Luv and Hate #7 [Quest] (Muv-Luv Alternative/Supreme Commander) - The Gyre Widens

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Scraped from here.

[X]Fun + Informal Assessment + Psibunny*.

You turn to Yuuko. "I need to get a feel for whether we've got any ACU pilot candidates on tap now that we're going to have enough G-elements for ACUs in a day or two. So..."

You tap your lip. "I'm thinking about building a nice recreation center for personnel to relax."

"And how will that help the goal? Simulators in rec centers, I presume?"

"Exactly so," You nod. "It doesn't take much to make ACU-based war into a game. Just have to remove the stress and danger. The quantum links cut most of the boring logistical drudgery that would otherwise exist..."

"...So, we invite the Valkyries and have them play for awhile as part of the groundbreaking, while I keep an eye on them and see if any rise to the top. Hell, we can make a team competition, a tournament of it. I know Alina will go for that and it'll help her relax, she's always loved ACU sims."

"I don't particularly care what she'll go for," Yuuko replies.

"I do," You sigh. "And you should too. Regardless of your personal feelings she still represents a tremendous increase in combat potential for us. More than a hundred percent boost; her techbase synergizes with ours very well. Her being stable and able to fight is, I think, the most important goal I have right now."

Yuuko raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, let me explain. The limit with protocrafters is mass and energy," You begin. "I know it shocks you to produce a thousand fatboys over the course of a day, but for me most battles are over before I get that far because we can only extract so much mass, generate only so much energy at once. Sure our resource economies can grow almost exponentially, but each one takes up a slot in a thousand unit cap, per ACU. Otherwise they can't share resources and information via the quantum link any more. So to have a strong economy, you have to skimp on combat units, right? While units can go off the grid, that means the mass and energy has to be delivered some other way, and that takes a lot more time."

You pause. "It's still much faster than what you're used to, but that takes minutes or hours instead of instants, like I'm used to. And against another ACU, that kind of delay kills. Even against the BETA, a good economy lets me reshuffle my force to adapt to their actions in basically real time. Following so far?"

She nods. "That is a tremendous advantage, yes."

"The Aeon are the same way until they hit T4. But when they do, they have a device called a paragon. It's hugely resource intensive, but once it goes up, it can literally produce mass and energy from nothing, and it can do this with the only upper limit being the Q-link throughput itself. It's ridiculous space magic that shouldn't work. But it does, and because it does, it means instead of, say, four hundred economy buildings to six hundred combat units, I can have nine hundred and ninety nine combat units and one economic building."

Yuuko's eyes widen. Then they narrow. "That would break entropy – it'd break conservation of mass and energy."

"That's why I said space magic," You nod. "But yes. The important thing is that with enough engineering units, I can produce even the most expensive units in my arsenal pretty much at will if I have a paragon. So for that capability alone, Alina's continued stability is my highest priority."

"How would you fight against a foe with something like that?"

"Short answer? You don't. Once something like that goes up, you have seconds to take it out before you're overwhelmed. Maybe minutes if the one who owns it's an idiot. I'm sure you can imagine just how effectively one could destroy the BETA with one of those."

"I don't much like your logic, but it is cogent," Yuuko sighs.

"I'd really like it if you two got along," You shake your head. "Will you at least give it a try? Please? At least be civil to her so we can crush the BETA even more effectively?"

"I'll try." Granted it looks like she swallowed a lemon, but you'll count this one in the win column.

"Thanks," You smile at her. "So you want to participate in the tournament? It'll be pretty fun. I promise. Alina's warm up was an interesting spectacle, wasn't it? Don't lie, I saw your mind whirling to come up with theories to explain it all. Well, the tournament's fun too. It'll stimulate your mind. You in?"

"Perhaps," She looks at you. "I do want to see how your paradigm works in practice, outside of when the BETA let you build up."

"Of course," You smile.

Then you turn and march right back into the General's office.

"Ah, sir, I thought of something else I'd like. I want permission to construct a recreation center on base for morale purposes. The base personnel can use it to help relax off duty."

He looks up at you from behind his desk. "Honestly, I find this strange. Normally I'd have to approve resource allocation, funds, personnel... Except I don't, do I?"

"Not any more, no," You reply. "I hope it's something you can get used to. I'm distributing the underlying technology behind that capability to everyone on this world in the interests of letting you fight back against the BETA."

He leans back, letting out a breath. "I see."

Radhabinod shakes his head. "Permission granted, in any event. You can have the gymnasium, provided your recreation center still has a place for my troops to exercise."

"It does," You nod. "Thank you, General."

You take your leave then.

Next, you head back to Alina. She's still in the training field, chatting amiably with the Valkyries. The cadets, meanwhile, are running laps now that the show's over. Yup, Marimo is definitely a drill sergeant at heart.

"Ali!" You say. "Do you feel up to having a little tournament?"

"Ah, Michael," She smiles at you. "I was just speaking to your friends. So, a tournament? I think I know what kind of tournament you mean, no?"

Hayase's eyes light up as soon as she hears the word tournament. You expected as much, that girl will compete over anything.

"Yeah, an ACU tournament. Honestly, I want to get all of you into simulators and see how well you do, just for fun."

"I think I'll sit this one out," Haruka sighs.

"Haruuuuka, no!" Hayase grabs her arm. "Nope! Nope, nope, nope! You're always bowing out and I always see you sitting around alone and that pisses me off, so nope!"

Hayase focuses in on you. "Colonel, will Haruka's prosthetics be a problem? Can she play too?"

You blink. "Eh? Prosthetics?"

"My sister lost her legs in a training accident," Akane says, voice low. "It means she can't pilot a TSF any more. The nerve endings aren't sensitive enough."

You blink again. "Lost your legs?"

Everyone's looking at you now.

"Oh. Sorry," You give Haruka a nervous chuckle. "It took me a moment to parse that. Not something I'm used to hearing. No, prosthetics won't be a problem for the simulators. We'd have to get you new organic legs if you're good enough for a real ACU though. UEF battlesuits can't interface properly with a prosthetic."

"What?!" Haruka gasps.

You're pretty sure they all gasp, actually.

But why?

"New legs," You wave your hand. "If it turns out you're some ACU-piloting genius, we'll have to grow you new legs because I'll definitely want you in an ACU. Well, if you want new legs anyway, that's fine too. I don't know how attached you are to those ones you've got now. I know a Cybran would've slapped me for daring to suggest ditching the prosthetics."

Haruka's eyes expand, looking almost like green saucers in the brunchtime light. "W-when could this happen?"

"Er, Probably by tomorrow, taking into account the surgery and recovery time?" You shrug. "Just need a DNA sample to clone the legs, then a couple hours for the surgery and recovery... After that it'd be a case of getting used to the new legs? Honestly, I've got medical expert systems to handle this sort of thing so I'm just guessing based on how long it takes when I'm injured here."

"I – I see." Haruka goes quiet then.

"So she can play, right?" Hayase's almost like some kind of excited dolphin now. "Right?"

"Yes," You nod. "Messing around in sims is one thing, but the battlesuit is too useful to go into combat without. Saved my life several times."

She whirls, turning on Haruka. "Well then, I'm not taking no for an answer! You're playing with those big guns with me, and that's final!"

Haruka still looks kind of shocked, but she recovers quickly. "V-very well."

You chuckle. "What about you, Michiru? Touko? Haruko? Akane?"

Isumi smiles. "The chance to drive one of those machines ourselves, even if it's all simulated? We're definitely interested."

"But what about little old me? Surely you don't want me to feel left out, sir? Especially after your lover promised so much~?" Munakata asks.

"Ali, what exactly have you been promising my friends?"

Alina giggles. "While you were gone, I added Misae to my harem as my right hand loveslave. I think she'll go well with the Doctor. I do hope you don't mind, Michael."

"I had no idea you swung that way, Munakata," You shake your head. Yuuko was right.

"Trifles like gender don't matter when it feels good."

"Mm, I suppose you have a point. Though I myself prefer soft womanly bodies instead of hard masculine ones," You counter. "Much better for cuddling. Isn't that right, Yuuko?"

"Oh, I don't know," Yuuko smirks, stepping forward and into the conversation. "There's something to be said for waking up with a nice sturdy slab of beefcake."

"I knew it! You're only after me for my body!" You laugh. "Well the game is up, Doctor!"

"To be fair to her, Michael," Alina interjects. "It is a very nice body, and you certainly know how to use it to ruin a woman."

"So our new CO is a womanizer and a pervert?" Isumi gets in on the action now, with a wide smile on her face. "Ah, truly the 9th has fallen far from the blazing halcyon days. But should I be scared for the innocence of my subordinates, colonel?"

You blink. "Wait, what? CO?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Isumi replies. "General Radhabinod told us yesterday that A-01 was being assigned to you as your personal team until further notice, and that Alternative IV is being canceled. We were under the impression you knew?"

"Normally we'd all feel like shit after hearing Alt IV got canned," Hayase adds. "But it's hard to be sad about anything after we watched our new CO punch the BETA in the dick and capture one of their hives. We're all still riding high off that buzz."

"Ah, sir. If you're going to be commanding us, I should warn you," Munakata leans in. "Hayase is a pervert who derives sexual satisfaction from battle."

"What was that, Munakata?!" Hayase roars.

You, meanwhile, simply blink.

"Doesn't everyone?" You give her an innocent look. "I do. I thought it was normal?"

Munkata just stares. Even Hayase's angry denial seems stifled by your completely deadpan delivery.

Alina giggles. "Of course it's normal, love. Perhaps Misae's the real deviant here?"

Munakata stares for a moment longer.

You hold your face neutral for a second more. Two seconds. Then you can't hold back your laughter any more.

Munakata nods at you. "Hm. Yes, I think you're well suited for the old XO, sir. You seem to have an affinity for troublesome women. No polite ladies like Haruka or Touko for you."

You suppose she's got a point. What's the thing Yuuko and Alina have in common? They love to tease people.

"But seriously," You look over at Isumi. "What's this about me being CO? How is that even possible? I'm not part of the UN."

Yuuko nods. "Tamase's doing, no doubt. This is another bid to entice you into the UN camp. Probably as a prelude to forming a sixth alternative and having you head it. Though I don't much like how he took away my team without telling me directly."

"I'm not sure I like that idea," You frown. "Sixth alternative? Eh, I'd prefer to look at it as a military campaign. More familiar that way."

Yuuko shakes her head. "No, no. That'd be a good thing. Alternative plans are given extremely great latitude in regards to just about everything. It would legitimize your actions. It's rather hard to negotiate with one individual with no state backing, no matter how powerful he is. And you wouldn't have to actually join the UN. You'd just be... Loaned to us, for want of a better phrase."

"I see," You nod. "On the other hand, it would also restrict my actions and make me justify my decisions to a bunch of disconnected bureaucrats."

"If you don't want them to obstruct your activities, you're going to need to pick somebody to back you. The nations of the world want some semblance of a leash on someone with your weaponry, even if it's just there to help them rest easy," Yuuko replies. "The UN fits your ideals best, I feel. Or are you reconsidering that political marriage? I'm sure she'd be so very eager~"

"Ach, no! No, no, no!" You shudder. "She's beautiful and incredibly feminine, and elegant too, but she's not the kind of girl I want. Like Munakata said, I like more troublesome women."

Alina looks at Yuuko. "I believe we've just been insulted."

Yuuko looks right back at Alina. "You know, I think you're right."

"You two can't deny how much trouble you've caused my poor, tattered emotions," You clutch your chest. "So troublesome fits!"

"Perhaps you should choose both," Munakata nods. "That would be less troublesome."

"Exactly what I said!" Alina giggles. "Come now, Michael. You can't deny all those times I invited other women into our bed weren't fun. You seemed to get into it quite well, if I recall. Now imagine if you actually cared about both of us, instead of simply doing it as a favor to me, hmm~?"

