Drag Ride was the name of an advanced firepower unit made exclusively for the Reimei frame. It was a mechanical dragon—a Kiryu—over ten times as tall as Hanabi herself. Hanabi was mounted on the underbelly of this beast like a kangaroo’s joey, controlling it like her own arms and legs. Everything from the chest up was exposed, and she wielded a Scout Nova Rifle in both hands, but the lower portions of her body were entirely inside the Kiryu. Hanabi’s head lay just below the dragon’s long neck, and she wore a visor—generally not required with 6th generation DMs—allowing her to check the information provided by her new partner.
With the sun at her back, she did a flip, sending the Kiryu charging back into the thick of the Jave. The targets on her visor locked on to the Queen.
“High Nova Launcher…”
The primary cannon responded, the dragon’s mouth yawning open.
“Fire!”
The cannon roared.
The ultra-wide beam cut a path through the enemy. The Queen reacted with a speed belying her bulk, avoiding a direct hit but still taking damage. The intense heat of the magic beam melted the flesh on the Queen’s side, and she let out a scream that shook the very air, launching all her children at Hanabi. However, their feeble attacks were all blocked by the newly developed anti-light beam barrier, the Heavy Magic Field. This was the black membrane that briefly appeared around the DM after each hit. It was the Witch Bubble coated in a new tech called Heavy Magic, and it effectively neutralized the Jave’s bullets in a way never before possible. The clever Queen soon realized this, commanding her children to attack directly. Props for judgment, Hanabi thought.
A swarm of several hundred mantas flung themselves directly at Hanabi. She scattered guided light bullet containers like bait in her wake, launched dozens of Servants, and fired the rifle in her own hands, but it wasn’t enough. Several mantas made it through the field, brushing against the Kiryu’s wings.
“Ack!” Hanabi dropped the rifle, gathering Servants around both hands. Giant light swords stretched out from each of her palms, Blades made by merging several light beams. She then formed another twelve Servant Blades around herself, hacking away at any monsters who came near. Then…
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Light gathered in front of the injured Queen. She was charging a light shot, planning to shoot Hanabi and all the Jave gathered around her. Hanabi thought quickly. Defense? Impossible. Even the Heavy Magic Field couldn’t stand a hit of that size! Evasive maneuvers? Would they make it?
The beam fired. An instant later…
Shichisei Kenbu: Shimetsu.
At the sound of the voice, the Queen’s light bullet vanished with a pop.
Before Hanabi’s eyes was the small back profile of a single Cavalleria, with nine bright wings fanned out around him. It was her partner’s frame. He’d used a Shichisei Kenbu Machine Fencing technique to quickly cover the ground and reach her in time. With the same motion as a karate left punch, he’d easily canceled out the fatal bullet.
Her partner was a front attacker with the Lunatic Order’s Fuji Squad. Clad like a blue-armored warrior in a DM called the Soukyu (Pleiades), he was the other half of the Twin Star Heroes. Hanabi’s own little hero, Okegawa Kuon.
“Kuon-kun!”
“Sorry, Senpai,” he said, landing on Hanabi’s—the Kiryu’s—
back.
“What are you doing? You aren’t positioned here!” Hanabi yelled while moving at high speed, her Servant Blades slicing and dicing the swarming Jave.
Riding the Kiryu’s back, Kuon pulled out two Ultra Magic Hardened Blades, turning Jave into sashimi as he replied, “That’s why I said sorry.”
“This again! You aren’t sorry at all!”
“I am!”
They were always like this. But a new voice interrupted. “Hanabi-sama, lecturing him with that grin on your face isn’t very convincing.”
“Y-y-you shut up, En-kun!”
A fairy clad in what appeared to be a silk kimono altered to look like a uniform—the Guide AI known as En—made a point of appearing right before Hanabi’s eyes just so she could smirk at her. “This is my master’s love. Love!”
Hanabi went bright red. How could she bring that up now?! “The plan was for me to draw the enemy away so you could finish off the Queen!” she yelled.
“Yep. Sorry! But…” Kuon detached himself from her back. The camera on the Kiryu’s rear caught his face. He was smiling. “I’ll go do that now, Senpai.”
An instant later he was a blur, and then he was gone. En vanished with him.
Jeez. Hanabi turned over so the Kiryu’s underside faced the Queen, giving herself a better view. The enemy had recovered from the shock of having her bullet canceled and was gathering light again when Kuon appeared behind it, using a shukuchi to cover the distance nigh-instantly.
