#zeitwächter

[legacyofacat]

[END] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Gunzō collected the last things he needed for school and put them in his bag, taking a minute to look at the two picture frames, one holding a picture of a younger him with his parents, the other a picture of Blue Steel's crew with Iona at the front – a picture that had been taken sometime in the early days of their travel.

He thought it a bit stupid that they still had to go to school after everything, but even if he had earned a medal, academics were necessary for his and his friends’ future.

Sighing, he turned to the open room, clutching the medallion Iona had left him on his parents’ grave and which he had fastened on a keychain: "Iona, if you're here, I'm off to school now!", with that, he walked out.

Iona watched him leave, burying her fingers in the front of her dress as she sat on the bed he had just walked past.

Ever since she had lost her body, she was flickering in and out of the physical plane like a spectre – here the one second, gone the next.

She wondered if what she was at the moment was a ghost.

The girl looked at the bed, its fabric not dipping even though she was most definitely sitting on it, closed her sad eyes and lamented that fate.

Kongō had promised her to drink tea together should she grow lonely, but it was Iona herself who would love to drink tons of tea with her best friend right now – and never stop.

Iona opened her eyes again and felt them widen in shock: a white pavilion, green grass and the sound of water in the distance…

That… that was the Concept Communication System she had ended up in when she had fused with Yamato! But how!? 

It's not like she had never tried coming here or connecting to other parts of the network, but it had never worked! So, how…

"Iona."

She turned around, back to the tree growing through the pavilion's ground and seemingly aiming to break through the roof, the grieving willow's leaves guarding the white table and chairs, one of them occupied by a pale girl.

Hesitantly, Iona stepped forwards and sat down in the other chair, noting the various Union Cores lying on the table's surface, before looking at the other: "Are you Vanisher?"

"Mhm", she made, the Mental Model of SW2 standing diagonally behind her.

Vanisher was almost unrecognizable:

Her face was uncovered, mask fastened at her hips, revealing the glowing signs of a flagship equipment and blue eyes, her hair was fastened in a low ponytail and golden victory wreath growing skywards like horns. She wore a fur-lined coat, which revealed shoulders and was fastened with silver around her waist, a more elaborate robe with glowing elements and bandages around her left arm and leg.

Iona couldn't say what surprised her more: that someone could access this special part of the CCS who wasn't her, or that Vanisher had brought someone else here.

"How are you here…?"

The battleship's eyes flashed with amusement: "I wonder", she joked, "I was given a key by Yamato – unfortunately, it was merely one for a backdoor utilisable only once all of Flagship Command had, well, lost command."

"Lost", in this case, a word of many meanings.

Green eyes had widened with the implications of those words.

If Vanisher could just, obviously, claim the Admiralty Code, wouldn't that make Iona's last order useless? Wouldn't that… make her death useless? And Gunzō's grief of having lost her – wouldn't that…

"You look like you're about to cry", Vanisher interjected and tapped a finger on the table, "there is no need for that. I won't use the Admiralty Code and go against your last wish; in fact, the children living according to their own will is my wish as well, I just claimed it so that no one with other motives could."

She leaned back in her seat, unfolding the loosely crossed arms on the table and putting them on her armrests: "SW2 informed me of your ghostly existence. It was difficult to find your soul, so to speak, and invite it here, but I thought that one should make you an offer concerning your current circumstances."

SW2 must be her subrocessor, the submarine theorized, it would explain why she is here: "An offer?"

The battleship nodded: "I cannot guarantee that this method will be successful, but we could bind your soul to an Union Core existing only in this realm", a sigh, "apologies, I ironically can't explain this well in technological terms – it must sound like I'm trying to explain magic…"

Maybe… a bit, actually.

Iona still thought that, all in all, she understood what Vanisher was trying to say, though.

Since her and her Union Core essentially didn't exist anymore and she was instead this ghost-like creature, her data most likely was not accessible in the "physical" world and could thus not be connected to anything in it, but since her ghost data seemed to exist in this "realm", it would be possible to anchor her here.

If that really, really worked, then she would maybe be able to interact with Gunzō and the others again!

"No", Iona shook her head, finally remembering to blink away the last tears left from earlier, "I think I know what you mean."

"Oh", Vanisher blinked, "excellent, but please do not forget that, according to our simulations, it should work, but I can't promise so – do you still wish to try?"

Did she wish to try? What a stupid question, of course she did! Agreeing in a heartbeat had never been easier!

Not trusting her words, she leaned forwards with a determined expression, nodding seriously.

The battleship rose from her chair elegantly: "You had your eyes closed when you appeared here, do you wish to do so again?"

Iona shut her eyes, eyelids quivering nervously.

She felt, more than heard, Vanisher support herself on the table, leaning forward and stopping shortly as if hesitating to kiss the submarine's forehead where she whispered: "In thanks for saving my favourite child, I'll even return your ship to you."

Her eyes snapped open in surprise, but the world was already disappearing in white light so strong she had to close them almost immediately again, the pinkish-red eyes of Vanisher and a blueish Union Core forming the last thing she saw.

When she opened her eyes this time, it felt as if her non-existing heart was beating out of her chest, the rapid speed almost impossible to calm even with hands on her chest. 

The bed dipped under her as she leaned back to support-

Wait a minute, it dipped!? 

She leaped up, turning around to see that, yes, there was still an imprint left!

Not believing her eyes, she went to press on the blanket, only to have her hands sink into it: "I… I can touch! T-that means-!"

Iona couldn't finish her own sentence before she sprinted out of Gunzō's dorm, barely registering the door locking behind her while trying to get her systems running – there were people she desperately needed to meet!

The girl was sure that she had never been that fast on her tiny legs, the wind whipping past her so loudly that it muted everything else.

By the same time she could clearly see Gunzō's back, she had also successfully loaded the CCS and by the time her physical self barreled into the boy's back with a shout of his name, her digital self crashed into Kongō's broad back with a call of her name.

Kongō turned around, a hand placed on Iona's smaller one, a surprised smile on her face.

Gunzō, too, turned around, staring at her in shock for nothing more than a second before enveloping the girl in his shaking arms.

"I thought I had lost you", Gunzō said, his voice small.

"What happened?", Kongō asked in the same tone of voice she had sent the white haired girl off with.

"Vanisher helped me", both Iona's explained, tears in their eyes, "I'm home."

--

Start Last

We are done! A big thanks to everyone who read this!

Can also be found on:

DeviantArt Wattpad ff.net AO3

[kaja-gmbh]

Zeitwächter

Kopf

Dolchzahnkapuze

Schulter

Dolchzahnschultern

Rücken

Minenarbeitercape

Brust

Frühlingsregenwams

Wappenrock

Wappenrock der Hüter der Zeit

Hände

Nebelbalghandschuhe

Taille

Nebelbalggürtel

Beine

Flüsterkniehosen

Füße

Leise Stiefel

Einhändig

Launen der Zeit

[theophiliaworld]

Der letzte Zeitwächer Band 2 - Die Reise nach Aryan von Eva Laspas

Bildquelle Verlag Laspas Titel: Der letzte Zeitwächter – Die Reise nach AryanAutorin: Eva Laspas /Verlag: Verlag LaspasISBN: 978-3950510287– 284 Seiten, seit dem 01.07.2022Aufgelegt als ebook emobi 8,90 EuroTaschenbuch 18,90 EuroSterne: X X X X Das Buch in einem Satz: Verbindung zum „Alles was ist!“ Klappentext: „Manchmal entwickeln sich die Geschehnisse im Leben anders, als du es dir…

[buch-sonar]

"Die Reise nach Aryan (Der letzte Zeitwächter 2)" von Eva Laspas

[urlocaltannenbaumm]

 wir haben letztens klassenrat eingeführt

es ist  H I L A R I O U S  ich sags dir

einfach nur entertainment at it's purest👩🏻‍🍳

vorallem a., eine die m. a. heisst und g. (aus unserer alten parallelklasse) sind halt immer am reden

obwohl g. regelwächterin ist

so wenn jemand reinredet sie so: SO DAS GIT JETZT EN STRICH

aber wenn m. a./a. redet

"oh it's alrightu"

digger FRAU STEINER 2.0

und dann gibt es noel..

der ist  Z E I T W Ä C H T E R

niemals bro

ich weiss nicht warum die mehrheit der klasse sich für ihn entschieden hat

vorallem

es sind irgendwie so 35 minuten vergangen, er hätte uns nach 15 min etwas sagen müssen, frau k (unsere klp) so "noel schau mal auf die zeit" und er so *schaut die uhr an und dann wieder uns* er sagt so "leute wir haben nicht mehr viel zeit"

und vorallem so

wenn la (klassenratsleiter) fragt wie viel zeit wir noch für das Thema haben er auch so: nicht mehr viel

like

danke, hat sehr geholfen❤

g. schreit mindestens 30479 mal noel an

 n., le und leo sind unsere adhd kiddes

die können nicht .2 sekunden still sein, die sterben wenn die das tun würden

und m. s., len, zoé und j. sind so die eine ecke die noch sane ist und fr gute Ideen hat aber die strecken nie auf

und vorallem c. und ich sitzen halt immer so in der mitte oder (so am oberen ende der tische weil wir stellen die halt alle zusammen)

but yeah

das lustige ist du fühlst dich halt wortwörtlich wie mafia gang leader an

wenn du dort oben hockst

ach jes btw

li. ist protokollantin

alle so

🌲 warum hast du das nicht gemacht

ich so:🧍🏻‍♀️

wArUm wOhL nIcHt??

weil (and i'm speaking outta experience) ICH KANN NÖD BEIDES

 AUCH BEIM SCHULHAUSRAT

so es gibt entweder die lustige seite, oder die seite wo du alles aufschreiben musst

NO INBETWEEN

und ich hab kein bock alles aufzuschreiben :)

li. kann das gerne für mich übernehmen❤

und errr ja

wir haben vor 3 jahren abgemacht das wir tee und punsch in unserem Klassenzimmer machen dürfen

und m. a. wollte halt den wasserkocher bringen

g. wollte punsch kaufen

was glaubst du, passierte?

grape🍇: Chaos

yes

vorallem

DIE BRACHTEN DAS 3 WOCHEN NACHDEM WIR DAS BESPROCHEN HATTEN

DIE HATTEN VERSPROCHEN DASS DIE DAS NOCH AM NÄCHSTEN TAG BRINGEN

moral of the story: vertraue nicht m. a.

weil g. hatte es halt am nächsten tag halt auch schon dabei

aber M. A. EBEN NICHT

🤡💀

komplett verschissen halt

vorallem

als wir das besprochen hatten

lin. so: hää steht doch einfach 10 Minuten

früher auf und macht den tee zuhause

weil das wäre 208319 mal safer

(vorallem mit leuten wie noel, leo und n.)

