Chapter 10: White Noise


"Are you sure you're fine, Commander?"

"Thanks for the concern, Springfield, but I'm all right."

Just as Gautier predicted, the pace of the war slowed down massively once we hit the mainland. Granted, I'm just glad I don't have to experience the horrors of trench warfare.

"Did you misplace your gloves? You should put them on."

"Gave them to a kid in the previous town who was holding his dad's body."

"That's a bit unfair to say it like that." Springfield notes as she ruffles in her bag. "No one can chide you for that. However, please make sure you take care of yourself, Commander. We need you."

I turn my head towards her, finding Springfield holding another pair of gloves that appear to be handmade.

"I had a bit of time after the battle to gain a foothold, is all."

"I didn't know you had yarn."

"I bought some from the local townspeople, is all." She says, flashing a small smile.

"I see. Thank you for your concern." I say, putting the white wool gloves on. It fits quite snugly, almost as if it was crafted purely for me. "Did you need me for something?"

She shakes her head. "I just wanted to make sure you were fine. You seemed a bit on edge after the last battle to take this town. Especially after we rounded that corner by the plaza."

"Ah, that. Yes, I'm fine. It's just a bit… close to the heart. You know how it is."

Springfield glances away, looking down the streets. "Who was it?"

There's a long pause in the air before I speak their names. "Vector and AUG. A Ringleader ambushed us there. Not that we weren't expecting it. We all knew this mission was suicidal, anyways, even for us. Nothing ever felt the same after that."

"Sir?"

"They were members of my A-team. Some of the best soldiers a man could ask for. They held the line so the others could extract safely with the cargo."

Springfield knits her hands together, where I can see her fingers tense up. "I see. Sir, I… I do not know what comfort we can be, but please remember we are all here now."

"Thank you, Springfield. But, enough talking of the haunts of the past. We should make sure we don't have another mission ready for us. Any word from Gautier?"

She shakes her head as we begin walking through the streets. "No word, yet. However, they are due to return from their scouting mission in the next two hours."

"That's good."

We were fielded quite a lot at the start, after landfall, but it seems Gautier was right. People wanted to use this war for their own glory, believing it would be over soon. A bit cruel, to be using us seemingly as cannon fodder and scouts for the mages to swoop up and take the glory, but seeing as how we were all commoners in their eyes it was par for course.

That changed after we simply annihilated the last ten missions given to us. Even without Gautier's air support, for the most part we weren't up against mages or at least a lot of them, unlike when we fought at the Academy. That, and we were free to engage on our own terms. T-Dolls could shoot farther and still hit with devastating force, even in low-light conditions. PPK was basically impossible to hit for the average people when she closed the distance as well, so Agnes gave her a knife that let her really do some damage.

Mages weren't hard to identify either, as they stood out compared to their commoner counterparts. They were always taken out with extreme prejudice, as four gunners all aiming down their sights on them took care of them fairly shortly. If I could feel shame for using tactics like these, I'd almost feel a bit bad for constantly abusing nighttime tactics and even for mages, their inability to see in the dark unaided.

Regardless, after it became clear we weren't about to get our shit kicked in, the amount of missions we were sent on quickly dried up, with the occasional one passed down directly from high command, as it seems there's someone reasonable in charge there. Outside of that, we then were relegated to "investigation" missions, which was fine with me. After all, it was a rather odd occurrence, lately.

Fliers who were shot down over forests and reported dead apparently kept coming back, alive and well. However, they had no recollection of any memories after being shot down. It wasn't every flier, either, just some of them. An analysis of the areas they were shot down told me either there was a group of these people or it was one person travelling around, based on the shot down dates and times.

While obviously, it didn't smell of being a T-Doll at work, I often had Spectre fly out with the Dragon Knights to utilize her radio and broadcast our presence and that there was a Griffin commander here. So far, no dice.

"I hope we can find some kind of repair facility or tools." I mumble, looking up at the twilight sky. As winter is setting in, it's already starting to turn dark around five "I really would like to repair Spectre's leg."

"It's unlikely we'll encounter one while we're constrained by the war, sir."

"I know, but I'm just praying we find one. It'll be good not just for her survival, but also her mentality. I know that you girls often take pride in your ability to fight, but the way she talks about it, how devastated she seems to be… it makes me wonder what happened to her."

"Should I inform her that you're concerned?"

"I don't know if that will help, but if you do so, please let her know that I am not requiring she talk to me. I am here to listen when she does want to talk."

"Of course, sir. I had a question, too."

"Yes?"

"Vector and AUG… were they unable to be recovered? Their neural cloud data, I mean."

"Springfield, think of them like paintings. Beautiful paintings that you've worked on for years. They've survived house fires, burglaries, your own carelessness at times. But one day those paintings don't survive. But it's okay, some might say, you've recorded all of your motions. You took pictures of the painting down to the last stroke of the brush. A nice, pristine painting, free of its wrinkles, its errors, its blemishes. However… is it really the same painting?"

"Some might say it is, but I believe others would not."

