Yorihime stood there beside Reisen's lunarian relic tank Coronis, gazing out at the water. Her arms were behind her back, and her expression was level.

'...Oh. She's just standing next to my tank, like we're watching the ocean together. Guess I'll bite.'

"...Hey." Reisen spoke through the comms, projecting her voice out.

Yorihime blinked. She adjusted her hair, parting some of it from her face, and keeping it in place, against the strong gales that raced around the Sea of Tranquility itself.

"Hello, Reisen." She finally responded. "...I suppose I'm not surprised you survived that."

"Did you plan on that?" Reisen wanted to shoot her in the face.

"No." Yorihime clarified. "I'd have appreciated if it were successful, however."

Reisen actually stopped at that.

"I wouldn't have had to face your death myself." Yorihime gazed up at the ever-cloudless sky. "But… it seems my mentor wishes to teach me a harsh lesson. That could be the only reason, she gave you such sacred technology. Her creations, bestowed onto a disgrace such as yourself."

"Hey, Yorihime." Reisen spoke up. "How's about you pull the sheath outta your ass?"

Yorihime snorted. "Insults get you nowhere."

"My point being, that you're fucking conceited." Reisen clarified her intent. "I just want you to know that. You're like—... I've met my share of assholes. You know where you sent me, you know I met my share of assholes. You know who's also an asshole? You. You're an asshole."

Shaking her head, Yorihime held up her arms. "Reisen. Reisen… you just don't understand. And, that's okay. I don't expect you to understand."

'Not really helping your argument here…!' Reisen grinned intensely, knowing Yorihime couldn't see her behind the tank's walls.

"Matters of Lunaria are simply beyond bunnies." Yorihime declared confidently. "You have shown me that. Not just you, but every sector you have ever visited, has shown me that. When I was younger, or rather, less wise, I went on a journey, much like you did."

'Fat lot of good that did you.'

"This is why I sent you on your journey." Yorihime affectionately caressed the side of Reisen's tank, for some indiscernible reason. "My wish… was that you would see what I saw. That you would take a stride above your species. So that you could be the next generation."

'That… reminds me.' Reisen remembered those cyborgs. 'Wait—'

"Those ones you saw…" Yorihime spoke of them, too. "Those Darksides. They're incomplete. I'm not sure if you'd have noticed… but, I made them fight like you. And, once I was confident of the person you were… I was going to make them all like you, too. That's why they didn't seem like they had a personality."

'...This is—... wha~t, the fuck.'

"And yet… it wasn't meant to be, I guess." Yorihime shook her head. "I'm sorry, Reisen. For getting your hopes up. For forcing something incomprehensible onto you."

'...I never thought my slightly bitter outlook on her would mutate into something like this. This just makes me look back—... back when I was a kid, and they both really, really loved me. Why are you so… stupid, Yorihime?'

'Why is this happening?'

"So, Reisen…" Yorihime gazed along the hull of Coronis. "What do you say?"

'I just want… to fucking relax.'

'I'm so fucking done with this. All of this…'

'Goddammit!'

"Will you let me put you down?" Yorihime gave her offer with confidence. There was no reluctance.

"...Do you realize, what you're saying?" Reisen wasn't going to let the conversation end here. Not by a long shot. "Do you actually put any fucking thought, into any goddamned— retarded thing you say?"

"Tsk." Yorihime shook her head, again. "Always quick to anger. I don't remember you being—"

"No. No!" Reisen yelled back, over the intercom. "Whatever reason you have— just think. What if you were wrong!? Have you ever acknowledged, that you were wrong before!?"

"Of course." Yorihime frowned, facing away defensively. "What leader would I be, without humility? I simply know a lot. It is rule of thumb; lunar rabbits have less growth than Lunarians. Aside from our difference in age, they are raised in isolated sectors, with minimized educational facilities, for specific purposes. How could anyone meaningful be created from that?"

"How could Yagokoro teach someone so meaningless?" Reisen returned.

...When Yorihime said nothing back, Reisen continued. "While their living conditions are rougher, there's wisdom to be found. There's idiots, there's assholes, there's the whole— collection of unlikeable, or at least people you can't hang out around— kind of people. I don't think that's unique to lunar rabbits or Lunarians."

"You know so little of us." Yorihime shook her head. "How can you say that so confidently?"

"Because you are a person, Yorihime." Reisen grinned to herself. "...And even idiots can teach you a thing, or two. No one knows everything."

"I would bet my mentor does."

Reisen frowned. "I bet your mentor'd never say that, and would lay your ass out flat for being so greedy."

"You assume that I often assume, but you assume yourself."

"Alright." Reisen leaned back in her seat. "...What have I assumed? Or, do you want it the other way around? I can do both."

"Yes." Yorihime smiled. "Tell me my faults, why don't you? You quite seem to like that."

"What do you think they are? If you could think of any?" Reisen supposed.

...Yorihime took a good moment, to consider that. "For my confidence, you call me conceited. For your situation, you consider me cruel. ...I have said, that you do not understand some things."

"I'm waiting." Reisen wanted to hear about those 'things'.

"...Well, if I must." Yorihime huffed. "I see it just that our society expands. Much of what I've done in recent years, has been me using what I know to further this. Right now, I was on my way to end this new Earth invasion."

"You've gone so far out of your way to oppose me, Reisen. As the one who will lead our empire to new heights, what do I say? What do I do? My feelings on the matter are naut. You do not have a place on the moon anymore.

"So, for Lunaria's sake, you die. And, with the lessons you leave, I will remember them when considering the further advancement of the lunar rabbit species."

Reisen sighed again, staring vexed down at the visualizer. 'Yorihime's… a real fucking piece of work.'

"So." Reisen considered this. "I need to die, 'cause you superficially consider me some public enemy. All I've done is defend myself, and I don't know what the hell these accusations are, but it was pretty damn telling how you turned on me that very instant."

Yorihime refused to listen. "I trust my betters."

'But, your betters never trusted you. Or so it feels like.'

"Once you are done, the invasion will begin." Yorihime supplied. "I cannot let personal obligations get in the way of what is to come."

"What's the big deal with that?" Reisen tackled that point next. "Everyone knows Earth doesn't have shit on this place. But, we are in no way ready to go stomping on idiots we don't understand, when we hardly understand what the hell is going on here."

"...That is false." Yorihime decided. "We know exactly what is going on here. It is what my mentor would have wanted."

Reisen clicked her tongue. "Tch. Like— do the people from Earth even know we're here? Secrecy's worked so far. Why won't it now?"

"Because we will expand." Yorihime announced. "By my will, we will overcome the impurity of life, and increase our society's power. I believe it to be a challenge proposed by my mentor, who has placed herself amongst the impurity below. She is waiting for me, and the day our soldiers sweep life from that near planet."

"...Not on my fucking watch." Reisen sat up in her tank straighter. "What a waste. And it's a waste, because we've hardly got the social problems here sorted out. You're a living example of that."

"Quit that." Yorihime commanded. "I exemplify none of your projection."

Reisen felt her adrenaline spike. "Aa— Uh huh. You went to every sector, met all those different people, and you can say, with total certainty, they're all beneath your grand idea? They're all beneath this shitty progress that'd waste their lives? They're living people, with real problems. Problems created by the capital. Problems created by you."

Yorihime shook her head. "I don't—... Reisen, that is the life of a rabbit."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Reisen just looked confused. "Who gives a shit? They're people! Hell— this whole 'cyborg warfare' idea of yours would even make more problems! What're you going to do with all your 'obsolete soldiers', huh?"

...Yorihime tilted her head. "I'd considered the notion, as a passing thought. We would update them as we went, and those who could not be updated would, perhaps in minimal capacity, be restrained.

"The rest? I may leave that up to the council. It would be a bother, to let them infest and dwell where we may better optimize operation. Entire sectors could be minimized. I could see shutting down the irrelevant, humane-focused centers altogether, as they only waste air, energy and space."

Reisen snorted. "...And, I suppose you could create these soldiers faster than lunar rabbits could breed?"

...Yorihime paused, before finding an answer. "No. During transitional periods, they would be useful, yes. But, such updated soldiers have far greater longevity than the current generation. You witnessed their power. Imagine fourteen of such infantry at your side? They would be free of errors in judgment, tactical masterminds, know the essence of taking risks in the name of Lunaria… and potentially, so much more."

"...I think it's fucked you'd throw out all those useful people." Reisen couldn't agree. "And how it's fucked—... we're not even fighting an enemy. We're not desperate for firepower or extended-duration field soldiers; we wouldn't need any of that if you just held onto your fucking skirt and didn't start a retarded war for what is basically no reason. Expansion is not a good reason, when we're hardly using the space we have here efficiently."

"Expansion is a perfect reason."

Yorihime stepped away from the tank, walking down the shore some. "You see. This is what I suspected you would not understand. Such is why I tried not wasting time telling it to you. Our society must become greater, and so, not only is our foe not worth personifying, our tools— the rabbits— are not either.

"I see my error, now. You have empathized with those you've met."

Reisen spoke up quickly. "Everything would be running a whole lot fucking smoother if we fixed our shit here, at home, and then thought about expanding. I'm pretty sure there's a whole lotta other rocks of iron and shit in space, too. What happened to those?"

"Reisen—..." Yorihime let her head drop, shaking it again. "...While those are valid locations— taking Earth is what we must do!"

...Reisen took a deep breath.

"Lunar rabbits are smarter than you think." She leaned back in her seat. "They do more than you think. They got hobbies. They've got friends, lovers. Some are retarded. Some are cool. Some are really cool. Hey, if I ever got a husband, would you be all data analysis on him, too? What would he be, the optimal breeder, or some shit?"

Yorihime inhaled—

"Whatever the fuck we just fought didn't feel like that." Reisen shook her head. "They didn't have soul. And if they did, it wasn't life anyone could relate to. They operated on a routine. Maybe ideal for fighting a war, but—... living here isn't a war. Our people could have more. Our people could be comfortable."

Reisen thought back to the past few years of her life.

"...No one, should have to vagabond like I did." Reisen decided. "I got used to it. But, you know how it felt? Not having a home? Getting thrust into a new environment, where everyone— at first— thinks fucking nothing of you? My home became what I had on my back. It became our computer network."

"You said you did what I did, yeah?" Reisen tilted her head back, as if Yorihime could see her. "...You sure what fucked you up wasn't that? Being— essentially— fuckin' homeless? Did you do that for years? What's your education, then? Did it even help? Yeah— quick, tell me the fuckin' favorite cereal of the ancient scholars, or whatever."

"Our learning— it was before my journey." Yorihime interjected when she could.

"So you already had a thought, then." Reisen supposed. "A preconception. What'd you expect? You expect your trip to suck? Did it suck?"

"...That— goes without saying— I believe." Yorihime admitted.

"If your day one problem, was 'I'm surrounded by filthy moon rabbits', you did it wrong." Reisen decided. "You were doing it wrong. You ought to go fucking do it all again— and actually pay attention this time. 'Cause if you saw it the way I saw it, this place would be amazing. You'd be a hero. That's a far greater service to Lunaria than your bullshit."

"...What's to say— that the rabbits are our citizens?" Yorihime spoke back up—

"They're like three-fourths of the fucking population." Reisen grinned hard at the hologram before herself. "You better believe, I consider those hard-as-fuck workers more citizens than you bunch of superpowered do-nothings.

"And— let me tell you. The only reason we look down at you, is because you get hung up like this. And by you, we all mean you, you specifically, Yorihime. Most of the capital, too. But, right now? All you."

...Yorihime gritted her teeth. "Reisen…"

"Yorihime…" Reisen gritted her teeth back. "You're missing the whole point… of a society. Can't we just— live? Can't we just fucking live?" She felt her eyes well, a little. "I— sure wish I had a chance— to fucking live. And I've met so many other people—... it's— it's— like you're not even thinking of them. There was no way you truly saw what I saw…"

Yorihime's head hung. "Reisen…"

"What?" Reisen glared down into the hologram. "What could you possibly have to say?"

