Infinite Stratos Character Creation and Fanfiction Discussion

[Trung-t-rung]

Originally Posted by ZeroXSEED

Define 'horror' and from what franchise

Probably he means the horrors from Garo franchise.

[Lhklan]

Originally Posted by demino_hellsin

You guys think an IS is agile enough to fight horrors? I personally think they'd only have trouble with the human sized ones. For those who understand. What do you think?

Mooks level Horrors? Sure.

But the more specialised one? I don't think so. It just doesn't protect nor does it do damage as well as Soul Metal.

Actually, can Horrors be damaged without Soul Metal? I know that Makai Priest can do it but they use some sort of magic, so...

[demino_hellsin]

Well it's going to be quantum energy data infused with GARO's light converted to physical metal. It won't exactly be soul metal but something infinitely close to it I guess.

[wavehawk]

Day before work and I've hit another wall, so might not be able to finish my fic as I wanted or promised. DAMNIT.

And also, this is all Tak's fault:
Has anyone considered writing a fic wherein Ichika, for his own safety (sic) is transferred to an all-boys school. The catch is, he's being transferred as part of that school's first batch of FEMALE students.

Yes. Ichika in drag. And worse yet, the boys fall for him.

[eisai_haramasukoi]

Originally Posted by wavehawk

Has anyone considered writing a fic wherein Ichika, for his own safety (sic) is transferred to an all-boys school. The catch is, he's being transferred as part of that school's first batch of FEMALE students.

Yes. Ichika in drag. And worse yet, the boys fall for him.

Now where did I hear that plot before? It sounds familiar.

[StratoSpear]

A little venting:

Past the symphonies of blinding lights, his vision goes pitch black, something about quickly switching between two environments with opposite lightings. Even for an IS pilot like him, Ichika still has to wait while his vision slowly returns.

"W-Where am I...?"

He was floating, free to move about but the sight awes his. He was floating in outer space, but it wasn't like any other. There are bubble-like celestial bodies also floating around the void.

"Those are..." Ichika spots galaxies inside one of the bubbles, his eyes widen at the realization.

"A universe."

He turns to the other voice. Clad in full white armor with gaps of glowing blue light, Ichika recognizes the armor as that of the Athena, as well as it's user whose face is hidden behind the helmet Hyper Sensor. "Katami-san" Ichika's eyes locked into hers, through the helmet visor.

"This place is the Vista Infinity. Getting here is no small feat, even for an IS... But still you're here. How?"

"The tether link."

Ichika recognizes the voice. He turns and see the apparent White Elf stepping towards them, the void suddenly having a crystal clear floor that stretches into the horizon. The impulsiveness draws Ichika to deploy the Yukihara and the White Elf raises his hand.

"Don't."

His grip remains steady, showing his defiance towards a known enemy. "Why are you here?"

"Inami, you're back." Tsurugi comes forth past Ichika to greet, leaving him stunned. The White Elf's helmet disintegrates into fine blue particles, revealing his identity to Ichika as he lowers the Yukihara.

"Inami Arisawa is the name." His steps are slow. The sounds of rippling water echoes the heavenly void as he makes his way towards Ichika. "I understand the impulse. However, there is no need for us to clash here. This place is more fragile than it looks."

Inami holds out his arm, offering a shake to Ichika who reluctantly put the Yukihara down and returned the offer. His firm handshake and smile somehow eases the tension.

"As Tsurugi said. This is the Vista Infinity, a void where all the universes exist together, even worlds that are parallel to ours."

"Parallel worlds?"

Inami shows him to a group of universe bubbles. Using Athena's Wing Bits, Tsurugi could view the worlds within and display them on the IS' display systems. She places a Wing Bit on the tethered world and it shows the Japan as they know it.

"This is our world." Says Ichika, recognizing every bit of the Academy as it is.

"And there are others just like it. Like this one." The Wing Bit touches another universe bubble and it shows four young men using powered battle suits and are fighting against the Infinite Stratos, which Ichika recognizes as his classmates, as well as himself.

"Wait... that's me! We're fighting Minerva units?"

"Not quite. In this universe, a different story is being weaved." Tsurugi explains and Inami points to a decal marking on one of the battle suits. "Silverback... I believe that is what the units are called. From the looks of it, they're much more advanced and better equipped than the original Minerva."

