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Through the looking glass	By : walkerofdarkness Category: +G to L > IS: Infinite Stratos Views: 4542 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Infinite Stratos or the characters from it. I do not make any profit from this story. I do own my OCs though.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Chapter 3 -

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.

Hate leads to suffering.

-Yoda

Chifuyu continued to cry, a moan escaping her. “Why, where did this all go wrong?” she demanded of the storm, the spirits in the graveyard, even any deities that might be listening to her now. Strangely enough, the answer came from her own mind...
It all really began with a phone call.
Chifuyu Orimura, hailed as Brunhilde and winner of the first Mondo Grosso, sat in the locker room watching a vicious IS battle. The semi-finals were almost over, waiting only on the outcome of the Russia and Brazil match to find out whom she would be fighting.   Not that any country expected Chifuyu to lose. None of her current matches had lasted more than three minutes with all of them ending by shield knockout.
A trilling chime from her locker interrupted Chifuyu’s concentration, begging for her attention. Standing up and reaching for the phone in her bag, Chifuyu’s eyes never left the monitor showing the match. Ten minutes already? I’d have finished them both by now. Tapping the phone on she raised it to her ear. “Hello? Chifuyu Orimura speaking.”
“Chifuyu-chan, thank goodness I finally got through to you,” a worried male voice came out of the speaker, the voice high with tension but recognizable all the same. “There’s something wrong here, and I think it involves Ichika-kun.”
Chifuyu’s attention snapped away from the monitor, turning her back towards it as she focused in on the phone. “Gotanda-san, is that you? What’s happened with my idiot brother now?”
“Yes yes, it’s me. I went over to your place to see if he wanted to come over and watch your match with us tomorrow, and I found the place ruined. Furniture is overturned, there’s a window smashed. The police is here too and they wouldn’t let me contact you.”
Her legs faltering, Chifuyu staggered back to the bench and collapsed. “What?” The answer she was looking for did not come from her phone but from a voice at the end of the row of lockers.
“Brunhilde Orimura, I need you to come with me.”
Moving to follow, Chifuyu found herself being lead to a debriefing room normally used to critique a pilot’s mistakes. We always called this place the morgue, because it’s where dead pilots were dissected. What the hell is going on?
The doors opened revealing a group of men and women, with both military uniforms and casual clothes represented. One person facing the entrance looked up at the sound of the door. A deep, heavily accented voice broke out of the quiet chatter between people. “She’s here.”
“Hello Brunhilde Orimura, please come in. We have much to discuss and not a lot of time to discuss it with.” The woman’s voice was clear and strong, a tone of quiet power that pierced through Chifuyu’s shock. Her appearance radiated a calming presence, the expensive business suit emphasizing her slender build. Hazel eyes filled with authority and compassion peered out from beneath the dark bangs of hair. “I’m Misato Nakano. I’m a detective with the National Police Agency, Criminal Investigation Branch.”
“Tell me what has happened to my brother.” Chifuyu’s eyes blazed with worry as she continued, “and you can skip the formal bullshit and tell it to me straight.”
Detective Nakano’s head bobbed once in acknowledgement. “As you wish. Here is what we know. Approximately three days ago, your younger brother Ichika was abducted from the house you two live in. The evidence we found show possibly two men who came in and got him, but there might have been more. At this time, we do not know Ichika’s current location, but we are using every resource possible to find him.”
Chifuyu’s knees buckled at the word ‘abducted’, dropping her to the ground on her knees. A uniformed security officer moved close to her prostrate form. “But why...? What possible reason could they have to kidnap Ichika, when I hold the Brunhilde title and all those endorsements?” Her eyes unfocused as her thoughts ran rampant through her mind. Snapping back into the moment, she glared at Detective Nakano. “Wait a fucking minute. You said ‘three days ago’. You mean to tell me you’ve known about this for all that time and you couldn’t be bothered to TELL ME THE FUCK ABOUT IT?!” Pushing herself up off the ground, Chifuyu screamed the entire last part directly into the detective’s face.
