Schwer-Muta
A Shy Arrogance
That's just not the MC way, man.
Battle Action Harem Highschool Side Character Quest (No SV, you are the Waifu)
- Thread starter Avalanche
- Start date
- Original
Ginger Maniac
Subject to Gravity
- Location
- Old Blighty
Ooh, I didn't notice the character sheet had been updated with that yet. That's one tasty, tasty ability. Made even better by the fact that that damage you worked out is only from our bonus - we get some base dice as well, to add lethality to injury.
Wow. That'll ruin somebody's day.
Adding in frame bonuses, it works out to 56 points of damage, equal to Anna's own healthpool. Considering that she rolled the max for HP,
there's probably no Valkyrie that can withstand a hit. Well, maybe one of the 300.
Also, since the cost is to remove all available Impeller Field and take 1 frame damage, she can probably use it even if she has only has a couple of points left in her health pool. Its basically the trump card that gets pulled out at the last second to save the day, and there's even justification for it, since using it later means wasting less of your impeller field.
there's probably no Valkyrie that can withstand a hit. Well, maybe one of the 300.
Also, since the cost is to remove all available Impeller Field and take 1 frame damage, she can probably use it even if she has only has a couple of points left in her health pool. Its basically the trump card that gets pulled out at the last second to save the day, and there's even justification for it, since using it later means wasting less of your impeller field.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
I'm curious to know what the difficulty is, since it specifies "upon success". That said, 56 damage is freaking brutal, and, as mentioned, makes the most sense when used as a late-fight trump card against single powerful opponents - so, Type Zeros and other Valks (if we don't mind turning the other combatant into chunky salsa).
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How widely known is Anna's accomplishments as it was previously shown that nearly everyone in Anchorage knew what she accomplished, and many 3rd year cadets are used as reserves in emergency situations?
Also did she ever receive a commendation and award for what she accomplished? She did kill a Type 0, even if it was a weaker one.
Also did she ever receive a commendation and award for what she accomplished? She did kill a Type 0, even if it was a weaker one.
A weaker one?
Did you read the part where the author explained Type Zeros? An top-20 pilot in the world in a 300 frame could maybe do what Anna did.
The main advantage Anna had was Sekhmet's special weapon wasn't available, though. So Anna+Durga is probably around the top 50, possibly more like the top 20 or even top 10, of the entire world's frame+pilot combinations, 300 frames included.
I know, but it was still one of the weaker Type Zeroes. It seems that the Class Bs and up are the ones that really give most armies pause.
And anyway I was asking just what kind of recognition Anna earned, as this is the equivalent of a civilian using adhoc military equipment taking down a force with the power of an entire armored battalion in the modern world. I would have expected a greater amount of attentions besides just some preferential treatments. Then again, it has only been 1 day.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
But on the other hand, the UN covers up most info on type-zeros to prevent panic. We might have appeared in a freezframe bonus in the commendation scene in the prologue, but most people wouldn't have any Idea that we solo-ed it.
Well, it was mentioned that the government has kept a lid on everything related to Type Zeroes. Also...
Bold is mine. Keep in mind that Anna herself is not an unbiased source.
Yukari doesn't seem to know, even though she escorted us to the school. My guess is that the instructors and the top brass know, but among the student body it's all classified.
Heck, I think the biggest reason Anna is in piloting school is because everyone in the know knows that she's less than stable, and they want to supervise her to see if there will be more...acting out.
Yeah, that makes sense. Though I can't wait to see how things progress, watching a shell shocked combat veteran who never lived a normal life adjusting to the civilized world again.
Personally, I'd like to put that off as long as possible. That's just asking to get worfed at a later date.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah. The ideal moment is probably a flashback during our first onscreen firing of static wave, but that's probably too much to hope for.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
At some point somebody is going to fuse mutiple Valk cores.
And share our pillows? No way.
What we should do is somehow learn to use impeller fields to constantly bring the bed with us.
dpara
slightly confused ascendant
Nonono, we wait until the MC has a main waifu, then we kill the waifu and ascend to Sepiroth status. True immortality!
...
..
.
...except that Durga is currently the best waifu.
We can stick the bed in our Valkyrie hammerspace and tell Durga to make it more comfortable, can't we?
More like Great Pillow Fort of Giza
Genius, we should try this.
Olivebirdy
mook.
Where do people keep getting this information about Sekhmet from?
Post 6
Avalanche
Atypical Netizen
- Location
- Australia
Day 2:
Vote Results
Breakfast:
[X]Damn the laughter, full ahead.
-[X] Reorder The List. Each sub-list of food is to be merged into a Great List. Poached eggs, porridge, potatoes. This should keep an order to the food, while having more variety.
34 votes
[X]Morning: Feed Durga the 9.3 Terrabyte equation.
21 votes
Morning Class:
[X]Morning: Self study. Continue as is. (Transcendent Offense)
38 Votes, (Wow that a lot of voters here suddenly, and you're all agreeing on this with 1 abstain.)
Lunch:
[X]Lunch: Hang around with friends?
>[X]Koujiro and Setsuna. They're the first few people you've met in Perth (albeit through Yukari). And it also counts as watching over them just like she promised Yukari. Not to mention a chance of the plot spotlight shining down on her as a side effect from being with the MC....
23 votes
and
>[X] Lunch: Bum around the Instructors lounge.
19 votes
XxXxXxXxXx
Once again the faint beeping of the alarm clock wakes you from sleep. You turn off the alarm with a thought and sit up, pushing aside the heaps of quilts messily stacked on top of you.
The air was chilly.
Chilly?
Ah, that was right. You expand your Impeller field and the sensation fades from your skin. With another thought, you adjust climate control to set air temperature back up to normal room temperatures.
The Arcology's default liked the air too hot and humid for your tastes, you liked to set the temperature really low, then snuggle up in quilts to warm up.
A ping rings out, another one of those messages. You sigh slightly upon remembering what following its advice led to yesterday morning and open it.
Again, your own voice whispers out, "Upon waking up, bath to clean. Eat breakfast. Do normal things. End message."
Essentially the same as what you had received yesterday.
You stand up, stepping over your walls of pillows and onto the floor, you start heading for the baths when on an impulse, you scan the other wardrobes to see what alternative clothing is available to you aside from the standard tracksuit uniform.
Four sets of dress uniforms come into view most prominently, then an assorted of various long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, skirts, dresses, shorts and pants. Aside from the ceremonial decorations of the dress uniform, most of the other clothing was plain and unadorned with any designs aside from functional pockets, simply being singular uniform colours all the way through.
With a slight mental shrug, you continue into the bathroom.
As with last night, approaching the bathtub caused it to chirp options your way. Water temperature, water volume, water replacement rate, scented water, soapy water, spa options, bubbles-
You set the default to normal bath and mentally tick the option for it to not ask again unless prompted.
You enter the water and turn off your Impeller field again, relaxing back into the warm water, enjoying the sensations of the faint currents against your skin.
For a moment, you simply float, staring absently at the ceiling. Again options pop up inquiring if you wished to watch movies or other programs on the ceiling holoscreen. You dismiss with a flicker of irritation, was it too much to just to ask for some time to soak in peace?
After a moment of thought, you bring it back up and search for 'relaxing scenery'. Perusing the options, you select something called 'Ocean's depths' and play it.
