Chapter Text
“You’re going to go out to fight. The most important thing is: make it back here alive. Please don’t forget about that, okay?” Sham, the 21-year-old operator told Sora solemnly.
“I won’t.” Sora stated, seeming almost in a daze.
“This is no easy job, but let’s do out best!”
And then Sora left.
Sham hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath, but she let it out now. Sora hadn’t been herself for a while, it seemed. When was the last time she even smiled? Sham couldn’t recall. It was weird actually sending her out, though. For a Weapon Girl to have so many years of training before being sent out on her first mission… it was unheard of other than for Sora. For her to finally get sent out now… it spoke volumes of just how desperate SHORE was getting.
As for Sham, she left the Training Observation Room and started heading towards the Operator Room, where she spent most of her time when she wasn’t helping with other things like robotics or maintaining Weapon Girls, though the latter responsibility was probably going to disappear soon. Sham’s father had finally found a way to prevent aging in the Weapons, and he was slowly rolling it out to the most effective Weapons first. Sora had already had it done.
Being an operator was Sham’s best way of helping the Weapon Girls while they were actually ON the battlefield, though. It was her job to keep an eye on how the Weapon Girls were doing, relay messages and orders to them, and send them support and supplies as needed. It was the most a clumsy, potential-less girl like her could do without getting herself killed.
Knowing any news she’d receive upon entering the Operator Room would be bad news, Sham took a deep breath before stepping through the door.
“Sham!” one of the lower operators exclaimed as soon as Sham entered, still respecting her wish to be referred to by her first name despite the panic in his voice. “You need to see this!”
Sham rushed over to the computer and gasped in horror at what she saw. “Have you reported this?” she asked in as steady of a voice as she could manage.
“I have,” Sham’s subordinate told her. “What do we do now?”
Sham stared at the decimated building on the screen. The Weapon Base. All of the Weapons-in-training as well as many other SHORE employees were certainly there when it was destroyed. “There’s nothing we can do,” she stated coldly despite her wild emotions. “Every Weapon Girl fit for fighting has been deployed at this point. We just-” Sham choked on her words, trying to stay emotionless. “We just don’t have any extras.”
“How could you say that?!” one of the other operators demanded accusatorily. “All of those people are dead! Those people who gave their lives-”
“Panicking won’t help,” Sham stated. “If you’re going to have a breakdown, step out of the room for a moment to do so to allow the rest of us to focus on keeping all of the other girls who are still alive safe. We can’t bring back the dead.”
The other operator quieted down, clearly upset but not saying anything more on the matter.
Good. Sham really couldn’t start crying right now, so she didn’t want to think about this any longer. Acting cold like that was her best way of coping efficiently.
As quite the juxtaposition from her earlier years, Sham was now very highly respected among SHORE. She knew more than a lot of the other people who worked in the fields she did from having seen it all firsthand from childhood, and due to her multi-talented nature and the authority that came from being Shifu’s daughter, people tended to listen to her even if they WERE technically higher than her in certain fields. Reasons like this were why a girl as young as her was trusted with things like teaching the Ultimate Weapon Girl how to use the shield device that would save her life.
The shield device that Sham herself has managed to figure out how to manufacture after watching how the MOUNTAIN shields worked via the screens in the Operator Room.
So, perhaps Sham really WAS her father’s daughter at times. Highly intelligent, highly respected, and never satisfied with the way things WERE when there was even the slightest possibility they COULD be better. The difference was that Shifu saw the Weapons who fought on the front lines as resources while Sham saw them for what they were. Real, living people with the dream of one day being able to live a normal happy life. But, just like her father, Sham knew there was no way this war could be won without casualties. Still, both father and daughter did everything they could to keep those casualties to a minimum.
Sham let out a short but loud sound of frustration just to let all of her emotions out in one big burst. She needed to be able to focus.
“What?” she asked when she was done and the others’ eyes were drawn towards her. “Keep an eye on things!”
Sham quickly went to her own computer, setting her monitors to various girls of note to keep a close eye on. She knew how things like this worked. The strongest girls were the ones who’d get the most support. There were only so many resources to go around, and the best fighters were the ones who needed to be protected to most. It wasn’t a mentality Sham liked, but that’s war for you, and who was Sham to argue with that?
