14—Twilight's Reprieve
"Don't freeze up on us now, Inazuma! Get him out of here!"
Ikazuchi... it really is her…
As she tried to make heads or tails of that revelation, a sharp ringing assaulted her ears.
Her vision was suddenly clouded as if she was looking through a frosty window.
She shut her eyes off from the hazy world, but an irritated voice bellowed next to her ears:
"Snap out of it, you big crybaby! We're not dying here today!"
That voice…!
She reopened her eyes and focused them at the boy staring down at her, but it took a few moments for her vision to clear up. The second she finally recognized his exasperated face, she let out a panicked cry.
"Co-Commander Yuu?!"
He looked like he was in his early teens, but all of his distinct features were all there. The only difference was his hair color, which was a deep chocolate shade instead of the lighter gray tone that she was so familiar with.
"Don't give me that face," he said, pulling her up. "Did you hit your head on the way out or something?!"
"N-No, I—"
More cannon shots were exchanged between Ikazuchi and the mysterious Abyssal ship. The latter was clearly struggling to maneuver on land, allowing the destroyer to score clean hits on it. However, the Abyssal ship's incredible regeneration abilities rendered her efforts ineffectual.
"I… I have to help her!"
"Are you stupid?" the commander said, pulling her back to his side. "Didn't you tell me that you can't fight anymore?"
"Huh? I can't fight anymore?" She looked at her trembling hand as she recalled her futile attempts to produce mag-ions. "Wh-What happened to my body? Why can't I use mag-ions?"
He gave her an incredulous look. "D-Did you hit your head when we went out of the hideout?"
As she was about to shoot back a retort, a huge explosion shook the entire area. The enemy ship had finally scored a direct hit at Ikazuchi. "N-No!" she cried.
He squeezed her shoulder and shook her body at the same time. "Snap out of it! She can't fight at her best if we stand out here in the open like idiots!"
"B-But…!"
He practically dragged her to the nearest boulder that had fallen during the landslide. "What, are you telling me that you don't even trust your own sister ship?" He smirked. "Their fight is far from over, you know?"
And as if to prove his point, three consecutive shells ripped through the fading smoke and nailed the Abyssal ship's body, causing more of its armor pieces to scatter in the air. The enemy clumsily rolled to the side and ripped off its dangling shoulder plate, avoiding the next batch of shells. It raised its arm cannon and unleashed a rapid burst of shells in retaliation. However, its target had already moved out of the projectiles' path.
Wielding an anchor in both hands, Ikazuchi rushed in towards the enemy's flank. Her anchor's fluke and arms retracted to its crown, forming a head piece similar to a flanged mace. "Let me show you a glimpse of the great Ikazuchi's true power!"
As she got close to the Abyssal ship, she channeled her mag-ions into the transformed anchor and performed a mighty sideward swing. A thunderclap boomed as the anchor's head piece, which was radiating a bright golden glow, smashed into the side of the Abyssal ship's face. Covered in pulsing arcs of electricity, the enemy's body twitched and shuddered as it was sent flying into the rocky mound below the cliff.
Ikazuchi didn't stop there as she followed up her attack with cannon fire from her shoulder and thigh turrets. The explosive shells struck their mark, reducing the surrounding boulders into a shower of mud and pebbles.
"A-Amazing!" Inazuma said, wincing from all the smoke and dirt. "Commander, she did it!"
"Well, that's Ikazuchi for you." He looked towards the entrance of their hiding spot, which was now completely sealed off after the landslide. "Ikazuchi! Are you still gonna go after your unit?"
Ikazuchi faced them with a huge grin on her face, resting her anchor against her shoulder. "Well, I think I'll be more at peace with myself if I escort you guys somewhere safe first."
He returned the smile, albeit a bitter one. "Thanks, we appreciate it."
She looked at Inazuma next. "Are you okay, Sis?"
Inazuma nodded, eyeing the shrapnel sticking out of her left arm and torso. "I'm more worried about you though."
"I'm perfectly fine, see?" Wincing, she repeatedly flexed her damaged arm forward. "Nothing that my damage control crew can't fix!"
As she let out a sigh of relief, Inazuma stared at the remains of her sister ship's barrage. "What kind of Abyssal ship was that? I've never seen anything like it before."
Ikazuchi paused, assuming a pensive expression. "Perhaps those stories are true after all?"
"Stories?"
"You know, we've heard rumors from upstairs that there were never-before-seen abyssal creatures prowling just beyond the borders of Tropielle and Izumi. Other settlements across East Serenoir had unconfirmed sightings too in the past few weeks."
"Save the discussion for later," the commander said. "We have to move."
Ikazuchi laughed. "O-Of course. Please lead the way, Yuu."
He extended his quivering hand to Inazuma. "We just have to endure a little longer. Try not to trip this time, okay?"
"I-I'm not that clumsy!" she replied, taking his hand.
As they turned around and took their first steps, Ikazuchi let out a panicked cry. "Wh-What the—?! Get off me!"
Inazuma gasped as she saw a half-organic, half-mechanical mollusk emerging from the sand beside Ikazuchi. Its thick and slimy tendrils had slithered up the latter destroyer's body, restraining her limbs and turrets. Its deformed shell looked suspiciously similar to the shoulder plate that the Abyssal ship had tossed aside moments ago. An abyssal familiar!
"C-Cut it out already!"
While Ikazuchi was struggling against the familiar's tendrils, the Abyssal ship from before rose from the landslide debris. Its deformed head drooped to the right, its neck visibly broken as it turned towards Ikazuchi.
