We burst onto the runway, the night air whipping past us as the mech hurtled towards the open expanse beyond. My drone body jolted with every move of the mech, sending sparks flying from the console as the controls were strained to their limits.

The helicopter's searchlights blazed down on us, illuminating our path as we careened wildly past the helipad like a bullet. In that moment, everything moved in slow motion, every detail etched into my mind as I frantically pathed our trajectory.

Shit! We're heading straight towards the river!

The ground beneath us blurred as I struggled to gain control of the wildly spinning mech.

"Rai-chan!" I yelled through gritted teeth. "We need to slow down! Flare the shields to redirect the momentum!"

"On it!" she replied.

There was a deafening screech as I slammed one of the mech's arms into the runway, sparks flying up in a shower of fire and mana, tearing chunks out of the pavement. I yanked the controls, my heart pounding as the mech skidded wildly. With every ounce of strength, I fought to regain control.

In a split second decision, I spun the mech in a circle, activating the rollerboosters to redirect my momentum towards a hapless, innocent-looking 18-wheeler truck by the pier.

I briefly noted nearly a dozen sweeping lights across the runway point toward me, almost as if in confusion and disbelief as I crashed into the truck. I barely registered a squadron of mechs racing down the runway as I slammed the mech's arms into the truck out of desperation.

The truck instantly began to tilt over as it was crushed by my weight, its frame groaning under the immense strain.

With a sudden, violent jolt, I yanked the controls again, skidding and sliding as I kicked the poor truck with all of my strength, desperately trying to bleed off our momentum with the thrusters. The world spun around us, the truck flying away from us in a shower of sparks.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I launched the mech off the tilting vehicle, narrowly avoiding a catastrophic crash. But there was no time to rest as I overshot the boosters, rocketing down the runway at a breakneck speed in a careening spin.

Rai-chan's voice crackled in my ear, her words urgent. "Ikki, brace for impact! Deploy the emergency crash systems! Hit the buttons I'm highlighting!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos.

Trees and shrubbery whipped past us as we crashed through them, my mechanical fingers desperately clawing at the controls, fighting for any semblance of control.

I didn't hesitate for a second. I immediately yanked a lever she highlighted, feeling the jolt as the mech's stabilizers engaged just in time. The ground rushed up to meet us, but with a deafening crash as the hexagonal, green shields wrapped around us in a blanket.

Finally, the mech came to a shuddering halt, its metal frame creaking and groaning from the exertion. A massive dust cloud surrounded the mech, obscuring our surroundings. My vision spun as the impact reverberated through the cockpit, but somehow, we had made it out in one piece.

I slumped in the pilot's seat, panting heavily as the adrenaline faded, leaving me trembling and disoriented.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding as I surveyed the toppled trees around us. The hangar was far behind us now, illuminated by flashes of chaos energy as the monsters continued their pursuit.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed through the forest, sending shivers down my spine.

No, it wasn't a monster's roar.

It was…. gunfire? Explosions?

My heart pounded in my chest as I quickly checked the mech's systems. Everything looked like it was still functioning despite the rough landing.

The extraction team's helicopter hovered above, its pilot shouting something over the radio, but I couldn't make out the words just regaining my bearings.

"E….everyone okay?" I shouted over the intercom, hoping desperately that Sunflower, Jeff, and Mila were okay in the transport compartment.

No response came immediately, leaving me in a suspended moment of anxiety. If I'd hurt or killed my passengers through my reckless, amateur piloting, I'd never be able to forgive myself.

Then, a surly, distorted voice crackled over the comms, filled with relief and a touch of annoyance. "Well… that was a fun ride, kid. But remind me never to let you drive again. Your piloting had an interesting effect on Jeff here, too."

A chorus of groans, indignant protests, and grumbles followed her remark, reassuring me that everyone was alive and relatively unharmed despite the crash landing.

I let out a shaky laugh, the tension slowly draining from my mind at the sound of her voice. "Glad to hear you're in one piece, Mila."

"Barely. What a ride, huh?" Sunflower's voice interjected, her tone a mix of exhilaration and disbelief. She paused for a second, giggling at something, before continuing, "Shame about those trousers, huh?"

Before I could reply, my screen flashed with an icon alert from Rai-chan, indicating a message from the helicopter on my heads-up display.

