Japan's greatest joy is to give you the complete Independence by defeating America, yours and our common enemy.

Always bear in mind that Philippine Independence was made possible by the life and death struggle which Japan is now waging at a tremendous sacrifice.


IF laid wide awake in bed. Her body was fully clothed with the garments from the day before, and her eyes were fixated on a single spot on the ceiling, barely above the single light bulb planted in the center of the surface. Peashy had curled herself into a ball, clutching the Planeptune Commander's left waist with an iron grip. The blanket was pulled all the way up to the older girl's chin, and Peashy was completely enveloped beneath the covers.

The bedroom wasn't well furnished, with only a single dresser opposite the bed, and a digital alarm clock planted on an end table to IF's right.

In bright red numbers it read: 01:12

She had settled down around 10, but her thoughts plagued her to no end. Those people, Owen and Nathan, was it? They weren't what she expected the people of earth to be like. Not after all the nasty-sounding information that Purple Heart had provided her. Of course she hadn't seen any people aside from them in this new world, but to IF's knowledge, people tend to be the same within a community. So that means that they might just be the exceptions. In Planeptune, absolutely everyone attended the monthly military parade and agreed with Purple Heart's word. Actually, after scouring her mind for a while, she remembered a peculiar person she had met at the Guild, before it was shut down. After a long day of work, IF returned to the Guild to collect her pay, but a woman a little older than her caught her eye. Just like IF, she had just completed a quest. On her way out of the building, IF overheard her talking to someone about how Purple Heart was full of baloney, that the great bound forward program that was recently enacted was doing more harm than good. If thought that was preposterous, but restrained herself from responding. The woman told her friend that she would be back at the Guild the next day when the Guild opened to meet up for another quest, but when IF came back the next day there was no trace of her or her partner. They must've gotten sick or something. But aside from that one exception, everyone was quite similar.

IF needed to follow her orders. Those two had to die, they knew too much. This time, this time she'd do it quick and clean. Earlier, she was much too sloppy and let her anger get the better of her. Peashy couldn't be allowed to interfere either. Perhaps she could send Peashy back to Planeptune and finish her business here… yeah, that should work. Tomorrow morning she'll update Planeptune CENTCOM and be done with it. But until then, she needed to sleep.

But were these people really as bad as they're made out to be? What's going to happen to them? And what about the other countries of Gamindustri? Will they notice Planeptune's actions in the new world? Despite all these persistent questions nagging her relentlessly, IF eventually drifted into a shallow slumber to the staccato beat of gunfire in the distance.


Damn. I'm never going to smoke ever again. It was simply a terrible idea. Seriously. Just thinking about fumes makes me gag.

I'm glad I got some sleep, but now that I'm awake, I've noticed it's actually much harder to fall back asleep than it would be. I mean, it doesn't feel right to sleep in another place like this now that I think about it. I know it'll pass, but that thought doesn't make it any easier in the slightest. I'm fully dressed with my blue jacket zipped up to my neck and my black beanie wrapping over my ears. Combined with the fluffy blanket I'm curled up inside, I doubt you could find a setup more comfortable than mine. Of course, it's possible that a big bean-bag bed would be nicer, but I've never been graced with the opportunity to try one out for myself.

Owen is out like a rock. His snores are definitely loud enough to hear from miles away. Maybe the military will hear his snores and find us, but that's unlikely. But it's not wrong to hope. Eh. What up with me right now? It's like when you're half asleep and your thoughts are running rampant, all sorts of dumb ideas start popping into your mind that don't make any sense. And at the same time your mind is wickedly hyperactive, turning all the shadows you see into monsters and the noises into footsteps.

For me, I'm hearing gunshots. Just one. Than another. A rhythm that never ceases, one that just comes back again and again and it makes me anticipate the next gunshot in the cycle, driving me insane. Like the ticking of a clock. And then again I bet those aren't even gunshots. I bet it's just my imagination in all seriousness. I've played tons of Arma 3, and I have really good headphones to go with it. I'm not trying to brag to myself or anything, but the sound settings on ultra are orgasmic. Hey, if I think hard enough then those gunshots are sounding like footsteps! I knew it, my mind is playing tricks on me.