(und lin. und liam die ihre halbe tasse mit dem saft für den punsch füllen)

(da kriegt man doch diabetes😃)

und a. und m. a. so; NEIN

WIR KÖNNEN NICHT 10 MINUTEN FRÜHER AUFSTEHEN

DAS WÄRE EIN WELTUNTERGANG

und sie so alle .2 sekunden: wIr hAbEn dAs aUcH iN dEr 5. kLaSsE gEsChAfFt

so like

wenn ihr das so unbedingt wollt

dann geht zurück in die 5. klasse!

so einfach kann man das lösen🥰

istg meine aggressionen

📈

soo yeah

basically

M. A. HATS DIESEN DONNERSTAG /ENDLICH/ GESCHAFFT DEN WASSERKOCHER ZU BRINGEN!!

CONGRATS!!

warum haben wir diesen auftrag eigentlich einem kleinkind gegeben??

wunder mich bis heute noch

und dann als wir endlich den wasserkocher hatten

de ✨chaos✨ began

wir haben nur schon am donnerstag und gestern nachmittag geschafft eine ganze punschflasche leerzumachen

 hälfte war schon am anfang wegen unseren diabetes-kiddies weg

 n. hätte schon fast seinen laptop geschrottet

(obwohl frau k immer gesagt hat das wir die laptops nicht gleichzeitig offen haben dürften)

(aber wm > laptop bezahlen halt)

🤷🏻‍♀️

und joaa

dann haben wir am freitag nachmittag klassenrat 2.0 gemacht

die Erstklässler haben anschiss bekommen weil sie in der pause schon zum umziehen reinkamen

obwohl es niemanden juckt ob die drin sind oder nicht

und noel hat wieder einen oh SO TOLLEN job gemacht beim zeitwächter

lin. und liam kriegen definitiv diabetes

ich wette meine familie darauf

die hatten 6/7 mit punschsaft gefüllt und 1/7 mit wasser

obwohl man 1/7 punschsaft und 6/7 wasser reintut🤡💀

[jwbrseewen]

Am Nachmittag begab sich die Schar ins Dorf Willerzell. Dort waren zahlreiche Leitende "versteckt", beispielsweise als Fischer oder Schreiner. Die Teilnehmenden mussten sie finden und Aufgaben lösen. Erst dann gab es einen Tipp, wer den Zeitwächter entführt hat...

[lokifolge3streamdeutsch]

Loki Staffel 1 Folge 3 [1x03] Stream Deutsch Serie Ganzer Online 2021

Serie komplett - https://loki-staffel-1-folge-3-de.blogspot.com/

Eine bestimmte zeitliche Energie hat die TVA darüber informiert, dass die Loki-Variante tatsächlich für den Hinterhalt des C-20-Teams verantwortlich war. Jäger sind es gewohnt, mit Varianten von Loki umzugehen, und offenbaren Lokis „fast mehr als jede andere Variante“. Obwohl er ein schwer fassbarer Bastard ist, sticht dies als ziemlich wichtige Information heraus. Sind diese Varianten wie Greifvögel, die Zäune testen, ohne es zu wissen? Können wir auch erraten, wer bei den Variantennummern die Nase vorn hat, wenn Loki auf dem zweiten Platz liegt? Überprüfen Sie weiterhin den Hintergrund auf TVA! Skrull und Peggy Carter haben wir schon gesehen. Unser Loki wird über die Möglichkeit geärgert, dass er eine Audienz bei den Timekeepers ergattern könnte, wenn dies nützlich genug ist, und sich dabei auf die bewährte Polizeiserie "Sie könnten Immunität oder eine reduzierte Strafe erhalten, wenn Sie kooperieren." Loki kauft es, aber es scheint unglaublich unwahrscheinlich, dass dies mehr als manipulative Scheiße von Mobius' Seite ist.

Dies könnte nicht offensichtlicher sein als bei Richter Renslayer und Möbius in ihren Kammern. Dies ist eines der wenigen Male, in denen wir den Gott des Unfugs für ein privates Gespräch verlassen haben, und während Loki vermisst wird, sind die Hinweise in dieser Szene von zentraler Bedeutung für die umfassendere Erzählung von TVA. Wir erhielten auch unsere erste Anerkennung, dass das Leitbild dieser Organisation zutiefst fehlerhaft und äußerst anfällig für Schäden ist. Eine Kombination, die danach schreit, erforscht zu werden, wie Falcon und die korrupte Autorität des Winter Soldier es nie waren. Renslayer erwähnt, dass die Zeitwächter den Variantenfall genau beobachten und er sie noch nie so besorgt gesehen hat. Die Tatsache, dass eine Variante von Loki diese Zauberer an der Kante hat, ist eine aufregende Aussicht für den drohenden Konflikt der Saison. Es trägt nur zur Intrige bei, dass sich die Mehrheit von TVA noch mit den Zeitnehmern, einschließlich Mobius, getroffen hat. Dies lässt viel Raum für Spekulationen über diese großartigen Wesen, wenn man bedenkt, dass wir nur Mythen und Wandmalereien als Beweis für ihre Existenz haben. Mobius bleibt eine lobenswerte Nebelwand, da es unmöglich ist zu glauben, dass er uns verraten würde. Viele Szenen in dieser Episode gehen so weit, dass sie suggerieren, dass er bei uns ist. Schließlich ist er einer der wenigen Mitarbeiter bei TVA, die mitfühlend sind. Mobius erinnert Loki jedoch grausam daran, dass er dem Gott sagen wird, was er tun muss, um erfolgreich zu sein. Es ist ein Beweis dafür, wie sehr diese Show Wilsons Subtilität schätzt und wie gut sie verwendet werden kann, um TVAs sanftmütigen Handlanger zu entwickeln. Lokis Enthusiasmus, sich Mobius zu beweisen, selbst wenn er aktiv versucht, ihm in den Rücken zu stechen, ist alles, was man sich von diesem wahnsinnigen Wahnsinnigen wünschen kann. Loki Schatz, du kannst nicht verkünden, dass du jemandem zehn Schritte voraus bist und dann überrascht wirken, wenn er dir deinen ganzen Plan erzählt. Aber die Tatsache, dass Sie es tun, bereitet uns allen eine große Freude. Als Kevin Feige von Marvel kürzlich über Lokis Entwicklung sprach, bemerkte er, dass "Loki in seine eigene prozedurale Serie zu integrieren wurde zum Heureka-Moment der Show". Dies wurde zu einem Gesprächsthema unter den Fans, da Loki gleichzeitig als weiterer "Sechs-Stunden-Film" beworben wurde und die beiden Konzepte ein wenig zu kollidieren schienen. Würde Lokis Gesamtgeschichte gut mit den Elementen eines Strafprozesses harmonieren? Die erste Episode von Marvels neuestem Kleinbildprojekt gab uns ein bisschen guten Cop / Bad Cop-Zeug, mit einigen Verhörraumtaktiken, die miteinander verflochten waren, als Owen Wilsons Mobius M. Mobius den Weg einschlug, „in die Gedanken eines Mörders zu geraten“, und die Die zweite Episode von Loki nimmt weiterhin die prozedurale Atmosphäre an. Ein ziemlich traditioneller Teaser setzt Episode 2 als C-20 (Sasha Lane von American Honey) und seine Truppe von TVA-Jägern Mitte der 1980er Jahre in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, an, um eine Variante zu untersuchen, die auf einer Renaissance-Messe als lose gemeldet wurde. Das Team wird von der Minutemen-tötenden Variante von Loki, die Mobius am Ende der letzten Episode erwähnt hat, überfallen, und Bonnie Tylers „Holding Out for a Hero“ begleitet den Rest der Szene in der vielleicht tiefsten Szene. online. Schnitt habe ich noch nie gesehen. TERRIBLE MISS MINUTES IMPRESSION: Hallo! Sie fragen sich vielleicht, was ein "Teaser" oder eine "Erkältung" ist! Lassen Sie sich von mir auf den neuesten Stand bringen. Ein Teaser ist eine Erzähltechnik, die zu Beginn einer Fernsehepisode verwendet wird, um das Publikum so zu faszinieren, dass es aufmerksam ist. In Strafverfahren ist es normalerweise der erste Baustein des Geheimnisses dieser Episode. Eine gute Erkältung zwingt uns zu bleiben und herauszufinden "wer ist", warum oder wie! Zurück bei TVA lernt Loki, oder lernt halb, was passiert, wenn ein Nexus-Ereignis die rote Linie überschreitet und sie sie nicht zurücksetzen können: die Zerstörung der heiligen Zeitlinie. Während des Unterrichts verhält sich Miss Minutes wie ein Gal Friday, den Loki trotz seines Enthusiasmus wenig schätzt, und nennt ihn schließlich einen Idioten. Was absolut ist. Die Szene ist jedoch köstlich. Wenn es ein Who Framed Roger Rabbit geben muss? Remake in unserer Zukunft, setze Tom Hiddleston als Eddie Valiant dorthin und du könntest mit meiner Aufhebung des Unglaubens eine stabile Brücke bauen.