Gunfire erupted in the distance, and I instinctively tensed up. My radar showed six green blips moving rapidly into a semi-circle formation around the hangar exit we had just left. Then, a voice spoke through my comms, tense and crackling.

"This is Warrant Officer Li Tenoch, requesting immediate status update on Fort Hiawatha. Please identify yourselves and confirm the situation. Over."

Three more Aeolus class mechs came barreling down the runway towards our position. They showed up as blips on my radar as they drew closer.

"Let me handle this, Ikki," Rai-chan chimed in my mind.

I gazed in amazement as Rai-chan materialized a remarkably lifelike image of her human avatar on our screens. Her eyes glimmered with intelligence, and her expression exuded calmness and authority.

"This is Operator Raiko, representing a Support Ops cell from St. Antonia's Academy," she began, her tone firm and unwavering despite the dire circumstances.

"Wha?! How did you show up on my-"

"Nevermind that. Fort Hiawatha has been overrun, Warrant Officer," Rai-chan continued without skipping a beat. "Your Captain Ouyang is still inside, engaged with the horde and Novel Aberrant to buy us time for extraction. We have three survivors in the transport compartment, and we request immediate evac for all personnel apart from our representative deployed in a Draupnir unit. The Aeolus unit we have commanded is still fully operational. Please advise."

Tenoch hesitated for a moment before responding, his voice tense with urgency. "Ahem. Copy that, Support Ops. Stand by for immediate extraction. We'll provide additional cover fire for your approach to the helipad. Hold tight, we're on our way."

"One more thing," Rai-chan continued. "After our rendezvous, our unit will require an escort to the anomaly located seven yins northwest of the outpost, where we believe this Chaos Event is centered. We suspect there is a high-level Novel Aberrant responsible for the Chaos Event, and have deployed instruments to investigate it further. Can you confirm that this request can be facilitated? Under the Corinthian Accords, all Support Operations are to begranted the highest priority in the event of an active Chaos Event."

There was a moment of silence before Tenoch's voice crackled back through the comms. "Your request has been noted, Operative Raiko. We'll prepare for an escort. Please make an attempt to return to the runway and prepare for immediate extraction."

Rai-chan's avatar nodded in acknowledgment before disappearing from the communication screens, leaving me staring at the blinking and haunting lights in the distance. The other three mechs from Captain Ouyang's team had arrived and were less than six Terran yards away on the mech's screen.

"We need to move, Ikki." Rai-chan's urgent voice grounded me. "We don't have much time."

"Got it," I muttered. "So… should I start calling you Raiko now?"

"Still Rai-chan for you, buster. But let's get moving.""

"Right, on it!" I said in response.

I pulled on the cables and carefully maneuvered the mech through the debris until it stood upright again. Despite the damage it had sustained during the crash landing, the mech's systems seemed no worse for wear.

The rough terrain seemed to pose no challenge now as the mech moved smoothly, its metal joints working seamlessly as it climbed up the slope I had just tumbled down.

My HUD suddenly flickered and beeped as one of the mechs hailed me as the three fell into formation around me.

"Hey there. That was some badass work back there," the pilot's voice echoed through my comms in a lilt that reminded me of Malina's. "Where'd you learn to pilot like that?"

His tone was confident and bordering on cocky. I could tell he was young, probably not much older than me.

"T-thanks for having my back," I replied, trying to sound grateful while suppressing my nerves. "And uh, let's just say this is my second time."

"Second time?" the pilot chuckled, the sound crackling through the comms. "Damn, you're a natural then! Most rookies would've been scrap metal with half the shit you just pulled down that runway."

"Well, let's just say I had a good teacher," I replied.

Rai-chan's digital avatar flashed a cheeky grin on the screen beside me, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"You got a callsign we can use? Calling you the 'Support Op' sounds kind of lame, you know. I'm Coyote. On your left by the way," the pilot commented idly as we quickly made our way to the helipad.

"Uh, callsign?" I repeated, caught off guard.

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I quickly racked my brain for something fitting. My mind raced to come up with a cool callsign, something that would make me stand out and fit in with the team of hardened soldiers. A wave of adrenaline washed over me as I thought of all the possibilities. Something that wasn't too over the top. But still something daring, dangerous, and completely badass that would strike fear into the hearts of my enemies.

