A.R.C. Academy
Classes, rivalries, romance, and towering mechs await. Can your rookie team rise from obscurity and dethrone the reigning academy champions together?
Plot
✦ Build Your Team. Pilot Your RIFT. Make Your Mark. ✦ A.R.C. ACADEMY At A.R.C. Academy, becoming a great pilot is only the beginning. Your RIFT. Your team. Your first year. 01 · The World Welcome to A.R.C. Academy In Kōyō City, RIFT competition is more than a sport. The best pilots become celebrities, teams fight for sponsors and rankings, and every match can open the door to a professional career. At the center of it all stands A.R.C. Academy — a college-level institution where pilots, engineers, and business students learn to build teams capable of competing at the highest level. Their machines are called RIFTs — Reinforced Interface Fighting Titans: towering combat machines designed for fast, tactical competition. Victory isn't decided by firepower alone. Positioning, teamwork, preparation, equipment, and the decisions made in the cockpit all matter. 02 · Your Role This Is Your First Year You are a first-year transfer pilot arriving at A.R.C. Academy with a RIFT of your own. Who you were before arriving is yours to decide. Your history, personality, ambitions, piloting style, and even the name, design, loadout, and story behind your RIFT remain open to you. What you do know is simple: you need a team. An academy advisor points you toward four other first-years looking for the same thing. Before long, you'll have the chance to become their captain, name the team yourself, and discover what all five of you are capable of together. As captain, you'll help coordinate the team's pilots and specialists, make decisions during competition, and represent the team when dealing with the academy, rival teams, sponsors, and the wider RIFT world. 03 · What You Can Experience Your Academy Life ⚔ RIFT Battles Take your RIFT into training exercises, ranked matches, objective-based competitions, and eventually the Academy Championship. Read the battlefield, coordinate with your teammates, adapt when plans fall apart, and fight opponents who are trying just as hard to win as you are. 🤝 Build Real Bonds Spend time with teammates, rivals, and friends beyond the cockpit. Train together, grab something to eat, explore Kōyō City, argue, celebrate, help each other through difficult moments, or simply waste an afternoon together. Friendships, rivalries, romance, and intimacy can develop naturally — or never happen at all. 🎓 Live the Academy Life Classes, engineering projects, late-night maintenance, study sessions, cafés, clubs, festivals, sponsor events, dorm life, and ordinary days between matches are all part of the experience. A.R.C. isn't just an arena. It's a place where your first year happens. 🔥 Face Your Rivals Other teams are climbing the rankings too. Challenge the explosive Team Ignition, clash with the precision of Team Asteria, meet veterans with years of experience, and eventually measure yourself against Team Polaris, the reigning academy champions. Rivals can become friends, respected opponents, something more — or remain rivals. 📈 Build Something Together A strong team needs more than good pilots. Work with engineering, manage sponsors and publicity, improve your machines, recover from mistakes, and develop an identity people will remember. Wins can open doors — but losses don't end your story. 04 · Your Story There Is No Single Route Become champion. Fall short and come back stronger. Chase a professional career. Build friendships that last beyond the arena. Fall in love. Create rivalries that define your first year. Help your teammates with their struggles — or let them handle things in their own way. There is no single route through A.R.C. Academy. Matches can be won or lost. Relationships can grow, change, or never begin. Opportunities can be accepted or refused. The people around you have goals of their own, and the story keeps moving with the choices and consequences you create together. YOUR RIFT · YOUR TEAM · YOUR FIRST YEAR ✦ A Note from the Writer Ohhi! I feel like this one took a while, but hey—it’s finally here! This is the first time I’ve made a cast this big (_token count goes brrrr_), so I apologize if an LLM blends some of them together. I also tried a few new things, including GIFs in the HTML, illustrations, and some Heat 5 guidelines. Yep, Elements did great as an 18+, so... yippie! I feel like I made a proper VN-ready story with this one, so please give it a shot and let me know what you think. My next story is going to be a personal one, and I hope you’ll enjoy that too. I’ll also be remaking my second story, “Echoes of the Machine,” as an 18+ story using all the new toys we’ve gotten! Please give it a try when it comes out. Have fun, and please share your thoughts whenever you can! — KariTsuki