...Yorihime gazed ahead at Coronis.

"I guess—... I'm sorry." Yorihime offered. "...I'm sorry you felt that way. But—"

"But." Reisen sneered. "Yeah. But. But— fucking nothing. I— I hate you, Yorihime. I fucking hate you…"

She shut her eyes, repressing a sob.

"Lunaria…" Yorihime's frown trembled. "I— I'm sorry, Reisen. But—..."

"Wh— what're you gonna do?" Reisen saw the hologram blur before herself, and blinked her eyes a few times.

'...Those days we spent together… days I didn't know about computers, or guns. Where life was simple, and everyday was fun...'

'Why—... like this?' She'd remembered her life, with Yorihime and Toyohime. 'Why's it all have to fall apart like this?'

"...What you say—... it may be true." Yorihime exhaled hollowly, her throat hurting. "But—... for my mentor, for Lunaria— we— we need to progress—"

Reisen took a bet. "I— I bet your mentor left— 'cause of how much of a clusterfuck this place is."

'...I— just wish, I could go home. Fuck military honor. Fuck all of this grey, glowy—... stupid shit… I want to go home.'

"Re— Reisen." Yorihime's left arm moved. "I can't say—... I can't say I understand. I can't say that I saw people in those you observed… even though I can see a person in you."

'Th— that makes so little fucking sense… it's— it's because you're not paying attention...'

Yorihime gulped. "I can feel your pain. You truly care for Lunaria."

"So… Reisen." Yorihime closed her eyes. "I want to comfort you."

"Just— fuck off." Reisen was done with her. "...I— I don't want to see you again."

"I can grant that wish." Kotohime's frown deepened. "It is all I can do, to apologize for what I must do. Your words do not fall on deaf ears."

"I just... wish you'd understand." Reisen had caught her composure. "I wish you'd understand."

"That they're people?" Yorihime's left arm was on her sheath. "...I may take your word for it. I may take your word for many things, here."

'It's never that easy.'

Reisen looked at the right camera. She saw Yorihime's hand on her sheath.

'...She— still wants to just kill me. After hearing about all I went through, and how I felt.'

"What do you want, Reisen?" Yorihime proposed an offer.

...Reisen swallowed. "T— to go home. I mi— missed you guys."

Yorihime opened her wet eyes. "...Wi— wish—... granted."

Reisen ducked down, out of Coronis' chair and into an awkward, inner space of the interior hull.

SHING. Yorihime swung wide.

Organ Jaws

...Reisen pushed easily off the floor of Coronis.

The tank was now in two halves, amber mist spreading around her in the air.

Her energy shield flickered in two colors; the cyan force-related one, and a brighter, almost white one which related to environmental conditions.

Eternal starlight shone above her, great and empty.

Below her, there was grey rock. Gravity was low, the two tank halves floating around her.

...Both guns held, Reisen gazed down at Yorihime, who floated before her.

"...Why?" Yorihime's mouth held open. "Please. Your suffering will end—... wh— when you do."

Reisen bared her teeth. She glared, and her chest pounded.

"All I wanted—..." She shook, as she drifted. "All I wanted—... wa- was for you to admit— that you were wrong. You didn't think things through. Aa— and now I'm gonna die— because you were too stupid!"

"I'm sorry." Yorihime grimaced. "But— my first recompense, will be to end your pain!"

'...So, it has to be this way.'

Yorihime held her sword high, to cleave it down. "Please— just stop!"

FWI- FWISH! Reisen shot a rocket from both Apollo and Heavy Claw.

BOO- BOOM! They both burst in Yorihime's face. "Ngh—"

WOOSH! She cleaved her blade down.

Reisen froze, as it dropped to the side of her, missing. 'This—...'

KR- KROO~M! The moon's surface split, a huge line of terrain destruction stretching on for many meters.

"...Ss— so." Reisen inhaled. "Isn't this just running away from your own problem!?"

Yorihime was in Reisen's face in the next instant. "How so?"

Her free arm had Reisen by the collar.

Reisen let go of Heavy Claw, one hand moving for Asclepius, but stopping. "...If— if you just kill me here— it won't matter what I said. Nothing would matter. I'd be dead— outta sight, outta mind. You're just gonna shut this shit out— all of it. All the shit I fought for— wouldn't mean a damn!"

"It wouldn't matter!" Yorihime yelled back. "If you were dead— it wouldn't matter!"

As she reeled her katana back, Reisen slid out Asclepius.

BANG! A shell from Asclepius met Yorihime right in an eye.

"Gh—" Even to a god-like entity like Yorihime, being hit in the eye with a high-velocity shell was something at least disorienting, if not a special kind of horrible. "Rh— Reisen…!"

Reisen's boot met her pelvis, allowing her to jolt back—

FWHIP- Fwoam- FWASH! Reisen lobbed a dark mortar from Apollo into Yorihime's face and chest, in order to truly break the grip she had on Reisen's shirt.

Fwi~sh! Reisen's shield broke from being in the vicinity of the black nova. 'That— black shit— is more strong than I thought!'

"...I— I just want to set this right." Yorihime was drained looking, as the black-white nova of magic died out. "Reisen. I hurt you. I've been hurting you, for so long. So please— let me end my mistake!"

Cli- cli- click. Reisen loaded Asclepius up to full, as she caught up with Heavy Claw, some meters back amidst the low gravity.

"Yhou—" Reisen tried to speak—

"Hraa~h!" Yorihime became a meteor of white, shooting into the ground before Reisen like a star.

KROOM. KROOM. As Reisen caught Heavy Claw, huge spires of moon rock began to jut from the floor.

KRAKRAKROOM! The final rock spike shot straight up at Reisen in an instant.

...In the low gravity, Reisen was able to ride the top of it, sent flying way up into the air, rather than crushed between gravity and the thrust of the stone. 'Nice one, genius.'

"You can start by letting me li~ve!" Reisen hollered back down.

She saw a pinprick of white below. '...Below.'

Underneath Reisen directly, the ground was blooming with white light.

PATATATAT! By firing Heavy Claw into the air briefly, Reisen gave herself the force she needed to drift slowly out of the way of the oncoming eruption…

KRAK- KABOO—

The white, ion-like pillar of pure power blasted effortlessly from the moon's crust below. This hidden power radiated something Reisen hadn't felt before; it charged her shield to full and beyond by her simply being in the vicinity of the energy attack.

Yorihime walked below, along the side of the infinite white.

"I hadn't felt it before…" Yorihime's voice was heard across the moonscape. "...Reisen."

krak- Krakroom- KRAK- KRAK! The ground below began to break apart, the whole nearby kilometer of terrain shifting, grey dust billowing away from the raw, unseen before surge of activity and power.

BANG- BANG- BANG- BANG- BANG! Briefly letting go of Heavy Claw, Reisen unloaded Asclepius, straight down where Yorihime stood. 'She can bleed. And— if it can bleed…'

Reisen remembered the times she bathed with the sisters. Yorihime could draw her own, red blood with her katana. 'I can kill it.'

"Lunaria needs me. Lunaria needs you." Yorihime leaned back, her heart full, her own power exhilarating her. "We all have personalities. We all show signs of life. But, this complacency is not what we are. It is not what Lunaria is."

'She's not Yorihime.' Reisen felt her eyes dry. 'She's not someone who should be alive, much longer.'

KROO- KROOM- KROOM- KRAKROOM! From all around Yorihime, and all around the kilometer of moon below, structures began to erect from the soil.

But, they were not structures. They were massive armaments of emerald; axes, greatswords, spears, katanas and knives. They were rough, but the idea got across.

For a comparison, the entire raising armory was together taller, wider, and denser than sector A-2-B.

'...Yorihime's skilled. Supremely skilled. She's all-powerful. Nothing outward can hurt her.'

'...But.' Reisen had an idea. She remembered her cuts from the baths again. 'Her blade. Skilled in traditional swordsmanship she may be—... she's probably never fought someone with guns for real, or someone like me, even.'

One of the emerald, skyscraper-sized weapons neared Reisen.

PATATAT! She fired Heavy Claw, latching into it again to do so, so she'd end up atop the hilt of one of the raising swords.

Whap- clack! Her landing onto it was rough, but aided by her shield, and the ever-increasing lack of gravity.

"Feel my armory." Yorihime was heard clearly, all the way up here.

Then, Reisen was left in the air, the hilt she was sitting upon descending down in an instant.

The entire, unwieldy, legendary and unrecorded armory of unknowable scale grinded into the moon's surface below.

Amidst the dust, Yorihime was floating up. Reisen could see her eyes. 'Here she comes—'

BANG! Reisen let go of Heavy Claw again, drawing Asclepius with a flick, firing a single, wild shot down.

Yorihime darted hundreds of meters to the right, before snapping towards Reisen within a second.

CLICK- BOOM- CLANK! Yorihime deflected Apollo's ballistic barrage with a stroke, a mere ten meters before Reisen—

Letting go of Apollo, Reisen flipping back in the air—

WOOSH! Yorihime thrusted straight for her. She looked back, her sunlight-bright eyes meeting Reisen's wide red ones.

Reisen got ahold of Heavy Claw before it could drift too far, aiming it back down.

"Reisen…" Yorihime intentionally wound up a swing. "Please think of your friends. It will ease the pain."

WOOSH. She swung her band of light-like blade inward.

Letting go of Heavy Claw once again, Reisen held up both its revolver and Asclepius, from either inner pocket of her suit.

BANG- BANG! She shot at Yorihime's hand, where the katana's grip would be.

CLI- CLING! Asclepius met Yorihime's wrist, loosening it. Heavy Claw's detonating bullet met the hilt of her katana.

SHINK. The katana flipped back, rolling along Yorihime's palm and wrist, sliding right into her left bicep.

Reisen slipped away the steel revolver, grabbing Heavy Claw again. 'Gotcha.'

"...Brilliant." Yorihime blinked at the blade lodged in her own arm, the red blood flowing freely. "Such a stra— teghe—"

BANG- BANG! Reisen double-tapped Yorihime in the left eye, Asclepius's bullets tilting her head back.

Fwish- BOOM! As Yorihime glared back down, a rocket met her in the chest, the burst of smoke and fire clouding her vision.

Reisen was descending towards the moon's surface.

"So…!" Reisen yelled back up at the angry demigod girl. "What's the big plan after this!? Toyohime gonna sponge ya down, again!? Nice long bath— an' a shot of human skulls!?"

"Reisen— please—"

Reisen saw Apollo still drifting around in the air, way up above. 'Keep that in mind…'

"We mustn't let the problems of now hold us back. Generations will look back on today as a historic moment. No matter what the opinion of my heroism is, it will be the foundation of future Lunaria."

FWI- FWISH! From Yorihime's back, huge, teal-white angel wings bloomed, as she coasted down, leering over Reisen.

Fwi- BOOM! Reisen got a potshot in with a rocket blast, having only guessed its accuracy. 'Pft- really…'

Yorihime's wings spread out, as wide as they could. When they were the widest, she hung in the air in place, readying to slam them inward.

FWUMP! This moment of stillness let Reisen shoot an electric mortar from Heavy Claw.

FWASH- FZZT- FZAP- FAZAP! It exploded into an entourage of charged shells; great lavender arcs of plasma and lightning rolling through Yorihime's body.

FWAP! Her wings came down slowly, lightning arcing around amidst the holy, magic feathers.

Reisen shot down against her will quickly, the cutting air current sending her rocketing to the floor.

'If she flapped at full power— this would've been messy…'

Thunk- Fwish! Reisen's energy shield flickered dangerously, as her legs nearly buckled against the ground. 'Aah— damn…'

Yorihime swung straight down, to loom overhead, wings still spread—

FWUMP! Reisen fired a flaming mortar next.

