October 2nd, 2050. Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California, U.S
If there's one thing I have never liked about military life, it's the formal wear. The pencil skirt is one of the worst pieces of clothing ever devised, and it's an integral part of the IJA's dress greens for women. I've often thought of nabbing myself a set of men's trousers, but the innate conservatism of the Imperial High Command would see me disciplined for sure, Adapter or not.
"S-senpai! Can you help me?" Nanami squirms as she tries to adjust her own skirt.
Nanami and I share a room. It's nice to know you're not alone when the night draws in and old scars seek to re-emerge, though if I do have a nightmare Nanami tends to sleep right through my screaming. Still, the moment she's awake she's always the first with a warm hug and a few words of encouragement. I don't know what I'd do without her there.
I shared a room with Kazanari-senpai during my training days, but that was a decidedly less pleasant experience. I found myself cleaning up after her much of the time. There are many positives I could say about my leader, mentor and master, but personal cleanliness isn't one of them.
"Thanks," she sighs with relief. "Do we really have to do this?"
"I'm afraid so," I tell her. "We really need to make a good impression today. We'll be up with the cream of the cream of the American armed forces, acting as representatives of the Empire of Japan. This could make or break our relationship with them, and directly affect the Security Treaty."
"Is it really that serious?" Nanami's eyes go wide.
"We're not in Seattle anymore Nanami. We don't have sympathetic figures like Colonel Walken among the American forces here."
"Are they really our enemies?" Nanami doesn't want to believe that the Americans could hold a hidden enmity towards us. But she also knows better than to trust to blind hope.
"They don't have to be." I stress. "But they're not the most important ones we need to impress today."
"They've seen us fighting. Surely that's enough?"
I give a pained smile. "If only that were true. It's not about our skills at killing BETA. They don't need us for that. It's about our skills at fighting other Adaptors."
"And how do we show that on a stage in front of all the high hats of the US Army?"
"We don't." I tell her. "Just by being there we show our commitment." I reach back to those fleeting memories of Kazanari-senpai and the ethos she drilled deep into me that has become my rock and my anchor. "By doing this not only is the Empire fulfilling its ends of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, and showing our commitment to the alliance between us, but it also proves that we are willing to give up the advantage of practical anti-Adapter combat we have."
That is a huge concession we have made, one Major Jinguuji thinks is essential if mankind is to survive. I don't know how she convinced the Shogun or Lord Ikaruga to let her make this offer to the Americans, but we are here as the living embodiment of that commitment.
Nanami smiles at me. "If this is a sacrifice we must make, then so be it. One set of North American enemies is quite enough, thank you."
"Exactly my thoughts." I take a step back from her and present myself. "How do I look?"
She squints at me for a second, before smiling back. "You look nice in that uniform. You look nice in almost anything."
"Though not as nice as the Major," I add. Major Jinguuji makes the uniform look sexy. Speaking of, "Let's go meet the Major and the Captain. They'll give us the low-down before the big event. Are you ready, rookie?"
Nanami's cheeks flush red. "S-stop calling me that!" She grumbles.
"When you surpass me, that's when I'll stop calling you."
"Did you ever reach that point with Kazanari?"
Her question catches me off guard. She almost never asks me about Kazanari-senpai. Instinctively she can feel the pain that comes with her name. But when she does, it always reminds me that I am her Kazanari-senpai, and everything the blue-haired woman did for me I must pass on to her.
"No, no I didn't" I say softly. Then I reach out for her shoulder. "Which is why you must surpass me while I'm still alive."
Nanami takes the hand from her shoulder and clasps it in both her own hands. "I swear to you, Otohime-senpai, that soon we'll fight side by side as true equals. And we'll do the same with the American Adapters. All four of us, united as the Noble Six were before."
I feel my spirit soar for a moment, before the dead hand of professional realism strikes once again. Always temper your expectations, or else you will be forever disappointed.
I smile again. "I know we will. Now come on, let's get this moveable BETA feast underway, shall we?"
A baby-faced bear of a man clad in an American uniform stood like a chiseled armature at the doors. He took one look at the four Japanese women standing before him before turning and throwing open the doors as with a deep booming voice he announced, "Presenting Major Marimo Jinguuji and Captain Aoi Tomosato of the IJMDF. Also First Lieutenant Kaede Otohime and Second Lieutenant Nanami Yazawa of the Empire of Japan's Symphogear Corps!"
Play Mass Effect Soundtrack - The Presidium
Captain Tomosato gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before we are ushered into the reception hall.
It's a fancy room, blue-clad walls lined with paintings of the aircraft of the United States back when such weapons ruled the skies. Behind an elevated stage hangs flags of the United States and the Empire of Japan.
There are dozens of men and women in American army dress all over the place, congregated in small groups of green, blue or black. Green is the US Army, I remember. Blue is the Navy, while black is the Marine Corps.
All heads turn at our entrance. All at once there is a collective round of applause. For a second there I stop dead, stunned, but a gentle tap, again from Tomosato gets me to walk forwards.
Major Jinguuji is already sharing a firm handshake with a solidly-built, craggy-faced man with a General's two stars on each shoulder, and she pulls me over to him.
"Lieutenant Otohime? This is General William Grey of California Military HQ."
His was one of the many names I needed to read up on last night. A career soldier and seasoned veteran of anti-BETA operations in Asia. The Major had met him once before during the defence of Japan back in 2043, before the Babylon disaster.
The General bends down so he's at eye level with me. He looks like the weathered remains of an ancient stone idol that has stood for many seasons at the mercy of wind and waves. "Ah. So you're one of the Imperial Adapters. I saw what you did out in the salt flats yesterday. Very impressive."
Translator software, don't fail me now.
"T-thank you very much for your kind words, General. My partner and I are honoured that we were able to fight alongside the Adapters of your nation, too. Their abilities were impressive even to us."