If I concentrate harder, which I know I shouldn't, they're starting to sound like squishy plops that you hear when you drop a bunch of jelly or putty on the ground. No, actually, it's more like a smack. A smack that you get when a hamburger patty is thrown on the ground. I actually haven't heard a patty smack a surface before, but the sound is what I'd speculate it to sound like in my head. But no matter how many things the sound turns out to become, the pattern is the same. A fast paced repetition, like feet in a sprint.

Come to think of it, it sound like a lot of pitter patter splats all at once. Is it raining? It couldn't be raining, it's much too different of a sound. I know what rain sounds like against a snow covered surface, and it's not possible for this to sound like rain. And besides, it was just snowing, it's not warm enough to support rain! But still, it's seriously peculiar. I hate how I don't see what I'm hearing because now my head is trying to picture what I'm hearing with disastrous results. I don't know about you, but I don't think it's possible for a bunch of squids to march down main street in the snow.

What the fuck, I'll just check it out right now. Just to put my mind at ease. Before moving, I try to rub the sleep out of my eyes, but to no avail. I push myself out of the burrito, like paste squeezing out of a toothpaste tube with a great deal of effort, and finally rise to my feet. It's dark in here, but I'll manage. I don't want to wake up Owen with any light. Now out of the cocoon I tug my shoes on, then my gloves, and now I'm all set. The balcony is merely a stride away and once at the door, I twist the handle as stealthily as I can manage and slip out into the night.

It's cold. A strong gust of wind takes me by surprise and I almost lose control of the door. I pull the door shut behind me as I squint against the snow being thrust in my face. I'm glad it's finally stopped snowing, but the wind keeps picking up the loose snow off the ground and into my face. Ignoring the snow in my face, the obnoxious and alien sound is much stronger now. Examining my surroundings, a crossroads far to my left catches my eye (and ear). A row of cars sits in the distance, piled high with snow.

I wouldn't be able to make anything out if it weren't for the streetlights lining the street. They cast a dreary glow across the derelict landscape, making the already depressing scene even worse. And now I can understand why I couldn't identify the sound earlier. It was a horde of Dogoos!

Fuck. They're chasing someone down! A human with long lavender-colored hair dashes across the tops of the cars as if she were in an action movie, and with great grace and virtue she screeches like a little girl. Now that the image that was being made was thoroughly ruined, I know I have to do something. But what can I do from all the way up here?

"Hey!" I cup my hands over my mouth and yell with all my might. "Over here! It's safe over here!"

I might've just sentenced everyone in the block to death right then and there. I plunge an arm deep into the sky and wave. I think she noticed me because she stopped screaming. And another thing, I don't know if I'm hallucinating or not but she appears to be jumping ten or so feet with each bound. It's insane! I'd be damned if this was another superhuman.

The Dogoos are starting to fall behind as the girl pushes herself to what might be her limit. I can feel my heart pumping even though I'm not doing anything physical, and I can hear Owen stirring to his senses through the wall. You know what? I should go out and help her down there! I'm no use to her up here.

I barge through the door, tracking snow into the apartment, and make a break for the rifle. Owen is rubbing his eyes lazily on the couch. My entrance startles him, but I don't pay attention to him. I scoop up the gun off the kitchen counter and swipe up my backpack before rushing out the door. I had some magazines in the outer pocket and I bet they'll come in handy.

My feet stomp down the ugly carpeted rug and down the staircase at the end of the hall. I hold the gun close to my chest as I reach the ground floor. Then I storm out the entranceway, Pulling the butt of the gun to my shoulder. Peering down the sights, the image of the girl draws close, with the Dogoos further away. I don't want to risk accidentally shooting her so I lower my weapon and beckon her to the door.

And once she gets almost twenty feet away from me a roar pierces the night. In the distance, a glowing object races towards us at breakneck speeds. I hardly have time to register the object before instinct takes over.

"Oh shit!" I exclaim, falling onto my chest, burying my face into the snow. And they say video games are useless.

The earth cries out in a horrific display of pain. The very ground below me rumbles and shakes as the world collapses before my closed eyes. I can't hear anything but pure, unfiltrated death, and death is inexplicably loud.