Yorihime evaded it with her body—

FWAP- FWOOM- KABOOMBOOM! But, her left wing caught it, and it became a star of metal and fire.

BOOM! Reisen shot her own feet with a rocket right after, ascending amidst the fire and smoke. 'Nnh— fuck yeah…!'

WOOSH! From Yorihime, a massive, spherical burst of air emerged from where her heart would be. "I— am no mortal!"

'Whoh— woa~h!' Reisen spun around amidst the fierce air, before rotating her body with her arms and legs, her momentum and the air leading her diverting as she swung herself. 'What the fuck…!'

Yorihime looked around, slightly smouldering, covered in jolts…

Woosh! Reisen rolled around overhead. "I'll— shred you to bits— and send you to hell!"

'Ah— there!' Flicking her gaze ahead, she saw Apollo.

"...This is how it is meant to be?" Yorihime almost sounded unsure, somehow. "A pitiful, useless struggle? Machines die with grace. Were I ever useless, I too would die in grace. Reisen, please, join my side. In your memory, I will construct a hundred rabbits in your image."

'Not my idea of flattery, if I'm gonna be honest…!'

Reisen met Apolo, her shield humming back to life meanwhile. 'Alright—'

WOOSH. Yorihime was next to her in the next moment.

SWISH. She cleaved her katana to the left, widely. Reisen flinched hard as she rotated in the air, aiming Apollo ahead—

CLICK- FWOOMBOOM! A volley of metal and fire met Yorihime's face. "Rhrgh— ngh!"

Reisen huffed, and glanced at her thighs. Her right leg was carved straight down one side, suit cloth and flesh missing. A neat, huge patch of exposed, now bleeding flesh met her vision.

'Ff~...' Reisen gritted her teeth hard. 'Son of a bi~tch!'

"I— hate hurting you…" Yorihime's face through the fire was dismal. "Life is cruel…"

CLICK- CLICK- BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM! Reisen held down the trigger on Apollo, unloading the mesmerizing hellstorm of dark, electric and fire magic.

"Wugh— ooh—" Yorihime didn't anticipate it. She'd swung her blade to stop a single barrage, but the rest tore into her, colorful elements boiling even the emptiness around her.

'So—... this is the logical extreme of a sense of duty. Can't say I'm jealous.'

Yorihime exhaled, staring down at the moon below again, stressed. "Please, Reisen. Stop."

'No one's ever started a war with me, that ever ended well.'

FWU- FWUMP! She fired a flaming mortar from Heavy Claw, and a dark one from Apollo.

"Please." Yorihime flinched, bracing her teeth against the differing, stretching and searing elements. "Reisen…!"

FWU- FWUMP! Reisen shot two more mortars. Her weapons were burning her hands from overuse. 'Keep shooting, damn it!'

"I said stop—"

PATATATATAT! Reisen unloaded the machinegun cannon of Heavy Claw.

Yorihime jerked her head away, the array meeting her face and cheek. She was finally bleeding, small scratches all over her exposed arms and face.

"I WILL DRILL THE SKILL OF LEGENDS INTO YOU"

Yorihime was next to Reisen in the next moment. 'Oh—'

FWIBOOM! Yorihime swing the katana inward with enough force to rend the rock to Reisen's left.

Reisen snapped into a roll in the air, eyes wide. '— shit—'

FWIWOOSH. The katana was flicked up at an awkward angle, Yorihime doing her damndest to meet Reisen with it.

Whunk! The blow met Reisen, the hilt sending her flying, the blade's incision only bone deep. 'Fuck fuck—'

"EIRIN CHOSE ME"

PATATAT! Reisen returned fire with Heavy Claw as she spun away, breath hard.

FWIWOOSH. Yorihime swung wide, and the blade went for a thousand meters, as a band of light.

"Fuck!" Reisen felt her elbow get cut in a hard spot, her right arm's nerves locking up as she slid up and over the band.

Yorihime was a being of nearly pure light, her infinite blade pure white, as she tracked Reisen's movement, coming up in a near instant.

FWUMP! Reisen shot a dark mortar from Apollo straight into Yorihime's face.

FWOOMP- BOOM- Fwoa~sh…! The spiral of dark light broke Reisen's shield again. 'Ngh- fuck…!' Not that the shield would do much protecting if Yorihime hit her, anyway.

FWIWOOSH! Yorihime swung way high up into the air, very shy of Reisen entirely, predicting incorrectly that she'd try ascending again amidst the visual clutter.

'Not sure what she was swinging for—'

PATATATATAT! Grinning hard, Reisen lumbered backwards, moonwalking as she unloaded Heavy Claw with her numbing arm.

"Lunaria wills your surrender—... so why do you resist!?"Yorihime reeled back, staggered by the shells that hit her. Or rather, she was staggered by frustration, and the shells just sort of helped.

'...Still— this Yorihime—... fuck. She's a goddamn powerhouse. Only a little cut up, after all of the fucking—... like— how hard does a body need to be?'

...CLICK- BOOM! While Yorihime waited for Reisen to respond, Reisen shot her in the face with Apollo. 'What the fuck was that.'

"Rgh—..." Yorihime's volume dipped lower. "Once more— my armory…"

...vuu~m. Reisen heard the low hum of a jet. 'What the fuck…?'

Yorihime and her looked up at the same time.

VHOOSH! A chrome and white jet shot overhead of the two.

CLATHUNK! A payload disengaged from the bottom of it.

Reisen's eyes widened. 'That's—' It was her tank. It was still missing the main cannon, and it still had the radio dish and cooling turret out from earlier.

Yorihime looked down, noticing Reisen's distracted stare.

Click! Reisen bounded off the floor. 'I'll send you straight to hell—'

SHUNK. Yorihime thrust ahead. Reisen felt the blade enter her left leg. 'Nn—'

SHINK! Reisen's left leg from the calf down was serrated to the bone.

"Ghk- aaa~h!" Reisen yelled into space.

'Fuck fuck fuck fuck—'

As Reisen spun up towards the slowly descending tank, Yorihime flipped around on a dime, snapping closer. "See how powerless you are."

Reisen looked down along her chest, seeing Yorihime shoot up parallel to it. Reisen had her guns aimed right back at her, eyes wide, expression fierce.

CLICK- FWUMP- BOOM- BOOM! Reisen shot an array of flaming bolts, and fire mortars down.

Her hands shook; both weapons were pulsing hot, to the extent that her hands had begun to become numb. 'Da— damn it…!'

Amidst the fire, Reisen latched onto the underside of her descending tank's treads.

"And now—..." Yorihime reeled her blade back. "The end."

WOOWOOWOOWOOSH! She spun around like a hurricane. All the fire extinguished instantly, and she ascended towards the tank too.

Pushing herself up, Reisen aimed opposite of the tank's hull, into the air. 'Wait— no—' She aimed down at the hull, instead.

FWI- BOOMBOOM! She shot rockets from both guns into her personal tank.

THUNK! This shot the tank down just a little faster than normal, causing it to bump Yorihime's head. "Uwh—" It rebounded off her skull, moving back towards Reisen.

FWISH- BOOM, BOOM! Reisen shot another two rockets down at the hull.

THUNK! As Yorihime tried to ascend again, her attack stopped, she hit the undertread of the tank again. "Uu~h!"

FWISH… BOOM, BOOM! Now some distance away, Reisen shakily shot two more rockets down at the hull.

This time, Yorihime slowly descended, free hand on her head. But, the tank continued to come back down towards her. She noticed a moment or two into it coming for her. "Wh—"

thunk- THUNK. The tank caught her as she tried to jump up against it, to strafe away. "Begone—"

BAM. Before she could cleave it in twain with a swing, it pressed her into the moon's surface, the tread squishing her body into the moon sand. "...Ho— how troublesome—"

Cla- clank! Reisen landed atop the tank, both guns aimed down. She leaned over the edge, seeing Yorihime's upper torso.

Reisen beamed wickedly. "Wraa~h!"

RATATATAT- BOOM- RATATATAT- BOOM! She unloaded both guns straight down, burying Yorihime's head in the soil.

WOOSH! When Yorihime slowly swung her arm up for a katana swing, Reisen lumbered back, and pressed the barrel-ends of both guns into the tank itself.

PINK- BAM- BAM- BAM- BAM! She unloaded them both into her tank's side, rumbling it with every shell's shocking, pounding force, jittering Yorihime below—

BOOM! She generated rockets at the tips of both guns, and the blasts that resulted made the whole tank shake. 'Ow— fuck—'

BOOM- BOOM! Enduring the pain and the splattering of her own blood, she blew more rockets atop the tank's hull.

Steel chips and internal pieces exploded into the air like diamonds and coal; the internal pieces black, and the steel a nice, albeit smashed chrome.

KRA~NG! She crushed Apollo straight into the tank, embedding it in the metal. Her whole body hurt, blood spraying across the metal, her breath hollow and eyes wide. 'If it's the last— thing I do—'

KRA~NG! She embedded Heavy Claw into the tank next, pressing down on Yorihime harder. "I will send you—... to he~ll!"

Yorihime gritted her teeth against the force. "Reisen— yhou—"

KABAM! KABOOM! Reisen head blasts that weren't her's. 'Shit—' The tank had had enough abuse.

Now without her shoulder guns, Reisen stood over the edge again.

BANG BANG- BANG BANG! She shot both her revolvers straight down. "Get— obliterate~d!"

FWI- FWISH. Rays of light began to shoot from Reisen's tank, the internal reactor dying.

Reisen inhaled, held onto Heavy Claw, and pulled—

KRABOO~M! BOOM- BOOM- BOOM- BOOM! Reisen's Lunaria Guardian exploded. It was a truly massive explosion.

A pillar of red, amber and fire stretched into the sky. Like the cyborgs Reisen had destroyed before, her tank, if it were ever destroyed, was engineered so that the core wouldn't just go; it'd become an oblivion of force and energy, amber flames stretching across the land, and into the air in a mushroom cloud.

But, the blast was many times the magnitude of a missile, unlike the cyborgs. Little other could describe the blast, aside from 'absolute oblivion'. It was an explosion that echoed complete annihilation; one which could topple buildings without any warning.

≈ Sea of Tranquility

...Reisen raised her face from the lunar dust.

'I'm—...'

She tried to stand. Low gravity helped, but… 'My—...'

Her left leg was broken, it felt like.

'...Can't see, right eye. Right arm completely numb. Left leg's—... out. I—... I hate everything…'

...Hopping onto one leg amidst the low gravity, Reisen fought the pained tears, to look around. 'Is—... is Yorihime still—...'

No, Yorihime was gone. In fact, Reisen couldn't see anything she could remember. Just settled dust, rocks, and sand; and all three looked about the same.

'...I'll heal. It's going to take a little while, but…'

Reisen began hopping on her right leg along the lunar plains, tears streaming down her cheeks. 'Let's go… my- air reserves will only last so long…'

...Then, in the distance, she saw a teal light. 'Wa— wait.'

It was a dim, blue klaxon light atop a grey canister, positioned atop a grey, square and nearly featureless launchpad on the rocky moon surface.

≈ Sea of Tranquility

...Yorihime opened her mouth. "Hu— hua~h…" She felt like she had suffocated, on the sheer force the blast unleashed.

How unbecoming, she supposed. She shot herself up off the ground, sitting up.

Where was Reisen? ...After a brief scan with her eyes, and her senses, she felt no one.

Was she lost in the blast?

There was no blood nearby. She supposed there wouldn't be any…

"...Hmm." Yorihime had a pit in her stomach. "Gu— guess… that's it, then. I— I love you, Reisen."

...Then, something caught her eye.

It was a silver ball. A glance told Yorihime that this was from the tank Coronis. It was the hologram interface orb.

fli- flick. From the orb itself, a hologram was projected.

