Blue Horizon: Sequel of Eleven

Raison d'etre

Prologue

IDSC Garrison buses journeyed up a Japanese seaside highway along the edge of Tokyo Bay. Every single bus was full to bursting. Kobo and Zeta were stuffed into the back of one of those buses filled with their fellow cadets. Bumps on the immaculately maintained Japanese highways, compared to the rougher roads of Platform Jakarta-3 that Kobo was used to, were few and far in between. But Kobo felt every single one of them tenfold.

' Everyone here's a cadet... ' Kobo thought, eyeing the others in the bus, ' Livia-neesan wasn't kidding about competition. ' She pouted, ' I wonder how many of them are gunning to be I.D.O.L. Frame pilots... '

As Kobo was thinking this, the bus happened to run through one of those rare road bumps.

BRA-BAM!

"Ack!" Kobo croaked.

She clung onto the seat in front of her for dear life. Zeta followed suit, holding on quietly. The catty, gray-haired girl hardly said anything ever since their ID2 instructors ushered them into the buses earlier. She didn't even seem to protest that Kobo was going to be her seatmate - and that they wouldn't be able to keep their luggage between them like last time.

' She's probably using me as a wall against the other strangers... ' Kobo guessed.

Suddenly, their bus zipped into a tunnel. The entire cabin was plunged into darkness and howling engines echoed.

Zeta shuddered and held onto the seat tighter. Even when the bus cleared the tunnel and the light returned, the aristocrat still held on. Kobo saw this and tilted her head.

A small part of Kobo wanted to ask Zeta if she was alright. Another wanted to ask if she was going to hurl. However, Zeta saw Kobo looking her way and finally let go of the other seat. She folded her arms and hissed coolly, "What do you want, fountain girl?"

Kobo shook her head and folded her arms too. The two young ladies turned away from each other for the rest of the trip.

At least... until the IDSC Academy appeared in the distance.

It was a large, sprawling military complex at the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Vast wharves and drydocks serviced naval vessels of all shapes and sizes. Many more warships flying the flags of a myriad of nations that Kobo wasn't familiar with were sailing to and from the port. A myriad of warplanes sat at the many hangars of the base, too.

Then...

FWOOOSH!

FWOOOSH!

FWOOOSH!

Even from afar, Kobo and the other cadets could hear the daring roars of jet engines.

Then came the stately blare of warship foghorns.

HOOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOOONK!

Gasps of awe filled the bus cabin. Smartphone cameras went off too, capturing the sight. Kobo, too, joined in on the craze and started snapping photos of the place. It looked like the military bases that she had seen in the movies, but she had never seen that many warships and warplanes concentrated.

But those warships and warplanes weren't what caught Kobo's eyes.

Instead, her eyes, and the eyes of most of the cadets were on a distinct vessel sticking out from the largest hangar in the entire complex. Its large gunmetal frame bore the triangular insignia of the Cover Corporation and the shield-shaped roundel of the IDSC. Then, on the side of its exposed hull, its name was stenciled for Kobo and the others to see.