Distortions (Symphogear) (Spoilers for Those Who Haven't Seen XV!)

FelOnyx · Dec 12, 2019

obssesednuker said:
I mean, I figure there'd also be some more speculation about why the Horsemen have a Kanade-clone.

Switching geahs out of shitpost then, I'd also question how. She disintegrated when when died, they couldn't have taken a sample from her body. I suppose I wouldn't put it past Fine to have kept blood samples from the adapters for whatever vague sinister mad science reasons, which the Horsemen somehow got their hands on. But the why is odd as well, now that you bring it up. Just chocking it up to more psychological warfare seems too simple, though they would certainly be willing to spend that effort if they were willing to send forces halfway around the world and attack a village for the same reason. They could have been using clones to study how synchronization and phonic gain work in order to develop the apegears, which could mean dozens were made and then disposed of. That would not be fun information for Tsubasa to find.

obssesednuker · Dec 12, 2019

FelOnyx said:
But the why is odd as well, now that you bring it up. Just chocking it up to more psychological warfare seems too simple,

Here's a hint: reread the audio log from chapter 11 between the Lamb and Professor-108.

Paleb05 · Dec 12, 2019

obssesednuker said:
Now imagine if they were in X-Drive. Marine's would probably be forming religious cults dedicated to them right then and there.

"And then on the seventh day, Hibiki Tachibana OVERSLEPT AGAIN! This prompted Chris Yukine to smack her. And it was good."

"And on the sixth day, Kirika Akatsuki and Shirabe Tsukuyomi combined their gears in order to make a robot to clean up a mess. This prompted Chris Yukine to glare at them. And it was good."

obssesednuker said:
I mean, I figure there'd also be some more speculation about why the Horsemen have a Kanade-clone.

My best guess for the why is to: mess with them, use as a base for their mooks, use as a future weapon against them, or any combination of the three.

The Name of Love · Dec 12, 2019

gamer50018 said:
....Oh God, I just realised. The Horsemen are lucky they have Anti LiNKER. Otherwise, those marines basically WOULD have been seeing them in X-Drive. Or at least, the power level of the GX X-Drive. Which is probably why they put so much effort into getting good Anti LiNKER, because if you have a choice between fighting X-Drive and not doing that, don't do that. And if they went Burning.... hoo boy. I can only imagine how the Chinese would react to THAT can of bullshit. And the marines, for that matter.

First, how can the Horsemen be lucky when they, you know, actually planned on getting their hands on Anti-LiNKER in the first place and wouldn't have even tried to openly do what they do without producing a gajillion metric tons of it?

Second, how could they use X-Drive when that requires an insane amount of phonic gain?

FelOnyx said:
I'd also question how. She disintegrated when when died, they couldn't have taken a sample from her body. I suppose I wouldn't put it past Fine to have kept blood samples from the adapters for whatever vague sinister mad science reasons, which the Horsemen somehow got their hands on.

My guess? FIS. Fine/Ryoko worked for them at some point, so through her, they would've had samples of all of the Symphogear adaptors at various states of their lives. We've seen in previous chapters how the Four Horsemen have made moves against the U.S. government.

FelOnyx said:
But the why is odd as well, now that you bring it up. Just chocking it up to more psychological warfare seems too simple, though they would certainly be willing to spend that effort if they were willing to send forces halfway around the world and attack a village for the same reason. They could have been using clones to study how synchronization and phonic gain work in order to develop the apegears, which could mean dozens were made and then disposed of. That would not be fun information for Tsubasa to find.

Well, for the reason why they are studying the clones, you'll be given a good idea in the coming chapters. But as for why they left stuff behind, here's why below.

obssesednuker said:
P-108: "One issue. Pale Unit subsection devoted to Project 13B545."
The Lamb: "So? If you're afraid we'll lose the facility, just evacuate or destroy them. It's a subsection, so there isn't that much, and it's not like those samples are irreplaceable. Hell, we're ultimately going to dispose of them anyways because-"
P-108: "Not my recommendation."
[Significant Pause Recorded]
The Lamb: "Really?"
P-108: "Interested in reaction."
The Lamb: "Oh… oh, I see. Yes, it would be interesting to see SONG's reaction to that bit of news. Still, be sure to evacuate or redact the appropriate records. We can't afford to give everything away if the facility is lost. Anything else?"
P-108: "No."

By the way, @obssesednuker, can I give the audience the lowdown on the Four Horsemen's command structure?

obssesednuker · Dec 12, 2019

The Name of Love said:
My guess? FIS. Fine/Ryoko worked for them at some point, so through her, they would've had samples of all of the Symphogear adaptors at various states of their lives. We've seen in previous chapters how the Four Horsemen have made moves against the U.S. government.

That's pretty much it, at least when it comes to the older stuff. They've also managed to gank more recent genetic material from SONG, although how they did that would be spoiler territory.

The Name of Love said:
By the way, @obssesednuker, can I give the audience the lowdown on the Four Horsemen's command structure?

Sure, but try to keep any spoilers out of it.

The Name of Love · Dec 12, 2019

Alright, I'll give a brief overview of the Four Horsemen as an organization without giving away any spoilers. Everything here can be found in the story if you look hard enough.

So, the OG Four Horsemen come from the Book of Apocalypse (aka the Book of Revelation). They purposefully structured their organization in reference to the Seven Seals in Scripture. Apocalypse 5 introduces the Lamb and the Seven Seals.

Apocalypse 5:1-8 said:
I saw that in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne there was a scroll that was written on back and front and was sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a powerful angel who called with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?' But there was no one, in heaven or on the earth or under the earth, who was able to open the scroll and read it.

I wept bitterly because nobody could be found to open the scroll and read it, but one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and so he will open the scroll and its seven seals.'

Then I saw, in the middle of the throne with its four living creatures and the circle of the elders, a Lamb standing that seemed to have been sacrificed; it had seven horns, and it had seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits that God has sent out over the whole world.

The Lamb came forward to take the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne, and when he took it, the four living creatures prostrated themselves before him and with them the twenty-four elders; each one of them was holding a harp and had a golden bowl full of incense which are the prayers of the saints.

The Lamb is the unquestioned leader of the Four Horsemen. Its founder. He is the keeper of the wisdom, represented by the sealed scroll. What is this wisdom? Well, I'll give you a hint - the Lamb, whoever he is, was the very first POV character in the fanfic.

obssesednuker said:
"Is this true? Is all of this really true?"

His guest just gave a simple nod.

[...]

Reflecting on it now, the briefing hadn't honestly told him that much. In hindsight, "Ancient alien precursor goddess tried to hijack humanity's collective consciousness to mutilate the world and was stopped by that UN Symphogear organization SONG" did raise more questions than it answered. The most obvious being "why was there an alien precursor goddess trying to mutilate the world?"

Well, now he had an answer to that question. And it churned his gut. The evidence he had was indisputable.

[...]

Yet fundamentally, it was the same technology, and who was to say the Symphogears would always be on the side of saving mankind? Indeed if the information he had in front of him was correct, one of them had for awhile been bent on subjugating the world. That was only one step away from destroying it. Who's to say it couldn't happen again?

The "scroll" he received is a metaphor for the information about the Shem-Ha Incident that drove him to create the Four Horsemen in the first place. And now? He wants to "release the seals" on that scroll and share it with the world. In other words, to make all the world see things the way he does. By any means necessary.

So what happens in the Bible when the Seals are unleashed? Well, each seals releases a different calamity upon the world. The first four seals cause the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to come.

Apocalypse 6:1-8 said:
Then, in my vision, I saw the Lamb break one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures shout in a voice like thunder, 'Come!' Immediately I saw a white horse appear, and its rider was holding a bow; he was given a victor's crown and he went away, to go from victory to victory.

When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature shout, 'Come!' And out came another horse, bright red, and its rider was given this duty: to take away peace from the earth and set people killing each other. He was given a huge sword.

When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature shout, 'Come!' Immediately I saw a black horse appear, and its rider was holding a pair of scales; and I seemed to hear a voice shout from among the four living creatures and say, 'A day's wages for a quart of corn, and a day's wages for three quarts of barley, but do not tamper with the oil or the wine.'

When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature shout, 'Come!' Immediately I saw another horse appear, deathly pale, and its rider was called Death, and Hades followed at its heels. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague and through wild beasts.

The passage describes the functions of the White, Red, Black, and Pale Units of the organization.

The White Unit is the military branch of the Horsemen. It is supposed to "go from victory to victory." Furthermore, many of the earlier interpretations of this passage have the White Rider represent Jesus Christ conquering the world and successfully spreading the Gospel. White Unit, similarly, is supposed to help the Four Horsemen spread their message through conquest - in this case, terrorist tactics - and otherwise help spread the Four Horsemen's influence.

The Red Unit is like the mission control/technical support of the Horsemen. Its "duty" is "to take away peace from the earth and set people killing each other." It coordinates the Four Horsemen while engaging in important cyber-espionage attacks, all in the name of sowing discord among the nations.

The Black Unit represents the black market operations of the Four Horsemen - their operations in the criminal underworld as well as how they manufacture all the wonderful toys they use. They are to tamper with the prices of corn and barley (staples for the poor) but leave intact the oil and wine (which are, depending on your interpretation, either luxury items for the wealthy or important materials to be used for Christian sacraments). Either way suggests that the Horsemen aren't really concerned with social justice, but with their own benefit, so they'll economically exploit the Average Joe to get what they want.

The Pale Unit is the R&D department of the Four Horsemen. They are the mad scientists that designs the wonderful toys that Black Unit then manufactures. It's fitting for them to be called "Death" and have authority over a large part of the Earth, since they've pretty much turned what would be a terrorist organization into the world's strongest army.

But the Four Horsemen are just the first four seals. What about the last three? Well, the Fifth and Sixth Seals are the only ones that have been mentioned in-story so far. I'll leave it to you to find where they are. But we can see what the good book says about them.

Apocalypse 6:9 said:
When he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of all the people who had been killed on account of the Word of God, for witnessing to it.

[...]

In my vision, when he broke the sixth seal, there was a violent earthquake and the sun went as black as coarse sackcloth; the moon turned red as blood all over, and the stars of the sky fell onto the earth like figs dropping from a fig tree when a high wind shakes it; the sky disappeared like a scroll rolling up and all the mountains and islands were shaken from their places.

Then all the kings of the earth, the governors and the commanders, the rich people and the men of influence, the whole population, slaves and citizens, hid in caverns and among the rocks of the mountains. They said to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us away from the One who sits on the throne and from the retribution of the Lamb. For the Great Day of his retribution has come, and who can face it?'

So the Fifth Seal represents the Christian martyrs - in Four Horsemen terms, probably useful pawns the Horsemen will sacrifice for their goal. That's plain enough. Every villain group needs useful idiots to use as pawns for their cause. We'll be seeing more of them next chapter. Extra homework, readers: try to find "fives" or "fifths" in the story, and let your speculation run wild.

The Sixth Seal isn't a person (or people) though. It's a great and terrible catastrophe sends everyone headed for the hills cowering in fear of the Lamb. Sounds like the Four Horsemen's plan. Gee, that sounds kinda like a "cause a catastrophe to take over the world" sorta villainous plan. What could be the...

obssesednuker said:
The Lamb: "Red Unit's secured the line. Black Unit Facility 5-012 has been located."
P-108: "That was projected."
The Lamb: "I'm not blaming you, Professor. If anything, this is something of an opportunity to move forward with the Sixth Seal."
P-108: "Scenario 44?"
The Lamb: "Precisely. Given the general status and make-up of SONG, it was inevitable that we would be biased in the direction of Pacific-East Asia scenarios. The current direction of events is perfect for the Pacific Maneuver."

obssesednuker said:
"Execute Sixth Seal, Scenario Forty-four, phase six. White Unit Battlegroups, be advised: Sword Force is now underway. Keep friendly fire to a minimum."

Well, it looks like they managed to accomplish something of their grand master plan to take over the world. But what could that have been? That's for you to decide.

SVS · Dec 12, 2019

FelOnyx said:
Have you met my friend Luuke? He's pretty handy.

I once tried to explain this piece of bullshit to someone I worked with. That and the Bigger Luke theory.

JumperPrime · Dec 12, 2019

Hmm, Fifth Seal would be people like the amateur assassin that tried and failed to assasinate Miku at school, right? I think Sawada(the one that was eyeing Kirika's Symphogear pendant) may also be a potential. She just needs a little LINKER, info on how to use it, and a subtle push for her to make a grab for Kirika's pendant then maybe get minimum requited sync to activate it. I suspect in such a scenario, Kirika would be able to steal Igalima back the same way Hibiki yoinked Maria's Gungnir, but she'd need to get close enough to grab the scythe without getting chopped to ribbons first, maybe Shirabe running interference(and perhaps Shirabe commenting that the only things that made the fight a challenge are that she needs to protect Kirika while avoiding inflicting serious injury to Sawada)

As to the Sixth Seal, it sounds like the Four Horsemen were trying to set off World War III here. The false flag attacks on the Chinese and Americans with units that look like each others' triggers conflict, then the White Unit's advanced weapons wipe out everyone, Chinese and Americans blame each other, Americans especially accusing the Chinese of being in bed with the Four Horsemen, maybe dropping a nuke on the island to take out the Four Horsemen base after the Marines are wiped out. As the world tears itself apart, the Four Horsemen's military arm take advantage of the war to pounce on weakened countries, securing them before the superpowers realize what's happening.

But the General managed to talk down his Chinese counterpart and SONG had a convenient "sensor glitch" to sneak around the UN restrictions prohibiting them from deploying the Symphogears who then made quick work of the knockoff!Autoscorers and supertanks. So, we won't be playing Global Thermonuclear War today, but it's obvious this was only one of many plans the Four Horsemen have for creating a disaster big enough to soften up the world for their big takeover plans so the chess game continues.

gamer50018 · Dec 13, 2019

I'll give a hint about the Fifth Seal: it isn't in a chapter.

obssesednuker · Dec 13, 2019

gamer50018 said:
I'll give a hint about the Fifth Seal: it isn't in a chapter.

Well, they've popped up once in a prior chapter so far.

The Name of Love · Dec 13, 2019

gamer50018 said:
I'll give a hint about the Fifth Seal: it isn't in a chapter.

Yes, it is.

obssesednuker · Dec 13, 2019

Well, regardless, I can't help but notice that the whole "OMG Kanade clone!" reveal has somewhat overshadowed some other hints and stuff we dropped. Kinda interested if anyone picks up on those.

gamer50018 · Dec 13, 2019

Well, yes, but the one I know isn't in a chapter.

obssesednuker · Dec 15, 2019

Authors Notes: As before, this was a three way collab between me, Name, and Gamer. Chapter 13 is something like 2,000 words from being completed, in case your wondering.

OMAKE: Supernatural Forums 2: Electric Boogaloo

THREAD: OKAY, SO APPARENTLY THIS IS HAPPENING

Page 63

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Alright! After a fuck ton of panicking, scheduling, trying to help Tachibana avoid Infinite Reporter Hell, hoping we don't get shot at, and other fun times, the first press conference has arrived! Kazanari, the AC and Maria will all be on stage momentarily, so hold onto your hats!

-

Burnout

Just a few more minutes until it kicks off. I can't imagine how it'd be to have Yukine up there, given how she flipped out on that one reporter a couple of days ago.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Oh God, don't remind me. I swear to God, when I found out what that idiot said… long story short, Yukine was NOT making an empty threat there. Seriously, what the fuck made that guy think that that question was okay is beyond me. At any rate, yeah, Yukine is the one we're worried for- she isn't exactly the sort who deals with people trying to hit her buttons well. And it's the media, so I'm not even going to bother with the effort of hoping they won't hit the buttons.

-

Kamen rider 555

You haven't tried to coach her or anything? People who don't trust her to hold her temper in front of the press aren't going to trust her to hold her temper on the battlefield. Which is a real problem when you're talking about someone with as many missiles as that.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

We are giving her some coaching, but all the coaching in the world isn't going to change the fact that we're about to have to throw a traumatized eighteen year old in front of the media and tell her to suck it up when they inevitably hit the memories. Honestly I'd rather she didn't go period, and so does almost everyone on my end, but the security council overruled us.

-

Moaron

Motorcade just pulled up to the ministry building. Cameras outside showing Maria and Kazanari coming in. They're composed, but I guess that's to be expected from a pair of idols.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

They are totally hot and I am so glad the two of them made it to that conference. I hope this doesn't negatively impact their idol careers.

-

Guessing/Game

It probably will. There are rumors about record companies cutting ties with them after the reveals. Maria's getting it harder, naturally, but there other companies with Tsubasa are worried about liability issues if another of her concerts get hit again. It's unfortunate. I really liked their music.

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

Eh, so long as they have each other then I'm sure they'll be fine.

-

BurnOut

You are aware that they've denied they're together like that in their past idol interviews, @DoubleTheFun?

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

And I'm in denial over their denial. Sue me.