Misato Nakano did not even flinch at having Chifuyu’s face scant inches from her own, or to feel the hot rage boiling off the Brunhilde’s skin. Everyone else in the room was cowering slightly, the booming roar of Chifuyu’s voice in the small room nearly deafening. Misato took a small breath, trying to contain her own fear as she said sympathetically, “Brunhilde Orimura, please control yourself. You might well be considered the most dangerous person on the planet, but your skills right now will do nothing to help Ichika. I have a daughter myself, so I can relate to how you might be feeling. Letting your emotions rule you will not help the situation.”
Raising her hands slowly to Chifuyu’s shoulders, Detective Nakano guided the younger woman to an empty char at the table. “You do ask a valid question though. We didn’t know it was an abduction until only this morning, when a video was delivered to the police station that covers your house. I do need to warn you, the imagery is....graphic.”
The main monitor on the wall turned on, showing a simple white background with an artist’s easel holding up a large board. Written upon the board were black block letters in English. “To the Japanese government.”
The camera panned now, showing the white background still but now showing Ichika, tied up in a chair. There was lines of dried blood on his face from a cut above his right eye. His left eye was swollen shut and his lips were puffy and split. A form walked into frame now, wearing a grey uniform designed along military lines, including a grey hood covering their face. “This is a message to the Japanese government. We have taken Ichika Orimura, brother of Chifuyu Orimura who holds the title of Brunhilde. If you wish to get his safe return, then Chifuyu Orimura will have to publically lose the current Mondo Grosso and surrender her IS as well as all of Japan’s IS units. You have thirty-six hours from the delivery of this message to comply. If you refuse, then Ichika Orimura will pay the price. In a long, and extremely painful way. Even God will not be able to look up Ichika without being sick after we’re done with him. The choice, of course, is yours.”
The video zoomed in now to a closer view of Ichika. “Nee-san, please...” Ichika started, only to break down into screams as a knife was jabbed into his leg. Chifuyu buried her face into her hands, trying to not watch what was happening, to prevent the screams from reaching her brain. His screams got louder as the knife was twisted slightly, opening the wound little by little. The knife was removed, and the figure stepped in front of Ichika. Soft meaty sounds can barely be heard over the screams, the figure’s shoulders moving in time with each sound. Ichika’s voice returned now, hoarse from the screams, “Chifuyu-chan...” as his head swung lower, apparently unconscious from the pain.
“Remember, the clock is running. We hope you choose the appropriate answer, but it doesn’t matter to us.”
The monitor clicked over to a blue screen signaling the end of the video. Chifuyu let her arms relax as she cried now, her sobs only partially muffled by her hands. Detective Nakano put one arm across Chifuyu’s shoulders, trying hard not to cry as she watched a young woman break down.. Her eyes watery, Misato’s voice was still calm and strong. “I could tell you it would be okay, Orimura-san, but right now I don’t know that for sure. I will tell you that before being assigned to the NPA, I worked on several other cases like this. It gives me a great deal of experience on such matters, and I assure you, I WILL find your brother.”
A man in a military uniform wearing general’s stars reached into a pocket for a handkerchief and passed it over to Chifuyu. Wiping her face with the cloth, Chifuyu tried hard to stop the tears she felt, the pain of the moment threatening to overwhelm her tenuous control. “If they want to trade my title for Ichika,” she started, her voice breaking apart midway through his name, “then they can damned well have it. I would rather lose my title than my brother.”
General Aramaki nodded at Chifuyu’s words, knowing he would have done the same for his own brother. “While I can sympathize with that statement, even condone it, they did ask for more than just your title. And we can’t allow our nation to be weakened by surrendering our IS units to these bandits.”
“You, you would let my brother die for your political power Aramaki-san?” Chifuyu’s eyes blazed as she stabbed a finger in his direction. “I know full well that you’re the military supervisor for the Japanese IS program. Comes with a lot of political clout doesn’t it?”
