It wasn't like their troubles ended with Sergeant Dodger. She was just one of several personnel on base who were an endless source of grief. There was Corporal Dex, of course, but he was almost always following Dodger around. There were two other sergeants who were like a substitute for Dodger when she wasn't around. On their own, they weren't too bad once you were used to Dodger, but Sergeant Cherub and Sergeant Suou were almost always teaming up on someone. Cherub was the tough one, coming up with ridiculous tasks for them to do, and Suou handled the insults and being loud. Between the two of them, they were almost as bad as Dodger.

Almost.

It was now halfway through their second month, and Yukari was starting to feel like she was building her strength. The first long while was just being sore endlessly, but now she actually felt like she could do some of the things the sergeants made them do. She'd gotten her time on the carry course down to almost twice what Dodger wanted from them, which was a huge improvement from her first time; twelve times the target time.

Of course, now they were doing so many pushups a day she'd stopped counting, and other exercises had multiplied to scale. Every once in a while, though, Dodger would throw something unexpected in their way. One time she made the mud pit deeper and wetter, and so some of the girls sank in up to their necks. Another time, when they were doing situps for Sergeant Cherub, Dodger came out of nowhere and casually stood on Assam's stomach. Apparently, she had mixed her up with Klara, but no one had a clue why she had been trying to single out Klara.

But they'd gotten used to it, for the most part. Unfortunately, Sergeant Dodger seemed to be aware of that, and had set up new difficulties for them to go through. This is how Yukari found herself standing on a wooden platform above a mud pit, facing off with a girl from Koala Forest who she had to assume had a good reason for her nickname to be Mamba. They were supposed to try and knock each other off the platform, clearly, but Yukari had to wonder what chance she had with a girl who was moving like a snake already.

"Hold it!" Dodger had Dex put the ramp back in place. "There's too much room up there! Privates Failure and Tramp, get up there and join them! Look alive! This is a team match and whoever loses misses out on lunch!" That was the usual threat, and she only carried it out sometimes. Sometimes was enough for it to be valid every time. "Tramp and Oddball versus Failure and Slime! Go!"

As Corporal Dex removed the ramp again, Yukari looked over to Kinuyo. Across from them were Mamba and Nozomi. She knew she was Oddball and everyone knew Nozomi was Private Failure, so that meant Kinuyo was now Private Tramp. That didn't seem quite right.

Corporal Dex blew his whistle. They had maybe half a minute to throw the other team off before Dodger would start throwing things at them. Yukari had a tactic in mind, a plan. If the other team went off, then so be it, but she just needed to keep Kinuyo up with her for a half minute or so. When Dodger started throwing things, she'd aim for Nozomi first. This was just to be expected. Then, when Nozomi failed, they could team up against Mamba and win. It was unfortunate about their lunch, but someone had to lose.

This well thought out plan was lost to the wind immediately as Mamba dropped onto her back and kicked up into the air, hitting Kinuyo in the chest and sending her flying. Mamba spun, righted herself, and then came for Yukari. It was the first time Yukari had ever seen a roundhouse kick in person. With her opponent's foot coming straight for the side of her head, Yukari decided that this was the time to break out a secret ability.

Her only ability worth noting was loading the main cannon of a tank, but that was enough to be helpful. She imagined Mamba's chest was the chamber that she was punching the shell into. She ducked under Mamba's foot at the last second and lunged forward, slamming her fist into the other girl's chest. Mamba flew back and bounced off the platform before falling into the soggy mud head first.

Yukari turned to Nozomi. "So… are you going to make this hard, or…?"

"Get a move on! You're supposed to fight each other!" A shoe hit Yukari's back. Dodger wound up to throw another one. They weren't even military issue. It looked like she'd really just gone and collected a bag full of old shoes to throw at them. "If neither of you finish the fight in the next ten seconds, no one gets lunch! No one! On! Earth!"

That was too ridiculous of a threat. Yukari had to assume it was legitimate. She grabbed Nozomi. "Sorry. Billions of lives are depending on me." Nozomi screamed as she was rather effortlessly tossed off the platform. Yukari turned to the sergeant and bowed.

"Smartass." Dodger waved at Corporal Dex and he moved the ramp back into place. She looked over the few trainees that weren't yet covered in mud. "Form your own teams and finish the exercise. Everyone who's done, do laps around the camp until lunch. Private Oddball, come with me."

"Yes ma'am!" Yukari hopped down, sinking into the mud a couple inches. She pulled herself out and followed as the sergeant led her away from the rest. They came to a stop just around the corner of the nearest building, perfectly out of sight so Dodger could dispose of the body. Yukari was somewhat sure that wouldn't happen.

Dodger glared up at her with something between contempt and pity. "Private, are you eager to move on? Get through your training and head out to war?"

