I want you to know, there's gonna be some heavy skimming in this chapter. In a fully fleshed out story, this entire chapter could be a complete story arc and episode of its own, but in this story it's just filler getting in the way of the good stuff. So I'm getting it out of the way as quickly as possible. I'll still be touching it up at a later point (probably once the overall story is done), this chapter is kind of messy (and rushed), IMO. I'm not sure how much better I can really make it while still giving it so little "screen time", but I hope it makes sense at least. My priority is first to finish the complete story, and I'll do any touching up I can later if I feel like it. So we'll be stuck with this version of this chapter for a while at least, sorry.

It's good to remember, in-case you mind this, that the story is meant to be a replacement for the ending of Muv Luv Alternative. So I'd also be remiss to drag it out, or to focus on characters which aren't important. This story is supposed to be about Shirogane and his character arc first and foremost, so the other characters have reduced importance. Otherwise, as I've said before, this story would be about 500k long. And I have my own stuff to work on.

Anyways, this story will have exactly 20 chapters, no more, no less. That means this is the halfway mark, yay! :D

MUV LUV ALTERNATIVE: REDEMPTION

EPISODE 12: REDEMPTION

PART IV: Shirogane Base

First Draft

I groan as I regain consciousness. I try to open my eyes, but they're extremely heavy and everything is just a blur viewed through a tight squint. In that blur I spot… the same girl from before. Only, she seems much taller, and the color of her hair seems a bit off. I can feel myself lying on a bed, maybe she's just on-top of me or something…?

"Kas… umi…?" I wonder aloud. I can hear a reply, but it's so distant that I can't understand it. I try lifting my arms to rub my eyes, but they're useless and remain at my side unused. "Ugh…"

I lose consciousness again. When I wake back up the girl is gone, but otherwise the same experience from before repeats itself. I try to lift my arms in order to clear the blur from my eyes again. Harsh white light leaks through my eyelids, and I concentrate on that to stop myself from falling unconscious again. It's a struggle at first, they shake with the effort, but I manage it and bring two lightly clenched fists to my eyeballs. It's difficult, but I slowly wear the sleep out of my eyes and begin to blink. Everything around me comes into focus. The ceiling above me has the white paneling of a well-lit room in the base infirmary.

I groan again as my hearing also sharpens. Shortly after, I hear the beeping of a heart rate monitor coming from my left. The sound becomes clearer as I adjust the position of my head on my pillow to look at it. Only I don't only spot the heart rate monitor, or just the IV stretching out of my arm to a saline bad. I also spot the girl from before. Sleeping in one of the hard metal chairs against the wall. It's not Kasumi, but the girl's true identity is just as shocking. Tears build in my eyes as they fall on… 1st Lieutenant Hayase.

"H-Hayase…" My voice is little more than a low, dry croak that makes me realize I really need some water. Still, even that low dry croak is enough to rouse the girl. I grin as she yawns and looks over at me, but instead of her taking on a positive expression her gaze narrows. The glare isn't filled with hatred, but frustration. I try to speak again. "H-Hey… there…"

She stands up and walks over to my bed. She grabs a bottle of water from my bedside table, and starts to hand it to me. With some difficulty, I raise my hand to accept it. But she pulls away at the last moment.

"I'm going to give this to you… uh, Shirogane, was it?" She asks an unexpected question, one that only someone unfamiliar with me would ask. Though confused, I still nod an affirmative. "Once you drink it, you're going to answer some questions for me. Got it?"

I nod again, and she hands me the drink. I take it, holding it against my chest to alleviate the pressure of holding it up, and try to raise my hand to unscrew the cap. It's too difficult, and so Hayase reaches over and helps. I attempt to raise it to my mouth, but my hands shake uncontrollably and some of it splashes onto my chest. With a sigh, she reaches over and holds it steady to help it reach my mouth. I drink heartily. It's difficult, but I manage to hold it in without coughing. Though there's a little bit of sputtering as I remove it from my mouth. I feel quite a lot stronger still, and I'm able to screw back on the cap myself as I set it down on the bed next to me. I speak, my voice stronger as well if still a little dry, though it's counterbalanced by my confused stammering.