Things have been really intense as of late. It seemed every day Weapons would be dying, both from SHORE and MOUNTAIN. At this point it was a test of endurance. Who’s Weapons could last the longest? Who had more? And, once the world was surely thoroughly decimated, who would have the remaining strength left to reclaim it?
But SHORE Weapons were falling left, right, and center. MOUNTAIN may not have had Weapon Girls anywhere near as good as SHORE’s best, but they had a LOT of technology, as that’s where their focus seemed to be. They could take down the weaker Weapons easily by overwhelming them.
Yet SHORE’s strongest Weapon Girls seemed nearly invincible, taking down so many of MOUNTAIN's machinery down with ease. But Sham knew even the strongest people had their limits, and she was worried since there was no telling where Sora’s limits were.
She knew Nath would be okay though. Nath was always okay. Nath had to be okay.
And she was! Though Nath had mentioned on more than one occasion how uncomfortable it made her that anything she saw through her own eyes was able to be seen through monitors in the Operator Room, it was good for times like this. Sham could see that Nath was doing just fine. Her strength was unparalleled. Nath could never, ever, ever falter.
~~~
It was horrifying for Sham to watch Sora, one of her closest friends, nearly get blown up by a MOUNTAIN girl’s final stand, and even more horrifying to see her fight Tsih, the girl who had brought Sham so much grief in the past. But what was more worrying than all of that was that was when Sora started veering off course. She wasn’t protecting SHORE anymore. It seemed she was more interested in protecting ALTITUDE, who was so determined to restore the planet that they were working even while SHORE was trying to conquer the very area they were attempting to protect.
That took dedication, Sham had to admit.
No, but it was bad! They were members of MOUNTAIN by all technicalities, and therefore they were bad! That’s how this war worked, wasn’t it?
Even if ALTITUDE had proven to Sham they were a neutral party, they were still bad… right?
Sham let out a breath. Regardless of her own feelings, SHORE needed Sora to fight on THEIR behalf. There was too much at stake for her to defend ALTITUDE, even if MOUNTAIN was fighting their own people right now for some reason? Really, it was GOOD for SHORE that MOUNTAIN was being so oddly irrational, and it would be best if Sora just let it happen.
“She’s ignoring all orders!” one of the operators reported. Right, Sham probably should just try to message the girl to cut it out.
So she did. She sent Sora a message reminding her what she should be doing that should show up right in the corner of her vision. But Sora didn’t turn around. She didn’t even slow down. She was determined to protect ALTITUDE.
“How could she be so defiant like that?” an operator asked.
“I thought the Weapons were more disciplined!”
“Hold on, she’s just confused!” Sham exclaimed, standing up suddenly. “This is her first mission and it’s a lot to handle.”
“How do we know more Weapons aren’t going to start rebelling, too?” a worried operator asked, as all the other operators turned their attention to Sham.
“She’s not rebelling!” Sham defended quickly. “And we have NEVER had a single Weapon refuse an order on the battlefield before. Sora’s always been an idealist. She’s just… doing what she thinks is right.”
“But it’s not right for SHORE!”
“I KNOW!” Sham shouted, making her way towards the door now. “That’s why I’m going to go get her. Personally. I’ll bring her back, and we can remind her of what’s important, okay?”
“Looks like she’s fighting another MOUNTAIN Weapon,” someone commented. “If you’re not careful, you’ll get caught up between a fight like that!”
“I know what I’m doing,” Sham said determinedly. “I’m not afraid.”
Sham couldn’t be afraid, after all. She needed to get Sora back. Sora was the difference between winning and losing the war. It hurt to admit that, especially when Sham knew just how hard Nath had been working to be enough to make that difference on her own, but… Sham wasn’t a child anymore. She understood things she never could’ve understood back then. She understood that it never mattered how hard Nath worked, or how much she tried, because it never mattered how hard ANYBODY wanted to be something they simply weren’t. Nath could never be the primary Ultimate Weapon Girl, and Sham could never be the power that could bring this war to an end. Sora was born with an undeniable power that Sham or even Nath could never even hope to live up to. Of course, Nath was strong, but…
Sora was the one who could shape the world. And she was refusing to when it mattered most. Sham couldn’t let that stand.
And so she ran out of SHORE’S Base, summoning her robots to her side and then she began flying out into the awful sky full of the clouds that have CERTAINLY gotten much thicker as of late. Sham went to go locate Sora.
~~~
But in the end, Sham failed.