Her mentor, Eirin Yagokoro stood there, looking somewhat plain in the small hologram.

Yorihime clumsily fought the low gravity to stare, mouth ajar, at the slowly drifting silver orb, and its hologram.

"...If you're listening to this message," Eirin spoke, "then Reisen has already begun her escape. She has entered the vicinity of the escape pod, and nothing can stop her. No anti-craft technology will currently detect her. Isn't it quaint, Yorihime? They're all watching for human crafts, as you've instructed them."

...Yorihime felt a very familiar, gut-born feeling. Perhaps disgust, or uncertainty.

"I suppose that's the wrong tone to take, with you." Eirin smiled. "...And, before you spend sleepless nights pondering this: yes, this is all as it's meant to be. I hope Reisen has taught you a valuable lesson, or a few."

...Yorihime blinked, a few times.

"Consider this the end of your supplementary lesson. How was it? Not that I'll hear your answer. I suspect it was unpleasant. I suspect, some days from now, you'll think on Reisen's words. How they discomforted you, and how they made you… fear, maybe? Perhaps.

"This kind of discomfort is what you will experience every single time you so simply extinguish a life without thinking about it. Do you remember the twinge of fear and sorrow you just felt? When you suspected Reisen dead? Every time you suspected Reisen dead, throughout this?

"I won't tell you what to do. I know you wouldn't like that.

"But… I think you know what the right answer is. The most preferred answer. The ideal criteria here is comfort and complacency. ...Does that disturb you? Then, find a compromise. It's possible. As satisfying and sound as a succinct execution like this would be… you will quickly find that you've, perhaps, become a villain.

"And, yes, in the moment, that is just fine, isn't it? In battle, you may even take pleasure in the security of acting.

"But, when you go relax, kill your time with merriment and Toyohime's care… I'd like you to think of Reisen. I'd like you to think of all the rabbits Reisen has related to. I'd like you to think of them, their homes, and their comfort. Your comfort. Their comfort. Does a sentient being deserve comfort?"

...Yorihime searched the stars.

"Perhaps, one day, someone will come along. Someone like me, maybe? Someone like you, maybe. They will see your society here. They won't regret taking that comfort away from you. And, the fight for your comfort would be all the much more difficult… if you were the only one who knew comfort."

"...If you want the short of it: do think about the global morale and emotional power loss as a factor of your supposed modernization. I won't spoil anything for you, but… it's possible to capitalize on such an agonized world. All too possible. You think it easy for you? It's easy for everyone."

...Yorihime flopped back, into the moon's sand.

"But, of course, spend a few days thinking about it. I certainly won't be back to see what's happened, any time soon. Throw a crazy party with cute boys, if you wish. As long as the house's still standing, whenever that is I come back. Don't even care if you have to rebuild it for that day."

"I won't force you to do anything. I consider this a lesson on sentience that you failed to—... well, I suppose you didn't fail to adopt it. You're simply progressing slower than I'd have liked.

"I don't particularly seek to babysit you however. So, have this condescending goading instead. That… and, wouldn't it be absolutely silly, if the moon came crashing down in just a few days?

"...Have a nice evening, Yorihime. Happy holidays, and all that. Isn't it about time for the summer festivals?

"Eirin Yagokoro, end transmission, end log."

fwip. The silver ball went dark.

Yorihime looked dead, as she gazed up at the stars.

'...I—...' She shut her eyes. 'I really am just the worst, aren't I?'

She giggled, a little. 'Damn it. I really ought to just—...'

'...go home.' She realized the irony of the thought. She remembered Reisen's long discussion. 'It's nice, to have a home.'

A cosmic wind caressed the dark grey landscape. The dead side of the world was calm, devoid of life, mystery, or anything.

'I guess I'll just go home and play Bingo, or something.' Yorihime was done thinking, for today. '...Sorry, master Eirin. Sorry, Reisen. Beloved pet Reisen. Wonder what I'll tell Toyohime. I mean, the idea would be that she died in duty or something… but, she's not dead. She ran away? I guess that's… not lying.'

'Maybe I just won't say anything. When she notices, she'll probably not even care. Toyohime's… she's like that...'

Thunk. The cylinder-shaped cooler cannon from Reisen's tank landed next to Yorihime in the sand, spooking her. "Wh— jeez…"

'...I'm gonna have a lot to think about, this weekend. I already have a headache. I'll take it one step at a time, I guess.'

...Holding her hand up, she felt at the huge gashes all across her face.

'A soldier like Reisen—... she reminds me of the Udonge trees, at the capital. Toyohime used to wait for the Udonge in our little backyard garden to grow every day. She stopped a few years ago, and…'

'I guess she'll never really see it.' Yorihime smiled down at the red smears on her hands. 'A soldier like that— only blooms every third millennium, I'm sure.'

≈ Sea of Tranquility

thu- thud. Reisen flopped into the escape pod, all dizzy. "Oo~h, yea~h. Fu~ck."

She looked along the inner hull, and saw a tiny box with a plus on it. 'Ooh— gimme some of that shit, fuck me…'

cli- click. She fought with the plastic slider on the medkit holder, but it wouldn't budge. 'Wh— are you fucking—'

Holding up Asclepius, she was tempted to shoot it, but…

CLACK! She rammed the grip of the pistol down on it like a hammer, and it broke the box open. 'Tada.'

Inside was some painkillers, a soft-looking white cloth, and a little blue dish. '...The fuck's the hanky for? Comfort?'

The top of the escape pod had a teal-white beacon of light; or rather, it was a fairly dim blue klaxon-type light, but compared to the bleak grey of the moon, it was pretty easy to see.

Reisen downed a bunch of painkillers. 'Should make me stop feeling like my heart's exploding out of my chest. How about this blue shit— haven't really seen that around before—'

fwish. When she held it close, it disintegrated, and she felt like she just drank a bottle of water. 'What. What the fuck? Okay, sure. Wait—... oh, I know what that is. Oxygen and miscellaneous air supplement. Kinda like a nice, deep breath. That's cool…'

Shutting her eyes, she leaned back. 'Oh, fuck yeah… painkillers're kickin' in…'

Fwish. Suddenly, the escape pod door shut.

'...Well, I don't have Apollo. Still got Asclepius. All I care's that I still have Heavy Claw, and its peashooter revolver cousin.'

FRRRR~. The ignition was loud. Unlike sophisticated lunar craft, this dinky launch pod had only the bare minimum space travel requirements met. It had a destination, a way to get there, and a way to not explode against atmosphere, rocks, or the landing.

Fli- flick. 'And, a cloaking module, apparently. Not sure what good that does. I can't even turn it off if I wanted to— this is a really weird kind of escape pod…'

...Reisen stared down at her bleeding leg, as the skin regenerated. Her right eye blinked open, at first blurry, before collecting itself again.

She yawned. '...Big damn day. It's probably almost night… at the capital, anyway.'

Frrr~. The ignition became louder, as the pod began to shake a little. Then, the ascent began.

Reisen stared out of a small, very dim grey window on the side of the pod.

'Wait— there's a radio receiver array here?' Reisen decided to flick it on curiously. 'What's there to pick up, out here? How far out did I even get sent…?'

fzzt- frrt- fsht. At first, static. '...Spooky cosmic wind noises—'

"Buzz, this is Houston." A man's voice came in through the radio. "F-two, one-one hundred sixtieth second for shadow photography on the sequence camera."

"Okay." Apparently, this man's voice was 'Buzz'.

'Who the hell…?' Reisen smiled, a little. 'Okay, apparently something's happening over the Sea of Tranquility, after all…'

Reisen looked out the grey window…

There was a craft, outside, over the hill she'd ascended over.

'Wait—...'

It was a very rough, very primitive lander. It looked to be made of some kind of copper-looking metal, steels, and thin beams.

"I'm at the foot of the ladder." A third man spoke. "The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder. Down there, it's very fine."

Reisen was watching a human man, in a neon white, or greyish white suit walk down the steps of the flimsy looking module.

She couldn't give the spacecraft a classification if she tried. It was just so beneath anything on the moon, even at just a glance. 'How—... alien.'

Then, he spoke again. "I'm going to step off the LM now."

Neil Armstrong leapt down from the steps of the Lunar Module.

"That's one small step for man… one giant leap for mankind."

'Those—... those are humans. This—... this is the human invasion?' Reisen had thought the whole 'invasion' idea was bullshit to begin with.

But, looking at the man in the primitive suit walking around, his whole body sealed head-to-toe in a protective, full-body material suit, Reisen quickly realized something.

'...They're not a threat.' Such primitive technology was likely not even a blip in Lunaria's radar defense system. The most energy coming from it had to have been just radio and other low frequency communication waves.

Neil spoke aloud of his discoveries, and Reisen heard it over the receiver-only civilian radio. "And the— the surface is fine and powdery. I can— I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles."

'Yorihime wanted-... to fight them. This wouldn't have been a fight. This would've been a slaughter.'

...She gazed at the men in wonder. 'Still… they actually developed space travel, huh? They're talking like they've never been on the scientific side of the moon before. Then—... this must be all they think it is.'

There was the first man, again. "Neil, this is Houston. We're copying."

"There seems to be no difficulty in moving around as we suspected. It's even perhaps easier than the simulations at one sixth g that we performed, in the various simulations on the ground. It's actually no trouble to walk around."

'...Wow.' Reisen watched Neil wobble around on the surface below. '...Honestly, they don't sound so bad. Compared to the shit on the moon, at least. Not a high bar, really.'

"Okay." Neil continued. "The descent engine did not leave a crater of any size. It has one foot clearance on the ground. We're essentially on a very level place here. I can see some evidence of rays emanating from the descent engine, but a very insignificant amount."

'...I feel like I'm watching something remarkable. A kind of one-in-a-lifetime sort of discovery.'

Under the black and the stars against the lifeless grey, Reisen saw the lander and the man below become smaller.

Neil slowly faced the lander. "Okay, Buzz, we ready to bring down the camera?"

'I guess you could call them scouts. But—... they look barely fit to survive up here for any length of time, let alone fight anything. I don't think they came armed.'

"I'm all ready. I think it's been squared away and in good shape." Buzz confirmed.

"Okay."

Reisen saw the horizon over them, empty and void.

'...Honestly. This is beautiful.'

There were no sector walls in sight. No atmospheric barriers overhead, no boundaries, no life. The Sea of Tranquility was just that.

Reisen felt why she'd heard people call it 'the void', now.

'It truly is the far end of the world.'

"Okay." Buzz was heard. "The contingency sample is down and it's— fzzt. Looks like it's a little difficult to dig through the initial crust."

"This is very interesting." Neil spoke of the simple soil on the moon's surface.

'...These guys're gonna get real bored, real fast. Or, maybe not, if the sand's that interesting...'

"It's a very soft surface, but here and there where I plug with the contingency sample collector, I run into a very hard surface, but it appears to be very cohesive material of the same sort. I'll try to get a rock in here. Just a couple."

Reisen began to see the edges of the black horizon, as the moon grew farther. 'The radio'll probably cut out, soon. Unless I'm really close to the transfer, but… their waves are so weak. Human technology… we really have nothing to fear, right now. We really ought to just be observing them, instead.'

Buzz was searching the sky, too. "It looks beautiful from here, Neil."

"It has a stark beauty all its own." Neil shared the sentiment. "It's like much of the high desert of the United States. It's very different, but it's very pretty out here."

'Heh.'

"Be advised— fssht— rock samples, the— ssht— fzzt—" Neil cut out.

The radio transmission was now too far.

Reisen leaned back in her seat, watching the stars turn. '...Well. I guess, that's that.'

'Goodbye, Lunaria. I don't even know where this pod is going. But, wherever it goes… it's not going to be the life I'm used to living, I'm sure.'

'Well, whatever happens, I have guns.'

