Ch 243: Sometimes, the answer to your problems will fall from the sky

"You do not need to be so nervous, Sis. It will be okay." smiled Izumi.

The two sisters were in their quarters in the training base, waiting for Akeno and Da Vinco to return. The camera supposed to spy on them was still transmitting fake imagery due to Da Vinci's crude AI. The software could generate dialogues on the fly, according to certain parameters, and adapted the footage it generated to who was really present in the room, to avoid cases where one of the girls would be 'seen' at two different locations simultaneously.

"I don't know." sighed Kazumi. "You aren't quite the same since you got Noah's abilities."

"Of course." nodded Izumi. "Akeno-Onee-sama allowed me to receive his blessings, and that includes an improvement of my looks."

"It's not only that, and you know it, Sis. You are more confident and assertive. Just what in the world did Akeno do to you?"

As if talking about her had summoned her, Akeno entered the room.

"Da Vinci hasn't returned yet?" asked Akeno.

The Heroic Spirit had gone outside the base, as she wanted to take some measurements for what she had dubbed her Demonic Pillar Detection Device, and needed a more quiet spot for it.

"No." shrugged Kasumi.

"Then let's start with you, Kasumi." grinned Akeno. "You probably going to need a bit more time than Izumi did."

"Yeah." replied Kazumi with trepidation. At last, she would have the answer to the question that had been on her mind for weeks.

Akeno charged her Sanctuary with a near full charge, set it on the shelf, and she entered, bringing Kasumi and Izumi with her.

"I am going to have Izumi take part in your initiation, Kasumi. I think it will make things easier for you. I hope you won't mind."

"I don't, really." said Kasumi dubiously. It was hard to say if she would mind or not if she didn't really know what the whole thing was about.

"Give me your left hand, please." asked Akeno, and Kasumi took a dep breath as she obeyed. She saw Akeno draw two Stop Runes on the back of her hand.

"What are they for?"

"The first is to stop you from using Magecraft, as it could interfere if you panic. The second is to stop you from leaving the Sanctuary."

"That's... quite ominous." frowned Kasumi. "Is there a reason I'd want to leave?"

"Don't worry, Kasumi. You're in good hands. I promised Mayumi I would take good care of you sisters, did I not." smiled Akeno.

"Yes, and it's not like I do not trust you. But you haven't exactly answered my question."

"Wait her for a few minutes for Izumi and me to get ready, we need a change of clothes." winked Akeno, leaving up the stairs with Izumi.

Kasumi frowned more, beginning to wonder if she was being scammed, and she paced around the living room. At times, she glanced et the door she knew led to the basement. The door was locked, and she hadn't dared to ask, but she suddenly felt like she was about to know what was under her feet.

After a few minutes, she heard Izumi and Akeno come down the stairs, and as she turned to them, she gasped in shock. They were both dressed in black form-fitting bodysuits and high-heeled boots. That, in itself, wasn't an issue, as the suits women wore in their world for training were form-fitting as well. Although those suits were definitely clinging to their wearer's bodies more than they should to remain decent.

The issue was the material. Glossy latex somehow made those attires look a lot lewder and more sexual. And the leather corsets making their waists thinner added to the impression.

"Wawawa… W-What are you wearing?!" gasped Kasumi, scandalized.

"Ufufu, I never tire from this reaction." laughed Akeno, while Izumi nodded with a seductive smile.

"I reacted the same when I saw Akeno-Onee-sama wearing that, Sis. But I have learned to embrace it. It feels great to wear."

"There's no way you're making me wear something like that!" protested Kasumi.

"You will eventually, but I have something else in mind right now. You wanted to know how I could help you fully accept Noah as an authority figure, Kasumi. While we are away from him, there is only one way. We will teach you to enjoy the idea of serving a Master, in all the ways a woman can serve a man."

If Kasumi's mouth wasn't already gaping open, it would be the case now.

"That's insane." she finally uttered, only to be interrupted by Izumi hugging her and kissing her.

She was so shocked that she didn't see the leather cuffs in Akeno's hands. She only felt them as she fastened them around her wrists.

"No." gasped Kasumi as she shook her head away from Izumi's lips, but it wasn't like she could resist them anyway. In short order, Kasumi was almost naked, wearing only a black leather collar, a harness of black leather straps around her torso highlighting her modest (by Akeno's standards) breasts, and was gagged and blindfolded, her arms bound behind her back by leather cuffs.

