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On a hill in Chiba overlooking the sea, two young women watched the world hold its breath.
They wanted to fight. Oh did they ever! For the ongoing battle taking place beyond was amidst the ruins of their hometown, taken and defiled by the enemy from beyond the stars. The place where they had grown up and childish dreams gave way to adult ones of smaller scope and greater intimacy.
One of the girls glared furiously at the horizon, as though her blue eyes could see clear across the bay and into the heart of a battle that - to her pained frustration - was denied to her. Even after the emergency saw her surviving her own eight minutes of death prematurely. She’s now seen the enemy in all their horror and not wavered or flinched. She knows she’s ready to fight for all she loves.
The one beside her was the reason that dream of danger and daring was denied. Standing on legs she was not born with and short hair of blossom pink caressed by a wind you can almost smell the gunpowder and propellant upon. Her emotions were directed inwards to a heart clinging desperately to hope.
The colors of their emotions may differ, but what lay within their hearts was the same. As they stood on a hill so reminiscent of the one crowned by a lone tree upon which their hopes and dreams rested, they made a wish together.
For their comrades across the bay already in the fight, graduates from the same training school that now lies as a pile of rubble under the hooves of the enemy. Cherished friends already in the fight. Deepest and dearest of all, for the survival of their sole loved one, an open secret that they nevertheless kept to themselves lest it open a wedge between them neither wanted.
No matter how hard they try he will always be there as much between them as beside them. And sooner or later he will break their friendship asunder.
「Please, be safe...」 The words slipped her lips.
「Ah, he’ll be fine, Haruka!」 Hair blue as the ocean swayed in the wind as she turned and flashed a megawatt smile at her dearest friend. 「He’s going out there with that new experimental unit the people from that academy in Chiba - what was its name?」 Her lip chews the sudden interruption.
「It was Lydian, Mitsuki. My mother wanted to send me there before she chose Harkuryo - well, before we were drafted.」 Suzumiya Haruka answered softly. Memories of a time before the invasion - when four friends gathered under a tree on a hill to celebrate the bonds of love and friendship that held them all together. The picture they took that day is back in Mitsuki’s quarters, a snapshot of a moment they once wished would last forever.
「I’m glad she changed her mind. Where would I be without you, Haruka?」 A flush of warm embarrassment tinged Haruka’s face at the praise. 「But they’ll come back safe for sure. They’re flying side by side with the wonder weapon Lydian made. The safest place you can be in this battle, if you know what I mean.」 That cocky twist sent a gleam into the eyes of Hayase Mitsuki. Aggressive, driven and determined, she had dreamed of professional competitive swimming in that brief period when such things were still kept on life support to give humanity something to strive for beyond the distant war that had finally come for them all. There would be no swimming competitions in the future. If there is indeed a future at all.
「A weapon to win the war. That’s what Kouzuki-Hakase promised us at the briefing. But the BETA are now in our hometown, Mitsuki. There’s a Hive over our school, and our homes have turned to ashes. These Symphogears couldn’t stop the BETA from destroying Kyoto, can they really do it now?」
She knows she should have faith, but it’s so hard to do so with so little evidence of a miracle.
「Y’know what the difference is? Kouzuki-Hakase is working alongside them now, and she can do anything, if you know what I mean. If anyone’s gonna kick the BETA off our planet, it’s her. I’m sure that Lydian scientist woman and her singing super soldiers might be pretty good, but they can’t hold a candle to Kouzuki!」
「Please don’t be rude about the Lydian people! I’m sure they’re trying just as hard in this fight, Mitsuki.」 Haruka stressed in mild rebuke.
Mitsuki gave a half-shrug that sent her voluminous ponytail bobbing. 「Sure they are. I need to see what they can do before I’ll sing their praises. At least Shinji-kun and Takayuki-kun will be safe either way. Our Lord Hetare knows how to keep himself alive even in the worst circumstances. What a fool.」
She speaks forcefully, yet Haruka knows exactly what lies beneath. Mitsuki walks tall and talks big, but she stumbles when push comes to shove and her true feelings come to light. And every time she does, Haruka is there to pick her up and dust her off for the next round. That’s what best friends do.
Her hand reaches to her heart, and gale green eyes return to the skies. 「As long as we remember what we promised, Mitsuki. Under that tree.」
A promise is something born pregnant with possibility. Those made under that tree are said to carry a sacred compact with the spirits of those who had made similar ones since time immemorial.
This promise keeps these two girls bound together with the two men fighting for their sake across the water. Both hope it will keep the one they love alive, a fool with a heart of purest gold. Both know he holds an axe over their bonds of friendship and can sever it with but a word.
Even so, 「Please, be safe...」 Two sets of lips make that shared wish now, two hearts raise that wish up to the shooting stars streaking the skies far above them.
Stars of metal, encasing machines with men and women at their hearts. The legendary Orbital Diver Corps, bravest of the brave falling upon Yokohama from on high.
Into hell on earth.
***
August 6, 2043. In the ruins of the Ooiso outskirts.
Metal giants take shelter from the storm. Blue and grey with the letters ‘UN’ proudly displayed upon one shoulder, they watch and wait from the shelter of what once was a block of flats, homes to dozens of Yokohama’s people. Broken, empty, abandoned. The air is filled with a storm of sound that penetrates everything. On the very doorstep of the largest battle fought in nearly a decade, there is no song but the din of destruction.
