Chapter 15

Sanders and Atlanta stood in front of a tall gate. Above it, there was a sign that read; 'Camp Lima'. They had taken the first train out of Paynester. Thankfully the train ride had only taken a couple of hours, because Atlanta had had hard time just sitting about. They approached the guard who greeted them:

"Good morning, sir. Ya want to enter?"

-"Yeah." Sanders answered. He watched the guard closely not that he knew him but there was something familiar in him.

-"I need to see your papers, sir." The guard said and adjusted his belt.

Quietly Sanders took out his papers and gave them to the guard who only glanced at them:

"Base Azure official business? Ya know someone else came through here with the same warrant earlier this morning. Oh well, you're clear, but I need to see your papers too, miss."

-"I-uh…" Atlanta said and glanced at Sanders. She hadn't been given any papers other than the pass to ride freely on the train.

-"Right." Sanders said and rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a folded paper and handing it to the guard.

The guard took the paper and started reading through it. He raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Atlanta:

"KANSEN, huh? Never seen one in person. Aren't you supposed to be on the sea not here inland?"

-"You are correct." Atlanta assured him "But I'm with him on the official business here."

-"Oh, right. That makes sense." The guard laughed "Well, welcome to the shithole called Camp Lima. I hope you enjoy your stay and leave a five-star review."

The guard waved his hand and the gates opened. Sanders was about to walk past the guard but stopped and asked:

"Do I know you?"

The guard, clearly taken aback stammered "N-no sir. I don't think you do."

-"Where are you from?"

-"Born and raised in Boston, sir."

-"… Ah, Nevermind."

XXX

On their way to the headquarters, they got many interested glances no doubt because of Atlanta. Many of them were from privates loitering outdoors waiting for the next orders. Many of whom had never seen someone with so weird colored hair as Atlanta's. They passed some sergeant yelling at his men to gather in formation. It seemed like the sergeant would pass out from all the yelling at any second.

When they stepped inside the headquarters, through its large doors, they saw a familiar face. Captain Allen was talking with some officers. He turned to look at Sanders and Atlanta and blinked a couple of times before yelling:

"Sanders?!"

Allen said farewells quickly to the officers and walked up to the two.

-"Allen? What are you doing here?" Sanders asked and shook his hand.

-"I was just about to ask the same from you. I was asked to report back here and do some paperwork or something like that." Allen shook a bag that he had on him. The bag was a very basic looking, brown bag with the Base Azure's logo on it.

-"Huh, is that so?"

-"Yeah. Well, what about you two? Why are you here?" Allen looked at Sanders and Atlanta.

-"Admiral Reed asked me to bring some papers here."

-"Okay…" Allen said slowly "That's weird… why'd she send you two here as well. Why not just have me bring the papers all at once."

Sanders scratched his chin and looked around:

"No idea."

-"Have you been here for long?" Atlanta asked from Allen. She glanced at Sanders who was now looking at some officers sitting and chatting near the stairs.

-"Naw, just a few hours ago. Rear-Admiral Reed asked me to do something." Allen answered.

-"How long are you staying?" Sanders turned back to the conversation after the officers glared at him angrily for staring.

-"I'll leave as soon as I can. Hopefully right after I have signed some papers and whatnot... Now that you are here, I fear that some of the men might do something to get them in trouble."

-"Why do you think that? They have behaved themselves at least in my opinion." Atlanta said, raising her eyebrows and looking very confused.

-"Yeah..." Allen sighed "They behave alright, but if they are left alone with Captain Hill they do everything in their power to annoy him and that makes the Captain even more strict which in turn agitates them and the cycle continues."

-"Oh, I had no Ide-" Atlanta was cut off by an some officer that tapped Allen's shoulder:

-"Captain Allen? You are expected in room 275. Second floor."

-"Ah, thank you. I'll head there right away." Allen said and turned back to the two "Sorry but I need to go. Let's talk more later, okay?"

-"Yeah, sure. See you." Sanders said.

After Allen left them, they stood there in silence for a moment. Atlanta looked around the place looking for some place for them to sit at.

-"Hey" She nudged Sanders' arm and pointed right "there's the reception desk. You should probably go and tell them that we are here."

-"Hmh? Oh yeah, good idea." Sanders followed Atlanta's arm and saw the desk. At the same wall as the desk there was a door and above it read 'Canteen'.

-"You go to the desk and I'll find us a place to sit and wait." Atlanta said and turned around.

Sanders grabbed her hand and stopped her from running off:

"Wait. Could you uh… get me a coffee?"

Atlanta spun around to face Sanders again and fidgeted for a moment:

"I-uh… I don't have any money on me…"

-"Oh, right." Sanders took out a few bucks and handed them to Atlanta "Get something for yourself as well."

-"Will do!" Atlanta said and disappeared into the canteen.

XXX

Sanders was told that they would come and inform him when he could drop off the papers. So, he and Atlanta had claimed one of the sofas in the lobby for themselves. Atlanta had bought two coffees and two doughnuts for them and was happily munching her own one.

-"Hey…" Atlanta said after staring at Sanders for a while "I told you to shave when we were at your home."

