Day 4: July 9. 2062 | 1846 Hours | Base S09 Outer Perimeter

After a long, hard day of work, Juno decided to take a break and head out of the base for the first time since she arrived. She lied on a hill watching the Sun slowly sink into the horizon behind the ruins of a town off in the distance. The peaceful breeze and rustling of the swaying grass around her made her feel at ease. It was so different from the times she watched the sunset on the roof of the academy dorms. Rather than a peaceful tranquility, the atmosphere there consisted of car engines, people walking and talking, and large concrete buildings as opposed to pen fields and trees. It was a breath of fresh air to say the least.

"Master."

Juno turned around to see G36 standing behind her. "Hello, Miss G36."

The maid had a stern look in her eyes. "Master, it is against Griffin policy for you to be outside the base without an escort."

Juno sat up and brushed off some of the grass from her uniform. "I just wanted some fresh air."

G36 continued her scolding. "It is very reckless for you to head out without any protection."

"Ok, I'm not that careless." Juno knocked on her chest and a dull thud was heard. "I'm wearing a lightweight ballistic vest under this."

"Even so, you should head back inside."

"Why?"

"Because it is against Griffin policy for you to be outside the base without an escort." G36 repeated.

"But you're here now. So, according to policy, I can be outside," Juno said.

G36 stood quietly and looked down at the commander before letting out a sigh, conceding to her. "It seems that you are right about that."

Juno patted the spot next to her. "You can sit next to me if you want."

"I prefer to stand." G36 pointed at the stains of green from the grass on Juno's back. "I do not want to clean stains off both our uniforms."

"Ah, sorry about that." Juno started to unbutton her shirt and even remove the ballistic vest to get more comfortable.

Juno removing her shirt surprised G36 and caused her to start blushing. "W-What are you doing, Master?"

Juno straightened out the white tank top she wore underneath. "Well, since I don't have to worry about getting it dirty, I thought I could use it as a blanket to lay down on."

"Oh, I see." G36 returned to her firm composure.

While she preferred not to be seen out of uniform, G36 was the only one who did see Juno in clothes outside of her uniform. Since the maid did her laundry and came in her room to wake her up, G36 saw the kind of pajamas that Juno wore. Fortunately for her, unlike Kalina who'd probably tell everyone about her choice of sleepwear, including Kryuger, G36 respected Juno's privacy and kept everything to herself. Because of this, Juno felt more comfortable around the maid compared to everyone else.

As Juno continued to watch the sunset, she noticed a lone figure off in the distance. "Hey, Miss G36, do you see that person over there?"

G36 squinted at the distant figure. "It is hard for me to identify. I shall move closer and eliminate it if it is a threat." She unslung her rifle from her back and pulled on the charging handle.

"Hold on, let me put my gear back on." Juno grabbed her vest and shirt from the ground.

"You do not have to come along, Master. I can handle it on my own."

"Don't worry." Juno buttoned up her shirt. "I'll be fine."

"Very well." G36 hesitantly agreed and the two of them headed towards the figure.

Once the figure was close enough to be identified, G36 instantly put her hand in front of Juno and stopped her in her tracks. About twenty meters away from them stood a vespid SF unit that suffered severe battle damage. Holding its rifle with one arm, it limped around and had several bullet holes that revealed the robotic skeletal frame underneath. It still wore its helmet, but that too had cracks and pieces missing.

"It must be one of the leftovers from last week's attack." G36 raised her rifle and aimed down the scope. "I shall take care of it."

The vespid turned its head to look around, but it seemed to not have noticed the two of them. As it looked around, Juno saw the visor of the vespid was damaged enough for her to have a clear look in its right eye. There seemed to be a pain in the beautiful shade of purple. A pain that Juno was familiar with. The vespid was abandoned. Lost. Alone.

"Wait." Juno stopped G36 before she could pull the trigger. "Stay here, I'm going to move closer."

For once, G36 didn't immediately follow the order. "Master, it still has its weapon."

"I know." Juno took out her revolver from her shoulder harness and pulled the hammer back. She kept it lowered and began her approach towards the vespid.

G36 took a few steps forward. "I shall move up with you. I do not want to open fire if you are in front of me."

"No, just stay there." Juno looked back at her. "I don't want her to feel in danger."

"But it does not feel anything," G36 said.

"Just stay there. That's an order." Juno told her.

G36 reluctantly followed the order and Juno carefully made her way to the SF doll. Once she was a couple meters from the vespid, it turned to face her, and Juno slowed down even more.

"Hello." Juno waved but was unsure how it would respond.

The vespid simply stared at her as Juno continued to close the distance between them. Once she was only a meter or so away from the vespid, it struggled to raise its weapon. The arm holding it shook due to the damage done on its arm.

Juno stopped moving and cautiously watched the vespid. However, despite the vespid aiming its rifle at her, she tried to make the vespid see that she wasn't going to hurt it.

The eye Juno could see a faint expression of sorrow through the cracked visor and the vespid lowered its rifle slightly. Juno felt like she was making progress and turned to tell G36 to move up, but then she heard the vespid's weapon charge. She quickly swung around, raised her revolver, and pulled the trigger in one swift motion. The bullet landed directly between the vespid's eyes, shattering the rest of the visor. Unfortunately, the vespid fired a shot directly at her abdomen. Juno stumbled backwards from the force of the projectile, but G36 caught her before she could fall onto the ground.

Holding Juno in her arms, panic started to fill G36's voice. "Master! Master! Say something please!"

Juno checked the point of impact and saw a burnt hole in her shirt, but fortunately, the ballistic vest withstood the shot. At worst, Juno might have some bruising on her abdomen.

"I-I'm ok," Juno said.

G36 put Juno's arm around her shoulder and started to carry her back to the base. "That was extremely reckless, Master! You could've died!"

"She had the perfect chance to shoot me in the head." Juno looked up at G36. "But she didn't."

"You were just lucky, Master." G36 told her. "Its targeting module was probably damaged."

Juno turned her head back to the now lifeless vespid sprawled out on the ground. "Maybe…"

…

1958 Hours | Base S09 Infirmary

"What the fuck were you thinking, Commander?" Kalina cried out.

Juno lied on the medical bed as GSh-18 and HS-2000 tended to the bruise from the energy bolt. "Relax, Miss Kalina."

"Relax? You're telling me to relax?" Kalina scoffed. "How could I relax when you thought it was perfectly reasonable to walk up to an SF unit?"

"I just thought I could talk to her."

"Oh my God, you can't be serious." Kalina looked absolutely bewildered by what Juno tried to do. "I thought you were supposed to be top of the class! Not a fucking dumbass."

"I mean, the T-Dolls are capable of talking things out. Why not SF units?"

Kalina firmly shook her head. "That's different. The T-Dolls are made to have emotions and the capabilities of human interaction. SF units are built for one thing: killing humans. They don't feel pity, remorse, fear, and will not stop until you're dead!"

"But the look in her eye… That look didn't say emotionless killing machine."

The adjutant sighed. "Listen, Commander. This is war, and they're the enemy. Sure, I'd like it if we were all friends, but right now it's either us or them, and I choose us."

Juno looked down at her hands. She knew Kalina was right. That was the simplicity of war once everything else is stripped away. At the end of the day on the battlefield, everyone is fighting to live. It doesn't matter if they're emotionless killing machines or actual human beings. The enemy is the enemy. It doesn't get simpler than that.

Juno slowly closed her hands and then looked up at Kalina. "I do too."