Everyone is honestly working hard today. I can't be falling behind.
A sniper girl hid inside of a large building while scouting the area. The dog and laser that would usually be there to help her were nowhere to be found.
The Bagworm that covered her body swayed with her rhythmic movements as she lifted the heavyweight Sniper-type Trigger known as Ibis. It was different from the normal Lightning she would prefer to use agains others.
While her use of Lightning had always been a fast acting way to attack, it held no power and a large amount of instability in it. The weight of it felt as if she would have it pushed away by the wind and end up without a weapon to attack with.
Ibis was different. It weighted her down, it made it harder for her to move without much thought and created more lag to her movements than she wanted. But it was always stable.
In this sniper training for stealth and target finding, each sniper had to hide themselves well while also being on the lookout for anyone else they could fire at for points. Everyone was a target and everyone was an attacker. The use of Bagworm had been allowed, but the use of Radar had been rejected.
Lifting her Ibis to the edge of an opening in the building, she scouted out the area for anyone who she could fire at without taking a chance of getting shot at herself.
With her body firmly planted and the Ibis pressing down on the edges of the opening, she felt as if she would hit. Each attack fired with Ibis had managed to hit today while every attack fired by Lightning in previous training sessions had a low chance of hitting.
Damn that Narasaka. I hate that he honestly knows me to this extent!
She fired.
"...!"
A hit.
He wouldn't even let me use Egret! Noooooooooooo! I honestly have to use Ibis for this training! What a damn jerk! Next time I see him-
Another shot managed to land.
I'll honestly get his measurements and put him in a mob doujinshi! Yeah! Take that-
The third hit had missed by a small margin.
Not letting that get to her, she fired again. This time the attack hit the unsuspecting agent.
Barasaka! Yeah! I'll honestly enjoy you drowning in a wave of muscles, Barasaka!
Seeing the tail end of a Miwa Squad uniform, she had found out her latest shot had hit Kodera on the cheek.
She giggled to herself while moved back and to the side. Her body remained facing the opening, but her sides began to twist for a turn.
A lovely kiss from a girl should make you pretty happy, Shōhei-kun. But don't honestly look into it. You're just a cute brother to me.
With no muzzle flash or sound put in for this training, she had complete missed what came during her thoughts.
There was no impact and the only way she noticed was because of the small noise of something like a sticker attacking itself to her left breast. A shit had managed to hit her with the number 315 on it to indicate who had managed to hit her.
Using the swinging motion she had created by moving back and twisting, she began to twirl around the location while moving to the nearby stairs she had come in front.
The old me would have viewed this differently. She would have honestly just made a dive for the stair, thinking if this as simple training. But now...
She smiled to herself.
I know to treat these kind of things as both playtime as well as an honest fight.
An attack had just missed her.
A number appeared on the floor as she continued her twirl.
Now then...
She began to slow down her pace. Her feet continued to move to keep a small amount of momentum going without fully coming to a stop.
That same momentum was used to fling her Ibis into the air.
She pulled the trigger while the Ibis remained in the air for a few second.
Another five points had been added to her score.
That one was Fubuki-chan.
She was pleased with herself. That had been another five points to her after having lost a few at the start of the training.
"Heh-"
To counter her five points gained, two points had been lost.
A mark appeared on her right cheek with the number 246 on it.
Damn. I honestly got too into my dance here and forgot about the training...
All that was left to do was sigh and continue to make her escape.
Suzume giggled to herself once she saw it all.
Training had finished and the sniper had gotten together to talk casually and see which ones had managed to shoot them. The sight ranged from ones like Taichi and Natsume who were covered in marks, her own mark being seen on them, to the ones like Narasaka and Tōma who had a single mark or no mark.
She herself had gotten two more marks after the one she had gotten for taking out Shirogane. It had been saddening, but she was glad that she had not been placed low compared to others.
"Heh heh heh. This is a lovely sight. It is also giving me some honestly good material here."
"Oh? And what can you get from this exactly? I think you own me that much for dodging my attack and hitting me back, my queen."
"Think if that as payback for getting that hit on me! You actively went for my head!"
