DES BATTLESHIP BAEL, CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS
Kirishima was looking through his communications with the other captains. In this timeline, communications with someone from a different one was proving quite a difficult task for Kirishima. He's been contacting them for the past few days to no avail. This is bad news…
A knock suddenly echoed through Kirishima's door. "Come in," the captain said, inviting the visitor inside. The door opened and revealed a soldier, and by his insignia, was seen as a lieutenant. "What business do you have?"
"Yes, sir!" the lieutenant responded, raising his hand to a salute. "A report on the assassination of Private Satoshi."
The captain froze on the spot and then stared at the lieutenant before him. "How was it?" Kirishima asked sternly, crossing his arms.
"It was successful. As we speak, the spy is now disposing of Private Satoshi's body," the lieutenant answered right away, hiding a little smile. "With that, the parasite inside her brain died."
"And?"
"It was reviewed that two new ones were born from the death of the mother. They are currently growing through the same process. It's said that they will grow again in a day."
To this report, Kirishima smiled widely. Not only have they succeeded in disposing of that bastard Satoshi who spilled his plans with Nakajima, but they also called the experiment a success.
Dr. Shimada, we will continue your work, make it a success, and we will honor you for your wonderful work. This is merely the first step.
AKB0048 BATTLESHIP KATYUSHA, HANGAR
Chika and the other girls from Aqours looked at the giant mechs before them. Some of them may have already piloted one, but it was their first time marveling before such robots.
"Now that I look at them, they look awesome as hell," Chika said as she eyed the mobile suit she operated in the previous battle.
"And controlling them makes it feel like you're playing a simulation game," You commented while looked at her hand.
"Simulation game, huh…" Mari, who was standing quite far from everyone else, muttered and put a finger on her chin. "Guess I can modify it like that…"
"Mari-san? What are you muttering about there?" Dia turned back to ask Mari.
"Eh? Ah, nothing! I've never ridden anything like that, so I'm just imagining what it feels like from You-chan's perspective," Mari waved it off and giggled.
"So huge…" Ruby said as she started at the head of one robot from below. She has had her head bent so far up as if she were looking at the sky. All of them looked at the line of robots before them, as Mari looked at them from afar, looking overjoyed from what she was seeing, when her watch vibrated.
"Ah, it's about that time, huh…" Mari muttered. "Girls, I need to get going. Some business down there. Dia, look after the others for me, yeah?" She called herself out and left the hangar.
"… Mari's been excusing herself a whole lot ever since the incident..." Kanan observed. "I wonder if she has something she doesn't wanna tell us…"
"I think a secret must be kept secret, zura," Maru said. "We should leave her be, I guess?"
"Yeah, we should," Dia agreed and looked on the others.
Meanwhile, Yoshiko and Riko were standing side by side, holding hands as they looked at the same view as the others. Riko has also been acting strange these days, Yoshiko has observed. Like, she was unsure of what she'd been doing lately. She has also been getting more and more frequent headaches, as if everything since the moment she was kidnapped worried her, and that worried Yoshiko ever more.
As of the moment, Riko was still pressing her forehead. Yoshiko looked at her girlfriend with worry. "Riri, is something wrong?" she asked, now full of concern.
"Ah, i-it's nothing," Riko waved it off. "I know it's strange for me to have such long-lasting headaches, but it'll pass soon, I'm sure."
"O-Okay, if that's what you say…" Yoshiko decided not to mind it, but she could not help herself from worrying and showing concern.
"All these robots are cool!" Chika commented once again. She eyed the robots with sheer interest when a white one caught her attention. It had a more masculine build than the others, with black, yellow, and red adorning every part. "I-Is this what I think this is?"
"Yeah, you're looking at the Barbatos," a girl said from above. She was on the railings, leaning on them to look down on the girls. Said girl was Honoka, who smiled at Chika when the latter found her.
"Honoka-senpaaaaai!" Chika shouted at the top of her lungs. "What are you doing heeeeereee?!"
"Just doing some simulations on Barbatos, being its pilot and all," Honoka answered while remaining chill.
"So the rumors were true! Famous school idol Honoka Kousaka saves Japan –and Earth at the same time—in Barbatos! Oooooh, seeing the famed robot before me is such an honor!"
"You exaggerate," Honoka said and giggled. "It was the least I could do." She smiled and looked at the others. She then saw Riko and almost lost her smile. "Anyways, what can I do for you today?"
"Ah, nothing. We're just looking around the ship. Tsubasa-san told us so," Dia answered. "We haven't been everywhere, after all."
