Blue Horizon

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/48013315.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category: F/F, Gen
Fandom: Hololive (Virtual Streamers), Hololive Indonesia
Relationship: Kaela Kovalskia/Vestia Zeta, Moona Hoshinova/Usada Pekora
Character: Kobo Kanaeru, Moona Hoshinova, Vestia Zeta, Kaela Kovalskia,
Ayunda Risu, Airani Iofifteen, Anya Melfissa, Pavolia Reine, M-chan
(HoloID Manager), Kureiji Olivia, Udin | Kureiji Ollie's Mascot, Kazama
Iroha
Additional Tags: Space Opera, Drama, Action/Adventure, Cameos from HoloEN and
HoloJP, Eldritch Horrors, Starfighters, Mecha, Grand Battles, 2088,
Alien Technology, Ehe~!, Amnesia, Tags change as story progresses!
Language: English
Series: Part 4 of Alter Series
Stats: Published: 2023-06-20 Updated: 2023-09-11 Words: 50,795 Chapters:
9/?

Blue Horizon
by Elias_Pedro

Summary

Kobo Kanaeru has lived in KW01 under the protection of the Cover Corporation as far as
she can remember, but KW01 is not her home. Her memories of the time before her rescue -
from the world that she came from and the family she might have once had - continue to
elude her. The emptiness of nights of eerie, dreamless sleep haunts her. So, for years, she’s
looked up to the stars above, wondering endlessly about what was and what lies ahead.

When principals of the Ancient Ones, Lady Knowledge and Sparrowhawk the Manipulator
are defeated, the momentum of the intergalactic war shifts heavily in Cover Corporation’s
favor. All eyes, including Kobo’s, turn to Cover’s Inter-Dimensional Spacefleet Command
and their formidable I.D.O.L. Frame transforming starfighters.

If she could become an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot, then maybe she could retake what was taken
from her to unearth the mysteries of the universe - and the mysteries of her own past: who
she truly is, who she was, and who she’s destined to be.

[Official Poster/Book Cover by @Akasuki_iane04]

Sequel to AlterMyth, The Feathers in Your Hair and Eleven!

The Girl Adrift
 Prologue

It all began with nothingness.

Then, weightlessness.

Then the cold, harsh silence of the void.

These were Kobo Kanaeru’s first memories when she awakened in the alloyed confines of an
escape pod adrift in deep space. Her tired, groggy, blue eyes looked out the viewports of the pod
and saw nothing: no destination nor salvation in sight.

No stars either, she thought. Were they eaten whole perhaps? Were they erased from the universe?
What sort of terrifying creature could do such a thing?

Kobo winced, searching for something - anything - in that void.

She regretted that.

Unfathomably long tendrils of dark ichor slithered and writhed in the void of space, conjoined
beyond Kobo’s vision like the tentacles of an octopus under the lush oceans of her homeworld.

‘Homeworld…’ Kobo thought.

That word echoed in her mind, but no images or memories came to the surface. Only blankness
came to the eye of her mind, no matter how hard she tried to recall. A dull headache followed soon
after.

No thoughts of how she got there came to light.

Not even an iota of why she was there - or what that creature in the distance was either.

But then, one of those tendrils slithered through space just beyond the peephole, retreating towards
the nexus of the grand, still unseen beast. That tendril dragged along debris of various shapes and
sizes. Bits of marked symbols and stenciled names on the debris told Kobo what they were.

They were escape pods, just like hers.

Smashed to pieces.

Frozen blood leaked from the smashed hulls of the escape pods. Bodies in space suits torn in half
lagged behind the pods, still attached to their vessels’ life supports like umbilical cords. But those
vessels, and the bodies attached to them were oozing with black ichor just like the tendrils.

It was like the creature was consuming them from without and within, assimilating them into the
greater mass. One of the bodies floated before the viewport of Kobo’s pod and slammed into it.

THUD!

Kobo shuddered in her seat, but she couldn’t look away.

She saw the face of the dead spacefarer through the broken visor of her spacesuit. Her locks of
short, golden hair rose up in the vacuum of space. Her cracked monocular optics flashed with
fizzling warning signs. Her dull, blue eyes were unfocused… until one of her eyes changed color,
turning blood red first and then as black as night.

That cursed eye twitched in its socket, behind the space-frozen eyelids and turned to Kobo.

Kobo went pale. She gripped her seat and held her breath, but the cursed eye of the doomed
spacefarer turned away.

“She… didn’t see me?” Kobo gasped.

She watched tensely as the tendril pulled the spacefarer along, out of sight and deeper into the
harrowing void - but suddenly…!

BAAAAAAM!!!

The tendril slammed into Kobo’s escape pod once more with incredible force! Kobo was thrown
violently off her seat and she tumbled around the cockpit.

“ACK!” Kobo grunted.

Warning lights flashed all throughout the cockpit - so many lights that Kobo had to shield her eyes.
One warning in particular, however, sent chills up her spine. The holographic AI assistant on board
read the message with eerie calmness.

‘WARNING: MULTIPLE HULL RUPTURES DETECTED.

‘CODE RED. SYSTEM FAILURES IMMINENT.’

Under the glare of the warning lights too, Kobo saw that the visor of her space suit was now
cracked.

It suddenly got harder for her to breathe.

Kobo’s heart thumped against her chest, but she forced herself to focus. Her sheer muscle memory
propelled her, spurring her to reach under her seat and open the compartment underneath. There,
she found a mechanical rebreather mask.

She tossed away her now useless hemet, slapped the rebreather over her nose and mouth and
switched on the device.

WHIRRRRR!

“Hah… hah…” Kobo steadied her breath as well as she could, regulating her inhales and exhales.

Little by little, Kobo stilled her heart and filled her lungs, but her relief would not last long. The
rebreather mask started to stutter. Yellow warning lights blinked on the damn thing.

It didn’t have much longer left - and neither did Kobo.

Counting her precious breaths, Kobo undid the buckles of her seat and leapt off into near-zero
gravity. She launched herself towards the main flight computer mainframe and sailed through the
sea of hologram warnings.

Kobo reached the terminal screen and tapped on it, but its display crackled with static.

KZZZZT~!

“Damn it!” Kobo hissed. She slammed her fists on the terminal like it was an old television until it
displayed something coherent. Then, Kobo forced it to deploy a holographic keyboard.

“Activate distress beacon - all channels!” Kobo said, saying what she typed, “S.O.S.! S.O.S.!”

Kobo’s frantic request, however, only yielded even more holographic error messages. Once again,
the AI assistant gave its report.

‘INSUFFICIENT ENERGY OUTPUT. ANCILLARY SYSTEMS OFFLINE!’

“DAMN YOU!” Kobo gnashed her teeth and typed again, “Troubleshoot! Distress beacon!”

The AI assistant answered again.

‘CHECK POWER CONNECTION. CHECK POWER CONNECTION. CHECK-CHECK-

CHECK…!’

The rest of the line repeated on and on and on until the AI assistant shut off on its own. Kobo
clicked her tongue and searched under the computer terminal. She found the control panel and
removed its protective cover with a forceful tug.

Under that panel, Kobo found the severed electrical wire and a number of breaches in the ruptured
hull: holes the size of pebbles, tainted black by traces of the dark black ichor of the eldritch tendril.
Through those holes, she could see the starless heavens of outer space and the remains of the
destroyed escape pods smashed by the tendril.

She could feel the coldness of the void prickling her face even through the rebreather mask.

Kobo took a deep breath and grabbed both ends of the power cord by the insulators firmly, gritted
her teeth and pulled the two severed wire ends together.

“Hrgggggh! Hrggh!!” Kobo roared into the rebreather, “HRRRRRAAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

She strained every muscle in her body to bring those wires together inch by inch - bit by bit. Sweat
dripped down her brow but froze into snow-like dust. Her hands and arms trembled warily.

But then…

KZZZZZZATTTT!

Kobo joined the wires together! She hooked the wires together and let go of them. Then, the AI
assistant made its declaration.

‘ANCILLARY SYSTEMS ONLINE! DISTRESS BEACON - BROADCASTING TO ALL STATIONS’

“I did it…” Kobo sighed, “I…”

She tried to shove the control panel cover back in its place as best as she could, but she couldn’t
jam it in well enough and it stayed ajar. Her own body, gripped by immense pain, stopped listening
to her and felt as heavy as a rock. The yellow warning lights on her now frosted rebreather mask
also turned red.

Lightheadedness washed over Kobo, robbing her of whatever strength she had left. Her vision
started to fail her next. Even blinking her frosted eyelids became difficult.

And yet, Kobo still croaked.

“Someone… anyone…” Kobo’s heavy eyelids closed, “Save me…!”

Kobo’s rebreather mask slipped off her nose and mouth and her heavy, frosting eyelids closed. Her
perception of time blurred. She fluttered between life and icy cold death… but she did catch a
glimpse of something beautiful.

A sea of stars in an ocean of wavy purple hair.

The first time she saw stars in her strange new reality.

She quietly hoped that it wouldn’t be the last.

After that, Kobo blacked out.

Blue Horizon

The Girl Adrift

First Scene - Dreamless Orphan

Three years later…

Kobo Kanaeru awakened again. Rather than in the confines of an escape pod from an unknown
world, she was lying down on a simple bed and was looking up at the plaster ceiling of a small but
cozy apartment.

Her apartment.
She took a deep, long breath and filled her lungs with air. She shot up from her bed, tossed away
her blanket and tugged on her mattress, checking to see that she wasn’t floating in zero-gravity.
Then, she marched over to her washroom mirror and ran her hand through her face.

“No ice…” Kobo muttered. As a matter of fact, her apartment felt warm and toasty. She heaved a
sigh and bowed her head, letting her short but unkempt powder blue hair cascade down to the sink,
“Haaaaa… Thank goodness.”

Kobo looked down to her wrist and checked on a small device strapped there. She tapped its screen
and spoke to it.

“Time, date and zone.” She commanded.

The screen of her device shone. Then it answered her.

‘7:11AM. June 20, 2088. KW1 Jakarta-series Orbital Time .’

Kobo sighed again. She proceeded to wash her face at the sink.

Three years had indeed passed, Kobo thought. Three years in her new home.

And yet, her memory of the day of her rescue was still crystal clear, down to the last detail - up
until the moment she blacked out, of course. Either way, it was like a haunting dream that she
couldn’t wake up from, coming to her full blast at every waking moment.

The moment Kobo caught herself thinking about ‘dreams’, though, she scoffed at herself.

“Yeah right.” She mused with a frown, touching the bags under her eyes, “Folks like me can’t
dream. What am I talking about?”

Kobo wished that what she said was an exaggeration, but she truly was, for some unknown reason,
incapable of dreaming.

What she saw was like a dream, but not quite.

Doctors that Kobo had met with told her that it was the condition of the Worldless orphans: people
like her who were rescued from the depths of space in a phenomenon called the ‘ Nights of a
Hundred Thousand Miracles ’. A hundred thousand Worldless orphans were rescued, each one of
them bearing the same burden: no memory of the past before their rescue, hauntingly dreamless
slumbers and thoughts hyper fixated on certain events.

For Kobo, it was the day of her rescue.

It played out like a projection of that day that ran in her head over and over and over again like a
broken record player with a film real. At every waking moment, the show repeated for Kobo beat
by beat. Line by line.

Breath by breath.
It was a torturous cycle.

Because of that, Kobo made her morning routine meticulous. She checked and double-checked that
the danger had, indeed, long since passed - that she wasn’t back in that damned escape pod adrift
in deep space. Because of all this, Kobo’s sleep was rarely as restful as she wished it could have
been.

As Kobo thought of this, chimes rang outside her apartment, followed by an announcement.

‘Attention, citizens of Platform Jakarta-03. This is an Orbital Administration Public Service

Broadcast. Simulated sunrise is beginning shortly. I repeat - simulated sunrise is beginning
shortly.’

Kobo scoffed.

The irony of her situation wasn’t lost on her. Even after all of her checking and double-checking,
she was still practically in outer space: albeit in the safety and relative comfort of an Orbital
Platform. She looked out of her bathroom window pensively and raised her eyes up to the dome
over Platform Jakarta-03 and the night sky that it simulated.

Pixel by hexagonal pixel, that scene changed.

A simulated sun rose in the approximate East and cast away the simulated night bit by bit. Kobo
often overheard residents of the district saying that the architects and engineers who built their
dome programmed it to mimic the weather of the real Jakarta down in the Earth of KW1. Whether
or not it was true, Kobo didn’t know - and she didn’t care.

Kobo watched every moment of it.

Compared to the starless void of the deep space she escaped from, the gradual, albeit majestic
changes of the simulated dome of Jakarta-03 was quite charming.

That ‘sunrise’ signaled that the Orbital Platform and its residents were about to rise up from their
slumbers.

“Never gets old.” Kobo hummed, “I guess that’s my cue to get ready too.”

Kobo sauntered over to her closet and changed into her school uniform: a white, short-sleeved shirt
with a triangular logo on the breast pocket, a dark gray tie with matching skirt and black leather
penny loafers. Then, Kobo proceeded to meticulously braid and tie up her long locks of hair - an
intricate process that took quite a lot of time.

So much time that her wrist device started buzzing. Its AI voice began fretting.

‘Please hurry, Miss Kobo. The maglev train to school is leaving in approximately…! ’
“Shut up! I know.” Kobo barked, tapping on her device to silence it.

She picked up her brown, suitcase-like school bag and hurried out of her studio apartment. Under
the light of the simulated sun over Jakarta-03, Kobo ran for the maglev train station.

Second Scene - Inter-Platform Commuter Blues

By the time Kobo arrived at the station, the place was already packed. The hustle and bustle of the
‘morning’ rush was in full display for Kobo as people crammed through the station turnstiles both
ways.

She found these commuters traveling in packs: businessmen and women in sharp suits with
augmented reality glasses tuned in to the Orbital Stock Market pre-open shows, maintenance
personnel in uniform jumpsuits lugging their toolboxes in hand while their drone assistants hovered
behind them and students like Kobo herself wearing the uniforms of their respective schools.

“That’s what I get for living on a hub platform like zero-three…” Kobo grumbled.

In that sea of maglev train commuters, Kobo simply watched those wolf packs - those cliques
moving in tandem with each other - from afar. She was but one drop in that sea who, despite her
fancy hairdo, didn’t stand out much. Her short stature probably didn’t help, but Kobo shook her
head and shooed that sad fact away from her thoughts.

Instead, she steeled herself, scanned her wrist device on the turnstile scanner and crossed that sea of
people to get to her train platform.

Kobo made a lot of sharp turns, going through shortcuts that few people knew and ducking
underneath obstacles in her way. She knew that station like the back of her hand, after all, and used
her short height to her advantage.

Despite all that, though, when she made one last turn to her platform, she saw the blurry flash of
something that wasn’t supposed to be there: a girl with silky silver hair that she tied up into buns
like cat-ears.

This girl was wearing the uniform of a different school, sipping on a can of fancy, imported Earth-
branded milk tea…

And she was heading straight for Kobo!

“Shit…!” Kobo cursed, but it was too late.

BAM!

She and the silver-haired girl bumped - or rather, collided into each other!
“Oof!” Kobo grunted. She shifted her weight and kept her footing. The person who slammed into
her, even though she was taller than Kobo, was the one who fell back onto her butt. Her Earth-
brand milk tea slipped out of her hand and unceremoniously spilled its contents all over the floor.

“O-o-owwww…” Kobo’s victim groaned, then glared at her, “HEY! BLUE GIRL! Watch where
you’re going.” She eyed her can of milk tea and hissed, “Don’t you know how expensive Earth
stuff is here!?”

“HUH!?” Kobo’s eyes opened wide, “WHAT THE FUCK!? YOU WATCH WHERE YOU’RE
GOING!” She caught a glimpse of the girl’s curious hairdo and lashed, “STUPID CAT!”

Her victim’s jaw dropped. She clenched her fists and wailed, “I’M NOT A CAT!”

Kobo clenched her fists, too.

But then, a tall girl with long blonde hair and bright red eyes intervened. She tried to put herself in
between the two brawlers with odd hairdos.

“Hold it! Hold it, you two!” The tall girl cautioned, prying Kobo and her foe apart, “Let’s not fight.
Please.”

Kobo got a good look at the newcomer. She saw the tall girl wearing a school uniform just like her
foe, but the tall girl also sported a maintenance personnel jacket over it. It made the tall girl’s
already large and imposing frame seem even larger.

Kobo’s foe gritted her teeth and pointed at Kobo, “But she called me a CAT!”

Kobo, meanwhile, pointed at her foe and argued, “She ran into ME !”

“No, YOU ran into ME! ” The foe argued.

Kobo and her foe glared high-frequency daggers at each other. It was hate at first sight.

The tall girl heaved a sigh. Then, she leaned forward, lowered her face to Kobo’s foe and spoke
with stern authority.

“Leave this to me.” The tall girl urged, “I’ll buy you another milk tea at school, alright.”

“But Kaela…!” The cat-haired girl hissed.

“ZETA.” The tall girl named ‘ Kaela ’ snapped, changing to a more domineering tone, “I’ll handle
this. We’re gonna be late.”

Kobo’s foe, the so-called ‘ Zeta ’, blushed and fell silent. Kaela smiled and turned around.

“We’re sorry for this inconvenience, Miss.” Kaela apologized. Then, she forced Zeta to bow her
head to Kobo, “Isn’t that right, Zeta?”
“I… I’m sorry.” Zeta apologized halfheartedly.

Not once did she glance toward Kobo when she said it, so Kobo still pouted.

But then, the tall Kaela smiled at Kobo, pointed to her wrist device and asked, “Could you please
unlock that for inflows?”

“Uh…” Kobo was dumbfounded, but she did as she was asked, “Sure.”

Kaela pulled up the sleeve of her maintenance jacket and her uniform and brought out her own
wrist device. She placed the face of her device before the face of Kobo’s device. Then, there was a
beep.

A holographic message projected from Kobo’s device.

‘100,000 Rupiah has been transferred to your savings account .’

This time, Kobo’s jaw dropped. It wasn’t that much money, given the currency, but it surely
wasn’t chump change that folks dole out to strangers.

“That should cover it.” Kaela grinned, unfazed by her sudden donation. Then, she excused herself
and dragged Zeta away, “Sorry again, Miss!”

The two oddballs from another school then disappeared into the crowd. Kobo sighed.

“Blondie’s cool, but… I hope I don’t have to see cat-girl ever again...” She thought out loud.

Kobo carried on through the crowded maglev station, rushing towards her destination platform. By
the time she got there, digital bells were ringing and the barriers were closing.

“I’m not missing that train!” Kobo growled.

She sprinted down the platform and slipped between the closing barriers into one of the maglev
train cars.

“Haaaaah! Safe!” Kobo cheered.

The other passengers in the train were startled by her explosive arrival. But the maglev train doors
didn’t close right away. The digital bells grew louder. A train company staff android with a digital
screen for a face hopped into the train and started berating Kobo for running in train stations and
barging into a train. Kobo folded her arms and rolled her eyes, not listening to a single word of the
lecture.

Then, the android turned away and started apologizing to the commuters for an anticipated delay.
A delay that Kobo's stunt caused.

“Hrmm…” Kobo gritted her teeth.

She felt the angry gazes of the commuters fixed on her. So, she slunk away to a different train car
and sat in a hidden corner by the train windows.

Then, the PA system came on with a chime.

DING-DING-DING-DING!

‘Attention, all passengers. This Intra-Platform Maglev Express Train is now leaving Platform
Jakarta-03, departing for… Platform Jakarta Central/Pusat. E.T.A. is approximately fifteen
minutes. Thank you for riding with Lowry Intergalactic Industries.’

With that announcement, the maglev train shot out of the station with hardly a sound. And yet,
Kobo saw the railway lights zipping past them at incredible speed, practically flashing before
Kobo’s eyes. After a short while, the train exited the simulated dome of Jakarta-03 and shot into
the inter-platform tube.

Into unsimulated space.

Kobo feasted her eyes on it all.

To her right, the unfiltered celestial bodies of the solar system appeared before her in a magnificent
display. To her left, Kobo got a bird’s eye - or rather satellite’s eye view of the Earth.

Through the many layers of the atmosphere, Kobo could see the real earthly Jakarta in the Asian
continent. Or at least, she pretended that she did.

“These views never get old.” Kobo mused, soaking in the sights with glee painted on her lips.

Just as Kobo traced the terran constellations in the galaxy, holographic screens started appearing
on the windows of the train and on the inter-platform tubes.

“Tch…” Kobo clicked her tongue.

Against her wishes, news broadcasts from a variety of different channels blocked Kobo’s view of
the Earth and the stars. Audio from the broadcasts played on the train’s PA systems too.

“I wish I brought my earphones…” Kobo lamented.

Left without much choice, Kobo sighed and closed her eyes, resigning herself to having to listen to
the mandatory news.

…
“Good morning, my fellow Orbital Platform-dwellers. I’m Elio Peterson of Orbital Administration
News Association - OANA - reporting live from wonderful Tokyo, Japan here on KW1 Earth. We’re
here today with the newly minted Senior Manager of the Cover Corporation: Miss Ennis Marie
“Enma” Miyamoto and her Junior Manager Jennifer “Jenma” Mathers.”

“Thanks for having us, Elio.”

“Likewise! So, Miss Enma. You and Miss Jenma are about to go on your mission to KW8 in just a
few hours. This is the Cover Corporation’s first Interdimensional Mission since the Nights of the
Hundred Thousand Miracles - and the first time using Iofinium-115 fuel for a dimensional door.
Any thoughts?”

“Well, Elio, Jenma and I can’t really talk much about specifics, but time is of the essence in this
mission. Sir YAGOO has given us his orders, and I hope that the exciting people we’re meeting
will accept our invitations and debut-“

Suddenly, the broadcast was interrupted by the train’s own chime and announcement.

DING-DING-DING-DING!

'Attention all passengers. This Inter-Platform Maglev Express Train is arriving at… Platform
Jakarta Central/Pusat .'

“Thank you…” Kobo whispered back, grateful for being spared from public television. She rested
her school bag on her lap and watched the scenic views of outer space and KW1 Earth disappear -
replaced by the simulated, terrestrial morning displayed on the dome of Platform Jakarta Central.

Third Scene - Stranded Starfighter

Despite Kobo’s valiant efforts racing through the station of Platform Jakarta Central and running
through the platform’s streets, Kobo still arrived at her school late. The gates of the school, both
the actual wrought-iron gate and the digital repulsor barrier were already closed.

“Damn it!” Kobo cursed. She slammed her fist on the repulsor barrier, causing a ripple of energy to
radiate from the blow.
“Late again, Miss Kanaeru?” The indifferent voice of the school guard, an android in a security
officer’s uniform, called out to her from behind the repulsor barrier. The android guard twirled a
stun baton and tapped it on the wrought iron gate, “That’s the fifth time this month.”

“HEY!” Kobo snarled, “It wasn’t my fault this time! Some stupid girl with cat-hair got in my way
at the station!”

The android raised its synthetic brow, “So the other four times were your fault.”

“Urk…” Kobo winced.

She had no answer to that.

“I’m letting you in, but I’m logging you for your fifth instance of tardiness this month, Miss
Kanaeru.” The guard sauntered over to a computer terminal by the twin gates and started typing on
them, “You’ll also have to wait for the flag ceremony to finish. Then, you have to report to the
Principal’s office.”

Kobo’s cheeks puffed and her face went red with anger and threatened, “I should probably just
skip classes then!”

The guard, however, just yawned. Androids didn’t need to yawn. Kobo knew the damn robot
called her bluff.

It was daring her to follow through.

“You’re a human.” said the android, “A Worldless human, but a human nonetheless. You’re free to
do what you want, but I follow my programming. Okay? Now, please. Make your choice.”

Kobo glared at the guard with displeasure and hissed her reply, “Let me in.”

“Excellent choice. Now be a good girl and standby till the flag ceremony is done.”

Kobo pouted but had no choice. She just folded her arms and stewed in her own frustration at the
wrong side of the school gate. While she simmered in silence, she heard footsteps coming from
beside her.

Curious, Kobo turned to the sound and found an unfamiliar face that she had never seen before: a
young lady with lusciously straight red hair in a tasteful hime-cut wearing black, gothic lolita dress
with frilly white accents, a brown corset with silver buttons and a large red ribbon over her modest
chest.

“Who’s this weirdo?” Kobo’s thoughts slipped through her lips in a whisper. Then, she caught
herself too late. “ Ah, shit… ”

Her whisper caught the attention of the strange young lady

For a moment, Kobo thought she saw a glimpse of mischief in her bright, red eyes, but it faded
away in a heartbeat - replaced by the genteel, aristocratic grace of high-borns and an equally
graceful smile.
“How do you do, young lass?” The unfamiliar young lady greeted Kobo with a curtsy. Then, she
spoke with empathy, “I see that you too have been barred from entry to this fine academic
institution! Quite a misfortune, if I do say so myself.”

Kobo tensed up and looked away. She stood perfectly still, hoping and praying that the suspicious
stranger would go away, leave her alone or lose interest.

But it was already too late for that.

The stranger walked over to Kobo with her unwavering smile.

“Sorry about that. I say, where are my manners?” The strange lady apologized, “My name is Olivia
Kureiji, I.D.O.L. Frame pilot-in-training of the IDSC.” She laid her hand over her chest and
continued, “I have been tasked with giving a short lecture at this school on behalf of the IDSC.
We’re looking for volunteer recruits from the graduating class - and I’m here to help the school run
their AO-incident evacuation drills while we’re at it!”

Kobo blinked twice. She finally faced the strange lady and gave her a once-over.

“You? With the IDSC!?” Kobo challenged.

“W-why yes!” Olivia’s cool veneer started to thaw. She put her hands on her hips and proudly
announced, “The IDSC allows for its personnel to dress as they please when they’re off-duty!”

Kobo’s lips twisted and she spoke without any filter, “You look like you missed KW1 Akihabara
on Earth by a loooot of stops, miss.”

“Urk…” Olivia winced.

Kobo then pointed to her wrist device and asked, “Can you even prove you’re with the military?”

“I… uh…” Olivia, this time, was the one who turned away from Kobo, “I forgot my WristComm
at the base. I was going to download the holographic visuals for my talk in the school - maybe
borrow a WristComm too… but as you can see…”

Olivia tapped the repulsor barrier lightly, sending new ripples through the perimeter.

“I still don’t believe you.” Kobo snorted, “Where’s your space suit, Miss I.D.O.L. Frame pilot?”

“Oh…” Olivia shriveled up. She facepalmed, “I… forgot that too. Unghhhhhhhh!!!”

All of a sudden, a small convoy of vehicles - electric Humvees marked with IDSC decals -
approached and pulled up into the school’s driveway with hardly a sound. Only the screeching of
their tires and brakes made a noise, drawing Kobo’s and Olivia’s attention.

“Ah! Here they are now.” Olivia beamed, heaving a sigh of relief.
Men and women in powder blue IDSC garrison fatigues emerged bearing handguns. One of those
men, a musclebound, bear-like soldier with a beard got out of the middle Humvee and marched to
the back of the vehicle. From there, he retrieved a large suitcase trolley and a fancy designer-model
handbag from a popular Earth brand.

The bear-like man brought those things with him and made his way towards Olivia.

“Udin! My hero!” Olivia cheered, raising her hands up like she was praising a god.

“My lady.” Udin, the soldier, answered her with polite words, but his face and his tone were
marked with displeasure, “If you’re planning to go to official functions on your own, please don’t
forget your things. My logistics officers and I had to scramble to get this. Good thing we were in
the Platform Jakarta series. Otherwise, the costs would have been astronomical!”

Olivia waved her hand nonchalantly, “Leave the expenses and paperwork to me. I’ll call the Estate
and make the transfer when I get back to base.”

Kobo’s face soured. The grinning face of the rich blondie she ran into at the Jakarta-03 train
station came to mind - and the 100,000 Rupiah that now filled Kobo’s bank account.

“What is it with rich kids and throwing away money?” Kobo whispered beneath her breath.

Olivia pretended not to hear her.

Instead, Olivia took the trolley suitcase and the handbag from Udin. Then, from the handbag, she
fished out her WristComm device and twirled it proudly on her finger.

“So, dear lass, I’ve got my identification right here.” Olivia slapped the WristComm onto her wrist
and showed her public credentials, “I really am an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot… in training… ahem…!
But still, I’m definitely part of the military!” She twirled around and gestured to Udin with a smile,
“Commander Udin here is my subordinate. He’s the commander of the Jakarta-series Orbital
Defense Platforms of the IDSC.”

Udin gave Kobo a gracious bow and smiled, “We protect KW1 Earth and all of the Orbital
Platforms from any and every threat - at any System Hour.”

“T-thank you for your service.” Kobo stammered.

“Well then…!” Olivia beamed, “Isn’t this proof that I wasn’t lying?”

Kobo smirked back, ten times more smugly, “Proof of your incompetence, maybe.”

Olivia’s face went pale. Then, Commander Udin burst out into laughter.

“Heh.” Kobo squeaked.

She and Commander Udin bumped fists.

“HEY! You’re supposed to be on MY side!” Olivia protested, jabbing the soldier, but to no avail.
She shriveled up and grumbled, “Though, I did deserve it this time. I wanted to ride the Inter-
Platform trains and I got a bit too excited.”
“Oh…” Kobo glanced at Olivia with rare sympathy, “I feel the same way about those trains. I ride
them almost every day.”

“Excellent views, yeah?” Olivia winked. She looked up to the simulated sky of Platform Jakarta
Central longingly and added, “It’s a view worth fighting for - a view that the Worldless like us are
fortunate to be able to see at all.”

For once, the strange Olivia lady seemed like an actual, honest-to-goodness soldier in Kobo’s eyes.

Then, Kobo furrowed her brow.

‘How did she know I'm a Worldless?’

While Kobo looked at the side of Olivia’s face, the school bells chimed and the repulsor barrier
dropped. The android guard started opening the wrought iron school gates too.

“That’s our cue to get going, kiddo.” Olivia smiled at Kobo. She then cleared her throat, grabbed
the handle of her luggage trolley and returned to her genteel aristocracy, “Shall we begin our
esteemed business in this fine academic institution, young lass?”

“Sure, why not.” Kobo shrugged.

With that, Kobo and Olivia walked through the threshold together. All the while, the wheels of
Olivia’s trolley rattled behind them with a clackety-clack.

Fourth Scene - Code Blue

Later that afternoon, after Kobo reported to the principal’s office - and after the teasing of her
classmates for being tardy yet again - Kobo and the other students from her grade filed into the
school’s multi-function auditorium hall. There, Olivia Kureiji appeared on stage to give the lecture
just as she promised.

She even waved to Kobo in the crowd, but Kobo pretended not to notice.

Unlike when Kobo first saw her in the morning, though, Olivia was no longer wearing her gothic
lolita clothes. Instead, she was clad from neck to toe in the specialized I.D.O.L. Frame pilot space
suit. Half of the suit was plain snow white, just like the uniforms of the IDSC, but the other half
was striking red with bear-shaped designs in gold like embroidery.

‘So that’s what she was carrying in that trolley… ’ Kobo mused. Then, she smirked, ‘ How in the
world did she forget something that important?’

“Good afternoon, Jakarta Pusat Technical School!” Olivia greeted, raising up her hands and
waving to the crowd. With a wide smile on her lips, she addressed the students in her genteel
veneer, “Thank you, all, for having me. It is delightful to be back here - in my alma mater. Gosh,
how nostalgic!”
‘Alma mater… ?” Kobo raised her brow, ‘That crazy girl went to this school?’ She snorted,
‘Explains a lot.’

Olivia continued her spiel. She recounted her fondest memories at the school, reminisced about the
time that she spent living in the Jakarta-series platform and complained about the still-congested
maglev trains. The students laughed sparsely. Then, Olivia smiled and walked into the spotlights
on the stage.

“I was a student here once, yes. I sat in those seats waiting for the lectures to end, yearning for the
freedom to go to a karaoke or play the latest video games with my friends.” Olivia started, eying
the crowds with dramatic pauses, “But now, I serve the Inter-Dimensional Starfleet Command as
an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot.” She laid her hand over her chest and smiled, “I, and my colleagues in the
IDSC are committed to protecting everyone in every part of KW1 - both the Worlded and the
Worldless - against the onslaught of the Ancient Ones.”

When Olivia mentioned the Ancient Ones, holographic screens started to appear around the stage.

“Behold, friends: the enemies of humanity and their wretched forms.”

Olivia stepped back and gestured to the screens floating around her. Each screen carried
photographs and sketches of sightings of the strange, unsettling foes. Whispers erupted throughout
the auditorium.

Some were unsettled by the pictures.

Others snickered and belittled the beasts.

The rest either stayed silent or zoned out of the lecture altogether.

Kobo, on the other hand, sank into her seat. Chills were running up her spine. Her breaths grew
short and shallow. She remembered the wicked tendril that she saw in the void of deep space.

She had seen the Ancient Ones. She knew what it was like to be powerless - to be at the mercy of
unfathomable beasts.

Kobo hated it.

But then, Olivia stood in attention.

TOK-TOK

Her heavy space boots echoed in the hall and broke up the whispers. Then, she faced the crowd
once more and spoke.
“The Ancient Ones are indeed frightening. It is the responsibility of the IDSC to protect our reality
from this onslaught, but everyone in KW1 must do their part.” Olivia paced around the stage and
the holographic screens changed to pictures and videos of safety drills and exercises, “First and
foremost, in the unlikely event of an AO-incident - an Ancient One attack on KW1 and its orbital
platforms, basically - everyone must follow the safety guidelines and evacuate. We’ll be going over
those protocols again shortly.”

Then, Olivia stopped. She turned towards Kobo and smiled at her.

“Secondly.” Olivia started, speaking directly to Kobo, “For you brave souls out there in the
audience who want to take the fight to the AO’s - and for those of you who don’t want to keep on
living in fear, I would like to invite you to consider trying out for the IDSC.”

Kobo rolled her eyes and feigned indifference, but a small smile formed on her lips.

Satisfied, Olivia nodded and continued her spiel, “Now then, can anyone tell me about our
protocols for an AO-incide…”

Before Olivia could finish her spiel, though, the lights and the holographic projections in the
auditorium flickered. The entire auditorium fell deathly silent.

“What the…” Kobo shifted in her seat, “Just now, that was…”

Suddenly, the entire auditorium shook violently!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMM!

“An earthquake!?” Kobo gasped.

Many of the other students said the same thing and held onto their seats. The only problem, though,
was that they weren’t on the Earth. Orbital space platforms weren’t supposed to have earthquakes!

Panic started to brew in the auditorium. Fearful whispers snowballed into terrified cries. Olivia,
holding onto the speaker’s podium on the stage, watched this unfold and boil over before her eyes

“What the!? That… wasn’t part of the program!” Olivia lamented, reverting back to her normal
manner of speaking.

Moments later, warning sirens started to blare on the school’s PA systems - and on the PA systems
throughout the city. Then, the holographic screens of Olivia’s presentation were taken over by
public service announcements displayed in bright red and yellow. Automated AI voices read those
announcements out loud.

‘Attention, all residents of Jakarta Central/Pusat. This is a system-wide emergency broadcast from
the Cover Corporation HQ.'
 'Code Blue! Code Blue!’

‘AO formations have been detected in the outskirts of the Solar System advancing towards the
Earth en masse. This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill! KW1 will come under attack within
one system hour! ’

“No…” Kobo clutched her chest and gritted her teeth, “Not again!”

Kobo’s deepest, darkest fears were coming true.

“Code blue…?” Olivia’s face went pale, “Here? Now!?”

Pandemonium filled the auditorium. The senior high school students and the faculty staff of the
school cowered under their seats, hoping and praying that they had to endure an earthquake instead.
The terrified flock turned to Olivia, yearning for guidance.

The pilot took a deep breath and gathered herself in a heartbeat.

