Tatsuta and Tenryuu were both standing in a clearing in the midst of a forest on the 5th of May while Aoba, Akashi, Akio and Kousuke were spectating from a distance, the two Tenryuu-Class light cruisers possessing their Anti-Abyssal weapons which were brought over last night after the Fairies were finished with the remodels on their Anti-Abyssal weapons and they were shipped over via plane.
Tatsuta was still in her army uniform as she was now quite accustomed to the fabric and quite liked the fact that it covered far more skin than her ship girl uniform could ever hope to accomplish, and Tenryuu was also dressed in the same garb and had her mechanical ears and eye-patch removed just like Tatsuta's halo, since they would get in their way during training, but would come in very handy when shit hit the fan since they doubled as wearable radar technology which could be brought on land.
She held her shortened glaive, Sado in her hands, and although she didn't feel any different when compared to how she did before Project Psyche, there was a gut feeling that the power was now in her hands, the power to change the course of this war in her own special way through her newfound super-weapon.
She looked back at Tenryuu as her elder sister brandished her own Anti-Abyssal weapon Ezekiel, studying it intently as her voice was subdued and was very much unlike her normal boisterous self, a rare moment of contemplative insight shining through her personality as she heard Tenryuu ask through the earpiece they were both wearing.
"Do you feel any different, Tatsuta?
I don't, is there something wrong with me?"
Tatsuta responded positively about her own condition,
"Well, I feel alright, but thank you for asking, Tenryuu-chan.
I personally think it'd be stranger if you didn't feel like yourself, am I right?"
Kousuke nodded as the human leaned in to speak into the microphone off in the distance, standing behind bulletproof glass in order to shield Akio and himself from the unleashing of their super-weapons since they didn't have armored skin like Aoba and Akashi did.
"I side with Tatsuta on this one.
Ya see, you aren't going to feel too different since your body's still your body, and anything you do feel when you activate your powers is likely something within your body going horribly wrong when something misfires.
So if you feel anything unusual, pain in places which aren't supposed to hurt when you channel your mana or when fighting in general, we'll stop this sparring session and the Fairies will perform a full-body checkup."
Tatsuta only had to respond with,
"Acknowledged."
Along with Tenryuu's determined,
"Got it!"
Tatsuta looked right back at Tenryuu just as her elder sister asked about how exactly their souls would work in conjunction with their bodies in order to keep them up and running in battle.
"Um, actually, hold on a second.
How will our souls work, now that the limiter within us has been removed and we're capable of drawing on more power from within ourselves, and we're going to be injected with nano-machines that help us regenerate from bullet wounds.
Does this mean that we can literally will ourselves back to life, given that our willpower is what draws out more mana from within us?"
Discussions were heard on the other end of the earpiece, with several 'eh' and 'um' being used before Akio responded, having tagged along with them for the sake of overseeing Project Psyche and the progress of its two participants.
"Alright, look.
The soul is a theoretically infinite power source, but the reason why you two can't keep spamming your powers is because of what your soul personifications said.
The problem isn't running out of mana but instead overworking your body in trying to process too much mana for too long, and this is a classic case of 'the spirit is strong, but the body is weak' and the fact that mana output is capable of fluctuating in intensity.
It's a potent power source, but it's being channeled through your psyche, and by extension. your willpower which is shown through your fighting spirit, and it's far more unreliable than good ol' fuel and steel.
Because if you think about it, psychological and mental fatigue settles in over time and is harder to relieve, and the Abyssal war piling on the stress causes your fighting spirit to wax and wane which will very likely affect the rate of your mana output, but if you drink fuel, power is delivered to you, no fuss."
"So what do we have to do in order to get stronger?
Meditate?"
"An intelligent guess, but no."
Aoba leaned in, explaining the situation to a slightly confused Tenryuu.
"The soul is a part of you and is theoretically capable of producing more energy, but your body would collapse and break down from being abused by you if you exceed your body's limits by drawing on more energy than it's prepared to handle.
Physical training can help to boost your limits, because your strained body demands more power, and consuming fuel with steel can only work for so long because it's a finite resource in your body.
Part of our goal in holding this hellish training at Camp Itazuma is to both improve your physical capabilities and to increase the power output from your souls, because you're all being physically driven to the ground while being fed far less fuel and steel than usual."
"Thus prompting our body to increase the output from the soul in order to make up for the lack in resource consumption, for the nanomachines to use as an alternative power source when running low on resources, right?"
In which Akashi answered,
"Yep.
They'll be injected into everyone's bodies in order to eject the bullet from the ballistic wound before regenerating lost flesh and tissue on the spot should they get shot.
Within reason, of course, since larger caliber bullets simply punch through weaker armor and tear out chunks of flesh along with them, which means a trip to the docks if it becomes fatal.
We don't expect this to be too much of a well-kept secret should the Abyssals manage to capture a corpse and study them even if we have safeguards in place, but we aren't without our developing trump cards as well."
Tatsuta wanted to ask what those trump cards were, but she understood that as a high-value target after having procured superpowers, she now had a bulls-eye painted on her back and would stand out even more when Apocalypse rolled around, and was why they needed this training session; to improve themselves and give them a fighting chance against the J.O.A.N. units.
Tatsuta pulled Sado's blade in close to her eye and observed Tenryuu's head poking above its edge, pulling the glaive to her left to playfully mime cutting her head off in her mind while Akashi replied.
Akio spoke up and notified both Tenryuu-Class cruisers about what might happen should one of them run out of steam.
"Look, we don't believe it's possible for you all to die from over exhaustion, because drawing out more mana than what your body can produce results in unconsciousness as the first symptom, in order to allow your body to restore mana over a period of time as a living, breathing power source.
What drains the surplus of mana which your body produces outside of running your body are your Anti-Abyssal weapons, the physical demands of battle and now the bullet-ejecting nanites which provide short-term repairs.
What helps you to recover lost mana quickly is ample food, sleep and rest, conservation of powers over a period of time, and the timely healing of injuries which wouldn't tax your mana reserves in order to keep you alive."