"Mhm. I believe it's easy to see where I fall. But come now, let's not ruin this peaceful night with gloomy tales. There is a war to be fought, with plenty of time for sadness later."


"Spectre, report."

"No signs." She says, nodding. "Long range communications turned up empty. I've repeated the same message every time in different areas, so they've either got their communicators turned off or they just aren't responding."

"I suppose that it's risky communicating back. We'll try to retailor the message tonight, hopefully if we include more than just my name, they'll trust it. I'll add in some more information, but thank you for the sweep."

"It's the least I can do, Commander."

"Get some rest, Spectre."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and Spectre?"

She turns around, raising an eyebrow. "Commander?"

"Stay warm, okay? If you need a coat, don't hesitate to let me know."

"It's rude to stare at a girl's legs, Commander. Minus ten points." PPK says from behind me, and despite the fact that she's on our side I can't help but feel an icy chill go down my spine.

"If there is anything you would like to criticize about my character, then please tell it to me straight, PPK. I would like to know how I can improve."

"Plus fifteen points." She says, smiling as she walks past me. "I was just here to pick up Spectre."

"You know, one thing I haven't asked about is if you two were together."

"My, Commander, I didn't know you were into—"

"You know what I meant, PPK." I say with a bit more force than intended before pausing. "Sorry, it's just that with how everything's been a blur, we haven't had the time to really all sit down and have a chat. I'm well aware most of you aren't military made, so when we get the chance, I'd like for all of us, all of the T-Dolls, to sit down and just let each other know our stories."

"I'm not sure what there is to say of any value, Commander." Spectre says, a bit of worry in her eye. "I am a very uninteresting Doll."

"I think every T-Doll's story is worth hearing. I'm not asking you to speak to your whole life's story, simply what you think is worth knowing. If there is anything you would ever like to discuss with me or bring to the group's knowledge, please feel free to."

"...of course, sir."

"With that, you two are dismissed."

After they leave through the door of the inn room I'm using a temporary office, I notice Agnes out of the corner of my eye. She gives a salute before I nod, with her visibly relaxing. "Enfield, anything to report?"

"I heard Gautier's expedition returned and came to check for additional orders." She says, expression not changing once. "I assume there's nothing?"

I shake my head. "Everything's clean so far. I'll take that blessing, I suppose."

"Take it while you can get it. We're just about at Saxe Gotha."

I take a look at the map of the region I was able to acquire that's hanging on the wall. Saxe Gotha… it's a pivotal part of the enemy defenses, as it's yet another port city. Taking it not only increases the amount of ports we have as a supply line, but it also decreases the enemy's effective radius of deploying airships.

It is… downright insane how much those can turn the tide in a battle. While we had airship to airship battles during our initial invasion to gain a foothold, during a land battle having an airship can dramatically shift the focus of a fight. However, resupplying them is the biggest trouble, giving them sort of an effective radius that they can operate in. If we take Saxe Gotha, then our airship operation space increases and theirs decreases, allowing us easier ground battles.

Granted, most of our air power is focused on keeping the supply line alive. Our enemy is doing roughly the same, except trying to break it. While they could attempt to swarm us on the land with airships, they do have their own operational space. We simply have to stay outside of their capacity to operate while importing more troops or bait them into overextending. In short, while our supply line is active, they're trapped on the island with us. But should it break, we're trapped on the island with them.

"We're not planning on going through the mountains, are we?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at the map.

"I don't think so, I haven't heard anything about that."

"I see, that's good. It would be a hell of a slog to make it through there."

Before either of us can say anything further, there's a knock on the door. Agnes glances at me as she draws her weapon as I move into an area you can't spot from the door.

"Who is it?" She asks, hand on the knob.

"It is a messenger from General Wimpffen for Commander Baker. Emergency summons."

Agnes slowly opens the door as I ready my own firearm, then somewhat relaxes. "State your message, then."

"He says it's a special mission, so please bring your squad to the Majesty. The passphrase to be brought up is "Jubilant prudence"."

"Understood. We'll be right there."


"You just had to open your mouth about the mountains." Agnes grumbles as we trek through the snow, having been given some snow gear to search. In order to signal where to extract, we were given a flare launcher, good for one use. Seems more like a firework based on how they described how it would signal them, but essentially Gautier's squad would be on standby to come in as soon as we launched this thing. Only real issue is that we're close enough to enemy territory that they'll come knocking.

Granted, this was only supposed to be used if we couldn't extract by foot. Hopefully that won't be the case.

"Sorry." I mutter, looking through the snowy forest. "Still though, I wish we could have some air guidance for this mission."

Gautier's squad had personally helped move us into position, but had to keep a low altitude. They dropped us off a fair bit up the mountain, but we were doing quite a bit of hiking.

"Can't risk the enemy knowing we're here." Agnes says back.

"You two get along quite well." PPK notes, her steps incredibly silent as we all glance around. "Hmhm."

"If there's something you want to say, PPK, I'm right here." Agnes fires back, but by the tone of her voice it seems to be just normal camaraderie.