A second passes without violence, but then the rest of the world begins to die. The cars ignite their engines in the worst possible way, sending chunks of flaming debris crashing into my back and into the snow. I can't feel anything but tension and shock right now, so I don't know the degree in which I was hit.

It stings. It seems like I was slapped with a big fat brick right on the lower end of my spine. Whether that means I'm in one piece or not, I can't tell.

And then the ground shakes once more, but it beats to the sound to thousands of fists with the intent to kill. One barrage, then another. Then it's quiet.

I don't want to lift my head. I don't know if I'm alive. No, of course I'm alive! I need to get off the street, now. But the girl…

I push my chest of the ground with a pair of shaky limbs, and prop myself on one arm. I use the other to wipe the grime off my face. I arch my head over to the epicenter of the chaos, and see a realm of smoke and fire. The street is pushed and shoved off the ground in ways that it never should be naturally. As my senses return to my tiny, insignificant figure, I see her. But it's not her. It's someone else. Something else.

It has to be a Goddess. Lush pink hair captivates my eyes, dancing like graceful angels to the beat of the flames circling a petite white-clad girl. At her back she had a set a magnificent pink wings. They baffled me in every sense of the word. I don't know how to process this. It's like my mind had just stopped working. I face death, and all I can sense is this moment, the apex of my life.

She floats, her toes inches above the ruined earth, as if her touch was not worthy enough for it's presence. In her right hand she wields a magnificent white saber. It radiates death. Graceful, yet taut death. She levels the weapon with her eyes, and with a triumphant shout of wrath she explodes in a bounty of color.

And another tremor shook the earth, and then it stood still. Time was trivial now. She turned to face me, and I don't think it was possible for me to fully comprehend what was happening. Every fiber in my body told me to run, my fight or flight instincts taking over. I kicked with my feet against the ground, trying to escape her hollow gaze, bearing down onto my back. Her eyes were those of the Greek Sirens. I kicked and kicked, but only stirred up pieces of cement and snow. I flipped over onto my back with the last morsel of strength I had, and pointed the rifle at her forehead.

And I yelled as best as I could, "Get the fuck away from me!" But it was a cry of fear, one of a cornered animal. She doesn't belong to this world, and an unknown with such power I can only see as an enemy, a human predator.

And she blinked. And I shot her.

And she winced, expecting pain, but miraculously there was none. She scowled at me with deep, deep contempt. I bolted my defence once again, and pulled the trigger. Without thought I bolted again, and again, and again until I could only emit a chilling click from the useless weapon. I panicked, and it had cost me my life.

"O-oh fuck." I spat, but it was more of a sob than I'd like to admit.

I gasped for air, but I just couldn't breath. The rifle slipped out of my fingers and onto my chest, where it kept sliding down my legs and onto the ground. My fingers and arms were completely locked in place in front of my chest. I can't breath. I can't move.

"Nathan!" Owen came running to my side, fear littered his voice. "Snap out of it man! C'mon!" He shook my shoulders frantically. I could feel my arms again, and my legs and my head and my feet and my-

He slapped me straight across the face, almost comically. It was pretty funny. Okay, I'm okay. I shuddered, a chill running down my spine.

I put my arms behind my back and pushed into the melting slush, getting myself back onto my feet. This isn't any time to panic. What was I doing?

I can see Peashy hiding behind IF. IF is wearing her bag, and has a hand hovering over her holster in a threatening manner. They're both standing right next to that flying person. They appear to be perfectly fine, although IF's hair is quite messy. In any case, I do hope they're both okay, it's not really healthy to be woken up in the middle of the night like this. The flames of the missile impact start to waver down in strength behind the motionless trio. Oh man, I bet that both the pink haired girl and IF are both in this together. It's actually kinda obvious, of course they are. What does that mean though? Oh right.

"Nepgear…" IF muttered, a tinge of confusion present in her voice. "Head back to Planeptune with Peashy. I'll finish up here." IF nods, and the now named Nepgear person also nods in agreement without a word. IF looks a bit tense at the appearance of the CPU, but whatever issue she has with her is her problem and not mine.