"Hayase… how are you here…? I thought…"

"Why are you talking to me like that? Like you know me? How do you know my name…?"

"You're acting a bit more serious… than usual…" I say, chuckling a little. Of course, that's when I realize it. My memory comes rushing back to me and I remember I'm not in the original world, the one where she died destroying the reactor… This is a different world entirely, and this is a different Mitsuki Hayase.

"Answer the question, would you? Why are you acting so familiar? And… when you were giving that speech, why did you name me? Even my old rank… You're talking like you know who I am, like we're friends… but… I've never met you before."

"O-Oh… sorry… I, uh… I confused you with someone else." I tell her, looking away from her face as I say it. She catches on, and as I swing my eyes back up I can she isn't amused.

"I know you're lying. You called out to me by name when you woke up. You know me, somehow…"

Knowing the jig is up, I get an idea and go for it. I place my fist over my chest, and salute weakly.

"Achieve your mission with all your might. Despair not till your last breath. Make your death count."

Hayase's eyes widen in shock at the words. She's taken aback as she speaks.

"How do you…? How do you know those words?"

"I was a member of Isumi's Valkyries, right alongside you."

"That's a lie…! They're all dead, I'm all that's left… And you were never there…"

"I wasn't a member in this world. I was a member in another one."

"In this world…? Another one…? What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's exactly as I said. I'm not from this world. I'm from another one, a lot like this one, but different… In that world, you sacrificed destroying this base's reactor during a BETA attack."

"You can't seriously expect me to believe…"

"So, everyone else is dead, huh…? I guess you and Suzumiya aren't competing for that guy anymore, right? And… and Munakata isn't around to tell me in this world, so… so that should be proof, right…?"

A long moment passes, and then suddenly Hayase bursts out laughing. It's a bit of a sad laughter, and there's hints of tears on the edges of her eyes as she looks down at me.

"So… that's why I was on your list, huh? I see. That's one crazy story, Shirogane."

"Yea, I guess it is. But… crazy doesn't mean it isn't true."

"That's certainly the case…" She closes her eyes, and becomes serious again as she continues. "Tell me, Shirogane, in this other world of yours… Did my sacrifice mean something? Did you make all those deaths count?"

I don't hesitate to answer.

"Yes. We won, we defeated the BETA. We saved the world, together…"

She smiles.

"Then, I'll happily make any sacrifices you ask of me, sir." Hayase replies, before standing stock still and giving me a determined salute.

"What are you…?" I begin to ask, but she just glares at me. Making it clear that I'm the one in charge. I'm a bit taken aback by this subtle declaration of servitude, but I decide to take it in stride. "Thank you, 1st Lieutenant. I'll gladly accept you service. And… I hope I can be as good a leader to you, as you were to me and the rest of Squad 207. At ease."

As she reassumes a more normal posture, she grins.

"Guess I got stuck into the mentor role, huh?"

"Yea… Yea you sure did…"

"That's fine. Sounds like I did pretty good. Anyways sir, whatever you need me for, you tell me."

"Can you tell Yuuko-sensei to come see me? I don't understand what happened…"

A look of pure, unadulterated hatred crosses Hayase's face. It's only for a second, as she suppresses it before nodding, saluting once more, and leaving the room. It only takes minutes before Yuuko-sensei enters the room, but I'm more concerned with who she's with. Sumika, whose curious expression morphs into a smile as she sees me.

"Hi there, Takeru-chan." She says.

"Sumika! How… are you…?" I wonder. Did someone else tune her…? How is she…?

"You can thank Kasumi, I believe." Yuuko-sensei says with a grin. She scratches her cin as she continues. "Or at least the other Kasumi. Clever girl…"

Sumika crosses her arms and pouts as it's clear she wants me to pay attention to her first. I bring my gaze over to her. It's definitely her, even if I don't know how.

