Sympho-Saber: Song of Swords

AXZ: EP01 – The Jaws of Hell

Hibiki Tachibana had faced many adversaries ever since becoming the Wielder of the Gungnir Symphogear. She alongside her friends had faced down Finé, Dr. Ver, Carol, Gaze, traveled so far and wide, and yet… this was what was about to take her down.

Summer Homework

"I thought summer school was supposed to be way more relaxed than this," Hibiki let out a light whine as she laid her head on her school desk, staring at the setting sun before her, "But I'm totally drained. I can't even remember how many times they yelled at me."

Touma and Miku could only stare at their friend in silence, the former having his usual guest pass on. The latter meanwhile went over with a light sigh, bringing out a cold canned beverage and gently pressing it against her friend's forehead.

"Aw, that feels nice," Hibiki let out a silly smile as she relaxed further.

"Sheesh," Miku sighed as she put the drink down near her friend before sitting on the desk nearby, "You didn't have your homework done on time. What did you expect?"

"And here I thought my tutoring was helping," Touma admitted as he crossed his arms, "Though the Megid and Gaze did keep us busy all summer…"

"How did you even manage it Miku?" Hibiki asked with another whine, "You were training all that time and helping us out eventually… how was it not overwhelming?"

"I mean, it was a bit much," Miku admitted, partially to give her friend some reassurance but also partially because even she had to get used to the extra workload on top of maintaining her cover while training, "Even I'm not sure how Tsubasa managed it while she still attended."

"I'm glad they gave me an extension until term start, but…" Hibiki trailed before quickly sitting up and turning towards her friends, clasping her hands, "Please, Miku! Touma! Without your help I'll never finish! Not by then!"

"Yeah, at this rate you'll have a hard time finishing it by your birthday, let alone term start," Miku said as she glanced away briefly. She turned however and gave a smile, "All right, I can't say no when you're in trouble."

"A bit harsh, but I can't deny that possibility," Touma admitted as he scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile, "I'll help too."

"Yay!" Hibiki called out as she stood up and immediately hugged Miku who let out a blush, "Miku, you're an angel!" she then looked over and smiled at Touma while raising her hand, "You too Touma!"

The three were interrupted when a helicopter suddenly hovered near their classroom, the door sliding open to reveal Rintaro, Kanade, Chris, Kirika, and Shirabe.

"Get a room you two!" Chris shouted.

"We received an emergency summons from HQ!" Shirabe added.

"It sounds very important!" Rintaro called out loudly.

Of course, Hibiki, Miku and Touma were hard pressed to even hear what their friends were even saying given the Helicopter's propellers and engines were loud enough to drown out any conversation.

"Huh?" Hibiki shouted back, "What're you saying?!"

"I told you all this was a bad idea!" Kanade called out, "We should have just called them!"

Kanade's words didn't manage to get through either, and while Kirika tried to up her volume, the most anyone in the classroom could even hear was a simple 'Dess, Dess, DESS!'.

Hibiki leaned forward, "I can't hear a wo-OAUGH!"

Chris had thrown her shoe at Hibiki, nailing the Gungnir Wielder directly in the cheek.

"Hibiki!" Miku called out as her friend fell to the floor.

"Hey, hey let's not get too rough!" Touma let out a yelp as he hurried over to check on Hibiki with Miku, "Hibiki, are you okay?"

"Gungnir…~ B-battou…~" Hibiki sung in a slight daze as she tried to recover from the hit.

"C-Chris was that absolutely necessary?" Rintaro stammered out as he looked over.

"Necessary or not, damn her throwing arm's good!" Kanade admitted with a light laugh, "And here I thought she sucked at most physical activities."

"You want to repeat those words?" Chris asked with a death glare towards Kanade who puckered her lips, "That's what I thought."

The Helicopter went to make a landing in the empty courtyard of the school, a recovered Hibiki alongside Miku and Touma walking towards the helicopter together.

"I wonder what exactly this mission is going to be," Miku admitted, "Is it another Megid?"

"Didn't seem like it given they're trying to gather all of us," Touma said, figuring that was why Rintaro and Kanade had been picked up from what he guessed were their apartments, "Hopefully this doesn't run too long. I'd rather us not lose too much homework time."

"I'm sure we'll be back soon," Hibiki reassured as she raised the drink she had received from Miku, her spirits high, "We'll show this mission and that assignment who's boss!"

With those words, the three entered the helicopter, wondering just what had come up now of all times.

"That should be the last piece I need," Storious said as he held up what looked to be the arm of a human sized doll that was broken towards the upper bicep, "I suppose I should be glad that I installed those back doors into the Château de Tiffauges when I did. It's made these trips to and from without hassle, even if I've had to make visits brief to keep from being detected."

He was currently in a secluded room of the Megid base, even if he didn't need to be since both Legeiel and Zooous were out of country at the moment. Still, he enjoyed the privacy and went to place the bicep near more broken doll pieces, or rather the pieces of blank and broken Autoscorers that formed a 'full' blank Autoscorer body.

When it came to Carol and her creations, she left a lot of spare and scrapped parts behind. This included the Autoscorers as well, there being plenty of broken dolls for Storious to rummage through and take what he needed from. There were indeed nearly intact ones, though he figured he could save those for something less experimental than this.

"Now then… let us begin."

He brought out a blank Super Alter Ride Book, dropping it down towards the broken doll's chest. It formed a purple puddle of energy that allowed it to sink inside, the energy spreading out and slowly but surely sticking to the separated and broken pieces around it. The body was fully coated in the dark energy, though it had yet to fully form a Megid. But this was something he wanted in the end as he snapped his fingers.

Out from the shadows emerged the Golem, Ahiru, and Hanzaki Megid, all of them moving the unstable body and grabbing on. The energy began to expand and grow, ensnaring the Megid and absorbing them as it grew into a giant glob of energy.

"And finally, the most essential piece…"

[NEPHILIM!]

Swiftly drawing out the Nephilim Alter Ride Book, Storious threw it into the glob with several red flashes occurring from within the unstable matter. The glob began to shrink, forming into a more monstrous armored form before bursting apart to reveal a new Megid.

[CHARYBDIS!]

This Megid seemed to not borrow any of the indicators of the other lesser Megid, showcasing it as a step above even the ones created via humans. It had a grey body with white Greek-like armoring tightly fitted to its form, gold zipper-like lines running throughout its body. The head itself consisted of dozens of sharp teeth, ready to bite, alongside a white domed helmet with six slits for its eyes.

Charybdis let out a shrill growl, as if it was a newborn and began to stretch. Storious couldn't help but let out a fond and proud smile as he moved towards the Megid and went to grasp its cheek gently.