“Alright everyone, you heard the emergency broadcast!” Olivia took charge of the situation and
started addressing the crowd, speaking in her natural voice, “We had AO-incident evacuation drills
planned for today, but things have changed. We’re gonna put them to use a little earlier than
planned.” She clapped her hands and shook her stunned audience out of their ruts, “Come on,
everyone! Get to the muster stations in a quick but orderly - and I mean orderly fashion! Chop
chop!”

Despite Olivia’s urging, not a mouse stirred in the auditorium. Everyone there was frozen in fear,
afraid to even move a muscle.

Olivia furrowed her brow and urged them again, “Come on, everyone. The IDSC will deploy
troops to help the evacuation. We just have to gather in the muster zones and…”

“We’re doomed!” A teacher interrupted Olivia. She fell down to her knees and covered her face in
her hands, “The Ancient Ones were always gonna come for us. It was only a matter of time!”

“I don’t want to die!” A student wailed, clinging onto his seat, “These drills ain’t gonna mean
nothing when the AO’s smash the platform!”

“Hey… hold on!” Olivia raised her voice, but the panicking students and teachers only got louder,
drowning her out. She pinched her nose and grumbled.

But then, in the midst of that sea of despair, Kobo Kanaeru rose up from her seat, took a deep
breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“EVERYBODY, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Kobo’s sharp words silenced the auditorium, leaving the distant wails of emergency sirens to fill
the void. Everyone’s eyes turned to Kobo now.

The senior high school student puffed up her chest and berated the crowd, “THIS HAPPENS
MORE OFTEN THAN YOU THINK! IF YOU WANT TO FUCKING LIVE, THEN LISTEN TO
MISS OLIVIA. WE ALL KNOW THE DRILL! WE DO IT EVERY FUCKING YEAR!”

Olivia whistled, absolutely impressed, “Hoo-ey.”

The I.D.O.L. Frame pilot clapped her hands and followed through.

“The blue brat with a potty mouth is right.” Olivia spoke, urging the crowd with a more tender
voice, “Please. Work with me here. I, and the IDSC, will keep you all safe. Let’s follow the proper
protocols and we’ll get through this, okay?”

“YEAH!” Kobo chimed in, still shouting at max volume, “WHAT SHE SAID!”

Sandwiched between the loudmouthed Kobo and the gentle yet professional Olivia, the panicked
crowd finally did as they were told. Olivia directed the school staff - at least the ones who weren’t
panicking too hard - to see the evacuation of the auditorium and the rest of the school.

Kobo lent a hand too, shepherding the students to the muster zones with her loud voice that cut
through the din.

So, by the time the IDSC garrison arrived to assist, most of the people in the school were already
waiting in the muster zones.

Electric IDSC humvees transporting students and staff of the high school to the evacuation zones.
Olivia, with Kobo’s help, spearheaded the effort and kept the flow of people and humvees running
like clockwork.

Fifth Scene - I.D.O.L. Parade

Once the whole school had been evacuated, Olivia and Kobo took the last IDSC humvee out to the
garrison bunker.

“Excellent work out there, kid.” Olivia praised, patting Kobo’s shoulder, “You’ve got the chops for
this kind of gig.”

“Y-you think so?” Kobo asked, her bright blue eyes sparkling from the praise.

“Mhm~!” Olivia confirmed, patting Kobo’s head next, “I came to Jakarta Pusat Technical today to
give a mandatory lecture and run a drill. I didn’t think I’d meet such a fine candidate for the IDSC
in the middle of an actual AO-incident!”
“Ehe~!” Kobo beamed, basking in Olivia’s praise.

“By the way, I never quite caught your name.” Olivia hummed.

“Kobo Kanaeru. Resident of Jakarta-03. Worldless.” Kobo answered, finally introducing herself.

“I knew it!” Olivia beamed, “I had a feeling that you were a Worldless like me.”

“How did you figure that out?” Kobo asked.

Olivia winked and pointed at her eye.

“I saw that subtle fatigue in your eyes that only us Worldless have.” Olivia revealed, “We get it
from the stress of not being able to dream normal dreams.” Then she smiled warmly, “Plus, you
sympathized with me when I talked about the trains. Most Worldless find the sight of outer space
comforting. Maybe it’s something subconscious: like a faint hope that our homeworlds - the ones
we don’t remember - are still out there, waiting to be rescued.”

Kobo laid her hand over her heart, “Yeah… I do feel like that. The me from before the Nights of a
Hundred Thousand Miracles - I want to know what she was like.”

“You and me both, Kobo!” Olivia grinned.

While Kobo and Olivia chatted, the IDSC humvee zipped through the now empty streets of
Platform Jakarta Central . Kobo looked out the humvee window and watched the peaceful veneer
of the platforms melt away chunk by chunk.

She watched thick, tall walls of reinforced metal alloys and concrete rise up from platform
compartments. Those walls covered up the pretty, architecturally beautiful buildings of Jakarta
Central with faceless, brutalist blocks. Uniform IDSC armored vehicles repeating emergency
broadcasts on their loudspeakers replaced the colorful variety of cars that once plied the streets.

On top of it all, the simulated afternoon sky displayed on the dome of Jakarta Central switched
off. They were replaced by direct live feeds of outer space: the true view behind the beautified
curtain of simulated terran weather.

From there, Kobo saw clearly the vast arsenal of heavy kinetic artillery batteries and missile
turrets. Olivia looked up to the weapons batteries and hummed.

“Impressive array of weaponry, huh?” Olivia commented, “We don’t get to see them often from
this angle, but they really remind you that the Jakarta-series platforms are really orbital defense
hubs.” She sighed, “The Cover Corporation’s been preparing for this war for years, apparently.
Maybe decades. Before either of us arrived in KW1.

“Yeah… and we’re now the frontline of the battle that’s coming.” Kobo frowned. She turned to
Olivia and asked, “Can we win?”

“I have a lot of concerns about what happened - and how the AO’s closed the gap with us so
quickly…” Olivia rubbed her chin and assessed. Then, she grinned, “But I’m sure as hell that we’re
gonna win.”

“How can you be so sure?” Kobo tested, raising her brow.

“I’m sure because these guns and missiles aren’t everything we have to defend this system with,
Kobo.” Olivia explained cheerfully, “Right now, my simpais are getting ready for battle as we
speak.”

“Your simpais… ” Kobo gasped.

“I don’t have an I.D.O.L. Frame to pilot right now, but my simpais do!” Olivia spoke proudly.
Then, she showed her WristComm device to Kobo and asked, “Want me to introduce them to
you?”

Without hesitation, Kobo nodded.

Olivia smiled. Then, she pressed on her WristComm screen and spoke to it.

“Udin. Relay me a tactical map of our field of operation, an audio feed of the TACCOM, and
zoomed in feeds of the Jakarta Pusat cameras.” Olivia commanded, “Oh! And make them
WristComm format, please!”

“As you wish, lady Olivia.” Commander Udin replied through the WristComm, “But why are you
asking for these all of a sudden? ”

“I just want to give a potential recruit a glimpse behind the curtain.” Olivia answered with a grin,
“Who knows? She could be calling me ‘ Olivia-simpai ’ one day! With the way things are going,
ID3 could be open for ‘auditions’ soon. Just like what Miss Enma and Miss Jenma are doing in
KW8!”

Commander Udin chuckled from the other end of the line.

“ Understood, lady Olivia. ” He acknowledged, “ Patching you through to the TACCOM and the
other feeds now. ”

When Commander Odin said this, Olivia’s WristComm device started to glow. A dozen floating
holographic screens burst out from the device, displaying everything that Olivia had asked for.
They turned the back of the IDSC humvee into a miniature command center.

Kobo watched all of the screens before her with bright, sparkling eyes. Then, new voices spoke
through the WristComm.

“Oooh! Looks like we’ve got new spectators on the TACCOM! ” A bright and cheerful voice
greeted, “ Hewrro~! Is that you, Livia? You look a little tired.”

A new screen popped up from Olivia’s WristComm. It displayed a pretty brunette girl with emerald
green eyes, fuzzy squirrel ears on the top of her head that twitched with excitement.

“Hi there, Risu- simpai! ” Olivia answered, “And yeah… I’ve had a pretty long day.”

The pilot named ‘Risu’ snickered. Next, another screen popped up.

This time, a cute girl with light-pink gradient hair and soft purple eyes appeared on a video feed.
She tilted her head lightly and beamed, “ Tenghari, Livia! ”
“Tenghari. Iofi- simpai!” Olivia grinned.

The pilot named ‘Iofi’ nodded and turned to Kobo, “Tenghari to you too, little miss. Will you be
watching over us too? ”

“T-tenghari …” Kobo waved awkwardly to Olivia’s WristComm screen. She stammered but joined
her hands together, “B-best of luck in the battle today!”

Finally, a third voice answered Kobo through the device.

“Thank you for the well wishes, dear guest, but starfighting is less about luck and more about skill
- and timing.” The third voice declared with lioness-like confidence, “Watch us closely today, girl.
We’ll show you what I.D.O.L. Frames are capable of.”

Olivia snorted. Then, she smiled and greeted the last voice, “Hah. Tenghari to you too, Moona-
simpai .”

Once Olivia said this, one last screen popped up from her WristComm device. This time, a
gorgeous woman with long, wavy locks of purple hair appeared. Her fierce, golden eyes and her
strong-willed poker face expression stirred Kobo’s heart. But more than that…

“Your hair…” Kobo’s thoughts escaped her ajar lips, “They have stars.”

The pilot named ‘Moona’ smiled briefly at Kobo before she buried it in her perpetual poker face
once more.

“Iofi. Risu. We’re deploying now to intercept the AO formation.” Moona declared, “We’ll draw
them into range of the Jakarta platforms and finish them off there.”

“ Yes, ma’am! ” Iofi and Risu answered.

Through the floating screens, Kobo watched as the three I.D.O.L. Frame pilots get ready for
launch. Then, one by one they made their announcements.

“1:15AM, standing by! ” Risu cheered.

“Q&A=E, standing by!” Iofi followed.

Then, Moona’s confident voice spoke next, “High Tide, standing by. ” Her golden eyes glowed
with confidence and she roared, “ID1! Sortie!”

Kobo’s eyes shone too. She was practically glued to the screens, watching the three I.D.O.L.
Frames launch into battle - towards the fearsome foes that Kobo had spent her every waking
moment running away from at light speed.
“So, what do you think?” Olivia asked cheerfully.

Kobo clutched her breast and answered wholeheartedly, “I want to be like them. I want to be as
brave as them.” She saw her own reflection on a formless screen and cried, “I don’t want to be
afraid anymore!”

To Be Continued
 Dreamless Angels

Prologue

Three years ago, in the far depths of space - far beyond the realm of KW1, an astronaut floated
through a debris field. She dragged along an umbilical cord attached to her suit that snaked behind
her all the way to a large space faring vessel. She activated the thrusters of her pack, propelling her
away from the ruined, ichor-stained remains of escape pods that littered the void. As she flew, her
visor displayed the coordinates of a distress beacon.

The astronaut followed that beacon to the only mostly-intact escape pod in the field.

“I have a visual of the beacon source.” The astronaut reported, hailing the warship, “I’ll attempt a
rescue.”

Her earpiece buzzed with an answer.

‘The signal’s one and a half system hours old, Moona. The Nousagi’s sensors say the pod’s hull
has been compromised pretty badly too. Whatever KW these pods came from… they don’t have
shields. I don’t think anyone would have survived that.’

The astronaut, Moona Hoshinova, frowned. The message continued, echoing in her helmet.

‘Sora-senpai says she wants to prepare the fleet to move on to the next sector, peko. We’re very far
from home base. The AO’s that caused this might still be out there. We have to warp together but
they’re waiting on me - and you.’

“We still have to check, Pekora-simpai . Please ask Sora-simpai for more time. She’ll understand.”
Moona insisted, “In the meantime, power up my beam cutters, please.”

An amused laugh came through the comms.

‘Oh Moona. Daring as ever. Alright. I’ll see what I can do and trust you, peko. Just don’t do
anything stupid, okay? The new EVA cable’s sturdy, but that’s your lifeline out there. If things get
bad, I’m reeling you back into the Nousagi.’

“I know, I know.” Moona reassured, “This isn’t my first EVA… and this isn’t my first rescue
mission either.”
 'Alright, peko. Routing power to you now.’

The pack on the back of Moona’s space suit started to whir and glow powder blue. She reached to
the side, brought out her beam cutters and pointed them at the escape pod’s airlock doors.

Then, she pulled the triggers.

FZZZZZZZZZZZTTTT!!!

High-powered cutter beams melted through the alloy hull of the escape pod, but she did not have to
cut through much. The already damaged airlock doors opened without a hiss of oxygen and floated
off without resistance. Moona retracted her beam cutters and entered the cockpit.

Inside, she found a lone girl who was frosting from the extreme cold of space. Her broken helmet
and visor floated beside her. A rebreather mask covered her nose and her mouth, but it was
flickering with red warning lights and was already slipping from the girl’s face. The girl’s blue
eyes were unfocused, but they turned towards Moona.

Moona rushed to action.

She launched herself towards the girl and opened a compartment of her space pack, retrieving a
brand new, fully-charged rebreather mask. With a brisk tug, she yanked off the girl’s old, spent
rebreather and placed the new one.

Moona took a deep breath and took off her helmet.

HISSSSSSS!!!

Oxygen spewed out of Moona’s helmet and spacesuit and the harsh cold of space bit at her,
making her wince. Her starry purple hair flew out and started frosting almost immediately. Despite
that, she took her helmet and fitted it as best as she could onto the girl’s space suit. Then, Moona
took out another rebreather mask and put that on for herself.

“Gahhh…!” Moona grunted, forcing herself to breathe the recycled air and brave the cold. But she
wasn’t done. Moona unplugged the EVA cable from her suit and plugged it into the girl’s.
Suddenly, her comms rang again, blasting with a frantic voice.

‘MOONA! YOUR VITALS SPIKED JUST NOW! YOUR LIFE SUPPORT’S FAILING…’

“Get me… an extraction team… Pekora-simpai …” Moona spoke through her rebreather, “I found
a survivor… she’s in worse shape… than me… so, be quick about it!”

‘O-oh… okay! Hold on! Dispatching an extraction team to you now!’

“Good.” Moona croaked. Her entire body trembled, clinging onto her residual warmth.

‘Don’t. Die. Moona.’

Moona scoffed.

“I won’t.” She promised, “Not ‘till I can dream again.”

So, Moona held onto the warming body of the girl adrift, sharing her heat. She looked into the
girl’s eyes through her new visor and promised, “I won’t let you die either.”

BRRRRRRRRRM

Back in the present, Moona’s memory was interrupted by the heavy, mechanical hum of
machinery. Those hums filled the cockpit of a different vessel - the High Tide I.D.O.L. Frame. A
crane carried her starfighter through the length of a long corridor slowly but surely.

Moona took a deep breath, taking in the fresh, temperature-controlled air that circulated the
cockpit.

The space suit that she wore was no longer the bulky, no-frills number for Extravehicular Activity
“EVA” gear. Instead, through the reflection on the reinforced glass of her cockpit, she saw her
sleeker, more stylish I.D.O.L. Frame flight suit with purple streaks adorned with a pattern of the
moon cycles waning and waxing and the triangular insignia of the Cover Corporation over her
heart.

Moona pinched the triangular insignia and snorted.

“It’s our time to shine.” Moona whispered. She heaved a sigh, “If only Peko were here to see.”

The moment she mentioned ‘Peko’, Moona laid her hand over her heart, holding it firmly.

When she said this, a formless screen appeared on Moona’s dashboard. It showed a frowning
Usada Pekora.

‘I heard that, peko.’

“ Tenghari , Shachou.” Moona answered the screen with a small smile.

‘Konnichiwa, Moona.” The voice answered in Japanese, “How many times are you going to make
me worry? You’re really deploying with just I.D.O.L. Frames?”

“We have no choice.” Moona replied firmly, “All the other IDSC vessels are engaged in battle
already around KW8 and KW11, right?”

‘Yeah… the Nousagi’s attached to the Ankimo battlegroup thirty-six system hours away from
there.’ Pekora shifted in her seat and shook her head, ‘And we’re the closest ones.’

“We’ll hold, Shachou.” Moona emphasized, “We’ll hold. Believe in me, please.”

Then, the crane came to a halt and sirens blared, followed by an announcement on the PA systems,
and within Moona’s comms too.

‘Attention all hands! The Garuda’s fighter bays are opening. Prepare for I.D.O.L. Frame takeoff! ’

“That’s my cue to go.” Moona said.

Pekora sniffled. Then, she croaked, 'Be safe out there, peko. '

“Be safe too.” Moona smiled, “I’ll be eagerly awaiting your return.”
Pekora smiled on the screen. Then, she cut the transmission.

The doors beneath the High Tide open with loud, hydraulic hisses, but Moona was unfazed. She
looked up to the crane dragging her starfighter, watching it whir again and lower the High Tide
beneath their mothership. Moona’s golden eyes twinkled for a moment as she looked out to the
vastness of space and its myriad of stars and planets.

But she could not enjoy it for long. The lights of a handful of those stars flickered.

“Way to ruin a view…” Moona hissed, “We’ll have to fix that.”

Two other I.D.O.L. Frames were lowered before and behind the High Tide , joining Moona’s
formation. Through the cockpit glass, the pilots of the two starfighters waved at Moona. The
pilots, just like their starfighters, were vastly different from Moona’s.

‘But that’s what makes them wonderful.’ Moona thought.

With a smile, Moona waved back to her teammates.

Then, an announcement came straight to Moona’s comms.

‘1:15AM, Q&A=E, High Tide. Battlefield control has been established. You are clear for takeoff.’

Moona reached up above her seat, grabbed a metallic alloy circlet and lowered it down to her head.
At her touch, the circlet glowed bright purple like an angel’s halo. Then, the systems of the High
Tide came to life. Floating, holographic screens appeared around Moona, displaying all sorts of
information. The screens organized themselves before her in a neat concave. Moona shifted in her
seat and answered calmly.

“Acknowledged, M-chan. High Tide online. I am taking command.”

She brought up one of the formless screens and expanded it, revealing a three-dimensional map of
the Solar System. Red circles with exclamation marks appeared on screen, massed between Jupiter
and Mars. Moona traced the mass of pings on the map with her gloved finger, encircling them in a
purple ring.

“Risu. Iofi. Our enemies are massing in this sector.” Moona spoke, watching the red pings inch
closer, “You’ve already been briefed on our strategy. All that’s left is to see it through.”

A formless screen popped up to Moona’s right, showing the face of the space suit-clad Risu
Ayunda.

“It’s finally time, huh?” Risu spoke cautiously, “We’ve only flown escort sorties for the big IDSC
warships ‘till now. This is our first time going solo. Just us and the mothership.”

“What? Getting cold feet, Risu?” Moona teased.

“Heh. Me?” Risu laughed heartily at first, but she paused. In the screen, her fluffy squirrel’s tail
drooped behind her, “... maybe a little, if I’m being honest.”

Moona chuckled and thought, ‘ Is worrying this much a rodent thing? ’

“The Garuda will be fine if we do our jobs right, Risu.” A second screen appeared, opposite to
Risu’s, showing the bubbly, smiling figure of Iofifteen Airani. Her kind purple eyes shone as she
spoke, “The I.D.O.L. Frames are much more powerful than most folks think, especially after our
upgrades. I would know - and so would the two of you! Now’s our chance to prove just that! Isn’t
that right, Moona?”

“Yeah.” Moona nodded. Then, she spoke sternly, “We have to crush these AO’s completely!
Anything less is unacceptable.”

'Ma’am, yes ma’am!' Risu and Iofi answered her challenge.

It was at around this time that another line patched into their secure line. Risu’s expression
brightened up and Iofi’s smile grew warmer. The two of them were talking to someone on the
TACCOM.

Soon enough, the observer’s screen appeared between Risu’s and Iofi’s screens. It was Olivia
Kureiji… and the peculiar child that she rescued three years ago. The two of them seemed to be in
the back of an IDSC humvee. The girl’s voice came through to Moona.

'B-best of luck in the battle today!' said the child over the comms.

‘So, that’s what she sounds like.’ Moona watched the child beside Olivia closely, ‘She’s breathing.
She’s alive. Thank goodness.’
She answered the girl’s stammered but wholehearted greeting, “Thank you for the well wishes,
dear guest, but starfighting is less about luck and more about skill - and timing.”

‘Hah.’ Olivia scoffed through the comms, ‘Tenghari to you too, Moona-simpai .”

Moona ran her hand through her starry purple hair and turned on her TACCOM camera. When she
did, the child’s blue eyes sparkled.

‘Your hair… ’ the child spoke with awe, ‘They have stars. ”

‘Did she remember me from back then? ’ Moona wondered. She kept her poker-face on, but she
could tell that this child was looking - listening - observing her. So, she thinks, ‘I’ve got to put on a
show, then.’

“Iofi. Risu. We’re deploying now to intercept the AO formation.” Moona declared, “We have to
make those monsters fight on our terms!”

'Yes, ma’am!' Iofi and Risu answered.

With that, Moona, Risu and Iofi prepared their I.D.O.L. Frames. A myriad of cords and cables split
off from the three starfighters and retracted back into the fighter bays of the Garuda.

Then, Moona cried out, “ID1! Sortie!”

One by one, the thrusters of the 1:15AM , the Q&A=E and the High Tide roared to life.

FWOOOSH!

FWOOOSH!

FWOOOSH!
 …

The three I.D.O.L. Frames took off, soaring through the vast expanse of space. Moona’s High Tide
led the formation. Her golden eyes swept through the battery of formless screens on her dashboard,
but she watched the formation of eldritch horrors grow closer and closer.

‘Damn. That’s a lot of AO’s…’ Risu clicked her tongue over the comms, ‘They’re all bunched up
together too. That’s new.’

True enough, as the I.D.O.L. Frames shot towards Mars, Moona saw the sheer size of the Eldritch
Horrors with her own eyes. They coalesced into a large mass many times larger than the IDSC
Garuda - enough to swallow the mothership whole. Moona held onto her seat firmly, furrowing her
brow.

‘Could they be mimicking IDSC warships?’ Iofi theorized.

‘Looks more like a big damn orca to me.’ Risu scoffed, 'Either way, we’re entering missile range,
Moona.’

“Roger that.” Moona answered. She tapped on the screens on her dashboard, “Let’s give them a
warm welcome to KW1!”

Blue Horizon

Dreamless Angels

Sixth Scene - Sword and Shield

The flight formation of the 1:15AM, the Q&A=E and the High Tide appeared on the projections of
Olivia Kureiji’s WristComm device. Video feeds from the Jakarta-series platforms and the IDSC’s
three-dimensional Deep Space Sensor Array star map of the Solar System showed Olivia and her
passenger Kobo the battle from the safety of the Platform Jakarta Central.

Eventually, the three starfighters disappeared from the video feeds. The voices of Moona, Risu and
Iofi broke off their transmission too, leaving just the star map populated with blips of many
different colors. Still, Kobo watched that star map with sheer awe.

Excited as she was, however, she didn’t have a clue as to what was going on!

“W-what’s going on here?” Kobo asked Olivia, frantically pointing to the map, “So many things!
So many colors!”

Olivia smiled and expanded the map with a wave of her hand. She traced her finger through the
screen, scrolling and zooming to the different-colored blips for Kobo to see.

“The Greens are us - that is, the Jakarta-series platforms and Mother Earth itself.” Olivia spoke as
she scrolled, “The red mass between Jupiter and Mars… though closer to Mars about now… that’s
the Ancient Ones. The AO’s.”

“Just like in your presentation earlier.” Kobo recalled.

“That’s right! So you were listening to me after all!” Olivia beamed.

Kobo snorted, pretending not to care. That was Olivia’s cue to continue.

Olivia zoomed in to the blues and smiled, “And these are our heroes - the IDSC Garuda
Autonomous Aviation Cruiser and her complement: the I.D.O.L. Frames of Strike Force ID1.”

Olivia held her head high and watched the map proudly.

“There’s gonna come a time when I get to see this star map in the cockpit of my own I.D.O.L.
Frame - a day when I can deploy from the Garuda, or the other AAC’s.” Olivia mused longingly,
“But for now, the best I can do is to cheer my simpais on.”

Kobo nodded eagerly. She kept her eyes on the map, following the blue blips keenly - especially
the blip of the High Tide .

All of a sudden the blips of the I.D.O.L. Frames blossomed. Kobo’s jaw dropped.

“They’re like angels spreading their wings.” Kobo noted, bringing her face closer to the map.

“That’s a missile salvo, dear. Good ole’ eighty-six blast salute. Forty from Risu-simpai, thirty-one
from Moona-simpai and fifteen from Iofi- simpai !” Olivia explained, chuckling. She followed the
trails traced by the missiles and added, “I can see what you mean, though. The IDSC and their
galactic warships are the protectors of KW1 and everyone under its protection.” She pointed to the
blip of he High Tide and mused fondly, “But in Moona-simpai’s eyes, the I.D.O.L. Frame
starfighters are the swords and shields of us Worldless.”

“Miss Moona is…!?” Kobo gasped.

“A Worldless, just like you and me.” Olivia confirmed gladly, “Us Worldless are unable to dream,
but Moona-simpai insists that we can dream in our own way. The I.D.O.L. Frames bring those
unmade dreams to life. All of our pilots are Worldless!”
“I… didn’t know we were able to do that…” Kobo touched her forehead curiously.

She and Olivia turned to the 3D map again. The blue blips of the I.D.O.L. Frames soared,
destroying blip after red blip. The once fearsome formation of AO’s thinned out in minutes.

Moments later, the Jakarta platforms unleashed their own salvos of missiles at the approaching
AO’s. Heavy-caliber guns of the Jakarta-series defense platforms whirred and fired their salvos.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The salvos shook all of Jakarta Central and the IDSC humvee, but Kobo and Olivia held firm.
They just looked up to the Jakarta Central’s dome and watched the explosions going off like
fireworks in space. All the while, more and more of the red blips of AO’s disappeared.

One after another, the 1:15AM, the Q&A=E and the High Tide flew over the Jakarta Central dome.

FWOOOOOOOOSH!!!

FWOOOOOOOOSH!!!

FWOOOOOOOOSH!!!

It was a victory lap.

Kobo held her hands over her heart. The display of power stirred her from within.

Above them, the gun and missile batteries of the Jakarta-series platforms fell silent as the last of
the eldritch horrors were consumed by flames of starburst artillery.

Slowly but surely, the two saw brutalist blocks of steel and concrete retracting back below the
ground, releasing the beautiful city from its bondage. They watched the residents of Jakarta
Central emerge out of the underground AO-incident shelters too. Then, the simulated environment
appeared once more on the platform dome and painted a scene of late afternoon.

“We are more powerful than we think, dear Kobo.” Olivia pointed to Kobo’s head, “I.D.O.L.
Frames only respond to the strongest of wills. I have been privileged and fortunate to serve!” She
glanced at Kobo, “Me and my Strike Force ID2 are definitely gonna be activated soon, but I heard
our commander’s looking for candidates for ID3 already!”

The moment Olivia said this Kobo straightened up in her seat and laid her hand over her heart.

“Can I sign up, Miss Olivia? For the IDSC?”

“Definitely!” Olivia joined her hands together, beaming, “I’ll chat with your school principal about
it, so talk with your homeroom teacher and get your affairs in order. The Academy’s all the way
down on the Earth after all.”

“On Earth?” Kobo’s eyes shone.

Olivia nodded, “You’ll be leaving Jakarta-03 behind, so you’ll need the approval of your legal
guardians.”

Suddenly, Kobo went silent and shrank into her seat.

“You don’t have any?” Olivia guessed.

Kobo pouted and shook her head.

Olivia twisted her lips and she pulled on a lock of her red hair. Then, she heaved a sigh and
proposed, “I could sign off on the necessary documents for you if you don’t have a guardian. The
Orbital Administration's gonna chew my ears out for this, and I won’t hear the end of it from M-
chan either…”

Kobo’s silence, however, gave her pause.

“S-something wrong, kid?” Olivia asked.

When she turned to Kobo, though, she saw tears in the young girl’s eyes.

“Y-you’re…” Kobo sniffled, wiping her tears, “Y-you’re gonna adopt me, Miss Olivia?”

“I didn’t…” Olivia tried to correct, but she didn’t get the chance.

“THANK YOU!” Kobo pounced on Olivia, hugging her tightly.

Wrapped in Kobo’s arms, Olivia lost the strength to argue and came to terms with her fate. Kobo,
on the other hand, snuggled lovingly with Olivia under the light of the simulated sunset.
That night, after Kobo had come home to Platform Jakarta-03, her haunting first memories did not
come to her in her waking moments. In their stead, she dreamed about Olivia Kureiji, Moona
Hoshinova and the I.D.O.L. Frames.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Kobo Kanaeru slept peacefully.

Seventh Scene - Shelter From The Rain

One month had passed since the battle in high orbit.

Ever since then, Kobo Kanaeru had been blessed with peaceful sleep and calm awakenings.
However, that morning, Kobo had rings under her eyes. After all, rather than a dreamless sleep,
Kobo wasn’t able to sleep - at all!

“Ungh…” Kobo grumbled, shifting for what felt like the hundred thousandth time in her bed. She
threw her blanket off and sat upright, hunching forward as she looked around her room.

Kobo didn’t have a lot of things to begin with, but most of what little she had no longer populated
her tiny studio apartment.

Most of the furniture had already been taken away, leaving, leaving off-color markings on the floor
and the walls. Her walk-in closet, with its door slightly ajar, had nearly nothing left. Then, her
trolley suitcase stood by her bed, barely half-filled with clothes and anything else that wasn’t
bolted down.

Suddenly, Kobo’s WristComm device then buzzed and blasted out her alarm: a song from a virally
popular and anonymous idol group.

“Yikes!” Kobo shot up from her bed and turned off her alarm, “Seven o’clock already?” She
facepalmed, “I couldn’t sleep even a little bit, huh?”

Despite her frustrations, Kobo hummed the tune and sang some of the lyrics, “ Dan menjadi satu,
id:entity~ ”

Satisfied, Kobo ran her hands through her unruly hair, taming them as best as she could, and
marched over to her bathroom window for her morning ritual. Resting her elbow on her
windowsill, she looked up to the simulated sunrise on the Platform Jakarta-03 dome one last time.

The simulated sunlight, however, was obstructed by gray clouds that hung in the sky. A light
drizzle even fell from the dome, mimicking a gentle springtime shower.

Kobo opened her window and held her hand out to catch the ‘rain’.

‘I wonder what real weather on the Earth is like .’ Kobo thought, feeling the water droplets slide
down her hand and her arm.

Just as Kobo was about to close her window again, she noticed something stirring in the midst of
the garden shrubs under her windowsill. Kobo poked her head out the window and looked down.

It was a small garden snail.

“The rain startled you too, huh, little guy?” Kobo chuckled. She grabbed a hold of the stem of a
lotus leaf and held it over the snail like an umbrella, “There you go.” She smiled at the snail and
closed her window, whispering, “Take care, now. Goodbye.”

Kobo finished up in the bathroom and put away her toiletries for the last time, stuffing them into
her trolley suitcase. She zipped up her suitcase and stepped out the door of her apartment unit. Just
as she did, though, the simulated rain intensified.

“What the hell…!?” Kobo fumed, frowning at the heavens. Droplets splattered on her face, but
Kobo just clicked her tongue and stood defiant.

But then, a large powder blue umbrella with a bright red interior opened over her head.

FWOOP!

Kobo’s eyes traced the umbrella to the hand that was holding it. She turned to the side and saw
Olivia Kureiji holding up the umbrella for her.

“Rain’s part of the ecosystem.” Olivia remarked, looking up to the cloudy dome above, “Even if
it’s simulated, it has a purpose.”

Kobo pouted at Olivia and cheered, “Livia!”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Olivia beamed, “What kind of a legal guardian would I be if I didn’t come to
pick you up for the big day.”

Kobo pursed her lips and tested, “What kind of a legal guardian, huh?”

She looked straight into Olivia’s eyes and frowned. She wanted to talk about how after Olivia
dropped her off at the maglev train station last month, the I.D.O.L. Frame pilot made herself
scarce, but held her tongue. Aside from some texts and emails confirming her IDSC Academy
enrolment, Olivia practically disappeared from Kobo’s radar.

Olivia got the message and started to fret.

“Ah… ahahaha~ L-listen! Things have gotten pretty busy over at HQ.” Olivia started making
excuses, but Kobo didn’t budge. So, Olivia bowed down apologetically, “I swear, I didn’t mean to
ghost you Kobo. It was out of my control. I haven’t forgotten about you - nu-uh!”

“Really?” Kobo tested.

“Cross my heart and hope to die!” Olivia swore. She promptly placed the large umbrella in Kobo’s
hands and explained, “I actually got this for you. It’s my birthday gift to you.”

“My birthday…?” Kobo paused. The umbrella nearly slipped from her hands.

“Today’s the day that Moona-simpai rescued you from that escape pod.” Olivia reminded her with
a grin, “Happy third birthday, Kobo! Welcome again to KW1!”

Kobo fell silent. The large umbrella trembled in her hands.

“K-Kobo…?” Olivia stammered, her voice shaking with concern.

Kobo, with umbrella still in hand, hugged Olivia. The young girl then croaked meekly, “I’m… I’m
sorry for doubting you, Olivia-neesan.”

“...neesan?” Olivia blushed. She hugged Kobo back, “Heh, it’s alright, kid. I would have felt the
same.” She patted Kobo’s back and smiled, “Come on now, I’ll buy you some snacks at the
Skyport. Anything you like!”

“Anything!?” Kobo brightened up immediately. It was almost as if she hadn’t even shed a tear!

“W-within reason.” Olivia walked back her promise.

Kobo stuck out her tongue, “Good enough for me! Let’s go, Livia-neesan!”

With that, Kobo held up the umbrella for Olivia and herself. Olivia, meanwhile, pulled Kobo’s
luggage for her. The two of them then walked under the rain. As they did, Kobo walked through
the puddles in the pavement with a spring in her step. All the while, she whispered the refrain of
the idol song.

“Dan menjadi satu id:entity~!” Kobo sang in the rain.

Olivia glanced at the singing Kobo and smiled, not saying a word. She just bobbed her head along
to Kobo’s tune, enjoying the rainswept performance that was just for her.

Eighth Scene - Connecting Flight

Kobo, together with Olivia, took the maglev train on her usual route but they went three stations
further than Platform Jakarta Central/Pusat. All the while, the dysfunctional family chatted and
caught up with each other over the past month. The PA system announced their destination.

‘Skyport Banda Aceh. Skyport Banda Aceh.'

The maglev train doors opened. Kobo and Olvia marched out along with the rest of the crowd,
taking their things with them. They went out one set of turnstiles and headed through another into
the Skyport itself. There, just as Olivia promised, she bought her new ward a snack: chili dogs from
a peculiar hotdog stand called ‘O.Wurst’.

“O.Wurst hotdogs might not seem like much, but they’re the best hotdogs in the Orbital Platforms
by lightyears !” Olivia praised while she ordered at the stand with Kobo, “Pair that together with
Peter E. Pepper chili? It’s the greatest thing you’ve ever tasted!” She lowered her voice to a
whisper, “Though, I might have to hit the gym when I get back to HQ after this…”

Kobo, however, was already too hungry to listen to the last part. Her mouth was already watering!

Olivia handed Kobo her chili dog and the two of them found a bench by the hotdog stand.
Together, they enjoyed Kobo’s birthday snack while the other commuters zipped to and fro before
them.

As they ate - or rather gorged on - the chili dogs, advertisements of Skyport orbital zeppelins and
the Space Elevator Yokosuka appeared on the walls. Physical posters and digital holograms caught
Kobo’s eyes left and right.

“So, this is your first time taking an O-Zep, kiddo?” Olivia pointed to a hologram of an orbital
zeppelin across from them.