The lights dim to near darkness and the ceiling begins playing a holo, showing a blue light shining faintly above you. For a moment you look on in confusion, then you realise it's the sun, it's beams refracted and diffused through dozens of meters of water. Small holographic fish dart through the air, some within the screen above, casting tiny shadows through the sunrays, some projected into the air mere meters from your face.
Floating in the water inside the darkened room, it felt like you were truly underwater out in the midst of the ocean.
It was beautiful.
XxXxXxXxXx
You stare down the rows of food, eyes narrowed. You feel a brief shudder pass through you as your eyes slide over the selections of breads.
It had been a grave mistake to attempt to sample the entire breadth of selection upon the tables in order.
You need to reorder The List. Each sub-list of food is to be merged into a Great List. Poached eggs, porridge, potatoes. This should keep an order to the food, while having more variety.
Nodding decisively, move along the tables with a plate, frostily ignoring the breads.
Cereals. Dairy products. Egg dishes. Fruits. Meats. Porridges. Rice and Noodles. Seafood. Soups.
Addams Family Cereal and All Bran - Kellogg's. Amasi and ayran. Boiled eggs and coddled eggs. Acai and acerola. Bacon and bratwurst. Atole and avena. Ackee with saltfish and Amplang. Avgolemono and bacon soup.
You settle down with your tray and begin working your way through your breakfast.
XxXxXxXxXx
That was much better, you think as you cheerfully walk towards the classroom. The combinations of different textures and broad range of flavours made eating the food an actually enjoyable affair.
Mmm, bacon…
You had given a brief thought to trying out some more athletics and exploring the interior of Perth Arcology some more, but you were piqued by the mysterious scientific papers that you had seen yesterday.
You enter the classroom, noting that again you had an hour before class starts, walking to your desk you tap the station to log on and again peruse through the classified articles you had been reading through yesterday. Still incomprehensible to you.
You extend Durga. The plates bump slightly against the seat behind you and you quickly refine your Impeller field slightly to make sure you don't cut anything by accident.
You connect and begin talking to the Internet, retracing your path through the network, following along the connections that your terminal took. Data pours into your mind and is processed. You look over the paper from a different perspective and understand.
It was a study into the long lived spatial anomaly located within the Saskatoon Hive. You spread yours mind outwards and look all parts of the report over to gain context. Links branch outwards to differing reports and measurements measuring the spatial tear. A mild ache begins somewhere far behind you.
Several reports on you specifically. Recordings of you demonstrating Wave Force, the video growing unsteady then cutting out just before the Wave reaches full cohesion between your fingers. Another recording from a Valkyrie, looking over the walls of the testing chamber, radiation everywhere and gaps in the metal from where the matter had failed to expand as space collapsed inwards. As it was still collapsing inwards towards a tiny point where you had fired the wave towards. Measurements from the Valkyrie's observation instruments flooding in, before she flees as her Impeller is eaten away by the contractions of space. More data from outside the facility as the entire facility rippled faintly inwards then outwards, like the ground itself was breathing, before the entire area collapses. Data from Perth, Beijing, Santiago, Capetown, Delhi and Armstrong base, their powerful sensors reading the disruptions with more clarity than any local sensors. The disembodied ache grows stronger.
Comparisons with the anomalous spikes of data during the Alaska campaign, now attributed to you fighting Sekhmet with Wave Force. Recordings of the spatial shocks from the destruction of Fairbanks Hive and the subsequent collapse of the Breach compared to the noise that overlapped with that of the collapse of the Saskatoon Breach. Gathering the information you need, you look back to the central equation, a posit for the necessary shaping of Higgs required to form and maintain such a tear. Indirect, based off hypothetic extrapolation of data from your uses of Wave Force. Models built off from the theory. A proposal for a megaproject, a cannon on the lunar surface, the Ginnungagap cannon, something to fire upon the Major Breaches and destroy them from the outside, a trump requiring another facility the size of Armstrong base in total. Theoretical studies as to the effects of such a weapon on Earth, designs for a scaled down version for Valkyrie battleships. The ache is now beginning to become distracting.
It was different from how you did it.
That was the first thought that comes to your mind.
It was a different approach to how you were using Wave Force to arrive at essentially the same result. You're not sure how it was- no, you knew how it was different but you can't express it, trying to summarise more than 9.3TB of relational data into the few bits per second of human speech was simply-
You suddenly notice your body has collapsed. The ache intensified to the point where you were truly beginning to lose concentration.
Hmm.
Now is perhaps a good time to cut this off. You turn your concentration and regather the scattered parts of your mind, pulling your focus back into your body. You pick yourself off the floor with your Impeller field and scan yourself.
Burst capillaries inside your right eye that blinded it, minor embolism inside several veins inside your brain and a rather irregular heart rate. Thankfully no direct damage to the neurons themselves, you always lost memories after such injuries.
This wasn't the first time you had done this, you had collapsed several times in your early years when you flew for too long. You had also collapsed briefly when you met the UN forces. Unused to the high density, high bandwidth traffic that had flooded the air through their datalinks, structured, partitioned and thus different from the targeted noise that AG jamming was, you had briefly collapsed trying to take it all in.
That had been the only time you suffered such an attack in what could have been a combat situation and you were glad that you did, as it stopped you from possibly doing something that you would have regretted.
Still, it was very unusual for you fall from such a fit, no matter how relatively minor, from less than an hour of operating Durga.
There were still a few minutes until morning classes begin. You decide to sit and concentrate on healing until then.
XxXxXxXxXx
Morning Research Roll = 45
Roll >= 4: No injuries or penalty to social score.
Special research action success: Unlocks specialisation: Red Wave, Blue Wave.
(Transcendent Offense) Static Wave level 1: (10)+ 45 = 55/???
XxXxXxXxXx
By the time you saw the instructors walking through the hallways outside the classroom alongside a few early students, your injuries were well gone. You retract Durga and sit down into your seat.
The class files in, chatting and talking amongst the groups, already quite a few already had their Valkyrie frames equipped this time. As the others sit down, you notice a few discrepancies. Shuri had managed to lose two members of her flight, one of whom had joined with Syifa and another had shifted over to the other side of the room, joining a flight who had been with Meyer's group. Two more members of her flight looked ready to fall asleep. Shuri herself looked completely unruffled, as did Sandra, who as always seemed to be smiling sunnily, chatting to the various other cadets around her without a care.
"Morning Anna, missed you at breakfast today," greets Koujirou as he vaults the desk to collapse into the leftmost seat on your row.
"Good morning Anna," echoes Setsuna as she dives under the desk and slips up into the seat between you and Koujirou.
Both tap their console screens and log on almost simultaneously. The two stare at each other challengingly before Koujirou frowns and looks away, "You were faster…"
Setsuna grins, leaning over towards him and resting her chin on her palm with a cheeky smile, "What's that Koji? I couldn't hear you~"
Before the two can take it any further, Instructor Meyer calls attention to the front of the class again with a clap.
"Alright squadron, today, we continue with the studies of conventional Antagonist units, but rather than in a vacuum, this lesson will cover the most common Antagonist deployment formations."
You listen on, as the two instructors gesture through holograms depicting formations. Antagonists used rather similar formations on the open field as humans did, changing as you approached their redoubts with their networks of underground tunnels.
