In the days following the announcement, Saint Louis was quick to gather a group of men and women and started training them in combat. Every Saturday, there'd be new applicants eager to join the group and it eventually reached the point where the woman could not handle things on her own.
At James' insistence, Bremerton and Enterprise were also brought in with each girl training a group. Saint Louis supplied them with the training material and formats she followed and the two began their work.
After Alec's vocal departure from his top position in the Human Resistance, he naturally gravitated here where he reconnected with friends and helped James. Given his aptitude for paperwork and management, Alec proved vital in streamlining many of James' daily chores.
Today started off like any other day with the pair hard at work. Occasionally there'd be a few guests that came in for a quick chat or a cup of tea but it was mostly them. By the time they finished with work, they were mentally exhausted. Given the number of troops they now had to deal with, there was a need to consider things like food, shelter, munitions, etc.
The pair finished the work and were headed to Neptune's Café, eager to have something cold. Akagi and Alexis were already waiting for them, which unknowingly made the two walk faster.
As they neared the café, they were caught off guard by the sight of several trainees falling to their knees or lying flat on the ground.
"Come on you lot," said Saint Louis, turning to them at the head of the pack "we've still got five miles to go."
"Ma'am," said a familiar voice "we can't keep going at it like this. Our bodies…"
But he couldn't finish the sentence and fell on his back.
"What's going on?" asked James as he and Alec now detoured from their original destination and had come here.
"We were in the middle of training when they all gave up," said Saint Louis "honestly, I don't get what's tiring about a ten-mile run."
Alec looked at her in shock on hearing the statement while James grew concerned. In the midst of the collapsed group, he spotted an all-too familiar face.
"Curtis," he said, and the man in question sprang to his feet, despite being unable to move a few seconds ago.
He looked like he was about to salute when James gestured for him to stop.
"Ten miles?" he asked to Curtis and Saint Louis. The pair nodded in confirmation.
"A daily ten mile run and then we spar with our CO, Saint Louis," said Curtis.
"Oh god," said Alec, his expression capturing how everyone felt.
"Exactly," said one of the trainees, slowly rising to his feet "no one here can even last ten seconds against her."
"I figured that Saint Louis was a very strong member of the fleet, given her position and title of 'The Commander's right hand'," said Curtis. On hearing this, James immediately shot a stare at Saint Louis who looked in the opposite direction. The momentary exchange indicated how the former had no clue about that title till now.
"But seeing her coming at you is an entirely different thing," continued Curtis.
"The purpose of my training you like that is so that you can improve your reflexes and increase your endurance," said Saint Louis "the enemy you fight is significantly stronger than you and you cannot overcome that gap with strength alone."
"But still ma'am," said another soldier "only a certified monster can hold their own against you."
At this, Saint Louis let out a gentle chuckle before proudly stating "and what if I told you there was one?"
The soldiers (who caught their breath) and Alec all looked at her, doubt clearly plastered on their faces.
"Who?" asked Curtis.
Saint Louis didn't say anything. Instead, she casually extended her left hand to the person next to her.
Everyone now shifted their attention from Saint Louis to James, who did not like where this was going.
"Saint Louis," said Alec, now adding his two cents to the conversation "while I don't doubt James' strength, there's no way in hell he could beat you."
"I never said beat me," said Saint Louis "I said hold their own. And in that regard, my liege is more than capable of putting up a fight."
"For real?" asked a soldier and James nodded.
"Not for a long-time mind you," said James "just one minute."
Despite how much James did his best to play it down, his efforts were in vain. The shocked, jaw dropped group before them indicated that anything beyond a time frame of three seconds was astonishing.
"We've only lasted three seconds against her," said a soldier "bubba at the back managed ten but a minute? A whole minute?"
"It seems like a demonstration is in order then," said Saint Louis "my liege, please come at me."
"What? No," cried James, dismissing the idea "Alec, be the voice of reason here please."
"Sorry, but this is way more interesting than a glass of juice," said Alec. In the time that he had known them, the shipgirls were like mythical heroes straight out of a fantasy novel or superheroes from a comic book. Their incredibly strength, speed and endurance ensured that they ranked far above even the strongest humans.
Hence, he was both interested to see if Saint Louis' claims were true and that James was as advertised.
Seeing that he had no other option, James sighed and then gestured for everyone to move away. The group, realizing what was about to happen quickly cleared the area, giving the combatants enough room to run wild.
"You ready SL?" asked James and she simply nodded. The woman raised both her fists and James in turn did the same.
The two remained in that position while everyone anxiously anticipated what came next. In a flash, Saint Louis vanished and appeared a few centimetres away from James. She attacked with a straight punch to the gut.
Everyone who saw this knew what would happen next. The attack would land and James would be sent flying into the stratosphere.
Yet that did not happen.
Instead, they all watched as James deflected the blow with a tap from his left hand and moved to her side. In that moment, he grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder.
That move alone was enough to illicit gasps of shock and horror from the crowd. To all of them, the fight should have ended at the three second mark with Saint Louis connecting her fist.