Aramaki’s gravelly voice was unchanged by Chifuyu’s fiery accusation. “I did not say we would let your brother die. We are merely going to find an option that will let us retain our IS units.”
“Yes, Orimura-san, we are not going to let your brother die.” Detective Nakano said, her voice confident. “Because this case involves the IS units, we have every resource imaginable, both people and technology. Every police officer in the country has this case as their only priority. The normal rules about their conduct in finding information are suspended. If we find anyone who knows even the tiniest fact about this, they will talk or find their lives in an extremely uncomfortable place.”
“And all military and intelligence assets we possess are pursuing leads as well.” Aramaki added in, returning his handkerchief to his pocket. “The Emperor and the Prime Minister are being consulted at this time on the question of whether we can contact our allies about this incident. There is an opinion by our intelligence personnel that one of our allies might be responsible.”
Detective Nakano’s eyes narrowed slightly, her voice was strong. “General Aramaki, in cases like this it is not important to figure out who did this reprehensible act. Finding the victim is the first priority.” General Aramaki frowned at the rebuke, but kept silent. Returning her focus back to Chifuyu, Nakano continued on. “Now Orimura-san, I need to ask you a few questions and then I will tell you what I know. First off, did the voice of the person on the video sound even the slightest bit familiar?”
Chifuyu shook her head, her long hair barely moving. “No, I’ve never heard that voice before.”
One of the other detectives made some notes as Nakano continued. “Has there been any threats made against you recently? Something that might make you think the person was capable of this?”
“Just the usual bravado I expected from my competition. Lot of trash talk about how I was going to lose this time, how badly they were going to be beat me.” Chifuyu’s eyes unfocused for a moment, lost in thought.
Nakano saw the expression, her own eyes glittering in excitement. “You remember someone in particular?”
“Well....the contender from Cuba was really rather boastful about things. But I beat her in my first round match.” Chifuyu smirked slightly. “She didn’t even last a full minute. Otherwise there’s not anyone who comes to mind. Certainly no one I figured would be capable of doing this.”
Nakano nodded once at that information. “Usually such abductions are committed by a family member or close friend. But with your fame, it does expand the pool of suspects a bit. You are sure that there’s no one in your immediate contact who might be involved?”
Closing her eyes a moment to concentrate, Chifuyu’s face went slack. “Sure?   Hell if I know. Up until today I’d trusted everyone in my immediate circle of friends. Now I can’t be sure of anything.”
“A fair response.” Detective Nakano motioned to one of the plainclothes officers in the room. “Brief Orimura-san quickly on what we know.”
“Ma’am.” Turning to face Chifuyu now, the long haired officer spoke in a quiet voice. “From our examinations of the video, we know a little about the kidnapper. It’s a male, probably in his mid twenties to early thirties. As you saw, the message was in English, but the words sounded off which lead us to believe the person is not American or English. The clothes shown are military minded, but not part of any known military in the world. We are looking at terrorist groups and criminal organizations, but so far none of the ones examined use that grey motif.”
Chifuyu’s eyes grew watery again. “That’s it? They give us a deadline for thirty-six hours and you assholes are just LOOKING at organizations?”
“We are also processing your house, checking for forensic evidence that might lead us to your brother.” The officer’s professional mask dropped now, his voice growing softer. “Unfortunately, it will take time.”
“Just great! While you’re busy sitting there looking at groups and searching for leads, my little brother is busy getting tortured!” Chifuyu pushed herself up from her chair, leaning hard on the table for support.
Detective Nakano started to move towards Chifuyu. “Orimura-san, please understand the situation. These people show themselves to be very professional and thorough. They won’t just sit there and torture Ichikia for no good reason. Most of his injuries probably happened when they first abducted him, aside from the one injury on the video. Professional kidnappers don’t just torture their hostages, they know the hostage is what gets them their reward. They also know that people won’t pay for hostages who are dead or severely injured. The knife was inserted into a non-vital location, not deep enough to hit any major vessels.” Pausing a moment to catch her breath, Misato’s control slipped just a little. “Yes it was painful, but that was all. Likely when we get to him we will find that they had treated the wound after the filming.”