-

Moaron

Right.
Anyways, conference is starting as of this post and… Shinji Ogawa? He's your commander, right @Songbird? He seems really low key…

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

He's actually our former intelligence director, but there was a major shake up right before the leaks that ended up with him as AC. He's been doing a pretty good job, though, so here's hoping. And yeah he's pretty low key. Mostly because he is a literal, no shit, ninja. No, really. Anyways, the AC is about to finish his opening statement, so get ready for the actually answering part of this shebang.

-

Guessing/Game

Wait wait wait. YOUR BOSS IS A FUCKING NINJA!!?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

My boss is a fucking ninja. And he's actually less badass then the old man was. Which says rather a lot about the absurdity of the previous Commander. And on that note: question time! Pay attention, folks!

-

Moaron

Alright, so Literal Ninja Commander is up. And I can't believe that's a sentence.

Slightly surprised the kids actually still did the exams, I wouldn't have blamed them for skipping school after all this got dumped on them. Though, isn't Yukine eighteen? Why is she doing exams? I mean, with the utter shitshow her life has been, I wouldn't exactly be surprised she missed a year, but still.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

The kids are pretty dedicated to having normal lives in every way they can. They weren't in this as anything except a way to help people with their power. Unfortunately, a lot of that normal life they wanted is gone, now, but they're still trying. Pretty glad for it, actually. Gives them a bit more time, and whilst I may not be sure on the new pr guy yet, I agree that more time to get ready for this is good. And as far as Yukine goes, she's actually in college right now. She was behind for a while, but she's seriously smart, and managed to catch up. She was lucky, to be honest. A lot of kids who go through what she did only have primary/elementary school education max and can't catch up even after being rescued, but Yukine was taught physics by Finè so she could use Ichaival better. Probably the only completely good thing that woman ever did for her. Dammit, Ryouko.

-

BurnOut

I'm glad to hear it. I'm involved in cases like this thanks to my job, and I was really worried when I read that report. Still am honestly, all of that must of left some scars.

Also glad to hear that you didn't break the child soldier laws. Somewhat less glad to note that that's because the age is a year lower than I feel it should be, but you guys had some pretty good reasons. This time.

-

Kamer rider 555

They only didn't break the child soldier laws if you go by the letter. I'm pretty sure one could mount a legal argument that it's a clear violation of the spirit.

Looking at Commander Ogawa's answers, that answer also ignores how Tsubasa became an adaptor when she was only eight years old, if I recall correctly. His second answer skirts around the issue that the kid's powers are currently tied to the relics, best we can tell. Get rid of the relics and it's a non-issue.

I'm torn about the legitimacy of the first answer too. On the one hand, I don't really trust traumatized teenagers to make the best decisions when it comes to agreeing to work on this sort of stuff. On the other hand, it seems like you guys did pick up on that and have been trying to genuinely do good by them. So, eh…

The answer to that last question though? About informing people in regards to the nonessential secrets? I'll be frank and say it smells like total ass covering. Glad to hear you guys are promising to do better though. Hope you go through on it.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Aaaand here we go again.

First, Kazanari accidentally attuned herself to Ame No Habaikiri when she was eight, yes. That doesn't mean she actually did anything. The most she did back then was get started on the ridiculous training she does, and that was her grandfather's idea. For reference, those of you not involved in the derail. Kazanari's grandfather was thoroughly in the asshole category. Seriously, he was an abusive piece of shit of truly epic proportions. And then he was responsible for Noble Red, and by extension Shem-Ha. Fuck that guy.

I've basically given up getting you to not buy every word the Horsemen sell when the Relics are involved, but the kids are the only people who can use the Relics. If another threat on even the Alchemists' level shows up, they're literally the only people who can do something about it. And that doesn't even get into the fact they're all lunatics who'd run headlong into the crap they've fought training or no just to see if they could help any single person. Like, no shit. If we had tried to stop Tachibana from fighting the day we first met her, she'd have, smiled, nodded, and promptly ignored us and fought anyways. Because she's insane. The only reason these kids survived was because of the Relics, so they're not just something we can up and take without good reason. Airgetlamh in particular, given it is literally the only thing that still exists that Serena had. Like, with all due respect, that Relic is the only thing of her sister Maria still has. That isn't something we can just take away after everything she's already been through.

On a related note, we're trying. These are some rather fucked up kids, even if they refuse to acknowledge it. They've been through things they never should have, not just including but especially Tachibana, and unfortunately, it's been frustratingly difficult to get them the help they need. Hell, it's been two years since she showed any signs of being iffy when not brainwashed, and I'm still worried about Kazanari, but you try convincing these kids to see a therapist and actually talk more than the bare minimum. Because I'm pretty sure literally every single active member of SONG has, at one point, tried that. I swear they just ignore us literally every time. And not just when it comes to therapy. And yes, the not telling no longer important info thing was stupid. We know. We are kind of trying to fix it. Please let us instead of finding something new to yell at us about before we can.

-

Guessing/Game

Okay, I gotta admit: the way Kazanari ended that opening statement? Powerful. I think I even teared up a little. She's taking questions now.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Don't worry Tsubasa! WE FORGIVE YOU!

-

Guessing/Game

Well, we don't doubt you do. You're such a SONG fangirl. And I really mean it in the best way possible. As for me… well, I guess I can at least forgive the 'Bossa.

-
Page 64
-

BurnOut

Aaaand Kazanari sinks @DoubleTheFun's vessel for the umpteenth time.

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

NEVER GIVE IN! I WILL ALWAYS HOLD ONTO THIS DETERMINATION TO FIST!

-

BurnOut

You're probably gonna get a kick if you keep up with that sort of innuendo.

-

Master9
(Moderator)
(Archive Junkie)

Eh, it's clever and not-lewd-enough that I'll let that one slide.

-

Guessing/Game

Ouch. They're pulling in Amou on her…

-

Moaron

Oh, ow, she botched that follow-up to the "why keep pursuing these big concerts" and I think she knows it.

-

Kamen rider 555

There really wasn't a good answer she could've given. By having those big concerts while knowing she's a potential target for bad guys, she shows a reckless disregard for the lives of all her fans. It's irresponsible and undermines everything SONG stands for. This, in addition to the entire "keep their identities secret" schthick SONG has been pulling for the past few years makes me wonder how altruistic she is.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

I'm getting tired of having to explain this to you. The secrecy was not the girls idea. It was ours, as the adults who were in charge, which they agreed to because they didn't want people they cared about to be in danger, like they currently are. And before you say anything: No. No, I do not put murdering the kids family past the Horsemen. Given the only ones I've seen made ISIS look tame in terms of fanaticism specifically regarding their sheer hatred of the kids specifically, I don't put genocide past them, if they thought it would hurt the kids. No shit here, folks, theses guys outright stated the didn't care about anything except killing the kids to their faces. This is not an empty threat from the Relics. They want the girls to die.

And secondly, Kazanari is aware that her concerts are apparently cursed. I heard Maria mention before all this that she was starting to worry she was getting a complex from how often it's gone wrong. She only even agreed to the most recent QoM concert because like 90% of SONG including every single one of the other adapters were present and on guard, and because we didn't know of any thing that could happen. Of course then the Horsemen decided to be a thing and she's spent every single day since then panicking over how bad it would've been if they'd started shit, because these girls didn't have enough problems.

-

Kamen rider 555

Wait, so which is it: was it the kids idea or SONG's idea? Because both Tsubasa's and your commander's opening statement indicates the former. I'd quibble asking you about what the Horsemen have done, not because I like or don't like the Horsemen but because I'm genuinely curious, but you've indicated that's classified for now so I'll respect it.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

It was our idea, but the kids went along with it because of the reasons Kazanari and the AC stated when we reorganised and things were up in the air. Technically, they could've talked about it whenever they wanted too, but they never exactly wanted to be famous and, as said, they've got friends and family outside SONG.

I'd really like to answer that second question, because literally every other day seems to have some new way for these assholes to piss me off, but I'm pretty sure that everything you guys don't see on TV is still classified.

-
Page 64
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Moaron

And Maria's up… and they're starting with her questions. Huh interesting choice.

-

BurnOut

Wait, fuck. Some of the receptor kids have gone missing? I didn't know that.

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

WHAT KIND OF FOLLOW UP WAS THAT?!

-

Whiteg10

Never thought I'd agree with DoubleTheFun. Maria with Ver? Ew. And Maria agrees.

-

BurnOut

Ah-ha, yeah. That'soh fuck did they really just ask Maria that?!

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Who the fuck uses her sister like that?!

-

Kamen rider 555

Is she making light of what she did in FiS? I doubt @Kalenda would be happy to hear about that.

-

BurnOut

I think she's trying to defuse the tension

-

Kalenda
(Confirmed Noise Survivor)
(Confirmed Frontier Incident Veteran)

[Master9: Right, infraction, permanent threadban, three-day kick. If you're gonna overreact to something like that, best not do it online. Only reason I'm not giving you a week or worse is because I know your history.]

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

@Kalenda

No. Just… no. Maria was all too willing to do her time and receive any punishment she got. That she got off relatively easy for her crimes was mainly due to politics beyond SONG's control. And personally? I think saving the world multiple times and risking her life in the line of duty as one of SONG's agents has been her way of paying back all the damage she did as a member of Fine.

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Page 70
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Japanese0Groyper

I have returned from threadban hell! Finally, I get to talk about this topic.

So, I'm curious what everybody thought of that press conference. I found the entire thing fascinating.

First, I have to say: Tsubasa and Maria, while far from perfect, came across as both poised and noble to a fault. I don't think there are many public figures willing to admit that they've fucked up in the past without giving some kind of resignation speech. If only we had more politicians that had this level of honesty and accountability…

Second, some of the questions the media asked weren't the questions normal people would've asked. I mean, asking questions about their love life? Seriously? Are they reputable news organizations or celebrity tabloids? I guess they were scraping the bottom of the barrel since the expose answered pretty much any of the questions one could have, but it's just not a good look.

Third, there are some things that leave more questions than answers. That Tsubasa inherited the Kazanari Foundation (the same Kazanari Foundation that orchestrated the Shem-Ha Incident!) or that the orphans that were kidnapped by the American government's FIS had gone missing were big pieces of information that haven't been talked about enough by the general public, I think they need addressing. All of these supernatural incidents are the result of power-hungry lunatics orchestrating government conspiracies to amass even more power for themselves. How much have we missed? How much are we not being told? And is it still going on?

-

BurnOut

Alas, I guess there's only so much time one can fit into a press conference. Although, yeah, I'm 75% sure there were some celebrity tabloids who got in there, somehow. Who vetted this thing?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

The answer to your question, @Japanese0Groyper? Nobody. Nobody vetted this fustercluck, primarily because people decided it needed to happen literally now whether we liked it or not. I'm pretty sure we didn't even know what stations/publications/studios were there in detail. We were basically told to get the Adapters there and if there wasn't enough time to even know who else was there, too bad.

With regard to the Foundation, Kazanari inherited it by default. Her bastard of a grandfather was, well, a bastard and in prison after she kicked his ass, and her father died helping to stop him. She was the only member of the family with a claim, and that was that. She only started having involvement with that mess about a week before all this, and most of it's been making it smaller. And Maria wasn't kidding earlier, I hadn't heard about the other Receptor Children disappearing either. It's concerning news, I'm probably going to have a few guys on the case by this time tomorrow.

-

Moaron

Huh… wasn't her grandfather jailed back in February though? Why she only actually wind up with it a bit over a week ago? Problem with the legal paperwork?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

She was leaving it to an old friend of the family who she was close to. And then the Horsemen murdered him. Because they hate us.

Yeah, I'm not kidding around. These guys are going out of their way just to hurt the girls. Honestly, I'm pretty sure all that stuff about the Relics is an excuse at best.

-

—

THREAD: MAJOR EXPLOSION IN TOKYO (EDIT UPDATE: TERRORISM CASE, SYMPHOGEAR INVOLVEMENT CONFIRMED)

-

Guessing/Game

So something just went down in Tokyo. Big ol' blast in the lower floors of an office building. Here's an updating article on the situation.

EDIT: Okay, there are running rumors that Tsubasa Kazanari was seen shortly after the explosion, all Gear'd up. Would call it just gossip, but there's video footage to corroborate. Our official guy-in-the-know indicates it's true.

EDIT2: And, confirmed statements by SONG and the Japanese Government on Kazanari's involvement. They also say the explosion was caused by the Four Horsemen, apparently centered on a bank. Main suspect is a "Caprice Calcaterra", former FAI terrorist who was apparently drafted into the Italian Army as part of a plea bargain as a demo expert and then deserted to the Horsemen. Apparently Kazanari saw her fleeing the scene and gave chase,but she got away somehow. No statement from the Horsemen though.

-

Moaron

Rumors flying around that one of the Gear's was at the scene. Some footage camera footage here.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Woah, this is a gear issue? That's pretty big. Do they know what caused the blast?

-

BurnOut

Nothing on that front yet, best I can tell.

-

Moaron

More camera footage here of what is very definitely Tsubasa Kazanari helping people out of the building. That's a big sword. Although why'd she leap down from it afterwards?

-

Guessing/Game

This seems to be why. Footage of her chasing some blonde lady down a crowded street. Look at them move! How the hell is she doing that? Not Kazanari, we know how she's doing it, but the other one.

That poor officer though.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Can confirm Kazanari is on scene. Culprit believed to be Caprice Calcaterra, a member of the Horsemen's elite anti adapters hit squad. Objective unknown, attempt to assassinate Kazanari considered likely. Maria on route, trying to contact the others. More when I have time, need to get to the bridge.

-

Moaron

Woah, hold the hell up. "Elite anti adaptors hit squad"? What do the Four Horsemen have that can touch an adaptor…

Although I suppose trying to catch Kazanari without her gear does make the most sense, from an assassination standpoint, as ugly a statement as that sounds.

-

Page 2

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Guessing/Game

-

And Japanese Government confirms it's a terrorist bombing. Looks like they tried to go after Kazanari making a withdrawal. Eyewitness interviews on the news, including some people Kazanari saved.

Some of these people sound pretty in awe of their encounter with her. Wonder what it's like to be around an adaptor in their armor.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

I'm back. Situation mostly over. Almost got Calcaterra, but she called back up and ran for it. Kazanari is fine, she was already out of the building when things went boom. More later, I need to get out there and help figure out what the hell happened. And get the adapters back to HQ. And help the survivors. This is gonna be a minute.

-

Moaron

Whelp, SONG's issued their official statement and it's pretty much as SONGbird says.

Some information on Caprice: apparently she was a bomb maker for the FAI, an Italian anarchist group, and regarded as a pretty damned fine one at that. So good, that when the Italian's caught up with her, they offered her a plea deal: she testifies against her cell and joins the Italian Army as a bomb defusal expert, they don't chuck her in jail. Then apparently she copped her parole and ran off to join the Four Horsemen after just a year.

What her Army co-workers have to say on her… don't paint a very pretty picture. "Total lack of empathy", well no shit there. You see how she unhesitatingly she shot that cop?

-

Master9
(Moderator)
(Archive Junkie)

Well, since the Gears are involved, that makes this a legit supernatural incident. Thread moved accordingly.

Properly right and horrified for what happened and glad Kazanari tried to do what she could to help. Hope they're able to find and catch Caprice.

-

BurnOut

Fuck, that's the sorta psychos the Four Horsemen have working for them? Holy shit.

-

Japanese0Groyper

Local news is interviewing a lady who Caprice apparently held hostage in order to try and get away from Kazanari. It also… sounds like she was saved by a second 'Gear user? The official statement did say that Maria arrived towards the end of things, so maybe it was her. Guess our Guy in the Know will be able to clarify when he gets back. Just a heads up on that query, @Songbird.

Lady also sounds pretty amazed by the 'Gears, like she had a religious experience with them or something. Have to echo Guessing/Game's question about what it's like to be in their actual presence when transformed. All we've got is camera and audio footage.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Holy hell, I didn't have much doubt that the Four Horsemen deserved the title "asshole brigade" but fuck if those doubts are all gone now.

-

Moaron

Several miscellaneous groups have claimed responsibility, but they're the sorts who claim responsibility for everything. Everyone seems to agree it's the Horsemen, but they themselves haven't said anything.

Then again, we haven't heard anything from them since they released all that info, so…

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

I'm back. Again. Sorry I'm late, long as shit day on my end. Gonna try and answer some of the questions I can see so far.

First up, can confirm it was without any doubt the Horsemen. We don't have much info on them, but Calcaterra is a known member and has been since they were discovered. She's a member of a six-man group who referred to themselves as White Noise squad, who apparently are, as I mentioned, some form of anti-adapters hit squad. We encountered them when they suddenly attacked a training exercise we were running with the JSDF the day before the leaks and attempted to assassinate the kids, after throwing a small army up to and including artillery at them. That was how we found out they existed, by the way. They failed, but the fact they managed a draw in their favour against all seven of them is concerning to say the fucking least, even with the fact the girls were dead on their feet by then. The other members have all been identified, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed say who. They apparently were using some sort of extremely advanced technology, but nothing we can clearly identify as H-Tech or A-Tech. Just ridiculously advanced conventional stuff. I say "apparently" because nobody except the kids actually saw the fight, there was some sort of jamming blocking us until they'd already retreated. How they got said tech is unknown, which is why I've stated my doubts they really aren't using supernatural stuff, they literally couldn't have got this far ahead otherwise. Not gonna give examples without explicit permission, but pretty much every single one of us field agents were calling bullshit so hard you probably heard us across the Pacific.

