Author Notes:
Huhm, I think I hidden some Easter Eggs in this latest GSS chapter, but I can't be sure... Anyway, it's up to you all to find out!
Now, shoutout to Corporal Dakota Mercer (nice name, btw) for being the newest support of the regime! Big thanks to you, and enjoy the Early Access bonus for the three stories!
As for my irl situation... Let's say that it can be improved. Mom got a bad case of food poisoning, and I expect our medical fees to be raised. Can't really stay positive, when my Patrons are having troubles of their own as well. This GSS chapter came out this quick because I need something to take my mind off reality, and hopefully to give you all something interesting to soothe your daily trauma of surviving.
I think we all need this does of reality-please-go-away, hahaha... Gosh, I still feel like crap.
At least Mom still has an appetite, despite eating or drinking can cause her stomach to churn.
Wish us luck, everyone, just as we wish all the best for you.
Peace.
https://www.patreon.com/Heartbreak117
https://ko_fi.com/heartbreak117/goal?g=0
Actual Monthly Income Goal 750/1000 USD (The bare minimum number I can think of to sustain our safe haven and gettting my Mom's health in order is 1000 USD a month)
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"I know that shield is cheating somehow, but I can't prove it..." Says the raspy tone of an Astartes draped in dark-colored armor. His white, skull-shaped ballistic mask, instead of being scary, somehow conveys his utter vexation at facing a baffling event that can't be explained by conventional means.
"You, a Night Lord, calling out foul play?" An ancient Astartes, clad in light blue armor with a frayed gray cape, interjects with an audible smirk. "Had the Eye of Terror blown up without my knowing?"
The two Astartes are huddling around a holographic projection showing the teleportation ambush that hit the combined Cadians and Salamanders unit in one of the cogitator chambers. What they have seen, from the beginning to the end, has been eye-opening, to say the least.
"Old Man, don't tell me you don't have any questions about this?" The Night Lord Astartes, nominally a turncoat to the Imperium of Man, snaps back.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I do have questions and even hypotheses of my own. I am just marvelling at how this little mortal girl could manage to get under your unflappable skin, little brother." The Astartes, called by the Night Lord as Old Man, chuckles lowly with his aged tone.
The Night Lord scoffs before jutting a finger at the semi-transparent and flickering.
"You look at that and tell me that's normal. And don't call me little brother."
The Old Man turns his head to look at the Night Lord with a flicker of amusement covered by his helmet visor.
"Are you sure we're qualified to define what's normal around these parts? And from where I am, calling you little brother is perfectly fitting."
"Touche." The Night Lord replies with a raspy agreement before pushing his gripe forward once more. "You're an Alpha Legionnaire, you have their brains, explain to me how it's possible for that mortal girl to not just tank all of those enchanted shots, but also survive with not even a scratch? Those were .57 caliber bullets firing, not a pea-shooter. Her hand was supposed to be broken from all the impacts at the very least, if not turn into a gory mess. And how many times have we talked about this whole seniority business, Old Man? I am not your little brother."
"Hard to say... It could be that technology has progressed without us..." Old Man, now identified as an Astartes of the controversial Alpha Legion, replies calmly, his amusement has faded.
The Night Lord interjects with another scoff. "More like technology has regressed to such a deplorable level that we can't even find proper spare parts for any of our equipment. Old Man speaks real stuff now."
"Or it could be that the mortal is just really blessed by Her." The Alpha Legionnaire finishes his sentence after the Night Lord's kind reminder.
"Blessed..." The Night Lord repeats the word, as if tasting it on his tongue, while crossing his armored arms. "As if. I would have believed it more if that mortal were one of those Order of Our Martyred something Sister of Battle. Perhaps our more supernaturally inclined peer could shed some light. Oi, Copper Head, you praised yourself as an acclaimed practitioner in the Thousand Sons, do you think there could be an element of sorcery involved?"
