War in the PC Empire (previously Civil War in the PC Empire)

[Novaya Equestria]

Above the Eastasian encampment
Microcosm, IBM-Unix Federation

"Admiral, we've arrived just above Shinji's encampment." Admiral Wainwright said. "Good, teleport us down there. Time to meet Gaben." Admiral Borealis Norsoutha said as he and soon-to-be-Expeditionary Forces General Katarina stepped onto the teleporter. Then, they were teleported to the place the funeral were.

Eastasian Expeditionary HQ

The two were then teleported near Shinji's tent as Borealis looked around. "Calm down, volks! We're just here searching for ex Imperator Gaben. Uh, where's your commander at?" Expeditionary Forces Admiral Borealis asked one of the Eastasian soldiers. "And apologies for teleporting in your base."

[Gigaverse]

---

Temporary camp, just outside Microcosm
Hyperdimension
Second day after Gaben's declaration

---

There was no surprise for the Commandos and Marines in somebody teleporting where they were - it was how their commanders always showed up back at home, anyway.

"Aye, no problem sire.", the one Borealis talked to responded, "He's outside with ex-Imp and some others, but it's gonna rain so they're probably going to retreat to this tent any minute now."

Just as he spoke, Shinji walked from the place of the funeral, his hand grabbing a crying boy by the collar. His was the same poker face he always bore; but his displeasure was visible. Following behind him were several others; a uniformed female wiping her tears, the parts around her eyes still red, a small local girl whimpering while she tugged the soldier's uniform. Rheia - former leader of the Valkyries; Ursula, one of the Valkyries; and the ex-Imperator himself were the last to arrive; just as it started to rain.

Shinji dropped the boy on the ground. He then glanced at Borealis and Katarina.

"Must be hard to bear witness to, isn't it."

[Novaya Equestria]

"Ah, you're the commander of the Eastasian Expeditionary Force sent here, ja? Well, allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Admiral and Oberstgruppenfuhrer Borealis Mir Norsoutha, chairman of the National Council for Peace and Security, a fascist military junta that led the Novayan Revolutionary Democratic People's Republic. It's got a fascist and militaristic/heavily militarized yet freer society. I held the rank of Expeditionary Forces Admiral. And this Valkyrie behind me is Katarina, a Valkyrie." Borealis then bowed and looked at them. "We'll mind the boy crying for now, and if it isn't the Imperator." He said as he looked at Gaben. "I'm pretty surprised to see him in Western clothes, though." He then pulled out his hand to Shinji, the former Imperator, Ursula, and Rheia.

Novayan Expeditionary HQ
Near Microcosm

Much of the Novayan units began to leave for other cities to provide order while also hunting for any Loyalist suspects that escaped into the mountains, leading to units under Borealis' command to remain. The remaining Novayan units, which based themselves on a damaged military base north of Microcosm before the occupation, began to extend their base of operations in the outskirts of Microcosm. Novayan soldiers went to repair the buildings while others set up tents. Resources, materials, and equipment brought by the 7th Aerial Fleet allowed the Novayan forces to repair the abandoned and damaged military base, which is actually a joint army/air force base.

Some Novayan soldiers went into the buildings to make sure that no Loyalist suspects would attack them, while others moved in to renovate the buildings. Some of the buildings were lightly damaged, allowing for short repairs to occur. Just before the occupation started, Admiral Borealis Norsoutha has ordered that the building where the PCian commander's office is located at has been taken, with the former PCian commander's office turned into Admiral Borealis' office; the Admiral's office is currently being repaired and refurbished so as to allow Expeditionary Forces Admiral Borealis and Katarina to reside in.

OOC: I'm starting to feel that Admiral Borealis Norsoutha is like General Douglas MacArthur.

[Gigaverse]

OOC: Nyet I'm the latest to join and I'm also pretty much the most active here so I get "the American" role :d

---

Temporary camp, just outside Microcosm
Hyperdimension
Second day after Gaben's declaration

---

Both Rheia and Ursula were somewhat surprised by the fact that Katarina was pretty compliantly following a new leader instead of the Imperator. Ursula was slightly relieved to find a fellow Valkyrie alive; Rheia, on the other hand, felt angered. Betrayed. How dare her? How dare Katarina bow to a different person than their Imperator?

Perhaps that was what she would have felt, had she not have to bite the bullet out there, seeing the action - or lack thereof - of the Imperator. Something wasn't right.

"Yes, Admiral; I already know too well the basics of your regime. I read my books. The western suit Gaben is wearing is just as I've requested.", Shinji sighed. While leaving the two children to continue crying their hearts out, he was there having a conversation with a political leader about his regime's system. As peculiar as the leadership of Novayan RDPR was, his dealing with the Privy Council back in the Heartlands meant few things could have seemed strange to him by that point. He still had to shake Borealis' hand nonetheless. "Shinji Sakahara, Knight Marshal of Phantom Crusade. We'll be in your care."

