Today's weather was fine on the 6th of May, something which everyone was secretly grateful for ever since Sendai grimly announced Naka's death, causing everyone's spirits to fall and the air surrounding Amazon Company to become thick with the morbid thoughts about which ship girl was the next to go.
No one had the time to mope, however, as their company was whisked away to the next part of the training, getting used to their gear the hard way through endurance training, and this was a mixed blessing of sorts since it distracted them from the heavy emotions felt after a comrade was killed in action.
The ship girls didn't make any complaints about Ma'am Jackie's surprise announcement about having today's training session take place in the forest next to the military camp, having stopped resisting or complaining and had finally consigned themselves to this career path for the foreseeable future while Apocalypse loomed over them.
Due to Anti-Abyssal firearms being slightly but significantly heavier than their normal counterparts, destroyers were mainly tasked with carrying pistols and SMGs due to their small build, cruisers being tasked with carrying assault rifles or carbines as the primary weapons to be used in the next phase of the Abyssal War, while battleships were tasked with carrying either battle rifles or light machine guns in order to help them get used to the feel of carrying firearms in the first place before firing off a shot.
And as bird carriers were issued sniper rifles in order to complement their enhanced eyesight, the various auxiliary ships and submarines present were issued various firearms according to their build and capabilities, and they were issued body armor which was crafted to fit the bodies of their various classes, and since there existed doppelgangers of them in spades, Shigure supposed there was a fitting session in the past to retroactively craft body armor for them, and helmets were now apparently made to fit children.
It seemed silly for them to wear such things, especially since they had their skin armor to protect them and were supposed to have nano-machines injected into their bodies in order to eject foreign materials from their bodies, but Ma'am Jackie wanted them to be familiar with the basics and become acquainted with everything a fully-equipped soldier was expected to wear and carry into battle.
And although certain weapons were commonly associated with certain ship classes due to their various physical specializations, Jintsuu broke down and deconstructed that illusion as she explained herself to a waiting Amazon Company, who was standing at attention in the parade square before heading out.
"Look.
If you think you're only going to handle only one class of weapons throughout the war like you did in your previous career, you're dead wrong.
Here on land, kids have been known to carry AK-47 rifles and trained as child soldiers in more unstable parts of the world, and are even known to operate sniper rifles on occasion while adults can specialize in using smaller firearms so as to dual-wield two weapons at once and also not to slow one's movement speed down to a crawl.
The distinction between ship classes and available weapons are blurred on the battlefield, so be prepared and keep your options open.
Also, you're also more privileged in that the enemy is easier to identify as pale humanoid aliens, and you need to learn to put aside any preconceived sense of pride so that should the opportunity arise to use their weapons against them without consequences, do so without hesitation."
Shigure saw a light cruiser, indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd due to the same-y looking army outfits they now wore, raise a hand in order to ask a question.
"Um, isn't it dangerous when they may have safeguards in place to stop anyone other than an Abyssal from operating their weapons, like having sensors in the handles which lock the firearm when we grab them?
Not to be a buzzkill, but…"
Ma'am Jackie tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow in order to acknowledge the point, but she gave her two cents as a land combat veteran while speaking in a subdued voice, being in a better mood today in order to make this two-way exchange more productive and not just be about her shouting at them all the time.
"Well, that is a valid point.
But personally, I don't think they'd do something as trite as that, because we believe they're planning to invade the entire world, like, literally everywhere at once.
They may have had resources, time and the element of surprise on their side, but they'd have to field about several hundred million firearms for their soldiers, which would easily reach into the billions when shit really hits the fan and we enlist every able-bodied male and even female into the army, air force and navy.
That's not to mention the tanks, fighters and war vehicles they'd be crafting, and although this would be implemented in their war vehicles in order to protect them against being hacked or hot wired, but for their firearms, just how many of them they're aiming to produce makes this countermeasure rather difficult to implement, although I'm not them, so I wouldn't know.
If they don't, all the better for us, and if they do, we just have to deal with it.
A good question, though."
A heavy cruiser raised her hand to ask another question, Shigure at least still capable of telling their classes apart due to the height difference between classes as androids of varying ages,
"Um, the production of guns from various countries require a license to produce it, right?
So how do I say it, um…
Doesn't that make things really difficult when only certain countries can produce certain firearms which only they possess a license to produce, limiting production?
I mean, not that I understand gun production too well, but…"
Jintsuu thought about the question as she tried to decipher it in her mind, raising a hand to pacify the heavy cruiser in question before answering.
"No, no, I understand your question perfectly.
Well the thing is, the Abyssals don't care about licensing issues since at the Battle of Twelve Navies, as I read from the cliff notes version, the Flying Dutchman, a Japanese Nagato-Class battleship, sent out everything from Russian Sukhoi-Su to American F-35 jet fighters.
From where I'm looking at, the Abyssals have a terrifying knack for extrapolating, reverse-engineering and even upgrading whatever weapons we push out, such that they can squeeze out more performance from a similarly designed jet fighter, firearm or tank.
That way, they can research into any weapons fielded by every country and steal their designs before upgrading it like the Fairies do, thus creating Anti-Ship-Girl firearms from various countries that can penetrate your armored skin, within reason.
And because of the situation at hand, there'll no doubt be some treaty drawn up in the past in order to share weapon designs in order to improve their production rates, because even if 'alien invasion' wasn't enough of a reason to lift the red tapes around firearm and weapons production in a war, no one wants to be killed by self-imposed limitations which they put around themselves in the first place and are too shortsighted to remove during crises."
Amazon company responded with understanding grunts, because as Ma'am Jackie pointed out, no one wanted to go extinct because of licensing issues or some sort of self-limiting policy, and if the threat of total annihilation changed mankind forever, it was to show that whatever industry which was needed to respond to the call of duty, could do so and did so as one and put aside most (but sadly not all) of their agendas to accomplish what was asked of them.