"Well, back then, I know many a commander who had quite the relationship with their T-Dolls, is all I'm saying~"

"That was against official Griffin policy." I comment offhandedly, earning a giggle from PPK.

"My, what a boring reply. Not even a single fling?"

"I liked my job. It had good pay, decent benefits, and a very nice retirement package if you made it long enough. There was no reason for me to put that into any more jeopardy than I was already in by nature of the job." I say, looking back and finding Spectre unusually slow moving. "Spectre, is something wrong?"

"Sorry sir, it's just my leg… not used to the weight with it for hiking."

"Ah, I see. Alright, let's ease up on the pace. Not like we have to worry about enemy patrols here just yet." I say, moving back towards her.

The night continues to tick on by as we move through the mountains, snow crunching underneath our feet. Occasionally we pause, thinking we heard footsteps, but there don't seem to be any traces of the enemy at all despite this being a search and rescue. Especially considering the high value individuals we're looking for. Perhaps the enemy doesn't know that these are high value.

"Sir." Spectre says, getting my attention with a low whisper. "I'm picking up something up ahead, it's stationary."

"PPK, Springfield?"

"I can confirm that." Springfield says, with all of us slowing to a stop.

"Heads up, I spot a clearing." Agnes says, readying her musket.

"Everyone move into position. Let's take this nice and easy."

All of us scatter around, taking cover behind the trees. I slowly peek out from behind mine while laying prone, taking a look at the clearing. That's… even in the darkness, as my eyes have adjusted, the shape is easy enough. A plane, more specifically a World War Two fighter, a Zero fighter…! Now I can see why they were pretty hush-hush about it. This must have been linked to some kind of special operation much like the miracle they pulled off at our initial invasion.

"PPK, you're up. Clear the area, everyone watch for her."

"Moving out." PPK says, all teasing drained from her voice, replaced only with raw focus. She steps out, looking around before darting to a covered position by the Zero fighter. She mouths something, with Springfield nudging me to get my attention.

"PPK says she's spotted footprints. Two sets of them."

"Clear the general area, then let's follow them. Enfield."

"Sir?"

"I recognize the structure. It's a Zero fighter, which means that Hiraga Saito is here. Based on the other set of footprints I'm assuming it's like Miss Vallerie. I'm not sure why they didn't tell us, though."

"It was probably to safeguard that information. They don't know who could be listening and it was likely a covert mission." Agnes says, nodding. "If we do encounter him, how much do you want to tell him?"

"Let's just leave it as 'I managed to stumble my way into this world'. Technically not a lie and it won't implicate anyone. I want to be able to gain his trust as someone else who came from the outside, but we also need to keep ourselves guarded. As for the girls, let's keep on the down low."

"Understood. Leave the initial contact to me."

"I'm trusting you. Everyone else?"

"Copy that, sir."

Taking a few moments to make sure we're not walking into a trap. Looking around the general area, it looks like it was a crash landing, or at least it wasn't a pretty landing. No real damage done to the aircraft, so it doesn't seem like it was shot down. Must have had a malfunction in the skies, I assume, or that flying over the mountains must've taken its toll considering how it seems to have started snowing.

If Hiraga was flying this thing, he was pretty crazy to make a belly landing. But considering how the snow or the rough terrain probably wouldn't have made a wheels down landing any easier, probably for the best.

A quick check also confirms that if they had any belongings with them in the cockpit, they took them with them. Afterwards, we then move as a squad to follow the tracks, the snow starting to really come down. No one yet…

"Cave up ahead."

"PPK, Spectre, take point. Clear the hole."

The duo glance at each other before silently moving up ahead, creeping through the cave. We slowly follow behind them, Agnes watching our six. It's a pretty spacious cave, all things considered. Probably not the best idea to be firing guns in here, but we don't exactly have too much of a choice. It's large enough in here where it shouldn't be too bad, anyways.

"Sir." PPK whispers, coming to a stop. "I spot one figure waiting around the corner. Orders?"

"Enfield, take point. PPK, cover her. Springfield, Spectre, cover the rear."

Agnes steadily moves ahead, still keeping her gun trained down the cave just in case.

"Saito, this is Agnes. If you need proof it's me, I can tell you what I did with Louise in order to avoid detection on that rainy day."

I hear something that sounds like an embarrassed male cry as Agnes smirks, but keeps her guard up.

"So, if you don't want me spilling the details, please come forward and don't attack my comrades."

A figure then emerges from around the corner, holding onto a lantern and sword. He's, at best, just like what Professor Colbert told me, not even seventeen. I'd estimate sixteen, actually. He's dressed in a blue windbreaker with a hood, though underneath there seems to be some additional cloth for padding, likely to deal with the altitude he was flying at, and his black hair is ruffled and starting to frost.

"I knew I'd recognize that icy voice anywhere!" He says, putting on a smile that reaches his brown eyes. "But um, you shouldn't mention that."

"Is Louise with you?"