"Do not worry, Kasumi. We'll be gentle." whispered Akeno in her ears. "I won't make a masochist out of you. I won't even train you to enjoy denial play. Just like Izumi, I will turn you into a latex kitten. You only have pleasure to look forward to. A lot of pleasure."

"mmphoph!" protested Kasumi, powerless as she was led upstairs to one of the bedrooms.

…

Hours later, an exhausted Kasumi, still gagged, blindfolded and bound, was sandwiched between Akeno and her twin, her mind a mess and her body sticky with fluids.

She still flushed from the humiliation and wanted to find a hole and disappear, and she was scared by the torrent of sensations she had experienced. She had masturbated before, but this was like comparing a candle to a bonfire!

She was trying to sort out her emotions, but her heart was filled with two apparently contradictory emotions. The fear of being turned into a pervert on one side, and on the other… She felt, safe, comforted, being bound, between her sister and Akeno. She couldn't understand how the restraints could add to this feeling of safety, but that was how it was.

She was naked aside from the leather bonds for now, but Akeno had mentioned that they would gradually introduce more and more latex accessories or outfits after they were done resting, and that she would end up with most of her body encased into two layers of the material during most of her 'training'.

Until she learned to love being a submissive latex pet.

…

Almost two weeks passed without any major development. After Kasumi accepted her fate and learned to enjoy being pampered while wearing a latex petsuit, came Da Vinci's turn, and the Heroic Spirit turned out to be a massive closet hedonist.

She took to bondage sex like a fish to water, and after the signed the contract, Akeno had to threaten her to lock a chastity belt on her when she started spending her time imagining and designing clever magical multi-functions restraints rather than finish the first Knightmare prototype or keep working on her detector. Not that her scolding really was needed, since she would have ample time to get the Knightmare ready for its first test before they reached the wZERO squadron, but it was the principle of the thing, to prioritize work over distractions.

One thing Akeno had done was to secretly steal one of the trucks designed to transport Knightmares. That truck would mysteriously reappear as part of the convoy delivering supplies and fresh recruits to the squadron, with the prototype it would carry designated as Akeno's personal Knightmare. Da Vinci had already hacked into the base's systems and done the paperwork.

In the timeline where Asuka, Sakura and Medusa were, Sakura spent her time learning about the world and Infermia, and introduced a few minor changes. Meanwhile, the Hero group was grinding in earnest, and were now around level 20 on average. Asuka was level 25, as she needed less sleep and went on nightly solo farming trips.

On the other timeline where Chisato and Takina operated, they were almost done with engraving magic circuits to the whole classroom. It was about to be Satellizer's turn, and while they had made encouraging progress, to the point that she girl wouldn't react when either Chisato or Takina grabbed her hands with prior warning, they still weren't sure if she would receive a backlash of traumatic memories during the engraving.

Their future disciples had at least taken Chisato's warning seriously, and there were no serious incident among them.

As for Miyabi, she had spent the better part of a month now as a fetish maid, and had come to like it, a lot. Not that she had choice in the matter, with a special collar around her neck making sure her brain cells were swimming in happy juice.

Chisato and Takina were contemplating letting her return to class, although her uniform would have a more maid-like design, only with West Genetics' colors.

…

Adjutant Leila Malcal checked her appearance in the mirror, making certain her uniform was immaculate. The Lieutenant Colonel hated her guts and would scold her about "the importance of maintaining proper standing" and "sloppy appearances resulting in sloppy subordinates" if there was anything wrong with her.

The reflection in the mirror was as she expected, A young woman with blue eyes and long light blonde hair, some of it gathered into two buns by gold braces, stared back at her, her blue unform impeccable and spotless.

But her eyes already looked tired, and the sun was barely above the horizon.

The war wasn't going well. The Britannians had better Knightmares, were better trained, and better organized. The only reason the frontline was ever so slowly receding instead of simply collapsing, was because the EU was throwing more bodies at the frontline.

Including bodies of Japanese citizens, refugees barely given any training before being throw into the furnace.

The public was blissfully unaware, being fed carefully curated casualty numbers and given only vague reports about land grabs, every loss understated, and every gain magnified.

As for the upper class who held the real political power… They cared about what profits could be gained from the opportunities war offered, and little else.

No matter which side won or lost on the battlefield, industrialists always profited.