The military forces of the world had already done so since the start of the Abyssal War, construction companies did so whenever a hurricane, flood or tsunami devastated an area and the Abyssals took advantage of it by sailing in to attack their mainland and wreck their infrastructure, oil companies did their best to unilaterally keep prices affordable for the military to buy, and gun production companies, with the help of the technologically advanced Fairies, were hard at work manufacturing Anti-Abyssal firearms which could penetrate the armor of an Abyssal within reason.
After that little Q&A session was over, Ma'am Jackie had them draw their firearms from the armory, and many of them still looked unused to the feel of the firearm in their hands, a weapon which they would be using for the rest of the war.
Shigure understood where they were coming from, since it was barely a week after they were shipped off to be conscripted into the newly-created army of ship girls who were considered disposable enough to re-deploy as foot soldiers at the drop of a hat.
Right now, due to the delayed delivery of the Anti-Abyssal weapons from America, they were now given normal firearms which were meant for humans to carry in order to get comfortable with its feel in their hands, and in order to make this an actual challenge because these firearms were considerably lighter than what they were supposed to carry, Ma'am Jackie took things to the next level.
Weights.
Lots and lots of weights.
Shigure felt the strain of the weights, which were far heavier than what humans worked with in order to test their strength to their limits in accordance with their superhuman capabilities, her legs feeling as if they had been encased in cement shoes as she moved about while her arm muscles burned, having secured them around her wrists, forearms, ankles and around her waist.
They had been tasked with jogging around the entire camp four times and then running to the nearby hill where they were supposed to train at, before running up and down said hill twice, all while carrying their weights, ammo, backpack and firearms.
Although the task had seemed daunting, the entire run wasn't as bad as Shigure thought it would be.
It was worse.
Climbing and descending a hill while being fully-equipped with combat gear was hell for a destroyer, and considering how the smaller, shorter and weaker destroyers had to keep up with the larger, taller and far stronger ship girls on a sloped terrain which had uneven ground…
The medics who previously seemed as if they were about to have it easy as the ship girls began to hit their stride were now brought back in full force, ship girls collapsing left and right from the physically demanding exercise they which were forced to go through, thankfully helped by the fact that Ma'am Jackie wasn't shouting at them every half a minute in this particular exercise.
Face paint acting as camouflage did little to mar their beauty as they had applied it on their faces very reluctantly, and everyone now seemed truly indistinguishable from one another save for their heights which corresponded with their ship class as Amazon company trekked up the treacherous hill.
Fortunately, due to the amount of ship girls collapsing thanks to the accumulated fatigue from previous training sessions as well as their current one, Ma'am Jackie opted for a half-hour break, something that was unheard of ever since they came here, but only after she taught them how to use the rifle-cleaning kit which was issued to them beforehand.
There were no more Fairies accompanying them on their missions and tending to their weapons, and they had to learn to dismantle, clean and maintain their weapons by themselves, something they just had to get used to as a consequence of Apocalypse while being reminded to torrent and share this valuable memory file with their fallen ship girl comrades at the end of the day.
Everyone was now sitting on the ground, preferring to keep a distance from each other this time in order to gather their thoughts while still suffering from the whiplash of a rushed career transition from sailor to soldier.
Shigure took the chance to find and talk to her American friend, struggling against both the weights strapped to her body and the fatigue which plagued her entire body with moderate success.
Saratoga seemed absolutely miserable as she sat on a flattened rock by herself, and Shigure sat down beside her while placing her H&K MP7 sub-machine gun on her lap with the safety switch on, watching Saratoga hug her M24 SWS as if it were the last thing which anchored her psyche to this world, and Shigure's expression softened upon seeing her friend become like this after the mental breakdown no thanks to the nukes.
Saratoga seemed to notice her presence as she turned her drooping head in order to look down at Shigure's lap before looking back down at her own, and Shigure sat beside her American friend before meekly greeting her.
"Hey, Saratoga.
How're you feeling?"
Saratoga seemed depressed for the most part, her blonde hair cut short and darkened to a dark auburn hue so as not to arouse the enemy's suspicion as a mop of yellow in a sea of green and brown.
"I don't know…
The nukes sent me into a panic attack, I'm stuck in a job I never expected to be tasked with doing, and I'm going through basic military training while half a world away from home.
It's also really hard to remain optimistic while knowing that a comrade has fallen, and while I didn't know Naka for very long, still…"
Shigure nodded understandingly just as the American reached a point in her sentence where she was at a loss for words, feeling depressed over the grim reminder that they were all still capable of dying for real, and the loss of every ship girl was one too many as she agreed.
"Yes.
I also didn't know her too well, but I think that…
Once someone you know is killed like that, you not only kill everything they were, but everything they could have been.
All the conversations we could have had, anything more I might have learnt about her in possible interactions in the future, all those opportunities, all disappeared along with her."
Saratoga nodded, shivering as she hugged her rifle and voiced her thoughts, clearly distraught about Naka's death as an emotionally sensitive and empathetic ship girl.
"I understand.
It's difficult for us to even begin to fathom what Sendai and Jintsuu must be feeling right now, perhaps it's like a massive chunk of their heart's been torn out along with Naka's passing and left a hole where her sister used to be.
Wonder if there's anything we can do for them…"
Shigure shrugged as she maintained her poker face, because while this wasn't the first time a sinking occurred in their base, it hit especially close to home when it was someone she knew.
Sinkings still occurred everyday even though they had already hit their stride after having fought this war for the past 20 years, although with the advent of new Abyssal Beasts and units come Apocalypse, she had expected this to some extent after the Abyssals turned up the heat.
She just didn't expect this to happen so soon, and to them at this point in time.
