Unsurprisingly, the streets of the Shima ward had fallen silent. Luckily, most of the people there had since made their way out. Though within the same area, it was far enough that the signs of the battle were nearly gone. At the least, until someone saw what was rapidly approaching. On the street was a lone armored truck, colored dark green. Its electric motor rumbling as it rolled over the asphalt. Three layers of seating lying within. Though the vehicle itself was not of interest, rather, it was those who were inside. A total of five. In the back, within the A lone transport truck drove through the streets. Sitting behind the driver, was a Youthful, fair-skinned girl, with purple hair that stopped at her upper back. Many strands of which curled at the very end. Though she seemed to be much shorter than any of her contemporaries, she appeared to be in the same age range, her teens.

She wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans... But, what was most noticeable was the gloves on her hand, primarily black- with red markings, the fingers of the gloves removed. What purpose they served wasn’t exactly clear. It could’ve been for combat, or, it might’ve been for style. Either way, she sure wouldn’t tell. Miyamoto Junko, of the Kaemerge empire, had arrived. To her side, there was yet another girl. Though her height was around the average for her age, she still seemed to tower over the one sitting next to her. Her skin was dark, and her hair red. Put into two buns at opposite sides of her head, twintails along with them.

An orange hoodie covered her torso. With her legs covered by gray jeans. This was Valerie Wilson. Valerie looked over her shoulder at the two men that sat behind her.

The shorter of the two was a purple-haired youth, his hair much darker than Miyamoto's. In contrast to his casually dressed allies, he wore a cloak, black and yellow in color, that left his arms exposed. In addition to brown combat boots. Laying next to him, was a scythe, its edge facing the roof of the vehicle.

“We really lucked out getting assigned to them, Right, Gihren?” Valerie questioned. The one to perk up was the purple-haired one, showing them who he was.

“Guess you could say that.” He responded.

This was Gihren Alfon. Though, there was one who remained strangely quiet, and withdrawn. The last one on the row, to the right, was a Brown-haired man. His height was around what was common and the rest of his clothes as well… A simple black t-shirt and some jeans. Though, save for the one feature that distinguished him, the scowl planted on his face. Aimed at nobody in particular, as he looked out the window. It was something he was known for, that was what told anyone within the organization his name, Tetsuya.

Beside Valerie, Miyamoto looked to the roof of the vehicle as the two finished the exchange. Mulling over the assignment.

“If we get to fight the four tides, It looks like they acknowledge our strength. If we keep going like this, we could become nobles... Maybe we could even join the Imperial Guard down the line.”

Valerie glanced over at her, with a large smile on her face.

“Right, I've been waiting for us to get here- it looks like those four are doing some damage.”

Behind them, Gihren leaned back into his seat, Clasping his hands behind his head, and resting it on them.

“Doesn’t surprise me, I heard that they managed to survive against Ito…”

He paused, as he recalled the rumors that spread like wildfire. Surviving against an apostle was a pretty big deal. After all, they all remembered vividly what happened with the fourth and the island formerly known as Elsterbach... It sufficed to say that it wasn’t there anymore. Even so, the details were scant, so he had but one opinion about that.

“As I see it, it’s probably just a rumor.”

Valerie hummed, nodding in acknowledgment.

“I don't know… it may be possible…”

She trailed off, as she fixed her gaze on the man that sat directly behind her.

“What do you think, Tetsuya?”

Tetsuya sat looking out the window, apparently, disinterested in the conversation. His cheek resting upon his hand. He hoped that they’d finish their discussion. But it didn’t help that now they wanted to include him in it… He glanced toward Valerie as his name was called.

“It could be true… it could not be- I couldn’t care less regardless…”

In the front of the vehicle, an older man with gray hair glanced back at the young occupants. His eyes moved between them for a few moments, before he focused on the scowling man in the very back. He began to remember things he learned about Tetsuya. Though there wasn’t much info to go around, due to him being who he was- there was something that came to the front of his mind.

“You used to live in the shima ward, didn’t you? Sure you're fine with fighting here?”

As the old Driver’s gravelly voice filled his ears, Tetsuya thought back to his past. Even so, his expression remained unchanged. Though, he did catch the gazes of the other three occupants... Perhaps this would finally change the man’s statue-like gaze. But, after a few moments, the facts were quite clear.