Second, the incident happened shortly after Kazanari left the building following a meeting with her lawyer. And before you panic, she was talking with him re: Kazanari Foundation downsizing. She indicated during debrief that she thought she saw Calcaterra as she walked out the door, but lost sight of her before she could confirm and dismissed it due to not being able to think of a reason she'd be there. Maria and the others are currently attempting to convince her to stop kicking herself for that, little luck thus far. After Kazanari left, there was a couple minute gap before things started exploding. Kazanari promptly realised that she had in fact seen Calcaterra, remembered a series of assassinations currently believed to have been performed by other White Noise members over the past weeks, figured that she was there to kill her, and then noticed the building was still open and people were trapped inside. She transformed immediately, and began search and rescue as usual for such situations, though admittedly we normally encounter such situations when we specifically deploy for them. After S&R, she caught Calcaterra trying to flee the scene. Reason she was still there unknown, the AC and our resident Alchemical Gremlin are working on it. Can confirm that we work with a bank in that building, so she may have been trying to destroy our stuff. At this point, we'd gotten Ame No Habakiri on our sensors and called Kazanari to ask what the hell, and had been informed of the situation. Maria was present at the time, and deployed immediately whilst we called the other adapters in case there was another attack on them. After about a minute of chasing her, Calcaterra attempted to take Miss Shoko hostage, but was prevented by Maria's timely arrival. Unfortunately, we failed to take Calcaterra into custody due to a second member of the White Noise who appeared at the last second, and stunned Kazanari enough Maria didn't think pursuing further was a good plan. We've since gotten all the adapters to HQ, and none of the others reported anything abnormal. Kazanari is thankfully unharmed, and there were fewer casualties then estimated due to her rapid intervention. Her lawyer is also unscathed. Somehow.

Thirdly, yeah, being around the kids when they transform is… definitely one hell of an experience. Hard to describe, honestly, but it's like they're… kinda otherworldly, I guess. I'm a bit used to it because I know they're still the same goofy kids I spend my day keeping an eye on, but the first time was one hell of a thing. Miss Shoko got it worse because she VERY suddenly had two of them in front of her at their maximum power without X-Drive or other weirdness, but even when you get used to it or they hold back, you still definitely notice.

I'll do more in a second, need to get Tachibana home.

-

Japanese0Groyper

Wait, your telling me these guys got a small army into Japan and nobody noticed? As in, like, a real army with infantry and tanks and aircraft and stuff, not Alca-Noise? HOW?!

-

BurnOut

You… caught some of them right? Not the White Noise, these guys sound as hardcore as they do crazy if they fought the girls to a draw, but some of the rank-and-file, right? And you haven't managed to get anything out of them in a week?

-

Moaron

That's, uh… wow, @Songbird. Ambushing the JSDF and SONG is something of a feat. That's kinda scary. I mean, if they can get an army into Japan, where else can they get an army into?

EDIT: I, uh, kinda went snooping around when SONGbird mentioned 'other' assassinations and I found this guy and this guy who were found stabbed and this guy who was shot down at a rally. There are no official suspects so far. Additionally, there's been a spate of congressional killings in the US this week that I really doubt are a coincidence.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Right, Tachibana returned home. She's still sad about the literal army of reporters on her doorstep, but there isn't much I can do for her there except stand ominously in the general vicinity next time her landlord threatens people with harassment and trespassing suits. At least the army seems to have gotten a bit smaller since the first press conference. Anyways, that's done and I am officially off duty, as much as I ever am, so back to explaining this latest mess.

@Japanese0Groyper

Yes. Yes they did in fact sneak a small army onto Japanese soil and ambush us without anyone noticing. We've been panicking over how the fuck they managed that for a while. Admittedly, it was a pretty small army. No tanks, just attack VTOLs and mortars. Which is still slightly terrifying, but less than if they'd managed to get armour out there.

@BurnOut

Actually, despite the fact they threw almost a thousand guys at the girls before the White Noise showed up, we didn't capture a single one. Every single one of them, and I mean Every. Single. One. Of. Them. Committed suicide upon defeat. Usually by throwing themselves on whichever of the kids was closest and then blowing themselves up. Some of them even bashed themselves to pieces on the kid's gears trying to kill them with their bare-hands. That was terrifying enough for us, nevermind the girls.

Yeah, as Yukine put it, these guys are fucking psychopaths. We know why, or at least we've got a fair idea, but I'm afraid it's classified as fuck right now. Even most of the kids don't know the full details, let alone me.

@Moaron
Can confirm that those cases you found are the ones I was talking about. Fucking hell I miss Minister Shibata already. Guy was one of our biggest allies, ever since way back in the Second Division days. Gonna be harder without him. And he gave good advice on noodle shops. As far as we can tell, two members of White Noise are responsible, and appear to be targeting basically any politician who backs us up. We'd be doing something, but China is being pissy and holding us back over technicalities.

Anyways, I've talked to the AC and I am officially cleared to tell you some of what little info on the Horsemen we have. More specifically, White Noise. Thus far, there are six of them. Identities and motives are as follows:

Samantha Acampora: Sorry, @Kalenda. Bad news here. It's THAT Samantha Acampora. For those of you not getting it, Acampora is commonly agreed to be the single most badass American Soldier in all of Army history. Only Sergeant York comes close. Seriously, this woman's service record is fucking bullshit. Two Noise attacks survived, some reports of managing to literally do the impossible and kill Noise without a Symphogear in the area to make them obey physics, and literally uncountable acts of badassery in more mundane deployments. She went missing alongside her unit a few months ago on a UN peacekeeping mission, only to reappear as the leader of the White Noise squad. She has a grudge with Kohinata, as she apparently blames her for her brother dying during the Frontier Incident. This appears to have caused her to go completely off the deep end, to the point of reacting to lyrics in Tachibana's song by shoving a grenade into her face by hand after pulling the pin. And then ranting for about a minute in an audibly unhinged manner. Yeah, she's lost it.

Caprice Calcaterra: The one you know. She's in the document Moaron put up, so not much to add. Attacked Maria at the ambush, but from what she's said and we know, it's quite likely she's doing this for fun. Was the one who blew up the building, and I can now confirm that she did in fact blow up our stuff. Fortunately we have pretty much indisputable evidence that she blew up our stuff on purpose, so the government paid us back. Had a confrontation with Kazanari when she took Miss Shoko hostage. Kazanari called her "a monster wearing human skin" with a visibly angry expression gives me some bad feelings. Frankly, I don't blame her.

Kir Voronin: Yes, really. THAT Kir Voronin. The sniper so ridiculous, he got a thread on this very forum attempting to determine whether there was supernatural influence involved from the sheer absurdity of the shots he's pulled off, is with the Horsemen. I should know, the asshole shot at me. Lost three guys, all of them from them taking a bullet aimed at Tachibana and Kohinata. Most terrifying moment of my fucking job, I really thought I'd end up being the one who let them get killed for a while there. We don't have the first clue as to why he's joined up with them. His statements indicate some ideological buy-in with the whole "get rid of relics" crap, but then they all seem to indicate that. You may remember that I mentioned early on in the Q&A thread that Yukine is fucking pissed at him. Well, that she was pissed as fuck in general, but I can now tell you she is pissed off at him specifically. Can't tell you exactly why, but it involves the aforementioned incident. Preeeeettty sure she's only not charged off to hunt the bastard down personally because she's worried about the other kids. She fought him in the ambush, but the entire thing was a disaster, and I'm fairly certain she left that fight more angry.

Jwa Ji-Eun: Did you know Korean Ninjas are a thing? Because Korean Ninjas are apparently a thing. The other of the ones running around assassinating people who back us up, along with Voronin. She was the one who fought Kazanari in the ambush. We actually do in fact know what her deal is: according to the AC, her family has the mother of all grudges with his family thanks to some complete shitshow over a century ago, and they've been trying to ninja his family to death ever since. By his account, the feeling's mutual at this point. Appears to basically be here primarily due to that, but it's hard to tell with these guys.

Darmawan: So, some of you might not have heard of this guy and those of you likely only know of him from last years Guinness World Records. First, watch this. No, that is not a trick. Yes, he lifted that for real by himself, no H-tech or A-tech involved at all, just pure muscle. Fucker's strong. He's also the strangest case here: he has practically no history as a combatant. He did bodyguard work, but apparently that was just so he could have some income. I'm guessing he's been training since he joined up, because the debrief indicates he did reasonably well going fisticuff with Tsukuyomi and Akatsuki. He apparently wants to take a swing at Tachibana in a fistfight. What precisely made him think this was a good plan confuses me.

Gowan: The only member of the Horsemen who actually told people he was leaving. He was raised by a militia in Africa, who apparently rivaled Yukine's experience in Val Verde in terms of being utter bastards. He was rescued by a Christian missionary group, and he apparently was himself deeply faithful. About six months ago, he told the rest of the missionaries there was something he felt he needed to do and that he wouldn't be coming back. Apparently that thing was joining the Horsemen. Actually bothered to explain why he hates us: apparently, he finds us religiously offensive. Something about the Custodians are false gods, and the kids are just a new set of liars. I didn't really get it.

So those are the assholes we know. Unfortunately, there's probably more of them. These are just the ones we know anything about, and who fought the kids. Any other members of the Horsemen are either unknown, or dead.

Anyways, questions. Ask away, guys. I'll be here a while.

-

Kalenda
(Confirmed Noise Survivor)
(Confirmed Frontier Incident Veteran)

THAT Samantha Acampora? No way, I don't believe it. The lady is a Medal of Honor recipient for christ sake. No way 'Killer Sam' joined up with people who plants bombs in office buildings for kicks.

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Moaron

Uh, wow. That rather explains the whole "able to go toe-toe with the adaptors" at least a little bit. Like, the fucking Raven of Death is with the Horsemen? And the Samantha Acampora? And the rest are apparently on their level? Uh… wow.

-

Guessing/Game

Hold the phone. Voronin came off as a rather patriotic Russian in that discussion we had about him, and he's on the record of doing their business in Eastern Europe both officially (as part of their armed forces) and unofficially (as part of that PMC when he 'retired'). Running off to shoot at the adaptor's on the other side of Eurasia with terrorists strikes me as something of a non-sequitur for him.

-

BurnOut

Patriotic? Sure. Was he more patriotic than your average Russian soldier? He didn't come off that way to me. He did say in that one Russian TV interview he "lives for the challenge of the shot". Maybe he was getting bored with hitting regular people and figured landing hits on 'Gears would be a step up. Would the enticement of that step-up be enough to outweigh his nationalistic feelings? Fuck if I know.

That said... if you want patriotic: Samantha. As Kalenda noted, she's a medal of honor recipient. It stretches credulity that she just all of the suddenly gonked off to the other side of the world to work for a terrorist organization. SONGbird mentions that she thinks Kohinata killed her brother in the Frontier Incident, presumably when Dr Ver had kidnapped and brainwashed her, but that seems a bit weak by itself. Taking SONGbird's statements about these people at face value, and his unofficial statements have otherwise mainly lined up with the official stuff so far so I see no reason not too, there's something missing here about why these guys are doing what their doing.

Well, save for Caprice. She's obviously just a raging asshole.

-

Moaron

I dunno, maybe they've been brainwashed? It's a real thing that happens. Perhaps the Horsemen got a hypno-device that allowed them to mind control the biggest badasses on the planet and bring them onto one team. I know I'd do that if I were a supervillain with a mind control device.

-

Japanese0Groyper

Something else that's missing: even if these guys are the biggest badasses on the planet, they are all still human. How the fuckity fuck can they go up against a Symphogear? I mean, the adaptors wield the most powerful weapons on the planet. Even with their skill, they'd need to have some serious bullshit on their side.

@Songbird are you sure you can't bring up more information? Don't you have a working theory as to how they can do what they do?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

@Japanese0Groyper

Sorry, but that's what we're trying to figure out. We think it's high tech bullshit, and we have an unfortunately classified idea as to what it does, but the exact "how it works" is just a mystery. Our trusty Alchemical Gremlin is working on it though!

@Kalenda

Sorry, buddy. Wish I could tell you it was a mis ID, but pretty much everything we've got says it really is her. Could barely believe it myself. Hell, she isn't even the only member of her family in the Horsemen- We had to arrest her niece, Emily, right before the ambush after she tried to stab Kohinata on her way to school. Probably would've pulled it off, too, if Tachibana hadn't managed to kick her ass. And like I said, from what we've seen, she's gone completely nuts. Kohinata's been blaming herself for it ever since…

-

THREAD: SYMPHOGEAR PRESS CONFERENCE PART DEUX: THE CONFERENCING

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Page 1
-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Alright! After even more panicking, scheduling, helping Tachibana avoid Infinite Reporter Hell, and hoping we don't get shot at than last time, the second conference has arrived! And better yet - you get to learn what I have to deal with on a daily basis. Yes, that's right. In less than fifteen minutes, Tachibana Hibiki is going to happen to the general public. I'd normally ask God to have mercy on your souls, but you only have to watch by TV.

Unfortunately, I'm even more worried about Yukine than last week, after the news we got this morning. Here's hoping the press will be occupied with recovering from the imminent Tachibana.

New thread because the Happening thread kept getting derailed even harder somehow.

-

Moaron

Heh, you beat me to it by like a minute.

-

Guessing/Game

Ooh boy, this is going to be good.

-

Japanese0Groyper

@Songbird, did you actually vet the reporters this time to make sure none of those fucking tabloid garbage papers got in?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Well, we managed to vet some of them. Couldn't do much in the time we have except tell the adapters to beware a few of the more ridiculous and/or openly hostile reporters though.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

I saw the footage of them walking in. Akatsuki looks nervous as all get out. Poor girl. Couldn't help but notice how Tsukuyomi hovers around her. Not sure what to make of the look on Yukine's face.

-

Kamenrider555

Mmm… I'm sure it'll be interesting. Particularly when Yukine gets up there.

-

Kalenda
(Confirmed Noise Survivor)
(Confirmed Frontier Incident Veteran)

[Master9: Kalenda, I get this is personal to you. Since you were a bit more reasonable here than in the first thread, I'm not giving you a kick from the forum and only deleting some of the post. However, by the site's rules, I still have to at least issue infractions and a permanent threadban. I've only deleted the more grossly offensive parts of your post. However, your infraction rate is getting close enough that I may be forced to take more drastic measures regardless. Watch yourself when you come back.]

That said, I've come around to the view that we should let the kiddos off. Still don't quite like Maria, but she earned some points from me for trying to take down Caprice on Friday.

Still have a hard time believing Killer Sam's a part of those guys. Goddamn.

-

Kamen rider 555

@Kalenda

Really? That's unexpected coming from you. I personally think there should at least be some more severe consequences. I mean, half the girls on the team are ex-terrorists that served zero jail time. I get it, mitigating circumstances, working for SONG as a condition for staying out of jail, yadda yadda. But treating them differently just because they have powers doesn't sit right with me, and it shouldn't sit right with anyone who wants a fair and just legal system.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

@Kamen rider 555

Dude.

Dude.

They are the fucking saviors of the world. They saved the world five times from beings that threatened to wipe out/enslave humanity. I think that counts as community service or something.

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Kamen rider 555

I will not be drawn into this argument again, @Alola-Aloha-Allaway. It will only derail the thread. The show's about to start.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Oh goddamnit. @Kamen Rider 555, can we please not do this again? Because you've made it clear you aren't going to listen and I'm kind of sick of trying. I'd hoped the Horsemen's recent actions might have made you rethink things, but apparently not.

@Alola-Aloha-Allaway

Yeah, Akatsuki doesn't seem to be doing too great. Kohinata didn't seem to be doing the best either, but she seems good today. We're pretty damn sure something happened at school the first day back - seeing Tachibana genuinely angry was not something I expected to happen - but they haven't said anything. Not that they ever do. That Tsukiyomi is hovering this much doesn't bode well though. As for Yukine… like I said, we got some really bad news this morning. Won't say what for the moment, but suffice to say the only reason the entire thing wasn't cancelled is because the security council overruled the entirety of SONG. I'm really worried to be honest, but nothing I can do.

On a much less depressing note: Tachibana Hibiki herself is on stage. May God have mercy on those reporters. She won't have much.

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Kamen rider 555

Yes, let's see how one of the few Symphogear adaptors who aren't ex-terrorists will perform.

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Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Omg, she's adorable! Such genki! Much wow!

-

BurnOut

Huh, hard to believe she was bullied as a kid. Even not knowing her record, how could anyone dislike her?

