Samuko: Here we go again!

Yaya: We do not own any character from Love Live by the way.

[-x-x-x-]

"Maki is commanding one of these ships."

These were the last words that the second in command wanted to hear. "Are you really sure about that, Honoka?" Umi asked, concern in her voice. "I mean…"

"So, what are we going to do?" Niko turned to her younger sister.

There was a brief moment of silence until the commander spoke again. "We have no other choice but to face them. Their battle ships are better than the Otonokizaka when it comes to speed so we can't expect to rout them." She took her oversized dark coat and wielded her weapon of choice—a katana saber—with both hand. "Everyone; get ready for a battle. Avoid as many casualties as possible."

The crew saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" And with that, everyone aboard the ship ran toward their respective post. The bluenette was responsible of the canons alongside Tsubasa—who proved to be experienced and skilled in the domain—and Hanayo who was still not that well, but was still apt for service. Niko on the other hand went behind the steering wheel and started commanding the crew responsible for navigation.

At the other side of the dock, Rin and Anju have taken their weapon, with the younger girl wielding a pair of battle knife while her newly-made friend grabbed her long-barrel gun. "Rin…" The older ginger spoke and Rin turned to her. "B-be careful… I heard that these three are very powerful."

"I know… You too, be careful!"

At the three Navy ships though, the same panic was happening as the women and girls member of the crew were gaining their post. Maki however was just standing on the front part of the navire. Eri, who was commanding the second ship saw her from afar and took a rope before jumping on the red-head's ship. "Hey, Maki! Is something wrong? You're kind of in the cloud."

The red-haired girl slightly jumped from being surprised and turned around to see her blonde co-Admiral behind her while her sister too was walking in their direction. Maki let go of a sigh. "It's nothing…" She lied. "How could I tell you that I am nervous? I didn't expect us to meet road with the Otonokizaka ship this soon… A skirmish can't be avoided though. We can't allow anyone to interfere in our mission."

"Liar!" Nozomi commented, earning a teeth-gritting from her fellow Admiral. "Something is bothering you." She walked behind the red-head and grabbed the taller girl's breasts. "You can talk to us, you know. We've been friends for year. We understand if you are feeling scared or something. We are going to face the µ's, the most powerful group of pirate from this era after all."

"You won't understand." Maki just let go of a sigh before taking two steps forward, escaping from the older girl's groping. "I am not scared."

Eri placed a hand on her shoulder. The red-head didn't even bother turning to her friend as her eyes were glued to the sign of the other ship getting closer by each second. "We understand that you have things you don't want us to know…but please believe in us. It doesn't matter what you did or used to be. All that matter is that you are our friend now."

Maki turned to her friends who were smiling at her. "Eri… Nozomi…"

"We won't force you though." The purplenette continued. "Take your time! You can always come to us when you are ready to talk. Anytime."

The red-head couldn't help her lips from forming a smile but then turned on her heels as to hide her smile from the two sisters. "I-it's not like I wanted to hear that or anything…"

"Maki dear is not being honest again~" Nozomi teased. "You know that bad girls have to be punished~"

Eri cleared her throat as to bring important matters. "This is great and all, but we have to return to our own ship." She started walking away, soon followed by her sister. "We will go according to the plan." The blonde ordered the crew—mostly composed of elite fighters and assassins—of her ship. "We will surround them and then overwhelm their force. Capture as much as them as possible and let none escape. If they resist too much, feel free to stop them though."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Not long after, the first ship led by Nozomi was the one that collided against the Otonokizaka. The busty Admiral was talented in combat and real-time strategy and was most of the time assigned to frontal assault.

Both side's crew started charging at each other, iron meeting steel, bullets meeting flesh. Rin and Erena were leading the front row of their team when Erena and Kotori were giving fire cover. The other girls member of the crew—daughters of the former crew of Otonokizaka—were either following the melee leaders or the range ones.

