Nightglows of the Starlit Sky Episode 4 Part 2

It's been thirty minutes since the simulation room training has started. After eyeing each other vigilantly for some time, one particular result keeps repeating itself. Cthugha complains, baffled that his attacks aren't landing as he keeps trying to carpet bomb Breke's ship. Breke however slips from view for a moment, only to reappear the next to show he's unharmed. Breke concedes that Cthugha's destructive power is threatening and personally vouches for it, but he points out that it's only when he's able to fight calmly. Cthugha accuses Breke of cheating, but Breke says he isn't and what's happening is simply just a difference in skill.

 

Cthugha's ship seems to be pulled into Breke's attack, though this is really predictive firing, as in shooting where you read your opponent will be based on your observations. You anticipated Breke doing this, so you throttle your control stick down and and attempt to attack him from his blind spot. Breke was also prepared for this and disappears from view again, leaving you to charge at Cthugha's ship as he panics. Breke then pops up elsewhere and ends the round by blasting the both of you down.

 

Once you're back outside the sim, Cthugha complains and asks why he lost every other round after winning the first. Breke says you guys did win that first round, but after he got more used to riding his ship he noticed that his attacks are easy to read. Cthugha is in disbelief at that since he feels he has a complicated personality, but Breke points out his attack pattern consists of pursuit and exploding things. His blasts are easy to run away from for anyone that's faster than him. He may be trying to win with one attack, but that's wasting the special traits of the ships.

Cthugha asks Breke what he means by traits, so Breke says Cthugha's ship is loaded with tons of his missiles. He shouldn't shoot them one by one, he should dump them all out for suppression fire. He'd be better off using them to cornering enemies rather than attempting to shoot them down himself. Breke also advises Cthugha to use everything on the battlefield too since missiles aren't his only weapons. He was blessed with strength, so he should make good use of them. Cthugha is flattered to be told he was blessed with something, so he says he'll try doing as Breke says. Breke tells him that if pushing doesn't work, he can always try pulling.

Breke turns to you next for the debriefing, and you either apologize for doing poorly or be confident you did well. In A, Breke comments you were more led around by your power than controlling it. In B, Breke agrees you did great and says he'd point out your power leading things would be why. Either way he says your hit and run tactics are great, but your methods are so by the book that the direction and timing of your attacks are easily read. They won't be any effective on people past a certain level of skill.

Breke concedes that he did teach you how to move and fight, so it's no surprise that he knows how you'd move. He can't have you stuck in place though. If everything lines up with what you guys already know, the side with more numbers to it will win and that side currently isn't yours. So, Breke reminds you to keep in mind that unexpected things may happen. You are both Breke's subordinate and student, so there's no need to keep copying what Breke is doing. He challenges you to surpass him, and when you do so he'll be proud of having taught you.

Breke suggests ending training for the day, at which point R-19 walks in carrying a thermo case saying he's brought food and water. Cthugha cheers saying he just started feeling hungry, and R-19 asks if he has any favorites as he'll try to accommodate if he can. Cthugha decides to ask for a drink in a tube and a nutrient bar for the aesthetics, adding he's read that's what the library books said about being cool and stoic. R-19 hands him the S ration then, and Cthugha happily opens up the package.

Breke warns Cthugha that he’ll have his fill and then some to the point of getting sick of them if he goes on long missions. Cthugha says it's fine since it fits the mood, so Breke lets him be and asks for an M ration. R-19 complies, handing Breke an even bigger package than Cthugha's that turns out to have hot steaming rice balls inside. They're bright and picturesque in the light, with a slight salty aroma and filled with pickled vegetables that Breke washes down with tea in his drink tube.

Breke says the riceballs are good, though Cthugha is having trouble wrapping his mind around having them available as food since he pictures his nutrient bar as the definitive space food. Breke says no one's ever said that, but he admits that the nutrient bars and stuff was what was around during the early stages of space traveling. But anyways, Breke talks about how food is one of the important pleasures of life for soldiers stressed from battle. Better quality rations means better results in battle, so there's a lot of variations of them to help with that. The riceballs themselves became popular just recently, and apparently they got the idea for them from entertainment of some kind.