Kobo nodded eagerly. She finished off her chili dog and wiped her mouth with the wrapper, “I was
brought straight to Jakarta-03 and spent my whole life there. I never took the train past Jakarta
Pusat.”

“Heh. You’ll be in for a treat, then!” Olivia cheered, finishing her chili dog too, “Most of the
Worlded folk hype up the Space Elevator… and it definitely is a hell of an engineering marvel,
don't’ get me wrong. But for us Worldless? The view of outer space from the O-Zeps is to DIE
for!” She waved her arms around, “Unrestricted view! You won’t have the maglev tube spoiling
the wonder of it all! It ain’t flying through space in an I.D.O.L. Frame, but I tell you, it gets pretty
close!”

“Really!?” Kobo piped up, sitting upright on the bench.

“And the best part…!” Olivia grinned. She leaned towards Kobo and whispered, “A Cover
affiliate, Pink Rabbit, owns the O-Zep company, so they don’t force the riders to watch OANA
news.”

“Pfft…!” Kobo snickered.

Then, Kobo and Olivia laughed.

“Heh. So enjoy our little connecting flight to the Space Elevator while you can.” Olivia urged.
Then, she mimicked the OANA newscaster’s voice and tone, “Or it’ll be ‘ Elio Peterson of OANA
reporting live from wonderful Tokyo, Japan,’ before you know it - aaaaaaaall the way down to the
Earth!”

“Hahaha~! Oh, please no!” Kobo guffawed.

The two of them, however, were interrupted by an announcement on the PA System.

‘Attention, all Skyport passengers. Orbital Zeppelin flight PR-115… with nonstop service to Space
Elevator Yokosuka… is arriving at Gate 11. Please have your WristComm passports and boarding
passes ready for inspection.’

“Right on schedule.” Olivia wiped her own mouth on the wrapper and stood up from the bench.
She crumpled up the wrapper and sauntered towards a nearby trash can.

“Oh, let me throw that for ya!” Kobo offered.

Olivia smiled and handed her wrapper to Kobo, “Thanks, kiddo.”

Kobo grinned, marched towards the trash can and threw the hotdog wrappers triumphantly. On her
way back, however, a Skyport passenger slammed into her!

WHAM!
“Urk!” Kobo grunted.

The passenger who slammed into her, however, fell back and dropped butt-first to the floor. The
passenger’s trolley luggage fell down beside her unceremoniously, scratching the logo of the
designer brand.

“HEY! BLUE GIRL! Watch where you’re…!” The passenger started at first, but stopped halfway,
“Wait a minute…”

Kobo gritted her teeth and glared at the passenger, but she fell silent too.

“Hey, you’re…” Kobo started.

Olivia rushed over to the scene and intervened, “What’s going on here, kids?”

Kobo and the passenger puffed up their cheeks and pointed at each other, shouting, “THIS BITCH
RAN INTO ME!”

Olivia facepalmed. Then, she urged, “Kobo. Help her up, will ya?”

“But she’s…!” Kobo protested.

“She’s Vestia Zeta - daughter of the Inter-Orbital Security Bureau chief.” Olivia explained bitterly,
“And she’s… she’s one of the cadets gunning for the I.D.O.L. Frame pilot slots for ID3.” She
looked straight into Kobo’s eyes, “She’s probably going to the Academy too.”

Kobo’s jaw dropped in utter disbelief.

“HUUUUH!?!?”

To Be Continued
 Canto of the Cadets

Prologue

Aboard the Orbital Zeppelin en route to the Space Elevator Yokosuka, Kobo Kanaeru and Zeta
Vestia shouted at each other until their faces went red. Their voices bounced off the walls of the
pressurized cabin and drowned out the din of the hundreds of other passengers and the cheerful
elevator music playing onboard.

“HUH!?!?!? What the hell are you doing here!?” Kobo shrieked, her fountain-like locks of hair
bristled furiously like crashing waves, “Go back to whatever stupid rich girl school you’re going to
or something!”

“Oh yeah!? You’re the one who should go back!” Zeta shouted back, standing tiptoed to tower
over Kobo and her hyperactive hair, “Aren’t you running away from your poor-kid school? Do you
know who I am!?”

“No! I don’t! And I don’t care!!” Kobo hissed and stuck out her tongue.

“Why you…!!”

This was the reality that Olivia Kureiji had to deal with.

The grounded, starfighter-less I.D.O.L. Frame pilot stood between Kobo and Zeta like a wall of
frizzled red hair and worsening eye bags, furrowing her brow and wrinkling her nose in frustrated
silence. Somehow, she managed to whisk the two bickering brats from the Skyport Banda Aceh
onto their scheduled zeppelin flight, but it was taking its toll on her.

It took every ounce of her patience and calmness to stop Kobo and Zeta from starting the Third
World War.

‘ If the screaming doesn’t kill me and rupture my eardrums, then I’m gonna end up trending on
Pink Rabbit’s Twitter hashtag. ’ Olivia rolled her eyes, ‘ I can already see the other passengers
bringing out their cameras. Hooh boy.’

Eleven minutes into the word war between the two brats, Kobo and Zeta started running out of
ammunition. Their bickering grew less and less coherent and more erratic, devolving into calling
each other ‘stupid’ over and over and over again.

‘They’re scraping the barrel. Thank goodness…’ Olivia thought.

She heaved a sigh of relief.

Olivia watched the zeppelin slow down and dock with one of the bridges of the Space Elevator
Yokosuka, tapping her feet impatiently. She was eager to put the nightmare of practically herding a
cat and a water fountain behind her.

‘The sooner I can drop these kids off at the Academy, the sooner I can…’ Olivia pondered, but her
thoughts were interrupted.

Unfortunately for her, she misjudged just how much of the barrel the two brats still had left to
scrape!

“Stupid cat didn’t let me enjoy the space view on the zeppelin.” Kobo grumbled on their way out,
speaking just loud enough for Zeta to hear her.

“Dumb fountain just can’t shut up and leave me in peace.” Zeta answered too, baring her teeth
viciously, “... and I’m not a cat!!”

Kobo and Zeta butted heads.

Again.

Olivia’s red eyes twitched.

Passengers all around them were bringing out their phones again. They didn’t bother to put their
phones on silent mode. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not Olivia would be trending on orbital
platform Twitter anymore. It was a matter of how high up the list she got.

Olivia’s had enough.

“Hey. Kids.” Olivia snapped, barely hiding her fury any longer, “Would the two of you mind
behaving for a -freaking- second? You gals are pushing my buttons right now and I’m trying
really, REALLY hard to keep it in check.”

The two brats stopped and turned to Olivia. The off-duty pilot looked into their eyes and hissed,
“Keep this up and I’m gonna give you gals NIGHTMARES that make the Ancient Ones seem
nice. Do. You. Understand!?”

Adamant, still, Kobo chimed cheekily, “But the Worldless can’t dream…”

Olivia craned her head to Kobo, casting her shadow over the girl.

“I can fix that.” Olivia’s nose flared, daring Kobo. Her red eyes burned with flames too, “Try me
kiddo. Do it. See what happens.”
Kobo shuddered under Olivia’s gaze. Even Zeta fell quiet.

“I’m sorry Livia-neesan…” Kobo apologized, lowering her head, “I’ll leave whatsherface alone…”

“Zeta Vestia.” Olivia corrected sharply.

Kobo nodded sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, Zeta…” Kobo mumbled, but she furrowed her brow and turned away immediately.

“Heh.” Zeta snorted, but Olivia turned to her too.

“The same goes for you, Miss Vestia.” Olivia added, her tone still frigid, “Neither I nor the
Academy will give you special treatment. You know what you signed up for, so please be on your
best behavior.”

Finally, Zeta paused too.

Begrudgingly, Zeta and Kobo apologized to each other under Olivia’s watchful gaze. Then, Zeta
darted off on her own into the Space Elevator, leaving Olivia with Kobo.

“What’s her deal?” Kobo mused.

“You’re gonna be classmates in the IDSC Academy, Kobo. Ask her yourself.” Olivia answered.
She patted Kobo’s shoulder, “Come on. Let’s get moving.”

With that, Olivia carried on into the Space Elevator with the humbled Kobo in tow.

Blue Horizon

Canto of the Cadets

Ninth Scene - Trending Trio

Olivia and Kobo passed through the Space Elevator security and found seats in the grand
concourse underneath a miniature dome looking out to space. The bickering of the two brats in the
Skyport, in the Zeppelin and in the connecting bridge caused them to miss the lift down to the
Earth.

‘Looks like we’re stuck here till’ the next lift comes around.’ Olivia sighed, wincing at the transport
screens. She turned to her ward and reported, “We’ve got an hour and a half before the next lift,
Kobo… Kobo?”
Olivia saw her ward slumped back into her upholstered seat and had fallen fast asleep.

‘She wasn’t kidding about not getting any sleep last night, huh?’ Olivia snorted, ‘She’s cute when
she’s not trying to start a war.’

The frustrated frown on Olivia’s lips lightened up, replaced with a small smile. She took off her
IDSC athletic jacket and draped it over Kobo like a blanket. Then, she sat down beside Kobo and
looked around. From her perch, she checked on Zeta for a bit and found her in a corner of the
concourse.

‘Zeta was taking a lot of phone calls too when I recruited her back then…’ Olivia recalled. She
could hazard a guess who Zeta was talking to, but she held her tongue.

Instead, Olivia took a page from Zeta’s book and took out her own smartphone as well.

She browsed through her Twitter feed and grumbled, “It’s just as I thought. M-chan’s gonna give
me an earful when I get back to base.”

Right on cue, a direct message group chat popped into her inbox with dings.

‘Saw you and your kid trending on the Pink Rabbit hashtag, Livia!’ - ‘@PavolianaRei’

“This was not how I wanted to get popular, Reine.” Olivia snickered, typing her answer.

‘You’re really getting the single parent experience!’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“Why don’t you come and help me then, Anya? Reine?” Olivia asked with a snort, typing again.

‘We’d like to, but we’re tied up in HQ. Miss A-chan’s gonna make an announcement today on the
news.’ - ‘@PavolianaRei’

“An announcement…” Olivia paused. She lowered her head and answered, “Oh. Right. We’re
finally declassifying all that stuff, huh?”

‘Yep. We’ll be in for a long day.’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“I should be there with you guys.” Olivia answered, “We don’t even have our I.D.O.L. Frames yet,
but the IDSC’s finding ways of working us to the bone…”

‘Sheesh, yeah. No kidding.’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“That said…” Olivia tested, “Any news on the Frames?”

‘None yet. Unless A-chan plans to say something in her announcement today.’ - ‘@PavolianaRei’

‘Unlikely.’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“Tsk… that’s a shame.” Olivia sighed.

‘We’ll hold the fort here for you, Livia. Moona-simpai, Risu-simpai and Iofi-simpai are with us
too. Don’t worry!’ - ‘@PavolianaRei’

‘You’re doing what A-chan wants the IDSC to be doing. Recruiting.’ - ‘@Kerisss’

‘Yeah. And we’re gonna need those recruits. Pilots are much more valuable than the Frames.’ -
‘@PavolianaRei’

‘Mhm. And only a select few make the cut.’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“I know that, but…” Olivia turned away from her phone and glanced at Kobo beside her and Zeta
in her far corner, “I’ve only recruited two. And they’re… a handful.”
 ‘We were a handful for the IDSC - and for our simpais too! Remember?’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“Heh… you’re right.” Olivia smirked.

‘Yeah. So think of it this way, Livia. You’ve got two high-energy girls who might one day pilot
I.D.O.L. Frames.’ - ‘@PavolianaRei’

‘And two more than either me or Reine. Heh. You’ve got this!’ - ‘@Kerisss’

“Thanks guys.” Olivia smiled, typing back to them both, “I’ll buy you guys something nice next
time we meet!”

‘Looking forward to it! See you on campus, and safe travels!’ - ‘@PavolianaRei’

‘Yeah, yeah! See ya, Livia!’ - ‘@Kerisss’

The three ladies started barraging each other with emojis, filling their DM screen with color and
warm lights. Then, once Olivia was satisfied, she put away her phone and sank into her seat beside
Kobo. She yawned a little and felt envious of her ward sleeping beside her, so she tried to close her
eyes to rest.

The only problem was… the Space Elevator lobby seemed quiet. Too quiet.

Olivia grunted and opened her eyes. Every television screen, formless or otherwise, all tuned in to
OANA. All of the passengers of the Space Elevator, even the busy Zeta, stopped what they were
doing and watched the grim face of Elio Peterson on the myriad of screens. Only the sleeping
Kobo was spared from the tense air.

“So it begins.” Olivia muttered beneath her breath.

The news anchor was giving his usual spiel, but his tone was much less light hearted than before.
He didn’t even use his usual lines and kept his preamble short. He cut the feed and sent it straight
to a news conference happening outside the Cover Corporation headquarters. There, the head
spokesperson and executive officer of Cover, A-chan, appeared before the cameras with a solemn
expression on her face.
Olivia furrowed her brow and watched the broadcast.

CLICK!

“Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of the Cover Corporation, I would like to sincerely
apologize for withholding information about the KW8 mission and the recent attack of the Ancient
Ones on KW1. Please allow me to make the Company’s official statement on both matters known
now.”

“ t is with great sorrow that I must inform you that Cover has lost contact with our KW8 expedition
team members Ennis Marie “Enma” Miyamoto and Jennifer “Jenma” Mathers. Despite our
precautions and countermeasures, otherworldly interference cut off all interdimensional
communications with KW8. All attempts to reestablish it this past month have been unfortunately
unfruitful. Enma and Jenma are two of Cover’s greatest managers . Their capabilities are beyond
reproach. But as of right now, we cannot help them on their mission. We can only hope for the
best.”

“As for the security of KW1, I would like to assure the public that the Cover Corporation has
everything under control. We built the IDSC Galactic Fleet and the Jakarta-series Orbital Defense
Platforms more than a decade ago to prepare for this threat. The Ancient Ones may attempt again
to knock on our doors, but we will be ready for them. Everyone in KW1 saw the I.D.O.L. Frames in
flight that day. We. Will. Be. Ready.”

“I will not be taking questions from the media at this time. Thank you.”

On the screen, Olivia watched as A-chan stepped away from the podium, ending her news
conference as abruptly as it started. Reporters from the press pool started shouting out questions in
rapid fire, drowning each other out. One reporter’s voice, however, cut through the din.
“Miss A-chan! Mirae Laplace, London Observer.” She shouted, leaping over the other reporters to
make herself seen, “You mentioned the I.D.O.L. Frames just now. The Galactic Fleet is spending
more and more time deployed to other KW’s, but there’s rumors of I.D.O.L. Frame production
delays. Strike Team ID2 supposedly has no starworthy Frames. Can the IDSC really defend us
with just three Frames?”

Olivia blinked. Her jaw dropped as she watched the screen in the concourse. The exact same
questions filled her head, but she didn’t expect some no-name reporter from a British tabloid to ask
them so directly.

She held her breath, waiting for A-chan to answer.

“The I.D.O.L. Frames will be ready when they’re ready.” A-chan spoke curtly, still continuing to
walk off the stage, “Please wait for an announcement from the I.D.O.L. Frame Squadron’s
Commander, M-chan when that time comes. Aside from that, I have no further comment.”

“What about the agent in KW11?” The reporter continued her barrage, “What’s their status? Are
they still alive? Are they still in contact with Cover Corp?”

A-chan stopped for a moment and glared at the London Observer reporter. But A-chan said
nothing more and stormed out of the conference room.

“What in the world was that?” Olivia blinked.

OANA continued the program, focusing now on the questions left unanswered by A-chan. One of
those questions in particular, however, made Olivia frown.

‘The Frames will be ready when they’re ready, huh…? ’ Olivia grumbled, fidgeting with her
fingers. She glanced down at her phone and sighed, ‘What’s really going on here, Reine? Anya?’

Her thoughts, however, were cut short by a different announcement on the PA system of the
concourse. The earthbound lift was arriving.

…
 Tenth Scene - Downlifting

Kobo awakened just as the earthbound lift arrived.

She opened her blue eyes narrowly and yawned, just as the concourse PA systems chimed with
announcements. Kobo rubbed her eyes and got her bearings. When she did, she saw the throngs of
people already lining up for the gate to the earthbound lift. There were so many of them that Kobo
was startled.

‘Holy crap!’ thought Kobo, ‘My morning commute never got this bad! ’ She blinked and wondered,
‘Is this really how many folks go down to Earth? ’

Kobo looked all around her, trying to see how far the line for the lift went. This was the first time
she had seen that many people moving so frantically, so her curiosity started to brew yet again. She
turned to Olivia beside her, hoping to ask her about the lift, but she stopped halfway.

She found Olivia gazing at the screens of the concourse and the OANA broadcasts. Olivia’s gaze
seemed somewhat distant and troubled. That, and for someone who wasn’t a fan of OANA, Olivia
watched the screen rather intently.

Kobo decided not to disturb her.

At least, that was the plan.

The IDSC jacket slid down from Kobo’s shoulders and spilled down to the floor, drawing Olivia’s
attention. Olivia snapped out of her rut and caught the falling jacket mid-air.

“Oh, safe!” Olivia sighed, clutching her jacket in her hand. She gave the jacket back to Kobo and
grinned, “So you’re finally awake.”

“I am, yeah…” Kobo answered groggily. But then, she remembered what she wanted to say and
piped up, “Right! The lift’s here, Olivia-neesan. We’ve gotta line up! The line’s really long
already!”

Despite this warning, though, Olivia didn’t panic. She just faced Kobo with a kindly smile.

“They’re lining up for the general boarding. That won’t happen for a little while longer.” Olivia
explained calmly. She brought up her WristComm device and flashed a hologram of her IDSC ID,
“You, me and Miss Vestia get priority boarding. The two of you are incoming cadets already after
all. Check your device.”

Kobo brought up her own WristComm and browsed through its contents. She found her own
identification card and saw her occupation.
 'IDSC Academy Cadet, Junior Class.’

“Whoa…” Kobo awed.

Olivia continued happily, “Well then. Did you get a good rest?”

“Good rest?” Kobo started. Then, she felt the fabric of Olivia’s jacket draped over her. The jacket
slid down a little and Kobo’s cheeks flushed red.

Olivia tilted her head, humming expectantly, asking, “Well…?”

Kobo nodded meekly, “Mm…” She looked up to Olivia, “But what about you?”

“I’ll rest when I get back to base after I drop you and Miss Vestia off at the Academy.” Olivia
winked, “But now that you’ve rested up, Kobo, can I expect you to not be so cranky anymore?”

Kobo paused. She recalled her skirmishes with Zeta from earlier. It made Kobo lower her head in
shame.

“I’ll try…” Kobo croaked.

Chimes sounded in the concourse again, followed by an announcement.

‘Terrestrial Lift passengers seated in Zone 2 are now invited to board.’

“That’s our cue.” Olivia nodded, finally standing up from her seat. She switched off her
WristComm projector and craned her head towards the gate, “Let’s go.”

Kobo stood up as well, following suit, but Olivia’s jacket slid further down her shoulders when she
moved.

“Ah, Livia-neesan. Your jacket…” Kobo said, trying to return it to Olivia.

“Keep it for now.” Olivia insisted cheerfully, “You seemed like you were cold.” Then, she
chuckled, “You can imagine yourself as an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot with that - sort of.”

“Oh, right!” Kobo’s blue eyes brightened up.

Kobo took the jacket off her shoulders and wore it over her school uniform.

‘It fits well.’ Kobo thought, feeling the jacket wrap around her snugly, ‘And it’s warm…’

That was the first time that Kobo had worn anything ‘new’ in a long, long while. Ever since she
had been settled on the Jakarta-series platforms, she had been wearing the same clothes over and
over, cycling between them as much as she could to save on cash. So, the texture of unfamiliar
fabric made her skin tingle with delight.

The colors around her in the concourse grew vivid. Everything seemed brighter - from the
technicolor signs scattered around the concourse to Olivia’s warm smile.

“You like it?” Olivia asked, watching her ward.

Kobo nodded and smiled back at her guardian.

On that bright note, Olivia and Kobo took their luggage, crossed through the concourse and
boarded the grand earthbound lift.

With her half-filled trolley luggage in tow, Kobo took in the sights and sounds of the earthbound
lift. She looked at every nook and cranny that she passed along the way, taking mental notes of
every detail.

‘I didn’t get the chance to do this in the zeppelin because of… that girl… so I’ll make up for it
here! ’ Kobo rationalized.

She meandered through the aisles and peeked behind curtains doors any chance she could like a
tourist or an orbital platform bumpkin - at least until Olivia or the Space Elevator staff ushered her
to the right path.

Still, Kobo read every sign, sticker, label and screen. English, Japanese, Indonesian, Kobo read
them all! Tempted as she was to start pushing buttons, though, Kobo did, at least keep her hands to
herself.

For Olivia’s sake.

Eventually, they reached their destination: a small but well-furnished priority seating cabin. It
looked like the train cabins that Kobo had seen in movies from the Earth that she’d streamed once
in a blue moon, sporting two cushioned benches across from each other, coat hangers and a space
to stow luggage. The only differences were that the view from outside the window was that of
outer space - and that their vehicle was going to move vertically.

Kobo and Olivia put away their luggage and claimed their seats. The new cadet and her legal
guardian sat across from each other and smiled at each other. Kobo was just about to cross her legs
and lie down on her bench sideways when their cabin door opened once again.

Zeta Vestia poked her head in through the threshold, much to her - and Kobo’s - displeasure.

“I should have figured…” Zeta frowned.

“Geh…!” Kobo grumbled.

Huuuuu…

This time around, Kobo was able to hold her tongue and hide her disgust just enough to avoid
Olivia’s wrath. Zeta stowed away her things and sat beside Kobo before Olivia, but the two young
ladies still kept their distance from each other.

“Good enough.” Olivia sighed, folding her arms as she addressed her wards, “The two of you are
putting aside your lives on the Jakarta-series platforms for the IDSC Academy, so I want you two
to understand that we’re all on the same team. Together with the Galactic Fleet, we’re the ones
standing in between KW1 and the Ancient Ones.”

Kobo and Zeta glared at each other for a moment, but neither of them lashed out. Olivia took that
as her cue to continue.

“That said, I do want to make sure the both of you know what you’re getting into.” Olivia joined
her hands together, “How much of the new cadet manual have you two read?”

“I’ve read it twice already.” Zeta ran her hand through her hair and snorted, “I’ve made notes about
every chapter too, and I looked at the supplementary material from the IDSC’s public library
network.”

Kobo blinked. She didn’t expect Zeta to be that diligent.

“That’s good.” Oliva nodded. She turned to Kobo, “And what about you…?”

Kobo hummed and turned to Olivia, “Strange. I read it twice too.” She scratched the back of her
head and revealed, “I tried to read it and the other stuff it told me to look at to fall asleep, but I
ended up going through all the materials instead. Aha, ahaha~”

For once, Kobo and Zeta briefly glanced at each other without too much annoyance. Rather, their
glances were filled with curiosity before they turned away again.

“That’s not exactly the best reason to read it.” Olivia tilted her head, “But it’s good you’re both
enthusiastic about it. You sure as hell are gonna need it. Going into the Academy, your heart’s
gotta be in the right place”

“Livia-neesan…?” Kobo tilted her head.

She remembered the sullen expression that Olivia had in the Space Elevator concourse earlier.
Olivia, meanwhile, continued her lecture.

“Joining the IDSC is no joke, Kobo. Miss Vestia. The Academy is there for all branches of the
IDSC: from the Garrison to the Galactic Fleet to the I.D.O.L. Frame squadron.” Olivia crossed her
legs the other way now and sighed, “After that battle over the Jakarta-series platform, you can
guess which branch everyone in the Academy’s gunning for.”
Beads of sweat formed on Kobo’s brow. A part of her knew that becoming an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot
wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, but hearing that straight from Olivia sent chills up her spine.

Beside her, Zeta leaned forward and started tapping the floor with her feet in an anxious tempo too.
She avoided Kobo’s glance but…

‘That startled her too, huh?’ Kobo thought.

Olivia watched her two wards again and folded her arms.

“I’ve enrolled the two of you in the pilot preparation program, but it’ll be up to you to stay there.
It’ll be up to you to claim the privilege of piloting an I.D.O.L. Frame.” Olivia spoke sternly, “Many
in the program will support the Squadron in some way, shape or form - but only three brave,
fortunate souls will be chosen as pilots.” Then, she grinned, “You gals ready to take your shot?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kobo and Zeta both answered firmly.

“Fighting words.” Olivia smiled and nodded at the two cheerfully, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you
gals.”

As she did, the lift started to descend down to the Earth.

Eleventh Scene - Terrestrial Triple

The earthbound lift continued its gradual descent down to Yokosuka, Japan. Kobo sat by the
window of the cabin, watching as the familiarly vast expanse of outer space gave way to the
terrestrial atmosphere of the Earth.

“So this is Earth…” Kobo mused, pressing her nose against the window glass.

“That’s right.” Olivia nodded. Across the aisle, she also looked out the window and watched the
looming atmosphere, “This is the home of the people who sheltered us Worldless - the Cover
Corporation.”

“It’s pretty!” Kobo cheered. Her blue eyes shimmered with delight, “And oh so blue…”

Not even the most detailed simulations on the Jakarta platforms prepared her for such a sight - for
the real deal.

Olivia chuckled, watched on with Kobo and urged, “Wait till we get down even lower.”

“Heehee~ I can't wait!” Kobo beamed.

Zeta, meanwhile, looked at the two earth-gazers and snorted. She didn’t give the azure atmosphere
of Earth, or the growing outline of the Japanese city skylines a second glance. Instead, she busied
herself with ordering a can of expensive Earth-brand milk tea.

“What’s so special about it?” Zeta raised her brow.

An attendant came by the cabin with a refreshment trolley and gave Zeta her milk tea. Zeta took it
and opened it with a crisp hiss.

Just like that, the Space Elevator’s lift continued its descent. The silence in the cabin was broken
only by the occasional hum of the lift’s machinery and notification dings from Zeta’s smartphone.

Zeta switched her phone to silent mode and sipped on her tea impatiently.

THUUUUMPH !

The lift touched down gently onto Yokosuka, Japan and its passengers disembarked. Kobo, Olivia
and Zeta joined them with their luggage in tow.

Kobo walked down the gangway, breathing in the unusually salty air. Powerful winds unlike
anything she’d experienced on the Jakartas blew by her, combing her locks of blue hair and
rustling her IDSC jacket.

‘Is this the sea breeze?’ Kobo pondered, savoring the worldly sensation.

She stepped forward and set foot on the ground. Then she looked up to the vast cloudless skies,
bearing witness to the blue horizon.

Tears started forming at the sides of Kobo’s eyes. Even though her memories were gone,
something about that view seemed awfully familiar.

Then, for a moment, she thought she saw a familiar face in the corner of her eye. She thought she
heard a familiar voice in the din. When Kobo turned around, though, it was only Olivia waiting for
her.

“Did you forget something in the lift?” Olivia asked.

Kobo paused, but she promptly shook her head. She tugged on her half-filled luggage trolley and
mused, “Everything I've got’s right here.”

“Righto. Let’s get a move on, then!” Olivia grinned.

She shepherded Kobo and Zeta out of the Space Elevator grounds. Kobo stole one last glance of
the now-spacebound lift, then to the faint outline of the Jakarta-series platforms.
She bid them, and her old life farewell.

“Bye bye.” Kobo whispered. Her voice was carried by the wind.

Olivia brought Kobo and Zeta through the Space Elevator’s turnstiles and ushered them to its
oceanside parking lot. A small fleet of electric buses were assembled there, crewed by a handful of
IDSC Garrison soldiers and officers. Dozens if not hundreds of people were lining up there too,
waiting for the Garrison to clear them for boarding.

“This is where we’ll be parting ways.” Olivia said, glancing at her two wards, “You two will be
taking a bus to the IDSC Academy right here in Yokosuka.” She then pointed to herself, “I’ll be
catching a bus to Cover Corp HQ in Tokyo. So, try to be on your best behavior, okay?”

Kobo and Zeta glared at each other again, but neither of them said a word. That was as close to
‘affirmative’ as Olivia knew she was going to get, so she accepted it.

Just then, one of the Garrison officers approached the three and saluted Olivia.

“Ma’am Kureiji.” The officer spoke dutifully, “Commander Udin informed me that you’d be
arriving.”

“Thank you, officer.” Olivia returned the salute with a small smile. She laid her hands on Kobo’s
and Zeta’s shoulders and nudged them forward, “These are my two wards: Miss Kanaeru and Miss
Vestia. Make sure they’re sorted out and ready to go.”

“Yes ma’am.” The officer nodded.

Kobo and Zeta stepped forward and let the officer scan their WristComm devices. Olivia, on the
other hand, excused herself and turned around to look for a Tokyo-bound IDSC bus.

“Uhm, excuse me, ma’am.” The officer suddenly called.

“Yeah?” Olivia stopped in her tracks, “What’s up?”

“You’re scheduled to go to the IDSC Academy in Yokosuka, ma’am.” The officer explained.

Olivia blinked, “... excuse me? I’m supposed to go to Tokyo.”

“... eh?” Kobo piped up, “You’re going with us, Livia-neesan?”

“I…” Olivia was dumbfounded. She scratched her head and asked the officer, “Who authorized
that…?”

Before Olivia could finish her sentence, another voice answered on the guard’s behalf, “M-chan
did, Livia. Anya and I endorsed it too, though.”

The voice came from one of the Academy-bound buses. Olivia turned to the voice and saw two
ladies step out from that bus. The first one was a short brunette with exceptionally long hair for her
height, large and mischievous purple eyes and a smug smirk painted on her lips. The other was a
much taller lady with long, ash-gray hair adorned with braids, a side ponytail and blue feather
ornaments.

Olivia’s jaw dropped. Her eyes started to shimmer in the sunlight with joyful tears.

“Anya! Reine!” Olivia cheered.

“Yo.” Anya, the short brunette, answered flatly, putting on a pair of sunglasses.

“Hello, Livia.” Reine, the taller, ash-haired lady smiled.

Without warning, Olivia let go of her luggage and hugged the two ladies.

“Anya! Reine!” Olivia repeated, embracing them tightly.

“O-oy…!” Anya chastised, adjusting her now displaced sunglasses, “I just bought these!”

Reine, on the other hand, hugged Olivia back until the redhead pilot let go.

“W-what happened?” Olivia then asked, “I thought the two of you were holding the fort in
Tokyo?”

“We were.” Anya confirmed, adjusting her sunglasses again, “But there’s been a change of plans.
The three of us have been on standby waiting for our Frames for a while now, so M-chan made a
proposal.”

Reine nodded and continued, “The three of us - Strike Team ID2 - will be guest instructors in the
IDSC Academy!”

“Guest instructors…!?” Olivia was alarmed, turning from Reine to Anya and back, “The two of
you, I’d understand… but me? An instructor?”

“You’ll never know until you try.” Reine reassured, smiling at Olivia.

“And besides, both M-chan and A-chan have signed off on this already.” Anya added matter-of-
factly, “Think of it as a way to keep our skills sharp ‘till our Frames are finally ready.” She then
grumbled, “That reporter from the London Observer tabloid put A-chan on edge with her questions,
it seems. She wants to boost our combat readiness as much as possible.”

“I guess that’s true…” Olivia sighed. Then, she joined her hands together, “Well, I feel a little
better that they’re not making me do this alone!”

“You’ve got two wingmen for this mission, Livia.” Reine winked, “We’re in this together.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to support you two in the Academy.” Anya shrugged. She pretended to be
nonchalant, but the faintest hints of a blush painted her cheeks when she said this.

“Thank you.” Olivia smiled at her teammates.

Kobo and Zeta watched the exchange quietly - until both Anya and Reine turned their way.

“So these two must be your wards, Livia.” Reine remarked, eyeing them from head to toe. She
rubbed her chin and chuckled, “The two of them look pretty cute. Good eye.”

Anya folded her arms, but she seemed to nod her head in agreement.

Olivia cleared her throat and gestured to her wards.

“Anya. Reine. I’d like you to meet Kobo Kanaeru and Zeta Vestia.” Olivia spoke proudly,
“Starting today, they’re going to be junior-class cadets in the IDSC Academy. They’re both
enrolled in the I.D.O.L. Frame program too. They wanna be pilots for ID3 too!”

Kobo and Zeta came forward stiffly and nodded, introducing themselves too.

“I-I’m… uh, uhm… I’m Kobo! Kobo Kanaeru!” Kobo stumbled and stammered through her
introduction with brute force, “I was just a student up in the Jakarta-series platforms. I hope… I
hope I can become an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot like Olivia-neesan and Miss Moona!”

Zeta ran her hand through her hair and answered with more muted enthusiasm.

“My name’s Zeta Vestia. I’m from the Makassar-series platforms.” She bowed her head with
ceremonious reverence and continued, “I hope to learn much from the three of you.”

On that note, Olivia then gestured to Anya and Reine.

“Kobo. Miss Vestia, these are my teammates in Strike Team ID2: Anya Melfissa and Reine
Pavolia.” Olivia introduced, beaming brightly, “They… ahem… I mean, we will be some of your
instructors in the I.D.O.L. Frame program in the Academy.”

Anya and Reine approached the two young ladies this time.

The short brunette took off her sunglasses and spoke politely, “Anya Melfissa. Callsign DKZ . I’ll
be your guest instructor for I.D.O.L. Frame Maintenance and Equipment.”
The taller, ashen lady smiled and joined her hands behind her back confidently, “I’m Reine
Pavolia. My callsign’s Illusion Night . I’ve been asked to teach your class about Starfighter Flight
and Maneuver.”

Finally, Olivia laid her hand over her heart and introduced herself again, “And I’m Olivia Kureiji.
Callsign Jollie Jollie . Looks like you won’t be getting rid of me that easily! I’ll be in charge of…”
She paused and turned to her teammates and asked, “H-hey. What am I gonna be in charge of?”

“CWO.” Anya promptly answered, speaking in abbreviations.

“Oh! Really?” Olivia’s red eyes shimmered.

“Yes! Now introduce yourself!” Anya pouted.

Reine, meanwhile, snickered at her teammates.

Still, Olivia grinned and obliged.

She faced Kobo and Zeta again and continued, “I’ll be in charge of Combat Walker Operations.
My favorite class! We look forward to showing you guys the ropes!” Then, her grin mellowed into
a warm smile, “And I hope to see the day that the two of you call us ‘ simpai’ .”

Standing before her three instructors, the three pilots of Strike Team ID2, Kobo smiled from ear to
ear. Clutching onto the fabric of her IDSC jacket, Kobo knew in her heart of hearts that the feeling
was mutual.

To Be Continued
 Raison d'etre

Prologue

IDSC Garrison buses journeyed up a Japanese seaside highway along the edge of Tokyo Bay.
Every single bus was full to bursting. Kobo and Zeta were stuffed into the back of one of those
buses filled with their fellow cadets. Bumps on the immaculately maintained Japanese highways,
compared to the rougher roads of Platform Jakarta-3 that Kobo was used to, were few and far in
between. But Kobo felt every single one of them tenfold.

‘Everyone here’s a cadet…’ Kobo thought, eyeing the others in the bus, ‘Livia-neesan wasn’t
kidding about competition.’ She pouted, ‘I wonder how many of them are gunning to be I.D.O.L.
Frame pilots…’

As Kobo was thinking this, the bus happened to run through one of those rare road bumps.

BRA-BAM!

“Ack!” Kobo croaked.

She clung onto the seat in front of her for dear life. Zeta followed suit, holding on quietly. The
catty, gray-haired girl hardly said anything ever since their ID2 instructors ushered them into the
buses earlier. She didn’t even seem to protest that Kobo was going to be her seatmate - and that
they wouldn’t be able to keep their luggage between them like last time.

‘She’s probably using me as a wall against the other strangers… ’ Kobo guessed.