You frown.

Meanwhile, Isumi's eyes widen. "You mean that joke about threesomes wasn't a joke, Sir?"

"Eh, not exactly?" You reply.

Alina shakes her head. "Of course not. In the Illuminate, sharing your male is considered a... Kindness? An honor? A gesture of respect? It's difficult to explain to one who hasn't been immersed in our culture."

"What?" Isumi asks. "How?"

Alina frowns. "How to explain... We believe the Way is stronger in those who can nurture new life, so we choose to have more daughters than sons. Thus in the illuminate, there are three women for every man."

"You can choose that sort of thing?" Akane asks.

"Yes," Alina shrugs. "We simply wish it and it happens. Such is the Way."

"Oh. That's how it is," You rub your chin. "I always did think it strange how few Aeon men I've seen. In a normal population you'd expect there to be a roughly even split, but you're selecting for women. Why don't you just make more men though? I mean, do you girls like competing so much over guys?"

"Because creating children who are unwanted, or rather less wanted, goes against everything the Illuminate stands for," Alina replies. "And if everyone wants daughters rather than sons..."

"The tragedy of the commons," Yuuko nods to herself. "Everyone acts in their own interests with no thought to the future."

"That is the situation. Though the word tragedy has negative connotations that are not truly warranted," Alina shakes her head. "There are of course technological, social solutions; our people will never die out. And the Way teaches us that love should be shared and possessive instincts should be tempered, so it's not as inconvenient as you think. But it does mean that I truly do not mind the notion you all seem to revile so much. I understand the desire to clutch your love tight and ward off others, but that is – or rather, I feel that's selfish. A relic of less enlightened times."

"Selfish?" Yuuko raises a brow. "Less enlightened?"

"If you can provide love and comfort to someone in need of it, why shouldn't you?"

Yuuko's eyes narrow, but she doesn't reply.

"This love stuff is too heavy for me," Kashiwagi says. "So when's this tournament?"

You smile at her, grateful for the change of subject.

"Say an hour? Like I said, this is going to be fun. I'm thinking teams competing against one another. And I get to see if any of you will be good in the ACUs I'm building, so it helps the war effort at the same time."

"Yeah, what's it like driving one of those?" Hayase asks.

"Different than a TSF, that's for sure. Those moves you pulled back when you were escorting me here were pretty amazing. Alina's like a dancer with an ACU, but no way could she do what you guys did so casually in your TSFs. 'Course, an ACU's more than thrice as big too."

You pause. "I guess you could say an ACU trades agility for armor and a very big gun? And the ability to build an army wherever, wherever. Armored Command Unit, not Armored Combat Unit. Though an ACU's still pretty powerful on its lonesome, an ACU without a base and an army is easy pickings for another ACU."

"Seeing you kill that giant dickworm was pretty gun... Fun, I mean," Hayase grins. "Now if you could just make one of those guns scaled down to TSF size, I'd love you forever."

"To be honest, I'm amazed your people have survived this long against the BETA, Lieutenant Hayase," Alina says. "To hold them back with such primitive equipment, you and yours are truly powerful warriors if the trouble they gave Michael is any indication."

"It's cost us a lot," Isumi's face falls.

Hayase frowns too. "Yeah."

Yuuko closes her eyes. Her next words are whispered, low, so low you can barely hear. "Too much."

Alina turns to you. "Well, Sword should be combat-ready for a supporting role tomorrow, even if he won't be at 100%. We could surely do a lot of damage to these filthy things together."

You nod. "I know we can, but I'm not sure we'll be ready tomorrow. There's still preparations to make."

Alina frowns. "Perhaps. But such a slow tempo bothers me."

"Slow?" Isumi asks. "You're suggesting he do multiple high intensity ops a week!"

"Over the course of a day, actually," Alina replies. "Ideally we will destroy at least four hives per day once everything is prepared."

Isumi stares at her. "That's insane. If you could keep that pace up, you'd wipe out every hive in the world in a week!"

Alina blinks. "...Four back to back operations a day was fairly normal during the Seraphim war. Granted such a pace can't be maintained indefinitely, but I know from experience that Michael and I are more than up to the task."

Yuuko comes up to you. "Regardless of your war plans, I'd like to see how the cadets do in this little exercise of yours as well."

You shrug. "Fine by me."

"And Yashiro. I have a hunch she'll be one of the best."

You pause and frown. "I'll allow it since it's basically all fun and games right now, but I don't want her fighting on the front lines, no matter how good she turns out to be."

"Why not?" Yuuko raises an eyebrow at you.

"Because she's a kid, Yuuko," You reply.

"And if she could save more lives from an ACU's cockpit?"

You cross your arms. "Then I'll just have to save even more people to make up for her absence."

"What if you can't?" Yuuko asks.

"I will."

"You didn't save me," Alina's voice is low, sad; whispered so you barely hear it. But when you do, your head whips over to her, your eyes wide and your mouth suddenly dry.

You don't have a reply. No catchy comebacks or easy laughs, no way to shrug her words off.

She closes her eyes, brow scrunched up as if in pain. When she opens them, her face grows peaceful. If you hadn't seen the look that flashed in her eyes before, you'd have almost believed her show of tranquility. She opens her eyes, red orbs staring into yours.

Her next words are firm, unyielding. Not the tone of Alina, the gentle and mischievous lover you've spent so many nights beside. No, this is the tone of Champion Alina, Princess' Blade. "It needed to be said."

Yuuko's looking at her with an odd stare.

An awkward silence pervades the entire field. Nobody speaks for several moments.

Your jaw sets. "I... Should get the rec center built. For the tournament."

Alina lets you go. Yuuko does as well.

The gym's empty at this time of day. You're able to make your way back to Blue and replace it with a much taller recreation center in good time. Along the way, you stop by the PX and have a drone construct the protocrafter you promised as well.

You grimace. You're avoiding the real issue.

Memories of Blue Sky bubble to the fore.

She's right, you know. You didn't save her. Maybe you could have, but you didn't.

But you also know there's no use moping about things, so you finish your task and then reconvene with the contestants. The only one missing is Kasumi, but Yuuko assures you she's coming.

The Valkyries are all wearing those black and purple UN exosuits, the form fitting ones with the terrible lack of armor. Marimo's here, wearing an identical suit. You've got to admit, these suits certainly give you an eyefull. Especially Yuuko's, though you can tell from the way she moves that she's not as comfortable wearing such an exosuit as the Valkyries or even Marimo are.

You still think these suits absolutely need better armor. Alina's suit might be form fitting and hug her curves way too well, but you know from experience that it's at least as well protected as your own. And even then, you dream of getting her into a nice thick suit of armor too.

The cadets are wearing exosuits as well. But their exosuits...

You feel something in your head crack as soon as you look at them.

"Yuuko, what what madness is this," You gesture to the cadets, your motions jerky and almost frantic.

"Oh? I told you I'd invite the cadets," She grins at you. "You said that was fine, didn't you?"

"What are they wearing." Your voice is flat. Something that should come out as a question comes out more as a statement. You feel your sanity snap like chewing gum that's just been pulled.

"Oh, just the standard UN cadet fortified suit," Yuuko beams. "I told them to suit up like they were coming for training."

"Yuuko," You growl. "Why in the name of all that's holy are parts of that armor transparent?"

Ia! Ia! Transparent armor fghthan flarghflargasdfasdfasdf

"Don't froth at the mouth, dear," Yuuko replies. "Your rabies is showing."

"Parts of that armor are transparent," You reply. "Transparent, Yuuko!"

"Oh, not fully transparent. Merely partially so. Though, I suppose it is flesh toned so the difference is academic given how form-fitting it is. What, not enjoying the view?"

"And why is it flesh toned? What possible purpose can that serve?" You glare at her. "I accepted those ridiculous unarmored exosuits before but this is on a whole other level. No way. I won't have anyone in my presence wearing fetish gear, unless that fetish is sensible armor."

Yuuko just looks at you. You can tell she's taking altogether too much pleasure in this.

You shake your head. "Nevermind. Cadets, just get into the sim pods. We'll deal with this later. You too, Valkyries. There's a tutorial program already loaded to help you get the hang of the basics before we start."

Yuuko grins at you, even as the cadets and Valkyries, save Shirogane, enter their pods. Shirogane's waving at something behind you, even as Yuuko smiles and says, "You're adorably fun when you get wound up like this. Oh. There's Yashiro."

You hear a very soft footstep behind you. Your eyes widen. You blame your not hearing the lift on the strategic-grade psychological weapon that is the UN cadet fortified suit.

"Yuuko, if you put Kasumi in one of those sick pervert suits..."

"Oh come now, what do you take me for? Yashiro's fortified suit is modest by design. Turn and see for yourself."

You wince and turn, wondering and dreading what horror of horrors Yuuko concocted...

You let out a sigh of relief when you see she was right. It's practically an armored version of Kasumi's usual uniform. Why couldn't the rest of them have something like that? "Well, that's fine then."

"Spoke to Sumika. Wants to kill more BETA. Doesn't want normal body." Kasumi says by way of greeting.

"Wait, Sumika?" Shirogane steps towards you rather than heading into his pod like he should. "You spoke to her, Kasumi? Where is she?"

You ignore him. "Does she understand what it is she's asking? While it's a masterpiece of engineering, she doesn't have to do it. We're not going to force her into it."

"She liked the mental image."

"Eh? Which one?" You ask.

"Tearing BETA apart with her hands."

"Tearing – What?!" Shirogane gasps.

You nod, ignoring him again. "Ah. Well, that's reasonable given what they did to her."

You turn to Yuuko. "Okay, consider my ethical objection withdrawn."

Yuuko smiles at you. "Good. I'll start the transfer later tonight."

"Will you all stop ignoring me?!" Shirogane demands.

"No." Yuuko chuckles. "Where was I? Right..."

You turn towards Shirogane. "We're discussing classified information, cadet. In a conventional context you would be shoved in the stockade for eavesdropping."

"Executed actually, given the subject matter," Yuuko's still smiling. "Though I wouldn't mind experimenting on you as a suitable punishment instead. Just think of what I could learn from a real live time traveler who I don't mind vivisecting..."

"Punishment? Vivisection?" You chuckle. "And here I thought your experiments were supposed to be pleasurable. That's certainly the impression you gave me."

"Only with you," She smiles at you. "Though perhaps I'll let you "experiment" on me instead?"

Shirogane shivers. "Seeing you act like this is creepy, Professor."

"Oh, don't worry," Yuuko has an unconcerned look on her face. "Your virtue is safe from me, Shirogane. I'm only interested in men."

"That just means my virtue isn't," You chuckle. "Anyway, we should get started. Shirogane, get your ass into the pod or I'll have you doing push ups until your arms fall off. And then I'll glue them back on so you can do it again. Understand, Cadet?"

"You're as scary as she is," Shirogane shudders, but at least he does as you ask.

But before Yuuko goes to leave though, you whisper a quiet "thanks" to her.

She turns to you. "Oh? For what?"

"I know what it is you're doing. Thanks."

She gives you an innocent expression. "And what do you think I'm doing?"

You give her one more smile, before settling into your own pod. The ACU sim deck has about a hundred of the things, so there's plenty to go around.

"Okay, everyone. There's going to be four teams. Cadets, Sergeant, you're in one team. Valkyries, you're in another. Yuuko, Kasumi, Alina? You're another. I'll be operating solo."

"Ah, Sir, aren't you greatly outnumbered? And what about you, Ma'am?" Isumi asks, gesturing to you and Yuuko.