“Well that’s just fucking perfect! He gets tortured, but they’re going to patch him up afterwards.” Pushing away from the table, Chifuyu starts to move towards the door. “I can’t stay here while you assholes are sitting around doing nothing productive. If you come up with something useful, let me know.”
A uniformed police officer reached out with his right hand, grabbing Chifuyu’s left shoulder before she could open the door. Chifuyu reacted instantly, shrugging off the hand with a quick roll of her shoulder. Before the officer could recover, she pirouetted on her left foot and snagged the wrist of the offending hand.   Her left hand held the wrist as her right foot snapped out in the spin to sweep out his legs. The officer collapsed, his trapped arm held solidly in her iron grasp as he tried to use his free one to arrest his fall.
Chifuyu did not stop there, as she brought her foot up from the sweep and kicked him in the face; a solid blow to his nose and forehead. The patrolman was limp and dazed as he started to fall onto his back from the force of the impact. Her left hand still gripping the officer’s wrist, Chifuyu’s right arm came down hard on his forearm with a definitive strike. The sound of bones breaking was clearly audible in the room, followed almost instantly by the officer’s scream of agony.
Pushing hard against the broken arm, Chifuyu released the patrolman onto the ground. Looking up a moment from under her eyebrows, Chifuyu glared at everyone in the room one last time. Seeing no one else moving to stop her, she stormed out of the room, the door slamming shut with a strong finality.
A military officer moved to help the downed police officer, working to roll him over onto his back. Detective Nakano looked in dismay at the injured person lying on the floor. “Patrolman, you were warned that Orimura-san was an extremely dangerous person and shouldn’t be touched when she was angry. Perhaps now you’ll listen to orders in the future.” Shifting her gaze to the closed door, her dismay melted into a frown. “Just like my daughter...”
Chifuyu’s rage cooled slightly as she stalked the hallways, the images in her mind getting increasingly worse with each step she took. A few people walking by took notice of her, but the look on her face kept anyone from approaching her. Several folks glanced once at Chifuyu’s face and moved out of her way.
Finding her way back to the locker room, Chifuyu felt her anger burning hot in her chest. Clipping her shoulder on the bank of lockers, Chifuyu found a momentary focus for her rage, pounding her fists into the metal. The metal squealed and clanged, protesting the abuse while warping under each blow.

Breathing hard from the exertion, Chifuyu leaned forward, resting her head on the frame. The pain in her hands echoing the pain in her heart as Ichika’s face passes before her eyes again. Moaning to herself, Chifuyu lets herself collapse to the floor.
“Who’s making all that racket in here?” Chifuyu’s eyes snap open as a male voice calls out, wondering which room she had walked into. “What the hell is going on...huh?”
The owner of the voice peers around a far bank of lockers, his eyes instantly locking on to Chifuyu’s form on the floor. “Miss, are you okay?”
Not trusting her voice, Chifuyu shook her head once. Tears started to stream down her cheeks again as she glanced down at her hands again.
“Oh come on, the competition is almost over. If you lost, there’s always the next one. Just work harder and you can place better next time.” Walking around the lockers, the man pulled a cart laden with mops, bags and various cleaning supplies.
Chifuyu looked up at the janitor now, her eyes watery behind her dark bangs. “The competition? You think I’m upset about the Mondo Grosso?”
The janitor sat down on the bench, his grey eyebrows knit together. “I’m sorry, I seem to have misunderstood your situation. Maybe you could explain it for me?”
In between gasping sobs, Chifuyu recounted everything she had just learned, trying not break down again. The janitor’s eyes went wide with the first part, then hardened as the story progressed. By the time she completed her story, he appeared to nearly be in tears himself. After a moment’s pause, the janitor frowned at Chifuyu. “Miss, I might be out of line here, but I think you’re going about this wrong.”
Chifuyu found herself shocked into silence at the statement. Turning her head to look full on at the janitor, her voice barely reached him. “What?”