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Page 2
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Whiteg10

I think my heart skipped a beat when she made that wink. She's gay right? Bet she's very popular with the other girls at her school. Wonder how many of them were heartbroken when she hooked up with Kohinata.

-

Moaron

@BurnOut

It slipped my mind she was bullied. Wonder what those people think of her now.

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SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

WELCOME TO MY WORLD. I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS FOR 16 HOURS A DAY ON AVERAGE.

And, all things considered, she's being rather calm and serious right now. Tachibana, everybody.

As for the bullying: Tachibana's ninety percent over it by now. They say that the best revenge is living well, after all, and for her service, SONG has done everything we can to make sure she's had a better life. But from what I've read, it was pretty bad. Like, 'people organizing campaigns to go to her house and throw rocks through her window' bad.

-

Guessing/Game

I don't know whether I should envy or pity you SONGbird. On the one hand, she seems like an amazingly sweet girl. On the other hand, I imagine that energy could get tiring over the long run. I guess the real mystery is how Kohinata handles it, eh?

Regardless, Q&As started and first up is the asshole brigade. Logical, given last Friday.

-

Moaron

Optimistic sort, isn't she? Then again, she seems to be assuming the Horsemen want a better world.

-

Japanese0Groyper

@Moaron

That's not much of a consolation. If you think about it, a lot of the worst people in history did some horrible things in the name of making a better world. The Nazis, the Communists, etc. They all justified their actions by saying "once we kill this convenient scapegoat, everything will be sunshine and kittens!" Same with the Horsemen.

-

Moaron

That's kinda my point though. You read the Horsemen's statement, they don't say that getting rid of the relics will make things better. Closest they come is claiming "mankind will be liberated from the Custodians for good." I mean, that is the other sort of justification these sorts use: "we gotta get these people before they get us", regardless of how real the threat is precisely, is also the sort of thing ideologues like this like to play. But they seem to be thinking in terms of continuity from the time before the Noise and Gears and everything showed up, rather than changing things for the better. They seem to seek a regression rather than a progression.

-

Kamen rider 555

@Moaron

By that sort of logic, Africans seeking freedom from Western imperialism are "seeking regression" because they want to go back to self-rule, to how they were before Europeans ruled them. That's not really a good argument against the Horsemen on its face.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

@Kamen rider 555
Really? You're really comparing people using a specific form of science to help humanity as a whole, to European colonialism? Really? Even for you, and I haven't got much in the way of faith in your debate, that's a hot take to end all hot takes.

-

Kamen rider 555

@Songbird

If the Four Horsemen are wrong for "wanting to go back," so are African freedom fighters (who, by the way, often were no less violent).

-

Moaron

I'd probably be a bit more convinced by the argument if the adaptors had, like, used their powers to murder global leaders and declare themselves Queens of the World rather than submitting themselves to UN oversight and running disaster relief under their auspicious. The comparison strikes me as more apt then.

-

Master9
(Moderator)
(Archive Junkie)

Guys, you are derailing the thread. Take this somewhere else if you want this discussion. We have the Debate threads here.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

ANYWAYS. Next question! Looks like they're asking about the- oh geez. Did NOT want them to bring her dad up.

-

Guessing/Game

Was wondering if that was gonna come up. For those who aren't in the know: according to the dossiers, Tachibana's pa broke under the pressure of ostracization and left the family. According to the Chiba Prefecture News Tribune article here, the man lost his job and there were rumors he was taking it out physically on his family members before he left. Seems like a thoroughly nasty affair.

-

BurnOut

Huh. Tachibana's reply seems to indicate they've… I dunno, reconnected and things have gotten better, but still aren't all the way there?

-
Page 3
-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

On the dad scenario: it's not really my business as her bodyguard to get involved in her family business, so I don't really know all that much. That said, from what I do know, you would be correct, @BurnOut. They've been slowly repairing their relationship.

Alright, on to the next questiTACHIBANA WHY

-

Guessing/Game

Aaaaaand we've hit a tabloider. Love life rumor nons-

BWAHAHAHA! Wow, that was direct. Seems like not even the reporters were expecting that level of raw romanticism. @DoubleTheFun is probably over the moon right now.

-

Whiteg10

Camera on my channel went to Kohinata's face there. Can't tell if she's also over the moon or just wants to die. Calling it now: this is gonna be a meme somehow.

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

@Guessing/Game Sorry, too busy partying to head up there.

-

BurnOut

So, that was a thing that happened. She's swapping out with Kohinata at the moment.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Tachibana. Tachibana why you do this. Just. I'm not even surprised. It is literally exactly what she says every other day. And she just. Live television. And she. TACHIBANA WHY.

Anyways, Kohinata is next. Here's hoping this goes well.

-

Moaron

She doesn't seem like she'd be too much of a trouble. Worst thing anybody can rag on her for is agreeing to fall in with Doctor Ver that one time and I'm a bit dubious the reporters will press her on that after the most popular of the adaptor's just went all glurgy lovebirdy about her.

Oh, hey. Maybe that was what Tachibana intended! Clever girl.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Nope. No way Tachibana, she who fails all summer homework ever unless Kazanari and/or Maria help, is that clever. No plan, no acting, I doubt she even thought about she was saying. Just pure, undiluted Tachibana Why Moment. We get these once a week, at the lowest ever recorded.

-

Whiteg10

Right, well, it's Miku's first question and… huh. The released reports weren't really that detailed on how the Shenshoujin got rebuilt, were they?

And on that note, how the hell was it supposed to contain Shem-Ha anyways?

-

Moaron

Probably the same way it managed to brainwash Kohinata into thinking she could stop her girlfriend from fighting… by fighting her girlfriend. This part of the expose says Shenshoujing was outfitted with a "Direct Feedback Link" that allowed whoever held the remote control to basically pilot its user's body like a robot.

Speaking of, that still isn't a feature, is it?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

HAHA Fuck no. In addition to being reprehensible as all hell, Tachibana would literally kill us if that thing was there and Kohinata was sent to fight. I'm not kidding, she really would, especially with what she did during the Frontier Incident. And the others would probably be only seconds behind her. Our R&D removed that thing ASAP.

Not to mention, even leaving aside the morality of it or how the others might react, could you imagine what would happen if like, the Horsemen managed to hijack the control signal? Given some of the cyberwarfare shit they've been pulling, most of which I can't talk about, I wouldn't put it past them. We'd be right back at the Frontier Incident. Or worse, given their attitude towards her, they might have her basically kill herself. Like hell we'd hand our enemies a killswitch to a seventeen-year old girl!

-

Guessing/Game

You really think Tachibana would get murder happy in reaction to that? Her record indicates the only guy she killed was Adam and he was basically satan. Then again, guess I'd react the same way towards someone deliberately implanting my wife with a no-shit mind control device.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Well, I'm pretty sure everyone here knows what Fusion is. By now anyways. I'd also assume you know what it was doing?

-

BurnOut

Unfortunately, yes. Still pretty damn disturbed by that honestly. Why'd you ask?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

When Kohinata showed up all brainwashed during the Frontier Incident, Tachibana hadn't deployed yet. The reason being her condition having advanced enough we were having to give her surgery every time she transformed. When she saw Kohinata, she immediately demanded we let her out to get her back. "I'll bring her back, even if it kills me!" Word-for-word. Shortly followed by "Then I'll come back alive, even if it kills me!" Because Tachibana laughs at logic. Eventually, we gave in when she managed to come up with an actual plan and let her.

You've probably seen that battle footage by now.

Now, I'll let you in on something that didn't make it into the report. Right before Tachibana walked out onto the deck in full badass mode, we measured how long she had left before the overheat from the fusion became fatal, shortly followed by it consuming her completely. Came out to two minutes and forty seconds.

Now take a look at how much time passed before Kohinata lasered them both. She went over it. We don't know for sure if we just underestimated how much time she had, but common consensus is she managed to fight it back through the raw determination to save her girl. Whilst there were spears made of golden crystal literally exploding out of her body. At the age of sixteen.

Yeah. Tachibana will stop at nothing, and I mean NOTHING, if something threatens Kohinata, physically or mentally. Case in point: The Custodian she basically punched out of Kohinata's body. Now admittedly part of that was Gungnir defying reason, but we have scientific evidence Tachibana makes it defy reason even harder.

-
Page 4
-

Moaron

Well, speaking of Shem-Ha, the press conference came back around to her. They've hit another tabloid dude right now, but the question before this seems to have actually shaken Kohinata a little. And I can tell why. I can't even begin to imagine what that'd be like.

-

Japanese0Groyper

I'd imagine it'd be like how demonic possession is often described. It'd fit, considering "Shemhameforash" is used in used as the LaVeyan Satanism equivalent of 'hallelujah'.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

I wanted to hug her. I'm pretty sure Tachibana did too.

-

Guessing/Game

Righto, and I guess that last question is something of a wrap for it.

Now, apparently, the one the reporters have REALLY been waiting for: Chris Yukine.

-

Kamen rider 555

And here we go…

-

Whiteg10

She seems to be holding herself well together, right now at least. Even if it is just the opening speech.
Okay, maybe she's gripping that podium a little too hard…

-

BurnOut

Okay, first question the trial one. Same as Maria. And… she agrees that she would if called? Points for maturity, I guess.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Wait, are people seriously arguing that SONG can't go on the offensive against the Horsemen because they aren't using H-Tech or A-Tech?

-

Moaron

Well, looking at the SONG charter for a moment, the wording isn't 100% clear. Paragraph 5 clears them for natural disaster assistance, supernatural incidents, and unregulated heretical/alchemical tech interventions. Paragraph 6 forbids them from intervening in human wars absent the aforementioned caveats, but the wording seems to indicate their talking about interstate conflicts between countries and there isn't a lot of clarity about civil wars or operations against non-state organizations that aren't using A-tech or H-tech.

Regardless, the argument that the prohibition applies to non-state actors as well is being taken up by some UN members. Most notably, by China.

-

Kamen rider 555

I think we should all realize that SONG doesn't really have any standards when it comes to their actions. They just do whatever they want, protocols and procedures be damned, because they think of themselves as the good guys. The only difference between them and the Horsemen by this point is the red tape.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

OKAY. So. I thought that earlier was a giant fucking hot take, but this crock of bullshit? Yeah I'm sick of this. Are you, or are you not, on the Horsemen's side? Because you've stated you aren't, but literally everything else you say indicates otherwise.

-

Kamen rider 555

I'm on the side of people who care about rule of law and accountability. It appears SONG isn't in favor of those things any more than the Four Horsemen are.

And, what do you know? Yukine's being hysterical at the same time you are, @Songbird. The irony! How much longer before she threatens to use Ichival against a curious unarmed civilian for daring to question her again? Seems to be a common thread among SONG members: one set of rules for us regular people, and another for SONG, and questioning this results in threats of violence.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Oh my God they actually asked that question. Just. Oh my God. They actually just asked her if she looked at the brother of the only person from her life pre-Val Verde still alive at the time and shot his leg off for fun. On the day the civil war kicks off again and they might well have died. Oh my God.

-

Master9
(Moderator)
(Archive Junkie)

HOKAY! That's enough of that!

Kamen, consider this a threadban and take some infractions. Pretty clear you're trying to rile up SONGbird. I'm not going to have this thread become basically a fight between two angry Yukine's. SONGbird, I'm gonna give you just this warning for the moment because you're our Guy-In-The-Know: Don't take the bait.

-

Guessing/Game

Well, that was a yikes. Both here and in the conference. Yukine honestly looked like she was going to go ape there for a moment before they escorted her off.

-
Page 5
-

Moaron

I looked into it and this leaked AAR did cover the issue. Apparently, the kid's leg had been latched onto by some Alca-Noise and she did it to save his life. Although what was that about him being the brother of the only person from her life pre-Val Verde? @Songbird?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Stephan Virena is the brother of Sonya Virena. She travelled with Yukine and her family whilst they were trying to help out. When the bombs went off, she and Yukine were the only survivors. And then a slave trafficker kidnapped Yukine whilst they were seperated. The Val Verde intervention was the first time they'd seen each other since, and they only started talking to each other regularly towards the end of the Illuminati Incident. When we got the news about the civil war kicking off, there were and are fears that Sonya might've been killed. And they just walked up to Yukine and asked her if she shot Stephan's leg off for fun.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Yikes. No wonder she went off like that. What unfortunate timing…

I'm guessing the whole "shooting their legs off for fun" thing is a lie. The reports on the incident said there were some civilians injured by Alca-Noise.

-

BurnOut

Well, the original question was whether she thought there was a better way of doing it. Yukine responded with angry exasperation and another reporter followed up. The exact words from him was:

"We feel as if the public needs concrete answers on these matters. We doubt they would be very happy if they thought someone with the power to lay waste to entire sections of a city just found an excuse to shoot off someone's leg for fun."

So he didn't directly accuse her of such, merely implied the possibility that was the case.

-

Whiteleg10

Well that's… I'd say it's better, but it really isn't that much better. Seriously awful time to make that implication.

-

Japanese0Groyper

Seriously, only corporate media nonsense could make me side with a United Nations organization. Just screw them.

-

Moaron

Moving on from that trash show, Akatsuki's coming up. I doubt what happened with Yukine helped her at all. She seems terrified the reporters are going to lynch her or something.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

I mean, if one considers the lynching metaphorical, they actually might.

-

Guessing/Game

Well, first question… and we got a tabloider. Normally, I'd go goddammit, but honestly, I think the girl would rather answer something like tha-

And she said it. DTF in 3, 2, 1...

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

Christmas came in summer for the shippers! ShiraKiri CONFIRMED!

-

Moaron

Huh, strange. Kohinata and Tachibana actually looked a bit brighter after answering their own love life questions. Akatsuki though, she actually looked a little sadder. @Songbird, please don't tell me we have another Yukine on our hands?

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Not… exactly. I really do not want to go into it, but Akatsuki… isn't always as okay as she tries to convince us she is. Tachibana can be the same way, really. Neither of them will admit it if their upset about something, save maybe to their girlfriends. Tachibana is usually fine these days, but this is starting to get worrying. It's been a long time since I've seen Akatsuki this bad, and I really don't want to talk about the last time.

-

Guessing/Game

She got asked why she stuck with Ver. Damn, she looks like a kicked puppy, and I think even the reporters are feeling bad for-

Wait, what? She thought she had Fine's consciousness? What the hell? I thought that was Tsukiyomi?

-

BurnOut

Ah, she's getting a follow up on that. Looks like it was a perceptual problem.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Basically yes. She thought she used Finé's Asgard barrier, but it turned out it was Tsukiyomi that was the reincarnation. It was quite confusing for all.

-
Page 6
-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

She's getting the same trial question as Yukine and Maria. And god, here I thought I wanted to hug Kohinata but Akatsuki…

-

SONGbird
Confirmed SONG mook
Guy who knows shit

Oh no. Oh that wasn't a good sign. Oh this is bad.

-

Whiteg10

Huh? What's wrong? I mean, the answer was pretty straightforward to me, if a bit despondent. "I'll do it if called, but please leave my loved ones be".

-

BurnOut

I'm not a psychiatrist, but my Mom was. This is looking like a case of depression to me.

-

Japanese0Groyper

My guess is that it has something to do with what the expose says on Kirika's psychological state. Low self-esteem, self-hatred, and even suicidal thoughts are listed. It sounds like she's over the worst of it according to the analysis, but it's left her with a "strong desire to prove to herself that she's not 'useless', even at the detriment of her own health and safety." It seems like overanxious teenage girl troubles turned up to eleven by her unusual life circumstances.

-

BurnOut

Again, speaking from what I gathered from my mom's work, that doesn't look like she's over the worst of it. Then again, that profile is from December. My guess, internet diagnosis it may be: we're looking at a relapse.

-

SONGbird
Confirmed SONG mook
Guy who knows shit

That yes. Oh this is really really bad.

They've let her off, thank God. It seems like the AC has enough sense to recognize a potential shitshow when he sees it.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

They're switching and… oh, huh. Tsukuyomi hugged her? That's good. She needs that.

-

DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

It's like something out of an epic. The quiet, gentle Tsukuyomi comforts her outwardly extroverted but long-suffering girlfriend.

My attempt to lighten the mood aside by being myself aside, my heart does go out to Akatsuki. I hope she gets through this okay.

-

Guessing/Game

Right, up comes Tsukuyomi and… that is some stare. You can almost hear the "jii". Wouldn't want to take her on in poker, that's for sure.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Everyone always thinks they actually do hear a "jii" when she does that. Actually it's her nickname from how often it happens. Like how Akatsuki gets called DMG (Dark Magician Girl) for looking like a yu-gi-oh card. And because she has this verbal tic you guys might have noticed. That whole "desu" thing she tacks on. Which is actually her saying death in English for some reason. No, we don't know why.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Oh, so THAT'S why I thought Akatsuki's transformed costume looks familiar. Old card game.

