Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Hello, and thank you for reading this story, my story. In case you didn't know, my name's Luca Santi. In case you couldn't tell by the name, I'm Italian. Before I get into the main story, though, I'll explain who I am and how I got to be a pilot.

I was born in a small town in Southern Italy to two loving parents. My father was in the military, but my mother didn't want us to be moving all over, so we stayed at our small house. However, three years before the Infinite Stratos was introduced, my dad was killed by an extremist group out in the Middle East, and soon after my mother got gravely ill. It hasn't killed her, but she has been unable to leave our small house since the day of his funeral. I spent the next several years learning to take care of my mother, go to school, and still learn martial arts.

Oh, yeah, I should explain that. You see, I'm the world martial arts champion, and have been for the past five years. I first picked it up to protect myself from bullies, but it soon grew into a passion as I entered larger and larger contests. I began using federal aid to hire nurses to look after my mother while I worked on my martial arts. About a year before this story starts, though, a major change happened to me.

I found an IS suit.

It was completely abandoned and in very rough shape about a mile from my house, but I dragged it to a warehouse across the street from our house. Dad bought it before he died, planning on starting a business out of it after he left the military, but I currently use it for training.

Anyway, I quickly figured out how an IS works, and reverse engineered my own Core, but made it even more efficient. I was able to figure this out because I have one of the highest IQs in the world, around 200, although I'm pretty sure that the last time it was checked, it was 215. By using the fullest extent of my mind, I used the parts and programming of the IS to make my own parts. I also discovered another technique to strengthen the armor, but I'm not revealing how, trade secret.

Overall, it took me about three months to assemble the new IS. It normally wouldn't take so long for someone to assemble an IS, but I did plenty of research, including...um...hacking various countries to get the specs for each advanced model. I improved upon them all, including Houki Shinonono's 4th-generation model. I made several improvements on their abilities, and spent another month afterwards understanding the programming. I managed to reprogram the entire thing, and in doing so, discovered a single line of code that everyone but the creator of the Byakushiki forgot. It would be very easy to miss, so I wouldn't blame anybody for it, except that it's the code that allows men to pilot an IS. The only copies I know of are in my IS and in the Byakushiki.

Anyway, once I finished everything, I spent another three months training myself, mainly basic movements and flight, although I found videos explaining how to do martial arts in an IS, which I quickly memorized so that I wouldn't have to change my fighting style.

When I finally revealed it to the press, I shocked the world.

"Mom, could you turn the television to the news station in about an hour?" I asked Mom the morning of the release. "There's going to be a special on that I think you'd like."

She smiled and nodded before I fed her the medicine she's supposed to take. "Thank you, that's very considerate of you," she replied. "Where are you going, though?" she added as I turned toward the door.

I smiled as I turned back toward her. "I'm just going on a quick trip to the city for a few errands," I told her, even though the closest city's about an hour away by car.

She lowered her eyebrows in thought, but nodded as I walked out.

The moment the door was closed behind me, I took off at a sprint to the far side of the warehouse, where Mom wouldn't see my IS right away. When I reached the spot, I held out a black bracelet with a silver anchor (a tribute to the Mediterranean Sea, only a stone's throw from my house) dangling from it, my method of summoning my IS, which I named Falco Argento, or Silver Falcon for those of you that don't speak Italian.

"Come to me, Falcon Argento!" I commanded, holding out my arm. Bright light engulfed me as Falco Argento materialized around me. It was so advanced, though, that it only appeared as the main suit, which looks like any other, but is black with silver running through it.

'Wings,' I thought to myself, envisioning the wings. There was a second of silence before a set of wings appeared, similar to a falcon's but silver, hence the name. 'Time to have some fun,' I thought to myself as my helmet, which formed around my glasses, planned out the route to the nearest city. This was only three days after the last competition, so people would easily recognize me.