"Ah so?" The General seems pleased by my words. "Our Adapters haven't been as busy as you. They have only fought the BETA, and the Aliens didn't didn't start gunning for Los Angeles until a few months ago. In all that time you've fought numerous battles with both the BETA, and the France-Canada coalition. And the word is you've also fought the Canadian Adapters."
Down to business. "We have indeed sir. They are no pushovers, that's for sure."
"Even against our own Adapters?" He's coming right out with it. I was expecting a diplomatic dance of probing.
"Your Adapters are strong fighters. They have powerful relics and their preference for ranged combat means they're more efficient at culling large numbers of BETA at a safe distance and more quickly than we do."
"So do you think that in a fight between our Adapters and the Canadian ones, ours would come out on top?"
Now comes the hard question. I can see why the Major likes this man, he's just as frank and direct. I'll give him the same example I gave the Major yesterday. "Only if the Canadian Adapters were prevented from closing in. Their Relics are optimised for close combat, just like ours. I can personally attest to their proficiency in that area. If they could close the gap, then your Adaptors would be in serious trouble."
The General blinks, then his face goes all serious. "Thank you for your honesty, Lieutenant Otohime. As it happens that's the same conclusion I drew after reading the after-action reports from the last Border War. You were both lucky to walk away from that one given the damage you suffered at the hands of those god-damned Canucks." He nearly spits out the last word.
The Americans seem to take their betrayal by the Canadians personally, easily forgetting that it was the mass-Atomic bombardment of Athabasca that permanently soured American-Canadian relations. That in turn convinced the Canadians to lease their territory to the French following the fall of Eurasia to the BETA. And it was the French who chose war in the aftermath of the Babylon Disaster.
The General's face cracks into a sly grin. "So to follow on from that thought, do you think that if you and your Wingman could tie up their Adapters and keep them from closing in, then ours could rain destruction upon them until they yield or are destroyed?"
In other words, can we be of use? And there is exactly one answer to that. "Absolutely General." I nod. "And I am sure that we could come up with other strategies as well through joint experimentation. Versus-Adapter warfare was never considered until after Alternative IV was cancelled, and it's only recently that it has become a reality."
The General shares a look with Major Jinguuji. "Does it bother you Lieutenant Otohime?" His eyes return to mine, ever-probing. "That after all the blood and treasure we've spent fighting the BETA, not only did it fail but it also brought us back to war with our fellow man?"
Oof. He went there. I don't know what answer he expects to hear from me. Babylon was an American initiative, words I will not speak here.
But I have to say something. "I would rather not be fighting humans. We are such a cut above normal Eishi…"
"That's your term for a Surface Pilot, right?
"Yes sir. Didn't you fight alongside the Empire in 2043?" I ask right back.
"Major Jinguuji very kindly spoke to me in English back then, so I never heard the Japanese term. We have our own term for them. We call them Surfies."
"Eishi is a formal term sir, dating back to distant Japanese history. The Original Eishi were door guardians, defenders of their people and lords. A fitting way to refer to a surface pilot, right sir?"
The General seems impressed. "Indeed. Please continue, Lieutenant."
"Thank you sir," I take a breath and try to rein in my train of thought. "We Adapters are faster, stronger and capable of considerably more than any normal pilot. In many regards when we go up against normal pilots it's a - what is the American term? - A Turkey shoot. That's it."
"That was made very clear in the most recent Border war," The General straightens up.
He's testing me. He wants to hear me explain my side of what happened there, instead of the official reports.
"Previously we had been able to intercept and redirect the enemy Adapters before they could engage our regular forces. But the Canadians changed their tactics. They hid themselves within the main body of the Canadian forces, only transforming once they were already within reach of our forces. By the time we got to them, they'd already downed dozens of our fellow pilots."
"Just as the French Adaptors did our forces on the East Coast." The General's anger is palpable.
Major Jinguuji jumps on the opportunity to insert herself into the conversation. "We are all here for the same end, General. Something must be done to counter the threat of the enemy Adapters. Today our governments are coming together to solve that problem, once and for all."
"We can make a toast to that later." The General turns back to me. "If you will excuse us, we need to discuss changes to the city's defensive layout."
The Major waves me off as she and the General stride away. I've done my part here.
I look around for Nanami, and find her with Captain Tomosato. The two seem to have been waylaid by a handsome dark-skinned man in an American Marine Corps uniform. His hair, moustache and short goatee are all carefully regulation-trimmed, his ears notably projecting on either side. A bright spark glints in his eye as he says something and both women laugh aloud.
I slide my way into the conversation, reach out for the hand already being proffered to me by the Marine.
"You must be the other Japanese Symphogear jockey. These two here won't stop singing your praises." There is a musical lit to his rich voice that even the translator can register.
"Oh really?" I look over to Nanami's half-blush and the grin on Tomosato's face.
"Yep," the man's smile is infectious. "Captain Daniel Hillard, United States Marine Corps. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Otohime - Am I saying that right?"
I feel red flushing my cheeks. "Yes you are Captain, and thank you." I wrench my gaze away to focus on the badge on his sleeve, a black and red helmet.
"VMF-314, the Black Knights." The Captain explains.
"We fought with VMF-318, the Black Knives up in Seattle." I told him.
"Ah, the Knives. That's Kjellberg's crowd - you've met her, haven't you?"
"Yes we have." Stubborn mule of a woman, but driven and determined. A Marine to the core. Exactly what you'd expect from the last survivor of the doomed Carrier USS John F Kennedy.
"Anyway, you two have saved the lives of dozens of Marines. I'm sure you've had Kjellberg's thanks before on behalf of all Marines, but I like to do things personally."
"It's the least we can do!" Nanami beams. "We fight to save the lives of others as much as to end whatever the BETA consider a life."
