35 Decisions

Mark's forces march towards the base Lima and Virtue like a Battalion. "Броня крепка, и танки наши быстры, и наши люди мужества полны~♪!" The tank crews started singing a song in the middle of their march and gradually started to get louder as the others join. "В строю стоят советские танкисты, своей великой Родины сыны!!!" The pirates and gang watched in awe. "This is very scary..." Chris gulped. "W-What? They're just singing..." Anne said that but was also scared. "They are many of them in this formation... And to think this is only led by that Mark guy..." "How about the others?" Anne and Chris shared some scary thoughts. "D-Did those guys seriously brought drums and trumpets for the sake of the song?!" Gabriel noticed as she peeked out of the truck they were on. "Wow. Talented" Shio giggled. "Whoa. This is the only second time I got to hear your voice again..." Anne stared at her. They both stared at each other. "...Speak! Come on!" Anne stomps. "Hey, dude! What's wrong with your guy here?!" She looked at Alex while pointing at Shio. "She having a stroke every now and then?! She barely speaks!" She shouted. "Let her be, man. You don't want to start trouble here with her" Alex sighed. "Trouble?" "Oh no..." Chris sighed as soon as Anne heard the word. "If you got a problem, just say it to me, bitch. I'll fucking bury you to the ground!" Anne shouted at Shio.

Shio just looked at her with the same emotionless stare. "Cunt..." Having enough, Anne gave her final insult and sat back. "...Twat" Shio insulted back, making everyone turn to her. In Chris' relief, Anne just sighed. Like a coincidence, they reached the bases as the soldiers finished their song. The truck pulled over to a stop. Then the soldiers stepped out of the truck. "We're here, I guess..." Anne said as she left first before everyone else. The blow of the winds greets them. "Whoa... This place is wonderful" Anne took a deep breath and exhaled as to appreciate the winds. "There's Mark. Let's follow him" Riko saw him and pointed her finger. He was talking to the squad leader, Kaede. They walked towards him and listened to their conversation, even though they don't understand. "Want to give them a notice that we're here?" Kaede said with a mischievous smile. "Hm... I don't mind wrecking my base if it's full of enemies" Mark nodded. "That's what I'd like to hear! Artillery!" With Mark's permission, Kaede called her artillery platoon to fire a barrage of Atropos and Mercy. "Shouldn't we like, scout first?" Mark asked. "Of course. You should go and tell Shizume. Her T-50s should do" Kaede nodded. "Right..." Mark looked around, then found Anne's group. "Oh, hey. Almost forgot about you. Kaede, what do you think these guys should do?" Kaede was about to leave until she was called again. She turned back and looked at them. "Huh... What can a gang and pirate do to a war?" She said as she rubs her chin. "Maybe steal our weapons and bring them home?" She said. "That will never happen" Mark spoke in English as he looked at the group. "What is?" Anne gave a curious look.

"They don't know what guns yet, so we got no choice but to send them with the foot soldiers. They can't be riding our tanks and planes" Kaede scratched her head. Mark sighed and faced the group. "You guys don't know about guns so let me just-" "What do you mean? We already have guns!" Alex walks closer to show her black revolver. "This is my signature weapon!" She aimed her black Anaconda revolver far away. "Oh. The tech gap is huge! This place doesn't even have guns yet!" Kaede was amazed. "She looked surprised! What did she say?" Alex asked Mark. "The technology gap is huge. This part of the world hasn't invented weapons yet" He answered. "Damn. That's nuts" Anne scratched her head. "Can't believe the south is falling behind" She said. "The Chine-... The guys at the East are also on the same ride as them. They have yet to invented guns" Mark said. Chris' eyes wandered around and stopped on the line of Katyusha rocket launchers. Her eyes widen in amazement. Anne noticed her and looked at where she was staring. "Those are civilians trucks, right Anne?" Chris asked. "Yeah, turned into a military vehicle. What a sad life it must had" Anne said. "A Transport vehicle made for travels. But instead of transporting a warm, happy family to their favorite place and back to their home, they've been changed to carry deadly weapons that can kill hundreds of families" She continued. "I wonder how many civilians have used that vehicle before it was turned into a weapon?" Chris asked. "None. We made them and they were like that already" Mark broke their little conversation, which kind of annoyed them.