Inazuma's heart raced as the Abyssal ship's cannon exposed the insides of its hellish mouth once again. "Ikazuchi, look out!"
What came out of the cannon's maw weren't naval shells but instead jagged spikes of various sizes. Ikazuchi used her torpedo mount plating just in time to block the incoming projectiles. However, a few slender yet dense blades pierced through her shield and struck her body. She attempted to retaliate with her own shells, but the abyssal familiar had already tampered with her turrets, causing them to self-destruct the moment she was about to fire a salvo.
As Ikazuchi let out a cry from the self-inflicted blasts and fell to the ground, the Abyssal ship burst out in a fit of gurgling laughter. Its distorted childlike tone sent shivers down Inazuma's spine. Despite its fatal injury, the enemy was clearly enjoying their predicament.
Eyes gleaming with uncanny fervor, the Abyssal ship shifted its attention towards Inazuma and the commander. The armaments on its left arm melted into a viscous mass of black ooze, forming a short three-pronged blade. Shortly after the limb's horrid transmutation of flesh and steel, the Abyssal ship lunged at the pair with outstanding speed.
But despite the danger closing in on them, Inazuma couldn't bring herself to move out of the way. Gazing into the blood red eyes of the Abyssal ship felt like she was being pulled into the deepest reaches of the ocean floor. The mere thought of it struck fear and hopelessness into her heart, seizing her body at that very moment.
And because of her foolish inaction, the commander was the one who had to drag her out of the maws of death once again.
Inazuma snapped out of her trance as she was pushed to the ground. And by the time she heard her commander's anguished scream, the horrible realization crashed down on her like a towering wave, sweeping away all the remaining willpower that she had desperately clung to since the wake of the abyssal raid.
While the commander was able to save her and himself from a gruesome and instantaneous death, his quick response still wasn't enough to completely avoid the enemy's diagonal swing. The outermost prong of the blade had connected with his right arm, inflicting a gash deep enough to see the bone within it.
Consumed in despair, Inazuma could only watch him writhe on the ground as if he was having a seizure.
"Wh-What kind of dream is this?!" she cried. "I've had enough! Why can't I wake up?"
Her desperate pleas only earned a gurgle of satisfaction from the horrific monster standing over her. Its mocking tone fueled the despair raging within her fragile body.
I-If I only didn't have this kind of body… If only I could still fight…!
Why…? I don't understand this at all…
No...
No, that's not it.
Maybe… maybe I was just deluding myself. I was just trying to comfort myself from the fact that I am powerless… that I couldn't do anything at all to help them…
Looking at the Abyssal ship with teary eyes, Inazuma clutched her own forehead as a sharp bolt of pain ran through her head. She then heard herself speaking from within the crevices of her fractured psyche:
Right… that's right.
This was supposed to happen…
But… it wasn't my fault, right? I didn't have my abilities as a fleet girl, so it could never be my fault!
Ikazuchi… and Yuu… didn't hate me for it, right? They never blamed me for anything, right?
Both of them… loved me so much after all…
They understood this predicament of mine more than everybody else…
As she was forced to listen to those intrusive thoughts, a sinister sensation coiled around her neck, forcing her to gasp for air.
That's why… it's okay…
It didn't matter how many years have passed since that fateful day.
It didn't matter how many new mistakes I'll inevitably make in the future.
They will always find room for forgiveness in their hearts, just for my sake.
And most importantly, there was no way… someone like me can make a difference…
That's right…
A-After all… I'm just a…
"I-I'm just a… puppet…?"
As those words escaped her lips, an inexplicable rage stirred within her very core. It seethed through her veins, spreading throughout her body like wildfire.
And as soon as she reached her boiling point, a scream gushed out of Inazuma's mouth like a mighty torrent. She wanted to think that it was her desperate attempt to quell the burning sensation within her body, but she had already given in to the anger before she could begin resisting its influence.
"N-No… shut up! Th-that reasoning is… !" She let out a frustrated whimper. "Why? Why can't I do anything right when I'm needed the most?"
As the Abyssal ship stared down at her in annoyance, it lifted its steel-clad foot and stomped on her chest. The heavy blow punctuated her whiny outburst in an instant, squeezing the voice out of her throat. Reduced to a sobbing wreck, Inazuma could only widen her eyes as the Abyssal ship trained its arm cannon at her face.
"Over here!"
Just then, golden sparks overwhelmed Inazuma's eyes as Ikazuchi emerged from behind the Abyssal ship and knocked it away with a brutish swing of her anchor mace. Ikazuchi chased after the skidding enemy, but the Abyssal ship managed to flip itself back on its feet and block her overhead swing using its left arm. The blow set off an explosion of shrapnel in all directions, peppering them both with crystal-like splinters.
Taken by surprise, Ikazuchi dropped her anchor mace and began to stagger backwards. The Abyssal ship saw this chance to nab the destroyer with the jaws of its arm cannon, lifting her in the air. Ikazuchi ignited her Overdrive state to break free, but her captor didn't budge in the slightest. It just stood there with an eerie smile on its face, observing the destroyer's helpless thrashing.
Ikazuchi let out a spine-chilling cry as the jagged teeth of its arm cannon clamped down on her body, spilling blood into its mouth. The Abyssal ship gurgled in satisfaction from its prey's agony, but it wasn't done just yet. A worm-like appendage slithered from within the cannon's mouth and wrapped itself around the destroyer's chest. It reared its head before her and opened its mouth, revealing multiple triangular blades from its jaws.
Ikazuchi watched the quivering appendage in horror as it opened up a small gap between itself to expose her heart. Its head leveled at the gap, folding the blades in its mouth into a singular deadly point.