Another universe bubble shows Ichika sitting on a throne in what appears to be a medieval-style Infinite Stratos Academy. "What the..." Ichika just could not see himself as the emperor type, yet there he is as a king-like figure in an alternate universe.

"That's you as Emperor Orimura. In this universe, Japan and the US are at war in the wake of the Alaska Treaty being rewritten. A lot of chaos taking place."

"If the universe is in trouble, why don't you help them?" Ichika asks. Tsurugi knew the answer but the question was directed to Inami.

"It's no simple task, Orimura-kun."

"Why isn't it? You can just dive into any universe from here and help out, can't you?"

"Certainly, we can choose to dive into any world and intervene. But diving itself isn't exactly a straight forward procedure. And that brings me to one question I have for you."

"What is it?"

"Exploiting the tether link is one way to get here. While it's easier, it burns alot of energy to traverse the link let alone surviving the trip." He glances at the Byakushiki. "From the looks of it, you don't have any special space exploration equipment on. I'll assume you came here for an urgent purpose?"

"I... I was told by someone to seek help from you. Our world is currently in danger, under attack from... I don't know, evil clones of ourselves."

Clones. Evil clones. Inami knows who they are and listens patiently to Ichika's explanation.

"Someone told me to look for you. He says that both of you will be able to help."

"...To sever the link from the Netherverse. Is that it?" Inami asks, even though he already knows it is the answer. Ichika gives a nod and sees Tsurugi's face losing its smile. "We can sever the link. But it's risky..."

Ichika's eyes quiver at Inami's words. Tsurugi comes to their side with the two linked universe bubbles – their origin world and the Netherverse connected via a crimson-colored wormhole, in the seemingly telekinetic grip of her hand.

"It could distort both universes. Not to mention it could even blend them together... As layman as it sounds, it would mean galactic-scale catastrophes for both." Inami points to another set of linked universes. The two bubbles slowly assimilates into one another and a blinding light envelops the two universes as they merge into one.

"That light..." Ichika feels uneasy watching the unknown occurence.

"Yes. When two different universes collide, it forcefully merges the worlds within them. This will nullify all known fundamentals of both universes, wiping out all that was built atop these fundamentals."

"Wipe out...!?"

"A new balance will be achieved as two opposing fundamentals are fused into one, forming a new universe out of two that were... destroyed." Tsurugi's pause adds to Ichika's uneasiness. She knows she could not lie about how merging worlds would come about.

[MeisterBabylon]

Why am I hearing Journey thru the Decade while reading that short?

[StratoSpear]

Well, I could use that as an intro if it involved a Decade-ish OC. :P

Also, certain fanfics get subtle mentions for this part, particularly Jak's. I might add a couple more, editing the Emperor Orimura thing as the preceding story is being written.

[MeisterBabylon]

In before having one of the worlds being where Houki and Lingyi are idol stratos pilots vying for the attention of one Orimura Ichika who in this world miraculously has an imouto, a much more fleshed out harem and songs galore.

The equivalent of Hibiki world?

*shot*

[wavehawk]

Originally Posted by MeisterBabylon

Why am I hearing Journey thru the Decade while reading that short?

- same here, but probably a different version from the one you're thinking:
http://youtu.be/NC4hTdL41NU

...which is actually MORE appropriate for that short, now that I think of it.

You know, you could put that up as the start of a group-written improvised fanfic, wherein each chapter is a separate world, written by a different writer...and to add to the fun, other established universes get pulled into it as well. Could you imagine Ichika trying to explain the situation to Toori Aoi from Horizon, or else running away from BETA, or being rescued by Witches with no Pants?

"This is all Ichika's Fault!"

[Trung-t-rung]

Originally Posted by wavehawk

- same here, but probably a different version from the one you're thinking:
http://youtu.be/NC4hTdL41NU

...which is actually MORE appropriate for that short, now that I think of it.

You know, you could put that up as the start of a group-written improvised fanfic, wherein each chapter is a separate world, written by a different writer...and to add to the fun, other established universes get pulled into it as well. Could you imagine Ichika trying to explain the situation to Toori Aoi from Horizon, or else running away from BETA, or being rescued by Witches with no Pants?