“Well, it seems to me that right now you’re letting your fear and anger control you.” The janitor’s eyes drifted down to Chifuyu’s hands, noting how the knuckles were split and bleeding. A thin trail of blood could be seen from the tightly gripped fists, the drops falling onto her thighs. “What you’re feeling is the right thing given the circumstances, but you can’t let it control you. Anger has it’s place in situations, but if you’re not using it correctly then nothing good will come from it.”
“Nothing good can come from anger.” Chifuyu countered, her eyes measuring up the distances between him and her.
The janitor smiled softly, trying not to patronize. “Actually, a lot of good can come from anger. Folks who were angry about things have overthrown governments, wronged injustices. Angry people have changed the world more times than people who were happy. The fact that you're angry isn’t a bad thing. Just don’t let it control you. Use it.”
Chifuyu’s eyes unfocused as the message started to sink in. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and continued to breathe with controlled measures. Breathe in, hold it for five, out over five. I haven’t done this since my time training in Shinonono-sama’s dojo. Shinonono-sama would probably have said the same thing, too. Opening her eyes, Chifuyu bowed her head towards the janitor. “I need to apologize to you, janitor-san. I’ve damaged the lockers in my rage, and I was rude to you.”
The janitor waved off her apology. “There’s nothing to apologize about. You’re under a lot of stress right now, and cleaning up things is part of my job. Just don’t go making a bigger mess, please.” He grinned now, a wry smile that fit his weathered face. “And the name’s Boothby.”
Chifuyu's face broke into a pale imitation of Boothby's grin. "Well, thank you Boothby-san. You have given me an invaluable piece of help just now."
Boothby's grin expanded into a full smile, his eyes sparkling. "All part of my job. Besides, it hurts me to see a beautiful woman like you in pain."
A blush spread across Chifuyu's cheeks at the compliment. "I've heard that from a lot of guys, Boothby-san, but most of them seem nothing more than to want me to get into bed. Yours is the first time I actually believe it."
A quick nod of his greyed head accepted the statement as Chifuyu continued, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put my anger to use and get to work." Boothby waved as she reached back into her locker, grabbing for her cellphone. Scrolling through the contact list, Chifuyu's eyes hardened as the right one became highlighted. I hope this number is still good.
Halfway around the world, a phone started to ring. A woman in a sensible business suit looked up from the work on her desk to stare at the phone. Picking up the receiver, she cradled it comfortably on one shoulder. “One one seven nine.”
“This is Chifuyu Orimura. I need to speak with Oberst Bock,” the handset said in her ear. “It’s urgent.”
The secretary paused in her work now, staring blankly at the far wall. “One moment,” she said, pushing the Hold button while activating a second line.
An overworked man in a wrinkled uniform picked up the phone when his intercom button lit up. His voice was gruff from having his important workday disturbed, “Yes, what is it?”
“Sir, I have a person identifying herself as Chifuyu Orimura asking for you, claiming it’s urgent. Line three.”
“Very well, thank you.” Clicking off the intercom, he punched buttons and answered the blinking phone line. “This is Bock.”
A woman’s voice came out of the receiver, one that sounded vaguely familiar. It spoke in English, with a hint of an non-English accent. “Oberst Bock, this is Chifuyu Orimura. I’m not sure if you remember, but we met two years ago.”
Bock let his eyes close as he tilted his head forward, wisps of black hair falling forward. The eyes winced shut in concentration a moment.   “Orimura...Orimura...yes I remember. If you’re going to tell me you’re raising my child, I will only say as much as to give you my lawyer’s number and direct you to talk to him.”
A quick bark of laughter came out of the phone, leaving Bock to wonder if the phone had disconnected. “Still the raging womanizer, Bock? I would have thought you’d learned better by now.” The voice turned wry as it continued on. “Besides, you weren’t that good. I doubt any woman could get pregnant from a technique like yours.”
