Chapter fifteen: Casualties of War

Nishizumi Household, Kumamoto

Shiho stared at the empty mansion. She had her servant, Idegami Kikuyo to move out everything out of the mansion and move it to a mansion in Tokyo. She sighed. This was her home, her life. Now she was forced to move out. The National Japanese Senshadou Federation, on the orders of the government, had made Shiho move out of Kumamoto. Kumamoto was becoming the target of North Korean air raids, bombing cities and killing hundreds of civilians, and Shiho was too important to lose. The evacuation process was surprisingly efficient, evacuating tens of thousands of civilians, including 4,000 children.

Shiho walked through the mansion one final time, sliding her hand across every wall and peering in every room. She looked outside. Even the Panzer parked outside was hauled away. She sighed again. She began to tear up as memories began to pour in; how she and the girls used to make model tanks and she taught them how to drive tanks for the first time. She looked down as she remembered how she reprimanded Miho when she went against the Nishizumi style. I haven't apologized to her yet, she thought. I even tried to disown her. If I could have been a better mother…

"Shiho-sama? Shiho-sama!" The voice of Kinuyo brought her back to reality.

"Yes?" She turned to her servant.

"are you ready to leave?" Kinuyo asked.

Shiho nodded. "This will be the last time I'll stand here," She said. "What a wondrous home it was." She began walking towards the car Kinuyo brought when from a relatively far distance the wailing of a siren could be heard.

A soldier ran up to Shiho. "Ma'am, several North Korean bombers were sighted off the coast of Ojika. There's no doubt they're aiming for Kumamoto and Nagasaki again," He said. Shiho nodded and quickly ran off to the car, which disappeared in a cloud of dirt.

Miho's Room, Ooarai Girls High School Carrier

"Mmmm, this is good, Hana. Where did you get this?" Saori took a bite out of the red bean bun. "I thought these things were rationed."

"That is a secret only Yukari-san and I can know," Hana said with a wink.

Saori looked down at the bun. "You stole this?" She demanded.

Yukari laughed. "No, no. My dad got these for his rations, and he sent these for me," She exclaimed.

Saori sighed in relief. "Thank god," She whispered.

"Nishizumi-dono, what's wrong?" Yukari asked, looking at Miho, who was staring blankly at her bun. Yukari waved her hand in front of Miho's face, and she jerked back.

"Ah! What?" Miho demanded.

Yukari scooted back. "I'm sorry, Nishizumi-dono," She quickly apologized.

Miho shook her head. "No, it's alright. I was just thinking," She said. She jumped on her bed and turned the TV on. "I wonder if there's anything on."

Saori shrugged. "Karina-chan's been binge watching 80's mecha anime for the past week now,"

The TV turned onto the NHK news channel. "Welcome to NHK. Earlier this morning there was another North Korean air raid against Nagasaki and Kumamoto. Approximately 60 enemy aircraft appeared over the coast at around 10:00 A.M., taking heavy fire from the anti-air defense ring, and we took nearly 28 down on their way here. Because of previous evacuations the civilian death toll was light; only 420 civilians killed, with more than 1,700 wounded and 80 unaccounted for. On their way back to the Korean peninsula the bombers were engaged by our jet fighters, who shot down 15 more enemy jets.

"Because of the recent spike in enemy activity over our coast, the government has decided to evacuate all children and elderly from the western coast starting this weekend, and the construction of bomb shelters and anti-air missiles across the entire nation. School carriers will also be reinforced with bunkers, vaults and reinforced steel against any and all attacks."

"Wow, they're getting awfully serious about this." Saori pouted.

"Of course. We're at war, not a picnic." Mako's head poked out of Miho's bed.

Miho looked worried. "I wonder how mom's doing. Our house is in Kumamoto," She said.

"Don't worry, Nishizumi-dono. Your mother is a strong woman and a bomb or two won't kill her!" Yukari shouted, and Miho just laughed.

"Thanks, Yukari-san." Miho's phone rang loudly, and she picked it up. "Hello? Oh, president? What is it? Infantry and armored training? Oh, okay, got it." She hung up and looked at the rest of the girls. "The president wants to have the Senshadou Team and the OSIC(Ooarai Special Infantry Corps) to train together."

BC Freedom High School Carrier

The tall girl watched with disappointment as the group of girls fight in front of her outside the school. She sighed, as she had hoped the two sides would make up when the school was forced to create an infantry battalion to aid the growing war effort, but they still managed to somehow strike up a disagreement. The BC side wanted to name the school unit "Milice", while the Freedom demanded "Maquis". To her however, none of that mattered.

"Merde! Shut up!" She slammed her fist against the brick wall. The girls stopped fighting and stared at her. "By God, why can't you agree on anything? Do you think you can disagree when you are on the battlefield? No! If you don't work together, you might end up dead!" She shouted.

"But…" A girl from the Freedom stammered.

"No buts! We'll make a compromise; we'll make two companies, one for BC and one for Freedom. But you two will have to work together. Understood?" The tall girl shouted again. The group of girls began to disperse, mumbling as they went.

"That went rather well, didn't it commander Asparagus?" The tall girl turned around. Another girl stood behind her.

"Oh, Moules," Asparagus said. "What is it?"

Moules nodded. "I got a call from Bonple. It seems Jajka wants a training match for her "Eaglets","

"Even that Bonple's forced to send students?" Asparagus asked.

Moules nodded. "Not only are the major schools are affected by the draft, but smaller schools are being targeted as well. Well, we're not a small school but that's besides the point," She said.

Asparagus groaned. "I really don't want to deal with her right now. She's so smug and arrogant," She complained. She looked up at Moules. "Have you seen or spoken to Shizuka recently?" She asked.