"Sparky. Call him Sparky," Rai-chan suddenly blurted out over the comms as her avatar reappeared on my screen. She wore a smug grin that was eerily similar to the ones Izumi always gave me when she was up to no good.

There was a moment of silence on the comms before Coyote burst out laughing. "Seriously? Sparky?" he chuckled, the sound echoing in my cockpit.

Rai-chan gave me a knowing look, her eyes sparkling with amusement. I couldn't help but shoot her a glare through the drone's helmet, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and humor at her chosen nickname for me. It was too late to object - I knew Rai-chan had sealed my fate as "Sparky" with that suggestion.

With a resigned sigh, I decided to roll with it. "Yeah, Sparky it is then, I guess," I replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips despite my best efforts to stay serious.

Rai-chan's laughter chimed through the comms, the sound quelling my nerves.

"Man, that's a new one I'll tell you that. Say, how'd you guys get that… screenshare trick through that storm, anyway? We've had outages every five fucking minutes out here since this Chaos Event hit," Coyote asked as we picked up speed up the runway.

"We've got some prototype tech here from Doctor Feynman herself that helps us maintain communication in adverse high-entropy conditions," Rai-chan fibbed smoothly, keeping her tone confident. "It's creating one hell of a power bill, though. I don't know if it'll keep me in contact with Sparky here during the heat of battle, but it's holding up for now."

Coyote let out a low whistle. "Doctor Feynman, huh? Lady's a legend. Got to see her once as part of her guard detail. Brilliant mind, kind of weird vibes, but hey, geniuses, right?"

I nodded along as I focused on guiding the mech toward the waiting helicopter as briskly as I could while maintaining formation. The storm raged around us, the energy crackling in the air and distorting reality.

I quickly checked in on my three passengers through a camera toggle, making sure they were secure and all unharmed. The helicopter blades whipped the air into a frenzy, adding to the cacophony of the battle raging around us.

"Jeff, Sunflower, Mila. Just checking in again, are all of you okay? We're almost in the clear. Get ready to hop off," I called out through the mech's speakers.

Jeff was pale and shaking, his eyes wide with fear. "That... that was the most terrifying ride of my life," he muttered, clutching his chest.

Sunflower patted him on his back. "You'll be fine, ol' buddy. Just keep breathing. In and out," she said, her voice surprisingly calm despite the situation.

Our mech skidded to a halt near the waiting helicopter, the harsh wind whipping past as the blades whirred loudly above. I activated the transport compartment's release mechanism, and the hatch opened with a series of clicks and hisses as I set the mech to kneel down.

I glanced off to the side at a formation of mechs, firing their shoulder cannons into the hangar in rhythmic, coordinated salvos. I tensed up as I saw a wave of beowulves pouring out from an open portal's gaping maw, their hisses and roars echoing through the runway.

Six mechs, gleaming with an ominous, metallic sheen, formed a protective perimeter around the hangar. Their movements were precise, almost dance-like, as they battled the chaos beasts and the shambling zombies.

The air crackled with gunfire and the screech of tearing metal. Their shoulder and arm cannons fired in rhythmic salvos, lighting up the darkness with explosions of blue and red energy and whatever personal weapons their units were outfitted with.

One of the mechs, marked with a crimson insignia, leaped into the air, its boosters flaring to life. It landed amidst a cluster of zombies, its massive feet crushing them into the ground. The pilot swung the mech's arm, and a sickled blade extended from its forearm, bisecting a beowulf with deadly precision. Another mech, equipped with Gatling guns along its torso, unleashed a torrent of bullets that tore through the swarm of wolves, leaving nothing but distorted, alien shadows in its wake.

These definitely weren't the mass-produced Aeolus Mk. III variants that filled the bay I'd just left. These mechs were clearly state-of-the-art and customized but derived from the same base design. I couldn't help but geek out a bit despite the dire circumstances.

"Get in!" the pilot of the waiting helicopter yelled over the radio.

The extraction team's pilot gestured urgently towards the helicopter, its blades slicing through the air. A mech, slightly battered and charred from recent battle, knelt beside it, providing cover fire.

Sunflower and Jeff swore loudly, the three fumbling out of the mech hurriedly. I winced as a clearly disoriented Jeff nearly tripped over his own feet, clinging to the comically shorter Sunflower for support.