Suddenly, their bus zipped into a tunnel. The entire cabin was plunged into darkness and howling
engines echoed.

Zeta shuddered and held onto the seat tighter. Even when the bus cleared the tunnel and the light
returned, the aristocrat still held on. Kobo saw this and tilted her head.

A small part of Kobo wanted to ask Zeta if she was alright. Another wanted to ask if she was going
to hurl. However, Zeta saw Kobo looking her way and finally let go of the other seat. She folded
her arms and hissed coolly, “What do you want, fountain girl?”

Kobo shook her head and folded her arms too. The two young ladies turned away from each other
for the rest of the trip.
At least… until the IDSC Academy appeared in the distance.

It was a large, sprawling military complex at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Vast wharves and drydocks
serviced naval vessels of all shapes and sizes. Many more warships flying the flags of a myriad of
nations that Kobo wasn’t familiar with were sailing to and from the port. A myriad of warplanes
sat at the many hangars of the base, too.

Then…

FWOOOSH!!!

FWOOOSH!!!

FWOOOSH!!!

Even from afar, Kobo and the other cadets could hear the daring roars of jet engines.

Then came the stately blare of warship foghorns.

HOOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOOONK!

Gasps of awe filled the bus cabin. Smartphone cameras went off too, capturing the sight. Kobo,
too, joined in on the craze and started snapping photos of the place. It looked like the military
bases that she had seen in the movies, but she had never seen that many warships and warplanes
concentrated.

But those warships and warplanes weren’t what caught Kobo’s eyes.

Instead, her eyes, and the eyes of most of the cadets were on a distinct vessel sticking out from the
largest hangar in the entire complex. Its large gunmetal frame bore the triangular insignia of the
Cover Corporation and the shield-shaped roundel of the IDSC. Then, on the side of its exposed
hull, its name was stenciled for Kobo and the others to see.

‘IDSC Harimau’
Whispers started to fill the bus.

“That’s the new ‘mothership’ of the Galactic Fleet, isn’t it?” One of the cadets guessed.

“You’re right!” Another cadet cheered, “That’s gonna be the new sistership of the Garuda!”

“Hoh, so the London Observer blog leaks were real.” A third cadet hummed, “That tabloid’s pretty
damn knowledgeable, huh?”

‘ London Observer…? ’ Kobo rubbed her chin, ‘ Wasn’t that the tabloid that was on the news? ’

Kobo was about to bring out her phone to search up the London Observer when Zeta’s smartphone
rang beside her. This time around, Zeta didn’t budge and just kept looking listlessly out to the IDSC
Academy complex.

“... you’re not gonna answer that?” Kobo asked her seatmate.

“That’s none of your business.” Zeta shot her down. The aristocrat then turned her phone to silent
mode and stayed quiet for the rest of the trip.

Kobo sank into her seat and followed suit.

Blue Horizon

Raison d’Etre

Twelfth Scene - Hit The Ground Running

A short drive later, the IDSC buses got off the highway and filed into the military complex. IDSC
Garrison humvees and military police on motorbikes accompanied the new arrivals and escorted
them to the Academy grounds. They took a turn and started to climb up a steep mountain road.

Kobo and the other cadets looked out the window and saw the military base, and the rest of
Yokosuka gradually grew smaller and smaller.

They stopped at a large, mansion-like brick building nestled on top of the small mountain
overlooking Tokyo Bay and the rest of the base. It was fenced off from the rest of the complex and
its grounds were adorned with manicured lawns, tall trees, well-kept hiking trails and even bare-
branched cherry blossoms that had yet to bloom. The flag of the Cover Corporation flew proudly
from a flagpole at the front yard of the mansion, fluttering in the crisp, gusty winds of early Spring.

It stuck out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of a maximum capacity air and naval base. In
Kobo’s eyes, she felt like she was looking at a living relic from centuries ago.

If it weren’t for the android staff tending to the vast gardens or the patrols of armed IDSC Garrison
soldiers, the occasional rumble of fighter jet engines and the whir of helicopters, Kobo would have
thought that she had gone back in time somehow.

None of that took away from the charm for Kobo, though.
‘This place looks pretty nice.’ Kobo thought, ‘I like it!’

The rest of the cadets, most of whom were residents of the orbital platforms too, shared Kobo’s
sentiment and regarded the campus grounds with awe. Zeta, though, didn’t even bat an eye as
usual.

Kobo snorted and wondered, ‘She’s probably rich enough that something like this is nothing for
her. It’s her loss.’

With that in mind, Kobo started imagining an idyll and luxurious life in that mountaintop mansion.
However, when the IDSC Garrison soldiers and officers started approaching the buses, Kobo’s
fanciful thinking came to an abrupt end. The bus doors opened with a hydraulic hiss and a lady
officer wearing a wide-brimmed hat adorned with the IDSC crest marched inside.

The officer screamed.

“ATTENTION!”

Everyone in the bus shot up from their seats and stood in attention immediately.

Everyone except for Kobo. She looked around her, wondering what the heck was going on and
why everyone was standing.

“Hey.” Zeta, who was already standing beside her, whispered and elbowed her, “Stand up, stupid
fountain!”

“Huh…?” Kobo furrowed her brow.

Zeta sighed, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Kobo turned back to the bus aisle. The officer waded through the sea of cadets and approached
menacingly.

“WHAT’S YOUR NAME CADET!?” The officer barked at Kobo’s face.

Kobo recoiled.

“What the hell!?” Kobo answered, startled, “Why are you shouting!?”

“‘ Whatthehell ’, huh?” The officer smirked, “You know what, cadet? That’s gonna be your name
from hereon out! Cadet Whatthehell !” She glanced around the bus and commanded, “CADETS!
Greet your colleague, Cadet Whatthehell, a good afternoon!”

“GOOD AFTERNOON, CADET WHATTEHELL!” The other cadets shouted, filling the bus
cabin - and Kobo’s ears.

Only then did Kobo’s situation finally dawn upon her. Her face went pale.

“Now that’s a warm welcome if I do say so myself.” The officer put her hands on her hips and
spoke loudly, “My name is Cecile Sparrowhawk, Master Sergeant of the IDSC. I will be this
flight’s drill sergeant.” She paced around the bus and continued emphatically, “I answer to the
IDSC I.D.O.L. Frame Commander, and you, cadets, answer to me!”

“YES, DRILL SERGEANT!” The other cadets shouted in rough unison.

Again, Kobo was left behind in the dust.

Sergeant Sparrowhawk loomed over Kobo and pounded her chest, “Cadet Whatthehell! What the
hell was that!? Did you miss the Space Elevator back to the orbital platforms? Are you sure you
want to be an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot!?”

“N-no… I mean, yes, drill sergeant…!” Kobo answered sheepishly.

“Not with that enthusiasm, you won’t!” Sergeant Sparrowhawk hissed. She grinned devilishly at
Kobo, “Cadet Whattehell!”

“W-wha… I mean, y-yes drill sergeant!” Kobo fumbled through.

“You’re first off this bus! Give me a hundred pushups!” Sparrowhawk commanded, “Get your first
taste of the earth! DOUBLE TIME!”

Fretting, Kobo did as she was told. She scrambled out of the bus and started doing pushups on the
parking pavement lot in full view of the rest of the cadets.

A stone’s throw away, Olivia watched Kobo’s punishment with grave concern.

“Oh goodness gracious…” Olivia rubbed her temple, “She just got here! No special treatment
indeed.”

She, along with Reine and Anya, had taken an IDSC humvee into the mountaintop academy
campus. All three of them looked on as Sergeant Sparrowhawk berated Kobo while she did her
pushups.

“Well, Strike Team ID3’s off to a great start.” Reine snickered, folding her arms. She glanced at
Olivia and elbowed her, “Your child’s gonna be popular here. For all the wrong reasons.”

Anya smirked smugly and elbowed her too, “Reminds you of a certain someone from ID2, huh? A
certain redhead we all know and love?”
Olivia pouted at her teammates, but she didn’t deny the allegations.

“I’ve seen Kobo. Her heart’s in the right place.” Olivia insisted. She then pointed to her own head
and added, “Now, she’s got to tie it all in her noggin. If she wants to fly an I.D.O.L. Frame, she’s
gonna need it.”

“Agreed.” Reine nodded. She then joined her hands behind her back and smiled at Olivia, “That
reminds me - I’ve got a little idea that I want to pass by M-chan for tonight.”

“Another Pavolia special?” Anya raised her brow, “Let’s hear it.”

Reine smiled and brought Olivia and Anya along with her into the mansion, “Okay, so here’s what
I’ve got in mind…”

As the three I.D.O.L. Frame pilots carried on, the shouts of Sergeant Sparrowhawk and the labored
grunts of Kobo Kanaeru doing her pushups filled the mountain.

Thirteenth Scene - Crash Course

One hundred pushups and an exceptionally long ‘stern talking to’ by Sergeant Sparrowhawk,
Kobo’s first day as an IDSC Cadet was off to an incredibly bad start. Everything seemed to happen
around her faster than an I.D.O.L. Frame going at lightspeed. Registrations. Health examinations.
Uniforms. Orientations. Kobo was dragged left and right and up and down, reducing herself to a
machine that marched, breathed and shouted ‘YES MA’AM!’ at the drop of a hat.

By the time chow time, an early dinner, came, Kobo was exhausted - mind, body and soul. Despite
the cool winds of early Spring, Kobo was already drenched in sweat. She dragged her aching self
into the mess hall in the mountaintop mansion’s grand dining room, but she couldn’t even look up
at the luxurious sights around her.

‘There goes my relaxed mountain mansion dream…’ Kobo sighed, ‘Did I really leave the
Platforms for this?’

Kobo sighed again, only for her to be noticed by Sergeant Sparrowhawk from behind the cafeteria
counter.

“Cadet Whatthehell! Stop slacking!” Sparrowhawk barked, “Do your duty or your entire Flight’s
gonna go through the rest of the evening hungry!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” Kobo squeaked.

In her mind though, she was grumbling and cursing Sparrowhawk’s name, ‘ When I become an
I.D.O.L. Frame pilot, I’ll show you - dumb old hag! ’
Kobo approached the cafeteria counters of the grand hall and announced, “IDSC Strike Force ID3
Cadets, Flight 8, Dormitory Omega is prepared to enter the dining facility, ma’am!”

Sergeant Sparrowhawk paused, considering Kobo’s announcement. Then, she nodded and ordered,
“Bring them in and seat them, Cadet. Fifteen minutes!”

“Bring them in and seat them. Yes, ma’am!” Kobo answered loudly for her entire Flight to hear,
“Thank you, ma’am!”

On that note, Kobo ushered the rest of the cadets from her bus into the grand hall. Zeta and Kobo,
once again, found themselves seated beside each other.

Kobo braced herself for some sort of comment from Zeta, but that comment never came. The gray-
haired aristocrat just ate her grub without saying a word.

‘The cat’s been quiet since we got to the surface…’ Kobo thought, but she didn’t have time to
ponder.

The ticking of the clock reminded her of her precious few minutes to eat. Kobo wolfed down her
passable melange of Meal-Ready-To-Eat peas, beef hash and mashed potatoes. Then, she washed it
all down with a tall, cool glass of diluted blueberry beverage base powder.

The beleaguered girl winced.

‘I wish I could get a chili dog with Livia-neesan again…’

To Kobo’s surprise, though, the aristocrat Zeta didn’t complain about the food.

Too much.

Zeta’s face soured as she sipped on her beverage.

“I asked for orange. They gave me lemon lime…” Zeta hissed beneath her breath.

‘ Too bad for you, princess… ’ Kobo snorted.

Zeta noticed Kobo’s gaze and pouted at her.

“What?” Zeta asked flatly.

Kobo shrugged and continued eating her meal until she licked her tray clean. And just in time too!
Sergeant Sparrowhawk rang a bell and cried out, “ID3, Flight 8! Chowtime’s over! Assemble at the
lecture hall in five!”
Kobo gulped down her blueberry concentrate and, like the other cadets, put away her tray. Just as
she was about to head out of the dining hall, though, another voice interrupted Sergeant
Sparrowhawk.

“Belay that order, Sergeant. I’d like a little bit of the Cadets’ time.” A familiar voice suddenly
echoed in the dining hall.

The cadets all stopped what they were doing immediately. Even Sergeant Sparrowhawk paused,
before she cleared her throat and announced, “ID3, Flight 8! ATTENTION! Your instructors are
here!”

At her command, the cadets stood in attention. Reine Pavolia then marched into the room. Sergeant
Sparrowhawk saluted her, and Reine returned the gesture. Then, the tall peafowl lady smiled
confidently at the cadets.

“Attention, please! I’m Reine Pavolia, callsign ‘ Illusion Night ’ of Strike Team ID2.” Reine
introduced herself, “After your classroom session tonight, there will be a short exam to test your
knowledge about the IDSC.”

Muted grumbles erupted in the dining hall, but the fiery gaze of Sergeant Sparrowhawk silenced
the dissent immediately. Reine paced around the dining hall and looked at the cadets gathered
around her.

“Every single one of you in ID3, Flight 8, are signed up for the I.D.O.L. Frame pilot program, so
we want to know how much of the Theory you folks know. It’s the same exam that ID2 and ID1
took before we were minted starfighters. It’ll be open notes though!” Reine explained. Then, her
eyes fell upon Kobo and Zeta, “And for those who make the top twelve in the exam out of all the
ID3 Flights in the Academy, my colleagues and I have prepared a little bit of a surprise. A little bit
of practical knowledge.”

‘ A surprise…? ’ Kobo thought.

The other cadets buzzed with excitement. Except for Zeta. The aristocrat remained stone faced.

Reine cleared her throat and revealed, “The top-rankers from this exam will go down the mountain
with me for a crash course lesson. We’re gonna use the old US Navy flight simulators! It’s not
exactly flying an I.D.O.L. Frame, but it’ll be enough to get your feet wet.” She stood up and saluted
the cadets, “I look forward to flying with you fine ladies tonight! Do your best!”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Kobo and the cadets saluted.

In the corner of her eye, Kobo saw Zeta follow suit. The aristocrat’s salute, however, was
unusually sharp. The glimmer in Zeta’s blue eyes was also quite fierce.

It was the first flash of genuine emotion in Zeta that Kobo had since they arrived on the Earth.
‘The cat wants to fly.’ Kobo guessed. A determined smirk formed on her lips, ‘And so do I!’

With that, Reine left the dining hall and returned the reins back to Sergeant Sparrowhawk.

“ID3, Flight 8! Classroom session!” Sparrowhawk barked.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Kobo and the others answered, eager to take on Reine’s exam.

Fourteenth Scene - Round Midnight

Night was falling when Kobo, Zeta and the cadets of Flight 8 entered the posh lecture hall of the
Academy mansion. The cadets of the other seven Flights were already seated and glared at the
newcomers.

‘Seems like Reine promised them the flight sim run too…’ Kobo guessed as she crossed the aisles
of the hall, searching for her seat. She flared her nose, ‘It’s almost like they’re sizing us up.’

Zeta passed by Kobo and said, “You’d better be on that flight sim, stupid fountain.”

“Gonna be lonely without me?” Kobo teased.

Zeta didn’t say anything. She just carried on to her assigned seat.

Kobo decided to do the same.

An IDSC lecturer came to the hall shortly after and began the night class, talking about a
constellation of things: from the Cover Corporation to the IDSC to the Nights of a Hundred
Thousand Miracles. Many of the things he covered were already in the New Student manual that
Olivia gave to Kobo and Zeta, but the lecturer put them all into context.

Kobo produced a holographic keyboard from her WristComm device and started typing down her
notes.

‘Mr. Motoaki Tanigoo… Galactic Fleet… Iofinium-115… the Wordless. ’ Kobo typed away
frantically, squeezing in every extra bit of information that she could onto her document, ‘I.D.O.L.
Frames… Known Worlds… Ancient Ones… Operation AlterMyth…’

An hour and a half later, through the lull of boredom and the aches of fatigue catching up to her,
Kobo sat steadfast in her seat and typed out the last of her notes. Then, the lecturer bowed out and
let the ladies of ID2 into the hall.

“Okay, everyone!” Olivia Kureiji announced, “We’re gonna administer the exam now. Bring out
your WristComms and scan the QR on the screen.”

Anya raised up her WristComm and projected a QR code onto the blackboard. The cadets started
scanning it. Dings of acknowledgement filled the lecture hall left and right.

Kobo scanned the code and her WristComm too.

DING!

A new formless screen appeared. It was the exam locked behind a ticking digital clock counting
down.

“Alright, ladies!” Olivia spoke again, eyeing the dozens of cadets gathered in the hall, “You will
have thirty minutes to finish the exam. We’re going to go open notes, but the questions are endless.
So don’t get complacent - the clock is ticking!”

“And remember, the top twelve will go on the flight simulator with me tonight!” Reine reminded,
standing proudly, “We’ll announce the results as soon as time’s up. Oh, and if you have any
questions, just call me, Olivia or Anya. We’ll answer them if we can!”

“Best of luck, everyone.” Anya finally spoke, “Your exam starts… now! ID3, sortie!”

The WristComms of every cadet in the hall then buzzed. The timers locking their screens
disappeared and the exam began.

Kobo took a deep breath and started answering the questions. She kept one screen on the exam,
another screen displaying her notes and a third one opening the New Student manual. Seeing the
dashboard of screens gathered around her, Kobo couldn’t help but imagine herself in the cockpit of
an I.D.O.L. Frame.

Her athletic jacket became her spaceflight suit. The other students in the hall became pilots. Their
desks became I.D.O.L. Frames too. In Kobo’s eyes, a grand interstellar battle was taking place
right in that very lecture hall!

Those images stirred Kobo’s heart and pushed her onwards.

‘ Alright! Let’s do this! ’

Kobo forgot her boredom, her fears and her fatigue. She answered her exam questions confidently,
seeing them as the grimy fragments of Ancient Ones that she had to shoot down - and shoot them
down she did.

Question after question fell to Kobo’s imaginary I.D.O.L. Frame in a symphony of destruction. She
pushed forward with every ounce of strength she had, answering as many of them as she could.
Then, Kobo’s WristComm buzzed again.

DING!

Her imaginary I.D.O.L. Frame cockpit faded away into the eye of her mind, returning Kobo to her
seat in the Academy lecture hall. The exam screen disappeared with a fizzle of static and Kobo was
tempted to slump into her chair.

However, Olivia, Reine and Anya gathered together at the front of the lecture hall with their own
WristComms out, discussing something between themselves.

After a while, the three instructors broke off and Reine addressed the cadets, “We have our
winners! When your name and score are announced, please step forward.”

Kobo gulped.

‘Here we go…’

Reine started reading off names from a list on her WristComm. Cadets from the eight Flights
started coming forward one by one as they were called. Kobo held her breath.

Then…

“Eighty-eight correct answers. Two mistakes. Total score: 86. One unanswered. Kobo Kanaeru -
Flight 8. Step forward!”

“Oh my God!’ Kobo squealed, leaping up from her seat with excitement.

The rest of the cadets in the hall laughed, reminding Kobo of where she was. Kobo promptly
apologized and joined the ten other cadets at the front of the class.

“Congratulations.” Olivia shook her hand, “Have fun tonight, kid!”

“I will, Livia-neesan~!” Kobo beamed, nodding eagerly before she lined up with the other cadets.

Finally, Reine called up the last cadet.

“One hundred and three correct answers. No mistakes. Three unanswered. Total score: 103. Zeta
Vestia - Flight 8. Step forward!”

The entire lecture hall gasped. Whispers started to pop up amongst the cadets.
“That’s an Academy record, isn’t it?” One cadet gasped.

“No one’s broken one hundred since Miss Hoshinova did!” Another cadet’s jaw dropped, “It was
open notes, but still…!”

“Shit, we have a genius in our cohort…” A third lamented.

Zeta closed her eyes and approached the front quietly - stone faced as ever.

Regardless, Zeta stood beside Kobo. To her surprise, Zeta nodded to Kobo in acknowledgement.
So, Kobo returned the gesture.

“And these ladies are our Majestic 12!” Reine hailed proudly, “The twelve of you are to report in
the backyard at 2000 hours. We’re taking the long way down.”

“Long way down…?” Kobo thought out loud.

“We’re taking the stairs down the mountain.” Reine answered knowingly, “The steps honoring the
Hundred Thousand Miracles.” She stretched her arms a bit and added, “We’re going in full combat
gear. Maximum loadouts.”

Kobo shuddered. The fatigue that she had willed away during the exam threatened to come back
with a vengeance.

“Hope you’re not gonna back out, stupid fountain.” Zeta muttered.

“And lose to you ?” Kobo raised her brow, “You wish, stupid cat!”

“I’m not a cat!” Zeta hissed and folded her arms, “But, fine. Challenge accepted.”

Olivia watched the exchange of her two wards and smiled. She cleared her throat and put her IDSC
instructor hat back on.

On that note, Olivia, Reine and Anya dismissed the cadets. Meanwhile, Kobo, Zeta and the
Majestic 12 prepared for their night trek down the mountain, en route to the flight simulators.

Despite her anxiety and the wails of her aching body and her tired mind, Kobo’s blue eyes were
sparkling.

Her hopes of spaceflight were one step closer to coming true.

Epilogue

Later that night, under the silver sheen of moonlight, a large, rumbling motorbike drove up the
mountain road up to the IDSC Academy mansion. A lone, female rider, clad in a leather jacket and
a helmet with goggles drove the bike up the road, leaving a plume of diesel smoke behind her.

IDSC soldiers saluted the rider as she drove by. The rider returned the gesture and carried on up.

At the top of the mountain, the rider eased her bike into the Academy’s parking lot and she
disembarked. She put away her helmet and replaced it with a pair of aviator sunglasses that
reflected the moon. Her long, starry purple hair flowed down behind her, caressing her leather
jacket.

As the rider disembarked, Olivia Kureiji, who had been taking an evening jog, happened by.

“Moona- simpai…? ” Olivia recognized the rider immediately.

“Good evening, Livia.” Moona Hoshinova answered with a smile, “How goes orientation day?”

Olivia dried her sweaty face with a towel and approached Moona and her motorbike, “You know
how it is, simpai . Shenanigans and all.”

“Hah! It’s not an orientation day without shenanigans.” Moona chuckled, “How is ID2 holding up?
It was a rush order straight from A-chan after all.”

“We’re managing.” Olivia answered, “Though we’ve had to play a lot of things by ear…” She
paused and glanced at Moona, “But what about you, simpai ? That news conference this
morning…”

“I’d rather not talk about it.” Moona interrupted, “Problems are piling up… and Peko’s tour of
service in KW8 got extended… and…” She paused and caught herself, “Sorry, Livia. I’m here
because I wanted to clear my head - do a bit of a reset.”

Olivia nodded, “I understand. Feel free to stay as long as you like.”

“I will, until A-chan or M-chan inevitably call me back to base.” Moona snickered.

“Come to think about it, I might have a way for you to clear your head, simpai .” Olivia proposed
with a grin.

Moona adjusted her glasses and smiled, “Lay it on me. I’m all ears.”

To Be Continued
 Imperfect But Indomitable
Chapter Notes

Author's Notes: Sketches included in this chapter have been commissioned from
@Akasuki_iane04 !

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Prologue

Kobo and the rest of the Majestic 12 cadets descended down the steps of the Hundred Thousand
Miracles in the dead of night. Every single one of them carried full combat gear that an IDSC
Garrison soldier would carry into battle: heavy boots, rucksacks filled with ammunition and gear,
ceramic plate armor vests and ballistic helmets. They even had Japanese Howa Type 20 assault
rifles slung over their shoulders.

All of that gear rattled and clanked with every step the encumbered cadets took, masked by their
huffing and puffing that filled their ears.

The voices of their instructor Reine Pavolia, however, cut through the din.

“Let’s get a move on, girls!” Reine called out to the cadets, lugging her own loaded rucksack and
rifle, “The I.D.O.L. Frames are…. hah… incredibly powerful weapons. So… hah… we have to try
to be strong ourselves!”

Anya followed beside Reine. She was more quiet than her taller peafowl companion, but she
muscled through the descent without complaining for even a moment.

‘I.D.O.L. Frame pilots really are something else…’ Kobo thought. She furrowed her brow and
pushed herself even harder, ‘I’m not gonna give up!’

Kobo moved her encumbered body as quickly as her feet could take her. She trailed behind Reine
and Anya just a few dozen paces but couldn’t quite close the distance. Her body ached and begged
her to stop, but she kept on going.

She counted the steps of the Hundred Thousand Miracles to keep her mind off the pain - timing her
counts to the clattering and rattling of her gear and her gasps for air.

When Kobo’s boots hit the Yokosuka Naval Base landing, she counted exactly one thousand and
eighty six steps.

It wasn’t quite the hundred thousand steps that it was supposed to be honoring, but the heavy loads
they carried sure made it feel like a hundred thousand steps!
And boy, did it feel like an eternity.

Still, Kobo’s stamina held. Her body endured the agony and she placed in third - just behind her
instructors Reine and Anya.

Kobo took off her helmet, put away her rifle and set down her loaded rucksack. The sweat on her
brow and on her IDSC shirt glistened in the moonlight. Then, she turned around and saw her fellow
cadets still descending the staircases a few dozen paces away.

She beat every single one of them, she thought. It brought a smug smirk to her lips and she nodded
with satisfaction.

Suddenly, Kobo felt a hand on her shoulder.

It was Reine’s. Her peafowl instructor was still wearing her full load of gear. The instructor
brought out a face towel for Kobo and handed it to her with a smile.

“Good work, Kanaeru. You actually kept up with us. That’s some incredible stamina.” Reine
praised.

Despite her tiredness, Kobo couldn’t help but smile back and melt a little on the inside.

“PE was my favorite subject in school.” Kobo grinned. She wiped her brow with the face towel,
“My school wanted me to compete in all the sports teams, but I didn’t really feel like it.” She then
paused and looked up to the night sky, spotting the twinkling lights of the Jakarta orbital platforms
above passing placidly by the moon, “Then, the AO’s attacked the only home I knew. And now
I’m here.”

“We’re glad to have you.” Reine nodded.

“Ehe~ it’s always been a dream of mine to go down to the Earth - even before I wanted to be an
I.D.O.L. Frame pilot.” Kobo admitted, “Now that dream is fulfilled and I’m gonna keep doing my
best!”

“I see.” Reine folded her arms and hummed, “You told your story to Olivia, right?”

“Mhm.” Kobo confirmed.

“Did she ever tell you that high school sports meets bring teams from the Orbital Platforms down
to the Earth every so often?”

Kobo paused.

“HUH!?” Kobo’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah. Jakarta-03’s soccer team reached the playoffs and went to Earth's Jakarta two years ago.”
Reine confirmed, “Though, they couldn’t get past the group stage - it was still a first for the Orbital
Platforms!”
Kobo pouted. If she had given in to her school’s begging, she would have fulfilled her dreams of
setting foot on the Earth even sooner. She didn’t even hear about her school’s historic but ill-fated
soccer odyssey because she more or less zoned out in school until PE. However, she didn’t sulk for
long.

“That’s a shame.” Kobo sighed, “But it’s not like the Orbital Platforms would have sports meets
after the AO attack. My school was gearing up for defense drills right before we left.”

“Things have a way of sorting themselves out, huh?” Reine mused.

While she spoke, the rest of the cadets finally started reaching the naval base landing. Reine
excused herself, and started to marshal the rest of the arriving cadets. A handful of IDSC staff
came by and stowed away the discarded gear of the sweating, heaving cadets too.

“You girls will be carrying that equipment back up to the Academy after tonight.” Reine reminded
deviously, “Good thing you’ll be sitting down in the flight sims for a good spell.”

“R-right…” Kobo shuddered.

Meanwhile, Kobo saw Anya in the corner of her eye. The short brunette was busy speaking with
someone through her WristComm. Kobo didn’t know what they were talking about, but the sour
expression on Anya’s face showed her displeasure.

Anya’s call ended and she whirled around to the arriving cadets.

“Is everyone here?” Anya asked.

The cadets, through their huffing and puffing, raised up their hands. Kobo followed suit. Anya
counted hands in threes.

“Three… six… nine… huh? Eleven?”

Anya furrowed her brow and tried to count the hands again, but the number of cadets on the
landing didn’t change.

The petite brunette looked up to the steps of the Hundred Thousand Miracles and squinted. Kobo
turned to where Anya looked up to and raised her brow.

Coming down the stairs was a haggard Zeta Vestia with a few dozen steps left ahead of her. Even
from the lights of the streetlamps, Kobo saw that Zeta’s face was red like a tomato. Compared to
the rest of the cadets, Zeta was clearly worse for wear.

“Aww, Miss aristocrat can’t climb down without an elevator, can she?” One of the cadets
whispered to her peers.

“Maybe her brain’s too heavy for her head.” Another cadet guffawed.
“Or her bank account is probably too heavy too!” A third laughed.

Kobo folded her arms and pouted. For the briefest of moments, even as Anya and Reine tried to
shush them, Kobo was tempted to join in and pile on on the irritating Zeta Vestia.

And yet, Kobo took another look at the descending Zeta and her mountain of rattling combat gear.
She watched how Zeta, the top-scorer of their test, was so winded and so fragile as she struggled
especially hard from climbing down the staircase.

She remembered the two times that Zeta bumped into her in public transit - and how Zeta easily
fell down on her butt both times.

‘Weak and frail. Just like the aristocrat that she is .’ was Kobo’s first thoughts, ‘She’s a pampered
girl thrown to the fire.’

But Kobo held her tongue and kept her eyes on the struggling Zeta. The Zeta who, despite her
fatigue and inequities, did not stop soldiering on - even if she had to pause every so often and slow
down her pace to a near-crawl. She couldn’t tell if it was sweat or tears streaking down Zeta’s
cheeks, but Kobo knew she couldn’t turn her eyes away.

In that moment, she could see Zeta’s fighting spirit.

It was much, much stronger than Kobo could have ever anticipated. A sliver of respect took root in
Kobo’s heart.

‘She’s a pampered girl.’ Kobo thought again, ‘But there’s more to her than that…’

Minutes later, Zeta finally made it down. She dropped her backpack, squared away her assault rifle
and sat down to the pavement, heaving and gasping for air. The other cadets jeered at her - until
Reine and Anya shushed them. Kobo, on the other hand, looked down on Zeta but held back her
usually sharp words.

“What? You’ve got something to say too, fountain girl?” Zeta hissed at Kobo, her bloodshot blue
eyes shimmering angrily in the moonlight.

“Not really.” Kobo answered with a shrug, “I just hope they don’t take time off our flight simulator
session. The sooner you get off your butt, the better.”

Zeta’s nose wrinkled, but she didn’t pounce back. The fountain-girl’s words that night were much
less harsh than the rest of the Majestic 12, but she folded her arms and puffed her cheeks -
pretending not to notice.

The winded aristocrat wouldn’t get a long time to rest, however. Reine and Anya started to
assemble the twelve cadets, so Zeta picked herself up from the floor.

She took a deep breath and lined up with the other cadets along with Kobo.
 Blue Horizon

Imperfect But Indomitable

Sixteenth Scene - The Strato-Hornets’ Nest

Kobo, Zeta and the rest of the Majestic 12 cadets followed Reine and Anya into a large aircraft
hangar in the Yokosuka Naval Base’s IDSC complex. The moment they stepped inside, Kobo was
greeted by a place buzzing with activity even in that ungodly hour. The hangar was filled with
engineers from all over the Known World busy working on fighter craft.

Equipment whirred left and right and cranes lifted heavy components like wings, engines and
weapons systems sailed and dangled over Kobo’s head. Impressive as the operation was, however,
Kobo could tell that these were fighters meant to fly within the bounds of this world - not ones
built for the rigors of space.

After all, none of them had the appropriate propulsion systems: just simple jet engines.

Simple compared to nuclear fusion thrusters at least.

Jet fighters like these weren’t seen at all in the confined, simulated skies of the orbital platforms
that Kobo hailed from, nor did they appear among the stars beyond the digitized tubes of the
maglev trains in her daily commutes.

Kobo had only seen them in movies and video games.

As such, the platform-dwellers of the twelve cadets regarded the unfamiliar jet fighters with awe.

“Are they not to your liking?” Anya approached Kobo and asked, “These are the planes that your
cohort will be flying in the simulations.”

Kobo paused and looked around the hangar and the fighter jets lined up there.

“Hmm… it’s not that I don’t like them.” Kobo explained herself, “It’s just that I was hoping to see
an I.D.O.L. Frame up close, you know?”

“Ah, well - you won’t get the opportunity to do that tonight, “Anya tempered Kobo’s expectations,
“If you want to run, you’ve gotta learn to walk first. Moreso if you want to dance among the stars!
Jet fighters first! Then, starfighters.”

“I guess that’s true…” Kobo deflated where she stood.

Anya passed by the nose of one of the jet fighters and proudly laid a hand on it.

“But you will be able to pilot these warplanes: F/A-18X’s Super Hornets upgraded to the EDX
standards.” Anya reassured her, “These are bonafide IDSC assets that we use for our defense. The
SF/A-18 Strato-Hornets.”

“EDX?” Kobo blinked. The acronym flew over her head.

“Earth Defense - Experimental. EDX. They’re Stratospheric Fighter-Bombers that are built as close
to I.D.O.L. Frames as we possibly could.” Anya promptly explained. She let go of the fighter
plane’s nose and waved her finger about, “They’ll be Earth’s last line of defense in case the AO’s
break the Orbital Defense line. Folks who don’t make it and become I.D.O.L. Frame pilots may
have to fly or maintain these war machines instead.”

“Hmm… is that so?” Kobo folded her arms, regarding the Strato-Hornets once more.

“Sorry about that.” Anya apologized gingerly, “Talking about IDSC equipment and all their
technical stuff gets me excited. I have to remember that this stuff isn’t common knowledge.”

Kobo shook her head and smiled, “It’s alright. I think it’s pretty cool that you’re passionate about
this stuff - even if you already have an I.D.O.L. Frame.”

Anya’s face harbored a blank expression for a brief moment when Kobo mentioned Anya’s own
I.D.O.L. Frame, but she soon smiled and thanked Kobo, “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

Kobo blinked. She nodded back to Anya with a smile of her own, but she wondered if she had just
touched a sensitive topic of some sort.

‘Oh well.’ Kobo thought.

She didn’t want to pry, so she just sauntered around the hangar again.

With her eyes on the Strato-Hornets, Kobo brought out her WristComm device, turned on her
camera app and then started to take pictures.

“W-wait, hold on, Kanaeru!” Anya suddenly piped up, “No pictures! These jets are still Cover
Corp defense secrets. It’s not meant for the eyes of the public.”

“Eh? B-but I’m not gonna send em’ to anyone.” Kobo insisted. Her lips twisted into a frown, “Not
like I’d know how anyways.”

“The rules are rules, kid.” Anya shook her head again, “Delete those photos, please.”

Kobo’s frown deepened into a pout but she complied with Anya’s demand. She deleted the photos
she just took and let Anya confirm it.

While Anya pored over Kobo’s wristcomm, Kobo spotted Zeta walking alongside Reine. The two
of them were having a deep discussion of some sort, but they were out of earshot. Every so often,
though, Kobo would catch Zeta’s face twist and sour with displeasure - but their conversation
continued.

‘I wonder what they’re talking about.’ Kobo pondered.

She never gets the chance to eavesdrop.

Kobo heard Anya’s WristComm buzz beside her. The Maintenance instructor read her message
and then called up the cadets.

“Cadets! Our simulators are ready!” Anya reported, puffing up her chest to speak louder than she
normally did, “Form up and we’ll get this show on the road!”

Kobo gave the Strato-Hornets in the hangar one last passing glance and got into line. Zeta joined
behind Kobo and they carried on towards another room in the hangar guarded by armed IDSC
personnel.

Standing with them was Sergeant Sparrowhawk, also in full combat gear.