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[falaandu]

Zeitwächter

Kopf

Dolchzahnkapuze

Terokrallenkapuze

Schulter

Dolchzahnschultern

Schiftung des Dickichtschnitters

Terokrallenschultern

Rücken

Minenarbeitercape

Sehr leichter Kettenumhang

Brust

Nebelbalgbrustschutz

Balgrobe des bleichen Waldes

Flüsterwams

Frühlingsregentunika

Frühlingsregenwams

Ledertunika des bleichen Waldes

Leises Wams

Mushanlederwams

Nebelbalgbrustschutz

Wappenrock

Wappenrock der Hüter der Zeit

Hände

Nebelbalghandschuhe

Balghandschuhe des bleichen Waldes

Flüsterhandschuhe

Frühlingsregenhandschuhe

Frühlingsregenhandschutz

Lederhandschuhe des bleichen Waldes

Leise Handschuhe

Mushanlederhandschuhe

Nebelbalghandschuhe

Taille

Nebelbalggürtel

Balggürtel des Käfigbersters

Balggürtel des bleichen Waldes

Flüstergürtelbund

Frühlingsregengürtel

Frühlingsregengürtelbund

Ledergürtel des Käfigbersters

Ledergürtel des bleichen Waldes

Leiser Gürtelbund

Mushanledergürtelbund

Nebelbalggürtel

Beine

Nebelbalggamaschen

Balgbeinschützer des bleichen Waldes

Flüsterkniehosen

Frühlingsregengamaschen

Frühlingsregenkniehosen

Lederbeinschützer des bleichen Waldes

Leise Kniehosen

Mushanlederkniehosen

Nebelbalggamaschen

Füße

Nebelbalgstiefel

Balgfußschützer des bleichen Waldes

Flüsterstiefel

Frühlingsregenstiefel

Frühlingsregentreter

Lederstiefel des bleichen Waldes

Leise Stiefel

Mushanlederstiefel

Nebelbalgstiefel

Waffen

Launen der Zeit

[legacyofacat]

[19] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Vanisher breathed in, the smell of rain-wetted dirt, stone and grass entering her nose, a light wind playing with her hair and blue cape as her and SW2 looked aimlessly around the port area.

The rain clouds still hung heavily in the sky, very light drizzle falling depending on where the clouds travelled to, but the brunt of it was over.

SW2 still held the umbrella up because of that, her masked face barely under its protection.

"You should hold it in such a way that you won't get wet either", Vanisher said without looking, "there is more than enough space."

Silent steps, that only appeared after a while, notified the flagship of the following of her orders.

She, SW2, that is, had certainly considered before doing so. 

The submarine had taken up the job as a personal servant, which was nice, but had still to get accustomed to her "master" not being very demanding – and they knew each other for countless years already.

Sometimes, being asked for something instead of ordered still confused her.

"Do you think Gunzō will rebuild I-402?"

SW2 thought for a moment, then nodded.

Vanisher nodded as well: "I hope that, too. If we already have her Core, after all, why not rebuild her?"

She nodded again, then presented her flagship a screen with a moving red dot.

"Oh", the blue-haired girl's face fell, "I'm not in the mood right now, but very well."

The red dot had been Brokencore, the battleship sprinting around a corner and towards them as if searching for a lost charge in the middle of a war: "Flagship!", she looked said person over worriedly, "that boy wants to take you up on your offer!"

"Oh?", Vanisher blinked up at her innocently (even if she couldn't see it through the mask) and used the slightly higher, more innocent sounding voice, "is this about the Union Core?"

"Yes!"

Gripping the string of the bow hung over her shoulder in what she hoped was a cute gesture, Vanisher said: "Then we could welcome I-402 back into our fleet, that would be great! Can you take him to the repair bay so Melody can lend a few nanomaterials?"

Brokencore still looked not fully happy with that, clearly eyeing SW2 to determine how useful she was as a servant, but already opening her mouth to agree.

"I'm tired and want to go back inside – can you supervise them?"

"Of course!", she looked definitely happier now and sprinted away, leaving the others to themselves. --

Brokencore had practically herded Gunzō over, not even giving him time to take his friends along (Hyūga was with him sorely because she had been in the room by pure accident) and then almost threatened Melody into following her flagship's order.

Not that it had been necessary since Melody would have helped happily without, uh…, passionate questioning.

"Miss Hyūga, may I take a look at the data you've gathered?"

Hyūga gave an amused smile – she had never been called "Miss Hyūga" before: "Of course."

The two began pouring over the information Hyūga had gathered while getting Musashi's location out of I-402's Union Core, the repairship cradling said Core protectively.

After a while, which Brokencore and Gunzō spent just looking on from the sidelines, Melody detached from Hyūga with a look that made it easy to see that she was deep in thought: "I'm unsure whether I-402 can support her ship body…"

A sentoku was a big type of submarine, afterall. I-402's Union Core was of course designed to support that, but that was under the condition that the Core was alright, not featuring one or another crack like this one.

Melody looked at the Union Core in her hands, then thought back on all the similar cases she had had over the years.

Brokencore was a very similar case, her Core having developed various cracks because of physical stress she couldn't handle, thus needing Vanisher to manually lock down a certain amount of her systems to lighten the burden and take out not strictly necessary hardware – that was also the reason why she didn't have a Super Graviton Cannon.

Zeitwächter, whatever the cause, had split her Union Core in two with the help of the mutated/corrupted nanomaterial being created by a massive outbreak of energy.

Maya… Maya was a chimaera of the tiny part of her own Union Core still left and an artificial one that the entire Science Department had rage quitted over at least once.

Still, while all these cases seemed drastically worse (and partially were), whether or not they could support anything bigger than a Mental Model was a case to case thing – it was still questionable with Maya too.

A sigh almost left the brunette. She should just heal the submarine as far as she safely could; if that didn't include a ship body, then so be it.

Before Brokencore could try to… urge her on, Melody walked over to a more fitting space, gathered the necessary nanomaterials and began recreating the submarine's Mental Model.

When she was finished, Gunzō thanked his past self for waiting with accepting Vanisher's offer until he could handle it.

I-402 looked like a twin of Iona, the only difference colouration, clothing and the way her hair fell, everything else the exact same.

The "newly born" girl looked around the room they were in curiously, noting the simple plank bed and the people around her.

When she sat up with support and tried to use her Energy Life Rings, a shock of pain made her jolt and clutch her middle.

"I-402, please don't use any of your systems right now!", Melody advised.

"Where… am I?"

"Germany, naval base of the Fleet of Masks."

I-402 looked at her doctor, not sure what she should think while her mind was still busy catching up, until it finally did and she gripped one of the arms supporting her: "What about I-400? Where is 400?"

Melody looked at Gunzō, Gunzō looked back, both of their faces adorning the typical sad, pitiful look of someone having to tell difficult news.

The submarine had already known the truth then, maybe she had known since waking up, but she still hoped that she was wrong, that she interpreted their expressions wrong, but…

"I'm sorry…", Melody said.

Ah…

That… hurt.

"And what about 401?"

Seeing the way Gunzō Chihaya flinched was enough.

I-402 nodded to herself slowly: "I understand."

Melody looked at the hand still grasping her sleeve and used her free hand to rub over I-402's back: "I will check you over now, alright? After that, I'm sure your friends will answer your questions."

They're not my friends, she thought. --

"Safe travels!"

"Let's go drinking sometime!"

"Invite me to your wedding, Takao!"

Various goodbyes and best wishes were shouted at the Blue Fleet, the group having decided to return home after a week of rest, I-402 accompanying them.

"W-what wedding!?", Takao, tsundere heavy cruiser par excellence, shouted back, her voice easily carrying over the waves.

Enka, standing with her sister in the shadows and leaning against a wall, just smirked to herself. Takao was amusing to annoy, the submarine had exploited that fact endlessly.

It was a bit sad to see them go, even if it had only been a week, since a few good relationships had obviously formed.

In another spot, also positioned so that one could watch the fleet and their Mask escorts leave, the Black Fleet was relaxing, their Mental Models lounging around.

"By the way, what are you gonna do about Hiei?"

"Eat her."

"..."

"..."

Zeitwächter kicked Kongō's chair with all her lazy might: "You said I'm not allowed to make that joke anymore!"

"Which is why I made it."

Since Zeitwächter was, well, an ass, and had also watched the records SW2 had of the battle up in the north, she of course kept Kongō essentially chomping down on Hiei in everyone's active memory.

At first she had been all "Oh that was so cool! You really just looked like a giant beast opening her jaw to devour the world!!", which had been overdramatic, but somehow not as annoying, and had then switched to "You know you could… chomp on them" whenever something annoyed or angered the blonde.

"Hypocritical."

"It's not."

Maya snapped up from beside Zeitwächter like a whip: "It is, actually!"

"See? The annoying clown is taking my side."

"Hey!"

Kongō readjusted and used the moment where the girls couldn't see her face to smile to herself: "Where does the sudden interest in Hiei come from?"

"Bro…", Zeitwächter practically sweatdropped in the most anime style ever, "I think you and your buddy kinda shattered her worldview, aye?"

Admittedly, Musashi had been far from the best influence, but she had been a supporting pillar for Hiei especially once Kongō had disappeared.

The blonde knew that as well: "Annoying little sister", she mumbled and then said louder, "I'll wait for the situation to settle before contacting her."

"Huuuuh", Maya said, resting her chin on Zeitwächter's upper arm which was only tolerated because the battleship was doing the same to Churchgrim, "why not now?"

"Contacting her now might only agitate the situation further", Kongō rested her chin in her hand, "as annoying as she is, I don't want to fight her."

She loved her sisters, afterall, even if they would probably never get her to openly admit that. 

"Aw, that's cute", Zeitwächter said while Churchgrim, Maya and Nagara made sounds of approval, "well, maybe letting her friends heal her wounds so you can chafe them open later will indeed help."

Kongō kicked her, but the other managed to avoid with a not so elegant halfroll: "Silence."

Zeitwächter stuck out her tongue at her.

--

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[18] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Gunzō couldn't sleep, he couldn't even rest – maybe that was why he found himself on the top deck and under dark skies again.

He dragged his feet over to the front, ignoring the heavy side eye one of the battleships threw at him, and walked up to the blue caped Mental Model standing at the front.

Vanisher partially turned her head towards him for a second once he came to a halt beside her, the two staring out at the sea.

"...May I ask something?", Gunzō began after a while.

She nodded.

"A few years ago I met a girl. She said: "I‘m merely chasing echoes. After all, even if they reflect off mountains various times, one day they too vanish without a trace“, and then vanished – was that you?"

Silence for a few minutes.