“Even so, I have a job to do. Personal attachments will not impair my ability to do said job…”

No dice, like they expected. Valerie chuckled as she heard this.

“I expected nothing less from Mr.Dark and Brooding…”

Tetsuya stayed silent, ignoring her statement. He looked away, returning his gaze to the rapidly passing buildings outside the transport. . Just like that, the conversation reached an abrupt end, with nobody deciding to continue it from there.

As one would expect, the battle did not cease elsewhere. The five themselves glanced around, taking notice of the fact that the attempts to attack them had stopped. It became clear to them that they were planning something, but the question of what it was remained. On the fleet’s flagship, the gunnery officer began to swipe his terminal, focusing upon one target in particular, Arctaius corde himself. The gunnery officer looked over his shoulder, back at the admiral.

“Sir, Our targeting is confirmed!”

Qian noded.

“Good, Calculate firing solutions and synchronize targeting computers, This ends now!” He ordered.

The ships moved on the Admiral’s command. The Qaudras rotated its bow, adjusting its elevation, placing its aim on Arctaius directly. An action that was soon followed by the cruisers, and dreadnoughts alike doing the very same, aiming at the five. the metal bulkheads at the front of the ships slid out of the way. Soon followed by the main gun barrels, sliding into view. Something that was soon followed by a loud hum that reverberated through their ears that grew louder, and louder, as red lights dotted the sky, a sign of the charged beams. Of course, the sound, nor the view of the red light washing over the city wasn’t restricted to the five. Across the city, the students of Shima looked up, dead silent, as they considered the possible effects of the attack. The soldiers stood with their rifles pointed to the ground. And, in the same way, did the school’s staff watch as well. Within the crowd, Akashi looked up at this with his jaw hanging open in surprise.

“Oh man!! If it isn’t one thing- It's another!!” he yelled.

Shinto brought his hand to his face, pushing his glasses up with two fingers, as he focused his gaze on the fleet above them… This did not bode well, not as he saw it.

“All at the same time… One main gun can do enough damage already… But with this many firing at the same time- the Shima Ward will most likely not survive, perhaps, the damage will go further beyond that…”

Yudei glanced over at Shinto, going silent as he mulled over his words. He couldn’t very well deny that fact, as much as he wanted to. He’d been living in Shima his whole life, the last thing he wanted was for things to end like this, staring down a fleet, and being vaporized moments after.

“That doesn't sound good..”

Within one of them, the fear that washed through the rest reached her as well. But that was not all, there was also a sense of hope. “He- He’s gotten us out of stuff before… I’m sure Corde will find a way to stop them.” a feminine voice rang out. Now, the gazes of those around them flew to the unexpected source of the words, Asami.

“That is a fact… At this point, we’ll have to have faith in him, and those he came with.” Shinto agreed.

Now, they looked up back to the fleet of ships overhead. All the while, the targets stayed in their current spots. Kazimir frowned as his gaze zipped between the ships. His fists tightened as he observed this. As he watched this, not only did rage rise within him. A question panged through his head.

“They drop invasion forces into the city, and then they pull this, knowing that there'll be nothing left after this attack! What is their endgame?!” Kazimir questioned.

Beside him, Jirou crossed his arms.

“I’m not all that surprised… from what I know- these kaemerge guys don’t exactly seem to come off as peaceful…”

Arctaius raised his hand to his chin, as the blue sparks, typical of his power, began to radiate from him once more. , as arcs of electricity radiated from him once again.

“We can talk about this later… We need to focus on stopping them from firing- or, at the least- stopping the possible damages… Rhuskov- how far can you extend your force fields.”

Kazimir rotated, now facing Arctaius.

“I can extend it over large distances- but not without the cost of effectiveness. Considering what we’re looking at here, I don’t think it’ll be enough.”

Alarick sighed.

“That will be an issue, we’ll need to come up with a different strategy.”

For a few moments, the group went silent, as they rolled through ideas in their heads. Zhao, rotating to face the Arctaius and Kazimir, cleared his throat. Something that caught their attention.

“In that case- I have an idea. Corde, could you form an attack to stop the bulk of the fire, with enough energy, we should be able to counteract the force from that blast.”

Arctaius nodded.

“That could work…Kazimir could isolate the rest of the energy released.” He noted.

“And with that-- we can destroy the source of the fire itself..” Jirou added.