“Hold on, madams. We have to verify your credentials before we let you into the simulator hall.”
Sparrowhawk approached Reine and Anya, “Show me your WristComms please.”

Reine and Anya complied and let Sparrowhawk scan their WristComm devices. The sergeant and
her soldiers did the same for the other cadets.

When a soldier scanned Kobo’s WristComm, her device suddenly displayed a warning message.

‘No Signal’ it read.

After that, Sparrowhawk and her soldiers started patting down the whole class for weapons.

“What the hell? We already took off our weapons!” Kobo protested at first.

“Better safe than sorry, Kanaeru.” Reine interjected, “Cover Corp is tightening security across the
board.”

“It’s not just weapons they’re searching for too.” Anya added, pointing to her WristComm,
“They’re scanning for hidden cameras and transmission devices. Not a single byte of data goes in
or out of this room without Cover Corp’s permission.”

“Huh. Is that so?” Kobo tilted her head innocently.

She looked up to a nearby spherical security camera watching her and wondered why security was
this tight.

…
Sparrowhawk and the guards searched and cleared the whole class. Then, she and her guards
escorted them into the simulator hall.

There, in a bare-bones, windowless room of concrete walls, metal pillars and industrial
construction, sixteen dome-shaped Flight Simulator pods were scattered about and hooked into an
isolated supercomputer mainframe. Each pod was about the size of the Strato-Hornets with wings
folded up and packed side-by-side and had mock-ups of the full breadth of fighter plane
instruments.

Kobo was brought to Pod 8 and Anya helped her get strapped in. Reine and a small team of IDSC
technicians also helped the rest of the cadets settle into their own pods.

Once Kobo was ready, she held onto the flight stick of the simulator and the interior of the dome
switched on.

Ultra high-resolution projections filled in the rest of the Strato-Hornet’s airframe loitering in a
daytime scene of the skies over Yokosuka, Japan appeared behind the simulated cockpit glass.
Surround-sound speakers came on too and filled her cockpit with the rumble of the Strato-Hornet’s
jet engine.

All of the mock-up instruments came to life around Kobo too. They blinked with a myriad of
lights, beeped placidly and displayed all sorts of information.

“Whoa…” Kobo’s jaw dropped.

“Ever played a flight sim before, Kanaeru?” Anya asked.

“N-no, ma’am.” Kobo shook her head, “I played those free-for-all arcade games with fighters
though! ThunderWar. Warplane World.” She stopped and laughed uncomfortably, “Though… I
never really was good at those games, to be honest.”

“ThunderWar and Warplane World don’t count.” Anya frowned a little and heaved a sigh, “This is
a full-fledged military grade flight simulator once meant for the US Navy’s TOPGUN school.
We’ve inherited it and modified it to suit the IDSC’s needs though.”

“TOPGUN?” Kobo’s eyes brightened, “Just like the movie from sixty years ago?”

“More or less.” Anya snorted, “It’s 2088 though. You won’t be seeing Tom Cruise - unless you
want to see his ghost or something.”

“Yeah, no.” Kobo chuckled.

“Anyways.” Anya got back on track. She started pointing to the digital displays on Kobo’s
dashboard, “This is your first flight, so keep it simple. Just keep an eye on your fuel, speed, altitude
and ammunition - and on the radar too. Reine will teach you the controls.”
“Right!” Kobo said confidently. Her eyes scanned her dashboard for the information that Anya
pointed out. She found most of them but not all. So, she piped up, “Where’s the fuel though, Miss
Melfissa?”

“That marker over there.” Anya pointed to the corner of her dashboard, “I-115. Iofinum. Isotope
mass 115. That’s our ‘fuel’.” She then whispered beneath her breath, “And our ammo…”

“Ammo too?” Kobo blinked.

“It’s complicated, but your ammo will replenish automatically. Don’t worry about it.” Anya
dodged the question. “Real Strato-Hornets don’t have that feature, but we wanted to make the
simulation a tad bit closer to I.D.O.L. Frames.”

“Oooh, I see.” Kobo nodded, “One of the realism modifications.”

Anya nodded, “It’s not the only mod we have - but you’ll have to figure out the rest. That aside,
you’re all set. Good luck, Kanaeru.”

With that, Anya excused herself and closed up the simulator dome. That left Kobo completely
immersed in the sights, sounds and feel of the modified Strato-Hornet’s cockpit.

One by one, other Strato-Hornet jet fighters started appearing in the simulated Yokosuka skies until
eleven other Strato-Hornets loitered alongside Kobo’s own plane. A digital overlay displayed the
pilot names and callsigns of each aircraft on Kobo’s screen. To her left, she spotted Zeta’s plane
marked ‘ IDSC 08 ’.

Suddenly, a formless screen appeared on Kobo’s dashboard. It displayed Zeta’s face from within
her own simulated cockpit.

Kobo’s face soured immediately, and Zeta’s followed likewise.

“ Excuse me, Miss Pavolia. Permission to unlock weapons and switch my I.F.F. for IDSC08 to
‘Hostile’? ” Zeta asked over the comms.

“Me too!” Kobo added impatiently, “Can I shoot down… uh, whatever number that stupid cat
has?”

”I’m not a cat!” Zeta protested.

Another formless screen appeared in Kobo’s dashboard opposite from Zeta’s window. The
peafowl-lady instructor chuckled but shook her head.

“ We’re all teammates here for this exercise, Vestia. Kanaeru. ” Reine promptly explained, “ Plus,
we’re just here to learn the ropes tonight. Dogfighting with each other isn’t on the agenda. ”

Zeta clicked her tongue audibly. Kobo furrowed her brow.

After that, the thirteenth warplane appeared in the simulated skyscape. This one’s callsign was the
‘ Illusion Night ’.
“On that note - cadets? Attention please! ” Reine called the class over the comms, "For tonight’s
exercises, I want everyone to follow four simple rules at all times. First: listen to my instructions.
Second: treat these aircraft like they’re your own I.D.O.L. Frames. Third: Don’t be reckless and
follow standard protocols. That includes using callsigns when speaking over the comms. Fourth: if
you have any technical issues, let me or Anya know right away!”

A thirteenth screen popped up on Kobo’s dashboard, showing Anya Melfissa this time. She didn’t
say anything, but she just waved to the students and made her presence known.

“Yes, ma’am!” Kobo, Zeta and the other cadets answered over the radio.

“Alright then.” Reine nods to the class through her camera, “Anya will unlock the controls - and the
simulation will begin in three… two… one! Begin!”

Seventeenth Scene - Learning Experiences

In the simulated skies over a digitally-rendered Yokosuka, Japan, thirteen SF/A-18 Strato-Hornets
zipped and zoomed past. Reine’s warplane, tagged Illusion Night , flies ahead of the other jets of
her cadets that lumber along behind her.

“Alright everyone! First things first - you gotta get used to the controls.” Reine spoke to the cadets
over the radio, “I.D.O.L. Frames are equipped with HALO circlets that automatically command
the starfighters through telepathy - but you have to know what commands to give them. This is your
chance to learn those commands using your flight sticks - and commit them to memory!”

The moment that Reine said this, many of the Strato-Hornets that had been following hers broke
formation and started flying wildly. None of them, however, flew as wildly as Kobo Kanaeru and
her jet.

Kobo Kanaeru banked a hard right and flipped upside down, spinning out of control like a rotating
corkscrew.

A barrel roll that never seemed to end!

“Whoa…!” Kobo gasped, watching the sky and the skyline of Yokosuka trade places over and over
again. She started getting dizzy, “Oh… damn. This is more realistic than I thought!”

“Zero-Eight, break out of that spin and watch your altitude!” Reine barked at Kobo, “Pull up! Pull
up!”

“Altitude…!? Pull up!?” Kobo blinked, sweating bullets in her cockpit, “But how do I stop
spinning, and…!?”

Kobo jerked the flight stick desperately. The spinning stopped, but she found herself diving fast
into Tokyo Bay - still upside down!

“Shit…!” Kobo cursed.

CRASH!

Kobo’s cockpit seat rumbled violently, frightening her. The rumblings stopped and the simulated
scene in her pod went all black. Kobo panted heavily and wiped her sweat-slick brow.

The door of Kobo’s pod opened and Anya leapt inside.

“Crashed already? Good thing this isn’t a real Strato-Hornet, right? Or - damn - an I.D.O.L.
Frame.” Anya scratched her head, “I’ll reboot the simulation for you. Follow Reine’s instructions,
okay?”

“I… I’ll try…” Kobo croaked sheepishly, shuddering in her seat. Her hands still gripped the flight
stick tightly.

Anya watched the frightened Kobo and sighed. She leaned over the cockpit and tried to reassure
the cadet.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. Most pilots crash at least once in these sims on their first day.”
Anya then whispered to Kobo, “Don’t tell her I told you this, but Olivia crashed three times in her
first simulation session - and she had Moona- simpai restarting her pod. Olivia wanted to hide
under a table!”

“Olivia- neesan crashed that many times in the flight sims?” Kobo perked up a little, but she also
cringed, “With Moona- simpai watching too…”

“Keep that a secret between you and me, okay?” Anya winked, “The sim will start back up soon,
so go get em’ Kanaeru!”

“O-okay…” Kobo nodded, regaining a sliver of her confidence.

Anya excused herself and stepped out of the flight simulator pod. Kobo’s simulation booted up
again, and her digital warplane appeared over the skies of Yokosuka once more.

Immediately, her dashboard was filled with the screens of the other cadets. Most of them jeered at
her and teased her - just about the same way they did to Zeta when she was struggling down the
stairs.
“The musclehead can’t even fly!” One cadet snickered.

“Wasn’t she the one with the lowest score in the Maj 12?” A second recalled.

“Fastest IDSC flight sim crash: now that’s a record I don’t wanna have!” Another one guffawed.

One cadet’s voice was notably absent from the jeering crowd, though.

Zeta Vestia’s.

“Everyone, just shut up for a moment.” Zeta snapped over the comms, “Fountain-head. Just come
back to our position on the map. We’re doing group formations next and Miss Reine said we’re not
starting without you.”

“Zero-six is right, Zero-eight.” Reine added, “See our signatures on your radar? Follow us and
rejoin the formation so I can continue our lesson.”

“Yes ma’am…” Kobo answered.

The rookie pilot took a deep breath and followed Reine’s step-by-step instructions. She learned
how to control her plane, how to adjust her speed, how to climb and descend and how to activate
her afterburners.

Kobo kept her hand firmly on the flight stick this time and followed Reine’s instructions to a tee.

“Okay, Bokobo. Calm down. You can do this.” Kobo spoke to herself.

It wasn’t the most graceful flight, but Kobo eventually caught up with the rest of the squadron. She
thanked her lucky stars and drowned out the sneers of the other cadets as best as she could.

Again, though, Zeta’s sharp words were notably gentler than those of their peers.

“Took you long enough, fountain-head.” Zeta sneered on the comms, “Hurry up and get into
formation, or we’re leaving you behind!”

“Yeah, yeah…” Kobo pouted, but she complied.

‘Is this her paying me back for earlier? ’ Kobo thought.

She didn’t have time to ask. Her ordeal, and the ordeal of the Majestic 12 cadets was far from over.
“Alright, people! That should cover your sampler of basic maneuver. A little rough, but it’s your
first day.” Reine spoke to the whole class, “In a real battle, we wouldn’t be flying in a straight line
- nor would we be making gentle turns like this. Hell, I.D.O.L. Frames may even have to go vertical
sometimes!”

“Vertical…!?” Kobo’s face went pale.

The thought of adding even more controls to fret about terrified her.

“But this is just a sampler, like I said.” Reine smiled and reassured her students, “We’re moving on
to group formations next. Formations are crucial for I.D.O.L. Frame maneuver, you see. When we
fight as one, we win! This could get a little tricky, but that’s why we’re practicing here and now.”

The cadets mumbled among themselves, but Reine’s exercises marched on. Reine called up three
of the students to be flight leaders. Zeta was one of them - and Kobo’s name didn’t come up.

One by one, the flight leaders started picking the callsigns that they wanted to fly with them. The
flight captains, though, seemed to avoid Kobo’s IDSC 08 like the plague.

That was, until Zeta suddenly called Kobo’s jet as her second pick.

“Zero-eight. You’re with me. ” Zeta declared.

“... huh?” Kobo was startled. She pointed to herself and asked, “Me? Really?”

“Don’t make me regret this, fountain girl.” Zeta rolled her eyes and picked the third Strato-Hornet
of her formation.

Kobo hunched over in abject silence.

‘Is she being NICE to me?’ she pondered, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

Distracted, Kobo didn’t notice one of the other Strato-Hornets of Zeta’s formation veering
uncomfortably close to her airframe. Kobo’s instruments alerted her of the danger with beeping
noises, but the sounds startled her! She instinctively pulled on her flight stick but pulled it the
wrong way. That sent her plane hurtling into the out-of-formation aircraft instead of away!

KE-RASH!
A fireball engulfed Kobo’s simulated cockpit dome. Her seat and mockup instruments shook
violently once again. Then, Kobo found herself in the pitch black darkness of the simulator’s
‘game over’ screen.

The door of the simulator dome popped open shortly and Anya poked her head inside.

“Didn’t think we’d be meeting again this quickly.” Anya laughed with discomfort.

“I-It… it wasn’t my fault this time!” Kobo tried to save face, but Anya just gave her a blank stare.
Kobo’s voice trailed off and she shrank in her seat, “I mean… it wasn’t completely my fault.”

Anya forced herself to smile and rebooted Kobo’s simulator for the second time.

“Don’t apologize to me.” Anya promptly said, “Apologize to your flight leader.”

The moment the software booted up, Kobo’s dashboard was dominated by a window with Zeta’s
furious face.

“WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU, ZERO-EIGHT!?” Zeta shouted.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Kobo apologized profusely.

Zeta’s bitterness, however, persisted. She gnashed her teeth and looked like she was going to berate
Kobo some more, but she noticed that Anya was still in Kobo’s cockpit. Only then did Zeta snort
and hold her tongue.

“The skies over Yokosuka are peaceful again.” Anya clapped and joined her hands together. She
then excused herself, “Please continue the exercises, Kanaeru. Vestia.”

Zeta begrudgingly did.

But Kobo’s woes would continue on.

As Reine’s battery of tests challenged the formations of simulated Strato-Hornets, many more
mishaps plagued the cadets. Crashes and accidents happened incredibly often… and Kobo found
herself in the middle of many of them!

Anya told Kobo that most greenhorn pilots would crash at least once on their first IDSC flight
simulator runs. She was even told that her adoptive guardian Olivia crashed thrice when she was
still new.

That evening, though, Kobo set the new record for most flight sim crashes in a single night.

Eight times.

It gave her call sign IDSC 08 a whole new meaning.

By the time that Kobo had her eighth reset, Anya didn’t have any more words of consolation to
give. Neither Kobo nor Anya could look each other in the eye. Anya didn’t even know what to say,
so she booted up Kobo’s pod and left without another word.

All of the jeers and teasing that Kobo had been blocking out from the other cadets started to dig
into Kobo’s heart. Zeta practically screamed at Kobo too, and all the other cadets in her formation
who screwed up.

Kobo buried her face into her hands.

‘Am I biting off more than I can chew?’ Kobo thought, echoing the jeers of the other cadets.

Group formation exercises, to the cadets’ collective relief, came to a merciful albeit messy end.
When it did, a digital scoreboard appeared in the cockpits of each of the cadets with number scores
and rankings in the Majestic 12.

Scores given by their instructor Reine.

Zeta took the top spot with no crashes and a score of 88 out of 100, far ahead of everyone else.

Kobo, meanwhile, was dead last by a wide margin. Eight crashes and a score of 34 tarnished her
already spotty record.

It showed her just how much of a gap existed between her and Zeta.

If Kobo can’t even fly a Strato-Hornet in a flight simulator, Kobo thought, how in the world can
she expect herself to be able to fly an I.D.O.L. Frame!?

Kobo sank into her cockpit seat, reading the numbers displayed on her screen.

Numbers.

Those damn numbers.

They stabbed Kobo’s heart like knives.

‘Maybe I’m not cut out for this.’ Kobo considered. She looked up to the skies and wondered,
‘Should I go back to the Jakarta platforms? I’m just making a fool of myself reaching for the stars
like this.’

Kobo’s melancholic rumination, however, was interrupted by a voice.

Zeta’s voice.
“HEY! WATER FOUNTAIN!” Zeta hissed over the comms, snapping Kobo out of her rut, “Stop
zoning out! The simulation’s not over yet!”

“... huh?” We’re still going?” Kobo blinked and looked at her dashboard.

The scoreboard fizzled away and gave way to Kobo’s regular spread of instruments on her
dashboard. Her radar, in particular, beeped and emphasized its presence.

There, Kobo saw the twelve blue dots marking the other twelve Strato-Hornets of their class.
However, dead ahead of them, she saw new radar signatures.

Red ones.

They were multiplying before her eyes until they numbered more than a hundred!

“What the hell…!?” Kobo gasped.

Kobo looked out her cockpit and saw those targets: hundreds of warplanes. It was a melange of
plane models that Kobo couldn’t identify, but every single one of them was curiously dark and
menacing.

“Miss Melfissa spawned in some enemy aircraft.” Zeta reiterated the situation for Kobo, “We have
to practice everything we’ve learned and try out using our weapons systems… but Miss Pavolia it’s
not a fight we’re meant to win! Every cadet has to experience this, she said.”

“Not a fight we’re meant to win…” the phrase lingered on Kobo’s lips.

She looked out to that array of enemy aircraft. They almost looked like fragments of the Ancient
Ones that Kobo saw many years ago. Seeing them made Kobo shudder in her seat.

Kobo’s breaths grew short and sharp.

Every time she blinked, she saw herself back in that escape pod adrift in the depths of space. The
whole throng of black-rendered warplanes in the horizon lined up like the snaking ichor-like
tendril of the Ancient One that crushed the other escape pods and nearly destroyed hers.

It was the beast that haunted her every waking moment, coming alive before her very eyes!

Kobo froze in her cockpit. Her knuckles went white as she gripped her flight stick. Cold sweat
dripped down her brow and chilled her to the bone.

She stared down the simulated enemies that would soon descend upon her.

Defeat her.
Destroy her.

Crush her completely.

But suddenly… a fourteenth video feed appeared on Kobo’s dashboard. There, she saw a pilot with
a head of long, purple hair and a sea of brilliant stars.

Kobo’s jaw dropped.

“Moona… simpai ?” Kobo croaked.

“It’s only a battle that you can’t win if you decide you can’t win, Reine. Or, should I say ‘Illusion
Night’?” Moona Hoshinova spoke confidently, “You’re the Navigator of ID2 - and the leader of
this squadron. Have some more confidence in your abilities.”

A fifteenth video feed appeared next. This time, a pilot with bright red hair and even brighter red
eyes beamed cheerfully, “ Yeah, Reine! If we work together, we might be able to beat this
simulation. Wouldn’t that be a cool IDSC record for us? ”

“Olivia- neesan !” Kobo’s eyes brightened and welled with tears.

Olivia turned to Kobo and winked at her through the screen, “Hey kiddo! Having fun on your first
day?”

“It’s been hell.” Kobo said truthfully, but she was now smiling again, “It’s better now that you’re
here though!”

“Aww, you’re gonna make me blush!” Olivia laughed heartily.

“Moona- simpai… Livia.” Reine seemed equally as shocked, “Anya, did you…?”

“The two of them just barged in and asked me to boot up the other pods.” Anya revealed, grinning
cheekily, “Sparrowhawk let them through and M-chan hasn't complained yet either. So I see no
harm in it, Reine, but it’s gonna be your call. ”

Reine paused and rubbed her chin.

“Alright, everyone. We have veteran reinforcements, so I’m changing our objectives for this last
exercise. ” Reine explained confidently, “ We’re going to shoot down every last one of those
planes! At least one of us has to survive. Is that understood?”
 “Ma’am, yes ma’am!” The cadets answered Reine eagerly, and so did Moona and Olivia.

Kobo, on the other hand, found it hard to speak. She started to fret and feel self-conscious.

It was at that time that Moona turned to Kobo on her screen and smiled warmly at her.

“Will you spread your wings and fly with me and Livia tonight, Zero-eight. No… Miss Kanaeru?”

Kobo felt the butterflies in her stomach fluttering about. She took a deep breath, pounded her chest
and cried, “It would be my honor to, Moona- simpai !”

On screen, Zeta rubbed her temple and grumbled, “Jeez. Just how starstruck can you be, fountain
girl?”

Kobo, however, was too thrilled and overjoyed to talk back to Zeta.

“Everyone’s ready then.” Reine acknowledged, “Everyone, report in and standby for sortie!”

One by one, the cadets answered the roll call in order of their airframes.

“Zero-Six, standing by! ” Zeta called dutifully, her voice stern and steadfast.

“Zero-Eight, standing by!” Kobo followed, regaining the vibrance in her voice.

“Jollie Jollie, standing by!” Olivia reported, speaking with rising excitement.

“High Tide, standing by!” Moona answered, completely composed.

Reine exhaled audibly.

“Illusion Night, standing by!” Reine cried, brimming with confidence. Then, she gave her marching
orders, “IDSC Special Task Force! Sortie!”

To Be Continued

Chapter End Notes

Chapter End Notes

...

...

...

-IDSC TACTICAL COMMAND (TACCOM) DASHBOARD-

OA-OS BUILD 3.05

PROPERTY OF THE COVER CORPORATION (KW1)

-PLEASE ENTER YOUR CREDENTIALS-

...

-PROCESSING-

...

-CREDENTIALS ACCEPTED-

...

-GOOD EVENING M-CHAN-

-TACCOM MONITOR ESTABLISHED-

-LISTING ACTIVE COMBATANTS-

-STAND BY-
REINE PAVOLIA, SQUADRON LEADER / CALLSIGN - 'ILLUSION NIGHT'

STATUS: SORTIEING

ZETA VESTIA / CALLSIGN - IDSC 06 'ZERO-SIX'

STATUS: SORTIEING

KOBO KANAERU / CALLSIGN - IDSC 08 'ZERO-EIGHT'

STATUS: SORTIEING

OLIVIA KUREIJI / CALLSIGN - 'JOLLIE JOLLIE'

STATUS: SORTIEING
MOONA HOSHINOVA / CALLSIGN - 'HIGH TIDE'

STATUS: SORTIEING
 Spread Your Wings

Prologue

Kobo’s clammy hands held onto the flight stick of her simulator pod as she kept the flight of her
Strato-Hornet steady. Sweat dripped down her brow - harder than it did when she descended the
staircase of the Hundred Thousand Miracles. The starstruck, rookie cadet did her best to keep her
eyes on the simulated skies ahead of her. She attempted to watch the radar display of her
dashboard, but her eyes wandered to the video feeds of the other pilots flying alongside her.

In particular, her eyes sought the faces of Olivia Kureiji and Moona Hoshinova.

Kobo stole glances at them and watched as they spoke rapid-fire with Reine to reorganize their
squadron for the battle ahead. Olivia, Moona and Reine spoke in code and jargon that seemed
incomprehensible to the untrained eye, mind and soul, but the three ladies were able to come
quickly to a unanimous agreement.

Decisions made on-the-fly seemed to come as naturally to I.D.O.L. Frame pilots as breathing. It
was a common language and mindset that they practically shared.

Something that Kobo, one day, desperately wished to learn.

Right now, she was a rookie outsider with an incredibly spotty record looking on as professionals
discussed how to herd cats and cross a river, so to speak, on the spot.

Or rather, the professionals discussed how to get twelve wet-in-the-ears rookies to win a battle they
were originally designed to lose.

How to change fate.

Watching this was surreal for Kobo.

When the Ancient Ones attacked near the Jakarta platforms, Kobo had heard Moona’s voice
through Olivia’s TACCOM. She had seen the High Tide appear as a moving blip on a 3D radar.
But now, Kobo had a face to the voice and she could see the High Tide itself in action - albeit as a
simulated SF/A-18 EDX Strato-Hornet flying alongside Kobo’s own.

In Kobo’s eyes, it was an opportunity of a lifetime - just like the opportunity for an idol’s superfan
to dance as an extra together with her on the same stage!

That evening, Kobo was that extra standing behind Moona before the curtains fell. Kobo wasn’t a
very good backup dancer or chorus singer or understudy actress, or pilot for that matter. She was
practically a dancer with two left feet!

And yet, she wasn’t being substituted or benched for more capable hands. Anya Melfissa was just
there outside Kobo’s pod. Her skills on the battlefield as a bona fide I.D.O.L. Frame pilot would
have been greatly useful in the battle ahead of them.
Instead, Kobo remained in her plane. She was going to dance on the same simulated stage as her
idol. Her literal savior!

Kobo couldn’t be happier - or more tense!

The snappy conversation between the three veterans ended and Olivia turned her attention to Kobo
and smiled at her.

“ Getting stage fright, Zero-Eight? ” Olivia asked through her TACCOM.

“N-no…” Kobo tried to deny it, but Olivia snickered knowingly.

“ In that case - chin up and eyes forward, girl. ” Olivia grinned, “ We’ve got a hard battle ahead of
us, so we’ll need every missile and every shot burst to count. ”

“I know.” Kobo acknowledged. She then shuddered and deflated in her seat, “But then… I’m not
very good at flying. Surely Reine- simpai and Anya- simpai showed you my record. I could be a
liability - I might hold the squadron back!”

“ Is that what you really think? ” Olivia asked.

Kobo fidgeted.

“It’s what my record says.” Kobo argued somberly.

Olivia paused. Then, she looked straight into Kobo’s eyes.

“ Maybe so, but here’s the deal, kiddo. Right now, you’re in the cockpit of an SF/A-18 Strato-
Hornet and the Ancient Ones are attacking Yokosuka. You have your record yeah. Reine said a
whole lot about your flying so far. I heard you beat my infamous record! ”

“Urk…” Kobo felt her guts twist.

“ But what matters the most at this very moment is what you do next - what you do in the here and
now! ”

“Olivia-neesama…” tears started to form at the sides of Kobo’s eyes.

“ You have your record, kiddo. Time to prove it wrong. ” Olivia beamed. Then, she winked, “ Also,
use the protocols, Zero-Eight. Or else Illusion Night’s gonna chew me out for ‘setting a bad
example’ again, okay? ”

Olivia called herself a bad example - which Kobo sometimes agreed with. But in that moment,
Kobo saw Olivia as a dignified and resolute warrior prepared for battle.

‘ She can actually be cool at times like this. ’ Kobo thought, sighing with relief, ‘ I’m flying with
two heroes, then! ’

With those two heroes accompanying her, the array of black, ichor-like enemies beyond the
horizon no longer struck icy fear into Kobo’s heart. Unlike that fateful night when she sat adrift in
her marooned escape pod, she was now armed - and she wasn’t alone!

Knowing this, Kobo swore she wasn’t going down without a fight!

Blue Horizon

Spread Your Wings

Eighteenth Scene - Steady, Steady!

Even though Kobo’s idols had arrived, her flying only improved marginally. Compared to the other
cadets, Kobo’s maneuvers were sluggish, unwieldy and unrefined, but Olivia tutored her.

Literally on the fly.

“ It’s all in the mind, Kobo. When you get to use an I.D.O.L. Frame’s HALO module, it’ll be
especially so! ” Olivia taught her, “ Think of the warplane as an extension of yourself! Understand
its systems. Move it like you would move your own body. ”
“I’m trying - I’m trying!” Kobo fretted.

“And you’re doing well!” Olivia cheered like an elementary school teacher watching her student
finally understand a math equation, “Look - you’re actually staying in formation this time!”

Kobo blinked.

She looked around and saw the rest of the halved squadron flying with her.

“Oh. I’m doing it…!” Kobo cheered, “I’m actually doing it!”

“ Hehe, there you go! Now - follow me and High Tide. We’re entering the combat vector. ”

Kobo nodded and followed Olivia.

On the display of her radar, Kobo watched as her squadron of fifteen Strato-Hornets split up. She
and four other jets followed Moona’s High Tide and Olivia’s Jollie Jollie banking leftwards.
Reine’s Illusion Night , meanwhile, led Zeta’s Zero-Six and the rest of the cadets to bank right.

Thus, the squadron split into two. In Kobo’s eyes, she thought it looked like a majestic swooping
crane spreading its wings as it moved to descend upon its prey: fragments of a ‘ Galactic Orca ’ of
Ancient Ones posing as older-generation fighter jets.

The attack was about to begin.

Only for Kobo to remember she didn’t know how to attack!

Thankfully, Reine’s video feed piped up.

“ Cadets! Attention please! Don’t forget that class is still in session. ” Reine reminded dutifully, “
Most, if not all of you, are learning on the fly so it is my duty to teach you how it’s done. Though - I
believe we are in the presence of a much greater teacher than myself! What do you say, High Tide?
”

Moona snickered audibly. Then, she sighed.

“ Alright, Illusion Night. I’ll bite. But you’ll owe me dinner. ” Moona grinned.

“ Whatever you want, Moona-simpai! ” Reine grinned, “ I know a nice Izakaya in Tokyo! I’ll take
you and our simpais when M-chan isn’t working you guys to the bone. ”

“ Remember protocol, darling. ” Moona winked.

Reine snickered mischievously and answered, “ Roger that, High Tide. ”

Moona sighed and cracked her knuckles. She then looked through her camera and into the video
screens of all the cadets in the squadron.

“ Okay, class. Air-to-air combat in five minutes or less. Listen up! ” Moona spoke rapid-fire but
annunciated every crisp word with crystal clarity, “ First lesson - missiles! They’re our best
weapons. Those enemies can’t hit us, but we can hit them with missiles! Let your radars and
computers do their thing. Lock on the enemy and get ready to fire! ”

Just as Moona spoke, a new overlay started to appear on Kobo’s simulated cockpit. A compact
summary of the Strato-Hornet’s weapons systems were laid out there, highlighting the six air-to-air
missiles that her fighter carried.

Moments later, green circles started to appear around the enemy planes in the distance. Many
enemy planes lit up green seven at a time!

“ Lesson two! ” Moona continued her brisk lesson, “ Our jets share targeting data. Mark a target
that your other wing-gals haven’t targeted yet. Spread the love - then fire! Make every missile
count! When the reticles go red - fire! ”

Green reticles started turning red, save for Kobo’s own. The Strato-Hornets of Kobo’s half of the
squadron started unleashing their first missiles.

FWOOSH!

FWOOSH!

FWOOSH!

Smoke traced through the air, but Kobo’s reticle stayed green. Then, explosions rocked the enemy
formation.

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!

“ All shots on target! Hits confirmed .” Olivia reported, “ Keep it up, ladies! ”

“Okay, Bokobo… game time!” Kobo spoke to herself, “Mark a target… spread the love…” She
repeated Moona’s mantras, “Make every missile count!”

She nudged her plane slightly and made it point towards an unmarked enemy. Rhythmic beeps
filled Kobo’s cockpit and intensified in a brisk accelerando as her combat computer picked a target.
Kobo’s reticle finally turned green - and then ultimately red.

Kobo grinned.

Then, she roared.

“FIRE!”

She pulled the trigger and launched a missile of her own.

FWOOSH!

The missile zipped forward like a spear of light and fire tracing smoke through the cloudless skies.
Kobo watched it accelerate towards the sea of enemies, towards the locked foe.

And then…!
 BOOM!

Kobo blinked in disbelief.

“I actually hit something…” Kobo gasped. She squinted and started doubting herself, “Did I hit
something?”

“ Good shot, Zero-Eight! Hit confirmed. ” Olivia praised, “ Acquire your next target. ”

“ R-roger that, Jollie Jollie! ” Kobo stammered.

She looked ahead and saw her targeting computer already picking its next target. Meanwhile, the
High Tide, Jollie Jollie and the other cadets started firing their next salvo of missiles.

FWOOSH!

FWOOSH!

FWOOSH!

“I’m not gonna be left behind this time!” Kobo declared.

She eyed her own target, locked onto it and pulled the trigger too!

FWOOSH!

The missiles flew true and struck down their marks. Beyond the horizon, Kobo also saw the other
half of the squadron unloading missiles upon the enemy. All fifteen Strato-Hornets unleashed hell
upon the black ichor-like warplanes, gutting the diminished Galactic Orca from the sides.

It was a turkey shoot!

A continuous stream of explosions ate away at the enemy formation, bathing their warplanes in
flame like a firework festival. All the while, the older-generation enemy planes could do little more
than take the punishment.
And yet, after Kobo and her peers emptied their missile bays, more than a hundred enemies still
remained.

Kobo tried to pull her trigger, but her Strato-Hornet had no more missiles left to fire.

“I’m out already…?” Kobo’s face went pale.

At this point, Moona’s video feed piped up again.

“ Lesson three! Ammunition. ” Moona continued her lecture, “ Just like the I.D.O.L. Frames, our
jets in this sim will replenish ammo from your I-115 cells, but the missiles take a while. That means
we have to close in and use our guns - the Vulcan rotary cannons! Check your dashboards now,
ladies. ”

The weapons overlay on Kobo’s dashboard shifted, highlighting the M61A2 vulcan cannons on her
aircraft.

“Hoh…” Kobo hummed, “So we’re not out of ammo yet after all.”

When Kobo said this, though, her cockpit suddenly filled with ominous beeping noises.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!

“What the hell…!?” Kobo furrowed her brow.

“ Lesson four! Range. ” Moona added next, “ We were firing our missiles from out of the enemies’
range earlier, but now we’re closing in to get them into gun range. ”

“We’re… getting them into range?” Kobo gulped.

“That’s correct, Zero-Eight. We’re in their range now too.” Moona confirmed, “That means - the
enemy’s gonna start shooting back at us. Watch for missile smoke and radar signals and take
evasive maneuvers! Use your countermeasures if you have to - and you will have to. The bogies are
going to try and bite - hard. Just like a real Galactic Orca of AO’s.”

This time around, the black, ichor-like enemies started shooting missiles at them! A menacing
swarm of enemy missiles traced smoke talons through the air that shot towards the Strato-Hornets
now. Both halves of the squadron were being targeted at the same time!

Enemy missiles blotted out the sun.

“Holy shit!” Kobo cursed.

And yet, Moona’s High Tide , Olivia’s Jollie Jollie and Reine’s Illusion Night fired their
afterburners and charged forward.

“ We’re closing the distance, everyone! Use the loose formation! Take everything you’ve learned
from us thus far, shake off the missiles and take the fight to them! ” Reine chimed in this time, “
The sooner we can get in range, the sooner we can shred the AO’s! ”

“Goodness… easier said than done!” Kobo, quaking in her seat, clicked her tongue.

“ What? Gonna chicken out, Zero-Eight? ” Zeta’s voice taunted her.

“You wish, Zero-Six!” Kobo hissed back.

Zeta scoffed and smugly dared her, “ Watch my dust, then! ”

On the radar, Kobo saw Zeta’s Zero-Six follow the advancing Reine without hesitation.

Kobo’s jaw dropped, “S-she’s actually doing it too?”

One by one, emboldened by Zeta’s charge, the endangered cadets followed her pursuit.

Kobo wiped sweat off her brow and gripped her flight-stick. She eyed Moona’s and Olivia’s jets,
took a deep breath and cried, “Here goes nothing!”

Kobo fired up her afterburners once more and joined her colleagues on the assault. Her Strato-
Hornet picked up speed and flew past the first wave of enemy missiles, but many more continued
to track her!

“Shit…!” Kobo jerked her flight-stick and dodged the incoming missiles as best as she could.

She banked her Strato-Hornet left and right and then left again in rapid succession. Her heart
pounded hard against her chest. Deep inside, she knew she had her back against the wall, but that
morbid, desperate fact only sharpened Kobo’s focus and made her senses keener than usual.

It was like a runner’s high, Kobo thought.

But her body was an SF/A-18 EDX Strato-Hornet jet fighter.

And in her heart was a rhythmic song. As she flew, its lyrics escaped her lips!