Or was that just her being conceited, to think that just because their base was big enough to field so many ship girls, that they would be untouchable?
She heard Saratoga speak up again, her true age seeping into her voice as someone who had lived for too long and remembered the many ups and downs of her old life, remarking.
"I thought that with our combined willpower and strength, and with everyone watching each other's backs, I thought that we could avoid this.
But nothing's changed.
Everyone's still dying left and right, and it seems that no matter what we do, nothing's going to change that.
We're here struggling against forces beyond our comprehension, and fighting a war that's laughably one-sided.
I don't know… I don't know…"
Shigure patted her friend on the back in her own attempt to comfort her, understanding that times like these were tough on them, especially since they were created to be female androids, whose emotions fluctuated wildly depending on the ship girl and the situation.
And looking at Saratoga's emotionally compromised state, she wondered was if their capacity to feel emotion, which the Abyssals lacked was a boon or a bane considering the fact that they were supposed to be soldiers, and while women were fully capable of holding their own in times of crises, children and teenagers made up a large part of their armed forces.
Despite their past experiences in fighting in a world war toughening them up and desensitizing them to violence, the female form wasn't exactly the ideal vessel to fight in battles, what with the extra weight on their chest, regularly going into that time of month until the end of days (too soon?), and how a male's body was naturally built to be tougher than that of a female's, what with men evolving to be hunters in primeval times while women were built to be incubators.
Shit, that was why female breasts contained more milk to be fed to babies while wide hips were called childbearing hips, right?
Getting off-topic.
Shigure reminded herself of Saratoga's well-being, chiding herself for losing herself in her own thoughts before turning back to the crestfallen Saratoga and quickly thinking up of something to try and comfort her with.
"Look.
This is a tough time for us, and not all of us will make it out alive by the end of this war.
But you already knew that, don't you?"
Saratoga nodded solemnly, looking quite pathetic with her teary eyes and forlorn expression, and Shigure had to snap the American carrier out of her funk as her friend, leaning forward to look Saratoga in the eye as she put on her most dependable look before commenting.
"Then you should have prepared yourself against the very possible prospects of loss.
Those who sank in the earlier stages of the war are likely looking to us for strength, because this is very likely their first time experiencing anything like this.
To my knowledge, your sister ship Lexington sank before you while you survived the war, right?"
" … Yes."
"The enemy may have nuclear missiles, but you need to understand that the world has moved on with its technological advances, and they've produced defense systems which are there in order to defend themselves to some extent against the ICBMs which deliver these nuclear payloads to their destination from the sky.
You need to be strong, not just for your own sake but for everyone else's sake since you're like an elder sister to them, and you're an American carrier representing your country in a foreign land.
It's tough, but that's what we ship girls are supposed to be, not to wallow in our own misery but to keep marching on in spite of our pain and accomplish our objective.
That's what we're made to do, and right now, you need to look at a mental mirror and ask yourself this.
Is your current state satisfactory?"
Saratoga's expression tightened as her grip on her M24 SWS, and Shigure leaned in as she gritted her teeth and repeated her question, daring to ask the hard questions which she knew Saratoga had the answers to, but she just had to think harder and dare to face them head-on.
"I said,
Is your current state satisfactory?
If yes, then by all means, continue on.
If no, please pull yourself out from whatever cesspool of negative thoughts or fears you created for yourself to lounge in, because they're only going to slow you down.
What if someone dies on your watch because of these fears and thoughts holding you back?
Are you going to take responsibility for that, Saratoga-san?"
Saratoga shook her head vigorously, fearing that possibility more than anything else as she returned Shigure's gaze and stating in a fervor, leaning in with panic in her tone as her blue eyes brightened up with that horrid thought stuck in her mind.
"No… no!
That's horrible, I'd never allow that!"
Shigure held up her hands in a placating gesture, leaning back just as Saratoga leaned over her in order to pacify the American carrier.
"Look, I know you wouldn't allow that, and you would defend your comrades with your life.
But allowing these fears to paralyze you doesn't help anyone, and I would know how it feels to have the entire world collapse in on you as traumatic parts of your past flood your mind and drive you insane."
Shigure remembered what happened at the disastrous Battle of Mikura Jima Island, feeling her own expression sour at how she allowed her emotions and past get the better of her in the heat of the moment, and although she had come to terms with what happened that night, it was still emotionally taxing for her to struggle and keep a lid on the myriad of emotions which threatened to well up within her just by thinking back on it.
Saratoga seemed to understand that Shigure was a kindred spirit in that sense, backing up and giving her some space as she allowed Shigure to gather her thoughts before continuing.
"Look, I understand that this might seem hard, bordering on impossible to do.
But you're not doing this only for your own sake, but for everyone else since nobody wants to be the weak link in the company.
You need to let this fuel your desire to become stronger, not as a mental, emotional or psychological wall to box you in, but for you to climb and reach ever-greater heights."
Saratoga's eyes widened in surprise at the wisdom which Shigure was doling out, and she had more where that came from as she pressed on, looking deep into Saratoga's eyes and witness some sort of realization reawaken something within her, reminding her of who and what she really was.
"You're worrying over things which you're incapable of affecting or stopping, and none of us here can stop an incoming ICBM, unfortunately.
But as long as you draw breath, fight on and work hard to become stronger and expand on the amount of things you can change, like saving the lives of those around you and accomplishing the mission.
Can you do that, Saratoga?"
The Lexington-Class carrier furrowed her eyebrows in consternation, considering what a trial this would entail as one of many rough patches in one's quest to become stronger, and this trial was one which no amount of training, upgrades or preparation could help her to overcome, and Shigure empathized with what she must be feeling right now as she held Saratoga's hand, looking her squarely in the eye.