Tenryuu finally got the explanation as she looked back at Tatsuta, her expression brightening like the break of dawn as she exclaimed,
"Oh, I finally remember!
And if we were to use these powers more often during training or battles, like a muscle, our mana reserves would be greatly expanded after utilizing our powers for an extended period of time, right?"
Akio made a noise of agreement as he explained,
"Of course, easier said than done when war's all about working with unfavorable circumstances.
A lack of resources or rest is what'll very likely plague your missions from now on, so we need to hold as many training session as possible from now on without running you all into the ground to prepare you two for what's to come.
Of course, Admiral Mako and the rest of us are scouting for new candidates to join you two in Project Psyche before shit hits the fan, so there's that."
Tatsuta nodded mutely while Tenryuu grunted in acknowledgement, Tatsuta observing Tenryuu as she studied her own sword with an intensity which made made Tatsuta wonder if her elder sister was going to decipher the secrets of the universe if she looked hard enough.
Finally, Tenryuu looked up with a shit-eating grin on her face as she demanded, eager to test her limits and go up against her own sister ship in a training session.
"Well then, Tatsuta, let's fight, hmm?
All this training and the lack of a proper battle is really grinding my gears, so shall we…"
"Yes."
Tatsuta didn't need any time to think up of any other answer, gripping Sado and feeling the familiar sensation of the cool steel though her gloved hand, returning Tenryuu's spirited gaze with one of her own as she also felt her intellectual curiosity and competitive spirit flare up within her and power her body not as independent elements, but a unified drive whose desire for victory drove her to pit herself against even her own sister ship.
Holding her glaive out horizontally, she spoke both into the earpiece's microphone and to Tenryuu, addressing the engineers and ship girls who were spectating this fight.
"The more we push each other, the more we can understand our own powers and its limits, and that's where creativity in the usage of our weapon's powers and strengths come into play."
Tenryuu charged in her direction, her sword Ezekiel held up with the sharp end facing her as it emitted black flames, Tenryuu herself looking to be having the time of her life as she exclaimed, looking to impale her own sister.
"Don't hold back, Tatsuta!
Stinger!"
Tatsuta couldn't help but break out into a small smile upon seeing Tenryuu recover her mojo after her mood had soured after being sidelined in the Battle of Twelve Navies and had been put through the wringer at the hands of Ma'am Jackie after being sent to Camp Itazuma, the younger sister of the Tenryuu-Class leaning forward and pointing her shortened glaive down at the dirt floor.
This way, as she felt something flow into Sado and activate its ability, her weight was shifted onto her glaive as it extended, still retaining its original material strength as she flew into the air, the ache which shot up up her palm and hands numbed by the exhilaration of being launched into the air by her modified weapon, her insides feeling weightless as she looked down at Tenryuu's surprised expression looking back up at her while Tatsuta's shadow eclipsed her figure.
Tatsuta smirked as she held her glaive in a cue-ball shooting pose after it had shortened back to normal length and was pointed down in between her spread legs, now feeling very glad for the army uniforms which wouldn't flash her panties like her ship girl dress would, thinking to herself all the while.
'How cute, Tenryuu-chan.
To think that you would call your attacks out.
But as your little sister, I guess I'd also be guilty of doing the same, hmm?'
"God-Killing Spear, revised!"
Tatsuta channeled her spiritual energy through her body and into her glaive in order to extend it at breakneck speed without going through the motions of shooting, Tenryuu stopping her charge by planting her foot in the ground, cracking the earth beneath her as if a heavy cruiser shattered it with a mighty punch with spider-web cracks radiating from the epicenter in an instant.
Tenryuu had already snapped her head back the second she predicted what Tatsuta would do a second before execution so that Sado wouldn't impale her skull, shortly before launching herself back where she originally started.
The landing Tatsuta shortened her glaive and gracefully landed back on Earth within the space of a second, a stumbling Tenryuu finally regaining her balance as she exclaimed disbelievingly.
"Hey, Tatsuta!
That last attack could've really killed me, you know?"
"I know."
Tenryuu was silenced by Tatsuta's answer, the spirited cruiser spinning her glaive around in a circle in her hands as she gave her own sister a serene yet piercing gaze,
"I knew that you would be able to evade that with your reflexes, and especially after all our time sparring with each other made us aware of what the other was capable of.
And besides, I was sure it was nothing you couldn't handle.
The enemy won't be as kind as I am to stop their assault to talk to you like I am right now, and you really need to wake up your idea and step up your game if you think that I'm going to go easy on you during training, hence allowing our enemies to overwhelm you with brute force.
Get ready now."
Holding her shortened glaive up to her stomach with her palm supporting the butt of the glaive, Tatsuta fired Sado again as Tenryuu deftly evaded the extending glaive, running Ezekiel along the side of Sado's shaft and throwing up sparks in the process as she charged up a Blade Rush, and Tatsuta's glaive barely retreated in time as she spun out of the way of the point-blank Blade Rush missing her before throwing herself to the ground.
She couldn't stop herself from letting out an involuntary,
"Tsk!"
As she thought to herself while rolling about on the floor.
'So that was the speed at which Sado retracts.
Not keeping track of that and underestimating Tenryuu's mobility nearly did me in, I need to be more careful next time!'
Tenryuu advanced with Ezekiel held in a two-handed reverse grip and repeatedly stabbed at where Tatsuta previously laid, Tatsuta already predicting what Tenryuu was up to as she scrambled out of the way and pushed herself away from where the edge of the blade was pointed at, deliberately throwing up dust in the process.
As expected, Tenryuu narrowed her eyes as the dust flew everywhere, but Tatsuta saw that the edge of Tenryuu's blade was pointed in her general direction, her elder sister's voice raising in anticipation as she called out,
"Now's my chance!
Blade Rush!"
Calling her attack was immature, but not doing so wouldn't have made much of a difference at this point as Tatsuta spun out of the way once more while Tenryuu slashed out in her direction and threw up dirt and flames in her direction, Tatsuta feeling as if she were losing her balance as she attempted to get in one last shot at Tenryuu by transferring some of her mana into Sado once more in a one-handed God-Killing Spear, already starting to feel the first signs of fatigue plague her body despite only being in the fight for a minute or so.