-

BurnOut

"Death"? That's kinda morbid…

-

Guessing/Game

I'm sure it's a cultural thing. Maybe @Japanese0Groyper might be able to give us some insight. Regardless, first question is up and it's why she decided to defect. Self-doubt, followed by a personal reason being the last straw.

-

Japanese0Groyper

It's a fucking pun. And a terrible one at that.

"Desu" is something you tack onto the end of sentences when trying to speak politely in Japanese. It literally means "is" or "are." However, thanks to the moe revolution and the formation of global otaku culture in the early 21st century, it's become a total meme on the Internet. ("Suki Suki Desu!" being one such meme). Since "desu" sounds a bit like "death" in English, Akatsuki probably started saying it for the lulz. Maybe to cheer herself or others up in the orphanage.

-
Page 7
-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Wait. THAT'S WHAT THAT MEANT!?!? I've been driving myself up a wall trying to figure out why she keeps putting a word in English at the end of every other sentence for almost two years now, and it's a fucking pun!?

-

Guessing/Game

Aren't you Japanese? Or at least, you live in Japan, given how most of SONG bases out of there.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Oh yeah, I'm Japanese for sure. Making sure Tachibana doesn't do something dumb and get herself killed on accident requires living in the same general area as her, after all. But seriously, we have been trying to figure this out on my end for two friggin years. And it's a pun. Two years and she was making a bad pun. I am going to be having words with people later. After the entirety of SONG's security section finish banging our heads off the nearest wall.

-

BurnOut

Well, it's not like us Americans always get the intricacies of our own language and culture. Anyways, Tsukuyomi gets a question about her life in the orphanage. And she's… very short and sparse on the details.

I get the impression she isn't very happy with the press at the moment.

-

Alola-Aloha-Allaway
(Confirmed Sperg)

Gee, ya think? After they've been hounding the adaptors for more than a week now? And the pressure has apparently caused a relapse in her girlfriend's suicidal depression? I wouldn't be very happy either.

Hopefully, after this conference, the press backs the fuck off.

-

Guessing/Game

A fair point. In any case, a question about whether Fine's presence influenced her at all. And… that is an interesting thought, isn't it? I mean, how would you know in that case if what you were saying and doing was because of you or because of some other person?

-

Moaron

You say interesting. I say "creepy." It's your identity and free will being eroded by some foreign thing inside of you. Brrrr.

-

BurnOut

Yeah, we already saw that Akatsuki didn't handle it well. I don't think I could handle that either. Interesting still may fit, but it'd be the Chinese sort of interesting.

-

Guessing/Game

True, guess the intellectual issue got ahead of the emotional implications for me there. Regardless, next query is about how precisely Fine got dealt with and uh…

Okay, yeah, she's definitely done with the media. Just a straightforward "no".

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

And before anyone asks: I ain't saying it. Let's just say that "distressing" is the understatement of the fucking century. I do not wish to face the wrath of Tsukiyomi, and the old commander made the decision to leave it out of the official report for a reason. Hell no. At any rate next questOH JESUS CHRIST NO

-

Whiteg10

Well that's reasonable enough.

Uh. What's going on? Is Akatsuki having a breakdown?

-

Guessing/Game

Tachibana's up, apologizing for the interruption and saying she can't let Akatsuki suffer. I think I'm detecting a hint of panic in Tsukiyomi as well. And… looks like the AC's canning it. Don't blame him, even if it's a bit early. Most of the reporters seem just as taken aback as we are. Tsukuyomi's moving for Akatsuki FAST.

And yeah, this is over.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

CONFERENCE OVER.
NO OBJECTIONS, WE'RE DONE.
SEE YOU GUYS LATER.

-

Moaron

Well… usually this is the place where @Japanese0Groyper gives their two-cent summary but, uh, given that shitshow I understand if you don't want too…

-

Japanese0Groyper

This entire outing was an utter shitshow. Only a handful of the questions were any good, and those questions got short non-answers, two of the Adaptors started breaking down in the middle of the event and had to be pulled off stage before they embarrass themselves further, and there were still. Fucking. Tabloids!

*Throws hands up in the air in futility and walks away*

-
Page 10
-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Okay, panic over. I think. Akatsuki… seems to have come out of it, but the adapters are kind of all in a ball around her right now. I think Tachibana is organising an impromptu training session so Yukine and Akatsuki can blow stuff up.

Anyways, if you guys have questions now's the time.

-

BurnOut

Honestly, @Songbird? I think you should take a break. After today, I feel as if SONG in general and the girls in particular deserve a goddamn break. And if your AC didn't strike me as too polite to do so, I'd expect him to be tearing the Security Council a new one for having to make you guys do this.

-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Yeah, break sounds nice. And now I'm thinking about how the old man would react to this shit. Oh boy you would've heard him reading the security council the riot act on the opposite side of the earth. I need to sleep…

-

The Name of Love · Dec 15, 2019

Man, I did not realize when we started writing this that it'd end up being this long.

Paleb05 · Dec 15, 2019

obssesednuker said:
DoubleTheFun
(Inveterate Shipper)

WHAT KIND OF FOLLOW UP WAS THAT?!

-

Whiteg10

Never thought I'd agree with DoubleTheFun. Maria with Ver? Ew. And Maria agrees.

So here is the reaction to the question of the relationship between Ver and Maria. The one thing about that question that is sad but true is that Ver probably would of wanted it to happen.

obssesednuker said:
Japanese0Groyper

Something else that's missing: even if these guys are the biggest badasses on the planet, they are all still human. How the fuckity fuck can they go up against a Symphogear? I mean, the adaptors wield the most powerful weapons on the planet. Even with their skill, they'd need to have some serious bullshit on their side.

@Songbird are you sure you can't bring up more information? Don't you have a working theory as to how they can do what they do?

Even people in-universe are at a complete loss on what the heck is the reasons for the Four Horsemen's actions.

obssesednuker said:
SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

WELCOME TO MY WORLD. I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS FOR 16 HOURS A DAY ON AVERAGE.

And, all things considered, she's being rather calm and serious right now. Tachibana, everybody.

As for the bullying: Tachibana's ninety percent over it by now. They say that the best revenge is living well, after all, and for her service, SONG has done everything we can to make sure she's had a better life. But from what I've read, it was pretty bad. Like, 'people organizing campaigns to go to her house and throw rocks through her window' bad.

obssesednuker said:
SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

On the dad scenario: it's not really my business as her bodyguard to get involved in her family business, so I don't really know all that much. That said, from what I do know, you would be correct, @BurnOut. They've been slowly repairing their relationship.

Alright, on to the next questiTACHIBANA WHY

obssesednuker said:
SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Tachibana. Tachibana why you do this. Just. I'm not even surprised. It is literally exactly what she says every other day. And she just. Live television. And she. TACHIBANA WHY.

Anyways, Kohinata is next. Here's hoping this goes well.

Poor you having to deal with Hibiki, guess they'll be having a strong drink soon. Then again, most of the wielders have elements that could make a normal person want to drink.

obssesednuker said:
Japanese0Groyper

It's a fucking pun. And a terrible one at that.

"Desu" is something you tack onto the end of sentences when trying to speak politely in Japanese. It literally means "is" or "are." However, thanks to the moe revolution and the formation of global otaku culture in the early 21st century, it's become a total meme on the Internet. ("Suki Suki Desu!" being one such meme). Since "desu" sounds a bit like "death" in English, Akatsuki probably started saying it for the lulz. Maybe to cheer herself or others up in the orphanage.

-
Page 7
-

SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Wait. THAT'S WHAT THAT MEANT!?!? I've been driving myself up a wall trying to figure out why she keeps putting a word in English at the end of every other sentence for almost two years now, and it's a fucking pun!?

Here comes more need for more alcohol for SONGbird.

obssesednuker said:
SONGbird
(Confirmed SONG mook)
(Guy who knows shit)

Yeah, break sounds nice. And now I'm thinking about how the old man would react to this shit. Oh boy you would've heard him reading the security council the riot act on the opposite side of the earth. I need to sleep…

Would Genjuro read them the riot act before or after punching sense into the council?

The Name of Love · Dec 15, 2019

Paleb05 said:
Even people in-universe are at a complete loss on what the heck is the reasons for the Four Horsemen's actions.

Well they are. But Japanese0Groyper was talking about how a group of normal if badass humans could go toe to toe physically against the adaptors. The answer, by the way, is the Apegears.

Paleb05 said:
Poor you having to deal with Hibiki, guess they'll be having a strong drink soon. Then again, most of the wielders have elements that could make a normal person want to drink.

If your job was to keep someone safe, and that person seemed to do everything in their power to rush headfirst into reckless situations, you'd be driven to drink no matter how much you liked that person. And that's pretty much SONGbird's position by now.

Paleb05 said:
Would Genjuro read them the riot act before or after punching sense into the council?

Yes.

gamer50018 · Dec 16, 2019

Hah, yeah. SONGbird likes Hibiki, but he needs a drink after trying to stop her from doing suicidal acts on a nigh daily basis for two years. And he is still picarding from not realising that pun.

obssesednuker · Dec 16, 2019

Distortions
Chapter 13:
The Fifth Seal

----

Tsubasa wasn't sure how long she stared in shock at what was all too clearly the body of her former Zwei Wing partner. This was impossible. Kanade's body had burned away with the rest of her life. Yet here it was, looking exactly as she had the morning of that fateful concert. Tsubasa could tell it wasn't just the body, either: the rise and fall of her chest, the bubbles floating up from the mask attached to her face… Kanade was alive.

But how?

"Holy fuck," Exclaimed one of the Marines filtering in through the hole Tsubasa had carved. His voice snapped her out of her fugue, causing her to notice for the first time that neither the tank nor Kanade were the only ones in the room. Four more tanks were lined up beyond the first one, each one containing another body of Kanade Amou. Each one visibly younger than the first.

The sight made Tsubasa abruptly realize the obvious: they were clones. Of course, that's how. She felt stupid for getting her hopes up, and a strange sense of disappointment washed over her. But then she realized that, if they had clones of Kanade here, then…

Almost afraid of what she would see, Tsubasa slowly turned to her right. And, in the next row of tanks, saw herself. And then Chris in the next row. And Hibiki in the next. Kirika, Shirabe, Maria, Miku, and… Tsubasa stiffened as she looked at a clone of what could only be Maria's little sister, Serena. Tsubasa had only ever seen her once before, when the apparitions of their loved ones had appeared at Yggdrasil, but Maria had described her frequently enough that the swordswoman easily recognized her. Dimly, she noted that there were only two clones of Serena and three of Miku whereas each other adaptor had between five and eight.

Tsubasa shakily stepped up to the tank containing the oldest of the Kanade clones, the one that had captured her attention when she first entered. Glancing over it, her eyes were quickly drawn to the white-lettering printed at the base of the tank.

Project 13B545 Bio-Sample No. 243 - Sierra-2 Retired
+5 Years Synchronization, -4 Years Balal Positive

"This is like something out of a video game. Some Resident Evil-type shit," Muttered Private Gibson as he glanced quickly between each clone tank.

It occurred to a small part of Tsubasa's mind that the Marines were technically seeing her, her old girlfriend, and all of her friends completely in the buff. Fortunately, the troops seemed vastly more spooked by the clones than anything. And the rest of the blue-haired girl's mind was too disturbed to care.

Tsubasa walked around the first tank and down to the fifth one containing a Kanade clone. She looked at that clone for a moment. The Kanade in there was the same age as the real Kanade had been the day they first met, though the clone looked vastly more peaceful with her eyes closed and resting. Tsubasa looked down at the lettering printed on the tank.

Project 13B545 Bio-Sample No. 248 - Sierra-2 Retired
0 Years Synchronization, -9 Years Balal Positive - BASELINE

She turned away from the youngest Kanade clone, towards her… own set of clones. The raw bizarreness of that thought gnawed at her. Tsubasa stepped up to the next tank, in which there was a version of herself the same age as when she first sang and activated Ame no Habakiri. Had she really been so small? She read the text.

Project 13B545 Bio-Sample No. 257 - Sierra-1 Actual
0 Years Synchronization, -14 Years Balal Positive - BASELINE

That reference to her relic synchronization and Balal again. But what did they mean by baseline? What were the Four Horsemen doing here? Tsubasa turned and walked down the row to the frontmost clone tank, the one which quite clearly contained the most recent iteration of herself. Again, she read the text.

Project 13B545 Bio-Sample No. 249 - Sierra-1 Actual
+14 Years Synchronization, +4 Months Balal Negative

Her brow furrowed as she tried to chase away the discomfort and shock of being in the presence of multiple copies of herself and her friends by focusing on the mystery. What did it mean by 'Balal Negative?' She turned and walked down the rows of tanks containing clones of her friends, keeping her eyes down on the lettering.

The same pattern repeated itself. A first row of words "Project 13B545 Bio-Sample" followed by an identification number. The second row consistently measured first the timespan from when they first synchronized with their relic, and secondly from either before or after the Curse of Balal's destruction. Each adaptor, save Kanade and Serena, had one or two clones that were apparently labelled as 'Balal Negative', most of them apparently two to four months.

Tsubasa returned to the front of the room to find a Navy corpsman had arrived and was examining the monitor attached to the foremost clone of Chris. Tsubasa had disregarded those monitors at first, figuring they would display the same information as all the others. But walking up behind the corpsman, she saw that wasn't the case. The monitors were showing four screens: pulse, blood pressure, body temperature and… Tsubasa frowned as she realized she couldn't tell what the fourth monitor was showing.

"Corpsman," She said. The Navy man practically leapt out of his skin at her voice, turning around to come to attention.

"Ma'am!" He said quickly. "Apologies, I didn't realize you were there."

"It's fine," Tsubasa reassured him. She nodded at the fourth screen. "What is that one showing?"

"It looks like brain activity," The Corpsman replied, calming down and turning back to the monitor. "Not entirely sure on that - brain wounds aren't something we treat in the field - but that's the best I can figure out."

Tsubasa looked back at the screen in question. It seemed quite dim. "What can you tell from it?"

"Well," He said, shifting awkwardly. "I think it says they've got pretty much no higher brain functions and minimal lower brain functions. Nothing outside of basic life functions." With uncertainty, he glanced over his shoulder, rather aware he was talking about doppelgangers of the comrades of the person he was talking to. "They're pretty much vegetables, ma'am."

Tsubasa bit her lip in thought, trying to place it all together. So the Horsemen had brain dead clones of her and her friends at various stages in their lives after they had first synchronized with a Symphogear, presumably for some science experiments. But what were they studying?

The only thing that occurred to her was back in the Frontier Incident, when they found Hibiki's fusion with Gungnir was basically eating her. But their medical check-ups with SONG had kept a careful vigilance for that sort of thing since and not a single sign of such a problem recurring had cropped up with any of them. Plus, there remained the question of what the hell the Curse of Balal had to do with any of it.

"Thank you Corpsman, that will be all," Tsubasa finally said, forcing herself to turn away and glance around the rest of the room. The Marines were also poking around the edges, with most of them largely too spooked by the clones of people they regarded as superheroes to actually approach the tanks. Tsubasa's eyes were drawn to a series of workstations along the walls. If any answers to the mystery were to be found here, they would be there.

She ignored the desktop terminals, which were all displaying the same System Error screen she had seen on most other monitors in this place and instead scanned the desks directly. Papers, pieces of papers, and books were scattered about. Apparently, whoever worked here had put effort into destroying the information, but Tsubasa quickly singled out one desk with a booklet on top of it labelled 'Project 13B545' in big bold letters. Quickly, she snatched it up, flipping it open to the first page.

Project 13B545 Abstract

The purpose of Project 13B545 is to verify and study the hypothesis advanced by Professor-108 regarding the development of Sierra-Golf physiology and biology post-Balal (See Annex A for Professor-108 Interview Details), particularly relative to their pre-Balal rate. To summarize, it posits that the destruction of the Curse of Balal and the continued synchronization, active and inactive, between the Sierra-Golfs' bodies and their relics are-

Tsubasa didn't learn what came next because the rest of the page had been torn out. Grinding her teeth together in frustration, she flipped to the introduction… and found herself completely lost. Not only were pages, or parts of pages, missing, but the sheer density of English scientific terminology quickly overwhelmed her. Maybe Elfnein could make some coherent sense of this, but Tsubasa couldn't. She flipped to the end to find the conclusion or maybe that 'Annex A' the abstract mentioned, only to find those entire sections had also been ripped out.

Tsubasa was tempted to throw the booklet across the room, but restrained herself. After all, SONG's technical staff might still be able to use it to piece together whatever the hell the Horsemen thought the relics were doing to them. She glanced back down at the desk and immediately noticed that beneath the booklet had been a single page memo.

In Regards to the Proposed Name

I'm well aware that many of you have your reservations regarding the proposed new taxonomic designation. Different bases for the objections have been raised: the necessity of it, how appropriate it is in regards to the Horsemen's mission, the reliability of Professor-312, etc., etc.