‘ Dengarkanlah, suaraku - id:entity! ’

Time seemed to slow down around Kobo, following the tempo of the song in her heart. In
response, the visuals of her dashboard and the data outputs of her flight and combat computers
synced with Kobo - all of Kobo! The gaps between the swathes of missiles seemed to take the
shape of musical notes on a G-clef staff.

Her hand on the flight stick moved to that rhythm. She made her plane dart and weave, hitting
those notes and flying through those narrowing loopholes of the missile-hell.

One missile, however, had Kobo’s fighter plane in its sights. It drew close, kept up with Kobo’s
speed and cut off her path to freedom!

“I can’t shake this one…!” Kobo gritted her teeth.

“ Countermeasures, Zero-Eight! ” Olivia’s voice urged from her window.

“... right!” Kobo gasped. She switched to the countermeasures on her dashboard and fired them at
the incoming missile.

THUP-THUP-THUP-THUP-THUP!

Bright, fiery flares shot out of the side of Kobo’s jet in quick succession. The missile that had been
chasing Kobo changed targets in an instant and struck a flare, blowing it up!

BOOM!

But it was too close for comfort.

The explosion rocked Kobo’s fighter jet violently and her afterburners stuttered to an abrupt halt.
Her dashboard computer started identifying damaged modules, but her jet continued to fly on her
standard engines.
“I made it somehow…” Kobo breathed sharply.

On her radar, however, she saw some of the blue dots of her squadron flash wildly before
disappearing. Three Strato-Hornets of Kobo’s peers took harder hits than hers and were crashing
out of the simulated sky.

“ We’re taking casualties, but push through! ” Reine’s voice called, “ All units, check your ammo.
Your missiles should have replenished by now. ”

“ But watch your fuel! ” Olivia interjected, “ The I-115 goes into everything! ”

“Fuel…?” Kobo furrowed her brow.

She checked her I-115 cell levels and saw it evaporate rapidly from two-thirds to just less than half.

However, just as Reine reported, she had six brand new air-to-air missiles at her disposal - along
with her full load of Vulcan cannon ammo.

Once again, Kobo’s targeting computer started picking targets from the herd of black, ichor-like
enemy planes.

“ Final lesson for tonight, ladies. ” Moona’s voice cut through the din, “ When you take to the skies
or blast out into space to attack, see it through to the end. Our enemies, the Ancient Ones are
heartless and soulless beings - but they are not mindless. They will try to destroy us at every turn,
so do not hesitate! Show them no mercy! ”

Kobo breathed Moona’s words straight into her very soul. Her nervous heart stilled and she, once
more, felt joined to her jet fighter.

“Don’t hesitate…” Kobo repeated the mantra, “Show them no mercy!”

“ You heard High Tide! ” Reine chimed in, “ All units - fire your last missile salvos. Then, close in
and let your guns do the talking! ”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Kobo and Zeta both cried out wholeheartedly.

The two rivals looked at each other through their screens. Fiery glows illuminated their eyes paired
with daring smirks painted on their lips.

And so, the remaining Strato-Hornets unleashed their missiles upon their menacing foes and
bathed them in fire. Then, before the heavenly infernos subsided, Kobo, Zeta and their peers fired
their afterburners once more and charged into hell as quickly as their planes could take them.

Nineteenth Scene - A Cut Above

Intense battle broke out between the twelve Strato-Hornets and the five dozen enemy aircraft that
survived the second missile salvo. Guided by combat computers, the Vulcan rotary cannons came
to life. Their rotary cannons spun rapidly at the drop of a hat and…

BRRRRT!!!

Kobo’s trigger finger trembled.

Her Vulcan cannon practically deleted anything that she could get her sights on.

BRRRRT!!! BRRRRT!!! BRRRRT!!!

“Holy crap!” Kobo gasped, both frightened and amazed by the firepower at her disposal. Four
enemy jets fell to her nigh-almighty power.

However, the enemy aircraft had guns of their own too. They faced Kobo head-on and fired back
at her.

RATATATATATATATATATAT!

“Shit!” Kobo cursed.

She remembered that she actually still had to fly the plane. Kobo yanked her flight-stick and zipped
away from the incoming fire. And yet, she could not shake the aircraft off her tail.

At the same time, her dashboard started to wail with a digital voice.

“ Bingo! Bingo! ”

“Bingo…?” Kobo furrowed her brow, “Is that a good thing?”

“That’s the low fuel warning, Zero-Eight.” Olivia interpreted for her.

“Low fuel!?” Kobo tried to complain, “But I need my afterburners to…!”

Before Kobo could say anything else, the enemy fighters chasing her sped up. They closed in and
fired their guns.

RATATATATATATATATATAT!

Primitive machine gun shots struck the rear of Kobo’s aircraft en masse, tearing through her tail
fins and wings just as well as her Vulcan cannon did to their comrades. Kobo’s jet engine sputtered
and caught fire. Her digital dashboard flashed ominously.

“Damn it…!” Kobo hissed.

“ Zero-Eight, eject - ej…ct! ” Olivia’s voice crackled through the failing TACCOM.

The dashboard brought up the holographic eject button. Kobo gritted her teeth and slammed her
fist into it.

Then, the simulation ended for Kobo and her world turned to black.

Kobo sank into her simulator chair and covered her face with her hand.

“Guhhhhhh…” Kobo groaned irritably.

While Kobo stewed in her frustrations, the side door of the simulator pod opened once more. Light
from the simulator hall flooded inside, forcing Kobo to shield her eyes. Then, the silhouette of
Anya Melfissa appeared before her.

This time, Anya wasn’t there to reset the simulation. Kobo’s flying career, for that night at least,
was over.

“Welcome to the afterlife, Zero-Eight . You are casualty number eight out of fifteen in the
squadron. You have seventeen kills.” Anya reported in a matter-of-factly voice.

“Is that good or bad?” Kobo asked.

“It’s an improvement.” Anya smiled.

Kobo pouted.

With the extremely low bar that Kobo had set with her poor flying earlier, anything could be
considered an ‘improvement’.

But still, Anya offered her hand to Kobo.

“The battle’s still ongoing. C’mon.” Anya said with modest cheer, “I’ve pulled up chairs. We can
watch the finale on the big screen.”

Kobo heaved a sigh. Then, she took Anya’s hand and let her help her out of the simulator pod.

The petite brunette brought Kobo to the hub of the mainframe computer where folding chairs were
spread out before a large formless screen. It showed the ongoing simulation with a free-roam
camera paired with a 3D radar map of the warplanes still on the battlefield. M

Familiar callsigns caught Kobo’s eyes.

Moona’s ‘ High Tide ’, Olivia’s ‘ Jollie Jollie ’, Reine’s ‘ Illusion Night ’... and of course Zeta’s ‘
Zero-Six ’.

In the heat of the frantic battle, the rest of the cadets started dropping like flies. Casualty numbers
nine, ten and eleven of the Majestic 12 cadets came as the ichor aircraft counterattacked viciously.

Anya offered Kobo a seat, but she couldn’t bring herself to sit down. She stayed there standing
with her eyes glued to the screen.

Eight enemy aircraft remained, but the last four Strato-Hornets were damaged and running on
fumes. Zeta and the veterans danced through the skies against their persistent foes and pulled off
amazing maneuvers, but they were running out of fuel - out of time.

“ I’ll get us an opening! ” Zeta declared aggressively, “ Engaging afterburners now! ”

Kobo saw Zeta’s Zero-Six break ahead from the formation and then turn sharply. On the pilots’
TACCOM, Zeta winced from the simulated G-force but kept her cool through the pain.

Zeta’s maneuver brought her plane behind four of her pursuers. Then, she unloaded her Vulcan
cannon upon them.

BRRRRRT-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK!
Three of the enemy planes were torn to shreds, but the fourth survived the assault. And yet,
another warning followed on Zeta’s dashboard soon after.

“ Bingo! Bingo! ”

“Shit, her fuel…” Kobo winced where she stood.

“ I’m not done yet! ” Zeta roared defiantly, “ Come here, you little shit! ”

She engaged her afterburners one last time and launched her plane into her fourth prey.

CRASH! BOOM!

Zeta’s assault and last strike broke up what remained of the enemy formation. That freed up Olivia,
Moona and Reine to break off from their own pursuers and shoot them down with Vulcan guns.

BRRRT! BRRRT! BRRRT!

By the time that Anya helped Zeta out of her simulation pod, the simulation was over.

The IDSC, by the thinnest of margins, was victorious.

The cadets cheered for the veterans as they went out of their own simulator pods: Olivia, Moona
and Reine. Impromptu fanfare broke out as they clapped and called out their names like sports fans
of the winning team. When Anya brought Zeta to join the veterans, though, the fanfare continued
but lost a fraction of the fervor.

Zeta snorted but kept a stoic face on for the rest of the night.

Kobo watched that wordless exchange from the audience stand.

‘ The other cadets aren’t going easy on her too, huh? ’ Kobo thought as she looked on to the stone-
faced Zeta, ‘ Perhaps we’re not as different as I thought - she and I. ’

While she did, Kobo made a promise to herself.

She swore that she would, one day, join the victors on the stage until the very end.
She swore that she would make a name - and a callsign - that everyone would remember.

And she would win victories that would let her stand on the same stage as Moona, Olivia and the
rest of the I.D.O.L. Frame pilots.

Kobo would do everything in her power to do just that.

When the cheers and the fanfare finally started to subside, Reine brought her class of cadets back
into order and addressed them.

“So, cadets. How do you feel about your first taste of flying?” Reine put her hands on her hips and
beamed, “It’s exhilarating, isn’t it? Being able to fly these war machines through the skies.”

Kobo and most of the other cadets nodded in agreement. Reine’s blue eyes then shimmered
mischievously.

“But what if I told you that you’ve only experienced roughly half - or less than half - of the true
experience of piloting an I.D.O.L. Frame!” Reine revealed.

“... huh!?” the bulk of the cadets gasped.

Reine confirmed her words with a nod. Then, she gestured to Anya to take the stage. The petite
brunette cleared her throat and faced the awestruck cadets.

“The starfighter form of I.D.O.L. Frames are powerful, but only if we fight the Ancient Ones in
outer space.” Anya came forward and continued Reine’s lecture, “In the rare event that I.D.O.L.
Frames are tasked to fight a planetary battle on this Earth, or maybe an Orbital Platform, we
change their form accordingly. That’s where CWO comes in. Combat Walker Operations.”

Mumbling and whispers broke out among the cadets. Every single one of them was exhausted and
had poured themselves into the fighter simulation. But now, they were being told that they had
only scratched the surface.

Some were awestruck by news.

Others were frightened and stressed by what other challenges were to come.

Kobo, on the other hand, could barely contain her excitement.

‘ CWO, huh? This time… ’ Kobo swore beneath her breath, ‘ This time I’ll make a name for
myself! ’

Reine clapped her hands and silenced the mumblings of the cadets.
“You’ve all done well today, cadets. There’s still a lot more air training to do, but we’ll call it a
night.” Reine concluded. She then turned to Olivia and smiled, “You and your classmates back at
the Academy will have CWO classes with Olivia Kureiji tomorrow, so get ready!”

Olivia grinned and sauntered forward this time towards the cadets, “Yup! We’re getting up bright
and early and starting with some good ole’ PT. Physical training! But before that, be sure to pick
up your combat gear from Sergeant Sparrowhawk - we’re taking it up the mountain through the
steps!”

The cadets let out a collective groan.

Zeta, especially, pursed her lips and started fidgeting where she sat.

“It’s alright, kiddos.” Moona interjected and reassured casually, “I’ll pick up a kit and march up the
mountain with all of you!”

Moona’s words perked up the class somewhat. Doing hard exercise was a dreadful experience, but
doing it alongside a celebrated war hero seemed to lighten the load - even just a little bit.

And so, Moona and Olivia joined Reine, Anya and the cadets to pick up their heavy-loaded
rucksacks, rifles and body armor. Together, they led the cadets up the mountain for their final trek
of the night.

Twentieth Scene - Peace Offering

Most of the cadets, eager to catch up on their rest - or attempt to keep up with the veterans like
Kobo did earlier on the way down, kept pace with the Reine, Moona, Olivia and Anya as best as
they could.

Kobo did the same at first.

After all, she harbored many questions that she wanted to ask her four simpais .

She’d ask Reine if she managed to make up for her poor flying after her better-than-expected
combat sortie.

She’d have questions for Anya about the flight simulator - and maybe about the Combat Walker
modes of the I.D.O.L. frames.

For Olivia, she would have tried to glean more information about her upcoming Combat Walker
Operations class.

Then, for Moona - Kobo wanted to ask her if she did a good job that night.

She wanted - needed - to know if her idol perceived her.

All those questions propelled her to push herself once more and fight against the weight of her
combat kit. Kobo even managed to start inching closer to the veterans and hovered just over a
dozen steps away!

But on Kobo’s way up, she noticed Zeta lagging behind the other cadets yet again.

Or rather, she heard the obnoxious jeering and teasing of the cadets behind her.

So, Kobo stole glances of Zeta below from over her shoulder.

They had only reached the quarter-way mark of the staircase of the Hundred Thousand Miracles,
but Zeta was already huffing and puffing. Her face, once cool, calm and collected inside the
cockpit of a Strato-Hornet, was as red as a tomato and slick with sweat glistening in the moonlight!

Even then, through the pain, sweat and jeers, Zeta persisted and kept hiking up.

Eventually, the other cadets hurried off and left Zeta in the dust. Kobo, on the other hand, started
slowing down to a crawl.

By the time Kobo had strolled leisurely up to the halfway mark of the staircase she stopped
completely.

Moments later, Zeta finally caught up.

Panting heavily, Zeta forced herself up to the 500th step of the staircase and onto the halfway point
landing. There, she found herself standing face to face with Kobo.

“Water fountain…” Zeta hissed at Kobo on instinct.

“Stupid cat.” Kobo answered as if it were second nature.

“I’m not… a cat…” Zeta tried to argue, but the venom in her voice wasn’t as potent as she wanted
it to be. She lowered her head and scrambled to catch her breath, “What the hell… do you want?”

“I felt tired so I wanted to rest.” Kobo lied. But then, she faced Zeta and insisted, “You should take
a rest too. You don’t look so good.”

Zeta huffed and puffed as she lugged the heavy equipment upwards. She looked up to the
unusually slow Kobo and scowled, not buying her story for even a moment.

“This has got… nothing to do with you.” Zeta huffed, trying to puff up her chest with pride.

The silver-haired cadet tried to push onwards, but her tired legs buckled and she tripped forward.
All the weight that she carried fell down with her and sped up her fall.

“Oh, crap…!” Zeta cursed and braced for impact.

And yet, the impact never came.

Kobo swooped in and caught Zeta, and all the weight she had been carrying, in her arms!

Kobo locked eyes with Zeta, flared up her nostrils and commanded her, “We’re taking a rest. Right
now!”

Zeta pouted, but she didn’t have the strength to argue back.

So, Zeta conceded, “Fine.”

She let Kobo help her to a stone bench beside an illuminated vending machine and a streetlamp.
Kobo took Zeta’s rifle and set it down on the ground alongside hers. Then, she faced Zeta again.

“I’ll buy you a drink.” Kobo offered, pointing to the vending machine, “What do you want?”

“Milk tea. The premium brand one. Cold.” Zeta said without hesitation.

Kobo nodded and walked over to the vending machine and started pressing on the buttons and
scanning her WristComm on the device reader. Zeta watched her, surprised that the hotheaded
water fountain was finally doing something nice to her - and buying her premium brand milk tea to
boot!

But then, Kobo turned back to Zeta and spoke without batting an eye. She showed her WristComm
screen displaying a warning.

‘ INSUFFICIENT FUNDS ’.

Then, Kobo spoke flatly, “Hey. Can you lend me some money?”

Zeta’s softening expression immediately turned sour. Then, she facepalmed.

‘ Right… ’ Zeta grumbled beneath her breath, ‘ She’s a Jakarta-03 peasant. ’

Zeta sighed and stood up from the stone bench. Then, she marched towards the vending machine
with labored steps and scanned her WristComm on the reader.

She bought two premium brand milk tea bottles and gave one to Kobo.

“Here. This one’s on me.” Zeta insisted.

The moment Kobo locked eyes with her, though, Zeta turned away and pouted haughtily.

Kobo blinked and whispered beneath her breath, “Is this what they call tsundere ?”
“Did you say something?” Zeta furrowed her brow.

“Nope.” Kobo lied again.

With that, Kobo and Zeta returned to the stone bench, opened up their milk teas and relaxed under
the starry night sky side by side.

To Be Continued
 On Our Own Two Feet

Prologue

Under the canopy of a bare-branched cherry blossom tree and the light of a lone, bright street lamp,
the combat gear-clad Kobo Kanaeru and Zeta Vestia sat together on a stone bench. The two of
them had chilled premium-brand cans of milk tea in their hands that felt cool in their hands. Kobo,
completely unfazed by her five-hundred step journey up the staircase of the Hundred Thousand
Miracles, cracked open her milk tea can without a second thought and chugged it.

Zeta, on the other hand, savored the cool can in her hands and felt the excessive heat from her
exhausted body filtering out of her. Her tiredness and fatigue seemed to flow out along with it.

She listened to the songs of the nocturnal birds and insects, the hum of the vending machine’s
refrigerator unit and the low crackle of the streetlamp. Then, when the sea breeze blew up the
mountain from Tokyo Bay, Zeta took a deep breath and let everything meld together in her mind,
body and spirit.

Now, this was a moment that a zen master could have, in the right circumstances, called a glimpse
of enlightenment and oneness with the world. At least, that’s what the books and online articles and
self-help videos that Zeta had been perusing lately told her.

Zeta closed her eyes and basked in that glimpse of enlightenment.

Enlightenment… that would be broken by the brash reactions of the fountain-haired peasant girl
beside her.

“Holy shit!” Kobo gasped, “That’s good stuff!”

Zeta furrowed her brow, focusing all her energies on not lashing out at Kobo at that moment. Kobo
gave Zeta a sidelong glance. Their equally blue eyes met: Kobo’s curious ones meeting Zeta’s stern
ones.

“Oh. You’re having a ‘moment’.” Kobo spoke her mind without any filter whatsoever, “Sorry. I’ll
keep quiet.”

‘Too freaking late, stupid water fountain!’ Zeta pouted. Her zen moment was long gone.

Instead, Zeta opened up her own can of premium milk tea and took solace in its rich, delightful
flavor.

For a heartbeat and a half, she sympathized with Kobo for exclaiming like she did. After all, Zeta
exclaimed just like that when she had her first can of that special milk tea three years ago.
A small, empathetic smile formed on Zeta’s lips.

Delightful silence, paired with sips of milk tea, persisted for a good few minutes.

Another gentle breeze blew in from the bay and Kobo’s eyes turned to Zeta once more.

“... say.” Kobo started cautiously, “You kicked ass in flight sims today.”

Zeta blinked and winced, “Kicked… ass? What’s that supposed to mean?”

She furrowed her brow.

‘Is this some sort of peasant slang ?’ Zeta thought.

“It means you did really well!” Kobo clarified with a grin. She clapped her hands and insisted,
“Really though - what’s your secret? How did you fly those planes so well?”

Zeta pouted and pointed her nose up to the springtime moon.

“I practiced.” Zeta revealed proudly, “That’s all there is to it.”

“Practiced?” Kobo asked, bewildered, “How the hell did you do that? This is our first day in the
Academy!”

“I practiced before I came down to the Earth, dummy!” Zeta clarified, folding her arms, “During
one of my trips to the Earth, I bought a flight simulator and had it set up in my home on the
Platforms.”

“You can do that!?” Kobo gasped, “How much did it cost you?”

Zeta paused, looked into Kobo’s eyes and asked. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Yeah. Tell me!” Kobo puffed her cheeks.

Zeta sighed and answered Kobo’s question, “Fifty million Rupiah.”

Kobo’s jaw dropped.

“Fifty million rupiah!? That’s a fortune!” Kobo mused with astonishment.

“It’s just thirty-two hundred dollars.” Zeta shrugged nonchalantly.

Suddenly, Kobo paused. She looked straight in Zeta’s eyes and asked, “What’s a dollar?”

“Seriously?” Zeta raised her brow. She then snorted and shook her head, “That’s a story for another
time. Anyways - yeah. I had a flight simulator of my own set up in my house. It wasn’t as
sophisticated - or in depth - as what we used to today but it got the job done.”

“Yeah. You were twenty points ahead of the number two girl in Reine- simpai ’s flying drills.”
Kobo admitted. Her shoulders then drooped, “I don’t even want to think about my score.”

“You set some records of your own, I heard.” Zeta smirked at Kobo, reminding her of her
disastrous first half.

Kobo puffed her cheeks and folded her arms, “Shut up!”

Zeta laughed.

“Anyways - yeah, I bought that flight simulator and used it a lot.” Zeta recounted, leaning back into
the bench, “Any free time I had, I’d put into the simulator - thinking that it’d help me when I
applied for the IDSC. Turns out it did. Day in and day out, I practiced - practiced - practiced.
Whenever I couldn’t sleep, I flew.”

“Is that why you ran into me in the maglev station that day?” Kobo teased, “You bumped into me
and fell on your butt.”

Zeta’s expression soured immediately.

“Yes.” Zeta admitted curtly, “That’s why I ran into you. Cause I was preparing for the day I’d
become an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot.”

Kobo nods and finishes off the rest of her milk tea.

“That’s some crazy dedication you have there.” Kobo commented, “You practice so hard on a
flight sim - and you spend so much money on it too!”

“The money isn’t a big deal.” Zeta answered placidly at first. However, seeds of displeasure started
to take root in her tone, “It’s not really my money to begin with. It’s money from my family - a
family that would rather wish to have me as an aristocratic prop for fancy dinner parties or Orbital
Administration cabinet meetings.”

Kobo fell silent.

The fountain-girl had that look about her, Zeta thought. It was the kind where Kobo had conjured
up some cheeky comment to try and roast Zeta, but Kobo held back and stayed silent.

It was an invitation for Zeta to continue her tale - an assurance that Kobo was listening.

Zeta cleared her throat and obliged.

“I come from an aristocratic family - the Vestia clan of the Makassar platform group: lords and
ladies - high ranked officials of the Orbital Administration’s Security Bureau.” Zeta revealed,
“Everyone in the clan is Worldless, so I can’t say for sure if I was their daughter in whatever
Known World we escaped from. But I arrived in the same escape pod as the clan, so I became their
daughter.”

“So you were born… or rather, ‘reborn’ into wealth by circumstance.” Kobo hummed.

Zeta nodded. Hardly any joy reflected on her moonlit face.

“My family wanted me to be seen but not heard. They vehemently opposed my decision to try and
become an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot.” Zeta heaved a long, hard sigh, “They wanted me to be some desk
jockey in Jakarta Central instead. They said I had no business going to the front lines - not when
the Orbital Defense Platforms and their guns and missiles would protect us.”

“You’re a runaway princess, then.” Kobo tested.

“You could say that.” Zeta accepted with a sigh. She then turned to Kobo and asked, “You saw
what happened when the Ancient Ones attacked, though.”

“I did, yeah.” Kobo shook her head, “It was a pretty close call. If it weren’t for the I.D.O.L.
Frames, then the AO’s could have gotten father.”

“Uh-huh. Everyone in my clan pissed their pants that day. My father, Lord Bazo, was calling the
IDSC Garrison begging them to do something. Anything!” Zeta nodded, “Without the Frames, the
simulation we had in the flight sim earlier wouldn’t have been theoretical anymore. It would have
been real. Real Strato-Hornets would have scrambled into fights they’re not meant to win.”

“Sheesh…” Kobo leaned forward, recalling the simulations. Chills ran up her spine and she
shuddered, “No simulator resets. No redos. No ‘spectator mode’. No nothing.”

“Nope. None whatsoever.” Zeta confirmed, “This world wouldn't be as peaceful as it is today if
people didn’t stick their necks out and reach for the stars.’

Zeta clenched her fist and pointed it at the Jakarta-series platforms sailing between the Earth and
the moon.

“So that’s why I want to be an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot. I want to decisively prove my father and my
clan wrong.” Zeta declared, “I don’t care how much pain, suffering or humiliation I have to
endure, but I will see this through. Nothing will stand in my way.” Her eyes glared at the Orbital
Platforms venomously and hissed, “I won’t live in the shadow of the Vestia clan’s wealth or their
influence forever. Otherwise, there wouldn’t even be a Vestia clan.”

“Or a KW1.” Kobo added.

Zeta nodded. She finished off her own can of milk tea and lobbed it into a garbage bin by the
vending machine.

SWISH!

Zeta’s can sailed into the bin perfectly like a basketball.

The runaway aristocrat then turned to Kobo.

“I’ve told you my story, fountain girl.” Zeta asked, “What’s yours? Most of the Worldless are
perfectly happy to stay up in the Orbital Platforms. Why are you down here trying so hard to be an
I.D.O.L. Frame Pilot?”

“My story…” Kobo mused, holding her empty can, “I wish I had one.”

Kobo threw her can at the garbage bin too, but struck the rim and bounced off.

KLANG!

Kobo’s can fell onto the stone tiles of the landing.

“Damn it…” Kobo clicked her tongue, picked up her can and dunked it straight into the bin.

“What do you mean you don’t have a story?” Zeta asked, “I mean - the Worldless don’t know
where they came from before the Hundred Thousand Miracles, but they all have some kind of story
when they awaken in KW1: some sort of community they were a part of.”

“Maybe I would have had one.” Kobo joined her hands behind her back and looked up to the
moon, “But all of the other escape pods that were with me got destroyed by the Ancient Ones. I
even saw someone get corrupted by the AO’s before my eyes… some blonde girl with blue eyes.”
Kobo shook her head, “It was gruesome. It looked painful. And her eye…”

Kobo shuddered where she stood, even though there was no breeze.

“Fountain girl…” Zeta spoke with rare sympathy.

Kobo shook her head and laid her hand on her heart.

“I don’t really have a story that I can piece together from before the Miracles… but I do have a
story from after I got rescued.” Kobo revealed, “It took me a while, but I learned that it was
Moona- simpai herself who rescued me from my wreck. Olivia- neesan , meanwhile, was the one
who took me under her wing and became the family I probably never had.”
She perked up and turned around to face Zeta.

“I.D.O.L. Frame pilots have carried me on their shoulders from the day I was reborn. So - I want to
repay them and fight alongside them.” Kobo looked up to the sea of stars above her and pointed out
to the distant constellations beyond her reach, “And maybe - just maybe - when I’m back out there
in space, I can find out more about myself and where I came from. Maybe I’ll find out why I’m the
sole survivor from my world… wherever it may be.”

Zeta folded her arms and nodded.

“So that’s why Miss Kureiji coddled you so much.” Zeta heaved a sigh.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kobo furrowed her brow and glared.

“Well - Miss Kureiji treated me well too.” Zeta clarified, “She was the one who negotiated with my
father, Lord Bazo, to let me shoot my shot at becoming an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot.”

“Olivia- neesan did that!?” Kobo gasped.

“Yeah. She risked her reputation - and the reputation of the Jakarta-series Garrison just to get my
father’s approval.” Zeta laughed a little, “In a way, Miss Kureiji adopted me too. That practically
makes us sisters.”

“Sisters? With you!?” Kobo shuddered, “Eww… what the heck!?”

Zeta pointed her nose up to the moon, “I’m not a fan of this arrangement either, fountain-girl… but
after getting to know you a little, I don’t dislike it as much as I thought I would.”

Suddenly, Kobo’s face went smug.

“Ehe~” Kobo teased.

“Just don’t make that face too often and I’ll tolerate your existence.” Zeta hissed, “I don’t care
what we are. Just don’t get in the way of me becoming an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot either.”

“Right back at you, rich girl.” Kobo smirked. She glanced over at Zeta and mused, “If you can talk
back again, that means you’re probably rested up. There’s still five hundred steps to climb, so let’s
get going.”

“Five hundred and eighty-six.” Zeta corrected smugly, “And I’m gonna beat you to the top this
time!”

Without warning, Zeta picked up her rifle from the ground and started jogging up the staircase of
the Hundred Thousand Miracles. Kobo, intrigued by the aristocrat’s challenge, grinned and
snatched her own rifle too. Then, chased Zeta up the staircase and ran all the way to the IDSC
Academy grounds.

Together.
 Blue Horizon

On Our Own Two Feet

Twenty-First Scene - First Morning On Earth

As expected, Kobo’s first night on the earth gave her a dreamless night.

Her memories, on the other hand, were just as active as they were in her waking moments.

That morning, as Kobo fluttered between consciousness and subconsciousness, she recalled the
events of the fateful day she was rescued in space. It played out like a film projector reel: rigid,
chronological and predictable which left nothing to Kobo’s frustratingly dormant imagination.

The difference that morning, though, was that her mental stirrings also showed glimpses of the
frantic scenes of her wild flight simulator experience as ‘ Zero-Eight ’.

Recalling her callsign, Kobo finally awakened from her slumber just before the sunrise. Lying
down on her back, her overstimulated mind felt the minute differences of the gravity between the
Orbital Platforms and the Earth. Her lungs took in the fresh, crisp and unfiltered terrestrial air and
exhaled a bated breath.

While Kobo looked up to the dark ceiling of the dormitory of ID3 Flight 8, a loud, bugle reverie
blasted on the PA systems of Yokosuka Naval Base and the mountaintop mansion. Kobo awakened
from yet another dreamless sleep and sat upright on a simple spartan bed in ID3 Flight 8’s spacious
but densely packed dormitory.

Kobo yawned and stretched on her bed. From there, she rubbed her eyes and watched as the lion’s
share of her Flight’s cadets struggled to get up despite the rousing bugle blasts. The only exception
was, of course, Zeta Vestia, who was already up on her feet and fixing her bed sheet a stone’s
throw away.

Zeta’s blue eyes met with Kobo’s and the two of them smirked at each other.

The two of them were the only cadets of their Flight to participate in Reine’s surprise flight
simulator session as the Majestic 12 so they had less time to sleep. Add the fact that they were the
last of the Majestic 12 to make it back to Academy grounds.

And yet, she and Zeta were the first ones to rise.

Kobo remembered her conversation with Zeta on the steps of the Hundred Thousand Miracles
well.
‘Competition’s already starting, huh?’ Kobo snorted.

She got up too and started fixing her own bed as well, rushing to catch up with Zeta. Kobo had just
spread out her blanket (somewhat) neatly on her bed when the dormitory door swung open.

Sergeant Sparrowhawk burst inside along with a handful of her subordinates.

“DORMITORY INSPECTION. STAND IN ATTENTION!” Sparrowhawk declared.

Kobo, Zeta and the rest of the cadets obliged and stood in attention. Some of their Flight-mates,
though, tripped up and made even worse messes of their already messy beds.

Sparrowhawk saw this and she scowled.

“WHAT KIND OF PIGSTY IS THIS!?” Sparrowhawk screamed. Sparrowhawk marched through

the room and berated the Flight 8 cadets as she passed them by, “FILTHY! UNKEMPT!
ABSOLUTELY HORRID!” She swept her accusing finger through the room and demanded, “IF
THE AO’S ATTACKED KW1 TODAY, WOULD YOU BE PREPARED?”

Sparrowhawk then passed by Kobo’s and Zeta’s fairly fixed beds and paused.

The drill sergeant doubled back and took a second look.

“Cadet Vestia. Cadet Whatthehell. There may be hope for you yet.” Sparrowhawk nodded with
satisfaction and gave them the thinnest of compliments. She then whirled around to the other
cadets, stomped her boots and hollered, “As for the rest of you? Let me start you off with your
strength exercises today! DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME TWENTY!”

The other cadets did as they were told and started doing push ups. Zeta put her hands on her hips
and smirked victoriously. Kobo, on the other hand, folded her arms.

‘ I’m still Cadet Whatthehell? ’ Kobo furrowed her brow, ‘ What the hell!? ’

Still, Kobo took her rare win with a sliver of delight.

She didn’t get much time to bask in that victory, however. Not long after the other cadets finished
their push ups and finally fixed their beds, Olivia Kureiji stepped into the room wearing a tracksuit.
“Ladies!” Olivia greeted with a firm, resonating voice.

“Ma’am!” Sparrowhawk, her staff and all the cadets stood in attention and answered.

“It’s a beautiful day outside. Cadets, get into your athletic gear! We’re going for a jog in five
minutes.” Olivia commanded.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Kobo, Zeta and the cadets answered.

All of the Flight 8 cadets started getting into their athletic gear. Meanwhile, Olivia herself
sauntered over to Sergeant Sparrowhawk. In the corner of her eye, Kobo saw Olivia speaking
intently while Sparrowhawk listened and nodded often.

Afterwards, Sparrowhawk saluted Olivia and excused herself from the room. Her staff followed
her out too, leaving Olivia alone with the scrambling cadets.

“Double time, ladies!” Olivia urged, jogging in place where she stood, “Daylight’s burning - and
we’ve got a long, long day ahead of us!”

Twenty-Second Scene - CWO 101

Olivia Kureiji and the cadets of ID3 Flight 8 jogged together out of the IDSC Academy’s mansion
and onto the well-kept grounds and trails that snaked around it. Kobo, despite a mild but lingering
whole-body ache from yesterday’s strenuous exercises, kept up with Olivia and jogged alongside
her.

The CWO instructor glanced over her shoulder as she jogged and grinned at Kobo.

“Seems you’ve got quite a lot of stamina, kiddo.” Olivia praised, “You kept us with us last night -
and you’re keeping up with me now!”

“Stamina and strength… are two of the things… that I’m most proud of!” Kobo cheered raspily in
between gasps for air.

“That’s good.” Olivia smiled, speaking normally, “Physical strength is important for everyone in
the IDSC - especially for I.D.O.L. Frame pilots!”

Olivia didn’t pant or struggle in the slightest - almost as if these morning jogs were second nature
to her. She turned her eyes forward and raised her voice for the whole class to hear.

“Listen up, everyone! In Combat Walker Mode, your Frame follows your body. It basically
multiples the strength you have a hundredfold when you beat the shit out of the AO’s in a
terrestrial battle.” Olivia raised up her fist and punched up through the air, “The more strength you
- the pilot - have to multiply, the more hurt you can bring to those goddamned monsters!”

“Multiplication…!?” Kobo gasped, bewildered, “I don’t want to do math in battle!”

“Your I.D.O.L. Frame’s HALO module will handle the math, don’t worry!” Olivia reassured with
a wink. She twirled around and faced the class while jogging backwards, “Over the next few
weeks, I will be teaching you martial arts to turn your very bodies into AO-slaying weapons! Then,
I’ll be training you with actual weapons that you’ll use in CW mode. Knives, pistols, rifles,
shotguns… anti-tank guided missiles - the works!”

“Hoh…!” Kobo’s eyes shone brightly when she heard about weapons.

“We didn’t have you guys lug those rifles around for nothing, you know!” Olivia snickered,
“Doesn’t matter if you become I.D.O.L. Frame pilots or not. You’ll have to learn how to fight
Ancient Ones - whether or not you have a Frame of your own.”

When Olivia said this, Kobo sensed a shift in her guardian’s tone. It seemed like the slightest sliver
of sadness or longing, but Kobo couldn’t tell for sure. She couldn’t see what kind of face Olivia
was making at that point in time, after all.

Then, while Kobo was gathering her thoughts, she heard the rushed shuffle of feet coming from
behind her.

It was Zeta.

She, despite her sweat-slicked brow, red cheeks and heavy panting, was catching up to Kobo in the
jog!

“Don’t get lazy… hah… fountain-girl!” Zeta hissed at Kobo.

“Don’t get cocky, rich girl!” Kobo hissed back at her.

Kobo and Zeta glared at each other while they jogged and the two of them pushed themselves to
chase after their instructor. Olivia saw this and smirked.

“Good to see you two finally getting along.” Olivia remarked.