A young man sits at the controls of one of the machines, eyes closed, trying to keep his mind still and free from the constant barrage of distraction. Not even the latrines back at base are as clogged up as his brain right now and he can’t afford to let it wander. Not here, not now. Not while the iron typhoon of Operation Lucifer consumes the world around him.
Distraction comes in the voice of a friend. 「Hey, Takayuki. Are you sleeping?」
His grey eyes fly open like window blinds to see a painfully familiar figure with a coif of brown hair smiling at him over the infolink, eyes rolling in their sockets. 「The Orbital Divers are coming down. We're almost ready to move.」
Narumi Takayuki’s eyes narrowed in reproach. 「I was just concentrating with my eyes closed, Shinji.」
Taira Shinji smirked right back at him. 「You're really something to insist on that with such a sleepy voice.」
「I ain’t sleeping, alright?」 Takayuki insisted firmly. 「How can I sleep when the battlefield is Yokohama? Our home town’s a pile of rubble right in front of us with a goddamn Hive in the middle. You know sleep’s the last thing on my mind.」
Shinji nodded in agreement, all humor gone from his face. 「We’re not the only ones though. Still can’t believe that Isumi-Tai-i of the Valkyries is from Hakuryo too. Ever think of that? We must’ve gone to the same supermarkets and bookstores and stuff. Maybe we even passed each other on the street a few times. And here we are again,」 He pauses, and then a small grin crosses his lips. 「Hey, ya ever think Isumi-Tai-i and Hayase are a bit similar?」
Takayuki jolts in his seat at the intrusive thought. 「What the hell? Are your eyes rotting? They're not similar at all.」
Shinji has other ideas. Smiling and gesturing as though it proves his point, 「I'm talking about their aura here Takayuki, Y’know the one. The aura of- 」 He spins his hand nebulously.
Thankfully that was the moment the clifflike face of their commander appeared on the infolink. One look was all it took to silence Shinji mid-sentence, sparing Takayuki yet another Shinji special.
He blissfully raises no comment. 「This is Owada-Tai-i.」 He announces to the squadron. 「One last reminder of our objective here. Unit A-01 of the United Nations 11th Force is tasked with capturing the reactor of the Yokohama Hive. We cannot let the Empire, the United States or COSEAN take control of it lest it upset the global balance of power. As part of Alternative IV we may need to eliminate anyone attempting to seize G-elements from the Hive no matter what country they hail from. Yes, hostile force is permitted.」
Even in the middle of a global struggle for survival, dirty politics spreads its shit everywhere. How much easier would it be if you could at least trust that everyone is working together for the survival of the species and not looking to backstab each other at the first opportunity? It’s why he signed on for the UN forces and not the Empire of Japan in the first place, then dragged all his friends along with him.
「In order to take the Hive intact we will be deploying alongside a new weapon, and it will be our task to escort it and provide cover. I am now authorized to give you a quick briefing on the Strategic Surface Fighter, or SSF.」
Takayuki and Shinji exchange confused glances. Strategic what?
Captain Owada is stone-faced as he says the next line. 「It’s a TSF modified to interface with Lydian’s superweapon, the Symphogear.」
The name rings a bell. Where did he hear about it? Wait, it was from Haruka. After her accident she got interested in different kinds of powered exoskeletons, especially the Symphogear. Takayuki didn’t want to think about what might lie beneath that interest.
「Is that that alien-tech exoskeleton they used to defend Kyoto earlier in the year?」
「Correct, Narumi-Shōi, well done.」 The Captain’s tone is a landslide down a mountain. 「The ultimate weapon, or at least it’s been touted as. Now this is the prototype model we’re flying with so it’ll be a bit flimsy. Kouzuki-Hakase is confident it'll live up to expectations, but it’s up to all of you to keep an eye on it and if necessary recover and bring it back to safety if something goes wrong.」
Takayuki felt the weight like one of Hayase’s punches. Desperate times and all that, but this is beginning to sound more and more like a near-suicide mission they’ve been assigned. He can’t afford to die here. Not when Haruka and Hayase are waiting for him to come back. He can’t let them down by dying out here!
His eyes flicker to the subtle twitch in Shinji’s eye. He knows what his best friend is thinking. Does the Captain really have so little faith in this new weapon?
If he does, he gives no sign. 「Her callsign is Phoenix-1. Dellingr Squadron will be acting as her escorts for the duration of this mission. Remember, the Imperial Army doesn't like UN forces like us. They treat us like American puppets. So don't expect any proper support from them. We’ll be on our own out there. Copy?」
The same shit again. The moment they chose to put all humanity ahead of the national interest they got treated like pariahs by all the Yamato Damashii loyalists who look down on everyone who wears the ugly blue livery of the United Nations instead of the glorious grey drab of the Imperial Army. It only makes Takayuki happier that the UN accepted his request to enlist before the IJA could get its hand on him.
「Copy that!」 Dellingr Squadron replies, the voices of Takayuki and Shinji among them.
The Captain’s craggy face remains as a private channel opens and Takayuki feels a beat of alarm.
「Narumi-Shōi, Taira-Shōi. You have been ordered to directly escort Phoenix-1 as her wingmen. This order comes direct from Kouzuki-Hakase herself.」
Two jaws drop with perfect timing. Shinji recovers the quickest. 「Owada-Tai-i, why-」
「You two have the best causality. No shit, that’s what Kouzuki-Hakase told me. No, I don't know what the hell that means. Kouzuki-Hakase's mind is too confusing for any mere mortal to comprehend, and I won’t even try. But her orders stand. Narumi-Shōi, Taira-Shōi, repeat your orders.」
His imposing stone face stopped any attempt to clarify what the hell he meant by ‘causality’, or why Professor Kouzuki would put them of all people right next to her wonder weapon.