Up to a point. Sometimes, Laila wondered if they realized what would really happen when the frontline finally collapsed. A lot of them likely imagined they could pivot and become honorary Britannian citizens, keeping their business as usual with only different overseers.

They were seriously underestimating Britannia's institutional racism. It was rare for Britannian nobles to accept "Numbers" into their ranks. Most likely, they would see Europian nobles are just tools to be used and squeezed for profit and control.

Leila readily admitted to herself that she would have liked to see those nobles suffer. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be there to watch.

With a sigh, she left her room and walked down several hallways, glancing through the windows as she went. the wZERO squadron used a massive medieval castle as its headquarters.

It sounded like an odd choice in the age of Knightmares and artillery, but the castle had been secretly turned into one of the region's best fortresses. Leila hoped that at least some of the security features were still secret. There were automated turrets and minefields in the forest around it, a giant wall around the castle that could rise up from the ground and withstand all but the heaviest pieces of artillery, pneumatic stakes hidden on the ground, and many other traps meant to inflict losses on invading infantry and Knightmares.

She reached her destination, and with another sigh, knocked on the door. Receiving permission to enter, she found the Lieutenant-Colonel sitting behind his desk.

"Adjutant Malcal reporting as ordered, Sir." said Leila with a crisp salute, her heels together.

She didn't make a sound as the man she hated the most played his games again, pretending to have his attention on a datapad for a full thirty seconds before he deigned raise his eyes and look at her.

Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Anou, a slender man with short gray hair and a goatee, stared at her, silently daring her to lower her eyes and meet his gaze, but she knew better than to let her eyes stray from the spot in the mortar above his head until he gave her permission to move.

All because she had proven herself more competent than he was.

After another ten seconds, he visibly failed to find any reason to fault her and pushed toward her a second datapad.

"At rest. We are receiving another convoy of supplies, Adjutant. They should be there in thirty minutes." said the Lieutenant Colonel, stressing her title as always to make sure she never forgot he was above her. "You will make sure everything is stored where it should be and that the recruits are properly situated."

"Yes, Sir." replied Leila as she took the datapad.

"You may leave. And I want a report on our inventory of ammunitions by 22:00, sharp."

Leila hid a groan. She had given him the same exact report last week, making his request entirely redundant, and knowing him, he would have secretly moved around a few to find fault in her report if she simply used the previous one as a base and took into account the new supplies and weekly expenditures, and she would barely have time to do it by 22:00. She might have to skip lunch.

"Yes, Sir." said Leila with gritted teeth, leaving the office before the urge to do something career-ending became too much.

Leila walked down several hallways and descended to ground level, heading to the main castle's gate and greeting the few soldiers present as they went by. She stopped at the open gate where she had a good view of the surroundings, the castle being on top of a hill, but she wasn't in the mood to appreciate the scenery.

The sky above her was cloudy, and she hoped it wasn't going to rain.

She was half tempted to get started on counting ammo cases in various parts of the fortress, but she could already see what seemed to be the convoy several kilometers away. They were early.

With another sigh, she decided to busy herself by reading about what kind of supplies they were receiving. She was sure that the Lieutenant Colonel had barely skimmed it, if he had bothered to read it at all.

The first few pages were as expected, more ammunitions, summer gear, spare parts, foodstuff. She was already mentally picturing the most optimal way to get the crates to their destinations as quickly as possible.

When she started to read the pilots' profiles, however, she frowned. They were only getting four this time. Akeno Himejima, Izumi and Kasumi Saegusa, obviously twin sisters from their pictures and stated birth dates, and one person calling herself Da Vinci.

She was the one causing Leila to wonder, as her name had to be an alias, and her picture was… The Mona Lisa? She had seen the painting once in the capital's museum. And the picture looked exactly the same. Even the same ambiguous smile…"

Had the picture been different, Leila would have suspected this Da Vinci to be either a Britannian refugee or a spy. But was kind of spy would use plastic surgery to look like the woman of a famous painting?

This raised alarm bells, but the information on her profile didn't state anything out of the ordinary.

Leila made herself a mental note to keep an eye on her, and continued on the report. They were getting five Alexanders to replace the losses from the last engagement, which was good. Three of them weren't new and seemed to have some serious wear and tear, but that couldn't be helped. She would ask the squadron's technical team to look them over ASAP.