Now, Alarick turned, putting his gaze onto the ships.

“Alright then… Let’s do it.”

Part B

Arctaius closed his eyes, as he began to think about how to go about this… He had a wealth of attacks, but, the question was, which weren’t enough, which were too much? He couldn’t exactly cut loose with where he was. After all, they were all still here... Eventually, he came to a conclusion. What were first small sparks grew into giant arcs of electricity, streaking around him. And, the ground lightly shook. Though not damaging, it was just enough to be noticeable. Hi allies glanced at one another, and nodded, backing a Kilometer or so away. Looking between the ships, and planning their elimination of whatever remained.

Arctaius did not stop with lighting, however. Now, a virtual torrent of water began to flow around him. As, above the city, the clouds that previously remained spread apart, began to clump together, darkening the formerly blue sky. Thunder rolled as Arctaius opened his eyes. Soon followed by water drilling down from the clouds. It was raining, something that caught the few civilians still in Shima by surprise.

“It was clear just a minute ago, and it wasn’t supposed to rain for a while… Just what is going on here?”

Above, Arctaius’ eyes began to move around, looking up to the dark clouds, and the flashes of light that appeared within them, and then, his gaze returned to the fleet.

“It won’t be necessary to use that technique just yet…. I’ll use this technique again, although I haven't used it since Roanoke. For this, it should work like a charm.”

The rain that was at first light quickly became a downpour. Getting those unlucky enough to be without cover soaked. Though, given the gravity of the situation, not many mentioned this, as they continued to watch the battle. Not too long after the weather changed, did a hole in the dark clouds begin to open up. Within the Kaemerge ships, the occupants of the vessels watched this through their windows. It was no different in the Quadras, Qian sat with his chair facing the windows, watching the rain fall across it like teardrops, before putting his gaze on the source. His expression, though it had a tint of fear, it was one that he hid well. This was a dangerous situation, that much he acknowledged. But, regardless of that, there were eyes on him, the eyes of thousands. He needed to be steadfast, he could not falter. Not with how many held him in high regard. He needed to set a good example for his subordinates. Being fearful of a Heretic, not only that, but a child, Proto-human or not, was not that example…

He kept his composure, keeping his gaze forward on Arctaius.

“Admiral, We’re ready to fire!!”

Qian stayed silent as he heard the words, only nodding in acknowledgment. In the same way, Arctaius kept his unbroken gaze on the fleet.

“t’s about time to end this…”

For a few minutes, silence, save for the sound of the falling rain, had fallen upon both sides. They couldn’t see each other directly, but, at that point, it mattered not. It was as if they knew of their opponent’s gaze regardless. Neither side was willing to give an inch, that much was made clear. nothing was uttered between either of the two men. Arctaius put his arm up, as Qian Inhaled.

“STORMBREAKER!!” Arctaius roared.

Soon after, Qian’s hand shot forward.

“FIRE!!!”

With his commands, beams streaked from the bows of the ships, shooting across the sky. Making their way directly toward their target. As they grew closer and closer, however, they began to coalesce into a downright gigantic beam that grew directly larger than many of the ships around it. Now, becoming the sole source of light. Something that made Arctaius frown.

“Not good... There’s a good amount of power in that beam alone. I need to act quick!”

The beams continued on their path. All the while, Arctaius brought his hand up to the sky. ANd, swiped it downward. Now, the split in the clouds became larger, as bolts of electricity rained down upon the ships from above. The gigantic bolts took out some of the ships, as they were destroyed by pure force. However that after all, was not his target. Arctaius swiped his hand, changing the direction of the lightning. Toward the very middle of the beam… Soon, before it even reached him, the beam began to disperse, splitting into smaller bursts, as they spread throughout the city. Bit by bit, the last-ditch attack was failing. The effects did not stop there, however, as the ships that did not strafe out of the way in time, were smashed by the beams. Something that did not turn out well. Sending the husks of the ships crashing to the ground, and with them came the city’s buildings, crushed into rubble with the large masses crashing into them…

On the bridge of the Quadras, Qian stood there with eyes widened like dinner place. Silent at the revelation that his plan had failed… He was already expecting to see proto-humans much stronger than usual… That was why he put preparations for the maneuver in place, why he requested to gain a larger force than usual… But despite all that, this was the result. It was ridiculous, Absurd, and everything in between!