Hitting the dirt floor once more, she got up to her feet as soon as possible in order to respond to any threats as she saw Tenryuu feel up the hair directly above her left ear before bringing her palm out, several strands of her hair being trimmed off by Tatsuta's last attack as Tenryuu spoke in a tone of both abject surprise and horror.
"Wow, Tatsuta.
Nearly got me with that last one, hmm?"
"Would it help you feel a little better if I were to say that wasn't my best shot?"
"Well, I'd certainly hate to see you at your best, Tatsuta."
"Too bad, because you'll get to see it anyway the moment you chose to pick a fight with me.
As for the near-miss, the only thing I'd have to say is it's hard to hit a moving target.
Would you kindly be a dear and stay still for me?"
Getting into an attack pose again, her singsong voice belied her rising enthusiasm in winning this fight, the first occurrence which got her fired up ever since their Anti-Abyssal weapons were modified as it spiced up the fight aplenty after sparring with Tenryuu so many times made things somewhat predictable, especially since they understood each other's fighting style inside and out as sister ships who fought back-to-back.
Tenryuu's response wasn't discouraged in the least, something Tatsuta expected and learnt to appreciate in times like these when everything was going to hell in a handbasket.
"If you think I'm going to roll over and die by following those orders, Tatsuta, you have another thing coming!
I'm a rebel!"
As Tenryuu raised Ezekiel above her head, Tatsuta decided to call Tenryuu on her bluff by firing another God-Killing Spear in her direction, answering.
"I know, Tenryuu-chan ~ "
But Tenryuu lowered her body and hugged the ground, simultaneously evading the incoming glaive and firing a horizontal Blade Rush by spinning counterclockwise as it grew in width and circumference, forcing Tatsuta to perform a high jump as she retracted Sado in order to protect herself.
The Blade Rush harmlessly passed underneath her airborne form and crashed into the forest, no doubt slicing through them like a scythe and felling them in their unintended deforestation as collateral damage, but as her attention shifted from the Blade Rush which faceted the ground where she previously stood, she was in for quite the shock.
Tatsuta could feel her eyes widening and her face going slack at the sight of Tenryuu holding Ezekiel like a baseball bat above her right shoulder, winding up for a swing with her leading left foot raised above ground level while her face broke out into an idiotic grin, but when you had a sparring partner on the ropes like Tenryuu did, it was hard not to smile at your opponent's incoming misfortune, even if it was her own sister ship.
"Fore!"
Tatsuta didn't even have to think twice before performing a mid-air spin to get out of the flaming arc's trajectory, hitting the floor just as the majestic, jet-black flames of Tenryuu's Blade Rush clipped her upper arm and seared her skin, but compared to what they suffered during sorties on a regular basis, it was but a scratch.
Tenryuu charged in while holding Ezekiel close to herself, belying her nervousness at facing off against Tatsuta at close range due to the younger sister of the Tenryuu-Class emerging victorious in a good number of these bouts, and Tatsuta made full use of Tenryuu's hesitation in order to recover.
Firing Sado several times in quick succession while limiting their length so that she wouldn't be drained of her mana too quickly, she kept Tenryuu evading like this as she re-positioned herself relative to her advancing sister, Tatsuta spinning around clockwise while extending her glaive so as to perform a sweeping slice.
Tenryuu had to lean back and slide on her knees to evade a sweeping glaive strike while Tatsuta fully committed to her spin and retracted Sado, increasing her turn speed as a shorter glaive was what returned to her hand while she faced away from Tenryuu.
She could hear her elder sister cry out wildly, completely drawn in by the renewed intensity and thrill of a fight which they had previously fought to a standstill several dozens of times,
"It's over, Tatsuta!"
In which Tatsuta, despite feeling Tenryuu's genuinely menacing aura flare up behind her as her elder sister breathed down her neck, she swallowed before glancing back to look at Tenryuu.
Her elder sister was having the time of her life, taut cheeks stretched out into a shit-eating grin while her eyes shone with the exhilaration and fervor of battle pushing her on as she brandished Ezekiel and held it over her head, dark flames that were being emitted by the flame already intensifying in preparation for a Blade Rush.
Just as Tatsuta back-stepped and spun around to face her sister ship with Sado in hand, her cold tone and hollow expression dead serious about ending this fight, except with her as the decisive victor.
"I concur."
Tatsuta could see Tenryuu's expression morphing into that of unbridled horror on the other end of her glaive, a millisecond before Tenryuu brought Ezekiel before her in order to shield herself from the extending glaive, and she could see her sister grimace as she held her sword by the flat of her blade and her handle while the tip of Tatsuta's glaive threatened to punch through Ezekiel's blade, throwing up a brilliant firework of sparks before her elder sister was sent flying into the forest since her footing was less secure than a prepared Tatsuta's was.
Tatsuta similarly grimaced and pumped her all spiritual energy into her glaive in order to extend Sado even further, seeing trees topple like dominoes in the distance and the ground quake the further Sado was extended, and Tatsuta felt the hit to her mana reserves and sap her of her stamina every time she smashed her sister ship through every tree and caused them to crash and uproot as a result, forcing her to pump even more mana into Sado in order to overcome the natural resistance provided by the immovability and sturdiness of the trees as well as her sister resisting her attack, watching birds scatter in the distance as a result of the environmental disturbance.
This didn't stop until she was certain that Tenryuu was far enough for her to catch her breath as she was now winded after retracting Sado, looking back at the devastation she caused as dozens of trees laid in a 'V' formation, gnarled roots exposed and stretched out from their uprooted bottoms like frayed rope ends as they pointed in every direction, the panicked birds taking flight as they cawed in a frenzied cacophony after their sparring session forced them into an exodus.