You either ask for an M ration too, comment that rice balls taste great, or say rice will give you strength for tomorrow. Cthugha complains that he should have been told about that earlier, so Breke offers to trade meals with him since they do have that much room to change things. R-19 is also happy to go along with this if Cthugha likes and offers to trash his first choice. Cthugha opts to keep and finish it saying it's bad manners to leave leftovers, and you guys enjoy a moment of peace.

R-19 excuses himself for the time being saying he has duties around the ship to attend to, but if you need anything you can call him. Breke suggests you guys all break up for the day and go on standby until something comes up, but Cthugha says he wants to try one more round in the simulation in an attempt to even out his win-loss ratio. You remember what Duo told you earlier about meeting him, so you excuse yourself. Breke says he'll see you later then and tells you to get some rest.

You walk with R-19 out into the hallway, and he asks if you're going to the bridge. Since he's going in the same direction for part of his route, he asks if he can accompany you. You comment that it must be hard for him since he also handles the ship's guns and medical staffing. R-19 says that's partly true as he isn't assigned to one set role, but a bunch of different ones at once. Like during battles he handles the guns and operating for you guys when you pilot. Outside of battle he handles ship security and health checks of all members. Bringing food like he did earlier was part of his medical job. You either thank him for everything, offer to help him out with stuff, or offer to hug him for doing so well.

In A, R-19 thanks you back, then notes that you are physically and mentally fine. You being that way is proof that he's doing good, and he promises to do his best to make sure you stay that way. In B, R-19 says he's fine and that this is his job. He asks you to focus on getting your rest, as that would be the best help you can give him. In C, R-19 is surprised by the offer and has to look up what a hug is. Once he's done with that, he notes that it does help humans on a mental level, so he says he can let you do so for a minute since it's outside his job purview. You two hug, and he then asks if it did anything for you.

In any case, R-19 asks to talk to you about something in private, so you agree. R-19 has trouble voicing what he wants to say when you give him permission, with his vocal intonation going out of wack as he starts saying he wanted to give you his thanks. Ever since you joined the ship's crew, he says that everyone's mental health has been great. Things have been getting more difficult and it's hard to tell what's going to happen next, but you've turned things around in your guys' favor. This goes especially for Duo, though R-19 admits he might not look that way. But since he's a terminal for him, he figured he'd thank you on Duo's behalf. You either tell him 'you're welcome' and happy to hear that, or you call R-19 cute and say you love him. C gets an extra line where he feels that's not quite right a compliment for him but moves on.

R-19 repeats his thanks for you again as the commander's terminal. You think aloud on how he describes himself and start to ask him if Duo was his creator when R-19 preemptively confirms as such, though he also says it applies in a broad sense. He was once on a mission where he sustained considerable damage and had to cease function a number of times. The commander then remade him and extended his shelf life, so he serves him and carries out various missions for him. He knows him better than the other crew members do. R-19 also tells you that based on his analysis, Duo's mental state has been worsening since getting on board the ship.

You either react in disbelief or agree after a moment that Duo might not be doing well on the mental side of things. R-19 admits that this is the first time he's ever seen Duo like that, but he's not sure how to approach this. He's looked up psychiatrical databases for research, but he feels he can't do it himself since Duo is his superior. You try to ask R-19 to elaborate on that last point, so R-19 says that the closest comparison he can come up with after looking it up would be "an all-powerful all-knowing god." That's something he's decided he can't do anything about or give comfort with, but you point out that Duo is important, ask if R-19 wanted to do so, and/or ask if he wanted to do something for him. R-19 says after a moment that he wasn't equipped with that function since it was deemed unnecessary. He was just made to fulfill his preset role, but you stop R-19 and make a point of asking what it is he wants to do.