Eventually, Saratoga's gaze hardened while her jaw became taut, nodding resolutely as she reaffirmed her will which was reflected in her eyes, and although it was shaky since the trauma of surviving a nuclear explosion in both lives wasn't something one could simply 'get over it' in a fortnight, she was still a soldier and was conditioned to do this.
"I… I think I get it now, Shigure.
Even if it takes me a lifetime, I'll do my best to get out of this funk, because I'm of no use to anyone like this, even as a friend.
And if I ever falter in my mission to do so, I'll be counting on you, along with everyone else to remind me of what really matters to us as soldiers, first and foremost.
I was really scared out of my wits by the nuclear explosion, and…"
Words failed to express the sheer terror that was felt by sufferers of panic attacks, but her devastated expression told Shigure everything she needed to know and more as she gave her American friend a sagely smile, something other ship girls had informed her only incredibly precocious children like her were capable of.
She hadn't yet determined if this was a compliment or everyone's subtle way of pleading for her to act her age.
"Anyway, even if the nukes were dropped on us, everyone's still counting on us not to give up until the end, and even if everyone, touch wood, perishes in the explosion and I'm the only one left alive, I'll still fight on because it's in my nature to do so.
I, I may not be able to live up to my words in the event things go south in the future, but to not even try to do so is an insult to everyone's memories, and I'll be exposing everyone else who's still alive to unnecessary danger!"
"Well said."
The two ship girls yelped in shock at the sound of a third voice cutting into their conversation, Shigure jumping up from where she sat as she struggled to maintain her hold on her MP7 sub-machine gun, spotting Ma'am Jackie squatting on the same rock which they currently sat on and had brought her face in close by leaning forward so as to hear their exchange, nodding approvingly as she pushed herself off of her knees in order to stand up.
Shigure landed on the floor and waited to be yelled at again, but Ma'am Jackie hopped off the rock and landed before Saratoga and Shigure, looking back at the Shiratsuyu-Class destroyer as she noted.
"Nice reflexes, Shigure, but do keep a tighter hold on your firearm at all times from now on.
Fall in with everyone else, I was waiting for you two to be finished with your little counselling session-slash-intimate talk before continuing."
Both Shigure and Saratoga blushed at the insinuation, but didn't bother denying it as they left Ma'am Jackie in order to follow the assembling ship girls, but Shigure stopped in her tracks and turned back to ask Ma'am Jackie something, feeling apprehensive about facing the stoic instructor.
"Um, Ma'am Jackie?
Did you wait for me to finish counselling Saratoga in order to allow me to reinstill the fighting spirit in her?"
"Hmm?
Of course.
I noticed that she wasn't doing so well, but you got to her before I did, and managed to get the job done by being there for her in ways I very likely couldn't.
Just because I'm harsh on you all doesn't mean that I won't allow you all the time to lick each other's wounds and be there for each other whenever possible, because you're going to be doing a whole lot more of that when shit really hits the fan.
Besides, broken soldiers do nothing but undermine an army's capacity to function properly, since they have already lost their fighting spirit and will to win, and we would be doing our enemy's job for them by demoralizing our own troops and throwing the battle."
Shigure nodded meekly as she kept her head lowered subserviently, understanding how pragmatic it was for those above them to tend to the mental well-being of a soldier without coddling them.
The stress of training coupled with anxieties about the upcoming world war in the form of Apocalypse was enough to wear them down, and Saratoga needed someone to help her start down the road to recovery from the traumatic panic attack, lest she end up as a shell of her former self after being broken from within.
Lightly knocking on her helmet, Ma'am Jackie ordered,
"Come on.
Your friends are waiting for you."
In which she nodded in response, holding her firearm close to her chest before jogging back into the mostly-assembled Amazon company, unable to see Ma'am Jackie giving her a wistful look after having listened in on her conversation with Saratoga long before cutting in, the senior light cruiser eventually exhaling through her nose before moving out in order to get back to Amazon company.
The day's training was hellish yet productive as they dug trenches, learnt the ins and out of a forest as well as how to disguise themselves with the foliage which their surrounding provided in spades, Ma'am Jackie running them through the land combat crash-course with the speed of a runaway freight train due to 'the possibility that a war could literally break out tomorrow.'.
They got a hearty taste of military rations and spent the entire day moving through the forest in formations which they were expected to memorize after going through them once in this practical session, which involved massive amounts of 'duck and cover', cover fire and leopard crawling as life saving tactics for when shit hit the fan and they were forced to resort to crude but effective moves in order to save their hide.
Not that Shigure had high hopes of that happening when they'd likely be too scared and overwhelmed by the intensity in which Apocalypse was carried out by the Abyssals to know what to do at the right time, until they became desensitized to the violence and were on the receiving end enough times to know what to do.
It was especially tough when the sun was at its peak during the early to mid afternoon as it humidified the forest and caused a temperature spike, although Ma'am Jackie encouraged them to drink from their water bottles and refill whenever possible by having several ship girls and humans carry Jerry cans that were filled with water and fuel up the hill in lieu of their weapons.
Thankfully, as androids who were designed to be super soldiers from the get-go, hunger wasn't a primary concern as they fired their firearms for the first time, recoil being a minor concern thanks to their super strength, and the relief upon getting back to civilization was unlike any other as everything they had previously taken for granted, from food to showers and toilet paper were now sacred to the ship girls and rightfully treated as privileges they had never really known to treasure in their time as ship girls.
The loss of Naka also put everyone on edge, many ship girls now choosing to sit closer to their fellow ship girls and huddle together for emotional support, even if some of them were previously unrelated to each other.
It was strange, yet fitting that every tragedy and misfortune that was heaped onto them made them inch ever so closer towards one another for support.
Unfortunately, the peace was broken by Sendai shouting loud enough for the entire canteen to hear, pained anger evident in her tone.
"IT'S HER FAULT, AND YOU KNOW IT!"