Yukari thought it was an odd question, but not one she couldn't answer truthfully. "Ma'am, isn't this supposed to be the rest stop on the way to the war?"

Dodger was neutral on that answer. "So it is." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "You see that jeep? It's the major's. I want to see it appear in his office by the time he gets back. You have two hours to get it apart, move it in, and reassemble it. If he catches you, he'll likely have you locked up. You don't want to know what I'll do if you fail."

Yukari waited until the sergeant had left. She looked up at the jeep in front of her. It would have been easier if Dodger just killed her. "Ah, shit."

Wherever Sergeant Dodger went, it wasn't back to the girls fighting on the platform. The entire setup had been haphazard to start with, so it made sense she would just want to abandon it. This was to Yukari's advantage. She ran over to the last four girls, hoping she could enlist their help. Tsuchiya, Rosehip, Klara, and Nakajima.

She stopped beside Tsuchiya. Casually waiting a moment before talking. She didn't want to attract the attention of Corporal Dex, so she leaned over and whispered. "I need your help with something."

"I can hear you, Private!" Corporal Dex turned to face them. "What is it you need them for that's so important they have to skip this exercise?" His face was like a rock. Not even chiseled rock. Just a lump of unforgiving stone.

Yukari stood straight and nodded. "Yes sir, Sergeant Dodger gave me orders, and I need their assistance to complete those orders."

He didn't look convinced. "Did she tell you to do it on your own?"
Yukari shook her head. "The sergeant didn't specify. Just that she wanted it done, sir."

Tsuchiya jumped in. "I volunteer to stay behind and complete the exercise for everyone else!"

Dex looked very unconvinced, but still he relented. "Fine." He rolled up his sleeves. "Private Tsuchiya, you'll most certainly wish you hadn't. The rest of you get a move on. We wouldn't want to upset the sergeant."

Yukari nodded. "Yes sir!" She waved the others over. "We're short on time! Let's move!"

Rosehip patted Tsuchiya on the shoulder as she ran past. "I'll visit you in the hospital, I promise."

Nakajima added, "And I'll say something really nice at your funeral."

Twenty seconds later, the three girls Yukari had recruited were staring in disbelief at the jeep. Yukari sat down on the hood and patted the side of the vehicle. "We have two hours to take it apart and put it back together again inside the major's office."

Nakajima shook her head several times, trying in vain to fix her hearing. "You've got to be kidding me, right? We'll be shot."

Klara said something in Russian, which Yukari suspected was highly impolite, then pointed to the nearby building where the office in question waited. "There are at least a dozen more people in that building we would have to carry it past. MP's, secretaries, other officers. They'll notice four privates carting around jeep parts."

"What about through the window." Yukari looked at the wall facing them. "That window is the major's office, right?"

Klara shook her head. "Alright, let me get a good look at this." She stood back and looked over the jeep, then ran to the window and looked into the office. After a short moment, she ran back. "The office is big enough to fit the jeep inside, but the window is not. There are several parts we'd never get through."

"Who says we have to take it apart?" The rest of them looked to Nakajima. She shrugged. "I mean, we could, but what if we just took off the wall and carried it in?"

Rosehip pumped her fist. "I could just drive it in! I could easily hot-wire it and patch it back up so it looked like it was never touched."

Yukari clapped her hands together. "Alright, that's our plan. Let's get to work."

The plan had gone off without a hitch. They spend most of their two hours removing the wall panel that covered the entire side of the building. An unaware lieutenant briefly questioned them, but between how much they managed to look like they knew what they were doing and their insistence that they were merely following orders, he decided they must be administering repairs to the building. They then removed everything out of the room in question. Klara and Yukari ran a ramp up to the floor, and Rosehip drove the jeep in. She took several minutes to fine-tune the position, and they placed everything that could still fit back where it was. The hardest part was really putting the wall back on the building, but they managed with all four of them lifting it together. With their mission accomplished, the four girls dropped to the ground to look at their work.

Klara fell onto her back and just lay there. "I gave my life for this army."

Rosehip grabbed the front of her shirt and started airing it out, as it was clinging to her with all the sweat. "I need a shower. I'm not cut out for heavy lifting. I can run, drive, and shoot."

Yukari stood up again, turning to the one thing they couldn't fit back into the room with the jeep; the major's desk. "Where are we going to put this?" According to the clock on the desk, they had completed their task with five minutes to spare. The desk was the last part. However, according to something else on the desk… Yukari went very pale suddenly. "Guys? This nameplate says Colonel."

Klara and Nakajima shot up, staring at the nameplate. Klara swore in Russian again. Nakajima staggered back and fell to the ground. They were out of time, and they'd just put the major's jeep in the colonel's office.

Rosehip lay down, continuing to air out her shirt. "We're in the army, so we're all gonna die anyway. I say fuck it."