Unmei Force Solitary Legends: Azure Seas, Black Space
Chapter 2: An Unwelcome Dream
As Sakura was sleeping, she soon would find herself in a dream where she was wounded, and trying to stand up against her attacker, and when she looked up she saw that although she was surrounded by flames, there was no mistaking it… IJN Amagi was the one who was her opponent.
"Amagi… I… I know you're in there… somewhere…!" Sakura said weakly as she looked at Amagi, who had assumed the new role as the Herrscher of Flame, the 5th Herrscher, as Amagi's hair ran crimson-red, and her eyes were also the same colour, as deep red flames followed in her wake, with her nine tails waving behind her.
"You are merely appealing to a synthetic consciousness… One I easily assimilated." Amagi spoke in a voice that was not her own, as it seemed to be cold and ruthless. "With this powerful vessel at hand, all shall burn to ashes."
"Amagi… please… please come back to me!" Sakura yelled as she reached her hand out towards Amagi.
Amagi didn't respond, as she slowly approached Sakura, before then drawing a blade of fire in her hand, and raising it to strike down Sakura. Sakura could only watch as the blade slowly descended upon her, as she saw the cold expression of the Herrscher possessing Amagi.
Suddenly, the nightmare ended there, as Sakura was jolted awake before she could feel the blade cut into her. She was in a cold sweat, wondering what that nightmare meant exactly. Little did she know that Amagi was also experiencing a nightmare of that scenario, but reversed.
In her nightmare, Sakura was the one who was the Herrscher of Flames, and Amagi was the one who was wounded and at the mercy of Sakura, as a flaming aura was around Sakura, and her hair was now crimson red instead of its usual pink color.
"Sakura-san…" Amagi remarked, as she was wounded and unarmed. "Those eyes of yours… I know for a fact that you're not in control of yourself… Who are you?"
"Me? I am the Herrscher of Flame, the 5th Herrscher." Sakura said in a cold tone. "And the one you call Sakura, the vessel I have control of… she must be in agony, seeing you this way. It pleases me so, for you humans are a mistake, as my sister, Void, says." Sakura continued in her cold tone. "And so it is tasked upon us to do what is right: eradicate the human race entirely. All who stand in our way? Perish."
"I cannot allow you to do that… I will save Sakura-san, who you have taken." Amagi answered back, as she tried to fight, although her damaged weapons didn't seem to have much effect against the possessed Sakura, before Sakura then impaled her through the stomach, as Sakura scoffed coldly. She then drew her blade out, while Amagi staggered back in pain, before then aiming for a beheading strike.
Amagi woke up with a frightening gasp, as Myoukou, who was nearby, heard the commotion, as she moved over to comfort Amagi.
"Amagi, what happened? You woke up in a hurry…" Myoukou asked Amagi. "Are you alright, were you plagued with nightmares?"
Sakura soon rushed into the quarters holding Amagi and Myoukou, as she soon sighed in relief upon seeing Amagi as her usual self.
"A-Amagi-san… you're okay…" Sakura said in relief as she closed her eyes, relieved that the nightmare was not reality.
"Sakura-san?" Amagi asked back, as she clutched her head. "You look disturbed… And I think that… Did you have a nightmare with me in it? I think that I have a bad omen about all of this."
"...If you are referring to the nightmare I just had, with you as the vessel of the Herrscher of Flame… Then yes, I too have a bad omen about what may happen…" Sakura said with a sigh. "If what we dreamed is going to come to pass… then… one of us is destined to become the Herrscher of Flame, the 5th Honkai to take over a humanoid vessel… And… if that is so… then whoever is not the Herrscher of Flame will… Will…" Sakura said, as the very thought frightened her.
"Stay calm and strong… There has to be a way to circumvent this tragedy…" Amagi answered back with a strong tone. "Maybe one of us will awaken to be controlled by the unknown being that seeks humanity's destruction, but that doesn't mean that the other will have to die as a first sacrifice... If I cannot find a way to stop this… Then it would be losing our lives for nothing."
