A/n

At last I have finished another chapter of this story! I've also made changes to the story adding things to it. So do take the time to read from the beginning and you will enjoy it again. On with the story.

Chapter 13: Saving Grace

-Sai's pov-

I slid the door open and got out into the hallway though I found it difficult and my breathing was labored. Pain flowed through my body with each movement, no matter how slight it was making it difficult to move forward. However, I walked slowly down the corridor using the wall for support as I went, drawing ever closer to the source of the voices. The IS deployed arms were working as seamlessly as my own arms as if they were extension of my limbs. But then, the Black Knight and me had always worked so well together and this was proof of that.

I know that I really shouldn't be up and about, that it would be better for me to be laying down in bed. Yet, I can't sleep with the racket that whoever is arguing is producing so, I'll see what's going on and get it to either stop or I'll move elsewhere. I'm inclined to go elsewhere as I was quickly losing interest in whatever the racket was with the pain and tiredness I was experiencing in abundance. After a bit, I saw a doorway in front of me that led into a common room that is used for group gatherings here at the hotel. From the volume increase of those disagreeing with one another, the room ahead of me is where this argument is happening.

I stopped a short distance from the doorway and turned to a side corridor to get away to obtain peace and quiet so that I could possibly get sleep. Honestly, I wasn't up to dealing with the girls right now or anyone else really. Plus, it would be best that Chifuyu did not see me as I was right now, there would be very uncomfortable questions from my sister. I have enough issues to deal with currently, no need to add to that pile. I can say she wouldn't be happy at all to see even parts of the Black Knight again with what had happened with it previously.

"Where did Houki go," demanded a British voice, which was Cecilia's, no way I could mistake that.

At hearing that, I halted my progress forward since that had several implications with it. "Leave her alone," Charlotte shot back, "Could you not see how devastated and horrible she felt after seeing what happened to Sai?"

"No matter what she feels, she needs to take responsibility for what happens on a mission," said Laura.

"That's enough," Chifuyu yelled, "Who bears blame isn't the point, the mission to destroy the Silver Gospel is a failure."

Okay, from what I've heard thus far, Silver Gospel got away which I suspected it would after taking the blow that I did. But it could be located again and then taken care of from there, so why is there such a stink being made? The second point, Houki is being blamed for what happened to me even when it wasn't her fault and I don't blame her in the slightest. No, if there was anyone to blame for how things went, it would be the Bunny for not doing her adjustments correctly as she should have. If she had done so as I told her to and not rushed things as she no doubt did, then I wouldn't have had to shield Houki from getting hurt and possibly killed.

After what I heard, I moved forward but didn't enter the room for I really didn't have the interest to be barraged with questions or worry from those I had heard in that room. I was too tired to deal with any of that, and I wasn't in the mood either quite honestly. So, I just continued down the parallel hallway at the slow pace I had as the pain my body was in surged up. Yet as I continued forward, the world began to swim and shift before me making it difficult to keep going, but I forced myself to maintain the path I was on. I was heading in the direction of the room my friends and I had paid for I believed was, I saw no one as I went.

I figured that would be the best place to rest and recover, none would be around to interrupt the process. And I feel that the first-year girls including the quintet wouldn't leave me alone given the opportunity. So, I figure that not being available was a better way of taking care of the problem of my recovery being possibly disrupted. I would make it there even if I have to crawl my way there and with how things were going, it will likely come to that soon enough. "Sai, what are you doing out of bed," suddenly came the voice of Olivia.

My vision was getting really blurry as I looked ahead to see all five of my friends standing there who I had to have missed before. Normally, I would grit my teeth and wave off my condition, but I couldn't muster the effort required to do that. In fact, the next step I took I ended out stumbling, but before I fell forward and hit the floor, I was caught by Luther and Matt. I glance over at Olivia, "You can't really expect me to get any sleep with all that racket going on, do you," I asked her in return managing to smile slightly even if I was still enduring lots of pain.

I got my feet on the floor again ignoring the pain that was coursing through my body and tried to move forward. Yet Cassidy put a hand to the top of the chest restraint, "You are not able to walk well by yourself. You're close to crawling and I bet you would force yourself to keep going even in that state," she stated.

I couldn't deny what Cassidy was saying, it was true enough since my condition was making walking very difficult to do and I was close to crawling. Heck, my breathing was labored and hurt as by what Veda had stated, my respiratory and circulatory systems had taken a harsh beating from my shielding for Houki and I was feeling it. So, I nodded and grimaced, admitting silently that I was unable to do what I wanted to for myself to my friends. They got on both sides of me and we began heading towards our room, there I believe I could get some needed sleep.