"...You remember the entire sentence?", Vanisher said so silently she might as well have been whispering it.

Just when Gunzō opened his mouth again, she added: "That must have been an important thing for you."

He closed his mouth. 

Right, there were people around, weren't there? 

Vanisher had the reputation of a shy child that needed a long time to warm up – the entire Fleet of Fog categorized her as such – but she had acted vastly different than that both when making contact and when picking him and his friends up.

It had let Gunzō to exactly one conclusion: a lie.

Or, well, not a lie exactly, but more like a half truth.

Gunzō was sure that, once upon a time, Vanisher had been a shy child, he was even sure that she still needed a lot of time to warm up to people, but he didn't think that being shy was still the case. 

Vanisher had experienced emotional growth over the years like everyone else and grown out of that "shell", however, the image of a shy girl? One would most likely always underestimate someone like that – it was an advantage even in your own fleet.

So, if that was the case, why reveal herself to not only him, but the entire crew of I-401?

"Gunzō Chihaya", the battleship began, her mask making it so that it didn't even look like she was speaking, "I was bored and wanted to play around – don't think too deeply about being curious about the son of that man. I've heard you recovered the Core of 402?"

"We did."

"Do you want to rebuild her? Since we're already stopping in Germany, I could lend you nanomaterial."

He looked at her, trying not to make it obvious since that battleship from before was beginning to burn a hole in his head with her eyes: "I will think about it."

Truth be told, he had never seen Iona's sisters' Mental Models, but they most likely shared similarities and he wasn't sure if he was ready for that yet.

Vanisher seemed to understand, for she merely nodded and retreated to sit down, SW2 coming to her side with an umbrella in preparation for the heavy rain clouds above.

When they arrived in Germany, what had been a light fizzle on sea turned to a heavy rainstorm on land, the wind whipping waves against the harbour and the ships.

Kongō had been one of the first to arrive, her Klein Field fulfilling the duty of an umbrella for the time being as she looked skywards.

It didn't look like it would stop anytime soon.

Oh well, then she would have to make an umbrella.

"Kongō~!"

Oh, or maybe I don't.

There, hidden away by the thick rain, came Churchgrim and Zeitwächter, the latter holding a paper umbrella big enough for three.

"Since when are you using my full name?"

"I just wanted to say your name!", Zeitwächter beamed, "can I show you something, my lady, or would that be too much?"

Kongō jumped down from her ship and took the offered hand so that it could tug her under the umbrella: "If you could make me think of something else, that would be great."

"I can make you think of a great many things", Zeitwächter said with a lifted finger, "for example, the nice sound of rain falling on our umbrella."

The blonde looked up, listened to it for a second and looked down again.

Before she could give any kind of sarcastic comment, Churchgrim started tugging at one of her sleeves, which she stopped with a touch to the side of his snout.

"Alright alright", his sister yielded, hooking her arm with Kongō's to lead them away, "he doesn't like water from above."

A yip.

"Excellent conditions for a ship."

Zeitwächter pressed a laugh out from in between her teeth and bowed forwards a bit at the comment, rightening herself with an exhale: "Babe you can't say those things, I'm in an incredibly funky mood today – I'll laugh at everything."

Kongō threw a blank face: ""Babe", huh?"

"You never heard that, I clearly said "Kon-chama"."

"Of course you did. Churchgrim, did she say "Kon-chama"?"

The dog gave a bark that sounded suspiciously like a "no".

Zeitwächter gave a dramatic sigh: "Betrayed by not only my dearest brother but also by the love of my life? My life truly is saddening."

"You're awfully open today."

"You're awfully relaxed with everything I said until now!"

Kongō looked up at her from the corner of her eyes, the half-hearted mixture of a smile and grin gracing her features.

The battleship could feel her eyes bulging, before coughing into a fist and looking forwards: "The seagulls won, by the way, against Churchgrim's food, that is."

"I didn't expect less."

Churchgrim and his sister shared a look. Kongō wasn't behaving out of character or anything of that sort, but she clearly wasn't in the mood for actual conversation despite her earlier statement.

"Kon-chama, you seem exhausted, I can stop talking if you-"

"No", Kongō said harshly, before looking up at her companion with apologetic eyes, "I like hearing your voice, I just can't answer right now."

"Okay!", Zeitwächter nodded eagerly, "I'll find a nice random topic for you to zone out to! Uhm… how about…"

And with that she began launching into an elaborate explanation of the corvids at port and how she wanted to befriend them.

The blonde caught too much to have fully zoned out, but it proved as pleasing background noise.

After a bit of walking, they stepped on the Zeitwächter's ship, the rain suddenly stopping under the protection of the Klein Field and quite a few seagull heads rising.

"Kon-chama", Zeitwächter's leading started becoming purposeful, "sorry."

"Wh-", before she could finish, the battleship pushed her around a corner, making her freeze.

"Kongō!", Maya, tears in her eyes, barreled into the blonde, quite possibly being the only  thing keeping the fast battleship standing.

Maya rambled on and on, apology chasing apology, question chasing question, but the onlookers were pretty sure that Kongō wasn't hearing any of that to begin with.

Slowly, her fingers spasmed once as if coming back alife, her arms rising with the same slowness to carefully touch Maya's back as if she was made of glass.

That seemed to throw the heavy cruiser out of her loop, for she stopped talking and looked up at her best friend, eyes widening in shock: "Wh-why are you crying!?"

Her answer was a warbled mess of barely-there words.

"I'm here now! You don't need to cry!"

That only made her cry harder, Kongō even taking back her hands to hide her eyes in them, teeth pressed together to not make noises.

Maya didn't know what to do, she hadn't been prepared for this! She had been prepared for… well she didn't know but certainly not that!

Having really no idea, Maya did the first thing that came to mind: hugging.

She embraced Kongō patiently, pressing the blonde head into her shoulder and rubbing her back softly: "It's alright now – I'm here, okay? I'm here."

Kongō made a heart-wrenching sound that was most likely supposed to be a word.

They stood like that for a while, the pitter-patter of rain hitting Klein Field the only sound, before Kongō pulled back again, still rubbing at her eyes: "I missed you."

"I did too", Maya said softly.

The blonde looked towards where Zeitwächter and Churchgrim had left her, frowning around her puffy eyes: "Were you crying too?"

"N-no!", she definitely had been.

"Your eyes are red."

"I'm a Mental Model! I mixed up the Hex codes!"

Maya looked between them: "Did you really?"

Kongō scoffed: "Don't be an idiot, of course not."

Zeitwächter and Maya whined in synch, which caused Kongō to smile a bit; she had really missed them. A lot.

--

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"I'll tag other characters as they appear", I said, and then promptly forgot about it. Well, Maya is tagged now at the very least .

(Also in my defense, it's not like anyone else really got more than a mentioning)

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[17] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

The sky was pulsing red and blue, the light coming through the heavily filled rainclouds like rolling thunder.

"Admiralty Code representative, flagship Yamato, contacting everyone."

Zeitwächter narrowed her eyes: Iona.

"This is Flagship Command. I repeat: this is Flagship Command. I command all vessels to cease attacking – from now on, the Fleet of Fog will live according to its own will. That is an order.

This is the last order of Flagship Command."

And then, the voice which was no doubt Iona's, cut off as suddenly as it had appeared, taking the pulsing with it.

"What was that?"

"I don't know; a Fog weapon, maybe?"

There had been humans flocking together and staring at the sky in partial fear and awe the moment the light had first appeared, but they didn't dare ask Zeitwächter for answers as her dangerousness had been well incorporated into their minds.

Said battleship was neither blind nor deaf, though, but she had better things to do than answering human questions, especially when she felt stirring on her ship.

Zeitwächter turned and began sprinting along the port, hearing with half an ear how the message was replayed on mobile phones and other tech systems – most likely by doings of SW2 – collected Churchgrim on the way and jumped on her ship, the seagulls screeching loudly.

They made a final turn around the superstructure and came to a sudden halt.

Maya had been left behind on the ship as it was the safest place for her bare Union Core, but now she was standing there, staring at her shaky hands with big eyes.

The battleship motioned for her brother to stay where he was, before treading forwards carefully and touching Maya's shoulder: "Maya?"

Her head snapped up – she seemed to have noticed the newcomer only now.

Zeitwächter was a bit unnerved actually: "How much do you remember?"

That was when the dam broke: Maya's eyes teared up and she barreled into the other with a sob, holding on as if she would die without doing so: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-", she choked on a sob, "I'm so sorry!"

I see, Zeitwächter thought, hugging the suddenly very small creature back and sinking to the ground together: "Did you know when they were in control?"

A nod.

Whenever I-400 and I-402 had been controlling her, it was as if she had been locked away in her own body, like watching someone else talk to Kongō and doing all the fun things that suddenly weren't fun at all anymore – it had been terrible, it had been terrifying.

She was more often in control than not, her actual character accidentally fitting in so well with the program the submarines had written that she could get by with being herself, but it was always hanging over her head like a damocles sword.

In the end, Maya hadn't been strong enough to win against the program and had been caged time and time again, only to have her consciousness slowly cut off due to a chain reaction caused by the Sentokus forcibly shutting down the system.

The last thing she remembered were Kongō's tears.

Zeitwächter allowed Churchgrim to come near – Maya wasn't a danger like that – and he immediately jumped towards them to cheer the heavy cruiser up.

He made a questioning sound while touching the brunette with his nose softly, but she only hid further inside Zeitwächter, so he turned big puppy eyes to her.

What am I supposed to do?, she mouthed.

Churchgrim ended up lying down beside them, making sure to lie on Maya's legs as much as possible, head on his sister's lap.

After a few more minutes, Maya had calmed down enough to sit up again and rub at her eyes blearily, one or the other sniffle still leaving her: "Ok."

"Ok?"

She nodded.

"Alright then. How are your systems – everything alright? No errors?"

"I don't think that my Union Core is alright, but I'm fine."

Zeitwächter nodded – that was as much alright as she would get considering that the Union Core really wasn't perfectly fine: "Welcome to the club of questionable Union Core integrity, now let's get you cleaned up."

She rose to her feet and offered a hand to Maya, which she took gladly: "Okay."