As the two small armies had their first contact, the second ship was getting in position at about half kilometer from behind the Otonokizaka. It then started firing several canons. Just as Niko was about to command her units to move their ship our of the bullet's trajectory, the third navire led by Eri came into contact with them from the left side, the first one already blocking them from the right. Bind in between the two massive Navy ships, the crew member of navigation had no other solution but to prepare for the impact.

Several explosions followed from the read side. As if that wasn't enough, the crew from the third ship started charging right into the µ's. That was the signal for Honoka to move at that part alongside the remaining frontal battle crew to counter. She swung her saber at the enemies, always being careful to not cut the enemies in their vital point, just wounding them enough to immobilize them until the end of the battle. Her followers did same as they aimed for the opponent's arms and legs, never shooting at their head or torso.

Umi, Anju and Hanayo too were done with the preparations and pointed the cannons at the East to where Maki's ship was. They charged the canons with bullets and powder before shooting. Their shoots were popular to be accurate and deadly, but same went for the red-head Admirals. The second Navy ship started sailing forward as to avoid the multiple bullets while shooting back.

With the Otonokizaka now unable to move, it was the perfect target for the canons. Now surrounded by the three ships, anyone in that position would start to loose hope, but the µ's was another story. When they were in tough situation, they always found a way to get away victorious. That was mostly why people call them "bringer of miracle".

Seeing that attempting to move the ship was useless, Niko abandoned her post and grabbed her long-barrel riffle while running to the Southern part of the ship, offering fire cover to her sister's unites. No need to say that Otonokizaka's melee units were the best when it came to skirmish. Rin and Erena have already defeated the units who got on their ship and were now attempting to get on the opponents. They already had 5 wound girls and said girls were sent at the middle of the ship to get proper treatment.

At Honoka's side though, the battle was mostly one-sided as even the Navy elite couldn't match the battle abilities of the captain and her followers. They quickly made easy work on the opponents without any casualty. Eri saw that and furrowed her eyebrows. "So, the rumors are true… She is strong indeed… but…" The blonde tightened her grip on her weapon—a dual edge sword.

As another member of the elite fell from Honoka's hit, the µ's cheered, gaining confidence and moral. That however was short live as they saw the blonde Admiral jumping out of her ship and landed on the Otonokizaka, her sword in hand. The Navy members cheered at her arrival when few of the pirate girls slightly backed away. "That's the Admiral Eri… I heard she is the best when it comes to close combat."

"Do not loose hope!" Another girl said as she tightened her grip on her axe. "Titles are nothing but words. Commander Honoka is going to defeat her. I do not doubt. All we have to do is to stop their units from offering cover and let the Commander in a one-on-one duel against her."

"Commander Honoka I presume." The blonde bowed her head. "It is an honor to meet you in person. I hope that you will give me the honor to show your skills in fighting." She took her oversized coat away.

"It will be a pleasure for me to give it my all in this battle." The ginger replied.

There was a brief moment of pause between the two small armies with only the canon shots from Maki's ship heard at the horizon. The first to make a move was Honoka, who was soon followed by her girls and Eri did so as well. As the two leaders clashed their blades for the first time, their followers engaged against each others, never allowing their enemy to get closer to the two Commanders.

The two girls slightly backed of one foot before charging again. Their swords met a dozen of time before they backed away again. This time, both of them ran at each other again but instead of going straight at it, the ginger jumped high in the sky before bringing the tip of her katana down. She almost got her opponent if it wasn't for Eri who jumped at the side to avoid it. The blonde took the opportunity when her opponent was standing up to kick at the shorter girl. Honoka was fast enough to block the incoming kick with her left arm but wasn't quick enough to evade a punch coming in her guts.

Honoka jumped back while holding her tummy. "That did hurt indeed… She is not holding back at the least." Just as she charged forward again, the blonde did so as well and the two clashed their blades again.