So his name is Shinji Sakahara - Rheia thought to herself.

The former Valkyrie was still being presented with a moral dilemma. Just back there, she had witnessed her Imperator not moving one bit to support the children when they most needed - very unbecoming of her greatest idol. She had grown up worshiping him as a father to all PCians - so why was it that he didn't lift a finger?

Why was she being put in such a situation so as to question her faith in the Imperator?

Meanwhile, Ursula had finished tentatively shaking the Admiral's hand. It was Rheia's turn. Snapping out of her little world, she was facing the feminine, rather meek look of Borealis Norsoutha. In her own confusion, the Valkyrie leader gave Borealis the handshake he was waiting for.

But isn't he my enemy? - Rheia questioned herself. Were enemies supposed to shake hands like that? She had only known "zero tolerance" for the enemy up until that point.

He's about as hostile to you as those two children.

She could hear the voice of her Great Enemy "Shinji Sakahara" in her head. When Borealis let go of her hand, she looked at the blond giant, her confusion only increased by what she heard in her own mind. Indeed, his expressionless face was looking at her.

Does it mean he can read my mind as well...?

Calling it "mind-reading" would be too privacy-encroaching on my part.

Borealis finally got to Gaben, who continued to maintain his diplomatic smile. His handshake was firm and without any hesitation, unlike those of the Valkyries. That only created more dilemmas for Rheia, who had faith that the Imperator would refuse to shake the enemy's hands. Would that mean he had accepted defeatism?

"Alright. Marines.", Shinji turned back to look at his men, "Handle these two for a moment. We'll need time to discuss with the Admiral."

The Marines saluted their field commander. They began to gather around their saddened comrade and her two newfound proteges while the Knight Marshal turned back to Borealis.

"Do you have something in mind, Admiral?"

[The Gamindustrian Union]

In closed doors, the transitional government and important Gamindustrian figures have set up a defense treaty, at least until the IBM-Unixians have a substantial military.

The Gamindustrians agreed to use Fort Richie in Unix City, noted for being Gamindustri's Hyperdimension HQ during the war, shortly after it was captured by rebels. It also would use the nearby Thompson Naval Yard, which, while it was destroyed during the war, could still be repaired, as well as the nearby Kernighan Air Base, which, while also destroyed, can be rebuilt and repaired.

[Novaya Equestria]

"Well, Katarina and I were going to meet up with you, the two Valkyries and ex-Imperator Gaben, so Admiral Alexander Wainwright thought of the idea of teleporting us right here. Go thank him for making up that thought." Borealis said to Shinji. "Oh, and if you guys want to know why Katarina is behind me, I'm allowing you, Gaben, and those two Valkyries to ask her why." Borealis said as he stepped aside, with Katarina waiting to answer their question (why she's behind Borealis).

[Gigaverse]

---

Temporary camp, just outside Microcosm
Hyperdimension
Second day after Gaben's declaration

---

"I'll have to pass on the 'thank him' part.", Shinji put his palm on his face, rubbing the right side of it, "But I know full well why she's behind you, Admiral; she's defected.", he casually remarked, "You're pretty lucky to be handling Katarina."

"No!", Rheia finally snapped, "How could she? How could somebody betray the Imperator?"

Her shouting caught the attention of almost everybody else, who were directing their eyes at her; even the two children briefly looked at her.

"Simple. She realized that all along, the Imperator was just selfish dictator who exploited the love others had for him to get his way - be that an entire empire or a harem of women."

"All of this is just slander against Him! The Imperator is not such a person!"

Calmly making his way past her, Shinji stood behind the Imperator, Gaben himself. Raising his chin for her to see, he then asked.

"Then, my dear Rheia. Do you want to ask the man himself?" He seemingly emphasized "the man" to her to showcase the fact that he was just another living being, like those he ruled. Not using "The Imperator", however, might have been his doing to have the children not realize that "the man" being referred to was, in fact, the all-powerful Imperator.

"No, this isn't true... It definitely isn't true..."

The Imperator, already kind of a hostage to the Knight Marshal and under his command to "more openly admit guilt", sighed.

"He isn't exactly wrong.", the Imperator looked down upon the vamps of his shoes, "I'm... sorry to disappoint you, Rheia."

A speechless Rheia could only show the expression of a lost little child. She looked at Borealis and Katarina. Shinji pointed with his hand to the latter.

"Then... why don't we listen to the personal experience of Katarina here?", he invited, "Miss Katarina. Would you please explain to knucklehead here why you changed your allegiance in the first place?"

