"Today we are going to learn about stealth!" Shannon announced with a smile. Her glee was however not reflected in the team's moaning complaints.
"What's that?" one of the girls asked in a bored voice.
"That's what I'm going to tell you," Shannon squawked back, and began shepherding her team towards the 'lecture hall', which in reality was nothing more than a few uncomfortable benches and an old whiteboard set up in the corner of the team's hangar.
"Now," she began once she had gotten everyone into their seats. "Stealth is all about moving around without anyone noticing." While she spoke, she used an almost used-up marker to write the word 'stealth' in big letters on the whiteboard..
"So it's kinda like when you oversleep and need to sneak into the classroom without the teacher noticing?" Clare asked.
"Precisely!" Shannon responded, and pointed enthusiastically with the marker towards her friend. "It's exactly like that! But in Sensha-Do terms, it's much more about making sure you aren't anywhere the enemy can see, and instead being where they can't see. So obviously, it's also a matter of moving past the enemy even when they should be able to see you."
"So kinda like how you blend into the crowd when you need to get past the bouncer outside the pub because you've already had a couple of drinks and he won't let you in?" One of the girls in the team, Shannon didn't see who, asked.
"Uh… yeah, I guess?" Shannon answered with some uncertainty. These metaphors were getting a bit too specific for her taste. "But anyways," she said and shook her head, "to showcase how you should go about not being seen, Erne and I have set up a little demonstration. Everyone, we're going to the lake!" Jubilant cheers broke out among the gathered team members, and Shannon almost had to sprint in order to keep pace with them as they rushed towards the lake.
"Stop it right there!" Shannon bellowed at a few of her teammates, stopping them in their tracks before they could leap into the lake, clothes and all. "We're here for a demonstration, not a swim!"
"But you said…"
"I don't care what I said. We're here for a demonstration, and nothing more. Once we're done, we're going right back to the hangar." A number of disappointed sighs made their way among the team. "Now, Everyone take a look around you," Shannon said and gestured to the foliage around them. "Somewhere around here, Erne is hiding from us. Can anyone see her?"
After a minute or so, most of the girls had given up on finding Erne, and the occasional mumbled "no" made it clear that Erne was completely hidden.
"Precisely. Erne is practicing 'stealth'. Now, Erne," Shannon shouted as she cupped her hands around her mouth, "Could you stand up for us, please?" In the corner of her eye, Shannon could see the redhead clamber to her feet, still somewhat hard to see in her green uniform. She had been hiding a good 50 meters away. Shannon waited until most of the girls had noticed Erne's hiding place, before lifting the toy gun she had brought to her shoulder, and firing of a shot at the redhead.
"Hey!" Erne shouted as the foam bullet hit her square in the forehead, planting itself there via the small suction cup at its tip.
"And here we see the first rule of not being seen; Not to stand up!" Shannon educated. "As long as you lie down, our green uniforms will let you blend into the forest with ease."
"Oh, so that's why our tanks are green!" Laune said with an enthusiastic and knowing smile.
"Yes, Laune," Shannon sighed as she lifted her palm to her forehead, glaring at the girl through her fingers. "Of course that's why the tanks are green. Why did you think they were green?"
"Our uniforms are green, so I thought the tanks were the same color to match," the cripled girl replied.
"Although, Kuromorimine's tanks are kind of yellow, but their uniforms are black…" one of the other girls continued.
"Don't try to make sense of those two things, because they've got nothing to do with each other!" said Shannon, exasperated.
"Wait… hold on though; Pravda's uniforms are green and so are their tanks."
"Yeah, and Count's jackets are kind of grey and their tanks are grey too."
"And Bonple wear a sort of brown coloured uniform with that cool cape, and their tanks are kinda brown too…"
"And St. Gloriana have red jackets, but their tanks aren't red!" combatted Shannon, in a vain attempt to end the speculation.
"But they are idiots though, so that doesn't count" said an annoyed voice at the back. The crowd parted slightly, and Erne made her way through the opening towards Shannon. "You ditz! You just said I should go out to the lake and hide for one of your demonstrations. You never said anything about shooting me!"
"Eh, I'm sure I must have mentioned it at some point."
"No, you didn't," Erne said through gritted teeth.
"Now, the second rule of stealth;" Shannon said calmly while waving a knowing finger in the air and handing the toy gun to Clare, "is that if the enemy does find you, not to let them catch you."
With that, she was off like a bullet, sprinting away through the forest with Erne in tow, yelling profanities at her commander while the rest of the team followed behind laughing.