Infinite Stratos: Uncle Sam

Chapter 10

Chifuyu sighed as she and Maya examined the charred remains of two IS. The pieces were disassembled and inventoried across a large metal table. After the breach in their security and ensuing fight, the faculty had quickly transported the parts to IS labs where the campus security was tightest.

"The data came back. There's no history of these parts being manufactured by any known IS distributors. But the parts are too advanced to be any homebrew tech. It's as if whoever was behind this made these things from scratch all by themselves," Maya observed, shuffling a few documents on her clipboard.

Chifuyu crossed her arms. "They're unmanned drones Maya. This sort of technology hasn't even been considered by the leading IS developers. They knew how to breach our perimeter, what practice arenas were in use, and they even hacked our security system. There's only one person I can think of who would even be capable of this."

Maya hesitated, nervously fidgeting in place. "T-Tabane Shinonono. She's been off the radar for so long, why would she pop her head back up after all this time?"

"It's my brother, he's the only new variable that would catch her interest. She's known him since he was just a little kid and she's probably sticking her nose into his business now that he's in the limelight. It's just like that woman to sic these things on someone out of curiosity," Chifuyu replied, gesturing to the two broken IS.

Tabane Shinonono, the mother of all IS and widely considered the pinnacle of what humanity could produce. She was heralded as the greatest mind to have ever bore thought. Even if you put the next fifty smartest people together, they wouldn't even come close to what Tabane could do. That was just the type of person she was. She was perfect, too perfect.

When they were kids they went to the same school. It was hard to admit, but Tabane had been Chifuyu's only real friend growing up. The two had been head and shoulders above their peers so it was only natural they would gravitate towards each other. She remembered listening to her ramble on and on about her crazy ideas. Girls flying in mech suits, revolutionizing the world to her standards. It seemed so long since those nonchalant days.

Now her friend was internationally recognized as the most wanted individual, her brother had become a foreign undercover operative, and there were more expectations being piled on her every day. The days where she could cut down her worries with the Yukihira were over.

"What's going to happen to the cores?" Maya asked, glancing at the two pearly spheres lying on the table.

Chifuyu pursed her lips. Two IS cores unregistered to any country. While it was possible that a country had lost possession of some of their cores and covered it up, it was less likely than the alternative. Most likely, Tabane had created two brand new cores from scratch to power this new pet project of hers.

IS cores were carefully distributed nation to nation in order to appease the ever delicate political balance. The introduction of two fresh off the line cores was sure to shake up the scene. They wouldn't be able to please everyone and there would be no right course to take.

"The academy will be holding on to the cores. They will be put to work for academy sanctioned use until a further agreement is reached," Chifuyu stated. It would stir the pot, put a target on the academy, but it was what the directors had decided. And guess who was the first line of defense for the academy when things went south? Lucky her.

━━━

Several hundred miles from the U.S coast in the Atlantic Ocean stood an old oil rig. Its original operations of extracting natural gasses had long since been decommissioned. Instead, it was being used as a foothold for FOXHOUND logistics and headquarters elements. Even if one were to look at its exact coordinates through satellite imagery, they would only see the blue ocean. And from the outside, it was nothing but an old platform still being used to suck up what was left of the local resources. It was the perfect out of sight and out of mind location.