Meditating atop the looted Whirlwind artillery tank that is moored securely in the middle of the Stormbird's cargo bay is an Astartes wearing armor decorated mostly in bronze and white. As the Night Lord says, he is a sorcerer of the traitorous mystic Thousand Sons Legion.
"There ain't no laws against a mortal surviving impossible odds, Batman." The Thousand Sons Legionnaire, Copper Head, replies with an even, if dismissive tone. "Do not expect me to deliver a non-biased analysis when I am so busy setting up spells and runes that can prevent our Stormbird from being sniped out of the sky by a trigger-happy Lance Battery from the Imperial voidships."
"Tsk, I should have known better than to ask you, buzzkill." The Night Lord, Batman, reacts with a sneer.
"Hoh? You wanna try and crunch the spells with me then, Batman? It may actually make you shut up." Copper Head quips back in a dry, electronically generated voice, clearly more focused on the archaic runes flying around him in circles.
"Nah, I ain't a paper pusher. Never was." Batman shrugs unrepentantly. "That's why I got you as an external brain, Copper Head, but it would have been better if you were more fun and less of a mechanical straight man."
"Ah, yes, the age-old all brawn but no brain type..." Copper Head sighs without breaking his meditation posture. "Old Man, mine telling me why we are tolerating his existence, against?"
Being addressed, the Old Man answers simply.
"Because he is that good at hiding himself, spare me the trouble of doing all of the grunt work."
"Old Man, was that a compliment or a dish at my expense, hah?" Batman retorts while Copper Head mechanically laughs.
"Anyway, back to the task at hand." The Alpha Legionnaire shakes his head, cutting the banter between the three of them short. "Copper Head, how long can we safely take to the air?"
"If you're asking about getting the hell off this metallic rock, then five minutes. If you want to hang around to witness your fascination in action, then ten minutes."
"Make it ten, then." Old Man replies before turning to Batman. "As for you, use those ten minutes to make a trip to those Aspiring Sorcerers. See if they notice anything wrong about the spell formations Copper Head gave them."
"Alright, just don't take off before the ten minutes are up, Old Man. Otherwise, I will really find a way to kick your scaly buttplate." The Night Lord responds before moving to the ramp of the Stormbird. "Still, I doubt those snobby upstarts will be able to see through the ruse."
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"Whistle Hot damn..." The pinkette, Hoshino, exclaims in genuine appreciation. "I think I'm in love."
That was... An understandable comment, really. Rin can't help but give the pinkette sitting near her a glance before trailing her eyes back to the vision shown by Ein's livestream. The way Ein Sensei has used her shield to protect her comrade... It does evoke memories, good and bad alike.
A dry voice can be heard from the other side of the table, causing Rin to look at the speaker.
"As if you haven't already, Hoshino." Atsuko, the luckiest of them all, looks at the pinkette student with a deadpanned gaze. "Shield fighting is your forte, no? And seeing our dear Sensei doing so well with a shield must have felt good, huh?"
"Good? This old man feels vindicated!" Hoshino replies with half-lidded eyes and a grin. "We shielders finally got someone to bear the torch, spread the glory of our way of life! Up close and personal, then Bang! We remain kicking ass and taking names, but our foes are down for the count! Gone are the days of machine gun supremacy, glory to the shield!"
"You better not say that in front of Prefect Hina, Hoshino." Rin interjects while pushing up the bridge of her glasses. "Else she will drag you into the ring for yet another friendly spar. And this time, the GSC won't be responsible for the repair fees. The money will be coming from your pockets."
That sure put the pinkette into a coughing fit as she frantically kicks herself awake.
"Alright, jeez! It was a joke! A mistake last time! It was only one time when I was young and stupid and provoked Hina, ok!? And I paid for my mistake, dearly at that. There's no need to bring back an old wound, right!?"
Atsuko promptly interjects with a raised hand.
"That old wound of yours literally resulted in a demolished train station, a collapsed financial district, and a mobilization of the entire SRT to calm you two down. For someone regularly calling herself an old soul, I find your lack of maturity most disturbing. I do believe Rin was right to voice her concern."
