Hey there everyone Darksilver96 here with the next chapter
thanks for the support so far from everyone but there was one review from a guest that I have to answer in this AN.
The reason for me not using specific names for the guns of the girls is that I was undecided which ones to use at the time but with this chapter that will be fixed doesn´t mean they won´t use something else in the future though
anyway thats not what you are here for enjoy the chapter everyone ;)
Chapter 4: The ugly side of this world
Three cruisers of similar design were making their way through the mostly open sea with a few small wild Islands here and there but nothing that would cause them any trouble.
At the front was Akenos cruiser that was armed with ten double barreled two hundred and three millimeter guns as well as sixteen torpedo tubes mounted at the rear just before the two rear turrets.
Right behind her followed Mitsukos cruiser and then Kishikos they both were armed with twelve one hundred and fifty five millimeter guns in five turrets same as Akenos they also had sixteen torpedo tubes mounted at the rear before the two rear turrets.
Even though the sea was calm and it was rather warm outside Akeno felt uneasy as her shoulder started to ache a bit once more that was the reason she had been checking over her pistols and her assault rifle almost constantly.
Redford didn´t say anything about it about five days had passed since Takanaka had gone on his own way and since then all three girls had chosen two rifles of different types as well as some pistols to go with them however at the moment they couldn´t carry them all at the same time so Akeno had her two modified M1911 pistols as well as an AK-74 with a collapsible stock, Mitsuko was carrying a CheyTac Intervention sniper rifle as well as a browning high power pistol and Kishiko was moving around with a Dragunov marksman rifle and a mini Uzi that was hanging from her belt.
All in all it was a strange sight to see three young girls armed like soldiers but by now Redford and his squad learned one thing Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko had a thing to learn things rather quickly so once Takanaka was gone they had immediately started to train the girls mainly by running around the length of their ships as well as some light weight lifting to build up on some muscle mass.
Akenos hair was still a light ruby red but her eyes were the one thing Redford was confused about he had seen her several times practice with her first blade but whenever she drew the second one from its black scabbard with the green dragon her eyes were looking almost like the eyes of a cat but he decided against asking her about it.
By now it was just around one in the afternoon but for some reason Akeno started looking around with her binoculars but once she stopped she grabbed her radio that Redford and his squad gave to them to communicate.
"Attention we have around twenty small fast crafts approaching us from two O´clock we still have about two minutes before we can actually see them though" Akeno called keeping her gaze towards the horizon.
"Might be pirates these waters are literally infected by them" Sweetwater answered over the radio "next time mention something like that a bit earlier would you sweets" Haggard groaned.
"Well anyway I can already see them and I can confirm that they are armed to the teeth and not here for a friendly chat" Redford added as he was standing on the bridge of Kishikos cruiser with his binoculars.
"Then we better deal with them before they get to close" just as Kishiko said that both the turrets on her cruiser and the turrets on Mitsukos cruiser started to turn as all three ships turned slightly to port.
"Good idea let's see if these old boats still got some fight in em" Akeno added as the turrets of her own cruiser started to turn towards the approaching crafts.
"Wait you actually want to fire these old guns what if they explode?" Sweetwater yelled over the radio fear clear in his voice to hear.
"Then it happens" Akeno replied as the turrets stopped moving and the guns started to elevate for a moment before stopping as well "targets are sighted ready to fire" Mitsuko called "same here ready to fire" Kishiko added.
"All turrets open fire!" Akenos yelling being drowned out in a cascade of explosions as all three cruisers were engulfed in black smoke as all cannons fired sending a massive volley of high explosives towards the group of pirate ships.
Massive columns of water were thrown into the air as the shells impacted the water surface however several of the shells hit some of the pirate boats that disintegrated in a small fireball as the boats were almost completely obliterated and the shrapnel of the hit ships hit the other boats around the destroyed ones causing massive damage to both the boats and their crews.
"That was a good salvo but we still have around ten more boats to take out" Redford called over radio as he watched the pirates through his binoculars as they continued to move towards the three cruisers.
"They will regret ever having messed with us" Akeno seethed in rage as the turrets started aiming at the pirate ships again before firing another full salvo.
Of the ten remaining pirate ships only two barely survived the second bombardment but at this point they started to turn away from the three cruisers "as if I would let you go" Akeno yelled hatred clear to hear in her voice as she started to chase the two remaining boats.