As I flew to the city, I maintained a high altitude to avoid excess attention from the ground, and I tested my full flying abilities, doing numerous flips, somersaults, and corkscrews in midair as I went. It greatly lengthened my flight time from twenty minutes to forty because of various detours I took to evade aerospace patrols and all the tricks I pulled out. When I finally arrived at the city, though, there were three IS's waiting for me.

"Huh, that was quick," I muttered to myself as I stopped in front of them.

"Reveal your identity, pilot," one of the pilots told me.

I checked the time. Perfect, five minutes before Mom turned on the television. I looked around, and saw that the news station that Mom would most likely turn to was there, as well as the rest that we have available.

"This is your last warning," the pilots told me. "Reveal your face!"

I chuckled. "No need to shout," I stated before I retracted my helmet, returning it to its form as my glasses.

"Wha-it's a guy!" one of them screamed when she saw me.

"To be precise, that is Luca Santi, martial arts world champion," another of them commented. "How could he pilot an IS, though?"

I grinned. "I'm just that awesome," I stated before I landed in front of several news stations, any of which I knew Mom would be watching.

"Mr. Santi, is this really you?" one of the reporters asked me. "Are you able to pilot an IS?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, I can pilot an IS," I replied.

"How is this possible?" another asked me.

I chuckled. "I'll just say that I discovered the secret to a male IS pilot, although I will not disclose that secret to anybody," I replied, dismissing the wings.

Their eyes widened. "Who made this IS for you?" they asked me. "Was it Ms. Tabane Shinonono?"

I shook my head. "I did," I told them. "I made this IS, core and all, by reverse engineering an IS that had been abandoned by my house. Ms. Tabane Shinonono is no longer the only one able to produce a core anymore."

They proceeded to ask me more and more questions, but I made sure only to answer certain ones that wouldn't give away any secrets.

"What do you think this means for the future of IS pilots?" they asked me.

I shrugged. "Well, I guess that it will open opportunities for future men," I replied.

I stayed there to answer questions for twenty more minutes before I reactivated my wings. "Well, I should be getting home," I told them before I flew away at top speed. Fortunately, I haven't given them the chance to figure out where I live yet, so I flew home at top speed, arriving in under twenty minutes.

When I landed outside my house, Mom was standing outside.

"Mom!" I shouted, dismissing Falco and rushing to her side. "You should be inside!"

She smiled and nodded. "You really surprised me there, Luca," she told me. "I never knew that you were creating your own IS in the warehouse," she stated.

I smiled and shrugged as I helped her go inside. "It was a nice challenge, and I figured I might as well test myself," I explained as I helped her sit down in her chair. "Are you mad that I kept this from you?" I asked her.

She shook her head and held my hand between both of her own. "Luca, I am very proud of you," she told me. "No one has ever done as much as you have. You are the best son a mother could have."

I smiled as I filled with joy. "Thanks, Mom," I replied. "To be honest, though, I also did it so that I could do more with my life than just martial arts."

She smiled and nodded. "I figured that much myself," she told me.

The rest of the day was fairly calm, with me spending the rest of the day calibrating Falco better. He leaned a bit to the left while we flew, so I made a few adjustments, staying up late into the night before I went to bed.

The next day, though, the government found me.

I had just woken up and was making myself a cup of coffee to dispel any drowsiness left in my system when two large, black SUVs pulled up to the house.

"What the...?" I whispered to myself. I hadn't expected the government to arrive so quickly, but I was proven wrong as six men in black suits and wielding large guns accompanied a tall woman with long black hair and sunglasses to the door, which she knocked on.

"Who's here?" Mom asked from her chair.

"People from the government," I replied, cracking the front door slightly, sticking my foot behind it to prevent it from being opened further. "Hello? How may I help you?" I asked me.

A/N: Hello, all. I found this story hidden away a few weeks ago and, after reading it, decided to give it an ending and post it up here on . Please, let me know what you think in a review/PM, and please no hate.