Oh, I wouldn't doubt that the girls will be unhappy or keep silent when they find out I was not in the room I woke up in. And I hadn't told them which rooms that the gang and I were staying in and for good reason. I needed peace and I wouldn't get it where I had been, so a change of venue is required, one that the girls of the IS academy wouldn't come and bother me. The quintet would show their worry the most, and they would likely stress my condition like the other girls would, just not as much openly. However, they need to leave me alone for the time I would require for a full recovery and keep their opinions and thoughts to themselves.

Our group kept going for a bit avoiding drawing attention to ourselves by choosing a path with the least amount of people. That worked until we came across another person, the one that I hadn't heard yet, but had been the subject of argument which had been taking place with the other girls. Houki was sitting on one of the walkways on the outside of the hotel and wasn't facing us as we approached, and if her heaving shoulders were anything to go by she was sobbing. I tried to clear my throat but ended out hacking, coughing and wheezing instead to which Houki spun around and saw me. Her eyes were red from crying and they widened at the sight of me, an expression of guilt set on her face. I smiled a bit hoping that it would help this girl understand that I don't blame her for my injuries. "Hey Houki, good to see that you're alright," I said quietly.

"Sai," she whispered, the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Within a couple of seconds, Houki began sobbing, "It's my fault you got hurt! I don't deserve to be around you!"

Why do girls my age open the waterworks seemingly as easily as they do? One mistake, and they think it's the end of the world when it really isn't. I tried to get Houki's attention back on me, but with me being unable to yell or even raise my voice that wasn't going to be an easy task. Jia, in one of her rare moments of insight stepped forward and slapped Houki, snapping her out of crying and wallowing in self-pity. Houki put a hand to her cheek and looked at Jia, "Sai does not blame you for him getting hurt, so you should not do so either," Jia stated.

My mouth would have fallen open if I was able to right now as it is rare that Jia is different than her cheerful self, but on the occasion that she isn't Jia can make a great deal of sense. It makes me glad that she's my friend at times like this, she really comes through for me in ways that I can't predict. "Jia is right Houki, I don't blame you at all. If you want someone to blame, go to your sister," I paused for a moment to breathe in and out a couple of times and get past the pain. "If she had done the adjustments to your IS's energy shield correctly and not rushed them, then I probably wouldn't have had to block those shots for you. I did what I did by my own choice and volition, I don't want you to die, take that how you want, it's the truth. If you want proof of what I say, ask your sister if she synced the energy shield's power flow rate with both the hyper sensor and the shield emission protocol. She'll wave the question off and make some sort of excuse of such not being needed to cover for her screw up," I finished.

Luther and Matt began to help me move forward again, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm really tired and need sleep, so stop blaming yourself and crying about it, doesn't help," I commented.

The gang and I left Houki there, I was hoping that what had been said would help her recover from what had happened. The only bad thing that I foresee is I'll miss the Bunny getting a serious chewing out by Chifuyu and I won't be there to watch the event. The question I had told Houki may not make sense to her, but it was meant to tell Chifuyu who had screwed up. The question would get the idea to Chifuyu and she won't let the Rabbit's slip-up go unpunished. My group soon arrived at the guy's room, my female friends set up the futon, Matt and Luther lowered me down. The futon was one of the most comfortable, if not the most comfortable one that I have felt. I saw the gang exiting the room before my eyes fell closed and I returned to la-la land once again.

-Houki's pov-

I had come to one of the outside walkways the hotel had and sunk down to it and was left to my own torturous guilt. It was my fault that Sai got hurt, I had been foolish and lost sight of what I was doing. I had thought I could help him, and yet I had ended out nearly getting him killed and be in a bed to recover. I can't face Sai when he wakes up, not after what I did to him and how foolish I had been. The tears came and I couldn't stop them from flowing out of my eyes as I thought about Sai. I lost track of time as I quietly cried, being filled with self-loathing and continually blaming myself for the Silver Gospel getting away and Sai being seriously injured.

Coughing and wheezing jerked me out of my sobbing, and when I spun around to see what the source was I stiffened. Sai was a short distance away from me surrounded by the adults from before now there around Sai. Sai also looked to have what look like an IS partial deployment over his torso and arms, but it wasn't parts of his own IS unit. I'd never seen anything like what Sai had deployed right now, not the grey and white he had before, but white and mostly black. Then there was an orb over his upper chest that has a glow to it and who knows if the orb was doing something for Sai. When I looked back to Sai's face with my eyes full of tears, yet he smiled at me when I didn't deserve it at all. "Hey Houki, good to see that you're alright," Sai greeted.

"Sai," I whispered, the tears getting worse. Within a couple of seconds, I couldn't stop myself from sobbing, "It's my fault you got hurt! I don't deserve to be around you!"

I'm such a horrible person, and I couldn't stop the sobs coming from me. But then, I felt a slap come across my cheek and found that it was the Chinese friend of Sai's that had slapped me. I put a hand to my cheek and looked at I think Jia is her name, "Sai does not blame you for him getting hurt, so you should not do so either," she stated.