Am I…gonna die out there?
「Sir! We will act as direct escorts for Phoenix-1, including battlefield recovery if necessary.」
「Well done.」 The Captain then gave a sharp stab of a smile. 「Narumi, Taira! You two will do 100 pushups once we get back to base.」
Takayuki felt like he’d just been clipped around the ear, and he could see Shinji wince. 「Roger!」they called.
The moment the Captain’s face was gone Takayuki shot a glare at Shinji. 「Why’d you always get me in trouble?」
「You get me in trouble all the time, Takayuki! It’s Hayase and Suzumiya who have to pull us both out of it!」 Despite himself their names send a smile of happier times flashing across Shinji’s face, but it's gone as soon as it arrives. 「Still, all this bullshit and we're expecting man-to-man combat too? Humans really are sad creatures.」
Taira Shinji the philosopher king pontificating on the human race. Takayuki just rolled his eyes again. 「There ain’t much we can do about it. Still, if Kouzuki-Hakase thinks we can escort this ‘SSF’, who am I to argue? It’ll be the safest place in all of Yokohama today. Though this whole ‘causality’ thing has me worried. What if Kouzuki-Hakase is doing some weird experiments with us as her test subjects?」
「I wouldn’t put it past her,」 Shinji sighed. 「She’ll do anything if it’ll end this war a second faster. But her idea makes sense here. You’ve seen the footage Haruka found of the fighting in Kyoto, right? Those Symphogears can do some frankly bullshit stuff, but they’re only man-sized. If Kouzuki-Hakase put that power in a TSF it should be able to overcome the BETA no sweat.」
A Symphogear took down a Laser Fort-class of all things, the Kaiju of BETA, killer of armies and front lines. It stopped the BETA advice dead in Kyoto.
Now they’ll be fighting alongside one of them.
Hope is a dangerous thing, but it’s something Takayuki has always clung to with the strength of a drowning man. 「We swore we would all meet back up under that tree after we’ve retaken our home, right? If Kouzuki-Hakase's weapon allows us the chance, we gotta do everything we can to support it.」
「Don’t get all full of yourself Takayuki. That's dangerous. Man, if you die out here, I'm the one who has to break it to those two.」
「Cut it. I'm the one that'll be carving out your gravestone. ‘Here lies Taira Shinji, he never scored the fatty titties he always wanted!’」
Shinji’s face flashes scarlet. 「You fucking bastard!」
Takayuki chuckles at his friend’s sour glare. After this much time in each other’s orbits such japes and jabs are simply another part of the bonds that sustain them. There is nobody else in the entire world that Takayuki would rather have at his side in a battle like this. Not that he’ll ever say so much aloud.
Is that how Haruka and Mitsuki feel? Is that the bond Takayuki could break if he could ever figure out his own heart? How could he do such a thing to them!
Several agonizing minutes Takayuki can’t close his eyes and block out grind past with all the haste of a melting glacier before a fresh face appears over the infolink.「Dellingr-10 to Dellingr-1.」 The sharp blonde hair and serious gaze of Second Lieutenant Pyatkh fills the HUD. Professor Kouzuki’s deputy, she used to be part of the squadron before the professor stole her away and the callsign has been unused for a while now. 「We’re here.」
Three machines weave between the maze of wreckage. A UN-blue Type-32 Kurayami identical to the machines Takayuki and Shinji are piloting. The others though-
「Takemikazuchi! That’s an Imperial Royal Guard machine!」 Shinji blurts. The golden-yellow machine with purple highlights, a Fudai’s TSF. This is a UN mission, what the hell are the Royal Guard doing here?
That’s not what caught Takayuki’s eye though. It’s the Frankenstein's TSF that looks like it was thrown together with the spare parts of a dozen other TSFs in a hurry the night before. Even the vivid orange paint looks like it was sprayed on yesterday. It’s a mechanic’s utter nightmare.
That’s the SSF? Alternative IV’s ultimate weapon?
With a ping a new window opens on the infolink and a new face takes them all in. It’s a strikingly beautiful one with a veritable mane of fiery orange hair that seems to fill the volume of her machine’s control unit. A pair of reflective aviator’s glasses frame her face with a cocky grin beneath.
「G’day everyone, I’m Phoenix-1, provisional-Shōi Amou Kanade. Who’s ready to rock the BETA?」 She announces, for all the world like a singer who’s just got up on stage. A smile that looks achingly like those sly little grins Mitsuki gives sends a wave of alarm through Takayuki’s heart.
A bear of a man with crimson-red spiked hair and a triangular face only just contained by the yellow suit of a Fudai Samurai joins them.「Phoenix-2. I’m here to formally hand over the SSF to the UN Forces. The IRG are engaged elsewhere and I will be moving to join them once done.」 His voice is gruff yet warm.
Captain Owada answers.「Dellingr-1 to Phoenix-2. Dellingr squadron acknowledges. Command codes received. Phoenix-1 is now formally under UN command.」
A megawatt smile flashes beneath those sunglasses. 「Ya don’t have to be too gentle with me Dellingr squadron! I’m a tough girl, I survived Kyoto and everything. I’m here to sing up a storm and the BETA will be dying to hear me.」
What the hell is she going on about?