"Beautiful, yes," he said as he observed his creation with great care, giving a laugh as he pulled away and held up his hand further, "I will grow you into just the instrument I need to get the ending I desire!"

Within the lush jungles of Val Verde, things seemed to be rather peaceful when it came to the natural wildlife, and only the natural wildlife as explosions kicked up in a certain area while the revving of motorcycles could be heard.

Of course this was taken notice of immediately from a military outpost that was in the area.

"We have a few vehicles rapidly approaching!" a soldier called out as he monitored the situation.

"They came on land to avoid our anti-air artillery," the captain remarked before giving a scoff, "The fools. Did they really think they can beat us with conventional weaponry?"

It didn't take long for them to activate the mine-like devices that were in the area, all of them opening up and releasing Alca-Noise crystals that summoned the deadly creatures to block the way. This would normally have been an issue, if it wasn't for the trio of riders making their way towards the newly formed army.

"We have visual of the approaching vehicles!" the soldier called out as he began to grow in panic at what he was seeing.

"Don't tell me… the attackers… are the Symphogears and Kamen Riders?!" the captain called out in shock at what he was seeing. Blades had taken the center of the formation on the Ride Gatriker, Saber flanking his left with the Diago Speedy while Tsubasa was on his right with her own motorcycle, "Don't let them approach the anti-air installations!"

[LION SENKI!]

The guns of Ride Gatriker shined a bright blue as water bullets were launched out when Blades pressed down on the triggers of his vehicle. This resulted in the Alca-Noise getting torn through and any soldiers nearby being disarmed or knocked away due to the water-based attacks. This allowed Tsubasa and Saber to close in, the former extending the blades on her motorcycle and spinning rapidly to tear through the anti-air armaments while Saber worked on covering her, tapping his Ride Book and unleashing pillars of fire as he rode past. The fires burned away any Alca-Noise and forced the soldiers nearby to back off.

[BRAVE DRAGON!]

{Flash of the Rider's Blade: Sweep}

"Alright," Saber called out as he slowed down, "We're ready!"

Tsubasa soon looked up as she skidded to a stop, "Kenzan!"

[SARUTOBI NINJADEN!]

A sudden gale began to impact the area as a kite began to descend from up on high, Hibiki and Chris on it with Kenzan at the center. The Wielder and two Riders on the ground all nodded as they went to regroup, planning on joining the three in the air at the landing zone.

As tanks and soldiers began to fire at the trio on the kite, Kenzan grabbed onto Hibiki and Chris before leaping off with them and letting go. While Hibiki and Chris went to drop down further, Kenzan drew out smoke bombs, dropping them down to provide cover for the two as he went to use the air to boost himself further towards where the soldiers in the back were.

Hibiki was quick to deal with the Alca-Noise around her and Chris once they landed, with the Ichaival Wielder mowing down the alchemically created enemies with her homing arrows. Kenzan was quick to land, utilizing his natural speed and afterimages while enhanced in his Rider form to swiftly knock out the enemy soldiers.

It wasn't long before Tsubasa, Saber, and Blades made their way towards the others. The trio had dismounted their vehicles and rushed forward with swords in hand. Of course there was still the issue of some artillery as tanks were starting to make their way towards the defensive lines.

"And there's the tanks," Saber said as he held up his blade, "That said…"

Tsubasa took the lead, deflecting bullets from the soldiers nearby the tank while it unleashed a shell towards her. The Wielder of Ame no Habakiri wasn't deterred by this and swiftly sliced it in three while disarming it at the same time. She didn't even let the tank get off a second shot as she sliced the barrel off as it tried to pull back alongside the soldiers.

"Despite having Alca-Noise and heavy artillery, we still have the advantage in power," Blades agreed as he moved in alongside Saber, taking care of any straggling Alca-Noise while the Wielders continued to push forward.

Hibiki had taken up a stance and simply deflected any shells that were launched her way, allowing them to harmlessly explode behind her. Tsubasa utilized her ankle boosters, strengthening the blades on them and spinning rapidly to perform a boosted slash-kick that tore apart a tank.

{Fearless Three Blades}

Chris meanwhile was bombarded by a hailstorm of bullets and rockets from several soldiers. The grouping could cheer as they assumed they had managed to take one of the Wielders out. They couldn't be any more wrong as the smoke cleared to reveal Chris unharmed, the girl giving a smirk as she held a bullet in her teeth before spitting it out in a mocking fashion. She was quick to disarm the soldiers but a couple quickly rushed in to release more missiles towards her.

[KYODAINA KENSHI GA MEWOSAMASU! KING OF ARTHUR!]

At least until the giant sword form of the King of Arthur dropped down between Chris and the missiles. It transformed into its robot mode as it landed while Saber hopped onto its shoulder. The giant bracing against the missiles and looking none the worse for wear. This was enough for the disarmed soldiers and even the ones with heavy artillery to simply yell out and run off.

The tanks attempted to take aim and fire at King of Arthur now that it had made its presence known, but that was derailed the minute Hibiki moved into their path. She marched forward, undeterred as she deflected shell after shell.

"Allow me!" Blades leapt up from behind the Wielder as he brought out King Lion Dai Senki, simply scanning it on his Seiken before slashing forward. A hail of water bullets were launched out from his slash, the water bursts striking and tearing apart the fronts of the treads.

[SHUUTOKU ISSEN!]

Hibiki closed in, grabbing the torn treads of one tank and tearing them off to completely immobilize it before moving to the next while Blades went to slice through the barrel of the first to fully disarm it. The Wielder of Gungnir went to grab the roof of her next target and ripped it away. She went to swing it against another tank that aimed at her, bending that tank's barrel completely as the soldiers near her ran off in fear.

"Thirty-four percent of enemy forces have been disabled!" Sakuya called out as he continued to monitor the situation at SONG's bridge of command.

"The ant-tank film we had screened last night seems to be effective," Aoi remarked as Elfnein was nearby observing the situation.

Genjuro meanwhile stood alone at the Commanders station with no sign of Sophia or Daishinji in sight.

"The UN forces will be landing in fifteen minutes," he said as he kept his arms crossed, "Disable their defenses before then!"

"Understood," Blades called out in response to the Commander's orders before letting out a gasp when he saw an armored truck take aim at Chris who was focusing her firepower elsewhere, "Chris, watch out!"

"I've got this!" Hibiki called out as she landed on Chris' side, catching the explosive round that had been launched towards her, utilizing her leg armor's power jacks to stab into the ground and keep her braced, "Touma!"