I had no answer to that for how could Sai not blame me for what happened? It was my fault that he was in the state that he was. He was clearly not in good condition and it was my foolish over-confidence that had put him in it. "Jia is right Houki, I don't blame you at all. And if you want someone to blame, go to your sister," Sai said. Yet, Sai saying that Tabane is to blame made little to no sense, why would she have anything to do with what happened with the Silver Gospel? Sai continued after a moment, "If she had done the adjustments to your IS's energy shield correctly and not rushed them as I wouldn't doubt she did, then I probably wouldn't have had to block those shots for you. I did what I did by my own choice and volition, I don't want you to die, take that how you want, it's the truth."

Adjustments to the energy shield for my IS? What Sai is getting at I haven't the faintest idea, perhaps he figured out something I haven't? I would have asked but Sai spoke again, "If you want proof of what I say, ask your sister if she synced the energy shield's power flow rate with both the hyper sensor and the shield emission protocol. She'll wave the question off and make some sort of excuse of such not being needed to cover for her screw up," he finished.

The terms were ones I knew but the question itself made little sense to me, but before I could ask further, the two supporting Sai began to help him forward. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm really tired and need sleep, so stop blaming yourself and crying about it, doesn't help," Sai commented before he and those with him left going somewhere else in the hotel.

I was left confused where I was for, on the one hand, a weight had been lifted from me with Sai saying that he didn't blame me for being in the condition that he was. Yet, on the other, he blamed Tabane and Sai doesn't normally blame others for what happens that I've seen. Nonetheless, Sai had said if I wanted proof, to ask Tabane the question he had told me and that seemed at least something to do right now. So, I headed back to the room that everyone was still likely in arguing over what needed to be done.

When I entered, I saw that nothing had changed since I had slipped away from here to get away from the curses and blaming what happened to Sai. It didn't take long for the others to notice I was back and Cecilia was the first to speak, "So, you finally came back to take responsibility for your mistake then Miss Shinonono!"

The other girls began arguing with one another, Chifuyu and Miss Yamada trying to settle them down. However, I focused on Tabane who was still here as I wanted to know if what Sai had said was true. "Tabane, I have something I want to ask you," I said clearly and evenly.

Everything in the room seemed to go quiet as I spoke to Tabane, yet my sister put a hand to her chin, "A question Houki-chan, that's rare, but please go ahead. What wisdom can your big sis give you," she posed.

I took a deep breath, "With my IS, did you sync the energy shield's power flow rate with both the hyper sensor and the shield emission protocol," I asked.

Tabane gained a confused expression, "Why would you ask something like Houki-chan," she questioned.

"Answer the question Tabane, did you or did you not do that," I insisted.

Tabane put a finger to her chin, "Well, of course, I synced the energy shield's power flow rate to the hyper sensor, that has to happen for the shield to work at all. The pilot then is responsible for keeping an eye on the shield, so the emission protocol's default is fine and will work without issue with everything else, no need to do anything to it," Tabane replied.

Honestly, I didn't know what Tabane was talking about or why Sai had told me to ask her the question. But I don't think that the answer is exactly what it was supposed to be, more Tabane as Sai put it 'waving it off'. The next thing any of us knew, Tabane became scared as Chifuyu stalked over to her, "Chi-chan, why are you approaching me like that," she squeaked.

Chifuyu grabbed Tabane and started shaking her, "You idiot," Chifuyu growled. All of us just stared at Chifuyu as she continued dressing down my older sister, "You're the reason that Sai got into the condition he is in!"

"No Chi-chan, that's not true," Tabane was saying.

This is getting more confusing, but something about the question caught Chifuyu's attention. Chifuyu didn't stop, "You should know that if the hyper sensor and shield emission protocol aren't in sync, then an IS's shield can fail! Default settings are marginal in competition situations and can work, but in combat, those won't cut it! Flickering shields are the visible signs that would tell you that a shield isn't adjusted right." Chifuyu was shaking Tabane harder, "Sai would have known that since he was the one that discovered what caused the issue and figured out the solution, which is syncing the hyper sensor AND the shield emission protocol which isn't done by default!"

I can understand why Chifuyu could be mad, she was convinced that Tabane had done something to hurt Sai and I was coming to that conclusion too. But the other stuff that Chifuyu was saying made little sense, much like with what Sai had said as well. With what Chifuyu was saying, it sounded like Sai had knowledge about the IS that only top scientists had. It sounded like Chifuyu was implying that Sai had the same amount of knowledge as Tabane does with the IS. And I suppose that it's possible even if unlikely, but he didn't really come off as having that kind of knowledge base from what I've seen. Chifuyu kept going, "And because of your mistake, Sai was seriously injured and could have been killed! I told you and Alice not to involve Sai in any risky business, but clearly, you ignored my warning," she snarled.

Tabane was waving her arms, "No Chi-chan, it isn't like that," she squeaked.