The two opposing forces were too busy against each others that the didn't realize that the second ship has collided against the Otonokizaka from behind. Now trapped in the middle of three Navy ships, the pirates had no other choice but to defeat them if they wanted to survive. Unfortunately, Maki's units jumped out of their ship and landed on the Otonokizaka. Taken by surprise, Umi and Hanayo had no other choice but to engage in a close-quarter battle even though they were mostly specializing in long-range battles.

The battle at the rear part was one-sided though, with the Navy winning since no one in the bluenette's unit were able to engage in real melee combat. The brunette girl ran quickly to where Niko was as to let them know about the situation. "This is bad! We are loosing the battle at the rear part. We are overwhelmed by them. Umi is still attempting to hold them back but it doesn't seem she will be able to hold them for long."

The short ravenette cursed and gritted her teeth. "Honoka is having difficulties against that Eri chick as well though and her units are busy holding the opponents in position." She sighed. "Fine! Tell Kotori to sent reinforcement."

The younger girl saluted and ran in the right side of their ship. There, she saw that the pirates were having difficulties as well boarding their opponent's ship. Her sister was engaged on a savage battle against Nozomi and her crew when the other µ's were blocked at their own dock.

"It was your biggest mistake to jump right into our trap!" One of the woman clad in Navy's uniform grinned.

Rin on the other hand was already panting heavily. She was alone against a whole army; one of her knaves has already been broken. "They are too much for me…"

The purple-haired Navy officer walked in her direction. "Looks like fortune is favoring us today~" She took a card out of her cleavage. "Surrender and we will not use violence."

The ginger gritted her teeth. She couldn't surrender. If she continued to fight though, she might die…but then either way, she will die. Just as the cat-like girl was about to decide to charge at the Admiral, a familiar voice called for her before Anju fell on one of the enemies. "Rin, are you all right?"

The girl with long orange hair quickly ran to where her friend was and the two backed each others as to gain some support and defense. "Why are you here? You are specialized in long-range battle. Going here is a suicide mission."

"But…" Anju looked slightly down. "I don't want to leave you alone…" She muttered. "I don't want to loose you…" She finally lifted her head to see the crew of Navy surrounding them and prepared her weapons. After seeing that the shorter girl was mostly out of weapon, she reached for her holsters and offered her knives to Rin. "You should take these! You are better at using them than I am."

Rin just nodded while taking the weapons. The Navy crew charged at them but the duo stood close to each others and protected each others with the older girl shooting and Rin slashing. The fact that they were still careful not to kill their opponent though was becoming a burden by this point but they had no other choice. It was part of the deal that they shall never kill.

The Navy gained in number while Anju was running out of bullets. The younger girl too was starting to feel that her weapons are getting weaker. "They are going to break soon." She scanned the area as to find an escaping route but found it impossible as more enemies surrounded them.

After another couple of minute of fight, the elite enemies started to fall back one by one, allowing their leader to walk in. Nozomi chuckled. "You two look in bad shape." She grabbed a knife from the side of her thigh and slowly walked in their direction.

By this point, the two gingers were already breathing heavily, barely able to stand. As the purplenette charged at them, Rin just had enough time to get in between and pushed Anju as hard as she could. "Kotori!" She yelled.

The other ginger was sent flying over the rail of the Navy ship and almost fell on the seas if it wasn't for their ash-haired gunner who caught her in time. Rin smiled a brief moment before falling on the wooden floor, unconscious. Not long after, Nozomi placed her knife back on her holster. Anju saw the spectacle and was about to jump back there if it wasn't for Kotori and Hanayo who held her. "Let go of me! I have to save Rin!"

Niko too had difficulties giving fire cover and so were Umi and Honoka. The Commander was literally loosing against the blonde. Eri was faster and stronger than she was. On top of that, the Navy members were not holding back, something that the pirates couldn't afford. The blonde gave another kick and the ginger wasn't agile enough to avoid it. She was sent flying few feet away.