Tenryuu was shoved back about a hundred meters and left its mark on the forest, and she could barely see Tenryuu at this point in time as the name-ship of the Tenryuu-Class left behind one of the two pairs of skid marks dug into the dirt as her elder sister was pushed back despite her best efforts to block Tatsuta's revised God Killing Spear.
She stepped out of the second pair of skid marks which was dug into the dirt by her own boots as she had to dig her heels into the ground and was sent skidding back several meters during the attack, according to Newton's Third Law of equal and opposite reaction.
She wasn't an immovable object, and sending Tenryuu flying back into those trees did push her back several meters as she sank into the ground, the soles of her combat boots caked in dirt as she attempted to scrape it off by angling her foot before sliding her soles on the ground.
Pressing the button on the earpiece in order to activate the microphone, she narrowed her eyes in an attempt to find her sister ship through the smoke,
"Oh, Tenryuu-chan ~
Are you alright?"
Aoba's concerned voice was palpable even through the earpiece as she pressed on buttons on the other end in order to keep track of both their physical conditions and their respective locations, the latter of which was announced over the radio as the heavy cruiser spoke.
"Alright?!
You sent her flying about a hundred meters away, I think that she's a little beyond 'alright'!"
But Tenryuu's voice resonated through the microphone, loud background noise like splintering wood and settling dust a result of Tatsuta's attack leaving its mark on the forest but didn't drown out the light cruiser's voice in the slightest, emoting tones of surprise, inspiration and awe all in the span of several sentences.
"Woah.
Sending me flying a hundred meters or so with a single strike?
That was awesome, Tatsuta!
But this is the kind of shit that gets. Me. PUMPED!"
Tatsuta could then feel Tenryuu's aura flare up at a distance, pushing away the dust as Tatsuta activated her ship girl mode and zoomed in to find Tenryuu standing back up, a felled tree lying behind her and was toppled over after Tenryuu was likely pressed up on it before the tree was uprooted by Tatsuta's extending glaive, with Tenryuu stuck in the middle.
Right now, Tenryuu was dusting herself off before running towards her and slashing out with Ezekiel several times, and Tatsuta had to stand at a 90 degree angle and strafe in order to evade a Blade Rush, immediately transitioning into a squat and flattening her body to be parallel to the floor in order to evade another Blade Rush roaring over her head, spotting a third one flying her way and forcing her to launch off her right foot and spin out of the way.
What Tatsuta didn't expect to see was a spirited Tenryuu shrugging off all her injuries as she burst through what remained of the dissipating smoke, a blur which was closing in fast as a taken aback Tatsuta raised her glaive to block Tenryuu's sword strike.
She felt the shock-wave of the intense strike reverberate throughout the steel pole which made up Sado's shaft and forcing her to use all her might to push Tenryuu back, only managing to quip while she looked into Tenryuu's bloodthirsty eyes, her uniform now shredded in various spots and had leaves stuck to her uniform and hair, all these details ignored in favor of an all-in attack as Tatsuta commented.
"Ara, you're quite fast on your feet, hmm, Tenryuu-chan?"
"Hah, don't patronize me.
We light cruisers are one of, if not the fastest ship class.
As a fellow light cruiser, you of all people should know that a hundred meters is nothing to us with our superhuman speed!
But enough of that.
I'll show you something I've been itching to try!"
Tenryuu threw up another shower of sparks, spraying it in Tatsuta's direction and forcing her to shield her face as the name-ship put some distance between them, but not before the force she used to launch herself back at a stunned Tatsuta cracked the earth beneath her foot, sprinting in her direction again as Tatsuta spotted the fact that Ezekiel was now being immolated in its own flames.
But just as Tatsuta suspected that something was up, she ducked just as the flaming sword was swung upwards with the intent to decapitate her as Tenryuu called out,
"Sword of Billowing Flames!"
Even with her enhanced reflexes, Tatsuta had to squint as the flaming sword heated up the air around it and toasted her face with how close she evaded the blow as the air warped around Ezekiel due to both the speed of the swing and the intensity of Tenryuu's flames.
And with her superhuman mind overclocking due to the rush of adrenaline as a result of battle, she reacted far swifter than was possible even for most ship girls, spinning out of the way to evade Tenryuu similarly turning around, a far too gleeful grin on her face as she stabbed her flaming sword into the ground, producing a wave of flames which radiated from where Tenryuu stood in a circle around her, fueling Tatsuta's concern of being roasted alive as she continued her retreat and barely had the presence of mind to evade the Blade Rush which was thrown her way to finish off the combo.
Spinning out of the way and feeling the flaming arc relentlessly carve its way through the forest before dissipating due to losing its momentum and energy after travelling some distance, she took a second to wonder just how she wasn't giddy or even disoriented after spinning around so often, watching Tenryuu fuel Ezekiel with mana, her flames wrapped around the blade as they danced to the tune of the wind and drastically increased its cutting ability, Tenryuu boasting about her newly-invented technique despite looking rather worse for the wear, with her torn uniform, superficial bruises, labored breathing and even a fair bit of bleeding marring her beauty.
"I just thought of this mode of attack which turns Ezekiel into a pseudo-light-saber.
The flames heat up the blade and slice through anything like a hot sword through metal, and you'd best prepare to throw in the towel lest you get burned, Tatsuta!"
Of course, Tatsuta wasn't fooled by Tenryuu's posturing.
"Hmm, don't try and act so tough, Tenryuu-chan.
It's quite the novel idea to copy Akitsu Maru's flaming sword idea to make a pseudo-light-saber by enveloping your sword with your flames, but even I can tell that it's constantly draining you of mana just to keep that ability active.
So why don't we leave that flashy move for a day when you've vastly increased your mana reserves to be able to keep it up for more than half a minute, hmm?"
Tenryuu gave her a tight smile in return, but Tatsuta wasn't fooled as she knew that Tenryuu would also be running low on available mana, to the point where an already costly move like her Sword of Billowing Flames would be unusable due to the mana-guzzler that it was, and since the idea was in its infancy and saw its first use just now, Tatsuta predicted that it would be horribly inefficient to use as of now.