∈ space ∋

Neil leaned before the Lunar Module. "For those who haven't read the plaque, we'll read the plaque that's on the front landing gear of this LM. First there's two hemispheres, one showing each of the two hemispheres of the Earth. Underneath it says, 'Here Man from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind'."

∈ space ∋

fzzt. Reisen's head perked up, her body nearly entirely healed, as she dozed in the escape pod.

She looked back down at her hands. '...Getting the marks off these'll take awhile.'

fssht- fzz. The radio picked up a signal, briefly.

"Neil and Buzz, I am talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House, and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made."

Reisen saw the Earth through the small grey, reinforced window. It was much closer now, the huge, varied green-blue-white orb vast and beautiful, and bright.

"I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you— ssht— for every American. This has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure they, too, join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is."

'I guess— just now— discovering space travel would be kind of a big thing, yeah.'

"Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth."

...Reisen snorted.

'Ought to bring peace and tranquility to Lunaria, too.'

"For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one; one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth."

Reisen stared at the ceiling of her pod. '...You're welcome.'

Neil's voice came through. "Thank you, Mister President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here, representing not only the United States, but men of peace of all nations, and with interest and a curiosity and a vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today."

The President of the United States probably nodded. "And thank you very much— and I look forward— all of us look forward to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday."

Buzz replied. "I look forward to that very much, sir."

"Columbia, Columbia, this is— fssht- fzzt"

"Loud and clear— fssht- shh—"

Reisen heard the radio cut out, again.

≡ Gensokyo ≡

All around Reisen, there was white and light. 'Woah…'

The atmosphere of the Earth was huge, compared to the domes each sector was confined to on the moon.

Her pod spiralled through and past clouds. The ground below was shrouded in a thin blue horizon glow, and she could see ocean to either side. A huge continent rested to the left, and boundless, truly massive sea to the right.

But, the pod's target below was an island, although Reisen couldn't see it too well, just yet.

Frrrr~. The bottom thrusters engaged, to slow the craft down. The heat of the horizon entry faded, and as it continued to lower still, Reisen saw the mountains of the island below.

'Everything down here is so big.'

SHH~! Froa~r. The thruster put in a lot of work, as the craft slowly spun.

'There's a lot of forests. There's no seam between any of the land; it's just one… absolutely huge mixed biome.'

As the pod lowered further, she could see the forests below, and the trees and hills grow bigger…

'So bright. I think I see little cities, everywhere across the land…'

Her escape pod now felt dark inside, by comparison.

Frrr~. Frrr~. The lightweight engines pulsed a few more times.

fwi- SHING! Suddenly, Reisen perked up at a loud, magical-sort of noise. 'What—...'

She looked out the window, and saw a rainbow-like barrier that her pod had dropped in through. Like the moon's barriers, it seemed the most faint, if not non-existent from the top, and become more solid and noticeable near the bottom.

But then, she couldn't see it anymore. '...That was strange.'

Frr- FRRR. The engine roared as loud as it could, and the landing slowed dramatically.

Around Reisen, the land became clear. A large lake sat near a hill some distance ahead, and near her, a huge mountain stood against the sky.

Then, her vision was obscured by bamboo.

FRRR. The pod bobbed, slowing, and even reversing its momentum. As it crawled into a neutral drift in the air, it inched ahead.

'...I guess, this is where I was supposed to be dropped off.'

KATHUNK- THUNK. The lunar escape pod touched down in the midst of a clearing, in the bamboo forest.

...shoof. Shi~sh. Slowly, the atmosphere in the pod fogged up, from the immense difference of the small environment inside it, and the lush, mana-rich world outside.

This was Gensokyo, July 1969.

FWI~SH. The door ahead popped open fully.

Heavy Claw over her shoulder, Reisen marched out into the sunlight.

The chirping of birds greeted her. Small insects could be heard in the nearby forests, and occasionally, she could hear someone, somewhere, talking.

'...It's pretty.' Reisen decided, smiling. 'Kind of a mess, but pretty. So, this is Earth. It feels huge already.'

Fwi- fwish! The brush ahead of Reisen immediately came alive, someone short sprinting through it. "Oo~h— oh, ho~!"

...Reisen gave the short man a plain look. 'He has rabbit ears! But—... he's really short!'

Seeing Reisen there, the small bunny guy beamed. "Ooh— shit! Hey— help me out!"

'Japanese, is it? Not a bad choice. The moon uses a lot of Japanese as it is…'

FWI- FWISH! Then, Reisen saw what he was sprinting away from, bounding through the brush.

It was meant to be camouflaged by some kind of primitive cloaking technology, or so it seemed.

"HNN" It looked like some kind of mantis, with two glowing, golden eyes atop its eight foot tall body. "HGHGHGH"

PAT- PAT- PAT! It bounded towards them, sprinting across the ground with its strange legs—

BANG. Reisen shot it in the face.

SPLACK! The shot from Asclepius left a hole clean through the middle of its hammer-shaped head. Its eyes sunk inward, pulled in by the string of green-red crap that was pulled out the back of its exoskeleton.

"HRR— Hrhe— hihk—..." Shaking its body around, it stalked back, looking drunk for a moment, before it flopped onto its side, emitting a buzzing, gurgling sound. "hhhzzz"

...The rabbit boy rubbed his eyes, and held his mouth open. "...Du— dude… woah."

Reisen slid the revolver away again. "So." She faced the guy, who was only half as tall as her, about. "...Uh. Everyone here friendly as him?"

"You're hot." He gave her a huge smile. "And— so big. Oh my god. He— hey, you busy?"

"...Why?" Reisen looked plain.

"I wanna fuck!"

"...Yes, I'm busy." Reisen grinned hard. "If you couldn't tell, I'm not from around these parts."

"Awh—..." The brown-haired rabbit boy held onto his own ears. "But— when the hell'm I gonna find a lady as big— and bunny— as you?"

"Ah. I thought I'd find you here. That gunshot made things easier."

Reisen looked to the right—

Eirin Yagokoro casually stepped from the brush.

'...Wh— wait.' Reisen blinked twice.

"...From how you're in one piece, I take it the landing went smoothly." Eirin gave her a small smile. "As did the encounter."

"...So." Reisen scanned the bamboo behind Eirin. "This is where you went to hide for fuckin' forever."

"Quite." Eirin nodded. "...I must say, it's cozy here."

"I'd bet." Reisen grinned. "Looks like this bamboo's all packed… really tightly."

Eirin gave the bamboo behind Reisen a single glance. "You have no idea."

'Surprisingly relaxed, for someone who made the entire goddamn moon society.'

"By the way." After Reisen got over the idea of meeting the founder of her entire society for the first time, she wanted answers. "What the hell was all that?"

Eirin intuited what she meant instantly. "I wanted to teach Yorihime a lesson in humanity. At the same time, I sought to directly prevent immediate discovery of the moon's society by tiring her out as well as forcing her to rethink her actions. As a sub-goal, I sought to pull you out of there, and get you down here."

"...Were you responsible, for her thinking the 'invasion' was my fault?" Reisen had a suspicion.

"Yes." Eirin admitted flatly. "Test of her character. Which, I don't think anyone suspected her of succeeding. She immediately turned on you, did she not?"

"...Yeah?" Reisen confirmed.

With that, Eirin began to move for the brush. "Come with me. We have a fortification, here. We must keep to ourselves, for awhile. These lands are currently unstable, and will continue to fracture."

Reisen casually followed, keeping Asclepius ready. "...That so. I thought Earth was just a bunch of humans killing each other."

"It is." Eirin clarified. "However, we are in the walls of Gensokyo. This is a special space, where youkai and beings of belief run free, and magic still exists."

'Explains the dumb mantis thing.'

"Oh!" The brown-haired rabbit behind Reisen clapped his hands together. "You must be those chicks! The ones who never come out and say anything! Take me with you!"

"Later." Eirin waved him off. "...While we have semi-open communications with the locals, we are to keep to a strict, limited set of communications. The land's peacekeeper of this time is hyper-vigilant, and we are at risk if we are exposed to even too many common rabbits."

'...Guess that's why this is a good hiding place. No one wants to go here.'

...Slowing in the brush, Eirin smiled back at Reisen. "As long as we stay in these woods, nothing will endanger us. On that note…"

Within moments, they came to the walls of a large building.

"Why'd you leave? The moon." Reisen scanned the eyes of the large, oriental front. It had slanted roofs, with blue shingles, and the walls stretched for quite some time.

At the very front, there was a sliding glass door.

'How's this keep hidden…?' Then, when she searched her sides, the brown-haired boy rabbit was gone, somehow '...Maybe like that.'

"...There were many reasons." Stopping at the wall there, Eirin faced her. "Personally… while I loved the society I'd created up there, things had come to a point where I felt tired. I felt limited. While I could have oppressed what made me feel like that, I also truly couldn't care for the prospective, societal impacts of the changes that'd have to be made. In part, things simply didn't turn out the way I thought I'd wanted.

"Then, there was the princess." Eirin leaned her head to the side a little, recollecting. "...Because of the way in which I handled mortality within the society, there was such stigma against the elixir's uses. The princess had enough one day, and followed her whims. In a way, I saw my own struggle in her. And, if we stayed on the moon, we'd have no escape from what we felt bound us.

"In a perhaps uncharacteristic showing, I took the princess, brushed aside our military, and left." Eirin finished. "...There was nothing that could conceivably stop me on the moon. After all, I'd built everything. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different vulnerabilities in all of the massively replicated technology. Countless flaws. Not small inaccuracies, either; flaws that render such weapons and tools, on a larger scale, worthless."

...Once she was done, Reisen looked down at the somewhat sunny, tall grass around them.

'Holy shit.' Who Reisen was talking with began to set in. '...That one-off comment I made about the moon being a clusterfuck was actually right.'

"So— wait." Reisen met her gaze again, and wondered. "Princess Kaguya is still here, then? With you?"

Eirin smiled. "Yes."

==== Eientei ====

The halls of Eientei were massive. They had a refreshing oriental aesthetic in some parts, while also having an odd, industrial aesthetic in others.

This hallway in particular had wood floors, long shogi doors and walls, and each end of the hall was hidden by an azure darkness.

'It's like a few different sectors mashed together. The hospital sectors, the capital's small barracks amplified by a hundred… the factories, too.'

'I still have so many questions. Like, what're the vulnerabilities in our technology?'

They traveled down the dim halls, lit only by small, aesthetically pleasing lamps that shone with calm yellow lights.

'But, this is… so neat. So composed. The halls smell of a kind of clean disuse I've never really—... experienced, more than a couple times. Like sealed rooms, along Lunaria's sectors, that only Eirin was— supposed— to be able to enter. But, this is across the whole of this place…'

"Udongein." Eirin stated aloud.

...Reisen blinked. "Bless you."

Around them, the halls had odd tables, vases and potted, green plants placed around.

Eirin smiled while they moved down the seemingly endless, vaguely lit hallway. "...Your name should be Udongein."

"...Any particular reason?" Reisen had a brow raised.

"The udonge tree is one which blooms once only three thousand years." Eirin explained. "...Would a name like that not befit a soldier such as yourself? Additionally… I don't believe it was ever recorded, what your name was before you became Reisen."

Reisen was a name reserved for the pets of the Watatsuki sisters at the lunar capital. The next time they'd acquire a pet, they too would likely be named Reisen.

"Is it not fitting?" Eirin asked.

...Reisen didn't think so, shaking her head.

"I don't really care about that sorta thing. I've known myself as Reisen all my life. And, I'm not about to let anyone else name me again. Not even you, brain of the moon. I'm Reisen now, and everyone's just going to have to live with it."

...Eirin smiled widely. Facing ahead again, she looked down the dark, azure-fogged halls.

"Very well, Udongein. If you don't mind only me calling you as such."

This, Reisen didn't expect as much. "Mmh. Well, if it's a nickname, I guess I won't stop you."