"Already on it," Saber called out as King of Arthur hurried over, grabbing the shell with its massive hands before tossing it upwards, "That'll take care of it!"

"Thanks for the assist you two!" Chris called out as she took aim with her weapons, firing and destroying the shell. The shockwave from the explosion shook the area as the armored truck tried to pull back, only for King of Arthur to rush forward and kick against it while running past. This tipped the vehicle over, allowing the soldiers to run out.

King of Arthur came to a halt as Saber dropped down from its shoulder, joining Tsubasa with Blades, Hibiki, and Chris moving closer not long after. Thanks to their efforts the artillery and Alca-Noise had been dealt with. The remaining soldiers meanwhile were dealt with by Kenzan, the ninja Rider knocking out any soldiers he could while dragging them out of the way.

Of course it seemed as though the Captain in charge of the outpost had other plans, a beam of light launching up into the sky.

"What now?" Chris asked.

"I'm not sure," Blade shook his head before noticing that the light had stopped and formed an alchemic circle, "That's-!"

The clouds swirled before spiraling away to reveal a massive airship now hovering in the space above them, it packing a lot of heavy artillery all over as well.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Saber muttered as he started up in shock.

"That huge thing was hiding in the sky?" Hibiki called out in surprise.

"Guess that's the boss to beat this time," Chris remarked.

The plan of attack would have been a work in progress, had a few helicopters not just descended to help in their assault.

"You five don't have time to stand around! Get moving!" Maria's voice called from the front helicopter, "We can assist those who can't fly!"

"She's right," Tsubasa nodded before turning towards the Riders, "Kamiyama, Shindo, you know what to do."

"Right," Saber nodded alongside Blades.

"Helicopters, huh?" the captain was now within the massive airship, staring at the radar that showed him how the Wielders and Riders were attempting to counterattack, "Vulnerable to attacks from above."

All it took was a single button press to drop five missiles from the airship, exploding on top of the approaching helicopters.

"Got 'em good!" the captain let out a laugh only for his face to drop when he saw the radar readout hadn't changed in the slightest.

The smoke was torn away quickly by a giant version of the Kingexcalibur, it rapidly spinning before vanishing as it had been hovering above the helicopters which rose further. On top of the three helicopters were Hibiki, Chris, and Tsubasa. Saber was steadily flying upwards with Dragon Eagle Arthur while Blades had assumed Fantastic Lion to float upwards alongside them.

"They blocked it with their abilities?" the captain questioned before gritting his teeth and slamming his fist onto the dashboard, "That's insane! But two can play at that game!"

Dozens upon dozens of missiles began launching outwards, honing in on the helicopters.

{BILLION MAIDEN}

[TENKU NO PEGASUS!]

Chris brought out her chain guns while Blades formed dozens upon dozens of energy stars behind his back. The duo unleashed their projectiles to shoot down the missiles while Maria and the other pilots worked on dodging to the best of their ability.

"Kamiyama, Tachibana," Tsubasa called to her allies, "Let Yukine and Shindo take care of our defenses!"

Hibiki and Saber could only let out small shouts of surprise before rushing after the Wielder of Ame no Habakiri who began to jump from missile to missile. Hibiki was a bit clumsier in her jumps, but managed to get across rather well while Saber launched forward with ease by utilizing Storm Eagle's flight.

"You know Touma!" Hibiki called out as she nearly stumbled a few times, an explosion from behind occasionally forcing her to leap further, "I don't think it's fair you can just fly-WHOAA!"

"Even if I can fly this is a bit tricky to navigate!" Saber argued as he continued to swerve and shift to dodge through the hailstorm of missiles.

"We've got this!" Chris called out as she continued to fire alongside Blades who had taken a spot on top of the helicopter Maria piloted now, "Just take out the ship!"

With the two utilizing their long-ranged abilities, they were able to destroy the missiles without much issue. But even with their work there was still one that began to hurtle towards one unlucky helicopter.

"We can't outrun it!" the pilot shouted as he had launched emergency flares to detonate the tailing missile only for them to miss.

"It's our turn, Kiri!" Shirabe said as she and Kirika were inside the helicopter being tailed, the two holding onto the helicopter doors.

"Gotcha, dess!"

The helicopter had turned with the missile ready to hit its side… until both side doors opened. It was a literal miracle as the missile had passed through without hitting the helicopter. The missile had traveled a bit farther, at least until Chris took aim and decimated it.

"See?" Shirabe said with a thumbs-up.

"We're cool too, dess!" Kirika said with her own thumbs-up.

"Let us utilize our abilities their fullest in this very moment, Kamiyama!" Tsubasa called out as she leapt upwards once reaching the peak of the missiles, tossing her blade upwards as it began to grow.

"Right," Saber shouted as he lifted upwards, just barely missing a few missiles that were right in front of him as he joined Tsubasa, his arm shining bright as the gigantic Kingexcalibur formed behind him and Tsubasa before transforming into its robot mode.

The Rider and Wielder landed on King of Arthur's shoulders, the mechanical humanoid catching the falling and growing blade with both hands as it grew even larger. The blade had grown absurdly large, nearly rivaling the airship itself as the King of Arthur went to swing it downwards.

Saber and Tsubasa both shouted out as it did, "King of Heaven's Judgement!"

The blade slammed into the airship, cutting through it as easily as a knife through cake. The blade had cut so deep it had reached the main control room where the captain was, nearly bisecting him as it broke his glasses. He fell on his rear as Hibiki landed in front of him, simply extending her right gauntlet and letting it spin rapidly into a drill-like formation.

The captain let out a shrill scream as he attempted to run only for Hibiki to grab him, utilizing her boosters to carry her and the captain out with ease as she drilled through the airship to make her exit. It didn't take long for her to pierce through and launch outwards, allowing Chris to form and launch nearly a dozen giant missiles while smaller ones fired off as well.

{MEGA DETH INFINITY}

The missiles all struck the underside of the airship, tearing apart and annihilating the airship in a massive explosion.

Tsubasa and Saber both dropped down to meet with Hibiki who had landed in a nearby lake with the enemy captain. While the Wielder utilized her ankle boosters to ski across the lake, Saber went to hover with a small whirlwind forming at the tips of his boots.

"Tachibana, are you hurt?" Tsubasa asked.

"I'm fine," Hibiki called out, though the captain was unconscious as he had passed out from being dragged along by her.

"That's good," Saber said as he hovered over as he leaned forward to inspect the captain, "Looks like he's had enough excitement for one day though."

"Yeah," Hibiki said with a bit of a sheepish chuckle, "But well, mission accomplished, right?"