And with one swift thrust, the appendage bored its crude needle into the destroyer's chest.
"I… I knew it…! Y-You're one of those... monsters!"
Struggling to prop herself up, Inazuma focused her eyes at the grinning Abyssal ship. Ikazuchi knew what it is?
"A-As if I'll let you do the same to me!" A burst of mag-ions exploded out of Ikazuchi, turning the mouth of the Abyssal ship's cannon into a shower of bloody scraps. She stood on shaky legs as she clutched her bleeding chest. "Y-You… You're gonna regret showing your face around these parts!"
Her eyes shone a bright golden hue, flickering like a faulty light bulb. A blistering saffron aura cloaked her body as if it was set ablaze. The sheer amount of energy that she was generating stirred the sand and dirt around her outwards.
Inazuma was dumbstruck, recognizing the ambient pressure bearing down on her body. I-Is that… Grade 2 Overdrive? I-Is she really that powerful?!
The growling Abyssal ship slowly picked itself up from the ground and directed a glare at Ikazuchi. The short-haired destroyer just grinned in response. "Y-Yeah, I don't like my meals get interrupted like that either," she said, beckoning the enemy with her free hand. "Care for another drink?"
An explosive force erupted from the Abyssal ship as it made a high-pitched roar and enveloped itself in a murky golden hue. In a span of a few seconds, its severed arm started to reform in a mangled mess of tissues and steel fragments. Its arm cannon regenerated just as quick, and the Abyssal ship wasted no time to land a devastating blast at Ikazuchi. As the destroyer's immediate surroundings were swallowed in the fiery cloud, the Abyssal ship made a sadistic grin and pounced into the smoke like a wild beast.
At that exact moment, Inazuma finally found her voice to scream as loud as she could muster:
"Ikazuchi! You can do it!"
A shattering strike pierced the air, followed by a furious shriek. She felt her heart rebounding against her chest upon hearing sister's voice from within the waning cloud.
"It's over!"
Inazuma gasped as the unmoving silhouettes of the two combatants became clear. Ikazuchi stood before the Abyssal ship, bleeding from the waist. Her left hand was pushing her anchor mace against its arm cannon while the other one was clutching a blade plunged into the underside of its chest armor.
Channeling more mag-ions into the makeshift dagger, Ikazuchi drove the blade further into the enemy's chest. The Abyssal ship started to convulse, collapsing to its knees. Unable to move, it could only stare up at the destroyer with a look of seething disbelief on its face.
Ikazuchi returned its expression with indifference as she yanked the blade out of its chest. A mixture of blood and oil-like substance poured out of the wound, and the Abyssal ship's intimidating aura fizzled away in a shower of dancing sparks.
It was only then that Inazuma realized that her sister had dealt a fatal blow to its heart.
"S-Sorry, but I'm not gonna risk it this time… !"
Taking a wide stance, Ikazuchi took her anchor mace in both hands and decapitated the enemy in a single swing. As the Abyssal ship fell on its back, its flesh began to exude a pungent vapor. Ikazuchi gagged from the stench, prompting her to totter away from the body. Before she could take her fourth step, her intense golden aura disappeared in a flash. She wobbled for a moment, screaming out in pain as she collapsed to the ground.
Despite her aching chest, Inazuma scrambled to get back on her feet and check on her sister ship. She started to panic upon seeing Ikazuchi's injuries up close.
"I-Ikazuchi!" she cried, kneeling beside her.
Ikazuchi opened an eye and gave her a smile. "I… I'll be okay. I exerted myself too much… but I just have enough mag-ions to get by."
She became misty-eyed as she parted a few locks of hair away from Ikazuchi's face. "Y-You're totally not okay!"
"N-No, really. I'm fi—"
"I'm sorry for being so useless! I-If only I could fight… then this wouldn't—"
"Inazuma, calm down." Her firm yet reassuring voice stopped Inazuma short from spiralling into hysteria. "It's okay to cry, but crying alone isn't going to make our problems disappear."
She averted her eyes, feeling ashamed. "I-I know…"
Ikazuchi lifted her head slightly. "Y-You should check… Yuu's condition for me."
Gasping, Inazuma got up as quickly as her body would let her and lumbered towards the unconscious boy. The sand underneath him was dyed red, but she found it odd that the wound that he had received from the Abyssal ship was somehow cauterized. The area around the gash was completely inflamed, and the veins running in his arm were starting to swell.
She put those details aside for now as she placed a hand over the side of the commander's neck. The icy sensation of his skin against her fingertips made her even more flustered. "H-He's breathing, but his pulse is weak! Wh-What should I do?"
"Get help from the nearest evacuation site. They have the underground shelters in a lockdown, but there should be a unit or two outside doing recon and rescue duties."
"Wh-What? I can't leave you two here!"
Ikazuchi fell silent for a moment. "I know you're very scared… but you're the only one who can get us out of this pickle right now," she said, giving her a thumbs up. "It's your time to shine, sis!"
"O-Okay, you can count on me!"
"Heh, that's the spirit!" She gave off a chuckle. "Sheesh, you had me worried for a second. You've been acting really weird recently, you know that?"
Feeling a bit more confident, Inazuma looked down at the commander's face for the last time. I saw some road signs pointing to a shelter west from here. My chest still hurts, but I just need to take a consistent pace so that I can reach the place sooner than later.