"You give ET a good ass-whooping?" There's a cockiness to his voice that only comes from a place of supreme confidence. Only the best TSF aces ever reach that level.
"What does that mean, Captain Hillard?" Nanami isn't as good with the strange way Americans phrase things.
"You know, a good kick up the pants." The Captain's grin has a razor's edge. "Hitting them where it hurts the most. Something I'm sure you two are very good at."
"Y-yes!" Nanami's face is almost glowing red. "When we fight the BETA, we exterminate them Marine style!"
Try not to spill all of your spaghetti Nanami. Not that I blame her. Even Captain Tomosato, that cool headed figure in the operator's chair is struggling to keep her composure from the way she's looking at the Captain.
Going to need to watch out for this one, in more ways than one.
I scan the room. Where are the American Adapters? This formal meet-and-greet is as much for them as it is for us and yet they don't seem to be here. Have we been duped?
The timing could not be more perfect. The doors fly open for the second time with the same voice booming across our heads.
"Presenting First Lieutenant Alicia Bernstein and Second Lieutenant Simone Park of the United States Symphogear Corps!"
Of course they weren't here. The Americans know a thing or two about appearances. And if the Imperial Adapters are made to look like they, and by extension the Empire, is waiting on them, so much the better.
I look over to the Major, her face set and lips pursed. She knows we're eating crow here, and accepting it as part of the cost benefit.
Then all further thoughts are gone as the two women breeze into the room like they own the place. Once more applause greets them, this time including our little group.
The face on the HUD and pictures in the dossier did not do justice to Alicia. She makes the American dress uniform look good, and I have to stop from comparing myself.
Simone by contrast doesn't seem to care what she looks like in her uniform. Her curly hair is only barely held in check by her dress hat, and there are a couple of noticeable creases on her blouse and pants. That is a statement of petty rebellion against authority that only someone with the power and worth of an Adapter could get away with.
They're coming right for us. This is a formal meeting and we need to act accordingly. At my nod Nanami and I form into a line, backs straight.
This is it. No time to think, just act.
The American women are looking down on us. Metaphorically and very much literally. What is it about Americans that makes them so much taller than us? It hardly seems fair.
I salute them. "We are honoured to finally meet you in person. I am Otohime Kaede."
"A-and I am Yazawa Nanami! It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Alicia-san and Simone-san!"
Nanami reached a hand out, and for a second I wonder if it'll be Simone again that bridges the gap. But this time Alicia firmly reaches out and takes Nanami's slender fingers in her own before giving it a firm shake.
"The same to you, Yazawa-san. You are the first Japanese soldier I have ever met in person and your manners are as refined as your skills against the BETA." There is a small but noticeable smile on her face. Real or feigned, either way it is a good sign.
"We may have fought side by side yesterday, but we didn't fight together." Alicia continues, her voice elevated so all around us can hear. "When we fight together, Imperial and American side by side, we will be a force more powerful than any left on this Earth. That is the promise we make here today."
This is as much a performance for them as it is for us. We've all got to go through the motions regardless of our feelings or anything else.
Simone takes Nanami's pale hand and pumps it with a strong handshake. "Chin up kiddo, you just got a compliment from Alicia. It took me six months to get that out of her." Simone grins at the filthy look Alicia shoots at her. "Lighten up princess, we've got this fancy do laid for us, the least we can do is try to enjoy it. Tomorrow we'll be starting training with these two, and like it or not they've got a lot more combat experience than we do."
"You don't have to spell it out loud." Alicia reminds her icily.
"It's better that we are honest with one another," I interject before either can launch into the other. "We need to become a living, breathing symbol of friendship between the United States and Japan. We will only do that if we respect each other, enough that we can be honest with one another."
"She's right," Nanami joins in. "So let's try to get on with each other!"
"Emphasis on the try," Simone gives the side-eye to Alicia as the blonde's cheeks flush red.
Wonderful. These two can't keep their antipathy at bay even here. Nanami, we've got a lot of work to do.
"If the Adapters will please come to the stage," an unfamiliar thundering voice draws my attention to the podium and the man standing at it.
I don't know the American armed forces well, but I do recognise the face of David Anderson. A scalp so devoid of hair it shines like obsidian leads to a rough face hardened by a lifetime combatting the BETA. A significant volume of service ribbons covers his left breast, below the silver pilot's wings that help frame his broad chest.
One of the few members of the American armed forces to oppose Alternative V, he had been in the wilderness until the disastrous after-effects of Babylon had catapulted him to the post of Secretary of Defence. Now the defence policy of the United States, and through their alliance the Empire of Japan, lie upon his shoulders.
Colonel Walken spoke warmly of him, and now I can see what he means. Anderson looks as solid as a mountain and as calm as a millpond, clad in an aura of unshakeable strength. Decades of military service and political maneuvering have made him into the man of the hour, and it's a burden he's willing to bear.
The four of us ascend to the stage and line up together beside him side by side. I almost laugh when I realise by happenstance we are arrayed both tallest to shortest and bustiest to flattest. Why must Simone be taller and more well-endowed than I? The Americans must feed their children some kind of growth hormones to make them all this big.
Secretary Anderson gently taps his microphone, and all eyes turn upon him.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Today marks a game-changer on the world stage, a moment in history in which the balance of power tipped our way. Before today we were sitting on pillars of salt and a foundation of sand. Now we replace that salt with steel and sand with stone. For today marks the beginning of Project Spectre, the creation of a joint Japan-American fighting force centred on the employment of Symphogears and their Adapters in combat operations!"
A fresh name and a fresh lick of paint. But we'll still be under American control. Despite the masks they're wearing, the polite applause given by Major Jinguuji and Captain Tomosato speaks volumes.
