10:30am

Noire barely had time to wake herself up before things went to hell.

Forced to get up, ready and awake within 5 minutes by Kei, it took Noire 10 minutes to realize her and the sword had been recovered. Rushed out of her room and to the main room, Noire came face to a large screen. Often used for video conferences between nations, it had sat unused for months now.

"Vert sent this message an hour ago. She's matching on Lastation in 20 minutes."

Kei felt around under the monitor, stopping once her fingers met a small switch.

Click.

The screen whirred to life, signified by a quiet whine and a blue light on the bottom center. The screen slowly filled with colour, eventually displaying a paused video baring Vert on it.

Another click. The video began.

"Attention Lastation inhabitants, I have an important message for you." The image of Vert on the screen was looking smug, almost sadistic. She cleared her throat.
"Your CPU and Goddess, Noire, has been charged with the unprovoked murder of our dearest, dearest Nepgear. Right in front of her sister and lover, too. Leanbox, as a proud and just nation, can NOT let this injustice stand. In one hour and thirty minutes, Leanbox forces and yours truly will march on Lastation. Those who surrender will be allowed to live in peace under the new Leanbox rule. Those who resist will be punished, and released back into society eventually." Vert paused for a moment, her smile growing even colder and even more arrogant.
"On my left here, we have my new darling; the Green Sister." Uni stepped into view from the shadows, now wearing clothing in green and gold; the colours of Leanbox.

"She shall be joining the nation of Leanbox, having defected from Lastation out of disgust at the gross injustice CPU Black Heart had committed. With that, I bid you all good day." Vert leaned close to the camera and placed a finger underneath it, killing the video.

CPU Black Heart Noire pondered. Nobody has called me that in years.

She was snapped out her thoughts by Kei placing a hand on her shoulder.

"With your permission, I'll mobilise the Lastation Armed Forces immediately."

Noire nodded, Kei nodded in turn and immediately left the office.

War was on their doorstep. Two days ago the world was fine, and Noire had spent her mornings thinking of how much of Lastation's budget she could secretly allocate to her gifts and cosplay fund. Now, she had to pray to the True Goddess that none of her citizens would come to harm. There was only one way she could truly ensure that.

Noire took a deep sigh. This was a course of action she didn't even want to consider, but it was the only one. Leaving the room, Noire did a triple check on her surroundings. Nobody was around. Good.
Moving slowly, carefully, and almost gently, Noire headed to the vault. The sword would be there. The sword could, at the very least, act as a deterrent against the Leanbox forces. It was no secret that Goddesses were very hard, so the idea that one could be killed in one attack would likely stir fear in anyone facing said force.

The Basilicom was unnervingly quiet. Often plagued by the sounds of busy officials, machinery, or guards doing training exercises, these sounds were instead replaced by silence. Not the kind of silence that invites calmness and thoughtfulness, no, the kind of silence that invokes paranoia and fear. An evil silence, in a way. Certain that nobody was around, Noire accelerated to a light jog.

The vault was a cold, empty, and dusty place. Not much was kept here, save for old furniture, junk weapons Noire had picked up on her adventures with the CPUs, and... That.

Sitting in a glass weapon case, emanating malice and dread, was the Gehaburn. The foul weapon that had appeared in a Lastation digsite not long ago. The atrocity that had taken Nepgear's life... yet ultimately the weapon that will protect Lastation.
Noire sighed. This wasn't what she, or anyone, wanted. But it was what had to be done.

The case that held the Gehaburn wasn't secured at all. Noire retrieved the sword by simply opening the front and taking it out. I'll need to fix that if I make it back She thought. Something this terrible needs to be locked up tight.

Holding the sword always felt... strange, to Noire. The cross guard, pommel and grip were designed in such a way that holding it was uncomfortable and, at times, incredibly alien. Whoever forged this blade obviously didn't intend for it to be comfortable to wield.

But it had to be done.

10:50am

Noire stood on the border of Lastation, backed by over 5000 troops and various war machines. Thunder was approaching, and rain had already began lashing down from the heavens. It didn't bother Noire at all. All she could focus on now was victory and survival. The rain was an inconvenience, it would not be an hindrance.

After 10 minutes of standing, they appeared.

Green Heart appeared from the skies, backed by a marching armor of green armour-clad troops. Roughly 5000 of them, not counting artillery or any other vehicles.So this was the force that wanted to occupy Lastation Noire thought. Today they shall occupy a grave, instead

Green Heart landed across the border, close enough that Noire could hear her every word but distant enough that she still felt far away.