"Yes, the rest is up to them," Tsubasa confirmed as she looked over, seeing United Nations branded helicopters coming into view.

The UN forces had set up shop in a refugee camp, giving supplies out to the civilians there while giving medical treatment to anyone who needed it. It was a rough sight to witness for the three Wielders and two Riders who were nearby. This was especially the case for Chris who gripped the chain fence they were near when she saw a daughter crying for her injured father.

When it came to UN relief efforts, SONG had been slightly updated in regards to uniforms in order to look the part officially. The uniforms of the Wielders consisted of either dark blue shorts or pants with a light blue top that held a SONG logo patch on their left sleeve and a white striped tie in their primary Gear colors.

Rintaro remained in his swordsman attire, albeit with an armband on his sleeve with SONGs logo on it. Meanwhile Touma also had to change his attire slightly when on official business due to not having a uniform of any kind prior. While his black pants had been changed for dark blue, he kept the white button-up shirt. What he wore over the shirt what would normally be considered the fall/winter uniform of SONG. It was an open dark blue short jacket with SONG's acronym on the back alongside a patch on the left bicep. Somehow, he had managed to get a hat similar to his usual black one but in dark blue to match the uniform colors.

"I'm glad the UN acted fast," Hibiki said.

"As am I," Tsubasa agreed.

"It'll be rough for a while," Touma admitted as he crossed his arms, "But things will get better."

Rintaro meanwhile noticed Chris being rather tense, "Chris?"

"Huh?" Chris looked over, glad for the distraction.

"Is everything alright?" Rintaro asked, though that seemed to only worsen Chris' mood, "I uh…"

"Nothing, it's nothing," Chris shook her head as she looked away.

Touma however had figured this wouldn't be easy for Chris. He had learned Val Verde was a key part of Chris' background back when he and Genjuro had tried to help her back when she initially left Finé. So he could only imagine how rough it was for her to return to a place like this. He went to place a hand on Rintaro's shoulder, the Swordsman of Water looking over as he shook his head.

Thankfully there wasn't a need to dwell on it for much longer as Maria drove up in a truck, Kirika and Shirabe in the back.

"We've finished patrolling the town, dess!" Kirika called out with a salute.

"Get in, we're going back to HQ," Maria added.

It didn't take long for everyone to pile onto the truck, Tsubasa getting in the passenger seat while everyone else went to sit in the back.

"The Alca-Noise caused us so much pain…" Shirabe trailed off, "And now even these soldiers are being provided alchemical shards to summon them as weapons."

Hibiki could only look back at the damaged city they drove through, "The Bavarian Illuminati…"

It had been a few days since the news had dropped, but that still meant the meeting itself was fresh in everybody's mind.

It was a packed house when it came to SONG Headquarters' bridge of operations, every available Wielder and Rider (sans Yuri) were present. Not only were they gathered, but so were SONG's full support staff with Sophia, Genjuro and Elfnein at the front.

"Wow, everyone's here," Kanade remarked, "What's the occasion?"

"Something of the utmost importance," Maria replied.

"With everyone here we can begin the briefing," Genjuro said as Sophia nodded.

"Just what's going on?" Shirabe asked, "Usually we're only called together like this if something important is happening."

"It's relating to a special assignment I received from Tsubasa's dad," Maria replied, "On behalf of SONG, I went investigating the story behind the Magical Girl Incident."

"As no one told me of this," Tsubasa spoke up, as if purposely interrupting her ally, "I naturally assumed she had missed me so much she came all the way to England-"

"I told you that wasn't the reason why!" Maria called out with a clear blush.

"The lead of course went cold after we were confronted with Kamen Rider Durendal," Ogawa spoke up, deciding to take the lead for Maria's sake, "And it wasn't long before we made our way back here to assist you all after Amanojaku's appearance in London."

"However with what little info we have on said lead, Maria was able to complete her assignment," Sophia added, "That same lead resurfaced during the Ganmaizer Incident that Gaze brought about and we were able to recover some data he had left behind."

"One particular organization's cropped up time and time again in the investigation," Ogawa continued, "The Bavarian Illuminati."

"They were the ones who helped Carol build the Château de Tiffauges," Elfnein explained as she pulled up various images of destroyed property, before bringing up the image of a crest that several of SONG's crew had seen prior to this, "A shadowy organization pulling strings throughout history, considered by many to have led to Europe's labeling as the new 'Dark Continent'."

"Kirika, Shirabe and I are very familiar with them," Maria said as she looked around, "That organization also funded FIS in the armed uprising led by Mom and the doctor. It seems they have been in the shadows of each one of our conflicts."

"The hoarder of the Ganma equipment that Gaze made use of was in the organization as well," Sophia replied, "He also had a relative that was likely there and dropped the data we went to analyze. While he's likely no longer with us given Gaze's remarks, we still were able to learn important information on them."

"Do we want to place bets on how likely it is Master Logos and his group is being helped by them?" Kanade remarked.

"You really think that might be the case?" Touma asked.

"It's a high possibility," Daishinji replied, "Especially considering Carol knew about them and while we could chalk it up to her being long-lived…"

"It's likely she was aware of them purely because of her dealings," Rintaro realized.

"Masterminds of both the Frontier and Magical Girl Incidents," Tsubasa said, "The Bavarian Illuminati…"

"So if we discount the Megid as their allies, then that's two long-running groups we'll need to deal with," Miku said as she thought on the subject.

"Thankfully that's why we're here," Elfnein said as she looked over, "This information may make it possible for us to track down the Bavarian Illuminati's movements."

"Though there were hints of their existence, we never found anything concrete before," Ogawa added, "With what Maria was able to find, our department was able to uncover a new lead."

A new image was brought up, showcasing a town with Alca-Noise running rampant.

Hibiki's eyes widened, "Alca-Noise?!"

"They've been sighted in an unstable Latin American country under military rule," Ogawa explained, before pulling up another image that showed another area of the city with large portraits of the ruler.

Chris could only shout at this, "Val Verde?!"

Hibiki and a few others took notice of this like Rintaro, but this was especially the case for Touma since he was somewhat familiar with the term's relation to Chris.

"We're to head there and commence operations as soon as we arrive," Genjuro explained as he crossed his arms, "You'll have your work cut out for you."

"Is what we'd normally say, but there's a caveat," Sophia said as she cleared her throat, "Due to the increase in Megid attacks over the summer, alongside other varying factors, several of us are going to have to stay behind."

"Wait, seriously?" Kirika asked.

"While this is an important task the UN has given us, they realize our importance here as well," Genjuro replied, "Add in our increased ranks, and we have enough to spare for both sides."