"This is all Ichika's Fault!"

BETA? You bring Ichika into freaking MLA/MLU universe!
This can only end up in PTSD, lots of PTSD.

[Fireminer]

On one afternoon, the bar was full – it was a market day. However, crammed as it was, everything was still kept in a tranquil – A word rarely associate with pubs. But like these dusty glasses and bottles that the owners didn’t give a slightest though, everyone seemed asleep. Rosewood furniture helped to absorb light out of the air, and the lamps put more shadow than to lit. The only audible sounds were mumbles of drunken.
Suddenly, their slumber was interrupted by a new face. They dimmed their eyes, only to be then wide open in the features of a female. She was beautiful, yes, but also had been honed by hardship. That black coat, raptor-like look, and confident strides of commanding persona: she was a mystery.
However, these men were soldiers, and they immediately recognized one of their kin. Bird of a feather, these eyes, as much as their owner want to hide it, simply existed, not live. Existed only to be questioned by a big Why? Why continue this meaningless survival?
Whispers soon calmed down, and when the stranger took a seat on a creaking stools, everything had already turned silent.
“Grappa”
“Wrong place.” Answered the mustached bartender. The man might look old, but his eyes like fish in a bowl.
“And I thought it’s my lucky day. One Whiskey with ice, then. Make it hot with fire.” The request might seemed strange, but the man took it normally. Under his palm, a blue fire ignited and extinguished within seconds.
The women couldn’t even finished her glass – it was terrible. With a grouchy face, she slammed a 10 dollar note on the bar. The bartender, still unfazed, counted change on with his sinewy index finger. However, none could saw that he secretly inserted a small envelope between the bills.
“Going so soon, miss?” Someone suddenly grabbed the woman's wrist. It was a man with unshaven beard, droplets of rum still on it and the tomato nose. His grin, obscene as it was, showing sharpened tooth like a rabid dog.
“Why don’t you let me buy…” Before he could finished the sentence, a powerful slap hit him. The sound of the ruckus once again awoke everyone, and all eyes on the woman whose face showed no emotion before the rolling pile of rags in front of her.
“You bitch!” The man staggeringly rose on his feet, growled all sort of swears in both English and Spanish with a Texan accent. On his reddened cheeks imprinted deep the image of a palm. He raised his arm in retaliation, only to be stopped by another one.
“John, you’re drunk. Stop shaming yourself and go home.”
“Who do you think you’re, Sander?” The tanned man, referred as “Sander”, could only shook her head tiredly and instead slammed his elbow on his friend’s nape, making him immediately fell into unconsciousness.
“Please forgive him. He usually isn’t… Hey, where is her?” Like a wind, the women had waltzed her way out between this huddle, leaving everyone wondered about the mystery face.

Continue. Why heck even now I couldn't feel any natural to my writing?

[bitmeister]

It would also be possible for us to act as a single writer for this story. In other words, we would all take on the guise of a fictional writer who Is no one person, but has the writing capacity of all of us.

[Lhklan]

Originally Posted by demino_hellsin

Well it's going to be quantum energy data infused with GARO's light converted to physical metal. It won't exactly be soul metal but something infinitely close to it I guess.

... Uh, GARO's light? What do you mean?

Decade ideas:

Well, if you're having Ichika travelling like Decade - which sounds somewhat not good, I don't know why - then there should be a Narutaki who's trying to stop him and a Daiki who's just doing his own thing.

[StratoSpear]

You could probably put Madoka or Chifuyu as the one that "hunts" Ichika. You know... the usual "Finding my long lost sibling" schtick. Even in my story, Ichika doesn't exactly travel from one universe to another... That's what my OCs do.

What I had in mind is the Yukihara is able to open a sub-dimension plane which allows him to cross into the so-called Vista Infinity void - where all the different universes are shown in "bubbles". However, creating an entry point into the plane would require tremendous power, let alone traversing the plane itself into Vista Infinity.

Even with the Akatsubaki's power regen feature, it would still take some effort for Ichika to create an entry point. This is where the mentioned "tether link" comes into play. It's like an express tunnel that requires lesser effort and power to access and traverse through.

[demino_hellsin]

Originally Posted by Lhklan

... Uh, GARO's light? What do you mean?