"Why are you just standing there?" I ask weakly. "Get over here, you idiot…"

She smiles and runs over to jump onto the bed, embracing me tightly. It hurts a little, but I ignore it. Suddenly, tears begin to run from her eyes. I can feel them warm and hot against my chest as she sobs her next sentence.

"I hope you'll forgive me, Takeru-chan… I wasn't strong enough to keep everyone from dying… I tried, I tried so hard… But I wasn't as strong as you needed me to be…!"

A shock runs through me as I instantly recognize what she's talking about. This Sumika… she's… the one from the other world, the one who died… But I don't understand how. Until, I think about what I saw… Kasumi's message. Somehow she'd made this happen.

I hug Sumika as I reply.

"Hey, you did your best… you even sacrificed yourself, and because of all that we won… You don't have anything to be guilty about, and so you don't need my forgiveness. At least, not about this."

"Y-You mean, about not telling you what would happen?"

"Of course it's about that!" I shout without meaning too. I sigh. "Sorry."

"You aren't going to hit me…?"

"No, not this time… You were brave. I can't hate you for it, but… never do that again. No more lies, okay?"

She nods into my chest. She tries to lift her head and wipe off her tears.

"Sorry about… all this…" She says. I hug her head close to my chest again before she can pull away.

"Hey, don't stop if you're not actually done…" I tell her. "I depend on you all the time. Depend on me for once… Get it all out of your system, okay?"

"O-Okay…" She sobs, and then continues crying. I look up at Yuuko-sensei.

"How is this possible?" I ask.

"Turns out Kasumi actually pulled off something I didn't know was possible. The other one. She removed Kagami's entire consciousness from your 00-Unit, and put it in your head. She couldn't tell you because if you became aware of it, your mind would automatically fight it off and destroy it."

"She never even hinted at it…"

"Of course she didn't. She's incredible like that. Too bad she isn't really my daughter. Then I could be proud of her in only the way a mother can!"

"But, how did this Sumika become that Sumika? Did it have something to do with her reading my mind?"

"That's exactly the case. The second the Sumika on the table found that consciousness in your head, she integrated all of the information she didn't have already into herself. The details are a bit too complicated for you, but you could say that the consciousness of this world's Sumika and the other Sumika merged into one."

"And I'm assuming all of this is why I fell unconscious."

"Of course. Once your brain was aware of that other consciousness in your head, it acted to destroy it. It's a traumatic process. Don't worry though, I imagine it hurt pretty bad but there's no permanent damage. You should be up on your feet in a day or two, none the worse for wear. Which is good. We need you for Operation Earth."

"We…?"

"Well me and the whole bunch of people you brought here. A couple thousand people in all, the last of humanity… As far as I can tell, every human being left on Earth is here now."

"How long was I out!?"

"A couple weeks. And everyone wants to see you Shirogane, you brought them all together after all. It's been a bit hard, having to get everything organized while you were out… I think they're about ready for you to take over. They don't like me very much. There's been a lot of infighting and it's making it hard to get things done. We've managed to get a lot of equipment stockpiled, and the Engineers are off doing their thing repairing all the broken stuff, but organizing teams or creating any kind of leadership structure has been chaos… All the guys in charge of their own groups want to be in charge, and the people from the UN act like they're the only one's qualified to be in charge…"

"Sounds like a mess, but how am I supposed to fix it? I'm no General or anything…"

"Did you not hear me? They all came here to follow you Shirogane. You're their leader now, whether you like it or not. It's time to step up. You inspired them, so they're your responsibility."

I bite my lip. Then I sigh, and nod.

"Well then, you two lovebirds have fun. Lots of fun…" Yuuko giggles suggestively as she toggles the lock on the door before exiting the room. I look down at Sumika, whose looking up at me, still teary-eyed but blushing furiously. Strangely, I find myself not doing the same at the idea.

"You know, it's really not something you should be embarrassed about… considering the state of our relationship and everything."

Sumika remains quiet for a long time before nodding.