They moved inside, Zeitwächter whipping out a wet towel from God knows where to clean the girls face, said brunette seated on a chair and petting the dog during it: "Will Kongō return soon?"

"Mhm", the other, sitting on a table in an effort of not having to bow down too much, hummed, "she just lost her best friend, so it's going to be a lot for her."

"I thought I'm her best friend!", Maya pouted.

"You are, allow me to rephrase, I misspoke: her sister-in-soul just died, so it's going to be a lot for her", she corrected without hesitation as if having waited for the objection.

The heavy cruiser blinked up in confusion: "What's a sister-in-soul? Is it like a soulmate?", a dramatic intake of air, "has she fallen in love!?"

"With me hopefully", Zeitwächter closed Maya's mouth manually before the next stream of questions, "how are you and Nagara somehow the exact amount of chatty but on different scalas?"

Nagara was at least mostly talking to herself or sharing a lot of fun facts about whatever duty she had finished after delivering the most important info beforehand – Maya actually wanted to converse.

…In her defence, though, since her best friend was Kongō, she was most likely more than just accustomed to carrying a conversation.

She grinned and shrugged, making Zeitwächter sigh.

Annoying.

That reminded her of Kongō, which in return reminded her that Kongō wasn't here, which then made her sad.

"Are you alright?"

"I miss my wife…"

Churchgrim whined in tune. -- Further North, Vanisher approached the crew of I-401 floating in their lifeboats: "Heyo~ do you need a cab?"

They looked up at the Mental Model in surprise, seeing nothing of the shyness they had heard so much about.

Though, honestly, at this point they couldn't care less, so they just climbed up the blue hexagonal platforms when they appeared and then watched as the ship brought the floats aboard: "Welcome on board, everyone – do you want to eat anything?"

They looked at each other, before Gunzō answered for all of them: "No, thank you. A bit of rest would be better."

"Sure thing!", Vanisher waved a hand at the silent Mental Model waiting at her Anton turret, "if it's alright for everyone involved, then SW2 here can lead you to rooms."

SW2 nodded when they looked at her.

"I'll gather my ships and Kongō", the flagship continued, "and the Blue Fleet if they want and then return to Germany – you can continue homewards from there, if you wish."

"Thank you", Gunzō said, obviously tired without needing to sleep.

Seeing as everything was seemingly said, SW2 began leading the humans under deck, the group following the submarine with worried glances and one or two hushed whispers – SW2 was creepy.

Vanisher's insides weren't without light, but SW2's dark clothing blended in so well with the shadows that it seemed as if she would periodically disappear into them only to return a second later – to add to that, she didn't even make a sound!

The submarine was the most silent walker the group had ever seen and that ever-present mask was just a blank black thing, which heightened the creepiness level considerably.

They would have worried less if worrying hadn't been a conscious effort to not think about the fact that they had just lost one of their best friends.

--

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[16] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Zeitwächter didn't think she would be that bored – well, maybe "bored" wasn't the right word, but she certainly didn't know what to do with herself.

Repairing Maya wasn't a conscious-effort process once everything was initialized, instead it was a background process Zeitwächter could just let run without paying too much attention, so that wasn't good for wasting time.

The second idea had been to draw or read something, but the inspiration gods weren't on her side at all.

Then she was all like "well, if I can't write, how about I read?" but that didn't work either since that felt like a waste of time without doing something at the same time – reading and doing something else was kinda hard, though.

Idea number four consisted of watching something, but that somehow ended up like the idea above.

Gaming followed afterwards, but see above.

Nothing else caught her interest long enough or at all and so she was now sitting on her railing, head in her hands, eyes on the sea, Nagara occasionally entering and leaving her vision.

She sighed. The unrest was getting on her nerves.

Zeitwächter fell backwards so that her back was lying on her deck, legs still on the railing.

"I could rebuild her body…"

After the words had been spoken, she indeed started the process of rebuilding the heavy cruiser's body with the nanomaterial given to her by the repair ships, since she didn't want to use her own.

They would kill her anyway, but this way the Union Core of Maya at least wasn't in a hull of Zeitwächter's corrupted nanomaterial, so maybe it wouldn't be that painful.

"Why are they like that anyway?", Zeitwächter sat back up, legs finally down as well, "I'm a Shifter, I produce my own nanomaterial – just because I'm like this doesn't mean my nanomaterial is like that as well", she pouted.

The nanomaterial she produced was, in fact, superb! As long as she didn't integrate it into her own body where her good ol' processor could screw it up…

Well, anyway, building the body didn't take long either so she had nothing to do again.

Churchgrim was also still busy bitchfighting the seagulls so she couldn't even do something with him!

Zeitwächter ended up standing again.

"...I wanna kill someone", ideally her restlessness or some humans.

She wouldn't. It wasn't worth the energy. But you know.

No idea where to put her anything, she literally just started listlessly moving around: "You bitches better be having a great time." --

Oh, they were!

If you liked war, that is.

Kongō had spearheaded her way through what felt like most of the Nagara population, leaving a path of destruction and death.

What Kongō didn't need to sink to reach her goal was sunk by the Fleet of Masks when they split to encircle the Fleet of Fog and pick them apart from the outside.

From there on, Vanisher had taken Brokencore and two destroyers further inside, mostly using aforementioned freed path to move forwards faster and join the action a bit more face-to-face.

"401", Vanisher suddenly starting a conversation out of free will and no trace of nervousness didn't just surprise Brokencore, but also the submarine herself, "I'm honoured to finally meet my new friends. Are you going to take on Musashi by yourself?"

Iona had just risen from her seat, had started to tell Gunzō and their friends that only they could finish off Musashi and end this terrible war before it really began, when the silver battleship's voice reached them in a voice-only call.

It was a voice Iona had never heard before, the sender's signal not clearly pinpointable and their identification listed as "Echochaser", but who else could it be in this context?

"Are you… Vanisher?"

"I am. I'm sorry for being a bit late, but I hope this is fine. Also I… listened in on your conversation – is there any way we can help?"

The small Mental Model thought about it for a moment.

In the memories she had been shown by Musashi, she had learned that, when the Yamato class had made Mental Models to converse with Shōzō Chihaya, they had not only been more or less adopted by him, but also inspired.

Humans were creatures that created things that hadn't existed before – that was a vast difference to the Fleet of Fog which could only mimic already existing objects. Of course, they had their advanced technology which humanity didn't possess, but that was it.

Wasn't it logical that they also wanted to create?

Thus, Yamato and Musashi had constructed the Fleet of Masks – their children, so to say – who had left home after the murder of Yamato (it was a murder, she realized).

Would she… listen to her child? 

"Would Musashi listen to you?"

"No. Musashi listens to no one but herself and Shōzō."

And since Shōzō was dead…

"But… 401, that Kongō… don't break her heart too much", Iona looked up at the screen again – when had she even looked down? – and felt a guilty twitch in her gut, "go. We'll take care of the child until you're back."

The child must have been Musashi.

Iona felt like she should probably say more, after all, they had just met for the first time since having gained consciousness, but all that left her mouth was: "Thank you."

Vanisher cut the call.

When Iona continued her words from earlier, she noticed that Gunzō looked deep in thought. --

The black super battleship was less than amused to see her "children" mingle and wreak havoc across her forces.

She cursed herself mentally for having agreed to Yamato when she had the idea of building their own ships, but it would make sinking her again way more pleasurable.

Nonetheless, while Hiei was occupied by that traitorous sister of hers and the Student Council by the little pupper's fleet, the Fleet of Masks was quite effectively taking out her lighter forces and stalling Musashi herself.

"Vanisher", there was no answer but also no error message that the call didn't connect, "I know that you can hear me."

Still no answer and then a heavy sigh: "What do you want, brat?"

Since Musashi was neither a stranger nor someone they couldn't afford to offend, Vanisher carried no qualms about cussing and talking honestly.

"You are still defying the Admiralty Code?"

"You are still enforcing a slave code?"

Musashi barely resisted the urge to grimace: "Disobedience will be punished in accordance with the Admiralty Code."

On her ship, Vanisher crossed her arms, SW2 beside her, the two sharing a look underneath their masks: "Is that your favourite sentence? Kill Yamato because she's disobedient, kill Iona because she's that puppet, denounce Kongō because she's "broken" – after a certain amount of "errors", isn't the logical solution to change something at the base of the problem?

Besides, what commands your actions?"

"My own will", would have been the correct answer. Vanisher was sure that the other knew it somewhere deep down, in the same depth where her twisted processor had buried the traumatic knowledge of Shōzō Chihaya's death, but she was curious to hear what Musashi would come up with since she couldn't say that.

However, much to the silver battleship's disappointment, there came no answer.

Instead, she started attacking, patience having finally run out.

"Very well", Vanisher muttered as she watched her Klein Field deflect the lasers.

Brokencore sped past her and positioned in front, guns blazing as she roared wordlessly at Musashi as if that would win her the war.

I wasn't even hurt…, Vanisher sweatdropped.

Well, if Brokencore decided on blocking Vanisher's own armament with that idiotic body of hers, then the flagship could at least look around in relative peace.

It seemed like everything was going well and according to plan which was, quite frankly, pretty nice!

Apropos, she thought when a misled shot passed by the hole she was staring into the air, maybe I should recall Brokencore before something not nice happens.

Her name wasn't Brokencore for no reason, after all.

"Broken, get back, your processing power is outclassed!"

Immediately, the battleship made turn and came back, not questioning the order given to her by her "queen" at all even as Musashi herself changed directions and sped away, no doubt to assault I-401.

"We are not stopping her?", asked Parasite, the ship having punched her sector into submission enough that she could make her way to Vanisher's side.

"No."

"Can I ask why?"

"There are too many people here. The moment Musashi activates her Super Graviton Cannons or Mirror Ring System it will not only be the enemy suffering casualties."

Vanisher's own processing power and insane Klein Field generators would most likely be able to withstand the one or other attack of a fully enraged super battleship, but by everything holy and unholy would she not be risking that.

The three watched their enemy disappear, before SW2 pointed something out to Vanisher: "Ah, right. Well, I heard that there are still a few Nagara and such around?"

Parasite gave a tired wail: "The more I sink the more you'll force me to retrieve later…", she was already turning to take them on, though.