"Then tell me what business you involved Sai in that he blames you for that has him knowing officials in the United States government," Chifuyu challenged.

The question didn't make sense as Chifuyu stated it, much less than what had been said already. Yes, Sai had implied that something had happened between Tabane and him, the glares he had given her during the briefing had said that. Yet, how that related to Sai knowing some from the American government had no logical connection to me. Then there was the one that Chifuyu called Alice, who Tabane seemed to know who Chifuyu was referring to. Tabane was looking more scared of Chifuyu all the time, "Chi-chan, please don't ask that it isn't what you think it is," she replied.

An argument ensued from there and it quickly became hard to follow the two women. I was the first to exit the room trying to think about what to do next as the only thing that had changed was Sai going somewhere else. And it wasn't long before the other four girls found me saying something to the effect of Sai vanishing. I told them Sai had moved somewhere else, yet when they demanded to know where I told them I didn't know. Charlotte and Laura seemed to believe what I said whereas Cecilia and Rin took more convincing to accept what facts I gave them. it made me believe that Sai had made sure the room that he was in wasn't public knowledge in order to prevent first-year girls from bothering him. And from what I had seen, Sai would be down for an amount of time, but I can't say how long he'd need for recovery.

The girls and I talked trying to come up with a plan of what we could do since sitting around and doing nothing weren't helping, we agreed on that. By the time the sun was setting, we had come to the conclusion that perhaps if we worked together we could take down the rogue Silver Gospel. Laura had already called in a favor with those she knew in the German special forces and they had found the location of the IS. It had stopped not too far from where we were currently and though it was invisible to detection sensors, it was still visible from photos satellites were taking.

All of us were ready and committed to this, both with equipment for our IS units and resolved to do this task. Honestly, it was impressive that we were going to be working together and also kind of sad that it took Sai getting injured for it to occur. The only other point that would affect us later is that there were standing order to not leave and to not engage the Silver Gospel. Chifuyu had made that point clear, but with what that IS had done to Sai, I don't think any of us were going to listen to her.

The five of us traveled to where the Gospel was and it had a shield around itself which stood out against the darkness of night. The machine didn't take notice of our approach, just stayed where it was as if it was waiting for something. Laura took aim at our opponent as she had the heaviest weapon among the five of us. Her improved railgun shot and looked to make good contact with the Gospel, "First shot is a hit," announced Laura.

However, when the smoke cleared, the Gospel appeared unharmed by Laura's shot but it had definitely taken notice of us now. The first thing that changed was the shield around the IS vanished and the Gospel unfolded its wings. The five of us began attacking as this machine had shown that it would be difficult to handle if we held back. Our opponent zoomed towards Laura first as she kept firing off her railgun showing off its speed. But just before the Gospel reached Laura I swooped down and knocked it off its course.

The Gospel recovered quickly and righted itself after falling a short distance before Cecilia began trying to shoot it with her rifle. The IS evaded the attacks and made some distance and didn't attack yet, but I guess that it is processing what to do next. It had done much the same thing when Sai and I went against it, there seemed to be a pause before it acted. Charlotte took advantage of that lull and nailed the Gospel with her assault rifle and shotgun, but it dodged the following shots.

As we chased the Gospel it began shooting back with that energy spread that it used before and that was hard not to be hit by. And it was starting to sink in that this IS handling all of us trying to take it down and was working on overwhelming us. Even when I got in close and used my swords, the Gospel was able to stop them from cutting forward. I saw the signs of it charging up for an attack but I brought out one of my hidden blades and sliced off one of the wings sets the Gospel had. The IS dropped into the water and we waited to see if it would come back up and unfortunately, it did. However, when it came things went from bad to worse as wings of light formed where the unit's original wings had been. It looked like the machine went through an second shift and that would only spell out more trouble for us.

-Sai's pov-

I came out of the sleep I had drifted off to after getting to the room the gang and I had gotten at the hotel. I had no idea how long I had been out, but I would guess that it wasn't a short period as I didn't feel as bad as before. Plus, but the quality of light coming in through the window, it was transitioning into evening and it had been morning to midday before. That meant that the Black Knight had been employing its regeneration and life support systems to help me. Of course, that didn't mean that I was "out of the woods yet", I wouldn't doubt that the Silver Gospel is still flying and that needed to be taken care of. Then, I would have to settle things with the quintet so that they wouldn't fight one another, and I wouldn't have to deal with that as a side-effect.

Knowing that lying around wouldn't do much as to move forward, I got up be it slowly as I still felt tired to an extent. And though I may not be aware of how long I have slept for, who knows what has happened while I was out. I've been forced to learn that around those I have been recently, there is an amount of uncertainty and unpredictability. Granted, there is that regardless, but around the students of the IS academy, it is higher than I'm used to dealing with. That in mind, I thought it best to find out what was going on while I had been resting and recuperating and go on from there.