"That's because I wanted to give this lovely sunshine a sweet kiss from a prince."
Suzume wasted no time in laughing at all the marks that had been placed on Shirogane. The amount had grown from when she had hit the princely girl. The girl next to her had less mark than Shirogane, but two more than what Suzume had on her.
"Oh Nikko-chan! My sunshine! Which one of these filthy thieves managed to hit you!? Just keep your Suzu-nee know and she will gladly get revenge for you! Would a double spread of them spreading be enough?"
"Hahaha! It's fine, it's fine! No need to humiliate someone that much! This is just training after all. Oh, but it looks like you and I managed to get hit by some of the same people."
"I guess I can't really say anything since I got hit by quite a few people as well. I let my guard down and got shot by Natsumine over there. I gladly returned the shot though."
"Speaking of which..."
Voice from the other sniper could be heard close by.
This was the chance she had been looking for the entire time.
A few feet away from them was a trio of younger agents conversing with each other.
Hearing a rhythm in their tone and expressions had been more than enough for her to begin swaying from one side to the other. Her arms lifted up until they were above her navel and crossed over her chest.
This seemed to be enough for others to figure out what was going on and reacted accordingly.
The two girl closest to her took two steps back when they saw the smile on her face.
The bigger group consisting of Hanzaki, Kodera, Satori, and Taichi took a step away from each other when they saw her arms start to rise.
The duo of eighteen year olds from Arafune Squad stealthily looked for the exit point when they saw her body begin to sway.
Beyond them all, Narasaka glared fiercely at the girl.
It was not her style to eavesdrop on other, so the excuse she had made up for herself was that she wanted to congratulate the trio for their hard work today.
She had been well aware of the meetings going on and that being the reason Hiura was currently absent from the group. This was a way to receive any stress she had toward the idea of that hat girl going out for Border to the businesses.
"Chika-chan~ Honestly help this big sister out by relaxing on her naughty pillow!"
With no hesitation at all, she wrapped her arms around the small Tamakoma girl's shoulders and pulled her back while leaning on her. There was no escape with the way Suzume continued her swaying from side to side.
That did not seem to be a problem as the Tamakoma girl and her friend both looked to her with smiles.
"Misaki-senpai, is everything alright?"
"Hey Misa-senpai, you got hit pretty hard, didn't you?"
"Just a way with words. But if you honestly need to know, I decided that it would be fun to get hit some so that I have these on me for a bit. Some of the people who hit me I would honestly rather smack right about now, but I will leave them alone since they chose such interesting locations to mark me."
"Mark you?"
Suzume smiled as a loud coughing sound was heard. It had come from the group of boys her age.
"Yes. You see these? And this one here?" she asked while pointing to her cheek and breast. "These are special places. So if someone honestly marks them, it means they were taking special care to hit those spots."
"Really!? But I got shot all over the place!"
"Heh heh heh. You are a good girl, Izuho-chan. Please never let Tōma-san honestly corrupt you."
"What do you mean?"
"I wonder."
The Tamakoma girl seemed to take in the vibrations from her laughter and mixed it with the swaying that was going on.
Having the body moved in such a way and having that kind of vibration be felt gave the impression of a mother taking care of her child. A feeling that there was someone there who would watch out no matter what.
It was not like the song of passage that Hoshi had overhead or the Scorching Shrine that she had practiced a longed Mikumo. This was a melody meant to soothe the smaller girl after the training session they had had.
And then there are you all...
The melody of vibration and swaying had been done for more than just the Tamakoma girl. It had also been a way to distract her.
She knew that she would need a distraction from the three boys who had gathered together while looking at their phones. As well as the small boy who had done the same while slowly moving closer to her.
"...Misaki-senpai."
She held nothing back as she let out another vibration through her throat.
Ema had walked forward with his phone carefully in his hand.
"You know Tenryū, right?"
"Heh heh heh. And if I do? Are you honestly friends with that little plant now, Yuzuru-kun? If so, feel safe in knowing that I will not be making a doujinshi out of you."
"I see..."
"Tenryū? Who is that? Has to be somebody important with a name like that."