"We've also already worked out who will go where," Daishinji replied, "And while we can't be together on this mission, it just means those that stay behind will have to cheer you all on harder."

With the battle finished, everyone went to get washed and freshen themselves up. The girls had priority, so while Touma and Rintaro were with Elfnein who was looking over their Seiken, the Wielders had the showers all to themselves.

"Though SONG is a unit directly under UN control, officially, we're not allowed to engage in military intervention," Maria spoke up.

"However, when faced with users of heretical technology, we have no other choice," Tsubasa added.

"They use the Alca-Noise in their military…" Chris muttered.

"I just wish we had enough LiNKER to make ourselves useful," Shirabe admitted, "While our Sync Rates have gone up thanks to utilizing Bremen via the therapy sessions and we were given extra dosages of Model-K from our Parallel World trips…"

"We've only got one shot left thanks to all that Megid business, phantom or otherwise dess," Kirika said as she went to dry her hair, "We need to save it for when the time is… de-de-dess!"

"Don't worry!" Hibiki called out as she had suddenly grasped Kirika's hands in her own, "You don't need LiNKER or a Gear to be useful! You saved the helicopter all by yourselves! Thank you so much!"

Though considering the duo had only just finished taking their showers…

"This is kinda embarrassing, somehow…" Kirika admitted with a blush.

Shirabe meanwhile could only stare at the two of them, "Jiiiiii…."

"I-It's just hard not to look, dess!" Kirika choked out.

"Damn memories," Chris muttered as she didn't seem to regard the antics despite being the one who'd usually speak up. She could only wince as tried to shake off some unpleasant thoughts regarding her past, "Who said you could invade my mind?"

"So how are they looking?" Touma asked as he and Rintaro were currently watching Elfnein inspect both Rekka and Nagare. It was an odd sight to behold, especially since Daishinji usually took the lead on this. Of course Elfnein wasn't a slouch in her learning, having picked up everything she needed to know while working with Daishinji thus far.

"Thankfully you handle them well enough," Elfnein said as she looked over Nagare before smiling, "Just keep using them proficiently and we should make it out of this without needing any major repairs."

"You have our thanks," Rintaro smiled as he went to take his leave, "We'll leave them here for any final maintenance you see fit."

"Yeah, since I'm pretty sure the showers will be free soon," Touma added before following after Rintaro and stretching a bit after they exited the workshop, "When it came to being a Kamen Rider, I did not think this was on the list."

"It's rather surprising, though given our government ties I suppose it makes sense," Rintaro replied before thinking on recent events, "Touma, are you aware of why Chris is more tense than usual?"

"I am, yeah," Touma replied, figuring since they were in a more private area of the base that he could speak his mind, "Well, mostly, since I only have vague details. But well, Val Verde was the last place Chris was before she was sent back to Japan, at least before Finé intervened."

"O-Oh…" Rintaro trailed, "So her reactions…"

"Being here is likely bringing back some bad memories given what happened to her," Touma nodded, "But I get why she didn't stay behind, a fight like this is something she feels she has to do."

"I can only imagine," Rintaro replied, "Speaking of staying behind, how do you think the others are fairing? Do you think they'll be okay?"

"They're the ones probably worrying about us," Touma said with a bit of a chuckle, "It just means we have to keep up the good work and make it home safely."

"Wow, I am bored," Kanade groaned as she was currently pacing around in a melodramatically bored fashion, "I know we need to split our strongest Riders in half, but man…"

When it came to the remaining members of SONG, they were currently taking residence in a temporary office that SONG could rent out if necessary. It was pretty bare and small, all things considered, but given the home team only consisted of Sophia, Daishinji, Kanade, and Miku, it wasn't too bad.

Both Kanade and Miku had also been given their own SONG Uniforms, figuring they'd go for those when at work instead of Swordsmen coats. While Kanade went the pants route, Miku had gone for shorts, the former having a white striped orange tie while the latter had a yellow striped purple tie.

"I'm honestly surprised they only needed so few of us to stay behind," Miku replied, as she was currently sitting at a table with Daishinji and Sophia, the trio currently in an intense game of cards, "And that Maria and the others were allowed to go at all."

"Well they figured since they still had three LiNKER vials left it'd be enough," Daishinji replied, "Something about us not going full force immediately and only revealing our almost-full hand at the most opportune time."

"Uno," Sophia said as she placed her second to last card on the pile, passing her turn to Daishinji, "There was that but also because there's technically supposed to be five of us here which shouldn't make the decision too lopsided."

"Five?" Kanade asked as she looked over, "Wait, that's right…"

"Yuri's likely to come back to Japan since he's likely unaware of our sudden mission," Daishinji said as he placed a reverse card down to force Sophia back onto her turn, "So having someone to return to will make things less confusing for him."

"Drat," Sophia pouted as she was forced to draw, and draw again, and again, due to not having the right color to play.

"So why exactly did we send Touma again then?" Miku asked as she went to take her turn after Sophia finally drew the card she needed to progress, "He is the only one other than Yuri who can help humans turned into Megid."

"It was decided he go in case the Megid tried something there," Sophia explained, "And also because he's our strongest Rider at the moment."

"That's fair," Kanade said before ruffling her hair, "It's just… nerve-racking just waiting to hear from them and nothing popping up for us at all."

"That I agree with," Miku replied before simply shaking her head, "But there's no use in worrying about it."

"Didn't think I'd hear you of all people say that," Kanade admitted, "Considering your whole deal this past summer was training so you could fight alongside your friends."

"There's that, yes, but I'm no stranger to waiting for them to return home," Miku replied as she looked over before smiling, "Besides, while they're away I can make sure the place they call home is protected."

"Fair enough," Kanade admitted with a light smirk.

"Personally I'm enjoying this quiet time," Daishinji admitted, "It lets me work on theories and projects I might not be able to otherwise if I was worrying about my usual duties."

"I figured you'd be able to work on all your projects normally," Miku noted.

"Normally, but this one is a bit more out there compared to helping Elfnein, helping you train, etc," Daishinji admitted, "Plus I haven't had much luck."

"Can't be that out there," Kanade spoke up, now curious about this mentioned project, "What are you working on anyway?"

"A way to trigger Ride Book transformations without the need for a Seiken," Daishinji said as Miku and Kanade stayed silent at the declaration, "It's something I've been considering as an alternate way for those using LiNKER to help out once we inevitably run out."

"Huh, that sounds pretty useful," Kanade replied.

"But you've run into issues, right?" Miku asked.