"That's not going to be a problem for my Michael," Alina giggles. "That's the handicap he needs to make this a relatively fair fight. As for the professor... I hope that my own skill will compensate for the numerical disadvantage. Next to Michael, I am the only one with actual experience with ACU warfare in this room. But don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're newbies."

What follows over the rest of the morning is certainly fun. It's been a long time since you've used an ACU for something other than desperate battles that decide the fate of humanity.

You run them all through the basic tutorial programs, then set them loose in a big team deathmatch. You almost drop them all on Seton – specifically, the infamous 'clutch' that's been fought over by the UEF and Cybrans for almost the whole infinite War, but then you decide to put them in another, more relevant locale, using stored maps of the Earth for the geography. The clutch is rather overused anyway.

It's actually quite interesting; you can almost get a sense of the girls' personalities based on the tactics they use. Hayase's very aggressive, very wiling to use her own ACU as the main focal point of her attacks. Isumi, meanwhile, is more cautious. But you can see she's hesitant to sacrifice her units. Probably too used to commanding real flesh and blood soldiers to discard her units as readily as you – too used to sacrificing men only when they won't die in vain.

Yuuko, meanwhile, doesn't display any reluctance to discard tools that fulfilled their purpose. But when it comes to someone striking her own ACU directly, she doesn't freeze exactly, but she doesn't do very well either. She's much better at the grand strategy, not so good at the tactics or the piloting. Still, that skill at strategy is sufficient to let her take down Marimo, luring her friend into a multi-layered trap, then taking her out with a barrage of tactical nukes from an Aloha.

Far and away the most skilled one besides Alina is Kasumi. It's honestly frightening how good she is – it almost feels like you're fighting yourself. Except this version of yourself is teamed with Alina and Yuuko. It's only when you make a stealth-expansion behind Kasumi's base that you can take her down, headcapping her with percivals before she can react. Still, it's incredibly impressive how she was able to last so long against the full brunt of your assault. And her rampage against the cadets and Valkyries was the stuff of legends too. In terms of enemy ACUs killed, she's at the very top.

Alina you already know all about. But as the only one with the Aeon techbase, she's a tempting target, right after Kasumi.

Too tempting a target, in fact. When you move to take her down after the successful strike against Psibunny, Yuuko's force pincers you, trapping your force between an army of percivals and titans and Alina's force. You push forward anyway, and a Billy nuke launched from Blue's back sees Ali's ACU cooking off. You're prepared to capture and commandeer one of her T2 air transports to make your escape and return to your base... As her last act, though, she launched a strat nuke down on both your heads. A few moments later, you're reduced to observer status, Blue calmly reporting that you've been destroyed.

Surprisingly, Sakaki is very good. She seems to have taken to ACU based combat paradigms extremely well, and she's got a keen mind that lets her manage her economy and army effectively. Whenever someone pushes the cadets back, she's there to shore up their defenses, even if she finds herself pressed against Psibunny's assault.

You also decide you better start cloning Haruka some new legs soon. She's almost single handedly keeping the Valkyries in the game, handling her economy like a natural and handing off units to Isumi, Munakata, and Hayase as needed, plus coordinating all the remaining Valkyries. Touko, Akane, and Kashiwagi all having been wiped out earlier from Psibunny's relentless advance slash rampage of murder.

Haruka's economy doesn't even stall once. And while she's not hugely good at piloting the ACU directly in combat, her strategies and tactics tend to be wonderful, possibly from all her time guiding the Valkyries from the command post. Certainly the Valkyries are the most coordinated team from beginning to end.

Shirogane's case is odd, though. Strategically he's a wash. His economy's in an almost permanent stall state and he's got obvious trouble planning ahead. His tactics are average, nothing extraordinary, but he's almost disturbingly good when it comes to actually using his ACU directly. His base gets wrecked early on, but he always seems to escape and come back for another go whenever one of his teammates is making an attack. Alina's better at direct ACU combat, but Alina's also incredibly experienced with that. To be even in the same league as her is worth praise. Indeed, you almost think he's better than you are as a pilot.

Cadet Ayamine, the quiet one, does not do particularly well. She's very aggressive with her ACU, too aggressive. She falls to a flight of T1 bombers that Kasumi sent after her, once she was lured out of her base by Yuuko. You get the impression Ayamine's too used to engaging in melee, something that's not particularly viable with an ACU outside of oddball circumstances. Mikoto and Tamase do better, but they command like support units, not mainline commanders. Marimo was the first to go, so you didn't get too much of a read on her. Meiya's good. As good at combat strategy as Sakaki and better at direct combat, but she doesn't quite grasp how to run an ACU economy with the same intuitiveness that Sakaki seems to. She stalls out several times.

By the end of it, Team Valkyrie reigns supreme. Admittedly, this is probably because you spent the majority of your effort taking down the bigger threats – Psibunny and Alina, leaving the Valkyries with relatively free reign, where their superior coordination and experience with one another gave them the win versus the cadets and Yuuko. Though for totally green troops, the cadets did do impressively.

Based on your informal observations, Sakaki, Haruka, and Meiya are viable commander candidates. Of those, Sakaki and Haruka are the best options, based on what you've seen, due to their superior grasp of ACU economic and logistical realities. Though Sakaki is a bit slow to react to changing circumstances, you feel this is primarily a matter of experience and that she'll grow out of it, now that you've seen her on the battlefield.

In terms of skills, Isumi, Hayase, and Yuuko would also pass, but they have flaws in their command style that'll take time and effort to fix, so they're not your first picks. Kasumi definitely has the skill, but she's just a kid and you're not that desperate yet that you'd draft a kid to fight. At least the cadets are all eighteen on up.

"Good job, everyone. I've seen graduates from commander school who don't perform as well," You smile, once everyone's out of the pods. "Haruka, Sakaki, both of you in particular were very impressive. You too, Kasumi."

"Yashiro was like some kind of devil rabbit," Sakaki shudders. "I don't know how she kept getting so many units, or how she was able to switch between them so fluidly."

"Kasumi managed her economy almost perfectly. It's only when I was pressing her that she started making mistakes, and for a newbie her performance was amazing," You nod. "Looks like your hunch was right, Yuuko."

"Yes, it was almost like fighting alongside you, Michael," Alina adds. "Fighting with and against you at once? Very fun."

Kasumi comes up to you and whispers in your ear. "Favor."

"What?" You ask.

"My favor."

You smile at her. "So you've figured out what you want? Okay. What is it?"

"I want Takeru there when Sumika wakes up."

You frown. There's a dozen reasons you can think of to deny that. But the way Kasumi's staring at you, and you do owe her, and Sumika does care about Shirogane so having him there when she wakes up might be good for the poor kid...

"Okay. I'll tell him and convince Yuuko. Somehow."

"Thank you. Bye-bye."

She starts to bolt off, only for Alina to move to intercept. "That was a wondrous display of skill, Kasumi-"

But Kasumi dodges. If anything, she goes even faster, as if she's unwilling to get too close to Alina. She practically barrels out of the room.

You didn't even get the chance to offer the young girl sweets; she's proven very reliable so far, albeit weird, and you wanted to give her a treat. And maybe ask where she learned those skills. She was handling that ACU like a pro.

"Did I do something wrong?" Alina asks.

"Hell if I know," You shrug and make your way over to Yuuko. "Yuuko, I have a favor to ask."

"Oh?" The purple haired woman looks at you.

"I want Shirogane present when Sumika wakes up," You ask. "I think she'll respond better if Shirogane's there, if he's the first thing she sees when she wakes up. Though we should limit the unit's strength to human norms and disable the built in weapons until she's settled in, just as a precaution."

"If it sees. It's a machine, Spaceman." Yuuko replies.

"It's a machine running homo sapiens 1.0. As far as I'm concerned, she's as human as anyone else."

"That's the goal. We'll see how well we achieve it," Yuuko sighs. "...I suppose I can allow such a thing. I'm curious to see what will happen too. Very well."

"Great. Thanks, Yuuko," You grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "It means a lot to me."

Yuuko just stares into your eyes. You can feel her pulse quicken through her suit's gloves.

She pulls away. "And Yashiro, I gathered."

"Yeah. I'm not sure why she was so insistent, but when Psibunny asks you to do something, you'd have to be heartless to refuse."

"True," She regains her composure. "In any event, I have to go and make the preparations for the transfer. I'll call you when I'm ready, I want you to see it."

She leaves, presumably to head back to her lab.


Hayase and the rest of the Valkyries come up to you. "That was awesome! All those explosions! Can you imagine what we could do to the BETA with more of these?"

"I'm hoping we'll wipe the aliens clear off Earth," You nod. "So I take it you enjoyed it?"

"Hell yeah I enjoyed it," Hayase replies. "It looked so real! Now, granted, TSFs are still more fun, but there's something to be said for throwing around nukes like candy."

"Don't get too excited about that. I'm almost certain the BETA will happily laser down any nukes we launch," You sigh. "In any event, congratulations on your victory, Valkyries. I'm impressed. For people going in cold, surviving two ace commanders is one hell of an achievement. So much so that it deserves recognition; I'm letting you have the day off after this since I'm apparently your CO and all. Feel free to do whatever you'd like."

You snap your fingers. "But Shirogane. A word."

You take Shirogane over to the other side of the room, out of earshot. "Okay, I'm about to tell you something way above what a cadet needs to know. When I talked about Sumika, I was trying to tiptoe around the fact that she was captured by the BETA, tortured, and cut up into a brain."

"She was what?" He gasps.

"Right now, Sumika is nothing but a brain. Focus on that; the specifics of what happened to her are none of your business unless Sumika wants to tell you. They're also classified way above your clearance."

"You mean that brain in Professor Yuuko's lab? That's Sumika?" Shirogane's eyes widen.

"Right. Now, you could say the core of Alternative IV involved making an artificial body for Sumika. Yuuko finished all of it but the brain, which I was able to help with. Then we made some other enhancements and quality of life improvements after that. But, see, it's also within my capabilities to offer her a cloned body identical to the one she had, so for ethical reasons we couldn't just go ahead even though we could've had her up walking around by now. Had to get her okay first."

"Why don't you do that, then? Give her a new body like her old one then," Shirogane asks.

"Because Kasumi asked her and she said she'd rather have the body Yuuko's building," You shrug. "To be fair to Yuuko, it's an absolute masterpiece of engineering so I can see why Sumika might choose it."

"You talk like it's a robot or something."

"It's a very high grade murderbot that just happens to look and feel like Sumika," You reply. "At least right now. Once the transfer happens she'll be Sumika, just a bit more murderbot-y."

"Feel?" Shirogane asks. "That's crazy. How could a robot feel like a person?"

"Like I said, a masterpiece of engineering. When she's active, it'll be almost impossible to tell she's not human. Unless she gets injured. Or unless she's in combat mode."

"Combat mode?" Shirogane glares at you. "You'd make Sumika fight?"

"Make?" You laugh. "Kid, she chose this body specifically for the power to kill more BETA. I offered a normal body, but she'd rather tear BETA apart with her hands. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have to use force to get her to fight."

"In this world, even Sumika..." His eyes get a far off look.

"Some time tonight, Yuuko's going to make the switch. Kasumi wants you there and I owe Kasumi some favors, so you're going even if I have to drag you myself. Obviously you're not to tell anyone about what I just told you, it's all classified."

He practically slumps down against one of the sim pods. "...I need to sit down."

"Takeru?" Meiya approaches, concern etched across her face. "Colonel, what did you say to my – to him?"

"I told him of a special mission from the vice-commander later this evening. Don't worry, it's not dangerous in the least, it's just he's got a personal involvement in the mission," You frown. "Are you asking in concern for a squadmate, or something else?"