“We’re not… getting along!” Kobo and Zeta growled in perfect sync.

“Yeah right.” Olivia stuck out her tongue. She then took a deep breath and dared, “Alright then, I
won’t hold back either!”

Suddenly, Olivia straightened her back and sped up her jog bit by bit. She eventually pulled away
from Kobo and Zeta, daring them to try and keep up!

The two rival cadets obliged and sped up too! They left the rest of the cadets of their Flight in the
dust - leaving them to grumble in frustration and envy.
 …

Olivia’s early morning jog came to an end before long and the schedule of Flight 8 continued on as
originally scheduled: strength training in the Academy gym, followed by a morning CWO theory
lecture with Olivia in the lecture room together with the other Flights of cadets.

The red-haired instructor, now in a fresh change of clothes, brought up a dozen formless projection
screens from her WristComm. Each screen featured images or videos of I.D.O.L. Frames taken
from training exercises or from IDSC promotional videos. Olivia folded her arms and walked
around those formless screens with a proud smile on her lips.

“Alright class. I’m sure the whole lot of you have seen at least some of these pics and vids.” Olivia
started, pointing to the screens as she passed them by, “This here is Moona-simpai ’ s High Tide
taking off from the IDSC Garuda fleet carrier. This one’s Risu-simpai’ s 1:15AM firing its full
spread of missiles on a practice target over orbit in KW11. Oh~ and this one’s Iofi-simpai ’s
Q&A=E doing an underway refueling maneuver during the ongoing KW8 campaign.”

Kobo, Zeta and the rest of the cadets in the hall regarded the pictures and videos with keen interest.
After a short while, the formless screens moved on to the next media file in their playlist. Olivia
gave commentary about those files too.

But then, with a wave of Olivia’s hand, the formless screens went dark.

“Whenever people talk about I.D.O.L. Frames, they think about their starfighter forms like what
you’ve seen here.” Olivia put her hand on her hip but shook her head, “What most folks often
forget is that I.D.O.L. Frames are transforming starfighters. Watch the news - or any Hollywood
flick about the Frames. You’ll only see starfighters!”

Olivia aired her gripes with a certain passion that did not slip past Kobo.

‘Is it because Olivia-neesan’s our Combat Walker instructor? Or is there more to it than that?’
Kobo wondered.

Olivia smiled and continued her spiel, “Here at the IDSC Academy, I’m here to clear the air.
I.D.O.L. Frames can transform back and forth between two distinct forms: Starfighters and Combat
Walkers!”

Olivia waved her hand again and the formless screens populated with new pictures and videos.
Once again, the class saw Moona’s High Tide , Risu’s 1:15AM and Iofi’s Q&A=E , but they
looked starkly different.
Rather than the jet plane-like starfighters, they were bipedal, humanoid war machines with heads,
limbs and bodies. Components and weapons of the starfighters had shifted around to make the new
forms, but the cockpits - and the pilots within them - remained at the center of it all.

One particular picture of that presentation caught Kobo’s attention.

It was Moona’s High Tide in CW mode, standing on the surface of KW1’s moon. Moona and her
walker both stood tall and saluted the camera.

“Oh gosh, she’s so cool…!” Kobo gushed over Moona and melted in her seat.

Zeta, meanwhile, looked on at the melting Kobo and cringed. The aristocrat heaved a sigh and
raised her hand.

“Yes, cadet Vestia.” Olivia called upon her.

Zeta stood up from her seat and asked her question.

“Miss Kureiji, we know that I.D.O.L. Frames have starfighter and combat walker modes, but how
do they transform between them? They seem wildly different. That transformation looks incredibly
complex. Can the Frames really do that in the heat of battle?”

“Yes.” Olivia answered undaunted. She showed Zeta her open hand and declared, “The
transformation takes place in five seconds. Flat.”

“F-five seconds…!?” Zeta’s jaw dropped with astonishment.

“Of course, it takes quite a bit of I-115 fuel to complete the transformation one way or another.”
Olivia warned, “But the Frames can transform that quickly. Flexibility is the name of the game!
It’s why the Galactic Fleet still values our contributions!”

When Olivia said this, she tapped on the picture of Moona’s I.D.O.L. Frame saluting on the lunar
surface. The picture started moving like a gif file and showed the High Tide transform from
Combat Walker to Starfighter form in five seconds flat.

The entire lecture hall filled with gasps.

“How is that even possible…?” Zeta continued to ask, “I’ve seen all sorts of weaponry in the
Orbital Administration’s Security Bureau, but none of them can do anything like that!”

Kobo looked at the gif of the transformation looping and hummed in agreement. She, too, hadn’t
seen anything like it outside of fanciful sci-fi flicks.

“I knew this question was coming sooner or later.” Olivia admitted with a sigh. She laid her hand
over her heart and answered, “Even I don’t know the specifics, cadet Vestia. I’m just a pilot.
Specific technical details aren’t my forte.”
Olivia whispered beneath her breath, “ Of all the times for Anya to take her day off, it had to be
today. ”

The sole instructor cleared her throat and continued, “Either way, the transformation methods and
mechanisms - and just about every bit of advanced tech in the Frames - are closely-guarded Cover
Corporation secrets. The technology is so incredibly rare that only a few people understand it…
and so many people want to unearth it.”

‘That must be why security was so tight in the hangar last night.’ Kobo recalled. She tapped on the
face of her WristComm and remembered the photos that Anya had her delete, ‘If the Strato-
Hornets that we simulated yesterday were huge secrets, then the I.D.O.L. Frames are in a world of
their own.’

Kobo furrowed her brow and watched the gif of Moona’s transforming High Tide, wondering.

‘Just what in the world is an I.D.O.L. Frame?’

As Kobo stewed in her thoughts and speculations, Olivia held up three fingers.

“At the end of the day, the ID3 Strike Force will only be able to accept three new pilots. Only three
fortunate souls will have the high honor and distinct privilege to pilot the Frames and carry their
secrets in their hearts.” Olivia glanced at Zeta and asked, “Does that answer your question, cadet
Vestia?”

Zeta nodded politely.

One look at Zeta, though, told Kobo that Olivia’s answer just planted new seeds of curiosity in her
mind.

Chatters and whispers started to pop up throughout the lecture hall, but Olivia clapped her hands
and silenced them.

“While we may not know everything about I.D.O.L. Frames, I can assure you that the IDSC
Academy’s program has prepared all of the pilots to operate them.” Olivia swore wholeheartedly,
“Moona-simpai , Risu-simpai and Iofi-simpai went through the same program that Reine and Anya
and I went through - and that is the same program that you folks are going through right now. With
significant improvements, of course!”

Olivia’s words sated the curiosity of the class for now, though embers remained. Once Olivia had
everyone’s attention once more, she faced the cadets and made a declaration.
“Later today, after lunch, all of you will get a chance to see a little bit of the I.D.O.L. Frame
technology in action. A tech demo, of sorts!” Olivia grinned, “The Majestic 12 cadets will be
operating Training Walkers using HALO modules!”

“The Majestic 12…?” Kobo and Zeta both thought out loud.

Kobo squealed and felt her heart skip a beat, ‘ That’s us! ’

Silence permeated through the lecture hall at first. Then, chuckles followed with laughter.

Kobo and Zeta shrank where they sat.

“Good to see you kids are excited.” Olivia laughed too. She gave a thumbs up and confirmed, “It
won’t be anything as fancy as the flight simulators from last night, but it’ll be a pretty good taste of
I.D.O.L. Frame tech!” She stood upright and saluted the cadets, “That said, all ID3 cadets - report
to the Yokosuka Naval Base after lunch. Our CWO class resumes here.”

All of the cadets stood up from their seats and saluted Olivia back.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” The cadets answered.

“Class dismissed.” Olivia smiled.

Epilogue

Kobo and Zeta joined the dozens of other ID3 cadets and descended down the steps of the Hundred
Thousand Miracles. Even before they reached the Yokosuka Naval Base landing, they saw heavy
machinery in motion. They heard it too, more so than usual.

THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!

From their perch behind the rails of the mountain staircase, the cadets saw thirteen hulking
mechanical, eight-meter tall beasts marching in formation on the concrete quay of the naval base.

One look, even from that distance, told Kobo and Zeta that these weren’t I.D.O.L. Frames. Zeta
pointed to those machines and spoke to Kobo.

“Those are Mechanized Labor Walkers. MLW Mark III’s.” Zeta revealed, “We have those in the
Security Bureau. They’re heavy-lifting workhorses.”

“So, they’re like forklifts?” Kobo asked innocently.

“You’re not far off, actually.” Zeta hummed. She then furrowed her brow and watched the
marching machines, “Our MLW’s don’t move that quickly or that smoothly though.”

“Think it’s because of that HALO thingy that Olivia-neesan was talking about?” Kobo guessed.

Zeta shrugged, “There’s only one way to find out.”

The two cadets followed their peers all the way down to the naval base landing. There, they
gathered as the thirteen ML Walkers marched towards them, lined up, kneeled down low and
powered down. Their cockpit hatches opened with mechanical hisses, revealing their pilots.

Sparrowhawk, IDSC garrison troops and Olivia Kureiji.

“Good afternoon, ladies!” Olivia spoke from the cockpit of the ML Walker and waved to the
cadets, “Gather round! The lesson’s about to start.”

Kobo, Zeta and the cadets obliged and approached Olivia’s machine. As they got closer, Kobo saw
a strange yet crude device wrapped around Olivia’s head like a bandage. A myriad of wires
connected that bandage-like device to the control panel of the mechanized walker.

‘ What the hell is that thing? ’ Kobo raised her brow, ‘ That weird duct tape spaghetti monster’s
the HALO module? ’

Olivia slipped the device off of her head and let her red hair flow down gracefully. She raised up
the device for the cadets to see.

“This device - is a prototype for a mass-produced HALO module.” Olivia revealed proudly, “Right
now, it’s still a crude imitation of a real I.D.O.L. Frame’s HALO, but it’s as close as we can get to
telepathic command input. It does the trick too - which counts for something, right?”

The red-haired CWO instructor turned her eyes to Kobo, Zeta and the Majestic 12 cadets and
gestured to them.

“Come on over, Majestic 12. Let’s start learning how to walk!”

The twelve top-scoring cadets looked at each other with cautious eyes. Their other colleagues, on
the other hand, sat back under the shade of trees and watched with both excitement and relief.

Kobo heaved a sigh and came forward first.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” Kobo answered Olivia’s call with a healthy dose of wariness.

Sergeant Sparrowhawk helped Kobo aboard her ML Walker and crowned her with the prototype
HALO device. Then, Kobo sat down in the cockpit of the robot.
‘ At least it’s not uncomfortable… ’ Kobo thought, tapping on the elastic circlet and tugging on the
wires. She closed her eyes and mumbled, ‘ I just hope it actually works .’

“Sergeant, is she strapped in?” Olivia asked.

“Yes, ma’am!” Sparrowhawk answered with a salute, “Shall I start her MLW?”

“Please do.” Olivia nodded.

Sparrowhawk flipped a switch in the robot’s cockpit and its gasoline engine roared to life.

WHIRRRR!!!

“Whoa…!” Kobo gasped. She felt the rumblings of the robot from head to toe.

Sparrowhawk hopped off the robot, leaving Kobo alone in the cockpit. The rest of the cadets,
meanwhile, watched the machine with awe.

Only Zeta remained silent. She furrowed her brow and watched every inch of the ML Walker and
its pilot with inquisitive eyes.

Kobo, on the other hand, gripped onto her cockpit chair fearfully.

“W-what do I do now?” Kobo asked, shouting over the whirs of her engine.

“The HALO module should be online now, Cadet Kanaeru!” Olivia answered, “Use your mind to
close the cockpit hatch. Then - stand up on your own two feet. Still your mind and focus on your
thoughts! Make the MLW obey your will!”

“Still my mind… focus my thoughts…” Kobo gulped, mumbling Olivia’s instructions like a
mantra, “C-close… close the cockpit hatch!”

She took a deep breath and did as she was told. And then…

FTTTT-HISSS!!!

The cockpit hatch of Kobo’s MLW closed with a loud, hydraulic hiss. As the door closed, her
HALO device glowed faintly powder blue.

Just like an angel’s halo.

“It followed my command…!” Kobo blinked, astonished. She held onto her seat and focused her
thoughts again, “If you’re listening to me… then… up on your feet, soldier!”

Again, the machine rumbled wildly. Her HALO device glowed powder blue more brightly,
translating Kobo’s thoughts into ones and zeroes. Moments later, servos, gears and devices shifted
and turned.

Gravity lost hold of Kobo for a brief moment. Then, somehow, the Earth felt a little bit further
away than before!

Kobo’s ML Walker had gotten up from where it knelt and carefully stood up. Through the glass of
her cockpit, she saw all of the ID3 cadets looking up at her from the quay.

Zeta, in particular, watched Kobo closely with rising intrigue.

“I did it…” Kobo’s jaw dropped. Then, she covered her face and cheered, “What the hell? I did it!”

Kobo’s voice was then echoed by the ML Walker and broadcast on the machine’s speakers. Then,
the robot covered its face too - just like Kobo was doing in the cockpit!

“High synchronization… that quickly?” Olivia muttered beneath her breath and watched Kobo
piloting the ML Walker with surprising competence, “The kid’s a natural.”

So, Olivia flipped the switch in her own ML Walker and brought it to life as well. She closed her
cockpit too and spoke to the cadets gathered at the quay.

“ So then, ladies! Who wants to volunteer next? ” Olivia asked through her robot’s speakers.

Zeta stepped forward through the crowd and raised up her hand without hesitation. She looked up
to Kobo in the cockpit of her standing mech, pointed at her and declared.

“I’m not gonna let you get ahead of me, fountain girl!”

Kobo looked into Zeta’s fiercely competitive eyes and smirked. She and her mech pointed back at
Zeta and she answered her.

“Come and get me then, rich girl!”

To Be Continued
 Out of Control

Prologue

THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD!

Kobo Kanaeru’s Mechanical Labor Walker walked down the long length of the Yokosuka Naval
Base quay, towering over the smaller hangars, buildings and drydock facilities. Compared to the
tall dock cranes and most of the international contingent of warships in transit through Tokyo Bay,
the ML Walker’s eight meters was a dwarf.

And yet, sitting inside that cockpit, Kobo felt incredibly tall! Much taller than her meager height
ever permitted.

She savored every sight that her new perspective gave her, and the makeshift HALO module
strapped around her head glowed bright powder blue.

Through that radiant HALO, Kobo’s thoughts were translated and coursed through a crude
spaghetti spread of cables manually plugged to her ML Walker’s control panel. That unwieldy mix
of high tech, low tech and borderline sci-fi bits and pieces came together and allowed Kobo to
power her mech with the power of her own mind.

Kobo remembered seeing the term during her lectures in the Academy.

‘ Digital Telepathy ’ it was called.

Kobo didn’t truly understand the mechanics of that concept, but it was clear that the HALO
worked. It made Kobo’s mech follow her mental commands and her movements with human-like
grace and fluidity. The entire machine stopped and moved as Kobo willed it - just like how the
human body followed the whims of the human brain.

Inside the cockpit, Kobo Kanaeru was the brain of the mech.

Knowing that was intoxicating for her.

Kobo turned to the naval warships sailing out of Yokosuka and waved to them. Her mech followed
suit and the warships answered with blasts of their fog-horns. All the while, Kobo had a big, wide
smile on her lips and her imagination ran wild.

Just how far would she be able to make that machine move?

Kobo pondered with rising excitement. If she busted some moves right there and then, would she
get the mecha to dance and twirl and follow the dance routine of that viral but anonymous idol
group she listened to so often?

Could she follow the choreography of Id:entity Voices ?

Would it be Twitter-worthy?

As Kobo’s thoughts wandered further and further away, her HALO module started to dim. Her
mech’s once-smooth movements started to become stiff at first - and then outright unresponsive!

The ML Walker stopped moving!

“What the hell…!?” Kobo complained.

Kobo furrowed her brow and searched the cockpit for manual controls of any kind, only to find
none - aside from a bright red emergency escape button by the hatch of her cockpit. She looked at
the button and frowned at it, hoping that she didn’t have to resort to that again.

At a loss for what else to do, she even tapped on her HALO. By then, the HALO was flickering
dimly and its powder blue color was much less vivid.

While she was fiddling around, a formless screen appeared and hovered over her cockpit dashboard
- just like it did in the cockpit of her Strato-Hornet in the flight simulator.

On that screen, the face of her guardian, Olivia Kureiji, appeared.

“ Something wrong, kiddo? ” Olivia asked with concern. But then, she cleared her throat and
corrected herself, “ I mean… uh… what is your status, Zero-Eight? Your MLW stopped moving. ”

“My mech stopped following my orders! It was working just fine a minute ago…” Kobo reported,
tapping on her HALO once more, “And this HALO thingy isn’t so bright anymore.”

“ Have you tried turning it on and off again? ” Olivia teased.

“Oy…” Kobo frowned.

Olivia laughed and put her hands on her hips. Her MLW followed suit and mimicked Olivia’s
movements perfectly. Through that formless screen, Kobo saw Olivia’s HALO glowing brightly
with a robust, ruby red color. It glowed much more brightly than Kobo’s even when she had
control of her mech earlier.

‘ Holy cow, that’s bright. It’s not flickering at all either… ’ Kobo recoiled from the sight, but she
still asked, “S-so, what’s the verdict Olivia- nees… I mean, ma’am?”
“ Doesn’t take a genius to find out what happened, Zero-Eight… which is a good thing ‘cause I’m
the farthest thing from a genius in the IDSC! ” Olivia laughed again.

Kobo laughed dryly. She was inclined to agree, but said nothing.

Olivia and her mech pointed to Kobo and gave her diagnosis, “ Your HALO synchronization is rock
bottom right now ‘cause you’re distracted. Get your head back in the game - still your mind and
focus your thoughts. ”

“Still my mind and focus on my thoughts…” Kobo repeated her mantra.

She brushed away her fanciful dreams of dancing and idol routines and focused on the task at
hand. Bit by bit, Kobo’s HALO module regained its luminance. The stiff controls of Kobo’s mech
loosened and it started to follow Kobo’s actions again - albeit with less smoothness and grace than
the first time.

“It worked!” Kobo cheered, “It’s still hard to move though…”

“ Good for you! ” Olivia cheered too, “ Alright then, back on your feet, soldier! Let me help you. ”

Olivia’s ML Walker sauntered over to Kobo’s and extended its hand. Kobo snorted and willed her
own mech to take the hand. She let the bright-haloed Olivia help her back up to her feet.

“... thanks.” Kobo puffed up her cheeks.

Then, Olivia’s mech patted the shoulder of Kobo’s mech.

PANG! PANG!

“ You’ll get the hang of it, kiddo. ” Olivia beamed through the screen.

“Mm…!” Kobo nodded.

While Kobo and Olivia were speaking, the other eleven mechs of the batch started approaching
and making their way down the quay.

THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD!

One particular mech stood out and moved ahead of the others: the mech of Zeta Vestia. While the
other cadets struggled to even inch forward, Zeta got her mech to move a smidge faster. It wasn’t
anywhere close to the synchronization that Kobo achieved, but Zeta’s efforts were admirable.

“ This is… harder than I thought. ” Zeta spoke through the radio, puffing and panting from inside
her cockpit, “ How the hell did fountain-girl get the hang of it so quickly earlier? ”

“Maybe it’s because my brain is really, really big!” Kobo boasted, folding her arms. Her mech
folded its arms too, following her lead.

“ ... huh!? ” Zeta suddenly panicked.

Did she not know her TACCOM was on?

Kobo smirked on screen and scoffed, “Heh.”

Zeta flared her nostrils and shot back, “ Maybe it’s because your head’s really empty, fountain girl!
”

Kobo’s face went red. Then, her HALO module started to dim yet again. Zeta laughed at her
expense.

“ Break it up, you two. ” Olivia intervened, “ You’ll set a bad example for the class. ”

Olivia said this, but Kobo could see their instructor smiling through her camera screen.

It made Kobo wonder if Olivia and the rest of ID2 goofed off just like that too when they were
cadets.

Either way, once the rest of the Majestic 12 cadets brought up their ML Walkers to the quay,
Olivia continued her lecture through the mech’s TACCOM.
“ Okay class. Attention!” ” Olivia commanded.

Kobo, Zeta and the Majestic 12 stood in attention and their mechs followed suit.

Olivia’s mech paced around in front of the cadets’ mechs just like she did when she lectured in the
lecture hall.

“This is your first taste of CWO and the HALO modules, ladies. In more ways than one, all of you
are re-learning how to walk - but that’s okay. That’s how I… and my colleagues and my simpais
started out.” Olivia heaved a sigh, “Once you learn to walk, I’ll teach you how to run. Then, once
you learn to run, I’ll teach you how to fight!” She clenched her fist and raised it up to the sky,
“Master your minds and bodies - learn how to become one with your machines - and I’ll turn you
into forces of nature that the Ancient Ones will learn to fear!”

“Olivia-neesan…” Kobo muttered. She held her hands close to her heart and nodded.

Olivia clapped in her cockpit and her mech followed her actions with perfect synchronization. She
and her mech pointed to the far end of the naval base near the IDSC Strato-Hornet hangars.

“ We’re gonna take a nice little stroll to that hangar and then come back. Maybe we’ll do a few
rounds just to stretch those legs! ” Olivia announced, “ Our goal today is to get used to this system.
Operating them’s a lot more involved than the Strato-Hornets, after all! Follow me - and try to
keep up! ”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” Kobo and the other cadets answered through the radio.

And so, the twelve cadets operated their ML Walkers and followed Olivia Kureiji’s mech down
the quay.

Little did they know that they were going to get more than they bargained for.

Blue Horizon

Out of Control
 Twenty-Third Scene - Intrusive Thoughts

THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD!

The steady thud and thump of ML Walker feet shook the quay of Yokosuka Naval Base well into
the afternoon in a rhythmic cadence of alloyed steel striking reinforced concrete. Olivia Kureiji’s
voice, broadcast through the speakers of her walker, spurred her students to keep up with her
machine. All the while, the dozens of other ID3 cadets watched on from afar like spectators at a
horse racing track.

Just like with Reine from the night before, Olivia cranked up the difficulty of the cadets’ exercise.
It started with basic movements at first but transitioned to walking and - eventually - jogging.

Most of the cadets struggled to keep up with even that, but Kobo took every challenge that Olivia
gave her with glee. Zeta, a distant second, scrambled enough strength and willpower to stay in the
game and keep her own HALO luminous.

Kobo would pull ahead and Zeta would fight to catch up - and she did. The two of them jabbed and
shot barbs at each other all the way through without once losing control of their machines.

Operating the walker quickly became second nature to them.

Compared to them…

“ Damn it… ” cursed one of the Majestic 12 cadets, “ Of course it’s those two again… ”

“ Kanaeru and Vestia - those fucking prodigies! ” a second one chimed furiously, “ I can’t even
move this fucking mech faster than a crawl… but they’re just sauntering with Miss Kureiji like it’s
nobody’s business! ”

“ Those damn show-offs! Even last night, they were rubbing their talents in our faces! ” cried a
third, “ Look at them! Their HALOs are so bright! I can’t… I can’t stand them! ”

The resentful cadets eyed the video feeds of Kobo and Zeta and saw the bright powder blue of
Kobo’s HALO and the shimmering bright silver of Zeta’s HALO. Compared to their own, it was
like a contrast of night and day!

“ Must be nice to be born with talent… ” a fourth cadet sighed, “ To be destined for great things…
but what about us? ”
“ What about us…? ” a fifth cadet asked.

Then, a sixth - and a seventh.

They spoke in a harrowing, trance-like unison. In their ears, they heard a synthetic, disembodied
voice.

“ Oh, ye downtrodden. We have o̷͙͒b͠ s̸ ̻ e̷̕ ͕ r̷ ̻ ́ ̍ v̴̶ ̘ e̴̍ ̪ ̋ d̶͚ ̎ ̯ your plight. Show them how you truly feel in no uncertain
terms. Show them - I daresay - with action! ”

Their HALOs flickered, waned and dulled until they went pitch black. And yet - their ML Walkers
continued to move. They didn’t shut down and stall like Kobo’s did.

The connection between their thoughts and their HALOs were crystal clear.

Frighteningly so.

As the cadets stewed in their resentment, the controls of their machines became easier to wield.
They picked up the pace and started catching up with Olivia and the prodigies.

THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD! THUD-THUD!

Olivia noticed the mechs of the rest of the Majestic 12 approaching.

“ Oh, have they finally figured out the controls? ” Olivia mused, happy at first.

Her enthusiasm chilled immediately when she saw the video feeds of those cadets on the
TACCOM had frozen and crackled with static. Kobo’s and Zeta’s feeds, meanwhile, carried on as
usual.

“ What the…? ” Olivia suddenly paused, speaking through the group’s TACCOM, “ I’m having
some technical issues with the equipment. Units 3 through 12, do you copy? ”
There was no response.

Olivia gulped.

“ Zero-Six. Zero-Eight. How about you two? ” Olivia asked.

“We’re doing alright, ma’am.” Kobo answered, “But the TACCOM is bugging out on us for the
other cadets.”

“ Agreed. Their video feeds are bad on my end too. ” Zeta confirmed, “ Should we call for the
Maintenance crew to… wait! ”

Before Zeta could finish, one of the ML Walkers of the other cadets broke from its jog into full
sprints. That machine got down on all fours and rushed forward like a furious steel primate.

Towards them!

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

“ Hold on… what are you all doing!?” Olivia warned through the TACCOM again. Her voice
grew desperate, “ How the hell are you doing that!? Unit 3! Stand down. Exercises are over! ”

Again no answer.

“ I SAID, STAND DOWN! ” Olivia clenched her fists.

Her words didn’t get through to them. The maddened mech galloped on, undeterred. The others
followed closely behind.

Zeta’s face went pale. She willed her mech to raise up its arms and shield her, but it came too late.
The first of the galloping mad mechs pounced on her, without warning and threw a punch.

WHAM!
The fist of the pouncing mech sailed under Zeta’s guard and slammed straight into her cockpit.

“ GAAAHHH!! ” Zeta screamed.

Twisted metal, shards of shattered reinforced glass and leaking gasoline fell down to the concrete
quay, followed by drops of crimson red blood.

“RICH GIRL!” Kobo wailed.

The rogue mech pulled back to throw another punch into Zeta’s cockpit. The bloodied Zeta gritted
her bloodied teeth and watched the shadow of the fist looming over her. She trained her bloodshot
eyes on the mech’s fist and hissed, “ DO YOUR WORST! ”

Kobo clicked her tongue and moved her own mech. She dashed forward and tackled the rogue.

SLAM!

The rogue mech recoiled and fell awkwardly on its back. Kobo, meanwhile, shouted through her
speakers.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, ANJING!? ”

Kobo looked down into the fallen rogue mech’s cockpit. Through the cracks in the reinforced
glass, she saw the look on her classmate’s face. She expected to see a sickly maniacal grin or one
of unapologetic evil.

Instead, Kobo saw a face white with terror and fear.

The HALO that crowned her head was black as night, but it shimmered like distant stars.

“ Something’s wron- -ith my wal-er! ” The downed pilot finally croaked through her failing
comms, “ It’s not… it’s not listening to m-! ”

Even as the pilot cowered, frozen in fear in her cockpit, the rogue mech scrambled to try and right
itself. From the ground, the mech swung its arms and legs at Kobo with a life and will of its own.
“ I’m sorry! I’m sorry! ” The pilot started to cry. Her tears streamed down her cheeks and mingled
with her own blood, “ It’s not me! It’s not…! My HALO… it’s…! ”

All of the sudden, the downed mech’s hands reached for the neck of Kobo’s mech. Its fingers dug
down like a vice grip, making its armor creak and moan.

“Stop this! Stop this right now!” Kobo shouted, pleading with the pilot.

The powerless pilot, though, through the crack in her cockpit glass, mouthed out a message to
Kobo.

‘ Please. Help me! ’

Kobo huffed and tore those hands off her mech’s throat. She then pinned down the mech and
stopped it from thrashing - and yet the mech struggled on.

Steam hissed from the rogue mech’s servos until…

CRACK!

The mech’s own arms wavered. Fuel and lubricant tubes ruptured from the intense pressure. A
curious sound then reached Kobo’s ears.

GLUG-GLUG-GLUG-GLUG

Gasoline flowed like a garden hose from the ruptured tubes. Slowly but surely, the rampaging
machine lost its strength. Its modules shut off one by one until it stopped moving altogether. The
HALO on the rogue mecha pilot’s head flickered one last time and turned off too, but the pilot
herself was mostly unharmed.

“Olivia-neesan… this pilot’s alright. She’s frightened - but alright!” Kobo reported. She glanced at
Zeta’s downed mech too and added, “And Rich Girl’s still kicking!”

“ Barely… ” Zeta grunted through the comms.

Kobo could see Zeta through her smashed cockpit. She saw Zeta wipe the blood from her lips and
she combed her head of disheveled hair back with her fingers. Then, she willed her robot to stand
up once more.
Zeta’s own HALO glowed brightly, but her mech’s frame struggled to obey her commands. The
machine was tilted so heavily to the side that it sputtered and blew steam about loudly - but
impotently.

Kobo sighed and helped Zeta’s robot up to its feet.

Neither she nor Kobo had time to celebrate, however. The other ML Walkers turned towards them.
They, too, got down on all fours and charged down the quay!

“Fuck… fuck, fuck!!” Kobo cursed.

“ Stand back! I’ll keep them at bay. ” Olivia cautioned. She moved her mech between the pack of
rogue beasts and her frightened students, “ Kanaeru. Vestia. Alert the base and get support !”

“ Yes ma’am… ” Zeta coughed and strained her voice, “ I’ll send the procedure… to Zero-Eight. ”

“ Please do. ” Olivia’s mech cracked its knuckles, following its pilot, “ This is about to get ugly
real soon .”

Twenty-Fourth Scene - Shut It Down!

Zeta reached for the cracked face of her WristComm device and sent Kobo a file. That file
appeared as a new formless window that appeared on her like a teleprompter. It also patched
Kobo’s TACCOM to the entire Yokosuka Naval Base.

“ Read it, Zero-Eight .” Zeta urged.

Kobo hesitated. Her blue eyes scanned through the teleprompter file but her mind wandered to
Olivia’s mech preparing for combat.

Another one of the rogue MLWs got on all fours and galoped towards Olivia at breakneck speed.
Olivia, however, dug her mech’s feet into the quay and met the pouncing rogue head-on!

WHAM!
Olivia’s mech caught the pouncer and pushed back against it like a sumo wrestler. On the
TACCOM screen, Olivia glanced at Kobo and cried, “ Zero-Eight! The SOS! ”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” Kobo fretted. She connected to the base-wide comms and read the teleprompter
file, “A-attention all IDSC personnel - this is… this is IDSC Zero-Eight calling on behalf of Jollie
Jollie . We have rogue MLW’s on base. Code Blue. Each one is holding an… an IDSC cadet
hostage! We’re requesting immediate Electronic Warfare support!”

While Kobo spoke, Olivia’s mech hissed with steam and smoke. Servos and gears all throughout
Olivia’s machine shifted and turned rapidly. Then, Olivia’s mech kicked the rogue’s legs and
swept it off its feet!

Olivia took a deep breath and roared, “ TAKE THIS! ”

In one smooth motion, Olivia’s mech grabbed the off-balance rogue and threw it down back-first
onto the concrete quay. Gasoline leaked from the smash rogue’s tank, draining it of fuel.

GLUG-GLUG-GLUG-GLUG

The rogue kept thrashing but spent its energies while Olivia’s mech held it down.

“ And STAY DOWN! ” Olivia growled.

Kobo’s heart skipped a beat while she watched the mad skirmish. The rampaging MLWs continued
their assault and drew close. One of them turned towards Kobo and pounced.

“One of them’s coming for me!” Kobo warned over the comms.

She raised up her fists to defend herself, but her entire body trembled.

“ Not on my watch! ” Olivia roared.

Kobo watched Oliva’s mech intercept the pouncer halfway. Olivia caught the attacker mid-air with
incredible skill. Servos and gears shifted loudly throughout Olivia’s mech, shifting its weight with
a single step. Then, Olivia lifted the rogue over her mech’s head and slammed it down into the
quay!

SLAM!
Olivia’s mech threw the rogue so hard that the concrete facade of the quay cracked! The rogue’s
cockpit, however, was unscathed.

Despite this, eight more mechanical beasts loomed in the horizon.

It was at that time that alarms started blaring all throughout Yokosuka Naval Base. The PA system
relayed what Kobo said and warned all non combat personnel to seek shelter.

Then, Kobo’s TACCOM finally buzzed with an answer to her call.

“ Zero-Eight. This is the bridge of the JS Kabocha - guided missile destroyer. We have a visual of
the situation. We are prepared to fire EMP munitions at your location to suppress the MLWs. Give
us the command and we’ll fire. Over. ”

“E-EMP…?” Kobo stammered, “Uh…uhm… I…!”

“ Hold on!” cried another voice, cutting into the TACCOM with fear and urgency, “ Hold your
fire, JS Kabocha. Do NOT use EMP. The MLW pilots are using experimental HALOs! EMP might
fry their actual brains along with the hardware! ”

Sweat dripped down Kobo’s brow. She was a heartbeat away from giving the orders to fire.

“W-what are we supposed to do then!?” Kobo shouted, demanding an alternative.

“Hold them at bay and keep them distracted!” The voice answered, “I’m gonna sever the DT link
from HALO-side, but I have to get close. Very close. So, keep the MLW’s off me!”

Suddenly, the roar of an engine reached Kobo’s ears. She saw a gasoline-powered military out with
radio antennas and satellite dishes drive towards the quay, leaving a trail of dust and thick smoke
behind it.

The rearmost of the rogue machines turned towards the newcomer too.

“ That’s a Maintenance Group humvee… ” Zeta remarked, gasping with surprise, “ And that
voice…! ”

Kobo shook her head with disbelief. But then, Olivia spoke on the comms again.
“ Maintenance Technician. This is Jollie Jollie. How much time do you need? ” Olivia asked.

“ Five… no, three minutes! ” The technician answered.

“Can we last that long…!?” Kobo started to sweat.

“We’re gonna have to make it work.” Olivia replied firmly, “New objective, Zero-Eight. We’ll
protect Zero-Six and that humvee. Seems your combat lesson’s coming earlier than expected,
huh?”

“Y-yeah…” Kobo sweated bullets in her cockpit. She looked over to Zeta’s heavily damaged
mech, “What about you?”

“ Don’t worry about me. Just go. ” Zeta hissed on the comms, “ If that’s who I think it is… you
guys are in good hands. ”

“Really?” Kobo’s doubts spoke for her.

“She’ll be fine if we do our jobs, Zero-Eight.” Olivia reassured her, “I’ll be the spearhead and
draw their attention. Watch my back, okay Go for the limbs, just like you did earlier.” Her mech
then pointed to Kobo and emphasized, “Don’t break their cockpits! Is that clear?”

Sweat dripped down Kobo’s brow, but she gave Olivia a nod.

“ I’ll take that as a yes. ” Olivia noted, “ Let’s go, Zero-Eight. ”

Olivia’s mech broke out into a sprint. Kobo took a deep breath and followed after her guardian. At
the same time, the Maintenance humvee revved its engines and drew closer to the rogues.

“ This is Maintenance! ” The technician reported, “ I’m in range! Applying the HALO-side
shutdown protocol… three minutes starts… NOW! ”

In the blink of an eye, Olivia’s mech leapt up into the sky and drop-kicked a rogue MLW, crushing
it’s legs in one fell swoop. Then, without missing a beat, Olivia got her mech off the ground and
she squared off with the other enemies.

“Holy cow…” Kobo’s jaw dropped.

It was like watching a Javanese silat master taunting a group of heavyweight boxers. The way that
Olivia fought was almost like a dance.