All but Luther were not around the room when I woke up and my friend told me that things were relatively quiet. There was tension in the air and from the other point, Luther said it made sense to me. Chifuyu apparently took of the job of the operation to handle the Silver Gospel, never mind that the job was given to me originally. Not that I don't trust Chifuyu with getting tasks done as I know she is proficient, but there is such a thing called ownership of a job that my sister doesn't understand well.

However, there hadn't been much progress by what led to understand and things had changed somewhat from what it had been. My friends and I were pretty much no longer a part of the operation to deal with the rogue IS. And I have an issue with that point as I'm the one that will be held responsible for what happens. I'm of the mentality if you want good results, you better put in the work yourself, so I wouldn't be kept out of this. Plus, I knew what that IS was capable of, more so now that I had gone against it and I could say that it wouldn't be easy to handle. I doubt even a team of fourth years from the academy would be able to be successful at the task, they don't have the experience in this kind of thing I do.

I was able to dismiss the Black Knight parts that had deployed meaning my health had improved enough for me to be without them for a time. I was still slow mind you, so not one-hundred percent but I felt that time was not on our side any longer. It would be better if a plan was made before someone or a group does something stupid, that is if that hasn't happened already. I fear that some very well could have gone and done something stupid that would require rescue which would likely fall to me. So, I puttered over to the operation room to hopefully get more information to work with on what was the current situation.

When outside the door yet before I could knock, I did hear that there was what sounded like an argument. And if my ears weren't deceiving me the argument was between Chifuyu and Miss Yamada. Within the first few sentences I heard, a few things became clear, the first of which was my fear of things going bad were founded. For apparently, the quintet had gone running off after the Silver Gospel some time ago without permission. It was assumed that they believed they could do the job working together when they had never really worked as a team before. There had been no contact from them since they had left and the only way to know what was going on was tracking their position.

That alone cause me to wonder if I should be kind of impressed at their daring or frustrated at how foolish they have been doing what they are. I can go either way with the situation as it is, and what is kind of more irritating is that I will be the one that goes out and rescues them. I know with the injuries I've gotten that I should take more time to rest and heal up, but those girls' actions won't let me do that. The girls would be hard pressed to fight the Gospel even working together, so the sooner I could get to them the better.

I didn't enter the operation room, instead I just headed off outside toward the temple area behind the hotel. That would be the best place to take off from and not be noticed by those around the hotel and time was of the essence. Along the way, I checked the status of my IS and wasn't happy with the reply as the Freedom wasn't repaired yet according to Corinthos. However, Veda was quick to say that the Black Knight was ready for deployment and use though. Although I wasn't the fondest of the idea of using my old IS especially after what had happened the last time, I was sure the girls either were in or would be in a serious jam. So truthfully, my choice was already made even when I don't like the girls arguing over me, I don't want them to die.

I swallowed my fears of loosing control of my mind again as had happened previous with the Black Knight. Then, I made a called to Cassidy and told her that I was going to be unreachable for a time and to cover for me the best she was able. After that, I activated the Black Knight fully, and other than the torso it looked much like the Freedom overall. One of the major differences was the wings behind the shoulders as they were in two parts, one on the left and one on the right. The wings would also spread out into five fins instead of large wings as the Freedom has. Much of the rest of the unit was what I based the Freedom off of when I was designing and building it.

As I checked things over, I found that the Black Knight could access the Freedom's equipment along with its own. So, one of the things I did was switch the Black Knight's wings for those the Freedom used as I know those would do what I wanted. I also engaged the shifting armor which the Black Knight had gained I would assume from the Freedom. And the last thing I "turned on" was a feature that only the Black Knight has and honestly, it wouldn't work with any IS based on prototype core one. That idea is a stealth system that allows the unit to be completely undetectable from all visual and electronic sensors.

With things covered as best I could make them, I took off and took to the air and headed in the direction the girls would have gone in to my best guess. It didn't take long for Veda to bring up information on the Silver Gospel's location which wasn't far from where Houki and I had fought it. Once I knew that I climbed higher and quickly entered supersonic flight to get to where the IS was to hopefully bail out those girls from a stupid mistake. It took me around ten minutes to reach the location and as I approached, I saw there was a battle going on. And when I zoomed in with optics I didn't like what I saw as the girls were not going well, really they were getting overwhelmed but the Silver Gospel. Plus, the machine had clearly gone through a shift which made this more complicated or would if I wasn't using the Black Knight. Although, I had to admit the girls were doing fairly working as a team against their opponent.

Still, as I don't want any of these girls to die even with what they put me through, I equipped my unit for serious combat. The primary weapon the Black Knight had was a combination of a large blade and rifle system. It was even longer than the "broadsword" Chifuyu used with my IS's twin the "White Knight". Veda was processing the data coming in and giving me an accurate readout of the field ahead. And the reading that was concerning me was the output of the Silver Gospel, and it also looked different, which had me more sure it had gone through a shift since the previous battle.