"Very much so," Daishinji admitted, "I'm hoping to keep analyzing the data from the Ride Gear forms our Symphogear Wielders utilize, that may end up being the key."

"Though the hope is that Elfnein and the others fully decrypt Dr. Ver's formula," Sophia added.

"Even so, I'd rather we be prepared on the off chance it isn't ready," Daishinji admitted.

"Well good luck with that," Kanade said before jumping when sudden loud beeping was heard.

Daishinji and Sophia immediately stood from the table, hurrying over to a desk in the office that had monitoring equipment for them to use. Daishinji worked on isolating the signal before giving a nod.

"We've got a Megid signal," Daishinji said before squinting a bit, "Though it's an odd one… it's not a standard Megid signal like any of the completed ones… nor is it similar to the ones where Megid were still trying to form from human hosts…"

"What could it be then?" Miku asked.

"I'm not sure," Daishinji admitted, "But…."

"All of you deploy at once," Sophia said as she went to take a seat at the desk while setting everything up, "I'll support you as best I can with the equipment here."

"Please do," Miku said with a quick bow before she went over to the table that held the Seiken and Wonder Ride Books with Daishinji and Kanade not far behind. They made sure they were properly equipped before hurrying out.

Upon exiting the building they went to make their way to where the signal was being located, it being nearby as Sophia guided them as best she could. Of course the three were unaware they were being watched, Calibur simply staring at them before turning away and walking off.

Hibiki, Tsubasa, Chris, Touma, and Rintaro were currently on a motorboat with Ogawa driving it. It was already night as Genjuro had given them their next mission. They had located another military installation that needed to be taken down, it being a chemical weapons plant upstream that they'd need to deal with.

It was a quiet ride to the facility, which of course meant everyone only had their own thoughts on their minds, which weren't the most pleasant when it came to Chris.

"Mom! Dad! Let go, Sonya!"

"No! It's too dangerous!"

"This is your fault!"

"Remembering the past?" Tsubasa asked, taking notice of Chris' facial expressions.

"Yep, the past," Chris said as she put on a strong face, "Don't worry, it's all behind me."

"Chris…" Touma muttered as he and Rintaro figured otherwise.

"You don't have to talk about it," Tsubasa reassured, figuring the same, "Just focus on what's in front of you. Otherwise-"

A sudden spotlight was on them, an armored car having spotted them and was now unleashing gunfire from the turret it had.

"Commence operation!" Ogawa called out as he worked on speeding up the motor while shifting it, everyone giving light yelps as their vehicle managed to dodge the gunfire.

"I'll spearhead the attack!" Hibiki called out as she launched off the boat, "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron~"

{SG-r03': Gungnir}

Hibiki fully donned her Symphogear, her armor shining bright as she launched at high speeds with her boosters. She managed to slam her fist into the side of the armored car, sending it tumbling along the ground and near the chemical plant. The alarm began to sound off as Alca-Noise had been dispensed to deal with the intruders.

{SG-r01: Amenohabakiri}

[DRAGONIC KNIGHT!]

Tsubasa and Saber launched forward, the duo cutting through the Alca-Noise with ease, Saber pushing forward with Dragonic Knight's raw power while Tsubasa assisted him with Ame no Habakiri's speed. Eventually the duo's path was blocked by Soldiers, Saber quickly bracing and using Dragonic Knight's armor to take the bullets directly.

Tsubasa leapt up not long after the defense was up, spinning rapidly and disarming the soldiers with several quick slices.

{SG-r02: Ichaival}

[KING LION DAISENKI!]

Chris and Blades meanwhile went for the heavy artillery, Chris' rapid-fire bullet barrage tearing through the Alca-Noise while Blades unleashed energy blasts from his cannons to tear through them further.

The Wielder of Ichaival switched her weapons back to a singular bow state, launching out an arrow that boosted itself further. It pierced through the Alca-Noise, but the red dissolving mist from them had also damaged a tower. It began to fall as the nearby civilians ran for their lives, well aside from a boy who could only stare up in shock.

Thankfully Hibiki was quick on the draw, noticing this and boosting towards the boy. She grabbed onto him and threw both of herself and him away from the tower, it crashing behind them.

Inside the facility, the enemy commander could only stare in frustration as he saw his Alca-Noise defenses getting torn through with ease.

"They're pushing us back?!" he questioned before quickly grabbing an intricate gold switch, "Time to blow them all to smithereens!"

Soon enough a giant alien-like crustacean Alca-Noise was summoned, releasing a mist from its claws that created the smaller Alca-Noise to help it overwhelm everything.

"They brought out the big guy too?!" one soldier questioned.

"No plan, just 'try not to die'?!" another shouted in disbelief.

The Alca-Noise attacked anyone and everything, destroying structures, killing soldiers they were supposed to fight alongside. It was starting to grow out of hand as Tsubasa quickly cut through one that was advancing on a soldier.

"They can't tell friend from foe?!" she questioned.

"You don't care who you kill, huh?!" Chris asked as she let out a shout while launching another arrow at the massive spawner Alca-Noise, striking and causing its body to jerk around before energy spikes erupted from it.

{ARTHEMIS CAPTURE}

[SPECIAL! MM-HM-HMMM!]

Blades and Saber both held their Boosters over their Seiken, Blades taking the lead and unleashing several razor-sharp slashes of water. The result was the Alca-Noise getting sliced into multiple pieces, Saber leaping up and unleashing a burning slash that crashed against the gigantic creature, the fires raging and burning the pieces away.

[KANZEN DOKUHA ISSEN!]

"Good work," Tsubasa said before looking upwards, watching as a large spinning Alca-Noise with a pointed tip began to descend, "But there's another coming from above!"

"If that one lands…!" Saber trailed, realizing just how disastrous that would be.

{Ride Change: Kin-no-Gungnir!}

Hibiki let out a shout as a flash occurred where she was, entering her Ride Gear form as her large golden gauntlets began to spin rapidly in place. She launched forward, her body becoming a gold blur as she tore through the crowds of Alca-Noise with the force of her spinning gauntlets alone.

She then looked upwards, reeling her arms back before punching upwards and launching her golden gauntlet fists like rockets. The Alca-Noise responded in kind, picking up its speed as it launched further downwards.

"Hibiki Style: Vortex Rocket Punch!"

With that shout the first fist struck, breaking the tip of the Alca-Noise and sending it spinning before the second fist slammed into its side. The result carried the Alca-Noise up further and further before it exploded high in the night sky.

"Really, Kin-no-Gungnir?" a familiar voice was heard as Hibiki drew out Ultimate Bahamut, the Ride Book glowing briefly, "I could have handled it with ease."