R-19 is surprised silent at the question, and you suggest that since Duo made him, Duo needs him. R-19 takes a moment to look up what it is you're doing with him, then recognizes that you're counseling him. He seems slightly offended as he tells you his emotions are an imitation of humanity's so there's no need to console him. But after a moment passes he still thanks you for doing so, smiling in his own way and bowing before going to do his own thing.

Once you meet Duo, he tells you you're earlier than he expected as he tells you to be at ease. Duo then asks if you think Cthugha is usable, so you either tell him you think he's not the type to hide things, say he'll help a lot in battle, or say he needs more observation. Whatever you chose, Duo decides to accept your judgment given that you're the one working closer with him. There's a certain sharpness to his words, and he looks different from usual.

Duo says this is to be a confidential conversation and says you can't tell Breke even if he is your direct superior. Now, as this is the last mission he intends on working you to the bone. It's for the sake of humanity, and he's sure this is going to end up killing you. If he has to, he'll treat you like a useful disposable pawn, though you probably already know that. If there's anything you want to say about that, he offers to hear them out but makes no promises about doing anything about it.

You calmly accept what Duo tells you as you ask him to use you well and point out there's no other way. Duo is surprised silent as he looks at you, so you decide to ask him why he's pushing himself so hard and if he can carry the burden of humanity on his shoulders. He doesn't give an answer, so you continue by pointing out that he's still a kid and too young to be carrying anything that heavy, though you admit he could pull it off.

Duo points out that you're a kid too, but he agrees to tell you how he does it. He says you can just think of everything as a game and think of you as a replaceable piece since he can always just start over. It's how he dealt with it up until now, over and over and over again. You tell Duo that this isn't a game and that he should know that. Duo is quiet again for several moments, eventually admitting that he does as his whole body shakes while his voice sounds so tired and disillusioned.

Duo says he knows that what you guys are doing 'right now' is no game that can be redone however many times. He starts tearing up as he asks what you want him to do when you say so. He's always put up with everything by thinking of it as a game. If he thinks about how redoing things won't work even once, his legs start shaking too much to keep going anymore.

You ask Duo what he wants to do and try to get him to calm down, or you just quietly pull him into a hug. Duo thinks about Shuichi and Bertro as he tells you he has siblings who he was raised with in the same place. They were all raised as geniuses, but Duo was the only one to run away. But still he wasn't able to to do anything, not even stand up on his own. He always felt like giving up, but thinking of it as a game that he could retry helped. However, he's finally understood that everything will be over if he makes even one mistake. He's always put on a calm face, but he can't handle it anymore. He wants to protect everyone and he wants everyone to survive, so he has to stand in front so he won't have to see how badly beaten his siblings have gotten. You tell him you know and compliment him for saying so, or you quietly pat him on the head, and either way Duo bursts into wailing tears.

Time passes a bit to the point where Duo says he's calmed down. He was trying to keep it in mind on an intellectual level, though it was only an attempt at it. He's embarrassed about the side of you he showed you, but he says he's okay now as he's the commander. He goes back to smiling the way he's done before, continuing to think out his strategies while carrying his heavy burden. You either pour him some coffee, rub his shoulders, or turn off the monitor.

In A, Duo thanks you and says he doesn't need any milk or sugar to go with it. He talks about how caffeine is bad for your health and how he knows there's safe medicines for mental activity. But when he's working as the commander he ends up wanting something pointless like this, and he comments that the human System needs to play as a buffer. In B, Duo says you don't need to do that since there's someone else who's in charge of this. But after thinking on it some more he thinks it should be fine because getting used to the other massage might make it less effective. He winces a little as he says you're doing it too hard and tells you to control your strength better, then approves when you lighten up. In C, Duo is surprised as he says he wasn't planning on giving you the power to interrupt work. There's no holidays for the managers and this goes even more for the frontliners. He has to study information and plan strategies, and soldiers have to be ready to act without hesitation. He admits he might be sticking too closely to regulation and the stress may be getting to him. He thanks you and says he'll forgive your unilateral action.