Thankfully, I was still invisible to detection and the Gospel hadn't shown any signs it noticed my approach. However, seeing Cecilia get pretty much disabled but the energy wings the Gospel had now got me to pick up my pace. And as I got closer, I had the blade rifle swing the blade forward for use. I dodged the shots the Gospel released easier than the girls did and positioned myself to be next to the rogue IS. I pulled the sword back and swung forward had and I will say the solid impact my sword made was gratifying with what this machine had put me through.

The Gospel once righting itself scanned around looking for little old me no doubt as I had been the one that slapped it good. I decided that by this point it would be fine to reveal myself, not like it would change much about this situation. The Black Knight can whip another IS with relative ease so that doesn't concern me. What Chifuyu will do when she gets to me is more what worries me as she won't be happy the Black Knight is still around, especially with the effort she went through to destroy it.

So, I had the stealth system shut off and became clear to see to all on the field. With the girls, they wouldn't know it was me, fully armor mode and everything will hide my identity. Chifuyu would know the second she saw the IS, I'm pretty much the only one that can pilot it after all. I would face the consequences from her and they won't be pretty but it's too late now and I'm doing what needs to be done. I shot forward at the Silver Gospel before it could process me appearing and began attacking it up close as it tried to back up.

-Chifuyu's pov-

Calming the girls down had been outright irritating, they had been hysterical since Sai had come back injured as he was. Houki had slipped away to sulk, probably blaming herself for what happened to Sai. After learning of the extent of Sai's condition I cursed the IS that had put him into it. Granted, Sai bares some of the responsibility, he will act the hero when he sees a need to even when it does him harm. The odd thing was Tabane was still around which didn't make the most sense, but she could be worried about Sai as she did care about him even though she doesn't show it as anyone else would be.

I stood and observed the girls harp at each other for a time yet it quickly got annoying as it did nothing in the end. Nonetheless, Houki did come back sometime later and Cecilia was the first to pounce on her, "So, you finally came back to take responsibility for your mistake then Miss Shinonono!"

The other girls began arguing with one another while Miss Yamada and I moved forward to try to settle them down. However, Houki ignored the insults coming her way which I had to admit was an improvement for her. "Tabane, I have something I want to ask you," Houki said clearly and evenly.

Everything in the room went quiet just after Houki spoke to her sister, whereas Tabane put a hand to her chin, "A question Houki-chan, that's rare, but please go ahead. What wisdom can your big sis give you," she posed.

I was kind of curious as to what Houki would ask since the two as far as I knew didn't talk much. At least with the complaints from Tabane said that much to me, which she brought upon herself really. "With my IS, did you sync the energy shield's power flow rate with both the hyper sensor and the shield emission protocol," Houki asked.

I froze at hearing that question for Houki wouldn't know the significance of that particular inquiry. That implied that someone else told it to her and Sai is the only other one that would put it in that way. And that question was meant to point to Tabane and something she was supposed to do. Tabane gained a confused expression, "Why would you ask something like Houki-chan," she questioned.

"Answer the question Tabane, did you or did you not," Houki insisted.

Tabane put a finger to her chin, "Well, of course, I synced the energy shield's power flow rate to the hyper sensor, that has to happen for the shield to work at all. The pilot then is responsible for keeping an eye on the shield, so the emission protocol's default is fine and will work without issue with everything else, no need to do anything to it," Tabane replied.

Anger filled me at that answer as it clearly said that Tabane hadn't adjusted her sister's IS shield right. That in turn then said that Sai had noticed the issue and put himself between Houki and the Gospel thereby providing a shield for her to save her life. Knowing that made the sequence of events much easier to understand. However, it meant that Tabane had screwed up and not only put both Houki and Sai in life-threatening danger but also played a part in Sai's injuries. I'd warned both Tabane and Alice that they were NOT to get Sai into life-threatening, questionably legal situations or both. Apparently, Tabane at least hadn't heeded my warnings about that and I would make her pay for that! I stalked forward at Tabane fully ready to strike the fear of God into her for her screwup. When Tabane noticed me coming towards her she backed away slightly, "Chi-chan, why are you approaching me like that," she squeaked.

I didn't let her escape me, I just grabbed her dress and started shaking, "You idiot," I growled. All those in the room were staring at the two of us, but I didn't give a damn about that, I had other things on my mind. Tabane had gotten my little brother hurt badly and she would answer for that along with spilling her guts about what else she had gotten him into. "You're the reason that Sai got into the condition he's in," I snarled.

"No Chi-chan, that's not true, you know I wouldn't hurt Sai-tan," Tabane was saying in a panic.