Tenryuu eventually relented as she deactivated her technique and allowed the flames around Ezekiel to dissipate, but as soon as that was done, Tenryuu immediately kicked up the dirt in Tatsuta's direction, forcing her to squint and shield herself while Tenryuu used it as a screen to close the distance, getting covered in the dirt she kicked up as Tatsuta evaded the rising blade missing her chin by a hair, Tenryuu announcing her attack only after she had pulled off the attack this time,
"Steel Dragon's Ascent!
Did you think that just because we were sitting around during the entirety of Project Psyche, that I was simply sitting around and dwindling my thumbs?"
Tatsuta winced, and even as she attempted to point her glaive upwards in order to impale her airborne sister ship, Tenryuu swung her foot in order to kick Tatsuta's glaive away from her, and the younger Tenryuu-Class cruiser managed to recall just where the name of that move came from.
'Khh!
That move belonged to Ise, the aviation battleship!
So she's been getting lessons on the down low from Anti-Abyssal weapon users, hmm?
Impressive.'
But Tatsuta had no time to do anything else other than evade as Tenryuu began her next attack, screaming,
"Steel Dragon's Spinning Descent!"
While the back of Tenryuu's blade violently spat out blackened flames in order to accelerate the blade in a circular motion, Ezekiel now a vertically spinning blazing top of death as Tatsuta put some distance between them, watching Tenryuu smash her sword into the ground and fissuring the earth while Tatsuta shielded herself against the thrown-up dust wave.
Tenryuu burst through the smokescreen and charged at Tatsuta, emitting a burst of flames from its back and increasing its speed for a fraction of a second like a jet thruster before dying out like a snuffed-out candle, a surprised Tatsuta feeling her hands and glaive shaking from every blow as she thought grimly.
'To use sporadic bursts of her flames to accelerate her sword so as not to tax her mana reserves too badly…
Smart!'
But a sign of experimentation with her own powers and capabilities revealed itself as Tenryuu spun out with her own move, stumbling and losing her balance after her last sword strike ended up hitting air, Tatsuta already getting into an attack pose while Tenryuu faced away from her, and she had no qualms about stabbing her sister ship in the back since it was what the enemy would do, and to go easy on her right now was to spare the rod and spoil the child.
But just as Sado extended and split the air with a resounding boom, Tenryuu accelerated Ezekiel with another burst of fire as she spun around, striking Sado's blade as Tatsuta's glaive traveled like a speeding bullet, deflecting it in the nick of time with a ferocious expression on her face as she yelled,
"I knew you'd do that!
And in return…"
Pulling her sword back to be raised parallel to her shoulders like a poised Chinese sword, Tatsuta prepared herself for the incoming assault as Tenryuu closed the distance in a single bound not unlike a Shukuchi and called out,
"Chorus of a Thousand Birds!"
The world exploded into a flurry of blurred strikes as both Tenryuu-Class cruisers lashed out at each other with their weapons and tried to one-up the other through speed, Ezekiel and Sado creaking with every contact as Tenryuu repeatedly stabbed at her in order to poke at her defenses while Tatsuta used both ends of the normal-length glaive to block the incoming stabs.
But even then, Tatsuta felt her uniform get shredded while blood was being drawn in minuscule amounts multiplied about two dozen times as she only managed to block the most lethal attack to her vital organs, winging it at this point in time as she thought,
'Ferocious… so much more ferocious than usual!
She's completely consumed by the flow of this battle and exceeded both her previous performances and my expectations.
This time, even if I keep my cool and play my cards right, am I able to beat Tenryuu-chan?
That's the first time I had to ask myself that question as I doubt my own abilities when fighting you, Tenryuu-chan, and honestly, that's what gets me pumped!'
And unbeknownst to Tatsuta but all too clear to a rampaging Tenryuu, Tatsuta wore her trademark slasher smile as both Tenryuu-Class light cruisers pushed themselves to the limit against each other.
Tenryuu attempted another attack as she drew back and telegraphed her attack well enough to allow Tatsuta to predict her attack even with her elder sister ship yelling,
"Stinger!"
Tatsuta followed up with a strafe in order to face Tenryuu's back, and would've taken her out with a light stab to Tenryuu's back if not for her elder sister spinning counterclockwise and facing her with a shit-eating grin, unleashing another Blade Rush right in Tatsuta's face and forcing her to commit to an evasive spin while launching herself backwards, her shoulder tanking the brunt of the attack as she seethed at the burn inflicted on her skin due to reacting a beat too late to Tenryuu's surprise attack.
Hitting the floor with her good shoulder, she rolled around to find Tenryuu yelling as she stabbed down at a spot beside her head, stealing her breath as a sweaty and bruised Tenryuu looked down at her and mirroring her intense gaze and labored breathing, blood soaking through her army uniform and giving it a new crimson camouflage, Tatsuta becoming conscious of her own shaky breathing and slight trembling at the sight of Tenryuu almost besting her.
Emphasis on almost.
She could see Tenryuu relishing in her victory as she collapsed onto her knees and lowered her face closer to Tatsuta's, and the Tenryuu-Class junior had no choice but to crush those illusions of a decisive victory as she extended Sado long enough such that the blade's tip harmlessly poked Tenryuu in the stomach, causing her to look down in panic while Tatsuta consoled her in a despondent voice,
"You really should learn not to fall for your own tactics, Tenryuu-chan."
Tatsuta expected Tenryuu to throw a temper tantrum due to how immature she could be despite being the elder sister, using the same trick which Tenryuu herself used to pull out a draw in her practice match with Kiso.
She was pleasantly surprised to see Tenryuu look back at her with genuine concern in her eyes, letting go of Ezekiel and leaning in dangerously close to Sado's blade tip to the point where Tatsuta worried about Tenryuu accidentally impaling herself while Tenryuu checked on her injuries, asking Tatsuta with the concern of a genuinely worried elder sister.
"Tatsuta, are you alright?"