"...If we cannot find a way to stop this, you mean." Sakura said to Amagi. "I will go to no end to ensure that the Herrscher of Flame does not have our soul, either one of us. If it comes down to it… if the Herrscher would choose you as its vessel… wait… perhaps that is it… if we could divide the power of the Herrscher between us… then… perhaps…"
"...Perhaps." Amagi answered back. "If we were to think of the power of the Herrscher as an sentient power, like the power of a divine god, then splitting it can avoid possession, accidental or purposefully, at least that's what it could possibly do, so long as our wills remain strong. We can use this power, and remain in control."
"But to accomplish that would require an incredible amount of sync between us… we will have to work hard to prepare for such an event like this, Amagi-san. To perfect our sync entirely, I will have to become a master of aquatic combat, and you, a master of land combat, as well as attuning to our strengths." Sakura said.
"Land combat… That would be troublesome for me, considering that I am a ship-girl… However, I don't believe that Richard-san and Siege-san wouldn't find a way to circumvent this. Their technology is dazzling, and it is still progressing forward." Amagi answered back with a thoughtful expression. "I don't have doubts that you'll master combat at the sea, Sakura-san, you would be a fitting ship-girl, if you had the same capabilities as us."
"It's something we both will learn to become in enough time." Sakura said with a nod. "And I'm certain we will both become masters of land and sea combat soon… for now, we should return to sleep… We must be in optimal shape should missions come to us, right?"
"Indeed, rest would be important for us now… And Nitori-san is still working her hardest in bringing more allies here." Amagi responded back. "I hope that we won't be disturbed by that nightmare again for a while."
"I hope so too Amagi-san...I hope so too." Sakura said, as she returned to her quarters.
The next day, Sakura and Amagi approached Siege and Richard about their shared nightmare.
"Mm… that is concerning. Two nightmares of similar events is no coincidence. A 5th Herrscher coming… wasn't 4 enough!?" Siege asked with a sigh..
"This is a bother, but we can only make preparations for it." Richard stated, before turning to Amagi and Sakura. "You both said that you had an idea in the works on how to deal with the eventual transfer of power of the Flame Herrscher, right?"
"That is right. If we were to develop our power further, and reach a great level of synchronisation, the power of the Herrscher should evenly split among us, and with enough skill and control, we will avoid possession." Amagi answered back.
"It's risky, but it's the only one we got." Richard responded back. "I'll get orders for a land-based rigging to be created for you, Amagi. It'll help to give ship-girls even ground on land battles. As for you, Yae Sakura, yours is a bit simpler. I can create gear to help give you the same maneuverability on water as ship-girls have."
"Fair enough. We will prepare to test these modifications out as soon as they are ready." Sakura said.
"Right, should we check up with who Nitori brought over?" Richard asked. "We'll need some people to greet the newer ship-girls who might be confused about what is going on."
Amagi and Sakura nodded, before they followed Richard and Siege to where the break-room was, as they noticed that there were much more ship-girls, and they seemed to be split into groups. They noticed that Shigure and Mikazuki were already there to greet the Sakura Empire new-comers, as Mikazuki was embracing one of them tightly, someone who was about the same physical age as her. The Royal Navy ship-girls were being addressed by Leander, who was clearly explaining the situation, and the Eagle Union ship-girls, where there was a pair of them, were talking to each other.
Siege and Richard immediately broke off, as Siege went towards the Eagle Union ship-girls to speak with them, while Richard went to where the Sakura Empire ship-girls were, as he could hear their conversation.
"Come on, Mogami, don't be such a downer, the Commander is cool as hell! And he's really nice to all of us. He gave us all of these sweet accommodations. I bet you all of my yen that you'd fell asleep in no time flat on one of the bunk-beds!" Shigure exclaimed, speaking with a girl with a large oni horn on her forehead, wavy brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a black top that covered her chest, a metallic guard around her belly, a red skirt, and red boots, as well as dress sleeves on her arms.
"Still, I don't know if I'm going to be much use for him. I'm not exactly-" Mogami tried to complain.
"Oh, stuff it with the junk about you sucking at your work. Sure, you might be a tad un-motivated, but the Commander knows value when he sees it, and trust me, I wager that he'll say you're worth the effort!" Shigure argued strongly, with an annoyed expression.
"Ahem, may I speak with you?" Richard asked the two, as they turned their attention to him.