The red-haired man’s eyes smolder. 「You know your orders, Kanade. If the strain becomes too much you’re to withdraw immediately. We nearly lost you before. It can’t happen again. Tsubasa can’t carry the burden alone.」
She waves the question away with a flick of the hand. 「It’ll be fine Genjuro-dana. There’ll be no Zesshou today. I can take down this Hive without it. I promised Tsubasa I’d be back, and we have a lot of catching up to do. I’m coming back alive even if it kills me.」
There’s something about the way she says that repeated name. Tsubasa. It makes Takayuki think of Haruka, and Mitsuki.
The man - Genjuro, is it? - gives a short trusting nod. Then with a howl of engines the yellow Takemikazuchi activates its jump units and spears away, followed closely by the blue Kurayami. They’re swallowed up by the debris of battle within moments.
Dellingr are all alone again.
Owada is unshaken by Amou’s flamboyance.「Phoenix-1, Dellingr-8 and Dellingr-9 will be your wingmen. They’ll recover you in the event of an emergency.」
Takayuki feels a jolt down his neck as he knew she was looking right at him through those mirrored sunglasses.
「The two blandest looking men still left in the Empire? Is Kouzuki-Hakase really that worried about me that I need to shield behind you two?」
Her flippant tone had way too much of Hayase within it, and like the blue-haired woman it was instant provocation.
「Wait, who you calling bland?」 He demanded.
「What else am I supposed to call ya? Plain face, anonymous grey hair. You look like the protagonist of a self-insert rom-com manga, the ones where several girls are inexplicably in love with him? Kouzuki calls it a ‘Love Nucleus’. I thought Sakurai was mad, but turns out she has a rival.」
Takayuki’s heart skipped a beat. Then it sped up to cover the gap, the thunder in his chest matching the artillery outside.
Wait, what?
How, how could she know about his twisted triangle with Haruka and Hayase? How the fuck could she uncover his dilemma with but a single look at his face?
Thankfully he has bro cover. 「Where’d you get those?」 Shinji traces around his eyes with a finger.
「From a really cool skeleton I found. Red hair and everything.」
Wait, WHAT?
「Hey, if ya wanna see the real deal all you have to do is ask.」 She pulls the glasses away to reveal orange eyes matching her hair and smoldering with anticipation. 「It doesn't matter either way. What matters is strutting our stuff on-stage. Y’all are my backup but you can’t sing like Tsubasa and I do, so I expect you to just keep up and watch the show.」
Where does she think they’re going? There’s tens of thousands of BETA out there and she’s acting like she’s some pre-invasion pop diva? Just where did she come from anyway?
「Bold claim. How good of a pilot are you, Amou-Shōi?」 The Captain asks.
「So formal? Call me Kanade. Easier to respond to. I’ve had two weeks simulator training and six hours flight time.」
It takes a second for the brain to process her words and immediately get flooded with shock and dread. Shinji manages to compose himself enough to string some words together. 「S-six hours? The bare minimum for for combat ready Eishi is 220 hours-」
She shrugs. 「Yeah, I didn't have the time. Speedran the training. Got the bare essentials down though.」
Amou Kanade says it all so lightly. Like it's no big deal. But she’s the one they’re all entrusting their lives to here-
A spark of annoyance entered those brilliant orange eyes and she pointed a finger straight at them. 「I see you. You think I can’t handle it? Ye of little faith. I flew this machine here, didn’t I? Right through an active warzone.」 Confidence beams from her face, but Takayuki knows what it's like to wear a mask, and he sees the signs in the slight twitch in the corner of Kanade’s eyes. 「I’m no slouch, I slew the Laser-Fort in Kyoto I’ll have you know. Nearly killed me, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.」
Takayuki knows his jaw is hanging open. He can’t find the brain space to close it. From the moment this Kanade showed up everything stopped making sense.
「You killed the Laser-Fort?」 Shinji musters the words, but he looks no more convinced.
Kanade beams. 「Hell yeah I did! Put Gungnir right though that center eye. Now it’s this Hive’s turn. I’m gonna fly or I’m gonna die. I’d rather it be the former, if you know what I mean.」
Why is this woman using those words? Shinji was wrong all along, it’s this woman who has the spirit of Mitsuki within! Danger Narumi Takayuki, danger!
Thankfully the Captain is completely unmoved. 「Dellingr Squadron, formation Arrowhead-Two. Phoenix-1 has point.」
Kanade pouts for a second. 「You military types. All fuss and feathers, huh? Tsubasa might like that, but it doesn't fit me at all.」
Nonetheless her machine strides over to stand between Takayuki and Shinji’s TSFs with the hiss and clank of ponderous footsteps while the rest of the squadron formed up around them.
「We’ll be penetrating the BETA’s lines at sector D-7.」 Captain Owada declares. 「Once there Phoenix-1 will activate her special equipment. We follow her through.」
「Try and keep up with me.」 The engines on Kanade’s machine flare, and with a roar she’s already off.
***
They’ve stirred up the Hive alright. There’s BETA everywhere. The floor is a carpet of them.
Dellingr are set upon from the moment they arrive and the roar of assault cannon fire fills the air, only barely competing with the drumbeat of thousands of heavy footsteps. Hungry mouths full of gnashing teeth grin as they seek to devour the interlopers on their territory.
Short, controlled bursts. That’s what Sergeant Jinguuji taught them during basic. The Mad Dog of Yokohama knows her craft well. One by one Takayuki gunned down half a dozen hungry Tank-class, the bloated red ticks exploding under the impact of heavy shells. Each is instantly replaced.