“This is impossible!” He yelled in disbelief.

That would prove to not be his only issue. Flying over the city was a different ship. Elongated, with dark blue armored plates. A bridge extended over the rest of the ship, two catapults extended from its bow. The hum of its engines became all the more clear what it was. The North American Federation’s Albatross Class. A carrier that’d been in use since 2002. The lone ship, stationed there quite some time ago. Its target, seemingly being the Kaemerge fleet. Sitting within the bridge, were a number of the bridge staff, and the captain, with a standard dress uniform, colored in a dark blue. His fingers were intertwined, while his elbows stayed on the armrest. Beside him, stood two soldiers in full armor. That of the federations. One of them rose his visor, revealing his widened violet pupils.

“This…. It’s the same as the attack we reported back at the Battle of Roanoke ...Yet- it’s… Even stronger than it was then.”

The captain glanced at him as he made his statement. He remembered the battle of Roanoke vividly. It was a brutal battle. He did not like the one known as Nolan Frost, but he had to give him that he was a shrewd strategist. The city was filled with traps, hidden defenses, and weaponry. Quite a lot for the few months he had to build up his forces. The city was leveled afterward, and Frost’s forces with it… And while what they saw didn’t exactly win them the battle, it helped quite a bit. He glanced around, taking note of the questioning voices going through the room. The source of the attack apparently at the front of everyone’s minds… The captain closed his eyes, as he spoke.

“Then it’s possible that the Agium has appeared here.”

The soldier to his right glanced at him. Soon followed by much of the rest of the room.

“But sir- the Agium being the cause of that attack was just a rumor!!”

“Even so… What I’m seeing here perfectly matches the description of what the Agium’s apparent abilities were… This isn't a natural storm.” He responded.

The rapid, unplanned descent of the 5th fleet’s ships continued in front of them. Something soon followed by fields of red combs appearing in the path of the beam’s remnants. Stopping them in their tracks, and soon, making them disperse. The very same happened with the debris, and the falling ships. Stopped as Kazimir opened and closed his hands. The remnants of the ships, as well as the debris from the buildings, were soon surrounded in a familiar red glow, before they began to form not one, but multiple balls in the sky that were soon surrounded in the very same force field, leaving them safely contained. Regardless, the devastating losses the fleet experienced continued. All the while, the students at North Shima watched, their expressions somewhat changed... Perhaps they weren’t so likely to get killed. Akashi nodded as he looked up at this display.

“I knew they could handle this…”

All the while, Asami stood, somewhat confused about the recent happenings.

“The weather… It changed so suddenly- and now look at what’s happening…”

Beside her, Tanabe looked no different.

“To think that Arctaius and those guys you told me about were at that level...”

Now, they all began to notice something, the intense red light, as well as the sound of the beam streaking through the sky, had faded. As well, was the sound of lighting that formerly filled their ears. With the residual electricity dispersing. And the rain lightened, now, only a drizzle remained. Alarick was the first to jump into action, dashing toward a group of ships, soon followed by Zhao, and Jirou. Now, they began to zip through the sky, weaving around the desperate attempts at a counterattack. Dotting the skies with balls of light as the destruction expanded. Qian watched this, still unmoving from his previous state. As he did so, appearing beside him, was the face of a nameless officer, on a holographic display.

“Admiral-- they’re too strong- we have to leave!!”

The woman’s words made him snap out of his stupor, as he swiveled his chair, returning his gaze to his terminal.

“Dammit... We’ll have to pull back for now...”

He tapped his terminal, changing the target for his voice once more, switching to the ship-bound channels.

“Prepare to return to base- We-”

He was cut off, as a warning klaxon screeched from one of their displays, as one of his offices yelled out.

“Sir, an HAU is above us!”

Before he got to say another word, an HAU with sleek red armor flew over the length of the ship. Beginning a direct charge toward the bridge! Though the anti-air guns aimed and fired again, and again. The pilot masterfully weaved around the shots, returning fire but seconds afterward, sending beams of sigma particles, out of the scaled-up rifle in its hands. Destroying the offending cannons. It continued to advance toward the bridge. Qian recognized this machine, Yamato’s s-52 Musashi, A machine from the 8th generation of HAUs. It was effective, no doubt, however… Something was not right here.