"Ah, here he is!" Shigure exclaimed. "Come on, Mogami, don't shy away now! Introduce yourself to him."
"Alright, my name is IJN Mogami." Mogami introduced herself stoically. "Name-ship of the cruiser class. However, I ask that you please don't put much expectations on me. While I can handle myself, I'm not much. Just leave me be, and I'll find my own place to crash in."
"Don't take her dull tone as a fact that she's not good at work. She's just not too motivated, that's all. Trust me, when she's motivated, she fights hard." Shigure responded back.
"I'll take that into account, Shigure." Richard nodded back. "Now then, Mogami, as you may have requested, I won't ask much of you. However, I do still have expectations for you, the same ones I have for the rest of the ship-girls in your faction. Will you be able to do that much?"
"That's no problem. If that's what I'm getting off with, I can't complain." Mogami shrugged.
Richard then turned to the smaller pair of Sakura Empire ship-girls, as Mikazuki was cuddling adorably against her partner, which was a girl with a similar yellow cap as Mikazuki, except she had short pink hair and pink eyes, with small lollipop ribboned hair-pins on the side of her head, and she was dressed in a pink school-dress, as well as short white socks in black boots. Richard noticed that there were a pair of pink squirrel ears on top of the ship-girl, as well as a curled squirrel tail behind her.
"Look, look! Uzuki-nee, this is the Commander! He's a real good nii-san to me! He treats me so nicely, and gives me a lot of taiyaki to eat!" Mikazuki beamed with an excited expression on her face. "And he's really strong too, he knocked Nagato-nee out with a single strike!"
"Really?" Uzuki remarked, before turning to Richard. "Are you really that powerful, Commander-nii?"
"Well, I'm pretty strong." Richard chuckled sheepishly. "But I'm a soft guy, as Mikazuki might have told you. What's your name? You seem to be quite related to Mikazuki, if sh hugs you so lovingly."
"Right..!" Uzuki stated,before she then cleared her throat, as if she was about to make a rehearsed speech. "I'm IJN Uzuki, fourth ship of the Mutsuki-class destroyers, from the 30th Destroyer Division. I'm the most hard-working destroyer among my sisters, and I'm good at both offence and defence. I hope that you'll treat me well. Mikazuki said that you have lots of things for us."
"And all of them are things that you can enjoy to your own leisure." Richard responded back. "Everyone here is fairly nice and some of them would be quite doting on smaller ship-girls like you. Sorry that I had to have Mikazuki fight a while ago, but-"
"No, Mikazuki said that she was happy that she managed to do some work. Usually, we Mutsuki-class destroyers aren't exactly as good as our much more mature destroyer nee-sans, but we do our best to try and help out." Uzuki interrupted.
"...You girls are too sweet for me." Richard smiled warmly, before he then placed his hand on Uzuki's head, as the pink ship-girl let out a surprised yelp. "Don't worry, you'll be able to have lots of work to do, and having someone as little as you doing your best, I bet a lot of people would be motivated by your spirit alone. Welcome aboard, little Uzuki."
Richard then gave her head a gentle head-rub, as Uzuki blushed a little, while Mikazuki pouted, before she then opened her mouth to complain, only to be silenced when Richard used his other hand to give her a head-rub as well, as both of the young destroyers enjoyed being pampered by Richard's gentle touch.
"Ohoho, Myoukou's going to lose it when she hears about this…" Shigure smirked, seeing the scene. "Looks like she has competition for being the best older-sibling for the Mutsuki-class girls."
In another part of the room, Siege came closer to the Eagle Union ship-girls, as one of them was a girl with long-white hair with a part of her hair stroked over the right side of her forehead, partially over her right yellow eye, as the other was red. She had a dog-tag necklace around her neck, and she was dressed in a white naval shirt, with the U.S army symbol on it, and long white socks with red-tipped army boots. She also had a bandage across the bridge of her nose. The other ship-girl had long hair, which was of a gradient of colour from dark brown to deep blue, green eyes, and a yellow ribbon on the right side of her head. She seemed to be fairly muscular, dressed in a white bra with a yellow star-symbol on the left side, and white shorts, metallic grey and red boots, as well as the US navy symbol tattooed on her left thigh. They seemed to be talking amongst each other.
