Chapter 1: Petals Born on Spring

When she got to her room, Homura spent a while rearranging her outfits to her personal tastes. Between her personal purchases and clothes that she often got to keep from shoots, she had more than she knew what to do with. She had less space here in the theater, so maybe it was time to get rid of some clothes.

"I'll keep this, and that... This can go. Oh, but this is definitely staying...!" She muttered to herself as she deliberated intensely.

Once her curation was over, she'd cut her collection of outfits down by roughly half. She wiped her brow as she looked at the discarded mountain of clothes. I suppose I'll donate these.

From the window, she noticed night had settled in, so she began to get ready for bed. She changed into a comfortable blue yukata and styled her hair into a loose bun, but just as she began to climb into bed, the shamon alarm started blaring.

Another shamon? That was two in one day, which she found unusual. However, she couldn't help but feel excitement bubbling up within her. If the petalframes were ready, then this could be the perfect test for them. She sprinted out of her room and headed for whatever area they were supposed to go in the event of a shamon alert.

Not knowing where to go, the girls all meet in the main lobby; Rika seemed to predict that, and was waiting in there.
"Oh, there you are! Sorry for the inconvenience, but it seems that beast you fought earlier was part of a larger incursion! Quick, come in here!" She guides them to the hall next to to the lobby where, behind an old painting which slid off, a hidden elevator that leads down.

When everyone is inside, Rika press the buttons, and the metal ornate grid closes, the elevator quickly descends... And descends.

After seemingly some ten floors down, it finally stops: the girls can see a huge complex, with them landing on a platform where multiple people in uniforms worked on tables full of different displays and buttons, at a central table, Moriyama stood, waiting for them, next to Hoshikawa, both wearing military uniforms, displaying their high-patents and multiple condecorations from the War.

When everyone is by the table, he starts: "Listen up everyone: We spotted multiple shamons on the Reiganbashi docks. Our intelligence believes they came together with that beast you fought earlier, but kept hidden...

The area has already been evacuated by Mimoza Division, we just now need to eliminate those shamons before they destroy the whole area, or move to threat a non-evacuated one.

this is going to be your first deployment as the Acrux Division of the Steel Petal Force... Please, do your best!"

And with that and a salute, he dispensed you to go into the petalframes... Those jewels of steam-technology, currently the greatest weapon of mankind against the shamon threat, powered by the warrior's own soul (and currently an auxiliary battery... They're working on that)!

"Heh, I'm still working on your uniforms, so today you will have to fight in your normal clothes~" She said, smiling embarrassedly and showing her tongue, "I-I promise the wait will be worthwhile! For now... Though it isn't ideal, there's no big deal about not having them either... You will just have to put this on..." She says, showing them greyish-brown capes, that would their shoulders and upper body like ponchos, it seems made of some rubbery polymer, and has plug-holes in it, "This capture your spiritual power and make sure it goes into powering the petalframe, instead of dissipating in the air!"

When it's all set, the girls are inside their open petalframes, wearing the cape, with cables connecting it to the petalframe's interior. As they're unplugged from the cables powering the auxiliary battery and turn initial ignition, they start humming, louder and louder, until steam jets blow from exhaust pipes in their back.

Rika gives them each a big key-thing, around 40 centimeters long, though not very heavy, "These are your soulkeys, each are attuned to the owner, and are used to start your petalframes!"

After starting them and getting in position, the girls can move them freely, like the thing is just an extension of their body. After some initial trying, they can also conclude they're pretty agile, in fact, with steam propulsion, they can slide and dash at great speeds.

"Alright, now to you getting there: the petalframes are capable of locking on the railways and using their auxiliary power to drive at full speed stably on them. Gagrux and Mimoza divisions will work to set the best pathway, and to redirect any obstacle... Now, good luck to you!"

---

On the meanwhile, on the island district of Eiganbashi, encircled by the canals and the Edogawa river at south, where some habitations lie on the northern side, while the southern is occupied by dockyards.

The place was completely desert and quiet, one could say, until the silence would be invariably interrupted by a roar and destruction. There are a bunch on shamons in there, smashing buildings and infrastructure.

Shizuka felt excitement brewing in her stomach as the group dropped deep down into the facility. The mission didn’t seem complicated, but it would be her first time using this type of machine in battle. With the military-clad people surrounding her she felt more like a test subject than a warrior about to save Tokyo, but the feeling quickly passed once Rika handed her odd-looking cape and a soulkey.