Regardless, Professor-108 has approved the proposed nomenclature for internal Pale Unit use, and the Lamb has also ratified it. The decision is out of our hands. From now on, the Sierra-Golfs will be considered a new sub-species of humanity under the designation Homo sapien sumphonia. All Pale Unit researchers will be expected to use such terminology in their scientific papers lest they be subject to an unpleasant reprimand from yours truly.

If you continue to have doubts, then my recommendation is that you regard the taxonomic classification of the Sierra-Golfs as H. s. sumphonia as a cold reminder to what is at stake. Humanity as a species is at a crossroads: either it will be free to choose its own destiny, or it will be shackled to the whims and wills of emergent physical goddesses. It is the duty of the Four Horsemen to ensure that the H. s. sumphonia be rendered as extinct as the H. neanderthalensis so that the latter outcome may never come about.

-Professor-110
Pale Unit Vice Director

A cold pit formed in Tsubasa's stomach as she read the memo, piecing it together with everything else she had seen and read. The Four Horsemen's researcher didn't think the Symphogear adaptors would remain entirely human? Then she remembered…

"But there's no point in casting out the old gods just to replace them with new ones."
"And you are a human wearing a monster's skin!"

She had thought they were merely using rhetorical flourishes at the time, but now she could see. The Four Horsemen didn't even think they were completely human. Were they wrong? Were they just lying to themselves to justify their actions? It wouldn't be the first time science was twisted to justify an evil ideology. But then again, what if… what if they were right?

Her eyes drifted away from the memo to the sword of Ame no Habakiri. For more than a decade of her life, the Symphogear had been the closest thing to a constant companion an inanimate object could be. It had saved Tsubasa's life again and again. Through it, she had forged herself into a protector of humanity and had helped bring and bind her closest friends to her.

But at the moment, it seemed as alien to her as the Noise.

—

Successfully saving people from the Four Horsemen was probably the best form of catharsis Chris Yukine could have asked for. Sure, seeing grown men gawk at her like they were one of Tsubasa's otaku groupies was a bit annoying at first, but inspiring them to fight alongside her made her feel like a hero rather than a human failure or an alien.

Also, killing members of the Four Horsemen was really, really satisfying. It was like playing a first-person shooter, only you were killing the people who murdered your father rather than digital simulations on a computer screen. On the battlefield, she didn't need to worry about whether Komichi would still be her friend or what some tabloid said about her. All she had were objectives to complete, lives to save, and bastards to put into shallow graves. Besides, it wasn't like nerve-stapled clones counted as people. She idly wondered if she should be concerned about her newfound bloodlust, but decided to put that off for another time.

With the remaining holdouts of the Horsemen's soldiers being handled by the Marines, she concluded her job was done and dispelled Ichaival. She had been directed to wait in one of the loading bays of the above ground section of the facility. There, she was to wait for Tsubasa and Ogawa to arrive so that they could discuss the next step in person.

The place was a mess from the fighting, with the shipping containers having been shattered or tossed about by explosions. A factory smokestack had toppled across one corner and taken a warehouse wall at the other end. Chris was using a particularly large chunk of the smokestack as an improvised chair. Still, Marine engineers had done their best to make it usable for their purposes, clearing away enough detritus to turn it into an impromptu helipad.

A column of Marines jogged by, a bunch of them cheering as they spotted her. She waved encouragingly back in acknowledgement. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another Marine picking his way towards her across some rubble, some nervousness in his body language. She turned to glance at him curiously, acknowledging his presence and prompting him to begin.

"Hey, so Megadeth-"

"Yukine," Chris quickly cut him off. She appreciated that the Marines found her approachable enough when she wasn't transformed, but god, did that nickname make her cringe.

The Marine paused for a moment to process her interruption. "Uh… 'kay, Yukine. Me and the guys wanted to ask ya something."

"Yeah? Shoot."

The Marine chuckled, apparently finding something funny about that. "So, about all those missiles and bullets… where do they go when you aren't using them?"

Chris snorted in response, taking a moment to stretch. "Buddy, I've been using my relic for years now, and I can tell you with absolute confidence that it's all just bullshit."

The Marine blinked in confusion. "... What?"

"Yukine!" Tsubasa called in greeting as she approached.

Though the swordswoman had also dropped her armor, the Marine found the prospect of dealing with two adaptors at once a bit more than he could handle.

"Uh… see ya around, Megadeth," He said quickly, beating a hasty retreat.

Tsubasa blinked after him before looking at Chris in confusion. "Megadeth?"

Chris blushed. "Don't ask." She actually expected Tsubasa to push further. It was something of a surprise when the blue-haired woman didn't. Instead, she let out a long suffering sigh and began to lean against a nearby container, closing her eyes. Chris furrowed her brow in concern. "Hey, everything go alright down there?"

For a long moment, Tsubasa hesitated. Strictly speaking, the answer to the question was yes. Despite the losses, the underground portion of the facility was entirely cleared and almost secured. But such an answer simply wouldn't be the whole story, she knew. She didn't have the first clue on how to break the news to Chris that the relics they were synched with might be transforming them into a new and apparently godlike sub-species of humanity.

Although, Tsubasa contemplated, maybe a good part of that was because she didn't know what precisely that entailed, even assuming it was a real concern and not something cooked up by the Horsemen's deranged minds. Perhaps Elfnein would be able to make sense of the documents. Then she'd know whether and how much to panic.

That still left the matter of what to say to Chris though. "We successfully defeated the enemy and took their facility, but what we found down there… well, I'm sure it'll come up in the debriefing."

Chris put her hand on Tsubasa's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it," she said with a grimace. She could imagine what sort of mad science horrors the Four Horsemen were getting up to. She wasn't going to make Tsubasa recall what she saw if it had disturbed her that much.

The blue-haired girl smiled back at Chris and took her hand in her own. "Thank you, Yukine. I promise, I'll talk about it later. Some of the things down there were beyond my understanding. We'll need Elfnein to look into all of it."

"Bad sci-fi bullshit does seem like their style," Chris surmised, causing Tsubasa to chuckle a little.

The roar of an inbound helicopter caused the two to look up, but the landing chopper was marked with Marine colors rather than SONG's name, so they initially disregarded it. Then, General Shaw stepped out, drawing salutes from nearby Marines that he swiftly returned. Glancing around, he spotted the two adaptors and promptly beelined for them.

Realizing that a senior allied military officer was directly approaching them, Tsubasa and Chris hurriedly came to their feet and did their best to look respectful. They wondered whether they should salute or not, but the problem was solved when Shaw saluted them instead.

"You two girls really saved our bacon today," He began. "I owe you one; hell, the entire Marine Corps owes you both a pretty big one."

"It was nothing general." Chris tried to shrug the praise off. "SONG's supposed to be 'bout helping people, and you needed the help."

"I wouldn't call shredding a division's worth of troops before you factor in the direct facility garrison 'nothing'." Shaw shook his head. "It was incredible. Without you, we would have been driven into the sea." He gave a wry smirk. "Not to mention, I think you scared the pants off the Chinese. They actually pulled back a bit after seeing what you did." The smile started to vanish. "Although…"

"General?" Tsubasa asked, curious as to his sudden mood shift.

"I'm a bit concerned it might not be the right kind of scared," Shaw clarified. "Might be the sorta scared that drives them to do something rash." He shook his head. "In any case, leave it to me and the politicos to handle that mess. And your commander, I guess." The sound of another approaching helicopter made him look over his shoulder. "And speaking of…"

Sure enough, the next helicopter to touch down did bear SONG's name. It idled on the improvised landing pad as Shinji Ogawa disembarked and hurried over. "General Shaw," He greeted.

"Commander Ogawa," Shaw replied warmly. "I was just thanking your girls for their assistance." He glanced back over at them. "And I also just wanted to let you know that I'm grateful enough to put in the paperwork to request that they receive the Bronze Star."

"Ah, wait…" Chris hurriedly answered. "We're not doing this for any reward or any-"

"Yukine!" Tsubasa's voice took on a bit of a reprimanding tone. "Medals are a way of recognizing the achievements of the recipient! We would be spitting on the gratitude of General Shaw and his men by rejecting this honor."

Chris's first instinct was to snap back with something sarcastic, but she didn't want to cause a scene in front of a senior military leader, so instead, she just paused to digest Tsubasa's words. "Ah… I see."

The General nodded, clearly tying up his part of the conversation. "Well, I best get back to making sure the Chinese don't kick off World War Three and arranging things with the technical teams. See you two around," Shaw looked at Tsubasa, "Samurai." Then he looked over at Chris. "MegaDeth." With that, the general turned and left the two girls looking quite red in the face.

Ogawa raised a slightly confused eyebrow as he watched the general go before turning back to the two. "Samurai? MegaDeth?"

"Don't ask," They both echoed simultaneously.

Ogawa blinked a few times in confusion before shaking his head. "Well, regardless, the technical teams can handle it from here." His face became grim. "You will want to get back to the sub, there's been an incident in Chiba with Kohinata and Tachibana. Apparently, the Four Horsemen attacked their families."

----

Akira Tachibana took one last moment to steel his resolve before finally ringing the doorbell. He shouldn't have been this nervous. He had already been here dozens of times since February alone, after all. Then again, he hadn't intended to ask what he did today. He tried to recall when was the last time he felt like this. It had to have been… when he first proposed to Harumi? Huh, how appropriate. Okay, Akira, just seven simple words. You can do this.

Then Harumi opened the door again. While most people would have called her plain-looking, her dazzling smile never failed to enrapture him. At her happy expression, his mind went blank. Why had he been so stupid as to run away from this? Akira barely registered exchanging greetings with his ex-wife and being pulled inside to take a seat in the kitchen.

"Harumi, who is it?" A somewhat dour-looking old woman with short white hair emerged from the living room. Koyomi Tachibana, Hibiki's grandmother, frowned a little as she spotted Akira. "Ah, Akira."

Her voice was neutral. That was, at least, a massive improvement from the winter when it was 'massive disappointment' and the spring where it was 'don't fuck up'. As if Akira needed the reminder. Still, he didn't hold it against her. "Koyomi. Doing well?"

"As well as these bones will let me." Koyomi replied evenly, walking over to take her own seat.

"I'll fix us some tea." Harumi said, moving over to the countertop.

Akira took the silence to again start gathering his courage, as well as taking the time to reflect on how far things had come. The Shem-Ha incident had been the watershed point, even if he now knew it wasn't just so for him. They were able to move past all those troubles and disagreements, resolving their arguments and reconciling their differences. It was almost like they were married again…

Almost, but not quite. Akira hoped he could take the last step now. He owed Hibiki so much for helping him reconcile, helping him become a better person. The old him would have tried to exploit his status as Hibiki's father when the news came out, demanding money for interviews and bragging about it at work. Now, he was shutting down the reporters who had tracked him down and shrugging it off when some co-workers at the odd-jobs he managed to find brought it up. The old him, so eager to capitalize on every little thing, too blinded by avarice and ambition to see what truly mattered, would have crashed and burned.

Still, he'd need to get a better paying and steadier job if things panned out the way he was hoping they would. Maybe he wouldn't get something on the level of his old research job right out the gate, but he could work his way up.

Idly, he realized he wanted to meet Hibiki's friends. The other Symphogear users. There had been that brief moment after she saved him from Carol, but he hadn't really gotten to know them before Hibiki dragged them off.

And speaking of Hibiki and her friends…

"Hibiki is bringing Miku, right?" Akira asked.

"Of course." The question had been directed at his ex-wife, but Koyomi answered. "They're visiting Miku's family first though. I have to admire her spunk, admitting it through a press conference."

"Leave it to Hibiki to inform us she was a superhero before informing us she had found someone she loved," Akira chuckled. He had figured out that Hibiki fell in love with Miku that winter day she had been placed under house arrest and had to stay at his place. When she had confided her heart and soul to him, it pained him that he couldn't offer more than some feel-good platitudes he hadn't really believed in himself.

And yet somehow, those 'feel-good platitudes' had proved to be the key for Hibiki to take back her love and save all of humanity. Truly, the universe had a strange sense of humor.

"She hid it rather poorly, all these years," Koyomi continued.

Akira paused at that. "Huh? What do you mean? They didn't get together the past few months?"

Koyomi looked at him in disbelief at first, but then her gaze became thoughtful. "I suppose you wouldn't have been here to notice," She mused. Though her voice held no venom, he winced at the reminder. Then her gaze sharpened and she leaned forward, whispering. "But I don't know what you're waiting for here, so hurry up and say it to her. I'd like to have something good to tell them as well. She'll say yes."

She knew? Akira stared back at her flabbergasted before sighing. Of course she knew. The old woman was still as sharp as ever. Alright, once again Akira, you can do this. He turned to Harumi.

"Harumi," He said quickly, waiting a moment for his ex-wife to look up from the counter at him. "I want to-"

He was interrupted as the doorbell rang. An urgent knock on the door quickly followed it.

Koyomi frowned. "That can't be Hibiki and Miku, can it?"

Harumi looked at the clock and shook her head. "It's far too early." She got up and headed for the door. "Hopefully, it isn't another reporter."

"They still haven't left you alone?" Akira frowned.

"Oh, they've levelled off a fair bit since the press conference," Harumi replied idly as she reached the door. A trio of men in black suits with sunglasses stood before her.

"Harumi Tachibana?" One of them asked. "We're with SONG. We need you and your mother to come with us."

Harumi reeled at the sudden request. "What? Why?"

"We believe your lives are under immediate danger from the Four Horsemen," The SONG agent answered. "We believe they are trying to get at Hibiki Tachibana through you. Please, we need to get you somewhere safe quickly."

Harumi glanced over her shoulder. "My… my ex-husband, Hibiki's father, is here too."

"That's good." The agent added. "It's best he accompany us as well."

"Harumi? Who is it?" Akira said as he stepped into the hall.

"They say they're with SONG." Harumi turned so her ex-husband could see. "They're concerned people might be coming after us because of Hibiki and want us to come with them."

"Get us? To get at Hibiki?" Akira asked, his face growing worried. People coming after his family again? He gripped his fist. He would make sure they were safe this time. And SONG promised that safety. "Perhaps it's best we do so, then."

"What's this about Hibiki?" Koyomi asked as she too stepped out into the hallway.

"Ma'am." The agent was starting to sound impatient. "Please, Hibiki Tachibana is very concerned for you all. We have to get you out of here."

"Oh, well, why didn't you just say so? Just let me get my purse and shoes," Koyomi insisted, causing Akira to roll his eyes.

The three agents led the Tachibanas to a black SUV parked out front with tinted windows, their heads constantly swivelling for threats. One climbed into the driver's seat while the other two opened the passenger door. The Tachibanas idly noted that the backseats had been modified. The middle row seats had been moved back and a fourth backwards facing chair had been added behind the driver's seat.

They helped Harumi in first but Koyomi paused for a moment after she stepped up, glancing over at one of the agents. "How is Hibiki doing?"

"She's doing okay, ma'am," He replied as he helped her into the vehicle. "But she's really worried about you. Don't worry, she'll see you soon."

Koyomi nodded in understanding, fiddling with her purse as she sat down. Harumi reached around to help her mother with the seatbelt. Akira nodded to the men gratefully as he sat down last, next to Koyomi. One of the two agents climbed into the chair across from him while the third circled around to ride shotgun.

As they drove away from the house, Koyomi looked, not at the man in the rear-facing seat, but at the driver. "What is she like in the morning dearies? I can imagine with all the ruckus with the paparazzi, she's having a rough go of it."

The agents didn't seem like they expected that question. The two in the front seat shared a look. Finally, the one in the passenger seat responded, "Uh… yeah, they really keep her up."

Koyomi nodded. "And is she still eating well?"

There was another awkward moment before the one in the rear facing seat answered. "Decently, I suppose. A solid three meals each day."

"She's keeping clean?" This time, it was Harumi who asked the question.

"I'd imagine so. She seemed pretty clean the last I saw her," One of the agents replied, as beads of sweat formed on his brow.

"Has she taken to any particular instrument at school?" Akira decided to join in.

"We-uh-we don't keep track of that sort of thing. We try and respect their privacy at school."

The one in the rear-facing seat abruptly sat up. "We got a trio of cars following us. It's probably them."

"The enemy?" The driver slammed on the gas, abruptly turning hard at the oncoming light. "Hold on, Tachibana, we'll get you out of here!"

Both Harumi and Akira let out a little shout and tightened their grips on their armrests. Koyomi glanced at her daughter and ex-in-law and silently rolled her eyes.

"They know we saw them!" The rear-facing agent shouted. The one in the passenger seat had pulled out a tablet and opened a map.

"We should be able to lose them in that alleyway." He paused for a moment and glanced at the Tachibanas. "Don't hit any civilians."

The driver swung them around into the alley rather expertly, shouting to the Tachibanas. "Don't worry, I did street racing as a delinquent before I cleaned myself up and joined SONG!"

They sped down the alleyway, the van never quite touching the walls. Akira yelped a few times when it seemed they were going to though. Fortunately, nobody had chosen to take an idle stroll down this alley at the moment. The car crossed several minor streets then turned onto one randomly before merging into another busy street.