"Well now, ain't it nice that we got a new Commander to direct us?" The smaller ship-girl remarked with an eager look on her face. "I can't wait to see the guy that managed to restrain Iowa like a caged lion just with barking orders for myself!"
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Downes. There is much more to a Commander than his feats." The other ship-girl answered back coolly. "But I do agree with you with one thing, I wish to see the Commander of the Eagle Union ships here."
"Ahem." Siege would clear his throat to get the attention of the two ship-girls. "Apologies for having you wait. My name is Siege, and I am one of the acting commanders here. May I ask who you two might be?"
"Oh, goodie, we were just talking about you. And man, you sure look like a real beast there." Downes smirked back, before she then pointed her thumb to herself in a prideful gesture. "USS Downes, destroyer of the Mahan-class, at your service, pal! Nice meeting a strong guy like you. I might not look like much in size, and there is that eye of mine… But that's only because I have been repaired before with some spare parts. Still doesn't hamper my ability to shove torpedoes up the backs of anyone against me!"
"USS Northampton, reporting for duty, sir." The other ship-girl answered back with a calm expression. "I am a Washington Treaty cruiser, and I have earned 6 battle stars in my service. I hope that you'll be a good commander, and lead our fleets to victory."
"Downes and Northampton. Nice to meet you both. And yes, the rumors you heard are true, I actually have tamed Iowa with my authority in combat. As noble as she is, she can be brash at times, which is why I had to become so authoritative in my tone. It would be different if I could say I haven't acted like her. But in all actuality, I have when I was younger." Siege said. "And I don't want anyone else making the same mistakes I did, such as pushing too hard."
"Well well, getting backstory from our dear Commander, and hearing that he relates to us. Aren't you the definition of a real gentleman." Downes chuckled. "Still, that's admirable, one because you had the balls to stand up against Iowa and stare her down into submission when she's dead-set on something, and two, because you actually have some care for us as girls, rather than weapons on the front. But then again, how could I blame that, we all look alluring as fuck in different ways."
"Ha. You could say that again." Siege chuckled at Downes' remark. "Anyways, I do have some matters to attend to, but do feel free to do as you two wish. As you can see, you will encounter some from Sakura Empire around here, but don't worry about any rivalries coming up. They will only be bothered if you bother them about old wounds. So if you two have any objections with any Sakura Empire ship-girls, let me know before I tend to other matters so we can settle things civil-like."
"So basically, don't start shit that you can't handle yourself, or might cause a commotion that might have severe repercussions." Downes summarised Siege's words in her own way, before she then smiled. "Don't worry, the only rivalry I'm going to get with them is who's going to be the top destroyers in this place. I might have half of me replaced just to field me, but like I said, it ain't worth jack when I'm putting it all. I don't have any particular grudge with them, considering that we fight our wars with as little banter as possible, to avoid pissing each other off, and accidentally powering someone up with the power of scorn and rage. Either way, I'm clean as a whistle with animosity with the Sakura girls."
"I have no grudges as well, Commander. In fact, if it is truly possible that we can reconcile with the ship-girls of the former Crimson Axis, then it would prove most beneficial in the future." Northampton answered back. "I'll do my best to garner positive relations with them, as there are some within their ranks that I might have good connections with. Unfortunately, none of them are here now, but it won't hamper my efforts at making peace the slightest."
"Oh, so you are in good relation with some Sakura Empire ships?" Siege would ask. "Mind telling me their names? It will help Richard and I significantly. The more friendly relations we have amongst the Eagle Union and Sakura Empire, the easier I believe it will be to work with the Royal Navy on getting a peace agreement between Azur Lane and the Sakura Empire."
"A fine plan…" Northampton responded back, before she then adopted a thinking pose for a moment. "...Unfortunately, my memories are not exactly clear on that topic. However, I'll notify you first-hand, should I recognise them."
"Excellent. Thank you, Northampton. Alright, I'll leave you to your own devices, I have something to attend to while Richard greets the new Sakura Empire and Royal Navy ship-girls. If you have any questions, direct those to him until I return. Understood?" Siege said to the Eagle Union ship-girls.