Anderson has more to say. "Much about how these new weapons work is still mysterious to us. But what is not is the sheer killing power these women can wield. Many of you here today have seen that first hand. And for those that haven't, I promise you it is exactly as the scuttlebutt would have you believe." He knows the collective defence of Americans requires our fighting skills. Without us his job would be next to impossible.
He gestures over to us. "It is strange to say that all our fates rest on the shoulders of these four young women, but truth has always proven to be stranger than fiction. The creator of the Symphogears claimed they were powered by 'the song in their hearts', a rather poetic expression for what has proven to be a superweapon every bit as momentous as the Atomic Bomb, the fighter plane and the gun before.
"And our alliance with the Empire of Japan has brought four of these weapons together. A concentration of force not seen for decades. Their power combined as one is the aegis of our security, now and into the future!"
Sustained applause, and I can let my heart lift a little with it. The Americans are onboard with our mission, and that makes it just that little bit easier.
"None of this would have been possible without the hard efforts of our friend in the Imperial Japanese Mainland Defence Forces, Major Jinguuji Marimo. I would invite her to come to the stage and say a few words."
The Major gives us a small smile as she passes us on the way to the podium, shaking Anderson's hand before taking his place.
She doesn't need a translator here. The Major speaks English fluently, a skill she has used to good effect in the past. "Ladies and gentlemen. Two hundred years ago it was American warships under Commodore Perry who first showed the peoples of Japan the wonders of a world we in our ignorance had attempted to keep out. Relations between us have ebbed and flowed, but now with a full century since the last time we fought, the friendship that has emerged since has become a cornerstone of global peace and security."
The Major is choosing her words carefully, omitting the bloodshed of the Pacific War and the threat of nuclear attack that saw the Empire capitulate to the Americans. Relations between the two have never been as settled or secure as either side would want to admit. But the fiction of American-Japan relations is one we must pretend is fact. And maybe in doing it it could become fact.
A girl can dream.
"That peace and security is under threat now as it has never been before. We have both lost much from the aftermath of Babylon. The home islands of Japan have sunk beneath the sea, and much of the continental United States has been swallowed up by the low-oxygen zones or smashed by the gravity anomalies. Yet it is precisely for a time of great trials like this that we must stand together, for if we do not, then alone we will fall."
The major's eyes flicker over to us for a second. "It was the Empire that pioneered the creation of a new weapon, built from fragments of ancient technology more powerful than anything we can conceive today. Those who built said Relics are long gone, but humanity will finish what they started. With their power, final victory over the BETA is but a matter of time. And today we accelerate that timeline. Let the promise these women carry sustain us through the times of struggle, for the songs they sing shall lead us to reason. And a new day will dawn for those who stand tall!"
The Major steps down from the podium to a collective thunder of clapping. Nothing like hearing what you want to hear in your own language.
Secretary Anderson returns to his place and silence instantly stills the room. "Every man and woman in this room will have tasks to perform if we are to pull this off, and I don't need to expect anything but the best from you all. Now I'm sure you're all sick of the prattling, so fly free. Dismissed!"
"I could murder a drink." Simone nudges me in the side. "What's to say I introduce you to the pleasures of American alcohol."
"How does American alcohol differ from the Japanese?" I ask.
"It tastes of freedom," Simone winks.
Beside her Alicia sighs and rolls her eyes. "Not too many drinks," she warns us, "the last thing any of us want is a hangover tomorrow."
"Those just make you fight harder. Nothing like drowning out the thunder in your head with the thunder of battle," Simone is already on her way over to one of the long tables laden with food and drink. I have never seen that much food in one place up in Seattle, and Nanami's look of both shock and wonderment tells me she feels the same way.
Simone snags a bottle full of amber liquid and begins pouring a trickle out into several small glasses.
"What does freedom taste like?" Nanami asks the taller woman.
"In this particular case, like fire." Alicia takes the glass offered to her and sniffs. "It seems the Generals are more and more willing to part with their finest liquors these days. No point in hoarding them when the world's over."
"So the drinks are finally on your level, huh?" Simone grins wickedly.
"No, they're finally on yours. You're the one who likes drinking."
"And smoking, and all the other bad behaviors." Simone talks over us. "You should probably not follow my example." She directs at Nanami and I.
"Well, they do say, 'when in Rome', and we're not sheltered by any stretch." I accept a glass from Simone. "Though Nanami is technically underaged."
"I'm allowed to kill people but not to have a drink? That makes no sense!" Nanami pouts.
"If you won't tell, I won't tell." Simone gives a knowing wink.
Nanami gleefully accepts the glass given to her.
This is certainly a strong-smelling drink. The scent alone almost burns my nasal passageways.
"First, what do we call you?" Alicia asks us. "Would you prefer to go by Otohime and Yazawa? Or would you rather use your given names?"
This is on me. "It's best we dispense with all the formalities here. We need to be able to trust our backs to you on the battlefield. Call me Kaede."
"Very well Kaede," Simone's lips taste the name, and then a smile comes to them. "What do we drink to?"
"What all Eishi drink to," I tell her with all the burden of memory. "To those who can't be here today. To all who have fallen in the fight, and who by their sacrifices ensured that we could be here today in their place."
Both women nod, the seriousness not lost upon them.
"To the fallen." Alicia raises her glass.
"To the fallen!" We echo.
Alicia was not wrong. I feel my throat burn as it seeps past my lips. Nanami starts coughing after she downs the drink, Simone immediately beside her.
"Freedom...burns!" Nanami splutters.
"That it does girl. That it does." Simone gives Nanami a good pat on the back, before taking her empty glass.
"If this is the good stuff, I don't want to taste the bad stuff," I finally force out as I set my glass back on the table.
"If you want the bad, go back with the Marines to El Toro. You'll find plenty of the shit stuff there."
I turn to see the unmistakable face of Captain Hillard as he shares a joke with his fellow Marines.