Shigure nearly choked on her drink, sputtering and cleaning her mouth on her sleeve as she turned around along with everyone else in order to watch the commotion that was Sendai picking a fight with, strangely enough, Shiranui, and she would soon find out why as the irate Sendai-Class light cruiser seethed,
"Kagerou was the one to cause Naka's sinking, the memory clip showed it!"
Shiranui retorted, clearly coming to her sister ship's defense with the following argument.
"Which was a direct result of coming into contact with an unknown enemy unit.
The Infiltration Fleet was unprepared and outmatched despite the Admiral's warnings in her briefing to expect the unexpected and also despite our best efforts to stave off the assault, as the memory clip showed."
Shiranui looked a little uncomfortable with talking about classified knowledge in front of an entire crowd for fear of revealing anything sensitive, and although Sendai shared the same sentiment due to being trained to handle sensitive information, she was emotionally compromised and was now lashing out at an easy target which was Kagerou due to her proximity to Naka during that fateful incident.
From an emotional point of view, it was easy to do so since being closer to the incident meant that in the eyes of the afflicted, you could've done something more to change the outcome of the event, and Sendai exemplified this as she started to break down, expression scrunching up just as her eyes watered.
"But, but…
Why did Naka have to sink?
She was last seen pushing Kagerou away from danger, and then…
And then!"
Shigure then saw Jintsuu walk up, the anxious crowd now silenced by the tense and heart-gripping scene which played out before then, and Jintsuu was similarly devastated by the loss followed up by the rigorous training session in the forest the day after.
The younger Sendai-Class cruiser faced her own sister, an aura of desolation following her as she did her best to comfort Sendai despite being in the exact same situation, Shigure herself only able to imagine what they must be feeling right now and was dreading what the future had in store for them in the form of Apocalypse, especially when it was already racking up the casualty count this early in the next stage of the Abyssal War.
"Sendai…
Naka knew what she was getting herself into when she accepted the responsibility to be the backup member of the Infiltration Fleet.
We all understood the risks, and it was unfortunate that the enemy decided to spring their secret weapon against us, and she chose to sacrifice herself for everyone else's sake."
"So, because I was injured, Naka had to take my place.
Does that mean it was my fault that Naka's gone?!"
"No, I didn't say that, Sendai!
Please don't put words in my mouth!"
The situation started to devolve as Shiranui attempted to come to the aid of Jintsuu, but Sendai shook them all off as her respiration rate increased and she began sobbing, and Shigure knew better than to intervene when she wasn't remotely involved in the incident.
And frankly, like the other ship girls who were watching on with detached gazes, they also predicted that this would very likely be a recurring thing in the future and they were simply too tired to defuse the situation as of now, instead choosing to conserve their strength for later when Sendai had cooled her head.
Shigure then saw what she deemed to be the worst person available who could end this commotion, the light cruiser in question pushing Jintsuu away and spinning Sendai around with a hand placed on her trembling shoulder.
Sendai was decked in the face by Ma'am Jackie, everyone being silenced by the sudden appearance of their instructor along with the hard punch to the cheek, with gasps escaping the lips of the occupants within the canteen as some of them attempted to make a move for the exits, but being conditioned to follow orders in their programming as soldiers caused them to freeze up as Ma'am Jackie swiveled her head around, curtly shouting without raising her voice to the extreme.
"Freeze!"
Like a game of Red Light, Green Light, everyone froze as ordered, and Ma'am Jackie's dark expression was felt through the intimidating black aura she emitted, her contracted pupils roving over the crowd of freeze-frame soldiers stuck in the midst of their movements as she continued while walking over to a reeling Sendai.
"All of you will watch this to the end.
No interference, no talking, just watch."
This sentence was spoken without any overt tones of malice, just a stone-cold hollowness in her voice which seeped into her authoritative and commanding demeanor, standing over a downed Sendai as the junior light cruiser touched the bruise on her cheek, looking several parts terrified confused and angry that an older version of her sister struck her in the first place, muttering confusedly.
"Wha-What happened?"
"Me."
Jintsuu reached down and attempted to hoist Sendai up by the collar, and the name-ship of the Sendai-Class was distraught by the sudden roughhousing from her little sister as she flailed around wildly and attempted to shake off the assailant, her sobbing and sharp breaths extremely evident in her voice as she wailed.
"Stop it!
Get off of me!"
That comment was followed up by two more punches to Sendai's cheeks which sent her head snapping from side to side as Ma'am Jackie's fists blurred in order to deal out corporal punishment, everyone wincing as several of them inhaled sharply through puckered lips upon physical contact being made and the meaty sound of the impact resonating throughout the silenced canteen before their commanding officer let Sendai fall and hit the floor, Ma'am Jackie's voice and demeanor freezing over and reaching Antarctic levels of frigidity as her dulled eyes bored through her sister's downed figure.
She stated icily as Sendai laid on the floor, cradling her mouth in a fetal position and spitting out blood as a trickle of crimson fluid flowed out from one side of her bruised mouth.
"Insolence.
You do not tell me, your superior officer, what to do.
Even if you are supposed to be my sister, I am responsible for maintaining order in this military camp.
And if giving you a beatdown accomplishes that, then that's what I will do."
Shigure winced at Sendai's injuries, because even if they weren't severe, they were still dealt by Ma'am Jackie of all people, and it came at a time when the light cruiser was emotionally fragile and required anything but physical beatdowns to break her out of her temper tantrum.
Sendai echoed this statement as she laid down on the floor, looking up at her sister with a gaze of confusion and despair more than anything else, utterly confounded by what just transpired as she exclaimed as though pleading for an explanation,
"What the hell, Jin - Ma'am Jackie?!
Don't you understand what's going on here?
Naka's gone!
Taken out by the Abyssals!"
"Who's Naka?"
Huh?