"Ah hell," The rearman swore. He turned to his compatriot and reported "We've got another two coming down on us."

"What? How?!" The driver demanded.

"I don't know!" The rearman retorted, clearly frustrated.

"Another alleyway on the right there should do it." The passenger agent remained calm, even as the driver again swerved into it. Again, they threaded the needle and again they emerged onto a randomly chosen street.

"Nobody behind us." The rearman said in relief.

"Yeah, well, that's because we've got a roadblock up ahead!" The driver shouted.

And indeed, a series of cars were lined up across the way, men in black suits with pistols drawn crouching down behind them.

"What? How the hell did they know we were coming?!" The man in the passenger seat shouted.

"I don't know, but I need an alternate!" The driver said quickly.

The passenger agent quickly fiddled with his tablet. "Take a left, now!"

The SUV swung around, narrowly threading between two corner buildings and emerging onto an interior park path. The driver slowed down enough and leaned on the horn so that people could see them and scramble away in time. They cut through another two building corners and once again emerged onto another major street.

"I think we're in the clear up front." The driver said.

"I've still got one car behind us." The rear-facing man replied.

"Helicopter overhead." The agent in the passenger seat reported, squinting up through the front window.

"Ours, theirs, civilian?" The driver asked.

"Can't tell with the sun. Wait… wha-!"

The shout was prompted by a figure abruptly falling away from the overhead helicopter, plunging straight towards the car. A moment later, everyone's eyes widened as a soul-shaking song rang out.

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron."

A flash of golden light encased the figure, forcing both the agents up front to glance away. Not wanting to crash, the driver held the vehicle steady. The light swiftly faded and the driver quickly turned back to the road… just in time for the figure to plunge straight into the SUV's engine block, directly in front of the driver. The force of the impact lifted the rear of the vehicle halfway up off the ground. For a moment, it looked like the entire SUV would flip over, but gravity swiftly reasserted itself, causing the back to come crashing back down. The entire engine compartment had been pulverized, and the right passenger door had come off its hinges. Nobody inside the van had been hurt, although they were quite shaken.

The agents in the front seat didn't even have a chance to recover their bearings when a pair of hands clad in yellow, white, and gold gauntlets smashed through the front windshield, completely shattering it. They seized the two men and dragged them straight out of their seats so forcefully, their belts snapped in two. The agents quickly found themselves eye-to-eye with the royally pissed off face of Hibiki Tachibana.

"Don't you dare try to take my family from me!" She hissed, her ethereal aura and angry tone combining to make her voice sound like a portent of divine retribution to them. The 'SONG agents' promptly whimpered and passed out in fear.

"Hibiki?!" Harumi shouted in confusion, alarm, and more than a little bit of fear. It was the first time she had personally seen her daughter clad in her Symphogear, and she found herself having a hard time reconciling the dorky, kind, and outgoing Hibiki with this avatar of protective fury.

Hibiki looked up at her mother, and her features softened substantially, causing her presence to fade from 'awe-and-terror-inspiring' to just 'awe-inspiring.' "Mama! Are you okay?! They didn't-"

She was cut off by a shout from her father as the last agent sitting across from him lunged forward to strike the emergency release on his seatbelt and dragged Akira out of the car through the lost door. Hibiki dropped the two unconscious agents as she leapt off the engine block to her left, landed in a fighting stance, and froze as she saw the agent had thrown her father to the ground and had a machine pistol pressed to Akira's temple.

"Watch it, Symphobitch," He growled. "No sudden moves, or I'll ventilate your dad's greymatter."

"You won't get away with this," Hibiki ground out, though she didn't dare move a muscle. She momentarily glanced up to check on the SONG car, which had already slid to a halt. The agents inside had jumped out and drawn their pistol, but at the distance they were at, they couldn't fire for fear of hitting her father. She looked back to the man holding her father hostage. "You so much as put a finger on him, and I'll-"

"Spare me the cliches," The Horsemen agent sneered as he hauled her father to his feet. "Now, your father and I are going to go on a nice, long walk. Try to stop us, he dies. Anybody try and follow us, we'll send you his fingers in the-"

There was a crack, and the agent stiffened abruptly before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he crumpled to the ground. Akira stumbled forward into his daughter's arms as the grip on him abruptly disappeared.

"Honestly now, putting an old woman through all this excitement," Koyomi Tachibana huffed as she climbed out of the SUV. Sparing a glance at the man she just knocked unconscious, she dropped the mini-weight in her hand on his body before stepping over it.

"Grandma/Koyomi?!" Hibiki and Akira blinked in quite synchronous surprise together.

"Oh, Hibiki." Koyomi acted as if she just noticed the youngest Tachibana standing there. She glanced up and down the girl's armor and gave a grandmotherly smile. "My, you look positively radiant."

"Eh-heh-heh." Hibiki laughed nervously, rubbing her head in slight embarrassment as she helped her father back to his feet. "Thanks."

"Hibiki!" Harumi shouted breathlessly as she climbed out after Koyomi. "What is going on?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Koyomi answered for her granddaughter. She indicated the unconscious man she had just clobbered. "They weren't with SONG."

The actual SONG agents approached the scene, holstering their weapons. Most moved to cuff the unconscious Horsemen personnel, but one walked up to the group muttering "Man, the guys on the forum are gonna get a kick out of this." Out loud, he said to the Tachibana family "Everyone alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Akira shook his head. "No, we're alright. What I don't understand is how you found us."

"That would be thanks to grandma!" Hibiki answered quickly.

"Eh? How did she…" Harumi's voice trailed off as her mother pulled out and held up her medical alarm, a small red light indicating it was currently on.

"Just had to follow the signal," Confirmed the agent as he looked at the eldest Tachibana.

"I was a bit suspicious when they told me Hibiki would be seeing me soon," Koyomi began. "Something about the way they said it just felt off. So, I started asking about stuff like how Hibiki was sleeping and such." She snorted. "Paparazzi keeping her up. Please, I know my granddaughter, and she could sleep through a tanker truck exploding!"

"Grandma!" Hibiki shouted in mortification, her face turning red.

But Grandma Tachibana continued. "And only three meals a day? Hibiki eats at least three times that amount!"

Hibiki's parents looked at each other for a moment and then started laughing. The SONG agents, for their part, could only look on in bemusement as an elderly woman completely reduced the girl clad in god-slaying, mountain-crushing, magitechnological armor into a sputtering mess.

—

"Copy, I'll let them know." The helicopter co-pilot said before twisting around back towards his passengers to shout. "The Tachibanas have been rescued and are being escorted to safety."

"Oh, thank goodness," Okamura breathed in relief. "Now we just have to get out of here too!"

From next to her father and mother, by the helicopter door, Miku nodded in satisfaction. Of course they had. It was Hibiki after all. Her girlfriend would stop at nothing to help people, especially if those people were her friends or family.

"Good!" Her father agreed. "But where did that Ogawa fellow run off too?"

"He said something about tracking down the people who were watching us," Miku replied. She was still concerned about that and wondering when her parents might be able to return home. Still, with Hibiki's parents out of danger, they probably could afford to relax now...

Both of the pilots abruptly stiffened at a piercing warning tone in their headphones. "MISSILE LOCK!" The pilot shouted as he threw the chopper into an abrupt evasive maneuver, causing his passengers to yelp in surprise as they were jerked about in their harnesses. "BRACE! BRACE!"

"RELEASING COUNTERMEASURES!" The co-pilot yelled, smashing the flare release button as the pilot threw the helicopter into another hard bank. It almost worked.

There was the sound of an explosion and ripping metal. The helicopter abruptly heaved forward as if it had been kicked by a giant before the ground below began to whip around and around as it settled into a spin. It was so violent, the latch on the passenger door Miku was sitting next to broke away, driving the door open.

"TAIL'S GONE!" The pilot shouted. "WE CAN'T CONTROL IT!"

Thinking quickly and trying to control the flip-flops her stomach was doing, Miku slammed the emergency release on her harness. She paid no attention to her parents' shouts of alarm and fear as the centrifugal forces of the helicopter's spin tore her out of her chair and through the open passenger door. As she fell, the black-haired girl reached up to seize the diamond necklace tucked just under her shirt and sang…

"Rei Shenshoujing rei zizzl."

Miku was already pushing her ionocraft modules hard as the silver light of her transformation faded, swiftly aligning herself with the nose of the out-of-control helicopter. The Shenshoujin's cables lashed out, digging into the sides of the helicopter, and her modules roared as she brought the helicopter out of its spin. Recognizing what she was trying to do, the pilots cut the engine so she no longer had to fight the force of the main rotor.

The helicopter slowed and then stopped as Miku brought it under control. With the immediate danger past, she swiftly looked around for a place to put it down. She couldn't hold it up all day.

There. That junior high school yard was the closest. She descended towards it, her Ionocraft modules whining under the strain of trying to carefully bring down a helicopter weighing almost eight metric tons. There were students out and about, apparently conducting summer club activities or in for remedial classes, who turned at the noise and stared in shock as they watched an otherworldly girl clad in an equally ethereal white and purple gown carry a broken helicopter using a series of cables extending out from her waist. A distant part of Miku's mind registered a familiarity with the school yard she was landing in, but she was busy making sure the helicopter didn't crash or break apart.

The track team backed away as Miku slowly came towards their field, unconsciously clearing a space for her to touch down. In one last heave, she set the chopper down. With the strain lifted off of them, her Ionocraft modules quietened down to their usual imperceptible hum. The Shenshoujin wielder didn't waste any time at all, quickly hovering around back to the passenger door.

"Mama! Papa!" She called out, swiftly peering in. "Are you okay?"

Both her mother and father stared at her in shock and amazement.

"Miku…" Maatsura's voice was filled with total disbelief. "This is…"

"Ah, yes." Miku said, suddenly self-conscious as she fidgeted in a bit of embarrassment. "This is my Symphogear. Don't be afraid, it's still me."

"You look beautiful…" Okamura breathed, completely enraptured.

Miku felt her blush intensify. "Thanks, mama. But are you two really okay?"

The two shook themselves at that, adjusting themselves to the presence of Miku's transformed state. Despite it all, they could still tell that was their daughter. They shared a glance. "A bit in shock, I guess." Matsura finally said. "But otherwise, we feel fine."

"We'll call for back-up," the SONG pilots said as they started fiddling with the helicopters communications. Miku nodded. Good. Now, all she needed to do was look out for any danger.

"Is-is that… a Symphogear?!"

The shout caused Miku to turn around, only to find a whole bunch of the junior high students forming a crowd as they clamored to see what was going on. Their faces were all filled with a mix of awe, excitement, and curiosity. The degree of awe only grew as she turned to face them. A moment of stunned silence lingered as they stared at her.

"It is! That's Miku Kohinata!" One of the girls standing around her shouted excitedly. With that, the moment past and the floodgates opened. The crowd surged towards Miku, questions and compliments on their lips.

"No way!"

"She's so cool!"

"She's so beautiful!"

"She's like an angel!"

"No, she's like a goddess!"

"You can fly?! What's it like?!"

"How did you hold up that helicopter?!"

"I-I'm rooting for you and T-Tachibana-sama!"

"You're so lucky to get Tachibana-sama!"

"Ah… ah… K-Kohinata-sama, can I get your autograph?!"

Miku raised her hands and smiled awkwardly. "Aha. Everyone, please get inside. We're a bit busy right now, so-"

The sound of several car engines suddenly roared as several vans pulled up. Nondescript figures wearing plain, exercise clothes burst out of each of them. Immediately, some began throwing what looked like grenades at the copter while others got out rifles and machine guns. Acting quickly, Miku lashed out with her cables at the grenades to knock them away from her and the crowd only for them to release a familiar red gas.

Anti-LiNKER! Miku realized. The red gas swiftly filled the area. The Shenshoujing user could already feel the inhibitor's effects on her body. Remembering the breathing exercise she learned from Tsubasa and Hibiki, she calmed down and used the Early Silhouette technique. Her armor configuration transformed from what she wore when she shut down Yggdrasil to what she wore when she fought Hibiki, minus the direct feedback link.

This bought the plainclothes-wearing Horsemen plenty of time to take aim and open fire on Miku and the downed helicopter her parents were in. In order to block the hail of bullets, she unfolded her Chinese fan Armed Gear into a full shield and placed it in front of her, the chopper, and the crowd of students.

The quicker students around her had already scattered when Miku had first lashed out at the Anti-LiNKER canisters, but not everyone moved fast enough to get out of the way. The Horsemen personnel paid them no heed as they continued firing. Miku's eyes widened as a few of the fleeing girls went down, several screaming in pain as the bullets found them, causing her blood to boil.

"Miku!" Maatsura shouted with fear and concern. He reached out towards his daughter, but one of the pilots who had climbed into the passenger compartment grabbed him and pulled him back deeper into the helicopter. A moment later, a burst of gunfire slipped past Miku's improvised shield to spark alarmingly close to her parents.

"Papa, stay back! I'll protect you!" Miku screamed back, her fan blocking most of the bullets aimed at her parents. She needed to fight back if she were to stop them from hurting her parents or anyone else.

Immediately, the words of a familiar song came to Miku's lips, and she sang aloud:

"With a flash, the world begins,
And in darkness, the world ends."

As the eerie song carried through the air, Miku summoned a few floating mirror behind her. The mirrors took aim and fired several lasers back at the Horsemen. They were aimed precisely at the weapons in their arms, to destroy them.

Satisfied that their weapons had been destroyed, Miku flew forward, her whips lashing out, knocking them down to the ground.

"A tune for the place I call home,
A home of sunshine and happiness!"

Miku screamed the line of the song as she knocked down what she could tell was the last Horseman. But rather than stay down, many of them got back up. They came at her, many of them drawing knives, trying to bash themselves against her to no avail. Not even a grunt of pain came from their lips as Miku lashed out at them, even as their limbs clearly broke under her blows. Then Miku saw the look in their eyes - a legion of unchanging, cold, robotic stares - and she knew that these weren't people. They were nerve-stapled clones, like the ones they had fought at the Château.

Miku also noticed that not all the clone troops were actually focusing on her. Many were actually running past her, towards the helicopter her parents were hiding in. She wasn't their objective, her parents were.

"Stars fall like you did that day,
I will change everything."

Miku's vision flashed red, and her cables shot forth to block the advancing squad from reaching her parents. When a mere wall of cables was not enough to deter their advance, she lashed out at them, her cables stabbing through the limbs, bodies, and heads of her enemies. Soon, the grass beneath her was stained with the same red as her vision. There would be no more advance on her parents from these troops.

Miku turned only to see a new group of plain-clothed clones running towards the helicopter across the field from a different direction. One had already fallen into a kneel and her heart stopped when she saw a rocket launcher aimed at the helicopter. The clone fired the moment she had processed this sight and Miku swiftly brought her fan up, bisecting the rocket with a beam before it had even made it halfway towards the chopper.

Undeterred the clone reloaded, but Miku shot forward right up to it, barreling through several of its compatriots firing on her. The clone aborted its reload to try and smash her with the launcher, but Miku easily seized the metal tube and drove it back into the clones chest. She swung back towards the rest of the team, her fan unfolding and unleashing a Flash of beams that burned through clothing, muscle, and flesh with equal ease.

"Give it back, I want it back!
That still echoing song…!"

Miku was making progress in deterring the attacking force, but by herself it all seemed too much. For every trooper brought down by her cables or beam, there were two more ready to take its place. For a moment, hope of victory seemed lost to her. They would overrun Miku, hurt the schoolchildren, hurt her parents, hurt her. If she fell here, then Hibiki… Hibiki would…

A flash of yellow descended on another squad of troops like a shooting star, smashing them in every direction, and Miku's heart soared as a familiar voice shouted, "Don't worry, Miku! We've got this!"

—

"This is getting out of hand." One of the three men watching the battle from a rooftop through their binoculars said. "Now there's two of them."

The other two men turned to stare at him in disbelief. He just blinked back in confusion. "What?"

"So it wasn't out of hand the moment the staples ran down the gate?" The second man asked. "Or when those school kids got caught in the crossfire?"

"No." The first man replied bluntly. "Because then the staples still had a chance of completing their mission. The collateral? Regrettable, but this is war, and casualties are inevitable."

The third man chewed it over for a moment. "I kinda have to agree with MK here." He nodded towards the first man. "You know we have our orders. Red Unit says this is the best way we can help bring these girls down, so we do what it says. If some others fall along the way, so be it."

"I've heard that line of thinking before," Souji Ogawa replied from behind the three. "It usually doesn't end well."

"Nobody asked…" The second man began to snap, trailing off as he abruptly realized who he was addressing. He went for his machine pistol. "OH FU-!"

His hand never made it to that machine pistol. Neither did either of his other two compatriots.

In the blink of an eye, Souji was onto the first man. He grabbed the man's gun arm and smashed his nose with his knee simultaneously, causing him to scream in pain.

In the next second, the other two men felt severe blows to their sides. Souji had punched them while crossing them up, stunning them for a moment.