"Slow down don´t chase them it might be a trap" Redford yelled but Akeno was barely listening she continued to fire at the two small pirate boats but they continued to dodge her fire so she slightly turned to starboard and opened fire with her anti aircraft guns.
Only one boat was still afloat after Akeno stopped firing she continued to chase the last one but as they passed an island a group of three more small boats came from behind the island and before Akeno noticed anything they were already onboard.
Akeno finally managed to sink the last pirate boat but as she slowed down her cruiser she spotted the three small inflatable boats that were tied to her cruisers railing with grappling hooks.
"Shit Redford was right after all" Akeno cursed as the hatch of the bridge roof was flung open with force and a group of twelve pirates climbed up.
Akeno was paralyzed in fear for just a moment to long as one of the pirates managed to get close and punch her hard in the stomach knocking the wind out of her.
"Dam we lost our entire fleet but I think the boss will thank us if we bring you to him" a young man with dirty yellow black teeth laughed as he grabbed Akeno by her hair pulling her up.
"Tie her up and get out of here I´m pretty sure that those other two ships will be he" before he could continue to say anything the rather silent air was ripped apart by a thundering noise similar to thunder.
All of the pirates looked around franticly as three of them dropped to the ground after a bullet hit them right in the chest "get down" a younger boy armed with an AK yelled only to meet the same fate as the first three.
The remaining eight grabbed Akeno and started to move but as they were climbing down another two were killed as they didn´t move fast enough.
"Shit what now?" the pirate that was holding Akeno asked but his grip on her was rather lose so Akeno waited for a moment longer as the remaining six started discussing what to do.
The man´s grip was almost too easy to break out of and before the pirates knew what was going on Akeno was already running down the hallways.
"Shit get her don´t let her go" one of the pirates yelled but even as Akeno heard the sound of running feet behind her she continued to run until she reached her room.
Without closing the door Akeno ran into the room and to a green steel chest that was right beside her bed, after she opened it she pulled out her AK-74 and two magazines loading one into the rifle.
As Akeno turned around one of the pirates was standing in the door with his head turned towards the hallway not looking at Akeno who had already finished loading her riffle.
"Bratatata"
With the sound of an automatic rifle firing you could also hear the sound of a now dead body dropping to the ground her body now high on adrenalin Akeno stood up and walked to the door only to see the stunned group of four other pirates standing in the hallway.
At this moment Redford´s training took over and without thinking twice Akeno raised her rifle and started firing at the four pirates who were too caught off guard to do anything.
"Bratatata"
Akeno emptied the entire magazine and by then there were five corpses on the ground Akeno ducked into the cover of her room as the last pirate started shooting at her from the corner of another hallway only being able to hit the wall.
Akeno reloaded her rifle with practiced ease but she didn´t look out into the hallway no she waited until she heard the footsteps of the last pirate moving towards her.
With her right shoulder leaning against the wall of the room Akeno looked into the hallway through the door her rifle ready to fire and as soon as the pirate came into view she opened fire the first two bullets hit the pirate in the leg while five more hit his torso.
As the pirate dropped to the ground Akeno stopped firing before getting up while still aiming at the last pirate as she slowly moved towards him.
"What the hell are you?" the pirate asked his mouth covered by his own blood as Akeno stood above him "who hired you to attack us?" Akeno replied with a question of her own.
"No clue we were just supposed to attack whatever ship came through here guess this was a setup" the pirate coughed violently before he lay still.
Akeno sighed as she looked around herself but as she was coming down from her adrenaline high she threw up emptying her entire stomach on the ground as she started crying violently her rifle hitting the ground a moment after she did.
Redford, Nomad and Haggard got onboard Akenos cruiser and started moving as one towards the bridge where they found six dead pirates they had killed with the help of Kishiko and Mitsuko firing at the pirates from their ships.
"Nothing here check her room" Redford simply ordered as they started to move down the hallways that is until they heard the distinctive sound of someone crying that only caused the three of them to move even faster but as they walked around a corner they stopped dead in their tracks.
Before them lay the bodies of the remaining six pirates and leaning against the wall covered in blood with her rifle lying beside her was Akeno her eyes unfocused staring at nothing.
"Nomad check on the girl and get her out of here for me Haggard you help me check if they are really dead" Redford whispered and Haggard and Nomad did just that.
Nomad slowly moved towards Akeno who didn´t react in the slightest until he placed his hand on her shoulder "let´s get you away from here" Nomad spoke softly picking up Akeno together with her rifle and moving down the hallway towards the showers.