The majority of the pirates were horrified at the sign of their Commander slowly standing up while coughing blood. "The Commander is loosing…"

"That's impossible…"

And as if that wasn't enough, they heard an explosion from the rear part. Second later, Maki was walking in their direction, a spear in hand. "Eri… I can take care of the rest now."

Niko was horrified to see the red-head's clothes were covered in blood. It wasn't her own blood though so that meant she has caused a massacre. The ravenette scanned the area to see an unconscious Umi lying on the floor. "Umi!" She jumped from her sniping point, ran beside her teammate and shook her. "Umi! Wake up!"

The bluenette slowly stirred our and slightly opened her right eye. Her left eye was covered with blood. Niko concluded that she has lost one eyes. "Ni…ko…" She coughed blood. "You…have to…flee…and take as many of them…as possible…" There was a couple of second for Umi to regain her breath before she spoke again. "This…is not a battle…we can win…"

"But I can't let you here!" Just as the ravenette was about to lift her friend, it was revealed that she was not as strong as she thought. "Damn!" She still attempted but in vain. That wasn't help by the fact that few Navy soldiers were walking in their direction. "Come on Niko! You can do it!"

"Ni…ko…" The bluenette reached for the older girl's hand with her own—that was covered in blood. "Please… You have…to… For us all…"

The raven-haired girl sniffed, tears falling on her cheeks. "This is unfair! I didn't even have the chance to properly confess."

Umi reached for Niko's cheek and whipped some of her tears. "I know… I love you too…" She gave the best smile she could to her crush. "I am sorry…for not telling you sooner…"

Niko leaned down and gave her a peek on the lips. They parted and smiled at each other before the ravenette stood up and ran in the front part of the ship as the Navy officers arrived at the spot Umi was. The petite girl had a look around to see that their units were loosing one by one. Rin, Umi and Erena have already been captured. Kotori and Hanayo were treating Anju and Tsubasa's wounds. Niko quickly walked in their direction. "We have to escape! This battle is lost! Gather the remaining units so we can aboard the emergency boat."

The ash-haired girl stood up and faced the shorter girl, eyes obviously reflection how concerned and scared she was. "But what about Honoka and Umi?"

"We have no other choice!" Niko ran downstairs as to prepare the emergency boats. With no other choice but to follow, Kotori and Hanayo helped the two former A-RISE and gathered the remaining available crew. They all went downstairs to see that everything was ready. They all aboard the boats and cut the ropes. They only took three of the available boats and started to sail at the front. From that point, they saw how bad the situation was. Their beloved ship was starting to burn down, their allies falling under the enemies. "The Otonokizaka…"

Hanayo started to sob and Kotori held her close. "Rin…" Anju too held her by the side, tears falling on her cheeks. "This hurts…"

They saw Maki engage against Honoka. The ginger was obviously holding back when the red-head was giving her all, planning to kill her opponent. The fact that the pirate commander was already wounded and tired at the point didn't help either.

The red-head trusted her spear forward and Honoka took the full force of the impact. She then received a punch right in the face and was sent against the rain. Honoka slowly lifted her head to see her childhood lover walk in her direction. Her childish look was not present anymore. What the ginger saw was a fearless killer who was going to execute her mission. "Maki…"

Maki arrived in front of her and readied her weapon. Eri's units were already back on their ships so it was a one-on-one battle. The bodies of the crew of Otonokizaka were lying on the floor. The survivors of the raid were brought on the Navy ships as prisoners. "Honoka… I do regret we had to meet under such circumstance…but it can't be helped. I am a soldier now and you are a law-breaker. My mission goes first."

A sad smile appeared on the ginger's face. "I see…" She dropped her weapon as tears ran on her cheeks. She then grabbed the red-head's spear and pointed it on her chest. "In that case, it will make me really glad if you were the one to take my life away." She sniffed yet still smiling.