Tatsuta studied Tenryuu's gaze as her elder sister was lost in the act of applying first aid and calling the spectating admins over via the earpiece's microphone, and she saw that Tenryuu had moved on from simply aspiring to win these matches to caring more about her as an elder sister, and where she would usually be doing her victory dance right now, she fretted over Tatsuta's burn injury with her undivided attention.
To see her mature like this, it really made Tatsuta's heart leap at how much her beloved sister had grown and chose to focus on her by undoing the outer layer of her uniform and using it to stop the blood seeping out from Tatsuta's uniform.
Tatsuta thought to herself,
'Ah, I wouldn't mind it so much if Tenryuu-chan looked at me with those eyes in the future, minus the being sad part.'
That being said, she still wanted to tease Tenryuu by speaking up,
"Ah, don't worry about me.
To be the receiving end of Tenryuu's Burning Love attack, it's truly sublime."
Tenryuu sputtered and blushed a little, but she leaned in and intensified her stare which bored into Tatsuta's soul while her expression soured just as Tatsuta heard hurried footsteps head their way.
"D-Don't joke like that!
I don't know the extent of my powers yet, I was so worried that I accidentally hurt you with them when I got too caught up in the heat of the battle…"
"And let me guess.
You're scolding yourself in your head, and plan to hold back against me in the future?"
Tenryuu pulling back her head before looking away ashamedly was all she needed to know of Tenryuu's inner thoughts which she learnt to predict long ago, and she gave Tenryuu a genuine smile, relaxed and with a warm gaze which she reserved for all but the closest of friends, and for Tenryuu.
"Please, don't ever do that.
You going all-out against me is a great honor, because every nearly-lethal strike that I parry means that you trust me to be able to handle everything you throw at me.
And even if you accidentally strike me down in a sparring session, I would never hold it against you, Tenryuu."
She could see that Tenryuu noticed her usage of her name alone without the '-chan' at the end, which, in times like these, meant that Tatsuta was addressing her as a sister ship and as an equal, and not with her aloof and playful persona shielding herself from everyone around her.
"With our ability to be revived at will and dancing on the knife's edge between life and death on a regular basis, I would never blame you for hurting me when going all-out against me."
Tenryuu made an uncomfortable expression upon hearing that, Tatsuta witnessing Akashi, Aoba, Akio and Kousuke surrounding them and not wishing to disturb their moment of intimacy, allowing her concerned elder sister to continue.
"You know, I don't think acting so nonchalant about death at the hands of your own sister ship is normal, even amongst ship girls."
"Hmm, I don't care what's normal for everyone else, just what comes naturally to us, Tenryuu."
Tenryuu could only give her an awkward chuckle in agreement as she grudgingly accepted Tatsuta's words, this being the unspoken sign for the admins to step in and tend to both their wounds, Aoba holding a laptop and Akashi, a first-aid box along with Akio's change of uniform and Kousuke with a metal detector-esque thing.
Tatsuta exhaled tiredly as she relaxed her body and allowed the fatigue to overcome her, Tenryuu rolling over and joining her on the ground as she sighed and let all the fighting spirit flow out of her along with her tired breath, Tatsuta herself feeling somewhat hopeful for the future with the power in her hands as well as Tenryuu's in the form of their remodeled weapons and the powers which fueled them.
She wondered if they would be able to fend off; not even defeat, just fend the Abyssals off with enough training.
She concluded that it needed to be enough and she'd make it so with every fiber of her being, because the alternative, that they'd be overrun and defeated by the Abyssals regardless of what they did, was too much to bear even for her.
The only thing which caught her attention even when she was this fatigued was the fact that Akashi was now wearing a ring on her ring finger, something which tickled her curiosity shortly before she zoned out from the fatigue taking its toll on her and caused her mind to blank out, falling unconscious in a wink.
Tatsuta was sitting at a canteen table with a comrade she didn't think would be seeking her out for advice at dinnertime, but in circumstances like these, she supposed things like these were bound to happen as ship girls required new perspectives to deal with radical changes headed their way.
Jintsuu sat down beside her and was digging into tonight's dinner which was fried noodles with pieces of similarly fried eggs mixed into it, along with servings of tuna and a yam cake of sorts.
Right now, they were discussing matters that were undoubtedly close to Jintsuu's heart, but she couldn't confide in her sister ships because,
One, Sendai and Naka weren't here, and while the former was slated to arrive tonight, the latter was likely ordered to stay behind and take over Sendai's position both in the 3rd Fleet and in the Infiltration Fleet.
Two, the topic at hand was rather dark, and Tatsuta understood if Jintsuu didn't want to share her more pressing concerns with her own sisters and cause them to worry about her as a result, the Sendai-Class light cruiser continuing her sentence as Tatsuta ate her dinner and listened to her at the same time.
" … and I was thinking, that since you are most in touch with your dark side…"
Tatsuta couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in agreement at how much sense that made, since she was the infamous dark horse of the IJN, other than the 8th Fleet whose various members were driven to walk down the path of darkness due to external circumstances.
Jintsuu continued,
"I was wondering, since the 8th Fleet saw immense potential in me and wanted to recruit me into their fleet, I was very concerned.
And even though I'm pretty much beyond their grasp now that I'm in the army while they're still in the navy, I'm stuck with another corundum in the form of Ma'am Jackie."
Tatsuta nodded while humming in agreement, understanding that anyone seeing their future selves would likely be in for one hell of a shock no matter who it was, having seen Akebono go slack-jawed for the entire day after seeing a cheerful teenage version of herself being happily married to her retired Admiral, the Ayanami-Class destroyer unable to wrap her mind around the fact that she could be granted such happiness, and with an Admiral, of all people.
Other IJN repair ship doppelgangers were also deathly afraid of Yokosuka's Akashi (with good reason), and Jintsuu clearly had several issues when it came to her future self that was Ma'am Jackie, self-christened name Jacqueline, what with her paradoxically cold yet fierce attitude when training them, fully in her Demon Instructor persona as she worked them all to the bone for the sake of not just surviving Apocalypse, but winning the war.
Concerns about what was essentially the upcoming End of Days in the form of a World War aside, Jintsuu looked concerned about meeting a future version of herself and feeling absolutely terrified of what she saw.