While in the air, Saint Louis recovered and twisted herself around so that she could deliver an axe kick to her opponent. However, James stepped back and narrowly avoided the attack. Saint Louis landed on the ground and started circling her leader. She darted around him at near imperceptible speeds, all the while using feints and quick strikes to get the better of him.
To most of the spectators, it looked as though James was simply blocking and dodging her attacks based on pure luck. But Alec and Curtis knew otherwise. They saw the way James' eyes moved, he was following her, as fast as Saint Louis was, James was able to follow her, see her attack coming and narrowly avoid it.
Saint Louis came forward with a swing to the head and James moved back. She recovered by sticking her leg out and knocking him off balance. James could not react as Saint Louis' other leg came crashing down on him and ending the exhibition match.
"James," shouted Alec, now darting to him "are you okay?"
"Do not fear for his safety Alec," said Saint Louis, rising to her feet "my liege is made of stronger stuff than that."
As if to emphasize the point, he (and the rest) saw James now slowly rising to his feet. His face was covered in sweat and he was breathing hard, but there were no visible signs of injury.
"God damn," said Curtis, encompassing what everyone was thinking.
"That was… Commander are you really human?" asked one of the soldiers.
"Indeed, I am," he replied, brushing some dust off his shirt "the only reason I can hold on this long is because I steadily and continually pushed myself every day. While I will never beat any of the girls in a fight, I am confident that I can at least make them work for their win."
"Wait, did anyone see how long it lasted?" asked Alec, as he remembered the whole objective behind this detour.
"I did," said a particularly tall and stocky man. Alec guessed this was the Bubba the other soldier mentioned in passing.
"I counted ninety seconds. Commander Harper lasted ninety seconds."
"That aside," said James, turning to Saint Louis "you shouldn't push the soldiers that much Saint Louis."
"But, how else will they be on the same level as you?" she asked.
"That's the thing, I reached this level of my own volition. If they want to become that strong, it should be them choosing not you choosing for them."
"I… understand," she said.
"Train them to be ready to face the Hybrids, that's more than enough," he added and she nodded.
"Good," James then came forward and patted her on the shoulder "you're doing fine work here Saint Louis. Please keep it up."
The pair then watched as Saint Louis resumed her training and took the group away. James and Alec now headed to the café. There, they spotted Akagi and Alexis at a nearby table and joined them. The first thing that Akagi asked when they were near was what took them so long?
"Oh, I had a little side track and sparred with Saint Louis," James replied, almost casually.
"What?" said Alexis in a shocked and surprised voice. She recalled how Saint Louis and the other PR class girls were amongst the strongest members in the fleet. She wondered how James survived a fight with ever, even if I was a spar.
"That makes sense," said Akagi, without a care in the world "what was your time?"
"A minute thirty," he replied and Akagi looked impressed.
"Thirty seconds more than usual," she said "even now you're improving yourself."
"I'm sorry how is this a casual topic for you?" asked Alexis "I mean, Saint Louis is insanely strong. How did you survive facing her without getting your bones broken in the process?"
"I've been training with the girls ever since the fleet formed," replied James "I first started training with Z23, then Enterprise, Belfast and now I spar with one of the maids on a regular basis."
"And have you two sparred?" she asked, pointing to Akagi.
"A couple of times, yes," she replied "but not so much now. The Royal Maids have fully taken over the role of being James' sparring partner."
"Wow," said Alexis, sitting back and sipping some of her coffee "but, now that I think about it, it does make sense."
After that, the four continued conversing about random topics ranging from the war to how everyone was doing to the things the Valkyrie group did during their time off.
"Oh crap, is it that late already?" said Alexis, noticing the time on a wall clock "sorry, I have to go."
"Where to?" asked Alec.
"Well, the Resistance leaders wanted to have a meeting with the Valkyries today and I was supposed to be there ten minutes ago," said Alexis, immediately getting out of her chair and heading to the exit.
"Tell them you were with the Commander," called out James "that should keep you safe."
Alexis didn't respond. Instead, she nodded in agreement before heading out the door.
After she left, James was about to ask Alec if her going to see that group was a good idea. Given Alec's very vocal departure, James fully expected the stuffed shirts to try something.
However, he noticed the concerned look on Alec's face and decided to remain silent. It seemed that they were both thinking the same thing.
00000000000000000000000000000000
While Alexis woke up early, Blake and Marie were still in their rooms when she arrived. As a result of their role in the mission and the success that it brought, the Valkyries gained a lot of praise and adulation from much of the people. As a result, many people wanted to congratulate, help praise or just be near the three of them. This newfound status caused them to miss their daily training sessions, making it difficult for Alexis to be around James. She wondered when he was going to bring it up and every day that he didn't only made her feel greater guilt.
Blake and Marie quickly fell into the trappings of their new found fame and often went on wild parties that lasted throughout the night. Between the two, Alexis was more concerned for Blake who had now developed the habit of bringing in two or more women to his room every night.