Hoshino sputters with a blush. "Not you too, Atsuko!"
"Kehum!" Before the table can peter down into a boisterous banter between two heads of lavender and pink, the Chief Finance Officer, Oki Aoi, politely reminds. "Do note that there are others trying to watch the Kaleidoscope and working, everyone."
Chastised by Aoi, the others turn their attention back to the livestream. Saori, sitting near Atsuko, gives the latter an exasperated look before turning away. Rin notices how the lavender-haired student quirks her lips upward in a thin smile before defaulting back to her usual calm expression. Hoshino, however, lazily leans back onto her chair before changing the topic, eager to move on.
"Ya know, that shield, Black Steel, is it? It's indeed nifty, especially that Flash System. You think the girls in Millennium can cook up something like that for me? I can't keep borrowing Yume's shield all the time."
Rin shrugs before turning to a corner of the amphitheater, seeing a group of students from a certain mischievous club in the academy of science, who keep on taking notes of every bit and piece of technology they see on screen. The Vice President of the GSC feels a phantom headache forming as she knows well that those very, more often than not mad scientist notes, will then be funnelled back to the student council president of Millennium and Decagrammaton. Rin has lost track of how many times both Millennium and Decagrammaton have petitioned Arona and her for a joint technological development effort.
Don't they understand that Kivotos, as it is, can't even construct a half-functional spaceship, much less one that can go faster-than-light or even world-hopping?
And seriously, like it or not, most of them are students, even with their feelings for Ein Sensei gnawing at their hearts, the GSC can't, in good conscience, allow a bunch of students to go somewhere that's literally a death trap. That will be undoing all of the sacrifices Sensei made for Kivotos, for her cherished students.
Still, it doesn't mean they can't help Ein Sensei by other means. Thinking thus far, Rin turns her gaze to the pinkette. Her long stare must have triggered something in Hoshino, making her turn around with a slightly defensive look.
"What?"
"Since you're the next one on the raffle to have a part of you extracted by the system, perhaps it's time for you to go instead of dozing off around here?"
"Huh? So soon? I thought there was a timeline for this and all of that? Not that I mind going right now." Hoshino asks back in confusion.
"We thought that we should let you have some time to be mentally prepared. Atsuko can attest that the process can be..."
"It's something." Atsuko helpfully interjects. "It's like you are put into an X-ray machine, but multiply the intensity by 10000."
Hoshino blanches at what the lavender-haired student said.
"Girl, I hope you're pulling my leg here because that much X-ray is lethal."
"Yeah, I was pulling your leg." Atsuko replies blandly and instantly, causing both Rin and Saori, who are nearby, to facepalm.
"Ok... I will just move on then." Hoshino opts to delete whatever was out of her mind before turning toward Rin once more. "Alright, what do I need to do?"
"Aoi," Rin speaks to her friend. "Can I trouble you to hold the fort here while I get Hoshino to the Shittim Chest? And please, ensure the Engineering Department of Millennium remains level-headed... To the best of your ability, while I'm gone."
Sighing, the Chief Finance Officer responds. "I will try. By the way, give my regards to FOX Platoon. It's their shift today."
"Will do. See you in a bit, Aoi, Arius Squad." Rin stands up before looking at Hoshino. "Come on, the sooner we can get the system to take a look at you, the better the chance Ein Sensei will get something good from you."
"Righto~! Just let this old man grab her shooty shot first." Hoshino replies before skipping after Rin's strides with her trademark shotgun in hand.
"By the way, do you think the System will somehow deliver Iron Horus to Ein Sensei?
"I don't believe Iron Horus can be as durable as Black Steel, Hoshino. And no offense, but it will be redundant."
"No offense taken. Just thought it would be hilarious if, of all the things the System could extract from me, it would be Iron Horus, which wasn't even mine in the first place. I just used it a lot."