AKB0048 BATTLESHIP KATYUSHA, CANTEEN-WEEK LATER

Honoka was just done from training. Although she really didn't stop being an idol after leaving AKB —she did start Muse after all— Tsubasa's loss still took its toll on her and it was a while before she was back in full swing. But with the help of the AKB members, not to mention her new friends at Muse, she was now back in action.
She was taking a short break when Umi also entered the canteen and sat next to her.
"Oh, Umi-chan! How's training?" Honoka asked.
The rest of the Muse girls were doing training to get used to the various weaponry of AKB. It was decided there wasn't enough time to teach them all how to pilot.
Umi opened her bottle of water and drank first before answering. "Mastering those floating platform things isn't easy, you know! It's a total balancing act! It… it's hard! I like it." Umi said with a gleam in her eyes.
Honoka smiled nervously. Umi had always loved these kinds of tough training. "The others?"
"We are all getting the hang of it, fortunately," Umi said. "Nico and Maki are a deadly tag team when it comes to sword fighting, did you know that?" Umi shook her head. "They pretend to fight, but really…"
"Say, Umi-chan.."
"Yes, Honoka?"
"I'm sorry for getting all of you dragged into this. Really."
"It's no issue. We are all your friends, Honoka. We'll support you in whatever decision you make."
"One more thing. How are Erena-san and Anju-san? I haven't seen them anywhere."
"Come to think of it, I had no idea," Umi replied. "I tried asking Chieri-san but she wouldn't answer."
"Huh, that's weird," Honoka said.
"Senpai!"
Honoka saw Yuuko waving at her.
"Ah, HIkari-chan!"
Umi turned to Honoka with an incredulous look on her face. "Senpai?"
"Umm, you know about the succession thing, right? SO, umm, I was Yuuko before her, see?"
Yuuko had approached them. "Honoka-senpai! Umi-san too."
"Hikari-chan! Are you going to train some more?" Honoka asked.
"No, our assault is in two days so we need to rest our bodies. So, consider this a break. I'll tell the others!"

PRACTICE ROOM 1

The Katyusha's practice room was pretty spacious. In it the Muse members were training, helped by NO NAME, along with Acchan and Mariko.
Rin was trying her best fighting a training robot, cheered on by Sonata.
"Come on, Rin-san! You can do it!"
"Don't hurt yourself!" Acchan said.
Rin got up after being knocked down again. "Of course I can! Prepare yourself, robot!"
This time she was able to predict the robot's moves and knock it out.

Kanata and Mariko, who had been fighting together for a long time, was taking on Nico and Maki in a sword duel. Surprisingly the two newcomers were able to put up a good fight against the two more experienced fighters.
"Amazing, are you sure you're just beginners?" Mariko asked.
"Your teamwork is excellent. It's like you're one person." Kanata added.
"One person? The hell are you talking about?" Nico said, thrusting her sword forward. Kanata dodged the strike while Mariko took the opportunity to attack Nico, only to be parried by Maki.
"Better watch out, number one idol," Maki said as she countered Mariko.
"No, you watch out!" This time it was Nico who saved Maki as she blocked Kanata's strike.

Kotori was taking a break, chatting with Yuuka and Orine.
"So you're childhood friends with Acchan-san and Chieri-san?" Kotori said.
"Yep. Been together for a long time!" Yuuka said.
"You can say we've been supporting each other ever since."
"Honoka, Umi and I were childhood friends too! Same here, we've been supporting each other."

Hanayo and Suzuko, meanwhile, were trading all sorts of idol information.
"You mean in the future, concerts were like this?" Hanayo said, looking at the video Suzuko was showing her.
"Yes, it's a whole lot flashier. And definitely very exciting."
"Well, we may not have that kind of tech, but the competition here is no less exciting! You see, in the Love Live, several groups compete!"

Nozomi and Eli were trying to practice singing with Chieri, but the noise was very distracting. Chieri was about to suggest moving to another room when Yuuko started calling their attention.

Yuuko arrived in the training room to see all this.
She then knocked on the door frame to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone!"
The girls stopped what they were doing and looked at her.
"Takamina has said that we need to rest our bodies now, since our assault is coming in so close. So, consider this the start of your short break!"
As everyone was preparing to leave, she said, "Oh, one more thing. I'm gonna show you guys something cool!"

Yuuko led the group to the hangar.
The nine muse girls had heard that several new LAS were found, which can be used in the upcoming battle, but none of them, even Honoka, had seen them yet.
As they were about to enter, they ran into Tomochin. The blonde waved and talked to Yuuko. "You better ready your unit, Yuuko. I think you haven't even touched it yet."
"Ehehe…" Yuuko scratched the back of her head. "Fine, fine."
"Wait, so you'll be piloting?" Kotori asked.
"Yep! So never fear, Yuuko will be backing you guys up!" Yuuko replied as she opened the door.
Standing in the hangar were seven giant LAS, as big as the Barbatos.
Three of them were green, while one in blue had different blue armor with more thrusters and a grappling hook. Another was a light green one with two swords, and the last two looked the same as the green ones but only in color purple.
"Wow! I didn't know there were so many!" Honoka said.
"With this we can beat DES!" Rin said enthusiastically.
"So these will be the ones supporting us?" Eli asked.
"Yep," Yuuko answered. "I'll take the one with two swords, Takamina has the blue one, Sae, Tomochin, and Kojiharu get those green ones, and the purple ones, umm…"
"We'll take them."
The group turned to the source of the voice as they saw Erena and Anju walking towards them.
"Erena-san! Anju-san!" Honoka said. "Are… you guys okay now?"
"Chieri-san helped us when we were grieving over Tsubasa's death," Anju said. "Thank you for that," she said to Chieri.
"It's nothing," Chieri replied. "I've lost a loved one before. I know how it feels."
"We saw how everyone was training so hard, so we decided to train as well," Erena said. "We asked Sae-san to help us."
"You asked Sae? She's a great pilot, but her training is pretty harsh," Yuuko said.
"Tsubasa would not want us to mope around at her death," Anju replied. "She would want us to take action. We know that this cannot bring her back, but it would comfort us to know that we have stopped DES in our universe."
"Don't worry, we got your back, Honoka," Erena added.
Honoka nodded. "And I'm going to do my best too. With all of you guys working hard, I can't be left behind!"

Kanata and Mariko had separated themselves from the group and were sitting in the canteen. Facing them was Takamina.
"That enemy pilot…"
It was the issue that was burning at their minds for some time now, but the need to train Muse meant they had to set it aside. Now, however, they were free to talk about it.
"There's no mistake about it," Takamina said.
"Yes," Mariko replied sadly.
"It… it definitely is Ryuko-chan."
"Should we tell them?" Takamina asked.
Mariko and Kanata were silent. They had been good friends with Ryuko back then. But Ryuko had left, and they hadn't heard from her since. They didn't expect her to be a part of DES!
Kanata stared at the glass of water in front of her. What should they do now?

DES BATTLESHIP GUSION

Ryuko woke up in the hospital bed.
"Good morning, Ryuko!" It was Dr. Shimada.
Ryuko tried to get up but was stopped by Shimada. "You need rest, for now. Later, we can train you on the new control system for the upgraded Gusion. Don't worry. It won't be that hard. After all..."
Ryuko still looked human, felt human. But as she lay down, she felt the two protrusions on her back, the mark that she was no longer human. Not anymore.