"We don't have the brass breathing down our necks here, so we should be able to speak freely." Alicia straightens her skirt. "So here we are. Half the world's collected Adapters, all in one room."
"Shows how desperate things are that they're doing this." Simone adds. "You know there were plans in place should we ever have to fight you two."
I nod. "As there were plans for us to fight you. For all the Major's words, this alliance is still on shaky ground. Something we're here to rectify."
"By teaching us how to fight you." Alicia replies. "The Empire is willingly abandoning one of its few advantages for the sake of this alliance and trusting we don't take advantage of it further down the line. That's not something the United States Government would ever willingly do." Alicia's no fool, and the puzzled look on her face tells me she's probing for answers.
"Is it really that hard to believe in mutual benefit anymore?" I ask, to which both Americans give me equal looks of surprise. At least they seem to be on the same page there.
"Uh, yeah?" Simone speaks first. "Babylon threw us back to the Ice Age. Except it's salt instead of ice. Salt age? Whatever." She scoffs. "We're all looking out for ourselves. Why else would we be at war more often with our fellow humans than with the BETA?"
"That's precisely the reason why we need to look beyond our national interest. Like it or not, the United States and Japan need each other. The France-Canada Coalition will exploit any rift between our two countries if given half a chance." A memory of gray-green tinged machines firing at us even though they must have known their weapons couldn't hope to hurt us flashed through my mind. Good men and women have died at my hands.
Alicia spots my lapse immediately. "Fighting their Adapters really did you in, huh?" Alicia further probes. "Is the reason you're giving up the advantage because it's not as much of an advantage as it might have been a few weeks ago? What did the Canadian Adapters do to you?"
Nanami answers her before I can say anything. "We gave as good as we got, Alicia-san. The Canadians barely made it back to base."
"Mutual destruction serves nobody's purposes," Alicia's vivid eyes sought answers in my own, and I endeavoured to keep her gaze and show her just how tough I can be.
"Fighting other Adapters is the hardest part of this duty," I tell her truthfully. "They are us. They have the same power we do. Power that was meant to save mankind. That's what the Noble Six were gathered for. But then Alternative IV failed, and now that power has been turned against itself."
"We did not choose to turn against our fellow humans. The French and Canadians chose that." Alicia rebuffs.
"But why did they choose to turn on us? Nobody is blameless here. But what's done is done, and now we have to act accordingly."
Simone gives me a bemused look. "I guess that's the polite way of putting it. You Japanese have always been regarded as polite people."
"I'd like to think good manners are a universal part of the human condition."
At that Simone actually gives a snort of laughter. "Baby, you have not spent much time in the United States if you think that's true."
"Surely Americans can still aspire to more?" I offer.
Now other officers are looking over to Simone as she laughs further. "You think Americans can learn how to be more polite? You are a hoot, you really are. I think we'll get along famously."
You can't claim this one was ever very respectful of authority. And her distrust in her own people, those she is fighting to save, still catches me off guard. I was not expecting to ever meet an American like Simone. Just like Alicia, only her innate skills as an Adapter have brought her here, and she seems determined not to give an inch more than she's willing to give.
"Otohime is right to expect more of us," Alicia interjects. "The United States was not founded on a common birth or faith or creed. Instead we were founded on ideas. Ideas that still hold great power to this day."
"Ideas that have yet to be achieved." Simone retorts sourly.
"Ideas that can be achieved." They both turn to face me in surprise. "You Americans are an optimistic people. I learned that up in Seattle. Unwilling to accept the world for the way it is and always working to correct that. There is much to admire in that mindset."
"Problem is, they're not always trying to solve those problems, and even when they do more often than not just make them worse." Simone shakes her head.
"It's better to do something than nothing." Nanami finds an opening to speak. "Just like how we're here to do something together. Something big."
"That's right," I add. "So instead of arguing over petty differences, we should see what we have in common. I know we've all read each other's dossiers," I turn all attention my way. "But that tells you nothing about who we really are. That knowledge only comes from experience. So, is there anything either of you would like to know about me?"
I need to open myself up like this if I'm ever going to earn their trust. I just need to hope they won't tread on anything I can't explain. Like how I survived Operation Babylon.
Simone gets in first. "Okay then, I have a question for you, Kaede. Your files said you were a fully qualified Surface Pilot before you were snagged as an Adapter."
The thing that separates me the most from either American. They didn't choose to be here. I did. I should have known that would be the first question asked. "I served as an Eishi in Operation Iceberg, yes."
"Ay-she? What's that?" Simone asks. Now I can understand why she doesn't know the term. The General should know better.
"It's the Japanese version of Surfie. Their slang for a Surface Pilot." Alicia explained.
"Thank you princess, for that fine dictionary definition," Simone turned her attention back to me and away from the hostile glare returned to her. "So Kaede, why did you enlist?"
Why did I choose this life? It's something that is as fundamental to me as my heart and eyes. "My father was also an Eishi. He didn't choose that career path though, he was drafted. But he accepted the duty thrust upon him and survived the Korean campaign to come home and raise a family. He didn't shy away from telling me of the sacrifices he had seen, ones his friends and comrades made. My father only lived because others had died, and he knew he needed to live up to the sacrifices they made."
"Did your father escape Japan when it sank?" Alicia asks me, concerned. She knows well how few survived the drowning of Japan.
"...I don't know. I wasn't there when the Great Ocean Collapse happened, and we don't have good records yet of who's survived and who hasn't."
"And survivors keep on popping up." Simone said encouragingly. "There was that news yesterday of a couple of Japanese Surfies picked up in Montana. Apparently they walked all the way from the East Coast."
Her words grab my attention. "Where did you hear that?" I ask. This is news to me. The Major never said a word about any survivors while on our way to California.