(OOC: whoever handles Katarina - PC or Gamin or Nova, remember to speak D: )

[Novaya Equestria]

OOC: I'll have Gamin to do that, since he also controls the PC Empire.

[The Gamindustrian Union]

OOC: Katarina looks like this in civilian form, except less vampirish and without the pointy ears and wings.

"Allow me to explain," said the blonde-haired woman, as she was rotating her ankles as, while she was used to wearing heels of 4-inch height, she felt that she needed to exercise her feet in them every now and then to avoid varicose veins.

"I, at first, fell for the Imperator's lies, believing him to be a great man. I was born on 1993, and, given the Imperator was a central tenet of PCian education then, I was raised with the conviction that the Imperator was a god, a god that loved us and would bring the nation to greater heights. I excelled in my conscription service. When the Imperator were looking for Valkyrie candidates, I proved to be a worthy candidate for a Valkyrie. I became one of the few, the exalted.

"Then came the war. My trial of fire came. I gave my all, but the Novayans proved too powerful an opposing force for me. To make matters worse, a glow I never knew I had gave my position away. I was subdued. At first, I resisted, then, I felt apathy. While in custody, I presume shortly before the Imperator fell, I saw a rebellion soldier. I conversed with him, asking why you were rebelling against the Imperator. Then he told me his part. All the while I was lied to. All the while I was used. As a result, I felt like I didn't know what to do, that I didn't care anymore. Then, when Borealis asked me to join him, a certain jolt in my heart hit me. His offer reminded me of my glory days, but this time, without lies. Only freedom, truth."

[Novaya Equestria]

Admiral Borealis then nodded. "What she says is the truth, gents and ladies." Borealis said. "I gave her my offer because I chose freedom and truth rather than using lies to manipulate a person." He added as he stretched his arms and placed his arms behind him. "What she heard from a rebel soldier and my offer to her is what caused her to defect to the Novayan RDPR."

[Gigaverse]

---

Temporary camp, just outside Microcosm
Hyperdimension
Second day after Gaben's declaration

---

Rheia - former Valkyrie leader - thought all the training would have prepared her for any tricks the enemy had in store for her, in case she was captured.

She was wrong. The moment Katarina and Borealis finished their explanations, something inside her simply snapped. That might have been the sound of her will. Was it a sound only she could hear? Because her captor seemed to have blinked the same moment that happened.

But like Katarina said, she couldn't care for anything anymore. She was visibly shocked, taking two steps back from her original position. The thought that her Imperator was just a self-glorified caricature, as admitted by one of her colleagues and confirmed by her enemies, was something she just wasn't ready to bring herself to believe. Her thoughts bringing tears to her eyes and her face increasingly resembling a frightened little animal faced by a large predator - in this case, the truth; she once again turned to her beloved Imperator, perhaps searching for an explanation. He was still god. He was a brave warrior. He would have given her the encouragement she and Ursula needed... would he?

"P-Please...", her voice trembled, as she was further weakened, just as her mental resolve was failing her.

"They're telling the truth, Rheia.", her Imperator stated with no second thought.

That was the last straw.

Then... her whole life. Her being chosen by the Imperator. Her being raised by his very hands to become one of the greatest underneath him. Her always being praised by the mouth of the Imperator. All of that was a lie?

"No... No... This is... This must be an elaborate joke. This must be a nightmare. I... I'm being inside a nightmare-inducing machine, right...?"

"But Rheia, it is not.", the black-clad behemoth said, "What you have just heard was truth from reality. If to you, this is a nightmare, then we don't have any other way to wake you up. There's no machine involved. This man," he pointed to the Imperator, "had always been lying to you since day one."

Rheia felt hurt. She didn't know what part; whether her heart, her head, or anywhere at all. She wanted somewhere to escape.

She turned away from the others, and ran away by herself into the rain.

She was ready for everything and anything to come at her. Anything but that. Such a betrayal was the bullet that she couldn't bite. She ran as fast as she could, the mud staining her legs as cold water from above touched and rolled down her smooth, beautiful skin.

If that was a trial of her faith in the Imperator, it had just succeeded in touching upon her greatest unknown fear. She only hoped that the real Imperator would show up any minute while she was running like that. He would catch her falling into his arms, forgive her for her little failure, and praise her for always having been his adorable daughter.

Instead, in the middle of the fields where the coffins were, she tripped on a not-so-large rock. Before she could have touched the ground, a pair of arms held her from behind, one covering her head, the other grabbing around her waist. Whoever was behind her, that figure managed to swing until the sky covered in dark clouds was visible. She could feel the rain on her face, rainwater messing up her hair and mixing with her tears.