"Sorry Bahamut," Hibiki said with a sheepish expression before she gave a genuine smile, "But I want to save our combination for more important opponents, alright?"

"I suppose that's fair enough," Bahamut said before growing silent again.

At an abandoned opera house, the President of Val Verde was going over the current plans that he had put in place with several of his most trusted officers.

"We prepared a decoy plane at Escalon Airport, sir."

"Unnecessary," the president said as he sat in the front row, "As long as the ousted regime's Dyciphine Barrier stands, this is the safest place in the country."

"So, in other words, what you're really trying to protect is hidden here."

The president and his officers let out light gasps as they turned towards the windows to see three figures, the moonlight's shadows hiding their features.

"Who are you?" an officer questioned.

"We tried looking through your military facilities first," the one who had been speaking was none other than Saint-Germain.

"Our plan to use SONG to wreck your secret gardens worked out nicely," a girl with glasses spoke up, having a fairly fancy dress on alongside holding a frog plush.

A rather shapely woman with bright blue hair in a small black dress let out a chuckle, "Thanks for guiding us here yourself, you cute little El Presidente."

"Saint-Germain! Prelati! Cagliostro!" the president said as he stood up in shock.

"Since you're here, we'll have you make yourself useful one last time," Prelati said as she held up her plush to obscure her face further.

The trio then began to sing for some reason, most of the officers there being rather confused.

"Who are they?" an officer asked the president.

"Alchemists from the Bavarian Illuminati," the president answered.

"They provided us with heretical technology," another soldier recalled.

"They said they would leave those who bore their mark alone!" the president explained as he gestured to a pin that held the Illuminati's symbol, "The UN's at our doorstep! Fend them off!"

The trio of alchemists continued to sing with Cagliostro blowing a playful kiss. It didn't take long for the various officers to start panicking, clawing at themselves as their bodies shone a bright gold, the glow originating from the pins they wore. Their bodies continued to shine brightly until they burst into glowing particles, the president being the last to succumb to the song.

"It hurts! It hurts!" the president shouted as he grabbed at his body before relaxing suddenly as he began to disperse into gold particles, "But somehow, it feels good…"

The particles flowed high above the three alchemists before spiraling together and forming an orb of light in Saint-Germain's outstretched hand, "73,788."

Of course, despite the sudden dispersal of several people, the Alchemists weren't alone, though they were unaware of this fact. At the back of the opera house were Aoi and Sakuya with several agents as they were currently on their own undercover mission.

'Just as our investigation found, this opera house is shielded against satellite transmissions,' Sakuya thought to himself as he was gathering as much data as he could, 'Is this barrier of theirs blocking the signals? We snuck in while they were distracted by the attack. It's quite the base of operations.'

Saint-Germain went to open up the floor of a certain spot of the opera house, revealing a hidden passage that led further down into the opera house. She walked down the steps with Cagliostro and Prelati following behind her.

Aoi saw this and gestured for everyone to follow once the coast was clear.

"Hey, w-wait a minute….!" Sakuya whispered as he saw how hasty Aoi was being despite what they had seen.

Tsubasa, Rintaro and Touma were currently in the main office of the chemical weapons plant, taking note of how recently abandoned it was.

"Looks like the commanders got away," Tsubasa noted.

"At the very least that's all they did," Touma said as he looked over the files, "Everything seems to be intact."

"That will be good news for when the UN deals with investigations here," Rintaro noted, looking at the still active computers but keeping his distance so as to not set off anything.

"Tsubasa, this boy saw them," Hibiki said as she entered with the boy she had saved from earlier alongside Chris.

"I saw the director escape by car," the boy explained, "They might be hiding in the village close by."

"And you are?" Tsubasa asked.

"Name's Stephan," he introduced, "We were dragged here from the village to work."

"Let's catch them before things get even uglier," Chris said as she went to punch her palm, clearly wanting to get a move on dismantling the military presence.

"Do you think you could lead us there?" Touma asked as Stephan nodded, "Good, then we should let command know what our next move is."

Back in Japan, dozens of workers were currently running away from Charybdis, the Megid having wandered to the construction site to start on completing itself. It let out a shrill screech as its body began to open up, unleashing a gigantic almost pitcher plant-like maw that clamped down on a dump truck, swallowing half of it before clamping down again and swallowing the rest.

"Whoa!" Kanade called out as she ran up with Daishinji and Miku in tow, "What's up with that thing?!"

"It feels different," Miku admitted, taking notice of how it didn't have the usual features of a Megid.

"You're right about that," Daishinji agreed, "Just what is with that massive appetite?"

"Is this even the same kind of Megid we've been facing?" Kanade asked as she prepared her base transformation alongside the others.

"It doesn't seem like it," Miku replied, "But we'll just have to be careful."

"Agreed," Daishinji nodded, "Now then…"

"Henshin!"

[BATTOU! ETERNAL PHOENIX!]

[IKAZUCHI BATTOU! LAMP DO ALANGINA!]

[JUUKEN GEKIDAN! ONJUUKEN SUZUNE!]

Kamen Riders Falchion, Espada, and Slash stood together, the trio raising their blades as Charybdis turned towards them in a curious manner. Espada began to inch forward as Falchion and Slash went to run towards the sides of the Megid. Espada kicked off the ground once the others were close enough, launching and stabbing through the Megid to stagger it.

This allowed Slash to take aim with Suzune in its Gun Play mode, shooting at Charybdis' feet and tripping it up further.

"Got you," Falchion called out as she flipped forward while spinning, landing on top of it. She then aimed her blade down and stabbed at the fallen Megid, "Let's see how you like-!"

Charybdis' stomach mouth opened up, but it didn't expand as it simply unleashed a flurry of stone fists out towards Falchion. The Rider let out a yell as she was thrown backwards, sparks flying from her armor as she was slammed onto her back.

"What?" Espada turned in surprise.

"Those were Golem's remote fists!" Slash gasped out before quickly getting on guard as Charybdis went to sit up only for it to completely vanish, "No way, isn't this just like…" he trailed off before calming himself, his ear twitching as he turned and fired towards Espada, "Back off!"

Espada let out a yelp as sparks flew in front of her, Charybdis' body shimmering back into view as it had been struck in the back by Slash. The Rider of Thunder then hopped back and scanned Needle Hedgehog on her blade before thrusting forward.

[HEDGEHOG! MM-HM! SHUUTOKU ISSEN!]

The result was her unleashing an electrified needle that pierced through and tore off Charybdis' arm. The Megid stepped back before purple liquid began to spill out, solidifying into another arm.

"It can regenerate?" Espada asked, "Is it a Phantom Megid?"