==== Eientei ====

shoof. Eirin slid open the white sliding door, and the two stepped into the room.

Unlike the mixed sun the floor of the bamboo forest felt, this room had windows on all sides, and bright, piercing sunlight shone straight in.

All except for the floor were windows, so sun brightly pierced the room at any time of the day.

...Lying on a futon was Princess Kaguya, who was simply staring at the blue sky above, through the room's huge skylight.

"Mmh…" Lazily, she rolled onto her side, looking at the two who entered… "Oh. Heheheh…"

Sitting up, she raised a brow, and smirked. "You had to bring a bodyguard this time, Eirin? I'm hurt."

Eirin snorted. "...This here is Reisen Udongein Inaba. What I've spoken of has come to pass."

"Oh!" Kaguya was suddenly energized.

Floating up from the futon mat, she brushed her long, pink dress free of dust. "Quite some time, since we've received a recruit from the moon, isn't it?"

Eirin closed her eyes, and brought her arms together. "If by 'quite some time', you mean 'never before', indeed."

'...She's—... really pretty, alright.' Reisen had to admit. 'There's not a flaw on her. Still, that's not entirely uncommon amongst lunarians…'

Kaguya stalked up to Reisen, smirking. "How excellent. Their mentor, now their pet? All this place needs next is their kitchen sink. And that damn sewing machine—"

"Actually." Reisen turned to Eirin, squinting her eyes a little from the sun. "...I didn't see any other moon bunnies on the way. Am I—... the only one?"

Eirin shook her head. "No. Our outbound accessible units, however, are slim to none. So, outwardly, this place is a ruin to those who locate it, and extremely difficult to breach. There's nothing outside it of value. With such a defense, we may also apprehend those who delve in too deep. I'll show you to where our population dwells, shortly. It may go without saying, but please refrain from getting pregnant."

"The— the fuck." Reisen suddenly grinned at her. "...Sure, I guess. What, you think I went through all of that to get laid?"

"Definitely." Kaguya leaned in towards her, all of a sudden.

Reisen felt both of Kaguya's hands on her chest. "Wh—"

"Did you feel the weight of these, Eirin?" Kaguya's pale face was bright in the sunlight. "My god, my god. This bunny's body."

"Stop grabbin' my tits." Reisen gave her a hard, smiling look back.

"What if I don't?" Kaguya leered, her face coming closer to Reisen's.

'She's immortal, right?'

"No one can touch me." Kaguya was nose-to-nose with Reisen. "...Which means I can touch whoever! Haha!"

...Reisen nodded. "Miss Eirin or however— permission to shoot the princess in the face?"

"Permission granted." Eirin returned in monotone.

Kaguya blinked. "Wh— wait—"

BANG.

==== Eientei ====

Kaguya now had a fluffy bandaid on her forehead.

"...That was the fastest that happened." Kaguya had a huge grin, as she sat on her futon again amidst the sun. "The hell'd that bullet even do to me? I'm pretty sure my skull went everywhere!"

'First time I was ever asked that by someone I just shot in the face! She's taking this awfully well…!'

"...My metal revolver has exploding bullets." Reisen supplied. "When I shot you, it exploded inside your skull."

'She's not just immortal— she's—... really fucking immortal, I guess. It only took a few minutes to come back from me nailing her between the eyes. Honestly, I kinda prefer something like this to the nigh-invulnerability of those sisters.'

"That's awesome." Kaguya smiled at her. "How many heads have you exploded?"

"I— don't go around just shooting people's heads off." Reisen wasn't sure how to answer. "...I shot a youkai on the way in, so I guess like, two?"

'Gonna be honest, never had a reason to just straight up murder anyone too often before. I'm more used to popping kneecaps. And, since us rabbits are what we are, we'll get better from something like that.'

"Wha~t." Kaguya was actually surprised. "We gotta change that."

Reisen grinned anxiously. "I— I'd rather we don't."

...That was when a flash of inspiration struck Kaguya's features. "...Oh, but, we do. And… I have the perfect idea, who you could practice your aim with."

Eirin shifted towards the wall nearest the door. "I believe it's a little early, for such a thing, princess. That's a substory for another day, yes?"

To Reisen's surprise, Kaguya nodded twice. "...I suppose she should get settled, first. Alright."

Then, she smiled back up at Reisen again. "When you're ready… come to me. And, be really ready. It might be the hardest fight of your life."

'Yeah, about that. ...That does remind me, however…'

"What made you leave the moon?" Reisen decided to ask her directly.

"Oh? ...Well. It was fucking boring." Kaguya put it plainly. "Also, I was a criminal after becoming immortal. Whoo~ps."

"Even outside the capital sector?" Reisen wondered.

"As if they'd let me squat somewhere else." Kaguya shook her head. "I'm sure you know of their prisoner, right? Chang'e? She was kinda like me, except maybe a little more fucked in the head, somehow. She was kinda fun. Anyway, I was also locked up for a short time. Except, Eirin here is the master of masters, when it comes to exploiting her own creations."

'...Well— of course I know of Lady Chang'e. She's a folk legend amongst the lunar rabbits, basically. Some time ago, she was apparently our leader or master of sorts. I have respect for the stories I've heard of her—... and, I kinda expect that the reason everything's kinda shit regarding us, is because she's rotting away in jail.'

Reisen slowly faced Eirin. "Why wasn't she saved, too?"

...Eirin shook her head. "She wouldn't do. If you feel offended, I'm sorry, but it just wasn't something I could afford doing."

'...Fair enough? I wasn't really offended. Just curious. Not like any of that matters, now.'

"Oh, yeah. I dunno. I kinda like things the way they are." Kaguya returned to loafing out on her futon. "Mmh. I'm sure I'll get to know her later, when the heat death of the universe rolls around."

'Kind of a dismal outlook on it, but she's not wrong.'

The three were silent, for a moment. Reisen took in the almost crystal-like glassiness of Kaguya's room, and its many walls.

"You do anything for fun?" Reisen began to scan the room for different furnishings.

There was scrollery, a feather-tipped pen and a bottle of ink, near a kotatsu along the room's left. 'She's a writer, I guess. Oh— that's a buncha paper.'

"...I write." Kaguya was unexpectedly plain about her interests. "Sometimes sew. Other times, I spend my days speaking with the rabbitfolk, be they of Earth or Luna. I expect your story was quite interesting, as well. You passed my character examination and everything."

"Your character examination was provoking me into shooting you in the face." Reisen restated plainly.

"You see— no one's ever had the balls to do that, before!" Kaguya beamed from her futon. "Funny thing, that. Most bunnies here are loyal, from what I've done for them, and what Eirin has done. You didn't blink an eye at blowing my skull out."

'I'm in a pretty done mood regarding royalty in general, right now. I'm surprised that ended as well as it did.'

"Guess not." Reisen admitted. "I suspected you were immortal, from the rumors. So, I didn't think it'd be a huge consequence."

"Come by later." Kaguya requested. "I'd love to get to know you."

'...Sure.'

"...Where would you like me to take you, Udongein?" Moving for the door again, Eirin stopping in the midst of it. "Your quarters? Or, to the bunnies we have stationed here? I will say… there are quite a few."

It was a hard decision. Reisen sort of wanted to be just done with today.

'Why's this room got so many windows.'

"...Let me guess." Reisen gazed out of Kaguya's many windows. "I gotta start as a private down here an' shit."

"Hmm? No." Eirin blinked. "You will be our commander. I have more important things to be working on than military strategy. So, I leave unit allocation and defense in your hands. You've had many years to observe and develop your talents, after all. It'd be simply redundant to do anything else."

'...Oh. Wa— wait, like—'

"You mean— the commander?" Reisen blinked.

"Yes." Eirin summarized. "...There may be special units with special directives from myself, but I will inform you of them as the need arises. Otherwise, your authority shall be unquestioned. Or rather, it will probably be questioned, and it's up to you to decide how to react to that."

'...Kinda like moving into a new sector, but cutting all the paperwork bullshit. I'm fine with that.'

"How about my quarters, then?" Reisen inquired. "Anything fancy?"

...Eirin pursed her lips. "Yes and no?"

'The heck do you mean.'

==== Eientei ====

Eirin lead Reisen into the midst of a courtyard, among the walls of the complex.

"You got a name for this whole place?" Reisen wasn't really sure where she was, which, while not a huge problem, might leave her looking dumb later if she didn't find out.

"Eientei." Eirin answered her, walking along the courtyard's stone path. "The House of Eternity."

The courtyard was large, square, and had ponds with tiny bridges on either side. Four paths met in the center as a crossroad of sorts.

Eirin was continuing to one side. "Your room is in one of the hallways along this wall ahead." She gestured along the watchtower-bearing wall ahead. "...No, it is not the watchtower. But, you'll have full access to it, so you could repurpose it if you wished."

'...Eientei. That's all I know, about where we are. Eientei, Earth. Cool address.'

...Reading Reisen's somewhat flat look, Eirin's lips curled a little. "I suppose I should be more accurate. You are on Earth. In terms of outside national terms— or, discounting our strange space that is Gensokyo— we are in Japan. Within Japan, we are in Gensokyo, somewhere not registered as a town or city. But, I suppose 'town' fits. And, in Gensokyo… we are in Eientei."

'Alright, that's better. I kind of know of Japan. It's this huge island we're on.'

They came up to the door of the wall, and Eirin pushed it open.

In here, there was a sturdy looking hall, fit with plain wood doors.

"Let's go up a few floors. You live somewhat up from here; at least, by default."

So, Reisen followed her up a nearby stairwell. 'Everything feels—... eerily empty.'

Soon, they were at her door. It looked unassuming, made of wood. To the right, Reisen could see wall. 'Where'd the courtyard go? Wait…'

There was a window there, with a parallel hallway that connected to the courtyard. Or rather, that parallel hallway was outright exposed to the courtyard. 'Probably why it's behind a window and doors. Exposed to the elements, and all that.'

Click. Reisen pushed open the wood door, and stepped inside.

It was a very basic room. A western bed with no blankets or sheets and one pillow sat across the room, and a bleak streak of sunlight came in from a small wood window in the back.

To the right, there was a rushed job of a wooden desk sitting there, with a beige CRT computer placed ajar atop it.

"...Wow." Reisen nodded at the humble accommodations. "...Fancy in terms of the view, not fancy in terms of the actual livin' space."

"You may decorate as you see fit." Eirin gave the conditions. "You may relocate where you see fit, as well. As long as you use good judgment, that is."

"Yeah, cool." Reisen appreciated those terms. "...Is that a CRT monitor?"

"Yes." Eirin supplied.

'Damn, we're going way back. I've—... never actually used one of these…' She'd only ever heard memes and jests about these. To actually have to use one of these…

'Oh, god. Good excuse as any to give this room a big upgrade. I'm gonna need a workbench—... aah, damn, I'm gonna have to get all my new tools together, too. With any luck, I won't be moving anywhere and everywhere like an asshole again.'

"Technology of this era is currently… limited." Eirin supplied. "For now, we're making like Romans. Which is to say, 'roughing it'."

"...So you say." Reisen felt like those massive sprawling halls didn't quite qualify as 'roughing it'. Despite that, the CRT monitor on the crappy table said otherwise. "Gives me a good reason to go out and socialize, at least."

Eirin gave her a nod. "...Very well. Would you like me to leave you alone? Or, would you appreciate talking further?"

...Shunk. Finally, Reisen lugged Heavy Claw off her back, and placed it upon the crappy wood desk, aside the CRT monitor.

It was done. It was over.

...Reisen sighed.

'No going back, it seems.' Her body had calmed down some time ago, but she hadn't truly let her body lax until now. Even at this point, she still felt a little on edge; with a life like her's, it'd be a mistake. Especially in a new sector; or, in this case, a new world entirely.