She could feel the person behind her making an impact with the muddy ground. That person's sleeves were rather familiar by then. The legs were longer than hers, but she could feel the person's chin touching the top of her head. It was the one she was thinking of as her "Great Enemy" - Shinji Sakahara.

"Let me go... Just... let me go...", overwhelmed by sadness, she continued to cry, not even minding the heavy rain falling upon her any longer.

"And? Will you then find a large tree where you can slam your head?"

"I don't know... I just want... to die now. The Imperator... he's a God... he could hear me. At least if I die... I'll be able to... see him properly.", Rheia laid bare her thoughts, in between sobs.

"Didn't you hear him? That was the actual Imperator. He is NOT a God."

"No... No...!", even though the true Imperator lived, the one inside her was dying. Or, suffice to say, he did not exist in reality in the first place. Struggling to escape the grasp of the colossus in order to free herself while trembling from both the cold and the realization, Rheia was feeling just like the two little orphaned children.

Then she remembered. She once had a family too. A father, a mother, a home; once she lost all that, the Imperator took her in. She considered him her god. Her father. Her man. The greatest man who could have ever lived.

But Gaben was, in fact, a man even lower than those he ruled. She had just lost everything. A family. Her Empire. Its ruler, who she so dearly fought for. Dead. Destroyed. Gone. In one fell swoop.

"You just won't listen, will you..."

Then, Rheia felt a pair of fangs gently biting her neck. Her consciousness began to slowly drift away. The sight of the world before her - the clouds above as they thundered - blurred, before her eyes finally closed.

...

Shortly after Rheia ran away and Shinji ran after her, the latter returned, carrying the former in his arms. Both was wet all over, with mud all over Rheia's legs and entire back side of the Marshal. The soles of the blond's boots dragged in the mud from outside.

"Medics. Please. Nurse her back to health. Make sure she doesn't catch a cold. I'll catch up as soon as possible."

As the medics brought Rheia away, Shinji turned to Admiral Borealis and his Valkyrie assistant.

"Please excuse us. We'll return to our conversation... on a brighter day than this. I apologize if you feel disrespected.", he bowed to his guests, before turning to Gaben and Ursula, "Ursula. Gaben-dono. I beg that you follow me."

...

---

Rheia's bed
Hyperdimension
Time: Unknown

---

You are the greatest, Rheia.

Thank you, my Imperator.

Rheia looked upon the face of her dear Imperator. However, what she saw wasn't the amicable face of the Imperator she so treasured - it was The Great Enemy. Like a monster, he had crawled upon the Imperator and set his eyes on making her a prey. She left his arms and began to run away. On her route, various other monsters were intent to get her. Their faces were demonic caricatures of of Borealis Norsoutha and Katarina, clawing their ways from underneath as they reached their hands for her. As one said "freedom", the other repeated "truth" - over and over and over. She couldn't feel the overflowing surges of power with which she could have fought against them, so she kept on running. She would then trip upon nothing, be grabbed by someone, and landed with the body of that person below hers. The darkness gave way for the rainy clouds, as that person spoke to her:

"Didn't you hear him? That was the actual Imperator. He is NOT a God."

The line echoed in her head. At first confused, Rheia began to lose it. Tears began flowing from her eyes again. This cruelty... it wasn't what she always wanted.

"Leave me alone... Leave me alone..."

As the once proud Valkyrie curled into fetal position and closed her eyes, everything around her shattered and collapsed. The world, the skies, the person protecting her from the fall, everything. She was surrounded completely by darkness.

...

Then, when her eyes were opened, she was lying on a white mattress, with a soft pillow underneath her head and a large blanket. Other than the lamp turned on near her, illuminating the whole room with a soothing shade of yellow, the first person she could see was Ursula, with a mess of a bed left behind her.

"Uuu...", still in a trance, Rheia raised her head slightly to look at Ursula, who returned her own worried look. "Did the Imperator... rescue me from the enemy's nightmare machine...?"

"... I'm afraid not. We're still outside Microcosm. The war's still lost, and the dreamy look we both had of the Imperator... that was just torn apart, hours ago.", Ursula stated, while seemingly questioning herself.

"O... Oh."

Rheia was feeling to weak to even cry anymore. She simply lied down again. Inside, she still had a little hope that everything she just suffered was an elaborate nightmare - then she could have learned to cope with that. Presented again with harsh reality, she questioned her own grasp of reality. Was it just an elaborate nightmare? Was it her life that was the elaborate nightmare? Whichever it was, said nightmare was slowly eating away at both her sanity and endurance.

"Awakened already, sleeping beauty?"