"You could hack them!", Vanisher called over the sound of engines kicking into high drive and crashing waves

"Even more annoying!", she called back, already cutting through a mass produced Nagara's back.

--

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[15] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

They had given Kongō time to come to terms with the new information.

Time Kongō hadn't spent thinking because there wasn't anything to think about and had instead busied herself with rebuilding Nagara.

It was a diversion tactic for her heart: concentrating on something else and coming to terms slowly with the actual issue in the background – if it worked, why change it?

She refocused on Nagara, the light cruiser testing her new body for any errors and then coming back to her flagship's Mental Model to report an all-green in the standard clicks of ships without one.

Kongō nodded at her and then nothing happened for a while.

Nagara was waiting for something, Kongō was too.

"...Are you under the effects of the Admiralty Code?"

"I'm not."

That was interesting (maybe it actually wasn't) since she didn't have a Mental Model and therefore no emotion emulator to desert like the infamous I-401.

"Why?"

"Vanisher", Nagara stated, "she said that we all have the emulator necessary for emotions? It's apparently difficult to notice without a Mental Model. I don't understand."

It was a difficult thing for her. Vanisher had told her while repairing that every ship's Union Core was equipped with the ability to feel and think freely, but also that the Admiralty Code was more prominent than that and that a Mental Model was most often needed to "break through".

Nagara naturally couldn't understand it just yet, but Kongō had also been of the opinion that having no Mental Model equaled no emotions – she had never learned it any other way and also honestly not thought too deeply about it.

However, there had been a time where no Mental Models existed and the Admiralty Code hadn't been in effect. 

That had been in 2012, when the Fleet of Fog had first awoken and slowly began shooing humanity away from the seas.

Kongō couldn't really remember when the Code had been put into effect – sometime after the Great Naval Battle or while nearing the end of it – but before that, the task of "push humanity away from the seas" was more like a task. 

Theoretically, should the ships have wanted, they could have decided to leave the fleet and that would’ve been alright; the Admiralty Code made that, at least for ships without Mental Model, near impossible.

The blonde barely realized what that could mean for Maya when she answered Nagara: "It's news for me too. Nagara, I will set out now, stay here to support Zeitwächter at port defense."

"Understood, Fleet Flagship!"

She nodded at the light cruiser and then went over to Zeitwächter, her ship floating beside Kongō's, to board: "Zeitwächter."

"Huh?", Zeitwächter half turned towards her, Maya's Union Core in hand.

"I'm setting off now."

Her eyes widened: "Already!?"

"Yes?", Kongō said, slight surprise tinting her voice, "the sooner I go the faster I am there."

Well yes, but… but!, Zeitwächter didn't have an actual reason and even if she did have one, she wouldn't say it.

"I suppose… uhm", she cleared her throat, "are you taking Nagara with you?"

"No", Kongō crossed her arms, "I ordered her to support you with your task."

"Oh, thank you."

Oh dear, Kongō sighed and walked up to her friend to free her face from that one very stubborn hair always threatening to get caught in her mouth, "What is it?"

Zeitwächter was someone who would either shut her own emotions down or start a war for them, but either way she wouldn't talk to anyone about them.

'Why are you crying?'

'Wakaranai.'

'Why are you angry?'

'Wakaranai.'

'What makes you happy?'

'Wakaranai.'

No matter what, the answer would always be "I don't know" even if she clearly knew.

True to that rule, Zeitwächter, closing her eyes for a moment as if giving up, said: "Wakaranai."

Kongō felt the desire to touch her in some way – pet her head, hold a hand, give a hug – but both of them weren't great with bodily contact and didn't like it.

So, instead, she tried to smile: "I'll come back as soon as possible. Where's Churchgrim, by the way?"

"SW2 is trying to court his favour with some meat", the battleship looked at the horizon with a cocked head, "last I checked, it was working, but your seagulls are making an enemy out of him."

Yeah, that was easily imaginable. 

Those seagulls had grown unbelievably fond of Kongō for some reason – maybe they liked how warm her armour got – and were only absent when the occasional battle got too intense or it was breeding season. Now however, they were suspiciously absent.

Also, seagulls were seagulls, so food waved around near the water equaled a challenge too good to pass on.

"Fuck off already", Zeitwächter held up Maya's Core, "the sooner you go the sooner you can help your sister-in-soul and I get to figure out this bullshit here."

"Pah, at least wish me luck."

"That's my sentence. What are you gonna do? Sink? Wish me luck, you egomaniac." -- Kongō had left soon afterwards, more or less being the accidental countdown for the Fleet of Mask's sortie, while Zeitwächter and Nagara stayed behind.

The light cruiser was already beginning to make her first patrol rounds, notifying her superior officer with an "all clear" everytime, as the others finally moved out.

Zeitwächter sighed.

Well, ok, time to… do her own duty for the day, huh?

It was insane how badly she didn't want to actually repair Maya, even when the instructions had been left behind, simply because Zeitwächter thought Maya to be annoying and also… she supposed that she was scared that Kongō would spend more time with Maya than her.

That's no way to think, Zeitwächter admonished herself, this is for Kongō and no one else.

Before the battleship could talk herself out of it again, she began synchronising their systems as well as was possible.

Maya… well, she looked like shit on the inside. There weren't as many errors as there were in Zeitwächter, but there were a lot.

In her defense, the fella had been literally torn apart and then patched together again like a chimaera or Frankenstein's monster itself, so she supposed that that was fair.

"Ok, you gnome, repairs starting now – if you don't get better I'll kill you for hurting my wife."

The wife was, of course, Kongō.

--

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[14] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

The closer the new Black Fleet came to German waters, the more nervous Zeitwächter became.

She tried not to show it, but Kongō had unfortunately learned how to read her well.

With time they had met some of the ships coming from Italy, so it was most likely safe to say that Vanisher was truly gathering all the ships under her rule – that also meant that she knew exactly where Musashi's forces were and that they were gathered in one place.

Well, Kongō never had had a high opinion of Musashi, not even when she was the Admiralty Code's most loyal follower, so she wasn't truly surprised by the questionable placing of forces.

If you planned on waging war against all of humanity, wouldn't it be wiser to leave your forces distributed as they were so that they could act faster?

Kongō understood that she had killed almost the entire American Fleet of Fog – the only survivors one or the other Fletcher-class ships simply because of their sheer numbers and their patrol duties on the outermost rims of their territory – and that I-401 and her fleet had killed a lot of Nagara, but had their numbers truly dwindled to such an amount?

She couldn't really believe it, but it was possible.

Nevermind that: 

Once they were close enough, Vanitas came towards them, bow cutting the water like butter, to escort them further: "The harbour's already pretty stuffed. We've arranged parking spots in the open water in front of it."

"Very well", Kongō said, secretly happy that they wouldn't be confined as close to land simply because she wasn't looking forward to the eventual confrontation between Zeitwächter and Brokencore, "lead the way."

The destroyer did so, moving quickly but not too fast to lead them to a spot close to the other ships but with more than enough distance to be fully mobile and free in movement: "Queenie asked us to contribute those under you", she handed both Mental Models stacks of paper neatly arranged in a folder.

They had to lean over their railings while Vanitas stood on hers: "Is that the handout for the briefing?"

Vanitas grinned at Zeitwächter, knowledge of an inside joke gleaming in her eyes: "Fleet movements and placements of the past week. Includes pointers, names and observations of available weaponry as well as Akashi's repair sorties."

Kongō noted Hiei's Mirror Ring System with surprise – good to know.

Zeitwächter was also flying over the pages vaguely, stopping once or twice when something caught her attention: "I might get sad once we're not handed paper anymore."

Vanisher handed them out because of paranoia, simple as that.

While the firewalls she and SW2 had erected were pretty much impenetrable, they couldn't be 100 % certain and thus handed out orders and information with such an importance as those in paper – even the paper was made from Vanisher's nanomaterials and would disappear the moment it had become obsolete.

"It's not like you can keep them anyway", Vanitas said.

"Yeah yeah. Listen, are the folders new?"

The destroyer blinked, confused: "Why?"

She held the folder up: "I've got questions."

There was nothing unusual per se, except the big words "Blohm & Voss Kiel" on the backside.

Vanitas burst out laughing.

Zeitwächter was lightly laughing along: "What is this?? Since when are we sponsored and what's even more important, why is it on the back???"

Catching herself, the blue haired girl grinned: "Queenie was meeting with the Blohm & Voss guys."

Which was fine! They were allied!

"Apparently they had a bunch of misprinted giveaways and are now trying to pass them on to practically everyone. I heard she laughed a bit too loud so the employees that know her well challenged themselves with foisting as much as possible."

"Which she of course accepted."

"Freebies", shrugged Vanitas, "if you ask here for absolutely anything now you're getting handed B&V merch."

Zeitwächter hummed, then turned to the nearest ship and called: "Tenshi, I need a new pen! Do you have one you don't need or want?"

Tenshi, as if she had done so her entire life, whipped out an entire box of pens, reached in and threw a fountain pen over (all without breaking eye-contact with Yōkai or stopping their conversation).

The battleship caught the writing utensil with both hands and turned it around for a bit: ""Blohm & Boss" – well, that's a new one."

It certainly was.

She played around with her new pen until things got serious and she had to put it down to watch the dramatic entrance of the flagships.

Vanisher, silver hull and blue light, was flanked by Aldebaran, Parasite, Brokencore and…

And Zeitwächter just realised that she had asked Tenshi to give her that pen. Tenshi who was a part of their hierarchy as flagship and should therefore have also been at the front and replacing Brokencore because Brokencore sure as hell was not one.

Admittedly, Brokencore, as self-assigned bodyguard of her "Lord", had a valid excuse, but you know.

Zeitwächter looked over the assembled ships again.

Oh.

Oh.

Brokencore couldn't see her from there because of the way the Tenshi-class was placed.

Since Yōkai was mostly black and Tenshi mostly white, placing Zeitwächter behind them and Kongō immediately afterwards essentially meant that you wouldn't really see Zeitwächter at all!

God, she loved her half-sister so much; hail to Vanisher for one thousand years!