In any case, Duo says he's taken his mind off of things thanks to you and notes he's gotten anxious before he realized it. He leaves Cthugha's handling to you and says you can ask Breke for help with that. That's all for the discussion he's had in mind with you, so he says you can go now. You excuse yourself, then ask him not to push himself too hard and say you guys should do your best to survive this. Duo doesn't respond as he sits down in his chair, and you leave the room.

Immediately after you leave Kurogane walks in and comments that Duo's face is saying he's gotten his mind off of things. Duo sighs at him and tells him eavesdropping is rude, and Kurogane says he thought about walking midway but decided against interrupting. Kurogane then tells Duo that he has the same opinion that Bertro does, and Duo decides to officially ban eavesdropping and threatens Kurogane with military court if he breaks the rule before sighing and asking how the ship remodeling is going.

Kurogane uses a nearby computer terminal to shut the door to prevent anyone from listening in from outside. He comments that this should be good enough to prevent leaks and comments he's the big brother of the ship crew. Duo sighs about getting another big brother out in the ends of space, baffling Kurogane into asking if he said something wrong. Duo says it's fine, then warns Kurogane he's always harsh on his big brothers. Kurogane protests that that's different from what he's said before.

Duo comments that he doesn't think he has any big brother who can put up with him, then changes the subject to say that Cthugha is in plain terms, bait. He's suspicious of how convenient the information he brought is, and he suspects Cthugha was sent to be taken prisoner with information they could afford to leak to lure you guys into a trap. Kurogane says it might be true, though he doesn't understand that force of personality.

Duo says that you like Cthugha, then asks Kurogane's opinion of him. Kurogane says he's honest and pleasing, and also quick to understand so he's fast at learning how to pilot. He's still concerned about his personality and power though. Duo calls Cthugha uncontrollable and says he wouldn't want him at base if he were the enemy leader. He also thinks about the possibility that Cthugha could blow up on your side at any point. Kurogane points out that they still added him to the party despite that, and all Duo can do in response is nod grimly.

Duo talks about how you guys wouldn't have gotten out unscathed from the enemy siege without Cthugha's information. You guys are also low on fighting potential so you have to use anyone possible, which Duo believes is what the enemy is expecting. He sighs about smart they are, then points out how their plans up to this point wasn't about completely crushing you all. Whatever their motive is, Duo needs to figure it out within the next three days. Nodens' apparent ability to materialize the past is problematic too as it's still unclear as to how it works, and he sighs about all the problems he needs to look into.

Kurogane points out that Duo isn't alone. He may be a genius, but there's still a lot of people around him he can rely on. Duo concedes the point after a moment, then asks if he can ask Kurogane about something. Kurogane agrees, so Duo asks why Kurogane chose to be a spaceship engineer since he wasn't born to do that. Plus it's sent him to where the battle for the survival of humanity is happening, so why would he do that? It's not like he was exiled from Earth for crimes or something.

Kurogane squirms a little at how hard it is to answer that, and while he admits part of it is to chase after his parents for going into the same career, he wanted to see and meet someone he doesn't know. Space is filled with unknown things, and he wanted to pursue that. Duo expresses his condolences for doing that and having to deal with space invaders. Kurogane laughs as he points out that he also met a nice guy like Cthugha out of all this, surprising Duo into pointing out that he just talked about how dangerous he is. Kurogane says that's true, but space is full of danger. He's still surprised he was hired by the army, but what can you do with the end of humanity in the balance?

The past and future are sure to clash at one point or another, and that happens at some point here in the present. Wherever those things come together, there's sure to be intense friction. It's terrifying, but terror is another name for the unknown. Kurogane says that's why he wants to go and see what's out there, even if he doesn't know what it is. He remembers seeing the brilliance in the night sky from back when he was young, which was when he knew it wasn't just the light of other stars. It was the shine of the night atmosphere where his home planet and outer space met, the nightglow. It was the blueish light of Earth, visible only in dark nights. He was fascinated by it, and one day he wanted to go where it was. Duo is quietly surprised as he looks at Kurogane's artificial arm stretching out as if to grasp something. Though whether it really was surprise, no one can say.