Unfortunately, Kobo couldn’t admire that dance for long.

The MLWs swarmed Olivia’s mech from all sides. So, Kobo charged her own mech in too!

She clenched her fists and threw punches at the rampaging metal beasts.

WHAM! THUD! SLAM!

Her strikes were nowhere near as strong as Olivia’s and her footwork was poor but her punches
flew true. Kobo fought against any mech that tried to blindside Olivia while Olivia unleashed a hell
of martial arts.

Together, Kobo and Olivia disabled the enemies limb by limb, but the haywire mechs kept on
coming back for more!

A heavily damaged, one-armed mech crawled defiantly on the concrete quay and grabbed a hold of
the leg of Kobo’s mech. Another mech, this one armless, approached Kobo’s bound mech.

Through the cockpit glass, Kobo could see the pilot of the haywire mech weeping and shaking her
head. The haywire mech, however, didn’t comply. It trained its cockpit towards Kobo’s and ran.

“They’re not stopping…!” Kobo gasped.

She tried to shake off the mech grabbing her leg, but the damn thing just wouldn’t let go. So, Kobo
braced herself and caught the charging mech by the stumps where its arms once were.

And then… Kobo heard an electrical crackle.

KZZT! WHIIIIRRRrrrrrrrrr…

All around Kobo and Olivia, MLW engines shut off left and right. The suicidal armless mech fell
down to its knees, finally motionless. Its cockpit hatch opened with strained hydraulic hisses,
revealing their pilots inside safe and sound.

The pitch black HALOs around their heads had powered down too. Whatever otherworldly
influence that compelled it had disappeared as well.
“Thank goodness…” Kobo heaved a sigh of relief.

In contrast, Kobo’s and Olivia’s mechs continued to function. Kobo’s TACCOM then buzzed with
Olivia’s voice.

“ Are you alright, kiddo? ” Olivia asked.

“Somehow…” Kobo shook her head with disbelief.

The Maintenance Group humvee then screeched to a halt by the feet of Olivia’s and Kobo’s mechs.

“ Jollie Jollie. Zero-Eight. HALO-side shutdowns on all haywire units are successful! ” The
technician reported on the comms.

“ That’s good to hear, Maintenance. ” Olivia turned her mech towards the now battle-scarred quay
around it and sighed, “ But I’ve got a lot of questions for you, missy. I think the rest of the IDSC
will too. Step out of the humvee and identify yourself, technician .”

At Olivia’s command, the passenger side door of the humvee opened. A tall, blond, red-eyed lady
in an IDSC Maintenance Group lab coat stepped out. She brought her WristComm to her lips and
spoke.

“ My name is Kaela Kovalskia, chief technician of the IDSC Maintenance Group. I am also the
lead developer of the mass-produced HALO modules. I take full responsibility for this fiasco. ”

Epilogue

Far away in the distance, from the top of a skyscraper in neighboring Yokosuka City, a different
blonde watched the scene on the devastated naval base quay through a pair of binoculars. Her long
blonde hair tied into a ponytail brushed against the soft silk of her traditional Japanese haori jacket
and the sarashi bandages that covered her bountiful chest.

“Indeed, they are more competent than expected.” she commented with a singsong voice. Her
aqua-colored eyes shimmered in the afternoon sun.

She put away her binoculars and stepped away from the skyscraper’s ledge, rattling the scabbard of
the katana she wore on her back. Then she heaved a sigh.
“To finally have worthy opponents… ah. Truly, I daresay, the Observer will be most pleased.”

Suddenly, the blonde’s WristComm device buzzed with a message. She read through the message
and smiled.

“It seems my job here is done, I daresay . I look forward to skirmishing with thee once more,
IDSC. For now. Farewell.”

The blonde brought out a peculiar raincoat from a handbag hanging from her wrist. She put that
raincoat on and, with a crackle of magic, disappeared beneath it.

Leaving no trace of her behind.

To Be Continued
 Kovalskia, Analysis

Prologue

Kaela Kovalskia sat alone at a long table in a room with no windows in the heart of Yokosuka
Naval Base. This wasn’t the first time that she had sat there in that very same room - on that very
same seat, even. That familiarity, however, offered her no comfort. Though the decorations of that
room were ornate and handsome, and the lighting was bright and welcoming, shadows lingered
over Kaela’s red eyes.

As Kaela fretted about, Sergeant Sparrowhawk entered the room with a luncheon trolley.

“Sergeant.” Kaela greeted her politely.

Sparrowhawk nodded and answered, “Madam.”

They exchanged their pleasantries with little fanfare. Kaela watched Sparrowhawk place a cup and
saucer before her. The sergeant then proceeded to place three more cups and saucers and poured
coffee.

Kaela shifted in her seat, but before she could say anything, Sparrowhawk was already pouring the
coffee into her cup.

Smooth black coffee sloshed into Kaela’s up and her nose took in the aroma. Not one ounce of
excitement filled Kaela’s heart, however.

“ This is gonna be cup number eight. ” Kaela grumbled quietly.

She wanted to refuse the cup, but she just smiled and watched Sparrowhawk excuse herself.

“ Hmm… ” Kaela poked at her coffee. She looked at her own reflection in the rippling darkness
and sighed, “ Maybe I should start learning to say ‘no’ .”

The myriad of rings under her eyes told a story of an incredibly long day. She blinked often and felt
herself drifting off where she sat, but the cup of coffee told her that her day was still far from over.

Right on cue, the doors of the room swung open. Kaela sipped her coffee and sat upright.

Anya Melfissa and Reine Pavolia, both wearing civilian clothes and IDSC lanyards, entered the
room.
‘ Most people in KW1 would be overjoyed to have an audience with the beloved I.D.O.L. Frame
pilots. It'd be a privilege and an opportunity of a lifetime for them. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. ’
Kaela thought while she wore a practiced smile, “ For me, though… I’m not looking forward to
this meeting with them today. Not after everything that happened. ”

Kaela stood up in attention and faced her ‘guests’ with a sharp salute.

“Good evening Miss Kovalskia.” Reine spoke, returning the salute.

“Likewise.” Anya saluted too.

The petite brunette lowered her hand and sauntered over to the center of the conference call table,
fiddling with the computer there. That left Reine to gesture to Kaela, “Please, sit.”

Kaela nodded awkwardly and did as she was told.

After a short while, the conference room’s doors swung open again with much more force than
before.

“Sorry I’m late!!!” Olivia Kureiji apologized, “The medical staff insisted on doing thorough check-
ups on all the pilots. I only got out of mine now.”

The third member of Strike Team ID2 appeared still wearing her IDSC terrestrial pilot kit. She had
bandages on her face, on her arms and on her legs, but her expression remained confident and
bright.

“Livia…?” Reine remarked with surprise, looking at the bandaged Olivia from head to toe, “Are
you sure it’s okay for you to be here?”

“We can handle the meeting for you if you need to rest up, Livia.” Anya piped up too.

“Oh, phooey. I’m fine.” Olivia grinned, “I already took some painkillers before coming here. I just
hope I didn’t miss anything.”

Reine heaved a sigh and wore a smile.

“Stubborn as ever.” Reine chuckled, “Anyways, you’re just on time, Livia. Anya and I just got
here.”

Anya smirked smugly at Olivia and gave her a thumbs up. She then proceeded to return her
attention to the conference room computer.

Reine gestured to Kaela, however, and added, “Miss Kovalskia’s been here for a while, though.”

“Is that so…?” Olivia hummed. She faced Kaela and smiled at her, “Thank you again for earlier.
You saved our hides, Miss Kovalskia.”

“I was just doing my job, Miss Kureiji.” Kaela answered.

Her words, however, were nearly interrupted by a long, tired yawn. Kaela suppressed it as well as
she could.

“Sorry to put you through this.” Olivia apologized, “But what happened today is something that the
IDSC doesn’t want to happen again.”

“I understand, ma’am.” Kaela nodded, “I’m prepared to give a full report on the situation.”

The tall blonde, however, stopped and faced Olivia once more.

“Uhm… excuse me, ma’am.” Kaela stood up from her chair and called, her voice trembling with
anxiety.

“Yeah?” Olivia asked.

“What is Miss Vestia’s condition?” Kaela spoke gingerly, but her red eyes shimmered with
anticipation.

“Right.” Olivia smiled again, “I checked in on her on my way here. You don’t have to worry about
her. She sustained some bad injuries, but her condition is stable.”

“I see…” Kaela mused, but she promptly added, “But will Zeta…?”

“Zeta’s injuries don’t threaten her ability to continue the IDSC Academy program.” Olivia
answered, anticipating Kaela’s question, “If she keeps up her excellent performance at the
Academy, and if the results of her Resonance Risual are favorable, she is well on her way to
piloting an I.D.O.L. Frame for Strike Team ID3.” She paused and promptly added, “Given that she
rests up, of course. She wanted to continue classes right away!”

“That sounds like her.” Kaela heaved a sigh of relief, “Unapologetically stubborn, that girl.”

Just as Kaela said this, the conference room computer switched on. The walls were populated with
five digital, formless screens. Anya pressed on her WristComm device and those screens crackled
with static and were patched through one by one to the rest of Kaela’s audience that evening.

Moona Hoshinova, Risu Ayunda and Iofifteen Airani appeared first. The executive officer of the
Cover Corporation, A-chan, followed next. Then, YAGOO himself appeared.

“ Good evening everyone. ” YAGOO spoke in heavily accented English.

Moona, Risu, Iofi and everyone in the conference room greeted him back. Kaela followed suit,
albeit stiffly.
A-chan spoke up next, speaking in well-practiced English on behalf of YAGOO.

“ The CEO and I are present here today because what happened today constitutes a planetary
emergency. ” A-chan adjusted her glasses in the screen and continued, “ Media coverage of this
incident has been suppressed - and no details about this conference will leave our secure channels.
But we will need to prepare a formal statement soon. ” The executive officer’s eyes turned towards
Kaela and she urged, “ That said, Miss Kovalskia. Your report, please - if you would. ”

Kaela nodded and sorted through her notes on her WristComm. Olivia, Reine and Anya,
meanwhile, took their seats at the conference room table.

Once Kaela was ready, she downed her coffee - her eighth cup for the day - and began her
presentation and began her presentation.

Blue Horizon

Kovalskia, Analysis

Twenty-Fifth Scene - Grounded Angels

At the other end of the building, in an auditorium-turned-clinic, Kobo Kanaeru also sat alone on a
folding chair in a makeshift doctor’s office. In Kobo’s eyes, though, it was hardly an office. It
didn’t even have walls: just curtains hanging from clotheslines subdivided the large auditorium into
rooms.

Kobo leaned back and sank weakly into her chair, slumping lethargically. Her lips were twisted
and her brows were furrowed as her entire body ached.

The adrenaline that flowed through her during the battle on the quay had long since subsided,
leaving Kobo to deal with strained muscles and all of the pain that her body had suppressed.

They all came to her like waves crashing into shore.

“... this sucks…” Kobo complained to no one.

The waves of pain bothered Kobo to no end, but she sucked it up. Out of the cadets of the Majestic
12, Kobo’s injuries were among the lightest. Through the thin curtain walls of the makeshift clinic,
she could hear the groans of her peers.

Sobbing, sniffling and weeping echoed from the rest of the auditorium. Kobo’s peers were faring
much worse than her, and Kobo knew that that wasn’t the worst case scenario.
Every so often, Kobo saw some of her peers walking past the doctor’s office through the curtain
slits that formed the doors. The cadets would peer in through the slits in passing, but the moment
their eyes met with Kobo’s, they swiftly turned away.

It wasn’t like the usual fare of the cadets snubbing her like they did at the Academy. Rather, the
cadets turned away from Kobo with peculiar looks on their faces: shame and remorse.

Kobo was tempted to call them over, but her aching body anchored her to her chair.

That - and Kobo didn’t know what she’d say to them if they ever came face to face. All Kobo
knew was that that feeling of hesitation was mutual.

If Kobo had given the orders to bombard the quay with EMP, then those batchmates of hers could
have had their minds scrambled. They could have had strokes, become vegetables… or their brains
could have splattered all over the cockpits of the haywire MLW mechs.

At least, that was what she overheard the doctors and nurses talking about between their shifts.

Kobo shuddered at the thought, so she put up with her lingering pain. She sat still and let her
solitude continue for a little while longer.

To pass the time, Kobo brought up her WristComm device and checked her Twitter feet. She
scrolled through the formless screens projecting from her device, but not once did she see a
mention of the battle that took place in Yokosuka Naval Base.

The only things trending were the usual suspects: local personalities and businesses advertising
their gigs, fans of Kobo’s favorite anonymous idol group theorycrafting and thirsting over the
latest music video, people trying to predict when the famous Japanese cherry blossoms would
bloom and the usual interplay of normie drama.

She even saw tweets from the rest of the IDSC Academy cadets saying that they were returning to
classes up in the mountaintop mansion.

Basically, nothing was out of the ordinary - which couldn’t be further from the truth.

“So that’s how it is, huh?” Kobo sighed.

In the end, she just liked the anonymous idol group’s music video for ‘ ID:entity Voices’,
retweeted it, and closed her app.

While Kobo was lost in thought, a middle-aged military woman wearing a white coat over her
IDSC camouflage fatigues, parted the curtains and entered the room.

This was Kobo’s doctor: a tall blond lady with short hair and bright sky blue eyes.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, love. I had to take a humvee here from the Naval Hospital.” The lady
spoke with a posh, British accent, “We went from having zero patients to thirteen in a heartbeat,
you see. Not the most ideal situation to be in, innit?”

Kobo shook her head and smiled to reassure her, “It’s alright. I wasn’t waiting long.”

‘ I totally was. ’ Kobo pouted, but she kept her thoughts to herself.

The doctor, not suspecting a thing, smiled back. She reached into her white coat and brought out a
canister of pills and a written prescription.

“These are low-level painkillers designed for the Worldless. Fast-acting relief, but it won’t disrupt
your body chemistry.” The doctor explained, talking like one of those ladies from the medical
infomercials, “Take a tablet thrice a day for three days and it will help soothe the muscle strains.”

Kobo accepted the canister and read the instructions again.

“Can I take one now?” Kobo asked, “My whole body’s hurting.”

“Please do.” The doctor insisted. She offered Kobo a canteen of water too.

Kobo took her first pill and downed it. Before long, her aches and pains subsided ever so slightly.
They didn’t go away completely, but Kobo finally had the strength to sit upright.

“Ah, that hit the spot pretty fast!” Kobo cheered, “Thanks doc!”

“Glad I could help.” The doctor smiled. She joined her hands together and added, “Before I let you
go, I wanted you to know that you’ll be staying here in the clinic for tonight and tomorrow.”

“... huh?” Kobo’s jaw dropped, “But I've got classes at the Academy!”

The doctor scratched the back of my head, “Wow. I’ve heard that excuse twice today…”

“Eh?” Kobo raised her brow.

The doctor shook her head. Instead, she posed a question to Kobo.

“Do you think you can climb up the stairs of the Hundred Thousand Miracles in your condition?”

“Absolutely!” Kobo insisted.

She squirmed in her seat and tried to stand up, but the lingering pain gripped her body and made its
presence known. The doctor folded her arms and watched Kobo struggle for a little while longer.

Panting and grunting, Kobo finally gave up and slumped back into her seat.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’.” The doctor decided. She joined her hands together and shared her
diagnosis, “Just think of it this way, Miss Kanaeru: the sooner you get back to 100%, the sooner
you can get back to class. That’ll make you a good teammate.”

Kobo frowned and deflated into her chair, “Alright…”

While Kobo lounged, though, she saw the doctor from a different angle. That sight spurred
memories of hers and moved Kobo to give the doctor’s face a closer look.

The doctor tilted her head innocently.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Feeling sick?”

“Hmm… how do I put this?” Kobo rubbed her chin, “You remind me of someone I saw before.
Have we, perhaps, met before?”

“I can’t say that we have.” The doctor shook her head and asked, “Who do I remind you of?”

“This blonde girl who was floating in space when I first woke up. She was much younger than
you, I think.” Kobo racked her brains as she tried to explain, “She’s probably from the world that I
came from… and the Ancient Ones… they took her and…”

Kobo shuddered.

“Well, I can assure you, love, that I have not been to space.” The doctor spoke, “I’m just doctor
Watson, an IDSC Garrison surgeon. I’m not as adventurous as I once was.” She snorted, “If the
IDSC existed twenty years ago, then maybe…”

The blond doctor sighed, “There are many parallel worlds out there beyond KW1. Maybe there’s
another me who sought out adventures - another me who found her ‘opportunity of a lifetime’, as
the Cover Corporation says. Now? I’m just happy to be alive and do my part.”

“I see…” Kobo hummed.

Listening to the doctor’s account, though, Kobo started to wonder if there were other versions of
herself in the other parallel worlds.

Dr. Watson smiled and reached into her coat once more. She brought out a lollipop.

“I can’t offer you any wild adventure stories, but I can offer you this! Will that suffice, love?”

Kobo’s eyes brightened up.

“Yes! Thank you, doc!”

“Anytime.” Dr. Watson nodded, “Make sure to rest up, you hear?”

“Sure thing, doc!” Kobo conceded. She slowly got up from the folding chair, popped the lollipop
in her mouth and left the makeshift doctor’s office. After that, she hobbled out of the auditorium-
turned-clinic altogether.

Outside of the auditorium, Kobo saw dock cranes loading the last of the Mechanized Labor
Walkers onto flatbed trucks. IDSC Garrison troops were in full force as they moved the heavy
machinery around and cleared the quay as best as they could.

The very last mech that the Garrison moved was the totaled mech that Zeta was piloting. A
tarpaulin covered the hulking wreck of the robot, but Kobo could still see its battered arms and legs
beneath the flapping tarp.

Kobo folded her arms and frowned.

“I wonder if Rich Girl’s doing alright…” Kobo thought out loud, “I don’t think I saw where they’re
keeping her.”

She tossed away the stick of her spent lollipop and carried on her leisurely stroll.

Kobo turned away from the quay and wandered around the naval base grounds, basking in the sea
breeze as she did. While she walked, she came across the main IDSC headquarters building beside
the auditorium-tuned-clinic.

“Isn’t that where Olivia-neesan said she was going after her checkup?” Kobo pondered.

Kobo approached the front entrance, but a large contingent of IDSC Military Police blocked her
path. They didn’t seem to be keen on letting in visitors, so Kobo turned and carried on into the
alley between the headquarters and the auditorium.

When she did, she passed by the fenced-off backyard of the headquarters. There, she saw the tall
blond Chief Technician of the Maintenance Group sitting on a bench by the fence.

‘ Kaela Kovalskia ’, Kobo remembered her name.

Even from where Kobo stood, she saw the tired and sullen expression on Kaela’s face. It was a
scene that Kobo had seen in the movies many times: where someone having a bad day sits alone in
a secluded place and whips out a cigarette.

Kobo saw Kaela reach into her Maintenance Group jacket, but instead of a pack of cigarettes,
Kaela brought out a styrofoam cup of HoloMie instant noodles!
“... HoloMie!?” Kobo gasped.

Kaela turned towards Kobo from across the fence and mused, “Oh… Miss Kanaeru. I didn’t notice
you there. Taking a stroll?”

“Yeah. Sort of.” Kobo answered honestly.

The technician’s red eyes smiled and she asked deviously, “Are you hankering for HoloMie?”

“N-no…?” Kobo tried to deny it.

She turned away awkwardly, but her blue eyes were fixated on the cup noodles. Her traitorous
stomach grumbled loudly too, begging for delicious mi-goreng sustenance!

Kaela laughed - or at least, she looked like she was laughing, but she didn’t make a sound. Either
way, Kaela reached into the other side of her jacket and brought out another styrofoam cup of
HoloMie.

“Here, catch!” Kaela showed the second cup of noodles to Kobo and grinned.

“Eh…?” Kobo panicked, “Is it really alright?”

Kaela nodded without hesitation. Then, she tossed the sealed HoloMie cup over the fence. Kobo
caught it and smiled too.

“Thank you!” Kobo spoke graciously.

“Don’t mention it!” Kaela grinned, “I should be the one thanking you, Miss Kanaeru. If it weren’t
for what you and Miss Kureiji did, the incident today would have been much, much worse.”

Kobo’s expression brightened up. She basked in Kaela’s praise for a brief moment, but snapped out
of it and returned the favor.

“We couldn’t have done it without you, though.” Kobo countered, holding the HoloMie cup close
to her heart, “You went out there to a freaking mech fight in a humvee!”

“I had no choice.” Kaela replied, “Plus, it wasn’t me driving that humvee back there. It was
Sparrowhawk.”

“Sparrowhawk?” Kobo’s face soured, “The stern, absolutely no-fun killjoy of a drill sergeant?”

“Yeah. The very same!” Kaela confirmed. She snorted and mused, “You should have seen how
panicked she looked when she was dodging the feet of those MLWs though! She was as white as a
ghost!”

“Gosh, I wish I could have seen that!” Kobo burst out into laughter.

When she did, though, the lingering aches of her body gripped her and reminded her of her
condition.
“Ack…” Kobo grumbled.

“Oy… something wrong?” Kaela panicked. She clutched onto the fence that stood between them
and asked, “Do you need me to get help?”

“N-nah… I’m fine.” Kobo reassured, “I only recently got discharged. My doctor’s giving me a light
touch with the meds.”

“Better for things to take their natural course…” Kaela mused, concurring with the doctor’s
decision, “Better than rushing things that aren’t finished…”

“Did you say something?” Kobo asked.

Kaela paused. Then, she shook her head and smiled.

“I’m just looking forward to getting some hot water for my HoloMie.” Kaela changed the subject
quickly.

“Same.” Kobo agreed happily, already feeling better.

While the two were talking, the back door of the office opened. Olivia Kureiji poked her head out
the threshold and called, “Miss Kovalskia? Everyone’s waiting for you.”

“Coming.” Kaela answered.

Olivia stepped out of the door and saw Kobo - and the styrofoam cup of HoloMie instant noodles
in her hand. She also saw the HoloMie cup in Kaela’s hand and added two and two together.

“Hold on a second…” Olivia frowned at the two in a rare display of parent-like displeasure, “Did
Doctor Watson clear you to eat that stuff?”

“Did she have to?” Kobo asked defiantly, clutching onto the HoloMie cup protectively.

“Let her have it, Miss Kurejij.” Kaela insisted with a relaxed tone, “Clinics are supposed to heal the
body and raise the spirits, right? Miss Kanaeru perked up the moment she saw the HoloMie.”

“Eh… but…” Olivia’s resolve faltered, but she stubbornly resisted with a frown.

“How about I make it worth your while?” Kaela proposed. She reached into her coat pocket again
and brought out a THIRD cup of HoloMie, “This is the good stuff - produced in the Jakarta
platforms. It’s the original recipe spice mix too!” She looked into Olivia’s eyes and whispered, “It
probably reminded her of her old home up there.”

Olivia turned to Kobo and her pleading eyes as she held her HoloMie cup like it was precious gold.
She heaved a sigh and took the third HoloMie cup from Kaela’s hand. She then turned to Kobo one
more time.

“Just don’t let it spoil your dinner, okay?” Olivia advised.

“Sure thing!” Kobo beamed, “You’re the best, Olivia- neesan !”

“You only say that since you’re being spoiled.” Olivia laughed heartily. Then, she too lurched
forward in pain - just like Kobo did, “Ack…!”

“Whoa now…” Kaela gasped.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Olivia quickly reassured.

Kaela heaved a sigh and whispered beneath her breath, “Like guardian, like daughter, huh?
Pushing yourselves to the limit…”

Olivia raised her brow, but Kaela didn’t elaborate.

With that, Olivia took Kaela back into the IDSC headquarters building. Kobo bid farewell to them
both. Then, made a beeline for the nearest hot water dispenser for her HoloMie, grabbed a pair of
chopsticks and ate her noodles while looking out to Tokyo Bay.

The noodles were just as delicious as she thought they would be.

Twenty-Sixth Scene - Moonlit Meeting

Not long after the sun finally set over Yokosuka, Kobo returned to the auditorium-turned-clinic and
settled in for the night. Dr. Watson showed her to her ‘room’ - another curtain-walled subdivision
of the large space. It was furnished with a bare-bones cot that wouldn’t be out of place in a field
hospital in some warzone somewhere. She got a tray of food for her dinner and even got a window
with a luxurious view of Tokyo Bay.

Once Kobo finished her dinner and took her night-time dose of painkillers, Dr. Watson’s staff
cleared out her tray and then called for lights-out in the clinic. That was the cue for Kobo, and the
rest of the injured Majestic 12 cadets to go to bed.

Kobo tried to follow the order and laid down on her bed to try and sleep. However, sleep proved
especially elusive for her that evening.

Between the lingering, albeit suppressed, pain that Kobo felt, the surprising stiffness of the cot and
her uneasiness with getting used to yet another unfamiliar bed on her second night on Earth,
Kobo’s mind was racing. Her active mind trumped her tired body and kept her awake for hours on
end.

Even as Kobo heard the snores of the other cadets, she remained wide awake.
Lying down on her back, Kobo looked out her window to the moon and the stars and the
constellation of orbital platforms sailing in pleasant orbit up above. Kobo reached out to the orbital
platforms and thought back to the three years she spent up there, sailing between the Earth and the
stars.

“Heh… I can’t really remember much of what I did up there…” Kobo lamented. She clenched her
fists, “I didn’t really do much, did I?”

Kobo had started her journey to turn her life around and discover who she was before the Hundred
Thousand Miracles - and yet here she was again, lying down on her back and forced to do nothing.

She shook her head, shifted around on her bed and tried to think of other things.

Her mind wandered to the things that happened on the quay that afternoon. All the pain that she felt
was proof of that fierce battle and the malfunctioning IDSC equipment, but nobody outside
Yokosuka Naval Base seemed to know it even happened.

Kobo then wondered about Olivia and Kaela and the closed-door meeting that they were having in
the IDSC headquarters.

Before coming down to Earth from the orbital platforms, Kobo thought that the path to becoming
an I.D.O.L. Frame pilot was going to be challenging but straightforward. It would have just been
like the Hollywood war movies that she had seen on streaming services many times over. She, the
protagonist, would sweep in and she would rise up to the top like the cream of the crop and the
credits would roll for a mega blockbuster movie hit.

But here she was wrapped around in web after web of secrets and a labyrinthine maze of protocols.
The more Kobo thought about it, the less inclined she was to sleep.

“Hah… this isn’t working.” Kobo grumbled with frustration.

Kobo sat upright on her cot and stood up slowly, taking care not to make any noise. She quietly put
on a pair of flip flops and snuck out of her curtain-walled ‘room’. Keeping to the shadows, she
crept through the halls between the curtain rooms and charted a path towards the exit.

She passed by the makeshift doctor’s office and spotted Dr. Watson who was busy typing up
reports through her WristComm. So, Kobo kept her head low - as low as her tired body could
manage, at least - and carried on.

Her goal that evening was to slip outside, take in the sea breeze and see Tokyo Bay once more.
After all, whenever she sat by the sea and looked up to the heavens, she felt calm.

Eventually, Kobo got past the auditorium’s curtain rooms and found a path to the rear exit.

However, on her way out, she passed by one peculiar room in the auditorium complex: one that
had its own concrete walls and an actual door. Kobo wouldn’t have paid the room any heed, but
she noticed that the door was ever so slightly ajar.
“... what the hell?” Kobo whispered to herself.

Curiosity tempted Kobo, but she held firm and thought of the sea and the stars that awaited her
outside the auditorium.

But then, she heard a familiar voice.

The voice of Zeta Vestia, asking, “What are you doing here?”

“Eep…!” Kobo froze where she stood and held her breath.

She scrambled to the walls and pressed her back against it, searching for the aristocratic girl in the
halls. There was no Zeta to be found.

Instead, when Kobo peeked into the ajar door of the room, she saw a bedridden Zeta Vestia sitting
upright on a full, comfortable-looking hospital bed. Zeta’s room even had a much better view of
Tokyo Bay than what Kobo had!

‘ So this is Rich Girl’s room… I should have expected something like this. ’ Kobo thought, annoyed
at first. Her expression mellowed, however, before long, ‘ She did take a beating from that mech,
though… so I guess she deserves this. Probably. ’

Kobo took a deep breath and peered closer into Zeta’s private room. The aristocrat’s blue eyes
were narrowed and her lips were pouted with annoyance, but that annoyance didn’t seem to be
aimed at Kobo.

‘ I don’t think she knows I’m here… ’ Kobo deduced, ‘ So, then. Who’s she talking to? ’

Kobo shifted to another side of the door and then found a sliver of a familiar figure standing across
from Zeta’s bed.

Kaela Kovalskia.

“I wanted to see you, that’s why.” Kaela answered Zeta without hesitation.

“ Oya oya, what’s this? ” Kobo wondered.

Even with her limited scope of vision, Kobo could see Zeta’s cheeks turn red and light up like a
Christmas tree. The aristocrat puffed up her cheeks and turned away from Kaela.

“Well, visiting hours are over, Kaela - and I doubt you have clearance to be in here.” Zeta hissed at
her visitor, “This is an intensive care unit, after all.”

“This place? An intensive care unit?” Kaela challenged, “HQ scrambled to put this place together,
threw some medical equipment in and diverted some staff and called it a day.” She pointed out to
Zeta’s window and added, “There’s a perfectly good Naval Hospital two quays over, but they
didn’t want you guys to be brought there.”

“Seriously?” Zeta’s jaw dropped.

“They’re keeping you and the Majestic 12 gals here for ‘security purposes’.” Kaela explained,
“This whole incident is being kept under wraps.” She clenched her fists and spoke with rare
passion, “All the news stations and social media sites are censoring it like it never happened - even
though you nearly died!”

“Kaela…” Zeta muttered with concern.

Kobo too, from her perch, felt her heart ache. Still, she held firm and continued to peer inside.

Kaela opened her mouth, almost as if she wanted to vent out more frustrations, but she stopped
herself and lowered her voice once more.

“Anyways, I’m here because I wanted to see you, Zeta.” Kaela said again, “Even though you may
not want to see me again.” She hesitated and dared to ask, “You’re not… still mad at me, are you?”

Zeta heaved a sigh, turned away from Kaela and hugged one of her pillows.

“Why wouldn’t I be mad at you?” Zeta snorted, “You suddenly disappeared from the Oribital
Platforms without a trace and never said a word!” She held her pillow more tightly and frowned, “I
came here thinking that I’d never see you again. I was getting ready to make peace with that truth,
but then here you are - working for the IDSC’s Maintenance Group. You’ve been here all this time
- where I wanted to go - and you never told me!”

This time, Kaela turned away from Zeta and started to fidget.

“It’s a long story, Zeta. The IDSC absorbed Pemaloe Workshop and had us work on top secret
technologies.” Kaela tried to explain.

“Just like the mass-produced HALO module?” Zeta asked.

“... yes. Among other things.” Kaela admitted, “Which is why I feel responsible for what happened
today. If I had reacted just a little later - or if Miss Kureiji and Miss Kanaeru weren’t able to hold
back the tide… then I’d…”

Tense silence filled the room. Zeta faced Kaela once more and broke that silence.

“Well. I’m still here, aren’t I?” Zeta noted with a lighter tone.

“Yes. Yes, you are.” Kaela managed a small smile.

Under the moonlight, Zeta and Kaela basked in tender silence.

Then, Zeta spoke.

“What happened today happened for a number of reasons. I’m not a stranger to deploying new tech
in the Defense industry.” Zeta set aside her pillow and leaned back into the headboard of her bed,
“Teething pains and mishaps happen. Maybe not on the scale of what happened at the quay today,
but they do happen.”

“So you understand me, then.” Kaela sounded relieved.

“Almost.” Zeta’s tone became sharp once more, “You have to come clean to me on one thing,
though, Kaela.”

“I’ll answer it if I can.” Kaela promised.

“When Pemaloe Workshop was absorbed into the IDSC… was my father, Lord Bazo, involved?”
Zeta asked.

‘ Lord Bazo… ?’ Kobo rubbed her chin from her perch, recalling her conversation with Zeta just
last night, ‘ That’s her overprotective dad, right? ’

Another pause ensued in the private room.

Kaela exhaled and admitted, “Yes. Lord Bazo facilitated the transaction. A small workshop like
ours wouldn’t have had any hope of working this closely with the IDSC without his support.”

Zeta gritted her teeth and hissed, “I knew it…”

“Zeta, I…” Kaela tried to interject, but Zeta cut her off.

“What did you give him in exchange?” Zeta demanded, “You’re here to keep tabs on me, aren’t
you? You’re probably also being asked to convince me to go back to the Orbital Platforms.”

“Lord Bazo did ask me to do those things.” Kaela revealed, “It’s just as you have guessed.”

“Hah! That sly old man…” Zeta furrowed her brow.

“Hold on… please. Let me finish.” Kaela pleaded to Zeta, “Lord Bazo did ask me to do those
things, but I know the deal that you and Miss Kureiji struck with him. If you can become an
I.D.O.L. Frame pilot, then Lord Bazo cannot force you to return.” She laid her hand over her heart
and insisted, “I know you want to become a pilot more than anything. Your father doesn’t
understand this, but I do. I wouldn’t even think of telling you to stop chasing that dream.”

“... Kaela.” Zeta croaked, moved by her words.

“Ever since you suddenly asked me to install that flight simulator rig in your house, I saw your
burning passion for this.” Kaela continued confidently, “I’ve seen you playing that sim for so long
- you talked about it so much.” She exhaled and looked out Zeta’s window once more, “If ever
Lord Bazo somehow manages to get you back up to the Orbital Platforms, I know your heart and
your mind will continue to yearn for the chance to fly a real I.D.O.L. Frame. I’m not here to kill
your dream - but to support it.”

Kobo, the eavesdropper, felt her heart beating. Even just a little, she started to understand why Zeta
was so stubborn - and why she chased her dreams so vigorously. Without the haughty expressions,
the sharp words and the secretive actions, Zeta Vestia was a true maiden at heart.

A maiden dedicated to her aspirations.

A maiden whose blue eyes started to well with tears.

“You should have told me this sooner.” Zeta sniffled.

“I wish I could have… but until today, my hands were tied.” Kaela spoke firmly. She then marched
forward towards, “So, from this point on, I’ll do my best to wipe your tears.”

Kaela brought out a handkerchief and gently wiped off Zeta’s tears. Under the moonlight, Zeta’s
eyes shimmered radiantly.

And then, the aristocrat wrapped her arms around Kaela, pulled her towards her bed and kissed her.

‘ Holy crap…! ’ Kobo quietly panicked at the doorway, ‘ This is like one of my Hollywood movies!
’

She tried to turn away, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the surreal scene of Kaela and Zeta
making out in the private clinic room.

‘ They’re really going at it. Damn!’ Kobo’s imagination went wild - but the passionate kisses of the
lovers left little to the imagination.

All of a sudden, Zeta broke off the kiss and looked deep into Kaela’s eyes. She embraced the tall
blonde, brought her close and whispered softly - but loud enough for Kobo to hear.

“Say… I know a way you can make up for this, Kaela.” Zeta cooed lovingly.

“Oh yeah?” Kaela answered gamely.

“You know what I want, big girl.” Zeta teased. She purred lovingly then whispered in a breathy,
sultry voice, “Give. It. To. Me. Ka-e-la~”

The lover’s quarrel that Kobo bore witness to was quickly turning into a midnight tryst!

Kobo couldn’t turn away!

“Oh, I would. Believe me.” Kaela answered Zeta. She then turned to the open door and glanced at
Kobo, “However… I don’t like performing for an audience.”

“An audience…?” Zeta turned towards the ajar door too.

Her tender gaze quickly became sharp and her blushing cheeks became a face of fury.

“Ah shit…” Kobo braced herself for the coming storm.

Zeta then screamed, “FOUNTAIN GIRL!?!?!?”

To Be Continued

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