"I'm afraid that I may end up like Ma'am Jackie in the future, where all the kindness and… nice things about me, have all been agonizingly beaten and torn out of me over the course of decades spent fighting wars, and the dock water washing away a small part of me every time I dock like running water smoothing and eroding stone.
And while I understand that she's not entirely heartless, it scares me to think that I might become someone like that, what with this incoming World War plan of the Abyssals named Apocalypse…"
"You're afraid of walking down that same path and becoming what you fear?"
Jintsuu nodded at Tatsuta's accurate prediction, continuing her train of thought.
"Not that I dislike Ma'am Jackie or anything, but I can tell when looking at my doppelganger that she doesn't interact much with others anymore, closing herself off to others to avoid getting hurt.
Bad things have certainly happened to her in the past, and it's so easy for me to put myself in her shoes and see that she has now embraced the ice queen persona known as the Demon Instructor, pushing everyone else away in order to fight on without any concern for her own life.
In fact, I think… if they hadn't recalled her in order to teach us land combat tactics, I think she might have ended up dead on the battlefield."
Tatsuta could see how that was possible, the stress experienced and losses incurred by war taking a toll on soldiers fighting on the front lines wearing down the psyche of even the strongest of warriors, hammering whatever optimism they originally had into the ground and stamping it out without mercry before leaving them as bitter, jaded cynics, most of them eventually adopting a misanthropic worldview along with a touch of nihilism and disgust at their own cause for fighting.
Not all soldiers were susceptible, but war was a crucible that few managed to prevail and emerge completely unscathed, since it tested one's spirit above all else.
Tatsuta remained respectfully silent as the meek Jintsuu was lost in her own thoughts, continuing on with her monologue.
"I'm not sure if she has a family of Sendai-Class sisters of her own, despite the fact that she said numerous ship girls around the world were re-categorized as infantry soldiers to be sortied on land.
And that really makes me anxious because although I don't believe she experienced the loss of sister ships, but I have no doubt she certainly made close friends in order to make up for that, along with changing her name in order to forget her past.
It's what I would have done, and apparently what she did since everyone calling me by my old name would no doubt raise eyebrows at how I was named after a World War 2 light cruiser, but it would remind me too much of you all when I could never see you all again after being posted to a different battlefield."
Jintsuu shook her head and dispersed those thoughts from her troubled mind, Tatsuta smiling back at the Sendai-Class light cruiser, and she formed her own opinion in her mind as she chewed on the egg in her mouth before answering.
"Well, in a world as war-torn as ours, who's to say that indulging in our dark side every once in awhile is a bad thing?
Despite the slippery slope it leads us down into moral depravity, I daresay that in circumstances like these, it's fair game for us to do whatever it takes to win this war."
"But…
How much must we lose ourselves to violence over reason before we're no better than the Abyssals, and before we look back and wonder what's left is worth all the sacrifices?"
"And when you die not having given it your all, would you rather look back and wonder how it could have all turned out had you given up even more for the sake of the cause?
And between those two situations, which one's better, one where you come to terms with yourself after you've won, or one where you do the same shortly after you've lost?"
Jintsuu looked away guiltily and considered Tatsuta's ultimatum, considering just what she had to risk giving up for the sake of victory, and Tatsuta understood if Jintsuu was fearful of what her dark side truly looked like when manifested with Ma'am Jackie being used as a measuring stick, but she had to understand what was at stake here, and Tatsuta trusted Jintsuu to be able to keep a level head even then, because Ma'am Jackie always seemed to try and do right by them by pushing them all to their physical limits everyday for the greater good.
And while she was undoubtedly tough, she was rarely outright mean to them as she knew to push them without breaking them psychologically since they were still humans first and foremost who were of no use to anyone when broken, pushing them on and rewarding them on occasion while allowing them time to themselves in order to recover, get used to the army life and support each other mentally when things got difficult.
Jintsuu turned back to Tatsuta, looking somewhat defeated in the face of Tatsuta's valid points that the situation was already beyond a point of no return, and the stress was starting to leave its mark on Jintsuu's weary expression as she answered.
"I suppose.
You're right in that the situation has become quite the mess, and we'll have to find the will to win within ourselves and fully utilize everything in our arsenal to achieve that end, even if we have to tap into the darkest and most untouched corners of our psyche in order to do so.
Of course, we also have a responsibility to keep ourselves in top form and not compromise our ability to fight, to remember what we're fighting for and not lose ourselves in the violence."
Nodding in agreement, Tatsuta's eyes lost their focus as she looked into the distance and thought not just of Tenryuu, but also the 1st Fleet and how they were all not only still able to hang out together, but they were now all scattered around the military base and interacting with everyone else outside of their own fleet.
And she saw that everyone was growing in their own unique way, even her time with Jintsuu right now, it was a dynamic which changed them in ways none of them could predict, the base's occupants now essentially more than the sum of its parts as everyone's fates were intertwined and joined with one another, helping each other develop themselves with each passing day.
She was getting sentimental now, and she gave a waiting Jintsuu a quick and reassuring smile before giving her opinion.
"You're right in that we need to remember who we're fighting for.
Personally, I won't say that we're fighting for mankind, because they're too far away from the front lines for us to be able to empathize with or feel bad for in times of crises, and although it may sound cold of me to say that, I stand by it nonetheless.
We're fighting for each other, and although I understand that it may sound strange of me to say this, but our comrades are the ones who'll be braving the deadly hail of gunfire with us and will be crawling with us through the dirt and lying shoulder to shoulder while getting bombarded with mortar shells, all courtesy of the Abyssals.
Although I understand that not all of us will make it to the end, I want to believe that we'll be there for each other to the end, whatever it may be."
Jintsuu's eyes widened, but she eventually settled into a serene smile as she commented on the contrast between the both of them.
"Hmm, seems like we're developing and maturing in different directions.
While I'm afraid of sliding down the slippery slope into darkness, it seems as if you're slowly warming up to the light.