Meiya's eyes widen a bit. She starts stammering. "I-Uh-Well-"

"Crap," You massage your temple. "Is this base some kind of spontaneous love triangle generator? Why can't the relationships be nice and simple? I just want to commit xenocide with a clear heart, is that so much to ask?"

You sigh. "Okay, Mitsurugi. Shirogane's going to be with his old childhood friend tonight. Due to certain circumstances, she's been... Incapacitated for a long time. The specifics are classified of course. But Yuuko and I have been working on fixing that, and now she's going to be a key part of our coming operation against the BETA."

"You mean Sumika?" Meiya asks. "He once mentioned someone precious to him by that name, but he thought she was dead..."

"Yeah. Sumika. Now, she's pretty smitten with him, but I don't know how he feels about her. But it doesn't matter either way. Point is, I'm having him there when she wakes up to help stabilize her. The three of you can work out how you handle the emotions yourselves, we just need her able to accompany the hive assault force and fulfill her part of the operation," You reply. "Then we'll have what we need to gut the BETA."

"I understand," Meiya nods. "I will treat her with care. After all, she is one of Takeru's close friends."

You blink. "Oh. Well, that's good then. Yuuko could learn a thing or two from you."

"Meiya, I-" Shirogane starts to say.

"Hush, Takeru. There's no need for words. If she's one of your friends, she is one of our friends. The others will certainly agree."

Shirogane just stares at her.

You grin. "Heh, she's a keeper, kid."

You leave the two lovebirds to work out their issues themselves and return to the Valkyries and the rest of the cadets. "Thank you for waiting, everyone. I had to discuss a mission from the Vice-Commander with Cadet Shirogane. He's not in trouble."

Alina smiles at you. "Thank you for that, Michael. It was fun."

"Right," Marimo nods. "If there's nothing else, then, sir..."

"No, Sergeant. Nothing else. You're free to go."

"Thank you," She raises her voice. "Cadets! Play time's over! You're dismissed! One hour lunch in the PX then simulator training after that! Shirogane, Mitsurugi, that includes you!"

Then she and the cadets make their way out of the facility.

You're about to dismiss the Valkyries for lunch when you hear an unexpected voice from behind you.

"Ah, Colonel. I had expected to see the fair rose of Yokohama with you. Surely you haven't had a lover's quarrel already?" You whirl, coming face to face with Sakon Yoroi. Him, and a tall green-haired woman who vaguely resembles Isumi. "Still, I suppose anything I tell to you will get to her anyway."

"How did you get up here without me noticing?" You ask. "It's unlocked, but the lift to this level isn't silent. How did you even know we'd be up here, for that matter?"

"Would you like to hear of the lost continent of Mu?" Sakon asks. "It's a fascinating place, truly, filled with the most colorful species of birds-"

"If you didn't want to mention it you could've just said that. No need to try and distract me," You shrug. "I'm curious, not concerned. I did kind of build this structure so it's open to the public, you know."

"Ah, alas. The beautiful lady of science is much more fun to tease," Sakon replies. "Though she's not had her heart in it recently. No doubt recent events have taken their toll on her-"

"Big Sister?!" Isumi gasps, stepping forward and interrupting the spy. "Yayoi? What are you doing here?"

"Michi?" The green haired woman gasps.

"-Ah. Colonel, meet the spy you captured trying to gain access to your lovely sleeping beauty."

"Isumi's big sister?" You frown. Probably a good thing Yuuko didn't have her executed out of hand, then. "What was she doing trying to see Alina?"

"Spy on her, of course," Sakon replies. "What else would a spy do?"

"Okay. So why is she not in detention, then?" You cross your arms. "That's kind of what you do with unauthorized spies."

"Oh, I felt she could use some fresh air and entertainment."

"I-is this true, Yayoi?" Isumi asks.

"Keep talking, Sakon," You nod.

"She's my spy, of course," He smiles. "Under orders to set up hidden cameras in the secure medical bay and keep watch under guise of a nurse. She does have the look of a caring, compassionate young woman, doesn't she? Perfect nurse material, if may say."

"A great many people are interested in your technology," Sakon adds. "I shouldn't need point out why."

"I don't see how watching me sleep will illuminate anyone about my technology," Alina says.

"Ah, that wasn't the goal," Yayoi speaks up. "Her highness asked Sakon to keep an eye on you on behalf of the Colonel."

"I didn't ask Yuuhi for anything like that," You blink, confused.

"She did it on her own initiative, I think," Yayoi replies.

"With but a trifle prompting," Sakon adds. "We feared that other intelligence agencies would attempt to, shall we say, abscond with this lovely young woman. I sent Yayoi to prevent it. Alas, it seems your lover was too vigilant, for she caught the helpful friendly spy rather than the one, or ones, who meant harm. I apologize for my error. Still, it seems to have worked out well enough thus far."

"That's foolishly risky," You say. "What's stopping me from just saying "screw you, if you want to steal one of my friends, I'll let the BETA have you?""

"Or riskily foolish," Sakon smiles. "The potential gains if they can pull it off and blame it on their rivals, however... Simply exquisite. Desperate men, and desperate women I suppose, do desperate things. They're quite terrified of you, you know."

"Who is?" You ask.

"The nations of the world," Sakon replies. "The capabilities you displayed at Sadogashima, and the ones you prompted the aliens to display, are giving them all many sleepless nights. Even the Atlantean Council is concerned."

"The who?" You ask, now more confused. The various nations on this planet you can understand, but who are these other guys the spy mentioned? Just how deep does this rabbit hole go?

Sakon's face looks almost innocent as he taps his chin. "Ah, or was that the Illuminati? I'm sorry, it is so difficult keeping the various shadow governments straight. Have I told you of the lizardmen who live under the Earth? They wear human skins to blend in. I suspect Undersecretary Tamase is one of them. Be careful."

You blink. "What?"

Your eyes narrow. "Wait. You're having me on, aren't you? None of those groups exist."

"Mayhap, mayhap," Sakon replies.

"Why would anyone be concerned?" Alina asks. "Surely they should be overjoyed at our ability to crush these filthy creatures. We have no plans to turn our capabilities on other humans, right Michael?"

"They are," Yayoi replies. "It's just... What you did at Sadogashima you could clearly repeat in London. Or Washington. New York, Kyoto..."

"But that makes no sense! Tell them it makes no sense, Michael," Alina replies. "Our people murdered each other for a millennium but we still made peace and we were even more desperate than you are! We're all human beings who want the same things so why would we work against each other?"

You can't, because it makes plenty of sense.

"Promising them some of your technology bought you time by dint of distraction," Sakon shrugs, pulling a wrapped object out of his pocket. "It also whet their appetite. Mmm, delicious sandwich. Would you like one? I got it from the device you installed in the mess hall. A remarkable tool, truly. It's been a long time since I've had bacon this good."

"I see," You frown. "So now they're looking for more."

"There's also the matter of the BETA," Yayoi adds. "The threat of BETA G-bombs is exacerbating their fears. It's making the nations of the world more... Twitchy, for want of a better term. On one side there's you, an unknown but allegedly benevolent force with the ability to regime change nearly any government you decide you don't like, and on the other, there's the BETA being something other than dumb animals, and the fear that with your victory here, they will take humanity seriously..."

"Ah, but we digress," Sakon replies. "I fear the good doctor's security was compromised yesterday. You see, I noticed a set of wet bootprints on the concrete just outside the secure ward, ones heading outside. I did notice the sprinkler was quite effective in soaking everything under it. Alas, with the snow it's impossible to track this further, what with people coming and going."

Alina frowns. "I... Did feel someone's presence? I vaguely recall that. Though I thought they were an echo at the time, I think? They vanished when I reached for them. They're very lucky I didn't kill them. Emerging from such a healing trance early is taxing, you aren't entirely aware of your surroundings when you do."

"Hmm," You frown. "I see. That's not helping to illuminate matters. Still, it's more than we had. We'll have to figure out ways to prevent stuff like this in the future. I'll speak to Yuuko about it, definitely."

"Well then, my task here is done. And yet, I would prefer to keep digging on my own, so I think I shall. I leave the lovely Isumi in your care, Colonel. Please don't break her too badly, hmm?"

And just like that, he vanishes as smoothly as he entered.

You glance at Yayoi. "Well, I'm sure Isum-err, Michiru would like to spend more time with you? I just gave her the rest of the day off."

"Come on, Yayoi. It's been years since I've seen you," Isumi asks. "You can tell me how Akira and Marika are doing."

"Do you know my sister, Colonel?" Yayoi asks. "You certainly act like you do..."

Isumi blushes. "Just what are you implying?"

"Ah, yes, the Colonel is planning on adding her into his harem," Misae jumps into the conversation. "Or perhaps the other way around. Why, right after the victory at Sadogashima, she held him close and whispered sweet nothings in his ear."

"Munakata!" Isumi gasps. "You saw that?! Colonel, tell them she's misunderstanding!"

"Oh? I'm glad to see you've started to move on from Masaki," Yayoi sighs. "It's not healthy to pine for him, you know. The rest of us accept he's gone, but you've held on to hope for, what, three years now?"

"They never found his body. He could have escaped the BETA..." Isumi frowns.

"I think we both know the reason they never found his body, Michi."

Isumi flinches.

"She's one of the first people I met when I arrived," You say, deciding to change the subject. "Now somehow her team got assigned under me in some UN power play so I guess you could say I'm her temporary CO. No, we don't have that kind of relationship, no matter what our subordinates try to imply."

"Pity," Alina says. "You can never have too much love."

"Anyway, Yayoi, you in?" You ask.

"I suppose," She replies. "Though you're oddly familiar, using my first name."

"I could call you Isumi, but then everyone would get confused because I call her Isumi," You reply. "Unless you want to be Isumi Two."

"No, that's alright," She sighs.

"And what will you be doing, sir?" Isumi asks. "You could always come have lunch with us – our unit usually eats together."

"Mmm, yes, Michael. Let's do that," Alina says. "I like their easy camaraderie. It's fun. Please?"

She backs her words with the stare.

You have no other name for it, just the stare. The cute, girlish look that Alina gives you when she wants something. The look you've never had the heart to resist.

What is it with women? How is it they've mastered getting their way with just a glance?

The Valkyries make their way to the PX with you, Yayoi, and Alina in tow. You hear the bustle and din of prime chow time; until now, you hadn't actually encountered too many people since you usually avoided peak hours.

As soon as you step through the doors, though, it's like all conversation dies.

Then the whispers break out.

"That's him!" "Did you hear he's sleeping with the Vice-Commander?" "The hell he'd manage to thaw that frigid bitch?" "I heard he was sleeping with Captain Isumi..." "That frigid bitch too?" "Really? I heard he was fucking both." "I thought he'd be taller." "Karin, he's gotta be at least six two." "Still thought he'd be taller. We're talking about the one who took a hive here." "They say the Shogun personally thanked him with tears in her eyes!" "No way, really? The Shogun?" "I wonder where he's from?" "I wonder if he's looking for a girlfriend?" "You want to edge in on the v-cee's turf? Shit girl, you better make sure your will's filled out." "They say he's from the future. I know it sounds crazy, but I can't think of any better explanations for-" "Hell, we have him to thank for the food. When's the last time we had actual real meat instead of that synthetic shit?" "Yeah, and Kyouzuka says we'll always have real meat now. It totally takes future magic to keep rations from tasting like shit. I believe it." "I think he's an American supercommando. That big blue mech of his? Prototype mobile fortress. I overheard one of the Valkyries mention that when he first showed up." "The Valkyries?" "Yeah, look, he even came in with them now. Though I don't know those other two?" "Who's the redhead? Some kind of chaplain?"

You sigh. "This is why I didn't want to come, Ali."

"What's wrong, Michael?" Alina asks. "They gossip regardless of whether we're here or not. That's what humans do."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have to hear it. I mean, sure, it's mostly good, but it's still uncomfortable. I don't like fame."