If you watched season 3, yami wo terasumono, you'd know that GARO lost its golden shine. And half the series is about restoring the golden shine that was lost in battling an army of horrors. That shine of GARO, the golden luster, is what I call GARO's light. GARO's shine is also acceptable.

[wavehawk]

Originally Posted by Lhklan

Well, if you're having Ichika travelling like Decade - which sounds somewhat not good, I don't know why - then there should be a Narutaki who's trying to stop him and a Daiki who's just doing his own thing.

Originally Posted by StratoSpear

You could probably put Madoka or Chifuyu as the one that "hunts" Ichika.

- But if he's going to be crossing different worlds and dimensions, the Narutaki-expy and the Daiki/Diend-expy doesn't necessarily have to be an IS character. You could pick out characters from other 'universes' and make that work.

(imagines Shinn Asuka as Narutaki and Shirogane Takeru as Diend)

[StratoSpear]

Originally Posted by wavehawk

- But if he's going to be crossing different worlds and dimensions, the Narutaki-expy and the Daiki/Diend-expy doesn't necessarily have to be an IS character. You could pick out characters from other 'universes' and make that work.

(imagines Shinn Asuka as Narutaki and Shirogane Takeru as Diend)

An ideal suggestion. But then again... wouldn't that potentially draw flak from some fans? It just went into my head that when people pick someone that goes up against Ichika or any of the CCs, they're marked for loss.

Unless that is no longer the trend and people are actually embracing the acceptance of Ichika being bested by an OC or a character from another universe.

[Lhklan]

Originally Posted by wavehawk

- But if he's going to be crossing different worlds and dimensions, the Narutaki-expy and the Daiki/Diend-expy doesn't necessarily have to be an IS character. You could pick out characters from other 'universes' and make that work.

Well, the Daiki/Diend expy could be a sort of Robin Hood - steal from the rich and gives it to the poor - which puts Ichika in a lose-lose situation, while the Narutaki character could be a well intentioned extremist - he's stopping Ichika not because he wants to stop him, but he views Ichika's method as being too idealistic and won't work in long term.

[demino_hellsin]

"I seriously think that Maya lady is cute. She seems pretty timid too so maybe we have a shot. What do you say man?".

The young man turns to his companion, a red-haired teen of the same age as himself. "Stop being an idiot Dan. She's an IS pilot. Way out of our league. Heck, she's way out of anyone's league. Especially not for Arbalest Operators like us.", the young man admonishes Dan. "Besides.", the young man roughly shoves a helmet in the red-head's direction, "She's half-a-decade older.".

The red-head only frowns at his friend's negativity. "That's the problem with you Ichika, you're just so negative. Why do you think you've never scored with a chick before?", Dan grumbles as he follows after his friend.

"It's not that I can't Dan. I just never bothered to.", the black-haired teen throws a grin over his shoulder into his annoyed friend's face.

Dan continues to grumble in Ichika's direction, "That's the problem with you Ichika. You got it all going for you and you just throw it away.". The more lecherous of the two young men threw his hands up in exasperation, "I mean you had Shinonono Houki, class tsundere and sure winner of the Iron Bra in our class and all you do is let her slip past your fingers!".

"Number 1, I remember the guys always making fun of her. Just because I stuck up for her doesn't mean she and I had anything going on. Number 2, We were in primary school, why would we know anything about relationships or tsundere stuff? Number 3, we were in primary school, she was the only girl who was developed enough to need a bra. Number 4, I didn't let her slip past my fingers, the government took her into custody after her sister disappeared.".

"Those are exactly my points!", Dan yelled back. "She had all the telltale signs of best childhood friend turned lover. Seriously, prime girlfriend material right there!".

"You're being delusional Dan. A guy can't tell who he likes at the age of 9. That's more or less puppy love. At best, a crush. Kids that age don't even properly develop the necessary hormones to notice physical attraction.".

Dan sighed, "You are so naive. Did you know that back in 2nd grade, every boy in class had a thing for your sister?".

"What? Chifuyu-nee?", Ichika whipped his head back a near 180 degrees to give his friend the most incredulous look he could give.