"She's resting in the back of the cave." He says, turning around. "Are you here to rescue us?"

"Something like that. Commander, your orders?"

"Snow's starting to pick up outside, so we'll wait for the weather to clear. Best to stay the night and keep watch to see when we can get an open window. As far as I know, at least one member of Gautier's squad is keeping watch for the flare. So team, into the cave."

The cave itself is nothing more than dull greys and the slight cold blue hue. In the small opening which looks somewhat like a domed room of sorts is a small fire, just enough to keep warm. There, what could only be described as a pink haired child, wrapped in blankets, is sleeping on the ground.

"Enfield, vitals check. I trust him, but I'd like for you to make sure."

"Understood, sir."

"Any additional snow gear, son?" I ask as PPK sets down our own lantern to illuminate more of the cave. He shakes his head. "Well, we brought some extras in case. Help yourself to it."

I hold out the bag that we were given, which contained an extra snow jacket for both of them, with Agnes taking the one for Louise to help wrap it around her.

"She's breathing, I'll keep checking on her, though. Probably just tired."

"We'll wake her up when we finish preparing a meal for you two. She'll need to keep her strength up through the night." I say, getting a nod back from Agnes. "Ah, and uh, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting yet, Hiraga Saito, was what I believe Professor Colbert called you. I had the pleasure of meeting him and he's written a letter of introduction for us."

I then hand him the letter, which I've kept in my jacket. No reason not to keep it on me at all times, I suppose, and knowing I could encounter him at any time… well, good reason to keep it on me.

"He's a good man. Well read and to be respected."

"It'd be pretty hard to find someone who didn't think that." He says, taking it. I notice Agnes pause in the background, but Hiraga doesn't seem to notice it. "But Agnes, I thought that the Musketeer Corp were all women, plus you're calling him 'Commander'."

"War happens, things change, life comes at you fast. Pick one." Agnes says, standing up from checking on Louise.

"Then who is he? I can understand the others, but they're not even dressed in uniform."

"He's… well, I guess he's like you, in a way. Stumbled into this world, somehow." Agnes says, her usually unreadable expression returning. "He seems to know a lot about tactics using guns, so when we found him, I decided he could help us. Due to some structural reorganizing, he's now commanding us. As for the uniforms, well, they're a rowdy bunch."

Hiraga looks to me and I nod in return. "Commander Oliver Penn Baker, leading the GK Team. Pleasure to meet you. I've heard a quite a lot about you from the crown princess. You're quite the hero, son."

He scratches his cheek, looking a bit bashful at being called a hero. "I wouldn't say that. Louise is the one doing the heavy lifting, you know?"

I wonder if it's his natural personality or if it's the runes I know are affecting his mind that say that, but I decide it's smarter not to bring it up. The less he thinks I know, the better.

"Well, regardless, choosing to stay with her and not run is commendable on its own. I only wish you were older."

"Huh?"

"Do not take this as me looking down upon you, but I dislike the idea of sending children into battle. If you are like me and come from the outside, I think we're both well aware that the idea of child soldiers is heavily disapproved."

"Must be nice." Agnes says from the side, sitting against the wall. "What age would you be fine with them fighting?"

"Our enlisting age was eighteen years."

"By that point, someone would've graduated either the magic academies if they were a noble, be halfway through their squireship on their way to knighthood, became an adventurer, or stayed working."

"There's no schooling?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Only nobles can afford such a thing. Of course, most people are learning how to read, but their formal education is a different story."

"I see." I say, deciding to leave my comments on it for later.

"I can make a suggestion to Hen—er, the princess later." Hiraga says, a bigger smile on his face. It seems he's rather close with the princess. Ah, but she did stammer before, when I asked what she thought of him. I wonder if there's any mutual attraction on their part, but it's otherwise dampened by the familiar runes.

"I would be thankful if you did so. Anyways, Springfield, take first guard for tonight, followed by me, PPK, Spectre, then Enfield. Sound good?"

"Yes, sir." Springfield says, saluting before she heads for the cave entrance.

"Um, Commander Baker, I have a question." Hiraga asks as I begin setting up my sleeping bag.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you call them weapon names?"

I think about it for a second. I suppose bringing the Zero fighter here somehow indicates whatever magic, and I assume it's magic, is pulling things from Earth to Halkeginia, its reach also spans time. There's no reason to assume that Hiraga is from a time period similar to my own.

"First, I must say, I am impressed with your knowledge of weaponry." I say, a somewhat subdued but proud smile coming to my face. While I am against children fighting in war, some of these weapons can be considered historical, so it's rather—

"Every guy plays first person shooters sometime in their life. If you play enough of them, you'll recognize the weapon names." Hiraga says with such an earnest and honest look on his face.

I open my mouth to say something in reply, but nothing comes out. I close my mouth, blink twice, raise my finger as if to say something, but again say nothing, and then put my hand back down.

"...I suppose you are correct." I say, trying to hide my disappointment. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I can see PPK and Spectre turn away, the latter clearly trying not to be seen smiling while the former doesn't even make an attempt to beguile her amusement.