Everyone was stunned by the sudden and unexpected reply, Sendai and Jintsuu feeling the brunt of this revelation hitting them head-on as they stood there, frozen on the spot with widened eyes and slightly agape mouths while a seemingly apathetic Ma'am Jackie explained herself.
"I never knew how the human incarnation of Naka behaved, what her goals and dreams were, her likes and dislikes, or even what she looked like.
As far as I'm concerned, my sister ships sank back in World War 2, and you, Sendai, are simply a ship girl who bears her name and retains her memories, but I just can't bring myself to see you or her as my reincarnated sister ships."
Jintsuu stepped in, horrified at the sight of her future self acting so callous towards a sister ship and was a living reminder of what she could become.
"Please, Ma'am Jackie - no, Jintsuu-san!
Don't you feel anything towards Naka and the news that she's killed in action?
Our Naka…"
Ma'am Jackie shrugged, turning to face her younger doppelganger as she dropped the harsh truth upon the two heartbroken Sendai-Class cruisers, everyone who was spectating now unable to turn away due to Ma'am Jackie's orders as well as a morbid curiosity as to where this dramatic scene would lead with its hairpin twists and turns drawing their interest like moths to a flame.
"No.
I've never met Sendai and Naka back when I was your age, and I managed to survive on my own by discarding everything regarding my past and moving on.
Remembering you all wasn't going to do me any good when I was never going to meet any of you in this life until last week, no?"
But Shiranui stepped in, asking about how unlikely it was that she wouldn't have made contact with at least one other ship girl during her time in the army.
"That doesn't sound right.
You said that ship girls from various countries were sent to fight on land, right?
It seems far-fetched that you could fight wars on land without coming across one other ship girl who was in the same situation as you, who would be recalled from the front lines to be an instructor like you today."
Ma'am Jackie shook her head, forlornly shaking her head and answering the question for all to hear.
"Not exactly.
Those of us who were a part of this classified project of 'land-ship' soldiers were sworn to secrecy and were instructed never to reveal our true identities to those like us, and especially not to anyone else we interact with unless dealing with life-and-death matters.
And many of the human comrades I fought with are now permanently disabled, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder back at home or are dead.
Just… dead."
Sendai's face scrunched up again as the conversation starred to veer off-course, Shigure noting that she was likely in the second stage of grief, anger.
Anger at the world for taking away Naka, and letting it override whatever ties she may have had with others by targeting those close to her, since the Abyssals were too vague and distant of a target for her to find out who was responsible and driving the grief-stricken light cruiser to target those who failed to prevent it or unintentionally caused it.
An irrational course of action in Shigure's eyes, but completely understandable from an emotional point of view.
"Who cares about that?!
Naka's gone!"
In which Ma'am Jackie finally blew up at Sendai, everyone pulling back a little from the sheer intensity of her roar that was directed at her own sister ship without any care for supposed familial bonds.
"So what if Naka's gone?!
Are you going to whine and cry here until the Abyssals attempt to take away the one other sister ship you have left?!"
Everyone held their breath upon hearing that, Ma'am Jackie looking down at them with a dangerous glint in her eyes which could be interpreted as condescension under such circumstances.
"You're all so privileged, being so spoiled in that if you die, all you need to do is to be thrown into the docks in order to revive either yourselves or your friends, and personally, I think that in that sense, all of you are simply playing at being soldiers.
Most of you have become accustomed to understanding loss from an impersonal point of view because you know that things will be alright even if you die, that some bathtub is going to revive you all and things will go back to normal.
Well, more or less."
Ma'am Jackie pulled up her head in order to look down at a silenced Sendai, looking very bitter about something or another as she continued on her monologue which was clearly directed at not just Sendai, but also every ship girl in the canteen who were still unable to get used to the paradigm shift which came with every wave of technological development on the enemy's part.
"It's only until someone close to you sinks when you get pissy about loss and start blaming anyone who's a convenient target, because this safety net called the dock has desensitized you to the threat of losing someone for good.
And it seems I have to remind you of this before you all step onto a new battlefield where said miracle bathtub won't be readily available, and some of you will very likely die for real while simply waiting for a portable dock to be freed up.
This is a war.
People die."
Sendai sputtered as she tried to defend her position, clearly losing ground but was still afflicted by the loss of Naka to the point where she clearly wasn't thinking straight.
"But, but even so…
I don't want to die here!
Not on land, and certainly not so far away from the ocean where we truly belong!"
Ma'am Jackie then leaned down in order to partially pull Sendai up by the green collar of her army uniform, the Sendai-Class light cruiser wincing as she braced herself against the next punch which never came, Ma'am Jackie instead glaring daggers into Sendai's eyes and through her skull with a smoldering gaze before continuing.
"I don't give a fuck about what you want, or where you think you belong.
Right now, you're here in this base and under my command, and it's my duty to make sure that all of you do what it takes to stop the Abyssal horde from wiping us all out.
And even though I'd much prefer a living soldier than a dead one for the former's ability to fight on and the latter's lack of it, if winning involves giving your very lives for the sake of victory, then so be it.
Anything less, and we're already dead."
Sendai looked away guiltily as she perfectly understood their duty as soldiers to unflinchingly sacrifice themselves for the sake of protecting others and for the sake of winning the war.
But Shigure, with a past of surviving naval battles and emerging from them unscathed while comrades and sister ships fell, knew how it felt, to lose a piece of yourself with the death of someone dear to you and feel the urge to let loose and lash out at the world, at the unfairness of it all happening to you.
Ma'am Jackie felt Sendai's rage beginning to simmer, but the instructor continued to press the assault by using the World-War-2 card to drive the point home, and how Sendai should be hardened against loss by now.
"I remember that I sank earlier than you did, and I thought that it would have hardened you mentally to the prospect of a sister ship sinking, since it's understandable that a ship girl who was historically the first to sink back then wouldn't know what it feels like to have a sister ship sink in this life.