The last Knightmare, however, caused her eyebrows to shoot up. Its name was made of five Japanese characters followed by a 'Mk1' she had never seen before. She used her smartphone's camera and translation function, and the Knightmare's name seemed to translate as Haken-Mk1, or Supremacy-Mk1, and it was noted as the personal property of Akeno Himejima.

She wondered how a refugee could have her own war machine and hoped that its name would be a good sign of its potential. She would have to test her competence and the machine's performances. If not, she would try to convince her to switch to an Alexander.

The convoy was much closer now, and she didn't have to wait long before they stopped at the first check point, where their content was being inspected.

"New recruits, Adjutant?" came a voice from behind her, and she turned.

"Good morning, Akito." smiled Leila. "Could I abuse you a little? The Lieutenant-Colonel is on my back again, and I could use some help counting ammunitions. Again."

Akito was, along with Haruka, her most skilled Knightmare pilot, and his contributions were unvaluable to the squadron. Their losses would often be greater without them dealing with the strongest enemies. He was a Japanese of medium height with blue eyes and dark blue hair, most of it being cut short, aside from a single braid reaching the middle of his back. He always had a calm and collected expression, except in the middle of battle when he sometimes seemed to fall into a frenzy.

"Of course, Adjutant. You only have to say the word." nodded Akito with a small smile. "Do we get anyone interesting?"

"Yes, actually. Maybe too interesting for our own good. Take a look." said Leila as she showed him the datapad, currently displaying sparse details on the list of Knightmares.

"Haken? That's not any model I know. This Akeno must be very wealthy to have a custom Knightmare, but her presence in the squadron doesn't make sense." frowned Akito. "I hope she won't be a diva."

"If she is, I'll have to straighten her out." sighed Leila before switching the display back to Da Vinci. "And what do you think of this recruit?"

"…A spy. No, that doesn't make sense. She would be too obvious. Unless they want us to not suspect her because that doesn't make sense."

"Please pass the word to the others to be vigilant about her."

"I will." nodded Akito.

The convoy passed the first check point and drove to the Castle's gate. Six of the ten trucks carried Knightmares, and Akito as well as several other soldiers entered their cockpits to move them out. All but the Haken, a dark blue Knightmare with orange and white highlights. Its pilot was already inside and moved as soon as the truck stopped.

The first thing that came to Leila's mind was that it was a huge one, standing at almost twice the size of an Alexander. Granted, the Alexanders were small for Knightmares, barely reaching 4.5 meters when most Britannian models were at 5 to 6 meters. But still, this one was big, towering at maybe 8 meters.

The cockpit wasn't completely protruding from the back as was the case for most Knightmares, but seemed to be half-way inside the torso, where the Yggdrasil Drive should have been. Although with a chassis that size, she understood that there was space to move things around. Beside the cockpit on the Knightmare's back were two large blocky extensions, and Leila's surprise grew as she saw nozzles protruding from their bottom part. it seemed this Knightmare was able to either make thrusters-assisted jumps, or maybe even fly for a short while!

The rifle in its hands was significantly longer and heavier than the railguns used by the Alexanders, although the format of the ammunition clip seemed to be the same.

This Knightmare also possessed two large blades affixed to its arms. The blades were currently oriented backward, their tips ending a little above the Knightmare's shoulders, but she could see the mechanisms that would allow them to rotate into attack position.

Another strange peculiarity of this Knightmare was the absence of skid-paddles affixed to its ankles. The devices that allowed every Knightmares to reach high speeds in all but rough terrain simply weren't there.

But on a closed inspection of the shape of the feet, she deduced she the Haken did have wheels, but they were currently retracted inside the soles, hidden from view.

The cockpit's back panel opened, and a gorgeous young woman with very long black hair and purple eyes, wearing a private's uniform and a duffle bag in hand, used the stirrup and cable that were the standard method for pilots to reach their cockpits to lower herself to the ground. Three more beautiful young women climbed down from another truck and gathered in front of Leila and Akito.

"Private Akeno Himejima, reporting." said the Haken pilot, and although she couldn't fault her words or posture, Leila felt like Akeno was hiding some amusement, as if she knew a private joke.

Leila actually felt the same thing from the three other pilots as they saluted and gave their names and ranks, and Leila exchanged a glance with Akito, who seemed to have noticed as well, before turning her attention back to the newcomers, and smiled.