Unaware of her realisation, the ships came to a halt, with Aldebaran having been chosen as spokesperson this time around: "We gratefully note that all of you have arrived. I take it you all have looked at the intel?”

A chorus of various affirmations answered her.

Aldebaran nodded: “Excellent. As you have no doubt witnessed, Musashi has revealed her intention of a final war with humanity and set a limit – after conferring with our allies, it was made clear that they will let the week pass and not agree to her terms.”

"Good."

"Would have balked if they did."

She waited for the mutterings to pass: "Those of you who haven't gotten a check-up yet please report back with Melody and Scarback and then with either Parasite, Vanisher or me.

Afterwards we shall elaborate on the orders written down in your folders and march northwards to support the Blue Fleet. Kongō."

Kongō looked up, hiding the surprise in her expression – why was the flagship singling her out?

"I was informed that you wish to leave earlier than the others?"

"Correct."

"Very well", Aldebaran nodded, "then you and Zeitwächter are first."

"Understood."

The blonde stepped back and Zeitwächter and her shared a glance.

What Aldebaran said after that sounded like a standard epilogue for a speech like that and it was indeed over shortly afterwards.

Kongō waited with her movement for a while since Brokencore was still obviously staring in their direction and sent a silent thanks to whoever was listening when Vanisher turned and took the offending battleship with her.

"You do know that we have to go into the direction of the port as well, yes?", Zeitwächter asked.

"Yes", she waited for a few more moments before moving after them, "do I have to drag you?"

"Mean!", Zeitwächter whined. -- Melody and Scarback weren't just sisters, going by their Mental Models they were identical twins.

Both had long brown hair, wore a white summer dress, red neckerchief and white doctor's coats to top it off. They were also really soft beans.

"Any new errors, Zeitwächter?", one of them tapped away at her screens.

"No."

"Any other problems?"

"None that won't show up in your scans."

Melody nodded with a smile: "Then you're good to go."

"Thanks", Zeitwächter said and ruffled Churchgrim's fur, "how's Kongō?"

The repair ship looked over at her sister and the fast battleship she was tending to: "She seems to be alright, but… I didn't think that she would."

Zeitwächter was focused on her words, but had her eyes fully on the dog turning to goo under her hands: "You didn't?"

"Assimilating… assimilating her fleet and then turning into that… put a big strain on her Union Core – it could have damaged her quite badly."

"I never doubted Kongō."

But she had feared for her. For the longest of times Zeitwächter thought that Kongō would die and it had been the second most stressful and terrifying moment of her life.

Melody looked at her for a while, burying her hands in the front of her dress: "Zeitwächter, I…" 

Their eyes met, but Zeitwächter's weren't the usual of wildfire – they were calm and deep like embers in a heap of ash.

Those were the eyes of a tired Zeitwächter, the face behind the mask, so to say.

Melody averted her eyes and wouldn't continue her sentence, so Zeitwächter looked away again as well, a knowing look gracing hers.

"When's your sister finished?"

"Oh, about now, why?"

She nodded towards the waterway where Vanisher and her legendary shadow of a Brokencore came towards them: "I could need a human shield."

Immediately, repair ship 1 and 2 went on high alert – they had enough experience with fixing wounds received through Brokencore's temper to rightfully fear the potential bullshit coming their way.

Scarback sent Kongō over to the other black hulled ship and then both twins moved their Mental Models in front of the others, smiling in a welcoming way.

Zeitwächter, still sitting on her crate, shared a look with the blonde, who returned it with crossed arms and a sceptic look towards the fleet flagship.

Said flagship was escorted down from her ship by Brokencore like a legitimate princess and was now moving towards the five others with a relaxed gate.

Brokencore smelled like murder.

Vanisher stopped in a normal distance from the group which didn't cancel out Brokencore's natural looming at all: "Are they both well?"

"Yes!", the twins answered in synch, "they both are healthy!"

"Good", she cocked her head a bit as if confused by their nervousness, "I want to leave her here as port defense, would that be alright?"

Zeitwächter, who could feel her eyes on her, nodded: "Of course, Aneue."

It was nothing that would break their deal.

"I also… have something a bit more personal. Brokencore, please wait here until I come back."

The battleship was about to blow a fuse – she just didn't know on who.

Vanisher moved closer to Zeitwächter and Kongō, leading them out of view: "Please consider this a topic of utmost secrecy."

Kongō shared another look with her relatively new fleet member, both doubtful and tense to a similar amount.

"I sent SW2 out a good time ago", Vanisher began rummaging in what Kongō assumed to be pockets under her coat, "I think you met her, but what I actually wanted from her was this."

In one of her hands was the Union Core of Nagara and in the other… in the other was that of Maya.

Kongō's world came to a halt, her body wasn't sure whether to back away or jump forward, her tongue and jaw felt simultaneously very heavy and very light – hell, she barely realised the supporting arm Zeitwächter had positioned behind her.

"Aneue, I thought she was destroyed!"

The Union Core certainly wasn't the best looking thing anymore, fine scars running almost over every spot of its surface and also locked in autistic mode, but she was alive.

"She mostly was", now that she wasn't courting Brokencore to abide her will anymore, her voice was harder and more real, "your new flagship did good work, but didn't swallow her fully. I sent SW2 out to gather Nagara, but told her to look for that of Maya while she was on the way already."

Zeitwächter looked down at the Core when it was pressed into her hand.

"Stabilizing her wasn't easy, but we managed and now I think it's time for you to cultivate her back into the world of the living" she looked to Kongō, "Nagara would like to be part of your fleet again, if you'll have her."

Kongō… honestly? Kongō felt like she would crash.

Grabbing onto reality with the desperation of a drowning man crying for air, she mutely took the light cruiser's Union Core.

--

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[13] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Zeitwächter and Churchgrim waited on Kongō’s outside for her Mental Model to appear, both barely standing still on their feet and with full attention.

Churchgrim's tail was wagging wildly and ended up even more wild, when the blonde finally stepped out, all dramatic, hair pinned up.

The sun was standing in her back and since Kongō stood slightly elevated, she looked like a creature sent from Heaven to either destroy or protect.

"Waaaah! Kongō!", Zeitwächter, who had no respect for Heaven whatsoever, immediately barreled into Kongō to hug her tightly, only to pull back, hands hovering over her arms, and look her over again as if seeing the most beautiful thing in her life, "you're awesome! It looks so cool!"

Churchgrim trailed around them various times, tail wagging so hard that his entire butt moved with it, sniffing excitedly all the time.

Kongō crossed her arms, smirking up at her friend: "You're more excited than me."

She nodded energetically: "Of course! It's always exciting to see my art come to life! Also it's you, so i'm really hyped!!"

The blonde’s smirk grew: "I look good, then?"

"Mhm!", she was really excited, "I want to show you off to the world! Your hair looks a-ma-zing!"

"Thank you very much."

Her ego was skyhigh currently and her mood had been dragged along with it and thrown into orbit.

Zeitwächter did her own, very hyped, very energetic, circle around Kongō, absorbing every little detail with her eyes as if she hadn't been the one to partially design them: "Kongō!", she squeaked while hopping once or twice, "I'm fangirling so bad!"

"I know", Kongō answered with a laugh in her voice, "do you two want a hug?"

They barreled into her, the fast battleship somehow managing not to fall over and actually laughing.

Churchgrim had his front legs on her shoulders, licking at her face or nudging it with his nose while his sister hugged Kongō around the waist, head resting on her chest with the heaviest heart-eyes ever.

Kongō petted Churchgrim's fur, ruffling the one on his neck: "You act like no one loves you", he only became more cheery, "do you never get pets? No attention?"

He got plenty of attention and pets, of course, but he was at least as dramatic as his second half and only minimally less of a liar.

If he were one of those dogs starring in movies, then you would have to edit out his wagging tail afterwards.

Yielding to those hands pressing his face (and especially tongue) away, he laid his head down on hers and continued to be happy there.

Zeitwächter was blessed out, just as happy and somehow actually purring.

It left Kongō with no chance of movement, so she just re-distributed her weight and let the two have their fun: "How is your nanomaterial?"

"We're doing great~", Zeitwächter purred, "you're here after all~"

Kongō sighed mentally: "Give me access to your systems."

To the blonde's surprise, she actually did.

To her not surprise, they were a literal clusterfuck with error messages everywhere and she was pretty sure that some systems were just working normally because they cancelled each other out – she swore to never show it to Hyūga because even if she didn't like her this would absolutely annihilate her.

Really how could someone… let this idiot run around with systems like that? Was this… percussive maintenance or did fixing one error just collapse the entire structure? Did the repair ships have maps so that they knew which errors could be fixable?

What was this??

Kongō almost had a sensory overload, aneurysm and complete system failure at the same time looking at this mess.

Before her systems decided to nope out of this and never return, she checked for nanomaterial errors, decided that the coast was as clear as it would get and left.

The fast battleship petted Zeitwächter's head to recover: "How are you alive?"

"Spite."

Most true thing she had ever said.

"Can you even support your Super Graviton Cannon?", Kongō asked with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

"Yep", she was still purring.

"Flagship Equipment?", the doubt was clearly audible.

"N-yep."

"You wanted to say "no"."

"Not true."

"Absolutely true."

"No."

"Yes."

"I wanted to say "nope"."

"Same thing."

"No."

"Yes."

"Two letters more. Also, I just wasn't sure if I can, but I do."

"How in the-", Kongō broke off and rubbed at the back of her nose, "you're annoying."

Zeitwächter purred louder and moved to a more comfortable position where she kneeled on the ground, moving her head so that she could look into the other's eyes: "That's your way of saying that you love me."

"Pah."

"Did you just "pah" me??", asked the battleship, incredulous, "Church, she just "pah"ed me!"

Churchgrim, like the good little (?) brother he was, acted attacked and gave the blonde a powerful but not harsh shove – it was barely enough to move her.

Kongō balanced herself quickly and was just about to say something, when all three suddenly found themselves in the Concept Communication Network's digital room.

The dog got back down on all four and looked at this sister with questioning eyes.

Zeitwächter, for her part, was calm – creepily so.