Bock’s eyes opened now, outrage coloring his face a deep shade of red. Bringing up a search engine on his computer, Bock typed in the name of the person calling him. “Maybe I am mistaken. So what was the purpose of this call, Chifuyu?” Opening the file that was provided by the computer, recognition instantly flooded his brain.
Chifuyu’s voice turned harder now, all playfulness lost. “The Bock I knew used to be really friendly with a lot of intelligence types, folks who know things or can find other things out in a real hurry. I also recall the last time we talked, you made an offer to me about my working with your government.” Her voice was almost bereft of any emotion now. “So what I’m going to do is make you a very limited time offer. My younger brother was kidnaped two or three days ago from our house. The Japanese government is claiming to do what it can, but there’s a deadline on what the kidnapers want and I don’t think they can pull it off before time’s up. If you can get me the info on where Ichika is, I, Chifuyu Orimura, will come train the German IS program for a period of one year.”
His face blanking out from the shock of the statements, Bock let his mind start to race at the implications of her offer. “Let me make some calls. I’ll get back to you in two hours.” Hanging up the phone, Bock switched to his intercom. “Get me Falman over at Intelligence. Push as hard as you have to.”
Reaching into the left drawer, Bock pulled out a beat up cigarette lighter. Snapping it open, he stared into the flame as he waited on his secretary to do her job. The flame danced and flickered a minute, the glow reflected in his eyes. “Chifuyu Orimura....well, I hope I can help you. Your offer would get me the general’s stars I’ve been looking for.”
Chifuyu’s snatched at the cell phone the instant it started to chime. Before the first ring had finished, she had thumbed it on and had it under her hair by her ear. “Hello, Chifuyu Orimura here.”
“Oberst Bock here. Sorry it took a little longer than I thought it would.” Chifuyu heard the irritation in Bock’s voice and idly wondered what the delay had been. “But I think I have it. You are a person of interest to us, so we keep monitor you and your brother. It’s nothing personal, just business.”
“Yeah yeah, just get on with it.” Chifuyu’s hand came up and made a roll it along motion, forgetting Bock could not see her hands.
“Intel reported to me that they had some intercepts that didn’t mean anything to them until I brought up your brother’s abduction. Looking at the intercepts, they were taking him probably to an ‘abandoned’ oceanographic station in the South Pacific ocean.   Given the flight speed of your IS, you could get there in fourteen hours or so.”
Chifuyu slammed her locker shut and dashed for the doorway. “Did you get the exact coordinates?”
“Naturally. There’s a couple other things you need to know. First off, the station isn’t as abandoned as people think.   It’s mostly a way station for pirate activities and other black marketers.” A long pause, the sound of static on the international call the only thing keeping Chifuyu from tossing the phone. “The other thing is that Intel put a team together. They’d figured it was someone important, so they got a paramilitary team and fast tracked it out there.   They’ll hit the site hard before you can get there and then get out. Turns out the place is hosting a few people on our ‘better off dead’ list.”
Chifuyu stopped mid-stride down the hallway. “What about hostages? Will they rescue anyone they find?”
Bock’s voice carried the frown on his face clearly. “It’ll be up to the mission commander. They might just leave hostages there. I’m not in that chain of command, so I don’t know what orders the team was given. The best I can say is maybe.”
The hand not holding the phone balled up and struck the wall, breaking through the drywall and sinking her arm down to the wrist. Chifuyu closed her eyes a moment and opened them suddenly. “Okay, I’ve got an idea. I’ll fly out there immediately and meet up with the team, go in with them on the hit. Can you get a message to the team and let them know that I’m coming and to expect me? I’d hate to get shot at by the good guys. Just have them consider me a heavy assault package.”
“I think I can do that. But you’ll have to move fast because the team won’t delay their mission for you to catch up. If you’re late, they’ll go without you.”
Verifying the coordinates from Bock, Chifuyu hung up and dropped her phone, letting it clatter to the ground. Resuming a full sprint, the hallways seemed to flash by in front of her eyes, growing brighter as she heads towards the IS prep bays. Two uniformed security guards were at the entrance, one sitting down working on a puzzle, the other holding a cup of coffee. Looking up from his crossword puzzle at the sound of a person running the guard saw Chifuyu barreling down on them. “Hey, stop!”