"You mean that black-haired guy talking with the new Sakura Empire girls. Will do." Downes nodded back with a quick salute.
Richard then moved over to where the Royal Navy ship-girls were, as they were focused on Leander, who seemed to be recounting about the latest sortie, and the usual routine on the base for her.
"...Both commanders seemed to have their bases possess many facilities, many of which can be tailored for R&R, and many of which are typical for a military base." Leander responded back. "From what I read, despite our movements restricted to a certain area, due to orders from both Commanders, that we need to be slowly inducted into the main army, we are supplied with enough spaces and facilities to live our lives without any notable restrictions."
"Is that so? Are the commanders here truly as magnanimous as you say they are?" One of the ship-girls, a ship-girl in a red-and-white British officer coat, with long stockings and white heels, as her hands were covered with white gloves, and there was a golden medal over her right breast. She also had long brown hair that was tied back with a red ribbon, while there were flowing strands on her sides and red eyes. "It almost seems like that the comfort provided is too much to be believed."
"Oh, trust me, Leander is not fibbing about the structure of the base." Richard interjected, as the Royal Navy ship-girls turned to him with astonished expressions. "Sorry for the interruption, my name is Richard Liu, commander of this little base. I have come here to make the mandatory first impressions with you new-comers, so don't be shy and introduce yourselves."
"R-Right." The ship-girl that spoke earlier answered back with a slightly embarrassed tone. "I am HMS Swiftsure, a light cruiser of the Royal Navy. I was one of the ships developed later in the war, and because of several coincidences, I have not seen much battle. However, I will do my best to support the fleet, if it would please you. If not, I will try not to be a hindrance."
"Don't speak of such self-devaluing words." Richard responded back with a gentle frown, before his smile returned. "Swiftsure, I assure you that every ship-girl here has her value. And if you have seen little combat, we'll fix that deficiency with some proper training. You will not be left behind by your comrades in terms of combat prowess, I assure you."
"Is that so… Thank you for the care." Swiftsure answered back.
"Well now, aren't you a charismatic individual. Truly you would be a fitting Commander." The second ship-girl, which was a girl in a white royal dress with large shoulder-pads, with a rapier on her waist, long white socks in large metallic boots, with long curly gray hair, tied into long twin-tails with red ribbons, orange eyes, and a small royal crown sitting squarely on top of her head. "And with you as my assistant and subordinate, the girls of the Royal Navy will be-"
"Excuse me, your Majesty, but I need to make a thing clear." Leander quickly interrupted, as she noticed Richard's smile falter a little at her fellow ship-girl's prideful declaration. She then immediately moved her mouth to the ear of the ship-girl, who listened intently for a moment, before her expression turned into shock. She then quickly regained her composure, clearing her throat.
"Actually, I think that I might have been slightly arrogant in my wording earlier." The ship-girl corrected. "My name is HMS Valiant, battleship of the Royal Navy, and one of its pure-blood nobles. I look forward to working alongside you, and seeing what kind of future you'll steer us too."
"Leander, what did you tell her to make her change her attitude?" Richard asked firmly, glaring at Leander.
"Not now, Commander… I can tell you later, but I assure you, it's for the best of both sides." Leander whispered quietly, barely enough for only Richard to hear, as Richard let it be for the time being.
"Alright, that only leaves you." Richard stated, turning to the last ship-girl of the group, which was a slender girl in a black and white top, with the bottom half black and the top half white, as she wore long stockings with black buckle-shoes. She wore a silver bell around her neck, and her orange eyes gleamed with optimism, and her short orange hair was styled in a way, that several curled strands stuck out on the sides of her head, and a part of her hair was held by a triangle hair-clip, and she even had a pair of ahoge on the top of her head. Hovering over her head, was a small disc-like device.
"I'm HMS Foxhound! The F-class destroyer of the Royal Navy." The orange-haired ship-girl introduced herself with a cute tilt of her head. "Compared to my sisters, I'm the first to get special enlarged designs, so I'm a little better developed! Hehe~ I'm also fairly foxy, so better hope that you can handle some teasing."