"Izuho-chan, you can't really base that on a name."
Suzume loosened her arms while bracing her body.
What a good girl. She understand that well. But in a way, he honestly is important. After all, he is Border's very own plant who can easily change into a dragon.
The next vibration that she let out had not come from her voice or throat. It had come from the slight tapping of her foot against the floor.
"'Tenryū' is 'Tenryū Shokubutsu'. A small boy who honestly does not stand out. He is the same age as you three, as well as Yuki-san's only student. The irony in that is that Yuki-san's teacher is honestly Akasora Chishi-san, who is Shobu-kun's uncle. A nice little cycle of taking care of each other."
"Oh! So that why you are happy that Ema is his friend! Because of Tsukiko-senpai."
"Heh heh. Of course. That boy is quite precious to a lot of us."
Suzume stopped her tapping and began to unwrap her arms from around Amatori's next.
The smaller girl began to lean back until she caught herself, gaining another laugh from Suzume.
"So what did you honestly need, Yuzuru-kun?"
"Do you know what is going on right now?"
"Hm..."
She looked back and...
"Eh!? Seriously!? Can't that idiot just stop his crap already! How the hell does he expect them to have a serious conversation when he's ready to have his dick hanging out!?"
"You have to admit though... His rate of getting undressed has increased way more than at the start of the year."
"Yeah. At the start if the year we had time to bring out the God Mosaic to cover him up. Now it takes Yuki's Side Effect for us to figure out what's happening."
A disgusting conversation full of material could be heard.
Deciding that she would find out about that later on, she turned back to the three in front of her.
"I do. Shobu-kun is with Iko-san I believe."
"Right. Well he is asking me about something, but he also wants to check if-..."
"Yes? What is it?"
"N-nothing... That part can be left to me..."
"You know it is not good to lie, Yuzuru-kun. You never know what will happen to naughty boys who keep things from their big sisters."
"Then it's a good thing you aren't my big sister..."
"How rude! And after I honestly got you that doujinshi last year! I even managed to smuggle a porn game from Iko-san to help you prepare for adulthood!"
"Those were all unnecessary! I destroyed that porn game before my parents found out about it and that doujinshi was a yaoi one with Kage-san and Tsukiko-san that you had made! I burned that one myself...!"
"It wasn't my best work, so I will forgive that one. I would go into the details, but Chika-chan is here."
"What about me, Misa-senpai!?"
"You are a dependable girl, Izuho-chan. I can gladly give you a copy of it later, if you want."
"...No, thanks you. I'll pass."
Between the boy not knowing what to say and the Tamakoma girl look away, it had become extremely hard to hold back from pulled out a tablet and drawing those expressions.
Yet Suzume had managed it. She managed to hold her impulses back so as not to receive an arrow to the back.
Instead of finding ways to hold herself back even more, she looked back to Ema with only one question to ask.
"What did he ask you about?"
"About someone who is surrounded by difficult circumstances."
Shobu listened to the messages between him and Ema as sound.
His devices around his neck allowed him to convert text data into voices. Suzaku had arranged to have the devices reproduce the speaker's tone based on the collected tone data.
...So it feels like...they're speaking for me...even from a distance...?
It may have been like it was echoing down a tube. But he appreciated how well it reproduced Ema's careful tone. It had to read out the speaker's name at the start, but that was unavoidable.
Yuzu: "Hey Tenryū, I hope you don't mind. I had to ask someone else for some help about your question."
Shobu: "...Not at...all..."
Honest Sister has entered the chat
Honest Sister: "Hello, Shobu-kun."
Shobu: "...Um..."
Honest Sister: "Yes. That is the response I had expected to get. I honestly told Yuzuru-kun that it was better to ask someone else. Not that I don't honestly want to help you. It's just that your view of me is still slightly...slanted. Isn't it?"
He was afraid of saying anything back since it could have all become a wrong answer.
Honest Sister: "That's honestly what I thought. In that case..."
Honest Sister has left the chat.
Amatori and Natsume have entered the chat.
Yuzu: "...This is unexpected. I'm sorry. ...To the three of you."