The men went to move… but found themselves unable to. On the floor, their shadows were pinned down with three kunai using the Shadow Weaving technique, which Souji had thrown down while weaving between them. The men could only gasp in horror before Souji quickly leapt up and sent all three toppling to the ground with a single roundhouse kick.

All of this took place within the span of three seconds.

Souji Ogawa looked down upon the three men. Surely, they were the scum of the Earth for trying to kidnap innocent civilians to use them as hostages against his organization. He'd see them get their comeuppance very soon. For now, he had to make sure the extraction was alright. Judging by the gunfire, he could hazard that there had been complications.

—

Hibiki didn't understand why Miku had been in such a panicked state when she arrived. When the Gungnir wielder had taken stock of the situation, it was obvious to her that a single adaptor would have been more than enough to hold off the clones, so long as they kept a cool head. Perhaps that was just it, she silently mused as she smashed into another squad of Horsemen soldiers, forcing herself to ignore the way blood, skin, and bits of bone spattered across the ground as her fists went through them. As much as Hibiki hated to admit it, Miku was still the least experienced of any of them. This had been only her second real battle, third if they counted Yggdrasil, and the first one she fought by herself from the start.

They'd have to do something about that. Hibiki wasn't sure what but she supposed that could wait until later. Miku seemed to have regained her composure with her girlfriend's arrival and the two were now cutting a swathe through the waves of blank-faced clones. The flow of reinforcements ended only shortly after Hibiki arrived and within less than ten seconds of that, Miku blasted a hole in the last clones head. A sudden silence fell across the school grounds, now soaked in blood and covered in bodies, as the two adaptors swept the area for any remaining enemies.

"That's the last of them," Hibiki quickly concluded. "Are you alright, Miku?"

"I'm fine," Miku replied, although she was slightly distracted. With the pressure of battle over, the nagging familiarity on the appearance of the school grounds came crashing back down on her with a vengeance. It took her only a few more seconds to realize why that was: this wasn't just any junior high school she had come down in. It was their old junior high school.

During the weekend following the adaptors exposure, Miku had briefly mused on the idea of returning to this place, just to see the reaction of the staff now that the girl they had ostracized was now a global heroine, but had discarded it after only a second's thought. Hibiki would never want that, and Miku would never make her do something so petty. It was something they had left behind.

Or at least she hoped that was the case. Miku turned to Hibiki and could tell in an instant that her girlfriend had the same realization. The chestnut haired girl simply stood there for a moment, looking around. Then with a shake of her head, she turned away, leaning over the body of one of the girls who had been caught in the crossfire.

"Go ahead, check on your parents, make sure they're still okay." Hibiki gently closed the girl's eyes, her own face unreadable. Miku hesitated, torn between wanting to make sure Hibiki was okay and making sure her parents were okay. When Hibiki turned and saw she still hadn't left, the Gungnir wielder gave her a reassuring smile. "It's fine, everything's fine."

Miku nodded back and hovered off towards the helicopter, still slightly uncertain. With the adrenaline of battle over, she couldn't help but notice how different the aftermath was compared to how Hibiki had described the aftermath of fights against Noise. But then, she supposed that was only to be expected. The original Noise merely crumbled to ash when defeated, as did their victims. Alca-Noise didn't even leave that much, disintegrating into an alchemical red mist that would swiftly blow away on even the faintest breeze. One couldn't expect the same against an opponent who used biological humans and conventional weaponry.

That didn't change the fact that it made for a far more disturbing sight.

"Mama? Papa?" Miku asked as she hovered around to the helicopter door. "It's over… are you alri-"

"Miku! You're okay!" Okamura practically tackled Miku into a crushing hug from where her, Maatsura, and the two crewmembers had been cowering on the other side of the passenger compartment. Maatsura was only slightly more reserved, quickly scrambling across the compartment to inspect his daughter.

"Of course I am." Miku answered reassuringly, returning the hug. "Symphogear armor is bulletproof. They couldn't hurt me if they tried." She tactfully refrained from mentioning that they had tried, and quite hard at that.

"Miku." She turned at her father's voice and paused. Maatsura, satisfied that his daughter was unharmed was currently looking out at the rest of the battlefield. He looked slightly ill as he took in the carnage. "D-did you do this?" Her mother followed his gaze and the color also began to drain from her face.

Of course, her parents didn't know the true nature of the soldiers she had fought. That information was still classified, ostensibly to prevent a panic from people realizing precisely how advanced the Horsemen's technology was. Miku had only gotten it when Chris had put it to her in plain terms.

"If people realize they have the tech to mass produce nerve-stapled clones," The Ichaival user had said, "Then they'll realize they also have the tech to build the ultimate bio-weapon."

Given that the explanation came from Chris, who had otherwise been seething about the reasoning behind continued classification of most details of the Horsemen's activities, carried a fair bit of weight as far as Miku was concerned.

Instead, Miku took a different tack in her response. "They were coming to hurt you. To kill you." She motioned angrily to the corpse of one of the unfortunate students, hoping that she wasn't disrespecting the dead girl in using her body to prove a point. "And they didn't even care who else they hurt or killed in the process. They had to be stopped, and this was the only way that worked."

Her parents gaze drifted back and forth between Miku and the corpse strewn battlefield, their faces still pale and uneasy. But they didn't reply. They seemed to be having a hard enough time coming to terms that their daughter had done this, let alone the reason why.

"Miku!" Miku's attention was torn away from her parents by Hibiki's shout. Hibiki was crouching down next to one of the school girls. "She's still alive!"

Miku glanced back to her parents. Her father opened and closed his mouth, not sure how to react. But her mother nodded instead. "Go."

The sound of approaching sirens filled the air as Miku swiftly floated over to Hibiki and set herself down. Indeed, the girl Hibiki was lifting into her arms was still breathing, but bleeding intensely from a pair of bullet wounds that had raked across her stomach. She stirred as Hibiki cradled her, her eyes fluttering open at the touch. They focused on Hibiki before widening in recognition.

"Y-you're..." The wounded girl shuddered in Hibiki's arms, "H-Hibiki T-Tachi-."

"Yes, that's right." Hibiki answered softly, trying to keep her talking. Keep her awake. "I'm Hibiki Tachibana. What's your name?"

"W-Waki." She replied, her voice weakening. "Waki Shi-Shiraishi. I-I wanted to… meet… y-you." Her eyelids fluttered closed.

"Hey! Hey now!" Hibiki shouted, panic seeping into her voice. She shook the girl as much as she dared too. "Don't die! Open your eyes! Don't give up on life!"

Slowly, Waki's unfocused eyes slid back open, causing Hibiki to breathe a sigh of relief.

"T-Tachibana?! Kohinata?!" A voice, filled with shock, that neither of them had heard in almost three years shouted. They both looked up. Hiro Furuta, their old homeroom teacher from junior high school stood there, a first aid kit in his hands, his face plastered with shock. He had been one of the teachers who had nodded in approval when he saw Hibiki being bullied back then. For a long moment, the two Symphogears and the teacher could do nothing but stare at each other.

In Hibiki's arms, Waki whimpered in pain. That broke the spell.

"Furuta." Hibiki looked back down, her voice unusually demanding. "Help her."

Furuta flinched at her voice but then nodded after a moment's hesitation. He approached, kneeling down across from Hibiki to administer first aid. Miku noticed that throughout it all, Furuta couldn't look at them. And aside from her initial request, Hibiki just ignored him, instead continuing to whisper comfortingly to Waki.

Less than thirty seconds later police, ambulance, and SONG cars pulled onto the school grounds, sirens flashing, the emergency personnel swarming over the grounds. The moment they passed Waki off to the paramedics, Furuta swiftly turned and fled. Miku felt a slight pang of satisfaction at that, in spite of everything.

Hibiki ignored him. Instead, she just worriedly watched the paramedics wheel Waki away on a stretcher. She gripped her fist tightly. Going after their families, hurting innocent people… how many people would the Horsemen hurt before they were stopped? How much lower would they stoop to accomplish their goals?

How many people would she fail to save?

----

Next Chapter: Oath Set Me Free

----

Author's Notes: So, initially I was debating whether to have Hibiki's grandmother's heart give out from all the excitement this chappy. Then one of my betas went 'Why not have her be a bit of an old badass?' And I was like "I LOVE IT!" So thank them for that.

Paleb05 · Dec 16, 2019

obssesednuker said:
Project 13B545 Abstract
The purpose of Project 13B545 is to verify and study the hypothesis advanced by Professor-108 regarding the development of Sierra-Golf physiology and biology post-Balal (See Annex A for Professor-108 Interview Details), particularly relative to their pre-Balal rate. To summarize, it posits that the destruction of the Curse of Balal and the continued synchronization, active and inactive, between the Sierra-Golfs' bodies and their relics are-

It likely got torn off right before it would of reveal something huge about their plans.

obssesednuker said:
In Regards to the Proposed Name
I'm well aware that many of you have your reservations regarding the proposed new taxonomic designation. Different bases for the objections have been raised: the necessity of it, how appropriate it is in regards to the Horsemen's mission, the reliability of Professor-312, etc., etc.

Regardless, Professor-108 has approved the proposed nomenclature for internal Pale Unit use, and the Lamb has also ratified it. The decision is out of our hands. From now on, the Sierra-Golfs will be considered a new sub-species of humanity under the designation Homo sapien sumphonia. All Pale Unit researchers will be expected to use such terminology in their scientific papers lest they be subject to an unpleasant reprimand from yours truly.

If you continue to have doubts, then my recommendation is that you regard the taxonomic classification of the Sierra-Golfs as H. s. sumphonia as a cold reminder to what is at stake. Humanity as a species is at a crossroads: either it will be free to choose its own destiny, or it will be shackled to the whims and wills of emergent physical goddesses. It is the duty of the Four Horsemen to ensure that the H. s. sumphonia be rendered as extinct as the H. neanderthalensis so that the latter outcome may never come about.

-Professor-110
Pale Unit Vice Director

Interesting, does fit with the whole Book of Revelations the Horsemen theme seem to be going for.

obssesednuker said:
The General nodded, clearly tying up his part of the conversation. "Well, I best get back to making sure the Chinese don't kick off World War Three and arranging things with the technical teams. See you two around," Shaw looked at Tsubasa, "Samurai." Then he looked over at Chris. "MegaDeth." With that, the general turned and left the two girls looking quite red in the face.

Ogawa raised a slightly confused eyebrow as he watched the general go before turning back to the two. "Samurai? MegaDeth?"

"Don't ask," They both echoed simultaneously.

Better hope that Hibiki never finds out about this or you will likely never hear the end of it from her.

obssesednuker said:
"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron."
A flash of golden light encased the figure, forcing both the agents up front to glance away. Not wanting to crash, the driver held the vehicle steady. The light swiftly faded and the driver quickly turned back to the road… just in time for the figure to plunge straight into the SUV's engine block, directly in front of the driver. The force of the impact lifted the rear of the vehicle halfway up off the ground. For a moment, it looked like the entire SUV would flip over, but gravity swiftly reasserted itself, causing the back to come crashing back down. The entire engine compartment had been pulverized, and the right passenger door had come off its hinges. Nobody inside the van had been hurt, although they were quite shaken.

The agents in the front seat didn't even have a chance to recover their bearings when a pair of hands clad in yellow, white, and gold gauntlets smashed through the front windshield, completely shattering it. They seized the two men and dragged them straight out of their seats so forcefully, their belts snapped in two. The agents quickly found themselves eye-to-eye with the royally pissed off face of Hibiki Tachibana.

Pray for these poor souls for they will receive no mercy from Hibiki. (Justifiably so)

obssesednuker said:
"I was a bit suspicious when they told me Hibiki would be seeing me soon," Koyomi began. "Something about the way they said it just felt off. So, I started asking about stuff like how Hibiki was sleeping and such." She snorted. "Paparazzi keeping her up. Please, I know my granddaughter, and she could sleep through a tanker truck exploding!"

"Grandma!" Hibiki shouted in mortification, her face turning red.

But Grandma Tachibana continued. "And only three meals a day? Hibiki eats at least three times that amount!"

Hibiki's parents looked at each other for a moment and then started laughing. The SONG agents, for their part, could only look on in bemusement as an elderly woman completely reduced the girl clad in god-slaying, mountain-crushing, magitechnological armor into a sputtering mess.

Hibiki.Gungnir.OS is having errors due to embarrassment.

obssesednuker said:
"This is getting out of hand." One of the three men watching the battle from a rooftop through their binoculars said. "Now there's two of them."

The other two men turned to stare at him in disbelief. He just blinked back in confusion. "What?"

"So it wasn't out of hand the moment the staples ran down the gate?" The second man asked. "Or when those school kids got caught in the crossfire?"

"No." The first man replied bluntly. "Because then the staples still had a chance of completing their mission. The collateral? Regrettable, but this is war, and casualties are inevitable."

That is worrying if they care this little about about civilian casualties.

obssesednuker said:
Hibiki ignored him. Instead, she just worriedly watched the paramedics wheel Waki away on a stretcher. She gripped her fist tightly. Going after their families, hurting innocent people… how many people would the Horsemen hurt before they were stopped? How much lower would they stoop to accomplish their goals?

How many people would she fail to save?

Try to let this effect you too much. For if it does, they have pretty much won the battle.

obssesednuker · Dec 16, 2019

Paleb05 said:
Interesting, does fit with the whole Book of Revelations the Horsemen theme seem to be going for.

It does? I was thinking more of general mythos about humans who ascend into godhood when I concocted that plot point. I don't recall anything akin to that in Revelations.

The Name of Love · Dec 16, 2019

Paleb05 said:
It likely got torn off right before it would of reveal something huge about their plans.

Well, you need to keep in mind they only left behind enough to shake SONG's confidence. Remember that exchange between the Lamb and Professor-108 back in chapter 11? The documents do give you a good idea as to why they are specifically going after the adaptors - they are convinced the girls are nascent Custodians. Imagine seven beings with Shem-Ha-level abilities operating with little accountability from the general public, four of whom being ex-terrorists. How would you feel about that? I'd imagine the Horsemen recruited a ton of people with this kind of sales pitch. The reason you haven't heard this kind of sensible reasoning so far is because the White Noise are all a bunch of a deranged psychos that would be okay with killing the Symphogear adaptors regardless of the truth.

Paleb05 said:
That is worrying if they care this little about about civilian casualties.

What gave you the idea that the Horsemen cared about actually existing humans, much less "necessary" civilian casualties? They aren't villains for nothing.

Paleb05 said:
Try to let this effect you too much. For if it does, they have pretty much won the battle.

What are you talking about?

obssesednuker · Dec 16, 2019

The Name of Love said:
What are you talking about?

Pretty obvious to me he's saying Bikky shouldn't drive herself nuts about those she couldn't save, lest it affect her ability to fight.

Paleb05 · Dec 16, 2019

obssesednuker said:
It does? I was thinking more of general mythos about humans who ascend into godhood when I concocted that plot point. I don't recall anything akin to that in Revelations.

An element of the book of Revelations is the anti-Christ or a being who will claim to be Christ (ie God) before the Second Coming of God. In this case The Horsemen are considering the Wielders as such beings (Gods), then it makes sense for the connection to be made. At least that's how I saw it.

The Name of Love said:
What gave you the idea that the Horsemen cared about actually existing humans, much less "necessary" civilian casualties? They aren't villains for nothing.

Admittedly I thought they had at at least some ethics when it comes to their military actions, but this shows me that I was wrong/foolish in thinking that.

The Name of Love said:
What are you talking about?

obssesednuker said:
Pretty obvious to me he's saying Bikky shouldn't drive herself nuts about those she couldn't save, lest it affect her ability to fight.

Pretty much what nuker said. If Hibiki focuses too much on who she is unable to save it is very likely that she will make costly mistakes down the line in the battles against them.

obssesednuker · Dec 16, 2019

Paleb05 said:
An element of the book of Revelations is the anti-Christ or a being who will claim to be Christ (ie God) before the Second Coming of God. In this case The Horsemen are considering the Wielders as such beings (Gods), then it makes sense for the connection to be made. At least that's how I saw it.

Hm, the "what he means the Anti-Christ? Nah, that doesn't strike me as quite right". That said, you are onto something here... although the truth of the matter may be a bit inverse of how the Horsemen picture it.

Admittedly I thought they had at at least some ethics when it comes to their military actions, but this shows me that I was wrong/foolish in thinking that.

Put a pin in that thought. It's going to become relevant next chapter.

Distortions (Symphogear) (Spoilers for Those Who Haven't Seen XV!)

Love and Peace!

Commander of 10 Million Men

A Believer of Optimism in the World

Banned Forever

Commander of 10 Million Men

Banned Forever

Commander of 10 Million Men

Banned Forever

Commander of 10 Million Men

Commander of 10 Million Men

Banned Forever

A Believer of Optimism in the World

Banned Forever

Commander of 10 Million Men

A Believer of Optimism in the World

Commander of 10 Million Men

Banned Forever

Commander of 10 Million Men

A Believer of Optimism in the World

Commander of 10 Million Men