Large scale AG armies on the attack were invariably led by overwhelming air superiority forces, decoys, jammers and artillery in several waves to draw out humanity's high yield weaponry. Armoured formations and high level antagonists were right after them along with more waves of air, covered by heavy mobile ground to air, this time generally heavy on ground attack aircraft. Without the need to worry about heavy ground to orbital weaponry on Earth, Antagonist spaceships often approached frontline under the cover of Type-18s, unveiling themselves in 'weakpoints' in the line of battle, providing enormous volumes of fire equal to mobile redoubts. AG infantry was a constant presence at all depths in the smoke of a battlefield, their low energy signatures and small profiles allowing them advance in a scattered wave, yet capable of forming up into dense assault formations in an eye blink whenever needed.
It was much the same with other types of Antagonists units, if less apparent as they tended to remain in unit formations like equivalent human units, but had a flexibility that even the best drones on the human side did not, capable of forming new formations from scattered remnants without pause and essentially impossible to flank due to their absurdly fast unit reorientations. Time and time again proved that if you were seen by one Antagonist, you were seen by them all. It was hypothesised that all Antagonists were capable of communicating and networking through a means other than through electromagnetic radiation, possibly in the same manner Valkyries are always connected to their partnered Valkyries cores regardless of the physical separations imposed upon them.
Antagonist armies on the defensive tended to act in the exact same manner as an Antagonist army of the attack, pressing forwards to meet human forces head-on. Only when Type Zeros were present on the front did Antagonists formations show aberrations from their effective if uncreative patterns of attack with overwhelming force. Such was often the first sign of a Type Zero.
You pay more attention in this lesson as you rarely fought large formations of Antagonists head on, mostly leading them in chases and destroying the resultant splinters. Still, as the Instructors begin to quiz the various flights on responses to the various elements of Antagonist forces, you turn your attention away to browse through more online articles relating to the use of the Impeller field and spatial warping in combat.
You follow a subject for a while discussing a technique of some Valkyries where they use their Impeller fields to form cupolas to focus incoming forces back outwards towards a single point, forming what was essentially a zero range explosive counter action against attacks. A few talking about it note that was only marginally useful, and then only in redoubt clearing. Some more talk about its utility against other Valkyries and you promptly drop the thread there.
When you change your focus to searching for spatial warping, you gain a bit more success, a few Aces were discussed the offensive uses of teleportation and promptly got into a rather intense if polite argument over its merits, linking to many records and videos in support of their own points. You take a moment to consider what new opportunities would be possible if you could teleport a coherent Wave to a target, before dismissing it. You would need a better understanding of what exactly Wave Force was before considering that.
XxXxXxXxXx
Morning Class Roll = 35
(Transcendent Offense) Static Wave level 1: (45)+ 35 = 90/???
XxXxXxXxXx
Lunch rolls around and the class disbands.
"Do you already have lunch today Anna?" asks Koujirou with a lazily stretch, before he bounces to his feet.
"Not today," you respond, standing up also.
"Well then, follow us, we're going down to the Perth Arcology biome for lunch," he says casually, sliding over the table and moving towards the door.
Setsuna has a finger half raised, her mouth opened to speak, but she seems rather lost for words at Koujirou's rapid pace and simply blows out an unhappy sigh and follows Koujirou.
You also hesitate slightly, thinking about Instructor Meyer's offer to visit the Instructors Lounge, then decide you could visit afterwards. You had promised Yukari that you would watch over these two after all and while you trusted the UN to keep the Arcology free of Antagonists, Antagonists may well not be the only threat to your two cadets.
With that, you follow the two down the corridors also.
XxXxXxXxXx
As you rode a clear sided passenger elevator down into Perth Arcology's upper biome, you could only think that it was far too large to be called a room.
Six kilometers in diameter with a ceiling four hundred meters in the air, the powerful holo screen depicted a sun burning brightly over head in a clear blue sky. Occasionally, apartments stuck down through the illusion, one of which you classified likely to be the Perth Arcology observation deck from the Valkyries you could see through the glass, otherwise, it would be easy to believe you were outside.
The terrain was wide and varied, an artificial mountain, capped with ice somehow, climbed up the east wall to nearly touch the ceiling. From that 'mountain', small sparkling streams ran from it, splitting and joining as they pouring through the gentle hills and grasslands of the 'foothills' until the tributaries all merged into a single large 'river'. The river than ran through dense woods before pouring out into a lake that spaned the crescent of the west side of the room, gravelly and rocky with dark igneous stone on the north side and smooth with white sand on the south side. Birds flew through the air and you see the flash of fish scales slicing through the water.
You shake your head in sheer disbelief. It was so surreal, knowing the size and sheer presence of mountains, rivers and the ocean, then seeing this molehill with its little creeks and swimming pool playing masquerade. Even so, it was a beautiful vista, hundreds kilometers of terrain compacted and flattened, features exaggerated and flaws smoothed out to present this tiny slice of 'nature'.
Did you miss this last night by travelling into the sports arena in cargo elevators? You wonder if the residential areas that you did not bother looking into were also this elaborate.
…
How many people would grow up only knowing this reflection of the outside world?
"It's a sight isn't it?" murmurs Setsuna from your side, looking out over the terrain wistfully, "When we win, we will be free to see this kind of thing in the real world, no need to play make believe down here."
You had seen plenty of nature on your flights, but the sentiment was one you agreed with.
"When we win," you affirm.
"We will win," thirds Koujirou.
XxXxXxXxXx
After agreeing to the conditions to enter the biome (absolutely no weapon fire whatsoever, no engaging engines, no flight or jumping to glide, in fact just keep your Valkyrie frames retracted), the trio of you had walked through the dense woods until entering a small clearing filled with rounded stones. Soft moss covered the ground and clear, shallow streams of water ran between the rocks. Light dappled by the thick foliage touched softly across the clearing and the air was cool and moist.
It was a very relaxing place, you would call it solemn.
The solemn air did not last, Koujirou and Setsuna both seemed allergic to peace and quiet to your annoyance.
Setsuna had cheerfully set out a blanket on the largest, the had a small double take upon turning and seeing you. Maybe you should talk more, she appears to have forgotten you had followed the two of them.
Koujirou sits down casually, seemingly oblivious to Setsuna's discomfort, waving you down also, "C'mon Anna, take a seat, you stand straight way too much. So… Setsu, um, where's the food?"
You sit as a soft white glow fills the clearing and slowly fades, announcing Setsuna retrieving a wooden box of some manner from Kosenjoubi's storage. She seems hesitant to hand it over to Koujirou however.
"You said yesterday that you were interested food enhanced by a Valkyrie core, so I kept some from lunch yesterday… " mutters Setsuna, looking down at her knees, "but uh- I only kept enough for two."
Koujirou blinks and looks hesitantly at you.
Well you did still have some stores of breakfast left, you had planned to continue eating down your list, but what happens, happens. You'll just combine some dishes with others. You wordlessly materialise your own tray of food left from breakfast and begin eating.
Setsuna blinks then smiles at you, bobbing her head with a hand held vertically in front of her face.
"Oh well then, crisis averted," comments Koujirou, scooting over next to Setsuna, "So, show me what you got this time Setsu."
XxXxXxXxXx
Despite your aversion to noise, you found lunch with the two rather enjoyable, even if you did have to save Koujirou from being jabbed in his nose by a pair of chopsticks twice.
Having finished your lunch, you confiscated Setsuna's chopsticks and then bid the pair of them goodbye, heading up into Perth Academy.
You take another lingering glance at the biome, then the view is cut off as you enter the armoured plate separating the Arcology from the Academy.
The trip into the Instructors lounge was fairly short, set a couple of floor above the central classrooms, the path leads there naturally along the spiralling structure.