"Do they also know what first person shooters are? They reacted, after all." Hiraga asks, pointing at PPK and Spectre. "They also have modern firearms, I can see it, too."

I look to Agnes, who shrugs. "They've been trained in their usage. It's just fortunate that I found them and those weapons. I'm not a marksman myself, but I'm fairly versed in tactics, so I defer to them. Also hey, PPK, if you got time to laugh at whatever this 'first person shooter' is, you got time to set up."

"My apologies Commander, but it's rare to see you quite flustered~ I am not quite familiar with this 'first person shooter', however, though I will be sure to thoroughly ask you later, Commander."

It's probably for the best I stick to half truths for now to protect them. Also damn you PPK, but also thanks for covering for me. And I'm well aware she knows I'm irritated but content, with that knowing smirk on her face.

"Agnes picked them up herself, right?"

"I pick up strays every now and then, if they show promise, yes."

"But, just in case they do have a past they're getting away from, I call them by their codenames as T-Dolls." I say, watching his reaction. It seems mostly genuine when he nods, nor does he react to the term 'T-Doll'. "In order to safeguard their identity, they are given these names, so that no one can trace back who they are and threaten their loved ones."

"Oh, I see. But wait, is Agnes her real name or…?"

"I don't mind being called by my real name since I don't have anyone who could be used to threaten me, but because we are a squad, I took on the name Enfield when Oliver brought it up."

I make a mental note that after the war, I should ask Agnes to go visit her hometown. It may yet be possible to recover Enfield's weapon and confirm the status of the T-Doll there. Her memory banks might have been preserved, which could help figure out just what else is here. But most importantly, I think it might help Agnes get some closure.

"Regardless of all that, let's not stay up too late. I'm sure we both have a lot of things we'd like to talk about, with us being from the outside, but let's do so when we're not in the middle of hostile territory, shall we? There'll be plenty of time for talking when we get back."

"Assuming we aren't pushed straight into the invasion of Saxe Gotha. I don't know what the higher ups were planning on, but with how we were moving out, it definitely seems like we're moving there. Still, get some sleep, Saito. Thanks for making me take guard last too, Commander. I don't want to get woken up by Vallerie's complaining."

"Hey, Agnes…!"

"Oh, right. Do me a favor and don't tell her I said that, will you, Saito?" Agnes says, a still impassive look on her face.

"When you say it like that, I kinda don't want to."

Agnes only shrugs. "Either way, it's going to be a long morning. Get some rest, we'll need you at your tiptop shape tomorrow."


"Holding up okay?"

"Commander, you should take your own advice and rest." Spectre says as I sit down by our little hidden cranny that watches the entrance of the cave from the inside. "When we use the signal tomorrow, you'll need to be operating at optimal capacity."

Speaking of the signal, we decided during our late night meal we'd use it since finding the Zero fighter if we left it behind warranted several risks. Mainly, we had no idea if there were enemy search teams that would discover it first and take it back with them before we safely returned. Second, it would be hard to find this thing again while flying in the sky. So, best option to not only return Hiraga and Vallerie but also prevent technology from falling into enemy hands was to use it.

"And so will you." I say back, Spectre not having anything to say in return. "You've seemed a bit distracted today. Care to share?"

She snorts ever so lightly. "I thought, Commander, we were to come to you."

"I never said you had to share. Sorry for being pushy."

"It's… fine." She says, turning her head back to look outside. "It's just hard to trust you, Commander."

"You seem to have no problems with me risking your life when in the line of fire." I note.

"It is one thing to trust in the tactics and orders given, it is another to trust someone as a person."

"They are often intertwined, though." I say, Spectre nodding. "I assume you trust me in the former regard and not the latter. Understandable."

"You seem to take that in stride."

"It's… a tale I'd rather not talk about, but I don't mind sharing it with you, if it'd help."

"I don't know if it would."

"Then, on the chance it would." I say, looking out to the entrance of the cave. "Well, the short of it is that there's a good reason I try to stick to the official Griffin policy. I know firsthand what happens when you don't."

"You were punished for it?"

"...not by Griffin, but I suppose life comes at you fast." I say, shaking my head. "You could say I had a nasty fall from grace after losing my squads, lost nearly everything. I got too attached, as it were. Clouded my judgment. Made me… not perhaps as open as I should have. Fortunately I had someone there who helped me recover but, I'll never quite return to who I was."

"And who were you before?"

"A lot… nicer, for one." I say, snorting. "After losing it all, I withdrew a bit. Never reached out so much."

"You're reaching out quite a lot, though."

"I was retired for some time and I can afford that here. It's a bit presumptuous, but the SF are a step above mages here and well above normal folk. Springfield could probably take a town by herself if need be, just by the fact she's faster, stronger, and more accurate than footsoldiers of this era. A hundred of them against her? They wouldn't stand a chance. But if I put Springfield alone against thirty SF units? Definitely not, that'd be suicide depending on what it was. So, it's… I don't feel so afraid that there'll come an operation that I will never see you again. And if there is one, it'll be far and few between. It won't be that every mission could be the last we ever have together."