Later, a single T-50 went and scout ahead. "Didn't think you would come along, Shizume" Kaede radioed the T-50. "I missed being inside a tank! So it can't be helped!" Shizume shouted at the radio. "Geez, no need to yell like that..." Kaede said. Later, they climbed a small hill and stayed at a top. Shizume used her binoculars to look at the two bases. "Hey. These guys are doing something" Shizume spoke through her radio. "There are planes flying above them, lined-up AT guns and moving tanks. Those idiots must have been teaching the enemies how to use them, tch..." Shizume got mad. "Don't be upset. It will take a decade or more before they get used to them. We have a lot of time to stop them" Kaede responded. "Yeah, I know that. What should I do? Should I shoot one of them?" She asked. "Don't fire unless the Kats does. You will expose yourself" Kaede responded. "Fine..." Their conversation finally ended, Shizume moved aside her radio. "Be ready to get some hell" She laughed as she raised both of her hands to casts a vision spell. "You guys seeing this?" She asked on the radio. "Hey, got the vision?" Kaede shouted at a Katyusha. Inside them has a big monitor on the middle right next to the steering wheel. Like a Live feed, all of the monitors within the Katyushas are connected to the spell and have eyes on the bases. Every detail is displayed around the screen. They only had to control the vehicle to aim. "Katyushas are adjusting their weapons..." Kaede said on the radio as the Katyushas aim high. Anne, everyone, watched them go. "Holy shit, they are about to fire..." Anne whispered. Gabriel quickly covered her ears.

"Gab. Imagine us having this weapon, and I mean US only!" Riko placed her hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Y-Yeah. Powerful..." She smiled a bit. "Готов!" One of the katyushas shouted, Kaede nodded. "They're ready to fire. Are you good to go?" She asked through the radio. "Hold on, let me get my vodka" Shizume laughed. "Heh. Roger that. Firing" Kaede gestured the Katyushas to fire. The crewmen radioed the rest of the Katyusha to fire. After three seconds, the Katyusha started unleashing the rockets. The loud roars of the propelling rockets deafened Anne and her group. "Damn! That's so loud!" Anne shouted. They were the only ones who were covering their ears. The area around them began smoking up until they were barely seen through. "Here they come~!" Shizume smiled as she kept hearing the Katyusha fires. Then all of a sudden, a black thing flies towards them very fast. "What the...!" Shizume was forced to stop her magic and focus on the incoming danger. She quickly jumped out to the front and swings her right blade as soon as it gets close. The black shade bounces off and Shu Fang appeared as the shades fade away. She was floating in the air with Shizume. "We lost visual! What's happening?!" Kaede shouted but Shizume couldn't answer back. "The hell you want?" She asked Shu Fang. Before she could answer, she heard the incoming rockets falling down, about to land on the whole area of Mercy. It was hard for her to get her eyes off the rockets but she forced herself to focus on Shizume, who was giggling. "...You!" Shu Fang flashed a very angry look. "It's too late for-" Shizume was cut off as Shu Fang charged before she could continue. Shu Fang used her dual sword to fight, so Shizume wielded both of her blades. They clashed as the rockets hit the ground and shook the area. "Shizume-san!" One of her crew came out of the turret hatch and aimed his PPS-43 at Shu Fang. He opened fire but Shu Fang became a shade and charged at him, slashing both his hands and his neck. Shizume couldn't trace her speed and started to get nervous. "T-There's a magic wielder here! I can't stand her speed!" Shizume shouted at the radio. "What?! Get out of there then!" Kaede shouted back.