“How did it get past the rest of the fleet!! No matter, Abandon-”

However, before he finished, the Musashi made its way right up to the bridge. And, without a moment’s hesitation, fires its rifle into the bridge, sending a sigma beam into the bridge, burning the skin of the unlucky occupants to a crisp, before they were obliterated, with components and glass flying from the remains. Elsewhere, Lubega’s eyes darted to the display where the Admiral formerly was, taking note of the fact that the line had turned to static.

“Admiral?, Admiral?! Admiral!!!!”

No response… It was only then that it became clear to him, he was gone. Another display opened up, as an olive-skinned man appeared on screen, one of the many captains.

“Acting Admiral Lubega, with the admiral gone, you’re the highest-ranking. We can’t act without orders, What do we do?!”

Lubega sighed, sitting there as he mulled over his strategy. No matter how he looked at it, there wasn’t a way for them to win this. While he’d prefer not to, there was only one solution.

“Begin a full retreat- this battle is lost, we've already lost too many men… We'll have to leave this to the elimination force.”

Now, Lubega’s ship, one of the remaining dreadnoughts swiftly began to rotate, the other ships doing the very same, drifting into a tight formation, as they blasted away, their engines streaking with light as they did so. It was only then that the fighters re-grouped, watching their opponent’s retreat.

“Shouldn't we follow them?” Questioned Kazimir.

To his right, Alarick shook his head.

“No, they've lost more than enough forces- the military will probably take care of the stragglers…”

As they spoke, Jirou looked over his shoulder, in the direction of Northern Shima.

“We'll have to go intercept those proto-humans, whoever they might be. It’s likely that they're with the enemy.”

Now, they began a dash toward the school…

Within the Kaemerge transport, a certain feeling began to wash over them. As a tingle was felt between their shoulders. Having fought proto-humans before, it was clear what this response meant. Though it hadn’t stopped, the members of the squad opened the door.

“The tides… It's time for us to go.” Miyamoto noted.

Gihren, from the back, put his gaze on the driver.

“Thanks for taking us.”

The driver nodded in response to gihren’s statement, as the 4 jumped out of the vehicle. Before blasting toward the school, with a boom, and the shattering of the glass around them following soon after. However, they ignored this, entirely focused on their targets. soon flying toward the school as well. And, soon, the two groups would meet with another. Arctaius put his fist forward, as Miyamoto did with hers, the two clashed as they landed. Kazimir clashed with Tetsuya, Alarick with Valerie. Zhao drew his blade, and Gihren his scythe, as the two swung at one another, their blades crashed between them, locking both in place. The shockwaves that followed almost demolished the road, sending jet black rubble and dust outward. Causing screams to come from the crowd, as they rushed to get clear.

Soon, a short, yet chaotic battle ensued. Arctaius launched a left hook at Miyamoto, which she ducked under, sliding past. Gihren flew to her defense, taking a swipe at Arctaius’ neck. To little effect, as he sidestepped. Giving Zhao a chance to step in his place, thrusting his Dao at the Scythe-wielder’s side. However, he did not get any farther, as he was shoved out of the way by Valerie. The red-head standing in front of Gihren soon after. Something that was soon followed by the elimination force jumping back, forming a line, about 20 or so feet away from the Tides and jirou. Their eyes darted to their opponents, as the tides, and the elimination force jumped back, landing by one another.

“So, you're the 4 Tides- aren't you?! Name’s Valerie Wilson- 4 tides elimination force!!!”

Alarick cracked his knuckles as she finished talking.

“Well, with a name like that, it’s safe to assume you’re all with the Kaemerge”

Asami waded through the crowd, as she made her way to the school’s gates. Eventually shoving those around her aside, to make her way to the front, catching some annoyed comments as a result. But, she didn’t focus on that, rather, her gaze flew around at the fighters.

“Corde?! And, more Kaemerge! What’s g-”

Asami froze, as her speech came to a sudden halt. Her gaze focused upon one of the Kaemerge in particular, the brown-haired one, who appeared a few years older than the rest. Now, her mind began racing, as she seemed to block the chatter around her, the view of everyone else there, as her eyes widened… It couldn’t be him, he’d been gone for years now… She didn’t believe it, and yet, here he was, still looking like he did beforehand. She could only squeak out a few words.

“it can't be, After all these years….. Big Brother??”

To Be Continued