We won’t last here very long. Too many enemies, too much pressure. If this SSF doesn’t work we gotta get out of here fast.
Kanade’s machine stands facing the looming monument of the distant Hive above the shattered city, seemingly unconcerned with the enemies charging towards her from all sides.
「 There sure are a lot of BETA to hear my performance. One hell of a venue to debut our new ride.」 A sharp edge has entered Kanade’s voice. She’s no longer smiling, and her face is taught with determination. 「I told her we’d always sing together. I’m sorry I can’t keep that promise, Tsubasa. But I can keep this one. We’re taking back this town. Today.」
Takayuki has no idea what she says next. But the words she speaks cut right through the noise of battle and seem to bring an instant of stillness to the entire world.
Croitzal ronzell Gungnir zizzl
君ト云ウ 音奏デ 尽キルマデ
Where were you when the world stopped making sense?
The SSF starts to glow, lighting up with a brilliant white radiance as its entire structure is transformed into blinding light. Not even the filters on Takayuki’s TSF sensors stop that light from dazzling him for a moment.
The light dims and turns gold. A pair of halos of crackling energy materialize around the machine, spinning rapidly and collapsing inwards. Flashes of light glimmer upon the golden surface and from their touch fresh armor plates in orange and black appear upon the SSF’s frame. In a blink the golden light fades to white paneling. What was once haphazard and ungainly is now the sleekest, most elegant and dangerous-looking machine Takayuki has ever seen in his life.
A fusion formed of jet fuel and super carbon flesh combined with whatever alien materials the Symphogear taps into bearing the old human shape and spirit within.
From out of the expanded vambraces a massive spear emerges, the machine grabbing it from thin air and spinning it through the air with a dexterity no TSF should be able to achieve.
Music starts to keen through the air from the SSF, a beat building and rising. Synths chime.
Kanade’s face is gone from the infolink but Takayuki has the unsettling feeling that somehow her and the machine have become one in some way.
And her voice is raised to the high heavens.
Maboroshi? Yume? Yasashī te ni tsutsumare
She’s gone in an instant. There’s not even the revving sound of Jump Units. One moment she’s standing there, the next moment the magnificent flying machine has leapt forwards, spear arcing.
Right into the oncoming BETA.
In seconds every BETA within reach is dead, sliced apart before they even have a chance to react. For every kill there’s a fresh replacement, but they get barely a second before they two are destroyed. None of them can touch her, even get near her before she’s disposed of them.
She raises her spear and the long blade starts spinning like a drill bit. Above it erupts a tornado that with a shout descends and sweeps across the BETA, tearing them apart with razor-sharp winds. In seconds hundreds of BETA are destroyed and the ground is carpeted with their dead.
There’s a way forwards towards the Hive and the SSF follows, seeking more prey.
Seconds become minutes on the battlefield. Those few seconds of Kanade’s carnage feel like hours. No, days.
Takayuki blinks. He blinks again. For the first time in his life, he truly cannot believe what his eyes are seeing.
It’s not possible. It can’t be. One machine can’t do so much damage in mere seconds. Can’t move faster than the eye can follow and summon cutting winds with the power of the song it broadcasts loud and clear to the world.
It’s a miracle. A real miracle unfolding right before his eyes. Everything the professor promised.
Takayuki feels his heart beating to the tune of the song Kanade is singing. He feels it entering his blood. He feels it bringing forth something he never thought he’d truly be able to feel.
Hope.
「Takayuki! Shinji!」 Even the Captain’s bark of command is unsettled as he tries to snap them all back to a new reality.
「How the hell do we keep up with that?」 Shinji blurts out.
「Try your hardest! Now move it!」
Pulling himself together as quickly as he can and compartmentalizing the fact that he’s being asked to follow a singing super-TSF right into the heart of a BETA Hive, Takayuki activates his TSF’s jump units and chases after the most wonderful and terrifying song he has ever heard in his life.
Not a single BETA stands in their way as they advance. There’s a carpet of corpses leading them on to the machine blasting jarring music in all directions.
She’s standing beside a toppled Fort-class, its ten stilt-like legs neatly severed and the head parted from its body.
「Is this…real?」 The words tumble from Takayuki’s mouth unprompted.
「Sure is.」 Kanade’s machine gestures to the new arrivals, gore flying from the spear’s point. 「Can’t talk much, I need to sing. But I’d like to know you both if we’re flyin’ together.」 In a heartbeat she’s off for the next pack of marauding BETA.
With a flare of engines the two TSFs are hot on her tail. There’s not a single target left for their guns.
「I’m Narumi Takayuki. Shinji and I used to live here in Yokohama before the BETA came. Now we’re taking it back.」 There’s conviction in his words that wasn’t there merely an hour before.
「Hey, let me introduce myself, Takayuki!」 Shinji grumbles. 「I’m the one who had to babysit you in training, remember?」
「You’re the one who nearly triggered that automatic turret during the CCSE!」 Takayuki retorts.
「In front of the Symphogear? You’re savage, Takayuki.」 Shinji rolls his eyes. 「I’m Taira Shinji. He’s right though, we’re here to take back what the BETA stole from us. This is our city they’re trying to set a Hive upon, and we ain’t letting them have it.」
Kanade pulls her spear from the back of a thrashing Powered Grappler, the bigger and meaner armored version of the standard martian crabfuck. It usually takes several TSFs working in concert to bring one down normally and here she’s doing it like it's nothing.