"Crew, go back to base! I'll hold he-!" Shizume was shouting at the T-50 and Shu Fang quickly lunged at her. The T-50 fled the area. "Grr! This damn...!" Knowing that she was slow, Shu Fang fastens her pace and attacks from multiple directions. Seeing Shizume struggle made Shu Fang even faster. "Can't hold he-AH!" The moment Shizume spoke, she quickly lost her focus and Shu Fang's right sword slashes across her chess. Hurt by the wound, Shizume gave an opening and Shu Fang swings her left sword across her neck. "Shizume-san!" Mark teleported in time and pulled Shizume away. "Mark!" Shizume gasped. "...Mark" Shu Fang was annoyed. "Did I made it in time?" Mark smiled. "A bit. I'm wou-" Shu Fang didn't waste time and charged at them at high speed. "Shit!" Mark got careless and barely dodged her. "She's indeed fast!" He said. "You were just a simple assassin back then. You've cha-" Shu Fang quickly charged at him. Mark catches her sword with his right blade. "You've also become aggressive!" Mark said as they both push their blades. Then they separate and started clashing. "Shizume. Mark ordered an all-out attack on Mercy and Atropos. We're coming!" Kaede said on the radio. "Fuck. Okay!" Shizume responded as she nervously watches the two clash. "Grr... Painkiller..." Shizume laid on the ground and took a painkiller from her waist. Shu Fang quickly noticed her. "Aand...!" Shizume raised the painkiller and was about to inject it on herself, but Shu Fang parried Mark's attack and quickly flew towards her, slashing her hand away. "Shizume!" Mark saw her hands fly off her arm and was horrified. "Don't!" Mark shouted as Shu Fang carried Shizume with her sword on her neck. "..." Shu Fang watched him shake in terror. He quickly got an idea and teleported behind her. But as if she can read his mind, Shu Fang swings her sword behind her as soon as she saw him disappear, slashing his chest. Then she quickly kicked him away. "Ugh..." Mark placed his hand below his wound. Then he saw her drag Shizume violently around and forced her to stand, she grunted as her wound strikes her with pain in every quick movement.

