jaune arc: a pilot's legend

chapter 18: the escape

seeing her friends in danger made the stampede hyacinth even more enraged as the osiris system which had activated was trying and failing to resuscitate it's stamen as it tore it's way through a small swarm of klaxosaur getting the attention of all of the klaxosaurs in the cavern not that she cared much she was going to kill them all even if it killed her in the process because her primal senses were replaced with her higher thoughts her instincts guided her to the perfect places to strike at her foes

her companions tried to call her however they fell on deaf ears as she fights however she is yet again in control of her senses

'i'm back in control' she thought then scoffed

'not that it matters i'm not gonna be leaving not after losing not one but two partners why am i so important that both of them died protecting me" ichigo thought to herself but for some reason losing jaune hurt her more then losing goro a lot more

'i was so excited to fly in delphinium with him' she thought

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<timeskip>
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i wake up to osiris's constant badgering

"what happened" i groaned

"good morning master" osiris responded

"sitrep osiris" i ordered

"hyacinth has entered stampede mode pistil has not responded and shut down protocols have also not responded" 

"fuck" i replied

"alright let's see if i can't pull you out" i said grabbing the controls and pulling the trigger i got no response

"great we're doing this huh" i said i unfastened myself and stood and i tried to pull her off the platform but she wouldn't budge

"ichigo when we get out of this i'm gonna give you a piece of my mind" i said as i began to ram myself into her of course the moment you make contact the restraints on her ankles release

"oh of course" i said annoyed as we both go flying to the side of the cockpit

her eyes slowly flutter open

"what, why am i" she trailed off as she saw me

"you know it's rather hard to anger me but your stunt has seriously pissed me off" i said she looked down in shame

"we didn't save you so you could go and get yourself killed you know what's the point what did we die or in this case he die for" i reprimanded her but what she does next surprises the hell out of me as i feel her lips against mine i take the opportunity to kiss her back intimately

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sor" she's cut off by me pressing my lips against hers this time

"it's alright i understand how you must have felt if i lost you i'd have probably done the same, by the way mind telling me where we are" i asked and she looks down rather sheepishly

"inside the massive klaxosaur" she said

"WHAT" i shouted

"i had to deliver the bomb" she said

"oh no osiris get us out of here" i ordered

"roger" the system responded as the screens yet again came to life

"what is this" ichigo asked

"one of many secrets the AI osiris it will most likely be equipped to delphinium as well i intended to introduce you when we got it back hyacinth's osiris is merely a prototype" i said as osiris boosted out of the klaxosaur

"information, we will most likely find ourselves face to face with a swarm the moment we leave the brood mother" osiris said

"is that what this klaxosaur is called

"affirmative" osiris responded

"leave them to me just keep hyacinth behind me and do not allow ichigo to enter stampede mode

"roger setting lock-out" osiris stated

"if we die it's your fault" i said

"i said i was sorry" ichigo said to my surprise there were no klaxosaurs 

"can you pilot" i asked ichigo nodded

"we don't have time to use dann" i said as she got back onto the pistil platform

"osiris, trigger, i have" i said

"roger, trigger, you have" osiris responded as i quickly reconnected with ichigo bringing hyacinth back online as we continued to boost through the cave already escaping the still very angry brood mother

"osiris shut down your program" i ordered

"affirmative" osiris ordered as i pulled up the HUD to see thankfully none of the squad

"the squad appears to have already got out" i told her

"good" she said

"two minutes ichigo" i said

"we're nearly there we'll make it" hyacinth responded eventually finding the elevator shaft we found the two squads waiting for us

"you made it" argentea said

"yeah no thanks to ichigo anyway no time for chit chat let's go" i said

as squad 26 unit's 4 and 5 begin to pull the cord at a not very quick pace

"oh give me that" i said activating the boosters we ascend at a much quicker pace about half way up the timer hits zero and you here a muffled boom and in that instant the upward force from the explosion sends us up at a much faster pace then hyacinth ever could manage and once you reach the top you are unceremoniously dumped from the elevator shaft breathing a sigh of relief as i release the controls allowing them to return to their inactive position at ichigo's hips

though i wasn't even given a moment of peace as i was immediately tackled by a very happy ichigo

"and a wild ichigo appears" i said

"you said you'd never leave me" she said

"i did"

"promise" she asked

"on my word as an arc and an arc never goes back on their word" i said with a smile

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<timeskip> <meanwhile>
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doctor franxx who was sitting behind a massive wooden desk behind him was a massive glass window and behind that window stood strelizia and delphinium which had just completed their upgrades the doctor was currently being contacted by nana and hachi of code

"ah nana, hachi, i trust you have news regarding the children" the old man inquired though he already knew the answer for if something happened it would be showing on nana's face

"yes, doctor the children have returned all accounted for code 013 has demanded the delphinium be returned before the next launch" nana stated the doctor chuckled

"well fortunately it and strelizia have just been completed what of hyacinth" the doctor asked

"heavily damaged it's leg thrusters and entirely burned out and it's armor has damages along her right side heavy damages it will be out of commission for at least a week" hachi said gravely

"and the children the franxx is not an issue parts can be replaced" he asked

"in mistilteinn after the mission i sent them to eat bath and rest " nana said

"very good, monitor them closely they have most likely suffered extreme psychological trauma, it may even be necessary for them to undergo maintenance at the garden, schedule it and appraise me for when you arrive" the doctor ordered

"are you intending to administer the maintenance yourself sir" hachi asked

"perhaps, that will be all for now the delphinium and strelizia will be delivered soon" the doctor replied