Outside the unremarkable door, you hesitate. Should you knock? Ring a bell? Simply tell the door to open?
The door opens before you decide, an Instructor, Vivas from her tag, standing on the other side.
She looks you up and down once and then steps aside, gesturing inside, a wordless invitation.
You nod slightly in thanks and walk inside.
The lounge was fairly spacious if relatively unspectacular, deep blue carpeting covering the floor and lounges are scattered in a loose circle where most of the Instructors seemed to be seated. A large map of the world was projected on the left wall, parts of it angry red and parts of it deep blue, representing the Antagonists and UN controlled areas. There are some parts coloured in other shades and you realise that those must be the independent countries that still remained. A holoscreen on the right wall showed a collage of different pictures, you scowl as you recognise pictures of Type Zeros surrounded by faces of Valkyries. On the far wall, a series of changing pictograms and charts blur over the screen, changing every few milliseconds, you read a few but are unable to understand them without context.
The lounge wasn't full, out of the forty two Instructors and two Directors that you saw at orientation, there were only eleven inside the lounge, neither Leonhart nor Meyer were in.
"-what I'm saying is, sure they're eighteen, but that's no excuse to suddenly run down to the arcology to see boys," one Instructor complains, nursing a steaming drink in her hand, staring intently into the cup.
You quietly move to one of the furthest couches and sit down to listen. One of the Instructors facing your direction looks up from her datapad and taps her index against her eyebrow, a very informal salute, before returning to her business. A few more who catch the motion looks over and soon everyone except for the one nursing her cup is aware of you, Instructor Xing from her tag.
"You worry too much Xue, after Alaska and the years of the Great Battle, everyone deserves some time to relax. Besides, knowing how to talk to boys will help them out in future," comments another Instructor who was focused on the far wall, Shapira her tag declares, "We've also got a guest here, so best to drop the silly worries."
Instructor Xing looks up, worrying at her lip, her eyebrows shoot up then reset just as fast. Her face smooths over and she sits up, also giving you a small salute, "Hello Miss Sanchez, Meyer told us about you."
She gives a small look around the room, then turns back to you, "Lots of us are out and about right now, it's always like this early in the year, patrols and admin work."
You decide you should probably say something back around now and latch onto the topic you were familiar with, taking a glance at the map, you say "Patrols? For Antagonists this far from their territory?"
Xue shakes her head and also glances at the map, "No, just inside the academy, it's actually for the students. With so many girls synching their Valk frames in first year around now, there are occasional temper flare ups, ego clashes, things along those lines. Director De Vries makes sure to clamp down on that nonsense in orientation but there's always a few. As for the AGs, they haven't set foot, flown over, made an orbital pass and all included for a few years now. We've got a little counter for the next time."
She flicks a finger upwards to the right and you look.
>>1756 Days since last AG attack on Perth
Almost five years.
"Hopefully, it lasts," mutters Vivas, who had sat to your left, her head leaned back against the couch and eyes closed, but from the twitches from her eyes, she was probably connecting to a network with her Valkyrie, "We almost had to reset it during the Great Battle."
"We have Alaska, Fairbanks and Portland are both down, the Antagonists shouldn't have a bridge anymore," said Xue, sipping on her drink.
"Marduk is a Class A and we don't have anything permanent on the west coast aside from Anchorage, if we get too close to Cincinnati Major breach and Marduk sallies, all the progress we made isn't going to last… Argh, just thinking about facing another Indra makes me shiver," sighs Shapira, turning away from the back wall and also turning to face the map.
At the mention of Indra, almost everyone glances at the left wall.
The incandescently white Type Zero, first ever of its kind, surrounded by hundreds of photos, most greyed out and a few still coloured in. You suddenly realise that the greyed out photos must be of the Valkyries whom had been slain by Indra and those still coloured were those who had fought it and lived, including those who eventually killed it.
Indra himself had a large cross over its portrait. You search along across the board and find Sekhmet, also crossed out. Sure enough, next to it, a photo of you floated next to it. However, many other faces, greyed out, were arranged next to yours, at least eighty portraits of Valkyries. Nearly three squadrons of Valkyries had fallen against it through its bloody career, almost a quarter of an entire Academy year.
'Just' a Class C Type Zero. Seeing the faces arranged next to Sekhmet, some cheerful and some stoic, but all dead, you think back to Leonhart's advice yesterday, -you cannot win alone, you cannot win with your flight, you cannot win with your squadron-
You suddenly agree wholeheartedly and without reservations. You cannot allow your fellow cadets to face a Type Zero as they were.
"-command is probably aiming for Oslo and Helsinki or Quebec and Timmins, secure the north."
"I really doubt that we would be able to secure another sweep, not without another Wildcard appearing leftfield."
The opinions of the Instructors around you were given without heat, a repetition set views, stating rather than arguing. They had been over these debates before apparently. It was new to you though and you sit back to listen, tracking the map as it shifted over the various situations around the world. The constantly shifting lines of battle in central Africa, the stalemate in Europe and the Middle East, the constantly looming threat over the EU nations of Scotland and Ireland and large scale relief finally reaching the isolated EU nations of Greenland and Iceland.
"There's also the Tamanrasset double Breach, we definitely can't let those two approach each other for much longer."
The map zoomed slightly towards central Africa, showing two Minor Breaches, slowly creeping towards each other, a projected timeline for their convergence appearing.
"Too close to Tripoli Major. We'd need the entire Three Hundred and probably half the rest. We do that, every other front get pushed back, even if it's at a low activity period."
"We definitely cannot let another Major form if at all possible, that means seven Type Zeros each year instead of six."
"Commit too much and Cincinnati and Denver will push us off North America again. If we're unlucky they'll decide to push South this time and attack towards La Paz, Brasilia and Santiago. They could ignore Anchorage if they wanted to."
"We've argued this hundreds of times since Alaska, let's switch topics. How are you feeling about the First years this time Sunny?"
"The new year is promising. We've got two Aces already and six Elites, not to mention Anna there," Instructor Hwang nods towards you, "We keep them in one piece, and we'll probably see a graduating year with eleven, maybe twelve Ace flyers in three years time."
"Twelve Aces, heh, Director Wang is going to be bringing down the ceiling in Beijing, I can hear her yelling about diligence right now."
You pull your knees up to your chest and rest your chin on them, listening to the Instructors talk.
XxXxXxXxXx
You excuse yourself as the clock ticks past quarter to two, heading down towards the simulation room.
You loiter as the rest of the Squadron files in ahead of Instructor Leonhart, but rather than entering the Simulation room, the two Instructors call to attention the various flights.
"Alright, Squadron Four, you've probably already heard of this through various sources, but I'll just repeat it for those of you who did not know. Later this year, there will an inter-academy competition between us, Beijing and Santiago, with maybe some wildcards from the independent military academies joining in. As a prelude to that, Perth will be running some tournaments for the various years to decide on representative teams. First part of this would of course selecting our own representative flight and in addition to that, the Squadron Vanguard," said Instructor Leonhart.
You lean forwards slightly in interest along with the rest of the class in this. Wondering what format would these competitions take. Maximum number of Antagonists destroyed in a simulation? Frame specifications and the user's ability to customise them? Maybe even performance evaluation on actual combat deployment?
"The selection for the representative flights will be taken through combat matches between the flights, as are the position for Vanguard. First at the Squadron level between our Flights, then between the various squadrons. The top flights and Squadron Vanguards will represent the first year in the tournament."