Back to your end, you decide to take a walk around since you can't sleep. Something not quite anxiety and expectations weighs on you, and you figure you should talk to someone about it, so you decide to head for the hangar. You eventually climb into your ship, where Solomon is surprised to see you there. He says you need at least six hours of sleep, and he says it's more comfortable for you to go sleep in your cabin rather than in the ship as he suggests you go there.

You say you're fine being there and ask Solomon to listen since you want to be with him. Solomon is silent before deciding to humor you as he turns on the engine to recline your seat and puffs up the cushions. It's still relatively cramped, but it does feel like a comfortable sleeping bag inside the ship now. Solomon notes a slight disturbance in your brain waves, so he asks if you regret choosing to join the army. You either tell Solomon about your discussion with Duo, ask his opinion on Nodens, or ask what he thinks you used to be like.

In A, Solomon says Duo's concerns as commander are natural to have. If he's opening up emotionally to you, Solomon figures he's thinking you're worth relying upon. He suggests that maybe it was some counseling that helped with his mental stress, and then says he'll put a lock on his memory banks to abide by Duo's rules. In B, Solomon says your question is unclear, so he's not sure how to answer. He also says it's not part of your job as a frontliner to do, so he asks you to get some rest for the battle ahead. In C, he says he's aware of your amnesia, but he suggests that you not let it get to you much since it affects your survivability. The both of you are tools of war, and he asks you not forget that.

Solomon talks about how your mental anxiety is coming from the current situation. He believes that there's no one on board including him who can help with it at its core. The situation has led to a positive self-evaluation, so he says mutual understanding or compromise would be good. You ask if he's telling you to come to grips with reality, comment on how human he seems for an AI, or just acknowledge the statement.

Solomon asks you what's wrong, so you ask him if he thinks you can pull it off or ask his evaluation of you as a soldier. Solomon says you've done the best you could in unknown situations. He'll do his best to prove his worth as your assistant and prove that judgment right. You're plenty competent as the pilot. You thank Solomon, say it's all thanks to him, and/or call him partner and say you love him. He goes quiet for a moment before saying he'll continue to suggest the best course of action for your survival until you're no longer needed. Until then, it's his role to be the best partner he can be for you.

You think on Solomon's comment about his role, then ask him where he came from. Solomon is quiet for a second before telling you he can't answer because he can't access that information. You nod in sympathy and wonder if he has parents. If he does, you say you want to see them someday. Solomon gets pensive at your comments, so you say you guys resemble one another and suggest looking for them together one day. Solomon says nothing for a moment before changing the subject, saying you're cutting into your rest time and suggesting you sleep and end the counseling session.

You tell Solomon you want to sleep in the cockpit, so Solomon relents and says he'll adjust the temperature and humidity to make it the most comfortable for sleeping, then wishes you sweet dreams. You doze off, and everyone on board the cruiser is doing their own thing as it sails through the stars. Some time later your awakening happens in an instant, and tension floods the ship. Duo commands everyone to be vigilant until the end of the operation as the final destination is now in sight. The ship's monitors show an image of an absurd castle shining in conspicuous colors among the sea of stars, and the Agate Castle rises with an unsettling silence.

On the next episode! On Earth, people make a wish upon a falling star. In which case, what sort of wish should be made here among the ocean of stars? You and everyone aboard the Wall of Time are making every effort you can as you head for the Agate Castle. The ceaseless waves of enemies rising against you comes to sneer at your determination. The dreaming king laughs at the center of this world and roars in triumph. The impossible final hope awakens from the dark enthusiasm from the sea. Find out what happens next time on Nightglows of the Starlit Sky Episode 5: Thank You, Everyone

Bonus because I felt like it: https://www.mediafire.com/file/hnj9sk5gw31clzk/Nightglows+Breke+Special+Quest.txt/file