"At rest. Welcome to the wZERO squadron, ladies. I am Adjutant Leila Malcal. Unless we are in an official setting, I won't mind if you call me Leila. But do not let the Lieutenant-Colonel catch you as you do, or he will make a big fuss about it."

"I would like you to introduce each other in more detail, but before that, what in the name of all that is holy is this Knightmare?"

"A prototype." smiled Akeno. "We want to test it in real combat to work the kinks out and iterate on it. If all goes as we hope, several might be donated to the squadron… for a price."

"A price, you say? Who even built it?" asked Leila.

"Mostly me, although I had some help." smiled Da Vinci. "As for the price, it won't be anything you cannot afford to pay, but let's keep that for when we trust each other."

Leila frowned, then temporarily gave up on this matter, as she had a of to do for today. It seemed the special wZERO squadron was being used for experiments now, on top of everything else. She shouldn't be that surprised. And Da Vinci was likely a former Britannian scientist or engineer being given a new identity, with some smartass in an office somewhere finding it funny to assign her the name of a famous genius.

Everything started making sense if she thought about it.

"I will speak to you again when I am done sorting out the supplies." said Leila, gesturing to some of the base's personnel who had come to move the crates around. "Akito, would you mind giving them a tour, please?"

"Yes, Adjutant." nodded Akito before turning to the girls. "I am second lieutenant Akito Hyuga. Pleased to meet you. You can call me Akito as well. Follow me, please."

…

Akeno watched curiously around as they walked. She had Haken's ignition key in her pocket, so she wasn't worried anyone was going to mess with it while she was away.

It looked like Akito was going to be their immediate superior, and she had a good initial impression of him. He had shown them a few common areas like the mess and the aisle of the castle where they put away their duffle bags when Akeno decided to ask a sensitive question.

"Akito, I hope you won't mind me asking, but we haven't seen a lot of people so far, relative to the size of this place. And I heard that the squadron is sort of the go-to choice for suicide missions and the like. How bad is it?"

"…Do you really want to know?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to. Don't worry, we aren't going to run. We would already have done so if we were easily spooked."

Akito examined them for a few seconds, then nodded.

"It's pretty bad, and you deserve to know. Most of the people you have seen in the courtyard do not belong to the squadron. This base doubles as a relay point and we often get visiting troops that will stay a day or two, then leave with their supplies."

"The wZERO squadron has the Lieutenant-Colonel and the Adjutant, one intelligence officer, three engineers, and nine Knightmares pilots."

"Nine, including you."

"You should count me as an engineer." pointed out Da Vinci. "I will be a lot more useful optimizing your Knightmares than piloting one."

"Eight, then. Although you will have to clear it with the Lieutenant-Colonel. And he's… difficult." nodded Akito.

"That's some horrific numbers." winced Kasumi. "If you had five pilots before we came, that's more a squad than a squadron."

Akito nodded.

"We took heavy losses on the last few battles. In large part because the choice of tactics is… Leila is doing everything she can to keep us alive, but she isn't the one in charge. Ah, see the guys over there?"

Akeno nodded and followed Akito, who waved at two Japanese young men.

"Toru, Masaki, let me introduce you to Akeno, Izumi, Kasumi, and Da Vinci. The latter is an Engineer."

"It's nice to meet you! Welcome to the suicide squad!" grinned Toru, a slender man with short black hair. The other a short brown hair.

"Nice to meet you as well. You probably haven't been adequately trained before coming here, so please follow our advice, and we'll do our best to help you survive. Let's have each other's backs."

"Thank you, Toru, Masaki." smiled Akeno. "We look forward to working with you."

"I'm searching for Roze and Haruka." said Akito. Do you know where they are?"

"On the shore. They said they wanted to go fishing."

"Thank you. Leila will speak to them later this morning. Let's have lunch together."

"Yeah, see you later, everyone." smiled Masaki.

"Later." nodded Akeno.

There was a large lake on the northern side of the hill upon which sat the castle, and a small, armored dock had been built as they followed Akito down the road leading to the dock. They could see two people sitting near the water, fishing rods in hand.

"Whenever we catch some fish, we give them to the cook. He will prepare them and serve them to the squadron. It's better than the military rations we get."

"I see." nodded Akeno. "We got a taste of those ration during training, and… yes, getting some fresh fishes would be great."

"I think we can contact a few people and arrange for better food to be delivered. Fresh fruits and meat and more." mused Da Vinci.