"But you became an ACU pilot? In the Illuminate, being a commander is one of the most honorable professions... I thought it was the same in the UEF?" She asks. "I suppose what I mean is, aren't you used to fame?"

"I didn't always hate it," You sigh. "Just, after, well, you know..."

Alina grabs your hand, she looks in your eyes and gives you a gentle smile. "I understand how Black Sun could change one's perceptions on that. Say no more."

"Black Sun?" Isumi asks.

You twitch. "I... Would prefer not discuss it."

Isumi frowns at you.

"Black Sun is..." Alina pauses, thinking. "I suppose you might call it our crucible, Michael's and Mine. Out of respect for his feelings, I will not discuss the details. Suffice to say that in one blinding flash, it silenced a war that had been raging for a thousand years and left lasting scars on all involved."

Lunch after that's a somber thing, though there are bright spots in that Isumi's other sisters are apparently okay. Both are eishis with the imperial army, now finding themselves considerably safer since you took out the nearest BETA hive. And even more fortunately, the mystique the Valkyries have on this base is enough to keep the throngs of curious gossip-mongering soldiers at bay.

It isn't enough to prevent the head cook from coming up to you, slapping you hard on the back, and saying "You! I could kiss you! Do you know how long it's been since we got real meat to cook with?"

"As long as I get my chocolate-cinnamon coffee in the morning," You shrug, "I'm happy."

"Hell, for that I'll give you my special espresso every day if you want," She grins.

"Ah, excuse me..." Alina starts. "Pardon the impropriety, but I've never seen someone as... Large as you before?"

"Ah, cook's prerogative, I'm afraid. Have to sample my work to make sure it's edible!" The cook replies. At least she's taking it in a good-natured fashion.

"Obachan isn't that fat?" Hayase says. "I mean she's a little stocky, but you're looking at her like she's five hundred pounds or something."

"I'm sorry," Alina replies. "It's just... Are your geneboosts malfunctioning? Why is your body absorbing the excess calories instead of discarding them? Can we do something to fix that, Michael?"

"Gene-whazzits?"

"Ah, Ali," You reply. "We're in the distant past. Genetic modification is a very new field right now. Geneboosts as we know them don't exist."

"You mean these poor women actually bloat out if they eat too much chocolate?" Alina gasps. "Gods, that's horrible! I read about such things in the histories, but it always seemed so miserable that I thought the archivists were embellishing..."

The Valkyries are staring at her now.

"Ah, where we come from, everyone was born with certain genetic enhancements. Then everyone receives updated modifications annually. ACU pilots especially," You look at the Valkyries. "Like, Alina once tore my arm off in a spar. Rather than bleed out as you guys would, my veins clenched shut and my brain flooded itself with happy juice to keep from going into shock. I won that spar, by the way."

"I apologized for that," Alina mutters. "I was still angry after Black Sun, and I didn't want to restrain myself. Still, it was very dishonorable of me."

"I didn't want you to either," You reply. "I'm just using it as an example. No offense taken."

Everyone just stares at the two of you.

The cook slaps your back again. "Heh, you're good kids. Weird, but good. Anyone who can give me real ingredients to work with is okay in my book."

But then she glances over, back towards the kitchen. The smoke coming from back there probably isn't a good thing. "Ach, looks like I still need to keep an eye on the others. That Ayane, I swear she'd burn water if I wasn't around to stop her. Don't be strangers. Now that I've got some decent ingredients, I can promise you some of the best cooking you've ever tasted."

You turn towards the Valkyries as the cook walks off.

"She seemed... Friendly?" Alina asks.

"That's Obachan," Isumi nods. "Er, Sergeant-Major Kyozuka, head of dietary logistics, sir."

"She's kind of like the team's mom?" Hayase rubs her chin. "Or the team aunt, I guess? She always gives us extra rations for special occasions."

"That's kind of her," You nod.

"Yeah, she understands how every little bit helps with morale," Hayase shrugs. "So... Anything you can tell us about our next op?"

"Still planning," You reply. "All I know right now is that it's going to involve a whole hive of dead BETA."

"My favorite kind," Hayase grins.

Lunch after that passes happily. The food's taken a quantum leap upwards in quality compared to the last time you ate, and there's no faulting the company. The Valkyries are a tight knit group, but they're going out of their way to make you and Alina feel welcome, and for that you're thankful. You don't discuss anything of major import, but just spending time with your new friends is enough to ease your heart, and you're sure it's the same with Alina.

They even go out of their way to welcome Yayoi, even if the eldest Isumi is quiet and more prone to watching than participating in any of the teasing and shenanigans they get up to.

After lunch, though, Haruka approaches you quietly. "Sir, before the wargame, you said I could have new legs?"

You nod. "Sure, come with me. My base's lab has a medical level with the right equipment."

Leaving Alina in your team's care – and it still feels weird to think of them as your team – you lead Haruka up to your base.

You almost expect Mitsuko to find you as soon as you enter; you haven't seen her for a couple days. But a quick query of the security system confirms that she's still in the sociological lab, apparently with several active holos from the UEF historical archives going at once.

Rather than disturb her, you and Haruka just pass on through, heading to the medical lab. "Okay. Disrobe and lie down in the omnidoc. It's the big metal tube in the middle there. I'll have the system run some scans, then we'll be able to tell how long it will take."

"Ah, actually Sir," Haruka frowns. "Would it be possible to get some of those gene-boosts as well? You spoke of self-sealing veins... I keep thinking back to my accident. I only survived because my comrades spent time treating me. They had to retake the evaluation because they used up too much time doing so. I don't want to be a burden. If I had something like that, they wouldn't have had to retake the exam."

"I see," You frown. "I can't make any promises; we'll have to see what the systems say. But if we can do so safely, sure. Now, in the tube, Lieutenant."

She does so. You have your medical expert systems run the scans and take the samples you'll need. She makes a cute yelping noise when one of the metal arms inside plucks one of her hairs for analysis.

While the pride of UEF lifescience is doing its job, though, you figure you might as well chat with your new subordinate. "So, Haruka, you seem kind of driven. I mean, geneboosts are a big change. It's modifying your body completely at its most basic level. I expected more concern and fear since you didn't grow up with the notion like Alina or I have. Honestly didn't expect you to volunteer without even knowing what they entail."

"I want to be the best soldier I can be," Her reply's slightly muffled, bounced around the metal walls and into a receiver. "I made a promise to Mitsuki."

"Hayase?" You ask. "Huh."

"Yes," Haruka replies. "We both love the same man, you see. You know how competitive she is. She wouldn't accept it if I wasn't giving it my all. I imagine that she too will request these changes as soon as she hears I did."

You chuckle. "Yeah, I think I understand. So what's this guy like, that he can catch both your attention?"

"Takayuki was... Is a man." She sighs.

"A man?" You chuckle. "Such stunning detail there, Haruka."

"I don't often describe him," Haruka replies. "He can be dense sometimes, but in a lovable manner. He's an earnest, reliable individual. He's not the strongest, or the smartest, but he's brave when someone he cares about is on the line. His parents died fighting the BETA just like mine did, but that's not uncommon in this day and age. Listen, how much longer do you expect this to take? I don't like enclosed spaces."

"Hmm, just about done actually," You glance over to the computer. "Okay. Looks like... If you get the geneboosts, you'll have to stay in here until tomorrow afternoon, at which point you should be recovered enough for light duty. If you don't, we can have you in and out in about three hours, though how long it'll take you to get used to the new legs depends on you."

"I'll take the former option. I don't care how uncomfortable it is."

"First though," You frown, staring at the metal tube. "I need to know, why is it you fight? I get the sense you'll be volunteering for combat duties after this. That's fine, but I don't want to heal you up only for you to rush off to get eaten."

"If you work with the 9th for long, Sir, you'll come to realize that the aliens have taken something precious from each of us," She replies. "We all hate them. I would prefer if you left it at that please."

You frown, but nod. "I suppose that's as good a reason as any. But I don't like my subordinates sacrificing themselves in vain, so no glorious last stands or anything, right?"

"The Captain is the same way," Haruka laughs. "Pity a certain first lieutenant already poisoned that well. I'd try and set her up with you. You'd make a cute couple. Though, perhaps she couldn't compete against such a woman as the XO."

"Honestly, not many people can compete with Yuuko," You chuckle. "She's... Intense. I have to stay at the top of my game just to keep up with her. It's fun. I've never quite been challenged like that."

"Not even by Miss Alina?"

"No," You reply. "What Alina and I have is different. She's fun too, but in a different way. Less challenging, more whimsical? The only time I feel pressed by Alina is when we're fighting. Otherwise, our relationship is more cooperative. I relied on her a lot to help center myself during the war. She was always there with a kind word or comforting gesture, no matter how bad things got."

"You love both of them, don't you?" Haruka asks.

"I don't know the answer to that," You frown, even though she won't see it. "Either way, I think we've wasted enough time here. Let's begin."

You hammer the start icon. "Okay, it'll be pumping in sedatives into the air in a few moments. Once that's done, it'll begin. You shouldn't experience any lasting pain, but it'll feel weird when you wake up. Don't worry, that's normal. You'll have just undergone biological reconstruction, so most everything that makes up you will feel different. But don't worry, it doesn't last long. People are very flexible."

You frown. "I probably won't be here when you wake up, but I'll leave you some reading material on the new augs and send Akane as soon as you're done, 'kay?"

"I understand," Haruka stifles a yawn. "Thank you for thi-"

Looks like the sedative took effect.

With that, you leave your lab. A quick check on Mitsuko via the lab's security system shows she's still engrossed in what it is she's doing. You can but trust she'll be done soon, because you'd like to get the ball rolling on the refugee issue. You need to see some good being done, and you wager Yuuko's the same way.

Instead, you take some time to relax away from distractions. You make your way back to Blue, your datapad thumming with all the information you have on the BETA. Perhaps you'll see some revelation you missed, something that'll help predict what they'll do next.

You don't want to go back to Alina or the Valkyries at the moment. What she said's still bothering you.

You didn't save her. You didn't.

There was no accusation in her tone, you're sure she didn't meant it like that. But you still can't help but think it. You didn't save her. You promised yourself that Black Sun was it, that was the last sacrifice. No more.

Then, when it came down to brief heartbeats and split seconds, you made another. You could've gone back for her. You didn't.

She'd say you'd have just died alongside her. Yuuko would say the same. But you could've saved her. You aren't sure how, but you would've found a way, just like you did during the battle for Earth, just like you did when you ended the Infinite War with one button. The very best of the Aeon and Cybrans couldn't stop you. The Seraphim's best just slowed you down. You could've saved her somehow.

…

Except you didn't.

Then Dostya just a day later. Her death didn't hurt as much. You were never that close to her. But it still hurt. You could've stopped it. The whole setup screamed trap. Dostya wanted to spring that trap and turn it on its creators. You wanted to pull back and strengthen your defenses while carefully probing the area, but she'd have none of it, and she was the senior officer on the mission.

"If I was just a little better, could I have saved them all, Blue?" You groan. "If I really can win without sacrifice, why couldn't I save them?"

Blue remains silent.

"You don't have an answer either, huh?" You ask.

"I do not," Blue replies. "Perhaps she does?"

"Huh?" You blink.

"There is a young girl attempting to gain access to my cockpit," Blue's holodisplay warms up, showing the feed from one of the hangar's cameras. There's Psibunny, just staring at the access hatch like it'll open on its own. "Would you like me to let her in?"

You sigh. "Sure, why not. I'm sure Yuuko sent her."

The hatch opens, and Kasumi climbs right in.

"It's time for the debraining?" You ask.

Kasumi just blinks at you.

"No."

"Then... Why are you here?"