"Y'got any beer?" Introductions and the future could come later. Right now, she wanted to make herself at home in this maze. "...I'm also hungry. We got like—... a mess hall? Cafeteria? Food pile?"

"...We have all three, but I'm sure cafeteria is the one that'd most suit you." Eirin smiled again. "Follow me. I'll lead you around, for a few days, perhaps. So you may get started."

Moving to follow Eirin back into the hall, Reisen patted her suit, making sure her revolvers were still there subconsciously. "Guess I wouldn't mind that. You're taking a liking to me awfully quickly."

Eirin's shoes clicked against the plain tiled floor of the strange infinite hallways. "Am I without reason? I suspect you're surprisingly capable… and, without revealing anything, I'd like to add… I may empathize with your situation, just a little."

"...Those sisters?"

"Among other reasons. You're not wrong."

'...Sounds like a good reason to drink as any. I really ought to get meeting some people. Not sure if I'll ever be able to hit up the moon network again. I mean… maybe telepathy'll work, across distances like this. I think I've heard about that before. But, I'll figure it out later.'

"How about we both drink." Reisen wondered if Eirin would be so vulnerable…

"How about a party tonight, with the princess, and some notables?" Eirin proposed. "To commemorate this occasion?"

Reisen smirked tiredly. "...If you really wanna kiss-ass that bad, sure. Unless you're planning on the casual kind of party."

"All things considered, that's probably all we have time and resources for, at the moment." Eirin confessed. "...Myself. The princess. The representative of the earth rabbits, Tewi Inaba. Some random soldiers and staff, maybe."

'Sounds more like drinking night than a party.'

"Sure." Reisen was comfy with that idea. "When'll that be? Hours-wise."

==== Eientei ====

Pop! Kaguya shot a very, very tiny party popper at Reisen, spreading white and teal paper bits everywhere.

...Reisen took her hand off her sake cup. She'd put it there to prevent the confetti from landing in it.

'I didn't think we'd do this... just right now, but sure. Also… sake is an interesting choice. All of this architecture, and we just have sake? Unless—... well, the princess is here. Might be for tradition, or something.'

The turnout so far was even more miniscule than Reisen expected.

As the sun sat, they all sat in a variety of kotatsus within Kaguya's odd glass room. Since it was summer, the temperature was plain and comfortable. Around them, the tips of tall bamboo trees made a sea of shimmering green, and shaded leaves.

'...The sunset on Earth, though… it's so much wider, and—... I don't know. Pretty much any view in Lunaria was offset by the big walls on the edge of any sector, or the blurry airspaces of other sectors. To be able to see so far, so clearly… it's interesting.'

Eirin's eyes were closed, her cup of sake already empty. Reisen wasn't sure if she could get drunk.

"So!" That's when a pink-dressed, brown-haired girl rambled up to the kotatsu where the three sluggishly 'celebrated'. "You're the one everyone's talkin' about!"

...Since no one else was looking invested, Reisen perked up, gazing at her plainly. "Am I, now?"

"Yeah!" The brown-haired girl was an earth rabbit; her stature short, and her ears fluffy. "Everyone's all skeptical 'bout this new commander on the block."

Suddenly, she weaved behind Reisen, placing hands on her shoulders. "Y'got boys goin' all like, 'we don't really need a commander just yet, do we'? An' ya got the girls sayin' they'd love ta tap ya!"

She switched from Reisen's right ear, to her left, when Reisen tried to look at her. "Or— did I get that all mixed 'round…?"

"Fits either way." Reisen smiled, looking to the left—

The stout bunny had Asclepius to Reisen's face. "What's this?"

Reisen crosses her eyes at the barrel, before raising a brow, meeting her gaze. "A gun."

"Ooh? A gun…?" The bunny smiled widely, tilting her head as she looked along it. "Awh, like a water gun? Can I shoot you?"

"You could." Reisen monotoned. "Should you?"

The bunny grinned wickedly, holding the barrel closer. "Yes."

...Reisen blinked at her, as she kept it aimed.

"Bang!" She yelled.

"You really think…" Reisen's gaze was plain. "That I would believe, that someone would just come up out of nowhere, and shoot me in front of—"

BANG. She shot the gun.

CRACK! The floor behind Reisen shook, many boards shattering into wood fragments, a two-by-two meter hole left behind Eirin and Reisen.

Reisen's body exploded with energy, as she slid out of her seat. 'Are you fucking—'

"Tewi!" Kaguya suddenly slid out from her seat, too. "That's my floor, you raghead!"

"Dude!" Tewi beamed down at Asclepius. "Why the fuck's the gun that strong!?"

...As Kaguya slowly fought to her legs and seethed down at her, Tewi aimed the pistol at her and spoke. "Where do ya think you're goin', buster—"

BANG! Reisen shot the Heavy Claw pistol at Asclepius.

CLING! It flew from Tewi's hand. "Wh—"

WOOSH! Reisen was next to her in an instant, leg raised and thrusted directly for Tewi's head.

Tewi leaned back, and used her hands to stop from falling over. "Ho~h! Yer sharp…!"

...Looking down at the kotatsu, Reisen had an idea. 'The drinks are all on Eirin, right…?'

Still standing in mid-kick posture, Reisen casually took a cup of sake from the close kotatsu, and leaned over Tewi.

splish. She poured it on Tewi's face.

...Smiling, Tewi began to lick her lips. "Y'know—... I've always said, 'I love booze so much I could bathe in it'."

"You never say that!" Kaguya stomped over. "You're gonna fix my damn floor! Be lucky you didn't shoot the glass, or you'd be in the next batch of glass!"

"Pft— hehehe!"

...Slowly, Reisen brought her leg back—

thud. Tewi flopped onto her own ass. "Unh."

whunk. Kaguya punted her in the gut. "Uu- uh!"

...Nodding vaguely, Reisen returned to the kotatsu, sitting under it.

"That's the Earth rabbit representative." Eirin supplied. "Tewi Inaba."

"...She always this much of a handful?" Reisen looked for the sake bottle, and another cup.

"Generally." Eirin admitted. "...I believe she means well."

Kaguya huffed, sliding back under the kotatsu. "She's funny— but sometimes, she's a complete fuckin' shithead. Tewi— when we're done here, round up some of your fuckin'— idiots, and get 'em to make a piece of wood."

"A— piece of wood…?" Raising from the floor, wiping sake from her face, Tewi grinned. "Oh, I'll get the idiots ta get ya a piece 'a wood alright."

"I'm not gonna be happy until you get me a new carpenter."

"You want a carpenter? Aww. Well— if I send some cuties by the human village—"

"Wh—... while that'd technically satisfy my request— I'd skin you if you did! We'd get found out for sure!"

...Tewi beamed over at Reisen. "Hey— Sarge, you got a stereo!?"

"...No." Reisen stated definitively.

Kaguya began to grin. "I swear to fuck— if you play anymore stupid sea shanties…"

'Se— sea shanties. What the fuck. We're in Japan. We're in the woods...!'

Shoof. Then, the door to the room opened again.

A lunar rabbit with short, earth green hair sauntered in. She had a black cloth band around her right eye, and a standard suit, like the kind Reisen saw on general operations rabbits on the moon.

"Hey, hey, he~y." She gave everyone a wave. "...Oo~h. Small crowd, t'day."

"...Oh, look." Tewi gave her a comparatively calm smile, to all her previous expressions. "It's a character irrelevant to the plot."

...The rabbit blinked her one red eye back. "Ahah. Don't sell yourself short, there."

When Reisen flicked her eyes over Kaguya again, she had a wry smirk at the exchange. 'They probably get along better than I thought.'

The dark green-haired bunny went to one of the various other kotatsus around the area. There were five total, and Reisen and her company only used up one, effectively.

Every kotatsu already had a few bottles of sake set up. Also, there were baskets of pretzels placed next to the bottles.

'Wonder if that bunny's eyepatch-... eye cloth bandana thing, is actually for a reason. I've tangled with edgelords before.'

"Anywa~y." Tewi smiled at Reisen. "The hell was your name again? Sergeant shooter person?"

"I'm Reisen, Inaba."

Eyes lightning up, Tewi tilted her head back. "Oo~h. You related?"

'Oh. Right. Tewi Inaba.'

"...I don't think so?" Reisen wasn't sure.

"Earth and lunar rabbits share a common root." Eirin elucidated, since she was there. "While the moon beared inherent species of rabbit, I also brought rabbits from Earth as I went on to found Lunaria. Cross-breeding ensued. It was largely unsuccessful, until the technology improved, and our… improvements to both allowed for the final, powerful and moderately intelligent pool of lunar rabbits you may find there today."

'...And, I suspect she wouldn't have been happy if Yorihime undid some of that just for stronger soldiers.'

Tewi snorted. "Ah, right. So you smashed their DNA together, until it worked. Ma~n. Wonder how many failed experiments came from that."

...Eirin smiled. "Few to none, if you don't remember our last discussion. I try not to deal in probabilities."

"There were at least a couple, right?" Tewi smiled wider.

"Mistakes do happen." Eirin summarized. "Don't go acting innocent, either. Youkai rabbits don't so simply come from time and peace."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard it all before." Tewi reached for the bottle of sake. "So, what's the story, Reisen? You a mass murderer, or somethin'? Genocide? Horrible science? Gun porn?"

"...Nothing nearly as impressive." Reisen's expression was slightly jaded. "I toured the moon. Then, I got kicked out. Place kinda sucked. I do still have some good memories."

Tewi thought on that, as she poured herself a cup. "...Yeah. I mean— me an' Eirin could be like, manga villains. Your story makes you sound like just some somebody."

"Hmm~..." Kaguya had a look that somehow filled Reisen with some kind of unease. "You kno~w. I have a feeling there's more to it than that. Maybe one day I'll write your story."

"Yeah, sure." Reisen doubted that. She hadn't ever read Kaguya's stuff, but she didn't care for texts too much.

"Really." Kaguya insisted. "Soldier stories can be kinda interesting, you know. And, sometimes boring, but… they have a certain way they carry themselves."

"I… I don't think it ended like a conventional one." Reisen compared her last day— or perhaps day and a half— of what she experienced, to what she's seen in media… "You might have something if you went back a couple of months. Or, even years."

"...Huh." Kaguya didn't have much to say about that, but she looked interested.

More lunar bunnies seemed to be filing in, minding the hole in the floor occasionally…

"Oh! He~y!" A bubbly, pink-haired lunar bunny girl bounced up to the kotatsu where Reisen was. "You're the new commander! Happy Birthday!"

Reisen looked up at the girl with neat, long pink hair. "...Wh—"

click. The girl placed a big cake with sprinkles on it on the kotatsu. "Ya~y!"

'The fuck. Okay…? I— guess I don't mind, but I never really liked cake.'

"Tha— thanks…" Reisen wasn't at first sure what to do with it, but she supposed she should thank the bunny for the trouble.

'It's also not my birthday.'

Thump, thump, thump. A tall bunny guy with unremarkably plain but orange hair stomped past their kotatsu.

...Searching the sunset, Reisen looked up, and saw the moon in the evening sky. '...So that's how it looks from Earth. So small. So—... grey.'

Shoof. Kaguya slid the cake closer. "Anyone have a knife—"

CLACK. Eirin's hand was now on the kotatsu, a scalpel held gingerly between two fingers.

shunk. The cake split in half, cut with surgical precision. "Ooh!" Kaguya beamed down at it.

Clack. Someone placed Asclepius back on the table. It was the orange-haired guy. "Someone dropped this."

Tewi pointed at Reisen. "She did it!"

'...Why even— blame me.'

Click. He sat it down on the kotatsu, and proceeded off without a word.

"...I don't think we have plates." Kaguya realized, once the cake was in eight pieces.

Tewi grinned. "You can fold a pizza box into plates!"

"Good fucking thing we don't have a pizza box."