Moules shrugged. "No. She's been off the radar for quite some time," She answered.

Asparagus groaned again. "Times really are going bad, huh," She remarked.

"I suppose so," Moules replied.

Saunders Girls High School Carrier

Seo-yeon stared at the TV, watching the news.

Kay walked in with a burger in her hand. "Hey. Still following the fight, huh?" She said.

Seo-yeon nodded. "We're pushing them slowly back in Okinawa," She answered.

Kay smiled. "That's good. I guess that means we don't have to go fight ourselves."

Seo-yeon looked down. "I want to fight. I need to fight to free my friends," She clenched her fist.

Kay walked over to her. "You know what? We're going to beat them here, then we're going to go to Korea and take back your home," She said, beaming brightly. "We'll beat them in just a matter of time." She confidently stated.

Seo-yeon smiled. "Yeah. We're going to win this,"

Kay looked at the TV. "Okinawa, that's where Maho is," She said.

"Is she a friend?" Seo-yeon asked.

Kay nodded. "We were Senshadou buddies. Still friends. She's kinda cold, but once you get to know her, she's really nice. She's also protective of her sister," She explained.

Seo-yeon nodded vigorously. "She's the heir to the Nishizumi style right? She's famous in Korea too," She smiled, "So I know she's fine." Her smile dropped. "But I don't want to think what'll happen if she becomes a prisoner," She said.

Kay became worried. "Is it that bad?" She inquired.

Seo-yeon nodded. "They'll destroy anything they touch. Let's just say she'll go through hell before she dies," She said.

Kay shuddered. "Jesus," She gritted her teeth.

…..

Alisa stared at the computer and clicked through the news headlines, slurping the shake she held.

Naomi snuck up from behind her, grabbing her back. "Hey, whatcha doing?" She laughed, blowing bubblegum in Alisa's face.

Alisa gave her a glare. "Just looking through news in America and Europe,"

"And? What's the news?" Naomi whispered in Alisa's ear.

Alisa's face turned red. "Well, the rebels in California are being pushed back by the First US Army. Oahu fell to rebels a week ago. The Confederacy and the US are still heavily fighting in the South. Almost all of Texas is free of US forces. The European armies are almost at Warsaw, and Swedish and Scandinavian armies are almost at the Finnish border," She explained.

Naomi smiled. "Good to know your up to date with the current news," She stroked Alice's hair.

She jumped up and pushed Naomi away. "What is your problem?" She demanded.

Naomi took a step back. "Woah woah woah, calm down will you? I was trying to be a replacement for Takashi," She sheepishly said.

Alisa scowled. "It's really weird and creepy!" She shouted.

"Okay, fine," Naomi sighed and turned around. "You're no fun." She muttered as she left the room. Alisa caught that, and slumped down in the computer chair.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Tokyo

Tsuji Renta walked down the large hallway, carrying large bundles of paper. He was sent here by the government to work for an important politician. Ugh, why do I have to do this? He thought to himself. I don't deserve this. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." A voice boomed out. Tsujo slowly opened the door and entered the room.

The room was large, with pictures of important people from Japanese history glistened off the lights. Renta shuddered as he saw the portraits of Prince Yasuhiko and Hideki Tojo.

"You must be Tsuji Renta, right?" At the end of the room was a large mahogany desk sat a large bald man. Tsuji nodded. "Good. I'm Nishizumi Kijiro." The man introduced himself.

Tsuji gulped. "Nishizumi?"

The man grinned. "Already know my name? Of course, you worked for the Senshadou Federation, so you must have known that woman,"

"What do you want?" Tsuji demanded.

Kijiro laughed. "I just need some help, that's all," He said.

Tsuji flipped through the papers. "These are transfer orders…?" He looked down. "Sending Saunders to the Philippines?" He asked in disbelief.

Kijiro smirked. "They're our allies," He said. "I'm also going to arrange Ooarai to be deployed to Malaysia."

"Ooarai? That's where your daughter is!" Tsuji gasped. "Wait a second, Kuromorimine is in Okinawa. This isn't just against Senshadou, but against your wife!"

Kijiro smirked again. "Is it? I sent my own son to Okinawa and I have no regrets."

"But sending high schoolers to war in another country is a bit…" Tsuji adjusted his glasses.

"And? We all have to make sacrifices. High schoolers are still members of society. They need to contribute as well. And if they're so confident of their Senshadou they can play in their tanks in the battlefield!" Kijiro boomed.

Tsuji trembled with fear. So this is the true Nishizumi demon!

Milice- The collaborators and police forces of the Vichy Regime during World War II.

Maquis- French resistance fighters that fought against the Germans during World War II.

Eaglets- The "Lwow Eaglets", a band of Polish teenagers that defended Lwow against the Ukrainians in the Polish-Ukrainian War 1918-1919.

Prince Yasuhiko-The commander of the army that perpetrated the Nanking massacre. As he was related to Emperor Hirohito, he was never tried for his actions.

Tojo hideki-Prime minister of Japan during World War II. He advocated for war against the United States.

Damn fifteen chapters already! That is a lot of words. I was going to write longer but writer's block ruined it for me. Any way, thank you all for favoriting and following this seemingly depressing story. I did not think this many people would actually enjoy this. A special thank you to my boy SeekerMeeker for for being there from the beginning, putting a review for almost every chapter. He's got his own nifty story; Welcome to America, GUP. Its interesting and nicely written, check it out! That's enough promotion for one day. Anyway, I would appreciate it if ya'll write a review. It could be anything, from criticism, ideas, questions, or any thing in general. Okee then, adios amigos, until next time!