Amatori: "Are you the 'Tenryū-kun' Misaki-senpai and Ema-kun were talking about?"
Natsume: "It has to be! He's the only other one here!"
...Those are the girls...Ema has mentioned... thought Shobu while tensing up. ...They do not have...specialized names...
Seen Everything: "Got it! Now it's Chikako's turn!"
...Oh... ...Natsume-sama has gotten to...it...
Seen Everything: "So what's the problem? We only know about someone having 'difficult circumstances'."
Could he answer back with what he knew?
It seemed extremely rude to say anything about what he had learned concerning Ruri the night before.
So instead...
Shobu: "...How do you...get through to...someone who can't...take back what they have...lost...?"
Seen Everything: "Hm~ Like car keys that were accidentally thrown out?"
It was not the same, but he was still unsure about these two girls.
The loud girl seemed to just go with what came to mind, but Ema and the other girl seemed to be thinking this over.
Tamakoma's Cannon: "You can try reaching out..."
...But people have...tried that with...Ruri-sama...
Just as Shobu thought that, one of the "voices" filled the transmission.
Yuzu: "Reaching out isn't enough if that person doesn't reach out."
Seen Everything: "Who are we even talking about? A freind of yours, Tenryū?"
What was Ruri to him at this point?
The girl could not remember much and her memories had been mixed up. It was likely that she had forgotten about him again, yet he wanted to know how to help her.
Shobu: "...Someone who has...a difficult life... ...I want to...help them..."
Seen Everything: "Then just do that. If you want to help them, then help them. If their circumstances are that difficult that you can't tell us, then that's kind of on you to figure out."
Tamakoma's Cannon: "Izuho-chan..."
Shobu: "...Um... ...N-names... ...Tenryū Shokubutsu..."
It was becoming harder and harder for him to message these people when he did not even know their names. Ema had been one thing, and the one labeled "Cannon" seemed sensible, but the loud girl was a different matter.
It was hard to deal with those kinds of people.
Seen Everything: "Oh, right! I'm Natsume Izuho."
Tamakoma's Cannon: "I am Amatori Chika. Hello, Tenryū-kun."
He nodded without thinking.
Tamakoma's Cannon: "About what I had said earlier..."
About reaching out...
Tamakoma's Cannon: "This person we are talking about seems like they need help with these difficult circumstances. Is that right?"
Shobu: "...No... ...They have...a lot of help..."
Tamakoma's Cannon: "Then the help they need is not the help they are getting... That is how I see it at least. Tenryū-kun, if they can't take something back... Can you help them take it back?"
Shobu: "...But-"
But what if she has really lost it all?
She has her family and the support from the Shiraishi family, but that was not enough.
He wanted to rely on Ikoma, but...
"Whaddya mean that route's locked behind the glasses girl!? Jiiiiiiiiin! I trusted you! The next time I need for this kinda stuff, I'm goin' to Fuji! She'll beat me up, but then she'll help me out! Not like how you're messin' with me by sayin' I need to complete the glasses girl's route before getting to the cutie!"
Was it really okay to believe in that? After all, Shobu had been the one who designated as Border's representative.
It was his responsibility to handle the events happening at White Rock. People were counting on him and relying on him.
But...
Shobu: "...What if I fail...?"
Yuzu: "You can stay by their side."
The response had been amazingly fast.
Seen Everything: "They can't blame you for trying to help out. If you fail the first time, just stay with them to try again later!"
"...I wish...it was that easy..."
He could not say that they were being inconsiderate or foolish, after all, they knew nothing about what was going on right now. They did not know about Ruri or the Falcon.
This had been a big mistake.
...I...I should not have...said anything...
Shobu: "...Right... ...Thank you..."
Ending this conversation was his only choice. The only way he could stop placing this kind of question on someone else.
"..."
Lifting his knees up, he began to feel how heavy his mistake had been.
These people, the ones who were the same age as him, had no reason to answer a question like that. They had their own problems and worries, they had their own lives they had to think about. Bringing this up had forced something into that.
Due to his own inability to know what to do and have the emotions to act on that, he had forced this kind of thing someone else.
He never wanted that.