"When we were debriefed yesterday I saw a document on the General's desk. A report from a couple of Lightning Surfies who were on long-range patrol and stumbled across them in the wilderness. The Japanese pilots were nearly dead, but somehow they'd managed to get that far."
"Were you supposed to be reading that?" Nanami asks her, to which Simone gives a knowing side-eye as Alicia gives another scowl.
If those two pull through they'll be the Major's concern, but even just two extra Eishi is a blessing for the Empire. So many have been lost, and Surface Pilots are now as rare as gold dust. I don't want to think about the new Eishi academies in Seattle training children to pilot TSFs...
"How could anyone have survived the conflict on the East Coast?" Alicia ponders. "The French really caught us with our pants down and occupied most of the eastern seaboard in a matter of weeks."
"Maybe we'll get a chance to ask them." I wonder aloud. "I certainly hope we can find out some details about the French Adapters from them."
"That's not going to happen," Alicia cuts in. "If they'd fought the French Adapters, they'd be dead."
There is a beat of silence among all of us that not even the conversation of the American officers around us can drown out.
Nanami and I know the Canadian Adapters. We've fought them face to face. But we have never seen the French Adapters. Nobody on our side has ever faced them and lived, so far as we know. What we do know is the French Adapters were instrumental in the defeats the Americans faced at the Hudson Salt Flats, Brattleboro and New York. The worst defeats faced by the Americans on the battlefield since Vietnam nearly a century ago.
"Will your training help us to fight the French Adapters?" Alicia asks me softly. The same thoughts must be on her mind.
"We can only hope." I finally say.
"That's not the answer we were hoping to hear." Simone grumbles.
"We rarely get the answer we hope to hear," Alicia responds pointedly. "At least we'll have a greater chance if we're working together."
"Yes!" Nanami's been keeping quiet, not sure how to respond to these two women, but a surge of enthusiasm jolts her into action. "No matter how powerful the French or Canadian Adapters might be, the four of us united will never be defeated!"
Both Alicia and Simone give bemused smiles as Nanami grins back, blissfully unaware of their reservations.
Keep holding onto that hope, Nanami. We can convince these two American women. Those smiles will become genuine one day.
It's what Kazanari-senpai taught me. That I must become a Sakimori who with my blood, sweat and tears allows others the luxury of mankind's greatest strength, hope.
It's time to take back this conversation and continue my little story. "I was young when I told my father that I was going to fight the same way he did. He never tried to dissuade me. He educated me in everything I would need if I was to serve my country. And when I was 17 I volunteered. This was after the great invasion of Japan in 2043, and there was an urgent need by the Empire for qualified Eishi. I passed through with flying colours and was commissioned into the 4th Tactical Armoured Battalion. It turns out my entire class had been rushed through training in order to bulk up the numbers for Operation Iceberg."
And with that I have their attention again. Operation Iceberg was the last great offensive launched before Babylon, a test-run of the grand strategy that would level the Hives. Too bad for us it also levelled all of Eurasia, Africa, Antarctica and the Japanese islands as well.
It was also the last time mankind was united together in fighting the BETA. And an event that was pivotal in the history of the Symphogears.
"That was the only battle I fought before I was plucked out of the ranks to become the Empire's newest Adapter. As it turns out, a replacement for casualties suffered."
Adapters are the rarest humans on the planet. Alicia was right when she had earlier marvelled at so many of such a rare few gathered together. Every loss is personal and even Alicia and Simone seem to understand that despite how removed they are.
The Americans lack the connection to the original Adapters that I do. Their program did not benefit from having the personal experience of a survivor like Kazanari-senpai. I suddenly feel a stab of pity for them.
"So did you see them in action that day?" Simone's tone tells me she's already guessed the answer.
I close my eyes and let those few fragments of memories I have treasured for so long flow back to me. "Yes," I say as I open my eyes. "I saw them fall from the heavens, six vibrant meteors blazing the colours of the rainbow.
"The task of Imperial forces was to draw as many of the BETA to the surface as possible so that when the G-Bombs dropped they would wipe all the BETA out in one fell swoop. We were not expected to kill them all, or to even try to hold them off for long. This was not to be a re-enactment of the Battles of Yokohama or Minsk."
In my mind's eye I draw up the map of the island that was burned into my brain across the course of that day.
"The island was bombarded from sea and space for a full hour before the first troops landed. More bombs in one hour than were dropped on London for the entirety of the Great World War." That fact was told to me by my Commander just before we took off to join in the assault ourselves. It has always stuck with me.
"The Empire was tasked with the west side of the island, while the Americans landed in the North and the UN Forces crossed from Niigata. I have never seen so many ships in one place, from mighty American TSF Carriers to aged Battleships still firing their guns in anger."
Even Nanami is gazing at me expectantly. I've told her parts of the battle in passing, but never the whole story.
"Lasers were still flashing in the air as we took off. Several ships were burning from the Laser-class on the shore that filled them with holes, and we kept low as we flew over Mano Bay and moved inland. The air was heavy with Anti-Laser clouds, and the ground was covered in Tanks, APCs and artillery vehicles moving inland to take up positions.
"The BETA were an endless sea of enemies. I wasn't an Adapter then, obviously." The others have fought the BETA with the power of the Relics, but never without. Not like me.
"We were designated as Tango Unit. Twelve Type-16 Shinshin - we weren't even flying the newest of Japan's TSFs that day - against tens of thousands of BETA. We had our area of the line to hold and a simple command: draw the BETA onto ourselves and keep them penned in place. The more we killed the better, but our task was to draw them out of their holes and into the path of the sword of Damocles hanging over them.
"Were the Adapters sent in before or after the G-Bomb was dropped?" Alicia intrudes.
"I'm getting to that," I promise her. "The battle was three hours and forty-seven minutes old, and we in Tango Unit had been holding our positions for an hour and thirteen minutes. We only lost four of our number up to that point, two to a Heavy Destroyer and the other two to a Hammerhead. That was considered acceptable losses."