As she was about to rise up, multiple tendrils burst out of the sand and seized her legs and stomach, pinning her to the ground. The warm and greasy sensation coiling her limbs spurred her to thrash about even harder, but the elastic restraints didn't yield in the slightest. Her panicked screams only incited the tendrils to squeeze down on her body tighter.
"I-Inazuma!" Ikazuchi struggled to lift her body up. "I-It's not a familiar at all?! Damnit, I should've destroyed it completely when I had the chance!"
In the midst of Inazuma's squirming, the sand beneath her body began to shift. As she felt something grazed the back of her head, four pairs of appendages burst out of the sand and wrapped themselves around her body. She could feel something clinging tightly on her back, breathing down against her skin like a voracious animal.
Unable to neither scream nor speak from sheer terror, she lifted her head and looked into the eyes of her sister. I-Ikazuchi… it hurts! S-Save m—
As soon as she felt something bored into her nape and spine, immense pain sent her body into a frenzied state. Her skin started to suffer abrasions in each forceful jerk, further adding to the agony that she was experiencing. N-No… no no no! Please… no! Stop it! Help me, Ikazuchi! Hurry!
Her pleas for help came out of her throat as garbled noises as she squirmed in her bindings. She could feel her veins swelling up from the very blood coursing through them. Her sweltering body temperature made her gasp for air while her seizures grew more violent.
The immense pain tormenting her body eventually reached its peak, and when she thought that her heart was going to burst from the pressure building up in her chest, everything went numb.
All of her suffering quickly disappeared without so much as a symptom.
She was still conscious for the most part, but she couldn't feel or move anything on her own at all. It was almost as if her mind had somehow detached itself from the rest of her body.
As much as she wanted to figure out what exactly happened to her body during and after that horrible experience, she found herself too emotionally and mentally drained to even start acting upon the idea. It was over, and that was all that mattered to her for now.
A trembling Ikazuchi was now standing beside her, staring down with empty eyes. She had her anchor mace at the ready for some reason. "I-Inazuma," she breathed out, "I-I'm sorry…"
Taken aback from her sister ship's reaction, she mustered all of her willpower to convey her thoughts to Ikazuchi. It took her a few moments, but she managed to utter a few words:
"N-No, it's okay. I… deserved this anyway..."
H-Huh? Th-That's not what I wanted to—
"W-Why?" Ikazuchi started sobbing, clenching her free hand. "E-Even now, you're still saying that nonsense?"
"S-Sis… have I truly been helpful to you and everybody else?"
"O-Of course! Why are you even—"
"Ikazuchi, please. Be honest with me for once."
Ikazuchi directed her gaze to the war-torn horizon. "You've always been strong, Inazuma. Even though you can't fight in the open seas, you still gave your all in supporting us in every way you can." Her emotional restraints were shattered all at once as she was reduced to tears. "W-Why do you keep refusing to accept that? Why do you still think that I've been lying to you the whole time?"
"I… I just can't help being frustrated, knowing that I could've been more than this. Despite that though, I still feel happy every time you encourage me like that…"
"I'm not saying those words to make you feel better." Sniffling, she gave her a strained smile. "I'm just stating the truth, you know?"
The stifling numbness of Inazuma's body began to fade, and the first sensation that she felt after the brief period of nothingness was just bitter coldness. As she was left wondering whether she would be given control of her body again, her chronic headache went back in full force. She could feel the pain spreading down her spine like electricity, causing spasms throughout her body.
Despite her dimming consciousness and labored breaths, she could feel her lips forming a wide smile without blinking away her tears.
"I think… I think I want to rest now…" Ikazuchi didn't respond, but she was clearly struggling to keep her emotions in check. "Ikazuchi, I'm ready."
"A-Are you just going to give up like this… ?"
"We both know what will happen… if you let this stall… for too long…"
Ikazuchi hesitated for a few more seconds before finally raising her anchor mace in the air. "Inazuma… I love you…"
"I love you too…"
Just before Inazuma could close her eyes completely, she saw a glimpse of intense anger and bitterness clouding Ikazuchi's face. That fury manifested into a desperate scream:
"Y-You really are selfish till the end!"
A distant memory that was etched deep within the sea of consciousness had risen up to the world above, longing to bask under the warmth of the skies for what seemed to be eons.
It was a bygone memory that belonged to someone else, but it somehow worked its way within her consciousness and planted its roots into the deepest reaches of her psyche.
It resonated with her soul, whispering a message into her heart.
A melancholic message urging her to move. To think. To feel.
To live through life's hardships with hope and courage.
It wanted her to succeed where its previous owner had failed miserably.
It was a simple wish built upon a tragic foundation, echoing the frustrated cries of anguish and desolation from the past.
And for her to have any chance of realizing her ambitions, the memory's haunting voice wanted her to relish on said failures.
It wanted her to shape its lingering emotions into a weapon and to wield it as if it was her own.
She would be reminded of its regrets and shortcomings from each swing this way. And in turn, it would empower her to cross the stormiest seas with unyielding determination.
But despite its best intentions, she couldn't help but feel wary about this voice.
How did it find its way through her conscience? Whose memories did it belong to?
Why was it so adamant on imposing itself on her?
Perhaps there was more to learn than the voice was letting on.
Something more… personal…
She couldn't have possibly met this person in the past, could she? After all, it felt like it had known her for the longest time.
She delved into her memories to look for answers, but she only came up with a blank.
That should be expected as she had only been living in this world for three years.
She was only beginning to scratch the surface of the world's intricacies and proceedings, so her opportunities to develop meaningful relationships with other people had been few and far between.
Her history prior to her admission in the Maritime Peacekeepers might have been simple and uneventful, but it wasn't exactly an easygoing life either. She was still a fleet girl after all.