.
After he had left Shobu and his uncle behind, left Border and his friends behind, that man had come back looking for something. That something had not been the things he left behind.
There had been no reason to think about it.
He had come back for something he wanted, not something left had been why Shobu thought he had not lost something but that something had left him.
Any burden from that had been his to hold.
After all, what reason would there be in having that selfish burden placed on someone else?
Ruri had her own burdens to bear, but she could not chose to keep those burdens to herself or not. All of her burdens had been forced by those around her since she could not even remember what those burdens were.
...I want to...help her with...those burdens...but that requires-...
Yuzu: "You have courage, don't you? The willpower to do this."
He did not.
His courage and willpower with we're all linked to Shikifuku. It was his reminder that such things exist.
Yuzu: "You do."
But he was being told otherwise.
Yuzu: "You have to have some."
He didn't want to hear any more.
Her curled up in on himself more as the "voice" continued to come through the transmission.
That could not be right. He did not have any courage or willpower.
It was far beyond him.
Yuzu: "After all...you learned about these 'difficult circumstances'. You made it to your location. And I saw it firsthand."
Seen Everything: "What happened?"
Yuzu: "That isn't really for me to say. But he did help Shinoda-san and his uncle recently. It was without anyone asking him to do it."
...Oh...I did do that...?
He had not lost anything, but that man had lost something important.
The burden that Shobu should had taken had been put on that man. Everything that happened had been placed on that man's shoulders until Shobu had intervened with his willpower to prevent something else form being lost.
He had helped in getting back something that had been lost.
He had moved forward after that and had gotten to know Ema more, accept that he would be representating Border, and forced his way to Ruri's side the night before. None of it he had done on his own.
Ema had gone to him after the day had finished so that they could exchanged numbers.
Yuki had tried to convince that he could decline his position if he wanted.
Ikoma and Chisato had pushed back the Falcon so that he could reach Ruri. The former even destroying the railing so he did not have to climb over it.
"..."
A thought came up.
What if he could start small again?
If he could manage a small amount of courage and willpower then it might snowball enough for him to continue growing it. But for that to be the case, there was something he had to do first.
...Would it be...alright...to stay by...everyone's side...?
If that could be the case then he could force his way once again to Ruri's side.
Shobu: "...Thank you...for helping me... ...And, um...Amatori-sama, Natsume-sama...?"
Seen Everything: "What's with that!? Bleh! Don't go adding '-sama' like it's nothing!"
Shobu: "...Natsume...-san...?"
Seen Everything: "Good enough."
Tamakoma's Cannon: "Yes, Tenryū-kun?"
This was where he could start again.
Shobu: "...Wh-when I get back...c-c-can I...meet you two...in person...? ...To thank you properly..."
Seen Everything: "Sure."
Tamakoma's Cannon: "That would be nice..."
...And maybe...Ruri-san can join...us...
"Oh? Looks like things will end up fine enough for your little plant."
Mei glared from behind the cup that was halfway to her mouth.
"I decided to take a break since the meetings haven't started and this is what you do. To take advantage of me like that... I should tell someone about this."
"I thought I would take a chance. But don't worry, I didn't look into the meetings. It was just something specific to Shobu-san."
"I guess there were still things needed to be worked out after he got to see his father again after so long."
Within the Tamakoma Branch were the two who could see multiple possibilities that came before them. One used his ability of future sight while the other used high speed calculations that damaged her if used for too long.
They had just seen off the younger members of the branch and were now sitting in relative silence.
"Now then..."
But that did not mean they were relaxing.
"You look to be ready for this. I hope you aren't going to rely on me too much. Yuki would get mad at the both of us and I don't like being the one scolded."
"It wouldn't be nice of me if we left things to your calculations, would it? Besides, we need each other as stoppers in case we go too far. Looking into possible futures is nice and all, but we both know I can get lost in them."
"Your record against Tachikawa is proof of that."
"I seem to remember you losing some round to him before. And me, as a matter of fact."
"It would be in poor taste if I didn't let you guys win at least a few times. But ever since I gave up fighting on the front lines, you guys have gotten bigger egos than I expected."
