was a warm spring in Sunshine City. The end of winter marked the first day of school for many students across Japan. However, for a trio of heroes, school day means work day. A blonde Esper girl and two friends of hers were sent to stop a hostile takeover at downtown Sunshine City. An army of androids were wreaking havoc at Yggdrasil Park, and the three must take them all down. The blonde Esper girl swiftly gunned down the androids with her dual pistols, while her two accomplices washed and burned the metallic footsoldiers to death with their Sigils. Not long, the park were cleaned from those rogue mechanical lifeforms.
"Job well done, girls. Time to report to our boss about the situation" said the blonde girl. Her name was Rachel Mason, daughter of the former US Navy lieutenant Richard Mason who was married to a Frenchwoman after his retirement named Emma Mason, who owned a bakery in Yokohama, where Richard spent his retirement at.
The three returned to the school council office and reported their recent fight to their boss, Tsubaki Kobayashi. She happened to be the head of Rurigaoka High School's student council, but also the head of Lazuline's covert security unit, Azure Shields. It was formed by the former CEO of Lazuline and principal of Rurigaoka, Mizuki Takahitsuji to fight against the Deviant threat posed by the Blood Gear gang and the Kamiyama forces. Upon Mizuki's death, Azure Shields remained strong with the help of her eldest child, Dr. Marika Takahitsuji.
Rachel always had a strong sense of justice in her. She grew up alongside her two elder brothers, Jake and Daniel Mason, who worked as a journalist and a police officer. Jake was a very kind yet caring person towards Rachel, while Daniel was more cold and stern towards her. Rachel always adored the two for their good job fighting against injustice against Espers, until one day, Jake was found dead on an alleyway. He was lying on a pool of his own blood.
Rachel couldn't believe that her most favorite of her two elder brothers passed away. Refusing to walk on the path of vengeance, Rachel remembered that he fought for injustice, reporting the crimes that Blood Gear and the Kamiyamas did to the Espers, and Daniel fought tooth and nail against the Blood Gear criminals. She decided to bring whoever behind the death of one of her beloved brothers to justice in order to fulfill Jake's wishes instead of fulfilling her own personal anger.
"Why did you chose to fight for justice? Justice is hard to find nowadays, as us Espers kept getting the short end of the stick by those filthy Deviant opressors. It's amazing that you chose not to avenge one of your elder brothers, but rather to stick by your family's principals. People like you are like a rarity" asked Tsubaki.
"It is because of my family. I cannot betray or tarnish the Mason family, for all of us swore upon the road of justice. My other brother Daniel worked as a police officer back then, and my sister Claire has gone missing. I won't stop until I find out the truth behind my brother Jake's death, and reunite with Claire" answered Rachel.
"I see why.. in that case, people like you are very needed for our group. Here in Rurigaoka, we're just the school's council and disciplinary committee. But the truth is that we're Azure Shields, those who fight for the Espers' rights and survival. We uphold justice day and night against all threats to our brethren. Right now we're facing two cyber terrorists named Yoshio Inukai and Olivia Sinclair. The two has hacked some of the city's robots known as Zarvoxes into Capture Droids, androids built to capture and kidnap Espers and send them to their higher-ups, Valhalla. An organization apparently wanting to use Espers as super soldiers and weapons of mass destruction. Even in a peaceful world like this, there are still people who think war is profitable" said Tsubaki.
She was surprised that Rachel has a strong will to fight for justice and not driven by vengeance unlike one of her comrades, Cathy. Apparently, her parents were one of the victims of Shinzo's bloodshed upon the Futaba, Takahitsuji and Yakumo clans. Her mother, Evelyn L. Futaba was a very skilled kunoichi and martial artist who was a rival and friend to her fellow clanswoman and Alfredo's mother, Mizuki Takahitsuji. She passed down her skills to her daughter Cathy, who has proven herself worthy to become her successor.
After their first mission's completion, Rachel and her friends decided to eat lunch together at the school's cafeteria. As always, her bratty cousin Alice kept pestering her during lunch. She was a loudmouth who kept gloating about her success as a member of Lucky☆Colors despite the fact that the idol group has disbanded following Yurika's resignment.
"Hahahaha, if it isn't my cousin who can't stop bitching about justice! Justice this, justice that.. let's face it. This city already has a police force and yet you still want to fight for justice? Get a life, douchebag!" said Alice to her own cousin. Tsubaki stood up and slapped Alice in the cheek. "Hey what was that for?" said Alice again after she was slapped. Her right cheek was red and swollen, and she could feel the pain and heat with her hand.