Kuon took a deep breath, positioning himself on the Queen’s back. As he examined his foe, he perceived within her the root of all life, the focal point of life energy—what his master called “the light of life”. Almost leisurely, he thrust the Blade in his left hand towards it, releasing his breath.
Shichisei Kenbu Ultimate Art: Mumyo Tosen.
The Blade struck the Jave Queen in a nondescript section of flesh. But with the full force of Kuon’s magic charging the Blade, it blew a wind of death through the fleshy monster, causing a phenomenon known as Magic Dispersal within it. This was the effect of Mumyo Tosen, a fatal art that forced all the magic within the enemy to self-destruct.
There was no resisting it.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
A fourth scream echoed. The Queen’s massive bulk slowly began to crumble, and the Gate over Aohime vanished, crackling like lightning. It had been a huge leap forward for the human race when they discovered that the Gates could only be maintained by a Jave Queen’s magic.
It was obvious the lesser Jave had lost all coordination as they fell slowly through the air. Only the Queen’s instructions had kept them focused; now, they were at a loss. The Kiryu and the rest of the mobile units attacked en masse, polishing off the survivors. The battle was as good as won.
“Is it over?” Kuon whispered.
“Yep. Well done, Kuon-sama,” his Guide AI said, appearing before him and bowing. “An art with a one hundred percent chance of causing death! I’ve seen it before, but…that’s so broken!”
“Broken how?” His Guide sometimes said things he didn’t understand.
“But if you push yourself too…”
“I’m fine.”
“If you say so…but Kuon-sama, since the plan was for a sneak attack, they removed all the extra boosters.”
“Yep.”
“All your nozzles are going, yet your falling speed seems unaffected.”
“Well, this frame was never designed to fly.”
“That ocean’s coming up fast.”
“It is.”
“You may have a Witch Bubble protecting you, but if you hit it at this speed, it’s definitely gonna hurt!”
“Oh, dear.” He considered trying to soften it with a shukuchi, but…
“What are you doing?”
“Hm?”
A dragon flew in from the side, catching him in its mouth before flying off. The dragon’s head bent, holding him where the pilot could see. His gallant and adorable Cavalleria was very obviously forcing her grin into a stern expression. “Hanabi-senpai, thank you,” he said.
“Thank you, Kuon-kun. No, wait…”
There were no enemies left on the radar. They’d been wiped out. Kuon looked the dragon over. “Seems like you’re handling the Drag Ride well.”
“Don’t change the subject!”
Darn.
“…You’ve been getting awfully bold lately, Kuon-kun.”
“Have I?”
“You have! Remember to respect your elders!”
“I thought I was.”
As they bickered, shouts of victory were raised around them. While the Cavalleria celebrated, orders to return to the mothership were handed down, one after another. There were many voices praising the heroes, but Hanabi seemed oblivious to them. “I…I know that, but…” The dragon’s head turned, bringing Kuon even closer. He noticed that Hanabi’s face was extraordinarily beautiful, pretty, cute…and a little flushed. “You can let me baby you a little!”
Oh, he thought. She’s in Maiden Mode.
“The other day we had that d-d-d-d-date… I mean, shopping trip, and you… All your money…”
Uh-oh. “Err, Hanabi-senpai?”
“Wh-what? You repent?”
“Um…you know your comms are wide open, right?”
“Huh?”
The shouts of victory gave way to whistles, laughter, and teasing. “Good job, Princess! Found you a good one, huh?” “Such passion! Talk about covering yourself with glory!” “Whoa, phrasing!”
“What?!” Hanabi had frozen up completely. Kuon put his hands to his head. This wasn’t going well. He wracked his brains looking for a way to save her, or at least share the pain of this shame. He couldn’t let her be the only one embarrassed. He wanted to share the burden. The world no longer needed solo heroes, after all. The two of them were a team.
“Senpai, uh…” He was pretty sure this was the manliest thing he’d ever done. “I love you!”
The Warrior Princess turned redder than her own frame, let out a really adorable squeal, and dropped Kuon into the ocean.
The next day, the entire Air Force was talking about Suzuka Hanabi.
✦ ✦ ✦
On the bridge of the Kuou, a girl was watching the fight on screen.
“What do you think, Nürburg-kun? How’s the Drag Ride moving?”
“Not bad.” the girl—Nürburg—responded mechanically.
“Good,” the captain nodded.
She looked at the screen again, at the other hero on it. “That’s my brother,” she whispered so quietly that no one else heard it.