"That would make you very popular if you could arrange for it to happen. I too would be grateful." smiled Akito as he looked back.

They had come close enough for their footsteps to be heard, and the two people Akito had named Roze and Haruka turned their head toward them. Roze, or at least, Akeno supposed he was Roze, as he didn't see him being called Haruka, was a slender young man with short blonde hair and aquamarine eyes and wore a peculiar steel choker with a purple gem around his neck.

His fishing companion was a Japanese girl with golden eyes and short purple hair.

Akito was about to speak and introduce them when an alarm suddenly sounded in the castle.

"Damn it!" cursed probably-Haruka, and Akito sighed.

"We need to run back to the castle. Haruka, Roze, these are Akeno, Izumi, Kasumi, and Da Vinci. Hopefully we'll have time for a proper introduction later today. Now run!"

Akito didn't wait for them and ran up the hill.

"Is the base attacked?" asked Akeno, easily keeping up with him. The twins, Da Vinci, Roze and Haruka were hot on their heels.

"No, but it's an emergency mission."

"This happens often?"

"Rarely. You really are unlucky. Hopefully we'll all come back alive."

They reached the castle as the alarm stopped sounding and, following Akito, entered the main courtyard. Akeno saw multiple white Knightmares who instead of standing on their two feet were on all four, their body close to the ground and a railgun affixed on their back.

"Those are Alexanders in Insect Mode." said Akito as he noticed their stares. "Have you trained with them?"

"Only with Hummels. Please tell me the controls are similar." said Izumi.

"The controls are, but the way to fight with them is completely different! Those idiots, what's the point of training you on Hummels when they knew you were going to pilot Alexanders in real battles?"

"They won't, at least not this time." said Leila as she briskly walked to them, looking very frustrated. "We'll have to do this one without them. Sending out new recruits before they had time to get used to…"

"They are going!" cut in the gray-haired officer coming behind her. "We don't have enough pilots already, no one is allowed to stay on the sidelines!"

"But Lieutenant-Colonel, what do you expect them…" protested Leila, already knowing it was futile.

"Silence! Even if the Elevens can't fight efficiently, they can still be of use!" shouted the officer, pointing to large, black, oblong objects that were in the process of being bolted on the backs of several Alexanders by a half-dozen technicians.

Akeno got suspicious when she saw the grim faces of the wZERO members, as well as the fact that the technicians seemed very unwilling to look in their direction, and pointed to the black objects.

"Lieutenant-Colonel, if I may ask, what are those black devices? Some electronic warfare equipment?"

"They are demolition charges." replied the man with cold eyes. "If you can't kill the Britannians with your rifles of melee weapons, you can make yourselves useful by getting close to them and detonating those. Kamikaze is a concept from your own nation, yes? You Elevens should have the resolve to do it!"

"Oh... I… see…" nodded Akeno, her face becoming bland.

For an instant, she pictured herself duct taping him to one of those demolition charges to see how fast he would change his tune, but she got a better idea.

Thunder rumbled in the clouds above them, although no one paid it more than a second of attention.

"If you allow it, I'll go to the front courtyard fetch the Haken. It should be more efficient than those Alexanders, and I am used to piloting it." said Akeno.

"Haken?" asked the Lieutenant-Colonel.

"Lieutenant-Colonel, it is the name of the new Knightmare." said Leila. "Its name was mentioned in the datapad you gave me. Or did you not…"

"Of course I read it!" cut the man angrily. "It just slipped off my mind. I have a lot of things to think about, unlike you. You, get it and return, you have two minutes to be back here."

"Yes, Lieutenant-Colonel!" shouted Akeno as she ran, limiting her speed to that of a normal person.

She reached her Knightmare and climbed inside. Thanks to Da Vinci's usual efficiency, the Knightmare went from sleep mode to full combat power in less than three seconds, and she made it run, then jump over one of the castle's inner walls, executing a smooth landing near the Alexanders still being fitted with their suicide charges. She could tell from their faces that those who hadn't seen it yet were impressed, staring with wide eyes. For that matter, Leila and Akito also looked impressed by the fluid movements she had just executed. Da Vinci was nodding along with obvious pride.

Akeno made the Haken kneel and put it back in sleep mode, removing her ignition key, and opened the cockpit.