Holding three glasses of water, Shinji Sakahara appeared, already cleaned up and still wearing the same uniform - as always. He sat down beside Ursula, giving her one glass, leaving one next to the lamp, while he saved one for himself.

"What is it this time... nightmare pills...?", Rheia asked, still lying on the bed, not bothering to grab the glass - or anything at all.

"Relax. Unlike what propaganda makes us out to be, we aren't heartless baby-eating sex slavers.", Shinji drank from his glass, "On our side of the conflict, people seem to believe your Imperator to be able to fulfill both criteria by himself without needing us to tell them though."

Rheia wanted to frown, but the expression she made was the result of her being so weak that her facial muscles couldn't move too much. She wanted to close her eyes again.

"This room seems so much more comfortable than Vietnam."

"Vietnam?", Ursula was curious.

"Eh. The jungles littered with corpses of men dying from tropical diseases and dehydration. The death squads that hunted to skin civilians whenever we weren't there. This whole mission and fighting you girls were quite the breather in comparison.", he drank from his glass again.

Rheia remembered she read things about Vietnam once, but didn't quite remember. The descriptions of said conflict didn't sound as violent as what the man just said though. When did it take place again, 1968...? Then wasn't he supposed to be an old man wielding a staff? Why was he still a larger-than-life soldier who only seemed to be in his late 20s, and could so easily overpower one of them - "the exalted"?

"This was three months. That was much more than three years. Back then, it wasn't just any one man questioning his own morals and sanity - it was his entire platoon. Those who didn't do so were trigger-happy or very ideologically motivated to begin with."

Rheia seemed to know who he was talking to and about. Her theory was only confirmed when he glanced at her. His face showed no emotions, but he didn't seem to house any antagonism towards them.

That probably was his mission anyway. ... Then, the whole Vietnam story could also have been a very convincing lie. It didn't convince Rheia, but she was in no mood to protest.

"Sorry if that sounded a little bit depressing, but I've been fighting wars before your Imperator even got out of his diaper.", he was glancing at Ursula, "Just thought it'd be appropriate for a soldier to share his experience with other soldiers."

"You must have fought more than that...", Ursula murmured.

"I don't usually dwell much on my own past. My stories are for others."

His glass half-empty, Shinji shook it lightly, disturbing the water's surface.

"You both know of the story about Little Red Riding Hood, don't you?"

Ursula slowly shook her head. Rheia did not bother to respond.

"Really now. To sum it up: once upon a time, there was a granny, her granddaughter the titular character, the Big Bad Wolf, and the hunter.", as Shinji told the story, Ursula looked at him, nodding at the end of each detail, "The most common version of the story had the Big Bad Wolf swallowing the little girl's granny. Some deception and disguising later, the girl went through the same fate. Then the hunter shot the wolf dead, the other two were released, and they lived happily ever after - the end. As far as I'm concerned, however, realistically speaking, the hunter would come to rescue an unconscious little girl and her half-digested grandma - life can't always be as easy as what fairy tales make them out to be."

What is he telling this for..., Rheia thought to herself.

"I think I like the common version better...", Ursula seemed disturbed by his story.

"Let's draw a comparison. The granny are the common folks. Little Red Riding Hood are their children, hand-selected by the Wolf - representative for tyranny. The hunter, in a way, was the rescuer - the people who wanted to free the first two.

In their search for power and secure themselves, tyrants consume whole the little people they ruled and subconsciously enslaved the young by manipulating the flow of information, before these youths are consumed themselves by the same tyrants who supposedly were shielding them. The tyrants can only be stopped by the people who rise up - the rescuers."

Once he stopped shaking the glass, the man looked at Rheia. He knew she was only pretending not to listen - her abnormal breathing gave her away as paying very close attention.

"Disclaimer: I'm not trying to make myself into the hero here, but... let's make examples and be more specific.

The granny is you girls' compatriots, as well as your respective pasts. Little Red Riding Hood is who you are. The Wolf - I'll give you a hint, he starts with 'Imp'. And, finally, the hunter - the coalition that came here, including myself.

While we may not exactly have been in time or had the best solutions - just like the hunter who couldn't have known better, whether or not he would have hit the two victims by hitting the Wolf; we ultimately mean well. That Little Red Riding Hood would have lost her family, where would she go - other than with the hunter, who was her best bet at that very moment?

But ultimately, she would. Little Red Riding Hood would find her new family in the Hunter. Of course, this is neither the best nor the worst outcome of the story - but the one that warmed this heart of mine most."

Rheia continued to lie immobile. She knew who the man was referring to with his rhetoric the whole time, but she gave no response - in part due to her own state. Shinji stood up, putting one hand on Ursula's shoulder while looking at Rheia.