"Nepgear, what are you doing here? Did you come to meet Owen and Nathan too?" Peashy asks innocently as Nepgear takes her by the hand. The pink-haired girl just smiles at her. Then she looks at me, and furrows her eyebrows. The white-clothed girl picks a bag off the ground, one similar to IF's, but much more roughed up and damaged. She retrieves a tablet from the interior of the pouch and holds it out in front of them.

Us humans have a thing in our brains that is able to measure what is rational and what is not. So if something happens that isn't rational or normal, like seeing a person be suspended in mid air or see people get shot and be perfectly fine, then your mind starts to cramp up. And for me, seeing two people slowly disappear like they're the masters of some twisted magic act tops the list of irrational things. To put it lightly.

"Hey, what's happening?" Peashy exclaimed. She held her free arm in front of her terrified face. "What's happening to me? Hey! Nay-than! Help!"

"I-" I opened my mouth, but couldn't say anything. I didn't want to cry at my own sick helplessness.

And in a matter of seconds, they were gone. Just like that. Who cares about the 'no matter can be created or destroyed' rule because they just fucking vanished. It happened so fast. I had only known Peashy for less than a day, and I had already grown attached to her. What just happened? What did I do wrong?

IF drew her pistol out of it's holster. She sighed softly with her eyes clamped shut. She pressed her gun up to her chest, deep in thought.

And just then I knew we had no time left. I have to act fast. My ammo is in the side pocket of the bag, on my left. Owen is out of the way, but that just means she'll have more time to spot me moving and react. And I don't doubt her reaction time is much quicker than mine is. And to make matters worse, ammo doesn't do anything to her at all. Fuck. We're screwed no matter how you look at it.

She extends her arm at Owen's head. Her finger slithers around the cold, black trigger like a snake.

"I have to admit, you two people were the strangest people I had ever met. And I know a lot of strange people, mind you." She smiles at the thought with closed eyes, but then frowns again once she looks back at us. "You're all just a band of disgusting people. And if you're the exception, than it's a very sad exception. I can't say that I'm sorry about what I have to do."

"Hey." I speak. She shifts her gaze over to me. "Don't call us disgusting."

"Why not?" She seems amused, having us at gunpoint.

"You'd be a hypocrite."

"Wha-" She jerks back, flustered. "You're ridiculous."

Owen smirks. "We're dead men, IF. What do we have to lose?"

IF points the gun back at him. "Don't try me. I'll kill you both, easy."

I can't maintain a steady fist, my hands are so sweaty. She swaps her gaze between the both of us nervously. Her fingers holding the handgun fidget up and down awkwardly.

"Okay then…" Owen exhales. "What are you waiting for? Kill me already. I've had a terrible life, I'll tell you that right now. I really don't have a stable future in store."

"Look around us, IF. It's a dead world now. Do you really think it would be worth living in a dead country like this? You'd be doing us both a favor, IF." I chastise, putting emphasis on death.

"You're the good person here, right IF? We're just a band of disgusting people. Go on then." I conclude, Inching towards the enemy. She wields a face of confliction, as though she didn't expect us to give in so easily. But hopefully she's stuck in the heat of the moment, and doesn't notice what we're doing.

And as she starts to really falter in strength, behind IF I can hear the rotors of helicopters drawing closer. I might be hallucinating, but if not... that must be the military!

Her ears twitch when the sounds become more prominent. The girl turns to face me, both arms raised to her chest as opposed to aiming with her pistol.

"Damn it!" She shoves me harshly, and I stumble and crash into a car door, shattering the window and leaving a sizable dent on the door. Luckily my legs catch me from falling, but I might as well have collapsed right then and there. It feels like I just got hit by a truck!

"Oh, fuck you!" Owen cries with fury and charges forward with his fists. IF instantly thrusts a fist straight for his forehead, and when it collides Owen crumbles to the ground by her feet.

I crush my eyelids together. I open them again and the murky snow by Owen's head turned red, stained by a shallow gash between his eyebrows. I can't bring myself to keep looking and I push my depleted eyes to face the enemy. Can I fight back? No, no I can't. Not against her. Owen, he's the brave one. Perhaps he's a fool. Courage like his just gets people killed, and I'm a lazy guy. My arms feel so lazy, and to move my fingers is such a chore. Just laying against this car feels so relaxing, it'd be a huge pain to get up.