Tabane wouldn't get off with what had happened, "You should know that if the hyper sensor and shield emission protocol aren't in sync, then an IS's shield can fail! Default settings are marginal in competition situations and can work, but in combat, those won't cut it! Flickering shields are the visible signs that would tell you that a shield isn't adjusted right." I shook Tabane harder as she should be aware of this issue since she and Alice had tried solving it but couldn't figure out a way. It had been Sai that had made the breakthrough that had fixed the problem which had impressed them both. "Sai would have known that since he was the one that discovered what caused the issue and figured out the solution, which is syncing the hyper sensor AND the shield emission protocol which isn't done by default!"

I wasn't finished by a long shot, I would make her know what she did and have her face the consequences. "And because of your mistake, Sai was seriously injured and could have been killed! I told you and Alice not to involve Sai in any risky business, but clearly, you ignored my warning," I snapped.

Tabane was waving her arms, "No Chi-chan, it isn't like that, please let me explain," she squeaked.

If she's going to be like that, then I'll move on to having her spill the story on what has Sai knowing high-level officials in the US government. "Then tell me what business you involved Sai in that he blames you for that has him knowing high-level officials in the United States government," I challenged.

Tabane gave me a look that showed fear which meant she knew that telling me what I was demanding would get her into trouble. "Chi-chan, please don't ask that it isn't what you think it is," she whined.

I brought Tabane close, "Then tell me what you got Sai into Tabane," I hissed.

In the end, Tabane got away from me by telling me about something she did that caused trouble and she asked Sai for help to fix it. All that told me was Tabane pulled a stupid stunt and then went to Sai for help and had him clean it up. There were not enough details provided as to what Tabane did, but I feel it isn't the normal stupid she does.

Anyway, I went to check on Sai and found he wasn't where he was supposed to be, but I kind of suspected that would be the case. The question Houki asked implied that Sai had been up for a time and had likely moved somewhere else for peace and quiet. I don't blame him for doing that, but would it kill him to for once inform someone of what he does like me for example. I worry about him even if I don't get to show it openly all the time and so him being hurt is not something I want. Of course, the girls around him weren't pleased to find out he had moved, noise teens, think they needed to know everything. However, I did get somewhat suspicious when the five seemed to disappear towards the evening. But I went on watch duty before I could look into the odd occurrence so I had to just guess as to what they were doing.

At the point that I reached the operations room, I found Maya there and the Silver Gospel hadn't moved from where it had positioned itself. It was odd that the rogue IS was not engaging in any activity after the fight it had been in with Sai and Houki. Things stayed quiet for a time until my previous question as to what the quintet was doing was answered in a way I didn't like. They had apparently gotten the foolish idea into their heads to go off and take on the Silver Gospel themselves. However, it quickly became obvious they had dived in over their heads and were going to be outdone.

Nevertheless, then came something that none expected even me when the Silver Gospel was hit from the side. For shortly after the Gospel was sent tumbling, a figure appeared and at the sight, all my thoughts came to a screeching halt. On the screen in the operations room was something that shouldn't be there at all, the Black Knight IS. The rest were gazing in shock and curiosity, but at seeing the unit I was I seethed with fury. It was as if the cursed Black Knight was purposely mocking me being in one piece when I had destroyed it years ago. I had gone to the length of cutting the Zero Core in half because of what it had been doing to Sai. The machine had been controlling him, overriding his free will and using him to eliminate targets it locked in. The onboard AI couldn't be trusted and was dangerous, it had proven that to me with its actions, so I had destroyed it, or rather I thought I had.

To see the twin to core one brought many things to my mind, least of which was that Sai was up and out there. He was the only one that could pilot the Black Knight, the only one the onboard AI would work with. Although on a side note, I had to admit some respect as it had to take courage from Sai to use that machine again with what it did the last time. It had truly scared him and gotten close to breaking him mentally from the signs I'd seen back then when he had regained consciousness. However, Sai and I would be having a talk when he returns and he will explain how that demonic machine is still in one piece!

-Sai's pov-

As the fight between the Gospel and I kept going or rather the chase I was in as my opponent was trying to make a distance from me, I decided to mix this up a little as I wasn't interested in finding out the capabilities of the IS I was fighting. Hence why I was shooting to take my opponent down rather than simply wear down its shield. Although from what I saw the girls were okay but could be doing better meaning the battle had been taking a toll. That gave me more motivation to whip the Gospel good as it had caused lots of issues for many myself included.

The Gospel did get a moderate distance from me within a few minutes, and it began using that energy spread that it had in the last encounter it was just denser. One shot did hit my shield but then I found out that Veda had applied and activated the adaptive shielding that Jia and I had been working on. The reason I say that is shots following the first hit the shield but did no damage and drained my unit's power much less than normal. Still, I knew that I needed to end this efficiently and quickly as much for the girls' sakes as getting the job done. So, the next thing I did was use a capability that the Black Knight has which all other ISs do not, the ability to switch any equipment while active.