-"I-uh, I kind of forgot…" Sanders smiled a bit and rubbed his cheek.

-"I thought they were super strict about shaving in the army…" Atlanta took a bigger bite out of her doughnut.

-"They were and are. But we aren't planning on staying here so it should be fine."

-"Do you have to shave often?" Atlanta reached and ran her hand across Sanders' cheek.

-"When I was a recruit they made me shave three times a day." Sanders turned his head away.

-"Whoa, that's not fun." Atlanta commented.

-"Yeah. I usually would do it once a day but thankfully Admiral Reed doesn't care too much so every few days."

-"Heh, she really can changed a lot…" Atlanta reminisced.

Sanders raised his eyebrow and looked at Atlanta curiously "What do you mean?"

Atlanta was quiet for a moment before speaking:

"She has changed a lot since she first became our Admiral. She used to be super strict about everything. Told us that we needed to be disciplined sailors or something. I guess she tried to treat us like normal soldiers but after a while she realized it wouldn't work on us…" Atlanta hesitated before continuing "Don't tell her, but I'm pretty sure she hated us for a while back then."

Sanders stared at Atlanta and noticed Atlanta flinch when she talked about the old Reed:

"Huh… I wouldn't have ever guessed. She seems honestly to care a lot about you all."

-"Yeah." Atlanta kept going "At some point something changed, and she started to ease up and eventually became who she is now… I never saw her smile back then when she was with us. She used to have this passive aggressive look and badmouthed us for failing." She shook her head and sighed deeply "But I am glad she is who she is now. It was years ago but it affects some of the girls still."

Sanders listened quietly. He felt a bit awkward listening to her opening up to him. Nobody had ever opened up to him like that and he was a bit flustered but finally said:

"That does sound like the military alright. When I first met her, I was fully expecting her to be like what you just said. Meeting a new higher up for the first time they tend to be quite strict."

-"Mmh." Atlanta hummed and leaned back. Sanders discreetly patted her leg.

Sanders was about to say something but saw a young woman approaching them. The woman stopped in front of them and saluted. She had her khaki Navy uniform in tip-top shape. Her hair was, without pigmentation and abnormally white, tied on a tight bun that stuck out under her officer's cap. Sanders had already gotten used to weird hair colors on Base Azure, but it was still weird to see it at Base Lima.

-"Is sir Lieutenant, sir Lieutenant Sanders himself?" The woman asked.

Sanders returned the salute, not as eagerly as her but it didn't seem to matter to the woman:

"Yea."

-"South Dakota-class battleship, Alabama, hull number BB-60, reporting for duty sir. I, with several other KANSEN have been told to come with you back to Base Azure. We have been stationed at Pacific, but now we were called back to Base Azure to help restore its stability."

Sanders turned to look away from the young woman. For a moment Sanders was silent before turning back to Alabama and saying:

"Well, welcome aboard then."

The woman, clearly taken aback by Sanders' relaxed attitude stammered:

"May I sit down, sir?"

-"Sure"

Only now did the white-haired girl seem to notice Atlanta sitting next to Sanders looking at her with fully opened eyes.

-"Atlanta? What are you doing here?"

-"I'm escorting Sanders to here and then back to Base Azure. What about you?"

Alabama crossed her legs and leaned back on the armchair she had sat down on, clearly relaxing.

-"I was gonna go and lie down on the grass outside but I guess I have to do that back at the base."

Atlanta laughed a little and mumbled to herself "Yea, seems like you haven't changed at all…" before she got up and hugged the battleship "It's good to see you Alabama. It has been quite some time since we last saw, hasn't it?"

Alabama, not bothering to stand up completely hugged Atlanta back in an awkward position and said:

"Likewise. How long has it been exactly? Two years?"

Atlanta released Alabama from her hug, and the hugged slumped back into her weird half-sitting half-laying position. Atlanta counted something with her fingers before she sat down herself and said:

"It's closer to three years now."

-"Mmh! It's good to get to go back home again… Even though I was starting to think the Pacific was my home."

Those two began catching up while Sanders next to them spaced out. Not that he was thinking about anything important. After a good while he was snapped back to reality when he heard one of those two mention his name.

-"Mhm?" Sanders said and turned to look at them confused. The girls were both staring at him expecting an answer. "Sorry, I spaced out." He blurted out.

Atlanta sighed "She asked if you have liked being at Base Azure…"

Sanders blinked a couple of times before clearing his throat "Yea, even in its current state it beats this place with flying colors."

-"… I betcha like being around the girls…" Alabama suddenly leaned forward, laid her arms on the table and rested on them closely watching Sanders.

A slight fluster crept on Sanders' face as he turned to look away from the battleship and mumbled "I guess so." to her.

Alabama's expression didn't change, and she continued to watch Sanders and lay in an uncomfortable looking position.

"Ya work out?" She asked suddenly.

-"Not really…" He shook his head.

This time her expression changed just slightly to a small frown before quickly reverting back.

-"Do ya like to sleep?"

-"Uh, yeah?" He said now really confused.

-"Wanna sleep together?"

…

Before Atlanta managed to say anything, someone yelled at them.

-"Lieutenant Sanders!"