"I want you to leave Rachel alone. If you don't there will be serious consequences, including me reporting you to the faculty staff so they can expel you for this" threatened Tsubaki. Alice then cried and ran away. Rachel thanked the raven-haired Esper girl for teaching Alice some discipline after what she did to her. She felt heartbroken and slightly discouraged, but her friends Cathy and Flare managed to talk her out of it. "Maybe this city still needs justice. After all, I must not walk away from the path I have chosen. I cannot become a disgrace to my family if I were to find Claire and the truth behind Jake's death" said Rachel.
Just as Rachel and her friends finished eating lunch, the trio bumped into a small robot. "Oh hello, I'm Nemesis! I've been sent by my master to accompany Rachel in her journey. My brethren has been turned into deadly Droids by those two Valhalla cyber-terrorists, and I am willing to lend her a hand in her quest for justice" said the robot.
"Hi Nemesis, looks like the two of us are going to fight together, right?" asked Rachel. "Yes, I will provide you with my powers and my knowledge to help you free this city from the threat imposed by Valhalla and stop the destruction caused by my altered kind" answered Nemesis. Rachel finally formed a bond with Nemesis and the two swore to fight alongside each other to put an end to Valhalla's threat.
Meanwhile, a Zarvox used for street cleaning was hacked and modified by the two hackers into a dangerous vacuum cleaner-like Capture Droid. On the bright of day, it wreaked havoc and attempted to kidnap Espers with its powerful vacuum cleaner-like right hand. "Hahahaha.. all of these cute Espers are mine!" said the vacuum Capture Droid. Rachel's phone rung, along with Cathy and Flare's. They received a call from Marika to stop the Capture Droid together before it's too late.
The three rushed into action. Just as they arrived there, the Capture Droid held someone hostage. A blonde Esper girl younger than Rachel was in the altered Zarvox's possession. "Don't you care what happens to your cute little sister, you filthy Lazuline brat?! If you dare to move, I will send her to my boss so she could use her as a part of her plan!" threatened the Capture Droid. Rachel recognized the girl, who was none other than her younger sister Emily Mason. She, Rachel and her elder sister Claire looked almost identical, with their dirty blonde hairs and slate blue eyes.
"Hands off my younger sister, or else you shall taste the fury of justice itself.." said Rachel angrily. "Hold on, I got this" said Cathy. She threw a kunai charged with her water-based Sigil into the Droid's nozzle. The water caused the Droid's machine to short circuit and with its nozzle cut, it couldn't suck up anymore. "Gah! My precious right arm! You will pay for this!" said the Droid.
Rachel went toe-to-toe with the Droid itself alongside Nemesis. The assistant Zarvox recognized the Droid, it was a cleaner-type Zarvox that was altered by Valhalla with their special computer virus. Attempting to revert it back, Nemesis fought the Droid all by himself with Rachel's help. After weakening the Droid, Nemesis unleashed a USB cable from his body and plugged it into the port that was used by the hackers to alter the Droid. In an attempt to revert it back into a Zarvox, Nemesis activated his internal antivirus system.
With Rachel's help, it was a success. The Droid finally turned back into what it was, as Nemesis didn't want to see his brethren destroyed again. "Thank you, Nemesis. Now I must resume my work to keep the streets and Yggdrasil Park clean from garbage. For a better future" said the street cleaner Zarvox as it resumed its duty. Rachel carried Emily back to the school's infirmary, and thankfully she was not injured.
"Thanks, Sis! If you weren't there, I would be be dead!" said Emily. Rachel cuddled her younger sister and she cuddled her back. "If you want to, maybe I could recruit your younger sister into our ranks. Azure Shields needs more than just the four of us since this city is a pretty big place" said Tsubaki. Rachel giggled and told her that Emily isn't old enough to join them, since she's just a 1st year student.
Cathy saw a photo of two girls and a boy on the Azure Shields' room. "Who are they?" asked Cathy. "They're the 1st Generation members. Nicole Evans, Claire Mason, and a guy that disappeared from the our school's data. Unfortunately the dude gave up his life for his beloved one, and yes, he was killed by Blood Gear after that one huge incident where our school was surrounded by Deviants. He may have disappeared from the school's records, but he will never be forgotten as a hero" said Tsubaki.
Rachel didn't knew that her sister was like her back then, except she was the leader during that time. Will she finally catch up to Claire after discovering her past? Only time will tell when it will happen, as Rachel still has a lot of things to do in the city. She also wondered about the whereabouts of Nicole, and the truth behind the male Azure Justice member who was killed in action. Was Azure Shields really a unit dedicated to justice, or was it actually a deathtrap?
Meanwhile, a new transfer student came to Rurigaoka. He appeared to be a brown-haired boy with a long white coat and a rather handsome face. "I'm just a passerby transfer student, don't forget it.." said the boy as he walked through the hallway, on his way to the class.