Is my elder sister really this weak?"
Sendai was now shaking her head vehemently, looking up into Ma'am Jackie's eyes and returning her piercing gaze with one of denial as the biting question was an affront to Sendai's pride as a ship girl, looking to pull herself together in order to refute Ma'am Jackie's point as Shigure suspected this was the instructor's intent all along, to coax the fight back into Sendai.
"No, no!
I'm the Night Battle Idiot Sendai, I'm anything but weak!"
Ma'am Jackie's stare didn't soften in intensity, but she instead raised her head in order to look down at the light cruiser that was in her grasp.
"Really, but you don't seem strong either, so what are you, Sendai-san?"
Sendai pulled her head back as her expression became conflicted, but Ma'am Jackie surprised Shigure herself by asking this next question.
"I must ask you this, though.
Is your current condition satisfactory?"
Shigure lifted an eyebrow upon hearing that, her gaze quickly shifting to roam across the canteen in her attempt to find the Lexington-Class carrier, spotting her in the crowd as the American looked back at her, the both of them sharing incredulous looks at how Ma'am Jackie was reusing Shigure's words after listening in on them.
But hey, if they could be reused to help get another ship girl out of her emotional funk, she'd allow it any and every time.
"Crying about Naka when you're already lucky enough to have two sisters, of which the only one you have left is doing her best to comfort you when you're acting like such a child and pushing her away in your temper tantrum.
Are you going to sit there and cry, or use this incident to push you onto becoming stronger in order to protect your remaining sister who's still alive and kicking?
Are you satisfied with who and where you are right now?"
" … No."
The senior light cruiser go of her sister after Sendai gave that honest answer which was aimed more at herself than at Ma'am Jackie, Sendai collapsing back onto the canteen floor while Ma'am Jackie loomed menacingly above her, shadows clouding her face as she looked down and gave a simple order.
"Then get up."
" … Huh?"
Sendai echoed everyone's sentiments with that one subdued exclamation of slight disbelief, and Ma'am Jackie unclenched her right fist in order to straighten her palm, leaning forward again in order to offer it to Sendai, who shrank away from it after it had struck her down not five minutes before this, Ma'am Jintsuu intoning without any more compassion or warmth in her voice.
"When I say 'get up', it's because you're down on the floor.
And as long as you draw breath, that should never be your default position as a combat-ready soldier unless you're sleeping, ducking, sharpshooting or dead.
I don't care if you're having the best dream of your life, downed by the enemy, missing one or both legs in combat or having Saint Peter giving you the clearance to pass through the pearly gates, when I stand next to you and shout for you to get the fuck up, I expect each and every one of you to follow that order as if it were a bloody commandment.
Now, get up."
Sendai was finally compelled to get up from the floor after a moment of solemn contemplation while glaring pointedly at Ma'am Jackie's outstretched hand, her headstrong and outgoing demeanor finally crumbling as she hung her head with a sullen expression on her face while standing up sloppily and accepting Ma'am Jackie's hand, and Shigure was treated to the strange sight of Ma'am Jackie doing Sendai up.
Patting the dirt off her uniform while adjusting her collar and wiping what remained of the Sendai-Class light cruiser's blood from Sendai's cheek while her expression softened a touch, everyone stood there and watched uncomfortably while Sendai also seemed slightly unnerved by this sudden expression of concern on Ma'am Jackie's part, but stayed still and allowed her acting commanding officer to do as she pleased.
Finally, Ma'am Jackie stepped away to allow the ship girls to move in as one and gather around Sendai in order to give a group hug after being forced to stand by and wallow in their impotence throughout that physical beat-down and scathing verbal confrontation, Sendai finally breaking down in tears and hugging Shiranui as she muttered unintelligible yet sincere apologies.
And Shigure could see that Shiranui reined in her temper and tongue since she also felt bad about Naka sinking, allowing Sendai to lash out before slobbering all over her as part of her grieving process.
Shigure hung back as she turned to look at Jintsuu junior hesitantly approaching the lone instructor which was leaving the scene, everyone giving the both of them a wide berth as they approached the growing crowd around Sendai, the younger Sendai-Class light cruiser asking her with the shyness and fearfulness of a confessing schoolgirl mixed with a messenger who was fully expecting himself to be shot for delivering bad news,
"You behave so fiercely, but seem so sad on the inside.
Will… Will I become like you when I grow up, Ma'am Jackie?"
Ma'am Jackie glanced around at the small audience which they were attracting, her strange expression now revealing something resembling vulnerability as she considered the question, Shigure finding it reassuring to see that Ma'am Jackie clearly wanted anything but that to become a reality, parting the crowd and carving a path through the ship girls who fearfully scurried out of her way, the senior light cruiser brushing shoulders with a silenced Jintsuu as she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Let's hope not."
Yuubari was sitting together with Sakawa and Washington on-board the Flying Dutchman as it was docked inside Sakawa's island Beast Jasconius in order to prepare the aviation battleship for what was to come.
Namely, Apocalypse.
The light cruiser commander looked down at the chess pieces on the aptly-colored black and white chessboard, playing against the battleship directly before her while the other light cruiser watched, the two J.O.A.N. units having a discussion while the Washington-Class battleship silently contemplated the situation in the midst of waiting for Yuubari to make her move.
[Hmm, I'm getting kinda bored by this lull in the action.
I mean, the nuke was nice and all, but isn't that going to be the real kickstarter for the humans to begin training up their own ship girl army in order to oppose us?
Wouldn't that hinder our plans?]
In which Yuubari moved the black queen onto a white square before she reassured her secretary ship.
[Oh, don't you worry too much.
What proof is there that this increased productivity and preparation of the humans wasn't within my calculations?]