"This is the time when everyone needs you most. You should reciprocate somehow.", he said, before approaching the young woman who starting to bury herself underneath the blanket, exposing only her forehead. He removed a glove from one of his hands, and used that to touch said forehead.

"You'll be fine tomorrow... physically. Hope things won't get into your head too much.", he turned to Ursula, "You go to sleep too. I don't want you to also be lying like a carcass just because of a fever or self-induced insomnia, got it?"

With that said, he left both of them in the room, closing the door gently as he left. Ursula returned to her bed, leaving her own empty glass of water next to the lamp.

"Rheia... You haven't touched your glass."

The former leader didn't reply. Ursula sighed, before reaching her hand to turn the lamp off.

"Good night, Rheia."

[The Gamindustrian Union]

Just hours earlier, a military parade occured on the streets of Microcosm. The Gamindustrians, UN Nations and the rest of the allies were part of it. Though they did not participate in the war, Canada, Japan and South Korea were also in it, as a sign of good will. The Grand Marshal of the Parade was High Marshal of the Army Eligor Truman, by virtue of being the Supreme Commander of the Gamindustrian Expeditionary Forces in the Silicon Continent.

[Gigaverse]

(Proper Theme for this Post)

---

Microcosm's urban border
Hyperdimension
Third evening since Gaben's declaration | Before Rheia woke up

---

Grasping her knees, sitting at the edge of an abandoned building's top - where there were no signs of anything or anyone but herself - and looking at the starry skies above, Ursula felt a part of her heart missing. The rain had long since stopped, and the heavy atmosphere was already partially lifted, but it didn't mean the Valkyrie could have forgotten the words uttered by Katarina, her own Imperator, and the mysterious gigantic man - commander of a foreign army.

"All the while I was lied to. All the while I was used."

"They're telling the truth."

"This man, had always been lying to you since day one."

All that time she spent looking up to the Imperator was a lie then? Then what about the other Valkyries he abused and used all along? What of the others, who might have not even loved or respected him at all?

Was her purpose just that of a harem candidate then?

"Just because some treat you like an object, doesn't mean everyone simply considers you a 'thing'."

She was starting to be acquainted to that voice. As the Valkyrie turned back, and just as she thought: the sight of Marshal Sakahara, standing to look at her musing to herself.

"How long have you been there...?"

"The whole time."

He walked beside her, and gracefully sat down, his legs hanging out of the building's edge.

"Don't tell me you're going to lose it too."

Ursula shook her head. She then gazed at the stars once again.

"Rheia. She thought we both shared the idea of becoming the resistance to liberate the Imperator and his people.", she began confessing, "I already sensed something wrong... when I didn't seem so enthusiastic about her proposition."

"Maybe you already held a grudge for the Imperator in the first place?"

She shook her head a second time.

"What more could I ask for from the man who gave me a better home...?"

"What kind of place were you born into that you consider Gaben a better option?", Shinji raised his eyebrow.

"I don't even know my birth date... or my parents.", Ursula explained, "... I spent my childhood in an orphanage. We were all taught of the importance of the Imperator, that we should all love him - the love that orphanage denied me. So I came to love him, hoping I can be loved back since he was the all-loving Imperator."

"And you were also conscripted."

"Mm. Somehow, I also proved my worth. That's when the Imperator chose me - along with the others.

I was so excited. I was about to serve as one of the pioneers who could have led the PC Empire to a new level of greatness. I thought of how I could finally be of use to everyone. I even got to befriend some of the participants of the program - who were also about to be upgraded into 'Valkyries'."

By then, her legs already bent backwards to each side of her body, Ursula clasped her hands.

"One day, the Imperator himself summoned me to this shady place, where he was waiting with a handful of others. I came by myself, already warned by some among my fellow Valkyries - who were already done with their ascensions - about the process. Some, even about the Imperator himself. I arrived, wearing my most cheerful expression possible for a member of the military..."

She paused there. The man next to her looked at her to check. Her fear was apparent. Her entire body was trembling, but her hands were shaking in an easily noticeable way.

"If any memory is too painful for you, it's best not to tell."

"I... I'm fine.", she turned to reassure him. However, when she picked up from where she left off, she was still shaking.

"It... hurt, at first. Especially the first time. Then, I became a Valkyrie.

It still hurt after that, but not much more; I had already become one of them. My endurance was greater too. I kept telling myself again and again and again, that I was doing everything for the Empire. That, as long as my god, the Imperator, felt happy, then I, too, would be happy.

I... I only felt empty. I still loved and respected the Imperator, as with everyone... But satisfying him did not give me the happiness I thought it would.

Whenever I brought up the fact that everything I've done was anything but military affairs, I started to get a feeling I was being used - something I've felt... even before any of us defected."