Chifuyu did not break her stride, giving the standing guard a stiff arm block worthy of a professional running back. His cup of coffee splashed on the sitting guard’s face, temporarily blinding him. The guard’s weight slowed her down momentarily, but she vaulted his collapsing form easily and hit the door smoothly.
The opening door brought with it new sensations, the clank of tools on metal, the smell of spilled chemicals. Chifuyu kept her mind focused as she ran to the bay holding her own Kurazakura. The silvery-white metal form sat there, a warhorse sleeping until called for by it’s master. Barely noticing all the cables attached to it, Chifuyu grabbed onto the waist assembly and started climbing into the cockpit. Broaching the top, a practiced spin dropped her feet into the pedestals. As Chifuyu’s hands slid down into the sleeves of the mecha, the power-up sequence initialized and her heads-up display kicked on.
Feeling the pressure collars tightening on her exposed skin, Chifuyu started pulling off the power and support cables. When the last of the cables was removed, Chifuyu engaged the Passive Inertial Canceller and floated up a foot off the ground. Maneuvering through the bay, she banked into the launch chamber.
Settling down onto the catapult, Chifuyu transmitted a radio code to the control computer. The catapult did not kick and she found herself remaining stationary. Transmitting the code a second time, Chifuyu again got no response. A message popped up on her HUD.
“Great, just great.” Flying away from the catapult, Chifuyu pulled out her Yukihira Nigata and powered it up. The blue beam gave a tinge to the entire room’s chamber as she then slammed it into the launch doors, cutting cleanly and easily. A deft flick of her metal-shod wrists and Chifuyu cut a hole through the door, the edges white hot. Returning the blade to it’s storage spot with her right hand, Chifuyu put her left and applied her thrusters hard. The metal squealed for only a heartbeat before the cut metal parted and she found herself in the arena.
“Contestant Orimura, what are you doing? Stop your activities at once or you will be disqualified!” An indignant voice bellowed at her from her radio, but Chifuyu could only smile.
“Bring down the arena barrier and let me out. I’ve got more important things than to deal with you.”
“We will not bring down the barrier. You will return your IS to the prep bay NOW.” Chifuyu’s smile grew now, feeling good as she cut off her radio on the self important bureacrat. Drawing the Yukihira Nigata a second time, she powered it up and engaged her thrusters, pushing the IS to its limits in a near ballistic climb. A single strike of her Nigata brought her through the shield and she was into open, the arena and the world falling away beneath her.
Plotting the coordinates Bock had given her, Chifuyu set her and engaged the thrusters at maximum power. Looking at her HUD, Chifuyu found only reasons to frown hard.
Thinking about her capablities, Chifuyu accessed the computer. “Is there a way to get to the coordinates faster?” A new flight path appeared on her HUD, indicating a low orbit insertion profile. “Can we do that?”
Sighing at the situation she was in, Chifuyu turned on her radio again, changing the frequency to one she knew from memory. “I just hope she still uses this one.” Hearing a momentary squelch of static as the radio jumped to the right setting. “Chifuyu calling Tabane. Chifuyu to Tabane. You there Tabane?”
A whimsical voice came back almost immediately. “Hey hey, this is Tabane Shinonono the world’s greatest super genius...”
Chifuyu’s rage found a new vent at the sound on the radio. “Great, just fucking GREAT. Tabane, if you’re screening me I will fucking find you and make sure you spend a long time begging for death goddamnit!”
The laughter on the channel came back instantly. “No Chi-chan, I wasn’t screening. I was just trying out my new greeting. It’s not too pretentious is it?”
“Maybe just a little. Listen Tabane, I’m in trouble and need your help.”
Most of Tabane’s playfulness dropped out of her voice. “Chi-chan, I will do whatever I can to help you. You know that.”