At that time, Maki felt a painful feeling on her chest. Honoka was crying in front of her. She was crying because of the red-head. The only thought made her hesitate. Her grip on her weapon tightened as she gritted her teeth. She has prepared herself that she was going to be the one to defeat Honoka…and yet. Tears formed on her eyes. "I am going to kill you… We killed your crew… So why are you still smiling to me like that? That's unfair…"

"That's because I've already decided years ago…" The ginger replied. "I've decided that I love Maki and that was enough to allow me to survive to this point. Now that I've met you, I can finally rest in peace. You can call me selfish if you want…I just did all these to be able to meet you again…"

There was a moment of silence with only Maki's sobs breaking it from time to time. "Why? Why me? What do I have so special to make you act like that?"

Honoka reached a hand to wipe her childhood lover's tears. "That's Maki is Maki…and that's all! There is no need for complex things. It's as simple as it sound."

The red-head was about to counter that opinion but then closed her mouth before she could say anything. "You're an idiot! You're the most stupid idiot on this world!" She dropped her spear and took the older girl in a hug. Her mind was not working properly anymore by this point as she literally has ignored the possibility that someone might be looking at them. "But I still love you…"

Their touchy reunion was ended as Eri walked into them, forcing them to part away. Maki barely had enough time to attempt to wipe her tears but wasn't able to fool the blonde nor Nozomi who was walking in their direction. "So, that's the truth you were hiding from us…"

The red-head scoffed and avoided eye contact. "And what? Report me if you want. I don't care anymore."

"Who said we will report you?" The purple-haired girl replied. "We did saw that we will accept you no matter who you are, didn't we?"

"And then what?"

Eri smiled. "We can cover you, but we have to bring the pirates at the capital of Uranohoshi. Remember, we still have another mission. I understand that you might want to save Honoka…but now is not the time. We can't still rebel yet." She turned to the pirate while dropping her smile. "I do apologize! I know that you are a good person, but our mission have to go first for now. I so wished we've meet under other circumstances." She walked in Honoka's direction. Maki moved in between them. "Maki…"

The two admirals glared at each others for a couple of second before the red-head let go of a sigh and moved away, allowing the blonde to walk in front of the pirate leader. Honoka was smiling by this point. She had not regret but the fact of leaving all her friends behind. Maki, not wanting to see what was to happen next turned on her heels and started walking away from the burning ship. "Let's go, Nozomi!"

Now that the two were gone, leaving Eri and Honoka alone, the blonde bowed her head. "As to make honor to your titles, I will allow you to sink with your ship like any proper Captain did before."

The ginger just had a sad smile as she walked away from the rail and walked in the direction of the Commander's cabin. She however stopped in front of the door. "I don't really care about these things anymore… All the matter is that I've accomplished my target and that's all…"

Eri had a look at the younger girl's back for a couple of second before walking in her direction. She placed a hand on the pirate's shoulder, making Honoka turn into her direction. Silence followed as a pair of baby blue eyes met with icy blue ones. The blonde opened her mouth and spoke something to the pirate Captain.

[-x-x-x-]

"Are you done?" Nozomi asked as Eri walked back on the ship where her sister and Maki were. The Otonokizaka ship was halfway sinking at that point and they turned to see the remaining of what was once the most dangerous thing that floated on the seven seas disappears in the abyss of the Pacific Ocean. "What about these who escaped?"

"It can't be helped!" The blonde sighed. "We couldn't track them anymore." She then turned to their red-head friend.

Maki rolled her eyes in response. "Let us focus on the prisoners we have right now." She started walking away and was soon followed by the siblings. They arrived at the dock of one of the ship and had a look at their prisoners. Rin and Umi were unconscious alongside the normal crew. Only Erena was still conscious. "Well… It looks like Miss has changed her playground from Militia to Pirate."

The dark-red-haired girl gritted her teeth. "You imperial dogs!" She was soon silence by a smack from one of the women in the Navy crew. "Always attacking the weak…" She saw the three Admirals giving orders around and not long after, the ships started to move in the North-East. At that time, only one thought was running on Erena's mind. "Sis… everyone… please be safe!"