Nope.
Fighting against other humans. Ugh.
"These trials begin at the end of week four so there is no need to feel rushed, but I will ask for a show of interest in the position of Squadron Vanguard. Don't be afraid to volunteer, it will be extra flight hours, but every single little bit you can squeeze from the Academy, you should. You can always volunteer later if you don't feel confident now, just before the start of week four," calls out Instructor Meyer.
Most of the Squadron turns to look at Shuri. She turns and looks at you. You hum tunelessly and look up at the ceiling. Instructor Leonhart rubs her face with her palm.
"I shall volunteer my skills to represent Squadron Four and further, Perth Academy in the Inter Academy Tounament," a voice calls out.
You look back down in interest, the voice was from Shuri's flight, but not from Shuri herself, it was Sandra who had immediately raised a palm at the call.
For a moment, a looks and whispers are exchanged amongst the various flights, then when Shuri still remains motionless, Syifa steps forward too, "Sure, I'll give it a go."
A slight nudge at your side has you looking down, Setsuna stares up at you in clear questioning, "Are you going to try out Anna?"
"Maybe. Probably not, I don't know," you say. You certainly didn't want to fight other humans again, but…
She frowns slightly and looks over the Squadron, then gives a brief sigh begins raising her hand-
"Sure alright, sounds like an adventure, I'm in," Koujirou pre-empts her and steps forward.
"Wha- dammit you- I'm also in for position of Squadron Four Vanguard," splutters Setsuna.
You look over the Squadron again and the four current volunteers, you could defer the decision, but it was best in your mind to make a clear choice now.
XxXxXxXxXx
Class Rep Squadron Vanguard position, will you give it an attempt?
[]…ugh. Try it maybe?
[]No.
[]Write in?
What to study?
[]Afternoon: Self study. Continue as is. (Target rich environment)
[]Afternoon: Self Study. Write in.
Do anything between dinner and elective classes?
[]Dinner: Write in.
Any particular elective classes you want to see?
[]Evening: Continue down the list.
[]Evening: Yes.
>[]Evening: Write in. Feel free to suggest elective classes.
[]Evening: Do something else.
>[]Evening: Write in.
XxXxXxXxXx
More responses to the thread and edits to character sheet in a little bit.
Vote Results
Breakfast:
[X]Damn the laughter, full ahead.
-[X] Reorder The List. Each sub-list of food is to be merged into a Great List. Poached eggs, porridge, potatoes. This should keep an order to the food, while having more variety.
34 votes
[X]Morning: Feed Durga the 9.3 Terrabyte equation.
21 votes
Morning Class:
[X]Morning: Self study. Continue as is. (Transcendent Offense)
38 Votes, (Wow that a lot of voters here suddenly, and you're all agreeing on this with 1 abstain.)
Lunch:
[X]Lunch: Hang around with friends?
>[X]Koujiro and Setsuna. They're the first few people you've met in Perth (albeit through Yukari). And it also counts as watching over them just like she promised Yukari. Not to mention a chance of the plot spotlight shining down on her as a side effect from being with the MC....
23 votes
and
>[X] Lunch: Bum around the Instructors lounge.
19 votes
XxXxXxXxXx
Once again the faint beeping of the alarm clock wakes you from sleep. You turn off the alarm with a thought and sit up, pushing aside the heaps of quilts messily stacked on top of you.
The air was chilly.
Chilly?
Ah, that was right. You expand your Impeller field and the sensation fades from your skin. With another thought, you adjust climate control to set air temperature back up to normal room temperatures.
The Arcology's default liked the air too hot and humid for your tastes, you liked to set the temperature really low, then snuggle up in quilts to warm up.
A ping rings out, another one of those messages. You sigh slightly upon remembering what following its advice led to yesterday morning and open it.
Again, your own voice whispers out, "Upon waking up, bath to clean. Eat breakfast. Do normal things. End message."
Essentially the same as what you had received yesterday.
You stand up, stepping over your walls of pillows and onto the floor, you start heading for the baths when on an impulse, you scan the other wardrobes to see what alternative clothing is available to you aside from the standard tracksuit uniform.
Four sets of dress uniforms come into view most prominently, then an assorted of various long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, skirts, dresses, shorts and pants. Aside from the ceremonial decorations of the dress uniform, most of the other clothing was plain and unadorned with any designs aside from functional pockets, simply being singular uniform colours all the way through.
With a slight mental shrug, you continue into the bathroom.
As with last night, approaching the bathtub caused it to chirp options your way. Water temperature, water volume, water replacement rate, scented water, soapy water, spa options, bubbles-
You set the default to normal bath and mentally tick the option for it to not ask again unless prompted.
You enter the water and turn off your Impeller field again, relaxing back into the warm water, enjoying the sensations of the faint currents against your skin.
For a moment, you simply float, staring absently at the ceiling. Again options pop up inquiring if you wished to watch movies or other programs on the ceiling holoscreen. You dismiss with a flicker of irritation, was it too much to just to ask for some time to soak in peace?
After a moment of thought, you bring it back up and search for 'relaxing scenery'. Perusing the options, you select something called 'Ocean's depths' and play it.
The lights dim to near darkness and the ceiling begins playing a holo, showing a blue light shining faintly above you. For a moment you look on in confusion, then you realise it's the sun, it's beams refracted and diffused through dozens of meters of water. Small holographic fish dart through the air, some within the screen above, casting tiny shadows through the sunrays, some projected into the air mere meters from your face.
Floating in the water inside the darkened room, it felt like you were truly underwater out in the midst of the ocean.
It was beautiful.
XxXxXxXxXx
You stare down the rows of food, eyes narrowed. You feel a brief shudder pass through you as your eyes slide over the selections of breads.
It had been a grave mistake to attempt to sample the entire breadth of selection upon the tables in order.
You need to reorder The List. Each sub-list of food is to be merged into a Great List. Poached eggs, porridge, potatoes. This should keep an order to the food, while having more variety.
Nodding decisively, move along the tables with a plate, frostily ignoring the breads.
Cereals. Dairy products. Egg dishes. Fruits. Meats. Porridges. Rice and Noodles. Seafood. Soups.
Addams Family Cereal and All Bran - Kellogg's. Amasi and ayran. Boiled eggs and coddled eggs. Acai and acerola. Bacon and bratwurst. Atole and avena. Ackee with saltfish and Amplang. Avgolemono and bacon soup.
You settle down with your tray and begin working your way through your breakfast.
XxXxXxXxXx
That was much better, you think as you cheerfully walk towards the classroom. The combinations of different textures and broad range of flavours made eating the food an actually enjoyable affair.
Mmm, bacon…
You had given a brief thought to trying out some more athletics and exploring the interior of Perth Arcology some more, but you were piqued by the mysterious scientific papers that you had seen yesterday.
You enter the classroom, noting that again you had an hour before class starts, walking to your desk you tap the station to log on and again peruse through the classified articles you had been reading through yesterday. Still incomprehensible to you.
You extend Durga. The plates bump slightly against the seat behind you and you quickly refine your Impeller field slightly to make sure you don't cut anything by accident.
You connect and begin talking to the Internet, retracing your path through the network, following along the connections that your terminal took. Data pours into your mind and is processed. You look over the paper from a different perspective and understand.
It was a study into the long lived spatial anomaly located within the Saskatoon Hive. You spread yours mind outwards and look all parts of the report over to gain context. Links branch outwards to differing reports and measurements measuring the spatial tear. A mild ache begins somewhere far behind you.