Chifuyu bobbed her head once, trying to keep her mind focused as she talks with her old friend. “Okay, here’s what’s going on. Ichika has been kidnapped, and I’ve got a location on him. I need to get there fast. Last time we talked, you were mentioning working on a teleport system to let you send IS’s to their pilots. Is that system working right now?”
Tabane’s voice was distraught as she came back on the radio. “Ik-kun’s been kidnaped?   When did this happen, why didn’t I get any word of it until now....?”
“TABANE FOCUS,” Chifuyu bellowed, trying not to get too upset with her friend. “The teleport system. Did you get it working?”
“Teleport system, right. I do have a working system now.”
Chifuyu breathed a quiet prayer before going with her next question. “Can we use that system to teleport me to the coordinates where Ichika is?”
The long pause on the radio told Chifuyu everything before Tabane came back. “It’s not designed for that. I did try to expand the system to allow for living beings to be teleported, but...all the lab rats I’ve tried in it haven’t lived very long. Fortunately.”
“Damn,” Chifuyu closed her eyes a minute, feeling the wind whip her hair as she tried to come up with a new idea. “Well, what about this. I could get there faster if I could do a low orbit flight path, but my Kurazakura is low on power. Can you lock onto my IS and teleport it out, recharge it and return it to me?”
“Sure I can Chi-chan. I just use your radio signal to provide the targeting coordinates. But...I show you flying at a bit over thirty thousand feet right now. Hmm.....I guess I can loan you an IS to let you keep heading towards him. The question will be whether or not the system can account for a person in movement when we lose the targeting signal.   It should work, I guess.”
“Okay then, let’s do it.” Chifuyu took a few rapid breaths, pushing more oxygen into her blood. Breaking from her level flight, she pushed Kurazakura into a vertical climb, the thrusters whining at the new angle. Keeping up the rapid breaths, Chifuyu keyed the transmitter again. “Go on my mark. Five, four, three, two, one...MARK!”
As the last word left her lips, Chifuyu closed her mouth and held her breath. Her skin tingled a moment, feeling lighter as her IS disappeared from around her. Suddenly bereft of the IS’s protective fields, the intense cold bit into her exposed skin with the ferocity of a savage animal. Chifuyu felt her upward momentum slow as gravity decided it was in control over her again. Coming to a pause in midair, Chifuyu’s stomach did turns inside her as she floated for just an instant before gravity pulled her back down to the surface, so very far below her.
Come on Tabane, don’t mess this up. Starting her downward plummet back through the clouds, the next thought Chifuyu had was a little more practical. Maybe relying on Tabane wasn’t the best idea in the world. A new tingle crossed her skin again, stronger this time; more of a lover’s firm caress rather than the first grazing touch. New metal limbs encased her own, the white armor gleaming in the sunlight. A helmet appeared over her eyes, providing a familiar old HUD and sealing off the sound of air across her ears. The cold snapped off instantly, the IS’s protective fields bringing it back to a comfortable temperature.
The radio in her ears crackled for just a moment. “Sorry Chi-chan, took me a moment longer to account for your velocity.”
Chifuyu felt her lips break into a grin in spite of the situation. “Same old Tabane. I see you’ve been putting in some upgrades here.”
“Naturally. I’m uploading the flight profile for your orbital trajectory now.” Tabane’s voice dropped the playfulness now, the radio crystal clear. “Chifuyu, I need to ask a favor of you in return for taking care of your Kurazakura.”
“Ask away. I get the feeling I owe you a lot anyway.” Pushing the engines as she broke through the clouds again, Chifuyu locked onto the HUD display of her course.
“I need you to make sure you get Ik-kun back.” Tabane’s voice dropped to a glacially cold tone. “And if they have hurt Ik-kun, I want you to bring them to me. I can always use some expendable subjects for my tests.”
Chifuyu envisioned Tabane’s face based purely on the sound her voice. She’s really worked up about this. “You’ve got it Tabane. On both things.”
Redirecting all the spare power she could to the engines, the sudden burst of speed pushed Chifuyu through the skies and out past the boundary of the world.
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Through the looking glass