Richard spared a short glance at Foxhound's bust, as it was fairly large compared to the other destroyer ship-girls. "Hm, I can see what you mean by 'developed'." He stated, before he then smirked slyly "But if you think that you'll fluster me, then you're welcome to try, I don't bend and twist easily."
Foxhound was slightly taken aback by Richard's smirk, although she quickly calmed herself down, before Richard then turned to leave.
"I'll leave you girls to do what you need to, in order to settle here." Richard told them. "Leander knows this place well, so she can take care of the rest for me. I need to check up on some important matters, but I'll come back to check on you. So please don't cause trouble while I'm gone, alright?"
Valiant and Foxhound looked at each other, as Richard left the break-room, as the ship-girls from the other factions were already gone, as the Royal Navy group were the last to leave, led by Leander.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Siege quickly had his engineers build up a land rigging set for Amagi, as it didn't take too much effort to make the foundation, although the rest required some trial and error.
"Okay… and… that should do it." Siege said as he was seen making some modifications to Amagi's rigging, as he had her equipped with objects that would allow her to travel on land, technically making her a ship-girl and a tank-girl. "This land rigging should do the trick. Try it out, Amagi, tell me what you think."
"Alright… I'll try this…" Amagi remarked, before she then quickly placed herself on the rigging itself, as it clamped into place across her body, as her armaments were summoned, all turrets and cannons accounted for. "Seems to be working well so far for me."
"Good, good, we'll need to test your movement." Siege answered back, before then stepping a fair distance away. "Try to move yourself forward. I'm sure that your movements should translate into the locomotion systems themselves."
Amagi slowly eased herself into motion, as the rigging easily followed her orders, allowing her to move to Siege, and brake properly.
"Excellent." Siege said. "And you should be able to swap between the rigging and your usual movements at will. I think you're ready to test out your sync with Sakura. However, first…"
Siege and Amagi soon walked into a room that had a pool inside of it, as Sakura was trying out a set of boots that Siege made for her, that was able to help her stay on top of the water, and allow her to walk on land just as fine. Sakura was practicing a few of her usual movements, before turning to Siege and bowing at his presence.
"Everything is in working condition, Siege." Sakura said as she looked at him. "I think I am ready to begin training with Amagi."
"Excellent. Let's get the two of you into the simulation room and get a battle area set up." Siege said.
Amagi nodded, as she and Sakura entered the simulation room, as they seemed to be placed in separate instances, as the simulation room came to life, quickly creating the environment around them. Amagi found herself on a large desolate battlefield, complete with hills and trenches, while Sakura was on the waters of a nearby port.
"We'll start with individual combat then work our way to syncing you two with one another." Siege informed. "Sakura, Amagi, your first test begins… now."
Upon Siege saying that, Amagi found herself facing off against multiple cyborgs from the Metal Gear Universe to start her off. As for Sakura, she was facing some Corrupted Undines from the Yggdra Union universe. Sakura began her end of the combat, parrying blows from the Undines with ease, and striking back at them ferociously. On Amagi's end, a cyborg soldier swung at her with his baton, as Amagi quickly used her rigging to propel back, as her secondaries roared to life, blasting the cyborg back, as he was taken out quickly. When the other cyborgs closed in, she quickly loaded her cannons, before aiming them ahead of her, as the armour-piercing shells tore through the cyborgs in the path of the shells.
Amagi quickly made some distance, using her secondaries to force the enemies back, although she was forced to take evasive actions several times to avoid taking damage to her rigging. The cyborgs were taken out, as were the undines, at the same time.
"...Damn. That only took 40 seconds." Siege remarked at seeing the time. "Well done. Alright, next stage of enemies."
Sakura would find herself going up against simulations of aquatic robots, particularly Eggman's inventions. As for Amagi, she would find herself pit against two Gekkos from the Metal Gear Universe as her opponents this time. Sakura was forced to take evasive maneuvers from the get go due to the amount of firepower that the robots she was facing had. On Amagi's end, the Gekkos charged at her to attack, as their limbs stretched to try and hit her, as they managed to land some grazing blows.
"This is not good… These machines are deft…" Amagi remarked, before she then side-stepped an attack, before countering with a series of secondaries shells to stun the attacking Gekko, before then blowing its head off with a close-range AP shell. She then quickly fired her barrage of shells at the gathered Gekkos, as some of them were able to dodge it, while most of them were hit, and blown to pieces. This quickly ended the fight on Amagi's side of things, as Sakura was just as quickly done on her end.