"I see. Commander, I have a question."

"Go ahead, Spectre, you don't need to ask permission to ask it."

"When you say you 'lost everything', can you clarify what that meant?"

"Ah, I've told Springfield about it too, but I think you all are quite familiar with my stance regarding T-Dolls in general." Spectre nods, prompting me to go forward. "Well, it goes a bit further than that. Seeing them as people to the point I tried to transfer any T-Dolls that looked like children off of my base."

"There aren't that many, from what I remember."

"There was only one exception I made, but it was only due to a personal request of my adjutant and after much argument." I say, leaning back against the wall. "But yes, it's like that. And before you ask, they were successful in uploading their neural clouds, so they could be preserved. It's just… how can I put this…?"

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Spectre." I say, glancing over at her. I bite my lips, finding she's already hanging her head down low and closing her eyes, as if anticipating me to take action.

As I put my hand to her chin to lift it up, I can feel her tense up. She's expecting something. My God, please don't let it be what I think it is.

"Please open your eyes, Spectre."

"May I… make a request, Commander?" She asks, trembling.

"You are always welcome to."

"May I… hold your wrists?"

"Go ahead."

Spectre slowly opens her eyes, keeping her head down, as I move my hands to where she can see them. She slowly takes hold of my wrists, locking me into place. I'm getting a bad feeling about what she went through, but my mind is wandering. It couldn't have been the commander doing this, he'd probably break his hand trying. So...

"I will temporarily suspend my Anti-Hu—"

"Denied. I trust you."

"You put… far too much trust in people, Commander. Having the Sangvis as your only enemy for years surely has messed with your head."

"Well… I certainly will admit all my time working for Griffin has changed me, but I think that even before then, I had a good knack of who I could and couldn't trust. Are you comfortable, now?"

"...yes."

"Then, I will continue. You do not need to apologize for anything, Spectre. Even though I treat humans and T-Dolls as if they were one and the same, it will never erase that there are definite differences between us. Humans have a long history of philosophy and existential wonder, the pursuit of the metaphysical, so it's entirely possible that while you may understand what humans refer to as the 'soul', it may be difficult to comprehend what the 'soul' feels like."

"That… would be the case, Commander."

"You do not need to apologize for who or what you are, Spectre. If anything, due to my beliefs, I should be more aware of this fact and have anticipated explaining things differently, so the fault lies with me."

"You like to shoulder the blame for others, don't you?"

"I find that if I offer to shoulder the burden, then others will follow suit. Far better is it that we come to work on solving an issue together than us spending time debating who is truly at fault." I say, continuing to look down at my held wrists. "But how should I word this…

"...while they were able to upload their neural clouds, it's like… imagine the gun you were issued. It's been with you through thick and thin. You know it like the back of your hand. But then you lose it in the middle of a mission and have to get it replaced. A new, freshly minted one. But it feels off. So, they retrace your memories—engrave, chip, and simulate all the damage it's ever taken, down to the very last scratch. The gun feels the exact same as right before you lost it, in every which way, but for me… it would somehow, in the back of my head, register as different."

"Objectively speaking, they are different."

"Quite. But give or take a few missions and that feeling should go away, right? For most people, they wouldn't pay it any more attention. For me, it'd bug me every day, that they're different. And since you recognize that they're different, I would say—the gun in that example is how I feel about T-Dolls."

"...and because you see them as people, you can't accept that they're the same person." She says, following through.

"Correct."

"May I ask a follow up question, sir?"

"Go ahead."

"What happened after you lost everything?"

"A good question, that is a good place to start, after all. Seeing my lost squad replaced like that, it… cut deep. It was as if everyone I knew was replaced by different people wearing their faces, their mannerisms, and yet despite being different, claimed to be the exact same. Memories that didn't belong to 'them' made them look up to me, the like. So ultimately—"

I can feel Spectre's hands tense around my wrists, as she likely knows I'm about to say what I did. It's okay, you have nothing to fear from me.

"—drove them away, becoming cold and distant to them. It must have hurt. To have someone who you have known for years, someone who has cherished you suddenly put a wall between you with seemingly no reason for it must have been crushing. No, I'm sure they knew, because my viewpoint on Dolls was well known in my base. They must've known that in my eyes, they were only imitations of what once was. There are no excuses to be made on my end. I was grieving, yes, but I should have known better, or at least opened up communication. I should've been a better commander and stepped up. Instead, I remained complacent in my silence."

"That is all?"

"That is all."

"You never once lashed out?"

"How could I? Even if I was struggling to sort out just what they were to me, there's no way I could ever raise my hand against them. I suppose at the end of day, part of me still wanted to recognize those girls as my girls returned to life, wanting to pretend like they weren't all blown away, and just be happy everyone made it home in a manner of speaking."

"I see."

"I must be quite terrible at comforting people, is what I assume you're thinking."