She couldn’t convince Sora to come back with her. In fact, she ended up… believing in her.
Wasn’t that just so pathetic? To believe that… maybe Sora COULD end this war, after all. Even if SHORE turned against her for her border-line traitorous acts. Even if she was alone… she was Ultimate. Maybe… just maybe… hope could be enough.
Not sure HOW she was going to explain this to the other operators, or what sort of report she should even WRITE for something like this, Sham returned to SHORE’s HQ, just to find that it was mostly empty.
Where did everybody go?
Sham went to the Operator Room just to find all the screens were dark. It didn’t make any sense. Was there some evacuation notice she missed by not being here?
Why would there be? What was going on?
Sham walked quietly through the base, nerves really hitting. Was there a MOUNTAIN girl here? There didn’t seem to be any sign of a struggle, so that didn’t seem likely.
Sham kept walking, and walking, and walking, looking for anyone.
And then finally, she found someone.
“Sham, there you are,” Shifu called out, rushing over to her. “We don’t have much time. We need to get going.”
“You’re covered in blood,” Sham couldn’t help but mention.
“Ugh, yes, I am. Now let’s go.”
“Who’s?” Sham pushed, suddenly feeling very uneasy. “And why?”
“It doesn’t matter, okay?” Shifu responded. “I just had to make… a last minute alteration. For SHORE’s sake. But what we’re doing now is for our own sake, understand? We need to go.”
“Go where?” Sham demanded. “What’s going on?”
Shifu sighed. “MOUNTAIN has a bomb big enough to destroy this planet and it’s my belief they plan on doing so today, and I have no intention of being here when they do. You were right when you said Sumika was a spaceship. I’ve been preparing for a situation like this for a while now, Sham. Sending out the Ultimate Weapon was a mistake, and MOUNTAIN is surely getting anxious. It’s only a matter of time now. Everybody else of use is either dead or on that spaceship, so we need to go.”
“Why would they destroy the Earth? Then nobody wins!”
“That is where you are wrong,” a voice stated, causing Sham to jump. The voice was so familiar, yet so… miserable. “No one had any intention of there being anything left by the end of this war. So the victor is simply the one who shoots last.”
Sham gasped at the sight of the one who spoke. “N-Nath?”
“Sham,” Nath said, approaching Sham. “I do not want you to be here when Sora returns. Please, you should go.”
“Y-your arms!!” Sham exclaimed, rushing over to hug Nath tightly even if the girl couldn’t hug her back at all due to her new lack of arms. “Nath, what happened??”
“Sham we need to go,” Shifu said with more urgency now.
“You…” Sham let go of Nath, and turned to face her father. “You did this, didn’t you?”
“If I didn’t, someone else would have,” Shifu stated with no remorse. “And anyway, SHORE taught me one last little trick with Weapon Girls that will make it so I can ensure none will ever go against their orders ever again. But Nath is programmed to listen to a SHORE member far above me, so I couldn’t save her now, even if I wanted to.”
Sham stared at her father in disbelief, tears forming in her eyes.
“Now Sham, let’s go!”
“N-no,” Sham stated, making eye contact with Shifu now.
“Sham,” Nath said, “it is not safe for you here anymore.”
“I’m not going with that monster!” Sham told Nath with certainty, before turning her gaze to Shifu. “Why… why would you do this?”
“Because I was told to by SHORE,” Shifu said simply and unsympathetically. “But that won’t happen any longer. Where we’re going, Sham, I’ll be the one in charge because I’ll be the only reason any of those people will be alive at all. Do you understand? As my daughter, you’ll have the power to make anyone do anything you want! Doesn’t that sound so freeing after all these years of working for a cause you knew deep down would never mean anything?”
“No!” Sham shouted. “That’s not what I want! That will never BE what I want! All I ever wanted was for this war to be over so Nath and I could finally be happy! Do you understand, father? There’s not a single person in this entire universe who means more to me than Nath and you just tore her apart like she was some toy! But you couldn’t understand. You wouldn’t understand. Because the only person you have EVER cared about was YOURSELF and you will NEVER KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO LOVE SOMEONE!!!”
“That’s why,” Sham said now with certainty. “I would much rather be destroyed along with the Earth than ever go anywhere with you. I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!!!”