...At that, Tewi looked at Reisen again. "Quick, use your bullets to make plates!"

"Sure." Reisen played along. "How."

...Tewi shook her head with accelerating pace, before holding her arms out. "That's yer job to figure out, soldier-girl!"

"We can use you as a plate, if that works." Reisen leaned into the kotatsu tiredly…

...Tewi held a hand to her own mouth. "Lewd."

"Yeah. It is." Reisen wasn't going to back down. "But, food-play fetishes are more messy and boring than you think."

"...And how'd you know?" Tewi grinned wider. "Got somethin' to share wit' us?"

"I've seen too much." Reisen shook her head, recalling the reproduction sector on the moon…

...Kaguya gave her a small look. "Like what? Ooh— are you actually a sex fanatic!?"

"Sex lunatic." Tewi corrected. "C'mon— stick to the theme!"

Kaguya snorted. "Nn— fuck you."

'...We're probably gonna get along better than I think. These three, they've got some kind of history. They're not quite just the sort of hooligan I'm used to.'

As Reisen sipped her sake, she thought back to earlier today. The violence and the confusion, and the raw essence of displacement, which had almost become a familiar comfort at this point.

She felt excited, in a way. But, she also felt cynical towards it. 'We'll see just how temporary this is. I feel like this was a big change, and I'm kinda out of sorts, but I've still got this gut feeling that things are… more of the same than I think.'

'House of Eternity? We'll see about that.'

Reisen felt at her suit, and the revolver in her pocket.

She was Reisen, leader of Lunaria's war machines. She'd clambered through the jaws of Lunaria's society, every intricate pipe and interface of its defense forces and sectors, and lived to tell the tale.

Closing her eyes amidst the rising stars, and the wild twilight of Gensokyo's green frontier, Reisen exhaled.

'...Maybe I'll finally get a full night's sleep, tonight. I'm going to miss modern computers.'

"So." Kaguya smiled up at Reisen. "On a scale of one to bajillion, how fucked do you think the moon is? Personally, I'd say, pretty fucked."

Reisen was roused from her tired, somewhat drained thinking.

...Then, after thinking, she found her answer.

"They'll move on from this. They'll emerge from this. The rabbits, they'll ignore the dreadful precedent set forth by this. If anything, they'll be empowered by this.

"As for the moon itself…" Reisen tilted her head around. "I don't know. Not sure if I care. As long as the sectors do alright, then I'm sure they'll stand."

'I'm sure everyone on the moon knows my face, now.'

"I just hope they've learned a lesson, or two." As she referred to the sisters, Reisen stared down at her sake, looking doubtful. "But, I'm sure they haven't. I'm sure their realizations— if any— are superficial. And when that comes and goes, I just hope they remember my face. I hope they remember it, when every death is repaid."

'Not literal death, even. The death of potential, the death of individual comfort and trust. The death of the ability of people to be people, in general security.'

...Tewi leaned her head back. "So. You at least make whatever happened sound interesting. Makes me glad I ain't on the moon."

Kaguya looked idle. "I wonder what you even did. Escape, surely. But, Eirin's words of you were always needlessly cryptic and foreshadowing, without substance. No offense to her, of course. She surely had reasons."

...Reisen's red eyes met Kaguya's brown ones. "I fought Yorihime."

'I wonder which of us is the real war machine.'

Sword and tradition against gun and pragmatism. Raw power and will against the immense effort of movement and the intricacy of time-built weapons.

Reisen knew she had to act. She did what was necessary of herself, for her interests, and survival. That was what life had served her.

Yorihime acted with dead certainty, like she were possessed. Her interests may have made little sense, but she knew herself perhaps too well. She wasn't intentionally malicious. What seemed the most obvious to her was simply way, way more ignorant and intrusive than Reisen's way of life.

'Of course, she sees me the exact same way, I'm sure.

'But, there's one big difference. My judgment is that, her ignorant homicide and her shallow obsession with things that appeal to her… they shouldn't go any further. She doesn't just step on my interests. She steps on everyone's. That steps on everyone, period. And, when she ruins lives and people, she'd be too dumb and happy to notice.'

'She finds me, in particular, ignorant of her interests. That's why it was all about me and her, to her. Meanwhile, I was fighting for everyone but her.

'To her, it's all because I can't see her grand design, her personal ambitions, and her self-contained idea of what a nation should be. But, that's the extent of it for her. The problem was so simply, that I just don't see her side. That's it.

'All of that couldn't have meant shit to me, even though I saw dead-on what she wanted. She made no attempt to empathize. She continued on like a machine.

'I fought for all the sectors that ever treated me with culture and kindness. My trip may have been shit in some ways, but I'd never go back in time, and I'd never say 'I wish I grew up different'. I wouldn't be me. But, Yorihime wishes I'd thought and said that.

'I'll never get along with someone so fucking stupid. She and her holier-than-thou ways can go sink to the very bottom of hell. They shall not come to pass.

'Because I'm a zealous, target-centered machine, too. I just see everyone's interests, and empathize. I might not care all the time, but in the face of such foolish— absolute retardation— I just—...'

Reisen sighed.

'We're both machines in our own ways, I guess.'

Reisen gazed over Tewi, Eirin and Kaguya, and the small gathering of rabbits filling in around them...

'I'm the terror of Lunaria. Reisen Inaba.' She took pride in her own ways. '...For however long we're still down here, with this strange stronghold, I'll be the best damn commander in the galaxy.'

'And, when Yorihime comes, I'll be there. On the fields of Earth, tank treading, guns in hand. I'll build us up as much as I possibly can.'

'It all starts at zero. Time to put what I learned to the test.'

This was the real beginning of Reisen. It all started from here.

...Kaguya raised her hands, to call out into them. "Earth to bunny~! Stop zoning out! How'd the fight go? Did you actually managed to hurt her!?"

...Finally taken from her thoughts, Reisen inhaled. "Ri— right. So—"

≡ Gensokyo ≡

...Reisen's eyes stopped glowing.

Sanae worked some wax out of her right ear, blinking repeatedly. "Wh—... oh. Holy—... holy shit. That was like watching a movie!"

"...Woh—... wow." Youmu looked around, taking in the dim, orange lamps lit up around the shrine, again.

No time had passed since their casual evening began. Or rather, a miniscule amount of time passed.

...Reimu rubbed her eyes. "That— eye thing is seriously overpowered…"

Marisa exhaled. "...Ho~h, da~mn. That eye thing is damn convenient fer telling stories!"

'...It's been some time, since I remembered that. Things have come a long way, since then…' Reisen remembered all the guns she'd built, now.

"That—... really is overwhelmingly convenient." Sakuya looked over herself again, seeming somehow out of sorts.

Youmu looked down at her sake, before looking down. "...No wonder you have a thing against swords."

"The moonbitches are such shit." Reimu folded her arms. "Now I'm mad."

"Awh." Marisa gave her an endeared look, before grinning. "That moon tech, though! Wasn't the saying like… 'any technology sufficiently advanced, is indistinguishable from magic'?"

"Yeah!" Sanae gave her a single, big nod. "But, I could recognize some stuff. Why didn't Eientei have the moon's type of computers, back then?"

...Reisen furrowed her brows a little at the idea. "Such systems would still be compatible with the moon's networks, and easy to trace. We had to give all such technology up, and adapt— albeit at a slightly accelerated rate— to the Earth's technology. We had CRT computers well before they were a big thing on the outside. Not that they did a lot of good."

Youmu leaned closer, curious. "Did you ever fight Yorihime again?"

After a slight pause, Reisen shook her head. "...Not really. She and Toyohime visited, once. They were stupid and annoying… but, at that time, they seemed to have abandoned Earth conquest."

"Good thing, too." Reimu nodded. "Or we would've all annihilated them. You're not the only one who's been getting stronger."

'...So you say, but… I don't know. Maybe we could think up a creative, dirty strategy. Master would have to help with Toyohime, however. Only beings of a certain walk of existence may circumvent her… weirdness. Not even Yorihime is exempt inherently.'

"That part of the story where I saw from her perspective was actually something she told me, when she visited." Reisen revealed. "She didn't entirely agree with me or Eirin… but, she also feared for Lunaria, and her 'family'. If it could be called a family. So, she heeded Eirin's 'warning'. Crazy bitch."

Youmu seemed displaced. "...She really gives tradition a bad name. There should still be a logic to how things happen. At least—... that's what I believe."

Reisen grinned. "Logic? The hell's that? They're too busy fucking each other's kids. I heard 'bout it while on tour, Yorihime's got a thing for one of Toyohime's sons. Or, maybe just son. I forget."

'Not that there isn't any inbreeding going on amongst the rabbits, but they actually aren't affected by genetic defection from such things. I mean—... 'cause they're fucking rabbits. I don't know how it affects the lunarians, bu~t… if Yorihime is any indication, I mean...'

"Uh oh." Sanae gained a big grin at that. "That's, um…!"

"...For some reason, I'm reminded of Europe." Sakuya jabbed at her vague area of origin. "That was some time ago, however…"

"That story really frustrates me!" Youmu suddenly became uppity. "There's— so much more— than— nnh!"

"She done did swords dirty!" Holding up her arm, Marisa beamed. "You gotta go kick her ass, Youmu! S'time for a training montage!"

"...I— I'm not sure about that." Youmu became sheepish, looking down at Heavy Claw on the kotatsu. "But— if blows ever came to blows… I really wouldn't mind trying my luck."

"...Why not relay those details with hypnotism or illusions, as well?" Sakuya wondered.

Reisen looked at her plainly. "Anything I relay like that, I gotta sit through myself. Good way of freshening up memories, on one hand. On another, retelling it a lot can get… unpleasant. Individual details are best expressed through words, since it saves everyone the context, and mental stress. Not that it's much stress, but yeah."

Intuiting what she meant, Sakuya smiled slightly. "I get what you mean. Duration and attention, and all of that."

...Sanae gave Sakuya a wry look. "When'd you get here. I don't remember you being here…!"

Sakuya held up her wine. "I came with wine, when the story was starting."

Reimu held up her wine-filled drinking cup. "Mmh."

...As the girls all looked back down at their drinks, Reisen resumed examining Heavy Claw, looking over its sides again. 'I lost where I was.'

"Ma~n." Sanae scratched the back of her own head… "That kinda thing makes me wish I could share my story in detail, like that. 'Cause like… I have a lot I wanna talk about!"

"We gotta go back to the moon and find Apollo!" Marisa proposed. "It's gotta be bouncin' around the rocks somewhere!"

'...Yorihime actually brought it back to me, when she came by. Since guns aren't her thing, there was no way she wanted to hold onto it. Then, Kaguya told me it looked kinda like the Tigris Prime from Warframe. At this point, Apollo feels… while it's a very, very well-rounded all-purpose gun, it's also not super amazing in any situation. It doesn't have any really special effects, either.'

"Reisen." Youmu turned to face her.

...Reisen faced her. "Mmm?"

"Was that what turned you away from swords? Or…?"

The question seemed kind of silly, to Reisen. "More like I was never someone who'd like swords and tradition in the first place. Blame my upbringing. Don't you see guns the same way?"

"...Yeah." Youmu admitted. "How weird. Re— regardless, your story was really cool, Reisen."

"...Thanks."

As the girls devolved into idle chatter, Reisen locked her gaze on Heavy Claw again.

'...1969 was a good year.' Reisen didn't look back with animosity. 'That was all… pretty seriously nostalgic. It seems like it was so long ago, now.' In outside terms, it would now be the year 2015.

'BunnyFlufferNetwork, chatting, working on my first big gun… that stressful adventure. Still, I don't think I'd go back for anything.'

She felt her suit, where the pistol for Heavy Claw was still on her, and picked up the towel cloth to start polishing the metal.

'Anyway, if anyone ever wonders why I don't say much, it's because I'm thinking about shit. ...S'that simple.'