"So the mighty Black Heart decided to face me herself. I had figured that you'd hide behind your army, seeing as you were so backhanded and cowardly in attacking Nepgear pre-emptively." Green Heart's voice was dripping with venom. It was evident, to Noire at least, that she was fighting back a burning fury.

"But whether you fight at the front or the back matters not, dear Black heart. Today, you shall die either way."

Die? So Vert was definitely going that route.

Noire gripped the hilt of the sword and met Green Heart's stare. "We don't need to fight, Vert-"

"THAT'S LADY GREEN HEART, TO SOMEONE LIKE YOU." Green Heart's fury wasn't doing a good job at staying hidden. She noticed this, and cleared her throat a little before continuing.
"You said it yourself when we signed the friendship treaty. "Violence begets violence, so the only way to end the cycle is to ensure all swords are sheathed." By raising your sword against Nepgear, it's my duty to raise my spear against you to ensure this never happens again."

Uni was listening in the distance. Far enough that Noire would barely notice, but close enough to BARELY make out what she was saying. Doubt entered her heart the moment she realized that Vert intended to kill Noire. Sure, she might have murdered her lover in a freak accident, but she didn't have to die... Did she?

"Vert. I will ask you once, and only once." Noire raised the sword, and pointed it straight at Vert's army. "If you wish to fight me, then I only that we fight as equals, and not as goddesses."
Vert showed no response. For a moment, Noire thought she spoke too quietly. That is, until Vert started laughing. Not just a normal laugh, but weeping with laughter.

"Dearest Noire, you really are naive. No wonder Neptune called you Silly-Heart." That comment was uncalled for. You should rip out her tongue Where did that voice come from? It definitely wasn't a soldier, none of them would DARE say that to a Goddess.

Her thoughts were completely derailed by Vert raising her spear in turn to Noire. "MARCH!" The command came out harshly, and coldly.

War had come to Lastation.

Vert immediately lunged towards Noire, fast enough to almost throw her off guard. She dodged to the side, transforming mid flip.

Vert turned back to her and smiled a little. "I guess we are fighting on equal terms now, Black Heart."

Black Heart.

Black Heart

Black Heart

Noire lunged towards Vert, fire in her eyes. "MY. NAME. IS. NOIRE"

Her sword came crashing down, with Vert only catching it against her spear by a split second. Vert backed off, and launched a barrage of projectiles towards Noire. They did nothing, for the Gehaburn bounced them off without so much as reacting.
As soon as the projectile horde cleared, Noire accelerated, aiming directly for Vert's midsection. Vert managed to dodge to the side at the last second, but it was too late to make it a complete dodge. Part of the Gehaburn clipped one of her wings, which soon depowered and fell helplessly towards the ground.

For 45 minutes, this battle continued. Graceful, dance-like moves quickly devolved into brutal slashes aimed to kill and energy attacks hot enough to ignite the oxygen around it. Elegant special attacks become flurries of stabs and cuts that served only to hurt, not impress.

Vert made a mistake. An awful mistake, that would cost her. Dodging underneath one of Noire's slashes, she readied her spear to thrust, yelling "FOR NEPGEAR!" The effect this had on Noire was... not pleasant.

In an instant, Noire had turned around, swiping wildly at Vert. She wasn't so luck with her blocks this time. A few attacks were successfully parried, but many got through. Vert's other wing was gone, and there were several nasty scars on her arms and chest. Noire was not so lucky, either. Vert's spear had punctured her left shoulder and her right thigh. Several V shaped marks were littered across her neck and shoulders to boot.

Both of them exhausted, they finally lowered their weapons. Noire was the first to speak up.

"Why are we doing this, Vert? Enacting war for vengeance? For "justice"? There's no justice in more death. Killing me won't bring back Nepgear, and you know Uni won't really convert to you. Give it up."

Vert's response was surprising. Noire expected her to lash out in a fury, or start crying like a drama queen. Instead Vert... Vert laughed. A bitter laugh, a defeated laugh, a helpless laugh.

"You think I don't know that? Because I do, Black Heart. I know Nepgear isn't coming back. I know I'll never have a little sister. But if I acknowledge that, then what purpose do I have left? Clinging to Nepgear kept me alive, and if clinging to her memory gives me purpose, then that is what I will do."

Noire sighed, and a stray tear fell from her eye. There was no convincing her to put down her spear. Damn it. DAMN IT. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Noire wanted to be friends with Vert. Noire wanted to laugh at her ridiculous gaming habits, Noire wanted to talk anime with her, Noire wanted to talk about cute girls with her, Noire wanted her to live.