"What, no 'you're an idiot Takeru-chan'?" I wonder with a grin.

"No, you're right…"

I drop my grin to a warm smile as I ask my next question.

"Are you okay? Feel better now?"

"Yes. Yes, I do… Thanks, Takeru-chan…"

"It's fine. I have… a lot to make up for, to say the least. I feel like I've done a lot, but…"

"No matter what guilt you're feeling, I'll always help you hold it. I'm sure all versions of me would agree…"

"Don't worry, I know. I'm sure of it in fact. I've been in a lot of different world's now, and I've seen a lot of memories of others, and in every one you're always there to support me. No matter what you're going through, and no matter who I love… that way. No matter what, you're always there to depend on. Without fail…"

"Of course I am Takeru-chan, that's just how much I love you." As she says that, she crawls up the bed and climbs under the blanket with me. She presses her head into my chest and presses up every part of her body against me. I'm completely enveloped in that warmth of hers, and I feel… an indescribable happiness. A feeling of limitless belonging that I know will never fade. Because… this is how it's supposed to be.

"I love you too…" I say, bringing my chin down into her soft red hair as I push as much back into her as I can. "Sumika, can we… can we just stay like this? Just for a while…"

"Yes, Takeru-chan… yes we can. I can tell you're still tired, so why don't you go back to sleep?"

"I'd like that… Thanks…"

I close my eyes, and bury myself in that moment until I fall asleep. All of my dreams are pleasant ones.

The next day, I'm able to stand with help or something to hold onto. Sumika decides to help me move around the hallways, after she helps me get dressed, as I decide it's time for me to get moving around. I need them all to see me after all, so they don't lose faith in me… But it turns out I never should've been worried. Every person I pass in the halls, of which there are hundreds, thousands… they all give me a salute. When I sit down in the mess hall to eat breakfast with Sumika, they all give me the space to eat with her alone. And when I finally enter the command room, every person in the room salutes me. Even Yuuko-sensei, albeit with a grin on her face.

"At ease…" I say. As I approach the command table, they lower their salutes but hold themselves in the way that denotes respect. There's a group of men and women around the table, some in disheveled clothing and others in UN military uniforms. And without exception, I can see from their gaze that they see me as their leader. Even… two familiar faces. "Commander Walken…? Your highness?"

Yuuhi offers a curtsey, while Walken offers a salute.

"That title died with our country, Shirogane-sama." Yuuhi says. "I am merely Yuuhi Koubuin, now. Just a name without any additional meaning."

"My title is gone as well… sir." Walken offers. His outfit is one of the more disheveled ones, not the outfit I would usually picture such a man in. His gruffness seems to have peeled away to be replaced with the weight of regret.

"I… I see. By the way, you'll forgive me if I don't salute in kind. I'm still… rather weak." I reply. It's very disconcerting to be addressed with words of respect from those who were both superior to me in the previous world. Looking over at Sumika, who is holding me up underneath my arm, she is looking down at the ground disinterested. About what I expected. My gaze is drawn up by someone speaking.

"Of course. It's good to see you up and about sir. It was… disconcerting to arrive to find you in a hospital bed." Another man says in an American accent, he's unfamiliar but I nod.

"I agree." A woman from the UN speaks up. "You can finally address the messy state of affairs we've been in. This… woman is not to be trusted."

I take a deep breath before speaking.

"Maybe before, but she's changed now. As many of us around this table have. She is my second-in-command, and you will treat her as such.

"Yes sir." Every single person around the table offers me a salute. The woman from the UN seems uncertain.

"Speak your mind."

"It's just… I know her. As far as secrets kept and the state of the world up till now, she was the status quo. She gave out orders that no one understood, wasting so many human lives. And then she deserted in disgrace and failure. I don't know how I can respect someone like that."

"I've made plenty of mistakes too." I say, looking down. "I expect most of the world has. If you need proof of that, all you need to do is look out of the window at the wasteland we created with the G-Bombs. But I made a decision to be better, and that brought us all here… together, unified. Because that's the only way we win. Old grudges are useless, we're all on the same side. It's time to put all of that behind us, and save our planet."