The wings of the Black Knight glowed and then shifted into orbs which were connected to compartments that were oriented at forty-five-degree angles to the orbs. The compartments had "daggers" in them with cable similar to Laura's dagger and cable combination. However, there was a feature that the daggers had which Laura's unit did not which set the equipment apart. The daggers that can launch out are actually equivalent to a shield pierce but tend to also phase through shields of an IS. And then once through the shield, those daggers can deploy cables that slot into an IS's access ports to get to the core of the unit and hack it should I choose to.

I wasted no more time and vanished from sight again then began moving to get behind the Gospel. The majority of the access port that would allow me to get to the IS's core was in the back of the unit. The Gospel was searching for me but was also looking towards the girls too and I wasn't going to have them put back in danger. So, I launched the daggers which zoomed forward at my opponent. The Gospel didn't even seem to notice when the daggers came into contact with its shield and then slip through it. The moment the daggers were inside the shield they opened and smaller cable shot out and connected to the access ports on the Gospel. And now that I was 'plugged in' I had Veda start hacking the Gospel beginning with the shield.

It didn't take even a minute for the Gospel to stop paying attention to the girls and struggle against the cables that I had connected. I had switched off the stealth system so I was visible again, though I kept moving to keep myself behind my opponent. As long as I had the connection to the Gospel, I could keep hacking and messing with this IS. Rest assured, I can be an expert on breaking things, and as I know the inner workings of the IS, this was not too hard for me. Nonetheless, the struggling of my opponent grew stronger as time moved on and a minute after I started hacking the Gospel was pulling on the dagger cables and stressing them badly. I had to recall the daggers or risk them snapping with how the Gospel tugging as it was, so I did.

However, I had managed to do an amount of damage before being forced to let go of my opponent. Its shield wouldn't function at all anymore even if the IS overall was still running even when it shouldn't with the failsafes in place. Of course, most of those failsafes are switched off or disabled as well, so they wouldn't do anything. That included the mandatory unlock come to the rescue and shutting down the unit's systems. The system that operated the Gospel was in trouble as I had been ripping parts out and it was doing the best it was able to prevent crashing. Essentially, I made fighting the Gospel a good amount simpler though not that much less dangerous.

The first thing the Gospel did was to back off from me a bit and fire off the energy shots from its wings in my direction. I didn't even try to avoid the attacks, instead of going forward and letting my shield absorb my opponent's shots. I zoomed at the IS and sent my left fist straight into the Gospel's midsection shoving the machine away and downward. Without hesitation, I followed as I didn't want my opponent to have time to recover and counter. Perhaps it might seem unfair to do such, but this machine can kill and so taking it down is more important than fairness.

So, I slammed down feet first into the Gospel's midsection increasing its falling speed and kept after it. I then shifted my position to have my weapon system on my right arm pointing forward and swung the large blade out for use. I held my right arm to reinforce my blade that was now akin to a long spear as I closed the distance between me and the Gospel. I fully intended to skewer the hunk of metal that had put me in the haggard state I'd been in and been attacking the girls. All I had to do was say that I'd attempted disablement and that such didn't work to John and he would understand nor would I be held responsible for the unit's destruction.

However, the Gospel brought its light wings in front of itself along with its hands just before I reached it. My blade came to a halt with the wings though it slid through them a margin, the IS's hands brought the point of my blade to a stop. I didn't let up just kept pressing forward using my unit's thrusters to add to my push forward. The Gospel and I were still falling towards the ground and I hoped that the impact would allow me to run my opponent clean through. And with the ground which was beach coming up at the speed it was, the shock my opponent was going to take would be harsh which should get the effect I wanted.

And let me tell you, the Gospel striking the ground was neat, but the following plow through the sand was awesome. Then the Gospel slammed into a large boulder which jerked it enough for my blade to thrust forward and go right through its torso for the majority of the blade. The Gospel went limp after my blade ran it through and the wings disappeared as well. I pulled out my blade and had it fold to its storage position and took another look and scan of the Gospel to make sure it was disabled. The IS had proven problematic, so I would rather be safe than sorry with it getting up and shooting me from behind because I didn't check it was down. All the readouts that I saw from the Gospel said it was down and not operational.

With the Gospel down, I figured that it would be best for me to disappear before the girls stop me from leaving. There were going to be consequences for me to face regardless of what I have done in this. Chifuyu would be confronting me about the Black Knight, that I personally guarantee and I'm not looking forward to it at all. Still, I lifted back into the air and activated my unit's stealth system and set my course back towards the hotel to face what I would.

Chapter End

A/n

I'll leave the chapter off there. So for those that may not like or enjoy my bashing of Tabane, I've been doing it off and on throughout the story and don't intend to stop. Sai has reasons why he doesn't like Tabane and has stated some of them already. Plus, I thought it was time that Chifuyu had a go at Tabane and it fit in this chapter. There is history with Chifuyu and the Black Knight which is Sai's original IS that he tested piloted. More information about that will come in later on, likely then next chapter. Please take the time to read this story from the beginning as I've made additions and changes.