"Your color's black and blue, like a bruise. You disappeared after you entered here."

"Well, I'm not feeling all that happy right now," You reply. "So you're right."

You sigh. "But I'm being a poor host. Blue, get the kid some ice cream. She really came through for me twice so far, she deserves a treat. What flavor do you like?"

Kasumi says nothing.

"Vanilla? Chocolate? Cookie dough's my favorite, personally. Little bits of cookie dough, mixed in with vanilla and slathered with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, mmm, delish."

"I-I'll take that."

You hand her a bowl of freshly made ice cream sundae and offer her the best seat in the house. Fortunately, your commander's chair can rotate a full three hundred and sixty degrees, so she can turn to face you when you sit on your bed.

She just stares at the ice cream, as if she isn't sure what to do with it.

You shrug. "If you don't want it, you don't have to eat it."

Then you start eating your own sundae.

"Sorry."

She takes one bite. Her blue eyes widen. She makes a kind of soft squeaking noise. You see a dollop of chocolate sauce hang on her chin.

"Ah, see? It is good," You grin at her. "Yummy."

"Here though," You hand her a napkin. "You've got a bit right there."

"I-I've never had ice cream before."

"I see Yuuko hasn't been doing her womanly duty," You chuckle. "I figure you're the closest thing she's got to a daughter, so she should be treating you like a kid at least sometimes..."

"M-mother?" From the way Kasumi's face droops, though, you get the impression you said something wrong. "I've never had a mother."

She looks at you, face blank. But you can detect a tiny, tiny seed of bitterness in her next words. "I was grown in a tank."

"My mom was actually like you in some ways," You smile at her. "Not an esper, we don't have those in the UEF, but grown in a lab. She was a scientist, actually."

"Like Doctor Kouzuki?"

"Insofar as she did science, maybe, but their personalities were very different. She was considerably warmer and kinder than Yuuko is. She didn't like seeing anyone suffer, even if they were Aeon or Cybrans," You reply. "I mention it just to show you that there's nothing wrong with being grown in a tank. It's what you do when you're alive that matters, see? She had friends, colleagues, she even fell in love and raised a family. The full human experience. Just being grown in a metal tube doesn't mean anything."

You frown. "Granted the mind powers are a wrinkle. But I'm sure we can figure something out. Maybe Alina can help with that. Her culture's dealt with that for a thousand years."

She shakes her head rapidly.

"Eh? What's wrong with Alina?" You ask.

Kasumi shivers. "She burned."

"...Uh, yeah, it was a pretty impressive example of pyrokinesis. It only happened because she was terrified and alone though, and even then she tried not to hurt anyone. She's really a nice woman, she's great with kids, and I know seeing you run away from her like that hurt her."

"You don't understand. She burned. When espers like me lose control, we burn. We burn and the handlers take us away."

"I don't know anything about that," You reply. "But I trust Alina completely. If she was at further risk of any more episodes like that, she'd have told me."

She just looks at you, her face blank and unreadable.

"You were very impressive during the wargame," You sigh, changing the subject. "Ali comparing you to me is high praise. But where did you learn those moves?"

She turns away, as if unwilling to meet your gaze full on. "I... Stole them."

"Stole them?"

"I'm sorry. I wanted to exist."

You blink. "In what way?"

"...I don't have any memories. So I took yours. I shouldn't have."

You just stare, your mind trying to process that information.

"Well, you're right. Going in and taking someone's memories isn't very polite," You reply after a moment's pause. "You could get in a lot of trouble doing that."

"I understand. You're right to hate me."

"I didn't say anything about hating you, Kasumi," You get up and move towards her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm not most people. I'm just saying that a lot of people would hate it, so don't make a habit of it in the future, okay?"

You pause. "Now, if you don't have any memories of your own, I see an obvious solution."

Kasumi cocks her head slightly. It's a very minute motion, but it's enough to show you that you have her attention.

"We make some new memories for you. Like, right now, you're eating ice cream with me in an ACU. That's a memory. The wargame before, when you crushed a bunch of veteran soldiers, that's a memory. Go forth and do new things. You're still a kid so you don't have to know what you want or don't want. So experiment. Try things. See what you like and don't like. That's what childhood's all about, really."

"W-will you help me? Make new memories?"

"Sure," You give her a warm smile. "Friends help each other."

"Friends?" She tests the word, as if she's not used to speaking it. "Friends."

"Exactly."

You don't see her smile, exactly, but her lips do tug up a tiny bit.

She leaves soon after, citing a need to keep Sumika company while her new body is prepared.

You spend the next few hours pouring over everything mankind knows about the BETA and processing your recent experiences with the aliens. With Alina at your side, you figure you'll be able to capture at least two hives, just like you did here. If you're willing to outright destroy them instead, you feel you could increase that number to six before the two of you have to pause and take a breather.

However, you still don't have anything to deal with those worms, or with the BETA G-bomb threat. And, of course, who knows what else the BETA will pull out of the depths of their hives?

It's early evening when you're disturbed again. Kasumi's returned. Blue lets her in automatically, and the young girl wastes no time. "She's ready for you."

With that, you make your way back to Yuuko's lab.

Shirogane is already there. He's staring at the 00-unit's tube, running his hand over it.

He doesn't look up as you approach.

Yuuko does, glancing at you over a large computer console. She gives you a small smile. "It's good you're here. Considering you're responsible for this triumph, I thought it fair that you witness it."

"You did make sure to dial back the unit's strength and disable the built in weaponry, right?" You frown at her.

"Naturally," Yuuko replies. "We can reenable those functions once we're sure she's stable. Or relatively so."

"Is there anything you need me to do?"

She smiles at you. "Oh, just bear witness to my – no, to our genius."

Yuuko starts pressing buttons and flipping switches. "Good, good. It looks like everything's in the green."

She looks at you. "The transfer's started. We've started destructively scanning the brain. It might take a little while, so I hope neither of you have other plans."

"Destructively scanning?" Shirogane gasps. "What are you doing to Sumika?"

"There's only one real way to replicate a person's brain," Yuuko shrugs. "And that's to take it apart. No need to take my word for it, Spaceman confirmed it with his future science too."

"But wouldn't that mean Sumika's dying?"

"Yes," Yuuko replies. "If that bothers you, you can leave right now."

"Arguable," You disagree. "There's continuity between the two configurations. Your body isn't made up of the exact same cells it was three years ago but you're still you – this is just an extension of that, in one sense."

Yuuko grins. "See, Shirogane? Why can't you say interesting things like the other time traveler?"

"Hey!" Shirogane protests, but Yuuko just grins at him.

You aren't sure how much time passes as you watch it all – the 00 unit floating serenely in its storage tube, the slow inching progression of the upload bar on one of Yuuko's monitors, Yuuko's widening smile – but you feel like it's quite awhile.

Shirogane yawns, only to be silenced by a loud, ominous beeping. "What is it, is Sumika okay? Say somet-"

"Shut up, Shirogane," Yuuko's voice turns cold, like she just turned on the icewater. "I don't want a boy who can't control himself tainting a crucial moment like this."

She looks at you. "There's been a slight snag. The transfer completed successfully, but the unit's having trouble booting."

"What sort of trouble?" You ask.

"A looping exception fault; every time it starts to connect to the sensory feedback systems, the brain tries to deactivate them," She frowns. "I have my own theory, but I'd like to hear your thoughts."

"Uh, I think-"

"I wasn't asking you, Shirogane. I was asking the one who helped me finish the 00 unit," Yuuko replies.

"I think it's psychological. Sumika's just gone from being a disembodied brain to having a body. She's overwhelmed by all the new sensations. I think giving her something familiar to focus on will help," You reply. "What do you think?"

"Hm," Yuuko nods. "Yes, I was thinking along those lines. Yashiro, what's your read on the situation?"

"She's scared. She wants someone to comfort her."

Yuuko turns to Shirogane. "I'm going to drain the tank and open it. I want you to put the unit onto the gurney here. Understand?"

Shirogane nods and gets into position. "R-right."

"Now," Yuuko presses a button. The hinge on the tank's door opens up, and the newly-minted 00 unit flops down into Shirogane's arms.

"Sumika?!" Shirogane gasps. "Hey, say something!"

"The gurney, Shirogane," Yuuko mutters.

"Oh, right," Shirogane replies. "Sorry."

He lifts Sumika onto the nearby medical gurney, then takes up position at her side, holding her hand. "Sumika, it's me. Say something."

You frown. "Hm. Maybe it's purely a software problem then? I thought for sure it'd work..."

"T-takeru?" You hear Sumika's voice whisper. "Is that really you?"

You watch her reach up, touching his face with her hand.

"Yeah, I'm right here. How couldn't I be, right?" Shirogane replies.

"...But you died," Her voice starts to grow louder, more hysterical. "You died to... Tank class? No. Yes? Wait. You died twice. Soldier class? What's wrong with me?"

"Uh... They kind of gave you a different body than the one you had," Shirogane chuckles nervously. "Err, a robot body."

"Not that," She almost sounds distracted. "I knew that. Stupid Takeru. The little rabbit girl told me about it and why I had to and I agreed. Why do I remember them taking you from me twice?"

Your frown deepens. You don't remember seeing Shirogane dying twice in your jaunt down her memories.

Shirogane just shrugs.

"Glad to see you're awake, Sumika," You nod at her.

"You're... Michael. I remember now. Big Sis' husband," She looks at you. "The one I hurt."

"Husband?" Yuuko's eyes narrow. "You didn't say anything about being married."

"Alina embellished certain details in the retelling," You reply. "Anyway, Sumika, don't worry about that. No harm done. How do you feel?"

"It's weird," She replies, looking at her hand. She watches it flex and clench, watches the skin stretch over the alloy bones underneath. "When Kasumi said it was a robot, I didn't think I'd look so... Normal."

"I went to great lengths to make it feel as human as possible," Yuuko announces, pride beaming in her voice. "Every sense is faithfully replicated and what I couldn't replicate, I emulated."

"I feel so... Weird. I can actually feel the sheet under me. I taste something. Are those my lips? I can... I can see things. I can talk."

"You've spent a long time without any of those senses, it'll probably be novel to you for awhile," You nod. "Okay, so your new body doesn't need to eat or sleep, but it's probably a good idea if you do both just to remind yourself you're alive. You do need to drink. Preferably water. Your body runs on hydrogen fused together in a room-temperature reaction, so you'll need to supply that hydrogen. Easiest way is drinking water."

"When can I kill BETA?" Sumika asks.

"Soon. You have to get used to your new body first and there's other things we need to do beforehand," Yuuko replies. "And you need to practice. We're not sending you out when you're a liability. So get better if you want to have your revenge."

"Training," Sumika's lips curl upwards in a particularly vicious grin. "Training to kill BETA."

"Sumika..." Shirogane frowns at her.

"They took you away from me," Sumika looks at him. "I'll make them pay."

You shrug. "Good enough for me."

"Okay, Sumika. You have a very crucial role in our strategy," You say. "We'll tell you more later, but right now I just want to say we appreciate what you're doing, and what you're doing will help save the world."

"I don't care about the world," Sumika looks at you. "Just Takeru."

"Well, you'll be helping keep him safe too," You reply.

She sighs, letting her head fall back. "That's not Takeru. Takeru died."

"No, it is Takeru," You reply. "It's just a different version of him. Imagine we have two identical worlds, right? Each one has a Takeru. But somehow Takeru from one came into the other after he died in that one. So it's "a" Takeru, just not the one you lost, if you understand?"

She looks at Shirogane, a pensive look plastered across her face.

Yuuko steps forward. "For now you should rest and get reacquainted with your body. I need to run some tests and make sure everything's calibrated properly. I'll also brief you on your new form."