I am afraid of losing myself to what I could become, but to see you open up like this, I think…
I think I can place my faith, not just in you, but in everyone else to be able to keep me in check when I go too far.
Including my sisters."
"Especially your sisters."
Jintsuu smiled at Tatsuta's idea of the ship girls closest to her, the Sendai-Class light cruisers, being there for her when she needed it most, and Tatsuta mirrored the expression since she felt happy for Jintsuu for finding a solution to her emotional corundum, and at a time like this when times were about to get tough, even she learnt to appreciate these small moments before God-knows-what happened to them, and to her in particular.
Looking down at her plate of half-finished food, Tatsuta saw this as a chance to learn more about the enemies they would face before the Project Psyche overseers briefed her on it, and a part of her cared enough about her comrades to want to know how they were doing.
"So, last time you checked, how was the 2nd Fleet doing?
I'm concerned about them, but seeing that your sister was amongst them, I'm also worried about you."
Jintsuu's expression darkened, but the Sendai-Class light cruiser nonetheless answered the question to the best of her ability.
"Oh, well, they're doing fine, and so am I.
They suffered extremely damaging injuries before dying, and I think if there's anyone you should be worried about, it should be Chitose-san.
She was there to personally witness the killings, and being here without her sister ship Chiyoda to accompany her, it must be torturous for her."
"Hmm, so you still have it within you to worry about others even in a time like this?"
"You can spare less than a minute of your life for some simple dignity and compassion, you know."
"I understand.
But Chitose-san lies beyond my circle of intimate affiliation unlike Tenryuu and the 1st Fleet, which means that I can't find it within me to feel too bad for her, despite my best efforts.
Not unless I get to know her better.
You must realize that caring too much for everyone will only lead to having less time for yourself and those whom you truly can't live without.
And seeing what's coming, I certainly need to ration my attention span and compassion and share them with those who truly matter to me, lest my heart break a little upon witnessing every roadside tragedy in life and I completely desensitize myself to the deaths around me due to overexposure."
Tatsuta looked back at Jintsuu, who swiveled her head in order to give her an incredulous yet hardened look which wanted to challenge Tatsuta's views, but allowed her to finish her words.
"This isn't the battlefield, so I concede the point in this situation where you can afford to feel bad for everyone you meet.
But when Apocalypse is well underway, I think you'll find that you'll probably be too emotionally and psychologically fatigued to empathize with anyone outside of a small circle of ship girls."
Tatsuta took a deep breath, mentally chiding herself for going off-track from her original goal of wanting to find out more about the Abyssal who thrashed the 2nd Fleet, but she just wanted to vent some of her feelings when future opportunities would become more and more scarce, taking a deep breath after that small monologue.
Jintsuu looked back down at her food, and while Tatsuta was prepared to defend her point when debating with a more emotionally-driven ship girl, Jintsuu looked despondent as she concurred.
"I… I know that.
In fact, I want to be nice to everyone while I can, because I may not be able to do so when we're all out there fighting for our lives.
No one should have to go through this alone, and while I understand that while it's difficult to be be kind to every comrade in this company, I don't think it's impossible, and since our fates are intertwined with one another, we need to support one another in order to prevent a weak link from developing.
I hope you understand."
"I do."
Tatsuta was surprised to hear herself speak up and agree with Jintsuu, although since she was warming up to everyone around her, it'd stand to reason that she understood where Jintsuu was coming from since everyone made up the defense force that was the recently-formed Amazon Company.
"This is an exchange of ideals and viewpoints, and you do make a good point where everyone in Amazon Company is quintessential to the defense of Japan, and I suppose if reaching out to everyone when they need help was easy, then everyone would be doing it.
It's when we really need each other the most when we have to look beyond our own issues and empathize with others."
Jintsuu nodded, looking somber as she nodded sagely and added her own ideas in order to keep the conversation going.
"Yes.
Maybe it's me being afraid of my darker self, but I can see that though she's been worn down and likely even broken by the tragedies which have no doubt plagued her war-torn life, she still makes a valiant attempt to not completely lose herself in the 'ice queen' persona which naturally comes to her when in her dreaded Demon Instructor mode.
I know that things will go to shit from now on, and that I will very likely have to tap into the darker side of my personality in order to even survive, but even so…
I want everyone to be happy, and I also want to appreciate these final moments and make some pleasant memories to help tide over the feeling of desolation they'll likely feel when Apocalypse rolls around."
Tatsuta lifted an eyebrow upon hearing the Sendai-Class light cruiser being so committed to being nice, but she then heard something large pull up to a stop outside the canteen after the whir of its motor gave its location away, and several ship girls were already leaving the canteen in order to see what the commotion was about while the Tenryuu-Class cruiser was swept up in the wave of curiosity which overtook them all as she got up from her chair.
Patting her army uniform down before moving off, she could see that it was a bus which was parked outside, the same blue bus which brought them to this army camp barely a week ago and possessing tinted windows in order to heighten the so-called suspense which was about to be deflated, since the door hissed open in order to allow its two occupants to exit the bus.
Sendai looked completely defeated and wracked with mixed emotions, requiring Hatsushimo to support he as she got off the bus, Jintsuu cutting through the crowd in order to get to her own sister ship and comfort her while the increasing intensity of her movements through the crowd belied her anxiety at what this implied back in Yokosuka.
Jintsuu finally got through the crowd and stood before a slouched Sendai, the nameship looking as if the world itself had just collapsed in on her, and with the amount of threats to their lives lurking out there in the ocean, even Tatsuta was starting to experience a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what happened, Jintsuu holding Sendai by the sides of her arms while leaning in with a concerned look in her eyes before asking tersely.
"Sendai?!
It's been awhile, you seen shaken up.
Did something happen back at Yokosuka?"
Sendai looked up and met Jintsuu's gaze, emotions welling up within her as her expression threatened to fall apart as if she were about to break down in tears with moistening eyes, scrunched up cheeks and trembling body all being indicators of the name-ship starting to break down and cry, mumbling in a shaky voice to give the bad news.
"Naka's gone, Jintsuu."