"I see," Honoka simply responded. "Well, have fun walking around! Want me to guide you around?"
"No need," Dia said. "We have a map of the ship with us, after all."
"Then I guess I'll leave the tour to you girls," Honoka concluded. "Stay safe, then!"
"We will! See you!" Chika shouted. "Let's go, girls!" She then left the hangar, the other girls following after her.
Honoka kept her smile just before they left the hanger. "They're missing one member… The blonde one? It may just be my imagination, but could she be the one Tsubasa-san was talking about just yesterday?"
AKB0048 BATTLESHIP KATYUSHA, BRIDGE
Tsubasa and Nakajima were sitting on their respective seats, waiting for any reports on the enemy's movements.
"Seems like DES is going passive as of now. I wonder if they've already made their move on that spy of theirs," Nakajima said, resting his head on his hand.
"Possibly so," Tsubasa answered. "They want as much information out of us, so it's best they send them out early."
"Captain! Our database has been hacked!" one of the people manning the computers reported. "All our files are being sent to theirs!"
"So the enemy has finally made their move," Nakajima said, sighing before finally giving out commands. "Intercept the bug and trace back to the origin! We'll see who's behind all this."
And the staff followed, entering keys that would issue the command, but they were being backed against a wall. There was almost nothing they could do against the hacker.
"It's no use! They're too good at this!" one of them shouted, desperately typing out the commands on code, but it was proving useless.
Just as all of their files were being taken, a transmission projected in front of them by itself. The screen was entirely black, except for a masked person in the middle. Only the golden mask was showing, so they could not get a bearing of anything else about the person behind the mask.
"Good day, ladies and gentlemen, Captain and Vice-Captain!" the masked person greeted in a voice none of them have heard of. "Of course, for the courtesy of giving a mystery feel to all this, I'm not planning on introducing myself, which would probably be rude to all you guys, but you can proably assume who I am."
"The spy…" Tsubasa muttered.
"But what you should know is that I've hacked through all your data, so I have all the power to bring down this ship in an instant."
"What?!" all the staff exclaimed, almost panicking.
"Everyone, check the surveillance cameras! All of Aqours should be in their rooms as of this moment!" Nakajima commanded.
"It's useless, Vice-Captain," the person on the transmission said. "I have control of all surveillance going on here. You're all stuck here with no eyes and ears, and your hands are tied."
"W-What do you want?" Tsubasa, who was clenching her teeth, asked.
"Hmmm, what I want, you say? You want a negotiation, then," the masked person suggested. "How about we play your little exchange game here?"
All of them remained silent, wanting to hear what the masked person had to say.
"I'll take that silence as a yes. Here goes. I know you want to know who I really am, and I'm willing to tell you… if you, Captain Tsubasa, step down of your position as captain and hand over the title to me."
"Don't mess with me! My stepping down isn't worth your name!" Tsubasa denied the offer, standing up on alert.
"Calm down, Captain!" Nakajima yelled, stopping Tsubasa. "You're not in a position to deny this person right now. We don't even know if this person is the spy or not. They have all our data, and they might even crash the entire ship if they wanted. Let's just give them a listen, okay?"
Tsubasa gritted her teeth but managed to simmer down. She sat back down on her seat.
"Good call, Vice-Captain Nakajima," the masked person complimented. "But I'm not that low as to kill for a captain's title. It's a shame you can't give me your position, Captain. But I respect your resolve." They then laughed. "Continuing on, as per agreement, since Captain Tsubasa isn't so willing to back down from her position, I can't reveal my identity. Thus ends our discussion."
"Y-You'll let us go?" Tsubasa looked up to face the masked person.
"I am! I'll also return all your data," the masked person said and as per their statement, all data went back. "As soon as I drop this call, you'll also get back you control over your surveillances. Too bad we couldn't come to an agreement. I'll come ask again some other time." Then the transmission ended. As soon as such happened, all their security surveillances went online.
"Check around for the girls! Immediately!" Tsubasa commanded, and the others followed. "Whoever that person was, they should probably be fixing their props—"
"None of them match the conditions!" one of the staff reported. "All of them are in their individual rooms, but none of them has the mask from earlier!"
"Except one," Nakajima observed. "What was her name again? Ohara Mari, was it?"
"Guess she's our only clue… but—"
"Wait, something's missing from the files the masked person returned," one of the staff reported once again.
"What?" Tsubasa turned her head to the one who reported the matter.
"What we're missing… are the blueprints for our mobile suits."