[-x-x-x-]

The survivors of µ's were now on a remote island as the sun was settling at the horizon. The members were in panic. "Where is the captain? What is going to happen to us now?"

Niko was having a hard time trying to take the control. She most of the time let Honoka rearrange and calm the crew so it was hard for her to do so. "Please calm down, everyone! I am sure Honoka is fine! Remember, she is the bringer of miracle, right?"

Hanayo who was still sobbing since their arriving was still being comforted by both Kotori and Anju. The two older girls might not let it appear but they were mentally in panic at that point. "Umi… I miss you… Please be safe, my only and beloved sister."

"Rin… Erena…" The ginger too was restless as she tried to play with her fingers to distract herself. When she turned to their wounded allies though, she couldn't help but to feel even more restless. "Tsubasa too has fallen in the coma due to the damage she received. What is going to happen to us?"

True enough, the brunette was still unconscious and lying on a bed made of coconut leaves. The remaining crew of Otonokizaka has decided to build a temporary base made of the wood and leaves they could find in the surrounding of the beach. It wasn't that large, but it was enough to allow them all to fit in.

Niko however was standing outside, her thought away. She was really worried about Umi and Honoka, but she had to at least try to focus on the actual situation since she was the one they trusted the most. "Hey you over here; take two other girls and light a fire!" She ordered one girl who was passing them. She then turned to another group of girl. "The three of you; follow me! We are going to hunt for now." She finally then turned to the last group. "The rest will take turn fishing and looking after the still unconscious units."

"Yes ma'am!" At least, the girls still respected her.

The ravenette looked at the sky one last time before turning toward the dense forest behind them. "Honoka… Umi… Rin… Erena… Please be safe!"

[-x-x-x-]

"Terrible! This is terrible!" Kotori ran into the temporal hideout of the µ's. She was out of breath from running and everyone who saw her walked in her direction.

"What is wrong, Kotori?" Tsubasa asked. The brunette managed to return into her sense the night prior and was feeling better now that it was morning.

The ash-haired girl rested her hands on her knee an instant as to catch her breath before taking a newspaper from her bag. Her unit was supposed to be taking supply at the nearest town, but the blonde has decided to go back as she saw the news. "Please read this!"

Everyone's eyes widened at what were written on the first page. "You must be kidding, right?" Niko almost shouted.

"But it is too soon… How could they?" Hanayo continued.

What were written were: Three sub-officers of the Otonokizaka pirate, namely Umi, Erena and Rin were captured and will be executed today at noon at the capital of the port town of Uranohoshi. The Otonokizaka ship's Captain, namely Honoka confirmed dead by the Admiral Eri.

"This is a lie, right?"

They didn't wait another second before gathering everyone who could still fight and weapons before boarding two of the ships. Just as they were about to sail to the port town of Uranohoshi, another girl from the intelligence department walked into them. "Bad news, Commander Niko!" The girl took was breathing heavily as they have just returned with the third boat. "Our spy has reported that the three Admirals Eri, Nozomi and Maki were sent on a mission to assassinate and capture the members of the resistance force, namely Aqours."

Niko gritted her teeth. "We're in deep trouble!" She then raised her arm. "Everyone, we have to move as fast as possible!"

Everyone aboard the two boats nodded. "Yes ma'am!"

Only Niko, Anju and Kotori were going on the mission, leading few other girls since Tsubasa was still unable to move well due to her wounds. Hanayo was still mentally unstable so they decided to let her look after the others on the island.

[-x-x-x-]

Yaya: Two chapters in two days? Wow; I surprised myself.

Samuko: Well, the inspiration won't stop so…

Yaya: D'awww… I want to know the rest and quick!

Samuko: Unfortunately, we have something related to real life to do tomorrow so updates are not to be expected before Wednesday and Tuesday.

Yaya: Too bad… I feel like writing a chapter right away.

Samuko: "Too bad!" We still have things to do for now. Let's go, Yaya!

Yaya: A-aye sir! See you all soon!