"I believe you have already created an image of what has happened to me, and while I have no intention of correcting you at this time, Commander, if our visions align in the slightest, then yes."

"I've been told that quite a lot. I figured that I would tell you the truth than feed you sweet lies. It wouldn't sit well with me otherwise."

"You do a lot of things because they 'feel right', don't you?" Spectre asks, looking down at my still bound hands.

"Sometimes it gets me in trouble, sometimes it's saved me. But at the end of the day, I can rest somewhat easy, knowing I tried to do the right thing. Sometimes orders go against that, so you take what you can get. It's all we can do in the world, after all. Fight, day by day, doing what we think is right, both in the context of now and in the future."

Spectre quietly nods at that.

"I don't know what battle you're fighting, Spectre, but rest assured. If you ever need someone to point the way, that is my job as your commander, no matter what battlefield you are on. Whether it is out here—" I gesture outside to the snowy mountains. "—in here—" I point to my head. "—or in here." I finish, pointing to my heart.

"...thank you, sir. I have one final question."

"Yes, Spectre?"

"What makes a useful T-Doll?"

I frown, knowing a lot hinges on the answer to this question. I surely could come up with something that would comfort her, but if I have based my relationship off of truthfulness, then I need to be honest. "That you come home safely."

"Even if they fail the objective?"

"You can't win every fight. Sometimes we do win, and we take those. But what you can do is come home, to a base that knows every day could be your last, and is just happy to have you back. To me, absolute victory means we all made it home. And if you're coming home, then you can rest assured you are useful."

"I see. Thank you for indulging me, sir."

"Any time, Spectre. I'm glad we had this talk."

"Er… Commander, one last question."

"Go ahead."

"...should I keep this a secret?"

I shake my head. "Do what you will with this information. Whether or not you tell the others is up to you. I may come to regret not telling them myself, but I think I can trust you."

"Understood."

Spectre doesn't say anything else as I get up, dusting myself off and walking into the depths of the cave.

As I make my way back, I find Agnes waiting around the bend, holding a lantern.

"I see you're still up, Enfield."

"I heard some noise, saw you weren't in your sleeping bag. Found out you were having a nice chat. Of course, it's just about my time to take the guard." She says, lowering the lantern. "I figured it was a good time to talk alone, as well. It's about Saito."

"I see. What do you have to tell me?"

Agnes runs me through the gist of information that she got from Henrietta, who was trying to keep it under wraps as much as possible. However, upon noticing that I seemed to be trying to keep him off the battlefield, she did tell me that according to Henrietta, Hiraga was "Gandalfr", a legendary familiar. Quite literally spelled, according to this translation magic still on me, Gandalf as in the one from The Lord of the Rings with an 'r' attached to the end. One who could master anything made to be a weapon by a single touch. What an incredible power… it certainly explains why he was able to fly a plane and why Professor Colbert was evasive about telling me.

If he were older, I would've asked to have him transferred to my squad. A close range champion, but also able to master firearms would make him the perfect wildcard for any situation.

Agnes avoided telling me because the less people knew, the better. It'd be a trump card, after all, to deploy him, and if the enemy knew about him, they'd be liable to target him. Same thing for Louise; few people actually knew of her presence in the army and thus we'd likely be instructed to keep everything we saw here to ourselves.

I briefly wondered if his knowledge could be used to repair Spectre, but Agnes said that the legends were to master a weapon's usage. Even if the 'made to be a weapon' applied to Spectre, how he was going to 'use' Spectre would be what he was given, not necessarily the knowledge to repair her. It was worth a shot later, though, and if it worked, it'd be a miracle.

"By the way, while Saito might take to you, I'm not sure if Lady Vallerie is going to. She's got a thing for… not liking commoners. I'm sure you understand."

"Don't I…" I mutter, shaking my head. "You seem to know them, so I'm entrusting their safety to you. If Vallerie listens to you, that's all I care about."

"Understood, sir. They'll make it out. But, a word of caution."

"Yes?"

"Don't try to see Saito as a protectorate. I've heard of what he's done and what he's capable of. He and Louise infiltrated this island a long time ago in order to extract a VIP and he's gone toe to toe with high level mages."

"Even if you tell me that, it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

"This isn't your home, Commander. You should field him tomorrow. We're all more likely to make it out alive if you do."

I sigh, shaking my head. "I suppose that's true, but I'm going to dislike it the whole way. I'd rather not have the guilt of having sent a teenager to die on the battlefield."

"Well, it's war."

In a way, this war was less gruesome than fighting the hordes of Sangvis. But in other ways, it was just the opposite. There were plenty of horrors when fighting the Sangvis. Every day, every mission, a new box of nightmares waiting to be opened. But I suppose that human casualties weren't high. T-Dolls lost their lives, but could be backed up and rebuilt for those that saw them as expendable. There were oddballs like me, but it didn't change how the world wasn't running red rivers of blood when we were fighting.