Several reports on you specifically. Recordings of you demonstrating Wave Force, the video growing unsteady then cutting out just before the Wave reaches full cohesion between your fingers. Another recording from a Valkyrie, looking over the walls of the testing chamber, radiation everywhere and gaps in the metal from where the matter had failed to expand as space collapsed inwards. As it was still collapsing inwards towards a tiny point where you had fired the wave towards. Measurements from the Valkyrie's observation instruments flooding in, before she flees as her Impeller is eaten away by the contractions of space. More data from outside the facility as the entire facility rippled faintly inwards then outwards, like the ground itself was breathing, before the entire area collapses. Data from Perth, Beijing, Santiago, Capetown, Delhi and Armstrong base, their powerful sensors reading the disruptions with more clarity than any local sensors. The disembodied ache grows stronger.
Comparisons with the anomalous spikes of data during the Alaska campaign, now attributed to you fighting Sekhmet with Wave Force. Recordings of the spatial shocks from the destruction of Fairbanks Hive and the subsequent collapse of the Breach compared to the noise that overlapped with that of the collapse of the Saskatoon Breach. Gathering the information you need, you look back to the central equation, a posit for the necessary shaping of Higgs required to form and maintain such a tear. Indirect, based off hypothetic extrapolation of data from your uses of Wave Force. Models built off from the theory. A proposal for a megaproject, a cannon on the lunar surface, the Ginnungagap cannon, something to fire upon the Major Breaches and destroy them from the outside, a trump requiring another facility the size of Armstrong base in total. Theoretical studies as to the effects of such a weapon on Earth, designs for a scaled down version for Valkyrie battleships. The ache is now beginning to become distracting.
It was different from how you did it.
That was the first thought that comes to your mind.
It was a different approach to how you were using Wave Force to arrive at essentially the same result. You're not sure how it was- no, you knew how it was different but you can't express it, trying to summarise more than 9.3TB of relational data into the few bits per second of human speech was simply-
You suddenly notice your body has collapsed. The ache intensified to the point where you were truly beginning to lose concentration.
Hmm.
Now is perhaps a good time to cut this off. You turn your concentration and regather the scattered parts of your mind, pulling your focus back into your body. You pick yourself off the floor with your Impeller field and scan yourself.
Burst capillaries inside your right eye that blinded it, minor embolism inside several veins inside your brain and a rather irregular heart rate. Thankfully no direct damage to the neurons themselves, you always lost memories after such injuries.
This wasn't the first time you had done this, you had collapsed several times in your early years when you flew for too long. You had also collapsed briefly when you met the UN forces. Unused to the high density, high bandwidth traffic that had flooded the air through their datalinks, structured, partitioned and thus different from the targeted noise that AG jamming was, you had briefly collapsed trying to take it all in.
That had been the only time you suffered such an attack in what could have been a combat situation and you were glad that you did, as it stopped you from possibly doing something that you would have regretted.
Still, it was very unusual for you fall from such a fit, no matter how relatively minor, from less than an hour of operating Durga.
There were still a few minutes until morning classes begin. You decide to sit and concentrate on healing until then.
XxXxXxXxXx
Morning Research Roll = 45
Roll >= 4: No injuries or penalty to social score.
Special research action success: Unlocks specialisation: Red Wave, Blue Wave.
(Transcendent Offense) Static Wave level 1: (10)+ 45 = 55/???
XxXxXxXxXx
By the time you saw the instructors walking through the hallways outside the classroom alongside a few early students, your injuries were well gone. You retract Durga and sit down into your seat.
The class files in, chatting and talking amongst the groups, already quite a few already had their Valkyrie frames equipped this time. As the others sit down, you notice a few discrepancies. Shuri had managed to lose two members of her flight, one of whom had joined with Syifa and another had shifted over to the other side of the room, joining a flight who had been with Meyer's group. Two more members of her flight looked ready to fall asleep. Shuri herself looked completely unruffled, as did Sandra, who as always seemed to be smiling sunnily, chatting to the various other cadets around her without a care.
"Morning Anna, missed you at breakfast today," greets Koujirou as he vaults the desk to collapse into the leftmost seat on your row.
"Good morning Anna," echoes Setsuna as she dives under the desk and slips up into the seat between you and Koujirou.
Both tap their console screens and log on almost simultaneously. The two stare at each other challengingly before Koujirou frowns and looks away, "You were faster…"
Setsuna grins, leaning over towards him and resting her chin on her palm with a cheeky smile, "What's that Koji? I couldn't hear you~"
Before the two can take it any further, Instructor Meyer calls attention to the front of the class again with a clap.
"Alright squadron, today, we continue with the studies of conventional Antagonist units, but rather than in a vacuum, this lesson will cover the most common Antagonist deployment formations."
You listen on, as the two instructors gesture through holograms depicting formations. Antagonists used rather similar formations on the open field as humans did, changing as you approached their redoubts with their networks of underground tunnels.
Large scale AG armies on the attack were invariably led by overwhelming air superiority forces, decoys, jammers and artillery in several waves to draw out humanity's high yield weaponry. Armoured formations and high level antagonists were right after them along with more waves of air, covered by heavy mobile ground to air, this time generally heavy on ground attack aircraft. Without the need to worry about heavy ground to orbital weaponry on Earth, Antagonist spaceships often approached frontline under the cover of Type-18s, unveiling themselves in 'weakpoints' in the line of battle, providing enormous volumes of fire equal to mobile redoubts. AG infantry was a constant presence at all depths in the smoke of a battlefield, their low energy signatures and small profiles allowing them advance in a scattered wave, yet capable of forming up into dense assault formations in an eye blink whenever needed.
It was much the same with other types of Antagonists units, if less apparent as they tended to remain in unit formations like equivalent human units, but had a flexibility that even the best drones on the human side did not, capable of forming new formations from scattered remnants without pause and essentially impossible to flank due to their absurdly fast unit reorientations. Time and time again proved that if you were seen by one Antagonist, you were seen by them all. It was hypothesised that all Antagonists were capable of communicating and networking through a means other than through electromagnetic radiation, possibly in the same manner Valkyries are always connected to their partnered Valkyries cores regardless of the physical separations imposed upon them.
Antagonist armies on the defensive tended to act in the exact same manner as an Antagonist army of the attack, pressing forwards to meet human forces head-on. Only when Type Zeros were present on the front did Antagonists formations show aberrations from their effective if uncreative patterns of attack with overwhelming force. Such was often the first sign of a Type Zero.
You pay more attention in this lesson as you rarely fought large formations of Antagonists head on, mostly leading them in chases and destroying the resultant splinters. Still, as the Instructors begin to quiz the various flights on responses to the various elements of Antagonist forces, you turn your attention away to browse through more online articles relating to the use of the Impeller field and spatial warping in combat.
You follow a subject for a while discussing a technique of some Valkyries where they use their Impeller fields to form cupolas to focus incoming forces back outwards towards a single point, forming what was essentially a zero range explosive counter action against attacks. A few talking about it note that was only marginally useful, and then only in redoubt clearing. Some more talk about its utility against other Valkyries and you promptly drop the thread there.
When you change your focus to searching for spatial warping, you gain a bit more success, a few Aces were discussed the offensive uses of teleportation and promptly got into a rather intense if polite argument over its merits, linking to many records and videos in support of their own points. You take a moment to consider what new opportunities would be possible if you could teleport a coherent Wave to a target, before dismissing it. You would need a better understanding of what exactly Wave Force was before considering that.