Shifu was frozen, not knowing how to answer. Not even completely understanding how to formulate words at this point. Finally, he spoke. “If that’s what you want,” he said, looking at Sham with both sorrow and somehow admiration, “then there’s no changing your mind.”
And with that, he left.
“Sham,” Nath said, looking at her now with those same endless eyes, even if they were devoid of all light now. “Why would you do that? Now you will die along with everyone else.”
“Maybe I will,” Sham said, not regretting her choice for a moment. “But I could never turn my back on what you’ve been fighting for all this time. THIS is our world, and we’ve lost so much to protect it. To say that it means nothing, that it doesn’t matter if it’s destroyed… I can’t do that. You, Sora, everyone. You’ve given it everything you have! Even if I don’t have the power to make a difference, I want to be by your side Nath, for the rest of our lives.”
Tears in the corners of her eyes, Nath said “I am so sorry, Sham. But I cannot fight for that any longer. It does not matter what I want to do anymore. I have no choice but to fight Sora. To try to stop her. That is what the professor did to me when he made me like this.”
Sham looked at Nath, then hugged her again. “It’s okay, Nathy,” she said, trying to sound as comforting as she could despite her the crazy emotions brewing inside of her. “It’s not your fault. The most important thing is: make it back here alive. Both you and Sora. Even if you have to fight her, you don’t have to kill her. And Sora would never kill you. Whether you win or lose, Nath, I just want you to live. You AND Sora. We can find a way to make this work. Even if MOUNTAIN has the capability to destroy the planet, why would they when only two SHORE Weapons remain? Please, just make it back to me alive, okay? Promise me.”
Nath stared at Sham, then somehow, despite everything, managed to form a smile. “I promise,” she stated. “I need to go now. You should leave this base. It is certainly going to get dangerous.”
“I will,” Sham agreed. “I’ll see you after the fight, okay?”
“Yes,” Nath told her. “I will see you then.”
Nath began to leave, but Sham stopped her. “One more thing,” Sham said.
“Yes?”
“Nath, when this war is over, let’s go on another date, ‘kay?”
Nath stared at her in shock, but smiled one more time. “‘Kay,” she responded, for once speaking improperly before she flew off.
And then all that was left for Sham to do was leave the base.
~~~
It’s so cold outside.
Sham couldn’t stop shivering as she was quickly leaving SHORE HQ. She knew she should get far from here since Nath didn't want her to see the fight with Sora, but…
Sham had to be here! She had to make sure things ended okay.
Sham got a good distance away from the base and took out a pair of technologically enhanced binoculars. Sure enough, Sora arrived, and the two girls began fighting. Nath’s new alteration was causing her to keep extending herself to the point that she barely looked like herself anymore. It was difficult to watch, but Sham HAD to keep an eye on it.
Thankfully, the two finally stopped as Sora had tired Nath out. Nobody had to get hurt. Nobody had to die.
Sham let out a sigh of relief. It would be okay. If Sora could stop Nath, maybe there WAS a chance she could win this war, after all. Or at the very least find a way to end it. Everything would be okay. Everything would have a happy ending!
Or so Sham thought.
In one flash of light, everything changed.
In one flash of light, Nath was vaporized in an instant.
It was so quick, so sudden, so surprising that Sham was certain she must’ve imagined it. After all, how… how could this be possible? Nothing could kill Nath! Nothing! Nothing…
Sham fell to her knees, seeing but not really processing Sora flying up further in the sky. Beams of light were coming from the sky, decimating all they touched. SHORE HQ was gone in a matter of moments, and many places nearby, too.
Sham guessed her father was right. The Earth really was going to get destroyed.
Sham was too devastated to move. Too devastated to care to.
If Sham disappeared in a beam of light, she wasn’t sure that she’d mind at this point.
Water was threatening to spill from Sham’s eyes, but it just didn’t. She just sat there. And eventually, she laid down, staring up at that sky.
That sky that took so much from her.
That sky that stubbornly REFUSED to be seen by a girl like her due to the actions of humanity long before Sham was ever born.
It wasn’t fair.
It was so unfair. Life was always unfair. Neither Nath nor Sham ever had a chance. They were fated to fight for a war they didn't even understand because that's the life they were born into, while Shifu escaped, becoming a ruler of a new messed-up sort of dictatorship no different from the one that had been down here.
Now there wasn’t even a body Sham could bury.