Now content with her primary success, she steps over to me, towering over my limp and desecrated body. Her hands grip the pistol with so much strength that I can see her knuckles turn white. She raises the gun high above her shoulder, like you would for holding a baseball bat. I can't explain why, but I'm starting to shiver. It's funny, I'm not feeling cold in the slightest. Or is this what they call trembling? Oh, what the hell's the difference?

Time slows down as her hands come down on me.

The scent of the air is pleasantly chilling, like you'd expect from a winter day.

The fires have died down, but the impact on the winter wonderland remains. Much of the cement is covered in a layer of slush, and the cars are scarred black from numerous burns blemishing much of their bodies.

I can't clench my hands tighter anymore than they are now, but If I could they would be bleeding. My body tenses together.

And suddenly, I can think clearly again.


What has she done?

IF looked down at Nathan's limp body. His eyes are closed, and his arms sit at his sides as though he were just taking a short nap in the late night. Is he dead though? She could check his pulse, but she can't bring herself to touch neither Nathan nor Owen again. It felt so wrong to hurt someone who wasn't blatantly evil like Arfore or that rat back in Gamindustri. Was it the right thing to do? She didn't want to think about it. It was for her country. For her homeland. These people didn't matter to her, even if they did forgive her for attack them and all. Everyone else, she told herself, everyone else must be horrible like they're supposed to be.

Down the road behind her, she could see a massive behemoth sitting still above the tallest buildings, beside a fiery smokestack coming from the side of a building. It definitely saw her, but even if they thought she was a normal earth human, she still had to disperse.

IF scurried into a nearby alleyway and pulled her tablet out of her bag. She was confident no one was left who knew about Gamindustri, and that meant her mission was successfully completed. But just as she was about to start the teleportation sequence to bring her home, she looked up. Her surroundings were so alien, such towering walls of concrete was totally unknown to people back home. This architecture had it's own charm about it, much like the mushroom themed architecture Lowee has. She found it captivating.

And Nepgear…

What was she doing here?

Did Purple Heart not trust her enough to finish the mission? Nepgear was bound to be more trouble than she was worth. It would've been much better to send a separate agent on the mission rather than the CPU candidate. So… What was Purple Heart's motive?

Strange. IF would never question authority back home. Thoughts like hers could be considered unacceptable if she didn't hold such a high ranking position. Of course criticism was acceptable, but not of Purple Heart's law. Maybe she would stick around. Maybe, she could apologize to the two people she just incapacitated. The thought of redeeming herself was especially appealing to her. Besides, they aren't telling Gamindustri's secrets to anyone, not if she was holding them captive.

But would they accept her apology? She shuddered at the thought of her apology being rejected. They should be more inclined to hate her after everything she had done. And even if she did spare them, what would she do then? Would she have to hand them over to the occupying armies or could she just release them once word of Planeptune spreads across the earth? That's a problem for later, not now. Speaking of now, now she better inform CENTCOM what she is doing.

After thinking for a moment on how to start, she wrote a detailed report of what had happened to her so far and her reasons for staying. She said that she was going to do more reconnaissance as an excuse.

Now that her message was completed and sent, she needed to salvage the bodies of Owen and Nathan. She inched her way back towards the street, but noticed something very peculiar. As she got near the sidewalk, she crouched down behind a dumpster.

While she wasn't looking, soldiers had discovered the bodies! She couldn't engage. If she did, then she'd be discovered as a non-earth human, and have to kill everyone there. So she grit her teeth and listened.

"Sergeant Sanders, this kid's alive! Get me a stretcher!"

"Corporal, get that kid back to the Bradley. What's the status of the other?"

"Uhh, let me check." The first soldier waved down a man with a collapsible stretcher, and together they loaded the boy up and away. Another soldier shuffled through the snow and stopped beside a second body. He sighed. "He's gone. Looks like a cranial blow did him in, this huge gash on his forehead."

"Damn."

"I'll get the body bag-"

"Wait, not right now. Let the medics do it when they come through, the Bradley's cramped up with enough bodies as it is. Just… lets go Corporal, back to the squad."

The Corporal got back to his feet and jogged towards the Sergeant's voice, away from IF.