"No!" Slash called out, "Golem, Ahiru, Hanzaki… these are all the abilities of Megid we've faced before."

"What, so it's like a chimera of past Megid?" Falchion asked.

Charybdis didn't give them any time to ponder this question as it opened its torso to unleash more stone fists outwards. Brief flashes of alchemic circles appeared over them, each fist gaining the elemental properties of fire, wind, or water respectively.

"What?" Slash asked as he shot them down while Falchion and Espada went to dodge and bat the fists away, "Elemental properties?"

Of course, that was when he realized that the attacks were just a distraction as Charybdis had vanished once more. He tried to figure out what exactly it was trying to do before it dawned on him, the eating, the abilities…

Falchion meanwhile had just finished dodging back only to watch the ground dent in front of her, an alchemic circle forming underneath and unleashing rocks outwards that struck and sent her flying back. That was all Slash needed to realize what was going on as it saw Charybdis reappear to approach Falchion.

"Damn, clever girl," Falchion coughed a bit as she brought out Gekisō Gungnir while working to stand, "Are we really going to have to go all out?"

Charybdis grabbed at its mouth as it made its way towards Falchion, seemingly wanting a piece of the Phoenix Rider.

"No you don't!" Espada called out as she scanned Tri-Cerberus.

[CERBERUS! MM-HM! SHUUTOKU ISSEN!]

She swung her blade, unleashing three dog heads connected by electrical tendrils. The dog heads all bit down on Charybdis as she pulled back on her blade to try and force it back. Despite this, Charybdis still opened up its torso as it prepared to devour Falchion.

"Like I'm letting you try that!" Falchion called out, "I'll just-huh?!"

Slash had immediately shoved Falchion out of the way just as the mouth outstretched further before clamping down and swallowing him in one bite.

Espada let out a gasp as her electrical constructs dispersed, "Daishinji!"

"What the hell?" Falchion asked as she stared at Charybdis in shock, the Megid having retracted its mouth as a gulping noise was heard, "Why did he…?"

Charybdis wiped its hands on its mouth, as if declaring the meal delicious before hunching forward as it readied its next move.

"Kanade… we need to get him back," Espada said as she firmed up her stance, though was slowly reaching to draw out Golden Shinjukyō, "Which means…"

"Yeah," Falchion nodded as she brought out Gekisō Gungnir, "Time to quit playing around!"

At the basement of the opera house, the alchemist trio had found what appeared to be a human sized rock of golden amber hidden by a tarp. Saint-Germain pulled off the tarp to reveal a humanoid-like figure encased within it.

Watching from behind cover were Aoi and the SONG agents, Sakuya at the top of the staircase. Of course they wouldn't get a good look at what the alchemists were trying to do as Sakuya's analysis had completed and began to loudly beep as a result.

"Get out!" Aoi called out as she went to take the lead with several of the agents, firing off at the alchemists near immediately.

Saint-Germain turned with her comrades, quickly taking a step forward and forming a barrier to block the sudden hailstorm of bullets as she watched the SONG agents make their retreat.

"What's the rush?" Cagliostro chuckled, holding up a hand and creating an alchemic circle only for Saint-Germain to put an arm in front of her, "Huh?"

"This will make the perfect experiment, let's grant El-Presidente his last wish while we're at it" Saint-Germain said as she turned towards a nearby urn, making her way towards it before bringing out the orb of light she had created earlier, "I'll take the energy we extracted from the sacrifice, and instill it into this spirit of wrath."

Prelati and Cagliostro watched as a serpent-like shape began to make its way from out of the orb, growing and shining brightly.

Outside of the opera house at a vantage point were Legeiel and Zooous, the duo having gone to Val Verde on Storious' orders. It was mostly to keep an eye on the situation due to SONG sending most of the Riders and Wielders to the country.

"Looks like they got spooked big time," Legeiel remarked as he watched the vehicles drive away before grunting as he felt a rumble, "Huh?"

"Sounds like something fun's about to start," Zooous said as he gave a grin.

A gold burst of energy occurred as a giant organic/mechanical serpent erupted out from the ground, red eyes opening up along its massive snaking body.

"What is that?!" Aoi's eyes could only widen in shock at what she was seeing.

"Respond, HQ! Respond!" an agent called out before yelling as the serpent managed to get the vehicle he was in within its maw, soon clamping down and crushing the truck.

"Tomosato, Fujitaka!" Elfnein called out in worry at what she was seeing.

"Our Wielders and Riders are out on duty! Lose that thing, even if it kills you!" Genjuro ordered though he was clearly frustrated by the events taking place.

While he was a Rider, because there was no one to pick up the chain of command like usual, everything would be in disarray if he went out as Buster at the moment.

"The only thing we'd be losing is our lives!" Sakuya argued back as Aoi worked to try and lose the massive serpent as it slammed its way through a building, taking out the second vehicle that was with the two and leaving them all alone.

"Do you copy?!" Genjuro called out.

Sakuya could only shout as Aoi had their truck round a corner, the serpent closing in too fast for them to get away from it, "We can't outrun it!"

A quick pull of the emergency brake allowed the truck to pull back slightly just as the serpent lunged, the beast plummeting down the cliff side.

"We made it!" Sakuya let out a sigh of relief, one that was too quickly made.

The serpent had managed to worm its way around, erupting from the ground and flipping the truck over.

"That makes 73,794," Saint-Germain said as she and her two allies watched from a higher vantage point, having counted the agents killed while taking note of Aoi and Sakuya making their way out of the vehicle, "Your lives will lay the foundation for a worldwide revolution."

Sakuya gave a grunt as he heard this, pulling himself from the wreckage, "Revolution?"

The giant serpent began to lift itself up, looming over the duo of SONG's best operators as it was ready to finish its job.

"~Seilien coffin Airgetlám tron~"

The alchemists began to look around, Cagliostro speaking up, "A song?"

"But from where?" Saint-Germain questioned.

Another truck drove up from behind, crashing into the serpent's blind spot as it let out a roar of pain once the explosion hit.

{SG-x00: Airgetlám}

{SG-i01: Shul Shagana}

{SG-i02: Igalima}

Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika landed in front of the duo of operators, the trio of wielders having donned their Symphogears as they prepared to face off against the gigantic serpent before them.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: And so we're finally at AXZ with its fairly explosive intro… with my own twist of course. It definitely would have felt a bit too much to have literally everyone there, which is why I did this split. But of course that's why we have the B-Plot for this current part of the story, Charybdis! This is a particular Megid I've wanted to write for and I can't wait to show you all what I have in store with it. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.