However, there was this one great mystery that continued to elude her to this day:
Ever since she opened her eyelids for the first time, she had no memories of how she came into existence.
She didn't remember being constructed in any of the naval bases operated by the Naval Domain across the world. She didn't remember being rescued as a lonesome vagrant wandering the seas either. Her official records told her nothing but convenient lies.
She just found herself inside a laboratory room one day, stark-naked and strapped with various tubes and wires all over her body.
She was completely immersed in a vertical observation tank filled to the brim with sedating substances. She was fading in and out consciousness, but she could make out of the silhouettes shuffling across the room. Some of them were tiny, so she was positive that the laboratory staff had fairies working alongside them.
Perhaps she just didn't know any better at the time, but she didn't find that predicament frightening at all. She didn't feel any threat from the strangers within the room. In fact, they seemed to be more concerned about her condition more than anything else. Whenever she experienced a great amount of pain, they would immediately place themselves in front of the monitoring equipment around her so that they could administer the right medication into her system.
Since she couldn't sense any malicious intent from them, she just persevered through the embarrassment and monotony until she was finally set free from the tank. She just didn't know how long it took as her perception of time in her drugged state was distorted to varying degrees.
This particular memory never haunted her even when she was being reminded of it from time to time during her daily life. She had always kept an interest about it, but she didn't go out of her way to learn the truth about her origins. In fact, she had come to terms that it would be best to leave it all in the past and just focus on her career as a secretary fleet girl.
She was perfectly fine with that as she believed that it didn't have any bearing on the person that she was at the present.
Or so she thought.
Their visit in the Navy's underground research facility with Commodore Minako and the others made her second guess her reasoning. Witnessing how Maricelle reacted about the experimentations occurring in there forced her to look into her memory in a different viewpoint.
There had to be a reason why she had ended up in a similar predicament in the first place.
In any case, the specifics of her conception would most likely shed some light on the voice's identity and memories. Or it could at least point her to the right direction.
But she had to set that aside for now.
She had to continue walking down the path that she chose with lingering uncertainties.
The path that would ultimately decide her future as a fleet girl.
Y-You really are selfish till the end!
Sensing the swish of the mace, Inazuma broke out in a cold sweat as she opened her eyes and attempted to dodge the blow.
What she had accomplished instead was turning herself to one side of her body while groggily lifting her left arm as a shield.
A hand emerged from the shadows and snatched her wrist with an iron grip.
"Another dream, huh? And this seems to be the worst one yet."
Inazuma choked on her own breath as a pair of crimson eyes was staring down at her from the bedside. She made a panicked yelp and attempted to wrestle her arm away, but the woman simply shoved her back against the mattress using her other hand.
"Have you calmed down yet?"
Her lingering drowsiness vanished in an instant as soon as she finally recognized the woman's face up close. "Y-Yes," Inazuma replied, averting her eyes, "I'm sorry, Miss Yahagi."
"Uh, you two okay over there?" came Michishio's voice from the room's PA system. "Jeez, don't scare me like that! I was trying to catch some z's here!"
Hesitating, Inazuma rose from the bed and inspected the intravenous tube attached to her right arm. A short yet solid trail of blood had crept up in the tube, presumably from the thrashings that she did in her sleep. As she traced the line back to the infusion pump hanging above her bedside, she also noticed that the bag in the pump's compartment had already been replaced.
"W-Was I screaming in my sleep again?" she asked, pulling her light blue nightgown up to her knees.
"Duh! It was like a scene out of a horror movie! I'm still having goose bumps!"
As she felt her cheeks heat up from the embarrassment, Inazuma turned towards the surveillance camera embedded in the wall on her left and wore an indignant face."U-Um, please don't put it like that! It's not like I did it on purpose!"
"Tch, now I know why Nowaki kept pestering me to take the night shift this time!"
Yahagi stood up and turned on the television that was mounted on the wall across Inazuma's bed. "You looked like you were in a lot of pain," she said. "How are you feeling right now?"
Inazuma instinctively brought her left hand to her nape, glancing between Yahagi and the television screen. "My head's still throbbing a bit, but I think I'll be fine."
"Are you sure? You felt rather feverish throughout that nightmare too."
"Yeah, I just need some time to relax."
"I'll leave at that then." She turned around and returned to her seat in the corner of the room. "As always, don't hesitate to ask me if you aren't feeling well."
With that little incident over, Inazuma turned her attention to the news and documentary channel she had become so familiar with since she was detained in this room over a month ago. Having woken up by her nightmare twenty minutes past five in the morning, she noted that her favorite culinary segment of the channel would be airing soon.
It had become a routine of hers to watch that segment for over a week now, proving to be a more than adequate distraction while mentally sorting out the events that had transpired in her recurring dreams. Watching the host of the show prepare mouthwatering dishes had been helping her ease the pain of the horrible scenes she had to go through, and she found it to be quite an effective therapy so far.
On the other hand, watching the international news after said cooking segment always seemed to be an exercise of patience and fortitude on her part.
During her first few days in the Navy's custody, she couldn't stand watching those broadcasts at all. Everyone felt like they were bickering just for the sake of shifting the blame from one person to another.
A seemingly endless series of arguments to decide on the latest scapegoat.
And of course, her commander was the centerpiece of these mudslinging debates.
Despite crediting him for his contributions during the Abyssal raid in Orion, the Naval Domain's officials had changed their statements yet again as they were now framing the commander as the mastermind behind the recent attacks on the frontier island. During one of open sessions conducted by the Joint Committee back in Auspice, a few Navy officials claimed that Shallow Shores, the operation where they invaded the islands operated by the Dusk Arbiters, was just a ruse set up by the commander to weaken the island chain's defenses.