"...Wow. 45 seconds." Siege remarked in impression. "I'll deem you two ready to start sync training if you two can beat the following foes in under 2 minutes. Ready?"
"I am ready, Siege." Sakura declared.
"I am prepared, Commander." Amagi answered back as well.
"Before we begin, there is a weapon I wish to give to you Amagi." Siege said, as he soon teleported in a blade that looked to be a katana built with heavy materials, making it a formidable blade for anyone who could wield it and swing it fast enough. "This is a prototype weapon we've been working on, the HF Crusher. It looks like a mere katana, but it has more weight to it than you would expect. See if you can wield it for me, Amagi."
"A katana…?" Amagi responded back, before she then took the blade, and held it for a bit, swinging it around, as it was just the right weight for her to wield properly. "...Thank you for this generous gift, Siege-san."
"My pleasure. Glad we found someone to be its proper wielder and tester." Siege said, as Amagi noticed that the sheathe for that weapon appeared on her waist. "Now then, activating potentially the final simulation."
Amagi's foe would be none other than a Metal Gear RAY, while Sakura was facing off against a kraken in her simulation. Sakura took a deep breath, preparing herself as she dashed at the kraken, as her battle commenced. The Metal Gear RAY soon saw Amagi and roared, preparing to fight her, as it fired it's usual shots at her to damage her.
(Cue - Rules of Nature - Metal Gear Rising Revengeance OST)
Amagi barely noticed the beam surging towards her, as it managed to tag the top of her rigging, taking out one of the upper turrets. Amagi realised that she was going to have to make use of her new katana, but only when the time was right.
Amagi quickly dodged the missile barrage that the Metal Gear fired at her, as she fired her weapons rapidly, slowly breaking down the armour of the Metal Gear RAY down, as its inner parts were being exposed with each exploding shell round that contacted its armour. The Metal Gear then shrieked, as it tried to crush Amagi under one of its legs, although Amagi reacted much faster, as she back-stepped, letting the leg stomp in front of her, as she held her position, before thrusting forward, and slashing through the entire leg with a clean slash, as it caused the Metal Gear to tilt from the severed leg, before Amagi followed up by taking its other leg out, sending it crashing onto the floor.
Amagi then fired a barrage, destroying the head armour, before she then pushed her rigging to full speed, and jumping up, and landing a severing slash that beheaded the Metal Gear, as the severed body exploded behind Amagi.
"The enemy is defeated." Amagi remarked, before she then sheathed her new katana in the scabbard by her waist, also given by Siege.
"As is mine." Sakura said, as the kraken was nothing more than a bloody mess at her feet.
"...1 minute and 5 seconds…" Siege said in utter disbelief. "I never expected you two to get used to new styles of combat this quickly."
The scenery soon switched, as Amagi and Sakura found themselves in a beach scene, where there was land and water based combat they both could do together.
"I think you two can take the training from here. Enemies will spawn when you two require them to. Work on that sync between you two and there will be no way that 5th Herrscher will possess either one of you." Siege said with a smile. "I need to go help Richard get the new ship-girls settled in. If there is a mission, you two will be prepared, yes?"
"I understand. Sakura-san… It should be a good choice to train until we reach our limits." Amagi stated.
"Yes, let us train hard, Amagi-san. Together." Sakura said with a nod.
Siege immediately let the two of them train each other, as they were true to their word, as they kept on practicing on various types of enemies in Siege's absence. Eventually, Siege reached where Richard was, as he was with Shigure, Mogami and Myoukou, having some tea, sitting around a small table.
"Ah, Siege… Come to check on the Sakura Empire girls?" Richard asked, tipping the tea-cup away from his mouth. "Don't worry, they're settling fine. Myoukou tucked the young ones into a short nap, while we decided to have some tea to relax, and some banter as well. Do you think that your new arrivals have settled down with the elder ship-girls?"
"I have a feeling they have indeed." Siege said. "As for other matters, Amagi and Sakura have already become quite good at their opposite terrain of combat expertise. They're training to sync with one another right now." Siege added.