It looks like Owen got left behind. After around ten minutes, IF darted out from within the alley and over to Owen. She scooped up his body and started out for the apartment building from earlier. There's a chance that her medicine from home could revive him. She hoped it would.


Lastation had become the world's leader in industrial manufacturing and exports an excess of goods across Gamindustri. And that one achievement has made Noire very proud. But it isn't enough. She want's to be the world's leading exporter now and forever. To do so, she needs to either make her factories more efficient or clear more land for more industry, and clearing more land is much, much faster.

So in an effort to streamline progress, both her sister, Uni, and Noire herself are working side-by-side to complete a stack of papers. Imminent domain sure comes in handy, but the process to relocate the rural population takes a lot of time and effort. So to make the arduous task less straining on the mind, they decided to work on the balcony of the basilicom. They're lucky it's not windy today and the sun is shining blissfully. The balcony is a wide semicircle outcropping made of slabs of stone and concrete, completely exposed except for two comfortable beds that look like the chairs people tan on at the beach, and a long table near the center of the balcony.

It's a silent work time, as they review individual plots of land for industrialisation and people for resettlement. The light hum of traffic in the Lastation streets are the only noises that reach the ears of the Goddess. That is, until hurried footsteps intruded upon the silence the two Goddesses craved.

"Kei? What are you doing here? I have asked specifically not to be interrupted!" Lastation's Goddess snarked.

"This news is of the utmost importance." The white haired girl rebuked. She placed a manilla folder between the two girls. "I advise taking immediate action. I will be inside the intelligence headquarters if I am needed."

Kei abruptly turned around and left the scene, leaving behind a very curious duo.

"What's going on?" Uni piqued, reaching for the folder.

"Not so fast, Uni. I'll tell you." If this issue was important enough for Kei, her hardworking and loyal oracle, to disobey her direct command then this must be a matter that requires immediate attention.

"Let's see here…" Noire pried open the archaic folder to reveal a cluster of confidential documents. "What?!" She shrieked, shocked by the wealth of data.

"Hey, hey! Noire!" Uni snapped impatiently. Noire studied the papers hastily, taking in heaps of information.

"Fine, just read it for yourself." Noire thrust the folder into Uni's hands. Her eyes greedily scanned the papers within.

"Oh no, this really is serious." Uni muttered, still scanning the page. She flipped to another paper, and her eyes widened at what she saw.

"No duh, Uni!" Noire berated, shooting up to her feet. "Get up, we're going to to Kei." Noire marched off towards the interior of the Basilicom, leaving behind a flustered CPU candidate and a pile of unfinished work.

"W-wait!" Uni shut the folder and chased after her sister. "What are we going to do? Strike them first?" The younger sister was visibly distraught at the thought of attacking their neighbor. Despite Noire not allowing Uni to meet with Nepgear, Rom or Ram, she had been doing so in secret. The last thing she wanted to do was fight a friend. But her country was the best, and it had to stay the best, no matter what.

"Have I taught you anything, Uni? Neptune has made the first move. If this intelligence is accurate, then by the time we reach Planeptune's capital they'll have recovered these 'Kyanite' crystals and be unstoppable. I have some ideas."

"Like what?" Uni asked, working hard to keep up with Noire's fast walking pace.

"Well, just now I think that we need to send out soldiers out first; secure those kyanite mines before Neptune gets her grubby little hands on them." Noire pushed open the double doors leading into the Basilicom and kept striding. Uni slipped through behind Noire and scurried back to her older sister's side. "Then we can start working from there."

It was a very hasty plan, but it seemed promising for now. Once they arrive at the intelligence headquarters more planning can be done, but Noire had her work cut out for her.

How could that incompetent little brat, Neptune, get her hands on such information before her? This was utterly preposterous. Of course she had known about the new world. Such matters like a new dimension was of no interest to Noire, unless something of value could be found there. And now that the balance of Gamindustri's future lied within that planet's crust, she had to make the first move. And she didn't! This was simply infuriating!

Well. That just means that she would have to work at full capacity to even out Neptune's insignificant advantage. As for the other nations of Gamindustri, it would only be a matter of time before they investing into this situation as well. And when they do, Lastation will already be at the top.

That was a promise.


Now we're cooking with gas...