Whenever he thinks about home, one thing always comes to mind for Takayuki. 「There was a lone tree on a hill overlooking the city. The four of us used to sit under it and watch the world go by. I wonder if it’s still there now? Did the BETA tear it down like everything else?」
In a pause between verses Kanade throws a question back at them.
「Four?」
He finds it comes easy to him. 「The Harkuryo quartet. Me, Shinji, and our friends Haruka and Mitsuki. We all went to school together and enlisted together in the UN for Eishi training. They should’ve been here with us but failed to pass basic due to an…accident.」
Kanade’s song continues unhindered and the bodies of BETA continue to pile up, but something about the tenor of her voice prompts Takayuki to continue.
「During their CCSE there was an accident with a Humvee. It ran over Haruka and crushed her legs. She has prosthetics now. They passed the second time around, but they’re still doing flight training. They didn’t get an exemption to fight like you did, Amou-san…sorry, Kanade.」
「Kanade’s fine. I’m a special case.」 Kanade expertly slices up a trio of charging Destroyer-class. In mere minutes she has a body count touching the thousands. 「Sorry about your friend.」
「I’m glad she’s not here.」 Takayuki admitted. 「I’d be worried sick about them both. This is a special kind of hell.」
「It’s hell I’m giving ‘em!」 Kanade threw her spear and again it multiplied to impale dozens of BETA storming forward from within the bowels of the distant Hive.
How can anyone ever doubt Professor Kouzuki after this? Alternative IV just won.
The blaring of a proximity alarm tears Takayuki’s attention back to the battle.
「Ally signal closing in? From which army?」
They’re a long way from friendly lines, surrounded by thousands of BETA. Who could be bold or stupid enough to dive this deep into the swarm? Is it someone seeking to get into the Hive to get at the G-Elements first?
Are we gonna have to take these people down?
From behind the shattered remnants of an unidentifiable building several brilliantly colored machines jump to land in a perfect formation facing them and blocking their way forwards.
「Takemikazuchi! They’re more Imperial Royal Guard...」 Shinji blurts. Then he quickly appends, a chill in his voice. 「Blue. Blue, Takayuki. That machine’s from one of the regent houses-」
They were interrupted by a delighted call from Kanade. 「Oni-Hime!」
An elegant face with hair as blue as her machine appears over the infolink. There’s a spark of welcome surprise in those noble eyes.
「Kanade-san?」 Her voice is as elegant and refined as her appearance, though with a note of unfeigned shock.
「You remembered?」
The blue-haired woman nodded. 「Of course I did. You asked so nicely before. I see they got the machine to work. Does it live up to Kouzuki-Hakase's promises?」
The glowing orange and black machine gestured to itself. 「She’s holding together. It’s not as bad as I was expecting it to be, Sakurai-san thought it might flay my body apart upon activation. She really needs to trust Kouzuki-san knows what she’s doing.」
「And the results speak for themselves.」 The blue machine gestures with a gore-slicked blade towards the carpet of dead BETA lying before them.
「It’s quite something to be this big and with all the power of my Symphogear. But now I’ve got the power. I’m going right to the Hive’s core to take it out.」
There was enough time for the rest of Dellingr squadron to catch up, forming a protective half-circle behind Kanade.
「Takatsukasa-dono. What brings you out here?」 The Captain is unusually deferential to her.
「We were performing a Laserjagd and are pulling back to friendly lines. There’s too many Laser-class out here, and until they’re dealt with our range of motion is limited.」
Kanade’s machine cocked its hip, a motion no TSF should be able to achieve. 「Don’t worry about them. As I get closer I’m gonna hunt them down myself.」
With a gesture the IRG machines take a few steps back and arrange themselves for takeoff, launching themselves one by one and flying away. But the blue machine stays behind. 「We placed our hopes in you, and you saved my cousin and stopped the BETA in Kyoto cold. Again our hopes ride on your shoulders, Kanade-san. I wish there was something I could do to ease the burden.」
The orange machine hefts its spear. 「It’s the only one I can carry, Oni-Hime. You survive and get back. Can’t have the next Shogun just up and die on us now, can we?」
Next Shogun? Takayuki heard the tabloid stories, sure. But were they serious?
The blue machine made a final wave of a massive hand. 「Farewell, my fellow brethren at the UN. May the winds of fortune steer you to victory.」
And with that the blue machine soared into the air and sped away from the storm. As they did, the thunder of marching feet once more rose up.
「Can't let them spoil the mood now can we?」 Again Kanade’s music rose up, drowning out the approach. And the bloody concert continued afresh.
***
Everything went wrong at once.
The intermittent signals of the Orbital Divers ahead started to go silent, one after the other.
「I think the Divers that made it to the gate ahead were annihilated.」 Shinji reported.
「We know where it is at least thanks to them.」 Takayuki put the bravest face he could on it.
In front of them was a red machine. It was orange once, but the last half-hour had seen it coated in a thick, goopy layer of purée BETA. It had cut down tens of thousands of BETA and allowed them to advance deep into the heart of the enemy. The Hive loomed large over them now. They were close.
But this was the enemy’s territory. The ground exploded and from within the dust cloud emerged six whiplike tentacles, each tipped with a chisel-like blade. Six fireballs bloomed in the rear-vision. Takayuki had almost no time to react before more of the tentacles sought out his machine.
A flashing spear blade severed the tentacles, sending their blades falling harmless to the dirt.
That extra second was all he needed to get into cover. Beside him Shinji’s machine was also intact thankfully.