Their accusations also meant that he had connections with the Dusk Arbiters, a group widely believed to be an offshoot organization of the Freedom Arbiters.
As anyone would've expected, the representatives of the latter group denied the Navy's allegations and instead pointed their fingers at Emery—yet another individual who had ties with Commander Yuu.
While admitting that they had Emery on their employ as a chief neurologist for one of their unspecified projects, they also claimed that she had sabotaged the venture and sold the data to the Dusk Arbiters, costing them at least two and a half billion dollars worth of investment. When asked about the project, it was revealed that they were working on a new type of mag-ion cell harnessing the bioenergy of Abyssal ships.
This revelation substantiated the evidences found in the Dusk Arbiters' bases, particularly the Class 2 and 3 MAUs that were developed by the group. As it turned out, those augmentation units were using batteries similar to the prototypes made by the Freedom Arbiters. The initial tests revealed that these batteries had at least sixty percent more energy density compared to the recent ultra capacity mag-ion cells used in the military industry, allowing them to power larger weapons systems within reasonable operating times.
Citing the anonymously uploaded documents that the Committee had uncovered from the Nexus Archive, the Freedom Arbiters also postulated that Emery's defection could be a part of her scheme to get revenge on the Navy. They believed that Emery, who was working under a classified research subdepartment at the time, didn't take her early dismissal lightly from a project involving the treatment of Tropielle and Corandia victims in the last decade's Abyssal disaster.
Deemed as a loud contrarian by the project's supervising officers, she was transferred to a different department in hopes that they wouldn't have any more unnecessary setbacks in the future. However, Emery went AWOL a few days later, taking with her two young bedridden women that were supposed to be scheduled to undergo extensive gene therapy.
Even though it might sound like they were overstating Emery's role in the incident, the seeds of suspicions were already sown when Commander Yuu himself became the hot topic in the news after their arrival in Orion. Bringing up the contents of the archive documents once more, they were quick to point out that Commander Yuu was a patient of the aforementioned subdepartment where Emery had been commissioned. Add that up with a surveillance video of the two conversing with each other back in one of the Arbiters' bases, it would seem that the world itself was conspiring against these two fugitives.
With all of these evidences taken into consideration, the arguments between the Committee representatives were earning surprisingly divisive opinions around the world, and Inazuma was glad that not everyone was buying into the damning narrative that the Navy and the Freedom Arbiters had managed to interweave with seemingly perfect coordination. She also felt grateful that Commander Yuu's allies, such as Einrost and Commodore Minako, didn't abandon him as they were able to contribute a lot in the sessions with their testimonies, somewhat balancing the scales.
Between her nightmares, her future as a fleet girl, and the desire to see all of her friends again steadily growing each passing day, she had no choice but to take all the scraps that she could get in her situation. She had to cling on the hopes that she and her friends would be able to see this through until the end.
Almost three weeks of investigations and debates had passed before more pieces of evidence presented itself to the Committee: two unedited, high quality video streams of the events that took place in Operation Shallow Shores.
There had been several video-related evidences that were presented in the sessions up until that point, but what made these two particular videos special was the fact that they were recorded by Hatsuyuki herself.
This unabridged perspective of Commander Yuu and his fleet's exploits contradicted plenty of statements from the Navy and Freedom Arbiters, setting off an upheaval never been seen in an international congress since the wake of Operation Deadlock Tides and the revision of the Iris Convention for fleet girl rights many years ago.
The more critical members of the Committee began their tirade against the Navy, questioning whether they were the ones who provoked the Abyssals into attacking Orion in the first place. The issues pertaining to the hidden underground facility were still an ongoing mystery, but the new wave of information being brought up in the sessions was only redirecting the suspicions to the Navy.
The breaking point of their turbulent uproars came the following day as Commodore Minako brought in Jintsuu, the same Navy fleet girl who fought with them in the last operation, as a witness. Inazuma had mixed feelings seeing her at the stand, but all of her worries vanished instantly when the light cruiser began to lay out her testimony against the Navy.
Aside from supporting Hatsuyuki's videos with her own statement, Jintsuu also revealed that a few high-ranking officers of the Naval Administrative Council had violated a handful of protocols in an effort to keep tabs on Commander Yuu and restrain his actions. After all, it was no secret that the Council had unanimously labelled him and his fleet's presence a threat on Orion, especially after he leaked confidential security data to the Abyssals. When they found out that the commander left the island ahead of the scheduled time of the operation, they knew that they had to take action before it could cost them later on.
But despite her accusations, she clarified that the Council in its entirety wasn't to blame for pushing Commander Yuu into a corner after the operation.
Following the light cruiser's statement, Commodore Minako shared an even more controversial report:
She asserted that the Council had received false information that the commander would turn on them and had to be stopped, prompting them to take immediate action. Coincidentally, it was around the time where Commander Yuu and his group were just about to attempt to escape the island using Mica's prototype APTV. The false narrative became a self-fulfilling prophecy for the Council members, and Commander Yuu's insistence of working separately from the Navy worked out in the favor of the perpetrators pulling the strings in the background.
But what made the narrative more convincing was the fact that the alleged masterminds had other Navy officers cooperating with them. Some of these officers had their subordinates actively provoke Commander Yuu's fleet to produce misleading reports, fueling the Council's already growing paranoia towards him. The commodore had yet to name the individuals behind the deceptive scheme, but she was able to provide a list of their collaborators and a compilation of the written reports and video logs that were submitted to the Council before and during the operation.