They heard the incoming army. "They're here!' Mark looked and back to Shu Fang, who didn't seem to break her stare as she held Shizume. "Hey!" Mark saw her raise her sword, pointed at Shizume's stomach. Shizume became too weak to struggle away. Like that, Shu Fang stabbed her abdomen as she stares at Mark. "Akh..Kh..." Shizume groaned in pain. She coughed blood after. "Fuck! Let go of her!" Mark desperately charged ahead. Before he can reach the two, someone teleported between them and pushed him off. "Argh!" Mark fell to his back and shouted. "Mark..." Chiho was enraged seeing him. "Huh...?! Chiho!" Mark shouted, spewing blood. "HURRY!" Shizume used her last strength to shout at her radio. They both look at her. "...I'm sorry. She's noisy" Shu Fang said and pushed her to the ground. Mark was about to move but Chiho watched her. He had no choice but to see her fate. Shu Fang raised her head, Mark made eye contact with her. Shu Fang placed her sword on her neck and quickly slashed her neck, then she quickly dropped her head. On the other side. "Mark! Shizume! Respond, will you?!" Kaede shouted on her radio. "This wasn't on our job list!" Gabriel whispered to Riko, they are currently riding a truck full of soldiers. "Just... Follow them around, you shoot but try not to hit any southern soldiers" She whispered back. "Goddamn magic..." Kaede stomps. "What's the matter?" Anne asked Kaede, they just stared at each other. "Damn! Is there anyone speaking English here?!" Anne got tired of the language barrier and asked everyone on the truck, no one responded, they just looked at her. "This is stupid..." She sighed. A few minutes later, the artillery started firing again. They saw shells flying above them to the place ahead. "Look at them fly" Anne watched the artillery fires. "There they are! Get out!" Kaede shouted and the soldiers hurried off. The group quickly followed them. The soldiers and the tanks started firing at where Chiho and Mark fighting. "Shit!" Mark quickly flew away not to be hit by the bullets, Chiho followed him. "They've gone ahead! Charge towards the Mercy!" With Kaede's shout, the soldiers and tanks charged ahead, climbing the hill. "They're noisy!" Anne can't believe the scene. "Let's follow them!" Riko shouted and started running with the soldier. "Wait! Riko! Shit, let's go!" Alex commanded her gang and they all ran ahead. "What should we do?" Chris and Anne were left behind. "Let's follow 'em" Anne nodded and they both ran ahead. Alex's gang stopped at the top of the hill, watching the soldiers' wave against the Mercy. "Sweet lord, look at them" Alex said. Anne and Chris caught up and stopped. "The hell are you doing?!" Anne pushes Alex, which startled the gang. "Go!" Anne shouted and pointed ahead. "...I'll get you later" Alex glared at her before going ahead. "We got these long-range weapons for a reason..." Anne was carrying a scoped Mosin and Chris was carrying an x4-scope SVT-40. Anne lied on her stomach and aimed down the battlefield, Chris did the same. "Hey, Chris..." Anne called. "What?" Chris looked at her. "I was serious about joining 'em" Anne said and surprised Chris. "Anne?! Why?" in surprise, Chris sits up to look at her. "With Prohorovkan's help, we can be strong. Instead of being a dog to those Valkyrie rebels, we can make ourselves even stronger and more equipped..." Anne answered. "You trust them that much already?! H...How about the remaining pirates at the Valkyrie?!" Chris shouted. "I gathered all of 'em in our ship towards here. Didn't you noticed how overcrowded our ship was?" Anne asked. "Well..." Before Chris answered, Anne fired her gun, killing a southern soldier. "Wait, Anne!" Chris looked at the battlefield. The thought of betraying their own country terrifies Chris. She shivered uncontrollably. The big step they are about to engage was just too much for her. "Chris?" Anne looked at her and jumped in surprise. "Chris!" Anne grabbed both of her arms, Chris quickly looked at her. Anne sighed and talked in a calm manner. "Are you... Afraid?" Her question hits Chris very much. "Do you think this is wrong?" Anne's voice really gave out how worried she was for Chris. "I'm... I don't know, Anne" Chris took a deep breath. "Maybe it's just the first-time sickness..." Chris smiled weakly. "I promised that I'm going to be with you whatever happens, after all. It just... surprised me..." She said. "Right. With these Prohorovkan's help, we can quickly become strong and conquer the West!" Anne said with a smile. "Yes. I just hope everything goes right..." Chris smiled along and nodded. "Don't worry. I will protect you, no matter what!" Anne hits her right arm three times with a grin. Then they quickly went back into sniping.

The Prohorovkans easily broke through Mercy, because of their guns and tanks. Chris found a target, whispering an apology before shooting the soldier off. "Hey. How about the Hell's Fury?" Chris asked. Anne giggled. "They will never get out of here alive if they don't join along. We should tell the Prohorovkans everything" She said. "Got it..." Chris nodded and returned to sniping. On the other side. "Onee-chan! They're using guns!" Ayumi shouted. "And tanks too! I'll wipe them off!" Chiho flew above them. "Whoa! You're seeing this, Chris?!" Anne saw an orange-haired girl with a long axe flew above high above the enemy soldiers. "Is that one of ours?!" Chris shouted. They saw her raise her axe up and a bolt of lightning hits her axe, filling her enormous energy. "Fuck it. Shoot her!" Anne aimed at Chiho and shoots, but energy appeared and shocked and burnt the bullet before it reaches Chiho. "What the?!" Anne looked away from the scope in surprise. "T...That's Magic, right there!" Chris shouted as she watches through her scope. Many of the bullets from the Prohorovkan soldiers fail to hit Chiho. As she became ready, Chiho dived into the middle of the soldiers with her axe up. "DIE!!!" Chiho shouted violently and swings her axe down to the ground with strength. She chopped a soldier in half and the axe let out huge energy as it hits the ground, shocking many soldiers around while brightening up the area. "Holy shit!" Anne was blinded by the bright light from the energy. "She just killed many of Prohorovkans! She's an enemy!" Chris' shout made Anne shout. "Shit! We don't even have any magic!" She said. "What should we do?! Should we pretend as friendly?" Chris panicked. "Y-Yeah. That would work..." Anne had no other idea so she just nodded. Right after they looked through their scopes, they saw a little girl spinning on the ground, killing the soldiers around her as she moves. "Hey, hey! That's a damn child!" Anne shouted. "The Hell's Fury!" Chris saw Ayumi getting closer to the gang. "Shoot the child!" Anne's shout surprised Chris.