A note of pure anger cut through the air as Kanade darted past them. From the dust and powder emerged a pair of Hammerhead-class, among the mightiest of the BETA. Twice the height of a TSF, between them they’d just wiped out almost the entire squadron, including the Captain.
They were dead in seconds. Kanade tore them to shreds, hacking at their dismembered bodies even after they’d stopped thrashing.
Were it not for the hypnosis treatments they’d both gotten before the battle, Takayuki knew the sudden loss of all his comrades and even that miserable bastard Owada would have him paralyzed with fear. As is he’s able to take that information and compartmentalize it away. There’ll be time to mourn after the battle is won and the Hive taken. Their lives cannot be allowed to be wasted.
A scream of static announced opening comms and through them a voice that could only barely be made out as human, and without a single word that made any sense.
Takayuki was the one with the additional wireless gear in his machine. 「This is Dellingr-8. Comms aren't stable. Can you repeat?」
Another scream of garbled static.
Takayuki growled. 「Shit, the comms are off. Shinji, did you hear any of it?」
「If you can’t, then I sure as hell can’t. The heavy metal clouds are too thick here. We need to move somewhere with a good signalー」
「I’ll get you there.」 Kanade’s already off, throwing her spear before her. She’s gone in moments and she’s the only protection Takayuki and Shinji have now. Being beside Kanade was the only thing that kept them safe. That will keep them alive.
Following Kanade’s path leads them to a shattered rooftop high enough up that the line of sight is clearer. They take cover within, trying to avoid tempting the sight of a Laser-class.
Finally through the static a legible voice comes through.
「Valkyrie 01... to Delli... 08, 09. Do you read me?」
Valkyrie 01 - that’s Captain Isumi!?
「This is Dellingr 08. Valkyrie 01, we read you. Comms are garbled, heavy metal interference.」
Through the flickering a face with auburn hair and sharp red eyes appears over the infolink.
「This is Isumi. Did Captain Owada get through to you?」
Takayuki shook his head, hoping she would see through all the distortions. 「Wireless and data-link are on the fritz. We’re deep in BETA territory here.」
Capt. Isumi’s eyes lanced right through them. 「Looks like there was a point in me calling.
「Phoenix-01 to Valkyrie-01」 From down below Kanade pauses amidst the bodies of her prey. 「What’s happening? Is this about the American special project?」
Those red eyes widen in surprise, before narrowing in understanding. 「I’m sorry this is how we meet, Phoenix-01. Kouzuki-Hakase was hoping we would get to fight together, but Dellingr won the coin toss.」
「There’s always next time, Valkyrie-01. You haven’t answered the question.」
Vertical static distorts Isumi’s nod. 「The Americans want to drop a G-Bomb. They think it’ll end the fight now we’ve drawn most of the BETA to the surface. And the Empire isn't having it.
Shinji has a look of horror on his face. 「What!? But G-bombs were taken out of the operation during planning-」
「Only if I proved I was the superior alternative.」 Kanade adds grimly. 「When the Orbital Divers were overrun, the Americans must’ve panicked.」
「In all likelihood, this is the work of Alternative V supporters. Here’s their chance to prove their effort is the superior one.」 Isumi concurs.
Takayuki’s unzipped lips let slip his fear. 「If a G-bomb is dropped, Yokohama is done for!」
Isumi nods sharply. 「Exactly. This is the expected damage radius should a G-bomb be detonated above the monument.」
The map that is transmitted to them has a very unpleasant surprise upon it.
Shinji’s voice trembles. 「But then, that means... where we're at right now...」
He’s interrupted by a voice sharp as a spearpoint and full of unchained melody.
「Not if I get there first. If I get underground and take that reactor before the Americans can push their big red button, then there will be no G-Bomb drop. The only reason they’re resorting to it is because I’m not fast enough for them! Well, we’ll see who’s fast enough.」
An explosion of song and Kanade is gone, tearing right back towards the Hive.
Isumi quickly continues. 「We're falling back to Sagami bay for re-supply. Make sure you're ready to move whenever the order comes.」
「What about Phoenix-01? We can’t leave her behind.」 Takayuki tells her.
「Do whatever you need to do. We can’t afford to lose her.」
The signal cuts out, and the to machines quickly take off for ground level and speed away after Kanade’s machine. It’s easy to find her, just follow the trail of corpses.
An uncomfortable thought intrudes on Takayuki’s mind and he has to give voice to it.
「...Hey, Shinji. You think the Imperial forces know about the potential of a G-Bomb drop?」
Shinji gives his head a firm shake. 「Of course not. A-01 is a key component of Alternative IV. Our information is on a different level compared to others.」
The thought continues to move Takayuki’s lips. 「The other Eishi, Imperials, COSEAN, even the Americans - they don't know anything about this, even though they're in the thick of it trying to take our city back.」
That blast radius covers the entire city. How many friendlies could be consumed if that bomb drops?
Shinji steadies his voice. 「We’re kilometers from friendly forces, and there’s BETA everywhere. We’ll be sitting ducks without Kanade-san to shield us. If we can help her get to the Reactor, there will be no G-Bomb drop.」
Realisation stings Takayuki, and his voice swells with the venom. 「How do you know?」
「What?」 Shinji asks.
「Alternative V supporters don’t want us to succeed, no matter what. They’re gonna drop the bomb regardless. If they level the Hive, then they can claim it was them and not Kanade that took the Hive. We need to save as many people as possible while giving Kouzuki-Hakase the time to stall and Kanade-san the time to get underground and take the Hive.」
Shinji’s eyes bulge. 「Wait! The hell are you saying...!