While the horrors of duking it out with the Sangvis have certainly helped me stave off all of the killing here, killing actual living, breathing humans, it's not like that's going to help when it comes to children. I tried not to keep any T-Dolls that bore resemblances to children on my base, after all. A quirk, some might call it, but due to my results with my top teams, I was able to disguise it as simply not wanting to have my squads potentially dragged down. A fortune I don't have here.

"I know. I'll figure it out."

"I know you will, but just wanted to make sure."

"Thanks. Let's go rest for now, we've got a long morning ahead of us, after all."


"Ready?" I ask, looking around the perimeter. Due to Agnes' recommendation, I have fielded Hiraga, but asked him not to do anything too drastic. Agnes gave him her backup pistol as well, which he is currently wielding. Based on his stance and grip, even PPK privately asked me if he had wielded a gun before, and it was surprising if he had. I said I'll explain it later and she dropped it, but it appears that for a handgun wielding T-Doll, it sticks out.

"Springfield, ready."

"PPK, always ready for you, Commander~"

"Spectre, set."

"Enfield, ready."

"Hiraga?" I ask.

"R-ready, sir!"

"You don't need to sir me. Now then, Lady Vallerie," I say to the pink haired girl who is watching me with a sharp eye. She's short, especially so for a fifteen or sixteen year old, still dressed in her Academy's uniform surprisingly. That pink hair of hers matched Karin Desiree de la Vallerie, but the differences between them couldn't be any more apparent. The girl in front of us lacked the aura of restraint and majesty. But it could be excused, she was likely a girl finding her wings, "please keep your head down. I wouldn't want you to get injured in the crossfire."

That of course, was because we had her stow away in the Zero fighter. It's the best place for her to take shelter while we duke it out in the open area. She could hide in the cave, but if we push the enemy back they might find her there, so if we posted a guard it would lessen our firepower. Hiding in the forest could work, but again, we need eyes on her.

The Zero fighter is relatively well armored, at least, compared to anything we can give her, and she can hide by putting a blanket on top of her. The enemy should be more worried about dealing with us, plus it's difficult to retrieve the fighter, so it's unlikely they'll touch it. The only issue is if we're forced to retreat, but hopefully that won't be the case. We can't afford to lose the fighter, after all.

"Don't worry, Louise. I'll protect you." Hiraga says with an air of confidence.

"H-hmph, it's not like I was asking you to!" She says, huffing as she hunkers down in the cockpit. Hiraga then instructs her on how to close the canopy, but also how to reopen it in case of an emergency.

But, the tone of those words… ah, I know where I've heard them before. I got the same feeling from a rather prickly WA2000 T-Doll I had the… pleasure of being acquainted with when meeting with another commander, back in the day. He was a bit dense, so I can only hope that WA2000 was able to be honest with him.

"Alright. Deploying the signal in ten seconds. Everyone ready up, this is going to alert our allies but the enemy may send scouts to investigate. Be on your guard and keep your eyes peeled. Mission begin in three seconds."


Wowwee that took a while, I actually wrote this chapter 3 times because the previous two didn't sit well with me. It took the third time for me to actually get that Spectre scene feeling right.

Also you can blame Blade and Sorcery for why this is out super late as well lmao. Okay and DCS World, too.

Anyways, yeah, fun chapter. I thought that I could start lifting the veil on Oliver's backstory. Not a lot specifically, as I intentionally left quite a lot of it vague, but we got two of his "A-team" members and a glimpse into just what Oliver lost along with what drove him. I think I could've kept it a bit more hidden for a while, but I think placing it here considering what I sort of have plannedish is okay, too.

A lot of Spectre focus as well, but I think she's probably the easiest to build some progression for her with her situation. I have some plans, but low key I want you guys all to know that like 95% of this is written by the seat of my pants. Springfield has something saved for later, though.

Either way, I think there was enough that it you can draw conclusions about what Spectre went through. My other real struggle with this chapter was what to do with Saito. I know I wanted Oliver to run into him, but having their interaction be clouded by Oliver hiding things from him made it rough. Ultimately they chatted for a bit, but I saved any of Louise's lines for next chapter since trying to figure out where I want Louise to be in terms of any character development is a bit tough.

Overall I don't think I want Saito to become like, a major part of the story, but since I've included him, it feels wrong to think that he won't brush up against Oliver every now and then. Guess that'll just be something I play by ear.

Anyways, thanks for reading! It was a longer chapter than normal, haha, so I hope that made up for the long break. I kind of fell out of love with GFL which made me lose motivation for this story, but I think playing some DCS World and Ace Combat livened me back up to writing again. Also you can blame those two for their aerial segments before, since goddamn I love a nice dogfight. Need to really learn how to use the F15-C though, or at least, beyond the basics.

Let me know what you all think; catch you guys next time!

Ninja Edit v1.1: Thanks to Alaxbird, I realized that the phrasing Oliver uses is confusing when referring to the Zero as "relatively well armored". I meant to have him describe it in terms relative to what cover they had available, but it comes off as Oliver mentioning the plane itself is decently armored which is not the case.