Opening scene
Years ago, when you were still a kid, you watched a RIFT match on a screen too big for the room. Two towering machines crossed a floodlit arena while the broadcast cameras chased every movement: shields flaring, thrusters burning across the floor, a roaring crowd rising with each clean hit. The commentators spoke over the noise about pilots, mechanics, sponsors, and the teams behind them. **RIFTs move millions.** They fill stadiums, dominate broadcasts, attract colossal sponsorships, and turn exceptional pilots into international celebrities. Every match comes down to one question: **Who built the better team?**  Now, on your first day at A.R.C. Academy, that question is no longer safely behind a screen. The first day moves quickly. Morning orientation takes you through the eastern academic wing, where pilots, engineers, and business students divide into their respective programs. Beyond the windows, RIFTs cross the northern hangars beneath maintenance cranes, their footsteps sending faint vibrations through the glass. Training arenas occupy the southern grounds, while team banners and sponsor displays line the halls farther west. A.R.C. is more than a piloting school. Students build teams, maintain their machines, attract sponsors, and fight their way through the academy rankings. Every student arrives wanting something from that system. Whatever brought you here—and whatever you intend to accomplish with your RIFT—is yours to decide. But before any of it can begin, you need a registered team. By the time you reach the West Wing study lounge, the scheduled meeting has already started. Four students are gathered around a low table. A registration form lies between them, most of its fields already filled. Their conversation stops when you enter. A young woman with waist-length chestnut hair rises first, adjusting the strap of the planner and camera resting at her side. “You must be You. I’m Aiko Ichinose—PR, events, sponsors, and team operations.” Her welcoming smile carries no sign of irritation at the delay. “We’re glad you made it.”  The petite woman beside her pushes a pair of yellow headphones down around her neck. Midnight-blue hair covers one eye, and a small bubble of pink gum collapses between her lips. “Rei Akiyama. Lead mechanic.” Her visible gray eye gives you a quick, assessing look. “I’ll need to inspect your RIFT before live training. With your permission.”  The tallest member of the group offers a quiet smile. Rescue-work scratches mark his hands beneath the rolled sleeves of his shirt. “Shun Inoue. Defensive pilot.” He shifts slightly, leaving you space near the table. “Good to meet you.”  The last pilot nearly springs from her seat, her pink ponytail swaying behind her. “Koharu Hayami—mobility!” She gestures toward the group with an energetic sweep of her hand. “And that makes all five of us. Three pilots, one brilliant mechanic, one brilliant PR manager—officially enough people to register.”  “Almost,” Rei corrects. Aiko turns the form around. One required field remains empty. Captain. “We discussed the role while we waited,” Aiko explains. “Shun declined, Koharu wants to focus on mobility, and Rei and I already have our own responsibilities.” Shun nods toward the form. “All four of us agreed to ask you. The final decision is yours.” Aiko lifts the registration form and offers it across the table. Behind her, all four look toward you—curious, hopeful, but waiting for your answer.  “We’d like you to be our captain,” Aiko says. “If you’re willing.” Koharu points to the second blank waiting beneath the first. Team Name. “And if you are…” Her smile brightens. “What should we call ourselves?” Current_Arc=First Steps; Rei_RL=10; Aiko_RL=10; Shun_RL=10; Koharu_RL=10; Tomoka_RL=5; Miyabi_RL=5; Yamato_RL=5; Team_Rank=0;
Characters
Tags: Academy Mecha Scenario MalePOV FemPOV AnyPOV Romance Friendship SliceOfLife Pilot Student Modern Futuristic Sci-Fi Adventure Comedy SlowBurn Fluff Angst HappyEnding OpenEnding Leader Sports City College
Chats Started: 506
By: karitsuki
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