"Man, I think I left my stomach back in the hangar," Jeff muttered loudly enough for the transport's camera to pick up. His face was pale as he tried to steady himself.

Sunflower gave him a light smack on the back of the head, a grin tugging at her lips despite the chaos around us.

"Get it together, Jeff! We survived worse. Come on!" she snapped.

Mila followed them, her expression stoic and unreadable as she glanced uneasily back at the base we'd escaped from. She looked up at my mech, giving me a brief nod as she slung her gun over her shoulder.

"Look. I know you can't die in that thing, kid," she shouted over the din of battle, her voice cracking. "But there are things worse than death sometimes, you know? Especially with these… things. Take care of yourself out there, you hear?"

Her voice trembled, choked with emotion as she finally broke her facade, and she quickly wiped away tears before quickly running after Jeff and Sunflower toward the waiting helicopter.

The sight of her vulnerability hit me hard — she'd seen a close friend die, and her entire platoon wiped out in there. While she gave me the impression that she was tough as nails, the wounds were clearly still raw and painful.

I watched silently as their figures disappeared into the helicopter, its rotors swirling up debris and sand as it lifted off with a powerful roar. It veered off with a sharp turn to the south, leaving behind a sense of emptiness and sadness in its wake.

"Sergeant, there's too many of them!" another man crackled through the comms, panic seeping into the words. "We can't advance to extract the captain."

A deep, calm voice responded, cutting through the chaos with authority. "Zayin Squadron, form ranks! We need to give the escort team an opening for the Op. Coyote, Falcon, I'm counting on you two. Get him away from here and to the objective. We'll suppress the portal for as long as we can here."

"But the captain —" a youth's voice chimed in. I recognized it immediately as the person Captain Ouyang had been in contact with the entire time.

"He can take care of himself, Lieutenant!" the Sergeant interrupted firmly. "We'll make do with what we can for now."

"Got it, Chief," a thrumming bass's confident and steady voice chimed in. "Jackal here. Preparing to breach. On your right, Coyote! Cover our six, Falcon. Prepare to break formation."

Coyote's voice followed, brimming with energy. "Roger that. Following your lead!"

The mechs moved with precision, the pilots working in perfect synchronization. The Gatling-cannon-equipped mech continued its relentless barrage as it strafed along the runway, bullets tearing through the advancing Beowulves and zombies. The air filled with the deafening roar of gunfire and the sickening sound of tearing flesh.

The mech in front of me drew a beam sword and wove through the chaos with incredible agility. It moved like a dancer, each swing of its blade slicing through the enemy with deadly grace. The pilot executed a flawless pirouette, the energy blade carving a path of destruction through the horde.

At the same time, the mech on my right raised an oversized railgun. It fired a shot that exploded in a burst of light, taking out a group of Beowulves closing in on our position. The ground shook with the force of the blast as debris rained down around us.

Coyote followed suit behind the swordsman, deftly evading beams of blue energy emerging from the hangar with practiced ease. I noticed that his mech was smaller and more nimble, ducking and weaving through the skirmish with impressive agility.

He jumped through the air between firing quick bursts of shots from his arm cannons, taking down enemies with calculated accuracy. The two mechs worked in tandem, covering each other's blind spots and coordinating their attacks seamlessly, opening a path to the side.

"Nice shot, Falcon!" Coyote's voice came through the comms, filled with admiration.

Falcon chuckled in response, a contralto husky vibrating through the speakers. "Just doing my job."

"Ikki, we've got a clear path to the highway," Rai-chan's urgent voice said. We need to move now!"

I nodded, my grip tightening on the controls. "Let's do this," I stated out loud. I activated the thrusters, feeling the mech vibrate beneath me as it came to life.

The mech surged forward, propelling us at a dizzying speed as I upped the rollerboosters. As we raced through the chaos, the scenery beneath us became a blur of motion.

Coyote's mech darted ahead, its movements fluid and mesmerizing in their agility. I followed suit, my own mech pushing forward with all its might. I couldn't help but marvel as Coyote effortlessly navigated and weaved past the obstacles almost like a choreographed dance, the lights from his thrusters leaving streaks of brilliant blue in our wake. As the world flew by in a blur, the wind whistled around me, drowning out any thoughts of danger.