「I'm going back to save as many Eishi as I can, for as long as I can, until the very last minute!」
Shinji fires back 「Are you saying you don't care about Hayase and Suzumiya! About your father and mother and Akane-san-」
Those names strike Takayuki cold. Shinji pressed on. 「If you go out of your way to help friendlies, you might be throwing all that away! You promised them Takayuki!」
「Promised what?」
In a blaze of sound and glory, Kanade appeared next to them. This close it seems her entire machine has been repainted in BETA blood. All except the spear, the long sword-like blade is somehow still pristine.
「It’s a long story, and we don’t have that much time.」
「Give me the Anime version. Nice and abridged.」
He can’t say no to Kanade-san. 「My friends, Mitsuki and Haruka, they both - they have feelings for me. Strong ones.」
There’s a pause. Then Kanade’s machine shudders from a bark of surprised laughter that shatters the tension instantly.
「Oh my lord! You really are one of those Love Nucleus things Kouzuki is low-key obsessed with!」 She shakes as a few more deep chuckles run through her machine. It’s hard to tell where the machine ends and its Adaptor begins. If there even is a dividing line.
「No wonder she’s sent you with me. Thinks you’ll somehow boost my luck or however it is that causality shit’s supposed to go. Oops, I’m glad Tsubasa’s not here. She doesn’t like it when I let bad language slip.」
That name. Whoever this Tsubasa is, sounds like they mean as much to Kanade as Haruka and Mitsuki do to him.
「I think we’re a bit alike on that front, though how you got two girls into you is a mystery of heteronormativity.」 The machine wipes some of the blood from its legs. 「Let me take a guess. You haven’t confessed to either and you’re stringing them along rather than just getting it over with. Am I right?
「How?!」
He swears he can see a sharp, knowing smile on the mecha’s face. 「So you think getting rejected by you is gonna be the end of one of these girl’s worlds and friendship? A bit condescending, my dude. We’re stronger than you think we are. Hearts don’t have to break if there’s cushioning. You choose one and trust their own friendship is bigger than you are.」
Is Kanade giving him relationship advice on an open battlefield? This is absurd!
She’s wielding a singing mecha that kills BETA like fly spray. It’s all absurd. Listen to her.
「You’re getting back, and you will stop stringing poor Haruka and Mitsuki along. I heard everything you said, by the way. The comms were open the entire time.」
「Then-」
She nods firmly. 「You two will just slow me down. I need to get down there fast. You need to get as many out of harm’s way as possible. COSEAN, UN, American, Imperial - all that shit doesn’t matter. They’re fellow men and women fighting because we all have a stake in seeing the BETA destroyed.」
「Kande-san-」 Shinji begins.
A hand is help up. 「This is where we part ways for the moment. But we’re all coming back from this alive. I’d like to meet your Haruka and Mitsuki, and introduce them to Tsubasa. She needs more friends among the commoners.」
Power flows from Kanade’s words, and for a second Takayuki can feel it, feel the music flowing through his veins. It fills them with his innermost strength. 「This is our hometown. Enough people have died here already. The city, the station, the school, all of them will be destroyed if that G-Bomb drops! We lose our homes, and we lose the people who are shedding their blood and sweat to take this city back! Not if I can help it though! Not if I can make a difference.」
「We all make a difference and do what we can. I’m no different even with this Symphogear of mine.」 Kanade declares. 「Make sure you come back for me, okay? I’ll need witnesses to my glory.」
「Doesn’t your machine have cameras?」 Shinji asked.
She shrugs. 「I don’t know what it has, to be honest.」 Kanade sounds almost embarrassed. But it’s gone in an instant, masked up. 「But it’ll do. It’s doing pretty well so far. See ya soon!」
In a burst of light and song, Kanade’s machine tears away.
「Takayuki, you’re a damn idiot. Ignoring orders like that. Let’s go.」
Shinji catches the expression and he stifles a blush. 「Shit! I'm just too damn nice to your sorry ass, Lord Hetare! Listen, we do what we can and then we're out!」
Takayuki hangs his head. 「Sorry. It just happened in the moment-」
「Don't apologize. Say, ‘thank you so much, Shinji-sama’ instead!」
Takayuki grins despite himself. 「Got it, buddy! Let's go! Can't have ourselves get killed! Kanade would never forgive us!」
***
ーAugust 6, 2043
Through the deployment of two 5th Dimensional Effect or G-bombs, dropped at 8:15 a.m, the force of humanity succeeded in taking complete control of a Hive for the first time. And so, the politically supercharged ‘Operation Lucifer’ draws to a close with anger and recriminations on all sides.
The Empire of Japan leases what remains of the Hive to the United Nations, and upon it Alternative IV builds the Yokohama base of the UN 11th force. There, research will be continued on the powerful combination of the Symphogear and the TSF.
Provisional lieutenant Amou Kanade’s broken machine is recovered in the Hive core. Her body is never recovered. Second Lieutenants Narumi Takayuki and Taira Shinji of special task force A-01 are written into military history as missing in action following the G-bomb drop. Their bodies are never recovered.
Multiple witness testimonials speak of Takayuki and Shinji showing up and warning any troops they came across, no matter what country they came from, to take cover from the G-Bomb. It is estimated hundreds of casualties were avoided by their selfless actions.
Three more bodies are laid into the foundations of humanity's counterattack…