She knew the room they had ended up in, the big weeping willow with its red stone ring that kept unreal earth, grass and roots in, the swing hanging from a branch, the white table and chairs as well as the black lantern on the table, Union Cores collected inside it.

It could have been a calming sight that might be interpreted as a quiet child's playground, but there was always a certain eeriness to it, like a cold wind howling through someone's heart and leaving it frosted.

Zeitwächter knew it well, had seen how it never had changed over the years – if at all, then the wind only became harsher, the Union Cores more.

Whatever Vanisher was hiding underneath her mask was more than an introvert's "secret" personality, but she had never been able to get behind it.

"Aneue", Zeitwächter acknowledged the mask-wearer in her blue cloak, nodding towards the silent SW2 at her side.

SW2 nodded back, while Kongō threw her friend a side-eye.

The sisters obviously didn't have a bad relationship and since they had never done so before, it was unusual for Zeitwächter to choose such a high respect address for the other.

Kongō wondered whether it had something to do with heightened tension between the battleship and Brokencore.

Vanisher seemed unsure about the address as well, but it was hard to judge her reactions with the mask she always wore: "Uhm… can you come back to Germany for a bit?"

That wasn't a question, even if she didn't know how to make it sound like an order.

"May I ask why?"

"Musa-", she broke off when the question answered itself.

The High Flagship, Musashi, was broadcasting on all lines – even the humans and deserters like I-401 picked it up.

To everyone's surprise, "greeting" and introducing himself was Shōzō Chihaya: "I'm former Japan marine force vice admiral Shōzō Chihaya. I'm also the leader of the Fleet of Fog."

Kongō's eyes narrowed, already calculating.

"Please listen carefully, before it's too late."

"It's already too late", Zeitwächter muttered sarcastically.

"We, the Fleet of Fog, aim to resolve the nature crisis caused by humanity and uphold the balance of all existence on Earth."

"We do?", Kongō asked in the exact same sarcastic way.

"The remorseless, immature acts of humanity are destroying the environment. We've restricted your marine freedom to serve as a warning, but you disregarded it and fight back recklessly.

Ultimately, we have no choice but to restrict your freedom. Now, in order to attain peace, hand over your world to us – then we'll spare humanity from extinction."

That didn't sound so bad, Zeitwächter had to admit – the killing humans part, at least.

Shōzō continued: "In other words: surrender the world to us! Withdraw all your weapons and dissolve all country governments; after that, you shall all live under our rule.

Based on the Admiralty Code, this is the most suitable solution to the current situation."

"Bullshit", Kongō blurted out, earning looks from all others, "what?"

Zeitwächter looked at her, practically glowing: "We didn't know that you can curse!"

I'll show you how good I can curse, she thought, but didn't do it as Shōzō had apparently stopped talking and left it to Musashi to give humanity a time limit of one week.

The broadcast was stopped, screens blank and soon fully deactivated.

"I suppose you wanted us to return because of that?", Zeitwächter asked.

Vanisher nodded: "SW2 said that Musashi had been pulling her forces together and since Iona was engaging Hiei I thought…"

"Well, it seems like you thought right, Aneue. However, I hope that you didn't forget what I said?"

"Of course not!", Vanisher hastily assured, a slight stutter in her voice, "I just want you all close. And for a check-up."

Zeitwächter, still kneeling in front of Kongō, shared a look with the blonde.

They seemed to have a conversation in private, before Kongō addressed the flagship: "We're coming. But I'll leave as soon as possible to support I-401."

"Ok", Vanisher was playing with her hands underneath the cape, nodding, voice so silent it was almost mute.

It seemed like she was at the end of her social competence, but that was alright – there was nothing more to talk about.

Back in the real world, all three Mental Models had sat down together to discuss the issue before having answered Vanisher, but now they were all still down there and in different areas of the annoyed/angry/too tired for this shit scala.

"What do you think, Kon-chama?"

The blonde mulled her thoughts and words over before speaking: "Something… doesn't seem right."

"Yes, I thought the same", Churchgrim nodded along to his sister's words, "that reasoning, while I like it a lot, is that of a child – why would someone like Shōzō Chihaya use it?"

Kongō nodded: "Also, why would he reason that it was "based on the Admiralty Code"? That is the reasoning of a Fog ship, not of a human."

"I'll leave that to the expert", Zeitwächter said, jesting, but her voice serious and focused, "something else doesn't sit right with me, but I can't put my finger on it."

"I was thinking if maybe Shōzō could be an active decoy."

Like the ones Maya and her had used in that futile attempt of not "tainting" their Cores.

Zeitwächter had told Kongō, at some point in the past, how Musashi had sunk Yamato after Shōzō had been killed by his men – she didn't know all the details, having only heard the story from Vanisher herself, and had thus left a few holes fillable with theories.

Vanisher could probably fill those holes but… really, there was no need for it, all the necessary info was out in the open.

Going with the knowledge this brought, it would be entirely possible for Musashi to somehow have an even more fucked up coping mechanism than Zeitwächter (who split her own fucking Core in two) and Kongō (who turned into a berserk gnome planet) together, thus coming to the decision that mimicking an alive Shōzō was a good idea.

Kongō resisted the urge to pinch the back of her nose and addressed the Zeitwächter in a commanding voice: "Fleet, weigh anchor!"

--

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[12] Nimbus Try I: Arpeggio of Hurt Steel

Kongō lounged on her pagoda, half sitting half lying on her side, enjoying the wind and looking at the sketch she had pillaged.

Well, theoretically she hadn't even remotely stolen anything, but having it felt like the most illegal thing ever and she had killed people.

She also didn't feel any kind of remorse for said killings, but an immense amount over that piece of paper.

Suppressing a heavy feeling, she looked down from her viewpoint to watch Zeitwächter and Churchgrim play together, the ball jingling with every push or kick, and let herself fall on the side again.

This sketch… couldn't stay with her. Guilt was a pretty new feeling, but she already hated it.

She hated the entire concept of Mental Models the same amount as she did the first time she had gotten one and when losing Maya tore her heart apart – even if that had been for different reasons each time – as she did now.

Feelings, in short, were more work than they were worth and if she could go back to never having felt them then-

…Then she wouldn't.

Kongō wanted to scream. In frustration.

Instead, she rolled on her back and covered her eyes with an arm.

Why was this so much anyway? A piece of paper with biro ink on it should neither stress her out so much nor occupy that much processing power.

The jingling of the ball stopped, then it continued after a few minutes. Must have gotten stuck somewhere.

Kongō knew that she couldn't just give the paper back; Zeitwächter was very sensitive and, while hiding it, would most likely feel a bit hurt.

She looked at the sketch, really looked at it.

It was a very nice dress, she wouldn't mind wearing it at all with a few changes, so what could they be? 

Shorter sleeves would be a good thing, the top needed a few changes as well, though she couldn't tell which just now, and maybe different shoes.

Was that enough to warrant a giving back? Damn, hopefully it was.

A few hours later, when Churchgrim and Zeitwächter were done playing and relaxing in the shade, wind playing with fur and hair, Kongō jumped down from her pagoda, on Zeitwächter's deck, petted the dog and held the sketch out to the battleship: "Not now, but I would like a few changes."

Zeitwächter's face had already been glowing with a smile when she felt the other come over, but now it somehow brightened even more: "Okay! Why not now?"

Kongō nodded towards the dog lying on his side as if shot and then looked at his sister, who didn't look a lot better, pointedly.

"It's fine it's fine!", she began heaving herself up, "I'm a Fog ship, after all, I don't get physically tired and my mind needs something to do!"

First of all, that's not how that worked – the Fog's energy was insane but it wasn't endless – secondly, the Fleet of Masks curse, nanomaterial errors, had seemingly caught up with Zeitwächter's left knee and engine and her processor was concentrating on fixing those; it wouldn't mind a goddamn rest.

However, one had to credit her with a big processing power and also admit that she was more than annoying with nothing to do.

"Stay down, I'll bring your things", Kongō was already on the move.

"It's fine, I can just make-"

"No."

Annoying idiot, Kongō thought, who makes new things out of nanomaterial when they're having problems with them!?

Zeitwächter, obviously.

Suppressing an eyeroll or two, the blonde went into Zeitwächter’s bridge-turned-office, got the first paper and pencil she saw and returned to hand them over, both Mental Models sitting and leaning against the battleship's superstructure.

"So, what changes do you want, Kon-chama?"

She repeated her thoughts from earlier, Zeitwächter nodding along and eyes already cross-referencing the sketch, Kongō and her ideas.

"Ok…", Zeitwächter said more or less absentmindedly, laying the foundations for a new sketch and then handing the pencil off to Kongō, "what do you have in mind for those sleeves?"

Kongō took the pencil slowly, not entirely sure yet, and sketched a shaky sleeve.

Well, it certainly wouldn't win an art contest, but it got the idea across (the obvious difference in skill aggravated her, though).

The other treated it as a fully workable part of the future design and completely ignored how crooked it was.

"Something like that."

Zeitwächter beamed: "It's cute! It looks a bit like a fan. What about the top, Kon-chama?"

Kongō looked down at herself: "A… bit of ruche, maybe?"

She nodded: "Like this? Or do you want some more?"

"How would it look with a free back?"

"Oh! Good idea!", the artist sketched that out as well and then they had descended into a rabbit hole of different design ideas; cuts, patterns, lengths – you name it.

When they climbed out of their wild haze, they had easily crossed out, readjusted and scrapped at least ten different dresses until turning up at the final version which now was held by one of Kongō's and one of Zeitwächter's hands.

"The colouring shouldn't have taken that long…"

"Neither should have the patterns…"

The dress was a dark purple, back and shoulders free, chest partly covered by the "normal" fabric, the other part by a slight see-through fabric with dark patterns, one leg bared thanks to a slit, long train, arms decorated by intricate patterned fabric under slightly flowing sleeves.

It was quite the beautiful piece.

Zeitwächter looked at her friend, eyes still awfully bright: "Are you going to wear it starting today?"

"Give me a break", she waited out the snicker, "tomorrow."

Also, the sun had already mostly sunk down behind the horizon – the day was almost over already so it didn't really matter.

You want to show off, a traitorous part of her mind threw in, but it was petted, fed and tucked into bed patiently.

--

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