"I have to admit I never thought they would be able to kill someone just like that" Haggard mumbled once Akeno and Nomad were out of earshot "same here I knew there would come a point where they had to kill someone but not this soon" Redford sighed as he looked down at the dead pirates.
Nomad stayed with Akeno as she was showering however he stayed outside sitting with his back turned towards the shower room but even over the sound of the running water Nomad was easily able to hear Akeno crying her heart out.
´Just why did they attack us´ Nomad thought as he turned on his radio "Redford could you get me a change of clothes for the little lady from her room?" he asked.
"Sure thing how is she doing by the way?" Redford replied but Nomad simply sighed at that "honestly she is a wreck I wish they didn´t have to ever do something like this" he added as he looked sadly towards the showers.
"I feel ya mah man but the truth of this world is that in order to defend something or someone you love you will have to kill at some point" Sweetwater added making Nomad snort.
"If that is what you believe then why aren´t we in some warzone right now?" Haggard asked getting no reply from any of his squad mates as they fell into silence.
"If there is nothing worth defending then why should someone fight in the first place you mean?" the weak voice of Akeno asked from the other side of the shower room door getting the attention of both Nomad and everyone else that could hear her through Nomads radio.
"It is rather simple you fight so that there are those who never have to experience the horrors of war and death" Akeno added just as Redford entered the changing room with a few clothes in his hands.
Redford left the clothes with Nomad before walking out of the door back on deck he watched as the three cruisers moved through the waves right now Kishiko was in the lead with Akeno following her and Mitsuko watching the rear.
"Fighting to protect something even if it is just the innocence of someone huh" Redford mumbled lighting a cigarette from his pocket as he continued to look towards the seemingly burning horizon as the sun started to go down.
Akeno thanked Nomad for staying with her but Nomad was worried Akeno and her two sisters seemed way to calm for someone who had just a few hours ago killed a human being for the first time.
Sure they cried for a while at what they had done but all three girls now were just sleeping peacefully in their own room at least that is what it looked like to Nomad and the other four men of B-company.
In reality Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko were once again sailing on the red sea with the purple sky in search of the one person who could answer their questions.
For the three of them it seemed as if several days passed by but once they returned to the waters of the Island where they found their ships they spotted who they were looking for.
"I see the three of you have found what I have shown you and yet it would seem you also did something that you are now confused about" Fukushuis soft voice spoke as all four cruisers stopped side by side.
Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko got onboard Fukushuis cruiser where he offered them a cup of tea "the three of you have to tell me nothing I can already guess what it is that has befallen you" Fukushui spoke after taking a sip of his tea.
"How are we supposed to handle this we killed them without mercy" Akeno yelled but Fukushui simply showed her to sit down once more "there is no way for you to ever forget any of what you have done. But even so you must always remember the reason you truly fight in order to not lose yourself to the madness of the abyss" Fukushui explained.
The three sisters thinking was interrupted by something landing behind them on the ship and once they turned towards what had made the noise they saw three young girls that looked just like them except that their hair was a raven black and their eyes were completely blood red without anything else being there.
In the next moment the three sisters had drawn their blades and in response the three clones did the same except that their blades seemed to be extending right out of their arms.
"If you manage to defeat them you will know the truth" Fukushui whispered before he disappeared into his ship leaving the six girls alone to glare at each other with their blades ready to strike at each other.
Mitsuko and Kishiko were the first ones to attack their counterparts doing the same their blades meeting several times with sparks flying all over the place as their blades meet again and again.
Akeno looked at the exact copy of herself "we shall know the truth" Akeno scoffed "there is only one thing that I see as truth that you are the thing I do not want to become simple as that" Akeno spoke to herself but her copy seemed to slightly flinch at that.
"Then the answer on how to defeat you is rather simple isn´t it?" Akeno mumbled returning her own blade to its scabbard as the blade of her double disappeared as well "just like I thought we don´t defeat you with weapons but with the actions we take in the future" Akeno grinned as the double seemed to disappear right in front of her.
"Now where did those two run of to?" Akeno mumbled as she followed the sound of battle until she found one of her two little sisters still trying to defeat their dark selves.
After a moment Akeno jumped down just as Mitsuko was about to strike her opponent but her blade was stopped by Akeno just before it was able to cut down the dark clone "Onee why?" Mitsuko gasped for air as sweat was running down her forehead "we do not fight them for that is a losing battle we mustn't show that kind of weakness we defeat them by proving them wrong taking the right actions in the future" Akeno answered as Mitsuko seemed to slowly get what her older sister meant.