"Uh- Ya!", Dan rolled his eyes at Ichika's denseness. "Heck even I had the hots for her. Seriously. Leggy, busty, flawless skin, slim waist and soft rounded hips. Even if we didn't know it back then we were all mesmerized by those traits. Let's not mention how sexy that domineering attitude is-".

"Shut up man.", Ichika unhappily elbowed his friend. The Ichika missed when the red-head dodged, but the point was sent across. "That's disgusting to hear. She's my big sister. That's just nasty to hear.".

"Big sister? Don't get me started on that Ichika. You have no idea how much everyone was jealous of you.", Dan drew his lips into a line and shook his head in comic disappointment. "Everyone was always going on about how older onee-sans were nice. Some even imagined you still taking a bath with her and getting all those delicious details on her nice round-".

"Ack- Shut up Dan!", Ichika practically screamed with one arm lashing out to smack his long time friend. "Accusing me of childhood friend romancing is one thing, but seriously, lay-off the sister stuff.".

"But she's hot man.", Dan continued to press his point. "I mean if I had the chance I would love to moto-"

Ichika threw him a glare and threatened, "How would you feel if I told you all about how cute I think your little sister is and how everyone thinks you should hook up with her and have little maroon headed kids running around?".

Dan's face scrunched up into one of horror. "You wouldn't.", he gasped.

Ichika's face sculpted itself into a flat glare. "Ran is cute and has this wild party girl look and at the same time has a fresh girl next door feeling that makes her stupidly sexy. The red-hair isn't just a plus but makes her look seductive, especially the way the shade matches her pouty lips. Her body's not that sexy compared to other girls but she's still in her tweens and the fact she's developing just makes her all the more des-".

"Alright! I get it! I get it!", this time it was Dan's turn to try and smack Ichika. A turn which also ended in failure as the young man danced away in a decidedly more mirthful air.

Smirking wickedly, Ichika decidedly finished his payback with, "Add to that the whole love-hate onii-chan-imout hijinks. Moe, don't you think?"

Ichika's fellow Arbalest Operator only gave him a petulant glare. Dan crossed his arms over his sternum with a hiss, "You can be such an ass.".

"Touche.", Ichika shrugs as he waltzes through the moving maze of people and machines occupying the limited hangar space

The small building was alloted for six magnetic launch catapults. Everything around him moving and bustling about. The smell of oil and gunpowder are fresh in the air but neither youth complains. They've known that smell for over half their life and they very much doubt that they'd stop breathing it in before the end of it.

Both of the teens stop before one of the catapults. Dan turns to his partner and sticks him with a murderous glare, "We'll finish this after everything's over Orimura.".

"Right, right.", Ichika waves off the threatening tone.

Dan is pissed and punches Ichika in the shoulder, "Seriously man!". The red-head looks a little less angry and a little more sad now. "You better come back. I mean it.".

"So I can drool over your little sister?"

Dan looks up to a cheeky grin stuck on his best friend's face and the compulsion to punch the guy comes before he can rein it in. Luckily, Dan clips Ichika in the arm. He has a small grin of his own as he tells the black-haired youth. "You mean so I can tell you exactly what parts of your sister I like.".

The grin on Ichika's face turns into a full blown laugh as he barks out in between guffaws, "If you do it in front of my sister, then I wouldn't miss it for the world.".

Dan punched Ichika in the arm again, "Ass.".

Ichika put on his helmet as his partner did the same, "Luckily, it's a code orange. Today's aggressor is just England. I don't think they've perfected their optical weapons technology yet to put a high-power laser cannon on anything short of a battleship. The Uchigane squadrons should be able to hold them back.".

Dan shrugged, "This is war. Anything can happen.".

Suddenly, sirens started blaring. The red lights beside the klaxons began to revolve with a crimson hue. A voice came over the PA system.

"Code red. I repeat, code red. All Arbalests are to prepare for scrambling.".

The faces of both young men paled at that announcement. When their gazes met, Dan swallowed the lump forming in his throat with the famous words, "Me and my big mouth.".

Ichika gave him a harsh clap to the back. "We better get launch procedures ready.".

"Right.", Dan nodded back as each clambered into their own respective cockpits.