They all turned to look towards their right where a woman from the reception desk peaked in the room. Alabama hadn't still gotten up and only turned her head slightly towards the voice.

-"Lieutenant Sanders, you are being waited in room 272, second floor."

Sanders gave the woman a thumbs up and turned to look at Alabama:

"... So... I guess I'll see you later..."

However, Alabama stood up at the same time as Sanders and shook her head:

"Mhm... Nah. I'll come with you and wait outside."

Sanders just stared at her blankly:

"Suit yourself."

XXX

Thankfully the walk to the room 272 was short and they made it there quite fast. On the way Alabama politely asked about the other girls' well-being and Atlanta answered to the best of her knowledge.

As they approached the door of the room 272, another door in front of them opened and Allen stepped out.

-"Well hello!" Allen greeted the trio "Long time no see!" he joked.

-"Hello again, Allen." Sanders replied.

Allen's eyes wandered until they found Alabama and noticed her Captain's badge. In an instant he stood in attention and saluted her:

"Ma'am."

A smile crept on to Alabama's face as she quite lazily saluted him back before saying:

"I'm a ship-girl, but thanks."

-"Eh?" Allen said confused "A ship girl as a Captain?"

-"Yes?" Alabama answered now confused as well.

-"Sorry, just haven't met any ship-girl with a rank." Allen answered and fiddled the hem of his jacket.

-"What do you mean?" Atlanta asked and furrowed her brow.

-"I mean you girls back at Base Azure don't have ranks, right?"

-"Yeah we do. We are all technically the rank of a Captain. We all have those uniforms, but most of us don't like to wear them." Atlanta explained.

-"Hold on!" Allen exclaimed "Why haven't I been informed of this?"

Atlanta just shrugged before she got on her tiptoes and poked Sanders' left cheek with her finger and said:

"That means that I technically outrank you."

-"Huh..." Sanders answered with a wistful look on his face.

-"That also means from now on you need to greet me as 'Ma'am' and salute when you see me." Atlanta said to Sanders, trying to get an reaction out of him.

-"Yes Ma'am." Sanders said tiredly and watched Atlanta.

Atlanta cringed hearing those words from his mouth directed at her and was quick to add:

"Scratch that, no need."

Sanders smiled slightly before knocking twice on the door and took a step back to stand in attention.

-"Come in." A voice said on the other side of the door and Sanders entered.

XXX

-"Man, how long is this going to take? He's been there for like an hour." Atlanta complained while she stretched her arms and upper body to side to side.

Allen chuckled and checked his watch: "It's been only twenty minutes. Shouldn't take too much longer now."

-"Well, it sure feels like it's been an hour."

-"Try to stomach it. You'll soon be out of here."

Allen turned to look at Alabama whom had slumped down to sit on the floor and lean against the wall. she was fiddling with her dog tags, running her finger over the notch.

-"Didn't know you girls were given tags." Allen commented.

Alabama turned to look at him: "Not all of us, just the first dozen or so. It was quickly realized that more often than not there was nothing left of us when getting hit with a salvo from 16-inch guns or those lasers."

-"Oh..."

That was when the door opened and Sanders walked out:

"Oh good. You're still here. They told me to send you back in there as soon as possible." Sanders said tiredly.

-"Eh? why?" Allen asked.

-"No idea."

Allen quickly knocked on the door and closed it behind him.

-"Finally! Are we done here? Can we go back home?" Atlanta asked and jumped a few times.

-"Yeah, let's go."

They hadn't gotten more than ten meters from the door when the door to room 272 flew off its hinges and hit the wall with a loud bang.

-"What the hell?!" Atlanta cried out and they all stopped dead in their tracks.

After processing what just happened for a moment they quickly approached the room but before they got too close they heard a woman's voice inside the room:

"Oh my... Is it a bad time? I could come in later."

They saw purple light inside the room and a tentacle slither up the frame of the door.

Everything happened so fast they didn't have time to react. The sound of fingers snapping and half a second of silence. Then an explosion powerful enough to throw them off their feet and flame that filled the corridor.

XXX
XXX

When Atlanta came to, the first thing she perceived was pain in her left thigh. She weakly rolled on her back and opened her eyes. She saw bits of the sky and lots of smoke. It took her a few moments to understand that she was still in the building. She sat up and saw a piece of wood stuck in her thigh. "Shit." was all she said.

She scrambled up and looked around. The walls around the room 272 were completely gone as was the roof. She turned around and froze.

Sanders was laying on the floor motionless in a pool of blood.

-"Sanders?!" Atlanta yelled.

She limped next to him and dropped on her knees:

"Sanders! Wake up!" Atlanta grabbed his shoulders and shook him "Sanders you need to wake up! Please! Please wake up!" Tears started to run down her face.

XXX

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A/N: No, this chapter does not guarantee that I'm going to write more. If I write more, every chapter is going to take a long ass time. Writers block or something like that I dunno. Also that I'm not very often at home. This chapter is shorter yes, but I wanted to get it done now that I have a few days off.

Thanks for reading. Hope you all have been doing well.

Like every time before this reviews are very much appreciated no matter what ya want to say.

See you hopefully next time. Some Dood out.