"You will figure it out in a bit take care Imouto I will see if I can find Kishiko" with that said Akeno started walking towards where she thought Kishiko was leaving Mitsuko alone with the dark version of herself once again.
Akeno walked through the fields filled with black shipwrecks but so far she had no luck with finding her other little sister that is until she looked down only to see Kishiko not fighting with her darker self but instead she was doing the same Akeno had done putting away her weapon.
With the knowledge that her sisters were safe Akeno returned to her own cruiser but even though she was back onboard she still felt a bit uneasy at what she had done but as she looked into the purple sky she saw several red stars seven in total in two groups of three and four stars peer group.
But both groups were very far away from each other but still Akeno wondered what they were supposed to be but as she was thinking about it her eyes got heavy and before she knew it sleep had taken her into its embrace.
To Mitsuko and Kishiko it looked like their older sister was fast asleep but Akeno was once more in the white plane talking with Asuramaru well talking wasn´t the right word for it seeing as both Akeno and Asuramaru were fighting against each other with their blades clashing every few seconds but as the fight went on the both of them seemed only to get faster and faster without any sign of either of them slowing down at all.
The reason for that was that Asuramaru was training Akeno to use her demonic powers in order to not get overwhelmed once she truly might need them in the future to fight someone.
"You have improved I will give you that but" with that simple sentence Asuramaru knocked both of Akenos blades out of her hands crossing her own blades right in front of Akenos throat "you still have a long way to go before you are anywhere near where I need you to be" Asuramaru grinned as Akeno collapsed to the ground in exhaustion after she removed her blades.
"Well for entertaining me for this long I guess I can do you a favor and take care of those" Asuramaru mumbled to herself as she made sure that none of the three sisters would be plagued by nightmares but Akeno didn´t hear the demon say anything as she had already passed out.
Redford and his squad were still worried about the three girls as no matter what they tried to wake them it only ended with the three girls staying asleep even though the three cruisers continued on their way sailing through the open sea once more after leaving the golden triangle.
It was now the morning of the third day that the girls were still asleep but as Redford was drinking a fresh cup of coffee at the bow of Akenos cruiser he heard the sound of three pairs of running feet.
It couldn´t be any of his squad mates seeing as the sound was to faint to belong to any of the veteran soldiers so it could only be three others that were onboard with them and true enough after he waited a few more minutes he saw Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko doing their usual morning run.
"Those three really are something else" Redford mumbled as he turned back around to look at the open sea that was alight with the rays of the morning sun.
Akeno, Mitsuko and Kishiko went back to their shared room onboard Akenos cruiser after their morning run to pick up some fresh clothes before they went to the shower room to take a quick shower.
After they were done with showering washing away their stiffness in their muscles and their sweat Akeno had an idea instead of getting dressed she instead only put on her underwear and the two piece swimsuit before closing her eyes.
Mitsuko and Kishiko were wondering what she was doing but a few minutes later Akenos eyes opened again her mouth hanging open as she gasped for air.
"Seems we can´t really change our clothing at will yet" Akeno mumbled surprising Mitsuko and Kishiko a bit but after Akeno got dressed all three sisters went to the kitchen.
Breakfast was a strange affair for the men of B-company seeing the three girls eating more than any of them ever thought possible and to their question how they could it this much they simply answered with "we are hungry that's how" before continuing to eat even more.
After breakfast Redford informed the girls that there would be no training today seeing as they had just woken up again from a long sleep and eaten more than a group of five grown men could eat put together.
By the time it was time for lunch all three sisters were in Akenos room working on their own weapons each girl was sitting on a simple piece of green plastic their rifles and pistols lying before them completely disassembled.
Akeno hadn´t noticed it earlier but now that she was taking apart her rifle she saw that some of the blood of those she had killed somehow got inside of the weapon.
With a heavy sigh she continued to take apart the rifle placing each part down before taking a simple brush and starting to get to work on cleaning her weapon thoroughly making sure none of the dried blood remained behind once she was finished with her rifle she started on putting it back together.
Now done with their various rifles the three sisters checked on their pistols and machine pistol Akeno checking and cleaning her two modified M1911s, Mitsuko cleaning her browning high power and Kishiko was checking her mini Uzi.
They did all of this in almost complete silence just concentrating on their current task at hand but once they were done with reassembling all of their pistols and machine pistol they stayed in the room with their guns lying in front of them that is until Nomad came into the room to get them seeing as dinner was ready.