Chris paused for a second while Anne kept shooting. "..." Chris focused back and shoots the ground between Ayumi and the gang to stray her away from them. "Guys!" Mark teleported behind them, the two quickly looked behind. "What happened to you?" Anne was surprised to see him very dirty and bloody. He looked exhausted. "You can't do anything against those magic. Shoot the soldiers and we will kill those magical girls last, alright?" Mark instructed. "Y-Yeah..." Anne nodded. "Good. Some of our magic wielders will hold those girls off as you clear out the soldiers. So do your job quickly!" Mark shouted and teleported away. "Shit... Shoot the soldiers he said!" Anne focused back on her scope and started firing at the soldiers. Chris did the same. Later, Mark couldn't hold Chiho anymore and retreated to the hill. "Shit..." He catches his breath as he sat on the grass. "Hey! The hell are you slacking for?!" Anne shouted at him. "I'm-" "Those girls will kill all of your people!" She shouted. Mark had no choice for he was very exhausted and wounded. Luckily for them, they overwhelmed the southern forces and forced them to retreat. Chiho and her friends stayed and battled for a while. Anne and Chris stopped firing so Mark took Anne's and started firing, they were shortly found out. Chiho ignored the soldiers below and flew up to them. "Fuck!" Mark fired one more round before throwing away the gun to focus on his blades. "You two! I can't hold her much longer! And we ain't got the time to get you back! We'll get killed! Deceive them! Find a way to tell them you're on their side!" Mark shouted at the two as he throws a radio at them, Chiho didn't notice this as she was focusing on hitting him. "Radio...!" Anne quickly picked up the radio and hid it inside her coat. Mark seeing her get the radio, he gave a final blow against Chiho before teleporting away. His attack was blocked. "He got away again..." Chiho sighed. Then she noticed the two and quickly readies herself.

"F-Friendly!" Anne raised her hands up. Chiho gave a curious look. Anne thinks about how to say it in their language. Then Shu Fang came up as a shade. "...Chiho, we need to get out of here" She said to Chiho. Then turned to the two. "...And these two?" She asked. "Friend! Um..." Anne was terrified by her presence. "We are friends" Chris spoke to Shu Fang, making Anne look. "Y-You can speak their language?!" She asked. "Kind of. My little sister and I studied when we were young" Chris responded. "...Friend, huh" Shu Fang walked closer. "...Then why are you carrying a gun?" She asked. "We were protecting ourselves" Chris answered. "Are you guys from the west?" Chiho noticed their accent and asked. "Yeah. We are sent here to see the Prohorovkans. We pretend that we are their allies" Chris answered. "В холмах!" The soldiers saw them and shouted to get them. "Убейте их!!!" They shouted. "...Let's go!" Shu Fang held Chiho. "You two! On me!" Chiho shouted at the two. "Annabelle! Turner! They're coming up here!" Gabriel shouted as she and Riko reached them. "Hold onto me!" Chiho shouted. "Hold her!" Chris shouted at them and they held on to Chiho in panic. Then they teleported away. The soldiers reached the top of the hill right after. "They're gone! Давайте возвратимся!" A soldier shouted and they backed off.

With the Prohorovkan's mechanized assault, with Katyusha's barrages, the southern army was heavily defeated, even with Takumi and her friends' help. The Mercy and Atropos went back into Mark's control and the surviving army was forced to retreat back to Tripriv.