Not that it mattered. This Earth wasn’t going to last the day. If what happened to Nath proved anything, it’s that it didn't matter how Ultimate and hopeful Sora was.
There was never a chance this was going to end happily.
Now, all Sham could do was stare into the clouds and wait for the destruction of the Earth.
But, no matter how long she stayed there, the world didn’t end.
Even if it felt like it should, even if it felt like everything Sham cared about was over, the world didn't end. But Sora didn't come back, either. There was nothing but null feelings and cold winds.
Eventually, the sky got somewhat brighter. Morning had come. And still nothing. No Sora, no bomb. The bright lights stopped appearing at some point, and they didn't take Sham, for better or worse, so she just continued to lay there.
Or at least, she did, until something suddenly blew by her in the wind.
It was a scrap of canvas, painted with the face of a hybrid girl from a generation unknown to Sham.
It was a torn portion of the portrait of Yuki.
“Not even you survived, huh?” Sham asked out loud to the imaginary friend she knew wouldn’t answer. Couldn’t answer, since she was dead now. “Guess I really am alone…”
But as Sham held the picture, she saw her own hand. Burnt, scarred, yet still just as useful as her other.
It was hard to remember sometimes that the scar meant something good had happened.
That Sham, though no one to many people, was a hero to one.
One girl who was alive thanks to Sham’s sacrifice.
She guessed, despite everything, maybe she did have the slightest sliver of power after all…
“You have made me happy. And I do not think you understand how much power the ability to do that has.”
Nath had said that to Sham.
Was that truly a form of power?
To help others?
“Those robots you sent to help me saved my life!” “Thanks for the upgrade, I feel great!” “These shields are incredible! I can’t even FEEL the opposing side’s attacks! You’re awesome, Sham!”
People have been saying stuff like that to her all along.
Could it be that not being able to fight on the front lines was a good thing? To allow Sham to support all of those who could?
Maybe she was truly powerful all along…
“Now I have one more reason to keep fighting.”
Finally, Sham let those tears begin pouring out of her eyes all at once.
Sora, Nath, all the other Weapons she had ever cared about… each and every last one of them had died. And with all of the SHORE bases surely destroyed and all of the remaining employees having gone with her father, Sham was the only person left on this entire planet who was still a member of SHORE. Everyone else was gone. Sham was alone.
No, she wasn’t.
Sham reached into her pocket and pulled something out. Something she always carried with her as a good luck charm because of how much care the person who made it for her made it with.
A small, felted phoenix.
Even if all of her friends were dead, even if SHORE was gone…
Sham wasn’t alone.
She had all of the memories and emotions of those she cared about with her forever.
But like a phoenix, this world was currently destroyed. It needed some help to be reborn anew from the ashes of this war.
Sham was never a fighter. But she was ALWAYS good at supporting others.
“I think I know what I want to do now,” Sham told the little phoenix, before getting up to start her journey to her new location.
Her new home.
The new place she wanted to pour all of her hopes and dreams into to make this Earth being alive a reality once again.
~~~
“Yukito, do you have a moment?”
Yukito looked up from the research he was reading over, towards one of his fellow scientists. “What is it?” Yukito asked politely.
“There's a girl here to see you,” the scientist explained. “She doesn't speak any English though.”
“That’s alright,” Yukito said. English wasn’t his first language anyway. “You can send her in.”
A brunette girl walked in nervously, looking fairly average except for the giant scar that covered one of her cheeks and seemed to run along the entire left side of her body. When she saw Yukito, she introduced herself. “My name is Sham Shifu,” she explained. “My father was a big part of the war, but now that it’s over, I want to support those fighting to rebuild the Earth. I want to join ALTITUDE and make the world a place where everyone can be happy again.”
“Sham,” Yukito said with a smile, remembering her immediately. “I never knew you were his daughter. I assume you must be very intelligent, then.”
“I like to think so,” Sham told him. “My father taught me a lot. I want to use that knowledge for good, though, unlike him.”
“Good,” Yukito said. “You know, your father was a very dear friend of mine back when we were children. But we lost touch when we went our separate ways. Still, I can’t help but admit, what he can do is incredible, if he only used it for the right reasons.” Yukito glanced at his research, then back to Sham. “If you’d really like to help as many people as possible, I could use some help on a project of mine.”
“A project?” Sham asked. “What kind of project?”
“Well, you remember Suguri, don't you?”