Quickly putting on the poncho, Shizuka did some basic stretches to make sure it wouldn’t slip off while inside the petalframe. Her soul key was a thin, long rectangle made out of a pristine silver-looking metal. Getting everything plugged up took her a while since she didn’t read the manuals, but eventually she was ready to go and standing outside her mech.

Her petalframe was green and build for primarily for defense with a large shield and thick armor, although it also had a sword and pistol for combat. Once everything was ready, she stepped into the open cockpit and waited for the mission to begin. She didn’t have to wait long, as the mech snaped shut, and after a moment of darkness the internal systems began to glow and bootup. Several operating systems flashing across the screen, but eventually she had full vision of the facility’s interior and nearby railways they would use to launch.

"Oh, this is great! It’s so roomy compared the police mechs, and moves so fluidly!"

Twisting her arms around caused the petalframe to do the same, and Shizuka checked all of her appendages and equipment eagerly. Then, walking to the railway system she took a crouching position as her petalframe began to slowly move, and then it steadily gained speed and roared down the rails like a tiny train.

"Hahaha, I’m flying! Well, I’m more like a train… Where are the others?"

Looking at her various screens, she found the radar and saw that she had zoomed ahead of the other unintentionally. Also, she left her radio on this whole time had been shouting into the microphone.

"Hey, there’s a lot of shamon! Are we going to team up against them or fight one-on-one?"

She asked the question, but still sped for the nearest shamon with her shield held out in front like a battering ram. Launching off the rails and over the dockyards, narrowly avoiding clipping the top of a boat. She attempted to land directly onto the shamon shield-first while intenting to follow up with her petalframe’s short sword.

"Illegal destruction of property, and an act of war! The punishment is elimination!"

Chimera is similarly excited about finally getting to pilot a petalframe, her frustrations allayed for now.

Her petalframe would look like a robin's egg with its round shape and pleasing shade of sky blue if not for the menacing metal spikes jutting out of its back, which act to project weather phenomenon. In its hands lies a scythe with a mechanism to allow it to extend a chain between its head and shaft. In other words, Chimera loves it.

She'll have to acquire a cape for the mech at some point, but the lack of one doesn't dampen her spirits. Chimera basically jumps into the cockpit after slinging on the plugcape. After striking a few poses to test out the mech's mobility, Chimera nods in approval.

"A fine vessel worthy of my ambition! Now, to strike fear into the heartless!"

Once on the rails, Chimera boosts her speed by projecting a gale force wind behind her. Once she reaches the docks, she uses the momentum to launch herself off of the rails. She extends the scythe's chain to grapple one of the shipping cranes, swinging high into the air in such a way so that she is silhouetted by the moon above.

"Look upon me and despair! Tempest Fury Prelude!"

With great aplomb, Chimera unleashes a storm of lighting strikes onto the shamon below as if she were the storm cloud, aiming to thin them out with her shock and awe tactic.

The moment Homura inserted her vermillion Soul Key into the ignition and twisted, she was briefly overcome with a wave of new sensory information as her petalframe roared to life. Once she adjusted, she was aware of every system, every tool, every joint as if the mecha were her own body. She felt the invigorating sensation of her spiritual power flooding outwards, a feeling she found almost identical to when she used her pyrokinesis, but it was to a much greater extent, as if the petalframe acted as a force multiplier for her soul.

The petalframe itself was a strikingly deep orange with purple accents, reminiscent of a sunrise coming over the horizon. It held a heavy flamethrower that seemed more than sturdy enough to serve as a bashing weapon in a pinch. A firmly secured tube led from the weapon to a pair of armored fuel tanks on the petalframe's back. She wasn't sure what the tanks contained, her best guess would be some form of diesel or consecrated oil, but the specifics didn't matter to her as long as it was effective on shamons.

After she had tested out her mobility with everyone else, she was ready to go. "Acrux Division, move out!!" With that, she propelled her petalframe along the rails, following the designated paths.

"Slow down! You're pulling too far ahead!" She shouted over the comms to Shizuka and Chimera, to no avail. She grumbled, before coming to the realization she could catch up. She kicked off of the rails and fed her spiritual power to her thrusters, reflexively deploying them from sliding panels on her petalframe's legs, shoulders and elbows. Gritting her teeth as the G-forces pulled at her, she arrived in a close third place, soaring over the docks.

"We're teaming up, of course!" Homura replied to Shizuka's question, even as the latter leapt into the fray without waiting for an answer. "Watch each other's backs, and do not get surrounded! The commander said the area's been evacuated, so go all out!"