"...Please don't grab the table like that."
"I was actually planning on using the sofa this time."
Both of them had been wrong in their assumptions of her when they saw that her hand was not going for the table between them or the sofa she sat on. Instead, her hand had moved to the pillows on either side of her.
After noticing this, they both laughed.
The girl's calculations had made the seeable future become incorrect.
The boy's seeable had made the calculations become incorrect.
The two Side Effect were powerful when used by the two, but could easily counter each other with a single focus point. But when used in tandem with each other, it became something else entirely.
It was a definite result.
"So you looked at something else. I know you did. But this time it's fine since it's more important than these sponsors."
"Don't let them hear you say that."
"You want to give me the information."
"Can't you ask for that at least?"
"No. I want to ask questions, but you know that I can't. ...I'm not allowed to ask questions."
"Mei..."
"That's why I am forcing you to give me that information instead. It is easier this way, and I don't need to bother with asking for anything. From there, we can look to the future and determine what it is we want."
As if to claim this to be the only solution Mei crossed her arms with a challenging look. It was a dare for Jin to make a move against her.
But nothing happened.
The only response to her words was the information she wanted.
It took all of thirty seconds for her to go over the first part and another twenty for the second part.
Once she was done with her reading, she looked directly to Jin.
"Explain."
During that time...
"Distance left from contact with Miden borders is 800."
In a ship headed straight for Border, multiple people waited.
"In the end, Rhodochroun didn't join us," a voice said as the body it belonged to came down a latter. "We were looked down upon."
"It's probably because they don't have the spare manpower to send. But they will be sending out Trion Soldiers in their place."
"In the end, it's still just some Dogs. This compensation is way too cheap."
"No. Apparently they'll send some Idras over as well. We also have the new Triggers, so it should be fine."
"I don't like those new types... We should have just asked those Wanderers to help us out. I'm sure they'd love to do one of their 'tests'."
The two entered an open, but small, space that had six others in it. In total, including the two that just came in, there were four girls and four guys.
The ones who came down greeted their captain by reporting that they had finished what needed to he done for their ship.
"Good work." The one who spoke was a large man, and the only one standing. "Alright. Let's review our mission objectives one last time."
The two that just came in too their seats as their captain started the review.
.
"Here's what I've decided about this mission."
Gatlin looked to the gathered people in the ship.
They were his team.
They all wore the same dark outfits, but one had a headset on as a 3D image of a large building appeared in the middle of them all.
The headset Yomi must have been the one controlling the image with a control in her hand.
Gatlin initially looked across the ship in which he stood.
And he explained the plans that they were to follow.
"Aftokrator's orders are to stall Miden. Our job is to deliver a blow so they cannot go after Afto. Out methods are left to our discretion. So for this mission..."
The 3D model of the building began to solidify to show that the structure was that of Miden's base known as Border.
"...I've decided to attack the Miden base."
The response was instantaneous.
"By ourselves? Not the city?"
"Does that mean we're going after their Trigger users?"
"No. Just their base. We will be leaving their people alone."
"We're not capturing their baby bird either?"
Gatling turned his attention from Ratarikov and Reghindetz to Wen Sō, one if the girls who had spoken up to ask him about their mission.
A third girl next to Wen Sō seems to agree with the question as she crossed her arms.
Kirigisa used one if her crossed arms to fiddle with the seven buttons that could be seen on the extended latch near her shoulder.
"That's right."
"Why, Captain Gatlin?" Koskero moved his hand along with his words while looking to their captain. "Capturing Trigger users would deliver a serious blow to Miden... It'll stall them just like the God Nation wants."
"Yeah. Afto captured twenty one or thirty of them, didn't they? Let's just go for it."
"You fools don't get it..."
Kigisa responded to the two boys from next to Wen Sō.
"That would be a big target on us. Just look at Afto. That's why we they're making us do this. Tch. We should've just made those Wandering guys do this in our stead."
"There's nothing we can do about those guys. They work in strange way and we aren't allied with them because of Aftokrator. But I understand why you would want to use them. They are free to do as they like while Galopoula is closer to Miden orbit wise compared to others."