"Wait, hold up, sync training?" Shigure piped in. "What's going on right now with Amagi?"
"It's something that is related to Yae Sakura and Amagi." Richard told Shigure. "All I can say is that they're going to get fairly close in the near future."
"Yeah, I heard from Myoukou about those nightmares of theirs. If there's one thing I know, don't question prophetic dreams, especially if they're shared with someone else." Shigure agreed, nodding her head, before taking a deep sip of her tea-cup. "By the way, Commander, what are these tea-leaves, and where did you get them from? It's a quite drastic change from the green-tea we usually drink. It tastes a little… fruity?"
"That's because the tea-trees that produced these tea-leaves are grown near a fruit orchard." Richard answered back. "And we drew out the flavor quite well when preparing the leaves. What's your opinion on the taste?"
"Well, Myoukou seems happy with it, and Mogami?" Shigure stated, eying Mogami, who was chugging her tea-cup, and constantly refilling it. "Well, her actions speak for herself. Anyways, you should spend too much time with us, other Commander. I appreciate your gesture of good-will, coming to visit us and our Commander, but you got your own girls to take care of. Our Commander will have his end of the things sorted, so don't worry about your pal."
"I understand bu-" Siege was about to say, when Allison contacted him. "Hold on, I have to take this one." Siege said, soon listening to what Allison had to say, as his expression kept paling as she talked, soon getting off the call with her with his pale expression still on his face. "...Demigra…. He's… he's going after… after Asura…!"
"The fuck…!?" Richard exclaimed, slamming his tea-cup down hard, shaking the table. "Good grief… Problems one after another… At this rate, we'll be on the back-pedal with all of this invading…"
"No shit… and with him going for Asura this time, things are gonna be bad if we don't stop him…" Siege said with his expression still paling.
"Alright, we'll get this sorted out. You girls stay there. This is a personal matter for both of us." Richard answered back.
As Siege and Richard began making preparations, Amagi and Sakura had taken a break from their training and noticed the distressed leaders, so they both approached Richard and Siege.
"Siege? Richard?" Sakura would ask as she walked up to them. "What's going on?"
"We've got a matter to resolve." Richard answered back. "An enemy of ours is making a very dangerous move. We need to intercept their attempts before they do anything serious."
"Let us-" Amagi quickly stated.
"No, although your land-rigging is optimal, and you're good enough with it already, but this isn't a time to gamble onto possibilities. What Demigra will do, could possibly cause a great disaster." Richard interrupted strongly. "...Even putting that aside, there is a high chance that you'll be severely crippled in the fight to come."
"Even so, if I backed down right now, I can't possibly hope to face you." Amagi answered back. "Please, Commander. If us alone is not enough to convince you… Then how much of us is needed to combat the threat…?"
"Not enough. The land-based rigging that's made for you is the only one completed. There are several in production, as Siege told me… But the time it'll take is far too long…" Richard stated, as his expression creased with worry. "And yet… after seeing the results, I can't turn you down… Fine, but you must treat the fight to come very carefully. Do not endanger yourself at all. That is your responsibility as acting flagship, am I clear?"
"...Very." Amagi nodded back firmly. "Sakura-san, will you fight as well?"
"Yes, and if you are worried because the enemies are too powerful, allow me to leave you with the following knowledge." Sakura said to Siege and Richard. "I have slain many Honkai, most of them equivalent to God-like levels of destruction. Amagi is equivalent to that level of destruction, so if we're talking about a world with God-like beings in it, worry not, for Amagi and I can and will hold our own."
"...God-like, you say? What's your definition and our definition of that?" Siege would ask.
"Seeing some of your strongest transformations, Siege-san… I would gauge… about your second strongest transformation would put you on level with the hardest foes I have slain." Sakura said, which made Siege's eyes widen.
"...In that case this may not be a bad idea." Siege mused upon hearing the new information.
"Seconded, that means the only one we need to cover for is Amagi." Richard answered back. "Hopefully this will be a quick mission."
"Hopefully… Amagi, Sakura, let's move out and fast. The last thing we need is Demigra having his way with a God of Wrath." Siege said as the group soon went to transport down to Asura's realm.