And as she was lowering herself using the stirrup and cable, as everyone's attention was fixed on her and both her hands were visible by all, lightning fell from the sky and struck the Lieutenant-Colonel.

…

A great, sudden noise and flash of light made Leila flinch, and she turned in time to see the Lieutenant-Colonel collapse and some technicians cry in fear.

"What happened?" shouted Leila, her ears ringing painfully.

"He was just struck by lightning!" shouted another technician.

"Someone bring a medical kit!" shouted Leila, starting to press on the lieutenant-Colonel's chest to perform CPR. Akito ran to the closest Alexander, fetched from its cockpit a small orange case, and ran back to Leila, opening it and putting a small breathing mask on the Lieutenant-Colonel's face. He squeezed the attached bulb, forcing air into the man's lungs.

For a few minutes, Leila and Akito tried to resuscitate the Lieutenant-Colonel while the others gathered around, and the base's medic rushed in and injected adrenaline, to no effect.

They weren't aware that Akeno hadn't just stuck him with lightning, but forced the current into the Lieutenant-Colonel's brain stem and spine, frying it and causing the overheated brain fatty tissues and bone marrow to suddenly expand, causing further concussive damage around them and fracturing skull and vertebrae. There was nothing to save.

Then Leila gave up, sighing.

He was dead.

Another rumble came from the clouds, but no lightning fell this time, and she looked at everyone. Some were staring at the sky with a frown. Others were watching her or the body at her feet with various expressions ranging from shock to barely hidden satisfaction.

The Lieutenant-Colonel had made few friends since he assumed his post. And by few, she meant none.

It was actually blind luck that the lightning hadn't hit any of the demolition charges, or they would all have died in a spectacular chain reaction.

Or was it?

The circumstances were extremely suspect, and as she paid particular attention to the expressions of the newcomers, she noticed something. They didn't seem particularly worried that they might be struck by lightning as well. They appeared… indifferent.

It seemed impossible, and she didn't know how it had happened, but she somehow felt that one of the four had just killed the Lieutenant-Colonel. Probably as retaliation for wanting them to become human bombs.

She sighed again. She had her suspicion, but she had no proof, and there was no time to investigate. They had an urgent mission, and wasting time here would cost lives.

"Everyone!" declared Leila with a loud voice. "The Lieutenant-Colonel has passed away, and I am assuming command. Remove those demolition charges, we will not need them!"

The technicians nodded, feeling relieved that they didn't have to go through with such a distasteful task, and they worked with renewed vigor on removing the bombs.

"What is the mission, Adjutant?" asked Akito. She noticed that he had shifted his posture to keep the newcomers in the corner of his vision. He, too, was suspicious.

"The 132nd regiment carried out an operation to retake St Petersburg, but they were ambushed on the way in Narva, a city southwest of the St Petersburg. They are performing a fighting retreat, but a second Britannian force is moving to block their path. We have been ordered to intercept them and help the 132nd disengage. Intelligence estimates the second Britannian force to be made up of… twenty-two Sutherlands belonging to the Holy Order of Raphael." sighed Leila, delivering the bad news.

"Twenty-two!" groaned Masaki, feeling like his luck had run out at last. "Maybe those suicide charges weren't such a bad idea."

"Unfortunately, the drones can't be used yet. Izumi, Kasumi, Da Vinci, you won't take part in this battle. I have seen in your profiles that you have no experience using the Alexanders, and they are very different from the Hummels." sighed.

"Akeno, I… hope that your prototype will be as impressive as its name suggest."

"You can count on me, Adjutant." solemnly nodded Akeno.

A young woman that Akeno didn't know yet ran to her, holding several headsets, and she handed one to Akeno.

"Here, communicators. I already set them on the squad's frequency."

"Thank you." nodded Akeno, but the girl was already running to Akito and the others.

The sky rumbled again, but the sound was more distant.

Leila signaled to Da Vinci, Izumi and Kasumi, and after she instructed a few soldiers to take the corpse to the morgue, she led the new recruits to the command room. Several consoles were installed on one half of the room, and the other half was occupied by massive displays, the largest one taking up the whole wall.

"You can watch, but please do not interrupt, unless you have a very good reason. And if you see one of ours being… leave the room first if you need to grieve."

"We understand. We won't disturb your work." nodded Da Vinci, already taking note of the way the command room operated. Four people were present beside them and Leila. One must be the intelligence officer, a middle-aged man hunched over his console as he spoke into his communicator, while three young women were behind their own consoles displaying various data about the Alexanders.