She followed up Chimera's lightning strikes by unleashing a powerful torrent of flames on the freshly electrocuted shamons. Leaving that bunch of shamons behind to burn, she flew around, laying down an oppressive blanket of flames wherever she could see shamon activity.

"Send them back to hell, Sunrise Flare!" Homura roared, christening her prototype petalframe in the heat of the moment.

Claude accepted the cape and soul-key and hastily relocated to the designated frame, preparing for the launch. Once everything is in order, the noble hopped into the canopy and closed the hatch, and cheched that everything is connected.

La Rose Verte stood up from the rack, and made a few dancing motions, drew a blade, and made a few flourishes before sheathing it again, and rushed towards the deployment rails.

"My deepest apologies for my tardiness; I am catching up to you."

The Rose shot into the air, aiming at the same general vicinity as the princess, but then used its thrusters to adjust the course and begin closing in to those shamon that were deemed to have the highest risk of flanking the Fury. The frame went for quick cuts, rapidly repositioning after each engagement.

Hana rushed down the stairs and collected her cape from Rika, bowed to appologize for sleeping late. She'd been up late studying the manual for her petalframe. She felt the material of the fabric, it was rubbery, she suspected it might be hot to wear in battle but she donned it as she hurried towards the Petalframe's hangar.

Standing before her was her Viper Lily, she had seen it's pictures in the manual all evening, she rushed up the ladder to enter the cockpit and ran her hands over the controls. The leather-stitched grips upon the joysticks felt warm under her palm. Her delicate fingers traced the retinal display as her HUD began to power-on.

"Systems online, scanners online, weapons online, all systems nominal." the robotic voice was feminine, she recalled how her sister used to talk about how each petal had it's own personality, or so it seemed. "Hello" she said to the mechanical voice, "I'm Hana, together we are one, I will be your Maiden.".

The system did not reply, but Hana felt within her breast a swell of confidence, she felt powerful. Those shamon were going to pay for her sisters death, this was her opportunity, the start of the end.

She tested the balance and the controls, as she began to walk out of the hangar area, the suit seemed to intuitively respond to her thoughts and motions, she found it easy to regulate the distance between steps. The petal's long deer-like limbs were not awkward, but felt natural.


She broke into a stride, her suit not having boosters to fly like Claude's. The Viper Lily's steps were widening in stride, 5 meter steps, 8 meter steps, 12 meter steps, soon she was bounding 30 meters between each stride. The hoof like limbs built-in shock absorbtion balancing out the impact of each heavy step, the petal felt graceful. Hana laughed in excitement as she flicked the aim-assist crosshair down over her retina, the scanner blipped as the shamon came into view.

She pulled back the bow, the ratcheting sounds as it expanded to its full form with a chok chok chok and the string sprang to life with an electrifying hum as the energy was stabilized between the refractors on either end of the bow's riser.

She felt the string to test it, the laser arrow began to charge as it materialized.. it felt just like home, in the woods. The arrow sizzled through the air, ionizing the oxygen as it screamed towards it's target, the plucking of the string rang out like a bolt of lightning's thunderclap! Her heart skipped, she liked that sound.

Abenanka didn't share the same enthusiasm as the others. She'd been in conflict before, knew about the strain on the body and the soul. She murmured prayers to the kamuy while the lift trundled down, her usual anxiety reaction of stroking one of her charms in full effect in the rattling metal box that brought her ever closer to the inevitable.

She wouldn't turn away, since her family were the protectors of the forests and the mountains. She'd do her duty, and she'd keep the people she cared about safe. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the lift and onto the hard ground of her future. It took only a moment to cross the space and accept the key to her petalframe. Less time to find the hulking design, hunched forward on it's two sizable front limbs.

"So as the bear wakens from its hibernation in the mountain cave, so too do I become a god." She frowned, a shiver of fear running down her spine. "If only it were so easy."

She glanced over to where Homura accepted hers with confidence, and to the others further still who barely hesitated. Each one had been designed with their personalities in mind, so elegant and spectacular. Not like the lumbering, ugly truth of her own. She worried at the ends of her braid before making the decision to hide herself in charms and drapes once again.

By the time she rolled down the track, shoulders and elbows scraping along the edges of houses because the tracks were too narrow, she'd left her teammates fighting for far too long. Time had come to use those enormous claws for good.

"Heh... Understood, commander!" Homura couldn't possibly relax after wielding such power. She knew now that the petalframes were as game-changing as they were said to be. This could truly turn the tide against the shamon.