For Dan, his station was the control chamber of the launch catapult itself. Though classified as a launch catapult, it was more of a fortified artillery turret than anything else. It has many as six or so close to mid-range 13mm gatling guns, two pairs of 32cm shell cannons, and an array of nine 8-tube surface-to-air missile launchers. There were also sub-aquatic combat measures like six torpedo tubes and auxiliary depth charge catapults. And to think this 15-year-old is handling something with that much firepower, one of six in the building.

Ichika, unlike Dan, climbed into the catapult launch pad where a wedge like vehicle was parked, for a lack of better terms. He jumped into the seat and checked the weapons cache to his right. A standard issue M-16 with four additional magazines. Including his personal M1911 side-arm and magazines, that would be all the firepower he had once he was out there. He checked their functionality quickly and was satisfied that they were in working order before initializing his vehicle.

Unlike Ichika, the vehicle was far more heavily armed. The body itself was a weapon, with a length that matched a light cruiser's body but having only half the width. The front end was shaped like a gigantic lance, and from the many tutorials Ichika attended before, he knew it functioned exactly as one. As the tip tapers to a wider rear, one will notice that the shape suddenly changes. Near the rear end, it looks like the upper body of a humanoid mecha is sticking out, and it rightfully is. There is a head with a movable neck where external scanners and radars can be located. The head has a particularly large and durable horn to act as an antenna, and in some cases, a spear. Again, something Ichika knew, but not from tutorials this time but from experience. The chest of the humanoid mecha was merged with the lance like body of the vehicle. In front of the chest unit was a myriad of heavy machine guns with a caliber size that made the Browning look inadequately equipped. Two particularly heavy looking belt-fed gatling guns were mounted over the other guns, but one could see secondary triggers at the base of a handle on each weapon. Those guns were meant to be both mounted weapons and hand-held by the arms in case of a better firing angle. From the cockpit, to Ichika's right, a large 38cm railgun cannon was armed with a length that nearly matched the lance body from tip to tip. To the left was a large 10-shot rocket array with twin 22cm cannons hanging on the outside. Over the mecha's shoulders were another pair of 28cm shelling cannons and on the back were a large array of boosters that reminded one of the old model multiple-stage rockets used to launch people into space. Interspliced between booster were as many missile launchers and machine guns they could fit along with bullet bays.

Overall, the machine looked like a giant dart primed for a one-way trip. And that wasn't very far-off. After all, these crafts were known as arrows and the armed catapults that fired them off were fittingly known as bows. Together, the tandem unit is called an Arbalest.

Ichika was just finishing his final checks when his comm. system came online.

"You hear me in there Ichika?", Dan's voice came over the staticky radio.

"Loud and clear.", the young arrow pilot gave the habitual response to his partner. "Did I miss the briefing?". He closed the hatch to his vehicle and the canopy opened up to a virtual screen.

A sharp crackle sounded out before Dan could answer. The heavy sound of a radio tuning could be heard screeching as Dan replied. "Looks like they're just about to start.".

Once the link was established, a window opened up on the canopy HUD. It was an overhead map of the combat zone. Allied and enemy units were highlighted as well as the estimated individual combat zones. One enemy colored blip was moving away from the rest of the combat zones and had a projected course headed straight for their section of Japan's coastline, Tokyo Bay.

"Attention all arbalest units finish your final checks. Enemy ETA in two minutes. As observed, a lone unit of the enemy central fleet has breached the IS defense lines. Our defensive formation in that area is a mess and a projected number of five or more ships will end up breaching the outter combat zones."

The image in front of Ichika showed some more enemy colored blips following the lone enemy blip in close pursuit.

"Your opposition will compose of heavy cruisers and battleships. Be forewarned, central fleet battleships are all armed with long ranged optical weaponry. However, pay special attention to the enemy machine on point."

This time another window popped open and showed a blue and white machine that looked like a speed boat. It had a lot of boosters and guns on it but to Ichika's trained eye, he noticed that the machine didn't have the bulk to contain ammunition for all those barrels. Since the enemy was England, he knew what to assume of the worst.

"This unit is a specialized high speed strike ship. It has shown itself to be capable of aerial, aquatic and sub-aquatic combat."

A short footage of the machine zipping through the air towards the camera and then diving down into the sea as an Uchigane went to intercept played. A few seconds later, Ichika watched as the confused IS pilots were surprised with a look of horror at their backlines when they saw a spray of water and the blue-white strike ship half-way bursting out the water and ramming any poor soul in its way.