On one of the partitions of the main screen, the girls could see an aerial view of the castle, and five Alexanders, one of them painted black, were moving in a column, followed by the Haken.

…

"If you keep advancing at this speed, you will encounter the enemy's lead elements in about thirty seconds." announced Leila on the communicators.

"I'll be taking the lead in the formation, Akito." said Akeno. "I want the Britannians to focus their attention on me."

"Denied. You have no combat experience yet, and being big doesn't make you invulnerable. We'll set up an ambush near this ridge line and…"

"With all due respect, Second Lieutenant." cut in Akeno. "You do not know anything about my Knightmare's capabilities. We named it Supremacy for a reason, and I have extensive experience in ranged and melee combat outside of a cockpit. I am not boasting or being reckless. Some of us will die if I do not attract their attention."

"…Do as you must." sighed Akito.

"Thank you." grinned Akeno, lighting the back thrusters to accelerate faster as she expertly weaved between the trees.

There, the first enemy Knightmare became visible. Akeno smoothly aimed her rifle at it, took into account the distance and their relative movements, and shot twice. The six-hundred-gram bullets propelled at 3 250m/s crashed into the Knightmare's chest armor, punched through, creating a lot of spalls as they went, and caused it to explode. Three more Sutherlands appeared and spotted her. The first was similarly destroyed before he could react, the second had time to fire a few shots that Akeno evaded with a glide, and the third one charged her with a spear and a "You damn Europian!" scream.

Akeno rotated the wrist blade on the left arm, the right one busy holding the rifle, and charged the Sutherland. As they were about to meet, Akeno used her vibrating blade to cut through the lance and then the Britannian Knightmare that held it, severing it into two pieces at the waist with the ease of a chainsaw through butter. The pilot would likely survive as the cockpit was untouched, but Akeno was already searching for more enemies.

Akito and the others were following a hundred meters behind the Haken, ready to fire on any Sutherland that would appear.

"What the hell was that?" muttered Haruka, uncredulous.

"She's even faster than Akito." commented Roze, his eyes wide. He saw a Sutherland trying to flank Akeno and managed to hit it with a few bullets, tearing its right arm off before it retreated between the trees, and he lost visual contact. Several more appeared on the other side, and the squadron opened fire on them, causing three to fall under the hail of railgun penetrators. They used the same munitions as Haken's rifle, but their own projectiles only reached 1 400m/s, doing a lot less damage.

In front of them, Akeno was now engaged by six different Sutherlands, but she wasn't worried. The few bullets reaching her were stopped by a shimmering field a few centimeters off its armor, and even when the shield would be saturated and deactivate itself for a few tens of seconds, the Haken was much better armored than normal Knightmares. The armor wasn't just thicker, it was made with an alloy that Ernesta and Camilla came up with, having far more durable properties than steel. Bullets that would normally penetrate the armor would barely make a depression on it.

That didn't mean that the Haken didn't have weak spots, however, like the cameras allowing Akeno to see her surroundings. It had quintuple redundancy for vulnerable external systems, but that didn't mean Akeno was going to let herself be hit if she could help it.

As she kept evading, she lined up one enemy after another and shot two or three bullets each time, and when the ammo counter reached zero, indicating she needed to change the ammo clip, Akeno simply dropped the rifle and rotated the second blade into attack position.

Frenzied enemy Sutherlands were throwing themselves at her with desperate battle cries, armed with cavalry lances and swords, and Akeno danced among them, her keening blades making flashing arcs. In a mere few seconds, the burning wrecks of five Sutherlands were surrounding her. She saw a panicked Britannian exit a cockpit and run, and she let him.

She wanted Britannia to know.

She walked back to the spot where she had dropped the rifle, picked it up, and replaced the ammo clip with a fresh one.

"Are there any other enemy in range?" asked Akeno on the squad's channel.

"...Negative. They seem to have been wiped out" replied Leila with a strange voice, as if she didn't believe it herself. "Great job. Can you move to support the 132nd? I'll send you the suggested route."

"…Route received." replied Akito. "Let's move... Akeno, you got hit a few times. how bad is the damage?"

"No damage. The shield never went under seventy percent."

"A shield!" exclaimed Leila.

"Told you." smugly said Akeno. "We named it Supremacy for a reason."