Alexis had to wake the pair up but that was not the problem. The problem was having to deal with the smells and sights of last night's debauchery. Clothes strew about, bodies lying around half clothed or half naked, and the smell. A mixture of sweat and other bodily fluids stank the rooms and made it impossible for anyone to be there for more than a minute.
She was glad that her new body gave her greater resistance to the smells. However, she was not glad that the technology in her body could identify the components of those noxious fumes and display it to her.
Alexis steeled herself and managed to awaken the pair from their stupor and to the baths. Soon afterwards, she got them dressed and headed to the meeting place.
"I was having the best dream," said Marie, yawning.
"I was living the best dream," said Blake, recalling what he did on the previous night.
"I don't care what you were doing," hissed Alexis as they made their way "not only are we missing our daily training sessions with James, we're also late to our meeting with the resistance heads. Shut up, get your head in the game and focus."
The pair grumbled under their breath but did as was told. Alexis now opened the door to the meeting room where they saw that the resistance leaders were already seated.
"Ah, good of you to come," said Whitney "please, take a seat."
The trio did as told. When they were seated, Byron snapped his fingers and this resulted in a few maids appearing to place a cup of tea and biscuits before Alexis, Blake and Marie. Byron then gestured them away while Blake leered at one of the maids leave.
"First off," said Byron "I'd like to know how you're doing."
"I hope that the accommodations we have here are to your liking," he added.
"It's fine," said Blake, taking a gulp of the tea "it got all the basics if that's what you're asking."
"Good, good," said Byron, nodding "I hope you understand that we want what's best for you."
"Unlike James," added Ingrid.
On hearing this, the trio looked extremely puzzled by the sudden jab.
"What… do you mean?" asked Alexis.
"Well to put it simply, we believe and now have enough proof to say that James does not appreciate you the way that we do," said Byron outright "in fact, I'd wager that he's afraid of you."
"What?" asked Marie stifling a laugh "you think the guy who flies from ship to ship and fights guns with swords is afraid of us?"
"Not in the way you think," corrected Whitney "he isn't afraid of your powers and capabilities. He is afraid of your potential."
The trio were now incredibly confused, wondering what exactly Whitney meant by that statement.
"You see, you represent the next phase in human evolution," elaborated Lakshmi "a perfect marriage of human and machine, bringing together all the benefits and none of the weaknesses."
"That is a problem to people like James who'd rather have you under his heel than let you grow," she added.
"Now hold on a second here," said Alexis, resenting and dismissing the idea "James never has shown any contempt towards us and our powers. In fact, he's been helping us grow our powers."
"Subjecting you to daily training drills and combat exercises is not helping you grow," said Ingrid "he's using outdated teaching methods."
"How?" asked Alexis, who seemed to be the only one in the group rejecting the idea.
"As Whitney stated, you are beings greater than the average human. Hence, the only way to train you is with new and innovative methods. Not the old and useless ones that James clings to."
"The only reason he continually forces you to follow those exercises is so create an inferiority complex in your minds that he is superior to you."
"If you were to grow as you're meant to," said Damian "you would easily eclipse James and outshine him as heroes."
"Then what do you propose?" asked Blake, finally making his voice heard "if you're saying that James' training method is outdated, what do you want us to do?"
"As I recall," said Byron "the three of you said that you wanted James to train you. Hence, I believe it is best that you tell James you no longer want to receive his training."
"If any of us were to speak on your behalf, it would only create doubts," said Whitney.
"And say we do join you?" asked Marie, now joining in "how will you help us grow stronger?"
"We will adopt a hands-off approach of course," replied Whitney "with your capabilities, I'm sure that you three can come up with methods to develop your skills much faster than anything we or James could think of."
"I believe that you have the potential to become heroes," said Byron "that's why I protected you from James when you first awakened to your powers. Now is the time for you to take the first step to becoming that."
There was a silence now in the room. It was clear that their speech had the intended effect as Blake and Marie were considering the proposal. Alexis was the only one that seemed against it, but that was not an immediate concern.
It did not surprise any of the resistance leaders that when Marie and Blake opened their eyes, they had made up their minds.
"Count me in," said Blake.
"Me too," said Marie "as of today, you can count us as full-fledged members of the Human Resistance."
"Splendid! Wonderful news to hear," said Byron, who got up from his seat and applauded them. This was followed by the others doing the same thing.
"If you'll excuse us, we're going to tell James the good news," said Blake as he and Marie left, followed by a very doubtful Alexis.
The group watched as the trio left. They watched as the door closed and then waited. After five minutes passed, one of them activated the device.
In the centre of the table, a holographic picture of Gamma appeared.
"Lady Gamma," said Whitney bowing her head "we've successfully completed our part."
"Good," said Gamma, a smile creasing her lips "follow my plan as intended."
"Succeed and Lady Omega will ensure that you have a place in the new world," she added and everyone extoled their thanks.
"Yes, my lady," said the group together.
It now became clear that Omega was not the only enemy the Commander had to deal with.
(AN: yep, its time to start the next arc.)