"It is fully equipped with optical weapons and has shown capacity for simultaneous usage of them all."

Another short clip and this time it's the same ship firing off all gun ports, reducing the water beneath it to vapor while Uchiganes recklessly charging it were sent flying back with shields violently fluctuating around their respective frames.

"Again, be advised. Exercise caution against the enemy ship on point. Godspeed soldiers.".

Ichika and Dan lifted their hands to their brow in a salute.

"Sir, yes sir.", floated the voices of many young men through the radio as everyone prepared for battle.

All the windows on Ichika's screen disappeared and was replaced by a magnified image of a dot on over the ocean horizon. He enlarged the image and gripped his controls when he recognized the diamond-shaped blue and white craft.

"This is arrow 03.", Ichika reported in. "I see the enemy. Engaging.".

Dan nodded, "Roger that, enemy visuals confirmed.". The red-head took his aim carefully, knowing that the first few seconds of his friend on the battlefield lay in his hands. Once he found his sweetspot, he grinned, "bow 03 firing arrow 03.".

"Launch!", the two of them chorused in a hot-blooded shout.

Spoiler for part 2:

G's from the sudden acceleration left Ichika sinking into his chair against his will. The launch would have made a common man lose consciousness in the first few seconds but Ichika was trained to take this sort of punishment on a regular basis. His burden was also lightened by the skill of his bow operator, Dan. To pick the ideal trajectory for the arrow to cause maximum damage, take minimal punishment and to put the least acceleration stress on the arrow pilot.

Cutting through the air at supersonic speed, the arrows quickly locked on to their targets. The pilots were trained to engage their targets and destroy them as soon as range could allow. They had a time frame of a few seconds to take down their target before the arrows moved out of range. Or in some cases, the arrows only had a few seconds to soften up their target before their craft slammed into it.

Ichika assessed the situation and saw that behind the blue and white ship were three other battleships and two light cruisers and four destroyers that slipped past the IS defense line. Those were way more than the 5 promised at the briefing. Adding those numbers to the specialized ship that led the breakthrough of the IS defense line, Ichika could not help but feel that they were severely outnumbered, and possibly outclassed. Hopefully the arrows' ability to blitz would allow them to take down the blue and white ship before the enemy naval fleet could arrive. Considering the distance, it was a possibility.

The closest enemy was less than five kilometers away, almost in range of missile salvos.

"Prepping to unload storm.", Ichika reported as he armed his explosives.

"Prepping storm.", another echoed.

"Prepping storm."

"Prepping storm."

"Prepping sto- OH SHI-!"

The fifth arrow pilot couldn't even finish his shocked cursing as a flash of light cut through the javelin like body of his craft. It exploded violently and from that moment on the atmosphere between the pilots went from orderly to the chaotic normally seen on the battlefield.

"Arrow 06 is down. I repeat, arrow 06 is down."

"That thing outranges us!", Ichika heard someone screaming over the calm combat operators on the communications line.

Though his ears were on the line, Ichika's head and his eyes were locked on the enemy in front of him. The blue and white ship had just fired on of its lasers, the main cannon from the looks of it, and sheared his ally in half. The young arrow pilot waited in case of a follow up but a second passed and there was nothing.

It can't fire continuously!

On that realization, Ichika pressed his foot down on a peddle and the large booster array on the arrow's rear flared to life in a glorious roar. It shot forward, easily going from mach 1.2 to 1.8.

"What are you doing Ichika!?", Dan screamed over the line.

"Distance doesn't matter when you can get in close!".

"Tch, bow 03 requesting cover for arrow 03."

"Request received. Noted as redundant. We're not about to let Ichika the block-head hog all the credit!".

All the other arrows' boosters came to life as well and shot forward in equal acceleration.

The blue and white ship didn't see the oncoming objects as a threat. It continued on its course at the same blistering speed. The response to the aggressive approach was the glow of all other firing ports on its body. They numbered about sixteen, not counting the main cannon at the center which lay dormant.

"Dodge!", Ichika screamed the command to the radio before his hands manipulated the controls. His craft tilting just in time as a lance of light missed him by a margin he wasn't comfortable with.