Unbeknown to herself, Ursula already started to cry; the trembling also affecting her voice.

"You know. I made friends among the Valkyries. They were all sisters and seniors that I looked up to. Half of them defected. My sisters fought each other. The new family that I was a part of began to crumble.

This war just... came, one day. More of my hero-figures got sent away. They didn't come back. When I got a chance to fight with some of the rest, in what was also my first trial in real combat, everyone just... fell. They all lost their lives. I only managed to hopelessly look around me... before I was also downed.

I was terrified. I couldn't move any longer. I thought it was my end too..."

So this is the part where I came into play, Shinji thought to himself.

"I only wished it was my end. My captors... spared me. Soldiers came to get me. I was injected something... before long, I woke up, finding myself restrained next to Rheia."

"Eh. You saw me. Rest assured, this isn't an elaborate nightmare."

"I wish it was..."

Her sobs were getting louder. Becoming aware of her state, Ursula wiped her tears. Betraying her wishes, they continued to flow.

"Do you know...? So many... people I treasured... they all died..."

"Calm down, Ursula, calm down."

"But they died for nothing...! And here I am...! Still alive... this is too meaningless..."

The Valkyrie could feel a hand on her right shoulder as she continued to cry.

"I have other sisters too. You don't feel like any one of them in particular, but you do remind me of them."

"H... Hey...", she turned to the large man, "You have a family too... right?"

"Hope you don't get too jealous of me. I still understand how it's like not to have a proper, stable family - you're not the first one."

"Then... can you advise me...? On what to do now... that I... no longer..."

She began sobbing again, remembering what happened to her colleagues - that she also considered "sisters".

"OK, listen up. If you were born into this life, then you must mean something. You weren't just created to become a toy for somebody - especially not Imperator Gaben; that's the lowliest of creatures.", the big blond briefly turned away, symbolically spitting after speaking of the 'lowliest of creatures'. "Only by fretting like this will you not be able to find your true home."

"A true home...?"

"Like Katarina. In her own way, she had found her old glory by becoming an assistant to that Admiral. But even that seemed too professional in my humble opinion."

He turned to make eye contact with Ursula.

"Let's see. How would you like it if you can become part of my family?"

"... Heh...?"

"I'm not overly picky. If you'd like us to play house, you can choose to be my daughter, or my sister, or my niece, or anyone. My family and I would be happy to welcome you."

"You're kidding... aren't you?"

"Look.", he showed him his ear, "If you're doubting my sincerity, just penetrate my eardrum with any sharp thing. I'll wait here for you to return with your weapon of choice."

"No, no, that wasn't what I meant...!"

Ursula stopped for a moment to think. It was happening so suddenly. She was suddenly given another chance at having a family. But it was by a military man, of all people... What if something was to happen to her new family?

"Which would you rather choose, being loved in exchange for a very unlikely chance of mortality, or denying yourself the love you deserve?"

"Love?"

Shinji shrugged. "I'm not trying to turn you into an assistant-in-chief."

A normal life, was that what he meant?

"Sticking with me would never exactly be 'normal' - I'm that kind of existence.", he answered her worries, "BUT, I'd make sure you never have to be faced with something hard like this ever again; any injustices would be made up for with bigger things. Deal?"

By then, Ursula had stopped crying, but her voice continued to tremble. She hesitated briefly, before letting out a sigh, and seriously faced the grand man with her uneasy decision.

"I still want some justice for my sisters..."

"Is that a 'yes' then?"

After a few seconds, she quietly nodded.

"We didn't introduce ourselves to each other properly yet, did we? I'm Shinji Sakahara.", he gently smiled for her to see.

"I... I'm Ursula."

All of a sudden, she was pinned to the ground - but not forcefully. Before she fully realized, she was within the embrace of the overly-tall man named 'Shinji Sakahara'. She suddenly became small in comparison.

"Welcome home, Ursula. Took you long enough."

It was a warmth she didn't feel from her time with the Imperator. Although they had not known each other for long, perhaps she was feeling something like Katarina had described "a certain jolt in my heart hit me". Her heart wasn't completely convinced; still, she could feel it had become considerably warmer. Returning the hug, she carefully mouthed with a little smile:

"Daddy, I'm home..."

---

Temporary camp, just outside Microcosm
Hyperdimension
Third day after Gaben's declaration

---

One day... Two days... Three days... At this rate, Rheia might lose track of time.

She lied in her bed, the room she occupied only connected to the outside by a single door. In the patients' pajama, she rested her arm on her forehead, staring at the white ceiling where nothing else but the ceiling fan could be seen.

"Little Red Riding Hood would find her new family in the Hunter."

"This is the time when everyone needs you most. You should reciprocate somehow."

