no use in dwelling upon this now. Guess we just wait until the training starts. ” And that, they did. The following three hours passed quickly, and the squad found themselves in the training field. One which boasted multiple sectors. One of which was constructed to look like a modern city, while the one next to it was closer to a forest. All to get the waiting crowd of students ready for their eventual carriers in combat, wherever those battles might end up being.
On top of a stage, temporarily moved there for the event, stood the Silver Lions, and Kiyoshi.
“Students of Hasegawa Academy. As we explained earlier, Yamato’s elite Proto-Human Task Force, the Silver Lions, made the decision to stop by for instruction. Make sure that you absorb what you can from them! Classes 1 & 2, You will be working with Watanabe Taiki. Classes 2 & 3, Koeda Tsumotsu. Classes 4 & 5, Yua Asano. Classes 6 & 7 , With Ashikaga Sara.
“Right.. Let’s get started.” Watanabe exclaimed, with a drag of his cigarette. He gestured for the two squads to follow him, before he jumped off to the urban combat zone. Tsumotsu adjusted his tie and collar, before he began levitating, looking toward what resembled hot, humid wetlands, akin to what one would see in the countries closer to the equator. Yua decided upon the rolling dunes of what was supposed to resemble a desert. While Sara eyed something else. A sector heavily sealed off, filled entirely with water. A plan had hatched in her head immediately, and she flew toward it. And, just like that, the crowd’s of students had cleared.
As watanabe landed at the summit of what resembled an apartment building. Though the inside was entirely empty save for the rooms themselves, but, that wouldn’t affect what he was doing either way. Watanabe’s eyes began to move across the crowd, thinking back to when a similar test happened during his time. An older man, known as the crimson sage. He was famous for his contributions during the Numatetsu War. When he came to the academy, he was 74 years old, but no less of a fighter than he was in his younger days.
He brought himself back to the present. Though the man didn’t see any large sources of protomis among the students, at the least, in comparison to himself, perhaps some of the strategies they came up with would be able to surprise him.
“Alright. Let’s get started. You all will have 10 minutes to prepare a strategy, this test ends when you can successfully get a hit on me.” Which no doubt was the reason nervous expressions covered their faces. After all, they were going to be elites, but Watanabe was a living legend, how were they going to do something like that? The change in mood did not go unnoticed, and he decidedly spoke once more.
“Don’t lose your nerve… This likely won’t be the only time you have to fight against a stronger opponent. Play your cards right, and take the correct course of action. Your goal won’t be so far away, now then-” He paused, as he took the cigarette in his mouth out of his lips, before it promptly transformed into his preferred blade, a greatsword.
“Let’s get started…”
It did not take long for the sounds of battle to begin emitting from the training zones. The students try to adapt to their powerful opponents as quickly as possible. Even so, they found themselves struggling, to no one's surprise. However, what was at first a simple training exercise, would turn into something else entirely. Above the Academy, the azure sky above appeared as if it had been cut, giving way to a growing void, one in which linked the denizens of the other realm to this world.
At first, as one saw In the other locations across the planet, swarms of demons began to fall toward the earth. Which gave the battles below pause. In one of the buildings, Members of class 1 looked up to the sky, and were given a clear view of the rapidly descending creatures.
One of which was the strongest of class 1, a young woman known as Furutani Chiasa.
"Is that those demons they talked about on the news..?" She questioned.
"Who else could it be?" one of her classmates commented. The Silver Lions obviously took note of this as well, and regrouped upon the stage. They all glanced at each other, knowing very well what they were dealing with.
"They picked a bad time to start attacking… looks like we won't be finishing their training." Watanabe commented.
Strangely, a wave of Crimson light washed over the rapidly descending creatures. And within moments, their bodies began to dissipate. This much was accompanied by the Descent of a tall, lanky figure with grayed skin. with its hand raised, and body cloaked in the same light, making it very clear who the source was.
"Now that the weaklings are out of the way… it's about time I get started."
The situation was clear to all members of the silver lions, the four simply glancing at each other was enough to send the message, and they were already flying toward the creature. Which did not go unnoticed. Soon enough, his prefered weapon, a long spear with an abnormal blade, began to fall from the portal as well.
Watanabe was the first to make an attack, with the two weapons clashing between them. The two fighters continued to attempt to break through the others guard, to no avail.
"So, you must be under the demon they call Maleggan, correct?"
Leading to the creature waving his hand dismissively.
"That one, hardly? As if I would submit myself to some weakling. My empire is just beyond the great sea… Though the human realm does not look like one of note, there's no chance I would let them establish their domain here unopposed. Now then… Prepare to die, to the might of Zel'is Belial!"
No sooner did the other spears began to close in on Watanabe, at blinding speeds. But his teammates did not let the attempted attacks hit, Tsumotsu's revolver flew off his hip, quicker than the blink of an eye, as rays of light shit from the barrel, crashing into the rods of each, and throwing them off course. Belial used his abilities, quickly course correcting the spears, and changing their flight path, now, targeting both.
"Yua, let's do it." Sara stated.
"Right."
Yua engaged her abilities, prompting a transformation. As a light began to grow around her, what was once a woman, turned into a two-winged fighter, armed with particle cannons, as well as missiles. The L-22 Tengu. Though, given the nature of her abilities, the weapons it had were much stronger than they were on its mundane counterpart. Its speed was higher as well, made clear by the woman shooting across the sky, firing the missiles all the while. The projectiles quickly closed in on the demon, which led to him beginning to move away.