"Yes sir!" She gives a salute before turning to Yuuko and bowing. "I apologize for my behavior up to this point, mamn."

"No need for apologies. I don't hold it against you. I'm fully aware of my quite deserved reputation."

"I understand, mamn…"

"Does anyone else have anything to say?" I ask as the lady from the UN resumes a standing position. There is nothing in reply, so I nod and continue. I'd been thinking over what I would say when I came to this table all night, so I'm prepared as far as what our plans our. I just need to know more details about the state of the base. "Now, can someone tell me the state of the base? I can see the hallways are cleaned up."

"Luckily that's one of the things we never had any argument about." Yuuko offers. "First group cleaned it up without needing to be asked. This place is starting to look like a real military base again."

A man offers a salute before speaking.

"I've been directing our engineers sir. We haven't had an exact goal, so we've just been fixing up all the broken equipment we can find. We should have more than enough to go around when it comes down to it."

"Good to hear. I want to know something, how are we doing in terms of Aerospace resources? Last time, we did an orbital drop…"

"Um… last time, sir?" The man looks confused.

"Ah, you haven't told them, Yuuko-sensei?" I ask, glancing over at her. The others look bemused by my use of honorific, but say nothing.

"About how you came from a parallel universe? Nope." Yuuko confesses with a shrug. "They wouldn't believe me even if I told them."

"Excuse me, parallel universe?" The lady from the UN seemed confused.

"This world, this Earth, I'm not from here. In fact the version of me, the Takeru Shirogane of this world, who lived here is long dead. Both of them, actually."

"The records said so but… we were thinking they were incorrect. There were two other versions of you…? Sir, you must understand… this is ludicrous…"

I can see their respect for me dropping as their belief in my insanity increases. I sigh.

"I'm telling you the truth. Because I'm not going to keep secrets from you all for no reason. This fight is together, and that means there are no secrets. That's why I dispersed all of the data from the UN to you all."

"I can attest to the fact that Shirogane here is not insane. I would know, I actually am insane. My hallucinations are here right now in fact…" Yuuko replies. "Oh, that and where did you think I got the intel for Operation Earth from? No one's ever been so deep into Objective 1, and without Shirogane here we wouldn't know about the BETA superior or the BETA's purpose here on Earth…"

"Well, we were… assuming there was a reasonable explanation…" The lady says, taken aback.

"I know it all sounds weird, but this IS actually a reasonable explanation. Backed up by a bunch of science you don't understand." I say.

"Does it really matter?" Yuuhi asks. "This man brought humanity together. Even if he is insane, then maybe that is what humanity needed. This is more than any of us has managed in the past few years. And if it's any consolation, the look in his eyes… I can tell he is not lying. And isn't that very look what brought us all here to begin with?"

The table falls silent, and then nods. They offer a salute to me.

"If you have any questions about this, you can ask. I'm not going to keep anything from you." I tell them.

"No sir." The lady from before speaks, again reassured. "If you think it's important to this Operation, I'm sure you'll tell us."

The engineer from before speaks up.

"Sir, to answer your original question. We have no aerospace resources to speak of. All of that was used up in Alternative V."

"That's fine, I don't want an orbital drop anyways. Last time, we sacrificed way too much just to get me inside… I'm not sacrificing people like that. Not ever again. I brought it up because I want your focus to be on our land vehicles and TSF's."

"Of course sir, I'll make sure all our engineers are aware of their priorities."

"That includes withdrawing all effort from our naval technology." I say, scratching my chin, I continue. "In fact, if our ships have any weapons that can be converted into arms that can be used on the ground, that would be best. Kashgar is very far inland, the boats will be useless once we hit the shore. And no small arms either, put all your focus on TSF's and other land vehicles. Even if you have to jury rig arms that aren't meant for TSF's onto them, do it. Also, Yuuko-sensei is in charge of all of the engineers."