The words of the Knight Marshal echoed again in her head. Her new family? What does it feel like again, to have a family?

When was the last time she had a family? That was so long ago... The only family she could have remembered by then was the Imperator. His face had already been deeply imprinted into her mind. Perhaps it might have a much more beautiful incarnation of him, but that had always been the only thing she knew of. The Imperator was the one. The Imperator was all. The Imperator was everything. Without him, life would mean nothing.

She looked to the bed where Ursula slept the night before. Her colleague was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she left only a change of clothes, with a note attached. Lazily getting off her own bed, Rheia checked what Ursula had to say.

Dad left this for you. I'm outside if you want to see me.

Dad? Thought Rheia. The Imperator?

Simply thinking about the once venerable Imperator made her head hurt. Perhaps it was best that topics revolving around him shouldn't be brought up for a little while.

She glanced at the clothes Ursula left for her. Unable to make out what it was, she gave it a good look: a short-sleeved dress in a dark shade of blue-purple. She noticed another note she didn't see; so she picked up to read.

I can't deal with those two children alone, in case you thought I'm made of miracles.

The tone. She already started to know to whom that belonged. Of course Rheia didn't think that man was a miracle maker; he more resembled a destroyer, even. Nevertheless, the first part made sense. Maybe that was her blowing up the importance of her own problems. Or maybe she really loved the Imperator that much.

She dressed herself. It fitted perfectly with her sizes. She came out of the room, then followed the hallways. Once she was outside, the weather was the first thing she paid attention to. The sky was clouded, but not yet raining. Looking around the spacious quarter, she didn't find the soldiers like before. There was only the black-clad behemoth in his uniform and usual unamused expression, next to whom was the little boy whose father "Georgo Dek" was sacrificed as a PCian conscript. On the floor was Ursula, who had chosen to wear a peach-colored dress and a short jacket, her hair tied into a ponytail. She was doing the hair of the little girl as she sat, immobile and saddened by the death of "Aleksandro Pov" - her father who had shared much the same fate as his comrade Mr. Georgo. Their wives - the children's mothers - had also been found, having failed to evacuate and were trapped in the line of fire.

"Love hurts. Doesn't it."

Rheia turned to the blond-haired man, who wasn't looking at her, but obviously aimed the line at her.

"What do you want from me?", Rheia asked straight in his face.

"I want nothing from you.", he still didn't turn to her.

"Then... You don't mean..."

"I'm not the type to always have the three-letter word in mind either."

"You just can't possibly leave us alive for some selfless reason."

"Can I?", he finally looked at his conversation partner, "Is that how PCian courtesy functions, treating your possible friends with hostile intentions?"

"That's not what I meant."

"I don't blame you for distrusting me. After all, a stranger coming out of nowhere and suddenly treating you so nicely, you must be thinking I have no-good ideas.

But I will blame you, if you don't help me with these two. I take it you won't distrust homeless children without parents as well?"

Rheia turned to look at the pair of children. They were so young, yet they already seemed to have lost any will to live and go on.

Was she like that when she lost her original parents too...?

"They couldn't possibly be only war orphans around, so I've set up an 'IBM-Unixian War Orphan Foundation', run by some of my friends in cooperation with locals, to look for and help similar cases. As for these two, however... I may have grown too attached to them.", Shinji commented.

IBM-Unix. That name... How long would it take her to get used to it. Maybe forever.

"One more thing," he added, "I've negotiated with the Federation's government. The Imperator - no - Gaben, will go to court for his crimes. He will be judged by the people he wronged, with our supervision to ensure that goes on as unbiased as possible."

Such a thing would have been unimaginable for Rheia. She was used to thinking, if such a situation was relayed to her, of how the people was betraying the hands that fed them - the hands of the Imperator. Instead, she found herself unable to protest as strongly as the day before. Or at all.

"I have pressed that the Imperator be granted amnesty however. I've learned a little psychology."

Rheia was surprised by that. She thought the rebels and allied forces were frothing at their mouths to hang, draw and quarter her Imperator.

"I will try my very best so you can still be able to see him - albeit the circumstances might make it a little inconvenient. I still hope our little cooperation will proceed smoothly."

Rheia's trust had not yet been earned, but for the moment, only cooperation with the man she considered her "Great Enemy" was a sensible-enough choice with least resistance and casualties involved. Anything that would preserve the life of the Imperator was a sound option. As the blond stood up and presented Rheia his hand, she reluctantly shook it.

"Knight Marshal, Shinji Sakahara. A pleasure to be working with you."

"Valkyrie. Rheia. Looking forward to our cooperation..."

everyone Gaben is yours to judge - but please leave me to handle the speaking roles when the plot requires :d