I almost struggled to keep up, my movements lacking the same smoothness and finesse. In a moment of distraction, I nearly tumbled over a fallen piece of debris but quickly reoriented my mech and continued on his tail.

"Come on, Sparky! Don't fall behind now!" Coyote's laughter echoed in my ears.

"Trying my best here!" I shot back, my focus razor-sharp as I maneuvered the mech through the debris-strewn path. The thrusters hummed with energy, propelling us forward at breakneck speed.

"Keep your eyes sharp! This isn't a joyride," Coyote's voice crackled through the comms, a mix of excitement and urgency.

Rai-chan's voice buzzed, calm yet urgent. "Ikki, keep an eye on the road and slow down. The administrative building up ahead has collapsed. You'll need to navigate around it."

I followed Coyote's lead, ducking and weaving through the labyrinth of twisted metal and debris.

"Sparky! On your left!" Falcon's voice suddenly boomed through the comms.

I jerked the controls, narrowly avoiding a blur of motion from the side. A projectile slammed into the creature, and I barely registered a loud popping noise as an explosion lit up the night sky.

The sensation of near-misses and close calls kept my heart pounding in my chest, even though I knew I wasn't in any real danger. The ground shook as the energy blasts and explosions from the other mechs tore through the advancing horde behind us.

"We're almost clear," Rai-chan urged. "Just keep following Coyote. He's leading us to the highway. Stay sharp!"

The surreal twilight of a high-magnitude Chaos Event painted the scene around us, casting an eerie glow through the cracks in the sky above. The orange vortex hovering a distance down the road seemed to pulsate with rhythmic energy, swirling and churning ominously.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this, Rai-chan," I muttered, staring at the vortex for a long moment as we zoomed down the highway.

The experience of getting pulled into…. whatever screwed-up pocket dimension or whatever I'd fallen into was still fresh in my mind. Sure, my body was fine. But my mind? And my soul, if that even existed? That was another thing entirely.

"I know," Rai-chan responded softly, her tone grave. "But just… remember why you're out here."

I paused, my chest tightening, as the image of a short, stoic golden-haired Magical Girl suddenly appeared in my mind. Her eyes filled with quiet strength and a hint of sadness. Her stormy-eyed companion, a girl with a steely gaze, who wore her heart on her sleeve, stood by her side.

And the pink-haired, brilliant, and enigmatic songstress who saved Izumi and me that fateful day. Her vibrant, larger-than-life personality that was always so full of mischief, laughter, and love.

I nodded silently, my resolve strengthening. I'd come out here because I'd wanted to protect them all, and that hadn't changed one bit.

Dior — Magical Girl Hana of the Dawn had been my first friend here and had gone out of the way to help me when I'd been kidnapped and threatened with a cold and painful death. The sheer terror I'd felt when that woman had pointed her gun at me had been etched into my memory like a scar.

But Dior had saved me that day, and from what I'd realized talking to her since, she'd pushed herself to her limits, racing over to save me the moment I'd told her I was in danger.

The girl had known me for all of a day, but there was a fierce, downright heroic protectiveness in her actions that had struck me to my core.

What drove her so hard to save someone who was all but a stranger to her? She didn't strike me as the trusting sort, and I couldn't shake the feeling that there was even more to her story than she let on.

She'd revealed her civilian identity to me, to boot, which Magical Girls typically guarded more fiercely than anything else in their bizarre little lives. She was the first and probably only Magical Girl I'd truly met in person, but her actions spoke much about the strength of her character. Hana of the Dawn had shown me much about what it meant to be a Magical Girl in the short time I'd known her.

And from what I could gather, over a dozen Magical Girls were in the area, risking life and limb to defend the people here. If I could do anything to reduce the danger for the heroes risking their lives right now and help them, I was more than willing to face whatever ungodly horror was behind that ominous vortex.

The highway stretched ahead, a straight path into the unknown. I felt a chill run down my spine, imagining shadowy tentacled horrors lurking beyond ready to devour my mind whole. My hands shook on the controls, the fear creeping in. But I quickly composed myself again.

"You're right," I replied. "I'm not letting them go it alone. Not if I can help it."

"That's the spirit, Sparky," Rai-chan replied with a hint of a smile.

No matter what awaited us, I had to do this. For them, and for everyone else in the city behind us.

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