Sakawa sat up straight at that insinuation as her emotive hair strands stood up straight in excitement, asking.
[Wow, is that so?
Yuubari-chan, you're so smart, pyon!]
[Naturally.]
Washington moved a white bishop and took Yuubari's pawn, putting the light cruiser in check and forcing her hand as she moved her black bishop in place to deter her, with another pawn guarding the defending bishop before continuing.
[The ship girls and humans will certainly be forming and training up some form of ship girl army as we speak in order to repel our landkreuzer units, and our kriegsmarine will continue attacking them from the ocean.
I'm not too certain about their air force, but rest assured that with Cynthia leading the luftwaffe in order to take on the air forces of the world along with my assistance, we'll keep them on their toes before crushing them.
I'm counting on the rest of you to do your best as land units who'll have their boots on the ground the entire while.]
Washington acknowledged this order with a simple,
[Yes, Ma'am.]
And moved a white pawn forward, Sakawa now ecstatic but curious as her twin ahoge curved a little in a question mark-sign, asking about what else they were to expect
[Yeah, but can I expect to deploy GUNGNIR again and test-run Sól in the near future?]
[Well, of course.
You are supposed to be the juggernaut of the New Wave units, after all.
At least, until we acquire more ship girl units to experiment on and convert to our side…]
Sakawa then jumped onto and glomped Yuubari, gleeful about being deployed as she squealed like an overexcited school girl while Yuubari did her best not to topple the chessboard, using a black pawn to jump two squares forward.
[Pyaa!
Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouuuu ~ !
It's finally happening, we're gonna go out on the field and kick some serious ass!]
[Ah, hey, I'm still playing here!]
Washington narrowed her eyes against the move, since it formed a diagonal line of black pawns which formed a reasonably powerful defense formation, the American battleship looking up and asking in a rare display of initiative on her part.
[Ma'am.
What are we to do with the light cruiser Lorelei managed to capture?]
[Oh, that Naka from Yokosuka?
We'll convert her to join the rest of her clones, and…]
Moving another pawn forward on the fringe of the battlefield, Yuubari hid her smirk from all but herself as she commented on their nature as the pieces with the lowest value but the highest numbers in order to form a disposable asset.
[Like that, we won't just have eight pawns, we'll have forty-eight of them, which means there'll be more than enough to go around.
Somebody's gotta do the heavy lifting with their numbers, after all.]
And in response to Washington moving her white knight out in order to back her own pawns up and secure her position, Yuubari moved her black queen again as she spoke to her two subordinates.
[Sakawa.
I need your GUNGNIR system to target the US in order to back Washington and our America-invading forces up when Apocalypse begins, because until Cynthia's New Wave power is properly set up, your cast range will stay unmatched amongst us existing J.O.A.N. units.
And although we can pick out the targets later, the test-firing earlier last week did help you to get used to its ins and outs, no?]
Sakawa nodded vigorously, and Yuubari turned her attention back to Washington as she ordered.
[You'll lead the fight against the Americans in the West, and I'll take care of things on the Eastern side of the world.]
[Acknowledged.
Which New Wave units will be activated and placed under my charge?]
Yuubari considered their currently available members as she supported her head on her clenched power glove-encased fist while Sakawa leaned in and gave Yuubari puppy-dog eyes in order to appeal to her commander.
[Sakawa will target the USA with GUNGNIR even when she'll be with me, and you'll be able to make use of the chaos in order to pull off your invasion without too much fuss.
Have Amatsukaze go with you, and I'll have Lorelei start making passes at the USN's warships with her four Beasts.
We're halfway done with setting up Cynthia's New Wave ability, and when that's finished, she'll be able to support you even when she's halfway around the world.]
[And how many Naka units do we bring along for the invasion of America?]
The Abyssal commander moved her black knight onto a white square in order to take out a pawn before answering.
[Several of them, and don't worry too much about code names at this point in time, especially not with our front-line combatants whose abilities will be revealed soon enough.
You'll have Lorelei, Amatsukaze and Laffey along with what I can assume to be two dozen Naka units.
And in the case of Laffey…]
She watched Washington silently eat the black bishop with a white knight, narrowing her eyes and contemplating her words before speaking.
[She'll be instrumental in slowly pushing the Americans back with her unique abilities, nationality and background, but I expect you to keep her on a tight leash due to what the humans have done to her, and especially since you're both Mark III ship girls.
And I do believe that we need to make use of our little 'friends' within the ship girl navy and Central in order to sow a fair bit of discord in the days to come.
Certainly not right now, but I believe that planting these seeds of chaos and leaving breadcrumbs for them to find a month or two down the road could lead them down the self-destructive path which I predict will end with a bang.]
Moving her black knight up in order to target several pieces, Yuubari watched the North Carolina-Class battleship prepare for the carnage that was to come by moving her white rook and king in order to pull off a king-side castle, the stoic American Abyssal intoning her question after planting her king behind the pawns.
[And I don't suppose you have the presence of mind to stay back and not expose yourself to danger in the midst of a war, Ma'am?
You are the most important J.O.A.N. unit amongst us, after all.]
In which Yuubari pulled back a little, giving her creation a strange but curious look as she mused.
[I didn't think you'd be capable of evolving your personality this quickly, to the point where you'd be developing wit at this point in time.]
Washington lowered her head subserviently while Sakawa leaned in to ask,
[So, when's the big day?
It certainly can't come soon enough, not ever since I met Nagato-san and friends for the first time in forever!]
Yuubari shrugged, moving the black knight forward in order to take out an enemy piece and begin the massacre of pieces which was slated to happen in the middle of the board, announcing lackadaisically as if commenting on today's weather despite being located deep underwater, where the light failed to reach.
[Eh, I suppose they've been given enough of a head-start, let's start turning up the heat and watch them squirm.
Start the worldwide invasion one week from today.]