When the list was eventually revealed to the media two days later, Inazuma wasn't surprised to see that Captain Tatsuki was one of their cohorts. For him to bear so much hatred towards the commander, she could only hope that the Navy captain wouldn't be able to hurt another person again after this incident.
For his sake… and Sendai's…
In any case, the growing stack of evidences against the Navy spawned more drama and vitriol in the recent sessions of the Committee. Feeling the brunt of the criticisms from other nations and international entities watching over the case, Council members from the Libran Horizon party announced their full cooperation with the Committee's investigations.
While this move was regarded as a step in the right direction, the already spacious rift between the Council's members widened yet again as the Nexus Nova party filed a protest against Minako and the rival party. The resulting arguments somehow circled back to the commander and his crimes against humanity, so Inazuma decided to save herself from the headache and simply stop watching them at that point.
What mattered most to her was the progress of Commander Yuu's case anyway.
Tuning in and out of the news broadcasts since last week, she found out that the investigations had been placed on the back burner for the time being as the Committee turned its attention to the Naval Domain's MAU modernization project that was slated to have a public showing next week. Although the controversies were far from over, Inazuma was feeling optimistic that they would soon reach a proper conclusion from all the horrible things they had to suffer through in this string of unfortunate events.
It wasn't like that she had any choice in the matter. She just had to be patient and hope for the best for the time being.
"You've been spacing out. Are you absolutely sure that you're feeling well?"
Letting out a small gasp, Inazuma quickly turned her head towards Yahagi. "I-I'm okay," she replied. "I was caught up in my own thoughts for a moment there."
The light cruiser tapped the earpiece in her left ear before folding her arms over her stomach. "I see."
An awkward silence settled between them. Inazuma took this moment to play around with her own locks of hair until she was struck with a mounting curiosity. "U-Um, how did you know that I was spacing out?"
"I've been taking notes of your mannerisms."
"S-Since when?"
"Just recently." She closed her eyes, smiling. "I need a bit of distraction to entertain myself. I mean, you should know how tedious it feels to be cooped up in this room for so long."
Inazuma returned the smile. "Well, you don't have to go this far, you know?"
"Hmph, we've underestimated the Liberator and his group too many times already. We'd be making fools out of ourselves if we still let our guard down after all the shameful mistakes we've made."
A familiar image flashed before her eyes while staring at the light cruiser's fierce expression. She clutched the hem of her nightgown with both hands. "Akatsuki…"
"What is it?"
"Um… the way you speak reminds me of Akatsuki. N-No, now that I think about it, the two of you actually have a lot in common."
She raised her eyebrow, shifting in her seat. "What makes you say that?"
"She always strives to better herself and the people around her. She can be strict and fussy to everyone, but she's also willing to compromise whenever a problem arises in our unit."
"Ah, that part."
"Uh… what did you think I was going to say?"
Yahagi raised a forefinger. "But after seeing that footage where you practically plowed through one of our Stinger units, you should give yourself some credit as well."
"I just got lucky at that moment. I won't stand a chance in a straight fight."
She paused, studying Inazuma's face with a stern gaze. "Is that so? Nobody's contesting your feats as a fleet girl. You should wear them like a badge of honor with your head held high—you've earned it if you ask me."
Inazuma felt her cheeks heating up as she directed her gaze to her thighs. "Thank you for your praise, but I don't think I did well enough."
"You know, I was thinking about what you told me after we fought each other…"
"I-I don't think it qualifies as a fight."
"No, no. Hear me out for a second." She cleared her throat and crossed her legs. "I got the impression that you always desire to get stronger, but you also think that your limits as a destroyer are holding you back. Did I get that right?"
Inazuma nodded. "I know that battles aren't simply won just by comparing numbers and specifications, but a destroyer can only do so much on her own, especially when facing against stronger ship classes."
"Have you considered that it's only an issue of confidence and conviction on your part?"
"I used to think that my abilities as a fleet girl are more than enough since we fight our battles against the Abyssals as a collective force, but ever since our first encounter with an automaton, I came to realize that the enemies continue to get stronger and more complicated. The uncertainty in my chest grows just thinking about the Abyssals always having the upper hand over humanity's combined efforts.
"Still, I didn't let that fact discourage. After all, everyone is doing their best to be able to repel any threat that comes in our way, and history has proven that many times already. But my… no… our circumstances are completely different from what I'm accustomed to."
Yahagi propped an elbow on the armrest, setting her cheek against her fist. "If you put it that way… I'm starting to get a better picture of your perspective. But you have to admit though—you definitely bit a lot more than you could chew by siding yourself with the Liberator."
Inazuma made a wry smile. "I never thought that fighting for a personal yet selfish cause could bring so much danger and suffering. Or maybe I was just fooling myself that everything would turn out fine if I just put my back into it."
"Your motives are none of my business, but I could maybe do something with that mopey mindset of yours."
"M-Mopey… ?"
Yahagi assumed a serious expression and stared into the destroyer's eyes. "I was wondering whether you were able to mull over the things I told you about that time. And honestly, I'm disappointed that you still haven't figured it out." She slouched forward, clasping her hands. "Or maybe you already did at some point, but you chose to keep denying the answers instead."
Yahagi's voice reverberated within her head once more as she recalled their last encounter:
You're weak because you're full of excuses. You always have the potential to become stronger.
Hearing those words again ticked her off at first, but she quickly found herself sinking in her own shame upon realizing that Yahagi had been right about her all along. For a moment, she clenched her teeth as she tried her best to calm herself.