I only knew one of the four personally. We had gone through the Eishi academy together. Her face is still in my mind, but I have lost her name. It feels like a personal betrayal that I have forgotten her.
"We were in a pretty tight spot. All the landing zones were under immense pressure, and the BETA had failed to commit their heaviest units to stop us. It looked like the collapse of our lines was inevitable."
I smile as that brightest of memories comes front and centre. "And then a rainbow of shooting stars descended from on high."
Alicia nods in understanding now, her mind already working its way through the new information. She is a lot like me in that respect, someone who carefully thinks things out. Though she doesn't seem to lose herself the way I do.
"I could hear music in the air. It was too distant to make out the words, but the melody wormed its way through me, filling my weary limbs with strength. That is one of the great powers of an Adapter: to inspire others. I imagine that's been less of the case for you two."
"We're not out there to hog the limelight and show how cool we are to the grunts." Alicia seems a bit stung by my words. "We're there to kill the BETA. By killing the BETA we help our fellow soldiers. Anything more is just vainglory and we are better than that."
"Speak for yourself. I quite like the cheers we get." Simone pours herself another trickle of liquor. "Command prefers to keep us all mysterious though."
"You Americans have a penchant for secrecy even when it gets in the way of cooperation." Nanami and I have been involved in a number of high-level meetings at the Major's request. That's not a side of things I willingly want to be a part of. "That's why it's taken so long to bring us all together even when we've ostensibly been on the same side all this time."
"Or maybe it's because you two have had the situation under control up in Seattle until recently." Alicia offers her glass up to Simone, who gives her a further top-up. "You've fought the Canadian Adapters several times. What was the difference last time? Have they developed some power-up we know nothing about?"
I shake my head. "I couldn't tell you. They fought the same way they've fought every other time. Maybe it was the way they slaughtered our fellow Japanese Eishi. That got under my skin. The other times they went straight for us and didn't try to engage the line."
"They did surprise us. They used the cover of that Electromagnetic storm to mask their Aufwachen signals." Nanami helpfully adds.
"Communications are a crapshoot these days." Simone downs yet another drink with a single gulp. I don't know how she can do that.
Back to my story. "The Noble Six landed in the heart of the BETA swarm. Six alone against at least a hundred thousand. And they did not disappoint. Every time I go out there to fight I aim to fight as they did. The way we fought yesterday? Nothing compared to what I saw that day."
"Of course it wouldn't," Simone fires back. "They were trained together as one whole back when Alternative IV still held their leash. With time and a little cooperation, we can easily equal that."
"Exactly what I hope for," I tell them. "But it's more than that. There was conflict in their ranks. Historical grievances separated some of them, and trust was always in short supply." One of the stories Kazanari-senpai told me was about her own conflicts within the squad. Her distrust of Tsukuyomi Shirabe, the scion of a rival Samurai family. And her suspicion of the newcomer Tachibana and her alien attitude that often seemed to be naivete crossed over into stupidity. But Kazanari-senpai also told me how she fought back to back with the two of them when the time came, and how all six stood against the entirety of Hive 21.
"The Noble Six were as disparate as we are. And they drew strength from that disparity, their song one made of six voices united as one. We can do the same. Scratch that, we will do the same."
Now for the crux of the whole situation, my sales pitch to them. To show them how serious I am at the task we must perform together. "We are Adapters, linked together by the chain forged by those who came before. Amou Kanade was the first Adapter, the Phoenix of Yokohama Hive. She in turn trained Kazanari Tsubasa, one of the Noble Six I saw on that day. She was the one who trained me. And I in turn have taught Nanami everything Kazanari taught me. And now I shall pass those same lessons onto the both of you, so that should the day come when a new breed of American Adapters must rise, the two of you will be ready to pass that knowledge on further."
Alicia frowns, her mind still fixated on Kazanari-senpai's name. Sooner or later she's going to find out. Hopefully later.
"And someday I'll be able to teach others how to use a Symphogear!" Nanami adds.
"Are you sure you'll have the patience to teach others?" Simone comments wryly, again going right over Nanami's head.
"So what happened to those first Adapters? And what happened with the G-Bomb?" Alicia just won't quit. I have to admire her persistence.
It's the part of the story that doesn't have a happy, hopeful aspect to it. I would rather dwell on the hope, not how that hope was turned and twisted to despair. But I would rather just get it out there if it's what Alicia wants to hear so badly.
"The Noble Six managed to draw the BETA's heaviest units to the surface. Laser Forts, Bulkheads and the like. The monsters. The sort only an Adapter can fight. Half an hour after their arrival, we got the message from UN Space Control. Code 666. G-Bomb drop. The Noble Six went underground, to take out the reactor while the G-Bombs cleared the surface.
"You've all seen footage of a G-Bomb detonation right?" I don't pause to let them answer. "Seeing it first hand is something I will never forget for as long as I live. It's an explosion not of light, but of darkness. A roaring sphere of pure nothingness that devours all it touches. Mankind has an amazing ability to make weapons of destruction, but the G-Bombs is the very worst of those." That memory, that nightmare threatens to resurface. I push it down as hard as I can. Not here, not now.
In many regards, the Babylon disaster was our hubris finally coming home to roost. We'd been building newer and more terrible weapons of destruction for centuries. For twenty years before the BETA landed the world had sat on the cusp of nuclear armageddon. We'd been dodging bullets for decades, but finally our luck ran out.
"We were withdrawn from the island after the G-Bomb drop, so I never saw how only three of the Noble Six emerged from the hive tunnels. Kazanari never told me how they died. It's not a memory she wanted to relive. I suspect they were caught by the G-Bomb detonation, and that seems as good an answer as any."