She leans in. "Ah, but parts of it are rather intimate. I don't think it's something men should listen to, if you know what I mean."

Sumika's eyes widen slightly, and you see her blush.

Wow, Yuuko really did get all the details right.

"Yeah," You nod. "Shirogane has to get back to his unit. And I have things to do too... Come on, cadet."

"Wait," Sumika asks. "Is Big Sis... Alright?"

You nod slowly, trying to figure out how to answer. "She is right now."

"Thank you," She sighs. "She did so much for me. I'm glad."

"Now, out," Yuuko practically pushes the two of you out. "Girl talk waits for no man."

"That went well," You say as you and Shirogane make your way down the hall towards the elevator.

"What the hell was that," Shirogane's fists clench tightly. "What the hell did you two do to Sumika? I've never seen her hate anything like that."

"Let's just say the BETA have done a lot to earn that hate," You reply. "It's why she's either going to be an excellent soldier, or a loose cannon who'll jeopardize everything. I'm praying the former."

"She shouldn't have to be a soldier," Shirogane replies. "Not Sumika."

"That's not your decision to make," You shake your head. "It's hers."

Shirogane grimaces, but he clearly doesn't have anything else to say to that.

The silence continues even as you head up the elevator back to the surface. It continues even as the door slides open to reveal the hallway beyond.

It continues even though Shirogane isn't leaving.

"You're dismissed," You gesture towards the door. "Get going."

"Ah, wait. Er, sir. When will I see her again?"

"When she has free time she can spend it however she wants," You reply. "That's all."

At least now he's leaving.

You hear a footstep approach from the other end of the hallway. You turn. Tsukuyomi's standing there, glaring at you.

"Lieutenant," You look at her. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Milady Shogun requests an audience," She grimaces. "A private one."

"...I see," You frown yourself. "Well, lead on then."

She leads you into the habitat complex you built to awe your guests, though she's clearly not pleased about the circumstances. You can imagine her thought process very well. Scandals, scandals everywhere!

Yuuhi apparently doesn't mind, though. She smiles up at you over a book as you approach. "Ah, Colonel. I'm pleased you could find time to visit me."

"Of course," You nod.

She sighs. "Alas, my time here is nearly at an end. I can put off the requirements of my station no longer. I am returning to the capital tomorrow, but I shall send my vassal in my place. He will sign the treaty you offer and handle the distribution of what you promised. But it would please me if you stayed awhile. I haven't had much opportunity to speak to you."

Though it makes you vaguely uncomfortable, you accept.

She gestures around her, to the walls, the floors, the protocrafter mounted in the wall. "Truly, you're a bringer of endless wonder. The thought that all my people will soon have food and medical care – to say nothing of walls – warms me. I wanted to thank you for that, personally."

"...You're welcome," You reply, stiffly.

She stands. You can see now what she's wearing. It's a sort of white robe or dress, with a kind of stylized golden crown like the sun in her hair. She looks almost like the Aeon Princess; she has that kind of dignity and grace to her.

She cranes her neck upwards to look at you. "And I wanted to personally thank you for what you did. You removed the threat from my homeland, you bought us breathing room. Again, I thank you."

"And finally," She smiles. "You've given me personally something very precious. That's three wondrous gifts."

"You're welcome," You reply. "But I just did what anyone would've done."

"I did not expect a foreigner to be so modest," She laughs, somehow managing to make even that seem dignified. "But I would give you a gift in return."

You frown at her. "A gift?"

"Yes," She gestures towards the bed. "Please, sit with me awhile."

You grit your teeth, looking for a graceful way out of this situation.

You don't find one. So you sit, but you tense up, ready to bolt straight out of there as soon as she tries anything. Your love life is too complicated as it is without adding a foreign princess to it.

"You bear a great burden," She says.

"Meiya said much the same thing to me once," You try to change the subject.

"I am not blind, you know," She continues.

You blink.

"I understand you do not... View me in that way. I saw how you looked at Doctor Kouzuki, back in the hive," She takes your hands. "I saw how you held her with these hands. I understand now that I never truly had – well, it matters not."

She sighs. "Still, you leave me awestruck. Like some rhonin from a fable, appearing in my hour of need. I beg your pardon for the impression it left on me."

"Yuuhi," You look at her. "Listen. You're a young and beautiful girl with a long life ahead of you. I'm sure you'll find someone who can love you as much as you deserve, and when you do, I'll come to the wedding."

She shakes her head sadly. "I thank you for indulging my act of childish rebellion, for at least giving me a fleeting fantasy these past days. But those in my position do not get to choose our husbands."

You blink. "Why not?"

She sighs.

"No, seriously. Why not?" You ask. "You're the Shogun. How can you not choose your own husband? Who's going to tell you otherwise?"

She bites her lip in a particularly adorable gesture. "I... Must do what is best for my people."

"As any good leader should," You nod. "But I don't see how they'd find fault in you being a human being. If anything, I think they'd respect that more. They'd think the Shogun feels the same things they do, and they'd feel a sense of kinship with you. It's the same thing with Meiya. I've seen you leaving her room enough to know you enjoy spending time with her, yet apparently you aren't supposed to. I just don't get it. How can anyone restrict you from doing what you want when you're not acting as Shogun and not doing something unbefitting of the station?"

"It's a bad omen to have twins," Yuuhi replies. "As I am the light, she is the dark, the moon to my sun. She was cast off into a branch family. Until you got me so inebriated that I broke convention, I hadn't seen her since we were very young..."

"She's your sister? I suppose that makes sense. She certainly looks like you," You chuckle at her. "Though I think her hair is much more absurd than yours."

"It is, isn't it?" Yuuhi laughs softly.

"But seriously," You shake your head. "Does it feel wrong? Does it feel bad to talk with her? Do you regret it?"

"No..."

"Then what's the problem?" You look at her. "If people look up to you, I think you need to have a personal life more, not less. How are you supposed to make decisions for people if you're completely disconnected from them? If you don't know how it feels to love, to be human, how can you make an informed decision about the value of other peoples' lives?"

She laughs again. "Of all the ways I envisioned this meeting going, you comforting me in this fashion was not one of them."

"Yeah, well, I'm full of surprises. Just ask the BETA."

She shakes her head and squeezes your hands. "There is a certain wisdom to your words, one I must ponder."

"Of course," You start to get up.

"Please, stay awhile longer. I would speak more," She tugs your hand.

She looks at your eyes, her dark blue eyes boring into your lighter ones.

You sit back down. It's the desperation in her eyes that does it.

"Why do you suffer so?" She asks.

"Hm? Oh no, I'm not suffering at all," What you intend as a joke just comes off flat. "Just need my coffee and a hearty diet of alien-murder and I'm happy as a grox. Why wouldn't I be?"

"And yet you wear a mask."

Your eyes narrow.

"I cannot see past it, but I can recognize pain and loneliness very well indeed. So I say again, why do you suffer so?"

You frown at her. "I've made a lot of decisions I regret. Mistakes, unforgivable ones. I'm not the strong hero you think I am."

She nods. "I understand. Every time I delegate one of my duties to a vassal, I feel like a coward. Some days I despise my own weakness. A leader should not shy from blood on her hands, yet that is what I do. I give up the power that is mine by right because I am too weak and inexperienced to hold it. Because if I did, I fear I'd break and there'd be no one left to pick up the pieces. Because... It's easier to make it someone else's problem, to absolve myself of responsibility."

"I wish I could do that," You admit. "But I can't. It all comes back to me and my mistakes. I don't have anyone else to shift the blame to."

"The blame for what?" Yuuhi asks, voice gentle.

"Everything?" Your voice grows bitter. "So much death, so many people lost. It all comes down to what I did... Or didn't do. You know why I like Yuuko? Because our baggage's a matched set."

Yuuhi says nothing.

"Atonement," She says, finally. "I see."

"No atonement. Not after what I've done," You mutter.

"Then why, if you can't be forgiven?"

"I don't deserve to be forgiven," You snarl.

Yuuhi gasps. You can see from her face that her next thought struck her deeply. "You're looking for a place to die with honor. You put on a good front of normalcy, but that's all it is, isn't it? You truly believe that your sin, whatever it is, demands death."

She looks at you, eyes sad and resigned. Her grip on your hands tightens. "I understand. I hope your end is a glorious one, something they talk about in song and tale for the rest of time. But please, take comfort in the fact that whatever happens, you've given one weak and worthless girl hope for a better future."

Yuuhi stands, stepping over towards a piece of her luggage. She flips it open, and pulls forth a long tubular object, wrapped in white silk.

She hands it to you. "This is the Koubuin family blade. My blade. I wish for you to have it."

You frown, gently unwrapping it and removing it from its lacquered scabbard. It's some kind of slightly curved sword, you know that much. The craftsmanship is exquisite, but it looks more ceremonial. Too detailed, with the inlaid gold and purple highlights. You can't see yourself killing with it, even if it wasn't a sword instead of a nice plasma gun.

"I can't take this," You try to hand it back to her.

"This blade is a symbol of the trust I have in you, and the gratitude that all of Japan feels for your actions. Leave it to collect dust in the closet if you must, but please take it," Yuuhi replies. "When you question your course, wonder if you're doing the right thing, think of it and remember that I at least have faith in you."

"How?" You look at her. "How can you know me well enough to trust me like that?"

She gives you a graceful smile. "Because I can see that underneath it all, you're a compassionate man. You care about people. I choose to put my faith in human goodness."

She frowns slightly. "Now you may leave. But if you ever find yourself in the capital, feel free to visit. You will always be welcome in my home."

You leave, still holding the sword.

Tsukuyomi's eyes widen as you step from the room. She focuses in on the silk-wrapped sword in your hand. "Is that–!?"

She takes a breath, the green haired young woman struggling to master her emotions. "I hope you know how much trust she's putting in you. I can only pray you will prove worthy of it."

"Me too," You sigh softly.

"I don't trust you," She continues. "But Milady clearly sees something."

You hold your tongue on the matter of Yuuhi's judgment. Because... You honestly aren't sure of it yourself. You wonder if this is how Yuuko feels, dealing with you. It's not fun being on the other side of it. Especially when you don't deserve such trust.

Does that make you a hypocrite?

Both Yuuko and Alina are there when you return to your quarters. It's very late out now, and the emotions of the day have taken their toll on you.

"Where have you been?" Yuuko looks at you, crossing her arms.

"I too am curious, Michael," Alina adds.

"I was called to an audience with Yuuhi," You frown. "No, don't worry about any cheating, when I left she understood that I didn't feel that way about her."

Yuuko's eyes narrow, fixed on the sword. "And what exactly is that?"

Alina, meanwhile, simply walks up to you and tugs off the cloth. "Oh, Michael, it's beautiful. It's rare to see this level of craftsmanship. This was all done by hand, there's too many flaws and imperfections to be machined. Could you take it out of the scabbard, please?"

You do so. Alina smiles. "I don't feel anything for the design, and I certainly wouldn't use it on the battlefield, but it's detail is simply exquisite. A work of art to rival the finest bladesmiths of the Illuminate. Truly this Shogun has an eye for beauty in her gifts."

"She couldn't have had time to have a blade commissioned," Yuuko frowns. "So that means..."

"It's her sword, yes," You reply.

"...And you just accepted it." Yuuko's voice is flat.

"She and I already had this conversation. I don't love her, she knows I don't love her, we're good."

"I don't think you understand what this means," Yuuko shakes her head. "The shogun giving her blade to someone, anyone, is important. Giving it to a foreigner is completely unheard of. Whatever you do, don't flaunt it. Now, did anyone see you carrying it?"

You frown. "Just Lieutenant Tsukuyomi. She mentioned how the Shogun was putting a great deal of trust in me."