But there was no surviving for one of them, and Noire... Noire had a job to do. For better or for worse, peace was the ultimate objective.

Noire raised her sword, ready for battle. Vert responded in kind, weakly lifting the battered remains of her spear. Below them, a battle was fought. Yet, there were rarely any casualties.

See, unbeknownst to the two CPUs, their forces were holding back. While they had been trained to defend, war was so uncommon in Gamindustri that almost NONE of them had or wanted to kill. So they held back. Non-lethal shots, deliberate misses. Even the tank commanders and artillery sighters were aiming far off.

Noire stood posed, ready to fight. She prepared her wings for take off and-

A small sound came from the distance. A whistling sound. Noire and Vert both turned their gaze. It escalated from a whistle, to a whine, to a whail, to a loud, banshee-like screech. Noire and Vert barely had any time to cover their ears when the plasma shot came. The force was strong enough to completely depower the two goddesses. In their frail human forms, they tried to resist it's push, but they failed. It threw the two goddesses towards the ground. Through the ground. Deep, deep underground.

The opposing forces stood in shock, weapons lowered and heads raised to the sky. In the middle of the field, Uni appeared, standing transformed and tall.

"Here my words and know mercy; Both sides shall return to their homeland AT ONCE, or face the wrath of Lastation." She turned her gaze towards her Lastation forces. "That includes you."

The two forces, shocked by the instant takedown of two goddesses, immediately complied and marched home. At the very least, Uni had saved the two nations from further turmoil.

She only hoped that Vert and Noire would do so as well.

11:30pm

Most of Noire was numb, but the few fragments of her that still held feeling were burning. Her impact had not been a soft one. More concerned with where she was than how she felt, Noire defiantly shook her body awake. Feeling slowly returned to one of her legs and both of her arms, but the right leg was still numb. It mattered not, Noire had to get out her.

Slowly and carefully, Noire raised herself up, causing the rocks that were covering her to fall from her. She was in a cave, that much was evident. A very large cave, too.

Wait. What was that? Noire stilled herself, taking care to not make a sound. It was... breathing, heavy breathing, coming from... the cave in front of her?

Not like she had much left to lose by investigating, Noire limped into the adjoining cave , only to be greeted by the sight of a broken and blooded Vert, kneeling besides the Gehaburn. Did she risk rushing in and taking it, or did she approach Vert peacefully?

Opting for the latter, Noire slowly and weakly limped towards Vert. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Noire approached from the side. Vert's head was completely bowed, so there was little chance of her being caught.

As if she'd directly tempted fate, Vert spoke up. "I know you're there, Black Heart. I'm not hostile, don't worry."

Was it a trap? She didn't have much choice. Moving to the other side of the sword, Noire sat down, legs in a basket, in front of Vert. Vert reached for the sword, and Noire instinctively backed away. To her surprise, she planted it in the dirt and moved towards Noire, empty handed.

Gently wrapping her arms around Noire's waist and burrowing herself into her lap, Vert let out an almost contented sigh. Noire, however, was mentally flipping out. Why did Vert go from wanting to eviscerate her in the name of "justice" to snuggling up with her?

Vert closed her eyes and developed a tiny, happy little smile.

"You know, Black Heart, I think there's something I forgot to tell you." Vert opened her eyes, her beautiful blue eyes, and stared right at Noire. "I... my Sharicite doesn't allow for the creation of CPU Candidates. I can never have a little sister. That's why I took Chika on board. I can manage the goddess system just fine by myself. I... I just really wanted some company." Vert's smile was gone, replaced with a look of emptiness. "That's... that's why I clinged to Nepgear so much. She gave me attention and love. When I was sad, she'd turn up on my balcony with her cute little face and her reassuring voice asking "Hey Lady Vert, is everything okay?" And when she was around, everything WAS okay. Everything was fine. Nepgear was so much more to me than just a little sister. She was my sun, my stars, and the reason I stayed in this world for so long."

Vert removed her arms from Noire's waist, and clasped them in front of her.

Her expression had changed; there was no life to it. Her eyes were staring into the abyss, and her mouth made no movements except to speak. She was barely even breathing.

"Nepgear is gone now, and I know Uni, Rom or Ram will never take me as their sister. Chika is mortal, and though the goddess system doubles the lifespan of mortals, they will still expire. I am, for all intents and purposes, alone in this world." Vert let out a heavy, disappointed sigh, and stood up. She turned her back to Noire, and walked over to the sword. Noire could clearly see the wounds she'd sustained; There was a huge gaping wound on her lower back, still bleeding intensely. But wounds were the least of both of their worries.