It was a veritable light show that ended with another two arrows going down. Someone was cursing over the radio, shouting familiar names but Ichika had lost interest in those screams. He had to deal with what was in front of him. The feeling bubbling in his chest, strong and oppressive, suffocating and electric all at the same time.

"Let's see you try that again!", Ichika dared with a single click as all prepped missile flew out of their tubes. "Arrow 03, storm fired!".

The two remaining arrows had enough presence of mind to follow suit but the enemy fired those gunports again, not sharing the main cannon's weakness as it swathed down a large number of missiles in rapid fire. The clear sky was blotted with dark smog as debris and half-combusted gunpowder littered the air. From that dark blot came the three arrows with guns blazing. 38cm railgun, 28cm shelling cannons and 22cm twin guns all blazing along with the machine guns and hand-carriable gatling guns mounted on each machine.

All that firepower screamed towards the blue and white ship and it tilted ever so slightly, dodging the large shells going its way. One of the 28cm shells from one of the other arrows clipped it on its rounded underside while a large 38cm shell bounced off the top shell, taking with it a large chunk of external armor as the machine gun fire tore holes into it. Nonetheless the enemy ship's defensive response was to move forward still. Half the gun ports, all undamaged, fell off the the ship along with large parts of it. Ichika wondered briefly if those parts were purged because they were unstable or unusable. Some of his team mates were cheering so. But as said before, all of them were undamaged. Then their rear ends began flaring to life much the way their boosters did.

"Remote weapons!", someone screamed over the radio.

Ichika quickly threw himself into a descending barrel roll as the main ship and detatched laser cannons all fired in sweeping arcs that destroyed the rest of the missiles pushing right in front of the arrows as well as taking a fourth arrow. It was only Ichika and one other left as they tried in a mad scramble to keep themselves from being blown up by the monstrous enemy before them. It explained clearly to Ichika how the enemy ship had been able to break through the Uchigane line. With that much firepower and the limited meelee units under Japan's command, there would be no way to keep such a thing under control even if they wanted to.

Ichika weaved through the beams even as his machine moved ever closer to the enemy meter by meter, milli-second by milli-second. He had no choice but to move forward and neither did his ally.

More parts dislodged themselves from the enemy, shooting forward. Ichika thought they were beam guns as well but that thought was put to rest when they whizzed past him. Instead, he was shocked to hear his last remaining ally scream in shock as he exclaimed that the beam came from behind.

Ichika spared a glance and saw those last bits released were actually deflectors. The young man cursed as the beams were now moving in a more complicated manner thanks to those remote reflectors. When one beam gun moved, another beam from behind swung in an angle as well. Since the reflector could also move on its own, Ichika could not predict the beams unless he had eyes at the back of his head. The maneuvers he was taking also disallowed him aim. He, cursed aloud as he was left with no choice.

"Then let's see you shoo me down!", he roared before setting his arrow on a collision course with the blue and white ship.

Despite the straightforward path that Ichika had set his machine on, the enemy was still keeping cautious as the beams all around Ichika did not set against him immediately but aligned themselves into a cage. Something that suited Ichika just fine.

The young pilot grabbed the weapons suitcase containing the M16 and threw it forward over the console of his controls. Ichika watched the enemy ship's main cannon charge up once more for the final blow as he tapped a few buttons and jumped forward himself as another control interface appeared from the front end beyond the console. He lay over that section of the old console like he was riding a superbike. The cockpit he was sitting on just a second ago suddenly disappeared behind a steel hatch. Ichika pressed one last button and felt his new cockpit jolt as metal yawned before fires came screaming back to life.

Outside, one could see the arrow heading straight towards the English superweapon. Then suddenly the arrow lurched and separated into two parts. The point of separation being from the humanoid section connecting to the lance nose. The blue and white ship fired, singing the lance before stabbing through the humanoid and exploding it into scraps of metal.

But the lance was still rushing forward. No, the lance shot forward!

Behind the lance was another booster that came to life, sending it surging towards the blue and white enemy ship from England! Onboard was the young arrow pilot Orimura Ichika!

He grinned as the weaponized vehicle came bearing down on the foreign superweapon. Just seconds before impact, Ichika braced himself.

"Knock knock."