"It's a sword, Spaceman," Yuuko replies. "Think of that for a moment. Now what does the act of her giving you her sword symbolize?"

Alina taps her lip "That she is voluntarily rendering herself defenseless around him. That she trusts him implicitly. That she trusts him to fight for what's important to her."

Yuuko blinks at her. "Well, yes. I didn't expect you to realize it."

"In the Illuminate, giving your weapon to another is treated much the same way," Alina's voice grows pained. "The Princess gave me her blade just before I left to stop Black Sun. It would've been the happiest day of my life if not for my failure."

"I'm sorry," You sigh.

"You were fighting to save what was important to you," Alina nods sadly. "And my defeat was surely fated. When I saw her again after the return, do you know what she said? She said it was the only comfort she could offer. I tried to give it back, but she wouldn't accept it. Even after I failed our people so spectacularly, she still trusted and cherished me."

"Ali..." You trail off, not sure of what to say.

None of you know exactly what to say. You stash the sword in the closet, then the three of you climb into bed.

This time, Alina grips you tightly, as if afraid to let you go. Yuuko mirrors her.

At least this time it's less awkward. And at least this time the awkwardness is for different reasons. You always knew Alina felt horrible over Black Sun, you suspected it was because of her failure, but you'd never actually talked with her about it. Whenever one of you tried, the other clammed up, reliving the pain.

Morning comes slowly.

You make a note to talk to Yuuko about what Sakon told you before breakfast, and to send Akane to Haruka after lunch.

But you have to decide how to spend your day. Perhaps Alina's belief in predestination is rubbing off on you, but you get the feeling something big will happen soon. Perhaps multiple big somethings.

[]Science! The Coalition World Tour needs worm-be-gone and some way to stop the G-bombers. And other stuff is always nice to have too. You can never kill BETA too fast.
[]Warfare! Well, you don't actually need any of that when you've got a paragon, really. Sortie with Alina and start knocking off hives, trusting in unlimited power to give you the victory. Who knows, perhaps you'll find enough clues in Cheorwon to figure out what they're doing?
[]ACU construction! Those G-elements should be just about done, so harvest them and decide who you want to drive the resulting ACUs, then start training.
[]Diplomancy! Get your political ducks in a row now so you can wage war on the BETA in the most effective manner possible.
[]Write in! SB's plans can be good or bad.

Also, if you trust Yuuko enough, you can give her unsupervised access to your UEF database. This will allow her to undertake more relevant research projects on her own initiative when she's not doing other things. Of course, it will also give her unsupervised access to your database. The question is: Do you trust Yuuko with this, even knowing her methods?

[]Yes.
[]No.

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Story Only Thread
Previous thread.

Yeah, took longer than I was hoping. Still, I feel I got a fair bit done.

 

[StriderAnarchy9]

Holy shit, that's a huge story update! Well worth the wait.

 

[Karion]

Agreed.

Started thinking it would be canceled or put on hiatus; glad that's not the case.

Edit:

[X]Science! The Coalition World Tour needs worm-be-gone and some way to stop the G-bombers. And other stuff is always nice to have too. You can never kill BETA too fast.
[X]Yes.

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Strictly speaking, the write in was for watching a movie with Yuuko, Alina, and Psibunny ("fun") while having Blue assess the Cadets and Valkyries and giving Psibunny sweets.

That wouldn't have worked too well. Steele likes cheesy action movies like the UEF version of Machete Kills, Alina likes romantic comedies that portray Aeon in a positive fashion (even if UEF ones get Aeon culture hilariously wrong), and Yuuko prefers cerebral mysteries and other things that get her to think, ala The Usual Suspects. Also, having Blue run the informal ACU assessment wouldn't have given Steele enough information to choose possible candidates, certainly not compared to watching it happen in real time himself.

Instead, Steele and Alina did something they enjoy, Yuuko got to enjoy the culmination of her life's work and got something she can hang over Marimo's head for teasing purposes, and Psibunny came to comfort Steele in her own inexperienced way when he was feeling down because Alina being alive is kind of problematic for keeping his ideals logically consistent and he's not a Shirou-esque figure who can ignore this easily.

Plus I got to make Yuuhi into your noble confidant! And foreshadowing with Sumika! And introducing second-best Isumi!

The coup will be happening shortly, as you guys didn't go out of your way to keep Yuuhi there in any of the previous votes via choosing diplomacy. Also, it might be much different due to the changed strategic situation.

 

[SharkGlue]

Mavors are such a wonderful solution to coups.

 

[Derek58]

[X]Science! The Coalition World Tour needs worm-be-gone and some way to stop the G-bombers. And other stuff is always nice to have too. You can never kill BETA too fast.

[X]Yes.

More SCIENCE! is a wonderful thing, and Yuuko can have Fun with free access, so I'm all for it

 

[meianmaru]

I was just going to sleep when suddenly, out of nowhere a mega-update appeared. But considering the quality and the happy feelings this one had, I'm not complaining.

On the actions, we really need some counters for BETA super-units, so I favor Science! for now. Also, at this point I think we can trust Yuuko.

 

[Jokarun]

Just a side note. This quest made me get Muv-luv to see what you guys were talking about...

I hate you guys. Why did you make me go through that?

 

[Derek58]

Come on, the ending of Alt is worth every bit of pain and sorrow. Fucking loved it.

 

[aceraptor]

Just a side note. This quest made me get Muv-luv to see what you guys were talking about...

I hate you guys. Why did you make me go through that?

Click to shrink...

The infamous *CHOMP*.

Also, we should work on SCIENCE!. Specifically, TSF upgrade. We need to give the various nations a leg up ASAP.

 

[Derek58]

The infamous *CHOMP*.

Also, we should work on SCIENCE!. Specifically, TSF upgrade. We need to give the various nations a leg up ASAP.

Click to shrink...

Really the CHOMP is only the beginning, and not even close to Alt at it's darkest. Said darkest is three simple words.

 

[Alanek]

[x] Science
[x] Yes
Of course we trust Yuuko.

 

[Cpl_Facehugger]

Come on, the ending of Alt is worth every bit of pain and sorrow. Fucking loved it.

Click to shrink...

I rather disliked it, actually. I think it would've been better storytelling for the girls to not lie to Shirogane in the finale, allowing him to show that he has in fact grown past the bratty savior he's been for most of the past story. It kind of undermines his character development if the girls choose to shield him from those decisions because they don't think he's strong enough.

I know the thing with Meiya in the end kind of let him do this, but it didn't ring as true to me because short of convincing the Superior that she's a life form, he didn't really have a choice.

And that epilogue. All that character development, gone.

Granted there's some hope that it's not permanent since he still remembers subconsciously and memories hit him plenty of times in the game, so perhaps in the future he'll remember it all. And he does have literally everyone he lost back. If we take AF seriously, this includes even awesome side characters like Isumi, Walken, Hayase, etc.

 

[aceraptor]

I'm kinda torn between Science! and Diplomacy!. Science should have the priority be TSF, or we can dismantle the Sadogashima Hive. Either one should be the priority. TSF because we need to get the various nations upgraded TSFs ASAP since the BETA will be stepping up their strength soon. I'd say it'll take a week for the BETA to start fielding better combat units.

Diplomacy would be a good thing to do since our general plan IIRC is to hit the most threatening Hives to push away the front lines from the current human defensive lines, and coordinating with the various nations will be a good thing.

 

[ImmortalsBlade]

Could someone who knows Muvluv give a quick run down of how the coup went in canon? Even if it will be different making sure everyone is clear on how it went down in canon is a good starting point.

Anyways I think SCIENCE is our next prerogative. They need better guns and the Coup provides the perfect test bed for them.

At the very least I expect aim-botting gauss rifles to make this hilariously one-sided if we can ensure they only go to our forces.

Also yeah Steele trusts Yuuko, of course he would open up the entire UEF database to her. It's up to Yuuko herself if she respects that trust.

 

[Robotninja]

[X]ACU construction! Those G-elements should be just about done, so harvest them and decide who you want to drive the resulting ACUs, then start training.

[X]Yes.

 

[Alanek]

the question is, why do we need to spend our action for the G-element gathering and construction?

 

[Derek58]

I forgot how to censor text, but if someone would be kind enough to remind me I'll post them.

 

[ImmortalsBlade]

I forgot how to censor text, but if someone would be kind enough to remind me I'll post them.

Click to shrink...

[color=transparent*] remove the star. [/color]
Highlight after this:
It should look like this
And before this.

 

[Derek58]

Could someone who knows Muvluv give a quick run down of how the coup went in canon? Even if it will be different making sure everyone is clear on how it went down in canon is a good starting point.

Click to shrink...

The Mount Tengen erupting part plays out with the Japanese government sending soldiers in at night to tranq the people who won't leave and remove them. This is the final straw for Sagiri and the forces loyal to him, who take over the capital building, and kill Chizuru's dad, the PM, in the process. The CIA, wanting more American control over Japan, uses sleeper agents on both sides to start a shooting war between the capital forces loyal to the government and Sagiri's forces. Yuuhi escapes with Sakkon via a secret tunnel, which comes out at a castle that Marimo, Takeru and the girls are guarding. The rest of the Coup Arc is Takeru and company plus Tsukuyomi, and a group of American Eishi led by one Major Alfred Walken, fighting to get Yuuhi to a...UN base I think with Sagiri's forces trying to capture her. It's been months since I played Alt.

What three words? The one I think you are talking about is longer than three.

Click to shrink...

"Good morning...Shirogane-kun."

 

[aceraptor]

What three words? The one I think you are talking about is longer than three.

Click to shrink...

Total Party Kill is I believe something that fits.

Could someone who knows Muvluv give a quick run down of how the coup went in canon? Even if it will be different making sure everyone is clear on how it went down in canon is a good starting point.

Anyways I think SCIENCE is our next prerogative. They need better guns and the Coup provides the perfect test bed for them.

At the very least I expect aim-botting gauss rifles to make this hilariously one-sided if we can ensure they only go to our forces.

Also yeah Steele trusts Yuuko, of course he would open up the entire UEF database to her. It's up to Yuuko herself if she respects that trust.

Click to shrink...

IIRC from what I gathered, shit happened, Yuuhi gets evaced out of the palace, coup forces pursue, eventually after some fighting Yuuhi manage to talk them down... then CIA planted sleeper agent opens fire and causes fighting to happen again, but ends in essentially the annihilation of the coup forces, thus the gutting of the isolationist, reactionary groups in Japan... just as CIA planned the whole coup to do.

 

[UberJJK]

[X]Warfare! Well, you don't actually need any of that when you've got a paragon, really. Sortie with Alina and start knocking off hives, trusting in unlimited power to give you the victory. Who knows, perhaps you'll find enough clues in Cheorwon to figure out what they're doing?

IDK it just feels like the right option.

[X]Yes.

 

[ImmortalsBlade]

So I guess the fact we have easily constructed FTL and personal aircraft capable of achieving escape velocity and interplanetary travel that no one knows about will make getting Yuuhi out hilariously simple.

But then again, things are different than in canon. Expect things to be hard. I guess the volcano erupted already? Nothing we can do there, despite us able to solve it easily.

I also assume our electronic warfare is also good enough to easily get Yuuhi or Meiya onto a general broadcast condemning the coup? Complete with image modification in Meiya's case if we want to be careful.

Hmm, we really need to ponder on this.

 

[Derek58]

Anyway regarding information on the Coup we need Meiya in an SCU or ACU for that event; if I recall correctly Meiya came close to talking the moron down before everything went to shit so having her in an SCU or ACU could give us some sway in convincing moron to stand down.

Click to shrink...

Yep, Meiya disguised as Yuuhi had essentially talked Sagiri down, when one of the American Eishi on her side, a CIA sleeper, opened fire and ruined it.