"Good, I'll need their help on finishing up the XG-60." Yuuko says. "It's almost done, but it'll take me months by myself, and just a few days with some backup… You, get five of your best engineers to the main shaft after this meeting. We're going down to my lab and finishing that thing."

"Yes mamn!" The man replies before stepping back.

"The XG-60 is the cornerstone of this Operation, correct?" Walken asks.

"Yes, I'll be the pilot along with Sumika here." I reply.

"The girl?" He wonders. "She doesn't seem like the fighting type."

"Sumika is also the 00-Unit, a quantum computer that will be necessary for negotiating with the BETA superior."

"I see, so she was telling the truth about your plan…" Walken says with a nod. Everyone around the table looks at Sumika strangely, she doesn't look up at them.

"She's a computer, a machine, yes…" I decide to say. "But she's also a human being, and if I catch anyone around here treating her like anything else…"

"If I may say sir, you seem unusually attached… Especially to someth- someone you just met." The UN lady says.

Sumika looks up before I have the chance to speak on her behalf.

"I was captured and tortured by the BETA when I still had a body. And he's attached because Takeru-chan loves me, and I love him…"

"O-Oh… I see, you knew her before… I apologize. I won't… bring it up again." The UN lady nervously bites her lip and steps back. I decide to avoid the topic as I continue.

"As far as TSF's, I want to make sure we have enough for every single person who is capable of piloting one on this base."

"And he means everyone who is capable, even slightly." Yuuko adds. I'm not sure I agree with that, but as the engineer speaks I listen curiously.

"That is the goal mamn." The engineer says. Looking over at me, I think he detects my hesitation. He says something which makes me give in to contesting the idea. "Many people who have only flown TSF's in simulations or training exercises are already signed up to pilot for the Operation. Everyone wants to fight sir."

"I see, then we should make sure everyone can. Organize some training exercises for all of our rookies. Even the ones who aren't flying TSF's and want to fight. Those you can put in the easier to control vehicles like tanks."

"Understood sir."

"By the way… for the plan I have on mind, we'll need to carry our extra supplies with us. I was thinking that the engineers could make some kind of mobile platform. If we place it in the middle of our formation, we can carry any supplies on it and reload as necessary. Remember, we're attacking completely over land, that means we'll need to press through a whole lot of enemy forces. We'll bring everything we have to bare and assemble in a diamond formation around this platform I'm suggesting…"

"It shouldn't be too difficult to make something like that sir. No worries."

"So your plan is charge right in, Shirogane?" Yuuko asks.

"Yes, we're going to enter the Hive as a team. Fighting together."

"That can work, but considering how long the fighting is going to take, the XG-60 is going to run out of fuel before reaching the main chamber."

"I can just refuel on the move. The XG-60 doesn't have any ammunition limit as long as the fuel doesn't run out, right? So there shouldn't be a problem." I reply.

"The XG-60 requires specialized equipment to refuel, thanks to the MLE."

"Then we'll need to have the XG-60 and a squadron of TSF's rest on the platform while we make our way into the Hive." Walken says. "Once we get deep enough, the XG-60 and the squad will go the rest of the way on their own. The rest will resupply and catch up at a later point."

"So you just want me to sit there while everyone dies around me…?" I wonder.

"If you can save the planet, yes. If you die fighting on the frontlines on the way in, then it'll all be pointless. Besides, with that new operating system we got from her, we should do a lot better than you seem to expect."

"Besides Shirogane, you know what'll happen if you die…" Yuuko says. I understand her meaning, and nod. I don't like the plan, but at least everyone will be fighting together, and everyone will have a fighting chance to live… No one has to sacrifice themselves like in the orbital drop plan.

"I understand." I say. "But why the squadron resting with me?"

"Because you need elite fighters to help you out the rest of the way. The best of the best." Walken says. "They need to be fresh from combat, and they need to be completely fueled up and weaponized when you head out. They also need to be coordinated with you, hopefully through training sessions you run with them until the operation, and so we can't risk any of them getting themselves killed trying to help out."