And the Fall of Tokyo would never happen again... The half-demolished surroundings reminded her of how Tokyo was razed to the ground nearly ten years ago. The defenses were stripped away by a shamon whose form blotted out the sun, allowing its smaller brethren to overrun the imperial capital in droves. She remembered fleeing with her best friend, Satsuki...

She shook her head, refusing to dwell on those painful memories for too long. Reconvening with the others, Homura brought Sunrise Flare to a stop and vented the heat that had built up during combat. Scalding hot steam hissed from vents and the pipes on the back of the petalframe.

"Good work, everyone. Not only did we stomp out every last one of those monsters, we did it without anyone getting hurt. I call that an absolute victory!" Homura celebrated over the comms.

Crashing through the fishmonger's shed, Shizuka continued her roll and managed to land on her feet. The shed would have to be rebuilt and paid for, by the Steel Petal Force, of course. However, now she was in the middle of several shamon unprepared. As their attention turned towards her petalframe, they unleashed a flurry of attacks that banged up her mech. With the glass cracking and several systems turning red, Shizuka wasn't quite sure what was going on but she could still swing her sword around.

"Ehhh, what do all these flashing lights mean? Oh well, I can still fight!"

Once the battle was over it was clear that Shizuka didn't really help at all, but the rain of magical firepower from her comrades was certainly amazing to see. At the very least, the military scientists seemed excited that her mech sustained so much damage and was still functioning, even if it would take a while to fix. Hearing the "all clear" call over the radio, Shizuka triumphantly flashed the peace sign with her mech.

"Heh, heh. I feel like I learned something about piloting. Maybe."

"Acknowledged," responded Claude to the commander, and let out a sigh of relief.

The Rose kneeled next to some nearby building's raised porch and opened the canopy, letting the pilot conveniently dismount and take a better look at the surroundings, assessing the destruction as well as observing the other frames.

And so Claude stood on the porch, between the stairs and the door, half-illuminated by evening city lights, making it difficult to discern where the layers of the 'toga' ended and the cape began. The sheathed sabre and baldric was still in the swashbuckler's hand, held casually.

"Ehh, is that you Hana? It's me, Shizuka! Small world."

Even though they were far apart geographically, Shizuka's mech mirrored her movements and it looked as though she was talking to an invisible person nearby.

"I'm not used to Rooster #6's thicker armor yet. When I'm on-duty I'm usually perfect at avoiding property damage... Your petalframe is so sleek and pretty!"

Chimera descends from the skies, swinging herself back down to ground level with her chain scythe. A very intentional shockwave of wind accompanies her three point landing onto a shipping container. She'll definitely need a cape for the mech for dramatic cape waving sooner than later. Putting on a proud pose with her mech, Chimera preens from above where the others are standing. Hopefully with her mighty display of power, her competence will be acknowledged now.

When Hana introduces herself, Chimera strikes a dramatic pose with her hand out imposingly, making sure that she's got the right backlighting from the moon.

"To the shamon, I am their reaper. And so they have met their fate. To you, I am your ally. And so we have fatefully met! I am Chimera Roosevelt, the storm which strikes sure! Together, we shall go forth and herald this new era!"

Abenanka lets Yuki-onna come to a natural rest, propped up by it's claws, having dug a furrow in the ground to act as a fire break preventing further damage to nearby structures. Since so much of Tokyo had been built in wood, she'd have to try and keep Homura's fire in check, but that gave her plenty of opportunities for... well...

Taking a moment to herself, she says a prayer of thanks that herself and her teammates are unharmed, then brings the lumbering petalframe around to join the others. She approaches as Hana begins to introduce herself, and stops short. There's something about the newcomer that doesn't immediately sit well with Abenanka, something far too familiar. She keeps a respectful and wary distance, watching the exchange.

Homura rolled up to introduce herself to the newest addition. "I'm Homura Kusakabe, pilot of the Sunrise Flare and temp captain of the Acrux Division! Looking forward to working with you, Takizawa-san."

"That said... Roosevelt-san! No... Chimera-san. You had a good showing today, arguably the best of us all. What would you say to being my vice captain?" Homura offered. Due to Chimera's outburst earlier, she was seeking to make amends somehow.

Chimera pauses in the face of Homura's offer, dropping the dramatics of her self-introduction.

"Eh, really!? Well then, I shall look forwards to seeing how command's receives your endorsement! You have my gratitude for this opportunity, Homura Kusakabe, the Phoenix Flamestorm Eminent!"