XxXxXxXxXx
Morning Class Roll = 35
(Transcendent Offense) Static Wave level 1: (45)+ 35 = 90/???
XxXxXxXxXx
Lunch rolls around and the class disbands.
"Do you already have lunch today Anna?" asks Koujirou with a lazily stretch, before he bounces to his feet.
"Not today," you respond, standing up also.
"Well then, follow us, we're going down to the Perth Arcology biome for lunch," he says casually, sliding over the table and moving towards the door.
Setsuna has a finger half raised, her mouth opened to speak, but she seems rather lost for words at Koujirou's rapid pace and simply blows out an unhappy sigh and follows Koujirou.
You also hesitate slightly, thinking about Instructor Meyer's offer to visit the Instructors Lounge, then decide you could visit afterwards. You had promised Yukari that you would watch over these two after all and while you trusted the UN to keep the Arcology free of Antagonists, Antagonists may well not be the only threat to your two cadets.
With that, you follow the two down the corridors also.
XxXxXxXxXx
As you rode a clear sided passenger elevator down into Perth Arcology's upper biome, you could only think that it was far too large to be called a room.
Six kilometers in diameter with a ceiling four hundred meters in the air, the powerful holo screen depicted a sun burning brightly over head in a clear blue sky. Occasionally, apartments stuck down through the illusion, one of which you classified likely to be the Perth Arcology observation deck from the Valkyries you could see through the glass, otherwise, it would be easy to believe you were outside.
The terrain was wide and varied, an artificial mountain, capped with ice somehow, climbed up the east wall to nearly touch the ceiling. From that 'mountain', small sparkling streams ran from it, splitting and joining as they pouring through the gentle hills and grasslands of the 'foothills' until the tributaries all merged into a single large 'river'. The river than ran through dense woods before pouring out into a lake that spaned the crescent of the west side of the room, gravelly and rocky with dark igneous stone on the north side and smooth with white sand on the south side. Birds flew through the air and you see the flash of fish scales slicing through the water.
You shake your head in sheer disbelief. It was so surreal, knowing the size and sheer presence of mountains, rivers and the ocean, then seeing this molehill with its little creeks and swimming pool playing masquerade. Even so, it was a beautiful vista, hundreds kilometers of terrain compacted and flattened, features exaggerated and flaws smoothed out to present this tiny slice of 'nature'.
Did you miss this last night by travelling into the sports arena in cargo elevators? You wonder if the residential areas that you did not bother looking into were also this elaborate.
…
How many people would grow up only knowing this reflection of the outside world?
"It's a sight isn't it?" murmurs Setsuna from your side, looking out over the terrain wistfully, "When we win, we will be free to see this kind of thing in the real world, no need to play make believe down here."
You had seen plenty of nature on your flights, but the sentiment was one you agreed with.
"When we win," you affirm.
"We will win," thirds Koujirou.
XxXxXxXxXx
After agreeing to the conditions to enter the biome (absolutely no weapon fire whatsoever, no engaging engines, no flight or jumping to glide, in fact just keep your Valkyrie frames retracted), the trio of you had walked through the dense woods until entering a small clearing filled with rounded stones. Soft moss covered the ground and clear, shallow streams of water ran between the rocks. Light dappled by the thick foliage touched softly across the clearing and the air was cool and moist.
It was a very relaxing place, you would call it solemn.
The solemn air did not last, Koujirou and Setsuna both seemed allergic to peace and quiet to your annoyance.
Setsuna had cheerfully set out a blanket on the largest, the had a small double take upon turning and seeing you. Maybe you should talk more, she appears to have forgotten you had followed the two of them.
Koujirou sits down casually, seemingly oblivious to Setsuna's discomfort, waving you down also, "C'mon Anna, take a seat, you stand straight way too much. So… Setsu, um, where's the food?"
You sit as a soft white glow fills the clearing and slowly fades, announcing Setsuna retrieving a wooden box of some manner from Kosenjoubi's storage. She seems hesitant to hand it over to Koujirou however.
"You said yesterday that you were interested food enhanced by a Valkyrie core, so I kept some from lunch yesterday… " mutters Setsuna, looking down at her knees, "but uh- I only kept enough for two."
Koujirou blinks and looks hesitantly at you.
Well you did still have some stores of breakfast left, you had planned to continue eating down your list, but what happens, happens. You'll just combine some dishes with others. You wordlessly materialise your own tray of food left from breakfast and begin eating.
Setsuna blinks then smiles at you, bobbing her head with a hand held vertically in front of her face.
"Oh well then, crisis averted," comments Koujirou, scooting over next to Setsuna, "So, show me what you got this time Setsu."
XxXxXxXxXx
Despite your aversion to noise, you found lunch with the two rather enjoyable, even if you did have to save Koujirou from being jabbed in his nose by a pair of chopsticks twice.
Having finished your lunch, you confiscated Setsuna's chopsticks and then bid the pair of them goodbye, heading up into Perth Academy.
You take another lingering glance at the biome, then the view is cut off as you enter the armoured plate separating the Arcology from the Academy.
The trip into the Instructors lounge was fairly short, set a couple of floor above the central classrooms, the path leads there naturally along the spiralling structure.
Outside the unremarkable door, you hesitate. Should you knock? Ring a bell? Simply tell the door to open?
The door opens before you decide, an Instructor, Vivas from her tag, standing on the other side.
She looks you up and down once and then steps aside, gesturing inside, a wordless invitation.
You nod slightly in thanks and walk inside.
The lounge was fairly spacious if relatively unspectacular, deep blue carpeting covering the floor and lounges are scattered in a loose circle where most of the Instructors seemed to be seated. A large map of the world was projected on the left wall, parts of it angry red and parts of it deep blue, representing the Antagonists and UN controlled areas. There are some parts coloured in other shades and you realise that those must be the independent countries that still remained. A holoscreen on the right wall showed a collage of different pictures, you scowl as you recognise pictures of Type Zeros surrounded by faces of Valkyries. On the far wall, a series of changing pictograms and charts blur over the screen, changing every few milliseconds, you read a few but are unable to understand them without context.
The lounge wasn't full, out of the forty two Instructors and two Directors that you saw at orientation, there were only eleven inside the lounge, neither Leonhart nor Meyer were in.
"-what I'm saying is, sure they're eighteen, but that's no excuse to suddenly run down to the arcology to see boys," one Instructor complains, nursing a steaming drink in her hand, staring intently into the cup.
You quietly move to one of the furthest couches and sit down to listen. One of the Instructors facing your direction looks up from her datapad and taps her index against her eyebrow, a very informal salute, before returning to her business. A few more who catch the motion looks over and soon everyone except for the one nursing her cup is aware of you, Instructor Xing from her tag.
"You worry too much Xue, after Alaska and the years of the Great Battle, everyone deserves some time to relax. Besides, knowing how to talk to boys will help them out in future," comments another Instructor who was focused on the far wall, Shapira her tag declares, "We've also got a guest here, so best to drop the silly worries."
Instructor Xing looks up, worrying at her lip, her eyebrows shoot up then reset just as fast. Her face smooths over and she sits up, also giving you a small salute, "Hello Miss Sanchez, Meyer told us about you."
She gives a small look around the room, then turns back to you, "Lots of us are out and about right now, it's always like this early in the year, patrols and admin work."