Chiho and the others teleported back to Tripriv. As usual, Chiho came exhausted and Shu Fang went to support. "Holy shit, what did just happen?!" Anne, as well as the others, looked around in surprise. "We... Holy shit..." Gabriel scratched her eyes. "Did we just teleport?" She asked. "Yooo!!! That's so cool man!" She laughed. "My god. Where are we?" Riko asked. "Where are we?" Chris asked Shu Fang. "Whoa, our guy here can speak Tsuchiyan!" Gabriel was amazed. "...We are just a kilometer away from the place we've been" Shu Fang looked up to her then back to Chiho. Chris turned to her group. "She said we're just one kilometer away from where we've been" She said. "Wow" Anne looked far. "Let's go back to Saiju and tell this to Gentaro-san. We've wounded Mark, so I guess they won't attack" Chiho stood up. "She said they should go back to, uh, Saiju. I guess that's the leading country of their forces" Chris translated for the group. "Great! We should get some time off!" Gabriel stood straight, hands on her hips and took a deep breath. "Fuck. This place reeks blood" Her face went down. "...We also killed plenty of them" Shu Fang said. "So... Should we go with them?" "Of course!" Riko asked and Gabriel shouted quick. "Yeah. Where else are we staying?" Anne said. "Before we get going, may I ask your names?" Chiho spoke to Chris. "I'm Christine Turner. And this is Annabelle Ramirez. Um... That blonde girl is Gabriel Smith and the other one is Riko...uh... Matsumoto?" Chris looked at Riko. "Yeah, that's right" Riko nodded. "These two came from a gang and we both are obviously pirates" Chris said to Chiho. "I see. Why pretend to be their allies though?" Chiho asked. "We need to know everything about them. The president had a plan" Chris answered.

Thinking about the south, Chris remembered someone dearly. "Anne..." She looked up to her with a smile, then quickly looked away, blushing. "Ah..." Anne was surprised to see her smile. "...Yes?" She asked. "L-Let's talk about it later..." Chris said. Anne was left curious. "We need to make sure they won't attack soon before we go" Chiho said. "...I'll go check" Shu Fang said and flew up high. She looked at the Atropos and Mercy. There are no formations for an attack, they looked like they are settling down at the bases. "...Hm" Shu Fang made sure and watched closely. Line of Katyushas is approaching the field beside the Mercy. There, they lined up like before with their weapons up. "...Those vehicles!" Shu Fang saw the rockets and quickly flew down. "...Chiho! I saw the vehicles that sent down those explosives!" She said as she remained in the air. "...I think they are about to fire again!" She added. "Alright!" Chiho nodded and summoned the Peacemaker in her hands. "Whoa, look at that..." Anne was astonished about the magic. Chiho and Shu Fang flew up high. "Damn. I can't believe what I am seeing right now..." Anne said as they watch the two fly. "Real life superheroes, man! I wonder which is the good side?" Gabriel said. "Huh? It's obviously us" Riko joined her. "It could be them prohorovkans! The people who lived before us might have done something to their race and they are back for vengeance" Gabriel responded. "There's no such things like that, Gab. You're making shit up" Riko giggled. "You never know!" Gabriel folded her arms.

As they reach the height, Chiho used her Peacemaker and aimed at the Katyushas. "I'm going to blast them away!" She shouted as she activated her gun with her thumb. Shu Fang watched her. Chiho counted three seconds before firing. The Peacemaker roared in the air, leaving the people down below in awe. Then later, they heard loud explosions far away. The Katyushas were destroyed by a chain reaction. The two quickly flew down to the ground. "...Now they will surely come after us" Shu Fang said. "At least it's not going to rain explosives again" Chiho said. As things go quiet, Takumi and her friends showed up. "Hey! Nice job taking out those things!" Takumi shouted. Once they met, Takumi explained the Katyushas. "Those are Katyusha rocket launchers. A single Katyusha carries sixteen rockets. A row of them like before is very deadly" She said to the group. "And who are these guys?" Nagami noticed the others. "They're from the West. They were sent to pretend as the Prohorovkan's allies" Chiho told them. "W-Wait a second" Anne nervously puts her hand on Chris' shoulder. "Aren't these guys Prohorovkans? Why are they..." She whispered to Chris. "Miss. What's going on?" Chris called out Chiho. They took a few seconds before they realized her question. "Ah. They are on our side. They are kind of a rebel" Chiho answered. "They are rebels, they said" Chris turned to Anne. "Wow. I thought they are perfect. Turns out they're corrupt as fuck" Anne laughed.