Kazanari-senpai was single-minded in her dedication to train me as effectively as possible. Maybe that was her way of trying to atone towards those who died that day. I rose to the challenge, and swore that I would match those who fought alongside her.
I never got the chance to prove those words.
Everyone is sullen at the end of that story. Operation Iceberg was a costly victory, and one that with hindsight seems even more hollow than it was before Babylon.
"That was the last time all the world's Adapters fought together in one place. The Sakurai papers had already been leaked in one final act of revenge, and it would bring about you two. You have no ties to the original Adapters. Like many things American, you are a fresh start, unburdened by the past. Both a weakness and a strength."
"We had to train ourselves," Alicia tells me. "None of the Noble Six were Americans, and we didn't get the benefit of any of their experience unlike you."
"Not true. Yukine was half-American." I remind her.
"And she didn't survive Iceberg." Simone adds cooly. "Even then, from the reports we read she never identified herself as American. It's doubtful she would have ever been brought onboard."
Kazanari-senpai rarely spoke of Yukine, but what little I picked up tells me she and Simone would have gotten along famously.
"And you Nanami? Were any of your family soldiers?" Simone breaks the silence.
Nanami shakes her head emphatically. "My father is a mechanic, and my mother a schoolteacher. They survived the Great Ocean Collapse and are currently in Hawaii, safe and sound." So few can claim such a thing, but Nanami is one of the luckiest people I have ever met.
"You must have been born under a lucky star." Simone gestures at Nanami. "Not many Japanese today can claim that."
"So you're just like us then." Alicia gives Nanami a warm, rich smile. Those red lips are quite beautiful when they're smiling, I decide. "Plucked from our lives because we have one of the rarest skills in the known universe. And Kaede here is the outlier in that respect."
There is truth in her statement. They are Adapters before they are Surface Pilots. Not me. I was an Eishi first, and I remain an Eishi foremost.
But also, not the whole truth. "Two of the Noble Six were members of the Imperial aristocracy, Kazanari and Tsukuyomi. And another, Eve was a Soviet national. All were fully trained soldiers."
"Your Empire is such a weird entity," Simone interjects. "Still having a nobility just like out of the Middle Ages, even with an elected parliament on top of that. I never got it back when we were learning about the nations of the world, and I still don't get it now."
"The British still had their nobility. As did the West Germans. Did they come off as weird?"
"Fat lot of good it did either of them." Simone isn't impressed.
Alicia steps in. "Is that why you cut your hair so short? It's a Samurai thing right?"
Reflexively I reach up for the thin black dusting on my scalp, save for a single long lock that curves back over my head.
"More or less." I tell them.
"Got to say, you make it look good. Most women can't rock a buzzcut." Simone runs her fingers through her own hair, just as dark as mine but falling in a curly waterfall down her shoulders and back.
"Nanami can't," I answer to which Nanami puffs up her cheeks.
"It looked so cool! I thought it would make me cool too!"
"You look perfectly fine as you are." Alicia reassures her. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
"She's right this time," Simone added. "You're actually kind of cute Nanami. Nothing like a cute girl to kill thousands of Alien scum."
"Does that apply to you as well?" I throw back.
"Bitch I'm adorable." Simone's grin could light up the whole of Los Angeles.
We all laugh, reservedly in Alicia's case, a childish giggle from Nanami.
Maybe it's the alcohol in my system, or maybe just a thread of lost hope, but I feel we're taking the first steps to becoming a real team, to become like Kazanari-senpai and the rest of the Noble Six.
"We are here to forge a new legacy." I tell everyone. "The dream that inspired the Relic Project in the first place, that brought together the Noble Six, we are the inheritors of that dream. It is up to the four of us to make good on their promise."
"I'll drink to that. Another round?" Simone already has the bottle in hand.
"Make it the last one. We need to be clear and sharp-minded for tomorrow's activities." Alicia looks out across the room and the uniformed service members congregating within. "We have an audience eager to see what we're capable of. Let's not disappoint them." There's now a sharp edge to her own grin, one that lights up her face.
"Tomorrow you two will learn what it's like to fight a fellow Adapter for the first time," I tell the Americans. "We never got that luxury. We had to learn the hard way what fighting a fellow Adapter is like, and we were lucky enough to survive the experience. So do not expect us to go easy on you. It's all a deep end here."
Alicia has a vulpine glint in her eye. "That's fine by me. I have no intention of going easy on you either. Our Symphogears were designed as much to fight other Adapters as they were to fight the BETA."
"Just like American TSFs ever since the Raptor?"
"The sad truth," Alicia continues. "But this might give us a small advantage when the day comes for us to fight the Canadians. Or the French for that matter."
"Remember all the jokes about how the French were 'cheese eating surrender monkeys'? I want to kick the ass of whoever made up that shit." Simone mimes a spitting motion, before handing me my topped-up glass and passing another over to Nanami. I hope she can handle it, I've never seen her drink this much before.
"So are we toasting to tomorrow this time?" Simone raises her glass.
"Sure, why not?" I told her. "Nanami, you can have the honours this time around."
"R-really?" Nanami looked to the others, and both Alicia and Simone gave approving nods.
"Okay then. Um," Nanami furrows her brow for a moment, before an idea spreads across her face like a spark. "To kicking ass and taking names as the Symphogear Spectres!"
The name sounds so silly and yet sincere when Nanami says it. Another trail of fire burns down my throat.
Again Nanami fails to stop herself from giving a series of dry, hacking coughs.
"How do you manage to drink this stuff so easily?" She looks up at the three of us and our empty glasses.
"The same way you'll be teaching us tomorrow," Alicia answers her, "lots of repetition and practice. Not that any of us need any more of that today." She sets her glass down with a clunk.
"Right," I look around for the Major or the Captain. It's time to get this show on the road.