But this much led to two changes in her attack strategy, the missiles changing to continue tracking him, and being set off prematurely, the waves of overpressure nearly hitting the demon, if not for his own quick action. The creature quickly began to pull back. Taking the initiative, the three other members of the squad leaped forward, ready to continue their own attacks. And soon enough, Belial found himself besieged from three directions.
Rays shot from the barrels of Tsumotsu's gun once more, with his target placing his weapon in front of him, and spinning it, leading to the beam bounding off elsewhere. But he had no respite, as the next attack was already coming, and by the time he noted that it was approaching, Watanabe was already behind him, his blade raised.
"Undetected…?"
He didn't have much time to question this, instead, he decidedly grabbed one of his weapons, and evaded the incoming swipe, before beginning to thrust at the man's chest. Though the attacks were by no means slow, he found that the man was able to stop them. To the demon's surprise, however, the one who came to meet him swiftly retreated, flying upward, revealing the gun-toting Tsumotsu, his barrel aimed right at the creature's torso. He fired the moment the firing path was clear, the projectile blowing a chunk out of him as it made impact. By now, Belial found himself questioning what was going on. Considering he couldn't sense these humans like he would one of the other denizens of the realm, it was of no surprise that he had to rely upon the two more basic methods of tracking, sight, and hearing…
"So… It seems that you four will be a nuisence… So you've cut off my hearing, hm?" Belial questioned.
"I wondered how long it would take for you to figure it out…" Watanabe stated, in a somewhat smug tone. But, to the creature, it was clear what he was trying to do, and he got very little in terms of a reaction. Rather, it just calmly moved on to its next action. The light around him beginning to grow once more, accompanying a change in his weapons, as they began to grow much longer, the blades following this trend as well, until, the building sized spears had completed their transformation.
"That will not be enough to defeat me…"
No sooner did the weapons began to shoot across the sky, going toward Watanabe, leading to the man uttering his shift command once more, his blade shifting into an oversized kite shield. Tsumotsu, however, had to simply weave around it, with very little option. Similarly, was Sara, who shifted her form once more, into something more maneuverable, an HAU, specificly, one used by a pilot from the second Russian empire, the Centurion. An imitation of the drones used in the ATS system flew off of the transformed woman's back. Promptly, she began firing off from different directions. Creating a multi-angle sphere of beams, all going toward the demon himself.
Only for the spears to return to him, and beginning spinning once more, though some of the beams did make it through his counterattack, many bounced off, and went toward his allies, almost as if they were reflected by some sort of field. Grazing shots landed on each memebr of the squad, but it was not nearly enough to put them out of commission.
While the battles continued above, the students of Hasegawa Academy looked up in awe. At how quickly they adapted to what the demon did, at how well they moved, almost as If they all shared one mind. Even though their training would likely not happen, it seemed that this would be more than enough in terms of getting them to work harder. Though they heard about what the silver lions had done before, there was no doubt that seeing them in action was a different expirence. What would've happened if they weren't here? The awnser to that question was clear, and it was not satisfying to any of those there…
In the simulated wetlands class 2&3 had been sent to, they looked up at the battle above, one of them standing in the forefront, a man of tall stature, and a head red hair, Miki Takashi, was the first to speak.
"That settles it… I'm going to become the strongest here, and lead an elite squad, just like Taiki Watanabe…" No doubt, whether loudly proclaimed, or thought silently, many others had the same idea. But, there still lied the question, would they survive what was to come next. Apparently, some demons had managed to slip out of the portal after Belial's initial burst of power. Four in total that, though not nearly as strong as the aforementioned being, were by no means weak enough for them to battle easily. It was made clear that their power would be tested… And it would not be a simple mock battle.
Now, four battles began across the training area, while the silver lions battled the demon Belial, now, the calling of orders could be heard from below.
" Obasanjo, Pin it down!"
"Watch out for that flame attack!"
"Don't let it get behind you!"
This only made the Silver Lions fight harder, eager to defend the budding troops that fought on below them. At this point, it looked as if their opponent had built up an impenetrable defense, and the injuries they'd gained would no doubt be a fatal detriment. But, perhaps, that wasn't the case. To that end, a strategy had popped up in Yua's head.
"Alright, I've got it… His defense may be right, but it's not impenetrable, if I create a burst of pressure to stop, or reverse one of their revolutions, then I could give you all just an instant to get in." She stated.
"In that case, I'll charge up my own beam, and fire from the left. Sara, you know what to do next, right?"
"Of course, let's do it… Taiki, we'll probably need you and Yua to finish him off. "
The man only nodded in acknowledgment, before their strategy began. As was planned, Tsumotsu flew to Belial's left, and Sara, the right. The ATS drones seemingly clamped together, with a luminance building up in front of the barrels, the very same taking place with Tsumotsu's revolver. And before long, Sara yelled out the name of her technique.
"Blast Resonance!"
A burst of air pressure appeared just between three of the spears, something which caused two of them to stop their revolutions, much to the demon's surprise. Before he was able to do Much in response, he found two beams crashing into him from both sides, doing no small amount of damage to him… the spears stopped their revolutions for just a moment, but he was quick to regain control, and move two of his weapons into the beam's paths, as he attempted to move away from the incoming Sara and Watanabe. To no avail, Sara's fist was the first to crash into him, disorienting him just enough for Watanabe to follow up, raising his blade above his head, and bisecting Belial.
"So, this is where my ambitions end… How pathetic."
With no more words, the demon disintegrated, along with the weapons he made use of. The battle was over here, but the same could not be said for the whole of Yamato. After all, there was 1 remaining untamed.