"How can they make sure they're not spies?" Riko folded her arms, looking curious. "How can you trust them?" Chris asked Chiho. "Let's just say, they are the good guys of the organization" Chiho answered. "They are the good guys, she said" Chris translated. "Good guys? Why bother joining them if you're going to be the 'Good guys'?" Riko sighed in annoyance. "Who knows. Maybe they're forced to join" Anne shrugged. Then Ayumi came flying down, surprising the group. "Onee-chan! They don't seem to be preparing for an attack!" She said. "A-Ah. I didn't know you were still out there. Good job, though" Chiho smiled at her, making her happy. Then she quickly noticed Riko and Gabriel's clothing. "T-Those clothes! They're one of them!" She readies to attack. "They are pretending to be one of them, Ayumi" Chiho explained, calming her down. "Pretend?" Ayumi was curious. "Yeah. The west faked the alliance so we can scout them out. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Shichiro, their leader, quickly sent us here to prove ourselves. We were not instructed about this, nor did the President knew about it" Chris answered. "We are separated from our friends and we still have no idea what to do..." She added. "I believe we're not compromised yet, so I guess we-" "Nope!" Chris was speaking and Takumi interrupted her. "Once our friends got in contact with the enemies, we will break the alliance. That's one of Shichiro's rules" She said, surprising Chris. "What did she said?" Anne noticed how surprised Chris was and quickly asked. "Uh..." Chris focused herself. "If one of their allies get in contact with their enemies, they have simply become enemies. The Prohorovkans might turn against us any time..." Chris translated, shocking the others.

"H-Hey, what the hell? How about Alex and the others?!" Riko shouted furiously. "But don't be afraid yet. Shichiro doesn't just turn you as enemies if some of your friends are with him. Though, he might hold them captive and actively send out a scout for confirmation" Takumi said. "That's what he always does on these kinds of situations" She added. Chris translated what she said. "So, what? How can we show that we are still on their side?" Riko scratched her head. "Mark gave me a radio here. I turned it off right away after I got it. We can talk to them later" Anne took out the radio and showed them. "Ah. That's nice" Riko sighed in relief. "I hope they believe in us, though. He looked like a serious kid and doesn't fuck around" Anne said. "...Chiho, we have to go back to Saiju" Shu Fang called Chiho. "Y-Yeah. Looks like nobody went back to report" She looked around. The soldiers were busy gathering and fixing themselves. Some of them are being comforted by their friends due to shell shock. "Yeah. Go back. We'll take care of everything here. Mariko is helping the soldiers gather unharmed weapons in the fields, so y'all go ahead" Takumi smiled at them. With that said, they left the Trupriv.

Right after they left the base, Chiho quickly strikes up a conversation. "So, what are you going to do now? Oh, by the way. I'm Chiho Hasegawa" She introduced first. "Ah! You're the Daughter of the Hero!" Chris got surprised and turned to Anne. "Anne, this girl here is Chiho Hasegawa! You know her as well, right?" She asked. "Ah. Daughter of the Hero? Yeah" Anne nodded. "You southerners really made a huge deal about it just because the man led the war to a win" She said. "Anne..." Chris sighed. However, Chiho was smiling at them, knowing that Chris told Anne about her. "What did she say?" She asked. "Uh... She said she will be looking forward on working with you" Chris lied about what she said. "H-Hey, did you really have to translate that?" Anne looked a little bit uncomfortable. "Not really. I said something else" Chris sighed. "...You said that you are both pirates, yes?" Shu Fang asked. "Yes. My name is Christine Turner, and this is Annabelle Ramirez. We are the Valkyrie Rebel Front's Pirates. She's the captain and I'm like an assistant" Chris introduced themselves. Shu Fang turned to her for a brief second with widen eyes before turning away quickly. "VRF for short..." She added. "VRF, huh" Chiho remembered the name. "And this is Riko Matsumoto and Gabriel Smith. They came from a different group or a gang... What is it again?" Chris introduced the two and turned to them. "Hell's Fury" Riko answered briefly. "Hell's Fury. They're gangsters. Those punks at the streets, you know" Chris gave an idea. "...So you're all criminals?" Shu Fang guessed. "Yes, that's right" Chris nodded. "...I see. I'm Shu Fang Chen. An Assassin from Chu-Yuan" She introduced. "Nice to meet you. Everyone. This is Shu Fang Chen. She's an assassin from that country" Chris introduced her. "It's no surprise, just look at how she's dressed up" Riko said and they looked at her. "She looked like she's still not done on her job yet" She half-joked about Shu Fang still having her hood on.