"Then tell me. What is this potential you told me about? Can… I really get stronger? Much stronger than what I currently am?"
"Of course. Didn't I already tell you that?"
"But how?"
Yahagi leaned back in her seat again, gesturing a hand at the destroyer. "First of all, how would you define 'strength' or 'power' in your own terms?"
Inazuma blinked, scrambling to find a convincing response in her head. "U-Um, I suppose it's a combination of physical optimization, fighting skill, and experience?" The light cruiser didn't respond, so she tried to expand on her answer. "S-So… um… a fleet girl will be able to increase her mag-ion capabilities through remodeling and modernization methods. On the other hand, technical skill involves studying and applying theories into combat through constant training."
"Well, that much is obvious, isn't it?"
"A-Am I missing something else?"
Yahagi nodded, drumming the armrest with her fingers. "Just like what you've said earlier, strength isn't a quality that you can measure with statistics alone. It is a multifaceted attribute that also utilizes the complexity of the human mind and spirit." She cocked her head. "I told you that before, remember?"
Inazuma mirrored the gesture, causing her hair to slide around her shoulder. "Are you talking about the reason why fleet girls have taken the form of humans in the first place?"
"Bingo," she said. "Taking a human form allowed us to go beyond our limits as warships, such as the ability to think, feel, and decide for ourselves."
She brushed most of the loose hair to her back again. "Um, like having determination and human spirit in the face of hardships? I understand, but I don't think that's enough to—"
"Is it though? Are you still going to keep belittling yourself like that?"
"Huh?"
"Everyone in the world has seen it with their own eyes: an ex-Navy destroyer who has only finished the minimum combat training course somehow managed to get the upper-hand against a commando of highly-trained fleet girls. What you've demonstrated there pretty much captures the essence of the human spirit."
Inazuma bit her lip. "But… but I let myself be consumed by anger and malice."
"In that moment of grief and desperation, you were able to summon a great power deep within your very being." Yahagi put on a satisfied look on her face. "That's the power I've been talking about—the power of raw emotions."
"Emotions, huh?"
"You don't look impressed."
"W-Well, it wasn't a particularly pleasant first experience to me…"
Yahagi put a hand over her chest. "Every emotion in your heart can be used to fuel your own resolve, manifesting into the power that we fleet girls use. But utilizing a power that is heavily dependent on the user's state of mind has its own drawbacks, so self-control is key in order to use it effectively."
"Is that why you're so strong?"
Yahagi smiled, holding back a chuckle. "You're giving me way too much credit."
Inazuma brought her right hand close to her face, rubbing her silver ring with her thumb. "I don't really feel confident enough to rely on that concept, but it's something to keep in mind." She exerted more effort than usual to produce pink and yellow mag-ion bubbles over her hand. "At the end of the day, I still have a lot of catching up to do."
"That's good to hear. Honing your fundamental abilities as a fleet girl should always be your first priority. Any form of power increase will be useless if your skills aren't up to par against your opponents.
"And besides, there's no reason for you to tackle your problems on your own. We are called fleet girls for a reason, you know?"
With a single twitch of her hand, the bubbles scattered themselves upwards like excited fireflies. Inazuma watched them linger in the air for a few seconds before fizzling out of existence. With a deep sigh, she faced the light cruiser again and bowed her head. "Thank you for your advice, Miss Yahagi."
Yahagi closed her eyes. "I can't blame you for overthinking a lot of things in this situation of yours, but that's just how reality takes its course sometimes."
"Um, can I ask you one more question?"
She directed her attention to her forearm terminal, tapping its screen every so often. "Sure. What is it?"
Inazuma paused for a moment as she tried to gauge the light cruiser's thoughts through repeated glances. "Didn't you tell me before that you aren't allowed to chat with me like this?"
"Like I said, I do get bored guarding you all day." She looked up from the terminal's screen. "Aren't you glad though? Both of us could take a break from the tedium once in a while."
"I really appreciate it. I just find it weird that you'd risk putting yourself in trouble now."
Yahagi stretched her arms up. "Well, scratch that thought for now. Our breakfast is almost here."
Inazuma glanced at the television to check the time. "A-Already, huh?" She patted her stomach. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you about the food. There's a lot of variety and the dishes seem all homemade."
"Well, you'll have to thank my friends for that. I had them take turns to cook our meals."
"Really? Please tell them that I liked their cooking."
"Glad to hear that." She paused, tapping her terminal a few times. "At the end of the day though, this arrangement is nothing more but a precautionary measure on our part. You are under our custody, so your safety is just as important as everything else we do here."
"I-I see…"
"By the way, would you like to have some mango tarts for dessert?"
"H-Huh? Dessert?"
"I've heard from someone that you liked mango-flavored treats."
"W-Well, I do..." She started salivating at the thought of tasting said tart, but she also felt troubled at the sudden generosity that Yahagi was offering. Something definitely feels off. More than a month has passed and she's being friendly to me now for some reason.
Yahagi gave her a big smile. "Today's your lucky day then. Our resident baker went out of her way to make mango tarts just for you."
Is this what Miss Minako has warned me about? I have a bad feeling about this…
She tapped her earpiece. "They got here first, huh? Fine, let them in."
Only mere seconds after she said that, the door suddenly made a loud beep and opened itself. Inazuma couldn't believe her eyes upon recognizing the two fleet girls who stepped into the room.
"Hatsuyuki… and Sendai… ?"
Sendai gave her a pensive stare for a moment before flashing a wide grin. "Get dressed. We're going home."