"Is Afto's true intent to divert Miden's attention toward us?"
"That's what I think."
"Those horned punks...!"
No one bothered to correct Reghindetz in who he addressed the God Nation.
"Miden fought off Aftokrator's nest, including four Black Trigger users. They had the home base tactical advantage, but it was still quite a feat. We don't need to do whatever they tell us and deliberately incur Miden's wrath here."
"Not that we would care if Miden attacked us."
"Reghi, think if the future. Miden has developed exponentially as of late."
"..."
"Our nation is small," Wen Sō said, wanting to add more to what they already knew. "We can't make more enemies."
Ratarikov took a small step forward while still addressing their captain.
He used this conversation to confirm his own thoughts here.
"We don't want another enemy, but we have to fulfill our mission to stall them. That's why we're only going to sabotage their base?"
"That's right. Make a focused strike on their military installations and slow down Miden's forces."
A sigh came from the fourth girl Shi Muon. She twirled what looked like a microphone between her fingers while examining the base set out before them.
Her spot next to Yomi was closer than the others were, but not close enough for her to be in the way of the number six girl.
She looked away from the 3D model of the base to Kigisa, then to their captain.
"This is fine and all, I really have no complaints about doing this, but... Why were Kigisa and I sent along with you all? Unlike you all, we aren't really battle oriented. We are just used as last ditch efforts for others to escape."
"Shi, we need to help however we can! Even if...we can only allow everyone to get away safety, we need to do that much!"
"We can both only use what we were given. Remember that mine is rather hard to move while you are not meant for offensive attacks and are used for defensive styles of fighting. Don't think that we're special just because we are viewed as pawns here."
"You hate moving anyway! And I... I just don't like fighting, but this Trigger is the only one I am good at using."
Tensions grew as the atmosphere continued to weight down from the argument.
Reghindetz and Ratarikov chose to turn away from the argument after seeing where it would be leading to. This was not the first time they had seen this kind of fight and getting involved was never good for them.
The ones to calm the two girls down were the two remaining girls. Wen Sō placed a hand on Kigisa's shoulder with a shake of her head while Yomi slightly turned to Shi Muon as a sign of support.
"You two aren't going to be used like that." While the two girls comforted the argument, it had been Gatlin to speak up to them. "You will have the same amount of importance as the rest of us here. Do you two understand that? You will not be sacrifices for any of us."
"Of course. I apologize, Commander."
"Got it... Sorry."
Gatlin nodded at their responses before looking down to the girl next to Shi Muon.
"Good. Yomi."
The 3D model of the base sunk down until it was no longer visible. In its place were two new visuals with the first one being taller and showing multiple dots on it. The second one was half the size of the first with images on it.
Yomi focused on the two while allowing Shi Muon to get a few inches closer.
"According to the data Afto sent us, Miden has forty to fifty confirmed active soldiers. The total should be two to three times that. There are quite a few baby birds beneath them. But they shouldn't count. And they have anywhere from...one to four Black Triggers."
"C'mon, there's a big difference between one and four. What kind of data is this?"
"Go complain to Afto if you're not happy."
"Yeah, no need to get on Yomi because you can't handle much."
"What was that!?"
Seeing a new argument coming on, Koskero placed a hand on his chin while looking at the new models.
"There are eight of us and with the Trion Soldiers we have in stock... Without cooperation from Rhodokrhoun, this might be a tough mission."
"Yeah! Why was Rhodo allowed to skip!?"
"They weren't."
"!?"
The smaller model that had displayed their number of Trion Soldier began to grow until it was over the first model. The number of images increased as the model grew.
"Rhodokrhoun said they would send 200 Dogs and 95 Idras. Now we can't complain about that."
"That'll be 300 total...!?"
"They're small, but they went all out."
"With that many pawns, we'll have more freedom to move."
"We'll figure out the details and choose our best option. Once we get to Miden, we'll investigate to confirm the data we have. Then, once Rhodokrhoun's Trion Soldiers arrive..."
This was where they would be begin.
They were under the command of a larger nation, but this would be where they showed their worth.
"We will execute the plan."