"My friend here is bothered about your hood, miss" Chris told Shu Fang. "...Ah. Pardon me" She apologized and brought down her hood. "Hey, you don't have to say everything" Riko sighed. After that, they stopped talking for a while. Chiho felt awkward after a minute so she struck up a conversation once again. "Where did you learn Tsuchiyan? How were you able to learn it?" She asked to Chris. She gave a smile as she remembers back. "I and my little sister dreamed about visiting your region when we were young. We studied every day, and asking ourselves to know if we really caught the lessons" She answered. As if wanting to confirm something, Shu Fang gave her that look. "...Where is your little sister now?" She asked, leaving Chris to smile more. "She's at... Saiju" She said as she looked down with a smile. Chiho and Shu Fang quickly knew who was her. "Chris? You've been smiling often lately" Anne sounded so surprised, Riko and Gabriel also became curious. Then Chris looked up to her. "My sister, Anne. She's at Saiju, on where we are going right now" She said with a big smile, Anne couldn't believe what she's seeing. "C-Chris. Wow. I mean..." She focused herself. "T-That's nice! I'm sorry I forgot about you two!" She said, scratching herself. "But..." Her voice turned down. Chris' smile also lessens but didn't let it go. "I'm pretty sure she forgave me now. I mean, she can't possibly still hate me right now. After the years I've been gone" She said, making Anne sad. "Wow, Chris. I uh... Like, I can't believe you think that way..." She said, leaving Chris worried. "I hate to ruin it, but it doesn't... work that way" She outright told her what's in her mind. "Your family was like, one of the rich and well-known families. Your family is a part of the higher standing of our civilization, Chris. Do you even know what you did to your family?" She asked. Chris looked down quietly.

Riko and Gabriel were quietly looking at her, feeling quite sad. "I-I'm not going to talk about this again, Chris. I don't want us to fight again. Just... Please. Think about the consequences you made, before you, uh, confront your sister. The mistake you made really ruined your family and I don't think that is a very easy matter for forgiveness" Anne sighed. "I just wanted you to stop getting your hopes up, Chris. I don't want you like, ending up crying there" She added, Chris gave no response. "...I'm sorry, Chris" Anne sighed. "It's alright... I... Understand. But that doesn't mean I hate my family now, right? No matter what happened, what I did. Even if they hate me, we are still family and I still love them. I will meet my sister with a great smile I usually do" Chris looked up with a weak smile. "Y-Yeah. That's gonna be tough, Chris. But I'll be here with you through all that" Anne smiled at her, Chris nodded. "You two sure are close" Riko smiled at them. "Yeah. We've known each other since we were little. She never leaves my side ever since" Anne said. "Heh. Childhood friends sure are great, huh" Riko giggled. Chris quickly noticed that Chiho and Shu Fang had no idea about their conversation. "I'm sorry! We were talking about my sister!" She said to them. "A-Ah! Is that so? You guys sounded rather sad, though" Chiho said. "Yes. There are some... Complications happening between us" Chris nodded. The two were surprised and responded no more. And they spent the rest of the trip in silence.

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