You decide you should probably say something back around now and latch onto the topic you were familiar with, taking a glance at the map, you say "Patrols? For Antagonists this far from their territory?"
Xue shakes her head and also glances at the map, "No, just inside the academy, it's actually for the students. With so many girls synching their Valk frames in first year around now, there are occasional temper flare ups, ego clashes, things along those lines. Director De Vries makes sure to clamp down on that nonsense in orientation but there's always a few. As for the AGs, they haven't set foot, flown over, made an orbital pass and all included for a few years now. We've got a little counter for the next time."
She flicks a finger upwards to the right and you look.
>>1756 Days since last AG attack on Perth
Almost five years.
"Hopefully, it lasts," mutters Vivas, who had sat to your left, her head leaned back against the couch and eyes closed, but from the twitches from her eyes, she was probably connecting to a network with her Valkyrie, "We almost had to reset it during the Great Battle."
"We have Alaska, Fairbanks and Portland are both down, the Antagonists shouldn't have a bridge anymore," said Xue, sipping on her drink.
"Marduk is a Class A and we don't have anything permanent on the west coast aside from Anchorage, if we get too close to Cincinnati Major breach and Marduk sallies, all the progress we made isn't going to last… Argh, just thinking about facing another Indra makes me shiver," sighs Shapira, turning away from the back wall and also turning to face the map.
At the mention of Indra, almost everyone glances at the left wall.
The incandescently white Type Zero, first ever of its kind, surrounded by hundreds of photos, most greyed out and a few still coloured in. You suddenly realise that the greyed out photos must be of the Valkyries whom had been slain by Indra and those still coloured were those who had fought it and lived, including those who eventually killed it.
Indra himself had a large cross over its portrait. You search along across the board and find Sekhmet, also crossed out. Sure enough, next to it, a photo of you floated next to it. However, many other faces, greyed out, were arranged next to yours, at least eighty portraits of Valkyries. Nearly three squadrons of Valkyries had fallen against it through its bloody career, almost a quarter of an entire Academy year.
'Just' a Class C Type Zero. Seeing the faces arranged next to Sekhmet, some cheerful and some stoic, but all dead, you think back to Leonhart's advice yesterday, -you cannot win alone, you cannot win with your flight, you cannot win with your squadron-
You suddenly agree wholeheartedly and without reservations. You cannot allow your fellow cadets to face a Type Zero as they were.
"-command is probably aiming for Oslo and Helsinki or Quebec and Timmins, secure the north."
"I really doubt that we would be able to secure another sweep, not without another Wildcard appearing leftfield."
The opinions of the Instructors around you were given without heat, a repetition set views, stating rather than arguing. They had been over these debates before apparently. It was new to you though and you sit back to listen, tracking the map as it shifted over the various situations around the world. The constantly shifting lines of battle in central Africa, the stalemate in Europe and the Middle East, the constantly looming threat over the EU nations of Scotland and Ireland and large scale relief finally reaching the isolated EU nations of Greenland and Iceland.
"There's also the Tamanrasset double Breach, we definitely can't let those two approach each other for much longer."
The map zoomed slightly towards central Africa, showing two Minor Breaches, slowly creeping towards each other, a projected timeline for their convergence appearing.
"Too close to Tripoli Major. We'd need the entire Three Hundred and probably half the rest. We do that, every other front get pushed back, even if it's at a low activity period."
"We definitely cannot let another Major form if at all possible, that means seven Type Zeros each year instead of six."
"Commit too much and Cincinnati and Denver will push us off North America again. If we're unlucky they'll decide to push South this time and attack towards La Paz, Brasilia and Santiago. They could ignore Anchorage if they wanted to."
"We've argued this hundreds of times since Alaska, let's switch topics. How are you feeling about the First years this time Sunny?"
"The new year is promising. We've got two Aces already and six Elites, not to mention Anna there," Instructor Hwang nods towards you, "We keep them in one piece, and we'll probably see a graduating year with eleven, maybe twelve Ace flyers in three years time."
"Twelve Aces, heh, Director Wang is going to be bringing down the ceiling in Beijing, I can hear her yelling about diligence right now."
You pull your knees up to your chest and rest your chin on them, listening to the Instructors talk.
XxXxXxXxXx
You excuse yourself as the clock ticks past quarter to two, heading down towards the simulation room.
You loiter as the rest of the Squadron files in ahead of Instructor Leonhart, but rather than entering the Simulation room, the two Instructors call to attention the various flights.
"Alright, Squadron Four, you've probably already heard of this through various sources, but I'll just repeat it for those of you who did not know. Later this year, there will an inter-academy competition between us, Beijing and Santiago, with maybe some wildcards from the independent military academies joining in. As a prelude to that, Perth will be running some tournaments for the various years to decide on representative teams. First part of this would of course selecting our own representative flight and in addition to that, the Squadron Vanguard," said Instructor Leonhart.
You lean forwards slightly in interest along with the rest of the class in this. Wondering what format would these competitions take. Maximum number of Antagonists destroyed in a simulation? Frame specifications and the user's ability to customise them? Maybe even performance evaluation on actual combat deployment?
"The selection for the representative flights will be taken through combat matches between the flights, as are the position for Vanguard. First at the Squadron level between our Flights, then between the various squadrons. The top flights and Squadron Vanguards will represent the first year in the tournament."
Nope.
Fighting against other humans. Ugh.
"These trials begin at the end of week four so there is no need to feel rushed, but I will ask for a show of interest in the position of Squadron Vanguard. Don't be afraid to volunteer, it will be extra flight hours, but every single little bit you can squeeze from the Academy, you should. You can always volunteer later if you don't feel confident now, just before the start of week four," calls out Instructor Meyer.
Most of the Squadron turns to look at Shuri. She turns and looks at you. You hum tunelessly and look up at the ceiling. Instructor Leonhart rubs her face with her palm.
"I shall volunteer my skills to represent Squadron Four and further, Perth Academy in the Inter Academy Tounament," a voice calls out.
You look back down in interest, the voice was from Shuri's flight, but not from Shuri herself, it was Sandra who had immediately raised a palm at the call.
For a moment, a looks and whispers are exchanged amongst the various flights, then when Shuri still remains motionless, Syifa steps forward too, "Sure, I'll give it a go."
A slight nudge at your side has you looking down, Setsuna stares up at you in clear questioning, "Are you going to try out Anna?"
"Maybe. Probably not, I don't know," you say. You certainly didn't want to fight other humans again, but…
She frowns slightly and looks over the Squadron, then gives a brief sigh begins raising her hand-
"Sure alright, sounds like an adventure, I'm in," Koujirou pre-empts her and steps forward.
"Wha- dammit you- I'm also in for position of Squadron Four Vanguard," splutters Setsuna.
You look over the Squadron again and the four current volunteers, you could defer the decision, but it was best in your mind to make a clear choice now.
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[]…ugh. Try it maybe?
[]No.
[]Write in?
What to study?
[]Afternoon: Self study. Continue as is. (Target rich environment)
[]Afternoon: Self Study. Write in.
Do anything between dinner and elective classes?
[]Dinner: Write in.
Any particular elective classes you want to see?
[]Evening: Continue down the list.
[]Evening: Yes.
>[]Evening: Write in. Feel free to suggest elective classes.
[]Evening: Do something else.
>[]Evening: Write in.
XxXxXxXxXx
More responses to the thread and edits to character sheet in a little bit.
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