"Alright…"

"I'll get records sent to you Shirogane." Yuuko says. "That way you can handpick your team. One exception though, I'm going. It's time for me to stop sitting in the back and letting other people fight to fix my mistakes."

"Yuuko-sensei, are you sure…?"

"Yes, one-hundred percent. I've been training in TSF's for years to prepare for this. Besides, the XG-60 is very powerful, and with your piloting skills and the XM3 it should be a piece of cake. You could take on a hundred thousand BETA singlehandedly in that thing. Probably."

"Alright… no need for the records though, I know exactly who else is coming with. Walken, Yuuhi, and this world's Hayase. Assuming you're all okay with that, of course."

"I will do whatever you ask." Yuuhi says with another bow.

"Yes sir!" Walken confirms his loyalty.

"Interesting lineup, Shirogane." Yuuko says with a grin.

"It's the right one. I'm sure everyone in that lineup is capable. Yuuhi has been training in TSF's all her life, I know that from the other world. I also know that Walken is a great pilot, and considering Hayase is the last of the Valkyries… there's no one else I'd rather fight beside. But more than any of that, when the world looks back on this moment, they need to see that we fought together. That we set aside our differences when it came down to it. No matter the relationships between dead nations."

"I see. Sounds like you thought this through then Shirogane, you have my support."

"You know, Yuuko… there is one person I'm curious about the record of. Assuming he's even still around and is capable of piloting a TSF…" I say, thinking back.

"Who is it?"

"Takahashi Ichimonji."

One of the officers working at the nearby computers chimes in.

"Sir, that man is not an incredibly experienced TSF pilot but he is on the list of applicants for pilots."

"He'll be on my squad too. Just… trust me on this one."

"Understood." Walken says.

"Now, let's go over this whole plan in detail…" I say, and we start using the map and planning formation. The less experienced pilots are towards the center protecting the platform directly while the best and most experienced are on the outskirts. We'll maintain the diamond formation as we make our way down to the core. Around halfway into the Operation, my squadron will break off and make the rest of the way on our own. We'll carry out the original Operation Cherry Blossom plan until we reach the compartment that separates the drift from the core. Not only will we lock the door behind us, but… "Sumika and I will disembark the XG-60 at this point, and we will proceed into the core chamber unarmed to negotiate with the BETA Superior."

"Sir… are you… are you sure?" The UN lady, taken aback as always, offers complaint.

"Yes, I am certain. The last time, negotiations were going pretty well before I was interrupted. And that was when I was upset and unprepared. If Sumika and I can get inside, she can connect with the Superior and if we are unarmed, I highly doubt it will attack. I'm pretty sure it doesn't completely understand the situation. If I present no threat, then I think I might be able to negotiate a ceasefire during the talks. If I can do that, I'll have a lot more time to negotiate with the Superior. If I bring in weapons or if anyone interrupts… then my chances of a successful negotiation go down."

"Well, you are the only one whose been down there, and you're in charge… if you think this risk is worth it, then I'm behind you." Walken says.

"Thank you. With that, I would say that the plan is complete. Any more questions?" I ask as the now lengthy meeting finally seems to be reaching its conclusion. No one has any questions. I look over to Walken. "Walken, I'm putting you in charge of organizing our troops until the Operation. You're probably the most experienced at it out of all of us."

"Sir." He salutes. I look over to Yuuhi now.

"Um, Yuuhi, Could I talk to you in private? There's um… something personal I want to talk to you about. And Yuuko-sensei, there's something I need from you too…"

"Of course, Shirogane-sama." Yuuhi offers a bow in confirmation. Yuuko nods.

"Well, then, everyone's dismissed. We'll discuss this in Yuuko-sensei's office."

There's several salutes as the meeting disperses and we all head out. Sumika continues to help me move, as well move to Yuuko's office. And after that meeting, Sumika and I retire to my quarters. I'm so exhausted we don't even talk before going directly to sleep. There's only one thought on my mind as I sleep… A hope that I made all the right decisions.