Vert leaned on the sword, before standing upright and placing her hands over the pommel.

"We goddesses... wounds are nothing to us, really. Lost skin will grow, lost limbs will rejoin their partner, even death is temporary for us. But this sword... it can kill goddesses, right?" Vert lifted the sword out of the ground, and stared at it's blade.

Vert's gaze suddenly turned from empty to warm, and welcoming.

"Black Heart... I want you to kill me."

"WHAT?!"

Those were the first words Noire had spoken in hours.

"I'm not going to kill you. I don't WANT to. I don't NEED to. You don't need to die, Vert. Nobody does."

Vert met Noire's declaration with a laugh.

"Black Heart, you were always so serious and stubborn. No wonder Neptune always called you Silly Heart. But nonetheless." Vert cleared her throat, coughing up some blood in the process.

"This sword is called the Gehaburn, I'm sure you know that. But I did some research after it was excavated. It feeds on the lifeblood of the strong; meaning Goddesses. If you're so determined to bring peace to Gamindustri, well... there can be no peace whilst there are goddesses and nations. I've thought about this for a while. If you care about last wishes..." Vert's posture fell, she now resembled a weak dishevelled woman barely clinging to life.

"Don't let my death or Nepgear's be in vain. Make a world that she'd be proud of." Vert's arms and legs gave way, and she collapsed onto her knees.

Noire didn't want to do this. Every fibre of her being was protesting against it. But deep down, she knew Vert was right. For all their proclaimed goodness, the Goddesses constantly brought turmoil and conflict to Gamindustri. If they truly cared about the people of Gamindustri... they had to leave.

Reluctantly, Noire moved to the sword and picked it up. Kneeling down besides Vert, she placed a reassuring hand on her cheek.

"I will always remember you as a friend, Vert. I hope the world remembers you as you always were, lovely heart."

Vert smiled weakly at Noire's words. Even though it caused her great agony to do so, she moved her hand and placed it over Noire's.

"Lovely Heart... that's such a Neptune thing to say." Vert sighed. "There's a letter for Chika in my desk. Please make sure it reaches her, I'd hate for her to get the wrong idea. And please, please." Vert coughed up more blood.

"Please make sure that, at the end of all this, whatever the end may be, please make sure that you find love and peace too, Noire."

Vert's words provoked a small smile from Noire. In the back of her mind, she wished that she could've heard those last few words under better circumstances.

Noire lifted Vert up with one arm, wrapping it around her torso so that she could at least die upright. With the sword in the other hand, she closed her eyes and readied herself for what was to come.

SCHUNK.

That familiar feeling came back. The rending of flesh, sinew and bone. Noire could feel the life slowly but surely exit Vert's body. Within a minute, the green Goddess no longer inhabited her body.

Vert was dead. The Gehaburn had extinguished another life. Noire could almost feel it strengthen itself. The blade grew larger, and it's smooth edge became subtly serrated. The hilt seemed to realign itself to better suit Noire's hand.

But for now, Noire wanted nothing to do with it. She tossed the sword aside, and laid Vert's body down peacefully. Straightening out her hair, and the creases in her dress, Noire wanted to make sure she didn't look desecrated after death. She examined the surrounding area, and found the remnants of Vert's spear in the rubble where she presumably fell.

She holstered the fragments on her back, and picked Vert up in a bridal carry. Even if it incriminated her, Noire was going to ensure Vert had a proper burial.

As she turned to leave the cave, however, Uni made her presence known. Noire almost dropped Vert to prepare for a fight, but before she could do that, Uni stepped closer to reveal her wearing Lastation's colours again.

"I... I heard everything Noire. I'll come back, even if it means punishment."

Noire scoffed mockingly. "As if I'd punish you, doofus." Her usual snarky tone was back, if only for a moment.

Uni smiled a little and followed behind Noire as they left the cave system.
"Sis, I... look, if you think we can bring peace to Gamindustri, I want to help... but can we look for other ways first? I... I really don't want to think about killing the twins."

Noire stopped in her tracks for a moment, before continuing her stride. "We will hunt peaceful means first. This sword isn't a weapon, it's a tool. A last resort. Not used for disagreements or for matters of justice. We will seal it in the vaul- No. We will build a new vault for it, and it will stay there until we need it. Until then, we shall use every method of negotiation and manipulation that Lastation can muster. Peace by any means is our new goal."

Even though Noire couldn't see it, Uni nodded in agreement.

Peace for Gamindustri, at any cost.